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[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 12)

Link for Chapter 11: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/727495897170280448/unconditional-love-chapter-11?source=share

A/N: Thank you everyone for the likes and follow. I really appreciate it! :) This is the final chapter for this story. I'm happy to see that people have enjoyed it. I hope all of you enjoy this chapter!

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Chapter 12

Y/N hung up her phone, having just finished speaking with her manager. Her manager wasn’t pleased about her absence but was grateful she was alright. She still had a job which she was surprised at but thankful for it, nonetheless. She closed her eyes and sighed. It was exhausting having to explain everything. Her family, happy to hear from her, couldn’t believe what she was saying. She knew everything that happened to her the last few days sounded like something from a book, but it was all true.

Eventually, her family came around after repeating herself a few times of everything that happened. It was the same scenario for her manager. It was no wonder she was drained. Apart from the day’s events and explaining everything, it really wore her down. Y/N decided that now would be a good time to try and get some sleep. Before that, she took some pain killers, hoping to ease more of the throbbing in her head from her tumble. Having done that, she laid down and let sleep take over.

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Mario awoke with a start, his alarm startling him. Luigi soon followed his brother in waking up. Both got up and stretched their limbs.

“Sleep alright?” Luigi asked.

“Yeah…you?” Mario asked.

“Yep.”

“We got a lot of catching up to do for work.”

“Yeah. We’ll be okay and you’ll get to see your girlfriend in no time.” Luigi raised his eyebrows in a teasing manner.

“Gah! Hey! C’mon, I’m fine.” Mario scowled at his younger brother.

“You sound down. I know it’s because you want to be with Peach.”

“Okay I do, but we got to get work done.”

The brothers went about their morning routine getting themselves ready to head out. After getting dressed, having breakfast, and fixing up the rest of their appearance, they both exited their apartment.

“Oh! Y/N! Nice to see you!” Luigi said noticing Y/N coming out of her apartment.

“Hey Luigi, Mario. Good to see you two as well!” Y/N replied.

“How uh…how is everything?” Mario asked Y/N.

“It’s fine. Thankfully I still have a job and my family can have some peace now that they know I’m alright.”

“That’s good. I’m glad they didn’t fire you,” Luigi said.

“Yeah, I am too. Still surprised to have my job, but happy.”

The three of them continued conversing with each other as they walked down the hallway of their apartment complex and into the elevator. They soon reached the first floor of the apartment and exited the building.

“Well, we don’t want to keep you. We gotta be going to work now too. We’ll see you around. Take care,” Mario said as he and Luigi were walking toward their yellow van.

“Thanks! Take care!” Y/N said waving at them walking to her own car.

Y/N entered her car and started it up. She began her drive to the Heart and Soul Karaoke Bar. She hoped to talk with Bowser after her shift, that is if he was up for it. She figured he would be. She found herself blushing from thinking of him. She did tell her family about him, and they were all surprised but happy for her. When she told them she hadn’t confessed yet, they told her to get on it. She knew she would need to tell him about her feelings. She wanted to do it in person and not through the orb.

When could they meet again in person? She wasn’t sure since she would have to work a lot for having missed as much as she did. She just hoped the shift would go fast. She parked her car, getting out and locking it. She then entered the building.

“Y/N! Welcome back!” Maria said, running up to her and giving her a bear hug.

Y/N struggled to get out a reply, “Uh thanks. Um Maria…I can’t really breathe…”

“Oh! Sorry!” Maria let go of Y/N, “It’s good to see you again. I was so worried. We all were.”

“I’m really sorry about that.” Y/N did feel bad for making everyone worry like that.

“It’s alright. Just glad you’re safe and sound.” Maria gave a Y/N a grin. “I’ll fill you in with what’s been going on around here.”

Maria told Y/N that everyone scrambled to get her shifts covered and had some new regulars. Business was going well, which made the manager very happy, and everyone was getting a decent number of tips from customers. Being in the food industry was hard work, but if you could do it with mixing in a hobby at the same time, it really helped to ease one’s mind, especially Y/N’s.

Y/N’s shift did indeed fly by. Everyone kept greeting her and welcoming her back on board. Customers who had met her before were happy to hear her perform again. Y/N had missed singing in front of everyone. Her manager, Mr. Winters, was grateful to have her back too. He could be very strict, but also kind-hearted and understanding.

“Could you wipe down that last table before you go?” Mr. Winters asked Y/N.

“Yes sir,” Y/N replied. She had just finished taking care of other customers and went to the table Mr. Winters pointed to. She wiped it down, tidying everything around it. Satisfied with the cleanliness, she clocked herself out, exited the building, and walked back to her car. Working a ten-hour shift was good, but super exhausting. She practically crashed into the driver’s seat and began the drive back to her apartment.

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Bowser was sitting on his throne, twiddling his thumbs. He had an orb next to him, watching it with worried eyes. Why hadn’t Y/N called him yet? Yes, she informed him of matters needing to be dealt with in her world, but she didn’t think it would take this long. Maybe he was being impatient and not giving enough time.

‘I just want to hear her voice again,’ the Koopa King thought to himself, ‘Her sweet, beautiful voice. Her cute expressions…’ He sighed. He really had fallen head over heels for Y/N. Neither one of them having confessed to the other about their feelings, he could tell the feelings were mutual.

He quite honestly wanted to tell her his feelings right now. He couldn’t wait any longer not to say anything. He knew this sort of thing would be beneficial to do in person rather than through the orb though.

“Sire, is there anything I can get for you? You’ve been sitting here all day and haven’t exactly had anything to drink or eat,” Kamek spoke, looking up at Bowser worriedly.

“I’m fine. Just waiting for the orb to show me Y/N.”

“I know you’re anxious to talk with her again, but please don’t neglect taking care of yourself either. Y/N wouldn’t want you to do that.”

Bowser sighed, “Yeah, you’re right. Bring me some of those brownies.”

“Right away Sire,” Kamek replied, and scurried away.

The king sighed once more, ‘Have to be patient.’

Just then, his orb began to glow a bright red and an image was slowly appearing in it.

“Bowser?” a female voice asked.

“Y-Y/N?!” Bowser replied.

“Ah. Thank goodness, this is working. How are you?” Y/N asked.

“I’m fine. Much happier now to be talking with you.”

“Good. I’m pretty wiped out.” She yawned, covering her mouth, “I just got home from working a ten-hour shift. Still have my job, thank goodness, and my family is relieved that I’m okay.”

“A ten-hour shift?”

“Yeah. I have to make up for the time I missed. However, it’ll be good because it means a bigger paycheck. Well, at least with the tips I get, it should help make it bigger.”

“That’s a long time to be working. No wonder you’re so exhausted.”

“Yeah, that’s the way of the food industry though. Sometimes, other types of companies have people work 12-hour shifts or even more than that.”

“Why so much?”

“It…” She yawned again, “It depends on what kind of job you’re working. Being a firefighter for example, you could end up working 48 or 72-hour shifts. They usually have a place for the firefighters to rest, sleep, eat, and do normal routine stuff getting ready for the day.”

“Really? That’s…that’s crazy.”

She giggled, “It is. I could never be a firefighter. That job is intense. I’m good with what I’m doing right now.”

“Um…Y/N…”

“Yes?”

“I uh…I want to…” He moved his gaze away from the orb to stare at a wall in his throne room instead. While he was doing that, Kamek had used a spell to bring the plate of brownies to rest on the arm of the throne. The wizard did not wish to disturb his king in his conversation with Y/N.

“Bowser? Are you alright?”

“Uh, yes. Sorry. I want to tell you something, but…”

She could see the uneasiness in his expression and hear it in his voice, “If you’re not sure on telling me, no pressure. If it’s something very personal, you don’t have to tell me.”

“I do have to tell you. At some point. I want to right now, but I think it would be best to wait…”

“I see…” She had an idea what it could possibly be but decided not to say anything at the moment, “I have to work 30 more hours this week and then I’ll get some time off again. Could I meet you in person after that?”

“Yes, of course. I would like that.”

“Okay. I’ll have my time off at the end of this week.” She once more had to yawn. “Sorry to keep yawning so much.”

“It’s okay. You’re tired.”

“Yep. Sure am.”

The two talked a little longer until Y/N’s (eye color) eyes were starting to get droopy.

“I think we should stop talking now. You need to get some sleep,” Bowser said with some concern.

“Yeah, I guess we should. I’ll see if I can talk to you tomorrow after work again,” Y/N replied.

“Okay. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

The orbs dimmed for both individuals.

Bowser smiled happy he could see Y/N once more. He was sad that she was so tired, but he understood why she was very tired. The brownies that were brought in for him earlier had long been forgotten, but the king decided to stuff his face with them anyway. The chocolate was very appetizing, and he couldn’t get enough of it. He finished eating the brownies and then decided to go to sleep. He couldn’t wait to talk with Y/N again tomorrow.

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The work week had come and gone in the blink of an eye. It was already the end of the week for Y/N, and she couldn’t be happier. She could now meet up with Bowser in person. She decided to tag along with Luigi and Mario who were going to Peach’s kingdom. She figured she could give the princess and Toad a quick hello before meeting up with Bowser.

The plumbers and singer all entered the green tube they knew so well and let it take them to the Mushroom Kingdom. Y/N had brought along the orb she got from Bowser so that she could contact him, letting him know she was back in his world and ready to meet him. The three landed with a thud in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Before them, the princess and mushroom man stood nearby, waving hello to them.

“Y/N!” Toad exclaimed, running up to her and giving her a hug.

“Hey Toad. How are you?” Y/N replied, embracing him back.

“Doing well. Not much is going on here. Just the usual. You?”

“Well, everything has been settled and taken care of in my world. Everything is alright.”

“That’s great!”

“Y/N! I’m happy to see you again,” Peach said walking up to her.

Toad had let go of Y/N so that Peach could give her a welcome back hug too. Y/N embraced the princess.

“It’s good to see you too Peach,” Y/N replied.

Toad, Luigi, and Mario, all greeted each other. Peach had let go of Y/N and walked up to the brothers. She gave Luigi a quick hug and then went to embrace Mario. Mario blushed but smiled from being embraced by the princess. The two leaned in and kissed.

“What?! Hey! You didn’t tell me you two were a thing now Mario!” Y/N exclaimed.

“Oh…I didn’t?” Mario said, acting confused.

“No! When did you two become official?!”

“Uh…earlier this week…” Mario became bashful.

“Aw! Congrats you two!” Y/N was very happy that the princess and plumber in red could hit things off so well. She had a feeling that Mario and Peach liked each other.

“Thank you, Y/N,” Peach said, giving a warm smile.

“You’re welcome,” Y/N said returning a warm smile, “I uh…I can’t stay for very long because I’m going to meet up with Bowser.”

“Oh! Are you going to confess to him?” Luigi asked excitedly.

“Y-Yes,” Y/N answered, a bit nervously, “It’s just been a while since I’ve had a relationship. I hope that he feels the way I do. I want to think that he does.”

“I’m sure he does. Everything will work out,” the plumber in green said, putting a comforting hand on Y/N’s shoulder.

“Thanks Luigi.”

“Of course.”

“Well, best of luck to you,” Toad chimed in.

“Thank you,” Y/N replied.

Mario and Peach nodded in acknowledgement to her.

“I can stay for a little bit longer. It’s been a while since I really got to talk with Peach and Toad.”

“Sure, if you want to,” Peach said.

The group of five began walking through the Mushroom Kingdom, chit-chatting about various stories and topics of interest. The time had gone by so quickly that they were already reaching the princess’s castle.

“I should go now. I don’t want to keep Bowser waiting for me too much longer,” Y/N said as she took out the orb to contact him with.

“Alright. Take care,” Peach said.

Everyone else gave their goodbyes and Y/N waved back at them with a smile. She stared into the orb, mentally seeking out Bowser. The orb glowed bright red and an image of the Koopa King appeared.

“Bowser! Hi!” Y/N said smiling.

“Y/N! Are you ready to meet up now?” the king asked excitedly.

“Yes. I’m in the Mushroom Kingdom. I was saying hello to Peach and Toad with Mario and Luigi.”

“Ah. I see. I’ll have Kamek transport you over here. Kamek!”

The wizard came into the room Bowser was in, which was the throne room, on his broom, “Sire?”

“Transport Y/N here from the Mushroom Kingdom.”

“Of course.” Kamek used his wand to cast a spell.

Y/N was suddenly lifted into the air in a blue light. She saw the scenery change from mushrooms to the lava filled castle of Bowser’s. She looked around her and then her gaze landed on the Koopa King. They were all in the throne room and Bowser got up from his chair and went to hug Y/N. She put her orb away as Bowser got closer to her.

“I missed you!” Bowser said as he practically picked up Y/N in his embrace.

“I m-missed you too,” Y/N said, barely able to get out a response. She wrapped her arms around him, and Bowser gently put Y/N back on the floor, loosening his grip.

“I have something I want to show you,” the king said stepping away from Y/N to offer his clawed hand to her.

Y/N smiled and placed her hand in his, her face turning a light shade of red.

The two walked out of the throne room and into an area that Y/N wouldn’t expect to see in Bowser’s castle. He had taken her out to a garden. The garden was filled with all kinds of vibrant colors. It had more flowers in it than what Peach had in her kingdom. Y/N couldn’t stop gazing at everything around her. In the middle of the garden was a water fountain.

The water fountain was decorated in flowers and had three tiers of water that dribbled downward. The top tier had water shot upward. Y/N smiled at the water fountain and the flowers that decorated it.

“This is so beautiful,” Y/N said. “Have you…have you always had this garden?”

“Thank you. I always had this garden, but nothing was really in it. I had Kamek and a few other Koopas help me in gathering some flowers and building the fountain.”

“It’s all so nice. The flowers are so pretty!”

Bowser smiled down at Y/N, happy to see her loving the scenery around her. He turned from her for a moment to pluck a (favorite color) flower and hand it to her, “For you.”

Y/N smiled and took the flower from Bowser’s hands, “Thank you.” She decided to place the flower in her hair, letting it rest just above her right ear.

“It suits you.”

She giggled, “Thank you. So…you said you wanted to tell me something in person. Did you want to talk about that now?”

“Yes, I do. Why don’t we sit down by the fountain. There’s a bench not too far from it.”

“Sure.”

The two walked over to a silver bench that had flower decorations on it too. They sat down and Bowser gently grabbed Y/N’s hands. Red eyes met (eye color) eyes.

“Y/N. I am grateful to have met you. I know I said this already, but I am sorry for how I treated you before. Thank you for giving me a chance. I…” He took in a deep breath and let it out, “I want you to know…you have become so important in my life. I have enjoyed our conversations and learning more about you and your world.”

Y/N could feel her heartbeat speed up. Her heart was hammering heavily in her chest listening to what Bowser was telling her. She could feel her face flush and her eyes widening.

“Y/N…I…I really like you…I like you as more than a friend.” His grip on her hands had tightened.

She blushed profusely from his confession. It was so sweet and tender. She couldn’t help her eyes from watering. The tears streamed down before she could do anything to stop them.

“Y-Y/N? Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry…” Bowser became worried that he had overstepped his bounds and let go of Y/N’s hands.

She shook her head, “No. Not at all.” She went to grab his hands again, a few more tears came down. He gripped onto her hands once more. “I’m very happy because I…I feel the same about you.” She smiled through her tears which were of joy and relief.

Bowser smiled, happy to see that her tears weren’t of disappointment. He gently wiped her face of the tears with the back of his hand.

“I’m sorry to be crying. I just. I’m really happy that someone feels this way about me. Genuinely feels this way about me. I’m happy that it’s you.” Y/N thought her heart was going to burst with how hard it was pounding.

“You don’t need to apologize. It’s alright. I’m happy to be with you. You showed me what unconditional love looks like. I’m happy to learn that from you.” He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand.

She closed her eyes, enjoying the moment.

“May I…kiss you?” he asked, a bit nervous.

Y/N’s eyes widened, “Uh…y-yes. I um…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I…I may not be good at it…” She didn’t have a lot of experience in this area.

“We can take it slow or just settle for kisses on the cheek. I’m good either way.”

Y/N felt embarrassed, “I guess we can take it…slow…”

“Hey. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. If you’d rather not do that now, that’s okay.”

“N-No I…I mean…I want to…”

“Okay.”

Bowser gently grabbed her chin, tilting it up and staring into her eyes. She stared back at him, her heart once again speeding up at the intimate moment. He slowly lowered his head to meet hers, eyelids closing. She closed her eyes and then felt his lips on hers. This kiss was sweet and something she wasn’t used to. He still kept a light grip on her chin and his other hand held hers. She reached her free hand up to cup his cheek. The kiss ended as quickly as it began, the two catching their breath.

“Well…that wasn’t bad at all,” Bowser said. “I quite liked it.”

Y/N blushed, “Um, y-yes, it was nice…”

“Now that we have confessed, care to take a walk around the garden some more? There’s more to it I would like to show you.”

“Of course.”

Both got up from the bench and began walking. Bowser extended his arm to Y/N, and she wrapped both arms around his. She continued taking in the scenery around her as Bowser explained where each flower came from. The two walked and chatted until it was sunset, or what would be considered sunset time. The sky didn’t change all that much in appearance for the day. They went back inside and sat down at the dinner table. Conversation of different topics emerged and the two couldn’t be happier to be in each other’s company once more. They hoped to stay this way for the rest of their lives.

The End

[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 11)

Link for Chapter 10: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/726850412622331904/unconditional-love-chapter-10?source=share

A/N: Thank you everyone for the likes and follows. I really appreciate it! This chapter is a little shorter, but I hope all you enjoy it.

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Chapter 11

The feast that was hosted by the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom was very loud, but nice. All the Kongs had enjoyed their fill of food along with the plumbers and mushroom man. Peach sighed as she lay down on her bed. Not long after the meal, the Kongs all decided to head back to their kingdom. Peach had some of her guards help take care of the Yoshies that had stayed behind. They would eventually be put back into their kingdom.

What an exhausting, eventful day! Peach wished that she could’ve spent more time with Y/N but understood Y/N wanting to stay with Bowser. She was sure that she could visit Y/N again at some point. Really get to know her more later. She was very tired from everything and happy to be back in her bedroom on her soft, plush bed. No more trying to get comfortable on the stone flooring. She closed her eyes and let sleep take her mind to a faraway place.

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Mario had been tossing and turning in his bed. Given everything that happened in the day, Peach was kind enough to make arrangements for him and Luigi to stay the night before going back to their world. He couldn’t get the idea out of his mind about Y/N and Bowser. Yes, he didn’t want to hurt Y/N’s feelings again, but still. How could Y/N want to be with Bowser? Perhaps, as cliché as it may be, do not judge a book by its cover. It was true. Y/N obviously saw something in Bowser that not many others got to see.

Luigi, sharing the same room as his brother, was fast asleep. He was happy that everything got to work well for everyone. He was thrilled that Y/N would be able to spend more time with Bowser. As much as he wanted to spend more time with her, he could understand where Y/N stood in wanting to be with Bowser. Sleep had come very easy for him.

Mario, sighed and shook his head, ‘I wish I could sleep that easily.’ He had looked over at his brother who seemed to be in a deep sleep. He decided to let his mind wander on thoughts of Peach. He couldn’t deny that he was attracted to her. He wasn’t sure she felt the same. She liked him, but he felt like only a friend. He wondered if he should say something or let her say something.

‘I am not helping myself out with these complicated thoughts!’ Mario sighed once more. ‘Just think about plumbing. Getting jobs done and making money.’ Eventually, those thoughts about work did help him drift off to sleep.

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“You have an older sister?” The Koopa King asked.

“Yeah. She and I weren’t as close in our relationship as children. She is four years older than me. She stuck with her friends and I with mine,” the human replied.

Y/N and Bowser were in the dining room. Both were able to get some much-needed rest and were currently enjoying some brownies. The king couldn’t get enough of the chocolate flavor. The chocolate squares were quickly becoming a favorite dessert of the ruler.

“Did you two ever play together at all as kids?”

“We did a little bit. One time, we had a big snowstorm and because of that, school got closed. We went outside to play, and my sister decided to throw snowballs at me. I was surprised since I was occupied working on snow angels. I shot up from my snow angel making and started hurtling snowballs back at her. Then…” Y/N giggled.

“Then what?” Bowser asked a little amused at Y/N’s giggling.

“So, my parents came outside to check on my sister and I. We decided to team up girls against boys. Being that my dad was the only guy, it was my mom, sister, and I against him. We pummeled him with snowballs. Poor guy.”

“Aw. Not a fair fight.”

“No, it wasn’t. I did feel bad and decided to team up with him. Dad and I vs Mom and sister. Then, our dog Luke that we had at the time came outside and knocked everyone to the ground. He licked everyone in the face especially my sister and I.”

“The dog takes the crown huh?”

“Yep. Luke was sweet.” Y/N smiled sadly.

“What happened to him? If you don’t mind me asking.” Bowser didn’t like seeing Y/N down.

“He passed on from old age. The life span of a dog isn’t very long. He was a great family dog to have. I wonder how he would’ve reacted around you.”

“Probably would’ve been scared.”

“Yeah, at first, but…I think he would warm up to you. Eventually. He could be very protective around his family. He always stood guard whenever anyone he didn’t know came up to us.”

“Sounds like a great guard dog.”

“He was. I miss him sometimes and wish he could still be around. Just have to hold onto the good memories of him.”

Bowser put his hand over Y/N’s. She looked up at him and smiled.

“Did you ever have any pets growing up?” Y/N asked him.

“No. Not really. The main focus for me was music and ruling over the kingdom. My parents didn’t want to have any pets.”

“Ah. I see.”

“It sounds like dogs are great pets to have.”

“They are. They’re not called man’s best friend for nothing.”

“Man’s best friend?”

“Yeah. Dogs can be extremely loyal and be trained to help anyone with disabilities. Seeing eye dogs for example. They help people who are blind see where they need to go.”

“Hmm…fascinating…” Bowser was genuinely intrigued. “What else can they do?”

Y/N went on for a while talking about how dogs are used for almost every job in her world. Bowser listened intently. He could see just how much Y/N loved dogs. She went on to tell him about a couple of other family dogs she had when she was growing up.

“I do hope to get a dog of my own someday. Living in an apartment though, I don’t want to get a dog now. The cost for pets in my apartment is outrageous!” Y/N said.

“There is a cost to owning an animal?” Bowser asked surprised.

“Yeah, depending on where you live and if you’re renting, people can charge fees for animals. It’s a pain. Surprisingly, a lot of people in my apartment complex own dogs or cats. I don’t know how they’re paying for them considering the high rent.”

“Why is it so much money to live in your world?”

“I have no idea. People gotta make money, which I understand. Just wish the cost of living could calm down.”

“Well…what if you lived here?” Bowser realized what he asked, and he could see the surprise on Y/N’s face. He started blushing a bit because he also realized how that was coming off.

“I uh…” Y/N was very startled. “I mean…that’s really nice of you to offer, but…” She couldn’t do that. Sure, she had been staying here for a few days, but it was meant to be temporary. Not permanent.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have suggested that. It’s just…it all sounds complicated in your world. Your financial standings.”

“It’s alright. I appreciate the offer.” Y/N had placed her other hand on top of his. Bowser still hadn’t moved his hand from hers before. “It um…m-maybe we can…talk about that later…” Her face was turning tomato red.

“Uh, alright.” Bowser cleared his throat, sensing Y/N wanted to move onto a different topic. He too felt it best to talk about something else, “So, any galaxies in your world?”

Y/N talked more with Bowser about some of the discoveries man had made in space. It all grabbed Bowser’s attention. He liked listening to the way Y/N would describe things about her world. It made him want to visit there, that is, if anyone didn’t run in fear of him. He knew that people from Y/N’s world wouldn’t welcome him with open arms willingly.

“So, you can’t just land on any of the gas planets huh?” he asked.

“No. Plus, it’s not like we really have the right equipment to live on those planets. They’re uninhabitable. I know some people have talked about trying to live on Mars. With the rover on there inspecting the terrain, it seems like it could be another planet for humans to live on.”

“Would you move there?”

“Uh…I don’t know…maybe if we had more of the technology seen in the sci-fi movies I would. It takes forever to travel to planets where I’m from.”

“You don’t have fast travel?”

“Nope. Not at all.”

“Wow, how unfortunate.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

The two continued conversing with one another about various topics. It ended up being that for majority of the conversation, Y/N did most of the talking. Bowser was finding the human world to be more and more fascinating. Everything seemed almost behind or lacking in technology based on what his place had and what he grew up with. Still, he couldn’t help wanting to visit her world now.

The evening flew by in a breeze, and it had gotten extremely late. The two got up from the table and each retreated to their rooms. Y/N had informed Bowser that she should be taken home first thing in the morning after breakfast. She really did need to contact her family and her job.

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“Thanks for letting us stay over,” Mario said to Peach.

“No problem. I knew you guys would be tired and wanted to give you a place to crash at for the night,” Peach replied.

“Well. Guess we’ll be seeing you around Peach,” Luigi said.

The plumbers, princess, and Toad had all gathered around the green tube used by the brothers to go back home.

“Take care out there,” Toad said. “Bring Y/N with you next time you run into her.”

“We’ll see if we can,” Mario said.

Luigi waved goodbye to Peach and Toad and climbed into the tube. Mario was just about to go next, but before he could do anything, Peach grabbed his hand. He looked at her in surprise.

“Before you go, I have something for you,” Peach said.

“What would that be?” He was a little nervous.

Peach leaned in to give him a gentle kiss on his lips. Mario, stunned by the contact, widened his eyes, but smiled. The kiss was short and sweet. Mario smiled at her.

“I hope to see you again soon,” Peach said with a blush.

Toad, who had stepped away, smirked in the background, giving Mario a thumbs up.

“Uh…” Mario cleared his throat. “Yeah. I hope to see you again too. Soon.”

“Be careful out there,” Peach said.

“You too,” Mario said. He was going to start climbing up until, “Uh Peach. I really like you.”

Peach smiled knowingly, “I know. That’s why I gave you that kiss. I feel the same.”

Mario, relieved grabbed Peach’s gloved hand to place a gentle kiss on it, “I’ll be back soon Princess.”

Peach blushed, but smiled, “Looking forward to it.”

Mario then climbed up and waved goodbye to Toad and then entered the green tube.

Luigi was standing back in his world by the green tube entrance waiting for his brother. He could see a swirl of colors, indicating that someone was coming through the tube’s entrance. Mario came out and went to stand by his brother.

“I was beginning to wonder what happened to you,” Luigi said.

“Oh yeah uh…Sorry to keep you waiting,” Mario responded.

“No problem…hmm…”

“What?”

“I see what happened.”

“You see what happened? What happened?”

“C’mon Mario. Don’t deny it. You and Peach finally kissed.”

“Agh!” Mario was stunned and blushing.

Luigi laughed at his brother’s face, “Relax! It’s alright. I’m glad it finally happened to you! I’d been waiting for you two to finally confess and kiss.”

“Really Lu?”

“Yes, really! Wait till Mom and Dad hear about it! In fact, I’m going to call Mom right now!”

“W-Wait! Lu! Please don’t! Not now. We literally just got back. Let’s tell her later, okay? You know how Mom gets about this sort of stuff.”

“I know. She’ll be so thrilled.” Luigi then began imitating his mom’s voice, “My little Mario. He finally won over the heart of a beautiful young woman. Let’s hope her heart is as big as her appetite.” He ended the imitation, “You know she’ll bring up food too.”

“Yeah…anyway, let’s get out of the sewers and get back home now.”

“Alright.”

The brothers began making their way out of the sewer system and eventually made it back to the surface. Happy to be out in the fresh air, the two began walking toward their apartment complex. The walk wasn’t very long, and they reached the complex in no time. They made their way to the elevator and went up to their floor. Reaching their apartment, they went inside and crashed onto their beds.

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Y/N woke up and stretched her limbs. She had slept very well and was happy that she could go home, but also sad to leave Bowser. Yes, she can come back to visit him or, possibly, have him visit her. She was enjoying this time with him and was grateful that she could see his calm and softer side.

She met up with Bowser in the dining room again after getting into a new outfit. Today’s outfit consisted of blue jeans, converse shoes in her favorite color, and a t-shirt also in her favorite color. She decided to fix her hair in a side ponytail. The conversation she had with the king was nice, but she could sense the sadness in his voice.

“So, uh…when do you think you can come back to visit?” He asked.

“I’m not sure. It may take some time for everything to be sorted out on my side,” she replied.

“I hope it’ll be soon.”

She smiled at him, “I hope so too.”

“When could I meet your family?”

“Huh? Uh…I don’t know. My family doesn’t exactly live where I am now. I think that may have to wait for a while too.” She was surprised he asked this so suddenly.

“Ah okay…looking forward to working your job again?”

“I am…if I still have a job. I just hope I didn’t get fired, but I understand if they did fire me.”

“If they did fire you, I could go with you to help straighten everything out.”

“I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Well…” She didn’t want to sound mean to him. “It’s just that…”

“People might scream and run away?” He understood what she was trying to say.

“Yeah…I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize.”

She gave him another one of her soft smiles and the two continued conversing about various topics as they ate their breakfast. Finishing their meal, the two exited the dining room and Bowser summoned for Kamek.

“Yes Sire?” Kamek asked.

“It’s time to…to take Y/N back home,” Bowser answered with a bit of somber tone.

“I see. I’m ready to escort you when you’re ready to go,” Kamek said to Y/N.

“Thank you,” Y/N replied.

“I’ll be over here. I’ll let you two say your goodbyes.” Kamek had appeared on his broom and flew off to the side to allow privacy for the king and human.

“Well, this is it,” Y/N said.

“Yeah. I…It was great meeting you. Hope to see you again soon,” Bowser said.

“We’ll see each other again.” She went up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

He returned the gesture.

“I’ll see you around,” Y/N said as she let go of him and began backing away.

“Wait!” Bowser grabbed Y/N’s hand. She turned to face him.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I want you to have this.” Bowser motioned for Kamek to work his magic. In Bowser’s other hand, an orb was placed in it. It was a red orb, “This is for communicating. In case we can’t see each other in person, we can talk through this.”

“Oh wow! How neat! Thank you!” She grabbed the orb from Bower’s hand.

Bowser let go of Y/N’s other hand and she then held the orb in both of her hands.

“There’s one more thing,” Bowser said looking a little nervous.

“What would that be?” she asked curiously.

Bowser leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on top of her head. Y/N gasped from the contact, not expecting it. She blushed and stared up at Bowser.

“I hope you don’t mind that last gift,” Bowser said.

“I uh…I don’t mind…” Y/N was flustered, “Allow me to give you a gift in return.” She leaned up and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Bowser blushed but smiled at the contact.

Y/N held her head down, staring at the orb in her hands. She was both embarrassed and satisfied to give him that kiss on the cheek.

“You are cute when you blush,” he spoke up.

“Uh, thank you,” she replied.

“You’re welcome,” He smirked at her. How he loved seeing her flustered. “The orb works by looking into it and saying who you would like to speak with. Just say my name and I’ll get an alert on my orb.”

“Okay. Thanks. I guess I should go now. Talk to you later.”

“Talk to you later.”

Bowser watched as Y/N walked up to Kamek. The wizard had lowered himself down for Y/N to climb onto his broom. He and Y/N then rode off out of the castle. Kamek was going to take her to a green tube that wasn’t too far from Bowser’s castle. The king sighed after watching the two exit the castle.

‘I’ll get to talk to her again soon. Just be patient.’ He decided to occupy some of his time by going to his music room and playing his piano. The piano always seemed to soothe and calm him down.

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The wizard and human were in an area filled with lava and rocks. The lava flowed down some cliffs and roared as it plummeted down below. Kamek cast a protection spell for himself and Y/N so that neither one of them would get burned.

“Here is the tube. I’ll help you get to it,” Kamek said as he carefully lowered his broom toward the tube.

The tube was sticking out of some rocks but seemed a bit hard to get to. That is, unless you had a broom to fly you to it like Kamek did. He flew to the entrance of the tube, helping Y/N get off the broom and stand in the entry way.

“Thank you Kamek!” Y/N spoke with a smile.

“You’re welcome. Take care of yourself!”

“You too!”

Y/N was suddenly surrounded by a whirlwind of colors. The tube dragged her further in and soon, she was being teleported through the pink cloud area like before. No other pathways to possibly diverge into. Just straight forward. She looked on ahead and soon enough, she was thrown out of the tube and into the sewers of her home.

She got up from the floor and rubbed her head. Unfortunately, her head had taken some of the fall from the tube. She sighed and looked for the ladders used before to climb up and out of the sewer system.

‘Better put ice on my head when I get home,’ she thought as she continued her journey.

She eventually made it out of the sewers and began walking to her apartment complex. The walk didn’t take too long, and she was inside the building soon enough. She went to the elevator to go to her floor. She walked down the hallway and opened her door. She walked inside and immediately set to work on putting ice on her head.

