Thanks guys for the reviews! And Champ...well, you literally changed my mind just now lol. This will go on for a few more chapters, but I'm not planning for it to be super long.


Birdo, Yoshi, and Rosalina were sitting on a bench at the park, drinking their sodas.

Yoshi's POV

What a lovely spring day it is today! The sun is shining, no clouds are in the sky, a light breeze is going on, and I just feel...happy. One of the very reasons why spring is my favorite season of all. The weather is just right and everyone's gloomy moods from winter are transition to better moods as winter fades away.

"Yoshi?"

And this soda, man do I love it! I'll admit, when I first saw this 'Melon Soda' can for sale, I was suspicious of it since...well...when do people make soda out of melons? But I bought it anyways to see if it was good and oh boy, I'm so glad I did!

"Yoshi!"

I'm thinking later, I'm gonna go buy a six-pack of these and drink them while I watch that new episode of Singing With The Stars.

"YOSHI!"

I jumped in sudden suprise as I lose my train of thought, and quickly realized that I was actually spacing out.

"What!? What happened!?" I ask Birdo.

"Um, I was asking you if you agree that the Mushroom Cemetery should be expanded, seeing as how it's clearly becoming overcrowded with all the graves and such." she answered with a slightly ticked off look. It's clear she knew I wasn't paying attention.

"Y-yeah! Totally. I agree with you." I hesitantly reply.

"Yoshi, you were spacing out again! This is like the fifth time this week!" she raises her voice. I roll my eyes, thinking that it's not a big deal as she's making it out to be.

"Don't be so hard on him, Birdo! I do that all the time, especially on lovely days like this." Rosalina said. I smile at her in relief that I get a defense.

Birdo didn't speak for a few seconds. I tried to hold in my laughter.

"Well...whatever." She finally says.

"So, you both know what today is, right?" Rosalina asks.

Huh? Why would she ask that question all of a sudden? Usually when someone asks that, that mean something important is happening today. I start to get a bit nervous.

"Uhh, Friday?" Birdo answered her. It's true, today WAS Friday but I don't think that's what Rosalina meant when she was asking that question.

"No. Well, yes but that's not what I meant. Guess again! Come on, you both should know this!" says Rosalina.

I think hard about it. Is today someone's birthday? Or a special event going in the city? Or something completely different? I wish she would just tell the answer already.

"I give up Rosalina. What the hell is it?" Birdo asked.

"Today is exactly ten years since Mario had left." Rosalina answers.

I widen my eyes and get nervous quickly. My god, how in the world could I forget that horrible event? And...has it seriously been ten years since then? Jeeze, time flies by so fast!

I remember when the news came out when Peach invited us to her castle, 10 years ago today, and told us what had happened. Some of us broke down crying and some of us were literally speechless. I also remember everyone being depressed about it for weeks. Peach wouldn't come out of her castle and she refused to speak to anyone until a month later. It was THAT bad.

I just wish Rosalina hadn't brought it up, though. Now, I'm gonna feel depressed on this terrific and warm day. Mario was our best friend and a loyal, nice guy. To lose him is like losing a part of us.

"Oh. Yeah, I definitely remember that." I plainly respond. I wanted to say so much more than that, but I figured it would lead to an argument which would worsen the mood.

Birdo's POV

Gosh, how the hell could I forget what happened ten years ago? I mean, it was literally the worst, or one of the worst, moments of me and my friends' lives! Everybody was a wreck after that. No no, Birdo! I must not remember every detail, because if I do, I become emotional, and when I become emotional, I get overly-dramatic and talk a lot, and when THAT happens, I become angry at the world! Oh no, it's already happening! Here, let me just drink more of my soda, maybe that will help.

My hands were heavily shaking as I tried to gulp down my grape soda. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rosalina staring at me weirdly.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Does it look like I'm okay? DOES IT? You just reminded me and Yoshi of a terrible event! I really want to throw this soda at her face, but I can't, since she's my friend and friends don't do that. Calm down Birdo, just breathe in and out nice and slow...

"I'm just fine. I just can't believe it's already been 10 years, you know? Everything after what happened has never been the same. So many memories are flooding back to me now." I say to her very quickly. When I get nervous or emotional, I tend to speak fast but I could see that Rosalina understood me.

I look to Yoshi, and he's just staring in his lap, clearly thinking hard. I know what happened affected him a lot, probably as much as Peach because he's known Mario longer than me and Rosalina had so the impact was greater on him.

But then I remembered something. Something that Peach said when she called us over that day...what the hell was it? She mentioned a letter written by Mario that was sent to her...OH! THAT'S RIGHT!

"Remember when Peach showed us the letter that day? At the end of that letter, Mario wrote 'Let's meet again in 10 years.' And, well, today is offically 10 years." I say, hoping to lighten the mood.

