This chapter is going to be super short but please enjoy :)

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

It was weird to be sitting there on the grass, his legs crossed as he fiddled with his old childhood stuffed animal he held in his hands as the wind blew through his white hair. Keith had been discharged from the hospital three days earlier with the hope of remaining cancer free for the rest of his life but before he had left the hospital, he had been drawn to the custodian who lurked around the trashcans with his head hung low and his exhausted eyes glued to the tiled floor. He couldn't quite wrap his head around the reason he had been drawn to his father but even so, he was glad that his body led him to the man who nearly began to cry as he wrapped his arms around Keith gently and told him he was sorry. They sat together in the cafeteria, Keith's cane that aided him in walking leaned up against the table while they spoke about the good old days. Finally, Keith had been given the opportunity of being given the closure he needed all his life.

During his birth, his mother Krolia, had died from a terminal illness she had been suffering from during the birthing process leaving Keith and his father all alone in the cruel world that had stripped his father of the wife he had loved since middle school. HE had vowed from the moment he cradled Keith in his arms for the first time that he wouldn't ever allow Keith to blame himself for his mother's death so he simply made up a fake story that could protect the child from ever thinking that he was the reason for his mother's passing. He had told his bright-eyed son who resembled his wife so much that she had left them wanting to go on an adventure through the world and experience new things that she could never see in America. He struggled day and night to provide for the two of them, working multiple jobs whilst trying to balance the needs of his son on top of it all. It took a toll on him for he neglected his own needs and never properly grieved for his late wife so he eventually turned to gambling as a way to cope with it all. The love he felt in his heart for his son was indescribable but even love couldn't mend wounds that could only be healed through self-care and appreciation. 

He fell into debt and hid it from Keith as he tried to pay bills he couldn't afford until it was too much for him to handle all alone. He was eventually arrested for tax evasion and the wound that had resided deep inside his heart had been ripped open even more when he had lost the last thing that connected him with his wife; his son.

Keith had listened quietly to his father as the man was reduced to tears of guilt and regret. He watched him, purple eyes full of sympathy as he hesitantly reached out to hold his birth father's hand. He had always believed that everything was his fault; his mother not being there for them and his father abandoning him. He had shut himself out from the world when brought into a new family, afraid to get too close to them and lose people he loved all over again. He didn't want to experience that pain all over again, it was something he would never dare wish upon his greatest enemy. Now, after watching the old man he used to call father, he sat in front of a stone with carvings worn down by the weather, a faint smile residing on his face as he placed the little stuffed animal down onto the grass at the base of the stone. 

He slowly reached up to drag his fingers against the marks, his eyes soft and saddened. "Hello, mom."

His voice was distressed and his lips trembled as he slowly traced out Krolia's name with his skinny fingers surrounded by tombstones and the quiet murmuring of the wind blowing by, whispering sweet nothings in his ears. "It's been a few years, hasn't it?" He continued, dropping his hand into his lap allowing his smile to falter ever so slightly. "I can't believe I spent all my life hating you and dad when I knew nothing about either of you. I'm sorry for it, all the hateful things I said to you or even thought in my stupid kid head. If I could, I would go back in time and tell myself the truth so I wouldn't go through life fueled by hate with no ground reason behind it."

He could only believe that the reason why he spoke to his father was to give the man a proper goodbye just like what he was doing with his mother now. He slowly brought his hand up to his face to hide his tears as he forced a small laugh, "God, I was such a dumbass wasn't I?" He asked aloud and then dropped his hand once more and turned his head to the sky to allow himself to cry, "Why couldn't you have stayed with me just a little longer? I know I'm being selfish but, I wish I could have met you, y'know, have a real conversation with you about stupid things a mother would have lectured about."

