"Roughly twenty-five ticks to the target," said Violet. "You up for this, Kolivan?"
He nodded. "We're ready."
Violet grinned, readying herself for what she was heading out to do. Over the last few weeks, she grew over her distrust of the Blades, and Kolivan had been showing her dagger techniques that were awesome. They'd gotten close - by now he could be her grumpy uncle or something.
Suddenly, the blue lion banked, causing Violet to be wrenched to the side. She planted her feet firmly - the last time she'd been knocked into Regris's tail, which had not been a pleasant experience.
"Sorry," Lance called back. "Fighters on my tail. Had to take evasive maneuvers."
"There's only one - you're fine," Violet shot back. Two more appeared, tailing the blue lion. "Okay, only three, that shouldn't be too ha - wow, now there's four, and - yep, that's another. We're screwed."
"Hunk to the rescue!" The yellow lion slammed into all five fighters, knocking off Lance's path. Hunk pulled up in his lion. "That was awesome. Wait - I think we flew passed the target spot, Lance."
"We're in the middle of a battle. We can't pause now," Lance replied. "Kolivan?"
"Let us out. We can take this from here," Kolivan commanded. The door to the hangar of the blue lion swung open, the Blades jumping out of it. "Go!"
Violet leapt from the lion, letting out a whoop of delight as the wind whipped through her hair. She free fell to the ground, activating her boosters and rolling on impact, and sprung to her feet with the others, beginning to sprint towards the base.
"I don't think you're taking this as seriously as you should be," Kolivan said dryly, running up to her side.
Violet's face stretched into a grin in response. "You take the fun out of everything, Kol. This is going to go great! We jetpack to the ground, take out a couple of fighters, generally look awesome-"
Blasts peppered the ground at their feet, cutting her off. Violet let out a stream of curses. Some kind of cannon hanging from a canyon was aimed at them, too big and too far for her to take out on her own.
"Lance!" Violet shouted into her communication device. "We're in a pickle over here, and it's stopping me from punching some Galra faces. I'm going to have to settle for Regris's Galra face if I can't get to a fighter soon enough, and then he'll probably kill me, which is bad, so ... help us."
"On it," Lance replied. "I can see the cannon." He and Hunk blew it up, allowing for Violet and the Blade of Marmora to claim the base and free the town it looked down upon.
They returned from the victory to a party from the citizens. Lance took selfies with the ladies, while Hunk taste-tested all the hors devours. Kolivan and the other Blades stood off to the sides, watching with grumpy expressions.
"If you start to say how 'fun' that was," Kolivan warned as she walked over, "Then we're leaving."
Violet sighed dramatically. "Fine. But you have to admit - we looked amazing. All the townspeople love us."
Kolivan's angry gaze flitted over the crowd, who gave him suspicious looks in return. "They love you," he corrected. "And the paladins. They look at us and only see Galra."
Violet rolled her eyes. "Maybe because you are Galra? Also, you look like you're about to murder someone, Kol. Try looking happy and they'll be much more friendly."
Kolivan glowered. "Do not call me Kol."
"Sorry, not gonna happen," Violet shrugged. "You're Kol now."
The leader of the town stepped forward, bowing his head. "Voltron, I am highly grateful to you for freeing my people."
"We wouldn't have been able to do it without Kolivan and the Blades," added Violet. "They helped a lot."
"We were honored to do so," said Kolivan.
The leader swept his gaze over the Blades, distrust evident on his face. Violet winced softly.
"Right," he said. "I hope that Voltron will not hesitate to reach out to the planet of Puig for aid. About that, where is Voltron?" The crowd began cheering excitedly, chanting Voltron's name. Violet's gaze fell.
Ever since Shiro had vanished, the team had seemed to be falling apart. Morale was low; everyone looked to empty space for guidance, and Shiro's calm demeanor had left them frazzled. Worst of all was Keith. He'd been drawn off from the rest of the group; Violet was worried about him. She was the only person he hadn't shut out, and she didn't want to break that.
She, Lance and Hunk regrouped at the castle of lions, where the rest of the team was waiting in the lounge. After giving the report of the mission, Hunk brought up the elephant in the room.
"Here's the thing," he started. "Every planet we liberate thanks us, but they'd rater thank Voltron. Except Voltron's not here, and they're starting to wonder what happened when we fought Zarkon."
"I can tell you what happened. We lost Shiro. Not just Voltron," Keith replied sharply.
Allura took a deep breath, as if bracing herself for the paladin's reactions to what she was about to say. "I know it will be tough, but I think it's the right time to reform Voltron. We need a new black paladin."
Violet flinched. She hadn't told the others, but ... the black lion did have a different sense to her. Shiro wasn't its paladin any longer.
Keith stood abruptly, face flashing with anger. "Never! I won't stop searching for Shiro. He's still out there. We can't replace him." He stalked off.
Everyone looked over to Violet. She sighed. "I'll go after him. And, guys... Allura's right. The black lion needs a new paladin." Her eyes strayed to the door Keith had just exited from. "But every member of the team has to be ready for it before we can move on."
