Keith looked around and thankfully there weren't any enemies approaching, for now. He then turned back to the prisoners and noticed how injured the two really were, one of them even lost a part of their right leg from the knee down. The only thing that came to mind was the fights that the galrans would always have with their prisoners.

"Alright, you can walk right?" He asked the girl with brown hair. She simply nodded. "Okay, you take him. And here, let me help you up." He took the other girl's hand but when she looked up at him, Keith's heart dropped.

"Y/n?" He barely whispered.

"Keith? What are you doing here?" You coughed. Keith couldn't even process what was going on. So many questions filling his head.

"You know him?" The brunette asked as she struggled to help her other friend stand.

"Yeah, but wait, are the others here?" You asked.

"Yeah but..." He just couldn't get the words out and didn't even know how to express how he was feeling.

Realization struck you when you finally processed what was going on.

"Keith, Keith we have to get out of here, now." You urged as you tried to stand with his help.

"Yeah, that's what we're trying to do. The rest of the team is probably getting the rest of the prisoners out." Blinking a few times, Keith was able to come to his senses and focus on the task at hand; questions to be answered later.

"No, you don't understand." You looked around feeling the panic rise. "How long has it been since they found out you're all here??" You asked.

"I don't know, about 15? 20 minutes?" You felt your blood run cold.

"We all have to leave now Keith, it's been too long already, and with the whole team here, he's sure to come." The last part you said mostly to yourself.

"Him? Who's hi-"

"Keith we have to all leave now! Forget the other prisoners!" You had a tight grip on him and looked at him dead in the eyes begging him to listen to you.

"Forget them? We can't! We have to-"

"Keith, please listen to me for once. If we don't leave now, none of us will be going home anytime soon!" He looked at you and could tell that this was the same expression you used back then. But he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

"Shiro?" He said through his helmet communicator.

"Keith, what's going on?" Shiro struggled to talk as he fought.

"We need to head out, now."

"Yeah, I can tell, Hunk got his side done and heading over to Lance and help him out, I was going over to pidge but I got a bit backtracked."

Keith squeezed his eyes shut and with a heavy heart, he said. "Shiro we have to leave the other prisoners and get out of here now." Shiro was shocked at his rash decision but Keith interrupted him before he could even ask any other questions. "I... I found Y/n, and she says we should leave before someone--I don't know who--comes for us, and if we don't go now, we might not make it."

It was a lot to take in and Shiro didn't even have enough time to think clearly since he was still battling the last of the soldiers.

"I know this is a tough decision but I really think we should listen to Y/n on this one Shiro." Keith tried to convince. Shiro managed to take down the last ones in one fell swoop and tried to steady his breathing. The current situation was complicated enough and now he had to abandon so many innocent victims? With a heavy sigh, Shiro answered.

"Alright, I'll tell the others and Allura, you get Y/n back safely." Keith let out a breath he was holding.

"Thanks, Shiro, actually I've got a few other people here so i'm gonna need to call Red." He informed.

"Roger that." Was all he said before heading back to warn the others.

"We'd better get going before-" Keith suddenly heard a laser blast and ducked with you. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" He cursed.

"Language." You said all weak like. He turned to you and you had the faintest smile before falling unconscious.

"Really Y/n?? NOW?" Keith laid you down on the ground and started to mentally call Red. "You guys stay in here until our ride gets here." He ordered sprinting over to the enemy and taking them down one by one with his sword.

Soon enough Red came bursting through the wall letting him and the others get in. Keith dropped off the prisoners with the others on a safe location where they would be tended to.

Meanwhile, you started to stir awake and noticed the familiar surrounding.

Was this a dream?

Was the torment really over?

"You alive?" Asked Keith. You chuckled but that only made you cough. "I'll take that as a 'kind of.'" You smiled at the fact that he was trying to make you feel better.

"Don't worry, we'll be home soon."

-

Keith helped you walk into the bridge where everyone was waiting.

"I still want to know why we left all of those people!" You could hear how Allura was scolding Shiro.

"If it's any consolation, I left White and my Bayard." You spoke up catching their attention. Everyone went wide-eyed.

"Y/n!"

"It's really you!" Lance cheered and rushed over to you along with Pidge and hunk but stopped suddenly when they noticed something of you was...missing.

"What...What happened?" Asked Hunk with tears accumulating in the corners of his eyes as he covered his mouth from shock.

"Can I have a bath first?" You smiled weakly at them and they understood that now wasn't the moment to bombard you with questions.

"Y/n..." Allura walked over to you. "I'm so glad to see you're okay." She gently gave you a hug as her tears fell down her cheeks rapidly. "I'm sorry for not listening to you before and-" You carefully pushed Allura away so you could look at her. You shook your head and then smiled.

"Don't, it's okay Allura really. I've had a lot of time to think and I won't gain anything by hating you or any of the others, what happened back then was a... misunderstanding and I'd rather leave it like that." You said honestly. Allura was speechless. She wiped away her tears and straightened herself out and showed you a bright smile.

"I'm glad you think about it that way Y/n."

"Can you help me with the whole taking a bath thing?" You asked somewhat embarrassed.

"O-Of course." She stuttered, caught off guard by your question.

You turned to look at Keith. "I think Allura can help me from here on out." Keith took a moment to stop staring at you and then helped Allura grab a hold of your arm. You then hopped away with Allura at your side leaving everyone else dumbfounded.

"Was that really Y/n?" Asked Lance, breaking the silence.

"She was so..."

"Gentle, kind, and forgiving." Hunk finished Pidges sentence.

"And she was asking for help," Keith added.

