Had a bit of trouble with this one, but luckily, I was able to finish it. That said, this is the last of the revised and rewritten chapters! I'll still be working on this, of course, but chapters will be less frequent. Reviews do motivate, however! I was inspired enough to restart this series with two flattering reviews on the last one, so take that as you will.

Enjoy!

The Jr. Troopa fiasco bothered Goombario more then necessary. It wasn't so much the actual assault, since the brat was relatively weak, but rather the torn page in his book and how he had reacted to it. Sure, the Koopa deserved it, but wasn't self-defense supposed to be against opponents larger than you? He felt a twinge of guilt as he thought that Jr. Troopa, indeed, had been only a child far smaller than him in both a physical and mental sense.

And Goombario had Headbonked him in anger. Could it be that he was actually a bad Goomba?

The Goomba frowned at his own thoughts and decided not to think about this anymore. After all, not only had the Koopa trespassed on Goomba Village, but shoved him first and torn his favorite book. Besides, Goombario had relented in letting Jr. Troopa claim the 'playground' as his own. If that wasn't enough...well, Goombario didn't really care if Jr. Troopa didn't think that was enough. He hoped that no one would agree to play with him there.

And when Goombaria was old enough to stop crying and finally have conversation, he would make sure that she'd stay away from him too.

Of course, this mindset only failed when Goombaria grew older and she turned out to be just as annoying as when she was a baby. She followed Goombario around all day and tried to copy whatever he did. Be it wandering around the forest, reading a book, and even training. Goombario just knew that she was doing this just to be annoying and was frustrated when he was told that, "Nonsense! She just looks up to you Goombario!"

He was starting to get fed up with this whole ordeal, and everyone else defending her didn't make it easier. Didn't they see that she was just doing this for attention?

Goombario let out a sigh and walked outside to see Goombaria at the edge of the front yard, looking in question at something. He rolled his eyes as she looked back to see him and called out. "Umbario! There was a weird guy here a second ago!"

"It's Goombario." He paused, "Wait, a weird guy?"

"He was yellow and I think he wanted to be friends! But then I told him about you and he ran away!"

"Oh. I think that was Jr. Troopa. Make sure to stay away from him, Goombaria. He's mean and won't be a good friend." Goombario advised with a smile. At least this simple instruction won't be too difficult for her. She clung on to every word he said so it shouldn't be a problem.

"I wanna be friends with him." She said stubbornly, fixated on being friendly to everyone she met.

"Why?" Goombario asked with a short laugh that was paired with disbelief, "I just said don't. He's spoiled and-"

"Friends!" She emphasized once again.

The one time I actually want her to do what I do-

Well, fine. It made sense anyway. Two spoiled brats would make great friends.

Months passed, and it felt like Goombaria had finally grown out of her desire to annoy Goombario, at least for the most part. Instead of following him blindly, she actually asked questions on why he did what he did.

It was a nice change of pace, and he eagerly answered her. He talked about how he was named after Mario, and why he trained to fight, and Toads he's met in Toad Town when he went shopping with Goomama, and stories about the Mario Brothers...

She seemed to grow more interested at the mention of Heroes, and Goombario didn't blame her. It was great to teach someone else about the Heroes.

As their chatter grew more animated, the older brother finally admitted to himself that Goombaria probably wasn't half bad.

That didn't mean he would stop wanting a younger brother, however.

"Uh...are you sure that this will help me get stronger?" Goombaria asked.

"Yeah, of course! If not you, then definitely me!" The blue-capped Goomba responded.

Goombaria whined a bit. "Goombario! You said this would make me stronger! I don't want to get hurt for no good reason!"

"Come on! Goompa said that he can't train me anymore! He's getting too old and I don't want to stop improving myself!"

"Can't you improve yourself by reading those boring self-defense books..."

"Hey, they're not boring! And there's a difference between knowing things and practicing them, Goombaria. Now hold still."

"Uh..wait, no! I don't want to help anymore."

