O~o~O

No one knew where Princess Peach was.

At least, no one who was watching the stage knew. Looping around and searching through all the spectators, it was easy to see that most of them were more occupied watching Ridley down on the stage twiddling his thumbs than really thinking about where the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom might be. How could anyone miss her? She could have spoken to any of them this morning, detailing her day, and yet none of them would have been able to relay that information.

"How did this happen?" they were talking amongst themselves, the crowd who had watched everything go down. "Is he going to be okay?"

Young Link gave up searching around the stage; she obviously hadn't come to watch the fight.

Picking up into a jog, Young Link ran up and down the halls of the mansion in search of the Princess. He had to find her quick, had to lead her to the infirmary. There was absolutely nothing that mattered more.

After his third lap around the ground floor, a blue blur zoomed in front of him. "I saw Peach just now," Sonic said to him. "She's down in Smashville."

Smashville. Young Link nodded without a word, and raced to the doors.

The extensive gardens in front of the mansion had to be at least a mile long. But, he didn't slow down. There was urgency in his pace, a drive in his knees that had the villagers hurrying out of his way. He was careful to avoid stepping in the flowers.

Once he got into town, he looked around for any trace of pink. The breeze picked up a little, blowing some of the petals around, and he could hear some distant laughter of smashers and villagers. Maybe they hadn't yet heard about what happened.

He skidded around a corner, and spotted Zelda, Palutena, and Peach all sitting together in front of the cafe. Young Link sprinted towards them.

"...their friendship is so strange," Zelda was saying. "I've never seen anything like it. They could sit for hours together without a word."

Palutena nodded along. "Well, the heroes of your world are very similar to one another. They are both soft spoken, aren't they? Mario and Link understand each other, it doesn't surprise me that they don't necessarily converse."

Young Link stumbled to a stop, breathing hard. He clutched the hem of his tunic, looking wildly between the women. None of them noticed him at first. He started to bounce nervously, trying to think of a polite way to interject and get Princess Peach's attention. Then, Zelda happened to look up and see him.

"Oh! Link, how are you today?" she asked with a kind smile, and the other two turned to greet him as well.

"Fine." he answered with a bashful glance to the ground, rubbing the back of his head. Then, abruptly remembering his purpose, he shuffled up to Princess Peach. He wrung his hands and looked at the floor. "Um, Princess, Uncle Mario is hurt."

Princess Peach gasped. "What?"

O~o~O

The entire field was in a panic.

The lights were really, how did he say? Bright. They were so bright, he could close his eyes and he could still only see white. He remembered looking in a funny, sideways circle at the rest of the field. He remembered the horrified faces looking back at him. And then the floor slipped out from under him.

His knees struck first. His entire body felt like it just folded under lopsided gravity. Someone was yelling. There was the constant buzz of a crowd far away from him. He tried to raise his head. The movement made him realize there was a splitting pain in his chest. Throbbing, aching. He could feel his heart pulsing and thundering away all the way up in his throat.

A rush of footsteps and a forest of limbs appeared close to his face. "I'm fine," he tried to tell them, and then the world did a somersault. The lights came back and were blinding him again. Something really heavy was on his chest. He tried to push it away, it was only hurting him more. There was a voice close to his head, he thought. But they were really loud and he couldn't make it out over the lights and the heaviness on his chest and the feeling that someone was hitting him on his face. "Stop- stop it, I'm fine."

Maybe they couldn't hear him. The rush of noise went on uninterrupted above him. He could make out his name a couple of times. After a moment, he thought he could use some rest. He had been quite busy after all. It was a good time for a nap. He thought he could deal with the noise and the light and everything.

There was pressure on his back and under his knees. His first thought was that he was sinking into the floor. He tried to kick out, tried to struggle. He couldn't let the floor swallow him. The floor would only make his chest feel worse. But he couldn't feel anything beneath him. He pushed down with his elbow and heel and found nothing.

He felt something warm to his right or left. He wasn't sure which one it was. Something warm and firm. That same something was the pressure under his back and knees. He must be in the air somehow, he was being carried.

Carried? He could feel his head going up and down but that could have been his body also. He didn't want to be carried. He balled his hands into fists and tried to push himself up. But there was a shock that ran all through his front that caused every muscle to lock up. He fell back and the warm pressure pushed against his skull.

A voice came very close to his ear. He would have jumped if his muscles hadn't frozen. "Mario, hey, can you hear me? You're going to be alright, okay?"

He could hear them loud and mostly clear. His head felt like it was bobbing a lot, and it hurt. But he didn't think he had any control over it. "Donkey Kong, be careful with him! You're going too fast!" Mario heard the muffled shouts that he thought were behind them. He couldn't tell for sure. The heaviness and splitting feeling in his chest distracted him from being able to tell what was happening. Being jostled all over the place didn't help.

Eventually, the jostling slowed down, and Mario was able to make out voices coming closer. "Have to hurry," he recognized the grunting of the gorilla who carried him. "Mario hurt."

Even though he couldn't really tell what was going on, Mario felt touched by Donkey Kong's obvious concern. With a shaking hand, he tried to up and pat what he thought was the gorilla's huge shoulder.

"Mario! Stay still!" another voice snapped, and Mario's head fell back. That voice was one he definitely knew. He wouldn't argue with Samus even when he was uninjured.

They stopped, and Mario braced himself as the group burst through the door.

"Jesus Christ, what is it now?" he heard, and blinked when he recognized his own voice. Except it wasn't his voice exactly, because it was Doctor Mario. Mario didn't think he would ever be able to get over the fact that there was another him. Why did they have to take him to see the Doctor? The infirmary was silent for a few moments as the Doctor got sight of him. "...What happened?"

There was a commotion, several voices talking at once. Donkey Kong's distinctive grunts, Pit trying to tell a dramatic story, Pikachu's nonsensical explanation, Samus yelling like a drill sergeant. There were others, but Mario couldn't make them out.

A loud slam. "Not everyone at once! Please, one at a time!" Doctor Mario raised his voice over all of them, and everyone went quiet.

Samus cleared her throat. "Sir. There has been an accident during the trials. Mario has been in charge of the evaluation of all the newcomers in the tournament. Today, he faced Ridley."

Everything got quiet, and Mario assumed the Doctor was looking at him to assess the damage. He could feel Donkey Kong breathing, and the sensation was strange. It was better to focus on than whatever happened to his chest, though.

"Okay." Mario heard the Doctor let out a deep sigh. "Set him down on this table here. Gently! Gently, I said. Lay him down with his head on that end. There, that's fine."

There was one last somersault before Mario was finally still. His head still felt like it was spinning, but the table was more stable than the arms of a gorilla. So, he couldn't complain. Except, the lights were still bright. Why were they so bright? If he could bring his arm high enough, maybe he could cover his eyes. He found that his arm was too heavy for him to move. When he tried, his muscles all contracted and he was left breathing heavily on the table and trying to wrap his head around the incredible pain in his chest.

If there was one thing he didn't like, it was a doctor's office. He didn't like laying on the table, didn't like being under the bright lights, and he didn't like how helpless he felt under a doctor's sharp eyes. Especially a doctor that was actually himself? The worst part was the clinical smell.

He could feel eyes on him, and if he squinted, he could just make out a figure moving around him. Something prodded his side. In his arm, he felt a sudden and sharp stab. After a moment, the horrible pain in his chest faded into a numb ache. The figure above him stopped, and the prodding did as well. "Look. I know you all care about him, and I'm sure he appreciates your help. But I can't fix him up with practically the entire roster standing in my office. I'm going to have to ask you all to leave for now. I will send word out when I've finished with him, but it may take an hour or two."

There were mumbles of "Yes, sir," and "Sorry, Doctor," as everyone shuffled out of the infirmary.

Once the door clicked shut, the Doctor turned back to face Mario.

