*Woooo I'm back! Don't hurt me! I've been far too LAZYYYYY to update!*

*Sticks her tongue out*

* he he, just kidding… of course…. –nervous laughter- anyway, finally updating is the point, you should catch on to the idea that the Mushroom Kingdom is a realm of different castles if you follow the original Super Mario bros. Game way of thinking. (picture that old school map in your head) *

Daisy lay in a mushroom kingdom hospital bed.  As soon as Mario and Frog had found her after the bob omb exploded, they could no longer take this life of hiding out. They returned to the mushroom kingdom with Daisy and begged for her to be taken in.

Nobody was exactly mad, because now was not the time to hold grudges. The sarasa's were attacking, and there were barely any soldiers left to fight.

Mario meekly told the chancellor about his run in with Toad, afraid that he wouldn't be believed, but the chancellor looked shocked, and asked him where Toad had gone.  Mario felt quite guilty, and embarrassed, admitting that he had let the traitor slip away.

Chancellor just tried to smile a weak smile, a Mona Lisa kind of grin.  Apparently he was just relieved that he, and some others had been in another castle at the moment of the bombing, so in a way, the Sarasas had only done half the job they had intended.

The victims were in the infirmary of the second mushroom kingdom.  Daisy herself was in a coma.

Somewhat, Mario wanted to laugh.  If Daisy died, Luigi would be completely responsible.  He'd let his big head get him in trouble and not only would he have killed King Sarasa's daughter, but the only girl he had EVER truly loved.

But as Mario looked over Daisy, he couldn't help but hear her consoling words ringing in his ears…..

And now he was thinking of Peach all over again…..

If only I had been there for her…..

He wiped his eyes, as if feeling the tears brewing.  Now he could only think of Luigi, and how no matter how Mario tried to fake anger, he had a soft spot for his little brother, and that, no matter what he did, he didn't deserve to lose his first true love.

An awkward little Luigi, far skinnier and taller than the other kids, hopped onto the school bus, practically breaking his back under his book bag.  He would sit in his own seat every day, staring out the window, trying to pretend silence made him happy, his thoughts were his true friends……

And there was that pretty girl, long curly hair, long eye lashes.  He would have given anything for her to bat those eyelashes at him.

But she didn't, she didn't even wink.  She just pulled a classic snob on him and flipped her hair.

And as the years went by, Luigi's so called destiny fell in to place…

He was the silent kid, the slave to his prose, the kid who spent most of his time alone in the garage, working on car parts and machinery.

And there was Mario, a much thinner vision of himself, but completely athletic, and quite a cheerleader or volleyball captain magnet.

But at the end of the day, when he'd carpool home with luigi, it was always about the two brothers, there was no mention of girls.  Nothing mattered more than the two guys, cruising in their testosterone filled car, ranting on and on for hours about practically nothing.

Mario shook his head.  It was impossible how much damage he'd done to his life in such little time, and how impossible it was for him to handle it all.

He couldn't stand looking over top of Daisy weighing the life or death possibilities.  He practically flew out of the infirmary and found himself sitting on a chair somewhere in this unfamiliar castle.  He had only been in it a few times when it was under siege by Bowser, and he always managed to equip the castles with Lave and white brick interior.

It was frightening to have seen the main castle… Peach's home, crumbling and charred.

But even more frightening was his indecisiveness.  What side was he really on?

It was questionable, now that Peach was gone, but thinking that way was wrong… she wasn't gone… she wasn't!

Frog had been the one to inform the Toadstool's of Peach's death; Mario would have fallen into a withering, sobbing mess if he had tried to do the job.

Ceremonies were being held immediately.  A spot in the cemetery was being prepared with some of the most beautiful flower arrangements anyone had ever seen.  Peach didn't need any fixing up, or any of the flowers, or any of the extra glitz, even in her limp, inert form, she was beautiful.

Mario could have gazed at her inside of that casket forever.  It was painful to see her inside such a thing, but her beauty still mesmerized him, as if he were first laying his eyes upon her.

He had gotten to the point where he couldn't cry, all he could do was feel his heart cracking, and maybe choke a little, wishing he could just thrash and let out that contained despair.

Many People from other realms had gathered for the funeral.

