With the last of her latest dish of vegetables eaten, a princess warily rang the bell that had been provided for her. After a few short moments, a Koopa Troopa unlocked the door and entered the room.

“Finished up your dinner?” the Koopa guard asked, groggily, very clearly having just woken up from a nap. The princess gave a tired nod, which elicited a nod in return from the Koopa.

He knelt down to pick the dish up off the floor where he had left it for her previously, then left her alone once more - closing the door and locking it behind him.

The thought occurred to the princess that she could have launched an attack right then. He was armed, certainly, but she could tell he had his guard down and wasn’t even fully awake for his visit. Maybe another princess would’ve seized the opportunity, but not Princess Toadstool. Not Peach.

“Maybe it would be nice to be another princess,” Peach thought to herself, but it was only an idle thought. She knew nothing short of divine intervention could change who she was.

It was then that the princess noticed things had gotten rather quiet. There had consistently been the faint sound of burning coming from outside Koopa Keep, where King Koopa was keeping her, but that seemed to have gone away before she realized it.

What replaced it was a soft twinkling sound, as a lunar light seemed to shine down from the sky. The ambient, stinging illumination of the surrounding magma ocean of The Darklands was soon totally outshone by the otherworldly light - descending down from the heavens as it gracefully made its way to the hellish land beneath it, before entering into the princess’s room through the window.

Peach watched it glow for a time, not quite sure what to make of it, only to gasp as the form of the light shifted seamlessly into the familiar visage of Rosalina.

Instinctively, Peach fixed her hair and smoothed her dress as she stood up to greet the woman properly. With a bow, she spoke,

“Greetings, Rosalina, I welcome you,” her voice came out a fair bit shakier than usual, much as she wished she could help it, “my apologies for the sorry state you find me in…” she sighed, “I was brought here against my will, some days ago… Actually, I’m not certain how long it’s been…”

“No need for apologies,” Rosalina shook her head, with a smile on her face that was the furthest thing from judgmental, “in fact, allow me to help you with that,” she said, eliciting a curious look from the princess. Then, with but a wave of her Star Wand, she rejuvenated Peach’s appearance.

Her hair was brushed to perfection, her makeup freshly-applied, and her dress looked as though she had just donned it that same morning.

“I look…” Peach paused, looking over herself, “I look just as I did when…”

“When you were taken, precisely four days ago,” Rosalina kindly finished her sentence for her, “when they came for you, I was watching.”

Another wave of her wand, and one side of the cold stone walls that surrounded them began to shift. What was once solid as a rock became fluid like water, until it resembled something of a lake - but instead of reflecting the world above it, it reflected the past within it…

It was a pleasant day in the Mushroom Kingdom, with the sun shining gently down on a sky that was in the perfect middle between cloudy and clear, and Toad Town was abuzz with excitement.

“Yes, it was a day of celebration,” recounted Rosalina, “filled with joy and gaiety for all… but one.”

The ‘water’ of the wall seemed to pulse until the image reflected within it shifted to focus on one figure. A princess with a worried expression in her eyes, surrounded by the carefree smiles of others. She smiled, too, but it was only skin-deep.

“What weighed on your heart so, Princess,” Rosalina inquired, “that you would not join your subjects in their glee?”

The princess looked upon the anxious visage of her past self, during a time that had felt so distant moments ago, and at once she could recall exactly what had crossed her mind in that very moment.

“I knew it wouldn’t last,” Peach said, in a small voice, as the first cannonball landed on the soil of her kingdom - the impact causing the ground to erupt around it, just as the next several cannonballs did, as it heralded the arrival of the Koopa Troop.

“A thought had crossed my mind, a flash of a vision, of an airship flying in and bringing the festivities to an abrupt end,” the princess spoke, “and just as quickly as the thought had come to torment me, reality followed soon after.”

