A very last minute, self-indulgent Christmas Klance fic that I wrote after Christmas because I don't want the holiday to be over.

It's funny the way you can remember things at the most inconvenient and unrelated times. It started when Lance was mid-battle and he had to make an emergency landing to escape the devastating weapon fire reigning down on his poor lion. The red Lion was quick and excellent at evasion, but thirty Galran fighter jets all chasing him at once did not have a good outlook. So he found the nearest planet and led them to it. The planet was cold and blanketed with snow amidst a dense forest that nearly resembled Earth. There, he was able to duck and maneuver through the trees with swift ease as jets soared into the plantation and exploded into plumes of jet fuel and scorching flames.

"Hey, I'm managing alright for now, but the whole distraction thing is getting a little out of hand. I have a few dozen hot on my tail, but I've managed to lose some in the forest of planet b8-12." Lance informed his team.

"Hold in there just a bit longer Lance. We're nearly done collecting the data we need." Keith assured Lance, all the while he was rushing Pidge to complete the upload faster.

"Keith, machines don't move faster! They have very finite limits to which they cannot exceed!" Pidge growled as she pressed at more keys, unusual symbols flashing across the screen of the Galran monitor. Keith stood behind her, definitely hovering, and making frequent glances to the only entrance (and technically exit) of the room. Keith had been the one to escort Pidge and watch her back as she completed the upload because his Galran DND was capable of deactivating doors and codes. His access was very limited, but it helped them get past the basic level entry points. Allura and Hunk were somewhere on the ship scouting for them as well.

"Keith, you have incoming! There's two coming down the hall. I don't think they know you're there yet." Hunk informed in a hushed tone over coms. The mission was going smooth. Too smooth. Keith was waiting for the pen to drop and shit hit the fan. Normally infiltrations never went this smooth with Voltron, it was usually something that only worked well with the blade. Maybe this was improvement. It was a half decent plan after all. Using Lance as a distraction as they entered the base was proving to work. Keith was surprised that Lance had been the one to propose it in the first place.

"What if we sneak onto the ship? Pidge can download the data, and then she can upload some kind of virus that will make it—"

"How would we sneak onto the ship? They'll see us coming from a mile away." Allura cut him off.

"I'll distract them while you guys use a pod."

"Lance that's preposterous." Allura shook her head.

"I think Lance is going somewhere." Keith held up his hand for Allura to let Lance continue.

"Look, I have the fastest Lion. Red can out fly these jets easy. I'll act like I was caught off guard and that they have the upper hand." Lance licked his lips eagerly like he was ready to get the show started. He was ready to jump into the line of fire. It had Keith surprised.

"There will be dozens of drones, are you sure you can handle it?" Keith challenged, and he saw the competitive fire burn behind Lance's eyes. It was old and familiar, but different somehow. Maybe it was different because now they were friends, and the rivalry was now something more of an old tradition.

"You know I can."

"Three more drones are down." Lance grunted into the coms. "What's our progress?"

"Pidge how much more time do you need?" Keith asked through his teeth.

"I—I don't know? Five minutes?" Pidge's hands were shaking as she fumbled with the keys. "An extra minute for me to upload the virus."

"Forget the virus, Lance is—" Keith started but Lance cut in.

"No, upload the virus Pidge. I can handle it." Lance assured.

"Lance—"

"Trust me Keith." And that was all it took for Keith to be with him.

"Okay Pidge, do your thing." Keith nodded. "Hunk what's the status on the two heading our way?"

"They are still walking down the hall, it looks like they may be passing. Might want to be quiet just in case." Hunk whispered.

"I have visuals on two more coming from the opposite direction, another patrol of two. They are also on course to pass in front of the door." Allura informed.

"Copy." Keith took a few large struts over to the door and readied his weapon just in case. He slowed his breathing to listen to the footsteps outside.

"They're passing... passing... passing. Shit." Hunk paused and Keith's heart picked up rhythm. "The patrols are stopping to talk to each other." Keith was able to confirm this when he heard voices outside. "I can't tell what they're saying."

Keith tightened the grip on his weapon.

"Six more ships down. I think I'm down to a little over a dozen." Lance panted. He wiped sweat from his brow as he tried to push red to go faster. He had circled back to pick a few drones off the end, but this had allowed some to gain on him.

A laser soared past him, a narrow miss, and hit a tree causing it to explode into large bits. Bark flew and hit his ship, and in reaction, Lance jerked the helm. He then skimmed another tree and barely avoided disaster. Fortunately, the tree that had gone down worked in his favor as a few more ships ran into it or evaded it and fell victim to another obstacle. Lance pulled up and broke through the top of the trees and used the coverage of the clouds to pick off a few more jets; however, the tactic was only temporarily effective. The remainder of the jets locked back onto him and he defended back into the forest. A handful of jets followed above the trees which provided a problem for the paladin of the red Lion. "Shit."

