Mario shows up

As you and Bowser leave the dinning room an alarm sounds while a voice cries out. "Mario! Mario is here!"

"That's fast..."

"Tsk, the burnt castle must have convinced him to use the warp zone straight here. He is probably serious this time." Bowser comments looking a bit scared.

"Wait wait wait... if he knows about a warpzone that leads here why has he taken so long to rescue me before?" That fucker has been playing around this whole time?

"I will fight him." Bowser ignores your loaded question.

"No you won't, let me take care of this."

It takes some convincing but eventually Bowser leaves you alone to meet Mario at the front gate. You can tell his is scared you will run, you wish he had more faith but... that sort of trust will take time.

The red and blue clad plumber skids to a stop on the open drawbridge when he sees you standing there. “Princess I am a here to save you!“

“I have already been saved... by Bowser." You try to use a friendly tone, but the words sound a little cold even to your ears. "Please, come in and let me explain.”

Mario looks around as if expecting a trap, but not seeing anyone or anything he reaches you and you both walk inside. A short time later you are in a drawing room, sitting across from Mario, still standing. You were impressed and a little frustrated by how he never let his guard down and seemed alert the whole way here. Finally after much pleading you get him to sit down and he begins before you can.

"What is this about, my princess, where is a Bowser?" He seems to spit the name out.

"I thought it best for him to work on wedding prep while I explained thing to you. I didn't think you would be able to listen with him in the room."

"You got that right, I am going to..."

"Look, I know I have led you both on for too long... That wasn't fair of me and the three of us have had this **** rescue whatever thing going on for a while now but I have finally made my choice. You saved Paulina, Daisy, Rosalina and so many others... I am sure you have other options."

"But he just burned down a your home… the bodies..." There is a tear in his eye.

"That’s part of the reason… not out of fear or anything like that, he did that because of me... No! listen! He was angry for me..." You explain at length about your **** and betrayal and all the events of yesterday. You tell him how Bowser rescued you from that.

Mario is shocked “But...”

"It isn’t just that he saved me." you cut Mario off again. "If that was all it took I would have chosen you a long time ago. No, he is the right person to be king, he will help me fix the kingdom and stop things like this from happening, do you understand?"

Despite himself, Mario nods.

"But do you love him? I can't let you do this if it will a make you unhappy..."

"It’s funny after thinking it over, I do. I really do." You chuckle and put your hand over your beating heart. "Once I let the saving of my kingdom open the idea up to me, I realized I did. He really is a sweetheart, you know he sat with me all night while I slept… had my favorite food prepared for breakfast this morning… I know those are small things but he has always been like that. Looking back, despite the **** he always got the little things right…"

"All great besides the ****…" he scoffs.

"I have been thinking about that actually, it might be a dragon culture thing, I think **** is just how they do things... I actually had looked into that after the last time..."

Mario rolls his eyes. "Dragon's **** princesses... I guess it a makes sense..."

"Look, Mario, I want to stay your friend. I want to play tennis and golf and all that. So don’t ruin it by crashing my wedding!" you say seriously and watch him wince, of course he was thinking of doing just that.

After mulling it over for an extremely long time Mario finally says "Fine, take me to him."

A bit of asking around and walking later leads you both to the throne room. There your future husband is surrounded by various people, all holding sample books. Your fiancé is taking this seriously, good. One look at Mario causes the group around him to disperse however.

As you approach Bowser, he sees you walking side by side with Mario and his eyes narrow in suspicion. Your king's posture becomes aggressive and you can tell he is ready for a fight. But when Mario, who still looks angry, stops you keep walking taking your place by your fiancé side. Placing a hand on his arm you feel him relax as your touch reassures him.

“Congratulations, I wish you both the best”

“Thank you.”

The exchange was barely civil, but it's a good start. But then Mario steps in close glaring up at Bowser his fists clenched. “But if you ever hurt her, I am coming for you. You won’t be able to hide from me and no one will be able to stop me.”

With that the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom turns and leaves the castle.

“Make sure he and his brother get an invitation.” You say taking your leave as well.

Bowser flustered calls after you waving a sample book. "Wait… the wedding? There are choices... where are you going?"

"I am sure you can handle the planning, I need to move my things into your room. I plan to share your bed tonight."

With the click of your heels the only sound in the room and your hips swaying happily you leave your fiancé with his jaw on the floor.

When you get back to the room, you find all your belongings have been retrieved and are waiting for you in neat piles. Although it is tempting to completely remake Bowser's bedroom, you feel the need to please him with a classy compromise.

Flagging down some of his people you manage to get a team together to do the work. You send them to procure select copies of Bowser's current furniture and a few others in the same style. A black wood wardrobe, night stand, and dresser like the existing ones are the main pieces. They also manage to procure a matching chest for the foot of the bed and a cabinet specifically for your shoes. The last thing you have the work koopas do is set up a canopy above the bed with a metal frame and sheer black curtains.

The whole room is black wood, grey stone, with silver metal accents... to really put your touch on this you need to change some of that... Searching the halls you finally find a magikoopa who is willing to help you, Kammy has never been the kindest, but is completely devoted to Bowser and that seems to extend to you for the moment.

With her helpful magic all the silver metal in the room, the drawer pulls, latches, inlays, spikes, etc. are plated with rose gold. She even manages to add metal thread embellishments on the canopy and curtains. Lastly, also in rose gold, she puts Bowser's emblem on one wardrobe and a mushroom emblem on the other.

Looking at the the room as a whole it looks stunning. The pink metal brings much needed color to the room while not blunting it's severity. You admire your handiwork a bit longer before starting the process of moving your stuff. Clothes in the wardrobe, personal items in the chest, sex toys in the night stand, and your shoe collection in the new cabinet. For now you leave your sports gear in the old room as well as your vanity and makeup. Normally you have maids for that... so you want to consult with your new servants before making any decisions. You decide to take your pink sheets, putting them under the black duvet so when it is turned up it gives a splash of pink on the bed.

The process goes on for a while and the last thing that hasn't found a place in one room or the other are your books. You have a number of them but neither room currently has a bookshelf... Something about the mundanity of decorating a room and moving your belongings calms you and makes this all feel more real and more good. You know you should help with the wedding... but if you do it will take forever... letting Bowser, a man, decided will take a fraction of the time. Even if it isn't perfect it will be sooner, and that's what you want. You want to get married before Mario does something stupid, before Bowser decides you aren't worth the fuss, before your people revolt... before... before...

Bowser finally shows up while you are sitting on the bed over thinking. There is a small stack of books in your lap. You decided to just grab a few you haven't read yet and some book stops for the night stand but your dark thoughts distracted you before you could finish.

"Looks good!" He says as soon as you notice him.

"Good, I am glad you like it."

"We have a library you know..."

"Perfect, I can get someone to bring the rest of my books there later, but I still want to read these."

He shrugs. "Dinner's ready, I hear you skipped lunch."

"Time flies as they say..."

Dinner is more then pleasant as your conversation comes easy. Effortlessly your finance banishes your dark mood. The two of you start by discussing the wedding which should happen by the end of the week, but then move to your favorite books and shared interests. Your heart warms with each passing minute as you and Bowser really hit it off in ways you never imagined. All you had to do was give him a chance...

But then the meal is over and you both look at each other expectantly. Without a word you both get up and slowly make your way to the bedroom.