(A/N: We've all seen how "Super Mario 64" begins, with the promise of a cake for Mario from the Princess. At the end of the game, she bakes him a cake, despite having done so before the game even began. This story explains my idea as to why Peach has to bake another cake.)
Mario was sitting at the table in the dining hall at Princess Peach's Castle that afternoon. The Princess was sitting at the head of the table, and Mario was sitting in the seat immediately to her left. The two were enjoying cups of tea, as well as the cake Peach had decided to reward her beau with for restoring the power of the Stars to her castle, and for freeing her and the Toads from being trapped in the walls.
It had been a long, tiring, and very difficult adventure for the red-capped plumber, but he did it. He recovered all of the Power Stars and freed everyone from the castle walls. This cake and the company of the princess were more than worth it.
As Mario took another bite of the cake, he remembered something. The Princess had sent him a letter earlier that day, asking him to come to the castle, for she had baked a cake for him. The letter implied that there would be a cake waiting for him at the castle. But after all that work he did, the Princess suggested baking him a cake. Hadn't she already done that? What was up?
The Princess noticed that Mario appeared to be lost in thought, and she became curious. What could Mario possibly be thinking about?
"Mario?" Peach asked, getting her beau's attention.
"Yes, Princess?" Mario asked, turning to look at the woman he loved.
"What are you thinking about?" Peach asked.
Mario was silent for a moment. He needed to figure out how to word his answer to Peach's question.
"About the letter you sent me..." Mario started.
"The one I sent you today, inviting you to the castle for cake?" Peach asked.
"Sì, that's the one." Mario replied, nodding his head.
"What about it?" Peach asked, really curious now.
"Well, the letter said that you had baked una torta, a cake, for me. Your letter clearly implied that when I got here, there would be a cake waiting for me." Mario explained.
"I did bake a cake for you, Mario. That was the plan." Peach replied.
"But after I rescued you, you were saying that you were going to bake me one as a reward, despite the letter saying you had already done so. Where is the first one?" Mario said.
"Mario, I had to bake you another cake, and for a good reason. Now you're smart; can you figure out what the reason is?" Peach said.
"Qualcuno l'ha mangiata? Someone ate it?" Mario guessed.
"Yes, and I bet you know who that someone was." Peach replied.
It didn't take long for Mario to come up with the answer.
"Bowser did it." Mario said.
"Exactly..." Peach replied, sounding not-so-happy.
Mario was not surprised that he got the answer correct, and he wasn't surprised that Peach wasn't happy with Bowser eating the cake meant for him. He said to Peach, "Dimmi cosa è successo. Tell me what happened. Please."
Peach took a deep breath and got ready to tell him what brought this whole thing on.
"It all started last night. I dreamed about the night we became boyfriend and girlfriend." Peach started.
"Una notte da ricordare... A night to remember..." Mario said, sighing happily as he thought back to that night. As he and Princess Peach shared their first kiss, Mario knew that he'd found the woman he would love for the rest of his life.
"It was indeed. Anyway, I was still thinking about my dream as I got ready for the day, and I made up my mind that I wanted to show my love and appreciation for you by inviting you to the castle for tea, and I also planned to make a cake for you." Peach continued.
"Really, Peach? Sei davvero dolce. You are so sweet." Mario replied, looking at Peach with love hearts emanating from his body.
"No, you're the sweet one. That's why I made you a cake." Peach replied with a giggle.
"What happened next?" Mario asked.
"Well, after breakfast, I went into the kitchen and started preparing the cake. It was an angel food cake, like this one is." Peach began.
"Ooh, you're fixing me la tua specialità, your specialty?" Mario asked, impressed. Even though he loved chocolate cake, he thought he died and went to the Overthere the first time he tried her angel food cake. She wouldn't bake that heavenly treat for just anybody.
"Yes, Mario, I did. I also allowed the Toads to lick the mixing bowl, the beaters, and the scraper, and I washed the dishes while the cake baked. It felt really good to do something nice for you for a change, after all the times you helped save me and my kingdom from dire peril." Peach said.
"And do you know why I help you, Peach? Perché ti amo. Because I love you." Mario told her, but he was blushing as he spoke.
"I love you, too, Mario." Peach replied, also blushing. Then she said, "Now where was I? Oh, yes. After the cake had cooled, I carefully frosted it with marshmallow cream, and I even added a sweet message on top in red icing. It said, 'To the man I love'. In fact, the 'o' in the word 'love' was shaped like a heart." Peach said.
Mario was blushing even more when he heard that. Peach really knew how to make someone like him feel so special.
"After frosting the cake and icing on the sweet message, I went to my room, wrote the letter, and mailed it to you. I could hardly wait for you to get the letter and come to the castle! That dream I had made me so eager to see you again." Peach continued.
"When I got your letter, I was so excited, I quickly got myself ready to go." Mario replied.
"Before long, I discovered that perhaps I should have called you instead, because you would've gotten here a lot quicker if I had done so." Peach said.
"If you had called me, I would've been at the castle before you could say 'amore', the Italian word for 'love'." Mario said.
Peach smiled at that, but it was replaced by a frown as she said, "I realized what I should have done when I came back downstairs to wait for you, and maybe to even start preparing the tea. When I walked into the dining hall, my breath stopped in a gasp, for I saw the worst thing in the world."
