*WARNING*: sexually explicit content
---
The Atlas crew and the paladins of Voltron stood before a crowd of onlookers, as they made the final announcements to the people of Earth before departure.
"This will be perhaps the most defining moment in our history." said Commander Holt. "The day humankind reaches beyond its home world to help the immense universe of which we inhabit such a small part."
"In the blink of an eye, the world as we knew it became much larger than we'd ever thought possible." said Keith. "And now we rise up to join the fight alongside many others different from us, but of like minds, to stand firm in the face of tyranny."
"For all deserve to decide their own future as we have decided to spend ours ensuring the freedom of the universe." added Allura.
"Each and every one of you has given something to this fight. Many have been lost, but not in vain. Because through their sacrifice, many more will live on." said Shiro. "I make you this promise now. We will return triumphant."
The Atlas took-off to the sounds of cheering from the crowd below, as they set the course for their destiny.
---
A couple of days passed as the paladins and the rest of the Voltron Coalition travelled through the galaxy in search of any signs of the witch Haggar.
Lance and Allura were officially dating, and Kanna noticed the blue paladin was radiating with happiness. It warmed her heart to see her friend so happy.
It was early in the afternoon, and since she woke up before everyone else, Kanna was already done her daily duties in the Atlas and she started making her way to the cafeteria.
On the way there she walked by the training grounds, where she saw Acxa warming up.
"Hey." she said, walking towards her.
Acxa was standing on her hands and doing upside-down push ups, but she stood back up when Kanna walked in.
"Done for the day?" she asked, seeing her friend walk into the room.
"I think so. I mean, there isn't much I can do until we find Haggar." shrugged the white paladin.
"Good." said Acxa, as she headed to the weapon wrack and picked up a sword. "Then you can spar with me. Like we used to."
Kanna smiled and summoned her bayard.
"You're on."
The two old friends trained for two hours, until they were both struggling to catch their breaths.
"Your time as paladin slowed you down." joked Acxa.
"Yeah? I also remember when your hits used to hurt." Kanna smirked.
Acxa threw her friend a towel as she grabbed one for herself as well.
"How are you getting on with the crew?" asked Kanna.
"Well enough, I guess. We complete our tasks efficiently. It's all I can expect."
"Have you made any friends?"
"Friends? We are on a mission, no time for that." said Acxa. "Besides, the earthlings and I differ in too many ways."
"So do you and I, Acxa, but we've always had each other's backs. That's because we are similar in the way we respect each other." said Kanna. "That's how it is with people, you know? Maybe if we started looking at what's the same, instead of always looking at what's different... well, who knows?"
Acxa smiled through the corner of her mouth.
"I see your personality is still the same."
"Meh, I like to think spending time with those goofs made more patient." Kanna joked.
She brought the towel up to dry the sweat off her forehead, and Acxa noticed the gems around her wrist.
"You still wear that bracelet?" Acxa asked.
"Haven't ever taken it off." said Kanna, whose tone of voice dropped.
Acxa's face softened.
"I really am sorry about what happened to Akia, Kanna. We should have been there."
"Yeah. I'll live the rest of my life wishing I had been." Kanna sighed. "I don't even have a grave to visit."
Acxa approached and put a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"You don't need one. Akia knows, wherever she is."
Kanna smiled softly.
"Hey, what do you say to a re-match?" she then asked, flipping her swords in her hands.
"Want to lose again, Sendai?" Acxa threw her towel to the side and got into a fighting stance.
"You're implying you won our first round? Guess I'll have to make things more clear this time."
Kanna charged towards Acxa and the two old friends began sparring again.
---
Kanna was headed to her room to shower after an afternoon of training with Acxa, when she ran into Keith in the hallway.
"Hey!" he said. "Woah, you look tired."
"Thanks, Keith, that's what every girl wants to hear." she said, sarcastically.
"I- I was just... I meant that--"
"Its fine, I'm kidding." Kanna punched his arm lightly. "I was sparring with Acxa, and boy have I gotten rusty after all those months on Earth."
"Maybe now I can beat you in a sword fight, then." Keith smirked.
"In your dreams, space cowboy." joked Kanna. "I could lose an arm and still destroy you"
"I got a lot better after I joined the Blades, you know?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
"We'll need to settle our score at some point then." she winked, as she began walking away.
"Where are you going?" Keith asked.
"I was headed to my room for a shower." said Kanna. "Are you done for the day?"
"Yeah. I was heading to my room to clean up too."
"I'll see you at dinner then?" she asked.
Kanna then noticed that Keith's heartbeat became slightly faster.
"You know, the Atlas' water reserve is limited." he said, avoiding Kanna's eyes.
"What?"
His cheeks were now stained red.
"I mean that we could save some water if I joined you."
Kanna's eyes widened.
