The one where foundations are set in the most unexpected of ways, which leads a path to a brighter future.

Also, Bowser gets teased some more, which is pretty much routine.

Might not be the best. Hope you don't mind too much.


There was rarely much friendly interaction between the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser's Kingdom, thanks to frequent kidnapping attempts of Peach from the latter. Due to this, things tended to be very tense between them, aside from most sporting events. And even then, sometimes those very sporting events were a very effective way to vent their frustration for one another.

It was a good thing many peoppe from both Kingdoms were surprisingly intense competitors. Even Rosalina was not entirely immune to being competitive now and then. And few are more competitive than the likes of Mario and Bowser. Many will say what they will about him from a moral standpoint, but his drive to win was nothing short of jaw-dropping.

But right now, there was no competition to be had, at least not from a sports standpoint. That may come later, when things are a bit more comfortable between the two Kingdoms. But for now, there was an agreement that everyone could attend a major event that will help smooth things over and get them to interact more, to take the tension out of both sides for a while.

Obviously, they needed to have a banquet.

Extra obviously, Kammy, the slightly senile yet well-meaning Magikoopa that she is, made sure to stay on Bowser's case for a specific reason. And unfortunately for him, Rosalina was listening.

"You better make sure that you don't go too far with eating, Bowser! This is for everyone, not just you!" Kammy said as she waved her wand, numerous decorations being magically moved into place, along with tables, table cloths, chairs, and more.

"I got it, ya senile old hag." Bowser grumbled while picking his ear a bit from how loud she was being. He then yelped as lightning sparked at his backside. "OW! Did you-did you just shoot lightning at my butt?! Not cool!"

"DON'T call me a senile old hag! And I mean it, Bowser! You have to watch yourself!" Kammy emphasized as she waved her wand forwards, causing several brooms to manifest and begin sweeping up the floor. "Don't think I don't know about the time that you overate so much that you got all fat and pudgy in a matter of minutes! Kamek told me all about it!"

"HEY! That wasn't my fault! That little jerk Fawful tricked me!" Bowser shouted back while gritting his teeth. Rosalina in the meantime stood by as she and her fellow Lumas helped with the setups, all while smiling at Bowser's brief stint of rage at the memories.

Even to this day, Fawful was one of the very few people Bowser would always hate more than Mario, because of just how far the Beanish villain went to take nearly everything away from him for his own and utterly humiliating the Koopa King every chance he had with whatever he had while doing so. Mario, no matter how many times he defeats Bowser, never goes that far to intentionally and callously embarrass him. He's always perfectly fine with rescuing Peach and calling it a day.

"Yes, you do have an unfortunate streak of being manipulated, directly or indirectly. He wouldn't have tricked you at all if you were smarter about approaching him that time. At least you learned from it." Kammy reprimanded with a sigh. "Look, I'm intentionally reopening that particular wound, nor am I going to tell you not to eat your fill. Just don't overdo it. Remember Junior likes to imitate many things you do, and I'd rather he not copy that excessive unhealthy eating."

"I know I know. Don't get on my case about me gaining that weight. I burned it all off easily enough." Bowser folded his arms with a huff.

"In a matter of seconds, too. That's more magical than anything I could come up with at the time. You're both an inspiration and a bane to weight loss trainers everywhere." Kammy snarked with a grin. "Bowser's Weight Loss Story. A tale of push-ups, sit-ups, and plenty of juice!"

"Get off my back already!"

"That's a good idea. Far too spiky. Not very comfortable."

Bowser gritted his teeth at Kammy's snark, and Rosalina couldn't help but quietly chuckle at their brief verbal sparring. She still found it surprising that at one point, she was very submissive towards her King, practically worshipping the ground he walked on no matter how badly he treated her. Despite still being a bit senile, clearly that wasn't the case anymore, and likely would never be again.

Now the Koopa King was slightly afraid of her, and she snarked at him much more often. Yet she also retained a motherly aura around her when she speaks to him for real, indicating she still very clearly cares about him and his family, and is still quite loyal to him. It just didn't make him safe from her snark or reprimanding anymore.

Talk about a drastic change in dynamics. Rosalina is becoming convinced that Bowser secretly find great amusement in the banter. Helps to pass the time.

