So yes, this final chapter has been a very long time coming. Apparently having no life outside of a drama production puts my motivation through the grinder. However, that just means more whump for you guys J Enjoy!

It was peaceful that morning, and Hunk was almost fooled into thinking that he was waking up in his own apartment. The soft breeze from the bay rode into the room, and the airy sheet tucked over him was extremely comfortable. But what tipped him off was the hard feeling of the floor underneath of them, and what made his eyes snap open was the godawful sound of Pidge cracking her back.

"Christ, Pidge, did you break anything while doing that?" Hunk grumbled. He flinched when she cracked her ankles.

"Nah. I'm good."

Hunk waited for Shiro to step in and start mothering Pidge, but it didn't come. Hunk raised his head, scooting around Lance's med pod to look, but – "Where's Shiro?"

Pidge frowned, looking at the neatly folded blanket where Shiro had been the night before. "Would you look at that."

"He should start a disappearance act." Keith sat up, rubbing his eyes. "He's very good at it."

Pidge hissed, and Hunk groaned. Galra Keith's jokes are gonna kill us.

Hunk looked around. "In all seriousness, though, where the heck is he?"

Systems Online.

Initiating startup.

Awaiting permission to continue AI startup protocol.

Stop.

Permission denied.

Awaiting permission to continue AI startup protocol.

Stop.

Force shut down by external entity.

Systems Going Offline.

Finding Shiro was difficult. Since the villa didn't have the same internal tracking abilities that the Castle of Lions had, they had to search for him the old fashioned way. They considered checking in the kitchen again, but decided against it, as while they were exiting the Physician's Hall, they ran into Ti Reen once again.

Restful sleep? They asked the Paladins.

"Wonderful, thanks." Hunk replied. He rubbed the back of his neck. "The bedding's all together by Lance's pod. We'll clean it up after."

Ti Reen waved one arm slightly while the others wove together to speak. No need. I clean today anyways. They made a clicking sound – laughter – one of the few sounds they could make. I know you three do not like to clean.

"Got us there." Pidge grinned sheepishly. She looked around for a moment. "Have you seen Shiro? Or where he went?"

Ti Reen huffed in amusement, pointing with one of his upper arms towards the main corridor. Yes. I believe he went to the west wing.

The hangar? Hunk shared a look with Keith.

Keith nodded.

"Thank you, Ti Reen."

The assistant waved lazily as the trio all but bolted out the door, down the corridor.

Running across the villa took about two minutes, and nothing was said between the three of them. Hunk's mind was racing. Shiro is definitely in the hangar… but what is he doing? Maybe asking Black for advice?

Finally they came to the short stairwell, and the door beyond.

It took a moment, but Hunk spotted the unmistakable Black Paladin meditating in front of the Black and Blue lions. His head was bowed, and his hands were resting on his knees. The trio crept up behind him, then all settled in a small semi-circle around him. Pidge opted to sprawl out on her back while Keith and Hunk sat crosslegged.

Hunk could tell from his facial expression that he was not in his own body. He was immersed in a meld with Black.

So he definitely was talking to her. It could take a while, Hunk speculated. Anywhere from one to four hours could be expected. Just as the usual mind meld was unreliable timewise at best, the mind meld that was held by the lions was also messed up when it came to time. "This will take a while." He sighed.

"I strongly advise against this course of action."

"I understand your hesitancy." Shiro stood before the Black Lion, small, humble, like a child. She was in a smaller form today, opting to resemble a flesh and blood lioness with shimmering black fur. 'Smaller', however, was relative. Shiro in all of his height wasn't taller than her chest.

She eyed him, ears flicked back. Her yellow eyes bore into him, unimpressed. "But you request that I release the Blue Lion."

"Yes."

"Are you sure this is the best way, my Paladin?"

"The Blue Lion is ready to come back. Her Paladin also."

"You sound confident, yet I sense that you feel ill prepared."

"It would be out of our hands as soon as Blue wakes up–" he laughed weakly "–it's only human for me to worry."

The Black Lion chuffed. "Only human. Of course."

"Yes."

"And why take the risk?"

"If we were worried about risk we never would have left Arus."

