Bowser mumbled strong curses under his breath as Kamek led him back to the meeting room, where there seemed to be another phone call for him. This time, though, it was some dopey kingdom that he didn't care to remember the name of. But what they were offering was definitely more interesting than the forced monotone of the king speaking to him.

"We are willing to give up at least sixty percent of our land in exchange for the safety of my daughter," he spoke, his faux calmness being broken much too easily by his obvious fear. "But I can also give up more, if you so wish."

"How am I supposed to know that your land isn't just some small little patch of grass?" Bowser questioned, finding it much easier to hide his excitement than the other king was attempting. "For all I know, you could be yanking my tail so I don't take your precious princess."

"Take all of it if you want, then!" the other king suddenly shouted, a sob or two slipping through. "Daddy, no!" a female voice cried from not too far away. "I just want you to keep off of my daughter!"

Bowser rolled his eyes, though he was tempted. A man was giving up everything just to protect his daughter (who Bowser really couldn't care less about)? He glanced towards Kamek, who just gestured to him to answer the man on the phone. Bowser finally decided on what to demand.

"I want eighty percent, any less and your princess will be a permanent addition to my castle," Bowser growled, then interrupted the king's thanks to say, "And if I find out that I'm getting crappy land and space, I'll take her and put her somewhere where you'll never see her again."

A hard, audible swallow on the other end. "I swear you will not be disappointed."

With a grunt, Bowser hung up the phone and looked at Kamek with a grin. The old magikoopa smiled back, albeit not with as much enthusiasm. Bowser raised a brow, his grin fading.

"What?" he asked. "Did I say something I wasn't supposed to?"

"You don't even realize what happened, do you?" Kamek asked, ordering the guards around them to leave, which told Bowser that he was getting yelled at. He prepared himself for a lecture. "That kingdom has just given you eighty percent of their land because they are scared you will capture their princess! That means that they know about Peach, and who took her. Do you know what that means, then?"

"More than just the Mushroom Kingdom knows," Bowser said, a thought popping up in his head and getting him excited again. "Then they'll offer up land too. Kamek, this is great!"

"No, sire, it's not," Kamek groaned. "Since a kingdom as obscure as that knows, that means that the Mushroom kingdom's king and queen will soon know as well. Then they'll declare war on us, and who knows what financial and life losses we'll suffer from that. You shouldn't have taken Princess Peach, or you could have at least taken her back once you called off the troops."

Bowser looked down at his feet, then back up at Kamek. "Why can't I take her back now?"

"Because they probably already know, so it's too late," Kamek replied, trying and failing to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Now we just have to wait it out."

Bowser narrowed his eyes, suddenly unsure. "Do you like her or something?"

Kamek flicked his gaze over to Bowser in a scowl, and he tried to speak, but found himself unable. Bowser's eyebrows nearly escaped his face as he raised them in shock. Kamek just grumbled and muttered a curse so old Bowser didn't even know it. The Koopa King felt a burst of laughter coming on, and he didn't bother to hold it in. Kamek scowled and looked at the ground.

"You...oh wow...you totally have a crush on the princess!" Bowser laughed out loud, pointing a thick, clawed finger at Kamek, who suddenly raised one hairless brow at him.

"What makes you think I have a crush?" he asked, actually confused. Then he rolled his eyes and held his hand out in front of Bowser's face before the royal could respond. "Wait, never mind, I suddenly remembered that you're terrible with signs."

"What do you-"

"Now, Bowser, listen up," Kamek interrupted. "I want you to know that I harbor no romantic feelings towards Princess Peach. I simply enjoy her company. She's polite and has a rather sickeningly infectious energy, even with her circumstances. I just see her as a nice temporary addition to the castle, as harmful as her involuntary visit was."

Bowser raised a brow a bit, deciding to test his elder. "But she's super cute, right?"

"Very beautiful, much like her personality, had you bothered to talk to her."

Bowser felt an anger flash through him then disappear as he remembered his evening with Peach. His sudden scowl melted into a mocking grin. Kamek looked at him, knowing the bragginess of the grin well enough to let it be obvious that Bowser wanted to gloat about something.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" he asked, wary of the response.

"Remember how I told you to call off the guards last night?" he asked. Kamek nodded slowly, moving his hand away. "Well that was because I was with Peach."

"...you called them off because you were guilty?"

Bowser's eyes widened as he realized that Kamek was right, and what made it worse was that he had just bragged about it. The koopa ran his claws through his hair, groaning. The magikoopa across from him just smiled, and held in his laughter. It seemed like Bowser didn't have much to brag about. Just so he could laugh without being punished, he left the room in a puff of blue smoke and lost it outside the castle's walls. Meanwhile, Bowser felt ready to punch something, angry at himself for giving into such weak emotions like guilt without realizing it.

