Days...

Weeks...

Months...

Years have passed!

Well, at least that's what you thought.

You lost track after 5 days. You really didn't have a good sense of time.

You watched how everyone was worried about who would be the new Black Paladin.

You offered to take his place for now but Allura said that you had to be at least 'this' high to pilot it. And you pouted when she held her hand up higher than you.

Time kept flying by and there were a lot of arguments between one another. You would always try to stay on the side, not wanting to make things worse. Every once in awhile one of them would play with you but they would always have that same sad smile towards you.

"Miraculous ladybug!" You laid on your bed as you watched your favorite show. "I wish I had superpowers." You said to no one in particular. And in the end the day was saved and the episode ended.

And you were left with nothing to do yet again.

"I guess I'll just take a nap..." You yawned and climbed up on your bed slowly shutting your eyes hoping that just like the show, everything would just magically fix its self and go back to normal.

After some time, you felt someone shake you slightly to wake you up. Groggily you sat up and rubbed your little eyes to see better.

"Hey there kiddo." Keith greeted you.

"Hi Keef." You said with a yawn.

"There's someone who wants to see you." He said with what looked like a genuine smile, something you haven't seen in the longest time. You looked at him confused as to who it could be, but you just shrugged your shoulders and hoped off your bed and followed Keith hand in hand to the Bridge.

You were still a little sleepy and still saw everything a bit blurry. Once you two reached the Bridge, the other paladins moved aside to reveal the one and only

"Daddy!!!"

Was magic real? Did Ladybug hear your wish from your dream?

You were more than elated and ran towards him but as you got closer to Shiro you started to realize something. Something was off about him. No. Something was different about him. You slowed down before you could reach him and looked at him until you realized something that made your eyes go wide and you ran back over to Keith and hid behind him.

"Y/n? What's wrong?" Hunk was the first to ask.

"Yeah, aren't you happy to see Shiro's back?" Asked Lance. You stayed where you were and kept peeking from behind Keith.

"Maybe she forgot about him?" Said Pidge to no one in particular. That's when you took in a deep breath and shouted,

"That's not Daddy!" Everyone turned to look at you in confusion, especially Shiro.

"What are you talking about? I know It's been a while Y/n but it's still me." Shiro looked hurt and took a step forward but that only made you hide further behind Keith.

"No!" You shook your head furiously. Shiro and the others exchanged looks, not really knowing what to do about the situation. "What's my favorite color!" You shouted at him.

"What?" Shiro said, obviously confused.

"Daddy would know..." You waited for his response.

"I recall you saying you liked pink-"

"No!" You peeked out from behind and pointed an accusing finger towards him. "I never told you!" You then hid again.

"Come on Y/n, give him some credit, he's been lost in space for about a month." Lance tried to reason with you. You still didn't believe that was a good excuse, so you ran off back to your room.

"Why don't we just give her some time." Suggested Allura. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Keith was still puzzled by your actions. You would have never in a thousand years talked to Shiro like that.

So why now?

Keith looked over at Shiro. Maybe something might have changed but nothing drastic enough to say it wasn't Shiro. Or maybe Keith was just overthinking things again.

"Hey Shiro, can I talk to you for a bit?" Keith asked.

"Yeah. Let's go outside, I've been wanting some fresh air." And with that said, the two paladins walked out into a planet they recently landed on.

"So what's wrong?" Shiro asked.

"Well now that you're back. I wanted to say that you know, you can have your Lion back." Keith looked into the distance, not really wanting to make eye contact.

"Oh, right. If that's what you want, I have no objections." Keith showed a side smile.

"Well, that takes a load off of my back," Keith said with a chuckle and stretching his arms, hearing a slight pop to his satisfaction. "So what do you think about what happened back there?"

"Oh, about Y/n? Maybe she still can't believe that I actually came back or something." Shiro pondered on the thought. "I'm sure she'll come around soon. I was a little disappointed when she didn't run into my arms, to be honest." Shiro rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Well, like you said, she'll come around. I mean, she's already gotten used being around us since she's been here for, how long?" Keith asked, not remembering.

"I'm not sure. I haven't really been keeping count." Shiro tried to jog his memory.

"Don't worry about it. We should get going if we're going to head back to earth." Keith said casually as he started to head back. Shiro put a hand on his should, making him halt.

"Huh? We're going back?" He asked confused. Keith turned to look at him.

"Yeah, remember? You said that before you...got lost." Shiro tried to remember.

"Oh, yeah. I guess we should get ready." Shiro looked disoriented.

"But don't mention it to the others, remember we didn't want them to get their hopes up."

"Right."

~

As time passed, Keith couldn't get what you had said about Shiro out of his mind and discreetly kept asking Shiro questions and sometimes he would say he doesn't remember, and when he would mention things that happened, Shiro would act as if he would remember.

That's when he decided that what you said before was true. That wasn't Shiro.

When Keith got the chance, he made his way over to your room to talk to you and he also wanted to know how you found out so quickly.

He pressed his hand against the door, allowing it to open. You were sitting at the small table in the center of your room with colors and paper spread out all over the place as always.

"Hey Y/n." He said with a small wave.

"Hi Keef!" You greeted, returning his actions. Keith rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing how to go about the situation.

"So, I wanted to ask you." He began. You turned your small chair and gave him your full attention. "How did you know that wasn't Shiro?" Your eyes widened the slightest bit but then you shook your head.

"I was wrong, It really is Daddy!" You said with a smile. Keith looked at you in confusion.

"But what about-"

"Look!" You cut him off and handed him a bunch of your drawings.

"Oh." Keith organized them and looked at them. They were mostly of you and Shiro, but he noticed that in almost all of them, Shiro was always watching over you.

"Y/n, these are nice but-"

"Look at this one!" You quickly took out a specific drawing from your pile. "I drew my bedroom! I added a lot of details!" You said excitedly. Keith took it from your small hands and looked at it carefully and before he could say anything else, he noticed something in the corner of the page.

It looked like a camera.

Very discreetly, Keith looked from the corner of his eye to find the camera in the corner of your room.

We never placed a camera in here...

He then turned his attention back to you.

"Y/n?"

"They're pretty cool right?" You smiled.

Then everything clicked.

The drawings of Shiro and of your bedroom. You were being watched.

"Why don't you and I show these nice pictures to the others?" Keith offered. You sighed in relief and nodded your head in approval.

"Okay!" Keith took the drawings and you skipped over to his side and held is hand, feeling safer by his side.

Don't worry Y/n, I won't let him hurt you.

Celestial-Red