Archive of Our Own ^beta

Lance let out a whoop that harmonized with the crashing ocean waves as his family arrived on the beach, the faintest tinge of salt in the air kicking up an extra shine into his eyes and a bounce into his step.

“Look at these waves, Vee!” Cheered Lance, twirling in place and hugging his surfboard tight. “It’s like we could ride them into outer space!”

Veronica threw back her head with a peal of laughter, her touch just as firm on the surfboard as her brother, and glasses tucked safely back aboard the Castle of Lions in favor of a pair of sharp, black goggles.

“Wouldn’t be the strangest thing you’ve ridden into space,” she teased, glancing over her shoulder as Acxa and Keith dismounted from the Castleship, the final place where they could talk work for the day before Lance would ban them from tarnishing our one vacation this entire decaphoeb, gods Keith, you’re going to work yourself to death at this rate and then who’s going to enjoy the massive knife collection we have at home?! Allura chuckled, pulling out blankets and stacking them on her girlfriend’s head as Romelle spun around the beach like a puppy on Christmas and Shay helped Hunk haul out the surfboards he had spent so many summers mastering alongside the McClains.

“Okay, we need to provide additional relief to Visalin, but Tyrew still needs blankets and clothing. We have temporarily handled the food crisis, but winter’s setting in early and we could have a riot on our hands if we don’t sort this out,” insisted Acxa, glaring at the sand she could already feel slipping into her shoes from the Castle’s ramp. “I can send Ezor and Zethrid there, but…”

“Zethrid would just join in the riot,” replied Keith, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “No, ask her and Zeth to handle the additional food supplies to Visalin. I’ll call in a favor with Kolivan and ask him to take Krolia to Tyrew.”

“But Admiral Krolia is handling negotiations on Duireb—”

“And you two are at the beach!” Declared Lance, storming over with his surfboard pointed right at Keith like a sword. “Drop the politics and take a break before I follow your example and use you two for target practice!”

Keith snickered, pulling his hair back into a high ponytail and hopping down to press a kiss to his boyfriend’s golden cheek. Veronica flushed, her eyes darting over to Acxa’s lips, pursed and already chapped under the blazing sun, like blueberries right before they were rinsed. Blueberries had always been her favorite fruit. Veronica couldn’t help but stifle a sigh as Lance pulled Keith in for a hug, covering his fiance’s face in kisses. Lucky.

“Sorry, but I promised to take Pidge and Bandor up to see the volcano movements,” Keith replied between the kisses, smile tightening at the edges and fingers clasping around Lance’s with a quick pressure. “Something about analyzing its cycles now that it’s closer to the ocean than at any other time in recent years? We’ll be back in a varga, I promise. Romelle, you want to come?”

Romelle’s head shot up as Lance’s smile turned brittle as if the sun had dried out all the joy from it, and Veronica felt her heart crack.

“Absolutely!” Cheered Romelle, darting over as Lance slid back a step. “Ooooooo, I can’t wait! Can I bring back some cool rocks for ‘Lura? Is lava surfing a real thing? Can we do it if it’s real and can we invent it if it’s not? Can we—”

She continued peppering Keith with questions, but Veronica tuned her out after five ticks to focus on her brother. Lance was smiling (what else was new?) with a tilt to his shoulders that most people would write off as laziness, but his fingers had gone taut around his surfboard. Veronica’s teeth dragged along her lip. To say her brother had been looking forward to today would be an understatement.

Lance had spent phoebs agonizing over which location to pick, making sure they had activities everyone would enjoy, figuring out an exact time to arrive, double-checking their supplies. and even driving to a convenience store past two in the morning to make sure they had enough sunscreen for the Alteans. After all, it was the one vacation he got with his family for the entire year. And he wanted to make it special for his new fiance.

Veronica wondered if she could sue for emotional damage from watching her brother swallow the shattered pieces of his hard work behind a smile.

“Bring back some pictures! I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to a volcano,” said Lance, and Keith pulled up a smile.

“Eh, I think I’ll save the storage for your surfing,” he replied, catching Lance’s fingers and pulling him away for a kiss.

