Geez.

That was uncool of me, to upload such a pivotal chapter last time and then just fall off again.

Don't worry, I'm as ashamed of myself as you all probably are.

Now that we've got that out of the way, time for another important chapter regarding character relationships. Such as, how are our key characters gonna react to the new bond between Bowser and Rosalina? We shall find out here.

Wonder what the first word's gonna be on this subject?


"WHAAAAAAAT?!"

"...Yeah, I thought she'd react like that."

Bowser says grumpily while lightly picking an ear with his claw, his casual reaction to Daisy's rather outdoor shout, when they were clearly indoors in Peach's Castle. Rosalina didn't seem very bothered, simply smiling softly while patiently waiting for Daisy to calm down. Which, was not a quick process.

"We're just...really surprised. Happy, but surprised." Peach, being much more level-headed than Daisy, said after things calmed a little. "You two had a fireworks display set up by the Koopalings, and then you two kissed?"

"That's pretty much what happened." Bowser said gruffly. "I didn't plan that part at all. It kinda just happened."

"That is sometimes why moments like that are so beautiful, Bowser. They're experienced right in the moment." Rosalina placed a finger on her chin. "I suppose we could say that it garners a more...genuine reaction? Perhaps that is not the exact way to say it. It is like experiencing something very special right then and there, something you didn't anticipate or plan for, and it still resolves itself in a lovely and satisfactory manner. Hmm...perhaps that is what I mean."

"So...it has a lot more meaning when it hasn't been set up?" Bowser scratched his head in confusion. "I don't really get it. I mean, I kinda do, but it's hard to wrap my head around. Maybe because my plans tend to get me very far, and right when I do something that isn't planned at all and was done 'in the moment', they tend to blow up in my face." He groaned. "I'm not even joking. When things were going exactly according to plan, whenever I did something completely un-planned, I literallt get a Bo-omb to the face."

"That is a very reasonable stance, Bowser. Which is why I made sure to begin with sometimes." Rosalina playfully sassed with a raised finger.

"Don't play that game with me, Space Princess." Bowser grumbled, nudging her shoulder.

"Why? Are you perhaps afraid that I will be victorious?"

"What?! No!" Bowser crossed his arms. "I say that because OBVIOUSLY because I'm going to totally and completely win in a game like that! Which won't be as much of a challenge for me or be fair to you! That's why we shouldn't play that game."

"I see."

"I mean it!"

"I know you do."

"It'd be super easy!"

"I believe you."

"GAAAAGH! You always do this, and it drives me crazy!" Bowser growled while gripping his hair with both paws, which Rosalina quietly giggles at.

"...I am so lost." Luigi says casually, his expression even as he sipped some tea that an understandably worried/confused Toadsworth served everyone present.

"On this we agree, Master Luigi." The elder Toad sighed while pouring tea for Daisy, which she hurriedly grabbed.

"Okay, for real. This is really hard to process." Daisy began with a sigh. "Seriously. Like for years, SO MANY years. You've kept trying and trying and trying to win Peach's heart, only to miserably fail every single time."

"Hey." Bowser deadpanned.

"So I'm just confused as to how that suddenly changes once you started spending more time sith Rosalina."

"Ah ah. This was a gradual process, Daisy. Not something that happened overnight." Rosalina playfully wagged her finger. "Do trust me, I would know if it was overnight."

"Dang it Rosa, how are you able to sass so cool-like?" Daisy grumbled.

"Well, look at it this way." Rosalina raised a hand. "I 'sass' in a calm and collected manner, which cn be easily missed if one does not pay close attention." She then raised her other hand. "While you tend to sass with a fiery passion that no one can ignore or miss."

Daisy rubbed her chin, while Mario lowered his cap and sipping his own tea. He didn't find the statements to be completely inaccurate.

"And then there's Peach, who most of the time tends to lie mostly in the middle." Bowser folded his arms. "It takes some prodding for her spark to show. But when it does, boy does she SPARK."

"Me?" Peach blinked gently.

"There was a point where he kidnapped you so many times, as used to it as you were, you were also getting irritated by it." Mario pointed out.

Peach's eye twitched.

"I once thought that kidnapping the Mario Bros instead of Peach would work out for me because of how easy you are to kidnap sometimes." Bowser shrugged.

Peach's eye twitched twice.

"Meanwhile, Daisy was only kidnapped twice at most." Luigi held up two fingers. "I dunno if that speaks great for her or poorly for Peach..."

