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He got back a few hours before the kids’ bedtime. Kamek found him first, of course.
“Your Flakiness! Where have you been? You missed your afternoon meetings!”
“Put these in the kitchen.” He passed off the containers of food, ignoring Kamek’s curious look. “Where are the Koopalings?”
“Well, Ludwig is in the music room. Iggy in the lab. Last I saw Lemmy and Morton looked like they were conspiring to some kind of mischief. Wendy and Roy are in Wendy’s room reading those comics she likes. Larry is playing in his room and last I heard Junior was up to no good somewhere in the north wing.”
“Thank you.” He didn’t notice that Kamek was too shocked to follow up with more questions. He went to Wendy’s room first. She and Roy were both completely absorbed by the comics and didn’t look up as he entered. He cleared his throat. They chittered, but didn’t look at him. He sighed.
“Wendy, Roy. How’re the new issues?” He’d just gotten them for his little girl a week ago.
“They’re great!” She answered, distractedly, turning a page.
Roy seemed less enthused. “They’re kinda dumb. I mean who comes back from the dead to get with somebody only to immediately sacrifice themselves again?”
Bowser chuckled and patted Roy’s head affectionately. “Don’t overthink it too much, bud. If coming back were that simple, we’d all be doing it all the time.”
Roy laughed back and glanced over, only to see the scuffs on Bowser’s shell and the bruise on his face from Luigi’s left hook. He jumped up and the comic fluttered to the ground.
“Dad, are you okay? You’re beat up!”
Wendy sat up too, concerned. Bowser squeezed Roy’s shoulder and gave a gentle sideways hug. Roy returned it, a little surprised with how affectionate dad was being.
“Calm down, calm down. I’m fine. Takes a hell of a lot more than this to hurt your old man. You know that.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He couldn’t help but hug his son a little tighter. “I just—I just want to make sure you all know that I care about you.”
That’s it. Wendy’s comic snapped shut and she marched straight to Dad’s side and yanked him from Roy for a better look at him. “Okay, what’s going on? Did you hit your head or something?!”
“I just—” Bowser sighed and stared at the floor. “I thought about some things today. I know I haven’t been around much lately. And I know I’m not the best dad to begin with. I met someone who made me realize that people can be hurting and even when their own family doesn’t know about it. Hell, their family can be the ones hurting them. I don’t ever want to hurt you. Sorry. Neither of you need to hear about this. I just got this stupid idea in my head and I can’t get it out.” He shook his head, as though trying to shake it all off, and started for the door. “Go on back to your comics.”
Wendy’s little hand curled around his fingers.
“You are a good dad. You—you took us when nobody else wanted us.”
Bowser turned and knelt down to wrap her in a tight hug which she returned, chirping softly.
“I wanted you.” He said gently, nuzzling her head as she rubbed her face against his neck. “My little koopalings. There was no way I’d ever have left you all alone.”
Roy stumbled forward and joined the hug, rumbling his own soft purr. When he finally managed to pull himself away, Bowser smiled, his heart feeling lighter.
“I’m sorry I told you all of that. You didn’t need that kind of information just thrown at you like that.”
“It’s okay, dad. You’re allowed to come to us to talk sometimes. We’re your family.”
“Still, it’s not fair to you kids. Next time we’ll discuss it rather than have me dump everything on you.”
“Okay.”
“You two gonna be alright with your comics while I check on the others?”
They both nodded.
So then he found himself walking through the door to the music room. Ludwig was hard at work going over a part on the piano, but the end didn’t sound quite right. His little composer. Bowser watched for a little while with a bit of moisture in his eyes. He was so proud of the amazing artist his little koopa had become.
“Ugh!” Ludwig spat, when it still didn’t sound quite right. Then he saw his dad in the reflection on the grand piano.
“Father, did you need something?”
“No, no. Please, go back to your piece. I’ll let you get back to—”
Ludwig frowned. “What happened to your face?”
“Nothing.”
Ludwig rolled his eyes. “Well surely you didn’t come here for no reason?”
“I—I just wanted to see you. Missed you.”
Ludwig stood up.
“Father, are you feeling alright? Perhaps whatever punched your face knocked something loose.”
Bowser snorted with a grin. “Hardly. How’s this latest masterpiece doing?”
“It’s only a symphony and my best to date. I’ve been trying for weeks and no matter how many times I try to write them, these pieces just don’t feel finished.”
“You know, I once arrested a daft old koopa who painted my royal portrait.”
“The one in the King’s hall?”
“Yes.”
“But why? That painting is rather splendid.”
“Because every day for a week after its unveiling I kept finding him in there trying to add more, to make it even better, even after it was finished.”
“So you’re saying I should know when to give up.”
“No, I’m saying don’t let yourself get so caught up in making each piece perfect that you end up with nothing else to share with the world. Understand?”
“I think so.”
“Good.” Bowser ruffled Ludwig’s hair with his chin and his eldest made a sour grimace.
“Father,” he groaned.
“Alright, alright. I’ll leave you alone.”
Iggy was in the lab tinkering. As usual. Bowser knocked before he entered. He’d been on the receiving end of too many accidental explosions to do anything less.
“Look, Junior, just give it up, alright? I don’t have time to play with you right now, I’m on the verge of a breakthrough.”
“Ah, bad time then? I can come back later.”
“Oh. Dad.” There was a pause, then “You can come in. Just don’t touch anything.”
“Alright. What’s all this about Junior?”
“Ugh, he was really insistent. Kept asking if I wanted to draw. Told him later or maybe tomorrow. Did you need something?”
This was the second time now he’d been asked this question and it made him feel even worse. Had he neglected them so badly they all thought he only came to them when he needed something? Or was he just overthinking?
“Do I have to need something?” He asked.
Iggy’s tools stopped clanking. He could see gears turning in the kid’s head.
“No, you’ve just been busy. Guess I figured you’d need some cool new gadgets or upgrades for your latest kidnapping attempt.”
“How did you know I was planning to—”
“It’s like all you do.”
Bowser’s jaw clenched. So he had been letting the kids down. Shit. He just thought that if he could marry Peach and give them a mother figure then they could all—That was why he was doing it in the first place, right? For them? Of course, Peach was pretty and he thought she would make a good queen but—oh. He’d gotten far too carried away. It had stopped being about getting a mother for his kids and all about what he wanted for himself. Someone to love him, care for him, rule the kingdom with him, etc. He tried his best not to involve the kids too much. Especially since Mario apparently had no qualms with attacking and injuring children. But he could only do so much. His kids were strong willed and stubborn, just like their dad, and always insisted on helping him. Hmm.
“Well we aren’t going to be kidnapping the princess. Not for a while, at least.”
“Really? Why not?”
“Because I’m taking some time off.”
“What?” Iggy had completely set the tools aside and was balking at him.
Despite only having just decided this, Bowser doubled down.
“Yes. I am giving up all princess related schemes for at least the next two months. There are matters here in the kingdom that need my attention.”
“Oh. Does that mean you have time to look at my blueprints?” The question was almost hopeful. Bowser’s chest ached.
“Of course! Lay ‘em on me kiddo!”
When he found Larry, the little guy was building a nest of sheets and blankets and pillows. He helped construct a proper fort. He couldn’t fit inside very well, but managed to pet Larry’s head and click a soft farewell. Larry happily chirped back and he left, setting off to find the last three of his little rascals.
Bedtime came and went. And still no signs. Hmm. He didn’t like that at all. It made his tail twitch nervously. Hmm. What could Morton and Lemmy be up to?
He was wondering this when a small, dense live weight flung itself into his plastron. He caught it almost automatically and couldn’t stop a beaming smile from forming.
“Junior!!”
“Papa! I missed you!! You were gone all afternoon! I thought you’d be back before dark but then—what happened to your face?”
“Oh, nothing. A little guy got in a lucky shot that’s all, you go on. Why don’t you tell me about your day?”
Junior went on and on, happy to talk about every second he’d missed today in the castle. Bowser hugged him close to his heart. He loved them all so much. He remembered a time they were all small enough to fit in one of his hands. Why did they have to get big so fast?
