GAIDEN VERSE. I guess in my default Bort verse Li’s a single dad and I really vibe with that. He fell in love with a woman in his mid twenties (i cant believe everyone in boruto got pregnant/had kids all within the same year; ridiculous and weird. anyway) She was very free spirited; She enjoyed going on adventures and traveling about. She actually spent a lot of time out of the village- They would go weeks without seeing each other because she was off doing things. He didn’t mind- Li had work to do and has always been very independent anyway. It worked for them. Li wanted to get married and she didn’t. That created tension between them but Li had yet to really come to terms with it.
She gets pregnant and she has never wanted children. She gives birth 9 months later. Termination was not an option because of her beliefs and she figured she was nearing thirty and it was time to “settle down” as they say. She’d have this baby and then things would be good- She’d be happy as a mom and feel fulfilled. She wasn’t. Metal (I’m giving him a Cantonese name later bc I can’t stand that shit) is four months old when she leaves. She desperately tried to connect with her baby but she doesn’t. She cries a lot and misses her old life. It’s in part postpartum depression, and part just never wanting children or to settle down. She leaves her son with Li’s mother one day and leaves a note for Li in their apartment bidding farewell. She says she’s sorry. That she loves him, that she knows their son will be okay in their care. Apologizes some more. Li knew it was coming but tried to deny it.
Li’s heart broken for the first year or so, of course. Angry, upset. He doesn’t search for her because he knows her and knows there is no point. He and his mother raise his son, and Li makes sure he spends a lot of time around his women friends and their children (if they have them) for supports and role models. Kiddo turns out just fine, though he has a lot of separation anxiety from his father and has a lot of anxiety in general.
When his son asks about his mom, Li tells him that she is “unwell” and wasn’t ready to raise a child. It’s kind of hard to not shit-talk her, but Li doesn’t want to color his kid’s perspective of their parent fully.
...Anyway this is all subject to change w/ ships and whatnot.
