Chapter Text
Epilogue
Even after all of this time, Lance still couldn't believe that this was his life. It still just feels so surreal to him that after all of this time he has a life, let alone one that he actually wanted. Growing up as a kid he always dreamed about what his life would be like as an adult, and while that dream did change and evolve over time, for the most part, some aspects of it stayed the same. Like how he wanted a family for instance. He wanted to marry someone that he loved unconditionally, and have those feelings be reciprocated equally at least, and have a family with a large number of children. As a child he always thought that his spouse would be the prettiest, most beautiful woman that he has ever seen in his life. Though when he hit puberty, that changed things just a little bit. Then he alternated between the prettiest woman, and the most drop dead gorgeous man that he has ever seen in his life. But after a lot of failed attempts, Lance will admit that there was more than one occasion when he contemplated that he would end up all alone in his life. And those feelings only grew stronger when they went to space the first time.
But in the end though, Lance was proven wrong by the universe and he was very thankful for that. The universe proved him wrong, and gave him his wonderful husband Keith. Even though their relationship was very rocky at the start, the two of them were finally able to get over themselves enough to be able to form a bond with one another. And that bond just grew closer and closer until it turned into love. And Lance can't thank the universe enough for it. He loves Keith more than anything in this entire universe. The only other person to rival that would be their daughter. Karina was his whole entire world at this point, and Lance now finally understands what his parents, grandmother and brother meant when they told him and Keith that. It was times like these that Lance thought that his younger self was insane for thinking that he would never get a life like this. Sure, Lance's life isn't exactly how he thought that it would be now as an adult. But Lance isn't complaining. He's very content and happy where he is in his life, and he wouldn't change it for the world. He has a wonderful husband, and a beautiful daughter in his life. All of the pain and heartache that he went through as a teenager was worth it if it meant that he was where he is now.
It's been almost 3 years now since the war finally ended. 3 years of rebuilding, and trying to figure out where they fit in the universe. After Honera was stopped and Allura died, no one really knew where they were going or what they were supposed to do. Even though everyone was able to move on with their lives, and get away from all things war, it wasn't easy. Even though Lance knew that Keith really struggled with mental health issues and PTSD, like the majority of their friends and comrades in the war, Lance himself wasn't immune to it as well. Lance was just a lot better at hiding how he really felt about it, except when he was with his family and friends. Even though he tried his damndest to not break and be there for his pregnant husband especially when he needed him, he couldn't be perfect all the time. He has had a lot of breakdowns on his family. His brother Luis, and Hunk were his rocks through a lot of them. He was terrified of losing his cool in front of Keith in fear of it having a negative affect on their baby. Both his best friend and brother told him that he was an idiot, and told Lance to address his concerns with Keith and open up to him. Lance headed their advice and talked to Keith. Keith agreed with Luis and Hunk that Lance was an idiot for not coming to him with this sooner. He had been worried about his husband for a while now. He just didn't know how to approach it. He was able to convince Lance to come to therapy with him, and that helped him out a lot.
Having a great support network, and a great therapist, has really helped Lance out a lot in the long run. He was able to work through the majority of his issues. Even though he still has better days than others, he likes his life where he is after all. He's a man in his mid-twenties, in a loving relationship, with a wonderful child, and a job that he loves. He couldn't ask for more from this, and he's thankful for all that he has. To this day, he still misses Allura like she only died yesterday. And that hurt will never fully go away. She was his first real love, and she was one of his best friends. The two of them were so close with one another, and for her to die, it broke him. He is grateful for her sacrifice, and how if not for her, Lance wouldn't have the family that he has today, but he still misses his friend. And it kills him that Kari, and any other kids that he and Keith have will never get the chance to meet her. But Lance has learned his lesson a long time ago about dwelling on the past. He can only look towards the future though, and how bright that it was going to be for his family.
