The sun's rays reflected off the surrounding foliage, causing it to glow an emerald sheen. The branches above were filled with young leaves, while the ground below was covered with emerging ferns and grasses. The Season of Flowers was upon us, though the namesake flowers had yet to bloom.

The twig I was sitting on fidgeted slightly in the breeze. Normally I enjoyed the feeling of wind on my flower, but at the moment, I was so deep in thought that it hardly registered. No one else was around, and there were no tasks at hands. It was just me, myself, the forest, and my own mind.

The Season of Snow is over. Should I tell her now? It seems like an obvious thing to do, but… What if the female yellow is right? What if the truth destroys the group?

I owe these pikmin my life. If it hadn't been for their collective genius, the red and I would be long dead. And they owe me their lives as well. As long as we're all keeping each other alive, does anything else matter? What good is truth if it stands against survival?

…What good is survival if your life isn't even real?

"Pink!"

I nearly tumbled off my branch as a voice cried out. Looking down, I saw the magenta flower of a pikmin wandering through the understory. Her.

"Pink!" the white called again. "Where are you?"

At first I did nothing but watch her in silence. Then, after a deep breath, I descended to the ground. "What's going on?" I asked as I landed in front of her.

"I just wanted to check on you," she said. "Is everything alright?"

"Um, yeah? Why do you ask?"

"Well, you've been spending a lot of time alone lately. Is something on your mind?"

I squirmed. "…Yes. Yes, there is something on my mind."

The white frowned. "You're thinking about your Onion, aren't you?"

"No, it's not that. I'm actually thinking about-"

"The Orange and Black Onion?" she incorrectly guessed. "Say, you did say something about it during the cold season, right? What was it again?"

I wanted to say what I was really thinking, but something compelled me to answer her question instead. "I said that I stopped seeing it at dusk. It seems to have vanished."

"Hmm. Perhaps it finally moved on to somewhere else."

"Perhaps. But I don't understand why it would suddenly decide to leave."

"Well, you could also ask why they suddenly decided to fuse. Onions are weird, y'know?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I guess."

"What I'd like to know is what it intends to do without any pikmin to-" Her eyes suddenly shot open. "Oh my goodness! The sprouts! We forgot about the sprouts!"

My eyes widened as well as I pictured the two wiggling stems. "Hey, that's right! We said we'd go back for them when the season changed!"

"Let's go get the others. It's time we set them free."

The white took off towards the nest, and I watched her for a few moments before sighing and flying after her.

Another day, perhaps.

Clouds of gnats danced about as we traveled under the late morning sun. By some miracle, the white had convinced everyone that we needed to go to the battlefield at once. However, despite their compliance, I could sense some reluctance among them. I myself was harboring inhibitions as well; it was hard not to considering all the horriffic memories I had of that place. The war may have been over, but a fragment of its poison still infected us.

"So what will happen when we pluck them?" asked the red. "Are you all going to give them the Onion speech like you did with Pink and me?"

The blue rolled his eyes. "There's no point in giving them the 'Onion speech' because their Onion is gone. In fact, I'd say it's best if we don't mention their Onion at all."

I felt a little sting in my chest when I heard this. Another Onion cover-up…

"It'll be interesting to have some new recruits," said the male yellow, "especially from colors that've never been in the group."

"Well, having a black around would definitely be helpful," I said. "Between the yellows' ears, the white's eyes, and the black's heat sensors, it'll be just about impossible for a predator to get the jump on us. I'm not sure how an orange will be helpful though, unless there's good foraging underground."

"Hey, hey. Let's not think of each other that way," said the red. "We're more than just our abilities, aren't we?"

"Yeah, Red's right," said the white. "The blue's water breathing ability rarely comes in handy, but he still contributes a lot to the group, doesn't he?"

I grimaced. Of all the pikmin she had to use as an example…

"Regardless of their abilities," said the female yellow, "they're going to have a lot to learn about survival in the forest. We're in for a busy season."

"It'll be alright," said the male yellow. "I've got a good feeling about this."