"Talk to me Lance." Keith said in a low quiet voice. He shouldn't be speaking, but the sound of his distressed teammate pulled out his more reckless side.

"I'm good, I'm good. I've been hit." Lance hissed. "Three more minutes, right Pidge?"

"No, we're packing it up now. Forget the—"

"Three minutes! I'll be fine! Pidge, continue!" Lance ordered. "I'm down to eight—ten jets."

"The patrols have passed!" Hunk cut in.

"Lance, we'll be there soon." Keith rushed back to Pidge.

"Not until Pidge is done."

"The download is complete!" Pidge gasped. "Should I start the virus?" She looked over her shoulder to Keith.

Keith bit his lip. "Lance. It's your call. I trust you."

"Upload the virus. I have this. I wouldn't say to do it if I wasn't certain." Lance's confidence was sure and steady, and it was the only thing Keith could cling to as he nodded to Pidge.

"You heard him."

There was a crashing sort of sound coming from Lance's line and it had the team tensing. "Lance, Lance come in!" Shiro cut in over the coms from the castle. He had been listening, but tried to limit his interference.

"I'm fine! I blew up a drone and the shockwave  hit red, but she's okay." Lance assured his team.

"We could use the castle defenses to—" Coran began, his worry was something he couldn't shake.

"No, it's too risky. You'll blow cover for the others." Lance ordered.

Lance was jolted in his chair again, the first explosion had already rocked him silly, but this time his whole body lurched forward and his seatbelt was the only thing holding him in place. Though, his attachment to the seat had him snapping back and his head hit the seat hard. He saw stars, his vision spotting with black as he tried to blink away the darkness. He tried to steer through his unreliable vision and continuously bumped and scraped trees. "C'mon red, let's take care of these guys."

When his vision cleared, his head still remained foggy as he veered around and sniped off two more drones. He felt the anticipation as he realized there were only four more. Lance raced ahead and shot at trees behind him, the debris taking out another ship. He continued to use the tactic and as one of the jets attempted to evade the fire, it caught the wing of another jet, and both were erupting into fire within seconds. The last drone was gaining on Lance, eliminating the possibility of his previous tactic. He felt red jolt and Lance hit the panel in front of him. He hissed out in pain and cussed when he realized he'd been hit again. Red was struggling now, her flying was off and Lance felt sweat dripping into his eyes, blinding him. He swiped at his face with his sleeve only to realize it was not sweat, but blood.

"Prepare the night vision on your helmets, in just a few seconds the virus will be finished uploading and the power will go out." Pidge informed. The paladins heeded her warning and the power went out as she had said. Pidge and Keith hurried out of the room and stormed down the hall towards the pod. There was a drone fumbling in the dark and he turned in the direction of their thundering footsteps. Pidge wasted no time as she used her bayard and quickly eliminated the threat.

Lance felt desperation crawl underneath his skin. He wanted the fight to be over. Taking on ten drones by himself was difficult, but he'd never taken care of so many. His whole body felt like lead and he wished more than anything he could just land and let himself fall against the chair into a deep slumber. His head aches and he was positive he was concussed. Lance decided in haste to flip around where he was met with the drone head on, and the drone in a moment of self preservation, barely moved out of the way and soared past Lance. The drone couldn't stop quickly enough and collided with a tree. Lance wanted to cry with the relief that washed over him.

Keith called for the black lion through the bond. "You guys take the pod back to the castle, I'll take my lion to get Lance." Keith ordered when he spotted Hunk and Allura.

"Bring him back safe." Hunk nodded as he helped usher Allura and Pidge into the pod where they took off from the hangar. Keith could feel his lion was near already. He readied himself.

Lance landed his lion and felt his limbs limply hit a few buttons on the dash and saw the planet's statistics appear on the screen. When he saw the words 'habitable' appear on the screen, he was clambering out of his lion and falling into the snow. He clawed to get his helmet off and threw up. Lance rolled over onto his back and heaved as he tried to catch his breath.

The trees were beautiful as they towered around him. The trees reminded him of something, the way they were dusted with a coat of powder. They were similar to pine trees on earth, except the needles had fuzzy green ends and the actual needle was a bluish color. He admired that each needle was to intricate. He thought of warm hot coco and the smoke in the distance brought the memory of a fireplace crackling with life. Stockings, he remembered the stockings hanged above the fireplace, each with a design unique to that of the owner.

Christmas. How could he have forgotten Christmas. He imagine the trees decorated with large ornaments and tinsel. He thoughts of the smell of chestnuts roasting and sweet chocolate and peppermint. He thought of the sounds of his siblings' delighted squeals as they opened presents. He longed to roll himself up in a cozy quilt made by his Abuela.

