Ember watched the Yellow Paladin in amusement as his snoring seemingly got louder. Or maybe it really was getting louder, she couldn't tell. 

Lance was in between the two of them, seeing as Ember had tried to draw a mustache on his face with a black marker she had found. No one questioned her, but Lance did stop her. 

   "Only ten more minutes," Ember whispered to herself, just loud enough for Lance to hear her over the snores. "Then I can marker his face!"

   "A lot can happen in ten minutes, Bee," Lance pointed out with a chuckle. 

   "Don't jinx it!"

Much to her disappointment, Hunk snored loudly, fell forwards, and jerked himself back. He was now wide-awake. 

   "What'd I miss?!"

   "Oh, nothing important," Lance commented, patting Ember's head as she sulked. "We've just figured out a way to defeat Zarkon."

   "Really? I dozed for ten minutes, and you guys figured out how to defeat the forces of evil?" Hunk rose an eyebrow. 

   "You've been asleep for three hours," Pidge deadpanned. 

   "It would've been four hours, but you just had to wake up," Ember pouted with her arms crossed. Hunk grinned nervously at Pidge before finally catching the holograph of the Galra ship in the middle of the bridge. Allura, Shiro, Kolivan, Keith, Coran, and two other Blade members surrounded it. 

   "I think we've got something here." Shiro admitted finally. "It's dangerous and there are a lot of moving parts, but if we can coordinate everything just right, then-"

   "Zarkon's reign will be at an end," Kolivan finished. "and the savagery that's poisoned our universe can finally be cleansed. You've done it, Shiro."

   "We did it together." Shiro insisted, holding a hand out. Kolivan grasped his forearm and Shiro returned the sign of trust. 

   "As long as we all stick to the plan, it should work." Allura stated. 

   "It will work." Kolivan stated firmly. "Perhaps, then, you'll learn that not all Galra are as bad as Zarkon. Just as not all Majesdanians are as bad as Frankline and Mjör." 

Allura turned away, making Ember sigh as she faced Keith. He was looking at the bottom of the holograph ship, eyes lost in thought. 

Ember was concerned. She's never seen Keith this. . .lost. 

   "Ulaz was right to trust you all." Antok, Ember had learned, said to Shiro. 

   "Of course he was," The other blade member snapped back. "Ulaz's trust would have never gone to someone it shouldn't go to."

   "He sacrificed everything to bring us together." Shiro agreed. "Let's honor him by taking down Zarkon." 

Pidge, Hunk, and Ember started to make their way towards the group, Lance jogging there to be first. 

   "So, what's the plan?" Hunk asked. 

   "The plan is amazing!" Lance exclaimed, quickly sharing their idea with the Yellow Paladin. "First, we infect Zarkon's ship with a virus. Then, we make an extra-large wormhole and lure Zarkon inside of it, zapping him a bajillion light-years away. Then, when he pops out on the other side, all like 'Oh, why doesn't my ship work?'  Voltron kicks his butt!"

Lance continued on with multiple sounds that he hears in a fight. Ember had to admit, Lance did I pretty good Zarkon impression. 

   "I'll form the head," Lance dropped his voice. "That's what you say, Shiro!" The Blue Paladin started to dance around the room, his excitement leaking out. "Yeah, yeah. Yeah! We won for all time!" 

   "Wow. So, this is it." Hunk said. The room was plunged into a silence as the thought finally hit them all. This could possible be how Zarkon's empire falls.

   "I guess the only question is, when do we strike?" Pidge asked. Coran quickly pulled up a screen. 

   "As soon as we build a teludav big enough to wormhole Zarkon's ship." Coran replied, showing the teludav in place of Zarkon's ship. 

   "Oh, man. The teludav again? Does that mean we need more scaultrite?" Hunk groaned. 

   "That's just one of the many things we'll need." Allura responded. 

   "Am I, uh. . .Am I sensing a trip back to the space mall here?" Hunk asked hopefully. 

