IMPORTANT

Semi-optional music suggestion: "I Found," by Amber Run.

Or "Take On Me," by a-ha. (MTV Unplugged)

The "Take On Me" slow version is beautiful and so very deep. The words of both songs hit home.

Youtube has these and you can find them on my playlist. The link is on my profile page :3

Chapter Twenty-Three

"What is wrong with me?" Peach asked herself as she ran her fingers through her hair roughly. Her head whirred in all different directions. She tried with all of her might to think about all of those times Mario had saved her from Bowser. She tried to think about the things that she used to hate Bowser for and the things she loved about Mario.

Peach thought back to the time when Mario had kissed her. It was her first kiss and she remembered how nervous they both were. Mario had finally gotten up enough courage to do it at the end of their third date as he dropped her back off at the Mushroom Castle. Though the kiss was short, it was a very cute and sweet kiss. It made her smile just thinking about Mario's nervous face…

"Peach, I care about you."

The princess shook her head when Bowser's voice entered her head and groaned as her stomach began tumbling again. She put her arms around herself and tried to get rid of the feeling that made her sick. "There must have been something wrong with the pasta I ate…" she grumbled.

She got up from the floor and made her way to the sink where she leaned forward and looked at herself in the mirror. Peach could hardly recognize herself. Her hair was still Platinum with pink highlights, the makeup on her face was bold but framed her face perfectly, and the clothes she had bought today were much more modern than she was used to. She wore a pair of dark jeggings, a billowy orange short-sleeved shirt, and a pair of black and white sneakers. Very un-princess-like.

"Maybe that is why Mario chose Pauline over me," the princess whispered. "I have never been anything but a proper princess. I live for patience and politeness, but I was never free and casual like Pauline. She probably has five pairs of these 'jeans' for everyday use while this is the first time I have ever worn them," Peach stated sourly. Balling her fists, she sighed in frustration and glared at herself in the mirror.

All of the plans she had made for herself seemed to have been flushed away now that Mario was engaged to another woman. Once the rest of the world found out Peach would be expected to find another suitor. Even worse, Peach had (accidentally!) encouraged Bowser's affection. As much as she would like to forget about the whole thing, she knew she had screwed up.

"I really hope that Bowser doesn't take what happened the wrong way," Peach mumbled to herself.

But for the first time ever, Bowser had a real reason to hope.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The next morning, Bowser picked Peach up at her hotel room bright and early. His eyes were filled with excitement when she opened her door and he beamed at her with a childlike grin.

Peach's stomach grew sick again.

"I don't think I have ever seen you smile this early in the morning," Peach yawned with a chuckle. Bowser shrugged and offered his arm to her. She took it immediately, then grimaced to herself. Taking his arm had become a habit she hadn't realize she had developed.

"I guess I had a really good nights rest," he said, watching her from the corner of his eye as they walked to the King Koopa Kart in the parking lot outside the hotel. Peach kept her eyes forward as they walked, hoping her face didn't color. "By the way, it is nice to see your hair color back to normal. I liked the other style but this one has always fit you perfectly."

"Thanks, Bowser," Peach said with a small smile. "It probably only fits me because everyone is used to me wearing it this way. Hairstyle change can be hard to get used to."

"No. You just look really good when you are you," Bowser said. Peach climbed onto the Kart and Bowser took his spot with his back rested on the Mini-Kart.

"What about this outfit? This isn't exactly my usual style," Peach stated as she started the King Koopa Kart engine.

"Well, you look comfortable in it, which is good. You look more like you when you are comfortable with your choices," Bowser answered.

"Dresses aren't exactly comfortable so do I look like me when I wear them?"

Bowser frowned a little and looked at her intently. "Peach, does a dress make a princess?" he asked.

"Not really but in a way…" Peach began.

"No, it is the person, not the accessory. Children are a perfect example of this. A little girl can turn herself into a real-life gladiator with nothing but a frying pan and a long cardboard tube. My point is, you are you and you don't look like you when you aren't being you. Yeah?"

"Makes sense…" Peach stated sarcastically. Bowser just wasn't getting it. She had lost so much because she never changed. She was always the same princess with the same dresses, attitude, and style. A few hours went by in mostly silence as Peach drove.

"By the way, why are you suddenly so concerned about the way you look?" Bowser asked, leaning forward a little as he walked to catch a glimpse of her face. Peach slightly tilted her face away from his prying eyes.

"I just… don't feel good enough the way I am. I only seem to lose things because I never progress or change," Peach said with some bitterness in her voice.

"Mario, huh?" Bowser grunted as he leaned back again.

