#kidgeweek2k18

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Shades and Hues

Title: Shades and Hues - Kidge Week Day 6 Prompt Fill Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Kidge Summary: Soulmate AU where you can only see the color that is most significant to your soul mate until you realize you’re in love with them. Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more. AN: So, for anyone that remembers, I wrote a [Soulmate AU] for last Kidge Week too. Initially I had no idea what to do for this one, but then I realized that I could do this other idea I’d had! Though it might sound a little similar to the last one, I guarantee that it’ll be a unique flavor all it’s own.

It was between the ages of five and seven that children gained the ability to see in at least one color that was most important towards their inevitable soul mate. For Katie, it was on a Saturday morning when she was six, as she rolled out of bed to go watch cartoons with Matt in the living room. She had only been paying half a mind to the world around her, still half-awake from staying up too late playing video games, as she walked down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen. She poured herself a bowl of cereal, headed towards the living room, plopped down on the couch next to an equally groggy Matt, and shoved the first bite into her mouth. It was when she glanced down for her next bite that she realized that the Fruit Loops didn’t look quite the same. She slowly cocked her head at the non-grey loop floating in the milk.

She then let out a loud, excited shriek as the realization dawned on her. Matt, startled, ended up sending his own bowl of Cap’n Crunch toppling over on to the floor while Colleen and Samuel both came running out.

“It’s the color purple,” Colleen said happily, smoothing back Pidge’s hair.

She looked up at her curiously then cocked her head, looking at the little loops that showed up in color as opposed to variants of gray. She liked it, being able to see it. “What do you think it’ll mean?” She asked, lifting her head to look up.

“Something amazing, I’m sure,” Samuel chimed in, helping Matt clean the mess of milk and soggy cereal out of the carpet. He leaned back a bit and grinned up at her. “That’s the beauty of it, Katie. Why that color is so significant… It’ll mean the world to you, once you find out why.”

“Oh yeah?” She asked.

“Yes. It’s a sign of how close the two of you have become… Whatever reason has caused that color to be important to them, it’ll be revealed to you once you two have reached a certain level of trust and comfort, when the two of you grow to understand one another on a deeper level. After all, they themselves won’t be able to tell what color it is, so it’ll be up to you to determine the why of the color. It’ll be a big moment, to say the least,” He said, turning a quick glance towards Colleen. His wife blushed and smiled shyly at him.

“I take it you’re speaking from personal experience?” Matt teased.

Samuel smiled back at his son. “Maybe I am. I’ll tell you more about it once you get older,” He said lightly.

Matt let out a small whine of disappointment but didn’t argue with their dad to say anything more. “Your dad’s right, though. It’ll be a moment that you’ll never forget, and then once you realize you’re in love with them and everything comes into focus for you… Oh, darling, you’ll never know a greater feeling than that,” Colleen chimed in happily.

“So seeing in color is really that great?” Katie asked, cocking her head curiously. The idea of seeing in color always appealed to her, calling to her on a deep level. The idea of being able to take in all the small details of life and the things around her always sent a thrill through her.

Colleen chuckled and shook her head. “Seeing in color is nice, Katie, but it’s the sense of belonging… The realization that this is someone who will be there for you, who trusts you with the deepest and most private factors of themselves… That is worth more than being able to see all the colors,” She mused, cupping her daughter’s face and pressing a small kiss to her forehead.

She looked up at her mother, at the happiness in her eyes and the giddy smile on her face, and felt a smile of her own turn up on her lips. She let her curiosity of what exactly was the reasoning behind the color she saw slide off to the side to simply bask in the joy of having a small spark of color in her life. After breakfast, she went to get dressed for the day. She paused after combing her hair, noticing a few little clips with stars on them at the bottom of her drawer. She could see them, practically glowing with their light purple color and one small stone of some sort in center. Her parents had told her that the stone in the middle was actually white anyway, so it being colorless made sense.

She picked the clips up and snapped them in, using them to keep her bangs out of her eyes. She grinned widely at her reflection before scampering off to ride down to the park with Matt.

