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Zarfon

Keith slipped inside the warehouse and closed the door quietly behind him. Bayard gripped in one hand, he crept along the edge of the room until he was even with the crates. Then, he darted out to one and knelt in front of it, doing a quick room scan for anyone watching. Setting the bayard on the floor beside him, Keith reached both hands up to the lid, gripped it, and pushed. 

The world went blue as a strong electrical shock surged from the lid: out through one arm, his chest, and through the other back to the lid in a circuit. With what remained of his willpower through the sudden shock, Keith released the lid and slumped back, seizing and breathing hard as fireworks exploded behind his eyelids. His helmet opened to take in outside air as his visor sparked. 

The lights flicked on like a skylight, aimed directly at Keith’s face. He yelped and covered his eyes, burying his head in his hands. 

A beat later, he realized his mistake and shot upright, reaching for his bayard. It was too late. Three tranquilizer shots came out from the shadows beyond the bright light with only one bouncing off his armor. Fast acting, Keith’s world quickly faded. His last sight was of boots approaching him, not that he’d remember it. 

Three hours earlier

“We will split into four groups to gather the materials. The goal is to get in and out unnoticed. Pidge and Hunk, you two are after a series of receivers and transmitters, a special brand that should work to repair the communications. Coran shall go with you to show you what we need in addition. You will be going to the Space Market. Lance, Shiro, you two are on hardware. We need titanium sheets, 5 x 6, ten of them, as well as two buckets of aluminum pellets. Keith,” Allura practically spat the name. “There’s a warehouse on Zarfon that has boxes of set charges and tranquilizers. You will need to be as incognito as possible. For that matter, you will need to take a shuttle rather than a lion.”

Back to Keith

Keith woke with a start. Adrenaline shooting through him as his body remembered before his mind. Said body jerked against smooth, thick straps. 

Gasping, Keith tried to lift his head to look down at his body. He could get it just high enough to see a mix of some sort of leather and metal tight around his arms, legs, chest, and stomach, before his forehead couldn’t go any higher due to a thick strap over his forehead. 

He’d been disarmed, armor removed and bayard and heirloom knife missing. He wore scratchy fabric, loose enough that someone could move it aside with no issue, even with the restraints. 

Keith’s eyes flicked about, trying to take in the room, but a bright light directly over his head made it hard to see. Everything beyond his body was cast in shadows, and the contrast was too high for him to make anything out. He closed his eyes. 

“Deep breaths. Deep breath. Patience yields focus.” He said to himself. He took a deep breath in, held it, and let it out. It took several focused breaths before he calmed his breathing enough to focus. 

“Okay. Where am I?” Keith cracked his eyes open, just to quickly shut them again. The bright light was still shining directly on his face. He calmed his breathing, which had sped up again, and focused on his other senses: hearing and smell in particular. 

There was a low buzz washing over him, blocking out most of the other sounds. He wasn’t sure if it was artificial or not. He could faintly hear footsteps and whirring gears, but anything else was drowned out. 

Smells… he could smell antiseptic. Well, the space version of it. He could smell sweat, likely coming from himself. The leathers and metals tying him down had a strange smell, slightly metallic, which made sense given metals. 

Taste and touch. Touch, he definitely wasn’t in his armor anymore, as he previously observed. The surface he was on felt slightly sticky and the restraints were tight but not biting if he didn’t struggle. There was a slight breeze coming from somewhere off to his left, ruffing his sweaty head hair and making his exposed arm hair stand on end. 

Taste, well, Keith’s mouth tasted the slight coppery, salty taste of blood, like he bit his tongue, which he might have now that he thought about it. The air also tasted artificial in the way space stuff tasted without the extra mix of gasses that occurred naturally in planetary atmospheres from the abundance of life. He felt parched, dehydrated a bit.

The air pressure felt wonky, more attuned to a Galran environment than a more Earthly one. Keith hoped they were pumping oxygen in… That could go poorly quickly, as they’d learned that Alteans, at least, not only didn’t need oxygen but found it slightly poisonous over time. As Keith had that thought, he noticed a nose cannula he’d missed previously. Keith shook his head and the nose cannula moved with it. It was secured well, looping behind his ears for extra stability. 

The doors to his left whooshed open and he heard three sets of footsteps approach. Two metallic sets that sounded like armor, one heavier than the other, and one set that had a drag of fabric behind it. Keith tensed and tried to look into the shadows around the light. He could faintly make out shapes, but the bright light was making it super hard. The strap over his forehead was, of course, not helping. 

