Hello! I, erm, don’t know if it’s too late to send a prompt, but perhaps could you write a small Shendak prompt perhaps Sendak seeing Shiro while he was with the blade, but thinking it was only and illusion? If this gets chosen, thank you! I really like your blade series, I haven’t quite seen anything else like it. Keep it crispy dude!
Sorry this took so long. I’m hoping to get through a few more Shendak prompts this week.
Warning - since I won’t be able to proof this again until Thursday, I’m posting now. I’ll give it another read later in the week and clean up the typos.
Thanks and hope you enjoy! :)
A part of the Blade!Shiro series.
The maroon and black racing jacket was at least three sizes too big and hung off of Takashi’s slender frame. Takashi kept the collar up, his stormy eyes just peeking over the leather trim when vicious winds tore through the skyway station in Drule Central.
Sendak always wanted to push the collar down and capture those chapped lips in a heated embrace. Instead, he coaxed Takashi against him, arms slipping behind the younger man’s back and rubbing firmly.
“Better?”
Takashi nodded, face buried in the front of Sendak’s sweater. “You sure it’s okay to be out?”
Sendak heard the “with you” Takashi omitted.
“I asked you to come.”
“But - “
“Keith is safe at home, Takashi. My lieutenant is watching the boy.”
“But - “
“Let’s enjoy the night.”
The skyway train pulled into the station, whipping air violently about their bodies. Takashi pressed closer, face still lowered so he couldn’t see Sendak’s indulgent smile.
Once the wind slowed to a breeze, Sendak’s hands dragged down Takashi’s arms and folded their fingers together.
“One dinner. Maybe dessert, then we’ll go home.”
Takashi sighed but didn’t protest getting on the train. He glanced about the car, eyes lingering on the taller Galrans, but the jacket marked Takashi as his, almost as well as a mating mark would. With Sendak’s scent upon him, any Galrans within a few feet would know Takashi belonged to him.
“Sendak…” Takashi asked, tentative. Those eyes once more peeked up over the collar. “…are we on a date?”
Sendak didn’t hesitate this time. He tugged the collar down, seized those lips, and allowed that to serve as his answer.
One Decaphoeb Later
The commanders’ quarters kept a tomb-like silence. Most only visited their chambers in Drule Central during audiences with Emperor Zarkon. Commanders like Ranveig, who made their careers expanding the empire’s footprint, barely made the long journey every five decaphoebs. Sendak, as Zarkon’s most prized commander, visited his own quarters almost once a phoeb.
The elevator hummed; the doors slammed open. Sendak took the hallway in stride, his boot falls the only sound. It was perhaps the only reason he heard the quiet ruffling in his bedroom when he entered his quarters.
It wouldn’t be the first time he heard the noise, and it immediately took him back to not-so-quiet nights when Takashi lingered in bed. Sendak generally rose early for his morning workout and meetings, leaving his thoroughly exhausted but completely delectable lover heavy-limbed and snoring soundly. Sendak sometimes lifted the covers to take with him the memory of his lover’s smooth curves and defined lines.
But Takashi, a staple of Sendak’s time in Drule Central, remained missing. A phoeb turned into a decaphoeb, and Sendak began to wonder what happened to his mate. Anger gave way to regret. Takashi should have understood the implications of the scar across his face, accepted his place at Sendak’s side, and began to join him for empire functions. Little Keith could receive a proper education, and with his Galran features, no one would ever know he was a half-breed.
It was the best-case scenario for a lower lifeform and his charge. How could Takashi not have seen this?
Perhaps if Sendak had asked Takashi to stay rather than marking him. Perhaps if he explained how much he enjoyed the tiny smiles Takashi afforded him, the warmth he lent Sendak’s bed, and the comfort his presence gave.
Sendak looked forward to seeing Takashi’s eyes squint against the morning light and then relax when he caught sight of Sendak. Sendak had wanted to start every morning the same way. He wanted a lifetime with Takashi. He’d wanted to mate Takashi, and perhaps at one time, he could have.