"I do believe you told me about this adventure at some point. It does sound like quite a tale to tell." Rosalina decided to join the conversation as she helped get things ready.

"Oh yeah, that thing." Bowser nodded while effortlessly lifting several boxes over his shoulder and carrying them across the room. "I got some new inhaling ability that adventure, inhaled Peach and the Mario Bros and forgot about it, was being helped by Chippy-Starlow? Whateved the heck her name is-while she and the Mario Bros were runnin' around in my guts. Helping me through obstacles, powering me up, turning me giant so I can punch other giants in the face as we worked to get my Kingdom back from that insufferable Beanish jerk Fawful...it was pretty weird. I'm used to weird, though. And Junior was having his own little journey while I was handling mine." Bowser huffed while setting the boxes down. "Through it all, I learned that apparently I'm a lot bigger and spacey on the inside."

"Oh my. That does sound like a fantastical tale." Rosalina tilted her head.

"It's filled with moments that aren't really my proudest, though. I literally had Peach inside me for a while-"

"Phrasing." Kammy deadpans.

"-and I didn't know it until after Fawful swiped her from me."

"I believe your exact words were: 'Hey, that's mine! Put that back!' Right after he extracted her from your body." Kammy shook her head. "Phrasing, your Lewdness."

"That specific use of wording does sound rather...strange in context." Rosalina hummed with a hand on her cheek.

"I said it wasn't one of my prouder moments, okay?!" Bowser gritted his teeth before sighing to calm himself down. "Anyway, we later had to deal with him and this Dark Star thing to get her back. The plumbers managed to beat Fawful, and I literally punched out the Dark Star a lot until it exploded."

"That certainly wasn't an easy feat, and yet you managed it." Rosalina nodded. "Your strength is something to behold, Bowser."

"Heck yeah it is." Bowser grinned while pumping his fists. "I punched a dark being in the face for daring to take what was mine! I felt like I do anything! I felt like a true King of the world!" He then sighed and lowered his fists, grumbling. "Then I went and got the snot beat out of me by the plumbers again when I tried kidnapping Peach..."

"At least you got a cake for your hard work." Kammy pointed out.

"Yeah, it was a pretty good cake. Had my face on it and everything." Bowser looked down. "Heh. I remember that I've always wanted Peach to bake me a cake. And I finally got it, albeit when I was in body casts. That kinda made all of that pain I went through on that adventure worth it. Even though I tried to play it off in front of my minions, saying that I didn't want it and didn't wanna look at it...I was really happy that she did that for me."

Rosalina hummed as she sees that Bowser somewhat made himself feel solemn from a past defeat after such an impressive winning streak, yet with a sweet ending that proves without a doubt that Peach does dearly care about Bowser. She smiles as she gracefully walks over to him, then reaches up to place a gentle kiss to his cheek. The action not only snapped him out of it, it surprised him and made him jump a bit.

"Bah! What are you doing?!"

"Kissing your cheek to help you feel better." Rosalina answered honestly, clasping her hands with a tilted head. "Why? Do you perhaps not want cheek kisses?"

"No, that's not it..." Bowser grumbled, turning away to scratch his head so she couldn't fully see how much he blushed. "I'm still getting used to this whole 'real couple' thing. Maybe try not to do something like that without warning? I'd like to prepare myself for it sometimes."

"But if I do not do so by surprise, how can I enjoy the startled expression you make as a reaction?"

Bowser glared at Rosalina, who simply smiled. "You pass yourself off as some graceful super mature Space Princess, but you also really enjoy picking on me."

"I know not what you mean." Rosalina hummed playfully.

"You make it too easy." Kammy rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah, before I forget." Bowser huffed as he turned to Rosalina and pointed at Kammy. "You saw how she unfairly shocked my butt, right?!"

"You should respect your elders, Bowser. In return, they will respect you." Rosalina says neutrally.

Bowser sighed as he hung his head in defeat. "How did I know you were gonna say that?"

"Because she has patience and sense. Both which you are still progressing on." Kammy huffed, while Bowser gritted his teeth. It was times like these he kinda wished she was sycophantic like she was back then. She sassed him a lot less. But deep down he knows that she still ultimately means well.

