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Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to Nintendo and their affiliates. I just am really grateful to its creators for giving me such a wonderful game and media series to write about!

I also don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all that belongs to J.K. Rowling, but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this story to make it more interesting :)

Chapter Thirty

There was so much noise. It was as if everybody was doing their own thing. At max volume. At the same time. The courtyard that Mario led us to was absolutely packed. There were dancers dressed in exotic, flowing robes moving and flitting about to the left, and then there were guards practicing some kind of performance with their rifles. I supposed my brother introduced those sometime after the fall of the late king. Oh, and the musicians; they were everywhere. I suppose if anyone were the most at fault for the cacophony of sounds bouncing around the palace's large backyard, it was them. They were blowing and strumming away at their instruments, some of which I hadn't seen before. Hand in hand, Daisy and I stepped around them, following my brother and his fiancee.

"This is all so last minute," Daisy whispered to me.

I told her, "Yeah, that's how Mario is."

Daisy smiled and I pulled her closer to me. Mario stopped and for a moment I wondered why. We'd reached the center of the courtyard and everyone, sensing the prince and princess were among them, had quieted. Then I saw what my girlfriend was raising her eyebrows at, what my brother was beaming like a kid on Christmas at, and what Peach was shaking her head in resignation at.

"What is that?" I blurted.

"A toadstool." Daisy said, close to laughing, "A really, really big toadstool."

"Isn't it the best?" Mario grinned.

"It's...well." I didn't have anything to say after that.

The thing was huge and the only reason I didn't immediately recognize it was because, instead of red and white like I was used to, it was white with spots of what looked like diamonds encrusted on its glossy surface. I had a feeling it was at least twenty feet high and atop its surface there were four gilded thrones.

"Is that safe?" Came Daisy's skeptical question.

Mario nodded with Peach on his arm, saying, "Yeah, yeah; perfectly safe."

Daisy shrugged and I guess his word was enough for her but at just the sight of the thing I felt my stomach turn.

"I'm up for it, then." Daisy spoke.

"Great!" Mario exclaimed.

"I don't know." I frowned. "Does it have to be so huge? And so high up off the ground?"

"Relax, baby brother." Mario chided, knocking his fist into my shoulder gently. "We're just going to take a ride from the palace into the heart of Toad City; gotta make an entrance, you know?"

No, I didn't know why he felt the need to do this but this was his wedding so I'd just deal with it. Besides, he had that look in his face that told me he was dead-set on doing this, and so trying to get him to do otherwise would just be futile.

Later the same day, Mario and Peach invited everybody they could to come and join them in the courtyard for games of tennis. Naturally Daisy wanted to go and I guess I just tagged along. Sports were okay, just something to do to pass the time. Daisy was more excited than me, but I think she was just itching to keep her mind off of whatever was bothering her earlier. I'd bet all my money it's the late king that's got her upset. It reminded me of the earlier days in our relationship when she still had issues getting over what happened to her. Now it looks like we might be coming full circle.

Hopefully not, I thought. Hopefully, being here in the kingdom is just a trigger for her old memories to start resurfacing. Once we got back home, I hoped they'd go away.

"There's a lot of people here," Daisy noted beside me.

We'd reached the courtyard again, this time wearing more casual clothes. The pants I had on were white and loose and so was my t-shirt. Daisy's cuffed jean shorts were moderate in length, coming down towards the middle of her thighs, and her shirt was once again one of mine, an old black shirt I got from training camp that had the word 'initiate' written in block letters on the back of it. She'd rolled up the short sleeves and knotted the excess length of the shirt so that it fit her more snugly without showing any more of her skin than was necessary. With her hair, she'd done a high ponytail, the heat making it a bit bushier than normal. I really should just cut mine, it was getting too long again.

"They're waving us over," Daisy told me in reference to the couple of the hour.