She sighed and turned her head, and Shiro followed her gaze. His eyes rested on the form that was laid on its side. If he looked at it from one way, it took the form of a lion like Black, but from a different angle it shimmered into a creature with wispy tendrils that floated in the air, and yet on another angle it looked like a spike of ice.

"Under your request I have contained the Blue Lion." Black's golden gaze slid back to Shiro, meeting his eyes. "And by your request, I will relinquish my hold."

Shiro sighed in relief. "Thank you." He sent her strong feelings of gratitude, and he could feel her take them, and hold them gingerly within her own consciousness.

She couldn't smile as a lion, but Shiro felt her grant one to him through their bond. "You will soon see the Blue Paladin. Now go."

Pidge grumbled, flipping onto her back for the third time. She knew that the Black Lion took her sweet time in mind melds with Shiro. She knew that Black was uptight and did not like to take risks. But Pidge also knew that Black was extremely fond of Shiro (okay, Green told her that one) and was likely to bend to his request.

She checked her ticker, groaning about the time. Midday. Pidge groaned, keeling over. So much waiting – they weren't getting a thing done at this rate!

She checked Shiro's posture again. He showed no sign of wavering from his perfect form of meditation. Pidge squinted. His face was still - wait.

Yes. His eyebrow twitched.

Pidge flipped over again and crawled up to Shiro, her face mere inches away from his. Hunk lifted his head in concern, about to say something, but decided against it.

He was expecting, and wasn't surprised, the moment that Shiro's eyes flew open.

The Black Paladin made a noise of astonishment, falling backwards onto his elbows, and Pidge awkwardly flailed away. "You're awake?"

Shiro panted for a moment, reeling from the surprise. "I am now."

"Oh good." Keith said, straightening out his legs. "You can tell us what's up then. The lions are all quiet, and you left us at Lance's pod without saying a thing."

Shiro stood with a grunt, and the rest of the team followed suit. "Sorry about that." He looked up at the Black Lion. "I woke up this morning and it just… came to me… the entire time, the most important player was being kept out of the equation was being swept under the rug."

Keith's eyebrows furrowed. "We took everything into consideration."

"Wait-" Pidge stopped him. "-We… just thought wrong."

There was a moment, but Hunk broke the silence.

"Blue."

"Exactly." Shiro said. "We helped him come back a lot, especially you three - I can hardly take credit – but the one Lance needs most is the one that has the strongest physiological connection with him: Blue."

"How did I miss – how could I not realise that?" Pidge deflated visibly, groaning. Her hands went into her hair and grabbed tufts of it to pull at. "Hunk, slap me, I have done the unforgivable."

Hunk resisted, despite Pidge falling directly face first into his upheld palms with a pitiful muffled scream. "Pidge, no, we're friends." He collected her, grabbing her shoulders. "Blue wasn't doing well after her first time reaching out to Lance. There was nothing you could've done until now."

Pidge went boneless when Hunk released her, falling forward. Her face planted directly into his shoulder, groaning.

Hunk patted her back, and when he spoke, Pidge felt the vibrations of his voice through his chest against her cheek. "So Blue is free now, Shiro?"

"All we need to do is put that keystone component you guys were talking about in, and Black will ease off. Pidge, we need you to do that for us."

Pidge peeled herself off of Hunk, brushing her hair back confidently. "It will only take a minute." She promptly turned on her heel, then bolted off, her earlier floppiness completely forgotten. The scaffolding that stretched up Blue's shoulder seemed like an endless climb, and she nearly slipped on the lion's neck when she scrambled up the back of the head. Hunk shouted when she lost her footing, and she flashed him an impish grin.

The men stayed a good distance away on the ground, probably wary of what Blue might do when she comes back online.

Pidge pried up the hatch and dropped into Blue's cockpit, which was lit a faint turquoise that came in pulsating waves from the displays and panel lighting, almost like a heartbeat.

She avoided instinctively sitting in the pilot's chair as she pulled closer to the dashboard, where there was a tiny panel that had been kept open, specifically for this occasion. They hadn't been able to install a switch, because Blue easily could override that – they had had to keep two circuits completely separated.

