"Oh no!" Echoed in the silent control room as you looked at the sight horrified. Zarkon had found you. His fleet was just behind the castle. And hell, it was intimidating.

"How did he find us?" Allura asked the same question that was going through your mind. "His commanders must have radioed him from Olkarion." Keith tried to come up with a reason. "Does it matter now how it happened, shouldn't we get out of here!?" You then yelled, probably sounding more anxious than intended. But heck, Zarkon's ship and fleet was enormous compared to the castle. You wouldn't stand a chance if you'd try to fight them now. "Yes, we need to wormhole, now! Everyone to your stations." Shiro then ordered.

You immediately nodded and started to run to your chair. But that's when the castle got hit, time after time, and you almost lost your balance from the sudden shaking. "Allura, can you evade these fighters? We can't have them following us through the wormhole." Shiro asked. "I can try." She replied, not sounding too confident. But even so, the castle fired up it's boosters at the same time the particle barrier was activated. And when you started to move, immediately a large amount of fighter planes started following you.

And as you sat in your chair and silently watched the castle trying to get away from the fleet, you started to feel your eyelids getting heavy. Even though the situation was alarming, you were so very tired. You had been awake for quite some time now, and you were never good with being tired. You used to have enough of sleepless nights to know that you couldn't function well with sleep deprivation.

"Keith, Lance, let's lay down some covering fire." Shiro then ordered, and immediately three defense drones came out of the castle. Then holographic handles appeared in front of them as they started to shoot at the fighter planes chasing after you.

"Lance, incoming, 12 o'clock high!" Pidge warned him, immediately observing the situation. "Got it!" Lance just yelled while going after it. But then suddenly Keith's drone pushed Lance's drone out of the way as he shot the target himself. "Hey!" Lance protested, but Keith just smirked. "Sorry! Gotta be quick!" He said amused. But you just shook your head. Why did they have to start competing at a time like this?

But just then Lance's drone bumped into Keith's. "How's that for quick?" He said while smirking. "You..." Keith growled at Lance, ready to say something offensive. But you just cut him off. "Come on, this is not the time to fight. Well, at least each other." You said while letting out a sigh. And that's when Keith got quiet. "Yeah Keith, better listen to your girlfriend." Lance then said, smirking at you. And you suddenly got flustered as you realised that he just called you Keith's girlfriend. Well, you were, but still, it was strange hearing him saying it aloud.

That's when you saw that Keith was looking at you a bit flustered too. And as you looked back, your eyes locked and his gaze softened up. Until you realised that Lance was also looking at you two. "What!? Is the angsty mullet head blushing!?" He then started to laugh. And you just wanted to sink into your chair, probably blushing. "Lance...shut up!" Keith just growled back at him, clearly irritated.

But that's when Shiro interrupted you. "Please, focus! Hunk, how are the defenses holding?" He asked, wanting to concentrate on what was happening outside. "I don't know. Ten percent? Fifteen maybe? Everything's a blur. I've been up too long. I have tired eyes!" Hunk said, almost panicking while looking at his screen. And it seemed that everyone else were starting to get really tired and distracted too. Well, everyone except Shiro, who seemed quite calm, even though he must have been feeling the pressure too.

And like Shiro had known what you were thinking, he glanced at everyone. "I know we just came off an intense battle, but we've got to stay focused, just until we jump." He tried to calmly explain, knowing how long your day had been. First the Olkarion distress signal, and now Zarkon on your trail. And when the castle boosted it's speed, trying to get rid of the fighter planes on your trail, you couldn't help but think how absurd the possibility of beating Zarkon some day seemed at the moment.

"They're still too close! We need to gain more speed!" Coran yelled when you couldn't leave the fighter planes behind. "I've got an idea! Hold on!" Allura notified everyone as she suddenly turned the castle almost to a nosedive.

"Allura, what are you doing!?" You asked anxiously as the sudden pressure hit you. It was like a gravitation pull that started to affect. "I'm going to use this moon's gravity to gain speed and put some distance between us and Zarkon." She just replied as the castle was lunging towards the moon ahead.