When she had the pack of ice made and set on her head, she went to look for her cellphone. She soon found the device on her nightstand in her bedroom. She opened it up to see several missed calls and text messages.

“Oh boy. This will take a while.” She didn’t waste any more time and began contacting her family and work.

Link for Chapter 12: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/728122143797379072/unconditional-love-chapter-12?source=share

[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 10)

Link for Chapter 9: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/726226684321333248/unconditional-chapter-9?source=share

A/N: Thank you everyone for the likes. I really appreciate it! :) Hope all of you enjoy this chapter.

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Chapter 10

The kart Y/N rode in continued its drive to get away from Bowser. The ground was shaking beneath the car tires. Y/N gripped onto the bar placed in front of her and the Kong driving steadied his grip on the wheel and gas pedal. It felt as though an earthquake was following them. Y/N knew the earthquake came from Bowser who was fast approaching them.

Y/N felt awful, and she really wanted to jump out of the kart. However, that would mean seriously injuring herself in the process. She didn’t want to do something stupid to get herself hurt. She sighed sadly and angerly. Why didn’t Mario listen to her? She knew everyone was just looking out for her, but still. She knew the history between Mario, Bowser, and the others wasn’t the best, but people can change if they really want to.

She could see that Bowser was trying to change. It can take time for change to come about, but why not give that person a chance to do it? She glanced behind her to see that the other karts were catching up with them. The ground was not quaking as heavily. Looking further back, she could see that Bowser had slowed down his pace. Still trying to catch up with all of them, but not coming as fast.

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“It’s about time he slowed his pace down,” Donkey commented.

“No kidding,” Toad agreed.

Luigi, who had also been in the same kart as them, sat in silence. He felt that they were being too rash with rushing into this. The look in Y/N’s eyes when she spoke seemed real and genuine, not that of someone who didn’t have control over their thoughts and words. Her eyes were showing raw emotion. He couldn’t help feeling down.

“Hey, you alright there?” Toad asked the plumber in green.

“Huh?” Luigi looked at Toad. “Oh uh…Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Luigi didn’t feel like voicing his thoughts out to the others. He figured it would be best to keep them to himself for now.

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Mario and Peach had not talked after she questioned him about not trusting Y/N. Both were occupied in their own head space. The plumber in red couldn’t fathom the idea of someone like Bowser changing his approach to people. It all seemed to happen so fast. He knew he wasn’t there to witness it, but it all seemed too good to be true. How could someone do a 180 so quickly?

He knew he had hurt Y/N and he felt bad about that, but part of him was still not entirely convinced of the change with the Koopa King. He didn’t want to hurt Y/N anymore than he already had. He knew, as he told the princess, they would have to have Y/N tell her story again. He knew he needed to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Peach felt saddened. She could see how much Y/N cared for the Koopa King. It was surprising and yet, it was nice. She herself would never want to be with him as she didn’t have that attraction to him. However, she was happy to see that Bowser seemed to be taking an interest in someone else for a change. She still thought Bowser to be crazy but hearing him be soft around Y/N was sweet.

She turned around behind her to see that Bowser was no longer moving toward them. He looked tired out, but not ready to give up yet.

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The Koopa King could see the karts getting further and further away from him. He already felt exhausted from running. The adrenaline he felt when storming out of the castle was already wearing off. He huffed and puffed to catch his breath. He didn’t want to quit yet. He wouldn’t. He wanted Y/N beside him again. He would get her back no matter what it took to do so.

Bowser had indeed grown large, and his height had changed. His body was coated in black, making his hair look even more fiery red than it usually is. The fire that encircled his fists was diminishing, but still lit. The fire from his mouth had turned into smoke as it too was calming down in the amount of heat. The spikes on his shell had protruded further out than before as well.

He let himself fall to his knees as he continued catching his breath. Before he could try to get himself back up, a red orb appeared beside him. Inside it was his wizard.

“Sire,” Kamek spoke sadly.

“Kamek,” Bowser huffed out.

The MagiKoopa looked on as he watched his king trying to breathe normally again. “We should head back to the castle. We can try to get Y/N back-“

“I’m not quitting now! I may be tired, but I’m not losing her! I can’t!” Bowser’s eyes widened at the very idea Kamek suggested.

“But your highness, I think it would be best to have some reinforcements. You need to gather more of your strength.”

The king growled, smoke seeping out of his mouth and nostrils, “I can’t leave her with them! She wanted to spend more time with me! Plus, I promised we would get her home.”

“I understand, but your majesty-“

“But nothing! I am going to the Mushroom Kingdom and getting Y/N back! You want to send in reinforcements, that’s fine by me. I am not quitting here though.”

The wizard sighed, “I will have reinforcements ready and waiting for you at the Mushroom Kingdom.” He didn’t want to see Bowser exert more energy and strength. He was afraid the king may hurt himself. He had never seen Bowser’s fury grow to such an extreme. He saw Bowser as a son since he had been with him on the day of his birth. He didn’t want to see the king hurt physically either. Too much emotional pain had been inflicted on him and he didn’t need the pain to be physical as well.

Bowser slowly got up to his feet and roared, “I’m coming Y/N!” He started his pace out slowly, taking time to work up at a faster speed.

Kamek watched as his king left his side. He quickly cast a spell to call up on some of the other troops and Goombas to make way toward the Mushroom Kingdom. They understood the order and prepared to head out. Kamek would cast a transportation spell to get everyone over there quickly. He too would plan on helping them out.

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All the karts had eventually reached the Mushroom Kingdom. Peach’s kart had been driven up to the front of the others to lead the way into the kingdom. There was a passage that the princess had built that was specially designed for vehicles. Everyone followed her into the entrance, which was massive. They all parked the karts, and got out of them.

“Okay everyone. Follow me this way,” Peach directed as another door opened. It was a large silver door that a few guards pushed open. The door was heavy.

The Kongs, plumbers, Toad, and Y/N followed the princess down a long corridor to go into a meeting room. Y/N had remembered the meeting room from before. She looked up at all the glass windows that brought in the sunlight and sighed. Chairs of pink suddenly appeared from the floor, startling everyone.

“Now, all of you can take a seat anywhere. Y/N, please come up here,” Peach directed. “Mario, Luigi, and Toad, come up here too.”

Y/N looked at the princess and followed to stand where Peach was at. It involved climbing up a few stairs. Everyone else followed suit.

“We don’t have a lot of time right now. We know Bowser and his troops will be here soon. Y/N, please tell them what you said before,” Peach instructed.

“Before you do,” Mario said before Y/N could talk, “I’m sorry for hurting your feelings.”

Y/N stared into Mario’s blue eyes, “It’s fine.”

“No, it isn’t. I’m really sorry. I want to hear you out. I know what it’s like for others to doubt you. I’ve been through it before, and I should’ve given you a chance.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it,” Y/N spoke with a smile. She hoped Mario was slowly coming to an understanding now. “So, here’s what happened…”

Y/N did her best to explain everything exactly how she did with Peach. Given that they were all on a time crunch with Bowser and his army coming, she had to give the short version. She really hoped that the fighting wouldn’t turn into too much chaos.

“Wait so…does Bowser have…feelings for you Y/N?” Toad asked.

“Uh, y-yes. I think so…”

“What about you?”

Y/N nearly choked on her air, “M-Me?!”

“Yeah, don’t you feel the same?”

“I uh…” She blushed profusely. “I mean…” It was very hard to explain. Did she feel the same way? Over course she did! She just didn’t want to rush things either. Anytime someone asked her about the heart, she always got shy and unsure of herself. Deep down, she knew she was beginning to develop feelings for him, if she already hadn’t done so.

“It’s okay if you do Y/N,” Luigi spoke up. “I can see how much you care for him.” He decided that now was a good time to voice his thoughts. “You’ve expressed raw emotion.”

Y/N looked at the plumber in green, “Thanks Luigi.”

Before anyone could say anything else, the castle shook violently. All of them had to steady themselves to not fall. The Kongs who were sitting in their chairs gripped onto them tightly.

“They’re here! Everyone, please follow me this way and I’ll discuss details along the way,” the princess ordered.

All the Kongs got up from their chairs and followed the princess into another part of the castle that Y/N didn’t remember seeing before. Another long corridor greeted them as they all ran through. Peach was explaining for the Kongs, Mario, and Luigi to be lined up outside of the castle. She also would have some of her guards lined up outside. Once she directed everyone else where to go, she had Y/N follow her to the back of the castle.

“Just how big is this castle?” Y/N questioned.

“Bigger than it looks,” Peach answered. “I need you to stay back here.”

“Why? We all know Bowser wants to come for me. Shouldn’t I just go to the front with everyone else?”

“Considering his heated temper, I think it would be best for you to stay back here for now. We don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I don’t think he would hurt me.”

“Not intentionally, but he still has a hot temper. When he and I had ended up in your world before, he was taunting Mario until I kicked him in the face. Donkey and Toad joined me, and do you know what happened next? He shoved all of us, including me, away from him. Harshly might I add.”

“I see…”

“I just don’t want him to hurt you in the same way somehow. This time, it would be worse than it was with me.”

Y/N sighed. “Okay.”

“I’ll come get you when it’s a good time for you to come out to the front.”

Y/N nodded and then Peach went back inside. Y/N had been taken to what appeared to be a garden. The flowers were vibrant in their pastel colors. She smiled as she gazed at the flowers around her. At least it was serene back here. She decided to take a short walk to try and help ease her mind. She didn’t see any flowers like these in her world. The shapes were like what she had seen back home, but also very different. As she continued her walk, the ground shook once more.

She lost her balance and fell. She winced at the pain from the concrete beneath her and looked up at the sky. It was turning into an ominous color. Thunder clouds were rolling in and rain began to fall. Lightning streaked across the sky. She gasped from the thunder that followed the lightning. She wasn’t deathly afraid of thunder, but the sound wasn’t the most pleasant for her either.

She went to seek out shelter and saw an awning not too far from where she was at. Though it didn’t provide complete protection, it was better than nothing. She knew Peach wouldn’t want her to go back inside of the castle in case serious damage occurred. She focused on her breathing to calm her nerves of the thunder. There were more flowers by her, and she focused on the details of them.

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“Koopas! Goombas! Make way to the castle!” Kamek cried out. He had flown to the kingdom on his broom and was helping to lead everyone toward the castle.

Bowser wasn’t too far behind them. He didn’t seem to be struggling as much, but he wasn’t completely energized either. “Y/N! I’m here!”

The wizard turned around to look at Bowser. He could see the fury in his king’s eyes had grown immensely.

“All of you, keep going to the castle. If you see any of them, do not fight them just yet,” Kamek said.

Everyone understood and would wait for further instructions.

Kamek flew back to where Bowser was at, “Sire.”

Bowser looked at his wizard, “Kamek, you’re here.”

“Of course, I am. I am always there for you. Am I not?”

“Yes.” Bowser winced in pain.

“Sire, are you alright?”

He grimaced, “I’m fine. I must get Y/N back.”

“May I suggest that you go around the kingdom and not through it? Given your large stature, I don’t think the princess would be too pleased to see her kingdom be crushed.”

Bowser growled in annoyance, “Yeah, yeah.” He knew Kamek was right. He didn’t want to cause more uproar. “Go meet up with the others.”

“Right away Sire. Please be careful.”

The king nodded and watched his wizard fly off. He worked on walking around the kingdom, ‘This will take too long.’ He decided to make a leap over the kingdom. With the size he was, he should just be able to miss crushing the kingdom. He jumped into the air.

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The Koopas and Goombas stopped in their tracks upon seeing the plumbers, Kongs, Toad, and the other mushroom guards lined up at the entrance of the castle.

“We will not engage in a fight yet,” one of the Koopas spoke up.

“Fat chance,” Donkey said. “Let’s get them-“

“Wait!” Peach shouted. She had made her way back to them by running, panting to catch her breath. “Not yet.”

“We are to wait until Kamek or our king says otherwise,” another Koopa said.

The sky above everyone lit up from the lightning strikes and echoed with thunder.

“What the?!” One of the princess’s guards looked up to see an enormous shadow leaping over them.

Everyone followed the gaze of the guard and looked up in awe. The shadow had large, clawed feet and a spiky shell.

“Sire!” Kamek called out.

The shadow looked down briefly to see everyone looking up at him. Bowser had jumped up just high enough and was beginning to fall back to the ground. He could see a garden on the other side of the castle and landed a few yards away from it. He sighed relieved that he didn’t crush anyone or anything.

“Everyone! To the back of the castle!” Peach shouted.

All of them had followed the princess including the Koopas, Goombas, and Kamek.

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Y/N, who had been focused on the flowers, was startled to see a large shadow sail above her. She followed the shadow with her gaze and saw it land a few yards away from her.

‘Bowser?’ she thought. The spiky shell and clawed feet were very recognizable. “Bowser!”

The shadow, Bowser, could hear a faint voice in the distance. He recognized the voice to be Y/N. “Y/N!” He began running to where she was. He could just make out her figure as he drew closer. The ground shook beneath him.

Y/N had run up to try and meet up with him about halfway. She couldn’t get far due to a fence blocking her. She gripped onto the bars of the fence, trying to keep her balance since the ground was shaking violently. The rain was pelting down harder now, drenching her hair and clothes in the process.

“Y/N! Get away from the fence!” Peach shouted.

She and everyone else, minus Kamek, were all trying to keep their balance and not fall from the earthquake created by Bowser.

Y/N turned to look at all of them, keeping a hold on the fence. The ground calmed in quaking as Bowser slowed down to stop at the fence of the garden. He peered down at everyone and looked at Y/N. His eye softened.

Y/N looked up at him, the fire that had once encircled his fists disappeared and smoke was no longer seeping from his nostrils and mouth. She smiled at him.

“I’m okay. Please, there’s no need to fight,” Y/N spoke. “I’ve explained everything to the princess and the others. They all understand.”

The rain had soon drenched everyone else. The sky above boomed from the thunder and Y/N gasped.

Bowser looked down at her in concern, “Are you alright?”

“Y-Yes. I’m fine. Thunder scares me a bit is all.”

Everyone watched the exchange go on in silence. Some were surprised, but some were relieved. Luigi, happy to see this moment be done in a calm matter, smiled. Mario was still a little perplexed but was glad to see that Bowser was not acting violently. Toad was satisfied that everything seemed to be okay. Peach had been holding in a breath and had released it upon seeing that Bowser was calmed down.

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing right now,” Donkey said, shocked.

“Me neither. However, matters of the heart are complicated but can be eased with time and care,” Cranky said.

“Uh, Dad…you just totally sounded not like yourself.”

“Hey! I’ve been around the block a few times. I know what I’m talking about.”

“Okay…sure…”

The Kong King sighed, “Son, you’ll understand when you meet someone who captures your heart.”

Kamek, still sitting on his broom, flew over to where Bowser and Y/N were at. “Um Sire?”

Bowser looked at Kamek, “Yes?”

“Shall the troops be called off?”

“Yes, send all of them back to the castle.”

“Right away your majesty.” Kamek cast a spell that sent all the Koopas and Goombas back to Bowser’s castle. “The size you are now Sire, I do not have a spell to cast you back to normal I’m afraid.”

“What? You mean I’m this size forever?”

“Well…I don’t think forever, but I think it will take time for this wear off. Your fury got out of control causing you to transform into this size.”

“Hmm…I see…I just need to relax and then I should eventually get back to normal size then, right?”

“Yes, I believe that will work out.”

“Okay.”

Kamek flew off to the side and Peach had the others remaining go back inside her castle to give Bowser and Y/N some space. Kamek had landed on the ground on the side Bowser was on and smiled. He was happy to see Bowser relaxed.

“Y/N,” Bowser spoke to the human.

“Yes?” She asked gazing up at him.

“Uh…would you allow me to carry you back to my castle? That is, if you want to spend more time together before going home.”

“Sure, but before that, I want to say goodbye to the others and have them apologize to you.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes. We did try to tell them everything was fine, but still it all backfired.”

He chuckled, “Good point.”

“I’ll go get them now.”

Bowser watched as Y/N ran back inside the castle. ‘She really is something. She is so considerate.’

Y/N had managed to just catch up to the crowd of Kongs and everyone else, “Hey!”

“Y/N? You’re already done talking with Bowser?” Luigi asked.

“Not yet, but I want all of you to go out there and apologize to him.”

“What?!” Donkey exclaimed. “No way!”

“Son,” Cranky said in a discipling tone of voice, “she is right. Let’s go apologize.”

Donkey sighed, “Dad, you really aren’t acting like yourself at all. Who are you and where is my dad?”

“I told you before. I’ve been around the block a few times. We all acted rashly. C’mon.”

All the Kongs followed their king and Donkey, begrudgingly, followed him. Everyone made it back outside and one by one, they all apologized.

“I’m sorry, but I’m happy that everything is better now,” Luigi said and walked off to the side.

“I’m uh…I’m sorry…I’m sorry for not believing you earlier Bowser,” Mario said and went to stand by his brother.

“I’m sorry for the mess we caused,” Cranky said and walked away.

“I’m sorry too,” Donkey said quietly, but loud enough for Bowser to still hear him. He went to stand by his dad.

“I’m sorry for not believing you two at first,” Peach said.

“I’m sorry as well,” Toad said. He and Peach went to stand with Mario and Luigi.

“Well, that’s everyone,” Y/N said to Bowser.

Bowser nodded. He hoped it really wouldn’t take forever for him to be back to normal size.

“I’m going with Bowser back to his place. Before I do though,” Y/N started, “thank you all for caring about me. I do appreciate it a lot. I would love to come back here to visit if that’s okay.”

“Of course, it’s okay,” Peach said. “You’re welcome here any time.”

“Would love for you to try my cooking sometime Y/N,” Toad said.

“That sounds great!” Y/N said.

“Uh, when are you coming back to our world?” Mario asked.

“Soon. I hope we can still be friends as well?”

“Yep! We can!” Luigi exclaimed.

“That would be nice,” Mario said.

“Wonderful!” Y/N said. “I’m glad to have everything end on a happy note. I’ll see you all later! Take care!”

“Goodbye!” Everyone said at the same time.

Bowser knelt his hand for Y/N to climb up onto. She gripped around his thumb as he brought his hand back up. He began walking off, Kamek following beside him on his broom.

Peach watched them leave and smiled, “I’m glad we didn’t have to get into a war.”

“Me too,” Toad agreed.

“That would not have been fun,” Luigi said.

“Nope. It wouldn’t have been fun at all,” Mario said.

“Well, we can all have dinner. I’ll have my chefs prepare for everyone,” Peach said. “Would the Kongs like to stay for dinner?” She turned to ask the king.

“We would be honored to stay for dinner. Isn’t that, right?” Kranky turned to his Kongs, and they all cheered.

“Yeah, I could use a bite to eat,” Donkey said.

Everyone then headed back into the castle. Peach led all of them to the dining room and helped all her servants set up the table. Soon, everyone was seated and waiting for food and drinks to arrive.

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“I never thought I would get to have an experience like this,” Y/N said.

“Being carried away by a giant monster?” Bowser asked.

“Hey! You’re not a monster. Sure, your temper got the best of you, but you’re not a monster. Yeah, it’s something you would only read about in a book. A girl gets whisked away into an unfamiliar world. She meets creatures of fantasy and learns of other fantastical places that exist beyond her world.”

“Hmm. That does sound like a novel.”

She giggled, “It does. Honestly, when first coming to the Mushroom Kingdom, I felt that this place was like a children’s book.”

He smiled at her, “That sounds nice. Are you sure you’re okay with coming back with me?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I said I wanted to, and I still want to see all of your castle. Although, considering our current predicament…” She wondered when he would return to normal size.

He sighed, “Yeah…I don’t know either on when I will return to normal size. I hope soon.”

“I hope so…um…Bowser…”

“Yes?”

“I uh…” Did she want to say her feelings now? No, she should wait. Again, she didn’t want to rush this. Her feelings were growing more and more by the minute. “I’m glad we met.”

“Me too.”

“It wasn’t the best way to start things out, but I’m glad to see a softer side of you.”

“I’m glad you’re still fine with seeing me.”

“I am. I really am.” She was very happy to be beside him again. She looked forward to their time together.

“I wonder something,” he said interrupting her thoughts.

“What’s that?”

“I wonder if…if you would like to travel with me to the other places talked about in my library.”

“That would be amazing! I’ve wanted to do more traveling, but never have had the time or money to do so in my world. Thank you!” She gave his thumb a gentle kiss.

He got a little flustered, but smiled and relaxed, having enjoyed the small show of affection from her.

“Sire…” Kamek who had been quietly flying beside them during the conversation spoke up. “We need to think about accommodations for you.”

The castle of the Koopa King was in sight. It was now a short walk away.

“We can think about-“ Bowser suddenly grimaced in pain. He used his hand that was not holding Y/N to grab at his side.

“Bowser?” Y/N asked worriedly.

“Gah! This hurts! Kamek, take Y/N!” Bowser’s side pain increased and soon rushed to the rest of his body.

Kamek had lowered himself down for Y/N to get onto the broom. She climbed up onto the broom and wrapped her arms around the wizard’s waist. They both watched Bowser writhing in pain.

“Bowser,” Y/N said with concern. She didn’t like seeing him in this pain.

“I think he is changing back to normal size,” Kamek said. “The pain should subside soon. I hope.”

Bowser continued experiencing the immense pressure throughout his body. Soon enough, he was beginning to shrink down in size. The black that once covered his body evaporated and he was back to his original color. He felt the pressure ease off and then he was back to his normal size. Kamek lowered the broom to the ground and Y/N hopped off it. She ran up to Bowser.

“I’m glad to see you normal sized again. Are you okay now? Is the pain gone?”

He rubbed his arms, which still had some slight pain in them, “Yeah, for the most part. My arms feel sore.”

“We can get that taken care of Sire,” Kamek said as he got off his broom. “Let’s get inside the castle now.”

The wizard, king, and human all entered the castle and could see some of the Koopas working on repairs. The entrance had almost been nearly destroyed from Bowser’s earlier rampage.

“I’ll set up a spell to help get this fixed more quickly,” Kamek said to the Koopas.

“That would be great!” One of the Koopas answered.

Kamek cast a spell, and everything got back to where it was originally.

“Thanks!” The Koopas shouted.

“You’re welcome!” Kamek said the Koopas. “Now, about that arm pain.” He had Bowser face him and cast a healing spell. “This will ease the pain down and it should be gone by tomorrow.”

“Thank you Kamek,” Bowser said.

“Of course, Sire. I’ll stay here and make sure no other structure needs refurbishing.”

“Sounds good.”

Y/N and Bowser then walked to the long corridor that had all the bedrooms.

“We should get some rest now. It’s been a long day,” Y/N said.

“Agreed. Um, I can show you around tomorrow if that’s alright with you?” Bowser asked.

“Yes, that would be great.”

The two made it back to where Y/N’s room was at, and Y/N opened the door.

“Y/N?” Bowser asked.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being kind and considerate.”

She gave him a small, shy smile, “You’re welcome.”

“Get some rest now.”

“You as well.”

“Join me a little later for dinner?”

“Sure.”

Y/N closed her door and sighed. So much emotion in one day! A nap would do wonders for her, she was sure. This bed was super comfortable. She laid down, letting her head hit the pillow, instantly closing her eyes.

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Bowser walked back to his room and closed the door. He was beyond exhausted from the day’s events. He was glad Y/N still wanted to be with him despite everything that happened. He smiled and laid down on his bed, letting sleep take over. A nap was a good idea to take advantage of.

Link for Chapter 11: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/727495897170280448/unconditional-love-chapter-11?source=share

[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 9)

By xSereneMeadowsx

Link for Chapter 8: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/725602114025521152/unconditional-love-chapter-8?source=share

A/N: Thank you everyone for the likes and follows. I really appreciate it! :) Hope all of you enjoy this chapter.

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Chapter 9

Y/N had been taken back to her room by Kamek. It made her very happy to be back in a spacious room with her comfortable bed, bathroom, and different clothes to wear. She smiled as she had finished showering and was looking in the closet to decide on what to wear. Many options were displayed before her. She decided to put on another summer style dress. It was knee length and lavender. Dark purple rose patterns were displayed on the top and skirt of the dress and was shoulder length.

She then found a matching pair of earrings and a bracelet that went well with the dress. She decided to fix her hair by doing simple curls in it. Spinning around in her dress, she was satisfied with how she was dressed and with her hair. The last thing to find was a nice pair of shoes. She walked back to the closet and found a pair of flat, lavender sandals. Putting the sandals on, she smiled at herself in the full-length mirror. It felt good to wash up, change clothes, and fix her hair.

She walked out of her room and headed to the dining room. Along the way, she saw Kamek who was talking to a few Koopa Troops.

“The king wants to put a hold on the attack,” Kamek said.

“Really? We went through all that time setting up everything,” one of the troops said expressing slight frustration.

“What a waste,” another one agreed.

“Well, uh, we can have what you set up for backup in case something else happens,” Kamek said, trying to calm and reassure the troops.

“Yeah, that’s true,” the last troop spoke. “Doesn’t hurt to have a backup. We were looking forward to attacking everyone though.”

“Uh hello,” Y/N decided to pipe into the conversation.

Everyone nodded in acknowledgement.

“Y/N, you look lovely,” Kamek complimented.

“Thank you,” she replied bashfully.

“His highness is waiting for you in the dining room. I’ll escort you there,” Kamek said.

“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Y/N replied.

The wizard and human made their way to the dining room. Opening the doors, it was lavishly decorated. The long table had a white pristine cloth laid on top of it. Plates with intricate designs were placed on the table to accompany the delicious looking food. Candles adorned the four corners of the room, illuminating the atmosphere to reflect a peaceful, welcoming setting.

“Wow! It looks wonderful in here,” Y/N said as continued looking at everything around her.

“I’m glad it is to your liking,” the voice of the king spoke up.

Y/N turned to look at Bowser, “You didn’t have to go so far out with dinner.”

Bowser chuckled, “I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to.”

“It’s really nice of you.”

Kamek had walked Y/N up to the seat she sat in last time and left the dining room. Before Y/N could pull the chair out from the table, Bowser stepped in to take over.

“Please, allow me to seat you,” Bowser said pulling the chair out.

Y/N gave him a shy smile, “Thank you.”

He gently pushed the chair back in once she was sitting down in it. He then went back to his own chair and looked at Y/N, “You look beautiful.”

Y/N blushed in response, “Th-Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Shall we eat?”

“Yes, lets!”

The food was delectable. The taste was something that Y/N couldn’t get over. She did love food, but this just about topped any food she had been served at prestigious restaurants. The steak was made just right, the potatoes soft and fluffy, the bread warm and soft, and the green beans done to the right temperature. It was all so wonderful.

“My compliments to the chef,” Y/N spoke as she swallowed down a bite of steak.

“I’ll let him know you like it,” Bowser responded.

“Uh Bowser…”

“Yes?”

“I know I already asked you if you were going to stop your plans, but…”

“But what?”

“Mario and the others are still planning to come here. I’m sure they’re going to try and attack you and your troops.”

“I know. My intelligence has kept a close eye on them and informed me of their moves. I’ll let them come here to take the princess back.”

“How is everything supposed to go peacefully though? I mean…” Y/N had a feeling that things were going to be tough. Mario, Luigi, and the others all had their opinions on Bowser, and they weren’t good ones.

“I think if they see that I haven’t harmed you and the princess, they won’t attack me.”

“I hope so. I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings. I know I can try to explain to them that everything is okay. I just hope they’ll hear me out.”

“I don’t imagine it will be easy. I’ll try to help you out.”

“Thank you.” Y/N gave him a gentle smile. “I also have to ask though…is it possible for me to return home?”

Bowser looked a bit saddened, “You don’t want to stay here with me?”

“Um well, it’s just that…I have my apartment and my things in my world. I also know my family and friends will be worried about me if they aren’t already. I’ve been gone for a few days now. They need to know that I’m alright.”

“I see…I understand. I can have Kamek help you get back to your place.” Bowser was disappointed. He wanted Y/N to live with him in his castle from now on.

“I still want to see you and visit you. I just don’t think it would be a good idea for me to live here.”

He nodded his head, a somber look on his face.

She noticed his expression and reached her hand to him, placing it on top of his. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I have things that I need to take care of. Like the rent for my apartment and explaining to my manager from work about what’s happened to me. I hope I haven’t been fired already, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I am.”

“Right…will you still come visit me?”

“Of course, I will. We’re friends now and we won’t get to know each other very well if we don’t visit from time to time.”

He placed his other hand on top of hers and gave her a big smile, “After everything is settled with the pesky plumb-uh I mean, Mario and everyone, I’ll have Kamek help you get back to your world.”

“Alright.” She stared into his eyes. “You know, you don’t see red eyes very often. I should say at all.”

“Hmm…guess that makes me unique then.”

She chuckled, “Yes, it does. I really enjoy looking into people’s eyes. There are some beautiful colors I have seen from people I’ve talked to before. The cliché quote of, “Eyes are windows into one’s soul” stands true.”

“What do you think of my eyes?”

“Your eyes are also beautiful. A rare color to see.”

He smiled at her, “Thank you. Your (eye color) eyes are amazing.”

She blushed, “Thank you.”

“What do you see when you look in my eyes? You said that they’re windows into the soul.”

“Hmm…I see a fire inside. Besides the color, I see someone who is very strong and capable of doing anything.” She laughed, “I know I sound so cheesy right now, but it’s true. Um, what about me?”

He smiled, “I see a world of genuine curiosity and care. I see someone who is easily flustered, but very sweet. I see…”

She stared at him in anticipation.

“I see someone who is willing to give me a chance when not very many others have.”

She smiled and the grasp on each other’s hands had tightened. During the whole exchange, they hadn’t let go of each other’s hands, “Thank you.”

He nodded to her and released his hands from her, she retracts her hand back, “Shall we have some dessert?”

“Yes! What is it?”

“A cake. A chocolate covered cake.”

“Mmm…sounds good. I love chocolate!”

He chuckled, “I’m glad you do.”

The chef and a few other Koopas came out to take away the plates and replace them with plates that had cake slices on them. Bowser told the chef about Y/N’s compliment and the chef gave her a kind smile in return. All of them then went back to the kitchen.

Y/N picked up her fork, picking a small piece off to try it. She put the fork to her mouth and took the bite, chewing and swallowing, “Yep. This is very good.”

Bowser followed Y/N’s actions, “It is.”

“Bowser, when did you learn to play piano? I can tell you’ve had a lot of practice with it.”

“I was a kid when I learned it. I would say maybe 5 or 6 years old. My teacher was very strict but knew what she was doing. She always made everyone practice the same notes again and again until they got them right. She scolded me more times than I can count when I first started.”

“Wow. That teacher does sound strict, but she knew how to get her students to succeed.”

“Yes, she did. What about you and your singing?”

“My singing…I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. I’ve always enjoyed it. I had voice lessons for a while, but my teacher ended up moving away. Her husband had received a job in another town. I still practiced everything I could from what she taught me. Did your teacher also do voice lessons?”

“You really have been singing all your life. No, she didn’t. I went to another teacher for that. He was very laid back about everything, but he also had plenty of experience. Didn’t do the voice lessons for as long. I enjoyed the piano a lot more.”

“I’ve always enjoyed the piano, violin, harp, guitar, and drums. I wanted to learn to play the drums when I was a kid and my mother said no. They’re too loud.”

Bowser chuckled, “I’ll agree with your mother on that one. Did you have any lessons in instruments aside from the drums?”

“I did have lessons in guitar for a little while, but I couldn’t stay focused with it. I also played piano for a short time. I never could get myself to practice either of those instruments enough. Makes me wish I had though.”

“Well, maybe I could teach you piano if you want. Give you free lessons.”

Y/N’s eyes glowed in excitement, “Really? You wouldn’t mind?”

“Not at all. Why not?”

“Thank you. That would be very nice.”

The king and human continued talking about various details of each other’s lives and soon, the two were beginning to grow weary. Both got up from the table and exited the dining room.

“This was a wonderful evening Bowser,” Y/N said as she gave him a small curtsy.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Bowser replied.

“See you in the morning for breakfast?”

“Of course. Allow me to walk you back to your room.”

“Okay.”

The walk to Y/N’s room was short, but Y/N appreciated the gesture. When reaching her doors, Bowser pushed them open with ease.

“Thank you,” Y/N said.

“You’re welcome,” Bowser replied.

“I hope you sleep well. Goodnight.” Y/N was about to walk through the doorway when Bowser grabbed her hand. She turned around to look at him with questioning eyes.

“Would it be alright to give you a hug?” he asked with pleading eyes.

“Um, sure,” Y/N said bashfully.

