Note: Toad uses xe/xem/xyr pronouns and is an NB/enby (as in, non-binary) in this story, so rather than "he," you would instead use "xe;" rather than "him," you would instead use "xem;" rather than "his," you would use "xyr." There are plenty of resources on the internet regarding this (known as neo pronouns) that you can read up on—I suggest you do if you haven't already. I understand if it's difficult if it's your first time seeing these pronouns, but we all have to learn eventually.

Thanks! I hope you enjoy the story!

It was so dark in that room, lit only by the lava that permeated throughout the castle, locked away behind a bridge, mere inches away from a beast that bore repulsive resemblance to the evil King Koopa. The tears Toad had shed, in despair over xyr captive status, only serving to sting xyr eyes more than they already were from the heat in the air. Xe had never been somewhere so unpleasant, so dreary, so saddening.

And who—xe would wonder, while hopelessly sitting in captivity—would come to rescue the lowly steward of Princess Toadstool, of the Mushroom Kingdom? If they got to xem at all, it would most certainly be an afterthought - a deed that would be done after the princess—whom every subject of her kingdom desperately needed—was rescued. If she was rescued.

Anxiety filled the worrisome fungi, as usual—albeit this time's cause was more dire than, say, being one napkin short of the required amount of napkins for a royal supper. The day could not be saved by an extra napkin this time.

Xyr predicament looking the way it did, the day being saved at all was not a given.

So Toad sat and shut xyr eyes, utterly helpless. Without any light, or hope for rescue for days. Even xyr rescue was predicated on the kingdom being truly unable find another toad that couldn't get the job done any better than xe could—which Toad doubted, frowning.

Then, all of a sudden, the steward's eyes shot open as xe heard the sound of an axe cutting a bridge down. Blinking, xe squinted to see what had caused this to come to pass when xe, at last, met the gaze of his rescuer.

As if this one mustachioed man had illuminated the entire castle, everything was clear as day when xe saw him. Xyr eyes were no longer irritated by the heat, xe could see the man from his brown shoes to the red 'M' on his hat, all seemingly thanks to him. Xyr 'beam of sunshine.'

"Hello?" The man in red spoke, his unassuming blue eyes cooling the tense toad's nerves, "It's-a me, Mario. I'm-a here to rescue you! Ya-hoo!" Mario exclaimed, introducing himself to the steward in a rather unusual—but endearing—way, charming the toad.

Briefly unable to think of anything to say in response, Toad stammered, "Th-thank you, M-M-Mario!" This earned xem a cheery, innocent smile from xyr hero, but it all seemed too good for xem. Perhaps it was a mistake - some accident that led to the man reaching xem first, which elicited xyr saying, "... But, um... but I'm just the steward... Our princess is in another castle. Y-you really ought to move on to the next castle, not waste so much time on me."

Mario listened intently to the toad, letting each word sink in, before firmly shaking his head. "Oh, no, you're-a just as important as anyone else-a! Hoo-hoo! Now let's-a go out-a the castle and-a get you to safety!" He held his hand out, which Toad took as an invitation to shake hands, making xem feel comfortable enough to do so, before the plumber gripped the toad's hand and hurried them out of the castle, jumping from atop the highest level of the castle and landing gracefully on the grassy ground below.

"Waaaaahhhh!" Toad cried, having shut xyr eyes tight and clung to the plumber for safety amidst the leap. A moment or two passed before xe realized they were on the ground. Blushing, xe relaxed xyr hold on the blue-eyed brunet hero of xyrs, earning xem a knowing look from the sunny plumber. Xe then began brushing the ash and dirt off of xyr pants, repeating, gratefully, "Th-thank you, again, Mario!... Thank you so much for caring about an unimportant toad like me." For the first time that whole day, xe smiled.

Smiling back at the fungi, Mario replied, "Okie-dokie, Toad! You're-a just as important as-a the princess, Mario promises! Ha-ha!" With that, Mario ran and jumped off to the next world of obstacles he would face before he could save the princess, leaving behind a steward that, for once, felt like a little more than just a toad.

Anxiety twisted Toad's stomach agonizingly, worrying xemself sick over the princess that had been kidnapped. It was a beautiful day at Isle Delfino, there was no danger imminent to the steward, yet xyr hands shook as xe clutched the red vest xe had chosen to wear for what should have been a perfect vacation. After daydreaming for weeks of sunbathing, getting to eat all sorts of foods xe could only dream, and to have peace the entire time, peace was the furthest feeling from Toad's heart.

Toadsworth was terribly worried as well, Purple Toad couldn't seem to grasp the weight of the situation very well, while Yellow Toad was doing his best to wrap his head around how anything would be done about it. Toad knew that Mario would eventually rescue the princess, xe knew xe should have gotten used to the situation by now or at least more able to cope with it when it happened, yet xe never could. It was beginning to seem as though no matter where they went, danger would follow, and that there could be no peace.