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Keith was still in awe of her after all of this time. Karina just turned 2 years old a month ago, and Keith is still just as in awe of her as he was the day that she was born, if not more. Never in a million years would he have ever thought that he would be in the place that he is now in his life. Especially as a kid, when he was just hurt, and angry at the world. Even when he started to get close to Shiro and Adam, and realized that he could be happy after Gloria, he never thought that he would have a family. He just thought that he would end up the weird uncle to their kids, and babysit them and do all that fun stuff with them. But to have gotten married, and have kids before Shiro, let alone at all? Keith still has trouble wrapping his head around that some days. He loves his daughter more than anything in the universe(Sorry Lance, but the kids come first.) But there are still some days that Keith can't fathom that she's real. And he just can't understand how his life is what it is.
If you would have asked Keith 5, 10 years ago what he thought his life would have been like, he wouldn't have been able to respond to that. No, okay, that's a lie, he could have responded to that, but no one would have liked his answer. He would have told them that he would be alone somewhere, and that would be it. Especially after Gloria died and he lost Shiro the first time, he probably would have told you that he would have been dead. And in all honesty if he hadn't gone into space he probably would be dead now. And no, Keith is not just being over dramatic. He was in a very dark place almost constantly as a kid, especially after his dad and Gloria died, and every time he thought that he had lost Shiro. He just didn't know how to deal with it all, and no matter what he tried the hurt, and anger, and the crippling weight on his chest just wouldn't go away. So Keith knew for a fact that he either would have ended up dead in some form or accident or whatever, or he would have commit sucicide. Keith's not going to sugar coat things, he felt awful all the time as a kid, and he just wanted to stop hurting. He figured that there was no one to miss him anyway so who would care?
It wasn't until he made it to space, that Keith really felt that his life had a purpose and meaning. Even though his life on Earth sucked, he felt like he belonged in space. And he figured that the least that he could do was try to make a difference in someone else's life for the better. And he wasn't exactly happy per sey, but he didn't feel depressed, or anything, just numb. It wasn't until that he had started to let people in after Shiro went missing on them for the second time that he started to actually feel something akin to happiness. Then that all got thrown out the window when the clone came back in his brother's place. And he felt worthless, and expendable all over again. He will not lie and tell you that it's not part of the reason that he went to join the Blade of Marmora. With the Blade Keith could feel useful somewhat and just blend into the background, which wasn't something that he could do in Voltron. And if he just so happened to die in the process then Keith really didn't mind. Talking with his therapist about now, he knows that he wasn't actively suicidal, but he was still suicidal. It was one of the lowest times of his life, and he really did think that the universe was better off without him.
Lucky for Keith though, things were able to turn around for him. He found his mother, and learned the truth about her departure. He was able to build a bond with his mother, and he can honestly say that she is one of his best friend's now. He was also able to figure out what really happened to his brother and save him. He got a boyfriend, and turned husband out of it. He got a giant lovable space wolf who he adores. Keith finally got the family that he never thought he would get since his dad died. And most importantly of all, he has a daughter that he loves more than anything in existence. Now as a mature adult, Keith can realize both the good and the bad in his life. He chooses to be optimistic and see the good in life now. Keith now realizes that holding all of that anger and resentment does nothing but makes you more miserable than before. Living in the moment, and looking at the situation as the glass is half full is a much better fit for him now. He has a loving child, husband, and family that he needed to attend to, and a job that he loved. He couldn't let himself spiral out of control again.
Keith refuses to let himself fall back into his old habits of his youth. His life had meaning and a purpose. He had people who loved and cared about him more than anything else. People depend on him now, both as a parent, a spouse and an ex-Paladin. But that wasn't the most noticeable reason to all of this though. No, while all of what was just listed was a very good motivation to keep going in the positive direction that he's currently headed in. It wasn't the most prominent reason now. Not the most prominent reason, while it did have something to do with his family, it was any of his current living family members though. No, it had something to do with the surprise that he had just found out about earlier that day. And he finds it ironic that Karina had asked him for a younger sibling just a couple of weeks ago.
