(A/N: I still can't believe Mario and Peach have come this far, and are working things out. Let's get this chapter started!)


The following day, when Mario and Cappy were in the Metro Kingdom, Mario changed into his Black Suit, and Cappy took control of the Black Fedora. As soon as they disembarked the Odyssey, Mario immediately started wondering where his princess might be.

"This is a big city, Mario. Peach could be anywhere!" Cappy said.

"I'm well aware of that, Cappy. That's why I'm going to search high and low for her." Mario replied.

It took Mario a little while before he found her and Tiara on the roof of a building. Peach was dressed in the outfit he saw her wearing in the Sand Kingdom and the Cloud Kingdom.

"So, what have you been up to, Peach?" Mario asked.

"I haven't really done much. I was actually waiting for you to show up here." Peach replied.

"You waited for me?" Mario asked, a little surprised. He hadn't expected that.

"Yes. I was hoping that since you've been here before, you might know your way around. Maybe you'd be willing to show me around the city, Mario?" Peach asked, holding out her hand.

"Sarebbe un piacere per me. It would be my pleasure." Mario said, seizing her hand and leading her to safe ground.

"So, what do you want to do first, Peach?" Mario asked, setting her back on her feet again.

"Well, for starters, I think I need to do some laundry. Do you know if New Donk City has any laundromats around?" Peach said.

"I think I remember seeing a laundromat in the city the last time I was here." Mario assured her.

"Can you take me to it?" Peach asked.

"Sì. Plus, I should probably do some laundry myself." Mario said.

"That means we'll have to go back to the Odyssey and get what needs to be washed, Mario." Cappy said.

"I know, but I'll do that after we take Peach to the laundromat. I want her where I know I can find her if I have to leave her side. Plus, if Tiara's with her, you'll want to know where she is, won't you?" Mario asked as he and Peach began walking to the laundromat.

"No argument there." Cappy said. After Bowser captured Tiara, Cappy got really concerned about his sister's whereabouts.


When they got to the laundromat, Mario said, "Okay, principessa. You get started on washing your clothes, and I'll be back shortly."

"See you soon." Peach smiled, giving Mario a kiss on the cheek before he left.

"Mama-mia, I do hope she still loves me." Mario said to himself as he started making his way back to the Odyssey.

"I bet she does, because maybe she knows that you still love her." Cappy replied.

"Peach?" Tiara asked as Peach took out the bag of clothes that needed to be washed and started sorting through the clothes, putting them in different washers.

"Yes, Tiara?" Peach replied.

"Do you still love Mario?" Tiara asked.

"Yes." Peach replied without a trace of hesitation in her voice.

"Are you going to tell him that?" Tiara asked.

"I will. But I want him to tell me that he still loves me first." Peach said.

"Why?" Tiara asked.

"When he and I first confessed our love for each other, I was the one who told him first." Peach replied.

"I think he's been showing that he loves you. Isn't that enough?" Tiara asked.

"I can tell, but I would like to hear him say the words to me." Peach replied.

"I don't know if he's going to say them first, Peach. I'm pretty sure that he does still love you, but he's probably scared that if he tells you, you'll shoot him down like a duck." Tiara said.

"I would never shoot him down. Bowser deserves to be shot down, but not Mario. I can tell he's sorry. The nightmare he had about me in the Wooded Kingdom was proof enough of that. And during our time there, he told me how sorry he was for forcing me to accept his proposal at Honeylune Ridge." Peach replied.

"He did?" Tiara asked.

"He did. And I forgave him." Peach said.

"I'm glad for both of you!" Tiara said as Peach added the detergent and started to wash the clothes.

"Thanks, Tiara." Peach smiled.


A few minutes later, Mario appeared with a bag of clothes he needed to wash.

"That's your laundry?" Peach asked.

"Sì." Mario replied as he started sorting through his clothes.

"I'll help you sort through your things if you want." Peach offered.

