Collecting the shards

Colored cubs 1.

To refresh the mind.

Tied to lions.

First there was the boy with wild hair and dark eyes, who smiled like trouble, and never burnt. He helped him tame the inferno inside him with every answer no one else had cared to give him.

And though his title was so deeply woven into his being, his name remained a constellation, a great beast drawn in the stars. Akira's first lion was human.

Then there was Red, temperamental, and untrusting, and stubborn, and quick to action; but just as loyal, and protective. Red who'd taken Voltron's last betrayal into their core, let it take root there, let it fester.

It was Akira's turn to work around fire, learning how to contain without stifling, how to turn its destructive nature in their favor; and how to earn Red's trust in the process. Akira's second lion was a sentient ship.

There was, of course, Voltron, by proxy of Red, and each of the paladins that shaped it; each with their own quirks. And the two aliens that had asked this of them.

Akira doesn't know how to approach anyone other than Shiro, and knows that this lack of knowledge strains the connection between them. Akira's pride, as it turns out, is not as close as the name would have it sound.

Finally, there was the other boy, the one with blue eyes and easy grins, who always seemed to seek the final word, who could tug on Akira's every nerve with little more than a look. He forces him into interacting, keeps him on his toes, drives him into ire, and has him hopelessly hooked.

Sharp as the weapon he was named after, and just as deadly, set on antagonizing Akira in every breath. And he's a lion too, the one that resists the inevitable the most.

But thinking about Lance is a dangerous thing, because in the rare moments of peace between them, he's a little too similar to Akira's first love. And thinking about him in those terms has brought him nothing other than pain.

No, it's better he only think of Koráki as the weird spiritual guide he truly was, and not as the focus point for a particularly stubborn bundle of emotion in Akira's chest. But his mind can be cruel, and this is no exception.

And even if his attraction hadn't stemmed from this likeness, there still remains the fact that Lance hates his guts. Or well, hate is a strong word, if Lance truly hated him they wouldn't be able to form Voltron at all; more like greatly disliked Akira.

Not for the first time he wishes he'd remember his garrison days, if only to figure out where all that animosity comes from. Because sometimes, when fighting both for the universe and their own lives, he and Lance fall into step with each other in a way that leaves Akira shaken once the adrenaline wears off.

Maybe if Akira knew he could try and fix it, and then maybe they would be friends. He wants them to be, wants for this messy, and rushed, and unconventional group of people, to turn into the pride Koráki had promised him.

He does wonder just how much exactly Koráki had seen, wonders how wide is the reach of the sisters' sight; after all, the existence of other deities implies that there might be a limit of some sort. And if nothing else, Koráki had made that much obvious, the fact that more than one set of deities existed.

He made other things obvious too, in his own vague and discreet way, such as Shiro being alive, and the existence of life outside of earth, and the fact that Akira would find himself amongst the stars. But had he known of the Galra? Of the threat they represented for the universe as a whole? And if he had, was his loyalty to the sisters such that he kept it hidden? Or was fear what kept his mouth shut?

Would Akira have risked finding Blue had he known what doing so would mean?

It's not a thought he lets himself entertain all that often, the fact that he could've never found this, considering it's not the happiest time.

Shocker, how being thrust into a millennia old war with the fate of the universe at stake could make one unhappy; who would ever pass up the opportunity to be a hero? Right?

Akira has a sudden feeling of sympathy towards demigods, who are born into this sort of lifestyle; and who are most likely keeping Earth safe right now.