Including the author's notes, I've reached a point at which this fanfic could count as a small novella. That makes me rather proud, but I came in to see where I stopped at a few months ago and remembered I was planning to make the sixth chapter the final chapter. It was like the end of an arc, or whatever. How lame, right?

Anyway, change of plans. Voltron Under the Sea (let's go VUtS from now on) will continued until I stop following the canon so closely. Which will probably be up to Pidge's reveal. So look forward to that, if you'd like.

Princess Allura is a drill sergeant. The training room has no mirrors.

1

Lance's room wasn't like the barracks, which he'd expected it to be. There was a window, the biggest highlight. Outside he could see the atmospheric light was no longer a pink hue. It was the sort of blue that made the ocean light up rather than darken.

Gotta give it to those mermaids, they made beautiful scenery.

His bed was made fit for a king. He looked to the side and saw blue dolphin slippers.

Scratch that. This room was made for a paladin!

A king had been a paladin once.

Lance wandered his room for a bit. It wasn't small, and he had more space than items, making it all the bigger.

"Which part of this would suit my every selkie need?" he asked the solitary quarters. Coran had yawned a big (too big, probably fake) yawn and left him to do whatever it was he did before sleep.

For Lance, that usually entailed a regimen of self-care and listening to music. Maybe video games, depending on how far you wanted to take his night routine.

At the barracks, he'd just talk with Hunk until they both mumbled themselves out cold.

Sometimes he would walk around, looking for his coat.

A melancholy feeling settled in his bones. Lance looked at his feet and wiggles his toes, watching the blue light give shadows on the floor.

He was in the ocean. He had never found his skin.

When Keith had gotten kicked out of the Garrison, Lance's "victory" had been lackluster and empty. What was the point of a rival if he wasn't going to stick around to get one-up? Lance could recall just how angry Kogane had been.

How could he celebrate that?

At least he could enjoy the expulsion more now that he knew what Keith had been angry about. He had also been stowing on his rage, building up his resolve to find the Kerberos or maybe get past the event of its disappearance. Now they had Shiro.

Good for Keith.

Lance was already staring out the window, at the bottom of the undersea. He used to look at beaches and sigh wistfully.

"Look at me now," he whispered to himself. "This should be a win." It wasn't another empty victory.

He hadn't stopped looking for his coat for seven years, resolved himself never to ask Hunk, yet always hoped to once again swim in the ocean.

Seven years.

Now he was back and it was a terrible victory. Somehow, Lance wished it were an empty one, because that would mean he was back in the water and had simply gotten too used to land to feel happy about it. He had hoped for that, in fact.

No. He still loved the ocean dearly.

"Sometimes, I wish I wasn't a selkie," he told the water surrounding him, glaring out the window at its shimmering beauty.

If he were a human, he wouldn't need the ocean so much. Humans didn't need anything but themselves. They were just so unique sometimes. It made Lance feel like another unique person when he was just like any other person.

Longing for the water, missing the ocean.

If Lance were human, all he would need was Hunk and his family and everything would be fine. The ocean wouldn't hate him for being a brave cowardly ten decapheeb old kid, he would be able to swim freely and leave the water without a care. That had been a mistake, not a bad deed, right?

He wasn't a bad person.

He was a heartbreaker, but he had never torn anybody's heart apart. Lance was a good person! A good boyfriend or a good hook-up. A good brother, a good son, even a good pilot despite what Keith or their teacher might say!

He didn't harm people, he was good.

Karma (which used to be so inconsequential) was not usually a tricky matter. Be good and the world will be good to you. Be bad and the world will pay it back.

One normally wouldn't notice it as they moved on with their lives until they started confessing their bad deeds, or until they laid down on their bed and started thinking about every wrong move they'd ever made.

Karma builds up. It gets heavier and heavier until the person is destroyed (whether from the inside or from some external force that thinks guilt is not enough), and that person can usually feel it happening.

They know they deserve it. The quintessence of every being is inherently, if ambiguously, moral. Morals depend on the person, but most people know better than to do certain things like lying or killing.

Selkies know better than to step back into the ocean without their coat.

Sure, good people are hurt, mostly by bad people, bad choices, or bad luck.

Bad people? Bad people get hurt.

Lance wasn't trying to be a bad person, he was trying to be happy. A life full of misery awaited him back on land, but as long as he was in the ocean every tic spent swimming was karma building up on him. Misery waiting to happen.

He could feel it marking him a heavy soul. An elephant to Ma'at's feather.

He had spent seven years searching for his skin. Managing to make his way back into the ocean should have been a happy occasion!

Lance dragged himself to his bed, waving his arms forward and kicking his legs back. If the roof collapsed on him now, he would know it was well deserved and fair, despite how unfair it was.

Lance felt the urge to whine like a child to whatever god had made that stupid rule.

He was sinking into his pillow heavily. Silence surrounding him.

As a selkie, the universe had given him only one job. Keep your skin safe. He managed to mess that up. Stupid stupid stupid.

I wonder if Pidge's headphones are too wet to function, he wondered. Possibly.

Outside, the ocean loomed. Lance frowned.

Poseidon and Aegir may be cursing him right now, but no godly wrath would make him step on land on a fruitless quest again.

Would swimming get easier with time? Like lying? Or would it get harder, like a soldier's body count going up. How could he compare these things to swimming?

Considering the day's events, Lance already felt like a murderer — he was, wasn't he? Shit, add that to the list of sins. But if it didn't bother the others, why should it bother him? Maybe it even balanced out his karma, just a little, saving the world one galra ship at a time. He could hope...

Lance felt like a murderer now.

Spitefully, Lance closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep, ignoring the sins crawling on his back.

…

A fitful night's rest later and Lance was torn from dreams of drowning in the ocean and dying via shark jaws by Allura's hurried voice yelling at them to hurry! They were under attack.

He was rolling into his door in an instant, letting the small whirlpool he'd created crash his body against the metal. He tipped upside-down and kicked himself upright again, swinging the door open to watch Shiro swimming toward the bridge.

He stared at the figure. It looked more like he was hurling himself through the halls rather than swimming.

At the last moment, he grabbed his leader's foot and said, "Hey, can I hitch a ride?" With a crooked grin.

Though Shiro looked surprised—and Lance suspected he'd narrowly escaped getting a kick in the face—he continued his way, speaking as they went.

"There's an attack on the castle, Lance," he reminded him, "This is not the time for games."

Lance let go when they got to a corner and kicked himself off a wall, following closely behind Shiro.

"Sorry," he muttered. He was still groggy. An attack on the castle is a dangerous event,he thought to himself, but the words just wouldn't make sense for another dobash or two. His body was working on instinct, not skill.

Cool, gimme that Red Dolphin, he commanded, but nothing happened. Figures. He liked Blue anyway, whatever. Blue was his. Yep, Blue Paladin, passing through, he told Allura, who he nearly tumbled over.

"Lance," he heard Shiro's voice again. He flipped around to see his leader had already stopped.

"Oh," he said. He made his way back, now more awake. He glanced around, looking for alarms or signs of danger, but the alarms had stopped. "Uh, what's going on?"

