Lance's Gift

Pidge looked across the table and noticed Lance was barely touching his food. He barely took a nibble of the new dish Hunk created in the kitchen with Coran and for him to reject one of his dishes she knew something was wrong. But she didn't bring it up right away with everyone talking about their plans against one of Zarkon's ships they spotted heading towards a secret galactic hub.

"We'll have Lance and Hunk go out and create a distraction while Pidge disarms the outside barriers keeping the Castleship at bay." Shiro stated as he placed his helmet on the table, wiping the sweat from his brow and sighing heavily, "Keith and I will fight off any of the Galra lackeys that may try to pull a fast one. Allura will keep us updated on the situation with Coran here on the ship."

Keith raised his eyebrow at their leader, "And what're we going to do if things turn hot and heavy fast?"

"We'll fall back and reorganize our strategy before making another move." Allura replied simply as she loosened her bun, allowing her hair to fall upon her shoulders.

Hunk groaned, "Great. I LOVE being a distraction."

"Cheer up big guy, at least we'll be in and out before you know it with our luck." Lance reassured his best friend with his confidant smile.

Hunk snorted. "Yeah with our luck we'll have another Galra ship waiting just around the corner as we try to make our escape."

"How I love your optimism Hunk." Pidge sighed as she shook her head at her friend's talent to point out the worst possible situations that could happen.

Coran clapped his hands and smiled at his friends around the table. "I think we all need to take a breather and head to our bunks for the night. I'll be on the lookout for a while in the control room if you need me and everyone should get some sleep while they can. We got a nasty fight waiting for us and it would be wise to get our strength recharged."

"I'll be with Coran after I change, I need to go over the plans with Shiro if he isn't too tired to help me." Allura said as she glanced over at her Paladin.

Shiro smiled at her, "Sure. Just let me get changed and I'll meet you in the control room."

Hunk gave a monumental yawn and rubbed his eyes like a tired kitten. "I'm gonna take a cat nap if anything. I need to make some adjustments to my helmet and maybe work on my armor a little bit in my room."

Lance didn't say anything and Pidge's concern for him grew deeper. Keith simply stated he was going to take a nap like Coran suggested and left immediately after helping Hunk carry the dishes back to the Kitchen. Everyone went their separate ways and after she made sure nobody was around, Pidge headed off to Lance's room.

"What's wrong with Lance?" Pidge asked in her mind as she reached his door, gently knocking so only he could hear on the other side.

She heard him get up from his bed and when he opened up the door he had taken off his jacket and looked like he was in the process of getting into his pajamas. "Pidge? What're you doing here?"

"Thought I'd keep you company. Do you mind?" Pidge asked with a slight tilt of her head.

Lance shrugged his shoulders, "Not at all."

So Pidge walked in and sat down on his bed with him. Surprisingly he kept the room moderately clean. She noticed her green headphones on his desk and smiled at him, "So have those headphones helped at all?"

"Yup. Music helps me fall asleep and the stuff you have on it makes me sleep like a baby. " Lance answered as he stretched out his arms. "I was probably gonna take a cat nap like Hunk but I have a lot of things swirling in my brain right now."

Pidge's brow scrunched with concern. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"We can if you don't mind me talking your ear off."

"You always talk my ear off Lance."

The Blue Paladin chuckled, "Fair point. I was just thinking about Earth and how my family was doing back home."

"You miss them. I miss my family too...I sometimes wonder what my mother is doing back home and if she even knows something happened to me." Pidge replied as she took off her glasses and cleaned them. "I wonder if the Garrison made a public announcement declaring us missing."

Lance shook his head. "Knowing them they wouldn't say a word. Not after the whole fiasco with your brother and father going missing with Shiro. If the public knew we were missing then they'd have no choice but to shut down the cadet branch."

"That's true. I don't think they'd be willing to shut down a whole branch of new explorers just for our sake." Pidge agreed softly.

They were silent for a while until finally Lance leaned over and gazed into her eyes with deep affection. She blushed at his sudden close proximity to her face and before she could say anything, he reached for her glasses and took them off.

"Wh-what is it?"

"Nothing. I just think you look better without your glasses on."

His sudden compliment about her appearance completely threw Pidge off guard as she felt her face grow hotter and hotter to the point where she probably looked like a tomato. Lance used his left hand to gently brush aside some straying hairs from her face and smiled at her.

"Are these glasses your brothers?" He finally asked as he lifted them up to the light.

Pidge gulped and gave a small cough, "Yeah...I don't really need them because I can see just fine. But I wear them because they're my brothers."

"I understand that. I mean I wear my mom's necklace she gave me under my shirt even though I had to sneak it in the Garrison." Lance replied as he took out a small blue necklace from his shirt and lifted it for her to see. It was quite beautiful and she wondered if it was a birthday gift.

"It's beautiful Lance." Pidge complimented as she couldn't help but touch the small blue pendant with her small fingers.

After watching her for a few moments, he suddenly started to take the necklace off himself.

"What're you doing?"

"I want you to have this."

He brought the chain around Pidge's neck and hooked it in the back, allowing the small pendant to fall upon her chest with a shocked expression on the Green Paladin's face.

"Why're you giving this to me?"

"Because this is our promise. That you'll return this to me when we get back to earth." Lance stated simply as he couldn't help but put her glasses back on her face himself.

Pidge touched his hand with concern when he was pulling it away from her face. The way he said that sent off warning bells in her mind as she gazed into his eyes. What was going through his mind?

"We're going to get through this Lance. And when we do, we can finally go home. I promise you." Pidge whispered as she softly brought his hand to her lips and gently kissed it. Making Lance blush and look at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world.

After finally remembering how to speak, Lance smiled at Pidge and leaned his forehead against hers. "Thank you Pidge."

For the rest of their time together, Lance told Pidge about how his mother got the necklace she was wearing from his uncle as a birthday gift and how she gave it to him before he left to join the Garrison. Pidge told Lance about how she found Matt's spare pair of glasses and adjusted them so they wouldn't harm her eyesight as she wore them as a disguise and told him a little more about her family life before they met. All the while Lance's small gift was hanging around her neck as a silent promise of their return back home.