So, your mission to the Universal Station was pretty much a failure. Allura had been left behind, and probably taken a prisoner by the Galra. And even though you were going to go and get her, one way or the other, you still felt guilty.

As you were all walking towards the control room after coming back from the mission, you deliberately lagged behind the others. You didn't say a word to anyone. And even though you knew you couldn't have done anything to stop Allura, it still didn't stop you from blaming yourself. And the burden of your guilt was getting even heavier as you thought about Coran. You didn't want to look at his eyes. You just couldn't.

As you entered the control room, the atmosphere felt really tense. And you knew that Coran immediately realised that something was wrong. So you tried to stay a bit behind the others while Shiro just went straight in, immediately taking control and starting to plan the rescue mission. But you knew it was his way of coping with his guilt.

"Pidge, scan the download from their ship. Find out where Zarkon's central command is." Shiro ordered straight away. "On it!" Pidge obeyed, sitting down on her chair and starting to browse through the information she had gotten from the Galra ship.

But that's when Coran interrupted Shiro. "Hold on! What's going on? Where's Allura?" He asked clearly worried, probably afraid of the answer he might get. And at that moment you wanted to disappear. You didn't want to be there at all. You just couldn't handle it. You felt so very guilty.

Then Shiro turned to Coran, taking in a deep breath but still keeping his composure. "They captured her. She sacrificed herself to save me, (Y/N), and the information." He stated quite calmly and bluntly.

And as you saw Coran's spirit crumbling down in front of you, your heart sank to your stomach. "How...how is that possible?" He stuttered. "Coran, I'm sorry things didn't go as planned, but we can't focus on what went wrong. We've got to figure out how to make things right." Shiro spoke determinedly to Coran, who just looked at you speechless, trying to digest the new information he had been given.

"Pidge, anything?" Shiro then walked to Pidge, who seemed to have found something. "Guys, look at this." She said, showing the information on the large screen. And you saw something that looked like blue prints of that central command system. The place that Zarkon was in. And now also Allura. And it looked huge and intimidating.

But just then Lance turned to you smiling. "See. No big deal. We'll easily get Allura out." He said to you quite cheerfully. And to that you unintentionally smiled, even though you really weren't in the mood for that. But Lance really was good at cheering everyone up, making you forget of the situation you were in.

"I think we should go right away. Every minute we waste gives Zarkon time to prepare for us." Pidge then said. "I agree. We have to get her out of there soon." You quietly stated, feeling slightly better. "I agree. We form Voltron, fly in, fly out, dust off our hands, and walk away." Lance then cheerfully added.

"Um, do you guys not remember the Balmera? We could barely take out one fleet. But this... a base this size could hold a thousand fleets!" Hunk then said worried, trying to get you to think before acting. And of course he was right. "Or maybe we shouldn't go on this mission at all." Keith then suddenly stated. And your eyes grew wide as you turned to look at him. What was he saying!?

But Keith just crossed his arms, looking at you all serious. "Think about it. We'll be delivering the universe's only hope to the universe's biggest enemy." He explained himself. But you were just dumbfounded of his insensitive comment. And you felt your blood boiling and your mood immediately changing. "How can you even say that!?" You exclaimed, glaring at Keith.

"Keith, that's cold, even for you. What if it was one of us? What if it was me? You wouldn't leave me, would you?" Hunk asked, sounding really disappointed. "No, he probably would." You just said, your guilt changing into anger and hurt. And Keith was making it worse. How could he say such a thing!?

"I'm not saying I like the idea. I'm just thinking like a Paladin." Keith still tried to explain himself as he saw you glaring at him. But it was too late. You just averted your gaze coldly.

"No, you're thinking of yourself because you're too scared to do what's right!" Lance suddenly raised his voice next to you. "No, I'm thinking of Voltron. And pretty much the whole universe!" Keith raised his voice too, clearly getting anxious. "Allura is as important as any of us, probably even more. We can't just leave her there!" You then raised your voice too. "I wouldn't leave any one of you out there. Not even you Keith. Though I would be tempted." Lance then said, glaring at Keith.