……………………………………………………………………………..

The thing about traveling through space, as she realized, was that there weren’t a lot of color to things.

She supposed that it didn’t really make much of a difference for her, all things considered. Coloration in the universe around her was still something she lacked. They told her she was piloting the Green Lion and, despite being unable to actually see the color for herself. Altean tech, as they were told by Coran and Allura, whom didn’t have the issue of colorblindness, was primarily white and blue in color. It showed up to her as white and light gray. Most of the color-coding she did was because she had labeled things on her computer with the help of her parents, using symbols to represent different colors, since she couldn’t see most of them, simply because she figured it’d be easier to pull things up if they were organized and tidy. It was a bit disappointing to her that there was so little in their lives on the Castle Ship that was made of the color she could see.

Galra technology, however, was primarily purple in coloration.

It made her more interested in hijacking their materials and working with them, since it was occasionally nice to be able to see the hue of her functioning devices. It was one of the reasons she ended up pilfering so much Galra tech when they were on assignments. While she was never too bothered by her inability to see other colors, it was an inconvenience from time to time. Not being able to see all the fine details of her Lion, being able to distinguish all the different colors on her clothes without asking someone else, or even just being able to know what exactly the color of her own eyes were things that she had often times lamented but she didn’t realize just how much bad it could be until she was up in space.

She left the hanger one night, hoping to maybe find something else to do than work on programming this or that, and ended up out on the main deck.

She stared out at the black-and-white speckled abyss all around them, fighting back a sigh, then paused when she was another figure in the room. Settled off to the side, sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him, was Keith. She blinked then reached over to lightly tap his shoulder. He jerked up and looked over her, hand twitching towards the small knife he kept handy, then let his shoulders droop a bit. “Oh, Pidge… It’s just you,” He breathed quietly.

“Didn’t mean to startle you,” She said, before shifting and settled down beside him, making sure to keep a comfortable distance between them. She turned her attention back out towards the bland sky before them, where his gaze had been focused before. “Taking in the view?”

He shrugged. “Not really. There isn’t really anything out there that I can actually see, but it’s kinda nice to see all the stars and other worlds and everything,” He mused. He turned his gaze back out at the sky. “There’s not a whole lot that I can see in color out here, which is… weird. Back at the Garrison I could see a lot, and even on my own there were still things I could see.”

“Really? What color did you get?” She asked.

“Yellows that have a kind of goldish tint to them, interestingly enough. I thought that maybe the Garrison would offer some answers, maybe at least give me a hint as to who it was I was looking for,” He admitted. His eyes flickered from star to star, seeming to study them even if he couldn’t completely distinguish them from one another. “I thought that maybe I’d meet someone there, but it just never happened. I’ve never been good at connecting with people so… I guess that it makes sense that I would struggle with finding someone like a soul mate.”

“Doesn’t mean that you won’t find them, though. I mean, you can be a little tough to get along with some times, but you’re a really great guy. Once you get comfortable and are willing to open up a bit, you show that you’re loyal and dedicated and caring. Your soul mate has to be out there and I’m sure they’ll be someone who blends with you really well,” She said, reaching out to settle a hand on his upper arm. He paused to stare at her, eyes wide and coming into startling detail for her. “My parents always said that seeing color is secondary that the sense of belonging and comfort is what really means the most. I believe them when they say that. I think with patience and having an open-mind, you’ll meet that person someday soon.”

He stared then chuckled and smiled, his eyes shining almost as bright as a white light. “Thanks, Pidge,” He said gently.

She flashed him one of her trademark grins and nodded. “Any time, pal,” She mused before turning her attention back towards the sky. She sat and enjoyed the comfortable silence between them, breathing in, before she nudged his leg with her knee. “You have beautiful eyes, by the way.”

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Fan Works Appreciation!!!

I totally intended to do this sooner but I got busy doing other things and resting my bum leg, but I really need to make this post! This could alternatively be called “Crumbles’ Need-to-Follow List” because I really do need to follow all these people! So, yeah... Expect a mass following from me in the near future!