Too late.

Goombario had already hopped up and Headbonked her.

She cried.

He was grounded.

For Goombaria's upcoming birthday, Goombario wasn't really sure what to get her. She didn't really share the same interests he did so it was a bit tough. He tried asking Gooma what she thought but a simple, "When I was young, I was very popular with the boys..." and Goombario, while he would usually loved listening to stories, decided he didn't have time now.

Thinking about it, Goombaria did like the adventures of the Mario Brothers like he did, but he wasn't sure that a history book would catch her interest as much as it caught his. She was more into...nature, he supposed. Plants always caught her interest and she loved wandering out into the Clearing and the Forest. Most of the time, she lost hide-and-seek because she would get distracted by a "pretty new flower."

Playing around with this idea, Goombario wondered how he could mix that with his own interests. What was something he could get for her that involved nature but couldn't be found around here? He could plant a garden...but their first attempt at a secret garden didn't really work out so well. (They had bought a Fire Flower and set it up on a ledge to grow, but only disappointed the siblings when they learned that Fire Flowers had to be planted as a special seed to grow.)

Perhaps a book about flowers? ...Although, it wouldn't be really special, since he was sure the flowers wouldn't be found around here, and she wasn't old enough to travel.

Sitting up, the idea came to him.

Goombario quickly raced to Goompapa and asked if he could go to Toad Town to get Goombaria's present. He approved and told him to hurry back.

"No problem! I know exactly what to get her." He assured, which was the truth. He just hoped Russ T. had a copy of the book...

And thus, Goombaria's birthday came around and she absolutely loved the attention she was showered with. Goombario couldn't help but roll his eyes good-naturedly. Gooma gave her a cute Dolly that looked like Princess Peach, and Goombario couldn't tell if she had bought it or hand-sewn it. It looked so professional, but he never saw Gooma leave the house...

Goomama gifted her a cute, yellow bow that Goombaria simply adored. With the bow on her head and Dolly at hand, she never looked happier.

"Don't forget your surprise gift, Goombaria~" Goompapa sang, giving Goombario his cue. The blue-capped Goomba laughed and brought out the last present. It was wrapped in a flower-pattern topped with a pink bow. It almost made him sick wrapping it, but he guessed it was worth it.

"i'm expecting a present next year," Goombario half-joked, handing her the box. Goombaria stuck her tongue out at him playfully but happily agreed. Then, she immediately tore into it with delight and revealed it to be a pink, hardcover book, as a nice parallel to Goombario's history book.

Flowers and Their Colors: The Subtle Language

Now she never looked happier.

Since her birthday, the younger pink Goomba was never seen without her Dolly or bow. She would also read next to Goombario when he brought out his history books, which the older Goombas absolutely melted over.

And it was nice, Goombario had to admit, to finally have peace when he was trying to read. The only downside was...

"And yellow is a friendly color, but in some places it means 'Caution!' Isn't that neat? I didn't know there were different interpretations of one thing..."

She. Never. Stopped. Talking.

He mentioned this to Goompa, saying he regretted giving her that book, but he simply laughed and said that in this family, talking a lot and telling stories were normal.

"What do you mean? I'm not like that!" Goombario had protested, but Goompa only laughed. Goombario was confused on what was so funny.

He still doesn't get it to this day.

Either way, it didn't matter how much he told Goombaria to go away, she kept talking insistently about colors. Because of his knack for memorizing things, Goombario reluctantly learned quite a few things about colors. He refused to say it was interesting at all.

Then, one day, he caught Goombaria chatting with Jr. Troopa, most likely about the colors, and the older brother walked up with a frown plastered on his face.

Jr, Troopa noticed him and immediately stood to dash away.

Goombaria turned with a glare and a pout. "Stop doing that! You keep scaring him away!"

"I already told you he's no good. And besides, I only came to say hi." That was a lie, but he wasn't planning to attack him.

