Ember crossed her arms, leaning against the platform that Allura sat on as the group gathered in the alien princess. Her eyes were heavy but she pushed through the tiredness to keep up with the small meeting they were having. 

   "There's no point in debating this further," Allura stated. "Zarkon is clearly tracking up through me."

    "Aww, space baloney!" Lance exclaimed. 

   "That's not possible."

   "Oh, come on!"

   "Why would that be so hard to believe?" Allura asked, eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "Zarkon's forces showed up on Arus only after I awoke."

   "She's got a point," Lance admitted with a frown, pulling Ember slightly to make sure she didn't lean over too far and fall. 

   "We did also bring the Blue Lion onto Arus with a swarm of Galra's on our tail," Ember pointed out, yawning at the end. 

   "I would absolutely travel across the galaxy to find you." Lance bowed down, a flirtatious smile on his face. 

   "It's not you, Princess Allura. It's me." Keith sighed from his spot away from the group. Ember frowned. 

   "Because?" Hunk trailed. 

   "I just think Zarkon must've imprinted on me during our fight or something." Keith shifted, eyes darting to the left. 

  He's hiding something, Ember thought with her eyes drifting close. 

   "Look, the fact is, we don't know how Zarkon is tracking us." Pidge said factually. "It could be through the Black Lion. Every time Zarkon gets close to it, Shiro has to fight him for control."

   "That's only when Zarkon is nearby," Coran interrupted. "No Paladin has ever been able to connect with a lion over a vast distance."

   "Well," Ember started, rubbing her eyes. "Knowing that you have to bond with your lion, what if Zarkon had a strong bond with the Black Lion that was so powerful he could. . .summon it. . ." Ember trailed off, falling forwards and resting her head on Allura's shoulder. Soft snores were emitting from her mouth. 

   "What is she even doing out of bed?" Shiro sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

   "She was hungry," Lance crossed his arms. "But then heard we were discussion something and wanted to join in."

   "Of course she woke up because she was hungry," Pidge scoffed with a shake of her head. 

   "So what are we going to do?" Hunk asked, trying to steer the conversation back to the main point. He also made a mental note to put some food on Embers' nightstand. 

   "Look, it doesn't matter how he's tracking us because we're gonna take the fight to the Galra soon enough." Shiro said firmly. "They've been chasing us from galaxy to galaxy. The last thing they expect is for us to come after them."

   "The hunter becomes the hunted, huh? Awesome!" Lance cheered. "That's the tag line from like six of my favorite movies."

   "As if happens, I took our list of recent Galra attacks and analyzed it for both commonalities and anomalies among the attack sites." Pidge started to explain, somehow going over to her chair while everyone was talking. "I was hoping to create an algorithm that would, within a statistically acceptable margin of error, provide a list of target-rich Galra environments - color-coded, of course, because what are we, animals?"

   "Pidge," Ember grumbled, lifting her head up so Allura could stand. She flopped back down onto the platform. "Your brainy talk is keeping me up."

The short genius let out a huff of annoyance before pressing a button. An image of the galaxy expanded from the middle to fill the room. 

   "Cool!"

   "What is it again?"

   "It's a Galra finder?" 

   "Well, 'finder' suggests that it locates the Galra, whereas it would be more accurate to say that my model predicts their likeliest. . ." There was a pause. "Fine. It's a Galra finder."

   "So, where are the Galra?"

   "The nearest ones are right here. A planet called Taujeer."

   "Then that's where we're headed." Shiro stated. "Everyone should get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll find that Galra fleet and take it out."

   "Sleep time!" Ember cheered tiredly, raising her arms up in an effort to look excited. 

   "Come on, up and at 'em!" Lance grunted, helping Ember to her feet. The small group of Team Voltron members made their way out of the bridge, happy to get some good sleep after a long fight. 

Ember glanced back, eyes worried as she looked at Keith when the doors slid shut. 

It wasn't until Keith was right at his door did he realized someone was there. 

Ember leaned against the wall next to his door, chin tucked to her chest and eyes close. When Keith cleared his throat, her grey eyes snapped open. 

   "Keith!" Ember coughed, pushing herself to stand straight. "Hey, sorry, I was just gonna wait for you, but I got tired of standing and - "

   "What do you want, Ember?" Keith asked with more aggression then he wanted. Ember barely flinched, scuffing her feet against the floor and playing with the sleeves of her jacket. 

   "Uh, I was just. . ." She cleared her throat. "I was just seeing if you were alright. You seemed a little. . .off in the bridge."

   "I'm fine," Keith let the lie roll of his tongue. "I'm just tired."

   "That's the thing," Ember rolled her shoulders back and stared Keith into his dark purple eyes. "If someone was asking me if I was alright, I wouldn't say 'I'm fine'. That means something off, good or bad. Believe me, I would know."

   "I don't think it's any of your business,"  Keith narrowed his eyes. 

   "Your right, it's not," Ember agreed. "That's why I'm not prying. Keith, you're one of the closest people I know on this ship. If you need anything, honestly, I will help you to the best of my ability." 

