Lotor's PoV.:

Lotor felt like everything had gone wrong, very quickly.

They had been thrown through space - The robeast had played with them like with an iterarian goafball (an ancient game that had been lost in time) and Lotor? Lotor hadn't gotten anything right.

The blue lion's controls were so different from the ones he was used to. So much more difficult to handle, as if they required an instinct that he simply didn't possess. Then they hadn't managed to form Voltron because of him. Because the other paladins had no reason to trust him, because Lotor wasn't really paladin material and because he wasn't used to their flying or fighting styles. The mind connection he'd experienced through the lions was, to him, terrifying.
Letting strangers into his head?
Sharp no.

Which is why Lotor had known without a doubt that they would simply die. And then Lotor had messed up again and been in the way of the red lion. The red lion got hit and had crashed on the planet, and their battle had been inevitably a losing game...

So why hadn't they retreated?

After a while, a rather long while of pointlessly trying to get anywhere with the blue lion, avoiding poison and tail, the red paladin and his lion returned. And finally they were given a chance to retreat but the way Keith had spoken...
Was no one listening? Had no one heard that 'you guys retreat' meant that Keith himself wouldn't? That he would get himself killed? On purpose?

A thousand thoughts went through Lotor's head during each second of that blasted fight. A thousand things that the red paladin could say to justify his actions, but this one had not been on Lotor's mind at all.
Lance. Once again, the reason had been Lance.

Lotor didn't understand. He didn't understand the loyal trust the red paladin emitted for his wayward partner. Couldn't fathom the trust Karak'nirir had put into the child and heck - it wasn't even because he thought the blue paladin weren't qualified, far from it. He just - he didn't get what qualified one to become her successor! Why had he been chosen? Why had Karak'nirir fled from Lotor? Why had the blue paladin decided to trust Lotor? why, why, why?

And then he actually appeared.

The very moment that the jaws of the giant snake threatened to tear the red paladin in half, a blue light emerged from within the red lion. It almost seemed as if he'd always been there, waiting for Keith's suicidal call. Blue particles formed the boy in dead space, letting him glow a little, like a ghost or a being made of pure quintessence. He was - Lotor didn't dare say it - majestic and yes: beautiful.

The blue paladin stretched out his arms in a second and created a light show so vast and pretty, turning the giant snake into magical lights by a mere touch, that Lotor's breathing stopped. The blue paladin was powerful and protective and kind. It was almost eerie to see so much power in the hands of someone so young.

Keith had ejected himself out of space to approach him.

And he'd forgotten to turn off the coms of his helmet, so that the rest of them could hear every spoken word between them. It was unmistakeable then, even to Lotor, that that conversation was honest, was a deeply felt one. The desperate 'I love you's' a sign of their true feelings, ignorant of the one's death and the other's harsh last words. But there was something about it that struck Lotor harsher than he thought it would. Because the blue paladin had been a god only a second ago, but the moment he'd turned to Keith, he'd morphed back into a human. A human who had and who would always look up to the red paladin. All while the red paladin saw no one but the man in front of him. Not the god, not the transcendent omnipotent being he had become. Just - Lance.

Lotor could see it in the way Lance relaxed, how his eyes softened, how he was the one who buried himself in Keith' embrace, not the other way around. Finally, Lotor understood who they were. And most of all, who they were to each other.

Lotor had gotten them all wrong.

...

They returned to the castle in one piece, albeit shaken and exhausted. Lotor kept away from the other's, and watched their reunion from afar. He watched how the black paladin originally stood aside so the yellow and green paladin had time to crush Lance to the ground and scold him for disappearing so suddenly. At last, the black paladin pulled Lance into a hug and told him he was proud of him. All the while, the red paladin was beaming with relief and pride and the occasional "I told you so," on his lips.

Lance, for all the attention and spectacle, said surprisingly little.

