A couple of hours had passed since the other paladins had met with the Blade and the Eioans, and Keith was almost relieved that no one had come to track him down. It wasn’t like he was hiding, but he hoped that they respected him enough to give him his space; though, he had to admit that a small part of him wanted to be comforted.

Keith’s legs began to fall asleep after being in the same sitting position for hours. He looked up at Jira in the healing pod, guilt and anger overcoming him. He was so shocked that the man he thought was Shiro would attack him, he couldn’t even move or fight back. Jira was hurt because he couldn’t act fast enough. Keith dropped his head and focused on his breathing, though it pained him with every inhale. A large bruise had formed on the right side of his ribcage and his cheek was swollen and tender.

“Keith?” Shiro said behind him, causing Keith to flinch. He tried to stand, but his numb legs and a sharp pain in his side kept him on the floor. “It’s okay,” Shiro said, noticing Keith’s struggle. He sat down next to Keith and pulled his legs up, resting his arms on his knees. Keith kept his attention forward, unable to look Shiro in the eye.

“How are you feeling?” Keith asked in a hoarse voice.

“I’ll be good...” Shiro said hesitantly. “What about you?”

A lump caught in Keith’s throat. He didn’t know what to say, even if he could speak at the moment. Shiro put his arm around Keith; his human arm, which pushed tears to Keith’s eyes. He looked down and caught a tear before it could roll off his cheek.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Shiro said quietly.

“He may as well have been you,” Keith’s voice broke when he spoke, making him feel like a child. “... I thought I killed you, Shiro.”

“I know... And I can’t even begin to know what you're going through because of it. Just please… don't blame yourself for killing him. And don't blame yourself for Jira getting hurt either.”

“You looked pretty torn up over that too.”

“Seeing her injured was a reminder of what the Galra did to me… because I wasn't here, people got hurt. So yeah, I feel guilty about what happened; about everything that happened while I was gone.”

Keith finally looked over at Shiro, pain etched in his face, causing him to appear older than he was. “How am I supposed to be a good leader if I'm not even here?” Shiro said, more to himself than to Keith. He glanced back at Keith, his eyes shining with genuine pride. “... But I'm sure you made a great leader.”

Keith wanted to argue with him, but he knew it was pointless. Shiro always expected the best out of Keith, even though he probably already knew that Keith wasn't as great of a leader as he would have liked to have been. That was one thing Keith missed about Shiro; he always saw potential in others, even if they didn't see it themselves. Despite his flaws, Shiro always believed in him.

“I'm just really glad you're back,” Keith said.

“I am too…” Shiro responded quietly. Keith laughed, relieved that Shiro was actually there and safe, but tears still surfaced on his face. They sat in silence until Keith composed himself, finally taking in a deep breath and trying to let go of his guilty emotions. It was still hard to look at Shiro and not think back to the fight in the Black Lion, but he could take comfort that Shiro was actually there, alive. It still felt surreal to him that they had been living with a man who wasn’t actually Shiro; just some imposter. Even though he wasn’t the person everyone thought he was, that man had taken Shiro’s place for a time and was still apart of the team. He meant something to them, and he deserved to be mourned.

Shiro stood and reached his arm out to help Keith up, and slowly pulled him to his feet. “You sure you’re going to be okay?” Shiro asked, giving Keith a hug. Keith nodded. It may take him some time to recover, but he knew he wasn’t alone.

“Good.” Shiro pulled away and laid a hand on Keith’s shoulder, some of his older brother persona coming through. “Now would you please get into a healing pod,” he smiled.

Keith fought the urge to roll his eyes and looked at Jira again in her pod. Her injury had nearly healed, showing now just a thin scar that ran along her collarbone, a light contrast to her skin. Her long dark hair was out of its braid and floated loosely around her; she looked serene and beautiful, and Keith suddenly felt embarrassed that Shiro was still in the room with him.

Jira turned her head slightly, eyes still closed, but she was starting to wake up. Shiro and Keith took a step back and waited for the pod to open; Jira opened her eyes, initial confusion in her face. The pod opened and she stumbled out. Keith and Shiro moved forward to assist her, but Keith caught her before she fell, pain erupting through his side, but he managed to push it aside. Jira clung to his arms and looked between the two men, her brow furrowed.

“Glad to see you up and about,” Shiro said warmly. “But it doesn't look like you're completely healed.”

“Oh…” Jira looked down at her scar. “... Hmm… well it doesn't look too bad. It looks pretty cool, actually.” She laughed softly. “Plus, those pods are kinda claustrophobic.” She relaxed her grip on Keith's arms, but didn't let go. She looked up at him, her eyes wide and concerned.

