A Matter of Family

Chapter Eight: Tears of Healing

*note to readers* Hey there! "It's a Monday" is what my family likes to say when something doesn't quite go as planned or is going rough at the beginning of the week (or it feels like a Monday). I'm sure everyone has those days (and sometimes there on more than just Mondays), but however your day has been today, I hope its encouragement for you to know that there really is never a completely bad day: we all have those moments, definitely, where everything goes wrong or drags out or is just not fun. Even in our busy, busy lives though, I don't think there's ever no room for some of those small joys to pop in: sometimes we have to search and focus more on those small joys, but they're always there. I don't know how your day has been today, and that might have come out of no where, but I know how rough Mondays, or any day for that matter, can get: how quickly things can turn. Hopefully that thought can bring some light and hope when your having one of those dark, dreary days. Anyways! To brighten things up (kinda since this chapter has a little bit of crying XD), here's chapter eight and I hope you enjoy!

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"So how long have you been the Black Paladin, Takashi?" Eliza asked her son after he had caught her up to speed on what he was doing out in space, manly concerning Voltron.

Shiro paused a minute to think as he sat in the pilot seat of his lion, tapping a finger on the control as if to count something out.

"A few months for sure." he replied. "With a break in between."

"Did something happen?" Eliza quiried. 'For you to have been on the break I mean."

"Uh, yeah actually. I've been back for a while now though." Shiro answered, trying to stay out of that confusing conversation. "It was nothing too big."

"I'm sure your teammates are glad you're back. What are their names again?"

"Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Allura. Keith used to fly the red lion but, he decided to leave after some more, complicated things started to come up. He's with a rebel group fighting against the Galra Empire now."

"The, Galra?" Eliza suddenly asked hesitantly, and her tone caused Shiro to glance to her.

Eliza looked suddenly lost in thought, as if searching her mind for something

"Why does that sound familiar?" she asked aloud to herself, trying to find the answer.

Her brow was furrowed in her thought for a moment, until suddenly, she gave a sharp gasp. Her gaze raised to look straight ahead at nothing, the look on her expression one of recognition: recalling sudden, terrible events.

"Mom?" Shiro asked her, concerned.

She didn't respond, and he saw her begin to almost tremble as she seemed to be lost in a shock like condition. Shiro recognized that she was in some kind of PTSD flashback (having had many of them himself), and knowing how terrible those always were, he pulled the lion to an urgent but more gentle stop (as to not unbalance her), and stood to be closer to Eliza. She was trembling now, unable to break from the flashbacks in her mind. Her limbs were frozen and tight, and Shiro steadied her as she barely started to become off balance. Her eyes were wide in fear as she even began to hyperventilate.

"Mom!" Shiro called, trying to break through to her. "Hey, snap out of it! I know it feels like its happening all over again, but you have to come back out of it!"

A large gasp from Eliza showed that she had broken out of the flashbacks, and she began to breathe in and out deeply as the result of recovering. She looked up at Shiro, then around the room, realizing everything she had been seeing in her mind hadn't been real. It was only in the past.