They looked like you.

It was a whisper Matt heard everywhere he went.

It started when there began to be rumors of Voltron's return.

Matt had been freed from Zarkon's prisons by a small group of rebels only about a month prior. He'd joined up with the group, helping out on their search-and-rescue missions. Most of the other rescues had left to find their ways home. But Matt had stuck around. "I don't know how to get home," he confessed to the group's director. "And besides; I can't go home without my father. He and my friend are still out here somewhere. I need to find them."

But then the refugees they encountered started talking about robotic lions and paladin knights. "It's Voltron," they said. "It must be!"

Matt had heard the stories. Of course he had. You don't live in a prison camp without hearing tales of the only thing capable of taking out your captor. But that's all they had been—stories. Stories that were passed down from generation to generation, originating from an ancient civilization that no longer existed (or, some say, never had). Stories meant to give the children living under Zarkon's rule some lingering sliver of hope. He'd never put any faith in them. Never given them a second thought.

So when the first refugees started talking of Voltron's return, he'd dismissed it. "A large robotic lion," they regaled. "I swear it's one from the legends!"

But the stories continued.

"Five lions, joining together to create one robotic knight, wielding a blazing sword," one said in awe. "I didn't think it could be true."

"They saved me," a child told him, not a week later. "They saved my whole planet."

"The Altean ship, straight from the ancient illustrations," murmured a village elder. "I almost didn't believe my eyes at first. But the Castle of Lions truly exists."

And Matt started to think that maybe—just maybe—they weren't entirely legends. Maybe there was some super-robot out there, fighting back against the Galra, against Zarkon.

And maybe they knew where he could find Shiro and his dad.

"I saw them," one alien was saying—a green figure, with a vaguely slug-like appearance, and eyes on the side of his head like a frog. "The Paladins."

"Who are they?" This was asked by a small blue femme creature, with piles of white hair.

"Unlike anyone I've ever seen." The green one shook his head, then looked askance at Matt. "They looked like you."

"What?" Matt asked, confused. "That's impossible. My species doesn't have the technology for intergalactic travel."

The green one shrugged. "I only know what I saw."

And the conversation stilled.

It was several weeks before Matt heard any more of the subject. They'd met with another ragtag band of rebels, working to discuss an alliance. And while their directors held conference, their bands mingled.

"They say one of the Paladins escaped from Zarkon's prisons," one of the other rebels was saying.

"I knew him," another one confirmed. "He fought in the arenas. They called him Champion."

He fought in the arenas.

Matt had frozen, his head racing. "Do you know his name?"

The alien shook his head. "Only Champion." He took another sip from his drink—some purple concoction they'd called nunvill. "Looked a bit like you, though. Where you from?"

"Far away," Matt replied. "There are very few of my kind out here. We…don't tend to leave our planet."

"Hm," the alien hummed. "Well, perhaps you should try reaching out to these Voltron folks. You may be closer to home than you realize."

Many quintants later, he encountered another group: a few rebels who had escaped or been freed from Galra clutches only to be captured again. Freed once more, they now sat in the infirmary of the rebel base Matt was staying at. He was there with them, bandaging a nasty burn one had on one of xir four arms.

The alien was watching him with a quizzical expression. "Have you heard of Voltron?"

Matt hesitated, then slowly resumed his work. "I've heard some stories," he replied.

"Ever meet the Paladins?"

Matt frowned. "No."

"Hm." Xe was still giving Matt that odd look, as though xe didn't quite believe what he was saying. "They looked like you. Never seen anyone quite like them before."

Matt paused, taking a deep breath. "Do you know their names?"

The alien shook xir head. "Never spoke to them." Xir piercing stare met Matt's eyes. "Anyone in particular?"

Matt sighed. "Just. Looking for someone."

And on the whispers went, They looked like you, following Matt wherever he went.

"The Green Paladin," the alien said, a hulking red figure, reptilian in appearance, with curling horns. "They looked like you."

"What was his name?" Matt asked, frantic excitement showing through his voice.

The alien shook their head. "I'm sorry; I do not know."

"Well, what did he look like?" Matt tried. "I mean, just beyond looking like me. Was he a bit taller? Dark hair?"

The alien was still shaking their head. "No, no. They looked like you. Like a copy. Smaller, though."

That froze Matt in his tracks. "That can't be right," he said softly. "No, no, I'm looking for Champion. I was told he was a Paladin?"

