Foreword: Oh look, another chapter. :) This one honestly seems a bit slow-paced to me, almost like a filler chapter, especially compared to the drama of last chappie. This is an odd section of the story, the turning point, the building up of the climax, the subtle (and not so subtle) changes in characters, and kind of the bridge before the fluff. So bear with me:o And enjoy this as much as you can. ;)

Oh yeah. I don't own any of the characters. Though with all the changes I'm giving them, I'm not sure Nintendo will want them back. ;)

Lounging in his chair, Bowser recounted the events of his dinner Sunday evening with his son yet again. Chewing on his pencil's eraser, Iggy leaned back in his chair. He intended to take this shrink-thing his Dad had asked him to do and run with it. After all, shrinks get paid a lot.

"So you're certain that was the extent of your conversation last night?"

"Yes," Bowser grumbled, rubbing his temples. Trying to figure out women was not something he wanted to do, it hurt his brain. "I asked if she wanted her steak and she ran off."

"And then later on, you sent the steak remains to her with a spider?"

"Yeah. Do you think I should have sent dessert too?"

Iggy looked at his father over his glasses. "It depends. What was served for dessert?"

"Molten-chocolate cakes with ice cream."

Iggy's façade dropped almost immediately and he bolted upright in his chair. "Did you save any for me?"

Bowser scowled at his son. "What about Peach?"

"Oh… well," Iggy cleared his throat and professionally looked over his clip-board, covered in doodles. "I don't think whether or not you sent up dessert affected her actions at the actual dinner. Maybe she just-"

"Was acting rude and in an uncalled for manner?" The two koopas gasped at the person who had voiced the suggestion. Princess Peach tried to smile as she stepped into the room. She had to ask four different servants where to find Bowser that morning, and once she had, she just stood in the doorway, listening to the two of them.

"Peach…" Bowser stumbled to his feet, surprised by her sudden appearance.

Peach shuffled her feet hidden under her dress. "I'm ashamed of how I acted yesterday. I was rude and unfair. I intend to make it up to you this week."

Bowser felt like his heart was getting caught in his throat. Images and fantasies of how she could 'make it up' to him started whizzing past his mind. Then he caught himself; this was no time to day-dream. If he intended to keep this reality a reality, he had to stay in reality.

Peach continued, luckily having not seen Bowser's greedy face for those few seconds. "I'm going to make an effort not to be the pain-in-the-neck I normally am when kidnapped. I-I've been thinking about what you were saying and I really am sorry for my reaction. It was very un-princess like behavior, but…it just felt natural. I intend to change that."

Bowser grinned. "Just as long as you don't change too much, Peach. I like you how you are."

Peach bit back remarks and thoughts that were filling her head and simply said "Thank you". Relief washed over her and she smiled. Once she put aside the bitter and prejudiced feelings she harbored towards Bowser, it was a lot easier to accept things as she would if they were coming from anyone else. Maybe this 'fair and good' stuff won't be too hard after all.

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Iggy watched his father talking to Peach, his tail swishing slightly in pleasure, and he couldn't help but smile. Bowser was so often harsh, coarse, and reserved, scowling and relying on the pain of others to cheer him up. All Peach had to do was talk to him and he was happier than he ever was watching Roy beat up bunny rabbits or listening to goombas complain about the pointlessness of dragging 50 tons of flour across the entire palace.

Iggy looked away from his father and to his notebook, noticing how one of his mindless doodles was actually pretty cool-looking. He happily bit his tongue and lifted his feet off the ground and onto his chair, propping the clip-board against his legs as he made notes and further doodles. Engulfed in ideas for what he could turn the doodle into, he didn't notice his father leave with Peach.

Bowser had decided that Peach needed to know her way around the palace. He had told her about a few rooms already, watching her face as she thought, blinked, walked. Chills went down Bowser's spine as her skirt touched his leg as they rounded a corner.

"And what's that?" Peach asked, pointing a delicate finger towards a long hallway.

Bowser grinned in pride. "That," he began, "Is one of thirty-seven entrances to the central-power duct. Would you like to go in?"

"Sure," she replied curiously. Why on earth would they need thirty-seven entrances? Peach wondered. Surely a generator wouldn't be that big. When they approached the door, Bowser turned the knob left, left, right, left, and right again. With a hiss, the door opened revealing- a closet.

