Once upon a time in the majestic kingdom of the Mushroom Kingdom, a beautiful princess ruled. She was the fairest of them all; she had the most luscious blonde hair and the rosiest cheeks, she had men falling at her feet, and of them all she had chosen her saviour, Mario.

After many kidnappings, she and her saviour had wed on the eve of a beautiful autumn day. All her subjects were to attend; all the royals and subjects from across all the regions of all the kingdoms had come to attend. All her servants were bustling for the last minute preparation, and a lucky few were to help the princess ready herself. They had dressed her in a beautiful Persian Pink gown that draped the floor and accented her curves.

"Now, now, I am to be left now." She shooed her loyal servants. She admired herself in the mirror; she gave herself a faint smile of agony. Her beloved one was all but her saviour. He had the bottle to his lips more than he actually spoke, which wasn't saying much. Their relationship was a dry, ugly one, filled with anger, lust, and many, many tears.

Filled with fear and nervousness, the heavenly woman prepped herself. She tried to give herself a warm smile, but she was all but happy. A small knock at the door broke we out of her trance. "Princess, time to walk the aisle." Her feeble old right-hand man encouraged.

She gave a nod of acceptance and gave one last look of nervousness and headed out the door. A large knot in her stomach made her want to hurl. She was about to be wed to this man in holy matrimony for the rest of her life.

She stepped out into the courtyard. There was silence, all but the band playing the famous Fur Elise. She took a hesitant step, and then another. Her knight in shining armour was all but a fat drunk, in all honesty, his action disgusted her, but she had fallen in love the first time she set her eyes on him, when he had saved her from the wretched claws of the infamous Bowser. There was a time when he had treated her like a queen, an angel; he did anything and everything for her, but that was before he had asked her to marry him and showed his true self, but he was the one who rescued her time and time again so she was forever in his debt.

As the moment unfolded, little did everyone know what was about to go down. There, lurking in the shadows was the evil and feared Bowser. He watched as his special one walked down the aisle to the real villain.

"Can we go now Papa?" A small child asked.

"Not yet my child," He said. "Now."

Then it happened. Bowser let out a deep, dark, evil laugh. The princess stopped dead inn her tracks and turned around in horror. Mario ran up to the side of his bride, "What do you want Bowser? Its not really a good time."

"Well I can tell that, if you would be so kind, I would like the princess."

Mario tightened his grip on the princess's arm. "No."

"We can do this the hard way, or we can do this the easy way. What do you want to do?" Bowser asked menacingly. Mario stayed silent along with the rest of the guests. "I guess that'll be the hard way."

With that, Bowser's minions attacked. As Mario was being attacked, the princess ran in fear. Most of the crowd was doing the same as her. She ran towards the castle the best she could, but a burley hand grabbed her and everything went black.

The princess woke up to an irritating dripping noise. Her vision un-blurred and she realized she was in the dungeon cell she knew all to well. She groaned and crawled to the nearest wall. She sighed and held her head in her hands, why today of all days? It was sort of a relief too; she wouldn't have to marry that beast, today at least.

She was drowned in her thoughts for quite a while until heavy footsteps pierced her ears. She kept her head down until the being spoke, "His highness has requested you in the throne room."

In the throne room sat the beast himself. He was dressed in a dark robe and a jewelled crown. Alongside him sat his only biological son, he couldn't have been more than five. He had fiery red hair like his father and his crown sat lopsided. They looked majestic and royal in their fear endowed status.

"Quit handling me like a peasant!" The princess snapped, jerking her hand away from the guards, she knew the drill all to well, act like a damsel in distress, pretend to be scared, and on and on and on.

The king gave a nod towards the guards as if they were dismissed. They dispersed and left them alone. 'So princess, are you scared?" Bowser asked while giving a loud laugh.

She thought about giving the scarred speech and begging to be released but she found a weight lifted off her shoulders being away from her beloved one. 'In all honesty, I'm not scared. I'm more relieved than anything."

