It wasn’t very often that Jira had the chance to spend time with Viltri inside of work, but since Wunrik was at the Kafa, she had spent more time with her friend than normal. Usually they had to take the time when they were both off duty to see each other; VIltri lived in Cadamur, closer to her parents with Wunrik’s Elites, but they always made time for each other. Ever since Jira was a kid and began her training, Viltri was there. She couldn’t remember a time when they weren’t friends.

Viltri was always the most confident and carefree person Jira knew, but she never made others feel any less because they weren’t like her. Despite their different personalities, the two got along and balanced each other out. Jira was more level headed and Viltri helped Jira be honest with herself; that was why Jira was nervous to spend one on one time with Viltri since she had been at the Kafa. She knew it was only a matter of time before Viltri brought up Keith. She had plenty of experience with boys and was perceptive about those sort of things.

Rixel had assigned Jira an early morning patrol shift, and thanks to Jinx overeating with Hunk the night before, he was too sick to join her. Once Viltri found out, she jumped at the opportunity to volunteer, which only heightened Jira’s nervousness. They’d be on the outskirts of the jungle today, at the easternmost watch tower, spending hours doing nothing but watching grass grow and talking about feelings. Jira was left with little time to prepare before they were out on their way into the jungle.

Once they had reached the watch tower and made their way to the top, Jira braced herself for whatever Viltri was going to say. Viltri, on the other hand, surprisingly just looked happy to be out and about. She looked out over the edge of the jungle where the outskirts of Cadamur could be seen. The tip of the skyscrapers fought the top of the trees for dominance, only standing out because their glass gleamed against the morning sun. Viltri stood at the window with a smile plastered to her face.

“Remember when we were little and went on our first patrol shift?” She asked Jira, who was standing behind her.

“That wasn’t the time we snuck bugs in Jinx’s lunch, was it? Or was it the time Junx made Rixel wet himself from laughing so hard?”

“No, the time we climbed out on the roof of a watchtower and had to spend a week cleaning the floors of the Kafa as punishment,” she grinned.

Jira smirked. “I’m still surprised that we were accepted as Elites.”

“I’m surprised we survived that long honestly… but now that we’re not kids anymore…. And there’s no one else around…”

“... We might as well take full advantage of it,” Jira said, making her way to the window. Viltri helped her open it and the two climbed up onto the slanted roof. A warm breeze licked at the back of Jira’s neck and she debated taking the shell of her suit off for a moment before remembering she was still on duty. She felt like a kid again, getting into fun and foolish situations with her best friend. She sat down next to Viltri on the roof and closed her eyes, taking in the sun. Viltri unraveled Jira’s braid and rebraided it slowly.

“Sometimes I wish I hadn’t cut my hair,” Viltri mumbled as her fingers expertly twisted Jira’s locks.

“I like your short hair, it suits you.”

“Thanks.” They sat in silence for several minutes while Viltri continued to play with Jira’s hair. Combined with the warm weather and early morning, Jira had to fight to stay awake, nearly forgetting that she was apprehensive to go on patrol with Viltri in the first place.

“So what are you going to do when Voltron and the Blade leaves?” Viltri asked casually. Jira’s heart sank. She knew it was too wishful to think that Viltri wouldn't bring it up eventually. She decided to try and play it off.

“What do you mean?” Jira asked, opening her eyes, but not looking at her.

“I mean, they’re not gonna stay here forever, but are you?”

“I…” Jira knew she had already lost. It was hard to not show her emotions on her sleeve and Viltri knew her too well. In the past it had been a cause of tension between them when Viltri joined Wunrik’s troop and Jira didn’t. They had always talked about joining that troop when they were kids, but after Jira’s father died, Jira let go of that dream. She felt that same old tension from years ago arise now.

“I don’t know…” Jira finished quietly.

“Have you talked to your mom about it?”

Jira shook her head. She hadn’t told anyone about wanting to join the Blade, but those who knew her would know that she’d be interested. “... I don’t know how to bring it up.”

“Have you talked to anyone about it?”

“No.”