Glancing at the Koopa King, Peach asked, "What's with the security-knob for a closet?"

Bowser fished through goggles, shells, suits, and all sorts of things Peach didn't recognize as he answered. "If someone got into the power duct who wasn't supposed to, all life in Darklands could halt. The Volcanopalace isn't here just for decoration, it actually has a purpose." Bowser turned to Peach, two pairs of goggles in his hand. "And that purpose isn't just to show how amazing I am to be able to live in it." He grinned.

Peach felt a smile forming on her lips. Bowser was so cocky, it was almost funny. The king handed her a pair of goggles and continued fishing through equipment. He pulled out a small black jacket and handed it to the Princess. "You have to be careful, sometimes the equipment sparks." Bowser snapped his goggles on and looked through the much-darker room at Peach. Frowning, he reminded her that goggles were for wearing, not holding, and that he didn't want her to go blind.

Peach frowned back. "It'll be too dark. I'll put them on when we go in."

"I'm not letting you go in unless you have them on."

Peach laughed as she snapped them on. "You sound like you're my mother."

Smirking, Bowser replied, "Having eight kids does that to you." Wait, eight kids?I thought… Before Peach could imagine eight miniature Bowsers running around, Bowser opened the door. At once, light hit Peach so hard; she forgot how dark she had thought it had been with the goggles on.

As her eyes adjusted, she realized why there were thirty-seven entrances. The 'central-power duct' proved to her that VolcanoPalace wasn't just a name to bluff with. Lava poured from dozens of pipes, gears and pulleys of all kinds moving around, lifting, lowering, turning, and moving the lava from place to place. The clatter and commotion was a horrible droning sound to Peach, but Bowser seemed to enjoy it. A loud bell rang out and a hutch opened up, an avalanche of rocks tumbling down, some falling into the waterfall of lava falling down the center. They melted almost instantly, and Peach realized how hot she was.

Peach stared through her goggles at the sight for a few minutes, growing ever hotter. She watched torrents of lava tumble down countless stories, the huge, cylindrical room with doors scattered through the floors. Occasionally a few doors opened and koopas with clipboards stepped out and goombas with carts pushed through.

Peach wiped sweat off her forehead. She felt herself get dizzy and grabbed Bowser's arm to get his attention. Her mouth felt dry, but she managed to tell him over the clatter, "I'm really hot."

Bowser laughed. He raised an eyebrow; a bit surprised Peach would say that. You sure are…

Peach frowned and tugged harder, feeling her legs grow weak. "Bowser, I'm really…Bowser!" she whined. The heat had gone to her head and she couldn't seem to think straight or even form complete sentences.

Peach's desperate tone caught Bowser's attention. He looked down at the princess, sweat sparkling under her blonde hair. Bowser frowned, remembering that the heat affected Peach differently than it did him; Peach wasn't cold-blooded. "Alright, let's go," he said.

Bowser directed Peach out of the room and in comparison; the closet's temperature hit Peach like an icy wall. She gasped and pulled her goggles off her face. "Now I'm cold," Peach commented.

Bowser smirked at her. "You're just never happy, are you?"

Peach smiled a bit. "Guess not." Peach thought about the dozens of come-backs she could have thrown at Bowser, but for some reason, she didn't want to. She felt herself warm up and looked at her pristine white gloves. "That's a really cool, er, room, Bowser. But I don't think it's built for humans to go gallivanting in." She looked up at Bowser and smiled, trying to show it was a joke. Bowser grinned back. A strange lump formed in Peach's throat, probably one from her remembering she was 'hanging out' with Bowser, and she tried to clear her throat to get rid of it. "Uh, let's keep going. I still don't know how to get around this place…"

Bowser furrowed his brow, almost forgetting why Peach was here. "Oh…the tour…of course!" He opened the door for the princess and showed her out. As they walked through the halls, Bowser said, "Peach, how come you got so hot in there?"

Peach looked up at Bowser and raised an eyebrow. "I thought we covered this. You're a koopa, I'm a human." Bowser nodded. The truth was painfully obvious. "You and I are affected by the heat differently."

Bowser sighed. "I know, that's my question. Mario has been in rooms much hotter than that, stepping right over lava, and he hasn't gotten that weak yet. Not even a sweat." Bowser growled as he spoke, Peach could tell how it frustrated the Koopa King.

