"Hello there, young man! Did you enjoy your ride?" the pink noki girl asked brightly.

Stationed beside the exit gate to Pinna Park's very own Yoshi Carousel, she was going through the same routine every employee did: talk to kids, smile, and above all, advertise. Mr. Peppers wouldn't have it any other way, after all.

Secretly, Ducky preferred to be singing rather than talking, but she was fine with it either way. Her sisters, on the other hand, could get a bit feisty when it came to their jobs around the park.

The 'young man' she was talking to, a pianta boy with a rather serious expression, glanced up at her voice. Climbing down from his mount, a plastic orange yoshi, he hopped off the carousel and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess..." he replied.

   He had spent the past couple of hours riding the various park attractions while his father looked on, although he wasn't particularly impressed with this one. "It wasn't nearly as fun as the guy out there made it sound!"

   "Oh, come on, now," his father chided, stepping forward from the gate. "This is the only place in Isle Delfino where you can ride a carousel!"

   Ducky giggled. "Well, if it's excitement you want, try the pirate ships," she offered with a wink. "It's a real thrill ride, Buckies' guarantee!"

   "So are you all a dancing group?" the father wanted to know.

   "Yup! My sisters and I," the noki replied, indicating the other two nokis standing nearby. "We perform on festival days. Look out for us!"

   "Huh," the pianta remarked. "I'd never heard of the Buckies before!"

"Well, we only work here in Pinna Park nowadays. Come back and see us sometime!" she called amiably, waving as the two piantas prepared to go. The carousel was unloaded, and the small crowd was breaking up.

   As they headed off, a young, wiry noki with a blue shell emerged from the bustle and came scurrying over to her. Ducky knew the man - it was Henry, Mr. Peppers' personal assistant. He usually had more changes in the schedule to report or something.

But when he approached the girl and whispered his message in her ear, Ducky could only stare at him at first in surprise. "Are you serious?" she asked in amazement.

   The remaining two Buckies, upon seeing this, gathered around them.

   "What is it?" Lucky asked.

   Henry turned to the triplets with excitement. "Someone's found a yoshi egg outside the park!" he exclaimed. "...A real one!"

"What?" Lucky and Plucky exclaimed in unison.

"I'm not kidding," Henry gushed on. "I didn't actually see it, but apparently some guests out on the beach were talking about seeing one."

"That's crazy!" Lucky exclaimed. "Why, this could be wonderful! Do you think -

"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves," Plucky interrupted. "Remember that yoshis haven't been seen on this island in hundreds of years!"

Ducky nodded thoughtfully. "I know..."

Henry was ecstatic. "But still-!"

   Plucky interrupted again. "Well have you sent someone to investigate it?"

   His breathless answer was cut off by a sudden high-pitched whistle nearby, which they soon discovered came from Otto's shell ocarina. Leaning on the carousel gate, seemingly uninterested in the commotion between his coworkers, he blew out a few melodious notes that rose above the noisy bustle. Too-too toot ta-toot toot!

   Snapping up all their identical gazes at once, the Buckies were only slightly surprised to see their human friend approaching from the direction of the Ferris wheel. Coming over to them as if called by the sound of his song, he smiled - was that a bit of bashfulness? - as he came closer.

   "Hi there, again," Ducky called, then giggled. "Otto's learned your tune to a fault, huh?"

   Smiling pleasantly, Mario nodded. "Hello there, Buckies," he greeted. Quickly turning a bit more serious, he said, "Is something the matter? I heard some squealing over here."

   The triplets and Henry glanced amongst themselves and burst into giggles. "If something's the matter, it can only be good," Lucky laughed. "It was probably Henry here you heard. He gets worked up a lot."

   Ducky nodded eagerly. "Yes, and we finally seem to have a lot of guests and be running smoothly! It makes me so happy to see the park flourish." Pausing, she added, "And from what I understand it's somewhat thanks to you! Mario, right? Mr. Peppers was talking about you more."

