A/N: Um there is a very offensive term in here, so, uh, don't be offended. Please.
Disclaimer: Yeah, so don't own.
"Down in the Valley where the green grass grows, there sits Rosie, pretty as a rose."
Before she'd died, her and Rosie were nigh inseparable. Rosie was her baby sister and her best friend. She was her playmate and secret keeper, the only one she ever really trusted. And Rosie trusted her as well, she could tell Rosie looked up to her, followed her lead through everything; from proper manners to sneaking around their hotel when they were playing, and through it all, Rosie always managed to brighten her day, always managed to make the worst days seem not so bad. Rosie was like the sun, shining brilliantly on everything and everyone else around her, bathing them in her happy innocence. And she belonged all to her; Rosie belonged to her, and she belonged to Rosie.
That is, until the day she died.
The sun was shining, or maybe that was just Rosie, and it was warm. They were playing in the pool room, it was always nice in there, especially when it was just the two of them. They could share secrets and tell tales, not afraid of being overheard. Rosie was playing with one of her dolls, she loved playing with Maggie's dolls, because Maggie trusted her enough to not break them and because Maggie never shared her dolls with anyone. Only Rosie.
Maggie was in a wonderfuly good mood, skipping around Rosie's cross-legged form, smiling one of those huge smiles that seemed to glow.
"Down in the Valley where the green grass grows, there sits Rosie, pretty as a rose!" She sang, stopping each time after 'rose' to give Rosie a kiss on the nose. It was one of Maggie's most favorite jump roping song, when Rosie'd asked her why once, she laughed and said it was because Rosie was even prettier than a rose because they shared the same name, but Rosie could walk and talk, which made her prettier. Rosie didn't get it all the way, but Maggie seemed to enjoy it, so she would too.
Maggie had jumped around Rosie twelve times already and was starting to sound a little breathless between the jumping and singing, but the smile never left her face and her joy didn't seemed fazed whatsoever. Honestly, Rosie was little impressed at just how much energy Maggie seemed to have.
"Down in the Valley where the green grass grows, there sits Rosie, pretty as a rose!"
Stop. Kiss. Repeat. Her blonde curls flying every which way. They were so pretty, and Rosie always loved to brush them whenever Maggie would let her. That's why she loved Maggie's doll so much, it looked just like her and she could brush the curls whenever she wanted. She thought it was funny that there were two Maggie's; doll Maggie and sister Maggie.
Rosie shifted her attention from the doll in her lap to her overly joyed sister. She loved seeing Maggie so bouncy. Maggie smiled down at her, kissing her nose, and hopping in that same circle around Rosie, like some force was making her take the same steps and stopping in the same spot in front of her each time, and Maggie was too happy to oblige.
"-there sits Rosie, pretty-"
"Maggie look!" Rosie cried in wonder and awe and just a bit of urgency, pointing to the pool. Maggie was quick to spin around, slighlty panicked by her sisters interuption and thinking maybe something horrible was behind them.
Rosie ran to the edge of the pool, kneeling to get a better look, "It's a turtle!" She said happily, cooing at how cute it was. Maggie, a little breathless and a tad bit annoyed that her sister had her panick for no reason, kneeled with her. "Isn't it cute? How do you think it got in there?" She wondered, watching it swim round and round.
"It probably just fell in." Maggie shrugged, watching with her sister.
"Will it be able to get out?" She asked, a sudden saddness in her voice that had Maggie acting at once.
"I don't think so, look how much bigger the walls are compared to that tiny turtle. We should help him." If it was really up to her she'd rather just leave it for someone else, she didn't like getting too close to the pool because she couldn't swim.
"Yeah and maybe we can keep him." Maggie smiled, hearing the instant cheer in Rosie's voice.
"Maybe. You should go a find a box to put him in and I'll find a way to get him out of the pool, okay?"
"Okay Maggie." Her sister agreed vigorously nodding her head and rushing away.
Maggie swallowed nervously, she was still a little breathless and her legs hurt from all the jumping and she really wasn't looking forward to getting closer to the water. "Okay, I can do this." She muttered confidentley, leaning forward and reaching out as far as she could, trying to reach the turte.
"C'mere Mr. Turtle." She coaxed, hoping maybe the turtle would swim just a little bit closer. Unfortunatley, the turtle seemed to have another plan in mind and swam fastly away from her, moving even further out of her reach.
With an indignant huff, she got off her knees and crossed the room, reaching for the the cleaning net hanging on the wall. She was going to get this stupid turtle. The net's handle was almost too heavy for her, but she already knew that and wasn't going to stop until Rosie had that turtle in a box, gushing at how cute it was.
It was difficult, trying to maneuver her way through the water with a pole the was ten times her hight, and even after a few tries she still hadn't quite got the hang of it and was starting to sweat from the work. She had to walk around the pool a few time before she found the turtle again, its strange head surfacing curiously.
She dipped the net in, trying to be sneaky with it as she closed in on the turtle. The turtle couldn't be fooled though, and just when she thought she had him, it swam away, just barley out of the nets reach. She ground her teeth together, stepping closer to edge. It didn't seem to make any difference and she stretched her arms out as far as they could go, she almost had him. Just a little more...
