When Arcadia awoke, she immediately examined the wound on her side. She lifted her top to see the paste had been absorbed into the wound and had mended the injury completely. She took note of the blood that stained her clothes and her sheets as she crawled off her bed. "I need to change."

Arcadia shuffled over to her closet and opened it. Inside were a few outfits that Allura had lended her before the war with the galra started. She pulled out a dress and stared at it. "Will I even fit in this?" Arcadia removes her bloodstained outfit and tossed it aside. She tried on the dress and sighed in relief. "Oh, good. It does fit."

"Let's deal with these bloodstains." Arcadia grabbed her sheets and outfit just as the mice entered her room. They squeaked with joy and stood at her feet. She smiled and bent down. "It's good to see you, too. Would you mind helping me with these?"

The mice nodded and took the sheets from Arcadia. They wandered into the bathroom and climbed up to the sink, dragging the fabric with them. Arcadia watched as they scrubbed at the bloodstains on the sheets with hot water and soap while she tended to her own outfit.

After ten minutes of scrubbing, Arcadia's outfit was purged of blood. She hung it up to let it dry before turning to the mice. The little creatures had scrubbed the blood out of her sheets and she smiled. "Thank you so much!" The mice squeak with smiles as they hang up the sheets in her stead. She scooped up the mice and kissed them one at a time. "Seriously, thank you!"

Arcadia sat them down on her bed before petting their heads. "I'm gonna go see the others. They'll want to know I'm up." Before she could leave, the mice portrayed a scene. Arcadia realized one of the mice resembled her and the other was Keith. She tilted her head in confusion until they gave her more details. "Keith was the one who was checking in on me?"

The mice nodded. Arcadia smiled, enraptured by the truth. "Then, I'll go visit him first. Knowing him, he's either in his room or on the training deck." They nodded furiously at the last part of her sentence and she interpreted it as Keith's current location.

Arcadia left her room and headed to the training deck. As she reached the door, she could hear weapons clashing on the other side. Then, Arcadia heard Keith end the simulation and she walked in. Her eyes landed on the red paladin as she saw he was on his knees, hands clutched tightly into fists with his eyes glued to the ground. Arcadia placed her hands together and intertwined her fingers as she walked over to Keith. She stood a few feet away from him and called his name softly. "Keith?"

Keith lifted his head, eyes wide as they landed in Arcadia. He pushed himself off the floor and continued to stare at her. The snowy-haired girl felt as if something was wrong and took a step forward. "Are you al—" Arcadia didn't get to finish her sentence as Keith pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. She felt him rest his head on her shoulder as she placed her hands on his back. "What's wrong, Keith?"

"You're an idiot," he sighed just above a whisper.

Arcadia couldn't help but smirk. "Yeah, I know." She clutched onto his shirt as her smirk fell. "I'm sorry for not keeping my promise. It's just... something needed to be done."

Keith broke the hug and held Arcadia at arm's length and stared into her slit, golden eyes. "I would've done the same thing in your position."

"Because you're a hothead?" Arcadia snorts with laughter.

"I'm not a hothead!" Keith frowned as he realized he just proved Arcadia's point. He huffs a sigh and releases Arcadia. "How're you feeling?"

"Fine. My body's already absorbed the herbs. How's Lance?"

"In a healing pod." Keith glanced at her side and crossed his arms. "What was that stuff, anyway?"

"Oh, it's known as a strailix. It's a rare flower that grew on Draconia. The substance found in its petals can heal almost any wound." She tapped her shoe on the floor and blushed as she remembered everything. "Thank you, Keith."

Keith saw her red cheeks and averted his gaze, trying to hide his own embarrassment. "Pidge deserves your thanks, not me. I didn't do anything."

Arcadia elbowed him in the side. "You helped me calm down so Pidge could apply the paste." Keith remembered it as clear as day, his cheeks burning even redder. He still couldn't look at the draconian because he didn't want her to see his burning cheeks. Arcadia decided to change the subject seeing as Keith was acting strange. "Where are the others?"

"Not sure," Keith replied with a shrug.