Behind him, the others were gathering hurriedly. Shiro also looked around them. "I guess this isn't an actual attack?"

"It's a good thing it wasn't because it took you," Allura glanced at the other mermaid, "Coran?"

"North-west," Coran said. "Oh, sorry, this is a compass," he added sheepishly.

"However long it was, it was too long," Allura continued, walking forward. "You must always be ready to do battle. Look at you! Only Lance and Shiro are in uniform. No, Lance, you've forgotten your helmet."

Lance looked down at himself, realizing for the first time that he'd slept in his paladin outfit. "Ew," he frowned, cringing away from himself. How hygienic could that be? He didn't feel dirty, but who knew. He'd never had to wear clothes underwater before.

"Where are everyone's bayards?"

Lance tried to remember, but it wasn't in his hand, so it was probably in his room.

"Coran and I have been up for hours getting the castle back in order."

Aha, so that yawn last night had definitely been fake!

"We had to run a test on the alarms and we decided to test you as well." Allura's face suddenly gave a new meaning to disappointed. "Guess which one failed?"

"Hey," Hunk yawned.

Lance had shared a room with Hunk for many years now. He was not a morning person. At least Lance would (usually) let the world wake him up one step at a time.

Hunk, on the other hand, tumbled out of his bed at the sound of the alarm clock if not for the fact his bed was big enough that it took him two rolls before falling off.

Actually, he still fell off his bed sometimes.

"You got to sleep for 5,000 years, man," Hunk continued. "Monday night, I was on Earth. Now I've ridden a magic dolphin through an alien ocean, fought some evil shark guy named Zarkon, and eaten goo in some weird castle.

"That's a lot to process in, um...I don't know. What day is today?" Hunk asked.

Wednesday, Lance translated whatever Coran said into a single word. He wasn't sure what Coran said even translated to weekdays. His family had used human dates casually since they'd spent so much time in the oversea and on human shores.

"It's a lot to process."

"You must understand the stakes of our mission," Allura retaliated. "Over the last 7 years, signs of distress have been picked up by the castle from all over the undersea."

Lance's back stiffened.

"We have assumed Zarkon has conquered the entire ocean by now," she said, touching a panel and bringing out a map of the undersea. Most of it was red.

Red meant bad. Lance gasped, turning in place to pick out any blue civilization he could. It was a hard task.

"As far as we can see, the Galra empire seeks to take over the world. The next territory is one of three: the Higher Skies, Arcadia, or human territory. That is where you come from."

She brought out a map of each territory and pointed to a familiar world map.

The Undersea was too deep and too big to be mapped completely, but there was no mistake. It had been conquered.

Arcadia and the Higher Skies were still blue. The human map was unmarked by any significant light, but it also seemed to be in the clear.

"That's a whole third of the world," Pidge exclaimed.

"Why is the human world so small?" Hunk asked, scratching his head. "Way smaller than the before."

"The ocean here, the undersea, seems deeper," Pidge said, leaning in and adjusting his glasses. "That could explain why we never reached the surface when we tried to form Voltron. We swam way more than 10 miles upward and didn't scratch any visible surface. The real question here is why the map is so small."

"It looks pretty big to me," Keith responded, closing in on the map of the Undersea.

"No, Pidge is right," Coran popped up near him, raising a finger. "The Undersea is quite dangerous, you know? What this map is showing is only about two-fifths of it. The safest locations here are inside caves and on land. To go deeper into the Undersea would mean you'd have to swim higher and higher, and by then you'd probably reach leviathan territory."

Lance shuddered. Creepy. He'd never seen a leviathan up close.

Hopefully he'd never have to. If you get close enough to a leviathan for it to find and kill you, you were probably asking for it.

"You understand the risk your own territory is at, don't you? Your ocean has already been touched by the Galra, it's only a matter of time before the human mainland is also taken over."

The red of the sea started to leak, spreading to the edges of the human land and inward. Lance looked for Hamoa on the map, seeing the red completely overtake it in almost no time at all.

It was so small. So easy to conquer.

He shuddered out a breath at the thought of Hunk's family (his family) being reached.

"Oh no," Hunk moaned, eyes on the same little island. His eyes wandered to the rest of the Undersea, at all the lost territory.

"Exactly. Our mission is to free all those terfs. Coran and I are getting the castle ready to leave Ys. During that time, you have to learn to form Voltron so we can begin fighting Zarkon."

She was sounding less like a fairy tale princess and more like his uncle by the second.

Shiro accepted the princess' tone like a soldier and spoke. "The princess is right. Let's get to our lions and start training."

"Wait," Pidge exclaimed. "But I want to talk to the prisoners we rescued from the Galra ship."

Prisoners, Lance thought, his eyes widening.

"Uh, negative, Number Five," Coran intervened, bending down and measuring his with his arms. "I have ranked you by height, okay?"

Number Three, I get it, Lance thought back to the previous night.

Coran straightened his back again and resumed a formal tone. "The prisoners need to remain in the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow."

"Cry. Oh. Replenishers," Lance sounded out the word under his breath. Mermaid Tears. Of course. He was learning a lot of things recently.

"That's right. Now get to you lions," Allura commanded.

Lance felt much more awake after getting a good scolding by the fairy tale princess. He made a silly but confident hop to his dolphin's bay, sinking faster than usual in the fast waters of the tube. He felt like a turtle navigating the sea.

A blue bayard looking vessel awaited him at the bottom. It drove him to Blue.

They were on faraway ocean when they realized that the Yellow Dolphin had never come out.

"Let's wait here," Shiro said, turning Black to face the castle.

Blue swayed from side to side for a while, but eventually, even Lance grew still. Hunk was taking a while.

"Should someone go in after him?" he asked.

Yellow came bursting out just then, Hunk's apologies coming in through the shells inside Blue's main bay.

"Seriously though, can't they park these things, like, a little closer to the bridge?" Hunk asked, gliding to Pidge's side.

"Alright guys," Shiro started. "Let's just fly in tight formation until we're totally in sync."

Allura appeared on a side-panel. "Feel the bond with your dolphins and your fellow pilots until five become one unit and you form Voltron!"

2

They didn't form Voltron.

They also got beat up by the Castle of Dolphins and Allura. Harsh.

Eventually the lights emitting from the castle's cannons ran out and the team managed their way inside to rest and heal. Mostly bruised egos, but also plenty of bruises.

Shiro was still pumped for training. While he tended to his dolphin, he talked about the many other ways they could form Voltron. None of them sounded any better than the pyramid they'd formed a while ago, and Lance feared their leader was running out of ideas.

They hadn't had any ideas to start with…

Horrified, Lance dragged Hunk and Pidge by the shoulders and into a resting area with comfortable sofas and absolutely nothing else.

Lance immediately hopped onto the couch and feigned dead, splaying himself out to take a nap. Hunk did the same next to his head, though he did manage to find a sitting position.

Pidge sat on the opposite end of Hunk as Keith came into the room, on his tip-toes.

Lance had no strength to fight him on this. He welcomed Keith into the resting/hiding area with metaphorical open arms. His own arms were too busy resting.

