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

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Chapter 20:
Shopping for Confidence

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It's been some time since Luigi and Wendy had started their 'partnership'. Since then, things have been going fairly well between the two of them.

As promised, Wendy had completely control over their alliance. They have already started working on his self-confidence. The green plumber did exactly what she told him to do, never once complaining. Sometimes, as a sign of gratitude, he would offer her some chocolate which she happily took.

And their partnership wasn't one sided either. Wendy kept her end of the bargain as well. He was allowing him on the bed now, with his own side of course. In addition, she managed to convince Bowser into letting him have one day off from training and a half-day. She said she mainly did it so her partner wouldn't suddenly collapse on her from exhaustion. But regardless of her selfish reasons, Luigi was still thankful for her actions.

At this moment, he was in the training grounds with Bowser. The Koopa King threw a claw at him which he dodged very easily. He then tries to throw a punch of his own, but Bowser blocked it with no trouble and toss a punch. Luigi jumped in the air to avoid it and landed a few feet away from him, panting.

Bowser smirked. The training, as he calls it, was strictly hand-to-hand combat. Jumping was only allowed to evade attacks.

The plumber's speed had improved significantly since his first day. However, his strength and power still needed some work. He wanted to keep on training him, unfortunately now was the time for Wendy to walk in on them. He growled in annoyance, knowing he had to let the plumber go.

'Why did I agree to these half days again?' He thought. "Alright Green 'Stache, that's it for today."

Luigi stood up straight and bowed to the king. "Yes, your Highness,"

Bowser waved him off, dismissing him. Luigi turned around and walked over to Wendy who was waiting for him by the entrance. As he approached her, he noticed something about her was missing. Not only that, but she seemed rather frustrated. Regardless, Luigi greeted her with a smile.

"Hello, Wendy; how was your day?"

Luigi made it a habit to always ask about her day. Sometimes his question was answered by a simple word; sometimes it was answered with a little bit more. It really depends on her mood.

"Fine, fine," she answered irately. She wasn't really in the mood to talk. "Come on, we've got work to do."

Luigi nodded and started to follow her. As they walk, Luigi kept his eyes on Wendy, wondering what had made her so upset. The pink koopa has been working hard to improve his self-confidence. She taught him to take pride in all his good qualities and to recognize all his insecurities. She also told him that he should bounce back from his mistake and to always avoid perfection, since no one – not even Mario (or that pretty pink princess as she likes to call her) – was perfect. Luigi couldn't help but feel appreciative towards her words and efforts. Perhaps he should get her something to help make her feel better.

"So what are we going to do today?" He asked out of curiosity.

"We're going to do some shopping," Wendy replies after a moment. "An appearance says a lot about your self-confidence. And you sir, screams faint-hearted."

Wendy took a small whiff of him and cringed. "Plus you stink; you're going to need a shower before we head out."

Luigi frowned at her comment. He lifted his arm up and sniffed. He grimaced at the smell of his stinky armpit; he did need a shower.

Once they made it to their room, Luigi made a beeline to the bathroom while Wendy waited outside for him. After a quick shower, the plumber came out of the bathroom looking cleaner than when he did fifteen minutes ago. As soon as he came out, Wendy stood up from the bed and started heading towards the door.

"Good, you're done. Now we can get going,"

Luigi nodded and started following her again. But before they could exit the room, Luigi paused when he suddenly realized something. Wendy noticed he'd stop and turned back to him.

"What's the matter with you?" She asked him.

Luigi tilted his head slightly. "Wendy, what happened to your necklace?"

The koopa princess raised an eyebrow at his question. She then turned away with her arms cross. "Junior broke them when he ran into me this morning." She growled. "The little brat; they were my only pair too."

"Couldn't Bowser buy you some new ones?" Luigi asked.

She scoffed. "Yeah right, like he cared." She proceeded on walking. "Come on, we have to check in with Kamek before we go."

Luigi frowned at her statement. It seems Wendy was still mad at Bowser about their marriage. Not wanting to upset her any more than she already is, he silently began to follow behind her.

Once they got the okay from Kamek, they exit out of the castle and started heading towards the nearest town. The closest settlement, Koopa Town, was about three hours worth of walking distance away. Fortunately, there was a warp pipe close by so they got there much faster.

