Bowser had loved Peach. He always had. Hadn't he? He thought he did. Or at least, he did at one point. But everything started to seem different.
His feelings had faded little by little, only to question if they've drifted to the man in red.
Mario. He had always ran after Peach to save her. It's always about Peach. Peach, Peach, Peach. What did he see in her? Bowser pondered on what he himself ever saw in her. Then he pondered on the possibility of jealousy. Maybe he had been jealous of Peach from the start without realizing his own feelings, and his attention always being directed at her had changed his view on the princess.
That didn't matter now, though. All his eyes were on the plumber, who only had eyes for the royal woman Bowser had captured and captured.
Maybe it's time to stop capturing Peach, he thought. Maybe then he'd notice me. But then he remembered how dashing the hero was as he ran to Bowser, only to attack him and be the hero of another. He decided the other stuff wasn't important, only that he got to see Mario. That he got to see the handsome man of his dreams.
And despite all of that, he still wasn't ready to tell himself he truly cared for him. He was the hero, Bowser was the villain. There was no way he could ever love Mario. Just because I like seeing him doesn't mean I LIKE him, he'd tell himself. Just like how a person can so genuinely compliment someone's look whilst staying platonic, wasn't it?
He prepared and ran out of his castle, fleeing for Peach's. As he reached the pink building, he ran through and confronted the princess.
"Hello again." "Oh dear, Bowser again, how many times has it been now?" Her sarcastic reply had upset him. "That's not important." "Of course it is, Bowser. This has been going on for too long. You capture me, Mario comes to save me, and then you lose. I'd love to be kind to you, but when will you get over this crush of yours?" How self centered, he thought. "Not everything is about you." He muttered. "But it is in this situation, isn't it?" Bowser paused and looked down at his claws. "That's what I thought. Hmph. Please, just stop trying to kidnap me. I'd love to be friends." Bowser admitted she had a point, but he didn't want to be friends. He didn't want to be anything more either. His goal was to see Mario.
He reached out to her throne and scooped up Peach. She screamed, Bowser having to flee back rather quickly. Once he got home, he put her in the room he had built for her when he had feelings for her. Peach sat down on her bed grumpily and dusted off her dress. Bowser had a good feeling she knew Mario would come soon enough, and had decided to wait it out.
Bowser started to feel rather bad, looking at the depressed woman. She didn't agree to come here, and she didn't seem to be having a good time at all. Bowser stopped in his tracks, his feet on the staircase. "Would you like to wait for your hero?" He said harshly. It came out ruder than he had hoped, his jealousy tinting his voice. Peach looked at him oddly, but shrugged and got up. "Sure."
They walked up to the top of the tower with the flags waving to Mario and his brother as they arrived in the distance. Bowser suddenly felt a smile spread across his face, and had butterflies in his stomach. Peach looked up at him rather questionably. "Whatever are you smiling about?" Bowser jumped, her reaction unexpected. "Nothing." "No, you're happy about something." She took a minute to think before looking back at Bowser's drifting eyes, and looking down to just what they were drifting towards. A surprised expression came upon her face, and she snickered. "You like Mario." Bowser turned red. "What? I- no!" "Please, you're as red as a tomato!"
Bowser had a flustered and upset look on his face. He thought hard about his feelings, how Mario affected them, and what Peach had said. He looked down at Mario and grumbled. I guess I do like him. he thought. The next thing he knew Peach was pushing him to tell him as Mario ran through Bowser's traps.