Viltri sighed and let go of Jira’s hair. “For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve always wanted to explore outside of Eioa, but now that you have the chance-”

“It’s not like it’s an easy decision to make,” Jira interjected. “I’d be leaving my home, my family, and my mom…”

“Your mom has to accept that you can make your own decisions, J… but you you have to at least talk to her. How is she gonna know if you just keep it bottled up?”

“You know, I really didn’t come here for a lecture,” Jira scowled at her, but Viltri just smiled.

“Okay, but you know I’m right.”

Jira rolled her eyes. “... My mom and I have never really seen eye to eye…” Jira said slowly. Jira was never close to her mom like Viltri was with hers, so sometimes she felt like Viltri didn’t understand, even if she was sympathetic. “I think things are getting better though.”

“Why do you say that?”

“We talked about my dad the other day and she was pretty open about it.”

“Maybe because he’s starting to realize that you and your brothers are growing up… this would be a good time to talk to her. Because either way, you have to make your decision before the Blade leaves.”

“I haven’t even said anything to Kolivan though. I don’t even know how that process works.”

“Well, have you thought of asking Keith?” Viltri asked, her eyes now gleaming mischievously.

Jira could feel her face get hotter, but she forced herself to maintain eye contact with Viltri. “It was a special case with him. He already had a blade and was forced to do the trials. I don’t think it would be the same for me.”

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to ask… granted that means you’d actually have to talk to him about joining the blade, which you haven’t…”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Speaking of Keith-”

“I don’t wanna have this conversation anymore…”

Viltri gave Jira a smug look. “What have you two talked about? I can’t believe we’ve gone all this time and you haven’t told me anything about what’s going on between you two!”

“That’s because there’s nothing to say,” Jira said adamantly, causing Viltri to laugh. Viltri never had any problems when it came to expressing her feelings, and she always seemed to know what to do when it came to boys. It made it a little more than intimidating when it came to Jira and her own romantic troubles.

“Liar,” Viltri grinned. “It’s pretty obvious that you like him, and it’s pretty obvious that he has feelings for you too…”

Jira dropped her gaze, an odd mixture of hope and embarrassment rising in her chest. Viltri saw Jira’s hesitation and continued. “I’ve never really seen you this reluctant to tell a guy how you feel… is it because he’s leaving?”

“Uh… yeah, I think that’s part of it.” She didn’t like hearing Viltri say it aloud, but it was something that was constantly at the back of Jira’s mind. She had the option to join the Blade, explore the universe and fight the empire, and see where things would go with Keith… but when it came down to it, she was hesitant to leave. Was it out of respect for her mom’s wishes? Or was it out of fear? Jira still couldn’t answer that question.

“You are going to talk to him, right?”

Jira kept her attention firmly in front of her, and Viltri looked at her expectantly. “Come on, J. You know you’ll hate yourself if you don’t.”

“I know…” Jira whispered, feeling more defeated than frustrated or angry. She thought about what her mom told her; that she would always regret it more if she didn’t say anything. What would have happened if her mom didn’t tell her dad how she felt? Things were so uncertain for the Galra on Eioa at that time, and yet her mom was brave enough to go after what she wanted. Why couldn’t she do the same?

“Okay, well then I’m gonna bug you about it until you do,” Viltri smirked. “It’d be a shame if nothing came out of this. He’s hot.”

“Dude,” Jira shoved Viltri playfully and laughed. “Stop hounding on me about boys, what about you and Lance?”

Viltri smirked and tucked a flyaway strand of hair. “Things have… progressed.”

Jira raised her eyebrows. Knowing Viltri, that could mean a number of things. Viltri saw her surprised expression and chuckled.

“We only kissed… a lot.”

“When?!”

“Last night… but he still has feelings for Allura, and I knew that going into it…. Even still. It was worth it,” she said, smiling.

“I didn’t realize he liked Allura… so what does that mean for you two?”

“I’ve got my work cut out for me,” Viltri said, biting her lip. “But I told him I wasn’t gonna wait around forever, waiting for him to decide, so…”

Now it was Jira’s turn to return a smug look. “Wow, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you this torn up over a guy. Miss cool and collected, having to compete with another girl.”

“Well,” Viltri scoffed. “I’m not too worried about it. I’m not worried about Allura liking him back, so really it’s just up to Lance to be sure if he really likes me or just appreciates the fact that I’m a good kisser.”

