Upon her birth, it was quite clear she had much in common with her mother. Their green hair, their grayish hair; at first this was they shared. As she grew, she also adopted her mother's quiet way of conduct and her taste in clothing to some extent. But for much of her young life, the girl was content staying close to home and out of harm's way. It was only until the last few days before her journey that she realized she shared a most integral aspect of her mother:

Her adventurous spirit.

3rd Farewell: A Word With Her Mother

That night, the dark sky shone with the stars at their brightest. By this time, most of the residents of Castanet were resting peacefully.

Even the family at Regulus Ranch was sound asleep, quietly awaiting the day of their youngest member's departure in dreamland. However, as if my some subconscious instinct, a loving mother was roused form her slumber. She didn't understand why, but an inner voice directed her outside. Without hesitation, Phoebe put on her round red glasses, donned her outdoor wear, and headed towards the small beach south of their house.

Once there, she immediately spotted Saria gazing at a picturesque view of Harmonica Town.

"Saria, sweetie?" she called out gently.

The insomniac young girl twitched upon hearing her name. Reluctantly, she then turned her head to see her mother standing above her.

"…Mama?" she answered back nervously.

Phoebe proceeded to fold her arms and sigh.

"I suppose it would be cliché of me to say that it's past your bedtime, but honestly. You'll need to be well-rested when you finally embark on your journey." She advised her daughter.

"I know. I know, Mama. It's just… I can't sleep," Saria lamented, "the idea of finally going out on my own sounded so exciting, but then… when I actually started thinking about it, there's a lot that might happen if I leave."

"You're just getting nervous, honey." Phoebe insisted.

"No, I'm not. Mama, I made so many wonderful friends here. And I've actually been helping a lot around the ranch, a lot sooner then I would have thought I'd be allowed to. I know it's been mostly everyone teaching me things, but I know I've been looking after them, too. Dakota's finally catching up to her father's cooking with my help, and Angie always needed me as her model for her new designs. And I know it's always embarrassed Roy to get help in school from someone younger than him whenever Marich's too busy, but he's been doing just fine now. And what about you and Papa? Papa's always needed me to get out of bed in the morning whenever he's too tired to get up on his own, and I just know you'll be worrying about me constantly while I'm out there on my own. I'm your youngest, Mama. I'm not like Big Brother. I know you wouldn't be as worried if he was going…"

"But you're you, and I know exactly what you're capable of. You don't have to worry about worrying your Mama, honey. I'm sure this will all feel so silly to you after you take that first leap." Phoebe smiled.

"Mama? How… how can you be so sure?" Saria asked anxious.

"Maybe it's because I know how you feel?" her mother shrugged.

The reluctant traveler gave her a confused look.

"Really?"

"Are you really so surprised? I've noticed we're a lot a like. Actually, it must be hereditary, because your Grandma's been like this, too."

"Grandma? She always so confident and talkative, and I'm usually soft spoken. I don't see how she's like us…" Saria admitted.

"True, she's always been so optimistic. But I think it's been rubbing off on me since I've had you and your brother," Phoebe smiled, "But what I meant was that there seems to be this sense of Impendence that runs in our blood. You said so yourself: you ended up helping out on the farm at an earlier age than expected, and you did it well."

"But I'm the baby of the family. You probably started me off with a really easy chore to help build up my confidence." Saria replied.

"I don't know. That watering can you had to carry was pretty heavy, but you managed to water those crops just fine. And you were doing really well keeping up with Matt's fishing lessons back when you were just starting out, if I recall correctly. From what I've seen from our daily records, you've made us quite a profit with the sport, too!" Phoebe noted.

Saria's cheeks flushed from the sudden flood of praise she received.

"I guess with you and Brother constantly going to the mines, and Papa running errands all around Castanet, I'm practically watching over the farm on my own, huh?" she reflected.

"There you go, dear. Wear a little confidence. It'll help you do greater things as you grow up." Phoebe told her daughter.

The humble daughter flashed a shy smile, then nodded in silent agreement.

"Mama, did you ever go off on your own when you were my age?" she suddenly asked.

Phoebe laughed.

"All the time, actually," she fondly recalled, "Really? Did Grandma not tell you anything about it whenever we stayed over at the General Store?"

Saria simply shook her head.

A curious, almost playful smile formed on Phoebe's face.

"I guess even Mother might be concerned about putting dangerous ideas in children's heads from time to time." She commented to herself.

Saria cocked her head curiously.

"Huh?"

Again, Phoebe reacted with a light laugh.

"I had some pretty interesting memories from back then, to be honest. I used to go out on my own to the mines to look for precious metals for tinkering without a second thought. It would always worry your Grandfather sick, and it would be up to your Grandmother to loosen him up. This went on from time to time whenever I felt like I'd come close to my next big breakthrough with my personal engineering projects. Come to think of it, I might have been even younger than you when I started doing this." She recalled nostalgically.

"Really? How old?" Saria asked.

"I don't think I was that much older from when you started learning fishing from your friend, Matt," Phoebe confessed, "No wonder I worried Father a lot. I was quite the child back then, wasn't I?"

Saria was taken aback by this. She was too used to the image of her mother being the responsible type, so hearing about such memories was big news to her.

"Wow. I never thought you got to too so much as a kid." Saria answered in amazement.

"And it looks like your chance for your own adventure has come. Hopefully, for your sake, you'll be more prepared than I was." Phoebe said as she looked at her daughter with sagely eyes.

Saria looked back at her mother's face, fondly remembering her early childhood when she wanted so much to be just like her mother. Among her clothes as a toddler was an explorer's outfit that looked so much like what her mother usually wore. For a while, she even had a fake pair of round, red glasses to emulate her bookish face. She felt childish for wishing such a thing back then, yet she still felt remnants of that wish lingering in her heart. Part of her still saw her mother as a role model, and she felt proud to have a parent that she could look up to after all those years. She hoped one day, that as a grown up, her eyes will reflect the same comforting compassion as the very ones she's looking into.

Suddenly, the young lass threw herself into her mother's arms, catching her totally by surprise, and managing to get a flushed expression at the same time.

"Mama, I might sound silly for saying this, but I've always aspired to be like you. And realizing how much I've grown to do just that…it makes me happy." Saria said as she smiled serenely.

The understanding Phoebe gently patted her daughter's head as she shook her own.

"You don't have to emulate me to make me proud, Saria. You could've grown up being much different from me, and I'd still love you just for being my good daughter. So please try to be yourself. You have much more merit then you may realize." she replied.

Saria nodded. She thought to herself that recognizing this unique merit of her's may be one of her greatest steps towards adulthood, but she was glad that one she considered her personal hero pointed this out to her.

"I love you, Mama…" she uttered quietly by her mother's side.

"I love you too, Saria." Answered back in a hush voice, "And I swear, no matter where life leads you, this will never change…"

And so Mother and daughter remained close under the bright night sky for one last time.

Among those very stars, it appeared, for one brief moment, that the iconic north star shone even brighter than usual, as if preparing to guide the future wayfarer to her fated destination…

Up Next:

It's the Amazing Angie!

Side Note: I simply thought it would be interesting to see how the night conversation would have gone if the spouse went in to talk to him/her instead. And since I could dress up my child to look a LOT like Phoebe, well...