Enjoy!

Chapter Thirty-S

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to

Nintendo and their affiliates. I just am really grateful to its creators for giving

me such a wonderful game and media series to write about!

I also don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all that belongs to J.K. Rowling,

but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this

story to make it more interesting.

I also don't own anything related to Naruto if you see me throw a little of that, too

In a way they were alike; the rake and the witch. Both were unique and well-known figures around the Roma community. Who hadn't heard of the strange little child who could make things move? And the mysterious, womanizing foreigner had made himself known when he made it his mission to proposition every woman in sight. Of course, when she came of age, the witch was no exception, nor was she different in her response to his offers; like the other women, she turned him down, but that was where her similarities with them ended. She was even stranger as a young woman, and slightly more powerful. Good-hearted, for she did things to help the gypsies who'd taken her in, but still strange. It was no wonder the rake was her only companion, if the meaning of the word were taken loosely. He'd been hiding, the rake. Running from his past. He thought himself invisible amongst the gypsies but the day came where he grew too slow and his demons came for him in the night. And who but the witch was there to witness?

Eighteen and curious, running through the woods in the middle of the night. Cursed woods, at that. But she couldn't help herself. She rarely was curious about anything; she was usually others' source of curiosity, being who she was. So when she was awoken by the presence of…something nudging at her magic, she had to find the cause. No, she hadn't done that yet, but she had happened upon the even odder event of the rake tearing through the bengelo woods like the dogs were at his back. Naturally, having nothing to look forward to in the coming day, she followed, but now she was having second thoughts.

She'd meant to find out what had possessed the rake to take off like that, thinking it had something to do with the Roma finally tiring of his exploits and banishing him, but no; they were quite tolerant. And she could detect no one but herself and the sprinting, panting foreigner in the woods. So it stood to reason that the rake was running from something or someone serious, dangerous, which both frightened and thrilled the witch.

"No! Wait!"

He'd fallen and in an instant there was someone else in front of him. The presence of a third party made the witch pull up short just inches away from the scene of the rake, doubled over, and a taller man above him. She watched as this new man circled the coughing rake, who was talking about money and payment.

"If you let me go I'll—"

All it took was an outstretched hand and a flash of blue light and the rake was knocked flat onto his back, out cold. The witch flinched, doubly so for she'd felt the impact of that somehow; no, not in the usual way she could empathetically take on others' pleasures, emotions, or pains. She'd felt the power behind that blow, she'd felt the magic.

"Magic like mine," She whispered, in awe that there was someone else like her.

With his hand still hovering over the prone body of the rake the other man swiveled his head in her direction and seemed to look directly at her. The witch shrank back and stepped on dried leaves and branches, drawing more attention to herself. She wrapped her arms tightly round her middle and shivered when the man now turned himself to face her fully.

"Who's there?" He asked, stepping slowly towards her.

She stepped back again, making more noise, but instead of coming any closer the man stopped, too. He didn't move, but something happened. The witch could feel it again, that thing nudging against her magic; it was his own, pulsing outwards from his body like an unseen wave, hitting against the trees and grass and animals and herself and bouncing back towards its host, letting him know who and what surrounded him. He smiled.

"Come out and show yourself." He called softly. "I won't hurt you."

The witch didn't move. She'd heard that before in the few times she'd left the safety of the community and ventured out into the rest of the world. It turned out most of Russia weren't as accepting and friendly as her surrogate family. Learning from that, the young witch stayed where she was. But the choice to remain in hiding was taken from her when the man's magic brushed her own again, this time more insistently. It pushed against hers and instinctively she pushed back but his will overpowered her own and she found herself moving forward, pulled like a marionette until she was face-to-moonlit-face with the other individual. He appraised the woman and she him. Without him controlling her, she was free to bring her arms, bare in the night, back around her waist. For sleeping was her white gown's purpose, unsuited for her impromptu trek through the forest. It was still mostly clean but had spots of dirt and leaves on it. This is what the man brushed off her shoulders in a ploy to touch her. She let him, far more engrossed in taking in the sight of someone like her. He was nothing similar in dress with his long coat that covered everything up to the chin but his hair was like hers; wild. Hers was much more so but there was a familiar unkemptness to the black, shoulder-length locks. He moved his hand from her shoulder and took a few of her curls between his bone-white fingers.