Mario was wearing something akin to my own attire and Peach had on some red capris and a white shirt. I noticed she'd been trading her customary pink for the ruby hue more and more lately. She smiled as we grew near and I saw she donned the same high ponytail as Daisy.

"Ready to play?" My brother asked.

I shrugged.

Daisy said, "Oh yeah. Let's go."

We took up our positions at one of the four nets set up around the spacious courtyard. Mario went over to the cart near the palace's back doors to go and get our rackets and a ball, and soon we'd begun.

I was alright at tennis, and last time I checked so was my brother, but it would seem he'd gone and improved on me. Peach was not bad herself, but it was Daisy who was the real star. She didn't miss a single hit. Made me look like a chump beside her. There were friendly smiles and high fives between teammates once our game was over; we'd won, and the only reason Mario and Peach got their points was because I kept getting in Daisy's way.

She didn't seem to care, though, as she stood beside me in the line for refreshments. She smiled at me and wrapped her arm around my middle. I put my arm around her and leaned my head on top of hers. Somebody said 'aw' behind me.

"That was pretty fun." Daisy spoke, tilting her gaze up to me.

I said, "Yeah, I guess so."

She smiled and leaned on her toes to kiss me.

"Oh, gross!"

Now I knew that voice. I knew the barfing noises they were making even more. I turned to the side and saw little Larry Koopa with a cup of juice in his hand, pretending to gag, and rolled my eyes.

"Where'd you come from?" I asked him.

He came up and hugged me from the side, then smiled at Daisy. He seemed right in his element in his basketball shorts and blue t-shirt and navy trainers. His mohawk had been cut down somewhat since the other day.

"I came from the inn," Larry told me. "We all did. 'Cept for Wendy, and she only stayed because she had to babysit Lemmy and Junior."

"Didn't they want to come?" Daisy asked.

Larry said, "Well, Lemmy did but he stayed with Junior because Junior sat in the corner and wouldn't move."

"Why?" I asked.

Larry just shrugged and said, "Kid's weird. He won't say anything to me or, well, anybody except for Lemmy, so Ludwig said just leave him. Like I said, Lemmy and Wendy stayed, though."

Daisy gave me a very concerned look and I could only shrug in response. I knew she felt bad for the little prince but I mean, what could we do? I wasn't a psychiatrist. Whatever issues Junior had going on were way out of my league.

"Yo!"

Daisy and I faced the newcomer, at whom Larry was currently scowling because the older boy had swiped his drink.

"Hey, that was mine!" Larry cried plaintively.

Roy smirked down at him and said, "And now it isn't."

"Why don't you give it back to him?" I sighed.

"Can't." Roy grinned, then downed the drink. He held the empty cup, saying, "Ain't got no more, see?"

He then bounced the plastic white cup off of his brother's forehead and snickered. Larry glared at his sibling and swung at him but Roy made it look easy the way he grabbed his younger brother's wrist and, using his momentum against him, made him go hurtling off to the side. Larry fell and that's when Daisy spoke up.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" She asked with challenge.

He lifted a pink brow and asked, "Like who, yo?"

Daisy said innocuously, "How 'bout me?"

Roy scoffed and said, "You ain't on my level. I mean, no offense, yo."

"None taken, yo." Daisy mocked with a clever smile, then circled the teen and said, "But it sounds like you're scared."

"Scared?" Roy parroted, scrunching up his nose indignation. "Scared of what?"

"Of getting beaten for once." Daisy spoke matter-of-factly.

"You can't beat me!" Roy claimed.

Larry snorted in the way that I was doing on the inside. I did like Roy, he was a good kid at heart, but he was prideful to a fault. Daisy took his boasting in stride and smiled assuredly at him.

"Can't I?" She asked. "Not even in tennis?"

"I'll smoke you," he said in answer.

"Is that so?" Daisy then asked, fighting a smile. "Then let's put it to the test. You and me. Third net. One on one."

"What are the stakes?" Roy asked.

Daisy blinked and said, "Stakes?"