“Papa, what’s wrong? Your eyes are dripping.”
“Nothing’s wrong, Junior.” He purred low in his chest and rubbed the little one’s cheeks. “I love you so much.”
“I know that Papa! I love you too.”
This was not how Mario had expected his day to end. Bad enough he had to cancel dinner with his brother. Oh boy Luigi would be chewing his ear off for that later, he had no doubt. But now he had to figure out what the hell to do with Bowser’s little brats. The island of Delfino had called saying they were under attack by Bowser and of course he’d rushed to help them. Only for it to turn out to be two of Bowser’s brood, the big one with a star on his face and the little one with the balance ball, apparently ransacking some local businesses. He’d caught them unawares and managed to overpower them but not without roughing them up a little. Unsure what to do with them since Delfino didn’t have any kind of prison, he decided to take them back to peach’s castle and go from there. They were awake by the time he landed the clown car he’d commandeered from them in front of his house in toad town. He wanted to check on Luigi. And it would be better to do it now so he could get Lu somewhere safe in case Bowser came rampaging over looking for his truant offspring.
As they hovered down to a landing he gasped. Their house… the door was gone and a distinct hole was all that was left. The smaller of his chained prisoners gave a little laugh that made him furious.
“Looks like you missed the party.”
He hefted them up over his head and rushed inside, screaming for his brother.
“Lu!! Luigi? Luigi where are you?!”
“You’re too late, plumber. If our dad came here to fight, there’s no way your brother is—” Mario couldn’t help it. Threatening Luigi was one of the few things that made him lose his mind with anger. His hand rose and his arm pulled back, about to strike when he was suddenly kicked from behind. He jumped up and turned to wallop his attacker only to find a furious Luigi glaring back at him.
“Mario!”
“Luigi!” He was so relieved he rushed forward to pull his brother into his arms, but Luigi shoved him away.
“How could you?”
“What?”
“You were about to-a strike a helpless bambino! With-a your fist!”
“But he said—”
“I don’t-a care what he said!” Luigi shouted. Mario suddenly felt a little afraid.
“Luigi, are you okay? What-a happened? Where’s Bowser?”
“He left when I told him you were not-a home.”
Mario was confused. Bowser wouldn’t just leave. “Lu, are you sure you’re-“
“Bambini, are you two alright?” Luigi asked the koopalings. They exchanged a look, and didn’t answer. He sighed. “Mario, go to your room.”
“W-what? Luigi, I’m your big brother you can’t-a just—”
“I said GO TO YOUR ROOM!”
Mario noticed the electricity buzzing in Luigi’s gloves and decided he’d rather go than get zapped.
It took Luigi a few seconds to calm himself before he went to a drawer and pulled out some scissors.
“Hold still. I don’t want to nip you by mistake.”
The koopalings were too surprised to do anything, even answer. The human cut them free of their ropes. As the bonds fell to the floor, Lemmy considered the soft face and kind blue eyes thoughtfully. That is, until Morton growled and wrapped his around the human’s throat. Luigi gasped. Lemmy frowned.
“Morton, don’t.”
“Mario hurt us. Why this one let us go?”
“Let go of him and he might just be able to tell us.” Lemmy pointed out. “Provided you havent killed him…” he muttered.
Morton let go. Luigi fell to the floor and slowly got up, gasping for air.
“I—I—a had to help you. My brother-a hurt you. And he was-a wrong to do that. Does it still hurt? Let me see.”
Morton hesitated, a little growl starting up again. Luigi put a soft hand on his shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes.
“I promise. I won’t hurt you.”
Morton showed his arm, where a big bruise was already dark and angry. Then he pointed at Lemmy’s head. Luigi took a look, though Lemmy hissed when he got too close.
“Oh bambini, mi dispiace. You did not deserve that. I’ll get you some mushrooms.” He went to get them and came back. They were already at the door.
“No! Bambini, wait!! I do not want you to try returning home injured. Please! Take these.” Easily he caught them and yanked them back around, slipping a mushroom into their mouths as they tried to struggle and bite him. He was relieved to watch their injuries fade. He released them. Only they didn’t go. They stared.
“You—you healed us.”
“Of-a course, I did.”
“But we’re your enemies!”
“Your-a father is my brother’s enemy.” Luigi corrected.
“But—why did you—”
“What’s-a important is that you’re both alright. Are you going to-a fly home now?”
“Not enough fuel.” Morton grumbled. “Have to walk halfway.”
“Then you can’t-a leave on an empty stomach. Are you hungry?”
“Morton missed dinner.”
“Morton!” Lemmy hissed.
Morton just raised an eyebrow not understanding why his brother didn’t want food.
“Then I’ll-a warm you up some-a soup. Go on and sit at the table.”
It had been quiet too long. Mario was getting worried, so he popped his head out and wandered down the hall. Something smelled delicious.
He looked into the front room to get a shock. Both Koopalings had been untied and were sitting at the table, while Luigi stirred a pot on the stove.
“Luigi! You are cooking for them?!”
“Why not? They are hungry. They haven’t eaten.”
“Neither have I!”
“Then there’s more in the fridge.”
“Luigi!”
“Warm it up yourself Mario, you’re a big-a boy.”
Morton giggled then tried to hide it behind the glass of juice Luigi had given him when Mario glared their direction. Mario wasn’t as scary when Morton could see he was so easily bossed around by the green one.
In italian Mario told his brother of his plans.
“I’m taking them to Peach’s castle. At least there she can put them in the dungeons.”
“You’ll do no such thing. They’re children, Mario. You can’t just lock them up. Imagine what Bowser will do when he finds out. He’ll start a war to make sure they are safely returned to him.”
“He wouldn’t dare if we offered them up as collateral. He signs a magically binding contract never to kidnap the princess again, and we let them go.”
Luigi slammed his hands on the counter.
“You mean we threaten to kill his children? I thought you were a hero, but you’re speaking like a monster.”
“If it’ll save the princess.”
“No.”
“Luigi.”
The green brother switched back into english, his voice soft but firmly resolute. “Mario, I won’t allow it.”
“We could get Bowser to agree to do whatever we want. I promise, we won’t have to hurt them, we just need Bowser to believe we could then—”
Lemmy shrank in his seat, eyeing the door and inwardly panicking. The minute they made a break for it Mario would be after them, but If they didn’t get out of here now, Mario was going to use them to hurt their dad.
“Over my dead body.” The room became stifling. Red and green stared at each other and Lemmy held his breath.
Mario reached for his brother worriedly. He knew that look. Luigi was panicking. He needed to calm his fratellino down before—
Zap! Mario’s brain didn’t even have time to process the information from his eyes before he dropped like a stone. Luigi’s hands shook as he made sure Mario was still breathing steadily and sighed with relief when he’d confirmed that the other would be fine. He tucked a healing mushroom into Mario’s hand and wrapped the fingers around it. Then he stood, ladeled out two bowls of soup and brought them to the koopalings. Morton eagerly dug in while Lemmy leaned over to glance at Mario’s prone figure.
“He’s gonna wake up, right?”
“Si, he’ll-a be fine. Eat, bambino. We’re leaving as soon as you’re done.”
Lemmy didn’t ask why it had suddenly turned from you to ‘we.’ He’d just watched the green one defeat Mario. And Mario would never just let that go. Mario always chased until a battle was inevitable and the enemy was defeated. He should know. They’d been fighting the red plumber for years.
Morton’s head lifted from the soup with interest. “Plumber coming with us?”
“He can’t stay here.” Lemmy explained.
“You can-a call me Luigi. What are-a your names?”
“I’m Lemmy. That’s Morton.”
“Luigi! Soup is good!” Morton said, happily drinking more and Luigi smiled again.
“Thank you, Morton. I am glad to-a hear it. I’ll-a make us some-a snacks for the trip.”
So they ate, Luigi packed a bag full of snacks, power-ups and some spare clothes, and Mario lay unconscious on the floor. Two koopalings and one green shirted plumber in overalls snuck out to the clown car Mario had parked in the yard, climbed in and set off.
