The fireball that engulfed what had once been a Galra ship died down, returning space to its natural darkness. A lone Galra fighter floated amongst the blackness, circling the diminishing fireball. Ironic, considering that the lone fighter had almost become a fireball itself, nearly crashing into the particle barrier protecting a gun firing on the planet Naxzela's surface. And its pilot had yet to realize just how quickly he'd escaped death.

Keith Kogane, the part-Galra former Voltron Paladin, sat back in the fighter's seat, letting out a long, drawn-out sigh. Letting instinct take over, he maneuvered the fighter out of the fireball's way, watching it dissipate. His heart rate, which had been racing faster than a hover racer, was also coming down. He took his sweaty palms off the controls.

Just moments earlier he was the one almost flown the fighter into a particle barrier to save Voltron, the rebels and everything within 10 systems from utter annihilation. Naxzela was a trap set by the Galra, an entire planet turned into a bomb just to destroy a single giant robot. A giant robot made up of five robotic lions, five pilots and that had become a symbol of hope for a universe desperate to escape 10,000 years of tyranny. He had been one of the pilots, until he embraced his Galra heritage to join the Blade of Marmora to bring the Galra Empire down.

But that wasn't his concern right now. Right now, he wondered what had just happened, until he realized that someone had just saved him from certain death. He looked up and saw a familiar ship heading in his direction.

It can't be, he thought to himself.

Prince Lotor of the Galra Empire; the object of his months-long chase that forced him to join the Blade of Marmora on a full-time basis.

This can't be good, he thought to himself again.

"Great work, Keith!" He heard the voice of his long-time mentor and brother figure, Takashi "Shiro" Shirogane coming through the fighter's comm.

"It wasn't me," he replied. "It was Lotor."

Right on cue, the Galra prince's voice could be heard on their comm channels. "Attention Paladins of Voltron and the Rebel Fighters; I know we've had our differences in the past, but... I think it is time we had a discussion."

"We accept your offer to talk," Shiro answered. "Meet us back at the Castle of Lions. Voltron out." Keith heard the comm clock.

"You should come back too, Keith," said Coran. "They'll want to talk to you."

"Sure, Coran," Keith answered. "Keith out." He heard the comm click.

Then he remembered that he'd come close to dying. But why didn't it effect him?

He imagined death so much it felt like a memory. When was it going to get him? In his sleep seven feet ahead of him? On his feet with the enemy ahead of him? Would he let it come to him or would he fight back? Death surrounded him in the Blade of Marmora. No one was expendable, but the cause mattered more to the organization than the life of the individual; the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. Anyone could, would and did die to complete the mission. He saw this first-hand very often. Even before then, he came close to dying with Voltron, and before that, often had vivid dreams about death and dying. That's why he steeled himself before crashing his fighter into the particular barrier. So long as he saved his friends, he could have done something.

But now...

He wiped his face and gripped the fighter's controls again. He had to rendezvous at the Castle of Lions, even if he wasn't looking forward to it.

But after he'd switched his comm off, Coran had made another call to someone else in Voltron.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Allura was scared. Not for herself, but after Keith landed his Galra fighter on the castle and Coran informed her about his attempted sacrifice, something snapped inside her.

But it was still a surprise to everyone else when they saw her racing out of the Blue Lion the moment they landed back on the castle. Obviously they called her name, and they were also obviously confused and shocked to see her running like this. This didn't concern her at all. A single thought kept repeating inside her head, Keith!

She found him in another hangar. Although she didn't see him well, she could tell by his form's body language that something was seriously wrong. She'd already watched the video diary he left, where he confessed to his many faults, insecurities, and possibly something even worse. How could I be so stupid?! She thought to herself. Please let him be okay!

But how could he do this? Why would he do it?! That thought came to her quickly, and quickly morphed into something else. That quiznaking fool! Why would he do such a selfish thing?! Her fear for him quickly turned into anger at him. She clenched her fist and teeth. I'll show him!