   "I'm afraid not." Coran answered, sending a frown to Hunk's face. "This is gonna take a lot more scaultrite that we can find in any Unilu shop. For this plan to succeed, we're gonna need to split up. We all have a task to do. Keith, Hunk, you'll be in charge of getting the scaultrite. If any one of us fails, the entire plan fails."

Ember pursed her lips, turning to face Kolivan with a questioning look in her eyes. When he turned to meet her gaze, she smiled slightly. 

   "Hi, uh, I was wondering. . ." Ember exhaled, rolling her shoulders back to make herself a bit taller and more relaxed. "I know you have some Majesdanian in the Blade of Marmora. I was wondering if you could lean a member to help me control my powers better, and to learn how to fight." 

   "I don't think-" Keith finally snapped out of his dream-like state, looking over at the girl with the yellow jacket. Ember was quick to speak over him. 

   "I know I am just a medic, but if this plan is as big as you guys are making it out to be, then I need to learn how to fight and control my powers." Ember stated, looking Allura in the eye. The Altean Princess looked proud. "Before my powers control me." 

There was a small pause as Team Voltron took in her words. They didn't realize that Ember was wanting to learn that bad. . .

   "How are the patients you tended to before joining us here?" Kolivan asked, his face giving nothing away. It made Ember slightly uneasy, but it is a good trait to have as a leader. 

   "A tended to the ones with infected wounds first, they should be fine if they keep taking the medicine I left for each of them on their bedsides. Someone needs to take their bandages off every half-day, let it air out for an hour, before re-wrapping. The sick ones were next, they need to keep drinking the tonic I gave them on their bedsides as well." 

Ember straighten up, trying to show that she knew what she was doing, even if she was decades younger than the Galra Blade leader in front of her. Kolivan seem to take the information into account, eyes closing for just a moment before opening again. His steely gaze didn't leave Ember. 

   "Bialar, you shall train Voltron's medic in every field that you deem she needs." Kolivan ordered. "If she wishes to continue training, you shall become her permanent trainer.  At least until this is all over."

   "Sir." The smaller Blade member saluted before turning to Ember. A smile stretched out onto the halfings' face as Bialar took down her hood and the mask disappeared. "We meet again, Ember."

▬ ✦✧✦ ▬

Team Voltron were in the hanger, saying goodbye the the first two people, Hunk and Keith, who were to be sent off. Ember had already given Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro their good-bye hugs and told them to be safe. Now she was just waiting for Shiro and Keith to let go of the "manly handshake" they had. 

It was just a hug. Really, the two of them can just say it aloud. 

When Shiro finally walked over to Allura, Ember ran forward and smiled up at Keith. 

   "Hey!" She exclaimed, reaching for a hug before pulling back. He might not want a hug from her. "You better be safe out there, I already told Hunk to keep you out of trouble."

   "Your trust in me astounds me." Keith replied dully. Ember's smile faded as she watched Keith and Allura exchanged a look before the Princess looked away. He seemed a bit upset. 

   "Keith," Ember started, raising her hand and putting it on his shoulder after he didn't shrug it away. "I want you to know, that even if you have a little bit of Galra blood, you're still Keith Kogane to me. Best pilot in the galaxy and one of my closest friends."

He still looked upset, and Ember knew it was going to be a while before he was okay, but he gave her an attempt of a smile. It was more of a grin. 

Ember called that progress. 

   "Thanks." Keith hesitated for a moment before gently wrapping his arms around Ember's torso. A small smile fell over her face as Ember reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, closing her eyes. 

   "It's not a problem. Really." Ember murmured back, giving him a little squeeze before pulling back. Her grey eyes sparkled. "Be safe."

   "Try to learn a lot from Bialar," Keith started towards the Yellow Lion. "Maybe we can spar when I get back."

   "Bet!" Ember grinned in reply, waving. 

