"Huft... huft... huft...," Maria was running towards a certain place.
She was heading to a place where it was currently something important, which was her vehicle named Tony.
She kept running, hoping to meet someone she also considered important in her life, her little sister named Alice.
The world felt so slow to Maria at the moment. Although for someone else, it might be something trivial, but for her, it was not trivial.
A rift in their relationship would destroy them all at this moment. The world itself would destroy them if their relationship fell apart now.
Maria was only 11 years old, still innocent and lacked much knowledge. But one thing she knew for sure at that moment was the importance of having others in her life.
Humans cannot live alone. Even if a person claims not want to be close to others, they are likely just shy or lying. In the heart of every human is a desire to socialize. And that is something important, something that keeps someone away from loneliness.
Maria feared loneliness, especially if she destroyed her relationship with someone most precious in her life, and that person was Alice.
Several seconds had passed since Maria left the house and left Alex and Violet who had reunited. She could immediately see her vehicle named Tony. But she felt strange because she couldn't see Alice anywhere.
Her forehead furrowed with worry. But slowly, long black hair appeared at the back of the vehicle. It seemed that Alice was doing something in their storage compartment.
Maria instantly felt relieved and smiled. She hastened her pace, and within 8 seconds, she arrived with her breath irregular.
"Huft, thankfully it's not eaten. But this is very strange, why is everything still intact?" Alice said.
Maria, panting and trying to catch her breath due to exhaustion, was confused by what Alice was talking about.
Alice also realized that Maria was behind her due to the panting sounds she made from exhaustion. She smiled and greeted Maria as if nothing had happened between them, "hey! Maria, come here! Why do you look so tired?"
Maria, looking confused, approached Alice slowly while trying to regulate her breathing to return to normal.
"Taa... Daa...!" Suddenly, Alice smiled and showed three small yellow cakes.
"W-what is that?" Maria asked, not understanding, but curious about Alice's actions.
"What's wrong with you? You've been acting strange. You were even become quiet earlier, and now you don't understand about the cakes? You're usually someone who always thinks about food...," Alice looked at Maria with a puzzled expression.
"No, um... You were running earlier... You... Aren't you angry?" Maria's eyes couldn't directly meet Alice's. She was still too afraid.
"Me? Angry? At you? For what?"
"You were running fast earlier while calling me stupid! Are you angry then?"
"What do you mean? you stupid even in the beginning right? What's the problem? I just tell the truth? And the reason I ran was because I was worried about these 3 cheese cakes."
"Cheese cakes?"
"Yes, do you like cheese?"
"Not really."
"Ehhh? Then why did you eat our military cheese-flavored food without permission before?"
"I don't know, I just took it. I saw that I could eat it, so I ate it."
"Ehhh? I thought you liked cheese...," Alice looked disappointed as she held the three cheese cakes in her hands.
"Oh, by the way, who are the cheese cakes for? Why are you so worried about them?"
"These are for us, who anyone else would I keep them for? I want to wait for the right and comfortable moment for us to enjoy them. Oh, just so you know, it was Joe who found these! I saw these cakes when he was collecting dozens of other cakes. I chose these because Joe said they have longer durability than the other cakes."
"...," Maria fell silent upon hearing that.
"And also, I thought you liked cheese..., it seems pointless for me to bring these...," Alice looked even sadder.
Maria panicked because she didn't want to see Alice sad, "ah! I thought I quite liked cheese! The cheese I ate without permission was really delicious! I want to eat cheese again..."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"By the way, don't eat without permission again, okay? You know our food supply is the most important thing. Without food, we will die, you hear?"
"Yes, forgive me for that," Maria started to sit next to Alice in the back of the vehicle with their valuable belongings.
Alice fell silent for a moment after hearing the apology. She remembered Maria's strange behavior in the previous medicine research tent. Curious, she asked, "oh, Maria, why did you apologize back then? I thought you apologized for eating without permission again. But after checking, our food supply is still intact. So why did you apologize before?"
"Because I made the coconut fall on your head. I threw it up in disappointment, but forgot that you and Joe were below."
"So it was you!? You... You are really...!" Alice immediately placed the three cheese cakes she had in a certain place and grabbed Maria's collar, shaking her in frustration.
"Sorry! I already said sorry!"
"You're just said sorry and you want me forgive you! My head hurts! You know!?"
"S-sorrryyyy!!!!"
After some time passed, Alice calmed down. She began to pick up the three cheese cakes she had left earlier.
Meanwhile, Maria, "so you ran because you were worried about those 3 cheese cakes. Hahaha, hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha!... Hahaha...," behind her laughter, a few tears escaped behind her hands that shielded her eyes from Alice seeing her cry.
Thank goodness...
"How about we eat the cheese cakes now?" Alice suggested.
Maria agreed, and they ate their cheese cakes, leaving one for someone they currently knew.
At that moment, Maria asked, "Alice, are you fully recovered?"
"Hmm, it seems not entirely."
"It's okay, you'll definitely get better! Alice is a strong girl!"
"Hahaha, what's that?"
"Words of encouragement."
"Hahahaha...," Alice laughed, and shortly after, Maria joined in.
Shortly after, Maria asked again, "Alice, what is that are the words you most want to hear from me?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
they were both confused while looking at each other.