Word Count: 6,038
If Shiro had to say anything about his current predicament, it was that being dead sucked.
Within the first week he had exhausted every ounce of Hollywood-movie/paranormal book knowledge he had on ghosts that involved attempting to contact the paladins, none of which even scratched the surface of working and only went to frustrate him further.
Week two didn't give him much more.
Neither did week three.
Or week four.
By the time week five rolled around Shiro was starting to realize this might just be his own little version of hell he'd have to suffer through for the rest of eternity.
And, yes, things were beginning to look that bleak.
But not just for him either.
Even from day one of roaming the castle halls, it was painfully clear just how badly his passing had affected everyone. And though he admitted none of them appeared to be near as violent as Keith's it was undeniable this was taking a major toll on Voltron as well.
Or- what was left of it.
Because now, with him out of the picture, they couldn't even form Voltron.
Their black paladin was gone.
The remaining team was a mess.
They couldn't do anything.
Shiro knew in the back of his mind this war was far from over, yes, they'd put down a major threat to the universe (and that was a huge plus in his book-), but that didn't mean there wouldn't be other factions rising up over the Galra Empire over time, and Voltron needed to be ready to break up the fight.
Just- not right now.
That'd have to wait.
For a little while longer at least.
It was still so painfully clear everyone's wounds needed time to heal before they moved to gather up where they'd left off.
His heart painfully clenched at the reminder of what everyone must be going through. And it wasn't exactly helpful that this wasn't the first time he'd been presumed dead either. The Kerberos mission had also gone up in smoke, and, in an attempt to keep some level of normalcy when he and the crew had mysteriously vanished, the Garrison had covered up the abduction as a crash due to "pilot error," and though some had doubted his death the first time around, there was still that moment of uncertainty.
Of loss.
Of death.
And to every human on board, it was like he was gone all over again.
Out of all the paladins, Katie had hit the ground for only a moment before picking herself back up and running. It seemed Shiro's (yet to be decided) death had done nothing but fuel her search for her family, pushing her further into the night, searching for one stretch of evidence to support either her brother or father being alive out there. Unfortunately, that also meant Shiro would come across her late into the night, day after day, asleep in front of her computer, glasses askew, looking as if she hadn't slept properly in weeks.
And- she really hadn't.
None of them had.
Hunk was a further example of that. Instead of taking the time of day off to sort through the thoughts that must be flying through his head, the teen had taken to the kitchen merely hours after Shiro's disappearance, stress-baking everything he could think of, experimenting with new recipes, there didn't seem to be a second that passed that he wasn't immersed into some project or another, and after several weeks of the same repeated routine, the strain was beginning to show in dark bags under the teen's eyes that refused to fade.
At this point, he and Allura could be twins with how out-of-it they looked. The princess had turned to the coalition as an attempt to smother the deep-rooted feeling of loss that had taken hold. She would spend entire days in the castle bridge, piloting where they needed to go and reaching out to any neighboring planets willing to join Voltron in the fight against the Galra, every inch of her going non-stop until the early hours of the morning when she'd finally collapse into Shiro's vacant chair, silent streaks of pain running down her cheeks before getting back up hours later to start all over again.
The princess pushed off any form of help from the team, including Lance, who'd often spend his time running around in an attempt to keep their crumbling team together. He'd tuck a blanked over Pidge's shoulders when she fell asleep, coax Hunk to take just a few hours off to rest, and bring food up to the castle bridge to gently remind Allura she still needed to eat.
Lance was doing everything Shiro could only try to do.
He was holding his family as tight as he could.
He did his best to keep Keith from fading.
But even the blue paladin couldn't keep the teen from striking it out on his own when no one was looking; taking the red lion again and again back to the same place Shiro had disappeared, exhausted eyes searching for the smallest shred of evidence that the black paladin was still alive.
But-
He wasn't.
Shiro himself could vouch for that.
He was right here.
Every step Keith took, every tear that ran its way down pale cheeks, Shiro was right there for it all unable to comfort, unable to do anything but watch his brother fall apart, neglecting to eat and pushing away any offer of help from the other paladins to comfort him in his loss.
