#a little Altean magic before bedtime

[artsyjesseblue]

Here’s some Bedtime Lotura.

Sweet dreams!

[braincoins]

(( @aerinmelina over here really making me work for it. ^_~ But honestly, the challenge is good for me. [thumbs up]))

“Princess, is something wrong?” he asked.

She’d stormed onto the bridge. Well, to someone who didn’t know her as well as they did, it’d looked like she’d just walked in, but there was quite definitely a storm inside her that she was holding in check.

“Nothing at all,” she replied as she drew her screens up in front of her. 

Shiro considered this. Allura was usually pretty open about her feelings; she only held things in when she was being diplomatic - for the sake of other people - or when she was upset about something personal. So pressing her on it here, in front of everyone, wouldn’t do. He shared a look with the rest of the team. Each of them nodded in turn. Shiro went back to his work station.

The first thing he got was a copy of the princess’s schedule from Hunk. She was meticulous about it when they were in between missions, intent on keeping herself busy - not that that was hard. The schedule said she’d been in her father’s old lab. 

Ah. She was practicing magic and alchemy again. Ever since she’d faced Haggar in the komar, she’d been learning as much as she could about what it was to be a Sacred Altean, studying her father’s notes. Shiro couldn’t always tell the difference between “magic” and “alchemy” - to him, they seemed much the same. Coran and Allura insisted they were different, at least a little. 

The next thing to come in was from Keith: a warning had briefly gone off in her father’s lab and was then immediately canceled. Something had definitely gone wrong in there, and Allura had canceled the alert so no one would know. 

Lance sent him a requisitions request, from the lab to the Castle’s supply bots. Whenever they landed somewhere, the supply bots quietly deployed to gather natural resources - carefully, sustainably, following protocols - that the Castle and its manufactory might need. Crystals - not Balmeran ones, simple crystal prisms - certain herbs. A quick inquiry showed these to be necessary reagents for an ancient alchemic focus - one which would enhance Allura’s abilities tenfold.

She was trying to find a way to boost her powers in case she ever has to face Haggar again. And, apparently, it didn’t go well.

Pidge sent him video from the lab; she almost certainly had to sneak through and past several levels of security to get this. He made extra sure the video wouldn’t show up on the main screen, set it to mute, and played it on his work station. 

Allura with her eyes closed, hands out over crystals arranged just so in a pattern drawn by some sort of powder on the table. The crystals glowed, the powder began to smoke, then a flash of fire, blinding magenta light, and choking smoke. The alarm went off, Allura canceled it quickly as she fanned smoke away from her face. And there on the table, where the crystals and powder had been, was... a vase.

At least, that’s what it looked like to him. Allura frowned at it and collapsed onto a nearby stool, staring at the vase as if it had personally disappointed her. He saw tears well up in her eyes for a moment, before she wiped them away, stood, and walked out. According to the timestamp, that was a few minutes before she came onto the bridge.

He considered this, then sent messages out to the team. They had work to do.

She was trying not to dwell on her failure earlier in the lab, but she’d wound up with a completely useless trinket instead of something needed, something valuable to their fight. She couldn’t help seeing it as a rebuke of herself, as if she were nothing more than a useless trinket herself.

I’ll get it. I just need more practice. But it didn’t help her feel better now. 

She walked into her room, intending to just try to go to sleep and forget about it. She knew thoughts of her failure would haunt her though. It was hard to sleep when she...

Something caught her eye, over on her vanity. Her brow furrowed and she walked over to it.

There was the proof of her failure... but inside it...

Green-coated wires were twined together to make the stem. Sheer fabric in that exquisitely-unique shade for petals. Gold-colored clay for the carpel. A homemade juniberry, and, around her failure was tied a purple ribbon, which held a card.

She tugged the card free so she could read it. 

“Cheer up, Princess. You’ll get it. And, in the meantime, enjoy what you’ve created!” All the paladins and Coran had signed it.

She heard the door open behind her. She didn’t turn around, not right away. 

“Allura?” The door closed behind him.

She turned and threw herself at Shiro. She knocked him backwards and the door opened automatically, so they wound up on the floor, half in and half out of her bedroom. 

“I hope that means you liked it,” he said.

She pushed herself up to look down at him. “It means you’re all sneaks and spies and I love it.” She gave him a fierce but brief kiss. 

He pushed some of her hair back behind her ear and smiled when his lips were his own again. “I’m glad. I know it wasn’t what you were expecting, but that doesn’t make it - or you - worthless.”

She sniffled happily. “Thank you, Shiro.” She got to her feet and extended her hand to help him up.

He took it, and she pulled him back to his feet. “You’re very welcome, Allura. Get some rest.” He kissed her cheek. 