Even so, if only for the younger ones, Toad tried to keep a level-head on everything. Toadsworth couldn't be blamed for failing to obscure his fear of his daughter being harmed in any way, but Toad didn't have that excuse. It was a struggle, but xe did xyr best to put on a face of calm amidst it all.

When Mario arrived, Toad thought he would not spend a moment on anything but rescuing the princess. Instead, to xyr surprise, xe saw him run over to Toadsworth to give him a hug. Toad was far enough away that xe couldn't tell what was being said, only that Mario was attempting to console the old toad, nodding along as he spoke.

Moments after, the red-capped hero went to Purple Toad and Yellow Toad, smiling and asking where the princess had gone. They told him about everything xe xemself knew, which only made xem more confused when xe saw the plumber walk towards xem. "Hello, Toad! Ya-hoo!" He exclaimed, giving xem a kiss on the cheek. Xe assumed it was a custom from where he was from, and xe didn't exactly dislike it, so xe made no comment on it.

"Hello, M-Mario!" Toad replied, desperately trying to keep xyr attention on the plumber and the situation at hand. "Umm..." xe began, knowing full well that anything that needed to be said had already been told to Mario, before offering, "... Th-there seems to be an amusement park on that island..." meeting the blue eyes of the jumpman, xe clarified, "You know, the one that the princess was taken to..." When xe finished speaking, xe couldn't have felt more useless, more inconsequential, more unnecessary to anyone there.

Giving the toad a warm smile, Mario hugged the fungi and said, "Thank you! How are-a you feeling?" It was like every sentence he spoke ended in an exclamation point. He was an exclamatory fellow - a fact which went far from unappreciated by Toad, whose world seemed to lighten up every time xe spoke with the man, even amidst the darkness that shrouded the island.

Without fail, Mario brought sunshine to Toad's life.

It confused xem, why he cared how xe felt, but still Toad tried to answer, "I'm... I want to say I'm fine, but..." xe blinked, xyr mouth quivering before xe finally cried out, "but I'm really not! I thought this was going to be a nice vacation but it's been a disaster from the start! I came along to feel safe for once but now we have to stay miles away from the Mushroom Kingdom until you clean up a mess you didn't even make! On top of that there's this guy posing as you who's getting the best of all of us, and, and, and...!" Xe went on longer than xe wanted to, only stopped by the gloved hand of Mario's, petting xem soothingly. Toad started to apologize, "... I shouldn't have gone on that long, I'm so—"

"It's-a okie-dokie, Toad, Mario understands," Mario interjected, "this hasn't turned out-a the way any of us-a thought it would, and-a you have-a the right to be upset. I'm-a gonna make-a sure this gets-a settled." He gave the fungus another kiss on the cheek, which confused xem once more.

This time, Toad grew curious enough to ask, "D-do your people kiss one another goodbye, too?"

Mario's expression grew confused, before he let out a chuckle and answered, "Ah, no, ha-ha... Mario just kissed you because it felt right." Xe could hardly believe it, but right before Toad's very eyes was an uncharacteristically-embarrassed Mario.

Unable to help xemself, Toad giggled at the sight, before, feeling a little bold, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek as well, hoping to diffuse the situation. "Mm... mwah," Toad kissed, feeling the plumber's 'stache tickle xyr cheek ever so slightly.

As xe pulled away, xe looked at the mustachioed man in hopes for a signal that xe had done the appropriate thing. Mario simply smiled, giving off a vibe of not exactly knowing what to say after that, before jumping backward and running off to catch up to the amusement park that Princess Peach had been taken to - the sunshine he brought to Toad staying with xem even while he had gone and left the steward.

"How does he do it?" Toad wondered, curiously, before taking the sunniness Mario had given xem and bringing it along to Toadsworth, hugging xem like Mario had. There was something so special about Mario, Toad wished xe could share the feeling the hero gave xem with the rest of the world. Xe wished xe could have that same sunshine he had. Then, Toad thought, there would only be peace and happiness.

It was so peaceful in the Mushroom Kingdom, illuminated beautifully by the afternoon sun, roaming the castle, a familiar face wherever one looked. Still, as beautiful as everything was, nothing would compare to the bright ray of sunshine that Toad predicted xe would see when xe saw xyr favorite red-capped plumber.

Not any amount of candles could light a room like that brown-haired blue-eyed Mario could, Toad thought, smiling just at the thought of him. With every fellow subject that passed by and greeted xem, Toad responded with a hearty "Hey!" It was the perfect day and xe could hardly wait until Mario arrived to make it that much better.

Then, clouds formed over xyr sunlight, when xe at last caught a glimpse, off the corner of xyr eye, of Mario. He was unrecognizable. Instead of the sunniness that used to radiate off of him, there was a dim and gloom to him that could be felt from across the room.