"Then..." Arcadia grabbed the boy's hand. "Let's go find them!" She dragged him out of the room and searched the castle for the others. The duo found them in the infirmary, who were gathered around Lance's cryo-pod. When the others heard Arcadia and Keith enter, they all turned and faced them. Their eyes landed on the snowy-haired girl, who was smiling at them. "Arcadia!" They shouted.

Hunk and Pidge ran over and hugged her. "You're up!" The yellow paladin yells happily.

Pidge latched onto Arcadia tightly. "We were so worried!"

Between Hunk and Pidge, Arcadia couldn't move. "Ugh... can't... breathe..."

"Oh, sorry," Hunk said, releasing her.

"It's fine, Hunk." Arcadia patted Pidge on the head as the green paladin kept her arms around her, but loosened them slightly. "Hey, Pidge."

"How's the wound? Your minor ones seem to be clearing up," she said, examining Arcadia's features.

"It's all healed."

"What? No way!" Pidge gasped. "There's no way a wound that size could only heal in a day!"

"That flower petal you crushed up has superb healing properties due to the high density of mana that infused the soil of Draconia. That's the last flower of its kind."

"You've gotta tell me more about your home planet! There're so many more questions I have about Draconia."

Arcadia patted her on the back. "We'll do that later, I promise."

"Yes!" Pidge cheered, pulling away from the draconian. Arcadia walked over to Allura, Shiro, and Coran, who were all smiling at her. Before a word could roll of her tongue, the girl was drawn into another hug with the two alteans.

"You're alive!" Coran bellows, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Did you seriously think I wasn't gonna make it?" Arcadia asked in disbelief.

"Yes..." The altean advisor confesses.

"Talk about being positive," she sarcastically said.

"Coran was quite flabbergasted once we told him what happened in his absence," Allura explained.

The alteans release Arcadia and she meets Shiro's gaze. "How are you feeling, Shiro?"

"Only minor scratches. Arcadia, about what happened..."

Said girl stuck her hands up to stop him. "I already know what you're gonna say. I was reckless and endangered my life. I already heard it from Keith in a simpler way."

"That's part of it, but thanks to you, Pidge and I came out with only scratches. You protected both of us and I can't thank you enough for what you did."

"Hey," Arcadia smiled gently. "We're a team and we watch out for one another."

Shiro was overjoyed to hear her true thoughts. He beamed at her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're right. We're a team and need to stick together."

Arcadia and Shiro heard Hunk as he, Pidge, Keith, and Allura were staring at the sleeping Lance. "I can't tell if he looks healthy or not."

Pidge pressed her face against the glass. "I think he's breathing weird."

Keith went to press a button, but Allura stopped him. "Oh, come on!"

"Not yet! A few more ticks," the princess said.

"How much better do you think he's gonna get in a few more ticks?"

"And what exactly is a tick?" Pidge questioned.

"You know, a time slice," Allura answered.

Arcadia and Shiro joined the others in front of the pod. The black paladin glances at the princess. "Like a second?"

"What is a "second"?" The princess responded with her own question.

"Like this." Pidge pulls out a clock and shows Allura what a second was.

The device beeps and the altean watches as a few seconds go by. "I'm not sure. I think ticks are bigger. Coran, do you have a ticker?"

"Right here, Princess." Coran pulls out a ticker and starts it. He holds it beside Pidge's clock as both devices beep.

"I think ticks are a little slower," Hunk said.

"I can't tell. We have to start them at the same time," Pidge exclaimed.

"Okay. Ready, go!" Coran shouted, starting his ticker and Pidge starting her clock simultaneously.

"Yes! I think we're winning," Hunk cheered, peering down at the two timekeepers.

"Winning what?" Keith scoffed. "The intergalactic time-measuring competition?"

Hunk pursed his lips slightly. "Yes."

Arcadia was startled when she felt something on the top of her head. "You guys having a clock party?" Lance's voice silenced everyone. Arcadia realized the boy was resting his chin on top of her head as he saw the clocks Coran and Pidge had.

"Aw, Lance, you just ruined it," Hunk groans. Then, he realizes Lance was out of the cryo-pod. "Hey, Lance!"