Before long, we reached the edge of the forest, marked by the all-too-familiar cliff. Until now we had always taken the opportunity to gaze upon the landscape, but this time we decided to cut to the chase. Detouring down a slope, we entered the valley where so many pikmin had fallen.

I had only traveled a short distance before I stopped in place. The others did the same thing, almost in unison. The black and orange sprouts were right where we had left them, but that wasn't what had caught our attention. "What. The heck. Is that?" the red asked.

Casting a shadow over the sprouts was this round, sickly brown thing that could only be described as a giant lump. It almost looked like a decaying fruit, except it was firm with perfectly smooth skin. Squinting in confusion, I gained some height to get a better look at the strange object. Its appearance from above was about the same as it was from ground level, only now I could see that it had a pointed tip. I didn't know why, but something about the tip seemed oddly familiar. It sort of reminded me of a…

…No way.

"Is… Is that the Onion?!" I exclaimed.

Immediately the others chattered amongst themselves. "Onion? No, it couldn't be!" said the red.

"Impossible! That's no Onion!" said the male yellow.

"No, he's right," said the female yellow. "That must be it. Otherwise, why would it be in that exact spot?"

"If that's really the Onion, then how did it get to be that way?" asked the blue.

"Maybe it died?" the white asked.

Everyone went dead silent at this. We all turned to the white, and she glanced around uncomfortably. "I mean… It's not like anyone was feeding it…" she mumbled.

I looked back at the Onion and stared blankly. An Onion? Dead? Such a thing didn't even seem possible… And yet it was all because of us.

A frigid silence passed, until the female yellow decided to speak. "At least the sprouts made it through the season," she muttered. "I suppose the price of safety is immobility."

The mention of the word "immobility" triggered something inside my head, but before I could dwell on it, the red spoke. "Hey, I just thought of something! Why didn't we just bury ourselves for the cold season?"

"Because for that to work, someone would've had to stay above ground to pluck everyone later," said the blue. "And if that someone were to die…"

"…We'd be trapped forever," the red finished.

"Yeah. Good way to survive, but not a good way to live."

The word "survive" provoked my thoughts again. Then, just like that, I realized what I was pondering. "The Onion might not be dead!" I blurted.

Everyone gave me confused looks. "What do you mean?" asked the white.

"It might just be… immobile. Gone still in order to survive."

"Dormancy, huh?" asked the male yellow. "Never heard of such a thing in Onions, but I suppose it's possible."

"But if that's the case, then why hasn't it awoken?" asked the blue.

"I don't know," I said. "But I find it far more likely than death. An Onion just seems too powerful to die so easily."

"Everything must eat, Pink," said the blue. "Demons are a force to be reckoned with, but even a Supreme Demon will perish if it cannot satisfy its hunger."

"Demons cannot ascend into the heavens, nor can they absorb whatever they please. And they certainly cannot fuse, either. Surely an Onion has a way to cope with starvation."

The male yellow cleared his throat. "Speculation is entertaining and all, but it isn't benefitting the sprouts or the Onion for that matter. Can we please do what we came here to do and have our Onion discourse later?"

"He's right," said the white. "The sprouts have been waiting all season to be plucked. Let's get on with it already."

I nodded. "I guess I'll do the honors then."

I lowered myself to the ground, stepped up to the black sprout and grabbed the stem. It tensed upon contact, clearly surprised by the sudden stimulus, but before I could pluck it, a burst of color caught my eye. I jerked my head up and saw onyx and amber flowing before me.

It was the Onion—it had regained its color! Before I had time to process this, its body began to fidget as its newly-regrown flower rotated rapidly. Flexing my wings, I propelled myself backwards as the Onion exploded off the ground, flinging chunks of dirt in all directions. As it hovered in the air, it unleashed its three root-like limbs and delicately landed upon them. Just like that, the Onion had gone right back to its original state.

"…HOW…?" the blue exhaled.

"It's… It's not dead!" I heard myself say. "I was right!"

"Yeesh. Talk about weird timing," said the white. "What are the chances it would wake up right after we got here?"

"I don't think this happened by chance," said the red. "In fact, I'd say this happened specifically because we showed up."