The two embraced each other gently. It felt good to be held in someone else’s arms. Y/N didn’t get hugs from people as often anymore since she had to move away from her family and friends. Sure, she was slowly getting to know her coworkers, but they weren’t at a comfortable point yet to give hugs. Bowser enjoyed this embrace. Y/N was so small in comparison to him, but it felt just right to hold her like this. The two of them let go of each other exchanging smiles. Y/N closed her doors and Bowser made the walk back to his room.

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The next morning dawned on the plumbers, mushroom man and Kongs. The night had been restless for Mario who hardly managed to get any shut eye. He got up to stretch his limbs and went to wake up his brother.

“Hey Lu, get up,” Mario said gently shaking his brother’s shoulder.

Luigi groggily opened his eyes and stared up at his brother, “Today’s the day huh?”

“Yep. Time to get Peach and Y/N back.”

“I’ll go wake up some of the others.”

“Alright, I’ll see if I can get Toad to start making breakfast and give him a hand.”

The brothers went about their ways and soon, everyone was awake, and food was being cooked. The Yoshies were given some fruit while Toad and Mario made breakfast for everyone else. Everyone ate their food in silence, feeling intensity in the air. All of them had the same thought that this was not going to be easy. They all hoped Peach and Y/N were alright.

Everyone had their fill of their breakfast and continued to make the trek toward Bowser’s castle. No one talked. They all were caught up in their own thoughts. The tired expressions on all their faces said it all. It had been a hard day previously and they still had much more ahead of them. Everyone was going about preparing for the next battle in their own mental state of mind.

“Mario,” Luigi piped up. He had been walking beside his brother the entire time.

“Yeah?” Mario asked.

“You uh feeling alright?”

“I’m fine. I think everyone is still tense because of what’s to come.”

“Yeah, that could be.”

“How are you holding up Lu?”

“Me? Oh, hehe, yeah, I’m doing as well as I can be.”

“You’re nervous.”

“Well, yes, but this is all to be expected. I mean, we are going up against Bowser and this time, we don’t have a SuperStar to grab. This won’t be easy.”

“You’re right about that.” Mario hoped that he and everyone could make it through the hard battle ahead. He still had the lingering feeling in the back of his mind that something more was going to come about.

“Anyway, I don’t want to get myself more nervous than I already am,” Luigi said. “You already know how I can be in that department.”

Mario gave his brother a kind smile, “We all get nervous sometimes. You’re still brave in my book.”

“Thanks Mario.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Hey fellas!” Toad exclaimed. “You two good?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” Luigi answered.

“We got this,” Mario said.

“Yep, we sure do,” Donkey jumped in. “So, relax and be cool.”

Everyone nodded at Donkey. Slowly, idle chatter began to pick up amongst the large group. Talk about some battle strategy and other topics were thrown around as they all got closer to the lava castle waiting for them. Time seemed to speed up and before they all knew it, the castle stood before them waiting. The heat from the lava quickly made everyone work up a sweat.

“Phew! Forgot how hot it was here,” Cranky said as he fanned himself off.

“Ugh. Stupid heat,” Donkey said. “We’re not even at the castle entrance and already the heat is so intense.”

“Well, there is a bunch of lava surrounding us. I think it’s to be expected,” Mario said.

“Alright. No more chatter. We need to commence our battle operations,” Cranky stepped in.

Everyone gathered around in a circle and discussed their plans once more on who was doing what and where everyone was supposed to go to. All nodded in agreement when the details were discussed again and got into their positions.

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Y/N had met up with Bowser again in the dining room for breakfast. On this morning’s menu were pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, and French toast. Quite a feast. Y/N always enjoyed breakfast food, and these were some of her favorites.

“How is it?” Bowser asked as he took a bite of sausage.

“Once again, it’s all delicious,” Y/N answered as she drank some orange juice. “This is the best orange juice I’ve ever had too. Really good!”

Bowser smiled at Y/N, “Glad you like everything.”

Y/N smiled back at him and continued eating her food. Random topics of conversation came up here and there between the king and human. Soon, they were finished with their breakfast and the kitchen staff came to clean up the table. Bowser and Y/N walked out of the dining room, Bowser holding the door of the room open for Y/N.

“Thank you,” Y/N said.

“You’re welcome,” Bowser replied as he closed the doors behind him.

The two of them were going to take another stroll through the castle since Y/N hadn’t seen everything yet. Before they could begin the tour, a troop ran up to them out of breath.

“Your majesty. The two humans, Kongs, and Toad are here,” the troop spoke once catching his breath.

Bowser nodded his head, “Very well. Gather everyone, but do not engage.”

“Yes sir,” the troop replied and scurried away.

Y/N looked at Bowser with slightly worried eyes. Bowser put his hand on her shoulder giving a light squeeze. They began to go in the direction that the troop went to. Along the way, Kamek had come up to them and Bowser had the wizard take Peach out of the dungeon and bring her with them to the throne room. Bowser figured going to the throne room and trying to talk to everyone there would be the best option.

Once reaching the throne room, chaos was already on the horizon. The troops were engaging, but they had no choice. The Kongs were attacking in full force. Yoshies were jumping, ground pounding, and shooting out eggs. Mario, Luigi, and Donkey were at the front of it all along with Toad using some of the power ups they brought with them. The troops were not messing around today. They were in high time battle mode. Mario and his team were struggling a bit with everything going on. They tried to fight off a few other troops and before another move could be made a shout was heard.

“Enough!” Bowser yelled and roared.

Everyone ceased their attacks for a moment. Y/N had stood beside Bowser and Kamek had guided Peach with him to the throne room. The wizard and Princess stood in front of Bowser and Y/N.

“Peach, Y/N,” Mario said slowly walking forward. A couple of troops put up spears so that he couldn’t get any closer to them.

“First, let me speak,” Bowser said.

“Go on,” Mario answered, annoyed.

“The princess and Y/N will be set free,” Bowser began.

As Bowser continued to talk about the recent events, there were a few Kongs who snuck into the castle using a hidden entrance. Thanks to squeezing out information from a certain scared Koopa troop, they were able to sneak in and use the tops of tall pillars to hide themselves. They climbed and swung themselves from pillar to pillar. When they reached the throne room, they planned to stealthily take out a few troops and get the princess and human out of the castle.

“So, you see, I do not want the princess anymore and Y/N has agreed to be a companion of mine,” Bowser said.

Mario was not buying this, “You expect us to believe that Y/N wants to be friends with you?”

Y/N stepped forward, “It’s true Mario, I want to be friends with Bowser.”

“What? No way. You know what he’s done right?”

“Yes, I’m aware, but everyone needs a friend including Bowser.”

“Y/N. The wizard has got be mind controlling you to say these things.”

“He isn’t. This is my own free will. Please, believe me.”

“She is telling the truth,” Peach spoke up.

“Peach,” Mario said. “Not you too.”

“Look, I know it’s hard to see. It was hard for me too, but she is telling the truth.”

Luigi, who walked up to stand beside Mario whispered, “Maybe we can believe her and Y/N.”

“No way. I’m not buying it.”

“I don’t either,” Toad whispered joining the brothers.

“Same,” Donkey whispered walking up to them.

Before anyone could do or say anything else, a few troops were knocked out including the two preventing Mario and the others from going further. The wizard had also been knocked before he could use his wand to cast any spells. Peach had been taken up by one of the Kongs who had snuck in. Y/N was grabbed by another Kong before Bowser could even turn around to look at her.

“W-Wait. Please. Put me down,” Y/N said to the Kong carrying her off. She tried to have the Kong let her go, but he didn’t budge.

“Y/N!” Bowser shouted as he finally saw who took Y/N. He growled in rage and spewed fire out where Mario and the others had been standing.

They all jumped out of the way to avoid the blast of fire heading toward them. The fire left some burnt marks behind. Bowser roared as he saw the Kongs escaping outside of the castle with Y/N. He could feel his anger boiling like the lava around his castle. He could feel an immense need to strike back at the Kongs and the plumbers. How dare they take away his new companion like that! After going through all the effort to settle this peacefully.

Bowser’s body began to overheat and sear with some pain. He cried out and could feel his body shifting in size. He could feel himself beginning to grow bigger. The spikes on his bracelets and shell grew. His height had shot up significantly. His body was literally on fire. Flames spewed from his mouth and his hands were made into fists with flames encircling them. He roared out which caused the castle to shake from the outcry.

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Outside of the castle, the Kong who had taken Y/N put her into a kart and began to drive off toward the Mushroom Kingdom. The Kong drove so fast that Y/N nearly flew out of the kart. She gripped onto a bar that was in front of her.

“You have to take me back,” Y/N pleaded. “Please!”

“No! He obviously did something to you to make you want him!” The Kong driving responded.

“He didn’t! I am telling you the truth!”

“I don’t think so. We were told to get you and the princess back and there’s no way I’m taking you all the back to that castle. Bowser is a monster.”

Y/N felt her eyes begin to water. A roar could be heard, startling her and the Kong driving. She knew that was Bowser’s roar. She could sense the hurt in it, and she really wanted to go back to him. They were getting along so well, and she wanted to stay beside him for a little longer before going home. Her heart ached with the outcry and the tears fell. There wasn’t anything she could do now.

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Mario, Luigi, Toad, Donkey, and the others had fled the castle and got into karts. The Yoshies followed some of the other Kongs to hightail it out of there by getting into some other karts as well. Everyone was driving quickly to get away from the castle. Mario was able to get into the kart that Peach was put in by the Kong who took her out of the castle earlier.

“Why didn’t you listen to her?” Peach turned to ask Mario.

“C’mon. You expect me to believe he really turned himself around for her? There’s no way,” Mario responded. “It’s all got to be a mind game that he’s playing.

“I thought that too, but it isn’t. She was telling the truth.”

Mario sighed, “Well, I guess we’ll just have to talk to her back at your place.” He still was not entirely convinced.

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Bowser had stormed out of his castle, destroying some of the structure in the process, and ran in the direction of where the karts had driven off to. He was going to get Y/N back no matter what happened. His heart ached, which made him roar more from the pain and loss of his new companion. He picked up speed and ran faster to catch up with the retreating karts.

‘I will have her at my side again,’ he thought to himself as he kept focus on the karts ahead of him.

Link for Chapter 10: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/726850412622331904/unconditional-love-chapter-10?source=share

[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 8)

By xSereneMeadowsx

Link for Chapter 7: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/724798091751030784/unconditional-love-chapter-7

A/N: Thank you everyone for the likes and follows. I really appreciate it! :) I hope all of you enjoy this chapter.

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Chapter 8

“So, this friend of yours. Who is it that got captured by Bowser?” Donkey asked as he, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad were sitting around a table having some breakfast. The table consisted of bananas. Lots and lots of bananas. The dining room they were in was large and matched the rest of the jungle décor that was found throughout the large castle.

“It was our new friend Y/N. She comes from the same place as Mario and Luigi,” Peach answered.

“Ah. I see. I bet this is all a trap.”

“It has to be.”

“We have to get her back though. One way or another,” Mario said.

The doors to the dining room burst open with such force. Luigi and Toad jumped in fright from two guard Kongs coming in.

“Your highness, there are some Koopas here attacking the city,” one of them spoke, clearly out of breath.

“There’s a lot of them. They’re pillaging everything!” The other guard spoke.

Donkey sighed, “Great. Let’s just hope a few karts were done before they got here. Gather more guards for battle.”

“Yes, your majesty,” both guards replied and scurried out of the dining room.

“Ugh! What a pain!” Toad said.

“Yeah, really,” Luigi agreed.

“We need to get moving. I knew Dad was going to get up early along with a few of the mechanics to work on the karts this morning.” Donkey got up from his seat and everyone followed behind him.

Everyone made their way toward the garage where karts were built. It thankfully hadn’t been broken into and a good number of karts were finished. A lot of them had guns that shot out banana peels, turtle shells, and coconuts. They also were large, and some could seat up to four people.

“These are looking good!” Donkey said as he inspected some of them.

“Yep, just finished the last one,” Cranky replied.

“That’s great! We need to get going and help the city. Koopas are here attacking.”

Cranky’s eyes widened, “Yes, let’s go. Everyone! Pick your karts and hustle!”

The mechanics along with several other Kongs were scrambling around, picking out karts that would best fit them. While everyone was doing that, Peach, Mario, Luigi, and Toad had headed out of the garage to help some of the guards fight off the Koopas. Power ups were used along the way by the princess and her three companions. The Koopas had broken into the stadium and had grabbed some of the power ups that were left in there from the previous day.

With most of the Koopas knocked down, the Kongs in their karts came out and shot down more of the enemy. Peach opened up the entry doors of the kingdom and saw that the Yoshies were unharmed. Relieved, she climbed up onto her pink Yoshi. Mario, Luigi, and Toad got to their Yoshies and climbed up. The Kongs in the karts had used a different exit/entrance area made specially for karts. They met up with Peach and the others.

“Alright. To Bowser’s Castle everyone! Let’s go!” Peach shouted as she got her Yoshi going. Everyone followed her as she led the way.

A crowd of turtles was waiting for the princess, plumbers, Kongs, and mushroom man not too far ahead of them. The turtles had spears at the ready with a few of the turtles hovering in the air with their white wings keeping them aloft and weapons out.

“We can do this!” Peach said encouragingly.

“Attack!” Cranky shouted.

Everyone started attacking the turtles. Spears flew and coconuts hit the turtles. Banana peels were shot out to have the turtles on the ground trip over them. Shells were fired at the turtles which made them extremely angry. Yoshies were jumping, dodging, shooting eggs, and ground-pounding whenever they could.

“Lu! Behind you!” Mario shouted as he could see a couple of turtles trying to sneak up on the plumber in green.

Luigi turned around, had his Yoshi jump up and ground-pound the turtles, “Phew! Thanks Mario!”

Mario shot a quick smile to his brother before taking care of more turtles.

Toad was struggling a bit, but eventually was able to get the Yoshi to do the ground-pound on a turtle. He then moved over to where Peach was as she was surrounded by six turtles.

“Need some help, Princess?” Toad asked.

“Yes. Let’s get rid of these guys!” Peach answered.

She and Toad worked on getting their Yoshies to coordinate the ground-pound move. The pink Yoshi used ground-pound and laid an egg to shoot at one of the other turtles. Toad’s yellow Yoshi followed the moves of the pink one. Everything looked good until more Koopas arrived.

“C’mon! Is this ever going to end?!” Toad asked frustrated.

The princess glared at the crowd coming and before she could move herself and her Yoshi, spears were flown and landed in a circle around her. Her eyes widened and her Yoshi panicked from almost getting skewered.

“The king wants to see you at his castle right away,” a Koopa wearing blue armor and a blue shell said. He walked up to the circle of spears that surrounded Peach and the pink Yoshi.

Peach gave a glare to the blue Koopa, “That’s exactly where we’re going.”

“His majesty wanted us to bring you to him specifically if we happened to see you.” The blue Koopa had more troops surround Mario, Luigi, Toad, and the Kongs, “If you refuse to come with me, we’ll turn your companions into shish kabobs. You wouldn’t want that would you?”

Peach was infuriated, but not surprised, that the Koopas would go this far. She knew everyone was starting to get tired from the fighting. They had been at it for a while now. She didn’t want to see them get hurt. She glanced behind her at everyone and stared into Mario’s eyes.

Mario’s gaze at the princess showed concern but understanding. He nodded his head telling her to surrender.

“Okay. I will come with you,” Peach responded. “Do not hurt them.” She got off her Yoshi.

“Worry not. They’ll be fine,” the blue shell Koopa said.

A cage was brought out and some of the Koopas went to remove their spears. Peach was put inside the cage. The pink Yoshi tried to follow the princess but was pushed back by some of the troops.

“Princess!” Toad shouted as he had tried to get his Yoshi moving. He wanted to go after her, but Mario on his red Yoshi stood in front of them. He shook his head no to the mushroom man. Toad made fists, hung his head low and then stared up at where the princess was in the cage.

Peach looked back at Toad with saddened eyes, but soon turned her expression into a smile. She wanted to give them hope that everything would be okay.

The Koopas soon started walking or flying off. There were four Koopas who carried the princess away by air. They knew their king wouldn’t want to wait too long to see the princess. Meanwhile, other troops were scattering about to try and find more power ups to search for the SuperStar.

The Kongs all were worn out from the driving and shooting at their enemy. The Yoshies were exhausted from the physical work they did. Mario, Luigi, and Toad had gotten off their Yoshies and let them rest.

“So, now we have two people captured. That’s just fantastic,” Donkey said.

“We need to head over to the castle. They’ll be expecting us,” Cranky replied. “For now, let’s all catch our breath and fix up the karts if they need any fixing. Luckily, we’re not too far away from our kingdom.”

All the Kongs got out of their karts and rested under some nearby trees for shade. The plumbers, mushroom man, and Yoshies did the same.

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The lava castle came into Peach’s view, and she sighed irritably. At least she should be able to see Y/N. She hoped Y/N was okay. The four Koopas who were carrying her cage slowed their wings down and landed gently on the ground. They walked toward the towering doors, and they opened thanks to two guards who were right there. The Koopas walked inside and toward the throne room.

Peach took in her surroundings. It hadn’t been too long ago that she was in Bowser’s place. Although last time, his place had been a floating island with some of the same scenery. This time, the castle was back in the ground. She wasn’t sure if Bowser had two different castles or if this one in the ground was the same as the floating island one.

It shouldn’t matter though. What did matter was making sure that Y/N was alright and settling whatever scheme Bowser had up his sleeve. Two other large doors greeted the Koopas and Peach and they again opened with ease by two other guards. Seated on the throne at the other end of the room was Bowser with Kamek standing beside the throne.

He had left his piano room and decided to go to his throne room for a bit. He had then been informed by his intelligence team about the capture of the princess. So here he was, happily waiting for her. His eyes softened at seeing his Peaches. He was thrilled to have her in his sight again.

“Princess Peach. Wonderful to make your acquaintance again,” Bowser said as he got up from his chair and the cage was set down.

The princess gave Bowser a disgusted look, “Enough of the pleasantries. Where is Y/N?” She stood up in her cage, wrapping her hands around the iron bars.

“Relax, relax. All in good time. She is fine. She resides in the dungeon below,” Bowser answered.

“Bowser, what is it that you want this time?” Peach wanted to get straight to the point.

“Cutting corners I see,” Bowser smirked. He found Peach attractive when she was angry. “It’s really simple my dear.” He began walking closer to the cage as she narrowed her eyes to him.

“You see,” Bowser began. “What I want is…to show you how much you mean to me.”

“By keeping me in a cage?” Peach asked with irritation.

“No. Of course not. I will have you released from there.” Bowser turned to Kamek, motioning for him to come to where he and the princess were.

The MagiKoopa followed his king’s command and met up with them.

“Release the princess from her cage and bind her wrists,” Bowser said.

“Y-Yes, Sire,” Kamek said. He used his wand to open the cage door and immediately sent out pink bindings around Peach’s wrists. Her arms were forced behind her back with her wrists tied.

Peach grimaced at the slight jolt she felt from the bindings. Unfortunately, the bindings had some lightning bolts in them. Not enough to cause severe injury, but enough to give a sting.

“That is so you don’t get any ideas about trying to escape from me,” Bowser said. “Now, transport us to the music room Kamek.”

“Right away your majesty,” Kamek said. He spun his wand and cast a transportation spell on the king and the princess.

The two were instantly taken out of the throne room and moved into the music room. A distinct clicking sound could be heard from the doors of the music room indicating that Peach was locked inside with Bowser. She saw a grand piano sitting in the middle of the room and the king walking towards the piano.

Bowser sat down and motioned for the princess to sit with him at the piano. Peach stood in her spot, not moving an inch. He grumbled and walked over to her. He picked her up causing her to gasp. He gently sat her down on top of the piano and opened the lid.

“I have a song that was written especially for you Peaches. I hope you will like it,” Bowser said as he positioned his hands above the keys.

Peach rolled her eyes and thought, ‘Great. A song to put me to sleep.’

Bowser hit the first key and then the next one with ease. The melody played softly and then he began to sing. He sang each word he and Y/N had written with all his heart. He stared at Peach as she looked at him with her eyes widened. She gasped when the scenery changed to a grassy field with a waterfall.

He continued his song looking at Peach and noticing she was paying more attention to the scenery than to him. It hurt slightly, but it was probably because she hadn’t experienced anything like this before. As he was reaching the end of the song, Peach turned to look at him. He smiled as the princess had her gaze focused on him.

He hit the last note and stared longingly into her eyes. Red clashing with blue. Peach’s expression was one of…how would Bowser describe it? Uncertainty and audacity that he would play such a lovey, dovey song for her. She felt sick.

“Princess?” Bowser asked with pleading eyes. “What did you think?”

Peach couldn’t answer right away. Why in the world was he trying to show her his affection again? She already rejected him once and when it came down to it, she wanted to do it again. “The song…has a nice melody. As for the words…No…I do not feel that way…”

Bowser could feel his heart split and crack in two. How could his song fail him? He had hoped she would’ve paid more attention to see that he would do anything and everything for her. He loved her so much. He hoped she would look past his misdeeds and give him another chance. That was not going to be the case.

He had to ask anyway though, “Does this mean you will not marry me?”

Peach looked at him with disgust, “Of course it means I will not marry you! I told you before, I do not want to marry you. I still don’t. I never will.”

Bowser felt tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. Rejected again by his love. He wanted this time to be different and the same result occurred. He growled and slammed the piano lid down. This caused Peach to jump slightly.

Bowser got up from the piano seat and looked at Peach, “Since you have once again rejected me, you should know that I have my troops ready to attack your kingdom. If you want to change your mind now, I will give you this moment to.”

Peach, once more not surprised to hear that, stared daggers into him, “You may have your troops at the entrance to my kingdom; however, you should know that my kingdom will not go down so easily. Mario, the Kongs, and everyone will be helping my kingdom and set me and Y/N free from you.”

Bowser chuckled, “Oh please. As if I didn’t see that coming. Yes Princess, I’m very aware of the Kongs and those pesky plumbers coming to your aid. I have everything sorted out for them when they arrive.”

“They’ll take your troops down. Of that, I am certain.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure, they will. Are you certain you do not wish to change your mind?”

“Yes. My mind will not be swayed. The answer will always be no.”

“Humph. Very well then. Kamek!”

The wizard appeared in the music room, “Sire?”

“Take the princess down into the dungeon and bring Y/N to me. Inform the troops that they may attack the Mushroom Kingdom,” Bowser said.

“Right away,” Kamek replied sadly.

Bowser didn’t notice the change in tone from Kamek. He sat down in his piano seat again. Kamek had cast a spell to lift Peach up into the air from the piano and transported her and himself to the dungeon.

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Y/N had been resting against the stone wall when she heard the door to the dungeon open. She peered over to her left and saw a very familiar pink dress, “Peach?”

Peach turned to the voice, “Y/N?” She smiled at seeing the girl again. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. You? Are you…okay?”

“I’m okay.”

“In you go Princess,” Kamek said as he opened the cell next to Y/N’s. He gave the princess a gentle push. He locked the door and removed the bindings from her wrists. He then walked to Y/N’s cell. “He wishes to see you now.”

Y/N looked up at Kamek, her (eye color) eyes full of determination and some nervousness. “Okay.”

“Y/N, you shouldn’t go- “Peach tried to stop them.

“It’s okay. I must,” Y/N said.

“Why?”

“Because…I know that he…he needs someone to comfort him…” Y/N turned her gaze away from the princess. “I know that you rejected him. He sang his song for you, and you said no. I knew you would. I tried to tell him that and he didn’t listen to me.”

“Y/N, are you…are you actually friends with him?” Peach was shocked.

She turned to back to Peach, “I…I don’t know. I mean, I want…I want to be…”

“Wait. Wait a second. You want to be friends with him? Did he have his wizard brainwash you?”

Kamek gave Peach a glare, “I did no such thing.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Y/N said to Peach. “I haven’t been brainwashed. I was captured here because Bowser wanted someone to help him write his song for you. I’ll tell you everything.”

Peach sighed, “Okay. Go on.”

Y/N began, “I did help him write the song, but I felt there would be no point in it. He had been a bit rough at first with me.”

Peach stared at Y/N as she continued her story.

“We worked on the song and then he…he had me sing for him. It was to help bring some inspiration for writing the song for you. I sang the song Unconditional by Katy Perry. It was at that point that he seemed to be less aggressive with me. I was even given a room to replace the cage I was originally in.”

I got to walk around the castle and Bowser showed me his library. It was amazing. All kinds of documents and pictures about various places. We had a nice time together and I got to eat a meal with him. I really got to see his softer side.”

Peach looked at Y/N in surprise, “It sounds as though you…you have feelings for him…” She gulped, “Do you…have feelings for him?”

Y/N stared at Peach with a slight blush, “I-I…”

“Y/N, you realize what he has done right? You can’t be with someone like that. Besides, if he really has a soft side, why did he have you put into a cell? He gave you an upgrade only to downgrade your accommodations.” Peach couldn’t bear the thought of Y/N being beside the king of the Koopas. “I don’t want to see him hurt you more than he already has.”

“Peach, it’s all really complicated. I have been hurt by him, but I know he’s lonely. He wants a companion. If I could be there for him as a friend, I want to try.” Given that Y/N had more time to think over what Kamek told her earlier, she really wanted to believe him.

“Y/N please don’t go with the wizard. Stay here. Mario and the others are coming, and they’ll get us both out of here.”

“I know you’re just looking out for me, and I appreciate it, but I must go. If I don’t, I think Bowser’s heart will be in more turmoil. I know he’s hurting right now from your rejection.”

Peach stared at Y/N with concern and understanding. She sighed, “Okay. Please be careful. If he tries anything on you, run away.”

Y/N nodded to Peach.

“His majesty shall not try anything on Y/N. I think his heart will soften from her,” Kamek said. “Now, we’ve kept him waiting long enough. Let’s go Y/N.” He opened the door to Y/N’s cell, and she walked out.

Kamek and Y/N walked out of the dungeon and Y/N gave Peach a quick glance and smile. Peach stared on as the two closed the door and she slumped down, leaning against the stone wall of her cell.

‘I hope nothing happens to you Y/N,’ Peach thought.

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“Well, it’s about time you two got here,” Bowser said impatiently as Kamek and Y/N walked into the music room.”

“Apologies Sire. Y/N was speaking with the princess,” Kamek replied.

Y/N looked up at Bowser. She was a bit nervous, but she hoped to be able to give him comfort.

“I see. Leave us alone Kamek and lock the door.”

The wizard bowed and walked out of the room, locking the door. Although Bowser ordered for him to have the troops attack the Mushroom Kingdom, he decided to be nosy and listen in on Bowser’s and Y/N’s conversation. He stuck his head against the door to hear them.

“So, Y/N, you told me that the princess would like this song. The only part she enjoyed was the melody. She didn’t even like the lyrics. You ruined everything for me.”

It hurt Y/N to hear him say that to her, “Bowser, I know this is hard on you-“

“I’m not finished. You said the lyrics were much better. They weren’t coming off as being possessive. They were meaningful and had promises written within them. You call yourself a songwriter? I would say you are anything but.”

Y/N felt her body shake. This was extremely difficult to take in. She knew he was getting some of his anger out on her. The way he was going about it though was not good. It caused a sadness to build up in her. She almost couldn’t think when he said she’s not a songwriter. Music was everything to Y/N and to be insulted in such a way…she moved her down and stared at the floor. Her eyes were beginning to water.

“You have no further use for me. I will have Kamek escort you back to the dungeon,” Bowser said as he stared at Y/N’s downcast expression. He could see tears forming.

Y/N, feeling his red eyed gaze on her, lifted her head back up and the tears flowed down. Her (eye color) eyes became a lighter shade of their usual color, and she gave him a glare. “I know this hurts you deeply. I didn’t want to see your heart break. I know you’re getting your anger out on me. I’m hurting too.”

Bowser stared at Y/N intensely.

“What you said to me just now. I don’t appreciate it, but I know it’s your irritation and hurt talking. I…” She took a deep breath. In and out. “I wanted to try and comfort you right now. I’m not sure on how to go about it…if you want a friend, I’m willing to try and be here for you. I know you said I don’t have any further use for you, but still…”

He was flabbergasted by what Y/N said. He was very harsh on her, which she greatly expressed, and yet she still wanted to…be there for him. His eyes widened as he looked at Y/N who still had a few tears cascading down her face.

“Everyone needs a friend. That includes you. If I can’t be of use to you as a songwriter, perhaps I could help you out as a friend.” The tears were slowing their stream down and Y/N’s body was beginning to relax. “Even though the princess has said no to being by your side, I’m saying yes to you. If you…want to take me.”

Bowser never had anyone speak to him the way Y/N did. He was shocked that she still suggested being there for him. He had hurt her so much with his words and actions. How could she possibly want to be with him?

“The time we had together a few days ago was very nice. I would like to have more moments like that,” Y/N said interrupting his thoughts.

He knew what she was referring to and he did enjoy those moments. Maybe…he could have someone else in his life. Even if it weren’t the princess, he could, hopefully, be content with another. He felt wanted and he wanted that feeling. He wanted to be noticed and cared for by someone special. Even if this were to be a friendship, perhaps it could bloom into something more later?

Bowser knew how he felt about Y/N, but he kept denying the feelings. Now that Y/N was offering her hand to him in friendship, he felt he needed to take it. He needed to make up for what he had been done to her, “Y/N…”

“Yes?” This was the calmest she had ever seen Bowser be. Is he taking her offer?

“Y/N, I…I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for hurting you.” He then walked up to her and reached out to take her hands into his.

She gasped at the contact and looked up at him. Her cheeks were slightly reddened. He was staring so sincerely at her as he grasped her hands. He ran his right thumb over her entire left hand.

“I’m sorry for how…how I treated you,” he continued. His grasp around her hands had tightened. “I…appreciate your offer.”

She continued staring into his red eyes as he spoke more.

“I want to take what you’re giving. I want…your friendship.” He smiled down at her.

She released a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding and gave a small, shy smile, “That makes me very happy.” Her cheeks were beginning to turn crimson.

He found her blushing face adorable. He reached a hand up and used one of his fingers to caress her cheek. She gasped once again from the contact and looked like a tomato at this point.

“U-Uh Bowser…um…friends don’t usually have this kind of….in-intimate contact…” She couldn’t help stumbling over her words. She also was not used to this kind of touch.

He retracted his finger and had let go of her hands, “Sorry.”

“N-No, it’s okay…d-don’t feel ashamed. It um…” She stopped herself from finishing her thought allowed.

“It was…” He felt like teasing her a little.

She looked at him with her blushing cheeks and then back down to the floor.

“I’m waiting. It was what…nice?” he asked with a smirk.

She couldn’t deny it, “Um, y-yes…” She held her hands together in front of her and her eyes were still downcast.

“Well, I’m glad you found it to be so nice, Y/N. Perhaps…we could build up to more kinds of contact as time goes on.” He chuckled, enjoying the teasing.

She widened her eyes, mouth hung open. She then covered her face with her hands. How embarrassing! This teasing and to go so far as flirting in such a way! She could hardly handle it. He was so open now and didn’t seem to care all too much about what he was saying. He loved seeing her get flustered like this. He would have to do this more often. He laughed at seeing her cover her face. She moved her hands from her face and gave him her an embarrassed look.

“Couldn’t help myself,” he said.

She cleared her throat, “Clearly…”

“Well, to get more serious now, I would like to have you stay in your room again. Keep you out of the dungeon.”

Her eyes glowed, “R-Really? For real this time?”

“Yes, for real this time.”

“Thank you! But…”

“But what?”

Would he still keep the princess locked up? Does he still want to find the SuperStar? Would he have his troops go off to another battle? Is he still going to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom? These questions plagued her mind, “Are you still going through with your plans?”

“I…” What was the point in going through with his plans now? Things hadn’t totally gone as thought out originally, but he still got a companion to have beside him. “I will…stop them.”

“That’s a relief. So, you’ll have Peach go back home and bring all your troops back here then?”

“Right.”

She smiled at him.

“Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you like to have dinner with me this evening?”

“Sure! That would be great!”

“Okay. I’ll have Kamek escort you to your room.”

She gave him a grin and went to give him a hug, being careful to avoid the bracelets he wore. The king was adorned in black bands with spikes on them. He was surprised, not expecting the hug, but he wrapped her in his arms, being mindful of the spikes on his bands.

“Thank you, Bowser.”

“You’re welcome.”

The two let each other go and began walking towards the large doors. Kamek, on the other side, quickly moved out of the way so that he wouldn’t get smacked in the face.

“You were eavesdropping,” Bowser said to the wizard.

“Uh,” the wizard started and cleared his throat. “Y-Yes…”

Y/N chuckled and gave Kamek a gentle smile.

Bowser scolded the wizard for a moment and had him escort Y/N back to her room.

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“We’ve made decent progress in getting to Bowser’s castle. We should arrive there by tomorrow,” Cranky said.

