Semi-Optional Music Suggestion: "The Lady's In Love with You," by Glenn Miller. The introduction is long but there are words to this song. Definitely listen to those.

Favorite please! :3

Chapter Thirty-Seven

One Month Later

The balcony tea table was scorching hot by the time Peach had the chance to breathe on her own. All morning, designers, maids, and beauticians had been rampaging through her room. Not that it bothered her. It was nice to finally be able to look in the mirror and see clear skin. The scratches and bruises that were still healing were all covered up with makeup and almost impossible to find.

The princess grabbed a floral beach towel from a nearby drawer and laid it over the sweltering metal chair. She gave an exhausted sigh as she sat down and eyed the letter lying on the table. It didn't look like anything special. It was just a white envelope with an official Mushroom Kingdom wax seal. However, it was thicker than she would have liked. At the very least, there were three or four pages folded neatly within.

"Toadsworth would have been proud. The council has been as persistent as he would have been," Peach said to herself wryly. She picked up the letter and broke the red seal. Perfect handwritten golden letters were scrawled across the papers. Annoyingly, disgustingly perfect letters.

Acceptable Human Suitors

13 Amp

A. Coz

Bob

Captain Syrup

Foreman Spike

Prince Pine

Professor Elvin Gadd

Young Cricket

Master Mantis

The princess shook her head and laughed as she read the names on the list. "My stars! I should have read this sooner! This must be the most ridiculous..."

Acceptable Non-Human Suitors

Akuman

Captain Shy Guy

General Guy

Gourmet Guy

Pirate Guy

Anti Guy

Orbulon

Toadbert

"Ohhhhh. I get it. They don't actually know who I should marry so they made a list of people who either had cool names or were a part of the League of Investors." She flipped over to the next page and continued reading.

King Boo

The Whomp King

Shroomlock

"King Boo? Bowser would love that," Peach muttered. A frown crossed her face and she laid the paper down on the table as she sat back into her chair. Bowser had apparently been very busy lately. Her councilors had been coming to her room constantly with all sorts of news about the Dark Lands opening their doors to the Mushroom Kingdom. Trade, easing travel restrictions between their borders, and so on. Most of the council was suspicious of Bowser's intentions, but all of that was put aside when Peach declared that they would accept the Dark Land's attempts to link themselves with the Mushroom Kingdom. The majority of the public was excited to see these changes while the rest were unsure or outraged. However, even the angriest citizen had to agree that the division between the two kingdoms had been a burden for far too long.

...Division...

"Your name would look good in golden ink," Peach whispered as she looked at the list of names. "Then again, maybe it would look just as good in an obnoxious yellow." She slid the nail of her index finger across the page, spelling King Bowser Koopa's name.

*knock knock*

Peach flinched at the sound and turned her head towards her bedroom door. "Come in!" she called, watching as Toadette popped her head through the door.

"Princess, are you ready?" Toadette asked with a humble smile.

"Yes, I only hope that they are as well," Peach said, getting up from her chair. Her elegant pink dress shimmered in the sun as she picked up a pair of long white gloves and pulled them on her hands resolutely.

The world wanted answers and she was going to give them.

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

"Your Cruelness! I have urgent news!" Kammy shouted, flying through Bowser's door with a newspaper clutched in her hands.

"What is it now, you old crone?" Bowser growled from behind his office desk.

"It's Peach! The whole kingdom is in a mess over this article in the newspaper!" Kammy said, frantically shaking the papers in front of him. Bowser pushed his reading glasses up on the bridge of his nose and took the newspaper from Kammy's claw.

The headlines read:

Princess Toadstool Praises King Bowser Koopa

"What is this?" Bowser asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"It's exactly what it says it is! Peach claims that you saved her life!" Kammy exclaimed excitedly, clutching the end of the table as her King read on.

"That doesn't make any sense! I never… This has to be a farce," Bowser said, throwing the papers down.

"No, we had sources at the press conference! Every word in this article is true," Kammy jabbed the newspaper with her claw sharply. "Reporters have been asking for weeks for an explanation as to why the Princess disappeared. Here! I have a transcript with the questions and answers from the News Conference. The Princess clearly states that her life had been threatened and that you saved her from certain death!" Kammy stated handing Bowser another set of wrinkled papers, which he opened with skepticism. His eyes went wide as he scanned the third page.

Reporter: "Princess! What was King Bowser Koopa's role in your disappearance?

