Love, Loss and Everything in Between. Klance AU

Chapter 24 - Zen

I'm going to try and get updates out a bit quicker now because I'm excited about posting my next book which I'm quite proud of. I won't post it until I'm done with this and I Just Want To Be Someone so yeah... look forward to that.

Lance was growing frustrated with his hopelessness inside the Castle. The Galra could attack at any moment and, as much as that thought panicked him, he wanted to be able to help. That was why he pulled himself to training exactly a movement after the incident with Keith's knife.

Everyone had eyed him closely as he walked in, an odd amount of confidence in his stride.

It was Shiro who spoke up first, having experienced PTSD and violence first hand. He had also witnessed how badly Lance had broken down at the sight of Keith's little knife. "Uh... Lance?" The blue paladin looked at him, innocence spreading across his features. The only sign that something traumatic had happened to him was the mechanical arm and the scars running across his body. "Do you think you're ready to train? Shouldn't you... work back into it gradually or something?" Lance's mouth fell open at the question before he huffed and raised his chin. His entire body was trembling but he could only hope it wasn't as obvious as he thought it was.

"I'm ready. I want to train. You let Keith do it when he doesn't feel well. Why am I different?" He retorted, folding his arms to reinforce what he had said.

"Because Keith wasn't kidnapped?" Pidge responded, deciding against avoiding the topic. Lance didn't respond, just reaching for a sword to show he was ready to fight. The blade was enough to trigger nausea in his stomach but he swallowed back the urge to vomit. He could do this. They were his friends.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Shiro's eyebrows were furrowed, a clear sign of his concern.

"Yeah. I- I haven't had a nightmare in at least a movement. I think I'm ready."

"If you're sure..."

"I am! I feel so much better than before." It wasn't exactly a lie. Lance felt a million times better than when he had first been rescued. He could actually touch his friends and his nightmares were becoming less frequent.

"Okay, you can fight... Any volunteers? Keith?" Keith shrugged before moving opposite Lance to get into his stance. As he passed Shiro, the black paladin leaned forward and whispered something about 'going easy​​' into his ear. Shiro then counted them in and they were off. Each other paladin watched Lance closely for any early signs of a panic attack.

Channelling his inner zen, Lance swung his sword but Keith defended, a loud ​shing​ noise echoing around the room. The blue paladin flinched but tried to cover it up by thinning his eyes and observing his opponent. When Keith swung, Lance was ready to block the hit. Their swords smashed against each other, both of their arms trembling as they attempted to steady their weapons. Keith pushed against Lance as hard as he could until the boy was stumbling backwards into the wall.

Everyone saw the exact moment that things started to go wrong. Lance's sword slid from his hands and he let his head fall back to hit the wall whilst he sunk to the floor. His eyes scrunched shut and he began to hyperventilate. Keith threw his sword to the side, bending down to match his height. "Lance, it's okay. I'm sorry. I'm not going to hurt you."

Lance moved his hands up to cover his face and had rolled into a ball to make himself as small as possible. His sobs could be heard bouncing against the walls. "P-Please don't hurt me."

"Hey, listen to me; no one's going to hurt you. You're safe. No one can get you here." Keith turned his head and met eyes with Shiro who was nervously chewing on his lip. "Lance, you're okay." Shiro headed forward and bent down to meet Lance's height.