Chapter Text
As she slowly regains consciousness there’s a loud hissing noise surrounding her. Her eyes are unfocused, but she can see the hissing sound belongs to a door that’s opening in front of her. Her legs feel like jelly as the force that was holding her up disappears. Unable to will her limbs to move, she starts to fall forward. She waits for the impact of the ground but it never comes. It takes her a second to realize that she’s being held by someone or something. Opening her eyes she tries to focus them and see who or what has caught her. She sees a man with short brown hair, bronze skin and the bluest eyes she’s ever seen smiling at her. It’s a smile so warm that it could make anyone feel at ease.
He uses his long legs to pull a chair over and gingerly helps her to sit down. “The name’s Lance. You must be pretty weak, you’ve been in a healing pod for about a day and a half. Wait here for a second, I’ll be right back.”
Confused and a little scared, she watches as Lance walks to a metal table a few feet away. Taking her eyes off of him, she looks around the room that she’s in. The room is fairly large and has a sterile feel to it. She sees the “healing pod” that she fell out of, it’s a shiny silver metal with a glass door. “It looks almost like a coffin.” she thinks. There’s 7 others like it in the center of the room. The rest of the room is sparse. There’s the table that Lance is standing at along with a few more chairs around it. She also sees a couple metal medical exam tables along with a few small beds. There’s what she thinks is a closet along with some shelving that looks to be holding medical supplies.
She looks down and notices that she’s wearing a light grey bodysuit. The fabric is stretchy without becoming translucent. It has full length legs and arms, the only parts poking out are her feet, hands and neck/head. She has no idea where it came from, but assumes that it has to do with the healing pod that she was in.
Lance walks up to her with a chair in one hand and a steaming cup of liquid in the other. He sets down the chair then points the handle of the cup towards her and motions for her to take it. “It’s peppermint tea. I hope you like it. It’s best to drink something warm after coming out of the healing pods.” He sits down as she takes the mug from him.
As she lifts the mug to her face the smell of peppermint fills her nose. She can feel the heat coming off the tea so she blows on the it briefly before taking a small sip to test the temperature. Lance stays silent and watches her drink the tea.
“I’m sure you have lots of questions. You can ask me anything and I’ll do my best to answer.” Lance tells her. “But first, what’s your name? Where are you from?”
“My name? Umm...It’s Trianna.” She says with some uncertainty. “I’m from….” She stops abruptly and stays silent for a moment. She racks her brain trying to remember anything, but comes up short. “I-I can’t remember. I can’t remember anything.” Her breath starts to quicken and her heart starts to pound as she realizes she can’t remember anything. Her eyes start darting around the room as they try to lock onto something familiar and finding nothing.
Having dealt with anxiety before, Lance quickly notices the beginnings of a panic attack. He shuffles his chair closer to Trianna and puts his hand on her arm to try to get her attention. “Trianna, look at me. Concentrate on my face. It’s ok, you’re not in any danger here. Breathe with me ok?” He starts taking deep breaths to encourage Trianna to do the same.
She follows along with Lance’s breathing and slowly starts to calm down enough to breathe normally again. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to panic like that. I got really overwhelmed when I realized I can’t remember anything. Thank you for helping me.” Trianna hangs her head, embarrassed that she panicked the way she did.
Lance takes her hands in his and leans down so he can see her face. “Don’t be sorry. It’s ok. Listen, I’ll personally do what I can to help you remember what you’ve forgotten.”
“You don’t even know who I am. How can you trust me so much?” Trianna asks looking at Lance.
“Because you haven’t given me a reason not to trust you. I always try to see the best in everyone until they give me a reason not to.” Lance sits back in his chair a little. “If it’s ok, I’m going to call Coran to let him know you’re out of the healing pod. He handles anything medical here and will want to run a few scans to make sure you’re ok.”
“That’s fine. You’re going to stay here right?” Trianna says, worried about being left alone right now.
“Of course! I’ll stay right here as long as you want me to. I just need to use the comm system by the door to call him.” Lance stands and briskly walks to the door. Trianna can hear him talking to someone but can’t make out what he’s saying.
“While we’re waiting for Coran, how are you feeling? The healing pods tend to zap your energy if you’re in them for a while. You’ve been in one for more than a day so you’re probably pretty tired.”
Trianna looks herself over and moves her arms and legs around. She can’t see any wounds on her feet or hands. “I’m feeling ok. There’s no pain, but I feel weak and sore.”