   The human grinned sheepishly, but before he could reply Plucky jumped in. "The only thing still bothering me is how we're still working! I'm pretty exhausted... how long do we have to work anyway?"

   Lucky snorted in response. "Till the park closes, silly," she said. "That director's probably watching us from somewhere... as we even speak," she lowered her voice cautiously.

   Ducky shook her head and laughed. "Siblings. You get used to 'em," she chuckled to Mario. "But you've been pretty busy too, right?"

   Mario raised his eyebrows and took a deep breath. "You could say that, yeah," he chuckled. "Although... I think I'm probably gonna head back to the mainland soon."

   "Aww, well make sure you come back sometime," Lucky said. "Mr. Peppers would love to have you!"

   "I know," Mario laughed.

   "And don't forget the festival!" Ducky added.

   Suddenly Plucky jumped. "Oh, Mario! If you're heading out, when you're on the beach, could you look around for a yoshi egg? We'd do it ourselves, but... full time employment."

   Now the guy was interested. "A yoshi egg??"

   Henry nodded. "Yeah, you know, white with colorful spots," he explained. "It might contain the long lost link to the survival of the yoshi species on the island!"

   Mario was thoroughly surprised. "Wait, I thought... you don't have yoshis here?"

   "Right," Ducky confirmed. "Aside from these plastic horsies on our carousel." She patted the rump of a pink yoshi on the ride behind them.

   Henry kept going. "But we think someone's found one out there, so if it's true you totally have to go see!"

   "And if it's alive, call the cops!" Plucky added.

   There the human paused for a moment and his face clouded over. "Yeah... right. Well, I've seen lots of yoshis before," he told them, "so I can look around for an egg for you, sure!"

   "Cool," Henry said. "Man, I wish Mr. Peppers wasn't so... him."

   Mario grinned. "I know what you mean," he assured. "Cover my escape, will you? I've got a lot of work to do."

   Ducky laughed again, a sound like little bells. "I bet. And if you really find a yoshi, you keep that egg and don't let the government get their hands on it! Extinct species don't usually have a whole lot of rights around here."

   Surprised, Mario found himself nodding. "I will. It was nice to see you girls again," he waved courteously.

   The Buckies all waved. "Bye, Mario! Oh, and bye to your water pump too!"

As they watched the young human make his way towards the park gates, Plucky leaned in towards her sisters. "Do you really think he's an actor?"

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

   "So... a yoshi egg?" Mario asked in surprise as he passed beneath the great stone arch that stretched over the entrance to the park. "Do you think someone brought it over? Like, from another island?"

"I do not know," Fludd replied from his back. "It seems a rather odd business!"

The entryway was quiet and sparsely populated as the two made their way out - it must have indeed been a good day after all for Pinna Park. Despite the beach cannon incident, and the mecha-Bowser, and the electrokoopas, and the Ferris wheel issues - Mario thought it had all turned out pretty well. He had found a handful of shine sprites, the park was running smoothly again, and it seemed high time for him to leave. Princess Peach wasn't here anymore, after all.

Just what exactly his next course of action would be was questionable at the moment; he figured he'd best check on the toadstools back in the plaza and take a look at that Shine Gate, but then it would likely be up to Fludd. He seemed to know his way around.

Now, at least, they were both slightly distracted by the new proposition of a real live yoshi. "So if the yoshis disappeared a long time ago... why did they vanish?" Mario asked.

"That is just it," Fludd replied. "No one really knows. Scientists believe they were threatened by some sea life."

"It can't have been a lack of fruit," Mario reasoned. "This place seems like a yoshi paradise!"

"Indeed."

"It seems like a Mario paradise too," the human added, pausing at the thought of the fresh tropical treats. He was so distracted by it all that he barely even glanced at the pretty young noki who stood by the gate, bidding guests goodbye.

"Come again soon! How did you like the park?" she called to him. But Mario just absentmindedly waved at her and passed on towards the beach.

The girl, Darla, sighed with a huff. "Men sometimes."