"That's not… Why would you think this has anything to do with Mario?" Peach asked defensively.

"I know you better than anyone, remember?" Bowser answered with pride. "And you have been moping since I picked you up from his fiancé's house." The princess tensed a little at the word.

"I haven't been moping…" she said with a grumpy pout.

"I have eight children. I think I know moping when I see it," Bowser stated. Peach tried to object but he continued, "Did you cry?"

"Did I cry when I thought Mario had died? Every day for weeks until I found him," she said definitively, slightly offended that he would even have to ask such a question.

"No, I mean… Did you cry when you saw him again?" Bowser asked, waving off her earlier dramatic explanation.

"I…" Peach began and stopped to think about it.

"From what I remember, you seemed pretty pissed at them," Bowser said with a chuckle. Peach was stunned.

"He was there the whole time?" she thought to herself.

"I didn't really want to tell you, but I think I was there for most of the fiasco at Pauline's little shack," Bowser said.

"Then why did you constantly ask me to tell you what happened?" Peach asked with some frustration.

"…Because I wanted to know why you didn't make that oath," Bowser answered seriously, sitting up and moving closer to study her as she drove the Koopa King Kart. He could see her ears turn red and her posture stiffened warily.

"Well… I just don't like making those kinds of promises," Peach stated, her heart leaped as she saw the Mushroom Castle come into view. They had almost made it! She just had to cross one more bridge and they would reach the doors in minutes.

"You didn't have any problem making that kind of promise when I covered Mario in shit," Bowser argued.

"I never… An Oath is different. Breaking something like that can ruin the lives of everyone affiliated," Peach said. "Everyone knows to avoid those kinds of things like the plague."

"So you felt there might be a chance of breaking it?" Bowser asked, his voice getting lower as he spoke. Peach shivered as she felt his eyes searching her soul for an answer. This wasn't where she wanted this conversation to go at all.

"Bowser… The whole thing was fishy. Kamella was obviously trying to trick me from the start and…" Peach said, stumbling over her own words. Bowser snatched the wheel of the Kart from her and turned the Kart right as they made it over the bridge.

"Bowser! What are you doing?!" Peach yelled, looking up at him with wide eyes. He didn't respond and he focused on the road with a determined look on his face. Peach had been so close and would have been at the doors of her castle in a couple minutes if Bowser hadn't taken over the Kart.

In just a manner of seconds, Bowser took the Kart down under the bridge to keep it out of sight. The last thing he wanted was to be interrupted from his thoughts at the moment.

As soon as the Kart stopped, Peach slid off the Kart and started making her way back up the side of the bridge Bowser had parked under.

(Cue music)

"...Come back with me..." the Koopa King pleaded, not moving to stop her as he stood behind her.

"What?" she asked, turning to look at him in astonishment.

"Come back with me. To my castle… please," Bowser asked eagerly.

"Bowser… You know I can't do that. I need to go home! I have been away for…"

"A week. You have been gone for a week and everything looks fine! Look! The flowers are watered, the spires on the towers are all still intact, and the Toads are probably all singing Shroombaya somewhere in the Castle! Please, Peach. I have never had any actual hope that you would ever love me. My whole kidnapping routine was only to get your attention but…" Bowser trailed off as he looked at her. He extended his claw with some hesitance and brushed her face gently.

"You know I have always loved Mario, Bowser. He was the only one I ever saw for myself since the first time he came to my rescue," Peach said. She pulled away and crossed her arms, trying to subdue the warmth on her face and the flutter of her heart.

"Peach…" he groaned in frustration and looked at her with pleading eyes. "I was there when you found him again. I watched you as you chewed them both out and as Mario held you when you cried. Not even one of your tears was shed because you were happy he was still alive… You were happy, but even Daisy would have gotten a few tears of joy if she had been the one you had been searching for." Peach shook her head and turned to leave. Bowser grabbed her hand.

"You never loved Mario. I know it and I saw it," Bowser stated determinedly.

"How would you know?" Peach asked angrily.

"If I would have found you after believing you were dead, I would have almost died of happiness knowing you still existed in the same world as me because… I love you, Peach. I have since the first time I saw you comfort my children. You complete the heart that I never knew I had," Bowser said earnestly as he held onto her hand like it was a lifeline.

Peach didn't know what to say. What could she possibly say? Every feeling she had shoved away to protect herself and Bowser was coursing through her veins. His words were what she had been dreading since the day she signed that damn contract. Even worse, the feelings in her heart his words elicited were much stronger than she would have ever imagined. If her heart had the choice, Peach would have taken Bowser up on his offer, but her heart was chained and now she would suffer for allowing things to get out of hand.