"Okay, we're all upset because we lost Allura." Pidge then interrupted you three from shouting at each other. "No, Shiro and (Y/N) lost Allura!" Coran then suddenly raised his hurt voice. And you glanced at him, getting silent. You knew he was right.

"I know Coran, but we couldn't do anything..." You then stated defeated, slouching your shoulders. "Okay, okay! This isn't helping. We can't just sit here and bicker like this." Hunk tried to calm the situation down. "Right. Let's focus. How are we going to get Allura?" Shiro immediately tried to get you to focus on what to do.

And as everyone finally calmed down, Shiro and Coran started to plan on how to get Allura free. Everyone else went to their chairs, starting to examine the blue prints. Except you, who just looked at Coran, feeling really guilty. You didn't want to go to him, but you knew you had to say something.

And as you walked to Coran, he looked at you a bit reserved, and still clearly broken. "Coran. I am really sorry that we lost Allura." You apologized to him quietly, forcing yourself to look straight at his eyes. And that's when he slouched his shoulders. "I know it's not your fault. It's just...I've already lost so much. I can't lose Allura too." He said with a horribly sorrowful voice. And you felt so bad for him. Allura and the castle were pretty much all he had left. And with that sinking feeling inside, you had to take some time alone.

"I'm going to take a small walk. I'll be back soon." You then said to Shiro, feeling yourself so numb. "(Y/N), please don't blame yourself." He tried to convince you. "I'm fine. I just need to walk a bit, to ease this restlessness." You lied to him, trying to put on a brave face. You usually didn't like to lie, but you didn't want to make him more worried. He had more serious business at hand.

Then you left the control room without looking at anyone. And as you came into your room, you threw your helmet away, somewhere on the corner. It let out a loud thud as it hit the wall, but you didn't care.

You just sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. And then you covered your face with your hands, taking in a deep breath to fill your lungs, trying to calm yourself down. You were so mad at yourself and to the situation. The guilt just kept going around in circles in your head. You couldn't get rid of it. And even though you knew that it wasn't your fault, your heart wouldn't hear of it.

Then suddenly the door to your room was opened up, startling you a bit. Then Keith looked inside. And as he saw you sitting on the floor, clearly broken, he came in, closing the door behind him.

But you just looked at Keith irritated. You would have rather be alone so you could dwell in your guilt in peace. "Why didn't you even knock? I could have been changing my clothes...or something." You just bluntly said to him. You really were irritated and it showed on you. You really just wanted to be alone. You didn't even mind if you were rude.

"No you wouldn't have. We're going to go get Allura soon. So why would you change out of your armour?" He said to you, slightly taken aback by your attitude. But you just rolled your eyes. A smart ass, the last thing you needed right now.

"Maybe you'd just better leave me here...just like you'd leave me to the Galra." You then said bluntly, the irritation speaking in you. But Keith just looked back at you frowning. "No I wouldn't and you know that." He said, starting to get anxious of why you were snapping at him. "How could I know that?" You just replied to him coldly. And then you heard him sighing. He clearly tried his best to keep his composure, knowing that you were hurting, but you weren't making it easy for him.

"But that's fine. At least I know that Lance would come and save me." You still bluntly added. And immediately you regretted saying that. Why would you say something like that? Were you deliberately trying to make him anxious? Were you relieving your own anxiety at him?

"You know I would come for you!" Keith then raised his voice. "And why would you bring Lance into this!?" He still added as he started to move a bit restlessly. And you could see that he was getting tense because of you snapping at him. And that's when you covered your face with your hands. You were just so messed up. You couldn't think straight. You didn't even know what you were feeling anymore.

"You'd better go though. What if someone starts to wonder where we both are." You still had to say. And that's when Keith stopped his movements. And you heard him taking in a deep breath. "Fine!" He then raised his voice. And you could hear that he was disappointed as he started to make his way out of the room.

