"Remembering"

"So, Cosmo," Cream said one day while the two girls were replanting Vanilla's vegetable garden. In was early spring. "Didn't you say once you and your sister used to do gardening?"

"That seems like such a long time ago," Cosmo said.

Five years earlier:

"All right, little Cosmo," Galaxina said, "I want you to watch me and do what I do."

"Uh huh," Cosmo said, nodding.

"Don't say 'uh huh,' say 'yes sister,'" Galaxina said.

"Yes, onee-sama," Cosmo said, scratching her forehead.

"And don't scratch," Galaxina said. "It isn't lady-like."

Galaxina picked up a rake and began scraping the ground. Cosmo watched, then picked up the smaller rake her sister had given her. The ground seemed very hard to her. She couldn't make long holes in the dirt like her sister did. She tried harder, lost her balance, and plowed into her sister. They both went down.

"Cosmo!" Galaxina cried. "You're not paying attention again!"

"Sorry!" Cosmo said. Last week she'd tried to throw out some trash, and had ended up upside-down in the trash can.

"Try again," Galaxina urged her. Cosmo was afraid she'd mess up again, but she picked up the rake. This time, she managed to do a halfway decent job.

"Very good," Galaxina said, nodding.

"Yours is much better!" Cosmo said.

"You'll learn," her sister had promised. "Don't be in such a hurry to grow up, little Cosmo."

Now:

"Cosmo?" Cream said. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Cosmo said. "Oh, sure. Why do you ask, Cream?"

"Well, you keep raking that one spot over and over again," Cream said. "I mean, you're very good at raking, but…"

"Oh!" Cosmo cried. "I'm sorry, Cream. I guess I was daydreaming again."

"You miss your sisters, don't you?" Cream asked.

"Yes, very much," Cosmo sad sadly. "Especially Galaxina. She raised me."

"I wish I had a sister," Cream said. "It must be wonderful!"

"It is," Cosmo assured her. "Well, most of the time."

Four years earlier:

"Honestly, Cosmo!" Galaxina cried. "Look at you! Covered with oil! What did you think you were doing?" She shook her head. "Sometimes I just think you don't want to listen to me!"

"You're not my mother!" Cosmo cried.

Galaxina gasped. "Cosmo," she said quietly. "You know why I take care of you. Mother must control and guide our ship."

"But why does she have to do those things?" Cosmo demanded. "Why does she have to be a tree? Why can't she walk around, and laugh, and…and hold me? Why do we have to be in this ship! We're plants! We should be outdoors, in dirt that goes miles deep. What's wind? What's rain? What's snow? I hear people talking about them, but I don't understand them! And what are boys?!?"

Galaxina sighed. "Cosmo, there's no point in trying to explain these things to you," she said sadly. "Our planet is dead. We're in this ship until we can find a good planet to move to."

"Will we find one?" Cosmo demanded. "We've been in here so many years! Before I was born! Will we ever get out of here? I don't want to be an old woman when I first see rain!"

Galaxina turned away. "Don't you think I want to see those things too?" she asked. "Don't you think I'd like to have a boyfriend? There's nothing I can do, Cosmo! Don't you think I'd get us out of here if I could!?" She shook her head. "Now, go wash up. Dinner will be ready soon."

Cosmo felt terrible. She realized she'd hurt her sister. She'd never really thought about how anyone else felt about being in a ship that seemed to be going nowhere.

"I'm sorry, onee-sama!" Cosmo sobbed, hugging her sister.

"Aw, that's all right, little one," Galaxina said, patting her head. "I just…Cosmo! Are you getting oil on my dress?!?"

"Uh oh!" Cosmo said. She ran off. "Sorry sorry sorry!"

"Oh, honestly!" she heard her sister say. "That girl!"

Now:

"Cosmo?" Cream said.

"Huh?" Cosmo said, jumping. She dropped the packet of seeds she was planting.

"I'm sorry I scared you," Cream said, as the two girls picked up the seeds.

"No, I'm sorry, Cream," Cosmo said. "I…what did you want?"

"I was just asking you why you put three seeds together," Cream said. "Is something bothering you? Sometimes, if you tell somebody, it helps."

"I'm sorry, Cream," Cosmo said again. "I just miss everybody that I lost." Cosmo had found that she could say that her family was lost, but not dead. Even though Cosmo herself had been dead, maybe because she had been dead herself, thinking about her loved ones being in the next world upset her.

"It was beautiful and warm," Cosmo said softly, "but a little sad."

"What was?" Cream asked.

"Seeing so many people whose lives had just begun, suddenly have them ended," Cosmo explained. "It's sad when young people die. Every child deserves the right to grow up. I lost it, and got it back, but…I was the only one. Nobody else came back with me. Once again, I…I couldn't save anyone!"

