Devil's Advocate (Voltron: Legendary Defender Fanfic/ONC Entry)

Mother's Heart

She promised him she wouldn't leave him again.

Krolia, as a member of the Blades of Marmora, was used to death, but she'd never experienced death like this. Losing one's child was definitely different, yet she couldn't erase from her memory of holding her child for the first time let alone holding him again after so many years. He'd grow into a fine young man only for his future to be snuffed out so easily.

And then there was Shiro, who...

The lights flickered on and off before she could stop and think about Shiro. Strange things were happening but were distracting her from stopping and thinking about the fact she never got to reconcile with Shiro. So many important things were now gone and shattered into a million pieces and there was nothing she could do about it. A sigh escaped her lips as the lights flickered on and off again.

"Why?"

Krolia's eyebrows shot up upon hearing Allura's voice. She turned her head as a chill ran down her spine. She quickly discovered why upon seeing the darkness covering Allura as a robe. "I'd ask you to clarify, but something tells me to be wary of you?"

"Why did you leave Keith?"

She stared at Krolia. The contamination of her soul was quite evident which Krolia found disappointed. She spoke with Keith about Allura and how he felt about her, yet how Allura didn't feel the same way. He told her he could live with that if Allura was, in fact, happy, yet Allura didn't seem happy.

"Of course I'm not happy, but he didn't..."

"You shouldn't pry into someone's mind like that." Krolia carefully built up a mental block around her thoughts. "And no, you didn't seem happy. I mean, you weren't happy with Lance, were you?"

"That is none of your business."

"The fact it involved my son getting his heart broken..."

"I didn't. He broke my heart."

Krolia closed her eyes. "It doesn't matter."

"It matters! It matters that he..."

"I mean it doesn't matter if I am telling you the truth or not because he's dead, so there isn't anything that can be done to fix the situation."

"I could kill you."

"Why?"

"You left Keith."

Krolia pushed her lips together. "Yes. Yes, I did. You aren't a mother, so you couldn't possibly understand how I felt or why I did what I did."

"I don't want to hear that!" Krolia saw Allura swing and proceeded in dogging the blow. "I don't want to hear about people saying such things! Not when I said that and it was turned on me! If my feelings didn't matter then, then why do they now."

Allura swung again and Krolia dodged again. The fist of the princess left a large dent in the wall. "Except your feelings didn't matter."

'No. What mattered was the fact me hurting hurt Lance. As such my feelings didn't matter."

The next blow hit Krolia in the face as she purposefully took the blow. She grabbed the princess's hand. "You listen to me Allura."

"Do you really think you can get through to me?"

"It is true seeing your loved ones hurt does in itself hurt."

Allura suddenly pulled her arm away and grabbed Krolia to fling him against the wall. "See. I made Lance hurt. I was wrong."

"You weren't." Krolia's hand touched her ribs. Somehow the throw managed to break a few ribs, yet she was starting to feel it in her head as well. Taking the blow suddenly didn't seem like a good idea as the princess was stronger than she originally thought, almost as if amplified. She didn't, in fact, have enough time, but she didn't have enough time. "You weren't wrong for the way you felt."

"Yes, I was."

"When those I love hurt, I hurt because I want to fix things for them, not because I am being wronged by how they feel." Krolia found herself slip down to the ground. "I'd do anything to make that feeling go away, but it's the person who would do that for you – that is the person who loves you, not the person who puts their own feelings first."

"No!" The lights flickered on and off. "The person who does that for me – did that for me, he didn't love me. It was..."

"The others?" Krolia closed her eyes as the lights flickered on and off. "That's not love. That's manipulation."

When she opened her eyes Allura was gone. She thought she was hallucinating when she saw Keith coming towards her. She found herself starting to struggle in her breathing. "I am so, so sorry."

"Why?"

"You're dead."

"You loved me. You're my mother and would have done anything to make sure I didn't get hurt, but you can't always stop those you love and care about from getting hurt."

Krolia let out a laugh. "Wonderful. I'm giving myself advice regarding a situation I soon will no longer be a part of through the figment of my dead son."

"So you don't realize that I'm really here?"

Her eyes drifted to the ground. "Hmm..." Krolia took a deep breath or tried to before coughing up blood. She looked at where Keith's feet should be. "Your dad told me in his culture – I can't remember what it's called – that ghosts don't have feet."

"So I have feet?"

"I don't know. I saw whether you had feet or not, but I can't remember. If there a no feet, you're a ghost. If there is, you're a hallucination."

"Hey. Don't go."

"I don't have any choice, but it..." Krolia took a deep breath. "It would nice to be with all of you once again. Very nice. I'm sorry Keith I couldn't protect you."

"I'll try to see if I can't stop Allura from killing someone else."

With that, she breathed her last breath.