Why yes, I am beginning a Voltron fanfiction mere minutes after finishing the series. Why yes, I did watch the entire series in one day.

Prepare. I am sleep-deprived and crazy.

Three years.

It had been three years since Anomaly K-317-H had woken up at the Galaxy Garrison, chained in a cell without any memories.

He was released, kind of. They had him trained, take classes under the alias Keith, but kept an eye on him. And under no circumstance was he allowed to go outside.

The Garrison was more like a prison than anything else. He'd learned quickly, collected as much knowledge as possible and booked it.

He almost didn't make it out. He wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for Shiro. Shiro had helped Keith escape without notice.

Shiro was the one person Keith trusted. So when a year after he'd escaped the man went on a space mission and didn't return, Keith had thrown all his effort into finding him.

And another year later he finally did, and was immediately whisked off on some space adventure and before he knew it, he was saving the universe.

... Wait, what?

He didn't know how he'd suddenly entered some 80's sci-fi show, but somehow fighting felt natural to him.

The sword bayard he'd gotten fit him like it was custom made, it was expertly balanced and made of a strong and durable metal, and the weirdest thing was that Keith knew all that because he didn't remember ever seeing a sword in his whole life.

Not to mention how natural handling it felt. It came to him like he'd been doing it for years, if he didn't think too hard about it. His reflexes were way too good for not having held a sword ever.

He'd had a life before losing his memory, there was no doubt. Those sword skills, and the strange feelings he had felt that had made no sense at all...

He had felt horrified and started shaking when he saw the Princess and Conan in those capsules. The empty capsules were worse. Keith made it a point to stay as far away as possible from those things.

He also almost threw up when a corn-looking plant was served for food. For some reason.

It was the claustrophobia that really got to him. Not long after arriving here he'd gotten stuck in a janitors closet. The ensuing panic attack caused him to punch a hole through the steel door.

It was stupid, but Keith could've sworn in the dark of the closet that the walls were a dull bronze.

Keith hated not knowing who he'd been. If he didn't know who he had been, how could he find out who he was?

The Red Lion he'd been assigned was hidden in an alien base, of course, because nothing could ever be easy. The other two paladins on the mission with him split off, so he was on his own.

Keith growled as he hacked through the aliens, instinctively falling into a crouch to avoid some stray bullets and coming up spinning, taking out the soldier creeping up behind him with a swipe.

Too wide, he realized with horror. His muscles weren't used to fighting with a sword, no matter how much his mind was. The swipe went too wide, and missed the soldier completely.

A moment later he was slammed into the ground, groaning in pain. He rolled with the momentum and got up again, but the tide in the battle had already turned against him. The soldiers were ready to shoot and he was surrounded.

Fine. If this was where he died, he would go out taking as many of his enemies with him.

For a moment the circle of soldiers was overlapped by another circle of enemies, no, a sea of them, surrounding him in a dark, horrible place where life was nonexistent-

With a roar, Keith attacked. He fought like a beast, barely defending himself from hits, only focused on the absolute destruction of his enemies. The thrill of the battle thrumming through his blood, a mad glint grew in his burning eyes as he decimated soldier after soldier.

Suddenly, Keith gasped as the floor fell away from him. He was falling, falling into empty space and he was going to die-

A great roar interrupted his thoughts. A flash of red caused Keith to turn his head towards it, and his eyes widened as he spotted the Red Lion flying towards him. It was saving him?

It saved him. Keith was deemed worthy of being the Red Paladin.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

His other teammates were... immature. Keith didn't think they understood that being a hero meant that they would never, never have a normal life again.

The rest didn't understand that in this line of work, death lay around every corner. Keith felt like he knew that better than anyone, although why he did was anyone's guess.

Despite that, he found himself growing attached to the others. They were all soldiers themselves, they had his back and he had theirs.

Keith just wondered when they would find out true heroes didn't exist. In the end, the title 'hero' is just a title.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

With every battle Keith fought he got better. His sword moved smoother, familiar actions guiding him. He knew sword moves that he didn't remember ever learning.

Sitting on his bed, Keith opened his bag and grabbed his dagger, the only thing he had with him when he woke up in the Garrison three years ago.

The dagger was made of a dull black metal that felt familiar to Keith. But looking at it, he couldn't help but feel like it wasn't right. The metal was supposed to have a shine to it, sharp and polished. And even the dagger itself looked wrong.

Keith sighed and put it away. That dagger was the only clue to who he was, who he used to be, and it was useless.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Keith was chosen to go to the Blade of Marmorra headquarters. He didn't even spare a thought to the dagger he always kept on him.

Keith didn't expect Shiro to remind him of what he'd said before as they were landing.

"I told you, if anything happens to me, I want you to lead the team."

Keith felt a shock of familiarity. A memory flashed through his mind, flickering and missing parts like a damaged record.

"... other side-! We'll see you there-"

Keith's eyes widened, freezing up. He didn't register Shiro's worried voice or arms shaking him.

"Lead them!" Percy shouted. "Promise me!"

"I- I will."

Keith snapped out of it, his cheek stinging. He raised a hand to his cheek and felt something wet. Tears.

Shiro stood crouched in front of him, hands on Keith's shoulders, looking guilty. "I'm sorry, you were totally out of it so I had to slap you. Are you alright?"

Keith didn't respond, looking at his hand. He distantly noticed it was shaking.

That voice... The voice at the end of the memory, before Shiro had snapped him out of it, that was Keith's voice. It was younger, but there was no doubt that it was Keith's.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Shiro asked again, more insistent. Keith looked at him with wide eyes.

"I- I don't know."