Half-cooked turkeys were scattered all over the counters of the Mushroom Kingdom castle's kitchen. Gold light streamed from the overhead lamps and reflected off of the wall paper. The white, tiled floor was covered in a thin layer of flour, as were the toads busy preparing the a gigantic feast. Champagne was being prepared, fresh for the occasion, and fine wines were being harvested from the castle's private collection. There was a giant wooden vat of potatoes where toads had been set to work mashing, each of them sitting up on ladders together and using giant beaters for the mashing that required four men to control them. Stuffing was being baked and smelled almost ready; the gravy was being stirred.
Cranberries were being mashed to pulp and made into sauce to go with desert. A chocolate fountain that stood about twelve meters high was being loaded with melted chocolate. In general, there was an intoxicating aroma of exotic spices and deserts that filled the air.
"Marvelous!" Toadsworth cheered as he checked off 'refreshments/dinner' from his checklist. "Keep up the good work, everyone! Everything must be ready in time for tonight. Merry Christmas!"
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" the crowd of toad cooks roared back with smiles.
Toadsworth smiled, straightened his coat and monocle, and continued into the next room.
"Now to check on the princess..."
"Mario, what are you doing?" Peach asked. She and Mario both sat in the castle den, a small, family-sized tree only five feet away. Wrapping paper and tape was scattered all over the rug, and the fireplace let out a warm glow.
"What? I'm just tinkering a little bit..." Mario said with a sheepish smile. The toy train set that he and Peach were preparing to wrap as a gift had now been altered; unlike a traditional train set, the gift's track now contained several loops and inversions, and the train had a small engine attached which allowed it to travel at twice its previous speed.
Peach put her forehead in her palm in exasperation, and smiled. "Well...It does look pretty cool," she sighed.
Mario grinned.
"Wait till you-a see what I've done to Weegee's new music box!"
Peach's eyes widened.
"Mario...You didn't..." she said quietly.
"Shhhh...He's going to love it!"
"Well, alright..." Peach conceded. "So, are you almost done wrapping your gifts?"
"I've almost got it!" Mario said, fitting more wrapping paper over a small box. "And...Done!"
"Master Mario!" Toadsworth called, walking through the doorway. Mario jumped about a mile high upon hearing his name called, and landed back on the ground with a thud.
"Y-yes Toadsworth?" Mario said slowly, rubbing his head.
"May I speak with the Princess for a moment?"
"That's all you needed?" Mario thought for a moment. "Sure, of course you may speak with her!" he chimed gleefully. "I'm going to go catch up with Weegee, if you guys don't mind?"
"Um, sure Mario, I'll catch up later," Peach said daintily, waving a small, white-gloved hand. As soon as Mario walked out of the room, Peach's head snapped toward Toadsworth, a smile quickly spreading over her face.
"Is the dinner almost ready?" she asked urgently. Toadsworth nodded. "Great!" Peach yelled in girlish mirth. "This. Is. Perfect! I think that today is the day, Toadsworth!"
Toadsworth nodded with a smile. "Congratulations, Princess. I'll be there when the clock strikes twelve, as is tradition for these sort of things to occur. Hopefully, next year, this holiday will be all the more special."
Peach squealed in glee and turned away, running out of the door. "I have got to go tell Daisy!" she cried behind her. "Just make sure the staff is working! And keep them from having any extreme snowball fights while in doors! We don't want to have to deal with that sort of a mess again, like last year!"
"Yes, Princess!" Toadsworth called after her, "That is what I...have already...been doing..." his voice feel in volume as he knew it was impossible for Peach to hear him any longer. Toadsworth smiled and shook his head. "That girl," he said quietly, "All too predictable."
"Hey, Luigi! What's the hold up?" Daisy yelled from the bottom of the later.
"Just a moment, Daisy! These lights have a small tangle in them!"
Daisy shivered. For last hour, she and Luigi had been out in the snow, helping toads hang lights over the Mushroom Kingdom's Grand Tree. Near the bottom of the tree, toads were setting to work with ornaments of all kinds of colors; blue, red, yellow, purple, orange, some shaped like stars, some like mushrooms or goombas, some like race karts or piranha plants, and some like yoshis or koopas.
Snow cloaked the ground, and there was a frost-like bite to the air. The evening was near, and the toads were becoming restless as smells from the royal kitchen drifted out of the castle vents.
Daisy wore her regular dress, but with long sleeves and black gloves, and an orange cloak with fringes of white fur. Luigi stood at the top of a fifty-foot ladder, trying to untangle Christmas lights. His hat was replaced by a set of green earmuffs, each with a 'L' on the side. Aside from this, he wore a green and white stripped scarf over his normal attire.
"Almost untangled...and...WHOA!" There was a load 'chink' as Luigi's foot hit the ladder and slipped forwards, causing Luigi stumbled backwards. As Luigi raced down the half-frozen ladder, Daisy dove sideways from her position at the bottom of the ladder to avoid being hit. Luigi landed with a thud in a small pile of snow, slightly stunned, but no worse for wear.
"Whoa," Luigi said, eyes rolling. "That was intense."
Upon hearing these words, Daisy could no longer contain her laughter. She broke out into hysterical giggles, leaning over into the snow as she tried to contain her joy.
"Y-you should have seen yourself!" she squealed, laughing so hard that she was crying. "T-that was...perfect!"
Luigi looked down at his shoes slightly flustered, a light shade of red spreading over his face. "Well...I-a..."
"Oh, don't be like that, Weeg! You make falling look like fun! I don't think anyone in history can take a fall like that and survive if they weren't you!" Daisy said encouragingly.
"Hey Weegee! Just the man I wanted to see!" Mario shouted, racing over from the castle entrance. "That was quite a fall! Are you alright?"