Toads and Goombas scattered in panic, Koopas hid in their shells in fear, as King Koopa brought war upon the peace-loving people of the Mushroom Kingdom. Koopa Paratroopas descended from a sky that was now filled with enemy airships, wielding spears to intimidate the masses.

“I tried in vain to calm my people, to rally them to defend one another,” Princess Toadstool said, as the vision of the lake reflected her words once again - showing her words falling on unlistening ears.

“But it was too much at once for them to cope,” she sighed, as she watched her people be terrorized by the Koopa Troop once again, “if I had been less vigilant, I may have found myself just as helpless.”

A gloved hand was raised, palm facing outward, as the princess commanded the hostilities to come to an end. The anxious look in her eyes had been replaced with a look of steely resolve.

A smattering of already-fired cannonballs landed and destroyed that much more of the paved roads of Toad Town, the Koopa Paratroopas kept the tips of their spears pointed at the cowering innocents, but the chaos seemed to pause as an unsettling quiet grew in the air. From above, the king of the Turtle Empire descended from the central airship in his Koopa-Kopter with the wicked Kammy Koopa following on her broom.

Before anyone could come to any physical harm, beyond the emotional terror that had been inflicted upon them already, the princess gave herself up. Bowser reached a hand down to her and pulled her up into his aircraft, calling off his forces as he made his way back to The Darklands.

It was a scene that had played out numerous times before, but it never failed to make Peach’s heart sink each time.

“Why have you shown me this?” asked a weary Peach.

“My apologies if this revisit of your past disturbed you, Princess,” Rosalina said, “I only wished to provide the proper context for the proposal I have come to offer you.”

The ‘lake’ seemed to drain back into the cracks of the cold stone wall as Rosalina’s words sunk in for the princess. Before she could say anything in response, Rosalina spoke once more.

“Why do you think this keeps happening, Princess?” inquired Rosalina, genuinely, posing a question of her own after answering Peach’s.

No elaboration was necessary for the princess to know what ‘this’ referred to, as it was a question that she had asked herself numerous times over the years… and certainly over the past four days, too.

“There are a number of reasons,” Princess Toadstool started, “the Mushroom Kingdom has no formal military to counter King Koopa’s Koopa Troop - what power we do have is soft, making us a vulnerable target.”

“And you do not form an army of your own to combat the Koopa Troop?” Rosalina gently questioned.

They certainly had the numbers and resources to rival—if not totally wipe out the Koopa Troop, if they had a hypothetical army. They had the efficiency and organization to create one at any time, as well.

“We do not,” Peach answered, nonetheless, “the Mushroom Kingdom wields great influence on the world - that it does so without need for violence or force grants us a leverage of our own.

“Many of my subjects once lived in The Darklands, and it was because they did not fear retaliation for their past that they felt able to come to our kingdom and make it their home,” she explained, eliciting a thoughtful nod from Rosalina.

“Fascinating,” Rosalina responded, “thank you for your elucidation - I had not appreciated the role your kingdom’s vulnerability played.”

“It is a fragile blessing that I shall do everything I can to protect,” Peach stated, closing her eyes and resting her hand on her chest as she appreciated the weight of the responsibility.

There was a pause in the conversation after that, but the princess could sense that questions still lingered in Rosalina’s mind. She wondered what this was all leading to, what sort of ‘proposal’ Rosalina had in mind…

“Still, this fragile blessing does not protect you in turn,” Rosalina started once more, “do you accept this?”

For that, Peach had no immediate answer. She tried not to linger on such things, in truth, so to have to face it vexed her. What obligation had she for something that had no obligation to her? She knew it was important for the well-being of others - was that enough? Would that be enough for her, forever?

“I accept…” she paused, shutting her eyes as she took in a deep breath, before concluding, “… that this is the reality of my life.”

She looked back at Rosalina. To know if she thought her answer was adequate, to know if she approved… to know if, perhaps, there was some other way.

“I thought that might be your answer,” Rosalina replied, at last, “which brings me to why I have come before you - my proposal.