Roy folded his arms and smirked, saying, "Yeah. If I gotta' waste my time just to teach you a lesson, I wanna' get somethin' out of it, yo."

Where is he getting this from? Was he always this arrogant and obnoxious, I wondered, but then I saw that he was trying to hide a smile just like Daisy. Were they both just playing around? I'd never seen her joke like this with anyone besides me so naturally I thought she was seriously upset with Roy and the way he treats his brother, but could she have been just playing with him the whole time?

Well duh, Luigi, she's got two cousins; she's probably used to this kind of behavior in kids, I realized.

Daisy laughed easily and told Roy. "Alright, Hot Shot, here's the deal; if you win, I'll do whatever you want for the rest of the day."

"Really?" Roy grinned, "Anything?"

Daisy rolled her eyes and said, "Yes, but, if I were you, I wouldn't waste my time thinking about it, it's not like you're going to win. No offense." She added the last part sweetly.

Roy narrowed his eyes and said, "You're trash talkin' me?"

"If I win," Daisy stated, ignoring him. "You have to carry Larry around on your back and take him wherever he wants to go for the rest of the day."

That made Roy stare at her in silence, seemingly dumbfounded. While he was inept for a moment, she took the time to tack on another stipulation.

"And you can't hurt him in the process," She stated, "That means no dropping him or throwing him off."

"And I get to call him my rusty steed!" Larry chirped from behind my leg.

Daisy nodded and said, "That too."

"That's just...that's stupid, yo." Roy refuted. "I'm not doing that."

"Ooh, so you forfeit?" Daisy countered, "It's okay. I understand. I'm just too much of a challenge for you."

"No way!" Roy bellowed.

"Then do we have a deal?" Daisy asked, holding out her hand.

I guess Roy figured he had nothing to lose. I wouldn't blame him; being the gifted and able-bodied young person he is, he really should have no problem beating Daisy, who was shorter and less muscular than him. But something about the girl's unwavering confidence had me thinking she had something to show us, something that would take the cocky seventeen year old by surprise.

Roy rolled his shoulders back and took Daisy's hand, but instead of shaking it, he bowed over it and kissed it.

"It's a shame I'll have to make such a pretty girl cry." He told her.

Daisy's eyes alighted in amusement as she replied, "Oh, trust me, I won't be the one crying."

"This is gonna' be so good!" Larry told me excitedly.

He and I followed Roy and Daisy over towards the northeast side of the courtyard. To the side of the net there was a set of tiered benches; Larry and I took a seat on the third row and many people started coming over. It would seem that Roy had gained something of a following in his short time in the kingdom. A lot of young folks began occupying the stands with us.

"I'll go get the rackets," Daisy volunteered.

"Yeah, you do that." Roy smirked.

Daisy's eyes narrowed for a second but then her congenial smile returned. I saw a glint of something in those light eyes, though. She went over to the supply cart and Larry tugged on my shirt sleeve. I glanced down at him in question.

"Roy might be tough and all," Larry stated, "but he's crummy at sports. He's gonna' lose."

Oh yeah, I thought to myself. Back at the bunker, Roy used to hate playing with Larry and at first I thought it was because of the age gap between them or because of how much Larry antagonized him. But the truth was, Roy used to always

lose against his younger brother and that frustrated him to no end. I thought that was just because Larry was, well, Larry; he was phenomenal with sports.

Could Roy really be so full of himself as to...

I looked up and caught the teenager flexing and showing off his now-shirtless body, much to the bashful delight of some of the girls in the stands. I guess there was my answer.

By now Daisy was back and they were ready to start. She handed him a racket and the ball and then went over to her side of the net. Roy smirked and tossed the ball over to her, though.

"You can serve first," He told her patronizingly.

She cocked an eyebrow as if to say, 'you sure about that?', but caught the ball nonetheless. Daisy stood at the line and threw the ball up high, then smacked it with all she had, sending the fuzzy yellow sphere flying above the net. Roy just stood there.

