#most of my romances are with the hard to get/reluctant chars so this is a change of pace | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

stories-in-the-stars · 6 years ago

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The Fallen and the Wandering

We’ve done it lads, we’ve finished the story before season 8. It was a close thing, but here we are. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this story, and a special thanks to @rendevok and @stellalights for not only being wonderful betas but also sitting through the mess of the first draft of this story. I am not exaggerating when I say this story quite literally would not exist without them.

As always, please check the reblogs for links to Ao3.

~*~

Chapter 12

It started, as these things often do, with a dream.

Not any dream of Keith’s, nor any of the planets or moons or any star, though they saw it all the same. It was not nearly as old as any of them either, but it was just as powerful, if not more. No one could say who dreamed it first. After all, whoever dreamed it was so small compared to everything that surrounded the planets, smaller even than the planets themselves. As it was, before the dream was dreamed, the planets were unaware of anything, so even if they had wanted to pay particular attention to the curious beings that populated a pale blue dot in their system, they couldn’t. For this was the dream that breathed life into them.

Yes, it was the stories of humans that gave sentience to the planets. The belief of humans was a powerful thing, and from the moment they could think to cast their eyes skywards, they told stories of the things they saw in the sky. The stories spread far and wide, even into the skies themselves.

First were the stories of the sun and moon, those familiar faces in their beloved dance across the sky. The sun, which warmed the earth and gave life to everything that humans knew, became synonymous with good health and vitality. It was gentle, but powerful, and above all demanded to be seen. Being the brightest object in the sky naturally accorded a certain level of importance. Such importance to humans was perhaps matched only by the moon, who seemed the opposite of the sun in every way. In fact, the moon was only sometimes opposite the sun, when it was shrouded in complete darkness, mysterious and retiring. Other times it shined brightly in the night, vivid and beautiful. Most importantly, the moon controlled the tides that so many lives had come to depend on. Indeed, the sun and the moon were a natural match.

When the sun and the moon opened their eyes upon the humans, and on each other, they found love, and what a curious and powerful thing that was to them. Unlike the humans they so intently watched, however, there was nothing that could be done about their love. The sun could not grant it’s own wish, and the wish of the moon alone was not enough to bring them together. As such, their love stretched across the emptiness for centuries, while the humans dreamed of ever more stories.

(Quiet laughter echoed among the stars, and Keith saw Lance and Allura, looking younger than they did now, swinging their joined hands in a long, wild arc. In their eyes glimmered a love that belied their years. No one else could be seen.)

Next came Mercury, closest to the sun. Mercury was the fastest traveller among the stars, a wonder to watch. When the stories humans dreamed breathed life into Mercury, the eyes that opened on the world were sharp and perceptive. Mercury became eager to point out everything to the sun it hovered so close to, for while the sun saw things in a bright light, Mercury was quick to see the flipside.

“Why would you want to be among humans?” Mercury would insist from one side.

“It would be fun,” said the sun by the time Mercury had reached the other side.

Mercury swooped around. “Fun? Humans will hurt you. And who’s to say you wouldn’t hurt them back?”

“Aren’t you at least curious?” the sun questioned as Mercury moved yet again to another side. “What if, ultimately, humans are good? After all, it’s because of them that we’re like this now. Are you saying you don’t like this?”

In the end, Mercury agreed to wish to go, if only because it was determined to watch over this naive star it had been stuck with. Someone would certainly take advantage of the sun if it ever got it’s wish, and Mercury was intent that it should not happen, not while they were nearby.

(“Lance, you’ve been mooning over this guy for how long now? All he does is push you away, he’s no good for you,” Veronica could be heard insisting.

She and Lance were separated by a counter, having a meal together it seemed. Lance had been grinning like a lovestruck fool until then, when Veronica said that whoever he was stuck on wasn’t good for him.

“You haven’t met him,” Lance argued. “He cares a lot more than he lets on. About everything, I’d say.”

“Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t, but it sounds like he chooses to act like he doesn’t care, or when he does, it’s way too much. How could you possibly like a guy like that?”

Lance took on a thoughtful expression at that, his eyes misting over with fondness. “I guess… I don’t know, he’s just inherently amazing. He’s good at everything he does, but he also works hard, sometimes too hard in my opinion, and he just inspires me to do better--”

Veronica held up a hand to stop him. “Alright, alright, I get it, but when he inevitably breaks your heart, don’t come crying to me.”)

(Keith felt his gut twist with guilt.)

(The dream continued in spite of his reluctance.)

After that came Venus, as lovely as the moon and twice as romantic, as far as humans were concerned. In the beginning, however, Venus did not look for romance. Venus looked for other kinds of love, the love that was overlooked by so many, even humans. Venus looked at those celestial beings that were already aware of themselves, who welcomed it warmly, and it saw the love of a family, the love between friends. Among humans Venus saw the potential for a grand, enlightened love that held them together as a species, that helped them to survive. It took no effort at all to convince Venus that they should go and join the humans.

And yet, even with Venus and Mercury wishing with all their might, their wish did not come true.

(From the darkness emerged yet another memory that wasn’t Keith’s. This time it was Lance and Romelle, chatting idly about love. Romelle insisted that she wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship of any sort, while Lance was eager to find such a love.

(Unbeknownst to him, that was what he’d come to earth for, after all, and even failing to find romance in the moon, it was still his greatest wish.)

Mars, headstrong and eager, was also easily persuaded to join the planets in their quest. To humans, Mars was regarded as a patron of war, violent, and in some depictions bloodthirsty. But humans in their hearts were not naturally inclined to war, not the ones who were wont to tell these stories that so livened the planets anyways. While Mars was strong, and ready to fight, that did not necessarily mean it wanted to. After all, the greatest stories were of reluctant warriors fighting only for what they believed in. In the meantime, Mars was energetic and prone to recklessness. It was more than ready to charge headfirst into the world of humans, and right whatever wrongs it may come across.

(Lance and Pidge were play-fighting, although it hardly looked like it. In fact, it looked more like Pidge was punching Lance’s arm harder than she realized, while Lance tried to retreat and bat her hands away. Both of them were giggling like maniacs, about what Keith couldn’t tell. All he knew was that when it was just the two of them, they looked like trouble waiting to happen.)

Jupiter, the largest planet of them all, was often a king in human stories, powerful but unpredictable as a storm. Here too was a planet willing to wish themself down to earth with the others, if only for the sake of curiosity.

“I wonder what it would be like,” Jupiter said. “To be a human.”

(Here was a memory that did not involve Lance. It was Terrell, a few years younger with a brighter, more optimistic face. She didn’t look like anyone that could possibly become a villain of any sort, much less a murderer. She had just taken flight, relishing the sensation of weightlessness with a deep sigh. As far as Keith could tell, this was from the time she worked at the Bureau as a searcher.

“I don’t want to see this,” he heard Terrell say, though the voice came not from the Terrell in the memory. “I don’t want to see this!”

