After the War (Klance)

Chapter Eight

Keith POV

Our home base on Pollux was bustling by the time I got there. Many people were shocked to see I was still alive and it was an endless sea of "I'm sorry", "I'm okay", "I'm back now", and "I came back as soon as I could", which I began to think was maybe a lie.

Since I'd taken over the Blades we had many hybrids of Galrans. Not that we hadn't before, but the Galrans that could pass for other species were starting to come out of the dark and join our forces to bringing peace and joy to the universe since the Empire's fall. Though we still faced much discrimination and doubt from the public we were still making great headway in clearly the Galra species name. Reminding the Universe that we were once a people of peace, and that we intended to be those people again.

My mother was in the command room with Kosmo. She was barking orders as she always does. I would have never been able to lead all these people without her. Despite being the Black Paladin of Voltron, I still didn't have that much experience leading so many people. While my mother had gained experience during her years undercover after she risked her life for mine and my father's safety.

When she turned to look at who had entered the deck her eyes widened and she rushed to my side, grabbing me tightly and lifting me off my feet. While Lance's healing had patched up my wounds in record time, I was till left sore and could feel it in her tight grasp. "I thought I'd lost you," her voice held a sadness I hadn't heard since we talked about my father's death. A man whom she'd love more than I would ever know. And while I had never seen them together, I knew my dad had adored her endlessly.

Kosmo had seemed to have thought I'd died too because he jumped knocking all of down and licking my face until I couldn't breathe. As I looked at Kosmo and my mother, I could see the sadness from my absence and the relief of my return. "I'm okay, I promise." I hugged them both, happy to see them again.

After a few minutes of happy reunion, my mother took me to our separate interrogation room used back when the Blades were held top secret. It had once been used to interrogate suspected perpetrators, now it was a room for private speaking between higher command and intelligence agents, that we had much use for them anymore.

I spent an hour explaining everything that had happened. From my stay with Lance to him saving my life. She held her poised expression the whole time until she smiled at the end and put a hand on my shoulder. "When we were in the Abyss, I could tell you loved that boy. And I know we've talked about it before, but, I accept you as you are Keith. Don't forget that." She was referring to the past memories she saw while we were in the Abyss.

I was having recollections of my struggles with being gay and knowing at a young age. Dad had died before I could ever tell him. And growing up in the foster system didn't help either. I'd had many foster parents that ranted about the evil of homosexuals at the drop of a hat. So I went from foster home to foster home crying myself to sleep and trying to pray the gay away. Wondering if my father would have disowned me, beat me, or tossed me aside for liking other boys. It was hard, until I met Shiro. An openly gay man with a loving boyfriend. I didn't know this about him when he first took me under his wing. He wasn't a guy that screamed he was gay, but once you knew, it felt like it had been so obvious the whole time. But even with such an important figure like him in my life, I still beat myself up over the notion that my parents would have hated me had they knew.

My childhood self also cried in happiness when I found this acceptance in my mom. My mom, what a beautiful thing to have. While the beginning was challenging between us, I like to think we've developed the bond we had all along. A true bond between a mother and a son.

But that was enough of the small talk and the wistful notion of my love of Lance. There was something I needed to tell her. "Mom. What I had to go to Earth to tell Lan-"

"We already know Keith, and we've already made contact with the ship." My eyes widened and my breath hitched as she handed me the monitor with a recording of the contact with the passengers of the ship. The fact that someone from another reality here was bad. But once I saw the faces of those that came through brought a heavy gravity to the situation. "What is it Keith? You look like you're going to puke," she looked at me with worry in her eyes, but she had no idea how worried she should be.