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Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to Nintendo and their affiliates. I just am really grateful to its creators for giving me such a wonderful game and media series to write about!

I also don't own anything related to Harry Potter, all that belongs to J.K. Rowling, but thanks go to her as well because, using her wonderful work, I can expand this story to make it more interesting :)

Chapter Twenty

For some reason, she was up early. The sun was just barely up in the sky and yet her eyes were open. When she took in the events of the last few hours, a wide smile spread across her mouth. She was in bed, under the sheets without a stitch of clothing on her body. Beside her was the man she knew she would always love with all her heart, Luigi. He was still sleeping.

And it wasn't a dream, she concluded with much relief. Her drowsy, addled mind would almost have her believe it was so, but the more lucid she became, the more she remembered of her experience last night. Again she smiled, closing her eyes and relishing the moment.

Daisy was laying tucked under Luigi's arm with her head on his chest. She slid out from under him as discreetly as possible and then leaned on her hands and knees; she couldn't help but let out a little contented hum as she arched her back in a feline-like stretch. She tilted her head so that her messy curly hair spilled over her right shoulder. Her gaze lingered on her boyfriend and that smile grew wider.

She sat on her heels and reached towards him. Down his chest she ran both her hands. She liked how warm and soft his skin was under her palms, how taut and firm his muscles were to the touch. She may not be able to see them like one would on a bodybuilder, but they were definitely there. She leaned down and kissed his stomach affectionately. She then climbed carefully onto his lap and nearly forgot that he was in just a state of undress as she was. The result of her flesh atop his was first his body twitching underneath her, then subsequently a piercing stab of desire shooting down to that area. She indulged in a private smile.

I know I probably shouldn't, She mused.

Daisy liked it, she liked the way his body felt against hers. She liked the way he made himself fit inside her, the way he filled her up and made her feel utterly satisfied with life in the moment that they were moving together. She'd wanted him just as badly as he did her, but this morning she was tired. She was sore.

But it feels so good, she knew.

Daisy pressed her lips to Luigi's mouth and sucked gently on his bottom lip, then climbed off of him. She resumed her place at his side and, in his sleep, he put his arm around her. She buried her face in his neck and kept giving him little tiny kisses along the side of his throat and jaw.

He's so handsome, she observed. It was in the soft white shade of his clear skin, only accented by the darkness of his hair and neat brows and lashes. He's got such a nice face, the girl smirked, he's got a nice body, too. She dragged her fingertips lazily down the back of his body and closed them slightly against his backside. She felt something victorious and possessive arise within her, then felt a bit embarrassed.

He's still asleep, she noted, I shouldn't be touching him like this but I can't help it. He's so amazing, inside and out.

"I love you," She whispered, knowing he couldn't hear. "I love you so much. And you are so, so good to me."

Daisy stared at Luigi's face, he was sleeping so serenely, and felt an overwhelming joy all of a sudden. She'd never been so glad to be alive. The girl smiled for the umpteenth time and brought her right leg over Luigi's left. Her inner thigh smarted faintly, it was sore like the rest of her body in general. Daisy did like the way it felt but there was something coming to mind that had the potential to spoil her mood: she wondered if she was something of a masochist.

She knew where that train of thought was stemming from, her time spent in captivity. She could recall that most of her interaction with the late royal consisted of him trying and nearly succeeding to get between her legs. Then he would slap her, force a harsh kiss on her, or put his hands all over her body and leave bruises in his wake. The pain was just as frequently doled out as the pleasure.

There was pleasure involved, Daisy begrudgingly admitted, he was good at that, at seducing and pleasing the body when it came down to it. No matter how much I hate to say it, even in my head.

There was also her time spent in his dungeons that came into play; she knew her psyche had been a mess those nights, the nights where he would come and torture her and then have his magicians heal her. The debilitating pain being met with a near-orgasmic wave of healing ecstasy had clearly done irreparable damage to her subconscious mind.

But if liking it rough is as bad as consequences go, Daisy thought, I guess I don't have much to worry about.

The important thing in her mind was not what the king did to her, but how she reacted: she hadn't succumbed to his skillful attentions. Almost, but not once had she given in to whatever sadistic deviation he tried to engage her in.

