Growing Pains (A Voltron Legendary Defender Fan Fiction)

Chapter 21

"Oh, thank heaven you all are alright!" Allura and Coran ran into the lounge where all of the paladins had collapsed as soon as they got back.

"Oh my! Keith are you alright?" Allura asked in concern when she saw that he was covered in blood.

"I'm alright..." they were surprised to hear him speak. He tried to wipe off some of the blood, but it wasn't doing much good.

"Here..." Shiro left the room for a second, returning with a pitcher of water, a glass, and a towel. "Let me help you." He first handed Keith the glass and filled it with a bit of water. Keith poured the water into his mouth, swished it around a bit, and spit it back into the cup. Allura and Coran were shocked to see that it had come back, stained red.

Shiro stared at the glass for a moment before chuckling. "I meant for you to drink that."

"Oh..." Keith blushed and they all smiled at him. The others moved from where they had been sitting so that they were right next to Keith and Shiro.

Shiro took the damp towel and gently began to wash the blood from his face. Once he was finished, he moved to clean Keith's hands but he pulled them back. Shiro gave him a confused look, "You'll hate me..." he said with tears in his eyes.

"We won't hate you." Shiro and the others wrapped him in a hug. "I promise..."

Keith still didn't seem sure, but he slowly held his hands out to Shiro. As the blood was wiped away, the others stared in awe as his claws were revealed. "So that's why you've been wearing the gloves..." Hunk realized, and he nodded.

"Why did you stop talking and eating with us?" Allura asked.

He looked down for a moment and took a deep breath before opening his mouth. Their eyes widened as they caught a glimpse of his fangs. "I didn't want you to see them..." Shiro now understood why Keith's voice sounded different. The fangs were giving him a sort of lisp when he said different syllables.

"How... how did this happen?" Lance asked in surprise. He just looked down.

"What were you hiding under your helmet?" Pidge asked.

He choked out a sob, "I... I can't... once you know... you won't want me to be a part of the team anymore..."

Shiro put his hand on his knee. "Keith, you're our friend. You're my little brother, there's nothing that you can show us that will stop that. So why don't you tell us everything..."

Keith met his eyes and let out a long sigh before he slowly removed his helmet. He didn't dare look at them as he heard them gasp.

"You... you're Galra..." Allura said in surprise.

"So that's how you were able to open the doors..." Pidge realized.

"Wow..." Hunk just stared.

Lance chuckled, "You look like a cat!" everyone froze before they all started laughing, the tension in the room, immediately dissipating.

"I do not, look like a cat!" Keith glared at him.

"Sure, you do! You've got claws like a cat, teeth like a cat, and ears like a cat! We should just call you Kitty Keith." He growled at him and bared his fangs, about to make a retort when... he froze...

"Wow..." Pidge giggled, "They're so soft..."

Keith was physically incapable of keeping up his growl and instead melted under Pidge's touch as she scratched him behind his ears. He couldn't help himself as he leaned further into her touch and began purring.

"Oh, that's adorable..." Hunk and the others chuckled.

"Ok... ok stop..." it took all of Keith's willpower to finally pull his head away from her.

Lance smirked, "See? What did I tell you? Kitty Keith." He growled at him again.

"When did all of this happen?" Shiro finally asked.

"One second..." he got up for a moment and ran off to his room. He came back a moment later with a box in his hands. "I..." he pulled out a small knife and showed it to them. "My dad gave me this... before he died. He said that it belonged to my mother, but I never knew what it meant."

"That looks like the Blade of Marmora's insignia..." Coran pointed out.

Keith nodded and willed the knife to extend into a blade. "I... when I went to talk to the Blades for the first time, I took my knife with me. they were upset that I had brought a weapon, and had broken our agreement. I wanted answers though, so they put me through a series of tests. When I passed... the knife extended into a blade. Kolivan said that that could only happen... if I was part Galra."

"So, you're mom...?" Hunk began.

Keith nodded, "Apparently, she was Galra. I still have no idea who she was though."

"When did all of... this start happening?" Allura gestured to his ears.

"I... well... apparently..." he couldn't keep himself from blushing, "Kolivan said that when Galra's turn 19 they... go through... puberty..."

There was a short silence before Lance started laughing hysterically. "You went through two puberties?! That's so funny!!!"

Keith glared at him, and his ears flattened a bit to look more threatening, "I could literally scratch your face off, right now."

"Man, you've got a temper just like my cat back home." He joked.

"Think over your next words, carefully." He growled.

Lance rolled his eyes, "You know, I think I liked it better when he wasn't talking."

Shiro quickly stepped in to de-escalate the situation. "Ok guys let's settle down..." he looked over at Keith and took on a sad expression. "Why didn't you tell us? We could have helped you through this..."

He looked down, "I... was afraid that you would hate me when you found out I was an alien. That I was... from the enemy..."

"Oh, Keith you dork..." Shiro wrapped him in a hug, "We would never hate you for something like that... You're still our Keith. You just look a bit different now. But that's ok because we still love you..."

"Really?" he said with hope, and Shiro nodded.

"Just because you are half Galra, doesn't mean you are evil." Allura continued. "The Blade of Marmora have taught me that. At first... I hated working with them. I didn't trust them simply because they were Galra. But now... I've seen just how much good they have done for the universe. How much good you have done. Galra or not, you're still our friend..."

Keith broke down, and everyone piled on top of him, reassuring him of how much they loved him. Kolivan was right. This did feel much better...

(A/N - Hey guys! Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it so far! We're almost at the end! :) When I say Vol you say...)