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rhosyn-du · 3 years

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Never make a mess when a total catastrophe will do - Chapter Eight

Pairings: Jimon, past Clace, background Clizzy, a bunch of other minor background pairings Rating: Explicit Art: @cor321 Beta: @all-thestories-aretrue Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, fake dating, oh my god they were roommates, friends with benefits, idiots to lovers, pining, miscommunication, holidays, drinking games, mistletoe, symbolically significant Oreos, domestic fluff, brief mention of past character death, Jace’s self-worth issues deserve their own tag Summary: What do you do when you find out your sister is not only dating your ex and love-of-your-high-school-life but is also bringing her home for Christmas? Bring your annoying, hot, annoyingly-hot roommate as your fake boyfriend to show them you're totally fine with it, obviously! There's no possible way this could backfire. Link: AO3 , Tumblr Master Post

Chapter Eight

“If you’re taking me to a strip club, I’m walking out and crashing Magnus’s bachelor party.”

“Dude, have a little faith.” Jace grabbed Alec’s elbow and helped him out of the car.

“And stop scrunching your nose to try to see through the blindfold,” Izzy said from Alec’s other side. “We can see you doing it. Besides, do you really think there aren’t going to be strippers at Magnus’s party? Have you met Catarina and Ragnor?”

“Yes, and I trust their taste in strippers more than I trust yours.”

“I think I’m supposed to be insulted,” Izzy said, opening a door so Jace could usher Alec through, “but honestly, I kind of just want to ask Cat if she knows any good strip clubs I can take Clary to for our next date night.”

Alec made a pained sound. “Can I request a moratorium on anything that involves strippers and any of my siblings?”

“You can request it,” Jace said, “but it doesn’t mean we’ll listen. Mind the gap; you’re about to step into an elevator.”

“Isn’t my bachelor party supposed to be about things I like?”

Izzy pushed the button for their floor. “No, it’s supposed to be about doing things with your friends and siblings before you get married and forget all about us.”

“Iz, I meet you for drinks literally every week. I’m not going to stop just because Magnus and I are married instead of engaged.” A slow smile spread across Alec’s face. “I’m marrying Magnus tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you are.” Jace patted Alec’s shoulder as the elevator doors slid open. “Almost there, buddy.”

They led Alec out of the elevator and down the hall.

“Okay stop,” Izzy said when they reached their destination. “You can take the blindfold off now.”

Alec made a show of keeping his eyes squeezed shut as he pulled off the blindfold, opening one eye slowly as though bracing for something horrible. Jace saw the moment Alec recognized where he was, his shoulders relaxing all at once.

Alec glanced between his siblings, unimpressed. “This is the door to our loft. I live here.”

“I told you I was going to plan you the perfect bachelor party,” Jace said. “Did you really want to spend your last night as a single man somewhere else?”

“Your party awaits, big brother,” Izzy said, swinging the door open.

“Alexander!” Magnus met them at the door, smiling broadly. “I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to show up.”

“We had to drive around enough that he wouldn’t know where we were going,” Jace explained. “You know what his crazy sense of direction is like.”

Alec gave his fiancé a questioning look. “What happened to separate bachelor parties being an important part of the tradition?”

“Ragnor and Catarina reminded me that some traditions really aren’t that important,” Magnus said airily. “Especially when breaking them would make you happy.”

“He means he sulked and whined about having to spend all night away from you until we suggested a joint party,” Catarina said, handing Alec a martini and Izzy something dark and fruity with far too many cherries. “And then he pretended like it was all our idea.”

“It was pitiful, really,” Ragnor added. “At one point, he actually languished on my couch to moan about it like some discount gothic heroine.”

“And on that note,” Magnus said, taking Alec’s arm, “my fiancé and I will be going to join our friends who don’t intend to spend all evening mocking me.”

“That’s really sweet, you know,” Alec said as he let Magnus lead him away.

“Well,” Ragnor said, “it’s my duty as Magnus’s co-best-man to make sure he is sufficiently mocked this evening, so I suppose I must follow.” He looked at Jace and Izzy. “I believe Clary and Simon are in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the cupcakes.”

Jace threw Izzy a questioning look. “Cupcakes?”

Izzy shook her head. “Must have been something Ragnor and Catarina planned. Let’s go see.”

The cupcakes, it turned out, were dick-shaped. And because it was Clary decorating them, they were very accurately dick-shaped.

“Oh yeah,” Izzy laughed, “this was definitely Cat’s doing.”

“Cat was in charge of baking, I’m in charge of decorating,” Clary confirmed, eyeing the cupcake she was working on critically. “Devil’s food cake with a chocolate-and-whiskey ganache filling and a variety of different icings. We’re calling them cock-cakes. Simon, pass me the lemon buttercream?”

“You got it, boss,” Simon said, grabbing one of the many pastry bags lined out on the counter and handing it to Clary before stepping over to Jace and greeting him with a warm smile that made Jace’s insides melt. “Hi.”

“Hi, yourself.” Jace couldn’t help his answering smile, couldn’t help drawing Simon into a soft kiss that felt easier than it probably should. “If I knew you were going to be creating culinary dick art without me, I would have made Iz drive Alec around on her own.”

“I’m mostly just assisting.” Simon leaned into him, stealing another quick kiss. “Clary’s the real artistic genius behind this masterpiece.”

“It’s true, my girlfriend is a genius,” Izzy agreed happily, walking over to wrap her arms around Clary’s waist from behind.

“Right now, this artistic genius is being distracted from finishing her cupcakes by too many people in the kitchen. You two,” she gestured at Simon and Jace, “take that finished tray out to the table.”

“Wait, how come we have to be the ones to leave?” Simon wondered. “Izzy’s being way more distracting than we are.”

“Because she’s cuter than you are,” Clary said without looking up from her cupcakes. “Go.”

Jace looked at Simon. “The lady has spoken, I guess. Come on, let’s go watch Alec pretend he doesn’t think these cupcakes are hilarious.”

~~~

Jace couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this happy. He wasn’t sure he ever had been this happy. The joint bachelor party had been a rousing success—cock-cakes, a stripper who was definitely not better than he would have hired, and all—and Jace was so glad he and Izzy had been able to help do this for Alec. And it had been amazing to see Alec so joyful and so obviously in love, to see Izzy and Clary and how happy they made each other. To feel the possibility of a love like that for himself every time Simon took his hand, to see it every time Simon smiled at him, to hear it every time Simon said his name.

It was enough to make him want to be a little reckless. Maybe even reckless enough to tell Simon that he was more to Jace than a fake-boyfriend-with-benefits, that Jace wanted them to be more. It was hardly a new thought, but Jace thought that maybe he was finally ready to say the words out loud.

“Hey, there’s something I want to talk to you about,” Simon said, as if reading his thoughts. “When we get back to the hotel,” he added, throwing a pointed glance at their Uber driver.

Jace smiled at him. “Sure. I actually wanted to talk to you, too.”

“Cool.” Simon sounded nervous. Jace could relate. Now that this was actually happening, he felt like he had an entire kaleidoscope of butterflies in his chest.

Jace’s butterflies hadn’t calmed down any by the time they made it back to their room, and he could practically feel the nervous energy radiating off Simon as he kicked his shoes off and started pulling out his clothes for morning.

“So,” Jace said, leaning against the wall with an affected casualness, “what did you want to talk about?”

Simon squared his shoulders, turned to face him. “I can’t do this anymore.”

Jace’s whole world rocked sideways. “What?”

This was not how this conversation was supposed to go.

“This whole fake dating thing. It was a mistake. I probably shouldn’t even have suggested it in the first place, but I thought—” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I was wrong, and I can’t keep pretending with you, so.” He took a deep breath, obviously steeling himself. “So, this is has to be it. After the wedding tomorrow, no more pretending.”

“Oh.” It was all Jace could find it in himself to say. He reached for the bravado he would normally wrap around himself in a situation like this, but it had deserted him entirely. “I can’t keep pretending with you.” It had all been pretend for Simon. And Jace didn’t even have any right to be hurt by it, because it was what he’d agreed to.

“It’s just,” Simon continued, “seeing Alec and Magnus so happy tonight, and seeing the way Clary and Izzy are together, and even the dumb text Becky sent me earlier about how excited she is to see Maia tomorrow, it all made me realize just how much I want that. I want it with someone I love who loves me back, and you—”

“And I’m not a relationship kind of guy,” Jace finished for him. He didn’t actually need to hear all the reasons that would never be him. He was aware of his own failings.

“Right.” Simon’s voice was barely above a whisper, all his nervous energy having drained away.

“I get it.” Jace forced a smile. Maybe he couldn’t be someone Simon wanted to really be with, but he could at least pretend he wasn’t devastated by that fact. “You deserve that kind of happiness, maybe more than anyone I know. I hope—” He drew in a sharp breath. He would not let his voice tremble. “I hope you find someone who can give it to you.”

He turned away, unable to maintain the facade any longer. “I’m going to hit the shower before bed.” He wasn’t proud of having to hide the bathroom with his feelings, but he couldn’t stay here with Simon, not now.

Jace spent a long time under the shower’s spray. Until he was sure Simon must have fallen asleep. Until he was sure all his tears had washed away.

~~~

Best man duties were almost enough to distract Jace from his own problems for most of the next morning, and he threw himself into making sure everyone in the wedding party was where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be, keeping Max away from anything flammable, and keeping Maryse and Robert away from each other. In the thankfully rare moments of downtime, he forced himself to put on a lighthearted demeanor. He wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of Alec having a perfect wedding, especially not his own stupid feelings.

