The Fire Flower of Love

It had been a long day. Mario had a… very memorable run-in with a Cheep Cheep, Toad must’ve sung every song he knew three times over, and through it all Peach did everything she could to watch out for the both of them while making sure she didn’t slip and fall down a bottomless pit herself.

They had covered a lot of ground in one day, the sky had gone dark, and it was finally time to take a load off and rest. None of them had outright spoken the desire to stop and get some shut-eye, but it was palpable as each step on their journey made their legs feel heavier.

Well, at least for Princess Peach and Mario. Toad seemed to somehow still have some energy of his own left as he raced ahead of the other two, running up a hill to get a better view of what lay ahead of them. One could just barely detect a smile of recognition on his face before he exclaimed,

“Fire Flower Field!” The alliterative name rolled off his tongue as though he had said it a thousand times - like a place he’d known for years, that always brought him comfort.

“It’s just a field of Fire Flowers,” Peach clarified to Mario with a knowing smile, eliciting a shrug from Toad before he quickly ran off to visit said field, “nothing special, just one of a dozen others like it,” she added.

Toad was excitable, and a fine example of her beloved people who she would do anything to protect… but he made for a poor guide. Peach wondered if every explanation Toad offered simply raised even more questions, and if Mario had any hope of keeping up if she didn’t intervene.

“I’m sorry, what’s this about fire?” Mario questioned, just a little panic showing in his eye as they approached the field.

“Fire Flowers,” Peach corrected, only for the anxiousness in Mario’s gaze to not be assuaged whatsoever, “… right, you probably don’t have those either.

“They’re special plants that grant the ability to wield fire when you touch them,” she explained, “they’re not flammable on their own - not any more than other flowers, at least,” she explained.

The plumber looked back at her with skepticism apparent in his gaze, reluctant to trust in the flowers even with her explanation. The princess shook her head, a knowing smile crossing her face as she sighed,

“You don’t have to worry about it - I’ll take care of handling the flower when we set up the fire tonight,” she assured him, his eyes softening slightly at that.

Something else was bugging him, that much was certain, but the panic that came over him had subsided as he carefully stepped around each flower to reach the clearing Toad had found. A little communication and patience went a long way, she thought to herself.

“I don’t trust ’em,” Mario remarked, of the fire flowers, pulling Peach out of her thoughts, “but hey, you’re amazing - at least I can trust you to make sure we don’t get cooked.” He said it so nonchalantly, like her being amazing was simply a fact of the universe he was acknowledging.

He was self-deprecating! Obviously he had his fill of nonsense from the obstacle course she had him run, and enough humbling reminders of his inexperience to last a lifetime, so it must have been a relief to not have to worry about yet more antics after the day they had.

All things the princess reminded herself, successfully drowning out any other thoughts his words threatened to spark - though she unfortunately forgot to respond at all besides smiling and looking away. It’s fine, she assured herself.

“We need firewood!” Toad declared, suddenly, causing the plumber and the princess to jump slightly as he ungracefully broke the awkward silence, “I will scour the land for wood!” the mushroom announced, far more dramatically than necessary.

“I can look too - we’ll cover more ground that way,” she volunteered, certainly not because she felt the least bit awkward, before turning to Mario, “you just get settled, Mustache, we shouldn’t be long.”

As princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, she was used to being depended on and to have all eyes on her. She had no reason to think much of it when she could swear she felt Mario’s gaze linger on her as she left, and even less reason for that gaze to make her heart feel so warm.

It was the Fire Flowers. Had to be.

When she returned, the field somehow seemed a little dimmer. She couldn’t quite place why, as it didn’t seem like any of the Fire Flowers had changed since she and Toad had split up to look for firewood… but when she found a moody plumber sitting on a stone, red cap in hand with his big nose pointed at the ground, she began to understand.

“Worried about your brother?” Peach asked, as she dropped the new firewood she brought into the pile they had made, prompting the poor plumber to look up at her, “He’ll be okay,” she told him, before putting her hand to her heart, “on my honor as princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, I’ll make sure he’s safe,” vowed the princess.

That brought a weak smile to Mario’s face but, under the weight of his concern, the corners of his lips sagged back down into a frown before too long.

