Forget Me Not
By Tenshi no Hoshi
A/N: My first oneshot improved! Dedicated to my Onee chan who gave the title.
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder; Presence makes the heart grow stronger."
Growing up, I never had a real family. I guess I had both a mom and a dad, but I could say I was lucky enough to have had two mothers and a little sister. You would think that loneliness was something I never experienced, right?
You were wrong.
Both my parents were part of the mana lineage. My dad being the Chosen of Tethe'alla, and my mom being his wife selected by the oracle Cruxis itself. My mom practically drowned herself in her own despair. She married a man who had no feelings for her, and had a son she didn't want. My dad was a busy man, always off somewhere. Both my parents were selfish and didn't appreciate what they already had. Even though they always left me by myself at home and pretended not to care about me, I still cared for them. They were my only family after all. It's strange how I called them my "family." Whenever I was with them, it felt like a chilly breeze entered the room. It scared me to stay with them. Then again, do I have the right to say I didn't feel as if we were family? It's not like I've ever known what a family is supposed to feel like.
That was until I met my litter sister, Seles. She was the daughter of my dad's other wife. That explained why he never stayed with my mom and I. He had another family to take care of. I always thought to myself, "isn't he lucky? My dad has two families!" But why did he abandon us for another family?
My mother never liked my father, but it made her feel jealous thinking of him with another woman. She wanted to erase all of her memories containing either my father, or even me. Her solution: give me to my dad and his new family so she could live a life of peace. She didn't want to part of my life anymore. I asked her the day she left if she was going t oat least visit me. I couldn't believe how cold she could act towards a child. She told me that she would just walk out of my life. She told me to pretend my mother never existed. Since then, I can't say I have been welcomed into my new family. My mother wasn't really my mom, so she gave all of her attention to only my dad and my sister. Even my dad dared not to converse with me. Only Seles was willing to talk to me.
Believe it or not, I was quite the crybaby when I was a child. I've always been spoiled with everything luxurious, but I never got any attention. Seles seemed to be the only person treating me like how I was supposed to be treated.
One day, she caught me crying alone in the flower garden, sneezing every other second (my allergies acted up.) When she came over to me, she asked, "Why is big brother crying behind flowers? Big brother does not cry, only Seles can do that." My little sis was concerned about me. She even looked up to me! I guess it was because of her concern she made me feel confident. No, she made me feel loved. I finally had someone I could call family.
She followed me around like a baby chick. Everywhere I went, she followed. We explored every bit of Meltokio there was. We went as high as the King's Castle, to as low as the sewers of Meltokio. Our favorite place happened to be the flower field in front of the castle. There was every type of flower you could imagine layed out in front of you, swaying in the wind. Seles studied very flower and told each and every flower's name. According to Seles, one flower was missing from his garden.
"Big Bro, look! That one's an Azalea! What a pretty hybrid flower!" Seles boasted with pride and excitement.
"Wow, isn't there any flower you can't name?" Asked Zelos, proud of his child prodigy sister.
"Well, there is one flower missing from his collection," she said out loud.
"Well, which is it?" Asked Zelos, surprised that his sister knew the names of so many flowers.
Seles smiled up at her brother. "It's a flower that doesn't grow in this season. It grows in the winter under the snow."
Zelos gaped. "You're kidding me! No flower grows in the snow!"
Seles nodded her head vigorously. "Uh-huh, there is! It's called a Forget-Me-Not. Its petals have such a pretty tint of blue! Sorta like… the color of Big Brother's eyes."
Seles fell back and gazed up at the clear sky. Clouds drifted by slowly through time. "I want to get one, so that when Big Brother grows up and becomes Chosen, Seles will have something to remember him."
Zelos was in shock. They would always be together, right? Nothing could take them apart.
"When the Chosen travels the world to save Tethe'alla, don't feel lonely, okay Big Bro? I'll always root for you, so promise me." Seles stuck out her pinky to him.
Zelos looked at her finger, then back at Sees. He stuck out his pinky and linked them together.
"I promise, sis," he assured her.
Summer's sun died down and autumn's breeze became colder. Meltokio soon became covered in a blanket of fluffy, white snow. It was my first time playing in the snow with Seles. We made snowmen most of the time, and even had a snowball fight once. It was a tie, but Seles didn't want to admit defeat. We visited the flower garden first thing that morning. We hoped there would be a Forget-Me-Not blooming under the snow, but we only saw an empty field of snow
The next day was unforgettable and unforgivable. That day, my only family was taken away from me. A snowstorm arose, leaving Seles and I stuck in the house. We enjoyed watching the snow pile up, so the next day, we'd be able to play with it. I remember spotting someone's shadow approaching the house. The shadow looked familiar, and once I saw her face I know why.