Also I realize that, like, everyone - or almost everyone - that I’m talking about is a multi-shipper... Theory that multi-shippers are best shippers proven!

@jc-drawings This lady here is an absolutely amazing artist and total sweetheart! She also talks conspiracy theories and parallels! She is kinda like the Supreme Queen of Kidge, in my opinion, as she was one of the pioneer’s of the ship and is totes worth following and sending good vibes to!

@luce-ciel Yet another amazing artist, whose artwork is just breath-taking and so detail-oriented, with wonderful AUs that she develops to go with her art! I’m not 100% sure if she also writes fics, but if not, she absolutely should! I would read the Hell out of her fics! Lovely work and comes off as a genuinely cool person!

@kdxart Great art” Absolutely. Great ideas and concepts. Undeniably. ALSO writes fics? Stunning person who is too amazing to put in to words. I absolutely love her art - especially all of her Pidge drawings, holy crow every Pidge she draws is absolutely stunning! - and I love what I’ve read of her fics so far!

@camphalfgalra A staple of Kidge fics, to say the least. All of her works are great but her main project, The Boy Next Door, is definitely a standout. Can it occasionally fall into High School Fic Tropes? Yes, but my God does she make them work well and never dwell on it too long. Please check it out if you haven’t yet!

@narycanary Does Nary even need an introduction? She has, in my opinion, set the Gold Standard for not only Kidge fics, but well-written Voltron romance fics as a whole! I love all of her works - even reading some of her Plance stuff, because I am a filthy traitor - and her newest work Only Forever has me chomping at the bit to read more! Again, her fics are absolutely worth your time to read!

@calligraphist-artemisia Writer of the phenomenal I’ll Take Her Place fic, which is amazing! There’s a perfect slow burn romance going on - which is my jam - and a lot of interesting plotting going on behind the scenes between the various allied factions. I absolutely love the time being spent to develop not only the romance, but all the relationships between Keith, Pidge, and the rest of the Paladins and Blades. Absolutely wonderful with a lot going on!

Not sure if they have a tumblr, so if you do, please let me know and I’ll properly tag you in! The fic Captive in the starlight by MorteMistrata is another amazing fic with a focus on Kidge and complicated politics. It spends a bit more time focusing on Pidge and her struggles, but I kind of like that. I like seeing Supportive Guard Keith every now and again. This story is close to completion and it’s building up to be an amazing, well-deserved climax!

Lastly, I just want to offer a huge thank you to everyone who follows me and enjoys my fics! I hope to be a bit more active with responding to comments and questions now that my semester is getting closer to ending, but please know that I really do appreciate all of you! I love reading what you all say in response, or when you reblog, or in the tags or whatever! Thank you so much and I hope you’ll continue to stick around to see what’s next!

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Chink in the Armor

Title: Chink in the Armor - Kidge Week Day 1 Prompt Fill Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Kidge Summary: Adjusting to new roles and positions can be difficult for anyone; however, sometimes it isn’t adjusting to your own position that can be difficult to deal with. Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more. AN: Gonna start out Kidge Week with something on the kinda angsty side of things! After all, I’m sure that Keith probably has some issues with seeing the team dynamics from the outside now. :3

Kolivan had brought him along with him to visit the Paladin’s and discuss their next move. It had been a while since last Keith had seen the others and he was a bit excited. Even though Krolia hadn’t come along with them, he was excited to tell the others that he had met his mother and started to learn more about his family; especially Pidge, whom had always been very supportive of his growing curiosity over the maternal side of his family tree. He remembered her offers to do some digging and searching on missions for him, insisting that she would help him in any way that she possibly could.

He took comfort in knowing she had his back.

Once they’d gotten more comfortable with their positions on the team, she always seemed to have his back, really. She was the shield of Voltron, but in a way she had also become his shield. When he needed her, she was there for him. When he had been leader of Voltron, she had tried her best to sway him from making risky, harmful decisions; and not by way of force or yelling, but simply by bringing up facts to him. He tended to go by instinct and baser emotion as opposed to logic or reason. Pidge herself tended to be a bit more emotional about certain subjects, but she was ultimately better at knowing when to use her wits as opposed to her heart.