Pidge's hand hovered over the wires, her mind was buzzing. The presence of the lions had surged forward after Shiro's audience with Black and she could feel Green rubbing against her conscious like a cat. Yellow and Red were off in the background with Hunk and Keith, but their manifestations were heavy enough around her as well. Black felt like a mountain in the distance, only a thin thread of herself extended out to Shiro, and the rest was smothering a faint whisper of Blue.

Green's conscience warmed, spurring Pidge on with friendly encouragement. We are ready. She seemed to say.

In one swift moment, Pidge cinched the circuits together, the clips snapping loudly.

Black's presence shifted, and in a split second, the lion around Pidge hummed to life, light filling the cockpit, holodisplays flickering into existence and rolling through the startup protocol excitedly. The new cockpit around Pidge thrummed with energy, and she heard Blue's pleased purr rumble through the hangar. Keith and Hunk shouted excitedly.

A warm feeling bloomed in Pidge's chest. She patted the dashboard. "Bring him home, girl."

Lance sat on the floor of his room, staring into his mirror. Whenever he lifted his hand or tilted his head, the man in the mirror copied him. No, that's me. He constantly had to remind himself. Even though he knew it was him, it still felt strange and unnatural.

The rest of the house was silent, something that reminded him that this really wasn't home – until he heard something very, very faint.

Humming.

Lance bolted up and out into the hallway, clutching the doorframe. "Mama?" He called out. The humming suddenly cut off in surprise. I wasn't imagining it! Lance took off down the hall, heart pounding. "Mama?!" He swung down the stairs.

Nobody in the hall.

Nobody in the kitchen.

He turned to look in the living room across the hall.

"You're not my Mama."

The woman on the couch perked up her ears. Like, ears. The woman had flicking cat ears that peaked out from her enormous mane of tawny hair. She sat straight backed on the edge of the cushion, her dress smoothed out over her knees.

"Definitely not my Mama."

She stood fluidly and smiled, electric blue eyes crinkling at the edges. "No, definitely not."

Lance's face split into a smile as well. "Blue."

Before he even knew it, Lance had crossed the room and found himself enveloped in her arms. She tucked his head under her chin and held him tightly. She squeezed him like she was scared he'd disappear, whispering into his hair. "My Paladin."

Lance hugged her tightly back, breathing her presence in. His fists bunched up the fabric of the back of her dress. Her presence washed over him, calming anxieties, warming him to the core. The thin coat of fur on her collarbone ticked his face, but he didn't care. It felt euphoric to have Blue close to him like this in his mind. He had never seen her in this form before, and even though she could take on any form imaginable, she always felt the same. This was his Blue.

"My sweet, sweet, child." She said, voice comfortingly low. She nuzzled the top of his head. "How I missed you."

"I missed you too…" he choked out. Tears welled in his eyes, wetting Blue's fur. He realised what he was doing and pulled back, wiping his eyes with his hand. "Sorry."

Blue's brows had been drawn together in confusion when he had pulled away, but her expression now softened, and her hands raised to card gently through his hair. "Shhhhh," she calmed him. "All is well."

"No, no," He said, "I hurt you so bad, Blue! You were only trying to help me but I just pushed you away and Hunk told me you were shut down by Black and –"

"Shhhh," Blue said again, holding him close to her chest once more. "Do not let these things trouble you anymore, love. We now are together again, are we not?" Lance hesitated, then quietly agreed, nodding into her fur. It was growing extremely damp now, thanks to him, but Blue didn't seem to mind. "My corporeal form is whole once more, thanks to the efforts of the Green and Yellow Paladins. Your body is whole as well, I believe."

He nodded. Hunk had told him.

"But you are not ready to return yet, I sense."

The Blue Paladin stiffened, ceasing his breathing. After a moment of hesitation, he exhaled, peeling himself from Blue so he could look her in the yes. "I wanna go back, to be with the others. I really do. But… I don't… I don't think I'm ready."

Blue observed him carefully, hands cupping his face with care. "That is understandable. You have been through much, and that is nothing to take lightly. Taking your time is… only human."

Lance gave a small noncommittal laugh, shrugging. "I guess that's how to describe it."

"We can rest. I can stay with you until you are ready to return to the real world." Blue led him to the couch she had sat on earlier, the one that had the stain on the backrest, and the burned foam on the underside of the cushion from the time he and Mia had made a pillow fort and used a bare lamp as a support. Lance settled next to Blue quietly, his head resting on her shoulder.

