[Action/narration]
Ionia loved Papa.
There was no need to even say it. She had loved him before she'd known him, before she had ever known what it was to be human. It was a fact so powerful that it defined her, made up the very keystone of her identity. She was Ionia Falcon. Captain Falcon's daughter. She wanted to be him when she grew up, devoted herself to the things that he loved. She lived for the day she'd make it to the F-Zero tracks, studied every last in and out of the cars that ruled them, pushed and begged and ignored every last insistence that she could not actually drive and that her feet probably would not reach the pedals. When her human life had began, she cried easily. She didn't cry anymore -- not since DJ told her that boys didn't cry. And wasn't Papa a boy, after all? Then Ionia should be one too. She should be strong like him and fast like him.
She'd turned her back on the garden. A Pikmin was everything Falcon was not -- small, weak, dependent on others. One by one, her brothers and sisters had dropped out of the school, given up. Proven that Pikmin could not function alone. At first, the departures had been met with well-wishes, with exuberant optimism and promises that their bond would still stand. Then it slowly gave way to disappointment... then little more than apathy. When the garden turned its back on her, when the one she'd once called Leader went away, she still did not cry. She buried the sinking, uneasy feeling that she had lost a chance at something more precious than she knew, and continued to bury herself in her drawings and her inventions. She said nothing about it -- it was her choice, after all, and she'd made it willingly.
She'd forgiven Falcon in the past. The first time that he'd lied. When her first friend turned out to be nothing more than an empty illusion, dragged out over the course of several months. It had hurt. Of course it had hurt. She'd never known what heartbreak was until then. It hurt because she would never play with DJ again. It hurt because she was the only one who hadn't known that. It hurt because the Papa she loved let her keep pining for a ghost, long after "DJ" had grown up again. But she had forgiven him, because she loved him.
But that wasn't the only lie Papa had told. Now, everything had come out in an overwhelming tidal wave of secrets. She thought that she loved Papa, but she really didn't know anything about him. He was... he was like a stranger! It was horribly unfair. He refused to let her drive on her own, to let her try to go pro even though there were plenty of young F-Zero racers -- Dai, Digi-Boy, Lily Flyer -- and yet he thought it was perfectly okay to put his own life on the line daily without so much as mentioning it to her? To let her wander around obliviously, proudly telling anyone who would listen that she was Ionia Falcon, the great Captain's daughter, not even knowing that being a Falcon was a risk in and of itself? She would never be ashamed or frightened of her name -- she had always valued it as something precious. Even so, it was stupid and reckless to let her carry on in ignorance when he could be shot or kidnapped or thrown out of a speeding car at any moment!
Even if he thought that keeping Ionia in the dark about his other life of work was somehow protecting her... how could he possibly excuse the other lies he'd told. He'd been dating a woman for an entire year! Not just any woman, but Grandma Aran -- someone near and dear to Ionia! How could either of them never think to tell her that? Did they assume she wouldn't care about having to share Papa? Or did they just not think that it had mattered enough? Judging by the way Falcon had oh-so-casually mention that she was going to be moving with them, she was quite sure that her feelings on the matter had not been a factor in the slightest.
And why should they matter, anyway? She was just a kid. She couldn't do anything about it. If she complained, then all Papa had to do was promise her some shiny thing, or wave around the fact that she couldn't even drive without him there to show her! As if she had never taken -- and aced, thank you very much -- Driver's Ed! If she didn't like being lied to or having life-changing decisions made without being consulted, then too bad! She was too little to understand, too dependent to refuse, right?
Ionia was frequently frustrated by her youth, but this was too much to stand.
It was high time she grew up.
Night. Her dorm. She stood in front of the mirror, a pair of scissors in hand. A girl stared back at her -- maybe fourteen years old on the outside, and on the inside... on the inside, well... she was going to be different. From today on, she was going to change. No more putting her trust in people that didn't care about trust. No more blind following. No more fawning. If that was the kind of person Papa was... then maybe she didn't want to be like Papa anymore. She would carve her own path. Teach him a thing or two about consequences -- let him know that just because she had been born a Pikmin, she was not going to follow anyone like a subservient little lamb.
A change on the inside warranted a change on the outside, too. She had never had a haircut before. Hair was alive, a part of you, right? Secretly, she'd always worried that cutting it would be painful.
It hurt, but not in the way she'd expected.
Still, she did not cry.
...
Okay, maybe she cried a little.
--
[Action! If you happen to spot Ionia today, you might just notice that HER HAIR IS GONE. You might also notice that she is skipping Physics. Shit just got real.]