He admired that in her.

He, in turn, did his best to offer her that same comfort. He looked after you and took initiative for making sure she made it back to her room when she’d been working too long. He would take her food and drinks while she was working, and sometimes simply join her and watch her work. Sometimes they swapped stories while other times they simply enjoyed a comfortable silence between them. If she was being stubborn about eating or sleeping, he was right there, ready to lock horns and bicker with her. Sometimes she wore him out and he’d leave, too frustrated to deal with her any longer, but other times he would manage to wear her down into doing what was best for her health.

He felt good, knowing that he could be of use to her.

Coran and Shiro led them to the observation deck above the training deck upon their arrival, the trio of older males chatting idly about a successful liberation the Paladin’s had recently undertaken with the help of Blade intel. Keith slipped past them to watch the training exercise playing out below, uninterested in what exactly they were talking about, and let his eyes settle on the training grounds below curiously.

The training exercise was one he recalled all too well; a tag-team match to work on team dynamics and making sure that everyone could play off of one another well. He had gone through it multiples times himself, as well as observed it multiple times as well, and figured it made a good amount of sense. While they had started to build a decent strategy back when he was Red Paladin, though they hadn’t run the exercise nearly as oft as they should have back when he was Black Paladin. Things had changed a lot since his tenure on the team as a whole so it made sense that this exercise would be needed. Shiro had returned as the Black Paladin. Allura was the Blue Paladin now. Lance was the Red Paladin now.

Keith chose to ignore a sensation that ached deep inside, speaking to him of a familiar cockpit and familiar purr in his mind. Lance was the Red Paladin now.

He was a bit curious, though, how things worked out for Lance and Pidge as teammates. Lance was a sniper and a pretty decent mid-range shot. Pidge, meanwhile, used a grappling hook-Taser hybrid to help her clean house in a fight. She was good at close combat and long range, but if she was going in close and fast then she needed a good partner. Keith, being comfortable with close combat himself, as he preferred fisticuffs and fought with blades, had always been a good match for her. He couldn’t even recall how many times the two of them had wrecked the training bots together simply by knowing how to move around one another.

His eyes keyed in on Pidge immediately, watching as the training bot swung at her with its staff. His hand twitched at his side, clasping at his luxite blade on his hip on instinct. It held the same post as his bayard had once before. He watched, stunned, as the scene before him played out, identical to how it would have if he’d been down there beside her.

She ducked, leaning backwards to the point her back almost brushed the floor of the training deck.

He surged forward from where he’d been posted a few feet back, firing rounds at another training bot, his bayard shifting to a long sword. He pushed off the ground, sending himself upward, and blocked the staff of the bot and pushed it back a bit.

She rolled aside, sending her own bayard out to hook around it’s foot, and yanked hard.

He shifted, landing evenly on his feet, and pierced the bot with his blade.

He offered her his hand with a proud laugh. She took it eagerly, laughing herself, and then high-fiving once she was up on her feet again. They started talking, animated and eager, and all Keith could do was sit there and watch from the sidelines.

How many times had that scene played out between he and Pidge in the past? Back when he was an actual member of the team?

“They’ve gotten pretty good as a team,” Shiro said, beside him suddenly, and he spun around a touch too quick to look at him. The other had his arms crossed and was looking out at the other Paladins as well. “Allura’s always been a natural fighter, but she works surprisingly well with Hunk. I think her being a bit more offensive works well to Hunk’s more defensive position most of the time.”

He stared at him the watch the other four as they convened, Lance making some grand display and using his sword more like a wand to demonstrate his point. “Neat trick he’s got going there,” He said, nodding his head in the other’s direction, trying to keep the bitterness from his tone.

Judging by the slight twitch at the corner of Shiro’s lips, it wasn’t successful. “You mean the broad sword? Allura says it’s most likely due to his heightening abilities. The bayard adapts as its user needs it to, so it’s safe to say the other bayards would be capable of something similar if the other’s ever needed a different weapon. I mean, back when he was using the blue bayard, he was able to shift between which gun model he needed, too,” He explained, as if that would somehow soothe Keith’s irritation.