There was a small pause as Keith relaxed, eyes flashing in guilt for being so snappy, but made no move to apologize. Ember didn't expect him too. 

   "Get some sleep," Ember said softly, reaching a hand out to place it on his shoulder, but stopped short and dropped it. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

With that, Ember made her way to her room without a backwards glance - not knowing that the boy with purple eyes followed her until he couldn't anymore.

▬ ✦✧✦ ▬

When Ember woke up, getting the best sleep she's had in a while, she quickly got dressed and made her way to her little spot called Eden. 

The garden itself had grown; flowers bloomed, herbs sprouted, there was even some modified fertilizer that made the trees grow faster! Currently, the branches were still bare but it should be any day now before leaves and other flowers start to sprout. 

Ember's rosemary plant was what she was looking at, making sure there wasn't any decaying leaves or the rare bug that managed to sneak on the ship. 

   "Hopefully the rosemary grows a little bit more," Ember murmured to herself, checking the dirt as well before standing. "Then, I can use that and make a muscle relaxer tonic. Real question is, do I make it to drink or to apply. . ."

Ember trailed off to happily hum a old french tune as she worked. Most of the hard work put into the arboretum was finally done.Decaying plants were removed, soil was fertilized and plowed, seeds were planted as well as trees, and Ember managed to fix the watering system. That is a fun story for another time. 

But, with all that done, it came down to her favorite thing about finding any new room. 

The decorating. 

Although there were lights that illuminated the room, Ember wanted to hang some fairy lights. Christmas lights, just anything that could be hung where she wanted and to easily light the room when she didn't want the bright light. 

Of course, she would still use the bright lights, they were like a sun to the plants. 

Sometimes Pidge would stay in here and work on stuff, so there was a corner dedicated to her. Just like how Pidge had a corner dedicated for Ember's stuff. 

Ember was knocked out of her decorating day-dream by the flashing red lights and the shuttering of the ship. 

  "What's going on now?" Ember groaned, steadying herself to run out of the arboretum. The ebony hair girl ran into the bridge, just in time to hear Coran call out;

   "Some kind of radiation from the planet is interfering with communications!"

   "Whoa!" Ember stopped, staring at the floating planet in front of them. "What happened?!"

   "Move the Castle away from the planet and reestablish the link." Shiro ordered. "Everyone else, get to your lions. Ember," said girl jumped. "When Coran get in contact with Keith and Allura, try to convince them to get back."

   "Keith? Allura? But-" Ember glanced over to their empty spots. "What?!"

   "Coran will explain!" Shiro called just as the four paladins disappeared to their lions. 

Ember turned her grey eyes to Coran, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. Coran smiled sheepishly. 

   "You won't be happy with the story I'm about to tell you. . ."

   "Well, you better get the story over quick so we can help."

▬ ✦✧✦ ▬

After the very descriptive and somewhat long story from Coran, Ember situated herself at one of the consuls that littered the bridge room. Her grey eyes glazed over the alien words without much thought, her mind clearly not in the same room as her body. 

Her eyebrows furrowed at the suddenly red light that flashed from blue, making Ember open her mouth. "Coran, somethings-"

A loud boom interrupted her warning, but it wasn't a hit on their ship. It was a hit onto the alien ship that Team Voltron was trying to help. 

   "What the quiznak?!" Coran shouted, stumbling over towards Ember. 

   "It's the Galra!" Ember exclaimed, tensing up as she turned the volume up on their comm link. "Shiro!"

   "We see it!" Shiro replied swiftly, already ordering the other three pilots around. "Hunk! Take the Yellow Lion and hold up the ark. If it falls into the acid, the Taujeerians are doomed." 

   "Not to mention the guy beneath them," Hunk added. "Which would be me, in this particular scenario." 

   "Lance, Pidge, we've got to draw the cruiser's fire. Coran, Ember, we need you here now. Attack the Galra cruiser!"  

   "I'm on my way!" Coran navigated the ship into the planet's atmosphere, leaving Ember to start to warm up the big gun they had.  "Ember, contact Allura and Keith!"

   "On it!" Ember slide to her right, tapping the board in front of her. "Keith, Allura, are you there?"

   "We're here, Ember. What is it?" Allura's voice filtered through. 

   "Zarkon is definitely not tracking us through either of you," Ember stated, a little bit of attitude seeping through that she couldn't hide.  

   "He's not?" Keith's voice made Ember huff a little. 

   "How do you know?" Allura demanded. 

  "Because you're out there, and a Galra fleet just showed up here!" Ember snapped. "We need you guys here now!"

   "We'll be there in two doboshes," Allura replied. 

   "Even faster than that," Keith corrected, making Ember's eyebrows furrow a bit. 

   "What's that?" Allura asked. 

   "It's the booster fuel Pidge added to this pod." Ember's eyes widen at Keith's explanation. 

   "Wait, Keith, don't-!"

