Fair Warning: This is a femslash-fic, a love story between two female Mario characters. If you're not into that, you shouldn't read this.
Now let's see...wait. Pauline isn't even a tag on this website. What. WHAT.
Love is the strangest thing.
For the longest, I always wondered why Mario left me. It seems like an eternity has passed since he rescued me from his insane ape's clutches.
Looking back, it made sense: I was absolutely through with adventures and anything that involved heights, whereas Mario thought the sky was the limit and wanted to go on all sorts of journeys. One day, when he disappeared from my life, I figured that I had been too stubborn, too unrelenting in my own point of view.
Sometime later, after some…experimenting, I decided that the men around the city could not simply captivate me the way my ex-lover, my hero, had.
One day, he sent me an invitation, inviting me to a distant land he traveled to, known as the Mushroom Kingdom. Excited to reacquaint with my old friend and fascinated by the stories he had told me in the letter, I sent back a reply and was given a private escort and flight to the far off land.
The Mushroom Kingdom was a lush and thriving world, filled with the most brilliant colors of flowers and trees, with all kinds of quirky creatures. Looking over some photos along the way, I studied the grasslands that we would arrive in, as well as the deserts, oceans, forests, jungles, tundra, volcanoes, and islands that filled the land. As I continued to learn more, I grew ever more overjoyed about arriving.
Presently, we did touch down, right near the princess's castle. Thrilled at simply beholding the courtyard around me, it took everything to restrain myself from running off the plane and showing myself around the place. We did manage to finally step out and to greet us stood my old boyfriend Mario.
Surprising myself, however, it wasn't Mario that I was delighted to see. Instead, my eyes took immediately to the taller and fair woman standing beside him. Gazing, I took in her golden blonde hair, which rested neatly under a dark gold crown. Her eyes shown a bright and brilliant blue, darker than my own, but brighter than Mario's had ever shown. Her lips were curled into a smile and delicate smile, painted a lovely pink to match her dress. The elegant and decorated pink gown blew gently and lightly in the breeze.
Brushing back a loose strand of my own brunette hair, I grinned as I walked to shake hands with Mario, then the princess. Graciously, I curtsied before her. She giggled a most pleasant laugh, and then extended her arm. Taking her small, gloved hand into mine, I felt a faint yet firm tinge of strength in her handshake.
"Welcome to the Mushroom Kingdom, Pauline," she greeted, and I took in her words as my ears melted at the sound of her light yet majestic voice.
Goodness. Mario had traded me for a goddess.
Slowly, I transitioned and adjusted my life to living in the Mushroom Kingdom. Helping my former lover, we worked on making mini wind up toys for the kingdom to enjoy. While we had some unfortunate run-ins with none other than the son of awful ape, Donkey Kong, we came to an eventual understanding. The large fellow became charming as he pitched in to help us create toys for the kingdom.
Eventually, we designed a replica of Peach, with myself in charge of delivering the first product to the princess herself. A retainer escorted me to her room, where she waited on her bed for me…um, and the delivery.
The room was covered in vibrant mixes of pink, yellow, and blue colors, attempting to match up to the princess herself. Gawking, I found that the woman in question awaited me on her bed in a short skirt, with her long legs exposed before me.
"Hello Pauline," she chirped in her divine voice. "Mario told me that you were delighted to share the latest mini toy with me?"
"Uh…y-yes, Princess," I stammered, nervously walking forward. "I—"
"Oh, Pauline, please," she rose and put her hand out to halt me. "Do call me Peach, won't you, dear?"
"O…Of course, Prin…Peach," I magically managed. "F-Forgive me."
"It's no trouble; I only wish I told you sooner!" she giggled and I felt my heart racing en route to an explosion. Inhaling and exhaling, I pulled out the mini Peach from its package and handed it over.
"Goodness, that's me!" squealed Peach, as she gleefully looked it over. "Oh, how lovely! It's a flawless miniature me! Thank you so much, Pauline. I love it already."
"You're welcome, Peach," I smiled, laughing lightly at her excitement.
Setting it down to the floor, she tried winding it up, watching it move a couple of steps before falling. "Oh dear. Pauline, can she move further?"
"Sure, I designed them to travel across all sorts of surfaces," I explained as I sat beside her and the Mini Peach, winding it up.
"You designed this yourself?"
"Yep, sure did." Setting down the mini, we watched it march around the room.
"Oh Pauline, that's simply marvelous! Do you have one of everyone?"
"Well, Mario and I have been working on making each of us," I elaborated, making sure to credit Mario. He did start this up, though only Mini Marios existed at first. I told him it came off narcissistic, and helped him further the line. "We made Mini Mario, Mini Toads, Mini Donkey Kong, Mini Peach, and Mini Pauline too. Mini Luigi will be realized soon too."