"Grazie, Peach. Thank you." Mario smiled.

As they sorted through the clothes, Peach said, "I could not handle seeing Bowser advertise the wedding all over the city. I begged him not to, but do you think he listened to me? Nooooooo! He never listens to me! In fact, I bet he wouldn't even be listening if I told him I actually would agree to marry him!"

"You think he wouldn't realize it?" Mario asked.

"Mario, he spends so much time tuning me out, it's more than likely he wouldn't listen if I told him something positive." Peach said.

"Okay, I would kill to see you tell him that you would marry him and have him not realize it because he tunes you out more often than not." Mario replied.

"Yeah, but once again, I came up with this idea after the fact." Peach sighed.

"I'm not upset, Peach. These things happen all the time." Mario told her as they added detergent and got his laundry going.

"So tell me, what happened while you were here in New Donk City?" Peach asked as they sat down somewhere not too far away from the washing machines.

"Should we leave?" Tiara asked.

"No. This city is too big, and I don't want us to wander too far away from Mario and Peach. We'll just go to the far end of the laundromat and talk there." Cappy said, leading his sister away from the couple.

"Good. Because I've got to tell you what Peach told me..." Tiara said when they were far enough away from Mario and Peach.


"Well, I got rid of the posters as best I could, but the advertisements I couldn't get rid of... they made my blood boil, Peach. I wouldn't be surprised if they made my eyes bleed." Mario said.

"I know why. They showed Bowser and me in wedding clothes, but did you notice that I was not happy in the pictures?" Peach asked.

"I did. And I honestly didn't expect you to look happy. I know that he blatantly ignored your displeasure." Mario noted.

"I'm glad you paid attention to that detail." Peach smiled.

"Well, I fought the Mechawiggler that Bowser left the city as a parting gift, and I won. Then I found a band for the city's Music Festival, and then I restored the Underground Power Plant so the Music Festival could happen." Mario said.

Peach then remembered hearing people in the city talk about the recent Music Festival. It made her feel bad that she hadn't seen it.

"Che cosa c'é? What's the matter, Peach? Tell me." Mario said, noticing the unhappy look on Peach's face. He didn't want her to be unhappy.

"I missed the festival! I'd heard such wonderful things, too..." Peach replied.

"I know, Peach, I know..." Mario said, giving Peach a hug and patting her on the back.

"I wish I could've seen it. I'll bet it was fun." Peach said.

"It was, but I know I would've had more fun if you were there with me. I know why you weren't, but... you know what I mean." Mario said.

"I do." Peach said.

Suddenly, a light bulb appeared over Mario's head.

"Say, Peach. Maybe there is a way you can see the Music Festival..." Mario said.

"There is? How?" Peach asked curiously.

"It just so happens that I know the mayor of the city very well. She's my friend, Pauline. You remember her; she was at the opening of Super Mini Mario World." Mario said.

"Oh yeah, I do remember seeing her there. She's the mayor of this city now?" Peach asked.

"Yeah. If I ask her nicely, maybe she'd be willing to do the Music Festival again, so you can see it..." Mario said.

"I don't know, Mario. She might not want to do the Music Festival if it's just for one person who is sorry they missed it..." Peach said.

"I think she'd be okay with it, Peach; she had lots of fun doing the Music Festival. I'm sure she wouldn't mind doing it again so soon." Mario assured her.

"Well, okay..." said Peach.

After their clothes were washed and dried, Mario and Peach folded the clothes. Peach had her suitcase with her, and she put her clothes away in there. Mario had grabbed another bag for his clothes (for when they were clean), and he took them back to the Odyssey, putting them away neatly in his wardrobe.

With that handled, Peach wanted to put her suitcase away before they did anything else, so she returned it to her transport ship.


Now Peach and Mario were able to go for a walk around New Donk City, with Cappy and Tiara floating along behind them, enjoying the sights that the city had to offer.

At one point, Mario and Peach happened upon a malt shop in the city.