“Right,” Jira said, grinning. “Well, then let me know how that goes for you. You’re already way ahead of me in that department, so I think you’ve got things pretty well handled.”

“Okay, but only if you and Keith figure things out will I keep you up to date on me and Lance.”

“Fine.” Jira stood and stretched before helping Viltri to her feet. She was actually relieved that she had talked to her. They made their way back down to their hoverbikes and moved on to their next station, Jira thinking the entire time what Viltri had said. She always made Jira confront the things she hated to admit to herself and today was no exception. She had to make a decision regarding the Blade and she needed to sort out her feelings for Keith. She hated to admit it, but Jira was running out of time.

*********

Lance woke up later than usual, still in a daze over what happened the day before. When he got into the kitchen inside the castle, however, he was surprised to see that he wasn’t the only one who had gotten a late start in the day. Hunk was finishing up some sort of breakfast casserole, using native Eioan ingredients, while Pidge was tinkering with some gadget. The biggest surprise was to see Keith there as well; Since they had been at Eioa, he hadn’t joined them for breakfast, but Lance supposed with Shiro being back Keith may have been feeling more sentimental than usual. Which was a bit odd considering Shiro wasn’t even around at the moment.

Plopping down next to Pidge, Lance rubbed his eyes and rested his head on the table. “How long have you guys been awake?” He muttered.

“Not too long,” Pidge said distractedly. “It was a long day for all of us. It was nice to have a break, but now I feel really behind today.”

“Why? What are you doing today?”

“Horm and Chalna are letting me observe while they, uh-” she glanced over at Keith before continuing. He looked as though he was pretending to ignore them. “- they want to see what they can figure out about the clone. They were going to start on that today, remember?”

“Right… You don’t think that’s gonna be kinda weird? I mean, he was basically Shiro for months. Wouldn’t that be like doing tests on one of us?”

“When you put it that way, it does sound really creepy,” Hunk said, setting the casserole out on the counter. Pidge dropped the gadget and focused in on the food.

“He wasn’t really Shiro, though. It’s not like he was actually one of us,” Pidge said.

“Even still…” Lance was still wrapping his head around it, and he wasn’t too keen on hanging around the body.

“Can we talk about something else, please,” Keith piped up, crossing his arms and taking a seat at the counter.

“Yeah, I’m on Keith with that one,” Hunk agreed. “I’m glad that the Eioans are still cool with us hanging around though. For a minute yesterday, it seemed like Drundlo would have been fine if we left. I mean, I can’t blame the guy, but still… That meeting was kind of intense.”

“I hear ya, buddy,” Lance said. “I need a break after everything yesterday. Maybe today I’ll just relax; hit the Fountain later on.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow at him. “Need a break? Isn’t that what you did right after the meeting? You didn’t stick around too long.”

“I had things…. To do. Important things.” Lance blushed and frowned at her. He wasn’t about to admit that he spent a notable amount of his free time talking to the Blue Lion, and he certainly wasn’t going to admit he was with Viltri either.

“You missed dinner,” Hunk said. “... And now that I think about it, Viltri wasn’t there either…” he leaned forward and grinned at Lance.

“Look, nothing happened last night. Viltri and I are just friends.”

“Are you serious?” Keith scoffed, looking at him skeptically.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lance could sense an edge in his own voice.

“I mean, obviously Viltri likes you for some reason, it’s not really fair to her if you’re gonna be that flirty and not mean anything by it.”

“I don’t- I’m not…” Lance looked around him, the others silently waiting for a good response. He glared at Keith, pinning his frustration on him. “I’m not leading her on. Besides, you’re the last person who should be giving dating advice.” Anger flashed in Keith’s eyes, and Lance could tell he set off a nerve, but he didn’t care.

“At least I’m not going around, flirting with every girl that I see,” Keith said, his voice rising slightly.

Hunk’s eyes shifted between them. “Uh… guys-”

“Well maybe I just haven’t found the right girl, yet,” Lance said, ignoring Hunk.

“Maybe you have, and you’re just too dumb to realize it.”

