Here's a fic I'd been thinking about writing for a while and I finally managed to do it for an important occasion. Though, I don't love how it turned out. I didn't have many ideas.

The Yellow Ladybug

"No, no, no, no, no!" Fudge cried.

Luigi sighed. He was trying to be patient, but that wasn't easy. He'd already gone through this with his six-year-old daughter when she didn't want to wear the dress he had for her. Now, she was doing the same thing with her socks and shoes. "Fudgie, please put them on!"

"I don't wanna!" she complained.

"Well, you can't go outside in bare feet."

"Why not?!" Fudge demanded.

"Because you could get hurt!" Luigi explained. "Do you remember what happened last week?"

"Yeah. I remember..."


"Doc!" Fudge wailed, limping into his clinic in tears.

Doc sighed. "What have you done, kiddo?"

"I stepped on something!"

Doc could see a trail of blood behind the human girl. "Gimme your foot!" Fudge held up her foot for him to see. "There's a bit of glass in there." He groaned. "Fudge, this is why we tell you to wear shoes!"


"Well?" Luigi asked.

Reluctantly, Fudge gave her dad her foot and let him put socks on her feet followed by shoes.

"There!" Luigi announced, satisfied. He gave his daughter a kiss. "Let's go! Everyone is at Flo's, waiting for us!"


Indeed they were.

"Buon giorno!" they all greeted Luigi and Fudge, who replied cheerily.

Fudge made a beeline towards a stack of oil cans.

"Fudgie!" Luigi called out. "Where are you going? What are you doing?"

Fudge didn't answer. She just picked up one of the cans.

"Fudge!" Doc shouted. "You know you can't drink those!"

"I don't wanna drink it!" she responded, lining up the stacks very carefully.

"Do you really need to do that, Fudge?" Sarge wondered.

"It bothers me", she informed him simply.

"She's not hurtin' anythin', Sarge", Flo spoke up as she served everyone. "And it's keepin' her occupied." She knew the little girl often got bored when the grown-ups were talking about their grown-up stuff.

Sally chuckled. "I used to babysit a kid who used to do that. His name was Charlie. He was a sweet kid, but he had such a hard time at school. He had autism, so the other kids would pick on him."

"Autism?" Lightning repeated. "What's that?" He felt like he'd heard of it before, but he didn't really understand what it was.

"He just had a harder time socialising than other kids", Sally explained. "Like I said, he was very sweet, but he didn't understand normal social cues."

The subject was changed then. The adults started talking about things like their businesses, sports and politics. Fudge, who had finished up with the oil cans and was bored, was having what was practically a one-sided conversation about one of her favourite races she'd seen Lightning compete in. It was a story she'd told a million times.

"And then Chick tried to hit him, but he moved out of the way really fast!" Fudge babbled.

"Yes, Fudge, we know", Doc informed her.

"But then Chick hit Bobby and Bobby hit Lightning", Fudge continued anyway.

"Yes, Fudge, we know", Doc repeated.

"And Lightning-"

"And Lightning turned right to go left and won the race!" Doc finished, cutting her off. Not only did she tell the same story over and over again, but she used the exact same words every single time. "We know the story! Not only do you tell it every day, but we were all there when it happened. Why don't you finish your breakfast quietly?"

Fudge gave him an angry glare and did finish her breakfast quietly, but under her own little storm cloud.


Everyone went about their days after breakfast. The business owners were busy with their respective businesses. Mater was probably busy tractor tipping. Sheriff was keeping an eye on the town. Red was busy watering the flowers. Doc and Lightning were training by Willy's Butte.

As for Fudge, she didn't know what to do. She'd wanted to go with Lightning and Doc, but the latter had said no.

"We can't have you distractin' us, Fudge", he insisted. "We got a lot of work to do!"

So, the little girl was running through town, feeling kind of lonely when she spotted a group of car kids about her age, parked, talking.

"Hi!" Fudge approached them.

They didn't answer; they were too engrossed in their conversation. So, Fudge just slipped in anyway.

"Do you like racing?" she asked them, interrupting what they were saying.

"We're not talking about racing!" a white Sedan informed her. "We're talking about Harry Potter!"

"But racing is way better than Harry Potter!" Fudge insisted. She started babbling away about racing.

The other kids tried to ignore her, but Fudge still kept talking about racing.

"Shut up!" they shouted at her. "We don't care!"

But did Fudge shut up? No! She still kept yammering away.


Unbeknownst to the children, Guido was watching the whole thing. Fudge didn't understand how to interact with other kids; that was clear as day, watching her. That sounded a lot like the kid Sally was talking about earlier, who used to line up oil cans just like Fudge had done earlier.