Keith blinked, and a scream pierced his ears with such intensity that everything became a jumbled mess, the dream threatening to end. It was followed by a sharp crack of thunder, and then, silence. The younger Terrell emerged from the darkness again, her face tear streaked and horrified. Before her was a sight that made Keith recoil--it was a wonder he didn’t wake up then. Three bodies, charred and smoking, and completely still. Terrell curled in on herself, sobbing uncontrollably.

“I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to!” she kept repeating.)

(Keith suddenly found it very hard to reconcile the image of a careless murderer with the memory before him.)

(“I don’t want your sympathy,” he thought he heard Terrell say from the shadows.)

Saturn had been the hardest to convince, what with it’s stories of a steadfast and reliable nature. As far as Saturn was concerned, there was nothing wrong with remaining as they were, and that becoming human might be dangerous. Jupiter was of no help convincing Saturn, as their motivation was a simple whim. It was, as it always was, the sun who urged Saturn to reconsider, and join them.

“You don’t have to come with us,” the sun began.

“I don’t?”

“No, but imagine how lonely it would be for you once we all left.”

After some brief consideration, Saturn was much more agreeable to the plan.

(This memory was far more lighthearted than the previous one, with Lance trying to convince Hunk to skip work, just for one day, so they could go do something fun. Hunk was worried that they would be found out, and the last thing he wanted, he said, was to be fired just because Lance wanted to play hooky. Lance was insistent. So was Hunk. It wasn’t until that moment that Keith realized how different they were. How interesting, he thought, that there were so many different ways different things could be opposite.)

(Eventually, Lance got his way.)

(Keith found himself smiling fondly.)

With Saturn, the planets thus far thought that this time, for sure, their singular wish would be granted. Yet even with the mighty Jupiter and the steady Saturn on their side, the wish fizzled and died before it could be granted. They looked beyond Saturn, waiting eagerly, not yet realizing that the humans could not yet see beyond Saturn. Thankfully, what was a lifetime to humans was nothing to planets, who plodded along as they always did, awaiting the day that they could move as they pleased.

When humans found Uranus, they told grand tales of a lord of the skies, old and wise. These stories were more a feeling than anything specific, but Uranus was a calm and reassuring presence--most of the time. When Uranus agreed to join the others in their wish to become human, it was out of a sense of responsibility, rather than any inherent desire to become human itself. Still, after a little while, Uranus came to find enthusiasm for the idea.

(“Lance McClain, right? I’m Takashi Shirogane--you can just call me Shiro--I’ll be your supervisor from now on, so any problems you have, just let me know, okay?”

Shiro held out his hand, and Lance shook it, grinning all the while.

“I’ve heard about you, you kind of have a reputation within the Bureau, you know?” Lance mentioned.

Shiro nodded. “I’m aware. Now, I know you probably went over the process a thousand times in training, but let me run through the process of how searchers are assigned to areas and how stars are turned in for analysis.”

Lance groaned dramatically. Shiro laughed at him, not an ounce of sympathy for the sheer boredom Lance was about to endure.)

(Keith chuckled softly. Shiro had done the same thing to him.)

Some years passed, and humans found Neptune, and connected it with deep waters, turbulent and changeable. Neptune felt the cause of the planets’ plight deeply, though it never admitted to it. Neptune simply agreed to wish as strongly as the others did, and no amount of pandering could draw out any reasoning.

(Here was another memory that did not involve Lance, but Shiro and Adam. They were flying, as Lance and Keith once had, around the tail of a comet. They dipped in and out without a care for the cold, laughing as they hurled snowballs at one another. More often than not it was Adam getting pelted, for while Keith had known them to be fliers of equal skill, Shiro had always been faster.)

(Adam paused for a moment, while Shiro twirled through the snow and ice so quickly that he very nearly had a tail of his own. Adam’s smile changed from that of energetic enthusiasm to quiet fondness. It didn’t take long for Shiro to notice.

“What?” Shiro asked.

Adam shook his head. “Nothing.”)

With this many planets wishing, they thought, surely their wish would be granted. But of course, it was the fact that there was so many of them that held them back, it seemed. Before, when it had just been the sun and the moon, they had felt the promise of potential, a certain sort of anticipation of something unknown. It had been easy to claim that perhaps it was their own overzealous nature that got their hopes so high, but any time a number of them aligned just so, they felt it, a whisper of a grand happening. As they continued on their celestial paths set for them by nature, the stars around them whispered of the most grand happening of all, something that had yet to pass in their time of consciousness.

Their wish would come to pass, they knew. All they had to do was wait for the right moment.

(“But what about Keith?” he thought he heard Lance protest.)

What about Pluto indeed. Nearly a century passed before humans had any inkling of it. The planets themselves were aware of it, though they didn’t think much of it. After all, it was so far, and so small, even if humans did breathe some sort of life into it, what could it possibly do to help them? As it was, the planets did not believe that humans would give it stories. They had not counted on humans being such sentimental creatures.

When humans happened upon Pluto, they gave it stories of endings, of misfortune and death. Suddenly Pluto was not something inconsequential, lingering on the fringes of their solar system, but something to be pitied, for all that it did not want that. For despite it’s morbid origins, Pluto was just as eager as all the other planets to explore this new psyche it had been given, in the most human way possible. It was not at all as sad as the others believed it might be. In endings, Pluto saw new beginnings. In misfortunes, opportunities for change.

(Keith saw himself, walking down the sidewalk completely alone with his shoulders hunched against the cold. It could’ve been any day, but it wasn’t. He knew it wasn’t, especially as he spotted Lance a ways down the street.)

(Keith saw in vivid detail as Lance happened to glance up, settling on the Keith in the memory.)

(Keith slipped on the ice.)

(Lance laughed.)

(Outside of the memory, Keith laughed too.)

The desire to become human was perhaps the biggest change Pluto could undertake. Quietly, Pluto decided to wish as well, knowing and believing that being so small meant it could offer little in the way of wishmaking. Still, as it waited patiently for the day to arrive, casting it’s gaze towards that distant warmth, it began to wish, more than anything, to have a warmth just like that, to belong to something so welcoming. If it could be close to the sun, Pluto decided, even if it melted away, that would certainly bring it happiness.

(“The syzygy, the grand syzygy,” everyone whispered.)

Keith watched as the cosmos shuddered when the moon settled into place last of all the celestial bodies, a resounding click echoing through the empty space.

The wish rattled the stars, shook the planets from their orbits.

Then, just as everyone knew would happen, everything began to fall.

The stars, planets, moon, and sun fell towards the earth.

And Keith awoke with a sharp exhale. He and Lance were as tangled up in each other as they had been when he’d fallen asleep. Lance was awake, wide-eyed and staring at Keith. He had a knowing look in his eyes. Keith had no doubt that if he went to the others now, they would have the same look.

“That was… something,” Keith whispered, his voice hoarse with sleep. How long had he been dreaming, remembering?