"Bowser, Mario also manages to chuck you across the room and most people can't even lift your shell. Mario is…an exception. To pretty much everything." Peach smiled as she thought about Mario, trying her best not to frown as she thought of things besides laws of physics that Mario seemed to be an exception for. The rules of courtship, for instance…

Bowser looked at Peach's face (she was still smiling, and Bowser couldn't see it was forced) and growled in anger and jealousy. "Are we touring my palace or talking about some plumber?"

Peach snapped out of her short day-dream and laughed. "Alright, let's keep going."

It hit Peach once again how odd her situation was, allowing Bowser to tour her around the palace and she had so far enjoyed herself. Bowser's cockiness and pride in his kingdom was funny, and his love for his kids and kingdom was almost cute. He showed her rooms for meetings, experiments, power, leisure, and some with purposes she didn't even remember.

Bowser's tour screeched to a halt when he pointed to a large oaken door painted black with a golden moon on it. "And this-" he began. Bowser frowned. "This is where I'm supposed to be having a meeting right now."

"Oh!" Peach exclaimed, "I didn't realize-"

Bower waved off her concern. "No big deal. But it is a really important meeting, so I really should…" Bowser sighed. He didn't want to leave Peach. They were enjoying themselves, she was listening to him, commenting, and Bowser was having a wonderful time. But his kingdom needed him, he wasn't supposed to miss this meeting, the topic at hand had gotten rather out of control and needed his input.

Peach shook her head. "Then go, Bowser."

"But you-"

Peach held up her index finger to silence him. "I can handle myself. If you're late…"

Bowser laughed. He raised his head in pride and said, "King Bowser is never late."

Peach smirked. "Everyone else is just early, right?"

Bowser's eyes lit up. "That's a great excuse!"

Peach laughed whole-heartedly. When she let him be, Bowser really was fun to be around. Wait, what? Peach shook her head and frowned at herself. Fair and Good is different from insane. She looked away from Bowser's eyes. "You should go to your meeting."

Not noticing Peach's change of tone, Bowser continued to smile as he nodded. "As you wish. I'll have an assistant finish the tour, highness." Bowser opened the oaken door and roared, "Koofia, get out here!"

A rather bent-out-of-shape old koopa lady excused herself from her panel and heaved her way out of the meeting room. "Yissiya?" She hissed in a horse voice.

Bowser placed his claw on Peach's shoulder and smiled. "Finish Princess Peach's tour of the VolcanoPalace. Now."

Peach looked at Bowser's claw, very gingerly touching her shoulder. She shuddered, but couldn't resist enjoying the strange warmth that his hand seemed to have. Certainly she wasn't enjoying his touch, just…just the warmth.

"Yissiya," Koofia answered and turned to the princess, Bowser lifting his claw off her shoulder. "Follome, Princessss Peach." Koofia hobbled down the hall and Peach began to follow her.

Bowser put his clawed hand that had touched Peach in his other one and smiled. He bent towards Peach and whispered, "Koofia's a little…well she's hard on hearing and not so keen on sight. But she knows the palace like the back of her claw; she'll take you back here when the meeting's over. In about an hour and a half." Bowser stood up and smiled. He knew what he would do in Peach's situation- cut it and run while Koofia wasn't looking.

Bowser smirked at the thought. "See you later, Peach." The words sounded sweet on his lips. See you later…she'd remain here, happy, and he'd remain happy as well. He grinned.

Peach looked over her shoulder at the Koopa King and smiled. How could she not, his grin was so contagious. "Yeah," she called. More to herself, she added, "See you later." See you later…

Koofia continued hobbling down the hall, pointing out rooms and telling Peach some pointless information about them until Bowser could no longer see them. He swore he saw Peach look over her shoulder once more, but couldn't tell. It might have just been wishful thinking.

He sighed and reluctantly entered the meeting room. As he seated himself in the room's center, he smirked, growling, "Why were you all so early?"

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Peach stared blankly into the room Koofia had just pointed at. Her tour guide mumbled something in a horse, slurred whisper and continued hobbling down the hallway. In a state of unrelenting boredom, Peach followed, walking with alternating shoes, putting her left foot to the far right and vice versa. As she continued in the unlady-like manner, Peach tripped. Luckily she caught herself before falling face first, but she had still gasped quite loudly.