Koopa Town was pretty much the Koopa-version of Toad Town. The area around it wasn't as dark as it was around the castle, allowing more sunlight to shine down. And despite being surrounded by giant skulls and burning lava, it was a rather flourishing and cheerful place. Luigi looked around the town in wonder and astonishment. He never thought a country ruled by Bowser could be so…serene.

"You look surprise," Wendy glanced at him.

Luigi nodded. "This town...it's thriving very well."

"Oh yeah?" She smirked. "Well if you're that impress now, then you should see Koopatropolis; it's our biggest city."

Luigi smiled. "I never thought it could be so peaceful there. I always thought it'll be...I don't know, a bit more chaotic."

Wendy shook her head and turned her gaze back in front of her. "There's a lot you don't know about us, plumber. We're not always those evil, cunning monsters those mushroom brains betray us to be. If you think about it, we're actually like any other living beings."

"I know," Luigi bow his head; feeling shameful and disappointed in himself for believing such tales. He should have known better. Toads have a tendency to jump to conclusions before they could get their facts straight. And he should know; most of them had assumed he was a scary-cat before they can even see what he was really capable of.

Wendy noticed his depressing tone and glanced back at him. "Hey, hey; none of that sad negative stuff, remember? It's not good for your self-confidence."

Luigi nodded and try to change his line of thought. Another thing Wendy taught him – adopt a more positive mindset. Self-pity and sympathy of others will only make him feel inferior. He shouldn't loathe and belittle himself. Instead he should think and speak more positively.

Before long, they made it to Koopa Town's K-Mall. It was a Wednesday so not many people were at the mall. Even so that didn't stop Luigi from noticing that most of the shoppers had turned their eyes on them. The green man wasn't use to being the center of attention so he quickly became nervous under their constant gaze.

"Uhm, why is everyone looking at me?"

Wendy paused for a moment and glanced around. Everyone was staring, but not at him exactly. "They're not looking at you, they're looking at us."

"But…why?" Luigi frowned.

"Because…This is the first time we've been seen together in public since our…reunion." Wendy explained. "Come on, the others are waiting for us."

"Others?" He questioned.

Wendy continued walking, leaving Luigi to catch up to her. The others Wendy had mentioned were her friends. She had called them earlier today asking for help on changing the plumber's appearance.

They found her four friends at the food court, lightly talking among each other. As soon as they notice they ran over to greet them. Luigi have already met them a few time before, so he knew all their names.

Wendy's best friend, Pompey, came up to him nonchalantly and started circling around him, studying him. Luigi followed her gaze slowly, trying not to show his timid nature through body language. Unfortunately for him, Pompey could easily see through his disguise and stop in front of him with a pout.

"Well Wendy, you certainly have your hands tied." She said.

Wendy frowned. "I know. That's why, I'm asking for your help."

"Well, this is not going to be easy," said Kohana as she and the rest of the girls started examining Luigi themselves. "We definitely gonna have to get rid of those overall."

"And that cap," Goombaline added.

At the mention of his most prized item, Luigi latch onto it in fear. He couldn't let go of his cap; he had since he was just a baby boy. He'll feel empty without it.

"Okay, maybe not the hat," Koren said, noticing his reaction. "But definitely the overalls; they just look so…worn out."

Luigi frowned at their commentary and look down at his clothing. He couldn't lie; this wasn't his first time wearing these overalls this past week. He had a very limited supply of clothes with him so he was forced to wear the same ones repeatedly on the same week, sometimes two.

"Well he doesn't have a lot of clothes to begin with," said Wendy as if reading his mind.

"Then it's a good thing we're going shopping now, uh?" said Kohana. "Come on, I know a great store we should try out."

Following Kohana, the group of six head towards the clothing store named 'Shelly's'. Luigi stood on the sidelines, watching Wendy and her friends pick out all sorts of clothing from the rack. The ones they liked were toss to Luigi so he could try them on in the dressing room.

Luigi felt like a male model, coming in and out wearing with all these different sets of clothing while the girls try to decide which ones were best for him. In the end, they decided to go causal. They bought several different color t-shirts and jeans before they spend the rest of the day shopping for themselves. By the time Luigi and Wendy had return back to the castle, they had about ten bags; most of which were carried by Luigi.

