STAR PEACH

Well, here it is! Chapter 2!

As Peach slumbered peacefully in her bedroom, Toad returned to his post, answering the phones since Toadsworth had gone to a meeting in Iced Land.

As he entered the office of Toadsworth he sat down on the large comfy chair and sighed. "I just wish I had the patience." He said not before the phone rang. He grumbled but answered it.

"Hello?" he asked into the receiver.

"Is this Peach's Castle in the Mushroom Kingdom?" asked a familiar voice.

"Why, yes it is!" Toad spoke cheerfully, "Can I help you?"

"I need to speak to Peach, the princess."

"Oh," said Toad, "She can't come to the phone right now. May I take a message?"

"No," said the voice testily, "Maybe you did not understand. SCREECH!"

A screeching noise had interrupted the caller, from his mouth and instantly Toad knew who it was.
"Falco Lombardi!?" he asked loudly.

"Yeah." said Falco trying to control his screeching.

"What do you want?" asked Toad indignantly.

"I want to talk to Peach." He said with a false calm.

"Why?" asked Toad snottily, "So you can steal her from Fox?!"

Falco snorted into the phone but screeched a second later "This is important, you little 'shroom!"

"Who're you calling little!" Toad yelled back.

"This is an emergency! It is about Fox!" yelled Falco after another bout of screeching.

He had a strange sickness that made him screech uncontrollably instead of coughing.

"Well, what about him!?" asked Toad not giving up the fight.

"Calm down, dude." Falco said "Can we just talk peacefully?"

"I suppose so." Toad snorted back.

"Very well," Falco continued after some more screeching. "Fox has gone missing." He didn't sound like he cared much.

"I'm not surprised. With a partner like you, he should have every right to."

"Oh-SCREECH- I didn't call to hear this crap anyway! I don't even know why I'm even calling," shouted Falco into Toad's ear.

"How did he go missing?" Toad asked.

"Oh, now we're being friendly?" Falco shot back rudely.

"Just tell me!" yelled Toad banging his fist on the desk, making the paint jar that held Toadsworth's pens jump.

"Oh, all right. SCREECH! He was sent on a mission by General Pepper and I was to join him. But when they called him on the communicator he didn't answer. It was late and they figured he was probably asleep so they let it ride until morning but then they got a report that Fox's equipment had been found but he had not himself."

"You lost the princess's boyfriend?!" asked Toad.

"Gee, ya think!?" retorted Falco.

"Forget it, Falco! Thank you for the news and bye!"

And with that Toad slammed the phone down and began to pace the floor. He had known that this sort of thing would happen but now, it seemed to come all too soon. And how could he tell Peach? She would be heartbroken to know that Fox was missing for some time now. What am I gonna tell her? Toad asked himself as he paced the floor endlessly ignoring all the other phone calls that were ringing on the desk.

The Next Morning…

The princess was in a rush to get things done before the day had even begun. Something was not right with her at all. She was behaving strangely. Did she already know and want to get everything out of the way so she could go and find Fox herself?

"Oh, Toad! I just remembered that we have a meeting in Sky Land toady and I overslept! Of all days to oversleep!" Peach shouted while throwing the comforter off of herself and running to the closet to retrieve a dress to wear. She grabbed it along with a piece of the curtain hanging from her closet and ran into the bathroom to change.

"She doesn't know, I hope." Toad said while bringing her a breakfast tray of eggs, sausage and toast with grape jam. She nearly bowled him over as she ran out with her hair so wildly frizzed and her eyes so wide.

"Princess…" Toad tried as she almost lost her footing trying to shove on her heels.

Peach paid no mind and ran to the vanity to retrieve her crown and she even knocked over the teddy bear that Fox had given her. Toad saw it and after setting the tray on her nightstand ran to it and placed it back on the vanity.

"Princess!" Toad yelled as she almost knocked him over while trying to dial a number on her phone. She paid him no mind and had a conversation riddled with apology with a representative from Sky Land. "We are okay!" Toad yelled as she threw a pillow at him looking for a date book.

"I only have an opening for the 10th is that okay?" Peach asked into the phone while Toad tried to dive for her foot and missed.

"Princess, please calm down!" Toad yelled as soon as she had gotten off the phone.

"I am calm," Peach said while twisting back and forth and then tripping and falling on her face.

"Sometimes I think they work you tot the bone around here. I mean, I've never seen you have a rest day or take a vacation anywhere, And when it's morning you are always so occupied with the tasks that don't even need attending yet."