That shadow belonged to my mother.
She broke through the door. Literally. Snow and cold air sailed into the house. I could tell Seles was frightened, and I commanded her to hide behind something. She wanted to hide me. She wanted to hide behind her only brother. Her actions made me feel proud to be depended on. My mother started coming for me, telling me that she came to take me home. What home? I've never had a home with her, so I stood my ground and held onto my sister so she wouldn't take me away.
When she got a hold of me, I was dragged out of the last home I ever knew. Even after all of my effortless struggling, someone was there to save me. Or at least, that's what I thought.
A ear-aching bang rang through the snow covered city, subduing the everyday noise created by the bustling city. I remember telling myself to keep my eyes shut. That way, there'd be a possible chance that all of this was a dream, or a nightmare.
That day, my world came to an end. It didn't matter if I regenerated Tethe'alla. Let them live their own lives. I don't want to be forced against my own will to do this anymore.
When I decided to open my eyes, the ethereal blanket of pure white snow was dyed a deep crimson color, which splattered everywhere. All of it's beauty transformed into the aftermath of war. To think that all of this was meant for me is too much to bear, especially because I gave all of that pain and suffering to my mother, the person who brought me into this world. Instead of my blood, she gave herself to me as a shield of protection. To this day, I still can't force her last words out of my head.
"You should have never been born."
My stepmother and my father sorted out everything for the next month or so. Not only was our house burned, but also the person who burned it was my stepmother herself. She wanted her daughter to become the Chosen, so by killing me, her daughter could gain that title. My stepmother was executed soon after, and then my sister was exiled to an abbey even further from here. I was told not to go visit her, because she would be disturbed from her studies. I think my biggest regret of letting her go, was that she has nothing to remind herself of me. I never got her a Forget-Me-Not.
A year passed by slowly. Spring's blooming flowers passed as how autumn's leaves disappeared. Yet, no matter what season it was it always seemed to be winter in my heart. Memories of that winter were still lingering there. The hole in my heart could no longer be filled.
To ease my pain, I tried finding ways to fill that empty space. I often visited the flower garden. Still remembering Seles' lessons, I was able to name every flower. Then, an idea popped into my head. Perhaps the hole could be filled with those memories. I started eating flowers from that day on. Only the petals satisfied me, eating one petal a day. I always felt better knowing that I at least have something to remember Seles by.
The next winter approached and I mourned over the flowers, which disappeared from the garden. The snow had covered them with a white blanket. This year, even the Forget-Me-Not hid from me. Never feeling as lonely as I was at that moment, I cried alone in the middle of the empty field once filled with flowers.
Remembering my mother's words, I thought about myself. To her, was I just a…mistake? I wasn't meant to live or to be loved by anyone, was I? Because of her words, I became unafraid of death. There is no one left on this world that loves me, so no one would grieve over my death. I guess some souls were born to die.
I thought of my life like that…until I met someone who could change my mind.
A little girl a few years younger than the Chosen walked up to him, overhearing some sobbing in distance.
"Are you okay?" The little girl asked in concern.
Zelos continued to hide his face behind his hands. "I'm lonely. My sister was taken away from me, and now the snow is here to remind me of my loneliness."
The little girl had a sly look on her face. She took his hands away from his face. "Boys don't cry! But don't worry. You won't be lonely for long!"
She pulled Zelos off the ground, and then shook his hands. "I'll be your family. I'll be your little sister! After all, family isn't determined by blood!"
Looking at this little girl reminded him of Seles. They looked nothing alike, but she gave him a warm feeling. A feeling that finally filled the empty hole that he has tried to fill all this time.
Zelos wiped his tears away from his face. "Thanks," he replied gratefully. "I'm Zelos."
The girl smiled up at him with the same smile Seles always used to give him. "I'm Sheena!" She said enthusiastically. Sheena revealed a flower from behind her back and placed it in his hands.
"For you. It's a Forget-Me-Not. They only grow in the winter, though. They match you! Your eyes and the petals have the same color," Sheena stated.
The boy stared at the flower in awe. "Th-Thanks!" He said with rapture, gratefully accepting the flower.
That day, Martel must have answered my prayers. She sent down snow from the heavens not as a reminder of my loneliness, but as a sign of hope.
The snow was there to comfort me. It was there to remind me that I wasn't alone anymore.
Even though the snow took my little sister away, it left behind…
This little girl…