“‘ppreciate it, Princess, really,” he responded, before his gaze fell back on the ground, “it’s just… we ain’t ever been apart for this long, me and Lu…” the words fell out of him, like a heavy load he had been carrying all day, “he was always more sensitive, so I’ve been lookin’ out for him and takin’ care of him all our lives, but…”

“Now that he isn’t here, it’s harder to ignore how afraid you are?” finished Peach, curiously.

Mario looked back up at her, his once-gloomy eyes slightly widened.

“How’d you know?” he asked.

It was a feeling she had kept at bay for many years, that had been coming out in full force ever since she left the castle on the journey they were on. Being brave for her Toads was something she had gotten quite good at, so she had admittedly been leaning a bit on Mario to find the courage in herself.

“Oh, you know,” Peach said, “ruling over the Mushroom Kingdom, I’ve seen that sort of fear at times in my subjects,” she fibbed, slightly, “it’s certainly nothing to be ashamed of.”

That didn’t mean she had to admit it to Mario, of course.

“That makes sense…” Mario nodded, “I feel a bit better knowing you’re on it, anyway,” he smiled, a bit wider than before, with that distractingly-handsome mustache of his…

“Glad to know I have your faith, Mustache—Mario, sorry, Mario,” replied Peach, quickly correcting herself after misspeaking for no reason at all, “they both start with M’s,” she explained, shaking her head at the slip.

“Eh?” reacted Mario, “Why’re you apologizing? You called me Mustache earlier,” he remarked, questioningly.

“I did?” Peach said, eyes wide, not remembering that at all but in that way where she knew she had totally said it without thinking earlier, “I mean, yeah, yeah I did - it’s a nickname,” she nodded to herself, definitely not too distracted by the mustache.

Mario shrugged, before a chilling breeze caused him to shudder. His gaze turned back to the cold pile of firewood that would be their fire for the night. Toad had left a while ago to get his batch of wood for the pile, but the night’s cold was getting to be uncomfortable.

“Our pile’s probably big enough to start the fire, at this point,” Peach decided, bringing a wave of relief to Mario… until he saw her approaching one of those Fire Flowers.

“You’re sure it’s safe?” Mario asked, squeezing the cap in his hand as he watched her go, his eyes staring at the flower that seemed to actually be glowing a fair bit brighter than the flowers around it.

Her stride was not slowed whatsoever by the plumber’s concerns, as she knew very well he was still getting used to this new world. It was her responsibility to keep a cool head, to demonstrate that there was nothing to fear.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” she assured him as she stopped in front of the flower, before gently teasing, “remain calm, now, Mustache.” He rolled his eyes, but she could tell he was a little less tense as she leaned down.

Mario watched her touch her hand to the face of the Fire Flower, then a flame gracefully danced its way up her arm to her whole body until her dress transformed from pink to white with hot pink accents. When she looked back at him, he was in awe of her.

“If you thought that was cool,” Peach smiled, feeling a little full of herself as she prepared to conjure a fireball, before feeling her gloved hand heat up as she summoned a glowing ball of flame, “get a load of thi—yyyyah!” she yelped, the fire flickering out just as suddenly as it had appeared as her concentration shattered.

“Whoa whoa whoa, what’s wrong?” Mario questioned, his concern shifting briefly away from the fire stuff and on to the unsettled princess.

Peach fell to her knees as she felt an overwhelming heat deep inside, while her cheeks burned red. When she looked down and actually noticed her dress had hot pink accents instead of red, her eyes widened.

“W-what Fire Flower did I just touch?” she asked herself, ominously.

“There’s more than one?!” Mario asked in exasperation.

“Don’t y-you have more than one kind of flower where you’re from?!” Peach responded incredulously, losing her cool in ways she was not prepared to explain.

“Well, yeah, but I thought ‘Fire Flower’ was a one!” Mario replied, very reasonably.

“I-it is,” Peach bit her lip, shutting her eyes and attempting to take some deep breaths, “It just so happens… there’s a very rare kind of Fire Flower… a-and I just touched it.”

This kind would still grant the power to wield flame to those who made contact with it, true, but there was a very potent ‘side-effect’ that made the power essentially irrelevant. In Peach’s case, instead of empowering her, it damn near immobilized her.