Fixing her hair, she glanced at Koofia, advancing through the halls as if nothing had happened. The guide stopped to point at another room, apparently unaware Peach had fallen far behind. Smiling, Peach remembered what Bowser had whispered to her in that strange, warm whisper of his. Peach rushed up to Koofia and waved her hand behind Koofia's head. No response. Peach tried countless other gestures. No response. It seemed as if Koofia had forgotten Peach even existed.

Perhaps…Peach could meet up with Koofia at the end. No one would be the wiser if she spent her time on her own tour, actually enjoying herself. She cleared her throat, but Koofia just continued on. "I'm, uh…going to leave now," Peach said. She stared in shock as Koofia made no reaction. Hey, at least I told her…

Peach followed Koofia as she continued down the hall, falling behind and walking slower and slower, hoping to make a clean get-away. Peach grinned as Koofia rounded the corner and the princess took off the opposite direction down the deserted hall.

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She turned down another hall and up a flight of stairs, and to her surprise heard off in the distance a piano…a beautiful piano. Curious, Peach followed the noise to a door, torches on either side lit. Peach had realized by then that the lit torches were a sign of the room's occupation.

Peach put her ear to the door and heard the music, still a bit muffled. Excitement rushed through the princess as she twisted the knob open. Vacations were a lot more fun this way, with no rules and no clue what was going on.

Music blasted Peach as the door swung open. Still in a bit of a shock, Peach gingerly closed the door behind her. The room had music pieces littered all over the floor, instruments, some that she recognized and some that she didn't, in every corner. In the room's center sat a brilliant grand piano, music and ink in piles and puddles on either side. Obviously, the virtuoso playing was also a brilliant composer.

Chords, dissonance, and all sorts of musical brilliance rang out while Peach approached the piano. Peach gasped when she saw the piano's player, entrapped in his own creation. Seated on the bench was a koopaling with a huge, tangled mass of blue hair. With the exception of his hair and a few facial features, the koopaling looked a lot like Bowser, just smaller.

Her gasp sent shudders of shock and surprise down Ludwig's back and he gasped as well, his well-exercised claws hitting quite a few clashing notes. "Princess Peach!" Ludwig flushed red and began shuffling his papers together. "For what reason am I blessed by your presence?"

Slightly flustered by the adolescent's vocabulary and compliments, it took Peach a second or two to respond. "Just exploring. What's your name?"

Ludwig thrust a claw towards Peach. "Ludwig Von Koopa. Eldest son of His Excellency, King Bowser."

Peach smiled and shook the offered claw. "What a pleasure to meet you, Ludwig Von Koopa. And I could tell you were Bowser's son."

Ludwig blushed again. "We've met before, your highness. But it isn't your culpability to forget it; it wasn't a very memorable moment for someone of your status."

Peach let her hand fall and sat next to the koopaling on the bench, choosing to ignore his comment. "That was a very impressive song, Ludwig."

Ludwig smiled and said, "Thank you. I began composing this movement on Friday. I hope to finish the entire concerto by Father's birthday on Thursday."

Peach raised her eyebrows. "That's an ambitious goal."

Ludwig drew his attention to the music sheet and began scratching notes out with his quill. "Well, I feel quite confident I can finish. This piece has been a pet-project for me of late and I've grown quite attached to it. I feel my musical capabilities are all showcased quite well and that I captured the essence of the inspirational ideas. The piece is practically composing itself." He quietly hummed a few notes and grinned, scribbling them down furiously in place of the ones he just scratched out, ink splatters just missing Peach's face.

She laughed. "You're very dedicated. I didn't even realize Bowser's birthday was Thursday."

Ludwig spun to face Peach. "You didn't? Well, that was the rationale on which we decided to bring you here, for his birthday!" Ludwig reached back and buried his claw in his large, blue hair, scratching his head. "I'm not positive you were supposed to know that though."

Peach furrowed her brow. "Why did you want me to come for his birthday?"

Ludwig smiled. "You can't be serious, your highness. It's quite noticeable that Father is, as they say, 'head-over-heels' infatuated with you and would only be happy with you by his side."

Peach felt a lump in her stomach. What was that? Anger? No, surprise? Not that, it was something she would have expected from Bowser. A feeling of disgust? No, not at all…she couldn't pinpoint the feeling and tried to dismiss it.

