Chapter 2
Once Zack handed the stranger her breakfast, he brought his own down to sit beside her. She gave him a slight smile as he sat down. "From the bits and pieces I can remember, I owe you a lot of thanks. There is no telling what would have happened if you hadn't found me."
He ducked his head at her praise but remembered his manners. "You're welcome. I'm just glad I was able to help. I'm Zack, by the way." He only paused for a moment at that. "Can you really not even remember your name?"
At his innocent question, the girl's face fell, but she managed to keep from crying again. She gave him a slight nod. "Once your mother asked me if I could remember what happened, I tried to and realized I have no memories from before you found me. Even since I was brought here, they're hazy and fragmented."
He felt bad that his question had made her sad again, but it seemed that talking about it was helping, so he kept going. "If that's the case, why don't I give you a name, at least one you can use until you get yours back."
The girl looked confused for a moment at his request, but he was wearing such a huge grin that she couldn't stay sad about her circumstances. "Sure, at least then everyone will have something to call me by instead of 'girl.'"
Zack's grin widened before he settled in to try and think of something while they finished eating. It wasn't until they were done, and Zack cleared their dishes away that he came back to sit beside her and offer his suggestions. "Okay, so I have a few. What about Zoe?"
She couldn't stop the crinkling of her nose at that. "For some reason, I don't feel like that fits me. What else?"
Zack went through several more, and he was starting to feel a little frustrated, but he pulled out one more. "How about Kristobel? We can call you Kris for short."
Finally, she smiled at him. "Kristobel is a pretty name. I like it. So, I guess that makes me Kris for now?"
Zack stood with a whoop that caught his mother's attention. She was quick to reprimand him. "Zack, are you bothering that poor girl? She needs her rest. Why don't you go get some firewood brought in before you have to leave?"
He looked a little abashed at the reprimand, but it only lasted a moment before his grin was back full force. "I wasn't bothering her; Kris and I were just trying to figure out her name."
At that, his mother turned wide eyes back to the girl. "You've remembered your name already?!"
The girl gave her a sad smile and shook her head. "No, but Zack was kind enough to offer me a name to use until I can remember my own. We decided on Kristobel."
His mother gave them both a warm smile at that. "That's a lovely name. Well, if you are alright with it, we will use that for now." She turned her look back to Zack. "As for you, I still need the firewood, and you have class, so get on now."
He was still grinning as he waved goodbye to them both and walked out. By that time, Mr. Fair had already gotten up as well. He was surprised to see their guest up already, but he didn't have much time before he had to leave. He briefly wished Kris well and headed out to work. Once things settled down, Mrs. Fair insisted that Kris lay back down and sleep while she could. It didn't take much convincing as she was still exhausted.
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It was a couple of weeks before Kris was able to get up and move around on her own. She still had to take it easy due to her broken ribs and arm, but she insisted on helping as much as she was able. It was the least she could do to repay them for helping her and giving her a place to stay. During those weeks, Zack was almost always there in his spare time, asking her questions or showing her around the village, once she was well enough to leave the house. He told her every story he could think of as well as his plans to go to Midgar and join Soldier as soon as he was old enough. He was counting down the days.
Kris let him lead her where he wanted to since she still had not been able to remember anything about herself. She tried to remember and asked as many questions about the surrounding area as she could think of in an attempt to jog something out, but her memories remained locked up.
By her sixth week, she was well enough that she didn't need their care anymore. It was one afternoon that week that she approached Zack's mother, whom she had finally found out was named Sarah. "I wanted to talk to you about something. Do you have a moment?"
The older woman turned to her with a smile. "Of course, dear. What is it?"
"First off, I would like to thank you for everything you and your family have done to help me. The whole village, in fact, but I can't keep being a burden. I really appreciate everything, but I think I should go now. I know some people think that whatever happened to me might cause trouble for the village, and I don't want that to happen. You have all been too kind."
At that point, Sarah stopped her. "Hush, there is no need to worry about that. If trouble were going to follow you, it would have been here already. Plus, you are not a burden. You have been helping out since you could move properly."
Kris looked like she wanted to interrupt, but Sarah motioned her to stillness while she continued. "I will not force you to stay if you can answer one question for me." Kris gave her a nod that she would, and Sarah continued. "If you leave, where will you go? Did you remember something that could point you to your previous life, or are you planning on wandering aimlessly?"
Kris opened her mouth several times to try and answer before she could find the words. She looked down with a frown when she spoke. "I didn't really have a plan. I don't know where I could go, but I feel like I'm getting in the way here."
"Nonsense." Sarah pulled her chin up and gave her a stern look. "I've already said you aren't a burden. If you feel that you need to contribute more, then we will find something for you to help with. In the meantime, you just focus on trying to remember. If you do, then we will make sure you can reach wherever you need to go. There is no point in you running off just to get killed by a monster in the wilds." Again, Kris looked like she wanted to interrupt, but Sarah hushed her. "No arguments. We will start looking tomorrow for something that you can do. For now, let's start dinner. The boys will be home soon enough."
Kris gave her a smile and shook her head before wrapping the woman up in a tight hug. "I'm happy it was Zack that found me. You all have been a blessing, and I'm glad I got the chance to know you." She let Sarah go and wiped at the dampness in the corner of her eyes before she turned to the cabinets to pull out what they would need for dinner as she called back over her shoulder. "I'm sure Zack and Zeke will be starving like normal. Let's make sure they have a good dinner." Sarah gave her a smile and squeezed her shoulder before she turned to start cutting up the vegetables that had been pulled out.