He should have known that Alec would see right through him.

“You okay?”

Jace glanced up from the mirror he was using to fix his bowtie. Everything was set, everyone was in their proper places, and Jace had nothing left to do but keep Alec company and wait for the ceremony to start.

“I’m fine. I’m not the one getting married in,” Jace checked his watch, “twenty-three minutes.”

“Don’t deflect. You’re doing that thing you do with your eyebrows when something’s really bothering you, and I’m not doing anything for the next twenty-three minutes if you want to talk about it.”

“What I want,” Jace told him, “is for you to stop worrying about other people and get your ass married.”

“Fair enough,” Alec agreed. “But I’m here when you do want to talk about it. I know I’ve been completely wrapped up in wedding stuff for a while, but you’re still my brother and my best friend, and I don’t want you to think you’re any less important to me now than you always have been.”

Jace walked over and put a hand on Alec’s shoulder. “The only complaint I have about you being wrapped up in wedding stuff is how sappy it’s apparently made you.”

Alec chuckled. “Oh god, that was really sappy, wasn’t it? Shit.” He wiped at his eyes. “I think I might actually cry out there. You’re not allowed to make fun of me if I do.”

“Buddy,” Jace said gravely, “as your brother and best man, it is my solemn duty to make fun of you for it for the rest of our lives. But I’ll wait until you’re back from your honeymoon.”

Alec didn’t cry during the ceremony. Jace noticed a few moments when he had distinctly watery eyes, though, and filed those away for future teasing. Then Alec and Magnus were kissing and the ceremony was over and Jace had absolutely nothing left to distract him from his thoughts.

Especially when the subject of those thoughts was waiting for him in the reception hall, looking as hot as Jace had ever seen him in a perfectly tailored black suit. Jace had managed to avoid looking for Simon during the wedding, and seeing him now hit like a punch to the gut. His emotions were still too raw to deal with what had happened the night before, and there was only one way he was going to make it through this. Luckily, it was the thing he was supposed to be doing. Namely, pretending his ass off.

So he greeted Simon with a warm smile and a kiss to the cheek before settling into his seat. They were at a table with the rest of the wedding party, along with Clary, and it was all so familiar that Jace had no trouble falling back into his role, teasing the hell out of Alec and congratulating the happy couple. Simon made it easy, not acting any different than he had before their conversation, never hesitating to offer small touches and gestures of physical affection, even moving his chair closer so they could lean into each other once they were done eating. It would have made Jace a little sick if he let himself think about it, which he pointedly did not.

Jace let himself get lost in it. It was stupid, and probably a little selfish, but if this was the last time he would ever get to be with Simon like this, he was going to enjoy it.

“Dance with me.” He didn’t mean to say it, but apparently he’d had enough champagne that he wasn’t quite thinking before speaking anymore. He knew as soon as he said it that he’d overstepped. After all, look what had happened the last time they’d danced together.

“Oh.” Simon looked genuinely shocked by the suggestion. “I, uh...”

“I mean,” Jace backpedaled, “if you want to.”

“I believe I might fancy a dance, myself,” Ragnor said. He extended his hand to Madzie, the flower girl and Catarina’s daughter. “Might I have this dance, young lady?”

“Can we do the twirls?” Madzie asked, jumping up from her chair and spinning around to demonstrate.

“Obviously,” Ragnor told her seriously. “After all, what’s the point of dancing without twirls?”

Madzie didn’t bother to give a verbal answer, just grabbed Ragnor’s hand and skipped off toward the dance floor.

“With any luck, that will help her work off some of the sugar buzz from all that cake.” Catarina gave Magnus a long look. “I can’t believe you gave her a second slice.”

“My dearest Catarina, it’s my wedding day, and I will spoil my goddaughter if I want to.”

Catarina scoffed. “You say that like you don’t spoil her every day.”

“It’s true,” Alec agreed. “We might need to give her a third slice if we want to spoil her extra today.” He managed to keep a straight face right up until Cat’s napkin hit him in the face.

“I think I might need to dance off my own sugar buzz,” Izzy announced, grabbing Clary’s hand. “Come on, hot stuff. Let’s go shake our booties.”

Clary laughed. “I can’t exactly say no when you’re offering to shake your booty for me.”

“You know what?” Simon said suddenly. The look he gave Jace was challenging. “I do want to dance.”

It was Jace’s turn to be shocked, but he recovered quickly. “Okay.” He met Simon’s challenge with a smirk. “Let’s dance.”

Jace’s bravado was shaken slightly when the music transitioned to a slow love song right as they made it to the dance floor. But Simon didn’t hesitate, stepping onto the dance floor and drawing him close.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke, rocking gently to the music. They danced close enough that Jace could hear Simon’s breaths, feel them against his cheek. It was too much and not enough all at once, and Jace had to say something or he was going to go crazy.

“Thanks, by the way. For, you know, all of this. I don’t think I ever said that.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for.” Simon’s voice was low and intimate. “This was as much for me as it was for you.”

Jace wanted to say that it couldn’t possibly be, that if any of this meant half what it did to him for Simon, then he wouldn’t be able to give it up so easily. But that would have been deeply unfair, no matter how true, so instead he just said, “Well, thank you, anyway.”

Simon pulled back just enough to look him in the eye, and Jace didn’t understand why he looked so sad. “Thank you.”

And then they were kissing, slow and gentle, and Jace didn’t even remember moving, but he must have or how else could they have gotten here? All the longing and heartbreak he’d been pushing down all day rose up, threatening to break him open and spill out all over the dance floor. The only things holding him together were Simon’s arms around him, Simon’s body pressed against his as they swayed to near-forgotten music, Simon’s mouth on his.

When the song ended and Simon pulled away from him, Jace stumbled and had to force himself upright.

“Come back to the hotel with me,” he said urgently. He couldn’t just let Simon go, he realized, not without at least trying. They could go back to their room, and they could talk, and Jace would somehow find the words to convince Simon to stay. “Please.”

Simon closed his eyes and visibly steeled himself. When he opened them again, Jace knew he’d lost before he even had the chance to put up a fight.

“I already made plans to hang out with Becky and Maia tonight. You know, sibling and sibling’s-maybe-girlfriend bonding. Maia’s going to give me a ride back to Boston in the morning.” He took Jace’s hand and lifted it to his mouth to place a gentle kiss on his knuckles, then pressed something small and metal into his palm before letting go.