“You wanted to be with me,” Lance breathed. “All along.”

Keith turned his face into his pillow. “I guess so.”

“Do you suppose--”

But whatever Lance was trying to suggest was cut off by a sharp knock at their door. They both scrambled to get it, tripping over each other in the process. The door opened before either of them could reach it. It was Shiro, and just as Keith had suspected, he had a knowing look in his eyes.

“We all need to talk,” he told them.

Everyone shuffled quietly downstairs, not a single yawn among them. Keith idly wondered how much sleep they had all managed to get. They all seemed a little subdued as they gathered in the living room, perhaps a little contemplative. Only Coran had any semblance of energy, bustling about in the kitchen and whipping up something that smelled very good--Keith realized that he hadn’t had a single thing to eat the day before.

Shiro spoke first, “So that dream--or memory. We all had it, right?”

Everyone nodded. Shiro smiled.

“Then I think we’ve found our solution.”

They all blinked, perhaps still a bit addled from it all. Veronica shot up out of her seat suddenly, gasping loud enough to startle everyone else.

“The syzygy! Of course! We don’t have to wait ten thousand years for the planets to align themselves because we’re the planets!” she practically shouted.

Pidge continued, “If we align ourselves and make the right wish, the sun, moon, and planets will be back in the sky and we can continue living our lives as people!”

“Yeah, that sounds great and all but there’s just one problem,” Hunk piped.

“Terrell,” Adam said with a solemn nod.

“Whatever she wants, it probably doesn’t involve being completely human,” Romelle added.

Allura clenched her fists. “Well whatever it is she wants, we’ll have to convince her otherwise, whether she likes it or not.”

Coran burst in before anyone could say anything more, insisting that they all eat something before gallivanting off on some noble, world-saving pursuit or other. After all, he told them, they couldn’t very well fix problems on an empty stomach, and Keith found he was quite agreeable to the sentiment.

“I think the real question is,” Adam began after a few moments. “How are we going to get her to listen to us in the first place? She already took issue with us being together in the first place, to the point where she nearly blasted some of us out of the sky.”

Several of them hummed thoughtfully.

“Maybe if we threw some rubber gloves over her hands…?” Pidge offered with the air of someone just spitballing for the sake of generating ideas.

Lance had another idea. “That’s a good alternative, but I was thinking… When Keith and I are around each other, our more passive abilities are kind of switched. Or at least, they were before Terrell made a wish on me. For that matter, why was she able to make a wish on me when we just saw that all the planets had to be in alignment to make a wish?”

“Perhaps it’s all in the type of wish? Or maybe she had a star on hand, and that was what actually granted the wish?” Veronica suggested.

“Anyways, Lance, where were you going with that train of thought?” Shiro asked.

“Right,” Lance continued. “Basically, our powers kind of switched because we’re practically opposites, right? At least, that’s what I’m thinking. So whoever is the natural opposite of Terrell can probably hold her back for long enough for the rest of us to get a few words in.”

“Hunk,” Keith suddenly said.

Hunk looked at everyone with wide eyes. “Me? I don’t know…”

Adam seemed to agree with Keith. “That blast that came from your powers interacting with Terrell’s… If Jupiter is frantic, overwhelming power, and Saturn is steady, grounding energy, then maybe…”

Hunk still looked uncertain. “I only did what I did because I had to. Terrell would’ve zapped at least one of us right out of the sky, and I didn’t want that to happen. It was a heat of the moment sort of thing, you know? I don’t know if I can make that happen on purpose.”

“You can Hunk, I know you can,” Shiro assured him.

“What makes you so sure?” Hunk persisted. “This--all this is just so much, and Terrell’s had years to learn how to control her powers, and you’re suddenly so certain that I can hold her back just because I have to?”

“It’s our best bet right now, Hunk,” Pidge insisted.

“A lousy bet,” Hunk huffed.

“Hunk,” Lance began gently. “I know it’s not much to go off of, but it’s better than nothing. I know you’re scared, but even if it doesn’t work, we’ll be right there with you to bail you out. Powers or no, we still outnumber Terrell by a lot. If we can lure her away from other snatchers, we might stand a chance even with her lightning. And there’s still Pidge’s rubber glove idea.”

Hunk chuckled softly, his tensed shoulders relaxing, if only a little. “Alright, alright, you’re right. Besides, the sooner we face off with her the better, right? I don’t know about you guys, but the next time I see anyone from the Bureau, I want to be as human as possible.”

A murmur of agreement rippled through them. Then--

“Keith, do you still have that star?” Shiro asked.

Keith nodded, pulling the flask out of his pocket. “I’ve been wondering… why does it--I mean, I’ve never tried to make a wish--a reasonable wish--on it before, but I’ve never seen a star guide people where they need to go before.”

“Because only a few stars ever guided people before the fall,” Veronica said, leaning forward with keen interest. “And since we’re in the northern hemisphere…”

“You’re not saying that this star might be Polaris?” Keith sputtered.

Beside Veronica, Pidge hummed thoughtfully. “She’s got a point. When I worked as an analyst, I never heard of stars acting like this--then again, not many people ask stars for directions.”

“Here, let me see it,” Hunk said, making a beckoning motion with his hand.

Keith handed it over, and Hunk popped the cork off the flask and gently tipped the tiny star into his palm. Pidge leaned against him, peering at the star just as intently as Hunk was. Hunk rolled it around, observing how it twinkled, and began muttering to himself.

“There’s supposed to be a companion,” he said. “Wish I had a star catalog. You don’t happen to have one Pidge, do you?”

Pidge shook her head, but Coran piped, “I have one! Several, actually, wait just a tick…”

He returned promptly with a stack of star catalogs, with the newest one (updated to include only the stars that were currently in the sky), on the top. They chose an older catalog, one from before the fall. Everyone looked on with mild curiosity.

“Is this really necessary?” Veronica questioned.

Lance shrugged. “I guess. I’m not going to tell them to stop.”

“Yeah, look at the way it kind of bulges on one side--” Pidge said, pointing out whatever it was that she and Hunk saw.

“It’s just a matter of which one it is, I suppose--” Hunk replied, nodding along.

“I’m betting the bigger one--”

“Mm, no probably not, cause, see, here it says that Polaris Aa is a yellow supergiant--”

“Oh, this is definitely not a yellow supergiant--”

The deliberated for a few moments longer, caught up in specific details like spectral and variable types that Keith couldn’t even begin to keep up with. Beside him, Lance sighed impatiently. Veronica seemed to be much in the same way. All that really mattered was that it could take them where they needed to go--what did it matter whether it was really Polaris or not? Although, Keith couldn’t deny he was curious--mostly about how he’d managed to end up with such an important star. All stars went through the same intense process of analysis, and only those that weren’t essential were passed out to employees as their one wish.

Finally, Pidge and Hunk looked up at the others. “It is and isn’t Polaris.”

Lance groaned. “What does that even mean?”