Peach's eye twitched three times.

"Come to think of it, who was that girl who REALLY pushed your buttons on that?" Bowser snapped his fingers. "Oh, right! Mimi! Didn't she mock you over that during our little misadventure against that Count Bleck guy? I heard you were ticked off about that."

"She certainly was." Mario confirmed as he and Luigi nodded.

"I think that was the first time we've ever seen her well and truly-"

"Maaaarriiioooo...Luuuuiiigiiii..."

The Mario Bros froze up as Peach turned to them and smiled a sickly sweet smile with her eyes closed...absolutely contrasting the frightening aura she was putting off from sheer irritation.

"...angry." Luigi meeped, him and Mario hugging and curling up a bit.

"I do appreciate that particular trip down memory lane, but how about we turn away from it for a while, okay?~" Peach requested with a polite tilt of her head. The other two Princesses could tell that Pesch was trying REALLY hard not to lash out, due to how unsightly it would be and understanding that they weren't actively trying to insult her.

"Yes ma'am!" They squeaked fearfully. They still remembered exactly what she said:

'Stay out of this! I am a PRINCESS, and she has thrown mud at my dignity! You two leave me be! UNDERSTOOD?!'

The sheer fury behind those words would never leave their memory.

Bowser rolled his eyes. "Pfft, look at you two. Cowering before your Princess like a bunch of crying-"

"Hm!?" Peach sharply turned towards him to glare, her blue eyes glowing slightly and her smile turning into an agitated scowl.

"...babies." Bowser whimpered, hiding behind Rosalina while gripping her shoulders, shaking fearfully. The Space Princess was unbothered.

"Oh. There is that spark you mentioned, Bowser." Rosalina commented with a sly smile.

"Simply put, don't press that button. She reacts...poorly to it." Daisy summarized with a casual shrug.

That particular memory, as well as what was happening right now, were clear reminders. As much as Peach tends to get captured and how in the clouds she was sometimes, truly testing her patience was seen as a very poor decision. She had her limits like everyone else. Hers is simply much harder to reach.

Peach took a moment to calm down, lightly fanning herself with a hand, before turning towards Bowser with a calmer disposition. "Bowser."

"Y-Yes?" Bowser squeaked, nervously looking from behind Rosalina's shoulder. However, noticing how this made him look, he immediately backed up and returned to the side, coughing into his fist before trying again. "Yes, Peach? What is it?"

"Now that you've formed such a deep and romantic connection with Rosalina...what does this mean for you and me, as well as our respective Kingdoms?" Peach asks, adopting a more serious, yet simultaneously gentle, diplomatic tone. "Are you still interested in conquest? Will you continue to try and conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, and perhaps the world? Are we...still enemies?" She asked the last question in a tone that suggested she REALLY didn't want it to be true.

For all of Bowser's faults and conflicts with her and her friends, she never really saw him as a truly evil person. She could never bring herself to actually hate him. He was akin to the one friend she is constantly frustrated with, but can never cut loose because she feels he has a gentle heart and soul beneath it all that she wants to see more often. The more recent events only supported her belief that they may one day put their feuding behind them.

Bowser looked into Peach's eyes, and could see that she thought very deeply about this for a very long time. To be honest, he did as well. Now that he was officially seeing Rosalina as a romantic partner, and he's been spending more time with his family than thinking about conquest...what did that mean for him and Peach? The Darklands and the Mushroom Kingdom?

...Him and the Mario Brothers?

The others have gone silent and looked towards Bowser, curious about his answer. Even Daisy was interested.

Rosalina gently placed a hand on his paw and smiles warmly towards him. Bowser gazed into her eyes, before sighing, rubbing his neck, and returning his attention to Peach. "I honestly don't know. I haven't really thought about this being a possibility...no, that's not it. I kinda did think about this as a possibility, but I didn't think it could ever actually happen. Everyone here knows I'm not the friendliest of folks."

"That's an understatement." Daisy mumbled, grunting from a brief elbow to the side from Peach.

Bowser folded his arms and hummed, lightly tapping his foot. "Maybe I'm thinking too hard about this, even though I probably should. Perhaps I gotta speak from the heart and not my head for a bit. To tell the truth, I haven't felt anything regarding conquest, or at least thinking about it and going through with it, for a very long time. Most of my focus has been on managing my Kingdom, spending time with my children, and Rosalina. Thinking about making my territory better instead of trying to take somebody else's."

"Mhm...?" Peach hummed, wondering where he was going with this.

