Author's Note:

Long chapter today; over 3,000 words!

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Anyways...enjoy :)

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Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story idea and any OCs.

Chapter 8:
So It Begins

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It was morning in the small town of Toad Town and everyone was just starting out the day. Mario and Luigi left their house around 9:00 before heading towards Princess Peach's castle to help with decorations. By the time they got into town, Luigi suggested that they split ways.

"Hey bro, why don't you go on without me, I'll catch up with you later."

Mario looked at his brother a little concern. "Is something wrong?"

Luigi shook his head. "Nothing's wrong; it's just that I promise to meet up with someone yesterday and I don't want to be late. Don't worry; I'll be at the castle in a little while, okay?"

Mario nodded understandably. "Okay, but hurry; we have a lot of work to do around the castle."

Luigi nodded and watch his brother leave as he heads straight to the castle. Once he was gone, Luigi heads back to the tree outside of Toad Town where Wendy would be waiting for him. When he got there, the pink koopa was indeed already there. She was relaxing under the shade when she notice his arrival.

"Gesh, I guess you just love to be late all the time, do ya plumber?" She said to him as a greeting.

Luigi frowned; she never told him any specific time he had to there. He just thought they should meet up before noon.

"Well, don't just stand there; let's get this thing over and done with so I can go home."

Luigi sighed and walked over to her. Truth be told, he wasn't 100% sure if he wanted to make Daisy jealous. But if it will help him get his point across, then he'll do it. He was tired on this constant on and off fling and wanted to start a real, loving relationship. He sat across from Wendy as she sat up from her seat on the ground. Once she was comfortable, she began her lesson.

"Welcome to Wendy's Jealousy Class 101 where our motto is a jealous partner is a faithful one."

Luigi listen to her thoughtfully, mentally takes notes on what he's learning today.

"There are only three steps needed to make your partner jealous," Wendy continues, "Step 1 - Spark the jealously. How do you spark the jealousy? Well, it's quite simple. All you have to do is hang around the opposite gender... You see, nothing makes a partner more jealous than seeing you surrounding by other people - or in your case, other girls."

"But I don't know a lot of girls," Luigi said.

He wasn't exactly a ladies' man. That title would fall under his brother, who had girls like Toadette crushing on him from left to right. Of course, he had a few female friends - the ones who liked him because he was friendly and polite.

"That's fine; just stick around the girls you do know like that pink princess you're always saving. That should be enough to spark something."

Luigi frowned. "I don't want to look like I'm hitting on Peach."

What people didn't know, not even Mario, was that Luigi had first been in love with the pink princess. She was just so nice and beautiful; everyone loved her and that included Mario - which is why he had to keep it a secret in the first place. And when Peach started to show interest in his older twin, he made sure his feelings remain hidden from the both of them. He never once confessed how he felt about her. And it wasn't until he had met and fell in love with Daisy that he finally got over her.

"You don't have to hit on anyone to make someone jealous. You just need to compliment them. Not everything you do have to be flirty, although it is kind of fun." Wendy explained. "If you're that worried, then turn to your guy friends. Hang around them, have some fun, do whatever… You think you could do that?"

Luigi nodded. He could do that…maybe.

"Good. Now for step 2 - Keeping yourself busy. It doesn't matter if you really are busy, just as long as you say that you are it will work."

"How does pretending to be busy make her jealous?" He asked her.

"Simple; it'll give you the appearance that you don't have time for her anymore. Since she's always hanging out with that pink princess, and she's always with your plumber brother, she's start feeling like the third wheel between the two of them and then she'll wish that she had someone to be with her."

Luigi nodded. That made sense. There were plenty of times he had felt like the third wheel between Mario and Peach, and that was before they started dating.

Wendy silently watched the green plumber as he mentally go over the lesson she taught today. It was too bad she had to change him back to a human – he would have been a very handsome koopa if he stayed like that.

'Oh well, she thought 'I guess his human look is cute too.'

She blinked and cast her gaze to the ground. Did she really just think that?

The slight blush on her face told her yes…yes she did.

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After the first two steps, Wendy thought it would be best to spend a few days practicing before continuing to the last one. Luigi nodded and promise to meet her there tomorrow. When he made it to the castle, everyone was busy with work that had to be done. Toadsworth was the first to notice him and quickly put him to work with some of the other Toads.

Remembering his lesson for today, he kept close with all the female toads around him, complimenting them on their job well done. The toadettes were a little surprise by his behavior, but then again he was always known as the definition of being nice so they happily took it.

The day ended pretty slowed for him and he had comment on every girl except the one his brother was dating. He spent about ten minutes debating with himself whether he should do it or not in the case that his brother will get mad if he did. It wasn't until she announced that she had made everyone treaties that he thought he could comment her without looking too flirtatious.

