(A/N: It has been a while since I've written a fanfic pertaining to "The Super Mario Bros. Movie". And after watching the movie again, I can safely say that I really wanted to write another fanfic for it, and so I did! Enjoy the fanfic!)
It was a quiet Sunday evening in Brooklyn, New York. It has also been well over a year since Bowser and his army showed up and attacked. The city was repaired so well, you never would've guessed that it had been under attack by creatures like the people there had never seen before.
Most of the people who worked during the day had long since gone home, ready to kick back, relax, and call it a night. And if memory serves me right, the Super Mario Bros. have decided to pay a visit to their family tonight, so let's head on over to the Mario family's apartment and see what's going on!
At the apartment, the Mario family had finished supper, and now they were all sitting together in the living room, talking about the way things have been lately. While Mario and Luigi were glad to hear that things were going well in Brooklyn, everyone was happy to hear how things were going for their favorite heroes, Mario and Luigi, who were now living in the Mushroom Kingdom. Their family treated them with a lot more respect after they defeated Bowser.
But oddly enough, Luigi ended up doing most of the talking tonight. Mario was unusually quiet. It didn't take long for their mother to notice her older son's behavior, and it was a little worrying for her. What could be up with Mario to have him acting this way?
"Mario, you've been pretty quiet tonight, and that's not like you. Is something wrong?" Mama Mario asked her older son, sounding a little concerned about him.
"No, Ma, nothing's wrong. I'm fine." Mario assured his mom.
"Are you sure? Both you and Luigi usually tell us what's been going on in the Mushroom Kingdom, but I noticed that you haven't said a whole lot tonight." Mama Mario pointed out.
"Oh! Well, I guess the reason why I've been so quiet is because I'm just lost in thought... I'm trying to figure out how to word what I have to tell all of you." Mario replied.
"Oh? What do you need to tell us?" Mama Mario asked.
When everyone heard that question, they immediately snapped to attention. They all went quiet as they turned to look at Mario. Seeing that he now had his family's complete and undivided attention, Mario took a deep breath. It was time for him to come right out and say it.
"Okay. All of you know about my girlfriend, Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom." Mario began.
"Oh yeah. She's a very pretty young thing." said Uncle Tony.
"She's a wonderful girl, Mario, so special and sweet. I was so happy to really meet her and get to know her when you and Luigi brought her home. I also think of her as the daughter I never had." Mama Mario added.
Mario looked pleased to hear his mom say that. There was a reason why he liked hearing that, and it wouldn't be long before everyone learned why.
"And from what we've seen, the girl's got you hook, line, and sinker." Uncle Arthur finished, looking at Mario.
"Oh no, it wasn't like that." Mario tried to defend himself, but his uncle's words made his face turn as red as his shirt.
"Oh, yes it was. We've all seen how you behave when you're with her." his uncles reminded him. They all saw how easily Mario got lost in Peach's eyes whenever she talked to him. And they saw how close Mario and Peach held each other when they shared a kiss. It was obvious that he was very much in love with her.
Mario sighed. Yes, he'd made it clear that he and the princess loved each other very much. He had a feeling that what he had to say next would most likely get him endless teasing from his uncles, but they were family, and they had a right to know what was going on.
"Okay, I know it's plain to see that I love Peach. I love her more than I've ever loved any woman. And the best part is that she loves me, too, which really means a lot. Right now, our relationship has gotten to the point where I'm lost in love, and I don't wanna be found. So, I realized that I'm ready to take things up a notch. I'm going to ask the princess to marry me!" Mario announced.
Boy, did that one get his family excited!
"Mama-mia!" Luigi gasped to himself. When did Mario get the idea of doing this?
"No way! Do you mean it, Mario?! Are you really gonna marry the princess?!" asked Gianna, Mario and Luigi's niece. She was really their cousin, but she was still pretty young, so the brothers often referred to her as their niece.
(A/N: Well, like lots of other minor characters in my stories, I had to name her something, and that's the name I picked out for her. Plus, the Super Mario Wiki also states that even though she's referred to as their niece, she is more likely their cousin. And the breakfast scene hints that she may be Arthur and Marie's child, so work with me!)
"Well, I want to. But only if she says yes when I ask her." Mario replied.
"I hope she does! Because that would be so cool!" said Gianna excitedly.
"This is incredible news!" Mama Mario exclaimed, sounding very happy with Mario's news. The girl she considered the daughter she never had could very well be her daughter-in-law... if she said 'yes' to Mario's proposal, that is.