In the moment, Toad nearly succumbed to it. If Mario was sad, what good was everything else? Yet, in spite of that gut reaction, Toad held onto the sunniness xe had and then ran towards Mario, leaping into him and, by virtue of not having thought through xyr actions, causing them both to fall over. "Owwowowowow!" Xe heard Mario yelp as they landed together, their eyes meeting once again.

Once Mario had gotten his bearings, he focused his gaze on what he then realized was his friend, "Toad?" He spoke, confusedly.

"... I'm sorry, Mario!" Was all Toad could say, before picking xem and Mario both up off the ground and back onto their feet. "Umm... How are you? How's your day been?... Wa...hoo?" Xe asked, awkwardly letting out an exclamatory word like what Mario would usually say, eliciting the faintest giggle from the plumber. It then dawned on xem that xe had never asked such questions of Mario before, which made xem very curious to hear the plumber's response.

Even his blue eyes seemed to shine less, as Toad looked into them, searching for answers xe only heard as Mario answered, "I'm-a worried, and I'm-a so anxious... and I don't-a know why." The fungus could hardly process what the man had said, it was entirely too shocking. And yet...

... So familiar.

Toad took the plumber's hand, "Do you want to sit down and talk about it? I know a place where you can think without anything to worry about," the steward suggested to the plumber, before insecurely adding, "... If I can remember it, that is..." Xe looked and saw Mario form a half-smile that looked positively adorable on him, then he nodded. "Okay," Toad smiled warmly, "it's this way, I'm pretty sure."

Xe led the man in bright blue overalls over to xyr secret place, remembering just enough to get to where xe could safely guess the rest of the way, before, at last, they were there. It was a modest, grassy little area, trees decorating and obscuring it at all sides, with sunflowers carefully planted at just the right spots so that they wouldn't disturb one another or the two visitors.

With special care, the two sat down on the grass. Toad had figured Mario would speak, but it seemed as though he would rather let Toad lead the conversation. Complying, Toad started, "Does it feel like your stomach's twisting? That happens to me sometimes." Xe looked at the plumber gazing innocently at the clouds filling the sky and blocking the sun, who eventually nodded.

"And you know things usually end up fine anyway, but still you're worried?" Toad asked, answered by a nod once again, "Okay... It can be confusing, I know... What's helped me before is to have someone who understands and cares, with me... someone who can bring a little sunshine to my life." It was then that xe gave Mario xyr biggest smile, and the plumber broke his gaze from the clouds to look at the steward. The sun, peeking through the clouds, was hitting the two of them gently.

In truth, Mario had never looked as handsome as he did in that rich sunlight - a sight that Toad would keep with xemself for years to come. Breaking the silence that had enveloped the two, Toad spoke, "... Even when that doesn't fully help, it's still nice to be with someone, don't you think?"

With that, Toad then witnessed the purest, nicest smile on Mario's face that xe had ever seen, of countless seemingly-perfect smiles xe had seen on him before. "Yeah, that's-a so nice," Mario replied, "and thank you so much-a for being a friend, Toad. Mario's-a so glad he knows you. Wa-hoo." Mario's gloved-hand held Toad's, and they looked at one another.

At first, it was tense to hold that gaze, but it melted in the light of their familiarity. As it turned out, Mario wasn't so different from xem, Toad realized. It wasn't that Mario had something xe didn't, he just helped xem find it. There was always light, after all.

"... Is kissing appropriate—o-or wanted, now?" Toad asked, abruptly, unable to keep xemself from stuttering as xe did. Xe wasn't sure about it since the last time xe had given a kiss to the plumber went awkwardly, and asking before doing something was always the safest.

Nodding, the red-capped man answered, "Yeah!" He proceeded to lean in, until his nose bumped into xem. "Oof! Ha-ha-ha!" Mario laughed, eliciting laughter from the steward as well.

Settling down from the laughter, eventually, Toad reached xyr hand to the plumber's head and tilted it slightly. "It's like this, Mario," xe told the man, before they both leant in... Light filled the world as the clouds parted, yet nothing else shone brighter that day than the two - having a pure, romantic kiss.

The End

Other Notes: So this kinda sorta jumps through three different times. First is the original Super Mario Bros.! Yes, I know it's not universally agreed upon that the Toad(s) you find in the castles before you reach Princess Toadstool is the singular character "Toad," but I thought it'd be nice, so there! x3

Second is, as you probably guessed from the mention of Isle Delfino and Toad basically venting about the entire vacation being a disaster, Super Mario Sunshine! Thirdly is... miscellaneous peaceful time, presumably taking place between games! Yay! :D

Thanks to anyone and everyone who reviews, follows, or favorites this story! Have a nice life!