Sadly, Mr. and Mrs. Busybody (Coran following Allura close behind) walked into the room to hassle the recruits into more training. Shiro walked in, making the Busybody family a family of three adults harassing the teens.

Hunk groaned. "We've been training! When are we going back to Earth?"

"I'm not going back until I find my family," Pidge claimed.

Ditto, Lance did not say. He did manage to sit himself up.

"Guys, there won't be an Earth if we don't figure out how to fight Zarkon," said Shiro.

"Fight how?" Lance asked with a raised eyebrow. "We can't even figure out how to form Voltron."

"Well, I'm not surprised," Coran said behind him. "You know, the original paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side by side! They were like a bunch of hydra heads linked to one body!"

Lance looked at his knees and breathed out a "Wow…" He gave a quick glance at his crew, "Yeah, that's definitely not us," and fell back to the couch.

"During the last attack, your survival instincts forced you to work as a team," Coran continued, "but that will only get you so far. You'll have to become a real team to have any chance of forming Voltron and then beating Zarkon next time. You should try working out on the training deck."

Hunk raised a brow. "There's a training deck?"

"Ahem," Coran's voice sounded through whatever loudspeaker the castle had.

Probably more shells. Maybe more mirrors. Scratch that probably both. Maybe it was magic, and Lance could later ask if Coran could teach him so he could annoy Hunk all day.

"Two, two, one, two. Okay, listen up, guys." Lance listened. "The Paladin code demands you put your team members' safety above your own. A swarm of foes is about to attack."

"Huh?"

"Foes?"

A swarm of foes indeed came out, all of them wearing identical helmets with large fin-like ears and holding identical staffs that glowed. They had scaled legs and tails. Their weak spots were highlighted by a smallish glowing circle. One on the head. One on the right side of their chest. One on each knee.

They moved expertly in the water, like an Olympic swimmer. They didn't look like they belonged in the water, however. Weird.

The crew backed away, hesitant to attack.

"Don't worry, they're not real. They are rag dolls charmed to look and act like enemies."

"Magic bots," Hunk breathed next to Lance.

"Normally, they wouldn't be able to use attack magic, but these dolls have been especially enchanted for these purposes."

The staffs began to glow threateningly around them.

"It's up to each of you to do everything you can to protect the other members of your team."

"Wait-wait-wait-wait, what's going on?" Hunk asked. A shield appeared on his right arm. Not refractive, but reflective. "Whoa! Did you guys get one of these?"

The dolls marched around them at first, but quickly started running in circles, shots of light blasting at the paladins.

The shields, through much better for avoiding close shots than refractive barriers, had a recoil with each hit they took. Lance's feet were already on the steady ground, but the impact still caused him to brace.

Hunk ducked at the first shot. Behind him, Pidge yelped on impact and then fell through the floor. Not properly using his shield, Hunk was shot as well, and he dived into the floor after Pidge.

"Protect your teammates or no one will protect you!"

Lance glanced around him, nodding as Keith and Shiro kicked off the ground lightly and started to float backward, into the circle. He did the same, sinking to the floor when he felt Keith's back on his.

"Time to increase intensity."

They were never going to win this one.

As if the running before hadn't been quick enough, the dolls seemed to go at even faster levels now. The shots were thrown at them harder. It was like a video game, and they'd reached the boss level.

Lance was great at video games.

"You keeping up over there, Keith?" Lance mocked, trying to maintain a pattern of blocking at his front. He felt confident enough to turn his head to look at Keith's mullet.

"Just concentrate on keeping me safe," Keith answered, looking forward.

Lance scoffed. "Me? I own this drill. You're the one who needs to concentrate." He glared until the dolls ducked simultaneously, crouching in a creepy posture and hissing. He was so stunned, he couldn't turn back to block fast enough, and a shot went between his legs, hitting Keith.

Crap.

Lance scurried to cover Shiro but spread himself wide open in the process. A shot hit his back and he sank downward, screaming the entire time.

Shiro followed soon after.

Protect your team my butt, Lance thought in irritation, rubbing the spot where a beam had shot him. It wasn't deadly, but it was cold and painful. This sucks.

"To form Voltron, you must trust in each other. This ancient paladin maze will teach you that trust. Your teammates can see the walls, but you cannot," Coran warned Lance, who was stuck in the middle of said maze. "So listen carefully. If you touch the walls, you'll get a slight shock. And I wouldn't recommend swimming unless you think you can stop yourself in time."

Well that's a done deal, Lance thought, scuffling his feet on the ground a little. Walking in water was even getting easier, though not any faster.

He pulled his helmet on. He was the king of listening. Yep, he could do this. "Wait, who's guiding me through?" He looked above toward Coran.

"Take two steps forward," Keith's voice rang in his ears.

"Oh, no. Not Keith. Why does he get to be the man on the mic?"

"Now just sit tight, you'll get your turn."

"Like I said. Take two steps forward, turn right, and take three steps that direction."

Lance turned right and stepped one and one-half times before hitting a wall and receiving a shock. He shrieked and stepped back, turning to glare at Keith's faraway silhouette.

"You did that on purpose!"

"You're not listening."

"You said 'turn right'!"

"But before that, I said 'take two steps forward."

Lance grumbled before giving it another shot, placing hesitant trust in Keith's commitment to training. He hit another wall and yelled, "We're switching places, right now!"

"You'll never be able to form Voltron," said Coran through the dolphin's link, "unless each of you has a strong bond with his dolphin."

The dolphins were swimming in formation in high waters. Land was no longer visible from where they were.

Lance had made significant progress with his own dolphin as he'd entered the undersea with their help. He smiled at Blue, despite being inside their head. They got the message. Lance got a smile back. Yeah, they've got this.

"Everyone," Coran exclaimed after a moment of silence, "put your dolphins into a nose dive! This is an expert-level drill that you really shouldn't attempt until you've been piloting for years, but, uh, we're in a bit of a rush, so here we go… Blinding, now."

Lance couldn't see. The paladins flustered and screamed as per uzhe.

"Coran! What's going on? This is weird!"

"You must learn to see through your dolphin's eyes," Coran said in the dark. "The goal is to pull up right before you crash into the ground. Feel what the dolphin feels!"

"Mine feels scared!" Hunk whimpered. His dolphin pulled out and to the side, swimming safely again.

Blue was a lot calmer than Lance was, but it was contagious. As soon as he let himself, Lance breathed in the calm. Blue was safe. Blue brought him home — kind of. Blue let him choose between swimming in pain or staying with them. Blue was kind and warm. Blue was friendly.

The thoughts melted into him, and he sort of became the thoughts. Blue sort of became Lance, Lance sort of became Blue. It wasn't the usual talking. Lance was the Blue Dolphin now. Warm and friendly and…

(He was swimming, by Aegir, he was swimming again, wasn't he? And it didn't feel wrong, it didn't hurt. It felt like he was back again, for once. He was back. They were back, Blue felt it too.)

…fun. Lance grinned and abided to their wishes, pushing forward a lever. Blue sped up.

"Whooo!" He shouted, gaining his fellow paladin's attention.