Just then the snow was disturbed by something and Lance tilted his head to catch sight of black hair and red armor. "Lance!"

Lance pushed up on his elbows and tried to sit up to meet Keith. "I'm here!"

Keith dropped to his knees and slid the rest of the way to Lance's side. Fucking show off. "Lance are you okay?"

"I'm good. Concussed. But I'm okay." Lance winced.

"Fuck, let's get you back."

Keith helped Lance to his feet, but Lance paused. He hands gripped the top of Keith's broad shoulders and he smiled. "Wait. Does this place remind you of anything?"

Keith hardly looked at the scenery around them. "I don't know. No? Let's get you to a healing pod."

"No, stop." Lance gripped his shoulders tighter and pushed up on his toes to capture Keith's eyes. "Look, does it remind you of anything."

Keith huffed impatiently. "I guess? It looks like a forest. Sort of like earth, but I think it's just because of the snow." Keith shrugged. "I grew up in the desert."

Keith wrapped a hand around Lance's waist and guided him into the black lion. Lance wanted to sleep. He was so tired. The moment Keith set him down, his head was lulling back to rest.

"Lance you have to stay awake."

"Why?"

"I... I don't actually know. But in the movies you're not allowed to sleep if you're concussed." Keith shook his head.

Lance watched as Keith sat in his piloting chair and proceeded to move at practically warp speed to get them back to the castle. "It's just a concussion dude." Lance smirked and moved closer. He rested his head against the chair.

"No sleeping." Keith said again.

Lance moved his head to rest on Keith's thigh and the cold press of the armed against his face felt much better. The armor was practically ice after being on the frigid planet.

"I believe that's actually a myth." Pidge chimed in. "It was once believed that if you let someone sleep directly after a brain injury, they would slip into a coma. It's false."

"Ah yes, preventing someone from sleeping will not prevent them from going into a coma. They'll go into the coma regardless of what you do to keep them awake!" Coran agreed.

"Could we maybe talk about this later?" Keith gritted through his teeth. "He's sleeping okay!"

"Are you sure he's not in a coma?" Hunk whined.

"He's sleeping!" Keith snapped. The conversation was only stressing him out more as he tried to move as fast as possible while dragging the red Lion.

"Keith's just upset because his boyfriend—" Pidge started to tease.

"Boyfriend?!" Keith bit out. "Not funny Pidge."

"Okay, okay, brofriend, whatever you want to call it—" Pidge sighed.

"He's not—!"

"The healing pod is ready!" Coran cut in.

"I'm landing now." Keith set red down and landed himself a bit shakily. "Lance. Lance wake up." He nudged his leg.

Lance groaned and used the chair as leverage to stand. His legs were wobbly with exhaustion and his eyes strained against the bold lights of the hangar.

"Here." Keith grabbed Lance by the arm and turned around, pulling the arm over his shoulder. He reached around himself to grab Lance's leg and pulled it up until Lance got the idea. Lance wrapped his arms around Keith's neck and hooked his feet around Keith. "Coran has the healing pod ready for you."

Lance groaned again. "I hate that thing." Lance was so close to Keith, but it didn't feel intimate in the way he had expected it to. Keith still had his helmet on and was shouting to Coran over the coms. Lance suddenly wondered where his helmet was, he felt out of the loop. He glanced down and saw it attached to Keith's belt and it bumped against his thigh with each step. Lance reached his hands up and twisted off Keith's helmet.

"Lance, what are you doing? I need to update Coran." Keith paused to adjust his grip and pull Lance up higher, and then continued his pace down the hall.

Lance didn't respond as he pressed his face close to Keith. His nose was near Keith's jawline and every inhale smelled like their new leader. Keith, on the other hand, could hardly breathe at all. Lance pressed close; his body wrapped tightly around Keith's, it was intoxicating, but Keith had to keep focused. He had to concentrate on getting Lance to the healing pod.

They burst into the medical bay where Coran, Shiro, and the other paladins were waiting for them. Keith eased Lance off his back and Coran helped usher the red paladin to the pod. Keith finally was able to take a breath of relief when Lance was sealed in. He was thankful that Lance's injuries were not serious. "How long?" Keith asked.

"Maybe a few hours to a day." Coran peered at the scans that were beginning to come through. "Looks like a mild head injury. When he comes out, he'll be as heathy as a Bomêl Thirsitásin after a Kilamorhen rain!"

"Right, thanks Coran." Hunk nodded albeit a little confused.

"Well, since no one has said it yet," Allura smiled, "the mission was a success! And Lance sustained minimal injury! When Lance returns, I think a celebration is in order!"

Keith glanced to the pod. "Yeah, we'll celebrate him."

Lance had pleasant dreams in the pod which was odd. Normally, he had horrendous nightmares. Though, those times had all been for much more serious injuries than this. No, the dreams he had were fond and cozy. He saw white pillows of snow and intricate designs of frost. He saw smoke emerging from chimneys and trains whistling across plastic tracks. He saw fresh made cookies and popcorn balls. He saw home. He saw Christmas.

