Only You (Shiro x Reader)

Twenty

Shiro's Point of View

We all waited patiently for the pod to slide open. Hunk and Pidge wouldn't stop tapping on the glass, Keith stood leaning far off against the wall, Lance sat near some of the steps of the pod casually stretching, while Allura and Coran were checking nearly every ten minutes to see that the process was going fine.

My thoughts flooded with (Y/n). Would she be okay? Would the healing process be affected in any way? Will she think any of this is her fault? I shook my head and crossed my arms, silently pacing around the room.

"Hey Allura?" Pidge asks as she continues to have her face pressed against the pod along with Hunk. She turns her head to face the princess. "How come when we first rescued
(Y/n), her healing took way longer? Her injuries weren't as bad as this one, and she's only supposed to be in here for four hours."

Allura squints at the data chart next to the pod and gazes over to Pidge. "It seems that her injuries are somehow tied to her markings, the ones along her jawline." Pidge turns to back to stare at the sleeping (Y/n). "You mean the glowing orange ones? They're kind of similar to the ones under your eyes, Princess."

Allura reaches up and softly smiles as she tenderly strokes her own pink markings. "Yes, her people, the Keltrians, were very similar to Alteans. They were known for their distinct markings being tied to their emotional and physical states."

I suddenly become interested and stand near Pidge and Hunk, who were listening to Allura as well. "What do you mean?" I ask still slightly confused. Allura looks up at us. "Let's say she's elated in emotion, then her markings would provide a warm and strengthening feeling. If she was stressed, her markings would emit a light soreness throughout her body. For example, her recent action with Hunk."

We all continued to listen intently as the princess continued. "When she flung herself between Hunk and the galra sentry, she risked her life to save his, the pain was inflicted out of bravery, which is why her markings provided a shorter amount of time to heal. Her emotions were tied to her physical motives."

"So kind of like a mood ring that gives you different vibes throughout your body?" Lance intervenes. We all stare at him in an irritated and annoyed manner. "What?" he says defensively. "That's just what came to mind it's not like I was-"

There was a low beep produced from the pod and we all spun our heads towards the sound. The glass was beginning to disappear, hopefully indicating that the healing process was completed. I ran over to the opening of the pod just in time for (Y/n) to heavily fall into my arms.

"(Y/n)?" I ask softly with caution. She lets out a small mutter and instantly goes back to sleep. Her body felt stiff and leaned. "Is her body supposed to feel this rigid?" I say while carefully picking her up off her feet and facing towards the princess. She walks up to (Y/n) and feels along her arms, shoulders and abdomen. "Yes," she replies. "Like I stated earlier, she would awake with extreme soreness. Coran and I will adjust some tape to tighten around her upper and abdominal tendons so the soreness can slightly reduce."

"But she's gonna be okay right?" asks Hunk as I lay (Y/n) down near an infirmary table. "Of course." Allura replies as she begins to wrap  tight white tape over (Y/n)'s shoulders, arms, and torso. As doing so, she faces me. "Shiro, I must require you to make sure she won't over exert herself. She is to be restricted from training until she is fully healed. It will be no less than one week, so she won't fall behind."

Coran and Allura both finish up with (Y/n), and nod in my direction giving me the opportunity to pick her up into my arms again. Pidge, Hunk, Keith and Lance seem relieved once they see her softly asleep in my arms. I head out through the door and begin to walk to her room.

As I pace slowly down the hallway, I gaze down to see her. She looked so calm, and beyond beautiful while sleeping in my arms. Her markings were emitting a small glow. I sigh in response. The fact that she was probably suffering through so much pain especially with her markings from her heroic act made my heart sink. Did she think she was of less value? That she's not a strong enough asset to the team? It would explain why she did what she did.

I make my way to her room, quietly stepping through the door and to her bed. I managed to lay both of us down and reach up to grab her small hand and gently squeeze. I then wrapped my arms around her, slightly afraid to let go. Shifting away slightly to cradle her sleeping face in my prosthetic hand, I lean in and gently kiss her nose.

As I begin to fall into deep slumber myself, I swore I could see a small smile and an iridescent orange glow coming from her markings.

------

"What are you doing!?" I yell as I ran down the galra ship. I could barely see the end of the desolate hallway. But enough to see (Y/n) in a meanacing galra uniform, her markings glowing purple instead of their natural orange glow, and standing beside Haggar. She gave me a look of both sorrow and disappointment.

"You told me to find a team that actually values what I do, and accepts me for who I am, even with these." she says motioning to her glowing prosthetic legs. "I-I didn't mean it like that!" I argue back. Haggar suddenly lauches towards me, only to grab me by the shoulders and whisper. "Look at what you've caused now." She then disappears only for me to find (Y/n) mangled and horrendously covered in blood on the floor, gasping for breath.

"Shiro?" she breaths. I sunk to my knees only to be consumed by Haggar's insanely terrifying laughter.

"She'll be gone soon, and you won't be there to protect her."

I desperately gasped for air and lurched up as I woke. My breaths were uneven as I tried to calm myself down. Fuck, these nightmares were getting more continuous. I look over to my left to see my hand still loosely intertwined with (Y/n)'s. It was morning, and she was still soundly asleep. I lift her hand up to my lips and softly kissed her knuckles.

I was going to let her rest, since she really, really needed it. I then manage to drag myself out of bed and head out to wake up the rest of the team. I lean over her one final time and give her a chaste kiss on her nose.

I guess I wasn't dreaming last night, because once again her markings started to glow and a light dust of pink brushed across her face. I didn't know how this was happening while she was still asleep, but my heart swelled like crazy.

"I'm glad you're alright." I whisper before walking out the room and getting ready for another day.