It was painful enough just to watch.
Shiro couldn't imagine being in the teen's shoes.
He couldn't describe the guilt that began to bubble at the thought of betraying his promise to Keith to stick around after coming back from his Galran captivity. The teen had placed so much trust in him after coming back and it hurt Shiro in more ways than he could describe knowing he'd been the one to break him in a way no one ever could, in a way no one ever should.
He fingered the edge of the photograph again, watching his thumb travel through the frayed corner before going back and doing it again.
If he focused hard enough he could almost feel the paper under his fingertips.
It'd been a few hours since Keith came back from his latest search. Shiro could still hear the tell-tale sound of water running through the shower, along with the faintest sound of muffled sobs coming from the bathroom, a sure sign Keith was using the excuse of a shower to not be seen by the rest of the castle's inhabitants while the grief consumed him.
Shiro, meanwhile, sat on his brother's bed, attempting to come up with some genius next step in his plan to be seen.
As you can probably tell, it wasn't really going all that well.
His fist clenched at the bubbling frustration forming in the pit of his gut-
Oh, and another thing-
Despite the clear fact that he couldn't eat and didn't really have to breathe anymore, he could still feel everything he could when he'd been alive, like butterflies in his stomach, the still-felt solidness of his own skin-
It was disorienting to know that all of those physical feelings were still there, but the actual cause or source of said feelings and discomfort seemed to have vanished the moment he disappeared from the black lion-
The moment he- he- died? He wasn't sure if that was the right word to use. Every time Shiro had pictured death in the past it had always been just a blank screen, no body, no consciousness, no nothing.
And this sure as hell wasn't just nothing.
His transparent body and ability to hold a conversation with himself proved that much.
With a defeated sigh he leaned back, fingers trying to coax the photo into his hand falling limp at his side as he stared up at the ceiling almost in a daze.
What was he going to do with himself?
The first few weeks of an (most likely) eternity and he was already going mad trying to contact the other paladins.
What was a month from now going to look like?
Two months?
A year?
Would they even be in space that long?
That thought had him realizing his next dilemma.
He couldn't leave the ship.
Well, obviously in space he didn't want to leave the ship, what good would that do him? But on the rare occasion they did land on a planet, Shiro found very quickly he physically could not step off the castle. The moment he'd try to do so he would be zapped back to the same place he first appeared-
Right outside the black lion's hangar.
After his second attempt of running back down only to be shot back he learned pretty quickly he wasn't going anywhere that wasn't on the ship.
Turns out ghosts are confined to the space they appear in.
Wonderful.
The bathroom shower finally turned off with a splash of silence, knocking him out of his thoughts, and after a moment or two of quiet, Shiro got up and left the room (yes, he could walk through walls (It felt like submerging himself in static electricity every time he passed through-)).
It was the least he could do.
His footsteps were eerie and silent as he made his way down the castle halls, feeling a little more dejected and alone from the thoughts crowding his head, he tried to take comfort in the fact he could still feel himself (he'd been running his fingers frustratingly through his own hair a lot recently-) but that assurance quickly faded by the repeated reminder that that was all he could really do. Reaching the paladins hit a dead end in the clear fact he couldn't touch anything -
He needed a mental break.
But- he also needed answers for what happened to him.
And here was only one place he could go for that.
Black's hangar.
As expected, the massive beast was still sprawled on the hangar floor when he entered. Her mouth askew and eyes vacant. Despite the lion's still ever-present thoughts in his own mind (even though- you know, he was gone-), the mechanical beast had remained in the same, uncomfortable position ever since-
Since.
No, he needed a break from that, not be reminded of the fact he was gone from everyone's lives.
The rumbling in his mind agreed.
With a deep breath, he boarded, fingers ghosting through the metal walls as he walked, taking what little comfort he could from being back.