It didn’t.

“Must be nice to have a weapon that changes as necessary. Can help compensate a bit, I’m sure,” He grumbled quietly.

“Your Blade dagger can do something similar,” Kolivan pointed out as he approached as well.

He flinched then turned to glare at his commander. “That’s different! I had to earn the ability to have access to both of its modes!” He snapped back.

The older Galran seemed unperturbed by his little breakdown. “It sounds like he had to earn that right as well. Or are you trying to imply that you think the current Red Paladin is unfit in his position?”

Keith growled while Shiro held up one hand. “Woah, I think that’s a bit much, Kolivan. I think it’s more that Keith has worked with Lance in the past and just hasn’t had the chance to see how much he’s progressed since Keith decided to focus on his work with the Blade,” He said evenly.

And by “decided to focus on his work with the Blade” he really meant “abandoned Team Voltron because he couldn’t hack it as leader”.

He turned on his heels and headed out with another word, ignoring Shiro calling him back over or the mildly irritated scowl Kolivan flashed him. He didn’t need to stand there and tolerate them talking about his decisions like he didn’t know how they both judged him by it. Shiro, he was certain, saw it as proof that he was still too foolhardy to be trusted with authority or exceedingly high amounts of power. He remembered the way his brow had twitched during the update of the missions they’d taken during Keith’s tenure as Black Paladin. He still remembered how, even when he hadn’t been in any Lion or out on the battlefield in even a cruiser, Shiro had tried to dictate how they proceed when they intercepted Lotor all that time ago. He still remembered how the other man had tried to lecture him after he’d nearly crashed his ship into the shields of Haggar’s ship.

Sometimes he felt like he was back at the Garrison, but Shiro wasn’t Shiro; he was Iverson, constantly on his ass about what a waste his natural talent was. It took all his self-control to not let that same searing rage burn him from the inside out. It took him telling himself over and over that it was Shiro and he was only saying it because he cared to keep him from outright decking him in the face, just like he had with Iverson a few years back.

And, he thought, something about the hypocrisy of the whole thing bothered him. How dare Keith be willing to sacrifice himself to save everyone he cared about, while Shiro willingly allied himself with Lotor against the wishes of his entire team? He saw through that in two seconds. Shiro was just as bad as Keith; he just got off the hook because he was the Garrison’s Golden Boy, even when he was galaxies away from the damn place.

And Kolivan? He wasn’t much better, either, with how he constantly rode Keith about falling in line with the Blade ideals. That made even less sense to Keith after meeting Krolia and finding out that the stunt she had pulled to save his skin wasn’t the first time she’d taken action like that. In yet she was still a relatively high-ranking Blade operative! When he had tried to call him out on it, Kolivan had waved him off with an air of indifference and claims that Keith was still too new to war to understand. He had refused to drop it, though, and tried to argue further.

Shortly after Kolivan had finally barked at him to shut his mouth, they’d left for the Castle of Lions. A move, he suspected, meant to try and calm Keith back down.

He skid to a stop outside the doors of the training deck and stared. As if being here, the place of his greatest failures and greatest losses, would be able to sweeten him back up. He was about to keep going, to maybe find one of his old haunts on the ship, when the doors slid open and he came face to face with the others.

“Keith!” Pidge chimed excitedly, ducking out from under Lance’s arms before all four of them lunged at him.

He blinked then laughed a bit, shifting one of his legs back a bit so that he could keep his balance as they all hugged him. It was still a challenge, but thankfully enough Hunk was a pretty solid guy that kept them all grounded by sheer force of his embrace. They were all excitedly babbling at him, talking over one another and making it nearly impossible to really understand them.

After a moment, Pidge suddenly huffed and pushed on him, sending them a bit farther from the other three. “Okay, enough of that! If Keith’s here to visit, then I call dibs first!” Pidge declared.

