Chapter Text
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I can't get you out of the sunlight
I can't get you out of the rain
I can't get you back to that one time
'Cause you and me are still recovering
So let's just try to cool it down
This fighting is feeding the flames
So lets try to slow it down
We crash when we race
Oh this is not the way that it should end
It's the way it should begin
It's the way it should begin, again
- Begin Again by Colbie Caillat
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It was over. The war was finished and we had won. We had lost some and gained some but it didn’t matter because everyone could rest now knowing we were safe. But it seemed as soon as the fighting has ceased, the paladins of voltron moved on instantly, taking no time to heal. Half of them left for space while the rest began new projects on Earth. Lance, though, did neither and moved back to Cuba to help with the family farm.
Lance returning home from four years of being in space was something I had never expected. I had assumed him to be dead and I was shocked with myself that I even thought of that. Having Lance was like the life of the party had come back, like the better half of me was back in his spot, right next to me. But never in my 21 years on Earth had I ever thought Lance would decide to work on the farm.
The farm was for the kids to help out and understand that you have to work for things and for the adults to earn a bit more money during the harvest. It was not for 21 year olds who were depressed and sad. I understood Lance had lost a lot along the way: his home and family for four years, his youth, both his lions, his “girlfriend” that I never got to meet, and now the only people who understand what he’s going through.
I may be Lance’s twin sister but I shouldn’t be the one responsible for getting Lance to the next stage, healthy moving on. But I guess I was alone for this part, not even the rest of the family could see what Lance was going through like I could. I sighed, if only I knew what exactly happened up in space. I only knew small, vague parts that didn’t click together and if I ever brought it up with him, he would change the subject. I didn’t want to force him but if he keeps acting like this, I would have to.
The one thing Lance seemed to have not lost was his humour and his golden heart, even though I had never experienced what he’d gone through, our sibling bond was still the same. Things were different though. After his girlfriends sacrificed herself for the universe, he received Altean marks from their last kiss. They were an ocean blue and I found that ironic, his first lion was blue, he loved the ocean and his eyes were the same shade. I know that his girlfriend did that to give a part of herself to him but now this makes moving on harder. Everytime he looks in the mirror, he’s faced with Altean marks.
The one good thing about them was that Lance decided to talk with the kids at the new Altea, about his girlfriend, Allura, of course but it was better than nothing. I loved new Altea it was so beautiful. I knew Lance went there because there was a huge statue of Allura but I went because of the views, and so my brother didn’t get drunk on Altean wine and try to drown himself in the river like last time. It was a problem we were currently trying to overcome.
It was one day when Lance had randomly stated that he wanted to go to the new Altea. I obliged and followed him there. We walked around, talked to some kids and saw what new things were going to be added. At 8 pm, I lost Lance in a crowd so I wandered around and I found myself outside in front of Allura’s statue. I knew at some point I would have to go and find Lance, make sure he was coping alright but looking up at the stars, I realised that I wanted to go explore space still. I knew I couldn’t though, Lance needed me more than ever right now. I would have to wait until he was better and I had no idea how long that would take.
A shooting star flashed by in the sky and I shut my eyes and whispered, “Please, please let some miracle happen. Please let things start over so Lance can recover properly. Let him have his youth back, his happiness not just for my sake but for his sake, please.”
Someone coughs behind me and I gasp, spinning around to see a small Altean child with dark brown skin and white hair, almost an exact replica of Allura but as a kid. “Hello, do you want to begin this again?”
I was confused by what the girl meant, start life over or start the war over? I just nodded, “My brother is in pain because of the loss of his girlfriend and because of the war.”
The girl looks up at the statue, “Well it seems that you just happened to be in the right place, come with me.”
She walks back into the castle and I steal a glance at Allura’s statue and I can feel it watching me. If this is you trying to fix what’s wrong, I hope you know what you’re doing. I follow the girl down hallways, twists and turns before she runs off. I look around, trying to find the little girl but she had disappeared. I sighed, just a stupid scam.
I continue down the hallway to find a small door at the end. Curiosity hits me, what’s in there? I open it to see a pink and white portal. What? I reach my hand out and touch it. My hand goes right through. I freak out, jumping back and I’m about to slam the door close when something from behind pushes me in. I turn my head before I enter it to see the little girl, except she’s older and I can tell she is not a look a like of Allura, she is Allura. She smiles and whispers a structure of words that fill my head, making me wonder, what does she mean?
The portal swirls around me as I drift off to some other land. I start to fall asleep, my eyes drooping. I do not think of Lance, who is somewhere still partying or crying or my family who do not know what is happening right now, all I can hear are the words that Allura uttered, over and over in my head:
with this spell,
i invoke Father Time
i grant you the time you need
i grant you the secrets you wish to see
but to turn back the clock
you must do it again
you must begin again to
change the past to shape the future
into something better
Where all desires are met
And all love is set
Somewhere, on another land, a small girl with dark skin and white hair, pink marks underneath her eyes, smiles and lays down in her bed knowing that she can finally rest. She mutters a few words before her form crumples up and vanishes. Her last words are carried across the land:
Take care, Guardian.
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All of my friends moved away
To somewhere bigger, better
Maybe they had no reason to stay
But I still remember
The weekends we’d be on my bedroom floor
Hear the music they don’t play no more
It still feels like yesterday
I get homesick in my hometown
‘Cause everything looks different now
And it all changed, I don’t know why
Then again, so did I, did I, did I
- Homesick by Will Jay
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