It was Christmas eve and Keith still didn't have a present for Lance. He'd gone to the space mall with everyone else, gotten a small gift or token for all of the other paladins, plus Allura and Coran and some of their other close allies, but somehow, he'd forgotten a gift for the Blue Paladin. 

It wasn't like he could go out now, though- they were far from the space mall now and even if he and Red did go out to try to find something, their only surroundings were barren planets, void of any Christmas-y gifts. 

Keith had thought that maybe, he could make something, but he wasn't crafty in the least and would probably just mess it up. No matter how much he and Lance fought sometimes, Keith wanted something for the paladin that would mean something. 

They had each other's backs in battle, but Keith wanted to have Lance's back as a friend, as a comrade, maybe something more. But, those kinds of feelings would just get in the way right now. Keith knew that if he dwelled on the thought of Lance's lips, how pretty he looked when he sat in front of the window of the Castle of Lions in the morning, eyes wide as he drank in the sky, that he would lose his concentration.

Keith was a perfectionist and it definitely got in the way of things sometimes. He wanted his gift for Lance to be so many things- sweet, funny, meaningful. But, on such short notice, he was having a bit of trouble coming up with something. 

Actually, in the beginning, he'd had a bit of trouble coming up with everyone's gift. Keith'd never really gone Christmas shopping: when his father was alive, he still believed in Santa and when he was home with Shiro and Adam, they always did small things together without many gifts. 

But, as he'd been walking through the space mall, he'd luckily been able to find little gifts for everyone, some things were inside jokes, some were memories, like a snow globe for Allura that had a scene of an Altean city in it, and instead of mini snowflakes in the water, there were tiny replicas of juniberry flower petals. Keith had bought it for her immediately. 

Shiro's gift was easy, too- a watch that told you which constellations you'd be able to see from your place in the universe. Shiro, Keith, and Adam had all liked stargazing back home, and Keith knew how much Shiro liked that peace and quiet, no matter how much of a fearless leader he presented himself as. 

The rest of the team would be receiving gifts that Keith picked up, even if they were a little small- everyone but Lance. Keith sighed, resting his head in his hands. He didn't want to face Lance the next morning without at least something- he knew that that would only fuel their so-called feud. 

At last, Keith decided that he would just write Lance a letter, talking about how important it was to him that Lance was his right-hand, how much he appreciated his help, how he wasn't the dumb one...

Keith got stuck with the first sentence. 

My dear Lance,- definitely not.  

Dear Lance,- too formal. 

Lance,- fine. 

Keith scribbled a few lines down, then scrapped it when he wrote: "you mean a lot to me."

Over and over, Keith restarted, taking bits and pieces from the other drafts, until he had nearly fifteen crumpled pieces of paper on his floor and desk. 

Sighing, Keith tried one more time. It was short and sweet, but Keith liked it enough to decide that it was the final copy. 

He gently folded the paper in half, wrote Lance's name on the front, and then took all of his other gifts to the main living room of the Castle to where the Christmas tree was (it wasn't really a Christmas 'tree', though, more like a Christmas bush that had frilly purple leaves. It had been the best substitute that they could find). 

Keith noticed a few other wrapped packages underneath the bush as well and smiled to himself. He was happy to have a family here in space, too. 

Keith went to bed content. 

Day 25 will continue this chapter~