And immediately you regretted for making him like that. You regretted for snapping at him, even though it was not his fault. You didn't want him to feel bad just because you were. He was worth more than that. So you turned to him before he got out.

"No, wait!" You exclaimed aloud. And Keith immediately stopped. "I'm sorry. Please don't go." You then said to him, still quite confused. And as Keith turned back around, you could see worry in his eyes.

Then Keith let out a sigh. He knew you were hurting. "You could also just say that you feel bad instead of snapping at me." He said to you, now more calm. And you looked at him speechless. He was right. "But, it's fine." He then added, like it was no big deal.

"No it's not fine. I shouldn't be relieving my anxiety on you. It's not fair. I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean any of it... I just can't stop this feeling." You then said as you leaned back, looking at the ceiling. "It has nothing to do with you. I'm sorry for saying those things. I know you would come and get me." You still added.

Then Keith walked next to you and sat down. And he leaned against the wall too. And for a moment you were both silent. "I'm sorry for what I said about Lance. I don't know why I said that." You then quietly said, breaking the silence. And you heard him sighing again.

"I just...I can't help it. It just pisses me off when he is that familiar with you..." He said while rubbing his forehead annoyed. And that made you look at him. Was he jealous? He had no reason to be, but for some reason that was kind of cute. "You do know that he thinks of me as nothing more than a friend. And neither do I. He just tries to cheer me up, and I appreciate it a lot." You then explained to him.

Then Keith turned to look at you. "You do realise that it's not your fault." He said to you quite calmly. "I know...but..." You started before stopping yourself. And then you covered your eyes with your hands, letting out a deep sigh. And you shook your head. It was so hard to get rid of that feeling.

Just then you suddenly felt as Keith took a hold of your hand and started to take off your glove. And you just looked at him curiously. What was he doing? Then he took the glove off from his right hand and interwined his fingers with yours. And at that moment, your heart skipped a beat.

The warmth of his now bare hand felt so nice that you just closed your eyes, savoring the feeling. He was keeping such a tight hold of it. And even though Keith wasn't saying anything, the gesture meant a lot. That was one of the most nicest things that anyone had done to you in ages. You didn't have to say anything. You just were there. And it felt so comforting. It felt like you were given strength.

Then you suddenly felt as he moved. And as you opened your eyes, you saw him looking at you, like he was inspecting you. And as you looked back at him, you realised how comfortable you felt. You really liked being with him. And as you gave him a small and relieved smile, he leaned over and kissed you, wiping out all the thoughts that you might have had.

You felt him squeezing your hand even tighter. And with the other hand, he took a hold of the back of your head, pulling you closer to deepen the kiss. And you breathed into the kiss. Keith wasn't the first one you had kissed, but hell, it felt like he was. There was just something so right and new in that feeling. It was a strange and exhilarating at the same time. You didn't know if he felt the same, but you really hoped he did.

Then Keith let go of your hand as he parted from the kiss. But he still stayed close for a moment. "It's going to be all right." He then quietly said, backing away and giving you a small smile. Then he got up and stretched his hand out to you without saying a word. But you just looked at him.

"You go ahead. I'll be right there." You said to him smiling, already feeling better. You just needed to get your act together before returning to the others. "Okay." Keith just said to you, starting to leave, wanting to give you space. But before he left, he went to the corner of your room. He picked up your helmet and brought it back to you. "You might need this." Keith said, handing the helmet to you. And you couldn't help but smile. Oh man, you were so smitten.

And after Keith was gone, you just stared at the closed doors quite baffled. Then you took a deep breath and smiled as you breathed out, letting out a satisfied sigh. It was strange how good he was at comforting you.

Then you got up and left the room with the helmet in your hands. And when you came back to the control room, everyone was already gathered around Shiro and Coran. "Good, you're here. Alright everyone, eyes front." Shiro said as he noticed you arriving.

"We've got a plan to get Allura. We're going to do a wormhole jump to the heart of the enemy, unseen and undetected." Shiro started to explain as you joined the others. "How are we going to do that?" You asked, trying to act casual, like nothing had happened just before. "Yeah, I thought that we needed Allura to open up a wormhole." Pidge said, looking at Shiro and Coran curiously.