“Polaris is actually a system of two stars,” Hunk began. “This, as far as we can tell, is the smaller of those two stars.”

“So it’s just half of Polaris then?” Romelle inquired.

Pidge shrugged. “To put it simply, yeah.”

Veronica scowled. “While that’s nice to know, it’s also completely pointless. We already know it’ll take us where we want to go.”

“But the other half of the system--” Hunk began.

“Can be found later,” Veronica said decidedly. “Right now, our priority is Terrell.”

“Veronica is right, the sooner we find Terrell and figure out how to recreate a grand syzygy, the better,” Shiro said, standing tall.

That, it seemed, was their cue to go. Or so they thought.

“Wait,” Adam, said suddenly as he stood up and put an arm in front of Shiro.

Shiro frowned. “What is it?”

Everyone quieted, as though to listen for something.

“Can’t you sense it?” Adam whispered.

“Sense what?” Shiro demanded.

Adam didn’t immediately respond. Keith took a deep breath, trying to sense what he’d sensed before. All he could sense was a jumble of different things, likely all the other planets around him. But then, he had a feeling he knew what it was regardless. Or rather, who it was.

“Terrell,” Adam finally whispered. “She’s coming.”

“But we normally hear her coming,” Romelle protested.

“That’s what’s so concerning,” Adam replied, chancing a peek out the window.

Keith opened his mouth to mention that Terrell had most certainly been in the dream with them, and hadn’t seemed happy about what they’d all seen regarding her, when Adam whipped around and shouted for them all to get down. No sooner had they all dropped to the floor than a massive bolt of lightning smashed through the window. Keith couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. He blinked furiously and rubbed at his eyes, trying to see if everyone was okay. He felt a hand on his arm, tugging insistently. He followed as best as he could, reaching to see if he could grab hold of anyone else to help them to safety as well.

When the spots started to clear from his vision, Keith found himself crammed in a hallway with everyone else. Several people were saying something, something that he couldn’t yet hear. He saw Coran gesturing towards the back of the house. Allura looked concerned, and gave him a quick hug before dashing in the direction he’d indicated. Everyone followed suit, Keith being led along by Lance.

Keith shook his head, trying to orient himself. “Where are we going?”

“Out the back, we have to lure Terrell away from here,” Lance answered quickly.

Only about half of them had made it out the door before another lightning strike pushed them back in. Adam pushed to the front of the group. Through his disorientation, Keith could feel the air shift from something dry and crackling to being heavy and imposing. Thunder cracked overhead as Adam shouted something to Shiro, who joined him at the front. From the doorway, Keith felt an icy gale rush in, accompanied by the sharp sting of icy rain. Lighting still struck, but the aim was off.

“Let’s go!” Adam shouted over the storm.

No one needed telling twice. Allura led the way for them. Even in the midst of a full on storm she knew the terrain best. Keith thought he could hear Terrell screaming behind them, but didn’t dare look back. They had known they would have to face her sooner rather than later, but this was much sooner than any of them had been anticipating.

“What’s the plan?!” Keith clamored, straining to make his voice heard over the noise.

“Same as we agreed, we just need to put some distance between us and Coran’s house!” Shiro yelled back.

The rain was just starting to die down when a lightning bolt struck far too close to their group, sending more than half of them, Keith included, flying. He hit the ground hard, sliding a little in the mud. The wrist he’d broken only a few months prior twinged. Nothing seemed broken, but if they carried on like this, things wouldn’t stay that way. He caught sight of Terrell’s faint silhouette, approaching them with the air of a murderer. Whatever she wanted, she was going to get it, no matter what the cost.

She raised her fist to strike again, and Keith didn’t think. He dug in deep and sprinted towards Terrell, tackling her and slamming her to the ground so hard he heard the air rush out of her lungs in a single gasp. The others were shouting at him, no doubt thinking he was off on some heroic tangent again, but he paid them no heed.

“What do you want?!” Keith demanded.

Terrell sputtered and gasped, still trying to breathe. Her expression teetered between seething rage and incomprehensible terror. Keith wouldn’t let himself be fooled again.

When she finally caught her breath, she wheezed, “As if that really matters to you!”

Terrell caught Keith in the gut with a sparking fist, making every part of his body seize up. He couldn’t even cry out. Next thing he knew he was flying again, feeling utterly boneless as the current of electricity left him. Hands were on him almost the instant he hit the ground again, checking for injuries, helping him to stand. He couldn’t even support his own weight.

“You’ve been nothing but a thorn in my side,” Terrell said, advancing on them dangerously. “I should’ve dealt with you a long time ago, and now I have to deal with all of you--”

“Deal with this!” Hunk shrieked suddenly, charging forward with speed that belied his size.

Terrell threw up her hands; Keith braced for impact.

What followed was nowhere near as coherent as anything he saw or heard the first time this had happened. He felt himself flying backwards for the third time, his vision disoriented once more. What was real and what was a dream was hardly discernible, and whether the screams he heard were from his friends or from a memory that didn’t belong to him was just as impossible to tell.

(“I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to!”)

Keith felt his legs underneath him, hardly able to carry his own weight but moving anyways. He felt his hand grasping at someone’s arm, but when he looked, he couldn’t see them.

(“I just didn’t want to die!”)

He tripped over something, and whoever he was holding onto scrambled to keep him upright. Where were they going? Who were they following? Where was Terrell? Was Hunk okay?

(“I didn’t want to die!”)

“Just over the hill!” he heard Allura shouting. “We can lose her in the sunflower field!”

“Losing her won’t be that easy,” Adam could be heard arguing.

“I suppose you have a better idea?”

A pause. “Lead on.”

(“I don’t want to die!”)

Up ahead, Keith saw glittering lights that were just out of focus for him. This wasn’t a good idea. There was too much light, he wouldn’t be able to hide them in the shadows. He tried to tell everyone as much, but found that his mouth just wouldn’t form words. Light began to engulf them as the sunflowers came into clearer focus.

(“I will not die!”)

Another lightning strike rattled the ground just as they ducked among the tall sunflowers. Keith blinked, his head clear once more.

“I can’t hide us in here,” he told the others.

“That’s fine,” Shiro assured him. “We just need to get her to listen.”

“Guys, I don’t think I can do that again,” Hunk breathed, doubled over with fatigue. “I can’t, I--”

“It’s alright Hunk,” Romelle said, helping him to stand. “We’ll find another way.”

“You guys really think you can just hide from me? Have you forgotten what we are?!” Terrell shrieked, loudly pushing through the sunflowers.

“Split up!” Shiro hissed. “Stay with someone, but if we split up that might confuse her long enough for us to maybe talk to her!”

“Takashi, she’s not here to talk,” Adam whispered back.

“But we need her--”

They stopped abruptly as an arc of electricity sailed dangerously close over their heads.

“Move!”

