Chapter Text
When Keith was expelled from the Garrison, he never thought he’d find his way into space. Because of the faith Shiro had placed in him, it was his only ticket to becoming an astronaut. Even living in the desert on his own, he felt connected to the stars. He knew he had to find a way to get there, but there likely wasn’t any legal way for him to do it anymore.
Shiro’s ex-boyfriend had wanted to argue with the administration over Keith’s removal from the institute, but Keith had just screamed and cursed at him. He didn’t want the man’s pity. He didn’t want to be an outlet for Adam to use to make himself feel less guilty over Shiro’s announced death.
As fate would have it, Keith found his way into space after Shiro somehow made it back to Earth. Could you imagine how that must have felt? Shiro finally made it home after being lost in space for so long, only to end up traveling to a galaxy even further away. The entire group was unlikely, but Keith wouldn’t have them any other way. Pidge, Hunk, Allura, Coran, and even Lance were all people Keith considered to be his family, even though he had decided to dedicate a huge portion of his time to the Blade of Marmora.
Now, after over a year at war with an alien empire set on universal domination, they were finally “heading home.” Keith wouldn’t consider Earth his home. He had nothing to go back to. They were only going because they needed Sam Holt in order to construct a new Castle of Lions, but everyone else seemed so happy for a chance to see their families again.
Keith was only afraid of losing his.
“Hey, Keith. You awake?” Shiro stepped into the cockpit of the Black Lion.
“Yeah. Not really easy to sleep while we’re moving like this.”
“I know what you mean. Mind if I join you out here?” Keith nodded, turning his attention back to the emptiness in front of him. Traveling through space without any sort of urgency was rough. Well, the situation was fairly urgent, but they didn’t have the power to fly any faster than this. For the first hour it was kinda relaxing. Space was really pretty to look at when you aren’t focused on fighting in a war. After days of traveling, however, it started to feel almost sad, in a way. The universe is huge, but everything is so spread out. The space between galaxies, or even just planets, is so vast and so much of just… nothing.
“You know, staring out there doesn’t make the time go by any faster,” Shiro broke the silence.
“What else is there to do?”
“Talk to me.”
"About?” Keith raised an eyebrow.
“Anything.”
Keith blinked. Anything? Picking from “anything” was virtually impossible.
“Lion got your tongue?” Shiro joked, definitely way too proudly.
“I could punch you.”
“There’s the Keith I know.”
He froze.
There’s the Keith I remember.
“Shiro,” he swallowed, “do you… do you remember when we fought? When I fought your clone?”
“Bits and pieces.”
“He said that. ‘There’s the Keith I remember,’” Keith imitated the tone of voice the clone had taken with him.
“Oh.”
Shiro took a seat, gently, on top of one of the surfaces beside Keith. They avoided each other’s gaze, neither one really sure how to keep talking. Years ago, before the Kerberos mission, Shiro would have known exactly what to say.
“I love you, too, you know,” Shiro decided on. Keith didn’t say anything. They sat in silence for what felt like a lifetime to them both.
“I don’t love you like a brother. I’m… I’m in love with you,” Keith responded.
“I know.”
Keith cried. Shiro started hardly a tick later.
Space had taken everything from Shiro. It took away Adam. It took away his arm. It even took away his life. But space had given everything to Keith. It gave him a purpose. It gave him a family.
Space gave him Shiro.