(A/N: All right, this story was a request by danielman21, but I decided that I would surprise him by writing it out for his birthday present! Now it's time for me to get this show on the road for you happy readers and the birthday boy!)
It was a quiet, sunny day in the Mushroom Kingdom. Things had been very peaceful around here after Mario and Peach were crowned King and Queen, and after Bowser finally found someone else to be his new queen; a kind and friendly Koopa woman who loved him and his children. But our story mainly has to do with Mario and Peach, so let's head on over to Mushroom Castle and see what's up!
Mario was sitting in the drawing room, playing a Beatles love song on his red Rickenbacker guitar. He always liked the guitar, which was the main reason why he took a guitar class when he was in high school. The only problem was that he didn't have a guitar of his own to practice on after school, so he pretty much forgot everything that he'd learned on it when he was done taking that class.
Until he met Rosalina and found out how good she was at playing the instrument. It surprised him learn that one of his friends knew how to play. He was even more surprised when he heard her playing a Beatles song for the Lumas. So he talked to her about the whole matter.
When Rosalina offered to teach him how to play the guitar to repay him for all the nice things he had done for her, Mario was able to afford one (a Rickenbacker, at the suggestion of the Toad who owned the music store), and he practiced the instrument as often as he could after his lessons had ended. Pretty soon, he had learned how to play his favorite Beatles songs on it, and he loved being able to play a musical instrument while serenading his beautiful wife.
Speaking of Peach, she came running into the room, looking rather excited about something. She even sounded pretty excited as she said, "Mario! I'm so glad I found you! You're not going to believe this!"
Mario looked up from his guitar and turned his attention to his wife. Judging from the sound of her voice, and her choice of words, he thought she was excited as in 'panicked', and he asked, "Che cos'è? What is it, Peach? Please don't tell me Bowser's at it again! I thought he dumped you like sour milk when he planned to have that ball where he met and fell in love with that Koopa woman!"
"No, Mario, it's not Bowser. And he didn't dump me; he got over me before he had the ball; back when he learned that we were parents, remember?" Peach asked.
"Oh, right." said Mario. He remembered Bowser's reaction when he looked at Poochy, who was growling at him while protecting a small human boy who looked like a small Mario, only with a smaller nose, no mustache, and a bright blue cap with a lower case 'm' on it.
"Besides, you know well that we haven't had to worry about being attacked by the Koopas ever since Bowser found someone other than me to love at the ball." Peach replied in a gentle voice.
Mario knew she was right about that. It was true; the Koopalings had stopped wanting Peach in their family back when Bowser was trying to convince Jr. that she was his mother, betraying not only their adoptive mother's memory, but their trust as well. And when Bowser found out that Mario and Peach were married with a child, he knew it that was time for him to get over Peach and find someone else. Someone he could truly love.
Bowser was starting to view Mario and the others as real friends when he had the ball and invited them to it in hopes that it might help smooth things over between their kingdoms. Then he proved to them, his kids, his army, and himself that he was completely over Peach by inviting her and Mario to his wedding. And they were able to see how blissfully happy he was with his new wife, and how happy she was to be with him.
"You're right. Bowser, Kamek, Jr., and the Koopalings were willing to sign a peace treaty, and when they did that, they became our new allies." Mario recalled. That had been a rather interesting day for both kingdoms. The war had finally ended, much to everyone's relief.
But then he remembered that the Koopas weren't the only problem that the Mushroom Kingdom had to deal with. There were times where they would have to deal with awful catastrophes that made Koopa attacks seem more like tropical depressions in comparison. Now even though such things were few and far between, they were still enough to make everyone worry.
"Is there something wrong in the Mushroom Kingdom? Are we under attack by someone other than the Koopas?" Mario asked, sounding concerned. Whenever the kingdom was in danger, Mario was the first person to leap into action, and everyone knew that he would stop at nothing until he knew that the trouble was vanquished and everything was right again.
But if that really was the case, Mario knew that he might need back-up from his younger twin brother, Luigi. Luckily, the younger brother was just a phone call and a couple of warp pipes away.
"Nothing is wrong, Mario. There are no problems in the Mushroom Kingdom." Peach assured her husband as he put his guitar and the pick for it back in the case.
"You sure?" Mario asked.
"Sure. If there really was any trouble in our kingdom, Poochy would have barked a warning for us in plenty of time, and the Toads would warn us, too." Peach said, giving him a smile to help him relax.
"Okie-dokie." Mario replied, returning his wife's smile. That's when he noticed that her lovely blue eyes were sparkling, and they didn't do that when she was unhappy, so he asked, "All right, what's really going on?"
