We Are The Future (A Future Trunks x Mai Story)

Part 1

A/N: This story will be mainly from Future Mai's perspective unless otherwise stated. One instance of censored cursing from the start. Enjoy!

The Future (Year 797; Earth, Universe 7e)

A certain forest 100 miles west of North City

8:37pm

A biologically-32-year-old Mai was annoyed. In fact she was p¡&*+d. How do people get off treating others like trash? She knew she had things better off than some people but still...

It had been 4 months since she and her partner in the resistance, and 'savior of humanity', Trunks Briefs, came to this timeline. A timeline set just after THIS timeline's Trunks defeated the Androids, and Cell. A world that seems to be on the road to recovery.

The Destroyer God 'Beerus', the one from the other timeline she had visited with HER Trunks before, had assured them that the Zamazu of this timeline would be dealt with, negating any more crisis' with any other alternate Gokus. And so far his assurance seemed to prove true. Finally it seemed after all the years fighting for survival since she couldn't remember when, they could finally start LIVING again. But what does one live for in the midst of calm after the chaos?

For Trunks, it seemed not much but for training, and working on a farm for giant veggies.

As fate would have it, the cabin in the forest once used by Zamazu and Goku Black of their timeline existed in this one too. Owned by a reasonable farmer who, sympathetic to their position, rented it to Trunks and Mai (where they stayed in separate rooms 😓) in exchange for his hard labour. When he wasn't farming, he was training his counterpart of this timeline to prepare 'him' for future temporal, cosmic or divine crisis'. And then there were his other outings. All without her.

Mai for her part worked in a hovercar and tech repair outlet, where she wiled away the hours fixing, tinkering and coding. She'd had a good mentor in Bulma back in her own time. Her boss here though was rather less reasonable.

After busting her butt searching for the right component for a particularly fussy customer (him complaining the whole time), he insisted on a discount for the part after 'wasting his time', or threatened to take his business elsewhere. Then her boss WOULD blame her for the loss of revenue and have her re-itinerize all items in the shop, or lose her job there.

And now here she was (in a foul mood) flying over the forest in her hovercar towards the cabin they now shared, having barely finished in time to pick up a few cans of meat and vegetables for a late supper tonight. Because of course it was 'a woman's job' to put food on the table not that HE'D probably care what she put in front of him 😡

And it wasn't just her boss or that customer being jerks (to think even after a near apocalypse some people will be so petty as to use commerce as an excuse to treat people like trash). Nor was it just the fact that Trunks didn't seem to appreciate her trying to maintain a household with him. Perhaps what bugged Mai most was wondering what she actually was to him.

All this time living together in a time of peace, she had entertained the idea that sooner or later, he would start opening up to her. About his grief over everyone they lost in their own time. About his training with his other self and why she was forever kept from meeting him, or getting too involved in people close to him. About evenings like this under a full moon when he could be gone the whole night or even days. And if she could convince him to get a cell phone, she doubted he would actually answer her calls.

After all those years striving to build trust. After gradually working up the nerve to open up to him about her past, her true age, her service in Pilaf's Army, her previous emnity with Goku and Trunks' mother. After everything they had been through together, Mai had hoped that by now she had fully earnt his trust in return. That they could finally think about putting the past behind them, and moving forward... together. That.. just maybe.. he might feel the same way-

"I couldn't care less what that jerk feels." Mai said aloud, trying to convince herself she couldn't care less. Then she heard it. A scream, or more like a roar, somewhere between the sound of a man, and an injured animal, echoed from somewhere due north of her current position. The shock forced Mai to slam on her breaks, making the hovercar skid to a halt in mid-flight. Looking to the direction of the sound, she regarded it for a moment, and huffed. She had a fairly good idea what (or to be precise who) made that sound, and she thought it was about time she got to the bottom of it.

Shifting gears, Mai turned the hovercar due North.