The vehicle took them a bit farther than the koopalings had hoped, but they still had to finish the journey on foot. Thankfully, the little ones knew the way. They followed the road, occasionally stopping for snacks and rests. They didn’t reach the heart of the darklands until dawn lit the smoky volcanic skies. Finally, as they rounded the volcano, Bowser’s castle was in view.
“There it is! There it is!” Lemmy shouted excitedly. “We’re almost home.” He and Morton skipped around in a circle just bursting with joy and relief to be back.
Luigi beamed at them. The more time he spent with them the less he understood how Mario could treat them like monsters. They were just kids. Rowdy, heavy, spiky kids with inhuman strength and magic abilities, sure, but kids all the same. The celebration had died down and they were walking once again. Lemmy tugged on his sleeve. He looked down.
“Luigi?”
“Si Lemmy?”
“Thanks for saving us from Mario.”
Luigi took a deep breath. “You’re welcome, principe.”
He was in so much trouble when he got home.
Bowser’s eyes drifted open when a small warmth cuddled up to his plastron. He wrapped a sleepy arm around the little one and was going to go back to sleep when he recognized the feel of the shell in his hand. He opened his eyes all the way and looked down to confirm. Sure enough, Iggy was clinging nervously to him.
“Iggy,” his voice was still thick and sleepy. “What’s wrong?”
“Lemmy.”
“What about Lemmy?”
“He wasn’t in our room when I went to bed. I waited up for him, but he never came. I went to his practice room and the playroom, and I checked everyone else’s rooms too. I can’t find him. He’s never been gone all night without telling me before.”
He shushed the koopaling who was about to launch into a full blown panic attack.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. Deep breaths. With me. Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. Good. You keep going just like that.”
He rubbed Iggy’s shell slowly and murmured, “Kamek.”
The poof was a tiny bit delayed and the Magikoopa was wearing a sleeping cap and night robes.
“Mmm, yes, your wakefulness?”
“Lemmy never returned to his room last night.”
Kamek snapped to full wakefulness at once, worry clearly etched on his beak.
“You said he and Morton were up to something yesterday.”
“I saw them whispering in hushed tones in the hall, your worriedness, but I didn’t think they’d hatched any dangerous plots!”
“Dad,” Iggy’s voice shook a little. Both older koopas looked at him. “Morton wasn’t in his room either.”
“Search the castle. Send the shy guy air squad to scour the surrounding area and the goombas on the ground!”
“The shy guys can do very little at present. It is still too dark.”
“Then think of something else! Just find them!”
“Yes, your Loudness! Right away!”
Bowser pulled Iggy close. “Don’t worry, son, we’ll find them. I’m sure they’re fine. It’s going to be alright.”
“Dad—c-can I stay?”
“Actually, we’re going to get others then we’ll come back here. I want all of you with me until we figure out where your siblings have gotten to.”
“Dad? What’s going-“ Ludwig started to ask as he was lifted from his bed, then he saw Iggy clinging to their father’s shell and understood that whatever was going on, it wasn’t good. When Bowser placed him on back of his shell, Ludwig just grabbed on tight. They went to the next room down and repeated the process. This continued down the hall one after another. The others tried asking questions but Ludwig just held on tight and rested his face on Father’s warm shell, his body tremoring with fear. They’d skipped Iggy and Lemmy’s room and then Morton’s. But Lemmy and Morton weren’t with them. He clung even close to Father.
Please not again. He didn’t want to lose his family again…he was so scared. He didn’t know how many of the others remembered their lives before Boswer had adopted them. He remembered the news of the accident. He remembered Bowser coming for him. Holding his hand at their funeral…he couldn’t do that again. He couldn’t…one strong arm reached back and plucked him up, cradling him in against Bowser’s neck protectively. Father…Ludwig was still shaking. He couldn’t help it. But Father just held him tight and safe and he clung on for dear life.
He wasn’t sure when exactly he’d realized Ludwig was spiraling, but dammit he should have kept the eldest close to begin with. Luddy had been through enough. He cradled the sobbing trembling koopaling to his chest and asked Roy and Wendy to pull Junior up onto his shell. Junior tried to ask what was going on, but Bowser ignored it. He was completely focused on Ludwig.
“It’s okay, Luddy. I’m here. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
“F-father.” Good. Words. Words were good. Words was a start.
“That’s right. I’ve gotcha.”
In his room he set them all down on the bed. Ludwig’s siblings took over for him as he set about adding some more pillows and blankets to the nest. It was like a big bed set into the floor with a kind of scooped shape that better accommodated his shell, plenty big enough for all of them. He returned and the koopalings scooted over so that he could roll in beside them.
“F-Father, L-lemmy and M-morton…”
He pulled Ludwig and Iggy both in tight and rubbed their heads with his jaw.
“It’s okay. We’ll find them.”
“B-but papa, where are they?” Junior asked, eyes shining. Larry chirped sadly.
“I don’t know.” He hated saying it. He hated feeling so helpless. His kids were missing and he had no clue where they’d gone…
“But Kamek is looking for them. And if he hasn’t found them by morning, I’ll find them myself.”
“We’re going with you,” Wendy said, determined. Several others including Junior and Larry nodded. Bowser’s sharp growl cut them off.
“No. You’re staying here, together where I know you’re safe.”
“But Dad—”
“No. And that’s final. Come on. I know it’s hard, but we need to try and get some sleep.”
None of them slept easy that night and Bowser couldn’t sleep at all. He was irrationally afraid that some terrible creature might come and snatch them from his arms if he so much as dared to close his eyes. When sun came peeking through the curtains, and his remaining offspring were all snoozing, he whispered, “Kamek.”
Poof.
“Here, your quietness.”
“What news is there?”
“Precious little.”
That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. It took every ounce of his control to keep himself from raising his voice.
“Well is there anything?”
“No one has seen either Lemmy or Morton since late yesterday afternoon. And one of the clown cars is missing.”
Oh for shell’s sake…
“Then they can be anywhere.”
“I realize that, your anxiousness. I have been trying to catch them in my scrying orb all morning. All I can definitively say is that they are a little tired, but unhurt and fed and for some reason they keep thinking of the color green.”
“Then they could be in Dimple woods or the moomooo meadows. Send some paratroopas to look.”
“Right away sire!”
An hour later Kamek poofed loudly in on his own accord and exclaimed:
“Your sleeplessness! Lemmy and Morton are approaching the castle on foot accompanied by the green Mario!”
“Hey! Stop pointing those at him! He’s with us!”
Was the first thing Bowser heard as he skidded down the bottom of the stairs.
“Lemmy!” He called.
“Dad!” Lemmy catapulted into him like a bonzai bill, swiftly followed by Morton.
“Morton, my star!”
“Papa!”
“Where have you been?! Don’t you ever pull a stunt like this again! Anything could have happened to you! No one knew where you were! We’re going to have a serious talk about—” Green. The plumber was watching him hugging his kids with an odd expression. What was that? Fear or admiration? Maybe both.
Lemmy followed his gaze. Seeing the shy guys pointing spears at Luigi again he growled and said, “I told you to stop pointing those at him!”
Morton shocked everyone by bounding back over and pushing the weapons away himself. “No hurt Luigi.”
Luigi bent down to smile at him and look him in the eyes. “Thanks-a Morton.”
Morton rubbed his face against Luigi’s shoulder. Bowser’s eye twitched. Had his son just—a quick look at Lemmy’s pensive expression confirmed he hadn’t been seeing things.
“Lemmy! Morton!!” Came a chorus of childish voices rejoicing until they saw Luigi. They all tensed. Then Junior took a deep inhale. Morton came between Luigi and Junior.
“NO! No hurt Luigi!”
Junior swallowed the fireball. “Dad, is Morton okay?”
“He’s fine Junior.”
“But that’s the Green Mario.”
“He saved us.” Lemmy said softly. All eyes turned to him. He nervously chittered. Bowser rubbed his shell softly.
“Go on, Lemmy.”
“Mario hurt us.”