"Since today was so quiet and the kingdom is at peace, I thought I would go up and explore the castle's attic. Have you been up there yet?" Peach asked.
"I think I have." Mario replied. He thought for a moment, then said, "Sì, but that was a long time ago. Some of the Toads needed help dusting and making sure that there were no big, scary bugs crawling around up there, so I offered to help them dust the place and kill any bugs if we found them."
"Well, I think you should go up there more often and look around because you never know what you're going to find! I'm telling you, there are lots of very interesting things stored up there!" Peach said.
"Like what?" Mario asked.
"Something I haven't seen in years and almost forgot all about!" Peach said.
"Really, now? But you have a very long memory, Peach! It's-a better than my memory in every way! What could you have almost forgotten all about?" Mario asked.
"This!" Peach said, producing the object she'd been hiding behind her. The object appeared to be a small case, the kind that might house a small musical instrument.
"Oh! What is that?" Mario asked, intrigued.
"Check it out! I almost forgot that I had this thing until I found the case and opened it!" Peach said excitedly as she set the case down, opened it up, and took something out of it. Then she showed the object to Mario, saying, "Ta-da! What do you think?"
She had taken out an instrument, all right. It appeared to be a small string instrument, like a violin, or was it a viola? Mario wasn't sure, but he knew he'd seen and heard an instrument like that back when he was a young boy, learning about the different musical instruments that one would see and hear in an orchestra, for every year of grade school, since he was in 2nd or 3rd grade, his classes would take field trips to hear the symphony play.
"Ooh! Is that un violino, a violin, or una viola?" Mario asked, surprised. He didn't expect Peach to find something like that up in the attic. She was right; he really did need to go and look around up there more often. But he knew it was a good thing that his wife found it first; he never would have imagined that it had belonged to her.
"It's a violin." Peach said as she finally sat down.
"I thought so, but I had to be sure. Those things do look a lot alike, except I remembered that the viola is a bit bigger than the violin." Mario mumbled. Then he asked Peach, "It's-a really yours?"
"Yes." Peach smiled.
"How long have you had that instrument, Peach?" Mario asked.
"Since I was six years old." Peach replied.
"Wow, you were really that young when you got it?" Mario asked.
"I was." Peach said, nodding her head.
Mario tried to picture Peach as a six-year-old, playing the violin, but he couldn't. Then he asked her, "Can you play the violin?"
"Of course I can. I wouldn't have it if I didn't know how to play it." Peach said.
"All right. What got you interested in learning how to play this particular instrument?" Mario asked.
"I've heard the instrument in songs during movies, and I really liked the way it sounded. So I asked Toadsworth what musical instrument sounded like that, and he told me that it was a violin." Peach said.
"And that's when you asked him if you could have one?" Mario guessed.
"I did. He even thought it would be good for me to learn how to play a musical instrument, especially one that's so small and portable. So the following day, he took me to the music store in Toad Town, where we found me a violin. And after paying for it, we found someone who could give me lessons, and before we knew it, I got to be pretty good at playing the violin." Peach told him.
"I see." Mario said. Then he asked, "When was the last time you played anything on it?"
"I think I was almost thirteen by then. Yes, that was when my violin teacher died." Peach replied sadly.
"Oh, sorry to hear that." Mario said.
"He was old when he taught me, Mario. I knew that it was bound to happen someday, but I hadn't thought that it would happen as soon as it had. I even played two sad songs on the violin at his funeral." Peach said.
"Did you play "Yesterday" by the Beatles?" Mario asked.
"No, I didn't learn any Beatles songs on my violin. I hadn't gotten my interest in the Beatles until a while after I stopped playing the violin. The songs I played were actually from watching "SpongeBob SquarePants" after my lessons for the day had concluded. I had to pull out the violin and practice some more right after watching the episodes where a violin was heard." Peach replied.
"Tieni il telefono! Hold the phone! You're telling me that you played music from "SpongeBob" on that thing?" Mario asked, sounding surprised.
"I did. In fact, I taught myself those songs." Peach smiled.
"You did? Mama-mia, I always knew you were an amazing woman." Mario said, making his wife blush. But Peach's blush quickly disappeared as she said, "There is a problem, though. I haven't played those songs in years. I'll need to get back into playing the violin and re-learn them if I'm going to show you that I know them."
"That's completely understandable, Peach. When you haven't played something for a while, you're probably not going to remember how it's-a done, and you'll need to replay it in order to re-learn it. However, you've piqued my curiosity: what "SpongeBob" songs did you play for him at the funeral?" asked Mario.