Lance stood abruptly from the counter and narrowed his eyes at Keith. “Too dumb? Like you’re one to talk! Why haven’t you gotten anywhere with Jira? You’re both part Galra, I would’ve thought a loner like yourself would’ve liked bonding over something like that. Or are you afraid we won’t take you seriously anymore if you show any emotion besides anger?”

Keith stood as well, clenching his fists. “Unlike you, I can take these kinds of things seriously,” he spat. “That’s probably why Allura never had feelings for you, and why you don’t deserve Viltri either. Everything’s a joke to you.”

A shock of humiliation and fury rang through Lance, and he took a step back. Pidge and Hunk gave him worried looks, which made him feel sick. He didn’t want their pity. He was at a loss for words, knowing that he didn’t have a comeback for Keith. The four of them waited in a tense silence for a moment, until Coran entered the room.

“What’s all the ruckus in here?” He asked cheerfully.

“It’s nothing,” Lance said, turning towards him. “I just lost my appetite, is all.” He walked briskly past Coran, leaving the room and making sure not to look back.

********

While Pidge, Keith, Lance, and Hunk were still sleep, Shiro had taken the time to get a little more familiar with his surroundings. He officially met Chalna who introduced him to Horm and some other members of the Grangint. They gave him a tour of the Kafa and Wells and they told him about the history of how the Galra assimilated into Eioan society and made their homes here. Chalna was patient with him and answered the dozens of questions that he had; it was clear that she was the mother to triplets because her patience and understanding was unwavering. Horm was quite eccentric, but he reminded Shiro of Coran, so he took a quick liking to him. He also briefly met met Drundlo, Wunrik, and Zalko, and he gained immediate respect for them and how they had handled everything with Lotor and the Galra.

Shiro told himself that he was going to ease back into things and take it easy, but his curiosity of what he had missed over the months was overwhelming. After spending time at the Kafa, he met with Kolivan who filled him in on everything he had missed: the coalition and the progress they had made against Zarkon, but most importantly Lotor. Shiro decided it was for the best that he wait and get his bearings before meeting Prince Lotor. There was still too much that he needed to focus on for himself before he tackled the issue of Lotor’s level of trustworthiness.

When he returned to the castle, he made his way onto the bridge for some alone time before joining the others. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him to find Allura already there. In the past, whenever he found it hard to sleep, he would go onto the bridge, and on many occasions, Allura would either already be there or show up at some point. She too had trouble sleeping some nights, so it just became commonplace for them. It was a good time for them to work in a comfortable rhythm of silence, exchanging words when necessary, but Shiro fondly remembered the last few times he had found Allura on the bridge they had meaningful talks. She had told him a lot about her home planet and what it was like for her growing up and in return, he shared his own stories about earth. To him, their late night talks had become an unpredictable, but cherished time. He had always admired and respected Allura, but it was during those times that Shiro realized that his feelings for her ran deeper than just mutual respect and understanding.

He always struggled with those feelings because he knew that his duty had to come first. It was best for everyone that he focused on being a good leader over anything else, but after waking up yesterday, he kept thinking about how much he missed spending time with Allura. Coming back felt like he had missed out on a lifetime of opportunities and he pondered over what would have happened if he hadn’t disappeared in the first place. As he approached her on the bridge, it was clear to him that he wouldn’t have been able to go all those months without saying anything.

She didn’t notice him at first, concentrating on what looked like to Shiro to be a map of Eioa. Shiro didn’t want to startle her, so he slowed his pace. “Good morning, Princess,” he said, coming up behind her and she turned and smiled at him.

“Shiro, did you just wake up?”

“I’ve actually been awake for a while. I met everyone and took a tour of the Kafa.”

Allura maintained her smile, but concern clouded her expression. “Oh. Are you feeling better, then? You didn’t really get that much rest yesterday.”

“I’m good, really.”

Allura was clearly not convinced. “How well did you sleep last night?”

“... not great,” Shiro said, faltering. Truthfully, he hadn’t slept at all since returning. “My bed just doesn’t feel the same. It’s like stepping into someone else’s life that doesn’t belong to me, I… I don’t know if that makes any sense-”

“No, no, it does,” Allura stepped off the platform and walked up to him. “Do you want to change rooms?”