Acxa dipped her toe in the sand, a grimace rippling over her lips, and Veronica couldn’t hide her giggle in time. Acxa’s eyes flitted up, swimming with the ocean just beyond her reach, and Veronica swallowed her flustered squeak in favor of arching her eyebrow and smirking.

“This is Acxa, she’s blue, an alien, and hates long walks at the beach,” teased Veronica in her best announcer’s voice, drawing a smile out of the beautiful woman in front of her, which was all the encouragement she needed. “There’s too much sand, she doesn’t like sand, it’s coa—”

“It’s coarse, it’s rough, it’s irritating, and it gets everywhere!” Complained Acxa, storming across the beach as Veronica backpedaled with laughter. “I don’t know why you humans are so fascinated with it!”

“Because you can build a lot with it, the sand reflects the sun and helps you tan, it turns to glass under enough heat,” replied Veronica, ticking the answers off her fingers as she guided the glowering alien towards the waves with a flicker of a smirk, “and it’s very romantic to walk barefoot down the beach with the person you love.”

Acxa froze just as the waves washed over her feet, sliding around her as if in greeting, and the wind whipped Veronica’s hair into a curly frenzy that drew a shriek from the pilot. The sunlight flickered off the ocean, setting her face aglow, and the laughter trailing through the air was more beautiful than any symphony.

“Like us?” She whispered, the words pulled from her lips without her permission, and Veronica glanced up with that unflappable grin.

“What was that?” She called, the waves crashing against her knees as she jogged back to rejoin Acxa at the shoreline. “Sorry, Acxa, I couldn’t hear you. What is it?”

“Oh, nothing!” Cried Acxa, eyes darting over as Keith plopped a straw hat on Romelle’s head. “Uh, just that Keith wanted my help with the volcano today, so uh, I’m going to be up on the volcano today, uh, if you wanted anything from the volcano!”

Veronica’s smile cracked in the sunlight and she bit her lip.

“Oh, uh, I guess if you see anything that reminds me of you,” she managed, forcing out a laugh and internally headdesking; she had even gone out to get a new bikini for this, why would she set her hopes that high? “But, are you sure? I mean, we brought enough surfboards for you to learn; I’m a pretty good teacher, actually…”

Acxa’s ears flushed silver, the faintest sparkle trickling off them, and she jerked back, slipping out of the water like she was born to fly away while Veronica remained half-buried by the waves she had grown up in.

“Wow,” stated Keith as the small group wound their way up the volcano, turning to stare at Acxa as she flailed out her story beside him. “You’re worse than me, congratulations.”

“Keith, that does not help my situation!” Complained Acxa, dragging her fingers down her face as if she wanted to claw her way to a better love life. “She is so pretty! Not to mention brave, sweet, loyal, clever and she surfs? It’s not fair, how am I supposed to stay there and watch her when she’s all glittering and ethereal in the water?! But…she looked so disappointed……”

“Well, of course,” scoffed Keith, shouldering his pack as Shiro led the group up the volcano; Curtis had stayed on the beach to act as a lifeguard while Adam surfed with the rest of the kids, and Keith couldn’t resist the stab of guilt as Shiro’s eyes kept darting around, automatically seeking out his boyfriends. “We all had someone we wanted to spend the vacation with.”

Keith’s fingers ached where Lance’s gentle touch belonged, and his heart swam next to his fiance on the waves. “Veronica wanted to spend it with you.”

Lance whooped, water spraying over his face as he rode through the crashing wave, his board slicing through the side of it as he tore out the end of the tunnel, white foam smashing down where he had been only ticks before as he raised both arms and whooped in triumph. Veronica let out a whistle as she paddled over to him, a cheeky grin wrinkling up her nose. Lance flipped his hair out of his face, and bowed in response to Hunk’s clapping.

“Not bad, little bro,” teased Veronica, swinging her legs to dip into the water and straddle the board. “Who knows, someday you might even get on my level!”

“Oh, it’s on!” Crowed Lance, the sparkling water washing away any clouds that had lingered in his irises as Keith left for the volcano. “I’ll crush you!”

“Not a chance!” Shot back Veronica, inclining her chin towards an incoming wave with flames flickering off her smile. “Best flip wins!”