"I like this."

Back already? Ti Reen chirred. They observed the four paladins that were coming back into the Physician's Hall. They were carrying a large pile of curtains in their lower set of arms, taken down from the north end of the hall for washing.

Pidge smiled winningly. "Well, the Villa is only moderately huge, so it wasn't too hard to find Shiro." Shiro waved sheepishly, smiling weakly behind her.

Four hours? Ti Reen's one eyebrow shifted far up in surprise.

"You make it sound like we could've gone faster!"

"We also stopped for a snack break in the parlour!" Hunk added on quickly, hanging an arm around Pidge's shoulders awkwardly.

Ti Reen waved their free hand, rolling their eyes knowingly. It's good that you are back. They signed. I take you up on your offer to help clean.

Keith groaned quietly, but Hunk just shrugged and smiled weakly. "Why not?"

Then you can clean the rest for me. Ti Reen swept past them with a knowing look in their eyes, leaving the Physician's Hall. They weren't capable of winking, but if they were, Hunk was sure that they would take the opportunity to do it.

Pidge made an immediate beeline for the pods, much like the day before. The rest of them weren't ten feet away before Pidge groaned and started hitting her forehead against the pod barrier. "For heck's sake-"whack "-why can't he just hecking-" whack "-wake the heck up?!" WHACK!

"I take it he's still under," Shiro said. He strode up behind her, taking Pidge by the shoulders and removing her from head-hitting distance of the pod. Lance, under the tinted barrier, still didn't move.

"Yesssssssssssss." She groaned.

"Take a step back," Shiro coaxed, pivoting her away from the pod. "Come on. He'll come out when he's done talking to Blue. In the meanwhile, we can do those chores Ti Reen asked us to do."

It was a good idea, to busy themselves with menial tasks until Lance came back, Hunk figured. Pidge bitched for a bit, but Hunk happily set to work. It would all be okay soon, and that was enough.

Lance grit his teeth as Voltron scattered, sending Blue rocketing into the side of a towering sand dune. Voltron as a whole wasn't doing too hot on the desert planet of Kurtan, but Blue was responding slowly and struggled with the sandy terrain.

Hunk had been covering his ass the entirety of the fight, as Yellow was totally in her element.

But the robeast was as well.

It was a giant scaly behemoth that sluiced through the sand like it was water; its cries were strong enough to split rock and cause Voltron to shatter back into individual lions.

The beast dove headfirst back into the sand, throwing the terrain once more to heave like a storming sea. Blue strained to escape the tumultuous landscape, repeatedly bashed by flying walls of sand. Lance threw his weight fully into the thruster, yelling for her to just GO! Come on!

Blue's entire frame squealed from the strain, but Lance kept pushing. He couldn't drag the others down just because of an elemental drawback. Sure, Kurtan was only ten percent water, but he knew Blue could as least help.

Through a narrow slot, Blue was able to shoot up into the air to reconvene with the other Paladins.

"So Voltron definitely doesn't work on this one," Shiro speculated. "Sorry, everyone. Apparently third time isn't the charm."

"I say we leave this guy alone now." Hunk suggested. "No inhabitants anyways – can we just leave the robeast to its sandbox? Not like it can leave."

"Not an option." Shiro replied.

Lance sighed in exhaustion. The Alliance Council wanted this planet to build a new communications base. In order for that to happen, the death lizard kind of had to vamoose. And since Death Lizard most likely had been dumped on the planet as a failed experiment from Haggar, it was even more of a wildcard. The Council wanted it gone, so it had to go, because space democracy.

The Lions hovered warily over the sand, which had settled down.

The robeast had done this before – it buried itself and then came up out of the sand like a monstrous jack-in-the-box.

Lance breathed deeply, trying to clear his head.

Blue rumbled somewhere deep in her inner workings, emanating feelings of unease that flooded into Lance and made his head feel light. "Just hang in there, beautiful." He tried to calm her, patting her controls.

"Guys," Pidge said, "the robeast isn't showing on any scanners."

"What?!" Hunk squeaked.