Jace couldn’t do anything but watch him walk away, the weight of his father’s ring heavier than it had any right to be in his hand.

~~~

The apartment was quiet when Jace got home, and he was both relieved that he wouldn’t have to face Simon yet and disappointed because, as much as he hated that he would have to box his feelings away, he missed Simon, even though it had only been two days since they’d last seen each other.

He found the note pinned to the refrigerator, held in place by the Spider-Man magnet that he’d gotten Simon as a “congrats on surviving a horrible lab partner and not failing chemistry” gift last year.

Staying at Bat’s for a while. -S

That was all. Nothing about why Simon had left or when he was coming back. If he was coming back. Jace’s fingers almost itched with the need to text Simon to find out exactly what the hell was going on, but the fact that Simon had left a note instead of texting suggested he didn’t mean for this to be a discussion.

Not that Jace actually needed a discussion. Simon had made it very clear that things were over between the two of them, that he didn’t feel the same way about Jace that Jace did about him, and instead of accepting it and moving on like a good friend would have, he’d kissed Simon at the wedding. He’d been on the verge of begging Simon to give him a chance. Of course Simon didn’t want to see him right now. He wouldn’t want to see him, either.

For half a second, Jace considered taking Alec up on his offer to call if he needed to talk, but Alec was on his honeymoon, and Jace might on occasion be a self-centered asshole, but he didn’t want to be that much of a self-centered asshole. Instead, he grabbed his half-empty package of Double Stuf Oreos and took them to the couch, where he turned on Return of the Jedi and bundled himself up in the fleece blanket Simon always used when his feet got too cold in winter.

When the movie was over and the Oreos were long gone, he dragged the blanket into Simon’s room and curled up on his bed, on top of the covers. Sleeping on top of Simon’s bed wasn’t as pathetic as sleeping in Simon’s bed, he reasoned. Especially if no one was there to see it. And if the fleece blanket kept any tears from getting on Simon’s comforter, then he wasn’t really crying.

#shadowhunters #shmb2021 #jimon #jimon fic #jace wayland #simon lewis

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everythinginslowmotion · 5 years

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Season 8 Rewrite- Ep1: Launch Date

AO3 |X|

So obviously with everyone hating how basically the entirety of season 8 ended, I have been requested to do a rewrite. Some things from the season will be changed, some will be left, but everything that people were unhappy with will be kept out (i.e. Allura’s death or anything like that).

Shout out to my girlfriend @imtheonlybeefcow for beta reading this first chapter. She also has an archive account with great fics and her archive is also imtheonlybeefcow.

Anyway, here is the first chapter, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

(Also the other chapters will not be updated on a specific schedule due to school and other outside commitments, but all 13 episodes will be rewritten).

~Allura~

The hallway seemed darker than it had been the past several times she had stood outside of this window. From the outside, she could hear the sounds of the monitors and screens hooked up to the Altean girl that lay unconscious on the bed. It all seemed very surreal, the knowledge that her and Coran weren’t the only Alteans left in the universe was still so shocking. So surreal in fact, that it felt like a dream every time she stood behind the glass that separated her and the red headed Altean that seemed as if she would never wake up.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway behind her as they approached her side. Romelle. It was always Romelle. Coran joined her on occasion as she waited outside the patient's room, but she thinks that as more Alteans started showing up in their lives, it began to remind him of a better time. A time when this war wasn’t looming over their heads, determining their very being. So she didn’t ask him to come often.

Romelle, however, became Allura’s most recurring company. All of the paladins were off with their families or in meetings or just enjoying their time that they have left on Earth in general. Romelle didn’t have that. Romelle had lost just as much as Allura had, and now they both were experiencing that loss all over again as one of their own laid stone cold only just out of reach.

“You know, back on the colony, Luca and I didn’t always get along. But despite that, I had always respected her. She had strength and desire that few had. But it was never malicious in intent. She wanted good and fairness among our people. I don’t know what would ever drive her to turn against an innocent planet, especially after what happened to her own home planet.”

Allura remained quiet for a moment, continuing to stare through the glass. She knew all about the strength and determination that ran through Altean veins. She grew up with it. Found it within herself when she was thrown into the war so suddenly. She saw it every day in Coran as she had in her father before he had passed. And even in Lotor, who had a different sort of stubborn determination driving his very life, she felt it within him. He was the only one though that she had ever seen that determination turn into something that worked against itself. That quickly changed into a harmful path that got put above anything else that he may have believed in.

“Desire for something greater than yourself can be dangerous. If she was so desperate for something to believe in, she may have been susceptible to being easily manipulated.”

She didn’t need to say who. She was so sure that he had disappeared for good now, but he was always capable of much more than she had ever imagined.

She was so sure that this desire for a greater good could only stem from the one person who had control over the former colony.

Lotor.

~Lance~

The table was cool against his hands as they rested on the top. He stared down at them as Hunk had gone off to help his family and Sal make a few special request food items before they took off tomorrow. He heard them speaking in the background but their words came and went through his mind like white noise. He couldn’t pay attention to them. He couldn’t pay attention to much of anything really lately. He looked up at Hunk and his parents as they gave him two boxes. Hunk lifted the lid of one releasing the smell of freshly baked banana cake into the room, taking Lance back to the days when he would stay the night at Hunk’s house and his mom would make it for them to eat after dinner. They would always sneak down to the kitchen in the early hours of the morning and get themselves more slices to take back up to Hunk’s room as they talked about anything that their minds could conjure up.

Hunks parents left the room with a simple “I love you” before Hunk turned and made his way back towards the table where Lance had been sitting the entire time.

“Big day tomorrow, isn’t it. It seems like almost forever ago when we found the Blue lion and piled in just to blasted out into space. Man, we had no idea what we were getting into! And now look at us, defenders of the universe.”

Lance didn’t look up at him, and he certainly didn’t meet his enthusiasm with his simple reply of “Yeah”.

“We are veterans now. We’ve seen it all, man. Going back into battle for the last time. Or hopefully the last time, I guess we could all fail miserably and die horrible deaths out in space. But here we go, back out into the unknown. Guess that makes us real heroes or something, doesn’t it?”

“Hm, yep.”

“Heroes enough that they made a show about us! Already! Can you believe it? Have you seen it yet? It’s not like the Voltron Show that we did to promote the coalition either. It’s like with real characters based on us. None of us really fit though, but it’s still cool. Coran is all serious and Allura isn’t really like Allura. Pidge can do cool flips and stuff but kind of sounds like a gremlin. They mixed up me and Keith pretty bad too! I’m all tough and mean and Keith is friendly! Can you believe it? Keith beling happy all of the time?” Lance had seen it. Everyone had seen it. They had to do some interviews with the writers about themselves. Hunk was right, they had gotten it all wrong. Lance just didn’t bother to stop his friends rambling though. “It’s weird though. I don’t know where they got it from, but I think they are even hinting at a romance between him and Allura.”

Lance’s head snapped up, drawing his attention from his fidgeting hands that had now been slammed down on the table to his friends shocked expression. He hadn’t meant to react like that- so abruptly. But it was reflex. Somehow this conversation went from being about absolutely nothing to everything that he had been thinking about since they were on that dumb space game show.

“What?! Allura and Keith . Nonononono, that’s not how it’s supposed to be!”

“Woah, a love triangle forming. I like where you are taking that.”

“Wh- what? A long triangle? What do you mean a love triangle… that would imply…”

“Well it would be perfect for that story. Obviously Keith has no real interest in Allura and you clearly do so it would work with you guys’ whole dynamic of going against each other and all.”

Lance looked down. So that was what he meant. Not about him…

“Oh wait dude, you said you were going to ask Allura on a date! Oh no, she didn’t say no did she buddy? Oh, oh man. I’m so sorry. That’s rough, I shouldn’t have said any…”

“She didn’t say no, Hunk. I just… I haven't gotten around to asking her yet, I guess. I’ve just had a lot on my mind about some stuff and she has been really busy with the new Altean girl that I don’t know if I should anymore. Maybe it just isn’t the right time.” He sat back down in his seat completely and folded his hands again, staring down at his fingers as they rubbed nervously together.

“No, Lance. It’s the only time. We leave tomorrow. It’s now or never dude, literally,” his brows furrowed as he put on his serious face. It was a face that Lance didn’t see often from his friend, mainly from when he was giving orders in the kitchen or protecting the ones he loved. Lance knew that Hunk figured out something was wrong. It isn’t like Lance was really trying to hide it. But he didn’t think Hunk knew the real reason why… Lancedidn’t even know completely why. “You are asking her tonight, and thats final,” he completed as he hit his palm gently on the table.

Lance didn’t say anything in protest.

~Shiro~

Never in a million years would he have thought he would be standing at the head of a table in the Galaxy Garrison giving orders to a room full of people. Not just any people, but commanders, officers, people of major importance. And he was their head. Their leader. Even when he wasn’t technically a part of team Voltron anymore he still formed the head. The person in charge. The leader and the one who knows exactly what to do and say in the exact moment that it is needed.

He didn’t particularly enjoy the position but he believed in duty and honor and even though in an ideal world he would be off exploring the unknown corners of the galaxy, this was what he was meant to do. And he was going to do it.

He took a breath in as the last people made their way into the large room and got settled.

“Everyone, welcome to our final Earth briefing. We’ve made a lot of progress over the past few months, but our work is not close to being done. Tomorrow we launch to continue the liberation efforts. There are several planets still under galra control and in order for this war to finally come to an end, we need to free those planets and their people.” He looked over at Sam, the man he once looked up to as his hero, but who was now looking up to him as if he had all the answers. “Commander Holt, what is the latest from your team?”

“We know there is no Galra activity in galaxies near the milky way. Sendak appeared to only have targeted Earth. However, we do have a new development. The Altean girl had several devices on her, one of them appearing to be a communication device. Earlier today it activated itself in what seemed to be a distress signal. It may just be a trap, but if not then then some of the pilots that we thought we lost when Earth was first invaded may still be alive.”