He shook his head. "You've done quite a number to yourself this time." Mario heard the sound of a pen on a clipboard, and could just feel the disapproval emanating from the Doctor. "Okay. First, I'm going to assess you for a concussion. Can you hear me? If you can hear me, open your eyes."

Mario tried to open his eyes. The light was really bright, and he felt his eyelids flutter. After a moment, he felt a sudden pressure on his finger that caused him to jump and try and pull his hand away.

"Can hear and respond to voice. Withdrawal from painful stimuli," the Doctor murmured, along with the scratching on the clipboard. "Mario, can you tell me where we are right now?"

What kind of question was that? With a frown, Mario tried to express his indignation, only to hesitate. Where were they? After thinking for a moment, it came to him again. He opened his mouth and tried to clear his throat. "Smash- Smash Mansion." he finally mumbled. "We're in the infirmary."

He could hear a vague hum from the Doctor. "Can you tell me what day it is?"

Mario tried to think. His week had sort of blended together with everything that had been happening, and he wasn't sure if he would have been able to tell the Doctor what day it was anyway. He had been really busy and hadn't happened to glance at the date. "It's December…" he muttered, trying to count the days. "Tue-Tuesday…"

Before he could name a number, the Doctor went on. "You fought Ridley today. Can you tell me who you fought in the last assessment?"

Oh. Mario blinked blearily, searching the light. He knew the answer, he had just fought them yesterday. Right? "Chrom...?" he guessed, and then doubted himself. "Or...Isabelle. I think."

There was a sigh. Mario felt something pressing on his shoulder, and realized it was just the Doctor's hand. "You've at least got a mild concussion. I can give you something to help with the pain, but you may continue to feel disoriented for a little while. You can rest your eyes if you like while I fix up your chest."

Mario wasn't about to argue with that. He closed his eyes, and tried to take a deep breath, only for his chest to hitch. Pain shot out from his chest and through his arms and stomach like an electric shock. A slight groan left him.

"I know. I know. It's not every day you get impaled by a giant space dragon." Doctor Mario sighed from across the room, and Mario very nearly sat up just to look down at his chest. So that was what happened? He got impaled? He couldn't shift himself up high enough, and fell back, gasping. "Please stay still. Believe me, I know you're in a lot of pain. But I can't seal the wound if you're moving around."

He tried to keep still. Tried to resist the mindless reactions to whatever the Doctor was doing to him on his front. If he focused enough on keeping even breaths in and out, he could distract himself from the stinging and throbbing that seemed to get worse with every touch. He clenched his jaw when the Doctor found an especially tender spot, and tried as hard as he could not to make a sound.

The Doctor was talking to himself in low mumbles, but Mario couldn't make out a single word he was saying because he was concentrating so much on tolerating treatment. The lights were still bright, but he could at least make out the Doctor's face instead of a washed out figure. As he tried to swallow any sound and keep himself quiet, he thought about strange it was to be treated by himself. Was the Doctor really him? He had never had a full conversation with the man, only because of the sheer unease he felt by being in the same room as himself.

Mario was normally content not to question things he didn't understand, like the magic of the Mushroom Kingdom, or how 'death' didn't quite mean the same thing as it did to him before leaving his earth. There was a certain wonder that came with not knowing. For instance, the scope of Princess Peach's power was something he would never be able to wrap his mind around.

But the Doctor was different. He was looking at himself, but it couldn't be him, because Mario was himself. He was looking at someone who looked and acted like him for the most part. His accent was a little different, though Mario assumed that was from the amount of time the Doctor had to have spent getting an education. He sounded practically American, with only a faint hint of his Italian origins in a few words here and there. Even the way he spoke, with bigger words and longer sentences, made Mario feel very strange. The Doctor had to be a lot more intelligent than he was. The thought that there was another version of him who was much smarter and much more educated and much more sophisticated than himself was very uncomfortable. Mario didn't know very much about the possibility of other universes, or anything like them because trying to think about them always made his head hurt. So for him, just the mere sight of the Doctor was a giant headache.

Mario tensed up at some sharp pressure, something pulsating and throbbing, and ended up making a sort of coughing or choking sound in response. The way the Doctor reacted, with an expression of such sharp concentration Mario had never really seen on himself before, made him wonder just who he was. He couldn't be himself. He just couldn't.

"You don't have to hold it in." the Doctor stopped briefly, and Mario looked up at him. The eye contact felt very strange, and Mario struggled to keep his eyes on the Doctor's without looking away. "I know you. I know you don't like to show pain, but there's no one here. You don't have to take this quietly." he kept his eyes on Mario's for a moment longer before he resumed his task, looking back to his chest.

Mario's breath caught in his throat. "I'm fine," he said, but his voice was hoarse and his breathing was shallow. Then, he felt something ridiculously sharp and there was pain and every single muscle in his upper half locked up. "Hnn-!" he let out a sound that he hadn't meant to, and shut his eyes tight.

He didn't like the pointed look the Doctor gave him after that. If he could speak anymore through the blaring pain that had his head buzzing, he might have told the Doctor to shut up or something similar, but that felt too mean. He settled for a glare through a grimace, and then had to blink several times to stop the stinging from the bright lights. When he managed to open his eyes again, the Doctor's expression softened into something that looked more hurt.

"You can trust me." he told Mario in a quiet voice. While Mario watched him, he opened his mouth like he had more to say. But, he set his jaw, and let his thought go with the silence.

There was a pinching and a pulling, and Mario felt his entire body shudder. His shoulders jolted, his fingers twitched. He shut his eyes and tried to just take it like he always did. The nerves in his chest felt like they were exploding. Something awful and hard dug into his chest, and he finally let out a sharp moan in response.

The pressure let up just slightly, but when it returned, it didn't feel as bad. He looked up at the Doctor and squinted, chest heaving. "Who- who are you?" he fretted, and shook his head from side to side a couple of times before looking back up.

Doctor Mario let up the pressure on his chest, and gave him a small smile. "Well, I'm you, but with a medical degree." he kept his eyes on Mario, and Mario noticed the professional look in his eyes was gone. There was something optimistic in his expression. Something hopeful. "I'm going to have to cut away your shirt now. This will be over soon. I'll have you wrapped up before you know it."

Mario tried to nod, but ended up making a weak affirmative sound instead. He could feel the cold blade of the scissors on his side and along his arms, but he couldn't squirm away despite his discomfort. The Doctor went on with a tentatively casual tone, keeping a careful eye on him. "Talking may help to distract you. I heard that you went on quite a big adventure recently. They called it an Odyssey. Could you tell me about it?"

"Oh." Mario let out a shaky breath. The Odyssey. While the Doctor peeled away his shirt, he tried to think about how to describe his journey. During preparation for the Smash Tournament, he had been trying not to think about it so much, so he had put himself to work with only just enough time to sleep and eat. Not much time to talk to his brother or to the Princess, just everyone else who was helping him get everything organized. "You know the- the same story. Bowser kidnaps the Princess. I had to chase him so I can save her. We ended up visiting kingdoms all over the world this time. We even went to the moon."

He was surprised that he managed to keep his voice straight, even while the Doctor was poking at his chest. "The moon?" the Doctor tilted his head with interest, and glanced to him. "What happened on the moon?"

Mario wanted to cover his face with his hands. "I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled, and the Doctor gave a good-natured chuckle.

"Can I take a guess?" he asked with an amused grin, resting his hands on the table.

With a sigh, Mario tried wave him on. When he couldn't make the movement, he tried to speak. "Go ahead."

