Forbidden Fruit (A Bowigi Fanfic)

A Major Oversight Part 1

     Luigi sat alone in his chamber.  He stared into his mirror and idly twisted his mustache, lost in thought.  He smiled as he thought back on the events of the night. 

     It went the way most parties at Mushroom Castle went.  A lavish dinner followed by drinks and dancing.  Parties at the castle were always open-invitation to everyone in the kingdom. Often full of vibrantly coloured Toads,  dinosaurs, and other allies to the throne, it was never to be missed.

    That night, the theme was a costume party, everyone dressed up as each other.  Mario and Peach had dressed up as Captain Toad and Toadette respectively.  Luigi and Daisy had dressed up as Peach and Mario but decided to switch things up a bit.  Luigi donned Peach's dress and Daisy wore Mario's blue overalls.  The other couple had laughed but Luigi felt elegant and Daisy confessed to him that the overalls were way more comfortable than her usual dress. He had to agree with her on that.  Toad also wore a beautiful dress as he pretended to be Daisy and Toadette was Luigi for the night.  Luigi thought everyone did really well on their costumes.  Even Yoshi kept getting them all confused. 

     After several hours of dancing with Daisy, chatting and, enjoying the wonderful hors d'oeuvres, it was time to head off to bed.  Mario and Peach had smiled knowingly and proudly as Daisy and Luigi headed off towards Luigi's room.

     There was nothing Mario wanted more for his younger brother than for him to marry Daisy.  Luigi suspected Peach also put the same pressure on Daisy.  It was terrible.  Luigi liked Daisy and she liked him but Luigi wasn't so sure about marriage.

     That night when they reached Luigi's room, Daisy gently (as gently as the wild princess could) grabbed both of Luigi's hands and gazed softly into his eyes.  She had leaned in for a kiss and Luigi had closed his eyes.  He waited, almost leaning away but knowing this was the future his brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law had chosen for the two of them. 

   Their lips never met. Daisy sighed and Luigi opened his eyes. 

     "What's wrong, Daisy?" Luigi tilted his head slightly to the side.  Could it be?  Did she feel the same as him? 

       "I can't do this." She looked defeated. "I tried so hard to love you. I'm so sorry, you're not a bad guy.  I actually really like you, just not in the way I've been told I'm supposed to."

     She did.  A slow smile made its way across Luigi's face as he processed her words. "Me too, Daisy.  You're a wonderful friend but, I don't think I can do what Mario wants of me this time."

     "Mario too? Peach was on my ass about not even asking you on a date."

     "Daisy, I am so glad you told me because I was way too scared to tell you."

     They both laughed at that statement.  It was well-known throughout the Mushroom Kingdom that Luigi was a coward.  He spooked easily and was too afraid of ghosts to live in his own luxurious mansion.  Instead, he lived in Mushroom Castle with his brother and his brother's fiancée.  

     Daisy had been living with them for the past 6 months.  She always said it was temporary and she'd be gone soon but it seemed less true every week.  6 months ago was when Bowser had taken over Sarasaland.  He'd attacked when he heard that Peach was visiting there.  Daisy's army had not been anticipating any attacks and was easily bested.  So far, Peach didn't have a big enough army and Bowser's location had been unknown since 2 months after the attack.  He was probably planning something big.  That lay heavy on the minds of everyone but it was hardly spoken about outside official meetings.  

     Now wasn't the time to think about that. Luigi and Daisy had just had a huge burden lifted from their shoulders. They had stayed up talking and laughing by candlelight, feeling no pressure on their friendship for the first time since they had met. 

     It was that feeling that had Luigi smiling as he started to remove his makeup. The feeling of freedom and that his life may actually be going in the right direction.   He was so giddy that he almost missed the sound of chopper blades whirring outside his window.

Almost.