“You’re going down,” replied Lance. “Adam, you’re judging! ‘Lura, Hunk, you want to get in on this?”

“Nah,” said Hunk, flopped on top of his surfboard and drifting along like a sunning seal. “I want to crush you all when Shay comes back.”

“I’ll join in,” called Allura, paddling over despite only having learned to surf a few phoebs ago. “I want to get some practice in so that Romelle does not watch me face plant.”

Lance let out a peal of laughter, his eyes flitting up to the summit of the volcano, and the wind sweeping through his hair as if to carry his heart up to his fiance. Veronica bumped her board against his softly.

“You okay?” She murmured, soft enough that even the approaching Allura couldn’t overhear.

“Huh?”

“This was your day with Keith,” she stated, biting back a wince at the crack that splintered those blue eyes, “and Keith isn’t here.”

The edges of Lance’s smile turned to glass, but he just shook his head.

“Yeah, and I don’t like it,” he admitted, turning to stare up at the volcano with a sigh. “I’d rather he be surfing here with me. But we’re on an alien planet, Vee, and scans don’t pick up everything. Pidge and Bandor wouldn’t have fun on the beach, but they love volcanoes. That’s why I picked this place. And even if Pidge is an epic fighter, if something goes wrong, she should have backup. If Keith and Shiro are with her, we don’t have to worry about anything. Allura and I can cover the water if something goes wrong while Hunk mans the beach,” he continued, unaware of the slow widening of his sister’s eyes, “while Adam sends a distress message back to Coran. Poor guy, talk about a bad day to come down with a cold. But this covers all our bases.”

“………The war never really ended for you guys, did it?” Whispered Veronica, gazing up at her little brother as he rattled off a tactical plan with backups that shouldn’t be necessary for a vacation. “Even now, everything’s a battle in your eyes.”

Lance shrugged with a grin.

“You never know with the Paladins of Voltron.”

“…You don’t know that,” replied Acxa softly, teeth digging into her berry lips and eyes flickering over the ocean waves so far away now where the most beautiful person in the world frolicked; she was probably happier without Acxa to slow her down. “But Lance wanted to spend it with you.”

Keith shrugged like his heart wasn’t choking the breath out of him.

“We both know where we’re needed. And don’t change the subject.”

“Can and did.”

“Rude.”

“Okay,” said Allura, pulling up beside them with her long white hair folded back in a bun and a smile glowing across her lips. “I’m ready whenever you are!”

Veronica bit back her thoughts, drawing a smirk up on her face and hopping into position even as her eyes strayed to the volcano against her will. She wondered what the view was like from up there. What Acxa’s view looked like.

Am I even in it?

“In that case,” cheered Lance, throwing a grin at his two sisters as the water rolled toward them, “let’s raise a little hell!”

And that was when the volcano pivoted towards them with a roar, lava erupting in an arc from the top as the ocean rose in challenge, screeching back so loudly that Veronica was convinced she was going to go deaf even before Lance threw his arms into the air with a resounding, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”

“I guess hell doesn’t need any help in rising,” replied Allura, rolling her eyes at the war fast brewing between the sentient volcano and ocean while Veronica just stared at the unimpressed princess and her huffy brother.

“I can’t tell if you two are weird or if you’ve just been exposed to too many weird things,” she finally decided before a soft smile curling over berry lips bloomed in her mind. “Wait, Acxa’s still up there! Our family is on that rampaging volcano! …and other things I only say around you guys.”

“You guys certainly have luck,” complained Acxa as she dove behind a rock next to Keith and Shiro to avoid the shower of boiling lava. “Bad luck.”

“Never noticed,” deadpanned Keith, his eyes turning yellow as the rumbling of the volcano temporarily receded.

That meant lava was probably going to start flying soon, and Keith would rather they be off the volcano by the time that started. Pidge crouched behind another rock along with Bandor, Romelle, and Shay, cradling her computer close to her chest while Bandor clung to his sister, and something twisted in Keith’s chest at the sight of it.

“Acxa, did you bring a knife?”

“Do I ever not,” she retorted as ice rippled over her face like a mask. “Where do you need me?”

Keith smirked.

