(A/N: I'm finding it hard to believe that Mario and Peach are already on their way to the Snow Kingdom! This story has come a long way, hasn't it? Okay, I get it; you really want to read the chapter! Rejoice, because I'm starting it now!)
The next morning, when Mario awoke and found that the Odyssey had touched down in the Snow Kingdom, he said, "Okay, what should I wear while I'm here?"
"Something warm, like you did last time." Cappy said.
"Good idea. But what?" Mario asked, going over his outfits.
"Well, how about you wear the Snow Hood and Snow Suit? That'll keep you as warm as toast, like it did when you put it on after you bought it at the Crazy Cap here." Cappy suggested.
"Maybe..." said Mario. He also found his aviation garb, but he really didn't want to wear that, despite the fact that he did it when he first came here.
"You sure? It kept you warm when we first arrived." Cappy said.
"I already wore it in the Cloud Kingdom. And I just wore this the first time I came here because I didn't have the Snow Hood and Snow Suit to keep me warm upon our arrival." Mario said.
(A/N: It's true! The aviation outfit will keep Mario warm until you can get him the Snow Hood and Snow Suit!)
Then his eyes fell upon a new outfit he bought in one of the other kingdoms: the Santa Hat and the Santa Outfit.
"Perfetto! Perfect!" Mario said, showing Cappy the outfit he found.
"You want to dress like Santa Claus?" Cappy asked.
"Why not?" Mario asked.
"Mario, Christmas is still a while from now! Do you really have to dress like Father Christmas while you're here?" Cappy asked.
"Voglio. I want to." Mario replied.
"I guess I shouldn't argue." Cappy shrugged.
So Mario changed into the Santa garb. As Cappy took control of the Santa Hat, Mario looked in the mirror and asked, "Cosa ne pensi? What do you think?"
"I think you look like you need a sleigh pulled by 8 reindeer." Cappy said.
"I'll need 9 reindeer in case I run into a fog as thick as peanut butter." Mario said.
"You mean pea soup." Cappy corrected.
"You eat what I like, and I'll eat what you like!" Mario retorted.
"Uhh... what did you say?" Cappy asked, laughing a little.
"Idiota..." Mario facepalmed, realizing that he screwed up what he was going to say, before saying, "You know what I meant, Cappy!"
"I know! But it was still pretty funny!" Cappy said, still laughing.
"Let's-a go and find the girls!" Mario said,
"Oh yeah, they should be here by now!" Cappy said.
Mario disembarked the Odyssey, and he was not cold.
"I'm glad this place isn't as cold as it was the first time we came here." Mario said.
"Yeah, we arrived in the middle of what looked to be a pretty nasty blizzard. I hope the Shiverians don't have to suffer through too many of those." Cappy said.
"No, they probably like those because they don't appear to be freezing to death like we nearly did." Mario said.
"You may be right." Cappy said.
Mario took care not to fall into the freezing cold water as he made his way to the entrance to Shiveria Town. He dropped down there and saw some Shiverians wandering around the town. When they saw him, they were very much surprised to see who they thought was none other than Santa Claus.
"Mario, the Shiverians are all staring at you. They must think you really are Santa Claus." Cappy whispered.
"So what? This isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened to me. A giant hermit crab in the Beanbean Kingdom mistook me for Santa Claus one time, and I wasn't even dressed like Santa when it happened." Mario said.
"Beanbean Kingdom? We haven't been there before..." Cappy recalled.
"You're right. We haven't. But Luigi and I did go there." Mario said, thinking back to that time.
"That's interesting. Shall we look for my sister and your girl now?" Cappy reminded him.
"Yeah. Let's-a see if they're here in Shiveria Town." said Mario, looking around for a glimpse of his lovely princess.
Eventually, he spotted Peach and Tiara in a crowd of Shiverians. Peach was wearing the same outfit she had worn in the Cap Kingdom. It made sense, for this kingdom was pretty cold.
"There they are!" Cappy said.
"Li vedo. I see them." Mario replied. He walked over to the girls, calling out, "Ho! Ho! Ho!"
Peach and Tiara turned to see who said that, and when they did, Tiara's eyes were as big as dinner plates! She got really excited and cried out, "OMG! IT'S SANTA CLAUS!"
That got the attention of every Shiverian in the town! And there were a lot of Shiverians out and about at present.
"All right! Santa's here!" said the Shiverians as they spotted him. Then they surrounded 'Santa' and started telling him that they had been good and what they wanted for Christmas.
"Oh, crap! Hang on, Mario. I'll go get help!" Cappy said, leaving Mario's Santa Hat and getting into his Bonneter form. He flew out of the crowd and over to where Peach and Tiara stood.