“That might help,” Shiro said gratefully, but regardless of how tired he felt, he worried he would still lie awake tonight. The attempt to make sense of his situation and remember what had happened to him nearly consumed his thoughts. “I’m still adjusting.”

“I would hope so,” Allura said. “I’d be worried if you didn’t take time to adjust to things… I think that was one thing that…” she glanced away, her voice trailing off.

“One thing that what?”

Allura looked back to him hesitantly. “That was one thing about him that I found odd. After we rescued him, he didn’t really seem to have much trouble recovering. After the initial confusion and fatigue wore off, he never seemed to struggle with what had happened to him… Now that I look back, I should have seen that as some sort of sign, but… at the time, we were all so preoccupied with what was happening with the Galra and Lotor.”

The way Allura spoke about his clone left Shiro confused. She seemed to shift from pity to disgust to distain, like she couldn’t make up her mind as to how she felt about him. Shiro wondered if they were as close to each other; he was surprised to find that he was a bit jealous at the thought of that.

“Regardless,” Allura continued. “The important thing is that you’re not pushing yourself too hard.”

“I’ll try, Princess,” Shiro said. He wanted to ask more about the clone, namely how Allura really felt about him, but he decided to save it for a later conversation. Allura looked at though she had something more to say, but she simply nodded her head.

“So what else are you going to do today?” She asked him.

“Well, I want to see what Hunk is doing today and spend some time with him. Then I guess I’ll just take it one step at a time...” Eventually he’d have to spend time with her, but the idea of designating that time made him more nervous than he cared to admit. Their interactions were usually serious and focused on some sort of mission; rarely did they see each other alone in a relaxed state, and even then, it was never planned. Shiro felt like a schoolboy all over again, trying to decipher the complex emotions of a woman. He also knew that he couldn’t go much longer, spending alone time with her and not say how he felt. He was always the type to be straightforward and express himself effectively, but there were too many uncertainties with Allura. They were leaders, first and foremost, and he had never met a woman who was so utterly out of his league.

“I believe Hunk is in the kitchen,” Allura said, disrupting his thoughts.

“Hmm? Oh-” Shiro suddenly felt uncomfortably hot, grateful she couldn’t read his mind. “I’ll go and find him, thanks.”

“Of course,” Allura smiled, taking her place back at the platform. Shiro hesitated but left the bridge, disappointed in himself that he didn’t ask Allura when she’d be free. He set a goal for himself to talk to her again by the end of the day and ask her. As he neared the kitchen, he wiped the sweat from the palm of his hand that he didn’t realize had accumulated.

********

Shiro found Hunk sitting alone in the kitchen, cleaning up, though it looked as though the others were there recently.

“Where is everyone?” Shiro asked Hunk as he started helping him clear the table.

“Well Pidge went off to see Chalna and Horm, I have no idea where Coran ended up, and Keith and Lance got into a fight.”

Shiro had a hunch Pidge was going off to see the clone, but he wasn’t surprised to hear about Keith and Lance arguing. “What was it about this time?”

Hunk smirked. “Girls... It was kinda awkward, though to be honest. Some things were said, and Lance left really mad. Totally ruined breakfast.”

“What happened exactly?” Shiro furrowed his brow. He didn’t know Jira that well and had only briefly met Viltri, so he was really out of the loop. After seeing how Keith acted around Jira yesterday, he wanted to talk to him, but Keith was always so tight lipped when it came to that sort of thing. Shiro could only imagine how easily offended Keith would be with Lance’s teasing.

“Hmm to sum it up, Keith accused Lance of leading Viltri on, and Lance called Keith a loner and said he had no right to give out advice. And then Keith said the reason Allura doesn’t like Lance was because he’s never serious about anything… and that’s when Lance stormed out.”

Shiro frowned. He was usually impressed with how mature the paladins were becoming, but he often forgot that they were just teenagers at the end of the day. “I’ll talk to them later… What are you up to today?”

“Not much,” Hunk smiled. “Did you need something?”

