[Her fault. She should have managed a better poker face. But of all the questions he could have asked, she hadn’t been ready for Bulma. She still wasn’t ready. Appearance of her past self aside, it was still a wound too fresh. She was Trunks’ mother, and Mai would never downplay the bond they shared, but Mai had begun to think of Bulma as family as well. The only family she had left.]
Trunks...
[It was no use. He knew too much already. He probably already knew her answer. There was little else she could do but verify.]
By our time... [Words chosen carefully so he would at least get as much of the whole truth before his alternate future came crashing down on him once more.] Trunks...you...saved us from the Androids. You returned from the past so strong that they were no match. And when they were gone, the world had a chance at peace. For the first time since we were children, we could sleep without fear.
[A pause. She was delaying, but she wanted him to absorb her words. Understand that he was not the failure he presumed himself to be.]
It wouldn’t last.
The new threat was...unlike anything. Nobody could stop him—he’d used the dragon balls. He’d used time travel. He cheated.
[A bit blunt, but what other language did one use with a child?]
Trunks was our last hope. We had a plan. He was going to save us all, but in order to make it happen.... [She felt her voice start to falter here, and swallowed once to steady it.] ...she sacrificed herself. Put herself directly in the enemy’s path.
no subject
[Her fault. She should have managed a better poker face. But of all the questions he could have asked, she hadn’t been ready for Bulma. She still wasn’t ready. Appearance of her past self aside, it was still a wound too fresh. She was Trunks’ mother, and Mai would never downplay the bond they shared, but Mai had begun to think of Bulma as family as well. The only family she had left.]
Trunks...
[It was no use. He knew too much already. He probably already knew her answer. There was little else she could do but verify.]
By our time... [Words chosen carefully so he would at least get as much of the whole truth before his alternate future came crashing down on him once more.] Trunks...you...saved us from the Androids. You returned from the past so strong that they were no match. And when they were gone, the world had a chance at peace. For the first time since we were children, we could sleep without fear.
[A pause. She was delaying, but she wanted him to absorb her words. Understand that he was not the failure he presumed himself to be.]
It wouldn’t last.
The new threat was...unlike anything. Nobody could stop him—he’d used the dragon balls. He’d used time travel. He cheated.
[A bit blunt, but what other language did one use with a child?]
Trunks was our last hope. We had a plan. He was going to save us all, but in order to make it happen.... [She felt her voice start to falter here, and swallowed once to steady it.] ...she sacrificed herself. Put herself directly in the enemy’s path.