With a gasp, she realized her fatal mistake as she fell loudly into the pool, the handle of the pole jamming into her stomach. She cried out, not realizing bubbles had replaced her voice, and dropped the pole under the water, clutching to grab at her pained stomach.
She couldn't breathe! Why couldn't she breathe? Why couldn't she breathe?! She was choking, her lungs crying out in agony. She whimpered, trying to figure out what happend, what went wrong. Her eyes were blurry as she was looking around and she cried again, realizing she was in the pool. She saw light from above her and knew thats where the surface was, the surface that promised her air and saftey, but she was going further away from it, sinking down and down and down. The promise of breath and life getting further and further away.
She wanted to panick, she really did, but her mind was becoming a fog and the only real thought she had was the agony in her chest. It hurt so bad she wanted to cry, but couldn't even understand that. The edges around her sight was darkening, blurring her sight even more, and for one crazy second she thought she was just having a nightmare and would wake up any minute to Rosie's glowing face.
Rosie. Where was Rosie? She needed to see Rosie. Rosie needed to come back.
"Down in the Valley where the green grass grows, there sits Rosie, pretty as a rose."
Rosie.
Rosie.
Rosie.
Then there was nothing but darkness.
Until she opened her eyes.
She didn't understand at first, why nobody talked to her and why everyone, even Rosie, her Rosie, looked right through her. Like she wasn't even there. It made her sad and angry, Rosie should've been able to see her! They were sisters, best friends, playmates! Rosie had to see her, she had to. She had to. She had to.
But she didn't.
All she wanted was her sister back. She wanted to play hide-and-seek and tag and sneak around their mother and hide from the nanny. She wanted to skip around Rosie singing Down in the Valley while Rosie brushed the Maggie doll's hair and kiss her nose. Wanted to grab Rosie's hands in her own and spin them around singing Ring around the rosie's. Wanted to pick flowers and wanted to make a crown of roses just for Rosie. She just wanted her sister back, why was that such a bad thing?! Why was she being condemned for wanting to hug and hold and play and talk to her sister? Rosie was her sister! Belonged to her.
And once she had finally been able to speak to her Rosie, that negroid bitch of a nanny did something that kept her out. Kept her away from the one thing she loved most in the world. And how dare she? What gave that bitch the right to keep her from her Rosie?! Rosie was hers, not some worthless nanny's. Hers! And what's worse, she actually managed to convince Rosie (her Rosie) that she was trying to hurt her! And then she showed Rosie how to keep her away. And that bitch had no right!
She just wanted her sister! And she couldn't even have that. She had to watch, to watch, her sister grow up all alone. She had to watch Rosie's light fade to absolutley nothing. All because that stupid nanny! It was all her fault! And Rosie just went on with life, dim and dull and only sometime she would show that beautiful light she once had, but it was never as bright as it once was. That stupid nanny. Rosie grew old. Without her. She got married, had a daughter, then a grand-daughter. And that little girl looked just like Rosie. Like the Rosie that was taken from her because of that heartless nanny. And then, when she was sure she couldn't lose much else, she saw them deciding to give up their hotel! Her home! The home that had already been taken from her once, the home where her Rosie was taken from her, the home where her and Rosie would play and laugh. And they wanted to take Rosie with them.
They couldn't. She wouldn't let them. They were no better than that evil nanny. She had to keep her home, had to keep Rosie. She needed Rosie, Rosie belonged to her, they couldn't have her!
Whatever it was that was keeping her out, stopped working; and she got to work, protecting her Rosie.
At first, she tried talking to Rosie, but Rosie refused to listen to her. It only fueled her anger, but there was nothing she could do. So she needed the next best thing: the little girl who looked just like Rosie. She would have to do, since she was the only one who would talk to her, she didn't really have a choice.
The girl, Tyler, was not like Rosie at all. She didn't have a smile that would put the sun to shame, she didn't glow like Rosie used to without even trying. But Rosie refused to talk to her, to look at her. And it pissed her off.
She still couldn't let them take her though, so each time a new person came, trying to take away her home and sister, she had to get rid of them. She didn't have a choice.
And each day, she tried to get Rosie to listen to her, and each day Rosie wouldn't. It hurt her, her sister being so afraid.
She decided to take Tyler, if Rosie wouldn't come with her, than she'd take the Rosie look-alike and nobody would stop her. Not the damned dead nanny, not those brothers who should really mind their own business, and not Rosie.
She brought Tyler to the pool, the pool where everything went wrong, where she lost Rosie forever. She promised Tyler they would be able to play together forever and ever, but then Tyler started having second thoughts and she couldn't lose the Rosie look-alike too. She couldn't. She had to push her in the pool. She didn't have a choice, Tyler was going to leave her. The one thing closest to Rosie was going to leave her, and she couldn't have that.
Then she heard Rosie. Rosie had called for her. And all at once, she belonged to Rosie again.
Rosie spoke to her, told her she missed her big sister, missed her hugs, her singing, her smile. Rosie missed her.
She didn't hesitate to claim Rosie as hers, take her as her own, bring her into her arms and tell her it would all be okay. They were together to now and they had all the time in the world to make up for a lifetime of loss. They were togther, and nothing could tear them apart ever again.
"Down in the Valley where the green grass grows, there sits Rosie, pretty as a rose."