"Bowser was in there?" Mario guessed.
"Yes, he was. And do you know what he was doing?" Peach asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Was he making a mess?" Mario asked.
"No. I only wish that's what he had been doing, but it was worse than that, Mario. Much worse. He was eating the cake I made for you!" Peach said, starting to feel sad. She had tears in her lovely blue eyes.
"Oh no! Per favore, non piangere, principessa. Please don't cry, Princess." Mario said, reaching out and giving Peach a hug to try and comfort her.
"When... when I s-saw what he was... d-doing... I... I-I screamed at him to S-STOP!" Peach cried.
"Did he stop?" Mario asked.
"He did. O-only after he'd... devoured the... the whole c-cake...!" Peach replied, now crying for real in Mario's arms.
"Oh, Princess..." Mario said, rubbing her back in a comforting way.
"And then he... he burped really loudly, and... and he didn't even say 'excuse me'!" Peach added.
"If he really is a king, then he should know how to behave in front of una principessa, a princess. I know you appreciate politeness. Guess I should teach him some manners next time I need to teach him a lesson." Mario said, frowning as he thought of the evil Koopa King who seemed to enjoy causing trouble for Peach.
"When Bowser s-saw me... he... he acted as though... the c-cake had been for... for him, because he... he th-thanked me for it..." Peach wept.
"Looks like he refuses to accept that you hate him, and maybe he's illiterate. And we now know that on top of all that, he is also blind, because he obviously couldn't see how upset you were when he did that." Mario replied, gently stroking Peach's long, silky golden tresses, trying to calm her.
"Obviously, b-because I t-told him the cake was... m-meant for you... B-but when he heard th-that... he... he got r-really angry... and started bad-mouthing you..." Peach replied, fresh tears brimming in her eyes as she looked at Mario.
"What kind of horrible things did he say about me, Peach?" Mario asked, wishing he'd known all this before he took down Bowser so he could have given him a beating more severe than anything he'd given him in the past.
"He... h-he said... Oh Mario... the things he s-said... about you... I-I wouldn't dare... r-repeat them... They... they weren't even... t-true..." Peach replied, the tears falling down her cheeks as she buried her face in Mario's chest again, sobbing.
"Oh, honey. Don't worry. I taught Bowser a lesson for everything." Mario assured Peach as he held her close, not intending to let her go, reminding her why she loved him so much.
Peach wiped at her eyes with her napkin, and said, "I... I told him to... t-take it all back, but... but he refused! Then he... he s-s-sealed us in the walls!"
"I knew something was up when I entered the castle and was greeted not by your angelic voice, but a mean, gruff voice saying, 'Welcome. No one's home! Now scram-and don't come back! Gwa ha ha!'" Mario said. He even did a hilarious imitation of Bowser's voice. It was intended to help Peach feel better, but it didn't work.
"Y-yes, Mario... b-by the time... you arrived, it... i-it was too l-late..." Peach sobbed.
Oh, how Mario hated seeing Peach cry like that. It always made him feel bad to see her feeling this way. Whenever Peach was upset, he'd do whatever he could to comfort her.
"Sei al sicuro ora. You're safe now, Peach. I taught that worthless idiota a lesson for you. You know how I did it? I grabbed him by the tail, swung him around, and sent him flying into 5 different bombs to ensure that he's never going to do anything stupido like he did to you again." Mario promised.
"You... y-you did?" Peach asked, calming down a bit as she looked into Mario's honest blue eyes.
"L'ho fatto. I did. And every time I sent him flying, I said to him, 'So long, Gay Bowser'." Mario replied.
Peach smiled slightly at that. She was amused that Mario had referred to Bowser as 'gay', and he didn't mean 'gay' as in happy but as in... the other meaning of the word.
(A/N: I know Mario didn't really say 'Gay Bowser', but we all agree that it really did sound like he said that.)
"Peach, is that a smile I see? Are you smiling?" Mario asked, seeing the slight smile on her pretty face.
Peach's smile grew as she looked at the man she loved. She was also blushing as she nodded her head.
"There it is! There's that pretty smile I love seeing!" Mario exclaimed as he pulled the Princess into a kiss, which she was only too happy to return.
"I really did feel bad that everything was ruined before you got here, Mario. I mean, I had everything beautifully planned out, and Bowser just had to show up and put a damper on all my plans to surprise you." Peach replied after they ended the kiss.
"I'm not blaming you, Peach. It wasn't your fault. I completely understand. You're not to blame for any of it." Mario assured her.
"Is the cake any good?" Peach asked.
"È delizioso! It's-a delicious!" Mario replied.
"I'm sorry it's not like the first one I made, that you never got to eat..." Peach began to apologize.
"Don't worry about that, Peach. The fact you made your special angel food cake just for me makes it all the more special... and sweet..." Mario said, sighing in happiness after swallowing another bite of cake.
Peach smiled and hugged Mario tight, glad that she was finally able to show him how much she loved and appreciated him, and she was so happy that he was a kind, caring, understanding man. She knew she would love him forever.
The End
That's what I think might have happened. Peach did make a cake to show her appreciation for Mario, but Bowser ate it and ruined everything before Mario even arrived! Hope you all enjoyed this!