"Let's see... it was a sad event, so there was the sad song Mr. Krabs played for Squidward on the world's smallest violin, and the song Gary played to make SpongeBob cry while he was cutting up the onions for his 'sundae'." Peach told him.
"If you were able to teach yourself those songs, then you're better than I ever imagined." Mario replied with a smile on his handsome face, making Peach blush again. He always knew how to flatter her. But then he realized that his wife was hinting that she hadn't really played the violin for a while, so he asked her, "Can you still play the violin?"
"I think I remember how it's done. Let me see if I can give you a small demonstration..." Peach said. So Mario watched as she carefully tuned the instrument, rosined the bow, then she placed the bow against the strings and played a few experimental notes on it. The notes came out a little screechy at first, due to the fact she hadn't played in a while. But when she played the scale, it smoothed out and sounded better.
"All right. Sorry about the screeching at first, but it's good to go now." Peach said.
"You haven't played for a while, Peach. We should've seen that coming." said Mario.
"You're right about that. Now let me think of a song to play for you..." Peach said.
"What songs do you know on it?" Mario asked.
"Well, I already told you that I don't know any Beatles songs on it; I hadn't gotten interested in them at the time I played this. But I do know quite a few songs on here, like Christmas carols and basic songs. I think I'll show you one of the basic tunes to start." Peach said. Then she played "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on it with no mistakes.
"Hey, that was really good." Mario praised.
"Thank you. It was one of the first songs I learned on this instrument, and it didn't take long for me to learn how to play it without even looking at the sheet music. You'll notice that I played that song from memory." Peach smiled.
"That's great! What else can you play on it?" Mario asked.
"Give me a minute. Let me think..." Peach said as she got lost in thought. She didn't feel like playing Christmas songs until after Thanksgiving, and she felt that Mario might get bored of hearing the basic songs; songs they had learned back when they were small children, even though they got used to hearing their own kids sing them when they were that young. Then she brightened and said, "Oh yeah! I also learned how to play some Disney songs on it."
"Did you really? Which ones were you playing?" Mario asked.
"Well, I would have to find the sheet music before I can tell you the answer to that. The books of songs are probably in the box where I found the violin." Peach replied as she gently put the violin back in the case and closed it.
"Well, let's-a go to the attic and see if you're right." Mario suggested.
"This does sound like the perfect excuse to get you looking around up there. Come on." Peach giggled as she and Mario made their way up to the attic.
Upon reaching the attic, Peach flipped the light switch to the 'on' position, and Mario looked around in amazement as he said, "Mama-mia! There really are a lot of things stored up here!" He hadn't really thought about that detail when he was helping the Toads because he was more focused on the task at hand.
"I told you." Peach smiled.
"I guess you're right. I am going to have to have a look around here someday, and today is as good a day as any for me to do that." Mario replied.
"But the first thing we're going to do is find my old sheet music for Disney songs." Peach said.
"I know, so let's-a start looking..." Mario said.
Peach quickly found the box where she discovered the violin, and she said, "Okay, here it is! Let's see what else is in here!"
"Okie-dokie." Mario said. He walked over, and he and Peach opened the box and started going through it to see what else was inside of it. To Peach's joy, they found a music stand, as well as the books containing the sheet music for Disney songs, and even Christmas songs. The box also held a folder that contained sheet music for songs from "The Sound of Music" in a big folder in the box.
"Oh, yes. I also played songs from "The Sound of Music". It always has been my favorite musical, with so many lovely and wonderful songs that I always loved to sing and play." Peach replied. Then they picked up the box and carried it down the stairs and into the drawing room, where they set it down.
"So, what are you going to play first?" Mario asked Peach as he set up the music stand for her.
"Well, that all depends. What do you want to hear first? Would you like to hear something from "The Sound of Music", or Disney? I'd play some Christmas music, but I like to wait until after Thanksgiving before I play those songs." Peach said as she looked over the music that she had.
"I don't know, Peach. I want you to decide." Mario told his wife, thinking back to how cruel Bowser used to be to her, never letting her make any decisions of her own.
Peach thought for a moment, before saying, "Okay, I think I'll play a Disney song for you." She had a feeling that Mario wasn't really into "The Sound of Music", but she knew that her husband enjoyed Disney movies as much as the next person in her castle.
"Sounds good to me." said Mario.
Peach opened a book containing songs from Disney Princess movies, and it didn't take long for her to find one that she liked. She set the open book on the music stand, pulled out the violin, and got it ready before saying, "All right, Mario. Can you name this song?" Then she began to play "So This Is Love" from the animated version of "Cinderella". In fact, she was playing the full song, from the moment Cinderella and the prince began dancing to it.