"Cappy! Did you see?! Santa's here in the Snow Kingdom!" Tiara exclaimed.
"Actually, Tiara, that voice didn't sound like Santa's. It sounded more like Mario doing Santa's famous laugh." Peach pointed out.
"That's because it is Mario. He bought Santa garb at the Crazy Cap and decided to wear it here. Can you let the Shiverians know that they're not dealing with jolly old Saint Nick?" Cappy asked Peach.
"Certainly." Peach replied, before walking over there, gently nudging her way into the crowd, and saying to 'Santa' in a loud voice, "Hello, Mario!"
"MARIO?!" the Shiverians all asked, stupefied.
"Peach! Boy, am I glad to see you, principessa!" Mario exclaimed, smiling when he saw Peach standing there.
"Oh..." all the Shiverians said, feeling disappointed as they realized that the guy they had been excited to see was not the jolly old elf that wouldn't show up until they were all asleep on December 24th.
"Why did you dress up like Santa?" Peach asked Mario as the Shiverians dispersed.
"Because I wanted to, and also because it can keep me warm." Mario replied.
"That makes sense. I'm sorry I caused the Shiverians to surround you and tell you that they'd been good and all that jazz..." Tiara said as she flew over to Mario.
"Non sono pazzo. I'm not mad at you, Tiara. I was just a little overwhelmed..." Mario said, still a little dizzy from the Shiverian attack.
"Let me help you feel better." Peach said, giving Mario a gentle kiss on the lips.
Mario was surprised! For the first time in what felt like forever to Mario, Peach was kissing him. Mario wasn't sure if he should kiss her back, because after what he did, returning the kiss might be going a little too far.
Cappy and Tiara were also shocked at what they were seeing. They had seen Peach kiss Mario on the cheek during this adventure, but now she was kissing him on the lips! What a bold move on her part!
"Mama-mia... I'm roasting..." Mario murmured, his face turning as red as his clothes.
"Mario? Are you okay?" Peach asked, noticing how red he was.
"I'm so warm right now..." Mario said, feeling as happy as a clam.
"You're not coming down with anything, are you?" Tiara asked, feeling worried.
"No. I'm fine, really." Mario said as his face returned to normal.
"Good." Tiara replied, looking a sight happier.
"So, can we talk?" Mario asked Peach.
"We should." Peach said, and she and Mario walked away from the crowd to an area that was quieter so they could talk in peace.
"Wow, this time, they left us!" Tiara noted.
"Yeah, because they want to be alone when they talk. I don't blame them." Cappy replied.
When they were somewhere quiet, Mario said to Peach, "Okay dolcezza, what happened when you came here?"
"Simple. Bowser stole the Frost-Frosted Cake for the wedding." Peach said.
"You know what I don't get? Why he even wanted that cake in the first place. I'm not saying that the Frost-Frosted Cake is bad, but... why?" Mario asked.
"Simple, the cake is very popular at weddings, and as you might have guessed, it looks like a wedding cake, too." Peach replied.
"Okay, I did notice that. But why would he want that cake when you are an expert at baking the best cakes and cupcakes I've ever tasted?" Mario asked.
"Good question. Let me tell you about that, and the big to-do we made about it." Peach replied.
(Flashback...)
Peach was sitting in the bride's chamber, feeling sorry for herself. She wished she had done what she should've done when Bowser decided to do battle with Mario at the Cloud Kingdom. But Tiara, who was sitting on her head in her tiara form, tried to comfort her as best she could.
"I'm sure he survived, Peach. If he loves you as much as you do him, then he's still alive." Tiara said.
"I hope so... Ever since he and Luigi returned to the Mushroom Kingdom to stay, I can't imagine my life without him!" Peach said.
Suddenly, Bowser walked in and said, "Hey, Peach, you've got to come see this!"
"I don't want to see anything unless it's Mario, alive and well!" Peach said, not looking at him.
"Peach, let me ask you something: do you want to go through the exact same thing we went through in the Sand Kingdom when you refused to join me on the deck?" Bowser asked, giving Peach a stern look.
"NO!" Peach screamed as she turned to look at him, clearly upset. She didn't want to have to go through that kind of torture ever again.
"Well, then, come on up to the deck with me if you want to avoid any unpleasantness!" Bowser said.
"Fine..." Peach grumbled under her breath as she reluctantly followed Bowser to the deck.
When they got there, Peach saw a rather huge cake sitting on the deck.
"What, may I ask, is that?" Peach asked, not impressed.
"That, my dear, is our wedding cake." Bowser told her as he put a clawed hand on her back, to keep her warm.
"First of all, I'm not your dear, and secondly, you're stupid!" Peach said, moving away from him so he wouldn't touch her. She hated whenever he put his filthy hands on her.