When Lance exited the pod, he felt good. Amazing, in fact. He didn't feel weak or faint like he typically would when leaving the pod. No, he could run miles. Keith was sitting across the room, and when he heard the pod, he stood quickly. Lance almost didn't see that Shiro was standing to his left, but the former leader reached out to help steady him. But Lance didn't need help. Lance grinned widely.

"How do you feel?" Shiro asked. Keith strutted over in a matter of moments.

"Great! Fantastic! Never better actually." Lance felt energized in a way that he hadn't felt for months. He craved hot coco and sweets, and more than anything he ached for dazzling and spirited lights. "I have a lot to do." Lance immediately began for the door.

"Wait, woah. Hold on." Keith stopped him. "Are you sure you're okay? Normally you're a bit drained and lethargic after the pod."

"I'm great!" Lance shook his head. "But I should really get to work."

"Work? What work?" Keith looked to Shiro, but Shiro looked equally confused.

"Don't worry about it Keithy!" Lance gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder and disappeared from the room.

"What the fuck was that?" Keith scrunched his nose and looked again to Shiro.

"I—I have no idea. But at least he's feeling okay. Maybe Coran gave him some crazy drugs or something." Shiro chuckled.

Lance spent the next few days planning, gathering, crafting, and fiddling. He spent painstaking hours slaving over paper and Altean glue. He snipped, taped, and folded paper into festive decorations until he was pleased with the product. But it wasn't enough.

He snuck through the castle and collected these tiny hollow balls that were a light Altean blue. He wasn't sure what they were for, but he was sure of their new purpose. He attached a string to the top of each and felt content at the ornaments. He decided to make a few specifically for each of his teammates. On Pidge's he put red and green leaves for a poinsettia, and on Hunk's he put a green wreath. Shiro, he put a snowflake, and on Allura's he did mittens. For Coran's, he took some extra time and made the most perfect looking candy canes. And on Keith's he put a mistletoe, but tried not to think too hard about the implications. And on his own, he put a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

"Lance, we wanted to celebrate your bravery for the mission the other day," Allura smiled, "and we decided the best way to do so would be to let you decide what we do."

"I suggested we make your favorite meal." Hunk interjected.

"I suggested board games!" Pidge elbowed Hunk.

"Keith thought you'd rather watch an Altean rom com." Shiro playfully put both Hunk and Pidge in headlocks.

Lance laughed, "I don't know if I can choose between my favorite things."

"Don't choose then. Let's do all of them." Keith suggested.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Pidge shouted.

"I'll get started on dinner!" Hunk rushed off to the kitchen.

Lance rushed after him to keep him company as his friend cooked and soon the kitchen was flooded with the whole family. When Hunk's back was turned, Keith reached forward and snatched a berry off the cutting board. Lance gave him a disapproving look and signaled for Keith to steal one for him too. Keith nodded and the next time Hunk turned around Keith snatched two and handed one to Lance under the table.

"I know what you're doing, Keith." Hunk said, his back still turned to the thieves.

Keith's face went red with embarrassment. "Lance put me up to it."

Lance barked out a laugh, but begged not to be banished from the kitchen. Dinner was delicious, and Lance called Hunk sous chef for the duration of the evening.

Pidge had gathered the games after dinner. "It's between Quazzel and Wintac! I'm pretty sure Wintac was the one we couldn't figure out though."

"Let's play Quazzel!" Lance shouted. This one was his favorite, but they had never played it all together before. Usually someone was too busy, or Keith or Shiro were gone.

"How do we play?" Keith asked sitting criss crossed on the floor across from Lance.

"We go around in a circle and when it's your turn, you draw a card. On the card is a question about you, like 'what's your favorite color'. Everyone including the person who the question is for writes their answers. If your answer matches the person you get a point. If you're wrong, you draw a Quazzel card and you have to do whatever the card tells you." Lance explained. "You'll catch on after a round."

"I'll start!" Coran drew a card. "What is my favorite hobby?"

Lance clicked his tongue, "I got this one."

"What's my favorite flangalf?" Keith squinted at the card.

Lance was breathing heavily after having to run the whole floor of the ship after getting the answer wrong about Allura's birthday. He was normally excellent at remembering birthdays, but it's different when they don't go by the same time system as Earth. To be fair, everyone but Coran got it wrong. Pidge had to do a handstand for ten seconds and Hunk had to try to lick his elbow.

"Flangalf is like an Altean term for season." Allura informed.

"Oh." Keith re-read the card. "What's my favorite season then?"

Most everyone answered Summer likely because he lived in the desert. But Lance knew better. Lance answered Winter.

