Chapter 29 Aino, the Loved and Valued

Ludwig exchanged a look with Aino as they stood outside Aida's house. The young koopa man looked sad, extremely sad. No doubt he recognized the weight of the situation they found themselves in. Ludwig turned his head away; he couldn't look at this for too long without feeling his guilt return. So, he cleared his throat. He took a step closer to the house.

"Come on, Aino. She's right inside."

Aino stood still for a minute before nodding, his sad expression not leaving his face. As they walked closer to the door, Ludwig imagined what it would be like for Aino to see his mother in the state that she was. It was most likely he might be shocked, which would make sense given the situation. How shocked would he be though? So shocked that he couldn't move? So shocked that he couldn't speak, so shocked that he couldn't turn his eyes away from his bed-ridden, dying mother? Ludwig almost didn't want to know, didn't want to find out. For a split second, he stopped in front of the door. However, one look at Aino told him that they needed to continue. This visit was for Aida and Aino's sake. Not his.

So, he opened the door. The first thing that was brought to his attention about this house was the fact that it felt so…empty. Which made sense; Ludwig had been in this house with like thirty or so cats as well as Magnus. The fact that they were gone now…well, Ludwig didn't necessarily dislike it because everyone was now in their proper place. However, the house felt lonely as a result. The eerie lack of volume, noise, or any sound whatsoever, made chills run up and down Ludwig's arms. He almost wanted to turn back around and leave, let Aino see his mother all by himself without him intruding on the moment.

In fact…that didn't sound like that bad of an idea. The moment of Aida and Aino reuniting after however long it's been was something that Ludwig didn't have any right to intrude on. He took a step toward the door. However, he was stopped by Aino.

"Where are you going?" Aino asked.

Ludwig looked at him. "This is your moment. After all I've done…." he shook his head. "I shouldn't intrude on this. It's going to be a very personal moment." He took another step towards the door.

Aino, however, stopped him by grabbing hold of his hand. "No."

Ludwig did a double take. "No? But…but…what about all I just said? Don't you want the reunion between you and your mom to be private?"

Aino thought about this before shaking his head. "I'm still not entirely convinced that this isn't a dream. I think having another person in the room…a witness of sorts…will help me feel more grounded."

Ludwig thought about this. He didn't know how true that statement would turn out to be. However, he needed to respect Aino's wishes. He knew that it was the right thing to do, even if he felt uncomfortable doing that.

"Alright," Ludwig relented. He pulled his hand out of Aino's grasp. "Here, let me lead you to her room."

So, up the stairs they went. Ludwig couldn't help but feel awe at the size of everything. As a cat, everything looked bigger, taller, foreboding in how it loomed. But now? Now, it looked like just any old house. It didn't feel like it was taking forever to climb up the stairs (plus, the fact that he was walking up the stairs on two legs instead of four made him feel so much better). An honestly, the fact that this appeared as just a normal house now made Ludwig feel a little bit better. Sure, he still hated the stay he had in this house with every fiber of his being, but being in it while in the proper body as well as with his powers reduced some of the stress a little bit.

Finally, they got to Aida' door. Ludwig, first off, put his hand on the doorknob to see if it was locked. Fortunately, it wasn't; thank the lumas. He turned toward Aino, feeling as if this moment required some sort of preparation.

"Now, Aino, she isn't going to be the same as when you left her." Ludwig almost cringed at the sorrowful look in his eyes. "She's had most of her memory wiped, and most of those memories involved you, unfortunately. So…while it isn't the most pleasant thing to accept, don't be too surprised if she…well, doesn't recognize you."

The hurt in Aino's eyes increased, causing Ludwig to instantly and vehemently regret what he just said. However, after a minute and swallowing a batch of tears, Aino nodded.

"It's fine. I just want to see her."

Ludwig let out a breath. "Alright." With the reverence usually found in a church and with the carefulness usually found when dealing with deadly chemicals, Ludwig opened the door. He allowed Aino to take the first step in. As he closed the door, he noticed how dark it was. How could Aida be okay with the lack of light? He went over and opened the window, allowing some sunlight to come in. When he did, Aida was finally visible. Aino looked at her, sound asleep, with a gawking face.

"M…Mom?" Aino approached her, looking like he was just a few minutes away from breaking down. "Mom? Are you okay?"

Ludwig held his breath. He didn't know how this was going to go. Was Aida going to recognize her son, or was her mind too far gone at this point? He waited, feeling like the moment was stretching into eternity.

Aino leaned down next to the body and slightly jostled Aida. "Mom?"

Aida finally started to stir. She sat up, rubbing her eyes as she looked around. "Hello? Who's there?" Her eyes landed on Ludwig. "Who are you?"

Ludwig let out his breath, but that didn't make him any less tense. "My name is Ludwig, Mrs. Hatcher."

Aida looked confused, as if she was reaching out for any memory in her head that involved someone named Ludwig. "Ludwig…"

Ludwig nodded. "I'm not anyone really important." Okay, that wasn't entirely true, but it was true enough in the context of the conversation.

Aida blinked. She blinked once, twice, three times as she tried to piece together what was happening. She looked to her left, as if to draw from the area around her to help fill in the gaps in her memory. When she did, she gasped and her eyes grew wide.

