Voltron Next Generation

I woke up staring at my ceiling. Wha-?

Oh.

I couldn't help my blush as I realized I fell asleep on Kairos after I cried my heart out on his shoulder. Geez, he cradled me in his arms.

"Oh man..." I said running a hand over my embarrassed face. I sat up in my bed and checked my watch. Ok so it's only 8:00 am, that's fine. I quickly got ready and put on my normal white shirt, jeans, and my dad's grey with red sleeves jacket.

I made my way to the kitchen for some space coffee, and as I entered the kitchen and greeted Shiro, Allura, Pidge, and Kaeza, Pidge knowingly passed me a square of space coffee.

Kaeza and Allura were discussing something about Kaeza's home planet in an animated way when Jake entered the kitchen and immediately asked an engaged Pidge questions that I only understood half of.

I happily listened back and forth between the two conversations until Shiro quietly asked if he could talk to me for a second.

I followed him out into the hall unbeknownst to the rest of the kitchen's inhabitants and stopped just outside the door and out of earshot.

"I hate to have to bring this up so early in the morning, but with what happened yesterday," oh geez, "I just want you to know that it is our job to protect and equip you and your fellow paladins." I nodded, hearing what he was saying, "In addition to that, we did some research, well, Pidge did some research, on your mother, our plan was to contact Earthen authorities and well, find you justice, but," Shiro paused, which could only mean two things.

"Either you can't find her or she's dead." I filled in.

He pursed his lips "The later."

I nodded. The woman who had been manipulating and using me and Levi our whole lives was gone, at the same time, so was our mom. My initial reaction was blank. What emotions am I supposed to feel? I don't feel grief, but I don't feel relieved either? Maybe I do... The gentle part of me asked Shiro: "How?"

"Well, she had filed a missing persons report on you and Levi when you were claimed by the red lion, and police were trying to contact her one at some point yesterday morning to follow up when she didn't reply. They found her body in her bedroom, she had mixed alcohol and cocaine in her system and overdosed, it... it killed her."

Thinking about it though, serves her right doesn't it? If she was going to throw away her life like that and destroy mine, she might as well let her mistakes kill her. I decided I didn't have remorse, there would not be 5 stages of grief, she isn't worth that. In fact, my heart feels lighter now, knowing that she isn't looming near, she isn't lurking close, she isn't waiting and biding her time to unleash her boys on me and Levi again to hurt us. It only took thousands of lightyears and her death added together to make Levi and me, truly, undeniably free.

"After all this," Shiro said, probably misinterpreting my silence, "If you chose to leave the Paladins behind and start a new life for yourself and your brother, well, I talked it over with the other old Paladins and we all agree you should get to chose the path of your life from here on out." He said, smiling sadly.

I began slowly, "Levi is going to apprentice under Matt Holt, and he is going to become the greatest astrophysicist of all time, and he's going to get a real education and he's going to live his own life how he chooses. And I am going to make him proud. I am going to protect him in the best way possible and I'm going to protect my friends and all the people in this castle who have taken me in and accepted me, and you better believe I'm going to kill Tenebris if it's the last thing I do, there's no backing down for me." I said, my resolve steeling in my voice.