Foreword: Even though I know I'm late...I don't feel like I am. I'm sorry about that, because I really am like super late. But I'm on schedule again (just finished 28, wootwoot) so even with school starting fairly soon, updates should be better. AND we're almost done with the ball, so I won't have to worry about tailoring it to my over-hyped and disappointed expectations so much!

Oh, and if the beginning segment with the penguins drags, I'm sorry. I cut and snipped and edited until all I left is what seems absolutely necessary. Still seems long to me, but I actually left out some stuff with them I would have liked to play with more. And I had to add Daisy's scene because I promised a bunch of people I'd explain her odd dream this chapter, then realized "oh crap she's not awake! She can't explain!" so, just to warn you, I'm sorry if a sleep-deprived Luigi comes to hunt you in the night ;)

Now, Disclaimer! Those silly penguins are the sorry brain children of myself, but all the good characters are property of the braniacs at Nintendo, across the sea!

As one of the richest, most celebrated, and most purple penguins in the Darklands, Jane Frosten was very much at home at the ball. "Dear Miss Icegerald, this has been a lovely evening, hasn't it?"

Miss Icegerald, a penguin not quite as purple but far more wealthy than Miss Frosten, nodded her head along with her bouncing pearls. "Just lovely. It's sad our stay is over…they're already playing the First Last Dance."

"Mmhmm….we'll have to see if we can attend next year."

"Oh Jane, be serious! Next year Scott and I'll still be beak-deep in debt from these tickets!"

"Ah, yes, I had forgotten about that little detail called money…perhaps in three years or so? Maybe by then, Her Highness will be attending as more than a guest?"

Miss Icegerald turned in her seat and stared over at the elegant royals, spinning through the dancehall, their flirting as light as their dancesteps. "You think so, Jane? Oh, wouldn't that be ace…but would Princess Peach really be ready to move on that soon?"

"Perhaps you aren't up on all the latest gossip, m'dear," Miss Frosten muttered, and instantly had Miss Icegerald leaning in closer, "but she's in higher spirits around His Horribleness than she's ever been. And just at the beginning of this week, she wasn't even willing to look him in the eye."

"Well, isn't that why three years seems a bit quick?"

"Not at all! Why, just look at her, Zelda!" Jane waved a wing in their direction and sighed. Peach twirled in the air as Bowser lifted her, throwing her shining blonde hair back and laughing. "I'm sure you've seen pictures and videos and what-not of her with Mario. She's so…she always seems as uncomfortable as a sardine. Honestly," she laughed, "I don't blame her. Can you imagine being set up and expected to marry that fat, old, mustachioed man? If your Scott looked anything like Mario, I'd have stopped you at the church gates."

"Looks aren't everything, Jane. You're no stick either, y'know. But I do see your point…she seems so happy tonight. And that's to say nothing about Bowser! I've never even imagined him this happy in my life!"

Jane placed her wings on her laps and sighed happily. "I wish them the best. I do think I'd cry if they aren't happily married by the time we're here again."

"It's a good thing His Majesty already has those little terrors of his," Zelda added, waving her wing toward the line of koopalings magically glued in place, "because I'm pretty sure Peach couldn't get him anything."

Jane put her elbow on the table and playfully added, "Not that His Highness won't try." The girls twittered with laughter. In silence, they returned to watching the elegant couples waltzing through the last dance. Finally, the orchestra played the last chord.

Ludwig, just barely visible from the third story up, bowed graciously and left sight as he began the descent to join his siblings. The first violinist, Gregory, began to conduct slow background music for the guests to listen to as they were ushered out.

Jane Frosten sighed and stood herself up. "Well, Miss Icegerald, shall we be going then?"

"Yeah, we probably should." She stood up and brushed her feathers down, finishing off her koopa wine before leaving the glass on the table. Wing-in-wing, Jane and Zelda waddled over towards the large oaken doors, eager to get a spot in line before it was too long. The wait already seemed like it would be another twenty minutes before they left.

After waiting in line for several minutes, a gentlemanly whomp let the ladies past him in line; he had recognized Jane from her romance novels' pictures. and they were both pleased to move closer, regardless of Zelda's bout of jealousy of the whomp completely ignoring her and her husband's existence and success.