And as your body was pressed against the chair by the intensity of the force, you started to feel somewhat nauseous and lightheaded. You weren't used to those kinds of g-forces. And you couldn't help but feel bad for Hunk. If you were feeling like that, you wondered how he must have felt.

"We're clear to wormhole!" Coran then yelled, and Allura quickly opened up a wormhole. And then the castle dived in it, leaving Zarkon behind. But even though you had gotten away, the red lights were still flashing. "We got away from Zarkon, how come we're still on alert?" Lance immediately asked, clearly agitated.

And that's when Coran gasped as he looked at the computer. "Oh, no! Teludav lens malfunction!" He exclaimed aloud. "What does that mean!?" You also yelled, feeling way too lightheaded to think clearly. "We're about to exit this wormhole a lot sooner than we planned!" Coran explained what was going on. And you bit your lip as you again felt like there was just too much happening at the same time.

But just then you exited the wormhole. And as the castle calmed down a bit, you immediately took in deep breaths to get rid of the dizziness that tried to take over. And when you glanced outside, you realised that the castle was in a huge field of ice boulders. "Where are we?" You timidly asked while looking at the eerie sight. "Looks like some sort of iceberg graveyard." Lance answered you quietly. And even though just the idea of ending up to a graveyard sent shivers down your spine, it was still better than facing Zarkon now.

That's when suddenly Allura collapsed to the ground. "Allura!" You gasped and immediately got up from the chair and ran up to her, kneeling down. "Allura are you alright?" You asked concerned while trying to keep her steady. But when she looked at you, she tried to smile. "I am quite alright, don't worry." She said, but you saw from her eyes that she was not. And you frowned. "We all need some rest." You quietly said as you got back up on your feet.

But as you got back up, you again felt slightly dizzy, so you leaned on your legs while trying to take in a deep breath. "(Y/N), what's wrong?" You then heard Keith's voice. And as you lifted your head, you saw him leaning towards you, looking at you concerned.

"You look pale. Are you alright?" He then asked while frowning. And at that moment you smiled. He was concerned for you, and it made you feel all warm. But then you shook your head. "Thanks, but I'm just a bit dizzy from the rough ride." You said while straightening out your back.

"I'll go check on the main turbine and figure out what's going..." Coran then spoke as he started to leave the room. But as he was going, he suddenly started to scream while sliding straight into the wall, crashing into it, making everyone startled.

And as Coran pulled away from the wall, he was holding his head and grunting. "What happened? Are you hurt?" You asked concerned. But when Coran realised that everyone was staring at him, he immediately leaned on the wall, trying to act nonchalant. "I'm fine. Look, I tell you what, I've probably hit a slippery spot on the ground there. Someone please wipe that up!" He explained, sounding nervous, suddenly starting to sweat a lot. Was everything really alright?

That's when Allura spoke hesitantly. "You're sweating. You might have a case of the slipperies." She said while looking at Coran, who immediately started to chuckle. "What? No! No, that's an old person virus, and I'm not old. I'm young. Well, young-ish." He spoke, his voice starting to break down the further he got in his explanation. And the more he explained, the more sick he seemed.

"What are the slipperies?" Lance asked curiously. "It's a common Altean virus that occurs later in life. It's not harmful and usually only lasts a couple of days, but it causes one's body to secrete extremely slick fluid." Allura explained. And you grimaced. It sounded kind of nasty.

And also looked like it as Coran was just oozing that slick fluid, making everyone slowly starting to look somewhat disgusted. And that just made Coran irritated. "Yes, it is gross, so it's a good thing I don't have it!" He yelled, wanting you to drop the subject. But as he spread his arms while yelling, the fluid dripped from under them to the floor. And when Coran realised that you were still looking at him, he yelled again. "I don't have it!"

