Voltron's Fire: The Phoenix in the Stars

Bloodlines

I woke up the next morning with Keith gone, and the strange warmth along with him.

It was strange to not feel that warmth, but I pushed it aside and got dressed for the day.

It was an important day for all of us in the Castle. Sam Holt was leaving for Earth and we were to meet Lotor somewhere to discuss the future of the Universe.

The whole crew, minus Lotor, stood in the docking bay, ready to say goodbye to Commader Holt as he set off back to Earth.

"We're going to miss you up here, sir." Shiro said.

"Ah, you guys seem to be fine without me." Sam said, "Your mission is here. Mine is on Earth. As soon as I get back, I'll inform the Galaxy Garrison what's going on and start working to upgrade our planetary defenses."

"Tell Iverson the next time I see him, I'm going to kick his butt for strapping me to that table." Shiro said raising a fist to further prove his point.

"I'll be sure to tell him that." Sam chuckled.

"Hey, I had everyone record some messages for our families." Hunk said sheepishly as he held the recordings, "Uh, a little heads up, I got teary in mine, so... that's Mom's eyes only."

Sam smiled, "Of course." And he took the recordings.

"Oh, and you don't wanna see Lance's, either, since it's probably just a love message to Jenny Shaybon or the other Jenny. What was her name again?"

"Shut up, Hunk!" Lance yelled. His flame was sullen, not as wild as normal. I frowned when I noticed his sad and annoyed expression as he turned and crossed his arms.

"Okay, I was just joking. Jeez." Hunk said.

"Hunk, you have to think about what Lance is thinking right now. His family." I said.

Hunk's eyes widened when he replayed what he said in his mind, then looked back at his friend, "Hey, are you okay, dude?"

"I'm fine." Lance said, "It's just... Once I started thinking about going back to Earth, I... I started missing my mom and my brother Marco and my brother Luis and my sister Veronica and my grandma and..." Lance stopped when his voice began to crack, furiously wiping his eyes of tears,

"Um, are you crying?" Hunk asked.

"No!" Lance sniffed, "No, I just... I just got space dust in my eyes. It's very dusty in here."

I smiled and rested my hand on his shoulder in a sign of sympathy. Sam turned to his children with a sad expression.

"I guess this is it." He said.

"I wish I could go with you." Matt said, "I'd love to help build Earth's first galactic defense system."

"I'm just worried we won't have enough time and resources to make a sent before we need it."

"A wise man once told me "If you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss your chance to do something great."" Pidge quoted.

Sam was surprised for a moment before he smiled, proud of his daughter.

"Sounds like a wise man indeed." He said, turning to his son, "Matt, you be careful on the front lines. And, Pidge, keep an eye on your brother for me."

"You got it, Dad." Pidge replied.

Sam smiled at his children before whimpering and bursting into tears, holding Pidge and Matt tightly.

"I love you both so much." He cried.

"We love you too, Dad." Pidge said as they hugged their father back.