Five years. It had been five years. Five years since the land had fallen into darkness. Five years since many of Toad Town's residents fled the surface world, preferring the warmth of a monty mole's maze-like world below.

Five years since the Mushroom Kingdom had been taken from her.

Princess Peach, if you could even call her a "princess" anymore, sat down on her bed and combed through a weekly report from her soldiers. After a moment, she put the tiny packet down and fell into the oversized pillows of her tiny bed.

Oh, what was the point?! The soldiers never had anything new to report. They never stayed out there in the dark and cold long enough to tell her anything useful. The only people she could truly rely on were her personal guards, who came to her whenever Princess Daisy, hundreds of miles away in Sarasaland, managed to smuggle supplies to her people. Even then, she didn't come often, and these pointless reports were all that Peach got.

I hope Daisy comes through soon, she thought, staring at the chocolate cake crumbs on a platter by her bed. She contemplated eating them for a moment. Then, deciding against it, as that would be improper as a "princess", she turned from the platter.

Her people were running low on food. At the rate they were going, the storage would run out in two week's time. Well, that was if they didn't outright deplete it with the feast today.

The last time they had serious a food shortage, which happened about two years ago, the former Toad Town residents rioted. A few even decided this new life wasn't for them and left the Underground.

They haven't been heard from since.

Peach left her room, feeling that she had moped around enough.

Today was different from most other days. Normally, the tunnel passages would be eerily quiet. People would stay locked up in their rooms unless the princess or Toadsworth said otherwise. So if it were possible for it to be eerily noisy, that was what it was to Peach. As she walked into the Main Hall, she found toads, koopa troopas, goombas… Really, a variable mix of races, all working together to prepare the room.

Paratroopas hung red ribbons from the ceiling. Toads set up tables and chairs in the middle of the room and covered them all in red cloth. Sprixie immigrants followed closely behind the toads, placing plastic red utensils and plates on each of the tables. Last but not least were the goombas, who ran to and fro with platters of food on their heads.

It was truly a spectacle to watch the chaos, even if the overall mood was somber. Most of the people kept their heads down and stayed silent even as their princess walked in.

Five years later, their hearts still ached for the surface world above where it had once been all sunshine and rainbows. And on top of that, when the invaders won…

Peach furiously shook her head at the thought. No. This isn't a time for mourning. She couldn't be sad. Not here in front of her subjects.

She made her way to the back of the room. It was there that Toadsworth was, sitting on a stool and shouting commands at the workers.

Also by him was a podium, which she stood behind as she continued to watch the preparations.

"Quit fooling around!" Toadsworth yelled at a goomba who had stopped to chat with a friend.

The goomba jumped. He turned, staring at Toadsworth for a moment.

Toadsworth glared at him and made a head motion towards Peach.

The goomba followed him to her. When his eyes landed on Peach, he gasped. With her now watching him, he turned into a brown blur as he raced into the crowd of workers.

His paratroopa friend awkwardly stood for a few seconds before realizing she should get back to work. She began hanging up the red ribbons once more.

Peach turned to Toadsworth, and him to her.

"Thank goodness you finally came," Toadsworth said. "I couldn't get him to listen to me."

She smiled and turned back to the crowd.

Her people were beginning to file into the room and find their seats. People seemed enthralled by how much red now lined the normally barren and brown Main Room. Other's mouths watered hungrily at the food set before them. There was little difference between them, except for the single figure that took a seat in a far corner of the room.

Peach could easily pick him out of a crowd. For one, he was taller than most of the others in the room. And for two… The man did this whenever he came to the yearly feast. He always avoided conversation by hiding in that specific corner of the Main Room. Nobody really noticed him, especially when someone even more important than him was on their minds.

She gazed over at Toadsworth before she stepped away from the podium.

The elder toad gave her a look of indifference. That meant she was free to do what she wished, at least for now.

