It was a long journey back from World 8, nothing new with these "Kidnapping The Princess" ploys. But hey, they've done it once again. After they defeated Bowser once again, they left his castle with the princess in a hot air balloon. Luigi recalled how queasy and pale he felt as he looked down at the ground far below, he was never good with heights.

But he quickly forgot about it when Peach told him this random bit of information out of nowhere that probably would've made him spit out a drink if he had one. Apparently, Lemmy wanted her to tell him that he said hi. From how Peach put it, he did it just to mess with Luigi. Something about "an embarrassingly quick defeat."

Of course, Luigi knew that there was no battle at all and chalked it up to Lemmy providing a cover story for it. However, he had a feeling that Lemmy really did want to say hi to him. Considering what happened during their "battle", he wasn't surprised.

It did reassure Luigi even further that there were indeed no tricks or foul play coming from Lemmy while inside that tower. Sure, he shouldn't let his adversarial bias against him taint his thoughts like that in a serious issue. But nevertheless, he was still relieved, and it was that relief that allowed him to see the humor in it. While he was his target, Lemmy did mess with someone a lot more with it.

Mario was left completely dumbfounded, a complete loss for words other than the stunned stammers he made, which made sense since nothing unusual happened in World 3 as far as he knew. While caught off guard himself, Luigi did find his reaction pretty amusing. Of course, he tightly contained his laughter as he didn't want to risk anyone getting suspicious of him. After all, this would not be how he would've reacted under normal circumstances.

Something else that caught his eye was that Peach was carrying a blue flower in a pot, when he asked about it, all she said was that it was a parting gift. While she didn't say who it was from, Luigi did have a feeling he knew who. He did notice just how odd the flower felt once Peach brought that up, the strange aura it gave off did help Luigi calm his nerves while being so high up in the sky.

Luigi had collapsed down onto his recliner in exhaustion as soon as he got home. Even though that ride happened yesterday, Luigi was still spending a lot of his time sitting there and reeling from the whole ordeal with a ton on his mind. Saving the Princess and traveling through the eight worlds can really knock you out! As such, he definitely needed some well deserved R&R.

As for Mario, it was basically the same, but he was too prideful to admit it. Despite him trying to hide it, Mario's desires were pretty obvious. Once he was upstairs, Luigi knew that he would go and take a nap and just sleep all day like the at home slacker he is. Maybe not at first glance to someone else, but Luigi knew him well enough to know that it was the exact kind of thing he would do after all, so why bother hiding it?

Luigi snickered a little, the thought of Mario trying to hide something so pointless and menial was something he found kind of amusing. Although, It did briefly take his mind off of what has been bugging him ever since that day. The events of what happened between him and Lemmy back in that tower was only just yesterday and he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Luigi went in thinking that he would be greeted by a giggling little Koopaling throwing circus balls and bouncy bombs at him, only to find that same Koopaling staring out a window and crying. Which was the absolute last thing he expected. Even though he had refused to tell him anything and insisted that he was fine at first, it was obvious that something was wrong.

While it wasn't his business, he did want to make sure he was at least alright. What he didn't expect was for him to actually tell him, even though Luigi himself didn't actually plan on it. With everything Lemmy had told him, he never saw any of that coming. Ever since he gushed out about his daily life, Luigi couldn't help but see the kid from a different angle.

Having so many duties forced onto him almost daily along with the rest of his siblings, some of which being more geared towards experienced adults and some dangerous. It was something he didn't think Bowser would do. Thinking about it however, Luigi didn't seem too surprised either considering what other things he had done over the years.

Given how he didn't have the best history with them and after all the battles he had to face them in, it was easy to forget the simple fact that the Koopalings are just kids, nothing more. But despite the negative views he had, seeing Lemmy break down into a crying mess made Luigi feel bad for him.

When he thought about every battle he and Mario had with him, a thought crossed his mind. It was possible that Lemmy's feelings about the whole thing got worse every time he lost a battle against them, something that likely had been chipping away at him for the past few years. If this was true, which it most likely was, then he and Mario bear partial responsibility for this, and Luigi felt awful as he thought about it. The more he thought about it, the more guilt he felt towards Lemmy.