Simple requests, gentle admissions. That was how Sendak fostered their relationship. But perhaps what Sendak saw as indulgence - asking what Takashi wanted rather than demanding, learning Takashi’s preferences in and out of bed, remembering the way Takashi took his coffee - was the way to ask a lover to become a mate.
He’d only asked rather than taken.
He failed on so many levels, and without any sign of Takashi - in Drule Central or any of the Galra-occupied planets - Sendak needed to accept the truth.
Takashi was gone.
Or so he thought, until Sendak stood at the entryway to his bedroom, staring at the lithe figure by his closet door.
It was not possible.
It just wasn’t.
Takashi looked equally as surprised, eyes wide, mouth agape. Dressed in a black suit with glowing purple lines across his chest, a dark hood cradling his hair, Takashi held the maroon and black jacket that he wore on the nights Sendak coaxed him out of the apartment.
Takashi held onto the left sleeve, where he dripped chocolate sauce from a dessert they once shared, and no matter how many times Sendak had brought it to the launder, the Galran couldn’t get it completely clean.
Sendak opened his mouth and thought he might have whispered Takashi’s name. It was so low, even he couldn’t hear it.
But Takashi must have heard it. A blink, silent footfalls, and Takashi leapt out of Sendak’s window, jacket and all.
Sendak rushed to the open window and looked down, but Takashi was gone. Again.
Had he ever been there, or was Sendak imaging things?
A drink, then two, and Sendak eventually passed out across his bed. When he woke up, he stumbled into the closet to find the jacket returned - or maybe it had always been there.
Perhaps Takashi was dead and took to haunting Sendak. Somehow, it comforted the commander to think his one-time lover was near to him, even in the afterlife.
On a whim, Sendak checked the jacket’s left sleeve.
Hm. The launder had finally gotten the stain out, but that didn’t explain why there was a price tag attached to his three-decaphoeb old jacket.
I don't know if it can inspire you, but it was raining heavily this morning and I thought about what a disaster it would be if Sendak had to be on earth and esperience heavy rain. So if this makes you want to write anything (eventually with Shendak, like maybe Shiro has him discovering earth with him but the weather isn't having any of that ? ) Hope everything goes well for you !
…fluffy fluff. Cuz we need that now. :)
A Blade!Shiro story.
Prompt #4: Bad Date
Shiro eventually took Sendak by the claws and welcomed him into theopen-air mall. Dressed in modest slacks with a black and red over jacket thatcut at his waist, and a criminally tight undershirt, the former commander ofthe Galra Empire was a sight to behold. Eight feet, purple, fluffy, andmuscular. Shiro had difficulty not forcing Sendak into the nearest bathroomstall, but even though they make an odd pair on Earth, it was easy there.
Or so he thought.
Since the paladins returned to the planet to acquire anothercastle-ship, Earth became another next hub for the Coalition. Refugeeextraterrestrials mingled with Earthlings, and after the initial calls forisolationism and the rash spread of xenophobia, the locals about the GalaxyGarrison began to accept the aliens among their masses.
It allowed Shiro and Sendak to meander through the shops in a leisurelypace with only a few double-takes. Sendak, himself, was unnerved, glancing downat his and Shiro’s joined hands.
“I do not understand.”
“It’s called holding hands,” Shiro said, squeezing Sendak’s claw. “It’sthe way humans show their affection for one another.”
Sendak grunted and looked away, and despite his fur covering hischeeks, Shiro could tell Sendak was blushing.
Shiro was too preoccupied watching Sendak’s neck muscles contract as hegulped, to notice the shorter person darting between them. Their joined handshit the man just under the chin, knocking the man to the ground.