This caught the king's attention and his ears perked up. "You are dismissed Junior." His son scampered out of room merrily. He waved a hand and motioned for her to come closer. She took a tentative step forward, her torn and tattered dress dragging along with her. She kept going, just like she was walking down the aisle, until she was face to face with him.

"Are you well my princess?"

She blushed from being called so formally, from someone like him. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, tell me everything," He said, she was about to start talking until he hushed her. "Let us go to the den and have tea."

The walked side by side to the den of the vast castle, Bowser ordered some servants to make the finest tea in all the Darklands. They entered the large room and found eight children nestled around a game on the floor, they all gave their attention hen the king walked in. He gave a nod of acceptance and they scurried out of the room. The princess felt uneasy in her enemy's territory, but also at home as well. After a servant came and delivered their tea, he quickly urged her.

"So, tell me everything." He said like a teenage girl.

That's what she did, she told him her story. She told him about his problem, she told him about the way he barely talks to her anymore! And of course she wept, she wept harder than she ever had before. She tried to compose herself together, she was a lady after all, but she was so used to being so alone she had learned to shut out anyone who truly cared for her. That's exactly what she did when Bowser tried to comfort her.

"I'm sorry," She sniffled. "This is the first time I've actually admitted it,"

"I understand completely. Would you like to meet my children?"

She wiped away a tear with her gloved hand. "That would be fine,"

He summoned his children and his closest servant. The princess admired them, they had nothing to worry about, he was one of the most feared people in the entire world, he had nothing to worry about.

Bowser had eight children, each varying in race, age and height. The youngest being five and the oldest being close to fourteen. Bowser introduced each of them and explained why she was here.

"Hello Princess, how do you do?" The oldest asked, a thick German accent consuming his words.

"Fine thank you," She said quietly.

"You're pretty," The only girl said in awe.

"Thank you, you are as well," The princess smiled, causing the small girl to blush vigorously.

"Ludwig, play us a song. You are very talented on piano,"

The young prince nodded and headed over to the grand piano that sat in the corner of the room. His fingers tickled the ivories as he played the famous Fur Elise. The princess tried to remain calm as the boy played the song that reminded her so much of him. Silent tears trickled down her cheeks like streams of agony.

"I'm sorry," She muttered while bursting out of the room. The hallways were dark and gloomy, her footsteps echoed as she tried to escape her thoughts. She kept moving aimlessly until she ran into a guard. Under the usual circumstances, he grabbed her and dragged her to the king in the throne room. Bowser was shocked at what he saw, such a beautiful elegant woman so helpless and weak. Her dress was torn and tattered, her hair was tangled and her cheeks were tear stained. She was so weak she was practically draped against the guards.

"Unhand her," Bowser commanded. They threw her forward and she fell to the floor like a used rag. Bowser had almost cried himself at sight of her. He rushed to her side and picked her up bridal style. Her sky blue eyes fluttered open, "I'm sorry," She managed, before her body went limp in his arms.

He brought her to his room and ordered his servants to tend her. She was bathed and dressed in the finest silks. She was an angel in disguise, full of elegance and peace. They left her to rest; she slept until a loud bang awoke her.

"Princess!" A voice called out.

She awoke and quickly ran to the hall and started searching for the voice. She knew it wasn't Bowser's but it was strangely familiar." Princess!"

She was frantically searched for the voice until she ran face to face with the hero clad in red. "Mario?" She gasped.

"Hello princess." He slurred, the smell of whiskey on his breath.

"You can't be here," She said. "You have to leave."

"Why? We gotta go get married."

"No Mario, you have to leave."

He grabbed her arm, bringing her closer to him. "Kiss me." He whispered in her ear before sloppily mashing his lips against hers.