"You're the only one who can talk to him, Vi," Lance said quietly.
Nodding, Violet got up and followed Keith.
She looked in the training room, then the library, then Red's hangar. Violet sighed in frustration. It felt weird going into a boy's room, but ... she and Keith were friends. It was perfectly fine. She wouldn't mind if Lance was in her room; in fact, he had been there more often than usual, lounging around and stealing from her candy stash.
Violet knocked, and with Keith's permission, pushed open the door.
He was sitting on his bed, hair disheveled as if he'd been running his hands through it. Before Violet could speak, he said, "Look, I don't want a lecture or anything. I know I shouldn't have stormed off. I just can't stand the thought of replacing Shiro."
Violet said, "I didn't come here to chastise you, Keith. It's okay that you don't want to replace Shiro - he's done so much for us, it's practically impossible to imagine moving on without him." She chewed on her lip. "I was wondering - would it help to have some kind of ... distraction? To take your mind off current events?"
He leaned back. "Definitely. It's like there's an empty spot where Shiro would be - I'd do anything to escape from it."
Violet smiled. "I know how you feel. So ... we're going to the Balmera."
-
Keith didn't protest, or complain. Allura looked slightly confused, but agreed to make a wormhole for them. In the red lion, they flew to the Balmera. Violet told him how she'd met Leilani as he piloted his lion, the way her eyes had looked odd. She told him about Thace, and how he'd revealed to her he had a daughter.
Keiht listened to her the whole time. Violet knew he understood - why it was so important to her. That she felt responsible for Thace's death. That she had to deliver the news, because no one else would, and she didn't want Leilani to be alone.
There was something else, nagging at her memory - of another girl, a half-breed orphan, looking up at her with the same wide eyes as Leilani's. But the memory vanished whenever Violet reached for it.
They talked to no one else, save a greeting to Shay upon arrival. Violet found the right home, and when she couldn't find the courage to knock, Keith did for her.
Somehow, Leilani knew as soon as she opened the door. Violet didn't have to say anything; the look in her eyes was enough.
The worst part was, she didn't cry. She didn't scream or shout or yell. Leilani just backed away, her eyes horribly empty, and collapsed onto her chair.
Violet sat with her, trying to offer as much comfort as she could. Leilani insisted they stay for the sunset; they'd come all this way, and besides, sunsets were now a special event on the Balmera. "The sky turns green right before the sun vanishes over the horizon," Leilani explained. "It is beautiful."
That was how Violet found herself on Leilani's roof with Keith. Leilani was staring at the sun, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Every time he left for one of his missions," she whispered, "I'd always beg him not to go. Because I was so scared that he wouldn't come back, that he'd leave us to the hands of the Galra. But then Voltron freed us, and he said he'd have to go for a while, because he was going to be a spy." Tears leaked down her face. "I finally stopped being so terrified that he would never come back, and then he didn't."
She sounded human. Violet scooted closer to her. "He asked me to tell you that he loves you," she said softly. "Those ... those were his last words."
Leilani turned towards her. "He died to save you, princess. And I know it is unreasonable, but I cannot help but feel anger towards you on my father's behalf. Could you have saved him?" With that, she stood and left, her words clanging through Violet.
All of Violet's breath whooshed out of her, and she fell back against the roof. "Now Leilani hates me," she muttered. "Awesome."
"She doesn't hate you," Keith said. "She just needs time to accept the fact that her father died and that he gave his life to save you." he paused, grinning. "Yeah, she might hate you a little bit."
Violet laughed at the remembrance of the words he'd thrown back at her. "Hey, Allura doesn't hate you anymore, so ... maybe I have a chance too."
"Yeah, but that was only because you practically shoved her into it."
"I didn't shove her into it!" Violet squawked. "I nudged her in the right direction, because Voltron is about forgiveness and all that boring stuff."
"She didn't forgive me, though," Keith said. "She just came to terms with me."
"Hey." Violet put a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing about you anyone needs to 'come to terms with.' You're Galra, but you're also our friend."
"So are you." He met her eyes. "I know you've been getting flashbacks lately. They haven't stopped, have they?"
Violet winced, curling in on herself. "I get one every day at least. Most of the time it's either training or ... destroying, but other times I get these - images." She sighed. "I was working for someone when I was an assassin; I don't know who he is, but he's dangerous. And I'm pretty sure we're about to meet him."
"As a friend or foe?" Keith asked.
"I don't know." Violet's eyes shuttered. "But I do know we're going to need to pull the team together if we want to face him."
Keith looked away. "I don't know how we can, Vi," he said quietly. "No one will ever be able to lead the team like Shiro could. Who could step up for him?"
Violet steeled herself for what she was going to say. "That's what we need to figure out. Keith, the black lion's spirit is still connected with Shiro, but their bond is broken. The black lion - it needs a new paladin. It needs-"
Keith tensed. "Don't," he whispered. "Don't say it. Not now."
"I won't," Violet said, and he relaxed. "But you're going to hear the words soon enough."
"You're right," said Keith. He stood, offering his hand to Violet. "We need to find a new paladin for the black lion. And form Voltron once more."