Chapter 10 Siblings Reunite

Peach's jaw dropped. She readjusted her position so that she sat up, for she wanted to see her long-lost brother in all of his glory. She couldn't take her eyes off of him; he just looked so different! The years, as well as the time he spent away from the castle, had worked wonders on his facial features, his complexion, his stature… all of it had changed. Nay, improved. Peasley, ironically, looked like a prince charming from one of the many fairytale books Peach had been read when she was a child. He looked like he belonged in a grand palace… and yet, the simplicity and authentic vibe that his outfit and overall posture gave off told that this man wouldn't be happy in such a place. He had a simple life in a simple place, and he loved every minute of it.

Tears formed in Peach's eyes. She couldn't stop looking at her brother, couldn't tear her worried eyes or her burdened mind away from him. She wiped away her tears, trying to tell herself to get things together. She was royalty. She didn't buckle under any circumstances, no matter how emotional. She approached every situation with grace, dignity, and poise.

And yet… looking upon her brother, a man that she had been thinking about for the past five years, a man who she thought she would NEVER SEE AGAIN… nothing about how Peach was raised stood up. All the lessons she had received about emotional control and the likes melted away, disintegrating like snowflakes in the desert. The tears flowed at a faster rate. Little sobs, both equally joyous and equally sad, came out of her mouth. She realized that she more than likely looked absolutely pitiful, that she didn't look like the princess… no, the queen that she was supposed to be.

But Peasley was standing right there….

"It's okay, Peachy," Peasley said. With a simple poignancy, he went up and wrapped her in a hug. He squeezed extra tight, bringing Peach back to the time when she was a little girl. She hugged him back, squeezing with the same intensity and compassion he was putting into this simple gesture. She tried to speak, but all of her emotions were overwhelming to an extraordinary degree. Speaking was a pipe dream, an unachievable fantasy. The only sounds she was able to make were unhinged, very loud, very damp sobs.

"Shhh…" Peasley said, now rubbing her back. "It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay."

The tears flowed even harder, threatening to stay for the rest of eternity. Peach gave him one last squeeze before letting him go. Trying to do the impossible task of getting her emotions back in check, she wiped her eyes and sniffled. She realized she must look like an absolute mess to her big brother. Again, definitely not like the queen that she was supposed to be.

"I… I…"

Peasley gave her a warm look and handed her a tissue. As she dried the tears from her eyes, praying that they would finally disappear for good, he spoke with a low, soft, reassuring volume.

"Tell you what, Peach. Why don't I go get some tea brewing on the stove?"

Peach let out a laugh. Still not possessing the ability to form coherent circumstances, she nodded. Peasley nodded back before getting up and leaving the room, all while the warm look from before refused to cool down. If anything, it got warmer and more inviting. It was this look that stuck out in Peach's mind the most in her brother's absence, this look that allowed a similar warmth to spread throughout her own soul.

This really couldn't be happening. Logically, it should not be happening. Right now, Peach was supposed to be settling into the role of Queen of the Beanbean Kingdom. She was supposed to be taking the first steps towards paving a better future for the uncountable number of citizens she ruled over. Not… turning into a blubbery mess at the sight of her estranged brother. Not looking like the least professional, least worthy queen that the Beanbean Kingdom would ever have.

A pang spread through Peach's heart when she thought that. Her mind went back to her coronation. She shuddered at the look on Cackletta's face. She whimpered at the sound of her laugh, the confidence in her voice and body language. She never should've trusted her. Was she foolish for doing so? She felt that way. She felt like the dirtiest creature imaginable, one beneath the level of the most insignificant worm. She put her kingdom in jeopardy. Not intentionally or even directly, but by being willing to listen to Cackletta, she had become a part of her grand, scheming plan. She had made one of the worst mistakes a queen could make before she even became one. She wanted to fix it, fix it so badly.

But was that even possible? Now that the adrenaline was wearing down, and now that Peach wasn't stranded in the desert heading in the direction of what she hoped was Little Fungitown, the reality of the situation set onto the new queen's soul. There… there was a very slim chance that this was fixable. It was worse than slim; it was pretty much nonexistent! This was showcased in her plan to get to Little Fungitown. Just what exactly would getting to that distant, out-of-the-way town achieve? What was there that could help her in taking down that horrible witch; a witch who had more magic and raw power than measly little Peach could ever have?

Asking those question brought on more tears. She buried her head in her lap, all while the darkest, most agonizing types of emotions filled her. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to speak. All she wanted to do now was dig a hole and bury herself there, away from the Kingdom that she had let down and doomed.

"Peachy?"

Peach sniffled and looked up. Peasley stood in the doorway with two cups of tea. He stared at her, wearing an absolutely terrified look. It was a special type of terror, one that Peach hadn't seen in the last five years. She tried to put on a smile, despising that look and hoping to get rid of it.

"Thanks for the tea, Peasley."

