"Are you sure there's nothing we can do to help you, Rainbow? I mean, you've helped us so many times."
Rather than denying the offer as he usually would, the Mythical Yoshi of Legend now seemed to be thinking about it. "Well," he began slowly, his head resting on his cupped palms, "See, the thing is, I've always lived alone. I know you guys really liked it every time I appeared above the waterfall or the riverbank and helped the flood go away -- and I can still do that – but…" He shrugged helplessly, eyes still on the ground. "But…well, you know, I was always too shy to go out and talk with the other Yoshis on the island. Now that I've been shown to you all…" A water-filled blink and a deep sigh that resonated from within his thin chest. "I…I want parents. Would it be too much to ask?"
At this, Lila seemed quite surprised. Quickly recuperating from her shock, the Yoshi chieftainess placed one hand on the young one's shoulder and tenderly smiled at him. "You don't have to be worried like that, Rainbow," she whispered softly. "I know just the Yoshis." That said, she disappeared in a flash of green light.
Rainbow blinked at Lila's disappearance. "What's she up to?" he asked Yoshi, who shrugged, then winked playfully.
"She's up to something, old buddy," he confided in his new friend with a gigantic grin.
"Yep, that's Lila for you." Violet was watching the Yoshi's green silhouette as she disappeared into the distance. "Always up to something."
"Usually a good thing," Gabe said knowledgeably, thwacking his tail once on the ferns that literally crowded the pathway from the tribe settlement. When Rainbow's expression remained confused, he tipped his head on one side and grinned happily. "Trust me on that one, Rainbow."
"Yeah – and she's realistic, too." Canberra was scrutinising the horizon with Olivia and Elsa. "Chances are she meant what she said."
"That's not realistic," Elsa pointed out, wrinkling her snout. "That's just literal."
"What Canberra and Elsa mean is that Lila is probably going to find you Yoshis who'll adopt you." Sensible Olivia tossed her head, rolling her eyes lightly at Yoshi.
"And if I know Lila, she'll do it fast." Roberta turned to wink at Rainbow from where she was perched on a large, moss-ridden stone that overlay part of the pathway. "Mark my words."
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Yes, Lila knew what she was doing.
Yes, Lila knew what she was doing.
Yes, Lila knew what she was doing.
'Scuse me there, folks. I just had to say that three times in a row for some weird reason. I--
Pikasqueaks: TCF, you're insane -- you know that, right?
Fanficcer: (muttering) Well, if you keep saying it – yes, I am going to know.
Pikasqueaks: (puffs out chest) Not only that; I also know I'm right.
Fanficcer: Aside from the obvious. (rolls eyes)
Pikasqueaks: Wow, I'm right?
Yoshi: (interrupting) Guys, can we get back to the story already?
Both: (in unison) No!
Yoshi: Wow, so it turns out you actually like crazinessand insanity.
Pikasqueaks: Well, duh!
Olivia: Still, I agree with Yoshi. Fanficcing craziness! (begins pounding chest like a weird cross between King Kong, Donkey Kong, and Monkey Fist from Kim Possible)
Midnight: Ollie, what are you doing?
Olivia: (still pounding chest) And don't call me that!
Pikasqueaks and Fanficcer: (glance at each other and roll eyes again) Let's get out of here!
Olivia: (staring at the twosome's disappearing figures) Aw, but I wanted everyone to--
Midnight: (throws down curtain from his sudden position above the stage set) OK, peeps, show's over. On with the fanfic!
That said, I cleverly disappear back into fandom. Heh heh heh.
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Anyway, Lila knew what she was doing.
And so was demonstrated as she jogged quickly across the shoreline that encircled the whole island – not in a panting, hurried, rushed way, but rather in a soft and healthy dash across the sand that just told you she was a Yoshi, born and bred under the shining yellow sun.Her goal was, of course, two middle-aged Yoshis who stood in the distance, their figures rippling softly in the midafternoon breeze – one bright green, the other cerulean blue.
Tara and Beran.
Tara had one hand on Beran's shoulder; the two of them appeared to be watching the horizon, where a thick plum-coloured smudge that indicated a thick cluster of clouds was forming. The sun – pale yet strong in its own light – sent its light spiralling down, causing the Yoshis figures to be bathed in a gentle butter-yellow light.
Lila skidded to a halt just behind them, but softly enough so that her red boots cut on the soft terrain, making small rivulets of sand which flowed onto the boots of the Yoshi couple standing before her.
"Tara, Beran?" she inquired, rising and simultaneously pressing her feet into the outcropping where they were all standing. The sapphire-coloured ocean were splashing below in a small alcove made over time by its own unruly waters.
"What is it, Lila?" Tara turned at the sound, followed by Beran. She blinked, watching in polite nervousness as the younger Yoshi rubbed one of her ridged red scales thoughtfully.
"It's because…" Lila hesitated before looking up into the eyes of the couple. Her own were imploring and a somewhat desperate tone added to their normally calm blue because of her slightly wheedling tone. "It's because… Well, Tara, you told me you and Beran wanted to adopt…?"
Beran joined his mate further down on the outcropping, so that its pointed tip poked, abandoned and lonely-looking, toward the sea. Now he looked up at Lila, a confused look on his face but the dawn of understanding just breaching in its eyes. "Yeah, but who would we adopt? Rain--"
"Yes, exactly," replied Lila with a small smile, curbing the impulse to nod vigorously and jump for joy. (Though why she was so elated, she could not say.) "Rainbow."
A knowing look passed from Tara's soft olive-green eyes to Beran's blueberry swirls. "Yes," continued Beran, a slow smile spreading across his features, "Yes, we'll adopt."