Pineapple Rain

It's raining when they return to earth.

Lance is half asleep. The whole crew has been cruising through the universe for hours without rest, and his lion has been running on autopilot to prevent an exhaustion-based crash. He can hear Hunk's distant snoring somewhere in his earpiece, and the occasional handful of yawns from his teammates. After what feels like ages of staring glossy-eyed out into the absence of space and drifting off from time to time, no one seems to register that they've touched down on soil.

Blue hums contentedly and digs her metal paws into the ground. He hears Pidge gasp suddenly.

"You guys...Oh my God."

Hunk snorts and yawns loudly. The entire team seems to gulp in unison.

"Oh my God," Pidge repeats in utter disbelief, "We made it."

Lance, no longer slouching in his chair, does a double take, and his heart begins to race. He can't help but whisper a swear to himself as he tosses the helmet he was cradling behind him without another thought. Everyone is filled with euphoria, to the point where Shiro doesn't even acknowledge the obscenity.

He opens Blue's door and runs straight outside. He falls to his knees. The rainwater falls onto his skin, pinning his dark hair to his forehead. It seems to wash away everything, and for just a moment he's a little boy with his siblings again, tromping through puddles in their rubber rain boots.

The other paladins open their doors and walk out into the rain with wide smiles - all but Keith. He simply stands in the doorway, a slightly confused smile on his face. When he saw Lance run out into the open air with that goofy and excited expression, and all the blood rushed to his ears. He was dumbfounded by the sudden flutter of his heart.

"Well," He thought, "That's not good..."

He could hear Red's presence snickering at him. "Oh, shut it." She continued her laughter.

Lance noticed him standing there, frozen in place in the doorway. It was Keith's turn to mutter curse words.

Lance waved Keith over to where he stood, and continued to bore a hole into him with that...cute smile. Keith tore his eyes away and instead hesitantly began to reach into the forming storm, droplets of cold water bouncing and rolling between his fingers. He took a step and stuck out his tongue. Lance jogged over and rolled his eyes, grabbing hold of Keith's hand. He dragged them further away from their ships and over to a quickly forming puddle.

"Ready?" Lance asked, grabbing Keith's other hand. They began to slowly twirl, each footstep creating little waves, until their spinning lost rhythm and they both fell with a dramatic splash!

They were both red-in-the-face and smiling like idiots while the water seeped into their clothes. The sun was peeking through the clouds.

Keith could feel Red smiling too.