Shiro’s breath caught in his throat. Pilots still alive. But that could mean that he… Adam… could be out there. Somewhere.

He pulled himself back into the situation, turning his attention away from Sam to Keith.

Every time Shiro looked in the mirror, he doesn’t recognize the man that he sees. He remembers seeing a young man with dark black hair and a face filled with hope for the future. Now his age is showing at only 25, he is missing an arm, has white hair, and a scar that runs the width of his face as a constant reminder of what he went through and what all he has lost. But his transformation over the past couple of years will never shock him more than Keith’s.

Keith. The kid who stole his car. The pilot prodigy and genius. Turned from a delinquent, to his student, to his brother, to a leader. Before, when he would look at Keith, he would still see the 12 year old kid with messy hair and a scowl always on his face. Ready to fight and ready for adventure. Now he sees the scar that runs across his cheek. Sees how long his hair has gotten. Hears the change in pitch and even tone in his voice when he talks. It used to be so in the moment, sparse with quick decisions. Now he is all seriousness and strength. He isn’t the kid that Shiro took under his wing so many years ago. He is Keith, paladin of the Black lion.

“How are Earth’s defenses?” He said turning his focus to Keith as he brought his attention back to the meeting.

“All of the Garrison facilities around the globe have checked in. Everything is in place and they are ready to keep Earth safe.”

“Good. And the Atlas?” He said turning to Veronica who was standing behind him.

“All repairs have been made, and all tests have been passed. The IGF-Atlas is good to go.”

“And updates on the Altean pilot?” Allura’s face turned down when he mentioned it.

“Maybe if we had a couple of more days, she would wake and we can find out who sent her.”

Keith turned to face her next to him, “There is no telling how long it will take her to wake, or even if she will tell us anything when she does wake up. There are too many risks and we can’t wait any longer. Especially if those pilots really are out there somewhere. We need to get back out there.”

“Keith is right Allura. We will make sure to keep constant communication with Earth in case any new developments happen, but tomorrow is the day we have to leave. I’m sorry, I know you were hoping to get to speak to her.” He turned his head away trying to ignore the disappointment that washed over Allura’s face. He knew she didn’t like the decision, but she knew it had to be done. There was no other choice. “I have one more item to discuss. Tonight is the last night we have on Earth. We may not be home for years, so take this as an order. Take time for yourself and be with the ones you love. You have all earned it.”

He himself didn’t even know what that meant for him. He didn’t have any family anymore and the closest thing to family he has now is the paladins and the Holts. Both who will be on the mission with him. Maybe he would go out and do stuff with N-7. Maybe he would just stay home and watch some old movie that he still had in his abandoned apartment. He just needed something. Some distraction to take away from the fact that he might be out there.

That Adam may still be alive.

~Lance~

Be with the ones you love.

His family.

Well he was going to do that anyway. His mom is cooking his favorite meal tonight for him before they take off tomorrow.

He looked over the crowded room of people. All of them had their own ways that they were going to celebrate tonight. Or not really celebrate, but spend the night. All so hopefully in their victory and return.

An elbow nudged its way into his arm. He looked over at Hunk who motioned his head towards the front of the table. He knew what Hunk was thinking.

Be with the ones you love.

Hunk was going to make him ask her out. There was no doubt about it. No time for Lance to back out, for him to stop and think about if this was really what he wanted.

It had seemed like what he wanted for so long. He still remembers their first day in the castle ship when the pod opened and the most beautiful girl he had ever seen fell out and literally into his open arms.

Lance turned his head towards where she was sitting. Her position was very similar to the one he had been in earlier. Slouched over, staring down at her hands. She was upset over the possibility of missing one of her own people wake up when they had come so close. Waited so long.

She was still just as beautiful as she was that first day he met her. Her long white hair was up into its usual bun. Her altean wear replaced with a uniform similar to the very one he had worn as a student here so many years ago. The orange hue didn’t drown out her complexion as it had done with most of the students who had passed through these halls though. She still radiated power and beauty. But somewhere lost out in space, Lance’s childish crush started to be replaced with something else. Her power and beauty stopped making him lose his breath every time he looked at her, but instead he found himself admiring it all in a different way.

Be with the ones you love.

Just beyond Allura, in the chair next to her, sat Keith. Back straight. Face drawn tight in determination. He wasn’t going to let this mission fail. They were going to come back one way or another. Lance knew that. He trusted Keith. The very same Keith who, in the beginning, was all intuition and act-first-think-later, headstrong and who never stopped or slowed down for anything. Lance couldn’t pinpoint when, but as it had with switched with Allura, his own jealousy for Keith changed into something… Respect. Friendship. Trust. Stability. All though those things were true, in Lance’s head there was a pull that told him those emotions weren’t quite fitting .

He watched as Keith rose from his chair and stood next to Shiro. The meeting was now officially dismissed causing everyone else who had been gathered around the table to quietly get up and begin to shuffle out to their own activities.

Lance had barely made it one step out of the room before he felt a big hand on his back pushing him forward. He took one last look into the room, taking his attention towards the very front where Keith and Shiro were in deep conversation with one another. Turning his head to the right where he saw Allura and Romelle walking down the hall, he inhaled deeply before taking a step forward.

“Uh, hey Allura,” he said continuing to walk forward to catch up with them slightly. The two of them stopped and turned around to face him. Suddenly the room had become very warm as he felt his face heat up.

“What is it Lance?”

He turned his head to the floor. Back out. “Oh nothing much. Just wanted to check in. You’ve been spending a lot of time in the med bay and I just wanted to make sure you both were doing alright. So, uh, how are… things?”

“Lance I... I really need to be getting back.”

“Oh, right, sorry. Well… I don’t want to keep you waiting then… so talk to you later I guess.” He began to turn around to walk away as they had also done in front of him. The difference is he was faced with a towering and disappointed looking Hunk who took him by the shoulders, turned him around in one motion and pushed him forward again.

So close.

“Actually, Allura! I was wondering if you, maybe wanted to have dinner. Tonight. Dinner tonight with me? And my family. My, uh, my mom is cooking so I just thought you might join us.”

She looked at the floor. She doesn't want to. “Thank you for the offer Lance, it sounds wonderful. But I… I can’t.”

Romelle put a hand on her shoulder. “I know you are worried about Luca, but everyone else is worried about you. Go spend your last night experiencing Earth and I can take care of watching her. Get away and clear you head before you take off tomorrow.”

“Yeah, everything she just said. Totally. Great idea, Romelle,” Hunk said as he walked up and put one of his hands on each of their shoulders. Allura’s face still looked as unsure as Lance felt.

“Perhaps dinner would be nice… I’d love to Lance.”

Lance brought his head up completely, straightening out his posture. “Woah, really? Uh, awesome. Alright, tonight. Us. Yes.” He started to back up once again. Allura gave him a small smile that made his heart jump before she turned around and started walking in the opposite direction once again with Romelle.

“Yes! Dude! I knew you could do it. Good job, a date… with Allura. It’s only been years that you’ve been wanting this. How do you feel, man?”

He smiled up at his friend, “Great. Thank you for making me do this.” But when he looked back towards the silhouettes disappearing down the hallway towards the med bay, the jump in his heart had gone away.

~Pidge~

She got why her mom was angry with her. But did she think it was fair? No. She was 15 now. And without her, Earth would be destroyed, overrun by Galra, and her mom would have never seen her husband or son ever again. And what does she get for bringing them back and helping save the universe on multiple occasions? Grounded.

Grounded as if she was 7 again and her and Matt had gotten into a stupid fight where she had called him a bad name and she was the one who got in trouble for that, where he didn’t get in trouble for starting the fight in the first place.

But there was no point in fighting her mom. It was always a lost battle. Pidge may be smart but her parents are by far smarter, but her mom is where her stubbornness comes from. So instead she was spending her last night on Earth collecting data on plants species and making sure they had enough food growing to last the entire team out in space.

“Pidge, do you have a moment?” Allura’s voice sounded nervous, something Pidge hadn’t heard more than a handful of times before.

“Yeah, sure. What’s up?” Anything to take a break from staring at plants.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as Allura folded her hands together and looked off to the side. “I uh, I might have a…”

“She has a date tonight with the pointy chinned one!” Romelle butted in excitedly. “She needs your assistance in choosing proper courting attire for the occasion.”

Pidge froze in front of the plants she was looking at, shocked. “Wait, pointy chin as in Lance? You have a date? With Lance?” She turned towards Allura who still wasn’t looking at her. “Ew. Weird,” Pidge said awkwardly as she turned back away from Allura and Romelle.

She had a feeling that she wasn’t the only one who found this weird based on Allura’s actions.

“I was hoping you would be able to accompany me to find appropriate attire for Earth’s custom.”

Pidge heard her mom laugh from behind her, “Katie and clothes? They don’t exactly go hand and hand girls.”

She gave her mom a glare before looking back up at Allura’s face. “The mall I think has finally reopened and I was going to check it out, but I’m grounded meaning I am stuck here until we take off tomorrow.”

Both of the girls looked confused. “Grounded? I wasn’t aware that humans ever floated,” Romelle said.

“Not grounded like stuck on the ground. It’s her punishment for running off into deep space for years and leaving her mother worried and alone. It means she isn’t allowed to leave my supervision for quite some time.”

Pidge turned quickly to stare down her mother. She knew it was no use it fighting, they’d had this conversation multiple occasions before this. But the urge just rose up in her until the words just broke free. “Well sorry! I thought that saving my brother, father and the world would make up for the fact that I didn’t exactly get permission!”

Her mother just stared her down. Allura and Romelle had moved behind Pidge now, obviously scared of the showdown between the two. It wasn’t anything serious. Just a pointless and loud conversation between her and her mother.

“Not on your life would it get you a pass. And you already know that.”

Pidge did know that. She didn’t like being grounded. She hated it. Hated what it meant. Hated what it made her feel like. But while she did think it was unjust because of what all she had accomplished by going into space, she can’t even imagine how her mom had felt on Earth, alone, having lost every member of her family except for their dog.

