Zack: Don’t thank me for anything… I couldn’t help you that much… all I could do was get you away from it, and even that didn’t help… *lies down on his bed and glances up at the ceiling, silent*
Zack spent the next few months in the small town, working on whatever he could to bring in money to continue housing Maria at the inn. He found work anywhere, repairing fishing equipment, building new parts, inventing simple additions to people’s boats to make their lives easier. He missed Holly, Meirnden and Xelong very much, and the only way he could keep going was to work even harder.
He spent the extra money he earned buying building supplies and hiring some workers, helping to construct a simple house on free land in the village in the free time he had in the day. After three months had passed, the house was complete, and he had also managed to purchase some furniture to go inside. He told Maria none of this however, intending it to be a surprise. Why he did this for Maria exactly, he did not really know. Perhaps it was because she reminded him of Holly so much, or because she looked so much like the adoptive mother that had cared for him, or perhaps she was helpless and needed protecting. In any case, Zack was determined to give her something useful to start her new life with because he felt responsible for ruining her old one. He hoped she would be independant by the time he was able to go home.
He headed back into the inn after another day of work, grinning slightly at Maria as he sat down on his bed, silent, waiting to see what kind of mood she was in before announcing the big surprise.