Life might tear us apart, but our bond will always bring us together

Disclaimer: The characters are property of Nintendo, not mine.

Enjoy!

SMB =Mario

SMB=Mr.L/Luigi

SMB=Both


Discoveries

"Ohohohoho, what is this?"

Mario tried to withdraw, looking distrusfully at the pleased King Boo. His gloomy violet eyes, which once stared at his chest, connected with his own, widening his sharp smile.

"Funny, I didn't know the great Super Mario had a partner."

"What the hell are you talking about?" He ventured to ask, tensing up.

"And he doesn't even know!" He laughed with delight. "This is better than I thought, and to think that all this time you've been fighting with each other, and now you're here, both of you just for me."

Mario growled and hit the painting with fury. "Stop babbling and tell me what you're talking about!"

"Why, I'm obviously talking about your little twin brother, of course."

His breath escaped, ice covering his veins as something inside him stopped and started to heat up.

"W-What?"

A twin... a brother.

It had to be a joke. A hoax by that stupid Boo. And yet...

Why did it feel so good to hear it?

King Boo laughed out loud, a malicious gleam in his eyes that made the hero's hair stand on end.

"Certainly, this discovery has made everything far more interesting."

Future

Madame Clarivoya did not need to see forty-nine days in the future to know that what lay ahead for that young man in green was an extremely difficult and painful road.

Her only comfort was the knowledge that the brother in red would always be by his side.

Reality

When he was little (fragile and weak), L's favorite part was when he could finally succumb to his exhaustion and sleep for a couple of hours, getting away from the screams and looks of disgusting from his teacher.

His dreams were the best part; in a small house with two loving parents, L felt loved and protected like he had never felt before in his short life. Oddly enough, his clothes were red, but that mattered little to him when he could laugh so freely and make mistakes without being hit, insulted or looked down upon.

He does not remember very well when those warm dreams became endless nightmares; he only remembers that the misery of having to wake up from something so beautiful and face his cruel reality was gone.

After all, there was no longer any difference between nightmares and reality.

Empty.

He never understood it. That strange feeling that has accompanied him since his earliest childhood. Like something cold and desolate... that no matter what he did, he could never fill.

He traveled and made hundreds of friends. He had people he loved and who loved him back. A princess for whom he would give everything and whose shy smiles belonged only to him.

And yet...

Sometimes it took his breath away. Other times, it would make sleeping impossible. Many others times, he was filled with an unbearable despair that turned to anger and, soon after, to tears of frustration.

Something was missing. Something that his soul cried out for even when he did not hear it. Something that should be with him, by his side, safe and sound, but there was only the emptiness and the hollow of its absence in his heart.

Mario smiles, though, and moves on, because what else can he do?

And then he meets Mr. L, and he hates him immediately.

And his mind, as busy as ever thinking about that criminal, doesn't recognize the fast beating of his heart and that emptiness filling up very slowly.

Compassion

The news are nothing new. It's something that makes him roll his eyes in annoyance and Mimi snort with mockery. King Koopa, at this point in life, is nothing but a bad joke to the entire community of villains.

Clinging to a princess on a mere whim is something that slowly transformed him from a ruthless villain into a tantrum-like child in the eyes of many.

His little hostage, however, does not find the situation as funny as they do.

"You have to let me out! The princess is in danger!" Exclaims the figure inside the painting fiercely, constantly pounding on his prison.

L sends him a dull glance, sitting comfortably in a chair in front of his jackpot. "Now, now. Why would I do that?" He crosses his legs, leaning his cheek against his palm. "You're one of my greatest treasures, to free you would ruin my collection of 'useless and annoyingly shiny things' as you call them." The hero growles, and he just manages to smile charmingly at him.

"I don't expect someone like you to understand." He spits with poison, and the green thief puts a hand to his chest with a false wounded expression.

"Someone like me? Gosh, hero, if I didn't know you, I'd think you were saying that as an insult." A sly smile is drawn on his face. "Good thing I know what you're really like." He stands up and, with a mocking look towards his prisoner, walks back to the door. "Calm down, hero, I'm sure there will be another goody two-shoes to rescue the sweet princess. I know it hurts your ego that someone else is stealing the glory, but... well, what can we do, right?"

L disappears, and Mario can only curse and continue his attempts to get out that end up only in failure.

The days pass, and the Mushroom Kingdom falls. Mr.L isn't very surprised, most of the inhabitants there are a bunch of useless creatures, who became especially lazy when the hero in red took the responsibility of protecting the sugar princess. Mimi laughs as she files her nails, mumbling something about useless princesses and degenerate Koopas. The thief snorts and looks over his shoulder; the door to the cellar where he keeps his treasures is open, and he has a perfect view of his red prisoner.

At the lack of insults and beatings against the magic prison, L raises an eyebrow and slowly approaches it until he stands in front of the paint. It is a somewhat pitiful image, to see the hero with his head down and his body shaking. L does not acknowledge the strange pang in his heart, but admits that he's curious about the strange state of his tenant.

"Tired of your failures, hero?" He asks brusquely, because obviously he wasn't going to ask as if he cared. "Did you finally decide to give up?"

The shaking gets stronger, and Mario slowly raises his head, teeth tightly clenched and blue eyes practically sparkling.

"Shut up." The hero snarls in anger, casting a glare that, if he hadn't been raised by the demon that was his teacher, would have caused the green man to flinch. "I will never give up. I'm getting out of this prison no matter what, you hear?"

L looks at him dryly, applauding with false admiration. "What a great speech, hero. It almost touches my heart." He turns his gaze to some of his treasures surrounding the painting, snooping around among them. "But tell me a little something, if you don't mind. How will you manage to do it? And more importantly..." He smirked. "Do you think you can do it in time?"