"I am not like him," She whispered to herself.

"Can you just let me in?"

"..."

"Wendy?"

"..."

"Come on, just open the door, yo."

"..."

"Why won't you let me talk to you?"

"..."

Roy was at the end of his already short rope. He wasn't like how Ludwig used to be, full of diligent patience. He'd come to make amends with his sister, or at least talk to her, after that disastrous dinner. She had yet to open her door or even speak to him and he was getting annoyed. All he wanted to do was help her, talk to her like he used to, but she was making it so difficult. He really couldn't direct all his anger towards her, though, because he knew the sole reason behind the changing dynamics in their relationship was their brother, Ludwig. He raised his hand to knock on the door again but sighed.

This is stupid, he thought, I could just teleport into her room. Ludwig showed me how.

But he didn't do that because he knew it'd upset her. He just wished she could understand how much he truly cared about her, how hard he was trying to convey that. It wasn't an easy task for Roy, who was used to expressing himself with his actions, namely his fists. He stood outside Wendy's bedroom door and stared hard at the wood.

"Wendy, I don't know what's gotten into you," he began, then ran a hand through his hair, "But whenever you wanna' talk to me about it..."

Roy leaned close to the crack near the side of the door, making sure to keep his voice lowered when he spoke next.

"...your big brother's listening. Kay?"

Roy got no response and shook his head. He didn't regret reaching out to her though, he just felt sort of disappointed. He turned and was about to leave when the door suddenly swung open.

He felt like someone had kicked him in the stomach.

Wendy stood in the doorway. Her hair was mussed on one side but the other lay flat against her wet cheek, as if it'd been smushed between her face and the pillow. He saw red under her eyes, her blue eyes were still peaked with moisture. He didn't like seeing his baby sister distraught like this, it made him downright nauseous.

"Wendy..." He said softly.

The girl opened her mouth as if about to speak but instead her face crumpled and that was it. That was all it took for Roy to step forward and wrap his arms around her. He didn't think when he kissed the top of her head and then rested his chin there. In his arms Wendy sobbed softly. She had her hands up against his chest while he stroked the back of her hair.

"Please stop crying," He urged her uncomfortably. "Wen, please. Just talk to me, yo."

Wendy didn't. She stood in her brother's embrace and felt like a little girl with him holding her and rubbing her back like this. She didn't know what to say to him, where to start. She was just so very angry and emotional over all that was going on in her life. She finally pushed back a little on his chest to get him to loosen his hold. She looked up in Roy's face and saw sadness flash across his features.

"Wendy." He stated. "You gotta' let me help you, alright? Just talk to me," he pleaded.

Wendy sniffed and shook her head, much to his dismay. She looked at the floor, keeping hold of her brother, and then gazed back in his eyes.

"Roy, I just don't think you'd understand." She admitted in a very broken voice that tore at her brother's heart.

He said, "You gotta' try me and see."

Again Wendy refused, saying, "I don't want to. I just want to be alone. I want to be somewhere else, away from all this. I don't want to..."

Her voice cracked and Roy instinctively shushed her.

"It's alright," He said, "You ain't gotta talk about it. Just promise me you'll let me know if there's something I can do for you."

"Like what?" Wendy asked hopelessly. "You can't get me out of here. You can't take me away from this place. You can't stop Ludwig from being a tyrant."

"No, I know I can't." Roy sighed, "I just...I don't like seeing you this way."

"I don't like being this way." Wendy shrugged, looking down.

Roy still held her and looked a tad bit desperate.

"Just tell me if there's anything you need, alright?" He implored.

Wendy nodded, then leaned up and kissed her brother's cheek. She had to stand up on her toes, and when she came back down to the flat of her feet she gave him a watery smile.

"Thank you, Roy."

He responded by holding her shoulders and kissing her forehead. The girl wiped at her eyes and then sniffed twice more before heading back to her room. This time she didn't slam her door, but she still locked it behind her.