“Stay with me?” she asked instead.

He blinked, blushing. “That’s... a little sudden. We’ve only been together for...”

“N-not like that,” she said, feeling her own face heat. “Just stay a bit longer. I want to hear about how you all managed to make me a juniberry. It will make a nice bedtime story.”

He smiled. “As you wish, Princess.”

[ptw30]

Could you do a "what if" where Haggar is Shiro's biological mother? Your meta on it is fantastic and very interesting.

*blushes* OMG! You are so sweet! Thank you so much! I just love the idea of Shiro’s biological mom being Honerva, and I lament that I couldn’t get this to work in the “canon” storyline. But thank you for the prompt. It gave me the perfect excuse to explore this relationship. 

I hope you enjoy!

I call this “Great Things” AKA How Haggar Became a Soccer Mom

A part of the Blade!Shiro series. 

In Honerva’s defense, it had been 10,000 years. And Ryou Shirogane wasa specimen of the human species.

Science, Honerva told herself after she threw back a shot of tequilaand gave the advancing human a teasing grin. As a one-time researcher forAltea and later the Galra Empire, she simply wanted to examine the way thehuman species procreated. The pleasure was a necessary albeit enjoyablecomponent of the mating, and she had chosen well when she selected Ryou to beher experiment.

She was not expecting her once favorite drink to taste foul and the suddenbouts of nausea to consume her mornings. When she became a bit dizzy and a bit warm, one of hercolleagues suggested she sniff ginger. She listened, another experiment, andwhen it helped, Rosa patted Honerva on the arm.

“It’s always the worst with the first ones.”

The first what? Honerva didn’t want to entertainment the reason. (She andRyou used protection. They were careful. Honervawas careful. She simply could not have a child. Could she even carry the child?What if Lord Zarkon found out?)

She began to show three months after her night with Ryou.

Perhaps she should have told Ryou, but they weren’t in love. He was atight, warm body she enjoyed for a night. She hadn’t meant for him to becomethe father of her child, and she certainly didn’t want him to be. Other optionssprung to mind, but she ultimately dismissed them. Lotor had rested comfortably inthe curve of her arm, snug and tucked against her bosom, but the boy hadn’tbelonged to her. Honerva wondered what it would feel like to hold her ownchild, to know he belonged to her and only her, so she took care of her body and thebaby within it. Diet and exercise, classes and rest. The nine months were the longest in her life for all the right reasons.

Inquisitive but dark eyes, like the thick clouds before a thunderstorm.Tiny black strands and golden skin. Her son was perfect in every way, and when Honervacaressed his head, kissed his pudgy cheeks, and heard his tiny cries, somethingin Honerva’s chest threatened to burst. Affection, her mind told her, for thistiny being that came from her lifeforce.

“Takashi,” she decided, meaning “noble, prosperous.”Her son would not be a prince here on Earth and most certainly wouldn’t jointhe Galra Empire, but he would do great things. That, Honerva could feel,though intuition had never been one of her strong suits. Research and rationalewere her companions.

Takashi introduced Honerva to many things she never experienced before –patience, understanding, boxed macaroni and cheese, and sticky fingers. (Honervamight have banned jelly from her garrison apartment, but Takashi’s fingersstill managed to grasp and stick to her arm.) She began to look forward tonot only the data that came from her research of Earth and its quintessence butalso the bright smile that greeted her in the daycare after she left the garrison lab.She found a way to perch Takashi on her hip and read a tablet at the same time,and for breakfast, she would skim her latest research results while Takashiplayed one of the many science and math games on his own.

(Honerva might have altered the programming of a few games to includeequations and other forms of math that Earth had yet to discover. So what ifher son advanced past Earthlings’ knowledge?)

Takashi called her “Mama” and fell asleep to the sound of Honervareciting the periodically table. With Takashi’s eyes closed and his head rested againsther chest, she marveled at the familiar curve of his nose and the similar golden tone of his skin. Her chest became tight, and her arms kept the boy close and secureagainst her, as if to shield him from the horror that lived just beyond the solarsystem.

Weekends were no longer spent in the lab but in the desert, takingTakashi on fantastic adventures. When he smiled, discovering a new flower ordashing about the rock formations, Honerva forgot about her mission, forgot about theGalra Empire and Zarkon and Voltron. Instead, she was a scientist and a mother– not necessarily in that order – and she was happy.  

But all good things ended, and Honerva awoke one morning to findTakashi standing before the sliding glass door of the living room. He stared outat the barren desert, shadows swallowing its massive hoodoos and plateaus. Takashi’s chubby little fingers left marks on the glass.

“It’s there, Mama,” he insisted. “We have to find it!”