“Uhh okay, okay,” Mario started, trying to get a handle on the situation as he began to approach the princess, “i-is there something I should be doing?” Now would’ve been a great time for one of those cool-headed explanations of the way her world worked, and boy could Peach explain what was going on inside her…

“Yes… N-no! No, no,” Peach stammered, frantically, “j-just give me space, it wears off eventually! If we both just stay calm and don’t do anything it’ll just go away!”

“What’ll go away?” Mario questioned, “Are you about to explode?! What the heck is going on!” She was absolutely failing at being his guide to her world right now, she knew that already, but it seemed that avoiding the alternative - actually explaining… this - had become impossible…

“It’s…” she began to say, as countless unspeakable thoughts flashed through her mind faster than a Yoshi with a hot pepper in its mouth, “… how to put this,” she wondered, through gritted teeth, before things somehow managed to go from bad to worse as Toad returned with a stack of firewood that was hardly tall but still managed to cover the short Toad’s face.

”Man, you would not believe what I went through to get this firewood!” he exclaimed as he added his share to the pile, “It was pretty wild, I tell y—” he stopped, as he noticed the white and pink dress and the state that the other two were in, “… I can see you two are busy! I’ll leave you to it, g’night!” Toad said, before politely giving them their space and running off to the other side of the large tree that stood at the center of the field.

”No, Toad, come back!” Mario called out to Toad, “The princess, she’s—she…” Mario’s voice trailed off, looking back at her, “I’m still not sure what’s goin’ on with ya, but you definitely need help,” he said, placing his cap back on his head with renewed determination as he approached her once more.

A voice in her head screamed at her to tell Mario to keep away but, deep in her heart, there was a feeling that was only growing stronger by the moment… and it wanted him to come closer, closer than he had ever been to her, closer than she had let anyone get to her before in her life… it wanted him.

Nevertheless, despite the increasing amount of sense her irrational lust was now making, Peach’s heart was still breaking. She had hoped that, if she ever engaged in sexual intercourse, it would be perfect - something she could look back on fondly, something romantic… not a frantic affair to cure her of desire.

That it was ever called a “Fire Flower of Love” filled her with disdain. Something that afflicts one with desire that had to then be cured hardly deserved to have the word ‘love’ anywhere near it, she thought, but… oh. Peach blinked.

There he was, standing above her in her pitiful state, looking down at her with those big dreamy blue eyes. He didn’t know about any of this, he didn’t ask for his night to be derailed by it, and yet he stood there patiently… waiting to find out what he could do to help her.

“I-if I tell you…” she spoke, in a voice that was smaller and more vulnerable than she had ever let him hear from her before, “do you promise to keep it a secret…?”

“Hey,” Mario said, with a serious look in his eye as he put a hand to his heart, “on my honor as a Mario, I will not breathe a word of what you tell me to anyone.”

He was trying to look ‘big’ to her, admittedly, but the way it made her eyes seem to glow as she stared into his own was… well, far from the eye-roll he fully expected to elicit with the line.

“Okay,” Peach replied, before shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath to ground herself, “I need…” once more, countless things she could never speak aloud ran laps through her mind. But, in a win for her self-restraint, she settled on,

“… a kiss.”

Mario blushed, his eyes widening as this fairy-tale remedy struck him.

“A kiss?” he reacted, “How does that work, I kiss you and then you’re all better?” he wondered aloud, “n-not that I mind or nothin’, I… a-ah…” He definitely didn’t mean to let that last part slip out, she could tell that much through the haze of desire.

“I-it’s, well, it’s a solution - or it should be, hopefully,” Peach stammered, “just a short, chaste kiss - on the cheek,” she specified, before shaking her head, “no, on the nose—no, on the cheek! Definitely the cheek.”

He was now giving her a bit of a ‘look’ but, slowly, he nodded all the same. If she was right, and she hoped to the heavens that she was, receiving just that much intimacy would quell the desire that burned inside her… or, at least, bring it down to a manageable level that she could wait out with far more dignity!

Hesitantly, he began to lean closer toward her. Right as his mustache grazed her skin, tickling her just a little, he left a quick peck on her cheek and pulled away just as quickly. His eyes darted away from her, but she could feel him watch her in his peripheral vision just to see if…

“… it didn’t work,” Peach spoke under her breath, “why didn’t that work?!” she questioned, in exasperation, “Mustache—Mario, I mean, uh…” no, she remembered, she was playing it off as a very platonic nickname, “Mustache, could you…” she nervously asked, “could you try again… a little slower, this time…?”

