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

The End is Near

94

~Athena~

Tears started to well up in my eyes as I saw Keith and Shiro's bodies disappear in the light. My heart throbbed against my chest as I hung there feeling guilty that I had let Keith slip away. I was in pain after being thrown against the containers earlier, but I could have been able to carry the two of them. I should have reached out for Keith's hand so the two of them wouldn't fall; I should have tried harder not to let them fall. It was all my fault.

As I started to drown myself in guilt, another explosion was set off above me. The remaining platform had finally broken it's attachment to the giant space rock, causing me to fall into the same place where Keith and Shiro had dropped.

I closed my eyes as gravity from the planet's atmosphere got a hold of me. But at that moment when I thought this was the end, something swallowed me up, causing me to land onto something substantial.

I groaned in pain, slowly opening my eyes to see a familiar surrounding. I blinked a couple times for my vision to be clearer, only to realize that I was inside of the White Lion. "No way..." I muttered under my breath as I sat myself up. A wave of relief swept over me knowing that I was still alive. "You saved me. Thank you."

I rushed to my seat up in the cockpit, seeing that the debris from the explosions had already fallen. Despite feeling a little better, the thought of Keith and Shiro still remained in the back of my mind. My heart still felt heavy knowing that they were gone and now, I was left alone. How can I go back to the other Paladins? How can I explain to them what had happened? Voltron can't form without the Black Lion, so what will happen now?

All these questions came to mind, causing me to be more anxious about the uncertain future. Not only that, but I felt resentment reside in me knowing that I was still at fault. If I had done something sooner, none of this would have happened. Because I didn't say anything about my cousin Lotor, I've lost two important people in my life in a situation that could have been prevented.

"Athena," a familiar voice sounded through my communicator. "Can you hear me? Athena?" My heart raced as I recognized the gentle voice on the other end.

"Keith?" There was no mistake about the voice. It was definitely Keith's. "Keith! Are you okay? Where are you?"

Just as I asked that question, the Black Lion appeared before me. "I'm right here," Keith replied as his face popped up on my screen. Following his response, the Black Lion roared. My heart fluttered seeing the man I love, alive.

"Where is Shiro? Is he okay too?" I asked after a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, he's okay too," He replied.

I looked down at my dashboard, scanning for where our current location was and how far we were from the rest of the group. That was when I noticed on my scanners that the White Lion had locked onto Lotor's ships. "Keith, Lotor is heading back to where the others are."

"What? Why?"

"I would like to know as well," I replied as I gritted my teeth. All I could think of is that Lotor wants to go back to the quintessence field so he could gather more to do his deed. "We need to get back to the others before he does and warn them."

Keith remained silent for a few seconds before he spoke up. "Let's go."

✵✵✵✵✵

Keith contacted the others while we were making our way to Daibazaal. They were relieved to see both of us alive after being transported to the other side of the galaxy. The only problem now was getting to where they were on time before Lotor gets there. At this rate, it would take us hours before we reach there with our lions.