I can hear you say - and i would agree. You could imagine life based on other liquids, ammonia for example. Nothing special about water here. Nothing special in the great objective picture. If it were not for water, there would be no science, no thought, no consciousness, no life.
Molecules propagate in gas.
They do propagate in liquid as well. Fish smell in water. But we canna go more than a few minutes without air. The breath of life arose with the evolution of aerobic creatures, and became dominant in the kingdom of animals, out of which it is said, mankind then arose to move evolution into the realm of consciousness. Now I dont state this in any categorical manner, but only in such a manner as might be fitting for this exploration of the nature of these ancient elements from the perspective of moden knowledge about the phenomena of the cosmos.