"I'm so sorry, Cosmo!" Cream said, putting her arms around her friend. "I miss my daddy! We…we just have to go on, and remember what they meant to us while they were here."

"You must think I'm a fool," Cosmo said. "After all I've been through, I still let my emotions get away with me! Look how long I was afraid to tell Tails how I felt about him!"

Two years earlier:

"Sister?" Cosmo asked as Galaxina washed her hair. "Please explain what a 'boyfriend' is to me?"

"Oh, Cosmo," Galaxina said. "I'm terribly sorry, but…but you can never have a boyfriend!"

"But…but everyone says they're wonderful!" Cosmo said. "Why can't I have one?
"Because there are no male Seedrians left, little one," Galaxina said sadly. "They're all dead."

"But…but couldn't I find one on our new planet?" Cosmo asked.

"Cosmo," Galaxina said, washing her left arm, "other plant life might think we're strange. After all, we're steeped in our traditions. We always dress the same. We always wear amulets."

"Why do we always wear them, sister?" Cosmo asked. Even now, her amulet was in her hand.

"We…need them for good luck," Galaxina said. "Now give me your other arm."

"If other plants think we're too strange to like us," Cosmo said, taking her amulet in her other hand, "then…what about…animals?"

Galaxina gasped. "Cosmo! Don't even think of trying to get an animal boyfriend! Animals destroyed our world! Mother gave up her Seedrian form to help us to escape them! Animals take and destroy! They fight among their own kind! Our own brother, Landar, was killed before you were born by an animal!"

"I wasn't thinking about an animal boyfriend," Cosmo said defensively. "That would be too strange! I just wondered…if we could make friends with some of them? I mean, we're good people. We're nice. Why wouldn't they like us? Why can't plants and animals get along?"

"Because they just can't," Galaxina said. "Plants are plants, and animals are animals, and that's just the way things are."

Now:

"Do you want to water the garden, Cosmo?" Cream asked, picking up the hose.

"Yes, please," Cosmo said. To herself, she thought, "I love you with all of my heart, my dear onee-sama, but…but I have found friendship among animals. Yes, and even love. You have taught me so much, but I cannot accept all of your lessons at face value." But then, wasn't that what she had told her?

The day before the Metarex came:

"One of the most important things you must remember, little Cosmo," Galaxina said during lessons one day, "is to think about what you learn."

"You mean, memorize it?" Cosmo asked.

"No, I mean, you must make certain that what you learn is right for you. No one's perfect. I certainly am not. Sometimes, I may say things that you'll question. Usually, I'll be right, of course." She laughed. "But sometimes, you'll need to look into things on your own. You choose to wear green. I prefer blue. Which of us is wrong?"

"Uh…" Cosmo was confused. Was she wrong to wear green? Everyone on the ship wore different colors. "I…"

"Of course not!" Galaxina assured her. "We have free choice. Within limits. Blue is right for me, and green is right for you. And there's nothing wrong with that."

"We have…limits?" Cosmo asked.

"You can't do whatever you want to do," Galaxina said. "You can't take what belongs to another just because you want it. You don't have the right to hurt someone else. No one does."

Cosmo felt bad. Just the other day, she'd noticed a cousin had a pretty new necklace, and had wanted it.

"I…I wouldn't take something from someone!" Cosmo promised. "Never, onee-sama!"

"Of course not, you big silly!" Galaxina said, hugging her. "Now, let's get on with our math lesson!"

Cosmo made a face. "Ugh! I hate math!"

"You'll thank me someday for teaching you this stuff!" Galaxina assured her.

Now:

"Hey, hey, girls!"

"Amy!" Cream cried. "Hi! Cosmo and I are just finishing our work on Mother's vegetable garden! We'll have plenty of carrots and lettuces soon."

"Great!" Amy said. "Hurry up there, Cosmo! I want to start going over our plans for the big party I'm going to throw for everybody!"

"I'm almost finished!" Cosmo said, getting a drink from the hose.

"We have nine guests," Amy said, "besides the three of us, so that makes twelve. And we'll need to buy place mats for everybody. They're a buck seventy-five each, so for twelve, we'll need…"

"Twenty-one dollars," Cosmo said.

"Wow," Cream said, "you figured that out fast!"

"I had a good teacher!" Cosmo said. She shut off the hose, then put an arm around each of her best friends. "Thank you so much, onee-sama!" she thought. "You taught me so much, but, more important, you taught me how to think for myself! I had a wonderful teacher! I love you!"

As the three girls went into Cream's house to continue discussing the party, a soft breeze blew over the vegetable garden.

And I had a wonderful student. Thank you for remembering me, little sister! Be strong, and we'll see each other again…one day. Love you, Cosmo!

The End