Disclaimers: WEPownsVoltron. And if I hadn’t used names, or changed ‘em, I almost wouldn’t *need* to write this... I got some inspiration from Daniel R. Kern’s books “Hero” and “Border Dispute”, Jaqueline Litchenburg’s Sime stories (well, one swear word was from there), Gundam Wing, and Todesengel’s “Broken Wings” muse must have talked to mine, I think. I borrowed “Zabrek” from the Almighty George Lucas... There’s a hint of Will McCarthy, a touch of ElfQuest, a dash of Lois McMaster Bujold, a pinch of Mercedes Lackey, a splash from Sharon Lee and Steve Miller’s Liad universe books, a smattering of Marian Hughes’ _Initiation_... If you haven’t read any of these authors, please don’t disregard them because of my story... ^^; Any ideas that Forest cares to lay claim to are probably her’s. Japanese names, as usual, are courtesy of kaie; Shimada is from Ali’s Gatchaman ‘Seclusion’ series.

Notes: Taryn presented me with a plot-egg. Here’s what hatched. (It’s all her fault! Well... hers and Forest’s.)

Thanks to Forest for the unexpected beta’ing and continued support and comments. Also to Taryn for her comments, and kaie, Zoe, Phoenix... Special thanks to Forest & kaie & Taryn for beta’ing.... Forest ought to be commended -- she suffered through every new scene ^^; _and_ she commented upon and found my logic gaps in all of my background notes as well -- which, at one point, was longer than the fic... Taryn helped a great deal as a sort of control -- she beta’d without reading most of my notes, so she caught questions whose answers I’d forgotten to add to the story. ^_^

Warnings: m/m (surprise, surprise, right?), m/f. Lime. OOC (Lance starts out ok. I think Keith went a bit strange on me. I _know_ the rest of the Voltron cast of characters went strange on me. Well. Maybe not Nanny.), magic (though, it’s more like ESP...), And, oh, yeah -- there’s Traditional Plot Devices (tm) used... Lots of swear words... Keith/Lance, Hunk/Pidge, Sven/Romelle, Allura/Lotor... Separate plot lines that end up tangling into one end... ^^; The fic’s mostly in chronological order. And, AU. very, very AU. It was sorta fine, and then I made it take a very sharp turn... And it started to grow. Sorta like the Kudzo plant in Thunderbirds 2086... This fic actually is a nice match for the diclaimer and notes -- that ought to say something about its length. It was _supposed_ to be about Keith and Lance and _no_ _one_ _else_...

Comments and critiques are very welcome.

Key: “___” is words spoken in Basic

//___// is words spoken in Drule

~___~ is words spoken in a dialect of Basic

*___* is thoughts

Timeline’s after this -- you might want to skip it for now and just use it as reference as you read. Or you can use it to see if you really want to read the whole story or not. ^^;

============================

Timeline...

Year 3194
* Andrew Hawkins is born

Year 3202
* Avok is born

Year 3204
* Sven is born
* Hawkins is read; told he’s Gifted, but he decides to fly.

Year 3205
* Allura is born
* Romelle is born

Year 3207
* Jared (Hunk) and Matt Forrester are born

Year 3208
* Lotor is born.
* Hawkins starts Prep school.

Year 3209
* Bandor is born.

Year 3210
* Hawkins graduates from Prep school.

Year 3211
* Eiichi Kodama (Pidge) is born.
* Hawkins starts at the Academy.

Year 3213
* The Alliance prognostics recognize the Drules as a threat -- a possible end to the Drule in-fighting can be seen by non-Drules.

Year 3214
* Keith is born
* Lance is born
* Hawkins graduates from the Academy.
* Romelle is recognized as a Seer and forced to take lessons.

Year 3217
* The Forresters are read at 10; Jarred starts to learn about repairing machines, Matt starts to learn about repairing bodies.

Year 3218
* Eiichi is 7, and already getting lessons at the Temple.
* Sven starts Prep School

Year 3219
* The Drules have consolidated under one leader -- who politely sends notice to the Alliance that the Drule empire will be declaring war on the Alliance worlds in one year’s time.

Year 3220
* Sven’s home is destroyed, and his Sight is triggered by the trauma. He’s 16, in that year between Prep school and the Academy. This is the year he gets training for his Sight.
* Romelle refuses further formal training as a Seer.

Year 3221
* Sven is at Academy, at 17.
* Pidge’s home planet is attacked by the Drules. Pidge is 10; he changes from the Temple track to the Academy track.
* The Forrester twins get separated, for the first time in their lives, at 14 years old.
* Keith is poking around at the Temple at 7; the Elder Priest starts teaching him.