"I guess...I'm really not interested in conquest anymore." Bowser shrugged. "You could say my priorities changed, trying and failing so many times burned me out, I got too bored of it, whatever. The main point is that I'm not feeling it as strongly as I used to, if at all."

"Is that right..." Daisy tilted her head.

"So, what does that mean between us as people?" Mario raised his cap a bit.

"Yeah, now that you're not interested in conquest anymore, we don't have to fight anymore, right?" Luigi asked hopefully, smiles and all.

"...Actually, my blood still boils a bit at the sight of you two. And I still wanna punch each of your lights out." Bowser deadpanned.

"...But not as much, right?" Luigi asked again, smile still in place but anxiety was strong in his voice.

Peach ponders over Bowser's words for a bit. It seems he was thinking about it for a while too, though not to the extent that she did. It seemed like Bowser really wasn't interested in conquest anymore, but he didn't really know what to do otherwise regarding the Mushroom Kingdom. They've been doing this for so long, that they didn't really know what to do if it ends. Actually, they did truly think about this for a long time, but like Bowser said, they didn't really think it was possible.

But it happened. It was here. And now they had to think about what to do next, how they intend to move onward.

In a way, Peach was happy about this. In a way, she and Bowser were on equal standings in a way. It means they can think of how they can progress, together.

"Bowser...it's clear as day that this isn't something that can be figured out over one single meeting." Peach said as she clasped her gloved hands. "Rather, this newest development between us opens doors to uncharted territory. This is something that must be built upon over time, cultivated and nurtured with time and patience."

"Ahah?" Bowser blinked owlishly.

"Bowser. You may have a hard time believing this despite everything between us. But I DO want us to be friends. Proper friends." Peach specified with a raised finger. "Friends don't kidnap other friends and constantly try to force marriage. That is a no-no. Not friendly at all."

"Yeah..."

"Rather, I would prefer we speak and spend time with each other as equals. No tricks, no kidnapping, no rampages on other Kingdoms, none of that. We have a proper and genuine bond outside of truce sports events, parties, and tournaments." Peach nodded. "I truly believe we can end this ongoing conflict between our Kingdoms and strive to better ourselves and each other."

"I guess..."

"But again, we've been doing exactly that for so long, suddenly stopping isn't going to immediately make those feelings go away. It will take time and understanding for the people of Mushroom Kingdom to adjust to you walking around and not rampaging or kidnapping me, or me traversing the Dark Land and your citizens being surprised that I'm not in a cage, and thus try to force me into one." Her expression evened out to an annoyed puff-cheeked pout. "I'd rather avoid that scenario and put it to rest before it starts."

"Oh come on, they're not that...no, I guess that's fair." Bowser sweatdropped.

"Also, I want you to get along with Mario and Luigi."

"Now you're just asking the impossible."

"There it is." Daisy rolled her eyes.

"They have very, VERY punchable faces, okay?!"

"Don't punch our faces, please." Luigi hid behind Mario while saying this.

"Come now, Bowser. Surely you can put your differences aside for the sake of improving both Kingdoms and making them better and stronger?" Rosalina said while patting his paw again. "Mario seems more than willing to give it a try, which once again proves his strength of heart." Rosalina tilted her head. "We know how competitive you are, Bowser. You do not like losing, especially to Mario, so I would think you would not appreciate losing to him when it comes to the strength of the heart. Which I have seen for myself how much warmth and fiery passion it wields, as well as the sheer size of it. Which is ultimately not that different from Mario's is it not? That is something to form a connection over, is it not?"

"I...you...but he...grrr!" Bowser growled, gripping his hair again. This amused Rosalina quite a bit, but she did understand his frustration with this. This was a very drastic change from their status quo, and everyone is trying to find a way to adjust to it. Not everyone knew how though, and Bowser was in that camp.

"Be patient, Bowser. It is okay to not have the answers right here and now. It is as Peach said, a development like this must be cultivated and nurtured. We may not get immediate benefits, but the effort will be very rewarding in the long-term." Rosalina reasoned, lightly rubbing the Koopa King's arm to soothe him. "However, we can only reach that beneficial long-term if everyone takes that first step together. You will not take it alone. All of us are."

Bowser loosened his grip on his hair and pondered over Rosalina's reasoning. Then he gazed over at Mario, who returned the gaze with a cautious but not at all antagonistic interest. He simply wanted to know what Bowser might do next. Luigi just looked scared, and Daisy looked...hungry for some food. And Peach looked extremely hopeful, yet worried about his answer.

