A/n: This may be short due to me deciding to leave only Keith and Arcadia with Shiro instead of including Allura. It's basically alone time for them so they can catch up. Hope you all enjoy! Love you all!!!
~✨Celestial✨~
••••••••••••••••••••

Inside the cargo bay of the black lion, everyone was gathered around Shiro as he laid unconscious in the opened healing pod. Arcadia had her hands on either side of his head, eyes closed as her body was surrounded by an emerald light. She was providing him healing, which she promised Keith she would do.

Hunk glanced down worriedly at Shiro, who's body was also engulfed by an emerald light. "Is... Is he going to be okay?"

"Only time will tell if this body will accept Shiro's consciousness. But I do believe with Arcadia's healing, the chance of the body accepting him will increase," Allura responded.

Lance, with crosses arms, glanced over at the draconian before looking around at his other friends. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Pidge activated her wrist scanner. "I've tried contacting the Voltron Coalition, but I can't get through to anyone. It doesn't make any sense. There might be some distortion I'm just not picking up on—maybe we need to get into the upper atmosphere for a better signal?"

"The Lions aren't going anywhere without recharging their power cores," Hunk said.

"The battle with Lotor severely depleted them. If we had the Castle of Lions, we could recharge them but..." Allura's voice slowly dissipated.

"Is there another way to recharge them?" The green paladin questioned.

"They can recharge naturally given enough time and ambient energy, but that might take phoebs," Coran stated.

"Wait, didn't we learn there's an ancient draconian's quintessence residing inside the lions?" Hunk spoke up. "Maybe we can ask him nicely to recharge the lions while our own space dragon is occupied with Shiro."

"I'm afraid that won't work, Hunk," Allura sighed. "Master Proliux no longer has a physical form and cannot wield his alchemy."

"No, but he could try to recharge them from inside."

"Hunk..." Lance groaned.

"Sorry..."

"There's gotta be something we can do," Keith said, looking towards the others.

"Well we are on the Dalterion Belt - home to the element Faunatonium. We maybe able to use it as a temporary solution," Coran replied.

"Faunatonium?" Lance parroted. "How will that charge the power cords?"

The royal advisor was clearly excited to share his vast knowledge. "Well you see, it involves gluofield flatulence—"

Lance raised his hand and silenced him, looking away. "You know what, never mind. Magic or something. Sure."

"Er, not far off. We're going to use the element to expand the energy particles within the cores." Coran looked away in thought, tapping his chin with his finger. "But first, we're gonna need a yalmor."

"Wait, wait, there are yalmors on this planet?" Hunk asked, shocked.

Coran looked over at the yellow paladin. "Well how do you think we find the Faunatonium? Those yalmors have a nose for the stuff."

Keith looked at the other paladins. "Okay, you guys find the yalmor and get this Faunatonium stuff." Looking between his girlfriend and Shiro, he said, "Arcadia and I will stay with Shiro."

Krolia had been standing behind Keith. She moved to stand beside him with a hand on his shoulder. She offered him a smile to comfort him.

Allura spoke up, grabbing Keith and Krolia's attention. "While we are gone, make sure Arcadia does not exert herself. I know she is cured of the toxin, but that doesn't mean she can exhaust herself."

Keith nodded. "I'll make sure she doesn't overdo it."

Seeing everyone had their minds made up, Coran nodded. "All right then, we'll get started."

Romelle held her hands up slightly, stopping anyone from leaving. "Wait, you just fought Lotor, defeated him, stopped an explosion that could have destroyed reality..." She began exaggerating with various gestures. "Took your friend's consciousness from the black lion of Voltron and put it inside his clone, and now we're simply moving on?"

Hunk gestured non-amusingly at Coran, Allura, Pidge, and Lance. "Trust me, I'm always saying the exact same thing, but these guys like to move on."

She was surprised at the response, but accepted it before following them out of the black lion. Once they were gone, only Krolia, the wolf, Keith, and Arcadia remained. The draconian continued to provide healing for Shiro even after feeling the familiar tug of exhaustion.

