He found her in Bubblaine, standing on the shoreline staring at the warm hues of the sky as the sun set over the horizon. In fact, he had just finished up a conversation with one of the locals when she caught his eye. Apparently she had just been standing there for a few minutes before he even noticed her presence. She wasn't alone, either; Tiara was there too, lazily floating around her head, eyes closed and feeling the gentle breeze run through her tiny veil.

Even in the dying light of the sunset, Peach looked just as beautiful as ever. She didn't even need the Lochlady Dress; she looked more at home in that white blouse and 50′s-style magenta skirt, anyway. And to top it all off, she donned what looked like a very adorable (and non-sentient) sun hat.

Mario couldn't take his eyes off her. She was so close, and yet so far away from him. Part of him wished only to simply walk up and stand by her side and watch the setting sun. What a perfect evening that would be...

But after everything that just happened, that couldn't have been the case. Especially after what Bowser put her through...and much to his own guilt, what even Mario himself put her through.

He shuddered at the memory; how could he have been so stupid to not even think about her own feelings way back up on Honeylune Ridge after escaping the crumbling underground tunnels of the moon? Shoving a flower into her face while proclaiming his undying love for her (and Bowser attempting doing the same thing) didn't make her situation even better. In fact, it was literally putting her under the same circumstances as before, albeit without the globe-trotting grandeur and evil wedding planning rabbits.

She had every right to shove them both away. She had every right to shove even the mere idea of marriage itself out of sight and out of mind. Perhaps a world-traveling adventure of her own could serve for a nice way to find out what she really wanted for herself, for once...

"Mario?"

Almost suddenly, he heard her voice from next to him and nearly jumped. He hadn't even noticed her (or Tiara) next to him. "Oh...Princess..."

"Is everything all right?" she asked, her eyes carrying a look of concern. "You looked a bit distraught, so I wanted to talk to you if anything was wrong."

Cappy flew off of Mario's head and towards his sister. "Hey, Tiara," he said. "Have you seen the view from the fountains yet?"

"The fountains with the sparkle water?" she asked. "I didn't know you could climb to the top!"

"Well, I can show you!"

"Okay! Let's go!"

The two hats flew off together towards the fountains as Mario and Peach looked on.

The former sighed. Cappy must have known that Mario needed some sorting out to do with the princess. Well...better late than never. "Peach?"

"Yes?"

Nervously, he ran his fingers through his hair, a nervous habit he had picked up throughout his journey across the world recently. "I wanted to talk to you...about..."

"What happened on the moon?"

He nodded, hanging his head sadly. "I wanted to talk with you about it before, but by the time I returned to the Mushroom Kingdom, you were already gone before I could–"

"Why did you do it?"

He stopped talking. "I'm sorry?"

"Why did you do it?" Peach asked again. "When Bowser tried to...properly propose, I suppose, you pretty much ended up doing the same thing. Clearly you must have known you were putting me in the same situation as before. Up until just recently you've never behaved like this...I just wanted to know what was going through your head when it happened."

His eyebrows furrowed. Two words echoed into his head, two words that Bowser sneered at him at the very beginning of their fight before getting knocked off the airship for the first time: "Jealous, Mario?"

"Bowser was right...I was just so...jealous. And...I thought that I really needed to let you know that I...well...um..."

"That you...?"

He shook his head. "Never mind. What I did was wrong. I had no excuse doing what I did. I should have never stooped to Bowser's level like that."

Peach turned to face the setting sun. "I know why you did," she answered. "But you're absolutely right; and I'm glad that you realize that what you did...what you BOTH did...was very uncalled for, especially after everything that just happened."

"I know." He looked up to Peach. "I don't want you to think any less of me because of that."

"Mario..." Peach's violet eyes bore into his dark brown as she turned to face him. "I would never think any less of you, not after all the times you've helped me escape Bowser's clutches and wanted nothing more in return than my own safety."

He looked back into her eyes. The way they reflected the warmer hues of the sunset sky was absolutely mesmerizing. He didn't deserve those eyes. He didn't deserve her long, wavy golden hair. He didn't deserve her sweet smile and her benevolent heart.

He just didn't deserve her. He looked away sadly. "Maybe that's why I did what I did on the moon..."

"What?"

"After all the times I rescued you from Bowser, I remember you were always so happy to see me that you–"

"Kissed you on the cheek and offered you a slice of cake? Yes, I remember."

