Living a Past Life (A Voltron Legendary Defender Fan Fiction)

Chapter 12

Once they had finally let go of Keith, they all agreed to meet in the lounge to tell him what had been going on. He made a quick stop at his room though because for some reason they had dressed him in a really tight shirt and shorts. He did not wear shorts.

Once he walked into the lounge, he was attacked by another group hug. "Ok, what's going on?"

"Do you really not remember anything?" Lance asked.

"No?" Keith wasn't sure what they were talking about. "What? Did I almost die or something?"

"Nothing like that." Allura chuckled. "Come sit down."

Keith tried to sit off by himself like he normally would, but both Pidge and Shiro immediately took the seats next to him. he tried to get up, but Pidge had already wrapped herself around him in a hug. Why were the acting so weird?

"Do you remember your last mission?" Coran began.

"Yeah, we were clearing some Galra soldiers out of some lab. Then we..." he faltered. What had they done after that? "I... I don't remember..."

"That's alright..." Shiro took a deep breath. "Look, I know this is going to sound crazy... but I promise it's true. There was a machine, that was damaged in the battle. And well... it turned you into a little kid for the last 24 hours."

Keith just sat there for a moment, before he began to chuckle, "Ok, very funny. Did Lance put you up to this? What, did I get a concussion and you decided to play a little prank on me?"

"I promise Keith, it's true." Allura assured him.

"Here, I have proof!" Pidge pulled out her phone, and showed him the picture she had taken of him and Shiro the night before.

"No way..." Keith stared at the picture. There was no denying it, that picture was taken at the Castle of Lions. "This has to be some kind of joke..."

"It's not." Hunk said with conviction.

Keith folded his arms over his chest protectively. "So, what happened while I was... like that...?"

Lance grinned, "Well first of all, you were about the cutest kid I have ever seen!" Keith growled at him.

"You didn't have any of your memories from when you were older." Coran explained. "It was like you truly were your 9-year-old self."

He stiffened, "Did you say 9?" he nodded, and Keith went silent. It was obvious Keith remembered exactly how had had acted when he was 9 years old.

"Keith?" Allura asked. "You, ok?"

"Look, uh, sorry if I caused you any trouble. I think I'll head to my room now..." Shiro put a hand on his knee as he tried to stand up.

"Stay." He gave him a look. "We need to talk about a few things..."

Keith let out a sigh and hung his head. "Look, I know what you're going to say. I was a kind of... weird kid. Don't over think it ok?"

"Keith, you weren't weird." Allura said sympathetically. "You were terrified..."

Keith couldn't meet their eyes, "Look, after my dad died, I got moved around between foster homes and orphanages. And yeah, some of my foster parents weren't the nicest, but it's in the past now. I'm fine."

"Keith..." Shiro said his name with such sadness, that he already knew what he was going to say. "We know about the abuse..."

"Oh..." Keith pulled his knees up to his chest.

Pidge put her head on his shoulder, and he could feel her tears soaking into his t-shirt. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"It was a long time ago..." He said quietly. "It doesn't matter anymore..."

"It matters to us, you big dummy!" she yelled before throwing herself into his lap.

"Wh... what did they do...?" Lance was scared to ask the question, but they needed to know.

Keith was quiet for a while, "It was mostly just hitting or kicking me whenever I had done something wrong. Or... even when I hadn't done something wrong. Um... there was one family... I think it was the Norton's... my foster father... he liked to drink a lot. So, uh... he'd get angry when he was drunk. Sometimes... well sometimes he'd hit me with beer bottles. Then, when I was in the group homes, sometimes the older kids would like to burn me with cigarette buds. Then... there was some... sexual... stuff..." he couldn't meet their eyes, but he could hear them sobbing. "Um... sorry. I know this isn't exactly... fun... to talk about..."

Suddenly Shiro wrapped him in the tightest hug imaginable and the others joined in. "I am... so sorry... I should have seen the signs... it's my fault you have been dealing with this alone..."

"What?" Keith had his own tears in his eyes. "Shiro... you were the one that saved me... You got me out of there... I owe my life to you..." they all continued hugging, for what felt like an eternity.

Once they had calmed down a bit, they continued their conversation. "So..." Lance smirked. "When were you goin to tell us you had a southern accent, Texas boy?"

Keith blushed profusely, "Sh-shut up! As a kid... some of my foster parents said m-my accent made me sound... stupid... so I guess I've just kinda of... been suppressing it ever since..."

"So, wait, do you still have the accent?" Coran asked with curiosity.

"Y-yeah..." he admitted. "I just... didn't want people to... make fun of me..."

Pidge gave him a tight hug, "We would never make fun of you for something like that. It's a part of who you are, and you should be allowed to show it."

"A-alright." He blushed and they couldn't help but smile at the hint of southern twang.

"So," Hunk changed the subject, "you really liked Allura and Pidge. Do you know what that was about?"

"It's nothing like that!" he turned red "I just... I wasn't very trusting of... men at that time. After everything that had happened. So... sorry if I didn't trust you guys very much..."

"You actually did warm up to us eventually." Lance pointed out. "Especially Shiro."

He gave him a smile, and protectively wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I will never let anything bad happen to you, ever again."

"I know..." Keith leaned into his touch, "That's because you are the best big brother, I could have ever asked for..."

Everyone moved onto the couch, as Pidge started up the movie from last night. They all cuddled together, and Keith finally understood what it felt like to have a real family. And he loved every second of it...

The End. 

(A/N - Well guys, that's it! Thank you so much for reading, i really appreciate it. I hope you liked it. :) When I say vol, you say...)