"Ai…Aino?"

Ludwig felt relieved; thank goodness Aida recognized her son. Aida reached out her hand, her face donning a look that told Ludwig she didn't believe what she was seeing. When she touched Aino's face, stroking his cheek with her thumb, she grew a little misty eyed. "Aino, is that you?"

Aino smiled. "Yes, Mama," he said quietly. "It's me."

The tears in Aida's eyes started to fall. Her face rose into a happy expression, one that Ludwig was sure she hadn't worn in the past three or so years. With happy exclamations coming out of her mouth, she wrapped her arms around him. Both Hatchers cried as they held onto each other.

"Aino! Aino…" Aida rubbed his arm, his shell, his head. She was taking in her son via touch, as if that was the anchor that would bind this wonderful experience to the real world. "Where have you been?"

Aino exchanged a look with Ludwig, questioning what was the best thing to say given the supremely messed up circumstances. "I…I've been at my house, Mom." He pulled himself out of her embrace, an action that made her face fall. "I'm sorry I haven't visited you recently."

Aida blinked. "Your house? Where do you live?"

Aino winced. "I live in Frostwall, Mama."

"Frostwall…." Aida, with more effort than ever exerted before, tried to think about this. "Frostwall….Frostwall…" she looked at Aino with a grave, saddened expression. "I've never heard of it."

The pained expression on Aino's face grew stronger. "I know, Mama." He took hold of her hand, stroking the back with his thumb. "It's quite a long ways away." He smiled, or at the very least tried to. "But I'm moving back. I want to take care of you."

"Ta…take care of me?" Aida asked.

"Yes." Aino clearly struggled over what to say next. "You…you need me, Mom. And I need you. I need to make sure that nothing bad happens to you. That you can stay safe and know that you are loved."

Silence. Aida looked at her son, trying to form words that would fit in this scenario. "Aino…" She smiled. "I love you."

Aino sniffled as the smile returned to his face. "I love you too, Mama." He hugged her again. "And I'm gonna stay with you for as long as I need to. I don't care if it is one years or ten. I'm going to help you live the best life you can."

Aida looked a little confused, but she still sniffled regardless. "Thank you, Aino." She stroked the back of his head. "I love you…" she kissed him on the forehead. "I love you."

Ludwig felt a little squirmy. He really didn't belong here. These were two strangers, strangers who he shouldn't be involved in the lives in, let alone be in the same room as. Even though he knew that Aino said he wanted him to stay, he still inched towards the door. He exited the room, desiring to get out of this God forsaken house as soon as possible. Even though Magnus wasn't here anymore, he still didn't feel very comfortable staying here.

So, he left the room and made his way down the stairs. He looked toward the door, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw it. He was just about to exit through it when he heard Aino calling out to him.

"Ludwig, wait!"

Ludwig froze. He slowly turned toward Aino, not knowing what to do, say, or think. Why was Aino coming after him?

"What's wrong?" Ludwig asked. There had to be something wrong; why would Aino be coming back for him otherwise?

Aino looked into Ludwig's eyes for a little bit. Then, much to the special's surprise, he smiled and said the last thing that Ludwig had expected.

"Thank you."

Ludwig blinked. Thank you? "For what? I didn't do anything." He lowered his head. "At least not anything good…"

Aino took a step closer to him. "You took the time out of your day to bring me back to my Mom. That is a good thing if I've ever seen one."

Ludwig bit his lip. "Yeah, but…" his throat stung as he said the next few words. "But I'm the reason she is the way she is!"

"That may be true," Aino said, "but you are clearly apologetic and clearly care about this whole situation a good deal. That says more about your character to me than anything you might have done in the past and went back in time to undo." Aino grinned. "So, thank you."

Ludwig blinked again. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. There was no way in the Mushroom World that someone would care more about the small deed of bringing Aino back to Aida rather than the big deed of destroying a city. The only people who could even come close to saying that was the case for them were the other Koopalings, and even then, they weren't directly impacted by Frostwall's tragedy. So how could Aino stand here, without a hint of irony or malice, and say that he didn't care about it?

"Uh…thank you."

Aino continued to grin and pulled out his phone. "You know…I would like to be friends with you. Do you mind if we exchange phone numbers?"

Ludwig's jaw nearly dropped. Seriously, did Aino not understand the weight of what he did?

"Aino…don't you get it? I destroyed a city! I killed you in an alternate timeline; your mother has dementia because of me!"

Aino's smile didn't waver. "Ludwig…it's okay. You already atoned for destroying Frostwall by going back in time. Heck, because of that action, I'm alive and well today! So, I can't stay too mad at you for that. As for my mother…it wasn't your fault." He looked a little guilty. "I should have visited her in the past few years. If I had done that, maybe we could have worked through this whole thing together instead of Magnus wiping her memories like chalk. So, I will ask you again." His smiled returned. "Want to exchange phone numbers?"

Ludwig gawked. This wasn't real. Aino really didn't hold anything against him. This was so improbable, and yet, the fact that he was willing to be friends with Ludwig…

The oldest Koopaling pulled out his phone with a smile. "Sure."

AN: Don't go away! There's one chapter after this, so stay tuned! :)