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Hunk was going to do it, he was really, finally going to do it. After all of this time, he was finally going to do it. He was going to propose to Shay. He could feel the butterflies in his stomach just swirling around in there, and it was making him a bit queasy just thinking about it. He was so nervous that he was going to screw this up in some way shape or form. Even though he and Shay have been together long enough that Hunk knew he had nothing to worry about, he still did anyway. God, he just really wanted this to go right.
Hunk is pretty sure that he has never felt this nervous in his whole entire life. And that’s saying something since he fought in an intergalactic war before. One would think that he would have been under a lot more stress in those situations than he is in this one. And while there were a lot, and he means a lot of stressful situations that he and the rest of Team Voltron were put in during their time in the war, Hunk felt calmer in those situations than he did in this. He loves Shay a lot. Not just a lot, that doesn’t do her any justice. He loves Shay more than anything in the universe, there are no words to describe how in love he is with his girlfriend. Hunk wants to spend the rest of his life with her, and then some. And even though he didn’t make fun of Lance when he went on a rant about Keith a little bit before he proposed to him, Hunk didn’t get it. He knew that the two of them were in love with one another, but he never really thought that you could love someone that much. Even with his own parents, who have a pretty good relationship in Hunk’s opinion, he never thought that possible.
Then he met Shay. From the first moment that he saw her, Hunk knew that he was in love. Though he was terrified to do anything about it though. He had never really had a crush on anyone before. He was always more interested in other things such as technology, cooking, video games and so on. Lance was always the one who was girl crazy, and the older they got he became guy crazy as well. Hunk was very content just to let Lance have his way, and stick to his machines. Then all of that had changed when they went to space. Hunk fell in love that day on the Balmera. Though he was too scared to do anything about it. Shay and her people were still prisoners of the Garla, and even though Hunk had sworn that he would free them regardless of the costs, he never knew if it would actually happen. For once in his life Hunk didn’t want to run away from something that scared him but he didn’t know if his plan would work out in the end or not. The Garla at the time were a very formidable enemy, and Hunk was a 17 year old kid who had only been a Paladin for like 2 days and had no idea what he was doing. Even though everything ended up working out in the end, Hunk was still scared. He knew that he liked Shay a lot, but he didn’t know if she liked him back. Even then, if she did like him back, he didn’t know that he would live long enough to do anything about it. Hunk came to the realization early on in their Paladin careers when Lance was hurt during the fight with Sendak, that they could die at any time out here. And he didn’t want to get into a relationship with Shay and then go and die on her. They wouldn’t be like Keith and Lance, who were on the same team and saw each other everyday. Hunk and Shay would have to go months without seeing each other, and Hunk hated the thought of leaving Shay wondering if he was going to come back to her in one piece, let alone alive. He just couldn’t do that to her. And he knows that it was just an excuse but he hid behind that for so long he thought that it was true.
And then the thing with Honerva and Allura happened. Even after they had saved the Earth from Sendak and the rest of the Garla, Hunk never thought that they were safe enough. He had always promised himself and to Shay even though not verbally, that once the danger was out of the way that they could be together. But Hunk never really registered that the danger was over with. What happened with Allura and Honerva opened up his eyes though. He had sworn to himself that something could happen between them once Honerva was out of the way. But things just kept getting worse and worse, and a couple of times Hunk never thought that it was going to end. And watching Allura sacrifice herself to save them all, Hunk thought that they would be out of danger now. He hated to lose his friend, but he thought that things were going to be okay now. And then Keith collapsed and all Hell broke loose. Even though everything worked out for them in the end, watching his best friend worry over the many that he loves made Hunk realize that he was being a coward. There was always going to be some kind of danger out there. And there was never going to be a time where it would be ‘safe enough’ for him and Shay. Hunk would just have to take the plunge and work his hardest to make it all work out in the end. And that was what he was going to do now.