"I know I know!!!!" said Peach dusting herself off "But I was just worried that a war between the Mushroom World and Turnip Kingdom would break out!"

"Is that what the meeting was about Peach?" Toad asked while walking the breakfast beverage to her and then nearly spilling it on the delicate peach bedspread.

"Yes," Peach said finally calming down and taking her breakfast silently.

"And…" Toad prodded on while opening her curtains to let the sun into her room.

"And that's all." Peach finished while munching on a piece of toast and then silently attacking the sausage.

"Are you sure?" Toad asked cautiously while walking towards her.

"I am sure." Peach said while she wiped her mouth clean.

It only took Peach a little while longer to realize that she had more to do today.

"I forgot!" she squealed while jumping out of bed once more and knocking what was left of her breakfast onto the floor. Toad sighed and proceeded to clean it up immediately. "We have to see a family today! And then, there's Miss Milinda T.s wedding cake that needs to be finished! Oh, I should've remembered."

"Relax," Toad said while picking up her breakfast off the floor "Sometimes, I think they work you to the bone around here. I mean, I can't even get you to settle down like a normal person and eat a meal. You're gonna go nuts if you don't settle down."

That seemed to get to Peach and she stopped her wild turning and walked tot the vanity to brush her hair out. "You're right, Toad." she said while brushing her hair, "I do need to stop rushing everything."

"Thank you." He sighed quietly.

Looking at her in this scrambled state made him hesitate to tell her about Fox and if he didn't, there was always the chance that she would find out another way. So he straightened up and faced her.

"You had a call, last night, Princess," he said while she sat on the bed to put on her heels more calmly. "A call from who?" Peach asked. "Daisy? Zelda?"

"No," Toad said. "It was from someone else."

"Who?" Peach asked in a reserved manner.

"Falco." Toad said while sweeping up the mess of food on the carpet. "Falco Lombardi, you know him?"

"I think that's the name of Fox's co-pilot." Peach said while finishing putting on her shoes. "Yeah, it is. What did he want?"

"He had some news," Toad said, choosing his words carefully,

"News about what?" Peach asked with a slight worrisome look in her eyes.

"News about Fox." Toad said.

"Oh, really? What kind of news?" Peach prodded.

Toad waited for a while, he could just leave the conversation here and continue it this evening. He could say something about an event and derail her from the subject but he could see that the more he hesitated, the more her face darkened in worry.

"Bad news," Toad finished.

"Bad news?!" She exclaimed after spitting her tea out and jumping up off the bed.

"Princess, please calm down while I tell you this!" he yelled, but it didn't seem to be getting through to her.

"I need to know what happened! Did Falco say what happened?!"

"No, but just listen! You cannot go to him! You don't even know where he is and to make it worse nobody does."

And with those last words Peach stopped in her tracks and stood stock still for a moment. Toad walked up to her and then she fell. She fell so fast and her body seemed to shut down. All that ran through her mind was Fox. How kind he had been. How understanding. How human. Up until now Peach had been so happy with Fox, but she wasn't sure that he was alive anymore to continue her happiness. She saw many images in her mind, replayed from previous events and outings with him. Dancing, Walking, Smiling, and just being content. How could it be that her happiness would end so soon, she did not know. But one thing was certain and that was that she loved him and he loved her. Even through their differences.

Toad shouted for the Royal Nurse and sat there with Peach as she dropped off into a deep slumber. It was many hours later that the princess actually came to. When she did Toad was sitting in a chair beside her bed reading a book.

"Toad?" She asked. He shut the book and looked at her.

"Oh, good, you're awake."

"Did I faint?" She asked as he walked up to her and felt her forehead.

"Yeah, you did and you hit the ground pretty hard. Are you okay?"

"I'm-I'm fine." she said quietly. "It's just…" she trailed off.

"Fox." said Toad.

"Yes," Peach said in a small voice, "It is Fox."

"Princess you should have expected this. He is part of a team that does have to deal with dangerous things. Can you honestly expect me to believe that you did not see that this was gonna happen?"Toad said.

"I just didn't think it would happen so soon." She said quietly.

"I know you love him, princess." said Toad softening at her lament.

Peach looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes tightly.

"Oh, great Star Spirits," She said "I need some help right now, can you please help me?"

Suddenly the room went dim and two of the Star Spirits appeared before her. "Yes, princess." said Eldar.

