Spread Your Wings and Fly

Chapter 26

Probably last one today. Enjoy!

Chapter 26

Keith Pov

I hold her until she pulls away. By that time, three quarters of an hour has passed and the others were due any minute. When she pulls away, she looks up at me with a soft smile.

"Hey Keith?"

"Mhm?"

"Don't die." She wraps me in a quick hug which I return.

"Wasn't planning on it." She chuckles and it's music to my ears. It feels like ages since I've heard her laugh properly.

"Don't feel pressured, but can you tell me what happened when you got captured?" Pidge lets go of me and moves so she's in front of the window. I get the feeling she isn't looking outside though. I slowly move so I'm standing next to her. When she speaks, her voice sounds like it's a bit broken.

"I was captured and made to do three trials. Each one was horrible enough to give me PTSD. For any of you others, it probably wouldn't have been bad. But it was awful for me." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "The first trial was a fighting. It was to test my endurance. I had to fight different opponents until they either surrendered or couldn't fight anymore. I had to fight them until I either failed and lost or until I became the champion. So much blood shed. So many Galrans that I was made to maim." She turns toward me with tears in her eyes. "Keith, if you'd seen their faces. They looked so lost. So scared." She took another deep breath before speaking again.

"The second trial was to test if I could keep my sanity, my speed and reasoning in times of trouble. It was a huge maze. The walls moved every so often and there was never a pattern. Monsters lurked around corners and hidden traps were planted so often that I'm surprised I didn't loose a limb." She laughs again but it's more of a pitying laugh. A laugh that someone would do when they aren't actually into it, they're just doing it to make the setting less bleak. "The darkness in the maze... it was like it had never heard of the word brightness before. It was nearly impossible to see."

"The third and last trial was to test if I could be trusted. I was atop a rickety bridge and boiling hot lava was below me. A small fire child guarded the other side which was the side I was supposed to get to. I had to answer questions. Answer the question incorrectly made the fire child grow. Answer the question incorrectly three times and I became ash. The questions started off easy but as I progressed, they became harder. Not the knowledge part. Just the answering. They became more personal."

"Oh Pidge." I wrap my arms around her again and do my best to comfort her. "Why didn't you tell someone about this? Why keep it all bottled up?" Pidge sniffles and wipes her eyes.

"I didn't think anyone would care. If they'd had to do the trials, they wouldn't be breaking down everyday. They wouldn't understand."

"Maybe not. But you could've tried." Her answer is muffled as she puts her face in my shirt again. I just laugh to myself.

"GUYS! We're here! Are you ready for Sharpshooter Lance to finally finished what he started?" Pidge and I pull apart abruptly. Lance walks into the room with Hunk and Allura in tow.

"Where's Shiro and Selena?" Lance just shrugs.

"Haven't heard from your little ghost friend or Shiro. They're probably coming soon though." I nod and look toward Pidge whose face has gone pale.

"Pidge, are you okay?" Allura's looks at Pidge worriedly. Pidge nods and gulps.

"Yes Allura, I'm fine. I-I just need to go..." Before she can finish her sentence she's up and running toward the bathroom. I'm following behind her so when she reaches the toilet I'm there, holding her hair out of the way as she empties the contents of her stomach into the bowl.

The others waited out in the hall as I helped wash her face. She was quite limp and when I picked her up, she was easy to carry. I shook my head and carried her downstairs. I put her down on the couch and got Lance to fetch a bowl from the cupboard.

"Hey. Shh. It's okay. Rest." Pidge's eye lids were fluttering and I knew she needed sleep.

"No. The nightmares."

"We're all here. Lance, Hunk, Allura. We're all here for you." She nods and closes her eyes. Just as I'm about to get up she whispers something that I almost don't catch.

"Stay with me." I smile down at her and squeeze her hand.

"Forever."

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I have no idea why I did that...