AN: Well, here we are, folks! The last SK rewrite I'm going to do! You could make the argument that other stories also deserve to get a redux and I do agree with that, but honestly? I don't want to get caught in a cycle. I want to tackle new stories, not just rewrite and rework the same stories over and over. Thus, this will be the last one. Luckily, I see a lot of potential when it comes to this story in particular. I think a rewrite has potential to do AMAZING things. Nay, this is a story that DESERVES to be amazing, considering it's been built up so much in SK. I want Roy and Celia's story to be told right. I failed at my first attempt, but I plan to redeem myself with this one.

Alright, let's get started!

Chapter 1 Full of Promise

"I'm thinking that we go with carnations," Ruby said to Singe while they sat at the table. Ruby leaned over a book and had a pen in her hand. "I don't know why, but I've always had a soft spot for them."

Singe chuckled. "They are pretty, I will admit." He smirked at her. "Of course, if I said otherwise it wouldn't matter. You would still want the carnations no matter what."

"Oh come on, that's not true!"

"Really? Then can we do lilies instead?"

Silence settled over the scene. Celia, who had been reading a book on the living room couch a few feet away from her parents, snorted and looked up. Her mother hesitated, stiffening up as she did. Forget stumbling over words; the mere breaths that came out of her mouth seemed hard to deal with.

"I… I, uh…" Ruby started sweating. "I… I don't… I, uh…"

Celia stifled a giggle. Figuring that the best thing to do would be going to rescue her mother, she got up from the couch and went over to the table.

"Why don't you guys have both in the bouquet?" She asked. "Pink carnations and white lilies would look really nice together. And besides, wouldn't both of you guys's choices being present in the bouquet symbolize your union or something?"

Singe gave Celia an impressed look. "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!" He turned to Ruby, this time doing so with a noticeable excitement. "Do you like that idea, Honey?"

"I… do, actually." Ruby wrote something down in the book. As she did, her face rose into a smile. "That's a great idea! I can picture the bouquet now; it is bound to look gorgeous!" She continued writing for a few seconds before pulling back with a proud expression. "Okay, so the bouquet is all set, I managed to buy a wedding dress for cheap, Singe and I are going to go taste cakes tomorrow…" She let out a smooth breath before chuckling. "We are making great progress!"

"You are! You definitely are!" Celia beamed before looking at her parents in awe. "Man, I can't believe you guys are getting married."

"I can't either." Singe looked down at his robotic arm, a wistful vibe appearing in his eyes as he did. "After everything that's happened… after every single last thing went wrong…" he paused. The positivity in his face, while still present, now looked out of place in the most awkward way. He looked over at Ruby, staring into her emerald eyes as tears grew in his ruby ones. "This is beyond what I deserve."

Ruby reached out and took Singe's real hand in hers. She stroked his thumb with her forefinger. "Singe." She seemed to consider the right words to say. "You don't have to worry about the past anymore. Not when the future is full of promise." She smiled. Celia saw so many emotions contained within her smile, ranging from bliss to sorrow. "And… I know that it'll work out. It has to. If we both put in the effort, it'll work out wonderfully."

"Yes." Singe wiped his eyes. "You're right, Ruby. And I'm going to put in the effort. The whole point of us getting married is me promising that I will put in the effort." He paused again. "I promise I will, Ruby." His voice was so soft and weak. "I promise right here and now."

Ruby sniffled herself. "Singe…" She took his hand and placed it on her heart. Both Celia's human mother and Koopa father cried, the tears sliding down their cheeks like rain. Interesting things happened in Celia's heart as she observed this, and her mind flashed to everything she knew these two individuals had gone through. Ruby sobbing into her pillow after dark. Singe's life spiraling out of control after fighting with his parents. Both of them longing for a better life for themselves and their daughter. That life had been out of reach for so long, and now it was finally getting a chance to come to fruition. How was that possible? It had been impossible for so long!

"Celia," Ruby said as she dried her eyes again. "Do you think red would be a good choice for the bridesmaid dresses?"

Celia did a double-take. "Oh." She bit her lip. "Yeah. I do." She paused. "I only wish I wasn't the only one who is going to wear that dress though."

"I know, sweetie, I know." That voice was so fragile, and it made Celia think. She painfully realized what this wedding was going to be. This was a union of two people that almost no one wanted to be together. So many people were rooting for this couple to fail; hell, initially, it HAD seemed like this couple had failed. And… well, did anyone really care that the spark had been reignited? Was there anyone who stood outside the four walls of this very tiny house who wanted Ruby Patch and Singe Marksmite to establish the covenant of marriage?

"Celia, are you okay?" Singe asked.

Celia wiped her eyes. "I'm alright." She pondered over what to say next. "This… we'll find someone who's willing to come to the wedding, right? We'll be able to find just one person, right?"

Ruby's brow furrowed. "Well, that's the hope." She thought about things before putting on a smile. "And I'm sure we will at some point. Like… maybe my father? He wasn't the most approving of our relationship, but unlike my sister, he never made a big fuss about it."

"Yeah, your father is a possibility." Singe's face fell. "Unlike my parents. My mother would probably throw the invitation on the fire without taking the time to even open it. And my dad…" he paused. "I don't even know if he's still alive."