Those the words nearly sent Bowser into an inconsolable rage. Smoke poured out his nostrils and mouth as he seethed.
“We went to the Isle of Delfino. We were gonna get Junior some paints for his birthday, but we couldn’t take him with us to show us where to get them cuz he isn’t allowed there anymore. A-and we couldn’t find the right shop. And they thought we’d come to attack them again and they called Mario…he caught us and he popped my balance ball and he tied us up and put us in the clown car. He took us back to the Mushroom Kingdom. And he was gonna get Luigi and then—but Luigi was nice to us. And Mario didn’t like it. He said they were gonna use us to make you do whatever they wanted! He said you would as long as you thought we were in danger!”
Bowser was seeing red. Lemmy’s small hand on his was the only thing keeping him from flying off the handle.
“Luigi told him no. Mario was gonna keep saying it, so Luigi—Luigi fought him and knocked him out. After we ate dinner, we made a break for it! The car ran out of fuel, so we had to walk a long way, but that’s what happened!”
Kamek came forward, with a healing spell at the tip of his wand, but Lemmy shook his head.
“It’s okay. We’re fine.”
“But you said Mario…” Bowser seriously hadn’t thought he could ever hate that man any more than he did before, but now…grrrrr. When he got his hands on that little shrimp. A soft glove touched his arm.
“I-a healed them. And-a please, I know my fratello said some awful things, but he wouldn’t have-a seriously hurt the bambini.”
“I want to kill him.” Bowser growled.
“I know. But he is-a still my brother, so I can’t-a let you do that.”
“Don’t hurt Luigi, Papa!” Morton pleaded, rubbing his jaw against Luigi’s arm.
Bowser’s eye twitched again, but facing a battle on two fronts, he sighed and conceded defeat.
Morton smiled. The other koopalings seemed to think their star-faced brother had lost his mind.
“Morton, he’s a Mario!”
“No, he’s Luigi.”
“He’s Luigi Mario.”
“No, he’s Luigi!” Morton said louder.
Kamek cleared his throat. “Excuse the interruption, but all of you need to go and get cleaned up before breakfast. There was a lot of worry and panic and I’m sure you all could use a good long soaking. Especially you, your Odiferousness.”
Bowser growled, but nodded for the kids to obey. They groaned and sighed, but all scurried off. Bowser caught Luigi watching them go with a sad face.
“C’mon Green, I’ll show you to your room.”
“My room?”
“You want a cage instead?”
“Ummm, no?”
“You don’t sound sure.”
“Guess it depends on the room.”
Bowser grinned.
Luigi was grateful for the shower. He’d sweated up a storm on the way here and he was started to wish he’d brought some lighter overalls, but he hadn’t really been thinking super straight when he'd packed a bag. As he washed his hair with the flowery shampoo in the pink shower, he sighed. Apparently the only guest suite that was made to human standards and needs was the one usually occupied by the princess. Hmm. Perhaps there were some clothes of hers a bit better suited to this heat…
Once he got out and toweled off, he slipped on some underwear and then perused the wardrobe. It was mostly just her favorite style of pink dress, but on some deeper checking he found a white tennis skirt with shorts under it. He supposed that would have to do. He put it on and paired it with his clean long-sleeve shirt that he’d brought with him.
He looked at himself in the mirror. He looked okie dokie. He put on his socks shoes and gloves, but when he lifted up his hat he bit his lip.
Mario was probably extremely angry at him. W-would he even be allowed back in the mushroom kingdom? What if Peach declared him an enemy? He had helped two of Bowser’s kids escape, after all…
Poof!
He jumped several feet into the air and shrieked.
“My, you are a nervous one.”
“Uh…”
“I’m Kamek. His Rowdiness’ Royal Advisor. And you are Luigi, Mario’s brother. Introductions completed, I wanted to ask whether you have any understanding of Koopa behavior?”
“Uh…no?” Why was Kamek bringing that up?
“I assumed as much. Would you prefer me tell you? Or shall I provide you with written materials on the subject?”
He really didn’t understand.
“Why?”
“Because if you will be staying here and if you wish to continue to interact with the koopalings, you should be aware. Prince Morton has already proclaimed you to be as trustworthy as a family member.”
“What? But he didn’t—” Suddenly he recalled the sweet way that Morton had rubbed against him earlier and the others’ resulting shock. He’d thought nothing of it. After all, Morton seemed like a very physical, hands-on, sweet type of kid. He’d no idea the action meant…he rubbed his temples and confessed, “You’d better get me a book or two…”
Kamek nodded approval and poofed away.
Luigi spent a little while in a cushy chair reading it after the magikoopa had left. It was fascinating. Apparently Koopas had excellent senses of smell, so rubbing one’s scent on another was a sign of closeness, trust and a bit like a stamp signaling whose family units you belonged to. Morton had done this not only to show the other koopas that Luigi could be trusted, but also that he considered the man part of his social circle so they shouldn’t harm him. Normally such action was not taken lightly where adults were concerned, but even this book admitted that young koopas tended to do this much more openly, gently scenting their friends, family and other adults whom they trusted. There was a knock at the door, then it opened. Luigi knew from the heavy tread who it was. He jumped to his feet as the Koopa king entered.
“Kamek said you were still in here and I—” Bowser paused mid sentence, red eyes staring the human up and down. That skirt was…very short. And Luigi had nice legs…his thighs looked very soft…Bowser tore his gaze upward and tried to smile.
“Um, sorry. Haven’t seen you in a skirt before.”
Luigi blushed. “Si. I, uh, my overalls were too warm.”
“Ah. Gotcha. Well, you look nice.”
Luigi’s ears were turning red.
“I uh, I wanted to catch you alone. To thank you. Y’know…personally. For—” why was it so hard to look at the human dressed like this without his heart beating fast? He swallowed. “You saved my kids.”
“I did what I thought was right.”
“Yeah, but—you healed them, and you fed them and you got them home safe. I—I really appreciate that. My koopalings…they’re—”
Luigi’s hand on his plastron shocked him into silence.
“I know. You’re a great dad.”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but…I try.”
Luigi’s eyes sparkled and that smile—that smile was making Bowser’s face warm. He took a tiny step forward. Luigi’s hand was warm on his plastron. He stared straight down into those big blue eyes and his breath hitched. He felt like a complete idiot for never having seen this man for everything he was. Luigi was kind, talented, thoughtful and the fact that he was afraid of so much, just made everything he managed to do a testament to his true bravery.
Bowser liked that. Bowser liked that Luigi liked his kids and understood that being their dad was easily the best part of his life. He liked that Luigi cooked delicious food. And he liked that Luigi didn’t always cower in the face of his anger. He liked how Luigi looked in a skirt. He liked how Luigi’s curls bounced when he wasn’t wearing that stupid hat. He liked…oh no. Oh banzai bills…he liked Luigi?!
Oh lava pits!!!
When did the human’s mustached face get so close to him?! He could feel Luigi’s warm breath. They were inches from each other. Had he been leaning down? Had Luigi tilted his face up? Frazzled sparks left the corners of his mouth and he neatly stepped backwards.
“Bowser? Is everything alright?”
“It’s fine. I—just—it’s time for dinner. I’ll show you the way, but you gotta keep up.”
Luigi’s eyes widened as he turned and started to walk away, then the human started jogging after him.
“Okie dokie!”
Bowser ate slowly. He couldn’t stop thinking about earlier. Luigi’s face so close to him. The warm hand on his plastron. Those glittering blue eyes…fuck. He tuned back in to the conversation at the table. Luigi was trying to get Junior to eat his vegetables. Good luck with that, he almost smiled, sitting back to enjoy the show.
“They’re icky.”
“They’re very good for growing boys like you. They help you grow big and strong like your papa.”
“Papa doesn’t eat vegetables!” Junior countered looking proud.
“Adult Koopas don’t need to eat as many vegetables, Junior.” The blue haired one, Ludwig, if Luigi was remembering right, supplied. He was grateful for the assist and nodded a silent thank you. Ludwig just frowned. “Everybody knows that.”
Luigi hadn’t, but he wasn’t giving up.
