"Are you ready for this?" Waluigi asked.
Daisy stood outside the doors to the Sarasaland throne room with a knot in her stomach. A week had passed since the Dream World. Now the council meeting with her four vassal kings was about to take place and she felt ready to die. It was time for them to decide who would be princess.
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," she said. "Might as well get this over with."
Waluigi blocked her hand as she reached for the door handle. Their hands touched and Daisy shivered.
"Even if you aren't a princess," he said. "You still know you're something special, right?"
"Yeah, I know," she said in her least convincing voice. "But I still like it. All the perks and feeling important. All that stuff."
"I get it," he said, sincerity in his eyes. "I just want you to know that, whatever happens in there, it's okay."
"Yeah, sure. I can just go crash with Wanda and live in the woods."
"Or my place," he said. "If you need, that is. If that's okay. It's okay with me at least. Whatever works for you. No pressure."
"Well, that'd probably be safer than me being in a hundred-foot radius of Sunny."
"Do what you want. If something happens, let Mario fix it."
"Ugh," she said. "Please. I don't even want to THINK about that happening again."
It was disgusting how quickly Mario managed to recover the dream gems all over again and put everything back where it belonged. If Daisy ever turned evil, no doubt he would put her in her place too in no time flat.
"It wasn't your fault," Waluigi said.
"Yeah? Well, they" she gestured at the throne room door, "probably won't agree with you. Which is why I'm pretty sure I'm about to get demoted from princess to loser."
He shook his head. "There's nothing wrong with being a normal person."
"Sure," she said. "But it's way more fun to be a big shot."
"Obviously," he said. "But even if you're not royalty, remember you're an AMAZING athlete. It doesn't matter what game we're playing. You always give me a run for my money. You don't even have the stars helping you cheat.""
"You're just saying that because I always win," she said.
"You wish!" He laughed. "…Seriously, though. I can't think of anyone who even compares. You have so much drive."
"Enough for my heart to turn into a monster, it seems." She looked at him, feeling guilty.
"Eh. Happens to the best of us," he said.
"No, it doesn't!" she said. "I'm sorry that happened. I can't even imagine what you think of me now."
"It's fine, really," he said. "I'm just glad I wasn't the one to touch Sunny. We would've been in real trouble then. And it was interesting seeing that side of you. It was… kind of hot, actually—I mean, uh." He scratched his nose to hide a blush. "Forget I said that part."
Daisy smirked. If Deedee still existed inside her somewhere, she was pleased.
"The point is," Waluigi said. "Whatever happens in there, you're you and that's enough."
"Well," Daisy said. "The same goes to you."
He smiled softly; his brow arched. A moment of quiet fell between them.
"Alright," Daisy said with a sigh. "I better go. Thanks for listening."
"Good luck," he said.
She entered the throne room. The meeting table was set up and her four vassal kings were waiting for her. She took her seat across from them.
"As discussed in our last meeting," Dragonzamasu said. "It was brought to our attention that our current princess is tied with King Hiyohoi for most trophies won."
"And other matters have come to light during the interim," Totomesu said. "Namely, your role in the summoning of that massive shadowy demon that nearly took over the world."
"Okay, well, you saw the part where I helped Mario stop it right?" Daisy said. "Right? The footage was still rolling during that part, I hope."
"I can't say from my own experience," Totomesu said. "Seeing that you hurled my head against a wall and concussed me right before any of that happened."
"Hey! In my defense, three of you were brain-controlled dream puppets at the time."
"Be that as it may," Dragonzamasu said. "Before voting on who will be named princess, we must consider the risk of allowing someone like you to reign."
"But I've done fine up until now!" Daisy said.
Biokinton bobbed in the air. "Yeah. But the thing is, if your heart is dark and icky enough to turn into something like that, how do we know we can trust you?"
Daisy looked down. She knew this was coming. How could she argue after everything that happened? If the roles were reversed, she would vote against herself too. It felt hopeless.
Hiyohoi slammed a stone fist into the table, startling everyone.
"You chowderheads!" He said, "So what if her soul turned into a demon or whatever?! What's wrong with that, huh?!"
"It's scary!" Biokinton said.
"She could be dangerous," Totomesu said.
"Yeah, dangerous for other people maybe!" Hiyohoi said. "If there's a demon, I'd rather it be on our side, right? And besides! All the monster did was try to take over the world! That there takes guts."
"I suppose," Dragonzamasu said.
"Sarasaland is all about winning!" Hiyohoi said. "That's our tradition, ain't it? Daisy went off and beat that Wart guy at his own game. And before her soul monster did any real damage, she made sure to fix it! Best of both worlds if you ask me. I respect it."