“Please, Colleen. We could really use the help. I promise we won’t let her out of our sight,” Allura added in. Her mom just stared down at them and then smiled. Pidge knew that look.

“Fine. I’ll let her go with you. But only because Katie hates shopping. But after you get back it is right back in here to work.”

Oh. Shopping. She had been so caught up in thinking of how to get out of being grounded and then caught up by Allura and Lance going out on an actual date. It was still gross. But regardless, she was now stuck shopping which her mom was right, it might just be more of a punishment than it is a break from being grounded.

“Thank you, Colleen. We will have her back as soon as we can!” Allura grabbed her arm and started to drag her out of the room. The last thing she saw before turning the corner was her mom’s smug smile as she typed something into her tablet.

Their next destinations were to the only other girls that Allura could really think of that were around their age. Rizavi and Ina.

They had found them along with James and Kinkade in a room. Rizavi and James were in the middle of an arm wrestling battle when they walked in, Ina and Kinkade just sat at the other end of the table watching as their friends struggled against the others strength. James looked up, taking his focus off of his opponent for a moment when they walked in. Of course, Rizavi took this opportunity to force his arm down on the table.

“Ha! I told you I was stronger!”

James got up from his chair and stood in position. “Princess, how can we help you?” Rizavi turned around, not having realized the three of them had even walked in. She also stood at attention.

“Please, you guys can call me Allura. You don’t need to treat me any different than you treat the others.” They relaxed and sat back down in their seats. “But I do need help from you girls if you aren’t too occupied at the moment,” she said as she looked back and forth between James and Rizavi.

Pidge hadn’t gotten to know any of the MFE pilots well. She mainly stuck with her family and the paladins- well lately she has been just staying by her moms side- and they usually stayed around each other and the occasional other person they knew from the garrison. Outside of training, every one of them had been so caught up in their individual lives here on earth and preparing for the war that it never even crossed her mind to get to know the others better. But regardless, she was grateful that Allura hadn’t come to her as the sole person to get advice from for an outfit choice. For a date. Pidge had never even been on a date before.

“Sure, anything Allura! I’ve already kicked Griffin’s butt in armwrestling so my schedule’s clear for the day. What did you have in mind?”

“I need assistance in choosing proper attire for a date.”

“OOOOH, shopping! But a date? With who? Keith? That show that got made about you guys I think is starting to hint at something between the two of you.”

Ew. The only thing that could be worse than Allura going on a date with Lance would be Allura going on a date with Keith. That show had gotten everything so wrong about them. She wasn’t even sure if Keith actually interested in girls.

She looked up at Allura as her face twisted unintentionally into a slightly disgusted look. “No, um, with Lance. We are eating dinner with his family tonight.”

Pidge looked back over to where the others were sitting across the room. Rizavi was already out of her seat again gathering up her things and encouraging Ina to follow along. She seemed less excited about the idea of spending the afternoon shopping on their last day on Earth. Kinkade appeared uninterested in the entire topic of conversation. But James looked somewhat… relieved? Hmm, that could be interesting.

Rizavi made her way with Ina being dragged closely behind her by the wrist over to where they were standing in the doorway.

“So ladies, where to first?”

---

The location of the mall is exactly where it was when she was a little girl. Her dad would give her and Matt each a certain amount of money and while their parents shopped, the two of them would run off into store after store trying to find something that they could get for themselves.

Other than the location and the general appearance of the outside, that was the only similar thing about the mall she knew from her childhood. Inside, a lot of the stores had been replaced with individuals booths selling various items from all over space. Human retail workers had been replaced by shopkeepers and traders of every alien race that had joined the alliance and made their way to Earth.

“Okay girls, operation Date Dress is a go! We will scour every store if we have to, but we will not come out of this mission unsuccessful, team! Oh, I just love shopping,” Rizavi said before grabbing a bored looking Ina by the wrist and pulling her off into a direction of a clothing shop. Romelle did the same to Allura, following closely behind them. Pidge just crossed her arms and walked as the two groups of girls walked towards a store front.

They went on like this for a while. Walk into clothing store, try on several unsuccessful outfits, walk out towards the next one. Each time Rizavi and Romelle excitedly moving from store to store as if they couldn’t get enough of this.

Pidge, however, has had enough of it.

Shopping was all waiting. And while Ina looked like she was having some fun with going from store to store with her friends, Allura only looked excited while choosing clothes and trying them on. As soon as Lance was mentioned, her smile turned into something else. Something nervous. Something that seemed like she didn’t think this date was going to turn out like the rest of them seemed to. But that look didn’t last for long before she smiled again and politely turned down the option and they moved onto the next outfit or location.

~Allura~

Shopping had been rather enjoyable. It made her feel free, something that she hadn’t gotten to experience since before she was put into the pod thousands of years ago. Why Pidge didn’t find this enjoyable, she didn’t quite understand, but at the same time she knew Pidge was never one to enjoy what typical teenage Earth girls seemed to.

They had gone through store after store, trying on piles of clothes for the date, but none of them seemed right. Everytime she remembered what the occasion was, her vision turned against her and tainted the dress.While she was having fun,she could admit that this was absolutely exhausting and was coming close to giving up. Part of her felt like she should give up.

“No no no no. We can’t give up! We still have like 3 more stores that we can go to! We have to find you a dress for tonight. It’s your first date! Your first impression on his family! You look good all of the time Allura, but tonight you have to make that boy speechless.”

“It really will be fine Nadia if we can’t find anything. I really appreciate everything you all are doing for me but we have been at this for a while. Maybe it is just time to go back.”

“Nope, not happening Princess. I’ll tell you what, we try one more store. Each of us pick out one entire outfit for you and you pick the one that you like the absolute best. That’s the one we get. Sound good?”

Allura just nodded in reply. Really, she would rather just go. She didn’t feel like she even needed to dress up as much as she originally thought in the first place. It was simply just dinner with his family. But Nadia, Romelle and Ina all seemed to be enjoying themselves and Pidge pretend to be enjoying it simply for the sake of not going back and being “grounded” again.

They made their way across the mall to what Nadia claimed would be their last store.

“Oh, do I have a good feeling about this place,” she looked back and forth between all of them standing around her before crouching down slightly, her face suddenly turning extremely serious. “Allura, leave this to us. Ladies, divide and conquer.”

The store was the largest one they had been to so far, which is probably why Nadia had picked it as their last in the first place. Each of them went their own separate ways within the store, off to find their own version of her outfit for tonight.

I guess I should also start looking.

She walked around the store for quite sometime by herself. On occasion she would come across one of the other girls looking through a rack of clothing items. She would run her hands through a rack every so often, looking mindlessly for options that may be suitable for the date.

By the time Pidge had come over to find her to ask if she was ready to try anything on, she had yet to pick up more than a single item of actual clothing. She looked down in her hand at the only item she had picked up, a pair of earrings. They were golden but their shape was similar to that of a juniberry flower. She had decided once she saw them that they would be leaving this store with her regardless of whether they found an actual out fit or not.

“I… I haven’t had much luck in finding clothing,” she said looking back up at Pidge.

“Allura, is everything alright?” Pidge asked. She seemed concerned and Allura understood why. Nothing about her today really seemed to hint that she was okay. But truthfully, other than being worried about Luca, she couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong.

“Yes, Pidge. It’s just nerves, and with everything going on with Luca, I just feel like I’m not…” She didn’t really know where to finish that sentence. She wasn’t doing what? Waiting outside a glass window for one of her people to wake up? Not spending her time doing something productive to help out before they launch tomorrow?

Shiro had told them to be with the ones they love tonight and as of this moment she felt that was what she was doing. But it still felt wrong.

“Well Romelle, Rizavi and Ina are waiting by the dressing room, so unless you want to keep looking a little longer than the rest of us are ready for you to try on these outfits.” She nodded along and followed Pidge to the room by where the others were waiting. Nadia and Romelle were excitedly bouncing up and down as they had at every other store prior to this when they got to where she would actually try the outfits on.

“Okay, Princess. This is it. Here try on mine first,” Nadia said quickly as she shoved the large pile of clothing into her arms. She walked into the little room and pulled the curtain shut behind her before putting the pile on the bench.

She pulled up the clothing item in front of her. It was soft and light blue and as she pulled it up it just continued to pull up into what appeared to be an outfit similar to what she wore normally. Just looser rather than tight fitting, but it was certainly not a dress.

Carefully, she placed her legs through their each individual hole and pulled it up the rest of the way over her shoulders. It was a comfortable piece of clothing, probably one of the better ones that they had tried on today. She examined her reflexion in the mirror.

No.

She didn’t want this blue. She felt out of place in it. Other than the color, she loved almost everything else about this piece. But her mind just kept telling her no, no, no. Wrong.

She opened the curtain to show the others anyway, they all stared for a moment before shaking their heads back and forth in a silent agreement with her own thoughts.

Ina handed her the outfit she had chosen next. It was already more her color, light pink and white, but even as she held it up just to look at it she could tell it was too stiff. Ina had brought together 3 things for her to try on, and they were very obviously a set that she had found. Pants that went halfway up her midsection but not all the way down to her ankles, a jacket that wrapped all the way around her, covering the rest of her stomach from where the pants stopped, and shoes that had the same colors and pattern as the jacket.

She was right. It was too stiff. The entire ensemble made her feel much older, or as if she was going to a formal meeting with members of the coalition.

When she opened the curtain, everyone's reaction was much more immediate than with the last. This one very clearly wasn’t the right choice, at least not for tonight.

When the last set of clothes was in her hand and she had closed the curtain, Allura had let out a sigh.

Hopefully this one is good enough.

And it was.