"You sound confident," Keith's voice shot through his helmet, but it couldn't bother Lance in this mood. By Aegir, Blue liked Red's paladin, that was annoyingly infectious too.

"Your dolphin's got the better reflexes, Keith," Lance grinned into his helmet. "Maybe you should have some fun with it too!"

"Huh?" Keith sounded a little confused at the genial advice, but as Blue left Red behind in the foam, he took Lance's words as a challenge. "Oh yeah?"

It was more of a suggestion than a challenge, but whatever.

Lance thinks, as Keith quickly narrows the gap between their dolphins, the race would have been more mutual if Keith had a better connection with Red. Or if Lance had had a worse one with Blue, but that was hard to imagine under any circumstances.

"Cutting it close," Lance laughed out loud, unable to enjoy himself in silence. This was too good. He couldn't see the inside of Blue's head, but he could see the oncoming seafloor, and he knew Blue could pull up in time.

He knew he could pull up in time. Decapheebs of playing chase with his sisters floated around Lance's head.

"Aren't you?" Obviously, something about Lance agitated Keith. They were avoiding the stagnant seafloor. Much easier than a chase.

Man, he should lighten up, Lance thought. Blue gave him a kind yet unappreciated reminder that Keith's agitation was his fault. For various reasons.

Short story short, Keith blasted Red into the sand. Blue pirouetted out of the way and swam casually around the dolphin, flipping in the water.

"Good job, Lance!" Coran cheered.

Pidge also ditched last second, but Blue looked up to see Black and Shiro still diving to the ground at a sensible speed.

"Whoa, is Shiro doing it?" Lance asked.

Red struggled to pull their head out of the sand until Blue bumped their tail into them. They stumbled out and shook off the sand. Some landed on Blue, but Lance's attention was on their line of sight. Shiro.

"How'd you do that?" Keith demanded.

"Uh," Lance struggled to find an answer that wouldn't automatically cause discourse or out him as a selkie. Keith wasn't as annoying — still a little irritating, but it was manageable — when his brain was linked with Blue's, but that didn't mean he wanted to spill all his secrets now. "Look at Shiro!"

"I can't see!"

Shit. "Well, he did it! He's still swimming, dodging rocks and stuff!"

"I think I'm getting this," Shiro mused.

"Excellent, Shiro!" Coran supported. "You and Lance got it in one!"

"Seriously, how'd you do it, Lance?" Hunk asked when Lance was out of Blue and hating Keith again. He stuck out his tongue at the Red Paladin before answering so that everyone could hear as he shrugged. "I've had my dolphin the longest."

Keith raised a disbelieving brow. Hunk was about to respond doubtfully, but he was interrupted by their drill sergeant.

"Everyone," Allura looked over them from their seated position. "We have a final trial. Seeing as Lance and Shiro were the only ones to pass the last training exercise, you're going to need it."

Ouch.

Her eyes landed on Lance. He jumped and cowered under her stare but drooped in confusion when her eyes softened into the same eyes she'd had the night before. She'd been an entirely different person today, but right now…

She closed her eyes and turned around.

"Lance, I would like to speak to you about a certain dent we found on the Blue Dolphin."

"What? On Blue? Are you sure?"

Some sort of satisfaction emitted from Keith as the Blue Paladin stood up to follow Allura. He glared at him before following her out the room, bouncing over to her.

"Follow me," Coran said behind him.

"What about Lance?" Shiro asked.

"Time waits for no myth!"

Lance paused, cocking his head. He scratched it and shot forward to follow Allura again.

At a corner, Allura turned around sharply, her tail narrowly avoiding Lance's torso. He skidded to a stop, floating back a little. Allura grabbed his hand and pulled him in.

"Whoa, Princess! Is this really the time to—"

"The next exercise could expose your identity if you're not careful," Allura whispered.

Her eyes were too close to his, it took him a moment to understand. "Hold up, what?"

She explained to him the following exercise would connect the paladins' minds, exposing them to each other.

"That sounds like a horrible idea," Lance shook his head.

"It's a wonderful idea for paladins to become a single unit," the princess corrected. "I did promise I would keep your secret, however."

She frowned downward, worry on her mind. Lance sighed, leaning into the wall and looking her up and down. Regal princess with droopy shoulders, didn't fit her.

"I have kept this from Hunk for years without it ruining our friendship."

"Your brotherhood."

"Weird emphasis, but sure. I like Pidge, he's real cute and he can actually talk to Hunk about things I don't understand," he continued. "Shiro is like the hero I never thought I'd get to meet. Those things have nothing to do with my being a selkie, so I don't think it'll ruin whatever good terms we're on."

Allura looked relieved for a second, but her eyes narrowed after a moment. "What about Keith?"

Lance groaned, leaning further into the wall and sinking a little. "Does mutual hate count?"

She gave him a highly unamused glare, waiting for a better response. He fought himself for a few moments before sharing, "Blue likes him." Allura cocked her head. "I get the feeling Blue likes everybody, but I hate Keith and Blue likes Red's paladin, so they kinda cancel out."

Allura looked doubtful.

"Seriously, I actually felt like getting along with him when I linked with Blue. A little. Like," Lance put his thumb and index finger together before separating them about a millimeter.

The princess sighed. "Alright. I'll try not to worry about it too much but promise me to work on this with Keith."

"Ugh."

"Lance," she warned.

"Fine! Fine, okay, yes. I'll try to…bond with…Kogane…ugh."

She sighed again but gave up on the topic. "Now, it's not too hard to hide information from them during this exercise, so long as you know how to hide it well. They will know you're hiding something if you're too obvious. Especially if they're looking for it."

"I don't care if they know I have something to hide, I just want to keep it to myself."

Allura nodded understandingly. "It depends on your teammates if keeping a secret is feasible. They must trust you despite it, and you must trust them to keep away from it. This has been done before, but it never works for very long." She looked at Lance with serious eyes. "Never. Paladins don't keep secrets from each other."

Lance had a feeling he was messing something up. Well, obviously, he was. He reached for the back of his neck and looked down. "Sorry."

"It's a special case," Allura said kindly. "Now head to the training deck. Coran should have the others set up. They must be waiting for you."

"We're running a séance," Lance said with raised brows and drooped eyes. "Unbelievable, we're running a séance and all of you are just going with it?' He looked at Hunk, who was seated next to the open space left for him. "You're not scared a ghost will haunt us?"

They were seated in a circle, a single orb of light in the center of it. Lance's mother used to make dull orbs as night lights for Ami when Lance told her bed time stories. Admittedly, Lance's stories had too many leviathan encounters and not enough survivors.

On the other side of the empty space, Keith glared up at him and said, "We're not summoning a ghost." He looked forward again but added a tentative, "Are we?"

Hunk raised an arm and asked Shiro, "Um, if we're summoning ghosts, can I ditch?"

"Do ghosts exist?" Pidge took out his diary from underneath him. Lance stared. Pidge noticed and asked, "What?"

"Have you been sitting on that all day?"

"Guys," Shiro said, "let's give Coran a chance to explain the training exercise before we start discussing the possibility of ghosts. Lance, take a seat."