There was no need to even say it. She had loved him before she'd known him, before she had ever known what it was to be human. It was a fact so powerful that it defined her, made up the very keystone of her identity. She was Ionia Falcon. Captain Falcon's daughter. She wanted to be him when she grew up, devoted herself to the things that he loved. She lived for the day she'd make it to the F-Zero tracks, studied every last in and out of the cars that ruled them, pushed and begged and ignored every last insistence that she could not actually drive and that her feet probably would not reach the pedals. When her human life had began, she cried easily. She didn't cry anymore -- not since DJ told her that boys didn't cry. And wasn't Papa a boy, after all? Then Ionia should be one too. She should be strong like him and fast like him.
She'd turned her back on the garden. A Pikmin was everything Falcon was not -- small, weak, dependent on others. One by one, her brothers and sisters had dropped out of the school, given up. Proven that Pikmin could not function alone. At first, the departures had been met with well-wishes, with exuberant optimism and promises that their bond would still stand. Then it slowly gave way to disappointment... then little more than apathy. When the garden turned its back on her, when the one she'd once called Leader went away, she still did not cry. She buried the sinking, uneasy feeling that she had lost a chance at something more precious than she knew, and continued to bury herself in her drawings and her inventions. She said nothing about it -- it was her choice, after all, and she'd made it willingly.
She'd forgiven Falcon in the past. The first time that he'd lied. When her first friend turned out to be nothing more than an empty illusion, dragged out over the course of several months. It had hurt. Of course it had hurt. She'd never known what heartbreak was until then. It hurt because she would never play with DJ again. It hurt because she was the only one who hadn't known that. It hurt because the Papa she loved let her keep pining for a ghost, long after "DJ" had grown up again. But she had forgiven him, because she loved him.
But that wasn't the only lie Papa had told. Now, everything had come out in an overwhelming tidal wave of secrets. She thought that she loved Papa, but she really didn't know anything about him. He was... he was like a stranger! It was horribly unfair. He refused to let her drive on her own, to let her try to go pro even though there were plenty of young F-Zero racers -- Dai, Digi-Boy, Lily Flyer -- and yet he thought it was perfectly okay to put his own life on the line daily without so much as mentioning it to her? To let her wander around obliviously, proudly telling anyone who would listen that she was Ionia Falcon, the great Captain's daughter, not even knowing that being a Falcon was a risk in and of itself? She would never be ashamed or frightened of her name -- she had always valued it as something precious. Even so, it was stupid and reckless to let her carry on in ignorance when he could be shot or kidnapped or thrown out of a speeding car at any moment!
Even if he thought that keeping Ionia in the dark about his other life of work was somehow protecting her... how could he possibly excuse the other lies he'd told. He'd been dating a woman for an entire year! Not just any woman, but Grandma Aran -- someone near and dear to Ionia! How could either of them never think to tell her that? Did they assume she wouldn't care about having to share Papa? Or did they just not think that it had mattered enough? Judging by the way Falcon had oh-so-casually mention that she was going to be moving with them, she was quite sure that her feelings on the matter had not been a factor in the slightest.
And why should they matter, anyway? She was just a kid. She couldn't do anything about it. If she complained, then all Papa had to do was promise her some shiny thing, or wave around the fact that she couldn't even drive without him there to show her! As if she had never taken -- and aced, thank you very much -- Driver's Ed! If she didn't like being lied to or having life-changing decisions made without being consulted, then too bad! She was too little to understand, too dependent to refuse, right?
Ionia was frequently frustrated by her youth, but this was too much to stand.
It was high time she grew up.
Night. Her dorm. She stood in front of the mirror, a pair of scissors in hand. A girl stared back at her -- maybe fourteen years old on the outside, and on the inside... on the inside, well... she was going to be different. From today on, she was going to change. No more putting her trust in people that didn't care about trust. No more blind following. No more fawning. If that was the kind of person Papa was... then maybe she didn't want to be like Papa anymore. She would carve her own path. Teach him a thing or two about consequences -- let him know that just because she had been born a Pikmin, she was not going to follow anyone like a subservient little lamb.
A change on the inside warranted a change on the outside, too. She had never had a haircut before. Hair was alive, a part of you, right? Secretly, she'd always worried that cutting it would be painful.
It hurt, but not in the way she'd expected.
Still, she did not cry.
...
Okay, maybe she cried a little.
--
[Action! If you happen to spot Ionia today, you might just notice that HER HAIR IS GONE. You might also notice that she is skipping Physics. Shit just got real.]