Even as the princess Allura embraced him, he responded with a flirtatious joke, rather than an actual explanation. Coran was the last person to welcome Lance back and he did it in a swirly, roundabout way that Lotor found very difficult to describe. Everything about this was difficult to describe. Except, if Lotor would call them a family and he really didn't know how to describe that either, since he'd never truly had one.

"Lance, now everyone is here. Tell us where you've been!" Shiro said eventually, his hand put on Lance's shoulder, waiting for his response.

The red paladin made a concerned face. And really, it was THAT look that made Lotor suspicous of the blue paladin, because Lance himself didn't even twitch or hesitate as he answered. "Karak'nirir is gone."

Lotor uncrossed his arms in surprise.

"What?" That was Pidge. She stepped closer, trying to analyze him through her glasses. "But - you defeated that snake! Your powers aren't gone, what do you -"

The blue paladin shook his head. "Her intention was to find a successor. She stayed with me as long as she believed I needed her help. She decided to give up her reigns to me."

"We SAW the video. You exploded." The yellow paladin stepped in. "Was that her leaving?"

The blue paladin send him a smile. "Yes. But I didn't explode. I was about to but - That was because I tried to contain all her power in my own body. When I realized that it wouldn't work, I merged with the universe and now I'm back. Took me a while to regain my senses though." He laughed a little, as if that was an absolutely reasonable thing to say. As if it wasn't completely mad.

"How did you do that?" Shiro sounded concerned. "Keith told us that you had trouble in the beginning just being part of a puddle. How did you find your way back?"

Lance smiled softly.

He wasn't the one to answer. "It was me." Keith said quietly. "It was me, wasn't it?" Lance turned to him, a twinkle in his eye and nodded. Keith grinned.

"I don't -" Shiro asked. "Wait." His eyes suddenly widened. "Pidge DID say that Keith had higher energy levels than the rest of us. So, does that mean -"

"Lance used me as an anchor." Keith explained. "I don't know if he did it to protect me, or to protect himself, but we trained for this, in the beginning. When he would turn into a puddle, I would coax him back to his senses." All eyes had turned to him, but the red paladin seemed proud for some reason.

Lance let him speak, but at this point, he interrupted him. "That's not entirely true." Keith's expressions shifted, eyes drawn to confusion. "I didn't do it on purpose. To merge with the universe, I had to spread myself all over it. It's just - It's like distributing all my atoms over the world. How was I supposed to remember myself? I did manage to regain consciousness, but it was random at first. It jumped from one place to another. Then I slowly regained my memories with the help of the planets and helped heal some of them. And then ... Anyways." He interrupted himself. "Keith is right that he brought me back here. What I do have to wonder about, however -" He gave Keith a look of utter dread. "WHY would you fly into the mouth of a robeast to test it?"

Keith flushed. "It wasn't a test."

"Then how did you know it would work?" There was a worried edge to the teasing.

"Because -" Keith took a deep breath. "Before you arrived, I stranded on that planet -" He pointed at the screen that showed them what was right in front of the castle. Lotor only now noticed that the planet looked - different - somehow. "The snakebot had hit red pretty hard and I was hurt too. And then you appeared to heal me, remember?"

Lance stared at him. "I did?"

"You mean - you don't know?" Keith stared at him. "But - you healed the entire planet! Everything was glowing with quintessence, and the sky had been black and then it wasn't anymore - Just - You were there! You healed me! We had a moment!"

The blue paladin made an odd expression. "Keith, I swear. I don't remember that. If I focus on the whole of the universe, I lose track of myself. I see everything as a whole, from above. When I concentrate on one thing, when I regain consciousness as a person, I can only focus on one place at once. Whatever that was, it might have been my subconscious."

Keith stared at him. And then, to everyone's surprise, he flushed in such deep colors that Lotor felt the strange urge to look away. "Oh." Keith said in a very high tone.

"Keith?" Lance frowned at him. "Keith, what happened on that planet?"

