Y/n's POV
After saving the Balmera from the Galra, we were back in the Castle. I was currently training, battling the Gladiator. I grunt as the Gladiator throws its staff into my stomach, pushing me back. I grab the staff, twist it out of the robot's grasp, and shove the staff into its chest. The Gladiator beeps once before disappearing. I wipe the sweat off my face and pick up my bayard, which I had dropped earlier.
"Nice kill." I look over to see Keith leaning against the door.
"Thanks." I say, activating my bayard. "Wanna do a round?"
"Why not?" Keith walks towards me, taking off his jacket and tossing it off to the side. I get in a fighting stance as he activates his bayard.
"Begin!" Keith rushes towards me. Not expecting him to come at me so fast, I jump slightly towards him and roll away on his left as he cuts the space I was just in. I roll to my knees and start firing blunted arrows at him. Keith blocks the first few, but one hits him in the shin, making him fall over. I rush up and pin him down with my bow. Keith somehow maneuvers out of my hold, pinning me on the ground. I groan, trying to push him off me, but he was too strong.
"You need to find ways to wiggle out. You're smaller, so use your size to your advantage." He mutters. I blush when I see our position. His lips were just inches away from my own. He finally notices as well and quickly gets up, blushing as well. After gaining his composure, Keith offers me his hand, which I accept. We look into each other's eyes for a moment before I break contact.
"I'm going to go see what Hunk's making." I mutter. I grab my bayard and hoodie and run out. Once outside, I lean against the wall, taking deep breaths.
'Oh my gosh, we were so close! AHHH!' I scream in my mind. 'Okay, Y/n. Take a breath. Hopefully he didn't notice it like I did.' I take a final breath before heading to the kitchen. I walk in only to be hit by food goo.
"AH!" I slip on more goo, falling over.
"Y/n!" I feel a pair of hands grab my arms and pull me. I wipe the goo out of my face to find Hunk and Pidge hiding behind a table, having dragged me over.
"What is going on in here?" I ask.
"The goo has us pinned down!" I peek over the table to see the food dispenser going crazy, shooting goo everywhere.
"Okay, we're going to have to flank the goo to shut it down." Pidge says, passing me a plate.
"Okay, wait. Wait!" I look at Hunk. "It's been a pleasure cooking with you." I laugh slightly at his salute.
"Go!" Following Pidge's command, I rush forward. Hunk pins it down while I slam the off button. The dispenser stops and Hunk drops it to the ground.
"Probably a malfunction?" Hunk asks.
"Yeah, yeah. Guess the kitchen system needs to be rebooted, too. Leave it for Coran?" Pidge asks. We both nod. I leave, heading to my room to clean up. I grab a shirt and a pair of shorts and head into the bathroom for a shower. As I look in the mirror, Keith pops up in my mind.
"There's no way he likes me." I say to myself. "Right?" I sigh. Just then, the shower suddenly turns on. Looking at it in confusion, I try to turn on the fan, but the switch wasn't working. I try to open the door, but it was now locked. "What the heck?"
"Hello? Is anyone out there? Let me out!" I say as the water was getting hotter. The steam was filling the room and I could barely breathe over the heat and lack of oxygen.
"Someone, please! Let me out!" I shout. I start to breathe heavily, sliding to the floor as my feet collapse beneath me. I weakly pound on the door.
"Please..."
Keith's POV
"Start training level three." I say. As the Gladiator comes at me, I spar with it. Suddenly, images of Y/n pop into my mind. I get knocked back. Groaning, I sit up.
'I can't even focus right now! What is wrong with me?' I think.
"End training sequence." I say aloud. The Gladiator keeps coming towards me. "End training sequence! End training sequence now!" I hit the Gladiator back and run out of the arena, slamming the door shut behind me. I gasp as the robot starts to open the door again and I sprint down the hallway as fast as possible.
'What is going on?!'
Lance's POV
"She's got to like me, right? I mean, I've known Y/n longer than Keith does. Does that mean I have a better chance?" I sigh. Something rumbles ahead of me and I whimper. "I'm okay. I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay." I shriek slightly when I hear screaming.
"Okay, okay." I mutter, walking forward. I see someone ahead of me. Coran, is that you?" I gulp as the figure disappears. "Okay, stop messing with me, guys. This isn't funny."
"Help! Help!" Suddenly, I heard Y/n's voice.
"Hello? Y/n?" I call.
"Help! Somebody! I'm trapped in the airlock." She shouts.
"I'm coming!" I run into the airlock, finding it empty. "Okay, ha- ha. Good joke. You guys got me. Nice." I turn as the airlock shuts.
"Airlock opening in 30 ticks."
Okay, joke's over! You got me!" I say, freaking out a bit.
"29, 28, 27"
"Guys? Guys! Help!"
Keith's POV
I practically run backwards as the Gladiator swings at me.
"Keith!" I hear a muffled yell and see Lance in the airlock.
"What are you doing in there?" I shout, blocking another swing.
"I need help! Because if you don't get me out of here right now, I'm going to be sucked out into space!" Lance shouts.
"Doors opening."
"I'm getting sucked out into space!" Lance screams. Grunting, I slam the airlock open. The Gladiator gets sucked out and I reach toward Lance.
"Keith! Keith, come on!" I pull Lance in and shut the airlock.
"What were you doing out there?" I demand.
"Who was that guy?"
"He was trying to kill me!"
"Well, is he the Castle? Because that's who's trying to kill me!" Lance shouts. We both gasp, screaming, and run to find the others.
The Mice's POV
We heard Y/n call for help. Scampering quickly into her room, we find the bathroom door locked, steam flowing heavily from the gap. We quickly climb up to the control panel. Spying the open button, we hit it. The door opens with a hiss and we see Y/n lying on the floor, unconscious.
