Abducted (Shidge/Mallura AU)

24 - Reunited Again

She was infuriated and scared, more or less. Zarkon had her mother and they had to give over their most valuable prisoner. In a space shuttle, Katie sat in the co-pilot seat, feet tapping against the metal flooring as her nerves erupted under her skin. They entered the planet, Matt staying silent behind her and Shiro. The air was tense with suspense, a serious expression present on all of their faces. They landed in an empty crater, jumping out of the ship in seconds.

“Are you sure this is the place?” Matt asked, coming around from the back of the ship. His hand felt up the smooth exterior of the likely unused ship.

Shiro’s eyes scanned the area, Katie already beginning to feel very concerned. “This is the place,” Shiro answered immediately, reassuring the boy.

Katie didn’t feel her nerves go down. She was extremely frightened and she couldn’t help it. So many things could go wrong and it wasn’t like they can trust Zarkon at all. Speaking of the evil space emperor, he had yet to arrive. “So where's Zarkon?” she inquired, gazing up into the sky and hoping that she would see his ship.

She was too nervous to think about logical reasons. Instead, she thought back to when Zarkon informed them of their mother’s presence in his captivity. She felt a little embarrassed about wanting to jump head first in and save her mom, but luckily Shiro had talked her into thinking rationally about the situation to get the best outcome. The brunette had only cared about seeing her mother again at the time.

And, now, they waited, the sky above them purplish-blue with dark, brooding grey clouds hanging from the sky and floating about. Went blew through them, the girl feeling it flow through her hair. Matt was the first to turn around at the sound of something breaking out of the clouds. “There!” he shouted, a large Galra ship landing heavily before them.

The doors slowly opened, revealing Zarkon, larger than Katie had remembered and armored head-to-toe. Lotor had said that them combined were his greatest threat, but Matt wasn’t too sure, saying that Lotor couldn’t be trusted. It was through the Princess that he tried to convince them, but what really won the Holt siblings was the fact that they couldn’t trust the Galra and Shiro’s shouting that ended their babbling.

“Show me Lotor!” Zarkon boomed, voice being carried across the distance like rice on a platter. Katie didn’t know how to respond, her heart pounding in her chest.

Shiro, did, however. “Show us Commander Holt first!” he shouted back, the generals appearing behind Zarkon at the door. Since she was too worried about her mom, she never thought about how Shiro called her Commander Holt, he hadn’t done that since the middle of their journey when her mom convinced him to call her Mrs. Holt. It was strange to hear the phrase again, in all honesty.

Between the two generals was the woman Katie had wanted to see for the past year. Her mother. A happy yet scared smile plastered on her face. “Mom!” Katie called in her extreme joyousness, taking a step forward, Shiro catching her arm. Matt came to her side, eyeing their mother with a hopeful expression.

“Now, where is Lotor?” Zarkon barked, not moving and his glowing eyes piercing through the trio. Katie received the chills, subconsciously backing up into Shiro. As commissioned, Lotor stepped out of the shuttle, hands conjoined by the Altean handcuffs. The silence wedged on.

The two ships stood opposite of each other as another gush of wind knocked into Katie’s hair. Matt left her side to stand next to Lotor, eyeing him suspiciously. “Send us Commander Holt!” Shiro demanded, discreetly rubbing Katie’s wrist with his thumb in an attempt to calm her pulse.