The princess dug her nails into the palm of her hands as she forced herself to look into Bowser's eyes. Her sole reason for making that Contract was to protect him. If she really cared for him, she would keep that promise.

"I don't feel the same way. I'm sorry, Bowser but…" Peach began.

"I'm not asking you to love me. Hell, you feeling anything other than hate for me was a loooong shot… but when you let me kiss you, I thought, maybe - just maybe - I have a chance. Please, Peach… give me a chance to show you how much I have changed. Let me show you that I can give you everything you ever dreamed of and more!" Bowser implored passionately. As he spoke, he pulled her arm gently to bring her closer to him.

"We wouldn't make each other happy. The life I want is peaceful and simple which, by the way, is against the very nature of your existence. We also have so many differences between each other that a relationship would never work," Peach explained fervently as she pried her hands from his claw and took a step back from him. But no amount of distance could save her from the resolve in Bowser's eyes. He wasn't going to give up. As long as he had hope, he would never give up.

"If you're saying the life you want would bore me, then you are wrong. I have never had one boring moment with you. I can do simple," Bowser explained.

Peach was beginning to become irritated. It was hard enough to lie to him and deny her heart what it wanted. Why couldn't he just accept what she was saying? Did she really have to break his heart to get her point across?

"Bowser. We aren't compatible. I want a normal life where tea time is at the same time every day. I want a small summer home outside of the Mushroom Castle where I can bake and sit on the front porch to watch the sunset with my husband. I want to have a small wedding and a long honeymoon with no reporters, meetings, problems or plans. I want my husband to read bedtime stories to our children and clean up messes with me! I want to rid my kingdom of war and hate! AND I need stability; a person I can trust who will allow me to rule and lead my people the way I see fit!" Peach argued angrily.

"I can do all that. I am terrible at baking and cleaning but I can learn! I would also let you rule! I already have my own kingdom and yours can continue to be separate from mine! It isn't traditional (actually, I'm not sure that has ever been done) but I can do that! Peach, I can do every one of those things!" Bowser stated confidently, pleading for her to hear him. Peach only shook her head in frustration and turned away from him.

Panicking, Bowser put his hand on her shoulder and turned her back around. "I can do all of those things. You know I can give you anything you ask."

"What about human children?" Peach asked bluntly. Bowser's eyes went wide and his heart cracked. She looked up at him with icy blue eyes and he stayed quiet. "That's what I thought."

Peach took his hand off of her shoulder and took a step forward to leave.

Bowser whispered.

"What?" she asked, not turning around.

"You could still have them…" he whispered again. "I can't do it myself, but I can arrange for it. You… c-can choose anyone you want... whenever you want," he added sadly. Peach's heart broke as she looked back at him. He was slumped forward in defeat staring at the ground with tears in his eyes.

Peach turned her head forward again and held back her tears. She had finally brought Bowser to his breaking point. He had nothing else to give. There was nothing more he could offer her. She had stabbed him straight in the heart and, instead of defending himself, he twisted her blade in farther hoping – praying - that she would take him. But she had to let him go. She had to keep him safe even if it meant she had to rip her own soul out with her bare hands.

"No, Bowser. You will never be enough for me," Peach stated coldly.

Bowser's heart shattered in his chest and he fell on his knees with a voiceless sob.

"Peach, please… I'll give anything. Please, Peach I'll do anything," he cried brokenly as he dug his claws into the ground helplessly. He had no voice, just air.

Peach ignored his pleas and walked briskly in the direction of the castle with tears streaming down her face.

"Bowser, forgive me! I didn't mean any of it! I'm sorry! None of it is true!" she screamed in her mind. She wanted more than anything to tell him it was all a lie. When she made it through the front doors of the Mushroom Castle she ran. She ran as fast as she could up the stairs and down the halls pushing past the servants, ignoring their meaningless words.

"Princess! You're back!" Toadsworth exclaimed as he saw her running his way. "I am so glad…" he stopped and watched in surprise as she ran straight past him.

When Peach made it into her room she slammed the door and fell onto her bed, her body racked with breathless sobs. Her lungs begged for air and her heart began to rip itself apart... but there would be no relief.

"Forgive me. Please, I didn't mean it."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kamella shook her head as she hovered above the scene. "Damn it," she murmured as she flew away and dialed a number on her phone.

"Hello?" a voice answered.

"She didn't break it," she stated in anger.

"Then I guess we only have one choice. Use the spell. I'll take care of the rest," the voice said.