Requested by Cheetahtwo - sorry for the long wait!!

Klangst ❤

Keith didn't approve of the idea at first, but when he saw the new blue paladin, he was actually okay with it. Of course there was nobody who could actually replace Lance, but Keith could tell that Lance would've gotten along with this kid. He was very shy but funny, telling a joke practically every time he opened his mouth. Yes, Lance would've been best friends with this kid.

"Guys, we've got some training to do if we want to be able to form Voltron again." Shiro said. His hair was a lot lighter now, some of it going gray after losing Lance. He was the one least effected by the loss of the blue paladin, and that was saying something. He didn't leave his room for a week after the incident. Even then, when he resurfaced, he wasn't the same.

"Sounds fun." Texio said quietly, pulling on his helmet. He looked tiny in the new blue armor, replacing Pidge as the smallest resident of the Castle of Lions.

Keith smiled fondly as he thought of Lance, how he was so tall in comparison to Texio. It would take a lot of adjusting, perhaps another month or two of crying in his room, but Keith was ready to move on.

Or so he thought.

°•°

"This guy is fast!" Texio whooped. "He's not as fast as red, but damn! He's a speedy little bastard!" Keith laughed lightly at Texio's remarks. He reminded him of this Irish YouTuber he used to watch.

"Blue is the most responsive of all the Lions - she's always there for her paladin." Allura commented.

"I can tell - he's great." Keith furrowed his brow. Something about the way Texio was referring to blue was odd. He couldn't question it now, but maybe when they were done training...

"Okay, let's try to go in and form Voltron." Shiro said. They flew in formation for a moment, but nothing happened.

"Let's do some bonding inside the castle - it worked last time." Hunk said, smiling as he remembered the food fight.

"What is 'bonding'?" Texio asked, clicking his tongue at the end of his sentence. "My lion isn't being very helpful, almost like he doesn't want to tell me." Keith frowned - that seemed odd.

"It's when we get together and connect with each other socially, mentally, or spiritually." Shiro explained. "It helps us to form Voltron, where we can feel a deep connection to each and every paladin."

"Oh, alright! I'm ready to try this 'bonding' - it sounds fun." Keith smiled slightly. He was starting to think that Texio didn't understand the word"fun." He used it for everything.

Or maybe, he found joy in everything, like a certain late paladin.

°•°

Keith pulled the white and blue headpiece over his hair and waited for everyone else to connect. Once they had all pulled the headpieces on, he opened his mind. At first, a rush of childhood memories spilled into the collective consciousness of his team. He quickly stemmed the flow and thought of the red lion, how the red Lion was the arm of Voltron, and how it would connect with Shiro's lion and begin the formation of Voltron....

The sequence went very well, with Texio only taking a moment longer than the others simply because he couldn't turn on the headpiece. He was ecstatic when they "formed Voltron", and insisted on giving everyone high fives.

"Nice job." Hunk said with a smile.

"That was cool! I could like, feel you guys in my mind." Texio said happily.

"Now let's do it for real." Shiro said. A few moments later, they were out in their lions. They carefully flew up and easily formed Voltron, cutting down some stray asteroids for good measure.

"This is awesome!" Texio yelled. "When I say Vol, you say Tron!"

Keith froze. What. The. Fuck.

"Vol!" Texio yelled. Keith could hear the silence on the comm. Lance had told everyone the story about the cheer, mostly because Keith hadn't been able to do it right. But Texio hadn't been in the same Galaxy as Lance when the story was told.

"Maybe it's time for more bonding exercises." Shiro said quietly. They all flew back to the castle in silence, leaving Texio confused and slightly disappointed.

°•°

Keith remained silent as they all pulled the headsets back on. The four "original" paladins were all looking for the same thing: answers. They shared a quick glance before turning on the headsets.

Keith felt sick as a wave of someone's memories washed over him. It wasn't the sensation that brought on the nausea, but instead the realization of whose they were.

These were Lance's memories.

Keith nearly choked and his eyes flew open, desperate to see where this could be coming from. Hunk, Pidge and Shiro were all blinking at each other, seeming as shocked as Keith. They all locked eyes and then turned to Texio. As they faced him, the memories seemed to strengthen.

Keith saw himself through Lance's eyes when they first rescued Shiro. He saw the first wormhole that had taken them to Arus. He saw the castle, and then the princess and Coran. He saw so many of Lance's thoughts and memories flash before him in a jumbled, barely-cronological order.

Texio's eyes popped open, and the memories faded slightly.

"Why are you staring? Did I do something wrong?" Keith could hear the sligth panic in his voice, and suddenly felt bad for acting so aloof.

"No... But, those memories that you were projecting..." Hunk was the first one to speak, his voice soft and vulnerable.

"Those are from my lion." Texio said, as if that would explain everything. "He knows you guys."

"It makes sense that blue might retain some of Lance's memories..." Pidge sighed.

"He says that these are his memories." Texio said suddenly. Pidge blinked at him owlishly, and Keith started to get an awful feeling in his gut.

"What exactly did he say?" Keith asked quietly.

"Well, he's not speaking. He's kind of feeding ideas into my mind." Texio said with a shrug. "You can look in my mind if you want. Maybe you'll hear him too."

The other four paladins pulled their headsets back on and concentrated. Suddenly, they were inside of what must have been Texio's mind. Keith saw Texio playing some sort of catching game with...

No.

Impossible.

It's not real!

But it was. Standing a few feet away from Texio was Lance. He looked slightly different, but it was him. He seemed to ooze encouragement, grinning at Texio and clapping every time he caught the glowing sphere they were tossing back and forth. In the sphere, Keith saw what he assumed were Lance's memories.

Lance turned to him, looked at him for a moment and smiled. Keith's breath caught in his throat. It had been so long since he had seen Lance's smile, and he realized with a start that he missed it. Oh, God, how he missed it.

Lance turned away, breaking down all of Keith's walls and dams. It all came crashing down on him and he felt horrible for trying to replace him, for trying to move on, for-

It's okay. Keith looked up. A familiar hand rested on his shoulder. I'll always be here. I'm happy for you.

That was all he needed to hear.