Y/n's POV
I gasp as oxygen suddenly fills the room, regaining consciousness. My vision was blurry, but I was able to quickly focus on the four little shapes that edged into my field of view. The mice nuzzle against me as I slowly sit up, leaning against a cabinet.
"Thank you." I say, smiling. The mice squeak.
"Y/n!" I look up to see Lance rush into the room, quickly followed by Keith. "Are you okay?"
"What happened?" Keith demands.
"Shower...door locked...no oxygen...mice..." I stutter.
"Wait, what happened?" Lance asks.
"We'll find out in a second. Let's get her onto the bed first." Keith picks me up and walks over to my bed. I lean my head on his shoulder for support as I take deep breathes. Keith keeps his arm around my waist to keep me steady.
"I'll go find the others. Come as soon as she's okay." Lance says, running out of the room.
"Are you alright?" Keith asks. I nod.
"Yeah, I think so." I reply.
"So what exactly happened?"
"The shower started on its own, so I tried to turn on the fan, but it wasn't working. I tried the door, but it was somehow locked. The room was filled with steam and I would have suffocated to death if the mice hadn't arrived when they did." I say, smiling down at the mice. They squeak in appreciation.
"Keith, Y/n, come on!" Pidge shouts from the hallway.
"Can you walk?" Keith asks. I nod and we run out of the room.
Lance's POV
"Shiro, are you okay?"
"Where's Sendak?" Keith asks. I hadn't like how long he and Y/n were alone in Y/n's room, so I had sent Pidge to go get them.
"I-I had to get him out of here. I was hearing his voice. He-He can't be trusted on this ship." Shiro stutters. Y/n crouches next to her brother, worry in her eyes.
"It is the ship!" I exclaim. "I got stuck in a cryo-pod, then, in an airlock. Keith got attacked by a robot, Hunk and Pidge got attacked by food, and Y/n almost suffocated in her own room!"
"It's been a weird morning." Y/n says. A computer starts beeping. Coran goes over to it and looks.
"What? How is that possible?" Coran questions.
"What is it?" Y/n asks.
"The ship is starting a wormhole jump!" We all run to the control room. Allura stood at the controls.
"Allura, what's going on?" Shiro demands.
"We're going to Altea. We're going home. My father is taking us."
Y/n's POV
I rush forward to Allura, but a particle barrier surrounds her.
"Stay away from my daughter!" Hologram Alfor appears, shouting at me.
"Allura, wake up!" I shout.
"The crystal must have corrupted King Alfor's artificial intelligence. It's taking over!" Pidge exclaims. "We're headed straight for a star and it's about to explode!"
"Father, I can see Altea." Allura mutters.
"Allura! Allura, wake up!" I shout. "What you're seeing isn't real."
"The juniberries, the most exquisite flower of all." I could see Alfor holding a flower to Allura.
"Allura, please! You've got to listen to me!" I yell. "It's all fake!"
"Is this real?" Allura asks aloud.
"Of course it is real, Daughter. That flower you're touching is real." Alfor says.
"But where is the fragrance of the sweet juniberries?" Coran demands. I watch as Allura sniffs the flower, eyes widening. She finally notices that the star wasn't Altea.
"That's not Altea." She exclaims.
"When that star goes supernova, it will destroy the entire system." Pidge says.
"Allura, you must reset the course and get us out of here!" Coran shouts.
"Father, please, I beg you to turn this ship around. If we don't do it soon, we will all perish!" Allura turns to her father's hologram.
"I know. That is my intention." He says.
"What? Why?" Allura demands.
"Don't you see, dear daughter? Zarkon can never be defeated. He's been ruling for ten thousand years." Alfor says.
"But we must continue to fight!" Allura shouts.
"Fight for what? It is all over for Altea. You don't have to live a lifetime of war. You can be with me and the rest of your people." Alfor says.
"Father, please! The Paladins and I can still stop Zarkon! Somewhere in there, you must want that to happen." Allura says. Suddenly, Alfor's hologram glitches.
"Allura, my A.I. has been corrupted. You must disconnect my power source." His hologram stops glitching. "We can stroll across the Blossom Canyon every morning, just like we used to. Remember how much you loved that?"
"I remember. I'll see you soon, Father." Allura turns to Coran. "I've got to get into the A.I. chamber to disconnect my father's power source manually."
"But that means losing King Alfor forever!" Coran exclaims.
"Paladins, get to your lions! I need you to slow the Castle's descent into the star. I can try to override the system to open the hangars." We rush out.
'Hurry, Allura.'
Allura's POV
I arrive at the A.I. chamber. My father appears, torn between his two holograms.
"Don't do this!-You must.-All my memories, all my knowledge will be lost forever!-Do it, Allura. If you are to live, we must say goodbye."
"I'm sorry about this, Father." I say. I gasp when memories fill my vision. I see myself as a little girl, when Father was still alive and Altea was still moving.
"This is not real. This is all in the past."
"You don't have to fight, Allura. You don't have to make this sacrifice." Father appears in front of me. I hug him.
"Goodbye, Father."
"Goodbye, Allura."
Y/n's POV
"Paladins, get to your hangars. We're getting out of here." I hear Allura's voice over the coms. I swing the Orange Lion around and dash into the hangar as the Castle opens a wormhole. Once in the control room, I walk up to Allura.
"I'm so sorry about your father, Princess."
"We all are." Lance speaks up.
"Thank you. But that was not my father. The real King Alfor was a great man and a great father. He may not be here with us anymore, but his dream lives on through all of us, and his legacy is Voltron."