“Ever heard of volcano boarding?”

“Adam, get ‘Lura to shore!” Roared Lance as lava arced towards them, crashing into the ocean in a torrent of steam and black glass shards that nearly threw the surfers into the boiling water surrounding them. “Vee, Hunk, stick with me! We’ve got to get those guys off the volcano!”

“But how?!” Cried Hunk, scrambling to a standing position with a wince. “We’ll be deep fried if we get close!”

“Hunk,” replied Lance, the battle grin already sliding back onto his lips that Veronica hated seeing on his one day off, “there’s a side of the volcano that’s just cooled lava pebbles; Pidge was going on about it during the trip over. Remember that one place in Nicaragua that you, Keith, and I decided to go to next year?”

Hunk’s eyes turned into twin moons, and he threw back his head with a laugh.

“That’s crazy! Keith would never……yeah, it’s crazy, so he would, okay, yep, I’ll just go get the surfboards.”

Lance cackled, saluting as his best friend sped off towards the shore, cringing every time the sizzling sea broke over the side of the board to sting his feet.

“So, uh, Vee…”

“No, no, no, don’t you dare say we’re going closer to that thing.”

“………………………………………………………………………………………”

“Fine, just say it and get it over with.”

Pidge looked like she was about to go feral by the time that Keith had her strapped to the thick slab of bark that was going to carry her to the bottom of the volcano with her equipment clutched in a tangled, metallic mess.

“Are you insane?!” She shrieked as Acxa tied Bandor down to another strip. “We’re just going to get incinerated while flying down the active volcano! And all my data will go with me! What are we even supposed to do when we reach the bottom?!”

“You unstrap yourself and wait for Hunk to pick you up,” replied Keith with a shrug. “We were planning on doing this next summer in Nicaragua.”

“Now go, before the lava kills us all!” Added Acxa, shoving Bandor and Pidge bodily down the volcano as a mountain of water slapped it in the face. “Shay, Ro--”

Without any warning, Shay leapt towards the side of the volcano, curling herself up into a spiked ball and plowing down the slope with reckless abandon that made Shiro stare pointedly at Keith.

Acxa blinked twice. “…I wasn’t going to say roll, but that works too. In that case, Shiro, Romelle, you two are next!”

The ground shrieked, a torrent of lava erupting above them, and Keith let out a warning cry. Shiro jerked, diving behind cover, and Acxa hauled Romelle to safety after her while Keith snatched up Acxa’s thick coil of rope. Magma tore towards him and Keith leapt away a tick too late. The lava burned through the sole of his boot, melting the materials like they were liquid, leaving the dissolved ends to crash into Keith’s ankles like bombs. He let out a cry of pain as he hit the ground, turning to wrench the remains off and hurl them as far away as he could, Shiro’s hands already on his shoulders and sheer agony exploding through his veins like his cells had caught on fire. His ankle was rimmed in a deep, roaring red, and blood was already ripping out from the damaged area as a scream boiled in Keith’s throat and tears burned at his eyes.

“Keith?! Keith, are you okay?!” Cried Shiro, pulling his little brother closer, and Keith bit back a spiked groan.

“I’ll live,” he managed.

“Keith, you’re injured, you have to go next,” insisted Shiro. “I’ll go down with you, I’ll help you to the board--”

“No!” Snarled Keith, whipping his head up and blinking the stars out of his eyes as Shiro flinched back. “No,” he repeated, softer, “Hunk needs to be able to get everyone else to shore first; I’ll be the slowest since I can’t stand. We all have to make it out of this.”

Please just let there be enough rope.

Lance tore through the waves, weaving between sprays of lava and cacophonies of shrapnel as the water level rose steadily and Veronica ripped alongside him. Small islands littered their path, cooled lava occasionally serving as ramps for them to flip off of, and more than a few burns strewn over their arms and cheeks. The ocean was howling at the volcano, waves crashing against the mountain and smacking against its face, and Lance couldn’t help but grin. Fire on water. He knew that feeling.