“You don't look so good,” she said. She was close to Keith, closer than she had ever been before, and it took him a moment to process what she had said. He briefly hesitated, but he pulled Jira closer and embraced her, no longer caring about his own injuries. It didn't take long for Jira to wrap her arms tightly around his neck; he enjoyed the feeling of her arms around him. He glanced over to Shiro who was giving him a perplexed, but amused look; a knowing smirk growing on his face.

Keith stiffened, but he still didn’t want to pull away from Jira, despite his discomfort. Shiro began to back away, but Jira let go of Keith, aware of Shiro now feeling like he intruded in on them. She gave Shiro a small, embarrassed smile.

“I'll go tell the others you're awake,” Shiro said casually.

“Thanks.”

Shiro raised his eyebrows at Keith one last time before leaving the room, and with a sick feeling in his stomach, Keith knew he’d have some explaining to do later. They waited until Shiro had left before Jira turned back to Keith.

“Why didn’t you get into a pod too?” She asked him. “What has happened since I was out?”

“There was a meeting with the others to explain what happened today,” Keith said, purposefully avoiding her first question.

“Who was there?”

“Shiro wasn’t, he was resting and Drundlo refused to let Lotor be apart of it. But your family was there, the other paladins, Viltri, Horm, Kolivan, Drundlo, Zalko, Wunrik, Rixel…”

Jira furrowed her brow again, looking at him skeptically. “But you weren’t, were you?” When Keith didn’t respond, her eyes grew larger and her expression changed to that of sympathy.

“What happened to the body?” She asked in a gentle voice.

“Uh… Allura wanted to take him to Horm and your mom…” Keith said, angry with himself that he was fighting back his emotions again. He couldn’t talk about the clone without his throat clenching.

“Is that why you weren’t at the meeting?”

Keith dropped his gaze, trying to concentrate on not crying again. Jira reached up and brushed Keith’s hair out of his face; he looked at her, a bit surprised. Her golden eyes were shining brightly, and she was on the verge of tears herself. Keith noticed her eyes always seemed brighter when she was about to cry.

Jira wrapped herself up underneath his arms and rested her head on his shoulder. She held him carefully, and though she was pressed up against his chest, his ribs didn’t feel the pain of the pressure. Keith returned the hug, allowing his fingers to get caught in her hair. The warmth of Jira’s hands penetrated through his shirt and she slowly moved her hands up his back, offering him support. He closed his eyes and savored the comfort he had been shown today, forgetting for the moment his own grief and pain. Silent tears still managed to fall from his eyes and he briskly swept them away before they landed on Jira’s head. He sniffed and Jira tightened her grip on him.

“It’s okay,” She whispered, breathing softly on his neck.

“Yeah… it will be.”

Keith would have been fine with standing there with her, holding her, but he heard footsteps approaching. He didn’t let go of Jira, but he knew they’d soon be interrupted.

“Jira!” Hunk was the first to appear, beaming at them. Jira and Keith pulled away from each other as soon as they saw him “You’re awake!” He was oblivious to ruining their moment and looked at Keith and grimaced. “Keith, dude. Your bruise looks bad.” He pointed to his own cheek and Keith touched his face delicately, remembering his face was swollen and he probably looked ridiculous.

Jira’s brothers followed after Hunk, along with Pidge, Chalna, Coran, and Allura. Shiro lingered behind everyone else while they asked Jira how she was feeling.

“What did I miss?” Jira asked.

“Oh, not too much,” Jinx said, shrugging. “We can talk about it over dinner. Keith, you’re out of the loop too, huh?”

“Keith’s not going anywhere until he’s gone into a healing pod,” Coran said adamantly.

“Fine, I’ll go,” Keith said, trying not to smile. “Just save me some dinner, okay?”

“I can make no promises,” Hunk said.

Everyone else had taken Jira into the fold, starting to lead her away to eat. She looked back at Keith, grinning at him. Keith wanted to follow after them, but Coran stood impatiently by a pod, waiting for him to get in. Before following the others, Shiro looked to Coran and Keith.

“See you in a bit,” he said. Then he turned his attention solely to Keith. “Then you can update me on anything else I need to know about this planet.” Keith frowned at him, but Shiro just looked pleased about his cryptic message.

Despite being close with Shiro, Keith wasn’t quite ready to talk about his feelings for Jira. Partially because he was still figuring out what those feelings were. But Shiro was back and everyone was happy, and with that, Keith couldn’t complain.