"And now we give them the surprise of their lives."
"What?" Mario scratched his head and pulled off his traditional red 'M' cap, revealing a mess of thick brown locks underneath. He then resumed scratching his head, all the while looking at Lila. "Are Tara and Beran going to be there too?"
"Yeah. They know already." Elsa filled in the red-clad plumber with a shrug, pink hands raised toward the light.
"Okay, but it seems to me that there have been a lot of parties going on since we first came here," Luigi pointed out, jamming his own cap back onto his mop of black hair. He'd taken it off and unison with Mario and the two plumbers were now replacing them at the same time with the same cool, flowing motion. "We had one when Yoshi and the others found Rainbow. Do we really need another one?"
"Said who we're going to have a party?" was Lila's reply, and the seven travellers exchanged curious glances.
"So, we're going to ambush them?" Parakarry ventured timidly, and his response was a pleased nodding.
"On the pathway?" Porgal tossed his own question before Lila had a chance to speak. When she got her breath back and the older Paratroopa's mouth was safely shut, she decided to do the simple thing and nodded.
"This should be great!" Without waiting for any answers, Daisy clapped her ungloved hands together and swirled on the spot, her short dress a mass of light lemon-yellow frills. Luigi, almost without realising it, was watching her, transfixed, his mouth open slightly so that his tongue stuck out, saliva staining his mustache as he drooled.
"Daisy's right," Peach added, removing her crown with one hand and running the other through her untidy mess of soft yellow curls. (Wow, everyone seems to be taking off their headpieces today.) "This should be fun."
"In that case, what are we waiting for?" Mera added teasingly, and before you could say 'Goombas on the pathway', twenty or so Yoshis were running easily toward the horizon, accompanied by two hero plumber brothers, two princesses of respective kingdoms, and two winging Paratroopas.
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"Rainbow!"
The startled Mythical Yoshi of Legend looked up at the sound of the voice, seeming surprised and yet pleased – downright odd, I might add, as if he had been expecting this. (Then again, maybe he had.) "Yeah, what is it?" he called back into the trees; only figures flitting from between the trunks returned in answer.
The slightly confused Yoshi wrinkled his snout and stamped the earth with one booted foot, shrugging as he did so. "I can see you moving in the trees. Can you come down, please?" he yelled back up to them, and giggling met his – uh, whatever Yoshis have in place of ears.
"Oh, sure. I mean, it's not like the power's not in us." A rather surprised Rainbow allowed the appalled amazement to appear on his face as a single figure detached itself from the branches: Lila. The green Yoshi appeared to be alone, but, then again, looks can be deceiving.
"Lila…" Rainbow warned, glancing quickly upward, in the direction of the treetops. The only thing he could see were vines, vines, and more vines, which – oddly enough – began spiralling down in his direction.
Now, he was more than confused – he was also frightened. But… Despite that, a deep, nigh-subconscious corner of his mind understood beyond the vines and smiled secretly within itself. His conscious self felt the quiet happiness from inside and was slightly confused, but acknowledged it nonetheless. So, in other words, Rainbow was confused, frightened, and a small but sure part of himself was feeling strangely joyful.
"Please come d-"
His sentence was cut off by a vine that flew right into his open maw. Spitting out the roping green plant life, he glanced upward and was taken by surprise when none other than Lila herself jumped from the trees and onto a nearby rock. Though, thought Rainbow as he stared at her, it was odd. Not Lila, but the fact that she was followed by two taller, older figures --
"Tara and Beran?" the Mythical Yoshi of Legend wondered incredulously, squinting in between the green-tinged trunks as the couple hopped down onto the thick stone, behind Lila. "What's going on?"
"Think," Tara replied with a grin, smoothing down one of her ridged red scales as she kicked at a vine, sending it cutting air toward Rainbow. "What's your greatest ambition?"
"To have a family, of course," was the Yoshi's quick reply as he smoothly evaded the swinging creeper.
Suddenly, the beginnings of realisation dawned on his face. His eyes widened and diminished rapidly, his tongue – which had been previously lolling listlessly in his mouth – rolled over the open edge of his maw as it dropped downward in shock and amazement, to drop with a soft thud on the jungle undergrowth. He stood, stock-still and stick-straight, arms held at his sides, fists rapidly clenching and unclenching. His boots, planted firmly in the soil, began quivering; the shivering waves sent ripples coursing all through his body.
"What d-do you mean?" Rainbow stammered, and Beran inclined his head toward Lila and Tara with a playful wink.
"Do we honestly need to tell you that?" he joked happily, slapping one hand down on Rainbow's shoulder.