Discoveries

Chapter 2

Keith stood just outside of Pidge's vision, so she couldn't see him without craning her head.

So when she said his name and wasn't looking at him...well, Keith took a step closer, wondering if she was seeing things.

"You're over reacting." Krolia said gently. "I'm-"

"-You're not Keith." Pidge dully finished, grabbing her head and moaning. "I swear, if this is another weird vision...ugh. My whole head feels-"

"Pidge." Keith gently called, taking his place in front of her.

Pidge's gaze trampled over to him, relief flooding her expression as her shock dissolved. "Boy, am I happy to see you! Wait, then who are you?" Pidge's faze flickered back to Krolia. "Wait a moment..." Keith opened up his mouth to answer her question but Pidge cut him off. "You two look kinda alike...Keith, is this your mother?!"

"Pidge." Allura interrupted, slightly taken aback by the Paladin's cheerful attitude. "Are you quite alright? You were in a coma for two days."

"I'm fine!" Pidge brightly responded, and, as if to prove it, sat up and tried to pull out the needle.

Allura took over with the extraction, ripping out the long needle.

Pidge flinched at the movement, but quickly disguised it with swinging her legs over the mattress and standing up.

"Pidge are you quite all right?" Krolia asked, standing over her protectively like, well, a mother.

"I'm fine." Pidge sniped. "It's not like the coma was serious. ANYway, are you Keith's mom? Sister? Cousin? Betrothed?"

Keith grunted, Allura blinked. And Krolia, well, she smirked. "Mother. Don't worry."

"Hmm..." Pidge rearranged her feet, trying to get the hang of using her legs again. "Did I miss anything? Do you need me to fix something?"

"Before you do need stuff, we should probably tell the others you're awake." It didn't sound like an order, but with Keith, everything was a command.

"As if he'd care." Pidge hissed underneath her breath.

"Whatcha say?" Krolia asked.

"Never mind." Pidge grumbled. Then her eyes brightened. "Keith, this is great! You found your mother, and I found the rest of my family! This is great!" Pidge often rambled, losing track of her words as soon as they left her mouth. So repeating words wasn't surprising to anyone, except Krolia.

Krolia had half expected Pidge to at least carefully think our her words before barreling into topics. She WAS the smart one, after all.

"You found your dad?"

"Yeah, don't you listen? That's how Lotor killed Zarkon."

"I was away on a mission! All I heard was that Zarkon was dead." Keith admitted, crossing his arms.

"You may be Kolivan's devoted soldier, but he still won't tell you everything." Krolia was talking to herself, her eyes shut. A pale yellow glow shone from underneath her eyelids, which was slightly unnerving.

Allura headed for the coms, alerting the Paladins that Pidge was awake.

"Are you positive you're okay?" Keith asked, and Pidge's right foot shuffled awkwardly.

"I'm being completely serious when I say this; I'm completely fine, I don't understand why you're so worried, and I need my computer."

Allura glanced at her in exasperation, shaking her head. "Where were you going in the Green Lion?" She inquired, receiving a stressed expression from the youngest Paladin.

"That's MY business." Pidge finally settled on saying, her lips pursing together. "Not yours. I need time to think, and-"

The door flying open interrupted her, and she was immediately incased in Hunk's arms, her legs a good two feet in the air, her body completely buried in his embrace.

"Man, are you okay?! I thought you were going to die or something, and when the healing pod spat you out, I thought that it was broken and that you were going to die or...wait did I already say that?! Am I crying? I feel like crying."

Flatly, Pidge repeated her claim of perfectly fine.

Lance joined in the hug, and Lotor offered her a pat on the head and soft smile.

"I'm FINE." Pidge grumped, frustrated with all the attention. "Please get off of me." Instead of obeying her request, they just hung on more tightly.

Pidge peered around the room from over Hunk's shoulder, and, in a quiet, strangled voice, she whispered, "hypothesis confirmed. I knew it."

Hunk and Lance, who were the only ones close enough to hear, exchanged a look, their eyebrows raised in confusion. Lance looked around, and, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, shrugged in confusion.

"You sure you're okay, Pidge?" Hunk asked, setting her down.

"Just hungry." Pidge's gaze fluttered over to Lotor and her eyebrows raised for a split second before she glanced back over at Hunk. "What's for lunch?"

"Probably something spicy. I think Keith would appreciate that." Hunk glanced at the ex-Red Paladin and frowned. "I think..."

Pidge smirked, and the Paladins realized how much they had missed her smile in the thirty-eight hours she had been unconscious. "Yeah, I think he would. His mom, too."

"Are you sure you're okay? You're unsteady on your feet."

"I was in a coma for like, two days! I'm amazed that this is the only side effect." Pidge frowned, then began to glance around in confusion. "Wait a-where's my glasses?"

Lotor handed them to her and she plopped them on her nose, grinning confidently up at him.

"Thanks!" She grinned. "If you all don't mind, I'm gonna head of to my Lio-"

"Nope!" Krolia grabbed her shoulder, smiling. "You just woke up, I'm fairly certain your teammates would LOVE to fuss over you."

The scowl that greeted her made the Paladins laugh, their overflowing joy at knowing that their youngest Paladin was safe. Weak, maybe, but safe. Awake. Alive.