The Doctor left the side of the table, and went too far across the room for Mario to see what he was doing. He heard the rustling of the Doctor's lab coat shifting, and drawers being opened and closed. "Well, I heard that in your world, there is a very famous cathedral on the moon." the Doctor began, and Mario let out a slight groan. He probably knew already, or had a very good idea. He wondered how; he had been very careful to keep it to himself. "It's no secret that Bowser wants to marry Princess Peach, so I'm not surprised in the least that he would kidnap her and attempt to wed her by force. You, of course, went after them to try and stop the wedding, yes?"

Mario managed to shift his arm over his eyes and nodded.

With a sympathetic look, the Doctor came back to his side by the table and set down gauze and tape and other medical supplies Mario didn't want to look at. "Knowing you, I'm sure you crashed the wedding in the nick of time. And, knowing the nature of your world and Bowser and your luck, you ended up having to save everyone from some disaster." he started to rub down Mario's wounds with something that really stung, and Mario winced.

"Some-something like that," he agreed with a grimace. He felt the Doctor's hand on his shoulder, and realized that he wasn't breathing. He quickly tried to let out the breath he was holding.

The Doctor fixed him with a knowing look. "You succeeded, of course. You always do. But Bowser just doesn't know when to stop, does he? Here, I'm going to need you to sit up, please." he took Mario's wrist and kept his other hand behind Mario's head and neck. Slowly, Mario was able to right himself, but he couldn't use any muscles in his core or chest. Once the Doctor was sure Mario could stay without help, he started unwrapping the gauze.

He felt a little dizzy, though he was sure the feeling would pass. Mario watched how the Doctor measured out tape and gauze pads, and was fascinated how he didn't even seem to have to think about what he was doing. "Bowser probably did something that was just enough to make you do something reckless. Something you wouldn't have even considered doing under normal circumstances." his eyes flickered to Mario's with a significant look, sharp and calculating. "My guess is that you tried to propose to Princess Peach yourself."

Mario looked away, down to the floor. He blinked several times. The tightness in his throat was familiar, but still painful and uncomfortable. "Close enough." he managed to say, before he lowered his head. The Doctor placed a couple of pads on his chest, but they weren't going to stay on their own.

He could make out the Doctor's fond smile out of the corner of his eye. "Lift your arms up just a little bit for me, please." he instructed, and leaned forward to wrap gauze several times around Mario's chest.

The Doctor leaned away after smoothing the tail end of the gauze down, and got to work on securing the dressing with tape. All the while, Mario could feel his steady eyes on him. But Mario couldn't bring himself to look up.

He hadn't really proposed. There wasn't a ring, or a question to be asked. But he had offered her a flower and expected her to choose him over the Koopa King. At the time, his actions made perfect sense; it was a playful way to get back at Bowser, to show him that Princess Peach just wasn't going to marry him no matter how hard he may try. In retrospect, he had acted in childish way and he knew that. But he just hadn't considered what his actions might have implied, about himself, and to the Princess.

Because there was a ring in his back pocket. At least, there was in the months leading up to the events of the Odyssey. His plans to propose to her were many and intricate. But the ring wasn't there anymore.

If the Princess ever had feelings for him, the way he had feelings about her, he knew without a doubt that she would have pushed them aside by now. Because on the moon, on that near wedding day, he had shown her not only that he didn't take marriage seriously, but that everything about marriage was just a game.

But it just wasn't true! Mario took marriage more seriously than he thought most people did. He had more ideas and plans than he could keep track of in his head, and the written plans didn't even account for the rest just sitting in the back of his mind. He had dreamed of his own wedding day, dreamed of true love and of a soul mate who he longed for. Though, for most of his life he had been convinced that there wasn't really anyone who would love him as much as he might love them.

That was, until he met the Princess. After years of living and working in the Mushroom Kingdom, of course he had to go and develop a crush on the Princess with the purest heart. The crush didn't take long to become more, to become an ache in his chest that really made him consider proposing to her. She was his best friend, and he was hers. But she became even more to him over time. He thought there was a chance she might feel the same way. So, he had started carrying around a ring, and writing down all of those silly plans much to Luigi's amusement.

And then he had thrown it away. All those months of hoping, of dreaming. In just a moment, he had put to waste everything he had been working for. Though, during the weeks after the Odyssey, Mario had begun to wonder if he ever had a chance in the first place.

He was certain that she was upset with him, because he had tried to apologize on their way home from the moon. But she brushed him off. Mario didn't know how else to interpret that; she just didn't want to hear it. As soon as he arrived home, he found that she had gone on a trip of her own. His first thought was that she was trying to avoid him. However, she didn't act in a way that would support that. During their travels back through the Kingdoms, she talked to him like nothing was wrong, and it was torture to Mario. Nothing felt the same between them anymore.

The Doctor got his attention by gently shaking his shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"

Mario gave a slight nod, but didn't look up. The Doctor let out a heavy breath and left his side to go and grab the clipboard he had been writing on earlier. "You really love her, don't you?" he kept his voice quiet, but Mario still worried that he had spoken too loudly and anyone might be able to hear. "I've got to go and write up this report so I can give you a prescription. You sit tight; this won't take long." he left Mario with a friendly pat on his shoulder and a well-meaning smile.

Watching him go, Mario thought even the way the Doctor walked was different from him. He strode with relaxed purpose, the deep heel strike of someone who was in no rush. He even held his shoulders back like he didn't have anything to prove. When Mario realized just how much he was thinking about it, he thought maybe he was being just a little too picky.

Almost as soon as the Doctor closed the door to his private office, the entrance to the infirmary opened again. "Uncle Mario!" he heard.

He looked up, and was alarmed to see Young Link and Princess Peach coming inside.

Why had the Princess come? Before he could wonder, Young Link ran across the office, and practically leapt up on the table to see him. The force of his jump nearly toppled Mario over, because he threw his arms around Mario as soon as he was close enough. "Hey, you," Mario tried to smile through the pain for the little Hylian, and affectionately patted the top of his head. Link was squeezing him quite hard. "What are you doing here?"

He really had to strain to listen to Link. The poor boy had such a soft voice. "You got hurt. I had to go find Aunt Peach." he murmured, looking up at Mario with big eyes.

"Aunt Peach?" he repeated, and raised his eyebrows as he looked up to see the Princess approaching him. They both shared an amused smile. If Young Link hadn't melted his heart before, he definitely had now.

Princess Peach nodded in a very serious way, though her private smile to Mario told him she found it equally as adorable. "Of course. He informed me on our way that I'm his Aunt." Peach told him matter-of-factly, and Mario tried really hard to hold back a chuckle. He could only imagine how that conversation went.

"Are you okay? Aunt Peach can heal you, right?" Link sat back on his heels, looking over his bandages with a worried look.

Mario blinked. That was why Link brought the Princess? A surge of warmth filled his chest, and Mario couldn't help but reach up and ruffle his hair. He didn't quite know what to say. But he had to say something; Link was giving him such an expectant look. "Yes. Thanks to you, cucciolo."

He really needed Link to let go of him; he could feel his chest hurting more and more. Luckily, before he had to ask, the Princess stepped forward to help Link down from the table. "He'll be just fine now, don't you worry, sweetie." she knelt down to his level and smoothed down his shoulders. "Thank you so much for bringing me to him. I need to talk to Uncle Mario alone now, okay?"

Oh. Mario felt a cold rush as his heart skipped a beat. But Link was still standing there, so he smiled down at him. "Thank you, Link." he spoke up, and Link broke into a wide grin.

"Okay, bye Uncle Mario! Bye Aunt Peach!" he waved, and ran back out of the office.

The door clicked shut, and Princess Peach straightened herself up with a soft sigh. Mario felt his heart pounding. What did she want to talk to him about? He told himself he was getting all worked up for nothing; Princess Peach never had anything bad to tell him, and she had certainly never given him any reason to be afraid to be alone with her.

But then again, he had also never given her a reason to be angry with him before.