Keith turned sharply away, crashing through the sunflowers as noisily as Terrell had been. In the back of his mind he knew separating was a bad idea, even if they stayed in pairs. Keith stopped short, looking around frantically. In the chaos, he hadn’t thought to make sure someone stayed with him. He was completely alone. He strained to hear something, anything from the others, but in the soft light of the sunflowers, there was nothing. He didn’t dare call out for them, not with Terrell prowling about.

Keith moved through the sunflowers as swiftly and as quietly as possible after that. The silence was unnerving. Not even the sound of lightning split the air around him. That was perhaps the most worrying of all. A Terrell that was wild and aimless was dangerous, but far more so was a Terrell that was focused. Keith tried to sense where she was, where the others were, but everyone’s energy was almost overwhelming. No doubt that was because every planet was larger than him. He scowled--there had to be something he could do.

Before Keith could think of anything, however, he was tackled from behind and slammed face first into the ground. The hairs on the back on his neck stood on end. He spat dirt from his mouth and wormed an arm free to elbow his assailant in the face.

Terrell recoiled, allowing Keith to whip around. He’d managed to nail her in the nose, a trickle of blood already dripping from it. Terrell snarled.

“I should’ve taken you out a long time ago,” she growled.

“What’s stopping you now?” Keith challenged.

Her palm was instantly alight. “Not a damn thing.”

Terrell lunged at Keith with such speed that he was only barely able to dodge. There was no hiding here, no confined room to plunge into darkness, no stark shadows to blend into. It was just him, Terrell, and the gentle glow of the sunflowers around them. He threw out a fist, clipping the side of Terrell’s face. She hardly flinched, and thrust her hands towards him again. Her eyes were alight with killing intent. But why? Keith distantly considered asking, but had no doubt that Terrell would very likely not answer. Even if she did, it was likely not to be in a way that would make sense to Keith.

“Listen, maybe you don’t care, but there might be a way to prevent us from getting put in the sky!” Keith attempted, frantically dodging Terrell’s rapid jabs.

“You’re right, I don’t care,” she huffed.

“Awfully bold of you to say, for someone who doesn’t want to die,” Keith spat.

With a wild cry, Terrell caught Keith by the front of his shirt, sliding her foot around to kick his feet out from underneath him. He hit the ground with a strangled shout. Terrell pressed her hand hard against his chest, her eyes daring him to make a move.

“Why do you think I’m trying to kill you first?”

The jolt of electricity Keith got was stronger than anything he’d gotten before. He wheezed painfully as his entire body seized, and then began to spasm out of his control. He was still able to breathe, but only just, and with great and agonizing effort. He tried to shout, to cry for help, but all he could manage was a staccato of choked gasps. His stomach felt like it was turning itself inside-out, swirling sickeningly. The sensation of spasming did not ease, but Keith’s awareness of it did. His chest felt like it was on fire. The edges of his vision started to darken.

Keith was dying, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He couldn’t even ask why.

Above him, Terrell watched with single-minded focus. It was a far cry from the memory he’d seen of her, crying and aghast at what she’d done.

Keith was just on the edge of consciousness, unable to even see Terrell’s face in front of him when the pain suddenly eased, the weight pressing down on him gone. His first thought was that this really was the end, that Terrell had succeeded in what she set out to do. His second thought was concern for what she might do to the others, and how heartbroken they would be if he actually did die.

But then his vision cleared, the face above him still framed by sunflowers, but decidedly not Terrell.

“Keith? Keith, are you okay?! Give me something, buddy,” Lance said, hands fluttering around Keith’s face and over his chest.

Keith grabbed one of Lance’s hands and held it close to his heart. “I’m alright.”

From a ways away, Terrell could be heard yelling incoherently. Lance helped Keith to sit up. Terrell was surrounded by the others, looking like a wild animal. Dangerous, feral, and liable to do anything to ensure her own survival. Her hands sparked threateningly--Keith vaguely wondered if she had a limit.

“Stay out of my way!” she shrieked.

“Give it up, Terrell,” Adam commanded. “It’s all of us against you. Even if you can keep us at bay today, we’re all aware of who we are now. It’s only a matter of time before--”

“Shut up!” Terrell shouted, flinging an arc of lightning at Adam that narrowly missed him.

“You have to help us, whether you like it or not,” Pidge chimed, ducking the lightning that was promptly sent her way.

Terrell was panting hard. “Stay out of my way. I’m not becoming human, and I’m not going back up into the sky. I’m not. I won’t!”

“Terrell,” Allura started, trying to sound gentle. “If you help us, perhaps we can help you--”

“There is nothing--” Terrell spat, throwing lightning at Allura. “That any of you could do--to help me! So just stay out of my way!”

“You’re the one who keeps going out of your way to find us!” Hunk shouted, dodging the lightning well before it got close to him.

“As if you all weren’t planning on finding me!” she yelled. Her hands were trembling, clenched tightly and still alight with sparks.

Lance hoisted Keith up to his feet, an arm wrapped tightly around his waist. Together, they joined the others around Terrell. She glowered fiercely at the two of them. They had, it seemed, reached a stalemate. Terrell would not cooperate, but she was the key to their only solution. They had to convince her, they had to.

“You’re reaching your limit,” Lance noted. Indeed, Terrell looked liable to collapse at any moment, kept upright by sheer spite alone. “You may as well help us. It’ll benefit you too, you know. You won’t have to get stitched up into the sky--”

Terrell made no sudden movement at that, didn’t even retort. Only scowled and dug her nails even further into the flesh of her palms. Keith felt the air change in an instant, the ground practically hissing in anticipation. Several things happened at once. Several people warned everyone to move. Keith slipped out of Lance’s hold, charging towards Terrell, rather than away. Lance was shouting at him again. Everything seemed to light up in slow motion. Keith grabbed fistfuls of Terrell’s shirt, his momentum making him plow right into her. The light around them intensified, until Keith couldn’t see anything, hear anything, or even feel anything.

Then, everything faded to black.

“Let me go!”

Slowly, Keith came to the awareness that he had Terrell pinned down, but they were no longer in the sunflower field. Indeed, it didn’t look as though they were on earth at all. Terrell struggled in vain against Keith, no lightning to speak of. Stars surrounded them from every angle. Keith couldn’t see where the others were.

“Hey! Let me go!”

Keith turned his attention to Terrell. He had managed to drop his knee directly on her sternum. Terrell’s face was contorted with pain, and she struggled to push him off. Keith glared down at her.

“Why should I?”

Terrell paused, looking increasingly panicked. “Because--because you’re not a murderer!”

“Want to bet?!” Keith snarled, digging his knee further into her chest. “You’ve tried to kill my friends on numerous occasions, you stole the power of the sun and don’t intend to give it up, and you don’t want to help us safely put the sun back in the sky, essentially dooming everyone on the planet. Maybe killing you is the real solution, so give me one good reason why I shouldn’t!”

“You can’t--you can’t!” Terrell sputtered, hands scrambling to push Keith off of her.

“You tried to kill me, even after saying that I was nothing to you, acting like I was the last person in the world that could pose a threat to you--”

“Shut up!”