"Gracious, that's amazing," cooed Peach. "I simply must have one of each!"
"Really? Great," I lightly cheered. "I'll have someone deliver them to you as soon as they're ready."
"Oh, could it be you, Pauline?" Peach begged. "Please? I'd love to have these come from you."
"Me?"
"Yes, of course! It'll be like a special gift from my close friend!"
Losing my ability to speak, I could only nod. Peach cheered and gave me a tight hug. Unfortunately, I couldn't stifle a gasp as she wrapped around me, and she let me go soon after. Breathing in, I let out a fake sneeze.
"Goodness," I rubbed my nose, feeling my face now burning. "I'm so sorry. Something must have tickled my nose." Peach stared a moment before giggling and the two of us laughed. As subtly as I could after that, I gently embraced her, and she calmly returned it. Breaking out of it, we helped each other up from the floor.
On my next delivery, we spent the day sharing stories, discussing how we met Mario, how he saved us from two powerful beasts, and other details of our lives. My heart sank knowing how close Peach and Mario had become, and I found myself envious not of her, but of him.
It was so unfair that he had such a perfect woman in his life, and she just happened to be a princess on top of that. Peach was just the most thoughtful, gentle person that I had ever known. And somehow, her presence became more delightful and comforting than Mario's, or any other man's, had been.
As the day of playing with her new toys came to an end, Peach wrapped our arms together. "Pauline," she whispered, poorly containing a sweet giggle, "promise me that you'll come by again with each new toy you come out with? I simply love spending time together with these minis and you."
Blushing furiously, I smiled and nodded. "Of course, Peach. I'd love to."
Clapping, she pulled me into a tight hug. A sensation of roses emanated from her and I could melt right into her arms.
As I left the castle that day, I wondered what toys I could bring her next. She told me about a few of her friends, and I checked a few pictures she had given me. There could be a Mini Yoshi, a Mini Birdo, a Mini Wario, I think she'd object to a Mini Bowser, a Mini, um, Luma? Flipping through the next few photos, I come across two more princesses. Somehow, I'm gawking at them as well. One, dressed in a long blue gown, is labeled as "Rosalina." The other, dressed in orange sport shorts and tank top, is labeled "Daisy."
Jackpot; she'll love to see them. Grinning, I feel my face overheat as I excitedly plan to work on several new Minis to share with Princess Peach. Astoundingly, it's the one thing where she chooses my company over Mario's, and I can't help but love every second of it. It may not amount to much, but for now, I'll take what she gives.
Truly, love is strange.
Whoo, one-shot complete! (How is Pauline missing here?)
So, how did this one pop up? Well, I was thinking about pairings that hardly anyone, possibly no one, has ever considered or touched before. How I managed to pull Peach and Pauline out of potential pairings is beyond me, but there they were. Then I researched Pauline's recent history with the Mario franchise, finding that she's popped up in a lot of Mario vs/& Donkey Kong games, which currently work with the two title characters and Pauline creating toys and theme parks.
Somewhere in my head canon, I established that Pauline took up residence in the Mushroom Kingdom as a toy designer. Hey, that's a unique way for a female character to appear, ok?! At least she wasn't turned into a princess. Wait. Princess of Toys. NO.
Making it work was a bit more difficult. Eventually, I relented that it would end up being one-sided, since Peach has practically no connection in the series canon to Pauline, and since the latter was established as "good friends" with Mario, I decided that she'd be single and fall for Peach. Oh, I've got it! #ProgressivePauline! Let's get it started, yeah! ...Or not, that's cool too.
However, once I finished the story, a thought buzzed through my head: "Gee, how many stories do people even use Pauline for? She's probably just a typical 'Mario's first/ex' and that's it." Still curious, I went to search the character list and behold! ...There was no Pauline.
Understandably, Pauline is officially undermined by Peach in basically every category, so I wasn't expecting much for her. But not even a tag for Mario's first damsel? Not ok. So, I fast-tracked the completion of this story, and worked on another one to give her fans, however few, a slight selection. Hopefully, this will establish her just a bit and possibly encourage more use of her, if not as a triangle to Mario and Peach, then as a character in her own right. And come on, Toy Princess? Why not? (Ok, I need to stop.) Really though, Pauline isn't a princess, and currently single. Perfect for leftovers! (I'm sorry.)
And that's all for this one-shot. I think it's a cute little Pealine story. (New shipping name? Is it? Did I? YES, I DID. ...Maybe.) I didn't really see it fleshing into a full fledged story, so this is all there is. If you disagree and want more, let me know! (Not to shamelessly promote it, but I am working on a Bowser/Mario story, which has chapters, so...I don't know, balancing act? I tried.) Even if you're cool with never seeing this pairing again, you've read this far, so please, send me some feedback through a review or message! Any way you spin it, thank you for reading!