They walked close but separately after that, but when they came to a donut shop, Shiro gripped Sendak bythe jacket and tugged him inside. Sendak waited on the long linepatiently, though he grunted when the person in front of them debated between thechocolate batter and a vanilla-filled donuts. Shiro glared him into silence butquickly ordered a pastry with Oreo crumbles and vanilla icing. He was about toorder a second donut and two coffees when Sendak’s claw slammed the counternext to Shiro’s much smaller hand.
“Buy out the store.”
“What? No!”
Vanilla icing stuck to the fur about Sendak’s mouth. “I must have moreof this Earthling delicacy.”
“They’re donuts, and we onlyhave money for a few –”
“As a commander of the empire, I am endowed with GAC. Freedom fighters cannot possibly comprehend the wealth I have – ”
“We’ll take a dozen, mixed.” Shiro forced a smile at the clerk beforepatting his mate’s claw. “Earth doesn’t use GAC, and the Galaxy Garrison onlygave us enough money for odds and ends, okay? I promised Keith I’d get him aCarmelo bar.”
Sendak accepted the box from the clerk and began to scarf them down ashe headed out of the store. Shiro watched him go with a sigh and paid. Thoughhe wanted at least one, he’d long accepted his eight-foot-tallpartner ate like a ravenous cloghopper.
So he stopped and blinked when Sendak dropped the box and offered Shiroone of the remaining donuts.
But things went drastically downhill after that. A child banged intoSendak’s leg and began to shriek. When Shiro brought Sendak a custom-made shirt– “I met your leader and was not impressed” – Sendak’s striking form tore theshirt across his shoulders.
The shirt-maker said Shiro’s chosen phrase - “I wasabducted by aliens, and all I got was PTSD, white hair, a cyberneticprosthetic, a pack of large cats, four cubs, one mystical lion, a princess, herroyal advisor, and a major role in a universal prophecy” – wouldn’t fit on oneshirt.
A broken door, a run-in with mall security – “that guy tried to hit mypartner with a rolled-up newspaper. And he’s a cat, not a dog” – and a negativereaction from lunch at Chipotle – the date was rapidly becoming one of Shiro’sworst.
Shiro lingered outside of the candy shop and glowered at the owner whoplanted his feet just outside the door, as if ready to yell at Sendak.
“Go inside.”
“What? No. Not without you.”
“You promised Keith a Carmelo bar.” Sendak brushed his shoulders withgentle caresses. “Go. I’ll wait out – ”
A clap of thunder rolled through the mall. Shiro glanced up, wonderingwhen the sky became so dark – maybe when he was arguing with the mall cop? – andducked when something flopped on top of his head.
Sendak’s jacket.
It encompassed Shiro’s head and fell below the curve of hisbutt.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
The rain hit then, first as droplets and then in massive sheets, and asthe shoppers fled into the stores, Sendak urged Shiro toward the candy shop.“Go. Get inside. I’ll head back to the truck.”
The water patted down Sendak’s fur, sticking the strands to the side ofhis face and neck. His already tight shirt gripped Sendak’s chest like a secondskin, showcasing his spectacular pecs. His claws gripped Shiro’s shoulders andgave him a tiny nudge toward the shop. His low brows and glowing eyes mesmerized Shiro, perfect and endearing.
Shiro never loved Sendak more than he did in that moment.
He took his mate by the hand, threading their fingers together, andleading him back to the T-shirt shop.
“My husband is fluffier than yours,” Sendak read upon Shiro’s shirt alittle while later. “What is a… husband?”
“It’s the Earth word for mate.”Shiro pushed up on his toes and ruffled the sodden hair along Sendak’s jaw. “Itmeans you’re mine.”
shiro picking up galran language during his time as prisoner in his Fun Year?
Oooh! This is a fun! I took it for a bit of a spin. Hope you don’t mind…
Part of the Blade!Shiro series.
Prompt #1: “The Burden of Hope”
It was an easy transition. Growing up with a Japanese motherand an English-speaking father, Shiro was fluent in two languages by the timehe was eight. When Keith’s mother crash-landed on Earth, he began to pick up randomphrases in Galran within a few movements. By the time he arrived in DruleCentral, Shiro could speak four tongues and a smatteringof others.