Once they reached the oldest of the koopalings, Zelda thrust her wing into his claw. "Beautiful music, sire, truly beautiful. I almost teared up in that third ballad you played; the retrograde was a stunning addition. And the Scherzo piece was so much fun…I've heard it preformed before, but never like that. I don't dance, but I just had to get out of my seat for that one. You move your orchestra beautifully and I have no doubt less than half of the beauty was their own talent's fault. You do magic with that baton and quill, sire, you truly do."

Ludwig bowed his head, smiling sincerely. "Well, thank you, Madame. I trust you are not simply trying to impress me as some anathema here might; you seem to speak with perfect probity and I thank you."

Zelda beamed. She opened her beak to say more, but Jane pushed her out of the way and giggled, thrusting her wing firmly into Ludwig's wing. "I have to admit, sire, I'm a bit of a fangirl of yours, and I just ado…I mean I venerated such canorous music. And to meet you is simply prodigious."

Ludwig's smile faded as he looked deeply into Zelda's eyes. He interrupted her quickly. "You might practice your vocabulary before you attempt to actuate it. It could be presumed you procured a thesaurus and memorized 'the pretty words' to inveigle my attention. And as flattered as I am to have yet another epigone, I hope you do not embarrass yourself like this in front of all your betters."

Zelda's purple face had bleached itself, and Zelda, although still in the middle of introducing herself to a very distracted Lemmy, tried to explain her friend to Ludwig. "This is Jane Frosten, Prince Ludwig…words are her craft."

Ludwig nodded in understanding. "Even authors are fallible…you do not yet have the aplomb of one comfortable with one's words, Miss Frosten, and I do believe it would be beatific to remember that sometimes vocabulary pendency is supererogatory. But by all means, utilize your words to the exact."

Jane's color returned slowly, and she nodded, perhaps enthralled more in Ludwig's face and voice than his advice. She stumbled right past Lemmy to catch up with Zelda, who had already finished greeting the koopaling. Zelda rolled her eyes at her friend, but let her shake Roy's hand first. Jane quickly found herself and said, "I'm honored to meet you, sire. I've heard a lot about you."

"Nawt too much d'oh, raught? Ch'yeah, I'd assume ya have. How you doin'?"

Jane smiled, honored by the question. "Well, quite well, thank you very much. And yourself?"

Roy smirked, ignoring Jane's innocent question, and turned to Zelda behind her. "And you, chickie? How you doin'?"

"We're doing just fine, Roy. Scott's last book did very well, so we don't need your aid this year. But my friend…" She leaned in, took Roy's hand as if very intense on shaking it, and muttered, "You know Sammy Koopa?"

Roy bit his tongue, then looked back into Zelda's eyes. "Yeah, yeah. He runs dat 'otel you an' Scott were at dat one time. Best business I've had in a while. What's wrong wif da goi?"

"He's had a few too many Snifits and Shy Guys around and a few too Koopas and Goombas, if you know what I mean."

Roy widened his eyes, interpreting Zelda just fine. "No kiddin'? Sammy's has gotta be da most secure joint I know 'a! And he's too good a' business teh let go…I'll look inter it, ch'yeah."

Zelda nodded, pulling away. Jane looked back, her eyes wide as koopa coins. Answering the unasked question, Zelda said, "Roy likes to party almost as much as Scott and I do." They both tittered with laughter, and Jane shook hands with Iggy immediately.

"Such a pleasure to meet you, Prince Iggy. Such a pleasure…perhaps you've heard of me? Jane Frosten?"

Iggy considered the question for a while, and then clearly recognized Jane's name. "You're a famous author, aren't you? Yes, yes…that last book of yours has been on the Bestsellers list for awhile."

Jane grinned. "Indeed it has. I've already talked with three different studios about the film rights."

Iggy looked over at Zelda, waiting patiently in line. He took her hand as well, asking, "And you're Zelda Icegerald, correct?"

Zelda smiled, looking over at Jane. "Yeah, I am. Recognize me for my husband's books, right?"

Iggy laughed. "No; I recognize you from the tabloids."

At the word "tabloids", Wendy was instantly done talking with the mouse family, and was peering over to see what celebrity Iggy was mocking this time. She squealed, literally pushing the youngest mouse ahead to get Zelda closer. She thrust her claw into Zelda's wing and quickly got her cool. "Zelda! I, like, totally recognize you."

