A/N: I've been working on this story (without posting) for a good two or three years now. It's sort of strange for me to post and revisit all of this stuff I wrote while I was finishing high school. I guess what I'm trying to say is, for however long this story is on FF, I've written about 100 more pages that are just sitting on my hard drive, and if you're nice, I'll share them with you. =) (And once again the lovely line-break feature is messing with my spacing, please excuse any technical difficulties.)
Peach sat down in front of her vanity looking distantly at the colorful array of powders and rouges before her. The green silk dress felt comfortably cool against her skin. As she slid her hairbrush though her thick strands of golden hair, she was nervous and excited. The time for her charity ball was drawing nearer. She pulled her hair up into a golden clip covered in pearls and began to put on her makeup. The late afternoon sun cast a golden light over her room where it came in through the sheer curtains. The princess put a dash of green powder on her eyelids and carefully lined her eyes with a dark black ink. Everything must be perfect. She applied rose to her cheeks.
As expected, Mario had asked her to accompany him at the ball. Daisy's words echoed in her head: "Just give him a chance."
The sun dropped behind the hills as the princess wondered at the irony of slipping gloves over her finely manicured fingers. She put on her heels and, before she left her room, she applied one spray of her lucky perfume, an enchanting mix of jasmine and vanilla. Tonight would be a night to remember.
Mario and Luigi looked at each other in the mirror.
"You look good, bro," said Luigi with a smile.
Mario nodded in gratitude, his suit feeling uncomfortably stiff. Although he did not want to admit it, he was feeling hot and uncomfortable for more reasons that just the suit. He was worried about the evening. Peach had seemed so happy when he had asked to accompany her to the ball. He knew she would need someone to go with and he was not one to ignore a well-placed suggestion from Toadsworth, but he was not sure about his feelings.
The Prime Minister has made so many suggestions regarding marriage to the princess in the last few years. I've seen everything the princess has to go though and I'm not sure I could handle a life in politics. Then there's Peach. She's really beautiful and nice enough but…I'm not sure I can really be myself with her.
"You feel okay? You look a little sick," said Luigi with a concerned frown.
Mario gave a nod accompanied by a look that suggested otherwise.
"Ah, bro, you shouldn't worry so much. I'm sure everything will be fine, and you'll get to spend the whole evening with Princess Peach."
Luigi thought happily of his relationship with Princess Daisy. They first met at the Mushroom Castle. At first, Luigi had been too shy to initiate more than an introduction. Luigi smiled as he thought of how he would break into a cold sweat every time Daisy would glance at him from across the table and wink. He knew she was a bold and sassy princess but he found out that she was really something special after his second week of knowing her when, after they won a doubles tennis match, she rushed over and gave him a tremendous kiss, completely ignoring how sweaty they both were. After recovering from a "love-induced lapse of seeing, hearing, and general consciousness," he was overjoyed at Daisy's insistence that they were now an "official couple".
Mario grabbed his mask off his nightstand and heaved a great sigh, resolved to put his worry out of his mind. "Let's go." he said, and walked out the door with his brother.
Bowser strummed the table impatiently as his television flickered and urgently informed him of the best way to keep the colors of his linens from fading.
"If I have to see this damned commercial one more time, I am going to personally crush the promotions director of the company," he growled aloud.
Bowser had been watching the Mushroom Kingdom news all day, hoping to get a glimpse of the activities surrounding the charity ball, or perhaps to see his beautiful princess all dressed up. So far, all he had learned about was how easy it was to microwave Mush 'n' Cheese and that, somewhere in the kingdom, a local Toad had rescued a kitten from a tree. A few feet away from the mighty king was a giant saucer with a puddle of half-melted ice cream with a ribbon of chocolate sauce drizzled over it and a few emptied boxes of Koopa Kookies sitting on their sides. He saw the sun going down and knew the ball was about to start.
