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Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the story idea and any OC(s).

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Chapter 18:
Returning the Favor

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Luigi didn't know when he had fallen asleep. He was startled awake by the knocks on the door. Soon after that, his body started to ache from his strange sleeping habits. He walked over to the door and opening it, revealing Kamek at the other end.

"Uh, good morning, Master Kamek, is there something I can do?"

"No, I just came to inform you that you're late for training,"

Luigi's eyes widen with surprise. He quickly turned to check the time. It was almost nine o clock, which meant he was almost an hour late.

"Mamma Mia," He sighed.

"I take it your day off didn't go as plan?"

Luigi nodded. "Wendy got a high fever late night. I manage to get it down, but she was still pretty warm so I had to keep an eye on her for the rest of the night."

"I see," Kamek thought. "Very well then, I'll speak to King and have the doctor come in again."

"Thank you, Kamek,"

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Within the hour, Doctor Koopa came by again to have another look at Wendy. The Koopa princess was awake during his examination so she was able to answer any questions he got. But even so, the doctor wasn't entirely sure what her illness was or the cause of it.

He took a sample of her blood for testing. He gave her some medicine for her fever and left with the promise that he will call as soon as he found something. Bowser cancelled training again, so Luigi could keep an eye on Wendy and caught up on some sleep.

Throughout the day, Wendy seemed relatively fine. Her fever went down; she ate well and was kept hydrated. Her friends came by mid-afternoon to see how she was faring, bringing gifts of all sorts to her. As they talked, Luigi sat in the sidelines with a book in hand, only speaking when spoken to.

It wasn't until dinner started to rolled in that they left, leaving the bedroom nice and quiet again. Luigi and Wendy were eating dinner in the usual silence when they heard a knock on the door. Luigi answered it to reveal Kammy at the door.

"I have received news from the doctor," She said. "He said found sighs of MDMA in Wendy's blood stream."

"MDMA?" Wendy questioned. "What's that?"

"It's short for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; most commonly known as "Ecstasy" or "Molly." It is a manmade, psychoactive drug that is popular at raves and music festivals or concerts."

"How did I get that? I wasn't even at a club or festivals."

"The most likely solution would be that someone sneaked it in your drink without you knowing."

"Her drink?" This time Luigi questioned out of surprise. "Are you saying that someone was trying to get Wendy high?"

Kammy nodded. "In a way, yes...We suspect it to be more of a kidnapping attempt."

"But who would try to kidnap Wendy?"

"And we're not so sure. But we suspect it to be one of Clawd's doing."

Luigi frowned in confusion. "Clawd?"

"Oh that's right, you don't know about the separation." Kammy said. "Well, to make a long story short, there are two different klans within our koopa domain. As you may already know, the King rightfully rules over all within this territory; however, there are those who are not in favor of him. Those Koopas resign over the second klan under the leadership of a koopa named Clawd."

Luigi nodded. He always knew that there were Koopas that didn't follow Bowser's rule and had resign to other nations such as the Mushroom Kingdom. What really surprise him was the fact that there was an entire seperate Klan working against him, and so close to home too.

'Wait...was this what Kamek was talking about?' he thought to himself. 'The separated klans?'

"As of right now, everyone is on high alert." Kammy continued. "We have already double our patrols and increase the number of guards. You and the others are not allowed to leave the castle without several escorts."

"Are you serious?" Wendy scoffed.

"I'm sorry, Mistress, but it's for your own safely."

Wendy puffed but said nothing more. Kammy nodded once before exiting out of the room. Once she was gone, Luigi turned to Wendy, confused by the conversation that just happened. It appears that there was more to this Klan than there appears to be, and Luigi can't help but wonder what sort of secrets were hidden within these castle walls.

"Well," Wendy sighed, regaining Luigi's attention. "I guess I own you one for finding me the other night,"

Luigi blinked before replying to her statement. "Oh no, that's fine; I'm just glad to know that you're alright,"

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Oh please...For one night, could you not be a hero and take the favor."

