Years just
seemed to fly by and before Keith and the others knew it, it was time to
graduate and accept their first assignment.
Since Sven and Jeff accepted a six month internship at the beginning of
the year, they were graduating with the rest of the group. Though both Lance and Keith knew that there
was more than just studying going on
when the couple went.
Lance stared
forlornly out across the pond from where he stood under a cherry tree, the wind
gently blowing the blossoms around him.
Granted, he was excited that he finally earned his wings...hell, he even
ranked the top of his class! Lance
never dreamed that that would
happen! However, he was worried about
the assignments. He and Keith were extremely close now...and there was a
strong possibility that they would get separate assignments. Lance wasn't sure if he could handle it if
they had to go on separate missions.
Keith saw
Lance staring out across the pond and approached him quietly from behind.
"HEY!" He yelled, poking Lance on both sides of his stomach.
"AHHH!"
Lance jumped before turning around to glare at his lover. "How the HELL do
you do that? All my time on the
streets, practically no one ever got
the drop on me. Yet you do it every single time!"
"I'm
just good." Keith proclaimed boastfully through his laughter. "Or
you're losing your touch…Nope! I think
it's just that I'm good."
"You're
going to be the death of me!" Lance laughed before pulling Keith close to
him. For a few moments, he held on
tightly, afraid to let go.
"You
are not going anywhere without me.
I'll follow you all the way to Hades." Keith said, nestling his head
against Lance's shoulder. "Never
gonna let you go."
"I
know, I know." Lance mumbled as he kissed the top of Keith's head. "I'm still scared though. I just don't want to lose you."
"You
could never lose me. I promise that we
will always be together." Keith said as he lifted his head to capture
Lance's lips in a gentle kiss.
Lance's face
shined brighter than the setting sun.
"I love you. And...I have
something for you...in case we can't be together physically."
"Really?"
Keith said, sounding much like an eager child on Christmas morning. "You
know you don't have to give me anything. I got all I want right here." He
hugged Lance a little tighter for a moment. He was a little more optimistic,
thinking he and Lance were destined to be together forever.
"And
you are all I ever want." Lance smiled as he gently placed a small object
in Keith's hand before closing it.
Keith opened his hand to find a small silver ring. A Celtic knot was engraved in the middle, an
eagle with its wings spread on one side, a roaring tiger on the other
side. Lance smiled nervously. "It was my mother's ring...it has been
in my family for generations. I had a
friend engrave the eagle and tiger. The
knot stands for eternity. Um..."
Lance glanced down at his feet. "I
just wanted to...let you know that no matter what happens...I will love
you...forever. I can understand...if
you don't like it...it is not much...I..."
Keith
blinked back the tears of love and joy that shone brightly in his black eyes.
"Oh, Lance…it's so beautiful. " He kissed Lance lightly on the lips.
"I'll never take it off."
Lance gently
took Keith's left hand in his, tenderly sliding the ring on his ring finger and
bringing the hand up to his lips, kissing it softly. "Maybe so, but it pales against you."
"I love
you, more then words could ever say. And I am honored that you gave me this
ring."
"I'm
honored that you would take it." Lance chuckled as he pulled Keith back
into his arms. "I swear you bring
out the mush in me! The guys back home
would freak if they could see me now!"
"Who
cares what they think? What anyone thinks." Keith said, wrapping his arms
around Lance's waist and letting his hands fall onto Lance's firm buttocks.
"All I care is what you
think."
Lance stared
wide-eyed at Keith before blushing.
"I see your confidence has grown considerably since I first met
you." Laughing, Lance pulled Keith
even closer. "Thanks to you, I
don't care what others think anymore.
I'm just amazed how you have turned a rough street punk into such a
sentimental sap!"
Keith
laughed and kissed Lance's cheek. "I guess it goes both ways...to bring
out the best in each other…" Keith smiled before his expression turned
serious. "We saved each other."