Peach took a deep breath. She could hear the low din of many guests waiting in the courtyard outside the castle, awaiting her formal invitation to enter. Toadsworth gave her a polite nod to urge her to proceed with her speech when ready. She drew a deep breath and stepped outside of her castle onto the low balcony. The sea of people just below was always a dizzying sight. Right away, she spotted Gourmet Guy, Daisy, Luigi and, of course, Mario. She felt a sudden lurch of anxiety in her stomach and noticed a news camera Lakitu hovering about. She cleared her throat and began her speech.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for attending the 36th annual Mushroom Kingdom Charity Soiree. I'd like to invite you all at this time, to put on your masks."
She paused as the crowd briefly became noisy with rustling and low chatter, and resumed when all were quiet.
"As you know, the proceeds of this event will benefit each and every citizen with access to a brand new park. Without further ado, please enter and enjoy the party."
Peach smiled as the crowd met her speech with polite and sincere applause. It was far from a great speech, but she was content that it would suffice. As she descended the steps into the ballroom, she placed her green and gold mask upon her face. The ballroom looked even lovelier than when she had left it that morning. The entire room looked like an enchanted forest, with foliage covering every wall and beautiful strands of light weaving across the ceiling. In one corner of the room, the orchestra was playing a soft and elegant waltz, and in another part of the room was a glittering fountain that flowed with a delicious bubbling pink punch. She turned to the buffet table to see Mario, Luigi, and Daisy.
"Oh hello, how are you enjoying the party?" Peach asked
"Oh Peachy, this is amazing!" Daisy replied enthusiastically. Peach thought her yellow, feathered mask made her look a bit like a glittery canary on Mardi Gras. "Where on earth did you find this sushi, it's heavenly!"
"Oh, I'm really glad you like it, could you even guess that it's vegan?"
"What? No way, this totally has Cheep-Cheep in it!" Daisy exclaimed.
"I wanted everyone to be able to enjoy the food here, and apparently veganism is becoming a real trend in the Mushroom Kingdom, so it's actually Vegi-Cheep."
"Whatever it is, I want seconds! C'mon Luigi, let go eat so we can get to dancing!" said Daisy, dragging her shy boyfriend away by the arm.
Mario and Peach looked at each other awkwardly. For once, Mario did not feel like eating; an uneasy sensation was building in his stomach. Thankfully, the awkward silence was broken by a very excited Gourmet Guy rushing the buffet, eager to "sample" a little of every dish on the table.
"Oh, Princess, this buffet is marvelous, fantastic, and earth-shatteringly good."
"I'm happy you're enjoying yourself Gourmet Guy. I hope you'll enjoy the dancing as much as you're enjoying the food!" Peach replied warmly.
"Princess, if I enjoyed anything else half as much as this wonderful food, I would think I had died and gone to the great buffet in the sky."
"Princess Toadstool!" cried a small Toad wearing a white jacket and a black bowtie, "Princess, it's time for you to officially start the dancing."
Peach smiled at her mustached friend. "Well then, shall we dance?"
Mario nodded happily, and they took their places on the dance floor. It was a somewhat awkward sight to see Mario and Peach dancing as, in her heels, Peach was at least a head taller than Mario was. When the crowd gathered to watch the first dance of the evening, the orchestra began a louder and more regal waltz. Peach was pleasantly surprised at how graceful and adept Mario was at his waltz. As they spun and twirled around the room, the lights lowered and a few other couples, including Daisy and Luigi, began to join in.
As Peach finally relaxed, she looked gently into Mario's eyes and saw him staring into the distance. When he turned his head to meet her eyes she looked away quickly, her cheeks fire red. She was embarrassed to think he might have seen her looking at him that way.
She was, and had been lonely for quite a long time and he was the nicest man she had ever known. She was disappointed to feel that, even dressed in her finest, she was seemingly unable to attract attention from Mario, or any other potential suitor for that matter.
Mama mia, what was with that look she was giving me? I think--I think she really likes me. What am I gonna do?