Luigi rubbed the back of his neck, not quite sure what to say. "Well…" He hesitated. "There is one thing I would like to do,"

"Oh?" She questioned. "And what is it?"

Luigi looked down, fiddling nervously with his fingers. Wendy shook her head. The plumber was too anxious for his own good.

"I was hoping..." Luigi mumbled. "...that maybe...you'll let me... on the bed again?"

The request seemed small enough. But Luigi knew when it came to Wendy, small things can become a big problem. Last night was the best sleep he had in months, even if it was only for a few hours. If he could get a good eight hours worth of sleep tonight, then he'll be all set for training tomorrow.

Wendy thought about it, debating if she should or not. Luigi sat where he was, anxious to hear the answer. He was just about to give up the idea when Wendy replied.

"Fine, you can," she finally said. "Just make sure you stay on your side."

He sighed in relief. "Thank you Wendy,"

The pink koopa just hummed as she finished eating the rest of her dinner. As the time for bed rolls in, Wendy scoots over to one side as Luigi climb over on the other side. The green plumber was glad to feel the soft mattress under him, his body becoming more at ease as he settles in.

"Good night, plumber," Wendy said, turning her back towards him.

"Good night, Wendy," He replies back; choosing to rest on his back.

There was a somewhat comfortable silence between them as they let their minds wonder off into the dream world.

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It was about two o'clock when Luigi started to wake again. He felt a weight on his right side. He wasn't sure what it was but it was definitely warm and heavy. He tried to push it off him but it simply shifted and snuggled into him. At that point, he had to look at it himself.

He turned his head to the right and opened his eyes slowly. He had blinked a few times to clear the sleepy fog in his head and to have his eyes adjust to the darkness. Once it did, he focused them on the weight that was on top of him and froze.

The mysterious weight wasn't really mysterious at all. In fact, it was actually Wendy. The real mystery is how she had gotten over on his side of the bed.

A slight movement caused Luigi to break out his shock state, one that was made by Wendy. The pink Koopa was shivering, not like she had a fever but more like she was just plain cold. She must have traveled over to his side seeking for warmth.

Luigi frowned, not quite sure what to do in his situation. Should he wake her so she could move back to her side? Or should he leave her be? Truth be told, he wouldn't mind if she sleeps on top of him if…and only if, he can regain feeling in his right arm.

The pink koopa must have been laying on it for some time, because it was actually starting to turn numb from the lack of blood flow. He moved slightly towards him only to have Wendy move slightly as well. He only needed his right arm back. After that, they can fall back to sleep without a care in the world.

Bit by bit, he moves his arm closer and closer. And with every movement, Wendy stirred in her sleep. But with one quick and final tug Luigi was able to free his hand out from under her. The green man would have cheered...if his action hadn't waked her up.

The swift movement not only freed his arm, but actually woke up Wendy from her slumber. Waking up Wendy was like waking up a bear from hibernation...it was bad idea. The koopa groaned; a pure sign of her awakening. Luigi panic and did the only thing he could think of...

Put his numb arm around her shoulders and pull her close.

Luigi felt an entity pass by. But in reality it was only a few seconds. About 30 seconds had passed by before he heard her let out a content sigh and fell back to sleep in his arm.

A huge sigh of relief escapes Luigi. He really thought he was in for it. Without disturbing his bedmate, he shifts his body to get more comfortable. Once that's done, he gently placed his head on top of hers and closed his eyes. In less than a minute, he was back to sleep.

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She felt warm...Really warm...Warmer than she felt in years. Wendy snuggled closer to her heat source, hoping it will never end. What she didn't count on was her heat source to snuggle back into her.

She opened her eyes slowly, trying to break out of her state of confusion. Once the fog had lifted and she was able to see clearly, she looked up at what she was resting on. Her eyes widen with shock.