It was maybe one of the most humiliating things she had ever had to ask, but thankfully Mario just nodded instead of saying… well, anything.

He leaned in once more, before softly pressing his lips to her cheek and leaving a tender kiss on it. It was warm, like the gentle warmth of a fireplace on a winter night, and it left her cheek feeling… oddly cold, after his lips left it? Like if she could just have another…

“Ohh,” Peach groaned, “no, no, that didn’t work either.” She was sugarcoating it - it was even worse, now! How just one kiss could fuel the flames of her lust so intensely was beyond her comprehension, but she could understand the feeling of it the same way a starving person could understand a banquet.

Another kiss on the cheek was out of the question, she wasn’t going to fall for the trap of thinking a kiss on the other cheek would solve everything and she doubted a kiss on the nose would be any different, so… wait…

“I—I’m really sorry,” Peach began to apologize, remembering the plumber she had left standing there as she fretted, “you know what? This is my fault, so just… don’t worry about it! I’ll be fine!” she insisted, prompting a skeptical look from Mario.

“Here,” she said, walking over to the firewood, “I’ll just light this, you can get some rest, and we can forget all about this in the morning!”

“Uhh, Princess,” Mario started, apprehensively, “not sure that’s a good idea!”

She shook her head dismissively, as though if she thought it was easy it would become easier. Without wasting another moment, she lit another fireball over her hand and…

“Nnnnnghhh,” she moaned, squeezing her thighs together without even thinking. With a shaky hand, she balanced the fireball as best as she could before tossing it onto the firewood - lighting it and warming the surrounding area just like she meant to from the start!

All was well, now, apart from the fact she was going to go insane with desire.

“Th-there,” she said, through gritted teeth, holding onto the knowledge of how to form a sentence like her life depended on it, “Well! G-good night!” she told Mario, wearing a strained smile as she looked back at him and that big kissable nos—annnd then looked away shortly thereafter.

“I-I’ll just, uh, find somewhere far away and… lie down! Until I fall asleep. Or it becomes morning. Whichever comes first!” Peach laughed nervously, turning away from him an—

“Hey,” he stopped her, taking her hand suddenly, “I have no idea what’s going on right now. Every time I think I’m beginning to get it, something happens and I understand everything even less,” he told her, “but I gave my honor as a Mario that I’d help you, okay? I ain’t quittin’ now.”

He gave his honor as a Mario that he would keep this a secret, he made no such vows for helping her, but she was in no state to get pedantic with him when all she wanted to do was mash her lips against his and KIS—

“OKAY!” she said, a little louder than she meant to, “If you’re serious about that, then kiss me again - on the lips.” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing herself say, that she was now daring him to give her her first kiss, but she was quickly running out of restraint and he asked for it!

At that, he hesitated once more. Of course he did, she thought, and why wouldn’t he? The night had long since gone completely off the rails and the notion of escalating it further was absolutely insane… except, he was getting that determined look in his eye again. The one he got when she watched him go through that obstacle course time after time.

He walked right up to her and looked up into her eyes, and… she remembered he was short. She needed to bend down for him - a thought she already had dozens of times in the past 5 minutes, but for very different reasons.

She bent down just enough to meet his eyes, watching them close along with her own, as the distance between their lips grew smaller and smaller until it vanished into nothing… and nothing felt better.

Yet it still didn’t put out the heat that had lit inside her. She caught a small breath before returning her lips to his, moaning into them as she felt it get even hotter inside her. That was bad, that was so bad, the opposite of what they were doing it for. She ran a hand through his hair, knocking the cap off his head and into the grass as the kiss continued.

He caressed the back of her head, just the faint feeling of his gloved hand through her hair made her skin feel like it was on fire. Then her eyes fluttered open, the ghost of reason returning to her for a moment and pulling her away. They had a situation, and it was only getting worse.

Using the fire power made it worse, kissing made it worse… Peach was beginning to get an idea of what she truly needed to quell this fire inside her, though she had tried so hard to avoid it…

“I need more… help…” she said, though she could tell with the nod he gave her that he already knew it, “for this next part, just… look into my eyes,” she told him, eliciting a curious look from the plumber as she took a seat on the grass, “don’t look anywhere else, only my eyes.” He didn’t seem to understand, even when she took his hand and removed his glove, but he locked eyes with her and sat with her. When she began to bring his hand into her dress, he gulped… but kept his eyes where they were.