“You know, Mario always hated to eat his vegetables too. And look a-how he turned out. So short…” that earned a scoff from Bowser and most of the other Koopalings.
“I can still be big and strong just like Papa without vegetables…right Papa?” He sounded a lot more uncertain. Bowser shrugged a bit dramatically.
“I dunno, Junior. Greenie’s got a point.”
Junior did not like that at all. He pouted. Luigi sighed. “How about you eat your vegetables, piccolo, and we can play a game or do something you want after breakfast?”
That tipped the scales, and Junior slowly started on his carrots. Bowser’s heart did a funny little flip. Luigi was very good with children and the king was slowly realizing just how big a romantic draw that was for him. Peach had never interacted with any of his brood more than she had to. Luigi going out of his way to do so was doing things to the giant koopa.
“That word,” Ludwig’s voice surprised all of them. It was almost hesitant, nervous. Luigi looked at him. He struggled a little. “When you were talking to Junior. You said it like it was a name or—”
“Oh. Piccolo?”
Ludwig nodded, eyes burning with intensity. Bowser was confused why Ludwig would be asking—but all suddenly became clear with the eldest’s next words.
“It’s on some of my music sheets. The ones from—from—”
Oh. Luigi had heard tell from both Peach and Daisy that other things besides people were sucked through the pipes into this world. They’d taken him and Mario to one such salvage broker and they’d bought a few things. Unfortunately none of them had been able to divulge the locations of those warp pipes as things often shifted.
“What does it mean?” Ludwig asked, earnestly.
“Piccolo, it means little or small. Th-there is an instrument called a piccolo. It is a little flue that is an octave higher than a normal one.”
Ludwig lifted his baton like wand and flicked it. A yellowed, green-bordered soft book poofed into existence beside him. He held it up for Luigi to see.
“Ah! Bellissimo! A libretto of opera! May I?” Ludwig floated it over to Luigi and the human took it, smiling happily as he leafed through. “Ah, this a great collection of pieces from classical italian opera!”
“Italian?”
“Si!”
“Are there other types of operas?”
Luigi nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, of course! Many different languages and styles! Though, these were mio nonno, my grandfather’s very favorites! Almost all of these are-a in his record collection! He would go out-a on the balcony to-a play them and-a sing for the entire-a neighborhood!” He laughed joyously recalling those early days and how much his nonno loved music.
Ludwig’s face had laxed. His jaw was dropped. “R-records? Like actual, playable ones?”
“Si, principe. A whole great-a chest of a them. Not just-a opera, but all kinds of a things nonno liked.”
The eldest looked like he was about to cry. Bowser frowned. He knew Ludwig desperately wanted to hear and play all the music in the entire universe and Luigi talking about his grandfather’s records just made the little maestro feel sad he could never—
“Maybe I could-a play them for you a-sometime.”
Everything froze. The tension could be cut with a knife.
“W-what? Y-you—you mean you have them?”
Luigi didn’t like being the center of attention like this. His cheeks got red. “Uh, si? Nonno, he-a left them to me. They’re-a in my room at my house. The trunk is u-under my bed. And the player is a-next to it…”
POOF!
Luigi gave a little yelp and jumped at the sudden sound, only to jump and shriek again as it repeated a few moments later. Kamek smiled at him, kindly.
“I have taken the liberty of placing both in the music room. I’m sure Luigi would be happy to share them after breakfast.”
Luigi calmed his beating heart and stared, finding Ludwig hopefully staring back at him.
“Oh, uh, of course! I would love to!” The smile came naturally. “I love listening to nonno’s records.”
“You said you’d play with me.” Junior pouted.
“Junior,” Bowser said gently.
“No, Junior is-a right. I did promise. How about Junior and I play until lunchtime, and after that I will go to the music room?”
Ludwig hesitated. He really wanted to hear the music, but Junior had eaten his vegetables without whining. So…he nodded.
“Yay!”
Junior dragged Luigi straight to the art room. He painted and let Luigi use his crayons to draw.
“There! All finished, how is that piccolo?”
Junior looked around his easel when Luigi held it up. Hm. “It’s not bad, but it’s not very good. Better than the first one, though.”
“Si. I think so too!” Luigi set it over by said first drawing, a rather clumsy one of him and Mario, then he went to start another.
“What are you painting principe?”
“Oh. It’s the castle! Come see!”
Luigi stood and wandered over. He gasped. “Wow, Junior! That is very good! You are an artist!”
The prince blushed a little.
“Does your father hang up your paintings in the halls?” He asked, having seen one or two pieces that looked a bit like this one on the way to breakfast. Junior nodded ecstatically.
“Yeah! And sometimes he even puts them in his room!”
“That’s wonderful, principe.”
Poof! They both looked up, Luigi not quite suppressing a tiny jump.
Kamek smiled.
“It is lunchtime, you two. Pencils and brushes down.”
“Aww, but I wasn’t finished yet!” Junior lamented.
Lunch was fine. Luigi wasn’t a huge fan of the seasonings in the soup, but he finished his bowl like mama taught him. Junior surprised everyone when he asked, “Luddy, can I come too? I wanna hear the music.”
Ludwig looked hesitant. His first chance to hear new music and his little brother would probably be talking or messing with his instruments or—
“Only if you promise to listen and no touching Ludwig’s instruments without asking first,” Bowser rumbled, saving Ludwig from worry.
Junior agreed to those rules, so after lunch he held Luigi’s hand as Bowser and Ludwig led the way to the music room.
Luigi looked at Bowser and asked: “So, you also like music?”
“Father taught me how to play piano.” Ludwig admitted softly.
Luigi hadn’t expected that. Bowser chuckled.
“I know, I seem too angry for that, but Kamek says every King should have a hobby. So I took up music.”
“And paints!!!” Junior exclaimed, excitedly. “Someday I’m gonna be as good a painter as Papa!”
Bowser snickered. “You already are, kiddo.”
“Nuh-uh, I mean like really better! Like way better! The best!”
“Well, you’ll get there in no time if you keep on practicing.”
“Yeah!”
Huh. The man shot the giant koopa a thoughtful glance. What else was Bowser good at? He wondered. He’d never really seen the big guy claim to be anything less than the best at something before now. Clearly there was more to the king than meets the eye…
They arrived and the doors magically opened for them.
Luigi stood stunned in the doorway. So many instruments, in varying conditions, some obviously salvaged when they were less than whole. And at the center of the enormous room was a grand piano glittering and sparkling. Wow. He recognized a familiar square brown leather trunk the size of himself and happily darted over to it.
He ran a fond hand over it’s smooth surface before going to open it. It had a bit of dust. He coughed as it swung wide. He heard Ludwig gasp over his shoulder.
“I’ve never seen so many records in my entire life!”
Luigi chuckled and gently carded the sleeves with his gloved fingers. Ah. There was one. He pulled it out and carefully held it out to Ludwig. The young maestro took it and Luigi opened the portable record player, whose box looked a bit like a suitcase. He got it set up and motioned to Ludwig for the record. Ludwig gave it to him and he started it turning, then gently swung the arm to the edge of the record and set it down gently.
“This one is-a very old. It belonged to Nonno’s parents. Where is that-a book of yours?”
Ludwig poofed it into Luigi’s hands with a flick of his wand. Luigi glanced at the index, then turned to a page and offered it back to Ludwig just as the music started. It was crackly. Probably because of how old the record was, but it made Ludwig’s heart soar.
Junior had gone and climbed his father’s spiky shell while the song played. When it finished he said, “He sings very loud!”
“Most opera is a sung very loud, principe. In my world, for a very long time, there was no other way to make yourself heard to people who were far away in the theater, so you had to sing really loud!”
“What about magic?”
“Oh, we do not have that kind of magic, piccolo principe.” Luigi smiled.
Ludwig had been following along in the book and now looked to Luigi hopefully.
“The words are in Italian, right?” He pronounced it carefully. Luigi nodded.
“So…you can understand what he is saying?”
Luigi blushed. Of course. He should have realized that they could not. He rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly. “Would you like me to translate it for you? I can write it underneath the Italian.”