“Oh well…” It struck Shiro that he had never spend that much time with Hunk outside of training and fighting. He needed to find a good way to reconnect with Hunk so he figured he’d start with something that Hunk loved to do. “I was wondering if you could teach me how cook?”

Hunk looked pleasantly surprised and grinned at Shiro. “Okay, sweet! I wouldn’t really peg you as someone who cooks a whole ton.”

“Yeah, I want to better my skills, I guess,” Shiro said, already feeling out of his element. “What’s your favorite dish?”

“It’s creme brulee, but we won’t start with that,” Hunk laughed. “Baby steps. Why don’t we work on some thing for lunch? The native fruit and vegetables on Eioa are incredible, we can do like… some sort of kabobs or something.”

“Sounds great,” Shiro said, happy to see Hunk so comfortable with himself in the kitchen. He was patient with Shiro, who was not skilled in the kitchen by any means. After picking out fresh vegetables, they made their way back to the castle’s kitchen to begin marinating the meat.

“Things have really been kinda chill on my end since you’ve been gone,” Hunk said while cutting up meat. “I didn’t change lions, join the blade, or find my missing brother sooo… there’s really not much to fill you in on.” He shrugged, but Shiro sensed that Hunk was holding more back.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Shiro said. “How is Shay?”

Hunk nearly dropped the knife he was holding and laughed nervously. “Shay is… Shay. She’s good. Totally fine- I mean, she’s doing fine. She is… well.”

Shiro couldn’t help but laugh at his nervousness. “So you still talk to her? That’s good.”

“Yeah,” Hunk looked down at the counter. “I don’t know, it’s not like I think anything serious will happen soon. It’s kinda hard when we’re always off fighting, but yeah, I still talk to her a lot.”

“I think that’s great. It’s good to have someone outside of the castle to talk to.”

“Talking to her is great, especially when I miss my family. In a way, it makes me feel less lonely… not that having you guys around isn’t great,” he added quickly. “I don’t know. It doesn’t make a whole lotta sense-”

“She reminds you of home,” Shiro smiled.

“Yeah... I guess that’s a good way of putting it. That doesn’t sound weird though, does it? I mean, if I told her that, she wouldn’t be weirded out?” Hunk asked.

“No, I think Shay would really like that. It sounds like she means a lot to you, so you should let her know.”

“I think I will,” Hunk grinned. “Thanks, Shiro.”

Shiro felt like a hypocrite, but he was glad that Hunk seemed to have things figured out. “No problem.” He observed how comfortable Hunk was in the kitchen; how he effortlessly prepared food and put so much care and attention into everything he did. It was impressive to watch. “Hunk, where did you learn how to cook so well?”

“My grandma,” Hunk beamed while carefully cutting up the vegetables. “She started teaching me at a young age. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love cooking. I think I learned to love it because she loved it so much…” He eyes drifted down to the counter, a distant look clouded his face. “She would go crazy over all the stuff I’ve made while being out here.” He gave a chuckle, pulling himself out of his funk. “If you think I’m a good cook, you should see her work her magic.”

“Well, how about when this is all said and done and we go back home, I can see for myself?”

Hunk suddenly looked serious. “When do you think that will be?”

Shiro felt guilty for bringing it up; like he had given Hunk some sort of false hope, even though they all knew the risks of being apart of Voltron. He needed to be honest with him, but he didn’t want to be misleading. Hunk knew better than that, anyway. “I wish I knew,” he said softly and Hunk gave him a sad smile.

“I mean… we’ve made it this far… and we’ve been through a lot. I’d like to think that we can make it all the way to the end.”

“I do too.”

“... Besides, if anyone around here was gonna make it out alive, it’d probably be you,” Hunk said, his smile slowly returning. “If you haven’t been killed off by now, you can probably make it through anything.”

Shiro’s eyebrows shot up with surprise. “Oh?”

“Sorry, too soon?”

“Not soon enough,” Shiro laughed, feeling more relaxed now than he had all morning. “I feel like things have been really serious since I’ve been back. It’s good to be laughing again.”

“Glad I could help,” Hunk said, focusing back on the food, but Shiro wondered if Hunk realized how grateful he was to talk to him. Allura was absolutely right. Spending time with each of the paladins was just what Shiro needed to help transition into his new life.