She rose to the surface of the water, not making a sound. She lay peacefully. No conscious thoughts bothered her. No one could touch her. She wouldn't have to see Mario be killed. Mario wouldn't have to go through such torture anymore. She wouldn't have to be abused.
But Mario never saw any of it - trekking, rescuing, battling, none of it - as torture. He was doing this because he loved her. Why didn't she believe him? Probably because of that dumb beast. Physical and emotional abuse went down all the time. Peach must have been completely drained to do such a thing. He never knew she was so . . . depressed? No, no, not depressed. Just upset. Scared. That's it, he thought. Maybe she's just afraid. And it's been eating away at her heart because of all the bullying.
He was just glad that she didn't use her royal authority on him and order him not to save her from dying.
As fast as he could, for he knew Peach had fallen unconscious, Mario carried her to the ladder leading into the vast moat. Holding her in one arm and pulling himself up with the other, he pulled her and himself to safety.
Mario ran to a nearby tree. He knelt down, cradling his beloved with both arms, and leaned close to make sure she was breathing.
Check. Somehow, she was, even though she didn't hold her breath underwater.
Any injuries? None that he could see.
"What am I going to do with you?" he whispered. He didn't care if she'd be mad at him for saving her (now THAT would be a first!)
"Peach," he called softly, but frantically, "Peach, wake up!"
Her vision went from dark, to semi-dark, to blurry, to completely light-filled. Slowly, her feeling came back. She could sense that she was in someone's arms.
Peach looked at Mario, wondering if this was heaven, and how exactly Mario got there. For some strange reason heaven looked a lot like the Mushroom Kingdom . . .
"Wha . . . Mario? Huh?" Peach murmured.
Overjoyed, Mario pulled her close and kissed her out of pure relief. Peach felt heat burn in her cheeks and mindlessly wrapped her arms around him. Suddenly, she pulled away, realizing that she was still in her nightgown - and still alive.
"What the heck just happened?" she questioned, staring at her hands. "I thought - "
"You thought wrong, Peach, very wrong," Mario stated grimly. Suddenly he felt very angry and hurt. "You're alive. You're still here with me and there's nothing I want more. Now. You tell me what the heck just happened!" he cried, feeling a tear escape his eye.
Peach gasped. "I, um . . . I . . ."
"You sent me a text telling me to come and say goodbye! I have a pretty good idea what made you do this, but I just don't understand why you would abandon your kingdom, and your friends, without having a sliver of hope whatsoever that just maybe we can get through this!"
Peach stood up and swiftly tied her robe together. "But, Mario, don't you freaking get it? You can't do everything for me! Since I'm still here you are still at risk of being killed!"
"I DON'T CARE!" Mario yelled, rising to meet her. "I LOVE YOU! MAYBE I CAN'T DO EVERYTHING BUT I AM STRIVING TO DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO GET YOU BACK HOME SAFELY! WHO DO YOU SEE HERE, HUH? IF BOWSER SAID HE WAS GOING TO KILL ME LAST TIME HE SURE DID A LOUSY JOB! TELL ME ONE REASON WHY I SHOULD JUST GIVE UP AND LET YOU GIVE UP ON YOURSELF!"
"BECAUSE CLEARLY, MARIO, I AM NOT CUT OUT FOR ANY OF THIS . . . THIS . . ." Peach struggled to find the right word. "THIS CRAP! THAT'S WHAT IT IS! I'M FORCED TO STAY IN A FREAKING CAGE, WITH NO KNOWLEDGE WHATSOEVER OF HOW YOU'RE DOING! I DON'T SEE THE POINT IN RESCUING A STUPID DAMSEL IN DISTRESS WHO CAN'T SOLVE HER OWN PROBLEMS! LOOK AT ME! I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO LAND ONE PUNCH ON THAT IDIOT!"
"OH, MY GOSH, PEACH, DO YOU EVEN HEAR YOURSELF RIGHT NOW?" Mario stopped himself from continuing to yell and lowered his voice. "Forget that! I want to know why, of all the rash decisions a princess, especially you, could make, you decided suicide was the best solution. Did you even consider how I could help or how I feel about all this? No, because you don't want to believe me when I say I want to or that I love you! I know you're not weak or pathetic!"
"What choice do I have? What, you're just going to tell me I have the most beautiful hair and shining eyes and sweet smile and kind attitude and all these little fluffy things, right? Maybe I do, but that's on the outside! Truthfully I'm totally helpless!"
"No, you're not! Listen to me. A weak princess would leave her kingdom in the dirt. She wouldn't care about her subjects or her friends or how to care for them. A pathetic princess wouldn't be trying her hardest to help the economy, or train her army, while trying to work to build her friendships on top of her romantic relationship! You've battled a bunch of Bowser-sized problems and stood up for yourself. That's far from pathetic to me."
Peach was speechless.
"And another thing: you're not helpless. You have many friends who love you and a kingdom that will do whatever it can to help you solve this problem."
Peach nodded slowly, realizing that Mario was right.
"And yet another thing: maybe you do want to engage in battle with Bowser . . . don't take this the wrong way, but I strongly advise you not to. Stupid as he may be, he is skilled in fire breathing and many different attacks. I am not saying you're weak. But just imagine what would happen if you put yourself in a melee with him. You would be killed almost instantly. I appreciate that you fear for my safety, but I'd rather fight for you than to see you fight and be harmed." At this Mario embraced Peach in a hug. "I love you way too much to let that happen."
And then, he cried. And cried. And cried.
Peach was amazed. Forget the fact that she'd never seen Mario get so emotional; she was stunned by how much he was WILLING to risk his life for her.
"Oh, Mario . . . I love you too," she whispered, letting herself sink into her hero's embrace. "I'm so sorry."
She released her tears as well, burying her face in her hands, as tons of mixed feelings came overflowing over her face and covering Mario's sleeve. Suddenly all of those terrifying thoughts disappeared.
"Now," Mario said, wiping his eyes. "I don't want to hear any more apologies. I don't want to hear another word from you. I am going to carry you straight into that castle and take you to your room and stand right outside your door until you snore the loudest you possibly can."
Peach giggled shakily. "I don't snore!"
"Oh, yes you do. Yeah, girl, I've heard you when you'd doze off during a movie. You're a monster truck," he quipped, picking her up. "Now what did I tell you about not saying anything else?"
"You said I don't want to hear another word, but what you didn't say was 'I give Peach permission to beat the snot out of me for comparing me to a monster truck!' And as princess I feel I have the right to do so."
"Good girl, you're standing up for yourself," said Mario.
"What, was that a test?" asked Peach as they arrived upstairs.
"No, I was just hoping you'd take your mind off of beating me up if I congratulated you," Mario joked, accepting a well-deserved flick to the nose, but also, a final passionate kiss goodnight.
Yet, there was one thing Peach still didn't understand.
The next day, she had retrieved her phone from the top of the castle and scrolled through her Outbox archive. And she found nothing that resembled what Mario was talking about.
So how did he know she needed help?
