Closed for @texasxslugger }
It was with great reluctance that Keith returned to Earth.
After everything that had happened, he’d felt like there was nothing there for him. Nothing but an empty shack full of bad memories of loneliness, and a vast, cold desert.
He’d always figured he was not the type to settle down. That he’d never stay in one spot, always looking for that feeling of home that evaded him, that feeling of belonging. Stuck between two worlds, he’d never find peace.
He’d been chasing after old Galra weapons that had been stolen. He expected guns, or maybe even something so complicated that he’d wish Pidge was there to understand it. And yet what he found was something that should never be considered a “Weapon.”
A small child. Blinking orange eyes in the darkness, hesitant and scared and scarred.
She was the one he returned to Earth for. Clinging to his leg, coming up to only his knee, was a little girl.
She looked human, but looks could be deceiving- and Ritzell’s looks were always deceiving, he’d learned. She wasn’t a small and innocent thing- yet she was, in a way-, but a spirited, firey child who’d seen more than anyone her age should have. And she was a shapeshifter, which would make her time here on Earth that much easier.
Had lost more than anyone her age should have. It mirrored him, in a way. (“They died heroes”, said Kolivan. “He died a hero” said the fire chief. Neither was comforting.)
And she only trusted him, only felt safe around him. So in a way, Keith didn’t choose fatherhood. Fatherhood chose him.
They walked towards that old home in the desert together, hand in hand, until Keith suddenly stopped.
“What’s up?” said a soft voice, concerned, noticing.
“The lights are on.” Keith said.
They weren’t supposed to be.