The enlarging crowd respectfully parted for Peach as she walked into it. She felt their eyes burrow into her soul. It was a familiar feeling that she knew, yet did not worry about. She became accustomed to it a long time ago. A moment like this wouldn't simply change that.

The man and she were about the same age: twenty-nine. There was a year left before they truly left youth behind. Despite that, the man looked the same as he always did. His brown hair hid under a green cap and he had a dark, well-groomed mustache. He even wore the same clothes that he usually did: blue overalls over a green shirt, brown shoes, pure white gloves, and a green cap with an "L" sitting smack-dab in the middle of it, which he usually didn't abandon unless he was under a power-up's influence.

As Peach came up to him, he kept his head down. He wanted to be alone, sure, but she refused to allow that. He needed somebody to talk to.

When her heels made a final click against the cavern floor, the man looked up. His eyes lit up in fear.

Peach flashed him a warm smile as they made direct eye contact. Perhaps that would calm his nerves?

It didn't. The man was too skittish for that to work. He stuffed himself as best as he could into his corner. As if that would protect him from a pretty princess in pink.

Peach decided that she should speak first, seeing as he seemed so unwilling to. "You decided to come this year?"

He nodded quickly, adding in a "Hm-mh."

"I'm glad you did," she said. "The feast feels empty without you around."

She saw the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. "Um, thanks," he said.

Good. She was getting somewhere with him. "Would you like to-"

"Sit up front?" He shook his head. "No thanks."

"I was asking if you wanted to eat," Peach said. Not exactly what she wanted him to do, but oh well. She waved over a young goomba carrying a pile of crackers on his head.

The goomba rushed forward and eagerly offered his plate to the Princess.

She laughed and scooped up a few crackers and tiny slices of cheese. Using a nearby table, she put them together to make cute little cheesy sandwiches.

The man hesitated, but as cheese sandwich after cheese sandwich was made, he edged ever closer to her.

After making fifteen of them, Peach thanked the young goomba and watched him wander off. She fingered one of the sandwiches.

The man picked one up too. Carefully, so as to not disturb his beautifully-made mustache, he bit into it.

It was interesting to watch. Most others Peach knew would've shoved the whole thing into their mouths. And yes, that included Toadsworth.

"Have you been well," she asked, "Luigi?"

Hearing his name, Luigi's cheeks grew warm and red. He nodded quickly to her as he swallowed down the sandwich.

"That's good," she said. "I feel better knowing that you're okay."

"Th-thank you, Princess."

The two of them stayed like this for a while, chatting about this and that as the cheese crackers slowly disappeared. Unlike the cheese sandwiches, though, Luigi's nervousness never truly disappeared. He would grow silent when people looked over at him, if only because Peach was there.

Peach could tell that he appreciated her company regardless. They would happily talk of old memories, like the time Bowser came and…

Well, he kidnapped her a lot back then. That time they talked about was no different.

But moving on, they discussed the Darklands' king and how many memories they made through him and soon went on to more… Sensitive subjects, like-

"Princess!" Toadsworth shouted over the crowd as he hobbled over to her table. "We're about to start!"

Peach looked from Luigi's face to the even-shorter man's. She got up.

"We need to cut this short," she said to Luigi. "Are you sure you don't want to join us up there?"

"No thanks," he said. "I'd rather be alone now."

Peach sighed. "Well, if you want to see me again, you know where I am." She turned away from the table.

Toadsworth took that as a cue to go. As he faded back into the crowd…

"Peach?"

She looked back over her shoulder.

Luigi was smiling at her. "Maybe we can talk more over at my place later? I-I could show you something."

This is what caused her to stop in her tracks.

Luigi was a hermit, so of course nobody really knew what he was up to between the yearly feasts. It would definitely be a good time to see him again.

She nodded and said, "I'll see you later, then."

He grinned a bit wider. Then he lowered his head, intending to become invisible in the crowd.

And so the deal had been sealed.