"What are you doing out in the night, little Roma girl?"

She swallowed and said, "I followed you. I felt your magic."

The man tilted his head and asked, "Did you now?"

The witch nodded and admitted, "I have magic, too."

Now with intrigue he stared at the girl and smiled once more.

"So you do," He declared as if he'd checked. "How peculiar. What else is there to be found among the gypsies, I wonder?"

His comment made the young woman glance over to the fallen rake, and she shuddered. The man before her smirked after tracing her gaze back to his victim.

"I wouldn't worry about him." He advised.

She asked, "Did you kill him?"

"Hardly." The man answered smoothly. "I'm a collector, you see. He's got a large sum on his head."

"Oh, you're a bounty hunter." The witch surmised, stepping back.

The man said arrogantly, "No. The bounty hunters couldn't find him. So they came to me." He stepped into her personal space and added softly, "There's nothing or no one I cannot find, you see."

Staring up at him the witch shuddered again, but was excited at the feeling of another's magic interacting with her own. It was enough to dull the voice in her head telling her to run far, far away from this enigmatic stranger.

"What is your name?"

"Aishe Katerena Petrov." She recited, as if rehearsed.

She felt no real connection to the name, but it was what she'd been called by the gypsies since she was a very small child. The man heard this and smiled broadly.

"Katerena." He echoed. "Enchanting name. It suits you, I would say."

The rake groaned behind them. He was coming to. The man saw this and turned.

"Who are you?" The witch blurted, growing desperate at the sight of her fellow magician's too-soon departure.

Turning back to her the man smirked and said, "I'll tell you when I see you again, Katerena."

"Did you see him again?"

Already Daisy was absorbed in the tale her best friend was recounting. Alicia had taken a moment to pause and shiver inside as her words painted a haunting, detailed image of that fateful night years ago.

I should have just run away, she lamented, but knew that her past was already sealed. She sighed and gazed from her lap to her friend's inquisitive light eyes.

"Unfortunately, I did see him again." She replied. "Lots of times."

He'd told her his name was Nikolai and that he was a hunter of all sorts of things, but he'd showed her so much more. His brand of sorcery was both aggressive and refined, and was specifically meant to aid him in his profession. But he'd shown her superfluous tricks and techniques as well, meant only to entertain. Then there was the practical sort of magic she was used to, mostly for performing everyday tasks more easily. And of course he knew about healing and mending wounds and injuries. All this he taught her in short sessions during his frequent visits over the course of a few months. Sometimes work brought him near, but most times he came simply to be near her. He was obsessed with her, the fascinating little witch who was more hair than body and as clever and talented as she was beautiful. It wasn't long before he made his intentions clear, and not soon after he was asking her to run away with him.

"I can't." Was her initial answer.

To leave behind the Roma was to leave behind the only life she knew. She'd not made a habit of going anywhere other than the community and, in truth, the rest of the world scared her. But she was taken with Nikolai and let herself be persuaded. But not without hesitation.

"Where will we go?" She wanted to know.

He'd told her, "We'll travel with my brother and the League."

And then she'd wanted to know what the League was, and that led to the beginning of a cycle of evasive, ambiguous, open-ended answers that told her nothing and left her frustrated and confused.

"He took you to the League?" Daisy frowned, "To that pit of snakes?"

Alicia shrugged and said, "It would've happened sometime."

"What happened there?"

"It was awful." Alicia groaned. "I hated it there and I'm pretty sure they all hated me, especially his brother. I told Nikolai and he said he would do something about it."

Daisy held in a snort and asked, "Did he?"

Alicia shook her head. "He was more concerned with starting a family. He said we should focus on getting married and having a child."

The princess frowned and asked, "If that's the case, why'd he bring you there in the first place?"

"He said his brother wanted him to come back." Alicia replied. "He had to listen since Callian was their leader."

"I bet he hated that." Daisy did snort this time.