Keith refused to admit, even to himself, that he was scared. Angry, frustrated, sure. But scared? Nah. That wasn’t his vibe. 

Still, as Galran hands reached for him and began attaching devices Keith didn’t recognize, Keith’s body tensed and his breathing sped up a bit. He went a bit cross-eyed when they set a crystal on his forehead and tried to pull his arms away when they wrapped sharp studded bands around his biceps, sharp ends pressing against but not breaking his skin. More crystals were set on his chest and stomach in a straight line. 

There was a whispered chant near Keith’s head that made him jerk. Before he could really do anything more, there was a sharp pain from not just the studs but the crystals, and his body began to burn . 

Whatever happened next, Keith was unable to hear it over his own screaming. 

Aboard the Castle

Pidge and Hunk walked into the control room in good spirits. They found Shiro, Lance, and Allura waiting. 

“Ah, you got the goods?” Allura asked. 

“Receivers and transmitters acquired. As well as some other odds and ends that should be useful for upgrades,” Pidge replied cheerfully, arms bent above her head as she stretched an elbow. 

“Coran is putting them away,” Hunk added. 

“Excellent!” Allura said, clapping her hands together. “Then, with that, everyone is back and we’re good to go!”

“Wait, where’s Keith?” Pidge asked, blinking and dropping her arms. 

“Allura said he was back before us,” Shiro replied. 

“Big surprise he didn’t want to wait on the deck or in the control room for us.” Lance grumbled. 

Pidge tilted her head and looked over to Hunk, who was giving her the same unsure look. “That’s weird,” Pidge said. “I didn’t see his shuttle?”

All eyes turned to Allura, who looked surprisingly happy given the topic of conversation. After a moment, she looked up and did a double take at their stares. “What?”

“Where’s Keith?” Pidge repeated. 

Allura hummed. “Probably in his room or the training room. He got back hours ago.” Lance relaxed but the rest didn’t. 

Pidge’s eyes narrowed. “His shuttle’s not in the bay.”

Allura blinked, but there was something off in her expression. Something… “It was there last I checked. Maybe you just weren’t looking in the right area?” 

Lance shifted a bit uncomfortably. “I’ll go check the Training Room?” He offered. 

Pidge hummed, still studying Allura. “No need.” She said. “At least, no need yet.”

Allura seemed a bit bolstered by that, at least until Pidge spun and stalked over to one of the computer terminals. 

“Pidge?” She asked, as the teen typed and clicked away. Screens popped up on the hologram, showing the empty training room, the empty halls (except for Coran who was cheerfully whistling as he came towards the Control Room), and, most tellingly, the empty bay where the fourth shuttle should be. 

Allura was starting to look a bit nervous behind her forced cheer, eyes flitting about as Pidge pulled up more screens, these showing the ins and outs and the shuttle’s tracker, as well as Keith’s. Keith’s… which had gone dark two hours ago and failed to re-emerge. 

They all turned to stare down Allura. Allura’s eyes flashed. “Fine. So, he’s not here. He told me he was sick of me and took off in the shuttle.”  

“Keith? Keith said that?” Hunk asked, disbelief in his tone. 

“The same Keith who told me off for wanting to take a shuttle to go search for my family instead of aiding the war effort? That Keith?”

Allura huffed. “Well, he hadn’t revealed his true colors then.” 

All of them were looking at her now with expressions of disbelief, even and maybe especially Lance. 

“This is racism!” Lance burst. “You’re discriminating against him because he’s half-Galra. He didn’t even know he was half-Galra and now you think he’s evil because of it!”

Allura couldn’t quite hide her sneer. She opened her mouth to retort and Shiro cut her off. 

“Stop,” he said, stonily. “Allura, I raised Keith for several years. He’s my brother and an orphan . If you can’t live with the fact that he’s apparently half-Galra, then maybe we trusted you too fast. Maybe we shouldn’t be helping with Voltron at all.”

“Where. Is. Keith?” Pidge demanded. 

As if waiting for a cue, the merrily whistling Coran took that moment to enter. He paused when he saw the standoff. 

“My Princess, what is happening here?”

“Nothing, Coran. Just a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?” Pidge repeated. “A misunderstanding?!?”

“Coran,” Hunk cut in before Pidge could work herself up. “Keith’s not back yet.”

“Oh. Is that all?” Coran asked. “Well I’m sure if we-“

“No. That’s not all.” Lance said. “Your Princess told us he was back already and then changed her tune and said he ran away. And tried to leave without him.”