She didn't believe one bit, and Goombaria stood with a huff. "Liar! You told me that you hated him and he said that you attacked him once for no reason."

"He tore my book-" Goombario's protests were interrupted when Goombaria let out an ear-piercing shriek.

"My Dolly!" she cried, looking frantically around, "I thought I brought it with me! Where could I have it left-?!"

Without another word and tears already streaming down her face, she pushed past Goombario, crying for Goomama.

Jr. Troopa kept running away from the siblings after seeing Goombario loom over threateningly. Sure, he was still angry at the Goomba for daring to go in his playground and attacking him, and, sure, he did vow revenge, but he knew that he still wasn't ready to fight the Goomba. He had only recently found a training package he was content with and ordered it a few days ago.

He wasn't an idiot (he looked up what that word meant and had gotten angrier), and would only fight Goombario again on his own terms. Finally, the short Koopa stopped running to take a breath. He was far away enough to not be seen and he relaxed a little bit. At least Goombaria was nice to him, but he would never be like that in front of stupid Goombario.

That's when he realized he held Goombaria's Dolly in his hands. He must have taken it by accident when he ran away...maybe he can return it without them noticing-

"My Dolly!" the pink Goomba's scream made him jump, and panic instantly took over his instincts. Jr. Troopa took off again until he made it to his playground, where he looked around frantically for a place to hide it.

In a bush? No, that would be easy to find. On top of a block? No, it would only take one hit to find it.

His eyes glanced over a tree before he ran to it and hurled the Dolly upwards, watching as it caught on one of the branches.

Perfect. Nobody would find it and nobody could blame him.

Jr. Troopa hurried home guiltily.

Goombaria was miserable for a long time. She had cheered up for a while when she was looking in the forest one day and found a shiny stone, but the fact that it wasn't her precious Dolly quickly brought her down again. Goombario, on the other hand, had his suspicions on Jr. Troopa but decided to have some faith in him. "Why don't you ask your...friend? Maybe he saw you drop it." The pink Goomba smiled. "Yeah, maybe. I'll go ask him."

"I'll go with you," Goombario said sternly. As annoying as Goombaria was at times, no way was he going to let her go alone. She reluctantly agreed when she saw he was not going to change his mind.

As they walked down the path, she called out for Jr. Troopa. "Troopa~! I need your help in finding my Dolly! My brother is here too, but he promised he's only helping to look!" When he didn't answer, Goombaria huffed, "This is your fault. You're scaring him."

"I'm not doing anything. Maybe he's just at home. Look, why don't we just look in the field?"

"You mean his playground?" Goombaria asked innocently.

"It's not his..." Goombario groaned, "Whatever. Sure. Let's go."

They only walked a few steps toward the field when Jr. Troopa jumped out of the bushes. "NO! You can't go in here!" Goombario wondered how long he was there. Goombaria frowned, "Why? You always invited me. And why didn't you answer me earlier?"

"Because...because it's my playground! And..." he paused, unsure of how to answer the second question. The younger sister didn't notice. "Have you seen my Dolly?" This seemed to strike a nerve with Troopa. "No! Now get out of here!"

"Why?" Goombaria asked again. Goombario agreed. "Yeah, chill out. I know we don't like each other, but you don't need to yell at her."

"I can yell if I want!" Troopa said, feeling more nervous. "Now get out of here!"

"I only want my Dolly," Goombaria said stubbornly. "If you're not going to help me, I'll look for her myself!" She tried to walk past him but the Koopa stepped in front of her.

"Stay away! Only I can go in there! You...idiot!"

Goombaria gasped a bit dramatically, hurt. Goombario narrowed his eyes. "Watch it," he warned.

Jr, Troopa stood his ground. Why couldn't they understand that he didn't want them here? He planned to give it back to her eventually...when he learned how to get it out. "Make me!" he said, almost a repeat from the first time he and Goombario met. They glared at each other until Goombaria spoke up.

"Let's just go..." she said sadly, and Goombario relented.