"Papa! The guests are here!" Junior suddenly swoops in via Clown Car, looking rather chipper and eager. "Does that mean we can eat now?!"

"Wait for them to all arrive and situate themselves, son. Then we can go through the proper and hosting introductionary process, and THEN we can chow down." Bowser declared.

"ALL RIGHT!" Junior cheered with glee and was about to back out to greet the guests and let them in.

"Junior." Kammy spoke seriously, stopping Junior in his tracks and making him sweat slightly. "If I find out that your cute little paws has so much as touched the pies I made before I properly cutted them and served them, you will get none. And you can forget about dessert of any kind, for a week."

"Y-Y-Yes ma'am!"

"Good." Kammy nodded as she used her broom to fly up next to him, and lightly patted his head. "Remember, as future king, you do indeed hold a responsibility to treat any guests you have with proper hospitality, while also not forgetting that they are within your home. The respect must be mutual. Both the guest and host must behave themselves. Succeed in this, and those who will look up to you will see you in a very positive light, and will recall you with fondness. Build upon thay fondness, and they will be willing to see you again."

"Really, Miss Kammy?" Junior blinked. He gazed at his paws for a moment, before clenching them and nodding. "Okay, I'll give it a try! I'll be a super good host!"

"Good on you, my cute little princeling." Kammy smiles as she floats up a bit to gently kiss his forehead. "Run along now, help finish preparations."

"Okay!" Junior nods as he flies off in his clown car to get things ready. Bowser and Rosalina watched him go, before looking at each other.

"Heh. My boy's gonna be a super great host." Bowser grinned. "I can't allow myself to fall behind. I'll step my game as a host too! We're gonna make this work! I'm sure of it!"

"As am I, King Bowser." Rosalina agreed as she tenderly placed a hand on his paw. Bowser looks at her again, before proceeded to hold said hand and squeeze it very gently.

They didn't let go of each other for a while.


"Well then...this is definitely gonna be a new experience." Daisy hummed with folded arms. Peach sighed, as she couldn't help but agree.

She and the others were attending Bowser's feast event. Which they were unsure about, mainly because it would involve citizens of their respective Kingdoms not only mingling, but working on this being a usual thing. As in, they would be doing this kind of thing more often, and with dates much closer together.

Their histories will make this transition, difficult to say the least. But the ever optimistic Peach is fully willing to give this a chance if Bowser is willing to. Daisy, while on board, will take a bit more convincing to fully believe it. The Mario Bros were alright so long as Bowser didn't do anything antagonistic.

Whether others believe it or not, they'd actually like to get along with Bowser. But fighting him for so long has been ingrained in their memories for as long as they could remember. It would take time for them to fully adjust.

"I wonder how many yummy foods I'll get to try today?" Yoshi beamed while trodding along, with Mario on his back. "You guys are cool for inviting me over for this. Really appreciate it."

"Good of you to come, buddy." Mario returned the friendly sentiment gladly. "It isn't too much trouble for you to leave your island for this, is it?"

"Not really. We Yoshis can be pretty tough. Whatever trouble comes, they'll be able to handle it well enough." Yoshi hummed while looking towards the sky. "So. Bowser and Rosalina, huh? Gotta say, I'm pretty happy for the both of them, now that I've taken time to process it."

"Really? Nothing about this sets you off-balance in any way?" Daisy said with her fists on her hips.

"No, not really. They're happy and Bowser is making an attempt to make peace. It won't be easy, but it will lower the amount of fighting in the future. Maybe we can even be better friends to one another. So I'm okay with it. Mostly because we all get to share great food on a nice day. What could be better than that?"

"You Yoshis are more ridiculously carefree than the Mario Bros..."

"Hey." Said Mario Bros deadpanned with a raised hand of annoyance.

"Now now, Daisy. The exchange of food is a great way to build friendships. Our citizens eating together will serve as a fantastic foundation towards bigger and better endeavors." Peach raised a finger. "Why, I remember when I served tea with a fellow princess and a fox pilot in order to mend misunderstanding, and we became great friends afterwards!"

"Didn't you also say that you were on some kind of battleship when that happened?" Daisy pointed out.