"Nothing." Keith pressed his lips together and looked away. "It's just ... nice to know you don't subconsciously want to kill me."

"Keith!" The blue paladin sounded aghast. "What the hell did I do?"

"Nothing we haven't done before!"

"Is that supposed to calm me down?" Lance's cheeks were decorated in pink too.

"Jeez, guys." Shiro made an odd sound. "We really, really would appreciate if you could continue this conversation in private." He paused. "Wait - How far did you go? You are CHILDREN!"

What then followed was a very odd lecture about what the black paladin called 'the talk', which was apparently his job because he was their 'gay elder' or something. Lotor was not familiar with those terms, but he could tell that every person involved, or not involved, was being very, very awkward about it. Lotor was honestly confused why either of the paladins needed to be protected from, but he supposed that was a human thing.

While both the red and blue paladin tried very hard to get the black paladin to 'stop, please!' with compelling arguments like 'we didn't' and 'of course we'd be save!', the black paladin didn't let himself be deterred in his attempt to be the adult in the room. "And I swear-" Shiro said. "If ONE of you thinks about any of it during bonding exercises, I will murder you both."

Team Voltron was a hazard, Lotor decided afterwards.

--------

Keith's PoV.:

Keith groaned as he fell onto his bed, face covered by his hands. Lance had come with him. It was strangely awkward between them. Silent. Lance was currently taking off his shoes before he climbed onto the bed with Keith and pulled him into a seemingly much needed embrace. Keith wasn't sure whether to blame Shiro for the awkwardness, or their last fight. Or perhaps all those things left unsaid between them. Keith wanted to ask, he really did, but something told him that it was his turn to share something.

Huh. Somehow, it was almost mindblowing, but Keith hadn't really shared his own insecurities with Lance much either.

"You were just - gone." He began, but Lance didn't answer. Keith took that as a sign to continue and explain what had happened on that planet. "I thought we had lost you, that's why I allowed Lotor to take your place as paladin. We didn't have much of a choice. And then that snakebot attacked and I got hit and stranded on that planet. I was hurt, I think. Then I saw you again, and I just, kissed you, I guess. I was so relieved to see you, that I didn't even question - And you kept saying my name and then you suddenly kissed me but it was different from when I'd kissed you, and I was healed from the inside, I think. I only had a scratch, but you came to heal it. That's all." Keith still couldn't believe it. That Lance's subconscious had reacted to a mere cut on Keith's forehead. If that wasn't proof of Lance's feelings for him, then Keith didn't know what was. His heart was giddy with it. Nervous too.

Lance sighed into him. He had his head propped up on one of his hands, while the other was embracing Keith. Their legs slowly entangling together. This was cuddling, nothing more and it certainly wouldn't turn into anything more tonight. Not if they would both be thinking of Shiro. Keith shuddered at the mere idea.

"I went home." Lance suddenly said.

Keith felt his pulse quickening. He looked up. For a second, he thought Lance meant him, but then he noticed the strange edge to Lance's voice. No. Lance was sharing something personal. "You mean, earth? To your parents?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I think for the same reason why I woke up in the mouth of a giant snake. It's where my heart wanted to be."

Keith found his heart stuttering at that phrase. "How did it go?"

Lance sighed and buried his face in Keith's neck. He didn't answer. There was too much on his mind. Keith waited, wondered and then realized that the silence was the answer.

Then, suddenly. "I went about it all wrong." Lance whispered and his voice sounded broken. "The last thing Karak'nirir told me was that she'd figured out what those toxins were. They are her own inner conflicts. What's eating her up from the inside."

"But you said the toxins weren't part of you?"

"When you're wounded, or when you're sick, when you're depressed - it's easier to say that the wound, the sickness, the thoughts aren't part of you. When you distance yourself from it, it's easier to deal with. At least, that's what you think. Because admitting that it is part of you, however temporary, means you're broken. And no one wants to be broken. It's easier to isolate it. Karak'nirir did that with her fears."

