Angel 'Angel' – I see you again, it cuts me up inside, and the person I share that with is me. You don't know me anymore, so don't come down here with your great new life and expect me to do things your way.
- B'Elanna - post-Endgame -
She knew she had to face him, they owed each other that much, but she really didn't want to.
After that one horrendously awkward conversation courtesy of Project Pathfinder, she had somewhat made peace with her father in that three-minute window.
But now, she was going to actually make peace with him. Face to face. In person, on her own terms.
At least it was a nice day to be outside.
The park wasn't overly crowded, and she easily found a nice spot that was partially shaded and yet was still close to San Francisco Bay but on the bushy grass.
She left Miral sleeping in her stroller, the newborn protected from the sun but still close to her mother.
B'Elanna knew she had to do this alone, which was why she forced Tom to stay away, but she also couldn't resist not taking her baby with her.
'B'Elanna?'
The voice came from behind her, and she was startled for a moment before recognising it. She turned slowly, expecting to see her father standing behind her.
Boy, was she wrong.
Yes, John Torres was standing there, smile on his face, arms open to receive her in a hug.
But his wife and children were there too, and that was not part of her deal.
She stood up, instinctively placing herself within arm's reach of her daughter, instantly wary of the many people in front of her.
'I thought I would bring my family here to meet you. Sabrina has been especially excited to meet her older sister,' he gestured to the younger child, a girl of about thirteen.
'That wasn't the plan,' B'Elanna responded quietly, taking a small step backwards.
'Pardon?'
She cleared her throat, pulling her self-confidence off the ground. 'That wasn't the plan, Dad,' she sneered the title at him.
'But, I thought…'
'Well, you thought wrong,' she snapped, becoming more like herself, the woman her husband married. 'You don't know me anymore. You stopped knowing me the day you walked out, so you can't come down here with your new life, your new family, and expect me to do things the way you want to do them.'
She picked up the blanket she'd been sitting on and bundled it into the storage basket of Miral's stroller, preparing to leave the new Torres family behind.
'B'Elanna…'
'Don't. I have my own family now. I don't want or need yours.'
John Torres didn't miss the smirk on his grown daughter's face as she turned and walked away, taking his granddaughter with her.
The girl was just like her mother; too Klingon for him to handle.
So much for making peace.