After clearing her throat, Peach asked Ludwig to play what he had so far written of the song. Ludwig chuckled. "Oh no, Princess Peach. You've already heard too much, you'll hear it on Thursday with everyone else. But…perhaps I could get your opinion on this latest system here." Ludwig played about half a line of music, ending with a fairly unsatisfactory chord. "What do you think? I'm not, in actuality, satisfied at all with it."

"Try a major triad progression instead."

Ludwig played the measure with Peach's change and his face lit up. "Brilliant!" Murmuring to himself, Ludwig began scribbling all over his music again.

Laughing, Peach told him, "I'd better get going. I don't want your Father to send out the cavalry for me not being where I'm supposed to be. Speaking of which…shouldn't you be in school?"

Ludwig shook his head and put his quill down. "I am in school; this is my 'Personal Studies' period. Father wants us to have time in our day to progress our natural abilities and improve what we enjoy as well as what we require for an absolute education. My tutor has stopped instructing me, so I spend my periods here," Ludwig gestured to the room with an ink-splattered arm, "In my castle of solitude and music." He turned to the princess. "So where are you supposed to be?"

"On a tour of the palace. Bowser had started to show me around, but then he had a meeting and had some other koopa lead me around."

Just then, the door slammed open and Roy ran in, slamming the door behind him. "Oh hey," he said to Peach and Ludwig, grinning. He walked nonchalantly over to the piano where Peach and Ludwig sat.

"What in Darklands is going on out there?" Ludwig hissed to his brother. Roy leaned against the piano and folded his arms. Before he could answer, Ludwig hollered, "Watch your shell!"

Roy leapt up and laughed. "Oh yeah, dat. Forgot datchoh pianah is wood, not stone."

"I'm never getting a stone piano, and you can't compel me to, ever," Ludwig snarled.

Roy put his hands up. "I know, bro. Calm down. So watchu doin' here, Mama Peach?"

Ludwig answered for her. "She was just informing me that she was being given a tour of the castle and excused herself."

Roy's eyes lit with amusement from behind his sunglasses. "You ditched? Sweet. Who da bore?"

Peach furrowed her brow. "Excuse me?"

Roy rolled his eyes and started to lean against the piano again. Ludwig's carefully aimed breath sent a burst of flame at Roy. "I got da message, Ludo!" He straightened himself out and sent a glare towards his eldest brother. "So Peach, I was askin' who was tourin' ya?"

Peach shrugged. "I think Bowser said her name was 'Koofia' or something."

Roy grinned. "Smart job ditchin' her. That lady bores da teeth outta us, but she's so easy teh ditch." Peach felt a bit bad when it hit her that she really had ditched. What was it about the palace that made her act so out of character? Come to think of it, she had done the exact same thing by coming on this vacation.

Somehow, Roy noticed her unrest while Ludwig began playing with full-vigor again. "Don't sweat it, Peachy. You're on vacation, right? So act like it. Have some real fun. Throw caution to the wind and really live. Got it?" Roy elbowed Peach with a secret grin.

Allowing herself a half-smile, Peach nodded. "I guess that was the whole point of me leaving the Mushroom Kingdom…" Memories flooded Peach's mind. It seemed so long ago that she had been eating breakfast in her castle, and now that she thought of the soft, fluffy pancakes, just thick enough to make them truly "hearty", her stomach clenched. She hadn't eaten since that steak last night while finishing up another Darklands Soap Opera (They really seemed to be quite addictive…Peach had no idea why).

Peach daintily cleared her throat, trying to think of something to get her mind off her guilt and her hunger. "I don't think I've really met you. What's your name?"

Roy thrust a claw out to Peach. "'Name's Roy. Roy Koopa." Ah, another of Bowser's children…Peach smiled and went to shake the claw when Roy withdrew it quickly. "Psyche!" He laughed and ignored the daggers Ludwig was shooting at him with his eyes.

Peach rolled her eyes and smiled. She was used to that sort of thing from the younger toads and honestly enjoyed it. "Roy," she asked, "where are you supposed to be right now?"

Roy cracked his knuckles before answering. "Da Lemstah and I are in da same PS class and we were playing Ultimate Tag." He glared at Peach. "I told ya that 'cause I don't tink you'd be de one teh spill it. So don't. Got me?"

Peach looked curiously at Roy. "What's so bad about Tag?"

Roy almost looked shock that Peach wouldn't know. "It ain't cool! Dude, you'd tink I was de only one who actually cared about my image around here."