In the Blade headquarters, they spoke primarily Galran – as allBlades were at least half-Galran – and if not, their masksand communicators translated perfectly.
But the prison cells in Central Command had their ownlanguage. It was written in blood by fists and fear. It was a language called Survival, and it wasn’t until Shiro won the mantle of Champion did it finallybecome one called Hope.
A few words announced his arrival in every waiting pen.Whispered. Awed. Shuttered. He didn’t understand – the words weren’t Galran or from anyof the other languages he’d learned over his lifetime.
“Shi-awk,” the words slithered from ear to ear. “Shi-awk la Wket.”
“What does it mean?” Shiro asked Sendak, one of the timeshis mate visited him. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard those words before.”
Sendak’s claw skimmed Shiro’s cheek in an affectionatemanner. “Literally, it translates in the native language of Daibazaal to ‘The Mighty Roar.’ Figuratively, it means ‘LionGod, Head of Voltron.’”
Shiro blinked, taken back, stunned.
“It was once the title given to Zarkon before the beginning of the empire.”
“He betrayed his people,” Shiro began, gutted and raw. “What happens if I - what happens if I can’t - ”
“You can,” Sendak said. “You must. You have given the prisoners, the universe, something to believe in, when it had all but lost any faith. Do not give into despair. Do not give in.
“There is no greater burden than that of hope, and if anyone can carry it, it is you…Shi-awk la Wret.”
What if as Lance and Keith get older (growing up together) the Blades have to point out to Shiro that Keith has started courting behavior toward Lance. :) Wonder what kind of courting behavior it would be. :)
Pairing: Klance.
Warning: Implied sex; nothing graphic
Shiro knew something was the up the moment he stepped out of his room and into the communal living space. Antok, Ulaz, and Thace waited for him, sitting upon the various furniture, while Kolivan stood behind them, arms crossed menacingly.
It took him less than three ticks to realize the pack wore various degrees of scornful glares but none condemning. That meant only one thing. He let out a prolonged sigh.
“What did Keith do now?”
Thace spoke first. “He put his tail around Lance’s thigh.”
Oh-kay. That wasn’t the answer he was expecting. “So? He does it to all of us at different times.”
“We are pack.”
“And so is Lance,” Shiro said, walking about them to the kitchenette in the corner for a bottle of water. “You guys have been scent-marking him for almost four annuals now. Doesn’t that mean – I mean, I thought that meant – ”
“Prince Lance is a member of our pack as well,” Kolivan said, so harsh in tone he startled Shiro. “But we cannot deny the implications this has brought forth.”
Shiro felt like there was something he was drastically missing here. “What implications? So Keith holds onto Lance like he holds onto the rest of us. It’s not a big deal, guys.”
“He has also begun rubbing the space between Lance’s shoulder blades with his cheek,” Antok added.
“And he’s been purring when he scent-marks Lance,” Thace again.
“His scent is different as well,” Ulaz, this time. “Shiro, this scent is how a young Galran presents himself to another when he wishes to enjoy companionship.”
Trying to decipher Ulaz’s meaning, Shiro simply stared at the Pack Panel, then raised his water bottle to his lips.
Kolivan clarified, “He wants to mate with Lance.”
Shiro’s spit-take cleared half the room. He sputtered for a few moments, trying to grasp onto that unfortunate gem of information, and decided he could have lived in ignorance for the rest of his life. But now he understood why they came to him about this. It was Keith who wanted to mate, not Lance, which meant –
“So you want me to talk to him about this?” Ancients, the sex talk. Really? How could he even go there after his own sordid past?
Ulaz stood then and placed his large claw upon Shiro’s shoulder. “I will speak with Keith, but we request your assistance, perhaps in speaking with Lance. You and he share similar physical traits, and as others have made advances upon you, it would be beneficial that Lance is…aware of the situation, as he begins to mature physically.”