"Hmmm..." Guido wondered. Maybe he should do some research on autism, maybe ask Sally and Doc about it too.


"You've noticed it too, huh?"

Guido nodded. "Si... You... have too?" he questioned on one of the very rare occasions he spoke English.

"Yeah", Doc confirmed. "I just didn't wanna say anythin' because I wanted to be sure. I really think she might be."

The Hudson Hornet moved over to the computer in his clinic (it was one of only two computers in town with the other one being Sally's) and brought up a medical webpage with all kinds of information about autism. Guido read through the characteristics of autism. It made it very clear that no autistic person would fit all of them, but quite a few of them did sound like Fudge.

Difficulty understanding jokes, figures of speech or sarcasm. That was something Fudge had difficulty with, but he'd always just assumed that was because of her age.

Very little or no eye contact. Now that he thought about it, Fudge rarely looked at someone when she was talking to them.

Talks excessively about one or two topics. In her case, that would be racing and whatever movie or TV show she was obsessed with lately.

Repetitive behaviours such as hand flapping or repeating words or phrases. Fudge did flap her hands a lot and she did repeat herself a lot.

He smiled as he noted, Outstanding skills in certain areas. Fudge knew more about racing, tyres and mechanics than any other six-year-old he knew.

The website also mentioned that autistic people liked routine and didn't respond well to change. That made Guido think about how hard it had been for her when the town made it back onto the map and tourists were coming through. Again, he assumed that was just because of her age.

Another thing that made sense now was Fudge's sensory issues. She didn't like the way certain things felt or sounded. It explained why she didn't like wearing socks or shoes and when it mentioned meltdowns, Guido remembered the incident when they first arrived in Los Angeles for the tiebreaker race...


Fudge had never been out of Radiator Springs before, so being in the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles was very new to her. There were more people than she'd ever seen in her life on this one street. She didn't like how close they were getting, how many there were or how loud they all were.

"Barbara! Hi! How are you?!"

"Hi! Is it possible to make an appointment with Dr. Wheeler for Tuesday afternoon?"

"Hurry up! We gotta get to the speedway before the race starts!"

Fudge, who was sat in Mater's truck bed, started whimpering.

"Fudgie?" Luigi turned to her. "Are you okay?"

Before the little girl could answer, there was a loud siren wailing as an ambulance came tearing down the street.

"No!" she shouted.

"No?" Luigi asked.

"NO!" Fudge shrieked. "NO, NO!" She threw herself down in the truck bed and broke down, screaming and crying.

"Fudgie, what is wrong?" Luigi questioned, concerned.

"NO!" she screamed again, banging her fists. "I don't like it here! I wanna go home!"

"Fudge, I wanted you to stay home", Doc reminded her. "You're only here 'cause you begged to come."

"Doc, this is the first time she has been out of Radiator Springs", Luigi pointed out.

"She's just scared 'cause everythin' here's new to her", Flo added.

"I say it's about time we got her out of Radiator Springs for a while", Sarge voiced his opinion. "Let her get used to it while she's still young."

"There are so many people!" Fudge cried. "And it's too loud! I want to go home!"

"(It is okay, angel!)" Guido whispered gently, scooping her up. She kicked violently and kept screaming, but Guido still held her. "(It is just scary because it is new. Everything is going to be okay! No one is going to hurt you.)"

"How do you know that?!" the five-year-old demanded.

"Fudge, we're all here", Doc assured her. "We ain't gonna let anyone hurt you."

"You promise?"

"We promise!" everyone chorused.

Guido held her for a little while longer and she stopped screaming. She was still crying in soft whimpers when her father returned her to the truck bed. She still looked frightened to death.


"What... we do?" Guido wondered.

Doc thought for a moment. "I could set her up for an appointment with a psychologist I know in Ashgrove. We'll know for sure that way."

Guido nodded. "Okay."

So, Doc made the call to arrange the appointment. "Tuesday work for you? About two-thirty?"

"Si."

"That's fine", Doc informed the receptionist. "We'll see you then. Thank you."

"Guido! There you are!" Luigi called out, entering the clinic just as Doc was hanging up the phone.

"(We need to talk)", Guido began.

"About what?" Luigi questioned curiously. Then he looked at Doc with fear in his eyes. "Is everything okay?"

"Everythin's fine", Doc assured him. "We just wanna talk to you about somethin'."

Guido and Doc started explaining the situation. It was hard to tell what Luigi was thinking, until he cut them off at the mention of the word psychologist.

"Fudgie does not need to see a psychologist!" he insisted. "There is nothing wrong with her! She is perfect just the way she is!"

