I'm back bitches!!!!!
(Lance's POV)
I sat there in the lion, not so silently hyperventilating. Holy. Fucking. Shit. I just died! I just died! I was dead for a solid minute. I would still be dead if Allura hadn't come to rescue my pathetic ass. Red growled at me, stopping me from going down the self-destructive path I was about to go down.
"I'm okay Red," I whispered. We both knew I was lying.
"Lance?" Hunk called. I looked over my visor to see the entire team waiting for me. "Hey! We're going to make a campfire and catch up!" After the castle was destroyed we've been making our long journey back home. We've just stopped on a moon to rest for the night.
"I...I'll be there in a sec, Hunk," I called, not fully trusting myself to leave just yet. I cant have a panic attack in front of everyone. Not when Shiro has just been brought back from the dead. Who am I to freak out over dying for a minute when Shiro's been technically dead for months?
"Okay babe," Hunk said again. "Just don't take too long." I smiled at my boyfriend, grateful to have such a caring and kind one.
They walked away to where Krolia and Romelle were gathering some sort of kindling. Don't know how they found that on a moon but...
I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm to fuck down. I can't go out there and freak out. I'm going to calm down, I'm going to go out there, and I'm going to bond with my friends. I slowly stood up, my legs only wobbling a little bit. Red purred warningly, begging me not go yet. She knew I wasn't ready to face them.
"I'll be fine, Red," I said. She purred once more but opened her jaw. I walked out of Red and went by the fire where everyone else was situated. Hunk smiled warmly and opened his arms for me. I instantly sat in his lap and cuddled against him. He was warm and I snuggled into it gratefully.
I could always count on Hunk for cuddles.
"Hey Lancey," Hunk said. He kissed my temple and I smiled up at him.
"Hey yourself," I said to him. He chuckled.
"Ew!" Pidge called. "Get a room!"
"Do you see any rooms?" I asked Pidge. She glared at me.
"Touche."
I laughed as she huffed and turned back to conversing with Romelle about the technology on the colony she was living in. I smiled as I watched her. She was a good kid, even if she seemed to have a large aversion to everyone who wasn't tech savvy like herself. Maybe that's why she sort of hates me....?
I was snapped out of my thoughts when Hunk shook my shoulder gently. "Huh?" I asked.
"We're about to talk about the radiation base. I thought maybe you'd want to talk about it?" Hunk asked. I shook my head softly and snuggled deeper into Hunk's warmth. "Okay love, go back to sleep."
"'M not sleepy," I answered. Because I wasn't, I can't close my eyes without thinking about death. About the coldness of it, about the darkness. How lonely it was. I hate being alone....
"Sure you're not," Hunk laughed. "So anyway, I was like shoving the giant shield thing into place when the galra cruiser shoots it's blast at us and then Lance just stopped responding and Allura gets out of Blue and everything was going wrong! It was crazy!"
"I don;t understand," Shiro said, swiping his now fully white hair out of his face. "Allura would never do something so reckless. Why'd she get out of the lion? And why did Lance stop responding?"
They all turned to face me but was frozen. I couldn't force myself to speak, my throat suddenly very very dry. "I..." I cleared my throat. "I just did a very stupid thing, is all."
"What do you mean?" Shiro asked.
"It's nothing," I say quickly. "It doesn't matter."
"Princess?" Shiro asked.
Allura stared at me, as if asking for my permission to tell them. I shook my head quickly, not wanting them to know about what happened. How could I ever look Hunk in they eyes if he found out that I got my dumb ass killed? They'll probably hate me!Or at the very least laugh at me.
Allura looks at me regretfully before turning to Shiro. "When the galra shot the ion cannon at us...I was frozen," Allura starts softly. "I didn't react in time and Lance...Lance did. He knocked me out of the way and was hit instead." Hunk stiffened around me and hugged me tighter.
"What?" he cried.
"And Lance...Lance did not survive the blast," Allura continued. Gasps hailed all around the fire as Hunk forced me to meet his gaze. He looked horrified and worried. "I got out of Blue and flew to Red to restore his life force."
"You...You died?" Hunk asked, his voice wavering.
"I...I guess," I shrugged. "It's not really important--"
"Of course it is!" Pidge screeched. "You fucking died! How could you not tell us?" Shiro didn't even bother to correct Pidge's language because he was too busy staring at Lance in horrified shock.
"I don't understand why you're all making such a big deal out of this," I said defensibly. "Shiro's been dead for months! If anyone has the right to freak out it's him! Me dying for a minute is nothing compared to that!"
"Don't compare my pain to yours," Shiro said softly. "because in the end it's still pain."
"But you--"
"What I went through was...unpleasant, yes," Shiro said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "But I wasn't technically dead. I was just in the astral plane. I could still see and hear everyone. You died, Lance. Actually died!"
Hunk whimpered and hugged me tightly. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I didn't think any one would care." I answered honestly.
"What?!"
"Lance of course we care," Hunk said kissing me all over my face. "I care so much! I love you so much! I don't know what I'd do without you!" he wailed.
"I'm sorry Hunky-pie," I said. "Oh please don;t cry! You know I...cry..if you..cry!" I said in between sobs. I clutched Hunk as we cried together.
"Oh my gosh," Pidge said with a roll of her eyes.
"Just let them have their moment," Shiro said. "It's cute."
And there was no more conversation around the campfire, the only noises coming from Hunk and I as we cried together.
