4

Mario kneeled down next to Pauline's body and wept. Luigi walked over and was not able to understand why he would cry over a woman that he had never seen before. If Mario knew about her, how come he did not? Was he keeping secrets from him? If so, he did not want to ponder over it at the moment; he could not stand to see his brother cry. Luigi kneeled beside him and patted him on the back to ease the pain.

"Why did she have to go like this?" Mario bawled.

"It was Bowser's fault." Luigi said. "It wasn't our fault."

"If only I was able to fix our relationship!" Mario said.

"You two were in a relationship?!" Luigi asked.

Mario looked up at his brother and felt more tears running down his face. He had to tell Luigi the truth. There were no more secrets to be kept.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?!"

"Luigi, if you could understand the pain that I have!" Mario said. "I never told you because I was afraid that you would lose you self-esteem."

"Lose my self-esteem?!" Luigi said. "What on earth are you talking about?! I'm your brother! We're in this together! At least I thought…"

"I'm sorry I kept this a secret from you!" Mario cried. "I should've told you about it. Don't worry! Nothing crazy ever happened between us."

"Then why are you two apart from each other?" Luigi asked.

"I wish I could tell you, but it's too difficult to explain." Mario said. "All I can say is that we got into a bad argument."

Everyone else who was on the train gathered around the two brothers and Pauline's body with puzzled expressions.

"Are you two Mario and Luigi?" someone from the crowd asked.

Mario and Luigi stood up and introduced themselves in front of everyone and stirred up a frenzy of questions. It felt like they were being bombarded by the paparazzi.

"What are you two doing here?"

"What are you running from?"

"Were you guys the ones who destroyed your house?"

"What did you do to the princesses?"

"Are you two evil or good?"

"EVERYONE BE QUIET!" Luigi shouted.

Everyone immediately shut up and listened to the brothers as they explained themselves to the now skeptical crowd. They told them everything that has happened in the last three days right up to where they were standing now. They even told the crowd as to what they planning on doing to rescue the princesses and the world from Bowser's seductive and evil plan. The crowd, who was skeptical, now seemed more at ease and welcomed the two brothers in a whole different light than before.

"So you two were able to find the Diamond Star, one of the seven Crystal Stars used by the Shadow Queen a thousand years ago?" someone else questioned. "Can you show us the Diamond Star?"

Mario pulled out the star and the whole crowd was awestruck.

"It really is them!" someone else shouted. "They are the ones who will fulfill the prophecy!" The whole crowd started cheering.

Suddenly, Pauline started coughing as she slowly opened her eyes as she regained consciousness.

"She's alive!" the Toad person said.

Pauline looked up and saw the brothers standing over them. She saw Mario's face and was surprised to see him.

"Mario, is that you?" she asked in a weak tone.

"Yes, it's me." Mario replied.

"You…you guys saved my life." Pauline said. "Thank you."

Pauline stood up and embraced Mario for the first time in years and Mario could not help but embrace her as well. He did, however, feel uncomfortable seeing Pauline again. He still loved Peach, but he was afraid that Pauline would try to change his mind. His mind was already trying to steer him clear of Peach, but his heart was telling him to stay with Peach. Pauline let go of Mario and saw Luigi standing behind Mario.

"You must be Mario's brother." Pauline said.

"I am." Luigi said, surprised that she was able to get it right away.

"Mario has told me a lot about you." Pauline replied. "I heard that you were quite the smart one."

"Well, I…" Luigi said. "…I guess you could say that."

Pauline laughed, and then coughed. Luigi smiled at his brother.

"So you told her about me, but you didn't tell me about her?"

"Well…" Mario said. "It's a long story."

"I see." Luigi replied.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said another person in the crowd. "Let's take you guys to the capital to meet the king! He'll be glad to see you guys!"

"Really?" Mario asked.

"Of course! He's been reading about you guys and watching you two on the news for the past three days. He's worried that something bad has happened to you guys."

"Well, a lot of things have happened in the past three days that were bad." Luigi said. "But we survived."

"What exactly happened to you guys?" Pauline asked.

"We'll explain later." Mario said. "Here, take this green mushroom. It will make you feel better."

Pauline took the mushroom and examined it.

"Are you sure this isn't a poisonous mushroom?" she asked.

"I'm positive." Mario said. "It's perfectly harmless."

"Well, if you say so." she said, eating the mushroom.

"Come on! Let's go!" said the Toad person.

The brothers and Pauline followed the crowd down the road to the king's castle, which, the brothers heard, was not far from one of the many small towns that dot the Sarasalandian desert. Mario and Luigi were relieved that they were not going to be punished for entering the kingdom without a passport. As for Pauline, she could not seem to keep her eyes off of Luigi. He was quick to notice this and begin to feel a little uncomfortable.

Now I think I know the reason why Mario kept Pauline away from me! Luigi thought. She thinks I'm hot! I wish Daisy was here to keep my mind off of this, because this is starting to make me nervous…why me?

Pauline seems to be keeping a close eye on Luigi for some reason...I wonder what that could be? :P

Anyway, it's a relief that Pauline is still alive and that her and Mario seem to have no hard feelings for each other. But already, it seems that she is an obstacle standing in both Mario's and Luigi's paths that could strain, if not destroy, their relationships with Peach and Daisy. Does this mean she won't be able to help the brothers on their quest? Or will she surprise both of them and help them in ways they would never be able to imagine? At this point, it's still anyone's guess. After all, she hasn't really said much to either of the brothers, nor has she discovered what Mario and Luigi are trying to accomplish yet...we shall see what lies ahead in the chapters to come. )

saturn95