"Yes."

"You decided to have tea time...on the bridge of a battle ship...in the middle of the sky...after you were accidentally shot at."

"Yes."

"And you decided this because a fox and a princess were were to fight over a misunderstanding, and they just went with it?"

"Yes indeed! It was lovely!" She placed a finger on her chin in thought. "Of course we had to battle some sort of mechanical enemy in order to take the battleship back for good. We teamed up with a falcon pilot who was a comrade of the fox pilot, a powerful aura wielding creature, and a man who really likes to hide in boxes." Peach clapped with a smile. "Defeating the enemy allowed us to free and befriend the one who was forced to do these bad things, and I gave him my parasol to cheer him up. It was strange that he only exists on a two-dimensional plane, so anything he grabs also becomes two-dimensional. I thought it was really interesting to watch!"

"This was during one of your adventures involving that multiverse tournament, wasn't it? Before I eventually got invited?"

"That's right."

Daisy took a deep breath, then sighed while pinching her nose. "Peach, sometimes you just lose me with how randomly your head gets lost the clouds. And in that case you were literally in the clouds!"

Peach recoiled, backing up a bit. "W-What do you mean?"

"Seriously, girl. If you told the story you just told me to ANYONE without the context, they'll have NO idea what the heck you're talking about!"

"W-well, yes, that is true...but it would still be quite an entertaining story, no?"

Princess Peach. A compassionate and fair princess overall. Snarky on some occasions, and scatterbrained on others. Sometimes she's both at once. Yet still a better voice of reason than Daisy when she's in either mood.

Daisy mentally calls foul on this.

Peach blinks as she laughs nervously, scratching her cheek. "Forgive me, I lost track of what I was initially saying. Where was I?"

Definitely scatterbrained at times.

"Sharing food equals friendship." Yoshi summarized.

"Oh, yes!"

"Honestly, I wish all friendships were that easy to start. Everyone would get along much sooner."

"I'd be up for that." Mario scratched his head, before he raised his head and pointed forward. "We're here!"

Luigi blinked, before he rubbed under his nose. "Bowser's surely one for showing off, that's for sure."

Indeed, Bowser made sure that this specific event would be quite a big one, as it should be. It was several Kingdoms trying to interact with each other. Of course it was going to be big, and Bowser also made sure that it would be noticeable.

Several large sized ballons decorated his castle, along with streamers, party tables/clothes, many different shaped dinner tables, and many more. And most importantly, to Yoshi's mouth watering delight, there was plenty of food to go around almost all over the place.

To Peach's slight relief, there was genuinely no one looking at them with outright hostility. Concern at best, but there was nothing indicating that they would attack them at any point. That was certainly one worry off of her sholders.

"BWAHAHA!" Bowser laughed uproariously, enough for nearly everyone to hear, as he leapt out of his Clown Car to greet his guests. "You guys actually came! Course ya would, as it's a party that's being hosted by yours truly!"

"Yep. I figured that you would be saying things like that." Daisy sighed as she scratched her head slightly.

"Everything does smell really nice. Must have spent quite a bit of time, because there's quite a lot of it." Peach observes as she looks around to see numerous amounts and types of food. And there was an especially large stash of meat, which was likely to be Bowser's, so that he wouldn't tempt himself to eat other's food. As a host, that would be quite rude. Meat will suffice, but there's plenty of pies and drinks as well as treats.

"Prepared with the utmost care, Princess Peach." Rosalina smiles as she descends from the stars above, with Lumas happily bouncing around her. She was hugging one close to her as she lands feet-firet on the ground. "Hello, everyone." She turns to Yoshi and smiles a bit wider, reaching over to pat his nose. "Ah, Yoshi. It has been quite some time since we've seen one another. I'm hoping you're doing well?"

"Quite well, Rosalina! Good to see you!" Yoshi beamed while lightly nuzzling into her hand.

"Now that our guests are here, we can really get the ball rolling for this whole thing!" Bowser grinned while clenching his fists. "I'm gonna be a pretty awesome host, you'll see!"

Daisy folded her arms and tilted his head. "I dunno. There were times during the party game events we attended with you were...less than a pleasant host to anyone who wasn't your son."

