The Missing Pilot

Chapter One

"Cheers to another victory for Voltron~!"

Allura took a sip of her Nunvil as the Holt siblings shared an unnecessarily complicated fist bump-handshake combination, and Shiro sat with her, happily laughing over something she said. Hunk was playing with some of the children on the planet they'd just liberated from the Galran Empire, and they were celebrating his heroics by making a flower crown for him. They were ecstatic to have helped yet another planet free themselves from Zarkon's clutches. Even Coran was having fun, having invited the village people into the castleship to tour and celebrate with some of Hunk's delicious culinary masterpieces.

The only person not celebrating was a man decked in blue and white armor, standing off in the corner and watching the rest get together in glee. He had a glass of Nunvil himself, but he hadn't touched it in the slightest. His eyes scanned the crowd intensely, looking for something he knew wouldn't be found.

"Lance, over here!"

The brunette looked over and saw Hunk waving him over.

"The kids made you a flower crown! Come try it on for them!"

He smiled, moving from his spot and walking over, kneeling and bowing dramatically for the child to place the flower crown on his head, and he stood and posed for a few seconds, as if modeling an expensive article of clothing.

"Don't I look great in flowers, Hunk? Especially red ones!"

"Red's definitely your color, Lance!" Hunk laughed joyfully, giving his friend a pat on the back.

The words made Lance halt in his tracks, stopping mid-pose and looking. "Yea... it is...!" His voice cracked slightly, and he cleared his throat. "Maybe that's why I'm the pilot of the red lion!"

"Absolutely!" The ball of sunshine that was his best friend looked relatively unbothered by the remark, or the crack in Lance's tone when he mentioned the color red. "Well, sorry for interrupting your brooding! You can go back if you want." He leaned in. "And if you want something different to drink, Kaltenecker's stash of milk is still here, I can make you a milkshake."

"That'd be great, Hunk!" Lance beamed towards him, trying to get over his moment and acting excited. "I'm probably going to hang out here a little longer, then go back to my room. If you can't find me when you're done, you know where to find me!"

"Okay, buddy!" Hunk left the room, leaving Lance by himself once more. He sighed and let his smile fall, shaking his head and rubbing his stubbled jaw, scratching the itch that formed.

How could they so easily talk about it like it wasn't a big deal— like HE wasn't a big deal? Lance still choked up when someone mentioned Keith's name, or Keith showed up. Hell, sometimes he'd have to take a moment to compose himself when he got into Red, hanging his head as he mumbled quietly to himself to let it go, but he couldn't.

Despite him being the self-proclaimed rival of the famous pilot Keith Kogane, he still missed him.

"It's been ten years! Or... ten deca-pheobs. Whichever one," he mumbled to himself, walking off towards the hallways and heading to his room. It didn't take him long to get there, and when he did, he flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling with dull eyes.

Keith left the team— left him— to pursue the Blade of Marmora rather than stay with Voltron. He'd said something about Kolivan needing him, and he also said something about finding his mom, finding his true self. Lance couldn't remember the full reason for his departure. All he remembered was that Keith left.

He wondered what Keith looked like now. Maybe he'd grown out that stupid mullet, or cut it. The idea of Keith without his signature mullet made him scowl. He'd grown fond of that hairstyle on Keith, even if he denied it until his face matched his Voltron crest. He wondered what new scars Keith would have. Maybe he has one on his jawline? Or! Or maybe over his eye. Lance snickered at the idea of Keith having some stupid scar under his eye on the cheekbone. He also imagined Keith to be completely scar-free, just like he had left.