Peach took the compliment, of course, and that meant success in Luigi's book which is what he told Wendy the following day.

"Hmm, I guess we can call it a start." Wendy said, after hearing Luigi's story. "Although you could have done better, even if all you were working with were Toads."

Luigi frowned. "Hey, this isn't as easy as it looks."

"For you, maybe…me, not so much; but just keep practicing, I'm sure you'll get it…eventually."

He sighed; he wasn't going anywhere at his rate.

Wendy, who was watching him from the corner of her eye, actually felt a bit sorry for him. It was, after all, his first time and first times were usually the hardest.

"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself. I mean, this is your first time, right?"

Luigi turned to her and nodded. "I guess you're right. Maybe I should just keep practicing; after all, practice makes perfect."

"I guess you could say that." Wendy stood up and dusted herself off as she gets ready to leave. "Try again today, maybe you'll get better…or maybe not. Uh, we'll see what happens."

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That day did go better for Luigi even if it was only slightly. This time, he tried step 2 which (in his opinion) was easier than step 1. Like he did previously, he worked and complimented everyone there until the work hour was over. Once all the workers were gone, Princess Peach invited the Mario Brothers to stay over and spend the rest of the evening with her over a course of tea.

Mario, of course, happily went with it, but Luigi had other ideas. As politely as he could ever be, he decline to Peach's offer and excused himself to leave, declaring he had some 'important' things to do. The others were surprise by his refusal, but allowed him to leave nevertheless.

So he left and now he was wishing he didn't. He had thought about going home, but there was nothing he could do other than clean the house. And if he did go home, Mario could walk in on him doing something unimportant which will ruin his whole plan for the day. He thought about going back to the castle but then dismissed it directly. If he went back, the others will think that he lied – which he had – and suspect something was up with him, Mario especially.

All in all, he didn't want to do anything that will lead him into revealing that he had been secretly practicing on trying to make Daisy jealous for when she comes… or that he had been secretly meeting up with Wendy, their enemy, who has taught him this sort of thing in the first place.

Wait…

Wendy…

Now there's a thought…He could hang out with her. It was odd for him to think of such but perhaps she could provide him company for the rest of the evening.

Once his mind was made up, he headed outside of town to the tree where the two always meet. He knew there was a chance that she wouldn't be there, but it was a lot better than just walking around town with no real purpose in mind.

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For the second time that day, Wendy found herself waiting by the tree, singing a song lightly to herself. She didn't know why. All she remembered was getting up to stretch her legs and never stop walking until she had reached this recent spot.

Although she had come to like this spot as a nice change in scenery and a place she could relax away from the family, her brothers specifically. But as delightful as this place may be, she still wonder what had possess her to come here in the first place.

She shrugged it off and continued on singing. She didn't notice someone was approaching her, stopping only a few feet away so they wouldn't disturb her from singing. It wasn't until she had finished her random song that the person next to her thought to make his appearance known.

"You have a beautiful voice," She jumped and turned quickly to her side. Luigi stood a few feet beside her, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scary you."

"What are you doing here?" she glared. 'And how long has he been standing there?'

The green plumber stepped closer, trying to recall his reason for coming here. "I just thought… I'll come and see if you were here."

His answer wasn't something she expected. She raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "And if I wasn't?"

Luigi shrugged. "Then I guess I would have been here all by myself," He turn back to Wendy who didn't look like she completely believe him. "Your singing was wonderful, by the way."

"Uh?" Wendy blinked, not sure if she had heard him right.

"Your singing," He repeated. It was wonderful; very airy and light...I like it."

"Oh," She turn away as a blush appeared on her tan cheeks. "Well, you know, it's a natural skill…you either have it or you don't."

Luigi nodded and sat down on the ground as he tries to relax. "I guess that's true. I sing myself but my voice isn't nearly as good as some people."

Wendy frowned when she saw him relax. She didn't like this. Nope, not one bit. He was too comfortable around her…too at ease. It was almost like they were friends or something. But they weren't friends; they were enemies…enemies that shouldn't be sitting together relaxing. She growled slightly to herself; this thing going on between them has to end soon.

"So how's the lesson going?" she asked a bit hastily. "You getting better yet?"

The quicker she could get his girl problem fix, the quicker things will be back to normal. Luigi sat up from his seat on the grass.

"Actually, I think I am. I tried step 2 and it went by just as planned."

She smiled. Of course, it went just as planned; it was her idea after all and her ideas always work.

"Although," Luigi continued. "It would have been a lot easier if I ready did have something to do."

"Oh? So what did you tell the others?"

"I told them that I had some 'important' things to do," He joked slightly. "I guess hanging out with you is important to me now, uh?"

A small, red tilt appeared on Wendy's face. She didn't know whether or not she should feel honored or should laugh at the fact that the green hero had considered her important enough to ditch his friends. It was definitely something news worth, that's for sure.

