NOTE: This story was was established as a branch of reality from the canon reality. I didn't intend to continue it or write a sequel, but my disappointment in season 8 inspired me to write a follow up chapter... which got longer and long and now I'm going to give you at least 5 chapters. ENJOY!!
If you're regularly a vivid dreamer, one of the most jarring experiences is waking up in the morning after a completely dreamless sleep. With no sense that time has passed, you feel like you stopped existing for a while there. Everyone aboard the IVG- Atlas just had this same experience. Except none of them had been asleep.
"Whoa," said Keith, the moment that he was aware of his existence again. Everyone on the Bridge was looking as freaked out as he felt.
"What the quiznak was that?" cried Lance.
"Huh? What?" groaned Pidge, who had actually been asleep.
"We lost time," said Sam, checking his computer.
"I'm going to need a full status report," said Shiro.
"Our instruments picked up nothing," said Veronica.
"Maybe we had a collective brain fart?" offered Hunk.
"Let me rephrase," said Veronica. "Our instruments picked up literally nothing for twelve minutes so either we had a major malfunction or..."
"We stopped existing for twelve minutes!" cried Slav.
"Allura?" asked Lance.
"I'm lost for an explanation, but..." Allura's eyes went pure white like they do when she's using her Ancient One powers. "Reality feels off. Like it skipped a beat."
"Like on a record player?" said Lance.
"And... I feel... my own energy within reality. How can that be right? I didn't release my energy..."
"Oh no no no," muttered Slav, beginning to sweat. "There has been a catastrophic reality ending event on a quantum level! We literally ceased to exist! What could have caused this? Sam, what colour socks are you wearing?"
"Green," said Sam, lifting his leg so he could pull up his pant leg to show the green sock peaking out of his shoe.
"Green!" cried Slav. "Green was yesterday's lucky colour! Today it's yellow! Didn't you read this morning's sock colour email blast?"
"People don't read those," scoffed Sam. That's when all the Paladins and every Atlas crewmember present on the Bridge lifted their pant legs to show Sam their yellow socks. "I guess they do... Sorry if my socks collapsed reality."
"Yes! Which is particularly disturbing because this is the reality where everything works out 100% of the time. Now things will only work out 99.9999999999% and that missing 0.0000000001% nearly ended reality itself!"
"We need more information than this," said Keith. "If reality ended once, it can happen again. I think we should ask Mel about this one." Keith put out his hand and Kosmo trotted over.
"Mel doesn't like it when we pop into the astral plane to ask random questions," said Lance. "She said she doesn't do spoilers."
"We're not asking her what happens next this time. We're asking what just happened. I'll be right back." Keith laid his hand on Kosmo and ZAP! he was off to the Astral Plane.
"What happened?" asked Colleen, entering the Bridge with Matt in tow.
"Everything went... blank," said Matt, for lack of a better word.
"We suspect we stopped existing," said Pidge.
"What did you do?" demanded Colleen.
"I didn't do anything! Why do you assume I did something?"
"I know your handy work, when I see it, Missy! Also, you look terrible. Are you still suffering from insomnia?"
"Self-induced Insomnia," said Hunk. "She's stopped sleeping for through the night because she's avoiding seeing a certain assistant to the Dream Guardian in her sleep."
"I'm not avoiding anyone," argued Pidge. "I've simply adopted the Uberman Sleep schedule and am only sleeping in twenty minute bursts six times a day. Lots of geniuses had extremely efficient sleep schedules like Tesla, Edison, and Da Vinci. I'm following in their footsteps."
"Uh huh and I'm sure that has nothing to do with the fact that if you wake up before REM sleep," said Hunk, "you never dream, and you never have to see Bored."
"That has nothing to do with it!" snapped Pidge. "I'm doing this for my health."
"Hunny, you look like death warmed up," snapped Colleen. "Tesla was an idiot. You need your rest."
ZAP! and Keith and Kosmo were back. Keith was looking down at the floor, arms crossed across his chest. "She yelled at me... So much."
"Mel did?" asked Shiro.
"She's really pissed off," said Keith, "but she was already mad when I got there so I don't think it's because I wanted to know what had happened. Still, she's not interested in answering questions right now."