“You’re a murderer, you don’t care about anyone but yourself--the world would be better off without you,” Keith continued.

“Stop it!” Terrell pleaded. “You can’t kill me!”

“Can’t, or won’t?”

“Don’t!” she sobbed, tears openly streaming down her face. “Don’t kill me, please! I don’t want to die!”

Keith, for all that he promised himself he wouldn’t hesitate the next time he got an opportunity like this, took pause as everything seemed to click into place. Her usual reluctance to kill, and the memory of those three snatchers she had killed, where she looked just as distressed as she did now. Her persistent goal of obtaining the power of the sun for herself, and her aversion to any interference Keith himself might have intended.

Terrell was afraid--terrified--of dying. And Keith was the very personification of just that.

“Keith?” he heard Lance call out softly.

Keith turned to see that Lance was suddenly there, and so too were the others, looking on with expressions that ranged from tremulous concern to downright fear. Keith did not ease up on Terrell. He wouldn’t, couldn’t. Not when Terrell posed such a threat. He couldn’t allow her to harm them or anyone else, no matter how scared she was.

“You’re going to help us,” Keith told her. “You’re going to be human, and one day, perhaps many years in the future, you’re going to die. And so are the rest of us.”

Terrell shook her head wildly. “I don’t want this anymore, I don’t want to be human anymore!”

Keith frowned, and glanced at the others. He almost felt sorry for Terrell. Had it not been for her previous attempts at murder, he almost certainly would’ve been intent on helping her. But she’d made her choices. And Keith had to make his. The other planets, too, made their own choices. Slowly, but surely, that buzz of anticipation crept under his skin, that whispering, so much softer than it had been all those years before, telling of something happening. Nearly everyone was in place.

“I don’t want to,” Terrell wept weakly, her head lolling to the side. “I don’t want to die like a human.”

“But you do want to live like one,” Keith replied.

“I can’t, not anymore. It was an accident, but they decided I was a murderer.”

“Maybe at first, but then you decided to agree with them. You want to live like a human, but facing the consequences of your choices is part of that.”

“I don’t need you to lecture me,” Terrell spat, regaining some of her usual spark. “You won’t kill me, cause you need me.”

“Try me. We’ll find another way if we need to,” Keith challenged.

Terrell, finally, seemed to take him seriously.

“Fine.”

With a single word, it felt as though single thread in the fabric of reality had finally snapped into place with a resounding crack. Keith’s nerves were alight with it. He glanced at the others, blinking when he saw a faint glow emanating from them all. Beneath him, Terrell glowed too. Keith’s own light could hardly hold a candle to everyone else, least of all Lance, whose form was almost completely lost amidst the glaring, golden light. Without releasing his hold on Terrell, Keith closed his eyes, and focused on his wish, everyone’s wish, to be completely separate from the planets.

The static just underneath Keith’s skin intensified, but nothing happened. He frowned, keeping his eyes tightly squeezed shut. The light from all around him seeped through his eyelids, so that all Keith saw was muted light. He focused every fiber of his being into teasing apart the human part of him and the planet. Where was the line? Keith wondered. Where did Pluto end and Keith begin?

Or, he wondered despairingly as he opened his eyes, was there even a difference at all?

The static did not subside, but they remained suspended in a dream-space, with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

Keith finally pushed himself off of Terrell, who breathed deeply in relief. He looked at the others, who looked just as lost as he felt. This was a grand syzygy, even if they weren’t in a line. They knew it was. So why wasn’t their wish being granted? If planets could be turned into humans because of a wish, surely those same humans could relinquish their status as planets for the sake of the earth with a wish, right?

“What are we missing?” Shiro asked of no one in particular, his voice laden with desperation.

“We did it, we managed to recreate a grand syzygy--so why is nothing happening?” Pidge bemoaned.

“Maybe,” Lance began slowly. “There was more to it than just all the planets having the same wish.”

“How do you mean?” Veronica asked.

“Terrell was able to make a wish on me as the sun, and whether I wanted to or not, I was able to grant it. So maybe it never had anything to do with the grand syzygy at all,” he continued.

“Then how were we able to become human at all? How was our wish able to be granted?” Terrell demanded.

“Because,” Lance mused, his eyes roving over every single one of them in fierce contemplation. “While I have the power to grant wishes, only one of us has the power to grant great change.”

His eyes settled on Keith, whose heart skipped at the statement.

“But Pluto gained sentience well before the grand syzygy, why couldn’t our wish have been granted then?” Allura pointed out.

It was Adam who offered an answer, when Lance couldn’t find it. “Because they were so far apart. They needed the rest of us to connect them.”

Keith said nothing all the while. It made sense, of course it did, but it stirred up something fierce within him, something warm that weighed heavy on his heart. Little Pluto, associated with death by the very humans (who themselves rejected death as fiercely as they could) that went on to say it wasn’t even a planet, was the key to granting their wish.

“If that’s the case,” Keith began. “Then why wasn’t the wish granted anyways? We’re here, and we’ve recreated the grand syzygy--why didn’t it just work anyways?”

“I suppose you and I have to be in actual alignment,” Lance suggested, holding out a hand towards Keith. “What do you say?”

Keith didn’t hesitate to reach for Lance’s hand. “I suppose we do.”

When their hands met, it felt like electricity sparking between them, only softer and warmer. It drew them closer to each other, and while the light around them began to fade, the sparks under Keith’s skin intensified. The force between them inexplicably pulled them together, stronger than any electricity, magnetism, or even gravity. They wouldn’t have been able to part even if they wanted to. As it was, Keith had no such thoughts of parting with Lance. Not this time. And not for a while, if he had anything to say about it.

The last thing he saw before the light around them was snuffed out was Lance’s stunning blue eyes, and Keith was certain that not even the sun itself could shine brighter.

When Keith opened his eyes next, it was to the dim glow of sunflowers. A brief moment of panic took hold--what if that had been an actual dream? What if nothing had actually changed? But then he looked beside him, where his and Lance’s hands were still intertwined, and breathed a sigh of relief. He waited a moment, breathing deeply. He felt the same, but knew different. Lance stirred, not once taking his hand from Keith’s.

“Hey,” Keith greeted softly.

“Hey,” Lance returned. “Did it work?”

Keith glanced at the still dark sky that was mostly obscured by the sunflowers that towered over them.

“Let’s find out.”

Around them, the others were waking. Terrell was nowhere to be found, but for once, Keith didn’t worry about it. If she wanted to run, that was her choice. If it truly had worked, then there was nothing to worry about from her any longer.

Together they stumbled out of the sunflower field, looking up at the sky eagerly. From the within the sunflowers, it looked different already, but it was hard to be sure. Perhaps they were simply too hopeful. When they finally found the edge of the field, however, they were presented with a new problem: A squad of keepers, the very ones that had searched Keith’s apartment, were waiting for them, as if they’d known they would be there. Keith had a funny feeling that they’d been ratted out by one person in particular, who happened to be conspicuously absent.