"Yup! I couldn't have gotten this far without
you. I probably would have returned and
would still be living out there...or worse." Lance couldn't help but
shiver at the thought, unknowingly holding Keith tighter.
Keith hugged
Lance in return and kissed Lance's lips tenderly. "I wouldn't have made it
here without you either. I don't want to think where I'd be without you...or
you without me. We're together now and that's all that matters."
"You're
right." Lance sat down next to the tree, pulling Keith down in front of
him and wrapping his arms around him.
"Let's just enjoy now and not worry about the assignments
tomorrow."
"Okay."
Keith agreed as he leaned back against Lance, resting his head on Lance's
shoulder.
"I love
you." Lance whispered, kissing Keith's temple tenderly before settling
back to enjoy the sunset across the pond and the loving man in his arms. The present was always more important than
the future.
************************************************************************
The
graduation ceremony seemed to drag on forever. There were at least a dozen
speeches given by people who just didn't know when to shut up. Each student
then received their certificate of graduation along with a manila folder that
contained the instructions for their first assignments. Normally, the
assignments were not handed out until nearly a week after graduation, or even
longer in some cases, but with the recent attacks and the threat from Doom
looming over them there was no time for celebration.
At Keith and
Sven's dorm room, Lance smiled brightly as he leaned against one of the walls,
watching the members of the team he had been assigned to. Pidge and Hunk were excited and already
talking about how they could get more horse power out of their new ship. Keith and Sven were on the couch discussing
techniques to use while exploring.
Lance couldn't believe how lucky he was to be assigned as pilot for this
group. All five were being sent to
explore the Digama System. It was going
to be interesting up there in space with Keith as his captain and Sven as
second in command. Lance smirked. He would need to keep those two on their
toes. Couldn't have them slip or get
rusty out in space.
Lance's
smile faltered when he noticed how tightly Sven was holding Jeff. Jeff was also captain, but with another
group. They were going to the Cysco
System, close to the Digama System but not close enough. Lance and Keith tried to get Sven to request
a change, but he refused. Sven and Jeff
both agreed that Sven should go with his brother. Sven argued that Keith still needed him. Lance couldn't help but agree with the older
man.
Keith leaned
back against the couch for a moment, then looked at Sven and Jeff. "I
still say you should ask to be reassigned to Jeff's team…or I could talk to
them…Jeff can be captain instead of me…what difference would it make if there
were six people on the team instead of five?"
Sven rolled
his eyes. "I told you, Keith, it's okay!
I want to stay with this
unit! Besides, you're already going to
have your hands full just keeping Lance in line. You need me to watch the other two!"
"And as
for me being captain of this team..." Jeff shook his head as Pidge yelled
and chased after Hunk when Hunk dumped his drink on his boyfriend's head. "I don't
want it! You can have them,
Keith!"
Keith smiled
slightly; he wanted Sven on the team with him more then he was willing to admit
out loud but he felt horrible that for Sven to be on the team it meant Sven
couldn't be with Jeff. He knew if it was Lance assigned to another team he
would do everything he could to change it. "It just doesn't seem
fair." Keith said quietly.
Sven nodded
sadly at Keith as he pulled Jeff closer to him. "No, it's not fair.
I'll admit that. But the
officials know what they're doing.
There's a reason why we are assigned this way, and I'm not going to
argue with them. Not where Doom is
concerned." He smiled reassuringly. "Besides, Jeff and I will stay in touch
with each other. And once things have
quieted down, we can make arrangements for a transfer."
Jeff
nodded. "This is not permanent,
Keith. We love each other and have been
together long enough that the distance won't matter too much. I personally will feel much better if Sven
was with you at first."
"I
guess...after all love overcomes any obstacle." Keith smiled as he turned
slightly to look at Lance. As he turned back to look at Sven and Jeff, he
leaned over the top of Sven to give Jeff a quick hug. "I just wish we were
all on the same team cause I'm gonna miss you."
