Ash Coleson was removed from Garrison, along with her best friend Keith Kogane for"disciplinary issues." She's spent the last few months with him, searching for answers, questions, thought processes, anything that would help them discover what happe...
"Here, press this against your lip," Keith said softly, handing Ash a thick strip of gauze. Ash had insisted multiple times that she was fine, but Keith made her come down to the hospital wing.
Hesitantly, she took the gauze from him and pressed it against her lip, glaring at Keith as she did so. Keith held up his hands in mock surrender as he exited the room, leaving Ash some alone time.
Keith walked down the halls and entered his room, approaching the small table next to his bed. The table mostly held photos of Ash and Keith, when they were children, when they were at Garrison, nights spent in the cabin, and more.
Keith sat down on his bed with a sigh, and picked up one of the frames on the table. His thumbs traced lightly over the photo.
The photo was of Ash in the midst of tackling Keith into the snow, the news that she has gotten into Garrison with him making her extremely emotional.
Keith was a few years older than Ash, meaning he qualified for Garrison far before she did. On winter break, Keith had gone to the Coleson household to spend Christmas with them. Christmas Day was when he had given Ash her acceptance letter. Their cheeks had been rosy from the cold, and snow had found itself attached to their hair and clothes.
Keith allowed himself to smile at the memory, delicately placing it back down on the table. He picked up another, shorter but wider frame.
The photo was of Keith and Ash sleeping on Ash's parents couch. As soon as Keith and Ash met, her parents had practically began planning their wedding when the two were only the ages of seven and ten.
Keith's smile grew at the photo, again tracing his thumb over the frame softly. Ash was resting on Keith's torso, Keith having engulfed her in a protective hug, falling asleep like that.
The picture was taken a year or two before Ash got accepted into Garrison, the year Keith started spending the holidays with Ash and her family, when Ash was about fourteen, and Keith seventeen.
Keith again set the frame back on the table, and flopped back onto his bed, a happy sigh escaping his lips.
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********
"Up up up! Zargon is attacking!" Ash shifted her gaze away from the floor, and then turned it to Shiro. Ash had woken up early in an attempt to clear her head, and found Shiro training by himself.
Shiro nodded and broke into a run, running towards the piloting location. Ash, being quite speedy despite her short size, easily passed Shiro and dove into the piloting room.
Shiro entered short after, along with Keith, Pidge, and Hunk. Keith gave Ash a confused look, as to why she was already in her armor, a teal color.
Ash, not noticing Keith's look, kept her eyes trained on Allura, waiting for her to speak.
"What if it was a real attack? You should've all been here sooner, and only Shiro and Ash are in uniform," she scoffed, her gaze penetrating everyone.
"Where is Lance?" Allura questioned, noticing he wasn't there. Ash shook her head, a chuckle escaping herself.
"I'll go get him," she stated, exiting the piloting room.
She made her way down the hallway, looking for the blue Paladin's room. Eventually finding it, the door opened due to Allura giving her access.
She found Lance sleeping soundly in a face mask and headphones. Ash shook her head and mentally face-palmed. An idea for revenge sprouted into her head.
She took a hold of the blanket, and quickly snatched it, Lance shooting upright. Lance ripped off his sleeping mask and headphones as he glared at Ash, crossing his arms.
"Revenge is sweet isn't it?~" she said sweetly. Lance let out a huff. He looked down, and realized he was only in his boxers. He snatched his robe and slung it around his shoulders, embarrassed.
"Go on, get ready!" Ash said, shooing him out of bed, not necessarily realizing why he was embarrassed. Lance slumped into the bathroom, Ash gazing around his room. The room looked a lot like Keith's, white tiled walls and floors, with a sleeping cupboard, a built-in shelf behind the bed. Ash sat down on Lance's bed and gazed at his shelf. A few books lay there, a small cactus plant, and a framed photo.
Ash delicately picked it up, and smiled at the photo. The photo was a selfie, Lance had his arm slung around Ash's shoulders, while Pidge and Hunk had tried photo-bombing in the background. It was Ash's first day at Garrison, and she had met Lance a few days before by accidentally running into him.
Despite it being a cliche, Ash was in a hurry to get home, a random guy on the street had been following her. In her hurry, she ended up running into Lance. The guy had come up to Lance and thanked him for catching "his rebel sister." Lance had looked down at Ash hiding behind his tall frame, who had shaken her head, tears threatening to spill down her face.
The man had begun to get more aggressive, angry that Lance wouldn't hand Ash over. Someone in the neighboring cafe had seen what was happening out the large window, and had called the cops. Lance had continued to stall, until he was taken away in handcuffs.
Lance had exchanged phone numbers with Ash, wanting her to give him a call if any other random guys had given her trouble. She accepted the number hesitantly, laughing to herself as she continued to walk home.
And then Ash's first day at Garrison had come up. Lance immediately recognized her, and introduced her to Pidge and Hunk. Ash's gaze had traveled to a blurred hand reaching into the photo, and chuckled to herself remembering what happened afterwards.
Keith had noticed Ash, having not had a chance to see her before school, but didn't realize she was taking a photo with anyone. He had engulfed Ash into a hug, Ash returning it gratefully.
Ash felt a presence beside her, and looked to see Lance peering at the photo over her shoulder. She smiled at him, Lance returning the smile softly.
"Watcha thinking about?" Lance questioned, reading Ash's confused look. She set the frame back on the shelf.
"How cliche and cheesy our meeting story is," she wheeze, letting herself fall back onto Lance's bed.
*******
"More team bonding, hm." Ash muttered to herself, in the circle with the crew of Voltron. She was by no means a paladin, but enjoyed having something to do, and keeping Keith and Lance in check.
Within moments, Pidge and Hunk had fallen through the holes, having not been paying much attention.
Ash, Shiro, Keith, and Lance, were all pressed back-to-back with their shields, Keith and Lance arguing.
"Lance, zip-" Ash was cut off as a "laser" hit the back of her leg, and she was sent down the hole. Keith and Lance continued to argue, the simulator taking them both out, then Shiro.
****
"Activating training helmets."
"Koran! I can't see!"
"Feel what the Lion feels!"
Ash saw nothing but black. Nervous sweat began to gather at her forehead, her faith in Keith slowly draining from her body. Ash clung onto Keith's arms, Lance's voice coming from her helmet.
"You still going buddy?" Lance sneered. Ash let out a scoff.
"Screw off Lance!" That line could have been the reason Lance shut up, or because both the red and blue lion had crashed into a sand dune.
Ash, not having a proper seat, had flung forward and hit her head again. Not enough to knock her out, but enough to send a searing pain into her head.