"Best I try," said Allura, walking over to Kosmo. "I am her daughter and her Queen. She'll speak to me." ZAP!
"Are you concerned about using that cosmic wolf as your personal taxi between the physical and non-physical realities?" asked Slav. "He's having to convert your mass into energy to do so. There's a 73.4% chance of burnout if regular use persists."
"Wait... what?" gasped Keith just as Allura ZAP!'d back into the Bridge, looking just as upset as Keith had.
"She yelled so loud. I'd forgotten that side of my mother."
"The whole being her Queen angle didn't work?" asked Hunk.
"She didn't even let me say anything," said Allura. "Just yelled that she was disappointed in me."
"Disappointed in you for what?" asked Matt.
"I don't know," groaned Allura. "And then when I tried to explain myself she told me to 'save the drama for my mama.' Where did she learn to talk like that? I think Shiro should try next."
"Oh yeah, Mel has a soft spot for Shiro," agreed Hunk.
"Because she watched over me while I was trapped in the astral plane," said Shiro.
"Yeah, watched over your bod," teased Pidge.
"Katie!" snapped Colleen.
"Actually, I was thinking because Adam was there with her," said Allura.
"Adam?" said Shiro, perking up. Adam and Shiro were able to keep in touch through dreams, but Mel rarely allowed them to meet in the astral plane. Shiro strode over to Kosmo and ZAP!'d away to visit his dead husband.
"Not to mention," continued Slav as he was still having the same conversation with himself. "Where are your bodies going? There's no such thing as actual teleporting without a wormhole. Your atoms are being scattered into the air and then you are being reformed out of new atoms at the second location. You're essentially cloning yourself every time!"
"Slav, read the room," said Lance. "We're comfortable with clones."
Shiro ZAP!'d back much sooner than they'd expected.
"What did Adam say?" asked Keith.
Shiro sighed, sagging his body forward just like Keith and Allura before him. "Not much... that I could understand. He saw me and burst into tears. Between the sobs he accused me of dating someone named... Curtain?"
"I don't know any Curtains," said Lance.
"The other reality!" Pidge burst out.
"What?" cried the Paladins.
"Go on...," said Slav, his attention peaked.
"There was a branch off from our own reality," explained Pidge. "Bored referenced it when we were travelling the path cutting through the other non-physical realms. She said there was a parallel reality we branched off of some time between the battle with the first Komar Robeast and when we travelled to the astral plane."
"We can't worry about other realities," said Keith.
"No, don't you see? Our other selves are clearly making different choices. Hence Shiro dating Curtain."
"Why should Adam care what alternate reality Shiro does?" asked Lance. "Shouldn't alternate reality Adam worry about that one?"
"There's only the one Adam," said Shiro.
"Yes, for you. So romantic," said Lance. "Like there's only one Kogane for me despite the fact that there's a guy name Dave Kogane who works in the engine rooms and checks me out whenever I see him."
"What?" gasped Keith. "Who is this other Kogane and how do I stab him?"
"No, there's literally just the one Adam," explained Shiro. "Adam died before the realities branched. So to him, they're both me and the other reality me are his Takashi's."
"But he married you, specifically, right?" clarified Hunk.
"Adam wouldn't be that rational," sighed Shiro.
"Perhaps it was alternate reality Keith that stepped on a crack and broke this reality's Krolia's back," suggested Slav.
"Falling three-hundred stories from a moving Lion, broke my back," groaned Krolia, attempting to move from her station to talk, but needing to spin her whole body as the back brace she was wearing kept her spine perfectly straight.
"That and quantum entanglement," said Slav.
"Does he need to be here for this conversation?" asked Krolia, nudging her whole upper half towards Slav.
"Actually this is the very context in which he's useful," said Pidge. "I wonder..." Pidge yawned and closed her eyes. Everyone stared at her, waiting for her to continue.
"She's asleep again," said Hunk. He snapped his fingers in front of his friend.
Pidge startled awake then continued her sentence as if she hadn't been asleep, "Honerva's plan was to pierce through the realities until she found a reality where she could be happy."
"Yeah, but she never got that far," said Keith. "We stopped her movements ago."
"And just in time for Clear Day," said Coran, piping in. "To think, had our plan to defeat her taken any longer, we wouldn't have been able to premiere the Voltron Musical at Clear Day."
