Chapter Text
Almost two months had passed since the defeat of Bowser. The war between the Darklands and its neighboring kingdoms had since entered a state of dormancy. After all, there was not much to be done by the Koopas while their king was smaller than a Goomba and locked away in a cage like a pet bird. Still, paranoia from the Toads had kept them uncharacteristically alert and jumpy. They were naturally very dependent creatures, and in times of distress were inclined to seek out their royal maternal figure for some sense of safety.
Because of this, Princess Peach wasn’t really allowed to enjoy the weeks following the miraculous victory against Bowser and his army. There were always new reports coming in about invaders, spies, and plots of sabotage. She was able to put most of it off as the natural fear mongering of people who had unexpectedly been torn from their homes and forced to flee. Still, it was enough to leave her weary and more suspicious of her surroundings than she’d ever been, and ever wanted to be.
Today, at least, the story woven by a particularly jumpy citizen was outlandish enough to be downright amusing. Peach was enjoying her morning cup of tea, doing her best to hide her smile behind the lip of the cup, while a blue-spotted Toad recounted how he’d spotted Bowser creeping along the outskirts of the village. The same Bowser whose room Peach had passed by mere minutes beforehand, as he played his piano with as much force as his tiny little claws could muster.
“Peaches, Peaches, Peaches,” he had bellowed in his squeaky little voice. Peach would almost rather listen to the king’s off-key singing than spend another day hearing more ridiculous reports, but at least this Toad had some interesting creativity.
“So, Mr. Toadington, if you don’t mind me recounting your report,” Peach began, lowering her teacup and trying to remain as serious as possible, “you saw Bowser hiding in the grass during your stroll today.”
Toadington nodded vigorously, then shot a quick glance over his shoulder like Bowser might have managed to sneakily follow behind him. “Yes, he was there, clear as a pink Yoshi in the daylight. Then he vanished in an instant when he realized I’d seen him.”
Peach respectfully chose not to point out that Bowser would have simply fried or diced a Toad who intruded on one of his schemes. She tapped on her cup with her forefinger a couple of times, sighing quietly to herself. This story was almost funny enough to be worth cutting into her morning teatime. Almost. “Of course, but he was small, you said?” Peach continued. “Still shrunken after consuming the blue mushroom?”
“Umm, not quite that small. He was about the size of one of us Toads, actually.”
“And he was wearing a bib,” the princess recalled, once more lifting the cup to skew her mouth.
“A menacing bib,” Toadington pointed out, his oval eyes narrowing at the memory. “It had pointy teeth scribbled over it. Very disturbing.”
The guards protecting the door of the throne room began to creep forward, ready to unceremoniously escort Peach’s visitor from the castle. She barely lifted her unoccupied hand, a gesture that went unnoticed from Toadington but sent the guards backing up to resume their post. They grumbled to each other, wondering why the princess was still entertaining such a nuisance.
Toadington had been extremely persistent in trying to enter the castle before the princess had even woken up. Ironically, it was her royal servants’ attempts at letting her sleep in that had awakened her for the day. They had become irked enough to shout at the blue-spotted Toad, which increased tensions on both sides and almost made a complete scene. She had intervened before things got too out of hand, so fresh out of bed that she was trying to tame her frazzled locks with her hands. Seeing how worked up Toadington was erased any plans of sending him on his way herself. It would be better to let him tell his tale of a Toad-sized Bowser and then send him off satisfied.
Fortunately the whole thing was coming to a close. Peach just had to make him feel as though his report was being taken entirely seriously, so he could leave feeling like he had rescued the Kingdom with his sharp observations.
“I see,” Peach said, nodding. “I suppose any bib worn by that tyrant would be very menacing. It makes complete sense. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Mr. Toadington. I will make sure this matter is taken care of with the utmost sense of urgency.” It occurred to her that, although Toadington had hassled her guards and interrupted her thoroughly-needed rest, she had no desire for the Toad to make a fool of himself outside of the palace. She set aside her teacup and leaned forward conspiratorially. It was an obvious enough gesture that even the blue-spotted Toad caught onto it and eagerly scuttled a couple steps forward.
“Between you and me,” Peach said with a sly air, “I think it’s best to keep this secret. Otherwise the news of a small Bowser running around in a bib might send the entire kingdom into a panic! Do you think you could do me one more favor and keep quiet about what you saw this morning?”