Ludwig didn't even look up as he said with a smirk. "That's affirmative." With a roar of surprise, he jumped off the stool and began to swat at his large blue hair-do, now lit from Roy's flame. Once it was finally out he glared at his younger brother. Thrusting a claw towards the door, he roared, "Get out, Roy, before you ignite my compositions and start an inferno!"

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Chill, smart-alek. It's your fault you don't cut your hair."

"At least I have hair to cut," Ludwig snarled as he began collecting his scattered music pages from the floor.

Roy glared at his brother. "I'm lettin' that one slip, smarty, but I ain't finished here. Okay, well, I am for now, but that's just 'cuz its boring me, not cause you said so."

Peach rolled her eyes, the tiff reminding her slightly of the 'fights' she would have with Daisy. Peach was very close to her cousin, sometimes it seemed Daisy was at the Mushroom Kingdom more than she was Sarasaland. Probably because she didn't really want to be queen- at all. She looked over at Roy, heading for the door. "Hey, I'll go with you." She turned politely to Ludwig as she got off the piano bench. "I've got to get to Bowser's conference room before Koofia does. Thank you for playing for me, it was excellent." She curtsied to Ludwig who bowed his head in reply, still snarling slightly as he picked up the scattered music.

Peach waved one last time before leaving with Roy. "So, Roy, do you think you could show me to Bowser's conference room?"

Roy strained his brain in thought. The top of his red head came about up to Peach's shoulder. "Shoi. Pops should be in the Moon Room 'bout now. Follah me." Roy headed down the halls, Peach pointing out curious looking rooms and trying to decipher what Roy was telling her about them.

After a few minutes, the two heard stomping feet smacking the stone floor, obviously not those of the light-toed maids or polite officials moving through the halls. Roy's face lit up. "That's the Lemstah now. I've gotta get goin', Mama Peach."

"Wait, how'm I supposed to get to the meeting from here?"

Roy was running backwards by now. He called out, "Make a left at the next junction, then right at the kitchen. If you hit the work-out room, you've gone too far." He spun around and took off down the halls. Peach walked at a normal pace until she was almost bowled over by another teenager-koopaling. The two tripped and fell to the fall with dual "oomph"s.

The koopaling got up and ran his hand through his head of rainbow-hair, gasping as he saw who had had knocked down. "Mama Peach!" He shouted and extended a claw to lift her up. Peach tried to look the koopaling in the eye to thank him, but his one eye kept moving in all different directions. Looking into his good eye, Peach thanked him. "Thanks for what? I knocked you over."

"Thanks for helping me up," Peach explained, a bit surprised he didn't know that.

"Oh, that." Peach noticed the koopaling had quite a loud voice and a goofy grin, just like his father. Or, at least, she assumed this was another of his eight children. He extended a claw and continued to grin. "My name's Lemmy. I'm King Dad's son."

Peach couldn't help smiling at the cute koopaling. He was obviously not as brilliant as Ludwig or as quick-on-the-uptake as Roy, but he seemed smart in his own way. Peach took her gloved hand and shook Lemmy's claw. "I'm Princess Peach Toadstool."

Lemmy nodded vigorously. "I know. I have to go now, bye Mama Peach!" Without waiting for a response, Lemmy took off in the direction Roy had run. Peach giggled and continued on her way.

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Bowser rubbed his temples. He hated meetings, especially when they kept him away from Peach. "Kamek," he groaned, "is it over yet?"

Kamek looked up at his king. "Not yet, sire. But we're almost done with the business at hand."

"Good," Bowser snarled. He tried to listen again to the accusing shouts of different representatives over inappropriate oil usage. Oil wasn't used very often in the Darklands and so the supply was limited. Bowser shut his eyes tightly and snapped them open. "Shut up already!" He bellowed. The hall silenced, many representatives quivering in fear, many more eager to hear Bowser's decision. "I propose that all the representatives bring, as close to exact as they can, a detailed list of oil needs to the head of Oil Distribution. I mean every stupid time somebody stupid uses oil should be on the list." Bowser, in anger, banged his clenched fist on the table. "Every-stupid-time!"

Kammy poked Bowser from the other side, unfazed by his temper. "We don't have an Oil Distribution board, sire. Everyone just…buys the oil."