Ludwig nodded, and handed him a pencil and the book. Luigi did his best. He wasn’t perfect at his translation he knew, but it was passable. The meaning was not lost.
It only took him a few moments.
“Can we play it one more time? I’ll read the lyrics to Father and Junior.”
“Si. Molto bene.”
Bowser and Junior listened and every few words or so, Ludwig would say the translated words. At the end Junior looked confused.
“So is he talking to the sun?”
“It’s a love song,” Ludwig explained before Luigi could. “He is saying that his lover is like his own sunlight which he feels whenever he sees them.”
“Oh. So he’s in love with the sun.”
Luigi laughed. “Si bambino. In a way his love is the sun.”
“That’s not half bad as love songs go. Bit poetical. I prefer to get straight to the point.”
“Ah, but the poetry is what makes it so beautiful! Here, let’s-a do this one next. This was always one of my favorites!”
He returned the first to its sleeve and replaced it with a much newer looking one. Then before he turned it on, he smiled. “Oh, and a this one is a pretty loud also.”
He wrote the words in Ludwig’s book as the music played. Then they listened again and Ludwig told them the words.
They looked confused. Luigi smiled. “This one has a bit of a story behind it. You see, the character singing the song has made a bet with a princess. If she doesn’t learn his name by midnight, she must marry him.”
“Hmm. Didn’t know that was a human marriage tactic. Would have tried it. Too late now.”
Luigi blushed. “It—it isn’t really and it wasn’t very fair of him to make that kind of wager without thinking about what she wanted.”
Bowser hummed thoughtfully, then asked as Luigi queued up another record, “What about you, greenie?”
“Scusi?”
“If a mysterious stranger showed up and offered you something like that wager. Would you take it?”
“I—” he earnestly considered. “Well if someone did something like that…I’m not sure. I’m not the type of person someone falls in love with at first sight.” He tried to chuckle awkwardly, but it came out sounding a bit forced.
“You’re attractive.”
Ludwig and Junior looked at each other, stunned, then Ludwig mouthed ‘later’ and Junior nodded. Luigi was too busy turning red and Bowser was too awkward to look anywhere but the ground.
“T-thank you.” Luigi said.
They went through a number of arias and other opera pieces until Junior fell asleep on Boswer’s shell. The big koopa was about to pull him off when Luigi smiled and said, “I’ll get him.”
Bowser was impressed when the human easily hefted Junior into his arms. Luigi was a lot stronger than he looked.
“I think it might be time for a nap.”
“Or bed. It’s been a rough day,” Bowser said softly, rubbing his face. “I can put him to bed—” his hands met Luigi’s where the green human was cradling Junior and they both looked away blushing. Ludwig raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent.
“I’m-a happy to do it if you’ll show me the way?”
Bowser agreed.
Ludwig watched them go with a very thoughtful look on his face.
Watching Luigi tuck Junior in, give him a little kiss and wish him sweet dreams had Bowser struggling not to purr. Now that he knew he liked Luigi he was nervous and scared to risk rejection. This wasn’t at all the way it had been with Peach, when she’d rejected him he’d kept trying because he was sure she’d change her mind. If Luigi said no…his chest ached. He really didn’t want Luigi to say no.
So it felt better to say nothing.
On their way back to Luigi’s room, the human seemed less smiley. More subdued. Bowser didn’t like it. Finally, after a long silence he rumbled, “You okay?”
“I—I haven’t thought about Nonno in a long time.”
“Oh.”
“He was-a very old. He’d just turned-a 95 the last time I saw him. The warp pipe broke the next week.”
Bowser said nothing. He could tell from the way Luigi was biting his lip that the human wasn’t done.
“And even if-a we find a new pipe back to our world…Nonno will probably be…”
“Are human lives so short?” He asked, his eyebrows low and his mouth curling downward.
“I—”Luigi’s teary eyes met Bowser’s red ones, glimmering with curiosity, “Bowser, how long do Koopas live?”
“A hundred and fifty sometimes two hundred years.” He growled softly, “but you didn’t answer my question.”
“I—” Tears intensified. Luigi sniffled. “W-we’re-a lucky if we make it to a hundred years.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m thirty.”
Bowser cursed under his breath, angry at the injustice of it all. He’d never even considered that maybe humans and their fragile bodies couldn’t survive more than a century…he should have, since he’d intended to marry one. But he’d never spared a thought. A soft touch on his arm stilled his existential anger.
“Bowser, how old are you?”
“Thirty-eight.”
Luigi smiled brighter than a star. “Then you have your whole life to look forward to.”
Suddenly he needed to know, “Luigi…are you happy?”
“Scusi?”
“Here, In this world, in your life, are you happy?” Luigi didn’t answer. Even more quietly, so quiet he assumed the other didn’t even hear him, “Are you happy here w-with us?”
Suddenly, the skirted human invaded the space between them. Two warm, soft gloved hands were on his plastron and those eyes were staring up at him again.
“Si, Bowser. Today—being here with you and the bambini—I’ve been very happy.”
Bowser wanted to touch back…shell, he wanted to kiss him. But suddenly he couldn’t. Human life in it’s limitedness felt suddenly more precious than ever before. He wanted Luigi. Wanted to take him and keep him, but…Luigi only had sixty or seventy years left. He might die before Bowser even celebrated his first century. If Luigi said yes to his affections and came to live with them here, how much would Luigi miss out on out there in the world? He recalled a childhood venture to the Mushroom kingdom where he’d trapped a butterfly in a jar with holes in the lid. He’d asked Kamek to make magical flowers inside so it would always have food and never go hungry. But it had died after a few weeks. And he’d been sad, because he’d trapped it away from its home and other butterflies and it died all alone in a jar.
He couldn’t do that to Luigi. Luigi deserved better…
“Bowser.”
He shook his head to clear his thoughts.
“Are you alright?” Luigi asked.
“Yeah, I—I need to go write a letter.”
“Oh. Okie dokie. Uh, goodnight.”
“Goodnight Luigi.”
The next morning Princess Peach was woken by a Koopa Troopa flying through her bedroom window, dropping a letter on her desk, then flying back out the way it had come. She yawned and forced herself up to go look at it just in case Bowser intended to pay her an early visit. The second she read the first sentence, her mouth opened and closed in shock.
Peaches,
I’m writing this to say I’m sorry. I’ve spent so many years chasing you, kidnapping you, trying to get you to marry me, but I’m done. I thought I loved you, but it turns out I never knew how terribly vicious love could be. It eats your heart out. Fate is just as cruel. I did not know until today how short the human life is. How precious every year becomes when you only have a century…I am so sorry I darkened so many of yours. I hope you get things moving with that annoying little tomato and marry before you reach your thirty fifth year. Much as I dislike him, Mario would be a fine king. He’s just ruthless enough to get the job done right.
I suppose I should apologize to that shrimp too, but forgive me a little grudge. Not sure if you’ve spoken to him at all since yesterday, but Luigi is here, in my kingdom. Of his own free will, don’t get your skirt in a bunch. He safely returned my wayward koopalings. I’d be more than happy to arrange an escort to see that he gets back to the Mushroom Kingdom safely. Or, if you prefer, you may come and pick him up so that I can apologize in person. But I won’t hand him over without your express assurance that he will be safe in your kingdom.
Bowser
Peach sat back in her chair, her mouth wide open. This didn’t feel like a trick. Bowser meant it. And Luigi was in the Darklands? Why? Only one way to find out. She got dressed and headed straight to Mario’s. When she got there she found a toad repair crew fixing the door and a near frantic Mario pacing like a tethered chain chomp.
“Mario.” She called getting his attention. “What happened here?”
“Bowser! He attacked Luigi while I was off wrangling his youngsters!! Then I come back and Luigi starts chastising me for hurting them! Them!! And we-a fight, and he knocks me out and runs off with them!”
That was a whirlwind of information. Peach reeled for a few moments, then she put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
“I got a letter. I think you should read it.”
She handed it to him. He read slowly. She watched his face go from shocked to confused to angry, to furious.
