So, I just bought a house... A very old house that needs a lot of work done on it... I'm glad I have my writing to cheer me up. This chapter we finally find out what's wrong with Peach and I really enjoyed writing Toadsworth. I find him very funny, if a little bit sad.

Peach sat on the hard plastic chair of the waiting room, her hands locked together in her lap, heels restlessly scuffing the floor. After her rescue from Bowser's castle, whatever was wrong with her had only gotten worse. Even in the midst of her subjects and the bustle of the court she felt bored and lonely. Despite being kidnapped hundreds of times, she now seemed unable to cope emotionally, becoming angry and weepy by turns, which could not be hidden from others in the castle, including her guardian Toadsworth. Which was why she was not sitting in this uncomfortable chair in this white-washed sterile room. Always fussy to a fault, Toadsworth had quickly hit on the solution of hustling her off to the doctor's office.

No one else in the waiting room said a word, though Peach could see some of the other patients glance at her from time to time with a mixture of pity and nervousness. Her subjects didn't want to be rude by intruding on whatever trouble had brought her here but she could see two women tilt their spotted caps close together and guessed they were whispering about her. The fact that the princess had shown up in the Toad Town Hospital would be all over the news by evening, doubtless giving Toadsworth fits in the process.

"Princess Toadstool." A pretty young toad in a blue dress and a crisp white apron stuck her head out from behind the door to the examination room and beckoned. "We're ready for you," she called and Peach followed her to a small room where a hospital gown was laid out, the special pink version facilities in the Mushroom Kingdom kept on hand specially for her. "I'll just give you a second to change," the girl said, holding the door for her, "and be right back to ask you some questions. I'm Nurse Bella, by the way."

"Thanks," said Peach to the closed door before starting to change her clothes. She left her gloves on and her crown. It helped her feel less vulnerable. Very soon, Nurse Bella was back to take her height and weight (5' and 120 lbs with crown), ask her about her diet and sleep patterns, and listen to her heart and lungs.

"Any major stresses in your life recently?" she started to ask, then giggled. "Oh, of course, silly me. You were just kidnapped. That's got to be a major stress."

"I suppose it would be," Peach agreed with a half smile.

"Ah, don't worry, Princess. You'll always have Mario to save you.

"That's true." The thought made her both exhilarated and uncomfortable, remembering what had been in her mind during the fight.

"You're blushing," Nurse Bella almost squealed. "Is there something we don't know...about Mario?"

Peach shook her head, blushing even harder. There was nothing about Mario, or about Bowser for that matter, that her entire kingdom didn't know. Bowser kidnapped her and Mario rescued her. That was the way it had always been. "Are you referring to the rumor that Mario and I have a relationship?" she asked uncertainly.

"Is it true?" Bella cried, even as she was shining her little light up the princess's nose and into her ears.

"I don't think so," Peach mumbled, acutely uncomfortable about being asked personal questions while during a physical examination. "I've tried baking him cakes and things like that but he's never said anything about a relationship."

Bella looked sad for a moment, then brightened quickly, slapping the blood-pressure cuff onto Peach's arm. "Well, Mario doesn't talk much," she said cheerfully. "I mean, I know he talks to you but, when he's out in public he barely says a word. Maybe he just can't verbalize things like that. Has he ever taken you on a date?"

"Well he took me to the Toad Youth Brigade play at the Spring Festival," said Peach doubtfully. "But..."

"That could be a date. Did he pay for you?"

"The show was free but he did get lemonade and cotton candy for me."

"Sure sounds like a date to me. How about physical contact? Did you hold hands?"

"Yes, well at least a little bit."

"Did you kiss?"

"No...should we have?"

Judging by the way Nurse Bella started jumping up and down with excitement, the answer almost certainly was yes, but Peach never got to hear it for, at that moment, the door and a elderly toad with a droopy mustache and a severe look on his face entered the room. "Again, Bella?" He glared at the nurse, whose face went white as her apron. "Gossiping with the patients when I'm already behind schedule? This is your last warning, young lady. Next time, you'll be out of a job with a permanent mark on your record."

"I'm so sorry, Doctor Port," mumbled Bella.

"Don't waste your spores on me, just show me the report." Snatching the paper out of her hand, he squinted hard at it, his eyes getting narrower and narrower as he read through each item on the list. "Weight gain, rapid pulse, elevated heart rate, yes, yes, " he muttered to himself. "Blushes easily, shy, mood swings, wants to talk about dating. I should have expected this."

"Should have expected what, Doctor Port?" asked Peach weakly, starting to feel sick with worry.