She pulled away, slapping his cheek. This only provoked him more, he send a slap right back, making it echo down the hall. She was silent for a minuet until he brought her closer for another kiss. "NO Mario! Let me GO!" She yanked her arm away in disgust. She struggled to pull away from his tight grasp, but just managed to make it out. She ran away in horror crying out for help.

"Princess?" Bowser called.

"Help me!" She cried out, she glanced over her shoulder; Mario was still chasing her, only a short distance behind.

She pushed through a door and she was now in the throne room. She saw Bowser at the other end of the room, she ran faster. Mario grabbed the back of her dress, yanking her closer. She struggled to escape his grasp, but he was more serious this time.

"Let her go," Bowser commanded.

"Or what?"

Bowser took a stance, stepping closer to them. Mario only tightened his grip on her arm causing a small whimper to escape her lips. "Oh shut up you,"

Bowser took another step forward they were face to face now, a mere four inches separating them. "Or I'll make you wish you were never born."

Mario pushed the princess out of his way, causing her fall to the floor. "Papa?" A small voice asked. The princess ran to the children, they had seen everything unwind.

"Come with me," The princess commanded. She picked up the smallest child and ran from the scene of terror.

"Is papa okay?"

She was lost for words, unsure what to say to the child. "I don't know."

"Follow me," Ludwig took the lead. Leading the group down halls of the vast castle. They were led to the cellar as loud bangs and thuds echoed the halls. Their footsteps echoed through the halls. "I vound it!" He cried out. He pushed a small door open, the smell of fresh air flooded in. The door was only big enough that you could make it through when you were crawling. The princess made sure that everyone was out before she left. She took one last look at the dark halls, the sound of explosions was becoming more prominent and fear took over her.

"Goodbye," She whimpered before going out into the night.

She ran out into the night, grabbing the smallest, she ran to where the others were. She clung to the small child tightly, hiding his venerable eyes that were all ready in tears.

"Is daddy okay?" The little girl asked.

Peach crouched down so she was the same height as her. She put on her best reassuring smile and said. "He'll be okay. I promise." She glanced at the castle, part of it was in flames and the explosions kept going.

The battle lasted long into the night. The princess stood there the whole time, fear and guilt making themselves comfortable in her heart. A group of guards had come and took the children away to safety and brought her a blanket. The oldest elected to stay with her trying to comfort her, but there was worry in himself too, his father had always done things like this, but this one had lasted far too long. The princess saw the worry in his eyes too; she turned to him and pushed a strand of messy brown hair out of his eyes.

"You're father will be okay, I promise," She gave a small smile. "Now, go get some sleep."

"Thank you," He smiled, he headed off in the direction of safety leaving the princess alone.

Hours passed with more explosions and bangs, until finally, just before dawn, a figure arose from the rubble. She ran up to the figure, it was Bowser. He was bruised and cut, blood tricked from his nose, and he had a puffy lip. Motherly instinct took over she started trying to tend to his wounds. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, are you?" He asked. She nodded and walked toward the field where she formerly stood.

They stood there watching the sunrise and the castle go up in flames.

Seven Years Later

It had been seven years since that day, the day when disaster happened. The princess was on a train headed back to her home country. She had not asked what happened in the battle or what happened to Mario. She had walked down the aisle to Bowser and now was the proud mother and wife of him and his now nine children. She had become his queen and given the throne of The Mushroom Kingdom to her brother.

She watched the fall leaves pass her window, nervousness took over her stomach, she had since avoided the Mushroom Kingdom after that fateful day. Her brother was to wed and she had to attend.

The train pulled to the halt and she stepped into the crisp air. She pulled her coat closer to her person and walked the vague streets. She passed a small pub where she had frequented as an adolescent. She stared longingly into the window, everyone full of cheer and having a grand time, though her eyes stuck on someone all to familiar. It had to be, I must have been. I couldn't have been him, could it? He was dirty and dress in rags, and sat alone at the bar, sipping his fourth or so whiskey. The Princess passed without a second thought, and though she may not have recognized the figure in the window, he sure did.