Year 3223
* Hawkins is made general

Year 3224
* Sven graduates, just as Allura and Romelle start attending the Academy -- he just meets Allura and misses Romelle altogether. He spends the next year under Morisaki, who can’t handle him.
* Arus is attacked and devastated by the Drules despite Hawkins’ best efforts, and Allura decides to go to the Academy. Hawkins finds himself helping her.
* Pollux gives allegiance to the Drules, and King Cova makes the decision to give Romelle to a Drule lordling. Romelle objects, takes off, destroys a Drule base on her run to the Alliance, and goes to the Academy.
* Keith and Lance are 10 -- this is the time they get formally read by the Priestess and the Priest.

Year 3225
* Pidge starts Prep school while Allura and Romelle are at the Academy.
* Allura and Romelle meet a few months starting into the Academy (Romelle joins Allura’s class late), and become a team.
* Hawkins takes Sven under his wing, at the plea of Morisaki.
* The Drules realize finally that the Alliance planets do not separate according to Warrior and non-Warrior, as they do. They await word for how they must atone. Meanwhile, at the request of their ‘think tank’, they confine all prisoners in one area, and give them a chance to fight, if they so desire.

Year 3227
* Allura and Romelle graduate from the Academy and get dumped on Hawkins, who puts all three of his misfits together.
* At the time that he meets Romelle, Sven’s been under Hawkins for 2 yrs.
* Matt Forrester dies in a Drule bombing run. The loss of his twin snaps Jared’s psyche turning him into ‘Hunk’. At the end of it, still alive, he is forced to go to the Academy for formal training.
* Hunk and Pidge start the Academy, just missing Allura and Romelle.
* Keith and Lance are 13

Year 3228
* Keith and Lance begin Prep school at 14.
* Pollux’s warrior is hailed as the best Arena Fighter. As his ‘prize’, he takes one of the Alliance prisoners for her cooking skills. The next day, he’s found skewered by a spear. No one else dares to take an Alliance prisoner as a reward after this incident. The Drules are very impressed.

Year 3230
* Hunk and Pidge graduate from the Academy; in a two months, they piss off Hayashi, and get sent on their three year mission.
* Allura and Romelle have been under Hawkins for 3 years; Sven’s been there for 5 years.
* Keith and Lance finish Prep school, both 16.
* Keith starts the Academy at 16.
* Pollux sends the heir to the throne, Prince Avok, to compete in the Arena. He does well enough to gain Pollux much respect.

Year 3231
* Lance starts at the Academy when he’s 17.

Year 3233
* Keith graduates from the Academy. Lance and Keith appear to have a falling out.
* Hunk and Pidge come back from their mission, to the dismay of Hayashi, and are gathered up by Hawkins.
* Hunk and Pidge track down and talk with Keith.
* Lotor begins his run as Arena Champion.

Year 3234
* Keith’s been out for a year, and Hammond has managed to balance his oddity with the most flexible of his command, so that things haven’t quite managed to blow up yet.
* Sven’s been with Hawkins for 9 yrs, Allura and Romelle for 7, Hunk and Pidge for 1 year.
* Lance graduates and is assigned to Hammond -- it’s thought perhaps that he and Keith will mend fences and Lance will be a stabilizing influence on Keith. Instead, the two ‘avoid’ each other for 2 years. During this time, Shigure becomes Hammond’s aide for a few months, and really tries to get Keith killed. Lance helps keep Keith alive; Hammond finds out and axes Shigure’s career, gaining Keith’s and Lance’s respect.

Year 3236
* But their respect is not enough for them to manage not to slip up. Keith is insubordinate to Matsuda, and uses his Warrior’s Gift to push Matsuda into doing what he wants him to do, and also sliding into the joy that fighting with Lance is. They succeed spectacularily, but must pay the price for their insubordination, and get sent on their mission.
* Sven’s been with Hawkins 11 yrs, Allura and Romelle for 9, Hunk and Pidge for 3.

Year 3239
* Keith and Lance come back from their mission with a few extra bodies. They get yelled at, and then they, along with Lotor, get shipped to Hawkins’ command.
* Sven’s been with Hawkins for 14 yrs, Allura and Romelle for 12, Hunk and Pidge for 6.
* Lotor gets thrown into this group, and is playing catch-up, learning to pilot.

And now -- they really start getting good.

Any comments or suggestions for JoAnn should be sent through me with either the story title or JoAnn in the subject line. I'll forward them without peeking. Really I will.

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