Third Person POV

"IT IS WITH GREAT PLEASURE THAT WE PRESENT THIS TROPHY
CONGRATULATIONS YOSHI AND BIRDO!"

The crowd burst out in applause as Toadsworth handed the Gold 1st place trophy to Yoshi and Birdo. Birdo leaned against her husband and took his arm in her own. Yoshi smiled in response. Birdo looked around the crowd and suddenly looked shocked.

"Yoshi….I don't see Shelly…." she whispered, turning to her husband. Yoshi looked into the crowd and was surprised to see that Birdo was right, there was NO sign of their daughter.

"Maybe she and Dash are still in the locker room…." he answered his voice a little unsure.

Ten minutes later Yoshi and Birdo came across Ilario, Angela and Azalea.

"Have any of you seen Shelly?" Birdo asked the 3 young Royals. All 3 of them looked shocked.

"She wasn't at the Ceremony?…." Angela asked looking shocked. Both Birdo and Yoshi shook their heads.

"We saw Shelly and Dash just before the Ceremony, they looked like they were on their way there….." Ilario replied. Birdo turned to Yoshi.

"We'll try the locker room, Thank you all" Yoshi replied, taking his wife by the hand. Birdo couldn't help but feel uneasy. Shelly had ALWAYS come to see the Award Ceremonies when she was younger, it wasn't like Shelly to miss This one. As Yoshi and Birdo walked down the hall they were shocked to find that Shelly WASN'T in the locker rooms either.

"Where could she have gotten to?" Birdo asked, her voice having an obvious hint of worry in it.

"She has to be somewhere in the Peach Dome" Yoshi answered as they both left the locker hall and entered the walkway of the Peach dome. As they walked Yoshi heard the sound of heavy footsteps.

Back in the Locker hall….

Shelly silently walked out of the Locker hall into the Walkway. As she walked she trudged with difficulty. She walked past the Tourney board not seeing her parents just a few feet from her. Birdo suddenly caught sight of her daughter. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey Shelly" Birdo started holding her arms out to her daughter. However to her shock Shelly walked right past her, giving Birdo just enough time to catch a glimpse of hurt on Shelly's face. "Shelly?" Birdo called after her daughter however Shelly continued to walk not even acknowledging them. Birdo let out a sigh, she turned to Yoshi. However he too was speechless. As both Parents made their way out of Peach Dome Birdo turned to Yoshi.
"Could it possibly be, that she and Dash lost….." she whispered her voice shaking a bit.

"I don't know….she didn't seem upset when they announced the results…." Yoshi answered, also unsure. They walked for several minutes when Birdo caught sight of Dash.

"Dash" Birdo called. Dash quickly turned toward them, he too seemed a bit uneasy. "Can you come here for a second?" Birdo asked. Dash nodded and ran up to meet them.

"Yeah?" he asked his voice a little strained from running.

"After the match did Shelly seem upset about losing….?" Birdo asked, Yoshi caught a glimpse of Dash making an uncomfortable movement. At first Dash didn't respond, he stared at his feet for a bit. "She was…" Birdo whispered turning towards her husband.

"No…" came Dash's voice, both parents looked at him. "Shelly had NO problem with losing….." he replied looking up at both of them. "It's just that some boy…" Both Yoshi and Birdo looked up at mention of a boy. "….bothering her about…." Dash hesitated. "….Not using a Flutter Jump for the final strike…." he finally finished. Both Yoshi and Birdo jumped. Birdo gave gasp and quickly turned to her husband. Dash frowned as both Yoshi and Birdo had looks of concern on their faces. "She got REALLY upset, she ran off into the locker room….I tried to talk to her in the locker room, she wouldn't even let me talk to her….she told me to leave…" Dash added looking up at his Friend's Parents, his eyes overcome with worry. Birdo covered her face with one hand and let out a sigh.

"Thank you Dash" Yoshi replied glancing over at the young Toad. "You both did a great job today….." he finished shortly as he was anxious to catch up with Shelly.

"You're Welcome…." Dash started both parents turned to leave. "I'm sorry….." Dash suddenly gasped. "I tried to help….I REALLY did…." he whispered, his eyes starting to water.

"Don't get upset Dash, you did your best….we'll take care of her, run along home" Yoshi replied his voice somewhat trembling. Dash nodded and without a word turned to walk away.

"I KNEW this would happen" Birdo whispered covering her face with her hands. Yoshi let out a distressed sigh. "I should have NEVER allowed her to participate….." Birdo finished almost crying. Yoshi took his wife's hand in his own.

"We can't keep her sheltered Forever Birdo…she was bound encounter this eventually…." Yoshi reluctantly finished. Despite the truth in his words, Yoshi still couldn't get the uneasiness he felt out. Somebody had insulted his daughter for something she had NO control over….insulted her because of something she was born with….." Yoshi couldn't take on how cruel the world had been to her. He DIDN'T CARE if Shelly couldn't use her tongue or EVEN Flutter Jump, she made well for herself without EITHER of those things. And he couldn't say the same for any of the other Yoshis on the Island…..

Aw...a little emotional there...well I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 10 See ya all NEXT TIME! :D

Mario related Material Property of Nintendo

Story and O.C Characters (meaning Shelly, Dash, Ilario, Angela, Azalea, Koop, Parry, Surge, Lilli, Karrie and Phoenix) Property of MCGoldYoshi (aka ME! ^.^ )