Veronica swerved beside him, a thunderstorm raging on her brow, and eyes fixed on the top of the mountain. She was going to get Acxa back. She was going to bring her home; Acxa had already seen the deepest scum of the universe, she had fought three times to drag herself up from the bottom, she had remade herself more times than Veronica would ever know, she didn’t deserve this too! She deserved to take a break, to breathe, to have fun, to be happy, to be loved, to…to have everything. And Veronica wanted to be the one who gave Acxa everything.

And, once a McClain set their mind to something, no power in the universe could stop them.

The tick that the lava spray slowed, Acxa flung the board at Keith’s head like lightning and his hand shot up to snatch it out of midair. He twisted, shoving Shiro onto the board and snapping the rope around him as tightly as he could.

“Acxa, get Romelle going!” Yelled Keith, flinging the remainder of the rope towards her and refusing to look at it.

He didn’t need Pidge to do that math.

Lance snatched a piece of cooled magma and tossed it in his hand for a tick, sizing up the volcano in front of him.

Then, with a flick of the wrist that looked far too delicate for how hard it flung the rock, he chucked it straight into the behemoth’s eye with a battle cry.

Keith shoved Shiro down the volcano as Romelle let out a protesting cry, and Acxa cast her down barely a tick after.

Together, leaning against each other, they watched the last of the survivors go down.

“Hey, ugly!” Roared Lance as the volcano let out a screech of pain. “Why don’t you try us on for size?! What, too scared to take on a couple of humans?! Give us your best shot!”

“Coward, you call this lava?!” Screamed Veronica. “This is nothing compared to Pompeii! Come on, what are you, the weakest volcano in history?! Show us a real eruption!”

Smoke poured from the volcano’s top, and Lance squeezed Veronica’s hand as his smile caught a frenzied edge.

“Ahahahahahaaaaaaa, run.”

“We should have both stayed on the beach, huh?” Ventured Acxa, Keith’s arm cast over her shoulders as smoke billowed from the top of the volcano.

“…Guess there’s a price for not listening to our hearts.”

Lance and Veronica let out a shrieking cheer as the ocean parted for them, throwing both surfers out of the way of the volcano’s outburst and giving them the momentum to swivel.

“Careful, Lancito!” Yelled Veronica, and Lance skimmed over the top of the waves, skidding through the waves in a frantic dance to avoid the spray of molten magma.

He spun like he was one with the waves, like he was born to do this, lava falling short of so much as grazing him, and that trademark grin never once leaving his lips. Veronica bit back a smile as she swerved across the spitting waves, magma coming within inches of her face. Her brother never failed to amaze her.

“Vee, to your right!” Warned Lance, cutting a close circle around the opening in the ocean as he felt the water bubble up under his surfboard. “Don’t get cooked!”

“Not on the itinerary!” Retorted Veronica, whipping away from the flurry of lava and tearing towards him with a smirk. “Now then, let’s catch our flight!”

Acxa pursed her lips, rubbing the back of her head.

“I wish I’d told her.”

Keith chuckled, leaning against her, and closed his eyes as the spray of lava erupted over their heads.

“Don’t worry.”

With a thunderous roar, the water closed over the magma, and Veronica and Lance slid on top of it just as it erupted in a geyser of boiling water that blasted their surfboards into the air.

“Best flip wins it all!” Yelled Lance from where he was tucked like a bug on top of his surfboard so the steam and water wouldn’t scald him to death, and Veronica threw him a smirk.

“You’re going down, little bro!”

The water was vaporizing beneath their surfboards, searing the air until it felt like a fire was starting in their lungs, but Lance didn’t flinch. He wouldn’t let it end like this. Not for Keith, not for Acxa, and not for his sister. He wouldn’t let her lose her first love like this.

Veronica tucked close to her board and locked her jaw. She had never been one to back down from a fight. When the Garrison raised an eyebrow at her application, she had snuck into a simulator and demolished the course, marching up to Iverson with a smirk. She was admitted a few vargas later, and she never took it for granted. She stayed up late and woke up early every single quintant, studying, working, training, never once faltering or looking back. She was the valedictorian of her class, the first to be promoted, but she still didn’t slow down.

But, while Veronica was sprinting through life, Acxa jogged up beside her with a wave and a soft smile. That was all it took to steal away her breath and, for once, Veronica wanted to slow down and savor life.

