Realisation and Freedom (A Voltron and Galra!Keith fanfic)

The Introductions

The dreamless sleep seems to pass in a few ticks and I hear the telltale sound of the pod opening. I feel weak and gravity taking its toll on me as I move and fall forward into a pair of arms. I grasp them to steady myself and force myself to glance upwards tiredly. The face I see is the black paladin's who gives me a soft, tired and concerned smile. I whimper from the strain of keeping myself upright and the change in the paladin is instant. He immediately removes his prosthetic arm under my legs and rearranges me so I am being carried bridle style. The familiar position reminds me of what happened. Assignment. Zarkon. Prisoner. Lance. Friend. Paladins. Pain. Escape. Pod.

I notice how the paladin does it in such a practised way that I can tell he was the one who carried me off the Galra ship. A blush coats my cheeks slightly in embarrassment but the paladin either ignores or doesn't notice it.

"Is that better?" He asks in concern.

I nod in reply.

"Are you still hurt?" He asks, causing me to smile slightly at the worry and concern in his voice, something I rarely heard towards me because I was hurt.

"No, just tired and slightly weak," I reply, my voice raspy.

"That's normal. Don't worry, it'll wear off," he smiles reassuringly, causing me to offer a smile of my own involuntarily, "Let's get you something to drink and something to eat. What do you say?"

I nod in reply, despite the feeling he would make me eat or drink anyway. As the paladin walks down the hallways with me in his arms, I relax slightly and rest my head against the paladin's chest, like I had when I was injured. I notice him tense up in surprise momentarily before relaxing and laughing slightly at how at home I had made myself, twice now, in his arms. As we walk, my mind wanders. I realise I only know Lance's name (since Zarkon only made us recognise each paladin as paladins, not by name and Lance was the only one that has told me their name) and that I haven't seen them but I decide not to mention anything, enjoying this moment whilst it lasts.

When we arrive at the kitchen, the smaller paladin is sat at the table on her laptop - eating something that smells amazing that I have never seen before - with some mice lounging about, an Altean playing with his moustache and talking about 'the good old days', another Altean laughing at the other's dramatic actions and exaggerated story and Lance competing with the Altean with the moustache by being even more dramatic. At this scene, I can't stop the small laugh that escapes me. This causes everyone to look at me and the black paladin.

"Hey everyone. Look who's up," the black paladin says and I don't even need to look at him to know that he has a grin on his face.

It's quiet momentarily and I have the urge to hide behind the paladin before the room erupts in noise, causing the larger paladin to peek out of the kitchen to see what's going on.

"Greetings young one! We are so happy to have y-"

"How'd you meet the Galra? How'd you end up meeting Lance? How'd y-"

"You're up."

"Great to see ya buddy! Told ya you'd be fi-"

"I'll make a meal to celebrate. You look like you could use it. It'll have to ha-"

The noise is too much for my sensitive ears, causing them to flatten and me to cover them with my hands, whimper and curl up slightly. The black paladin takes notice of this and shouts over the noise, "ENOUGH!" to get them all to shut up. Which works. The room immediately goes quiet.

"Sorry," Lance is the first to apologise.

"It's alright. You didn't know better," I reply softly, a small smile.

"Still... we shouldn't have been yelling like that young one. How about we start with introductions instead? I doubt you know who we are, well, except for Number Three, of course," the Altean with the moustache smiles, more restrained than before.

I nod in agreement and smile at how comforting the Altean's presence is.

"Alright then. Here we go. The name's Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe, grandson to the great Wimbleton, and I apologise for my actions," the Altean ends with a little bow, causing me to giggle.

"It's great to meet you Coran Hieronymus Wimb-" I start.

"Coran is fine," Coran cuts in, a bright smile adorning his face as he approaches and offers me his hand which I grasp at the wrist like all Galra do, causing Coran to nod in approval, "Mighty fine grip there young one. I like you."

I could tell I was going to like him to but I didn't say anything as he released his grip. The larger one then approached, twiddling his thumbs. I could tell he was nervous so I tried to give him a comforting smile or, at least, the most comforting smile I could give.

"I-I'm Hunk. I'm sorry for causing y-you pain. I can make you an excellent meal and I ca-" Hunk begins to ramble.

"That's enough Hunk," I hear the smaller one say from behind him.

"Oh! Right, sorry," Hunk stammers apologetically.

"It's alright. It's great to meet you Hunk. I hope we can be friends and I can have some of your food. I'm sure it's better than the food they serve us on the ship and I'm starving," I smile softly at his sincerity and we nod whilst smiling at each other.

I hope I can earn Hunk's trust; I imagine he is a good friend. Hunk leaves the room to where I assume the kitchen is and the smaller paladin walks forward. She reminds me of a prisoner I once met, but younger and shorter.

"My name's Pidge and I'm sorry to. I'm just curious and have many questions like how'd you meet the Galra, how'd you meet Lance, how'd y-" Pidge rambles.

"Pidge..." the black paladin say sternly, a hint of warning in his voice.

"Alright Space Dad," Pidge mutters.

"It's alright. She's just curious, right?" I look at Pidge who is in shock.

"How can you tell I'm a girl?" She asks surprised.

"I'm supposed to believe you're a guy?" I ask, getting a few laughs, "Anyways, it's fine but can we do introductions and food first, then interrogations?"

Pidge laughs shyly, scratching the back of her neck and nods.

"I'm Princess Allura of Altea," the last Altean cuts in, emotionless, glaring daggers at me.

"Your majesty," I say, "I would bow but I am unable to. I'm very sorry about Altea - I know it was a beautiful place."

My face is serious as I try to convey how sorry I really am about her loss and understand that I will be unable to comprehend just what she has lost. She nods in understanding before sitting at the table beside Coran who looks between us in worry but I just shake my head. Coran rests his hand on Princess Allura's shoulder, who looks up at him, and gives her a small smile that she returns. I smile at the sight before the black paladin interrupts my thoughts.

"And I'm Shiro, the black paladin and leader of Voltron. It's nice to meet you formally," Shiro introduces himself.

I look up at him and see him smiling down at me reassuringly.

"You're the one who carried me to the pod, aren't you?" I joke, half-serious.

"He is. Wouldn't leave your side despite you being asleep for almost an entire quintant young one. We would've been in shifts but Shiro insisted on watching you," Coran butts in.

I laugh at Shiro's flustered expression and reach up for the hand by my face, squeezing it in reassurance.

"You already know me but since we're doing introductions, I'm Lance," Lance decides to exclaim.

"My name is Keith Kogane. Former Galra soldier, now a traitor," Keith officially introduces himself, just as Hunk enters the room.

"Here we are! A three course meal, just for you. Before anyone else comments, Keith first, you guys later," Hunk informs them, using his no nonsense chef tone of voice.