Not long after everyone left, Arcadia was forced to end her healing session as her legs gave out from underneath her. She managed to grab the edge of the healing pod as she fell to her knees. Keith was by her side in a heartbeat. "Don't push yourself." He helped her up, supporting her weight as she leaned into his side. He activated the healing pod, enclosing Shiro inside. He then escorted Arcadia over to the many metal crates.

Keith helped her sit down before claiming the spot next to her. The wolf laid on top of the cargo, eyeing the two closely. Krolia saw the two getting comfortable with each other and smirked before leaving to give them some space.

Arcadia leaned her back against the metal crate with a sigh. She turned her head to the side, eyeing Keith's scar. She had remembered breaking free from the mind control mid-battle with Keith and slicing off Shiro's prosthetic arm, but she couldn't recall seeing the scar. Reaching out, she placed her hand against his right cheek and trailed her thumb across the new scar. Through lidded eyes, she met his lilac gaze. "Did I do this to you?"

Keith covered her hand with his, pressing it closer to his cheek. "No. It would've been more than a scar if you hadn't stepped in to stop Shiro."

She sighed in relief. "Praise Aethios..." Her eyes widen slightly. "N-Not that I'm happy Shiro did it, but I don't think I could forgive myself if I were to hurt you."

Keith already knew she didn't mean it as a negative comment directed towards Shiro. He wasn't sure how to respond and desperately didn't want an awkward silence to linger between them. He guessed he could make some small talk and hope it would go from there. "So... I guess you aren't the last of your kind."

Arcadia removed her hand from his face once his own hand vanished from hers. "Guess not. I just can't believe Master Zenio is working with Haggar. Remember that draconic fighter we claimed for the Blade? After learning the truth about Lotor, I thought maybe he was the one to take the eyes of draconians aboard. But now that I think about it, Master Zenio was aboard that ship. I think he may have been the one to harvest their eyes."

"Why would he do such a thing?" Keith asked out of morbid curiosity.

Arcadia drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them. She thought of a way to explain the truth without revealing her shortening lifespan. "Master alchemists are gifted the eyes of their predecessors to grant them more power and a lengthened lifespan. It was a system my people used to ensure former grand masters didn't rise up against the next generation of grand masters. It was a gruesome method but an effective one. My theory is Master Zenio has been harvesting draconian eyes for centuries to ensure his power grows and his lifespan expands. One set of eyes, depending on a draconian's age and skill in alchemy, is enough to expand ones lifespan by a minimum of 80 years. If Master Zenio manages to harvest the eyes of a master alchemist, then his life could be extended by 1,000 years."

"Proliux mentioned Zenio when I was able to contact Shiro in the black lion. He was the one behind poisoning you."

"Why would Zenio want to kill me?"

"Proliux said it was because you're the only one who can stop him."

She shook her head. "There's no way I can take down a master alchemist who has over 10,000 years of experience!"

"You're not alone," Keith stated. "You have me and the rest of the paladins. If Zenio really does become a threat, we will help you take him down."

"Let's just hope he doesn't become a threat." She rested her chip on top of her knees. Her eyes drifted over to the healing pod. "Let's talk about something else. Tell me how you met Shiro."

Keith was slightly taken aback. He thought she'd never be interested in his past. "Well..." He went into detail and shared how he first met Shiro. From there, he told her about everything that happened to him at the Galaxy Garrison until the time of his expulsion. He glanced over to see her reaction and saw she was hiding her face in her knees. "What is it, Arcadia?"

She lifted her head only far enough for her eyes to be visible. "I-I may have know about your history with James Griffin..."

"What? How?" He eagerly questioned.

"Well, I...kinda broke into the Galaxy Garrison when I was on Earth and read your file. Seeing his name, I decided to see who he was and even found security footage of your fight."

He blinked in shock. "When was this?"

"Before the Kerberos Mission. I was still trying to figure out who would pilot what lion and thought gaining access to personal files could help with my decision." She groaned, hiding her face again.