The keepers were deaf to their protests as they were apprehended. Irritated as he was by it, Keith couldn’t really blame them. After all, the short explanation of what had just happened was essentially ��planet magic”. Granted, with the planets having superhuman abilities, Keith thought that they should’ve at least listened to their story before deciding it was all a lie to keep from getting stitched up in the sky.

Still they continued to look up at the sky, looking for any proof at all that what they had done actually worked. As far as they could see, nothing had changed, but Keith thought that maybe the sky looked a little lighter, the stars a little dimmer.

The keepers marched them back towards Coran’s house. The damage from Terrell’s lightning looked far worse now that things weren’t quite so hectic. Keith made a mental note to find a star to help repair Coran’s house. It was the least he could do--if he and the others managed to get free of the keepers, anyways. Another squad of keepers were waiting at the house, no doubt to ensure that they were all delivered to the Bureau without trouble.

By then, Keith was certain that it was not just his imagination--the sky was now a dusty lilac color, only a few stars remaining in the sky. The keepers noticed it too, murmuring anxiously amongst themselves. Even then, they would not hear an explanation from the supposed criminals. Best to shuffle them off to the Bureau for interrogation, sooner rather than later.

Just before they could leave, however, one of the keepers shouted in alarm, pointing frantically at the mountains. From behind them, a bright, intense light was spilling into the valley, painting everything with vibrant and beautiful colors. Keith’s breath caught in his throat. Lance’s hand, still holding to Keith’s, squeezed tightly.

Coran stepped out of his house then, escorted by two keepers. He gasped when he saw the light, then frantically searched all the faces before him, heaving a deep sigh of relief when he found Lance alive and well among them. He looked back towards the light that grew more insistent with every passing moment, his eyes shining with tears.

“I don’t believe it,” he whispered, almost reverently.

“What, what is it?” the lead keeper demanded, clearly alarmed by whatever was happening.

“It’s the sun,” Coran said. “The sun is rising.”

None of the keepers said anything. Some of them looked skeptical, and wary of the coming light. Others looked hopeful, while others still looked downright terrified. Keith found he couldn’t blame them. Everything was already brighter than he’d ever seen, he was afraid that the sun might accidentally scorch the earth in its brilliance.

As they watched, however, the sun did no such thing.

When the sun finally appeared from behind the mountains, a veritable ball of pure light that Keith winced away from, Lance was the first one to whoop loudly, jumping in place and declaring that they’d done it, they’d saved the world! Keith laughed along with Lance--it hardly felt real. Lance took his hand from Keith’s, only to wrap him up in a crushing hug, twirling around as they continued to laugh. The others smiled and laughed and embraced as well (save for an awkward handshake between Adam and Shiro). The keepers too joined in their jubilation. The earth was saved.

The sun had risen.

They were taken back to the Bureau after admiring the sunrise, but under very different circumstances. Suffice to say, it was no longer an arrest. The landscape was vastly different, drowning as it was in sunlight. Between the keepers and the former planets, they very nearly got lost trying to return to the Bureau, so foreign was everything to them now. It was like a completely different world.

In every place they flew over, there were people standing completely still, looking in wonder at the blindingly blue sky. It was one thing to see pictures of it in textbooks and on the internet. It was quite another to see it for one’s self, to fly through it as the sun rose higher and higher within it. Keith was certain he could lose himself in that blue, easier than he could’ve ever lost himself in the darkness.

The Bureau was, of course, in an uproar by the time they returned. Several supervising officials (essentially, their bosses’ bosses, and their bosses too) were on them in an instant, demanding every single detail of what had happened. They told them everything, from the very start. By the time they had finished telling their story, answering all questions asked, and telling their story again, the sun had reached its peak in the sky, and was dipping back down.

Of those of them that were still employed by the Bureau, they were given a few days off to recover (Pidge was offered her old position in the analysts department, as she should’ve been all along). Keith was glad for it. For once, he wasn’t sure if he could handle keeping busy after everything that had happened. It would be nice to take some time to process everything, adjust to this new world that had suddenly been thrust upon them.

The sun was setting when they were all released to go home, the sight casting brilliant reds and fiery oranges across the sky. Keith felt he could watch it forever. He was already eager to watch tomorrow’s sunrise. Beside him, Lance watched as well, a soft smile gracing his features. His eyes were bluer than the daytime sky, Keith noted.

Lance turned to him. “Guess I’ll see you around?”

Keith hesitated. “Yeah,” he eventually said. “I guess you will.”

Lance’s shoulders slumped, but he smiled all the same waving at Keith as he walked away. Keith waved back, watching him go until he rounded a corner, disappearing from his sight. If he was truly honest with himself, which was still a challenge even now, he wanted nothing more than to invite Lance back to his apartment to stay with him for a while longer, to hold him as he slept. But, he told himself, Lance needed time to process all this too. Keith wouldn’t deny him that just because he was feeling clingy.

When Keith slept that night, he was, for the first time, not plagued by dreams of an infinite darkness, nor of an unreachable light. He dreamed only of blue skies and bluer eyes.

Much as he wanted to see it, Keith slept through the second sunrise the earth had seen in a generation. It didn’t bother him. There would be plenty more, and he was sure to see the sunset that evening. For the majority of the day, he lingered outside like so many others, revelling not only in the light, but also in the warmth. Not once did he have need of a jacket. In fact, towards the end of the day, Keith worried that there might be times when the sun would become too hot for him to bear. He didn’t let it worry him for long. It was another problem for another day, he decided.

He slept through the third sunrise as well, and for all that he assured himself it was fine, he was disappointed all the same. Shiro came by, as he was wont to do, and they went to the roof of Keith’s apartment building, basking under the sun and talking of everything, from what they’d experienced to what a world with the sun would mean for the future.

And speaking of the future, Shiro revealed that he and Adam had agreed to patch things up between them. It would be a long and tedious and likely painful process, but, Shiro admitted, he thought it would be worth it. Even if he hadn’t said anything, it would’ve been all too obvious to Keith how much he had missed Adam, how happy he was to have him back in spite of everything surrounding their separation. Keith wished them the best of luck in earnest, even if he himself hadn’t quite forgiven Adam for leaving when the first opportunity presented itself. So long as Shiro was happy and they were actively working out problems between them, past and present, Keith was content.

Keith was awake early enough to see the fourth sunrise. By then, he’d had his fill of standing around, admiring the new world. He was once again in need of something to do. Luckily, as he’d been putting away his coats, his tiny star, one half of the Polaris system, fell out of his pocket, which had somehow miraculously been returned to him safe and sound. It took only a moment of deliberation for Keith to decide what to do with it.