The sudden static that she got made her clench her hands into fist, hitting the panel beneath her gently. "Keith? Allura? Can you hear me?! Princess! Kogane!" She let out a grunt, swiping the link away and reporting back to Coran. "I lost contact with Keith and Allura."

   "They're aiming the ion cannon at the ark!" Shiro exclaimed through their other link, making Ember jump. She kinda forgot about them for a moment. "Lance! Pidge! Attack the ship with your jaw blades!" 

Ember watched as the two pilots did as they were told, causing the side of the side to explode in a fiery boom. She also saw the ion cannon let out one last shot and hit the dissolving land. Rocks and other things were thrown into the air, heading straight for Hunk and the ark. 

   "Rocks! Big, big rocks!" Hunk cried out. 

   "We got you, buddy!" Lance easily pushed some boulders away. Ember let out a sigh of relief, turning to face Coran when he called her name. 

   "As soon as I get the shield up, you start to fire!" Coran ordered. 

   "Yessir!" Ember cheered, typing as quick as she could on the keyboards, aiming the castle's defenses at what she assumed to be important parts of the Galra ship. 

   "Now!"

   "Boop!" Ember smiled as the shield covered the Castle of Lions, their blasters firing at a quick rate to the Galra ship. "Prend ça!"

   "Way to go, Ember, Coran!" Shiro praised. The two occupants in the castle high-fived. "Hunk, what's your status?"

   "Mostly just trying not to fall into a bubbling pot of acid." Hunk replied. Ember furrowed her eyebrows in concern. 

   "I can go down there and help Hunk!" Ember called.

   "No, there's not a safe way to get you down there without getting shot out of the sky. Stay put, Ember." Shiro ordered. Ember opened her mouth to retort but cut herself off as the Galra ship started to fire back at the ship as well. 

    "Merde!"

   "We're being overwhelmed!" Lance cried. 

   "We need Voltron!" Pidge added. 

   "Oh, if only there were another who could pilot the Red Lion." Coran muttered under his breathe. The two of them exchanged glances, question in their minds. Em quickly shook her head. 

   "Not me."

   "Then I guess it is up to me," Coran declared, posing dramatically for a long moment. 

   ". . .We're kinda in a hurry here, Coran," Ember reminded the older man, who quickly nodded his head. 

   "Yes! But I must get my uniform on!"

With that, Coran raced out of the room, leaving Ember to man the entire ship by herself.  "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. . ."

The ship shook slightly at the harsh cannons of the Galra ship attacked viciously at the blue shield, causing Ember to stumble. 

   "Ember, Coran, status?"

   "Uh, Coran went to go pilot the Red Lion," Ember answered, grabbing onto the panel as the ship shook again. 

   "Yeah, uh, about that." Coran finally spoke, making Ember perk up. The Red Lion left, or so says the computer. She thinks. "The - the Red Lion ran away."

   "So. . .It did leave?"

   "Yup. . ."

   "Great!" Ember groaned, half-thinking she should just lay on the ground and hope for the best. 

   "I can't hold on for much longer!"

   "Hunk, you have to! If you let go, the Taujerrians will die!"

   "That's it, I'm going down!"

   "No!" 

  "Wait!" Hunk called out, just as Ember turned to get suited up. "I can keep this thing from falling any farther but I need your help to get it back up."

   "What happened?" Ember asked, turning back towards the open window. She couldn't exactly see the Yellow Lion from here, but she felt that it had change some way. 

   "Armored claws!"

Not going to lie, Ember was even more confused. 

   "We're on our way!" Shiro said.  "Ember, keep that cover fire going and don't even think about leaving the bridge!"

   "Got it," Ember mumbled, adjusting the blaster fire towards the big cannon and the area surrounding it. But even with the Castle of Lions firing all it could at the Galra's ion cannon, the stupid thing still started to power up and aim itself again. 

At last second, something flashed towards said cannon, doing a tight circle around the bottom of it and flying off. The whole cannon popped off, falling through the air and into the planet of acid. Ember let out a sigh of relief, leaning a bit into the console. 

   "All right!" Pidge cheered. 

   "Good to have you back, Keith."

   "Good to be back," Keith replied. 

   "Is the Princess with you?" Lance asked suddenly. 

   "Yes."

   "Like, 'with you' with you, or. . ."

   "Lance, now is really not the time," Ember pointed out. 

   "Uh, Keith? Little help?" Hunk asked, stopping Lance from retorting something.

   "On my way, buddy."

Soon enough, the ark full of Taujeerians was safely out of the acids' range and away from the edge. Ember cheered, dancing around chanting 'We did it, We did it!'. 

   "All right, everybody. No time to relax. Let's show them what they're dealing with. Form Voltron!" 

Ember smiled, watching as Voltron completely destroyed the Galra ship, yet again saving the day. Her head tilted as the doors slid open and Coran walked into the bridge room. He smiled sheepishly, his uniform and all. 

   "What did I miss?"

▬ translation ▬

"Prend ça!"

v

"Take that!"