"Ooh! Look, Mario! A malt shop!" Peach said happily.

"I didn't know New Donk City had one of these! And didn't you say something about wanting a malt back in the Cloud Kingdom, principessa?" Mario asked.

"You're right! I did! And so did you." Peach recalled.

"Shall we go in and have ourselves the malts we spoke of?" Mario asked.

"Yes! And since it's close to noon, let's do lunch here!" Peach said.

"Mama-mia! Is it really almost noon?" Mario asked, looking at his watch. Sure enough, the hour hand was on the 12, and the minute hand was making its way to the 12.

"Time flies when you're having fun, and living in the city." Mario said as he and Peach entered the malt shop and sat down at a booth together. They sat across from each other.

With their lunches, Mario and Peach also ordered some malts. Peach ordered a strawberry malt, and Mario got chocolate.

"You and your chocolate, Mario. Love of chocolate must be a guy thing." Peach smiled.

"Not exactly, Peach. Remember the first time Luigi and I were celebrating our birthday in the Mushroom Kingdom, and you offered to bake a birthday cake for us? When you asked what flavor we wanted the cake to be, I picked chocolate, but Luigi wanted vanilla." Mario reminded her.

"Oh yeah! Then the two of you broke into an argument over it, so we flipped a coin to see what flavor I would make. Luigi won the coin toss, so I made a vanilla cake. Because of that, you picked out chocolate ice cream, so it wasn't a total loss for you." Peach said with a reminiscent smile on her pretty face.

"Giusto. That's right." Mario said, smiling back at her.

By then, the waitress came back with Mario and Peach's malts.

"I almost wish they ordered a milkshake to share..." Tiara whispered to Cappy as she watched Mario and Peach enjoying their malts.

"I don't know if they ever did that before, Tiara. And if they haven't done it before, I think that after what happened at Honeylune Ridge, it may take a while for Mario and Peach to consider doing so." Cappy whispered back.


While they were waiting for their food, Mario spotted a jukebox in the malt shop, and he thought it might be fun to listen to some music. Peach didn't see any harm in that, so she let him go over and pick out a song. The song he picked was "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".

As soon as Cappy and Tiara heard that song playing, they were happy. They thought this was great. They rather liked that song after hearing it in "The Lion King", and it was an earworm that they didn't mind getting stuck with.

Peach, on the other hand, was trying hard not to laugh. She remembered how she and Daisy used to re-enact the scene from "The Lion King" where Timon and Pumbaa sang the song, but Toadsworth always got mad whenever they did that because he ended up getting the song stuck in his head, and he didn't like it.

When Mario returned to the booth, he noticed that Peach was having a terrible time keeping a straight face.

"Okay, what's up?" Mario asked, noticing that something was amusing Peach, but he didn't know what. For all he knew, whatever had her amused might be amsuing to him, too.

Peach responded by burying her face in her arms and laughing so hard. Mario could only wonder what was amusing Peach.

"Peach, what's so funny?" Mario asked.

It took a while for Peach to pull herself together, and when she did, she was still laughing some as she told him, "That song... do you remember that scene in "The Lion King"... where Timon and Pumbaa were singing it?"

"Yes, I do remember that. It was pretty funny. Why?" Mario asked.

"Daisy and I... we used to re-enact it all the time when we were younger... Toadsworth hated it because every time we did that, he'd get the song stuck in his head because it's such an earworm!" Peach said, laughing again as she remembered.

"I think my mama and papa could relate to Toadsworth's problem. Luigi and I used to do the exact same thing you and Daisy did, and it drove them nuts!" Mario added, laughing a little as the memory popped up into his head.

After lunch, the two went back out into the city, into the sunshine, and walked around again, glad to be together again.

They also saw the park where Mario had to jump rope for Power Moons. There were big, colorful letters there to spell out his name. He captured each letter, put them in their proper places, and got a Power Moon for doing so.