Funeral…. How chilling of a sound….

It was insane how many friends and allies peach had had. All these people actually cared for her as well.  If only she had known that she had someone to turn to, and wasn't expected to be a circus act or try to impress anyone.

The cervices were thrown together in a sort of speedy manner.  The toadstools intended to be prepared for battle, but they had to give their princess a formal good bye.

Mario was to say a few words at the funeral, and he was suffering from a little tongue in the cheek syndrome.  What could he honestly say without falling to pieces?

When his moment came to speak, he didn't exactly write a long election worthy speech, but he seemed to grasp some attention.

"I've loved Peach from the moment I met her. She was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her. She wasn't just a photo worthy face though, she was the love of my life."

"I can't begin to say to all of you how hurt I am.  I can't go back in time and say to her all I wish I would have said, but I think its unanimous, that no one could ever fill her shoes, and that she left a lot of lonely people behind her."

"We all should have been more thoughtful and helpful.  She suffered a lot, and had no other way to go.  At times, I treated her more like the pesky damsel in distress than the woman I was devoting myself too.  But I will always love Peach. Peach, if you can hear me, I just want to say…. Goodbye"

He could barely manage to say that, before scrambling away and closing his eyes.

Everyone seemed to find his words touching and smiled at him approvingly as he tried to manage not displaying his inner grieving.

How pompous and emotionless he must have appeared. He never let anyone see his tears, except for Peach, Daisy, and Luigi, the three people he cared about, yet had hurt, the most.

After the services came to an end, he was surprised to see the wario brothers walk up to him.  He hadn't seen them in years, and they honestly weren't their usual, sniggering, mustache-twirling selves.  They looked solemn and composed.  Mario almost felt as if he were imagining the entire thing.

"I had no idea you loved her that much…" waluigi said in a distant kind of voice.

Mario wanted to roll his eyes and return a sarcastic quote that would bring back their old rivalry, but he didn't have the heart.  He was glad to have their company.

"What's this all about?" he asked, though he felt cold in doing so.

Wario looked him straight in the eyes sincerely, something he had never done. "We want to join the Toadstools.  You guys need us."

Finally, a small bit of the haughty and overbearing wario was showing through, the only a small bit.

Mario laughed a little bit and put his hand on his shoulder. "You're right, we're doomed."

The three laughed in unison.  It felt strange to bond with the Wario brothers, but in a time of hardship, you had to have someone to run to for help, and it was good to know that behind that seemingly thoughtless exterior was two caring souls.   

What happened next however, Mario would NEVER have predicted.

Crashing the party, was the infamous tatanga himself.  Daisy's kidnapper from a while back.  It was as if he materialized out of nowhere….

"Who forgot to send me an invite?" he cried, stirring many of the guests and causing most people to scream and run away.

"Calm down!" He said once again.  "I come with a peace offering!"

Everyone stopped dead in his or her tracks as the chancellor approached him, much shorter, and strength-wise, not having a leg to stand on. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

"Bad news travels fast…" Tatanga said mysteriously.

Many people practically shivered with the releasing of those words.

"What do you mean?" the chancellor asked.

"Simply put, I've heard a few things, and I'd like to make peace and become your ally."

The whole situation was uncertain.  If the Toadstool's nodded and welcomed him, they'd definitely have a strong chance of defeating the  Sarasa's but becoming allies with a generally bad-natured criminal was obviously just asking for trouble.

Chancellor apparently was bothered by none of this, he quickly said.  "Agreed" and forced another Mona Lisa style grin.

Everyone just watched in horror. They all were terrified at the idea, but didn't dare question the Chancellor's decision.

.:*:.

Meanwhile, a dark shadow was looming before the second Sarasaland castle as a visitor far unknown to the Sarasa's appeared, King Bowser of the Koopas.  Along with him were his cronies the boos, koopas, goombas, and paratroopas. 

Honestly, Luigi was one of the only people who felt anger towards Bowser.  He had been the enemy to him for so long and actually battled against him.  The Sarasas however, had only agreed to help protect the Toadstools from him, and hadn't been able to do much about that.

Bowser had an offer the same as Tatanga's…….. peace.  He wanted to help the Sarasa's in defeating the mushroom kingdom…….