Toadington immediately straightened his posture and gave her a salute. “Of course, Princess!” he asserted. “I’ll act as if nothing happened, for your own good. And I’ll keep a lookout for any more strange activity!”
The guards rolled their eyes but quickly resumed their usual stern-faced composure when the princess rose to her feet. She glided down the steps and called lightly to her servants, “I will be escorting Mr. Toadington out of the castle.” As kind-natured as her Toads were, she knew very well they weren’t above tripping or otherwise teasing someone who dared to waste the time of their princess. And for all the trouble he’d caused, she knew Toadington really had the best of intentions for herself and the Mushroom Kingdom.
“Thank you, Princess!” Toadington chimed excitedly, quickly taking her hand as it was offered to him.
As they walked down the halls and Bowser’s piano-playing became more distinct, she briefly considered simply showing the Toad that the king was still captured. But she thought better of it, knowing it would only send him down a separate spiral of conspiracies. She wondered if he would be able to recognize Bowser’s voice. But miraculously enough, the king was more interested in playing a light, repetitive tune than actual singing.
It so happened that Toadington felt like piping up right as they were passing the Koopa king’s chamber. “You know,” he spoke over the sound of the keys, “I wonder why Bowser’s suddenly taken to wearing a bib—”
A sudden crash of the keys made the both of them wince. Peach regarded the door with a frown while Toadington cupped his mouth and called, “You’d better practice a lot more before playing that for our princess, Bub!” He threw a thumb over his shoulder when he turned to face Peach. “Who’s that guy, anyway? I could play you something better than that!”
She inwardly winced, waiting for the angry squeaks of a tiny Bowser cursing at the Toad’s disrespect. The quiet that overtook the hallway was somehow worse. The trapped king didn’t make another sound.
“…C’mon,” Peach said hesitantly. “I’ll show you the rest of the way out.” As they walked further down the hallway, she couldn’t resist a glance over her shoulder. That was weird, wasn’t it? But then again, everything was starting to feel weird and off-kilter. After all the strange reports she’d heard (most of them being much more believable than that of Toadington), she’d found herself questioning what was real and what worries came out of her imagination.
It was getting to be a lot. It was getting to be too much. But how could she shut out the endless worries of her people without failing them as their princess? She could feel the dark discoloration underneath her eyes. Makeup was enough to hide them from her subjects, but they burned like bruises against her face. The princess needed more sleep than she was allowed to get these days. Her mouth itched for a yawn as the guards opened the castle doors for Toadington and her to exit. She subtly flexed her jaw, fighting it off, as the Toad turned and said his final goodbyes.
The polite smile on her face slowly sagged into a frown as she watched her visitor bounce off with the endless vigor of her people. She wished she could borrow some. Releasing the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, she turned and prepared to resume her much-needed teatime. The princess was so distracted by her thoughts that she almost ran into her advisor.
“Excuse me, Princess!” Toadsworth quipped in his unusually deep voice.
“O-oh, excuse me!” Peach exclaimed, flushing at her mistake. Her embarrassment grew as he looked her up and down. His brow rose and she got the impression he could see clearly all of the things she was trying to hide.
“I need to talk to you,” Toadsworth said, and there was nothing Peach could do to prevent the way her shoulders sagged.
The desperation in her voice even made the guards glance her way; “ Please, Toadsworth, I’ll talk about anything and everything—but can I at least finish my tea, first? These last two months I haven’t had a cup that wasn’t cold by the time I was able to finish it!” She was immediately ashamed at her complaints, and her gaze dropped to the floor under the weight of her guilt.
Toadsworth blinked in surprise before his expression softened. “I promise you, Princess, that this is a conversation you will be relieved to have.”
Peach looked up, astonishment gleaming in her wide eyes. Did he have something good to tell her? Toadsworth seemed to feel the desperation flowing from every ounce of her composure. He smiled warmly and offered her his hand. He was the only Toad in the whole kingdom that seemed to remember that she was once a kid. He understood that she still felt like a kid a lot more often than she would ever admit. She smiled back, a little astonished at how nice it was to not have to force the gesture.