Crossing the stone courtyard which gave way to the small shore on their left, the wide ocean view began to open up before them. With the loud park music concealed, the roar of the ocean beyond filled the air again over the distant rumble of the roller coaster. It was quite amazing that almost the entirety of Pinna Island had been devoted to the amusement park - there was very little external room left to spare!

   Descending down the short flight of steps, Mario was so preoccupied that a brown noki nearly ran into him on his way up.

"Whoa, sorry there," he said, stepping out of Mario's way. Giving him half a second's thought, he added, "Oh, if you're heading out, you might wanna steer clear of the beach."

Mario frowned. "The beach?"

The noki nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty chaotic... I didn't think yoshis were bad creatures, that's for sure."

"Bad creatures?" Mario repeated questioningly. "Yoshis?" What's going on now?

The noki jerked a thumb towards the shore. "Yeah, you can check it out, but I wouldn't hang around if I were you," he advised. "They look kinda dangerous." Before Mario could ask more, he continued on into the park.

Mario wasn't interested in asking a bunch of questions anyway. He hadn't really had much time to appreciate Pinna Park Beach on his way in, and if there were yoshis... Whatever was going on, he wanted to see for himself.

And sure enough, as soon as he came around the park wall to where the grass met the sand, he scrambled to a stop.

"Well, something is going on... however odd it might appear," Fludd stated.

   "Woah... What happened here?" the human exclaimed.

Spread out before him, scattered across Pinna Park Beach like a field of brand new monuments, several large rocks - eggs, presumably - jutted upwards from the sand. They looked a little like decorative boulders, smooth and white with giant green spots on their domed surfaces. Silently demanding attention, they sat as if the beach was theirs, refracted waves gently lapping around them. Well those certainly weren't here before.

   While it might have been commonplace to find eggs on the beach - not once did it occur to him that they weren't eggs - Mario was astounded by the sheer size of them. Perhaps that was why they seemed more like sculptures: each one was several feet above his own head!

   "Those are some pretty big yoshis," Fludd observed skeptically. "A good reason to get a lighthouse here, maybe?"

   Mario shook his head in awe. "Those can't be yoshis... at least I don't think!" Stepping forward to get a closer look, he said, "These must've been laid by a big mama. And there's a lot - four, five," he counted. "This is weird! I mean they look like yoshi eggs, but these are way too -

"HELP!... Someone! Anyone!"

The sudden call of distress pierced the air, jolting Mario to instantaneous action. Forgetting whatever he'd been saying, he ran forward without much thought and scanned the empty seascape. The cry came from just nearby on the beach itself, from beneath one of the few palm trees interspersed among the grass; and it was there that Mario found her.

It was a slightly plump but kindly looking noki lady, clad in blue with an exaggerated hat to match her white-trimmed shell. Beside herself with helplessness, she turned to see the human appear from seemingly nowhere and rushed to him as if he were the first man she'd seen in years.

   "Oh, please sir," she begged in a fit of anxiety. "Have you seen a baby anywhere on this beach?"

   Mario was a bit surprised. "A baby?... No ma'am, I'm afraid I just got here," he answered, shaking his head. Inside, he couldn't help wondering how a woman could lose an entire baby.

   She didn't back away from where she was hovering by his elbow. "Oh I did as well!" she exclaimed, wringing her hands. "I brought the baby to view the sunflowers, but then I realized it was unsafe!"

   Mario tilted his head at her. "Unsafe?"

   She nodded vigorously and pointed behind him. "Those giant rocks - those creatures were terrorizing the beach just a few minutes ago! I only set the baby down for a second in the shade, and when I turned around - he was gone!!"

   "Gone?" the human repeated. "... How old is this baby?"

   "Oh, just a wee thing, only about six months," the lady replied. "He was in his shell, you see, so he couldn't have crawled away. I believe he was stolen!"

   "By... creatures?" Mario asked.

   The woman nodded fearfully. "Those rocks are not what they appear."

   Mario followed her gaze to the giant egg. "Have you told park officials?"