“Name the life you would most want to live,” her voice was casual, in spite of the incredible power behind it, “tell it to me, and I shall give it to you.”

What a proposal it was. The princess wondered if anything could have prepared her for it, even as it had taken so long to get to it. Was this offer for a limited time only? Any offer could be, if enough time passed, but Peach imagined Rosalina could stop the rest of the world if she wanted…

… No, she couldn’t take so long. The temptation to wait forever for the perfect answer would be too great.

But why make such an offer - and to her, of all the people who could be given the chance? What made her so special, in the eyes of someone so great?

“Why do you offer this to me?” Princess Toadstool questioned.

Rosalina looked down at her and smiled, with a look in her eyes that made it feel as though the woman had watched her all her life. To be known so well by someone she knew so little of could have been unnerving, yet somehow the princess never felt unsettled.

“Curiosity,” Rosalina answered, “that is the short answer to your question. I await what answer you have for mine, Princess,” she added, with a twinkle in her eye.

It was no use, her attempts to stall were to no avail. The princess needed to look into herself, deep into her heart, and find an answer. She knew what her life was like, but what did she want it to be? Peach spoke, at last, the only answer she had in her heart to give,

“A life where Bowser doesn’t want to kidnap anyone.”

Just as soon as the words left her lips, she nearly wished to curse them. How selfish was she, to be given such an opportunity only to make a request so tailored to make her own life simpler? But it was her life that Rosalina asked of, not the world, and the princess was in no position to renegotiate the terms of this divine intervention.

“Is that possible?” Peach asked, of her ‘selfish’ wish.

“That depends,” Rosalina answered, “on one’s definition of ‘Bowser.’

“Could there be a King Koopa named ‘Bowser’ with none of the negative traits Bowser has now? Certainly,” the lady of the stars remarked, “but would he still be Bowser?”

Peach thought on the question, attempting to picture in her head what Bowser would really be like if he woke up one day and had no desire to rule over the land… and, try as she might, she simply couldn’t see it.

“No,” Peach concurred, with a hint of disappointment in her voice, “I don’t believe he would be Bowser any longer if he were changed that drastically…”

She sighed, bending back down to where she was sat on the stone floor once more, as Rosalina had brought her back down to Earth. Even with such cosmic power, people were still people - and, for better and for worse, people were complicated.

“I don’t mean to dismiss you, Princess, I only mean to give you perspective on just what you’re wishing for,” Rosalina clarified, causing Peach to perk up curiously, “you have no obligation to worry about who Bowser is - in fact,” she elaborated, “perhaps what you truly want is a life in which there simply isn’t a Bowser.”

“What…?” Peach responded, in a small voice.

“It would change a lot, but it’s certainly within my powers to grant you this life,” explained Rosalina, “I can guarantee a happy and comfortable life for you in a world without Bowser.”

So many questions swirled in Peach’s mind. How much would change? She would have contemplated this and so many more logistical questions to figure out how that life could work, were it not impossible for her to get past the very idea of wishing for Bowser to cease to exist.

He had made her life worse countless times, had caused her pain that still hurt long after the incident had passed, so… why were tears welling in her eyes?

“No… no no no,” she shook her head, “I can’t do it… I could never wish for that…” Even after everything he had put her through, the thought of him disappearing forever with the mere wave of a wand was more than she could bear.

She thought of Junior, too - the boy who called her ‘Mama.’ He had sided with his father, but he still loved her and she knew—despite all his flaws—his father loved him too. Would he be made fatherless, or would he cease to exist as well? Which would be worse?

Rosalina nodded, gently accepting Peach’s answer as the princess wept. She stayed with her, in accordance with a law of the galaxy that even she could never overwrite - a mother could never willingly leave her child in tears.