He lowered his head and looked at the floor while Princess Peach took a step closer. He practically jumped when she reached out to brush her fingers over the bandages on his chest. Under her touch, Mario became very aware that he was very shirtless in front of her. "Oh, Mario," she frowned, and Mario tried to relax. Could she notice he was breathing hard? He didn't think he could look her in the eye even if he tried to. "Why is it that you have to be the only one to assess the newcomers?"

Mario could feel her trying to look at his face, and tried to keep his head down as a nervous response. "I'm the only one who can gauge their strength." he said quietly. It was the truth; after facing every newcomer, he could accurately list what attacks they had that were legal for the Smash Tournament, how much damage each attack could do, and be able to place each fighter in their appropriate category. One or two others could do the same, but no one else was also willing to face every newcomer without attacking at all. The job was basically just letting the newcomers treat him like a punching bag until the actual tournament started. Though, getting impaled by Ridley was quite a bit more violent than what usually happened; Mario generally was able to walk after any given fight.

He had known that the Princess didn't particularly like watching him get beat up every day. They hadn't really seen very much of each other after the Odyssey, because they had to turn right around to prepare for the Smash Tournament.

Mario wasn't trying to avoid her, but he was convinced that she didn't want to be around him. So, he had kept himself busy and tried not to think about her as much as he could. He felt like there was some invisible boundary that he was responsible for erecting between them. Invisible, but divisive. He felt paranoid that she was only speaking with him because she had to, because she was just being polite. She was the kindest person he knew. Of course she would be concerned.

She let out another sigh, and Mario felt a pang of guilt at how defeated she sounded. She always hated to see him hurt. "The Doctor does a good job." she commented mildly on the dressing of the wound. Then she tried to smile. "I just think it's so sweet that Young Link calls you Uncle. All the children do now."

He knew what she was doing. She was trying to change the subject, trying to figure out something to say that he would be receptive to. But why? He didn't understand. He nodded vaguely to her, and her fingers continued to trace the bandages upward.

Her hand found its way past the bandages, to his chin. With the gentlest pressure, she tipped his chin up until he was facing her. His eyes flickered across her face. What was she doing? It was only when he finally made eye contact that she released him. Her smile looked sad. "It feels like it's been a while since I last saw you. I miss you, you know." her hands fell to his elbows, and then traced down his arms all the way to his hands that rested on the table. She kept them there briefly, tracing his gloved knuckles, before her her hands fell back to her side.

Blinking a few times, he struggled to keep his eyes on her. "I miss you, too." he murmured, and his voice was low enough that he wasn't even sure if she heard him. He tried to think of something else to say. She was standing very close to him, close enough that he was afraid of making the slightest movement out of fear that he might brush against her. Even though he sat on the table, which put him well above his own height, he was still only about eye level to her nose. "...So you're an Aunt now?" he finally asked, making a very careful and conscious movement to lean back so he could relax the muscles in his core.

She let out a chuckle, and her smile seemed to brighten when she managed to get conversation out of him. "I suppose I am." she gave a playful shrug. Even though he had leaned back just a little bit, she followed his movement by shuffling forward. Her dress shifted and brushed against his knees. Mario found it very difficult to continue to look her in the eyes.

Her hand came up to cup his cheek, and he swallowed hard. Her thumb stroked his face. The tightness in his throat came back, and her gentle touch wrenched something deep in his chest. He let out a shaky breath. "Princess?" he asked her, and he felt a rush of heat to his face when he realized how small his voice sounded. He looked up at her with wide eyes.

Why was she standing so close to him? Her eyebrows were creased, her mouth pressed into a thin line. The last time she had been so close was before the Odyssey, before everything went wrong. "What's the matter, Mario?" she asked him softly. "You used to come to me so I could heal you. Now it feels like I hardly see you at all. Is everything okay?"

He was breathing a little hard, and with every moment that passed in silence, the Princess only looked more concerned. "I'm fine," he tried to say, but he could tell by her expression that she didn't buy it. Of course she didn't, she could see right through him.

"You can talk to me," she told him, keeping her steady gaze on him. Mario could feel his eyes stinging, he was sure it was because of the bright lights. He finally caved and had to look away from her. She kept her hand on his face, her thumb still stroking his cheek.

While his heart pounded away, he tried to keep breathing, keep still. "I never apologized for what happened on the moon." he hated the slight warble in his voice, and gritted his teeth. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't think you wanted to see me." His breath caught in his throat. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to look back down, but her other hand came up to hold the other side of his face. While she held him still, he tried shift back away, but his hands were trembling and his balance was unsteady.

After a moment, her hands released his face, and traced along his shoulders. He sat there, feeling numb, while she pulled him toward her. "Come here," she murmured.

He had no choice but to lean into her, or he would fall back. His chest hurt. His head and his throat hurt. But the worst feeling was deeper, an ache in his heart, because he couldn't remember the last time she had been so close. He couldn't quite remember the last time anyone had been gentle toward him, for that matter. Resting his head on her shoulder, he let out a pained, quivering sigh.

It wasn't quite an embrace, but it was close. Mario was too afraid to move his hands, so he remained motionless while she petted the back of his head. "You really thought I was upset with you all this time?" she asked, angling her head so her face pressed into his hair. "Is that why you've been such a stranger?" her voice was low and soothing, and she was so close to him that he could feel her every breath. He didn't think he could answer her with words, and he didn't want to nod either out of fear that she would move away.

Even her half-embrace was warm and he felt secure just leaning into her. The longer she stood there for him, the more he felt like he was able to breathe normally. His eyes stopped stinging, and the tightness in his throat relaxed. After a long moment, one of her hands slid back down to his cheek. "Can I heal you?" she asked, helping him lean back so she could look at his face.

He hesitated. There was only one way for her to heal him. It wasn't like she hadn't kissed him before; she had kissed him on his nose, on his cheek, and on his forehead before too. Sometimes it was out of gratitude, sometimes it was to heal him. Even before the Odyssey, he had felt nervous before she kissed him. But, ever since he had started developing feelings for her, he had started to dread it. He felt guilty. Letting her kiss him like it didn't mean anything more to him.

However, she was clearly concerned, searching his face for some sign. She must have seen his discomfort, because her eyebrows creased and she started to lower her hands.

Mario looked up at her, and he knew he just couldn't say no to that face. He took a deep breath and finally nodded to her.

She made sure he could sit up by himself, and held the one hand to his cheek while she leaned closer. He kept his eyes on her to see where she was going to kiss him so he could angle his face properly for her, except, he wasn't sure where she intended to go. She just moved closer.

He thought she might be trying to give him an actual kiss. Blinking, he froze. Her eyes were on his, her hand holding his cheek, holding him in place. He didn't dare move, could hardly breathe. He started to close his eyes.

Her face was an inch from his. A door across the room opened.

"Oh. Princess. I didn't realize you had come in." Mario heard, and both he and Princess Peach abruptly leaned away from one another. The fast movement hurt his chest. Mario winced and almost lost his balance trying to smooth the bandages down.

Princess Peach clasped her hands close to her chest. "Doctor!" she exclaimed, and Mario noticed how her cheeks turned a little pink. "I'm terribly sorry, that was-"

"No, no, no." Doctor Mario waved it off, and looked between them with an easy smile. "Don't worry about it. It's nice to see you two, er, getting along."

Mario looked at Peach, and Peach looked at Mario. They both turned back to face the Doctor, and he came up to the table while glancing over the clipboard like he hadn't just witnessed a near kiss. The expression on his face, despite his focus on the papers before him, was soft and pleased.

He scribbled a few more words down before he set down the clipboard to take out the paper he had been writing on. "Your timing is perfect, Princess. I was just about to send for you." he handed her the paper with a practiced flourish, and Mario blinked as he watched. He wondered how the Doctor could be so casual around her, how easily he could interact with her. It was almost like he knew her already.