His fingers were short, shorter than hers, but his hand seemed to fit hers so well… When she started to guide it into her panties, he pulled it back from her a little on instinct.

“Mario…” she whined softly, her eyes filling with desperation as she risked losing what she’d never had before. She must have looked so pathetic, she felt, she never let anyone see her like this. She couldn’t… but this damned flower had torn down wall after wall, until every corner of her heart was bare for Mario to see…

Softly, he gave his hand back to her. He never stopped looking into her eyes.

Taking it as slowly as she could muster, she guided his hand back into her panties. She could hear his breath hitch a little when he felt how wet she had become, but he seemed to know what to do next as his index and middle fingers found their way closer to her… and deeper.

“Have you… mmn…! D-done this before…?” she asked, as she began to appreciate how much bigger his fingers were than hers.

“Oh, I ah… I had a girlfriend in High School,” Mario admitted, watching her face as his fingers probed inside her, “we got together after uh… there was this big tough guy who wouldn’t quit bothering her no matter what she said, so I… let him know she wasn’t interested in a way uh, y’know, he could understand.”

“So… you hit him?” Peach guessed and, judging by his eyes widening after she said it, knew she hit a bullseye.

“Hey, Pauline needed space and he just wouldn’t give it!” he blushed, feeling a little self-conscious, only for Peach to giggle back at him, “What about you, anyway?” he turned the question around, redoubling his efforts below her waist and eliciting a gasp in delight, “You ever done anything like this?”

Sure, she thought, go ahead and ask that while you’re making me forget how to speak. If he could see into her mind, replaying the past-tense “had a girlfriend” in her head like a lovesick teenager, she doubted she would be able to survive the embarrassment. This whole Fire Flower episode was already pushing it for her.

“Well…” Peach started, “not really… All I’ve had for as far back as I can remember are my Toads, and… and…” and she would’ve continued, had Mario not just found a weak spot, “M-Mario…!” she squeaked, as she arched her back.

“Huh,” Mario responded, feeling quietly proud of the reception he was getting, “do Toads not… uh…” He couldn’t quite finish the question, but she could tell where he was going. There was just a burning question on her mind distracting her from answering, that couldn’t wait a moment longer.

“Would you mind if I got more comfortable?” she asked, which Mario quickly answered with a shake of his head, “Thanks,” she smiled, before pushing Mario down on his back and getting on top of him.

She was hot, every inch of her now felt like it was on fire. And the crazy part? She wasn’t afraid of the heat anymore. In fact, she wanted - no, needed more. The flame of lust that burned inside her had grown strong, and at that point she was only interested in seeing how much bigger it could get.

“I-is uh, is that better for ya…?” Mario asked, in a small voice, like if he spoke any louder he’d wake up from what had to be a dream. His eyes were wide, and his cheeks were practically glowing red.

“It’s a start, Mustache,” Peach replied, biting her lip as she put a hand on his shoulder and brushed her thumb against the left strap of his overalls, as Mario’s digits continued to please her, “you’re doing amazing, by the way, and I don’t want to sound ungrateful… but…” her hand glided down his chest, further down his belly, before finding a bulge between his legs, “I think you could be doing even better, don’t you…?”

Maybe it was a bit late to wonder, maybe he should’ve brought it up before he let her bring his hand under her dress, but Mario wouldn’t have felt right if he didn’t at least try to ask,

“Is this okay?”

The princess paused. It felt okay, a lot better than okay, but… was it? She reached beyond the heat of the moment, straining to remember her thoughts… and how she felt, in her heart, before she touched that flower. She looked at Mario, looking back at her with eyes that waited for permission to continue on the path that she herself had brought him on, and she saw that mustache again…

Then it hit her… she stopped.

The fire that burned, that pushed her on top of him, had it flickered out? Because she could stop now, she realized, without feeling like her mind was being torn in two. But in the delirious state she had been in she realized, understood for the first time, she wanted Mario.

It could’ve been the moment he made that vow, the moment she first laid eyes on him, or since the moment she was born… all she knew for sure was that it felt like she’d been wanting him for an eternity.