“That’s good,” Donkey replied.

“I hope Bowser hasn’t hurt Y/N or Peach,” Luigi said.

“Me too,” Mario replied.

“I hope so,” Toad said. “I want to think that both of them are still in one piece.”

The Kongs, plumbers, and mushroom man all had worked on making their way toward where Bowser resides, and they had traveled a long way. They found a forest to stop at for some more rest and to get some shut eye. Everyone did their own thing by getting a few fires going, eating some food, and getting in some water. Everyone was worn out from the day’s events, but they were happy with the progress they made.

Mario laid down on the grass and stared up at the treetops. He had a feeling that everything was going to get extremely difficult tomorrow. It was to be expected, but he couldn’t help thinking that something more was going to come their way. He tried to put the thought aside and focus on getting some sleep. Thoughts of seeing Peach and Y/N again filled his mind. He wanted both to be safe and sound.

Link for Chapter 9: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/726226684321333248/unconditional-chapter-9?source=share

[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 7)

By xSereneMeadowsx

Link for Chapter 6: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/723682924934873088/unconditional-love-chapter-6?source=share

A/N: Thank you everyone for the likes and follows! I really appreciate it! :) My goal is to try and update one chapter each week. I did make this chapter a little longer. I hope all of you enjoy it!

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Chapter 7

The sun was nearing dusk as the princess, mushroom man, and the two plumbers reached the kingdom of the Kongs. Jungle Kingdom was at last in front of them. They were a bit tired from the day’s adventures, but relieved that they all finally made it to their destination. Princess Peach slowed her Yoshi down and got off it. The other three followed suit. They all had their Yoshies wait by the entrance and fed them some of the other fruit brought along with them.

Peach walked up to the large golden doors and grabbed the knocker. She knocked twice and everyone waited for someone to open the doors. The doors were thrown open with such force that Luigi jumped back terrified. A Kong with blond hair roared at them.

“De ja vu,” Mario said. He remembered when he, Peach, and Toad were all greeted this way not too long ago.

“Greetings, we need to speak with the king,” Peach spoke as she stared up at the Kong who towered over her and everyone else.

The Kong huffed and allowed everyone to enter, “Alright, everyone get in the kart.”

Everyone got into the kart. It was a tight squeeze for Mario, Luigi, and Peach. Toad took the seat that was propped out in the back. Again, de ja vu came to Mario’s thoughts about the seating arrangement with the addition of Luigi this time.

The blond Kong started driving the kart in a fast manner that everyone had to hold onto the railings in the kart tightly. Luigi yelped and had an iron grip on the railings. He was not used to this kind of thing.

“We’ll be out of here soon enough,” Mario said, trying to comfort his brother.

Luigi smiled at Mario.

The kart swerved as it followed the curves of the wooden road still staying on the tracks. It felt like a roller coaster. Toad was excited as he was lifted out of his seat when the kart would go up and down on the hills. Eventually, the wooded track ended, and the kart flew off it. The kart then had a paraglider come out of it and they soared above the open water below them. They then landed in an opening that was the entrance to the Kong throne room.

Once more, familiarity came up for Mario, Peach, and Toad with Luigi now part of the scene. They all exited the kart and the blond Kong drove out in a hurry. The throne room was spacious and on either side of the four friends, Kongs dressed up in armor were lined up. At the end of the throne room sat the king of the Kongs. He had a long white beard, and he eyed the four people walking up to his throne.

“King Cranky Kong,” Peach said as she did a curtsy. “It is wonderful to see you again.”

“Princess Peach. We meet again. I take it you’re here because you want my army?” the king spoke in a knowing tone.

“Yes, your majesty. Bowser has escaped his prison and he has taken a new friend of ours. We believe he is also plotting to find another SuperStar to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom. Possibly other kingdoms as well,” Peach explained.

“That seems to be a likely story. Well…seeing as how Mario proved his strength last time to my son, we could give you a hand again.”

“That would be most appreciated. Thank you!”

The king wagged his finger, “Before we do though, I have one request from you.”

“Uh okay. Sure. What is your request?”

Cranky stroked his beard, “I want to see Mario’s brother in action against my son.”

Luigi became nervous. He hadn’t known the king or his son for very long and saw his son’s strength. He had to admit the next king in line was very strong. “I uh…”

“Prove your strength and we’ll help you. That is my request,” Cranky said.

“Yes, your highness. I need a moment to speak with Luigi please,” Peach responded. She turned around and walked up to Luigi.

“I’m still learning how to use the power ups here and everything. I don’t know…” Luigi spoke sadly.

“You can do this,” Peach said as she put a hand on his shoulder. “Mario beat him, and I saw you in action beating Bowser before. You can take down Donkey.”

“Peach is right. You got this Lu,” Mario said. “We’ll be watching you and cheering you on.”

Toad gave Luigi a thumbs up, agreeing with Peach and Mario.

“Thanks everyone. Let’s a go,” Luigi said as he puffed up his chest.

The princess turned back around to face the king, “Okay, we will follow your request. Will you be providing power ups like last time?”

“Excellent and yes, power ups will be in the arena,” Cranky replied.

“Great!” Peach said smiling.

Everyone then began leaving the throne room. Cranky had his subordinates get everything set up in the arena. Luigi was led into a waiting area just outside of the arena. Mario, Peach, and Toad were all escorted to the arena and had seats by the king. The arena was huge and could fill the entirety of the Jungle Kingdom.

Luigi waited for the iron bars in front of him to go up and let him outside. He was still nervous, but he had to do this. He wanted to get Y/N back from Bowser as much as everyone else did. Plus, they did have to ensure that Bowser could not get another SuperStar.

‘We can do this. Relax and just use your instinct,’ Luigi mentally spoke to himself.

Just then, the iron bars lifted, and Luigi walked outside. He was walking along a pathway of square bricks hanging in the air. He looked up and could see all the seats filled. He then found his brother and friends. They all waved at him, and he smiled, waving back at them. The iron bars on the other side of the pathway lifted and out came Donkey, son of Cranky Kong.

Donkey ran on all fours before leaping into the air and landing just a few feet away from Luigi. The crowd cheered in excitement for the next king in line. Donkey looked up around him and smiled, waving at all his fans.

“Yeah! I’m DK! I’m Donkey Kong!” he exclaimed as he started dancing around and flexing his muscles.

Luigi felt a little intimidated but did his best to calm himself down.

“So, I get to fight the brother now huh? This’ll be fun,” Donkey smirked.

“Uh, hehehe…yep! Sure, will be!” Luigi chuckled and put his hand behind his neck, rubbing it out of nervousness.

“Let’s get this fight going! I’m pumped! Are you all ready?!” Donkey exclaimed to the crowd.

The crowd roared in response, stomping their feet, and clapping their hands.

“Alright. Let the battle begin!” Cranky said.

A bell was rung, and Donkey immediately pounced onto Luigi. The plumber in green was knocked down and tried to get the Kong off him. The Kong was smacking Luigi across the face and then got up and kicked him. Luigi was kicked back a few feet away from Donkey.

‘Ouch. C’mon Luigi. Look for the power ups and avoid the blue mushrooms.’ Luigi had remembered Mario telling him about his fight with Donkey and how he ended up eating the blue mushroom. Also, having witnessed it shrink Bowser, he definitely wanted to avoid it.

Luigi jumped up to his feet and saw another row of a square brick pathway above him. He jumped up to it and then saw a yellow box with a white question mark. Donkey followed and jumped at the other end of the pathway. Luigi punched the yellow box and out came a brown leaf. Luigi jumped to grab the leaf before it could be carried out of reach.

The leaf was crushed in Luigi’s hands, and he was now suited in a Tanooki outfit. To him, it looked like a racoon suit. He had remembered seeing Mario wear this before. He knew he needed to make himself fly by spinning the tail.

“Ah. The raccoon suit returns,” Donkey said.

“Yep! Here we go!” Luigi exclaimed as he worked on getting the tail spinning. He was then lifted in the air. He had a difficult time getting the suit to fly how he needed it to, and he ended up flying downward.

“Hey! Where are you going pal? Don’t tell me you’re giving up so soon!” Donkey taunted.

Luigi was trying to get the suit to stop flying downwards and then he heard his brother.

“Lu! Relax your body and the suit will work with you!” Mario shouted.

Luigi followed what his brother said and relaxed his body. The suit slowed down, and the tail did a gentle spin. He was then able to control the suit to have him fly upwards back to Donkey.

“Now, I’m getting the hang of this!” Luigi said happily.

“Welcome back. Now, time to kick your butt!” Donkey said as he ran toward Luigi.

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Y/N, having let her mind wander to happier times for a while, began to feel drowsy. She stared at the metal bars in front of her. Would she ever not see bars? She couldn’t take this prisoner role anymore. She really hoped Mario and the others would be here soon. She wanted to be out in the open air and be around friends who treated her kindly. Her wrists were hurting from the handcuffs. She could tell that her skin was getting irritated as well.

She sighed, annoyed about her wrists being chained together. Couldn’t they remove the chains? It’s not like she would be able to easily escape out of this cell anyway. She didn’t have magic and power ups weren’t nearby either. She shook her head. She decided to try and get into as comfortable of a position as possible to try to sleep. She wanted to try sleeping on one of her sides, facing the stone wall.

Her lids grew heavier and soon, sleep took over and she was brought into dreamland.

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Bowser had exited his music room and was now in a meeting room. He was sitting at a large table, discussing plans with his Koopas on how to go about finding another SuperStar. Yes, he had not forgotten that detail. As important as it was to make a song fitting for his Peaches, he still wanted to get the SuperStar and use it to make himself all powerful. Ensuring that the star would not be ripped from his grasp once again, he decided that he would keep the star near himself. He would use it if it became necessary to sooner rather than later.

“Since the Penguin Kingdom is destroyed, we could try searching for another SuperStar at the Yoshi Kingdom or even the Jungle Kingdom,” one of the Koopas suggested.

“Hmm…yes, I suppose we could do that. Send troops to both places,” Bowser said. He couldn’t help getting a feeling that his troops would run into Peach along the way to either of those kingdoms. “If you happen to see the princess, bring her to me immediately. I have a feeling that one of you will run into her somewhere.”

“Yes Sire,” the Koopa said. “Shall we make ready now?”

“Of course! I will have some of the other koopas prepare for a possible raid here,” Bowser answered. “Go now!”

“Right away!” The Koopa saluted as he and the others exited the meeting room.

Kamek, who had been quiet, turned to his king, “I sense you’re troubled Sire.”

Bowser turned to his MagiKoopa, “Gee, whatever gave you that idea?”

“My king, you have conflicting feelings regarding Y/N. You want her to like you.”

The king grumbled, smoke blowing out of nostrils. “I do not want her to like me. I want her to play her part of the hostage. As soon as Peaches comes here, I’ll be rid of her and the others. It will just be me and the princess.”

Kamek sighed, “Your majesty…” He was at a loss of words. He remembered what Y/N said back in the throne room. The princess will not feel the same way he does for her. He knew Y/N was right. The princess had been resistant and would continue to be. He wanted Bowser to have a true happy ending.

“If you have something to say, say it,” Bowser said irritably.

“I…I can have some of the other Koopas go to the Mushroom Kingdom. They can wait on your command to attack or not if all else fails with the princess.”

“I see. If she says no, destroy her kingdom.”

Kamek gulped. “Y-Yes, exactly.”

“Why are you nervous?”

“I am not nervous.” The lump in the MagiKoopa’s throat said otherwise. He knows that the princess will say no, and that the kingdom would have to be attacked anyway. He didn’t want to say anything more to Bowser.

“Hmm…if you say so. Go now and send a few troops to the Mushroom Kingdom. Have one or two search the kingdom for the princess. Although, I feel she has left the kingdom.” Bowser wasn’t buying what Kamek said about not being nervous. He had his suspicions.

“Of course, your highness,” Kamek replied as he got up from his chair and walked out of the meeting room.

Bowser exited not long after Kamek. He made his way to his bedroom and decided to get an early night in for sleep. He closed his doors and plopped down on his bed. He stared up at his ceiling.

‘Just think about Peaches. She will love the song and she will love you,’ he mentally spoke to himself. He still had to fight down the regret he felt about Y/N. It was not an easy battle, but he figured busying himself with other things would help him out. His mentality was not so easily swayed to dwell on other things or people.

Y/N still appeared in his mind. He again knew deep down that he did want Y/N to have a fondness of him. He still wanted Peaches though. This is why he wanted Y/N to stay in the dungeon until it was no longer necessary to have her around. He closed his eyes in frustration. Sleep. He needed to sleep and go into the land of imagination. His plans would follow through in the end.

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“C’mon Lu! You got this!” Mario cheered.

Peach and Toad also cheered for Luigi.

Luigi fought Donkey as best as he could in the Tanooki suit. He tried using the tail to swipe at him since he didn’t have claws. He also tried kicking at Donkey. The Kong was very agile and dodged most of Luigi’s moves. Luigi decided to grab a barrel and hurl it at Donkey.

Donkey, not expecting the barrel, was struck down and then Luigi swung his tail to hit Donkey and kick him. The Kong stumbled back and shook his head. Luigi grabbed another barrel and threw it at Donkey. The barrel hit the Kong once again and he was knocked down. Luigi kicked at Donkey and swung his tail.

The Kong was becoming exhausted and collapsed. Luigi landed on the brick pathway and sighed, also feeling tired from the fight. Donkey passed out and Luigi smiled in triumph. The crowds cheered with applause.

“Wahoo!” Mario said in excitement. “Way to go little brother!”

Luigi turned toward Mario’s voice and smiled at him.

“Alright. Alright. Settle down everyone!” Cranky said. “Luigi is clearly the winner. Now, everyone make haste. We have a battle to prepare for! We shall be helping the princess take down the king of the Koopas!”

All the Kongs followed their king, exiting the stadium and getting ready to prepare for battle or keep loved ones in a safe place for a while.

The princess, plumber, and mushroom man followed the king of the Kongs to meet back up with Luigi. They all reunited, and then went into a meeting room. The king explained that he would have the kongs develop karts with certain battle mechanics.

“The battle karts would be helpful. We also brought along a few Yoshies,” Peach said.

“Yoshies?” Cranky asked.

“Yes. We wanted to have some extra help from the Yoshies. They can be of use for battle as well.”

“Hmm…I suppose so.”

“Did you want some of the Kongs to have a Yoshi with them for the battle?”

“No. They’ll prefer to use the karts.”

“Very well.”

The king and princess continued discussing their battle plans. Mario, Luigi, and Toad all threw in their input here and there when it was needed. After some time, it was settled.

“We’ll make for the Koopa Kingdom tomorrow. I’ll have some of the Kongs prepare for the karts,” Cranky said.

“Sounds good!” Peach said.

“For accommodations, we’ll have you all stay here. Donkey,” Cranky called to his son who had been quiet during the discussion. Donkey had eventually woken up and joined the discussion staying silent the entire time.

“Yeah Dad?” Donkey asked.

“Show everyone to a room.”

“Sure.”

Everyone followed Donkey out of the meeting room, and he took everyone up a golden staircase. There were several rooms in the hallway they entered. Donkey showed Peach her room first followed by Toad, Mario, and Luigi. Donkey then went to his room.

The prince sighed as he laid down on his bed. Another battle? Donkey did enjoy battling, but the last time he fought Bowser, he was nearly killed. He didn’t want to let that stop him, but he hoped that the outcome would be in his and everyone else’s favor and not in Bowser’s. He also wondered who this friend of the princess and the others was. None of them really mentioned much about the friend. He decided to ask more about that in the morning.

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Y/N opened her eyes. She was surprised to have gotten a good amount of sleep. She figured she would’ve only gotten a few hours. Mental exhaustion was heavier than she thought it to be. On the plus side, it did make her feel a little refreshed. However, she wished she could stretch her arms. The pain in her wrists had increased and she could tell her skin had grown fiercer from the metal rubbing against it for so long.

She heard a door open and in front of her cell stood the Koopa who had placed her in there. She gave the magician a glare.

“I am not here to taunt you. I come in with news,” Kamek said.

“Before you tell me the news, could you please take off the handcuffs? I’m really tired of my arms being in this position,” Y/N replied.

“Yes.” Kamek then cast a spell for the handcuffs to break off and disappear.

Y/N sighed happily, finally her arms were free, and her wrists and skin could calm down. She moved her arm to stretch them out and moved her wrists in circles. Indeed, her wrists had an extreme color of red circling them.

“Allow me to heal that,” Kamek said. He cast another spell that eased the pain away and caused her skin to go back to normal.

Y/N, surprised by him, smiled, “Thank you.”

“You’re quite welcome. The news I must share with you is that the troops have been sent out and they will be searching for the princess and SuperStar,” Kamek explained.

“SuperStar? Wait a minute…isn’t that…a power up?”

“Yes. It can make anyone who uses it unstoppable. Bowser will use the SuperStar if necessary to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom. Perhaps others as well…”

Y/N’s eyes widened. That would be horrifying. The devastation and the losses that would result from such a catastrophe is too much to comprehend. She recalled that Mario and Luigi had used the SuperStar to beat Bowser before. If Bowser were to use that power up…She shook her head. He really would be hard to beat. Although she had not gotten into battle with him herself, she could tell just how powerful he was when he had gripped her in his clawed hands before.

“I have had a lot on my mind about you. I know that the king wishes you to have a fondness of him,” Kamek continued. “He does not admit it out loud, but I sense it.”

“Yeah. Right. He really wants me to like him by locking me up. That makes total sense!” Y/N couldn’t help her sarcasm. She had a hard time believing him.

“It’s true. I have been with Bowser ever since he was born. I know him and I know he sometimes gets himself into denial with certain things.”

“So, what, are you telling me to try and get him to soften up around me again and have him forget about Princess Peach? I don’t think his highness would like to see me prance around his castle again so freely. He wants me to play the hostage and that’s what I’m doing.”

“I’m aware of his majesty’s orders. However, I want his happiness more than anything. He is lonely and he wants a companion. He is complicated, but he can be someone nice to be around as you know first-hand.”

Y/N shook her head, “I tried to help him. I can only do and say so much. It’s up to him in the end to walk towards happiness. I decided to no longer help him in matters of the heart. If he wants the princess so badly and to be rejected by her, that’s on him.”

“I do not like how he treated you either. I apologize-“

“He should be the one apologizing to me! Did he tell you to say sorry for him?” Y/N was irritated.

“N-No. No. I do feel bad for what he has done to you though. I’m aware that he should be the one apologizing to you and not me,” Kamek sighed.

“Why are you feeling bad for me?” Y/N was very curious as to why Kamek, seemingly, came down here on his own free will. Other than he obviously wanted her to try again with Bowser, why was he feeling bad for her? Shouldn’t Bowser be his only main concern? She didn’t understand why he was showing her care.

“I feel bad for you because I can tell you are a kind soul. You are the only other human Bowser has met who has managed to make him smile. He has only ever liked the princess and he felt that he didn’t have any other options which is why he stuck so closely to her.”

Y/N looked at Kamek with full attention.

“Then, I found you and I could tell he had an interest in you as soon as I showed you to him. I want him to be happy with someone who will genuinely like him. No pretending. Real and genuine,” Kamek said.

Y/N sighed. That was a lot to take in. Yes, she did like the moments with Bowser in the library and in the dining room. However, she already made a promise to herself to no longer help Bowser out with his love problems. She wanted to keep that promise.

“I understand that you do not wish to speak with him any longer, but I must ask this of you,” Kamek said.

“What is it?” Y/N asked with suspicion.

“I want you to be right there as soon as the princess rejects him. Tell him that he can have a happy ending with someone else.”

“Why would you have me do what I already did before? It doesn’t make sense. That would be a waste of time. Again, I really do not want to help him with his love issues.”

“I’m not asking you to be his queen, but to just be there for him. To give him comfort.”

“So, to help him with his love problems?”

Kamek sighed once more, “I sense in you that you do have a liking for him. Yes, I want you to help him with his heart. Not to be his love, but to be a friend for him.”

Y/N moved her head down and looked at the stone floor. Being a friend to him…everyone did need a friend. However, after the way he’s treated her…she was hesitant. “Do you really think he will want me around him as a friend? Remember, he only sees me as a hostage.”

“I think he’ll have a change of heart when he sees you there to comfort him. I know he hardened his heart, but I think you could help him choose to soften it again,” Kamek tried convincing her.

“I don’t know…I don’t know if…” Y/N felt pressured. She could see that Kamek was coming from a place of great care. Since Kamek said he had been with Bowser ever since his birth, he could be seen as like a father figure. She found it nice that Kamek cared so much for his king like a father would care for his son. However…

“I know that is a lot to ask of you. I just want Bowser to be happy. Whether he has a companion who is a lover or a friend at his side, I want him to see that others will come to him. I want him to see that he does not need to rely on having the princess on his side. He can have another beside him who wants to be with him,” Kamek stared down at the floor.

“I’m just not sure he’ll really want me though…”

“He does, Y/N. Of that, I can assure you. He denies it, but he does deep down inside.”

“Kamek, I…” Y/N still feeling hesitant, stopped herself. Part of her wanted to believe Kamek, but she wasn’t entirely convinced either. She didn’t want Bowser to toss her aside again. He was so quick to do 180’s and she didn’t want to experience that again.

“I can show you his mentality,” Kamek said. “I’d been working on this spell before to read minds and I just about have it down.”

Y/N looked at Kamek, “No. It’s okay. You don’t have to. I uh…” She took a deep breath. She decided to go ahead and believe in Kamek. He had known Bowser well since his day of birth. She didn’t know the king too well, but she felt that the happy time they had together was a good bonding moment. If he were willing to treat her as he had then, she wouldn’t mind trying to help him again. “I will help you out, but if he treats me poorly like before, I am done. I will not have anything to do with him again.”

Kamek smiled, “Understood. Thank you, Y/N.”

“You’re welcome.” Y/N hoped that Bowser would see her as more than a tool just as he had before in their happy moment.

“I will have to have you stay in here a little longer until the princess is brought here. I will set you free when the time is right,” Kamek said.

Y/N nodded, “Okay…um Kamek?”

“Yes?”

“Is it possible for me to…to go back to my world at some point? I have family and coworkers that will be wondering about me.”

“Yes, it’s possible. I promise to send you back if everything does not work out here.”

“If everything does end up working out, could I still go back?”

“Yes. We’ll make a way for you to see your loved ones in your world.”

Y/N sighed happily, “Great. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Oh! Let me conjure up some food for you. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

Y/N’s stomach answered him. “Uh, hehehe…yep, I sure am.”

Kamek quickly cast a spell and food on a plate along with silverware and a cup of water appeared in front of Y/N, “There you go.”

“Thanks.” Y/N said as she began to eat.

“You’re welcome. I’ll check on you later. I’ll also be sure to have Bowser apologize to you properly.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

Kamek walked out of the dungeon closing the door behind him. He began walking down the hall to go to his room where he worked on spells. He felt that Y/N could soften the king’s heart. He knew she was right in saying that the king himself had to choose which path to take. He hoped Bowser would take the path that led to Y/N instead of the princess.

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The notes wavered and ebbed as they tried to keep up with the tune of the piano. Bowser had gone to his music room to practice his song for his Peaches, but the song turned into a mixture of many songs. The scenery in the room had changed dramatically from the waterfall setting to a sunset on the beach to a mountain range that went on forever. His emotions were turbulent. Too much for him to control. He couldn’t concentrate on anything.

He could feel his heart shaking. Was he nervous? Yes. Why? Because he wanted his song to be perfect for the princess. Y/N was still invading his mind too. He had dreamt that he and Y/N were taking a walk through a cliché setting of a field with flowers. It was a lovely field. Y/N was dancing along as a breeze blew by taking a few flower petals with it. The petals encircled Y/N and himself bringing the two of them close together.

Y/N, with her (eye color) eyes stared up at him lovingly and he felt his heart swell. She had cupped his cheek and was leaning up to him. Before anything else could happen, Bowser had snapped himself awake. His emotions from then on became a mess. He stopped playing and closed the piano lid. The scenery in the room changed back to normal. He sighed and stared down at the piano lid. He had to get his head on straight. He had a lot of work to do.

Link for Chapter 8: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/725602114025521152/unconditional-love-chapter-8?source=share

[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 6)

By xSereneMeadowsx

Link for Chapter 5: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/719876599243227136/unconditional-love-chapter-5?source=share

A/N: Thank you everyone for the likes and follows! I really appreciate it! :) Life has been busy and my health has been a major priority as of late. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

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Chapter 6

“We should get moving,” Peach said as she stood up and stretched. “We can start gathering some apples, bananas, and melons.”

The plumbers and mushroom man all got up and stretched as well.

“Shall we split up?” Mario asked.

“I think that would be good,” Peach responded. “I can go with Mario and Luigi can search with Toad. Sound good?”

“Sounds good to me,” Toad said nudging Mario and winking at him.

Mario looked at Toad with a raised brow.

“This means you get to have some alone time with the princess,” Toad whispered.

Mario shook his head. He will admit that he did find Peach to be beautiful and fun, but it’s not like she was romantically interested in him. He was sure she just saw him as a good friend. He decided he could live with that. Hard as it may be.

“Well, let’s get going,” Luigi said. “Times a wasting.”

“Mario and I will head north. You two take the south,” Peach pointed out to show directions.

“On it!” Toad said.

The four split up into to their assigned teams and began to search for the fruits previously mentioned.

“I really hope Y/N is doing okay,” Peach said to Mario as they trekked through rainforest like terrain. “I feel awful letting her get captured.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Mario said trying to comfort the princess. “We’ll get to her. I am worried too, but we can’t give up.”

“Right. I shouldn’t worry so much. Usually, it’s me who’s super hopeful with everything.”

“Well, even hopeful people can get down at times. That’s why it’s good to have others around you to help bring in some positivity,” Mario attempted in making the princess feel better.

She smiled, “You’re right. We’ll get her back. We got this.”

“That’s the spirit!”

The princess and plumber continued to chat about various topics until reaching a tree that had more apples than one could count for.

“Wow! Impressive!” Mario took in the tree with awe. Never had he seen so many apples. It was astounding to see such a tree produce so much fruit.

“Yep, pretty incredible.” Peach smiled, amused at Mario’s reaction. “Shall we start picking?”

“Yeah. Let’s get to it!” Mario said.

The two then began picking out some apples.

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Y/N sighed as she finished singing Almost Lover. She wiped her eyes of the tears that had cascaded down her face. Should she say something to Bowser about this whole songwriting being pointless? Could she endure what his reaction would be if she chose to say anything? She didn’t want to be in the same position as before. The grip he had on her when she was grabbed was strong. The claws from him could easily pierce her skin and she didn’t want to get such injuries.

She shook her head. She needed to keep herself safe until rescue arrived. She wanted to still believe that Mario, Peach, and the others would be coming to her aid. She wished they were already here, but she had to give them time. It can’t be easy storming a castle of this magnitude with many guards and troops at the ready. Plus, Bowser was very terrifying when he wanted to be. She was sure they were planning out some sort of strategy to get to her.

She annoyed herself with these repeating thoughts about Bowser. She felt like a broken record stuck on the same verse of a song. Then again though, what else was she supposed to ponder over? She liked the time spent with Bowser in the library and could see his soft side. She genuinely wanted him to be happy, but how was she supposed to express that when he could easily blow a fuse?

Perhaps, maybe it was best to let everything play out. She knew it would hurt him, but she just didn’t know what else to do. Maybe, if she waited for a certain moment to arrive, she could tell him. Part of her still wanted to tell him that he should move on. She wasn’t sure either on when the right moment would be. Maybe her gut feeling could help her out with that. Having learned her lesson that she should always listen to her gut feeling before, she could use that to her advantage.

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Bowser was resting his eyes and concentrating on images of his Peaches. Her beautiful, long blond hair, dazzling blue eyes, and her pink dress that suit her perfectly. He smiled when seeing the image of the princess. He then pictured himself and her sitting outside, he plays his song on the piano, and she sits on top of the piano as he sings to her. She was smiling at him with tenderness as she took in his words. Bowser gazed up at her with glee in his red eyes.

The words and notes flowed with elegance as the scenery around them brought about serenity. The waterfall cascading and the gentle breeze brushing the blades of green grass helped to make the scenery that much more enchanting. The princess and king were locking eyes with one another and slowly leaning in. The turtle grew nervous, but excited as their faces inched closer to each other.

Suddenly, the image of Peach disappeared and changed into a different silhouette. The silhouette revealed itself to have (hair length and hair color) and (eye color) gazing at him with adoration. She sat upon the piano and smiled at Bowser. Y/N had once again made herself appear at the most inconvenient of times. Bowser opened his eyes and shook his head. He sighed irritably as the image of his princess was again replaced by his songwriter.

Maybe it was time for him to be rid of her? No. He couldn’t do that yet. He still needed her to play the hostage. Perhaps it was high time to treat her as a hostage once again by keeping her in a cage. Only this time, put her in a cage that is in his dungeon. Yes. That should do perfectly. He smirked to himself as he got up from his bed.

“Kamek!” He called out.

The wizard instantly appeared, “Yes Sire?”

“Bring the songwriter to the throne room. I have some details to discuss with her.”

“Yes, my King.” The wizard bowed and disappeared.

Bowser walked out of his room and made his way toward his throne room. He reached the room in no time. He sat down and waited for the wizard to return with the human.

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Knocking on the door startled Y/N out of her thoughts, “Uh yes, come in.”

The wizard opened the door, “His majesty is requesting your presence in the throne room.”

“Oh, okay.” Y/N got up from her bed and followed Kamek out of her room.

Both walked in silence to the throne room. There sitting in his chair was Bowser. Kamek brought Y/N up to him and then stood back.

“Songwriter, good to see you,” Bowser said as stood up.

“Um…good to see you too…” Y/N said feeling slightly awkward.

“Kamek, close the doors,” Bowser ordered his wizard.

“Right away Sire,” Kamek responded and did as his king told him.

“So, Y/N, I have something important to tell you. Before that, I was curious. Why could I hear you sounding like you were on the verge of tears earlier?” Bowser decided he would go ahead and ask her about that anyway.

Y/N’s eyes widened. She wasn’t expecting him to ask her that so suddenly. She didn’t even think he heard her, and he had. Her gut feeling came on, telling her she needs to tell him now. She was scared, but what was she supposed to do otherwise? She supposed, if he listened, she could intertwine it with her own personal experience in the matters of the heart.

“I uh…” Y/N took in a deep breath in and out, ‘Don’t be nervous.’ She calmed herself and began again, “I was thinking about a time I went through with heartbreak…”

Bowser was now intrigued, “What happened with that?”

“I was…played a fool. The guy I was with, I really liked him, and he didn’t like me in return. He deceived me. He acted like he really cared about me when in the end he didn’t. It was a joke to him.” Y/N’s eyes began to water a little bit.

Bowser took notice of this and decided to not interject for now.

“He was in love with someone else the whole time. He just used me on the side for entertainment. He wanted a good laugh for himself and with his friends. I fell for his act. I was blinded by my own infatuation of him that I couldn’t see what he was really doing.” Y/N sputtered, and the tears came crashing down.

Bowser was feeling heavy now for Y/N. How horrible to be used in that way and yet, here he was using her. Granted, not for the same thing, but still using her…he had to follow through though. He had to for the sake of his sanity. He wanted Peaches to be at his side forever. He didn’t want Y/N to interfere.

Y/N calmed her crying down, “Bowser I…” This was it. She had to say something to him now. “What happened to me, I don’t want to happen to you. I know how you feel about the princess, but it’s not worth it to have your heart broken. You know how the princess feels about you-“

“The princess is not like that guy from your past! She will fall in love with me, and my heart will not be broken!” Bowser roared. He was determined to have his Peaches by his side.

Y/N, stunned from the yelling for a few seconds, recovered, “It’s worthwhile to go after someone who genuinely feels the same as you. I don’t want to see you hurt. The princess will never feel the way you do for her.”

Bowser’s eyes glowed in rage with a fire of fury, “Just because you had that heartbreak doesn’t mean I will have that heartbreak. My ending will not be like yours. Mine will be happy and joyful, not sad, and miserable.”

Y/N was trembling. She had told him what she wanted to and yet, it didn’t make a difference. Of course, one must choose what to do for themselves. One can say as much as they want to, but at the end of day, the person in question must decide on what they will do. She had just hoped that maybe he would consider her words, but this was a moment meant for daydreams only.

Bowser once again felt heavy for speaking to Y/N in such a way, but he had to follow through on his plans, “I have decided to put you in the dungeons. You will play your part as I had originally intended for you. The part of the hostage. Kamek will take you to your new lodgings now.”

Y/N gasped as she looked up at him with sadness. Why? Why did he have to harden his heart? She thought maybe he was trying to be better, maybe he would see what she was getting at, but it all seemed to be a lie. She put her head down and Kamek, using his magic, bound her wrists together in chains behind her back.