"Oh yeah, man," said Hunk, "We were amazing."
"I fully regret my participation in that," groaned Pidge.
"Same," said Keith.
"Why do you mean?" gasped Lance. "Keith was the star of the show!"
"Yeah, and it he was played by Allura. I played a mute tree."
"Yes, but you were an oak tree, the angstiest of trees, and you were amazing, babe," said Lance. "Stole the show."
"Lance, is pageant mom-ing again, Pidge. Pidge?" Hunk turned to see her asleep again. He gave her a nudge.
"Huh? What were were talking about?" asked Pidge.
"How we beat Honerva before Clear Day," said Keith.
"Exactly, we did. They however, maybe didn't and Honerva just pierced through realities. Maybe that's why our reality blinked out for twelve minutes."
"But we're back now," said Hunk.
"I think I should speak with Melenor," said Coran. "She might open up to me. She does owe me one after all."
"What could the omnipresent ancient one and leader of the realm Guardians, second only in command to the Black Lion and the Lion Goddess herself, possible owe you, Coran?" asked Lance.
"Well, I did fulfill her dying wish of taking on her role and caring for her family."
"Oh... Right..."
"Plus you lot keep popping off to the astral plane whenever it pleases you. Be nice if I could go and see some of my dead friends... the Paladins... Alfor..."
"Coran, I wish we could send you," said Allura. "But mother has explicitly told us it's impossible to bring someone to the astral plane who's never made a connection with a Lion."
"But I have made a connection! I flew the Yellow Lion during part of the final battle with Honerva!"
"That's right!" said Hunk. "I did hand over the controls to you when I had to go repair the Crystaline Hard Wave Interrupter."
"That machine...," lamented Allura. "I had to pump so much quintessence into to keep it running. Abandoning my Lion was a must. You did amazing flying Blue, Veronica."
"My pleasure," said Veronica. "I'll do it again anytime."
"Luckily you realized a single soul inside the machine could funnel the quintessence instantaneously," said Hunk, speaking to Allura.
"Unfortunately, the stress would've been too much for the soul's body," lamented Allura.
"Luckily you know a pair of guys who share a single soul," said Lance, nudging Keith with his elbow.
"The stress spread out over both of us meant we could charge the machine and stay alive," agreed Keith.
"Leakira for the win!" cheered Lance, giving his boyfriend a squeeze.
"Don't call us that," groaned Keith.
"What? It's our soul's name..." Lance looked at Krolia. "Thank you for taking over Red when I needed to go play conduit inside the machine."
"You're welcome," said Krolia, turning with her full body to address him. "I always wanted to fly a Lion after all those years protecting them."
"Also...," said Lance, "How amazing was Black Paladin Romelle?"
"Right?" said Hunk at the same time Keith said, "I know!" and several others agreed.
"She stepped up and showed incredible leadership," said Allura.
"In a pinch no less," agreed Shiro.
"You should consider stepping down and letting her lead, Keith," said Lance which made his boyfriend scowl.
"Oh hey, maybe that's the problem with the other reality?" said Hunk. "They didn't give Romelle a chance to lead."
"Big mistake," said Lance. "Huge!"
"We'll never find out what they did unless I ask," said Coran. With a nod from Keith, Coran took hold of Kosmo's fur and ZAP!'d off to the astral plane.
"What's going on?" asked Romelle as the doors to the Bridge slid open.
"Romelle, we were just talking about you," said Lance.
"That's all very good, but what happened just now? Lotor and I," said Romelle, gesturing to her companion, "were just visiting the freed Robeast Alteans in the sick bay when it seemed like... like everything turned off for a dobosh. Including myself."
"We think our reality blinked out for a bit," said Hunk. "Coran went to ask Mel about it."
"I thought Melenor told you all to stop bothering her." It's true. Having figured out the shortcut to the astral plane using Kosmo, the Paladins were running to Mel every time they didn't like something. Going to be Mel had become the equivalent of asking to speak to a manager.
"This one feels like an emergency."
"You said that about Honerva," said Romelle, "And she wouldn't help us then. Said we were on our own. Then you had to magically put Shiro and Pidge to sleep so they could pump Adam and Bored for information in their dreams."
