Chapter 4: Rememberance
"Bella, Toadsworth! Where are you?" Rosalina was searching the kingdom for where the two had hidden. She had been looking for a while, and after about an hour or so, she found the duo at Toadsworth's private home east of the castle. When Rosalina arrived, Bella was upstairs having a nap, while Toadsworth was downstairs. She knocked on the door, a devastated look on her face as Toadsworth answered it. He quickly invited her into the house to talk about what had happened.
"Bowser kidnapped the King and Queen again," Rosalina explained teary eyed as they conversed on the couch. "I tried to stop him, but he blocked me every chance he got. He says I will never find them again, and if I do, he will only release them if he gets Bella. I don't know what to do. I don't even know where they were taken!" She said, tears beginning to flow down her cheeks.
"We can't just sit back and do nothing!" Toadsworth exclaimed, holding onto her hand to try and comfort the Queen. He sat looking at the wall for a minute as she softly cried. "How was it that you defeated Bowser before?" he asked her.
"As I recall, it was mostly Bella that defeated him," she replied wiping the tears away from her eyes. "Mario and Peach had gotten out of Bowser's castle, and she used her magic that I had given her as a child to make a force field, and move her parents to safety onto your ship. I believe that I fainted protecting her from one of Bowser's charging attacks. She would have cascaded him into the sun after that, drowning him."
"How do you remember all of that?" Toadsworth asked.
"That was the day, I've been reliving for months now, especially due to the fact that when everything reset, I erased the memory of her childhood to allow her to live the life she was meant to; a life away from the turmoil of emotions and events that occurred." Rosalina replied, tearing up again.
"Wait, is that why she didn't remember anything after the fight?" Toadsworth asked in a confused voice.
"That's true," She replied. "I just had to erase her memory since I took her life from her. When everything happened with Bowser, I didn't know that Mario and Peach were still alive until you told me that they were. That day I found the King and Queen, I saw them die on the planet near the center of the universe. I thought they were gone forever, and I gave up looking for them."
"I looked after her from when she was a baby, and she grew up calling me mom. When Bella kept on calling me 'mom' and I didn't have the heart to tell the angel that her parents were gone, nor could I tell her I wasn't her mother. It would have broken her heart. I just wanted her to live a happy childhood." The Queen broke down into another round of tears.
Toadsworth was silent for a few minutes as he pondered what Rosalina had said to him. He had never considered what Rosalina had done for Bella when the princess was a child, nor had he known the reasons for why Rosalina had stopped looking for Mario and Peach.
"I never knew that was why she called you her mother," he replied in a low voice, feeling guilty. He had been so mean to Rosalina about everything happening, and was regretting being so angry. "I'm so sorry for being so mad at you when I found the princess. I didn't know anything about what had happened when she was younger." He smiled at the Queen. "You did do a wonderful job in raising her, she is a beautiful princess!" He exclaimed. Rosalina stopped crying, and smiled weakly at him. "She is beautiful." the Queen agreed.
Toadsworth thought for a few seconds more as Rosalina wiped the rest of her tears away. "Is there any way that the princess still has the magic you gave her as a child?" Toadsworth questioned.
"I don't know," The Cosmic Queen replied. "I wiped her memory, but I don't know if it took her magic away. Why do you ask?"
"I was just thinking: You two may be the only ones who can rescue the King and Queen again, assuming you can find them amongst the galaxies," he said walking over to the window. "You are the only one I could and ever will trust with the princess. I'm certain that if you can find Mario and Peach, you two could defeat Bowser and bring them home to the kingdom again."
"What about my mother and father?" Bella questioned walking into the living room, rubbing her eyes.
"Annabelle, you remember Rosalina from the park earlier today, right?" Toadsworth asked her.
"Of course," the princess replied, "Queen of the Cosmos and mother of the lumas, though I swear that I have seen her before… A long time ago."
Rosalina got up off of the couch and hovered over to the princess. "We need to talk to you Annabelle. Please come and sit down with us," she said reaching out a hand to the princess.
Bella grabbed the Queen's hand, and they started to move over towards Toadsworth. Almost instantly after touching each others hands, a purple aura of magic appeared around the two, brightened, and then disappeared.
"What was that?" Toadsworth asked. "I'm not sure," Rosalina replied, looking at the princess. "Annabelle, are you okay?"
The princess stood dazed for a second, and then caught onto her surroundings. "Rosalina!" She exclaimed throwing her arms around the Queen of the Cosmos. Rosalina wrapped her arms around her metaphorical daughter tightly. It was as if they had been reunited after being apart for a long period of time.
The two separated. The princess's face instantly changed from her look of happiness to terror."Where is Bowser? Did he drown into the sun?" Bella asked desperately.
"You remember all of that?" Toadsworth asked, mouth hanging open. "Rosalina erased your memory!"
"I did, I'm absolutely sure of that, but my mind erasing spells cannot interfere with love," she whispered to Toadsworth. "My touch must have triggered a memory in her mind that broke the spell!" she theorized.
Rosalina turned to Bella. "He did drown, but the lumas reset the universe back to normal. You've been living the life you should have for the last few months. I erased your memory so you could have the luxury of living the life of a princess with your parents. However, things are unwell in the universe; Bowser has returned and kidnapped Mario and Peach again."
"What? No, not again." Bella felt a bit dizzy and sick. "Where did he take them?" The princess asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"We don't know, but if there is one person that can find them, it is Rosalina," Toadsworth said with a genuine smile aimed at the Queen. "Please take the princess and find her parents. I can take care of the Mushroom Kingdom and the toads. You must take Princess Annabelle and find them. As long as you are with her, I know she will be safe. You are the only one I trust."
A smile appeared on the Queen's face. "Thank you," she said.
She turned her attention to the princess. "Bella, are you still able to create a force field, and use your magic?" Rosalina asked.
A force field appeared over all three of them. "For sure; I'll never forget how to do that." She replied with a little giggle. "I can still make anything I want appear if I imagine it," She said as she made a wall appear in the corner. The force field and wall disappeared into starbit dust, making the Queens heart flutter as it brought back happy memories that Rosalina had enjoyed with the princess when Bella was younger.
"That's my Belle," Rosalina said, hugging the princess again. The weight of finding the King and Queen was on her shoulders, but as long as Bella was with her, Rosalina knew all would be alright. The Queen and princess separated and the Queen lead all three of them towards the front door of the house. "Don't worry Toadsworth, Bella is in good hands. We will return, and it will be with Queen Peach and King Mario."
A/N: Toadsworth finally understands why Rosalina never told Bella about her true parents. Also, what a magical touch that the Queen has! Who'd of thought it would bring the princess's memory back again? I had to include the aspect of the memories being returned in this chapter. I felt so bad that Bella couldn't remember Rosalina from the original ending of the first story.
But with her memories back again, will Bella be able to forgive Rosalina for everything that happened to her? Find out in the next chapter!