"We never said there was somethin' wrong with her", Doc pointed out calmly.

"Then why do you think she needs to see a psychologist?!" Luigi demanded.

"Because we wanna find out if she is autistic", Doc explained. "That ain't a bad thing, but we wanna know."

"(What if she needs help with it later in life?)" Guido added. "(Don't you want to help our daughter?)"

"Giving her a label is not going to help her!" Luigi shouted.

"People are gonna give her labels anyway", Doc reasoned. "At least this way, it'll be the right one."

The Fiat shook his hood firmly. "She is not going to see a psychologist! Don't bother making that appointment!" With those words, he stormed off.

"Should I tell him we've already made the appointment?" Doc asked Guido.

"No", he replied. "(It will just upset him. What Luigi doesn't know won't hurt him.)"


"Fudgie!" Guido called out on Tuesday morning. "(Are you ready to go?!)"

"Si!" Fudge answered, coming downstairs.

"(Do you have shoes on?)" Guido questioned.

"Si", Fudge repeated, holding up her feet for Guido to see. She was wearing flip-flops.

"I think you will need some socks, angel", Luigi informed her. "If Guido is taking you to get some new shoes."

"(I have socks for her here.)" Guido held them up. "(Come on, Fudgie!)"

"(Do we have to go shopping?)" she complained.

"Si", Guido insisted. "(You need new shoes and we will go out for lunch. It will be fun, okay?)"

"Okay!" Fudge agreed as Guido picked her up. "Bye, Luigi!"

"Ciao!" he responded warmly. "Have fun, angel!"


"What did you tell Luigi?" Doc wanted to know when he met up with Guido and Fudge outside. He was going with them as Guido didn't speak much English.

"(We were getting Fudge some new shoes)", Guido replied. "(So, we will have to go to the shoe store before we come home.)"

"We're not going to the shoe store?" Fudge asked nervously. "You lied to me?!"

"No, no, no, no!" Guido assured her gently. "(We will go to the shoe store. We just need to go somewhere else first.)"

"Are we still gonna have lunch?" Fudge questioned.

Guido and Doc laughed.

"Si."


"What is this place?" Fudge wondered as they arrived at the psychologist's office.

"(You will see)", Guido replied, not sure how to explain it to her.

"Are you taking her to see the psychologist?" a dark-haired human woman wondered as she walked past.

"Yeah", Doc confirmed.

"You think she's autistic or something?"

"Yeah", Doc repeated.

The woman gave him a look of disgust. "This is why you shouldn't vaccinate your kids!" She walked away, shaking her head in disbelief.

Guido gave Doc a confused look. What did that have to do with anything? The medical webpages he had looked at about autism didn't say anything about vaccinations.

"Don't listen to her", he told the forklift before he could say anything. "She doesn't know what she's talkin' about!"

"What does ostitsic mean?" Fudge piped up curiously.

"(You will find out later)", Guido informed her. "(We are going to see someone who will explain everything to you.)"


When they entered, Doc and Guido introduced themselves and Fudge and explained that she was there for an appointment.

"Yes. Have a seat", the receptionist instructed them. "Dr. Gordon will be here to see you in a moment."

"Thanks."

"Grazie."

The waiting area was a nice, homey little place. There were comfortable couches, the walls were decorated with pretty pictures and children's drawings, with a lot of yellow ladybugs, and lots of books, magazines and toys. However, Fudge didn't care about any of that. She was happy to see someone she wasn't expecting at all.

"Luigi!" she cried, running up to him.

Guido and Doc's eyes widened. They weren't expecting Luigi either. The Fiat greeted his daughter warmly, but it was clear that he wasn't happy.

"Fudge, why don't you go and play?" Doc suggested.

"Okay!" Fudge moved over to the toy box where an abacus held her interest and she started fiddling with the beads.

"How did you know we were here?" Doc questioned as soon as the six-year-old was occupied.

"I saw the appointment written in Guido's calendar", the Fiat explained. "I am taking my daughter home now!"

"(No you are not!)" Guido countered. "(She is here now! Why don't we see what the psychologist has to say?)"

"I know what they are going to say!" Luigi responded. "There is nothing wrong with Fudgie!"

"We never said there was anythin' wrong with her", Doc repeated.

"Then why is she here?!"

"Brittney Rossi-Topolino?" a friendly voice called out. A royal purple Volkswagen Beetle with kind blue eyes appeared.

Fudge shrunk back shyly.

"(This is Fudge.)" Guido gestured to her.

"Her name is Brittney, but we call her Fudge", Doc clarified.

"And we are taking her home!" Luigi affirmed. "She does not need to be here!"

