Please excuse any errors in this story part and read the author note at the end.

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From the beginning of time, whether you belong in the evolution or the creationist beliefs, evil had always been lurking in the shadows. How you defined this malevolence though, was entirely up to the individual. Many would claim that it was black and white; you either live as good or bad. You live by the laws of the land set in place by others just like you but with higher authority and if you were to against them, you were bad. Millions of years ago though, there wasn't such rules. You lived to survive. You did what had to be done in order to make it to see the next sunrise. Killing, hunting, scavenging, some things that were frowned upon in today's society was something humanity used to do without a second thought but as we became more sentient as a species, everything became so black and white.

What is evil to you? How would you classify people under the word 'bad'? Rapists, child predators, murderers; there were many truly evil entities out there but the line between darkness and light has become so obscured that people claim someone to be evil simply for expressing their opinion. Have we truly evolved as a society if we got to the point where people actively harm one another for not believing in the same things as them or had we taken a step back?

Staring down at a plate full of crumbs from a pastry, Shiro found himself trying to keep his nerves under control as he thought of such things. He knew his black and white version of good versus bad and he had never taken a moment to question his belief when he realized it. To actively harm someone with ill intentions was to be bad. He had his own run in with a true monster of society. The childhood neglect, the trauma from his life before raising a family was taken out on his children including the young man with a scarred face. Shiro harbored so much hate and disgust for that man that in caused his heart and head to hurt whenever he had a little thought about the man.

As he sat in a café a few miles away from the place his father had spent years locked away at, just to have a meetup with the last person he thought he would ever see; Aila, his sister who had left him alone with a mother who had become nothing but a piece of what she once was. He fidgeted in his seat, eyeing the clock as he waited for it to become noon.

The only reason he had contacted her was because of a simple folded up piece of paper Adam had managed to slip into his pocket without him realizing it. As if he had it with him in that very moment, he could recite every single word that had been beautifully written on it.

Takashi,

Over the years I found myself sitting in my dorm wishing to talk to you again like how we used to. I hadn't taken the moment then to cherish every fleeting second I had spent with you. The laughter, the smiles, the glances in the other's direction, all of it meant more to me than words can adequately describe. My life faded into nothing but a black and white movie where I played the main character he didn't know what he was missing. How I cried every time I realized I had screwed everything up was one of the most painful things I ever experienced. How I loved you so...

I broke finally, knowing that coming back to town for the break from college to see my old high school friends meant I had the chance of running into you, and I begged Matt to tell me where you worked so I could finally see you again. I know that the moment I lay my eyes on you, the world around me is going to be splashed with colors I had forgotten ever existed. It'll be a picture that people would marvel at for years to come and it would have you as the focus. However, even if I truly know you were the one I could only love like that, I'm not that person to you, am I?

Please, take the number on the back to contact your sister. I spent some of my free time trying to find a method for you to work through the difficulties in your life but I always came up short on new information. If seeing the person who did this to you, in handcuffs looking scruffier than an ungroomed dog doesn't changed your views on that waste of air then I believe that PTSD will claim you early from this world. It was a painful life you lived. You are so much stronger than anyone I had ever met but even the strongest will have a foe they can't go up against alone. Please, take Aila with you so you both can support one another. I spent a month trying to track her down for you and trust me, see is hard to find but I finally did it and I got into contact with her; she's a lovely lady but unfortunately she's a bit blunt.

My number is below hers on the back of this paper. You needn't feel obligated to call or text me. What you do with it is entirely up to you. However, if you ever need to talk, I will be staying at Wyatt's apartment until I return to college.

Take care,

Adam.

He had spent the night on his couch, contemplating what he would say to his sister to convince her to come see him. The words he wished to come were so hard to find. They were like a wild animal hunted so close to extinction; rare and hard to find. His brow twitched in annoyance when he was forced to block out the sounds of Allura sleeping from the other room while he bit his lip and squinted his eyes at the phone he held in his hands. Eventually, the words finally did come to him and they were the simplest ones that he would have sent; it is Shiro, your younger brother. Meet me at Porta Diligere the café a few miles away from the prison.

There had been no reason to elaborate on what prison Shiro had meant, they both knew exactly what prison it was; the one his father was being kept at. Within minutes, Aila had replied agreeing to the meetup and her attempt at making conversation but Shiro didn't have the patience to speak to her at the time. Now, as he sat inside the café he struggled between wanting to get up and leave and wanting to stay to see the sister he would never admit out loud to missing but the little tug he felt in his chest whenever he would scoot closer to the edge of the booth told him otherwise. He began drumming his fingers on the table humming a song he had spent all his time in his adolescence listening to, Under Pressure, as he stared at the clock.

