Loving You to the Stars and Back // Keith x OC //

The Reunited

88

~Athena~

What was supposed to be forty minutes of flying through space with the pod alone, ended up being less than five minutes away from the Castle of Lions. I was surprised that the White Lion would get us all the way in this sector. But upon coming here, there were huge chunks of rock floating about, revolving around a dead planet that looked to have been blown to bits. There was something eerie about the lifeless planet as if I knew something. There was strange energy radiating from that place, but I had no idea why.

"Look! Over there!" Romelle spoke up as she pointed in one direction. "Is that where we're heading?"

I looked on my radar, and back through the window. There it was: the Castle of Lions. I was utterly relieved to see the Castle floating not too far from where we were. But something piqued my interest; why was the Castle of Lions in this area of the solar system?

"Let us not wait," Krolia says as I felt her hold onto my chair. I nodded my head as I pushed the levers forward to accelerate.

"Attention, Athalia, is that you?" I hear a familiar voice over the intercom. It sounded like Shiro.

I reached out for the button to pull-up the communication screen. That was when Shiro's face appeared on our side of the transfer along with the other Paladins including Coran. "Shiro, yes it's me," I replied as I looked at the screen. They all looked distraught for some reason as if there was something wrong. "And I have Keith here with me too." As soon as I said his name, Keith appeared right beside me so he could be seen.

"Hey," Keith says as he gave a single wave.

"Are you two okay?" Shiro asked, still with his eyes wide in shock.

"And where have you two been?" Pidge added on.

"How did you get your hands on that pod?" Coran even joined in by asking questions.

"Is it just me, or did those two get bigger?" Lance asked the rest of the group, "I mean, not bigger but you know, older? Right? No?"

Without any time to answer their questions, Keith went straight to the point. "Where's Lotor?" He asks.

"He's in the quintessence field," Hunk replied.

My jaw drops slightly, seeing that we've come too late. I turn to Keith, who was just as surprised as I was. Before I could even say anything, Keith beat me to it. "Get ready for us, we're coming in." He said before turning off the communicator. "Land inside of the pod bay as fast as you can. We need to let everyone know what we gathered before Lotor arrives." I nodded my head, obeying Keith's command.

I flew into the open bay, seeing that there was a spot for us to land the pod in. Just as I was getting ready to land, the White Lion released the Altean pod and landed in another spot not too far from us. Just as I was following suit, I saw the Paladins run out to the same area where we were going to land.

I looked at the Paladins and saw these confused expressions on their faces. If anything, Keith and I should be the ones who were confused. The Paladins look precisely the same since the last time we met two years ago.

"Keith, Athalia, it's so good to see you," Shiro was first to speak on behalf of the team. Pidge and Hunk were rendered speechless as their eyes were on us as we approached the rest of the group.

"Hold on," Lance says as he walked up to us, meeting halfway. "How do we know that you're the real Keith and not his bigger, cooler, grizzled older brother?" His dark eyes were on Keith as if he was trying to make sure that this was really him.