Hunk grabs the blue paladin and crushes him in his arms. Lance grunts at the sudden hug and glanced around the room. "What happened?"

Hunk released Lance and Allura placed a gentle hand on his shoulder as she smiled. "We can tell you all about it while you get something to eat. Are you able to walk?"

"Talking? Eating? Are you asking me out on a date?" Lance smirks at the princess, who sighs in response along with Hunk.

"Yep, he's okay," Shiro and Arcadia said in unison.

"Classic," Keith huffs.

Pidge nodded. "Yep, there he is."

Lance sits down at the table as he eats some food goo. The mice squeak as they sat beside his plate. Allura explained everything to him as he ate. "He'd be Sendak's prisoner right now, if not for Pidge and Arcadia."

"Well, you wouldn't have survived the explosion if Hunk and Coran hadn't gotten a new crystal," Pidge said.

"Wow. Thanks, everybody. Sounds like the mice did more than you, though," Lance said, pointing his spoon in Keith's direction.

"I punched Sendak!" Keith said, surprised at the blue paladin's declaration.

"Yeah, apparently after I emerged from a coma and shot his arm off," Lance scoffs.

"Actually," Arcadia sat in the chair beside Lance. "Keith and Pidge saved my life."

"Oh, really?" Lance glared daggers at Keith, who scowled in return.

"Yep," Arcadia smiles.

"So, what happened to Sendak?"

"He's frozen in a cryo-pod. We're keeping him here in the castle," Allura replied.

Lance placed his spoon down and glanced at the princess unsurely. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"He's too dangerous to be set free. Besides, we might be able to get some information about Zarkon from him."

Lance decided to accept Allura's decision and sighed. "So, what's the plan now?"

"We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people," Hunk proclaimed.

"Wow!" Lance yelled. "You are really hung up on this lady."

Arcadia tilted her head in confusion as Hunk continued. "No, it's not like that. Look, guys, when you see how Zarkon has treated these people and destroyed their home... they've been under his thumb for so long, they don't know what it is to be free. It's up to us to set this right. This is what being a paladin of Voltron is all about. It's time to man up."

"Then let's get moving. Time to go defend the universe," Shiro said.

Pidge stopped and grabbed everyone's attention "Wait, I have something to say first. I need to come clean. And I'm afraid this may change the way you all think about me. Just so there are no secrets between us anymore, I can't "man up." I'm a girl. I-I mean, I can "man up" because that's just a figure of speech. I don't have to actually be a man to "man up." I just have to be tough. But what I'm saying—"

Lance's jaw fell to the floor in shock. "W-W-Wha...?! You're a girl?! How?!"

Allura smiled at the green paladin. "I've known for some time, but I'm glad you've shared it with everyone."

"Yeah, I figured," Hunk stated.

"Oh, yeah, me too," Keith said.

Coran questioningly looked at Pidge. "Wait, we were suppose to think you were a boy?"

"And you already know I've known the entire time," Arcadia giggled.

Shiro smiled, showing how proud he was. "Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better paladin."

Pidge sighs in relief. "It's good to get that off my chest. Now, let's launch this castleship!"

Lance was still in completed shock. "Wait, what? Pidge is a girl and the castle is a ship? How long have I been out?"

"You do realize you just learned this in the last five minutes, right?" Arcadia asked.

"Good point," Lance sighs.

Everyone heads to the bridge and waits for take-off. Allura and Coran went through the checklist and were able to get the castle off Arus and into the vastness of space. The paladins changed into their armor and lazed around the bridge in boredom. Lance glanced at Arcadia and smirked. "Lovin' the new look, Arcadia."

Said girl glances down at her dress. "This old thing? I rather be in my combat outfit. It's easier to move."

Lance sighed in defeat. Pidge rammed her elbow into his side. "You know you're never gonna get a chance with her, right?"

The blue paladin heavily sighs again. "Maybe you're right..." Then, he perks up and his grin returns. "I'll just try harder!" Pidge and Keith groaned at Lance's determination, annoyed at his persistence.

