Burning Bright Eyes

Two

        Ayiko quietly crawled out from her hiding place to where Lotor was waiting, holding his hand out for her. The golden sclerae of his eyes glinted with worry as she crawled up to him. After placing her mechanical hand in his, the hybrid stood up by the Galra emperor. "How did you know I was here?" she whispered.

        "Because I know you, Ayiko," he replied. "You always hide in the darkest places where no one else would bother looking." He wrapped his free arm around her in an embrace. "You had me worried... While you were whipped by Trueblood. When you were unconscious in my grasp and in the healing pod. And when you were gone by the time the alarm went off. Don't try to scare me like that."

        Ayiko sighed as she leaned against Lotor's shoulder, looking up at him. "I wasn't trying to. The alarm and the many strangers scared me. When I found myself in your fighter, I expected you were taking me to your ship. Where are Ezor and the others?"

        Lotor hummed softly. "I can understand where that must be coming from. You must be rather unnerved at being in a different ship than you first thought you'd end up in. But, unfortunately, Ezor and the others... they left me for the witch, even after what she did to Narti and Kova. You were right not to trust Narti when you were with us; the witch was using her all along."

        "Haggar?" Ayiko recalled, pulling back. "That's horrible. I thought they would never do that. And if Narti... she couldn't possibly have deserved that."

        "We can talk more of it another time," Lotor told her softly. "But now, the strangers who were chasing you are the Paladins of Voltron; my newest allies. We can call them off back at the bridge."

        Ayiko nodded before they walked back to the bridge, hand in hand. Once they were there, they saw that the area was once again empty. Lotor led her to the communication area, bringing out the mic for the comms.

        "Attention, everyone," Lotor spoke. "Ayiko has been found safe and fully recovered. She's with me at the bridge."

        "That's wonderful news that you found her, Lotor," Allura's voice replied. "But out of curiosity, where was she?"

        "Hiding under the ballroom stairs," the Galra answered. "Ayiko prefers hiding in places that would likely be normally left unchecked when in an unfamiliar place."

        "Makes sense," mused the high-pitched voice from before. "Guess that would make her a master at hide-and-seek."

        Ayiko's eyes widened before she shrunk back. "Oh no," she whispered, "that couldn't be me; Ezor's always been the better hider."

        "I suggest you leave that for them to decide," Lotor whispered off-mic.

        "Anyway, we're heading back to bed," the tired-sounding male from before yawned. "It's way too late for anyone to be awake, especially Coran, and it'll be better for us to meet your friend in the morning."

        "Hunk's got the right idea," the deep voice agreed. "Lotor, we'll see you and Ayiko in the morning. We'll try our best to make sure Coran and Lance don't cause trouble."

        "We appreciate that, Black Paladin," Lotor thanked the man before signing off, taking Ayiko's hand. "Come, there's a guest room next to my own you can take for the time being. Allura made sure to put your armor in there."

~~~~~~~~~

         The next morning, when everyone was fully rested after last night, Ayiko was ready to meet the Paladins. She wore her familiar faded black armor, which she obtained from being in Lotor's crew, with a glowing chip on each wrist for the holographic screens. She tweaked the colors to make the orange areas cyan to distinguish it from the others like Ezor's, who held a similar body design besides the arms -- which were fully closed -- and feet -- which were made especially for a digitigrade like herself.