   "I wanted to, but I didn't want to leave the beach," she said in distress. "Do you think you can help me just please find my baby? I know he's here, I just know it!"

   However odd, Mario had no intention of ignoring her plea; not something this important. Plus, I can possibly figure out what's with these strange yoshis!

   He nodded. "The shore's not very big, how about we comb it again?" he suggested.

   The noki nodded. "Of course. Thank you so much," she breathed.

   "No problem," he replied, turning his attention now to the new situation. He noticed how Fludd had chosen not to get involved - the lady probably had enough to worry about besides talking water guns. A missing baby was, after all, a pretty big deal.

   So where did one look for an immobile baby? Mario glanced around for a second and headed towards the rock wall farthest from the water, deciding that the vegetation was a good place to start. Aside from the palm trees, there were also the giant sunflowers he had observed on his way in: enormous and towering almost like mythical beanstalks, they grew even higher than any of the giant eggs. Interspersed all around them, tiny pink and orange hibiscuses grew almost everywhere the sunlight shone - which was not particularly powerful this afternoon.

   As he and the noki woman split up a bit, Mario came closer to observe in all the flowers. Shuffling through the leaves, he couldn't help noticing that a good amount of the giant sunflowers' enormous petals were scattered about. Perhaps the lack of sun was killing them.

   He had gone through the entire western side of the beach without finding anything when he came to what seemed the largest sunflower. It was a bit hard to tell at first; its thick stalks bowed downwards in a somehow uncomfortable-looking position, its petals drooping. The browning in its leaves and stalk were almost enough to incite real pity.

   "Hey Fludd, what's with the sunflowers?" Mario asked quietly.

   "They are a rarity and a blessing Pinna Park is known for. The sunflowers only grow in this large variety in very particular places, this being the only spot on Isle Delfino to support them."

"No, I mean what's wrong with them?"

"Why don't you ask it?"

"Oh-!" Mario paused and half opened his mouth to reply, but thought better of it. Of course: perhaps they were more than they seemed!

To be on fair terms, Mario had met talking flowers before. Once, he'd even been to an entire land filled with them, and everywhere one looked it was like a vibrant garden of life living in quite literal community. Some, undoubtedly, were dangerous; others had been friendly and quite intelligent. Perhaps this was another instance of such varied plant life as he had seen then.

   Tilting his head, Mario regarded the enormous bud now before him. "Hello, giant sunflower," he called. "Are you alright?"

He wasn't sure how it might have turned out if others had been on the beach - how many regularly talked to the sunflowers? But with the noki mother even out of earshot a ways away, Mario didn't hesitate.

Almost immediately his suspicions proved themselves. Shifting suddenly like an animal stirred from sleep, the head of the sunflower to which he'd spoken began to raise up from the ground on its own; and within a moment it had set its great brown face before the tiny human, and shook. Amid the darkened petals and faded center was the telltale sign of a true sentience: two inexplicably white eyes looked down on him, clouded by a terrible suffering. All in one moment Mario remembered why flowers were referred to as having faces.

And then, despite the apparent lack of a source for sound, the sunflower spoke. "... You can hear me, little one?"

   The human's eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly so the flower could see. "Oh, yes!" So it is true then!

   "You don't look so good," Mario observed in concern. "I just thought..."

   "It has been long since anyone talked to us... I believed people had forgotten entirely," it murmured in a small voice. "Not that we have much strength to chat. Little child... we are under a terrible attack," it said, distress lilting in Mario's ears. Its voice was light and high-pitched, almost like silver; yet somehow it felt distant and strained, like a quiet murmur in the air that was barely audible above the waves. It was less a sound than an odd sensation that even words couldn't seem to describe. Perhaps it was even inside Mario's head.

Mario stared up into the face in amazement. He knew that it was talking to him; but somehow he didn't mind being called 'little'. Some plants carried a superior feel, as if they were thousands of years old; and it was huge, after all.

   "Oh!" Mario exclaimed. "What's attacking you?"