"Lance got it right, it's winter." Keith showed the matching answers.

Everyone groaned as they drew another card. Keith and Lance laughed as they watched their friends complete embarrassing tasks.

"How did you know I like Winter?" Keith asked.

"How did you know I speak three languages?" Lance was surprised Hunk even got this one wrong. Everyone knew he spoke English and Spanish, but very few knew he could speak a third.

"I didn't exactly. Just a feeling." Keith fiddled with the slips of paper they wrote their answers on. "What's the third language anyway?"

"Haitian Creole." Lance shrugged. "In the city my grandparents lived in in Cuba, a lot of people immigrated from Haiti there. I'd visit for the summer a lot, especially when I was young. It's hard for me to speak though." Lance explained.

Keith nodded. "Impressive."

Lance ignored the tingly feeling that crawled its way through Lance's nerves. Hearing Keith compliment him was enough to send him to an early grave.

"I don't think I can take much more of this," Hunk rested his hands on his knees as he heaved for breath after the excessive dancing he completed.

"I agree. Shall we move to the movie." Allura gasped leaning against the wall. She had to do cartwheels.

"Yeah, let's do that." Lance smiled and moved to the couch. Keith went to sit beside Lance but Pidge sat down in the spot instead. Keith moved to sit on the other side of Lance, but Allura slid into the spot. Keith huffed and was going to just sit on the floor in front of Lance, but Shiro was patting a spot beside him.

"Keith, sit down, we're about to start the movie!" Lance tried to peer around Keith's frame. Keith gave up felt a little dejected as he sat next to Shiro. Not that sitting next to Shiro was a bad thing in any way.

Hunk entered the room holding two bowls of popcorn. Lance immediately sat up in his seat. "No way!" Lance grabbed the bowl and inspected the popcorn. "It looks like popcorn, it smells like popcorn. Hunk if this tastes like popcorn I'm going to lose it."

"Surprise!" Hunk grinned. "Apparently there's corn on more than just Earth. I'm not sure the exact history that Coran gave because it was a super long spiel, but I guess aliens really liked our Earth corn."

Lance ate a piece with delight, and he suddenly got an idea. "Do we have more of this?"

"Yeah, tons. I can make us more later." Hunk cozied up on the end of the couch.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Allura and I present to you an Altean classic romance-comedy. Unfortunately, it is only available in Altean, so Allura and I went through the process of recording the dialogue for you and narrating with our expert acting skills! Enjoy!" Coran took a bow for the team and pressed play.

Lance couldn't stop laughing at Coran and Allura's voice-overs. Coran made the funniest voices and Allura just always sounded like Allura, but her voice acting was awkward and added the comedy of the movie. Lance was absolutely delighted with the evening. He stole a glance at his friends and teammates and felt warm inside. He almost felt like he was home. He watched his teammates laugh and scoop handfuls of popcorn. He liked how Keith actually seemed invested in the film, despite the wild and dramatic plot. He liked the way Pidge kicked her feet when she got second hand embarrassment from the characters. He loved the way Hunk and Shiro went teary eyed when the characters realized they were in love. And he loved the way Coran and Allura bickered about who voiced the dialogue better.

When Lance parted ways with his teammates that night, he wanted nothing more than to put together the best Christmas for them. It had to be perfect. So he snuck off to the kitchen and popped popcorn. He strung the popcorn together with string and beads and created traditional garland for a tree. But he still needs a tree and lights and other Christmas things.

"Lance is gone." Hunk stood above Keith in a panic.

Keith slowly blinked his eyes against the disturbance. Who had said what?

"Keith." Hunk shook him. "Did you hear me? Lance is gone."

Keith shot up in the bed. And suddenly Hunk was chasing him down the hall.

"Where?!"

"I don't know!" Hunk whined.

"When?!"

"I'm not really sure."

"How?!"

"I think he took a pod." Hunk wrung his hands.

"Why?" Keith turned to face him.

"I—I don't know." Hunk ran a hand through his hair. "I just—I thought I heard something and I went to check. But Lance was gone from his room. I checked the whole ship and he's no where to be found, but one of the pods is missing."

"I'll go after him." Keith started for the hanger, but Hunk grabbed him by the arm.

"He left this." Hunk pushed a small paper into his hands.

Be back soon!

"Be back soon? Soon from where? How long is soon?" Keith growled. "Why didn't he say where he's going?"

Lance was gone for hours.

Could you blame him? The nearest space mall was a few galaxies over and it was massive! It took him forever to find what he was looking for. He had his whole savings and he spent every penny on goods for the festivities. He even had to make a few trips to the fountain. When he had what he needed, he had to make it back to the planet he was at just a few days earlier. Lance didn't know anything about how to chop down a tree. But he had an axe from the training room and that had to be good enough. Allura would probably yell at him later about the axe not being used for its intended purpose of fighting, but he could deal.

