I'm very sorry for the long wait for this chapter, but I just wasn't in the mood for writing (I'm sure you all get like that sometimes). Just remember, though, like I said several chapters ago: yuo can always expect an update. I definately plan to finish this fan fiction, expecially considering there's only 6-7 chapters left.

Hopefully the next update will come sooner... :P

Well, enjoy!

Chapter 19-Unnessecary Excitement

"Hey, you!" Hamma called, startling an unexpected fireman who happened to be walking by, "What happened here?!"

"Oh…umm…" the fireman stuttered. It appeared to be the same one that Mario and Daisy had been talking to earlier. He glanced at the three, and then smiled a little, thinking about how fortunate 'that man and woman' were to have escaped the fire, "Well, there had been a fire here no so long ago…"

Peach was about to slap the guy for stating the obvious, but she restrained herself from any violence…for now…, "Well, yeah, but…did you guys find anyone inside?"

Again, the fireman smiled. By the way he acted about Mario and Daisy's safety, one might suspect that he was in love with them, or something. Kind of awkward…, "Yes, we found two people. A man and a woman,"

"Mario and Daisy!" Hamma jumped up excitedly. He then glanced back at the fireman, hoping that he didn't mean that the 'man and the woman' were…dead. Oh, how horrible such a thought was! Could Mario and Daisy have actually died?! So sudden?! So unexpectedly?!

"I guess that's what their names were," The fireman began, "But don't worry, they make it out safely,"

Peach let out of sigh of relief, while Luigi held his heart to express his lack of anymore concern. All three of them couldn't help but to grin. How couldn't they at a time like that? It's not exactly normal to frown after finding out that your best friends are alive…

"Well…" Luigi said, looking around, "Where did they go?"

The fireman looked back at him, "Well, they went that way," He accurately pointed his finger in the direction of where he had seen the duo go. The friendly fireman watched as the group exchanged confused mutters of 'why did they go that way?'.

"Well…okay then…thanks…" Peach shrugged and began to walk with the other two back towards the car. Her mood was certainly lifted, and she even began to laugh quietly to herself out of sheer happiness. Peach…actually happy? Now that was a surprise…

"Ya know, I can't help but to wonder where those two disappeared off to…" Luigi struggled with himself to determine a legitimate answer. The others puzzled in their minds the dilemma that lie before them.

"Well, I bet they just went back to the castle…" Hamma reasoned. His suspicion certainly made sense, and it was probably the only reasonable solution to this question…

Mario and Daisy were just entering the castle. They had a nice long talk with each other to catch up on all of those things they missed about each other's lives. Mario was especially pleased to finally befriend Daisy, and, for that matter, Daisy felt the same towards him…

"I wonder how long it'll take for them to find us here?" Daisy asked, smiling a bit as she and Mario walked into a nearby room to sit down. She felt quite relieved that, for once, they weren't scrutinizing over this ever-so-complicated mystery. Geez, she could only imagine how annoyed she would be if Peach and the others walked through the door right now and broke up her and Mario's conversation…and then they'd probably want to talk about the case. How…unexciting…

"I bet we can expect to see them within the next half hour…if they come to their senses, that is…" Mario replied. Was he truly not interested in the case, for the time being? He hadn't said one word about it to Daisy yet, and, surprisingly, he didn't really want to…

Daisy sighed. What he had said wasn't exactly reassuring to her…no, not at all. Hopefully they wouldn't come to their senses…, "Well…okay…"

Mario sighed as well. He could tell that Daisy really just didn't want to talk much about the case at the moment. Who could blame her? They had all been wrapped up in that complex case for days now, and it was bound to get on someone's nerves eventually…

"If they're not here…" Luigi started as they drove up to the castle. He almost sounded threatening, or as though he wanted to finish the statement with some violent phrase. Poor, poor Luigi; there was no way he could be threatening…

The other two merely ignored him; it wasn't like he was going to say something important, or anything. And besides, they were still a bit angry with him over how he drove so slow to Detective Goom's house.

The trio entered the house and was immediately attracted to the sound of Mario and Daisy talking…surprisingly. Were they actually talking to each other?! And did Mario just laugh?! Somehow, those two were friends…or they were just drunk and had no idea who they were talking to…

"Hey guys!" Luigi entered the room where Mario and Daisy were. He was quite surprised to see Mario and Daisy – his own girlfriend – talking so heartily and happily to each other. Geez, were they in love, or something?!

"Oh, hey Luigi…" Daisy stood up, and made one final smile at Mario. She seemed so unexcited to see Luigi, which made him feel unwanted and kind of lonely.

"So there you guys are!" Peach was the second to enter the room; she and Hamma had had a brief talk with each other in the ballroom, "We were looking all over for you! We were afraid you guys were dead!"

Hamma decided to unleash his own summary of what had gone on…but he was more aimed at making fun of Luigi than anything else, "Yeah, and Luigi was driving the stupid exact speed limit, so it took forever to get to Detective Goom's house! But all in all, I've gotta admit, when Peach slapped Luigi – who then almost wrecked my car –, that was the funniest thing I have ever seen!"

The group erupted in laughter, while Luigi merely shook his head and sighed. It was especially funny for Daisy, though; she was his own girlfriend, and she never thought of slapping Luigi when he annoyed her…

Mario ever-so-suddenly began to get serious again. Even his desire to solve the case was beginning to arise, and he couldn't help but to bring up the mystery, "So…now that we've had some laughs, I think it would be best to start figuring out this case…"

Daisy sighed. She kind of felt like she was being a brat for acting like the case was unimportant, but she had had enough death and sorrow now that she just didn't even want to think about the mystery…

Mario sensed that Daisy was unhappy, and, although he did want Daisy to participate in the case, he wanted her to be pleased, as well, "But I think the girls should go out and do something else…"

Daisy lightened up entirely. She felt as though a dark and gloomy cloud had just left her body…, "That sounds great!"

"But…" Luigi wanted to protest, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Fro that matter, it would have probably been wise to keep his mouth shut, considering that Peach's hands were like weapons for destruction…

The two princesses joined each other and said their good-byes; they wanted to get out of there before Mario changed his mind and made them yap for two hours about this mystery…

"May I ask…" Hamma started, "But where are you going?"

Peach and Daisy looked at each other, nodded, and then smiled, "Shopping!"