Anime One Shots

Voltron: The Way Forward - part 2

Keith awoke around what he assumed was four of five in the morning. His body hurt like hell, which made it difficult to sleep, and even more difficult to find a comfortable position - which he never did.

Keith scooted over to a wall he could lean on, his arms too weak to hold his weight - not that he was even that heavy. He hadn't been eating much lately - not for any other reason other than his appetite disagreeing with him. This didn't stop him from his daily workouts, though. So no matter how much muscle his arms had, without some fat they weren't really much use in a situation like this. But, hey? How was he supposed to know this would happen. When...if they got out of this he would definitely ask Hunk to make him a lot of his favorite dishes.

Keith almost screamed out when his chest suddenly pulsed with pain. He whimpered slightly, the pain increasing the more he recalled the torture. Keith was trying his best to be quiet, to not wake up the others, but, to no avail. Keith's eyes shot open when he heard ruffling a few feet away from him, and, sure enough, he saw the frame of a figure stirring.

Keith sat extremely still and didn't make a sound, hoping whoever it was would just go back to sleep. No such luck. "Keith?" He heard the voice of someone say. Keith didn't respond. "Keith?" The voice asked again. Keith sighed.

"Yeah, Lance?" Keith finally said, knowing he couldn't pretend.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing." Keith stuttered, the pain rising again.

"I can hear it in your voice, Keith." Lance said, scooting over to where Keith was leaning against the wall. "Is it your chest, does it hurt?" Keith didn't respond, he didn't want Lance to worry, but he also didn't want to lie to him. "Come on, Keith, just speak to me."

"Lance, I'm fine."

"That's not what I asked." Lance said in a stubborn, stern tone. "Is it your chest?" He repeated. Keith hesitated for a moment before nodding. "I'm sorry, Keith. I wish-"

"Don't say it. Don't say you wish it was you who was tortured. I'm fine. I have a better resistance to pain than most. It's better off me than anyone else." Keith scolded.

"I k-know I shouldn't...but I can't stand seeing you like this."

"It's no different than anyone else." Keith said nonchalantly, trying hard to distract himself from the agony his chest was throwing him.

"But it is."

"Why?"

"Because you're our leader. It's rare we ever see you in a weak state. Let alone a state like this. It's unimaginable..." Because I love you. Lance thought to himself, the words almost slipping past his lips.

"Yes, and my job as leader is to protect you all, which is exactly what I'm doing by going through this." There was a moment of silence before Keith spoke again. "It seems like there's more you want to say." Keith said carefully, not wanting to push Lance to hard into confessing.

"There is..." Lance trailed off.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yeah...but...I'm not sure."

"You can tell me, you know." Keith said warmly.

"Keith I...I-I lo-" Lance was cut off by the familiar whoosh of the cell doors opening. The two both turned their head to look at the figures standing in the doorway. "Zethrid...Ezor..." Lance snarled, instinctively moving in front of Keith protectively.

"Awe!" Ezor whined. "I was hoping to catch you off guard. Well that sucks." Ezor said, striding towards to two. The others slowly started to wake, quickly realizing the situation as horror struck their faces. "Also, get away from my man."