Smoke and Mirrors

Crystals

When they woke the next morning, they were feeling a little stronger, but still not themselves.

'We were never this wasted when we jumped into non realities before,' complained Lance. 'I wish this feeling would go away. My muscles still feel like jelly.'

Keith pushed himself onto his elbow and looked down at him. 'That's a shame. I was hoping to make you feel good.'

'Is that right?' asked Lance, raising his eyebrows. 'I might have enough energy for that.'

'Might you. Well, let me see what I can do for you.'

Their faces were still flushed, and they were pulling on their clothes when Miguel arrived, and he tried to ignore their disheveled appearance.

They grabbed their datapads and keys and followed Miguel out to the car.

'Did you sleep well?' asked Miguel as they headed off.

'We did actually,' said Lance. He and Keith sat in the back together. 'Even our other non realities weren't this relaxing. There was always something to worry about.'

'How are you going to know when you're back in your reality?' asked Miguel.

'That is a very good question,' mused Lance. 'We don't really know.'

'Then how can you be so sure this isn't reality?' asked Miguel.

'I can't see us being brought back to Earth and them willing to let us go from Voltron,' said Lance. 'It just all seems too easy. I can't see you and mama accepting me being gay. In one of our non realities, Marco was adamant that you and mama were so disappointed in me, and he was so disgusted when he found out. That seems more real than this.'

Miguel frowned. It hurt to know his own son would think they wouldn't accept his sexuality, and it hurt even more that non reality Marco had contributed to that feeling.

'Your mama and I talked about this when we first had Marco,' said Miguel. 'History showed that it took a lot for different sexualities to be accepted by society. We made the decision that if our children found love it wouldn't matter what sex they were. I went to school with a boy who just wanted to be accepted for being gay. He was shamed and made to feel worthless. In the end he took his own life at seventeen. It was heartbreaking.

I guess the one thing we didn't do, was to tell you kids that we would accept you regardless. That was a mistake on our part.'

It wasn't long before they pulled up outside the McClain family home.

Lance slowly got out of the car then stood in front of the house starting at it, his emotions swirling around inside him as he looked at his home.

'You put roses in,' he murmured.

'Yes, your mama decided she wanted them so that the air always smelt sweet,' Miguel said.

'It feels like forever since I was last here,' said Lance. 'I spent so long wishing I could come home. I wish I knew if this was real or not. To have it disappear as a non reality will be difficult to deal with.'

'It's not going to disappear,' Miguel said, gently.

Lance took Keith's hand, and they went inside. The smell of his mama's cooking surrounded him. Tears stung his eyes, as they followed Miguel into the kitchen.

When Luis saw him, he smiled and ran and hugged him. 'Oh god, it's so good to see you.' He stepped back and held Lance by the shoulders. 'My little brother is all grown up.'

There was a squeal and Luis jumped out of the way as Lance was sandwiched between Rachel and Veronica in a hug.

'You've grown so much taller,' said Rachel. 'I can't believe your finally here.'