He blushed. "But that's not the point. The point is...I do want you safe. But I think I wanted something more out of it that day...see, I...um...well, if you want to go all the way back...to when we were babies, and...we've known each other for a long time–"

"Mario..."

"And I remember my parents talking behind my back saying things about how 'Oh, they're going to fall in love and get married someday' and whatever nonsense–"

"Mario–"

"And I used to think it was so disgusting, like every other little kid starts out, but people change! People learn, people grow, they come to terms with their own feelings...especially about other people...and how much they mean to them." He looked back at Peach. "Princess...I've wanted to tell you for a long time, and after every little kiss on the cheek and every slice of cake, I thought that day on the moon would have been the right time...but it wasn't. I was stupid to think you wanted to get on with marrying anyone after all of this."

Of course. "So..."

"Maybe I felt a little too...entitled to your attention?"

She nodded as she looked back out to the sunset. "There was a lot of...unnecessary pressure involved...but if you want an honest answer without me pushing you away, I might as well tell you now...I don't want to get married."

His eyes widened. "Wait...what?"

"I don't want to get married. At least....not yet. I don't want to pick between two sides. I don't want to be fought over like I'm some sort of trophy. Bowser obviously doesn't care about my feelings, and I know it's not like you don't, either, but I just need some time to get all of my feelings sorted out before I make that decision."

"So...you chose yourself?"

She smiled. "Yes, I did. I chose myself because I want to find out what I want first. I don't want such a huge and important milestone of my life looming over my head like a thunder cloud. I don't want it to feel like an expectation. If I want to get married...I want it to be on my own terms."

Mario looked up at Peach and, for the first time in their conversation, smiled back at her. "Well..." he began. "...I'm proud of you. Although I wonder what Toadsworth might think..."

Peach smirked. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I think there's just something about older traditions that he's afraid of breaking." She turned her head back to Mario. "As much as I don't want to say it, I feel like I have to...he acts like such an old coot most days."

That did it. Before he knew it, Mario had doubled over laughing, with Peach following suit. After a minute or two, they had to catch their breath. The sun was setting rapidly now. With each passing second, the warm pinks and oranges of the sky were glowing more and more intensely as the sun reflected off the water. They were standing much closer now than they were before, their hands almost touching. "Oh...Mario?"

He turned his head. "Yes, Princess?"

She inhaled slowly before speaking again. "There's another reason".

"A reason for?"

"Choosing myself. Not getting married right away."

"Oh?"

Their hands were touching now. "If I do marry, I still want it on my terms, but...I also want it to be for love."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'd want it to be mutual, of course. I'd want to make sure that we would both be up for it. We'd understand that it would be an enormous commitment, but we'd work through it. We'd work through it like we'd been friends for years. But I don't think I'd have to worry about finding that person too much."

His felt her fingers lace with his, and Mario blushed. "Why?"

She smiled, and bent down slightly to his level, looking into his eyes again. Those sweet brown eyes were so perfect, so sincere. And what a warm and friendly smile he had. He didn't deserve to be so hard on himself...

In one swift motion, she closed her eyes and kissed him, but it wasn't on the forehead, or on the nose. And it certainly wasn't on the cheek.

No. It was a REAL kiss.

It took a while for Mario to register what was happening. It wasn't short and sweet like the ones before. This was was longer, more drawn out. Before he could even take the time to kiss her back, she pulled away, taking her time as she did so.

She smiled. "Because I already found him."

Almost on cue, Cappy and Tiara zipped back from the fountains as Peach began walking away from Mario. But then she stopped. "Oh, and Mario?"

She reached into one of the pockets in her skirt and pulled out a small object in her fist. She opened it, revealing a small, glowing Power Moon the size of her palm. It floated away from her hand, growing in size as it made its way closer to Mario, who was still dumbfounded from the kiss. When he saw the Power Moon, he turned to Peach, then back to the moon, and then Peach again, and grinned.

She giggled. "I hear you're still looking for these...tell Toadette and the Toad Brigade I said hello!"

She ran off with Tiara into the distance. Cappy, in the meanwhile, floated over to Mario, observing the pink power moon. "Wow, a Power Moon! How did you find it?"

He smiled. "I didn't." He gestured to Peach, still sprinting away. "She did. She's been finding a lot of things lately."

"Like?"

"Moons, adventures...herself...but most importantly..."

They heard Peach and Tiara laughing together as they climbed a cliff surface and felt a rush of wind flow through their hair and veil.

"...her freedom."