The outfit that Pidge had picked out was a simple white dress with white shoes. The material was soft to the touch and the dress hung loosely halfway down her legs. It wasn’t too serious. It wasn’t too formal. It wasn’t too casual.

And from what she had learned in her brief lesson about earthly dating attire, this seemed to be somewhere in the middle of what it needed to be.

So this is it.

She didn’t even go out to show the rest of the girls what it looked like on her.

This is actually happening now.

She took off the dress and folded it quickly before opening up the curtain and stepping back out.

“We did it!” Nadia said, pumping her fist up in the air.

As they checked out and made their way out of the mall and back to the Garrison, Allura couldn’t help but notice the growing feeling inside of her that continued to nag at her thoughts.

Wrong.

~Lance~

Everything was just wrong.

His hands were sweating. His throat felt dry but also as if something was stuck in it- or worse, trying to come up. His clothes felt as if they were clinging to him, making him feel as if he needed to take them off right this very moment or else they were bound to suffocate him any minute.

He had already been pacing up and down the hallway for what had probably been 10 minutes at this point. He just didn’t get why he was so nervous. He had always enjoyed talking to Coran before. It brought an odd sense of calm over him in his worst moments when they were in space. But now the very thought of it made him wish that he could be lost in space right now instead of approaching Coran’s bedroom door.

It’s not like he had never asked for permission to date a girl before. He was old fashioned in that way. Despite his carefree and flirty attitude, he had only ever been out with a handful of girls in his lifetime, and each time he made sure to go to who the girl seemed closest to and get their permission before ever even asking.

Maybe that’s why he felt so wrong right now. That had to be it. He already asked Allura and she said yes before he had even thought to go to Coran first. Yeah. That was the reason. Totally the only reason.

“Come on, McClain. You can do this. It’s just Coran. It’s just a date. Everything will be fine. Just be cool.”

He exhaled completely, letting it all go before lifting his hand and knocking on the metal door that separated himself and the moment he had been dreading since he asked Allura out. The door opened, exposing Coran in his orange Garrison uniform putting away his old clothes.

“Lance! To what do I owe this visit?”

“Hey, Coran,” he said as he took a step in the room. It’s now or never. “I uh, I have a question to ask you about Allura.”

“Well then son, you came to the right place. Would you like to have a seat?”

“No, no. This shouldn’t take long. I just uh, I wanted to let you know that I asked Allura on a date and I…”

“You what?1 You aren’t Altean royalty! Nor are you either of those things separately! What makes you qualified enough to make you think that you can go on a date with Allura!? And you didn’t even ask permission from her primary guardian, which is me!”

This is exactly what he was afraid of. Partly.

“Woah woah, Coran. That’s kind of what I came here to do. I know it was wrong of me to not get your input first, but Hunk kind of made me do it as a spur of the moment kind of thing, and I didn’t have time.”

“Well I demand you ask permission, and if you pass the test then you may take her out tonight. So go back outside and start again.”

“But Allura already…” he started, but Coran was already pushing him out the door. It closed behind him. He slouched over and sighed.

Chickening out of this whole date probably would have just been a better idea. Why did he let Hunk talk him into this?

He took in a couple of breaths to calm himself down before a panic even started to come over him, straightened his back, and knocked on the door again.

As it had before, the door opened right up for him, but instead of revealing a calm and friendly Coran in a standard Garrison room as it had before, the room had been rearranged and he was sitting in a chair underneath a picture of him and Alfor that was now hanging on the wall.

How did he even manage to do that? And where did he get that painting from? Lance figured it was probably one of the few items he rescued from the castle, but regardless, the things that Coran could do in such short amounts of time always amazed Lance.

“Ah, Lance, come in. What brings you to my quarters this evening?”

Well this is definitely a lot harder than he ever could’ve imagined it being.

Lance made his way over to stand in front of Coran’s chair. “I came to ask your permission to take Allura out on a date tonight,” he said. He could hear the nervousness in his voice now.

Coran just looked at Lance up and down as if he was inspecting him for any possible imperfections, which Lance was sure he could find plenty.

“Do you have references of people who can vouch for your character?”

“Uh… no. But I can tell you exactly what we are doing and how long I plan to have her out for…”

“And that would be?”

“Well we are just eating dinner with my family because my mom is cooking for our last night here, and then I was going to take her to the park that I used to walk through when I went to the Garrison. And then I was going to take her back here. The latest she would be out is 10 tops.”

“Hmmm. Well, I can see that you really thought this through. And I guess I do know your character rather well being that you are one of the paladins,” he continued to scan his eyes over Lance. “I guess you have my permission. But, you will have to fix your outfit immediately. And seeing as you earthlings don’t have any Altean courting attire, we will just have to make do.”

Lance didn’t know what was scarier. The fact that Coran has never been more intimidating in his life than in this moment right now or that he had no idea what Coran was about to put him in.

---

When he said he had no idea, he really had no idea. Coran had immediately dragged him out of his room and all throughout the Garrison hallways to find things to replace “Altean courting attire”. Honestly, Lance thought that Coran was just trying to make him look as ridiculous as possible in order to embarrass and scare him out of even going out in public- much less on a date with Allura.

Luckily, just as Coran had found a bucket in a supply closet to place on Lance’s head, they heard footsteps running towards them. Both of them turned to face the Garrison employee that Lance had never seen before coming straight at them. The worker stopped briefly, taking a few short breaths in before pointing at Coran.

“Commander Holt has requested your presence in the med bay immediately sir.”

Lance turned back to look at Coran who’s face had drained of color. The Altean. Coran swallowed before looking at Lance and saying “That’ll do,” before going off with the worker in the direction of the med bay.

Lance just looked down at his new attire and sighed. How did he get into this mess?

He walked down the hallway until he found a clock. He still had quite a bit of time until he had to go back to his house but nothing to do.

Hunk was off with his own family and Shay, Pidge was grounded, he thinks Shiro went out for the night with Matt and his robot girlfriend.

He supposed he could go out to his house early, but his mom would scold him for not spending more of his free time with his friends. He didn’t even really get that because he saw them all of the time but she always told him that fighting a war with them didn’t count as spending time with them. She wouldn’t want him back home until the time that he said he would be home.

Be with the ones you love.

Keith. He would go find Keith. And he is pretty sure he knows exactly where he will be able to find him.

~Keith~

Keith had never realized the small things he missed from Earth while they were out in space. When they all got into the Blue Lion and launched themselves into the mission of a lifetime, he didn’t even think he was capable of missing anything. He had lost his mom before he could even speak, lost his dad at 12 along with his house. Lost Shiro at 16 and his spot as top student in his class at the Garrison only a few months later. He had lost everything in his life, and there is only so much loss a person can take before they stop missing things all together. Or at least, that is, what they convince themselves.

Truthfully, he missed Shiro so much that he was willing to rig up bombs and follow strange signals across the desert to find him. He hadn’t realized how much he missed having a mom he didn’t even know existed until he found her again. After being in the castle for a while, he realized how much he missed belonging to something, being special to people who actually cared about him. But even after realizing all of that, he still never got homesick.

Maybe it was because he never felt quite right at home on Earth. As if he didn’t quite belong. Maybe even because he just felt as if he didn’t have anything left here to miss.

But oh was he wrong.

For instance, the sun setting behind the New Mexico desert mountains was one of those things that he really missed but didn’t realize until he got it back. And now everything was about to be taken away from him again for who knows how long.

The light from the sun was so bright on the horizon, illuminating everything it could reach in its golden glow. But as the light began to fade into the sky, the colors changed from bright yellow to orange to a lilac field with few clouds in sight.

Part of him felt guilty for hiding out on top of Black with Kosmo alone for his last night on Earth. But all of his friends were out doing things with other people they cared about and Kolivan and his mom told him they would meet up with him later. So he decided that until then, this is how he would spend his night and not much could make it better than this.

The sunset was so mesmerizing that he just sat there, lost in his own thoughts. Thinking about how things could have been so different.

There was a clanging and grunting coming from behind him, but he decided that whoever it was was not as important as what he was already looking at.

“Man, you can a real hard guy to find when you wanna be.”

And of course, Keith once again found himself wrong.

“Hey Lance,” he said turning his head as the boy finished climbing to the top of Black’s head. He almost turned his attention back to the horizon, but his eyes did a double take at the sight that had presented itself in front of him. “Woah! W… what are you wearing?”

Lance just sighed, taking a seat next to him as he removed the metal bucket from him head and sat it down beside him. “Coran is making me wear this for my date with Allura.”

Oh.

“A… a date. With Allura? Uh, wow. Well done, Lance,” he said looking down to where their hands were. Just barely apart.

Keep it together.

“ Thanks. But I think it might be our last.”

OH.

“What? Why do you say that? You’ve been wanting this literally since then moment you’ve met her.”

“I don't know, man. I just… I’ve been having this weird feeling about it all day. Well actually for a while. And I don’t even know if she actually likes me. Now I have to worry about all of these Altean customs that I can’t even begin to keep up with. It just doesn't feel right, if that makes sense.”

“Listen, Lance, if she is going out with you, it’s because she likes you,” he looked down and smiled to himself. “The annoying, stupid, earth version of you.” He heard Lance chuckle but neither of them looked up or at each other.

“Thanks, Keith. Still though, I don't know what it is, but there is this feeling that I can’t seem to shake when I start to think about the date.” He paused for a moment, before looking back up at Keith. “Have you… have you ever been in love before.”

He thinks he is in love with her.

Keith just laughed quietly and looked back out at the sunset. “Yeah, surprisingly enough, I think I have.”

“What did it feel like?”

“I’m not sure,” he said as he turned his head back towards Lance. “I’m still trying to figure that out.”

They sat for a moment then, just looking out at the almost set sun.

“So, you watching the sunset?”

“Yeah, I figured it might be awhile before we get to see it again.”