"Hiyohoi…" Daisy muttered in surprise.
Totomesu grumbled. "You make a compelling argument."
"Yeah? Then let's settle it then. All in favor of keeping Daisy as princess say aye!"
The vote was unanimous. Daisy walked out of the council meeting with her crown still on her head. She walked out into the lobby to find Waluigi waiting for her.
"You're still here?" she said.
"I—" He broke eye contact. "Yeah. Just in case you needed somebody."
She smiled. "Thanks." He was sweet when it counted.
"Looks like it went alright?" he said.
"Better than alright," she said, still not quite believing it. "Although I guess this means I gotta keep working on reconstruction, what with the capital here still smashed to bits. But whatever. I've got my crown. I'm happy."
Waluigi forced a smile. His eyes were tense. A poker face.
"What, you got a problem?" she said. "You look disappointed. I thought you were rooting for me."
"Wha? No!" He fumbled, nervous. "I mean yes. I'm happy for you. Honest!"
"…But?"
Waluigi broke eye contact, embarrassed.
"I— It's just, this was fun. This whole mess," he muttered. "Okay, maybe not the parts in Subspace. Or the world almost ending. But most of it, y'know? You even got me and my dad back on speaking terms. I mean, we're not 'fixed' or anything, too much baggage for that, but we can interact without screaming at each other. That's more impressive than the world saving. Not sure how you pulled that off."
"What can I say?" she said, "I'm amazing."
He kept his eyes low, hiding behind his cap.
"But, like, now Wanda has gone home and you've got work to do and… I guess… I'm just sad it's over?"
Daisy felt that. He was right. They had a good time together. And they won, too. But they did not exactly win either. It was the sort of thing that made her want to keep playing.
"I mean," she said. "We'll still see each other, right? Tennis. Golf. Go-karts. Baseball. Parties. The usual."
He looked up, solemn and poker faced. Dissatisfied with that.
"Yeah," he sighed. "But I was hoping—" He froze for a beat, looking around the palace and thinking better of whatever he was about to say. "Never mind. Forget it."
"What?! No!" Daisy felt her heart pound. "You don't get to stop there. You were hoping what?"
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She yanked it out, annoyed at the interruption, but was startled to see the call was coming from Marina Stadium.
"Hang on. Hold that thought," she said before accepting the call. "Hello?"
"Hey-ho!" A goofy voice said on the other hand. "This is Big Top the magical talking top hat with the Marina Stadium help desk! I'm talking with Daisy, yeah? How's it goin'?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, whatever," she said. "What's this about?"
"Well, I got a call from the big M earlier, and he made a big deal about wanting you registered as a hero in the online database. Not sure why, but the guy really threw his weight around on it, so you got in."
"You're joking," Daisy said.
Big Top giggled. "Do I seem like a jokey sort to you? Anyway, I know you and the other guy made a big deal about wanting in on the Celebrity Heroes Tennis Tournament for Charity."
"I thought we missed the deadline for that!" she said.
"It got pushed back on account of the whole thing with the world almost ending."
"Did Waluigi get registered too?"
"Mr. Purple? Yeah. I'm calling him right after you. You want in or not?"
"Yes! Of course!" She laughed, feeling a rush of excitement. "Don't bother calling him. He's right here, I'll tell him."
"If you say so. See you at the tourney! Hee-hee."
Daisy put the phone away and turned to Waluigi.
But he was gone.
Daisy swiveled her head. The jerk had snuck off during the call. She raced down the corridor toward the entrance hall, dodging around servants and construction workers in her hurry. There was no way she was going to let him get away. She spotted him halfway down the steps of the palace and jumped down after him and smacked him across the back of the head.
"Waugh!" He whipped around to face her. "Hey!"
"Idiot!" she said. "You think it's okay to walk away when a lady is talking to you?! You don't get all the way to the goal pole only to back down. You know better than that!"
Waluigi teetered on the stairs but found his balance. He looked up at her on the steps, flustered.
"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to be rude."
"Then finish what you were going to say!" Daisy said.
He hesitated, his face redder than a fire flower.
"I like you," he admitted. "…And I was hoping we could keep spending time together. Not just rivals, I mean. But like, together. …If that's okay with you."
Daisy felt her cheeks burn. She grinned with smug satisfaction at his confession.
"Good," she said. "Then how do you feel about being doubles partners?"
The look of shock on his face was priceless.
"But I thought—"
"We got in," Daisy said, "we're on the register. You wanna team up or not?"
He stared, and then a mischievous smile curled on his face.
"Yeah," he said. "But only if you're ready to win."
She leaned in to give him a gentle kiss.
"Then it's a date," she said.