Ugh. Right. Sure. Okay. That made sense. This was going to be so uncomfortable. “I’ll wake Keith, first, and then we can talk to Lance.” Might as well get the Pack Panel over, as Keith, Lance, and he liked to call when all their fathers came together at once. As he opened the door to Keith’s room, he muttered, “Why couldn’t they just like each other? That would make life so much – ”
He quickly shut the door behind him and forced a smile toward the pack. “So…let’s do breakfast first, shall we? I think Keith is probably sparring. We can catch him there later.”
Ulaz blinked, unimpressed by Shiro. “Is something wrong, Shiro?”
“Yeah, Keith needs to clean up his messes. His room is really out of order, and – ”
Oh, I'm sorry to bother you again but I had a question: in the epilogue of scar tissue you mention Shiro has an inked mark making him a galra. Did you have a specific symbol / pattern in mind ? Sorry if this is a bothersome question !
No bother at all! I love talking about stories! XD Thank you for wanting to know more!
I figured Shiro’s tattoo was a take off of the BoM insignia, where the top of the insignia starts on the front of Shiro’s bicep and crawls over the shoulder blade and on to his back…?
Not even sure if that’s possible, design-wise…? But I figured it’s just some variation of the BoM signal. XD
Hi, I just wanted to tell you that I'm finally reading your blade Shiro series (I've been putting it of for an unforgiveable amount of time due to my troubles focusing and it's a shame) and I just read scar tissue yesterday and that was so good. It hit me right in the feels and felt realist and right, I really loved it. It made me emotional. I just wanted to tell you that. Hope you have a nice day !
OMG! Thank you so much! I super glad you’re enjoying Blade!Shiro, and “Scar Tissue” was just so much fun to write. And thank you so much for your kind words! And you are amazing! Thank you!!!
Could you do a "what if" where Haggar is Shiro's biological mother? Your meta on it is fantastic and very interesting.
*blushes* OMG! You are so sweet! Thank you so much! I just love the idea of Shiro’s biological mom being Honerva, and I lament that I couldn’t get this to work in the “canon” storyline. But thank you for the prompt. It gave me the perfect excuse to explore this relationship.
I hope you enjoy!
I call this “Great Things” AKA How Haggar Became a Soccer Mom
A part of the Blade!Shiro series.
In Honerva’s defense, it had been 10,000 years. And Ryou Shirogane wasa specimen of the human species.
Science, Honerva told herself after she threw back a shot of tequilaand gave the advancing human a teasing grin. As a one-time researcher forAltea and later the Galra Empire, she simply wanted to examine the way thehuman species procreated. The pleasure was a necessary albeit enjoyablecomponent of the mating, and she had chosen well when she selected Ryou to beher experiment.
She was not expecting her once favorite drink to taste foul and the suddenbouts of nausea to consume her mornings. When she became a bit dizzy and a bit warm, one of hercolleagues suggested she sniff ginger. She listened, another experiment, andwhen it helped, Rosa patted Honerva on the arm.
“It’s always the worst with the first ones.”
The first what? Honerva didn’t want to entertainment the reason. (She andRyou used protection. They were careful. Honervawas careful. She simply could not have a child. Could she even carry the child?What if Lord Zarkon found out?)
She began to show three months after her night with Ryou.
Perhaps she should have told Ryou, but they weren’t in love. He was atight, warm body she enjoyed for a night. She hadn’t meant for him to becomethe father of her child, and she certainly didn’t want him to be. Other optionssprung to mind, but she ultimately dismissed them. Lotor had rested comfortably inthe curve of her arm, snug and tucked against her bosom, but the boy hadn’tbelonged to her. Honerva wondered what it would feel like to hold her ownchild, to know he belonged to her and only her, so she took care of her body and thebaby within it. Diet and exercise, classes and rest. The nine months were the longest in her life for all the right reasons.
