Prologue

Twenty years earlier…

Keith ambled down the corridors with his hands in his pockets, in a better mood than he’d been in weeks. He had just spent a relaxing hour playing with his infant son and though his jumpsuit smelled like baby powder, he didn’t bother changing out of it. Allura was off with Elisabeth, doing girl things, as the two year old liked to say, and that was just fine with Keith. He liked to see the sparkle in Allura’s blue eyes and the sheer happiness of her smile whenever she was with her children. The two most important women in his life were probably in Allura’s study drawing pictures or something of the sort, but he knew that at the end of it he would end up with a new piece of artwork to display in his study. Allura was more than happy to get her hands dirty next to Elisabeth and together they managed to sculpt a fairly decent Black Lion. He could see her clearly in his mind’s eye, bent next to Elisabeth’s smaller form, with her sleeves rolled up and dirt on her face and he smiled at the picture.

It was time for his weekly flight in the Black Lion and he was looking forward to it. He was sure Lance was already at Castle Control waiting for him, jumping at any chance to get out from behind his desk. As head of Reconstruction, he was busier than when he was the Red’s pilot, but he didn’t complain much, tacking all and any challenge that came his way. He and Hunk still on Arus but Pidge had been reassigned elsewhere. Voltron had not been formed since the end of the war with Zarkon and that was just fine with Keith.

“Took your time,” Lance said, straightening from his position leaning against the raised doorways.

“I was playing with Ethan,” Keith said. “Who knew that all it took was real work to get you to be on time for anything.”

“You should have been able to guess. Ready to get your ass whooped?”

“Cockiness was always your strong point, which is more than I can say for your piloting skills.”

“Are you two ready to go?” Coran said from the control panel.

Keith and Lance exchanged feral grins and parted to go to their respective Lions. After six years of flying the Black, the pilot’s seat had conformed to Keith’s body and he settled into it comfortably as he slid the key into the lock.

Nothing happened.

Frowning, he took the key out and put it back in.

Still nothing.

“Keith…” Lance’s voice came through his communicator. “You didn’t switch keys on me did you?”

“No…what’s going on?”

They went back to Castle Control, concerned. Coran lowered the control panel, his brow furrowed.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Beats me,” Keith said, taking out his communicator. “Allura, can you come to Castle Control?”

“Is it urgent?” she asked and he could hear Elisabeth’s voice in the background.

“Yes.”

Allura arrived a few minutes later, Elisabeth in her arms. Keith had not expected Allura to bring their daughter with her and was about to call Nanny to take Elisabeth away, but all it took was a dimpled smile and two arms held out to him to make him change his mind.

“What’s going on?” Allura said, wiping her dusty hands on her jumpsuit as Keith took Elisabeth from her.

“The Lions aren’t starting,” Lance said, ruffling Elisabeth’s wild black hair.

Allura looked at him as if he’d just told her he wanted to take dancing lessons. “What do you mean they aren’t starting?”

“We slid the keys in and nothing happened,” Keith said. “You didn’t by any chance decide to pull a prank on us, did you?”

“Do I look like I have time for pranks?”

“You look like you have time for clay,” Lance pointed out, flicking a dried piece from her shoulder.

She rolled her eyes at him. “No, I did not switch the keys.”

Retreating into the conference room, she retrieved the Blue Lion’s key and had Coran raise the platform again. It did not take long for her to find that the Blue was not working either.

“We should run some diagnostics and make sure they haven’t been tampered with,” Keith said brusquely as Allura began to pace the room.

“Those Lions are locked up tighter than the royal mint,” Lance said. “There’s no way somebody got in their lairs.”

Coran’s fingers flew over the control panel as he ran scanners on the Lions. “There is nothing out of the ordinary,” he said, puzzled. “Their readings are the same as when they were checked last.”

“What other explanation is there?” Allura asked, throwing her hands up in the air.

“They don’t feel like starting,” Lance said with a shrug.

The King and Queen of Arus turned their attention to their friend.

“They can’t just not feel like starting,” Allura snorted.

“Why not? There’s a lot of things those Lions can do that we don’t understand. Remember when the Blue, without you in the pilot’s seat, joined with the rest of the cats to form Voltron? And how about Voltron having been lost to Arus for a millennia before we got to fly the Lions again?”

“Since the last time Arus was plunged into war,” Allura murmured, understanding. “No more war, no more Lions.”

“How do you explain the last few years then?” Keith pointed out. “The war has been over and we’ve been flying the Lions since then. Why today?”

“Just add that to the list of things we don’t understand,” Lance said dryly. He looked down at the key he still held in his hand. “I’m gonna miss flying the Red but if its inactivity means that we won’t be seeing war, then I can live without it.”

Allura held out her hand and he placed the key in it. She stared at the keys thoughtfully, a little sad, but a sense of peace settled over her shoulders.

“I feel the same,” she said with a smile at Lance. “I think if I saw these Lions in the air again, it’ll be a day that came too soon.”

Keith took his key from Elisabeth’s chubby hands, much to her protests and gave it to Allura.

“I was looking forward teaching them to fly in the Lions, but I suppose they’ll have to settled with fighters,” he remarked. “I’ll just have to make sure to get the best in the market.”

“You can certainly afford it, Your Highness,” Lance said with a mocking bow.

Keith smiled but it was sad. “So this is the end, isn’t it?”

Allura kissed him, patted Elisabeth’s cheek. “I hope so.”

Lance looked at the family, his own feelings of trepidation about losing the Lions pushed aside. If he could live the rest of his days in peace, he would die a happy man. From the look on Keith’s and Allura’s faces, they felt exactly the same way.

the legend will continue…