“That’s pretty normal.” Lance tells her. “You’ll just need to rest for a day or two.”
Trianna and Lance continue talking for a few more minutes before the door to the med bay opens. Trianna looks to the door and sees 2 people walking in. The first is a pale man with bright orange hair and a matching moustache whom she assumes is Coran. The second is a woman with darker skin and flowing, long white hair even though she doesn’t look old enough to have hair that white. She’s wearing an elegant gown and what appears to be a tiara of some sort around her head. Both people have pointed ears and markings on their cheeks.
“Wait here, I’ll be right back.” Lance tells her as he stands and walks towards the two newcomers. He stops and greets them before they can get more than halfway through the room. Lance brings them towards the healing pods and puts himself between the pair and Trianna and begins introductions.
“This is Coran”, he begins as he gestures to the orange haired man. Coran holds out his hand for a handshake and she returns the gesture. “And this is Princess Allura.” Lance continues. The princess steps forward and holds out her hand in the same manner as Coran.
“Coran, Princess Allura, it’s nice to meet you both.” she says, returning the handshake from the princess. “I’m not sure what happened or how I got here, but I’d like to thank you both.”
Lance puts his hand on Trianna’s shoulder. “Coran, Trianna doesn’t seem to remember anything other than her name. Is it possible that it has something to do with the healing pod?” Trianna can feel her anxiety rise, but Lance squeezes her shoulder and smiles at her before it gets too bad. “There’s something about him that is calming. I don’t know what it is.”
Coran looks at Trianna with concern. “I’ll check the readings on the pod to make sure nothing happened while she was in it.” He walks past Trianna to the pod she was in and starts pressing buttons and checking the readouts on the screen.
“While Coran is doing that, I can tell you where you are and a little on how you got here. You’re currently in the Castle of Lions, the home of Voltron and it’s 5 Paladins. The castle is also a ship, so we’re traveling around the universe.” Allura explains. “We found you 2 days ago in an abandoned Galra military base on Xiliv. When the Paladins brought you back to the castle you were very hurt. We got you into a healing pod just in time. Due to your injuries, you were in the healing pod for a day and a half.”
Trianna tries to take in what she was just told. Nothing Allura just said sounds familiar or jogs her memory. Thanks to Lance still having his hand on her shoulder, she’s able to stay relatively calm. Allura continues to give her some information about the war going on and Voltron in general. She explains that the Galra have ruled the universe for 10 000 years. They’re war driven and conquer planets for their resources. They have no regard for life and will kill anyone that stands in their way. It is believed that Voltron is the only hope of saving the universe from the Galra Empire. They explain that Voltron was created by Allura’s father, King Alfor, over 10 000 years ago before the Galra Empire took over. It’s a giant robot that is made up of 5 different Lions. Each Lion is piloted by a Paladin and they can be flown individually or together when Voltron is formed. The Lions and Paladins reside in the castle. They’re currently in the middle of a war with the Galra Empire and have been freeing planets that were conquered by the Galra and gaining allies to help them.
Trianna tries to take in all the information she was just given and is having a hard time with it. Allura notices how overwhelmed Trianna looks. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t stop to think about how much information we just threw at you.”
Trianna shakes her head, “It’s ok. I’m able to wrap my head around a lot of that. So how many people live here at the castle?”
“There’s 7 people that live here. Coran and myself, and the 5 Paladins of Voltron.” Allura answers. “Would you like to meet the other 4 Paladins? Provided that it wouldn’t be too much for you.”
“I would like that. Lance seems to be good at recognizing when I’m panicking and helping me calm down. As long as he’s here I think I’ll be ok.” She tells Allura while glancing at Lance. “Maybe the others can help me piece together what happened before I was brought here.”
“I’ll make sure I don’t leave your side. Just let me know if it’s too much.” Lance puts his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll clean up the dishes from the tea I brought in, can one of you call the rest of the team to the med bay?” He asks Allura and Coran. Allura volunteers and turns and walks to the comm system by the door. Her dress flows gracefully behind her as she walks. Lance takes Trianna’s empty cup and walks over to the table where he left the teapot.
“Would it be ok if I can some medical scans on you that I can compare with the information from the healing pod?” Coran asks as he approaches Trianna.
“No problem. It might help explain my memory loss.” I really hope this works. Trianna thinks to herself as Coran starts his scans. I wonder what led to me being brought here. Where am I from? Why was I at a Galra military base? “Will I ever get my memory back?”
