Unconditional Love

Chapter 6

A/N: Thank you everyone for adding this to your reading lists and for the follow! I really appreciate it! Life has been very busy and my health has been a major priority. I hope all of you enjoy this chapter!

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"We should get moving," Peach said as she stood up and stretched. "We can start gathering some apples, bananas, and melons."

The plumbers and mushroom man all got up and stretched as well.

"Shall we split up?" Mario asked.

"I think that would be good," Peach responded. "I can go with Mario and Luigi can search with Toad. Sound good?"

"Sounds good to me," Toad said nudging Mario and winking at him.

Mario looked at Toad with a raised brow.

"This means you get to have some alone time with the princess," Toad whispered.

Mario shook his head. He will admit that he did find Peach to be beautiful and fun, but it's not like she was romantically interested in him. He was sure she just saw him as a good friend. He decided he could live with that. Hard as it may be.

"Well, let's get going," Luigi said. "Times a wasting."

"Mario and I will head north. You two take the south," Peach pointed out to show directions.

"On it!" Toad said.

The four split up into to their assigned teams and began to search for the fruits previously mentioned.

"I really hope Y/N is doing okay," Peach said to Mario as they trekked through rainforest like terrain. "I feel awful letting her get captured."

"I'm sure she's fine," Mario said trying to comfort the princess. "We'll get to her. I am worried too, but we can't give up."

"Right. I shouldn't worry so much. Usually, it's me who's super hopeful with everything."

"Well, even hopeful people can get down at times. That's why it's good to have others around you to help bring in some positivity," Mario attempted in making the princess feel better.

She smiled, "You're right. We'll get her back. We got this."

"That's the spirit!"

The princess and plumber continued to chat about various topics until reaching a tree that had more apples than one could count for.

"Wow! Impressive!" Mario took in the tree with awe. Never had he seen so many apples. It was astounding to see such a tree produce so much fruit.

"Yep, pretty incredible." Peach smiled, amused at Mario's reaction. "Shall we start picking?"

"Yeah. Let's get to it!" Mario said.

The two then began picking out some apples.

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Y/N sighed as she finished singing Almost Lover. She wiped her eyes of the tears that had cascaded down her face. Should she say something to Bowser about this whole songwriting being pointless? Could she endure what his reaction would be if she chose to say anything? She didn't want to be in the same position as before. The grip he had on her when she was grabbed was strong. The claws from him could easily pierce her skin and she didn't want to get such injuries.

She shook her head. She needed to keep herself safe until rescue arrived. She wanted to still believe that Mario, Peach, and the others would be coming to her aid. She wished they were already here, but she had to give them time. It can't be easy storming a castle of this magnitude with many guards and troops at the ready. Plus, Bowser was very terrifying when he wanted to be. She was sure they were planning out some sort of strategy to get to her.