She stood still staring at him for a few seconds, then she burst into laughter.
"Oh man, you really are something else!" she said between deep breaths.
"What's so funny?" Keith was flustered and crossing his arms like a pouty child. "I was just trying to be responsible!"
"Oh, right." said Kanna, wiping a tear from her eye. "Sorry, silly me thought you were asking to shower with me for some other reason."
"You could have just said no!" Keith said, throwing up his arms. Kanna could hear the signature crack in his voice that came out when he was frustrated.
He began to turn around to leave, when she grabbed his hand.
"Come on, vanë." Kanna's voice still had a reminiscent chuckling tone. "I was just kidding. You have to admit you asked that in the Keithiest way possible."
"What does that even mean?"
"Never-mind." she smiled. "Let's go."
The couple walked into the room, headed for the shower.
"I'll race you to it!" said Kanna, as she hopped out of her pants.
Keith laughed as he unbuttoned his jacket and took off his shoes. "I'd like to see you try!"
Kanna jumped into the shower still wearing her shirt and underwear, and Keith followed close behind.
"You're cheating!" he said, as he walked in after her.
"Its not cheating, I said I would beat you to the shower! I didn't mention all clothes had to be off."
"Oh, really?" Keith raised his eyebrow and reached for the knob, turning on the water on top of Kanna.
"KEITH!" she screamed, as her shirt and underwear became soaked.
The boy laughed and pulled her towards him and pressing his lips against hers, which were wet with shower water.
Kanna removed the rest of her clothes, and as Keith watched the water run down her chest, he couldn't help but touch her body.
"Less canoodling, more showering, Keith." Kanna smirked and moved his hand away.
"Fine." he said, stepping under the running water and turning away to reach for the soap.
As Keith faced away from her, Kanna got the chance to take in every curve and line of his muscular back.
She stepped closer and kissed the space between his shoulders blades, letting her hands wonder down his sides.
"Thought you said no canoodling." Keith joked.
He turned to face her and grabbed her waist, locking his lips with hers as the water slid down their bodies.
Once Kanna pulled away, Keith got a chance to look at her fully, and his heart began to race.
"You're just..." he whispered. "Wow."
Kanna smiled shyly.
"Don't do that, you're gonna get me all mushy." she said.
"That's the point." Keith smiled and grabbed Kanna's legs, lifting her up and pressing her against the shower wall.
"I love you." he whispered in her ear.
"I know." she said, smirking.
Keith began to thrust his body against hers, and Kanna found herself arching her back and letting out soft moans of pleasure.
He bit her neck and she scratched his back, as the water ran down the drain and steam surrounded them.
"Keith..." moaned Kanna. "I'm going to..."
Both of reached climax together, and Kanna could swear she saw the whole universe as the tingling sensation travelled through her body.
"Fuck..." whispered Keith, breathing heavily.
"I think we might be late for dinner." Kanna joked.
Keith chuckled and kissed her, feeling her smile against his lips.
--
After the shower, Kanna wrapped a towel around herself and began to brush the tangles out of her hair in front of the mirror.
Keith walked up with a towel around his waist and hugged her from behind.
"Look at you." he said, softly, with a smile on his face.
"I don't like it." Kanna said. "I prefer looking at you."
"Kanna, what are talking about, you're beautiful."
"It's not about that. It's just that in my eyes, I see my past. In your eyes, I see my future." she turned around and hugged him. "Its a vision I prefer much more."
Keith felt his whole body warm up from hearing his girlfriends words. His future had been so uncertain since he lost his father, and now he had a clear vision of his destiny: it was Kanna's face.
He held her tightly and kissed the top of her head, taking in her smell.
"You're my everything, Kanna. My lighthouse." he said. "I know I'll always be fine as long as I follow your light."
---
Progress was coming in slow in the mission of finding Haggar. With more than two weeks of no leads, the Voltron coalition found themselves not knowing what to do.
The Robeasts - a name they gave to the mecha robot that attacked Earth - had been spotted throughout the galaxy, but they left no trace or clue behind.
To speed up the search, the Altas and the paladins decided to spilt up. The lions flew towards one quadrant, and Shiro and the others headed in the opposite direction.
They had been scouting for days, and it was getting harder and harder to remain hopeful.
Lance had been blabbing for hours about how he thought yalmors should have a fourth eye but none of the paladins were paying attention at this point.
"Right?" he asked, causing his friends to snap back into reality.
"What?" they asked, in unison.
"How did none of you hear what I just said?" said Lance, frustrated.
"I've been zoned out for the past half hour." said Kanna.
"I got distracted about halfway through." admitted Pidge.
"Ignoring you was a conscious decision." added Keith.
"Oh, come on!" Lance complained, throwing his hands up.