Jeff hugged
Keith tightly. "I'll miss you too,
twirp. I'm expecting you to keep Sven
out of trouble for me."
Keith and
Jeff burst out laughing as Sven growled.
"Ha, ha, ha. Very
funny. Don't expect me to obey your
orders all the time, bror3."
Sven smirked as he glanced over at Lance whose head was bouncing up and
down watching Pidge try to jump up and pour his drink on top of a laughing
Hunk's head. "I know that he is not going to!"
"Why do
I get the feeling that nobody is going to?" Keith questioned as he flopped
back against the couch. "That 'captain' will prove to be the name for the
guy who nobody listens to."
Jeff and
Sven laughed. "Don't worry
Keith." Sven smiled as he gave Keith a bear hug. "We'll listen to you.
Always. We just may not always
agree with you. And will tell you
so! Though Lance may just rebel to
drive you nuts!"
"Oh I
know he will." Keith grinned as he turned his head to watch his lover
watch Pidge and Hunk, completely oblivious to his watching eyes.
"Well,
if you will excuse us, I would like to meet the members of Jeff's team. And make it clear to them that Jeff is off limits!" Keith burst out laughing as Sven dragged a
shocked and sputtering Jeff out the door.
Keith curled
up on the couch watching the going on's between the rest of the team – his
team. He was still having trouble
getting his mind around that idea.
Lance burst
out laughing as Hunk, finally getting fed up with Pidge's jumping, picked up
the smaller man and walked out of the dorm room. Shaking his head, he glanced over at Keith. Noticing Keith's troubled expression, Lance
immediately walked over to the couch and sat down next to Keith, wrapping his
arms around him. "You okay?"
"Yeah…it's
just that…it's not fair that Sven and Jeff aren't assigned together…that the
six of us couldn't have been assigned to one team." Keith replied as he
curled up closer to Lance.
"I
don't like it either. But they have
made up their minds. And we need to
respect their decision."
"And
what do the officials know? They can't know that much considering they assigned
me as captain."
Lance sighed
as he kissed Keith. "I've told you
that you have a lot of potential, Tiger.
They've seen it too. You can do
this. Just have faith in
yourself."
"It
just seems…a little overwhelming…and weird to outrank Sven." Keith wrapped
an arm around Lance's waist and hugged him. "I just thank the heavens that
we're on the same team…I wouldn't be able to handle it if we were assigned to
different teams."
"You
will do just fine. And all of us will
be there to help you every step of the way." Lance smiled reassuringly.
"And while I'm thankful that we're on the same team, I know you would still do great without me
there. I believe in you, Tiger."
Keith
smiled. "I need you, Lance. I wouldn't be able to handle life without
you." Keith kissed Lance's lips. "And that's the truth. You are too
much a part of my life for me to lose you now."
"You
will never lose me." Lance smiled
as his fingers traced the ring on Keith's finger. "That's what this ring means. I belong to you. You have
heard some people call me by my street name...Jian. Do you know what that means?"
"No."
Keith replied. He had wondered about it from time to time but chose not to ask
for to him Lance was Lance, not 'Jian'. But since Lance brought it up Keith
decided to ask. "What does it mean?"
"It's
Chinese. It basically means 'one-winged
bird that can only fly with the aid of another'. The Chinese immigrants gave it to me since I helped so many to
'fly'. It kinda stuck after that."
Lance chuckled slightly before turning serious. "You are my
missing wing. I won't be able to fly
without you."
Keith kissed
Lance. "It's only together that either of us can fly."
"I
know. Wait here." Lance pulled
away and quickly walked over to the window, opening the blinds. He then turned off the light before sitting
back on the couch and pulling Keith next to him. Thousands of stars cast their warm glow upon them. "Let's enjoy the stars. This will be our last night to see them from
earth. Tomorrow we will be soaring
among them."
************************************************************************
owari ^_~