Last chapter, everyone!

Lance was exhausted. This night has been way too eventful for his taste, and he really didn't have the strength to have another heart-to-heart conversation. So, whatever it was that Shiro wanted from him, he truly hoped it would be short.

Shiro probably noticed his weariness, as he said, "You know, we can talk tomorrow if you're not up to it."

"What?" Lance jumped in his place, then shook his head feverishly. "No, I'm good." He had never been really able to say no to Shiro. "Let's um... go inside?"

"Sounds great," Shiro said and followed Lance into his bedroom. As soon as they were inside, Lance hurried to the bed and picked up the messy bundle of blankets tossed over there, shoving it into one of the his drawers. "Sorry, wasn't expecting any guests..." he joked lamely.

Shiro settled on the bed, completely oblivious to the mess. "Are you feeling okay, Lance? You're a little pale."

"Oh, no, don't worry about that. I took Blue for a ride earlier, and got kinda motion sick. It was dumb of me to do it in my condition, I know," Lance added quickly as he caught Shiro's furrowed brow, hoping to spare himself another lecture. "Won't happen again. I swear."

Shiro seemed to relax at his statement. "I'm glad to hear that. So, Keith said you were going to do the procedure?"

"Yep." Lance tried to keep his tone even as he fussed around the room in attempt to tidy up, not really looking at the other man.

"Mind if I ask what made up your mind?" Shiro asked.

Lance shrugged, throwing some dirty socks which were scattered on the floor into his laundry basket. "I just realized how upset it made everyone. Also, we can't afford to be down a paladin for so long every time I heal someone. So I decided this can't go on anymore. That's basically it."

Shiro nodded, looking thoughtful. "Okay. That makes sense. But are you absolutely sure you want to do this? It's a big change, after all."

Lance froze mid-tidying and turned to look at Shiro. His face remained as unreadable as it was over the last couple of weeks, and Lance felt anger starting to bubble inside him. Was Shiro trying to talk him out of doing the procedure? After everyone has worked so hard to convince Lance to do it? What could he possibly want from him now?

His exasperation must have been noticeable, because Shiro's expression suddenly softened. "I'm not saying this to confuse you, Lance, and as I said before, I definitely think you should do it. But I don't think you're entirely happy with this decision. I think that deep down, you know it's the right thing to do, but something is still holding you back. Am I wrong?"

Lance's shoulders dropped, all his anger fading away. Only a moment ago he was ready to yell at Shiro to leave him alone and stop analyzing him, but now he felt too drained to do so, as if all the air was sucked out of him at once.

Lance walked to the bed and sank heavily next to Shiro, his head bowed down. "I..." he swallowed, looking for the right words. "I know I should give up my powers, because in the long run, it will be the best thing for the team. I get that, I really do. But... it really sucks to give up something which is kinda your thing, you know?" he snorted bitterly. "Especially when it's pretty much your only thing."

"What do you mean?" Shiro inquired.

"What - oh, come on, you know what I mean!" Lance threw his arms in the air in frustration. "I haven't exactly been contributing to the team in any way before I got my powers, have I? Not like everybody else did. Pidge and Hunk are so smart it's scary, they always come up with all these useful technological hacks that nobody understands except for them; Keith may be a hothead with a stupid haircut, but he's the best pilot and strongest warrior I've ever seen; you're our leader, the head of Voltron, so I don't even have to explain why you're important; and Coran and Allura, well, they operate the castle and basically save our asses time after time. But I..."

He had nothing to offer. He wasn't the brain, nor the muscle; his shooting abilities were decent at best and did nothing more than to keep the enemy distracted until the someone else, someone stronger and better than Lance, could finish the job.

"I'm not very good at... at anything, really," Lance whispered, clenching his hands into fists. "My grades at the Garrison were totally average. I only got to be a fighter pilot because Keith got kicked out. This whole healing thing... it may be messed up, but at least it is some sort of talent nobody else has. With that, I can do things that really matter. Once - once it's gone I'll be back to being the useless goofball no one ever takes seriously. So yeah, I'm going to do it, because I've already promised Keith and I'm not the kind of guy who breaks his promises, but excuse me for not dancing on the rooftops from joy, okay?!"

A long, heavy silence hung between the two of them after Lance finished talking. He hoped to feel some sort of relief after he got everything out of his system, but that didn't happen. He did not feel particularly worse, either. He just felt... hollow.

After what seemed like eternity, Shiro spoke. "If there's one thing I can guarantee you, Lance, is that there isn't a single person on this ship who doesn't take you seriously. Haven't you noticed how worried everyone is about you?"

