Matt and Pidge had expected to receive the most ruthless, hurtful lecture they would ever have in their life. But, the castle was completely silent. Shiro had obviously gone to be alone to process what had just taken place. Y/N, and though he knew her decision was in good nature, he didn't want to accept it. Not wanting to lose the one piece of his life right now that connected him back to Earth was a conversation they'd had. If they'd just taken a moment to think about it, they could have come up with a plan which didn't require her to sacrifice herself. She'd constantly be on his mind now. Back then, he had worried about what mess she'd gotten herself into on earth, now he feared whether she was still alive.

Matt had felt pain before. He had felt hopelessness, horror, and true hurt. Never before, though, had he ever known the feeling of heartbreak. The painstakingly honest feeling of pure defeat when the one person he wanted in his life was taken away. And not just taken away by anyone. She was taken by the same people who were the reason he didn't sleep at night, kept awake by constant nightmares. Not for one second could he stomach the thought of what they might do to her there. At least while imprisoned, Matt and Shiro had been essentially innocent. They'd done nothing wrong, and were just taken aboard by the Galra as prisoners. But Y/N was guilty. She'd stopped Zarkon from getting his hands on Voltron.

Like it was in the midst of a hurricane, Matt's mind didn't stop churning throughout the night. He couldn't stand the silence wandering the halls, he refused to stare out his bedroom window at those bridges, and he didn't want to look up to the sky from the control room because he knew that somewhere out there was Y/N. The only place he could find the slightest peace was Y/N's room. He shamelessly tampered with the panel on the door until it was forced to open.

He made his way to the bed and thew the warm covers over himself, sitting in the direction of the window. In his lap, he held the girls helmet. A torrent of tears fell from his eyes, crashing down onto the orange and white helmet, running down the sides until they met his fingers. The boy weakly lowered his head down and closed his eyes. When he did, Y/N's smiles flickered in his memory, he heard her laughter resonating in his head, and he could somehow feel her warm touch. It was like she was there, which made everything worse, because he knew she wasn't.

He still didn't understand how he had let it happen. Whether it had been the panic in the moment or how utterly convincing Y/N had been, it wasn't an excuse for the fact that they let her walk off the ship and turn herself in.

Matt laid down and rest his head on the pillow. He just hoped that when he was thinking of her, she was thinking of him too. 

As he lifted the helmet to place it at his side, something small and light fell onto his stomach. Shakily, he picked it up. It was a piece of paper, folded as small as possible. Part of his conscience screamed at him to not open it, knowing it would probably just hurt him more. But his other half was telling him to do the exact opposite. His heart raced faster and faster as he unfolded the paper.

Matt was both glad and afraid to find the paper wasn't empty. It was a note.

"I know you're worried. But I know what I'm doing, so stop worrying so much." Matt scanned over those first two lines a few times before moving on.

"I'll see you again soon. Just remember, don't go become someone you're not. You are Matt Holt, the universes rebel fighter from Earth. You're a good person. Don't do anything to screw that up. Because, when I come back, I want you to be the same Matt." He swore he could almost hear her laughter through the written message. She was right, though, and it was good he was reading this. If he hadn't found it, maybe he would become so overthrown by rage and self-hatred that he become someone else. But, he wasn't going to let that happen. He was going to make sure that he was the same Matt when Y/N came back. His heart was now heavy to carry, but it was going to make him stronger. And the longer he carried it for, the more relieving it would be when he finally found her.

The note in his hands washed him over with a sense of comfort, enough to finally allow him to sleep.

It may have been enough for that one night, but the serenity didn't last long for Matt. Early the next morning, he felt the absence of her presence. He got lonely despite being surrounded by his friends.

Everyday, Zarkon made headway on another planet, and everyone wondered where Y/N was.

A couple of weeks had passed, and not a single opportunity arose for the Paladins to attack Zarkon's ship and find Y/N. Everyone, especially Shiro, was growing impatient.

A few more days passed before someone from The Blade made an unexpected visit. The news he delivered wasn't what the Paladins were expecting or hoping.

"Your friend is alive," He began, eventually playing some blurry footage on the castles control room screen. "She's done well biding with Zarkon in order to protect her people, since they are on his target list as well."

"So what's the bad news?" Keith finally broke in.

"She made a life condemning decision." He admitted.

"What's that supposed to mean!? You said she was alive!" Shiro snarled, stepping forwards but Keith pulled him back.

"More or less. She traded herself in order to have Zarkon release her people on a new planet after he captured them. He controls her now until she dies."

Matt wasn't having it. A person couldn't just trade off their life like that. But, then again, he was making that assumption based on how things worked back on Earth. Here, in space, things were different. Maybe it was normal for someone to sacrifice themselves without question way out here in the universe.

"W-We have to get her back!" Matt stuttered. "We—She can't!" Tears began to fall from his eyes and he did nothing to stop them because the others in the room were doing the same. Everyone was hurt by the news. It wasn't the fact that Y/N had given up herself in the name of her people that upset the team of Voltron. It was the fact that they knew in Zarkon's hands, Y/N would be manipulated, tortured, until she was his secret weapon. There was only one way to make a person stronger and more reckless than thought possible, and that was through pain. Everyone knew Zarkon would do whatever it took to turn her into an unstoppable weapon. Especially since she could be his ticket to getting hold of Voltron once more.

"I'm afraid that you can't." The Galra said lowly. "Even if you did, you wouldn't be getting the real her back. By now, Zarkon will have altered her mind so greatly that the retrieval of her old self will be nearly impossible."

"But not entirely impossible?" Lance piped up.

The Galra sighed hopelessly. "It would require the right person, in the right moment, with the right words to bring her back." For a split second he looked to Matt but then looked away. "If you do try, I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you." Allura nodded softly, sending the Galra back to his ship.

Now, knowing Y/N was alive, they just needed a plan to get her back.