Before long, they went to City Hall, and they saw Pauline standing around outside.

"Ciao, Pauline!" Mario happily greeted his old friend, the mayor of the city.

"I've been waiting for you, Mario. We heard all about your heroics in the Moon Kingdom. Truly a hero's hero." Pauline replied.

When Mario heard Pauline mention the Moon Kingdom, his smile disappeared. He didn't feel like much of a hero, considering what happened at that place.

"Mario, are you okay?" Pauline asked, noticing that his smile had gone.

"Mario?" Peach asked, getting his attention.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I kind of zoned out for a moment." Mario apologized. He wasn't about to tell them that hearing about the Moon Kingdom made his heart hurt again.

"It's okay, Mario. I'm not mad at you for zoning out." Pauline said. She then asked Mario, "You've come a long way since we met. I wonder if you and Peach would like to learn a bit about me. Maybe in quiz form?"

"Okie-dokie." said Mario.

"Sounds like fun." Peach smiled.

So Pauline gave them the quiz. Mario and Peach had to think for a bit about some of the questions, but they got the questions right. There was one that got Peach's attention, when it turned out that Pauline just adored cake.

"But it has to be GOOD cake—not the packaged stuff." Pauline said.

"If you want GOOD cake, then you should ask Peach to bake you a cake, because they're la sua specialità, her specialty. She makes the best cakes and cupcakes you'll ever eat in your whole life!" Mario said.

"Really, now? Then I must try some!" Pauline smiled.

"I'll be sure to bake a cake for you the next time we see you. Come by the Mushroom Kingdom sometime, and you should be able to have the kind of cake you like." Peach said.

After the quiz, Mario said, "It was nice to learn more about you, Pauline, but there's a reason why I came to speak to you."

"Oh? What is it?" Pauline asked.

Mario beckoned for her to come closer. She did, and he whispered in her ear, "Peach told me that she didn't get to see the Music Festival, and she heard how much fun it was. She's really upset that she missed it. And so I was going to ask you: you wouldn't mind doing it again so soon, on such short notice, would you?"

"I wouldn't mind! I'd be glad to do it again!" Pauline said with a radiant smile.

"Lo sapevo! I knew it!" Mario thought.

"Peach!" Pauline said, getting Peach's attention.

"Can I help you, Pauline?" Peach asked. She had been looking around while Mario whispered to Pauline, and hearing the mayor call her name caused her to snap back to attention.

"Mario said you'd like to see the Music Festival. I need to prepare for it, so it'll be tomorrow night. Can you handle that?" Pauline asked.

"Oh, of course! Thank you so much for doing this!" Peach replied, looking happy.

"Grazie, Pauline! Thank you!" Mario said.

"I'm glad to do a favor for a friend of a friend." Pauline smiled.


Mario and Peach spent the rest of the day together, and that night, they went to a fancy Italian restaurant for dinner (Peach asked Mario to choose where they'd have dinner). But they didn't have spaghetti. Mario almost ordered it ("Bella Notte", anyone?), but after hearing Pauline mention the Moon Kingdom earlier that day, he realized that it wouldn't be a good idea, so he ordered lasagna instead. So did Peach.

Mario and Peach had another pleasant conversation during dinner, and everything was good between them.

"You know, since the Music Festival is tomorrow night, maybe I should stay in a hotel tonight." Peach mentioned.

"I was thinking the same thing myself. But maybe we should have separate rooms." Mario said.

Peach thought back to that day at the Wooded Kingdom, when she found out that Mario had an awful nightmare about her being eaten by a dinosaur. What if one of them had a nightmare and needed the other to comfort them? She thought long and hard about how to word what she was going to say next.

"Actually, Mario... I was hoping that... maybe... we could... share a room... at the hotel. As long as it has two beds." Peach said.

Cappy and Tiara looked at each other. This was a big move on Peach's part. But they weren't nearly as surprised as Mario was. His eyes were as big as their dinner plates when he heard Peach ask him this. He hadn't expected her to suggest something like this.