“What is he playing at?!”
“I don’t think he is. Mario, I think this could finally be a chance at peace.”
“Peachy, you don’t-a mean that! He’s—”
“I know what I mean, Mario. I want to go pick up Luigi and I want you to come with me.”
Mario frowned. He didn’t like it. It was probably some kind of crazy trap. But Peach had her heart set. He sighed.
“Fine.”
She kissed him and his whole face turned red as his shirt.
Junior and Ludwig called a koopaling meeting after breakfast. Bowser had volunteered to show Luigi the garden and grounds, so they’d been left to their own devices.
“Okay! Meeting started!” Junior said loudly.
“What’s this about?” Wendy asked.
“Luigi,” Ludwig explained.
Iggy looked hesitant. Lemmy giggled, Morton seemed pleased, and Roy just looked neutral.
“What about him?” Their sister asked.
“Papa likes him!” Junior blurted out.
Roy crossed his arms and frowned. “Yeah right. Why would he?”
“Luigi is nice!” Morton quickly defended.
“Junior is right. In the music room yesterday Dad rather tactlessly confessed that he finds Luigi attractive.”
Wendy’s eyes widened. “Well? What did Luigi say??!”
“He said thank you!” Junior said, happily.
Wendy did not think that was at all good until Junior added more.
“And then he got really really red!”
“All we have is your word for it.” Roy pointed out.
“And Luddy’s!” Junior retorted.
Ludwig sighed. “I would be inclined to agree, Roy, had I not witnessed their hopelessness yesterday. But if you truly need proof, just follow me. Quietly.”
Ludwig led them out onto the parapet and they climbed around on the roof until they dropped down one by one on the balcony overlooking the garden. Ludwig and Roy helped safely catch the others.
“Why are we here?” Iggy asked.
“Shhh!” Ludwig said, shoving his brother down out of sight as their father turned to glance at the noise. “Quietly. Watch.”
“Wowie zowie. This place is amazing.” Luigi said, gently reaching out and squeezing one of Bowser’s arms. The King smiled.
“Well you did say you liked to garden.”
“Si! And I’ve never even seen most of these plants before. These flowers!” Luigi bent down and smelled them. Bowser purred. The koopalings’ heads perked up. Father purring at Luigi… Luigi beamed at the koopa king. “They’re beautiful!”he exclaimed, looking back the flowers.
“Yes. Incredibly beautiful.” Luigi was smelling the flowers and didn’t realize that the king was looking only at him. But the koopalings saw.
Roy couldn’t quite meet Ludwig’s told-you so face, so he held open the balcony doors while his siblings rushing inside. The second he closed them they all began to chatter excitedly about Bowser’s new love interest.
Mario didn’t like this. He and Peach hadn’t been attacked at all. Not once. Every koopa they met just gave a little bow and let them pass.
“I don’t like it, Peach. It’s got to be a trap.”
“Mario, relax. You’re so tense in the shoulders.”
“I mean it. This doesn’t feel right.”
“If his letter was sincere why would he have his troops attack us, Mario?”
“Because he didn’t mean it! Obviously.”
“But what if he did?”
“I don’t trust him.”
“Mario!”
This argument went around in circles until Peach just pointed out they would have to find out. Then they arrived at the castle. Mario really hated this dreary place. He wasn’t sure what was worse, the Bowser likeness of everything or the dark sameness of it all. They got to the door and Mario looked at Peach.
“So now what?” He asked.
Poof! He tensed and shoved Peach a step behind him.
“Well usually, it is customary to knock, but as we have been expecting you I would be more than happy to escort you to his Royalness.”
“Great.” Mario said, his voice thick with sarcasm. Peach just rolled her eyes and followed the Magikoopa.
“How are you, Kamek?”
“Oh I’ve been very well, Princess. I trust you’ve had his Regretfulness’ letter?”
“Yes. Though it was quite a surprise.”
“For you, perhaps. However his enthusiasm for kidnapping you was mostly fueled by the vicious rivalry with your red knight back there. I had wondered when he would realize it was futile.”
“Hmm. We’ve of course, come mainly to fetch Luigi.”
“Of course. I am well aware of that. Though it will be quite a shame. The little ones were really flourishing under his care.”
“Oh,” she said quietly. “He’s been spending time with the Koopalings?”
“Oh practically every day. The little rascals have been fighting for his attention almost as much as they fight for their royal father’s.”
Mario glared. “So you’ve been making him babysit.”
Kamek’s beak wrinkled. “I think you’ll find that we have not been ‘making’ him do anything.”
“Sure.” Mario said sarcastically.
Peach frowned at him. “Mario, be nice.”
“Nice? They’re our enemies!”
“They don’t have to be!” Peach whisper shouted back. “Just please try and behave yourself.”
“Fine.”
“Hmm. His Steeliness is in the study. Luigi and the children are in the throne room, if your champion would prefer to rendezvous with his brother whilst his highness apologizes?”
“Ugh. Fine. Whatever.”
“Do you require—”
“I know the way.” Mario barked back.
Kamek took Peach to the study. She’d been there once or twice before, but this time the windows were open the orange sunlight was streaming in. It felt almost welcoming. Bowser stood to greet her and she curtsied in return.
“Peaches”
“Bowser.”
They sat down. Then there was extremely awkward silence. Finally, she cleared her throat.
“I got your letter.”
“Yeah. Good. I—I meant what I said.”
“I know. I could tell.” She said softly. “Thank you for apologizing. I—can’t fully forgive you for everything, but I appreciate it.”
Bowser just nodded.
“Since you are sincere in this matter, would the koopa kingdom be willing to consider a peace treaty?”
“I—” Bowser nodded. “Yes. I was hoping that some kind of arrangement could be reached.”
“Excellent. I look forward to diplomatic discussions!” She got up to leave and offered him her hand, only for him to stare at it. “Bowser?”
“I—can I ask you something?”
She blinked. Where had this nervous side come from? He was usually so brash. She nodded.
“If you don’t want to answer, it’s fine. But—if you were free—if you didn’t have a kingdom that needed you and someone—a king—asked you to spend your life with him, would you?”
For the first time ever he wasn’t talking about her. Bowser wanted to marry someone else…
Bowser had fallen in love? She perched on the corner of the desk and gently laid her hand over his.
“Bowser, what’s this about?”
“I love him.” He whispered, almost brokenly. Somehow even though he’d caused her so much distress, her heart still ached in sympathy.
“Love who, Bowser?”
“Luigi.” Bowser’s voice was almost inaudible, but she was close enough she caught it. Her eyes became the size of saucers.
“Oh.” She was starting to understand.
“Peaches, I don’t know how it happened! Everything went so fast. He’s only been here three days and I—I—I’m sure.”
“Well, that is a bit of a problem. He’s a mushroom kingdom citizen.”
“I know.”
“And he lives very far away from here.”
“I know.”
“And Mario would never allow it.”
“That’s none of his business.”
“Mario won’t agree.” She said softly.
“Gee, ya think?” Bowser was so tired. He’d run over and over this in his head last night and no matter how far he got it all seemed doomed. “You think I should let him go?”
“I don’t think Mario will give you much choice.”
Mario heard laughter coming from the throne room. He peeked cautiously inside before he dared to enter. Shoot. Luigi was in there with all eight of them. If things escalated, it was very unlikely they’d make it out uninjured. When he pushed open the doors and stepped inside the laughter stopped. Luigi and Bowser Jr. stood hand in hand as though they’d just been dancing. Luigi let the little claws go and nervously approached him.
“F-fratellone.”
The blue haired Koopaling looked up from a book. Mario didn’t pay attention to the book itself. And he should have. It was a book for Italian language learners Luigi had asked Kamek to teleport over from their house a few days prior. Ludwig was a very fast learner and had been practicing by having Luigi solely address him in Italian.
So, when Mario spoke next, Ludwig carefully parsed the words.
“Fratellino, sto bene?”
“Si stai bene. Mario,” Luigi had been about to apologize when Mario held open his arms. Luigi rushed forward and hugged him.