"You have no idea."

"Isn't a feast usually a good thing?"

He was looking at her like 'that' again, like she was the most naïve thing on the planet. She'd grown to loathe that look. She hated when he didn't take her seriously, which was nearly all the time. The only time he looked at her like she was a woman and not some ditzy little girl was when he was teaching her magic and when he was trying to get her pregnant.

She shuddered.

He'd accomplished that, so thankfully the long nights of mechanical, uncomfortable copulating were over. The passion had long faded and Nikolai hadn't concerned himself with kissing and caressing her like he used to. He was much more concerned with making sure his seed took. All he cared about was having a child and he sort of scared her with his single-mindedness. But now he had it, she was a couple months into her pregnancy and he'd calmed down a bit. But now he was fixated with keeping her safe and healthy and when he wasn't being overbearing, he was throwing a fit over something his brother did. She swore he had more mood swings than her and she was the one carrying another human. Today he was on edge because Callian heard about the pregnancy and wanted to celebrate the news. Well, that's what she thought, but apparently Nikolai was convinced his brother had foul intentions.

"Can you just relax? You're stressing me and the baby out." She asked of her pacing husband.

At the mention of the baby Nikolai stopped pacing in their shared room at the League headquarters and inspected her critically. She threw up her hands and shook her head.

"Maybe this feast is a good idea after all," She stated. "Maybe it'll get you to stop thinking everything's some big conspiracy. It's just a feast. Your brother's probably trying to have a truce or something with you since he'll be an uncle soon, you never know." She shrugged.

On the bed she sat and Nikolai stared hard at her, quiet. He sauntered over to her and bent down to give her a kiss. Those had come few and far between since he'd brought her to the League so she learned to appreciate each one. He stood again and held her cheek.

"Oh Katerena," He murmured. "You pretty little fool."

She flinched and would have pushed his hand away had he not moved it away himself as he turned and left the room. She, not for the first time, wondered if it was too late to cut her losses and go back home to the gypsies.

"He wasn't paranoid." Alicia said, then amended, "well he was—unhealthily so—but he was right about the feast."

"Something happened?" Daisy asked.

Alicia nodded and said, "That was the night that changed everything."

True, he was sexist and uncouth, but he had class. Somewhat. Enough to put on a decent celebration. Callian had transformed the dining hall into a more elegant version of its former self; gone were the metal chairs and long rusty table. Now there were high-backed wooden chairs and the oak table was covered in candles and a fine white cloth. And the food looked better than the usual gruel the League members were somehow living off of: the food actually looked like food now. The witch was impressed.

"Everything looks nice," She remarked to her husband behind her.

That observation would include the two of them, for Nikolai was dressed more formally in black and blue, much to the same style as the other arriving members. His wife made no secret of her progress with the lovely navy dress she wore and walked with her hands over her stomach. There was a protectiveness to the position; she didn't really trust anyone here, not even Nikolai, not fully. But she smiled at them anyway as she and Nikolai sat near Callian's right.

"Katerena." He spoke softly, taking her wrist before she could sit next to Nikolai.

She shared a look with her husband—he looked irritated—before glancing down at the rugged immortal.

He dipped his head towards the empty seat at his left and said, "I want you here."

She couldn't disobey. With another look across from her at Nikolai, who was even more aggravated, she sat gingerly next to her brother-in-law. The food was magically served and the others began to eat.

"Katerena you look," Callian stared at her as he searched for the right word. "…remarkable."

"I suppose there are worse things I could be." She responded cheekily.

Callian just looked at her as if she should have been grateful for even that poor excuse of a compliment. The young witch supposed she should have been, since that was the most civil thing Callian had said to her in their entire time of knowing one another. For some reason he despised her and didn't hold back in letting her know it. She leveled his malice with sarcasm or silence most times. She did feel like maybe he was lightening up, what with the feast and his lack of calling her any derogatory names…yet.

"How far along are you?" Was the second thing he said to her.

The witch blinked, then replied, "About a couple months."

"That's wonderful." Callian said, alarming her with his small smile.

