Among Others

Clues // 30

Guys, this book is slowly approaching its end :( Omg, I have come this far, and soon it will just end. But I really couldn't do it without you - you reading this encouraged me to write more even when I sometimes didn't feel like doing it, and as a first fanfic, I will always look back at this. Thank you for everything! But do not worry, my other book is in progress and will be realesed maybe even before I finish this.

Lance's POV

O O O

I feel completely limp as I get out of the cave, the light outside hitting my face as hard as I hit Keith's. I have been away long enough for my intercom to crackle with my teammates worried cries. It's only now that I actually turn my intercom on so they can hear me.

"I'm not dead", I inform them with a monotonous voice, raspy and cracked. Technically, I'm dead on the inside, but they don't have to know that.

"Have you been crying?" Hunk asks in a high-pitched voice. Of course. There is no escaping Hunk's observations.

"I found the gem", I say instead. My hand is shaking as I look down at the shining object in my hand. 

"It sounds that you found something more", Shiro says and it annoys me that everyone just cares about my condition and not the fact that I found the thing we came for. "More like someone."

"He's gone, Shiro", I whimper and the tears wells up through my eyes all over again. My throat burns and my voice is quivering and unbalanced as I speak again. "He really l-left us. He won't let us h-help him. He just left. That stupid b-bastard."

"Lance", the softness in Shiro's voice is almost enough to make me calm down a little. "Please go to your lion and get to our meeting place. We will sort this out. I promise you that."

But the hesitance in his voice tells me he might not be so sure in his own words.

O O O

"I know Keith has a very good reason for leaving us", Hunks says and pats my head on his shoulder. I close my eyes and curl into him more, nuzzling my face in his soft chest. "I know he wants you to know that, too."

"Being an idiot isn't a good reason, Hunk", I protest and I can feel Hunk shake his head. 

"Don't be so hard on him, Lance. Keith may be impulsive and think after his actions, but when it comes to his teammates, he will always have a good reason as to why he left us. He sees us as our family."

"He does?", I ask and hug Hunk's arm tighter. I can't really picture it in my head. It's like it's too imaginary to even fit inside my head.

"Yeah. He told me once, but then acted like he never said it. It may be embarrassing for him, but it's true." The happiness in Hunk's voice drops. "I think we may be his only family, actually."

I push myself off Hunk's shoulder and look into his big eyes. He meets my eyes softly, and his words awakes a inquisitive side of me. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it", Hunks says and sits cross-legged, holding his feet. "He never talks about his family, and whenever we talk about ours, he always finds an excuse to wriggle out of the conversation or get out of the room."

I don't want it to be right, I just don't. I have this meaningless little tad of hope somewhere inside of me but it doesn't do much. I want to believe that what Hunk says isn't true, but a big part of me knows it might be.

I look back at Keith's pained and shadowed face in my room, the tears that fell down onto my cheeks like my own, and his way of looking at his life. How he thinks he didn't deserve all the tragedy that might have happened throughout his life back in Earth. Returning to Earth maybe wouldn't means as much as it would to us. Maybe he has no home. Maybe his "home" can be anywhere.