Maybe he did know her, or something close to it. While Peach frowned at the prescription, Mario tilted his head at the Doctor. "Doctor," he began awkwardly, and hesitated when the Doctor faced him. "Do you know a...I mean, Is there a…"

The Doctor looked up at him with an amused smile. "Are you trying to ask me if there is a Peach in my world?"

Mario looked down at the floor and nodded. Peach looked up from the prescription to look between them. Then, they both watched the Doctor let out a deep sigh. He rocked back and forth on his heels.

"Oh, yes. There is a Peach where I'm from." he glanced up with a distant, tender look. "She's not a Princess. Just as I am a different version of you, she is a different version of the Princess."

Peach lowered the prescription and watched the Doctor with wide eyes. "What is she like? Do you know her well?" Mario looked at her and then back to the Doctor, equally as curious.

When the Doctor fingered the hem of his sleeve and looked at the floor, Princess Peach shook her head. "You don't have to talk about her if you don't want to. I'm sorry if I offended you." she told him, and reached to set the prescription on the table.

The Doctor looked up at both of them with a serene look. "Not at all, Princess. I know my Peach quite well. I'm just reluctant to tell you both the truth, because, well…" he hesitated, and pursed his lips. Mario noticed him fussing with his stethoscope. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose just showing you would be best."

In a languid movement, the Doctor reached up pull aside the collar of his lab coat. At first, Mario wasn't sure what he was looking at. But then, the Doctor reached into his shirt and pulled out a silver chain. On the chain was a ring.

"Oh!" Princess Peach let out, and Doctor Mario put a finger to his lips while he tucked the chain back in his shirt and fixed his tie.

Mario could only stare, watching the Doctor straighten his coat. "I can't really wear it on my hand while I'm doing my work," he explained, holding up his hands to show them his gloves. Then, he folded his arms across his chest, and took a deep breath as if to reset himself. "So I just keep it around my neck most of the time. Peach, well...My Peach, she does the same. She's a nurse, you see."

He was touching his chest, Mario assumed right about where the ring rested. He was married! Mario blinked, amazed at this version of him with a medical degree and probably a very successful job, and a wife! A real family! He felt insensitive asking anymore about the Doctor's personal life, but he just had to know how a man who was him could lead such a vastly different life. Was the Doctor a more successful version of him? Or was he a less successful version of the Doctor?

His head was starting to hurt. Princess Peach must have noticed him touch his temple, because she took a step closer to him and rested her hand on his shoulder. "Doctor, I think I'm confused," he mumbled, and the Doctor just smiled and shook his head.

"You do have a concussion," he reminded Mario with a cheeky look. But he quickly composed himself, and nodded. "I understand you must have a lot of questions. You asked me who I am earlier, and I gave you the short answer. The long answer is quite a bit more complicated. I believe the Princess can explain the big idea better than I can. She knows more about the theoretical aspect of it."

Princess Peach took one of Mario's hands in both of hers, and her thumbs smoothed over his gloved knuckles. When Mario glanced up to her, she merely offered a shy smile. "I think you had better start with your own story," she told the Doctor, without looking away from Mario. "It would help to contextualize some things. For him, and for me."

Raising his eyebrows, the Doctor watched the two of them with mild interest. He set the clipboard down and leaned against the table with a nod to the Princess. Then, he fixed Mario with a serious look. "I told you before that I'm you, but with a medical degree, yes? On the surface, we are the same person. Our DNA is a perfect match; we could be brothers if you ran the tests and looked under the microscope. Except that we're not. I'm not related to you in any way, and it's simply because I'm from another world.

"I'm sure you're aware of the existence of parallel universes. You could say that I am from a world that is parallel to yours, except it's not parallel in the way that we understand. Parallel lines exist apart from one another. They follow the same path, going on without a definite end, never to converge. The reason our worlds are not like that is because at one point, our worlds were the same. Now, our worlds have diverged into synonymous paths. Similar, but never quite the same." the Doctor rubbed his chin. "I suppose that would make 'alternate reality' a more correct term."

Mario was already getting lost. He blinked, looked at the floor, glanced up to the Princess, before facing the Doctor again. He scratched his head. "So- wait." he stopped, and tried to sort out his thoughts. They were once the same? "Where did we diverge?"

The Doctor grinned. "I thought you'd never ask. Okay, picture this. It's a summer day in Brooklyn, back in the early eighties or so. I couldn't tell you the exact day. You're on your way to your next plumbing job across town with your brother. As soon as you walk out into the street, you hear a crowd up ahead. Lots of people are yelling. It's really hot out, and you just really want to move along, to get out from under the sun. But then, you hear a woman scream. You look up. At the top of the biggest construction site around for miles, you see a big gorilla carrying away a woman. Sound familiar?" Mario nodded. "Right. So, you're thinking, wow, that poor lady. You've never seen her before in your life. But then, a really crazy thought goes through your head. You think to yourself, 'I have to do something.' And before your poor little brother can stop you, you're on your way to scale a thirty-seven story building. You leap over flaming barrels and climb all those get to the top, you wrestle the gorilla, and the woman is safe. You saved the day. The papers all start to call you Jumpman."

With a vague nod, Mario recalled the memory. He remembered wondering if he had maybe gone a little bit crazy as soon as he started working his way up the treacherous building that was only about halfway built. But he just couldn't ignore the screams of that poor woman, of Pauline. He just couldn't stand back and watch. So he kept climbing. He had to smile as he remembered just how bewildered he felt while fighting a whole entire gorilla. Of course, he would go on to fight much larger and scarier enemies, but at the time, the gorilla was more than terrifying. And he was just a little man from Brooklyn.

He looked back down to the Doctor, who watched him with a measured smile. "Let's try that again. It's a summer day in Brooklyn. You're going with Luigi to work, when you hear a big crowd. You're annoyed, of course, it's hot outside and you have a job to do. You hear a woman scream. You look up to see a big gorilla carrying away a woman you've never seen before." he repeated the story, and then paused for a moment to give Mario a serious look. "And right here is where everything changes, because you have a choice. There's a helpless sort of feeling you have, an acknowledgement that there's probably nothing you can do but stand there and watch that poor woman from the ground. It's surreal of course, you've never seen a gorilla do anything like that. But then, there's also a sort of crazy little feeling that's telling you, by God, I have to do something. I don't know what, but I have to do something."

Both Mario and Princess Peach watched the Doctor lower his head. He stopped for a moment to let out a deep breath. "In almost every aspect of our lives, we make choices. Do you take the main street, or do you go through the back roads? Do you wait for the crosswalk sign to turn on, or do you cross the road whenever you like? For every choice we make, for every action we make, there was an alternative. A road not taken, if you will. That day, when we looked up to see Donkey Kong and Pauline on top of that building, you made the choice to go and save her. I did not decide what to do in time. Inaction is still an action." he trailed off into a murmur, looking down at the floor.

Mario and Princess Peach didn't move an inch, and Mario, at least, didn't dare to breathe while the Doctor straightened up again. He forced a smile, but let it fall again. "You don't really know what would have happened if you didn't go to save her, do you? If you had just stood there and watched like I did, then you would have barely been able to see it for yourself. But Pauline wore bright red that day. There was no mistaking it. We all watched her fall." he set his jaw, looking past them at nothing.

Through their silence, he focused briefly on them. "You're looking at me like you've seen a ghost. She's not dead, don't worry. But she was never quite the same. I was the only one who would dare to come close. And, God, the sight of her was just-"

The Doctor cut himself off. He took in a deep breath, and closed his eyes. When he went on, his voice was grave. "As I saw her lying there, broken on the road, I swore to myself that I just couldn't let anything like that happen again. I couldn't explain why I felt so responsible. Of course, at the time, I didn't know that I could have done anything else. I didn't know that I was the divergent path. And so when I look at you, I just...I have to think, wow. This man, he is so much braver than I am." he looked up at Mario, and Mario was alarmed to see his eyes shining under the fluorescent lights. But he was quick to lower his chin and look away. "Anyway, I vowed to do everything I could to help Pauline with the healing process. So, Luigi and I worked together to put ourselves through school. It wasn't easy; it was expensive, and it was tedious, but we didn't give up. I became a doctor, he became an engineer. We're both doing what we believe we can to help the world."