All this made him hope even more that Lemmy would be able to overcome his problems and get a more proper lifestyle for himself. A kid his age shouldn't even be doing some of these things, and it was clear the young Koopa felt guilty about some of the things he had been ordered to do.

The unexpected gesture of handing him the key without a fight showed that Lemmy was genuinely grateful for Luigi. If he was told this before entering the tower, he never in his wildest dreams would've ever believed it. If anything, it would've been far more likely to be a trap. But then again, if it was a trap, then things would've gone differently. Maybe the key could've been a fake and all it did was open a trapdoor of some sorts?

Come to think of it, the thought of the key being a trap never actually crossed Luigi's mind where it would've under normal circumstances. Although, he was grateful that it didn't, he would've felt bad about doubting his gesture of kindness like that. Still, he didn't feel right for accepting the key Lemmy had given him, if only because he was a bit concerned that the rest of Lemmy's family would find out and something bad would come out of it as a result.

Speaking of family, Luigi recalled just how scared Lemmy became when he brought up the idea of talking to his father about it. Even though he didn't anticipate him reacting so strongly, he still felt bad for accidentally causing him to break down in tears like that.

Scared of how his father would react to how he felt about his role in the Koopa Troop. That fear showed very much in Lemmy's eyes, he looked terrified beyond belief. The look reminded Luigi of the kind of fear he hadn't seen since the last time he squared off against King Boo.

"Luigi?"

Speaking of getting scared, Luigi flinched a little as he snapped out of his thoughts, startled by the sudden break of silence to see Mario halfway down the stairs, looking at him with a slightly concerned face. "O-Oh, Mario, I thought you were taking a nap."

"I wasn't. What made you think that?" Luigi calmed down a little and answered his question, "Because that's what you always do after returning home when rescuing the Princess?" Mario placed his hands on his hips and gave him an 'Oh, come on' look, "Luigi, I don't take a nap after every rescue mission." Luigi rolled his eyes, "Liar, liar and you know it."

"But anyway…" Mario's tone changed back to that of slight concern, "You okay there bro? You look like there's something bothering you."

Luigi realized that Mario caught him off guard much like how he did with Lemmy. He'd tell Mario about what was on his mind, but he had made a promise to Lemmy that he wouldn't tell anyone without his permission. The fact Lemmy trusted him enough to tell him about his problems showed just how serious it was, and Luigi was not about to betray his trust right off the bat.

Instead, Luigi came up with a quick lie on the fly, "Oh, I'm trying to think of a good present for Daisy. Her birthday is coming up soon. I'm just having some trouble with thinking of one." Mario stared at him with a bit of a puzzled look, "Her birthday won't be for another 2 months, why are you thinking of getting her one so early?"

Luigi shrugged, "Hey, remember what happened last year? I barely mustered a present for her in time. I'm not taking my chances this time." Which was true, and Luigi was hoping he would forget about it. But, oh well, he can't deny that niche knowledge can have some use at times. He just wished it didn't have to be that.

To Luigi's relief, Mario fell for the lie, even though it was kind of obvious. Mario shrugged before he went down the stairs, walked past Luigi to the kitchen in plain view, grabbed some orange juice from the fridge and poured himself a glass to take upstairs. Likely to have some citrus and continue to "not nap".

"Mario sure loves his orange juice…" When Mario was out of sight, Luigi silently sighed and relaxed his muscles. "Whew… dodged a Bullet Bill there… and now I have an embarrassing memory back in my head, great…" Luigi listened for the sound of Mario closing his bedroom door and when he heard it, he went back to pondering about Lemmy's situation.

All Lemmy ever wanted was to have a more carefree life like the one that he apparently used to have. But the huge workload he and his siblings get along with the kidnapping missions he is forced to take part in have dashed those hopes. Lemmy was clearly sick of it and yet, he could hardly do anything about it if he stayed quiet and continued to follow his father's often barbaric orders. A stark contrast to how he previously viewed him as.

He always thought of Lemmy as a spoiled brat with the ability to abuse his royal status for his own benefit and that he finds amusement in these kidnapping plots. But Lemmy's opening up to Luigi revealed to him that the boy was actually a very different person from what he was expecting.

