Christmas had gone and past and, although Arietta had loved his gift, the ice mage still found himself pondering what was wrong. She still seemed frustrated, and still wouldn't talk to him about why. Why is she so annoyed? After all, I gave her a present... but I don't think its that... Is there something that I'm not doing that she wants? Is there something that I'm incapable of grasping that's bothering her?

As these thoughts continued to spin around Zach's mind, anyone else who knew the situation could tell why Arietta was annoyed. They could tell where her frustration was coming from. More over, they could tell that it wasn't getting any better. After all, Zachary didn't seem apt to figure out his problem on his own so easily.

Monroe had given insight to anyone that didn't know among the groups. Well, those old enough for him to tell, anyway. From what Zorlo had told Arietta and Monroe, the Replicator was poorly socialized, creating a lack of understanding in some areas. The key places were the ones that involved romance. Although that had been partially remedied by Zachary's own hard work, the other half of it hadn't been.

Zachary's total lack of understanding of physical romance and intimacy had created this problem, and the thought that somehow he'd remedy himself was an almost laughable notion to Monroe. Still, the Quincy found himself hoping that things would work out for no other reason than that otherwise Zachary would wind up dying at the hands of the person he loved. Not a pleasant notion, but the most likely outcome.

"What's wrong?" Zachary asked as he stood up. The amateur sorcerer rubbed the back of his head and began to pace. He walked back and forth idly, trying to figure out what was wrong. The fact he couldn't figure out bothered him quite a bit, but still, he continued to ponder. "Maybe I'll figure it out. Then I can solve it."

That was his best hope, most people would say. There was one other issues that Zachary hadn't fully taken into account. That was probably the family envy that Arietta had gotten. After all, Cadenza, her sister, and Alex, her niece, both had happy, loving families involving parents and children. This problem, however, Zachary had figured out. Still, currently the ice mage found himself trying to find a child to bring home, as 'denza and Monroe had. It hadn't, however, worked.

"How does one go about starting a family?" the ice mage asked as he sat down. The nighttime in the desert was a lonely and cold time. Zachary actually enjoyed it more than the daytime, since it was cool. As the blade sorcerer sat in the ruins, he looked around. "How does one go about starting a family?" he pondered to himself. This would be the problem he solved.

__________________

Much thanks to Silver for the sweet UBW Sig. ^_^ R.I.P D.o.C. (11/15/1992-1/5/2008)
Zorlo , Zachary Leos, Monroe Vossler, Emile Velos, Luca
I have no regrets, this is my only path.
My whole life was "Unlimited Blade Works."