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Lance woke up to Keith's morning breath in his face. "You're disgusting," he groaned, turning his face away from the eager mullet-man.

"But you love me!" Keith whispered happily, placing a kiss on Lance's nose and ruffling his hair. "Come on, get up, Lover Boy Lance, I have something I want to show you."

Lance rolled over, squinting. "What the quiznak is there to show, dipshit? It's still dark out." Keith grinned devilishly, walking his fingers down Lance's bare torso, down and down and down until- "Okay, okay! I'm getting up." Lance's cheeks were vermillion.

Lance staggered out of the tent after Keith, rubbing his eyes as the cold sand met the soles of his feet. He hadn't put on a shirt yet and the breeze that rolled off the dunes to the valley where they were camping with the Lions was cool and refreshing. Lance looked up at the sky. Royal blue. Nothing special.

But Keith was walking up one of the dunes, sand slipping beneath his feet, nearly on all fours as he hiked up the hill. Reluctantly, Lance followed. In the late afternoon, when the sun was at its hottest, the sand was scorching underfoot, but now it felt cool and therapeutic.

Lance kept his eyes cast down as they trudged up the hill, only looking up when they reached the summit, at which point he involuntarily let out a sigh of wonder. The sky was alive with color and light, bathing the mackerel clouds in pink, purple, and orange. On the other side of the dune, Leandro and Akira sat on a large picnic blanket, each holding two mugs of coffee. They offered two of the mugs to Keith and Lance, their smiles soft and kind and...

Lance felt like crying, but this time, it was happy tears that welled in his eyes.

This whole adventure had been a roller coaster of emotions. He'd laughed and cried and seen different versions of himself happy and content with their lives. He'd said goodbye to Allura and welcomed a new love into his life, a new journey that he knew led to happiness. No... he was already happy. He was the happiest he'd been in months.

He looked over at Keith. The words Keith'd said the previous night still resonated in Lance's heart. He could still hear them, still hear how happy they'd made him. "I would have waited longer. I would wait forever for you, Lance. I would have stood beside you, taken care of you, healed your heart again and again, as long as you needed, even if it took an eternity."

Keith had stuck by him, supported him, calmed and soothed his broken heart, reassured him that everything was going to be okay time and time again. Lance owed it to Keith that he was able to drag himself out of the After. He owed it to Keith that he was able to go on this mission and find himself again. He owed it to Keith that his heart was whole again.

Wiping his tears with the back of his hand, Lance sat down on the blanket next to Akira, making room for Keith as well, and the cyberpunk teenager whispered in Lance's ear, "Have any fun last night?" Lance nearly spilled his coffee in embarrassed surprise, making Akira laugh quietly and warranting confused looks from Leandro and Keith. Well, that was sudden.

"We did not," Lance murmured, cringing. When the time came for... that... Lance blushed deeply, looking away. He could vividly remember the feel of Keith's skin beneath his hands, how fast his heart had been beating, how nervous he'd been of messing up... Lance's thoughts left off at that and he focused on his coffee instead.

As the world woke up to the light and gentle caress of the sun's rays, Lance felt an unfamiliar melancholy emotion fill his heart. He almost didn't want to leave this reality. It's gorgeous, neon, futuristic feel was exciting and interesting, and he could picture himself weaving through traffic with Keith, following Leandro and Akira, one of those space-age blasters in his hands as he yelled "VIVA LA RESISTANCE" at the top of his lungs to the strange world.

But they'd completed the mission. They'd found Black. And now, it was time to go home. Lance finished his coffee and stood up, dusting sand off the back of his legs. The three other boys looked up at him, asking the same question with their eyes. Akira and Keith's were identical, but it was weird seeing his own eyes reflected back at him when Lance looked at Leandro.

"I think it's time," Lance said, looking at the sun. He put his hands on his hips, willing himself not to get emotional.

Of course, that didn't last very long. It was different this time, saying goodbye. Lance felt like he could actually become close friends with Leandro and Akira if he'd been given the time, so it felt like he was leaving an opportunity, a promising adventure, behind him as he hugged Leandro tightly, smiling sadly as he pulled back. Akira and Keith clasped hands (Akira wasn't the hugging type either), and shared a knowing smile full of angsty-emo-boy secrets (or at least, that's what Lance thought).

"Take good care of him, eh?" Leandro said quietly, looking at Keith. "I know they're different, but they're still the same." His eyes met Lance's again. "And we're the same, too. I know that things will get hard sometimes, but you'll find a way to get through it. Akira is the best person I've ever met, so don't let go of your version of him."

Lance smiled ruefully. "I wasn't planning on it. Seeing you two... it's given me confidence that we could be happy together. Really happy."

Leandro nodded sympathetically, flicking his hair out of his eyes.

"Thank you for everything," Lance said quietly before stepping forward to hug Akira, sighing softly into the boy's soft hair. It was just like Keith's.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," he told Akira sincerely.

"You better."

Keith and Lance turned to look at Black, who was alert and waiting patiently for the two Paladins to finish their goodbyes.

"Alright, Black, it's your turn to show off!" Keith yelled to the metallic beast. "Let's go home!"

Black growled happily in response, standing up and launching into the air with an earth-quaking leap. Once airborne, the Lion shuddered, unleashing his wings with a roar. He hesitated in the air for a moment, preparing himself as he hovered, and then, with a mighty flap of his giant wings, burst forward.

As Black disappeared in a flash of bright blue light identical to Lance's Altman markings, a portal opened where he'd just been, swirling welcomingly. Blue and Red stood at attention, looking at the Paladins invitingly. Lance and Keith gave Akira and Leandro their last hugs and handshakes goodbye before jogging to the Lions and preparing themselves for the jump.

"Lance, are all the enchiladas secure?" Keith chuckled through the transmission and Lance flipped him off, rolling his eyes.

Blue and Red bounded through the dunes, picking up speed before launching into the sky, flipping gracefully through the air as they circled back through the air to the portal. Lance looked down at the desert floor one last time, tears falling down his cheeks as he spotted Leandro and Akira waving to them happily. He waved back, regardless of whether or not they could see him, and closed his eyes as Blue entered the portal.

...

this is unedited because I forgot Waldo at home and I've been writing on an iPad the past few days,,,, jfc

uhhhHHHH one or two more chapters left babes <333 thank you for everything, your support, your kind words, your endless love <333 man, this fic has been a whole-ass lsd trip

qotd: dream job?

I love u more than u know fandylions ((: