I wanted to try my hand at a Mario and Luigi brotherhood fic. It was actually pretty hard to write, or harder than I expected it to be, but I like the outcome nonetheless.

Enjoy ~

Day 1

When Mario returned home that night, he held his left hand over his heart and his right hand on his left upper arm. He said nothing when he stepped through the doors of their house - not even a sigh of relief escaped his lips this time. He wasn't happy that it was over for now, he wasn't happy that both the princess and he were okay - he wasn't happy at all. Luigi walked in after him, but Mario did not acknowledge this. The red plumber kept his eyes ahead and walked across the hall towards his room.

Luigi began weakly, "Mio fratello, attendere . . ."

The door to Mario's room slammed shut and Luigi was left in silence.

Day 2

The morning started when the smallest ray of sunshine landed on Luigi's face. He closed his eyes tighter and rolled over. The covers were pulled far over his head, nearly reaching the top of his pillow. He had no dreams last night – no dreams that he could remember – but his thoughts remained centered on his brother. Mario oftentimes hit his boiling point, but when that happened, all Luigi would see in his face was anger. What he had seen last night was not anger. What he had seen last night was something different, but no words in his mind had come to describe it.

After a few good minutes of sulking in bed, Luigi finally got up and started to make his bed. He tucked the top sheet into the mattress nonchalantly, his mind elsewhere. The blanket was put on top, smoothed out and free of wrinkles. Three years of the same morning routine and this was all second nature to him now.

He stepped out of his room carefully, the door creaking only once. He turned to his brother's room across the way. Luigi considered waking him, but then the thought of him already awake slipped into his mind. Luigi did not wake his brother and walked into the bathroom instead. The bathroom door closed softly. The house was quiet once again.

Mario did not sleep at all the other night. He didn't recall what he had done for those nine hours of darkness, but it was not sleep.

The once white sheet turned a velvet color around him. There was not a pool of blood rather than a puddle. Yes, a puddle of blood before him. His arm and chest stopped bleeding some time ago, but while the gashes were fresh, they bled. Mario hadn't bothered covering them. He felt pain, but it did not matter. His once blue overalls were now turned a light shade of purple and his red shirt was only a darker, damper shade.

Luigi walked out of the bathroom half an hour later with a towel around his waist. He looked at Mario's still-closed door momentarily before returning to his room. Perhaps Mario would come out for breakfast, Luigi thought.

But, Mario spent the entire day in his room.

Day 3

Luigi had tried twice the other day to get his brother out of the room. He called for his brother, asking both kindly and unkindly for him to get out. Mario only responded with a grunt. Luigi didn't want to force his brother out of the room, but he feared for Mario's health, too. It was unlike Mario to go through the day without food, but if Mario wished to remain isolated in his room, Luigi would respect his brother's wish.

Mario walked out of his room the next morning with his sheets in hand. He trudged into the bathroom. He did sleep that night, but only because his head was unclear and he required sleep.

He turned the faucet on and put the bloody sheets in the wide sink. Rubbing the cloth together under the rushing water forced the color to gradually return to its pure white state. The red water spiraled down the steal drain. Mario glanced up at the bare wall in front of him. He was glad that there was not a mirror pinned on the wall.

Luigi's door opened steadily and his pale face peered out from the side. The faucet was turned off and he saw Mario lean over the sink, as if he were ill. Luigi stepped out of his room and walked towards his brother. He looked down at him, curious. Mario kept his eyes on the drain in the sink. Luigi noticed the blood that covered him.

Luigi grabbed Mario's wrist, careful of his arm, and started to pull him away from the sink. Mario let go and was led to the tub, where Luigi turned on the faucet. They looked at each other, one wearing a confused expression, the other wearing an expression of command. Luigi walked out of the bathroom and closed the door. Mario turned back to the tub.

The faucet was turned off, a cough was heard, and the bathroom door opened. Mario was greeted by Luigi's glare. They stood in silence until Mario sighed and closed the bathroom door.

The tub's faucet started up again.

Day 4

Mario still did not eat and he did not spend much time out of his room. He was quiet, but he would aimlessly walk around the house from time to time.

He walked into the kitchen the next morning, exhausted and empty. Luigi was at the table with a cup full of dark coffee. He looked up from the open book in front of him and leaned back on the chair.

Luigi said in Italian, "Good morning. Come. Eat."

On the other end of the small table sat a plate of eggs and two slices of bread, toasted. Mario gave it a passing glance. He rubbed his neck and leaned on the archway. "I feel sick, Luigi."

"You will feel better when you eat."

"I do not want to eat."

Luigi sighed and turned away. He took another sip of coffee before returning to the book in front of him. Mario rubbed his left arm. He felt pain there again, but he did not know why. It was probably a passing pain and if it wasn't . . . well, he would deal with it as it came.

"Do you ever think about going home, Luigi?"

Luigi looked up, halfheartedly puzzled. "We are home."

This was a lie, and both of them knew it perfectly well.

Mario walked over slowly to the table and sat down. The brothers looked at each other for a minute before Luigi looked back down at the book. "What I mean is," Mario continued, "are you comfortable in staying here?"

Luigi inhaled deeply and looked up once again.

"Please, brother, eat."

Day 5

It did not surprise Luigi to find out that Mario's cuts had gotten infected. He knew that would happen, seeing as how Mario spent two days in the same bloody clothes and on the same bloody bed. Mario also described the pain he felt around the scars and it led Luigi to believe that they were infected, but he had done nothing about it until the next morning. Mario didn't allow him to do anything last night.

Now it was morning and Luigi found himself on the edge of his brother's bed with a bottle of pure alcohol and a ripped cloth. Mario's sleeve was rolled up and he sat up with a morose look on his face. He was lucky that it was only the gashes on his arm that got infected and not the cuts on his chest. Luigi wringed out the excess alcohol in a small bowl placed to the side before bringing it up to his brother's arm. He stopped before dousing the cut and said in his native tongue, "This will hurt."

Mario waved this away. In Italian: "Yes, I know. Get it over with."

Luigi carefully rubbed the cut with the wet cloth, feeling Mario slightly recoil with pain. Luigi's thoughts started to wander. Mario was obviously upset for some reason, but Luigi couldn't understand why.

"Have there been any messages from the princess?"

Luigi perked his head up. "Huh?"

Mario didn't repeat himself and only glared at his brother. Luigi shook his head. "I did not check the mailbox today, but I doubt that there are any letters from the castle."

Mario nodded. "Check the mailbox later, okay?"

"I will."

Luigi closed the cap on the bottle of alcohol and put the cloth in the bowl.

Day 8

It was almost as if Mario was back to normal. Although he remained quiet and in solitude more often, he was eating and he was taking care of his wounds, and from time to time he would give his brother a small smile.

In the afternoon, however, Mario did not step out of his room, even for a little bit. After Luigi checked the mail, he walked over to Mario's door and knocked.

There was no answer.

Luigi stood back, mulling over whether or not he should step in. Before he could even decide, the door opened and Mario stepped out. He looked up at his brother, with a solid glare and said (his accent becoming stronger), "Io sono debole."

It took longer than expected for Luigi to understand that, possibly because what he heard was almost unbelievable to him. "Tu non sei debole," Luigi finally said. "I am the one . . . who is weak," he said with a slight stutter. Why he said that in English, he did not know.

"I almost-a got killed by Bowser, and-a you start to think for-a me to believe that I am not weak?" Mario shook his head. "Io sono debole. A-let it go."

"No," Luigi snapped. "Do not say those things. They are not true."

Mario looked down. "Hai mai pensato di andare a casa? Think about what it would-a still be like if we were home?"

"Si. But we are in home. We have to deal with what we have. La casa è dove si è. And you are not the weak."

A month passed before Bowser made his next attack on the kingdom. The airships fired down on Toad Town, causing much pandemonium and destruction. Some of the guards tried to fight back, but they were no match. It seemed like Bowser had gone full-out on this attack.

Mario and Luigi were dashing down the cobblestone path to Toad Town. Mario stopped before the welcome sign and stared at Bowser clawing away at the buildings and people. Luigi looked at his brother and sensed doubt. He walked up beside him, his right hand lighting up a fire-like color. "Don't worry, bro." Mario looked up. "I will be right behind you."

I think I added in enough context clues for people who don't speak Italian to understand what they were saying. And, if not, you always have Google Translate and the Google Translate bar that FF installed some time ago.

Sort of like A Hot Cup of Tea, this one-shot gives a darker outlook of the Marioverse. I'm not sure if it lives up to that one-shot, though. Any grammatical errors dealing with the English dialogue of the Mario Bros. is completely intentional. Any errors with my Italian is my fault and completely unintentional. Point them out if you see any, 'cause I'll fix them right away.

Criticism or not, all reviews are welcome!

- Great Mistake