When the waltz finally ended, Peach smiled politely and excused herself to go chat with some important guests. Mama mia. Mario headed the opposite direction to look for his brother.
The large serving plate trembled as if issuing a warning to its holder that if it so desired, it could tip and spill every last drop of food it was carrying all over the marble steps. The size of the tray dwarfed the already tiny Koopa Troopa who was carrying it. The Koopa King had locked himself in his room all day watching television, so there was really no telling what sort of mood he would be in when the servant finally reached his bedroom.
E--everything is going to be fine, I'm going to open the door, put the food down, and leave. At last, he reached the giant, black double doors. He heard the dull sound of the newscasters from Bowser's television, and he heard another noise too: humming. His Majesty is humming, certainly that must mean something good.
He knocked on the door gently. Once, twice, three times he knocked and waited. The Koopa King opened the door quickly, startling the poor Koopa Troopa. He took the food, muttered something that sounded remotely like a thanks, and then closed the door again. Well, that certainly could have gone worse.
Inside his bedroom, Bowser was still perched in front of the television. Things were going well so far. He had seen his eloquent Peach giving a speech, a panel discussion on her pleasantly surprising fashion choice for the evening, and now he just had to wait a little longer. He began to hum again, some unnamed tune that made him feel happier just hearing it. He stuffed a Koopa dumpling in his mouth.
I can't wait to see the look on that dumb plumber's face.
It was getting late and Peach was sitting on her throne, her feet hot and aching from all the dancing. She glanced at the clock, only five more minutes until the ending speech, announcement of the winner, the champagne toast, and then the end of the event. She watched the clock intently as a distraction from her throbbing feet. How nice it would feel just to remove those pinching, uncomfortable shoes for only a few minutes, yet, how inappropriate and unladylike. Stars forbid anyone saw or, worse, smelled that she had taken them off. Luckily, Toadsworth removed any temptation from her mind by interrupting her thoughts.
"Ah, my dear Princess, it is time for the closing speech and declarations and whatnot, come come."
Finally! She winced slightly as she stood up and made her way to the podium with Mario by her side.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Peach spoke softly into the microphone. "I am greatly honored that you have all come from so far away to be a part of this momentous occasion. It is heartwarming to see the level of dedication and generosity of both individuals such as yourselves, and the businesses that have donated everything that you have enjoyed tonight. It is with great pride that I tell you this evening, we have collected enough coins to not only build a magnificent park for the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom, but also enough coins to cover all of the amenities that we had originally planned for the park and more."
At this point she stopped for loud applause and cheering. Mario briefly grasped her hand in congratulations, causing a small flip in her stomach.
"Um, I would like to offer many thanks to all of those who have donated their time, money, and effort for this event. At this time, I would like to announce the Mushroom Kingdom's philanthropist of the year, who will be bestowed the honor of having the park named after them, and the park's central fountain carved in their image."
A hush fell over the audience as a Toad guard handed her a thick blue envelope with his eyebrows raised in a nervous expression. Peach smiled at Gourmet Guy in the crowd, who was still busy with a full plate of sushi. The Lakitu cinematographer zoomed in for a close-up while Bowser waited on the edge of his bed with an eager grin. Peach opened the envelope slowly and gently, smiling. As she read the words written in a scrolling dark blue script, the color drained from her face and her smile turned to a look of confusion.
"Um, apparently, I--I mean, according to this, uh, statement, the philanthropist of the year is--King Koopa?"
The audience emitted a collective gasp, followed by an uproar of gossip and chatter. The Princess and Mario stood in silence, stunned. Toadsworth was immediately busy interrogating other Toads, investigating for a prank or some sort of mistake. Bowser grinned with ridiculous pride. It had taken a lot of coins and a lot of espionage to beat out that tubby traitor; but he had helped make the princess' dream a reality, and now he was sure there would be no way for her to forget it. His triumphant roar echoed through the walls of the castle and comingled with the sound of cheering from every Darkland inhabitant.