Keith let that sink in, but he nodded eventually.

"I have insecurities, Keith. Lots of them." Lance said that as if Keith hadn't long figured that out. But he let him speak. "I'm difficult, because it's easier for me to put up a mask, because I sometimes don't know if I AM that mask, or someone else entirely. It's eating me up from the inside. To be overlooked and ignored, to be - me. All while I'm not being myself at all."

Keith turned around to face him. Lance did look hurt, looked broken. Keith's hands found Lance's face and there it was again - that purple glint in his eyes. For some odd reason, Keith did not feel too worried. Lance leaned into his hand and closed his eyes.

"I have to face my pain and my fears. I have to - but -" Lance let out a shuddering sigh. "I wanted to see my parents. I wanted to see if they cared that I was gone. I wanted, I NEED them to show me that they care for me. Because not knowing is worse than being rejected." He opened his eyes. "I was terrified to come back to you too."

"Why?" Keith really didn't know why that didn't hurt him. Lance had never before been so open, so raw with him.

"Because before I left, you didn't believe that I have feelings for you."

Keith stared at him. He pulled himself closer and put a kiss to Lance's eyelashes. "Lance." Keith said. "I am insecure too. I never meant to hurt you."

Lance laughed. "What convinced you?"

Keith looked at him. "Honestly? The moment you left the room I knew I'd been an idiot."

Lance laughed again, softer this time. A soft sob escaped him too and the purple from his eyes disappeared.

"I take it, it didn't go too well with your family."

Lance's face darkened instantly. "I messed up. I got too riled up and the toxins ate me alive, right in front of my brother. I had to tell them everything."

"Lance." Keith said softly. "You said you want to be loved for who you are. Being honest is part of that."

"The moment I told them, they thought I was blaming them for the problems of the universe. They thought I was power hungry and insane." Lance let out a shaky breath. "I don't want to be a god."

It was, perhaps, the first time Lance had said it out loud. At the very least, the first time he said it in that tone, without his usual bravado and confidence. A weak tilt to his voice. An almost desperate cry for help. Keith pulled himself closer, let Lance bury his face in Keith's chest, so Keith was the one holding him.

"I don't want to be a burden." Followed right after that and Lance went tense, as if he were afraid that Keith would consider him as such.

"Lance -" Keith said.

"Don't tell me I'm not a burden because I carry the whole universe on my shoulders. Don't tell me I deserve to be a burden because I'm a god now. Don't tell me -"

"You're human." Keith told him, remembering the video recording too strongly for it not to matter. "Deep down, you're just Lance."

"Thanks." Lance chuckled.

"Just Lance is the boy I fell in love with." Keith made Lance look at him and found sparkling blue eyes directed at him. "I thought your name was Tailor. I thought you were a flirt, I thought you were a little arrogant. I loved you when you didn't remember the bonding moment and I loved you when you got tied to that tree by the alien woman you were flirting with. I loved the lies and I love the truth even more. I don't want you to be perfect, Lance. Because I love how hard you try and how hard you mess up because of it.
My whole life I was told I were special. I could be perfect if I'd just try. But perfection is an illusion. Perfection is something you only see from a distance, when the mistakes are blurred. I want to see you, Lance. I want to see all of you. And the more I see -" Keith pressed their foreheads together. "The more I understand why Blue chose you. Why Karak'nirir chose you. Why the universe depends on you. And why I love you."

Lance was breathing harder now. Then he chuckled again. "You're so cheesy."

Keith drew away a bit. Feeling awkward all of a sudden. "Sorry." He bit his lip. "I thought -"

Lance grabbed his wrist so Keith couldn't hide himself. "Don't apologize. I like that." He paused, a conflicting emotion washing over him. "It's just a lot to take in."

Lance felt warm in Keith's embrace. Nothing like the cold water substance he was supposed to be. He was breathing, he had a heartbeat. He was real. And it was incredible to know he was alive. To hear his heartbeat be as much in disarray as Keith's own.