Clearly Peach was a witch or something. What scared him was that the thought didn't bother him. He was eerily willing to give in to her demands anyways, what with the room change and leaving her kingdom alone, though she didn't quite know about that yet. Then an idea came into his head, which he was relieved about since he was getting sick of remembering his weakness and the fact that Kamek was losing his mind outside laughing at him.

He decided that he should finally tell his caged bird that her kingdom wasn't going to be bothered so she could be freed in some way, even if he really couldn't remove the cage yet. She could at least not worry about the Mushroom Kingdom. He could only imagine the type of stress that that would put on her. He hoped she wasn't angry about it.

Peach, in her room, had also hoped she wouldn't be angry. She didn't want to lose her temper, because, much like getting depressed, it wasn't helping anyone, especially herself. It just made her feel worse. Now, she was relaxing and thinking about a way out of the castle through her room so she could escape and save her people herself. They needed her and she needed to be level-headed in order to do what she could to help them. Of course she couldn't help but to wonder what that would entail for her, but she thought it better to cross that bridge when she got to it.

However, as Peach thought about looking for vulnerabilities in the stone walls, there was a loud, heavy knock on her door. She jumped in her seat, a feeling of panic shooting up her spine. Bowser, on the other side of the door, couldn't notice.

"Who is it?" Peach asked, almost purely out of habit, leveling her voice to contain her panic.

"Um...it's Bowser," Bowser said through the door, his voice muffled by the door more than Peach would like. "Can...can I come in?"

"Oh, uh, well, sure!" Peach replied, faking her chipper voice. When she realized just how painfully obvious it was that she was faking, she cringed. Bowser, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice.

"Uh...hi," Bowser said, standing awkwardly in place. "Can I um...can we talk about last night?"

Peach managed to blush and blanch at the same time. The memory of her little episode was so embarrassing, and she just wanted to forget about it. However, he did deserve an apology, since he had (pretty much) shown nothing but kindness since he had captured her.

"Um...o-okay," Peach stuttered. "Would you like to take a seat?" She offered.

"Nothing in here was built for my size," Bowser replied, his voice a little too quiet. "I'll just sit on the floor."

Peach couldn't help but to feel bad for Bowser as he plopped onto the carpet, mainly because she was still sitting in her bed, which would probably snap in half under his size. She didn't want to be the only one on a somewhat proper seat, so she flopped onto the floor herself, but instantly regretting it as her tailbone landed in the exact right place for pain to be shot oh-so-expertly up her spine. She hissed quietly, told Bowser she was fine when asked, and sat up, facing him.

"Alright, let's talk," she said.'

The king raised a brow at the princess, smirked, and said, "Yeah, about last night, if there was anything I did to make you freak out so much, I'm sorry."

"Oh, no, it wasn't anything like that," Peach responded nervously, forcing a small laugh. "I just...I...it's hard to explain. I do want you to know that I am sorry for being so...odd last night. It was so silly of me." Another forced laugh.

"Well, I'm glad that that's over with," Bowser said with a chuckle that felt like it couldn't be possibly fake. "I was worried that that would be all awkward."

A few moments of silence. Peach touched her chest, where her blue gem brooch would normally be, out of habit. She felt a little odd without her gem (yet again), but got past it enough to speak again.

"Was that all you wanted to talk to me about…?" she asked, looking around, as if his answer were carved on the walls.

He jolted, obviously having been broken roughly out of some daydream, and laughed at himself. Peach, yet again, felt comforted by his warm nature. It was better than the tyrant act he had shown her the day before, for sure. She couldn't also help but to feel warmer in his presence again, and this time it couldn't be the lava heat, because it hadn't felt this warm before hand, though she wasn't complaining. She had gotten too cold with the fan on before and had to turn it off to warm up again and this new heat was just perfect in that moment.

"Oh, no, I wanted to tell you something, actually, and it's really important, so I need you to listen, okay?" he asked. Peach nodded and he grinned, already excited. "Okay, so, last night, when I went away for a couple minutes?" Peach nodded again, urging him to continue. "I got Kamek, and called off my troopas. They just returned, and, as far as I know, no one has touched your kingdom."

A heavy weight was lifted off of her shoulders, and it was indescribable. She sighed and laughed and felt her eyes getting watery. She wiped away her happy tears with one hand and put the other on her chest, again. She looked up at Bowser, a huge grin on her face and the rims of her eyes growing red, and worded 'thank you' breathlessly.

Bowser didn't reply, he just smiled. Kamek was right, her aura was infectious. He could practically feel her relief and happiness, and was more than happy to accept that he had given in to guilt for a strange woman. All he knew right then was that he had made her laugh and smile and that that made him really happy himself, even if he didn't entirely understand why.

Of course that euphoria just had to be ruined by a few words out of her tiny mouth.

"So I can go home now?" she asked, obviously getting her hopes up. Her hands clutched together and fidgeted.

