Wings of Home (Voltron: Legendary Defender/One Day at a Time 2017 Crossover)

Power of Familia

Penelope led the way towards the office set up for the garrison school's principle, but Lydia surged forward when the family saw Lance. Seeing Lance with a black eye and the other boy without any injury made Penelope's motherly nature kick in at full force. She didn't hesitate to get into the face of the young garrison soldier standing outside of the principal's office with the other young man yet didn't notice her nephews look of discomfort.

She wasn't expecting Lance to say, "It was my fault!"

Penelope briefly registered the young man saying he needed to go and instead looked at her nephew in disbelief. She took a deep breath. "What do you mean?"

"Sheesh." Lance slid down and shoved his hands into the pants of his orange cadet uniform.

"Sobrino?"

"That was Takashi Shirogane, okay?" A pair of blue eyes looked into her brown ones. One eye was slightly swollen from the black eye. "And you went off on him like that. Seriously."

"Who and what?" In the back of her mind she knew she should know the name, but for more than one reason.

Elena's eyebrows shot up while her arms crossed her chest. "You know. The guy Lance idolizes and why he entered the garrison school?"

Penelope moved her finger back and forth. "I am still not understanding. Why is this your fault? You're the one with the black eye."

Lance removed his hands from his pockets and tucked them under his arms. His blue eyes now looked away while Lydia continued looking her grandson over. "It's not fair."

"If it's that you're getting in trouble and the other kid isn't, I'll just talk to the principle."

"No. It's not fair Keith gets special treatment."

Schneider frowned. "Penelope, I'm not following."

Lance turned his head and glared at the man who was in effect a stranger to him. "I'm talking about the fact Keith's always breaking school records and showing off on the simulators, but he gets all of Shiro's attention. I mean, you saw the fact Shiro was here, right?"

"Neito?" Lydia's soft voice drew Lance's blue eyes towards those of his grandmother. "You have your family."

"Yeah. You could have nobody like me. Do you know what I would have given to have anybody taken an interest in me?"

Schneiders words made Lance glare at the man again. Penelope took a deep breath wondering how she would finagle getting six people home if Lance was in fact sent home with her yet shook her head. Lance's lip formed into a pout. "Yeah, well, I don't see what that has to do with my situation."

Penelope felt slightly disappointed Lance didn't understand Schneider was telling him how lucky he was to have a family which cared, yet she found herself bothered by the fact Lance was jealous of another person's abilities to the point of claiming it was unfair. The door to the office opened and someone asked, "Are you Lance's Aunt?"

"Yes."

"Can I speak with you?"

"Of course." Penelope stepped into the office. Her head turned and looked at the glass pane separating the office from the seats outside. Her mouth curled up as she processed the knowledge the principal knew exactly when she and her family arrived.

"I wish to apologize profusely."

"For taking so long to ask me to come in?"

"No. For the behavior of Cadet Kagone." The principal sat down behind their desk. "His behavior was absolutely uncalled for."

"Are you referring to the fact he shouldn't have given my nephew a black eye, or are you referring to the fact there was no provocation?"

"The other cadets can't help if they're jealous of Cadet Kagone, so it is understandable if they react in a negative manner."

Penelope's mouth twisted slightly. "Are you telling me you condone bullying?"

She watched the principle's eyes blink. "Condone bullying? I'm telling you Cadet Kagone's outburst is unacceptable and we don't condone such behavior."

"I'm talking about the fact you condone letting cadets who are jealous of Cadet Kagone bully him until he reacts?"

"Cadet Kagone gets too much special treatment from the higher-ups simply because of who his legal guardian is, but Shirogane wanted me to excuse the Kagone's behavior because someone he knows died."

"Then I am right in assuming the young man I saw outside with him is his legal guardian?"

"Takashi Shirogane? Yes. Apparently, they're brothers, but I doubt biologically. Cadet Kagone is nothing like Shirogane was when he was a cadet."

A lightbulb went off in Penelope's head. "Wait. Is this Shirogane the garrison genius who broke records? The one everyone was singing the praise of back when I was still part of the military?"

"Well, yes." The principal leaned into their fingers watching Penelope carefully.

"So I am to assume you are allowing the other cadets including my nephew bully Cadet Kagone because you have some kind of vendetta against his older brother?" In the back of Penelope's mind, she found herself understanding the situation a bit more. Takashi Shirogane was someone who came around once in a lifetime – a certified genius. Keith Kagone seemed like yet another genius, yet like before there were people jealous of the natural talent who felt such natural talent was unfair.

The principal sat up straight. "There is no such vendetta. And they're not brothers, no matter how much Shirogane..."

"Familia es familia." Penelope glared at the principle. "That means 'family is family', but what punishment is my nephew getting?"

"Nothing. He didn't even throw a punch."

"But he did instigate the fight and goaded the other cadet into punching him?"

"Well, yes."

"Then you will follow proper military procedure, or I will take this higher up." A few minutes later Penelope walked out of the office.

"So?" Lance didn't look her in the eye.

"You're officially suspended like Cadet Kagone is."

"Wait..." Lance's head darted up. "None of the other cadets..."

Penelope took a deep breath. "You will also apologize to Cadet Kagone when you have the chance to do so, but you will do so because it's the right thing."

"It's not..." A quick glare from Penelope shut Lance up rather quickly.