The girl gave a smiled softly at the boy... it had been so long ago. Little Xander was probably only about a year or so old... so it was maybe nine ears ago now. Her mother had just never seemed to recover. She'd just kind of gone quiet, and Mari and Anthony had kind of made up for that by becoming... loud. "They're gonna love it, especially mom," she hummed lightly before standing up a little more. "I'm not sure when he died. Xander was probably about a year old, so eight or nine years back now," she told him gently before sighing and shaking her head. "He was such a good man... he'd do anything for anyone," she hummed lightly as she leaned against the back of the chair he was sat on. "I'd nearly forgotten what he'd looked like, you know," she told him with slightly pursed lips... she felt awful for that. That Sage could recall someone that he'd barely seen and she couldn't even imagine what her own father looked like... at some point, her memories of him had just turned into Anthony... her mother had always said that the boy looked like his father, so she'd kind of forgotten what he'd actually looked like.

Sage pursed his lips and nodded, glad that she thought they'd like it. "I was just going to put it on her pillow or something and not tell them it was me," he admitted. He glanced back at Anya and nodded. "He seemed like he was a happy person," he hummed. "And that's normal. I only remember Lizzie because I draw her all the time and...I still see her in dreams and..." He sort of trailed off then, not really sure what to call them. He shrugged after a moment and looked back at the painting again. "That's why I figured something like this would be nice...you can all see him. See his face." He shrugged almost sheepishly. "I'd completely forgotten about this until now...it didn't seem very important at the time. Liz had waved at them but I hid," he chuckled a bit sheepishly. He shifted slightly so he was in a more comfortable position and leaned his head against the girls slightly, patting her hand softly in almost a comforting way.

The girl smiled softly to the boy and gave a bit of a nod. "That'd be a nice surprise for her. I won't say anything," she hummed gently to him before giving him a small squeeze. Really, this was so nice of him... and she had to swallow the slight lump in her throat at the thought he could had painted anything and yet he chose to do something nice for her mother... for her family, all of whom he'd barely known. She furrowed her brows when he spoke of his sister. "How old was your sister... Lizzie, was it... when she died?" She asked quietly. She took it that it would be a kind of sensitive subject... by the sounds of things the boy was incredibly close with his sister. After a moment or two she tucked her head into the crook of his neck, kind of just taking her friends warmth for a moment before giving another little sigh. "Thank you again," she murmured, "they're really going to love it... it means a lot." She whispered after he patted her hand.

Sage hummed thankfully and nodded when the girl said she wouldn't tell anyone. He cocked his head slightly and sighed. "She was twelve," he whispered softly, hand with the paintbrush going still as he thought about it. "it was winter, and I had to work, and she got sick....when you live in the streets a fever in the winter is deadly, even if it's just a cold." He shook his head slightly and swallowed the lump in his throat, leaning into the girl slightly. "There was nothing I could do. She died in my arms." He shrugged slightly and sighed. "I'm just glad I was there to bury her and didn't come home to a corpse torn up by rats." He nodded and tried for a smile even though he knew the girl couldn't see his face. " Glad you think so," he hummed. It really was nice to hear the girl say that...it made him happy to know that she was so happy with it.

The girl felt awful for the boy, she really did... she had felt with her fathers death because there were people around her, people that were going through the same thing and could really understand what she felt.. but Sage didn't have that, she didn't think. It would have been so much worse for that. His sister was only a bit older than Xander when she died... Mari couldn't imagine loosing a younger sibling that way, but he must have felt so helpless about it. But at least he'd gotten her somewhere where she wouldn't have been eaten away... somewhere where the little girl could rest easy. "Did you take her anywhere nice?" Well? Of course he would have. He wouldn't have taken her somewhere horrible to bury. All she could do was hold him a little bit tighter before slipping her arms away from him and standing up a little, still trying to swallow the slight lump in her throat from the whole conversation... about her father, the guilt she'd felt for forgetting him, Sages sister and the fact that he'd chosen to do something so... nice. She wasn't sure why that made her want to cry... but it wasn't a bad thing, she didn't think.