With Acxa beside her, Veronica felt like she was actually living for the first time. She wanted to give that to Acxa.

“If she’s anything like Lance, I’d suggest you keep your eyes on the sky.”

The geyser spat them off the top and Lance rolled free of the scalding water, clutching the edge of his surfboard and flipping twice before spotting Keith and Acxa below.

“KEITH!” He bellowed in the voice that commanded attention no matter what, the only one that could have possibly drawn a glowing smile to his fiance’s face as he and Veronica sailed through over the volcano and the geyser subsided. “JUMP!”

Acxa’s jaw dropped, and Keith let out a wild laugh; he had long since learned that Lance could always surmount the impossible. His eyes blazed a ferocious yellow, and Acxa propped an arm under him to help propel him through the air as he bent his knee. Lance spread out his arms, and a sob climbed up through Keith’s throat. No matter how much he trusted his fiance, it still blew his mind every time Lance came back for him. Now, to make it into his arms.

Keith channeled every ounce of energy into his good foot, and Acxa smiled softly.

“Go home to him.”

Then, with an explosion of force he didn’t know he could summon, Keith tore through the air, arms outstretched and eyes blurring with tears as Lance grew large in front of him, that familiar warmth he knew better than his own enveloping him. I’ll always come home to you.

Acxa smiled as Lance wrapped his arms around Keith, flipping and twisting through the air to steady them for the landing, and she finally felt like she could breathe, even as the lava splattered around her. If she was finally going to die, at least it was protecting those she loved. Acxa had stared into the reaper’s face more times than she could count. She had jumped off of cliffs, dove into battlefields swamped in lasers, and stood between assassins and Lotor with nothing to protect her. She had lived in the shadow of death her whole life.

If it had finally caught up to her, at least it wouldn’t hurt anyone she loved. Acxa tilted her head back and took a deep breath. She had promised she would die gracefully.

“ACXA!” Screamed Veronica, plummeting past her vision, one hand extended and tears flying from her eyes as the woman she loved stood still. “COME ON! COME LIVE WITH ME!”

Hunk wrapped a towel around Shay, their eyes cast on the sky and fingers tight around each other’s, and Romelle trapped Allura in a hug even as they both stared at the volcano where two lovers fought for each other. Shiro, Curtis, and Adam stood with their hands snugly ensconced in one another’s, and Bandor was wrapped around Pidge as her teeth ripped into her lip, eyes trapped on the clouds, on what her family would do next. Keith and Lance plummeted towards the boiling sea, arms tight around each other, and gaze trained on their sisters.

Acxa could feel their eyes. She could feel the heartbeat pulsing through the team, the love that had driven them to save the universe, overthrown Zarkon, and offered her a helping hand. Maybe, just maybe, with this love to catch me…

Acxa tore for the edge, sclera lighting up a glorious gold and boot catching the edge of the volcano as molten lava raced towards her…

Maybe I can take a leap of faith.

Keith and Lance splashed into the sea, tearing across the killer waves, and spinning onto the shore with a breathless laugh, collapsing onto the sand.

“You really need to find a hobby other than giving me heart attacks,” teased Lance, catching Keith’s lips in his own. “Are you okay? Feel up to getting your ankle treated?”

Keith hummed, savoring the sweetness of Lance’s touch, and nestling close to his chest.

“I do.”

And, as Lance picked up his fiance and held him close to his chest, he could finally breathe. After all, Veronica had never missed a flip in her life.

Acxa fell into Veronica’s arms just ticks before they crashed into the waves, their lips slotting over each other’s without warning and, in the quieting of the war, their hearts finally beat together. Even as Veronica steered them towards the shore, spinning around new baby islands and cresting waves, their eyes never once separated.

“I love you,” breathed Acxa, and Veronica nearly wiped out as her heart exploded, the love of her life cradled in her arms and staring at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the universe.

Maybe, as long as their hands stayed together, no matter how many volcanoes or oceans tried to kill them…

“Right back at you, sweetheart,” whispered Veronica, kissing Acxa’s forehead as the world around them slowed down just for that single moment.

Maybe they could walk down life’s road together.