(A/N: Are we really on Chapter 7? I didn't expect to be this far, but we're having fun, right? Let's see how Mario and his friends fare here.)


After setting a course for the Cascade Kingdom, Mario pulled out his smartphone and dialed the number for Peach's Castle. Toadette picked it up on the first ring.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Toadette, it's-a me, Mario." Mario said.

"Oh, Mario! What's up?" Toadette asked, happy to hear from the plumber.

"I need you to tell Toadsworth that I found Peach. I know where she went. She's going on a world tour to make up for the one she went on with Bowser when he captured her." Mario said.

"I'll tell him, but he's also going to want to know if she's okay. She is okay, isn't she?" Toadette asked.

"Lei sta bene. She's doing just fine." Mario promised.

"Okay. I'll go tell him now. Thanks, Mario." Toadette said.

"I'm happy to help, Toadette." Mario replied as he ended the call.


As soon as she hung up the phone, Toadette was off like a shot, searching the castle for Toadsworth. She didn't have far to go to find him. The old Toad was in the library, reading a book about the history of the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Toadsworth?" Toadette said, startling the old Toad.

"Who's there?!" he exclaimed, before he saw Toadette standing at the entrance to the room. He relaxed and said, "Oh, it's just you, Toadette. What's going on?"

"I just got off the phone with Mario. He told me that he found Princess Peach." Toadette explained.

"He did? Jolly good! I knew that Master Mario would be able to find her! Where is she?" Toadsworth asked, looking considerably happier.

"She went on a world tour to make up for the bad one she went on with Bowser when he captured her. We'll have to ask her about that when she gets back." Toadette said.

"And that's exactly what I plan to do." Toadsworth said.

"Oh, and before I forget, I made sure to ask Mario how Peach is doing." Toadette mentioned.

"And how is the Princess?" Toadsworth asked, concerned.

"Mario says that Peach is doing just fine." Toadette assured the old Toad.

"Thank goodness..." Toadsworth said, feeling so much better about Peach's welfare.


Getting back to Mario, the red-clad plumber took off his shoes, laid down on the bed, and went right to sleep. Cappy, seeing this, laid down next to Mario, and went to sleep himself. If Mario started crying in his sleep, Cappy wanted to be right there to comfort him.

Thankfully, Mario was sleeping easily. Being able to talk to Peach helped mend his heart, but just a little.


On Peach's transport ship, Peach and Tiara also went to sleep, but they didn't sleep as soundly as Mario and Cappy had. At some point during the night, Tiara started tossing and turning, and whimpering in her sleep. She was having a nightmare.

"HELP!" Tiara screamed as she awoke.

The sound also woke Princess Peach out of a sound slumber. She sat bolt-upright when she heard Tiara's scream.

"Tiara! Whatever's the matter?" Peach asked the Bonneter, startled awake by her cry.

"Peach... I-is that you...?" Tiara asked, sounding scared.

"Yes. What's wrong?" Peach asked, turning on the lights in her transport ship so she and Tiara could see each other.

"Wh-where are we?!" Tiara asked fearfully, trembling.

"We're on my transport ship, en route to the Cascade Kingdom." Peach replied.

"Oh... So we're not with... him..." Tiara said, starting to feel relief.

"What happened? Can you tell me?" Peach asked.

"I... I had a nightmare... about Bowser... when he... he captured... m-me..." Tiara admitted. She was trembling as she thought about her capture again. She had been terribly frightened.

"Oh, you poor thing... Mario and I know all about nightmares like those... They're no fun at all..." Peach said as she picked up Tiara and held her close, trying to comfort her.

"Peach?" Tiara asked.

"Yes, Tiara?" Peach asked, starting to rock Tiara back and forth in her arms, as if she was a baby.

"Could you... hold me tonight...? Please, Peach? Cappy's not here, and I... I really need someone to hold me... after I have a... a nightmare..." Tiara pleaded, giving Peach puppy-dog eyes.

"Oh... How can I say no to a face like that?" Peach asked.

"You're not going to deny me, are you?" Tiara asked, worried.

"No. I'm going to hold you..." Peach promised as she lay back down, still holding Tiara, except now she was holding Tiara the way she used to hold the stuffed toys she liked to sleep with when she was a small child.

