They met at the same bar every year. No matter where they were at that time, they would escape and steal a few minutes or hours to go meet with the others. It was important to each of them, a reminder of a life that could have been, a testament to a woman that had changed their lives.

The bar was dark and tucked away in a quiet corner of the galaxy. No one recognized them for the men they once were. But enough time had elapsed for them to be recognized by the barkeep. He began to reserve a table to them, knowing when they would come.

Admiral Lance Beaumont walked into Starlight. He looked around as a force of habit, but he knew where the man he was looking for sat. He saw the familiar head of unruly raven black hair, now streaked with silver hairs. An eyepatch covered his right eye, and a long white scar stretched out to his forehead and towards his chin from beneath it. His clothes were dark and unassuming, but there was an air about him that caught people's attention. The man slugged back a shot of Arusian ethanol, Arunol for short. It had become his favorite drink.

Lance walked to the table. The man looked up, taking in the familiar face of his friend. Lance had changed as much as he did over the years, becoming what the man should have been before anything had happened. He had decided to stay with the Alliance, becoming a hero in his own right, and rising up the ranks quickly. He wasn't dressed in his uniform, he never came dressed in his uniform, but he moved about as if he was still in it. His casual clothes could not hide the officer that made up the man. Lance had married Alexandra O'Connor, Keith's younger sister. They had given Keith a niece, two nephews, but he hardly saw them, as he hardly saw any of them really. To the children, he was a ghost, someone who only visited to give them presents then left just as quietly as he came.

"Keith."

"Lance."

No other greeting was needed.

A moment later, a hefty man and a smaller, thinner man entered the bar. They walked in unison to the table, not saying a word, just sitting. Unlike Lance and Keith, they had not changed much. Still they worked together as partners in their various technological projects, Hunk was the voice and Pidge, the brains. They had even married sisters and had two kids each. But the happy lives they led disappeared at the sight of their two friends. They came to remember, and to mourn.

Keith poured a glass of Arunol for each of them. He raised his in salute.

"To Allura," he said, his eyes glassy with sadness.

"To Allura," the other men repeated.

They sat in silence, not speaking, only exchanged looks that meant more than words ever could. Then, Hunk and Pidge stood.

"See you around," Pidge said.

"Yeah," Keith muttered.

Lance was always the last to leave. In the first few years they had done this, he had tried to talk Keith into giving up the life he lead. He even invited him to stay at his home, but he knew now that the words were futile. Keith was too proud, too set in his ways to ever stop what he was doing. It was a wasted life, but it was what he wanted.

"Alex keeps on asking when you're going to visit," he told his friend.

"I'll be by," Keith replied, staring at the brownish liquid in his glass.

Lance nodded and took one more shot of Arunol. He stood, not looking at his friend.

"I wish I could tell you to let go," he said. "But you will never let go, will you?"

"No."

"What if we stopped doing this?"

"I'll come here like I've been for thirty years."

Lance raised his head and looked into Keith's stone hard dark brown eyes. "I miss her, too."

"You don't know what it's like," Keith said between gritted teeth.

"Yes, I do. Except my friend is still alive."

He turned around and left the bar. Keith stared at his glass. He took out a small holopic from his pocket. A picture of a long haired blonde beauty smiled up at him. The pain was fresh in his mind as if she had lost her life only yesterday.

"I love you," he whispered.

And like the thirty other times he had said those words, there was no answer. There would never be an answer. Something inside him flickered. His heart would always be with Allura, and he didn't want that to change. Lance's words held a truth that he had tried to run away from, but he was surprised to see that he didn’t care. He would never let her go. Ever.

Keith stood and left the bar.