"It's completely gone – it's not on any of my radars." Pidge said. "It's like it fell off the map…"

"This isn't some videogame, Pidge," Shiro said. "It had to have gone somewhere."

"Probably realized how strong we are and ran for the hills!" Lance laughed. He tried to keep the waver out of his voice. The others couldn't know how vulnerable he and Blue were like this.

"Unlikely, sorry Lance." Shiro moved Black upwards. "Alright team, let's split up and cover some ground. That robeast has to be somewhere around here. Pidge, you go north. Hunk: west. Lance – Lance look out!"

Lance suddenly was thrown forward in the cockpit, head smashing the dash.

Blue swung wildly in the air, her alarms screeching in Lance's ears as he was flung across the cockpit in a horrifying jolt.

Everybody was yelling over the comms, but Lance couldn't hear them over the ringing in his head and Blue's refrain of Danger! Danger! Halfway through pulling himself off the floor, Blue gave him her eyes.

The robeast had speared straight up and had clipped her flank with its maw. Now it was rounding back, coming right for – Blue barreled off to the side to evade, but those enormous jaws snapped closed right on top of Blue's head.

Enormous rows of teeth ground over the top of Blue's cockpit. The metal squealed as it was torn back like tissue paper. The chassis shuddered. Lance could hear his friends more clearly through his bleary ears, calling for him. Yelling. Screaming.

Suddenly Lance snapped back, and the first thing to escape his mouth was a terrified yell. Blue kicked wildly in the beast's hold. She was panicking. Lance was panicking.

"Guys!" He cried out. Blue's screens sparked, disappearing when the cockpit jolted again. His screens where gone. "Guys!"

No no no no no no!

With the last winking connection with Blue, Lance knew that the cockpit had torn free from Blue, pulled out by twisting appendages that ripped through Blue's armor.

Everything went black.

Lance seized up, feet knocking each other and his head jolting from its position on Blue's lap. He was breathing heavily, sides heaving. Blue made calming noises, dabbing away the cold sweat from his forehead.

He was scrunching her dress again. He quickly released his white-knuckle hold on the silk. "I'm sorry."

"You mustn't apologise." Blue said gently.

She combed her fingers through his hair again slowly, waiting until his heart slowed to a regular pace. "You dreamed about our separation."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement. Of course she knew. They were in the mind meld. That, and their minds were inextricably linked through some weird Altean scientific magic. There was no point in lying to her.

"Yah."

"You mustn't blame yourself. It just wasn't our day."

"Heh. We've had better." Lance said. He wearily sat up, straightening out his own t-shirt, then the rumples he had put in Blue's dress. Blue steadied him upright, watching him carefully. "But I'm going to get better."

"So then you're ready to go back?"

Lance startled. "No… I thought we were going to do that here. I mean, Hunk never said where it was going to happen, but I thought it was going to be here."

"You can only go so far within the confines of your own mind, Lance."

"I guess you're right."

Blue brought her hands up to his face to cup it. "There you go. We've all missed you greatly." He leaned into her touch, closing his eyes. "Let's go home."

Lance nodded. It was now or never. He stood slowly, ignoring the slight vertigo he was feeling. "Yah. Let's go."

It was almost dreamlike.

Through the doorway. Into the hallway. Into the foyer. Blue took his coat off the rack, then helped Lance put it on. One arm. Two arms. She gently guided him through it all, encouraging him in every small action. Her presence soothed every nerve over like honey.

Everything was calm until…

The door.

Lance stood before it, everything suddenly clear and sharp edged. He froze completely, his mental process stalled.

Blue's hand touched on his shoulder. "What's wrong, love?"

Lance looked to her hesitantly. "I just… what if I can't get better?"

Her reassuring smile was warmer than the sun. "You will, child. If not today, then tomorrow. And I will be with you through it all."

"Together?"

"Together."

Her hand lifted his over the handle of the door, and with a soft push, it opened.

Hunk was relieved when Eurelle came into the Physician's Hall. Her nose was buried in the handheld she was carrying, and her pace was brisk, but her very presence made everyone drop the anxious air that was taut between them all.