"This is nice." Tiara murmured as she stopped trembling in Peach's embrace.

"I'll keep you safe..." Peach promised in a whisper.

To make sure Tiara had sweet dreams this time around, Peach sang a little song to help Tiara feel better. She softly sang "You Are My Sunshine" to the Bonneter, and that did the trick. By the end of the song, Tiara was asleep, feeling safe and sound. Seeing this, Peach smiled, closed her eyes, and allowed herself to go back to sleep.


The following morning, the Princess awoke to find that they had arrived in the Cascade Kingdom. But it was a lot warmer here than it was in the Cap Kingdom, so she changed into an explorer's outfit.

"Okay, how do I look?" Peach asked as she peered critically at her reflection in the mirror on the transport ship.

"Like you're going to Jurassic Park." Tiara said.

"Since there are dinosaurs here, then I guess I'm wearing the appropriate attire. So let's go." Peach smiled. And she and Tiara ventured out to explore the kingdom together.


As for Mario, when he woke up and found out that he and Cappy were in the Cascade Kingdom, he said, "Okay, I think I'm going to put on my caveman outfit."

"Why?" Cappy asked.

"So I can blend in." Mario replied, changing into said outfit. When he was dressed, he asked Cappy, "Come ti sembro? How do I look?"

"Mario, you look like you should be living in the town of Bedrock." Cappy replied. Seeing Mario's attire made him think of "The Flintstones".

"Hold it! While I'm dressed like this, we are not going to call me Mario!" Mario said.

"Why not? That's your name!" Cappy pointed out.

"But I'm a caveman here, so we are going to call me by a caveman name instead!" Mario said.

"A caveman name, huh? Okay, I think I know of a couple. Which name do you want to go by? Fred, or Barney?" Cappy asked, still thinking about "The Flintstones".

"I was thinking... 'Atouk'!" Mario said.

"What did you say?" Cappy asked.

"I said, we'll call me 'Atouk'!" Mario replied.

"Atouk?! What outlandish name is Atouk?!" Cappy asked. He obviously never heard of a caveman name like that.

"I take it you never saw the movie 'Caveman' before." Mario said.

"You're right. I didn't see it. I never even heard of it until now. Is it any good?" Cappy asked.

"If you like the Beatles, it is good." Mario replied.

"Oh, I do like them. What do they have to do with that movie, though?" Cappy asked.

"Ringo Starr was in that movie, and 'Atouk' was the name of his character." Mario replied.

"I didn't know that. You'll have to tell Tiara about this. She's really big on the Beatles." Cappy said.

"I'll do that." Mario said as Cappy took control of the Caveman Headwear. Then he and Mario ventured out into the Cascade Kingdom.


They found Peach and Tiara at the top of Fossil Falls, enjoying the sight of the waterfall.

"Salve signore. Hello, ladies. Enjoying the waterfall?" Mario asked, getting Peach and Tiara's attention.

"Mario, is that really you?" Peach asked, surprised at the sound of his voice.

"It's-a me!" Mario assured her.

"Oh, Mario, I didn't recognize you in that outfit! If it hadn't been for your voice and the use of the Italian language, I never would've known it was you!" Peach exclaimed.

"Because I'm not Mario. When I'm here, I am Atouk!" Mario said.

"You mean like Ringo's character in 'Caveman'?" Peach asked.

"What? What did you just say about Ringo?" Tiara asked, having heard Peach over the noise of the waterfall.

"He was in a really funny movie called "Caveman", and Mario says that as long as he's here in the Cascade Kingdom, he's called 'Atouk', the name of the character Ringo played in said movie." Peach explained.

"OOH! I didn't know about that movie, or the fact that a Beatle was in it!" Tiara said, getting excited.

"You'll have to watch it sometime, both you and Cappy. I think you'll like it. It was funny, like Peach said." Mario promised.

"Now, getting back to what we were talking about, I see you made it after all! And yes, Tiara and I are enjoying the sight of Fossil Falls! Be careful you don't get so entranced by the big waterfall that YOU fall!" Peach said.

"If I do fall, I'll be sure to yell out "YABBA-DABBA-DOO!" on my way down!" Mario replied, which made Peach and Tiara laugh. Even Cappy got a chuckle out of that.