Lance grunted. "Well, of course, because I nearly died and stuff, but on a normal day - "

"Do you think you have to nearly die for people to take you seriously?"

Lance shrugged at the question, keeping his gaze fixated on his feet.

He heard Shiro sigh beside him. "I guess it's time to tell you what happened during those two weeks you were unconscious."

Lance's shoulders tensed in attention, but he remained silent.

Shiro kept talking. "The whole atmosphere around here was... not pleasant, to say the least. This castle has never been too noisy, considering it only has seven residents, but with you missing, the silence was almost unbearable. Everybody just kind of... shut down, you know? And I'm not just talking about Keith. We could all be sitting in the same room for hours and not say a word to each other, and when we finally did, we'd usually just snap at each other for the silliest things. I remember Hunk telling Pidge one day that he had lost her headphones, and she... well, you should've heard how she screamed at him, Lance. It was a full-blown tantrum. She said that they were your headphones, because you used them to listen to music every night, and that if he didn't find them until you woke up she'd never forgive him. You know how Pidge can be sometimes, but this... I've never seen her like this, Lance. Nearly losing you has really taken its toll on her, on all of us. It's been really depressing without you around."

Lance couldn't hold back a grimace. He knew Shiro was trying to make him feel better, but somehow his words only deepened his misery. His friends have been hurting so much because of him. It was like he couldn't do anything right.

As if reading his thoughts, Shiro said, "Don't blame yourself for this, Lance. You only tried to do what's right. But what is truly right for our team to have you by our side, to have you support us and cheer us up and keep us sane like only you can do. You can call it 'being a goofball', you can call it whatever you want - it doesn't change the fact that this is the sort of special talent no one else has. This is who you are, and we all love you for that - we don't need you to have healing powers to prove us your worth, because you already have.

"You are not replaceable, Lance. You are the glue that keeps this team together, and without you, we will fall apart for sure. I know that, because I've already seen it happen. We were really lucky for not having to form Voltron during those weeks, because if we did, there was no way we could have done it - even if we found someone else to pilot the blue lion, like Allura or Coran. Having all its limbs intact isn't enough for Voltron; it also needs a heart. Without it, it's worth nothing."

Lance's heart was beating faster and faster as he was listening to Shiro. A wave of mixed emotions washed over him, so overwhelming he found it hard to keep sitting straight. Was this true? Was the team this helpless without him? Lance would have never believed it until now, but a glint of hope sparked inside his chest, slowly spreading away and filling him with warmth.

All he ever wanted was to make his friends happy. And if what Shiro was saying was true - if he was succeeding in making them happy even without being particularly smart or strong - well, maybe he wasn't so useless after all.

Maybe there was a reason for keeping him on the team other than his healing powers.

"Lance?" Shiro asked gently.

Lance's head shot up and he coughed awkwardly. "S-sorry. I was just thinking about what you said." He took a breath. "It was... nice."

"Well, I meant every word," Shiro crossed his arms. "Oh, and I forgot to mention - you're a pretty damn amazing sharpshooter."

Lance flinched. "What? No, come on - I'm really not that - "

"You are." Shiro said with emphasis, giving Lance one of his famous 'dad' looks - the one that could shut people up at any situation. "I honestly have never seen you miss a target, Lance. Your sniping skills have saved us in countless battles - you can definitely add it to the 'special talents list'. This is a direct order from your leader."

Lance laughed shakily. "Well I guess I don't have much of a choice."

"Not in this, kiddo." Shiro's face softened. "But seriously, I hope you finally understand why you're a such valuable member of this team. And that you keep it in mind when you go and do the procedure."

Lance felt his lips curl into a smile - not a forced or apologetic smile, but a genuine, happy smile, the kind he hadn't put on for ages. It almost hurt his face, but in a good way.

"I understand," he said. "I didn't until now, but now I do. Thanks, Shiro. For... making things clear for me. I really needed that."

Shiro smiled back. "You're welcome." He cleared his throat. "Also... sorry for not making it clear earlier. I know I've been distant for a while, and you didn't deserve it. I just didn't really know how to speak with you after everything that happened. A little like Keith, I suppose."

Lance rubbed his neck. "Nah, that's okay. We were all pretty fucked up after this."

"Yeah," Shiro murmured. He looked at Lance, his eyes filled with emotion. "Also, I don't think I got to say it yet - thank you for saving my life, Lance. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."