"What leads you to believe this?" asked the blue, echoing my own sentiment.

"Think about it. The whole reason this happened was that there were no active pikmin around, so wouldn't it make sense for the Onion to wake up as soon as there were active pikmin again?"

I gazed at the Onion perplexedly. It did activate at the exact moment I got closer…

The male yellow sighed. "Yeah, I hate to derail the discussion yet again, but…"

"You want us to get on with it?" I asked.

"No, what I want is clarification. Since it turns out that the Onion isn't gone after all, how does this affect our plan for the sprouts? Are we just gonna pluck 'em and leave? Or are we gonna-"

"Recruit them?" I asked again. The look the yellow gave me told me I had guessed right this time. "Introduce them," he said. "To our way of life."

"Are you kidding me?!" the red exclaimed. "These pikmin are the only ones of their kind! If we take them with us, we've doomed the Onion once and for all!"

The yellow scratched his head. "Well…"

"Red's right," the blue interrupted. "We can't just leave the Onion to die."

I stared at the blue in surprise, and I could tell by the way the red's stem fell that he was surprised as well.

"So what's our move then?" the male yellow asked.

"We teach them a few survival skills and leave them to their own devices," the blue answered. "When some time has passed and their numbers are greater, maybe then we'll revisit your idea."

The male yellow nodded and turned to me. "Shall we begin?"

"We shall," I replied.

I grabbed the black stem and, with an upwards jerk, pulled it out of the soil. The newly freed pikmin did a flip before landing unsteadily on its feet. Once it balanced itself, it looked at me, then the others, then the orange sprout, and finally the Onion. It then fixed its gaze on me as though hoping for direction. Its expression was blank, but at the same time, its eyes were filled with innocence.

I thought about saying something to it, but instead decided to pluck the orange first. The black watched carefully as I walked over to its sibling and yanked it above ground. Upon landing, the orange shook its head and brushed off its chest. Instead of awkwardly glancing around like the black did, it focused entirely on me and grinned.

It wasn't until the black took a few steps closer that the orange paid any attention to it. They stared at one another for a little while, then stared at me simultaneously. My stem drooped slightly as the two sets of eyes cut right through me. "Sooooo what now?" I asked the others.

"How about we start with some Pellet Flowers?" the white suggested. "There's some over there."

The white proceeded towards a patch of Flowers across the field, and while the two leaflings turned their heads to watch her as she walked past, they otherwise remained stationary. A few moments later and they had gone right back to staring at me.

I rubbed the back of my head and sighed under my breath. Apparently the onus was on me now. Fluttering my wings, I slowly floated over the ground and after the white. The leaflings followed me immediately, seemingly indifferent to the fact that I could fly.

When we arrived at the pellet patch, I pointed at the plants and said, "These are Pellet Flowers."

"…Pellet…" murmured the black.

"…Flower…" whispered the orange.

A light smile cracked on my face. I didn't understand why, but I felt a twinge of pride hearing their first words. "Here's what you're supposed to do."

I landed next to a Pellet Flower—an orange one—and struck it twice. The sight of this must have provoked the orange's fighting instinct, because instantaneously it charged into the Flower and hammered away at its stem. The black, however, didn't move a muscle.

"Try this one," I said, moving to a black Flower. It still didn't respond though, even when I performed some demonstration hits. "What's the matter?"

The black didn't respond. Instead, it squinted up at the Pellet Flower, as if it were suspicious of something. Before I even noticed, the white had appeared next to the black and put a hand on its shoulder. "Try it. It's easy," she said encouragingly.

The black looked her in the eyes, then stepped forward. After a brief hesitation, it struck the Pellet Flower. The stem shook and the petals quivered, prompting the black to freeze, but it soon got over this and proceeded to strike without pausing.

"See? You're doing it!" said the white.

"Y-yes!" the black stuttered. "I'm d-doing it!"

I smirked and turned to the orange pikmin, but it was no longer where I left it. All that remained was a toppled Flower and a missing pellet. Spinning around, I spied it carrying the pellet back towards the Onion. "We're doing a good job, right?" I asked, partly proud and partly concerned.