Inquisitive but dark eyes, like the thick clouds before a thunderstorm.Tiny black strands and golden skin. Her son was perfect in every way, and when Honervacaressed his head, kissed his pudgy cheeks, and heard his tiny cries, somethingin Honerva’s chest threatened to burst. Affection, her mind told her, for thistiny being that came from her lifeforce.
“Takashi,” she decided, meaning “noble, prosperous.”Her son would not be a prince here on Earth and most certainly wouldn’t jointhe Galra Empire, but he would do great things. That, Honerva could feel,though intuition had never been one of her strong suits. Research and rationalewere her companions.
Takashi introduced Honerva to many things she never experienced before –patience, understanding, boxed macaroni and cheese, and sticky fingers. (Honervamight have banned jelly from her garrison apartment, but Takashi’s fingersstill managed to grasp and stick to her arm.) She began to look forward tonot only the data that came from her research of Earth and its quintessence butalso the bright smile that greeted her in the daycare after she left the garrison lab.She found a way to perch Takashi on her hip and read a tablet at the same time,and for breakfast, she would skim her latest research results while Takashiplayed one of the many science and math games on his own.
(Honerva might have altered the programming of a few games to includeequations and other forms of math that Earth had yet to discover. So what ifher son advanced past Earthlings’ knowledge?)
Takashi called her “Mama” and fell asleep to the sound of Honervareciting the periodically table. With Takashi’s eyes closed and his head rested againsther chest, she marveled at the familiar curve of his nose and the similar golden tone of his skin. Her chest became tight, and her arms kept the boy close and secureagainst her, as if to shield him from the horror that lived just beyond the solarsystem.
Weekends were no longer spent in the lab but in the desert, takingTakashi on fantastic adventures. When he smiled, discovering a new flower ordashing about the rock formations, Honerva forgot about her mission, forgot about theGalra Empire and Zarkon and Voltron. Instead, she was a scientist and a mother– not necessarily in that order – and she was happy.
But all good things ended, and Honerva awoke one morning to findTakashi standing before the sliding glass door of the living room. He stared outat the barren desert, shadows swallowing its massive hoodoos and plateaus. Takashi’s chubby little fingers left marks on the glass.
“It’s there, Mama,” he insisted. “We have to find it!”
Honerva laughed and ruffled her son’s hair. “Find what, Takashi?”
“Blue, Mama. She’s waiting for us!”
Honerva’s heart stopped. In Takashi’s five years, she’d never oncementioned her mission or Voltron. She made sure that anyone looking for the Blue Lion never had reason to seekTakashi.
Honerva dropped to her knees by Takashi’s side and snagged him by theshoulders. “Who told you about the lion? Who spoke to you, Takashi!”
Takashi’s eyes widened, frightened, and Honerva eased her grip.
“B-Black, Mama,” he said, soft and worrisome. “Black said we need tofind Blue first.”
In her time living and undead, nothing prepared Honerva for the momentshe realized her son was the next Black Paladin. She collapsed to the floor,back pressed against the pane-class window, and she coaxed Takashi into herlap. Takashi’s tiny hands covered her cheeks, and he beseeched in a low tone,“What’s wrong, Mama?”
The universe. The world. Voltron.
Honerva’s hands slid about her son’s waist and pulled him close, thoughhe squirmed and shifted as any rambunctious child would.
Honerva eventually put Takashi to bed with the promise of seekingout the Blue Lion the next morning. She retreated to her bedroom, where shecurled up on her bed. Ugly, frightened tears burned her cheeks and tore herheart, and she couldn’t figure out how she, a renowned research scientist fromAltea, and Ryou, a drunk former commander on a primitive planet, managedto create the Black Paladin of New.
She eventually sought only one answer – why her son? Why not anyone else’s?