When Lance landed back in the hangar, he hoped no one noticed he had left. He didn't want to cause an uproar or anything, it just had to be a surprise and no time like the present when they were in a safe galaxy far from any lurking Galra. He jumped out of the pod and grabbed a few of his sacks of Christmas goods. He hiked them over his shoulders and when the hangar doors opened, he nearly had a heart attack. The whole team stared at him with disapproval.

"Where have you been?" Keith demanded. His arms were folded and he looked cranky.

"Uh, I made a trip to the space mall." Lance held up the sacks. "I needed to get some stuff."

"You couldn't tell us you were leaving?! You had us worried sick!" Pidge stomped her foot angrily.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to ruin the surprise." Lance looked at the bags.

"Surprise? Lance, Keith almost jumped out of the airlock after you. You have to tell us these things." Shiro sighed.

"Look. It's going to sound stupid, but this is really important to me." Lance pleaded. "I've been working on this ever since my 'not-coma'."

Keith sighed. "Alright." He nodded and dismissed everyone. Lance was expecting Keith to leave too, but he stayed. "You know I'm willing to support you. You have my trust no matter what. But we really were worried about you. Just... try to keep that in mind next time. Please." Keith started to walk away.

Lance blinked in surprise. He... wasn't expecting that. "Hey, Keith, wait." Lance set the bags on the ground. "I might have gotten carried away. I let this stupid idea get the best of me. I shouldn't have left without saying anything. I'm sorry." Lance grabbed his shoulder. Keith turned around to look at him and Lance felt like all the hair was sapped from his lungs.

"It's okay Lance. We're not upset."

"Fuck that's worse."

"How is that worse?"

"Because it's the whole, 'we're not upset, just disappointed bit'. That's totally worse." Lance shook his head.

Keith let a laugh slip. "You're not disappointing anyone either."

"Keith?" Lance swallowed hard.

"Yeah?"

"Can I get your help with something?"

"Is that a tree?!" Keith stared at the pod with wide eyes.

"Yeah! Isn't she beautiful?!" Lance grinned.

"Lance, Allura is going to kill you when she finds out you brought a tree into her castle." Keith could see the beating already. She would be merciless.

"Once it's decorated, Allura will be so distracted by its beauty that she won't even realize I'm getting needles everywhere." Lance rested his elbow on Keith's shoulder and leaned against him. It was much more difficult now that Keith had grown so much.

"Decorated? Like what people do for Christmas?" Keith raised a brow.

"Yes! Exactly!" Lance lit up. "Only, getting the tree on the ship by myself was a nearly impossible task, and now I need help getting it to the lobby."

"Wait, let me get this straight. You're wanting to decorate for Christmas?"

"Wow, you're sharp. Yes. I'm decorating a Christmas tree with Christmas decorations for Christmas." Lance snapped his fingers. "I'm going to need you to keep up."

Keith rolled his eyes. "I'll help the best I can, but I've never really done all that. I don't exactly know—"

"What?" Lance frowned. "You've never?"

"No, I've never really celebrated Christmas. It's usually a family thing and as you know, I didn't know I had a mom until a few months ago." Keith shrugged.

Lance chewed his lip. "Keith."

"Yeah?"

Lance grabbed his shoulder and squeezed. "I'm about to give you the best damn Christmas you've ever had."

"Well you're not competing with a lot." Keith chuckled.

"I'm serious, I'm going to make this the best night you've ever had."

Keith could think of a few ways Lance could give him the best night of his life, and it wouldn't require a tree. But this seemed important to Lance, so he was willing to go along with whatever he wanted.

"Okay, I'll grab the base because it's heavier. You grab the tip and you'll have to guide us." Keith said, the leader in him coming out.

Lance snorted. "Wow, you made something as innocent as a Christmas tree sound kind of dirty."

"Oh my god Lance, shut the fuck up and grab the end." Keith rolled his eyes as he reached down and grabbed the trunk.

"Yes sir," he said sensually and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Veer left!" Keith hollered as they quickly moved through the hallway. Lance yelped when he smacked into the wall. "I said veer left, not turn left!"

"I said veer left, not turn left!" Lance mocked.

"Right! Go right!" Keith directed.

"Ouch! You did that on purpose!"

Keith got a few splinters as they hauled the tree down the hall to the lobby. Keith shook his hand in pain.

"Let me see." Lance grabbed Keith's hand and inspected the fragment of wood stuck in his skin. Lance brought Keith's finger to his mouth and sucked.

"W-what are you doing?" Keith's face turned redder than Santa's sleigh.

"I'm getting it out. See?" Lance was able to the pull the sliver out with ease. Fuck, Lance was going to kill him.

They righted the tree in a platform that pinched the tree in place and kept it stable. It was a lot of work, and it had them both panting once they had it set up. "That's it right?"

