You stared up at the Black Lion, eyes half lidded.

"Well, looks like it's just you and me," you said, looking around. Your agreement to pilot the Black Lion if Keith wasn't there is coming back to bite you in the ass. Keith wasn't there. You couldn't blame him, he had a mission, and he made a commitment. "Let's just get this over with." You sighed as the lion eye's lit up.

~
"Citizens of Reiphod, on this day we honor you for you perseverance. Your refusal to bow down in the face of such adversity is a testament to the fighting spirit of your people."
You sighed, listening to Coran speaking.

"Are you nervous, Y/n?" Allura asked, hearing you.

"A little," you replied.

"No problem, just give the crowd the ol' razzle dazzle and you're fine," Lance said, excitement in his voice. You snorted.

"I don't know Lance, you're proving to be some major competition. You're the ultimate razzle dazzler," you replied humorously. Lance didn't reply for a few minutes. "You okay?" You only got a weird gurgle in reply.

"—that began with the reemergence of the five Lions of Voltron."

"Let's go!!" Lance exclaimed as all of you flew out from behind the castle. You looked down at the crowd of aliens.

"That's... a lot more than I expected," you murmured. Piloting the Black Lion... was a new experience for you. The controls were different, but similar. You let out a sigh as you continued to do your lion dance. Soon, holographic targets appeared and they all shot at it with their laser beams.

"By joining the Voltron Alliance, you are joining up with the Defenders of the Universe, who will do whatever it takes to spread peace and freedom to every galaxy," Coran's voice said. You let out another sigh. Usually you'd be hype as hell doing something like this, but something was off. You didn't know what. Part of the routine was that you form Voltron and impress the crowd, but you knew from the get go that you wouldn't. You're not in sync. You don't want to do this.

~
The show of arms did end nicely. It wasn't as bad as you thought it would be. Voltron wasn't formed, but that didn't surprise anyone. They also knew you didn't want to pilot Black. So now you were back in the Castle of Lions walking back towards your room. You turned the corner to go back down the hall, but stopped.

"Keith?" You called out. He opened his eyes and saw you on the other end of the hallway.

"Y/n..." He greeted back, but it was quiet. You began to walk towards him.

"You're back," you said, stopping in front of him.

"Yeah. I heard you flew the Black Lion in my place," he replied. You nodded and placed your hands in your pockets.

"Well, yeah, I said I would if you weren't there," you said with a shrug. Keith looked down to the ground.

"... I think you should lead Voltron.".

"I know, Keith, but I've already decided not to lead the team," you replied.

"Who else is there to do it? Everyone already hates me for not being there," Keith said, looking over to the side. You sighed and combed your fingers through your hair.

"They don't hate you, Keith," you replied, "Besides, even if I do become the leader, Voltron won't form for me. Even if I force myself to do it, there won't be the synchronization there was before. Voltron could very well tear apart because of me. I'm better off staying as I was before Shiro disappeared."

"The team needs you, Y/n. They need someone who's attention isn't divided," Keith argued.

"They also need you Keith."

"But I can't—"

"I'm not saying you should prioritize one thing over another," you cut in, "You don't even need to choose, but you what you do need to do is figure out how you're going to handle all of this." You walked up to him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I believe in you, Keith. Only you can say what's best for you."

~
Standing behind Coran, the loud beeping filled your ears from the front of the small screen. Allura was the last to arrive on the bridge.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"We received a distress signal. One of our convoys has been ambushed by a squadron of Galra cruisers," Coran replied.

"Our medical supply ships. We can't allow the Galra to get them," Shiro said.

"We must leave immediately. Voltron can keep those cruisers occupied long enough for the supply ships to make their escape," Allura added.

"Actually, Voltron can't. Keith is gone," Pidge intervened quickly. Allura's head snapped over to you, but you looked away.

"They're probably on a mission. I knew this would happen sooner or later," Shiro said, "You'll have to go without Keith. The convoy needs you immediately. I'll send him to help as soon as I find him." You and the others ran off the bridge as soon as he was done saying the sentence.