Honerva laughed and ruffled her son’s hair. “Find what, Takashi?”

“Blue, Mama. She’s waiting for us!”

Honerva’s heart stopped. In Takashi’s five years, she’d never oncementioned her mission or Voltron. She made sure that anyone looking for the Blue Lion never had reason to seekTakashi.

Honerva dropped to her knees by Takashi’s side and snagged him by theshoulders. “Who told you about the lion? Who spoke to you, Takashi!”

Takashi’s eyes widened, frightened, and Honerva eased her grip.

“B-Black, Mama,” he said, soft and worrisome. “Black said we need tofind Blue first.”

In her time living and undead, nothing prepared Honerva for the momentshe realized her son was the next Black Paladin. She collapsed to the floor,back pressed against the pane-class window, and she coaxed Takashi into herlap. Takashi’s tiny hands covered her cheeks, and he beseeched in a low tone,“What’s wrong, Mama?”

The universe. The world. Voltron.

Honerva’s hands slid about her son’s waist and pulled him close, thoughhe squirmed and shifted as any rambunctious child would.

Honerva eventually put Takashi to bed with the promise of seekingout the Blue Lion the next morning. She retreated to her bedroom, where shecurled up on her bed. Ugly, frightened tears burned her cheeks and tore herheart, and she couldn’t figure out how she, a renowned research scientist fromAltea, and Ryou, a drunk former commander on a primitive planet, managedto create the Black Paladin of New.

She eventually sought only one answer – why her son? Why not anyone else’s?

A mother always kept her promises, so Honerva took Takashi out into thedesert. With her son safe between her arms on the hoverbike, they flew throughthe canyons and along the rivers. Takashi called out directions, and they found numerous caverns, decorated with carvings and messages about amysterious Blue Lion. They spoke of an arrival that wasn’t to come for almost two decafeebs.

That gave Honerva time. She could lure Zarkon and the Galra Empire awayfrom Earth. Her calculations, the Altean magic, the energy she felt – Earth wasso primitive, its quintessence mirrored the Blue Lion’s, she could say. All she needed was to go back to Central Command and explain these “findings.”    

But she’d have to leave Takashi.

Perhaps the only thing more devastating than finding out her son wasbeckoned by the Black Lion, was never being able to see him again.

Ryou was easy enough to find in the desert, and though she had seriousreservations about leaving the boy his father, Ryou would take better care of the childthan Zarkon would take knowing a new Black Paladin had been born. When she saidher goodbyes, she pulled the boy against her and muttered the only truth she’dever known, “I love you, Takashi. You are my greatest finding.”

She taught him many things, the most of all – love.

In return, she could only give him a token of her affection – anecklace with his name upon it. She had wanted to give him more, and she wantedmore – more bedtime stories and surprise kisses, raspberries and hugs, even sticky fingers. Oh, how she would miss his tiny fingers gripping her wrist and leaving jelly marks. But perhaps the intangible scars were themost painful.  

A decafeeb passed, then almost another. Haggar thought of her sondaily, wondered how he appeared, all grown up on Earth. Hadhe joined the Galaxy Garrison? What field of study eventually stole everywaking moment of his life? Had he married? Was she a grandmother yet?

Had the Black Lion beckoned?

She would know, Haggar believed. If the Black Lion returned, she wouldhave felt its energy, but as of yet, not even Blue stirred. Haggar took simplerelief in that truth, and as the annuals went by, slower than any sheremembered, she counted off the Earth years of a human’s lifespan. It broke her heart – a hundredannuals, approximately, most likely less. After that, her son would be gone,but he would have hopefully lived a good life away from the horrors of the Galra Empire.

Then she walked into the interrogation chamber to see the rebelLieutenant Haxus had mentioned and paused.

A human.

Stormy gray eyes. Hair as dark as the night. An intense, embitteredexpression, accented by the tiny bit of fear he held for his predicament. And ascar, slashed across his face in a barbaric display of possession.

Honerva didn’t need any confirmation, though her long, bony fingersreached out. The tips pressed against the cool, clammy skin, and the prisoner’sbreath hitched. His eyes widened, but she persisted. The images came freelyafter she forced her way through the boy’s poorly constructed mental defenses.

Ryou helping a woman, a Galra. A commander. She stepped in,safeguarding Takashi, loving Takashi. A Galran cub, held tightly in Takashi’sgrip. The Blue Lion’s cavern, the Faraway Systems, Puig. The Galran commander left toresume her command, and Ryou took his sons to Drule Central, left, and then –then – Honerva reeled back, her mind burning, heart weeping.

Her son. Takashi. What he had been forced to do, how he had been forced to survive – Honerva barely met thosewidened, trembling eyes before she quit the interrogation chamber. The nearestDruid approached, and she ordered him to watch the door and not allow anyone to see the prisoner.