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The hours of darkness have rolled in and the castle has gotten still as everyone started getting ready for bed.

Dressed in his pajamas, Luigi was folding and putting away his new clothes in one of the drawers Wendy gave to picked up one shirt and held it up to see how it looks in the mirror. He smiled for a moment. But then that smile was quickly replaced by a frown. He looked down on the shirt and sighed deeply.

"I did the same thing,"

Luigi jumped at the sudden voice and turned around. Wendy was standing near the bathroom, dressed in her nightgown. She had a look of displeasure on her face and Luigi was worried it might be towards him.

"I don't know what Pompey was thinking, picking this for you."

Luigi blinked confusingly. He looked down at the shirt and realized what she was talking about. She wasn't mad at him, she was mad about the shirt.

"I don't know what I was thinking to let her pick this out for you," She said. She walked over and held up the shirt to him. She shook her head and dig through the bag to find the shirt she picked out.

"I mean really, red is definitely not your color. If anything, a light blue color works best for you."

Wendy pulled out the light blue shirt and held it up to Luigi. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed the down cast expression on his face. Was he upset about something?

"Hey plumber, are you okay?" she asked on the gentle side.

Luigi nodded. "I'm fine. It's just that…" He glance up to the mirror and held up the red shirt. "I'm wondering how Mario is doing. And the others… Are they thinking about me? Or are they…?"

Wendy scoffed when she heard that name. Just a simple mention of that red hero or that kingdom of his was enough to flare up her temper. She angrily tossed the shirt in the drawer, causing Luigi to jump.

"For once can you stop thinking about your stupid older brother?"

Luigi blinked in surprise. Wendy turned to him and placed her hands on her hips irately. "Seriously Luigi, you got to get this through that thick skull of yours…forget about that red doofus and everyone else in that pint-size kingdom; they're in the past. Focus on what's important now…and what's important is your wife and getting your confidence up."

Luigi didn't say anything and bow his head. She was right; he shouldn't be thinking so much about his past with Mario and the others. Instead he should be discussing on the here and now.

"My...wife?"

Wendy paused for a moment, rethinking on what she just told him. "I mean your companion or partner." Flushed, she crossed her arms and turned her head away. "Oh, you know what I meant."

"I do," Luigi smiled. Even if it was just a slip of the tongue, Luigi was glad to hear her say that. To him, it was a sign; a sign that they might grow to be more than just simple partners.

"Come on," she said. "It's time to go to bed. I don't want Bowser blaming me if you don't do well in training tomorrow."

Wendy walked over to the bed and started flushing her pillow a bit too roughly. Luigi frowned. The pink koopa might be still angry. The last thing he wanted was to have her go to bed all mad.

He kneeled down to his bags and started searching through them. In one of them, he pulled out an even smaller bag and dug through its containments. He was going to give this to her later but now seem as good as any.

He walked over to her side of the bed and kneeled down. Wendy stared at him blankly. She had gotten used to him doing this. However, she didn't expect him to pull out a long gift box. She glanced up at Luigi surprise while the green plumber looked back at her with a smile.

Wendy gently took the box and held in her hand. She gave Luigi one more glance before opening it slowly. She gasped when she saw it. Inside the gift box was a brand new beaded red necklace.

"Luigi…" She said, breathlessly. "When did you…?"

"I brought it while you and the others were busy shopping." Luigi answered. "You were really upset earlier so I figure a gift will help make you feel better."

Wendy stared at him before glancing back at her gift. She was completely speechless; no words can explain how she felt right. "I...don't know what to say,"

"You don't have to say anything." Luigi said. "Like you said, you're my partner and one of the most important things I have to focus on…As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

Wendy felt her face heating up as the plumber used her words against her. She closed the box and turned her face away so he wouldn't notice her blush.

"Thank you, Luigi," she said softly. "I…appreciate what you did."

Luigi nodded and went back to putting his clothes away. Wendy watched him in silent before looking back at the gift in her hands. She sighed and placed it on her night stand as she settled into bed.

Once Luigi was done, he turned off the lights and turned in as well. Within the hour, the green clad man had fallen into a deep sleep, but his pink shelled partner was still awake. For over an hour, she stared blankly at the gift box placed on her night stand. She sighed once more before closing her eyes, slowly falling into sleep.

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Ending Note:

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