While the Doctor pinched the bridge of his nose, Princess Peach reached out for his shoulder. He glanced up to her with a fragile, but grateful smile.

Mario felt like his head was spinning. So all this time he had been thinking this Doctor character was so much better than he was, meanwhile the Doctor had been thinking the same about him? He was amazed; the Doctor practically embodied the American success story; a penniless Italian immigrant coming to New York and working hard until he achieved the Dream. But somehow, it was the Doctor who looked up at him like he was the one who had everything.

The Doctor pulled himself together and patted Princess Peach's hand. "So that is the main difference between us. I am what you would have been if you hadn't saved Pauline. Of course, there are other consequences to that choice that extend far into my life, none of them exactly good or bad. Going to school is one thing. As strange as it sounds, if you never save Pauline, then King Bowser never kidnaps Princess Peach. I'm not certain how the two events correlate, but my theory is that the rumors of the Jumpman never travel across the worlds, and perhaps knowing of a fabled hero like the Jumpman was part of Bowser's motivation. The Mushroom Kingdom remained a peaceful place, but it was ruled over by a Princess who didn't feel she belonged.

"I have another story for you. It's been a few months since the incident with Donkey Kong and Pauline. You're the Jumpman; you and Luigi have still been working as plumbers, but you've been spending your time avoiding the press because you don't want the attention, and you can't stand being hailed as a hero despite everything. You're contemplating moving out of the city. Me, I'm still just a plumber. Luigi and I have been working our tails off during the day to earn every last penny that we can, and by night we're studying for the tests that would get us accepted into the school we decided on. The events still play out the same. We're all working for the city at the time, and they have us go into the underground sewers for maintenance. While we're down there, Luigi hears a voice. I'm sure you remember this part." the Doctor looked up to Mario.

After a moment, Mario realized the Doctor was waiting for him to tell the story. "Oh." he sat up a little, and glanced to Princess Peach. She had heard the story before, ages ago. "Yes. Luigi heard the voice. We followed it down until we were sure that we were lost. There was a green pipe. The voice was the Princess calling for help, because Bowser kidnapped her. She was asking for the Jumpman." when he stopped, the Doctor gestured for him to go on. "...There's more?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes with a grin. "Well, sort of. You're just not making it sound exciting." he teased. "Try this: you're deep in the sewers. It's humid, it's hard work. You've just secured the last bolt on a pipe that you've spent all morning moving into place. Your brother says hey, Capo, I can hear something. As you both go quiet, you strain to hear it, but it's there." the Doctor held a hand to his ear, and was quiet for a dramatic moment. Then, in a whisper, he went on. "The voice of an angel."

"Oh, stop." Princess Peach waved him off with a bashful glance to the floor, and Mario cracked a smile when he saw her blush. The Doctor turned his attention to Mario, with that sneaky little grin again.

"I know that was what you were thinking. I know it, because I was thinking that too." the Doctor crossed his arms and raised his chin, a proud gleam in his eyes when Peach turned to face Mario with a questioning look. "The message in my world did not include her asking for Jumpman. In fact, it wasn't really a message at all. You see, in my world, Princess Peach was really there. She was actually standing there, calling out to anyone who might hear. It was lucky that it was Luigi and I who found her; she might have been stuck down there forever, or someone else with bad intentions might have found her. You can imagine our surprise, seeing a lovely Princess, dress and crown and everything, wandering the sewers.

"This is what happens if you don't save Pauline and if you never stumble into the Mushroom Kingdom. Princess Peach realizes how different she is from her people. Her family had been human, of course, and her ancestors never really questioned why they were so different from the Toad people. At least, not like she did. We believe a great-great-great grandmother or father stumbled into the world in much the same way that you did; through a pipe. Not much of the Mushroom Kingdom's history is clear, due to the lack of a written language before the Toadstool era, but we have concluded that some catalyst occurred that drove the Toad people to accept Peach's ancestor as their ruler. Not ruler in the colonial sense, but a mutual need, a compromise. They willingly adopted and accepted Toadstool leadership. The Peach of my world learned of the existence of other humans elsewhere, and she eventually came to believe that it wasn't right to rule over people who were different from her. So, she abdicated her throne." the Doctor rested his elbow on the table, and glanced to Peach.

"Of course, a woman who was born and raised in the Mushroom Kingdom her whole life didn't quite fit in with our native earth either. Luckily, she had Luigi and I to help her adjust, and a home to go back to in the Mushroom Kingdom whenever she liked. Our situation was complicated; three people sharing an apartment and trying to go to school. But, we also had a second home; Peach brought us to the Kingdom every once in awhile. We all still visit frequently, and I've learned quite a bit about the medicinal properties of your mushrooms." the Doctor stroked his mustache, and nodded to the back of the room where he had various items from various worlds meant for healing. "As you can probably guess, Peach and I now live together in a house in the suburbs, close to the warp zone. Nothing fancy. Luigi and his fiancée are close by as well."

Mario's jaw dropped. "Luigi?! He's getting married-?! But is it-?" he and Princess Peach shared an alarmed look, but Mario knew by looking at the Doctor's coy look that he was done talking.

"Shh. I know what you're thinking, and the answer is yes." he said, pressing a finger to his lips again. "I've told you more than I should have already. She's a physicist and she wouldn't be very happy with me telling you all of this."

With a numb shake of his head, Mario looked off into space. "Wow." he said, and the Doctor laughed.

He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Well, if you thought that was interesting, the Princess has something much more compelling than little old me. So?" he turned to face Peach. "I'll let you take it from here."

"Certainly." Princess Peach nodded, and then turned to face Mario. Her smile was sheepish. Mario tried to sit up so he could show her he was paying attention. "The Doctor touched a little bit on parallel universes. The truth is, there are infinitely many universes out there. Like he said, for every choice you make, another universe gets created where you didn't make the same decision, and this happens every moment, every second. You looked up at me just now, there's a universe where you look down instead. So, it's much too complicated to measure, but we are trying."

Mario pursed his lips. "It's really complicated for me," he murmured, feeling a little silly. The Doctor and the Princess clearly understood so much about the worlds and the universes and everything. He wasn't even sure he was following along, but he was trying. His head hurt around the base of his skull, and he only just remembered that he had a concussion.

With a sweet laugh, Princess Peach came close to him and took both of his hands. "Oh, Mario. That's okay, there's still much that I don't understand either. But I will tell you what I know." she dipped her head until he looked at her. "There are more alternate realities than we have numbers for, you see. But that's not even the strange part. What's strange is that we shouldn't even know about them."

The Doctor eased back to give them some space, and just listened. Mario frowned. "What do you mean? How do we know about them?" he asked. He wasn't even sure who 'we,' was referring to, but he guessed there were others like the Princess who sought to understand as much as they could about the world. Princess Peach just gave him a smile that made his heart flutter.

"Well, that's where you come in. You're special," she told him, and reached up to tap his nose. He flinched and looked up with wide eyes. "You're the only one who has shown us that there's more than just our universe. The Doctor is a prime example of this; look, you are both standing in the same room, but you're from two different places entirely. There's no one else who has popped up as far as we know. Just versions of you."

Mario had to lean back. "Wait, I'm sorry." he wasn't sure he heard her correctly. "There are others?"

He couldn't imagine there being more than just himself. The Doctor was hard enough for him to believe, but there was more?