"What's going on?" the little girl wanted to know. She was beginning to get afraid, knowing her fathers disagreed on whether or not she should be there.

The Beetle stopped in front of Fudge. "Hi, Fudge. I'm Dr. Gordon."

"Doctor?" the little girl repeated nervously. "Are you going to give me a shot?"

Dr. Gordon chuckled. "I'm not that kind of doctor, sweetie. Do you want to come with me into my office? I have some more toys for you in there and I want to ask you and your dads some questions... Is that okay?"

Fudge glanced longingly at the abacus. Then she looked at Guido and Doc's encouraging looks and finally, Luigi's unimpressed one.

"Okay", she agreed quietly as she let Guido take her hand and they followed Dr. Gordon into her office.


Luckily for Fudge, there was another abacus in Dr. Gordon's office and soon, she was busy sliding the beads around.

"I just want to watch how she plays while I talk to you", the psychologist explained to the other grown-ups quietly.

Fudge knew the others were talking about her. Dr. Gordon was asking all kinds of questions about her and what kind of behaviour she had. Fudge didn't understand. Why did this stranger want to know why she said the same things over and over again? Or that she found it hard to make friends? Or that she didn't like wearing socks or shoes?

Luigi didn't like the sound of it all either. A lot of the questions she was asking did sound like Fudge, but Dr. Gordon wasn't really suggesting what he thought she was suggesting... Was she?

"I'll go get some puzzles and games for Fudge", Dr. Gordon announced. "I want to see how she does. I'll be back in a sec."

"What are we doing here?" the little girl wondered the second the psychologist was gone.

"Doc and Guido think there is something wrong with you!" Luigi answered before anybody else could.

Fudge's eyes widened in fear. "What? What's wrong with me?!"

"Nothin'", Doc assured her firmly. "You're just different, that's all."

"In a bad way?"

"(No! Of course not!)" Guido insisted, hugging her.

Luigi shook his hood. "She doesn't need any of this!" he affirmed.

"We'll let Dr. Gordon be the judge of that", Doc informed him.


When Dr. Gordon returned, she gave Fudge all kinds of games and puzzles, testing her memory, imagination and just her general way of thinking. She also asked Fudge lots of questions about her schooling and whether or not she had any friends. It went on for quite a while and Luigi frowned, still wondering what any of this had to do with anything.

"That was fun!" Fudge declared when it was all over.

"Yeah? Did you have fun?" Doc asked her.

"Yeah! That was the best doctor's appointment ever!"

"Thanks, Fudge", Doc uttered sarcastically, but with a teasing smile on his face.

"No medication, no shots!" the six-year-old cheered.

"And nothing wrong with you!" Luigi insisted.

"There ain't nothin' wrong with her either way", Doc repeated.

"Then why do I have to see a doctor?" Fudge wondered.


Before anybody could answer, Dr. Gordon returned.

"Well, after everything I've seen today, I would say that Fudge does have Asperger's Syndrome."

"What is that?"

"It is a condition on the autism spectrum, so yes. Fudge is autistic."

Guido gave Luigi a look that said, I told you so.

"It's not a bad thing", Dr. Gordon assured Luigi, seeing the look on his face. "All it means is her brain works differently an she may need support with that, especially later in life. It's a good thing you got her diagnosed now because it's harder for autistic girls to get support."

"Why?" Luigi wondered.

"Autism is different in boys than it is in girls", Dr. Gordon explained. "There are people who only tend to see it in boys. That's what those yellow ladybugs are out there. That's the symbol for autistic girls and women."

"Do... Do you think Fudge will always find it hard to make friends?" Luigi wondered.

"Not always", the psychologist replied. "She may struggle for a while, but I've found in a lot of cases, autistic people tend to find each other and make friends with each other. She'll find like-minded people in time."


They talked a little bit longer about possible support Fudge might need later in life before Luigi announced it was time to go.

"We still need to go the shoe store", he reminded her.

"(Then, since you were so good, why don't we have McDonald's for dinner?)" Guido suggested, helping her into her jacket.

"(Can we get ice cream too?)" the six-year-old requested.

Guido chuckled. "(We will see)", he responded, but everyone knew he was thinking yes.

"So, was there something wrong with me?" she asked as they were leaving.

"No", Guido assured her firmly. "(There is nothing wrong with you! You are just different to other people. You think differently and act differently, but that is not a bad thing. You are still our baby girl.)" Only he wasn't looking at Fudge when he said any of this.

Luigi smiled gratefully.


Over burgers, fries and ice creams at McDonald's, Luigi, Guido and Doc explained everything to Fudge. They told her what autism was and what that meant for her.

"So, I still could have friends one day?" she questioned before taking another sip of her soda.