“Isn’t there some way I could live safely at Mushroom Castle, to be there for my people, while Bowser exists?” asked Peach, “I don’t want him to stop existing, I don’t want to replace him with someone else, I just want to stop living half my life in another castle…”

Princess Toadstool’s walls had all come tumbling down, as Peach finally allowed herself to be honest no matter how much it hurt. She hated to complain, she knew she was fortunate to have as good a life as she did, but she could only ignore how her heart ached for so long.

At that, Rosalina knelt down and pulled her into a hug. It was the closest Peach had ever come to Rosalina, yet it felt so natural - like something the princess would expect and accept from her, despite how little she truly knew her.

“There is an answer to your query, but you may not enjoy it,” she spoke softly, as her fingertips glided in comforting circles against Peach’s back, “if this was too much… if you cannot continue—”

“Please,” interjected Peach, “tell me, even if it’s difficult,” she pleaded, desperation in her voice, “I’ve lied to myself for far too long, I need the truth.”

After another moment or two, Rosalina released the princess from her arms and let her wipe her tears away. When she had recovered enough, Rosalina started,

“I can offer you a life in which Bowser exists, is himself, and does not kidnap you,” she paused, “but this too would have consequences.”

So the question was… what would she be willing to sacrifice, for this life?

“Bowser would still be as power-hungry as he is now, but he would seek to obtain the power he craves through other means…” Rosalina began, waving her wand to shift the stone wall back into that ‘lake’ view from earlier - returning to the scene of the attack.

Only this time, the princess was nowhere to be seen.

“For the Turtle Empire to gain leverage against the Mushroom Kingdom, you would need some incentive to grant it,” Rosalina explained, “wielding their might to inflict harm upon your kingdom would seem to suffice.”

There was no one to stop the attack, this time. Any brave plumbers who could have intervened were elsewhere, any inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom who could have defended themselves were too startled by the sudden attack to be prepared, and there was no single person of interest who could end it all by surrendering.

“But they would have other methods of getting what they want, as well,” Rosalina continued, as the view showed two Koopa Paratroopas swooping down and abducting an innocent Goomba to bring back to The Darklands, “for a kingdom ruled by someone who cares so much for her inhabitants, putting her people in peril has its rewards for those looking to take advantage of her care.”

Peach knew she had asked for this, and so she kept as brave a face as she could no matter how much it made her heart sink. She didn’t like what she was seeing, at all, but she could not look away this time.

“Yes, you would worry for your people - for extended periods of time, depending on negotiations,” Rosalina stated, as the princess watched a vision of herself pacing back and forth through the castle, “but no one can spend their every waking moment worrying.

“Sometimes you just need a break, to refresh yourself, so you can better address the situation at hand. For a time, you could take it off your mind and let yourself relax,” Rosalina said, as the princess in the vision stopped and went to take a bath.

Peach watched a montage of this Princess Toadstool taking strolls under a beautiful blue sky, eating delicious freshly-cooked meals at the castle, and sleeping soundly in her own bed - without any threat from Bowser, all while she had no idea what was happening to the Goomba girl who had been taken.

It was during this montage that Peach began to feel something she had all too little experience with welling up in her chest. It felt bad, but it was a far stronger feeling than the sadness she had almost grown numb to since she was taken to Koopa Keep.

The expression on her face stiffened as she watched the princess frolic without a care, even when she reminded herself that the princess would still devote time to returning the Goomba to her home. When she saw the smile on the princess’s face as she slept, she wanted to scream.

Was that fair? Should she hate someone for not being in that Goomba’s place, even if that someone is her? She questioned herself, the knee-jerk feeling that had almost erupted out of her, letting her reason begin to cool her emotions.

Only then did it hit Peach that she was perhaps supposed to enjoy the sight of herself getting to live safely at the castle. Perhaps it helped that the Princess Toadstool in the view hadn’t seen for herself the terror in the girl’s eyes when she was taken. Maybe she wasn’t heartless, just… ignorant.

No, she realized, it was more than that - that princess couldn’t know what it was like in Koopa Keep because she had never been there herself.

