Bowsette took another clump of Refreshing Herb and rubbed it on Peach's stomach. The princess had taken a much bigger beating during that fight, probably injured for the first time in a long time, so she was not taking it well.

They were sitting up in the gandest, softest bed Bowsette had ever been in, in a massive hotel room that could house a whole orphanage of was even fancier than the Huckit Beach Resort Bowsette had forcibly stayed in back during her rampage towards the Mushroom Kingdom. That felt like so long ago, now...

"That... still stings..." she muttered.

"It'll help, trust me," Bowsette said.

"Yeah, I'll bet. I would rather take... stinging than gaping electric burns, that's for sure."

Both of them giggled, but Bowsette's laugh quickly dissipated. Her mind drifted off while she continued circling her hand over Peach's torso, and she quickly formed a frown. They came dangerously close to disaster today, and that was likely just the beginning of what was to come. They had had many attackers in recent weeks during their journey to find these Generals, and it was starting to seem very coordinated. Someone desperately wanted them dead, and it wasn't Morton Koopa. For all she knew, Morton was content to let them go, so long as he could find Morton Jr. and perform the blood ritual on him.

Oh, her babies. She never should have left them alone.

But even if she had still been there fighting alongside them, Peach would still be in danger, and the world would be in even worse shape. Her duty was here, and she was fulfilling it.

Peach...

"How much combat training have you had?" Bowsette asked. "In your whole life, I mean."

"I learned how to use magic defensively when I was a child, and I got some good martial arts tips back when we had all those fighting tournaments all the time. So... not much at all. I can't do anything like you or Mario or Luigi. Just a girl and her frying pan."

"Do you want me to... teach you?"

"Mario already tried that once," Peach said. "I'm not a good student."

"How come?"

"Too flirtatious." Peach placed a hand on Bowsette's cheek and then grimaced from the pain of her wounds.

"I do need to ask you... Do you and Mario..."

"Yes. It's obvious, right? We don't really talk about it. But yeah, it happens. Sorry if.. you know."

"No, I mean. I understand. He has a way."

"More than that. He's just... pretty nice to be around sometimes. If you know what I mean. Just.. really calm and cuddly."

"Yeah... I... uh, didn't tell you, but..."

"I know. You don't have to tell me," Peach said. "It was obvious from your face the next morning. It was inevitable, so... don't worry about it."

"As long as we're on the same page."

"We always are, aren't we?"

"About certain things."

Peach leaned back and scooted over, positioning herself so that her head rested on Bowsette's chest, and Bowsette's arms were wrapped around her. "Like that we should take a rain check on that bath we promised each other?"

"Yeah. Not with your condition, unless you want to feel the worst pain in your life."

"Been there, done that," Peach giggled. "What else... are we on the same page about?"

"Well, I'm in love with you, and you're in love with me, which is a bit confusing and we still haven't really talked through," Bowsette said. "Considering the circumstances..."

"Maybe it's not something we need to talk to. Maybe we can just let it happen," Peach said, taking Bowsette's free hand and gripping it with her own.

"Aha, we're not on the same page at all."

"Huh?"

Bowsette's lip quivered at the thought of having to say something like this, but she pressed on. She had to clear the room. "I think... I'm not right for you. And before you interrupt, I'm going to tell you why. I'm a pretty messed up gal. I've been married twice before, I have eight children, I'm the deposed ruler of a despotic empire and I have personally tried to kidnap you and enslave your people countless times."

"All factors I have taken into consideration, except for the marriage part. Two wives? Give me all the details on that stuff, because I want to know what I'm up against."

"Not right now," Bowsette said. "To continue, I'm going to just say... I feel wrong. Okay? I feel like I've manipulated you into loving me, being fake, being evil, forcing you on this crazy quest, forcing you to care about me because I forced my emotions on you. Is it stupid to feel this way? You'll say yes, but you aren't objective on it either. Rationally, it makes sense to think that we are only together because of my heinous actions."

"Since when was Bowsette one to follow rationality?"

"The methods of rationality are very sound," Bowsette. "At least when I'm trying to convince you to not love me because I'm not worth it."

"You're put a whole lot of thought into this," Peach says. "But like we were talking about earlier... You're overthinking it. A lot. You need to just calm down and... we can get through this."

"What do you mean 'get through this?'"

"This is a fight, isn't it?"

"Not really." Bowsette took more Refreshing Herb out of the canister and applied it. Bowsette was starting to rub in a wider radius than just the wound, a bit more than just friendly wound-dressing. Peach's breathing deepened as the hand traced around her body in a spiral.