Hunk glanced around at his fellow companions. "Okay. So, when we get there, what do you think? Do we just roll up and start blasting? Or do we land and have some kind of public address system, like, "Attention, galras, this is Voltron. Turn yourselves in"? No. Blasting, right?"

"Hunk, calm down," Keith said. "And, yes, blasting."

"It's our first big rescue mission. He's excited," Shiro grinned.

Pidge threw her head back and smirked at Hunk. "Excited to see his new girlfriend~"

Arcadia's eyes widened. "What?! How come this is the first time I'm hearing this?!"

"Uh, Arcadia?" Keith was taken aback at her sudden explosion.

She ignored the red paladin and stomped over to Hunk, grabbing his cheeks and squishing them together. "I'm so happy for you, Hunk!"

Hunk groans and pulls Arcadia's hands off his cheeks. "She's not my girlfriend! She's just a rock that I met and I admire very much."

Arcadia smirked. "You definitely like her! I'm a little confused about the "rock" part, though."

The alarms were triggered and Hunk gasped at the sudden loud noise. Shiro looked at Coran, wondering what triggered the alarms. "What is it? Are we being attacked?"

Coran shook his head. "No, it seems to be a distress beacon."

"It's coming from a nearby moon." Allura pulls up the video feed and reveals a ship. "Apparently, a ship has lost power."

"I wonder who it is," Pidge pondered as she glanced at the image.

"Whoever it is will have to wait. Shay has first priority. We can check back on them when we're done," Hunk proclaimed.

"The paladin code states that we must help all those in need," Allura exclaimed.

"Wow! This is so cool. It's like we're space cops on space patrol. Coran, do we have a siren we can turn on?" Lance excitedly asked.

Coran looks over his shoulder at the blue paladin. "Uh, no, but we could record you making a siren noise and broadcast that to them."

"Perfect!" Lance cups his hands over his mouth and imitates a siren.

Shiro spins on his heels and quickly clamped a hand over Lance's mouth. "No, not doing that."

Allura contacts the ship through the castle's speakers as she lands safely on the moon. "Attention, damaged craft, this is Princess Allura. We are coming to assist you." She glances at Coran before departing with the paladins and Arcadia. "Stay aboard and try to get as many of our systems clear of that galra crystal energy as you can. We'll see who hailed us."

Corona nodded in understanding. "Yes, Princess."

On the moon, the paladins, Allura, and Arcadia were greeted by the crew of the crashed ship. "You don't know how glad we are to see some friendly faces. Most folks don't want to get tangled up with anyone who's on the run from the galra," the purple one said.

"So, you guys are fighting the galra?" Keith inquired.

"Well, I don't think Zarkon is exactly quaking in his boots at the three of us, but we do what we can. I'm Rolo. This is Nyma, and our cyber-unit, Beezer."

The alien beside Rolo smiled and waved. "Hi." Lance falls head over heels as he sighs with a dreamy look in his blue eyes. Shiro hits his back, causing Lance to lurch forward.

Beezer makes a series of beeping sounds and Pidge couldn't hide her own fondness of the machine. "Cool robot!"

Lance runs up to Nyma and grabs her hand, giving her his best flirty smirk. "Hi! Name's Lance."

Shiro tried his best to ignore Lance's behavior as he chatted with Rolo. "Was your ship damaged in a fight?"

The alien nodded. "Yeah, we've really been through it with the galra. Parts are hard to come by. Luckily, we were able to limp to this moon about a week ago. If you didn't pick up our distress signal, I d—"

"We're happy to help! I am Princess Allura of Altea, and from now on, you won't be alone fighting the galra. You'll have the paladins of Voltron by your side and Arcadia," Allura interrupts Rolo, who gives her an awkward glance.

"Okay," he simply responds.

"I don't think they've heard of us," Shiro mumbled.

"It has been ten thousand years," Keith stated.

"Yeah. I seriously doubt anyone in the galaxy will remember Voltron from ten thousand years ago," Arcadia added. "The generation who knew the paladins has died out."

Shiro tried to explain what Voltron is to the aliens. "Voltron? Five robot lions that combine into this big robot... guy?"

"Sounds impressive. I'd love to see it. Or—or him. Them," Rolo said, even more confused than before.