A mother always kept her promises, so Honerva took Takashi out into thedesert. With her son safe between her arms on the hoverbike, they flew throughthe canyons and along the rivers. Takashi called out directions, and they found numerous caverns, decorated with carvings and messages about amysterious Blue Lion. They spoke of an arrival that wasn’t to come for almost two decafeebs.
That gave Honerva time. She could lure Zarkon and the Galra Empire awayfrom Earth. Her calculations, the Altean magic, the energy she felt – Earth wasso primitive, its quintessence mirrored the Blue Lion’s, she could say. All she needed was to go back to Central Command and explain these “findings.”
But she’d have to leave Takashi.
Perhaps the only thing more devastating than finding out her son wasbeckoned by the Black Lion, was never being able to see him again.
Ryou was easy enough to find in the desert, and though she had seriousreservations about leaving the boy his father, Ryou would take better care of the childthan Zarkon would take knowing a new Black Paladin had been born. When she saidher goodbyes, she pulled the boy against her and muttered the only truth she’dever known, “I love you, Takashi. You are my greatest finding.”
She taught him many things, the most of all – love.
In return, she could only give him a token of her affection – anecklace with his name upon it. She had wanted to give him more, and she wantedmore – more bedtime stories and surprise kisses, raspberries and hugs, even sticky fingers. Oh, how she would miss his tiny fingers gripping her wrist and leaving jelly marks. But perhaps the intangible scars were themost painful.
A decafeeb passed, then almost another. Haggar thought of her sondaily, wondered how he appeared, all grown up on Earth. Hadhe joined the Galaxy Garrison? What field of study eventually stole everywaking moment of his life? Had he married? Was she a grandmother yet?
Had the Black Lion beckoned?
She would know, Haggar believed. If the Black Lion returned, she wouldhave felt its energy, but as of yet, not even Blue stirred. Haggar took simplerelief in that truth, and as the annuals went by, slower than any sheremembered, she counted off the Earth years of a human’s lifespan. It broke her heart – a hundredannuals, approximately, most likely less. After that, her son would be gone,but he would have hopefully lived a good life away from the horrors of the Galra Empire.
Then she walked into the interrogation chamber to see the rebelLieutenant Haxus had mentioned and paused.
A human.
Stormy gray eyes. Hair as dark as the night. An intense, embitteredexpression, accented by the tiny bit of fear he held for his predicament. And ascar, slashed across his face in a barbaric display of possession.
Honerva didn’t need any confirmation, though her long, bony fingersreached out. The tips pressed against the cool, clammy skin, and the prisoner’sbreath hitched. His eyes widened, but she persisted. The images came freelyafter she forced her way through the boy’s poorly constructed mental defenses.
Ryou helping a woman, a Galra. A commander. She stepped in,safeguarding Takashi, loving Takashi. A Galran cub, held tightly in Takashi’sgrip. The Blue Lion’s cavern, the Faraway Systems, Puig. The Galran commander left toresume her command, and Ryou took his sons to Drule Central, left, and then –then – Honerva reeled back, her mind burning, heart weeping.
Her son. Takashi. What he had been forced to do, how he had been forced to survive – Honerva barely met thosewidened, trembling eyes before she quit the interrogation chamber. The nearestDruid approached, and she ordered him to watch the door and not allow anyone to see the prisoner.
Once she made it back to her lair, tears fell for the first time sinceshe left Earth. Her son had finally made it back to her side, but the cost tohis body, to his soul, was too much to bear. Yet in the brief time her magictouched him, she suffered his determined, stubborn, and righteous will. Takashiwould not surrender to the Galra Empire or its emperor. Just like Zarkon wouldnever submit. Black Paladins were cut from the same cloth – idiocy, it seemed.
After her tears dried and her heart hardened, Honerva planned. Zarkoncould never know about this. He would first use Takashi to find all the lionsand then kill her son once he had Voltron. But where to send Takashi? Back to theFaraway Systems? Sendak had already begun to conquer those, according toTakashi’s memories.