Ember watched the Yellow Lion as if powered on and departed from the Castle of Lions. She stayed for as long as she could see the yellow paint, which wasn't really far, before she turned to the dark-skinned beauty. Her orange eyes stared off into the distance, but Ember knew that look by now. She really wasn't here.

   "I remember Ulaz always telling me to be safe before missions," Bialar said in a soft tone, mind in the past. "He was always the first to greet me, too." 

   "He is still with you," Ember finally spoke, making Bialar snap out of her daze. Gray and orange met, and Ember couldn't help the small smile that crawled onto her face. "He will always be with you. Your, uh, Beau, was it? He'll always be with you."

   "So young, but so wise." Bialar mused. 

   "I - I wouldn't say that!-"

   "Nonsense! You must have lost someone to. . ."

Ember closed her eyes briefly. "Yes, my Grand-mère, uh, Grandmother. We were close, before she passed away. My older sister told me what I told you whenever she found me crying one day."

   "Your sister also seems wise."

   "Most of the time."

Bialar took a deep breath, letting a steady stream of air out of her nose before turning on her heels. "Right! Take me to your training room! We shall begin training immediately!" 

   "Before we even begin to manipulate your powers into you fighting, you must know how to fight. Because, sometimes, you will be too tired to summon anything but still fight."

Bialar started the lesson as soon as they were in the training room. The woman had Ember show her everything she could absolutely make - which was just a shield, a dagger, and those throwing disks - before they moved on. 

   "Do our powers run out quickly?" Ember asked. 

   "It is different with each Majesdanian. For my power, it takes a while to run out. But that is because I've pushed my limits to grow." Bialar answered. "There is, also, people and objects that can block our power."

   "Those metal cuffs," Ember replied, her mind flashing back to the cell she was in when the Galra took her. Bialar grimaced. 

   "One of the objects that the Galra and dirty Majesdanians got their hands on." Bialar confirmed. "Now, get ready to fight."

Ember gulped, but nonetheless got into a fighting stance, fists raised. Bialar ran a critical eye over her form, giving a nod of approval. Not even giving Ember a warning, Bialar ran forward and threw a left punch. 

Ember ducked, barely missing the left punch before stumbling backwards as Bialar's right elbow almost hit her head. Muttering words under her breath, Ember shot her leg out and kicked Bialar's back and pushed the older woman back. 

Turning around, Bialar moved forward again and sent another punch. This time, Ember raise her arms to block, wincing at the force of the punch, and not noticing Bialar sweeping her legs out from under her until Ember hit the ground. 

   "Merde," Ember wheezed, making eye contact with Bialar as the dark skinned woman held a hand out. 

   "Pretty good," Bialar started, but Ember intervened. 

   "Pretty good for a toddler," Ember retorted, gratefully taking Bialar's hand. "I barely even lasted two minutes."

   "It's because you're focusing one on thing and one thing only," Bialar admitted. "You're either focused on your opponents fists or feet, not both." At Ember's confused face, Bialar continued. "If I throw a punch at you, you're going to block, but as soon as I use my feet, you loose focus. You're not aware of all of your surroundings, which is bad in a fight."

   "So. . .I need to be aware of my surroundings. . .and focus on my opponent?" Ember asked. 

   "Yes, and no." Bialar paused. "What kind of learning are you?"

   "Hands on." Ember replied instantly. "Just show me where to put my hands, what to do, and how to do it and I can learn it."

   "Great," Bialar grinned. "I will teach you easy combos that the Blade trainers taught us first. We also need to work on your reaction time and your awareness. Probably wouldn't hurt to put some more up-close attacks in our to-do list." 

   "So, easy combos, reaction time and awareness, up-close attacks, and training my powers?" Ember listed off. 

   "Yes."

   ". . .Alright," Ember nodded. "As long as this helps me help everyone else."

   "You have a good heart, Ember," Bialar said. "Don't let this war destroy it. Now, drop and give me twenty."