Hunk intervened as his patience was running thin. "Why don't we get to work on your ship? I'm sure we all have places to be."

"Sure. Pretty much our whole flaxum assembly is shot. I don't know what kind of extra parts you carry in this rig of yours. I've never seen anything quite like it."

"I'm sure we can get you back up and running. Give Hunk a list of what you need. Coran can show you where to find it," Allura informed Hunk.

The yellow paladin nodded. "Okay."

Rolo went to follow Hunk into the castleship. "We'll go with you. Don't want you to have to carry all that yourself. Come on, guys."

Hunk promptly stopped the purple alien. "Uh, I don't think so. You can just wait out here."

Allura sent the boy a scolding look. "Hunk, don't be rude."

"Yeah, mind your manners. There are ladies present," Lance said, his flirty tone directed towards Nyma. He clicked his tongue and his smirk widened. "Hey."

Shiro sighs in annoyance at Lance's behavior and Arcadia smacks him on the back, earning a yell of pain from him. Hunk's disdained look only remained. "Oh, I'm sorry, but does anyone remember the last time we let our defenses down? Someone kind of set off a bomb. Remember, Lance, Arcadia? You two were almost killed."

Arcadia glanced at Shiro and Allura. "He's right. Lance was reduced to a coma and I nearly bled out."

"Oh, yeah," the blue paladin remembers once he was able to get back to reality after flirting with Nyma.

Shiro looked at Rolo with caution. "Hunk's right. Sorry, but we have to be cautious."

"Hey, I don't take it personal." Rolo takes the paper Beezer printed and handed it to Hunk. "That's how it is out here. You've got to look out for your own. You're doing a good job, big man."

"Yeah. Thanks," Hunk mumbles, unconvinced by Rolo's kindness.

Arcadia, Allura, and the remaining two paladins sat around and listened to Rolo while Lance continued to flirt with Nyma, Pidge messed with Beezer, and Hunk was gathering spare parts. "My planet was destroyed by the galra and I was taken captive. I managed to escape, but not before I lost something." He lifts his pant leg to reveal a prosthetic leg and knocks on it.

Arcadia glances in Shiro's direction, who was gazing sadly at his own artificial arm. "I know exactly how that feels."

The draconian hopped onto the top of a cargo crate and sat down. Keith leaned against the side as he kept a wary look on Rolo at all times. The purple alien glances at Arcadia and gestures to her horns and pointy ears. "You're a draconian, right?"

Arcadia's golden eyes were trained on Rolo. "What gave it away? The eyes, the ears, or the horns?"

"All three, actually. I've read about your people, but I've only seen pictures of them. Never thought I'd meet one of those nuts in my entire life," Rolo chuckled.

Keith glared daggers at the alien. "Watch it," he hisses.

Arcadia places a hand on Keith's shoulder in reassurance. "It's fine, Keith. He's not wrong." The red paladin was slightly irked that she would allow a stranger to call her crazy and not react negatively.

"But by the looks of it, you're not like the draconians I've read about. You're not tryin' to kill us all with your alchemy," Rolo said, wiggling his fingers to signify Arcadia's use of magic.

"The others are my friends and I trust them with my life. I never would use my alchemy against them. You, on the other hand, should be very careful with what you say and do. You're still on my radar," Arcadia said, her tone stern and slightly threatening. Rolo swallowed nervously as he stared into Arcadia's golden eyes. Keith crossed his arms with a satisfied smirk at hearing her threat after having to listen to him insult her. On the other hand, Allura sent a scowl towards the draconian, disapproving of her use of such harsh words. 

Hunk returned with a bin full of spare parts from the castleship. "Well, I hope there are some parts in here that'll fit. You know, to get your ship moving?"

"Great! Thanks," Rolo said.

Pidge was laughing as she sped by while riding Beezer. Arcadia watched in amusement until she heard Allura's serious tone. "So, what can you tell us about Zarkon's forces? Where are they concentrated?"

"Well, his command ship sits right in the center of the empire. He mostly calls the shots from there and has his minions do the work, depending on who's closest. This is the territory of a real nasty bugger named Sendak," the alien responds.

