Bowser walked in stoic determination while Junior trailed a few feet behind him. The little Koopa didn't even bother trying to keep up his pace. He was more focused on making sure he looked at his father as rarely as possible. Junior didn't want anything to do with him now. He would've ran at that moment if he could. As far away and as fast as possible just to get away from Bowser. But he knew he wouldn't get far with his broken arm. So, the little Koopa followed obediently with bitter passive aggression. Junior's swollen eye was making it difficult to see, and his general fatigue from the earlier events was making his entire vision blurry. He didn't even see that Bowser had stopped right in front of him as he blindly bumped into his father's leg.

"Oof!" Junior groaned as he was halted. He shot a glare at the Koopa King, who was blankly staring back down at him. "What?" Junior inquired with a resenting tone.

"You look exhausted. Want me to carry you for a while?" Bowser offered. Junior jerked his head to the side and looked away.

"No," he replied.

"You sure? I think you could use the rest."

"I said no!" Junior stormed off around his father. But Bowser firmly gripped Junior's shoulder and forced him to make eye contact again.

"I'm not trying to baby you," Bowser clarified sternly. "But you're not doing your body any favors by being a brat. Besides, you can barely see where you're going with that busted eye of your's."

"I can see just fine!" Junior exclaimed. Unfortunately for him, his father still wasn't convinced.

"You couldn't even see me standing in front of you just now," Bowser stated. Junior didn't reply. "You can hate me and pout all you want. But you've been through a lot today. Why not give your legs a break?" Junior sighed.

"Fine…," he muttered quietly. Bowser picked Junior up in his arms with care to ensure that he didn't irritate his son's fractured arm. Junior blushed in embarrassment. Despite still being young, he didn't like being cradled in his father's arms like a baby. Several minutes later, Junior drifted off to sleep as the two journeyed on.

About an hour or so later, Junior slowly woke up, still in his father's arms. He caught Bowser's attention when he released a tiny yawn.

"Morning, sleepyhead," said Bowser. Junior didn't respond to that. Despite cooling down a bit from his nap, he was still very much angry with his father and wasn't in any hurry to bond with him again so soon.

"Are we almost home?" Junior asked.

"No. I don't know how far down the river we drifted so I have no idea where we are," Bowser answered. "Heck, I don't even know if we're going in the right direction," he added.

"What are we gonna do then?"

"Nothing we can do except just keep walking. At least until we find something familiar so I know where we are in this wasteland."

"Can't we just wait for Kammy and the others to come looking for us?" Junior suggested. "I mean, you're always telling me to stay put if I get lost so you can find me."

"We don't know how long that will take, and we can't just wait around forever. You need medical attention now and your wounds are only going to get worse the longer we go without treating them," Bowser explained. Not having anything more to ask, Junior laid his head back down against Bowser's arm and drifted back off to sleep again.

Bowser was determined not to show it, but he was disappointed that Junior fell asleep again so soon. He liked having someone to talk to, even though he knew how upset his son was with him at the moment. This was a long and lonely journey to be traveling on practically alone, and when he was alone with his thoughts, the only thing Bowser could think about was the pain of his own injuries. The limp from his burned leg was growing more severe with every step he took and Bowser wasn't sure how much longer he could walk before his legs would give out completely.

Not only that, but Bowser felt as though his entire backside was on fire; no doubt as a result of his shell being exposed to lava for so long. But none of this mattered. Junior was hurt and he needed Bowser, whether he was willing to admit that or not. If Bowser were to give up now, they'd never make it home. As long as the Koopa King had even an ounce of strength left somewhere inside him, he had to keep going; keep moving no matter what. So he did. No matter the cost.

In a desperate effort to avoid the pain, Bowser's mind began to wander. His eyelids grew heavy, and his vision became blurry. He was slipping in and out of reality. Something more than just pain was consuming him. When Bowser shook his head and brought his eyes back into focus, everything around him had disappeared.

Bowser was now standing in a field of flowers in a white void. Everything else had completely vanished; the rough rock terrain beneath his feet, the mountains stretching on for miles…and even Junior from his arms! What was going on?