   Head bowed to the ground searchingly, the sunflower replied, "These eggs... they are trying to eat us from below the surface!"

   The human stood riveted. "Eggs?"

   "The giant eggs that now scatter this beach were not always on Isle Delfino. They first came to its shores a few centuries ago," the great sunflower explained, with an aged wisdom. "Every so often, they will appear again."

   "And no one does anything about them?" Mario asked.

   "Oh child, it has been happening so long that no one questions how or why anymore," the sunflower lamented. "The eggs cannot be easily stopped. Their inhabitants plant themselves on the sand and burrow into our roots, causing the destruction of many. Now, our little friends are fewer in number..."

   "Y-you're being eaten?" Mario gasped.

   "We are slowly dwindling as our life force is drained from both sky and soil," it replied. "There is less sun now, and these turtles are vicious. They look like yoshis, but they are not. They are merely imposters... and because of this, the yoshis of this island have fled."

   Mario raised his eyebrows. "You knew the yoshis? ...How long has this been going on?"

   "The yoshis all fled many, many years ago; but the sun has only become darkened recently. Without it, we can no longer withstand these creatures' attack. I am the oldest and the greatest sunflower that presides on this beach... but I may not last much longer."

   "Oh... oh no!" Mario cried. "Well I can do something... I can help!"

   "If you could do this, we would be eternally grateful," the great sunflower answered. "But they always return. Only by disrupting their underground tunnels could you drive them away."

   "Then I'll just have to do that then!" Glancing around with a new determination, Mario nodded. "And then... there's something I could use your help with too, maybe." As if the conversation was over for now, the little human turned for the sand. "Just hold on, great sunflower, hold on!"

   "It is kind of you, little one... but you must be careful!"

Rather unconcerned about safety, Mario marched for the closest giant egg and put his hands on his hips. "Did you hear that, Fludd? I guess you were right; These things chased the yoshis away!"

"Yes, so the sunflower says," Fludd pondered. "I do not know if that can be entirely believed. It has been decades, you know!"

   "I know, but it doesn't matter," Mario replied. "These guys are causing real trouble! How to stop them...?"

   "I suppose that rousing them from underground would be the best bet," Fludd said. "If you disturb their eggs, they may come up."

   "Ohh, I get it." Mario gave a sly grin as he reached for the squirt nozzle, ready to blast the creatures into oblivion. "Let's hope nobody else shows up around here for the time being."

~

   By the time Mario had 'roused them from underground', it became apparent that the hostile intruders were not yoshis in any way, shape or form. When the first one had burst up in a shrieking fit from the sand, Mario hadn't known quite what to think.

   Spraying the large boulders as a curious troublemaker might, he had been surprised to find that the 'eggs' were actually only half-shells, and the inhabitants inside were certainly not infants - or yoshis, for that matter. As expected by their size, the creatures underneath soon revealed themselves to be huge, toting the spotted shells on their backs like turtles. A piece even remained over their heads like a helmet, as if they had never completely hatched.

   The beasts themselves were harsh and rather unintelligent, and not unlike turtles; slitted eyes sat atop scaly yellow heads, with snapping beaks like a koopas'. With turtle-like flippers that were more suited to swimming than crawling, they could have even been an aquatic variety.

"Oh... now I think I see the problem," Mario stated aloud as he stared at the angry turtles now swarming him. In a rather bold move he had sprayed all their shells with water as they rested, disturbing them from their burrows beneath the sand. It was what he had intended to do... although he hadn't quite thought it all out yet.

"Look out, lady!" Mario called urgently as he came barreling toward the east end of the beach. The noki mother, surprised at the sudden development, looked up from her searching and fell speechless at the sight; here came the human with five ugly monsters in pursuit!

"What happened?!" She cried in horror over the squawking herd, but it fell on deaf ears. With a considerably calm demeanor Mario was luring them towards the water and holding them safely back with his water gun.

