"He fought us here. His generals were here. And he stole the comet here." Pidge said as three locations on the map popped up.

"So, Lotor could be anywhere." Lance said, looking at the map.

"We'll never find him unless we figure out his plan. We're totally missing the big picture." Shiro said.

"How about this question, why was Voltron made out of the same material as the comet? What's so special about it?" Pidge asked.

"My father discovered another comet like that before I was born." Allura said sadly.

"Your father, and Zarkon." Coran reminded her.

"Was this back when Zarkon was the black Paladin?" You asked Coran curiously.

"No, before that. Before Alfor built the lions." Coran told you.

"I know this is painful to talk about, but if we're going to stop Lotor it's time we heard the rest of the story." Shiro told Coran.

"In the beginning, the paladins were just five leaders, who despite coming from cultures which were vastly divergent and in some cases, had been warring for generations… managed to look past their differences in an effort to protect their common interests. What was initially a formal agreement to work alongside each other soon blossomed into a true friendship. A warrior's bond was forged, and together, they worked to rid their system of those who would do it harm. The original paladins were Zarkon from Planet Daibazaal, King Alfor from Altea, Gyrgan from Rygnirath, Trigel of the Dalterion Belt
and Blaytz from Nalquod. They could have never known that, that very night, the fate of the universe would be changed forever."

"King Alfor experimented with the comet's ore in his lab on Altea as Honerva continued her research of the rift on Daibazaal. But Alfor visited often as the years passed. King Alfor and Honerva erected a particle barrier around the crater, containing the creatures. But it wouldn't hold forever. After a few more years Alfor had the lions built. The lions chose their Paladins; the black lion chose Zarkon, the red lion chose Alfor, the blue lion chose Blaytz, the yellow lion chose Gyrgan and the green lion chose Trigel."

"They battled the creatures that came through the quintessence rift on Diabazaal and formed Voltron. The battle lasted a long time, but the Paladins quickly learned how to form different weapons for Voltron with their Bayards. After the battle Alfor wanted to close the rift, but Zarkon insisted that it should stay open. Honerva continued her experiments on the rift. Despite their differences, Zarkon and Alfor, along with the other paladins, established a new era of peace and prosperity."

"It was an age of exploration, and Voltron became known as the Defender of the Universe, establishing the legend that would live on to this day. Honerva continued her experiments and she and Zarkon slowly became obsessed with quintessence and power. While Honerva was pregnant she fell ill and Zarkon came up with a plan. He tricked the Paladins into forming Voltron to open the rift bigger. Alfor's compassion for his old comrade blinded him to Zarkon's true plans."

"Zarkon took Honerva and walked into the quintessence with Honerva in hopes of healing her. Zarkon's attempt to save Honerva was in vain. They both succumbed to overexposure of quintessence. The paladins had been deceived by Zarkon. They had unwittingly enlarged the rift, which further destabilized Planet Daibazaal."

"King Alfor was forced to evacuate the planet. He then closed the rift the only way he knew how. By destroying the Galran homeworld. King Alfor held a state funeral for Zarkon and Honerva in his royal hall. But what happened next, he could never have guessed."

"Both Zarkon and Honerva came back to life. Zarkon had become pure evil,
obsessed only with quintessence. In order to open a new rift between the realities, he needed Voltron. And so, the war began. The Galra immediately responded to their leader and attacked."

"The peaceful planets of our system were not prepared. Soon, they had all fallen except for Altea. In a final attempt to keep Voltron from Zarkon's hands, the lions were sent to the far corners of the universe. Zarkon flew into a rage. He killed King Alfor, then avenged the loss of Daibazaal with the destruction of Altea." Coran said, telling the story of the original Paladins and how the war started.

"So, that's Lotor's plan. To cross into other universes and get the purest quintessence possible." Pidge said, realizing what Lotor's plan was.

"No matter what, we have to stop him." Keith said.

             __________________________

During dinner both Ulaz and Thace were quieter than usual. You felt bad that they never got to see their home world and that they were born into this war. So after dinner and after the dishes were done the three of you went to your shared bedroom. You wanted to say something, but you weren't sure what.

"Something is on your mind." Ulaz said as he looked at you.

"Yes, well, kind of… I'm sorry that neither of you ever got to see your own home world. I know that neither of you have ever had a proper home. If you want, you both could come live with me on Earth when the war is over. Or we could go to a different planet somewhere else." You said softly.

Thace and Ulaz looked at each other for a moment. Neither of them ever thought about what they would do or where they would go after the war ended. And here you were, inviting them to come live on Earth with you.

"Thank you." Thace said as he and Ulaz nuzzled you.

"We would be honored to live with you after the war." Ulaz said, purring happily.

You nuzzled them and kissed them, happy that they accepted your offer. You hoped that the war would end soon so that you could finally go home. After a while the three of you fell asleep together. You had a wonderful dream of your future with both of them on Earth.