Bowser lightly scratched his own head as he shook his head and pounded a fist into his palm. "Alright look, maybe I wasn't the best host in the past party games, but I'm definitely gonna be the best host now. You'll see! King Bowser's gonna be the best host, and my son's also gonna be the best host!"

Luigi blinked, raising a finger. "Wait a minute...you can't both be the best."

"Says who?"

"...Fair enough."

With that out of the way, everyone spread out for a bit so they could enjoy the party. It was definitely a strange experience, due to the Toads, Goombas, Koopas and the like not very used to interacting in a friendly manner outside of sports and party events. As in, more than usual.

It was going to be very slow progress in order to get everyone to get along, but this was definitely both a start and a step-up of the usual. Now if they could simply build upon that further into the future, they could improve ever faster.

One step at a time, though.

Though obviously, Bowser would be over by his pile of meat, munching through quite a lot of it already. Junior was sitting right next to him, handing a slice of apple pie to Yoshi. Gleeful, Yoshi shot his tounge towards it and gobbled it in an instant. He chirped happily as he had himself yet another slice of apple pie, while Junior nodded and got his own slice of pie. Bowser laughed aloud as he opened his maw and quite a few drumsticks ended up flying into his maw like a vacuum, disappearing to further satiate his hunger.

That must be the vacuum ability from his story. Hmm...I wonder if that is how he clears plates so quickly? Literally inhaling the contents? Rosalina hummed in amusement, hand on her cheek.

"Hah! Cleared it! Impressed?~"

"Yes. You have surely succeeded as the very first and possibly only turtle dragon who is also a living vacuum. So very proud of you." Rosalina smiled, while Bowser rolled his eyes.

"Tch. Space Princess sass is kickin' in again..."

"It would seem that Junior is living up to his promise." Rosalina smiles, changing the subject as she stood next to the quickly eating Bowser, who swallowed some of his food to gaze at his son.

"Of course he is! My son is an amazing host, and so am I."

"So you continue saying." Rosalina chuckles as she lightly patted his shoulder. "In any case, it seems that everyone is having a pleasant time here. I am very glad that things are progressing well. The foundations are being placed in the proper places."

"Yeah, we're pretty good, aren't we? Though I have to admit that we wouldn't have gotten very far without you giving us a helping hand." Bowser lightly scratched his neck. "So, uh, thanks Rosalina. Thanks a lot. Really, I mean it."

"You are very much welcome, Bowser." Rosalina smiles sweetly towards him. Bowser blinked and blushed as he looked away from her to hide said blush, which brightened by the moment.

Her smile is truly beautiful.

She then turned towards Junior and lightly pets his head, surprising him and gaining his attention. "You are doing very well, Junior. I am quite proud of you for doing your very best."

Junior smiles brightly and leans towards Rosalina to hug her. "Thank you, Mama Rosalina. I really did try my best."

"I can tell as well." Princess Peach added as she sits next to the group, lightly patting Junior's head as well. "You've done a very good job alongside your father, Junior." She smiles while gesturing around her. "And your siblings, too."

"Alrighty, everyone! Right this way! There are star stickers for all, and they SPARKLE!" Wendy beam glamorously with raised arms. And indeed, plenty of Koopas and Toads alike have gathered around her stand to try a few stickers of various images. Including themselves or famous figures like Mario.

"Look here at all the goodies, peeps!" Roy chants as his while pointing upwards. His position was filled with various shapes of sunglasses, both regular and glittery. It would help with the bright sun, for those who could not handle the light very well.

"Treats! Treats for all!" Lemmy and Larry said while raising various candies with cotton candy being the most noticeable of them all, and they had various flavors for variety. Luigi was seen enjoying green apple cotton candy.

"Think you're strong enough to win this?" Morton folded his arm with a grin as Mario stood before a set hammer game. Mario lifted his hammer as high as he could, gritting his teeth. He slammed it down, with the bell immediately ringing from how brief it was. Morton blinked as he tilted his head. "Oh...I guess you are." He said over Mario's triumphant 'Wahoo!'.