"But what are the chances of him coming back anytime soon? He's probably already forgotten about us..." Yoshi says in a very depressing voice.

Excuse me? This is Mario we're talking about! He would never forget us...or would he? Well, it HAS been ten years and people tend to forgot a lot of stuff in that span time. Hell, I can't even remember what day or month I went to my cousin's funeral. All I know is that it was also 10 years ago. So maybe Yoshi could be right? Well, I don't know, that seems pretty negative, but who said negative wasn't always a realistic outcome? It's a part of life.

"Don't say that, Yoshi! Mario would never forget us, I know it. We just have to keep hoping he will return. One day, he will. He must." says Rosalina.

I wouldn't hold my breath on Mario 'must' returning. I mean, nobody is 100% sure of everything. No one is 100% sure the world will get swallowed by a black hole tomorrow. No one is 100% sure that they won't get hit by a car tomorrow. No one is 100% sure that tomorrow will be drama-free.

I mean, for all we know, Mario could've changed for the worse. He could've turned into a psycho and got locked up in a mental institution. Nobody knows a single about the guy now. Nobody knows where he is. He could've died in some far away location and no one would know.

I just wish we could all get some closure on this once and for all.

Rosalina's POV

Okay, maybe telling them that was a bad idea. But I couldn't get my mind off it! I just had to say it. It was bothering me too much and one of them would've eventually noticed.

I can tell though by their body language that they're saddened by the memories of what happened. I don't blame them. It's been bothering me for the past month, because I knew the 10th anniversary was coming up real soon.

But, I think it was just better to keep it to myself. I mean, I think I just ruined the mood by telling them. Me and my big mouth...

"I'm so sorry guys for letting that out. I just had to say it." I said, hoping to redeem myself.

"Don't worry about it. It actually reminded us that Mario is 'supposedly' coming back soon, so I guess that's a good thing." Birdo says.

She has a point. Mario IS suppose to return. But when? It would be interesting if he'd return today, but what are the chances of him returning exactly 10 years after he left us? Low. But then again, I suppose the chances of him returning today are the same as any other day, so...

"AH!" I shriek, feeling something brush against my head.

"What's wrong?" Birdo asks.

I feel around my hair, checking if the thing that brushed against my head got stuck in it. I felt something soft and small. I grab it out and take a look at it.

"Oh! Silly me. It was just a petal that fell in my hair, heh heh." I say and chuckle.

It must've fallen from the tree above us. I actually didn't notice the cherry blossom petals from the trees were falling everywhere. That's what happens in spring.

I love looking at the cherry blossom petals though. They're so pretty. For some reason, these things always remind me to look forward to the future and never look back.

I drop the petal out of my hand, watching it flutter to the ground.

I looked back up and my heart sank.

"M-MARIO!?" I suddenly shriek.

Yoshi and Birdo both heard me and suddenly looked to where I was looking at.

"What!? No...that can't be him!" Yoshi said in complete shock.

"It looks just like him though!" Birdo said.

Are we all seeing the same person? Is that really Mario, off in the distance? He's just standing there, staring at us. Should we come over there, or is he gonna come over here?

What if it isn't Mario and it's just some lookalike messing with us?

Oh! He's walking over to us. My heart is beating faster with each step he takes. Is it really him? As he gets closer, it's starting to look more and more like him.

He stopped in his tracks a few feet away from us and slowly smiles.


Peach's POV

My eyes are fixed on the ocean, mesmerized by the swishing waters. I feel like I want to just die in the ocean and let my soul swim freely throughout the earth.

That sounds like paradise.

"Peach! Come on, let's go!"

"Huh?" I uttered, taking my eyes off the waters.

"Let's go take a walk through the park and eat at that sushi place!" Daisy says.

"Oh, okay." I respond. Sushi isn't my favorite food, but I WAS really hungry so I figured it will do. Though, I kinda didn't want to leave the beach. Everything here just seems so perfect.

As we walk our way out of there, Daisy asks me, "Hey Peach...I always wondered something. If you had a baby, what would you name it?"

Excuse me? What kind of random, out-of-the-left-field question is that?

"Umm, I never really thought about that actually. Wait a second, don't tell me! Are you pregnant!?" I ask her.

Daisy laughed. "No no! The thought just randomly came in my mind. If I had a girl...I would name her Sakura."

"Sakura? That's a really pretty name. It sounds foreign though." I say to her. Honestly, I've never heard of a name like that in my entire life. Either Daisy came up with it herself, or I've been sheltered from everything outside the kingdom a lot more than I thought I was.

"It is foreign. Sakura means cherry blossom, which is just sooooo cute!" Daisy squealed.

I laugh a bit. "Cherry blossom, eh? A pretty name for two pretty words. I like that actually."

EOC.

Things are going to be a bit heavier next chapter. The rest of the cast will likely appear too. Please review.