~Three months~
"I miss his purple eyes." Lance said. He and Lotor were lying outside on the grass, looking up at the stars. "I miss his smile; the way he would bring the tip of his fingers up to his lips when he laughed. He'd mess with his hair whenever he was nervous. It was such an adorable habit he had. I miss making him mad; on purpose and accidental. Except when it was accidental it was kinda scary at the time but---he'd have the cutest pouty face ever. I miss the height difference; when I hugged him, I felt like I was holding the most precious thing in the entire universe, right in my arms." Lotor sat up, looking over at Lance.
"He's not dead." He snickered, but Lance just sighed.
"I know, I just...miss him." Lotor hummed, gazing down.
"He misses you, too."
"You think so?"
"He's my brother, Lance," Lotor said with a smile, "I know so." Lance was able to smile, moving to sit up as well.
"Yeah, you're right." Allura came running outside.
"Guys!" They both turned to her, "They got it open!"
~
"Why is he still asleep?"
"Shouldn't he be awake?"
"Can't we splash some water on his face?"
"Maybe if we grab his limbs, we cam shake him back into consciousness!"
"Alright, alright!" Alfor said, rubbing his head, "Please, children, be quiet." The three immediately shut their mouths, "The doctor is on his way as we speak. He'll be able to tell us how Keith is doing." Lotor yawned and rubbed his eyes; Zarkon came over and rubbed his son's arm gently.
"It's pretty late, maybe you should get some rest." Lotor shook his head, getting rid of any sleepiness he was feeling.
"No, I need to be here for Keith." Lance sat down next to the bed Keith was in, taking hold of his hand. Soon another person came into the room.
"Good evening everyone, I'm Doctor Cancer-"
"Ironic..." Lotor muttered.
"-so where's the patient?" Alfor moved everyone aside.
"Alright, children please outside while Cancer examines Keith."
"That really sounds concerning." Lotor said again. Zarkon rolled his eyes and pushed Lotor's head.
"Just go."
~~~
"How much longer.." Lance mumbled. The three of them quietly waited outside of the infirmary. Lotor was pacing up and down the hall, biting on his gloved finger. Lance sat on the floor with his legs sticking out in front of him, his feet rocking side to side. Allura was seated next to Lance with her legs folded underneath her; her eyes were shut as she unconsciously rubbed her hands together. Finally, after hours of waiting, the door slowly opened. They all looked up to see Alfor stepping out of the room. His tired eyes were glued to the floor. Lance and Allura stood up and Lotor came up beside them. The king finally sighed.
"Keith is...in a coma."
~~~
"Aren't you hungry?" Allura asked her brother, "You've been up all night." She held a plate of food goo in front of his face. Lance grumbled, pushing the plate away.
"I'd rather starve." Lotor walked by, grabbed the goo from Allura, and continued walking.
"Unlike Lance, I eat my stress." Lance sighed, placing his head on the table. Allura pulled up a chair and sat beside him.
"Lance, you don't have to worry, Keith is going to be just fine."
"But he should've been awake by now, right?"
"Maybe sleeping is the way Keith deals with stress? Or maybe it's a natural cycle for Galra." Lance glared at her, but she turned to Lotor, "Lotor, do you hibernate or-"
"Stop."
"I'm sorry."
"If you ask me, Keith is too afraid to wake up." Lotor muttered. Lance gave him a concerned look.
"Why would you say that?" Lotor sat down, across from the Altean siblings, and folded his arms.
"Because he doesn't want to face any of us."
"But why wouldn't-"
"Keith's always been afraid of anything that doesn't go right. He creates this barrier to hide himself in." Lotor huffed, "That's just who he is." Allura frowned slightly.
"Lotor, please. This is very hard on all of us, could you jus-" Lotor's eyes flickered.
"On all of us?! You're the reason Keith's in a coma in the first place! This is all your fault!" Lance stood up.
"Lotor, can you drop that already? It's been months and you still hate her for it!" Now, infuriated, Lotor stood as well; his chair fell back onto the floor.
"How can you expect me to drop it?! Keith is my brother! You know, my brother you're in love with!? How are you not mad!?"