"Yeah, I recognize you too. Weren't you in that one party with the-"

"I, like, don't like to, like, talk about that party," Wendy neatly interrupted. She glanced around before leaning in to Zelda and whispering, "Bad memories. Tabs haven't, like, heard the story yet and I really don't, like, wann'em to. Know what I mean?"

Zelda laughed. "Yeah, I do. Trust me, I've had my number of mistakes. Do you remember reading about the time I got caught in that big tub of cheese?"

"And you were, like, totally covered in goombas too?"

"Yeah, well, the real story's about thirty times worse. Let's just say I'm really glad Scott loves me." They both laughed, Wendy happy with yet another celebrity kindred soul.

Zelda looked over at Jane, who seemed a bit impatient and unappreciated. "Have you heard of Jane Frosten?" Wendy's eyes went from alive and happy to blank within seconds. "Famous author?" The princess's eyes glazed over, now clear as she had no interest in books, she had no interest in that guest at all. "She wrote the story that inspired Klueless."

Wendy's eyes popped open, and she squealed. "No way! No. Way. Seriously?" She squealed again, yanking her claw out of Zelda's wing and grabbing Jane's. "I, like, totally love that movie. It's, like, one of my most favorite ever. Cher is totally like my hero and dang that girl can dress! I'm, like, sooooo happy I met you. But, like, what's your name?"

Jane looked at Wendy and smiled, a bit fakely. As royal and famous as Wendy was, Jane didn't exactly put her on par with Ludwig. "Jane. Jane Frosten."

Zelda leaned back to Jane and whispered, "Let's try and get around this mouse family. Once Morton starts talking to you, he won't stop, and I'd really like to see the Princess before we go home." Jane took her friend's advice and they tried to creep past the mice, the parents looking horrified by Morton's language and shallow insults. The children, however, were delighted at this new development that a royal was saying such easily-repeatable insults.

Jane bent down to talk to Larry, although he was easily taller than the pudgy penguin and she had to look up from her crouched position. "Well, hey there, Prince Larry! How are you doing?"

Larry glared at Jane, hissing, "Just fine, thank you. Thanks for coming."

"It's fun, huh? Being at your daddy's birthday party?"

"It's fun, huh?" Larry mocked, taking Jane's baby-voice perfectly, "Trying to annoy a very bored koopa who hates line-cutters in the first place, can breathe fire and is more fit than you'll ever be in your life and who has diplomatic immunity and the support of seven other equally bored and equally if not more fit and able to breathe fire siblings who all also have diplomatic immunity, not to mention a father who…well…is King Bowser. Fun, huh?"

Jane's face had gone white again, and Zelda avoided eye contact with Larry as she said, "Jane doesn't have children…"

Jane turned to look at Zelda and hissed, "And now you know why!" Rolling her eyes, they moved to Bowser Junior, who seemed perfectly content to sit on the floor and grab the ankles of unsuspecting guests. He personally didn't give a care what these rich jerks thought about him- he figured they'd have to love him when he was king anyway, and this is what his Dad would probably do if Peach wasn't here. Jane and Zelda were all too pleased to skip him anyway.

Kammy smiled at the two friends, said "Pleasure to have you here. I'm sure King Bowser is honored you came to celebrate him," and shook their hands. Apparently, that was all she felt she had to say all night.

"Jane Frosten. Nice to meet you, Lady Kammy. I've always been a fan of your magic and your strength in handling His Majesty. It's lovely to put a face to the stories."

Kammy smiled. This too, apparently, was something she expected. As if rehearsed, she said, "That's very kind of you, Jane. I hope to see you in the future." She smiled again, turned to Zelda, and recited the same exact greeting she had given Jane.

"Getting bored already, are you?" Zelda asked, hoping to find a more personal niche with Kammy as they had with the koopalings.

Yet Kammy still seemed robotic as she forced a laugh. "Not too bored; its lovely to meet all these people. I hope to see you in the future, too." Zelda smiled, hissing something to shut up Jane as she laughed. Kammy waved at them as they moved on to Kamek, and then turned to shake the hands of the mouse family.

Kamek, after cleaning his glasses, put them back on. He genuinely smiled at the penguins, bowing low before them. "I pray you enjoyed yourselves tonight, ladies."

"We certainly did, Sir Kamek. Did you?" Jane asked politely.