"We still have to decorate it." Lance scowled at Keith for being too hasty.

"That can't be too hard." Keith shrugged.

Keith was tangled in the lights in a matter of moments.

"Keith!" Lance detangled him and chastised him for trying to throw them on the tree in a messy tangle. Lance showed Keith how to wrap the cords correctly and how to perfectly unroll the lights around the tree. They passed the them back and forth around the tree to evenly distribute the lights. It was perfect and Lance felt his heart warm at the exchange.

"Now we have to put ornaments on it and this!" Lance held up the stringed popcorn.

"Popcorn? On the tree?"

"Yeah! It's an old tradition!" Lance held the delicate garland out to him. "My family usually puts cranberries on it too, but I don't think aliens like cranberries the way they like corn."

Keith laughed and the two finished decorating the tree together. Keith complimented the handmade ornaments and claimed to be really pleased with the ones Lance made individually for the team.

Lance stood back and inspected the tree, "There's a gap there. Put a red ornament there!" Lance pointed and Keith followed his directions carefully. He wanted the tree to be perfect for Lance. Even though he wasn't quite sure why they were doing this. He's pretty sure it's March back on Earth.

"What else do you do?" Keith looked around the room. He was beginning to enjoy this, though he wasn't sure how much of that had to do with Christmas and was instead the bright smile of the man rummaging through bags like he was Santa.

"You have to be the one to put the star on!" Lance handed him a rusted star that he assumed was supposed to sit on the top-most branch of the tree.

"No Lance, this is your tree; I can't do that." Keith shook his head.

"It's our tree and I want you to. This is your first Christmas Keith, and putting the star on top is special. Plus, I don't think I can reach it." He laughed.

Lance was genuine in the way he was asking, even though he knew it was special to Lance. "Okay, I'll do it." Keith took a look over his shoulder as he reached up and placed the star on the very top at the same time Lance turned the lights on. And Keith had to say, it was pretty magical. Especially with the gorgeous hues that danced across the smooth planes of Lance's skin. He was gorgeous standing in the glow of the Christmas lights. Keith smiled fondly as he considered this his new favorite holiday.

"Look! I have stockings for everyone too!" Lance pulled out a pack of red and green socks that were clearly meant for an alien with enormous feet. "We need to put everyone's names on them though." Keith handled making the tags for the stockings as Lance disappeared to grab more decorations. When he came back, he had presents. "This is what our tree is missing." He slid each present under the tree very meticulously. The presents were wrapped with blank sheets of paper and tied up with strings in a way Keith only thought people did in movies. And the thought of Lance sitting in his room anxiously wrapping gifts for his friends (for a Christmas they didn't know they were having) was incredibly endearing.

"Where should we hang the stockings?" Keith scanned the lobby.

"Remember that one time we came back from a mission on planet 3X-C2? We were dripping wet and freezing."

"Allura has a fireplace in here somewhere." Keith remembered the way it had emerged from the wall. "How did she activate it?"

"I have no idea." Lance moved to the panel and started hitting random buttons.

"Try that one." Keith hovered behind him.

Lance pressed it and the wall opened and a blue fire sparked and grew. "Hey! You got it!" Lance whirled around and blushed at the proximity. Keith cleared his throat and rushed to hang the stockings above the fireplace as Lance requested.

"Put this on." Lance handed him a sweater. It was red and cable knit and not something Keith would normally wear, but the look on Lance's face said it all. Keith quickly grabbed the sweater and slid off his shirt to put it on. Lance blushed but took off his own shirt to put on his blue one. "I know they're technically our old paladin colors, but I like them."

Lance was effortlessly beautiful in his sweater and it made Keith want to wrap his arms around him like wrapping paper to a present, though he restrained himself. Still, he couldn't help sneaking glances at Lance who strung garland around the room.

"Hey, do you think you can reach up there?" Lance asked pointing to a high spot on the ceiling.

"No, no way." Keith was not a giant. "You could probably reach it from my shoulders though."

"Let's do it Kogane." Lance had a mischievous look in his eye that had Keith swallowing.

"Okay, jump on the count of three. 1... 2..."Lance jumped and Keith quickly lifted Lance and dropped him onto his shoulder. Lance found his balance and let out a breath of relief. "I said on the count of three." Keith grumbled.

"I got it." Lance quickly taped the decoration in place. It was a little red and green plant above the large open doorway. It was a mistletoe Keith recognized. "It's secure, you can put me down now."

Keith slid Lance off his shoulder, and eased him onto the ground. Lance was impossibly close and suddenly, Keith had the thought that this was planned. Lance looked up at the plant and back to Keith. "It's the closest thing I could find to a mistletoe. But maybe we should be glad it's not a real mistletoe because those are poisonous."