Her hands, which had been trembling in anger, steadied. Her face softened. She had seen everything she needed to see, and her decision was made.

“With my apologies, I must decline this offer as well,” Princess Toadstool stated, her voice coming out as clear as the night sky, “I could never knowingly consign my people to a fate I would not readily accept for myself.

“I don’t believe I would be me, anymore, if I did,” Peach concluded, with a little smile.

Rosalina smiled back at her. What might have gone through the woman’s mind in that moment, or throughout her visit that night, was something the princess could only guess at. Yet, somehow, it felt like she was… proud of her.

“Thank you for hearing my offer out,” Rosalina bowed softly, “even if ultimately it was of no use to you.”

“Ohh,” Peach sighed self-consciously, “I really am sorry, I do appreciate you taking the time to visit and make this offer.” She knew she shouldn’t, but she felt like a bad host who didn’t have anything to send her guest off with.

“I assure you, Princess, there is no need for apologies. On the contrary,” responded Rosalina, “you have given me much to think about.”

The sun was beginning to rise, as the sky turned from a deep blue to a muted orange. Peach’s visitor looked to the window, gazing distantly out into the world she would soon be looking down upon, and the princess knew she would be leaving soon.

“I do not take your refusing my divine intervention at all personally, either,” Rosalina assured her, with a stoic expression on her face, before letting a knowing smile form, “but… if a special plumber happens to find a shortcut on his way to rescue you, wouldn’t that be a happy coincidence?”

Then, Peach heard a boom coming from several stories below her. She looked around as the stone floor rumbled, and a roar of defeat soon echoed throughout the castle. Someone had come for her, and she had a good idea who it might be.

“Yes, I suppose it would,” the princess giggled, concurring with Rosalina. She turned to face her again, only to find she had disappeared - having taken the ‘lake’ with her, too, leaving Peach fully surrounded by the stone walls of Koopa Keep once more… but not for long.

The Koopa guard yelped as he was startled awake by a new visitor, and she could faintly hear him flee down the stairs as a familiar presence now stood outside the door. Then, a polite knock.

“Hello?” a light voice called, as though he would be disturbing her if he didn’t check before he entered.

“Come in,” Peach beamed, watching the door swing open to reveal just who she had suspected. Same red cap, same big kissable nose, same kind smile as he always had when he looked at her.

He walked up to her, took his cap off and knelt down before her. It was a gesture he had shown her before, which she had the composure to indulge properly before, but this time Peach simply couldn’t help herself as she pulled Mario close and covered his face in kisses.

“Ah! Ahahaha! Princess!” Mario giggled, rolling the ‘r’ in ‘princess’ in that voice that made her heart flutter, while his cheeks turned as red as the ‘M’ on his cap, “I’m-a dirty, you shouldn’t be-a kissing me!”

Sure enough, some dirt had gotten on him in all the ‘excitement’ he’d been through on his way to her. Peach just couldn’t bring herself to care in that moment, though, so she just kissed him more.

“I’m going to bake you the biggest cake in the world,” Peach declared, only to have the idea be shot down as Mario shook his head, “No?” she asked.

“I’m-a gonna bake you the cake, this time,” Mario told her, “Mario’s been taking baking lessons from-a Tayce T.! It’s-a the least I can do to make up-a for the kidnapping!”

Peach’s heart melted at the thought. She looked out through the window, into the sky that Rosalina had no doubt returned to, and felt a wave of gratitude come over her. Turning back to Mario, she smiled and shook her head.

“Let’s bake a cake together,” she suggested, eliciting an even bigger smile from Mario. He offered his arm to her, which she took gladly, and the plumber proceeded to escort the princess out of Koopa Keep once again.

Princess Toadstool’s life wasn’t perfect. There were going to be more sad days ahead of her, with more pain to go with them, and it’s possible she would’ve been happier in another life. Peach accepted this, with a joy she could hardly contain, as she and her love took a stroll back to the life she had.

The End.