@ougonredemption
❝Hey, Maria-! Don’t go too far! Maria-!❞ The woman sighed at herself as her voice apparently couldn’t reach the girl, and while there was quite a distance between them, she was at least relieved that she hadn’t gone too far to be unseen.
She finally looked at the young man that planned all of this today, somewhat giving him an apologetic look for how it was going to start off. ❝Sorry, Battler-kun... It already seems like she’s a bit too excited about this. I wanted to thank you for taking us out today though, it really was nice of you to buy those tickets too...❞ Lifting her head, she shed a smile at him.
It had been a while since she had last seen him. A few years, was it? A lot had happened in between those years. Although Maria had entered middle school, she still had that juvenile personality that she couldn’t seem to graduate from. She gradually began to make friends rather than being isolated in her own imaginative world though, and she occasionally brought them to their house to spend her days filling the void of loneliness.
As for herself? She eventually pulled herself out of the debt after the gold was equally distributed to all (despite the many disputes that came out of it). In addition, she found herself balancing time between work and her daughter, something that she should have done a long time ago. It was better late than never, she told herself. From it she learned to be more patient with her, and she continued to take note on what she shouldn’t do as a mother. Their recovery had a long way to go, but at least it was piecing up together bit by bit.
Slowly catching up with the girl that kept looking at all the rides, she laughed to herself and shook her head.
❝She was really looking forward in meeting you again though. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, hasn’t it? Have you been doing well?
Whenever I look at you, you just seem to keep growing taller too... At this point, I think you surpassed Nii-san’s height.❞
