We are the Warriors ~ Voltron Next Gen (Book 1)

Memories and a Dream

Dad was cupping my face with his real hand. Just an hour earlier, I had gotten punched, hard, by some jerk kid named Jexton Griffin who had been teasing Kendall for being part Galra. I jumped in, told him to stop, his friends egged him on, and the kid suckered me. I was eight.

"What happened?" Dad asked me.

"Doorknob.........." I muttered, avoiding eye contact.

Dad ran a thumb over my black eye, and I winced.

He glared at it. "Doorknob huh?"

I nodded.

His face said everything he was thinking.

My shoulders slumped, he had figured it out.

"What happened?" He asked again.

"Doorknob," I repeated.

He took one of my hands in his other one. "A doorknob didn't do this 'Tember." His eyes narrowed. "A person did this."

I didn't say a word.

"Who hit you, 'Tember?"

I clenched my free hand into a fist, refusing to say anything.

Dad's eyes became dark and angry. "Sky. Who hit you?"

"No one." My voice was hoarse and quiet.

"Skyanne. Someone punched you really hard and gave you this," He gestrued to the black eye. "Who did it?"

I sighed and told him what happened.

"I'm gonna have a talk with his father........" my Dad growled.

"You don't have to," I told him, "Uncle Keith will probably talk to him too."

Dad sighed, "It's just..............I'm your Dad Sep'. I'm supposed to protect you from the bullies and the monsters. And, I feel like I failed on this one."

I wrapped my tiny arms around his neck. "It's OK, Daddy. I don't need to to draw more attention."

He hugged me back tightly. "Ok, then. I won't talk to his Dad." We broke the hug. "So what do you need?"

"Popcorn and a movie?" I asked hopefully.

Dad let a small laugh. "Ok. Also ice pack."

I nodded, and we hugged again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was six. I was very late into the night and I was sobbing my heart out.

I was laying in one of the Atlas's hospital beds, my parents on either side, trying to comfort me. I had just finished a very difficult surgery to fix my crippled leg, and not only was it unsuccessful, but now my leg hurt more than it ever had.

"Mommy," I managed to get out between sobs, "It hurts, I hurts............."

"Oh, Babygirl," she said, stroking my hair, "I know.............I know................"

She and Dad hugged me tighter, and I cried onto Dad's shoulder.

Mom told me the story of Voltron's origins that night, helping me gently drift off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was in the Atlas's MFE hangar. Before I could make a move all the lights shut off, plunging me into complete pitch black.

"Hey!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the dark, "Is anyone there?"

"Sky!" I heard Dad shout. His voice was muffled and distant.

"Dad!" I yelled back, but it was hard, like trying to yell through a pillow. "Dad! Where are you?"

"I'm over here, 'Tember!" He shouted back.

I tried to follow his voice, but it sounded like it was coming from ten different places.

"I can't tell where you are!" I shouted in desperation.

"I'm right here Sep'," Dad told me, "Just follow my voice!"

"I'm trying!" I cried, "But I can't tell where it's coming from!"

"I'm right here," Dad repeated.

It sounded like his voice was getting farther away, pain shot through my bad knee, and I was down on my knees. The pain was so bad, it felt like I was gonna die, and that scared me so bad I started crying.

Dad tried to tell me something, but I couldn't make it out anymore. I started to panic, and the pain in my leg spiked.

That's when I woke up.