"Don't tell me you honestly think you can keep this up," a familiar voice spoke. Bowser sharply turned his head to meet the sound. It was his wife again. She was seated comfortably in the field by his side. Was Bowser dreaming?

"What're you doing here?" Bowser asked.

"You tell me. I seem to be on your mind a lot lately," she replied. Bowser sighed and sat down next to her. He almost failed to notice that all of his pain and injuries had mysteriously disappeared. It was as if this strange new world he had been transported to had healed him instantly.

"I miss you, hun. Every day of my life is hell without you."

"I miss you too, dear. But you're not as alone as you think. You have Junior, and you should be thinking about him more, not me."

"I know…it's just...Junior needs his mom. I can't be you. I can't do all the things you did for him."

"Well, you worked so hard in the beginning, and I think you came pretty close," she replied. "But Bowser, you don't have to be me. You just need to be yourself."

"I tried doing that and look where it got me. Our son's hurt and he hates me," Bowser described gloomily. He hung his head low as he watched the roses around him swaying gently in the breeze.

"That may be true, but what are you doing to try and fix it?" she asked. Bowser pondered her question in silence.

"Well…I kept my promise to you. I protected him, didn't I?"

"Yes, but remember, I also asked you to take care of him. Our little boy is feeling broken and scared right now. He needs his dad to show him that everything's okay," she replied. "You could start by telling him the truth; you know, the reason you hesitated." Bowser ran his fingers through his orange hair.

"You know how hard it is for me to talk about stuff like this," Bowser argued. "I made sure you knew back when we were still dating, that I'm not the teddy bear type."

"I also remember you telling me how much you didn't want to be like your father." Bowser felt immense guilt crawling all over him. "You know that if you keep this up, Junior will grow up the same way. You have to break the cycle with him." Bowser stared intensely at his wife.

"How is it that you always know just what to say to get my attention without nagging?" he inquired. She laughed at that.

"Well, I do remember everyone calling me your better half!" she recounted happily. "But I guess that even if I wasn't, I only know what to say because….I'm not really here." Bowser froze. She leaned in close and gave Bowser a gentle kiss on the cheek. "It's flattering to me that this is how your heart speaks to you though. You're a lot sweeter than you give yourself credit for, my love." Bowser shut his eyes in retaliation to a harsh, blinding light. When he opened them again, Bowser was right back where he was before; standing in the barren wasteland. Whatever daydream or hallucination Bowser had just had, it was over now.

Junior stirred a bit in Bowser's arms and woke up. He must've sensed somehow that Bowser had stopped walking.

"Dad…? What is it? …Are we home?" Junior asked groggily.

"No, Junior," Bowser denied. "You can go back to sleep. But listen…,"

"What's wrong?" Junior inquired. Bowser took a deep breath.

"For what it's worth….the reason I hesitated back there...was because…," Junior waited patiently for his father's answer. He wasn't sure why Bowser had suddenly decided to tell him now, but that hardly mattered. "Something in me changed when I fought Mario. I came out of that battle feeling…different. When I stood by and watched him fly up towards Peach…for some reason, I was angrier at that moment than I've ever felt before in the past. In the heat of the moment, I wanted something so much that I lost sight of what was always really important to me." Junior didn't respond. He wasn't sure that he fully understood what his father meant, but he remained silent and waited curiously for Bowser to finish. "And I saved you because I remembered. But I didn't hesitate because I didn't love you or that I didn't want you anymore. I do, and that will never change."

Junior stared down at the ground. He had noticed that Bowser never once looked him in the eye when he spoke. He had been looking straight ahead instead. The little Koopa had followed his father's gaze earlier, but saw nothing of importance in the distance. He caught on pretty quickly that for whatever reason, Bowser wasn't willing to look at him as he confessed.

Junior wanted to be worried about that. He wanted to question his father's sincerity. But he just…couldn't. Maybe it was the fact that this was so different from the usual tough love stuff Bowser always gave him. Maybe his father wasn't used to opening up in a sentimental fashion like this. But the fact that he did just now was relieving, for the moment anyway.

"I hope you can at least take comfort in that, Junior…," said Bowser.

"I can. Thanks…"