"Guys, this is the third star system we've checked in the past eleven days and we still haven't found a single clue about any Robeasts." said Hunk, sinking into his chair.
"Actually, that was the eleventh star system in the last three days." said Pidge.
"Was it really? Oh my gosh... okay, see, I'm so worn out that I can't even... you know."
"Uh, count?" asked Lance.
"No. Think."
"I mean, this celestial quadrant is 230,000 light years in diameter." said Pidge.
"I can't even process what that means." said Hunk.
"Okay, picture six fleas searching for another flea on a dog that's the size of Earth." said Kanna.
"Ugh, all this talk about fleas is making me itchy." complained the yellow paladin. "You guys feeling itchy?"
"Pidge, why can't you and Hunk just make a Robeast tracker thingy, you know?" suggested Lance. "Do some math and science stuff. Then put some components together and bam, it's done."
"Perhaps we should set our heading to the Altean colony." said Allura.
"We talked about this." said Keith. "To get to the colony, we would have to travel through the Quantum Abyss."
"Plus, Kolivan said the colony no longer exists." added Kanna.
"But there will be clues there, something to go off of." insisted the princess.
"Traveling through that abyss was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life." said Keith. "A single miss-step could turn a six moth journey into a ten-year journey. The creatures, the environment, everything in there wants you dead."
Kosmo began whining in protest.
"Except you." Keith rubbed his head.
"I'm tired of hearing what we can't do and what we don't know." complained Allura.
"I'm sorry, Allura, but our hands are tied." said Kanna. "Trust me, if there is something we could do right now we would."
"Okay, maybe we head to Olkarion. We're just a few galaxies away." said Hunk. "They might have some information on any unusual sightings."
"Hunk's right." said Keith. "Olkarion is a great spot to regroup and reevaluate our situation."
"And it'll be awesome to see everyone again." said Pidge. "I wonder what kind of technological advances they've made in the last few years."
"All right!" said Hunk. "Let's do this!"
---
When the lions approached the surface of Olkarion, what they saw was devastating.
The whole planet was in ruins.
The paladins stepped off into what once the capital city, filled with people and greenery and incredible technology. Now, it was but the graveyard of a once great civilization.
The wind howled through the crumbling buildings, as the group looked out into the miles and miles of rubble.
"They were our allies, our friends." said Pidge, absolutely distraught.
"Paladins, I know this is a difficult moment, but we need to get to work." said Keith. "Our top priority is search and rescue. If there are any survivors, we need to find them, and we need to find out what happened here."
"There is only one thing capable of this." said Allura.
"Well, let's confirm it." said Keith, as he began to walk away towards the centre of the city.
The team split up and began the search.
Kanna and Pidge headed to the forest, that now was the home of the burn remainders of the beautiful Olkarion trees.
They noticed that the destruction patterns around the planet were just like the ones on Earth, confirming they're suspicions that a Robeast had been responsible for the wreckage of Olkarion.
Kanna approached the roots of a tree and touched it, closing her eyes to concentrate.
"The energy has been completely drained." she said. "Pidge, have you picked up on anything?"
But the girl didn't respond. She seemed to be zoned out.
Kanna walked towards her. "Pidge?"
"I know this place." said the green paladin, looking down.
Kanna placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Kanna, they had so much to teach the universe." tears began running down Pidge's face. "I know they're gone.
Suddenly, her eyes shot open and she gasped.
"Pidge, are you alright?" asked Kanna.
"You didn't see it?"
"See what?"
"The forrest, it was back to how it was before! There were girls playing!"
"Maybe this place is trying to show you something." said Kanna.
"What?"
"When I was in Elendaria, I was able to see the past and the future of my people by connecting with the energy of the planet." explained the white paladin. "The history of the Olkari could be etched into this very soil for you to see. Concentrate and see if you can tap into its essence."
Pidge closed her eyes and stood still.
"I- I see the Robeast." she said. "It appeared here out of nowhere, like on Earth. They... they figured it out! It travels using wormholes!"
"Of course!" said Kanna. "Honerva is Altean, she is probably transporting them throughout the universe."
"The Robeast took the cubes when it left. Why would it do that?" wondered Pidge.
"I don't know. But we need to find out." said Kanna. "Let's meet the others and contact the Atlas."
But as Kanna began walking away, he noticed Pidge stayed behind. "Pidge?"
"I just can't believe it's all over."
Kanna's face softened and she walked over to hug her friend.
"If there is anything that learned in this life, it is that in this universe, there is no end to anything. The old gives way to the new, and the essence of everything that is or came to be, never truly leaves." said the white paladin.
Pidge smiled slightly.
"Also, there was more to my visions." she said.
"Huh?"
"Turns out the Olkarion weren't done teaching us a few things. They showed me a way to track the Robeasts. Their information is going to save billions of lives."