“Get her out of my sight,” Bowser spoke coldly.

“Yes Sire,” Kamek responded. He then transported himself and Y/N out of the throne room.

Bowser walked back to his chair and sat down. Now that he had put Y/N in the dungeons and would begin to treat her as a hostage, he felt he could really focus on what was important. Making Princess Peach his and making her see that he could give her everything and more. He closed his eyes and imagined his princess once again. He wanted to present the song to her very soon. He would have to plan to travel to the Mushroom Kingdom shortly.

Wait a second…with Y/N playing hostage, he could just let the princess come to him. Now that he thought about it, he was sure that Peaches along with those pesky plumbers were on their way here. Yes. Let his love come to him and he had the perfect bait. Y/N. He could then have the princess come with him to the music room where he would sing his heart to her. After that, Peaches will fall in love with him, and he would get another shot at his fairytale wedding.

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“How about these bananas? They look good,” Toad asked holding them up to Luigi.

“Yeah, I think those would be alright,” Luigi said.

“You know that Mario likes the princess, right?” Toad asked as he put a few bananas into his backpack.

“I do. I’ve told him before he should just tell her. I think she may feel the same way. Why pair us off together and her and my brother together otherwise?”

“Exactly! We should try to set them up on a date after we get Y/N back!”

Luigi chuckled, “I agree with you. I think my brother needs it.”

“I think so too. How about you. Anyone in your life?” Toad asked.

“Uh, not really…I mean, I haven’t exactly dated a whole lot myself. I would like to find a nice woman and settle down one day though. Just haven’t met the right girl yet.” Luigi felt a bit embarrassed.

“Hmm…I wonder…” Toad had an idea for Luigi but didn’t want to say it yet.

“Huh? Wonder what?” The plumber asked.

“Ah nothing to worry about now. C’mon, let’s head on back to Mario and the princess. I think we have a good amount of food,” Toad said.

Luigi gave the mushroom man a suspicious look but decided to play along, “Alright. Yeah, we have enough food.”

The two made their way back to the area they had stayed at earlier and waited for the other plumber and princess to return. Luigi sat down against the tree trunk and Toad joined him.

“So, what about you Toad? Dating?” Luigi decided to pop the question back at the mushroom man.

“Na. No interest right now. Plus, it is hard to find a female among so many males in the Mushroom Kingdom,” Toad answered.

“Ah, yeah, that is tough,” Luigi agreed. He did see many more males than females when having been through the Mushroom Kingdom.

The two decided to rest their eyes while waiting for Mario and Peach to return.

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“You think that the kongs will really be okay with riding on Yoshies?” Mario asked.

“I would like to think so. If not, I know the Yoshies could still help us out and the kongs can bring whatever is easier for them,” Peach replied.

“Yeah, that’s true. Hey, want to bring this melon along?” Mario held up a big melon.

“That one looks good. Let’s take it,” Peach said as she inspected it. “I think we have enough food for now and I’m sure Luigi and Toad found a good amount.”

“I think so too,” Mario agreed.

The two made their way back to the tree they had taken shelter at earlier to find Luigi and Toad sleeping.

“As much as I don’t want to disturb them, we need to get a move on,” Peach said.

“They’ll understand,” Mario replied.

The princess and plumber in red made their way over to the plumber in green and mushroom man.

Mario put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, “Hey Lu, wake up. We need to get going.”

Luigi groggily opened his eyes and looked up at his brother, “Okay.” He slowly got up and stretched his limbs.

“Toad, time to get up,” Peach said as she lightly shook the mushroom man by his shoulder.

“H-Huh?” Toad slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the princess. He got up and stretched.

After Luigi and Toad had finished stretching, the four of them talked about how they were going to lure the Yoshies to them. They wanted to each catch a Yoshi and then make their way to the Jungle Kingdom before it got too dark out. They all decided to stick together to catch the Yoshies.

They each set up a trail of the various fruits and hid in some nearby bushes waiting for some Yoshies to come up to the delicious looking fruit. The waiting wasn’t too long. Soon, 6 Yoshies came up to the trail and began eating some of the fruit. The Yoshies were pink, yellow, red, blue, purple, and green. The four friends slowly walked out from behind the bushes and carefully made their way over to the occupied Yoshies.

Peach carefully made her way over to the pink one, gently petting it and picking up an apple to feed it to the Yoshi. The Yoshi was startled but calmed down and ate the fruit the princess was offering.

“That’s it. We won’t hurt you. We need your help,” Peach spoke in a calm voice. “Would you please help us?”

The pink Yoshi nodded in agreement and lowered itself so that the princess could climb onto its back. The princess sat down on the red like saddle the Yoshi had and held onto the back of it. She waited for the plumbers and mushroom man to get a Yoshi.

Mario, spotting the red one, quietly crept up behind it picking up a banana along the way. He tried doing what he had seen Peach do by gently petting it and offering the banana to the Yoshi.

“Hey there Yoshi. We really need your help,” Mario said in a relaxed voice. “Would you please aid my friends and I?”

The red Yoshi looked at Mario in question and nodded. It ate the banana from Mario’s hand and lowered itself down. Mario got up onto the red Yoshi.

“This is sort of like riding a horse,” Mario said as he was steadying himself.

“Riding a horse?” Peach asked.

“Oh. Guess you haven’t seen horses. They’re tall and they have saddles you sit on to ride them. They are taller than the Yoshies. I could show you a picture of a horse later,” Mario replied.

“So, it sounds like you have done horseback riding before?”

“Eh, not really. Lu and I knew someone who did horseback riding before, and we had watched him perform a few stunts in a big competition with his horse. Pretty tricky stuff.”

“Sounds like it, but it does sound interesting.”

“Well, come back to our world and maybe we can take you to one of those shows.”

“Including riding lessons?”

Mario rubbed his hand on the back of his head, “Uh sure…the lessons aren’t cheap though. They are expensive to get. Maybe we could work something out with that friend of ours…”

Peach smiled, “That would be great!”

“I’ll see what we can do later then,” Mario said smiling back at the princess.

Luigi and Toad eventually got onto their Yoshies. Luigi chose the green one while Toad chose the yellow one. The blue and purple Yoshies had left after getting more of their fill from the fruit left on the trail.

“Looks like we’re ready to go,” Peach said.

“I think so,” Luigi responded.

“Alright. To the Jungle Kingdom!” Toad said excitedly.

The princess began leading the way and the other three followed her. The sun was nearing dusk, but Peach could tell that they were still making good time and would arrive at the Jungle Kingdom soon.

‘We’ll get you away from Bowser soon Y/N. Just hang on,’ Peach thought as she and the others continued riding the Yoshies.

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“In you go,” Kamek said as he lightly pushed Y/N into the cell. The two had entered a dungeon covered with stones.

Y/N stumbled a bit but remained on her feet.

The wizard closed the large steel bar door and locked it.

Y/N watched the wizard walk away and crumpled to the stone floor beneath her. The place was cold and dreary. She was heartbroken. Bowser was using her just as she should’ve expected. Of course, she knew he wanted her to help him out, but still. When she had been with him in the library, it was so nice to see the kind side of him. She was hoping that maybe slowly the king of the koopas was changing.

He had once again done a 180 on her. He acted aggressive and uncaring toward her. She was nothing more than a tool for him to use against the princess. Y/N could tell that he was going to force the princess to love him. She shook her head. Of course, he wasn’t going to listen to her. He would learn his lesson the hard way then. She hated being cuffed up. The cuffs were beginning to irritate her skin. She knew she was slowly getting angry red marks on her wrists.

Y/N sighed and scooted herself over to sit against the stone wall behind her. She leaned her head up, staring at the stone ceiling. She was tired. So tired of being thrown around from one place to another. Being told to stay in a cage like a bird, next being treated better, then going into a dungeon. Why couldn’t she be locked up in the room she was given?

Oh. Right. Because Bowser wanted to treat her as a hostage. No duh Y/N. She closed her eyes and decided to try and think about the happier times in her life. Her life hadn’t been all bad. There were some good moments. It was wonderful getting the opportunity to do a job she enjoyed and live in a new place. While scary, it was exciting. She got to meet Mario and Luigi who were so nice and kind to her.

Meeting Peach and Toad was fun as well. She appreciated how much they took their time with showing her around the Mushroom Kingdom and the castle. Getting to sing one of her favorite songs for her friends was nice too. The jewelry and dresses that the princess had in her castle were gorgeous. Y/N smiled over these memories and next thought about her family.

How grateful she felt to have a loving mother, father, and sister. They all had done so much for her, and she appreciated that. She hoped that she would be able to see everyone again. She was grateful too for the people from her job. Her coworkers were wonderful and fun to work with. Though she hadn’t been with them long, they all showed her so much kindness and care. It’s always fun to go to work when you can work with people who are a joy to be around.

Y/N opened her eyes and stared at the bars in front of her. She didn’t like being caged up again. She decided that she would no longer try to do anything for Bowser in terms of helping him with his heart. If he wants his heart broken, so be it. She had already tried to say everything she could to him, and he didn’t want to take it. She would instead hope that he would truly learn his lesson through this heartbreak and decide to do better for himself later.

She wanted to try and go back to thinking about happier times in her life. She once again closed her eyes and let some of her fun childhood memories play in her mind.

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Bowser had left his throne room to practice more of his song for Peaches. He played each note with care and sang with as much love as he could. Peaches is the only person who can make him happy. He smiled as he looked at the picture of the princess in pink. He couldn’t wait to look at her in person, not having to stare at a photograph anymore. His heart swelled with excitement at that thought.

The scenery in the music room had reflected the scene he wanted to use for the princess. The waterfall, grassy field and the moon shining brightly. It was a perfect setting. As cliché as it was, the king did not care. He wanted his confession to be like that of a fairytale too besides having his wedding be like that. He would work hard on making all of this come true. After he played his song and after Peaches said she felt the same, he would ask her again to marry him.

The princess would be delighted and say yes, giving him a big smooch. She would wear a different dress from the one he had her wear last time. It would be elegant and fit her in all the right places. It would be white, but it would be more decorative too. Not overly so, but just enough to show off intricate details while still being elegant.

She would walk up the aisle toward him and he would be dazzled at her appearance. Her hair would be done up and decorated with flowers. Her veil would be white covering her face and go to about mid back. She would have a train with her dress extending out a few inches. She would wear a necklace of matching flowers and earrings. Her shoes would be made of glass and high heeled with a flower on top of them. She would literally take his breath away. The perfect image of a beautiful bride.

Bowser got giddy thinking over all of that. As he smiled, someone else made an appearance in his mind. Someone he wished would disappear completely from his thoughts. Y/N. His heart felt annoyed and yet heavy. He will not deny that he enjoyed the time they had together in his library, but she is not the love of his life. Why was he feeling almost melancholy towards her? Because of what he said? Because of what he did to her? He knew he shouldn’t be questioning himself this way. He knew the answers.

He knew he had to do them. If he didn’t, she would continue to plague his mind. Yet, even as he did everything, she still invaded him. How he hated that she showed up whenever he would try to picture his precious Peaches! Y/N was getting the way of everything! Even his mentality! He can’t get rid of her yet. She still needed to be the hostage.

Bowser growled irritably. Why had he gone so soft on her in the library? Why had he done the playful the banter? Why did he find her cute? Why did he find her voice beautiful? Why is he asking himself all these questions?! He roared and slammed the lid of the piano case. He knew all these answers. He didn’t want to admit it, but…he couldn’t deny it to himself. He did have a fondness for Y/N. He was hurting because he hurt her.

His stubbornness wouldn’t allow him to express that fondness to Y/N any longer. He wanted to focus on the princess just as he originally planned. He had to. He didn’t want to do things any other way. Yet…this lingering feeling of…what was it? Regret? It filled him up. He knew he shouldn’t have treated Y/N the way he did…but it’s too late now. She probably despises him at this point. He should be happy with that because he could then get his priorities straight. However, deep down inside…he couldn’t focus.

What was he to do with his mentality, his thoughts on Y/N? Did he want Y/N to…have fondness of him too?

Link for Chapter 7: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/724798091751030784/unconditional-love-chapter-7?source=share

[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 5)

By xSereneMeadowsx

Link for Chapter 4: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/719178293244493824/unconditional-love-chapter-4?source=share

A/N: Thank you everyone for the likes and follows! I really appreciate it! :) This past week was a little hard on me which is why I didn’t update for a week. This chapter is a little shorter than the others. I hope you all enjoy it!

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Chapter 5

The sun spread its rays out, greeting the world before it. The light shone down on all who slept beneath it, stirring the slumber each guest had. Eyes slowly opened and took in the scenery. Peach was the first to awaken. She got up and stretched her limbs. Soon, her companions joined her.

“Good morning,” Peach spoke in a sleepy voice.

“Morning,” the brothers and mushroom man replied.

“Did all of you sleep well?” the princess asked.

“As well as I could,” Luigi answered.

“It was alright,” Mario said.

“I slept well,” Toad replied.

“I slept well too,” Peach answered. “We best get breakfast together and get a move on. We aren’t too far from the Yoshi Kingdom now, but we still have a long road ahead of us.”

“I got you covered!” Toad exclaimed as he whipped out his skillet and various items of food.

“Great!” Peach said. She did enjoy Toad’s cooking a lot and she looked forward to what he would prepare for them.

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Y/N sighed as she sat in the cage eating her food. It really was not the most pleasant being held up in a cage. Not that the cage was too small, but it was exhausting. She wanted space to walk around in, a nice bed to sleep in, and a wardrobe of different clothes. She’d been stuck in the same outfit for about two days now. She wondered how people at home were reacting to her absence. She was sure she was going to be fired from her job at this point. She mentally groaned at the thought of losing her job.

She didn’t have her cellphone with her either. She felt stupid not bringing it with her. Then again, service probably wouldn’t work out here either. She finished her breakfast and curled her legs into herself, knees propped up. She rested her arms across her knees, setting her chin down on top of her wrists.

‘It’s fun writing a song, but…what is the point in writing this song? He knows Peach doesn’t like him and this song probably won’t make a difference to her. No matter how much heart and soul you put into it, it seems pointless in the end…’ Y/N couldn’t help having these thoughts swarm through her mind. She’d been hurt before and as much as she wasn’t enjoying Bowser’s presence for the most part, she didn’t want to see him hurt. She felt that everyone deserved to find love with a special someone where the feelings are reciprocated amongst the two people involved in said relationship.

Just as she was going to continue pondering more, the doors of the throne room opened and in walked Bowser with Kamek.

“Songwriter! Ready to start the day?” Bowser asked as he stared up at Y/N.

“Sure,” Y/N replied softly.

Kamek worked his magic at getting Y/N out of the cage and transporting all of them to the music room. He immediately left the king and human alone in the music room. Bowser and Y/N made their way to the piano bench and sat down.

“I was thinking that we could start off the song with, ‘Peaches, I have a song just for you. Please lend me your ear to hear these words.’” Bowser said.

Y/N was slightly dazed out, “Oh! Uh, sure...that works.”

The Koopa King could read Y/N’s appearance, “You’re not focused. I need you to stay with me on this. I want to get this song out to Peaches soon.”

“Sorry…Guess I have a lot on my mind…” It wasn’t a lie. Y/N couldn’t stop pondering over if everything they were doing had any point to it or not.

“Well, get your mind out of the clouds and back on this song,” he demanded. “What line should we add after that?”

“Hmm…we could add, ‘I hope this finds you well because the sight of you makes my heart swell. Your kindness and care are like birds soaring in the air. I feel at ease and weak in my knees when I see you.’ We could add in the chorus after that where you say Peaches, I love you if that sounds good,” Y/N said.

“Yes. Following that, the descriptions of her hair and eyes could come in.” Bowser smiled, “‘Your dark blue eyes make the stars shine at night. Your hair is the sunshine of my mornings when I awake.’”

“Yeah, and then maybe after that, ‘I hope you see how much you mean to me. Peaches, your sweetness is like candy for my teeth. You make my heart sing with love for you. I want to be your right guy for all of time.’ Then, we could go back to the chorus again. Sound good?” Y/N asked.

“Yes. After the chorus, maybe a few other lines…” Bowser carefully thought over what else could be added in. He did want to emphasize his promise to love her, “How about this, ‘We may have our differences, but this I promise you. I will love you for all of time unconditionally my sweet. No matter the obstacles that come our way, I will make sure to treasure each day with you.’ Then, we go back to the chorus,” Bowser said.

“Wow, that all sounds great! Let’s hear it played out on the piano!” Y/N said. She was impressed by those lines.

Bowser, ecstatically, began the tune on the piano and sang out the words he and Y/N came up with. The scenery in the room changed once again to the scenery of the waterfall and grassy field. Y/N smiled at the scenery change. She quite enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. She saw Bowser gaze at the picture of Peaches on the piano as he sang his heart out. She stared at him and could tell he really felt good about what was being sung out.

The piano finished its last note along with Bowser and the king turned to look at the songwriter who currently still looked at him, “Well Songwriter?”

Y/N, who had become lost in her gaze, snapped out of it, “Huh? Oh! Yes, the song. I really like it. I think the princess will too.” The song was lovely and very captivating. She truly hoped that his heart wouldn’t be too broken or broken at all.

Bowser had taken notice of how Y/N stared at him. He was a bit flustered, but he found it nice that someone was paying attention to him when he was singing his heart out. Y/N really helped him out with this song, and he was grateful for it. He couldn’t get her voice out of his mind last night for quite some time. Her voice was like a sweet lullaby and when her (eye color) looked at him, it made him feel good.

“Um…did you hear me Bowser? I said I like the song,” Y/N waved her hand in front of him to get his attention. Why was he so dazed out all the sudden?

“Hmm? Oh, yes. Glad you like it,” Bowser said, coming back to reality. “I want to show it the princess in the next couple of days. I think some practice is in order first.”

“Yeah, that’s understandable,” Y/N said.

“Now that you have helped me, I’ll have Kamek take you back to the cage,” Bowser said.

Y/N really didn’t want to go back into the cage, “Is it possible for me to…to have a room instead? Please?”

Bowser looked into her eyes and thought, ‘I suppose I could give her a room. She did well in helping me. Then again though, what is the point in keeping her still? She’s already done her part…but she could be used as leverage. Yes, I’ll keep her for that.’

“I suppose so…” he answered. “Kamek!”

The wizard in calling instantly appeared in the room, “Yes Sire?”

“Give Y/N a room. She deserves an upgrade in accommodations for helping me out,” Bowser spoke.

“Of course,” Kamek responded. “Come with me this way.” He ushered Y/N out of the room.

Y/N turned to look at the king, “Bowser, thank you.” She smiled kindly at him. She was happy at least that she was going to have a room.

Bowser only nodded and turned back to the piano, the background in the room slowly changing back to its original appearance. His heart was full of joy. This song was going to woo over the princess no problem. He began to play the tune again and sing the song as he gazed at the picture of Peaches.

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Y/N and Kamek walked all over the castle and Y/N took in all the different paintings that hung on the walls. Many of them were of lava sceneries, but there were a few of Bowser himself. He would look intimidating, cunning, and…lonely. She could understand the loneliness she saw in some of the paintings. He truly wanted a companion and he had been set on the princess for so long that he felt he had no other options.

“Over here will be your room,” Kamek said as they came upon two large red doors.

Y/N turned in the direction Kamek pointed to and followed him inside the room.

“I can design this in any way you please,” the wizard said. “Just say what you want to have in here.”

“Wow! Thanks! Um…I would like to have a queen-sized bed and a wardrobe with different clothes in it. Also, a nice size bathroom with a shower and tub please,” Y/N said as her eyes glowed in glee.

“Very well,” Kamek answered. He waved his wand and instantly, everything Y/N asked for appeared. The wardrobe was a blue color mixed with white and stood tall. Y/N immediately went to the wardrobe to peer inside it. The amount of clothes was endless and of various colors. The shoes included. Even jewelry could be found.

“It’s all so beautiful! Thank you Kamek!” Y/N said as she gave the wizard a hug. Realizing what she was doing, she bashfully let go of the wizard who was very flustered from the appreciation, “Uh, sorry…thank you.”

Kamek cleared his throat, recovering from the moment, “You’re quite welcome. Enjoy.” He walked out and closed the doors.

“This is the biggest bedroom I’ve ever had! I love it!” Y/N went toward the bed and sat down on it. It was very soft. The bed cover matched the blue of the wardrobe and the white sheets beneath it were very nice. The pillows were plush and comfortable too. She then got up to look inside the bathroom. White greeted her everywhere. The shower was a nice size, and the tub was practically like a hot tub with how large it was. She was satisfied to get an upgrade. She decided to jump into the shower and then change clothes.

The hair and body wash provided had the scent of cherry blossoms which Y/N didn’t mind. She worked on cleaning herself and used a white, fluffy towel to dry herself off. Walking to the wardrobe towel wrapped, she looked inside to see which outfit she would choose to wear.

“Hmm…how about this blue dress. I already like the shoes and jewelry that go with it,” she said to herself.

She put on a sleeveless blue dress and flat blue sandals. The dress was about knee length, and it made her think of the summer season. Blue flower earrings, bracelet, and necklace adorned her as well. The dress came to just above her chest to help show off the necklace that rested on her skin. She decided to leave her hair down since she had had it up for so long. Y/N smiled at her appearance. She was happy there was a full-length mirror in the closet too. She decided she would take a walk around the castle. Now that she wasn’t confined, she wanted to take this time to see more of the castle before her.

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Bowser played the final note in the song and sighed. He had already been practicing for a couple of hours and figured he needed a break. He got up from the bench and stretched his limbs. He walked to the doors, opening them with ease and decided to take a stroll inside his castle. Each koopa that passed by would carefully bow to him before they continued with their task or made their way to another destination. The king was happy that his koopas knew when to show him respect and always acknowledged him.

He rounded a corner and could hear a soft voice speaking.

“This food is delicious!” Y/N complemented to the koopa dressed in an apron and chef’s hat. He had given her a sample of what appeared to be a brownie to try.

“Thank you! I’m glad you like it! I hope the king will too,” chef replied.

“I think he will,” Y/N smiled. The chocolate was quite savory.

“Oh! Your majesty!” The chef bowed and Y/N curtsied.

“Songwriter, Chef,” Bowser said.

“I was just showing the human my new food. The recipe for it is easy to handle, but it takes time to bake these. I have a couple of samples left if you want to try it,” the chef explained as he held out a plate that contained a couple of other chocolate squares.

Bowser, using his claws, carefully picked up one of the brown squares and put it in his mouth. He chewed, swallowed, and smiled. The burst of chocolate hit his tongue in a pleasant way, and he was impressed, “This is very good!”

The chef smiled, “Thank you your majesty!” He bowed once again.

“Make more of these!” Bowser said.

“Right away your highness!” The chef replied as he scurried off to the kitchen.

“What exactly are you doing out here?” Bowser asked with suspicion.

“I was just taking everything in. Sightseeing. Is that alright?” Y/N asked. She hoped he wouldn’t be too mad about that.

Bowser raised a brow at her, “Fine, but you’re not going anywhere else alone. I will accompany you.”

“Uh, okay. Sure,” Y/N replied. Guess he was still a little suspicious of her. “You could show me your favorite areas! If you want to that is.”

“Hmm…” Bowser thought it over. It couldn’t hurt anything right? It was just a tour, and he would be right there to ensure she didn’t try anything like escaping on him. Even though Y/N didn’t seem like she was trying anything funny, he wanted to be weary of her. She intrigued him admittedly and he wanted to stick close to her. “Very well. This way.”

He began to lead the human down a long hallway that contained various rooms for meetings, games, and for focusing on knowledge of new worlds and new creatures. Bowser enjoyed exploring new places and thought it would be nice to have a room dedicated to storing all the knowledge he had found in some of his travels. He opened the door to the room containing all this information and Y/N’s eyes widened.

Never had Y/N seen so many books and journals in her life! It reminded her of the animated Beauty and the Beast movie with how high the shelves were, and the never-ending array of words and documents contained within.

“Wow! This library is like a history room! Historians would love a place like this if they could come here!” Y/N was impressed. She smiled as she gazed over the spines of the books lining the shelves. Various in terms of environment, people, and animals. “This all looks so interesting!”

Bowser turned to look at Y/N, “Really?”

“Yes! It really does! Do you have any books on galaxies?” she asked curiously.

“Uh…there’s very few and limited options, but yes,” Bowser replied. He was surprised at how fascinated this human was with his library. He couldn’t help but give a small smile. Her curiosity and amazement were cute.

He showed her where the galaxy section was and took out a book for her, “This book talks about the different stars and their shapes.”

“Oh! Like constellations!” Y/N beamed.

“Yes,” Bowser softly chuckled. “Here.” He handed the book to her.

She opened the book and was greeted with a constellation shaped like a heart, “Aw! That’s amazing! I don’t have any constellations like this in my world. How cool is it to see a heart shaped constellation?!”

“Very,” Bowser replied. “There’s plenty more pictures in here.”

“Great! I want to look at all of them!” Y/N said excitedly. There was a large red couch in the room which Y/N quickly sat down on. Bowser followed suit.

The king and songwriter spent a long time talking about the pictures found in the book along with what was written down about the stars themselves. Y/N felt like a kid taking in all this knowledge from Bowser. It was refreshing to see a side of Bowser that wasn’t intimidating. He seemed very mellow with everything, and Y/N enjoyed that.

“This constellation is my favorite,” Bowser pointed to the picture. The constellation was shaped like a crown.

“It is a neat one! What, makes it your favorite?” Y/N asked.

“It’s my favorite because it reminds me of me. I am a king and ruler to all before me. I am the greatest being to exist,” Bowser said with vigor.

“Ah, I see,” Y/N smiled. “You exude a lot of self-confidence.”

“That I do,” Bowser agreed. “Do you have a favorite constellation?”

Y/N wasn’t expecting him to throw that question at her, “Um…I don’t have any from my world. From this book though, I’ll say the heart.”

“Why the heart?” Bowser asked.

“Because it reminds me of the love I have from family and friends,” Y/N chuckled. “I know that sounds cheesy and very cliché, but it’s true.”

Bowser laughed, “Indeed, but it’s not bad.”

“Thanks,” Y/N smiled. Her stomach decided to speak up. Bashfully, she covered it, her face reddening slightly.

“Hmm…sounds like someone is hungry,” Bowser said amused. “We can have lunch now.”

Y/N, embarrassed, chuckled, “Great!”

The two went to put the book away and walked out of the room to go to the dining room. Y/N was happy that she got to see a softer side to Bowser. She felt that it was a rare, and probably, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see such a side to him. It was unexpected but welcomed to her.

Bowser felt himself softening some in Y/N’s presence. He didn’t feel as weary of her, but still wanted to keep his guard up. He enjoyed seeing her take in all the work he and his koopas had done with the library. He was pleased that he could have such a conversation with someone about his work too.

The two of them made it to the dining room and it was large. Y/N’s mouth dropped open at the size of it. Then again, thinking about it, it would make sense for this room to be as large as it is. There were a lot of people in the castle. They all had to eat at some point, right? Y/N was going to sit down at the far end when Bowser signaled for her to keep walking with him toward the other end of the table. Y/N followed, and Bowser gestured for her to sit down on his right side, next to his seat.

“Uh, is this really alright?” Y/N felt a bit awkward sitting next to him.

“Of course, it is. Plus, I must keep my eye on you,” Bowser said smirking.

“Even with eating?” she asked slightly amused.

“Especially with eating,” he replied with a smirk. This was a nice play of banter.

The two of them laughed. Y/N, again, wasn’t expecting this side of Bowser. It was nice that he could be so playful.

Bowser liked hearing Y/N’s laugh. It was as melodious as her singing. He gave her a small smile to which Y/N blushed a little in return. He shook his head. What was he doing? He should only be acting this way with and toward Peaches. Why was he doing this with the songwriter?

“Lunch is served,” the chef from before called out as he and a few other koopas came to set plates of various food down.

Y/N smelled some of the food in front of her, “Mmm…smells good!”

Bowser picked up his silverware and began eating and Y/N followed suit. The two stayed silent, each enjoying the food before them and residing in their own thoughts.

Y/N couldn’t help noticing how Bowser behaved earlier with the shaking of his head. He had smiled at her and then she had blushed. It was just an innocent smile, right? Why did she blush then? Why was she thinking so much about this!? She had to quit thinking about that and just reminisce about her time with him in the library. It was nice to see him relaxed and not uptight.

Bowser couldn’t get Y/N’s blush out of his mind. He found it cute. He didn’t know what got into him to do the playful banter and give her the smile, but he did it. He didn’t know what was coming over him. Perhaps it was because of the nice time they had together earlier? That had to be it. That most definitely was it. He wanted to focus on doing more practice of the song for Peaches and he decided he would do just that after eating.

The king and human finished their meals and Bowser had Kamek walk Y/N back to her room. As all three exited the dining room, Y/N turned to Bowser.

“Thank you for earlier and for the meal. It was all so nice,” Y/N smiled at him. Her face was slightly reddened.

“You’re welcome,” Bowser replied rather gruffly. He found her blushing smile sweet, and he didn’t want that to distract him.

Y/N noticed his tone of voice but decided to not think so much about it now. She and Kamek walked back to her room while Bowser went to his piano room.

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“Phew! It’s hot out here!” Mario said as he took his hat off to try and fan himself.

Luigi did the same as Mario. Toad was using his hands to fan himself while Peach walked with an umbrella held in her hand. They all made it to the Yoshi Kingdom at last. The tropical like area was very humid. Thankfully, the four of them spotted some shade from some trees up ahead.

“Let’s take a breather here,” Peach said as she sat down to lean against a large palm tree trunk.

The others nodded in agreement and joined her at the tree. All of them sat with their backs against the tree trunk, breathing a little heavily. Peach closed her eyes and laid the umbrella to the side of her, hands resting in her lap. The walk took a little longer than expected, but they all had finally made it.

“Well, I hope catching the Yoshies won’t be too difficult,” Mario said.

“Same,” Luigi replied.

“I don’t think it should be too bad,” Peach said. “We have to find some of their favorite fruits, feed it to them, and then we can catch some for ourselves.”

“It should be a cinch,” Toad said confidently.

“Let’s hope so. For now, let’s rest a little longer,” Peach replied.

The four of them continued their rest as the sun shone high above them. The shade was cooling and refreshing at least.

‘Please be alright Y/N,’ Peach thought.

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Soft piano music played as the king played a different tune. He had practiced Peaches’ song for a little while, but then decided to play something else. He felt like playing a classical tune. Something that could be heard as joyful, hopeful, and fulfilling. He couldn’t remember the name of the song. Only its tune and notes. His clawed fingers hit each key with precision and many years of practice. It had been several months since last playing this song, but he remembered it fondly.

This song was shown to him by his piano teacher many years ago. The teacher was very sophisticated and took her time teaching her students how to play the piano correctly. Bowser faintly smiled, recalling the times he had messed up in front of his teacher and her scolding him to play the same notes again until he got it right. He hated that, but it was all worth it in the end. The piano provided an escape for him. It was something that would always remain the same. Something that could take in his emotions whether good or bad.

As he continued the tune, he looked at the picture of Peach and smiled. He wished she could be right here listening to him play. As he imagined her sitting on top of the piano in her signature pink dress, the image of her slowly began to change. The dress went from pink to blue. Her hair color changed from blond to (hair color). Her eyes changed from blue to (eye color). The smile changed from a small one to a grin.

Seeing the new image of Y/N sitting on the piano instead of the princess, Bowser shook his head violently and stopped playing the piano. Why did Y/N suddenly appear replacing Peaches? He sighed and closed the lid of the piano and got up. He needed to lay down and rest his eyes for a while. That was it. He was tired.

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Y/N lay in her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She really hoped to be able to explore more of the castle tomorrow. Maybe even go outside of it. If she was going to be here for a long period of time, she wanted to take in all the scenery around her. She wanted to explore more of the library again too. There was so much she could learn about the world she currently resided in. Her thoughts then went back to Peach and the others. She hoped they all were doing okay. She also hoped that Peach wouldn’t be too…disgusted at the song from Bowser. She and Bowser had worked a lot on the song.

Y/N felt that Peach probably wouldn’t like the song, but she hoped she wouldn’t be horrified by it. She just knew Peach wasn’t too keen on being with Bowser. That’s why she heavily emphasized to Bowser not to exude force onto the princess. It is never a good thing to force a love that isn’t there. She really didn’t want to see Bowser’s heart break.

The images of her own heart break came to mind. It made her want to sing the song Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy. It was a sad song, but it expressed some of what Y/N had gone through in her past relationship. She really thought that the guy she was with was going to be her lover. A tear streamed down her face, and she quietly began to sing the song to herself.