Without realizing it, she says the last question out loud. Coran hears her and looks up from his scanning device with an apologetic look. “I wish I could answer that for you. After comparing the information from the healing pod and the scans I took just now, I can confirm that the healing pod had nothing to do with the memory loss. But memory loss is a fickle thing. Some people can get their memories back within days or months. It’s extremely rare, but there is the possibility of your memories never coming back.”
The thought of never truly knowing who she is pierces through Trianna. She never thought that there was a possibility of not getting her memories back. Not being able to stop it, she gets overwhelmed at the thought and her eyes quickly well up with tears. Coran puts down his scanner and sits in the empty chair next to Trianna. “What Lance said is true. We’ll all do what we can to help you with your memories no matter what it takes.” He hugs her for a minute and Trianna starts to stop crying. Coran pulls away after a minute when Trianna’s crying slows down.
“I’m sorry, I’m just overwhelmed. Thank you Coran.” Trianna whispers while wiping her eyes with the sleeves of the suit she’s in.
While Coran was comforting her, the other 4 Paladins arrived at the med bay. The door opening catches Trianna’s attention and she watches Lance interact with the other Paladins. Lance starts leading them into the room while explaining Trianna’s situation. He tells them that she doesn’t remember anything before waking up in the healing pod. She can hear him remind them to take it slow and not to overwhelm or crowd her. Trianna smiles thinking about how much Lance is looking out for her. He knows nothing about her, but still treats her like a close friend. She’s still smiling when Lance and the others get to her.
“Everyone, this is Trianna. Trianna, this is Shiro. He’s our leader and pilots the Black Lion.” Lance gestures to the tallest man. He has short jet black hair with the exception of stark white bangs. His face is stoic with a large scar running across the bridge of his nose. His vest shows off a mechanical prosthetic arm.
“This is Hunk. He’s my best friend and the best cook. He pilots the Yellow Lion.” Hunk’s face radiates friendliness and gentleness. His dark brown hair is held in place with a yellow headband. He reminds Trianna of a giant teddy bear.
Lance gestures to the third person, “This is Keith, our resident hot head. He pilots the Red Lion.” The first thing that she notices about Keith is his wild black hair and purple eyes. He’s easily the second shortest of the 5 Paladins and looks to be the grumpiest too. Nonetheless, she’s mesmerized by his eyes.
“Last but not least, this is Pidge, our hacker. Or Katie if you have a death wish.” Lance manages to jump out of the way as Pidge swings to punch him in the arm. “She pilots the Green Lion” She’s the shortest Paladin and has light brown hair and large wire-rimmed glasses.
“And I, the most charismatic Paladin, pilot the Blue Lion.” Lance finishes.
Trianna looks around at the people in front of her trying to stay calm. “It’s very nice to meet you all. I wish I could return the favour by telling you about myself.” Her anxiousness starts to overtake her and she can feel her face warm up and tears start to form.
Lance is quick to notice Trianna’s demeanor change and jumps to her side. He wraps his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. “Well maybe if we tell you about where and how we found you, it will help jog your memory.” Trianna nods as Lance continues. “Keith, Pidge and I were on a mission to Xiliv to investigate an abandoned Galra military base and to see what kind of information we could get out of their computer system. While Pidge was hacking into their systems, Keith and I started looking around to see if there was anyone left on the base.”
Keith was the next to speak up and continue the story. “While I was checking the prison cells, I found you laying in the middle of one of the cells unconscious. You were covered in cuts, bruises and dried blood. I tried to get your attention, but you wouldn’t respond. I wasn’t even sure if you were alive until I got closer and noticed you were still breathing. I left Lance and Pidge on the planet to get you back to the castle ASAP. Your clothing was in rags but Coran and I were able to quickly put you in a cryo suit and put you into a healing pod.”
“It was touch and go for a while.” Coran tells her. “We weren’t sure if we had gotten you to the pod in time. Most injuries will only take a few hours in a pod, you were in one for over a day. Since we weren’t sure how you would react to the pod, there was always someone here so you wouldn’t be alone.”
Trianna looks around at all the faces that took care of her for the last few days. She can feel tears start to sting her eyes. But this time they’re happy tears as opposed to sad or scared ones. “I don’t know what to say. I mean, you had no idea who I was or if I was dangerous and you still brought me here and helped me. I’m extremely grateful for everything you’ve done. I don’t want to be a burden on anyone more than I already have been. If you can just leave me on the nearest populated planet I can….”