Once she made it back to her lair, tears fell for the first time sinceshe left Earth. Her son had finally made it back to her side, but the cost tohis body, to his soul, was too much to bear. Yet in the brief time her magictouched him, she suffered his determined, stubborn, and righteous will. Takashiwould not surrender to the Galra Empire or its emperor. Just like Zarkon wouldnever submit. Black Paladins were cut from the same cloth – idiocy, it seemed.

After her tears dried and her heart hardened, Honerva planned. Zarkoncould never know about this. He would first use Takashi to find all the lionsand then kill her son once he had Voltron. But where to send Takashi? Back to theFaraway Systems? Sendak had already begun to conquer those, according toTakashi’s memories.

(Sendak, she hissed. She wouldtake care of that bastard after she saved her son. No matter what Takashi felttoward the commander, no one harmed her son and remained unscathed.)

A tiny voice in the back of Haggar’s mind chastised herself. You shouldn’t have left him. You should have stayed on Earth. Lied toZarkon and said there was more to research. Refused to let Takashi anywherenear the Blue Lion.

But her past, her tenure at the Galaxy Garrison, her time as “Mama,” had always been fleeting. Haggar, Zarkon’s witch, was who she truly was, and there was onlyone solution, she knew. And it broke her heart all over again.

She siphoned the quintessence from each Druid in the corridors on herway to the interrogation chamber and blasted the technicians when she entered. Bones cracked; bodies reverberated against the wall. Haggarapproached the table. Takashi’s eyes reflected of fear but also resignation, and Honervaplaced her fingers once more on her son’s forehead.

She had been a willing accomplice and servant of the rift entities formore than 10,000 years. She deserved one gift, so she closed her eyes andreached out. Her soul touched the dark energy that came from the rift and sorted through the different timelines. She eventually found theone she wanted and with a gasp, absorbed all its memories.

In that reality, she never left Earth. In the Blue Lion’s cavern, shehugged her son, brushed the tears from his eyes when he spoke of the BlackLion, and brought him home, brought him back to the garrison. Where he grew.She celebrated every birthday, every milestone in Takashi’s life. She was therefor his first day of school every year. There were drawings and tests on thefridge and pictures littering the apartment. Honerva wore a “Shiro’s Mama” sweatshirt at the soccergames, and Takashi studied taekwondo and waved up at her from the mat. They spokeabout the Black Lion, and Takashi disappeared at times, into the “astral plane”he called it, to see his lion. There were smiles and laughter and tears, andRyou had been a part of their lives from the start. Honerva told him aboutTakashi during her second trimester, and though there would never be anythingbetween them romantically, she and Ryou treasured their son and formed a uniquebut strong family unit.

Everything wasn’t all stardust and comet ice. If Takashi left hisclothes on the bathroom floor one more time or drank milk directly from thecarton or Ancients forbid he did the dishes before they started growing hisnext science project –

But Honerva had never been prouder than the day Takashi donned his garrisonuniform. He chose the route for pilots, for which she wouldalso never forgive him, but her son needed to follow his own path. He wasdestined to do great things.

When he disappeared off Kerberos, Honerva went back to the empire, butafter so many years away, Zarkon thought she suspicious. Takashi was freed by aGalran spy, a researcher named Ulaz, before she ever got to Takashi, but she eventuallydid. And Alfor’s daughter and his royal advisor. She joined the VoltronCoalition, and standing upon the castle-ship bridge with her son and her son’s brother,whom Takashi only just met but already shared a strong bond, Honevra smiled and again, was happy.

Haggar tore away from the other reality’s memories, tears streaking hercheeks. When she looked up at Takashi, his skin glistened as well.

“Mom…? Is that you?”

She released him from his chains and then released him from the ship,but not without throwing back her hood and cradling his face between her hands.“My son. Oh, how I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you, too, Mom. Why are you here? Why – Why couldn’t youstay?”

After what Honerva saw, she no longer had a valid excuse. She hadwanted to save her son but instead damned him to an insufferable existence.

“You cannot stay here,” she whispered. “You must flee. Now. Back toEarth and the Blue Lion.” And then Voltron. 

“Can’t you come, too?”

“No, Takashi. There is still something I must do, but I will always bewith you, my child.” She pulled him down again to press a kiss to his forehead.“And you are always with me.”

It was hard to convince him to leave and even harder to watch him go,but once Takashi was clear, Haggar’s fingernails glowed. Anger surged throughher body, and she stole the quintessence of every Galran soldier from the hangerto the command chamber.

Takashi was destined for great things. Honerva would make sure of it.

More from the Blade!Shiro series