Mai woke up in a bed, she hadn't done that for a while. It felt so nice, she didn't want to get up, and she had a better night sleep than she ever had before. Not just because she had usually been on the cold hard ground of the cave either. But because she used to have terrible nightmares of her father and the death of her mother. The nightmare started like it did for the nights in the past, and she became restless in her sleep as usual. This time however she found Francis and curled up to him, and she began dreaming of meeting him instead.<br/><br/>Suddenly it occurred to her, Francis wasn't there. She sat up with a start, looking around, starting to panic, she ran to the door and swung it open about to begin searching the house. That's when she smelled the fish, and it smelled good. She calmed down and realized how silly she had been for worrying that he might leave her, it was his house after all. Mai was instantly hungry, but she was sure she looked like a wreck. So she went into the bathroom to fix herself up a bit. In the mirror she saw her hair as a horrible sight and she looked very groggy. She closed her eyes and splashed some water on her face to wake her up a little, before trying anything else. But when she looked back at the mirror her hair was fine, and she looked refreshed. Mai was a little confused but she was too hungry to worry about it. So she went into the room her host was in and said.<span style="color: #8080BF"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold"> "Good morning Francis, the fish smells delicious."</span></span></span>She smiled at him, she was feeling really good about today.<br/><br/>Mai sat down and started to cut out a bite sized piece of the cooked fish, fish was her favorite food. She picked it up with her fork and placed it in her mouth, it truly was delicious. As the Mngwa she often went to the river to catch some fish, but of course she had to eat it raw and it didn't taste anywhere near as good as this did. After she finished eating that piece she spoke with a calm but cheerful tone.<span style="color: #8080BF"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">"This tastes amazing, thank you so much."</span></span></span><br/><br/>Mai usually tried to keep her emotions in check, using the methods her mother, a psychologist, had taught Mai in the hopes of preventing her unwanted mood swings. She wasn't always successful, such as when she broke down in tears before. Mai began to neatly cut the rest of the fish into pieces. She wanted to ask Francis more about himself, but didn't want to pry. She decided to ask about a neutral subject instead.<span style="color: #8080BF"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">"So, what is this safe zone exactly? And how do you know about it, if you haven't found it yet?"</span></span></span>Mai asked him curiously, smiling.