He wanted to have his mother yell at him when he was a kid throwing a tantrum in the middle of the store over not getting the toy he wanted. He wanted to show his mom off with a giant, toothy grin to his class for mother's day when all the other student's had brought in their mothers for a school held breakfast. He wanted to hear her stern words when he broke something and feel her warm touch against his cheeks when he was crying over a scraped knee. He had lost so much of his childhood due to her death and he wanted to experience it somehow but he knew it was only a fleeting hope that unraveled like a ball of yarn; disappearing slowly into the great unknown.

He sighed as he wiped the sleeve of his black sweatshirt against his face before he began to struggle to his feet using the cane he had been given as support so he wouldn't pop a stitch. "I became a model, I do pretty lame stuff but I bet you would be proud no matter what, right?" He asked as he placed his palm on the top of the headstone and smiled gently, his face no longer showing pain.

"Hey, kid," Jensen's voice sounded in the distance causing Keith to look over his shoulder to see the man smoking as he leaned up against his black car, his hu]ead hung low as he pointed his thumb at the backseat. "You coming, the meeting is in twenty minutes."

Keith sighed deeply, reluctantly pulling his hand away from his mother's grave as he began to turn away. "You may have been the one to say hello first, but this time I'll be the one to say goodbye."

He gave the grave one last look, his eyes lingering on the raggedy looking stuffed animal that seemed to almost stare up at him as he hobbled away. He had help getting into the car but Jensen never spoke another word once they were on the road. He was giving Keith time to grieve for the lost time from his childhood he had been denied. Maybe he really was trying to say his final goodbyes. The church looked different. It seemed to be something pulled straight from a children's picture book for it seemed so beautiful to Keith for the first time that he could ever remember. He grabbed Jensen's hand as he struggled to get out of the car with his white hair being ruffled by the harsh wind that seemed to rip by him suddenly. He never remembered the painting of Jesus looking so okayish before either. He was taken back by the sudden shift in perspective he was experiencing but he didn't have any complaints either; the pessimism that had been keeping him back from experiencing real joy had finally been ripped from him like a bloodsucking leech that had fed off of his happiness.

The room was silent as he pushed the double doors open to reveal the group sitting in their circle with different looks on their faces. Allura looked as if she had been through hell and rightfully so. Her short white hair had been pulled back into a ponytail and she wore baggy clothes that could have only belonged to her uncle. Her ebony skin looked paler than usual and she had brought her chair in close to Shiro where she quietly held his hand while her dull eyes were glued to the floor. Shiro seemed to have this look of displacement as he stared off into the distance, bags under his eyes revealing how little sleep he had been allowed for the last three days. Pidge sat across the circle with his hair carrying a white streak in the sandy-brown mess. He looked content with where he sat wearing shorts and a sweater, Hunk sat where Allura would have normally been seated with a new look on his face. He neither looked anxious today nor did he fiddle around with his clothing or fingers as he glanced around the circle with a faint smile. 

Keith's heart seemed to skip a beat as his eyes rested on Lance who now too had a little white streak going through his brown hair. He looked as if his skin was glowing today, he seemed to have changed in a whole new way that Keith couldn't quite describe. The boy looked healthier and more mature now. Keith slowly seated himself between Pidge and Lance and he gave the Cuban boy a giant smile that Lance clearly did not expect. Oliva sat with her clipboard held tightly against her chest, a smile plastered across her face as her eyes surveyed the group.

"It's so nice to see all of you again," She began, her voice softer than usual as she allowed her eyes to linger on each one of them. "Shall we begin then?"

So this was really short and sweet but it is because the net chapter will be really focussing on character development and pushing the plot to the next stage in order to fix the issues some of y'all found with my story. I hope this is okay, I typed this in an hour after I finished writing a seven-page essay so I was super fired up and was just ready to bust out a chapter but now I am burned out and I would like to know your honest thoughts on how the last three chapters have turned out. Have I been addressing certain issues you guys wanted me to and what are you expecting for the next chapter?

Have a glorious night/day and slay because girl/man you are one beautiful bastard and don't let anyone dull your sparkle :)

-Anri