Lance blinked then snorted. “How is that even fair? Maybe I wanted to show off that he isn’t the only sleek sword master around here!” He said, flashing a haughty grin at the other male.

Keith blinked once before scoffing a bit. “I saw you guys from the training deck observation area. Your form was sloppy, which hinted that you haven’t been using the blade very long, and if it wasn’t for Pidge having your back, that training bot could have very easily disarmed and defeated you,” He deadpanned.

Lance flushed while Pidge laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. “Told you I was carrying your sorry tail!”

“Oh please! Keith’s just jealous that I’m blazing a trail he’ll never be able to catch up to!” Lance snapped back, crossing his arms over his chest and sneering down at them.

Keith watched as he and Pidge had their back and forth, something he’d gotten use to watching, but something in him ached dully. A sense of dread was rushing through him the longer he stood there and observed them all interacting with one another. The team was fine – Hell, maybe even better off – without him around him. What would they care about what he’d done in his time with the Blade? Would Pidge still hold any interest in his discovering who his mother was?

After all, he wasn’t a Paladin. He was no longer the Sword of Voltron. What use could he possibly serve to her, now?

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Crime and Punishment

Title: Crime and Punishment - Kidge Week Day 7 Prompt Fill Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Kidge Summary: Adwru glanced down at her, eyes slowly narrowing. “If I had more information to offer you, I guarantee that I would. I’m sorry if you feel you are being lied to; that is more a problem that you will need to deal with yourself. I simply decided to extend my kindness in telling you myself and returning this,” He said softly, moving to offer Pidge an object wrapped in cloth. She took it cautiously and felt her heart wedge itself squarely in to her throat; Keith’s luxite blade. Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more. AN: Have I mentioned that I’m a fan of parallels? Well, that’s all the justification you’re getting for this one! :3c 

She’d been finishing up putting together a new hard drive for a new computer planned to be used for solely maintaining the meeting information of the coalition when she heard a knock on the door. She blinked then scowled slightly as she rose up. The kids were upstairs in their rooms, most likely playing video games or watching a movie, and none of them had mentioned inviting over a guest for the evening. And if Keith was returning from his meeting with the Blade, he would have simply let himself in with his key. She opened the door and blinked in surprise at the large, imposing purple figure standing before her. “Adwru… What are you doing on Earth?” She asked in surprise.

Adwru had been a younger Blade member and friend to Keith, whom took over the handle of primary leader when Kolivan chose to step down. His large ears stood upright and his arms were crossed behind his back, the posture an imitation of one she’d seen from his predecessor many a time. “Pidge, I am sorry to have to be here,” He said patiently.

She quirked one eyebrow, settling a hand on her hips. “Oh, I’m well aware how you feel about Earth. If you’re looking for Keith, he isn’t here. He left a couple of days ago to meet with you and some of the other superiors so-!”

“I am well-aware that he isn’t here. That’s part of the reason I am, though,” He cut in, ears twitching slightly. “I am afraid that Keith… He is no longer with us. He agreed to a mission and… His position was compromised. We lost contact and fear he has fallen to our enemies.”

She stared at him for a long moment, turning over what he said, knowing what he meant but not exactly sure how to place it. “What do you mean? He was going in to turn in his resignation from the Blade. How the Hell did he get roped into taking on any more of your bullshit?” She growled lowly.

“He never made any mention of wanting to leave the Blade. I’m afraid you may have misunderstood his intentions in coming to see us. Or, perhaps, he simply chose to accept as this mission was a personal request from myself but… Regardless, I have come to tell you that he will not be returning,” He said, his tone still as patient and detached as ever. Adwru, he wasn’t always like this. She recalled a time where he’d been someone she considered a friend, but in the last few years he’d become more and more aggressive about Keith continuing his work with the Blade. Nothing was more important, in Adwru’s eyes, than keeping up the work of the Blade.

He didn’t care that Keith had a wife and kids to look after. He didn’t care that Keith was happy with his life on Earth. He only cared that Keith was talented and useful to their cause.