"What do you mean, 'I'm stupid'?!" Bowser asked.
"Let's see... if I remember correctly, you once said something about me and cake. Now what did you say? Oh yes! You said, and I quote, 'Maybe I'll have Peach bake ME something for once... I sure could go for a galaxy-sized slice of cake right now!'" Peach remembered, and she did a rather hilarious impression of Bowser's voice.
Tiara had gone into her Bonneter form to get a better look at the cake, and when she heard Peach's impression of Bowser, her first instinct was to burst out laughing because it was so freakin' hilarious, but she kept quiet. She was scared that if she laughed, Bowser might snatch her out of the air and throw her on the floor of the deck. If he did that, she might not wake up!
"Oh yes, I do remember saying that. But if I remember correctly, you don't seem to remember what you said about making a cake that size, Princess. You said, and I quote, 'I can't make a cake that size, Bowser! I'd die trying!'" Bowser said, doing a rather rude imitation of Princess Peach.
Tiara looked insulted, but she forced herself to go back into her tiara form and sit still on Peach's head, not wanting to risk getting killed by the Koopa King that she and Peach hated.
"That doesn't matter! I wouldn't mind baking a cake for this!" Peach exclaimed. After all, baking sometimes helped her take her mind off of things she didn't like to think about.
"No way! If I know you, you'd be planning to add poison to the cake so you could kill me!" Bowser said.
"You really are insane! I'd never go that far!" Peach shouted back. But now that he mentioned it, poisoning him didn't sound like a bad idea... if she knew where to find some poison, that is...
"Oh, yes you would! I can tell!" said Bowser.
"I wouldn't. And besides, if I did make the cake, you'd finally get a slice. It may not be galaxy-sized, like you wanted back then, but hey! At least it would be something!" Peach said.
"I wanted a huge cake, Peach! I found one because you were too chicken to make it yourself!" Bowser said.
"I was not chicken! I can't make cakes that size!" Peach explained.
"So I saved you the trouble! This is a big event, so we need a big cake! Now we've got one! You should be thanking me!" Bowser told her.
"I'd thank you for doing one of the following: allowing me to bake a cake, taking me home, or telling me that Mario is not dead like you're hoping he is." Peach muttered under her breath.
"You know I heard that, Princess, and guess what? I'm not going to do either one of those things! You just need to shut up and accept that this is the cake for our wedding, because the cakes you like to make are too puny!" Bowser told her.
"You're a real piece of work, you know that?! Here I am, offering to do something nice for you, something you wanted, and you go and refuse! In that case, don't expect me to say 'I do' at the wedding, because if you say that I can't do what I want to do, then I do not!" Peach said, and she was about to march her way back into the airship.
What she didn't count on was Bowser grabbing her by the arm and pulling her around to face him!
"Let go of me!" Peach shouted, struggling to get away from him.
"You'll be saying you do, and trust me, you'll be glad you did!" Bowser told her, his voice low and menacing.
"No, I won't..." Peach thought, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to fall. But she managed to say in a weak voice, "Yes, Bowser..."
"Good. Now you can go, since you've seen the cake." Bowser said, letting go of her arm.
Peach ran back to the bride's chamber, where she burst out crying.
"Mario, please be alive! I need you!" Peach sobbed into her arms.
(End flashback...)
Mario hugged a crying Peach tightly and said, "Avevi ragione. You were right, Peach. I did hear him say something about him wanting you to bake him a cake. It was during the second time he tried to rule the galaxy."
"It m-may not have been a... a big c-cake... but... a-at least... it would've been... s-something. A-all I wanted... was to b-bake a cake..." Peach wept.
"Would you have poisoned it like he was accusing you of?" Mario asked.
"N-not at first. But then it... it d-didn't seem like a... a b-bad idea. However... I... I c-couldn't do it. For one thing... I-I didn't know... if he had a-any p-p-poison... on the airship... A-and the Broodals weren't... c-coming near... s-so even if I could b-bake... I couldn't ask the... the s-sick one... to g-get sick in the... the cake b-batter." Peach frowned.
"So you would've actually done it?" Mario said.
"Mario, you weren't there, so you have no idea what kind of hell he was putting me through." Peach told him.
"I'm getting the idea now..." Mario said.
"Because I'm able to talk to you about it, and I know I can trust you with this information." Peach said.
"Grazie. Thank you, Peach." Mario said, faintly surprised.
"But... if he killed you... th-then he deserved to die." Peach said.
"I wish you had been able to do him in." Mario said.
"Yeah. He wouldn't give up when you fought him... so I would have been glad... to do him in for you." Peach replied.
Mario was impressed. He never expected that Peach would do that to Bowser, even though he recalled the time he, Luigi, and Toad were Bowser's prisoners, and she fought him to save them. She was a force to be reckoned with!