"I used to come here a lot to play when I was little..." Tiara mentioned when everybody calmed down.

"You did?" Peach asked.

"Yeah, and I always went with her. She's my little sister, and I had to look after her. I also made sure she didn't go near any dinosaurs." Cappy said, becoming a Bonneter again.

"You're a good brother to her, Cappy. I know I would've been just as protective of Peach if Luigi and I had grown up in the Mushroom Kingdom." Mario said, getting a sweet smile from the Princess. She didn't doubt it.

"A Power Moon fell over the waterfall. But don't worry—it seems fine!" Peach told Mario, and she handed him the Power Moon.

"You're right. It's-a fine." Mario said, about to hand it back to Peach.

"Mario, I want you to have it. If I find any Power Moons, I want you to have them because Cappy told me how you and him needed them to power your ship." Peach smiled.

"Oh! Well, grazie! Thank you!" Mario said to Peach, smiling at her.

"You're welcome." Peach smiled. She then let out a happy sigh and said, "That waterfall sound is so soothing..."

"Unless you have to use the bathroom..." Mario whispered to Cappy, and the two of them quietly cracked up.

"Maybe we should take Bowser here and make him listen to the waterfall until he feels the need to go potty. Only we're going to let it turn into a potty emergency for him." Cappy whispered back.

"Especially if we bring out il dinosauro. He's not going to make it if he sees that and really has to use the potty." Mario whispered. He was having a terrible time keeping a straight face as he spoke, because he was picturing the whole scene in his head, and it was really funny.

It didn't take long for that scene to play out in Cappy's head, and when it did, Mario and Cappy were outright laughing.


"What's so funny?" Peach suddenly asked, seeing that Mario and Cappy were amused by something.

That cut the boys' laughter short.

"Non vuoi sapere. You don't want to know." Mario said.

"Yes, we do." Tiara said.

"No, Tiara. You don't." Cappy said, and the way he looked at her meant that he was being dead serious.

"Yeah, we probably don't, Peach. It might be a dirty joke." Tiara said to Peach.

"Fair enough. I'm not too big on those." Peach said, even though a little toilet humor did make her laugh out loud every now and again.

"Ma basta. But enough about that. You know, this was where I first started finding Power Moons. Cappy and I also found the Odyssey here." Mario said.

"Oh, really?" Peach asked.

"Yup. Boy, you should've seen the Odyssey when we found it. It looked like un gigantesco secchio di ruggine, a giant rust-bucket. We had only obtained our first Power Moon, too, and it wasn't enough to make the Odyssey go. So we had to go around and find more." Mario explained.

"Did you?" Peach asked.

"Ci puoi scommettere! You bet we did! Some of them we got by capturing T-Rexes!" Mario said.

"You saw T-Rexes here?" Peach asked.

"Yes, we did." Mario smiled.

"Oh my..." Peach was so surprised at this news that she had to sit down.

"I couldn't hold the dinosaurs forever, though." Cappy said.

"You held them as long as you could, Cappy, and that's what matters most to me." Mario said.

"How else did you obtain Power Moons, Ma... Atouk?" Peach asked.

"Well, one of those was a Multi Moon, which I got after narrowly avoiding being beaten by a very large woman!" Mario said.

Everyone got a laugh out of that one.

"I mean it! She was big and fat! She was way fatter than Bowser!" Mario said.

"You know what? I'm wishing I had thought to end the capture of her Chain Chomp when she was trying to smack you for capturing it." Cappy said to Mario.

"Why?" Mario asked.

"If she smacked it when we got out, it probably would've been so shocked at being hit for no reason that it retaliated by biting her on the butt!" Cappy said.

Mario couldn't help laughing as that image popped up into his head.

"But we still beat her and her precious widdle... Aw geez, what the heck did she call her pet again?" Cappy asked.

"Her precious widdle 'Chain Chompikins'. Yuck. Just saying that leaves a bad taste in my mouth." Mario said, making a face to prove his point.

"Then what happened?" Peach asked, handing Mario a water bottle from her bag.

"Grazie. Thanks." Mario said, taking a swig of water to wash the bad taste out of his mouth. Then he said, "When we had more than enough Power Moons to start up the Odyssey, we went back, popped them in there, and... WOW! The Odyssey looked so much better when that happened!"