He was still lost in his thoughts when he heard rapid footsteps approaching him. He looked up, saw Allura and his eyes widened. "Allura?" he seemingly asked himself. But he was so deep in confusion that he didn't register her raising her fist in the air. And so he couldn't defend himself when she socked him across his left cheek. She actually didn't hit him very hard, but he fell on his backside, anyway.

"YOU QUIZNAKING FOOL!" she screamed. She was red in the face as she knelt and grabbed his collar. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, TRYING TO COMMIT SUICIDE LIKE THAT?! WHY WOULD YOU THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY?!"

Her rage had begun to subside, turning into anguish as her voice changed and her expression changed to match it. Tears welled up in her eyes and quickly flowed like a river. Again, he watched in astonishment at how she loudly cried, and saw that she was unable to form coherent sentences in her anguished, blubbering mess.

He felt rather ashamed now. He knew he'd done something to upset her, and the guilt made him want to get away from her. But she was on top of him. He couldn't escape. He did look away from her though, and he heard her gasp.

"Thanks," he said.

"PLEASE don't go again!" she sobbed. "I swear I'm not trying to confuse you. I want what's best for you, it's just, it's just—it felt like you turned your back on us after everything we've been through! What was the point!? You gained a new family that loves you, and tried to throw it all away! Keith, we love you!

"I know I can't force you to stay with us, but PLEASE, leave the Blade! You don't belong with them, you belong with us! I'm begging you!"

She couldn't stop herself from crying out loud.

"Why are you crying like that?" he asked.

"Shut up and let me cry," she said.

Her sobbing died down after what seemed or felt like an hour, until she felt like her tear ducts were dry. Allura helped him to his feet, and they tightly hugged each other. It was much-needed human... Altean?... contact after a harsh battle, and for Keith, after his time with the Blade.

After?

They broke apart. Keith momentarily motioned to the Galra fighter, and Allura felt the tightness in her chest return. Her own tears started to well up. But she put on a brave face. "You should be getting back to the Blade," she said.

To her surprise, after her put his hand on the fighter, he shook his head. "I don't know," he said.

"Take your time," she said. "I don't want to force you to stay or leave.

"In the meantime, we should go see what Lotor has up his sleeve."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The castle's brightness was alien to Keith, for lack of a better term. He found himself squinting while walking down the corridors and averting them to the floor. He even kept rubbing his eyes and trying to focus, but had little luck in it. He quickly recognized that he wasn't used to such brightness. The Blade was literally dark; everything was in black, purple or grey, even the ships, to the extent that he must've gotten far too used to them.

Allura must have recognized he wasn't feeling alright, when she stopped in her tracks. "Are you alright?" she asked, confirming his suspicions.

"It's the light," he chuckled. "I guess I became a mole or something."

"A mole? What's that?"

"... Nevermind."

"If you need me to dim the lights, I can," she said quickly. "I mean, I-I-I don't want to hurt your eyes, or—"

"Allura, I'm fine," he said, gazing up at her and softly smiling. "I just need to get used to the light again."

Allura smiled at him and firmly held his hand. He seemed to appreciate it at first, but that quickly changed when he blushed at her and turned away. She did the same thing. Both their hearts were already pounding from the emotional climax just minutes earlier, and their collective embarrassment made it feel worse.

"That's an... interesting look for you," Allura said, hoping to break the tension.

Keith looked down at himself, still dressed in his Blade of Marmora outfit. He clearly wanted to smile at her compliment, but all he could do was force one. And he couldn't force it for very long, and Allura noticed, too.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just happy to see you again."

"At least I didn't have to do that stupid Voltron Show," he said.

"Well, then I envy you," she answered.

"It was fun watching Lance make a fool out of himself," Keith said. "Was all that everyone's idea?"

"Actually, you're not going to believe this," said Allura, "But Coran was infected by a brain worm that made him act all strange."

"Strange?"

"He'd be like, 'HEEEEYYYYY, SHIRO, BAYBY!'" she said, doing her best crazy Coran imitation. "Like, 'you're Shiro the herooooo! And Allura, you're Keith, baby!' I had to pretend to be you."

"Yeah, I saw," Keith replied, trying not to laugh. "You did okay."