"Head's up, kid." She taunted. "I thought you said you were the best?"

Roy narrowed his eyes when his audience giggled and laughed. He fetched the ball and strode back up to his spot.

"I am the best. You just caught me by surprise," He explained. "It ain't gonna' happen again."

And when she served again, he was ready. They went back and forth, trading blow for blow. I watched Daisy move lithely about the court, twisting her body and putting all her might behind each swing. When she wasn't mopping the floor with the teen, she was dishing out some humorous trash talk. This was a side to her I hadn't seen. She was clearly a pro at this and it was also clear that Roy had underestimated her. While he was panting and grunting, trying to keep up with her, Daisy was in the lead and in control.

"That's game point," She called out when she was near victory.

"I know." Roy griped. "You ain't gotta' tell me."

"You mean there's room for a brain in there with all that ego?" Daisy teased.

Roy snorted but the sound was distorted for him being out of breath.

She laughed and asked, "What's the matter? Getting tired?"

"No!" He denied, but this was just not his forte.

Roy's hand began to glow, and this time, when Daisy sent the ball his way, he swung his racket hard and released some of his hot pink energy along with the motion. The ball, now ablaze, went soaring over Daisy's head.

"Cheater!" Larry cried from the stands, shooting up out of his seat.

"Shut up, twerp!" Roy yelled at him, but shouts were heard in the next instant.

Apparently, the ball that Roy sent hurtling over Daisy's head had landed on the refreshments table: now the tablecloth had caught fire and the damage was rapidly spreading. I hopped up to go and help put it out but someone beat me to it. All the liquid from the punch bowl flew up in a snake-like movement and then rained down on the fire, instantly dousing it. It looked like Wendy's training had improved.

She stood near the table amidst the panicked people and leveled her older brother with an exasperated look. He just threw up his hands like, 'what?' and she sighed. There were two people whose heads only came up to her waist; on the left was Lemmy and on the right was Bowser Junior. The boy looked dead in the eyes and had his thumb in his mouth.

"Leave it to you to start trouble, Roy." Wendy said dully.

Roy said, "I didn't meant to do it, yo."

"He just meant to cheat." Daisy quipped with a mischievous smirk.

"And show off," Larry added under his breath.

Roy looked at Daisy and said, "This don't mean I lost, yo."

Daisy just smiled at him and then told Wendy, "That's a nice dress."

Wendy smiled gently and thanked her. The color white must be in season because everyone was wearing it these days. Her dress was plain and had off the shoulder sleeves, cinched at the waist and then flowed out at the skirt. Her hair was down in honey-colored curls. She held the two children's hands and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Ludwig wants to talk to us." She said, letting her eyes roam over to Roy and added, "All of us."

"So?" He groused.

"So come on." Wendy spoke, striding over to him. "Go and get Iggy and MJ and let's go."

"Why can't you get them?" Roy complained.

"I have to keep an eye on these two." Wendy told him with forced patience. "Unless you want to do that instead?"

Roy made a face but said, "Fine."

Daisy waved to him as he left and he just gave her a little salute. Wendy and her brothers and the prince soon left, probably to go and find the remaining two members of their clan. I turned to Daisy and she grinned.

"That was fun." She said.

This time I knew she meant it. The match she and I played against my brother and Peach had been boring and civil compared to the one she played with Roy. She was sweating and her skin was flushed healthily and her eyes were sparkling with mirth. She'd obviously enjoyed herself and that was always good. I liked seeing her happy like this.

A/N: The next chapter will have the wedding, and also some more interaction between the brothers; I just like Mario and Luigi's sibling relationship :)

I hope you guys enjoy the lightheartedness while it lasts, because pretty soon things are going to start getting dark. I think. We'll see.

Anyway, as usual, thanks for reading and supporting this story! I'll see you guys next chapter. Until then...

~DymondGold~