He had already gone to Shay’s family, to ask for their permission. Her mother and grandmother were ecstatic for him. And even though her father and Rax weren't openly excited about it, they both gave their blessings, and offered to help Hunk do the Balmeran engagement and wedding customs. Needless to say a couple of weeks later when Hunk got down on one knee with a Balmeran engagement necklace, the look on Shay’s face and her teary ‘Yes’ was worth it all and then some. He could just kick his past self for not doing this sooner.
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Pidge was making remarkable advances in her research. She never thought that she would be able to do so much before. Though that probably had something to do with the access to all of the alien technology that she didn’t have before. She still remembers her first time in space, and her experience with the tech on the Castle Ship. Before then she had thought that all of the technology that her parents had access to at the Garrison was the most advanced that she had ever seen before in her life. But she was proven wrong yet again. The feeling of giddiness that she felt when she first saw the control panel of the Castle Ship, she was almost able to forget her grief and anger over the loss of her father and brother. Almost, but she didn’t, it only made her push herself even harder to try and find them.
And all of the planets that they had gone to, and the technology that they did or didn’t have available to them, always piqued Pidge’s interest. She was just amazed by what she saw around her. And she wanted to take all of the knowledge that she acquired back with her to Earth. The possibilities of things that they could do with this stuff were endless. Diseases could be cured, medical technology could be vastly improved upon, the possibilities were just so endless, she didn’t know where to start. And the more time that they spent in space, the more that Pidge’s ideas grew and changed.
The first thing that she always told people that she wanted to do when they got back to Earth was to immediately start working on her projects that she thought of in space. Everyone would just laugh at her, and say ‘Typical Pidge.’ And Pidge just went along with it. Though she never admitted this out loud, the longer that they were in space, the more she felt like she would never do that. There were always people that needed rescuing, a fight to win, a war to stop. The longer that they were out there, the more that Pidge thought that they would never make it back to Earth. Even when she did find her brother and father, she still thought that. When she was able to rig up a shuttle for him to take back to Earth, and every time she watched Matt go off with the rebels, she always thought that this would be the last time that she ever saw them. She never mentioned this to anyone, for fear of these thoughts becoming true, so she kept it to herself. So being here back on Earth, being able to do this, was a dream come true.
And it was, a dream come true that is. This is everything that Pidge has ever wanted in life. The universe is mostly at peace. The Earth is safe, and is an up and coming intergalactic hub for communication, trade, and military power. She’s here, safe with her whole entire family. And all of her friends are moving on with their lives, and enjoying their happy endings. Well, almost all of them. Even though it’s been a couple of years since the final end of the war, Pidge still thinks about it as if it happened yesterday. She just doesn’t understand how easy it felt to move on from it, and she feels guilty about how great her life is now because of it. Allura gave up her life and all of her dreams so that they all could achieve and live out theirs. And Pidge doesn’t want to seem ungrateful for her friend’s sacrifice, but it still upsets her that Allura won’t get a chance like this. Allura is dead, and she doesn’t get to do any of the things that she wanted to do. Pidge knew that Allura had grand plans for rebuilding the universe after they defeated Honerva. And while they all, alongside Coran, and Romelle are carrying them out, it still makes her chest ache to think about it. If anyone deserved a happy ending after everything that they’ve been through it was Allura. The war had taken so much from her, and Pidge wishes that Allura could have gotten the ending that everyone wanted for her.