"Sei sicuro di questo? Are you sure about this, Peach?" Mario asked.

Peach nodded her head and answered, "Yes. But if you don't want to, I'll understand."

"No, Peach. Va bene. It's okay. We can share a room... if that's what you want to do..." Mario replied, still pretty stunned.

"It is." Peach answered firmly.

"Okie-dokie. We're sharing a hotel room tonight." Mario said. And he and Peach shook on it.


After dinner (and dessert), Peach went back to her transport ship and got her suitcase, then Mario grabbed a suitcase that was on the Odyssey and put some clothes in it. Then they walked around the city, and they found a nice hotel. When they learned that each room had two beds, they nodded in agreement and booked themselves a room for the night.

"Let's-a go." Mario said, and he and Peach made their way upstairs, down the hall, to their room.

"Here it is. Our room for the night." Peach said, seeing their room number on the door.

"Now to see what it's-a like." Mario said, inserting his card key and unlocking the door before opening it.

"It's dark in here." said Cappy as he flew into the room.

"So let's find a lamp and turn on the light." said Tiara, following her brother.

"Oh! Here's a lamp. Now let's see..." said Cappy as he turned it on.

Now that the lamp was on, Mario and Peach were able to see their room. The room was nice, with two neatly-made beds, a flat-screen T.V. mounted on the wall, a full bathroom, and a window that gave them a good view of the city at night.

"I like this." Peach said.

"Me too." said Mario.

"If you don't mind, Mario, I'm going to take a shower now." Peach said as she rooted through her suitcase, finding her nightgown and some clean unmentionables.

"Ce la puoi fare. You can do that. I'll take my shower after you take yours." Mario said, going through his suitcase while Peach removed her sunhat, earrings, high heels, and mini-scarf.

"Okay." said Peach, and she disappeared into the bathroom to take her shower.

"And what are you going to wear to bed, genius? You didn't get pajamas on our adventure, remember?" Cappy pointed out.

"Oh, don't worry about me, Cappy. I'll just sleep in my undies tonight." Mario said.

"You're really going to do that?" Cappy asked.

"I'm a guy. I do that sometimes. Luigi doesn't like to, but that's because he's just being shy. I'm not as shy as he is." Mario said.

"So, Mario, what's the Music Festival going to be like?" Tiara asked Mario.

"A lot of fun. Which is what you and Peach seem to be having on this tour that you're on. I can assure you that the Music Festival will be the most fun ever!" Mario assured her.

"How wonderful! Peach will be glad to know it, because she and I have been having a lot of fun on this tour so far!" Tiara said as she twirled around happily.

After Peach had her shower and left the bathroom, Mario went in and took his. It felt nice to take a long, hot shower, and it was also nice to think that he and Peach were sharing a hotel room. He never thought Peach would be okay with this sort of thing. If Toadsworth were here, he'd make her reconsider.

Peach was already asleep when Mario came out of the bathroom, dressed in his boxers, ready to go to bed. He walked over to her bed and gently stroked Peach's silky golden hair.

"Sogni d'oro, angelo mio. Sweet dreams, my angel." Mario whispered to Peach before planting a gentle kiss on her cheek and going over to his own bed, where he turned out the lights, laid down, and fell asleep.

Mario didn't know it, but Peach, despite being asleep, heard him whisper to her, and she felt his kiss. If Mario stuck around, he probably would have seen her smiling. Plus, the fact that he called her an angel and kissed her cheek made her heart skip a beat. Yup, she was still in love with him.


The next morning, Mario felt someone shaking him by the shoulder, and they were saying, "Come on, Mario. It's morning now. Time to wake up."

Mario slowly opened his eyes, and he saw Peach standing over him, dressed for the day, with her make-up and earrings on.

"Buongiorno dolcezza. Good morning, sweetie." Mario smiled, making Peach blush.