"Sorry about your friend," he whispered to her as they left.

"He's not my friend," she hissed back.

Jr. Troopa heard.

The next few days, Goombaria complained to anyone who would listen about Jr. Troopa and how much of a bully he was. Once, Goombario couldn't help but quip "Told you so," to her and he was scolded after she cried about it.

"You should know better," Goompapa lectured him.

"But I did warn her!" he protested, and he was sent to bed without his books.

However, the entire Dolly ordeal was forgotten when Bad Goombas began to show up around the area. Goomama told the two kids not to play out in the forest anymore. A letter was written to Princess Peach about this problem, and she wrote back quickly (mentioning how delighted she was to hear that a family had moved back to the historical Goomba Village) that she would send a Toad to keep in touch with her consistently. It didn't seem like much, but a direct connection to the Castle meant a direct connection to Mario.

Goombario didn't know if he should be thrilled or worried if he was able to meet Mario in the next few days. In the end, his more excitable side won out and he was jumping around outside that night. His jolly mood was at its peak as he looked up at the stars and saw a shooting star. He knew what Wish he would ask for-it was one of his life long dreams!

"I wish I can meet Mario! He's strong and heroic! We can go on adventures and beat up bad guys! I wanna be just like him!"

Goombario kept his smile strong as the star faded away.

The next morning, it felt like the world was ending. The earthquake was sudden and powerful, and manged to completely ruin the fence. It took a while for the family to recollect, but they set out to work immediately when they did.

Gooma, Goomama, Goombaria and Goombario began to tidy up the house. It took longer than they thought. and they decided to take a break soon enough.

While Goompa worked to spruce up the creaking Veranda that had barely held up, Goompapa was hard at work rebuilding the fence and gate on the path leading to their home. "I'm going to make sure my family stays safe, and if that means building a fence that not even the Great Mario can jump over, then so be it!"

Goombaria giggled at the image of Mario failing to jump over a fence. "That'd be cool!" she exclaimed. Goombario was more in marvel at how much Goompapa cared for them. He really was cool!

Then, Goombaria sighed. Something had reminded her about her Dolly and she fell into despair once again. "I'm going to the Clearing." she announced, since that was the only place they were allowed to go to now with permission. Goompapa grunted in approval and Goombaria wandered off.

Goombario contemplated what to do before going back inside and picking up the blue book once again. The page opened to halfway in the book, where the tear was, and Goombario opted to read that, despite it being kind of a downer. Nevertheless, at least Goombaria wasn't around to cry or whine and he could relax.

"The Request to Return"

Princess Peach was grateful that the Mario Brothers came to her rescue in time and she offered Mario a castle. However, because of their desire to return to the Real World, Mario's castle went unused for a long time, and might have led to Wario aiming his sights on this palace filled with riches. See next chapter for details.

As one might conclude, the Real World was the Mario Brothers' home world but not their birthplace. Even the familiarity of the place couldn't keep their spirits tied here, and they both asked Princess Peach to locate a Warp Pipe that would let them return to the Real World. To this day, she is still looking. This in turn led to rumors among every species as time went on. The possibility that the Princess has actually found one but fears that the Mario Brothers will leave forever is one that is hard to believe but many Toads consider. Another heartwarming alternate is that the Princess has found one, but the Brothers find themselves unable to leave the land they've protected countless times defenseless sounds plausible. This may also be a case of Mario simply wishing to stay in order to be close to Princess Peach, as there seems to be something there, but both refuse to comment on these claims. This. however, rises questions to why Luigi chooses to stay, or even the rumors about an alleged Pauli-

"Dad! Goom-pa! Goom-ba-rio!"

Goomaria's piercing cry interrupted the focused Goomba. She sounded a mix between fearful and excited.

With a sigh, Goombario closed his book and stood. Whatever it was, he was sure Goombaria would just whine until he paid attention to whatever new plant or whatever it is she found. He somehow already knew the peace and quiet wouldn't last long, anyway.