It was still a sensitive thought to remember this was the same place he'd (technically) physically died in but Shiro couldn't deny himself the applause of progress he made in coming in at all, nearly a week ago he'd been unable to venture too far into the hangar for the fear he'd disappear for good.
But now-
The frustration of this all was driving him over the edge. So far that he wasn't scared anymore to confront the beast for answers.
With a sigh, he fell into the pilot's seat.
He just felt so- lost.
He startled at Black's sudden jump into his thoughts, her deep rumbling against his mind- though soothing- did very little calm the emotional mess he'd become after so many weeks of no interaction with anyone. There was no conversation (no, the little talks he gave himself did not count), no one looking in his direction, no gentle touch of a hand on his shoulder, no voice in his ear telling him that everything was going to be okay-
There was nothing.
It was maddening.
Another sucky thing about being a ghost he guessed.
He was alone.
Brown eyes widened as the realization sunk in.
He was alone.
He really was truly alone.
At that moment he black lion gave a hefty roar into his conscious, startling him so bad he jumped to his feet, the feelings of wrong and not alone filling his senses and flooding his thoughts making him feel as if he were choking on air.
He couldn't breathe.
His head felt like it was going to explode.
Shiro stumbled forward a step, surprisingly crashing against the console, head splitting open even more with Black's overwhelming sense of trying to fix him-
Fix this.
Fix you.
Fix it!
Fuck, his head was spinning.
What-
His eyes widened even more the moment he caught sight of his hands.
They- they were fading.
The small amount of solidness he had left was being wiped away like an eraser, and Shiro looked down at himself in horror to find small purple specks coming off of him and deteriorating into the air as fast as he was vanishing.
He opened his mouth to yell-
He never got the sound out.
...
Stepping out of the shower Keith was feeling even worse than the moment he'd stepped in.
Had he expected that to change? No.
Did he still feel like shit? Obviously yes.
Eyes closed, he wasn't aiming when he fell face-first onto his bed minutes later, hair still wet, shirt sitting on the sink where he'd left it. He instinctively went to curl up on his side as his heart threatened to fall in on itself with the lack of nothing more to do, nothing to distract him from the hole eating him away inside.
It hurt.
He hurt.
All because of that one person in his life who actually understood him was gone.
Because he was-
Shiro was-
He bit his lip as the thought escaped. The topic he was trying to avoid ever since he dashed into the black lion, screaming his brother's name. He knew somewhere in his mind that kind of practice wasn't healthy, holding back the feelings that threatened to resurface, but he-
He felt he would break if he let them loose.
But that had always been a problem with him, wasn't it? Every stab life took at him he just buried inside himself, forcing all of those memories down till they were nothing but pictures locked in a box in the back of his mind.
Locked, but never forgotten.
It was the curse of being him apparently.
The damn curse that just kept on giving with every event that went wrong in his life.
Like when his mom left.
His dad died.
Shiro disappeared.
And now he was gone again and there was nothing he could do to bring him back.
At least back on earth he could sneak into the restricted section of the Garrison and try in vain to see if what they said on the news was true. At least he could stand up to the wisp of hope that the officials were lying to him and he could prove that Shiro was still alive.
But in space-
His remaining grasp on resolve crumbled as a trail of saltwater raced down his cheek, biting his lip as he hugged his knees tighter, the massive wave of emotions coming back to hit him full-force.
In space, there was nothing he could do.
He could go out to that field of debris all he wanted, turn on the scanners for as long as he could, running back and forth over the same spot hoping with every breath he took that something would come to life.
He- he could go to the training deck and wallow in his own self-pity long after the robot powered down all because he let his guard down in the first place and managed to get a sucker punch straight to the chest.
And he could rethink over and over again, staring at the ceiling of his room that he should go back out there because there had to be something he missed. Some- some clue he could use to assure himself and the rest of the team that Shiro was alive and hadn't broken his promise to stick around until they were home.
Some hint he was going to come back to them because this was Shiro they were talking about, the same Shiro who stood up for them, took care of them, didn't give up on them, the fucking black paladin of Voltron who'd survived being locked up in a damn alien prison for a year-
But, just like every shallow hole of hope he managed to scrape out in his head, it still crumbled away to dust in his hands in time.