Keith could feel the warmth from Lance's skin and Keith felt like he was buzzing from head to toe. He could dip his head down and kiss Lance and it would hardly take much at all to do so. And the way Lance was looking at him, he felt he really could and maybe that's what Lance was waiting for.

"What's going on in here?" Pidge asked. "Oh my god it's Christmas!" She shouted, her eyes going wide.

Lance and Keith sprung apart quickly. Keith felt his face heat up. "Let's get the others!" Lance grinned.

"Let's use the coms." Keith suggested. Normally it was for emergencies only, but this could be an exception.

Lance was smiling ear to ear as he chimed over the castle's comm system. "Everyone report to the lobby for a special surprise! Dress comfy!"

"Oh my god, I have to go get in my pajamas." Pidge dashed off for her room which left Keith and Lance in an almost awkward silence.

"So..." Lance began, "that was weird right?"

"What was?" Keith played dumb. Lance promised him the best Christmas, and rejection would not be helping along that goal at all. The best gift Lance could give him would be to pretend nothing happened at all.

"Keith." Lance said a bit annoyed. He grabbed Keith by the back of his collar and pulled him under the mistletoe again. Keith's eyes were wide as he stared down at Lance's. Lance had that mischievous smile again and it clicked for Keith. This really was planned. Lance's hands balled in Keith's sweater and pulled him closer.

"Can I?" Keith rested his hands on Lance's hips, holding him close.

Lance barely nodded as he was already leaning in. Their lips brushed together at first, barely there and tentative until Keith deepened the kiss. He reveled in the way Lance tilted his head a bit more and pushed back just as eagerly.

Keith was really starting to get the Christmas cheer thing. Maybe his heart grew five times, or whatever the saying is; he never cared for Christmas movies. But the whole thing did start to fill him with something bright and merry. The tree and the cozy fireplace with the stockings and the sweater Lance picked out special for him. Yeah, the whole thing had a charm to it that made him feel some type of way. He tried to place the feeling, but he could only think of it one way. It felt like home. The thing is, he doesn't know how it feels like home, and he doesn't have much to compare it to. But maybe—just maybe—this is what home is supposed to feel like. Here. Wrapped up tight in Lance's arms, with the warmth of his lips to keep him content. With his friends padding down the hall to find a Christmas miracle of presents nestled below a tree decorated by hand. To find a homemade version of Candyland that Lance had crafted with Altean candy scraps, paper, and little miscellaneous items the mice had found throughout the castle.

And while this was his first Christmas, Keith knew that this one was special. Because this was a Christmas born from the mind of an almost-coma-patient who dreamed a wonderful dream of seeing his friends laughing as they gathered around the fire and sharing their own unique holiday traditions. And this was a Christmas born from someone who couldn't care less that it was March on Earth and worried only that they had missed the celebration in the first place. Because Lance never thought it was too late.

So when they parted in their kiss, they both hovered close with their lips only centimeters apart. And when Lance whispered 'Merry Christmas', Keith whispered it back.

"I still don't understand." Allura shook her head.

"Well, the holiday is sort of ambiguous in general. Its origins are pretty messy. But basically, the meaning of the holiday can change depending on your religion on Earth. Though, universally, it's supposed to celebrate love, happiness, and generosity. It's usually a time of year you spend with your dearest loved ones and give what you can." Pidge explained.

"Okay, I suppose the giving explains the presents." Allura smiled at her brand new earrings. "I feel bad that I cannot participate in your Earth tradition. I did not know I was supposed to prepare gifts."

"It's okay, it was a surprise." Lance waved it off.

"The holiday celebrates love right?" Coran asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Lance shrugged.

"That would explain the Zemotherian plant." Coran pointed to the mistletoe above the doorway.

"Huh? Oh, that's just the closest thing I could find to a mistletoe."

Coran looked horrified. "What does the Zenotherian plant have to do with toes?"

"A mistletoe is a kind of plant we have on Earth. It has red and green leaves. There's a tradition we have with hanging them from ceilings and doorways and if two people end up under the mistletoe, they have to kiss." Hunk explained.

"Ah!" Coran raised an eyebrow with intrigue. "Highly unusual tradition. But then why do you have the Zenotherian plant?"

"Well, I went into a plant smith and asked for a red and green plant people kiss under, and they gave me that." Lance shrugged and sipped his warm Thorian Root tea, not as good as hot chocolate, but it does the trick.

Allura smiled. "I would hardly say the Zenitherian plant is a replacement for your toe plant. I understand why the plant smith may have thought you were seeking the Zenotherian."

"Why is that?" Keith quirked up an eyebrow.

"Well, there's an age-old belief that when two lovers stand beneath the Zenotherian and share a kiss, they will be soul bonded. Now, many people use it for the purpose of an aphrodisiac. It can be used as a tea or ground up and added to foods." Allura explained factually.

Lance and Keith turned a bright red.