The Fire of Centopia- Mia and Me Fanfiction

Chapter 4

"Good job!" Queen Mayla congratulated them. King Raynor nodded his head in agreement.

"Yes, you did very well." He turned to Mia, who was holding the piece of the Fire of Centopia in her hand.

"You say that you are the only one who can touch it?" Mia nodded. "Well then, my dear, put the piece in there." He motioned to the glass case where the pieces of the Trumptus had previously resided.  She obliged.

"Now remember," Queen Mayla said when Mia returned to her place in front of the king and queen. "You cannot tell anyone of this. It would cause panic. We will only let the other elves know of this in a time of desperation. Understood?" The four nodded their heads in agreement.

King Raynor opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, Mia's gauntlet lit up, along with Mario's bracelet.

"Well I guess that's our cue." Mia said, chuckling. "Perfect timing, as always."

"It was nice to meet you, Mario!" Yuko told him. Mario smiled.

"Same here." He replied. Mia pressed the button on her gauntlet.

"Bye everyone!" She waved as both her and Mario's bodies dissipated.
________

They reappeared in the janitor's closet. Mario stared at his hands in awe as they solidified.

"Wow. That was.....amazing! Can I come with you next time?" Mia shrugged but couldn't hold back her smile.

"Sure, why not?" She checked her watch and her eyes widened.

"We have to go. Now." Mario nodded and slowly opened the door as not to draw attention.

The halls were almost empty. Mia and Mario quickly hurried to class.

Line Break

Later that day, Mia and Mario were sitting on a bench outside the school.

"So....guardian of Centopia, eh?" Mario broke the silence. Mia looked up from her homework and frowned.

"I guess. My parents gave me the book, so does that mean that....they were guardians, too?" Mario shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm new to all this magic-y stuff." Mia was silent for a second.

"If my parents were guardians, do you think a car crash was what really killed them? What if it was another guardian, or some kind of magical creature?"

"Didn't the voice in the cave say that the guardians removed all of the magical creatures from the real world?" Mario pointed out.

"Yeah, but if there were bad guardians that could access the power of the Fire, who knows what the good guardians might have overlooked when they expelled the magical creatures?" This time, they both went silent, until Mario voiced his thoughts.

"Why now?" Mia looked at him comfusedly.

"What?"

"Why now? If the Fire has existed for thousands of years, why are the bad guardians trying to get it now?" Mia shrugged.

"Villains never seem to have an explanation as to why they do things when they do them. I wouldn't worry about it too much." Another silence fell over them.

"Why do you care about Centopia so much? Today, I saw how beautiful and amazing it is, but why do you always go to save it? Nothing's going to happen to you if Centopia is taken over." Mia remembered Vincent and Paula asking her the same thing the day that she defeated Panthea.

"I have so many friends there. I've been through so much with them,  I couldn't bear to lose them. I know it wouldn't affect me if something were to happen to them, but if something happens to them, I want to know that I tried to save them." Mario nodded in acceptance to the answer.

"Centopia is awesome. I can't wait to go there again!" Mario exclaimed. He looked at her and have her a smile. He grabbed Mia's hands and gave them a gentle squeeze. "Thank you so much for sharing it with me." Mia smiled warmly.

"You're welcome." Mia suddenly realized how close they were. She could almost feel Mario's breath on her face. If she just moved a little closer....

She found herself leaning and, and Mario doing so to. Just before their lips met, they heard a squeal behind them and they both jumped, their heads banging against each other.

Mario looked around curiously for the source of the noise, only to find Paula standing next to the tree behind them, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Oh my gosh, that was soooooo adorable!"

"Paula!" Mia groaned. "We were in the middle of something." Mario smirked.

"I didn't know my lips looked that appetizing." Mia rolled her eyes.

"Way to ruin the moment, you two." Mia told Paula and Mario. Mario's smirk widened.

"I try." Paula, who had walked over to them, looked guilty.

"Oh, I'm really sorry. I couldn't help it! You two were just being so cute, I could barely hold it in!" Mia put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's fine." She said. She leaned closer and whispered in Paula's ear. "But maybe next time, could you try to be more discreet?" Paula nodded.

"I'll leave you two now." Paula said and ran off, leaving Mia and Mario in an uncomfortable silence.

Line Break

Later that evening, Mia lay in bed, watching Paula practically bounce off the walls.

"Oh my gosh, can I be at your wedding?" She asked. Mia groaned.

"For the last time, we are NOT a thing!" She exclaimed, exasperated. Paula rolled her eyes.

"Then what was this?" She squeezed her cheeks together and imitated kissing noises.

"We didn't kiss!" Mia exclaimed, shooting up into a sitting position. "Thanks to you." She muttered under her breath, but Paula heard it and smirked.

"Oh, so you wanted to kiss him?" She said smugly. Mia's eyes widened.

"NO!!! I mean....yes. No...maybe?" She stuttered. Paula's smirk grew.

"Whatever you say. I call dibs on being a bridesmaid, though." Mia slapped a hand over her forehead and sighed, laying back down on her bed.

"Knock knock." A male voice said from the doorway, and Mia jumped, only to fall facedown back on her pillow when she saw that it was just Mario.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice muffled by the pillow. Before he could answer, Paula ran up and grabbed his arm, looking him in the eye.

"If you don't kiss her before the sun sets tommorow, I will intervene." She told him in a low voice. Mario flushed red and Mia did the same against her pillow. "Understand?" Mario nodded his head furiously.

"Now go and come up with some romantic plan for this. I had better see a great show!" Mario nodded and ran off, probably too scared to say anything.

"Paula!" Mia whined. "Did you have to do that?"

"He's never going to muster enough confidence to kiss you unless I do something about it. Think of it as a little push in the right direction." Mia rolled her eyes and muttered something about 'stupid matchmaker friends', but inside, her heart was beating loudly in anticipation for tommorow.

What did Mario have planned?

A/N This chapter is highly unedited, but I wanted to get something out for all of you awesome readers. Hope you liked it!

Until next time,

-Umayma 💕