Lost not Broken

Chapter 8

"You insignificant piece of trash! Who ever told you that you were worth something?!" I was beat, tortured, abused both verbally and physically. I tried not to cry, but a tear fell down my face, dripping onto the floor. "Voltron never cared about you. They wouldn't even notice if you were gone. They'd function just fine without you. Heck, they DID function just fine without you! Even a clone of Shiro half-controlled by a sociopath witch managed to take your job and did better than you ever could!" I bit my lip, collapsing to the ground, giving in. I finally understood how much I was really worth. I finally understood what I meant to the world.

Keith!

What was my name anymore?

Keith!

What was I?

Keith!

Who am I?

KEITH!

Gasping, I shot straight up, shivering, shaking, heart pounding. "Keith! Good lord, you're hard to wake up!" A familiar voice spoke from somewhere nearby. I couldn't see anything, the room was pitch black.

Where am I?!

A dim light flicked on. "Hey! Hey, you're okay."

Storm.

I screwed my eyes shut, drawing my knees to my chest. "Nobody cares about me." I shuddered. "What? What're you talking about?" "Nobody would notice." "Keith you're not making any sense..." "I'm not worth anything. I'm not worth anything." Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my arm. I yelped, jerking it away to inspect it. "Did you just BITE me?!" I cried. "Sorry not sorry. What happened? Why're you talking like that?" Storm's neon blue eyes glistened. "Because it's true. It just took me a little longer to realize it." I croaked. "No... no, none of that's true! I- th-that's why you... you fell, isn't it?" Her ears drooped. I looked away guiltily. "Oh, Keith..." A sudden warmth surrounded me. My face flushed as I realized that she was... hugging me... Every wall I had ever put up suddenly came crashing down like an earthquake was destroying them to nothing but rubble. I sobbed, burying my face into her shoulder. Everything ached. A high-pitched ringing in my ears grew louder and louder. "Shh. You're okay. You're okay." Her voice was so soothing, vaguely reminding me of something. "I-I'm s-so-orr-y." I hiccuped in-between sobs. "Why're you sorry?" She murmured. "F-For w-was-sting y-your t-time." "That's stupid. You have no reason to be apologizing, especially not for that. You're hurting, you need someone to talk to. That's a normal thing to ask for. It's okay to ask for that. You shouldn't beat yourself up over needing help. And don't you dare think that nobody cares about you. We're here for you. All of us." She said. "Then why are you the only one here?"

"I'm here for the same reason I found you in the desert."

"And what would that reason be?"

"I don't know yet." There was a soft glow, and Storm had disappeared, in her place a seal point Ragdoll cat. The cat jumped up on the couch. I smiled faintly, remembering that Storm could change forms. I laid down again, and the Ragdoll curled up on my chest. I chuckled, petting it, drifting into sleep once more.