Keith's brow quirked up with inquisitiveness. "Wait, were you the one who put that stink bomb under Griffin's pillow?"

"Please don't tell me you got in trouble for that," she begged.

"No way," he chortled. "Commander Iverson knew I had been with Shiro that day and couldn't connect me with it. I've always wondered who planted that stink bomb and wanted to thank them for doing so. How come you never told me?"

"I was hoping to forget about it!" She wailed. "I'm not the best influence, am I?"

"You're not the best, but you're also not the worst. But that stink bomb was amazing. Everyone avoided Griffin for a whole week because of how bad he smelled. If I had to speak honestly, I'd say that was the second best week of my life."

"And what's the best week of your life?" She pried.

"That, I'm not sure. It's a tie between meeting you or Shiro. I really can't choose because you both mean so much to me."

Arcadia released her knees and turned over to fold them underneath her as she maneuvered herself between his legs. She grabbed his cheeks with both hands, eyes narrowing. "I think the quantum abyss did more than age you. Or maybe it's because of those two years that you've matured. You'd never talk this openly about your feelings without me initiating it first. It's strange yet endearing. Lemme check one more thing..." She scooted closer to him, pressing her forehead against his. Lips pursed slightly, she stared into his wide, puzzled lilac eyes. "No fever..."

She then gasped dramatically, removing her forehead from his. "What if you're an imposter too and the real Keith is still in the quantum abyss?!" She kept her expression that of feigned horror until it shattered at seeing Keith's pouty look. She started laughing and leant forward, placing a kiss on his forehead. "I'm just messing with you." She dropped her hands from his cheeks.

Keith, who's hands had unknowingly found themselves on her hips during the middle of the conversation, gripped her tighter and pulled her closer. He leans forward, burying his face against her chest as his arms wound around her waist. He held her close, feeling her arms hook around his neck. The moment he felt her fingers combing through his hair, he closed his eyes with a sigh of content as he listened to her steady heartbeat. He'd missed her gentle touch, caring nature, and goofiness the entire time he, Krolia, and the wolf traveled through the quantum abyss.

Feeling Keith's body slump against hers as he held her tightly, Arcadia continued her ministrations. She rested her head on top of his with a blissful smile. She enjoyed their embrace, remembering their brief reunion at the castle once he returned. It would've been an amazing reunion if Shiro's imposter hadn't snapped and Lotor had to be dealt with. She then recalled fighting alongside Shiro to kill Keith, feeling her heart rate skyrocket.

Keith heard her increased heartbeat, eyes slowly opening. "What's wrong, Arcadia?"

She didn't stop trailing her fingers through his hair as she responded with her own question. "When Shiro and I were fighting you, did I hurt you at all?"

Keith gripped the back of her tunic top tightly to keep her from moving. He wanted to be honest and didn't want her to leave his embrace. "Only a few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. You snapped out of that trance before you could do any real harm. What made you come to your senses?"

Arcadia did remember the exact moment her body began fighting against the toxin that held her body hostage. That was also the moment she realized how close she was to killing him. "Th-The crystal..." Her eyes widen as tears gathered in the corners, her fingers stiffening in his hair. She lifted her head off his as a few tears cascaded down her cheeks. "I-I almost killed you..."

Keith refused to let go when she unwound her arms from around his neck and tried to move away from him. "I won't let you blame yourself. I almost blamed myself for what happened to you, but neither of us are at fault. Zenio is the one to blame." He lifted his head from her chest after feeling her fingers exit his hair and looked up at her face. His eyes were brimming with love. "We're both still here and nothing will separate us again, I promise."

"Keith..." She whispered his name feebly. Her tears started to vanish and she was pulled from her negative thoughts when she felt something on top of her head. "Huh?" Looking up, she saw the wolf peering down at her from the top of the crates with its paw on her head. She stared into its eyes, forgetting it was with them. She could feel the cosmic energy dripping from its being. "Oh, hey, buddy. Are you trying to cheer me up too?"