“Man, I’m really going to miss this place. It was hard being gone the first time, but now that we’ve been back again, I think it’ll be so much harder to leave. Especially not really knowing, ya know, what’s going to happen out there…”

“That’s why we have to go out there and win this war. Together. With the Lance that is the Paladin of the Red Lion,” he looked down again, thinking of all that has changed between the two of them. “The Lance that’s always got my back,” he closed his eyes just for a moment before getting the courage to get one last look at him before he has to go chase someone else. “And the Lance who knows exactly who he is and what he has to offer.”

Lance’s expression was stilled, stuck in a moment between shocked and awe. Keith just smiled slightly at him. “You’ll be fine tonight, Lance. I know it.”

Lance’s face softened as the corners of his mouth turned up to smile back at him before turning his attention back to the horizon.

Keith just looked back down to where their hands were only inches apart from the one another. He pulled his back, wrapping it around his knee before following Lance's gaze to watch the final moments as the sun hid behind the shadow of the mountains.

He didn’t feel like he was the type to be wrong often but tonight he had been wrong on quite a few occasions. His biggest mistake was, however, believing even for a moment that surely the sunset was the most beautiful thing he would be seeing that night.

~Sam~

The hallway just seemed to get longer and longer with every single step towards the door.

‘Sir. The Altean has woken up.’

Of course it would be now, with everyone so busy preparing for take off tomorrow and Allura gone for the rest of the night. Even Romelle, who actually knew the Altean- Luca - was gone.

‘Someone go get Coran immediately.’

He put his hand to the palm reader on the wall and the door opened up. The are was just like any other hospital room he had ever been in. The only difference was that in this one was a girl who could absolutely guarantee their success in the war. He heard the door open behind him and footsteps come up beside him.

“She’s awake,” Coran whispered next to him. The two of them just stared in awe at the girl who was being helped up by the workers in the room. More footsteps shuffled up behind them.

“How’s she doing?” Shiro asked quietly.

“She just woke up not long ago. I wanted a familiar face in here when she first woke up, but both of the girls are gone.”

They all watched as Luca sat up, pushing the hands of the men helping her off. Her hair covered her face partly as she looked down. She glanced up at them sadly.

“You. You’re altean,” she said. Her voice was soft and hoarse from being asleep for so long. Her eyes were barely looking at them, but the glare was sharp as a knife.

“It’s alright. We can help you,” Coran said as he held his arms out.

“I don’t want any help from the great destroyers,” she said as she looked down. They waited in the room a little longer to see if she was going to do anything else but anytime someone came towards her or tried to speak she responded only with a glare and flinch and a tightening of her arms around her folded up knees. She wouldn’t be speaking anymore anytime soon.

~Romelle~

It hadn’t been more than thirty ticks that she had been back before she was being rushed off towards the med bay. She had meant to help Allura get ready but people came to get her just before they entered Allura’s quarters.

“What is it Romelle? Is there a problem?”

“No, uh, everything is all good. There… there uh just has been an emergency in the kitchen and Hunk is off and can’t fix it. He had put the trust of the kitchen in my hands before he left the building. Anyway, very important. Gotta go, Princess. Have fun with pointy chin!”

She turned quickly and followed the uniformed Garrison employees down the hallway towards the med bay. Luca was awake. They could finally have their answers. Maybe she could even go home.

She saw how she was curled up in herself on her medical bed through the window before she had even entered the room. Luca was scared. Understandably.

She just smiled and stood at the door, hoping that a familiar face would encourage her to be less frightened by the situation, but didn’t want to invade her space while she was so vulnerable.

“It’s so good to see you all right and awake, Luca.”

Luca’s head shot up, the red hair that had fallen in front of her face while looking down moved itself revealing her pale skin and frightened face. A face that quickly turned sour.

“We want to help you. Where is the colony?”

“Traitor. I would never tell you anything!”

“Traitor? Luca, what are you…”

“She told us what you had done. How you left us for the ones who killed our great leader. How dare you abandon us for them, Romelle, and then come in here to tell me you want to help me.”

Romelle was taken aback with shock. “What? No, you don’t understand! It’s not like that. Luca you…” She tried to take a step towards her.

“Don’t come near me, you traitor! You are with the great destroyers now! She told us all about you and their lies. She is going to fix everything and you won’t even get a glimpse of the new Altea that we will live in. Honerva…” As the name fell from her lips, her body fell back on the bed. Limp. Lifeless- or so it appeared. Romelle didn’t know what to do.

The great destroyers? Honerva… but she had been dead long ago. What did it all mean?

She didn’t move from her spot near the door as people rushed in around her to try and get the monitors connected to Luca’s unresponsive body under control.

“No,” she shook her head. “I’m not… I’m not a traitor. No. What does she mean?” She felt hands grab ahold of her arms on either side. They started to pull her away from the view she had of Luca and out of the room. She struggled in their grip, but they had ahold of her too well.

“I’m not a traitor!” She yelled as she let her body fall to the floor. She looked to the ground as a tear ran down her cheek. She saw one of the bodies of whoever dragged her out kneel down next to her as they placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“You aren’t a traitor, Romelle. She will come around eventually. We just need to give her some time,” Commander Holt said softly. She looked up towards the window where she saw Coran looking sadly through at the men working endlessly to try and figure out how to revive the one shot they have at guaranteeing they win this war.

~Lance~

When he had gotten up from Black to start to make his way to his house, Keith had made him ditch his ridiculous outfit.

“You won’t need all of that stuff to impress her.”

“You think? Coran seemed pretty sure…”

“Yeah man, I’m sure. Just be yourself and everything will go fine,” Keith had stood up to follow him down the lion. “It’ll be great Lance. Go have fun.”

Now he was stuck standing in front of the small bathroom mirror attempting to fix his hair into a better fashion than what it had been after taking off that helmet.

The doorbell rang below, reminding him of even more of the reality of this situation. He gave himself one last look in the mirror before nodding to himself. As he stepped out into the hallway to make his way down the stairs he straightened out his shirt one last time. He was halfway down the stairs before he actually heard the door open.

“Oh, come in! Allura you look wonderful, my dear.”

Lance looked up, pausing mid step on the stairs. His mom was right. Allura looked wonderful. No, more than that. She was stunning.

Allura was the type of person who no matter what they did, they always looked good. Everything about her radiated beauty, but the only time Lance remembers being this shocked by how she looked was when she fell out of the pod and right into his arms.

“Lance, doesn't she look wonderful?” His mom said opening the door wider to let Allura the rest of the way into the house. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but the words got caught in the back of his throat.

He made his way down the rest of the stairs, “Wow Allura, you look… amazing,” he said finally as his feet hit the floor.

“Thank you. You look good yourself.”

He laughed to himself, “Well, it’s no Altean vestments, but…”

“You? In a Forlongian brill hat? I can’t even imagine it.” Lance had no idea what that was, but he was pretty sure that the bucket Coran had put on him earlier didn’t compare.

He put his hand on his mom's back, “Allura, you know my mom and Veronica already.” He used his other hand out to gesture to the rest of his family, “That’s my dad, Rachel, my brother Marco, my other brother Luis and his wife Lisa. And those are their kids Silvio and Nadia.”

“Hello, it’s nice to finally meet the rest of you. Lance talked about you all quite a bit when we were up in space,” Allura said as she walked next to Lance more into the living room where the rest of his family was gathered.

“Well we have all certainly heard about you,” Marco said as he walked up to Lance and threw his arm around his shoulder. “Haven’t we little bro?”

Truthfully, no. They haven’t heard much about Allura. Not from him at least. Not anymore than they had heard about the rest of the paladins. The only time Allura had been brought up outside of stories about what they had all done in space was when Veronica teased him about his crush on her. But he knew Marco was only saying this to embarrass him, and it was working. He felt his face start to heat up rather quickly as he heard Allura’s soft laugh towards his brothers comment.

“Who’s hungry? I sure am! Is dinner all ready mom?” He said quickly, trying to change the topic as smoothly as possible. It didn’t really work, Marco just patted him on the back and chuckled as he took a step back.

They all made their way into the dining room where the table was already set and the food was laid out. Lance pulled out the chair Rachel usually was in next to his mom for Allura and then sat down next to her in his usual spot.

The food was passed around and it wasn’t long after they started eating when the embarrassing stories about him started to find their way into the conversation. Lance, having lost his appetite long ago, just sat there pushing around his food listening in only occasionally.

“Oh, there was that time when we were kids and Veronica mixed dirt with water and told Lance it was chocolate milk,” Marco started with his new story.

“Oh really?” Allura said, laughing. “That’s rather interesting. Did he drink it?” Lance looked up from his plate and crossed his arms. This story somehow always managed to make its way into conversations about him when he was a kid. Especially when it was someone he wanted to impress.

“Did he drink it? He practically chugged the whole thing down before he realized what it was!” Veronica said, causing everyone at the table to laugh along with her. “Yeah, I still can’t believe he fell for it!”

“What did he do?”

“Well he told on me of course. Then pop-pop took him out for ice cream while I got put in time out for the day.”

“Yeah, Lance has always been the baby. It took him bringing you over to promote him from the kids table,” Luis said gesturing to the small fold out square table where his kids were. Again, just something said to embarrass him. Rachel only had to sit at the kids table tonight because Allura needed a place at the regular table, but he hasn’t sat at the kids table since he was, well, a kid.

“Okay everyone, stop trying to scare the poor girl off,” his mom cut in. Thank god. “Lance never has brought a girl home before, so you must really mean something to him,” she added. Of course it got worse. Lance just put his face in his hands and continued as the torture kept coming.

“That’s strange. He always gave off the impression that he was rather popular with women.”

“Well, he gets that from his father. But it’s all just talk. If you can get past that show though, you’ll find a good boy with a big heart.”

“Thanks mom,” he said with his face still buried in his hands.

“Hey Lance, speaking of dates,” Veronica said. Lance didn’t think that that starter could go anywhere good. “Maybe you could put in a good word for me with that long-haired friend of yours.”

Lance’s head shot back up as his hands hit the table harder than he meant for them to. He looked at Veronica who was just smiling smugly. “What?! Keith? No, no, no, no! No way. Not in a million deca-pheobes should you go out with Keith! All that guy likes are knives and space wolves. So why would you ever be interested in him. Plus he’s got that stupid mullet. So no. Just… no. No .” He looked up at everyone. They were all staring at him as if he had gone a little crazy.