"Of course!" Doc insisted. "Just because you find it hard to make friends, doesn't mean you don't deserve friends. Everybody deserves friends." He paused and added, "Believe me, I know."

"When you find people who understand you, I am sure you will have lots of friends", Luigi promised, kissing her.

"I already do!" Fudge informed him.

"You do?"

She nodded. "You guys and everyone in Radiator Springs is my best friend!"

The other three beamed.


Ten Years Later...

"Hi, guys!" sixteen-year-old Fudge entered a private booth at the racetrack.

"It's Fudge Rossi-Topolino!" all of the kids cheered excitedly, flapping hands and rocking back and forth.

"It's Cruz Ramirez!" they added, equally excited as her best friend entered.

Today was a very special day. Not only was there a race going on, but that Sunday was April second, World Autism Day. So, in honour of that, Fudge had suggested that they invite autistic children to the track, up in their own private booth where it wasn't so loud.

"Fudge!" a little girl of about six cried, racing up to the Piston Cup rider! She wore a racing T-shirt and hair clips that looked like yellow ladybugs. The girl also had a big smile on her face, but didn't look at Fudge. "You're my hero!"

"Aw, thank you!" The girl blushed. "What's your name?"

"Gemma", she answered with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Gemma."

"Mommy said you organised all of this for us."

"I did", Fudge confirmed with a smile and a nod.

"Thank you! This is so awesome!" Gemma exclaimed excitedly.

Her mother approached and smiled. "Thank you so much for doing this, Ms. Rossi. Gemma has been having such a tough time lately with school and making friends. It's good to see her her smile."

Fudge shrugged modestly. "That's okay. I know what it's like to not fit in or have any friends."

"You don't have friends?" Gemma asked in surprise.

"I didn't when I was your age", Fudge clarified. "I do now. Some day, people are going to realise just how great you really are."

Gemma beamed. "Thanks, Fudge."

"Well!" Fudge announced after talking to some of the other kids, "it's time for us to go to the track. Who wants to wish us luck?!"

"Good luck!" everyone yelled.

Fudge grinned. "Hope you enjoy the race!"


"Hey, Fudge!" her friends greeted her when she arrived down at the track a few minutes after Cruz. Her friends were Danny Swervez, Chase Racelott, Bubba Wheelhouse, Ryan "Inside" Laney and the other three human riders: Flick Turner, Blake Fitzgibbons and Joey Sparks.

"We were afraid you weren't gonna show up!" Ryan teased.

"It's not like Fudge Rossi-Topolino to miss the race", Blake added.

"I'm here now!" Fudge chuckled, fastening her helmet to her head. "Maybe one of you might come second to us this time!" she joked. There was never any cockiness or arrogance to her when she said stuff like this. It was always just good-natured teasing.

Everyone laughed.

"Seriously, though", she went on sincerely, "good luck, guys."

"Good luck!" the others all chorused.


Luigi and Guido beamed as they watched their daughter, talking and laughing with her friends.

When the group dispersed, Fudge turned to Cruz. "Are you ready for this?" she quizzed her best friend.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Cruz confirmed.

Fudge grinned, climbing up onto the yellow car's roof. "We're gonna win this thing!"

The two Italians were still parked there, smiling as they drove off to the track.

"She has finally made some friends", Luigi commented proudly.

"(And now, there are so many people who realise how great she really is!)" Guido added, gesturing to the crowds in the stadium, sporting 51 decals. "(She is beautiful, talented and so kind! It was kind of her to hold that event for other children like her.)"

They were silent for a moment, glancing at the monitors, which showed Fudge with a big smile on her face.

"I am so glad she is happy", Luigi proclaimed.

"(Me too)", Guido agreed softly. "(And you know, there is nothing wrong with her.)"

Luigi smiled and nodded. "I know. I suppose I did not need to be worried after all."

They certainly didn't. Fudge had a job she loved, great friends and- most importantly- she was still their daughter.

Like I said, I didn't have many ideas for this one, especially not for the ending. I hope it didn't come across as preachy because I wanted to show that autism isn't something to be ashamed of without sounding preachy.

I based some of the stuff Fudge does on stuff I did when I was a kid and stuff I do now. I've never had a big meltdown like she does, but I thought it would make sense for her, considering she's never been out of Radiator Springs before and now, she's in the big city. It would be overwhelming for anybody. I included the part about vaccinations because it's a load of BS! And the yellow ladybug is a symbol for girls and women with autism; I don't know if that's just where I live, though, but I thought I'd include it anyway.

No hate comments will be tolerated! If you're going to criticise, let it be about the actual writing itself and be constructive and respectful.