She sent a worried look at Nikolai, who missed it for how hard he was scrutinizing his brother. They were both noticing his uncanny behavior. Callian rarely smiled. Scowling was more his thing.

"You two are moving pretty fast, don't you think?" Callian finally spoke to his brother. He said as if talking to himself, "I wonder why?"

Nikolai said tersely, "If you've got something to say, Cal, come out and say it."

Callian smirked at his brother and then abruptly turned back to the witch, holding up his hand.

"May I?" He asked, looking at her stomach.

She had some choice words for him but gave him the clean version of what she was thinking by simply shaking her head.

"Katerena," Callian drawled chidingly, "we're all very happy for you and my brother, don't ever doubt it. I wouldn't think of harming my future nephew." He then looked to Nikolai and spoke knowingly, "That is what you're hoping for, right? A son? An heir?"

There was something accusatory in his tone that Nikolai bristled at right away. Callian faced the witch once more and didn't ask before reaching for her stomach again. She slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch my wife!" Nikolai shouted, rising.

Callian rolled his eyes and said, "Calm down, Nikky, I won't hurt her. I just want to see how successful you were." He looked to the witch and asked, "You want to know if you're having a boy or not, don't you?"

She didn't see any harm in that, but kept her magic at the ready anyway in case he tried to hurt her or her child. She wasn't as skilled as Callian, no one in the League was, not magically, but she could protect herself if need be.

Callian's hand was heavy and warm on her stomach and she shifted under the weight of it. Even though it was only there for a second, his maddening grin had scoping herself from the inside out, checking for any hint of trouble. She couldn't find anything wrong, so either he hadn't done anything or he'd covered his tracks too well. He turned from her to Nikolai and when her husband saw his brother's expression white-hot anger spread across his face and he stormed out of the room, slamming the doors to the dining hall behind him.

"So melodramatic," Callian chuckled, looking at the witch.

She was bewildered at her husband's reaction. Sure, she would have liked a boy but either was fine, either would be loved. She didn't understand why Nikolai was so mad. She figured maybe the League was more sexist than she thought.

Callian told her, "I can't blame him for being disappointed. I mean, he's getting a daughter. What good are those?"

The witch glared at him and stood. As she was walking out of the dining room, she heard the leader still going.

"With any luck, Katerena, she'll be twice as pretty but half as—"

She didn't hear any more because she'd magically tuned him out. There was only so much of Callian she could take. However, she hadn't taken five steps before she ran into his son.

"Munson told me everything." Alicia sighed. "He was only fourteen, but he was Callian's son. He knew what was really going on, and he told me everything."

"Which was?" Daisy prompted.

Alicia said wearily, "Basically, Nikolai was using me to get a male heir so he could take his brother's place as leader of the League. He was using me, probably from the start. That's why he was so gung-ho about getting married and having a child." She pinched two fingers together as she said bitterly, "I was just a..tiny ass chink in his grand master plan."

Daisy didn't know what to say and opted for silence. She could sense how hard it was for Alicia to talk about this. She'd probably cared about him a great deal so to be used so callously was unimaginably painful.

"I hate myself for it but I'd fallen in love with Nikolai." Alicia admitted. "I was looking forward to having his child and moving away from the League and starting a family and being together forever."

"Asshole." Daisy hissed, angry for her friend's sake. "So what happened after you found out?"

"I got the hell outta there, D, that's what!" Alicia answered, then frowned and said, "But he eventually found me and that was…the most painful day of my life."

"Do you remember what I told you the first day I saw you?"

That had to be a rhetorical question, or maybe he was mocking her for being so stupid. How could she forget those cocky words? She hadn't known at the time how much they'd come back to haunt her.

"Aishe, sweetie, it's getting la—oh!" The intruding woman stopped talking once she saw the witch wasn't alone. "I didn't know you had company. I'll leave you to it, dear."

Alone again she was with her husband after so long. About half a year had passed since she found out the truth from his nephew and packed her bags and left. She'd first thought to go home to the gypsies, but along the way she found something else. A kindly woman ran a sort of house for pregnant girls and ladies and she was able to have her daughter in peace and privacy. But the girl looked so much like Nikolai, reminded her so much of the man she hated that she couldn't go a day without both smiling and crying at the same time. But she loved her daughter and would do anything to protect her.

