Waynack

Eight

While the crew departed to the guild office earlier, Maka and her parents got a hotel room to rest in. The hotel was a small brick building with three floors and seven rooms per floor. A faded sign painted on the building, just above the wooden doors, signified a night stay for cheap.

Maka and her parents afforded a few nights in the Winchester Hotel, they had enough strength to walk themselves, but not enough to fully regain their strut. Maka jingled the room key into the knob, dangling the number four tag against the wooden door. 

Eerie creeks revealed the interior, a large queen size bed with two nightstands, and a small window. The view was a cold brick wall from the side of the building next door, not the most romantic, but expected with what they paid. 

Maka guided her mother inside the room, "Mama, there's a warm bed here now, you can get some rest."

Her mother still had the heavy blanket wrapped around her like a hooded poncho, hesitant in her walk entering the bedroom. 

"You don't need to worry about me, Maka... I'll be fine..." Mother murmured.

Her father was far more dramatic in his appearance, eyes wrinkled and drooped like the sandman was locked away in a treasure chest. He was wrapped tightly in cloth, much like his wife, and walked in just behind her.

"What about me, Maka..." He whispered.

Maka turns around, and her eyes meet her father's, "Papa?!"

She couldn't help but worry about her parents, the threat looming over them has far been removed, but the fragility inferred maternity into the young woman's hands.

The mother squints her eyes at her husband, "Really?"

Maka swiftly tucks her father into the only bed available, "There you go, papa, you can finally get some rest now... You two have been in that cave for too long, you guys can relax now..."

Her mother sat on the bed, beside Maka tucking her husband in like a child, "Maka, I can say the same for you."

The father's hands shook like a corpse, slowly raising toward his daughter, reaching for her warmth. "Maka..." He whispered.

Maka's attention was caught, she glanced down at her sick father, "I... I need..." He whispered.

"I need water..." The father said.

His wife was not amused by this, so much so that she shouts in his ear, "Will you quit it already!!!"

His charade to act helpless didn't digest well, the sight itself was enough to cause a gag.

"Mama?!" Maka shouted.

The mother turns to her daughter, "Your father is acting like a baby, but only because he sees what I see. We're proud of you Maka. You managed to rescue us, your parents... It should be the other way around, shouldn't it?"

This was hard for them, being rescued by their daughter. They were all in danger, and yet, their daughter was the strongest out of all of them. She displayed the courage her clan would be proud of, going into the hunt with the sole purpose of providing for her people, fear didn't stain their faces, just conviction for the hunt.

"But..." Maka paused, and blinked, there wasn't much thought to her actions, "If I didn't do it, you would be dead, mama..."

The father looked at his wife, "Yes honey, I..." and began to cry, tears pouring like waterfalls, "I almost lost you!!"

The wife was not amused at all, squinting her eyes with contempt for her husband, "Another word out of you and I'll throw that chair right at your head..." She pointed to an old wooden chair that sat beside the window as if the view required a seat.