The doors of the MFRV hissed open, spilling the Paladins into the Garrison hangar, and the air was electric—crowds of soldiers, cadets, and civilians pressed together, the roar of voices echoing off the metal walls as relief, awe, and disbelief all crashed together in a single wave at the sight of Voltron’s return. 

  Shiro was the first to step forward, and immediately a group of Garrison officials broke through the crowd to meet him—“Takashi!” someone called, and Keith saw the way his brother’s shoulders eased as a familiar commander clasped his hand. Lance barely made it two steps before a voice shouted his name, a girl in a Garrison jumpsuit barreling into him, arms thrown tight around his neck, and he laughed—actually laughed—as he caught her, spinning her once before setting her down, eyes shining with something Keith hadn’t seen in years. Hunk was swallowed up next, wrapped in the arms of his family, his mom clinging to him as she cried into his shoulder while his dad patted his back with trembling hands, and then Pidge froze when she spotted her father across the hangar, dropping her helmet as a sound half-sob, half-laugh tore from her chest before she ran, colliding into his arms like she was a little kid again. 

      Keith hung back, watching it all, his throat tightening, because everyone had someone waiting for them—everyone but him. Or so he thought. His gaze swept over the crowd, unsteady, and then it landed on you. You stood near the back, not cheering, not rushing forward—just waiting, your white coat smudged, the red cross armband stark against your sleeve, a silent mark of your work. You looked older, harder, the exhaustion in your eyes betraying the hell Earth had gone through, but when your gaze locked with his, Keith swore the world fell silent. Two years. Two years of regret, of distance, of wondering if he’d ever see you again, and here you were—alive, unshaken, staring at him like he’d just fallen from the stars. Keith’s breath caught. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Because suddenly, after everything, he finally had someone waiting for him too.