"Thanks," she said. "But to be honest, I hope I never have to do that stupid show again." Just thinking about it made her visibly cringe. He laughed again.

She turned, smiled and him and hugged him again. He returned the latter gesture. "It's such a relief to have you back."

"Yeah, I guess," he said.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked him, hugging him tighter. "I can get you something if you need it."

"I'm fine," he said.

She didn't believe it. That kind of emotional stress would affect anyone. It didn't sound like strength nor weakness that he wouldn't admit he was scared. Of course, the full realization might not have hit him just yet. She did hope that the punch and yelling would bring him back to his senses. Maybe he just needed more time to figure it out for himself.

"I need to get dressed," she said after breaking the hug off. "We still need to find out what Lotor is up to. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," he insisted. "Just... make it quick. I should probably be getting back to the Blade soon."

She sighed, sadly. "Alright. It's just that... we still miss you. It wouldn't hurt to say 'hello' to everyone, you know. I'll see you back at the bridge." She laid her hand on his still-swollen cheek before walking away.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Keith could feel the tension the moment he returned to the Castle's bridge, because he knew, in part, that Lotor was up to something. He didn't just waste some time with the Blade of Marmora, only to almost die in the process, to not know something. He'd chased this quiznaker for months and almost died for this?

Something was up.

No one noticed him re-enter the bridge. They were all focused on Lotor, sitting in the middle of everything, literally—the bridge, the crowd, and all the attention. None of the attention sounded like it was happy, though. He could hear them all making accusations, voicing their concerns and making guarded comments of support from his spot closer to the door than the center, but still within earshot. He wasn't sure if he was ready to announce his return yet; he didn't know how they'd react to his suicide attempt. And he could still feel the chest tightness of nervousness that struck him a lot.

Kolivan was there. And so was Matt. But he saw his friends, Shiro, Pidge, Hunk and Lance all crowded around Lotor, with their backs to the bridge entrance. Lance had tried to squeeze up front, and shut Pidge out, forcing her to try to climb up on Hunk's shoulders like a little kid on their dad's. Or, maybe just like a short person climbing on top of a bigger person. And of course, Shiro stood aside, his arms quite visibly crossed even from Keith's angle.

He thought Lance was being an idiot, and Pidge a bit silly. Then told himself that this may have been part of why he drove his teammates off in the first place.

And how would they react when they found out about his attempted sacrifice?

He'd have to find that all out later.

He involuntarily shuddered, but kept his cool.

He looked to his right. Allura wasn't there. He got nervous, but then he remembered that she'd gone to her quarters to change out of her Paladin armor and into either her dress or her space suit. He understood perfectly.

In the meantime, we was going to give his suit's cloaking device another use. He wasn't sure if he was ready to talk to them yet.

He could hear Pidge talking about something. So he snuck in close.

"Do you honestly think we'd believe you?" She was asking.

"To be honest, no," Lotor answered. His hands were bound behind his back with Altean handcuffs and surrounded by a particle barrier. "I suppose not after trying to kill you."

"Of course we won't!" Lance added. "What're you planning?! Spill it!"

"Guys, calm down,"said Shiro. "He's not going anywhere. We've got plenty of time."

"Oh, I doubt that," said Lotor, "Not after I tell you everything."

"I don't like how ominous that sounds," said Hunk. "You've been watching too many Marvel movies, dude."

"What is a 'Marvel Movie'?" Lotor asked, his sheer slipping into genuine confusion.

"Hunk, why did you think he'd get that reference?" Pidge asked disapprovingly.

"It was the only thing that came to my head!" Hunk seemed to plead. Pidge sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss everything," said Lotor. "By the way, where is 'Keith', or should I say, 'not-Keith'?"

Right on cue, the door opened and Princess Allura, clad in her regular flight/battle suit—not Paladin armor—strolled in, accidentally bumping into Keith. He immediately forgave her because she couldn't see him. But he watched her with awe in his eyes as she walked right up to Lotor.

"Alright, who's this quiznaker who thinks he can come aboard my ship?!" she huffed.

Lotor looked up and was immediately struck by her beauty, his eyes widening, and smiling. "Princess Allura," he said. "I must say, you are as alluring as your name suggests."