Lance sat hesitantly. He floated a little and barely managed to keep himself upright. Right, water. He had to find some way to weigh himself down. He adjusted himself until he sank to the floor.

"Have you guys noticed we don't have, like, a fixed buoyancy?" He'd never noticed that before. Then again, he hadn't cared about that sort of thing as a child.

"You just realized?" Pidge asked, flipping his diary a few pages back and pointing at some scribble Lance couldn't read. Lance was starting to think Pidge's diary was more of a logbook. "My computer still works here too. It's like this water is just liquid air or something."

"Or," Hunk added, "We could be surrounded by a really really really really thin layer of dry air," he almost clapped his hands together, assimilating the thinness. "Magic is weird."

Pidge pointed at him with his pen, nodding in agreement and scratching something down. "I'm sure there's some sort of explanation for it though. Something with numbers." He muttered the last part, but they could all still hear it.

"Ah, Number Three, you're here!" Coran entered the training room, carrying a prism in his hands. "Good, that means we can get started." He handed Lance a piece of the prism revealing it to be five pieces of glass. "Careful not to cut yourself."

It was transparent, and too thick to cut his hands, but Lance handled it with care nonetheless.

Each paladin received their own cut of square glass.

"What are we doing, exactly?" Shiro asked.

"We are conducting an ancient ritual! It's usually reserved for wedding ceremonies or marriage counseling, but it is — or was — more famously known for its use in combat training. In order to help our soldiers focus on a single goal."

"Weddings?" Hunk mouthed.

"Marriage counseling?" Pidge cocked his head.

"What do we need to do?" asked Shiro.

"It's simple, really," Coran's posture reminded Lance of his high school biology teacher. "I'll be teaching a bit of universal magic to each of you today."

"Universal magic?" Pidge asked with narrowed eyes, taking his diary out again.

"Simple magic that can be used by all creatures, whether they be from the Higher Skies or Arcadia. One's quintessence is taken into account when learning magic. For example," behind him, Allura's seahorses scooted a white board into view. "The quintessence from Arcadia normally means the beings there are rather good at fire, earth and-or wood spells.

"There's always exceptions, such as the púca and the kappa. Elves are experts in alchemy, kappa are amazing medic; these professions are inherently universal of course, but not all exceptions prefer universal magic. Nymphs, especially Naiads, are Arcadian, but they use chaotic water magic."

Lance stared at Pidges pencil, afraid his diary would catch on fire underwater.

"The undersea is special in that most species have a malleable quintessence. Us citizens of Ys hav—I mean, had many classes for respective quintessential magic. You should have seen it. All the classrooms with tutors from all around the world! Ys was the city of splendor and learning!"

Coran's cheery aura reached levels of excitement one would usually find in baseball fans after their team scored a homerun. His shoulders wilted after a moment of heavy glory.

"That's in the past now." He capped his marker and the seahorses scooted the white board away with much effort. "Ahem, as interesting as this is, we'd best leave it for a later time. Today, we are conducting a mirror souls rite."

"Mirror souls rite," Pidge continued to write, nodding along.

"I have given each of you a window to your soul," Coran said, still in teacher-mode. He walked to and fro as he spoke behind Shiro. "The glasses have been anointed in the necessary oils to mirror your quintessence."

"But we're humans," Pidge said, holding his glass sideways to examine it. He sniffed it for the smell of oil Coran mentioned. "I thought we didn't have quintessence."

"You all have quintessence," Coran explained. "It's your bodies that can't conduct magic. If you didn't have quintessence, your dolphins would not have chosen you because you would not exist."

"Right. Our quintessence matches our dolphins," Pidge remembered.

"Human quintessence has always been more suited for universal magic," Coran nodded, "but that doesn't mean there's a universal quintessence. You all happened to have a different sort of quintessence. It's not an exceptionally rare sight, though it is unusual since those of the same kind tend to form regions of their own."

"We didn't all live next to the Garrison, we just studied there," Keith nodded.

"Is that why Arcadia is more known for earth and fire?" Hunk asked, playing around with his glass.

"Exactly. Hunk, you would fit in right at home there, seeing as you command earth."

"Whoa. I command earth," Hunk seemed excited at the thought.

"Yes, but you can't use magic, so you command an earth dolphin. Very ironic, really, earth and dolphin," he fell into a murmur explaining the irony. "However, very durable and loyal. Pidge, wood."

"Wood," Pidge raised a brow.

"Yes. Like forest trees and flowers. Enrapturing. You do strike me as the elvish sort. A short one."

"I command grass, awesome," he intoned.

"It is indeed." Coran nodded without detecting the sarcasm. "Keith, fire. Very interesting, that one. Air and fire tend to share territory, so it scatters around the world in small groups, like a bunch of lone wolves. Like lightning, a rather common phenomenon."

Keith nodded, inspecting his glass calmly.

Lance scoffed and snickered, "Hot-head." Keith threw him an annoyed look.

"Shiro, air," Coran nodded at their leader. "Suited for the Higher skies, along with the sirens. Like I said, you mingle well with fire, but we're far more likely to find a little itty bit of fire in an air society than air in a fire one."

Keith and Shiro shared a glance and a smile.

Huh, Lance thought. Keith and Shiro probably knew each other well…Keith had been looking for Shiro since the failed Kerberos mission…

Feelings must be mutual, he thought, slouching and resting his chin on his hands pensively. Hm.

"Lance is obviously water," Coran winked. "Right at home here in the undersea!"

Lance tried not to grimace at the obvious hint, failing spectacularly.

"Pfft," Hunk covered his mouth with his hand, hardly hiding his snicker.

Lance sat straighter, raising a brow in his direction. "What's funny about that?"

Pidge also seemed to get the joke. He scoffed and said with a small smile, "Oh, yeah, I forgot."

"What?"

Keith didn't seem to get it either for a second, until he asked, "Weren't you afraid of water before you got your dolphin?"

Lance's shoulders rose with his temper, and he leaned in to glower at Keith. "I was not afraid of water!"

"You did look a little scared when we fell in the water," Shiro reminisced on last Tuesday. "You looked traumatized even," he frowned.

Oh no, why were his eyes doing that soft thing?

Lance frowned at the soft-dad-eyes and exclaimed, "We fell through a hole into some water! After finding a glowing cave, of course I was traumatized!"

"He likes swimming in pools," Hunk finally stopped snickering like a fool and talked. "it's just the ocean he's scared of."

"Not scared," Lance sang. "Look, I'm in it right now!" He lifted his arms and floated up a little at the force.

"Scared of the sea?" Coran looked a little too shocked. Lance was about to tell him to cut it out, but he did it by himself. He clapped his hands once as he said, "Doesn't matter. Let's start the ritual!"

The crew straightened themselves out, holding their respective window in front of them, facing the white orb. Coran slowly walked around them as he spoke.

"Normally, one would say this in the original language, but since none of you know a splotch of Arcadian, I'll have to translate and hope for the best.

Lance knew some Arcadian, but Lance also hated Arcadian with a passion.

"We could just repeat it after you," Pidge remarked. "Even if we don't know the language."

Coran shook his head. "That's not how magic works. If you don't know what you're saying, all you're doing is spouting phrases. That sort of thing only works with curses."