Considering what happened last night, I wasn't surprised to see that it was late in the afternoon when I woke. I was surprised to find I was in bed alone, though. The light from the blinds were doing their namesake to me so I shut my eyes and rolled onto my back. The sheets were tangled around my lower half and I could feel that I was still in need of some clothes. My body felt good, a little tired but good. I had to smirk a little because of the lack of tension within me. That had all been resolved last night, again and again and again.

I couldn't see her but from the noises coming from the other part of my apartment, I guessed that Daisy was awake. I wondered then how early she'd gotten up as I gathered my clothes to take a shower.

Once I got out, I could smell something cooking. I finished brushing my teeth and pulled on my white t-shirt. There was a pervasive smell of bacon coming from the kitchen and it was strange because I hadn't smelled that in a while. Yes, I could cook, but I never really felt up to cooking when it was just me here. It was much easier and less time consuming to just pop something in the microwave or pick something up from the store. I could personally attest that whatever Daisy was fixing was ten times better than any of that.

"Good morning."

I glanced up in the bathroom mirror and saw Daisy leaning on the door frame. She had on one of my shirts, the black one that said 'The Ramones'. It was small on me so it pretty much fit her, except for in the sleeves. The hem of it dropped down to the top of her thighs. Her dark hair was piled up sloppily but even that looked sexy to me.

"It is a good morning," I smirked faintly.

The girl pushed herself up off the wall and walked over to me. She put her arms around my neck and kissed me. I held her waist and felt grateful all over again for having her to wake up to.

"I made breakfast." Daisy announced after taking those sweet lips away from me.

I stared quickly at her mouth and then met her eyes. She looked radiant this morning. Er, afternoon. I held her waist and just knew I was the luckiest man in Brooklyn.

"Come on, it's getting cold." Daisy grinned.

She took my hand and led me to the kitchen table. I noticed that she'd already fixed a plate for herself and for me: she'd cooked pancakes, eggs, bacon, and toast. There was a ton of dishes in the sink. It would be the least I could do to wash them.

"You want orange juice?" Daisy asked me.

"Yeah." I told her, then said, "Thank you."

Daisy poured the carton of juice into two plain glasses, then put the juice back in the fridge. She carried the glasses to the table and took a seat adjacent to me. When she set the glasses down, she smiled to herself and let her bottom lip slide from between her teeth.

"No, thank you Luigi." She spoke softly, "For last night."

...She's thanking me?

"You're welcome," I said slowly. "I'm glad you trust me with your body."

"I trust you with my life." She admitted quietly. "There's no one I love more than you. Except maybe my cousins."

I thought on them, on Meech and Danny as she called them. They were good kids, I hoped they were doing alright. Last I heard from them, they were still in the kingdom.

"I miss them," Daisy stated. "I want to see them."

I didn't want to hurt Daisy's feelings, but in my mind I was just thinking there was no way in hollow Hell I was going back to that world if I could help it. That place was cursed; whenever I went there, some mess went down. Like I said, though, I didn't want to hurt Daisy's feelings, so I said something else.

"You could write them a letter."

Daisy's face told me this wasn't what she wanted, but she nodded anyway. I knew a place that acted as a veritable mailbox between my brother and me, I could get a letter to her cousins through there. I knew without a doubt that I was being selfish, but I just wasn't ready to go back there. It was too soon.

We ate in relative silence. Now that I was more lucid, I could see something was on the girl's mind. So after I finished her delicious meal, I figured I'd talk to her about it. I collected her empty plate and glass and headed to the sink. Once I was up to my arms in soapy water, Daisy came up beside me. She sat on the counter with one leg over the other, supporting herself on her palms behind her.

"Something the matter?" I asked while I washed.

She sighed and said, "Luigi, how would you feel if..."

"If what?" I prompted.

"What do you think about us having a child?" She asked in a near-whisper.

I winced inside. I don't like kids. I mean, they're alright I guess. Bowser Junior's an exception and Ludwig's siblings kinda grew on me. I don't know about having one of my own, though. It was a lot of work. There's the crying and the dirty diapers and the toilet training, not to mention the subsequent eighteen years of rearing that could possibly go wrong and leave one with a serial killer for a child.

Those are only the down sides, I knew.

There were good sides to having a kid; I mean, it was a little piece of me and Daisy after all. The kid would no doubt have great times with us, and I knew I'd love him or her as much as I did their mother. I just wasn't prepared yet.