Princess Peach nodded. "Well, yes. Let's see, there's a world where you're made of paper. There's a world where you're a cartoon, actually. There are more alternate realities like the one where the Doctor is from, for example, there's one where you became a construction worker. Then, there's an interesting universe where you're a woman. The other one I remember was you as the mafia boss," She looked up as she listed them, counting on her fingers.

"The- the mafia boss?" Mario repeated cautiously. To his left, he noticed the Doctor bow his head as he laughed to himself. The mafia boss? The leader of an entire criminal organization? With the fancy suits and the guns and family disputes? In what universe was he a criminal? Though, he supposed, with a sheepish glance to the table, that was exactly the point. Then, he wondered how Princess Peach even knew about the mafia in the first place.

Mario felt like he was in way over his head about everything they were telling him. "For all we know, there's a universe where you're the President." the Doctor spoke up. "Like she said, infinitely many."

Princess Peach agreed with a nod. "We still don't know a lot, even about the universes that we have discovered. The only thing we know for sure is that we have access to worlds that are all different forms of you, Mario. Of course, there are different versions of me as a result of there being different versions of you, and different versions of everyone around us. But you are the only consistent factor in every universe we have found so far."

Both Peach and the Doctor watched him as he wrung his hands and thumped his heel against the leg of the table in silence for a few moments. He raised his head to look between them. "...Why me?" he eventually asked. "What's so special about me? How do you even know if I'm the original?"

He must have asked a hard question; the Doctor contemplated the floor and stroked his chin, and Peach clasped her hands close to her chest with an uncertain smile.

When they couldn't answer him, Mario narrowed his eyes at the Doctor. "Shouldn't you have an idea?"

"Hey, I'm a doctor, not an astrophysicist." the Doctor held up his hands as if to defend himself. "Princess Peach likely has a better idea than I do."

Mario turned to look at Peach, and she gave him a bright smile. "Well, yes. You're a superstar, Mario! Everyone knows you, and everyone loves you. We think that you're the original because every encounter we've had with other universes and timelines all are connected with you. Doctor Mario has nothing in common with Paper Mario, except for the fact that they're both you." as she spoke, she came back close to him, and rested a hand on his shoulder. He straightened up under her touch, only to wince when his chest stung. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Does it hurt?" Princess Peach lifted her hand off of him.

"No, Princess. I'm fine." Mario was quick to assure her, and she relaxed, gently placing her hand back on his shoulder.

The Doctor looked up. "Ah, right. Our impromptu conversation here took longer than I anticipated. We've made you sit here long enough; you need to go get some rest. We can talk more tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be easier to comprehend if you sleep on it. Besides, I'm sure you two have some things that you need to sort out." he leaned casually against the table, and nodded to the prescription that he had set down. "There's your prescription."

Mario blinked. "Oh." he reached to pick up the paper, and squinted at the fancy handwriting. Why did doctors have to write in such wild cursive? He found it really strange, because technically, the handwriting was his own. And yet, it was difficult for him to understand, because it was his handwriting from a universe where he was a certified doctor. After he managed to decipher it, he looked up at Peach, and then to the Doctor with suspicion and slight horror. "...Is this your idea of a joke?" he asked.

The Doctor was giving him the most smug grin he had ever seen. Looking between them, Princess Peach tilted her head. She must not have read it yet. "May I see it, please?" she asked, and Mario hesitated.

He glanced down to the paper. In dark blue ink, his name and the date and a strange term for his diagnosis were printed at the top. Then, listed below, was an instruction that read 'A long bath, a good night's sleep, and five kisses from the Princess a day until further notice. Effective immediately.' The Doctor had even given it his signature at the bottom of the page.

There wasn't a good reason to keep the Princess from reading it. At least, not without making her suspicious, and not without giving the Doctor the opportunity to tease him. He let out a sigh and surrendered the prescription. The Doctor observed them with a level smirk.

Mario could barely watch. He felt his face heat up. As Princess Peach read over the document, her eyebrows went up, and she took in a slow breath. After she had apparently finished, she slowly lowered the paper. "You certainly have a unique sense of humor, Doctor…" she murmured, carefully setting the prescription back on the table. Mario was certain his face was burning.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," the Doctor responded gleefully, waving at them as he turned around and started heading towards his office. The way he carried himself was almost professional, but Mario could see a trace of satisfaction in his stride. "The kisses are to supplement your recovery, of course. Princess Peach's kiss does have the unique power to heal."

He stopped just as he opened his door, and peered back at them. Mario had fixed him with a sour look. The Doctor just gave him a knowing smile. "Goodnight to you both." he said with a chuckle.

The door swung shut. Mario and Peach looked at each other.

He had spent enough time in the infirmary. The lights were harsh, the smell was impersonal, and Mario was more than ready to leave. He reached for the prescription and started to fold it up. "You, ah, you don't have to kiss me, Princess." he met her eyes for a moment longer before he looked away, shifting one of his overall straps around his waist to reach his pocket.

As soon as he made a move to slide off the table, her hand rested on his and stopped him. He looked up at her, startled. Her expression was soft and shy. "Well, those were the Doctor's orders." she acknowledged bashfully, and her cheeks became a little rosy. "Who are we to argue?"

"Oh," Mario sat up, just as Princess Peach placed her hand on his cheek, like before. "I guess you have a point." he agreed, his voice barely above a whisper. She started to lean close to him. He slowly reached up to put his hand over hers.

She gave him a warm smile. "Close your eyes," she breathed. His hand rested on top of hers. He could feel how close she was, could smell her perfume and her hair. He closed his eyes.

"Uncle Mario!" another door burst open. Both Mario and Peach jolted apart.

They both whipped their heads up to see who had come in, only to find practically a parade of young Smashers. Blinking several times, Mario tried his best to look like he hadn't been about to kiss the Princess. Smoothing down her dress, Peach seemed to be trying to do the same. They shared a flustered glance.

"Piccoli! This is a surprise," Mario greeted them as they all stumbled into the infirmary. He could see Young Link again, an Inkling, Lucas, Ness, and Popo and Nana as well. Young Link must have run around and gathered them all up to visit. As much as he loved them, and as much as he was touched that they would want to come and see him, he was very tired and he wasn't sure if he had the energy for them. He could force it, but they deserved his full attention.

The Inkling hauled her Splattershot forward. "Uncle Mario! Can we play Sunshine?" she asked. The game she was referring to, of course, was one he had made up when he had introduced her to the rest of the roster. She had been shy, so Mario had to figure out a way to get her to open up. What better way to do that than to arm every single child with an ink gun and tell them to go crazy? The fun in the game, for them, was forcing Mario to run around with F.L.U.D.D. to try and clean up the mess. The game was very reminiscent of his unfortunate adventures at Delfino Isle. Bowser Jr. liked to come and play sometimes as well. To Mario, it was more than worth it to hear their laughter.

Princess Peach must have seen the strain in his smile. "Oh, I'm sorry, everyone. Uncle Mario had a very long day. He's very tired right now, he needs to go back to his room so he can take a nap." she bent down so she was eye level with them, and then lowered her voice into a pretend-whisper. "Between you and me, he hit his head pretty hard. I'm not even sure if he knows where he is."

With a hushed whispers, the kids all looked at Mario, and then to each other. "Really?" Popo asked with wide eyes.

"Uncle Mario! How many fingers am I holding up?" Lucas asked, holding his hand up in the air.

Mario squinted at him, and then wavered a little bit. "Saturday…? Who are you, again?" he asked, and then tilted his head forward like he almost nodded off. They all started murmuring worriedly to one another. When Peach tried to hide her smile by covering her mouth, he winked at her.

The kids looked between them, and slowly picked up on what he was doing. "You're so silly, Uncle Mario," Nana laughed, and the whole group burst into giggles. "Okay. Can you play tomorrow?"

