A Pain Too Great (Shidge/Klance AU)

11-Secrets

The gang spent four hours reading and looking through Pidge's creations and only found worthless unfinished products. Nothing in the room could help. Hunk groaned as he dropped another one of Pidge's blueprints.

"I knew she had quite a few of inventions, but forty-three is a stretch," Hunk whined. He then noticed something, "Oh what do we have here? Isn't that the bag Pidge grabbed from her mountain house?" He said, swirling in Pidge's small chair. He stopped the chair and reached for the bag. After he opened it, he noticed a journal inside. It wasn't the old one, but a new one. He got curious and couldn't resist opening it.

First page:

"Mother bought a house on the mountain just so I could get a better signal for all of my scans. Shiro and my family have to be out there somewhere. I know they are. Mother doesn't seem to happy about my nonstop searching, but they are better then the terrible nightmares that haunt me. I rather have bags under my eyes than fear in my eyes."

Second page:

"Today I realized I scanned the planet Shay lives on, Balmera. I noticed the crystals are still thriving and that Shay and her people were joyfully doing their daily work. I remember visiting Balmera with everyone. I really miss them. I sent the gang my new address, but none have visited me and it's already been six months. I'm starting to think Allura hadn't kept her promise. Why does everyone seem to disappear..."

Third page:

"My mother just died yesterday. My nightmares have gotten three times worse and I swear I hear voices in my head. Maybe the dark and tiredness has finally gotten to me. Another thing that keeps happening is that I see Shiro's face when I'm not busy. I start to think about how he probably is suffering worse than me out there, having nightmares like mine. He might even start to think we gave up on him. I know the others weren't searching for him..."

Fifth page:

"Today I scanned Earth just in case he was somewhere here. My scanner sent me plenty images of people walking about their business. I noticed a few of them were of my old friends. Keith and Lance were having fun at an ice cream truck with what I guessed to be Lance's younger siblings. They looked happy. I also saw Hunk. He was at a cooking competition at the festival. What he was cooking looked amazing. He was also having fun. Man, I miss them, but they probably don't even miss me. I've been alone on this mountain for two months. I catch myself staring at the picture we took after the goo fight incident almost all the time now."

God, I'm helpless."

Pidge had tried to get in touch with them and she felt lonely. She was in need of them and they weren't there. She wrote that she sent her address, but Hunk never got it. Next to the page with Pidge's writing was a picture tapped to the inside. Hunk brushed his fingers over it. It was the whole gang piled up, covered in the space goo from when Coran cuffed the five of them together. He remember having one of the Altean devices take the picture as a "way to remember the first time Voltron worked together as a team."

"Is that Pidge's journal? She'll be mad again," Keith said suddenly from behind Hunk, causing the paladin to throw the journal up in shock. The picture flew out of the book as the journal fell and hit Hunk on the head. Keith picked the picture up. "Pidge got a copy and we didn't?"

Allura and Lance walked over to where Hunk and Keith were and also peered down at the photo. "I didn't give her a copy... I didn't know we could," Allura confessed wondering how the young paladin retrieved the photo. Keith looked at the picture and allowed a tear to slip. Lance immediately, and loudly, said "well lets try to get Pidge and Shiro back so we can ask her how! We can even take a new one!" to cover up so Keith could wipe his tear away before anyone noticed.