Peasley hesitated before nodding. "You're welcome." He didn't smile as he approached her, just looked upon her with gloom in his eyes. As she took her tea and took the first sip (it was peach-flavored, appropriately enough, and contained the exact right amount of sweetener), she made sure that she kept her eyes away from his face. Looking at it was just… too much. Everything right now was too much for Peach to handle, but that especially was disconcerting. She practically buried her face in her tea, taking gulps that were far too drawn out.

She lowered her tea away from her lips, all at once remembering her manners. She wiped her eyes one last time, hoping that starting up a normal conversation with her brother would help quell her mood. "It's… I never thought I'd see you again."

Peasley laughed a soft laugh. "I didn't think I'd see you either." He took another sip of his tea. "I mean, with you ascending the throne and taking up the role of queen… well, I didn't think that fate would give us opportunities to interact anymore."

Peach felt a pang, especially at Peasley's tone. Letting out a breath, she reached her hand up to the sapphire broach (thanking all her lucky stars that it was still there). She gave it a squeeze, an action that Peasley immediately noticed. He sniffled and smiled.

"But I'm glad to see that you never forgot about me."

Peach chuckled. "Forgetting about you would be an impossibility, Peasley." She pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes as her chuckling grew stronger. "If I remember correctly, you yourself even made that point the night you gave me the broach."

Peasley chortled. "I did, didn't I?" He flipped his hair while grinning, an action that had as much flair and pizazz as it did when he was eighteen. "Well, I can say that I'm glad that my words stood true."

Peach snorted. "I am too." She took another sip of her tea. "I never wanted to forget about you. I wanted to keep you front and center in my mind, where you belonged."

Peasley smirked. "Well… thank you, Peach. That is certainly very sweet." He took another sip of his tea. "I never forgot about you either. I know you had no way of knowing this, but I always rooted for you."

"Oh?" Peach asked as she took one large gulp.

"Of course! I mean, my little sister, becoming queen? My little sister, turning into the ultimate role model and decision maker in the Kingdom that was originally my birthright?" He chuckled again, the sound more playful than before. "What older brother wouldn't feel proud about that?" This time, when he chuckled, he sounded less than enthusiastic, something that stood out to Peach like a sore thumb. "I mean… it sure beats feeling guilt about what I did, doesn't it?"

Peach blinked. "Why would you feel guilty about that?" There was a pause as Peasley rubbed his arms and averted his gaze away from the queen. "I mean, you had the best intentions in mind! You thought long and hard about the decision before officially making it, didn't you? You thought I would be the ruler that this Kingdom needed!" She paused, her heart racing. "Right?"

Peasley hesitated, which Peach felt was so very strange. Peasley, the great, confident Peasley who never cowered in the face of danger and never shrank away from the option of adventure… was hesitating? In all honesty, this kind of scared Peach. It made her wonder if this was the same person who had given her the broach five years prior. It made her wonder if the amazing older brother she had before was nothing more than a memory, a memory that faded and slipped out of her fingers when she tried to grasp it.

"I…" Peasley hesitated some more, both looking and sounding like he wanted to run away from his feelings and this conversation topic. Again, this made Peach worry beyond any comprehensible level.

"I did," Peasley finally said. He pushed his hair back. "I feel like I did, but… well…" he shook his head as he let out a sigh of frustration. "With hindsight becoming applicable to the situation, I kind of looked at what I did… and, well…"

Silence. Peach's stomach twisted into a knot, and her heart pounded in her head. The tears threatened to spill out again as she looked at her brother. She questioned if it was possible for her to understand the emotions going on his head, the feelings that had been brewing in his hear for the last half a decade. She didn't know if she could.

But that wasn't going to stop her from trying to help.

"You have no reason to feel this way, Pease." She smiled, hoping to replicate the warmth that he had shown to her from earlier. "Sure, things didn't work out the way that any of us planned, but that's not your fault. It was never your fault. You made a good decision, a decision that you have every right to stand by and support." She paused. She once again thought about the circumstances behind why she was here, and it made her feel bad all over again. She hung her head. "Nothing that has or will go wrong is your fault."

Peasley blinked before breathing a sigh of relief (or at least something that sounded like a sigh of relief). "Well… that's actually really reassuring Peach." He chuckled as he scratched at his head. "See, this is why you're one of a kind."

Peach's face grew hot as the sun. "Thanks."

"Of course." Suddenly, Peasley's eyes grew wide. "Wait, hold up a second!" He stepped closer, now wearing a look of questioning and worry. "Why did you say, 'nothing that has or will go wrong?'"

Peach seized up once again. "Uh… um…" she sunk into her blankets, once again wishing that could bury herself in a deep hole underground.

"Peach, what's going on?" Peasley didn't have an accusatory tone when he asked this; if anything, he sounded like he was experiencing the ultimate form of concern. "Is everything alright?"

"Uh… I…"

"Does this have anything to do with why you were wandering around Teehee Valley, miles away from the castle?"

Peach's insides squirmed. She debated what to do for a second, feeling as though she wanted to avoid this conversation topic at all costs. Eventually, though, she reasoned it would be best to tell him. After all, he was going to find out eventually, wasn't he?

"Well…"