"We have to understand it?"

"And you have to intend it! The right tools at hand, the right intent in mind, the right words on your tongue and you're set to go! And that's only when you're touching the basics. Now let me recite the spell:

"The power of the moon and the elements of the world bestow my being with light. To mirror my soul, bear it carefully as I bear yours. Look carefully, as I view yours."

"That's a spell?" Hunk asked, wrinkling his nose in distaste. "Isn't it supposed to rhyme or something? Does it rhyme in Arcadian?"

"No."

As a child, all Lance had had to do to form a weak little light on his hand was sort of imagine a star and make a mantra of, "Nura, please." After Coran's explanation, he sort of gets where he went wrong.

Imagining a star and saying "light" was basically asking for night to come quicker, not for a bright orb like the one in front of him to appear on his hand. And he wasn't supposed to be requesting a light. He was supposed to be narrating an event to come. Asking made the spell lose potential.

The more one knew about the spell's outcome, the more likely their spell would work. Sorcerers were basically prophets of the immediate future. The lamest sort of prophecies, really — self-fulfilling ones.

He raised his left hand and almost said the magic words, but he pressed his lips together and looked at the already made orb instead. Humans couldn't summon orbs without the correct tools. That's why they had candles. And now electricity.

"Why bother with learning Arcadian then? Can't we just say the spells in our first language and get the same results?" he asked, thinking back on the horrible days of learning and mis-learning ancient languages.

"It used to be common belief that using the original language gave the spell more power. Now we know that it was the belief in that belief that gave spells the spark they needed to work!"

"They tricked themselves into thinking magic was tied to language," Pidge summarized.

"Exactly, Number Five. After that, the tradition just stuck," Coran shrugged. "It never hurts to learn a little Arcadian. Many spell books are still written in it, as far as I know."

I'm so done learning foreign languages forever, Lance thought.

"Do you think you could teach me Arcadian?" Pidge asked. He was insane.

"Now, the most important part of paladin training is being able to meld your minds and focus on one thing: Voltron." Coran stepped away from the team until his back was against the wall. "Everything else has to fade away. This will be essential every time you form Voltron. So, relax and repeat the modified spell."

"The power of the moon and the elements of the world bestow my being with light. To mirror my soul, bear it carefully as I bear yours. Look carefully, as I view yours."

Their glasses, still in their hands, began to glow and form images. Lance couldn't see it, but he could feel it.

"No walls, no secrets between paladins."

Hunk…was hungry. Lance's lips twitched upward, thoughts of sushi joining his own.

But if Hunk's thoughts were joining with his…

Lance stopped the sushi where it was, lifting a metaphorical wall around a certain picture. There was no sushi underwater anyway, the rice would get soggy.

But Hunk wasn't paying attention anyway. He welcomed Lance with open arms, they already knew everything about each other, he didn't need to bother with Lance's mind. Good to know he thought that.

It made Lance feel a guilty as he looked around.

The wall had to stay up. Lance tried to take a little time to shuffle around his fellows' thoughts, turning in the other direction. Keith was thinking about home.

Lance wished he could do the same.

Shiro poked at the wall and Lance retreated into himself immediately, realizing the wall was incredibly weak. Every poke Shiro gave it was another brick Lance had to rebuild. It didn't even seem like their leader was doing this on purpose, he was just passing through.

Hamoa, Hamoa, Hamoa, Hamoa, he chanted, forcing himself to think about Hunk's cousins, and his parents, their neighbors, their peers.

"Come on everyone, clear everything. Now focus on forming your dolphin."

Shiro moved on, but not without several glanced backward.

Black. Red. Yellow.

It was tough thinking about Blue when Lance was working so hard to keep the wall around his family.

"Bring your dolphins together and—and form Voltron!"

He couldn't do this, he had to stop or the wall would crumble…

"Keep your minds open, work together. Good!"

His glass became foggy and opaque as his thoughts led away from memories and away from his team. Pidge's mind felt furthest of all, why was he so far away too?

"Focus! Only two to go, come on."

"Pidge," Keith spoke out loud, "Stop thinking of your girlfriend."

"Lance?" Shiro mumbled, glancing at the paladin. Lance opened his eyes to find his glass had already cleared.

"I wasn't! Hunk was rooting around in my head!"

"What?" Hunk jumped at his name. "I-I thought we were open," he stuttered. "You can look in my head hole."

"Everyone has to be able to look in everyone's head holes. Clear your minds!"

Right, right, if everyone is focused on Voltron, no one should be focused on this perfectly breakable wall Lance built. The selkie glanced around him doubtfully but closed his eyes and focused.

On Blue.

No secrets to be seen here, no siree.

His glass was starting to shroud again…

Blue.

Yellow, Green, Black, Red, Blue.

Blue is a leg, no, the wall is weak. No wait, that girl in the picture is Pidge's girlfriend. Pidge's girlfriend, nothing else. The wall is going to break.

Joining. Forming…

His wall was crumbling, Lance opened his eyes and let go of the glass.

"You're both doing it!" Keith reproached.

The selkie swallowed nervously before shouting back. "It's not my fault. Pidge kept thinking about his girlfriend and distracted me."

"You've been distracted for longer than that," Keith growled.

"Ugh," Pidge also let go of his glass, throwing it far away from himself. "I'm done with this!"

"You were so into it when we started though," Hunk said, looking swinging his head to look at his crewmates. Lance hadn't thought he'd looked so focused on Coran's teachings.

"I don't like everyone grubbing around in my head!" Pidge scowled, standing up.

Lance nodded with his arms crossed. Hunk gave him a strange look he refused to notice.

"Oh, come on, guys," Shiro pleaded. "We're starting to get the hang of this."

"I'm just…" Pidge looked for a quick lie, "I'm just tired, okay?"

Worst lie, really, but Shiro would have to believe him, especially now that their minds weren't linked. Lance stood up and said, "Yeah, me too. We've been training nonstop all day." Hopefully he was a better liar than Pidge.

He and the green paladin shared a look then looked down, slumping in on themselves.

"Okay," Shiro allowed, glancing between the two tired teens. "Let's take a break."

Coran hummed before nodding. "You have been working hard," he admitted. "Maybe it's time to relax a little." He clapped his hands twice, and the little seahorses came in, hauling a small cart without wheels along.

He grabbed a few bags filled with…more water…and beckoned the paladins to make themselves comfortable.

Lance frog leaped over Hunk and made himself comfortable, leaning on his figure to relax. Closer to Pidge, further from Keith. Good spot.

He looked Pidge in the eyes, and they nodded in secret camaraderie.

"Are you nodding off already, Lance?" Hunk asked, accepting a bag and a straw from Coran. He fumbled with what to do for a second but figured it out fast enough. The bag really did just have more water, but this, he could drink.

Hunk tried swallowing some of the surrounding water, but all he sucked in was too breathable and not cold or warm enough to tell if it was actually water or air.

"Pssht, me?" Lance asked, already drinking his own hydrogen dioxide. He glanced at Hunk with cocky eyes. "Not that tired, bro."

"You have bags under your eyes," his brother said, taking a poised sip.