One.

Two.

Three minutes passed by and the gentle drumming with his fingers had become nothing more but an anxious tick that was keeping him from running out the door and heading back home. 'Damn,' Shiro thought to himself as he bit his lip to distract himself from the stares he was getting from people around him, 'How can you be twenty minutes late meeting your family? Should I...' his eyes watched the second hand tic past the twelve without a care in the world, 'should I just leave?'

What was the point in sitting here looking like a complete moron by himself anyway? If Aila were going to show, she would have done so by now. He patted his palms against the table's surface before he sighed deeply and closed his eyes for a long moment to calm him down a bit. Adam meant well but this little meeting he suggested had fallen flat and there wasn't a chance at saving it unless god gave him a miracle right now. Shiro made himself laugh a little at that thought. God granting him a miracle? What an ironic twist of fate in this pathetic life of his if that was to happen.

Just as he took the last sip from his water, the bell to the door chimed causing his grey eyes to lock onto a tall woman with her black hair thrown into a messy braid and her brown eyes flicking around with so much panic in them. When she made eye contact with the really confused Asian boy sitting alone her lips curled into a smile so wide Shiro nearly thought her to be insane until he realized who it was.

Aila had made it, late, but at least she was still here.

"Taki!" Aila exclaimed as she fixed her bag on her shoulder and rushed over to her younger brother who had slowly stood up to greet her. Without waiting for Shiro to yell at her for using his more favorable childhood name, she slammed into him wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder with the world's biggest smile.

Takashi stood with his eyes wide, unsure of how to react to being glomped by his own sister. Slowly a smile crept its way onto his pale face and he allowed himself to fall victim to his repressed emotions of happiness and relief. He cautiously wrapped his arms around his sister and squeezed her tightly. He didn't know he had missed her so much until that very moment. He loved her too much to push her away from him out of anger from her leaving him with their mother for the last eight years.

"Hey Lila," He whispered into her ear as he gave her one final squeeze before he let her go.

She stood in front of him, eyes glossy from unshed tears. Her smile seemed strained at this point as if she were fighting back all these emotions she had been begging to let out over the years. "You're so tall and so handsome now," She slowly reached her slender fingers up to gently touch the scar on his face with tenderness. She didn't need to speak any words to him to communicate the guilt she had felt for the reminder that had been carved into Takashi's face. Her expression had changed significantly; the strained smile had now turned into a frown and her chocolate colored eyes had darkened as she lowered her gaze to the floor.

Takashi felt sympathy for the young woman. She blamed herself for everything that had happened to him since she never once tried to stop their father from doing the things he had done to Takashi when he was a child. He slowly reached his hand up and wrapped his cold fingers around her warm hand before he pulled it away from his face with a gentle smile on his lips, "Let's take a seat," He guided her to the booth and seated her across from him before he slid over a lukewarm coffee he had gotten for her.

She stared at it with fondness for a moment before she gently lifted it up and took a sip from it. She scrunched her face up and began adding sugar to the cup as she glanced back to her brother now and then. Takashi jumped when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket suddenly. Taking it out to check to see if it were important he noticed it was just Allura asking where he went off to. He sighed and put his phone on silent without replying to her and stuffed the smartphone back into his pocket without a second thought.

"How's the weather?" Shiro offered a topic to discuss with his sister. A shy smile on his face showed his nervousness.

Aila rolled her eyes as she took another sip from her coffee. Content with the taste this time, she raised her brown gaze and smile at Takashi, "Let's cut to the chase Taki, why did you contact me out of the blue?"

Takashi closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Time to cut to the chase, huh?

"It's about father."

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So this little bit took me ages to write. I just don't like Voltron anymore and I'm not as connected to the characters like I was before. I'm going to rush this a bit to finish it unfortunately because I want to focus all my energy on Crown of Thorns, my new original story that I love. I am going to disregard almost everything in canon voltron from here on out and write these characters like they are my own so if they are out of character and you do not like it I apologize but voltron just isn't my cup of tea anymore and I refuse to really acknowledge much of what has happened in the canon story.

Please, get enough sleep tonight and eat a wonderful dinner and drink plenty of water!

Yours truly, Anri :)