The fierce expression on Mario's face fades, and with a look of despair turns to the images on the huge television, where the Mushroom Kingdom burns in powerful flames and large flying ships from the Koopa Kingdom invade the skies.

"Peach...guys..." The hero laments, and L ignores the confused feelings of satisfaction and pity upon listening.

"Oh, come on, hero. You can't be that blind, can you?" He rolls his eyes, taking King Boo's crown in his hands, causing Mario to tense up like a bowstring. "This was practically inevitable. Princess Candy's decisions not to create a real army, or even put up real defenses for the protection of her kingdom, would someday end up affecting her. You can't be everywhere, you're only one man, after all. Putting yourself as the only defender is a stupid and irresponsible strategy of her as a monarch."

"Grrrr. Don't you dare to-!"

"Am I wrong?!" He looks at him sternly, and at his tense silence, he curls his lips in derision. "Of course not. You know it perfectly well, don't you? It's just that you like to be praised and to have them lick the floor you walk on. Like a real hero, don't you?"

"You disgust me." He spits. The thief shrugs.

"The truth hurts, that's for sure." He places the crown on his head, and goes to a mirror to model. "What do you think, hero? It fits, doesn't it?" He looks at him sideways, smirking as electric sparks jump out of the jewel. Mario tries to withdraw, his eyes shining with disgust, but the thief knows how to identify that glow of fear that he is unable to hide.

"Yes, you're just as twisted as him."

"Oh, stop it, hero. You will make me blush." Mario grunts with hate, and L laughs softly in satisfaction.

Making the hero angry is really funny.

Silence surrounds them, one entertained with the jewel on his head, the other desperate to get out of that hell and help his friends. Explosions are suddenly heard, and both turn to look at the TV with their eyes wide open. L blinks in surprise, as Mario's face is transformed into total devastation as he watches Princess Peach's castle blow up.

"Wow...that Koopa is no longer holding back." He mumbles softly, slightly impressed.

However, the one in red doesn't share his sentiment.

"No... NO!" Mario hits the painting with both fists, screaming loudly. "THE TOADSTOOLS! PEACH! NO!" He turns towards his captor, who startles at the storm of emotions that crosses those blue eyes. "GET ME OUT OF HERE! I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! GET ME OUT!" He strikes his prison with ferocity and more energy than ever. But it is useless, and both of them know it. "Get me out of here...please..."

Mario ceases his attack, hiding his face in his hands. His breath is agitated, and his shoulders shake imperceptibly from time to time. L does not understand why suddenly his chest contracts and his breathing becomes difficult.

It's overwhelming, the silence that surrounds them. L's throat is dry and an overwhelming discomfort takes over his body. He looks in fascination at his prisoner, who now has his hands under his cap, holding his hair in a tight grip as his eyes move back and forth, lost in his own world. He swallows with difficulty, dizzy, with clenched fists and a tangle of thoughts spinning in his head.

He does not understand.

L...doesn't understand.

"Why do you want to go?" He asks slowly, articulating each word carefully. "It's already too late. Boswer has taken over the Mushroom Kingdom. What are you going to do? What can you do? Why..." He bites his lip, shaking his head. "Why do you want to do it?"

Mario raises his head sharply, a roar at the tip of his tongue. But Mr. L's green eyes stop him. The confusion is genuine, the uncertainty and misunderstanding. He pauses, licking his lips slightly.

"Because I love them." He responds with a voice thread, and L holds his forearm tightly at the powerful emotion in his words. "Because they are my family and I... I would give anything for them." He sighs shakily. "Even if it's too late...even if there's not much I can do...I have to help. I have to save them."

L remains silent, his eyes fixed on the ground and his crown glowing faintly on his head. Mario sighs wearily, leaning his forehead against the frame, trying to think of some way to escape.

Silence surrounds them, and Mario would perhaps realise how heavy this one is if he weren't a prisoner in a magic painting.

"You... you really care about them, don't you?" Whispers L, without looking up.

Mario looks at him strangely, but nods weakly.

"And you'd do... anything to... to protect them, wouldn't you?" His hands become fists, shaking slightly. The jewel in his crown shines brighter, and the hero eyes it suspiciously.

"Is something wrong?" He questions cautiously, glancing at the crown from time to time.

L says nothing for eternal moments.

"Why?" He says finally, and Mario looks at him without understanding. "Why do you risk yourself for them? Why when there's a chance of getting hurt?"

The prisoner blinks, but something in him softens. "Because that's something you do for your loved ones. When you love someone... you do your best to protect them and see them happy."

"As you do for them."

"And like they do for me." He smiles softly. "Not everything shows in big acts like defeating villains, L."

The green thief can feel his stomach getting knotted up and something cutting off his breath. Memories plague him and acid rises up his esophagus until it burns his throat; there is smoke in his memories and constant roaring in his ears. Promises to make him strong to screw up the universe and looks of disgust at his weakness.

He always knew the truth, anyway.

"Heh...You're lucky, hero." He finally whispers, a bitter smile on his lips. Mario looks at him in confusion.

"What?"

"Never take for granted the good things you've been given, understood?"

"What are you...?"

"Sleep."

The lightning surrounds the painting for a few fleeting moments, but when it dissipates the hero in red is unconscious, leaning against the glass.

The silence that remains is tense, and Mr. L finds it a little difficult to breathe. He says nothing when a thin, smooth hand rests on his shoulder, nor when Mimi's inquisitive gaze stares at him.

It's not necessary. She already understands.


AN: Thanks so much to Amethyst Goldenwind and Megan Romerofor your kind reviews!

Hope you enjoy it! (I'm still learning how to write in english, be patient with me, please :D)

Anyone who guesses which drabbles used references and from what movie they are, can give me a word for a drabble, or if they want an specific idea I may be able to actually write it.

Read you later!

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