"What?" Lance exclaimed, reaching for his fallen glass and trying to look for his reflection. "I do?" The glass did not reflect, for it was transparent. Why weren't there mirrors in the training room? There were mirrors everywhere else!

Lance grumbled and leaned back against Hunk, bumping into him hard before relaxing again. "I just had a bad dream, shut up. You know, it's rude to point it out."

"Was the dream about the ocean? Because I have some news for you," Hunk snickered into his straw when Lance elbowed him.

"You're pushing it today, buddy."

Pidge was also snorting in the sidelines. Lance had half a mind to kick him, but his legs were already extended as far as they would go and kicking felt a little too much like swimming.

"That's it, I'm leaving," Lance said, and he started floating upward, still in resting position.

"What the—" Hunk turned and looked up. "Lance, what are you doing? Get back down here!"

Keith and Pidge spit out their water at the same time, and Pidge snorted as Lance made it half-way to the ceiling. Keith turned away, clearing away his own smile. Coran and Shiro stared fondly like they were watching their dogs playing at the park.

"What are you doing lying around?" Allura's drill sergeant voice broke the peace, and Lance fell right into Hunk.

"Oof," the brothers grunted. Hunk's water bag was crumpled from the lack of liquid inside. The seahorses bumbled toward Allura with regal gallantry, surrounding her like they'd been there all along.

"You're supposed to be training," she continued.

"Just resting a bit," Coran said less than confidently as Keith punctured his own bag and sipped. "You know, you can't push too hard."

"What do you mean, 'can't push too hard'? Get up, you lazy lumps! It's time you faced the Gladiator!"

Lance huffed, still on top of Hunk. It was a hard to know how to feel about Princess Allura the more he got to know her. He had the feeling the other paladins were liking her less. So much for fairy tale princess…

3

The paladins spread out in what they assumed was a tactical formation for combat. Lance's bayard was out, he was suddenly thirstier than he'd been when Coran had handed him a water bag, but his rifle was charged.

Around him, the other teens and Shiro looked around warily, expecting more scaly dolls to pop out of the walls. Even Hunk seemed laser-focused despite the confused state he'd been in all day.

For a moment, Lance wondered if he should ask Hunk if he felt alright. They hadn't had much chance to talk in private all day. Off-putting.

After training, Garrett, he told himself.

"In order to defeat the Gladiator, five paladins must fight as one." Coran encouraged, back in his box, overseeing the paladins.

The first move was sudden. A hole opened in the ceiling and dropped a mermaid in. It attacked the closest target, Hunk. It swam toward him at a greater speed than Hunk could swim with his human legs and bulky weapon.

Hunk yelled and started shooting at it chaotically. The Gladiator dodged every shot, though Keith had to block some with his shield. With its tail, the Gladiator swiped at Hunk's legs. The human tilted and his back faced the floor as his limbs tried to avoid sinking completely. He sunk.

The doll had a staff which it used to slam Hunk in the stomach before turning to confront Pidge. The green paladin had backed himself into a wall. He kicked off and shot himself toward the Gladiator, bayard aimed toward it.

The doll easily circumvented him to the side and overpowered him.

Unable to block every blow from the staff, Pidge was flung backwards into Hunk. They both groaned on impact.

Lance growled and bounced toward them, shooting at the Gladiator's back as he went. He didn't miss, but the doll's staff blocked every shot as it ran toward him. Lance moved around it to evade the staff, but it hit all it could. His rifle was thrown to the side.

Without an offence, Lance stuttered, but it didn't matter because the blow to the head didn't leave him much room to think. The Gladiator turned and attacked Keith, hit Lance on the same spot and then slammed the blue into red.

He landed next to Keith, but he must have fallen asleep because the next time he woke up, Keith was asking Shiro if he was okay.

They Gladiator was sinking to the floor, now just a cute mermaid doll, by the time he managed to hold himself up again.

Allura entered the training arena, condescension and entitlement in her step. "That combat simulator was set at a lever fit for child," she reprimanded. "You're not even close to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon!"

Lance looked around him. Keith and Shiro were receiving the blunt of Allura's scolding. Hunk and Pidge were still down for the count. His bayard was closer to Sergeant Allura than him. He gave up with a quiet groan and let his head fall to the floor with a soft thunk.

Wake me never, he didn't say.

"Ahoy young paladins! I've whipped up a big batch of focusing food. After this meal, you'll be forming Voltron six times a movement. And twice on the territorial confluence!"

Lance looked at the green goop. Fish food. Again. He wanted fish.

"Smells great, Coran," Shiro smiled at the mermaid butler genially. "Thanks."

Hunk was also smiling, genuine happiness at the sight of food. He wasn't partial to meat, like Lance. He loved all food equally. Especially tasty food. Lance sighed and resigned himself to goop.

The crew grabbed their respective spork all at once. And all at once, Coran pulled out a button and pressed it.

Sticky lights formed bracelets around the paladin's hands, and the bracelets stuck to the nearest bracelet.

They were shackled to each other.

One of Lance's hands was stuck on Hunk's, the other on Keith's. The selkie stared at the one stuck on Keith's hand in horror and exclaimed, "Hold the phone!"

"I saw a lot of solid individual performances today," Coran explained, "but you're still struggling to work as a team. So welcome to the final bonding exercise of the day." He smirked.

Lance looked around, checking to see if anyone was on board with this. It was so unfair. Not even Shiro would take this, right? Would he?

Hunk tried to reach for his food, but Lance grunted when he was pulled to one side. He tried for the other, but Shiro's arm didn't budge. It was in that moment that Hunk understood this was not going to work.

"Coran," he warned, "I want you to think about what you're doing."

"This one's a classic," the red-head remarked. "You get to feed each other like baby penguins!"

The teens groaned in complaint, looking at each other with common emotion. Even Shiro looked defeated, unwilling to accept this as a training exercise.

They still tried, though with heavy hearts. Lance refused to do anything for Keith, and mullet head accepted it. He tried to work with Pidge and they left their hands alone.

Hunk tried to use Lance's arm again, and the selkie pulled back automatically.

"Ow!" He shouted.

"Sorry," Lance huffed, allowing him to take his arm again. It almost seemed to work when Hunk and Lance managed a scoop, but as Hunk brought the spork to his mouth, Lance's hand landed in his mouth beforehand. Hunk bit his finger.

"Hunk!" Lance complained, pulling back his hand. The forced made Hunk's spork fling the goop to the other side of the table, where it landed on the floor.

Deciding to try again, Hunk dragged his arm again. He almost dragged all of Lance, in fact, so the selkie brought his other hand forward to avoid falling off his seat.

Keith's hand landed on his plate of fish food.

Lance didn't really want it, but he still jeered on the basis that it was Kogane's hand.

"Oh, nice. You defiled my fish food!"

"It's your fault!" Keith yelled. "This is ridiculous," he referred to their shackles. Like Lance didn't know.

Allura, who had been eating at the shorter edge of the table with disapproval written on her face for a while now, growled quietly and set down her spork. She looked at them with a tired demeanor. "Do humans ever stop complaining?" she asked.