The wolf jumped down and nudged its muzzle against Arcadia's cheek. Keith released her so she could give the canine some attention. He watched as she moved away from him and towards the wolf, surprised at how friendly it was being. The draconian started petting the wolf, resulting in its wispy tail to wag back and forth. Arcadia giggled faintly when it started to lick her cheek. "You're a big sweetheart just like someone else I know." She wrapped her arms around the wolf's neck in a loose hug. Her fear vanished and now she was calm.

"Looks like he likes you," Keith commented.

Arcadia pulled away, scratching behind the wolf's ears. "Does he have a name?"

"Uh..."

"I'm guessing that's a firm "no"," she snickered. "Guess we'll have to give him one. Any ideas?"

"Well, I might have—"

All of a sudden, the healing pod began to beep and flash red. Keith and Arcadia ran over to see what the problem was. They were soon joined by Krolia, who overheard the beeping from the cockpit of the black lion. Keith wasn't able to read the altean symbols, but Arcadia was. "His vitals are dropping. This body is rejecting Shiro's consciousness," she explained.

Sweat droplets formed on Keith's forehead. His wide-eyed gaze was locked on his girlfriend as she typed away on the control panel. "There's gotta be something you can do."

Arcadia glanced at Keith before looking back down at Shiro. "There is one thing I haven't tried." She opened the healing pod and walked around to place her hands on Shiro's head.

"What are you doing?" Keith pried, wanting to know what her plan was.

"A simple illusion incantation to trick this body into believing Shiro's consciousness does belong within. Using light magic, I will create a fake set of DNA the body recognizes so it can't reject his consciousness. All vital signs should improve if the spell does work, but..."

"But what?"

"I can't promise it will," she confessed. "But know I will not give up on him, Keith. He means too much to you and I won't allow him to slip away."

Keith watched with bated breaths as Arcadia's entire body was surrounded by a gold light. The moment her fingers came in contact with Shiro's head, he too was enveloped in the warm, golden light. The inverted triangles on her face also changed from black to gold. Closing her eyes, she focused her magic on Shiro's body. Carefully but quickly, she casted the incantation and prayed to Aethios it would work. Still exhausted from the earlier healing session, she could feel a surge of pain in her head. Fighting against it, she pressed on even when her nose started bleeding.

Keith saw the blood trickling from Arcadia's nose and was about to stop her when he heard the faint pulsing of the healing pod. Checking Shiro's vitals, they were improving slowly. His eyes widen when he saw the altean symbols beginning to flash gold.

As the golden light faded, Shiro coughed. His eyes slowly opened and saw the shocked face of Keith. Before either of them could say anything, their attention was drawn to Arcadia. She stumbled backwards, gripping the sides of her head with a pain-stricken expression. Not only was her nose bleeding, but her eyes were too.

Krolia was the first to act and rushed to her side before she collapsed. Looking back at her son, she supported Arcadia's body. "I will tend to her." She escorted the draconian out of the cargo bay and into the cockpit of the black lion. Placing her on top of a small metal crate, she searched for some medical supplies and found some. Wiping away the blood, she stared into the partially lidded eyes of the snowy-haired girl. "How are you feeling?"

"I've a splitting headache and feel exhausted," Arcadia answered. "Besides that, I'm okay."

"This bleeding... Is it normal?"

Arcadia weakly nodded. "It's part of becoming a master alchemist. Because of the changes my body is going through to accept the higher concentration of quintessence, bleeding from the eyes, nose, and ears is normal."

Krolia lowered her hands to place the medical supplies down. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Thank you, but no. This is something I must endure on my own."

"If there's anything I can get you, ask me. It's the least I could do to pay you back for taking care of Keith." Krolia began to smile. "Singing your praise and Shiro's is all I ever heard while we were traveling through the quantum abyss. It made me quite eager to meet the both of you. Keith truly does love you both. I wish I could've been there for him like you two were."

"Keith told me about the visions he saw while you both were in the quantum abyss. What you did was courageous and honorable. I know you didn't want to leave him behind, but you had a tough decision to make and chose to keep him safe."

