You woke up feeling quite tired. As you opened your eyes, you had no idea what time it was. But you didn't want to get up. Somehow the nauseating feeling from yesterday still lingered. You felt like you had gone through quite the ordeal yesterday. Oh wait, you had.

But you still got up and stretched your muscles. Everything felt okay, just a bit stiff. You thought about going to the training deck to do some exercises. Maybe that would ease the tension in your body.

Then you stretched out your left arm. And as you looked at your shoulder, you realised that you had a massive bruise on it. You looked under your shirt and saw some more bruises on your chest, where Sendak had electrocuted you. The bruises didn't hurt though, they were just cosmetic. You guessed there were some things the healing pods couldn't cure.

You rubbed your eyes and decided to just get up and go. And as you were changing into the training clothes you had lent from Allura, you thought how nice it would be to visit a planet where you could restock your wardrobe. Now you just had to work with what you got.

After you had changed your clothes, you looked at yourself, and saw the awful bruise again. And you let out a deep sigh. That would be there to remind you of everything that happened yesterday. Then you took your bayard and left the room. But before going to the training deck, you went to the kitchen since your throat was so dry.

You took one of the liquid pouches from the kitchen to ease your thirst. The ones that resembled water, but were more like a liquid goo. And you shook your head. Those Alteans were weird. Why was everything like some sort of goo? If you didn't know better, you would have thought that they didn't have any teeth. And then you giggled at the thought of toothless Coran and Allura.

Suddenly Hunk interrupted your thoughts by walking in to the kitchen. "Morning!" He announced quite happily. "Morning." You said back. And then you realised that you hadn't even asked what happened in Balmera yesterday. They managed to get the crystal, but Hunk had also seemed somehow distracted ever since.

"You okay Hunk?" You decided to ask. And he seemed quite surprised of your question. "Huh, what, why?" He looked at you suspicious. "No, just asking. Yesterday was quite a day." You sincerely smiled at him. "It was. But I'm fine. Cause everyone will be fine." He smiled at you, but you could still see some worry in his eyes.

"Lance will be alright, you know that. The healing pods are amazing." You reassured him. And you knew what you were talking about. But then Hunk got serious again. "Of course I'm worried about Lance, but it's not just that. When we were in Balmera, I saw what Zarkon can do. And it wasn't pretty." He started to explain with sadness in his voice. And as you looked at him, you saw how genuinely worried he was.

"I mean, we have to stop him. Whatever it takes." He declared with this new fire within him. And you really wondered what had happened there. He seemed to have changed a bit.

"You want to talk about what happened?" You still tried to push him for some answers. "Nah, I'm fine. It's just that I'm worried about Shay and her people." Hunk said as he finally started to get some breakfast for himself. "Shay?" You asked puzzled. You hadn't heard that name before.

Then Hunk suddenly stopped and scratched the back of his neck. "Well, yeah, they live in Balmera. And Zarkon is destroying it." He said a bit bashfully. "Well, lucky that there's us." You tried to cheer him up. "That's true! We're going to free the universe." He said, clearly trying to cheer up as he got back to getting breakfast.

Then you realised that while you had been talking, you had already drank the first liquid pouch empty. So you grabbed another one. For some reason you were really thirsty. "Okay, I'm going to go train." You said to Hunk and started making your way out of the kitchen. "Really? You're starting to sound like Keith." Hunk said quite sincerely. and you smirked at him. "Oh come on, I'm not that hot-headed." You laughed as you left the room.

And while you were walking along the hallway, you thought about what Hunk said about Zarkon. Yesterday really proved that you had to be prepared for anything. That's why you had to get better. You didn't want to feel as helpless as you did with Sendak. You all survived, but it could have gone the other way around.

As you arrived to the training deck, you didn't hear any sounds coming from it. And you stopped and sighed disappointed. You had hoped that you didn't have to train alone. You usually weren't the kind of person to want company all the time, but maybe it was the after effects of yesterday that made you not want to be alone that morning.

But you still decided to go in. You entered the training deck and it really was quiet. You thought about stretching first and then fight the gladiator, probably with the easiest level first. You could up the level as you got better.