"Shut up," she spat.

"I must say, I enjoyed your performance as 'Keith'," Lotor said before looking around. "By the way, where is he?"

"I'll be asking the questions here," she interrupted. "And where he is now is none of your quiznaking concern."

Does he know it was me? Keith thought to himself.

"First question; what do you want? Besides some alliance?"

"I already told you," Lotor answered. "And my intentions are pure."

Allura visibly doubted him. Keith didn't blame her. "Answer the quiznaking question!" she shouted.

"Jeeez, calm down, Allura!" Lance added.

"Are you sure you want to discuss it now?" Lotor asked.

"You came to us," Allura replied. "Something's chasing you. I can tell. Why would you come to us?"

"Why would I not?" he asked, making her visibly irritated (Pidge could've sworn she saw an anime-like pair of cross veins pop up on Allura's forehead). "Voltron, the Legendary Defender of the Universe, the stars of the Voltron show. I just had to see if the hype was real."

"Is he insulting us?" Lance whispered to Hunk.

"What do you think?" Pidge asked.

"No insult intended," Lotor chuckled. The three other Paladins didn't believe him.

"What? Are? You? Planning?" Allura repeated through gritted teeth, glaring at him enough to burn a hole through his forehead.

Lotor must have known his game had gone on long enough. He sighed, and his expression changed from jovial to serious.

"I have discovered the ruins of planet Daibazaal," he said.

"You mean where Zarkon's from?" Lance asked.

"The ancestral homeworld of the Galra," Lotor answered.

"... I knew that."

Pidge rolled her eyes.

"TALK." Allura ordered.

"There is unlimited quintessence in the space between realities," said Lotor. "We were trying to harvest it."

Keith's jaw nearly dropped. He cursed himself for not getting close enough to Lotor in time to figure it out. THAT was what he was after!? He just wasted so much time chasing him around the universe just for him to spill the beans right here and now, and in front of Kolivan!?

"Why did you come to tell us?" Allura asked.

"My generals betrayed me, presumably so they could save their own lives," said Lotor. "I suppose I cannot blame them, after I killed one of them."

"Yyyeah, I don't know if I can trust him," said Pidge.

"Coran, how far is Daibazaal from here?" Allura asked.

Coran had already pulled up a large enough map of their space sector. He shook his head. "Too far," he said, "At least not with our current supplies."

"So we have to return to Olkari," Allura groaned. "Keep him in the brig."

"You should be thanking me,"said Lotor. "I just saved your lives and possibly more."

"Then thank you for saving us," Allura answered. "But for now, we still cannot trust you as much as we want."

Lotor took in a deep breath and sighed. "I cannot blame you. But I would rather be treated more fairly-"

"Just go," Allura interrupted. She gestured to the remaining Paladins. Hunk helped Pidge down from his shoulders before deactivating the particle barrier surrounding Lotor so he could take Lotor away. The other Paladins followed him, and walked right past the still-invisible Keith. He wanted to make himself visible again, reach out and get their attention, but he held himself back. He watched them all leave, taking Lotor and other rebels with them. Then the doors closed. It was not just him, Allura, Coran, Matt and Kolivan.

Wait, what?

"Come out, Keith, I know you're there," Allura called. "I bumped into something, and I'm sure it wasn't one of the mice."

Right on cue, Keith re-appeared in front of everyone else, hanging his head and avoiding eye contact with the others.

"You're not in trouble, Keith," said Coran. "But we just need to talk."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

So how was this first chapter?

This past VLD season shook me to the core, mainly because of Keith's actions. And because I really, really like Keith, and don't want him to leave the show or Voltron team (I know that it's probably not going to happen, but I just needed to share this concern).

This fic is piggybacking off a previous one-shot I did, but that one was a one-shot. This is obviously not. This is just how I'd like Season 5 to go, or something like that. I don't know for certain what will happen, since there hasn't been a release date yet. I'm fairly sure Keith's story isn't over and he'll be back with the team and eventually leading Voltron like he's destined to, instead of staying in the Blade of Marmora, where he doesn't belong at all. In the meantime, I