"Shall we rejoin Cappy and Tiara?" Mario asked.
"We shall." Peach said.
When the plumber and the princess rejoined the Bonneters, Cappy asked Peach, "So, what's your opinion of the Snow Kingdom, Peach?"
"Mama-mia! I was so mad at what Bowser had done in her memory, I forgot to ask her myself!" Mario thought.
"This kingdom is freezing, but at least it's nice and warm indoors. I wonder if the racing warms it up..." Peach replied.
"I wish I could join the races—they look positively thrilling!" said Tiara.
"And they are, sis. Mario and I had to capture a scared Shiverian and do a race to get a Multi Moon, since the real prize, the Frost-Frosted Cake, was stolen by a stupid, fat Koopa." Cappy said, which made Tiara giggle.
"And I almost forgot. We found a Power Moon buried in the snow. It's yours now." Peach said, giving Mario the Power Moon.
"Grazie principessa. Thank you, Princess." Mario said, accepting the Power Moon.
"Hey, Mario, Tiara wants to see if we'll capture that Shiverian again and use him in a race here." Cappy whispered to Mario.
"Possiamo farlo. We can do that." Mario smiled.
So Mario and Cappy captured that same scared Shiverian from earlier, and they used him to enter a race that was about to begin. Peach and Tiara watched and cheered as the captured Shiverian bounded his way through Iceburn Circuit. He came in first place in Class A and Class S, getting more Power Moons in the process.
"The local snow races are intense! That was wonderful!" Peach said when Mario and Cappy ended the capture and rejoined her and Tiara.
"Grazie, Peach. Thanks." said Mario, and even Cappy looked glad to hear that.
Then they left Shiveria Town and went exploring the main area of the Snow Kingdom. It was there that Peach saw penguins that knew how to fly, despite the fact that penguins are flightless birds.
"What was the Snow Kingdom like when you got here?" Peach asked Mario.
"Cold enough to freeze a thermometer. There was a nasty blizzard going on out here, and it didn't stop until I won the Bound Bowl Grand Prix. I didn't have this outfit, or the Snow Hood and Snow Suit. But I did have the Aviator Cap and Aviator Outfit." Mario said.
"Did they keep you warm, Mario?" Tiara asked.
"To my amazement, yes." Mario said.
"I'm glad you had something warm to put on. I really didn't want you to catch a cold out here." Peach said.
"He was lucky not to." Cappy said.
They had some fun out there in the snow. They made snow angels, pitched snowballs at each other, and they even built a snowman, who Tiara named 'Olaf', because he liked warm hugs.
(A/N: Yeah, I had to make a "Frozen" reference in this kingdom.)
When the day was just about over, and they were back in Shiveria Town, Peach said, "You know, I did bring plenty to eat on this trip, but all this travel has really given me quite an appetite! I wonder where I could get a nice meal..."
"I know of the perfect place where you can do that, Peach. That would be the Luncheon Kingdom." Mario said.
"Then that's where we're going next." Peach smiled.
"I'll see you there, Princess." Mario replied.
"Looking forward to it, Mario." Peach said.
Mario smiled, but he slightly shivered in the cold air, despite wearing Santa's famous outfit.
"Cold?" Peach asked.
"A little..." Mario replied.
"Oh... let me help you warm up..." Peach said. She knelt down to Mario's level and wrapped her arms around him. Mario returned the hug and was planning to kiss her on the cheek, but she surprised him with another sweet kiss on the lips!
Cappy and Tiara immediately wanted to go, "Awwwww!" when they saw this, but they kept quiet. They didn't want to interrupt a sweet moment between Mario and the princess he loved.
Mario still couldn't believe that Peach was kissing him on the lips. However, he couldn't bring himself to kiss her back. He still hadn't completely apologized, and he wanted to make things right before making a bold move like returning a kiss from Peach.
Either way, when the kiss ended, both of them had turned as red as Rudolph's shiny nose.
"S-see you tomorrow... P-Peach." Mario promised, still in shock that Peach had kissed him on the lips.
"Until then, Mario..." Peach replied.
As Mario walked back to the Odyssey, he could feel his heart beating stronger. It was clear that Peach was still in love with him.
"Mama-mia... she loves me!" Mario said, and he started humming "She Loves You" by the Beatles as he got into the Odyssey and set a course for the Luncheon Kingdom.
As Peach made her way back to her transport ship, she felt a little concerned. When she kissed Mario, he wasn't kissing her back. Didn't he still love her, or had he not expected her to make that bold move?
When we rejoin them, they'll be in the Luncheon Kingdom! If you want to see what they do there, then I suggest you stay tuned!