Shiro- Shiro wasn't coming back.
Not this time.
Never again.
He could hear the groan escape his lips in a far away echo as the hole in the bottom of his stomach widened, sucking in the remaining pieces of his own heart he had left to this life, every broken piece Shiro had managed to put back together crumbling around him.
Shiro was-
He was-
A sob.
Shiro was gone.
He fell asleep to the thought, darkness dragging him down, continuing to torture him in his dreams.
...
"Keith?"
The knock at the door had him startling awake, fingers clenching, eyes widening as he fell from the nightmare.
"Keith? You in there?" Lance spoke up, nearly a full second later.
He took another shuddering breath, panic seizing his throat at the thought of being found like this.
"Keith-"
"Go away, Lance." He shouted just loud enough to be heard, hoping and praying the teen didn't catch the raspy tremble in his voice.
He just wanted to be left alone.
"You know I would, buddy but-" he paused at the attempt of a lighthearted prod, but Keith could almost see the teen uncomfortably scratching the back of his neck before continuing, "But Allura wants to see us all in the Black Lion's hangar, now. Like, right now." He trailed off, Keith still unmoving on his bed, in no rush to get up and comply to the princess's command, exhaustion making him groggy.
Why couldn't they leave him alone?
Was that too much to ask?
"Keith? You still there?"
He hummed (growled more like-), uncurling inch by inch and getting to his feet, his dark room swaying a bit as he made his way to the adjoined bathroom to grab his shirt and sliding it over his head. He took a moment to turn back and carefully fish through the tangled sheets for the picture of him and Shiro and placing it in his pocket before approaching the door, disabling the lock and wiping a quick arm over his eyes before opening.
Lance, bathed in light from the castle hall stared back.
Keith bit his lip, lowering his head and shoving past into the hall, Lance not saying a word as he moved to trail behind him and Keith was more than grateful for the lack of conversation as they made their way down to the castle hangars.
He wasn't sure what he'd do if he had to talk.
Break down probably.
And he sure as hell didn't want to do that in front of them.
He didn't want to show how weak he really was.
Or- already was.
He honestly didn't know which one felt worse at this moment.
His dark, depressive thoughts fell the moment the hangar doors opened, bringing to light every emotion he'd managed to shove down at the sight of the black lion, still looking just as lifeless as the day that-
That Shiro-
That he-
Keith swallowed, mind screaming for everything to just stop.
Please, stop it.
He wasn't ready to be back here.
He never wanted to come back here.
Why was he here?
"Welcome, Keith. I'm glad you could join us." It was probably his own imagination making the princess's tone sound harder than it actually was. Nevertheless, he chose not to reply, instead keeping his head down and moving to join the rest of the team standing awkwardly in a line in front of the princess, trying his hardest to leave his expression blank when he wanted nothing more than to scream.
"Allura, what's this about? I have a project I need to get back to," Pidge wasn't trying very hard to keep the annoyance out of her voice and they all shuffled uncomfortably as the princess, in turn, looked from paladin to paladin with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Very well, I have no doubt you all do not wish for me to speak any longer than I have to, so allow me to jump straight to the point," she took a moment, inhaling a deep breath before forcing the next words out in a rushed mess of words Keith had trouble understanding at first- "I believe it's time we begin our search for a new black paladin."
The reaction was immediate.
"What? No! You can't do that!"
"I appreciate you trying to get us to move on, Allura, but this is too soon-"
"We can't just forget about him and move on, that isn't how this works!"
Keith- Keith couldn't breathe.
He took a stumbling step away from the team, fingers clenching, chest struggling to expand, choking on his own air, unable to breathe and- and-
This- this couldn't be happening.
His mind was screaming that this wasn't right, they- they couldn't just abandon Shiro.
No, no, no, no, this- this isn't happening-
"-must all offer ourselves up to the black lion-"
He couldn't just leave Shiro behind he couldn't-
"Keith?"
