Well, here it is, the rewrite of "The One I Love," mushed together with an old one I wrote a long time ago to make it more interesting. I hated the original, but liked the concept, so... yeah. Enjoy. Be happy, though, because the ORIGINAL original draft for this, which I wrote when I was about 9 in my wittle notebook, was EYE RAPE.

I'll try to update this one and that other one as often as I can. I just needed to write something a little more laid back. I wanted to explore slightly different personalities for the characters.

Characters and yada yadas belong to Nintendo.

Mario was in a predictable scene. The princess had been kidnapped. He must save her. Yada, yada... It seemed as though this happened every other day without fail. It's not that he didn't like Peach, in fact, he loved her. But he was not someone who lived in a rut. He was a New Yorker! He had to have excitement!

Nevertheless, he ran as fast as his short legs would carry him after Bowser's Clown Kopter. Peach was shrieking her head off, leaning precariously over the edge, while Bowser steered. The motor of the Kopter was much, much faster than any human could run, and Mario soon found himself out of breath. The Kopter was becoming a green dot in the distance.

Mario stopped and panted, leaning forward and balancing his hands on his knees. After a few seconds, he raised his head and resumed running. Just in time to see a pink dot falling, about twenty feet, out of the Kopter.

Peach had plenty of excitement in her life, thank you very much. She had always been the most popular, especially in High School, and was used to having people fuss over her. In fact, she loved having people fuss over her. To Peach, having Matthew Belanger and Harry Micheals fight over asking her to senior prom was only slightly different from Bowser Koopa kidnap her and having Mario Mario save her. She just didn't... feel anything towards them. For one thing, Bowser always kidnapped her.

And Mario?

Well, she had always thought that he was a good friend, and a wonderful person to be around, she just didn't feel a certain connection to him. It didn't help that everyone always tried to pair them up. Ah, the hapless princess, and the knight in shining armor coming to rescue her. How romantic.

And just when she was wishing her real Prince Charming would swoop in and save her, Bowser kidnapped her. A colossal turtle was not what she had in mind. And the day kept getting worse when she fell out of his stupid Clown Kopter.

She remembered tumbling through the air for a few seconds, then the hard impact of ground, and not much after that.

Three months had passed. The windy autumn air had turned frigid and icy, the leafy ground hard and slippery. People walked around in scarves and think coats, though most just stayed inside next to their fires. Peach and her close friends did so, staying in one of the smaller rooms of the drafty castle, Peach laying on a couch and Mario sitting on the floor near the fire. Peach was fit to burst with good news, but didn't want to give it away just yet.

Luigi and Daisy were flirting, as usual. When Peach, a lifelong friend of Daisy, had finally introduced her to the Mario brothers, Luigi had taken to her almost immediately. In a week they had gone on their first date, in a month they were an official couple, and in a year Luigi had proposed. Daisy accepted, and their marriage was to take place in the summer. At the moment, they were sitting in an armchair, looking quite squished but comfortable.

They had been stimulated by conversation for a very long time, and Peach thought now would be a good time to break the news. She could hardly wait any longer. She waited a few seconds while they laughed at one of Luigi's jokes.

"Hey, guys," she began, making sure she had everyone's attention. "Do you remember that time, a while ago, when I fell out of Bowser's Kopter?" They nodded. "Well, while I was in the kingdom, the one I landed in, I met the prince. After I left, we kept writing to each other, and I visited him a few weeks ago, and, well..." She held out her hand, showing the bright diamond glittering there.

Their reactions were instant. Daisy gasped and screamed. Luigi yelled, "Oh my god!" Mario's jaw dropped, but he smiled almost instantly afterward.

Daisy hugged Peach tightly, shouting, "Peachie's getting married! Peachie's getting married!" Peach smiled, blush creeping up her cheeks. Luigi grinned widely, asking questions about the wedding and when it was to take place. Mario just sat and stared at the fire, the ghost of a smile on his face.

After a while, Daisy checked her watch. "Well, it's late. I'm going to bed. Seeya tomorrow!" She waltzed out of the room.

"I'd better go home, too," Luigi said. "I'm so happy for you, Peach!" Luigi leaned over for a high-five, then exited the room, leaving Mario and Peach alone.

Mario was still staring into space, his eyes becoming a little glazed over. Peach sat silently and awkwardly on the sofa, searching for words to say. "Erm... So..."

Mario jumped as if he had forgotten she was in the room. He smiled a large smile that looked slightly forced. "Congratulations, Peach!"

Peach grinned. "So... Is something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong," Mario replied, avoiding her eyes. "Just... shocked."

"Shocked? Why?"

"Well, it's big news, I guess." He shrugged, tugging on his gloves.

Peach searched his face, trying to see something it wasn't showing. She gave a light sigh. This wasn't going as she planned. "You're okay with this, right?"

"Of course I'm okay with it, Peach. Why wouldn't I be?" He wasn't even looking at her now, just staring at the dying fire.

Peach didn't reply. She stared at the fire along with him, watching the dancing flames. She broke the silence with another sigh. "I'd better go to bed. I'm traveling tomorrow."

"Where to?"

"Picking Trevor up at the train station," she answered, standing. "We've got some planning to do, and I want him to meet you guys."

Mario stood. He was stony faced, and looked as if he was trying not to move too much. "I have to go too. I'll see you, okay?"

Peach smiled in response, walking upstairs quickly. What has just happened? Mario was completely fine, right up until she told them the big news. What if...

Oh no.

Oh, no no no.

Mario was in love with her. How could Mario be in love with her? He was... Well, he was Mario for god's sake. This was all wrong. This was going to ruin everything.

Mario walked home in a daze. He wasn't sure how long it took him to get there, but when he did, he walked into the living room and plopped into a chair. Luigi walking in, sitting next to him.

"Wow, tough break, buddy."

"Yup, but whatcha gonna do?" Mario tugged at his gloves, deep in though. He had always though his feelings for Peach went without saying. He guessed they didn't. "This kind of sucks."

Luigi laughed as he got up to fix himself some dinner. "It's just a girl. You'll get over it."

"That's easy for you to say when you've already got your girl."

"Yeah, I guess so." He flopped back down onto the couch, sandwich in hand.

Mario took a small box out of his pocket, opening it to look at a sparkling diamond ring. Luigi's jaw dropped.

"Oh, no, you weren't going to...?" He took the box to examine it more closely. "Wow, this is nice. She would have loved this. That's... well, I'm sorry." Luigi stared around awkwardly in the silence that followed. "There's always Pauline..."

This caught Mario's attention. "Pauline? You mean that girl from high school who cheated on me every five minutes? Hell no!" He sighed and took back the ring. "Maybe I will find someone else, but it won't be her. I'm going to bed."

"It's six o'clock."

"It's been a long day." And with that, he was gone.