"Why won't you pilot the Black Lion, Y/n?" Allura asked from your side. You let out a sigh of slight annoyance, but bit it down.

"Because I don't think I'm right for being the leader, okay? I'm happy fighting alongside," you replied, speeding up ahead of everyone since they had to go to the hangars.

~
You, as well as the Paladins, were flying to the location of the ambush. There were three Galra cruisers, one which had a supply ship caught in its tractor beam.

"We gotta get that ship out of the tractor beam," Lance said.

"I'll try to ram it out. Cover me!" Hunk instructed, flying faster to the ship. Just as he was halfway there, several fighters flew out of the cruiser. Forced to veer off course, Hunk evaded the lasers. "Never mind! There's too many! I can't ram that many!" You all flew away from the main cruisers, but five more appeared behind you, forcing you all to disperse. More fighters flew out.

"Someone must've called for backup!" Hunk said. You avoided the ships lasers with some difficulty. They were all surrounding you like you were cattle.

"They're everywhere!" Lance exclaimed.

"No shit Sherlock!" You replied, destroying a few of the ships with your lightning. You probably had at least twenty on your tail. "I HOPE YOU ALL LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO SEE YOUR DREAMS DIE!!" You sent out a wave of frost. The fighters were coated in ice before exploding.

'Welp, better work bitch!' You thought, speeding up. You used your wing to smash through fighters, reducing the numbers one at a time.

"There are more fighters than we've ever seen!" Pidge exclaimed.

"Y/n, I need your help! I got two on my tail!" Lance yelled to you.

"Kinda busy at the moment, sorry Lance!" You exclaimed, letting out a grunt when you electrocuted five of them at the same time.

'Annoying flies!' Ignoring the fighters, you took off to the ships, blasting through whatever came in your path.

"I take out one, but two more replace it!" Hunk exclaimed.

"The supply ship is almost captured. Can anyone get to it?" Allura questioned.

"I'm trying!" You and Lance both said simultaneously. You destroyed three more fighters, but five more took their place.

"What's these guy's problems! For fucks sake!" You exclaimed, creating a ball of energy and throwing it at a large group of fighters.

"Where are they all from?" Hunk questioned.

"Watch out behind you!" Pidge called out in alarm. You flew closer to the supply ship, but was forced back by a barricade of fighters.

"Do the rebel ships have a shot?" Allura asked.

"I have a visual on them. They're dead in the water," Lance replied.

"Wow, nice positivity going, Lance!" You exclaimed, charging through explosions from the destroyed fighters.

"We can't do this without Voltron!" Allura yelled in panic.

"Where is Keith?!" Lance yelled out in anger. A thin layer of ice began to form on your skin. It was a continuous onslaught. Like a sea of assholes.

'I'm going to lose my absolute shit.' You thought, holding out your hand and sending out large blasts of lightning at them. A fighter flew behind you and shot. Reacting a second too late, it connected to you, sending you flying away.

"SHIT HELL!" You exclaimed, balancing yourself out before flying away from more fighters.

"There's no way we can beat all these fighters with only four lions and Y/n!" Hunk exclaimed.

'WOW THANKS ASSHAT!' You thought, using your materialized sword to cut through the small ships.

"You don't have to!"
You looked up and in the distance, you could see the Black Lion flying towards you. Your eyes widened significantly.

"Shiro!"

"No way!" The others exclaimed in relief. Shiro flew behind the Yellow Lion and cut down dozens of fighters effortlessly.

"Converge on me. It's time to form Voltron!" He ordered. There was a blinding light where the lions flew together.

'Well... better get to work before they show me up.' You thought, materializing your other sword and blasting off into zigzags, taking down dozens of fighters at a time. Without the others in the way for a few seconds, it was easier to move freely without worrying about hitting them. You heard the loud whirring of Voltron, and left the fighters for the cruisers. Using your two swords, you dragged them across the bottom of the large ship, watching it explode slowly before you zipped around it. The front part exploded. When you looked to the side, you saw Voltron on their third cruiser.

"Well fuck you too."

Ja ne!

{Ruby Red}