He froze at the address, looking up to see the surrounding team all staring at him with concern in their eyes.
Fuck.
He fought to get his voice working again, mouth flapping helplessly open and closed before forcing out the slightest whisper of "I can't" before caving again, bringing his hands up to clutch at his head like it was about to burst. He caught Lance's eyes widening before he looked to the floor again, watching the teen's shadow turn back to the princess, throwing an arm in his direction as he shouted "See? No one is ready for this, Allura, we still need time-"
"You speak to me of time? An intergalactic tyrant is still waging war on the universe, we cannot continue to push out our duties all because of one loss to this war-"
Shiro wasn't a loss.
He'd been family.
"-refuse to shove this off any longer. We must act now-"
He- he couldn't.
But Hunk was already moving towards the lion's slack jaw and Keith was still struggling to bring air to his lungs and hecouldn'tbreathe.
Allura refused to let any of them leave until they all took a chance in the black lion's cockpit, leaving Keith sitting on the floor watching with snakes in his stomach as one after the other went in and came out, not a single one of them able to activate the lion's controls, and then-
"Keith, you're up."
Surprisingly he managed to get to his feet quick enough, walking, shoulders hunched to the slack jaws of the metal beast, all five sets of eyes boring into his back till the moment he couldn't be seen.
He knew where to go to reach the cockpit, he felt like he'd done it a thousand times despite only having been in there twice.
One when he was trying to save Shiro's life on that alien planet-
A-and the other-
No, no, no, this was too soon-
The doors were opening before Keith had the time to turn tail and run, legs suddenly struggling to carry him to the empty seat when every other inch of him was screaming to leave and never look back-.
"I want you to lead Voltron."
No, no, no, no.
Please, no.
He was rigid when he finally convinced himself to take a seat in the chair, hands shaking as he reached out to the controls, willpower alone driving him this far as he squeezed his eyes shut, hoping and praying the lion wouldn't sense him, wouldn't give him the title as leader.
There was only one person in the universe who could hold that title and he-
He was gone-
Shiro was gone.
He couldn't take Shiro's place even if he wanted to.
Pidge had been right calling him a loner.
And he- he was alone for a reason-
All at once, Keith could feel the entity of another conscious press into his at the thought, the deep rumbling purr into his mind had him jumping to his feet with a startled cry, hands ripping free of the controls, stumbling back before falling back on the floor, violet eyes opening to see-
To see.
What- what was this place?
Upon opening his eyes, it was clear to realize he was no longer in the black lion, instead surrounded by the endless expanse of purple-tinged space, some solid invisible floor beneath him as he got back to his feet.
He was in space?
But- that could be right.
He- he could breathe just fine.
Where-
"Keith?"
His heart seized in his chest at the voice that sounded behind him, the echo of it still flying around him from that one name spoken into the air. The same voice he knew he'd never hear again.
The same voice speaking to him now
It- it couldn't be-
"Shiro." He turned.
"Hey buddy," that familiar, warm smile he'd been sure he'd only see in his dreams from now on lit his face- "I'm here."
God.
"Sh-Shiro."
He couldn't later explain how he rushed into those arms outstretched and waiting. The next thing he knew he was burying his face into the man's shoulder, fat tears streaking down his face as he clung to him, Shiro lowering them both down to the floor as Keith continued to sob ugly sounds into the air, lungs stuttering past the noises in his throat, face twisted so tight he thought he might just fall apart completely.
But, he was real, he was here.
Shiro- Shiro was-
He sobbed harder.
"Shiro."
"Shh, Keith, it's okay, I'm here. I'm right here," Keith could hear the tremors in the man's voice, the arms, holding him hugging tighter as the seconds passed, and he could hear the man attempting to keep his own tears at bay.
Trying but failing.
"Keith. Keith, I missed you."
Another sob wracked up his throat.
Shiro- Shiro was here.
