Hello, Voltron fans. Damn these plot bunnies! They really do take over your life until you let them free.

This story is a bunch of one-shots set in-between episodes and other little inserts for the new Voltron: Legendary Defender series. As always, the central characters are Keith and Allura. Most background info for the characters are purely my own daydreams, conjecture, and ideas from reading way too many Reddit posts/discussions.

These stories build off the events of Left Behind, my submission for the KAEX challenge in the first/pilot episode. You don't need to read it to get what is going on, but as a shameless plug, totally take a look!

Ch1: Useless

Takes place during episode 5, aka "Fall of the Castle of Lions" where they host the Arusians in the castle, Pidge was going to leave, and the Galra take over the castle. The story starts just as Keith and Allura are trapped outside the castle and before they make contact with Pidge about sabotaging the main engines.

He needed to get in there. Pounding his fists against the barrier surrounding the castle, he felt utterly useless. Not to mention embarrassed that the Galra forces had divided them so easily.

'Rookie move Keith, just great. Now Shiro and the others are in there, and you can't help anyone!' He internally degraded himself. 'You've been acting off from the beginning of this little venture, and it's going to get you killed… worse, it will get them killed.'

Trying to quell the rage inside at being outsmarted by their adversaries, Keith took a deep breath. Letting it out, he decided it best to accept that they couldn't do anything, but it only made him more angered after hearing the Princess confirm it. Smashing his fist once more to the force field separating them from their friends, he took a step back.

"It's no good," her voice came from his side. "We can't get through that shield. We'll have to hope that Pidge and Shiro can stop whoever is attacking."

"Oh, we know who is attacking." Keith let out another shaky breath. 'Calm and controlled,' he repeated inside, needing to get a better handle on himself. He would do no one any good if he lost it now.

"That we do, and while we can't do much, I know our friends inside can."

The two stood in silence for a time, both looking up at the orb that surrounding the castle. Gazing away from the purplish hue, he watched as Allura scanned the barrier as if looking for something.

Keith had to admit she was physically attractive. Her lithe form had caught his attention several times since their initial meeting. The thing was, he didn't really register it until their conversation on the bridge of the ship. Now it bombarded him at the most inopportune moments... when they first met the Arusian warrior in front of the castle he went into overdrive wanting to keep her safe... watching her play with the villagers while he rested against the tree... and now as she remained determined and tried to find a way into her castle.

She shared a connection with him, one that went beyond troubled childhoods or feelings of abandonment. It remained difficult for him to explain fully to himself, let alone voice it out loud for anyone else.

When near her, Keith felt things. Emotions he hoped never to experience. They were too dangerous to do so.

Studying her face as she concentrated, he noticed the little quirks of her silver eyebrows and long dark lashes. Her deep blue eyes and tanned skin matched well with the pink accents high on her cheekbones. And with the pointed ears and royal circlet, she resembled the fantasy elven people he remembered from childhood stories. How many of those books had he read as a child to try and escape his life? And here he had one right before his eyes.

Shaking his head he tried to clear the thoughts from his mind. Once more he berated himself for not staying serious and in the moment.

'It's no wonder Shiro worries about me so much; I get distracted by a pair of beautiful lips and eyes.'

The thoughts then turned to her personality; aside from her feminine curves, she held that spark that demanded his attention. She was kind, funny even at times, but then she could be demanding and courageous. He could see the natural leader qualities that she possessed; ones that he had yet to learn.

"How do you always stay so positive?" He asked before even realizing he let the words escape his lips.

"Huh?" She turned her eyes away from the castle and towards the man who stood next to her.

The bits of his wild hair stuck out of his helmet, causing her to blush slightly at the stray thought of brushing it out of his eyes. Thankfully, he didn't appear to notice her momentary daydream as he looked away and back to the castle.

"You're always so positive. You have more excuse to be negative than any of us and yet… you always believe in people."

"Ah, well, at times it is hard," she began watching his face almost soften at her words. Keith Kogane, of all the paladins that came from Earth, he alone posed the biggest mystery to her. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge didn't seem to hold back as Keith or Shiro did.

Shiro, while quite secretive and troubled himself, did not demand her attention as the younger of the two. In Shiro, she saw the leader qualities and caring for his team. He was a great teacher and leader despite the events of the past year that seemed to trouble him at times. Unlike Shiro, Keith's qualities had yet to mature fully. And there was something else that drew her to the pilot of Red Lion.

'He has much potential, if able to keep that inner rage in check,' she thought, 'so much like father had said of the Red Lion.'

"I find it better not to let the things I cannot change bog me down."

Keith nodded, taking in her words.

"And I truly believe that you all found Blue Lion and came here for a reason. You are the paladins chosen by Voltron."

The scoff that came from his lips had her quirking an eyebrow, confused by the reaction.

"Chosen ones," Keith turned to look at her in the eyes. "And some chosen ones we turned out to be," looking from her to their desired destination.

"Pidge and Shiro will come through… they have to."

Keith felt bad adding to her worry. A spike of emotion in his gut told him to make it better, somehow take her mind off the bleak situation.

"I guess being a chosen one is much better than being considered crazy." He chuckled turning away from the barrier. Taking a few steps away from her, he looked out on the view of the planet Arus. "You know, before finding the Blue Lion, I started getting this feeling about searching for something. Now that I think about it I have always felt a little off. And I guess it only grew stronger as I got older... after Shiro left. I don't know… it caused a lot of issues to come to ahead… especially with the Garrison and accepting their version of things." Keith rubbed the back of his neck feeling a bit frustrated even talking about the inner voices that often arose. He didn't know why he was even telling her this. It wasn't something he normally discussed.

"Keith, fate and destiny are hard to explain. I understand that more than most. And I did mean what I said before; I'm here for you… for all of you." Allura once more took a tentative step closer to the troubled paladin.

"I appreciate that Princess. Shiro is always reminding me I'm not in this alone, but at times, it is hard to see that."

"Does that have anything to do with your reaction to Pidge's announcement on leaving?"

"That…" Keith sighed and gave her a look of contrition, knowing he went too far verbally attacking Pidge and even Hunk for their desire to see their families.

"I guess it is much harder to miss something you barely remember." He admitted. "I just know how it feels to have your world destroyed… well, not literally, but enough to know that Zarkon needs to be stopped. I shouldn't have lost my cool earlier. I hope that Pidge is ok in there."

As the conversation turned particularly interesting to her, with Keith on the verge of opening up, their attention quickly turned to the whispered voice in their communicators.

"Pidge? Pidge is that you?"

And we all know how the episode ended from there - Thanks for reading, and I'll see you when the plot bunnies are satisfied with the second chapter!