   "I really appreciate... your long range," Mario grunted to Fludd as he shot an aggressive stream at their faces. They let out growls of protest but ultimately did not leave him be.

   "Good! If you can keep them out of their den, the ocean should fill up their underground network," Fludd spoke up.

   "Alright... As long as they stop chewing the sunflowers' roots!"

   "What are you doing? Where's my baby?!" The noki screamed at him, but Mario didn't have time to chat. Almost against her wishes, she resigned to hide behind a palm tree and watch the outcome of his skirmish.

   Mario soon succeeded as he had many times before in chasing a couple of them off into the water. Despising him with strange screeches, they shoved off into the ocean and glided away, enormous shells disappearing beneath the surface.

   One of them, however, was especially difficult. After unsuccessfully trying to affront him by snapping his beak, it made an unexpected move: as if propelled by an unseen force, the turtle suddenly launched itself several feet into the air, wide shadow enveloping the little human.

"Look out!" The noki cried in alarm.

Mario ducked to the side just in time to see the koopa crash, shell first, into the ground. It narrowly missed him by inches, sending the sand spraying everywhere and ultimately leaving the sea turtle stuck, upside down, on its backside.

   "Well that's certainly something I've seen before," Mario commented thoughtfully, putting a fist on his hip. "Not so dangerous on the flip side, huh?"

   The koopa snapped at him, but Mario had already backed a safe distance away. Cocking Fludd's spray nozzle, he chided, "You guys have gotta find a new home!"

   When the noki mother came, somewhat shaken, from her hiding place and joined him on the beach a minute later, she was greeted with a welcome sight: the monsters from before had disappeared, all that was left of them being the distant eggshells disappearing into the ocean. As the last one finally fell away from sight, she turned to him with a sigh.

   "That was very dangerous!" She exclaimed. "I can't believe you did that... but brilliant job just the same. With any luck, they'll stay away now." Turning again in a worried circle, she added, "But what of my baby...?!"

   Mario, having completely forgotten about the child for a moment, whirled in a circle. Surely the koopas wouldn't have harmed a baby, right...? Frowning, Mario stared at the wet sand beneath them.

   The lapping waves rose almost to the edge of the grass now, soaking the shore and filling the koopas' burrows like gullies. They were destroyed, then: And fresh water for the sunflowers!

   Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, a movement on the beach caught his attention; and looking up to where the large sunflowers grew, he was astonished to find that they were no longer alone.

"Oh, look!" cried the noki mother at the same moment. "All those flowers... where did they come from?"

Staring in silent awe, the two watched as the ground around the wilted sunflowers began to tremble from beneath, as if the very roots were shaking; and then, as if freed from an underground prison, legions of tiny, delicate sunflowers popped up from the surface before their very eyes. As if instantly awakened by the breath of Mother Nature the little buds burst from the earth, spreading out quickly across the grass until there was almost no place left without color. The baby sunflowers mixed among the hibiscuses, giving the illusion of a bright tropical rainbow that spanned nearly the whole beach. Swaying in the faint breeze, they turned their little faces upwards, seeking light.

Mario had never seen sunflowers so tiny before - they must have been special indeed. "Whoa," he breathed in amazement, staring at the vibrant display. Upon seeing the single great sunflower also lifting its head, Mario headed forward.

"The roots are free, and the little flowers have come up again," the great sunflower said upon seeing him, in that same light, tinkling voice. "You have our greatest thanks, young one."

"It was nothing," Mario chuckled. "Enjoy the fresh air!" Around him, some slightly smaller sunflowers also raised their petals, which still towered a good deal above his head.

The great sunflower turned its face skyward. "See how all the flowers grow," it said. "They will be free, at least for now."

"Thank you!"

"Hello!"

"Oh, thank you for your help!"

A chorus of tiny voices rose up from the flowers all around him, filling Mario's ears like a sweet summer breeze. It was all he could do not to laugh out loud.

