Maria was rather nonplussed upon her first look at Giygas.

A small, thin figure, wrapped in a soft blanket of an unascertained material. His eyes closed, and his weak limbs curled up over his abdomen. He didn't make much of an effort to move; he only slighted wriggled in order to change his position in the blanket.

When the scraggly alien infant became restless, she sung a song to him. One she had known forever, or at least, since she herself was a child. The sweet melody of the song quelled any upset the alien exhibited, and he always drifted back into dormancy when the song had sunk into his soul.

Maria was the first thing that he saw. He opened his bright red eyes, and squinted. He took in the sight of this woman, unsure for a few moments of what he was staring at. His eyes contained all of the innocence the world could behold. They were petrified and forsaken. When Maria sang to him, these feelings melted. He remembered who she was. Hearing her voice reminded him that she was the owner of the comforting voice.

Maria held his tiny form close to her, and drew a finger across the ridge of his head. It didn't feel slimy, as she had anticipated, but soft, like a peach. Giygas closed his eyes, and began to shake her her arms.

"You're okay," she whispered, "you're okay. See? It feels good."

Giygas stopped shaking after he had gotten used to the sensation of her fingers. Maria sang to him again. The tiny alien let dormancy wash over his soul as he curled in the crook of Maria's arm.

In the years following, it became quite manifest to Maria that Giygas never acknowledged that Maria was his adopted mother. Much like any other young member of the usual fauna Maria was used to, the first person he saw-Maria-was who he believed to be his mother. She never would have dreamed of telling him otherwise, anyway. It would be out of the question, and not to mention callous, to tell him such a thing.

Perhaps it wouldn't have made much a difference, on a second consideration. Giygas never ventured farther than a few years from Maria, and if Maria did so much as leave the room, Giygas would let out a soft caterwaul.

Due to Giygas' weak physical capabilities, she carried him almost everywhere she went. She let him weakly clutch to her shoulder when she needed both hands. It wasn't a big deal; unlike human children, his weight didn't dramatically rise as he grew older. However, other things about Giygas did become apparent as he matured.

His PSI abilities developed fairly quickly. Once he started speaking-telepathically-to Maria, it was not long until he was able to lift himself and other objects. Maria noted how little control he had of his PSI abilities-several times, he had broken machinery or set it aflame. Perhaps all of these mishaps is what inspired her husband to begin to research the PSI of the aliens. Always a curious fellow, he always wanted answers. Being an ex-newspaper reporter didn't deteriorate his intrusive and meddlesome personality, and when he saw Giygas' send a metal cube hurtling off into space just by looking at it, he began to study the PSI of the aliens in an incognito fashion. Completely unknown to the Starmen, vital information was being slipped away from their hands by a brilliant pickpocket.

However, George knew he could never research the alien PSI on the sly without being found out. Ergo, he had to make his way back to Earth, somehow.

"Maria," George had said to her softly one night (if it even was night, it was very difficult to tell in space), "we need to talk."

"About what?"

Maria took her eyes off a sleeping Giygas for a moment. George sighed, and leaned against the wall.

"I've told you about the research I'm doing."

"Sh, George. Don't speak too loudly. Giygas is sleeping."

"Remember how I told you that I'd found out quite a bit on their PSI abilities? I'm afraid I know too much."

"Oh, George. I told you to be careful...do you think they'll find out?"

"That's what I'm afraid of. They'll kill me if they knew all of the information I've obtained. I need to get back to Earth, somehow, otherwise, I'm as good as dead."

"And how do you intend to make it back home? You'll probably die going home! Oh, George, why did you need to get involved with this?"

"I guess I just couldn't help myself. Their abilities are fascinating. They're simply amazing, you wouldn't believe it if you hadn't witnessed it yourself. But I need to go. I need to go now, or I'll be killed."

George embraced his wife, and pushed some of her hair back. He was certain that this was one of the last times he would ever see Maria. Kissing her forehead, he let his wife go, and looked into her eyes, gazing into them and taking in everything that was in her eyes.

"I need to find a way to get back home. I'll start snooping around for an escape pod or something."

"Good luck and take care!"

George walked over to where Giygas was sleeping. He drew his hand over the sleeping alien's head, and frowned.

"I'm sorry, buddy. I know you're going to think I betrayed you. I hope you know, someday, that I never meant to betray you. I'm just a curious man. You know that. Please, please don't think that, Giygas. I love you like my own son, buddy, remember that."

Giygas shifted in his sleep, and his eyes opened in a sliver. Giygas smiled looking and George, and fell back to sleep.

Maria tugged George's sleeve, and handed him a sketch. George took it, smiling.

It was a beautiful sketch of himself, Maria, and Giygas. George smiled, and embraced his wife again.

"I'll be careful. You be careful too. There's no telling what these aliens might do, especially with their powers."

They embraced again, and finally, after a long time exchanging parting words, broke apart. George made his way throughout the alien vessel to hopefully find an escape pod, and Maria returned to tending to Giygas.

Giygas stirred in his sleep. He trembled in his sleep, and started to whimper. Maria stroked his back and pulled him towards her. Giygas still trembled, albeit it was less intense than before. Maria frowned, and sang to him. Giygas stopped trembling and whimpering, and curled up in Maria's lap, extremely content with her motherly love.

Giygas never forgot Maria. Even when he was bent on the destruction of Earth, he never forgot Maria. He never could forget his mother. Nothing would ever make him forget his mother, not even in his attempt to destroy her relatives.

Giygas never would forget her motherly love.

Just a minute story I created in my free time. Enjoy!

Earthbound (c) Nintendo