CHAPTER VI

As promised, our beloved princess organized a cheerful get-together at her castle to tell the tale of her adventures during her vacation. She had invited Master Mario and Master Luigi, Yoshi, Princess Daisy of Sarasaland, Toad and his little sister Toadette, and myself.

We gathered in the grand living room. It was decorated with marvelous furniture and portraiture of the royal family, from her predecessors to her. Two large stain glasses let in a sunlight that blessed us in a multi-colorful way. We were seated on a large semi-circular couch with a table of good sweets and a large pitcher of delicious lemonade juice made by our monarch.

Displayed from a projector to a wide screen, she gleefully told the tale of her vacation as we looked each photography taken with beautiful and blessed moments; some more silly than others. One showed the princess and Tiara befriending a large Tyrannosaurus Rex while this same beast was running playfully after Mario and Cappy. Everyone smiled, laughed, added to the flavored conversation, etc. Everyone was having fun.

Everyone... but Mario.

He had found little sleep in the recent encounter with Bowsette. And worse, his heart still felt shattered by Princess Peach for not seeing him as a lover. That part of him was irritating. He knew in his heart that he would never wish her ill fortune. But he just did not know what to do with this unrequited love. The only thing he could do was remaining seated with us, nodding in silence and smiling occasionally to show some signs of interest. Truth be told, it looked as if he just wanted to return home to be excluded from everyone. A broken heart would do that to you.

"Are you all right Mario?" the princess asked in a worried tone. "You seem distant."

Mario looked at her. And there she was, beautiful and flawless, even when worried. Not an ounce of imperfection. It killed him to know she would never be his.

"I'm fine," he replied with an emptied smile. "I haven't slept much last night."

"Are you really sure?" she asked furthermore, sensing more than just fatigue from his part.

"Don't worry, Peach. I'm just a bit tired."

"Well, if you say so." she conceded. "But hey, if there's something bugging you, you let me know, okay? We're best friends, aren't we?"

Another stab in the heart; only this time, Master Mario was not the only one feeling the cold blade. Luigi silently winced at the emotional cut that his brother received, and so did Toad. Princess Daisy's eyes were discreetly surprised, while I kept pitying our hero's poor heart.

The following words seemed hard to pronounce, but he told them anyway to reassure her. "Of course! Always!"

"Good!" she smiled to him. "By the way, what happened to your hat? I've rarely seen you without it."

"Now that I think about it," added Princess Daisy, "it was weird seeing you without it."

"Oh, right..." Mario patted his head. "I had a midnight walk last night and—"

Two guards entered with a burst. Their faces had a raw urgency painted on them.

"Princess!" yelled the first one. "Bowsette's ship is coming towards us!

"What?" We all exclaimed.

"But..." the second guard began. "Something seems strange in her advance!"

"Strange?" I asked. "How so?"

Both guards looked at each other, like the next words coming from their mouths would not be believable.

"She has hoisted the white flag."

Unbelievable indeed. Princess Bowsette, hoisting the white flag? Preposterous! And yet...

"That definitely smells the ruse!" Luigi responded! "Does she think she can fool us with that old trick?"

"Yeah!" Toad added. "Let's show her how we do things in Mushroom Kingdom!"

"Sounds good to me!" Yoshi said.

"Hold your horses, young ones!" I said to them. "Let us swiftly analyze the situation right now. Any rash decisions will result in unnecessary causalities."

"I agree," the princess said advancing to us. "If Bowsette is serious about making a truce, then as princess of this kingdom, I must honor it, otherwise we might trigger a full-blown war instantly."

Princess Daisy sighed. "I'm afraid she's right. As much as I'd like to have a crack at Bowsette, she, too, is royalty. Unless there's a kidnapping signed by yours truly, if we attack first and she was really going for a truce, we could make things worse."

On any given day, Master Mario would have been the first to jump in high charge towards his sworn enemy. Today was different. Somehow, Bowsette's arrival did seem odd. Gazing mindlessly at the marble floor, he felt responsible for this event to happen. From what his instinct told him, her goal was not the princess this time.

A third guard arrived in haste.

"Bowsette has landed!" he announced to all. "And... she has made a request."

"A request?" Princess Peach asked. "What is it?"

The guard looked confusingly at the red-and-blue plumber. "She asked to talk to you, Master Mario."

All eyes in the room diverted towards him. He gazed forwardly, knowing her visit was about yesterday's life-and-death episode.

As many questions were about to rain on him, he went with the initiative of action instead of listening. "Let's-a go see what she wants."

Our group led by Mario walked to the castle's entrance. As we passed through the large gates, a large number of soldiers surrounded Bowsette at spear point; some trembled at the sight of the Koopa princess. On the other end, she seemed to be impatient and annoyed.

"Guys," she said holding a large pole with a white flag, "if I wanted to create chaos, I would have done it already." Her eyes diverted to our sudden appearance. "'Took you long enough."