"Bored made me answer a riddle every time I wanted to ask a question...," said Pidge then she sighed. "It's everything I never knew I wanted in a relationship..."
"Plus I got to fly Green while you were asleep," said Matt. "It was awesome."
"I'm so glad that after you guys dressed up in our Paladins suits as a prank, we had the idea to actually train you to be our backups," said Lance.
"We're fortunate the Lions accepted us as Paladins," said Romelle.
"This is the reality where 99.9999999999% of things work out," said Slav.
"Lotor," said Allura, approaching the fallen Prince, he wasn't very chatty these days, not since being brought back from the dead. "How are you today?"
"Tired," answered Lotor. "But otherwise, pleased to be alive again thanks to you, Allura."
"You keep thanking me, but I must keep thank you," said Allura. "You were the one who took the dark entity into yourself and risked being truly corrupted so you could form a connection to Honerva and find out her plan."
"It was that or let your stubbornness win out and have you do it yourself. Your alchemy powers are far too powerful to risk the corruption. I am... expendable."
"Clearly you are not," said Allura. "It was you who talked your mother out of following through on her plan to pierce through realities and instead convinced her to sacrifice herself in order to draw the dark entities out of yourself and the corrupted Alteans and safely seal up the rift for good."
"In a way, her sacrifice brought her redemption in my eyes and I was able to accept her as my mother."
"She saved the universe."
"We all did," said Lotor.
There was a ZAP! and Coran was back, only this time he was crying. "Oh, there there, Coran," said Allura, rushing to his side. "Mother can be quite sharp tongued. I am sorry she's hurt your feelings."
"It's... it's not that. It's..." Coran looked at Allura's face and burst into a sobbing fit.
"Oh dear..."
"I'm doing back there," said Keith.
"I'm coming with you," said Lance. "It feels weird when you visit our soul and I'm not there. Kinda icky."
"I'm coming too," said Allura. "Mother has to speak to me. This is getting ridiculous."
"I want to go again too," said Shiro. "Maybe Adam's calmed down a bit... Or at least he's coherent while he's crying..."
"I guess we should all just go," said Hunk.
"Nope. Not me. Have fun," said Pidge, giving a wave.
"Pidge, you can't avoid your feelings for Bored forever."
"I can and I will."
"All Paladins are going," said Keith. "That's an order." The whole team plus the back up team moved towards Kosmo. "No, just the main Paladins."
"But I wanna go and see Addy!" said Veronica.
"Wait, we can see Adam?" said Colleen. "I want to see Adam."
"Now, Colleen," said Shiro, "I'm sure you do, but we can't bring non-Paladins to the astral plane. You need a Lion connection."
"But I flew Green in the fight!" argued Colleen.
"What?" asked Pidge, suddenly wide awake. "When?"
"I took over for Matt."
Pidge shot an accusing look at her brother who scratched the back of his head. "I had to do a science and couldn't fly anymore."
"So I get to come too," said Colleen. Shiro was about to protest, but Colleen got that scary mommy look on her face and he quickly shut up.
"I'd very much wish to meet Melenor," said Lotor.
"You definitely can't come," said Lance.
"But I also flew Green during the final battle," said Lotor. "Did Matthew not tell you? He was busy doing a science."
Pidge shot an even harder look at her brother. Matt stumbled over his explanation. "Technically Lotor flew it after me and then mom took over when Lotor had to speak to Honerva."
"How could you let our very recent enemy fly the Green Lion?" demanded Pidge.
"He's got a scientific mind and his gender is ambiguous. How is that not the very definition of a Green Paladin?"
"Fine. That's fair."
"So I can come too?" asked Sam.
"Dad, when did you fly the Green Lion?"
"Your mom let me have a go while it was her turn. It was fun. I enjoyed it."
Pidge was fuming. "Anyone else fly the Green Lion while I was asleep during the final battle?" Half the Garrison employees on the Bridge raised their hands.
"What?" cried Lance, outraged. "These randos flew a Lion?"
"No one's saying it," began Matt, "but the Green Lion is a bit of a sl –" Matt was interrupted by Pidge punching her brother in the stomach. "Ow! I deserved that."
Lance gestured to a guy beside Shiro who had his hand raised. "You flew Green? I don't even know your name!"
