Voltron: A New Age [Next Generation]

Chapter 6: Paladins and Princesses

Erity's pov:

Her head was spinning. She couldn't shake the anxious feeling inside of her, it was making her feel sick to her stomach. She could hardly remember how fast she forced Bandor and Cassie to have them leave the planet. She had to be strong, to be the leader they needed but these Princesses that hadn't shown mercy before were holding her father captive. And he was all she could think about.

"Erity?" Her father's voice sounded soft and sweet, "what's wrong?"
"N-nothing," she quickly said as she wiped away tears and locked her phone.
"I can tell something's bothering you," he said as he sat down besides her on her bed, "maybe I can help."
"No, dad," Erity said and looked up at him, "I don't think you can this time."
He sighed and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to him. Erity grew up with two dads, Shiro and Curtis, with her dad Curtis she'd always talk about her crushes and they'd watch drama shows together and with her father Shiro she'd always be training and talking about space and his adventures. She loved them both equally but when she was upset Shiro somehow always seemed to be the one to get through to her, maybe because he was such a great leader or maybe because of his natural calmth.
But now it was different. She had a problem that she couldn't tell her fathers, only Luri knew of it, she was the one that even made her realise it. See, the truth was that Erity had fallen madly in love with Paul Kogane, he was all she could think about. But him being the oblivious guy he always was had just texted her to announce that he was now dating Genevieve, that girl that pushed him into the fountain a few months ago. Erity knew that Genevieve did it on purpose, it was written all over her face.
Erity had shown up at Paul's campus to tell him about her feelings for him and Genevieve ruined it, the way he looked at her when he just knew her for five seconds was just enough to make her stop. He'd never look the way at Erity the way he'd look at Genevieve. If a girl he just met could make him feel more then the girl he had known for his entire life then it wasn't meant to be. So she forced herself to lie and to forget about him, the lying part went great, forgetting not so much. Trying to forget Paul Kogane only made him more permanent in her mind and heart. In a way she'd known that he would start dating Genevieve eventually, but it still hurt.
"Before your father and I got together I was with a man named Adam for a very long time," her father said and she frowned, "for a long time I thought that him and I would end up together, get married, have a beautiful daughter. But I wanted to go on the Kerberos mission and he refused to watch me go through the pain again, since I was suffering from a desease. He told me that I could go on the mission but he wouldn't be there when I'd come back. I still went on that mission and you know what happened after that. In the end I never even knew if Adam would've been there when I returned now that I would return as a voltron paladin. The reason I never found out was because he was killed in a battle with Sendak."
"Had Adam not died, would you have ended up with him instead of dad?" Erity asked.
"Maybe," her father said, "I'll never know. What I'm trying to tell you is that your choices will always have two ends, one end has consequences you don't know about yet and one end can provide you with what you want.. And there is a silver lining when those two overlap with each other."
"How will I know when that happened?" Erity asked.
"In that moment you'll just know," Shiro said softly, "I can tell that you are struggling, you are my daughter. And even if you do not want to talk to me or to dad about it you still have to make your own choices on how you'll handle that situation."
"How will I know when I've made the right decision?" She asked confused.
"At some point, it will all make sense and you'll know," her father said as he kissed her om her forhead, "you'll figure it out."

She looked at Paul from the corner of her eyes and wondered when things became so complicated. He had always been her best friend, ever since they were little. He always listened to her and always protected her when needed, she always felt a certain ease around him and for years she thought that was just because they knew each other so well because feeling calm isn't what love feels like right? It wasn't until Luri told her otherwise, with the wise words she learned from her mother. Maisey. She never thought more of Paul than a friend until that moment, of course she had wondered before what they'd be like together but everybody did that... The next time she saw him she could feel the butterflies in her stomach, like Luri had managed to get them off their lazy butts by just making her realise she had been in love with Paul all those years.
It made sense why no relationship worked out, because she was subconsciously comparing the personalities of her exes with her best friend's. In her mind she knew that she should've been treated differently by her exes and she only realised after Paul had fallen in love with Genevieve that all of her pro's and con's lists on her exes were Paul's personality and choices as a reference. She cut off their friendship hoping those feelings would pass and also everytime she saw him with Genevieve she felt sick to her stomach.
"You still here, Eri?" Paul asked snapping her out of her thoughts about him.
"Hm, I am," Erity said, "just worried about my dad, that's all."
"I get that," Paul said and sighed, "our fathers will be fine, after all you and I are the ones doing the talking. Be glad their lives aren't depending on Luri and Reyan who would only use threats and sarcasm."
Erity chuckled and instantly regretted it. But they had to get along since the universe was depending on them now. Despite of having almost two years no contact with him she still felt at ease around him, which she found weird.
"How's Genevieve now that you're up in space?" Erity asked, jealousy taking the best of her.
"Hm, okay," he said kind of cold, "I haven't, eh, spoken to her.. But she'll be fine. Different topic, why do you hate me?"
"I don't hate you," Erity said quickly and Paul quirked a brow as his tall figure hovered over her.
"Before today you hadn't looked me in the eye once since the moment you walked into the Garrison," Paul said softly, "you have always been my best friend and I want to know what I did to make you hate me so much you couldn't even look me in the eye after not seeing each other for two years."
"I don't think we should talk about that now," Erity said and looked away again, "we should focus on the mission."
"You're right," Paul said softly, "but after we've saved our fathers I want to finish this conversation, not just for the sake of voltron but also for the sake of us because after we saved the universe I can not go again with not seeing or talking to you for two years. I'm not willing to live without you unless you give me a reason to leave you be. I will not let you walk out of my life so easy like I let you do the last time."
"We'll talk later," Erity said softly, "we should get back to the others."