And while she was still happy for the rest of her friends, and family, she still missed Allura greatly. And they all did. Even though they all got their happy endings, the war did leave some scars on them. Pidge herself is a lot more wary of people than she used to be. She doesn’t trust as easily as she used to.Anyone and everyone is deemed a threat until she can clear them. Hunk, the big lovable goofball, is a lot harder than he used to be. War made Hunk toughen up, and while it also made him braver, it made him just a tad bit more closed off than he used to be. Lance was an enigma for all of them still. While Lance still his happy go lucky self, like the rest of them he grew up a lot in space. Lance became a lot more cold and calculating when he had to be. And Pidge knew of the stuff that he hesitated to do when they first started out and doesn't even phase him now. Keith, in all honesty, became a lot more open. He was able to realize that he had a family, a support system, people who loved him that he could trust. He opened himself up to them. But he was also the one who took Allura’s death the hardest. Keith has really bad survivor’s guilt, and had to go see a therapist while he was pregnant with Karina. Now that he and Lance have a family of their own now, things are better. But just like the rest of them, they all have their bad days. The most noticeable one was Shiro. Going in, Shiro had issues with PTSD. And while some things got better the longer they were in space, some did not. He still has his bad days, and he still has his struggles. But after all of the curve balls that life has thrown his way, he’s finally getting his happy ending, and Pidge couldn’t have been happier for them.
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Shiro couldn't believe that this day had finally come. He never thought that he would live long enough to see this. And the one time that he did, he had envisioned it with Adam…. But, that was then and this was now. While a lot of crappy things have happened to Shiro in his lifetime, it’s nice to know that things are finally starting to look up for him, and the rest of his old team. For one he’s getting married to the man that he loves more than anything in the universe. And while it might be a tad bit weird to be marrying your dead fiance's best friend, Shiro doesn’t care anymore. He loves Curtis with his whole being, and Curtis helped him put himself back together a great deal over the course of their time together. He loves being back at the Garrison and teaching again. Being a Captain on the ATLAS was fun and all, but he wants to be able to be there for his family, and start one of his own. It’s time to hand over the reins to the younger generation. He loves watching how much his family has flourished over the years since the war has ended. And he loves being an uncle, and he was so ecstatic when Keith revealed that he was pregnant again. He just knows that Kari is going to make a great older sister.
But back to the topic at hand here though, the wedding. After he got captured by the Garla the first time, Shiro never thought that he was going to make it out alive. He kicked himself for not listening to Adam and staying on Earth. He had come to the realization that he was going to live and die as the Champion, and he had made his peace with that. He had hoped and for the first time in years had prayed that his loved ones on Earth would be taken care of and that they all knew that he loved them still. Then he was freed, and he had no idea what to do with himself. His time in captivity had really screwed with his mind, and he knew that he needed help, but there was never enough time. And then the Black Lion took his conscious mind and stored it in them. It gave him a lot of room for introspection, and he was able to work out some of his issues. Then he was put into the dead body of his clone, and that’s something that he doesn’t want to touch with a 20 foot pole, so moving on. And after he got over feeling like he was betraying Adam for moving on with his life, he was actually happy. And then Allura died.
Allura was more to him than just a Paladin, or a diplomat, or royalty. She was his teammate, his friend, and more importantly, like a little sister to him. He considered Allura a part of his family, like he did the rest of Team Voltron. And even though he knows that without her sacrifice they wouldn’t be standing right here where they are today, he is still troubled by her death. Allura didn’t deserve to die like how she did. Even though technically Allura was about 10,000 years older than him, he still considered her to be his little sister like Pidge was. And Shiro thought that she deserved to live out her life, and be whatever she wanted to be and do whatever she wanted to do. She didn’t deserve to die, she deserved to live. And if Shiro could, he would have taken her place to give Allura a shot at the life she wanted, and the one she deserved. She was too young to die. And while Shiro has forgiven Honerva for a lot of the things that she has done to him as a point of moving on and healing, this is one thing that he cannot forgive her for.
But if there is one thing that Shiro has learned in his life, it’s not to dwell on the past. The past is in the past, and it is time to move on to better and happier things. While there might have been a lot of trauma in his past, he knows that his future is bright. He has a loving soon to be husband, who is his rock. He has a wonderful little brother, and brother-in-law. The best niece in the world to be his little sidekick, and partner in crime. And a whole group of friends, that he has watched grow up and mature into the amazing people that they are now, that he can call family. And while there will always be a hole in his heart where Allura and all of those close to him are supposed to, he knows that they live on in his memories. And he just hopes that he is able to make them all proud of the choices that he makes going forward in his life.
