*~{Yuni}~*

"MARIO! LUIGI!" A small voice cries as a young girl runs through the city streets at night.

She comes to a stop at the playground, looking around while sniffling before walking up to a bench and sitting under it. She's holding a small necklace with a glowing star in it.

"Valentina?!" A familiar voice calls out.

"Val?!" Another voice calls. "Where are you?!"

The young girl opens her ocean blue eyes and crawls out. She spins around looking seeing two figures standing at the opposite entrance which she recognizes as her older brothers.

"M-Mario? Luigi?" She stutters out, wiping her tears.

"VALENTINA!" They cry out and run to her.

They immediately crouch down and hug her while crying.

Mario is the first to end the hug and takes his little sister by the shoulders. "Where were you?! A-Are you hurt anywhere?"

Valentina shakes her head, hiding her face in Luigi's arms.

"Mario, she may be scared. Let's just, go home." Luigi suggests.

"O-Okay." Mario sighs. "Are you hungry? There's probably some leftovers at home."

They stand up, Valentina holding her brothers hands as they walk back home.

[~]

The clock hits 11:25pm when the siblings enter their home and see their family at the table.

Upon seeing Valentina the family gets up and begins to crowd them, trying to get answers.

"Alright, stop!" Mario holds his hand up. "She'll tell us in her own time. We're tired, we're just gonna go to bed."

The three of them walk to their room.

[~]

The clock now reads 12:45am.

Mario winces and opens his eyes hearing a creak, only to see Valentina hop down from hers and Luigi's bunk bed and exit the room.

His fear gets the better of him as he swiftly gets up and follows her.

He lets out a sigh of relief when he finds her just getting a glass of milk from the fridge.

She must've heard the creak of the floorboards, because she flinched and snapped her head his way.

"Heh heh. Hey." He says in a low voice.

Valentina looks down at the table. Mario frowns and joins her at the table.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asks.

Valentina nods.

"Do you... want to talk about it?"

Valentina shakes her head.

They're interrupted hearing Luigi yawn as he exits the hallway and sees them, prompting him to sit down as well.

"What are we doing?" He asks sleepily.

"Couldn't sleep." Mario shrugs.

They both look over at their little sister who had an almost empty stare as she looked at the dinner table.

The two brothers look at each other and nod.

They go back to their room and turn on the tv, as Luigi pulls out the VHS of Valentina's favorite movie...

Beauty and the Beast.

Mario yawns as the movie begins, narrating the backstory of how the prince became a beast in the first place.

Valentina's eyes are glued to the TV, Luigi sitting next to her at the foot of Mario's bed.

About a third of the way through the movie where Belle dances with the Beast, all three of the siblings have fallen asleep.

Mario had fallen asleep laying at the opposite end of his pillow, Luigi holds Valentina's hand as he sleeps with his head against the mattress, and Valentina holds Mario's arm that was draped over the side of the bed.

Nothing can hurt them as long as they're together.