"Anyways" He said suddenly, "What about you? Did you have anything to do today?"

Wendy looked at him with a raise eyebrow. "No; and if I did, I won't be here now would I?"

Luigi smiled sheepishly. "That's true."

For a moment there, they sat in silence. Luigi rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of something else to talk about. Wendy just watched the green man as he fiddled nervously in his spot on the ground. She smiled slightly; the green plumber was rather cute when he was nervous.

"So…" he finally said. "How's your day been going?"

Wendy blinked; why would it matter to him? "Fine, I guess."

It was as fine as it could get at Bowser's castle. She still couldn't get a new necklace but other than that, things were pretty alright.

"You still don't have a necklace yet?" Wendy looked at him strangely. What was he, a mind reader?

"Daddy's still busy," It was all she could tell him. Bowser wasn't paying much attention to the Koopalings as much as he use to, mainly because of the princess and her plumber boyfriend.

"Sorry about that," The plumber apologize which cause Wendy to looked at him confused. "Your necklace means a lot to you. I should know. If I had lost my favorite cap, I'll be upset for weeks."

"Yeah, well, you should be." She said. This plumber was definitely… different, that's for sure. Really, the necklace didn't mean that much to her. It didn't have any sentimental value like his hat may have.

For the next few hours, their conversation went on like that. From Wendy's point of view, the green plumber was as much of a talker as her brother Morton. Good thing she has experience with active talkers like him. She knew when to response just by listening for certain keywords.

In the end, it wasn't all that bad. The green hero would talk about all sorts of stuff, like his brother, his friends, and his recently off again girlfriend. But for the most part, he mostly just talked about himself. Sometimes he'll pause and ask questions about her which were answered nonchalantly.

The questions were pretty harmless…nothing too personal or would interfere with them on the battle field. At one point, Wendy thought of ending their conversation, but eventually denied. Despite what she thought earlier, he was no threat to her – he was simply respecting her as person which was quite nice. So nice that she actually enjoyed his company and found his constant rumbling rather enchanting.

"Are you okay?"

Wendy blinked, coming out of whatever fog she was in and looked over to see concern on the plumber's face. "…What?"

"You kind of space out," Luigi explained. "You were quiet for a long time and kept staring with a strange look on your face."

"Oh, uhm" Wendy turned away, trying to stop the blush from creeping up to her face when she realize she been caught staring…again. "I must be tried or something, haven't done much of anything today."

Luigi nodded, standing up from the ground as his stretch his arching limps. "We should start heading home anyways; it's starting to get dark."

Wendy blinked and looked over to the sky. True to his words, it has started to get dark. The sun was half way over the horizon which gave off a beautiful sunset. Wendy frowned, how long have they been sitting there?

A presence from her side caused her to turn her head. What she got was a glove hand offering to help her up. She look pass the offer to see bright blue eyes and a soft smile. She turned away and took the hand, hoping the green man won't see her blushing. Once they both were back on their feet, they soon went their separate ways.

Wendy was confused for all the times she had blushed around the other Mario, but she couldn't dwell on it for long. Her father had finally come up with a new plan and he wanted everybody to get ready for it.

Once everything was set and ready, she and the rest of the Koopalings went to their rooms to rest for the night. As she settled into bed, she let out a tired sighed as her mind replay the events of today. She remembered the comment the green man gave her on her singing. She smiled slightly; her heart flickered before falling to into a comfortable sleep.

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Luigi got home just in time to see the last few minutes of the sunset disappear. No soon after, his brother called, stating that he would be spending the night at the castle, leaving Luigi with the entire house to himself.

After showering and eating some dinner, he decided to retired early. As he lay on his bed, hoping sleep will take him soon, he recall his day in his head. All and all, it was a pretty good day. If he had to say, the hours he spent with Wendy were probably the only highlight of his day.

Sure all they did was sit and talk, with him doing most of the talking, but that was probably why he enjoys it so much. Unlike his brother who was silent for the most part, Luigi enjoys talking and could talk a man to death if he wanted to. Having someone listening - or even half listening - was satisfying to him, whether or not his listener was the enemy.

The best part was when he heard her singing. He didn't expect to hear her sing; and now that he did, he had admiring it. Now that he thought about it, it wasn't just airy and light, it was graceful and beautiful…almost angelic.

He smiled and turned onto his side. He replayed the Koopa's song in his mind as he let it carry him off to dream land.

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Ending Note:

Originally, this was two separate chapters combined into one. I had a look at my outline and it appears that this story is going to be a lot longer than I hoped, an estimated total of 40 chapters (with or without combining a few of them together). I have pretty much 90% of the story planned out, I just have to actually write the chapters themselves.

Next chapter will be up by next week.

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Review :)