"Oooooooh...!" Uncle Arthur and Uncle Tony chorused in obvious surprise. They hadn't expected to hear this surprising little announcement from Mario, and while they were seriously thinking about teasing their nephew over his possible nuptials, they were thinking that maybe they should wait a bit before they did so. Perhaps it would be smart to save the teasing until after Mario got the answer he wanted to hear. It wouldn't do any good to make him too nervous.
"Stop that." Papa Mario told his brothers, before turning to his older son and saying, "Mario, are you sure you want to marry Princess Peach? Marriage is very serious, and it's forever! It's not something that you can just walk out of when things don't go the way you hoped! And since the woman of your choosing is a princess, it means that you're going to lose a LOT more than most men lose if you decide to one day renounce the marriage."
"I know, Dad. But I'll tell you right now that I'm serious about Peach! I would never think to renounce the marriage! I can assure her that if she marries me, I will never, ever break my marriage vows. I love the princess very much, and she knows how much I love her, because she loves me, too. You've seen that." Mario replied.
"I have seen how much you two love one another; all of us have. And it makes me feel good to know that your love for each other is very real, not just infatuation." Papa Mario told him.
"Peach is the most wonderful woman I've ever known, and it's not just because she's beautiful, or royalty. I feel like the luckiest man alive to have gotten to know what she's like, and to have her in my life..." Mario answered with a loving sigh as he thought about the princess. He loved her so much. She made him happier than the family had ever seen him, and they knew that he would die for her.
"But answer me this: are you absolutely sure that she's the only woman you're going to love for the rest of your life?" Papa Mario quizzed his son.
"I've honestly never felt this way about any other woman, Dad. Peach and I know each other better than anyone else, and we trust each other implicitly. I know in my heart that she's the right woman; the only one for this plumber." Mario replied.
"All right. That's good." Papa Mario murmured, before adding, "I also know that because Peach is a princess, she lives in a big castle, so as a result, you won't have to worry about where you're going to live after the wedding. You'll live there with her."
"That's true. A castle is the home of a princess." Mario replied, nodding his head.
"But I'm pretty sure that she's going to depend on you to help keep her kingdom safe from people like that monster that you and Luigi were fighting a year ago." Papa Mario continued.
"You can bet that I'll always be there for her, Dad! I saved her kingdom from Bowser before, and I'll do it again if I have to! I can promise Peach that I will help keep her and her kingdom safe until the day I die!" Mario said.
"Mama-mia! I just hope we don't have to do that again..." Luigi mumbled to himself. Although he was glad that they had defeated Bowser, he really didn't want to have to deal with Bowser again. Not after what that cretin did to him when he was captured and taken to him by those awful little creatures who wore masks.
"Okay, Mario, I believe you. Now that I've heard all that I need to, I can tell you to go pick out a ring and claim your mate!" Papa Mario said.
"Dad, I know what you mean, but please don't say it like that. Not about a princess!" Mario said.
"Mario, before you pick out a ring for Peach, do you even know what her ring size is?" Mama Mario asked Mario, which caused the sound of a record-scratch to play as Mario froze.
"Oops. No, I don't know it. I didn't even think about that detail." Mario said, blushing. Now he was worried. How was he going to find out Peach's ring size without making the princess suspicious? This was going to be extremely difficult.
"Oh, don't you worry about that, Mario. I happen to know her ring size." Aunt Marie said.
"Wait, you got her ring size? Where was I when you did this, and how did you manage to get it?" Mario asked, turning to look at his aunt.
"It was that time she stayed the night here because it was raining cats and dogs, and you really didn't want her going out in that mess and catching a bad cold as a result, because you feared that her people would probably blame you for her being sick." Aunt Marie said.
"Well, the Toads in her castle knew she was coming here, and if she came home all soaked and miserable and felt sick the following morning, they're not going to blame her. They'd probably lose their respect for me, and I don't want to lose that." Mario said.
"That's understandable. Well, here's what happened. You, Luigi, and Gianna were laughing over reruns of "SpongeBob SquarePants" on T.V. while I took her to my room, and we had ourselves a woman-to-woman conversation. In the process, I made an Avon customer out of her and measured her finger. I can tell you that she wears a size 6 in rings." Aunt Marie explained.
"Really, now? She never told me that you measured her finger." Mario said.
"She didn't tell you about that? Hmm, she was probably just being shy. She was pretty shy the first time we met her." Aunt Marie remembered.