"You know what's happening tonight, don't you?" Peach asked.

"Of course I know! The Music Festival!" Mario said.

"But when it's over, we'll be on our way to a new kingdom. Remember, we were only staying here for one night, and that was last night." Peach said.

"I know. So, which kingdom will we be going to next?" Mario asked, trying to remember which one came next.

"I'm not sure. I'll think about it, and by nightfall, I should know." Peach told him.

"Okie-dokie." said Mario.


After eating breakfast, checking out, and returning their things to their ships, Mario and Peach actually did some shopping. Mario was good about carrying some of the things Peach bought, as well as his own.

"You're so sweet, Mario." Peach smiled.

"I'm just glad I can help you out, principessa." Mario replied, smiling back at her.

Everything Peach bought was taken to her transport ship, and Mario took his stuff back to the Odyssey.

"The buildings, the people, the taxis... There's so much to see here!" Peach said to Mario at one point as they were leaving a crowded store that was having some big sale, which Mario and Peach decided to take advantage of.

"There are so many people here—I'm a bit overwhelmed." Tiara said.

"Well, New Donk City is pretty big, like Brooklyn, where Luigi and I grew up. So I'm rather used to big cities like this one." Mario smiled.

"Oh, I almost forgot! I found a Power Moon in the crowd—add it to your collection." Peach said, handing him the Power Moon.

"Grazie, Peach. Thank you." Mario smiled.


That night, after an early dinner, Pauline called Mario on his smartphone and told him, "The Music Festival starts in an hour. Are you coming?"

"We're coming, Pauline!" Mario assured her. He turned to Peach and said, "The Festival starts in an hour, Peach. Let's-a go!"

With that, the plumber and the princess were on their way.

When they got to where the Music Festival would take place, Mario made sure Peach was able to be in the front row, so she would be able to hear the band play, and hear Pauline's song.

"Aren't you staying, Mario?" Peach asked.

"I'm going through the same course I went through to get here the first time, Peach. I'll be by your side before you can say, 'Mama-mia!'." Mario promised as he left her side.

"I hope he knows what he's doing." Tiara said to Peach.

"Me too, Tiara." said Peach.

Mario did get through that course without a scratch, and Peach was happy when she saw him appear next to her. Now the first time Mario attended the Music Festival, he was on the stage with Pauline, dancing with her. But this time, he was with Peach, so they got to dance together.

It made Pauline happy to see Mario and the girl of his dreams dancing together and looking so happy with each other. She was more than glad that she agreed to do the Music Festival again.

When it was over, Pauline shook hands with Mario and Peach, telling them that it was good to see them, and she hoped that they enjoyed the Music Festival.

"I know I did." Peach smiled.

"Me too!" Tiara cheered.

"It's unanimous, Pauline. We all enjoyed it." Mario smiled.

"You bet we did!" Cappy exclaimed.

"It was good to see all of you. I hope to be seeing you again soon!" Pauline said.

"If we can visit the city again, we'll visit with you." Mario promised as he and Peach left, holding hands.


When they were leaving, Mario turned to Peach and asked her, "So, I guess it's-a time to leave the Metro Kingdom. Where do you want to go tomorrow, Peach?"

Peach was quiet for a moment as she thought about where she wanted to go. Then she said, "You know what I'm thinking about? The smell of the ocean! Maybe I should visit..."

"Oh, that's the Seaside Kingdom!" Mario said. He thought back to when he visited that place. It looked to be very romantic, and he wished with all his heart that Peach could've been there with him. Well, he would see her there tomorrow. Maybe they could even rekindle their love spark.

"That's where I want to go." Peach said with a smile.

"I'll see you there, principessa." Mario promised.

He and Peach gave each other a quick peck on the cheek, and then they left, ready to make an overnight flight to Bubblaine.


Mario and Peach have been working things out pretty well. What happens next? You have to stay tuned if you want to find out, 'cause I'm not giving any spoilers!