"I'm sorry you had to think I was dead."

Keith chuckled again. "Yeah. Don't do that again or I'll throw you out an airlock."

Lance lifted his chin. "Damn, really?"

Keith glared at him, more mocking than serious. Although, technically, Keith knew that Lance would survive it, so perhaps he was a little serious.

Lance laughed. "Don't make that face. I don't think it will happen again. I've reached the final stage of godhood. I think this is it."

"Oh." Keith said. And then he sighed, deep relief escaping his lips. "Thank fuck."

Lance's chuckles turned more into giggles. And because Lance was laughing and because Lance felt so real, so human and so close, Keith couldn't help but join in.

"Do you even know how many times you threw me into a loop because of all this bullshit?"

"I thought you love my mistakes?" Lance teased warmly.

"Yes, but you're still infuriating."

Their smiles didn't waver again after that.

----------

Lotor's PoV.:

It was the very late afternoon, when everyone was down in the kitchen with the paladins for dinner. Lotor didn't understand the concept of dinner. Not because he didn't eat, but because eating in front of people felt strange to him. Why was eating a shared experience? Once upon a time, he might have understood it, but by now, he preferred eating by himself. Which was why he'd taken a bowl of the really disgusting food goo from the vending machine to the hangar where he'd parked his own ship.

He was cleaning his sword. It was much bigger than he needed it to be, really, but it had been a gift, once. From Axca. It made him look more terrifying than he was. He didn't like that image, but just like his sword, it had edges that he'd polished to perfection.

It felt strange. Flying the blue lion, not really being part of, but also being part of team Voltron, having to give up his aspirations to make the universe a better place... Lotor felt - dare he say - a little lost at the moment. It was nice to have something familiar to do, something comforting to hold onto.

"I knew I would find you here."

Lotor looked up. He'd kept the hangar dark, trying not to be found, but he should have known that having the successor of Karak'nirir on board would make it pretty much impossible to hide. "Paladin Lance."

Lotor could see Lance's features shift into soft amusement through his Galran nightsight. But the blue paladin seemed tired of the darkness and switched on the light with a wave of his hand. Lotor grimaced at the sudden blinding white. "I'm not the blue paladin anymore. You are." Lance chuckled and sat down right in front of Lotor.

Lotor stopped polishing his sword, to stare at the younger boy.
The god of creation.
Lotor still struggled wrapping his mind around the fact that this child was now a god. That Karak'nirir had chosen him. And that he had, somehow, managed to be worthy of her powers. Otherwise she wouldn't have gone for good, would she have?
"I was chosen to replace you," Lotor said, irritated by Lance's comment. "That you are back means -"

"It means nothing." Lance said, his eyes strangely wise as he crossed his legs and determinedly stared at Lotor. "Blue has chosen you. You are a paladin now."

Lotor stared at him, frozen in place. "I really don't think this is a good idea."

"Why, because you haven't managed to bond with the others?" Lance made a dismissing sound. "It took us forever to be able to form Voltron. You just joined. There is an adjustment period, obviously, but you'll get there."

"I don't understand." Lotor frowned. "I was under the impression that you wished to return to your service."

Lance blinked at him. There was a sudden open vulnerability in his gaze, a hurt that Lotor hadn't seen on him before. "I have the conscience of the entire world at the back of my mind. I exploded trying to contain it all. You really think I can still be a paladin with my thoughts in such disarray?"

Lotor blinked. "I see." He put down his weapon. "If that is your decision, I will gratefully take your place." For one, because the god of creation had asked him to. For another, because Lotor didn't know what to do anymore. He needed a goal, he needed to be somewhere where he was needed. "I will do my best not to disappoint."

"Disappoint?" Lance asked, face not revealing how he felt about Lotor's response.

