Our Promises (Shance)

Chapter One

Early on in their adventure, Lance decided that living on the Castle ship was hard. Being in Voltron was hard. Others may have thought it was because their lives were in constant danger or the fact that they had to be away from their loved ones. For Lance, it was the exact opposite. He had someone that he loved on the team already. Except, he didn't remember who he was.

When he saw Takashi being pulled out of that ship, it felt like there was light in his life again. He didn't care that he was being guarded by members of the Garrison. He didn't care that there was another person going in after him. All he cared about was getting his boyfriend out of that tent and back into his arms.

All he wanted to do when they were flying over the desert sand was cradle Takashi in his arms and never let go. He couldn't though, they promised that they would decide when the time was right together. Besides, it wasn't about him in that moment, all that mattered was getting away from the Garrison.

Still watching him while he was unconscious made him realize how much he missed the other man and how much it hurt when he was away. He had so many things to ask him, so much to talk about. His gaze had landed on his prosthetic arm with sad eyes and noticed that his promise ring was gone; the one that matched his own.

Takashi had given it to him the night before he left for Kerberos and slid it on his right hand.

"These are a promise that I will come back to you safely and when we reunite I want to switch them to our left hands for a new kind of promise," he said when Lance asked for an explanation.

He wasn't going to lie. He cried after Takashi had said that and clung to him for hours before he could let go. The months after that, every time he would hear about the Kerberos disaster or someone defaming Takashi, he would look down at his ring and try not to cry.

Just standing over him, seeing him in (relatively) one piece took the weight right off of his shoulders. He couldn't wait for him to wake up and wrap him up in a hug.

"I should thank you all for getting me out. Lance, right?"

It was a complete punch to the gut. He couldn't even move for a few seconds as he held out his hand for Lance to shake. This couldn't be happening. After everything that they went through, after everything that they gave to each other. He didn't remember who he was? He wanted so badly to wrap his arms around him and tell him who he was. Tell him how much he loved him. He couldn't though. It wasn't exactly like he could tell him that they were in a relationship when it seemed like he remembered everything else about his life.

With a small smile, he grasped Takashi's hand.

That day, Takashi turned into Shiro.

Even though he convinced himself that everything was for the best, he never took off his ring. Considering that rings were really common among humans, none of the other paladins ever asked him about his ring. Allura and Coran however, were not too familiar with the concept since their jewelry seemed to be for translation purposes only.

"Someone very special gave it to me, and I hope that one day they'll come back to me," he said softly, gazing down fondly at it.

"I'm sure that you will Lance," Allura said with a smile.

"Thanks, Allura but I'm not really sure about that," Lance replied. Although he said it with a smile, she could see the sadness on his face.

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It was strange to see the difference between this Shiro and the Takashi that he loved. He was more serious and withdrawn than before. He didn't like to let anyone get very close to him, not even Keith from what he could tell. The biggest difference though; was the fact that Shiro didn't really like him all that much.