"Indeed I have, so far! I haven't had such an…entertaining…birthday ball for years. The break-dancing competition was absolutely fantastic this year. His Amazingness's competition gets stiffer every year."

Zelda looked past Kamek and noticed no one was talking to Bowser- he had scared the guests before out the door before they even said a word to Peach. As good of a conversationist as Kamek seemed, Bowser was a much more exciting person to talk to. She rushed past Jane, laughing at something Kamek said, and situated herself in front of the koopa king.

Zelda gasped- Bowser was far, far more intimidating in person than she ever expected. She bowed low and elegantly, but Bowser's face was still stoic when she returned to the surface. "H…Happy Birthday…s-sire." Suddenly, she felt very small and understood why the goomba ahead had ran out of the room. "H-have you enjoyed it-tyet? I-I mean s-so far."

Bowser smirked, impressed the skinny penguin had lasted this long. "Yeah. Peach is here, so it'd be pretty dang hard not to enjoy it."

Zelda pursed her beak, squeaking out a "good" and grabbing Jane's wing, pulling her away from Kamek and right past Bowser. "Let's talk to Peach!" she shrieked.

"But, I want to talk to-"

"No, you don't." Bowser growled at Jane, raising a bushy eyebrow in a questioning way.

"Okay, well…Happy Birthday…" Jane muttered, quickly feeling insignificant.

"Bowser!" Peach said accusingly, "Why are you scaring all your guests away?"

"Because," he answered, ignoring the mice in front of him, "They need to be scared. Otherwise they'll go home and tell everyone we're best friends and I'll have to go to a million weddings and baby showers and birthday parties every month. Plus, it's more fun."

Peach laughed, shook her head, and turned to the penguins. "You'll have to excuse him," she said with a smile, "he's a little…bored, let's say. I don't believe I've met you ladies yet…what were your names?"

"I'm Zelda Icegerald, and this is Jane Frosten." Zelda answered, instantly feeling comfortable with the well-practiced Peach.

Peach titled her head, amused and interested by the answers. "Really? The wife of Eff Scott Icegerald, the famous author, is friends with Jane Frosten, the famous author?"

Jane took Zelda's wing and answered, "since childhood!"

Peach laughed and shook their wings in turn. "Isn't that something? I'm a bit disappointed I haven't met either of you before…don't like visiting the Mushroom Kingdom or something?"

"Well, Scott and I usually go on trips to enjoy ourselves instead of meeting his fans, and Jane doesn't get out much."

"Oh, Jane, you would undoubtedly love the Mushroom Kingdom. There's a little inn in Toad Town you absolutely must stay at if you go…charming little place with a library only the castle can compete with. Also, the owner makes absolutely the best mushroom cookies…but I suppose you ladies aren't too familiar with those, are you?"

Peach's small talk continued until the uniformed koopa next to her nudged the Princess. She thanked them for coming on Bowser's behalf, shook their wings again, and waved them goodbye. Apparently, the koopa's only purpose was to tell Peach she was holding up the line.

Out the door, Zelda was telling Jane something about Peach when Jane stamped her foot down. "Darn it! We forgot to talk to her about Bowser!"

"Did we need to?" Zelda asked playfully as they walked towards the Palace's exit. "I mean, really. If you were watching her at all, she was only looking at us to be polite. She couldn't keep her eyes off him…and half the time he brushed his claw against her hand, she grabbed it. It was so obvious; I was surprised they weren't off in some closet, macking each others' faces off."

"Zeldy!" Jane laughed, punching her friend lightly. "That's no way to talk about two dignitaries like Princess Peach and King Bowser." She walked a little bit, smirking as she corrected, "They probably have more interesting things to do in a closet than just kiss."

xxxx0o0o0o0o0o0o0xxxx

After shaking a disgustingly tall koopa's hand, Bowser glanced through the doorway. To his delight, some koopa troopas began to close it, signifying the last of the second-half guests had arrived and there was no more line to stand in for the rest of the night. Everyone in line seemed relieved, Kammy stretching and wringing her hands before releasing the eager-to-leave koopalings from their magic bindings. The seven youngest ran off through the dance floor, Ludwig heading slowly and in a dignified manner towards the winding staircases.

"Ludwig," Peach called, waving her hand in the air.

The eldest koopaling turned around, his hair swinging to catch up. "What seems to be the matter, Princess Peach?"