"There is something else I must ask of you, traveler," the great sunflower spoke, turning to Mario once again. "It is of less danger, I promise. Here on the beach not long ago was left a young noki child, all on his own," it explained, shifting one of its great leaves. "Only a wee thing. I could not do much for it, but to guard it from those beasts. Might I ask you... to help him if you can?"

Before it had even done talking, Mario knew what it was talking about; and raising his eyebrows, the human ran forward to the parting leaves.

"Oh, there you are!" he cried in surprise, rushing to his knees. The noki baby was small, even more so than Mario had been expecting; tucked snugly inside a tiny brown conch, his pale face just peeped out with wide-eyed innocence. He was certainly a young thing indeed.

"I was just looking for this guy!" Mario exclaimed, scooping up the baby carefully and rising to his feet. Cradling him a bit awkwardly in his shell, Mario turned to the great sunflower and beamed. "Oh, thanks for your help!"

The sunflowers all seemed to watch in pleased silence as the young man looked down to the baby in his arms and laughed nervously. "It's okay, little guy," he said, playfully touching his nose. "Mario's gotcha!"

The noki stared at him curiously with enormous eyes, blowing a bubble as he did so. Suddenly, it popped, sending the baby into a small giggling fit.

"Oh, you're happy, huh?" Mario asked with a chuckle. "Lucky for us the sunflowers watched over you!"

He had never been around babies much before. He didn't remember much of the days when he himself had been one, save for a few images and feelings; and growing up he'd never had any babies to play with. He didn't even really know any babies that he saw frequently.

   Shifting the tiny creature in his arm, Mario glanced around and sighed. The thought unexpectedly brought back a more sour one; that of Bowser's child. What kind of woman had been Junior's mother? Perhaps even more concerning, what kind of father would Bowser be?

   Trying to tell himself not to worry about that now, Mario replaced the thought with a slightly different one: What kind of adult will the kid turn out to be?

   His thought was disrupted when the noki baby, almost as if sensing his discomfort, began to whimper and whine in his arms. With a start, Mario gently rocked the baby inside his shell.

   "Oh! There, it's okay," he murmured to him. "Shh. It's alright!"

   Not having much success, Mario inwardly groaned. This was exactly his problem: he didn't have much experience with babies. Luckily, the noki mother came rushing up to him at that moment.

   "Oh, oh!" she gushed, a picture of relief. "You found him!" Almost violently snatching the child from Mario's arms, she planted a kiss on the tiny cheeks. "There you are! Mama's here!"

   Mario stepped back and smiled to himself, almost forgetting to be embarrassed. He chuckled. "Luckily he seems to be just fine!" he told her.

   When the noki woman had finally had enough of smothering her baby with affection, she looked up to him. "Oh, thank you for your help," she breathed. "And did you see that, how the sunflower was able to keep the child safe and sound?"

   Mario nodded with a grin. "Yeah. Pretty neat sunflowers, huh?"

   "You know there's a saying that people believe around here," she went on, moving the baby to one arm. "If children play in the sunflowers, they will surely grow up to be strong and healthy!"

   "Hm," Mario pondered. "Well you know, the sunflowers might like it if you talked to them too!" he suggested.

   The woman, not understanding quite what he was implying, just beamed. Looking back to her baby as if for his opinion, she said, "Well, we have to get going now, I'm afraid... Thank the nice man for all his help!"

   The baby she was talking to simply stared at his mother's hand. "Brrrbb," he cooed.

   "And don't forget the sunflowers who protected you!"

   The baby giggled. Mario, grinning at this display, waved to him. "Bye bye! See you later!" he called.

   As the woman finally carried her young son off the beach and presumably into the park, Mario found himself smiling wistfully after them.

   "So it appears you do not make a bad babysitter!" Fludd observed once they were left in silence. "Have you considered the profession?"

   Mario laughed. "Me? Oh no, Fludd, I'm not good at that. You're joking."

   "I did not intend to joke, but perhaps I am learning from you," the machine replied thoughtfully. Mario's face drew into a half-smile until Fludd added, "But you could still be a father someday, and a good one at that."

