Light in the Darkness

Chapter 12

Like Shiro, Keith only realized their mistake as he landed full force against Nova. She gasped as the air fled from her body, but it was nothing compared to the cry that came from Lance.

Both paladins lept from their suspected Galra attackers, and with relieved faces helped the two to their feet. Lance hissed an arm wrapping around his abdomen. He would've collapsed from the pain had Shiro not been there to support him.

"Lance, are you okay?" Hunk asked.

"Do I look okay?" Lance retorted. He regretted the sentence immediately, but he was in pain and wasn't particularly thinking clearly.

"What happened?" Keith asked.

Lance glanced past Keith to look at Nova. There was panic written all over her face as she tried to gauge what he was going to say. After a moment he turned away from her and towards the blue lion. "It's a long story, one that can be told when we get out of here."

Days after their escape Nova had moved from Lance's room into her own. He just couldn't look at her anymore. Even after she proved that she could keep her word, he couldn't bring himself to trust her.

He ran his hand over his chest, over the scars that she had left. Whether she had wanted to or not he would never forget the look in her eyes as she swiped the blade again and again over his skin. It was a hunger that had been dormant for too long, one that longed to kill again.

A cough sounded behind him and he turned to find Shiro with a tablet in his hands. Lance reached for a shirt as he entered the room.

"Nova's scans finally came through." Shiro said, handing the tablet to him.

Lance took it with an unsure glance at the black paladin before him before reading. He handed it back, his body tense with every movement.

"That's just what the Galra did to her this past time. But there's evidence of bones that had been broken, She'd been raped multiple times, there's scars on every inch of her torso. This girl has been through hell."

Lance slipped his shirt on his head popping out through the head hole. "Are you trying to justify her lying to me? Of her keeping quiet about working with our enemies for so long?"

"And if I am?"

"You can forget it." Lance snapped, "I was in the cell thinking I was going to die and she still refused to tell me a damn thing."

"Lance, talk to her. Is there any way she'll be able to earn your trust again?"

XXXXX

Nova's door swung open, her relieved look on her face fading to concern upon seeing Lance.

"I think we need some time apart."

There he said it. Now this pain in his chest can go away, right? So why was his heart still being pulled apart? Why was the look in her eyes making him seem like that bad guy. He wasn't. She was the one who lied, not him.

"So this is how it ends, huh?" Her voice was quiet as she held his gaze. She was hurt, he could tell that much, but there was something under the surface. It was like she was almost expecting it. "You know I still love you right? Do you?"

So that's what this pain was. He was saying goodbye to the woman he loved. "Of course I still love you...but trusting you is a different question, and I can't be with someone I don't trust."

Hurt flashed across Nova's eyes, he pretended not to notice as he turned away. If he acknowledged it he was going to take back everything he said, because of her.

When her door quietly clicked shut it took everything in him to keep going. For some reason it hurt more than her slamming the door like he had been expecting.

By that night Nova had left the Castle of Lions. Lance forced himself to keep his mind from wandering, but well after midnight he found himself on the bridge, eyes glued to the expanse of space. His one thought wondering if he was ever going to see Nova again and if he was would he be ready?

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AN: "The Moral of this story is that no matter  how much we try , no matter how much we want it..some stories just don't have a happy ending."
I'm leaving this story with somewhat of an ending to where I can comeback and continue the story. Don't get your hopes up because I'm not sure if I will yet, but if I do It will be after I finish my other WIPs.
Thank you so much for Reading! And a special thank you to those that followed, Voted, and or Commented!