But just as you were thinking that, you heard a voice from behind you. "Morning." You startled, but recognized the voice immediately. You turned around and saw Keith sitting on the bench, looking at you, and even smiling a bit.

You were a bit baffled by the surprise, but then you smiled back. "Morning. I thought that there wasn't anyone here. Have you been training already?" You asked Keith. "Yeah...just having a break." He answered, slightly averting his gaze. And you looked at him. He must be in a very good shape as he didn't seem to be weary at all.

"That looks bad." Keith turned serious as he glanced at you. And you realised that he was looking at the bruise on your shoulder. "No, it's fine. It looks worse than it is. It doesn't even hurt." You immediately explained to him. And he seemed relieved. "It's still a bit stiff though. I thought maybe training would ease it a bit." You still added as you went to the bench and put your bayard and liquid pouch down.

You started to stretch your arms, to ease the stiffness in them. And Keith just sat there on the bench, not really doing anything. He was just kind of fiddling with his bayard. And for a moment it was just quiet. But it wasn't an awkward silence at all.

"I really hope that nothing like yesterday happens again." You broke the silence with a quiet sigh. Keith turned to look at you wondering. And as you glanced back at him, you suddenly felt slightly embarrassed, like you were exposed. "I just don't want to ever feel as helpless. I have to be prepared for anything, I guess. Well, we all have to." You felt the need to explain yourself as you felt Keith's stare on you.

Then he suddenly spoke. "Do you want to continue where we left off last time?" He said a bit timidly. And you looked at the ground, feeling slightly relieved. "That would be nice. Thank you."

And soon you were standing in front of Keith, without your bayard. You lifted your hands in front of you and clenched your fists. "I have trained a bit by myself, but be gentle with me today." You smirked at Keith. And he looked at you a bit strangely. "Gentle?" He asked frowning. And you let your hands fall down to your sides. "You don't know what gentle means!?" You looked at him while letting out a small laughter.

"Of course I do, but how can I be gentle when were fighting?" Keith rolled his eyes as he answered you. And you took your stance again. "Well, you know, don't try so hard...?" You tried to come up with an answer. And he let out a small chuckle. "Fine. I won't try so hard." He smirked at you. "Whatever that means." He still added.

"Well, I don't know. That I don't have to...I don't know. You confused me!" You got out of your stance again while laughing. And as you were laughing, you glanced at Keith. You were really getting along. You weren't as nervous with him as before. You felt more comfortable. And it seemed like he did too.

You still couldn't read him as well as the others, maybe not at all, but he talked more. Still not much, but more than before. Maybe it was because of the first time you sparred together, or how he helped you after the explosion, but you felt more relaxed with him. You actually enjoyed his company. Something had changed, even if you didn't know what it was.

"Come on. Just go as easy as you feel like. I'll block ...gently." Keith still said while smirking. And you looked at him and rolled your eyes. Then you lifted your fists up again and concentrated.

You hit with your right hand and Keith blocked the punch. Then you hit with your left. And as you did that, you grinned as your arm felt so stiff. "You okay?" Keith asked, seeing the chance in your expression. "I'm fine. It will ease over time." You just replied without stopping. Then you gently kicked with your leg, but he blocked it. Then you did the same with the other leg too.

Then again you hit towards him with your right hand. And he blocked it by taking a hold of your hand and pulling it to the side, so that you couldn't move. You yelped from the surprise, and tried to free your hand, but he had a tight grip on it. And you felt yourself so awkward that you started to laugh. "How should I get myself out of this one?"

That's when you glanced at Keith and straight into his eyes. And your laughter cooled down as you realised. You probably looked at his eyes properly for the first time, and saw that his irises had a hint of purple in them. What a peculiar colour. And as you both realised that you were staring at each other, you quickly pulled away and he seemed to let you go.

You immediately cleared your throat as you felt slightly confused. "Sorry, got a bit distracted." You quietly said as you took your stance again, trying to forget what just happened and continue normally. And for a moment it was quiet. You didn't look at Keith in the eyes and he didn't say anything. You just tried to concentrate on the training.