“Calm down, Lance. I’m just kidding,” Veronica said breaking the silence. He felt his face start to heat up again. Why did I do that. “Anyway, a toast. To family,” Veronica said standing up out of her seat. “Though we may be apart after tomorrow, we will always remain close at heart. Family is forever.”

They all raised their glasses in the air. “To family,” they said in partial unison. Lance looked over at Allura whos smile had turned down. But regardless she lifted her glass and repeated “to family” softly before taking a sip of her water. Lance looked back down at his plate as he felt the odd feeling that had been eating at him begin to crawl back up his throat.

He doesn’t know why he decided that walking through the park was his first idea for the rest of their date. He had only ever been here during the day back in his Garrison years with Hunk or with his family when they would come to visit him on certain weekends. So he had really never seen it at night, and it didn’t even occur to him the damage that Sendak’s invasion would’ve done on the whole place.

The trees were bare and dead. Lifeless forms destroyed under the vicious attack. They loomed over the two of them as they walked along the path, the branches appearing as cracks in the clear night sky above them.

Together, they walked side by side, Lance’s hands in his pockets, Allura’s clasped together in front of her. They walked in a silence that Lance couldn’t decide was comfortable or awkward. Or some strange mix between the two as if this situation was both right and wrong at the same time. Like they were supposed to be here, but not like this. Crickets chirped in the background only making silence between Allura and himself that much louder in his mind.

I shouldn’t have brought her here. She probably thinks this date is boring- just walking through a dead park in silence.

They hadn’t talked a lot since they left his house. Just a small conversation about how his family was lovely and how his mom’s food was amazing. He briefly mentioned how his mothers food was great but it didn’t compare to his grandma’s cooking when he was younger and would visit her in Cuba. Allura then mentioned her mom cooking food for them back on Altea when she was younger, but her story faded into silence fast and that was the last of the conversation that they had.

They had approached the tree that marked the center of the park and stopped, sitting on a bench facing it nearby.

Allura looked up to the sky. “The stars are really lovely tonight.”

Lance’s gaze followed her’s upward, “Yeah, when I was a kid you could see them like this all the time where I lived. As I got older though, the world got more and more polluted and they got harder to see at night, even outside of the larger cities. The promise of adventure and the hope that one day I’d be able to see the stars again is what drove me to the Garrison.”

“And you did.”

“Yeah, thanks to you, I did.” He looked back out among the park, “This place, it used to be so beautiful. This tree, it was the oldest tree in the state. That’s why the park was built here, around this tree. Kind of like to make a home for it where it could be properly seen in all of its greatness.”

“It’s all my fault that the Galra did this to your home,” she said as she looked sadly at the dead tree in front of them.

“No. It’s not your fault. Without you, Earth wouldn’t even exist anymore.”

She stood up from the bench and began to walk towards the tree. Lance just watched from where he was as she stopped in front of it and gently placed her hand on the trunk. She closed her eyes and leaned forward as if she was giving herself to the tree.

A white light started to glow from underneath her hand that slowly moved up and wrapped itself around the entirety of the tree.

Lance stood up, amazed at what he was seeing. The entire tree eventually started to glow a bright blue that then traveled along the ground, making its way in all directions outward causing the grass and other trees surrounding them to light up in the same way.

As she started to take her hand down, the light began to fade, revealing a newly revived park filled with bright green grass, blooming flowers, and trees covered in leaves once again.

She put her head down, still keeping her body turned away from Lance. “When we were out there fighting against the Galra, I somehow… I felt like we were a family. And while each of us was alone, we were alone together.”

Lance put his hands back into his pockets and took a few steps towards her. The feeling from before began rising to his throat again, though now he was thinking he was starting to get what it meant.

“But now, being here, back on Earth, I see that everyone already has a family,” she turned around to face him again. “A place to return to once the war is over. Everyone except me and for the first time, I feel completely uncertain about what my future holds.”

“What are you talking about Allura, we are a family now.” They were family.

“It’s silly. I used to think that the entire team relied on me. The I was the one who needed to be strong for everyone else, but now I see that it was I that needed you.”

“Allura, meeting you was one of the best things that could have ever happened to me. We- all of us- were all meant to find each other. To be together.” He looked around at the park and then back at her. She was still beautiful. She always had been. But now, he realized that her beauty was just a background thought to a much bigger picture. She was just like any of them. “You are not alone, Allura. And no matter what happens, you will never be alone. Not with us around, your family.”

“Thank you, Lance. I really appreciate that. And all of this, tonight has been great. I just…”

He took a few more steps towards her and held up his hand. He took a breath in and closed his eyes before letting out what has been eating him up inside for a long time.

“I think I already know where you were about to go with that statement. Allura, I know this is our first date, but you are right, we are family. And while I know we are meant to be together, we aren’t meant to be together like this,” he said gesturing between the two of them. She just looked at him and smiled, looking the calmest she has seen all night.

“Yes, I… I know what you mean. Together but not together.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long to realize that. I can imagine it was a little irritating being hit on by a guy you didn’t even like all of the time.”

“No, Lance, I’m sorry. I feel like recently, ever since… Lotor, ” She paused for a moment to take a breath in, “I haven’t exactly been turning away your attention. That was wrong of me.”

“Everything is okay now. But no matter what,” he reached forward and grabbed her hand, “just remember that we are a family. And that I- or any one of us- would gladly follow you across the universe without hesitation.” She smiled at him and squeezed his hand, “And more importantly, that we will never leave you alone.”

He let go of her hand and looked around the park smiling.

One would think that after years of trying to get a girl to like you that a failed first date with her would be soul crushing. But she was only what he wanted, not what he needed, and her was surprisingly okay with that. Besides, he had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before what he needed would fall right into his arms.

---The Next Day---

~Shiro~

Coran, Allura, and Romelle were already in the meeting room waiting on him when he arrived.

Ever since the girl woke up, he was dreading this moment. What do you even begin to say to the people who have lost everything? The people who thought they were the last of their kind left, only to find out they aren’t just to be called a traitor of their own kind.

He was never meant to be a leader, but now he was one, so it didn’t matter that he didn’t know what to say to them because someone had to say something. And he was the only person who could.

“I still think I should try and talk to her. Maybe she…”

“No, Allura. You didn’t see what she was like. She won’t talk to anyone. Especially not an Altean, she thinks we are all traitors,” Romelle almost whispered that last part. He could tell she was still shaken up from it.

“But we need to find out more of what Honerva has to do with this. If Honerva sent that beast, then the mission has to change.”

Adam.

“No. We have a plan and we are sticking to it. If Honerva is really behind this, then I’m sure we will find her along the way. Also our first mission is to try and find those missing pilots and if she is behind it all then it’ll probably be sooner than we even expect.”

Allura’s face turned down into a scowl. He knew she was upset about not being able to see Luca, but it was for the best. But regardless, she didn’t say anything more on the subject. Instead she stood up and began to walk towards the door.

“We better get going,” she said before she left the room, not even turning to look back at any of them. “It’s almost time for the send off.”

---

The crowd in front of them was huge. Probably the biggest he had seen in a long time. Maybe ever. It was comprised of everyone who was not about to go off into space for an unknown amount of time. Families. Friends. Aliens. Garrison faculty who would be staying on the ground. And anyone in between. All waiting to see if the people standing on the podium in front of them could truly save them all.

And here he was, just a man who had stumbled upon several misfortunate events in a row that led him to standing up here, in front of them all as they looked up to him for hope. For a reason to believe that everything would be okay. He stood tall with his head held high as Sam spoke next to him.

“This will be perhaps the most defining moment in our history. The day humankind reaches out from our world to help the immense universe of which we inhabit such a small part.”

They had rehearsed their speeches quite a bit in the days leading up. Sam first. Keith next.

“In the blink of an eye, the world as we knew it became much larger than we’d ever thought possible. And now we rise up to join the fight alongside so many other different from us, but of like minds, to stand strong against tyranny.”

Allura goes next. All the leaders speak. It’s what the people need to hear.

“For all deserve to decide their own future, as we have decided to spend our’s ensuring the freedom of the universe.”

“Each and every one of you have given something to this fight. We have all lost something, many themselves have been lost, but not in vein. Because through their sacrifice, so many more will live on,” he knew his next line would be his hardest. Simply because it was the only one that nobody could actually be sure of. “I make you this promise now. We will return triumphant!”

The crowd began to cheer as the speech came to a close. Shiro let himself breathe out and relax.

They stayed on the stage for just a little longer before the atlas doors were opened and the ramp to go inside was let out. He watched from the stage as Hunk and Lance said goodbye to their families. As Pidge and Matt gathered around their mom and dad to have a quick word before making their way towards the loading area. He watched as Keith’s mom wrapped him into a hug before they followed the rest of the Blade up the ramp and into the ship.

He looked around as everyone but him said their goodbyes and loaded onto the Atlas. He didn’t have anything here for him. Nothing but those people out in the crowd that were waiting for him to take off. Everyone he needed was aboard that ship now.

Everyone but one.

He turned away from the crowd and made his own way over to the loading dock of the Atlas, his ship, and walked on board. All of the paladins were already standing in the main bridge waiting for him. He took a step up to his place at the captain’s station and looked out the window as they rose up and out of Earth’s atmosphere. He looked down at his own family standing in front of him and all the worries he had during the speech were gone. He was certain now.

All of them would return triumphant.

AO3 |x|

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