"Can't you just give us a break?" Shiro asked. "Everyone' been working really hard today." For once, it sounded like he was straining to keep the conversation friendly. Finally, their leader was talking back to the sergeant! Did that mean the teenager were also allowed to talk? Because Lance had a lot of questions.

"Yeah!" Keith stood up. "We're not some prisoners for you to toy with like…like—"

"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!" Lance finished, raising his fist in the air. Their fists. In the water. Raising their fists in the water.

"Yes! Thank you, Lance."

What were teammates for, if not to overthrow a sadistic princess (no matter how beautiful)?

"You do not yell at the Princess!" Coran yelled.

"Oh, the princess of what?" Pidge asked loudly. This entire conversation was rather loud. "We're the only ones out here, and she's no princess of ours!"

Green goop smashed directly into Pidge's face. Lance turned in Allura's direction to find still aiming her fork at his crewmate. Must have struck a nerve, he thought. Good.

"Go loose, Pidge!" Keith exclaimed, and he grabbed his own bowl. He threw it at the princess.

Allura gasped and covered herself with her arms, but the plate of food floated to her gently, even as Coran swam to slam it away. Coran's quick movement caused the plate and food to float away.

So peaceful.

"Water physics," Lance groaned. "They have magic."

Coran seemed at a loss to do, but he spotted the spoonful of goop he had in his left hand and shrugged. The mischievous glint in his eye was the last thing they saw before the goop landed on all their faces.

Hunk shook the food from his face and gave the Ysian a resentful smile. "Oh, it's on now."

"We need to get closer," Pidge declared.

"Everyone," Shiro took command, "grab your plate."

What followed was an onslaught of green goop and yelling from both humans and sea creatures. The shackled teammates threw themselves at the Ysians. Though they could swim away, the mermaids could not escape for long.

The yelling was soon replaced with laughter as the chase continued, and even when the fish food hit Keith's head, Lance was more focused on landing a handful on Coran to laugh about it. It was Keith who helped him land the final blow.

When there was goop everywhere except the plates, Allura and Coran timed out with heavy breathes. Lance and the humans looked around themselves before bursting out into laughter. The mess hadn't been restricted to them or the table. The entire room was covered in goop, either from crashes into the wall or missed throws from the mermaids.

"Enough!" Allura yelled, breaking them out of their amusement. "Do you see what you're doing?"

They stared at her, ready for a lashing of a lifetime.

"You're finally working together as one!" Allura grinned with pride, covered in goop. It took Lance a moment to blink away her smile.

"Hey," Keith turned to Lance, "she's right."

Lance thought for a moment, wanting to contradict him, but, "I actually don't hate you right now."

They grinned at each other. Blue hadn't even had to intervene. Hunk shoved himself into Lance, speaking to all three teens. "You guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Let's go form Voltron!" Shiro finished.

"Yeah!"

"Actually, I was thinking dessert," Hunk added, "but yeah! Let's do it!"

He lifted his arms, dragging everyone else's shackles along. They tipped over with him and dragged him backwards, causing all five of them to lose their footing.

"Can we get the shackles off first?"

"Everyone ready to do this?" Shiro asked.

"Roger that!" Pidge answered.

"It's on," Lance agreed.

"Yes, sir," Keith answered.

"I was born ready!" Hunk exclaimed.

The Black dolphin let out a loud chortle, and Lance resonated with it just as Blue did. They all did.

"Then let's go!" yelled Shiro.

"Yeah!"

What followed was a lot less harrowing than fighting sea creatures underwater. However, it had the same effect. They formed Voltron.

"Man, that was cool!" Lance exclaimed. "I'm so charged up, I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight." He dropped into the couch.

They were gathered in the same resting area they'd hidden in earlier in the day.

"Not me," Keith said with a smile. "When my head hits the pillow, I'm going to be light. Out."

"I just want you to know," Hunk approached them with the same enthusiasm, sinking himself into the spot between them, "that I realized when we were in Voltron," he hugged the other two into him, "we're brothers man!"

Lance grinned, raising a brow.

"Like, we're totally connected," Hunk continued. "No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. Brother's, all the way. I love you guys." He looked like he was about to cry.

"G-forces mess with your head a little bit?" Keith asked, but there's an easy smile on his lips.

"Yeah, maybe a little. I don't know. It's been a tough few days."

Lance frowned. When Keith stood up and hopped off the couch, Lance bumped Hunk's shoulder with his.

"I'm still your favorite brother though, right?"

"Pssht, duh."

They grinned at each other. Lance said, "Hey, let's have a sleepover."

Hunk stared at him for a moment. "Lance, we live in the same castle."

"But it's been so long since we roomed together," he whined.

"We were roommates at the Garrison!" Hunk exclaimed, but they burst out laughing soon enough. "Alright, but you should actually get to sleep. You've looked tired all day, I'm afraid you're gonna collapse."

"Me?" Lance scoffed. Hunk pushed him to the side lightly. Lance tipped over a little too quickly. "Hey!"

"See. Falling over already. Come on," Hunk said in a motherly voice. "Let's put you to bed."

They entered Hunk's room and the first thing Lance noticed was that it looked exactly like his room. But more yellow.

Lance made himself at home fast enough. He cannonballed into Hunk's bed, messing up the already messy covers. He rolled around until they'd fallen to the floor. Then he leaned over the edge to look under the bed.

"You're already looking for my stuff?" Hunk chuckled when he noticed. "Good luck. We haven't been here long enough. Besides, under the bed's just lame."

Lance stuck out his tongue at the empty space under the bed. "You hide things under your bed all the time."

"Yeah, from myself. Outta sight, outta mind." Hunk cannonballed into the bed too, throwing Lance upwards.

Lance turned over in the water, letting his head fall when his back landed on the bed. The door was upside down.

"These beds are big," he said, suddenly sleepy.

Hunk hummed. "You going to sleep in the uniform?" he asked drowsily. He had changed into his own yellow pajamas.

"Oh, sweet, we get PJs?" Lance asked, lifting Hunk's sleeve with a finger. Nice and silky.

Hunk blinked himself a little more awake. "Yeah, dude. We got a whole wardrobe, I thought you would've already looked through your closet."

"Let me get a peek of yours." Lance pushed himself to the other side of the room, opening a wardrobe closet excitedly. Formal, casual, Hunk's clothes, another formal outfit. It looked awesome, though most outfits lacked pants.

"We got dolphin slippers too," Hunk added, watching Lance moon over his clothes. "I thought you checked your room out last night. Do you think you sleepwalked?"

Lance shrugged. "Maybe, I don't know. Hey, you have another set of pajamas!" He wasted no time in changing. "Do you think mermaids have to shower?" he asked, putting on Hunk's pants. He hadn't before, but there was something less breathable about the waters his family had lived in.

"Don't ask that while you put on my clothes!" Hunk groaned into his pillow. "Now all I'm going to think about is my dirty PJs because Lance wore them without showering."

Lance threw one of his gloved at him. "You haven't showered either!"

They bantered a while more before letting themselves fall asleep. It might have been a picture-perfect evening, but there was something missing that Lance would never quite recover.