"I was wondering; do you think you could show me where the orchestra plays?"

Ludwig stood in place, thinking. "I suppose that could be good experience for you. I always say that people should indulge themselves in as much musical enlightenment as possible. I must give you a proper tocsin- it is very much a stentorian environment in the orchestra, as the reverberations are direct. However, you should enjoy it." He began to walk away, pointing up the stairs and telling Peach where to go.

She turned around to face Bowser. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah…I guess. Seems kinda boring, but if you're going, I guess I'll go."

Peach walked over to Bowser and laced her arm through his, pulling him along towards the stairs. "Aw, come on now. He's your son, you should support him. Besides, you can try out your birthday present he gave you!"

Bowser smiled, both at Peach's touch and her reminder. "Oh yeah, that control-stick-thingy."

"It's called a baton, Bowser," Peach giggled. By now they were already up at the level with the food, waiters and other food koopas moving the current food out and replacing it with light meal buffets for the new guests.

Ludwig led them up to the third floor where, as he told them, it was very, very loud. Peach laughed, but her laughter wasn't even heard. The orchestra was so engrossed in their music that they didn't even notice King Bowser in their midst until he stepped up to the front behind Ludwig.

Ludwig gingerly took the baton from Gregory, excused him to his seat, and led the song to a premature end. He leaned over the music stand and said, "My father has come to be a guest conductor for a song, so give him your best attention. Then, I will return to position and this dilatory performance can resume as the portent it deserves to be." He stepped down and bowed to his father. "I believe you have a baton already, Father."

Bowser grinned at Ludwig and stomped onto the platform. He whipped out the black baton and glanced over at Ludwig. "How do you make it go?" Obediently, Ludwig moved his hand in a sweeping right triangle. Bowser did the same and found, to his delight, that the orchestra played music each time his hand moved through the triangle.

Thrilled with this power, he moved the baton in tiny triangles, laughing as the orchestra immediately quieted down. Then, as he made his conducting large, they became loud. Fast- they played fast. Slow- they played slow. The power was impenetrable, and it was all his.

Peach laughed with delight as Bowser led the music, finding special joy in holding one note long and then quickly moving on. Ludwig, however, had his claws clamped firmly over his ears and his eyes tightly shut to avoid being exposed to the musical abuse his orchestra had succumbed to.

After a bit, Bowser shouted for his son's attention. Somehow, through all his barriers, Ludwig heard Bowser and snapped his eyes open. "How do I get it to stop? I'm bored." Ludwig twirled his hand in a spiral, and Bowser repeated. Instantly, the music stopped, echoes the only noise in the entire third floor.

Ludwig practically ran to take back control of his orchestra, bowing low as he stood in front of his father. "Good…job…Father. I'll…take them back now." Bowser grunted and walked off the stand, Ludwig clambering up it and delighted to stand as the conductor again.

Bowser was grinning by the time he reached Peach. He took her hand as they started down the stairs to the main floor again. "Haven't seen him at that much of a loss for words for years. Was I that good?"

"Actually, I think it took him every cell in his body to not stop you from wrecking everything."

"Hmph. Well, then, I guess he just doesn't appreciate music."

xxxx0o0o0o0o0o0o0xxxx

Luigi's eyes groggily opened, awakened by the rapping on his door. He looked up at his dark ceiling, rolled over to look at Mario's snoring form, and over at the door. Someone knocked again.

Muttering nonsensical words, he swung his feet over the bed and stumbled towards the door. Unfortunately, he forgot the literal lack of walking space in the dark and tripped over a piece of furniture. Luigi shrieked, frantically swinging his arms and thus knocking down a lamp and tripping over three more objects in his path. Finally, he reached the door, panting wildly. It was too dark to survey his destruction, but it was enough for a light across the hall to turn on. Mario, however, didn't notice a thing.

Luigi swung the door wide open, revealing his groggy and ruined state to Daisy.

"Morning, sunshine!" Daisy sang. She grinned at Luigi's death stare, continuing with, "I had a bad dream."

"You woke-a me up…because you had-a bad-a dream?"

"Basically, yeah." Daisy pulled Luigi out of his room and into the dimly lit hallway. "You look horrible, Luigi."

"I-a wonder why," he growled, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. "What was your-a dream about-a, Daisy?"

"Peach. And Bowser."

"Bowser kidnapped-a Peach?"