"Daisy," I said slowly, "I don't know if I'm ready for that kind of responsibility."

And then I turned to her and saw the girl's disconsolate expression. She hid it quickly under a neutral expression.

"I understand." She said, then asked, "When do you think you'll be ready?"

I shrugged and said, "I don't know. Maybe after we're married?"

"And when will that be?" She pressed.

"After we're engaged, I guess."

"And when will we be engaged?"

"When I can afford a ring."

Daisy furrowed her brow a bit and I sighed. I came to stand in front of her and she turned as I did. I laid my hands on her knees and tried to focus on consoling her, which was what I came over to do; already my body was used to being in between her legs and it was distracting me.

"Luigi," Daisy spoke, "In my country, if two people love each other, they announce their attentions to their family and friends and then they marry. What's so important about a ring?"

"It's uh, it's just tradition," I said, trying to concentrate. I gazed into her eyes and said, "It's tradition for a girl to have a diamond ring at the start of her engagement."

"I don't need a ring," Daisy refuted softly, "Especially if it's so expensive it means we can't be married sooner. I just want to be with you. I want to marry you, and you want to marry me, right?"

"You know I do."

"So why does it have to be so complicated?" Daisy frowned, "Why can't we just have a wedding and marry?"

I sighed again and said, "Weddings are really expensive. I mean, the type that we would have."

"The wedding is expensive, too?" Daisy asked dubiously, then said, "Now I really don't understand. In my country, once a couple has announced their attentions, their family and friends throw them a wedding in the city. It's not very costly at all. Why is everything so expensive here in your world?"

I didn't have an answer for her, so I just shrugged. Daisy tilted her head to the side and started thinking to herself. I let her. I think she had a way of making me see life from a different angle; what I wanted was to do this all the right way, the traditional way. I wanted to buy Daisy the best engagement ring I could find in this whole city, or state if need be. I wanted to give her a wedding that a princess like her deserved. Maybe she had the right idea, maybe expensive taste wasn't the best, maybe we should do something just among friends and family. Family. Now I was thinking about a kid again and I could feel a headache coming on.

Gotta think about the future sometime, though, I knew.

Daisy was looking down at me again so I gave her knees a little squeeze and waited for her to speak.

"Luigi, I feel like, given what we've been through," She said, "We already know each other very well."

"True." I acceded.

"So there's no real need for an engagement," The girl reasoned. "I think we should start thinking about our wedding, and maybe a family. Not to rush you, just. I don't think a little planning would hurt."

"...I guess so." Was all I could say at the moment.

Daisy glanced down and worried her bottom lip. When she met my eyes hers were sort of anxious.

"Luigi, am I being too bossy?" She asked me quickly.

"Bossy?" I echoed.

She explained, "I'm used to taking care of my cousins, so sometimes I can be a little um, pushy."

"I don't think you're being pushy," I averted, rubbing circles into her knee caps. "But I do think this is a lot to consider right now. Why are you so set on marrying right away?"

"Where I come from," Daisy expanded, "girls marry around fourteen or fifteen. They start families soon after. It's just the way I was brought up. The only reason I haven't followed suit was because of Tatanga and because I was laying low and because I had my cousins to think about."

"I understand," I said.

And I'm sort of glad for it, I thought, knowing she'd never have met me if that hadn't been the case.

Daisy said, "I love you Luigi and I know for sure that I want to marry you and I want to carry your children, so I don't really see the need to wait any longer, but I will if you really aren't ready yet."

And I wasn't ready, not yet. A wedding, maybe. But a child? Children? Not even close. I was only just adjusting to having another person live with me, to introduce a needy little infant would only bring out the clumsy, clueless part of me.

"I appreciate that, Daisy," I told her, "And I promise that when we do have our wedding, we'll do it just the way you like. As for a kid, uh, I guess we can talk more about that later."

"Alright." Daisy acquiesced, then took the hem of my t-shirt and yanked it gently towards herself so that she could kiss me.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this short chapter. I don't know when I'll be able to update again. Stay safe and sound readers :) Until next time...

~DymondGold~