"Eh? My apologies, princess." Doctor Port looked up form his list and made a completely unsuccessful attempt to smile reassuringly at her. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. In fact, everything happening here is completely right and normal."

"Normal? But I feel so strange."

"I am very sorry. This is just a phase you're going through. I won't lie, you may be in for a rough time in the near future. But I promise it will pass. I'll give Toadsworth detailed instructions for your care and I'm sure he'll have you back on track in no time."

Peach felt herself starting to get frustrated, then angry, wanting desperately to ask why he couldn't give her her own care instructions. It wasn't that Toadsworth wasn't reliable, just that the best person to take care of her was, well, herself. Besides, how could it hurt to have one more pair of eyes watching out for her? But she couldn't do it. It' would sound like she didn't trust Toadsworth, which would hurt him terribly, and, despite how overbearing he could be at times, she couldn't do that to the old toad who'd raised her from a baby. Besides, what if the doctor said no? Did she have the will to command him and, even if she did, would he refuse. Peach felt something turn over in her stomach and started to feel sick. She was the ruler of the mushroom kingdom. She had to be. The thought that she was just a pretty puppet, all real power an illusion, was so unbearable. She worked so hard for her subjects. If it turned out they didn't trust her with anything, even her own health...

She could not challenge, being too afraid of losing. There was an itching pressure far back in her nose, a sign she was likely to cry, and Peach knew she needed to get out of here quickly. Dropping a deep formal curtsy, even in her hospital gown, as she thanked both doctor and nurse profusely, she began gathering up her clothes, hoping they would get the hint. They did but, as they left, both gave her what seemed to be knowing looks, which didn't make Peach feel better at all. Still sniffling, the princess changed back into her dress as quickly as possible, her gloved fingers fumbling on the zipper in her haste. No one ever wanted to tell her anything. Not the doctor, not Toadsworth, not even Mario, who couldn't even tell her if they were dating or not, which was something she deserved to know not just as a princess but as a person.

That thought pulled her up short. Why should she care so much if Mario thought of her as a girlfriend or not? It must be awfully important for her to get so worked up over it, on par with fearing her kingdom wasn't really hers. Fishing her dainty handkerchief out of her pocket, she wiped her eyes carefully as no one would see she might have been crying, even just a little. Was that it, what Nurse Bella kept harping on? "Maybe I'm in love with Mario," she whispered to the mirror in her compact as she made sure her make-up wasn't smudged. "Maybe I want him to kiss me." And then she felt an echo, a tiny quiver really, of the beautiful terror she had felt when she stood on the stool in the closet of Bowser's castle.

"Well, spit it out then." Toadsworth glared at Doctor Port, almost bouncing in his chair in impatience.

The doctor eyed him coolly, taking another long drink from his glass of brandy. "Try to calm yourself, sir," he admonished, reaching for a petti fore from the stacked glass display on the end table beside them. "You'll give yourself a heart attack if you keep on like this."

"Darn skippy, I will," Toadsworth cried, becoming even more agitated. "It's my precious little Peachy we're talking about, old chap, so hop to it."

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with the princess. She's just..."

"Balderdash! You expect me to believe that for one second?"

"No, I expect you to believe it permanently." The doctor spoke slowly, as if explaining to a small child. "The princess's life is not at risk in any way, shape, or form."

"Then why is she acting so weird? That's not my little Peachy, by cracky it's not."

"You're powers of deduction are astounding," Doctor Port said dryly, helping himself to more brandy and sweets. "Brace yourself and believe me when I say she is most definitely not your little Peachy anymore. The princess is becoming a woman with all that that entails."

"A grown woman and not my sweet little girl? Never again?" Toadsworth began to sniffle. "I remember when she was a just a wee baby and would make me do acrobatic tricks to amuse her all day long. I was so sore I could barely walk but I'd give anything to have those days back now." He blew his nose loudly and sobbed again.

"Pull yourself together, can't you? The Princess still needs you. This isn't going to be an easy time for her. It's up to you to provide her with what she needs most in her adult life."

"And what is that?" asked Toadsworth, mustache dripping, peering tentatively out from behind her handkerchief.

"A husband, of course."

"A husband? Oh no! No, no, no, no, no! No, I say. My little Peachy is far too young to marry. I positively forbid it."

"You can't keep her a child forever, no matter what you do. You may have fooled her mind, at least for now. But her body's grown up on its own and you're powerless to stop it. If you really love her, you'll try to find her someone who'll take care of her as well as you do."

"If I really love her," stammered Toadsworth. "I do, so..." He nodded resignedly before breaking down once more.