Sage shrugged slightly and nodded. "There was a lake by the tavern she liked to play at...a small beach that lined up to the forest behind the tavern. I could meet up with her there, so it was where we spent most of our time together," he hummed, tilting his head slightly at the memories...good ones this time. Bittersweet, at the worst. "There was a tree there she especially liked...a huge oak. She saved a baby bird that fell out of its nest when she was five and always liked that tree, even when the birds all flew away," he chuckled slightly, shaking his head rather fondly. "She's under the tree," he hummed. "I figured that was fitting. And...I didn't really want dad to find her, even if he was never awful to her." He started painting again, still recalling the nicer memories of his baby sister.

The girl listened to the story quietly for a little while, a slight smile on her face as she heard him talk. He clearly loved the girl... and it was nice to hear him talk about someone he loved, even if they weren't around anymore. "She sounds like she was wonderful," she told him as she watched him paint away on the canvas, the details becoming more and more alive as he went on. "I think I saw a drawing of her that you'd done a few weeks back... she looked like you," she told him with a bit of a smile... it wasn't big, but it was a smile nonetheless. "I think I've been there a couple of times... Xander likes to swim so we go out and have a picnic from time to time. It's a nice place," she told him as she made small circles in his hair with her finger before sighing and wandering off to sit on the other side of the couch.

Sage smiled softly and nodded. "She was my life," he hummed. "I guess I was lucky to have Anya at least when she died." He chuckled slightly at the girl's next comment and nodded. "I draw her a lot...you've probably seen something," he admitted. "We looked a lot alike I suppose," he hummed, tilting his head thoughtfully as he recalled all of the girl's features, comparing them to his own. He nodded when the girl mentioned swimming there. "It's a nice little beach." He had to stop himself from leaning into the girl when she started playing with his hair, then gave her a small grin when she flopped down on the couch.

The girl nodded lightly when he mentioned the princess... that was good, at least he had someone. The boy had told her that he'd wanted to die at some point... she wondered if that happened when his sister died or before. That then brought on the thought that if he didn't have Anya there with him when Lizzie died, then he might have actually tried to... she didn't even want to think about it. She smiled when he mentioned the beach... it really was a nice little place. And it was out of the way, so she could take her little brother down there without having Anthony to try and keep them safe. They didn't need him to do that anyway, Mari could look after herself just fine, but they still lived in the slums, so she found that her older brother didn't like her walking about by herself. She didn't care, to be honest. She quite liked the company. She thought about the little beach for a moment, and pictured the oak tree he was talking about before her eyes widened. "Oh my god, is that little cross by the tree her head stone?" She asked as she looked over to him and gave a tiny smile, but not a joyful one though. "Xander likes to put wild flowers on there whenever we go out... it's really quite sweet. I don't think he'd even known her," she told him lightly.

Sage looked over at the girl when she spoke up, rather surprised she'd even noticed that at all. "You noticed that," he asked, the surprise evident in his voice. He nodded and then sighed. "I tried to put something there, but I didn't think it was significant enough for anyone to actually...notice. or care," he admitted softly. He glanced over at the door Xander had bounced out of earlier that morning and chuckled slightly. "He's a good kid. You guys have raised him right," he hummed, looking back to the painting again. The thought of Xander putting flowers by the grave without even knowing who it was nearly brought tears to his eyes again, though he swallowed the lump in his throat and focused on painting for a moment before his brows furrowed slightly and he looked over at the girl. "I'm surprised I never saw you. I practically lived there, ever since I was old enough to get out of the house by myself." He was surprised by that, but then again, he hadn't really been back there since she'd died. Just the one time, with Anya. Man, he missed the girl. He'd been kept busy enough, and he'd wished she was there from time to time, but... suddenly he really just wanted her here with him, and little Att too. There was nothing wrong with Mari...it was quite the opposite really, he did like the girl. But Anya had been such an important part of his life, and for so long.