Bowser stood on the stone steps at the castle entrance, watching the last of Peach's belongings being loaded into the carriage that had been sent to take her home. His heart ached in his chest at the sight, begging him to stop her from leaving. But he knew she was making the right choice.

"Bowser," Peach called from behind him and he turned to see her and her handmaid descending the stairs. Peach stopped in front of him, a sad smile of her face. Toadette paused to curtsy to them both before descending the rest of the stairs alone.

"I suppose this is goodbye," Peach spoke quietly, her voice shaking slightly.

"I will miss you," Bowser admitted, wanting nothing more than to hold her in his arms and never let go.

"And I you," Peach nodded, tears welling in her eyes. She didn't want to leave, not really. But she knew it was for the right reasons.

"May we meet again, princess," Bowser smiled softly, taking Peach's hand in his and pressing a gentle kiss on the tips of her fingers. They lingered for a moment, neither wanting to let go, until eventually Peach pulled away and continued down the stairs, Bowser's hand following after her as she did so. He watched her climb into the carriage along with Toadette and the door close firmly behind her. She smiled at him through the window and Bowser saw the tears beginning to fall down her cheeks. He smiled sadly back at her and gave a small wave before the carriage began to pull away. It took every ounce of willpower he had to not go running after it as it exited the gates and carried on down the road, away from the castle and back to her parents' kingdom. He had no idea how long he stayed there, staring at those black gates and praying for them to open again, until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned to see his brother stood beside him.

"Come inside, brother," Boo said gently and, with one last glance towards the closed gates, Bowser followed him back inside the castle.


"What do you think I should do?" Peach whispered, still staring out the window as the trees slowly passed by. Her and Toadette had been sat in a wordless quiet until this point, Peach's tears silently rolling down her cheeks.

"I think you should follow your heart," Toadette smiled softly, placing a comforting hand on their mistress' arm.

"My heart is being pulled in so many directions that I'm stuck in place, for fear of tearing it in two if I move too far," Peach sighed, wiping away the last of her tears with the back of her hand. Toadette gave her arm a reassuring squeeze and Peach smiled at the gesture, forever grateful for their presence. The rest of the journey seemed to go far quicker than Peach felt it should and all too soon did she find herself stood outside the doors to her parents' castle. They were, of course, nowhere in sight as her and Toadette carried her belongings inside. As soon as everything was back in her chambers, Peach wandered the castle in search of Daisy. When she had decided to return home to consider Bowser's proposal, she had written a letter to Daisy explaining everything and they had agreed to meet each other upon Peach's return. It didn't take long to find her and soon the two princess' stood facing one another in the drawing room. Daisy smiled and rushed over to hug Peach, all thoughts or notions of presentability and 'lady-like' actions forgotten. They stayed there for a moment, enjoying the comfort of each other's embrace.

"How have you been?" Daisy asked once they finally parted, sitting down on the couch behind her.

"Until a few days ago? I was living in the most wonderful, perfect, romantic dream... Now? I'm not so sure how I feel about anything anymore," Peach sighed, taking a seat next to her friend.

"Well, I'm glad you're home," Daisy smiled, gently nudging their shoulders together.

"I think you might be the only one," Peach smiled sadly, returning the playful nudge.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Daisy offered and Peach nodded.

"I had such an unbelievable time with him, I really did. But I have a feeling it was only ever a dream. I don't know if I could really leave this all behind and marry him," Peach sighed, looking down at her feet.

"Why not? What's holding you here?" Daisy asked, her brow furrowed.

"I don't know... fear, I guess. I'm scared of leaving behind all I've ever known, I'm scared of how fast everything is moving, I'm scared of my own feelings and I don't know whether to trust them or not," Peach said shakily, willing her heart to slow down and her head to stop spinning.

"You didn't go to that ball with the intention of falling in love," Daisy pointed out, "you went with the intention of escaping your parents and what? Running off with King Boo into the sunset?"

"I didn't know what I was going to do, Daisy. I just wanted to leave this place so badly," Peach finally looked back up at her friend, her emotions building.

"But now you have that chance, you're suddenly unsure?" Daisy tilted her head in confusion.

"I just... what if I don't really love him? What if he doesn't really love me?" Peach bit her lip nervously.

"I don't believe that. And I don't think you really believe it either, do you?" Daisy shook her head.

"Well, maybe this doesn't even have to be about love at all..." Peach realised, an idea forming in her mind as she suddenly sat up straight. There had to be some way of stopping her heart from feeling like it was about to rip open inside her chest.

"What do you mean?" Daisy frowned, confused and a little startled by Peach's sudden change.

"Maybe it can just be like I had planned, a chance to escape and nothing more," Peach mused, standing up from her chair and pacing the end of the room. She knew she didn't really believe what she was saying, and it was likely that Daisy wouldn't believe her either, but all she wanted was to feel more sure of herself.

"I wish you would just marry for love, Peach," Daisy sighed, folding her hands in her lap.

"What would you know about love? You've never been in love; you don't even love the man you married! And how do you know I don't love Bowser?" Peach burst out, her frustration quickly growing. Why did everyone else always think they knew what was best for her? And why did no one even begin to think that she might actually love the 'cursed prince' after all?

"That's different! I never said you couldn't love Bowser, but he doesn't strike me as the type that many women can easily fall for. And I have been in love... maybe not with Luigi, not yet, but I did love someone once and I loved them for a very long time," Daisy nervously fiddled with the hem of her dress, unable to look Peach in the eyes.

"Well, if being in love is so important to you, why don't you go be with this other person instead? Leave Lord Luigi behind you and go marry them, get away from this god-forsaken place, and stop being such a hypocrite!" Peach threw her hands up in the air in exasperation as she continued to pace the length of the room.

"I have given up on the idea of loving them; I can never be with them," Daisy's voice began to shake and Peach finally stopped, turning to face Daisy fully as she stood directly in front of her.

"Why not?" Peach asked with a frown, her tone softening.

"Because I know that no matter how much I may try, even as she's standing in front of me right now, I know she would marry someone for stability and a chance to better her own circumstances long before she would marry for something as fickle as love. You can never put faith in your own feelings, you just said so yourself. And I cannot give you what you want, can I Peach?" Daisy lifted her head to look at Peach with pleading eyes, a sad smile on her lips.

"Daisy, I-" Peach began to step towards her but Daisy stood quickly, holding up her hands.

"Don't. I accepted a long time ago that our fates would always be different. I have allowed my heart to heal from this and the last thing I want is to open old wounds. If you think marrying Bowser will make you happy, then do it. But only if this is what you truly want," Daisy sighed, brushing away a tear before it could roll down her cheek, before turning and leaving the room. The door closed behind her with a resounding thud before Peach even had the chance to call out her name. Peach wanted to go after her but she had a feeling that would only make things worse. Instead, she flopped down in an armchair with a sigh, realising she had never felt more unsure of herself in her entire life. And all she could think about, above all else, was how much she missed the feeling of Bowser's hand in hers. This was going to be a lot harder than she had initially thought.