Authors Note: Thank you for reading! I'm new to writing fanfiction, so let me know how I'm doing! Also, no part of this is meant to be disrespectful to anyone, and used female pronouns for Pidge. I obviously don't own Voltron, and I hope you enjoy this little one shot!
After revealing her biological gender, Allura had insisted that she visit the female-only lounge area. Pidge didn't expect it to be any different than the common lounge, but was pleasantly surprised when she saw the over-stuffed cushions, neatly arranged to make the room seem as inviting as possible. Blankets of a rich material, softer than Earth micro-plush, draped over the couches, which were arranged to form a conversation pit in the middle of the room. Pidge smirked slyly, thinking about how jealous the boys would be if they knew this place existed. It was private, and quite, and the perfect place to work on projects, because the only one that could disturb her was Allura. But perhaps the best perk of the Ladies lounge, was the private bathroom. No one treated her any differently after finding out her biological gender, but Pidge found that having a shower all to herself beat having to wait hours for Lance to finish up, or Keith's hair stuck on everything. Honestly, the ladies lounge bathroom could have been half as nice, and trumped sharing with the boys tenfold.
It was in the tranquil Ladies Lounge bathroom that Pidge found herself in a particular predicament. She grimaced at her bloodied shorts, and prayed that she was dreaming. The Green Paladin hoped that in a second, the white metal walls would disappear, and she would be curled up in her bed, or wherever she happened to fall asleep this time.
Her parents had given her "The Talk" when she had turned twelve, so she knew what was happening, but part of her still denied it. She never wanted to have kids, ever so it seemed like a a massive waste of vital nutrients. And the fluctuating hormones were definitely a inconvenience, considering she was a Paladin of Voltron, and didn't have the luxury of being moody or irritable. And she was hardly fifteen, which is too young, right?
The sharp tapping on the metal door snapped Pidge from her thoughts. She eyed the door nervously, trying to decide if it was actually a knock, or just something banging around somewhere in the castle. After a few seconds, a voice called her name.
"Pidge? Are you in there?" Allura asked apprehensively.
"I'm here!" She shouted, but growing more and more nervous with each passing second. Why did I answer!? I should have pretended it was empty! But what if she was asking so she could use the restroom? I mean, we did have a tough work out before I had to leave because I stated cramping really bad-
"Is everything ok? You've been in there for quite some time..." Allura responded, which an edge of motherly concern, bringing Pidge from her thoughts.
Shit! How could I have lost track of like that? Now everyone'll be suspicious. Should I lie and say that nothing's happening? Or maybe tell her that I cut myself during training-no because then she'll worry-oh but I could say I'm sick! It's not technically a lie because I want to vomit, but she'll worry even mo-
"Pidge!?" Allura said with a hard knock on the door, with more frustration than the previous knock.
Pidge let out a deep sigh, maybe Allura will know what to do, considering how closely she resembles a human. In a small voice, smaller than she had expected, Pidge asked, "Umm...could you...help me?"
Moments later, Allura opened the door, and entered the room with an air of motherly concern. The Paladin relaxed instantly, and Allura took a seat on one of the lounging benches, inviting Pidge to do the same, with a glance to her side. Pidge shuffled over quickly, and sat cross legged on the floor in front of the princess. They sat in an uncomfortable silence, Pidge actively avoiding eye contact, while her embarrassment grew, and Allura fighting the urge to force the problem from her.
"Well, if you won't be needing my help, I'll be go-"
"-I started my period!" Pidge shouted, her face red, and eyes cast at the floor.
Allura tried her best to hid her confusion, she really did, but the princess hadn't the faintest idea what this "period" thing was, or why it seems to be so embarrassing to discuss. "I'm sorry, but what is a period? Is it not the silly dot you Humans put at the end of your sentences when you write?"
"You know, that time of the month where you bleed for about a week, because you didn't get pregnant?" Pidge explained hastily, trying to pick terms that she thought Allura would understand. Instead of the expected "oh" moment, followed by what the Alteins called it, Allura just looked horrified. Several long seconds passed before it dawned on the green paladin that maybe Alteins didn't have periods at all.
"Do Alteins have something similar?" Pidge inquired carefully.
"NO!" Allura shouted, her voice bouncing loudly off the walls. Surprised by her own shock, Allura coughed nervously, and responded with a calmer, more diplomatic "no."
Pidge's mind raced then, because she had been banking on the assumption that Alteins had similar reproductive systems. So what am I going to do now? It's not like they'll have pads and tampons laying around IF THEY DONT FUCKING DO PERIODS! SHIT SHIT SHIT! Deep breath...
Allura's horror seemed to be negated by curiousity.
"So where does the blood come from? Why are humans like this? It seems dangerous to have an open wound for so long..." Allura asked in rapid fire, worry for the green paladin etched deeply on her face.
Pidge chuckled lightly, her panic evaporating, figures I would end up giving space mom sex Ed. "Well..." she began, trying to remember why the hell humans would evolve to be like this, "No one really knows for sure why Humans are like this, but I do know that it's not dangerous for most people, because its not an open wound at all." Pidge shifted nervously, and tried to think of a way to explain the complicated anatomy of the female reproductive system without confusing the princess. "Humans have this thing called a uterus, that kind of opens to the outside to let us...ah, reproduce, but we can only do it if the inside is rich in the stuff babies need to grow. When a girl doesn't get pregnant, the stuff kind of flushes itself out, and that's what we call periods," Pidge finished with a sigh, eyes begging Allura not to ask any more questions. "How do Alteins reproduce?" She asked quickly, shifting the subject of herself.
Now it was Allura's turn to be embarrassed. "We..umm..." she coughed, and her face when a deep shade of red. "It sounds like our internal anatomy is quite similar, but we don't get rid of the lining. It would be a tremendous waste! The markings under our eyes glow when we are...receptive...and only when we have been with a mate" she finished quickly, casting her eyes anywhere except the quick thinking green paladin.
A knowing smirk crossed Pidge's face, and she recalled the one night she ran into Allura, with her cheek marks glowing a bright white, and who she could have sworn was Shiro, sneaking away from them. Allure's dress seemed a bit disheveled, but before she could comment on what had odiously taken place, she became incredibly sleepy...
"You and Shiro had sex that time I found you in the hallway! And you drugged me to keep me from finding out!" She shouted, pointing a finger at Allura, who was too embarrassed to even attempt to deny the accusation. A few minuets passed and the girls broke down into giggles.
Through labored breaths, Allura confessed to it all, laughing at how absurd she must have looked to the Green Paladin. Collecting herself before any more embarrassing secrets could escape, the princess asked, "So how do you deal with this blood, anyway? It's connected to some kind of cycle, I presume?"
"Oh, yeah. We just usually shove some compact cotton, called tampons, up there, or where this liner in our pants," Pidge replied, much more comfortable.
Allura was silent for quite a long time, and Pidge was worried that she might have been confused by something. After another few minuets, Allura's eyes lit up and she shot off of her bench. "I know how we can fix this period thing right now!" Pidge eyed her skeptically, but Allura continued. "The healing pods speed up the body's repair functions, but it might be able to speed up a hormone cycle, too. Since I don't have any of these tampons or liners, we could try to trick your body into thinking that you are in a different part of your cycle."
Somehow, Allura convinced her that this plan would definitely work, and that it wasn't at all crazy, and before she knew it, she was in a pod, with Allura tinkering away outside. As she drifted off, she wondered if her chat with the princess was what having a sister was like, and part of her hoped that it was. While she waited to get her real family back, she was happy to have Allura looking out for her.