You hit again and he blocked the punch. And another one. And then, just as you started another hit, you quickly glanced at Keith. And in that moment, Keith looked back and your eyes met again. And just then he lost his concentration, forgetting to block. And your fist ended up straight on his cheek.

As you felt a slight pain in your fist from the punch, you realised what had happened. And you felt shocked. You had just punched him in the face. "Keith! Are you okay!? I'm so sorry!" You yelped aloud as you immediately felt so bad. You never wanted to hit anyone.

You immediately took a hold of Keith's chin and turned his head so you could see where your punch had landed. And as you tried to feel if it was okay, you realised that he seemed to tense up. "I'm so sorry Keith! It's lucky that I'm not that good yet." You tried to explain, feeling really bad.

"No, umm...that was actually a really good punch." He said while you were holding his chin. And you immediately turned your head slightly away, so that he wouldn't see you blushing. Suddenly you felt flustered.

"I really am sorry. I didn't mean to." You still tried to apologise. "No, that's fine. I've had worse." He smiled a reassuring smile as you turned back to him. And you finally let go of his chin. It seemed he wasn't that affected by the punch after all.

"For someone who says she can't fight with her hands, you have a pretty mean punch." Keith said while rubbing his cheek. And that made you finally laugh. "I'm so embarrassed. I'm so sorry." You still said as you covered your face with your hands.

Just then the training deck door opened up. "Hello numbers 4 and 5. I thought you should know that Lance is getting out of the pod soon." Coran said as he walked in. And at that moment you realised that you had totally forgotten about him while sparring with Keith.

You left the training deck and came to the infirmary with Coran and Keith. Everyone else were there already. And as you walked in, Pidge noticed that Keith's cheek was a bit red. "What happened to you Keith?" She asked puzzled.

"It's nothing." Keith tried to say, but you interrupted him. "It was me. It was an accident. We were sparring and I accidentally hit him for real." You looked at the ground ashamed, even though for some reason you were giggling in your mind.

"Keith probably deserved that anyways." Pidge said while lifting her glasses and smirking. "Hey, what's that suppose to mean!?" Keith raised his voice immediately and crossed his arms. "Oh man, Lance would have loved that. Keith got punched in the face!" Hunk said happily while Keith just frowned at him. And you started to giggle. You felt so happy with these people. But when Keith glared at you, you stopped, trying to at least look serious.

As everyone finally settled down, you looked at Lance inside the healing pod. You had never seen him so calm, and you'd rather see him smiling. But you were still glad that he was going to be alright.

"I can't tell if he looks healthy or not." Hunk said while trying to look at Lance through the glass. "I think he's breathing weird." Pidge added. "How long still?" You asked impatiently. You really wanted to thank him for saving your ass back there before the explosion. "Not yet! A few more ticks." Allura tried to calm you down.

"How much better do you think he's going to get in a few ticks?" Keith asked quite innocently, but it made you laugh. Sometimes he just seemed so innocent. Like he wouldn't even realise when he was being funny. And he looked at you, probably wondering what you were laughing at.

"Oh yeah, I have been meaning to ask. What is a tick anyways?" You asked through your laughter. "You know, a time slice." Allura told you. "Like a second?" Shiro asked. "What is a second?" Allura asked with round eyes. And it was so cute that you wanted to go and squeeze her.

And pretty soon you started to compare seconds and ticks so intensely that you didn't notice Lance getting out of the pod. "You guys having a clock party?" You suddenly heard Lance's voice behind you. And you all turned around. "Lance!" Hunk yelled and immediately grabbed Lance into a big hug, squeezing him tightly. "Okay, Hunk, I get it, you missed me!" Lance laughed, trying to get Hunk to free him. And he finally let go.

Then you went to Lance, and wrapped your arms around him, pulling him into a hug too. And he seemed puzzled. "Thank you Lance." You said as you nuzzled your face against his chest. You were so relieved to see him alright.

At first Lance seemed dumbfounded, but then he started to smile. "Oh yeah, I saved you, didn't I? So that makes me a hero." He smiled and hugged you back. "Without you, I would have ended up in the healing pod for a much longer time. So I really mean it, thank you." You said as you finally let go of him.