Lance blushed. "You're welcome?" he laughed nervously. "Okay, seriously, we need to stop with all this touchy-feely stuff. I think I had enough bonding moments for one night."

Shiro frowned, but the twitch of his lip gave away his amusement. "As you wish," he said, rising to a stand. "It's time for you to go to bed anyway."

"Fine, dad," Lance said with a dramatic eye roll, and Shiro chuckled. "How about you tell everyone about your decision first thing in the morning?" he suggested.

Lance nodded. "Sounds good. Allura's probably going to be thrilled. I bet she wants to slap me already for not making up my mind."

"I wouldn't go that far, but yes, she has been pretty anxious for you to decide."

Lance hesitated. "Allura and you... you're good now, right?"

Shiro signed. "Yes, we are. Don't worry about that. It took me a while to convince her I didn't mean what I said - sometimes she can be even more stubborn than Keith. But in the end, she understood where it came from."

Lance blinked. "And where did it come from, if I may ask?"

Shiro glanced down at his prosthetic arm, flexing the mechanical fingers. It was a long minute before he spoke again. "The Galra didn't ask me if I wanted an alien arm or not," he said quietly. "They just implanted it in me by force. I couldn't bear the thought of you going through the same experience, even if it's for a good cause. That is why I wanted you to reach this conclusion on your own."

Lance's heart skipped a beat. He had never heard Shiro talk about his arm - no one ever dared to ask him about it, and Shiro himself didn't seem too keen on volunteering information on his own. It was just another limb, something they have all been used to by now. Lance has never really bothered to ask himself how Shiro felt about it.

Would Shiro give it up if he had the chance to have his human arm back? The question nearly escaped Lance's lips, but he stopped himself at the last second. Shiro will never be able to have his arm back no matter what, so there was really no point in asking, and Lance didn't want to sadden him further. So he put on a crooked grin and said, "No matter what you do, you'll never be like the Galra, I can promise you that. But thanks for looking out for me anyway."

Shiro smiled back. "I'll always look out for you. Goodnight, Lance."

"Goodnight, Shiro."

-X-

Lance stumbled out of the pod right into Hunk's waiting arms. "Hey man," he mumbled, blinking tiny bits of cryo out of his eyes. He let Hunk guide him to sit on the stairs and raised his head to see all of his friends standing around him. They were all grinning from ear to ear.

Lance smiled back tentatively. "So... I guess it worked?"

"According to the pod's reading, yes," Coran said cheerfully. "You quintessence is one hundred percent clean of healing qualities. How do you feel?"

"Um..." Lance wrinkled his forehead. "I don't know. I feel normal? I mean... it's not really different from how I felt before."

"Then we'll have to check for sure," Keith said, stepping forward.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Pidge asked, but Keith has already drew out his knife and ran the blade across his palm, deep enough to draw a thin line of blood (but apparently not enough to make him flinch or acknowledge the pain in any way, judging by his indifferent expression).

Everybody squawked in shock. "Dude, what the hell?! You can't just cut yourself like this!" Hunk cried, but Keith ignored him. He walked straight to Lance and held his palm in front of his face. "Try to heal me."

Lance gulped nervously, then took a deep breath and pressed his palm to Keith's. He closed his eyes, concentrating hard for a few moments. Nothing happened. He tried again, his face flushed with effort, but not a single spark of blue light appeared below his palm.

Lance opened his eyes with a gasp and let go of Keith's hand. "Nothing," he panted. "Healer Lance is no more."

"Alright!" Pidge punched the air in victory while the others cheered as well. "I like Normal Lance way better than Healer Lance."

"We all do," Allura said, her eyes filled with warmth. "Thank you for doing that, Lance. We're all relieved to have you back to normal."

"We sure are," Shiro said and ruffled Lance's hair. "You did the right thing, kiddo."

Lance ran a hand through his unkempt hair. "I know," he said sheepishly.

"Um, Keith?" Hunk said. "You should probably go bandage that hand. There's blood all over the floor."

"Oh." Keith stared at his bleeding palm with a frown, as if noticing it for the first time. "Okay." He turned to the far end of the room where the first aid kits were stored, not before he caught Lance's eye and gave him a short nod. Lance returned the nod with a tiny smile.

He knew he just sacrificed something special; something he would never be able to gain back, no matter how much he wanted to. But he also knew there were other things that made him special, that made him a valuable member of the best team he could ever ask for. And that - that was enough to heal him from whatever came in their way.

Horray for the sappy ending! *throws confetti at ya'll* I'm still satisfied with it though. Thank you all for reading and reviewing! 3