"No, no…that's normal. This dream was crazy."

"Were they-a running off to-a the circus dressed in-a donuts and-a linguini?"

"What?"

"Oh wait-a. That was-a my dream." Luigi blinked, turned around, and tried to go back to his room.

"No, that wasn't why it was crazy," Daisy continued, spinning Luigi back around to face her. "They were on a date or something. And Peach was like in love with Bowser or something. It was so crazy!"

"You woke-a me up. To tell me you-a had a dream. And it was-a just Peach and-a Bowser. Dancing. In-a dream-a. Daisy, do you-a see anything wrong at all with-a this situation?"

Daisy sighed, rolling her eyes. "Well, I thought it was a crazy dream. Besides, there were all these…flowers everywhere."

"Flowers? Rea-lly?" Luigi raised his eyebrows, his eyelids still heavy. "Mumma-Mia, Daisy. So what?"

"Well…you and Mario are twins, right? You know the twin-thing, where you can sort of…see what Mario's seeing?"

Not waiting for an answer, Daisy excitedly continued. "Well, even though we're just cousins, Peach and I sorta have that thing too. It's only happened like, three times before, but I'll dream something and there'll be all sorts of daises everywhere, and then when I wake up, Peach tells me that she was doing something like that. Or she'll have a dream where the same thing happens, but with me…and peaches…which is probably a lot scarier than flowers. Lots and lots of fruit falling from the sky would be really creepy."

"Daisy," Luigi sighed, "I'm too tired for this. You woke-a me up to tell me you had a dream. You could have-a told me in-a the morning."

"It's not just a dream, Luigi. I was trying to tell you, I think she might actually be with Bowser!...or dancing…or just dressed up. Lots of times these dreams get far from the-"

"Okay, okay. I'm-a sorry. You woke-a me up to tell me you had a dream, and that-a Peach may or may-a not be with-a Bowser, and that she is-a probably dressed up."

Daisy pursed her lips and slouched. "Well, you make it sound stupid."

"Good. I need-a to go back to-a bed now, Daisy. Good-a night."

"What, not even a good night kiss?" Daisy whined.

"No."

Instead of pouting, Daisy smirked. "Y'know, I should talk to you when you're tired more often. Never seen you this forceful." She pecked Luigi again, then started down the hall, imagining Luigi's expression…angry, but too love-struck to show it.

xxxx0o0o0o0o0o0o0xxxx

"You know, Peach," Bowser cooed, looking down at his date, "I've never danced this much in my life."

"Hmm?" She asked, her eyes closed and face pressed against Bowser's chest. "What do you usually do at balls?"

Bowser's arms were wrapped around Peach, and she was likewise. He was simply in heaven as they swayed to the slow music. "Sit in a corner and grunt." He heard her giggle, but she stayed in the same position. Bowser lowered his head to rest it on the top of Peach's. He, too, closed his eyes and moved with her in this position neither wanted to leave. That is, until Peach stopped moving.

The Koopa's eyes snapped open and he pulled away to look down. Peach's head fell a bit as her resting spot jumped away, and she looked up, almost groggily, at Bowser. "Why'd you move?" she asked.

"Why did you stop moving?"

Peach blinked in confusion, then giggled. "I forgot we were dancing."

Bowser softened his expression, grabbing her roughly and looking back down. "What did you think we were doing then? Sleeping standing up?"

Quickly throwing her arms back over and around Bowser's neck, Peach nuzzled her face back into Bowser's chest and breathed in his musky, cologne scented odor. "I could fall asleep on you, I bet. You're so warm…and soft…it's very, very soft."

Although Peach's style of 'dancing' wasn't quite what the new song's tempo called for, Bowser didn't argue. He took any chance to hold her this perilously and impossibly close. "Yeah, well, that's our secret." He swayed a bit more with her, listening to Peach hum the Latin-beat song the band was playing. She apparently knew what song it was, even though she was far from the tango that everyone around them was attempting. "You must be really, really tired, Peachy. You want a drink?"

"Ooh, let's get some more of that purple stuff. With the blue bubbles." Peach giggled. "I like that stuff."

Now, Bowser stopped dancing. "Peach, you drank the purple stuff with the blue bubbles?"

Peach didn't seem to have the strength to pull her face out of Bowser's chest, but she did anyway, staring up at him. "Yeah, I had four…or five…I dunno…glasses."