“Nonsense!” Allura loudly interrupts, stepping forward. “You are welcome to stay as long as you would like. The castle is big enough for everyone and it would be nice to have a new face around here. I couldn’t possibly in good conscious leave you on a planet with no memory and knowing no one.”
The room fills with the sounds of everyone agreeing with Allura. Allura strides over to Trianna and bends to hug her tightly. “Remember you are not a burden to any of us. We will do what we can to help you retain your memory and protect you.” Allura lets go of Trianna and stands up to face Coran. “Coran, will you come help me prepare a room for Trianna?” Coran nods and starts to follow Allura out of the room. Before they can leave, Lance stops them and whispers something to them that Trianna can’t hear. They nod to him and leave the room.
“While they’re getting a room together for you, how about you come to the kitchen and I whip you up something to eat?” Hunk offers. Before Trianna can open her mouth to answer, her stomach lets lose a loud growl.
“Sounds like that’s my answer.” Hunk laughs, “Come on, I’ll show you to the kitchen.”
Trianna couldn’t will herself to get out of the chair. She was still scared of her surroundings even though everyone has been nothing but amazing to her. She sees Lance returning to the group and tries to catch his eye. She looks at him in a silent plea for him to stay with her. Lance is able to read her expression and helps her stand from the chair. He takes off his jacket and puts it on her so she’s not wearing only the healing pod suit. “I’m feeling a bit hungry too, how about all of us get some food?” Trianna is glad that Lance was able to read her expression as they follow the rest of the group to the kitchen.
When they all get to the kitchen Lance pulls up a chair for Trianna between his own and Keith’s. Luckily, there’s some leftovers from lunch that Hunk is able to plate up quickly and bring to the table. He’s happy that Trianna’s first taste of food at the castle isn’t food goo like his was.
“Hunk, this is amazing.” Trianna gushes as she takes her first few bites.
“Be thankful that you’ve never had food goo.” Pidge tells her.
Trianna looks confused. “Food goo?”
“You don’t wanna know. Just be thankful.” Pidge laughs.
Trianna shoots a confused look at Lance. “Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough.” He tells her.
Trianna finishes her food while the Paladins around her chat about what’s going on in the castle. As she’s finishing up, Coran comes into the kitchen and announces that Trianna’s room is ready. He glances at Lance and tells him it’s the room he requested.
“Thanks Coran. I appreciate it.” Lance stands and holds out his arm to Trianna. “Shall we? I’ll show you to your room.”
Trianna stands and loops her arm in with his and they both leave the room. Lance takes her to the wing of the castle where all the Paladin’s rooms are.
“What did Coran mean when he said you requested a room for me?” Trianna asks.
Lance stops at what is a random door to Trianna. “I asked that he put you in this room specifically. My room is right next door if you need anything or if you start to panic.” He points to the next door to the left.
Lance opens the door to Trianna’s new room and leads her in. He shows her around and makes sure she knows how to use the shower/bath in the castle since it can be a bit tricky. He shows her how the comm system works and how the locking system on the door works. Trianna is thankful for all the time Lance spends with her, making sure she’s comfortable.
“I’m going to talk to Allura later about going to the swap planet tomorrow so we can get you some clothes and necessities. Until then, come to my room with me and I’ll see if I have anything you can use until then.”
Trianna nods and follows Lance out of the room and into his room. Lance goes to his closet first and pulls out some clothes he thinks will fit. He sends her into the bathroom with a few pairs of pants and a handful of shirts to try on. Trianna is able to find a couple shirts, a pair of sweatpants and a pair of pj pants that mostly fit.
“Well if I roll up the pant legs a bit they should work.” Trianna says as she leaves the bathroom.
“Awesome. We just need to find you shoes. I’ll talk to Allura about that. For now, you should get you back to your room so you can get some rest.”
“That sounds like a good idea. I’m getting really tired.” Trianna yawns barely able to get the last word out of her mouth.
Lance drops his normal goofiness and puts on a serious face. “Before you leave, don’t forget that you can get a hold of me anytime if you need anything. I want you to know you’re not alone here.”
“Thank you Lance. I really appreciate it.” Trianna hugs Lance before she starts for the door to go back to her room.
“Good night, I’ll stop by your room in the morning to get you for breakfast.”
“Good night Lance. See you in the morning.”