Princess Toadstool: "There are rumors that King Bowser kidnapped me and took me from the Mushroom Kingdom against my will. This is false. I personally arranged for him to come and transport me from the Mushroom Castle in secrecy." (audience uproar)

PT: "I received a message from an unnamed terrorist group threatening to take my life. At the time, I had heard King Bowser was making plans to kidnap me again so I made the unexpected decision to help him with that plan. Despite my efforts to remain hidden until the threat had passed, the terrorists attacked me and nearly brought me to my end. Luckily, King Bowser was there and he saved my life with the help of Toadsworth, my former supervisor, and Magikoopa Kamek."

R: "Who were the terrorists and are they still abroad?"

PT: "The terrorists have been neutralized thanks to the Darklandian King. There is longer a threat.

R: "What led you to believe that King Bowser could be trusted?"

PT: "Though he kidnapped me multiple times, the King of the Dark Lands has never intentionally harmed me and has continuously treated me with the utmost respect. Even Mario would agree that Bowser's Castle has always been well fortified to keep unwanted individuals out. This being what I needed, I asked for and received King Bowser's assistance."

R: "Does this change the relationship between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Dark Lands?"

PT: "Unequivocally."

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

The Rainbow Road looped and curled through the night sky like a shimmering snake. Hundreds of stars of different colors zipped down the road, traveling quickly with bags full of Wishes. The smaller stars that most people overlook would only get one or two Wishes every night. However, the brightest and most popular stars (like Sirius, Canopus, and so on) would get so many Wishes that they had to make several trips across Rainbow Road to transport all of them. But that didn't seem to be the case tonight. All of the popular stars were handing off their bags of Wishes to the less noticeable stars. There were too many Wishes!

There was one little star who was missing out on all of the fun, though. He hovered sadly and watched all of the other stars shoot off along the sky, carrying bags of Wishes to all corners of the world. His boss had called for him to meet at the highest point of Rainbow Road. The old star had told him that it was important... "But why me?" the little star thought. "There are only four people in the whole world who wish on me. Tonight would have been my chance to..."

" ❤︎🎵!?. Come here! You have been taking care of Princess Peach's wishes, right?" a large star with a white handlebar mustache called.

"Yes, sir!" the small star saluted.

"All of those thousands of Wishes that she made asking to make Bowser leave her alone?"

The little star answered with a weary nod.

The old star chuckled and opened a small bag, "Take a look at this."

A tiny pink Wish shyly floated out of the bag and hovered in front of two stars. Its quiet whisper was barely audible.

The handlebar mustache star pushed it closer to the little star and motioned for him to listen closely.

"Oh, little star, please grant me a wish. I wish…ssp…ssp…"

"OH, COME ON!"

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

A dark figure stood on the very edge of Rainbow Road, taking a brief moment to study Bowser's Castle down below. No lights were on and it didn't look like there was anyone moving around. The coast was clear.

Taking a deep breath, the slender boy took a step and leaped off of the edge. Leaning forward, he guided himself towards a castle window as he fell and kept a tight hold on his blue cape so it didn't flutter wildly in the wind. The window was getting closer. He had to time it just right...

*Fwip!*

The boy spread his arms and legs wide, allowing the wind to catch his cape. Immediately, his fall slowed and he glided towards the window. Just as he was about to smack into the window, it flew open and he landed inside the castle with a graceful tuck and roll. Looking around, he found himself standing at the foot of a massive bed. He smirked when he saw the sheets rise and fall.

Opening the bag, the slender figure stuck his hand inside and gently pulled out the little pink Wish.

"After all of these years, you finally got your Wish, huh Bowser?" Geno chuckled, straightened his hat. He walked over to the side of the bed and carefully pulled the covers down to reveal the Koopa's sleeping face. Bowser gave a low guttural noise and frowned as he slept.

"You better make the rest of her wishes come true because I need a break," Geno said as he took hold of the Wish with both hands and crushed it into dust. Taking a deep breath, he blew gently and the dust blanketed the sleeping Koopa King

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

Three Months Later

(Cue Music)

"I'm going to Gameover myself if you don't turn that shit off," Bowser groaned as the airship's cabin area was filled with music. "Killer... diller?"

"Younguns... In my day, we learned things from music, and I think you could learn a thing or twenty from this little number. So listen up or shove it up!" Willard chastised him as he shuffled to the cabin bar and poured himself a glass of wine. Bowser didn't answer and rubbed his forehead exasperatedly.