"Of course we are!" said the white. "Why the self-doubt?"

"I've just never witnessed the beginning of a pikmin colony is all, let alone oversee one."

"Well, it's not that different from teaching any other sprout, right? The cycle had to start somewhere."

"I guess you're right," I said with a shrug.

I heard the sound of a pellet hit the ground, followed by the black heaving it away. The orange watched its sibling from beneath the Onion, which had already absorbed the first pellet and produced two orange seeds. At first it seemed content to wait, but after a few seconds, it grew impatient and ran over to the black. Gripping the opposite side of the pellet, it helped support its weight and they both transported it at twice the speed. Soon this pellet was consumed as well, and two black seeds dropped into the soil.

There was something very peculiar about watching two separate colors serve the same Onion—one that generated both types at that. It almost made them seem like the same kind of pikmin despite their differences. Quite a stark contrast from when they were fighting each other…

…

My stem stiffened. That was it!

"What was it?" asked the white.

I flinched, not realizing I had said that out loud. "That's why the Onions fused! To prevent another war! The oranges and blacks fought because they wanted more resources for their Onions, but now that they're sharing an Onion, there's no reason for that to happen!"

The white crossed her arms. "I guess that makes sense, but… Why did they wait until after the war was over? Couldn't they have ended it themselves?"

"They wouldn't give up on fighting even when the Leviathan was slaughtering them. And the last black threw her life away for the sake of a draw. I think it's safe to say that they were a lost cause."

"Fair point. But that doesn't explain why the Onions didn't just go their separate ways. I mean, that should've been the obvious thing to do, right?"

I scratched my head. "That's… actually a really good question. I never thought about that."

"Well, what's done is done," she said. "Come on. Let's get back to the newbies."

I glanced at the landing site and saw the red showing them how to pluck sprouts. I then nodded at the white and said, "Let's."

Within a short period of time, we built the population of "harlemin" to around twenty, with the blacks and oranges being roughly even in number. Having harvested all the pellets from our immediate vicinity, and everyone having taken their turn leading the harlemin, we decided to take a break. As I expected, the original two leaflings chose to spend it with me.

In the time since I had plucked them, I had learned that they were both female, and had contrasting personalities. While the black was cautious and withdrawn, the orange was bold and energetic. The black's preferred activity was to pluck sprouts, while the orange wanted nothing more than to destroy every Flower she could find. The black was on the quieter side and seldom spoke, but the orange... well...

"What do you call those?" she asked, pointing at the trees.

"Those are called trees," I answered. "When a lot of them are together like that, we call it a forest."

"How about that?" she asked, pointing skyward.

"That's a cloud."

"And that? What about that?"

"That's a rock."

"And what are those things on your back?"

"Wings."

Question after question was thrown at me while the black sat and listened. When a pikmin was born, it already knew how to communicate rudimentary concepts, like "stay here" and "look over there." However, there was a fair number of terms that it needed to be taught—predominately the names of plants and creatures. Despite the orange's insatiable desire to learn, I knew I'd never find the time to teach her every name I could. Inevitably, she and the other harlemin would have to invent their own names. I just hoped that they wouldn't come up with anything stupid like "Gobblespot"…

When the orange finally ran out of objects, I found myself contemplating the warmongers. I hadn't said a word to any of the harlemin about their predecessors, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt that I should. It wasn't something I wanted to do for history's sake, but rather to steer them away from that ugly path. Obviously a war was far less likely to happen now thanks to the Onions, but I still wanted to solidify it further just in case. The question was, how would I break it to them? I didn't want to be needlessly blunt like the deserters were about Onion life, but I didn't want to be too obfuscating either. What was the best way to convey a message clearly without horrifying the listener?

…

Ah, yes. Of course.

"Orange? Black? Could you two do me a favor?" I asked.

"Yes?" they both answered, one far more audibly than the other.

"Could you help me gather your siblings? There's a tale I'd like to share with you all."

"Sure!" the orange exclaimed. "One question, though."

"Yes?"

"What's a tale?"