Taking a quick second to compose herself, Peach took Toadsworth’s hand and allowed him to guide her back to the throne room. Even the guards were excused during their private conversation. And her wise advisor had not fooled her; it was a discussion she hadn’t known she was in such anguish to have. She collapsed against her throne when Toadsworth finished his speech, ordering more than requesting his princess: “Take a break.”
Peach took what he said to heart, even managing to get an extra half hour of teatime without any interruptions. She spent most of it simply holding her cup and allowing its warmth to spread through her body; her eyes closed while she focused solely on the sensation. Getting to nurse a second cup of tea this morning was the smallest of victories but a welcome one. As she rested, Toadsworth was making it known throughout the castle that the princess was not to be disturbed without his consent. That would be the case throughout the rest of the week while she caught up on her sleep and private-time.
There were only two people Peach had requested Toadsworth not to hinder by the temporary rules. Mario and his brother, Luigi, were welcome to see her anytime. Of course, Luigi was currently visiting his relatives in the human world; and Mario had no problem keeping himself busy with plumbing work inside of the Mushroom Kingdom. She wasn’t expecting to see either of them anytime soon.
When the doors opened with no announcements from the guards and quiet footsteps padded toward her, the princess didn’t bother opening her eyes.
“Thank you, Toadsworth,” she breathed. “I really appreciate this.”
A hesitant pause preceded a different, familiar voice: “Uhh, sorry but I’m, um, not Toadsworth.” Peach opened her eyes and sat up. Luigi was standing before the stairs leading up to her throne, digging the ball of one of his shoes nervously into the floor. He slouched a little and hooked his thumb nervously toward his chest; “It’s-a-me, Luigi,” he said in an exaggerated Italian accent.
“Oh.” Peach smiled kindly down at him. “It’s nice to see you, Luigi. Would you like some tea?”
“That’s okay, I’m more of a coffee guy,” Luigi replied absent-mindedly. He unrolled a newspaper he’d been holding in one hand. He stared at the cover page grimly, and Peach had a sinking feeling in her stomach.
“Coffee? What’s that?” she asked politely, setting aside her tea once again.
“Uh- it’s, well it’s nothing. Nothing important,” Luigi rambled. He lifted his hat and set it once more atop his brown hair. The princess above him could sense some dreadful news drawing nearer and nearer.
Peach leaned forward, a soft, accepting sigh accompanying the movement. “You’re supposed to be spending time with your parents today,” she noted gently. Luigi looked up, wide-eyed and hesitant, like he’d been caught doing something bad. “I can tell something is the matter,” the princess continued, her eyes lilting with concern for her friend. “Why are you back from your visit so early?”
The plumber glanced back down at the newspaper and rubbed the back of his neck. “I think it’s better if I just show you…” He began to climb the stairs. Peach blinked in surprise but quickly disregarded any comments she could have made. It wasn’t exactly the correct procedure for anyone to walk up to her throne. But this was Luigi, and she was loathe to try and scold him for feeling so comfortable in a throne room. Especially after his first experience in such a place.
“I found something out when I arrived in Brooklyn today,” he explained as he approached her. “Mario and I haven’t been there for over three weeks, so there was no way we could’ve known until now that, well…” Luigi was right in front of her now, and wore a troubled expression when he presented the paper for her to read.
The title of the article was hardly necessary for her to understand the problem. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the Yoshi vibrantly printed in a photo taking up most of the page. It was caught mid-leap jumping out of a supermarket window; shattered glass hung like sparkling confetti in the air around its body. The Yoshi’s mouth was loaded with types of fruit the princess had never even seen before, and its eyes shone with a wild sort of glee. The corners of the photo were filled with the blurred forms of humans ducking for cover; they must have been screaming with horror at the appearance of a creature they had never seen before. They must have thought it was a terrible monster.
Peach took a long moment to take in this revelation and all of its implications. She ran a gloved hand through her blonde hair, knocking her crown slightly askew.
“…I care for the Yoshis,” she finally said as Luigi pulled the newspaper to his chest. “They are my friends as much as the Toads are. I take it as my responsibility to care for them, but I was looking forward to a few days of rest…
”The humans,” she pondered aloud, “they have discovered a new creature. But it’s not dangerous; clearly it’s only interested in fruit. They’ll be rational and treat it with kindness and respect, right?”
Luigi made a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a groan. Peach touched a finger to her teacup; already it was growing cold.