Coran blinked, then turned to silently ask Allura if that was true. Allura crossed her arms, looking a bit like a moody teenager. “Allura?” He asked. And Allura broke. 

“Fine. He’s not coming back. That Galra scum has gone to rejoin his people.”

“Oh that’s rich-“ Pidge started but Coran held up a hand, eyes locked on Allura, who glanced to the side and then back at Coran’s mustache.

“Allura.” He repeated. Allura’s eyebrow twitched and then twitched again. “ Allura .” 

Allura huffed and hugged her arms tighter, averting her eyes. “It might not have, entirely, been his choice.”

The Paladins started to argue but Coran made another motion with his hand and they stopped, although they all bristled in righteous anger. 

“Where is the Red Paladin, Allura? What. Happened?”

Finally, Allura turned away. There was a moment of silence, and then. “Gone.” 

And, with another look from Coran, the whole story slipped free. 

They had all known Allura hadn’t been handling the ‘Keith is half Galra’ reveal well. She hadn’t handled the ‘Some Galra are on our side’ reveal with the Blade of Marmora at all. And she wanted to have no Galra in her life after the 10,000 years of slumber, no matter the advantages. To her, all Galra were evil, part or not. 

And so, Allura had schemed a way to get rid of Keith as bloodlessly as possible. Not kill him. Or at least, not kill him herself. Just make it so he was no longer there. 

So she’d dropped an anonymous tip to the Galra that a paladin, specifically a half-Galran, half-Earthling Paladin of Voltron, would be sneaking into their storage unit with enough forewarning that they’d be prepared when Keith got there. Then, she lowered Keith’s defenses, ensured he didn’t take the Red Lion even though he took the armor and bayard, and sent him to the storage unit. 

If Keith made it back, he made it back. If not, then Allura would never have to see him again. 

“Allura.” Coran said, eyes heartbroken. “I have never been so disappointed in someone in my life.” He whispered. 

Allura flinched, but some steel entered her eyes. “It’s not that bad. We can easily find another paladin.”

“Then, you can find two.” Pidge said. “I might have signed up to fight the Galra. But there are other methods. Ones where I can trust the people involved. And not being on the team, well, Keith is the one who convinced me to stay in the first place. If you don’t want him on your team, then I’m out as well.”

“Three.” Shiro said. “I will not leave my little brother behind to be tortured. Pidge wants to find her family too. We don’t need you for that.” 

Hunk and Lance exchanged a glance and then both set their bayards down and turned and walked out of the room. Lance glanced back once at Allura, eyes watering, then he shook his head and continued on his way. 

Pidge downloaded some data from the terminal before she and Shiro followed. 

And then there were two. 

Coran studied the Princess of an extinct people with sadness in his eyes. “Oh Princess. We can’t save the universe with hate.” He stepped towards her and Allura started to cry. He pulled her into a hug. “It is with friendship and love and allies that the universe can be freed from the Galran Empire. Voltron was created by a party. No one was entirely wrong and no one was entirely right, and they began as friends. Remember that. And think. This isn’t unsalvageable yet.” He gave her a light kiss on the head. “Not yet.”

Keith

Keith had no idea how long Haggar and the Galra tortured him. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure they would call it torture. It was too clinical for that. Experimented, maybe? He wasn’t sure what they were trying to measure but by the time they finished, or took a break at least, Keith was shaking like a leaf. His limbs were spasming against the restraints. His vision was blurry and all he could hear was a buzzing sound interspersed with unintelligible murmurs that were probably people talking over him. 

It took some time for Keith’s body to calm enough that he could focus. When it did, he found himself alone, at least as far as he could tell. Keith groaned and panted, trying to get his bearings. Well, get them at least a little more in order. When his breathing had calmed and the spasms were less frequent, Keith concentrated his mental focus on his bayard. Hopefully, it was close enough to respond. He held out his right hand and called it to him. 

Thankfully, the bayard came. Keith flipped it in his hand and focused on cutting through the restraints without hurting himself. They snapped easily once he managed to get the blade beneath them. As quickly, yet carefully, as he could, Keith cut through the other restraints. Snap. Snap. Snap. 

From there, Keith pulled himself free of the medical equipment, slipped off the strap on his forehead, and sat up. The world spun and he had to smack the bright light that had been right overhead out of the way so he could sit up fully. 

Keith took a moment to breathe and center himself, and then dropped his feet to the ground. He almost immediately fell to his hands and knees but managed to fling his arms out for balance and steady himself so he didn’t fall. He closed his eyes and focused again. Then, he dropped his arms and wobbled his way to the door. 