Bowser's eyes widened a bit. He had hoped that she wouldn't ask that, but he also knew that it couldn't be avoided. His eyelids then drooped a little, and he sighed, looking down. Peach raised a slender brow slightly, wondering why he suddenly seemed so sad. He had been grinning just seconds before. She would have asked, but she wasn't feeling like bothering his obviously sour mood.

"I...I can't take you back yet," he said quietly, but also audible enough for her to hear. She furrowed her brows and asked why. He rubbed his eyes with his thick thumb and index finger. "Because...because...my ship is in the repair shop. I can't take you back without it."

"Oh," Peach whispered, looking down at her own lap. "I see."

Bowser wanted to bury himself in a hole for lying to her, so he tried to make it a little better. "The repairs are fairly simple, they should only take about a week. You'll be home before you know it. Until then, you're free to roam the castle now. There's plenty of space to keep you busy."

Peach smiled in return and nodded quickly. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. Bowser wondered why until he realized just what that meant. Was she trying not to cry? Oh, no, he couldn't have that. She wasn't allowed to cry when she was at his castle, and especially not around him. He wouldn't even think of it.

So, to keep her from crying, he stood up quickly and held out a large hand, offering to help her up. She looked up at him, her eyes glassy and moist, and, unsure of what else to do, took his hand. He hoisted her up easily, her weight no where near a problem to lift. Once she was standing, he motioned for him to follow her.

"Where are we going?" Peach asked him warily.

He grinned in response, trying desperately to get that real smile back. "Just for a little tour. It's a hell of a lot better to have an idea of the place when you wander than to just walk around. It's pretty easy to get lost."

She smirked, and he felt a blush and suppressed it immediately. "Oh, why, thank you, King Bowser Koopa!" she said, bowing in a playfully mocking fashion.

He just laughed and rolled his eyes. "Alright, come on, you royal pain, I went through a really boring meeting to get to you. I'm not gonna waste my time here."

Peach giggled, thought it over for a second, then took his hand. A tour seemed like fun, and could get her mind off the fact that her people were probably worried sick about her. She would have to ask Bowser if she could make a public appearance to tell them that she was all right. Then she remembered that she was in the pajamas from before, and suddenly felt naked without the billowing comfort of her dress. As Bowser made the large strides to get out of the room that seemed to be too small for him, she called out his name. He looked over at her over his shoulder.

"Do you think I could put something else on?" she asked. "Like maybe my dress? It's almost noon, and I don't want everyone to start to think I'm lazy."

Bowser chuckled, then said, "Let me see what I can do."

He called for Kamek, who looked tired, then perked up as he noticed Peach standing behind Bowser with a small smile on her face. She waved at him and he waved back. He was glad and horrified at the same time that she was still there. He wondered what excuse Bowser came up with to keep her there, and especially to keep her smiling.

"Kamek, I'm right here," Bowser grunted impatiently. Kamek flicked his gaze back to his king and apologized. "Shut it, I just need you to hurry up and get a dress for Princess Peach. I don't care if it's hers or one you make, just get one."

Kamek nodded, then grinned as a maid handed him a large lump wrapped in wrinkle-free black plastic. "It seems that her dress is clean already."

"What's with that bag?" Bowser asked. "You never do that with my spikes."

"That's because her dress is a finer fabric, and it seems to stain easily."

"You didn't stain it, did you?"

"No, no, one of your tailors downstairs recognized the fabric and was quick to warn us about being careful with it. Though he was so attached to it we practically needed a cattle prod to get him away from it."

Bowser grunted in slight interest then jabbed his thumb towards Peach's direction, and Kamek understood. The old magikoopa floated up close to Peach, and handed her the plastic with her dress inside. She thanked him and took it gratefully. She asked Bowser if he minded her changing, and he said not at all, but in his mind he was slowly losing his patience. He wished she didn't have to fret about every little thing, because his schedule may have been open, but he liked to waste as little time as possible.

Kamek noticed his familiar stance that he used as a child when he was just minutes away from throwing a tantrum, and he stopped the king where he stood. He reminded Bowser that Peach was used to different things, and that she had all the time in the world. Bowser looked away, a little embarrassed that he was reverting to childlike ways, but he pushed away that feeling. He wasn't gonna worry about it.

Now all he cared about was how Peach got dressed so quickly, because she was out of the bathroom in five minutes looking exactly like she had when she arrived at the castle, sans the makeup. He decided that he didn't care about that, either, especially when she was so bright and radiant and happy-looking. She smiled at him and reverted her eyes away, a little shy on the eye contact with his intense ruby hues.

"I'm ready to get going!" she cheered, stepping towards him and taking his arm.

It took him a moment to get back to the real world. Once he did, he shooed Kamek away and walked out with Peach on his arm. He wasn't sure how, but her touch seemed to light the fire in his belly even more than usual. He enjoyed her presence and he couldn't explain why. He knew that they were more different than words could explain, but he just liked her being around him and not trying to get away.

Of course he still wondered how long that would last. For now, he would just show her around.

End of Chapter