"Oh. Well, Bowsette, I want to say I highly disagree with all of your words. I will argue you to the ends about this, because that's what love is about."

"You really just want to get in my blouse. Damn." Bowsette giggled at the absolute transparent attempt. "You are in no condition-"

"No condition to take a bath, yes, but to make love with you, I've been ready for half a year."

"Damn. You got to that point before I had even worked out my feelings for you?"

"It's been a long time waiting. I'm an impatient girl." Peach took Bowsette's herb-covered hand and slipped it lower past her belly button... and then Bowsette pulled it away.

"I want to make love with you too, but... I can't. Not like... this."

"What do you mean?"

Bowsette sighed. She thought back to earlier today, with that fight with Mallow, being called a devil in disguise, or King Boo's taunts. They felt so right, so pointed, even if they didn't seem intentional. Bowsette felt like a fake object. "Let me kiss you."

"Okay." Peach turned around her head, and the two locked lips. They shared a warm flow of energy between them, and Peach's lips sparked with the electricity that remained from her injury, flowing out of her tongue and into Bowsette's mouth.

"There," Bowsette said. "Yes, I want to make love. But... I want to do something first. Can you get up and stand over there, and turn off the lights too?"

Peach seemed a bit confused, but a bit curious. She wasn't sure if Peach was going to like this surprise. "Yeah, okay."

The lights went out, and Peach stood over in the corner of the room. "Turn around," Bowsette said. "No peeking."

Peach followed with this.

With a great hesitancy, Bowsette gripped the Super Crown affixed to her forehead and took a deep breath. She pulled at it. Nothing. She wasn't putting her heart into it, so it wasn't budging. Another deep breath. She pulled again.

There was a shimmering glow, and then her form began to grow, scales added back to her body. Her face shifted into that of a Koopa's, and her hair turned thicker prickly. She felt disgusting... but she also knew that this was the real Bowsette. This was her.

"Turn around," she said, her voice now deep and gravelly. "If you... want to."

Peach did so, slowly and more deliberately than when she turned around the first time. When her eyes fixed on Bowsette's form, she did a double-take, unable to hide the surprise, and instinctively raising a hand halfway, probably to cover her mouth from gasping.

"I'm so sorry," Bowsette said, trying to raise the pitch of her voice and failing miserably. "I just feel like... I can't have you if I'm wearing the Super Crown. It feels... fake."

Peach stepped up to the bed and put her hand on her cheek once again. "Are you sure?"

She started to cry, but held it back enough to speak. "Yeah."

"Can I ask why? If that's okay?" Peach climbed fully into the bed and was making perfect eye contact with Bowsette.

"Because... it's not the real me," she said. "Right? It's a power-up that was supposed to be for body doubles. It's just not... right. When I kiss you with the Super Crown on, part of me thinks every time that it's not me you're kissing. It's just this body that looks like you, and that's what you're attracted to, and I'm just the brain on the inside getting all the credit."

Peach laughed and then forced herself to stop. "Oh, Bowsette. I may be a bit vain-I am royalty-but I'm not a complete narcissist! I love you because of you the person. Not because of your body. Smoking hot as it may be." She cuddled up close to Bowsette and rest her head on her chest again, even if it was the chest of a battle-hardened Koopa.

"But... what about this body?"

She looked up at her. "I'll be... as honest with you as I can. I owe you that. This body will take getting used to. It's not what physically attracts me the same way. But I know I will be able to find the beauty in you no matter what you look like. Because I love you."

Bowsette put an oversized arm around Peach's back. She was sniveling with tears, trying as hard as she could to suppress her sobs. "Peach, how can one woman be so... amazing?"

"I could ask the same thing to you."

"But... I'm not... I'm not even a woman, am I? I'm just... Bowser, the gross ugly dragon lizard."

"You're Bowsette, the woman who's changed my life in ways I can barely comprehend. Since you talked to me that one day in my bedroom... everything feels different. It's like I see the world in a new way, somehow. I don't know. Now I'm the one who's having a hard time explaining things."

"It's okay." Bowsette hugged her tighter. "I have so much, awful, crippling doubt inside of me, but... you're so good at beating it down. I don't even understand it."

"I am classically trained in diplomacy," Peach said. "Talking is my skill."

"You can talk all night long to my-" Bowsette stopped herself. "Are you... ABSOLUTELY sure you're fine with me like this? One hundred percent?"