"Hehe! Check out these illusion glasses! Pretty cool, right?~" Iggy laughed as Daisy har a set of said glasses on her face, walking around with a slight dizziness, muttering something about 'seeing sound itself'.

"Oh! Princess Peach!" Ludwig hurried over to her and handed her a prized Piranha Plant plush. "You forgot this in your haste to see my brother."

"Oh, I did! Thank you, Ludwig!" Peach beamed as she grabs said plushy and hugs it closely to her, nuzzling it's head.

"Where'd THAT come from?" Bowser raised an eyebrow.

"My position has a little bit of a cup guessing game, you see. Guess which cup held the gold coin. Pretty simplistic, enough for our visitors to understand." Ludwig happily gestured to Peach. "Princess Peach is the only one to get it right the first time, six times in a row, no matter how complicated it got. And it reached thirty cups in total."

"Really?" Bowser blinked, gazing at the gleeful Princess in surprise. He tended to forget that Peach was smarter than she seemed. "Huh, well how about that."

"You underestimate us Princesses a tad too much, Bowser." Rosalina teased while very gently pinching his cheek.

"Ehehe, sorry..."

"It is quite alright. After all, you are learning." Rosalina smiles as she removes her hand and kisses his cheek again. "And learning is one of the highest joys of all."

"...You sure like to throw me off with these wise sayings of yours." Bowser chuckled while scratching the back of his neck. "And I dunno if getting used to it is good or bad."

"Perhaps good? It might spare you the headaches."

"See, there you go again with your cool-headed sass!" Bowser exclaimed in exasperation, grabbing his head. "Why do you insist on doing that?!"

"Your reactions tend to be very amusing." Rosalina giggled with her hands covering her mouth.

"...You're so honest about it, too. And don't mock me with your not-at-all cute giggling." Bowser grumbled while folding his arms. "Tch. One of these days I'll get even for these things, ya won't even know what hit ya!"

"I'm sure you will."

"I mean it!"

"I am quite aware."

"I really do mean it!"

"Indeed."

"GAAAAH! Every time you do that, it throws me off! Let me have the last word, darn you!" Bowser groaned while gripping his face, as Rosalina, Peach, and even a nearby Daisy chuckled at his expense, though not at all maliciously. Junior, the Koopalings, Yoshi, Kammy, and the Mario Bros couldn't help but laugh a bit as well. Poor Kamek wasn't laughing much though, as a Chain Chomp made off with his broom in the background. Bowser made a mental note to make sure Kamek gets a proper break for his hard work.

As for Bowser himself, usually being laughed at like this would have set him off tremendously. But not now. He felt...surprisingly at peace with this turn of events. Maybe it was because they weren't maliciously mocking him, and it was more playful poking fun at him. And it seemed to raise the mood of everyone around him, Junior and the Koopalings included.

And he couldn't possibly forget the laughter mostly from Rosalina. Where she drops the mature, dignified cool-headed wise aura for a moment and simply lets loose with joyous laughter, not caring how silly she looked, simply having fun. She was having a grand good time, and he was the source of her laughter. It felt like music to his ears, and he almost couldn't believe he was the one who was the cause of it. Not only that, but his preciously adorable son was laughing along with her. With that, along with Peach's laughter, his old crush, the music to his ears turned into a wonderous symphony. And he was the one who conducted it.

...Spending time with the Space Princess is turning me slightly poetic, I think.

Either way, he felt alright with this. Sure, his archenemies are laughing at him too, alongside his subordinates, but he surprisingly didn't mind. Everyone having a good time together, laughing and eating and playing together on a nice day. This was the foundation of their newer and stronger bond. Things still weren't perfect, as they've had quite a history behind them. But if they keep this up and keep improving from here...well, Bowser was surprisingly at peace at being laughed at today, as well as being the cause of it.

Anything to hear Rosalina's beautiful laughter more often.


Hope everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving-if you celebrate it-and a great day overall.

Bowser officially loves Rosalina's laugh. It's simply too cute for him not to hear more often. Pair that with Junior's adorable laugh and Peach's cheery laugh.

The Koopa King won't mind being the punchline if he gets to hear that more often. So long as it isn't malicious. If it gets too mean-spirited, he'll get grumpy.

He still has his pride, you know!