"Yeah Bro, I'm fine," Luigi said, turning slightly red.
"Dinner is almost ready! And...wait...How did you get roped into hanging lights out here anyway? Don't the toads usually take care of it?" Mario asked.
"Well, you see," Luigi began.
"'Roped,'" Daisy giggled.
"We needed someone skinny with long arms to hang the lights," a toad interjected. Luigi began to turn an even deeper shade of red.
"Hey! Stay out of this! This is official castle business!" Daisy shouted, and was flashed a grateful smile by Luigi. "So Mario, what were you saying?"
"Right! So, dinner is almost ready, and it's almost time to begin ushering people in!"
"It's that late?!" Luigi said, clearly panicked. "Daisy, come on! We've got to get to the shelters!"
"The..shelters? Oh, right! Let's go Weeg!" Daisy said, dashing through the snow with Luigi at her arm.
"Good luck you guys!" Mario called after them. "Remember that you guys need to have everyone here by midnight!"
"Will do! See you then!" they both called out, disappearing as fresh snow began to hit the ground.
It was an hour before Midnight. Several long, white, pristine, buffet tables took up the massive castle dining room, which had only been used for formal occasions. Peach stood near the head of one of the tables, pacing slightly while all of the food was lined out. The roof of the dining room was made up of clear glass; efficient for keeping the cold out, but still granting its inhabitants the luxury of seeing the sky. In this case, the kingdom's grand tree stood only fifty feet from the edge of the dining room, ready to be lit up.
"Peach, you need to relax," Mario said quietly. "Everything is falling into place, you'll see. It'll all work out."
Peach stopped pacing for a moment, and turned toward Mario.
"I know, its just that this is the first time that we have ever held an event like this, and I'm nervous," she said quietly.
"Hold an event like this? Peach, they are going to love this. Don't worry so much. You are doing your part," Mario said with a small smile. "Just try to relax and have fun. Luigi and Daisy just need to get back, and everything will be ready."
"All right," Peach said, standing up straight. She turned toward one of the caterers. "Have them bring in the wrapped gifts and trees that were prepared earlier," she said quietly, pointing toward the door.
"Yes Princess," the toad said immediately, and in a moment several toads came through carrying regularly-sized Christmas trees and gifts, lining them against the walls of the dining room.
Moments of absolute silence passed by as Peach continued to pace. Finally, news arrived.
"They are here!" A toad called. Peach turned as Daisy and Luigi entered the dining room, smiling encouragingly.
"Looks like everything is ready," Daisy said.
Peach nodded, turning to one of the toads and smiling humbly. "Have Toadsworth send them in," she said, and watched the toad rush off to do her bidding.
Not even a moment later, toads, goombas, and koopas began to walk into the room. Some of them were refugees of the Darklands, others were just poor in fortune, some had families that they needed to care for and not even the ability to care for them. As families of these homeless creatures, including mostly children, began to enter the hall, the four of them, Mario, Peach, Luigi, and Daisy, each began to tear up at the joy that registered on these the faces of these people. So much had been taken from them, and now it was time that something was given.
Peach helped guide people to their seats, and castle toads quickly began to serve food. So much had been prepared, that later on it was noted that most families were sent away with leftovers. As the meal went on, there was always the distant ring of laughter from somewhere in the room, and the clanking of plates and silverware did not cease until Peach stood up from her seat at the head of the center table, and was handed a microphone that connected to speakers hung throughout the room.
"Excuse me," she said quietly, and the room fell into a hushed, respectful silence.
"I'm glad that you all are enjoying the meal, but its about five minutes until midnight, the castle staff wanted this time to be designated to the opening of the gifts for the children," Peach said, and was met with many cheers.
Children were then guided from their seats and toward the trees, where each child was handed a gift. Shrieks of joy echoed through the room as children unwrapped the gifts and began to open up toys.
"Look at this one! It's so pretty!"
"This is amazing!"
"This is so cool! This train set is doing 80!"
Peach smiled as she watched the scene unfold, allowing Mario to wrap his arms around her, and leaning into him.
"You know," Mario said quietly. "There is something I had planned for this occasion."
Mario reached into his pocket and pulled out a small package, wrapped in pink paper and topped with a white bow.
Peach stared at Mario, awestruck, and quietly accepted the gift with wide eyes. Peach opened the small box to find an almost-ancient looking locket.
"It belonged to my mother," Mario said, waiting tensely for Peach's reaction.
"It's beautiful," she said softly, tears threatening to spill over her eyes. She opened it up, and stared at the small message written inside.
I Love You.
As Peach turned back to Mario, she stepped back in surprise that he was down on one knee.
"Will you-"
"YES!" Peach screamed, leaning over and hugging/tackling Mario.
"Well, would you look at that," Luigi said quietly, pointing toward Peach and Mario.
"Yeah, it's about time. Peach has been looking forward to this forever, you know," Daisy said quietly.
Daisy looked up at Luigi, for once shyly, as she held out a small package. "I...I couldn't have made this without Mario's help," she said quietly. "You...should open it."
Luigi slowly took the gift from Daisy and opened, shocked to find a small music box that was shaped like a pipe organ. After Luigi wound it up, it began to play the theme to his mansion, the keys of the organ moving, and the pipes shifting up and down rhythmically as the song played.
Luigi's voice caught in his throat before he spoke again. "This," he said quietly, "is so...beautiful."
Daisy stared at him in stunned happiness. "Merry Christmas, Weegee," she said softly, leaning in and kissing his forehead.
Mario and Peach stepped up to the loud speaker. "Merry Christmas, everyone!" they called out. And the people cheered in good will.
And this became the castle's tradition.
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Merry Christmas everyone!