(Sendak, she hissed. She wouldtake care of that bastard after she saved her son. No matter what Takashi felttoward the commander, no one harmed her son and remained unscathed.)
A tiny voice in the back of Haggar’s mind chastised herself. You shouldn’t have left him. You should have stayed on Earth. Lied toZarkon and said there was more to research. Refused to let Takashi anywherenear the Blue Lion.
But her past, her tenure at the Galaxy Garrison, her time as “Mama,” had always been fleeting. Haggar, Zarkon’s witch, was who she truly was, and there was onlyone solution, she knew. And it broke her heart all over again.
She siphoned the quintessence from each Druid in the corridors on herway to the interrogation chamber and blasted the technicians when she entered. Bones cracked; bodies reverberated against the wall. Haggarapproached the table. Takashi’s eyes reflected of fear but also resignation, and Honervaplaced her fingers once more on her son’s forehead.
She had been a willing accomplice and servant of the rift entities formore than 10,000 years. She deserved one gift, so she closed her eyes andreached out. Her soul touched the dark energy that came from the rift and sorted through the different timelines. She eventually found theone she wanted and with a gasp, absorbed all its memories.
In that reality, she never left Earth. In the Blue Lion’s cavern, shehugged her son, brushed the tears from his eyes when he spoke of the BlackLion, and brought him home, brought him back to the garrison. Where he grew.She celebrated every birthday, every milestone in Takashi’s life. She was therefor his first day of school every year. There were drawings and tests on thefridge and pictures littering the apartment. Honerva wore a “Shiro’s Mama” sweatshirt at the soccergames, and Takashi studied taekwondo and waved up at her from the mat. They spokeabout the Black Lion, and Takashi disappeared at times, into the “astral plane”he called it, to see his lion. There were smiles and laughter and tears, andRyou had been a part of their lives from the start. Honerva told him aboutTakashi during her second trimester, and though there would never be anythingbetween them romantically, she and Ryou treasured their son and formed a uniquebut strong family unit.
Everything wasn’t all stardust and comet ice. If Takashi left hisclothes on the bathroom floor one more time or drank milk directly from thecarton or Ancients forbid he did the dishes before they started growing hisnext science project –
But Honerva had never been prouder than the day Takashi donned his garrisonuniform. He chose the route for pilots, for which she wouldalso never forgive him, but her son needed to follow his own path. He wasdestined to do great things.
When he disappeared off Kerberos, Honerva went back to the empire, butafter so many years away, Zarkon thought she suspicious. Takashi was freed by aGalran spy, a researcher named Ulaz, before she ever got to Takashi, but she eventuallydid. And Alfor’s daughter and his royal advisor. She joined the VoltronCoalition, and standing upon the castle-ship bridge with her son and her son’s brother,whom Takashi only just met but already shared a strong bond, Honevra smiled and again, was happy.
Haggar tore away from the other reality’s memories, tears streaking hercheeks. When she looked up at Takashi, his skin glistened as well.
“Mom…? Is that you?”
She released him from his chains and then released him from the ship,but not without throwing back her hood and cradling his face between her hands.“My son. Oh, how I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you, too, Mom. Why are you here? Why – Why couldn’t youstay?”
After what Honerva saw, she no longer had a valid excuse. She hadwanted to save her son but instead damned him to an insufferable existence.
“You cannot stay here,” she whispered. “You must flee. Now. Back toEarth and the Blue Lion.” And then Voltron.
“Can’t you come, too?”
“No, Takashi. There is still something I must do, but I will always bewith you, my child.” She pulled him down again to press a kiss to his forehead.“And you are always with me.”
It was hard to convince him to leave and even harder to watch him go,but once Takashi was clear, Haggar’s fingernails glowed. Anger surged throughher body, and she stole the quintessence of every Galran soldier from the hangerto the command chamber.
Takashi was destined for great things. Honerva would make sure of it.