Being disappointed once again at Lance's podside, they had all, defeated, went about the task of cleaning that Ti Reen had graciously given them. Shiro and Keith had taken down the rest of the curtains and piled them in a laundry bin, then went to work stripping the beds. Keith was trying his hand at fixing the frame of one of the beds. He was currently on the floor.

Pidge was cleaning the empty medical pods, using that as an excuse to periodically check on Lance's stats. And Hunk was sweeping out the corners of the room, collecting the Boan Ten leaves that had fallen into the hall and dumping them back out the window.

It had been an hour, but Hunk's count, which wasn't too bad. Shiro had always been good at waiting. However, it was absolutely killing Pidge and Keith.

She greeted all of them without looking up from whatever she was reading; stepping over Keith on the floor like it was an obstacle she went over every day. She only looked up once she reached Lance's pod.

"Have any of you been tinkering with the controls on Paladin Lance's pod?"

"What?" Pidge's face screwed up comically. God I wish was written all over her face.

"I received alerts that Paladin Lance's vitals were changing."

Pidge darted out from the pod she was cleaning, dropping the tool. She went right up next to Eurelle, squishing against her. "Where? How?"

Eurelle side stepped, allowing Pidge to view the main screen. "He showed a spike in brain activity. A very sudden spike that settled, but is now steadily rising to normal levels."

Hearing that, everyone else shot up to the pod. Hunk stood directly in front of the barrier, scanning Lance's face for anything, anything, that gave away Lance being somewhere in there, coming back to them.

Keith shoved in beside Hunk, nose almost pressed against the barrier, he was so close. "So he's waking up?"

"That's what the readings are suggesting." Eurelle said hesitantly. "I don't want to poke around too much and ruin whatever he's doing… however, I can set the pod to automatically release when he's ready to come out."

Hunk shared a meaningful glance with Pidge. It was full of excitement and glee – he could swear he saw a little tear forming up in the corner of Pidge's eye.

This was what they had been working so hard for. This moment where Lance could finally come back to them all and their team and the hole that ached in all of them could be filled. There was a part of Hunk that felt like it was all too good to be true – the fact that their plan was actually working was impossible and Lance would just relapse and leave them all hanging again.

"He moved!" Keith burst out excitedly.

"Wait, what?" Hunk immediately cursed himself for not seeing it.

Shiro came in behind the two of them. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Keith huffed. His brows drew together in concentration as he looked harder at Lance. "The corner of his mouth. It twitched."

"Guys…" Pidge reached out her hand to tap Shiro's shoulder, suddenly her gentle touch turning into rapid succession of taps. "Guys, guys guys guys guys it's opening. The pod's opening!"

There was a soft puff of cold air that was released as the barrier dissolved in the breeze. A second puff came from Lance as he slowly listed forwards, eyes still sealed shut.

Hunk caught his friend, arms wrapping immediately around that skinny frame.

Lance's face was buried in Hunk's shoulder, breathing evening out into a long rattling exhale. His arms lifted shakily to hug Hunk back. His grip was pitiable, and God Hunk was ready to cry.

He felt Lance smile. "Hey guys."

Time for a heartfelt A/N!

So this story started out as my 2016 NaNoWriMo project, and I was pretty set on getting this out as my first ever NaNo fanfic. My only other Fanfic that has exceeded 50k took me over two years to write and was over 130k (which I gag at now and makes me cry to think how much time I wasted on that dumpster fire). This fic doesn't exactly make it over the 50k mark, but I've come to think of it as my last hurrah for fic writing in High School: having the plot outlined in October, and having the final chapter published the day before graduation.

I've had a lot of fun writing it, especially including some of the home life scenarios from the Paladins, because much of it is reminiscent of my own childhood. My mom banned cinnamon hearts from our church pew, but the most direct reference is the couch cushion mentioned in chapter 10 (my brother and I used a naked lamp as well, and didn't realise it had burned halfway through the foam until we smelled it… whoops…).

I also have all of you fine people to thank for this fic! The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and I appreciate each and every one of you guys that reviewed. I am but a simple whump farmer, and the feedback waters the whump crop. I nearly gave up on several occasions, but every time I felt shitty about this fic a new comment would pop up (are you guys psychics like holy shit).

Thanks so much for putting up with my shit,

PotatoBender 3