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Bowser was heading toward his room when he could hear soft singing coming from one of the passing rooms. He instantly recognized it to be Y/N’s voice. She sounded sad and almost as if she were on the verge of tears. He quietly walked to the door and put his ear against it. He listened to her sing the obvious heartbroken words of a past lover.

He wondered what could’ve brought Y/N’s mood down so suddenly. She seemed so chipper earlier. Why is she sad now? He decided to ask her later. He figured it would be best to leave her alone for now. Plus, he wanted to rest his eyes for a while. He needed/wanted to get his priorities straight. His focus was to impress Peach with his song and make her fall in love with him, not Y/N. Y/N was not to interfere with his plans. She already completed her part. She just needed to act the part of the hostage now.

Link for Chapter 6: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/723682924934873088/unconditional-love-chapter-6?source=share

[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 4)

By xSereneMeadowsx

Link for Chapter 3: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/718885242606370816/unconditional-love-chapter-3?source=share

A/N: Thank you so much everyone for the likes and follows. :) I really appreciate it! :) I hope all of you enjoy this chapter! I’m posting this at almost 1am my time. LOL!

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Chapter 4

“We need to ask the kongs for help. I’m sure they won’t mind helping us again,” Peach said. She, Mario, Luigi, Toad, and the council were all gathered in the meeting room discussing ideas on what to do about Bowser and rescuing Y/N.

“They do have strong forces. You’re sure that they will align themselves with us?” The toad councilman dressed in blue asked.

“I’m sure of it. We have been getting along so well with each other.” The princess was more than convinced that the kongs would help them.

“They do have a great number of available kongs to help us out. They’re strong fighters,” Mario said trying to convince the council to go along with Peach’s idea. He believed that they could be of help.

“Besides, we know Bowser more than likely wants to try and take over all the kingdoms by hunting down for another SuperStar as well. It would be best to bring up strong forces against him and his subordinates.” Peach wanted to believe that they could win with the help of King Cranky, Donkey Kong, and the other kongs. They had fought together once before thanks to Mario helping convince the kongs that she and the toads were strong of heart and strength.

“Hmm…I see where you’re coming from your highness. I think it would be best to have the kongs help us out.” He then turned to look at his colleagues, “Council? Are we all in agreement with the princess and her idea?”

Mario gave Peach a hopeful look that they would go along with her plan. Luigi and Toad were also convinced the council would follow through. They all waited with bated breath as they watched the toad in blue quietly talk with the other council members. After a few more minutes had gone by, the toad dressed in blue turned to look at the princess.

“Your highness, we are all in agreement with your plan. We will gather the citizens of the city and move them to a safer area. There is a possibility that our city may become a battle ground,” the councilman explained.

“Excellent. Mario, Luigi, Toad, and I will all head out to the Jungle Kingdom soon,” Peach replied.

“Yes, Princess. Understood,” the councilman responded. He and the other council members left the room while Peach and the others remained behind.

“Told ya they would see it your way,” Mario said as he gave Peach a pat on the back.

Peach smiled at Mario, “You were right. I also had another idea that I think may be beneficial to us.”

“What would that be?” Luigi asked with curiosity.

“I think we should go to the kingdom of the Yoshies. They could be helpful in our battle as well. Plus, they are great for transportation,” Peach answered.

“Huh…I guess that could work out in our favor. We could have them along with the go-karts from the kongs,” Toad said.

“Exactly! The more help we have, the better off we’ll be. We’ll get Y/N back soon enough and take Bowser down!” Peach had determination reflecting in her blue eyes as she pumped her arms and made fists of her hands.

“Yeah!” Mario, Luigi, and Toad all cheered.

“Let’s get ready to head out. Meet me in the main corridor in half in hour,” Peach told the brothers and mushroom man.

The three of them nodded in understanding. They all went their separate ways to gather a few essentials from around the town.

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Y/N drank some of the water that had been provided for her as she sat in the cage. She hadn’t cried for very long, but the stress she felt greatly affected her. She didn’t like being locked up and she felt horrible for letting this happen. She closed her eyes as she gathered up her legs, resting her arms on her knees and laid her chin to rest on top of her arms. Why couldn’t this all be a bad dream?

She heard a door opening and saw a Koopa carrying a small tray of food. Kamek had appeared to transport the food into Y/N’s cage. The tray appeared in front of her, and she stared down at the contents. She wasn’t sure what this food was and was almost afraid to eat it.

“It’s not poisoned. Bowser needs you to help him. He wouldn’t do that,” Kamek explained trying to ease Y/N’s worries.

“I didn’t think it was poisoned, but…” She drifted off. The food still looked questionable to her. The silver tray had something that looked like roast beef (possibly) along with (maybe) mashed potatoes. She sighed and picked up the silverware that lay on the tray. At least the silverware was familiar to her with a fork and knife being provided to her.

“Well, this is the only food you’re getting. Eat it and be energized,” Kamek said as he and the Koopa walked out of the throne room.

Y/N knew that she didn’t have any other food choices. She would have to make do with what was given to her. She could at least be grateful that Bowser wouldn’t let her starve. She still wished she had better accommodation than this cage. How was she supposed to go to the restroom? They didn’t possibly expect her to just go in here, did they? She wasn’t some animal. Y/N decided to worry about that later and try the food in front of her.

She used the fork and knife to cut up the supposed meat and took a small bite. It was rather chewy, but not terribly so. She continued to chew and swallow the food. The meat did have some good spice on it, she had to admit, and the sauce covering it wasn’t too bad either. She scooped up some possible mashed potato and chewed the contents. The potato didn’t disappoint either. Now she was very thankful to be getting such a meal. She savored every bite she took since she wasn’t sure exactly when the next meal would be.

Finishing her meal, Y/N pushed the tray away from her and sipped on her water. The meal and the events throughout the day caught up to her, bringing in fatigue. She figured it would be best to try and get some shut eye. She curled herself into a ball and used her hands to make a pillow for her head. This was not the most comfortable, but it was all she could do. At least, she shouldn’t get cold due to the heat from the lava flowing. That did make her nervous. She would have to watch where she was going if they allowed her to walk around in here at all.

She wanted to try to figure out a way to escape. How though? How would she find her back to Peach, Mario, and the others? She didn’t exactly have a map she could pull up. Should she wait to be rescued? Maybe, that was her only option. She wanted to leave, but she didn’t want to risk getting herself lost in this world either. She wanted to think and believe that the princess, the brothers, and the mushroom man would all come to her aid. Y/N decided that that would be the best course of action to take as much as she really didn’t want to wait in this place. She would do her best in dealing with her current situation.

Y/N finally closed her eyes, calming her mind down with happy thoughts and memories to think about as her mind slowly carried her away to dreamland.

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Bowser lay in his bed as sleep was not coming to him as easily right now. He shouldn’t have napped on his throne while waiting for Kamek to return to him with Y/N. He couldn’t help himself though and had to rest his eyes. He grumbled a bit as he chose to try sleeping on his right side which had him facing a wall. He needed to get sleep.

‘Just think about Peaches and the success of your song to her,’ He mentally told himself. ‘Her beautiful blond hair, her dark blue eyes that can put the night sky to shame. Her bravery and hatred of me is intoxicating.’

He smiled to himself when images of the princess continued to appear in his mind. His mind finally allowed him to enter dreamland and the princess welcomed him with open arms.

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Y/N awoke with a start. Her dream had been extremely random and quite adventurous. She had been traveling down into a cave when a giant moth greeted her and was about to swoop her up. She shook her head to get rid of the images. Dreams really could be quite bizarre when they wanted to be. She sat up and stretched her arms. Her hands hurt a bit from using them as a pillow, but hoped the pain would calm down after a while.

She saw the tray had been taken out of her cage and replaced with a new one with breakfast food. Deciding not to question the food, Y/N ate it and was pleasantly surprised at the taste. It tasted of scrambled eggs and bacon to her. She continued eating and drank the water that had also been replenished for her.

“Good morning, Songwriter,” a familiar voice greeted her. Bowser looked up at Y/N sitting in her cage. “Enjoying your stay?” He asked in an almost mocking way.

As much as she was grateful for the delicious food and water, Y/N couldn’t be happy in the cage, “Well, I do wish for an actual bed, but I am grateful for the food and water.” She decided to smile at him to show that he couldn’t bring down her mood entirely. She wouldn’t let him tear her down.

“Humph. Get ready to help me work on my song. Kamek will let you out shortly,” Bowser said as he frowned at her.

Y/N laughed, “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Didn’t exactly bring a change of clothes and I don’t want prying eyes on me either.” She was proud of herself for displaying a different front than what Bowser saw of her yesterday. It wasn’t easy as she had to control the tone in her voice, but it was well worth it. Kill him with kindness.

Bowser sighed irritably and walked out of the throne room. He was hoping to annoy her a bit and intimidate her. No matter though. He would ensure that she would help him exactly as he intended. No arguments and no getting a say in how the song was represented so long as the song was good and conveyed his feelings.

The King of the Koopas made his way to the room that contained his piano. He opened the doors and walked toward the piano, running a clawed hand over the cover. It was good to have his piano back. The one in the cage he had wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t nearly as good as his. This room allowed more notes and sounds to flow all around as he played out songs. The room would even change and show images of whatever background he desired. It felt like one was literally transported to another world. It was quite a spectacle to behold.

As Bowser sat down at the piano and opened the cover, the doors opened revealing one of his many guards along with Y/N. The guard and human walked into the room and Y/N took in her surroundings. What a ginormous room! The guard gave a bow to his king and walked out of the room, closing the doors behind him.

“Quit gawking and come over here,” Bowser said impatiently.

“Sorry. This room is amazing though!” Y/N truthfully was astonished. The piano, so big and grand, the walls displaying almost rainbow-like colors together, and the polished floors. It felt like stepping into something from a fairy tale or movie. She walked over to him, standing by the piano.

“Uh…thanks,” Bowser said slightly taken aback from the girl’s expression. He cleared his throat, “Now tell me, the song you sang to those pesky plumbers and toad. What was it called?”

Y/N looked at him incredulously, “Wait…how did you…oh.” She then realized it had to be his wizard who told him.

“Kamek showed me footage of you singing your song. Just answer my question!” He was losing his patience.

Y/N slightly jumped from his yelling. Bowser, upon noticing her body flinch slightly, gave a small smirk at the reaction. “Okay, okay. It wasn’t actually my song-“

“What?” He shouted.

Y/N backed up slightly from the piano, showing her nerves, “It-It wasn’t my song. It was a song I sang by another artist. Katy Perry is the artist, and the song was called Unconditionally.”

Bowser stared at her intensely like he had done yesterday. Y/N didn’t like being the focus of his gaze. The anger and fire within the Koopa King almost became too much for Y/N to handle.

“Do you have any songs of your own?” he asked with a voice that could kill. He was still irritated but was trying to control himself. He knew he sometimes lit his fuse too easily when getting angry at others. He was beginning to wonder about her credibility as a songwriter.

“I…” This was just great. Y/N didn’t want to lie to him, but she was afraid of what would happen with telling him otherwise, “I um…I’ve dabbled a bit and tried writing a song of my own…”

“Tell me about it,” Bowser demanded.

Y/N slightly tensed up, “It uh…it involves longing for peace and…wanting to be with that special someone…” She was being truthful here. She had just written this out as a scene and not so much in the form of lyrics. She was hoping to write this out as a song eventually.

“Hmm…” Bowser was intrigued by this. “That could do…Come over here and sit with me.”

“Uh…couldn’t I just stand by the piano?” Y/N really didn’t want to sit next to the intimidating king.

“No. You will do as I say and sit next to me,” he said expressing impatience once again.

Y/N complied and sat down next to him. She looked at him as he put his clawed hands on the piano and began to play his song. A picture frame sat on the piano that Y/N just now took notice of. It was a picture of Peach. Bowser looked to the picture as he played his song and began to sing. The music itself was quite pretty and the lyrics…well…Y/N wasn’t too sure about all the lyrics. While some of them seemed fine, they also sounded very greedy and demanding…

Bowser finished playing his song and looked at Y/N, “That is my song. Now tell me what more could I add to it?”

This was a lot to take in. While she did find the music great, the lyrics needed work and a lot of it, “Um well…instead of talking about how you’ll make her yours, try to sing more about her herself. You don’t want to come off as being too possessive-“

“How is my song too possessive?!” he asked in anger. “I am stating fact here. I will make her mine.”

Y/N’s (eye color) widened, slightly scared by him yelling at her, ‘Have to stand my ground.’ She blinked up at him, trying to blink away the tears that were trying to form, “You want to show her your love, right?”

“Of course, I do!” Bowser responded.

“You show love through acts of kindness and understanding. If you force someone to be with you, they’ll grow to resent you,” Y/N spoke with a fire in her eyes.

“I didn’t ask you to lecture me! You will help me win Peaches back and I will do as I see fit!” He roared with irritation as his eyes glowed with fiery.

Y/N flinched once more from his yelling. How could she possibly help him if he wouldn’t let her? “I can’t help you if you keep yelling at me you jerk!” she said and gasped. She covered her mouth, very afraid, she made him beyond angry.

Bowser gave Y/N the most over the edge look she had ever been given by anyone. It utterly caused her body to tremble and shake. She stood up from the piano bench and started backing away. Bowser got up and walked up to her, reaching her in no time. He grabbed her tightly in his clawed hands. Y/N gasped from being handled so roughly and tightly, her eyes watering again.

“What. Did. You. Just. Say. To. Me. Songwriter?” He spoke each word deliberately with venom dripping out.

Y/N now had tears streaming down her face. She had been doing so well until now. “I-I…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that…” Her sobs became louder as she continued crying. “I’m really sorry…Please, I…I won’t say anything like that again…” How she wished she could pass out then and there. She didn’t want to look into his raging eyes again. She closed her eyes as a few more tears streamed out.

Bowser slightly loosened his grip on her, “Do you promise that?”

“Y-Yes.” She hiccupped her reply.

“Look me in the eye and promise me that,” he commanded.

She slowly, with hesitance, opened her (eye color) eyes to look at his red ones who pierced her deeply, “I promise,” she spoke with sadness and nervousness in her voice.

He wasn’t entirely convinced, “Promise me like you mean it. Quit crying.”

She tried to calm herself down by taking slow breaths. In and out. In and out. She looked at him again in the eye, “I promise,” she was able to say in a calmer voice.

“Hmph. Good. That’s better,” he said as he put Y/N back down on the floor.

Y/N took in a few more breaths of air as Bowser walked back to the piano and sat down on the piano bench.

“Well, come back over here Songwriter,” Bowser said, patting the spot next to him.

He almost seemed to do a complete 180. One second, he could be full of rage, and the next, he could act as though nothing traumatic happened. Y/N walked over and sat down next to him, making sure her body wouldn’t touch his to give as much space as possible. Bowser took notice but didn’t say anything.

“Now, tell me what else I need to add into the song,” Bowser said turning to look at Y/N.

Y/N looked at him but would avert her gaze to the piano or walls of the room. She couldn’t keep her eyes focused on him, “You could talk about what else makes you attracted to her. Her personality besides appearance.”

Bowser took notice of Y/N constantly moving her eyes to look at anything else but him, “Look at me when you speak.” He reached out a claw and gently put it under her chin tilting her head up.

She gasped at the contact and looked at Bowser with surprise, “R-Right. Sorry.” She felt Bowser was only doing this purpose to get under her skin and she didn’t like it.

He removed his claw from her chin, “Her personality…well…she enjoys hating me…”

“Um…I mean things like her kindness. How she takes time in listening to the concerns of her citizens. Her laughter. The positive parts of her personality. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to consider her hating you as a positive part of her personality.” Y/N was glad that Bowser finally let her speak without interrupting her.

“Positive parts of her personality…as you said, her kindness and care for her kingdom are positive,” Bowser agreed.

“Yes. You could say things like, ‘Her laughter is like a sweet bell for my ears. Full of glee and joy.’ From there, try to form that into a line for the song,” Y/N explained.

Bowser liked the way Y/N thought through this writing process, “I see…”

The King and Songwriter continued talking about different parts of Peach’s personality. Though Y/N didn’t know Peach as well as Bowser did, she felt she was able to give some help and other ideas on what to put into the song. Now that they listed everything, they just needed to form the ideas into lyrics and put everything in a certain order.

“I’d say it’s time for a lunch break,” Bowser said as he stood up from the bench. “We have progressed well. I am pleased.”

“Uh, okay. Yes, I suppose we have,” Y/N said getting up.

“I’ll have Kamek escort you back to the cage,” Bowser said as he and Y/N exited the room.

“Oh, okay…” Y/N was a bit let down. She was hoping that possibly she could just have a meal outside of the cage for once. She felt as though she was being treated as nothing more than a pet in some ways.

Bowser called out to Kamek and had him take Y/N back to the cage and serve her a meal.

Y/N sat in her cage, picking at her food. It was hard for her to eat. Too much was on her mind. Bowser could be terrifying when he wanted to be. Images of what had happened replayed in her mind. She didn’t want to experience that ever again. She still didn’t understand either how it was someone could go after someone else who had no interest in them. Wouldn’t it be better to be with someone who shares your feelings and sentiments? This is what Y/N thought and it’s what she would strive for in any potential relationship.

She didn’t have much relationship experience, but she had enough to know that if one person feels a certain way and the other doesn’t, the relationship will not work out. Everything will come crashing down like a tidal wave crashing on the rocks and shore on a beach. She’d been through enough trouble with her last relationship and didn’t want to have another experience like it. She had been played for a fool by the guy she was last with. Being deceived as he so easily played with her heartstrings one by one. He acted like he was in love with her when he wasn’t at all.

Y/N shook her head to rid of the terrible memories. She knew she needed to eat. She quickly ate what looked to be the same meal she had last night. She didn’t mind it though. She ate fast and drank her water and then stared off into space waiting to be summoned again by the king.

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Bowser ate his meal at the large dining room table. He was happy that things were progressing well in coming up with more lyrics for the song. He couldn’t have asked for a better songwriter. He knew his Peaches would adore the song and fall for him. Her hatred would then turn into love for him. He would serenade her with his song in the most beautiful of places with his piano as she gazed at him. The princess would be amazed at his ability to play the piano and sing such heartfelt words. It was going to be perfect!

Suddenly, images of the events of this morning came to his mind. He was annoyed with how Y/N changed her behavior and how she had the nerve to call him a jerk. When he looked into her eyes though, he could see that she was an honest individual. He was grateful for that as he wouldn’t tolerate liars in his kingdom. He could see how much Y/N enjoyed the development of coming up with phrases and turning them into lyrics. She proved her usefulness to him.

He finished his meal and asked Kamek to fetch Y/N and meet him back in the piano room.

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Bowser sat on the piano bench and waited for Kamek to show up with Y/N. He lightly drummed his claws on the cover as he waited for them. He decided to try and occupy his mind with images of Peaches again. Her smile, her fair skin, her long blond hair, her elegance, and her grace. He couldn’t get enough of it.

The doors to the room suddenly opened revealing Kamek and Y/N.

“Sire,” Kamek said as he bowed and gave Y/N a little push into the room.

Y/N stumbled a bit, not expecting to be pushed and steadied herself.

Kamek closed the doors and Y/N made her way to the piano. She once again sat down on the bench, making sure that her body did not touch his.

“So, uh…I think after the chorus of you saying Peaches I love you, we can add in a line that says, ‘Your dark blue eyes make the stars shine at night. Your hair is the sunshine of my mornings when I awake.’ How does that sound?” Y/N was sure that these two lines would be a good start for after the chorus.

“Hmm…not bad. After that, we could say, ‘I hope you see how much you mean to me. Peaches, your sweetness is like candy for my teeth,’” Bowser replied.

“Ah that sounds so cheesy, but it is nice,” Y/N said. “It doesn’t hurt to have a few cheesy lines here and there.”

“Yes. It will be perfect,” Bowser confidently said.

“How about after that last line, we put in one more line to say, ‘You make my heart sing with your kindness. I want to be your right guy for all of time.’ Then, we can go back to the chorus. Sound good?” Y/N asked.

“Yes, that’s good,” Bowser said smirking.

“We can repeat the chorus one more time and then have a few more lines about her and back to the chorus for one last hoorah. Does that work for you?” Y/N was feeling like the song would be too short if more wasn’t added and she knew Bowser wanted this song to be longer than what he had written out.

“Yes. The last few lines should talk about her laughter and bravery,” Bowser said. “Hmm…’Your laughter is sweet ringing for my ears. I admire your bravery to stand up to your fears. I want to be your knight and wipe away your tears,’” Bowser suggested.

“Yeah, that could work. I feel like a few more lines should be added in. ‘I promise you this my dear. I will give you my all and won’t let you fall. You’re so precious to me and I need you to be with me’ Then, we go back to the chorus,” Y/N said.

“That should do,” Bowser said.

He began to play the song and sing the lyrics he and Y/N came up with along with what he originally wrote out. Y/N looked at him as he stared at the picture of Peach. Y/N could see his passion shining through and she had to admit, he was very good at playing the piano. The notes danced vigorously as he continued hitting each key. The words flow in tune with the waves of the music.

The room around them suddenly changed backgrounds. Y/N gasped as the scenery changed. Around them, a waterfall cascaded, and they were placed on a grassy field. It was night and the moon and stars shone brightly casting a spotlight on the two. Y/N smiled at the scenery and could see Bowser still gazing at the picture of the princess. He finished the tune and turned to look at Y/N.

The scenery hadn’t changed as Bowser looked at Y/N, “I think this song still needs some more work. What we have is good, but I feel the tune needs to be changed. Some of the lines shortened a bit.”

Y/N nodded. “Sure, we can go back to the drawing board. Is there anything specific you wanted to add in?”

“The song you were singing before to those pesky plumbers and the toad. Sing me that song right now.” Bowser wasn’t sure what came over him, but he felt that listening to another song by someone else could possibly help him out in making other edits for the song.

Y/N, surprised replied, “Uh…sure…okay.” She felt a bit awkward now. Maybe he did want to use it as a sort of inspiration? She began singing the song and Bowser looked at her with his full attention. She felt his eyes taking in everything she sang and slightly blushed from being stared at.

Bowser quite enjoyed hearing Y/N sing this song. Her voice was nice, and he felt…light hearing her sing. He felt as though this song was meant as a promise and he couldn’t help feeling like the song was a promise to him from her…wait a second…. he shook his head. What was he thinking? This was inspiration for his song for Peaches. Right. Peach is the main focus. It was like Peaches could sing this song and promise to love him.

Y/N finished singing the song, “Um…any inspiration?”

Bowser nodded his head, “Yes, my song for Peaches can be like a promise of my love to her.”

“Glad it could help you,” Y/N replied with a small smile. “It is a great song. One of my favorites.”

“Yes, it is…” Bowser agreed. “I think we should call it a day here. We’ll resume tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Y/N replied.

The king and human got up from the bench and the scenery changed back to normal. They both began walking out of the room and entered the long hallway.

“Kamek, take Y/N back to her cage and feed her some dinner,” Bowser said to the wizard who was coming up to the two of them.

“Yes, Sire,” Kamek replied as he ushered Y/N to follow him.

Y/N started moving along with Kamek down the hall when she felt a certain gaze hit the back of her head from the king. She turned around and could see Bowser looking at her. She stared at him a few seconds more before turning her head back around. Why was he looking at her like that?

Bowser shook his head and started walking away. Why did he do that? It was because the song was stuck in his head and Y/N’s voice was stuck in his head with the song. That was it. He focused on walking to the dining room to eat his meal that his koopas would’ve finished preparing by now.

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Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach had left the Mushroom Kingdom and were walking toward their next destination. The Yoshi Kingdom. The creatures were like dinosaurs, and they were very cute according to the princess. They were of different colors as well. The brothers were very intrigued by the descriptions Peach gave and Toad was excited to see a Yoshi again. It had been far too long since Toad last saw them. It was the same story for Peach.

“So uh, the Yoshies are like dinosaurs huh? Are they tall?” Mario asked.

“They’re a bit taller than me so they’re not towering creatures. Hence why it’s easy to use them for transportation,” Peach explained.

“Well, that’s good. The dinosaurs back in our world wouldn’t have been able to be used as transportation. Of course, they’re extinct and have been for many years,” Luigi said.

“Your dinosaurs no longer live? What happened to them?” Toad asked.

“A large meteor hit the earth causing all kinds of fire and explosions. The meteor broke into many pieces when it hit our planet, burning, and destroying everything,” Mario answered.

“Some speculate that something else made the dinosaurs go extinct, but I know most people believe the meteor hitting the earth to make the most sense,” Luigi said.

“What is the something else that could’ve happened?” Peach asked.

“Uh well…some people think maybe a flood wiped out everything,” Luigi answered. “I’m more onboard with the meteor myself.”

“Same,” Mario replied. “A flood is another possibility, but it doesn’t make sense to me either.”

“Wow, sad,” Toad said.

“Considering how the dinosaurs were, I don’t think humans would’ve been able to do everything they do today if the dinosaurs were still around,” Mario said.

“Nope! Definitely not!” Luigi agreed.

“That is too bad though,” Peach said. “Makes me wonder what Y/N’s opinion is…” She got a little sad. She felt terrible that Y/N was captured by Bowser. She also didn’t understand his reasoning for capturing Y/N. It couldn’t be anything more than a tactic to lure them all into a trap.

“We’ll find her Princess! Don’t worry!” Toad said trying to cheer himself and Peach up.

Peach smiled, “We will. Must stay positive.” She did believe that they would reach Y/N in no time and put a stop to Bowser. She just sometimes got a bit doubtful. Deep down though, she was someone who always looked to the positive side and saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

Mario and Luigi agreed with Toad and Peach. The four of them continued walking and decided to set up camp for the night. All of them had been walking in a forest-like area after exiting the Mushroom Kingdom and decided to call it a night. Setting up the camp wasn’t too complicated. They set up a fire to keep warm and laid out their sleeping bags, getting comfortable. With thoughts about what lay in store for them the next day, the brothers, mushroom man, and princess all went to sleep.

Link for Chapter 5: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/719876599243227136/unconditional-love-chapter-5?source=share

[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 3)

By xSereneMeadowsx

Link for Chapter 2: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/718697625594003456/unconditional-love-chapter-2?source=share

A/N: Thank you everyone for the likes and follows! :) I appreciate it so much. :) I’m happy to know that people are liking this story. This chapter is a bit longer. I really wanted to get more in for this time around. I hope you all enjoy this extra long chapter! 

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Chapter 3

Kamek was in his workshop, busy preparing his trip to scout out for help for Bowser. He knew Bowser would want someone who had all the right qualities with music. Someone that can help bring out the feelings of his heart for Princess Peach. Kamek would be sure to take notes on potential candidates and then single them out. He informed Bowser that this could take some time.

“So be it,” Bowser said. “I just want someone who will help me out by bringing in the right words to my song.”

“Of course, Sire,” Kamek replied.

So, here was the wizard gathering his tools and necessities together. He would be bringing his spell book with him so he could disguise himself or turn invisible again if he wanted to go that far. He made sure to pack along an orb that would allow quick communication with Bowser and let the king see the candidate in mind once a decision had been made. Bowser of course, would have the final say, but the ruler of the Koopas trusted Kamek 100%. Afterall, Kamek had been with Bowser ever since he was born.

With the spell book and orb packed up into a large bag, Kamek made his way out of the workshop toward his bedroom. Once inside his room, he set the bag down on the floor and cast a spell to make the bag and everything in it small for easy carrying. This was one of the reasons why he was thankful to be a wizard. The convenience of making things easier for oneself was satisfying.

Now that the bag was small, Kamek walked out to his balcony and hopped onto the broom. He then started moving into the air on his broom toward his first destination. He figured the Mushroom Kingdom would be a good place to start at. Even though he and Bowser had just fled from there, he had a feeling that going there first would be beneficial. Something, he felt, would happen in his and Bowser’s favor and he couldn’t ignore the feeling.

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Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and Y/N were all outside of the apartment building and heading toward the sewers. Conversation had jumped around all over the place amongst the five of them, but they all enjoyed chatting. One conversation shocked them, especially Toad.

“Wait…you meant it when you said that you did steal something once?” Toad asked.

“Yeah…” Y/N looked a little guilty. “When I was little, I did steal a pack of gum from a grocery store when I was with my mom.”

“For shame!” Toad exclaimed and then expressed sadness. “How could you do that?”

“I apologized and my mom had gone back inside and put it away. Lesson was learned on that day,” Y/N answered.

“Well…at least the lesson was learned,” Mario said.

“Yep! Never stole again. My mom had talked with me for quite a while about it,” Y/N then chuckled, “I was terrified of my mom and her angry voice. She and my dad had a certain pitch to their voices they used when disappointed or angry and I remember thinking that I don’t want to hear those sounds ever again.”

“Your parents sound like they’re strict,” Luigi said.

“They weren’t terribly strict, but they always made sure that I understood what needed to be done. What was right and wrong, everything like that. They care greatly about my sister and I,” Y/N smiled.

Peach joined in, “Well, I think they did well with raising you. By the way, you never mentioned that you had a sister.”

“Thanks. Yeah, I do have a sister. She’s older than me by a couple of years,” Y/N said. “I haven’t been able to talk with her as much because she’s been so busy with her career.”

“What does she do?” Toad asked.

“She works as a supervisor for a hotel chain called Melody’s Suites and Resorts. It’s a high-class chain and they offer great benefits. Honestly, if my sister didn’t work there, my family and I wouldn’t be able to afford it,” Y/N explained.

“What’s her name?” Peach asked.

“Her name is Hannah,” Y/N replied.

As the five of them continued chatting, they reached the sewer cover Peach and Toad had moved. Mario and Luigi maneuvered the cover and allowed the others to go down before they followed suit. The smell, as they all began descending the ladder, was awful. Even worse than what Peach and Toad endured earlier.

“Ugh! What a horrible stench,” Y/N said wanting to plug her nose.

Everyone else agreed with Y/N. The smell was quite foul.

“Did something die down here?” Toad asked. “I mean jeez! I don’t remember the sewers being this bad before.”

“Hmm…they could be doing some routine cleaning or something maybe,” Mario said.

“Let’s just hurry up and get to that tube,” Luigi said.

“Yes, lets,” Peach agreed.

They all continued down the ladder and soon came upon more ladders to navigate through. Everyone helped Y/N out to make sure she didn’t get lost along the way. It took some time to get to the green pipe with how far down they had to go. After climbing down a few more ladders, the green pipe was at least found.

“Here it is,” Peach said to Y/N.

“Wow…big pipe,” Y/N said.

“Entering the tube may be a bit scary at first, but it won’t hurt or anything. There will be a strong gust of wind that pulls you in. Just flow with it and make sure you stay with us. There are paths that diverge to other areas,” Peach explained.

“Alright,” Y/N said slightly nervous.

Peach put a hand on Y/N’s shoulder, “You can follow behind me and the rest can be behind you. Everything will be fine.”

Y/N nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Peach stepped into the green pipe and not having walked very far inside, she immediately disappeared. Y/N’s eyes widened at how fast Peach vanished. Y/N took a deep breath and let it out. She did what Peach had done and slowly walked inside. Still nervous, she turned to look at the brothers and mushroom man. All of them gave her an encouraging smile, letting her know it would be okay and they’d be with her.

Feeling the wind grow in strength, Y/N’s body slowly lifted and got pulled further into the tube. Soon, all around her were colors of every kind swirling and twisting around her. She felt like she was flying through a galaxy of sorts. It was all pretty to her. Her nerves started to calm down from looking at the colors.

Not long after, Mario, Luigi, and Toad were behind Y/N. They all came upon a cloud-like area where other green pipes could be seen. Peach wasn’t joking when she said there were different paths to other areas. Y/N smiled as she gazed at it all. She and the others caught up toward Peach and soon a fork came up.

“Turn your body to the right!” Peach called out to Y/N.

Y/N saw Peach moving her body to the right and she copied her. The others behind Y/N followed suit. They all entered another green pipe and one by one, crash landed into some giant mushrooms below.

“Ouch! That hurt!” Y/N said as she got up rubbing her left shoulder. She unfortunately landed hard on her left side.

“Sorry, I should’ve warned you about the landing,” Peach said to Y/N.

“It’s okay. As long as no one is severely injured, that’s all that matters,” Y/N replied as she continued rubbing her shoulder.

“Maybe we should get some ice on that shoulder,” Toad observed Y/N.

“No, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Thank you though,” Y/N smiled at Toad. “I’m sure it’ll quit hurting after a while.”

“Now that we here, where to first?” Mario asked.

“Want to walk through the forest for a bit and then head into town?” Peach asked everyone.

“That sounds good,” Luigi said.

“Sure!” Y/N answered.

Toad and Mario nodded in agreement.

“Okay. A stroll through the forest it is then,” Peach said as she began walking ahead of all of them.

