Silence in Space: (Keith x Reader) A Voltron Fanfiction

Chapter 22: Safety

Sleeping was the last thing you wanted to do, but your body was weary. You were stuck in a state of grief and pain. Your adoptive father was gone. Voltron was beyond forming. The Blades were struggling to earn the trust of the people. You had freed yet another galaxy and possibly defeated Zarkon for good, but nothing felt right. So now, here you were, locked in your room, Shiro's last words to you rolling around in your head.

"Watch over your team...my Sorin."

Days had gone by and no one could snap you out of it. Pidge and Hunk visited you with plates of food they'd worked on together, but you couldn't eat a bite. Allura stopped by to sing softly through your door to help you sleep at night, but to no avail. Coran would try to get you to laugh by reading through an Altean joke book in various voices, but you didn't even have it in you to give him a smile out of pity. Even Lance tried telling you stories of the battles they'd fought while freeing planets one at a time, but he got just as far as everyone else before giving up.

Eventually, they all stopped coming by. Out of all of their efforts of comfort, none of them seemed to understand the real reason why you were hurting to bad. None of them...but one.

"Maybe we should sneak one of the mice in and say there's a rat in her room?" Lance suggested, as the group gathered in the common room to discuss how to handle you. "She'll freak and jump right out!"

"Nah, that wouldn't be nice," Hunk shook his head. "Hey, I know! Let's say we found Shiro and she'll pop right out AND be happy as a lark!"

"Lying and saying he came back just to get her out of her room sounds worse," Pidge disagreed. "Why don't we just give it to her straight and say there's a meeting we all have to attend? She'd HAVE to come out then."

"But she'll be in no state to talk," Coran sighed. "The poor thing...I don't know HOW we're going to break her out of her funk. I'm down to the last pages of my book, and there were some real bone-ticklers in there."

"How about you guys take the hint and leave her be?" Keith huffed as leaned against the wall. "Her dad just went missing. I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted some space."

"Well, I don't see YOU coming up with any ideas to comfort her, Mullet!" Lance retorted. "Isn't she your 'non-ex'?? Clearly she's not responding to any of US!"

"I wish we could give her the time she needs to grieve," Allura assured him. "But we have a diplomatic meeting with the Cubserions soon, and everyone needs to be present there. That includes the spirit guide."

"I thought we were supposed to keep her a secret," Pidge scratched her head. "Isn't it a bit risky showing her off to other species?"

"It would've been in the past, but Zarkon already knows of her existence now. There is no point to her secrecy anymore, and she has proven she will not be taken without a fight. So, I believe our allies deserve to know she's on our side and a vital piece of Voltron."

"Which brings up a little issue," Hunk reminded everyone. "They all want to see Voltron, only we don't really have Voltron anymore."

Keith's expression darkened. "We don't have Shiro anymore, either. Everyone seems to have forgotten that."

Allura's face fell, but she believed they couldn't dwell on him for long. "It may be difficult for us all to accept, but it is time to think about finding a new pilot for the Black Lion."

All four of the remaining paladins looked at Allura in surprise, though Keith wasn't as keen as her to give up. "No! I'm gonna find him! Shiro is the one person who never gave up on me, I won't give up on him!"

With that, Keith walked away, everyone looking down sadly as he did. As he stormed out, he passed your room, glancing briefly at the door. For a moment, he considered knocking, but decided against it and kept moving. Until he found traces of Shiro, he believed it best not to make things worse by bothering you.