"I've-a got this, guys. Stand down." The soldiers did as he said and lowered their weapons. He walked towards her. "How did you know I was here?"

"Are you kidding me?" she said, shrugging. "If you're not home, you're with your girlfriend, so..."

"You really think we're gonna fall for this you-come-in-peace trick?" Daisy said. "Think again!"

Bowsette looked bored at the Sarasaland princess. "Princess Daisy. I guess you are loud with no matters and tomboyish as they said. You could really learn a thing or two about well-behaving from Peach."

"SAY THAT AGAIN, YOU BITC—"

"Now, now! She's just provoking you!" Luigi held her furious self along with Toad.

"LET ME GO!"

Princess Peach walked next to Mario. "Then what are your intentions, Bowsette?"

"Sorry Peach," she let out a sly smile, "but I really didn't come for you."

"That would indeed be a first," I added.

Her eyes locked with Mario's. There was a silent conversation between the two of them. She had come for him.

Despite her known ruthlessness and evil persona, her eyes carried something alienated from her usual self; gratitude. Even Mario, while he was on his guard, the scarred image of her dying was still fresh in his mind; perhaps forged forever. There was a glimpse of sympathy in his gaze projected to her, his enemy of always. The word enemy seemed strange to refer to her in Mario's mind after last night.

She held something red in her hand. She lent it to him. To our surprise, it was what he was missing; his fetish red cap.

"You left it on my dresser last night. I came to give it back."

"Oh..." he took it gently from her hand. "Thank you, I... I appreciate it."

This small glimpse of a conversation surprised us like ice cold water being splashed to our faces.

From the others's perspective, they seemed to jump to a hasty conclusion; the kind that said the two of them had shared an "intimate" relationship.

"Mario, what is... going on?" Princess Peach asked with uncertainty. Mario surprisingly ignored her question by putting his hat on.

"I also came for something else." Bowsette continued.

The Koopa princess looked emotionless, but there was a conflict inside of her heart. Her face started to show slight signs of uneasiness. In the meantime, the soldiers along our friends could not help whispering theories and rumors behind the current mystery. How did Mario's hat found its way in Bowsette's private chambers? Despite her calm, even our princess Peach seemed anxious to know the story that bridged these two.

"Anyways," she rolled her eyes to the whispering, "it's... not easy for me to admit something like that due to who I am. But... I hate having debts, even towards people I've fought against for years. Therefore..."

She took a deep breath for the next words. A peacefulness regained her face.

"Thank you, Mario, for saving my life last night. I owe you a debt."

Silence reigned. No more whispering rumours. With all eyes on the two of them, we all desired to know more on the event that occurred between Mario and Bowsette. As their train of thoughts circulated at full speed, no one could believe a scenario where she had to be saved by our famous hero. But Bowsette's expression showed nothing but being humble; silently grateful. In his silence, Mario looked relieved to see her well.

Mario nodded. "You look like you've recovered well."

She nodded in reply. "Yeah."

"So, um..." Yoshi started. "What exactly happened between the two of you?"

"Yeah," Daisy added after finally calming down. "I hardly see Mario saving the likes of you."

"Daisy!" Princess Peach interjected.

"What? She is the Koopa princess after all! You're really going to defend her after all of the numerous times she kidnapped you and attacked your kingdom?"

"But she came for a truce!" Peach insisted. "Therefore, we must show proper diplomatic—"

"It's okay, Peach," Bowsette said scratch her right ear with one of her long black nails. "I did do those awful things to you and your kingdom. Coming in peace one time doesn't erase all of that."

The princess of Sarasaland was surprised. She did not expect her Koopa homologue to admit her wrongs without snapping back at her.

"So," Luigi said, "what is the meaning of your visit?"

"For a private talk with your brother," Bowsette sighed exasperated while pointing at his elder twin. Impatience started dressing on her face. "Look, could we talk in private? I'm getting tired of the peanut gallery over here!"

Mario nodded. He turned around to his friends. "I've-a got this. We're just going for a walk and talk a little, okay?"

Princess Peach seemed worried. "Are you sure? I wouldn't mind coming if that'd be okay with—"

"It's a bit of a private matter, Princess." Mario replied. "Sorry."

"Oh, I see..." A small layer of sadness rested on her face.

"Would you relax already!" Bowsette's index finger gently carried Princess Peach's chin. The nerve she had! "I said I came in peace, did I? Don't worry, I'm not gonna mistreat your boyfriend."

Boyfriend. That word kept on hurting Mario's heart. "Let's get this talk or whatever you want over with!"

"Sheesh!" Bowsette replied. "Who pissed in your cereal this morning?"

As such, before we could hold them, Master Mario and Princess Bowsette distanced themselves from us and the castle. Surely, they did not wander very far, but our group of friends shared uncertainty and anxious curiosity on the story behind Mario saving someone as the late King Bowser's daughter.