"H-how-" he started, pulling himself away to fully look at him, the man was still dressed in his paladin armor, his form outlined in a light purple glow, Shiro's brown eyes just as concerned as they were relieved as the tears continued to fall. "How did you-"
"Shh, Keith," he said, gripping his shoulders, "I know this is a lot to take in right now, but I need to tell you something. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to stay here."
"Stay- What are you talking about? What happened to you? You disappeared from the black lion, you've been gone for weeks, h-how-" Keith broke off, eyes finally landing on his surroundings once more. "Where- where are we?"
"I don't know, but I need you to listen to me," he gave his shoulders another hard squeeze, Keith dragging his eyes back to meet his at the action, an arm going up to scrub the tears away from his eyes.
"Listen, the black lion was able to save my essence during our fight with Zarkon but she can't hold on to me forever. I'm fading, Keith, I- I don't know for how much longer I'll be able to stay here and I need your help to bring me back."
"How?" Keith questioned, brows furrowing in confusion, "I thought you disappeared." Violet eyes widened as the words finally sunk in, "y-you mean you-"
Brown eyes fell downcast at his next words, "I died, Keith."
The teen choked on his next breath.
Shiro's determined expression melted into understanding as Keith struggled to rope back his emotions, the man taking a moment longer to nod a confirmation of his words before he continued voice softer than before, more gentle. "I don't know how to get out of here, but I need you to go to Coran and Allura and explain what happened to me, they may be able to figure out a way to bring my soul out of the black lion, but they need to hurry. I was just barely able to contact you and the rest of the paladins were already out of my reach, Keith please," violet met brown, "this is important. Promise me you'll go straight to them. Convince them I'm still here."
Keith gave a hard swallow in response, realizing a beat later that Shiro's form was beginning to fade, panic creeping up his throat, "I promise, Shiro, just- just hold on, okay?"
His brother smiled, the action strained but hopeful nonetheless, "I promise."
And with those words, he vanished.
Just like that the brief sensation of plummeting overtook him, his words fading to black before the familiar awareness of sitting on something brought him back to consciousness, the functioning panel of the black lion stared back and Keith had just a moment to grab hold of something before the mechanical beast stood up and roared.
A brief flight of panic overtook him as the lion brought her jaw back to the floor, the sound still echoing around in his head, he could see the rest of the team looking up at the lion in relief and awe but that was quickly replaced by what Shiro had said in those fleeting minutes in the mindscape, and in a whirlwind of limbs he flung himself out of the cockpit, feet pounding on the floor as he ran to the mouth of the lion because his brother, his brother, his brother, he-
He was alive.
He had to save him.
Keith slowed to a walk as he came down the ramp steps and back onto the hangar floor, the princess the first to speak, arms clasped curtly in front of her, "I wish you were getting the job under better circumstances but, congratulations, Keith."
A chorus of the similar congrats ran from the rest of the group, watching him with tired eyes.
Keith bit his lip, taking only a moment before shaking his head, "No, I won't accept this."
Allura's face fell in dismay, "But you have to, the black lion chose you-"
"No! It chose me to give you a message. Shiro's still alive, his soul is in the black lion," he spoke, fists clenching.
"In the lion?" Lance voiced, arms crossed over his chest, expression skeptical, "Keith, that isn't possible."
"But I saw him!"
"No, enough! We all know you don't want this job more than anyone but making up some excuse of seeing Shiro's ghost in the cockpit isn't going to change this-"
"But I saw him!" He finally shouted over the teen's protesting as he snapped, pale fingers tugging uselessly at his own hair in frustration, violet eyes still blown wide, images of Shiro standing in front of him still flashing through his own mind, running to him, crying over the fact he was alive and they needed to do something, and- oh God, they- they had to believe him.
They had to.
They didn't have time for them not to.
"Guys I-" a tongue flicked out over chapped lips as he tried again, "I swear I'm not making this up, I wouldn't lie about this, I promise. You have to believe me, please, I- I saw him."
"Keith, I- I know these past few weeks have not been easy for you-" the princess spoke, a hand landing on his shoulder and he quickly shoved it away.