   "Yes ma'am!" 

▬ ✦✧✦ ▬

Although their training was cut short, Ember managed to learn how to properly throw her rainbow disks to hit her target and how to put someone into a choke hold. When attempting to do a move Ember swore she saw on an old Marvel movie, she fell flat on her face. 

They decided to work on making her stronger as well. 

Allura, Ember - and much to Allura's distaste - Bialar all found themselves standing on Balmera soil. They were greeted imminently by the dwellers on the Balmera, and Ember sent them all a bright smile in there return. 

Bialar looked around at the planet, her mask or hood not on for once, but still keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. 

   "The Balmera welcomes your return, Ember, Princess Allura." Shay's grandmother greets the two, her wise yellow gaze drifting towards Bialar. "And welcomes a new guest as well."

   "My name is Bialar," The older woman introduced herself with a respectful nod. "I am Ember's trainer."

   "Princess, did Hunk accompany you?" Shay asked with a hopeful look on her face. 

   "I'm sorry, Shay, but I've come with only Ember and Bialar." Allura replied softly. Ember hid a cheeky smile behind her hand, amused with Shay's question.

 They totally are crushing hard on each other!

   "The others are on their own missions, collecting important elements that we need to defeat Zarkon." Allura continued her explanation. 

The Balmerans relayed their shock, Shay's grandmother echoing the statement. "Defeat Zarkon? How can we help? The Balmera and its people can never thank you enough for all that you've done." 

   "And here I thought we were going to be thrown back onto the ship," Ember joked, causing Shay's brother (Drax, if she remembered) to crack a smile. 

   "If the Balmera will give it, I need a crystal." Allura requested. 

   "Battle ship class?" Shay asked. 

   "Bigger." Ember answered, her joking look dropping into a serious look. The Balmerans exchanged glanced, as if communicating through their minds, before the grandmother nodded. 

   "Follow us."

The journey wasn't long, necessary, but it wasn't short either. It went down a pathway that Ember clearly remembered being blocked off on their last visit here.

While a big group of Balmerans followed them, Ember was walking by herself. Bialar was enjoying the new company and was quietly talking to Shay's grandmother. Which made Ember furrow her eyebrows. 

Something had happened to Bialar between their first meeting and now. Something that caused the vibrant, outgoing woman to a mellowed out version. 

But what was different?

  She still has her son, that much I know. Ulaz isn't-

  Ulaz!

A lump formed in Ember's throat at the sudden thought. Ulaz and Bialar had been together when they all first met. But then Ulaz sacrificed himself. . .What if Ulaz was Bialar soulmate? Or, what did Allura call them. . .Promissa?

   "Are you okay?"

Ember jumped slightly, elbow hitting the side of the tunnel they were going now. "Ouch!" She hissed, rubbing her funny bone. 

It wasn't that funny.

   "Sorry!" Drax exclaimed, his eyes surprised. "I didn't mean to scare you."

   "No, you're all good!" Ember smiled. "I was just lost in thought. Did you need anything?"

   "Ah, no," Drax rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I was just wondering if you would like to talk."

   "Sure!" Ember chirped, dropping her arm. "What do you want to talk about?"

   "Well. . .I didn't think I would get this far. . ."

Ember giggled lightly. "Okay, um. . .How has your freedom been? I'm sure its different than what you're use to."

   "Very much so!" Drax exclaimed. "I don't have to work myself to the bone and still work, I can eat when I want, as much as I want, it's all refreshing!"

   "Oh, I bet!" Ember's smile faltered a bit. "I wasn't ruled over by an evil war lord, but when I first started my schooling to become a pilot, it was amazing."

   "Pilot? Are you not a medic?" Drax questioned. 

   "I started my classes as a pilot. I had a. . .rough time for a while, but then I realized my path was to help people! I chose the medical field because of it. Now, I'm trying to fight an evil overlord. Life is weird!"

