The Paladins Die

Kieth (Allura)

Allura paced around her room, trying to find something to do. On a recent mission, a Galra had said something about her father and now she couldn't stop her mind from wandering.

What could she use as a distraction? Maintenance was always a good idea, but Coran had finished fixing everything on the ship the day before. She sighed before noticing a stray sock on her floor. She quickly put it in her hamper and nodded before freezing.

She could clean! Allura quickly changed into her armor from before she found pink paladin armor and left her room. She would have to get the cleaning supplies from the closet by the pool if she wanted to clean properly.

As she stepped into the elevator, she thought she saw someone slip into the stairwell. Allura shrugged it off as a shadow trick and stood silently in the elevator. When it finally reached the pool room, Allura smiled.

She stepped out and quickly rushed to the closet. It was so big that she could walk inside to grab some of the required supplies. Allura heard a small swish as she climbed a shelf before the light in the closet turned off.

She froze and realized she had taken her feet off the sensor on the ground, making the castle think she was no longer in the closet. She looked out the small window in the door to look for a way out and froze.

Kieth was sitting by the edge of the pool. Allura hadn't even realized there was anyone in there.

Allura watched his hands clench, but not out of anger. His form was crumpled in on itself as if trying to hide from the rest of world. Allura remembered a conversation from a while back.

"Yo, Kieth! Why don't you join us?" Lance sat on the edge of the pool as they did a water exercise, something Allura had recently learned about from the paladins. Kieth was leaning against the wall, simply watching.

Shiro laughed. "Poor guy can't swim." Lance turned to Shiro in excitement at the new teasing material. Kieth put his arms out. "Shiro! Why would you tell him that?"

Allura froze, staring at Kieth as he stared at the water. She started pushing and pulling the door, knocking and trying to get his attention. 'Why would he be by the pool if he can't swim. The only possible reason would be-' "No! Kieth! Don't!"

Allura changed her technique from trying to open the door to trying to break it. She hit and kicked it with everything she had. She watched as Kieth slid under the water. She waited.

There should be ripples or something. He should be fighting. Why wasn't he fighting? A few bubbles floated to the surface of the pool. Allura froze for a moment. Bubbles meant air. That meant Kieth was losing air. Humans needed air to live. So that meant-

Allura screamed. She hit and kicked at the door frantically for as long as she could. Her nails broke and her fingers began to bleed. Her toes bent and a few may have even broken. She screamed until her voice was barely there.

Allura slid down the door and remembered Kieth for what he was when he was alive. She felt tears running down her face, not knowing when they had begun.

She thought about when the two of them ran away. When they thought Zarkon was tracking one of them. Allura remembered finding him that night. He had packed a big bag, even though all he was doing was seeing if Zarkon was tracking him, right?

Allura froze. Kieth had packed. He had planned on leaving. How had she never seen this before? He hadn't planned on returning to Voltron. He was going to leave for good. He's been feeling this way at least since then. That means it's been almost two years since he first started wanting to leave the team.

It explained so much. Leaving to go to the BOM. Trying to leave that night. The pool. That realization made Allura truly understand what Kieth had done.

He hadn't wanted to fight. He hadn't wanted to climb out or swim. He had wanted to drown. Kieth had died, and Allura could have stopped him all along. If she had only realized what he meant to do that first night.