Mario Bros - A Brothers Love.

Chapter: One - Your Shadow

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It was mid-afternoon in the Mushroom Kingdom; Mario and Luigi had just arrived at Peach's Castle, finally returning after a long trek from Bower's Castle.

As per usual, the two brothers where met with the adoring cheers of the Kingdoms villagers, well... Mario was at least.

Luigi sighed to himself quietly, Mario was always the one getting all the attention but he had learned to deal with it for the time being. Slowly; he shuffled behind the group as they entered into the Castle, Peach said her farewells and left the brothers all alone.

"Luigi?" Mario states after a few seconds of silence. "Is everything alright? You don't seem like yourself today." A look of concern had now adorned the elders features, the younger brother had been acting aloof all day and now he wanted to find out why.

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine. You don't need to concern yourself with me, thank you for asking though." Luigi replies slowly, he had been thinking to himself when Mario asked the question but now he was fully alert to the situation.

"No, you've been acting oddly all day. I can understand if you don't want to talk about it, it's just that you've had me concerned." Mario retorts, Luigi was hiding something from him and he wanted to find out what. He hated seeing his little brother so worked up like this, it was troublesome to say the least.

For a few, long, seconds Luigi said nothing. The seconds that he was silent felt like an eternity to Mario but finally he got a quiet reply.

"I'll tell you later." With that Luigi turned to face the exit before slowly walking away, Mario was in slight shock with the tone of the reply but he shuck his head before starting to jog in order to catch up with his brother.

"Luigi, wait!" Mario called out as he passed the large gates of the Castle entrance and to his surprise Luigi stalled before stopping in his tracks, at least he was still willing to listen.

"Luigi, if something is bothering you I can understand but why won't you tell me now? I want to be able to help you." Mario says as he walks up to the silent plumber and places a gentle hand upon his shoulder.

"I... I don't want you to judge me." Luigi quietly murmurs, the reply was just about audible but it was loud enough for Mario to hear.

"Judge you?" Mario cocks his head in question before walking around so he was in front of Luigi. "Why on Earth would you think I'd do that? I'm your brother Luigi, I couldn't do anything but love you." Mario continued, this time with a gentle smile crossing his face.

"Mario..." Luigi starts but trails off; his cheeks a light reddish-pink in embarrassment, how could he have been so foolish as to think Mario would ever judge him?

However, deep in his subconscious; he couldn't help but feel this way, could he really trust Mario not to judge him if he were to know the truth?

Luigi shook his head; no his brother wouldn't do that, he knew full well he wouldn't do that. So why? Why was he thinking such demeaning things?

"Let's... Let's go home." Luigi states as he pulled his thoughts together, it's been a long day and all he wanted was to get some much needed rest.

"Sure, lets-a go." Mario nods with a smile of understanding, perhaps he'd get his answers later.

...

It was now about late noon, the two brothers were laying on the couch in their living room just enjoying each others company.

Mario sighed softly as he repositioned his head so it was now leaning against Luigi's left shoulder, he still hadn't gotten anything from said younger brother but he knew he would eventually. He just had to be patient.

"Mario?" Luigi states suddenly after a few seconds of silence, Mario turned so his gaze was locked with the others.

"Yes?" Mario replied after another few seconds of silence had passed, he sensed that Luigi wasn't going to speak unless he had replied to what was said.

"Can I... Can I ask you something?" Luigi asked, he had a troubled look on his face so Mario sat up fully in order to face him properly.

"Of course you can, what is it you want to ask me?" Mario asked, concern once again littering his features. Was he finally going to get the answers he longed for?

"Mario... Am I... Your shadow?" Luigi asked again but this time at a much slower pace. For a moment there was silence but not the usual silence but rather a stunned silence.

Mario stared at Luigi in utter disbelief as he couldn't believe what he had just heard, why on Earth would Luigi ask such a thing?

"Luigi, why would you think such a thing? You're not my shadow; you're my brother and never, never will you ever be my shadow. I view you as a person that I treasure and hold dear and that view isn't going to change any time soon." Mario replies, hugging Luigi with all the affection and love he could muster before gently placing a kiss on his forehead.

"I promise." Mario smiles but frowns when he saw tears begin to appear in Luigi's eyes. "Are you okay little bro?" He asked immediately, now slightly worried incase he had made Luigi upset.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay. It's just... I wasn't expecting for you to say such reassuring things, in fact I was expecting for you to... Tease me for being so stupid as to doubt your views on me." Luigi sniffed lightly before wiping the tears from his eyes with the back of his hands.

"Oh come now; you know I'd never do that to you but tell me, is this the reason why you weren't yourself today?" Mario asked, raising a brow as he did so. Was there more to this story than just misinformation?

"Well... It's just, every time we return from a mission or from rescuing the Princess the villagers always look at you as the hero. Now normally I'm fine with this, for I don't do these missions or rescues for recognition, but sometimes I would overhear Toads talking about how I'm like your shadow. Always there but never any use..." Luigi explains, as he did so he shuffled and fidgeted nervously but didn't move away.

"So I began to assume that what they would say to be true, I am always by your side but I always manage to screw up and make things harder for you." Luigi continued until he had seemingly finished his explanation, once again there was a silence but this time it was only brief.

"I see... Luigi, as you know, everyone makes mistakes from time to time and you can't help it if you make them. I don't care what others say about you, I know you and I love you for who you are. Screw ups or not you are always by my side and for that I shall always be thankful." Mario states with a smile before quickly pulling off the green hat and playfully ruffling the brown hair of his brother.

"Haha! Hey, stop that!" Luigi giggled as he playfully nudged Mario in the chest, well at least his thoughts had been put to rest in the back of his mind.

"I love you bro and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, okay?" Mario asked with a slight chuckle, gently replacing the hat he had taken back on Luigi's head.

"Okay!" Luigi nods with a smile and with that the two brothers layed in silence on the couch for the rest of the night.

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I hope you enjoyed my first Mario Bros fanfic, stay tuned for Chapter 2. Coming soon!

Until then, see you next time! :)