"He was going to hurt a lot of people," Alicia rubbed a hand over her face. "Including my daughter. So I went back to him."

"What?" Daisy frowned. "So you ran off and he found you in the real world?"

"Yeah," Alicia nodded. "The League has their main headquarters here, but there are smaller locations in other places."

"I don't understand," Daisy still frowned. "Couldn't you have used your magic to protect yourself and your daughter like you did with you and Dean today?"

"I wasn't so advanced back then." Alicia said. "The main reason I got better was so that I could defend myself against him."

Daisy shook her head and asked, "So if you went back with Nikolai, what happened to your daughter?"

"He promised that if I went back with him, he wouldn't mess with either the ladies at the house or my little girl." Alicia rolled her eyes and said, "But I'd be damned if I ever trusted anything else he said. I left her in the care of someone very trustworthy. I knew I had to do something to make sure Nikolai could never touch her."

"What did you do?"

Alicia smirked and said, "If he even gets within a hundred feet of her, I'll know. If he tries to to do something from a remote location, I'll know. And I will kill him. For her I will."

That tone, that stony expression; Daisy didn't doubt her friend's words. She shifted on the bed so that her legs were tucked to the side and tried to piece together the story of the other young woman's life.

"So you found out about him, then you left," She calculated.

"He threatened my daughter, I surrendered and came back with him." Alicia grimaced. "And it was even worse the second time around. Callian knew there was, 'trouble in paradise' and loved to rub it in every chance he got. Not to mention I had to deal with Nikolai trying to get me to squeeze out an heir as soon as possible."

"Disgusting." Daisy remarked, looking like she wanted to spit.

Alicia said, "Tell me about it. What he didn't know is that Cal was slipping contraceptives in my food. And what he didn't know was that I was doubling the potency."

"That didn't have any ill effects on you, did it?" Daisy worried.

"No, but it'd be worth it, even still." Alicia said passionately. "I would never give that beast another child."

"So you must have gotten out of there again because, I mean, you're here so…" Daisy trailed.

Alicia nodded and said, "Right. See, I was building up my skills the whole time. It wasn't easy, especially with no master or tutor since Nikolai was so paranoid I'd attack him, but I had the right motivation. I had to play dumb of course if anyone in the League challenged me."

"You fought your way out?" Daisy guessed.

"No," Alicia answered. "I mean I did, many times I escaped, but Nikolai just kept finding me and finding me. That was when I got approached by Munson."

"Callian's son?"

Alicia nodded. "He hated it there almost as much as I did and he wanted out, too. Said something about his mother. Anyway, he was the one that helped me out. I still don't know how, since he said the less I knew, the less Callian could get out of me in case his plan failed. He's a brave kid. I owe him big…well, I guess I've repaid him."

"Whoa," Daisy breathed, "I thought you said he was thirteen?"

"He was fourteen, but he was smart." Alicia said. "And no one suspected him. He got me back to the real world."

"Where'd you go from there?" Daisy asked. She crossed her arms and said, "I know you didn't go back to Russia."

"Course not," Alicia's curls bounced as she shook her head. "I went to America. And of course Nikolai kept finding me, and I had to keep moving around, but when I got to New York I'd gotten very good at hiding who and what I am, not just from other people but from Nikolai."

"Give me dates; how long did it take?" Daisy wondered. "A year?"

Alicia snorted and said, "Try three. And that was just until I got to New York and faded into anonymity. I met Dean right around the time I changed my name to Alicia."

It took its toll on her, going through seven different identities in two years. But she had no choice, she'd had to keep running, keep cutting or dying her hair, magically altering her appearance and body to avoid her stalker husband. She knew it was all in vain, though. Some kind of way he kept finding her. Every three or four months, after she was well on her way to establishing herself, he'd show up out the blue and start hurting people around her. Never her, he knew she was more powerful than him by this point, so he took the coward's route and hurt the people around her. That's what made her stop making friends. Dating was out of the question; she shuddered to think of what he'd do if she had a mind clear enough to start seeing someone. As it was she was looking over her shoulder too much to see any potential suitors coming her way. She was much too stressed with dodging the sorcerer and much too haunted by her now-adopted daughter to even consider settling down.

