Chapter Text
chapter one
new guest
In the one year and three months in which Keith had been in space – he thought he’d seen most of what it had to offer.
Pretty planets with even prettier sights, strange looking aliens and creatures that went beyond all of his imaginations. Not to mention the sentient Lions and their ability to communicate mentally with all of the Voltron Paladins. Perhaps the weirdest thing that managed to surprise him – was the fact that he was half alien. If he had to be honest, Keith wasn’t even that perplexed at the reveal in which he finally understood why he felt so different and out of place his whole life.
He’d just merely belonged to the stars all this time; in the calm void where he could fight and do something for other people. Make helpless and hopeless aliens feel just a tad fraction of that happiness when after every mission he came back to his family. His found one. The kind of family that he’d been dreaming about his whole life; the kind of family that Lance was describing in his stories from Cuba.
Of course, this was space after all, and when the team received a signal that something strange had happened on an abandoned planet nearby – he wasn’t expecting much.
Maybe a Galra trap or an attack, or an ambush from aliens who support them. But this part of the day had become strangely mundane, to fight evil aliens that is.
They were all gathered in the Bridge Control room, the Castle still from when Coran landed it perfectly on the surface of Dokhyna. The planet looked like out of something from a cyberpunk movie with tall, elegant buildings, looming over like giant fairies. The billboards were still working surprisingly – displayed ads of products and events, but with the streets were completely empty. Keith felt strangely sad. According to Coran, Dokhyna was one of the first victims targeted by the Galra who sprayed a gas which was poisonous to the natives; with radiation so strong that after thousands of years – they couldn’t come back.
This could be Earth if they didn’t win this war, Keith realized with a small shudder.
“I don’t understand,” Pidge muttered and Keith snapped again into reality.
Because remember when he said nothing could surprise him anymore?
Well, that seemed to turn out to be a fucking lie as Keith brought his gaze back onto the little girl whom was sitting on Pidge’s chair across them.
The little human girl.
Coran didn’t need to make any scans on her DNA since it was painfully obvious. She looked like a human child, talked and walked like one. Though the talking part was an exaggeration on his end since she hadn’t said anything to them save for the threating yell to ‘stay back’ when they found her, hiding in an empty dumpster.
She was dirty, her clothes rumpled and shredded like she’d went on places she shouldn’t have been, her face smudged with ash and dust. Her skin tone was familiar as stupid as that sounded. It was a brown shade, but it was not dark like Allura’s, however it was darker than Adam’s from what Keith remembered. There were freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks almost like …
Lance.
Keith secretly fixed his gaze on his left, at where Lance was sitting with his knees spread and elbows resting on them. The Blue Paladin was the same as him. The same as everyone, honestly. Observing like a hawk, analyzing like a predator, the small girl. She was trying really hard not to meet any of their eyes so she mostly kept her head down, but Keith could still catch major features like the shape of her eyes, nose and eyebrows. Her hair was of dark brown color and it was huge, curly and long. It was done in a ponytail, but occasionally she’d blow some of the naughty curls away from her face that have unfortunately escaped due to the thickness of it.
Unsurprisingly, Shiro broke the high tension and took a hesitant step towards her, his hands raised. She immediately noticed the motion and tensed, her tiny hands grabbing tightly on to the straps of her military green backpack. Keith didn’t know what she carried inside, but it certainly was bigger than her whole body and some part of him was worried she’d topple backwards if the girl decided to stand up.
“Hey … my name is Shiro. I’m the Black Paladin of Voltron, yes? Have you heard of us?”
Keith noticed Hunk fidgeting on his place next to Pidge. Allura and Coran simply stood to the side with crossed arms, meanwhile he and Lance were the closest to each other. He pondered if he should’ve stepped to his teammate to bring some comfort, but decided against it.
The girl very visibly gulped. Then … a small nod. Millions of questions appeared inside his brain, but he left his brother to do the interrogation. They all knew he wasn’t the best with kids like Lance, Hunk or Shiro were. How did a human girl know about Voltron, was very beyond Keith.
“That’s good,” Shiro praised and when he reached her, he kneeled down so he could be on level with her eyes. For a small second, that Keith was sure it was a brain cheat or a trick, Shiro’s grey eyes jerked to Lance. And then back to the girl. He repeated the same action, and Keith was sure no one noticed a thing except for him. From the team, he was probably the most capable when it came down to read Shiro specifically. “Would you mind to tell us your name?”
He smiled at her, that kind smile that had won Keith over when he was a small kid with no hope or future. He wasn’t sure how the girl would resist the smile.
And frankly, some of the tension melted away from her body, though she didn’t let go of her backpack. Keith couldn’t see the color of her eyes from that afar, but he could feel that she was uncertain on what she was about to say when she opened her mouth. Closed it – opened it again.
“I’m– … I uh …” she stuttered, but Shiro was quick to comfort her.
“Woah! It’s okay. You don’t have to tell us right away, okay? Whenever you’re ready.”
Her forehead wrinkled in confusion and she puckered her lips. Probably deciding if her name was important information or not that she could share. It was actually a very adorable sight and Keith didn’t realize he was smiling until Shiro’s eyes snapped up at him this time. But this time it stayed, analyzing his face, not like with Lance when he had barely spared him a third glance.
A tiny sigh from the girl and all at once, she perhaps finally found the courage to look at all the Paladins. So she did.
And Keith’s world exploded in blue.
Cobalt blue, so beautiful and breathtaking, with the literal stars inside it. The color of the depth of every ocean, so deep that it took Keith’s breath away in an instant. Because … how many times had he looked at blue moons with this exact same hue? How many times had Keith dreamed of that blue to look at him, with more than just friendly mirth or angry glares? How many times had Keith wished to dive even deeper in them or gaze upon them; show the owner how badly he desired him?
Because those weren’t just ordinary blue eyes, no.
“My name is Layla.”
Those were Lance’s eyes.
Then she continued as if she didn’t just rock the Castle floor beneath their feet.
“Layla McClain.”