“I already forgave you, little brother. Come on. We just need Peach and we’ll head home.”
“Mario…" Luigi pulled away and glanced back at Bowser’s brood.
“Luigi.” Mario said sharply.
“They’re very nice to me and I love all the bambini. I want to stay just a few more—”
“No. It isn’t safe here.”
Luigi’s eyes narrowed. “Mario, they won’t hurt me.”
“You don’t know that Lu. They’re probably just tricking you into letting your guard down.”
“Why should they? They’re just children.”
“Evil Monstrous children.”
“Take that back.”
“No.”
“Take it back, Mario.”
“I won’t. You’re coming with me, Weegee! We’re going home.”
Luigi slid out of his grasp. “No.”
“Luigi,” Mario’s face was turning red with anger.
“No.” Luigi repeated.
“You’re coming home where it’s safe! I’m not leaving you here!” He grabbed his brother securely around the waist and began to drag him bodily toward the door when a fireball very narrowly missed them. Junior was growling and glaring at Mario with tears in his eyes.
“Stop it! He said no!”
“Principe…” Luigi gasped, horrified that—knowingly or not—Junior had turned Mario’s wrath onto himself. Junior took another deep inhale and Mario launched forward. The Koopalings shouted and also started toward them, but Luigi was quicker. He knew that attack. Mario would sprint forward and punch. He leapt and just shoved Junior aside as the ferocious punch sent him back into the wall behind them. He slid to the floor, his head ringing and his vision blurry.
“Don’t hurt them…” he murmured in Italian.
“Weegee…” Mario dropped to his knees, hating himself both for striking his brother and not having the courage to go to Weegee’s side.
“What’s going on?!” A panicked, booming voice roared. Mario stood, on guard, his eyes narrowed. He watched Bowser look from the Koopalings, who were restraining Junior, to Mario, to the crumpled form of Luigi, then back to Mario with fire leaking from his mouth.
“WHAT DID YOU DO?” Bowser shouted, rushing toward him.
Mario readied a punch when one voice stopped the Koopa king in his tracks.
“Bowser, no.”
Bowser heard the concerned note in Luigi’s call and as much as he wanted to burn Mario for whatever had happened, his body obeyed.
Then, in thick, sluggish Italian, Luigi addressed his brother.
“Mario…promise me you won’t hurt them. Please. Promise me you’ll never hurt them again and I’ll go with you.”
“L-luigi…” Mario stared. He wasn’t—he wasn’t the bad guy here…right? Then why was Luigi begging him? Weegee…what had he done?
“Please Mario! Prometto?”
“Prometto, Luigi.”
The green brother’s fear wasn’t completely abated, but Mario had made him a promise, and he had to have faith Mario would keep it. He let his brother help him up, then he seemed to be locked on something behind Mario. Bowser. Mario bristled, only for Luigi to rush to the giant koopa and wrap him in a hug. They spoke. Mario couldn’t hear what was being said, but Luigi said something back and Bowser stiffened uneasily.
“Luigi, you could stay, help with the kids, the garden, cook—do anything you like. I—I don’t want you to go.”
“I know, but I—I’m sorry.” Bowser couldn’t look him in the eye after that so he missed Luigi’s desperate tears. The little human leaned forward as though to whisper something to him and instead kissed his cheek. His heart ached.
After he stepped away from Bowser he was mobbed by koopalings, all of them talking over each other, asking if he was hurt, if he was going to be alright and if he was leaving. Ludwig leaned close, looking scared and desperate.
“Don’t go. Please. Don’t do this just to—”
Luigi’s eyes widened. He hadn’t realized Ludwig had heard so much…his tears returned and he hugged them all as best he could, softly sobbing to the eldest.
“I’m sorry bambino, but I need to know you are all safe.”
Ludwig could feel moisture in his eyes. No. No. Father couldn’t just stand by and let Mario do this. Luigi didn’t want to go. Father had to stop this! But father was just staring at the floor.
Peach gathered the sobbing Luigi in her arms and cast a sharp glare back at Mario as they departed the castle without once looking back.
Mario frowned. It had been three whole weeks since he’d brought Luigi home from the darklands. And his brother was still miserable. Luigi barely slept, barely ate, but was cooking enough to feed Peach’s entire army. He was beside himself with worry. He’d tried more than once to ask what was wrong, but Luigi just shrugged.
He sighed. Right now, Luigi was staring at the roses again.
He went outside and knelt beside his brother in the dirt.
“Lu?”
“Oh, hey. Sorry. I…I just like to smell them.”
Mario didn’t think they smelled much at all, but he nodded.
“The ones in the darklands were nicer. They smell sweet.”
Mario stared. “I didn’t know they could grow flowers there.”
“Me neither. Bowser showed me.”
The idea of Bowser showing his little brother around a royal garden made an odd feeling shoot up his spine.
“What else did you two get up to over there?”
“We listened to Nonno’s record collection with Ludwig! He’s a musical maestro! A genius! His symphonies, they’re beautiful! Nonno would have loved them!”
Mario gave his brother a careful side-eye. They’d listened to records?
“Oh and we helped the kids build an enormous blanket fort! The biggest you’ve ever seen!”
Weegee’s eyes were sparkling.
“And Bowser…he was so kind…we talked about opera and family and…” Luigi fiddled with the rosebud he’d been sniffing and became sad again. He confessed, “he asked me to stay and I—Mario…” Luigi stared at the ground, “I have-a to tell you something. I—I thought maybe after you took me home after we got back, it—it would go away—b-but it didn’t. Mario…I—”
“You want to be with Bowser.” Mario finished. They were twins, after all. And he’d spent a lot of time thinking about the promise he made to Luigi. About how the brother he’d injured was begging him not to lay a hand on the koopa family. Of course, Luigi had begged. In that moment Mario was essentially threatening Luigi’s tesoro. He took a deep breath.
“I know. I—I didn’t see it at first. I didn’t understand. I probably still don’t understand. But—you love him, si?”
“Si Mario. I—I love him and I love the bambini.”
Mario sighed. “Then you should probably go to him.”
Luigi stared. “Mario, do you mean it?”
“Si fratellino, go and find your tesoro.”
“But what if they don’t want me anymore?” Luigi lamented, heartbroken. Mario gathered him up in a hug.
“If he loves you half as much as you love him, he’ll be desperate to have you back. Come on, before you can go anywhere, we need to get you cleaned up. Just because you fell to pieces without him doesn’t mean he should know you forgot to take proper care of yourself!”
Luigi went to the bathroom to shave and shower while Mario picked him an outfit. He chose his mint green fuzzy sweater and jeans. Which was admittedly something he felt extremely comfortable in. He put it on and Mario insisted they go by the castle to tell Peach he’d be gone. He sighed and agreed. So, they waited in the garden outside her office until a familiar, enormous spikey shape came around the corner. Luigi let out a surprised yelp and Mario just gave him a thumbs up and disappeared through the trees.
“L-Luigi. What are you doing here?”
“I—I was just coming to tell the princess that I was—I…”
Bowser frowned. The dark circles under Luigi’s eyes were darker than ever. Without thinking, he gently ran a finger over them and Luigi gasped.
“B-Bowser…”
“You look tired.”
“I am tired. I—I’ve been pretty-a miserable.”
Bowser was getting lost in those sweet, pained blue eyes. Miserable? No. He didn’t want Luigi to be miserable, he wante—
“I didn’t really want to leave. I just wanted you and the kids to be safe.”
“I know.”
Luigi stared and Bowser smiled sadly.
“Ludwig.”
“I’m sorry. I—”
“I know. It’s okay.” Bowser wrapped his arms around him and suddenly Luigi felt so…safe. Luigi hugged tight. “I missed you so much.”
“I—I missed you too, amore.”
“I borrowed that book you leant him.” Bowser said, purring. “I know what that means.”
Luigi turned red.
“I hope you realize that I’m taking you with me back to my kingdom.” He smirked.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Luigi said, breathlessly. Bowser grinned and finally closed the distance between them.
And they all lived happily ever after.