The walk was very nice, and Y/N couldn’t believe some of the heights of the mushrooms. She knew for obvious reasons why it was called a forest, but the height still astounded her. Never had she seen any mushrooms grow to be so tall. She glanced up and noticed what appeared to be floating islands in the sky with tall mushrooms on them. That amazed her to see such a site. This place really was like a children’s book come to life.

After some more walking, they came to the forest’s edge that led into the town. Y/N was once again in awe of what was in front of her. The town had many pipes (red, blue, and clear along with green) for travel and there were all kinds of shops and homes scattered about. Toad and Peach greeted some of the other mushroom people along with Mario and Luigi. Y/N politely waved at some of the mushroom people, feeling a bit shy. Y/N did feel that the town had a cute charm to it as she continued taking in the sights around her.

The five of them reached the pipes that had been seen earlier in the distance. Y/N was slightly overwhelmed with the pipes. There were so many of them. Didn’t they get lost easily? Then again, after living in a place for so long, everyone would eventually learn their way around and navigate easily. It was just like what Y/N had to go through when moving to Brooklyn.

“We can do as we did previously,” Peach said to everyone. “Follow me!” She jumped into a clear tube and Y/N followed.

The speed of the tube was not expected, and Y/N had a bit of difficulty keeping her body positioned to follow the curves and when the tube would go up or down. She hit a few corners and did her best to ensure that her face didn’t get smacked along with the rest of her body.

Peach had reached the top of a platform and waited for the others. She peered into the pipe and could see Y/N coming up. Y/N came out of the pipe falling almost headfirst. Peach helped her to stand up again.

“Gah, I feel dizzy,” Y/N said as she wobbled a bit from standing.

“You’re not going to throw up, are you?” Peach asked slightly amused laced with worry.

“No,” Y/N said chuckling. “My head just needs to stop spinning. Thankfully, I don’t get motion sickness. If someone with motion sickness were to go through these tubes…it would not be a pleasant sight.”

Peach grimaced, “Ugh! That would be awful to see. Makes me wonder if maybe other forms of travel should be put in. Though, I’ve never come across anyone with motion sickness.”

“I don’t think it would hurt to have that. You never know when you may meet someone who has that,” Y/N said.

“Very true,” Peach replied.

Mario, Luigi, and Toad soon joined up with Peach and Y/N. After everyone got over from traveling through the pipes, they all started walking again. A castle greeted everyone’s sight. Y/N looked up in admiration of the castle. It was white with a few towers and a large stain glass window of Peach.

“Very pretty castle you have there,” Y/N commented to Peach.

“Thank you,” Peach replied. “We do our best to keep it looking nice on the outside and inside,”

Large red doors with two mushroom guards in front of them stood proudly. As the guards saw their princess coming, they both bowed.

“Good afternoon, Princess,” they said.

“Good afternoon to you too,” Peach greeted.

The two guards stood aside and allowed Peach to enter along with everyone else. However, as Y/N was about to enter, the guards put up their spears blocking her way, making her gasp.

“Hold on…who are you?” A guard with blue spots on his head asked.

“Uh, I’m- “Before she could continue, Peach stepped in.

“She’s a new friend. I’m showing her around. Her name is Y/N,” Peach said helping to ease the tension.

“Oh, our apologies,” the other guard with yellow spots on his head said. He and the guard with blue spots moved their spears out of Y/N’s way.

Y/N walked inside and breathed a sigh of relief, “I thought I was going to be toast.” She and everyone started walking through the long corridor they were now in.

“Sorry about that,” Peach said.

“No worries,” Y/N replied. “They’re your guards so it’s expected for them to be extra careful with everybody.”

“True, but they have been on edge more recently because of Bowser,” Peach said.

“Ah. Yeah, Mario and Luigi said he caused a lot of trouble for all of you,” Y/N said remembering the conversation from the previous night.

“Even though he is locked up, it’s been very difficult dealing with some of the aftermath. If he were to get out…more trouble would be brewing our way,” Peach said.

“He’s still locked up though, right?” Y/N asked.

“Yes, but still…his Koopas have sometimes been very crafty in figuring out ways of escaping when captured. It’s more of a concern too because we didn’t get Bowser’s wizard Kamek,” Peach answered.

“Kamek? A wizard?” Y/N asked once again.

“Kamek has been with Bowser since his birth. He is what you would call a Magikoopa since he is able to perform spells with his magic wand. I know he has many years of experience on him and that’s why I’m a little worried,” Peach expressed.

“I’m sorry,” Y/N said worried for Peach.

“It’s okay. I know we can win again if anything does happen,” Peach said trying to boost herself with confidence.

“Can’t lose hope,” Toad said. “We need to always keep our guard up too, but we’ll pull through.”

Just as Mario and Luigi were going to say their thoughts, a mushroom man dressed in blue came up to all of them. “Princess! Urgent news!”

“What is it?” Peach asked with concern.

“Follow me to the meeting room. The council and I all need to speak with you. It’s…about Bowser.” He said nervously.

Peach and the others gasped. This could not be good news at all. The princess and the others followed the councilman and went into a large meeting room. In the center of the room, there were a few other council members dressed in various colors. They all stood around a table that brought out a very intricate model. The model took shape forming the Mushroom Kingdom and other places Y/N didn’t know of. The model then changed again and zoomed into Peach’s castle.

Before them, a scene of two guards outside of two large light pink doors was displayed. The guards were standing there chatting quietly to each other when they were suddenly knocked out. One of the doors opened after that. A few minutes later, a small creature could be seen looking like he was hovering in the air and leaving the room.

“Apologies your highness. We just found out about this a few minutes ago otherwise, we would have informed you sooner,” the councilman in blue explained with deep regret on the late and urgent matter.

Peach had to compose herself for a few seconds. She concluded more than likely that Bowser was probably back to his normal size as well. She took a deep breath and released it. “This happened last night.” It wasn’t a question, but a fact.

“Yes, which means, Bowser will be planning something if he hasn’t already,” the councilman replied.

“This is terrible,” Luigi said. “We literally kicked his butt not even that long ago and already...”

“It’s not a good thing, but we have to do something before he does,” Mario chimed in.

“What exactly can we do?” Toad asked.

“We’ll discuss some possible options,” Peach answered. “Mario, Luigi, Toad. Could you take Y/N out of here now? You can show her some more of the castle.”

“Sure,” Toad said. “C’mon Y/N.”

Y/N, having been quiet the whole time, was shocked. Mentally speaking to herself, ‘He got out and he sounds awfully dangerous…I hope nothing worse comes about…’

“Y/N? You in there?” Toad asked trying to get Y/N’s attention by tapping on her arm.

Y/N snapped out of her thoughts. “Huh? Yes?”

“We need to leave the room now. We’ll finish showing you around the castle,” Toad explained.

“Oh, okay.” Y/N followed the three out of the room. Two doors closed behind them, startling Y/N.

“Are you feeling alright?” Mario asked concerned.

“She’s probably worried like we are Mario,” Luigi answered. “I know I am.”

“I am a bit nervous,” Y/N answered. “I mean…all of you have had an encounter with Bowser and he…he sounds terrifying. I just hope nothing worse than the last time happens again.”

“Like Mario said, we do need to do something about him before he makes a move. I’m sure Peach and the council will come up with a good plan,” Toad said trying to calm Y/N down.

“Yeah,” Y/N said, trying not to get so doubtful.

“Enough of that for now. Let’s continue going through the other parts of the castle,” Toad said happily. “It’s got amazing rooms that you have to check out.”

Y/N appreciated Toad for trying to make everyone feel light in the situation before them. “Okay.” She smiled.

Mario and Luigi exchanged smiles with Toad and Y/N and all four of them started walking through another long corridor. Toad pointed out what the rooms were, and they all went inside the ones they were allowed access to. One room was dedicated to tea sets. The sets had intricate designs of different mushrooms and even flower patterns. Another room had many paintings displayed varying in types from scenery to people. Y/N couldn’t help feeling like she was in a museum from everything being shown. It was all delightful to see.

The last room had elegant dresses in it that Y/N found to be very pretty. They ranged in various colors. Most of the dresses were pink which didn’t surprise Y/N considering the color scheme of the castle and the dress the princess was currently wearing. She was very tempted to try one on, but she didn’t think that would be appropriate. The jewelry that was also displayed in the room was nothing to scoff at. Different gems mixed with silver and gold lined up in a display case. Y/N walked over to it to get a better look. The colors sparkled and shined from the sunlight that shone through the large glass window. It felt like going into a rainbow.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Toad noticed how entranced Y/N seemed to be from everything.

“Very. It’s like walking into a dream. There’s so many dresses and the jewelry…it’s so beautiful!” Y/N’s eyes shined with happiness. Her sight was then drawn toward a stage with three full length mirrors behind it almost encircling the stage.

“Okay, now this is definitely like a dream.” She couldn’t help thinking about those teen rom-com movies when looking at it. “I would love to have something like this.”

“It seems pretty handy,” Mario said.

“Not a bad thing to have,” Luigi said. “You know, it’s making me think of the stage where you work at Y/N.”

“Huh, I can see that,” Y/N agreed. A thought then came to her. “Well…would you like for me to sing for all of you? I think it could be fun!”

“I do!” Toad exclaimed.

“Yes,” Luigi answered.

“Sure! Go for it!” Mario encouraged.

“Okay! Of course, this will have to be acapella style since I don’t have music on,” Y/N said with a smile. “I hope my audience is okay with that.”

All of them gave Y/N a thumbs up.

“Let’s see…what song should I sing…” Y/N wanted to pick something good. “Ah! I know! Unconditionally by Katy Perry. I love the lyrics to that song.” Y/N pretended to be holding a microphone and began to sing, the three audience members giving her their full attention.

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Kamek was a little worn out from flying on his broom for a long period of time, but he was happy that he finally had the Mushroom Kingdom in his sight. He smiled still having the feeling that it was all worth it to come to this place first. His feeling told him that he would find someone very fitting to help Bowser. Finding a place to land and have a break from flying, he landed by a couple of large mushroom trees that weren’t too far away from the entrance of the town.

“Lies and ties, bring about my perfect disguise,” Kamek chanted his spell. He slowly began to morph into a mushroom person dressed as one of the guards for Peach’s castle. He wore a silver helmet and wore a blue and yellow outfit. His head had purple dots on it. “Perfect!” He shrunk his broom down just as he had with his bag to make for easy carrying. Also, he couldn’t leave his broom behind like what happened one time. Bowser gave him an earful about it. Not a good day.

Kamek walked toward the entrance and began his search. Thus far, no one had any instruments out and no one was singing. ‘Perhaps further in town,’ he mentally spoke to himself. Just then, he heard someone, or something, trying to sing.

“Ah! My ears!” Kamek covered his ears. The singing was atrocious. It sounded like nails scratching down on a chalk board. The next voice he came across wasn’t as bad but wasn’t any better. The next voice sounded more like screaming than singing.

‘Ugh! They sound like they’re being punched to death,’ Kamek grumbled mentally. ‘There must be someone here with a voice or instrument talent. Perhaps, I could maybe try the castle. It’s risky, but my disguise should do just fine for me.’

Finding an ally in town, he quickly chanted a spell to make his broom normal size again. He sat down on it and flew off before anyone could notice something strange flying in the sky. He cast the invisibility spell as he flew toward Peach’s castle. Reaching the castle at a quick speed, he slowed down. He could barely hear someone singing and from what he could hear, it sounded good.

‘I need to get inside to listen better. That teleportation spell should work.’ He quickly cast a teleportation spell and soon he was inside the building. ‘Follow the voice now.’ He listened closely to see where the voice was coming from. He walked around for a little bit and soon, he found the room the voice was in. He took his orb out, turned it invisible, made it large size, and cast it to appear in the room. He had cast another spell for him to have a screen displayed before him so he could see inside the room.

The voice was coming from a human girl. She had (hair length/hair color) hair in a ponytail and was swaying to the song she was singing. The lyrics seemed to be very captivating for her. Kamek was very impressed with what he was hearing. This human had a sweet voice and seemed to be giving her all into the song she sang. He could easily read her emotions from her voice and body language. However, the orb seemed to catch three others in the room. Upon closer inspection, he could see the plumber brothers and that mushroom man who had accompanied the other two men before.

‘Argh! Of course, they know this human. They always seem to find a way to get in the way!’ Kamek sighed. ‘No matter, no matter. We will make sure they do not ruin the plan this time.’ He continued listening closely to the girl singing. When she finished the song, Kamek transported the orb back into his hands. He had to find a secluded area to show his King what he had found. Getting all his belongings together, he transported out of the castle and flew on his broom. He found some trees and bushes to hide in and then took the orb out.

“Sire, are you there?” Kamek asked as he looked intently into the orb.

Bowser had been napping on his throne when the orb moved and made a sound. He yawned and held up the orb to peer into it. “Kamek?”

“My King, I have found someone for you. I’ll display the footage to you now.” Kamek waved his wand with his other hand to display what had been taken for Bowser to see.

A human girl appeared on the screen and the most serene voice entered his ears. He watched the girl sing out her emotions, her hair and body moving along to the song. Bowser had to admit that this girl did look very cute, but nothing compared to his Peaches. Her voice was nice, the lyrics were heartfelt, and that all seemed to prove her talent. He made his decision.

“Bring her to me Kamek. She will do nicely,” Bowser smirked. ‘She will do very nicely.’

“Yes Sire. I will work on a way to secure her and bring her to you right away. In fact, I think the Shy Guys would be of great help,” Kamek replied.

“Is there a catch?” Bowser sensed something Kamek wasn’t saying.

“Ehm, well, you see…Mario and Luigi are back…” Kamek’s body tensed, rearing up for Bowser’s reaction.

Bowser’s eyes widened. He couldn’t stand them since they ruined everything from before, especially Mario.

“I can show them to you in the footage.” Kamek had only focused on the footage of the girl and not showing the others. He zoomed into the footage to allow Bowser to see that Mario and Luigi were back.

Bowser looked at it and it showed Mario, Luigi, and Toad all clapping for the girl. He growled with anger and then breathed deeply to calm himself down, “Well, the Shy Guys along with my troops would cause a fuss allowing you to get the girl. Or you could simply do what you did with helping me get out of the castle.”

“That is another possibility, but I do not know if she will be staying here for the night or not either. I think we need to act quickly and get her now.” Kamek felt that time was of the essence, and he knew Bowser didn’t want to wait much longer either.

“Hmm…very well then. Are you able to cast a spell allowing several beings to appear at once?” Bowser asked.

“I should be able to,” Kamek said. “I should have a spell in my book allowing me to do so.”

“Excellent. I will expect to see you back here with the girl by this evening,” Bowser replied.

Kamek nodded. “Yes Sire.” He sighed. He knew he would need a few days off from casting all the magic he had today. Weariness was starting to get to him. He opened his book, making it normal size, and skimmed over the contents until reaching the last few pages of the book. A spell talking about casting large amounts of magic to transport tons of creatures was found.

Reading over everything a few times, Kamek stood up holding his wand and peered down at the book to read the spell, “Bright and smite, bring me tons of creatures to this fight!” An orange circle appeared from his wand and ascended toward the clouds in sky. It expanded in size and out of it dropped a hundred Shy Guys along with a hundred Koopas.

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“Thank you, thank you,” Y/N said as she took a few bows.

Mario, Luigi, and Toad were all ecstatic from Y/N’s performance as they clapped and cheered.

“Your voice is lovely,” Luigi said.

“It’s amazing!” Toad exclaimed.

“You have a very nice voice,” Mario complimented.

Y/N smiled and blushed, “Thank you.”

Suddenly, the window in the room started cracking. All four turned to look at the damage.

“What the?!” Mario said. He could see little guys wearing hoods and masks trying to break the glass.

“Ah! Those are the same guys that tied me up and brought me to Bowser before!” Luigi said, shivering slightly.

“Y/N, stay behind us,” Toad said. “These guys can get dangerous.”

Y/N wanted to help but listened to Toad. Afterall, she didn’t really have experience with these guys like the three before her did. She wished she could help somehow.

The window shattered into pieces, the hooded figures and other creatures who looked like turtles started climbing into the room. Mario and Luigi tried to fight off the turtles while Toad dealt with some of the hooded figures. Y/N watched as they all did their best to taper down the situation. She began backing up and hit the wall next to the door.

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The sky rained down on the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. Shy Guys started grabbing at the mushroom people while Koopas were smashing through different stores. Break-ins to homes occurred as more chaos ensued. The castle was especially flooded from the outside with the Shy Guys and Koopas. Guards had to rally together to push back the forces. It wasn’t enough and the large doors to enter the castle crashed open.

Shouts could be heard from all inside the castle and while this was going on, Kamek had prepared a particular spell to knock the girl he needed to bring to Bowser unconscious. With everything ready, Kamek transported himself inside the castle just outside of the room where the girl was. He heard a thud and carefully opened the door. To his right, he saw the human turn to look at him.

Before the girl could react, Kamek cast his spell on her. She fell to the floor unconscious. Toad, hearing the thud behind him, turned around to see the wizard casting a spell on Y/N shrinking her in size and carefully picking her up.

“Y/N!” Toad cried out.

Mario and Luigi punched off a couple of the Koopas and turned to look where Toad was looking at. All three had worried expressions on their faces and raced toward the doorway. The door slammed shut in their faces and locked thanks to another spell Kamek cast on it. He got onto his broom, making sure to hold onto to the human gently, and was about to fly off. Suddenly, mushroom guards came running toward him.

“Grab him!” One of the guards shouted.

“You’re all too late!” Kamek shouted and cast his transportation spell. He vanished instantly and reappeared in the sky. He headed back to his kingdom with the girl in hand.

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“I can’t believe we let him take Y/N,” Toad said in disappointment. “We should have paid better attention.”

Mario put a hand on Toad’s shoulder, “We’ll get her back.”

“Right. We won’t let Bowser hurt her,” Luigi said. “Although…how exactly did he find out about Y/N?”

Before anyone could answer, the door to the room they were in busted open. Peach and other guards were there with her. She saw the mess displayed and looked to everyone when she noticed someone missing. “Where’s Y/N?”

“That wizard…who works with Bowser…he got her…,” Toad said saddened.

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Kamek flew on his broom with lightning speed. He was beyond exhausted and anxious to get home with the girl in his hand. He looked forward to getting some rest and hoped to have a goodnight sleep after the rather exhilarating day he had. He could see the balcony to his room and carefully landed on it. He got off the broom and transported himself with the girl to the throne room.

Bowser, who was still relaxing in his throne, perked up upon seeing Kamek appear before him, “You have her?”

“Yes, she’s right here Sire,” Kamek said. He gently laid the girl down on the floor and used a spell to turn her into her normal size.

Y/N began to regain some consciousness and slowly opened her (eye color) eyes. She sat up and rubbed her head. She had a strange feeling and uneasy feeling all of the sudden.

“Greetings human,” a rather intimidating voice spoke.

The girl gasped and turned to her right to see a large Koopa. She instantly recognized him to be Bowser. “B-Bowser?!”

The king was slightly taken aback by the girl knowing his name. However, once he thought it over some more, it made sense. Those pesky plumbers and the others had informed her about him, “I see you already know my name. I have a special job for you.” He started walking close to where Y/N still sat.

Y/N, extremely nervous, tried to back up. She couldn’t move and saw that there were light pink, lightning-like chains keeping her ankles down in place since her legs had been stretched out on the floor. Kamek had waved his wand and cast the bindings to appear.

“I know you can sing well. You have a lovely voice and I want to use your talents for singing and writing lyrics to improve on my song for a princess,” Bowser explained. He knelt to get a closer look at Y/N.

Y/N’s body shivered slightly and yet felt warm. Perhaps it was because of the place she was in. There appeared to be lava flowing on either side of the floor they all were on. “H-How did you know I sing?”

“A little bird whispered word to me of your ability. With your help, I can win over Peaches’ heart once again. You will help me until she falls for me,” Bowser said as he stared into Y/N’s eyes.

“Peaches? You mean…” Y/N trailed off. Bowser still wanted to go after her. Why though? He knew she hated him. Peach had made that very clear according to when Mario and Luigi chatted with her back at the bar. She knew it was obvious now that this wizard behind her had told Bowser about her. How exactly did the wizard come to know of her? She did not know.

“Yes, the princess you have made friends with. That one,” Bowser answered, easily reading her thoughts. “We will start working on the song first thing in the morning. There is one more thing I need from you.” He looked intensely at her.

Y/N’s body shook in fright from the red eyes that became fixated on her.

“I need your name,” Bowser said.

Y/N couldn’t stop looking into his eyes. The fire burning inside them was a bit entrancing and terrifying at the same time. She shook her head slightly, “It-It’s Y/N.” Her voice came out as nothing more than a whisper, but the king understood and heard her clearly considering he was still near her.

“Y/N, my new songwriter,” Bowser said proudly. “Get some food, drink, and rest. Kamek will prepare a place for you.”

Loud clanging sounds were heard, and a cage dropped down from the ceiling not too far away from where the king, wizard, and human were. It dangled just a few inches from the floor. Y/N looked at the cage with widened eyes. They were going to keep her in here of all places? Y/N felt the bands leave her body and she was transported inside the cage. She felt pathetic right now. How could she let herself be captured like this?

“Have the kitchen staff prepare food for Y/N,” Bowser said to Kamek. The wizard nodded and transported himself out of the throne room.

Bowser looked up at the cage, “Best get comfortable. You will be spending all your days in there except when you’re helping me.” He started walking away and laughed manically.

Y/N watched his retreating figure leave the throne room. Her eyes began to water, and tears slowly cascaded down her face. How was she supposed to get out of here?

Link for Chapter 4: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/719178293244493824/unconditional-love-chapter-4

[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 2)

By xSereneMeadowsx

Link for Chapter 1: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/718627139001483264/unconditional-love-chapter-1-by-xserenemeadowsx?source=share

A/N: Thank you everyone for the likes of my previous chapter. I really appreciate it! :) The next chapter will have a certain encounter in it *wink wink.* Don’t want to be giving it away now. Enjoy! :)

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Chapter 2

“Luigi and I had just started our plumbing company a couple of months ago,” Mario began his and Luigi’s story. Y/N gave Mario her full attention.

Mario continued, “It was a tough start because we previously worked at another company owned by Spike.”

“He’s uh…not the nicest person,” Luigi filled in.

Y/N nodded, “That’s too bad.”

“Yeah. He didn’t treat us well when we left him,” Mario explained, “he said that we were a joke and that we couldn’t make it basically. It’s frustrating when people doubt your ability to do anything.”

“That is disappointing when people don’t give you enough hope,” Y/N said expressing sadness.

“Our mom on the other hand was proud of us,” Luigi said with a grin.

Y/N smiled, “That’s good! At least she was happy for you two.”

“Yep!” Mario exclaimed, “Anyway, to continue, we got to see our commercial broadcast and not too long after seeing it, we got a call from a client. Turns out it was the same client whose house we went to earlier this evening.”

“Oh wow! You were able to go to a fancy house for your first job. That’s awesome!” Y/N said with glee.

“Yeah, we definitely hit the big times!” Luigi chimed in.

“So,” Mario started again, “we get inside the house and fix up a busted sink. However, we had some trouble thanks to their dog Francis.”

“Francis was very sensitive,” Luigi said. “I stepped on his bone by accident and then he caused us to have a whole ruckus in the bathroom where we were fixing up the sink.”

Y/N expressed worry, “Oh my…how awful.”

“Yeah, not fun, but we managed to pull through,” Mario said. “After that fiasco, we went to have dinner with the family and then our dad had to go and say something to bring me down.”

“He said Mario was bringing me down with him,” Luigi said sadly. “Of course, I tried cheering him up letting him know that he wasn’t bringing me down at all. I was happy to help him out with plumbing.”

“Aw! You two have such a wonderful brotherly bond,” Y/N commented. “That is awful what your dad said though.”

“We’ve always been there for each other,” Mario smiled to Luigi and turned back to Y/N. “Don’t worry, Dad eventually came around. Next thing that happened after that was there was a huge leak happening in downtown Brooklyn. I happened to be watching the news when seeing that story. I told Luigi this would be our chance to prove ourselves.

“We headed out towards downtown and there was water everywhere! The biggest flood we have ever seen. We saw the other workers trying to stop more water from coming out of the sewage system, but they weren’t getting to the source of it,” Mario said.

“We had to go into the sewage system,” Luigi shivered in disgust. “That was horrifying.”

“It was the only option we had,” Mario continued. “We went down, and we found the source of the problem.”

Mario and Luigi continued with their story talking about a green pipe leading them to another world. From there, they went into detail about meeting a princess, a turtle named Bowser, and mushroom people. They also talked about meeting a gorilla named Donkey Kong and making go-karts. Y/N took everything in and almost couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It almost sounded like a fictional story. Soon, Mario and Luigi concluded their story saying they were able to defeat Bowser with a power up called the SuperStar.

“Wow…that really happened?” Y/N asked a bit bewildered.

“Yeah, we became heroes,” Mario said happily.

“We even have the newspaper clipping talking about our heroic deeds,” Luigi said excitedly. “We could show it to you!”

“Sure, that would be cool to see,” Y/N said.

Luigi pulled out his phone and searched for a screenshot of the story mentioning him and Mario. When the picture was found, Luigi held his phone up to Y/N for her to see. The picture was black and white showing Mario, Luigi, a girl, a gorilla, and a mushroom man all which Y/N assumed to be the ones the brothers mentioned. Upon looking closely at the picture, she could see a jar with a creature in it.

“The jar in this picture, does that have…Bowser did you say was his name?” Y/N asked inspecting the jar.

“Oh yeah,” Mario said. “Peach had fed him a blue mushroom which shrunk him down in size. He’s a very tall turtle. Apparently, the turtles where Peach is from are called Koopas.”

“Huh…interesting,” Y/N commented. “So, he, Bowser, is just stuck being that size?”

“Yep,” Luigi answered. “Although, there is a catch to that.”

“What do you mean?” Y/N questioned.

“When someone uses a power up and they get hit by something or someone, they lose the power up,” Mario explained. “I learned that the hard way when training with Peach.”

“Oof, sounds brutal,” Y/N said cringing. “I can’t imagine being hit only to lose your power up especially if it’s a great power up.”

“Yeah, it’s not fun at all,” Mario said.

“You know, it is crazy to think that there are other worlds out there,” Y/N said. “Like, I’m someone who enjoys reading fiction and everything you described sounds too good to be true. The picture from the newspaper is proof that there are indeed other places.”

“It does sound very far-fetched,” Luigi agreed, understanding where Y/N was coming from. “It’s all true though.”

“It sounds like it would be a fun adventure book for children to read,” Y/N said. “Maybe you should write a story about your adventures.”

“Eh well, I don’t know about that,” Mario said. “We’re not really the writing type. Maybe you could write it for us. Of course, you would have to join us on the adventure to get in another perspective besides ours.”

“Hmm…I don’t know…” Y/N became a bit flustered. “I like writing, but I haven’t really attempted to write anything other than songs.”

“Oh! You like writing songs?” Luigi showed interest.

“Yeah, I do,” Y/N smiled. “I’m not a professional, but I’ve dabbled a bit in it here and there whenever I have a moment to spare.”

“You should show us sometime when you have a song written out,” Mario said.

“If I can get one out,” Y/N said a bit doubtful. “I really enjoy singing and have been doing it for as long as I can remember but writing my own songs…it can be a bit tricky. I don’t really have knowledge of playing instruments. I only learned piano and guitar for a short time and got overwhelmed because I was trying to practice those along with singing.

“Pretty sad I know,” Y/N said with her eyes downcast.

Luigi put his hand on Y/N’s shoulder, “Don’t feel bad about that. Being able to sing is great I bet!”

“Yeah,” Mario said, “Don’t let that get you down just because you can’t play instruments. You could still write a song. If you know anyone that would work with you and can play an instrument or two, you could end up bringing your song to life.”

Y/N smiled, comforted by the brothers and their encouragement, “Thank you. Aside from the people I know here who play instruments, I don’t know anyone. Honestly, I’m still getting to know the musicians here. They’re all nice, but I know they’re all very busy with their lives and I don’t think they would have much time for me.”

“Don’t know until you ask,” Mario said.

“That is true,” Y/N said getting the message from Mario. “Well…I can work on writing a song and bring it to one of the musicians here. Hopefully they wouldn’t mind working on it with me.”

“I don’t think they would mind,” Luigi said. “You seem like a nice person and I’m sure the people here would agree on that.”

“I know I would!” a cheery voice joined in.

Luigi and Mario turned to the source of the voice to see a girl with dark hair walk up to them. It was Maria.

“Y/N has been very sweet,” Maria said.

Y/N smiled, a bit flustered, “Thank you Maria. I appreciate that.”

“I’m only speaking truth,” Maria smiled. “I hate to say this, but we need to ask you two to leave now. Our restaurants technically closed now.”

“Already?” Y/N asked. “That last hour went by so fast.”

“Time does fly when you’re having fun,” Maria said.

“Very true,” Y/N agreed. She got up from her seat and the brothers followed suit. She turned to look at the brothers. “It was so nice meeting you two.”

“Likewise,” Mario and Luigi said at the same time.

“I hope we can meet again soon,” Y/N said with hope in her eyes.

“Me too,” Mario said, and Luigi nodded in agreement.

“I’ll walk you two out.” Y/N headed toward the door and opened it for Mario and Luigi. “Take care out there and be careful.”

Mario and Luigi exchanged smiles with Y/N and told her the same thing.

Y/N smiled and closed the door locking it. She then walked over to Maria to see what else needed to be tidied up before leaving for the night. The cleaning took a great deal of time, but with Maria helping and the kitchen staff helping, it felt like it was easy to get it done. After cleaning up, Y/N went to the locker room to pick up her bags and head out.

Maria, the kitchen staff, and Y/N all exited the restaurant through the employee entrance/exit area. They all waved their goodbyes to each other and went their separate ways. Y/N was extremely tired. Remembering what Maria said earlier about getting into her pjs and snuggling under the covers, she too was looking forward to that now more than ever.

Getting into her car, Y/N sat down in the driver’s seat and set her bags down in the passenger seat. She sighed tiredly. However, as she started her car for the drive home, she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that Mario and Luigi had talked with her about. How could such things exist? How could such events happen? She still had a hard time wrapping her mind around the idea, but it was so fascinating. It made her wish she could go into the world they mentioned.

However, they didn’t exactly tell her where this green pipe was that they found. She only knew it to be somewhere in the sewers and she had never seen a green pipe elsewhere in the city. She decided maybe it would be best not to think about that so much for now and just focus on getting home and getting some sleep. Maybe a small bite to eat too. She didn’t exactly get to eat her free meal she got for every shift she worked.

With her apartment building in sight, she happened to notice a yellow van. Upon closer inspection, she read the words, “Mario” and “Plumbing.” Wait a second…

“Mario and Luigi live in my apartment building? What a coincidence.” Y/N was surprised to learn that. It made her happy though that at least there were two people she knew in the building now. She just didn’t know what floor of course, but that was alright. She was sure she could learn that later.

Parking her car and getting out of it, Y/N grabbed her bags. She made her way to the building’s entrance, toward the elevator and began the ascent to her floor. After hitting the Floor 5 button, Y/N leaned against the walls of the elevator as it took her up. The weariness was getting to her fast. As soon as the elevator reached her floor and the doors opened, she stepped out and went to her apartment.

Fumbling for her keys, she unlocked the door, stepped inside, and dropped her bags right there. She sighed and began her nightly routine. After getting changed and grabbing a small bite to eat, she was finally ready for bed. She went to her bed, moved the sheets, and snuggled into it. As her head hit the pillow and her eyes closed, sleep took over quickly for her.

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“We’ve made it home at last Sire!” Kamek said cheerfully.

“Finally! About time!” Bowser said.

What greeted the two was a castle made of stone with lava flowing on either side of it. The entrance had a head shaped like Bowser’s and it would open and close only on the king’s command. Kamek, still holding onto Bowser, slowed down his broom and landed on a balcony that was off to the far right of the castle with ease. He got off the broom and carried Bowser with him to get inside his room.

Kamek made his way out of the room and to his workshop. It was just down the hall from his room. The door of the workshop opened and Kamek set Bowser down on the floor. Kamek grabbed one of his spell books and flipped through a few pages.

“Ah, here’s that spell,” Kamek said as read over the contents. “Prizes and rises, bring this creature back to normal size.” He waved his wand and the red gem on top of it glowed. It shot out a red light around Bowser.

Bowser slowly got lifted into the air. His arms began to change shape along with his claws. His legs and feet did the same. Soon the rest of his body changed shape. When Bowser was set back down to the floor, he immediately could tell he was back to his normal size again since he towered over his wizard.

“I’m finally back,” Bowser smirked. “I’ll be better than ever this time around!”

“It’s good to have you back Sire,” Kamek said happily.