Bowser rolled his eyes. "Okay then, this is what we're doing." He scanned his list of officials without jobs and found one who fit his needs perfectly. "Samuel Samuelson is going to be the head of the Darklands Oil Distribution." From the back of the hall, Samuel Samuelson, a rather tall dry-bones, looked a bit surprised, but eager. Bowser continued. "He will organize a committee and all the provinces will send their detailed list of oil needs to the Oil Distribution committee. The committee will then allot each province the needed amount of oil, no more, no less. They will decide which is fit for how much and the price of oil will raise an extra five koopacoins per barrel to assist in paying the committee. That's what we're doing. Does anyone disagree?"

With a grin of satisfaction, Bowser noted not a single claw rose into the air, probably due in part to fear. He continued. "Samuel, you need to have a committee by next Saturday and figure the rest of this stuff out. Then alert the provinces of when they need to send in the lists and all that junk that you have to. I expect the new system to start working by the end of the month. Until then, just buy the oil like you all normally do and don't start any wars over it."

The koopa in charge of the current meeting launched sparks into the air. "Are we done here?" he asked. Another blast of sparks launched from somewhere in the stands and a magikoopa in long, emerald robes stood up to speak. As Bowser turned to see him, something caught his eye. Peach. Bowser gasped and stared at her, standing in the doorway of the meeting room and waiting for the magikoopa to speak like everyone else was.

Bowser fought back the butterflies in his stomach and tried to ignore the princess, as if she was just part of the royal committee, participating in the meeting. It was strangely a lot easier to pretend than he thought. Probably because he had been fantasizing about it for years.

Bowser blinked and listened curiously to the magikoopa explaining that his province was expressing interest in the area of the gulf that Bowser had taken claim of. He spoke matter-of-factly, proud and announcing that the province would gladly pay 5,000,000 golden bars for the gulf.

Bowser announced that they would open an auction if anyone wanted it for over 5,000,000 golden bars. After a good half hour of bidding, Tchital, who had wanted it in the first place, ended up winning with 365,750,000 golden bars due to the government. The meeting adjourned and Bowser couldn't seem to get off his stand fast enough. He ran over to Peach and grinned. "What are you doing here? Where's Koofia?"

Peach smiled. His grin was really, really contagious. "I got bored and kind of…excused myself from the tour. I met a few of your kids, too." Peach added excitedly.

Bowser smiled. "That's fantastic! Who'd you meet?"

Peach ticked them off on her fingers. "Ludwig, Roy, and Lemmy, I believe. Very nice boys."

Bowser lifted his eyebrows and started to leave the room, Peach walking at his side. "Don't tell them that. They 'love being mean'. Get that from their brilliant father." Bowser grinned pompously and Peach couldn't help laughing.

"They said your birthday is on Thursday. I had no idea!" It was starting to surprise Peach how easy it was to have a conversation with the royal koopas.

Bowser rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, yeah it is…There's going to be a lot going on for it, I bet. Parades, banquets, parties…" Bowser tried to smile. "It should be a lot of fun this year, with you here." Something in Bowser's tone didn't convince the princess. In truth, he wasn't sure he'd enjoy his birthday if Peach was miserable. Unbeknownst to her, he'd always sent her something gracious and exquisite on his birthdays, hoping it would make her happy. That would be the best present, if Peach would be happy because of him.

Disturbing images of parades, parties, and banquets with Peach moping during them flashed past Bowser's mind.

Peach frowned, realizing that she was probably the reason Bowser wasn't looking forward to his birthday, regardless of what he said. She might not have exactly liked Bowser, but that didn't mean she wanted him miserable. But what could she do? She wasn't supposed to be trying to make Bowser happy, after all. That just…wasn't how things were supposed to work.

And yet…

Author's Note: We're getting cloooooser:O

As I said before, this is a tough part for me to write. Fun to right, but not very climactic and kind of...boring...and Razzi does -not- like her stories to be boring! So, although I don't think I ever need to beg for reviews (you guys are so amazing, seriously! Last chapter's responce made me so happy, I'm -still- getting lovely, lovely reviews trickling in! I love you all for being so nice to me and making me feel like an accomplished writer, ha!) I just want you to know that this is just that little slow section every book has... the calm before (And after) the storm.

Anyway. I hoped you enjoyed it to some extent, the writing was fun, I can tell you that. :D

-Razzi