“This is what I want,” she told him, before remembering where she had left her hand and self-consciously bringing it up to the center of his chest, “this is what I want,” she repeated, once more, before taking his hand in hers and squeezing it softly, “it’s okay, as long as you’re sure… is this what you want?”

“… Thought you’d never ask,” Mario smiled, before unbuttoning his overalls.

Peach pulled his overalls down, now that at last there were no more interruptions standing in the way of what came next, and… let out a startled gasp at what she saw.

“Everything going ok, over there?” Toad asked, suddenly, peeking out from the other side of the tree. He actually seemed to have a fire going, himself? Truth be told, the both of them had almost forgotten him with everything they had going on!

“Uhh, I think so?” Mario replied, looking back at Toad, uncertainly.

“Definitely,” Peach answered, before taking her plumber by the chin and bringing his attention back to her, lowering her voice as she asked, “are they all this… big?”

“Well, I… Gonna be honest,” Mario blushed, in a hushed voice, “I haven’t really had a chance to compare it to—”

“Okay! Good night, Princess! Good night, Mario!” Toad hollered back, oblivious to the continuation of the conversation, “Headin’ to bed now! See you two in the morning!”

They both waved awkwardly as he went to rest and, once the moment settled back to where it was, Peach wasted no time in readying herself. In two smooth motions, she slipped her gloves off and tossed them aside. She lifted the skirt of her dress, then lifted it some more… then had to kind of bunch it up in her hands so she could lift mor—

“Ugh, no, can’t deal with this right now,” Peach groaned, before quickly lifting her whole dress up over her head and tossing it into the grass - where it curiously shifted its colors back to their usual pink hue. A detail that Mario probably would have been marveling at… were it not for the sight of a beautiful nearly-naked princess kinda stealing its thunder.

The light of the Fire Flowers surrounding them gently illuminated the glistening sweat on her skin. Her underwear was frilly and pink, with ornate designs lovingly-sewn into the fabric, looking about as soft as what they were covering. He already knew she was royalty but, at that moment, she looked… divine.

“Peach, you look… out of this world,” Mario spoke. He had to imagine this was just what it would feel like if he laid eyes on a masterpiece at an art museum, each stroke painted coming together to capture the otherworldly beauty of some woman who lived hundreds of years ago… yet there she stood, in this strange world, a woman who made everything make sense…

“… You’re not from around here, are you?” he asked, curiously, causing the princess to pause, “When we were at your kingdom, I didn’t see anybody else like you…” he remarked, “… and come to think of it, you did kinda freak out about me bein’ a human earlier?”

“Well, Mustache,” she started, as she got back on top of him and grabbed hold of his shaft, “it’s not every day someone like you enters the kingdom. In fact, the last person who did that looked remotely similar was… well, me,” she admitted, pushing her panties aside before guiding the head to her entrance.

After how fast the rest of the night had gone, things seemed to slow down as she gently began to work the tip inside her… Part of her still felt insane to be doing this so soon but, every time she felt doubt creeping in, she just looked back at those big blue eyes of his and knew - this had to be right.

“N-nn!” Peach moaned, as he entered her. If his thick fingers felt daring for her to have inside her before, this was a full-blown adventure.

“So w-wait,” Mario spoke, his voice growing shaky as he felt her folds conform around his shaft, “you just… showed up here, one day, like I did?” He looked up at her face and saw her squeezing her eyes shut, trying to adjust to his girth, and placed his hands on her hips - massaging them soothingly for her.

He pressed his digits into her skin, his member twitching inside her as he felt her flesh softly expand between his fingers. A smile grew on his face as he watched her expression soften, and his breath hitched when he felt her begin to move her hips.

“As far as I can remember, y-yes,” she moaned, cupping her breast in her hand and squeezing it as she started to ride him, “I was small and alone when the Toads found me, with nowhere to go, and… they took me in like I was one of their own,” she smiled, the sweetness of the memory mixing with the pleasure of the present, “I guess I am one of their own, now, thanks to their acceptance… They made me their princess, without even knowing where I’m from…”

“That’s actually how things usually go, back in my world!” Mario smiled, with no small amount of pride, “Heck, we even got a big statue with a plaque all about takin’ people in no matter where they come from! We call her Lady Liberty.”