“It’s good to be back.” Bowser walked out of the workshop. “I’ll inform you of my plans first thing in the morning.”

“Yes, Sire,” Kamek replied. “Sleep well.”

Bowser began the walk to his room. He smiled, relieved to be home and normal size. He wanted to do something a little different to try and woo the princess’s heart. He had sung his heart out on the piano about her, but he thought if he worked on the song some more, it could win her over. Afterall, he could play and sing which were nice talents to have. He wanted to serenade her with the most heartfelt song. It may take some time to work on, but he figured he could do it.

He finally reached his room and a king-sized bed along with his fireplace and balcony greeted him. Bowser crashed onto his bed with a long and relieved sigh. It felt good to be back in his home and in his bed. No more sleeping on the uncomfortable cage floor. Finally, something soft for his tired body and fluffy pillow for his head. He closed his eyes and hoped that he would dream of his precious Peaches.

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The dawn greeted the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom by spreading its light through every window of every home. Princess Peach woke up to the sunlight hitting her face. Thankfully, she was able to get some sleep after that horrendous dream. She got up out of her plush pink bed and stretched her limbs. Changing out of her nightgown, she changed into her usual pink dress and walked out of her room.

“Good morning, Princess,” a couple of mushroom guards greeted her.

“Good morning,” she smiled back at them.

Peach made her way down the corridor and into the dining room. The fresh scent of oatmeal hit her nose. She was delighted to be greeted with such an aroma. Fresh fruit also awaited her. She took her seat. ‘Where is Toad?’ were her thoughts. She had invited him to join her for breakfast this morning.

“Morning Princess!” An excited voice called out.

Peach turned to the source of the voice. “Toad! Good morning! You made it just on time!”

Toad had become a very good friend of Peach. He was always willing to help and be there for her as much as possible. Toad in return enjoyed his friendship the with princess. He admired her for how brave she was and how kind she was to everyone in the kingdom.

“Mmm…the food smells so good!” Toad said excitedly.

Peach laughed. “Go on and dig in.”

“Ladies first,” Toad replied.

She chuckled, “Alright.” She took a bite of the oatmeal with a smile on her face. “The chefs always do such a great job.”

“Yes, they do,” he agreed.

“I wanted to tell you,” Peach started. “I would like to invite Mario and Luigi here for a visit. We haven’t seen them in a while, and I think it would be nice to have some quality time together.”

“That sounds great!” Toad grinned. “By the way, this oatmeal is…” He put his hand to his mouth imitating a chef’s kiss.

“I know we have been to their place once and they showed us where they lived, but would you like to accompany me?” Peach asked.

“Of course, I would!” Toad exclaimed.

“Great, we’ll finish up our breakfast and head into their place,” Peach smiled.

“Sounds good!” Toad said as he took another bite of his oatmeal.

The princess and Toad finished their breakfast and soon began the long trek from the castle to the green warp pipe that would bring them to Mario and Luigi’s world. The walk was nice and the two chatted about various topics. Reaching the green warp pipe, the two stacked up some mushrooms to bounce from and into the pipe.

They were then welcomed by all kinds of colors and other green pipes that lead to various places. It was always neat to Peach to see all the colors swirling around as she traveled. Toad too was impressed by the various colors. Nearing the end of the pipe, they both landed in the sewers that Mario and Luigi had shown them before. Peach dusted off her dress and helped Toad stand up. He had gotten knocked over.

“Thanks,” Toad said.

Peach nodded and looked for the ladders they had used last time. “There they are!” She pointed them out.

The two began to climb up the ladders. It took some time, but they finally reached the sewar cover. They both worked together to push the cover off. They climbed out and both breathed in the fresh air.

“Those sewers sure are nasty smelling,” Toad commented.

“Yeah, not pleasant,” Peach agreed. “Now…I believe it’s this way that we go to reach their home.” Peach pointed in a northward direction.

“I think so,” Toad said. “Let’s try it.”

The princess and Toad continued onward while getting a few glances here and there from people. Some of them waved and some of them looked bewildered but didn’t say anything. After a while, they finally reached the building and spotted the yellow van they had been shown before too.

“This place sure is big,” Toad said. “I think it might be fun to really explore this area sometime.”

“We should. Get to know their place and all,” Peach agreed.

The two entered the apartment building and went toward the elevator. The doors were already open, and they stepped inside. Peach looked at the buttons in front of her. “Hmm…I think it was number 5?”

“I think so too. I don’t remember going too far up into the building,” Toad said.

“Let’s go with it then,” Peach said as she pushed the number 5 button.

The elevator whirred and took them up to the fifth floor. When the doors opened, they stepped out and looked in the hallway of the various doors lined up on either side of them.

“Now there’s one problem…which one belongs to them?” Peach asked.

Toad sighed. “Oh boy, this could take some time. There’s a lot of doors.”

“Want to split up the doors?” Peach asked.

“Sure. That would be a good idea,” Toad agreed.

“I’ll take right and you take left,” Peach planned out.

“Got it,” Toad understood.

The two began to knock on the doors one by one. They were greeted by confused, scared, or angry people for being disturbed. It was terrifying for them to be yelled at so loudly. Finally, there were two doors left.

“One of these has got to be it,” Peach said as she knocked on her door and Toad followed suit knocking on his door.

Y/N had been sleeping when suddenly knocking came to her door. She got up and stretched her limbs. She had been having a pleasant dream about eating giant chocolates and wished to go back to it. Another time perhaps.

“Coming!” She croaked out. She went to her closet and reached for her silk robe. Wrapping it around her waist, she walked toward her door. When she opened it, she was not expecting to be greeted by a girl dressed in a pink dress.

“Uh…can I help you?” Y/N asked surprised.

“Oh, I’m sorry, this isn’t the right apartment,” the girl responded.

“It’s okay-“Before Y/N could finish, the door across from her place opened and two very familiar faces greeted her.

“Found them!” a mushroom man said excitedly.

Y/N looked at all of them. “Uh…good morning, Mario and Luigi.” She then looked at all of them again. Wasn’t this girl and the mushroom man the same ones the brothers talked about last night?

“Morning Y/N,” Mario replied. “Didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

“Me neither,” Y/N replied. She looked at the girl and mushroom. “Aren’t you two…”

Luigi chimed in, “This is Toad and that is Princess Peach.”

“Ah! It is you two!” Y/N exclaimed.

“How about we all get out of the hallway, and we can talk more inside,” Mario suggested.

“That would be a good idea,” Y/N agreed. “Uh…is it alright for me to come into your place or do you all want to come into mine?”

“We can all fit in our place,” Mario replied.

Y/N, Toad, and Peach all went inside Mario and Luigi’s place. Y/N felt a bit awkward considering she was still in her pjs. Then again, Mario and Luigi weren’t exactly dressed up for visitors either. Both were wearing red and green pjs.

“This was an unexpected surprise,” Mario said.

“Yeah, what a wakeup call,” Luigi said.

“Well, we thought it would be fun to surprise you two,” Peach said.

“Oh, by the way, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is Peach and Toad,” Mario said introducing the three of them.

“Y/N, it is nice to meet you,” Peach said politely.

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Y/N returned.

“Y/N huh? Pleased to meet ’cha!” Toad exclaimed.

Y/N giggled, “Nice to meet you too.”

“Now that we know who you are,” Peach began, “how is it you know Mario and Luigi?”

Y/N looked at Peach, “Well, we just met last night at the bar I work at. They were telling me all about their adventures and about you two. It was all very fascinating.”

“I see,” Peach said. “What exactly is a bar? Can you tell me that?

“Oh! Sure, I guess those aren’t in your world, are they?” Y/N asked.

“Not really…” Peach answered awkwardly.

“Well, a bar is where they serve alcoholic drinks. They do limit the number of drinks one can have, especially if someone is getting very high. That’s where the bouncer comes in and gets that person out of the bar. Thus far, I haven’t encountered that,” Y/N explained.

“Hmm…how many drinks are there?” Toad asked.

“I’m not sure…I’m still memorizing some of the menu to be honest. I’ve only been there for a week,” Y/N replied.

Y/N continued explaining more about what she did at the Heart and Soul Karaoke Bar. Peach and Toad were quite intrigued to say the least. They asked more questions while Mario and Luigi got a few good laughs out of Peach and Toad’s reactions to some of Y/N’s answers.

“Well, I have to say that your world is very interesting,” Peach said. “We definitely need to explore more parts of it.”

“Yep!” Toad agreed. “It’s cool that you can sing too Y/N.”

Y/N blushed, “Thank you.”

“I did want to ask if you two would like to come back to our place,” Peach started. “However, since there’s another person here who knows about us and everything, how about we invite her along?”

Y/N was surprised, “W-Wait a minute. We barely know each other at all, and you want me to come with all of you to your world?”

“Well why not? After all, you said you found their world interesting,” Mario said.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Y/N said.

“I don’t mind showing you around the place. I think you would like it,” Peach replied.

Y/N knew this would give her a chance at an adventure. Mario and Luigi already gave her so much detail and getting to know them along with Peach and Toad wouldn’t be so bad. Making new friends would be very nice. “Okay, I’ll come along if you really don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Peach smiled.

“Thank you,” Y/N expressed gratefully. “Um…before we go…I really would like to change clothes. I don’t exactly want to go there in my pjs as comfortable as they are.” She chuckled.

Everyone laughed with Y/N and then Peach said, “Understandable. Toad and I will wait out in the hallway for all of you.”

“Thanks,” Y/N, Mario, and Luigi replied.

Y/N walked out of the brother’s apartment and back into hers. She quickly put together an outfit not wanting to keep everyone waiting on her for too long. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a short sleeved (favorite color) t-shirt with flower patterns all over it. She also decided to wear some (favorite color) converse shoes. She made quick work in brushing her teeth and putting her hair up into a ponytail. Satisfied with her appearance, she walked out of the apartment where everyone was waiting for her.

“Let’s go!” Y/N said with excitement. ‘I can’t believe I get to do this with them! Good thing I don’t have work today either.’ She smiled to herself, looking forward to what awaited her.

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Bowser had just finished his breakfast when he asked Kamek to meet with him in the meeting room. He was sitting in a chair and began tapping the table in front of him with one clawed hand. The other hand rested under his chin with his arm propped up. He sighed. He wasn’t very patient when it came to matters of the heart. What was taking Kamek so long? He wanted to get going on this soon!

Kamek opened the doors to the meeting room, “Sorry for keeping you waiting Sire.”

Bowser grumbled, “Now that you’re finally here, I want to discuss my next plan of action for wooing Peaches.”

“I’m all ears,” Kamek replied giving his King his full attention.

“Here’s what I want to do,” Bowser began. “I want to serenade Peaches with my song.”

“Brilliant!” Kamek exclaimed.

“My song still needs more lyrics to it,” Bowser continued. “I would like for you to find a musician or singer and bring them to me. If I have someone else with me, I think the lyrics will come along smoothly and quickly.”

“That is a wonderful idea Sire! The princess is sure to love it!” Kamek was very optimistic about this plan.

“If the princess is not satisfied with my song, I’ll just lock her up in my prison until she learns to like my song and love me,” Bowser said.

“I’m sure I can find someone for you my King,” Kamek said. “I’ll scour throughout all of the kingdoms for you.”

“Good,” Bowser smirked. “This will be just perfect for my Peaches and then she has to fall in love with me when she hears everything my heart desires of her.” He laughed, very happy with his plan.

Link for Chapter 3: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/718885242606370816/unconditional-love-chapter-3?source=share

[xserenemeadowsx]

Unconditional Love (Chapter 1)

By xSereneMeadowsx

Summary: (Bowser x Female Reader) “You show love through acts of kindness and understanding. If you force someone to be with you, they’ll grow to resent you,” she spoke with a fire in her eyes. “I didn’t ask you to lecture me! You will help me win Peaches back and I will do as I see fit!” He roared with irritation as his eyes glowed with fiery. Y/N is a young woman who works as a singer/waitress in a karaoke bar. One night, she meets the infamous Super Mario Brothers and learns of their adventures. Her world changes in the most unexpected of ways. From meeting a princess of mushroom people to meeting a king of anthropomorphic turtles, Y/N is in for more than she bargained for.

*Heads up: This takes place after the 2023 movie in a sort of alternate universe incorporating potential ideas for what could happen after the movie.

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Chapter 1

The cage swung and shook as the creature inside it paced and growled in anger. How could he, the King of the Koopas let himself be shrunk down in size and caged like a bird? It was ridiculous and humiliating! Bowser, the once feared and proud ruler of the Koopas, grumbled. He was sick of looking at the iron bars before him. To him, they were mocking and irritating. He did have his piano which he greatly enjoyed playing, but even so, it did nothing to appease him entirely. If only he hadn’t gotten lost looking into the princess’s deep blue eyes. The same eyes that showed nothing but hatred and disgust for him.

Bowser couldn’t help himself and be attracted to Peach, Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. As he had previously described to his troops, her heart shaped bangs, her immovable tiara, and the way she would float in the breeze drew him in. Her hatred of him made him love her more as well. He had to win her heart back somehow. He wanted his happily ever after with the fairy tale wedding and to rule side by side with her. He sighed with annoyance when thinking back to the two plumbers that ruined everything for him. They had nabbed the Super Star and used it to beat him down. That was his star! He had taken it rightfully away from the Penguin Kingdom!

He shook his head and mentally spoke to himself. ‘No matter. I will get myself another Super Star…as soon as I get out of here.’ He sighed. ‘Kamek should have been here by now. I’ve been waiting in this darn cage for 3 weeks now! I’m over it already!’ He gently tapped his head against the bars, gripping onto them tightly with his claws as his red eyes closed.

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In another part of the world, Kamek, a fellow Koopa and wizard to Bowser, had been working on a spell to help free his lordship. He had seen his majesty get taken away as soon as the princess fed him a blue mushroom shrinking him in size. He then witnessed Toad, a mushroom person, picking up Bowser and putting him in a jar. He was horrified and frustrated to see his king be treated in such a way. He vowed to free his master as soon as he could. He needed the perfect spell to sneak in and get Bowser out. He had been hard at work perfecting a spell that would make him invisible and unable to track. It would allow everything he did to be silent as he moved around and figured out a way to free Bowser. He had worked on a spell that could, potentially, help break locks too. He hadn’t practiced the spell for very long as it was new to him. He hoped if he needed to use it, everything would go smoothly with it.

Kamek was very close to perfecting the invisibility spell now. He needed to make his wizarding hat invisible as it didn’t turn invisible like the rest of him, and his clothes did. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out, focusing again on the spell. He stood in front of a mirror hung up on the wall of his workshop, waved his wand and chanted, “Beetle dee do, beetle dee dawn. Make me an invisible spawn!” Green sparkles began to swirl around him from his wand and slowly, he started disappearing. As he stared into the mirror, witnessing his body turning invisible, he looked at his hat as it too began to finally disappear.

“Yes! At last! It is perfected!” Kamek jumped up and down in excitement. “Do not worry Sire. I shall free you soon!"

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“Ah man! I’m running late!” A young woman ran frantically around her apartment as she grabbed her work clothes packing them into a small duffle bag. Y/N knew her boss wouldn’t be happy with her being late. She had only had this job for a week, and they were extremely strict about being on time. She understood that well and always strived to be on time. Unfortunately, time got away from her along with sleep and she ended up getting ready much later than anticipated.

She had hurriedly fixed her (hair length and hair color) hair by curling it and applying basic but pleasing makeup for her eyes. She dabbed on light foundation and blush while putting on a neutral color of lipstick. She wanted to wear something that said natural, but not overbearing. She wasn’t one to wear heavy makeup, so she always did it lightly. Y/N sighed as she made quick work of zipping up her dress and putting on her 2-inch high heeled sandals. She grabbed her jewelry, a matching pair of earrings and necklace, and put them on. The earrings and necklace were silver in color along with her sandals.

Y/N practically ran out of her apartment as she grabbed her keys, purse, and duffle bag. She locked the door and made her way towards the elevators. She would’ve taken the stairs, but she didn’t want to risk tripping down the stairs. Never again did she want a repeat of what happened a couple of days ago in these very same shoes. It was so embarrassing, but she was thankful that someone stopped by to help her stand up again.

The elevator doors chimed open, and she stepped inside. She turned towards the buttons to press the first-floor button. The elevator began its descent only to stop after passing a couple of floors. She groaned as the doors opened and an older couple slowly made their way in.

‘C’mon, please move faster,’ she thought irritably.

The older couple took their time stepping inside, the man helping his wife in who had a walker. Y/N felt bad for getting irritated, but this was not helping her. She was going to be so late at this point. She knew it was her own fault though so she could only blame herself. She gave the couple a polite smile as she made as much room as she could for them. The elevator finished its journey to the first floor. As soon as the doors opened, Y/N bolted out of the elevator and outside of the building to her car. Thankfully, she was able to park her car in a close spot to the building. That didn’t happen too often with how packed the city could get with residents and tourists.

Y/N opened her car door and threw in her purse and duffle bag onto the passenger seat as she then ran around to get to the driver’s seat. Buckling her seat belt and turning on the ignition, the car sounded off and sped away from the parking spot. She looked at the car clock and realized she only had ten minutes to spare to be at work on time. She did her best to maneuver around the cars and to be first at any stop light. Not an easy thing to do, but she quickly learned the ways of navigating in no time.

Brooklyn was a city that Y/N never expected to move to. Sure, she thought New York would be an interesting place to visit, but to live there? She wasn’t sure about that. It was expensive and making a living in such an expensive place could prove to be difficult if you didn’t have a high paying job. She was very thankful and lucky to get such a break. She always loved singing and wanted to try to purse a career in it. Finding out about a karaoke bar called Heart and Soul Karaoke Bar greatly helped her.

Having done research online about the place, she was happy to see the mostly positive reviews from the customers and employees who currently or previously worked there. It sounded like they really took care of everyone and provided decent benefits to the workers. Y/N applied, had two phone interviews and one video interview. After the video interview, she got a call saying they would like to have her join their team.

Y/N was absolutely delighted in getting hired for the job. She knew this would be life changing both mentally and physically. It made her nervous that she would have to move away from her parents and family who all lived in (name of state/country). She had lived in the same area as all of them for so long. However, she was grateful for all the help she received in getting everything moved to the apartment she found in Brooklyn.

Seeing the bar in sight and seeing she only had a minute left, Y/N pulled her car into her usual parking spot, grabbed her bags, and dashed to the door of the restaurant as she locked up her car. She was grateful to have a fob for her car. She was greeted by her manager who stood at the podium with his arms crossed.

“Hi Mr. Winters,” Y/N said with a bit of an awkward smile.

“Y/N. You just barely made it here on time,” he said with some disappointment.

“I’m very sorry sir. I’ll do better next.” She looked into his brown eyes seeing them slightly warm up to her.

He gave her a small smile. He knew she was usually very good about being on time. This was obviously not the best day for Y/N. “Now that you’re here, go put your bags in the locker room and get up on stage. The musicians are all ready for you.”

“Yes sir,” Y/N said with a relieved smile. She thought her manager would’ve been much harsher with her.

Y/N made her way to the locker room, did the combination for her locker, and put her bags in. Before closing the locker door, she looked at the little mirror that hung on her door. She ran her fingers through her hair quickly. Satisfied that her hair didn’t look too wild now from all her rushing, she exited the locker room and made her way to the stage.

Lights illuminated the stage showing the silhouette of Y/N. Her (favorite color) dress shimmered under the lights along with her jewelry. She grabbed the microphone from the stand and said, “I deeply apologize keeping all of you waiting for me. Thank you for your patience!” She turned toward the musician at the piano and nodded her head to him. The musician nodded back and began playing. The violins joined in and soon, Y/N’s voice chimed in with the toon.

The words from her lips came out with much ease thanks to all the practice she had been doing. She spent a lot of time working on memorizing the lyrics. The musical notes from the instruments flowed in rhythm as she continued singing out the words of an artist from many years ago. As the song came to an end, the audience clapped and cheered.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” Y/N smiled as she took a bow.

“Sing another song,” a voice called out from the audience.

Y/N got slightly flustered. Yes, she was to sing the song she finished, but then she was supposed to help the waiters and waitresses this evening. “Um, well…” She saw Mr. Winters give a nod of approval for her to sing another song.

“Okay. Sure, I can sing another song.” She went over to the musician on the piano and whispered in his ear, “Play the acoustic version of Iris By Jada Facer.”

The musician nodded in understanding and began to play the melody. Y/N had very much enjoyed this version of Iris. It was very calming and heartfelt to her. She closed her eyes and really began to get into the song and the piano sang its notes out with her voice. The song soon came to an end and applause could be heard.

“Thank you!” Y/N took a bow. “Would anyone like to come up on stage next?”

“I do!” A young man with auburn hair exclaimed.

“Come on up then! Show us what you got!” Y/N’s (eye color) lit up with happiness.

The young man stood up from his table in excitement and took the mic from Y/N’s hands as he reached the stage. Y/N stepped off the stage and quickly made her way to the locker room to change out of her dress and into her work clothes and shoes. After changing, she walked out of the locker room and grabbed her notepad and pen making her way over to her tables.

The evening had flown by quickly for Y/N. Since it was a Saturday, she knew the night would be extremely busy. Customers left and more kept coming in. It was the last hour of Y/N’s shift and she had to take a seat at an empty table.

“Hey now, no slacking off on the job,” Y/N’s coworker Maria said.

Y/N chuckled, “That goes double for you then. Says the one who is also sitting at a table.”

Maria laughed and Y/N joined in with her. “Oh man. I am tired. I can’t wait to get home into my pjs and snuggle under the blankets.”

“You and me both Maria. I am wiped out!” Y/N got up from the chair she was sitting in and stretched her limbs. “I’m glad we only have a little less than an hour left of-“

Before Y/N could continue her sentence, the front door opened indicating another customer had walked in.

Y/N walked up toward the front door, “Hi, welcome! How can I help you?”

The customer in question appeared to be very…out of sorts. He looked like he’d been through a heck of a day. His red shirt was a little disheveled and the overalls he was wearing only had one strap on. His red hat with the letter M on it was a bit crooked on his head. “Uh, yeah…we need a table…please…” His voice only proved how worn out he was.

Y/N gave him a confused look. “You and who?” There wasn’t another person with this man dressed in red.

“Huh?” The man turned behind him only to see he did indeed come in alone. “Oh no! Where’s Luigi?! He was right behind me a second ago!”

Y/N, sensing the urgency in the man’s voice, wanted to help him out. She turned to Maria. “I’m going to help him look for this Luigi. I’ll be back as soon as we find him.”

Maria nodded in understanding and Y/N then turned to the man. “I’ll help you look for him.”

The man smiled. “Thank you! I appreciate it! My name’s Mario by the way.” He held out his white gloved hand for her to shake.

“Y/N,” she introduced herself and shook his hand. “By the way, you might want to fix your overall strap.” She pointed toward his left shoulder.

“Huh?” Mario glanced to where Y/N pointed at. “Oh! Yeah, I should do that.” He blushed out of embarrassment and snapped the strap back in place. Y/N giggled at him.

Y/N and Mario then walked out of the restaurant and Y/N asked, “Where were you two coming from?”

“We had just finished up a job when Luigi suggested coming to this place to eat at. We came from a couple of blocks over here.” Mario started walking in the direction he and Luigi were coming from and Y/N followed behind him.

“I see. What is it that you two were doing if you don’t mind me asking?” The outfit made Y/N curious.

Mario looked up at Y/N who was a few inches taller than him. “Luigi and I are plumbers. We were fixing up a sink for a client before walking over to your restaurant.”

“Ah, okay.” Y/N looked down at him and then something registered in her mind. He did look familiar from somewhere. “Wait a minute…aren’t you and Luigi The Super Mario Brothers? I recall now seeing a commercial with you two in it.”

“Yep, that’s us. Always at your service.” Mario smiled at Y/N.

Y/N giggled, “Glad I could call you for help if it’s ever needed.”

“Anyway,” Mario said. “We’re almost to the house Luigi and I were at.”

It was a little more of a walk and then in front of Mario and Y/N was a tall white condo. It had large windows and when looking at the windows, a large chandelier could be seen.

“Wow, talk about high class,” Y/N commented.

“It is, but the folks are really nice,” Mario said. “Lu! Lu! Are you around here? Answer me!” He was starting to worry more about his brother.

“Luigi! Where are you?” Y/N called out.

“Lu! L-“ Before Mario could continue, a man dressed similarly to him but wearing green came out of the fancy condo.

“Mario!” Luigi said.

Mario ran up to Luigi and hugged him. “Mama Mia! You had me worried sick! I thought something bad happened to you!”

Luigi let go of Mario and looked down. “I’m sorry. I just realized I forgot the tools and so I came back to get them.” Luigi was indeed carrying the plumbing tools he and Mario used.

“Well, why didn’t you call me?” Mario asked, a little annoyed.

“I did try to call you, but you didn’t answer,” Luigi replied. “I really didn’t want to leave the tools behind and so just went back to get them anyway.”

“You did call me?” Mario felt around in his pockets only to discover his cell phone was not on him. “Ah…I must have left it in our car…” Mario looked embarrassed and awkwardly chuckled.

Luigi sighed. “Well anyway, I’m alright. Want to head over to the restaurant again?”

Mario turned to Y/N who had been silent during his and Luigi’s exchange in conversation. “Would the place still be open?”

Y/N smiled at Mario. “Yeah, it should be fine if you two still want to come in.”

“Uh, who is she?” Luigi asked confused.

“Oh! Sorry! I’m Y/N and I work at the Heart and Soul Karaoke Bar.” Y/N stuck her hand out to Luigi.

“Ah. Nice to meet you Y/N.” Luigi shook her hand.

“Shall we?” Y/N asked.

“Yes!” Mario and Luigi replied excitedly.

Y/N laughed. “Let’s a go then!”

Mario and Luigi looked at her puzzled.

“Sorry, I was thinking about your commercial again and I remembered you two had those accents. Couldn’t help myself.” Y/N giggled.

“I see,” Mario said smiling at Y/N.

The brothers and Y/N all made their way back to the restaurant and as soon as the door opened, Y/N led the brothers to a table. She grabbed a couple glasses of water and gave them to the brothers. She then took care of their food order and helped the chef that was still in the kitchen cook the food. Y/N wasn’t an expert in cooking, but she helped with what she could so that the chef and the other kitchen staff could be finished with their closing duties faster. It was much closer to closing time now.

Y/N brought the food to Mario and Luigi and asked, “Do you mind if I join you?”

Mario and Luigi shook their heads no.

“Not at all,” Mario said. “Thanks for helping me out earlier.”

Y/N sat down next to Luigi who sat across from Mario. “You’re welcome.”

“How long have you been here for?” Luigi asked.

“I’ve been here for a week. I moved up here two weeks ago,” Y/N replied.

“Ah. Where did you move from?” Mario asked.

“I moved from (name of state/country). It was…an interesting move,” Y/N said.

“How so?” The man in green looked at Y/N with his full attention. Mario did the same.

Y/N began, “Well…I almost lost one of my suitcases. I was flying out of my hometown and had most of my things delivered by air in the weeks prior. Anyway, I got on the plane, flew to Brooklyn, and landed in the airport. When I got off the plane and went to baggage claim, I couldn’t find my suitcase.

“I almost thought I had gone to the wrong baggage claim area. I looked at the signs to see that I was in the right area. I went to talk to some of the airport staff about my missing suitcase. They helped me out and then, as we were walking through the airport, I happened to spot someone with my suitcase.”

Mario and Luigi stared at her in anticipation as she continued her story. Y/N took in their expressions and laughed. “It’s not like I had anything special in it if that’s what you two are thinking. It just had my clothes and other personal belongings.”

“Ah, I thought maybe you would’ve been like a secret agent or something and the case would’ve had important information stored in it,” Mario gave Y/N a smirk.

“What, do I look like the secret agent type?” Y/N smirked back.

“I would say so yeah,” Mario said.

“Uh Mario, we should let Y/N finish her story,” Luigi said.

“Oh yeah. Sorry about that,” Mario apologized.

“No worries,” Y/N said, smiling. “So, the staff member that was with me, he and I walked up to the girl with my suitcase. The girl was so embarrassed that she made the mistake of thinking my suitcase was hers. Turns out, we had the exact same suitcase! We all went back to the baggage claim area and found hers.”

“Glad nothing worse happened,” Luigi said.

“You and me both Luigi,” Y/N replied. “Sometimes, people will have freakouts and blow up. I’m glad that the girl didn’t. She was very nice about it and kept apologizing to me about the incident. Turns out, she had a 13-hour flight and was extremely exhausted. I would be too if I had flown that long.”

“That’s quite the story,” Mario said. “I’m happy everything got sorted out for you and that girl.”

“Yeah, me too.” Y/N covered her mouth as she yawned. “So, tell me about yourselves,” She was very curious about the plumber brothers.

“Well, what do you want to know?” Mario asked.

“Anything you would want to talk about,” Y/N replied.

“This could take some time,” Luigi said.

“I think it’ll be worth it,” Y/N said optimistically.

“Alright,” Mario said. “Well, we did have an interesting event you could call it happen to us over a month ago…”

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Bowser groaned as he leaned against the iron bars of his cage. This was all too much. The waiting of being rescued was agonizing. He shouldn’t need rescuing. Trespassers and anyone else who dared get in his way should be the ones needing rescuing. Just as he closed his eyes and let his mind wander on how much longer it would be before anyone came to his aid, the door to the room he was in opened. Bowser opened his eyes and looked to see that no one was there. It couldn’t have been a breeze blowing by. The toads were always heavily guarding his room too. They wouldn’t let just anyone in. What, or who, could’ve opened the door? He tried to peer through the iron bars. Night had fallen and the room was dark, so it wasn’t too easy to see. Especially since the room had no windows.

“Sire,” a familiar voice called out.

Bowser furrowed his eyebrows. “Kamek?” He was a bit confused. He could hear Kamek but couldn’t see him.

Kamek saw Bowser’s puzzled expression, “I finally mastered an invisibility spell and put the guards to sleep.”

Bowser was impressed. “I see, good work.”

“Thank you Sire,” Kamek said. “Now, let me just get this lock figured out.”

“Make it fast,” Bowser said. “My patience is already wearing thin.”

“Yes, my King. I shall work at this quickly.” Kamek began fiddling with the lock and tried to use a few different spells to see if the lock could be broken. “Hmm…this lock is very different from what I expected.”

“Don’t tell me that I’m still stuck in here for another long period of time,” Bowser was beginning to rage. “I can’t take this height and this stupid cage anymore! Get me out of here!”

“I will Sire, I promise,” Kamek said trying to calm the king down. The spell that was still new to him came mind, “I haven’t tired that spell yet.” He looked at Bowser. “My King, please stand back as a far as possible in the cage.”

Bowser had a slightly nervous look on his face but did what Kamek said. He hoped this wasn’t going to be painful. He ducked down and held his head down.

“Yellow bellow light, grant me a key for this lock tonight,” Kamek chanted the spell. His wand glowed red, and a yellow light shot out of it and into the lock for the cage. The lock came undone and fell to the floor.

Bowser, hearing the lock fall, cautiously looked up to see that the door had been opened. He smiled the biggest grin he could muster, “Yes! Finally!” He pumped his fists in excitement.

Kamek’s heart filled with joy upon seeing Bowser happy. “I’ll change you back to your normal size at your place. For now, I will need to carry you.”

Bowser rolled his eyes, annoyed. He wanted to be big again now, not stay shrunken down. “Very well.” He figured Kamek would’ve done what he could and if this was all he could do for now, he would go along with it.

Kamek reached out and gently grabbed Bowser, holding onto him close to his chest. “We’ll be taking my broom out of here. It’s just outside of the castle doors.”

Kamek opened the doors with his wand and carefully got onto his broom while still holding onto Bowser. “We’ll be back home in no time.”

“Good. I can’t wait to be my normal size again,” Bowser said. “I have some plans in mind on how to get Peaches to fall for me.”

“Excellent Sire!” Kamek exclaimed. “I look forward to hearing all about them from you!” The two Koopas flew off into the night with the light of the moon as their guide.

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In her room, Princess Peach awoke in a cold sweat. Her dream felt very real, and she had a sinking feeling. It involved Bowser succeeding in ruling over the Mushroom Kingdom and all of the toads becoming his slaves. She was sitting on a throne by Bowser as they both looked down at the toads working tirelessly to build a new kingdom. She hoped it was nothing more than a nightmare. ‘Please don’t be real,’ she mentally tried to calm herself down.

Perhaps she could invite Mario and Luigi for a visit. It had been a while since she last saw them. She knew Toad would be excited to see them again too. She decided first thing in the morning that she would invite the brothers for a visit.

Link for Chapter 2: https://www.tumblr.com/xserenemeadowsx/718697625594003456/unconditional-love-chapter-2?source=share