"And now, I'm actually going to leave because I've got to fix the main turbine!" Coran then said as he started to leave. Well, at least he tried his best until he realised he couldn't get anywhere. He was just walking in place because of the slippery floor. And that made you smile so much that you had to cover your mouth with your hand so you wouldn't offend him. Coran was at his comedic best when he didn't try to be.

Finally Coran slid out of the control room, cursing as he went, leaving everyone a bit baffled. Until Shiro spoke. "All right. Enough of Coran. Since Zarkon has no idea where we are, this is the perfect time to focus on our next step." He explained, not giving you any time to pull yourselves together, even though Allura was still sitting on the ground exhausted. And everyone sighed. Sometimes it felt like Shiro had nothing else on his mind than your missions.

"Maybe we should take a small break. Nobody can function being too tired..." You then said to Shiro. But he just turned to look at you strictly. "No, we have no choice but to think ahead. Maybe we can find that secret group, the Blade of Marmora. Pidge, where are those coordinates?" Shiro just moved ahead, ignoring your request. And you shook your head. Everyone looked way too tired to function properly.

"Wait, hang on." Pidge said as she slowly started to tap on her holographic screen. "I'm so tired, my brain's not working." She then said after a moment of just monotonous tapping. And you sighed again. "Shiro, I mean it. We can't function like this." You tried to convince him again.

But that's when Coran's face appeared on the screen. "Hello all. I've checked the engines." He informed you. "Wow, that was fast..." Pidge said to him, sounding sarcastic. But Coran just smiled. "Well, I slipped right down...I mean, hurried down." He said before correcting himself. And that made you sneer. You knew he was still trying to convince you about not having the slipperies.

Then Coran started to babble something about the fighters doing minimal damage, and the teludav being in bad shape, and something being cracked, and something about supplies and crystals, and something taking at least a quintant. But you weren't really paying attention because you were just too tired to listen to his endless speech.

But luckily Shiro had paid attention to what Coran said. "All right. We'll hide the ship and get some rest while Coran comes up with a work-around. Tomorrow, we'll be sharper and refocused." He said to you. And immediately everyone breathed out a relieved sigh. You could finally do as you pleased.

That's when you turned to Keith, but saw that he was already walking out of the room, keeping his gaze on the ground, clearly lost in his thoughts again. And for some reason it made you feel a bit anxious.

You had realised that something was bothering him, but you didn't want to pressure him to talk. You knew he would just shut down more if you started questioning him. So you would just wait for him to tell you when he was ready, even though him shutting you out was worse than what he could say. It made your thoughts wander too much.

"(Y/N)." You woke up from your thoughts as someone called your name. And as you turned around, you saw Pidge in front of you smirking. "Are you going after him or do you want to come with me and Hunk? He's baking cookies!" She cheered with a childlike enthusiasm. But you just smiled at her.

"Thanks for the invite, but I think I'm going to visit my Lion before heading to bed." You explained to her. And immediately her smile cooled down. "Because of what Ryner said about the hidden power?" She asked like she already knew what you were thinking. And you nodded. "Nothing can get past you, you smartass." You said while smirking and ruffling her hair, which you knew she hated. "Yeah, I'll try bonding with her more." You still said to her as you started to leave the room. But before you left, you still smirked to Pidge. "Save me a cookie!"

And then you walked along the hallway, on your way to your Lion's hangar. But as you were walking past the rooms, Keith suddenly came from his room just wearing swimming trunks and a towel wrapped around his neck. And it seemed like he was almost dragging himself forwards, looking really tired. Why didn't he just go to sleep?

"Keith!" You called out to him. And as he turned around and saw you, he seemed to cheer up a bit, even though he still looked tired as hell. "Where are you going like that?" You asked. "Allura said there's a pool somewhere." Keith replied to you with a tired voice. And that's when your mind finally registered that he didn't have a shirt on. And even though you tried not to look too much, you just couldn't help it. He was lean but toned. And soon you had to force your eyes to lock into his as your own awkwardness made you blush.

But when Keith was just staring at the ground, you realised how absent minded he seemed. And you didn't know if it was because of lack of sleep or was it something serious. He didn't feel like he was quite there, and that made you frown. "Are you going to get some sleep after that?" You then asked, and he just nodded. And then it became quiet.