"Just what did she have to go through..." Pidge wondered.

Meanwhile, you were finally in a bathtub, letting all the dirt and gunk slid off your skin. Allura was there helping you wash your head and scrub your body, careful not to rub your injuries.

"You know, this reminds me of when you were a child." Said Allura, remembering those simple times. You chuckled.

"Yeah, that was the time I first told you my name." You two started talking about things you would do back then and had a pleasant conversation.

"After this, I have so much to tell you all." You looked down at the lukewarm water only seeing the blurred image of a leg and a half.

"Aren't you going to go into the healing pod first?" She asked.

"Everyone must be waiting for me, I shouldn't leave them hanging for so long."

"I think they can wait a bit longer, your health comes first." She smiled gently. "Here, let me get you a towel. You blinked a few times before realizing what she just said.

It looks like I'm not the only one that's changed.

-

"Wait for me here for a moment while I get you some clothes." She told you once you were clean, dry, and healed, you sat on the bed while Allura looked through her things.

"I heard you guys have been attending special events from all over the universe." Allura paused hearing you say that and started to frown slightly, she kept looking so you wouldn't see her expression.

"Yes, we have. It was to form alliances and things of the sort, we need all the help we can get to defeat what's left of the Galran empire." She then spotted something perfect for you. "What do you think?" She asked holding up the outfit for you to see.

"I love it, just my style." You took a hold of it and Allura helped you get dressed.

Apparently, Alteans have never heard of 'wheelchairs' so you had to opt with hopping around with the help of Allura.

"Can someone clear a seat please?" She asked once you two got to the bridge. Everyone made way for you to sit down on the steps that lead to the two podiums.

"How are you feeling?" Shiro was the first to ask.

"A lot better. Thanks for asking." You then took a deep breath and then exhaled. "Well, here we are again," You began. "How did you guys find me?" Was the first thing that came to mind.

"We got this communicator from someone and the transmission talked about how they were holding a bunch of prisoners. Honestly, we had no idea you were there." Explained Pidge.

"Oh, I'm really lucky." You let out a sigh.

"How in the world did you end up there?" Shiro asked, arms crossed over his chest in concern.

"Well, after I left you guys, I started going on missions with Bellox and Ezran. Everything was going well and I was feeling better after a few weeks and started updating the Mormorans on what I was up to. A few more weeks passed and I decided it was time to head back and meet up with all of you but I decided to go on one last mission and I had to infiltrate that place for information but, well, I got caught." You let out a chuckled sigh and ran a hand through your hair.

"What happened to Bellox and Ezran?" Hunk asked.

"I'm not sure, after this I'll contact the blade. I've been imprisoned for about 2 months I think."

"Two months??"

"But you've been giving them updates recently on what you were doing. Did they not notice you missing?"

"I...I guess not, I said I would be on the mission for a while but I guess they didn't pay much mind to what I was up to."

"Now that you mention it, they would only give us vague and general explanations of what you were doing at the time." Allura admitted.

"And how did..." Lance began. You followed his gaze to where your leg once was.

"Oh," Unconsciously you placed your hand on top of what was left. "The Eloxs'." You furrowed your eyebrows.

"Elo-qué?" Lance asked.

"They're from the planet Elox. They're worse than the Galrans." You could feel your stomach churn just thinking about them. "Back when the Galra was in charge, they made a pact, back then with the Eloxes saying that if ever the Galran empire would fall, that they would take place and continue the ruling. And so far they're doing a pretty damn good job." You sadly admitted.

"I have never heard of these people, and we haven't seen them at all during our journeys." Allura said, puzzled by their very existence.

"Exactly." You said.

"And how do you know so much about them?" Asked Hunk.

"One of my cellmates, that guy that was injured?" You looked towards Keith knowing he was the only one that's seen him.

"Right." Was all he answered.

"Before he got there, he was a personal slave to one of those generals and he told me all about them as a warning." You remembered how terrified he looked each time he described them.

"And they're the ones who did that to you?" Asked Pidge.

"Yeah." You looked down at the stump you used to call a leg. "This is what happens when you try to talk and fight back." You felt a shiver crawl down your spine at the memory. "But it was weird, the person that --I guess you could say-- 'took' my leg put anesthetics on me, I didn't feel a thing until only after."

Pidge took a step forward and inspected your leg. She then stretched her arms and rolled up her sleeves. "Give me 5 --no-- 3 days and I'll have you walking on two feet again!" She looked at you determined and with a big smile.

You couldn't help but laugh, brightening up this whole situation.

"I'll take you up on that offer, but please don't forget to eat and sleep." You pointed a finger in her direction.

"Deal! Come on Hunk! We've got work to do!" And just like that, the duo was off.

"Someone's gotta make sure those two don't blow something up....without me." Lance sneaked away with a mischievous grin.

"If it's cool, film it!" You called out.

"Gotcha!"

"Should we contact the Blade?" Asked Shiro gaining your attention.

"Yeah! I really need to catch up on everything that's happened and I want to talk to Bellox and Ezran." Keith walked over to you and helped you up so you could hop over to the screen.

Allura did her thing and soon enough you were chatting away with your best friends.

"I'm going to go check on the prisoners we freed, keep an eye on her." Said Shiro before walking out.

You got in contact with them immediately and the conversation went on and on, all the while, Keith couldn't help but smile seeing you so happy.

"Quite unique isn't she?" Coran said all of a sudden next to him making him jump slightly.

"What?"

"Y/n, she seemed special to us even when she was just a child." Coran looked at you with kind eyes as if watching his own daughter grow up.

"Yeah, she sure is something." 

Celestial-Red