The definition of the past is...

Venom made an attempt at a joke and Kiyo couldn’t tell if she simply wasn’t comfortable with her yet in that manner, or if she wasn’t one for joking in general much like her son. Hattori could be a bit dry, she knew that, but she’d already seen how the woman had been able to balance him out in ways that no one in Iga would have ever been able to. She dared to think it fate, however painful the fate had been for her on her end, that had brought him to Boreas. But, perhaps she was getting ahead of herself with her aged flights of fancy. She simply wanted more for her child than she’d ever had.

The Empress asked her if she felt like she did with Hattori and she nodded with a small smile, pausing to consider her words. She wasn’t sure if she should tell the woman about her one and only experience with birthing her own pups, lest it make her worry too much. But, then again, it wasn’t like she wouldn’t find out eventually. It didn’t surprise her that she didn’t seem to know about the fate of Hanzo’s 6 other siblings, as he had always been private, but she’d hoped that he’d have managed to open up at least that much to her.

Eventually, she decided to be honest, as Kiyo usually had a hard time telling a lie anyhow. ”I’d venture to say worse, if you can image it. But, then again, Hanzo’s litter had 7 total, including him, so I felt very much like a snake who’s eaten too many mice.” Of course, when the 6 stillborns had been expelled they’d been a fraction of what their true size and potential would have been. She could tell from a glance at their tiny black bodies that, should they have been alive and healthy, they would have been giants just as the Shogun was. But, then again, she likely would have surely died in the birth instead of barely skating by like she had. If only she’d been stronger, maybe she’d have been able to provide enough nourishment for them to thrive then…