"Oh, we've met," Keith groans with hatred.

"How far are we from the center?" Shiro inquired.

"We're way out on the fringes," Rolo replied.

Hunk became more grumpy as time went on. "Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I think you guys are kind of keeping Rolo from working. It's just that we're in a hurry. A hero named Shay saved my life, and I swore I would return to do the same for her and her people. You understand."

Rolo stood up and headed toward his ship. "Sure. Sorry."

"Hunk, we're going to get going soon, but I think Rolo might have some information that could be helpful to us," Shiro tried to reason with the yellow paladin.

"Not for nothing but I don't trust this guy as far as I can throw him. We ought to leave him with parts and just say, "Adiós, amigo"." Hunk's irritation was on the rise and Arcadia was quite shocked to see his kindness was gone and replaced with anger.

Rolo turns and calls out to Hunk. "Hey, bud! Sorry, but do you think you could hunt down a length of thermal pipe about yay long?" The alien held up his hands and showed him the measurement he was talking about.

Hunk groans and trudges back into the castleship. "On the way."

"So, are there more freedom fighters? Any kind of organized resistance to the galra?" Shiro asked, desperate to know if Rolo had the answers to a few of his questions.

"Only folks who haven't been colonized yet, or the lucky few, like us, who managed to escape somehow," Rolo explained.

"Well, we're going to change all that," Keith declared.

"One planet at a time," Arcadia added with a smile.

Rolo seemed relieved, but it faltered. "That's good to hear, but I've got to warn you, it's pretty bad out there. You don't know what you're up against."

Arcadia decided to walk around the small moon after their conversation with Rolo ended. She fiddled with her dress as she was uncomfortable in the attire, but she had no other choice. Her combat clothes were drying and all she had left were dresses due to Allura's influence when they were kids. The draconian pulled on a strand of her white locks and sighed.

"Hey." Arcadia jumped in the air at the sound of Keith's voice from right behind her. He saw and snickered. "Sorry for scaring you."

Arcadia shoved him lightly with her own grin plastered on her face. "You're totally not sorry. But... you will be after this!" She tackled Keith to the ground and stradled his waist.

"Hey, Arcadia!" Keith shouted, unable to stop himself from smiling.

"I'm gonna mess up your hair!" She proclaimed, immediately putting her hands in his black hair and messing it up while she laughed like a maniac. She noticed the smile on his face fell as he became embarrassed. The girl was unaware of why his cheeks were turning red and just continued her antics. After she was satisfied with her work, Arcadia stopped laughing and smiled down at Keith. "Perfect!"

Keith's mind was a mess as he couldn't think straight because of the predicament he was in. He didn't blame Arcadia for she didn't understand what was wrong. Suddenly, Arcadia placed her hand in Keith's forehead and gasped. "You're burning up!"

Keith grabbed her hand and pulled it off his forehead. "It's your fault..."

"Oh, no! Did I get you sick somehow? I mean, I haven't been sick in a while, but the germs still linger for quite a long while. I learned that from one of your Earth books. I believe it was something called a "textbook". We should probably clean the castle just in case. We wouldn't—"

Keith couldn't take it anymore and snapped. He placed his hands on Arcadia's face, silencing her. He pulled her face down and just as he was about to kiss her, both heard the sound of a lion. They broke apart and Arcadia climbed off of Keith to see who it was. When she saw it was the blue lion, she groaned. "Ugh, Lance!"

Keith remained sprawled out on his back, covering his face in embarrassment as he realized what he almost did. He mentally thanked Lance, but cursed him for ruining the perfect moment. Arcadia ran over to Hunk, who had been watching the blue lion take off. "Oh, Lance!"

"What is he thinking?!" Arcadia shouted.

"Aw, let them have their fun. Thanks to you, this thing is just about ready, so we're going to be on our way soon. Too many light years on that guy, I guess," Rolo said as he tinkered with his ship.

Hunk sighed. "Yeah."

"Wait, what do you mean "them"?" Arcadia placed her hands on her hips, glaring at Rolo.

"Nyma's with him, too," he said.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Arcadia pinches the bridge of her nose.