"Two hundred percent," Peach said. "I'm comfortable with you however you want to present yourself. To me, you're just you. What do you prefer?"

"Can we just... lay here first? For a little bit?"

"Yeah."

And they sat, Bowsette holding Peach in her arms in a dark hotel room, laying on a bed made of plush. Breathing in and out and feeling each other's presence, sharing each other.

She gauged how she'd feel, being like this the rest of her life, going back to the body she had possessed all her life. Making love with Peach as a Koopa. It was so quiet and calm in here, but Bowsette's thoughts raced through her head, making her heart beat faster and faster.

"You're really warm," Peach said, softly. "I could fall asleep on you."

"Yeah... I don't think I like this," Bowsette finally admitted. "I hate this body. I hate being this large, and this lumbering, and my scales this rough, and having a snout, and... Ugh."

"Well... what do you want to do?" Peach asked.

"Um, first, let me kiss you again."

"Alright." This time was a little bit more difficult, Bowsette's lips not exactly forming any concrete puckering, and being too big to meet Peach's. They made it work, with Peach's entire mouth meeting Bowsette's, almost like she were about to eat her or something.

When they pulled away, both of them laughed.

"So... that's a little weird," Bowsette said.

"But it was nice," Peach said. "Do you want to keep going?"

"No, maybe some other time."

Peach rest her head back on Bowsette's torso. "That's okay..."

"I'm just kidding."

"Oh, you..."

"But, I think... let me put back on the Super Crown first." She grabbed the power-up from the side of the bed and held it in her hands for a moment, looking at the reflection staring at her from the polished gold. It was the same face that had greeted her for ninety-nine percent of her entire life, and now suddenly she realized that she had been greeting it as an alien this entire time. This was her body, but... not her real body. Her real body was whatever she preferred it. And she did not prefer this.

"And just to make sure," Peach said. "You're not putting that crown on for me, and you are absolutely sure that you're comfortable with it."

"Peach, I think this entire thing just ran a circle around itself," Bowsette said. "I think all I did was realize that the Super Crown is the most comfortable I've ever felt in my life. Again."

"As long as you're sure, it's fine. Or... even if you're not sure. As long as you're happy. Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Oh my Brighton, you are just filled to the brim with inspirational quotes, aren't you?" Bowsette put back on the Super Crown, and her body transformed back into the half-human form it had been in for most of the last year. Her real body.

Well, kind of.

She still felt like this wasn't who she truly should have been. It was probably the fact that her entire persona was a reflection of the woman she was about to have sex with, which was unsettling in a way, if a bit erotic. But she pushed those thoughts aside for now, because she was happy with herself, even just a tiny bit, and that was what she needed to latch onto.

Now that Bowsette was smaller again, Peach's embrace was kind of crushing her...

Peach realized this and let go. "So..."

"So..."

"Are you ready?"

"I've never... I never thought I'd actually be doing this. Never in a million years."

"We confessed our love for each other like, months ago," Peach said. "You still didn't think that this would happen?"

"I don't know, I was kind of self-defeating about it. Maybe that's why Mario always beats me, huh?"

"You're probably right." Peach leaned in and kissed her. Bowsette heated up her lips with fire just to the point that Peach's eyes popped wide open but didn't hurt. "Dude, you've got to warn me when you do that!"

"I think I'm ready."

"You think?"

"Let's make love."

"I've been waiting on this for so long," Peach said. She crawled up to Bowsette and then shoved her backwards, making her thud against the backboard. Peach kissed her with one hand propped up against the wood as another made its way up Bowsette's dress.

"Peach..."

"Do you want me to go slow? Fast? Just tell me what you want."

"Is... um... Is 'ravish me' an option?" Bowsette asked.

"The best option of them all," Peach said.

She moved past Bowsette's face and moved down to her neck, licking it, while holding Bowsette down from squirming. She pressed her teeth down into the skin, first a gentle nibble.

"Peach..." Bowsette said through staggered breaths. "I love you.

"The feeling's mutual." Peach said, just before clamping down harder on her neck.

The night continued from there.

Bowsette wasn't going to tell the rest of it, but one thing was simple: this was a moment shared by two women in love, giving up the whole of themselves to each other, sharing their presences in the closest way they could.

There would be other nights like this in the future. Mornings and days, too. But this marked the first, most significant shift in their relationship together, and would be preserved in the cores of their memories like a jar of Jammin' Jelly.

Bowsette was happy.