“Lady Liberty…” Peach nodded, biting her lip a little as her hips rolled against him, “I’d like to see her someday…” She gave him a smile as she looked down at him through half-lidded eyes, and Mario idly thought of how wonderful it’d be to have a lady like her in Brooklyn…

“Hey,” he offered, his voice getting less and less steady as she bounced on top of him, “m-maybe you’re from, mmn, my world!”

She looked down at him, feeling closer to him than she’d felt to anyone while a part of him was literally thrusting into her, yet she couldn’t help but doubt the answer was so simple… that of all the worlds she could have come from, she would simply run into someone from hers just like that…

“There’s a huge universe out there, Mario,” Peach spoke, leaning down to lock eyes with him, stroking his mustache gently because she just couldn’t help herself, “with a-a lot of galaxies…” The chances of her actually coming from his world were impossibly-small… but there they were, lying together in a field of Fire Flowers, making love all the same…

“But I’m glad you’re here, now, in mine…” she told him, before closing the distance between their lips and kissing him. As their lips touched, she could feel the heat building again. Its warmth had made for a cozy ambience, but now it was beginning to assert itself once more.

She rocked her hips against him, only parting from his lips whenever she needed to take another breath, as she felt his love push deeper and deeper inside her. It was getting harder to stop moving, harder to think, as she felt wave after wave of pleasure fill every inch of her until at last…!

“Nnnnnn, M-Marioooooo~!!!” she cried out, eyes shut tight, as all her senses were flooded by the overwhelming bliss of her climax. It was so hot, she felt like she was burning in the most beautiful flame in the world, and… eventually, she blinked and found herself lying in the aftermath.

The air was cool, which she could finally feel after the effects of the flower had at last subsided, and she got the sense that some time had passed…?

“Oh, Princess, you’re awake again!” Mario sighed in palpable relief, “I think you whited out for a sec there? Had me a little worried…” he remarked, “Is that another effect of the flower?”

Peach blinked.

“Yes,” she nodded, as quickly as she could, “yeah, probably the flower.” Grateful that she had recovered enough sense not to just admit that no, that was just a mind-blowing orgasm because he is apparently very good at sex.

She then noticed, apart from the aftermath of her own orgasm, there was another… memento, to what had just transpired, across her stomach. She looked up at Mario.

“Oh, that? I uh, y’know… I would’a aimed away, but uh… i-in my line of work, sometimes you gotta pick the smaller of two messes… if that makes sense? Hopefully?” Mario stammered, “’Cause that’s a big mess but, uh, if I hadn’t pulled out it would’a been a big—” his voice faltered as he watched her casually scoop some of his seed up and lick it off her fingers, “m-mess.”

“Thank you for pulling out, Mario,” she shook her head with a smile, “you’re a true gentleman.”

“Ehh it was nothin’,” he brushed it off, trying not to smile too hard at the compliment, “I’m just glad you’re ok now!”

Mario let out a sigh of relief, as the night finally seemed to be settling down. After a day like the one he’d just had, he was not about to turn down some calm. He was a little curious, still, as he asked,

“Would uh… what would’ve happened if you didn’t… I mean, if we didn’t…?”

“I wouldn’t have died,” Peach assured him, “technically I could’ve toughed it out alone, it just… would not have been pleasant,” she admitted, which was saying something considering how difficultly their night had gone, “I’d never touched that kind of Fire Flower before, I’m usually more careful, I just…” she sighed, “got kinda carried away, wanting to show off and look cool to you,” she shook her head, “look where that got me.”

“Hey! You looked very cool just now!” Mario replied, earning himself a shove on the shoulder that hurt a bit more than he would’ve expected. Rubbing his shoulder softly, he lied back with her and took in the sight of the field of Fire Flowers that would be their resting place for the night.

The princess had said at the start of the night that it was just a field of Fire Flowers, nothing special about it, but… she smiled, as she knew that couldn’t be true. Not anymore.

“So when you said it was a rare kind of Fire Flower,” Mario started, looking back over at the glowing pink flower in question, “does it have a name?” he asked.

Peach let out a sigh and felt a smile growing on her face, one that she would not have worn at the subject earlier that night, as she gave her answer as his guide to her world,

“The Fire Flower of Love.”

The End.