Well, that's what she thought. Apparently life had another plan for her and his name was Dean Wilson. The name tag he wore the day they met at a job fair told her so.

She'd wandered downtown to the event only because she felt confident enough to finally do so. Never had she attempted to get one in the past because she hadn't thought she'd stick around long enough. But it'd been five months, five full months, and she'd seen hide nor greasy black hair of Nikolai. She first did the basics; birth certificate, I.D., license. She then got herself a stable place to stay at a women's shelter. Now, thrilled and scared, she was getting a job.

"This is…overwhelming," She whispered, staring at all the kiosks set up around the large room.

The local college was putting on this job fair in the school's gymnasium and more people than she could count had shown up. She liked crowds. You could get lost in them easily. That's just what she did, too. She mirrored the other people milling about with bags in hand full of pamphlets and candies and pens, but unlike them she was actually paying attention to what the employers and representatives were saying. She just couldn't make much sense of it. W-2's, L-4's, I-9's; she had no idea what these people were talking about, and that was just the paperwork.

More and more hopeless she began to feel, wondering if she'd never truly fit in here. She felt angry at the gypsies for sheltering her from gaining any worldly experience and at Nikolai for stealing her away before she could make up for lost time. Now she was clueless.

"You look clueless."

"I am," The out-of-place witch spoke before looking at who'd spoken.

First she saw the dreads, a hairstyle that entranced her as she'd not seen anyone with them before. She wanted to touch them. His hair was just as unique as her own voluminous curls. Then she saw the warm dark brown eyes and matching dark clear skin. He couldn't have been much older than her. He may have been a year or two younger. But he was definitely taller and broader, but still slim for a young man. Crisp was his white shirt, tucked into black slacks as he sat languidly in a metal fold chair. The paper board behind him and the papers and business cards on the table in front of him were all neat and there was a bowl of chocolates to the side.

"I can help you," The young man offered, adding sheepishly, "but I don't think you'd like this job."

"Why not?" Now the witch was curious.

Everyone else seemed excited and peppy about the job they were informing others about. This young man seemed so laid-back and unenthusiastic.

He said, "It's pretty boring. But we do need someone to work the front desk so, if you want, you can do that."

"What's the front desk?" The witch asked, feeling silly but genuinely perplexed.

She didn't ask many questions after being laughed at a few tables back; they thought the dumb question she asked was her idea of a joke and she'd played along, then decided to just shut up from then on. But something about this guy made him seem more approachable. That, and his table was empty. The girl took a seat.

"The front desk," The young man repeated in his soft, deep voice. "You know, answering the phone, greeting people that walk in the office, filing and typing and stuff."

"Oh, right." She said as if she understood.

The guy leaned forward and smiled a bit. "Between you and me, they're just looking for a pretty face and for that you're overqualified."

When was the last time someone complimented her? No, not, 'nice ass, lady!' or anything vulgar or nasty, just a sweet compliment like that? Long enough for her to grin and feel something light and fluttery fill her stomach.

"So what do I need to do to work and…do that?" She asked, trying to sound professional.

She sat up straight and clasped her hands primly, hoping her posture and behavior would compensate for her ignorance. The young man didn't seem to be judging her. If anything he was more interested in holding back a yawn than anything.

"You just uh," He lost the war against the yawn here. "Sorry, I've been here since six setting up and stuff. You just have to fill out these three sheets and then you can come in tomorrow."

"What are these papers?" She asked, staring at the papers he'd slid in front of her.

She made to push back her curls but forgot she'd pinned them all up at the top of her head in a neat, braided knot. She instead drummed her fingers against the table and skimmed over the forms. It was a miracle she'd learned to read.

