A Nutcracker and the Beast

Chapter 30: A Bother Love is Broken

"There you are," Bowser said as he took his spot next to Luigi in their tower. After the talk with Mario, Luigi couldn't stop thinking about it, which led to him having difficulty going to bed and sneaking out of the room to get some quiet. Luigi didn't say hi or look at Bowser; he just stared down to see half of the Castle and the lava surrounding it. Bowser knows Luigi's sad mood and nudges him, getting Luigi to look at him as he asks, "What's wrong?""I'm just thinking about things," Luigi said, going back to look down at the ground.

"Is it about Mario? After all, you two were together earlier tonight." Bowser asks. He had asked where Mario was when Peach only showed up with Daisy and the Wario brothers. She said that he was being stubborn, so he stayed in his room. It wasn't until everyone wanted a late-night snack that they found him and Luigi laughing together, sharing a bowl of soup. Luigi soon shut down when they came in. Mario lit up even more, running to hug Peach as she was happy that Mario was at least trying to get along with one of Bowser's subjects. Bowser soon saw Luigi excuse himself, leaving quickly that no one else seemed to care if he was gone as they smelled the soup Luigi had made for Mario. When Bowser tried to follow, Waluigi made him take a set as Mario seemed to be in a good mood now, that he wouldn't pick a fight with him. Odd but relaxing as Mario was being friendly to him, but that left him worrying about Luigi. Once down with his soup, he returned to his room and looked for Luigi, not finding him anywhere. So he went to the only other places he knew that Luigi would be, and here they were now.

"Yeah, but it's not because of what happened in the kitchen." Luigi said, getting a bit of a bittersweet smile, "Me and Mario were talking about old memories. I was really happy about that...until I had to keep most of them to myself as he shared the one I want to share. It's...weird to have to listen to someone share a memory of something you did together, only for it to be told differently because they don't remember you and you're gone from the whole story."

"He'll remember soon, don't worry, Luigi," Bowser said as he rubbed his head, but Luigi didn't seem to cheer up by that. He still looked upset and hurt as he held his hands together, looking down.

"Yeah, just make me wonder how he remembers that last moment with me...He must remember getting mad about something Peach did, hehe," Luigi jokes around, but his face shows even more sadness. Joking around wasn't something Luigi did; he was awful at doing them to show that he wasn't sad, but that one Luigi just made clearly shows how hurt he really is.

"It can't be that bad,'' Bowser said, as he stopped rubbing and trying to pick Luigi up. However, Luigi pushed his hand away. He didn't want to be picked up; he wanted to sit on the cold stone, hiding away from everyone. Bowser pulled a sad face when Luigi pushed his hand away, so he just rested his hand next to Luigi in case Luigi changed his mind.

"It is. The worst, actually. That last night we had together...makes me wonder if it even happened in his memoirs. I mean, how can you remember getting mad at someone if they don't exist?" Luigi said with a high-pitched voice, trying to giggle it off as a joke, but it sounded like he was about to cry. He thought that this would be easy, getting Mario to like him and be friends, but the more and more time he hung out with him - the more upset Luigi got that he couldn't talk to Mario like he used to.

"What- actually, never mind," Bowser said; it was clear that Luigi was upset about it all. He shouldn't ask what happened that night.

"You want to know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Luigi snuffled as he turned to face Bowser, who rolled his shoulder back in discomfort before nodding at Luigi. He really wanted to know what happened, and if Luigi was offering to tell him, he would take it.

"It was so stupid...We- I shouldn't have gotten so mad about it..." Luigi said, looking back down. It was true; they were both mad at each other, but Luigi was so angry at Mario that he couldn't help it. He couldn't stop himself from fighting with him.