“I don’t believe you,” She said, lifting her head to glare at him defiantly. “I don’t buy for a second that he’d decide to risk so much on a big assignment, regardless of you being the one to ask! After what happened last time? Especially after what happened last time he took an assignment from you in specific!”

She still remembered how horrified she’d been when word was sent that he was in critical condition in the Blades medical bay. She had convinced Allura and Lance to take the Castle Ship there, so that they could get him in a pod and heal him up. She had sat beside the pod for the whole three hours that he was inside it and then held him and wept. She’d been so terrified that she was going to lose him that day. After she calmed down, the kids had come in, all of them teary-eyed and terrified and she’d nearly cried again for their sake.

That night, Keith told her that he wanted to leave the Blade.

“I don’t want to ever put you all in a situation like this again,” He mumbled, gently rubbing Aria’s back. Their youngest daughter had been particularly distraught, being the sweet soul that she was, and seemed to think if she let go of Keith he’d disappear. He smiled lightly when the five year old snuggled closer to him, letting out a sleepy mumble, and rested his chin atop her head. “I want to be here for them and I can’t do that continuing up with the Blade.” They’d returned home and he started getting things in order. After two weeks, he was finally ready to come and say his goodbyes.

He’d only been gone for four days.

“I’m simply here to give you the facts about it, Pidge,” Adwru insisted, but the corner of his lips twitched like he wanted to say something more, like he wanted to let down his persona of being a composed leader.

“Which is exactly why you’re hiding the specifics from me, right? You think I’m stupid enough to believe you?” She snapped back.

Adwru glanced down at her, eyes slowly narrowing. “If I had more information to offer you, I guarantee that I would. I’m sorry if you feel you are being lied to; that is more a problem that you will need to deal with yourself. I simply decided to extend my kindness in telling you myself and returning this,” He said softly, moving to offer Pidge an object wrapped in cloth. She took it cautiously and felt her heart wedge itself squarely in to her throat; Keith’s luxite blade.

He would never willingly go anywhere without it.

She took it and stared at it for a moment, one hand tracing the Blade insignia along the handle. She then tightened her hold on it and glared up at Adwru. “I’ll prove that you’re a lying snake. I swear on his blade,” She vowed, holding the knife out towards him much like how she’d seen her husband do so many times.

“Continue to delude yourself and pretend the truth is a lie. I will not continue wasting my time on you and your overreacting, puny imagination,” He scoffed before turning and heading towards his ship, poised at the end of the driveway.

She growled and slammed the door as hard as she could, listening to the clatter of the window and clack of pictures on the wall. Nothing fell down, thankfully. She turned, intending to storm back to her office, but tensed and yelped at the figure that stood just a few steps behind her. She pressed one hand to her chest and took a deep breath, initially intending to reprimand her eldest for sneaking up on her like that, but then paused, taking in the stupid lock of her jaw and the twitch between her brows; two tells, one inherited from each of her parents. Sometimes the girl just took too much after them for comfort, really. “Amber,” She said gently.

“He’s lying,” She hissed angrily.

“How much of that did you hear?” She asked with a small sigh, shifting to head back towards the kitchen. She glanced up the stairs for a moment, hoping none of the other kids were there, and breathed a sigh of relief at the battle cries she heard from one of the other rooms. Kaden and Newt must have been having another one of their matches to determine who was the better gamer.

Amber was right on her heels. “Enough to know he’s hiding something. Dad wouldn’t have taken on another assignment; he was done with the Blades’ dealings. I think that they still have him… That they’re keeping him for something,” She insisted.

“What would be their reason for that?” She asked evenly, setting the knife down. She tapped the handle once with her index finger before moving to get herself a drink.

“Dad’s one of their best members and they’re work is starting to dwindle. They’ve got less rookies coming in to join their ranks and the need for their tactics is waning as peace is returning to the universe,” Amber answered, leaning back against the kitchen table and crossing her arms. She glanced back at the knife briefly, a heavy and oddly-shaped weight in her belly shifting and causing her to flinch as if she’d been cut, then looked back over at her mother. She offered her a water bottle but she shook her head against the offer. “They need all the members that they can get if they want to keep pretending that they’re needed to maintain the new universe order. And it isn’t like that Blade haven’t implemented questionable methods before… They could easily be keeping him prisoner or have him brain-washed or something.”