Krolia sighed sorrowfully. "There are no easy decisions in war. You just choose the outcome that results in the less amount of casualties."

Just then, Keith and Shiro enter the cockpit. Krolia stepped away from Arcadia as the older boy walked over. With his only remaining arm, he wrapped it around her shoulders and pulled her into a warm hug. "Thank you for saving me, Arcadia."

The alchemist was shocked by the sudden hug, but eventually loosely snakes her arms around Shiro. "I'm just glad the spell worked." She glanced down at where his prosthetic arm should've been. "Sorry about chopping off your arm."

Shiro chortled at her odd apology. "Don't worry about it. I was in need of a new one, anyway." He pulled away, staring into her eyes with a serious expression. "I also want to apologize for everything I've done to you."

She smiled reassuringly at him. "The imposter did it, not you. You may be in the clone's body now, but that doesn't make you responsible for what he did. I blame Haggar and Master Zenio."

Shiro too was smiling. "I did enjoy Proliux's company. He told me a lot of interesting things about your people."

"Oh?" She quirked a brow. "Like what?"

Keith felt a heartwarming smile manifest on his face as he watched the two most important people to him talk like old friends. Krolia patted him on the shoulder before leaving the black lion. He eyed his mother as she left before looking back to see Arcadia was a blushing mess. He hadn't been listening to their conversation and wondered what caused her to blush. Shiro chuckled before turning to leave in order to give Keith some alone time with the girl. As he walked past Keith, he whispered, "Make sure to ask her what the crystal represents."

Keith glanced down at the crystal that hung from his neck. He then approached his girlfriend after Shiro left. Gripping the crystal, he stood in front of the small crate she was sitting on. He admired how cute she was when she was embarrassed before saying, "So this crystal does have a special meaning."

"W-Well..." She stuttered nervously.

"Tell me, please."

She nibbled on her bottom lip. "I-I think I need some air!" She hopped off the crate and tried to make a quick escape.

Keith managed to grab her wrist before she could leave. "You're not getting away that easy." He yanked her back towards him and pushed her against the crate. Her lower back bumped into the crate as he placed his hands on either side of her waist, grasping the edge of the crate and ensuring she couldn't escape. He had her pinned between him and the crate.

Arcadia looked everywhere but at Keith, her cheeks still dusted with a rosy hue. She nervously tapped her index fingers together. "I-I, um...r-really should go and do th-that thing I need to do."

Keith smirked. He could easily tell she was lying. "Just tell me and you can go do that really important thing."

She pursed her lips as they shook slightly. She continued to look around before puffing out her cheeks and sighing. How could she become even more embarrassed? "Th-The crystal is formally known as an infinity crystal. It represents eternal love in my people's culture." She grabbed his right arm and tried to lift it up to escape. "I've told you so now you can let me leave!"

Keith's arm didn't budge. She tried harder, but gave up after a few seconds with a huff. Her cheeks were still bright red when she hesitantly glanced at him. "Please, can I go before I explode from embarrassment...?" She then covered her face with both hands after seeing his smirk. "Aethios, kill me now..."

Keith grabbed her wrists and tugged her hands away from her face. Keeping her wrists clasped in his hands, he yanked her closer and bent down to place his lips over hers, kissing her passionately. He released her wrists and moved one arm to wrap it around her waist while his other hand cradled the back of her neck.

Arcadia kissed back immediately. She rested her hands on the chest plate of his paladin armor, her eyes slowly closing to enjoy the heavenly moment.

The kiss only lasted a minute due to couple's attention being drawn to excited yelling. Keith and Arcadia pulled away from one another. They both gazed at each other before laughing. "Looks like the others are back," she said. "We should join them."

"Wait," Keith stopped her before she could leave. He gripped the crystal with a rare, gentle smile. "I just...wanted to thank you for everything, especially for saving Shiro."

She grinned playfully. "Pay me back by getting me a piñata once we get back to Earth." With a giggle, she left the black lion to join the others.

Keith blinked, befuddled at her lighthearted response. He then chuckled before following after her.