"You gonna grow an extra set of horns or somethin'?" Willard elbowed him as he took a seat next to Bowser on the 'davenport'.

"If I do, you'll be the first to know," Bowser growled, scooting away from the old red-shelled Koopa with an annoyed frown. The old man lifted his wine to Bowser with a conniving smile and took a lazy sip.

"I hate to admit it, your Malevolence, but Willard's right. This song has helped with my love life many-a-time," Kamek stated as he wiggled his hips and shuffled to the beat of the music. Bowser watched blue-robed old Koopa as he began jerking his legs while he danced.

"Need a wheelchair, Kamek?" Bowser quipped. Kamek hummed to the music louder and began shooting around the cabin with more vigor. Bowser looked over and found Willard with his claws in the air, miming as if he was playing an instrument in the band. "I'm surrounded by lunatics... Wait a second... Who is flying the ship?"

Willard removed the imaginary instrument from his mouth and answered, "Auto-pilot."

"You mean to tell me that this thing can fly itself and that you are an unnecessary accessory?" Bowser growled at Willard.

"Pretty much," the old man answered and took another sip from his glass with a satisfied sigh.

Two more hours of 'educational' music went on before Willard entered the cockpit and announced that the ship would be landing shortly. The moment Bowser felt the aircraft set down he got up from the couch and pressed the button to open the hatch. He drew a claw through his wavy red hair and put on a confident smirk as flashes of light and excited voices began to grow brighter and louder.

Bowser stepped out of his airship and sucked in a deep breath as he took in the sight before him. The Mushroom Castle was lit up like a Christmas tree with lights and decorations galore. Pink streamers were everywhere and hundreds of people walked into the castle, slowly filling the main hall within. The press was going wild as Bowser stepped out of his airship. He was wearing a classic black tux with a black and white shell to match. It was flashy and looked stunning with his red hair.

"Bowser Koopa! Are you going to try to steal the Princess again?" a reporter asked, pushing his microphone close to Bowser's face

"King Bowser, what are your thoughts on Princess Peach's intention to marry someone other than you?" another reporter asked, trying to push his microphone closer than the other reporter.

"Piss off or I'll burn you alive," Bowser growled menacingly. The crowd all jumped back with a gasp. "Gwa ha! Just kidding!" He put on a charming smile and walked past the flustered reporters. The moment he made his way through the front doors of the Mushroom Castle he stopped and stared in awe as his eyes rested on Peach's figure on the other side of the room.

She was wearing an elegant and borderline sexy pink dress with a sweetheart neckline. Her hair was straightened with small strands woven loosely around her head. He could have stared at her for hours if her eyes hadn't met his. Bowser straightened up and nodded politely. She nodded back with a sweet smile and then returned to her conversation with a wealthy looking Yoshi.

"It's about to start. Don't you think we should sit down before the host addresses us?" Kamek asked as he shuffled past Bowser impatiently.

"Yeah. Makes sense," the Koopa King answered, following Kamek to their seats on the side of the room. As soon as the rest of the guests sat in their places, Peach stood and began the banquet with a warm welcoming speech. Bowser tried to keep his eyes on the floor as she stood at the podium but he would always catch his eyes rising to her face.

"Your Fierceness, the speech is over. You may clap now," Kamek instructed. Bowser clapped a couple times until he realized no one else was clapping. The speech had definitely not ended yet.

Peach kept talking but looked at Bowser with a small look of confusion.

"Heeeeeehehehe," Kamek laughed into his robes. "I can't believe you fell for that! Heeeehehe!"

"Kamek, I'm going to kill you," Bowser growled in a whisper.

"Don't worry, sire. I am sure that will give you and the princess something to talk about later during the dance," Kamek said whispered back with a chuckle.

"She won't have time to trifle with me. There are hundreds of people here and she wants nothing to do with me," Bowser muttered bitterly. Kamek only shook his head with a smirk.

"I don't know what happened to you, Bowser, but she certainly doesn't hate you like she did before," Kamek thought as he listened to Peach's speech. While Bowser was busy looking at his feet, Peach glanced in his direction every few seconds. The big oaf was thick headedly missing it. Kamek groaned to himself, "What made you give up when you actually had a chance?"

Sorry for messing up Geno's name a little. I couldn't find a single eighth note that would show up on fanfiction. (ノ_・。)