Mario smiled as he listened to Peach play the instrumental opening of the beautiful waltz. The two of them had waltzed to this song many times before, but until today, he didn't know that his wife was actually able to play the whole thing on a violin. She made it sound perfect and easy to play.
At that very moment, 8-year-old Mario Jr. and his 5-year-old little sister, Pesca, were on their way downstairs from the nursery to talk to their parents about something, but when they heard the song being played on Peach's violin, the two kids stopped dead in their tracks and listened. It didn't take long for them to recognize the melody they were hearing.
"Mama-mia! Can you hear that, big brother?! Somebody is playing "So This Is Love" from Disney's animated version of "Cinderella"! And whoever they are, they're really good at it!" Pesca said as her big blue eyes lit up with surprise. She loved Disney Princess songs as much as the next little girl.
"Yeah, Pesca, I can hear it. I know how much this song interests you, so let's follow the sound and see if we can find out who the musical genius is." Jr. told his sister.
"Yeah! Let's-a go!" Pesca said excitedly as Jr. took her hand to make sure that she didn't get lost as they followed the sound to its source, Pesca quietly humming along with the melody and almost waltzing as they made their way down the halls together.
"Little sisters... They are something else, especially if they happen to be princesses..." Mario Jr. thought, rolling his eyes at how his sister acted like such a girly-girl. But he loved his baby sister very much and was very protective of her. Another thing the young prince had inherited from his father was his protective instinct. As the next heir to the throne, this was a very good trait for him to have.
Even though Poochy's job was to guard the royal children when they were smaller, Mario Jr. deemed himself capable enough to keep his little sister safe from harm, even though he was still a child himself at the age of 8. Poochy now spent more time outside with the guards. However, at night, he slept in his doggy bed in the nursery, to make sure that the young prince and princess were safe as they slept.
About a minute later, the royal children found the source of the sound. You could imagine their complete surprise when they peeked into the drawing room and saw their mother playing the song on a violin.
Peach was intently playing her violin and reading the music on the stand before her, and Mario's eyes were on Peach. They didn't notice their kids standing there, almost speechless at what they had discovered.
"Mama's playing the song?!" Pesca softly asked her brother, surprise in her voice and on her face.
"Whoa... I didn't know that she could play it! I didn't even know she could play the instrument that she's playing!" Jr. said, just as surprised as his little sister was. He knew that his mother could play the guitar, but he could tell that she wasn't playing a guitar right now. The guitar didn't make the same sound that this smaller instrument made.
When Peach finished playing the song, Mario burst into applause, but she had been expecting that from him. What she hadn't expected, however, was to hear the spontaneous burst of applause from their children, who walked into the room, unable to hold back their excitement and surprise from their mother.
"That was amazing, Mama!" Mario Jr. praised their mom.
"Yeah! We didn't know you could play Disney songs on that instrument!" Pesca said excitedly.
"It's called a violin, sweetie." Peach said.
"Papa, what's a violin called in Italian?" Pesca asked her father. She had taken a liking to the Italian language when she learned that her name was the Italian word for 'peach'. And she loved her father's pet-name for her, which was 'la mia piccola principessa', meaning 'my little princess'. Those made her eager to learn more of the language that her father knew so well.
"It's-a called 'un violino'." Mario replied.
"Grazie. Thanks, Papa." Pesca smiled.
"Prego. You're welcome." Mario returned his daughter's smile.
Peach then told the children the same story she told Mario: how she got interested in learning to play the violin, how many years she had played it, and how she came to find it in the attic after all this time.
"What else can you play on it, Mama?" Pesca asked.
"Yeah, please show us!" Jr. added with interest.
Peach looked at Mario and asked, "What do you say, Mario?"
"Give us a concert, Peach! I'm just as eager as the kids are to see what else you know! And I was getting ready to yell 'Encore!' before they came in." Mario told her.
"All right." said Peach, blushing slightly as she looked for another song to play. She spent the next hour playing a bunch of different songs on her violin, much to the delight of her children, who sang along with the Disney songs they knew and loved. But Mario was even more impressed because, despite not having played it for years, his wife was still very good at playing the violin.
"So, what do you think?" Peach asked when she finished to hear the applause from her husband and children.
"That was great, Mama! You're really amazing!" said Jr. happily.
"He's got you there, cara mia, my darling." Mario told Peach, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
So even though Peach hasn't played the violin for a while, she got back in the groove pretty quickly and showed Mario and her children how good she is. However, I hope you're not thinking the story is over yet, because it isn't! There's more to come, so stay tuned!