   "I'm sure it is just your life," Drax chuckled, nudging Ember jokingly. 

   "I'm not going to deny that."

   "Incredible." At Allura's statement, Ember brought her gaze to the giant crystal that was in the middle of the tavern. It glowed brightly and shone like a star. 

   "Beautiful," Ember whispered with wide eyes. 

   "Sure is," Drax replied in the same soft tone, gazing at Ember before looking back up at the crystal. 

   "When the Galra were here, these caverns were closed off." Shay explained. "As if the Balmera was protecting itself. Now that the Balmera is free and healed, the crystal caverns are opened once more."

Allura, with as much gracefulness that comes with being a Princess, walked towards the crystal and gently pressed her hands on it. In reaction to her touch, the crystal started to glow brighter and emit a hum. 

   "Ember, would you mind?" Allura asked softly. Ember grinned, quickly making her way next to Allura and placing her own hands on the crystal. The same reaction happened, but her own hands started to change to their iridescent glow. 

   "Would you mind a helping hand?" Bialar slowly made her way next to Ember. Allura eyed the Blade member carefully before nodding curtly. 

   "Just focus your energy into the crystal," Allura instructed, her gaze going soft as Bialar almost squealed with excitement. Together, the three of them closed their eyes and focused on the crystal, letting the power of Altean and Majesdanian flow through them. 

The cavern rumbled around them, but the three never once opened their eyes. They were too focused on their work, to have a crystal big enough to complete the plan to defeat Zarkon. When when Ember could barely touch the crystal anymore, because it had started to rise into the air, she didn't open her eyes. 

She just focused. 

Finally, they had what they needed. Ember opened her eyes, watching her hands turn from rainbow blur to pale skin before watching Bialar's own hands turn to their dark shade. 

   "That was. . .wonderful!" Bialar exclaimed softly, eyes wide as she stared at the crystal. "Truly magnificent!" 

   "Have you never done this before?" Allura asked after whispering her thanks to the Balmera. There was a touch of curiosity in her tone. 

Bialar shook her head sadly. "It was before my time. By the time I knew how to do something like this, from my studies, Zarkon had already dominated most of the universe."

   "But now you have," Ember grinned, a burst of excitement shooting through her body. She wrapped an arm around Bialar's torso - before Bialar was taller - and wrapped her other arm around Allura. "Just think! If this plan works out, we can do so many things we've never dreamed to do now! We can do it together!"

Although Allura was still wary of the Blade member, she sent the two a smile. "Let us hope for the best, then."

   "Agreed."

▬ ✦✧✦ ▬

   "The crystal has been loaded onto your Castle, Princess." Shay's voice interrupted Bialar's and Ember's discussion. Knowing that is was about time to leave, Allura hugged Shay and Ember went to hug Drax, Shay, and then their grandmother. 

   "We wish you could stay longer." Shay's grandmother gently grasped one of Allura's hands and one of Ember's. She squeezed their hands tight before reaching over to hold a bowel out to them. "I made you three stickercup stew for the sky road."

Ember, not wanting to seem rude, smiled brightly and let Allura handle the situation. 

   "Oh, thank you. I'm sure we will enjoy this immensely." Allura sent a tight smile, trying not to be rude as well. She took the bowel before shoving it into Ember's arm. 

   "Thank you!"

   "To all you Balmerans, thank you once again." Allura thanked the large group of people that had gathered in front of them. The ground rumbled beneath them, once again, but this time with much more force. 

   "What was that?" Allura gasped, looking around the area with a critical eye. 

   "That crystal mountain over there just moved!" Bialar informed them. 

   "What crystal mountain?!" Ember exclaimed, before looking at the beast they sealed many months ago. "That's not a crystal mountain!" 

Sure enough, the beast was starting to come back to life. It's armor started to turn into on into a purple hue and the crystal around it started to crack some more. 

In shock, Ember dropped the bowel. "Oh, no."

Now this, this was a problem.