Toadobuki held a victory party back up at the dojo.  

Daisy was surprised at the attendance - though she barely knew anyone on this rock, the entire village seemed to have migrated up to Toadobuki's place; the training hall was full, and had been converted to a party area and dance floor. The fold-out tables were laden with a buffet of Toadobuki's stellar cooking: oden, beef and broccoli, spring rolls, General Tso's chicken, the works.  

The sheer amount of food made Daisy think that the old geezer had prepped for this ahead of time. How had he known that she was going to win? 

"Hey, Daisy-girl, nice job." Someone slapped her on the back, nearly making her spill her drink; Delly. The blue Delfino Isle woman was wearing a jolly grin, and held a bowl of sweet-and-sour chicken with a pair of chopsticks in one hand. "Congrats on your victory." 

"Thanks, Delly," Daisy said, grinning widely. Delly squeezed Daisy's shoulder before heading back to the dance floor; she was quickly replaced by Toadobuki, Koopnamara, and Yuri as they waddled up to her corner of the training hall. 

Yuri grasped her hand. "Congrats, darlin'. You earned it." 

"That was quite a spectacle out there, young'yun," Koopnamara said. He patted Toadobuki's shoulder. "Looks like this one's been teachin' ya the right stuff." 

"Yeah, well, the old man was right," Daisy said, nodding down at Toadobuki. "He kept telling me that I needed to find my own fighting style. And last night, I realized that I was probably better at Birdonna's type of martial arts than the conventional forms." 

"And what do you know? I was right," Toadobuki said, grinning. Daisy rolled her eyes and noticed that he was carrying an orange shoebox, decorated with a red bow, in his hands. 

"What's that?" Daisy asked. 

"A gift," Toadobuki said. "I told you I'd reward you if you succeeded, didn't I? And you have succeeding, in finding a fighting style that suits you." 

"Oh." Daisy did remember him saying something like that. "Okay, thanks, geezer." 

"Wait a moment." Koopnamara held up a frail hand. "Might wanna wait, Buki-looks like someone else wants ta talk to 'er first." 

"Indeed," Toadobuki mused. 

"What?" Daisy asked, confused-just as someone shouted, "EGG BARRAGE!" 

Oblong bombs appeared overhead, exploding and filling the dojo with mist. Daisy groaned. Not again! 

The music died down, and the party-goers stopped dancing and eating as the far sliding door, the one that led out to the training courtyard, slid open, revealing a trio of figures on the other side, shrouded in smoke.  

Birdonna stepped out of the shadows, draped in a pink cloak. 

Daisy immediately shifted into a fighting stance, both fists forward. "Couldn't stand to lose, huh?" she directed at the Birdo. "So what's the plan? Come and crash my party?" 

"Relax, Daisy," Toadobuki said. "Birdonna's not here to fight." 

Daisy raised an eyebrow. "What? Really?" 

"Unfortunately, that wrinkled old man is right," Birdonna said with a scowl at Toadobuki. "I come in peace." 

Birdonna wasn't here to fight? That was weird - and completely out of character. Daisy straightened, flummoxed by this whole situation. 

"Okay," she said. "So if you're not here to fight...what do you want? I'm guessing you didn't come here to join the party." 

Birdonna lifted her head, trying to look dignified as she pulled something out of her cloak: a long cardboard box, like the one Toadobuki was holding.  

"Those from my village don't like to lose," Birdonna said. "But when we do lose, we lose with grace. My people were...impressed with the way you used our style of fighting out there today, and as a congratulatory gesture, we'd like to present you with a gift." She extended the box towards Daisy. 

Daisy took the box carefully and lifted the lid. A small bundle of folded orange material lay underneath. Just by touching it, Daisy knew what it was. 

"It's a leotard," she said. 

Birdonna nodded. "One of my elders suggested that I give it to you." 

The leotard was beautifully well-made, dark orange, like the sunset, and embossed symbols that looked like flowers all over. Daisy looked back at Birdonna, impressed. It must've been hard for the Birdo to grit her teeth, swallow her defeat, and come and present this to Daisy. Daisy suddenly had a lot of respect for the girl. 

"Thanks, Birdonna," she said, holding out her hand towards the Birdo. For a moment, the Birdo stared down at Daisy's hand, as if she wasn't sure that she wanted to shake it. 

But then, she did, her scowl evening out a little. "You're welcome, Floral-san," she said.  

The villagers cheered at their handshake. When the clapping went down, Toadobuki lifted his voice and said, "Well now, Daisy, now that you have a new battle leotard" - everyone chuckled at that - "it seems you'll also need new weapons for your future battles." He extended his own gift box towards her. 

Daisy hung the leotard over one arm as she took the box. It was kind of heavy. She unwrapped the bow and popped the lid, then gasped. 

Two brand new, shiny, orange clubs sat in an X within the box, the end of each instrument decorated with a white and green flower. Beneath the clubs sat a tightly wrung, new orange ribbon, the band monogramed with flowers. 

The crowd oohed as Daisy showed them the clubs and cheered when she whipped out the ribbon, spinning it into an orange cyclone.  

"You really go above and beyond, don't ya, geezer?" Daisy said dryly. 

Toadobuki raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, I'm a little hard of hearing - was that a thank you, Daisy?" 

Daisy grinned at him as she continued to spin her new ribbon. She noticed that, besides the monogramed flowers decorating the band, the letters FP were also emblazoned on the ribbon. She'd noticed those letters on her new clubs too - F on the first and P on the second. 

Birdonna seemed to have noticed as well. "What does 'FP' mean?" she asked Toadobuki. 

The old sensei winked at her. "It stands for 'Flower Power'," he said.  

Daisy snorted. "What am I, wrinkles, a wrestler?" 

"I think it fits," Koopnamara said. He turned to the watching crowd. "What y'all think? Flower Power for our Daisy Floral?" 

The crowd cheered in approval, and Daisy blushed. 

Okay, she thought. Five more months of this can't be that bad.

The End