"It's true that Allura powers the castle's ability to travel through wormholes. However, I think we have enough of her residual essence stored in the system to make one jump. We'll hide the castle here, inside one of the segiant gas planets in Zarkon's command system. The gas is so dense, we'll be hidden." Coran explained while pointing at the screen where you could see the diagram of the central command system.

"From there, we'll use the castle to scan for Allura on Zarkon's ship and attack before Zarkon knows what hit him." Shiro then continued with the explanation. And it sounded good enough to you. The main point was to get Allura away.

"There's only one hiccup. We have enough energy to wormhole in, but without Allura, we won't have enough energy to wormhole out." Coran then said a bit hesitantly. But Shiro interruped him. "It doesn't matter. We're not leaving without her." He said determined.

When you all had agreed on the plan, you sat down on your chair, getting ready for the mission. And as the castle made the wormhole jump, you arrived inside of a gas planet, just like Shiro and Coran had planned.

You tried looking around, but couldn't see a thing as the gas was really dense. And suddenly there was tension in the air as everyone realised how close you were to Zarkon now. And how crucial your success was. If the mission would be a failure, you couldn't get out anymore. It was nerve wrecking.

"We're here." Shiro then said seriously as you saw the whole central command system from the screens. It was really huge and intimidating. "So, where is Allura?" You then asked from Coran, who was tapping on the control panel, searching for signs of her.

"I'm detecting Allura's energy signature. From this distance, the signal's pretty weak, but she's somewhere in Zarkon's main ship." Coran said, pointing at the screen in front of you. "Once we get closer, we'll be able to narrow down the location where the Princess is being held." He then continued.

"Okay, guys, this is it." Shiro said, turning to look at you all with a grave expression on his face. And he really made it seem like it was something final. "Voltron is going to come in fast and without a warning. We'll smash our way into Zarkon's ship and grab the Princess. Before they know what hit them, we'll be on our way." He then explained. And as you listened to him, you couldn't help but think that it couldn't be that easy.

Then everyone left the control room. And as you arrived to the Amber Lion, you sat down on the chair. And then you took a deep breath as you petted her console. "Hey gorgeous. It's been awhile." You said, smiling at her. And she purred back.

"I know. I should come here more often. I am sorry." You said to her apologetically, feeling genuinely sorry. It was strange how you felt in your Lion. If you would have explained it to someone from outside, they'd probably think you were crazy. There was just something special being in your Lion. Like she was giving energy and strengthening you. And she was kind, but temperamental. And she was yours, and you were hers.

Then your Lion slightly growled. "How did you know?" You asked, slightly bashful that she would bring Keith up in a conversation. "But don't tell the other Lions, okay?" You then added, laughing while shaking your head. You really were smitten and she also knew that, giving you a kind purr.

"So, were going to go knocking on Zarkon's front door then." You then said to her, slightly smirking even though it gave you shivers. You were really going to Zarkon and you didn't feel that good about it, even though you knew you had to save Allura.

Then everyone was ready to leave. Your Lion let out a loud and encouraging roar as she soared out of the castle. "Alright, let's form Voltron!" Shiro then ordered. And immediately the Lions soared upwards in total unison. They started to transform, everything clicking into its place as the magnetism pulled you together. And with Voltron, you emerged from the dense gas planet and flew straight into the heart of the evil.

As you flew towards the center of the system, your heart started to race. You really hoped that everything would turn out all right. And as soon as you got closer, you saw a huge fleet of Galra ships waiting there. Shit, Hunk was right. You had been struggling in Balmera already, so could you handle this many at the same time? You didn't know, but you had no choice but to move ahead at that point.

But as you were closing in on your destination, suddenly the whole command system was covered with a huge barrier, swallowing also you and the castle inside of it. And you gasped. Were they waiting for you after all? "This doesn't look good." You had to say it aloud, like nobody else wasn't thinking about it.