"Of course I will." Mario promised, and nodded as they started to wave at him. Princess Peach made a move to stand up.

Before he could open his mouth again, the kids beat him to it. "Ciao, Uncle Mario!" they said with the biggest grins, almost in unison. They started out the door, shuffling out of the infirmary while still trying to wave at him.

Mario broke into a smile. "Ciao, piccoli," he waved after them, and let out a light sigh as soon as they had all left. Despite how tired he felt, he wished he could play with them. He promised himself that he would make up for it the next chance he got.

With a pleased and amused expression, Princess Peach started to come toward him once more. "Piccoli?" she asked him.

He nodded. "'Little ones.'" he translated, just as she took his hands. He looked up at her.

"How do you feel?" her voice was soft, and he was tired enough that he thought she could put him to sleep if she really wanted to. Of course, she always could do that with her magic, but her voice by itself was calming enough.

Blinking up at her, he felt relaxed, even with her standing so close. "My head feels like it's spinning. But I'm fine." he gave a weak chuckle. His chest really ached, he wanted nothing more than to lay down and go to sleep. However, he wouldn't mind staying a little bit longer if that was what Peach wanted.

He would stay there all night if that was what she wanted. Under her fond gaze, he felt content just being close to her.

Before he knew what she was doing, she leaned down and kissed him.

Her lips pressed against his for a lingering moment, and he didn't even really have the capacity to react much more than a sharp breath in. His eyes slid closed. Her hands came up to hold his face. Every single coherent thought in his head faded in a pleasant haze.

When she pulled away, it was slow. Her eyes had opened and searched his face before he even opened his. Her eyes were gentle. He could feel the remaining wound in his chest sealing up. The majority of the pain ebbed away in a few miraculous seconds. Despite the dissipating pain, Mario felt he didn't have any more clarity in his head. If anything, everything got even fuzzier than before.

"My head is definitely spinning." he murmured, but gave a slight grin so she knew he was teasing. Peach beamed once she saw his face, and leaned back away from him.

She offered to help him down from the table. He gladly took her hand. Once he stood, he looked down as his overall straps fell around his waist, but he was past the point of feeling embarrassed about not having a shirt on. "There's still four more left before you've had your full dosage," Peach pointed out, and it took Mario a moment to realize she was referring to the kisses. She made sure he was okay to walk before she started to lead him out of the infirmary. "Why don't we go back to your room so you can take a bath? I'll administer the rest of your kisses then."

The tone of her voice was serious, imitating the Doctor, and Mario couldn't help but laugh a little. She eventually broke her character to laugh with him. Just as they got to the door, she started forward to open it for him, and monitored his gait with a watchful eye. He did have a slight limp.

She followed him out, and took his hand. The door swung shut behind them.

O~o~O

Mario was able to take off his bandages; with the Doctor's medicine, and Peach's healing kiss, the wound had closed and left only a tender scar in its place. It would be gone in a couple of days.

He came out of the bathroom once he had put his clothes on, rubbing his head with a towel to dry his hair. His room was dark. There was only a dim light on by his bed, and the soft light of the moon coming from the window. When he looked up, Peach stood from the chair she had been sitting in, and she crossed the room to come see him. His heart skipped a beat when she leaned down to press a trail of kisses from his forehead to his cheek.

Once she was done smothering him with her affection, she led Mario over to his bed and eased him down. The sheets had been pulled back already. His balance was off; he wobbled a little bit even as he sat on the mattress. "I think that was more than five," he mumbled, feeling his cheeks grow warm.

Her hand brushed against his chest. "I don't believe the Doctor will mind," Peach said, and she took his towel to place it on a table close to her. All it took was a gentle push to urge him to lay back. Once his head rested on a pillow, she leaned down and kissed his cheek again. "I imagine the parallel universe conversation is quite a lot to take in. On top of that, you had a really hard battle today. You should rest, my sweet hero."

She started to pull the blankets up, and Mario felt a little silly; the Princess was practically tucking him into bed. "Wait," he shifted, and looked up at her. His voice was low and groggy. "Are you- are you really not angry with me?"

Peach looked down to him for a moment, her eyes boring into his. With a glance behind her, she found a chair that she pulled closer so she could sit by him. She took his hand and laced their fingers together. "Of course I'm not angry with you. Why would I be?" she tilted her head.

He was struggling to keep his eyes open. Taking in a deep breath to try and wake himself up, he found he couldn't keep his eyes on her. "Because- because of the moon…" he answered, fading off.

The only sound he could hear his shirt shifting under their joined hands. Peach looked down at the sheets while she put together her answer. "You never did anything to upset me," she assured him, squeezing his hand. "You two are always fighting...I just had enough. Bowser never quits, and I know you get competitive if you are pushed enough. The fighting was supposed to be over once you saved us from the caverns, you know? It was time to go back home. That was all I wanted. I'm sorry that I sounded so harsh."

Mario blinked as he considered her, and a relieved sigh left him. "Oh." he let out with a weak smile. "You don't have to apologize, Princess. I feel bad for being so…" he didn't remember the word in English, but his head was so cloudy that he didn't even know if he could think of the word in Italian. He had a vague sense of what he meant. "How do you say? When you do something rude without thinking…"

He stopped when he noticed Princess Peach's soft giggling. "Rash?" she guessed. "I was thinking more audacious, or headstrong. Bold could work, too. I've always been quite partial to a bold man," she pulled up his hand, and turned it so she rest her cheek in his palm. When he realized what she had said, he blinked several times and felt his face flush with heat.

"You- you didn't stay home for long," Mario looked away and tried to change the subject, much to Peach's amusement. She shifted so she could stroke his hair.

Keeping her thoughtful gaze on him, she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her eyes were starting to have a sleepy haze, too. "Hmm. No, I suppose I didn't. I thought that you must have such a fantastic time on your adventures to save me. So, I wanted to tour the Kingdoms and enjoy the sights like you do," she said with a dreamy look. "I didn't want to waste a chance to see the world; I can't really do that when Bowser kidnaps me."

Mario frowned. "The Kingdoms were amazing," he agreed. "But I wasn't really enjoying the sights. I didn't have time. I was only searching for the Power Moons I needed so that I could go to save you."

He shifted so his neck could rest at a comfortable angle. Peach bit her lip and glanced to the bed. "Oh. I didn't realize...I was hoping you would have had the chance to relax." she murmured.

"I can't relax if you're not safe." Mario told her simply, and he hoped when she looked in his eyes that she knew he was very serious.

Her smile came reluctantly. "Oh, Mario. You're so sweet," she rubbed his knuckles with her thumb. "Did you at least get to have fun when we were touring around?"

With a sleepy sigh, Mario tried to nod. "Yes. I did get to enjoy the sights then. I found all of the best places to take a nap." he gave a silly grin, which only grew broader when Princess Peach laughed.

She touched his face. "Speaking of a nap, you need to get to sleep," she stood up from her chair, and leaned over him. He closed his eyes when her lips touched his. Her kiss made his heart flutter, and his head was clouded in a pleasant daze. He thought her kiss could smooth away all his doubt and pain. With her every move, every breath, he felt himself fading away.

As soon as she pulled away, he tried to open his eyes again, but found it very difficult. He could feel his consciousness slipping.

"We can talk more tomorrow," she whispered. "Goodnight, Mario."

O~o~O

I'm aware this story has very little context; I wrote it just for fun, as more of a character study than anything. Still, I hope you enjoyed! I had lots of fun writing it, and I'm really excited to finally share this. I definitely did borrow the main idea from Into the Spider-Verse. I figured that with Mario, being a character who is probably equally as iconic as Spiderman, a lot of interesting things could be done concerning the amount of appearances and forms he's had over the years. Thanks for reading!

-Drones