Celia felt a pang. She thought back to the last encounter she and Singe had with Mavery and Saliday. "I…" she thought about this some more before getting an idea that thankfully allowed her to change the subject. "Maybe Kamark would be willing to come?"

Singe shook his head. "The guy whose heart I broke? Not a chance. We may have been good friends at one point, and there may even be a possibility he's rooting for me and Ruby. But I can't invite him to the wedding. Too much emotional baggage to deal with."

"Right, right." Celia thought some more before groaning. "Man, is there anyone who would want to come to this wedding? Anyone at all?"

"I don't know…" Ruby put her hand to her chin before gasping. "Wait." Her eyes lit up. "I know! What about Roy?"

"Roy?" Celia asked. "As in Roy Koopa!"

"Oh, that would be perfect!" Singe exclaimed. "I think he'd love to come! I would certainly enjoy seeing him there!"

"Me too!" Ruby said. "And… well, wouldn't him being at the wedding make the most sense? He is the reason all this is possible." She paused. "If we never met him, none of this would be happening."

"Yeah," Celia said. She thought about Roy Koopa. This whole journey of the Patch-Marksmite family getting their lives back on track… the reason why Celia was no longer living in the Neo Bowser City sewer… the reason why Ruby and Singe even had an opportunity to start over and try again… it was all thanks to him. Celia had no way of knowing how much he would do for her when she talked to him in Neo Bowser City that night, but he had been invaluable. Even though none of them had interacted with Roy in such a long time, he really meant the world to Celia, Ruby, and Singe. More than the world even.

But that was the thing, wasn't it? Celia and Roy hadn't even spoken to each other after separating. Not one word, not one syllable, not one letter. When he walked out of that haunted mansion, he had more or less walked out of her life. And she didn't even stop to think about how truly grateful she was toward him until… well, this very moment.

"We owe everything to Roy," Celia whispered. She looked at her parents, her HAPPY parents. "We should invite him. We have to."

Ruby let out a happy laugh. "Right!" She picked the book she had been writing in off the table, and from the spot it had just been laying, she pulled out a stack of invitations. "Oh, I can hardly believe I'm getting the chance to write in these!" She got the pen out and began writing in it.

"Yeah." Celia thought about this some more before sighing. "Man, I am such a moron…"

"What? Why?" Singe asked.

Celia sniffled. "I haven't even taken the time to get in touch with Roy." She sniffled again. She thought about the last interaction she had with the Koopaling. She remembered how he said he was willing to wait for her to be ready for a relationship, how he was willing to give her some space so that she could get her life sorted out. He had offered her a world of goodness, and while she was grateful… she really hadn't appreciated him as much as she SHOULD have. As much as he DESERVED.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that, Celia," Singe said. "Life's been crazy for all of us. We've been doing our own things, and I'm sure Roy has been doing his."

"Right," said Ruby as she continued writing. "You don't have to beat yourself up over anything." She paused, the pen hovering over the invitation, as she looked at her daughter. "You've spent so much of your life beating yourself up, Celia. None of us want to see you going through that again. I know I don't." She smiled. "And I'm sure Roy wouldn't, either. I'm sure he'd just be happy knowing that everything has worked out for us. Nay, worked out for you."

Celia sighed and ran her hand through her fiery hair. "Yeah. You're probably right, Mom. I just… I want him to know how much he's done for us. I don't know if he realizes it or not, but he has left a monumental impact on all of us. Like you guys said, we wouldn't be in this room right now if it wasn't for him." Celia sucked in a breath. "He didn't deserve me going radio silent on him. I should've tried to get in contact with him. I should've told him how good he was to me, how much I was happy that he appeared in my life. I should've… I should've…"

"Celia." Singe reached out and placed his robotic arm on Celia's shoulder. The hybrid in question looked down at the hand in awe before looking into her father's smiling face. "There's no reason to focus on the past. Not when the future is full of promise."

Both Celia and Ruby laughed at that. "Right. You're right." She looked over at her giggling mother. "You're both right; the future is full of promise, and there's no use beating myself up over what happened in the past."

"That is true." Ruby resumed writing. "And… the invitation is good to go!" She pulled the pen back and let out a breath of relief. "We can now update the guest list, and… Unfortunately, just as suddenly as her relief appeared, it was drowned out by a wave of realization. "Oh wait." She looked down at the invite. "How are we supposed to get it to him?" She turned toward Singe and Celia. "The Mushroom Kingdom Postal Service doesn't typically reach the Koopa Kingdom. And besides, considering he's literally royalty, this would probably get mixed in with other mail of his." She frowned. "He probably wouldn't even get the chance to look at this."

"That is true." Celia thought about this before putting on a determined face. She picked up the letter. "Which is why we aren't going to rely on some useless postal service. I'm going to personally go down to Bowser's Castle and give him the invitation myself."

Singe's eyes grew wide. "You sure? That's quite a long journey…"

"I know. But I'm half koopa. Koopas are resilient; if we can survive being dunked in lava, we can survive a journey like this. And besides…" She gave her parents a smile. "You guys want someone to attend your wedding, and you deserve that more than anyone else I know. I want your dream to come true."

Ruby and Singe exchanged a look before smiling. "Thank you, Celia," Ruby said. "I think that's a great idea."

"You're welcome." Celia puffed out her chest in determination. "I'll head out tomorrow."