For mere children to grow into this pain and heartbreak. Quite ridiculous, don't you think? Some would argue it was their fault they were thrown into the abyssal chaos, but was it really? Pulled together by a cosmic and unexplainable force, destined to come together outside of our atmosphere no matter the route.
It hardly mattered now. The final fight was long over, nearly a whole year, everyone moved on and already prepping the Galran War for the history books.
Noelani sat dormant, their hands crossed politely and a thousand burdens weighing down on them. The cheers and soft calls of children released them from their idle state, and they looked up with a perfect smile. An Altean child stood before them, begging to be the leader for the trek back to their school.
"Lead the way, my princess," Noelani bowed deeply, in a theatric manner. The little girl giggled, and soon the whole throng of kids were politely making their way back to where their parents were waiting for them. Noelani paused, turning to the storyteller their children had been fawning over.
"I still can't believe you're a teacher," the man chuckled. "I mean, you've always had that motherly touch ever since we were at the Garrison, but—"
"Can you blame me?" Noelani hummed. They glanced down at their hands, where a variety of marks pulsed with a vibrant display of colors. "My species is the Care—"
"The Caretakers of the Universe, yeah, yeah," Lance rolled his soft eyes. He then looked at them cautiously, waving to a passing child before speaking up. "Do you still get visions?"
Noelani carefully raised their hand, covering one of their eyes as if they could feel the answer underneath. "No," they finally hummed. "It's as if there's no more future. It's all a wild guess from here. But... what about you? The simple life, really?"
"What?" The Red Paladin blushed suddenly, averting his eyes. "It's not so bad. Mamá really enjoys Altea too."
Lance's alien friend sighed deeply, looking to him with pity as the last of their students walked by. They rose their hand once more and cupped his face. "That is not the Lance McClain I know, how odd. Well, if you decide otherwise, then the Garrison is looking for more fighter pilots."
And they left him with the thought of more action, their thumb swiping slowly across the blue mark on his cheek.
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Noelani didn't attend the dinner that took place that night. There was an empty seat for them right next to Coran the whole time, but it stayed as that. Empty.
Noelani would have gave everything to eat with them. It would have been the first time in several months that they were all together since the end of the War, watched over by the tribute erected to their Blue Paladin. But they simple forgot.
An alien who could see any moment of the future, left blinded to an event important in their heart. It was as if they were a fleeting memory in the changing and shifting universe.
They were with their friends when the Altean ground began rumbling. Five Paladins, past and present and interchangeable, rushed outside with a frenetic energy. Noelani followed the group with dragging feet, standing far behind them with tired yet warm eyes.
The bright yellow eyes of the Lions of Voltron bore into their pilots, staring at the humans with a deep admiration and a glint of gratitude. Pride blossomed in the hearts of the small people in return, and they looked to the robots with the same wonder as they had the Blue Lion in that cave oh so long ago.
Something sparked in Lance as Blue turned her head towards him, giving a gaze chock full of sympathy and an interconnectedness of love. His blue marks began to glow, catching Noelani off guard as he turned to them with tears in his eyes.
The Blue Lion did the same, bobbing about in the air. The light blinded Noelani, and so they closed their eyes.
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"Noe," Lance hissed. "Noelani!"
The alien of unknown origin's eyes snapped open, their bones suddenly enveloped by a familiar warmth. The feeling drifted off as they came to, clenching their hands which were covered by raggedy leather gloves.
"This is a partner project, not a you-stare-into-space-while-I-do-the-work-project!" Lance continued. His Garrison uniform was ruffled from the exasperated hand motions, and his hair was shorter than the other teen remembered.
Noelani glanced down at the paper in front of them, staring at the simple math problems that could hardly be considered a 'project.' They then reached up to grasp at the ends of their hair, which was much shorter than it had been a few moments ago. They were both lankier, their muscle from the years of war suddenly gone with the change of scenery.
Noelani finally realized what had happened, and they looked to their long-time friend with defeated eyes.
"Where's Hunk?"
"Gone to barf, probably. The simulation test really messed him up this time," he explained, satisfied that Noelani's mind was back in their body. The aforementioned smiled with a sudden nostalgic smile, picking up their pencil and beginning to work on their part of the 'project.'
"I'm still mad I'm not on your rescue team," they hummed. And it was true.
"I know you are, it's kind of funny." His statement was supported with a laugh, but it fell off sharply when Noelani looked down with a reminiscent smile. "What's up, Noe?"
They shook their head, overcome with the sudden urge to rip their gloves off. They didn't succumb to the temptation, instead letting a wide smile crawl over their cheeks that caused their eyes to shine. They turned to their friend, grabbing his hands and squeezing him in reassurance.
Lance's eyes widened at Noelani's statement, a familiar sense of wonder and belonging filling his ribcage.