"What is it?" chimed in Mamar.

"I need to find a friend."

"Oh," asked Mamar "And who would that be?"

"You don't know him, but could you try to find him?" Peach asked.

"Who is he?" asked Eldar

"He's not from here. He is from another planet in another place." said Peach only then realizing just how far apart they actually were from one another. "His name is Fox."

Eldar and Mamar looked at her.

"Fox?" asked Mamar.

"Yes," said Peach looking at them, "Fox."

"Does he have a last name, princess?" asked Eldar.

Peach looked at them and could already see that they were judging the matter a bit awkwardly. "Yes, it's McCloud." They looked at her quizzically.

Eldar snapped out of it, but Mamar kept her shocked look.

"It's funny because someone somewhere also needed to find you, and they did have the name Fox McCloud. He said that you needed to be safe and that he is fine and working on a way out of his predicament." Eldar said while looking at her.

"Is he your friend?" asked Mamar a bit absentmindedly.

"No." Peach sighed. "He's more than that. He is the one love."

"LOVE?" asked Mamar in shock "What about Mario?!?"

"Oh, me and Mario fell out of it a while back." Peach said while twiddling her fingers. "But you were so happy with him." Mamar tried to protest.

"Yeah, for the moment." Peach said.

"Well, we are the Star Spirits and she is asking us nicely, so the most we can do is find her friend and give her his whereabouts." Eldar said with a matter-of-factly tone.

"Oh would you Eldar? That would be the best thing!" Peach said with hope.

"We will." said Eldar leaving in a pop of glitter. Mamar followed a few seconds after with the same state of confusion on her face.

"Well," said Toad, "At least we know he's alive."

Toad sat back in the chair and looked at Peach.

"He is alive, that's all I need to know." Peach said. Though Toad could tell that she was eager to get to him and had she known his location she would have gone to him immediately. Toad watched her settle back into the bed and left the room once she had dozed off.

Somewhere in the Lylat System…

Fox looked at the moon as he thought of Peach and all that she was. He thought of how much fun they had been having lately, of how much happiness they now had.

"I hope she's okay." He sighed as he kicked his boot against the brick cell walls. "This place sure is damp, where's the air conditioning?" Fox asked absentmindedly, knowing full well, that wherever he was needed no air conditioning or didn't use such an appliance. Fox paced the floor like a bored Tiger. "I don't even know where I am, let alone why." Fox rubbed his head trying to remember what had happened to him.

All he could remember was going to Titania and resting for the night and then waking up in this place, wherever it was. "I really wish I knew where I was." Fox gazed at his tiny cell which was pretty depressing because the only things that were in it were a wooden bed, a mirror; half chipped a tiny barred window and himself. There was also a dim light bulb that hung from the ceiling. "Man, where is this place?" He felt around on himself for his Blaster. "It's gone!" he shouted. "And so is, my Reflector!"

He walked to the tiny window and looked out; it seemed like a fairytale setting because he was high above a vast purple ocean with nothing else but a few grayish black cliffs. A buzzard flew in the sky.

"Really, now," He said out loud "Where am I?!" A hooded figure seemed to pass by his cell door.

"Wait! Can you tell me where I am! You could at least tell me that much, I don't have any equipment so I can't radio for help and my Blaster's gone!"

But the voice that answered him was one of an eerie nature, it made the hairs on his neck stand up and it made his heart skip a beat. It was a strange voice that made him think of all the miserable things that had befallen him.

"You are somewhere so far and so deep that you will never be found, especially by Princess Peach." It said.

Fox's thoughts of hope seemed to thin after he had heard the sinister voice of whatever it was.

"And where is that?!" He asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

"Somewhere." The voice replied and then it drew in a breath, it made Fox feel afraid. And that was an emotion that rarely showed in the former leader of Star Fox. The figure then exhaled and spoke in a sinister voice

"Somewhere's all I'll say." And with that, the hooded figure glided away leaving Fox in a stuttering state.

"This place has already caught my disliking feeling. I gotta get out of here!" He shouted while running to the barred window and then he drew a long deep breath. "Peach!!! Where are you!!?"

The only sound that met him was a cold wind that stirred up a lone leaf on the cliffs below him. Wherever he was…

Violet

This took a while to write since I can't find out much about Fox, like his feelings and whether of not he does get afraid. So yeah, the Third Chapter will be up eventually.