The initial instinct was to deny this path. He has been fighting with nearly everyone in the room since they were babies, which surprises some newcomers since this was NOT an exaggeration. Even if they did have truce periods, that wasn't something they could just get over within a day. With the amount of things he's done, they might never connect in that way, so why even try?

That was his first mental instinct as a Koopa King hungering for conquest. But then another string of thoughts destroyed that instinct altogether, and it came mainly from his heart:

How will this path benefit Junior and the other kids? Will they be glad knowing they don't have to constantly fight for my evil causes? Will they accept this change because it means more family time? Will they be able to pursue their own hobbies more often rather than pushing them to the side to support my endeavors?

...Will following this path make my family happy?

It was much harder to think about than Bowser anticipated. But the actual choice-making was easier than he thought as well.

"Pursuing this path may make my kids happy, and maybe my Kingdom can stop breaking their backs trying to help satisfy my hunger for conquest, because I just don't have it anymore." Bowser sighed, rubbing his nose. "I still can't fully rock with this, but I gotta put them first on this one. What I'm saying is...I guess we can make this work. These initial steps towards peaceful coexistence, I mean."

Bowser was surprised about what happened next. Though to be fair, everyone else-aside from Rosalina-was surprised as well.

Peach's eyes brightened with joyous delight. She stood up from her seat, gracefully made her way over to Bowser, and wrapped her arms as far around him as she could for a hug.

Bowser's eyes widened, Mario pushed his cap upwards, a returning Toadsworth dropped a tray of new goodies, and Rosalina smiled. Daisy and Luigi, meanwhile, did a simultaneous spit-take when they were sipping tea.

"This...this is wonderful. I'm so happy that we can actually be proper friends more often, Bowser. And this can extend to our Kingdoms as well. I knew that deep down you had a kinder heart than you project, and I wanted to see that more often. But I didn't want you to force yourself to do so." Peach says softly while looking up into his eyes. "To reach a compromise like this, not something immediate but something we can build upon...I just feel so much joy from this. We can now further, truly improve our bond. Between ourselves and our respective people."

Bowser looked into Peach's eyes, seeing the bright hope and joy sparkling within them, and inwardly sighed. Of course. During the period in which I truly stop pursuing her romantically, as well as officially ceasing attacks on her home, SHE'S the one that initiates this level of affection. Why couldn't I have gotten this beforehand?!

Despite asking that mental question, Bowser gently wrapped his arms around Peach and returned the hug. In response, Peach tightened her own hug around him, feeling assured and happy. The answer to his mental question was clear.

Because if she did...it wouldn't have felt genuine. It wouldn't feel real, which was what I wanted, but I kept trying to force it against her will. Now that I dropped that, she feels safer in genuinely returning this level of affection, because there's no hidden motive behind it. Instead of forcing her to be my bride, I'm willing to work at being her friend. I don't really know how I truly feel about it in full. My mind is still confused, but my heart is warm and fuzzy. That's really annoying.

Bowser turned his head towards Rosalina, who had her hands clasped as she smiled and nodded proudly at him. Then the image of a brightly smiling Junior and the Koopalings passed by his eyes. He soon adopted a rough smile of his own.

Though if it means I get to see each of them genuinely smile much more often, then I can learn to get along with everyone a bit better.

His eyes locked onto Mario's once more, with the plumber once again adjusting his cap as he returned the gaze. Neither of them said anything, but Bowser felt a wave of mutual understanding pass between them that only they could understand in full detail. At this, he could only smile roughly at the source of his greatest rivalry, which may soon grow somewhat friendlier. Only a bit, though. He enjoys fighting and competing with him and his brother far too much to give it up completely. But when it comes to subjects like this...

Yeah. I can even learn to better along with an irritating pair of plumbers like you and your brother, Mario.


Bowser taking leaps and bounds in improving his bonds with everyone, for the sake of his family and Kingdom, and their future's together. He's even willing to get along with the Mario brothers if it means is family and Rosalina are happier for it, and Peach in the honor of his past passion for her.

Instead of forcing a bond between them, he wants to progress it when they're on equal terms. Hopefully I depicted that right? It has once again been a while, so it might be really rough.

Don't worry about another extended delay, cause after such long slogs to this story and half of my others-this has just not been my year when it comes to writing any of my stories-I'm heavily resolved on updating this more often again, so expect more chapters sooner than later.e

Hope to see you next time!