"Yeah. She told me that she didn't really expect that Lu and I came from such a big family. And as she mentioned to everyone during one of her previous visits, she never really had a sense of family before, hence her shyness around this big family. And I'm glad that all of you were willing to put forth the effort to make her feel welcome here, and as a result, she was able to warm up to everyone pretty fast." Mario said with a smile.
"And we all get along very well, so I think she'll be happy to marry you and join this family." said Aunt Marie. Then she asked, "Now, are you going to pick out an engagement ring from the jewelry store, or would you rather order one from the current Avon catalog? I saw some really pretty ones in there that just might get her to say 'yes' when you ask her the big question."
"Well, truth be told, I was thinking about checking out the jewelry store tomorrow, but I think I'll do you a favor and see what Avon's got in store first." Mario decided.
(A/N: I decided to have Aunt Marie buy and sell Avon, like my mom used to do on the side when I was younger. And I figured that Peach might really be interested in the stuff Avon sells, like jewelry, cosmetics, perfumes, nice pajamas, and bath products that smell so good.)
Aunt Marie grabbed up the Avon catalog and flipped to the pages that had the jewelry, and she showed Mario the rings that were on sale.
"Mama-mia!" Mario said, impressed with what he was seeing. He noticed some really pretty rings in there. Ones that he was sure Peach might like. And then his gaze fell upon a picture of a silver ring set with a pink, heart-shaped stone. He could just see the princess's eyes growing big at the sight of it, and he imagined how pretty the ring would look when he placed it on her delicate finger.
"That's it! That's the ring!" Mario said, pointing at the ring.
"You want to get her that ring?" Aunt Marie asked, making sure.
"YES! That's the one! It's perfect for her!" Mario said.
"Okay, okay." said Aunt Marie. She quickly wrote down the information on an order form and said, "You know, it's a very good thing you told me about your proposal plans tonight. I have to get the Avon orders called in tomorrow."
"Then it's lucky you showed me the catalog when you did." Mario smiled. Then he said, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Peach gave me this to give to you when I told her we were coming here tonight!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out an Avon order form from Princess Peach.
"Okay, thank you." said Aunt Marie, taking the paper from Mario. She smiled and nodded as she looked at the items Peach had written down on it. Thankfully, none of them were the ring Mario was planning to order her.
Mario and Luigi ended up staying a lot later than they had anticipated, so they decided to stay the night at the apartment. As the Mario Bros. were in the room they shared, lying in their beds, waiting for sleep to come to them, Luigi suddenly sat up, looked over at Mario, and said, "Well, Mario, I have to say that I'm very surprised with you!"
"You are?" Mario asked.
"Yes. How long have you known that you wanted to marry the princess?" Luigi asked.
"Not long, actually. I realized in a dream I was having last night that I love Peach enough to want her as my wife." Mario began.
"Whoa! You figured this out just last night, in a dream? What happened in this dream of yours? Can you tell me about it?" Luigi asked, surprised and intrigued.
"No problem. In my dream, I was married to Peach, and we were very happy together. I told her that I had never been so happy before in my life, and I was proud to know that I had an amazing woman like her as my wife. And she told me that she was equally happy to have a guy like me as her handsome husband. I was just about to kiss her when the alarm went off and woke me up!" Mario said.
"Oh, I'll bet that was pretty disappointing for you." Luigi said. He felt bad that Mario's dream ended right when it was going to be fun.
"It was. I was very upset when I opened my eyes and saw that I was in our bedroom and Peach was nowhere to be found." Mario replied.
"But if you knew this morning that you were ready to ask Peach for her hand in marriage, then why didn't you tell me about it? You usually tell me stuff like this right away." Luigi pointed out.
"I was afraid that if I told you that I want to marry Peach, the happy news would be too much for you to handle. You might be so excited about the prospect that you wouldn't be able to keep quiet any longer. You might accidentally blurt out the news to everyone, but it's my responsibility to tell them about it, because I'm her boyfriend." Mario explained.
"Oh... Okay, you did make a good point, Mario. The thought of you getting married is very exciting, and I probably would have been a blabbermouth if I knew about your plans to marry Peach before you could tell our family about them." Luigi said.
"Hey, don't feel bad, Lu. At least you were in the room with the rest of the family when I made the big announcement to them. I wanted you there to hear it. And I was also going to tell you that if Peach says 'yes'..." Mario began.
