Everything's Back To Normal

Chapter One: An Oppressed Planet

Hello everyone! This is a sequel to my previous story, Everything Changes. Hoping to increase the dialogue and length in this one, let me know how I do! So, in honor of Season 5 that just came out (no spoilers, don't worry) here is the first chapter of my latest Voltron fanfic! As mentioned in the story's description this is rated Mature for Self-Harm so I will be giving Trigger Warnings at the beginning of each chapter and if I have a descriptive cutting scene I'll let you know where it starts so if you want you can skip over it. The warning for this chapter is only mentioned self-harm. So please, enjoy the story!

     One month and three days since Keith broke his promise. A total of twenty-four new cuts littering Keith's wrist. Some were now scabbed over, others slowly fading into what Keith knew would be some long-lasting scars, still others were raw and fresh, quick to bleed if Keith wasn't careful. He bandaged them up, the Altean bandages he'd found were very durable, able to withstand the minor bleeding easily.

Keith always wore his jacket now, the long sleeves hiding the tell-tale bandages. He was super careful to ensure the others would never see them. If he wasn't in his armor he wore the jacket, he refused any invitations to the pool from Lance, he even made sure to keep his arms down as much as possible so the jacket sleeves couldn't ride up and let the medical dressings peeks through.

But even with the relief cutting gave him from his thoughts, Keith was still struggling to lead the team. He was getting better at planning, making sure he listened to Allura or Lance before making any major decisions. Lance was surprisingly smart at strategies and dividing the responsibility evenly on the paladins.

But while Keith was good at supporting his team physically, using his bayard sword and his honed fighting skills, he failing at supporting his team emotionally. He couldn't count the number of times he'd seen Pidge crying silently as another supposed lead to her family died out. But he could count the number of times he'd tried to comfort her. Zero. He just couldn't bring himself to encourage her when he could hardly convince himself not to lose hope on Shiro.

And there had been many times he'd find Hunk stress baking in the kitchen. But even that didn't always help as he'd be unable to cook something right with the unfamiliar ingredients and get even more frustrated. There had been one time Keith had tried to say something, but his stammered attempt had only gained him the dirtiest look he'd ever been given by Hunk.

Allura was suffering as well, trying to find the strength to fight while being pulled in so many directions by the search for the Holts, Shiro, and the multiple distress signals they'd been receiving at a steady stream. With Zarkon gone it seemed that the Galra empire was lashing out at the universe for the loss of their leader. But Keith couldn't help her in choosing missions, as he was biased to choosing Shiro every time, even if the lead was so minuscule they had the follow it holding a magnifying glass to the ground.

Even Coran, the ever quirky and cheerful adviser and mechanic seemed more subdued than usual. They were taking more hits in the field, the Galra forces only getting more and more ruthless, meaning there were more repairs for Coran to tend to. Keith was sure he must have been exhausted.

Then of course there was Lance. Lance was doing his best to keep everyone happy, he'd taste test for Hunk and drag Pidge to bed, find some way to comfort them, he'd tell a joke or two to Allura, maybe flirt with her just to help her loosen up a bit. He'd help Coran with the cleaning and let the Altean tell him stories about the days of Yore. But Lance was barely holding it together himself. He missed his family, he missed Earth, Shiro... There were a lot of things he missed. More than once Keith had caught Lance crying up on the bridge with the star map twinkling above him, Earth front and center.