“Then it becomes a problem of proving Adwru’s lying. And there’s no way he’d let any of us anywhere near the Blade base,” Pidge answered, cracking open her water bottle and taking a quick swig.

“That’d be the easy part,” Amber scoffed. She blinked then looked away at the curious brow her mother’s cocked at her. “Well, I just mean… I could go undercover in the Blade and see what I can learn or something.”

Pidge’s eyes widened as she focused in on her daughter.

“It wouldn’t be that hard, really,” Amber said, shrugging but averting meeting her mother’s gaze. She had expected that she wouldn’t be fond of the idea; Mom got upset enough when Dad left for missions with the Blade, and he had years of experience under his belt. “Grandma Krolia still works with the Blade from time to time, so she could help me get an in. And, I mean, I’m sure you and the rest of the geniuses’ on Team Voltron could make a disguising device to make me look more Galra so I can blend in better. Alfor mentioned before that there are these Altean devices that can allow you to directly transmit your thoughts and memories into a designated host device, too, so I take one of those so that you’ll always know what’s going on with me. That way if things ever seem like they’re getting too risky, you can call me back.”

A silence fell between them after Amber’s hurried explanation of her plan, Pidge’s eye scrutinizing her daughter like a hawk.

“You’ve thought about this for a while, haven’t you?” She asked.

Amber shrugged, her gaze flittering to land on the tile. “I may have… I just had a bad feeling about this whole thing. Something that Mr. Adwru said to Dad after he came out of the cryopod really bothered me. I thought I was just being paranoid but I guess not,” She sighed. She uncrossed her arms and reached back, grabbing the luxite blade and holding it out. “And this is the final sign to me that he’d full of it! They don’t go back for mementos of fallen Blade members; not in any of the stories Grandma Krolia has told me and never in the ones Dad’s said either! This was supposed to be a way to put a nail in the emotional coffin; an attempt to keep us from being willing to investigate further!”

For a moment, Pidge wasn’t staring at her fourteen year old daughter, watching with frantic and hopeful eyes, praying her idea would be approved. No, she was staring at a mirror of herself when she was only sixteen, years ago, when news of the Kerberos failure first broke. The embarrassing attempt to cover up the truth of the situation. The malicious lie that nearly crushed her own mother’s heart and hope to smithereens.

Her chest swelled with an emotion – pride or pain, she wasn’t sure – before she walked over and gently embraced her daughter. “Okay, we’ll see what we can do with your plan,” She said quietly. Amber sucked in a quiet gasp before hugging her tightly, the luxite blade clattering loudly against the floor. She burrowed her face into her mother’s shoulder and Pidge could feel her shirt start to dampen. “I’ll see about finding a way to get in touch with your Grandma Krolia and the rest of Team Voltron to get the final plans worked out.”

“I have a communicator directly linked to Grandma Krolia,” She sniffled, lifting her head and rubbing at her eyes with the heel of one hand. A small laugh bubbled out of her as she sniffled again. “I wasn’t sure if you’d say yes, so I wanted to make sure that I had a way to make it happen, even if you weren’t on board with it.”

“You’re a little sneak, you know that?” She teased, lightly poking her in the forehead.

“Hey, we’re a family of doers, right?” Amber hummed back.

Pidge nodded and hugged her again, a little bit tighter this time. There was a part of her that was filled with fear and dread over sending her oldest child on the hunt for her father. Sure, she’d done the same when she was just a little bit older, so it was hypocritical of her to criticize. And, on top of that, she’d done it against her own mother’s wishes – though the fact Amber had planned to go behind her back if necessary said something about apples and trees – without nearly as much of a plan in place. This was probably the benefit that Amber had parents that had pioneered intergalactic travel in the name of universal peace.

She could only hope that having more resources would safeguard her daughter from disaster.