Today was the day.
Today was the day that she'd tell them - Team Voltron - that she was a girl. There shouldn't be any secrets between them. They were a team. They were slowly becoming a family, and she didn't want to risk anything happening to break up said team. After all, they were the last hope of the universe if they were to stop the Galra. And get her dad and brother back.
They were all standing around the table, and she prepared herself with a deep breath as the others started to walk away.
"Guys," she called out to them, and they paused, "I have something I need to say."
They all gave her curious gazes as they shared bewildered glances with one another. Allura looked like she knew what Pidge herself had to say, so the event before made more sense in her mind now.
"I can't man up," she looked down at the ground before her eyes met some of her teammates' eyes, "I'm a girl."
She could hear Lance's exclamation first. The brunet was always one to vocalize his emotions in almost every single situation. That was expected. Hunk and Shiro both stood there with raised brows, but evidently, they weren't really surprised. She knew that they were okay with her. Coran seemed fascinated if his incoherent chatter was anything to go by, and the princess looked almost relieved. She must have been super thrilled to have Pidge telling them about herself.
The only one to not react was Keith. He continued to stand there with his loose-yet-guarded stance he always had. His violet eyes watched her with a perplexed twinkle to them. Maybe he was confused? Or-
"Why aren't you reacting to this?" Pidge asked before her brain could catch up, and Keith frowned as if in thought. Moments went on as the others watched the two.
"Because I already knew," he conceded with a sigh as his black hair fell into his eyes.
"How?" Pidge's mind started going to the teen having snuck into her room, but there was no discriminating evidence of her being a girl there anyway. Maybe he had been watching her when she was dr-no, this was Keith. Pidge knew he was kind of clueless when it came to girls, but he was appropriate. He wouldn't watch her undress.
"I...um," he glanced away before he crossed his arms, "I could smell it."
"Smell it?" Lance wondered with a prying voice, "That just sounds creepy. What do you do with your free time? Sniff stuff?"
At this, Keith turned bright red as he glared at the blue-clad idiot behind her.
"No," he scoffed as he rubbed at his burning face, "I...I have something I need to tell you guys...No secrets, right?"
The way he said the last sentence almost broke Pidge's heart. He made it sound like he had no options on whether he was to tell them or not. At least Pidge had been prepared and willing to tell them her secret.
"Don't tell me," Lance continued while staring straight at the other boy, "You're a girl, too?"
"No," he scrunched up his brows as if disturbed, and Pidge almost smiled at how adorable he looked just then, "I'm definitely a guy."
He sighed again as he stared at each of them.
"I'm Galra," he stated and the room went silent, "Or...at least, part Galra."
"Keith," Allura laughed as she shifted closer to him, but he moved backward twice the distance and she halted, "This isn't very funny."
"And this is part of why I didn't want to tell you guys yet," he scowled as he clenched his fists to his sides, arms still crossed, "I'm part Galra. I'm not lying. I'm not making it up."
"But how?" Shiro questioned from the side, "You've been living on Earth. Was everything a...lie?"
"What?" Keith went from surprised to ashamed in about one second, "No. I was actually an orphan. I've never known my human father, and my mom left before I could remember her. I was raised by my dads in the Blade and when I was ten, I was sent to Earth to guard the Blue Lion. I was in the desert for about two years before the social workers got me. And I really didn't have anyone to be friends with until you, Shiro."
The man just nodded as he accepted the answer.
"So how could you tell I was a girl?" Pidge asked with raised brows as her scientific mind started working double-time, "You said by smell."
"Well, yeah," he looked between Allura and her to the other guys in the room, "Due to my Galra heritage, I have heightened senses. My hearing's better than normal humans, I can see better and in the dark, I have quicker reflexes, and my body naturally heals faster than a human's does. I can smell things better too. You have no idea how confusing it was to first step into the castle. I could smell the metal, dust, you guys, and even Blue and Black...I think."
"Wait," Coran rubbed his mustache in thought, "Black was sealed up tight. You could smell her?"
"I said I think," Keith's crossed arms tightened their hold as he stood still, "They almost smell the same, and I wasn't really paying attention..."
"So..." Hunk asked nervously as he wrung his hands together, "Are you going to...you know? Start looking like a Galra?"
"What?" He tilted his head before he just laughed emotionlessly, "No, I won't. This is what I've always looked like unless I'm emotional. Then my irises change to yellow, I get sharp teeth, and claws."
"That's..." Lance squinted, and Pidge noticed that Keith was actually hugging himself not crossing his arms, "Actually cool. It's kind of like you have superpowers."
"Um...Thanks?"
"Why didn't you tell us?" Allura demanded as she stared the teen down, and Pidge frowned. This was just going to make Keith feel more out of place. They were a family, and they needed to treat each other like one.
"I think what Allura means," Pidge interrupted before the Altean could chase him away, "Is why didn't you mention this sooner."
"You guys wouldn't have believed me if I'd told while we were on Earth, and there was never a good time," Keith stared elsewhere, "We were always fighting or doing exercises, and I couldn't find the time until today."
"What's the other reason you didn't tell us?" Shiro asked calmly as he placed his regular arm on the raven-haired teen's shoulder like he did sometimes, "You said that was part of the reason not to tell us."
"I...I was scared," he frowned as he hugged himself even tighter than seconds before, "I...I didn't want to..."
His voice dipped down, so not even Shiro could hear what he had said.
"What was that, buddy?"
"I didn't want to lose the only family I've ever really had," he hung his head as his eyes started to water, "My dads are great, but I h-haven't seen them in e-eight years, and sometimes I d-don't even remember what they l-looked like and-"
Pidge was done with this. She wanted to make him feel better, Galra or not. Before anyone could comprehend what was going on, she threw herself at him. Keith flinched and tensed as if he were expecting to be hit. She pretended to not notice as she wrapped her arms around his skinny waist. He stood there in shock, and he just started to hug her back ten seconds later. Before she knew it, they were all in a large group hug. Lance was on the Galra's other side, Hunk was behind the pale boy, and Coran and Allura each had a hand on his shoulder. Shiro stood right in front of him and Keith leaned his head onto the crook of the man's collarbone. Minutes went by as they all stood there, no noise other than the occasional sniffle from their friend.
"So," Pidge spoke as all was silent for a full three minutes, "What's this Blade you were talking about? It sounds like a place."
"Is that where you lived?" Lance asked as his ocean blue eyes sparkled, "I want to hear about this. I need to hear about where my friend used to live."
"It's a resistance base called the Blade of Marmora," Keith smiled, and Pidge almost cooed at how sweet he looked as he started to retell his past, "My mom was a member, and that's where I got my knife. I lived at the central base with my dads who..."
Pidge grinned as she stared at each of the people around her. It didn't matter that they weren't all or completely human. It didn't matter that some of them had more secrets than others. It didn't matter that they all had their issues. All that mattered was that they were becoming a family.