Pressing the keypad, the door slid open easily. And Keith slipped out into the hallway. Bayard at the ready, Keith started jogging down the hallway, praying he was going in the right direction and trying to stay out of sight as much as possible. He dodged sentries and soldiers alike, turning corners mostly at random, though he tried to always turn towards the same direction he started in instead of the other way. The last thing he wanted was to end up right back where he started. 

It was at least seven turns later, and maybe fifteen minutes, when the alarm started blaring. The open door Keith had just been about to turn into slid closed before he reached it and locked. Keith hit the pad but it didn’t reopen. He cursed and continued down the hallway, hopeful he’d run across a good hiding place. The next turn had him quickly ducking back into the hallway he’d come from before the two Galran Soldiers waiting with weapons could see him. 

Keith looked around for another route and turned down another hallway just as the Galra turned into his. He all but sprinted down the new one, skipping a step when two sentries turned down at the end. He quickly recovered his gait and narrowed his eyes. Instead of slowing down, he sped up, flashing out his bayard and going on offense. He slashed through the sentry robots, pausing just to cut off one of the robotic right hands so he could use it on doors. 

That pause was almost too long though as Keith heard a shout and looked up to see the two Galran soldiers coming down after him. He ducked a shot from one of their guns and scrambled over the sentries to continue down the hallway. He zigzagged a bit after turning the corner the sentries had come from. 

Focusing on not getting hit by the Galra, Keith almost slammed into the door the hallway dead ended into. Hurriedly, Keith fumbled the hand he’d stolen, putting it up to the keypad and pressing it in the appropriate place. He almost dropped it twice. Far, far too slowly, in his opinion, Keith managed to get it into the correct orientation. 

Just in time for a laser to slam into his right bicep. Keith yelped and his fingers spasmed. He almost dropped his bayard but managed to keep hold, if not an ideal grip. 

The door slid open and Keith tumbled through. He shot up to his knees and slammed his left hand against the close button. Just before the door slid closed, one of the Galran soldiers dove through, landing on top of Keith and tackling him to the ground. The soldier’s ankle just barely cleared the opening, but Keith had bigger issues. Namely, the thickset soldier with heavy armor now grappling him. 

Keith swung his bayard to try to stab the soldier but the soldier caught his right wrist and squeezed. Keith’s fingers spasmed and he almost lost the bayard. A twist of the soldier’s hand in the wrong direction and that almost became fact. The bayard clattered as it fell, then swished magically, becoming its inert form. Keith tried to summon it to his other hand but an armored elbow pressed into his left forearm to make that effort defunct as well. 

Being as slim and lanky as he was, Keith was at a disadvantage to begin with. Take away his armor and weapons and give them to his opponent and he was in a tough spot. Add muscle spasms and whatever they had been doing to him earlier? Well, Keith was grappled even before the door slid open again to let in the second Galran soldier. 

“Get his feet first.” Keith’s grappler said. The other Galra obliged. Keith kicked out at them feebly, but just got his wrist twisted further for his troubles. In no time, his ankles were cuffed together and the second Galra was closing an electric collar around Keith’s neck. He gasped when they shocked him with it, momentarily going stiff. The two Galra lifted Keith to his feet. Keith tried to wiggle his way free to no avail. His hands were cuffed behind his back and then twisted upwards with each Galra taking a side. One of the Galra scooped up Keith’s bayard and stuck it through a loop on the Galran armor. 

They marched him back out the door he’d come through and then through a different route than the one he’d tried to escape down. Evidently, he hadn’t picked the quickest way. He tried to remember the path they were taking for a second escape attempt down the line. He also tried digging his heels in but the Galra just applied a little more force and he was stumbling forward or dragged along, trying to get his feet under him. 

They arrived at the door of the room Keith had escaped from and the Galra opened it with a hand to the keypad. They marched Keith inside and towards the table or bed or whatever he’d been tied to. They paused as they took in the sliced restraints, grip loosening as they picked up one or two to examine the cut ends. 

Keith seized his chance and summoned his bayard to his dominant hand. He cut the connector between his hands and tried to slice the Galra next to him who quickly let go. Keith brought his hands forward to fight but one of the Galra seized his dominant wrist and squeezed a pressure point beneath the cuffs. Keith yelped as his fingers spasmed and the bayard slipped. He managed to keep hold at first, but more pressure on the pressure point had it slipping from his fingers. 