What she thought was a nice warm pillow was actually a nice warm human. Luigi was fall asleep as he had his arm wrap around her shoulders, as if trying to keep her warm.

Wendy was completely baffled, unsure what to think. At first, she grew upset that the plumber didn't stay on his side. But a quick look around showed that it was her who had cross over.

She frowned. Why didn't he wake her up so she could move? She made an attempt to head back on her side, but ceased when the plumber pulled her even closer to him.

She blushed. Did he wanted to stay like that? Was that why he didn't wake her?

She tried again only to get the some results. Now trapped between a plumber and a soft place, Wendy had no choice but to stay where she was.

'Well, he is kind of warm,' she thought to herself. 'And sort of soft.'

If the plumber didn't have a problem with this, then she couldn't complain either. She shifted slightly in his hold, trying to get more comfortable. Luigi let out a tired sigh but otherwise didn't wake up.

'He must be pretty tired,' Wendy thought again. 'I guess I would be too; having to train with Bowser all day and sleep on the floor afterwards.'

Once again, she started feeling guilty. 'Maybe I've been a little hard on him...after all, he wasn't entirely his fault.'

A knock on the door got her attention. She glanced over at the time. It was fifteen minutes pass nine. Luigi was suppose be at the training ground around eight.

'Looks like he overslept,' There was a second knock on the door. 'Hmm... I'm not too keen on losing my pillow right now.'

At the third knock, Wendy knew someone had to answer it. But she was too comfortable to get up from where she lay and Luigi was too deep in sleep to wake up from a trumpet. The only other option was to have whoever (most likely Kamek) answered the door themselves.

"Come in," she said, loud enough to be heard behind the door.

As suspected, Kamek was the one to enter. The magikoopa step inside the room quietly and close the door behind him. Silently he walked further within the room, searching for the individual he was looking.

"He's over here, Kamek,"

The old Koopa looked over to the bed to find the plumber with the princess who was wake. "My apologies, Wendy, I wasn't aware that you were awake." He said. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "I'm fine...Can't wait to get out of quarantine though,"

"I'm sure by tomorrow you'll be free to leave your room as you please," said Kamek. "For now, I should alert the plumber that he's late for training."

"Actually, Kamek," Wendy interrupted "I was kind of hoping that you'll give him another day off."

Kamek raised an eyebrow. "How come?"

"Well," she answered. "For one of all, it isn't really a day off if you spend most of your time taking care of someone who's sick."

He nodded. "True,"

"Second of all, he's finally getting some rest after all that training Bowser's been putting him through. It'll be nice to have at least one day a week to put your feet up."

"Duly noted...You know, that's sort of nice of you to show concern for him."

She shrugged in a nonchalant matter. "Just trying to return the favor,"

Kamek smiled slightly, "Very well then, I will speak to king about this. Granted he won't be happy to hear about this,"

"Eh, what else is new?"

Kamek nodded and left the same way he came in. Wendy glanced back at the plumber who hadn't so much as move during their conversation. Luigi was still fast asleep, snoring softly and showing no signs of waking up what so ever.

Wendy sighed and rested her head on top of his chest. She could clearly hear his heartbeat, thumping softly inside his torso. She listened to it silently until she fell asleep once more.

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Ending Note:

Ok, so the villain of the story have been revealed - a Koopa named Clawd who is a long time foe towards Bowser's family. More about him will be reveal later as things start to change for your hero in green and the Koopas around him.

Also, to answer a few guests' reviews, we learn that Wendy wasn't sick from a hangover but rather a drug her body was trying to fight off. Remember, she's only twenty in this story (so far), she's not old enough to drink alcohol. As for who drug her, I can indeed tell you that it was not Pompey.

As for the drug mentioned, MDMA is also considered to be a club drug because produces feelings of increased energy, emotional warmth and empathy toward others, and distortions in sensory and time perception. Possession of MDMA is illegal in most countries.

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Review Please :)

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