Lotor wondered what went on in his mind. "I am taking on your legacy. The legacy of -"

"The blue paladin, Lotor. Nothing more. I'm just a guy."

Staring, Lotor frowned. "Nothing more? You are a god. THE god. You were chosen by Karak'nirir. There is something about you -"

"You and I have a lot in common." Lance suddenly interrupted him yet again. "That Blue has chosen you is proof of that."

"Karak'nirir ran away from me."

"Yes, that." Lance scratched his head, sounding thoughtful. "It's because you're Haggar's son that she ran away. You are made of the toxins that Karak'nirir was unable to cleanse."

Lotor let out a breath. "That explains it." Averting his eyes, his grip around his sword tightened. Lance seemed to notice it. What was Lotor supposed to say to that anyway? He was made of toxins that could have killed the goddess? He was made of the most dangerous substance the world had to fear? Lotor let that sink in and settle next to all the other insecurities and fears he was dealing with. What was one more?

"You know, you're a lot easier to read, now that I had time to adjust to your presence." Lance shifted, leaning back on his hands, but watching Lotor's expression carefully. "You never once believed that Karak'nirir's powers would hold long on you, even if she had agreed to make you her successor. You were certain of your own death. And I think that says a lot about you as a person."

"No one has survived the take over... that is, until you of course." This conversation felt strangely pointless. Taunting, really.

"Do you want to know why you wouldn't have been able to take her powers?" Lance said in the kindest, most careful tone Lotor had ever heard. It felt like he could look right through him. As if Lance knew every thought and every feeling inside of Lotor's mind and heart and still didn't judge him for it. It felt invading and painful, but - Lotor also couldn't remember the last time someone had sounded like he cared.

"Yes." Lotor was curious. But he had expected the blue paladin to give him a simple answer, to tell him where he was lacking, perhaps. However, that was not what happened.

"Let me show you." Lance raised his hand to touch Lotor's arm.

"Show me?"

"The connection between me and the world." Lance explained. "You'll understand."

Lotor wasn't sure if he was ready for whatever this was. He didn't know why he felt such anticipation and terror rising in his veins, but there was an instinctual fear growing inside him. And then, as Lance bridged the last inch and lightly touched his arm -

The entire universe folded in on itself. A trillion stars exploded behind Lotor's eyes, within his very bones, in his blood, hot and painful and terrifying. A sensual overload of voices and touch and smells followed, accompanied by feelings and taste and terror. Lotor felt like his skin was being pulled from his flesh, his eyes burning at all the images filtering through his mind. Everything seemed to happen, so suddenly, all at once and Lotor was trying, he really was. He was trying to reach for the voices, trying to understand what they said, he was trying simultaneously not to drown and to also melt into a giant ocean. Lotor felt like a tiny rock inside a current, a paperplane inside a storm. There was nothing to hold on to, no air to breathe and nowhere to go and he was blind and frozen, he saw everything and he burned and his memories faded with all the other memories that were not his own. With it, his conscience blended in with all the others, as he kept crashing into walls.

And then, suddenly, silence.

...

Lotor woke up again on a plane of existence that he didn't think could ever be described. A still lake, perhaps, underneath his feet, himself a mere drop, dancing upon other drops.

"How do you feel?"

Lotor's eyes shot open. Lance McClain stood before him, barefoot on the lake. He looked just like he did on earth, shirt and coat and jeans included, but Lotor could feel that he was the center of the universe. The steady pulse of the universe emerged from him, rippling the lake into tiny waves of power. He was connected to them all. He was the very reason why Lotor wasn't dead.

"I-"

"It's alright if you need a moment to remember who you are." Lance said quietly. "I had to bring you back. You wouldn't respond."

"What happened?" Lotor held his head, although he could barely call it a head. What was a head anyway? What species was he? He couldn't remember. Couldn't remember what he looked like. Who was Lotor? "And where am I?"