Keith quickly switched the bayard to his other hand and swiped at the other Galra before they could go after it. He still hadn’t managed to stab or slice the Galra but he’d gotten a hit on the armor. Keith tried to pull his wrist free but the Galra was putting quite a bit of strength into it. Said hand was now spasming like crazy and Keith was having a hard time not focusing on it. He whirled to stab that Galra just to have the second grab his elbow and yank. 

The struggle lasted another couple of minutes but the Galra managed to overpower Keith. The teen was pushed down and his arms were slammed onto the table. The bayard was tossed across the room for now, although Keith kept repeatedly summoning it. 

The door behind them slid open and Keith just withheld a scream of frustration as at least two more Galra entered, footsteps loud enough to break through the haze that had fallen on him during the struggle. A third set had that fabricy sound he recognized from early. Keith could feel eyes on him as he desperately tried to pull free and escape. 

“Break his wrists.” A female voice said clearly. 

Keith barely had time to process the words before the new Galra were grabbing his arms and hands and twisting them until there was a loud CRACK CRACK then letting go. In a second, he was screaming at the pain as he lost use of both hands at the same time. 

“You,” he heard faintly. “Get the black helmet.”

Keith hadn’t recovered from the broken wrists by the time whoever had been sent returned. The Galra holding him against the table shifted their grip and a helmet was closed over his head. It bumped into the collar, and then connected with it. There was a click shh as it was locked into place on the collar such that it could not open. 

As soon as it was on, Keith realized what it was. The ‘black helmet’ was a sensory deprivation helmet. It blocked out all outside sounds, smells, and light. The air inside it was heady and thick and he found there wasn’t enough oxygen. It didn’t actually touch his head either, an orb connected to the collar rather than skin. There was a hiss and a tangy air entered. Oxygen. It became easier to breathe. Another hiss and he started to feel woozy. A sedative, presumably. 

Of course, the sensory deprivation was centered on his head, so he could still feel things on the rest of his body. Like his broken wrists as they set them, even as the sedative began to make things numb. The Galra removed the cuffs and replaced them with glove-like splints, immobilizing his arms from just above the wrists down to the tips of his fingers, thumb included. 

Rather than letting Keith stumble about, they picked him up and carried him out of that room, a few steps down the hall, and then into a new room. Keith was set down on a new table and strapped into place like he had been originally except for his head. The orb was set such that Keith’s head was essentially suspended inside if he kept his head straight. It was super disorienting. 

Keith wasn’t sure how long he lay there with his senses cut off and his body numb. He might have fallen asleep at some point. He could faintly feel things poked onto his arms and legs at some point, but his limbs felt all noodley, pins and needles. He breathed in and out. In and out. He couldn’t hear, couldn’t see, couldn’t smell, couldn’t even feel really due to the numbness. 

Thus, he had no idea his rescue had begun until something cut through the collar and broke off the helmet. Sounds and lights and smells blared in so strongly that he immediately passed out from the overload. Next Keith was even slightly aware, he was draped piggyback over a familiar back. Keith laid his head down and passed back out without meaning too. 

Pidge

It hadn’t been easy to locate Keith in a Galra ship on high alert. It had taken hours and the help of the Red Lion to even get to the right ship. At least, they hoped it was the right ship. They found Keith’s equipment first. At least, his armor and heirloom knife. The bayard was missing. They split up into pairs to search the ship. Lance and Hunk. Shiro and Pidge. Coran had informed them he’d have the medbay ready. 

They hadn’t discussed consequences for Allura yet. The fact of the matter was, she had broken their trust. And their trust was valuable. They didn’t know what would become of Voltron just yet, but they knew, well, Coran knew and convinced them that they needed Keith back before they made a decision on that front. 

Lance and Hunk found several more prisoners to rescue but not Keith. Knowing Keith wouldn’t want them to leave the prisoners behind, the two helped them to the Lions, dropping Keith’s armor off as well with the exception of a gauntlet Pidge was using to track down the bayard, before continuing the search in earnest, now on the lookout for more prisoners as well as Keith. 

Pidge and Shiro were the ones to luck out. They found Keith’s bayard in a corner of a room that held a table with gleams of red blood on it. Thankfully not much blood but enough. They were able to confirm it was Keith’s and collected the bayard. They exchanged a glance and then Shiro happily shot up the table as revenge for presumably torturing his brother. 

They checked the nearby rooms and found a prisoner in the first room to the right. At first, they didn’t know it was Keith. The body type was similar and the skin color was the same, but the head was encased in a black ball. The two Paladins hesitantly entered and released the restraints before studying the ball. Pidge took a look at the devices on the prisoner’s fingers, eventually identifying them as a sort of splint. Scanning them revealed no trackers, so she left them be. 

