How Far I've Come (Keith x Reader)

⚔︎ The Argument; Chapter Fifteen ⚔︎

You screamed, too tired to thrash as he bent down, grabbing your hand gingerly, then squeezing it tight with vigor. You whimpered, looking into his toxic indigo eyes.

"It's time." Lotor growled.

•

And once more, the horrifying forgotten life of y/n is silenced by the click of a button. Silence hung thick and heavy in the air for a tick, a tick of time that the Paladins used to think. They were all deep and broody and horrified. They were trying to think about anything else, anything else but your sorrow, but wallowing in sympathy for their new friend was simply irresistible.

"Oh my.." Coran muttered, arms folded tightly into himself as he hung his head in the negative balance seeping through the room. It was not only him that hurt for the girl hooked up to the machine, merely an eye glance away.

Your figure inside the pod was now being stared at by all of those outside of it, watching as your expression held facial peace, yet the simple feeling of strain and fear and anxiety. If the emotion of agony was a silent aura, this would embody it.

"And you said you though it would be helpful to make an alliance with this creep?" Lance asked Allura, and she put her face in her hands at the mention of even Lotor's existence. She cringed at ever trusting the monster who reached his arm out to her. She buried her head deeper into her palms before losing herself in the darkness, regret taking over her heaving soul.

She had said that, she had said that Lotor would be a fool-proof ally. You can't simply stuff your regrets back down your throat.

However, you can stick fists down throats, and that's something Keith was definitely considering. "..Open the pod."

"Keith, we shouldn't-"

"Give me a d—- break, let her breathe for a second!" He hissed, running himself over to the small room. All else was nothing but a blur behind him, and he had only one priority.

If the door he threw open wasn't a hologram, he could have torn it off it's nonexistent hinges.

Within the next few seconds he was in front of the pod, ready for it to open wide and finally set you free from your suffering. However, within the otherworldly vessel, he saw something he had never quite seen before.

Y/n was at peace.

Maybe you were forced to be by the inner workings of the pod, and maybe it was only on the outside, but your eyes only see what they can.

Your face was neutral and calm, and you hadn't a single worry line in your young skin. But you were crying. Tears streamed down your curved cheeks and left clean, clear streaks amongst the dirt and grime that caked them from your previous living hell.

The hell that proved to be torturous, miserable and abusive from all perspectives of human decency. Your mentality, your physical body, even your spirit had been brutally wounded, beyond healing by the last year of your life.

Keith couldn't help but stare. From the Paladin's perspective, he probably looked like a dumbfounded deer lost in beautiful headlights, but that was pushed and crammed far into the back of his stressing mind.

Although, now, he wasn't stressed. He should be stressed, but he isn't. Everything about your position in that pure second (all except for your graceful tears) was making him unusually calm. He wanted the peace you had.

But, all good things must come to an end, as they say. The front of the pod glittered and dissolved into dust in front of him before you fell helplessly, him catching you in his arms with ease and little hesitation. You were in a position where he was holding you against his chest in a one-sided hug. He picked you up bridal-style as you came to, cradling you in his arms and keeping you close to his beating heart.