"There's no doubt in my mind that she's going to say 'yes' when you ask her, Mario. She loves you more than she ever loved Bowser, that's for sure..." Luigi told him. He remembered back when he first met Bowser. The Koopa King had told him that he was about to marry a princess. He hadn't realized that Peach was that princess until much later.
"And I have a feeling that you're right on the money. Which is why I was going to ask you to be my best man at the wedding. If you're interested..." Mario smiled.
As Mario's words registered in his head, Luigi was unable to fight the huge grin that etched across his face. He quickly leaped out of his bed, ran to Mario, and hugged him tightly.
"If I'm interested?! Of course I am! I'd be honored! You really are the best brother a guy could ask for!" Luigi said as he hugged Mario half to death out of happiness.
"No, Luigi, that's you. And that's why they call the role 'best man'. You were always my first choice for the role." Mario said, laughing a little out of surprise, even though he knew that Luigi would be really happy about being in the wedding, standing with the brother he loved.
"Well, I still think you're the best. After all, you're the one who saved my life." Luigi said, referring to what happened at Bowser and Peach's 'wedding'. Mario caught him just before he fell in the lava and died. He was dressed as an animal, though, but Luigi didn't mind. He was alive, and his older twin brother was his hero.
"Hey, don't forget; you returned the favor, Lu." Mario recalled when Luigi defended him from being burned to death by Bowser's fiery breath with a manhole cover.
"Mario, I couldn't let you die after everything you had done for me and the princess. And you're the one who told me that I can't be scared all the time." Luigi said.
Mario did remember telling Luigi that after having to deal with Spike (their former boss, who had been a major jerk at the time, but he was quite a bit nicer to them now).
"You're right. I did say that. And I guess I was right." Mario said, returning Luigi's hug, even though Luigi was practically crushing him in his own.
"I know that Peach will want to marry you, Mario. She can't say 'no' to you! And do you know the reason why she can't deny you? I can tell you why! It's because you're better than Bowser in every possible way! She'll marry you, and then you two are going to live happily ever after!" Luigi said.
"Thanks for the encouragement, Lu. I needed that. But there is one thing I want you to promise me, now that you know what I want to do." Mario said as he stopped hugging his brother.
"Since you asked me to be your best man, I'll thank you for it by telling you right now that I will gladly do anything you tell me to." Luigi said.
"Great! First, do you think that maybe you could loosen your grip on me? It's getting kinda hard for me to breathe." Mario said.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Mario! I guess I didn't realize just how strong I've been getting." Luigi said, letting go of Mario and holding him at arm's length.
After Mario caught his breath, he said, "You're right. You're a lot stronger than you think, Luigi. Now here's what I really wanted to say: I want you to promise me that you won't breathe a word of my proposal plans to the princess, or any of the Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom."
"I can understand not telling the princess. I'd never tell her, even if my life depended on it. But you're saying that I can't even tell Toad about this?" Luigi asked.
"You can't tell Toad about this. I know he's our friend, but I'm afraid that if he hears even one word about my plans, he'll turn into the biggest blabbermouth you ever saw, and he'll tell everyone. And you know how quickly interesting news gets around." Mario said.
Luigi nodded. He'd read about that sort of thing happening in many stories.
"The princess will more than likely end up hearing all about it through her subjects, and if she finds out just what I'm planning to do, then my plans to surprise her with a marriage proposal will have gone right down the drain. Think about this: how is a man supposed to surprise the woman he loves when she's clearly expecting him to propose to her?" Mario asked.
"Oh yeah... I see what you mean..." Luigi said as he let go of his brother. He pictured what Mario was saying as he said it, and it didn't look fun for Mario at all.
"Right. So promise me that you will keep very quiet. You have to promise me that no one in the Mushroom Kingdom will find out about my proposal plans until I have popped the question to their princess. I can't afford to have anyone there learning what I want to do before I've done it, because rumors have the tendency to spread like wildfire." Mario said in a serious voice.
"Don't you worry, Mario. They're not gonna know. I can promise you that until you have asked the princess to marry you, my lips are sealed." Luigi said, and he proved it by pretending to zip his lips and throw away the key.
"Good. Now let's get some sleep, 'cause tomorrow's Monday, and we've got work in the morning." Mario said as he made himself comfortable.
Then Luigi went back to his bed, and minutes later, after saying 'good night' to each other, the Mario Bros. fell asleep.
And that's where Chapter 1 comes to an end. Yeah, this story is a chapter fic. Hope you don't mind! Stay tuned if you want to see Mario propose to his princess!