"So it looked like it does now?" Peach asked.

"Well, yes, but the stickers you see on it... we purchased those at the Crazy Cap stores in the kingdoms that had them." Mario explained.

"I might have guessed." Peach said.

"But we didn't really do much of anything exciting here. I know you weren't here, because you already told me that." Mario said.

"I can tell you what happened after you got launched... if you wish to know..." Peach said.

"Alright." said Mario.

"Um, Cappy, aren't we supposed to leave?" Tiara asked.

"No. I really don't want to go looking for dinosaurs without Mario and Peach." Cappy said.

"Okay." said Tiara.

Peach took a deep breath and got ready to explain what happened.


(Flashback...)

Peach was in despair as she watched Mario fly far, far away from Bowser's airship. Then she saw Mario's hat slowly falling through the air before landing on the airship's deck, at the feet of Bowser.

"OMG! Mario's hat! I must save it now! It may be all I'll have left of him!" Peach thought. But before she could make a move, Bowser, in one swift move, stomped on the hat and grabbed up the Princess!

"NO! NO! NO! LET ME GO, BOWSER! LET ME GO!" Peach began screaming, beating on Bowser's claw with small, ineffectual fists. Bowser didn't even flinch.

"No way, Peach! If I let you go, you might do something stupid, like jump ship!" Bowser said.

"Which doesn't sound like a bad idea, if you ask me. At least that way I'll be with Mario again!" Peach said.

"Are you out of your mind, Peach?! I can't marry you when you're dead! Marrying a dead princess is... well... barbaric!" Bowser said.

"And a monster like you marrying a human like me isn't?! You know I hate you more than you hated Mario!" Peach shouted. Then she felt sad as she remembered what happened, and she said, "Just let me have his hat!"

"No! A princess, or queen-to-be, doesn't need a smelly old hat like that one!" Bowser said.

"Mario's hat doesn't smell! He recently washed it!" Peach cried.

"He's a plumber! He spends most of the day with his head in a toilet!" Bowser said.

"He does not! He fixed a clogged kitchen sink just last week! See, he doesn't just fix toilets!" Peach said.

"Look, Princess, by the time we're married, you'll have forgotten all about Mario, and you won't even want his stupid little hat anymore, because you'll find out that I'm so much better than he could ever hope to be!" Bowser told her.

"He's better than you in every way that matters! In looks, personality, charm, manners... everything! Please... please... just let me have his hat... The least you can do... is let me have it... as a wedding present..." Peach was beginning to sob.

"I can't let you have it, Princess. You won't be needing it. It will remind you of him, and the idea is that you forget about him." Bowser said.

"I can't... f-forget about him! H-he's my... my everything!" Peach complained.

"You might as well learn how to, because soon enough, you'll be my wife, and you'll need to start getting used to the idea that I will be your everything!" Bowser said.

"I-I won't... g-get used to the... the i-idea..." Peach replied.

"Think again." Bowser said, taking her into the airship and letting the hat go. Peach was still trying to reach for the hat, despite the fact it was too far away for her to reach.

(End flashback...)


"That's all I want to talk about right now, Mario, if it's okay..." Peach said, tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Peach..." Mario said, pulling her into his arms for a comforting hug.

"I wanted to save your hat in the worst way! I never did find out what happened to it." Peach wept into Mario's shoulder as she let Mario hug her.

"Non sono arrabbiato con te. I'm not mad at you, Peach. I completely understand." Mario said.

"I saw what happened, Peach. But given how upset you are, I don't know if I should tell you what happened to it..." Cappy said to the Princess.

"I don't care. Just tell me." Peach said.

"(sigh) I just know I'm going to regret this..." Cappy muttered to himself, before saying, "Okay. The hat got shredded by one of the propellers of Bowser's fruity little airship. I saved a shred of the hat, and with it, I was able to become a hat much like Mario's favorite hat."

Peach felt even worse when she heard that. Not only had she failed to rescue Mario's hat, it had been destroyed by the airship's propellers.

"I'm so sorry, Mario! If only I had snatched it up as it was falling! Then I could've saved it from Bowser and his stupid airship, and your hat would still be in one piece! Please forgive me!" Peach wailed.