But just then the whole situation made you chuckle. You were too tired and you couldn't stop your eyes from wandering, making you feel more awkward, even though Keith was standing before you seemingly down. So you took the towel he had wrapped around his neck and placed it on top of his head. "Hope you have a nice swim." You said as you cupped his cheeks, tiptoed and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, wanting to make him feel a bit better. And when you pulled away, he finally lifted his gaze from the ground, his clouded eyes growing wider as he looked at you for a moment.

Then Keith suddenly put his hands on your hips and pulled you closer against him as he kissed you, this time more present. And even though you were slightly surprised, you responded to the kiss. But when you realised that you had instinctively placed your hands on his bare chest while leaning against him, and how the feel of his skin beneath your hands was exhilarating, you started to blush more.

That's when Keith pulled away, even though you still leaned towards him, wanting to continue. "Thanks." He just said as he started to walk away, the towel still on his head. But as you looked after him slightly puzzled, you felt your heart growing heavy. Even though the kiss was nice, you knew that there was something weighing on his mind.

Then when Keith had disappeared from your sight, you continued to your Lion's hangar. And as soon as you entered the room, her eyes lit up, welcoming you enthusiastically. "Hey gorgeous." You said as you approached her smiling.

"I thought I'd come see you. We haven't had any quality time together lately." You said as you climbed into the control room and sat on the chair. And as you reached out to her console and petted it, she purred. "Oh do I? Well I guess I am." You answered her chuckling.

Then you leaned back on the chair, lifted your legs on it and took your meditation posture. "You remember when we first met?" You then asked her, and she purred softly while remembering how eagerly she was waiting for you. "I felt your energy then. So maybe we could try it again." You said smiling as you closed your eyes.

Then you took a deep breath. And as you put your hands on the chair, to feel the Lion, suddenly everything felt so quiet. Even your tiredness seemed to fade away as you steadied your breath, trying to get into the calm rhythm. And as you gently stroked the metal beneath your hands, you could see her beauty and her grace as you focused solely on her.

And then you found her heart. Her beautiful heart. It was beating for you. And you smiled as she said that she was yours. "I'm yours too." You silently whispered back as you felt her energy flowing through you without any boundaries. It felt warm and it felt welcoming.

But just then suddenly the castle started to shake and alarms started to blare. And you instantly opened your eyes as your focus was lost. "What's going on?" You asked confused. And when your Lion told you that the castle was being attacked again, you let out a sigh. All of a sudden you felt really tense again, and the tiredness came back worse than before as you immediately started running to the control room as fast as you could.

When you arrived to the control room, you saw Allura and Shiro talking to Coran in the engine room. And to your horror you saw Zarkon's fleet in front of you again, shooting at the castle continuously. If it weren't for the particle barrier, you would have been goners. "They found us again!?" You yelled, gasping. But neither Shiro nor Allura paid any attention to you. They clearly were talking about something serious. So you just sat down on your chair.

"Wormholing will be a problem. The lenses haven't been readjusted! I don't know if the teludav will generate enough power." You heard Coran say with a panicked voice. "Do everything you can!" Allura ordered him strictly.

That's when Keith and Lance ran into the control room too, both of them in their swimming trunks. And when you noticed them, your eyes widened. Had they been swimming together? And suddenly that thought came out as a burst of laughter. You just couldn't help it. You were so tired and the thought of it was way too funny.

But Lance was just panicking. "They found us again!? How is that possible? Is that possible? That doesn't seem possible!" He yelled as they both sat on their chairs. And at the same time Pidge and Hunk ran in the room too.

"Right now, we must figure out a way to get out of here." Allura said, trying to act calm even though Zarkon's fleet was shooting at you constantly. "Or we can stay and fight. Now's our chance." Keith suddenly said defiantly. And everyone looked at him. "Form Voltron. Enough running!" He still added, clearly ready to go fight right now. In his swimming trunks.