The alien furrowed their brow. "I know the one of whom you speak," they said. "You are asking for the Black Paladin. But, I tell you, you should seek out Green one. What you think you are searching for and what you are actually searching for may not always coincide."

It was a while before he got any real answers.

A few travelers, reaching out from their own planet in an attempt to re-establish intergalactic communications. "Our planet was recently liberated by Voltron," they told Matt. "We were enslaved by the Galra empire, but Voltron received our distress signal and came to our aid."

They were a lithe green people, with large eyes and leaf-like antennae. Olkari, Matt's superior had called them.

One of them cocked her head at Matt, assessing him. "Do you know them?"

Matt pursed his lips. "I don't know. I'd like to."

The Olkari hummed, as though nothing about his answer struck her as strange. "You resemble the Green Paladin a great deal."

Matt sighed. "So I've been told."

"The Green Paladin told me that she was searching for missing family members." Matt froze. "She said that her father and brother had been taken by Zarkon."

Matt's chest tightened. "She?"

"Yes. She looked like you, though smaller. Any chance you could be one she is searching for?"

He wasn't breathing right. "No," he gasped. "No no no no no, that can't be possible, it can't be her, she can't be here!"

The Olkari reached towards him, holding her hands out in a placating gesture. "I apologize for startling you," she said gently. "Please, you must calm down—"

Matt took a step back wildly, bringing his hands up to clutch at his hair frantically. "Her name," he demanded, "what was her name?"

The Olkari hesitated, before saying, "The others called her Pidge."

Matt collapsed, gasping for air. "Oh god. Oh, Pigeon."

Katie was sulking.

He'd found her on the back porch, a light blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her hands rested beside her on the step she sat on, and one of her legs was jittering with nervous energy.

He sighed. Bad day at school, he guessed. She was only twelve, but was already entering high school. She'd skipped seventh and eighth grade, jumping straight from sixth to ninth. And though she matched her new peers intellectually (or surpassed them, more rather), you couldn't really say the same physically.

Matt had gone through the same thing when he was about her age; suddenly being years younger than the rest of the kids in his classes, feeling so much smaller and more vulnerable.

He sat beside her on the steps. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

She didn't look at him—just kept her gaze locked on the ground. "Nothing."

"Well that sounds boring."

She only grunted.

He leaned back on his hands, tilting his head so he could see the sky. "I don't know about you, but I've spent a lot of time looking down. I think I'd rather look up." The stars glittered above them, constellations sparkling in the night sky. "You got a favorite constellation?"

"Matt, I'm not really in the mood."

"C'mon, Katie, humor me for a minute here." He nudged at her. "I think my favorite is Cthulhu. Or maybe The Flying Squirrel. Or The Super Cool Older Brother."

She was smiling now, even as she bit back a groan. "You're just making those up!" she accused him.

"Am not!"

"Are too! God, for a space explorer, you'd think you'd know the constellations better."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "You're right, I do know the constellations better. These are just ones that you haven't heard of yet."

She barked a quick laugh, reaching out to hit him playfully. "You dork."

He smiled. "You didn't answer my question," he reminded her after a moment. "Which is your favorite?"

She thought for a while. "Leo," she decided eventually.

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? And why's that?"

She shrugged, a bit hesitant. "Leo is the lion. It stands for being brave and facing your fears."

He smiled. "Yeah. That's a good one."

They fell into comfortable silence. Matt pulled the blanket around both of them, and they curled up together, watching the stars.

"Hey, Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think is out there?"

He was silent for a while, thinking. "Adventure," he said eventually. "Excitement. Something entirely new, something we've never seen before."

"Do you believe in aliens?"

Matt hummed. "I don't know," he said. "Maybe not in the way we think of aliens. But it seems unlikely that in the entirety of the universe, we'd be the only lifeforms. It's just statistically improbable."

Katie giggled. "I think they're out there," she told him matter-of-factly. "And I'm gonna meet them."

Matt smiled. "I don't doubt that for a second."

"You'll come with me, won't you?"

Matt reached over to ruffle her hair. "Don't worry, Pigeon," he said. "We'll explore those stars together someday. I promise."

AN:

This was gonna have a third part to it but oh well

Platonic VLD week only just started and I've already missed a day . I'm sorry for skipping day 2, y'all. I'll try to make that up at some point.

Well. Have my Matt feels.

I love Matt? So much? He has literally like 4 lines in the entire series and we know next to nothing about him and yet somehow I've completely fallen in love with him

Hopefully I'll see you guys tomorrow for Day 4!

Thank you!

~ Brigit