"You don't trust him?" Rolo asked.

"I don't trust Nyma or you!"

Hunk leaned over and whispered in her ear. "I'm with you on that."

Rolo continued his work as Hunk and Arcadia kept a close eye on him. Pidge shouted jubilantly as Beezer sped across the moon with her on top. Allura and Shiro remained by the fire while Keith finally recovered and wandered over to join them. The black paladin saw the red tint on Keith's face and was curious. "What's wrong, Keith?"

Allura picked up on the clues and smirked, placing her hands together and peering into Keith's face. "My, your face is quite red. Arcadia wouldn't happen to be involved, would she?"

Keith refused to meet Allura's gaze and remained silent. Shiro was still baffled and confused as he listened to Allura. He was clueless as to what she was talking about. "Princess, what is this about?"

"I think Keith should be the one to tell," she grins.

"I've got nothing to say..." Keith scowls, trying to push his embarrassment aside.

Allura's grin widened. "Arcadia is involved!"

"N-No, she's not!" Keith denies.

"Oh, she definitely is! What happened? You must tell me!" The altean begs, her eyes sparkling like a child's.

Shiro remained in the dark as he tried assemble the puzzle pieces. When everything clicked, he met Keith's lilac gaze with his gray one. "You have feelings for Arcadia."

Keith's eyes widened at Shiro's deducting skills. "How did you..."

"Now it all makes sense," Shiro chuckled.

"What does?" The red paladin questioned the older boy.

"All those weird glances you give Arcadia."

"It's not weird!" Keith yelled, crossing his arms. "And besides, there's something about her that's familiar. I just can't figure out what it is."

"I find it quite adorable!" Allura cheered, ignoring the last part. "So, tell us what happened!"

"Nothing happened. Something was gonna happen, but Lance ruined it," Keith sighed.

"How did Lance ruin it?" Allura wondered.

"He flew off in his lion." Shiro and Allura gave him an unamused glance. Keith was confused as to why they were looking at him like that. "What?"

"That's it?" Shiro asked.

"I think you got cold feet and are just blaming Lance," Allura accused the boy.

"I am not!" Keith denied vehemently.

Before Shiro could respond, Arcadia walked over with a jubilant smile. "I heard yelling and that usually means there's gossip, too. What juicy story am I missing?"

"Oh, my sweet Arcadia, you must hear this!" Allura beams happily at her best friend.

"Now I'm even more eager!"

Keith uncrossed his arms and puffed out his cheeks. "You're not getting a single detail."

Arcadia frowned playfully. "No! Why do you deny me of this beautiful information?"

"Because—"

Keith started, but was silenced when Allura shouted at the top of her lungs. "Keith likes you!"

"Allura!" Shiro and Keith yell back.

"Wait..." Arcadia trailed off before glancing at Keith and continuing. "Do you like me or... like-like?"

"As a friend!" Keith responded without thinking. He saw her smile fall and his heart ached at the sight.

"Oh..." Arcadia mumbled before forcing a smile. "I like you as a friend, too, Keith. I'm gonna... um... help Hunk."

Allura and Shiro watched sorrowfully as Arcadia walked away. The princess glowered at Keith with fury. "Keith!"

The red paladin slammed his fist against the cargo crate, regretting his every word. "I wasn't thinking," he said, gritting his teeth.

"Go fix it!" Allura shouted, pushing Keith in the direction Arcadia vanished. The red paladin nodded and searched for the golden-eyed girl.

Just then, Keith heard Rolo as he closed the hatch on his ship. "I think this thing is just about ready for a test flight. Beezer, come co-pilot for me. Be back in a tick." The alien and his cyber-unit entered the ship and took off.

Keith found Arcadia with Hunk and Pidge as the three were watching the ship take off. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she spun around in surprise. "Oh, Keith. What's wrong?" She did her best to hide the hurt in her tone and on her face.

"Can we talk?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah."

Keith and Arcadia walked to a secluded part of the moon. They awkwardly stared at one another until Keith broke the suffocating silence. "Okay, I need to clear everything up."

"Well, I'm all ears," Arcadia said, tugging on her pointy ears.