That upset Mario even more, because he hated to see Peach cry. He tightened his hold on Peach, wishing he could kiss her pain away, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. Not yet. Not until he knew everything was okay between him and Peach.

"Ti perdono. I forgive you, Peach. I know you wanted to save my hat, and I blame Bowser for what happened to my hat." Mario assured Peach.

"Peach, I thought he said his name was 'Atouk'!" Tiara said, realizing that Peach had called Mario by his real name, rather than the name he said he wanted to go by.

"No, Tiara, it's okay. If Peach wants to call me 'Mario', she can. She's very upset, and I'm not going to urge her to call me 'Atouk' right now." Mario said as he began rubbing Peach's back without thinking about it.

Peach's sobbing slowed when she felt Mario's hand rubbing her back. She liked that, and it calmed her down. She didn't want him to stop... but he did.

It didn't take too long for Mario to realize what he was doing, and when he did, he stopped right away and let go of her. It was one thing to hug Peach, but rubbing her back was another thing, and he didn't think Peach would appreciate it too much if he was doing this, considering he still had yet to apologize for his inconsiderate actions at the Moon Kingdom.

"Mario... w-why did you stop rubbing my back?" Peach asked, a little surprised.

"Uhh... I... I-I thought you didn't... l-like it..." Mario stammered, feeling scared.

"No... it... felt kind of nice..." Peach replied.

"It... i-it did?" the plumber asked.

"Mm-hmm..." Peach said, nodding her head in confirmation.

Mario was glad that Peach didn't seem to be mad at him for rubbing her back. He wanted to apologize for Honeylune Ridge, but he wasn't sure when a good time would be. Maybe he'd let her bring it up first.

"Can I... show you around Fossil Falls?" Mario asked.

"Sure. Will you also show me the dinosaurs?" Peach asked.

Mario smiled and nodded yes. Peach let him take her by the hand, and he led her around the Cascade Kingdom.


"That was where Cappy and I found our first Power Moon. He had to explain to me what they were and what they did." Mario said, showing her the familiar spot.

"And now that you know about them, you collected a lot of them." Peach said.

"Oh yeah." Mario said.

He also showed her where the Odyssey had been when they found it.

"I'll admit, it didn't look all that impressive when we found it, but when we found more Power Moons to power it up... È stato stupefacente! It was amazing!" Mario said.

And he showed them where they found Madame Broode.

"That was where I narrowly avoided being beaten by a very large woman." Mario said.

Peach and Tiara couldn't help giggling when Mario said that. It was funny.

"Hearing you call the beached whale that is never going to get old, no matter how many times I hear you say it!" Cappy laughed.

After showing Peach and Tiara around the Cascade Kingdom (and getting Peach her answer about dinosaurs enjoying basking in the sun), Mario and Cappy were feeling great.


At one point, Peach noticed that the sun was going down.

"Oh, is it that late in the day already?" Peach asked as she checked her watch. It was 7:00 p.m.

"Wow! Time really does fly when you're having fun." Cappy said.

"Wait! It's almost night?! Can we go now? I don't want to stick around to see if the dinosaurs who live here are nocturnal, like that T-Rex in "Jurassic Park" was. You know, the one that attacked the car those kids were in." Tiara said.

"Tiara, that was their own fault. One of the kids turned on a big light and didn't think to bury it in the seat when the T-Rex saw it. If they had, it most likely would've spared them a lot of trouble with the T-Rex." Cappy told her.

"Even so, Cappy. I don't want to stay here overnight!" Tiara said, feeling afraid.

"I guess we'd better get going..." Peach said, noticing Tiara's fear.

"So, where are you going next, Peach?" Mario asked the Princess.

"Come to think of it, I'd like to see those big ruins in the desert again..." Peach said.

Mario knew which kingdom Peach was referring to.

"Oh, you want to see the Sand Kingdom, huh? I know about that place!" Mario replied.

"I'll see you there, Mario. Or should I say 'Atouk'?" Peach asked.

"You can call me 'Mario'." Mario assured her.

After everyone shared a good-bye hug, Mario and Cappy returned to the Odyssey, and Peach and Tiara returned to their transport ship, where they set a course for the Sand Kingdom.


They'll be there when we start the next chapter! You wanna see what happens there and find out what Peach went through there? Well, you know the drill! Stay tuned in order to find out!