"My name is Cur-"
"I don't need your life story, Cur," said Lance, cutting the guy off and turning away.
"It's not Cur, it's Curt -"
"Let's get going," said Keith. "At this point I don't care who comes."
"Great," said Veronica. "I just texted Acxa to come join. I want Addy to meet my new girlfriend."
"How many girlfriends do you have?" gasped Lance.
"Three so far. Why? You got someone you want me to meet?" Veronica wiggled her eyebrows at Lance.
"What is wrong with you?" groaned.
"Nothing. I'm perfect. You're just mad I have better game than you."
"Acxa never flew a Lion," said Keith, cutting into the pointless argument.
"Yes, I did," said Acxa, entering the Bridge. "I took over for our mother when she fell and broke her spin. Red accepted me immediately. He likes to bond to our bloodline."
"It's comforting to hear you refer to me as your mother," said Krolia, "after our long estrangement."
"Nothing better helps you forgive being abandoned in an orphanage so your mother can continue working for the Blades of Marmora than having her jump out of a flying robot lion to save your life."
"Wait? What?" cried Lance. "Keith, Acxa is your sister?"
"I knew that," said Shiro.
"Oh yeah, I figured," said Hunk.
"I've known for quite some time," said Allura.
"We weren't supposed to think you two were siblings?" said Coran, pointing between Keith and Acxa. "But you have the same face."
"Well, I didn't know!" yelled Lance.
"Babe, I told you this," said Keith. "When we were inside the Crystaline Machine... How the time flashes in the quantum abyss told the story of Krolia discovering she was pregnant with Acxa after she left Earth..."
"Nope! Don't remember! Didn't happen!" Then he turned to his own sister. "Veronica, you can't date Keith's sister."
"Why not?"
"Because that makes me and Keith brothers," said Lance. "Which in turn makes you and Acxa sisters."
"No. That's not how any of that works."
"Everyone! Let's just go!" snapped Keith. Everyone on the Bridge headed towards Kosmo.
Slav threw out an arm to stop Sam. "I would stay back if I were you," said Slav. "You're in the wrong socks. You don't want to jinx it for everyone else."
"Everyone gets to go but me?" cried Sam.
"I need to differ command to you while I'm gone," said Shiro.
"No Sam and no background randos," warned Lance. "If I haven't bothered to learn your name, you're not coming to the astral plane... Also, if you I know your name, but that name is Lotor, you're also not coming."
"I am bringing Lotor," said Allura, firmly.
"Ugh fine," said Lance.
"Hold on everyone," said Colleen. "I have to pee before we go."
"You can't just hold it?" squeaked Keith.
"You try having two kids and then just 'holding it,'" snapped Colleen.
"Tell me about it," muttered Krolia.
"But soon you won't even be in your body," argued Keith. "You won't have to pee in the astral plane."
"Because your atoms will have exploded like a supernova!" said Slav.
"I'll be two minutes," said Colleen, exiting the Bridge. Everyone sighed.
Keith pulled Lance in close and muttered, "You really need to cool it with the Lotor jealousy. I don't care if it's out of habit. You are on the verge of hurting my feelings."
"It's not about being jealous. I'm being protective of Allura," said Lance. "He was very recently evil."
"I know, but we all went inside his mind when we aided Allura in bringing him back to life by using our quintessence as a chain to pull him back to his body. We saw how he was misguided, but his intentions were good. Those Alteans that died, they all volunteered knowing death was a risk. And we saw how he tried in vain to transfer his quintessence to Bandor's body and wept over his corpse when he failed."
Lance sighed. "That's true. I don't like how he snapped and tried to kill us though."
"He had issues from being abused as a child. It made him crazy at times. He's healed now. Even his marks of the chosen look normal shaped like Allura's."
"It is so weird hearing you defend him," said Lance then he sighed. "But you're right... As usual. I love you."
"I love you too," said Keith, planting a kiss on his boyfriend's check.
"Let's get this metaphysical show on the road," cheered Colleen, reentering the Bridge.
"Everyone get in close," said Keith. "Kosmo's never taken a load like this. It might be a struggle for –" ZAP! They disappeared just like that.
"Nobody breathe," warned Slav. "Their atoms are everywhere. They'll want them when they get back."