"I forgive her because she knows what she did was wrong-"
"No! You forgive her because you're too much of a softie to hold a grudge! What if I tried to kill your sister, but then admitted it was wrong, would you forgive me?!" He glanced down at his sister. "You don't understand! Keith is my brother! My family! You're just some guy he never should have met!" Lance's throat went dry, "You're so ignorant, Lance! I don't understand why my brother even loves you!" Allura could only watch the argument play out, afraid to say anything else; Lance gently frowned, gazing to the table.
"Lotor, I think it'd be a good idea if you step outside for a minute-"
"YOU STEP OUTSIDE!" Lotor slammed his fists on the table, but he did end up storming out of the room. Lance sat back down, unnoticeably trembling from his built up emotions. Allura gently tapped his shoulder.
"...if you want my opinion-"
"I don't care about your opinion! All you've ever done is make my life miserable!" He finally exploded, and Allura shrank back, "Even before Keith, you always strived to be the perfect princess! The perfect child! Dad always adored you, it was only you; in his eyes you never did anything wrong! I never got the attention I deserved, needed for that matter! I would do everything I could to please Dad, and then you would swoop in and take all the glory! And now, when something good actually comes into my life for a change, you just had to try and take that away, too! I've had it up to here! I'm just---I'm done!" Lance covered his eyes, "I-I'm done." Before Allura could say something back, he ran out of the room.
~
"Father?" Allura asked Alfor.
"What is it, Allura?" She looked down.
"You know how Alteans use their magic to give life to the balmera?"
"Of course. I am Altean after all."
"..right. Well, is it possible to do use that same magic to an unconscious being?" Alfor raised a brow.
"What kind of, 'unconscious being,' are you referring to?" Allura rubbed her forearm nervously.
"W-well I...I thought maybe if I used healing magic to help Keith-"
"No. It's too dangerous; you don't have enough experience to do so either way."
"Then perhaps you could do it."
"Allura, even if I wanted to, that's not how our magic works."
"The how does it work? We have the ability to give life. How is the balmera different from Keith?"
"With Keith, he has plenty of life, he's just in a deep sleep." She looked away, "Allura, we don't know the effects of that. It might even harm him and possibly you, and I can't allow that to happen. I'm sorry." She scoffed and walked away.
~
"Hey." Lotor stood at Lance's bedroom door. Lance looked at the Galra from his curled up position on his bed.
"Hi." Lotor entered, closing the door so he could talk in private. He kept his head down as he made his way over to Lance.
"So...listen.." He sat down, still refusing to make any eye contact, "I'm sorry, for shouting earlier, and for what I said....how Keith shouldn't have met you." Lance sat up.
"It's okay. I understand. We both just want him back, and we're letting our anger out on each other." Lotor nodded.
"Right...either way, I'm sorry. I don't want this to come between us." He laughed halfheartedly, "Wh-when Keith wakes up I don't want to be in a fight with you." Lance could hear the shake in Lotor's voice. He hesitantly reached out, then finally set his hand on his shoulder.
"You don't have to go through this alone, Lotor. I'm going to be right here with you. If you ever want to just, talk about it, I'd be happy to listen." Lotor smiled.
"Thank you."
~~~
Allura took a deep, calming breath. It was late; too late for anyone else to be awake. She looked down at Keith, bringing her hand to his head. Closing her eyes, she began to concentrate. She glowed a bright blue, and her brows knitted together. Eventually she had to stop, and panted in exhaustion. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she leaned over Keith. He didn't show any signs of waking up, and she held a hand up to his cheek. "Keith?" She said quietly, slowly rubbing her thumb underneath his eye. She let out a sigh, thinking back to what Lance said to her:
when something good actually comes into my life, you just had to try and take that away, too!
She frowned determinedly, holding her hand to Keith's head again. She gave Keith everything she had, glowing even brighter than before, lighting up the entire room. Her hand shook and a bead of sweat formed on her forehead, but she wasn't stopping. The blue glow began to flicker. "Pl-please.."
"ALLURA!" Someone shouted. The glowing ceased, and she fell down from weakness. Whoever shouted rushed forward to catch her. They both softly landed on the ground. Allura could hardly keep her eyes open, but she was able to catch a glimpse of the person who caught her. She gave a weak smile.
"..hello, brother."