"No, you guys have to believe me, he's- he's still there, and if we don't do something about it soon, he's going to die."
He could feel his own breaths getting caught in his throat as the seconds ticked by, the team looking from him to the Altean in silent confusion.
"Please," he whispered, trying to push anyway, "please, you have to believe me."
He watched, helpless as the princess turned to the Altean advisor after a brief look of concern pointed in his direction, "Coran, do you know anything of this?"
"It certainly sounds familiar, yes," the man spoke, stroking his mustache in thought, "I'd heard theories of the possibility of pilots becoming contained in the essence of their lions. Perhaps I can- with number five's assistance- run a few tests and see what we can find before we take any more steps."
Allura seemed to think on the suggestion before giving the tiniest nod, her blue eyes giving nothing away. "Very well, get on with it immediately."
"Yes, princess."
...
It took days until they were able to figure something out.
Shiro should know.
He saw every bit of progress they managed to make on the matter through the eyes of the black lion, Coran and Pidge quickly setting up shop in the hangar to begin the tests.
He could tell the team was skeptical of Keith's words at first, giving the teen uncertain glances when he wasn't paying attention and of course, Shiro couldn't blame them, he would hardly be able to believe it if it'd happened to anyone else. Heck, he hardly believed it himself and he was the one who was in the situation in the first place.
It was- strange.
Maybe a little freaky if he was being honest with himself here.
At first, Coran had been a little unsure of how to go about the actual testing, instead, he merely ran a few diagnostics of the black lion's tech before managing to discover an "anomaly" during one of them.
Of course, it was an anomaly with a name if Shiro wanted to get technical, but it was enough to convince everyone Keith wasn't just sleep-deprived and making the whole thing up.
Which, of course, led them into the next phase-
Experimentation.
Which led to theories.
Which led to them finally tracking down something that just might work.
The plan was simple enough and actually involved using one of the castle's memory tubes that would then be transferred to king Alfor's old hologram room if things ran smoothly enough.
To Shiro, his move from the black lion to the Altean computer would be instantaneous.
It felt a little nerve-wracking even with his own repeated assurance everything should turn out fine.
Key word in this being 'should'.
"That should be all of them."
His attention was drawn back to the moment at hand, Coran back away from placing little suction-like cups to the surface of the black lion's face, small wires running off the little blue things into the machine that would hopefully draw Shiro's essence out and into the Altean memory bank.
"Alright, number one, we'll have you out of there in a jiffy, so hang tight," the advisor whispered, patting a hand on the black lion's mouth.
"Do you really think this'll work? Do you really think we can bring him back from this?" Pidge voiced as Shiro watched the man walk towards a large remote lever sitting next to the memory canister, picking it up and shifting it from hand to hand, looking up to the lion with furrowed brows before he found the right words to reply.
"I'm not sure number five, but I hope for his sake it works," with those words the lever was thrown.
There was a brief moment of silence.
Then suddenly he was moving at lightspeed.
Falling.
His whole body feeling as if it were submerged underwater.
And then-
Absolute darkness.
...
With a groan, Shiro opened his eyes. It was dark now, save for the small amount of light coming from some machine under him and he looked down at himself n confusion to find his body now made up of light.
Which had to mean.
He looked up with a start, eyes catching hold of the other figure in the room, hands in his pockets, tears in his eyes, dark hair looking as unruly as ever.
Shiro- Shiro missed seeing that face.
His brother's face.
Keith's face.
And he wasn't staring through him or over him, no this time-
"Hey."
He was staring right at him.
...
Wooooooo, wrote over half of this in one daaaaayyyyyy yaaaayyyyy-
A little out of character for Keith? Absolutely, but all I could picture of him reacting to seeing Shiro for the first time since his death was ugly sobbing so I went for it ^-^'
Confusing ending? No? Good, that's what I totally meant to do the whole time XD
This (very late, I might add-) fic is brought to you by kacchan867 who requested a part two for my Shiro shot, Ghost. Hope it was worth the wait!! *waves*