Mimi peered around the black and white door frame. It was late. She needed a snack, but there was a problem. That L was in the way. Sure he was an excellent cook but he was still a jerk. She had expected to smell that aroma of pasta and those strange balls of meat again, but the smell wafting from the kitchen was sweet.

He stood at the counter, busying himself with a sugary treat. He was baking a small chocolate cake, decorating it with a mechanical almost robotic pattern drawn out in icing. Mimi gaped, attempting to peer around him from a distance. The last thing she expected from that jerk was an artistic talent.

"What do you want?" he glared at her over his shoulder a moment before turning back to his work.

She opened her mouth to fuss but she stopped. He had called her Mims earlier that day, the first time he'd called her something other than Junior. "Cake."

L frowned. "Get your own."

Mimi flared up. "You can't eat that whole thing by yourself, you jerk!"

He pulled a large knife from the drawer, carefully slicing into his decorated work. He peered over his shoulder with a cocky smirk. "What, are you so junior you can't make your own cake?"

Mimi flared up even more, falling for L's taunts. "Give Mimi cake now!"

Mimi frowned, lying on her back, staring up at the sky. Beside her sat a slice of very decorative cake, but she had barely touched it. It just wasn't the same. That pink princess was a good baker, baking a massive cake with pink frosting to celebrate their return to the Mushroom World and victory over the Dark Star a few days prior, but it just still didn't feel the same.

It just didn't feel like a victory. The count was gone. O'chunks had gone missing, Nastasia leaving to search for him. Her only friend L wasn't even real. Before she had left, Nastasia informed Mimi that Luigi, the real Mr. L, wouldn't remember any of his service to the count, that he would return to his original form when he returned to consciousness. Mimi easily could've traveled with Nastasia in search of that chunking oaf and any signs of the count, but for some reason, she stayed behind. This Mushroom World was weird. She felt like she didn't belong, but she didn't really belong anywhere.

"Would you like some company?" The man in green peered down at her with a friendly smile. "It's more fun to watch the clouds with someone else."

She peered up at him, frowning sharply. "You're blocking my view, greeny." He had the same silhouette that L did, but that smile was definitely not his. The man had to be Luigi, L's host that knew nothing about her.

"Oh, sorry," he apologized, stepping to the side and sitting down next to her.

Mimi frowned even more, frustrated. This was L's original form?! There was just no way it was him. The two were complete opposites. Sure they had the same shape and thing for green, but there was just no way. "Go away."

"Do I look like I care if you want my company or not, Mims?"

Mimi's eyes shot wide open as she nearly leapt to her feet. "L?!" She stared at Luigi who stared back at her wide-eyed, both hands clamped over his mouth. That was definitely his voice and manner of talking but only the two of them were here sitting in the castle courtyard. She scooted over, taking to her hands and knees to get in Luigi's face, scrutinizing him harshly.

"I-I'm sorry!" he stammered in return. "It just sort of came out." He looked as though he wished to shrink into the grass and disappear.

Mimi sat back down, still staring. "It is you. But how? I didn't think that you would even remember. You do remember, right?"

Luigi sighed in relief as Mimi sat back down. He stared down at his hands. Moments ago, he felt it was all just some nightmare. Fighting his brother, becoming a villain, but it wasn't all bad. There was this green in his dream. The green had befriended him. "Bits and pieces. I remember shapes and colors, conversations and something about a kitchen. It's all surreal, like a strange dream that felt real."

"But it was real!" Mimi protested. "Well… to me at least." She deflated a little. Mr. L still wasn't real. He was just a fabrication, one that would never return. "Nastasia said you wouldn't remember anything, that L would never come back."

Luigi pursed his lips together. She was truly upset about this odd persona that only moments before he thought was a dream. He recalled the name. Mr. L. He'd heard it several times in his dreams. "I'm not sure if L will return or even if he's real. But it seems he's a part of me or something. I'm not really sure anymore. But this green Mims was important to him. Or to me. How does this actually work?"

She perked up a little bit. He remembered her somehow.

He frowned confused at how exactly it did work. "I remember pasta in the kitchen and competing and jumping through portals to work together and there was some sort of conspiracy we tried to uncover. Well L and Mims did. Technically that is we, isn't it? Look. I'm not him. Well I am but not really. Maybe Luigi can be friends with Mims, too."

She stared at him for a moment. Those were L's memories, but the person speaking was so drastically different. "You're not much like him."

"I'm realizing this," Luigi frowned a bit.

"You're kind of a wuss."

"You're not wrong."

Mimi frowned. He admitted it so quickly. Nastasia did say something about removing inhibitions and fears. The original L really was a wussy guy. But there was something about him, something that still reminded her of L, just not an overbearingly arrogant jerk L.

"I would…" he paused. He didn't often say what he wanted to do, just going along with everyone else. But he was his own person too. The more he thought about it, the more he felt those memories of a more confident self, a bit too much on the arrogant side, but more confident than he normally was. Perhaps things didn't need to always be so frightening. "I would like us to be friends, secret partners in crime of sorts. But not committing crimes." He held out his hand to her.

She stared down at it for a moment. Sure he wasn't exactly her L but he was still L in a way. Dimentio was wrong about him. This real L wasn't entirely a pushover. He was stronger, able to handle memories he thought weren't his own. Perhaps she truly could befriend this green weirdo. She did want a place to belong, after all, and where better than beside someone she'd come to trust as her own family. She conceded and placed her small hand in his with a small smile in return. "It'll be our secret. But you have to make some more of that roof tile pasta for Mimi."

He smiled brightly. "It's a promise." Perhaps one day he could sort out what had happened, what he remembered. This mysterious Mr. L was a part of him, a surprisingly villainous side that had somehow befriended a lonely strange green girl over pasta. Not too surprising. Even a villainous Luigi could still make friends. It was a talent of his. "Would you like to join us for a round of golf?"

"Golf?" she stared at him. "What's that and why is it round?"

He laughed, amused. "It's a game. Come, I'll show you how to play. We can invite everyone and have a competition, teams of two to see who can play the best game."

A competition? Now that she understood. "L and Mimi, unbeatable combination in this round golf competition!"

Luigi smiled brightly. This mysterious other half of himself maybe wasn't so frightening after all. "The princesses are pretty competitive, you know."

Mimi scoffed, climbing on his shoulders. She was surprisingly light, hanging off his shoulders like a stringy green backpack. "Giving up already or are you afraid to beat the pants off your girlfriend?" She'd heard Daisy's confession in that battle against the Dark Star. She could put two and two together.

Luigi flushed bright red before suddenly scoffing. "As if." There was that L showing through again. It wouldn't necessarily be the worst to have some confidence and competitiveness in him. He'd just make sure not to have the evil villain show through. "I mean, let's do our best, and by best, I mean be number one."

….

Author's musings

Thank you for reading! I hope you all enjoyed my story!