Lance walked a few spaces over the still lake. "You are inside my mind. And what happened is that you were faced with all the thoughts of the universe." Lance paused. "Although, to be fair, I didn't exactly prepare you for it. I had much more time to prepare when I was first confronted with it all."

"That was - the universe?" Lotor couldn't believe it. What remained of his mind connection with the universe was the imprinted feeling of pain and suffering. "Why is it -"

"It's in pain." Lance said quietly, watching Lotor from a small distance. "I figured that's what you would latch onto." Lance paused once more, looking up. "You got lost in it. You lost your sense of self. You couldn't distinguish between yourself and everyone else's suffering."

"I -" Lotor got to his wobbly knees, slowly gaining back his memories and his awareness of his surroundings. He felt - disconnected, confused. "You said you wanted to show me why I wouldn't have been able to take over her powers. Is it - because of that? Because of the pain?"

Lance sighed and then, surprisingly, smiled at Lotor. "You are not as selfish as I am, Lotor."

Lotor stared at him, eyes wide and in disbelief.

Lance didn't need him to answer to go on and explain. "When you decided to offer yourself as Karak'nirir's successor, it was your intention to die for your people. It was your intention to be a sacrifice, because you see the injustice of your father's reign. It's all you see. You don't see yourself or your own needs, so you got lost in the fabric of existence." Lance sent him another smile, as small waves erupted around them, crashing against Lotor's knees. "Had you been hungry for power, or if you'd crave legacy or identity, you would have exploded in your attempts to stay yourself. Had Karak'nirir given you her powers, you would have died."

Lotor was shaking as he got up. "But - I heard of your selflessness, of how you sacrificed yourself for your mechanic the very first week you met. How can you say I'm more selfless than you, when you've literally done what I've preached -"

"Selflessness is not always good, Lotor." Lance's eyes turned sad, almost crestfallen. "I've never taken someone else's life as more important than mine, or mine more important than someone else's. It didn't matter to me that Karak'nirir was a goddess. I didn't ask for her powers, I didn't offer myself as a sacrifice. I'm not as noble as that. When I saved Coran, I was trying to protect us both, not just him. Karak'nirir was asking for help. I helped her. Not because she was a god, but because she was sad."
There was a small pause, as Lance walked around Lotor, watching him and judging him from all sides.

Lotor could only stare at his hands. "You pitied the goddess?"

"It wasn't pity." Lance said quietly. "I understood her. I emphasized with her. She kept trying to tell me that that was what made me different. And I think I understand that now."

Lotor felt crushed. Lost. Burdened with the feelings he'd just shared with the universe, terrified of the consequences. "Why are you showing me this?"

"Because there is something that you can do that I can't."

Lotor looked up and met serious blue eyes. "What could I possibly do that you can't?"

"You're made of the toxins that Haggar is made off. I keep pushing all that pain away. And I need to stop doing that. And I need to stop doing that soon."

"I don't understand." What was he saying? Lotor felt at a loss. What did that have to do with him?

"Pain isn't evil." Lance explained solemly. "The toxins aren't evil, you are proof of that."

"I am?" Lotor's eyes widened.

"You are." Lance said that with calm certainty. "Pain is a warning sign. If the world is in pain, then something is wrong. When you don't listen to your own pain, when you ignore it and shove it down, then it grows viscous and uncontrollable. Karak'nirir kept avoiding her problems. Haggar was supposed to be her warning sign. And because Karak'nirir refused to acknowledge her pain, Haggar has grown uncontrollable. The world needs the toxins more than you realize."

Lotor blinked at him. "It does?"

"You felt the pain of the world on your shoulders a couple seconds ago." Lance said quietly. "You're naturally drawn to it because of who you are. I need you to take on all that pain."

"What?" All politeness left Lotor at the mere memory of all the suffering tugging and ripping away at him. Like claws digging into flesh.

Lance let out a deep breath. Then - "When the time comes, I need you to replace your mother. I need you to be my warning sign."