Bowser shook her in place, but Peach just giggled. "How did you get them? That drink is in the bar and only served to koopas…its too strong for you. It's a-"

Uninterested and tired, Peach fell back onto Bowser and giggled. "A big guy gave it to me. He looked a little like you…but not as handsome. And he was bald."

"You think I'm handsome?" Bowser asked, looking down at his Princess with wide-eyes. Of course, in Peach's condition there wasn't much reliability to whatever she said, but still…handsome…

"Are we gonna get more purple stuff?" Peach asked in a slur as Bowser led her over to the bar.

"No, Peach. We're not. We're getting you some stuff to knock the purple stuff out of you."

"Aw, Bowsy…" she whined playfully, stumbling to keep up, even with her hand in his.

Bowser's heart caught at the playful nickname, but it only made him pull her faster. As wonderful as Peach was to him like this, the faster she was back to normal and he knew what she said was what she meant to say, the faster he could actually appreciate the words.

"Hey, bartender," Bowser barked at the boar cleaning glasses behind the bar. "Get Cookoopa out here, now."

"And get more purple stuff! With the blue bubbles!" Peach added, giggling.

The boar looked from Peach, giggling and trying to fall back asleep on Bowser's chest, to the frustrated koopa king. "The koopale for you of course, sire?"

"No!" Bowser roared, a spark just missing Peach. "No koopale! Just get Cookoopa!"

The boar nodded and briskly rushed off into the kitchen. Peach mumbled from Bowser's chest, "why didn't you get any more purple stuff, Bowsy?"

"Because I love you, that's why."

Before Peach could get her response out, Cookoopa was out of the kitchen. She took one look at Peach, and looked up at Bowser curiously. "Dichu give her koopale, sire?"

"No, someone else did. Get me an antidote for her, Cookie." He ordered. Cookoopa nodded and left, returning within minutes with a blue drink, purple bubbles fizzing on top.

"No offense meant, sire, but I don't think you got it in you to administer this correctly. You just let Cookoopa take care of sweet Miss Peach, mm?" Cookoopa walked out of the bar, holding out a hand to take Peach's.

Bowser sighed and reached up to grab Peach's hands from off his neck. She blinked up at him and asked what he was doing, but before he could answer, Cookoopa had Peach's nose plugged and her mouth wide open with the same hand. She poured the antidote into her mouth, and the moment the cup was empty forcibly shut Peach's mouth. "Swallow, hun," Cookoopa ordered, looking straight into Peach's glazed eyes.

Unable to talk, Peach shook her head. Cookoopa nodded hers, somehow convincing the princess to swallow. Once she swallowed, her eyes immediately scrunched shut and Peach began to sputter. She grabbed the closest thing to her, Cookoopa, and started to wheeze.

"What did you do to her?" Bowser roared, sparks shooting out of his mouth as he stared Cookoopa down.

"Donchu worry, sire. She's just recovering…she had a lot of koopale…but-" Peach's breathing had returned to normal, and now she was staring at the cook, confused where she had suddenly come from. "-she's fine now." Cookoopa looked at her in the eyes and smiled. "Peach, how do you feel?"

"Fine…but where did you come from? And where's-"

"So!" A voice roared out, approaching the bar, "Sleeping Beauty awakes!"

Author's Note: So, by 29 I guarantee the ball will be over. I might even have had it done by 28, but I wanted to include a beautiful scene requested by Mistress of Weirdness (TK, yours is firmly in my head for later on!) so I pushed it...but I like it this way with more breathing room for the end of the ball, so yay. Besides this fun scene, 28 is muuuuch better than this one. Much fluffier, too!

Oh, and speaking of the Mistress, I'd like to direct you all towards her "The Magikoopa Chronicles", a brilliant and unappreciated peice of writing. Also Kaggerz told me a few weeks ago she was chipping away on "Married to the Koopa King" (update, you!) and the lovely Mikari is always supplying us with fluff. So, my friends, don't distress when I'm lacking in updates. The last suggestion I gave you died as I never heard from ZAD again, but I know these authors are just as talented ane definetly online!

(sorry for the long A/N. I was trying to not slobber about how much I love you, so the bottom of the page looked rather empty compared to normal. I just can't seem to not tell you guys...Oh drat, now I'm slobbering.) -Razzi