"Would have been more fun with the two of us." Lance smirked at you. And you heard Pidge sighing loudly. "Lance!" You on the other hand burst into laughter. Until you heard Keith's voice from behind you.

"You just sleep in the pod, so what's that supposed to mean?" He asked with a slightly strained voice. And Lance glanced at him. "It means I wouldn't have been alone. Not like you know anything about it." Lance almost hissed at Keith.

"What do you know about it!?" Keith started to get irritated. "Well I know...I know a lot more than you do!" Lance made a lousy comeback. And you sighed. Everyone else started to roll their eyes, cause you knew where this would lead. "Well...I don't think so!" Keith made an even worse comeback while getting closer to Lance.

"Calm down. He just came out of a healing pod." You went between them and looked at Keith straight in the eyes. They both still glared at each other for a moment, but then Keith backed away. "Whatever." He just said, crossing his arms.

"We'd better get you something to eat. We can then talk about what happened." You turned to Lance when they had calmed down. "Are you able to walk?" Allura asked too. And Lance just blinked his eyes. "Talking? Eating? Are you two asking me out on a date?" He said while smirking. And Allura rolled her eyes while Keith just let out a deep sigh behind you. But it still made you laugh. You loved being with these people.

A bit later you were all sitting in the dining room, letting Lance eat and catch up on everything that happened while he was unconscious. "You'd be Sendak's prisoner right now if not for Pidge." Allura explained happily. "And you wouldn't have survived the explosion if Hunk and Coran hadn't gotten a new crystal." Pidge explained straight after.

"I heard (Y/N) and Shiro also pretty much tried to keep you safe from Sendak." Coran said and looked at you. "Yeah, tried." You answered him a bit disappointed. The feeling of helplessness was still vivid in your mind.

"Wow, thanks. Sounds like everyone did more than you Keith." Lance ignored your tone and smirked at Keith. And that made him irritated again. "I punched Sendak!" He immediately yelled. "Oh, I didn't see that." You teased him a bit, trying to forget about your feelings of helplessness. And Shiro glared at you to stop adding more fuel to the fire, but you just smiled at him. "Because you were unconscious too!" Keith answered to your teasing with a raised voice.

"Yeah, you punched him apparently after I emerged from a coma and shot his arm off." Lance continued, smirking at Keith, just irritating him more. And you sighed. "Oh, I didn't see that either. I missed all the fun." You almost whined. "We had a bonding moment. I cradled you in my arms. Both of you!" Keith yelled, looking a bit hurt. "Nope. Don't remember, didn't happen." Lance just replied to him, shrugging his shoulders.

And while everyone was having fun on Keith's expense, Shiro turned to Allura and Coran. "Is the castle ready to go soon?" He asked and everyone suddenly got silent. You had almost forgotten that you were going to leave Arus behind. "Yes, we have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people." Hunk said, suddenly getting quite serious.

"Wow! You are really hung up on this lady." Lance said excited. "It's not like that. When you see how Zarkon has treated their people and destroyed their home. They've been under his thumb for so long. They don't know what it is to be free. It's up to us to set it right. This is what being a Paladin is all about. It's time to man up." Hunk explained proudly in a long line of words.

You knew Hunk was right and you loved how he suddenly had fire in him. He didn't just want to get back home anymore, he wanted to protect. He acted like a Paladin. Whatever happened in Balmera, affected Hunk a lot. And that little crush Hunk had on this Shay, made your heart flutter a bit. Hunk of all people deserved happiness.

But before you could get anywhere, Pidge interrupted everyone. "Wait, I have something to say first. I need to come clean." Pidge said while looking at the ground. And you immediately knew what she was about to say. "And I'm afraid this may change the way you all think about me. Just so there are no secrets between us anymore." She continued hesitantly.

You went to her and took her hand into yours. "No it won't Pidge. You are still you." You said while smiling proudly. And she lifted her gaze and looked at you. Then she addressed the others. "Well, that is...that I can't man up. I'm a girl. I mean I can man up, because that is just a figure of speech. I don't have to actually be a man to man up. I just have to be tough. But what I'm saying..." She babbled headlessly. And from all the time you had spent together, you had both developed a bit of a habit of babbling when you were nervous.