Shiro examined the black ball, finding it locked into a collar around the prisoner’s neck. 

“What do you think?” He asked Pidge. 

Pidge lifted her gauntlet and scanned the ball. She grimaced when she realized she couldn’t tell if it was needed or not. She scanned the collar too, and that turned out to be electric. 

“I think we cut through the collar. It’s electric and has trackers in it. The sphere… if it’s Keith, it’s definitely not good. If it’s not Keith, destroying it might be bad. 

Shiro looked over the body. “I think it’s Keith.” 

“Alright,” Pidge said. She took a deep breath, and then carefully sliced the collar, aware of how close it was to the prisoner’s neck. The sphere broke open with the removal of the collar, revealing that it was, in fact, Keith beneath it. 

Keith immediately gasped for air and cringed. He slammed his eyes shut and, Pidge wasn’t sure if he was doing it consciously or not, but he shoved his head into Shiro’s chest and raised his hands to his ears, whimpering and moaning. 

Shiro hugged the teen close and buried his face in his hair. 

Pidge was reluctant to break up the moment, but quickly reminded Shiro they needed to go. The Galra definitely knew they were here by now. 

She helped the completely out of it Keith onto Shiro’s back and they took off down the hall, Pidge leading the way with her downloaded map. 

They made easy time to the hanger, only running into three sentries, who Pidge was quick to take care of, and a Galra, who raised their arms and stepped out of the way. Pidge thanked them cheekily while Shiro hurried past in case they changed their mind. They’d only brought two of their lions, Red and Green, and Shiro hurried onto Red, setting Keith down. Pidge hesitated, and then told Shiro she was going to her Lion, and went and boarded Green, where it turned out Lance and Hunk had guided the other prisoners and were standing waiting with them. 

“Is this everyone?” She asked. 

Lance and Hunk looked to the prisoners for the answer. The prisoners conferred and then one said. 

“They brought a new one aboard this morning. Straight to the rooms for them though.”

Pidge nodded. “That’ll be Keith. He’s on Red with Shiro.”

“Then, yes. This is all.”

“Great,” Pidge said. She went to the cockpit and promptly took off. Red had been waiting and was quick to follow. And back to the Castle of Lions they went. 

Returning, they got the rescuees settled in a comfortable room with some clothes they kept for just these occasions. Then, after checking no one else was significantly injured, they headed to the medbay where they found Coran and Shiro, with Keith in a pod. 

“Injuries?” Pidge asked. 

“Electric burns and broken wrists.” Shiro replied. “Plus a sensory overload. Seems that sphere was designed to cut off all senses, even touch and taste.”

All three teens shuddered at that thought. 

“He’ll probably need help processing the fact that he's not there anymore,” Shiro continued, giving them a significant look. 

Lance and Pidge lit up. “Does that mean?” Lance asked. 

Shiro rolled his eyes, but was smiling a bit. “Yes. Forced cuddles.”

“Yes!” They both shouted. 

And so, the story ended with a grumpy Keith smushed between two enthusiastic cadets with Hunk forcing him to eat his latest spiced concoction, which was surprisingly tasty. Apparently he’d stocked up on spice at the Space Mall too while they were there, dodging the Space Mall Cop. Apparently there was a story there, that Pidge and Hunk giggled over in secretive looks. 

That’s not to say there aren’t other loose threads that would need to be covered. Allura still had her outlook and the other Paladins would take a long time to forgive her, and even longer to tentatively trust her again. It took a long conversation with Coran and some of the refugees, but the Paladins decided to stick around and stay as Voltron. After all, Allura wasn’t a Paladin. 

This changed the course of the story too. Instead of Allura becoming the blue paladin when Shiro was lost and the shuffle happened, Coran joined the team. Trust was needed, after all. If Shay had been around, it is likely she would have actually been the one to join instead. 

Allura eventually got past her prejudices. Although conflict between her and Keith struck again when Keith was spending too much time with the Blade of Marmora after Shiro returned and they had two Black Paladins. Another shuffle occured and Allura became the Pink Paladin, although she flew the Blue Lion interchangeably with Coran, and occasionally the others such as the Green Lion when Pidge got a lead on her brother and father and took time off to follow up. 

The story was changed and yet remained the same. Trust was lost and eventually regained. The event was forgiven but never forgotten. 

Of course, Lotor probably helped (before he didn’t) but that’s another story.