"Listen, I like you more than—"

"Guys? Hello? Little help?" Keith heard Lance beg over the comms.

The red paladin groaned in disdain seeing as he was interrupted by Lance once again. "Every time!"

Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, and Allura has found them when they heard the distress call from Lance. "Lance? Lance! Are you all right? W-What's going on?" Shiro worriedly asked.

"Well, I'm kind of chained to a tree," Lance explains.

"I knew it!" Hunk and Arcadia shouted in unison.

"And I think Nyma and Rolo just stole the blue lion."

"I knew it!" Hunk yelled by himself this time around.

"Where are they?" Shiro inquired.

"Uh," Lance pondered. "Space?"

The four paladins rushed into the castleship and headed to their lions. Arcadia decided to join Shiro in the black lion due to Keith's recent behavior. As she followed the black paladin, she could hear Hunk's rant over the comms. "Uh, I never trusted those guys, right from the beginning! I mean at first it was just like a feeling in my gut, you know, but when I was replacing that pipe, the pipe was cracked, but none of the hardware around it was damaged."

"Okay, we get it!" Keith retorts.

"I mean if the thermal pipe is cracked, then, obviously, hello, the entire assembly should be totally roasted."

"Okay! We get it."

"We should've had to replace the entire undercarriage of that reactor. So, right then, I was, like, positive. Foul play."

"Hunk!" Arcadia shouted at the top of her lungs, the comms picking up her loud voice and successfully silencing the yellow paladin.

<——————<<<<<<<

Inside the black lion, Arcadia stood behind Shiro's seat as he piloted. He found Rolo's ship and quickly took chase, but the paladin brought his lion to a halt as the ship entered an asteroid field. Over the comms, Arcadia heard Pidge's voice. "We'll never get through this asteroid field!"

"Maybe I can just bust through!" Hunk yells as he tries to enter the asteroid field, but his lion gets pelted by an asteroid. "Nope. That was wrong. That was a bad idea."

"Shiro, I can fly through the asteroid field," Arcadia said.

"Alright. Keith, Arcadia, you're the only ones who could possibly fly through this. We need you both. Get in there and flush him out," Shiro stated.

"You got it. We'll see you on the other side," Keith said. Arcadia left the black lion and transformed. She flew beside the red lion as they dodged asteroid after asteroid. Eventually, they were separated by a large asteroid and decided to surround the ship. The spacecraft then open fired and the duo easily dodged the attack. Arcadia flew as fast as she could and caught up to the ship, landing on top and digging her nails into the ship's roof. She swung her tail around and took out the blasters, leaving Rolo and Nyma with no firepower.

Keith destroyed one of the engines, enabling Arcadia to manipulate the ship's flightpath. With help from Keith, they were able to to stop the ship just as they left the asteroid field and rejoined the others. Arcadia flew by the red lion as Keith started to celebrate. "Yeah!" He chuckles and contacts Lance. "Hey, Lance, we got your lion back."

Lance sighs in relief. "Thank you, Keith. Now, can you come and unchain me?"

"What's that? I, uh... You're cutting out. I can't... I can't hear you," Keith said, pretending to have comm interference while smirking.

"Oh, come on! I thought we bonded. Keith? Buddy? My man?"

<——————<<<<<<

After receiving Lance's coordinates from Keith, Arcadia decided to be the one to pick him up. She landed a few feet away from Lance, who was relieved to see her. "I thought you guys were gonna leave me!"

Arcadia glared at the boy with a faint growl, who became frightened and swallowed nervously. "A-Arcadia?" She used her talons to cut the handcuffs and free the blue paladin. He grabbed his helmet and was able to remove the cuffs. "So... how're we getting back?"

The dragon lowered her body to the ground and Lance was able to take the hint. "Alright!" He climbed up onto her back and placed his helmet on. Arcadia looked over her shoulder to make sure Lance had his helmet covering his entire face due to the fact she'd be flying through space. Once seeing he was ready, Arcadia took off and headed to the castleship. She landed in front of it and saw the others were waiting for her and Lance. Keith was glaring at the Cuban boy as he slid off Arcadia's back. "You're an idiot."