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Watching all of her team's accomplishments over the years, Allura couldn't be prouder of them. It is hard for her to imagine that the people that she knows and loves now, were those disastrous groups of individuals that she first met when she came out of the pods. But it is amazing what time can do and how fast that it can go by. There are no words available to her to be able to express how happy and proud she is of all of them. It warms her heart to see how much they have all flourished since the end of the war. She couldn’t be happier for them if she tried.
And while she is sad that she cannot be there to partake in their happiness with them, she knows that they know she is there in spirit. Being dead isn’t as bad as she thought that it would be. And she just hopes that they all realize that. She knows that they all have struggled with her death and various ways, she’s seen it with her own eyes. And she wishes that she could have been there to help them, but that was not possible. But this is her place now. And what her friends did not know was that she had come to terms with her death a long time ago. She knew more likely than not going in to face Honerva that she may not have survived even if they did win. For Allura had come to the realization that she didn’t have a place here with them anymore. They all had families, and plans of their own that they wanted to do after the war. And while none of them had excluded her from them, Allura always felt like an outsider no matter how hard her friends had tried to make her feel included. She knew that her place was not here, on Earth, at this time. No, Coran could make it here, he had a purpose, but Allura did not. She belonged with her family wherever they were, and all of those who were killed in the war. She didn’t say anything for fear of upsetting anyone. Allura knew her found family all too well. They would have done whatever it took to keep her alive and would have killed themselves in the process. Allura wouldn’t stand for it. She was better off dead than any of them.
And while it pained her greatly to have to leave behind Coran, the man who is like a second father to her. And Romelle, the woman that she loved more than anything, she had no choice. She died so that they could both live, and she knew that they would both find ways to move on and be happy without her. But Lance and Keith had each other to look out for them, and she wasn’t worried about them. Hunk had his family, and Shay to keep him in check. And Pidge was finally reunited with her family, so Allura knew that she had nothing to worry about with Colleen Holt on the case. And Shiro had finally worked up the nerve to be together with Curtis, so everything was okay. And they all had each other to lean on when times were tough. That eased her mind greatly when she made her decision to do what she did.
Allura was finally able to let go of her anger towards Honerva, and the rest of the universe. She was able to forgive the old witch, and let everything go for the most part. Allura had learned too late that harboring all of that anger inside of her was only making her and the people around her miserable. She wasted a lot of time in her life being angry at people, and anger can’t do much for you when you’re dead. So she took some time to work on herself in that regard. Though she can’t forgive Honerva for making her miss out on the birth of her niece. Karina is by far the most adorable child that Allura has ever seen in her life. She looks so much like Keith, just with Lance’s skin tone. And she felt quite honored that they named their daughter after her. And she’s even more thrilled that they are going to be having another child too. But, at the same time Allura understands. If Allura hadn’t done what she did then Karina wouldn’t be here right now, and she’s glad that Karina gets a chance to have a life now.
While Allura does miss her friends, and family she is still very happy for them. It’s been a good couple of years now since she’s last been able to see them, and she’s loved watching them grow. She loved watching the weddings, and the births of their children. She’s amazed at how much progress that the universe has made towards peace without her. It kind of makes it look like her job was easy as a diplomat.(That was supposed to be taken as a joke, but she’s not Lance so her’s aren’t funny.) And while she does wish sometimes that she could bask in the happiness that peace time has offered her friends, she knows that it’s better this way. She gave up her life so that the people that she loved could have one. And she doesn’t regret that decision one bit. She is so proud of the people that her team has become, and she knows that the universe made the right choice in making them all Paladins. The universe couldn’t have been put in more capable hands. Even though she had her doubts about it from time to time. She knows that the universe knows a lot more about what it's doing than she does most of the time. It was an honor serving with them, and being one of them. And Allura now knows that she can rest easy, since everyone got their happy ending.