   Mario fell quite still for a moment, as if the words had frozen up his muscles; but before the moment had a chance to drag on the great sunflower's voice suddenly rang forth again.

   "Little one, I do not mean to interrupt... but might you come here for a moment?" it called.

   Turning in surprise, Mario obediently came forward. "Are you alright, great sunflower?" he asked, glad of something to do.

   "We are still alright, young one... but it is another favor which I must ask. You have shown yourself to be careful for the creatures in need, and so I must ask this of you, if you will accept it." Pausing to shift yet more of its enormous leaves on the ground, it lowered its head and went on. "For several days I have been guarding this one who has appeared on the beach. Where it came from is a mystery... but I cannot offer it eternal protection."

   With a frown of curiosity, Mario stared at the leaves. "Not another baby?" he wondered.

   "No... and yes," the sunflower replied. Lifting a large umbrella-like leaf, it bent keenly over the treasure that rested there: a large, green-spotted yoshi egg.

   Mario stared in shock. "A real yoshi egg??" he exclaimed. "So it's true!"

   "Indeed. A last remnant of that lost species that roamed these shores long ago... it is not far off now. This is a full size egg, and getting ready fast to hatch."

   Mario understood what he meant. He knew full well that normal yoshi eggs grew to about the size of a bowling ball when they were at full term, and the dinosaur was born very near its adult size. Other breeds of yoshi hatched smaller and much more defenseless, but this clearly wasn't one of those types.

   "So when it comes out... it could be the first yoshi on the island in decades!"

   "Correct. But I fear for its safety, and this amusement park is no longer an ideal habitat for the yoshi. That is why I am asking you to take the egg back to the mainland."

   "Really?"

   "I am giving it to you. I hope that with the return of this single egg, hope may come again for the yoshis on Isle Delfino." Here the great sunflower paused expectantly.

   Stepping forward in surprise, Mario knelt down and inspected the prize closer. It sure did look real; carefully picking it up in both hands, Mario found the weight quite considerable.

   "Ohh... this guy is pretty big!"

   "Take one of my leaves," the sunflower told him. "Wrap it inside and carry it."

   Glancing around, Mario picked up one of the giant fallen leaves and did as he was told, wrapping the egg up and holding it carefully so no one could tell what it was. Tilting his head, he rose and faced the great sunflower.

   "You've no idea where it came from?" he asked.

   "It appeared on the shore one morning, little one," it replied. "I do not know how."

   Nodding, Mario glanced down again at the bundle in his arms. "Well, I'd better get it out of here."

   "Thank you, child. Watch over it... and farewell!"

   "Farewell!"
 
   "Goodbye!"

   "See you later!"

   Mario chuckled as the joyful voices of a dozen tiny sunflowers rose to say the same.

~

   When Mario first came back near the park's entrance with yoshi egg in tow, he didn't know quite what to do - about getting back to the island with his new charge, that was.

   He'd thought doubtfully about the shore cannon, but quickly decided it wouldn't be good to shoot himself through the air with a heavy egg. That was all kinds of disasters waiting to happen.

   Fortunately, it appeared that his luck was just on time.

   "Hey there! You leaving the park?" A voice called.

   Turning, Mario was a bit surprised to see a small covered boat floating by the shore nearby, already occupied by a few chattering tourists. The brawny pianta who had spoken seemed to have been the man in charge.

   "Oh, yes," Mario replied, stepping forward. "Are you heading back to Delfino Plaza?"

   "Yep, making another guest run. Wanna hop on?"

   "Please," Mario accepted, grateful for the ride. The boat was small, little more than a wooden canoe, but he still had to wade nearly thigh-deep to climb on. Clutching the egg close, he situated himself on a wooden crate beneath the straw cover.

   The small group of tourists, who presumably were together, chatted happily about the wonderful time they'd just had in the park; but Mario didn't join in the conversation. He was too busy secretly stroking his precious package, and blissfully enjoying the gentle breeze and the brief moment of much-appreciated rest.