In retrospect, he thought as he sailed through the newly blue sky, he could’ve very well passed the job off to some searchers in the Bureau. After all, he was officially a replacer. Searching, even for particular stars, was no longer his job, but Keith felt he had to see this through. Perhaps he felt attached to the little star that had guided him through this entire ordeal, which now guided him to its other half. Perhaps he wasn’t yet ready to give it up, as he knew he would have to sooner or later.

He hadn’t really considered how long it would take to find the other star of the Polaris system, but thankfully Keith had hardly been flying for even an hour when the little star guided him downwards towards a bright and glittering beach. The sight robbed him of his breath, such that he temporarily forgot his objective. The ocean was like a living thing, rolling and undulating and practically breathing as it crashed against the shore. Where it met with the sky was a sharp contrast, for all that they were both blue.

After a few moments, Keith remembered the insistent tugging of the cord around his hand. The other star of Polaris was around here somewhere. It would be a challenge to find in broad daylight, he realized, especially among the sparkling grains of sand, but then, he didn’t have anything better to do. He let the star lead on, walking down the stretch of the beach and listening to the lull of the waves. Keith was in the midst of considering that he ought to come to the beach just for the sake of enjoying it when he spotted someone else walking along the beach, a familiar flash of silver hair catching his eye.

He would’ve ignored her, had it not been for the fact that his star was pointing right at her.

“Miss Essa,” he greeted brusquely as his star went slack. There was no denying it then.

“Keith,” the older woman returned with a knowing twinkle in her eye. “Lovely day for a walk on the beach, isn’t it? I suppose people have forgotten how nice it is, but they’ll remember soon enough, I wager. I haven’t forgotten, at least. I loved coming here before the fall, and it’s so much sweeter to come back to it after so long.”

Keith let her ramble, but looked at her pointedly all the while.

Miss Essa glanced at the slack star dangling from his hand. She hummed. “I suppose someone had to find me out sooner or later.”

“But you’re too old,” Keith pointed out bluntly.

Miss Essa laughed aloud at that. “That’s because I wasn’t born from the fall. I made a wish, you see, on a very particular star, though I didn’t know it at the time. I wager my wish was only granted because it was so in line with the star’s purpose.”

When Keith said nothing, she continued, “I was about your age when the fall happened, and it didn’t take long for people to realize that they really could wish on stars. I was a bit of a wanderer myself, you see, a little lost at times, but there was something I wanted very badly, so when I came across a star, I couldn’t help myself.”

She paused again, and Keith couldn’t help she was doing it for the sake of dramatic effect.

“I wanted to help others, to guide them in the right direction. I guess I wanted to be for others what I wanted in the people around me,” Miss Essa elaborated. “Normally when a star grants a wish, it either turns into a physical object, if such a thing was wished for, or it simply disappears.”

Keith nodded, though he knew all this already.

“Not so for this wish,” Miss Essa said. “The star seemed to melt in my hands, and it seeped into my skin. It turned my hair white--it was very nearly black before. From then on, I seemed to know just how to nudge people in the right direction.”

“Like you did with me,” Keith noted.

Miss Essa nodded, but added, “I think you would’ve found your way eventually, I just helped you along a little quicker is all. Even without that little star there. There is--or rather was--something different about you. I suspect the change has to do with the return of certain celestial objects to the sky?”

Keith didn’t answer, mainly because he knew Miss Essa already knew, even though she’d phrased it like a question.

“I thought so,” she said. “You weren’t so different from Terrell.”

Keith’s eyes snapped up to her’s. “You knew Terrell.”

“In passing. I was only allowed a very short time with her after--well--”

“I know,” Keith said. “About the accident.”

Miss Essa shook her head. “Poor girl. With that, at least, I know she didn’t mean it. Some would say that it doesn’t make a difference, whether she meant it or not, but in her case, there definitely was. I did my best to try and show her that she didn’t have to become what others insisted she was, but as I said, I only had a short time with her, and ultimately, she chose her path.”

“No one knows where she is,” Keith commented idly.

Miss Essa hummed thoughtfully again. “She’s chosen her path.”

Keith said nothing.

“And now, I suppose, it’s time for you to choose yours,” she added with a pointed nod of her head.

Keith looked down the beach where she’d indicated, towards another lone figure staring out at the vast blue expanse. Keith felt his heart leap into his throat. Even from a distance, in this new light, there was no mistaking that silhouette. And yet still he hesitated, looking back at Miss Essa, and then to the star in his hand. She raised an eyebrow, as if to ask, “Well?”

He held the star out to her. “The Bureau doesn’t need to be trying to stitch anyone else in the sky.”

Miss Essa took it with a solemn nod. “I quite agree.”

Without another word, Keith took off sprinting down the beach. It made his still tired muscles burn, and the sun was beating mercilessly at his back. He could’ve walked. He could’ve called out. He knew this and chose to run all the same. His heart was hammering harder than it needed to, his lungs already burning. He waited until the figure he was running towards was only a few feet away before calling out.

“Lance!”

Lance whipped his head towards Keith, eyes wide as Keith crashed into him, his momentum sending them both tumbling towards the waiting waves. Keith’s lips clumsily found Lance’s, lingering for only a second before pulling away, sputtering and shivering from the ice cold water. Lance looked stunned, completely at a loss for words, at least for a moment.

Then, he began to laugh, fully and vibrantly. “That time was definitely your fault!”

Keith snorted, accidentally getting salt water up his nose and coughing profusely while Lance continued to laugh, nearly falling backwards into the water. When Keith finally recovered, his sinuses still burning, he tried to scowl, but ended up with a crooked smile.

“I cannot believe I’m in love with you.”

Lance paused at that, eyes dancing like the ocean behind them.

“You--you what now?” he stammered, cheeks suddenly and beautifully bright red.

Keith smiled even wider, gently cradling Lance’s face in his hands. “You heard me. I’m in love with you, really and truly.”

It dawned on Lance’s face as steadily as the sun, and when it did, it was like he was the sun all over again. He pulled Keith towards him, and Keith let him. This time when they kissed, it was less frantic, their lips pressing together easily. Despite the chill of the water, Lance’s lips were warm and tasted of sea salt, a taste that Keith knew he would never tire of. When they pulled apart, they gave each other only just enough space to breathe--their lips still brushed each other with every smile, every contented sigh.

“Took you long enough to figure it out,” Lance huffed.

“I know,” Keith murmured, resting his forehead against Lance’s. “I’m sorry I made you wait.”

Lance smiled, and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of Keith’s mouth. “Honestly? I would’ve waited until the sun itself burned out.”

“So dramatic,” Keith said exasperatedly, brushing Lance’s still-red cheek with his thumb.

“Yeah, but you love me anyways,” Lance teased.

“Yeah,” Keith agreed, his chest swelling with what could only be described as sheer happiness. “I do.”

If there were any vestiges of a cold, dark world lingering anywhere, they were surely driven away when they kissed again.

#klance #voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender #fanfic #fan fiction #the fallen and the wandering #tfatw #chapter 12 #the final chapter #we did it boys #creesh.txt #yeehaw #the final yeehaw

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