"This is the application," The guy pointed to one of the papers, "not that you need it really but we've got to have it on file. For legal reasons. I mean, we're a law firm so…"

He stared at the witch expectantly, whose sparkling dark eyes were blank and searching. He chuckled and she tilted her head.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, nothing." He said with a wry smile. "Just some corny humor. Um. Yeah. So…"

He continued to explain the papers and the job to her and all but she couldn't concentrate. He was right. It was boring stuff. But she did like the hypnotic hum his voice carried and the way he smelled, just barely, like something musky and mannish. And every time he pointed to something on the papers she stared at his hands and his gold watch and couldn't help but notice how clean his nails were.

"Um…"

"Huh?"

She mentally smacked herself at her moronic response. She hadn't been paying attention and now he was holding out a pen to her. She took it and stared at the paper.

"What do I do again?" she punctuated her inquiry with a weak smile.

The guy was patient. "Just sign the bottom."

She nodded and wrote 'Alicia', then stopped. She couldn't put 'Petrov' for obvious reasons but she'd gone through so many variations of it that she was momentarily stumped.

The young man peered across the table and joked, "No last name?"

She just smiled in what she hoped was a cute way. It made the guy laugh gently and that made her insides get all fuzzy.

"I'd give you mine," He quipped, "but then you'd be stuck with me."

She looked up at his name tag then and saw his name was Dean. Dean Wilson. She took a second to commit the name to memory before scribbling 'Peters' onto the paper.

"Does Dean know?"

Alicia looked at her friend dubiously.

"Alicia, you've gotta' tell him!" Daisy insisted. "Weren't you the one who said, 'secrets kill relationships'?"

"I know," Alicia flopped back onto the pillows and groaned. "but this isn't any secret. I don't want to run him off. He just asked me to marry him. I love him, Daisy. He's the best thing to ever come my way, he makes me sane again. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him, too."

"You're not gonna' lose him. You're gonna' do him a really huge favor." Daisy said softly. "I can bet, after today, he's totally confused. You need to clear all this up for him. If he truly loves you, losing him is the last thing you'll have to worry about."

Alicia sat up slowly, mulling over these words. She then nodded and said, "It's actually a good thing Nikolai turned up today. This needs to stop. I'll tell Dean but I've got to deal with Nikolai first. Once and for all. No more running."

Daisy nodded once and said, "Good for you. Good luck. If you want, you can stay here until you figure out what to do."

"No, I already put you and Luigi in enough danger." Alicia declined. "The people I care about tend to get hurt when I involve them in my affairs. I have to do this on my own."

"If you insist." Daisy shrugged. "Just be careful, alright."

Alicia nodded absently and Daisy took her hands and her attention.

"Alicia, I mean it." She spoke firmly. "Don't give him the satisfaction of doing something rash."

Alicia's expression grew insecure and timid again as she asked, "So…you still don't hate me? Even after all that?"

Daisy pulled her into her arms and the two hugged, with the princess saying, "I will never hate you, you crazy woman. Stop saying that. We're best friends for life. End of story."

Alicia pulled back with a watery smile. "What did you want to tell me?"

Daisy shrugged. "It doesn't matter anymore. Just keep in touch, okay? If you don't I'm hunting you down."

Alicia winced.

"Sorry." Daisy chuckled feebly. "It just slipped out."

A/N: So I finally quit a really crappy job and got another one; it seems better but we'll see how it turns out. I am just so glad I could drop the other one, it was stressing me out. Ugh.

Well that's all we'll be hearing from Alicia and Nikolai and Dean for a while. Sorry for all the exposition/flashbacks. Had to tie all that together.

Next we'll see what's going on with Munson and Wendy; whenever I think of them I hear, 'pumped up kicks' now, haha. That's what I get for listening to that when I write their scenes. The song just fits for some reason.

We'll also check in with Eri/Ari and Roy; things are gonna' get pretty serious there. And we'll see about Mario/Peach, Peasley, and Iggy/his mom. Where do you think she is? I'd love to hear your guesses ;)

I think you get the idea, lol. You'll be pretty much hearing from everyone. So stay tuned and keep the reviews coming! I love hearing from you guys!

Until next time…

~DymondGold~