But why stop at Lemmy? If it's really as bad as he says it was, then what about the rest of the Koopalings? Lemmy was obviously not the only one with this problem after all. But Lemmy did say they were not as bothered about it as he was. Even if they were completely unfazed, none of them deserve this.

Lemmy pouring out his heart to him like that took guts, especially towards your enemy. But Lemmy clearly trusted him enough to tell him a deep secret of his, albeit, it did take some gentle coaxing. It was a secret that he hasn't even told to any of his family, with that one exception.

Larry was it…? Luigi tried to recall which Koopaling Lemmy was referring to. He believes it was the one he and Mario battled with in World 1 earlier that day. Ah yes, he was the one who resembled Lemmy in appearance. Except he was about a head taller, younger, had a light blue shell and hair and eyes that matched, and a blue star birthmark on the left side of his head. Luigi also noticed that he seemed to have a snarky personality, is a bit whiny and can be a little full of himself. Luigi has battled with him enough times to notice and remember the more minor details.

Lemmy did mention that he cared a lot for him and from what little he actually said about him, it sounded like those two were close.

Turning his thoughts back to Lemmy, the conversation he had with him revealed some not so great revelations. From being forced into performing villainous deeds that conflict with his own morals, to the extreme guilt he expressed and felt when he recounted the memories of following said deeds, like imprisoning Toads in ?-Blocks. All of this made him realize just how humane Lemmy actually was towards others and how awful he felt about his past actions. A stark contrast to how he viewed him beforehand.

Luigi sighed, as empathetic as he felt for the kid, Luigi wanted to get his mind off him for a bit, seeing as how it has been bothering him ever since he left that tower, he wanted a break.

Still, he just wished there was something he could do to at least make Lemmy feel more comfortable. But what can he do? Since they have no way of contacting each other, the only time they could talk is when they battle, which doesn't happen often. Since Bowser got a pretty good beating this time, the next kidnapping mission likely won't be happening for a while. Even so, Lemmy doesn't participate every time.

As much as Luigi didn't want to admit it, his hands were tied, but at least Lemmy has his little brother, Larry. Since there was nothing he could do about it at the moment, Luigi got up and went into the kitchen to make himself a ham sandwich, maybe that would help him get his mind off things.

Luigi opened the fridge and noticed that all the ham was gone. He sighed, "I told you to leave some for me!" He closed the fridge door, feeling a little annoyed by his brother's gluttony. He turned around and noticed something even worse.

There, in the kitchen sink were a bunch of dirty dishes that Mario "forgot" to put in the dishwasher last night. "Mario… seriously…?" Luigi muttered to himself. He wasn't surprised, he knows Mario better than anyone else. He may be a brave hero everyone here idolizes, but he's quite the lazy slacker at home. But then again, when is that ever new with him?

Sighing, Luigi walks over to the sink to give the dishes a pre-dishwasher cleaning. He turns on the sink with warm water before grabbing a dish cloth and a bottle of dish soap. Luigi opens the light curtains to let in some more light. After all, having some more light would help him spot any grime he might've missed otherwise. Plus, there's also the disinfecting vitamin D.

Even though he has done this a million times already, Luigi takes in the sight of the outside world. The view showed it was a bright sunny day outside. The first thing he noticed was their small backyard. A white cushioned swinging bench with a roof to the right facing left towards a small plot of black soil that was planned to be seeded with some flowers for a garden. The backyard was surrounded by a white picket fence with a gate straight across from the backdoor, which was directly to Luigi's left.

Beyond their backyard were a bunch of various trees and bushes dotted around the grassy field with a relaxing spring breeze that rustled the leaves of said vegetation. Since they live in Toad Town, one would expect to find houses everywhere. However, they live on the outskirts of town in a sparsely populated neighborhood, if you can even call it one. Said neighborhood had only a handful of toad houses spread out over a large area. Although his house stuck out like a sore thumb as it was the only one in the neighborhood that was not a toad house and instead looked more like a cottage.

Speaking of houses, Luigi couldn't see any other houses at all from the kitchen window. All he could see was a grassy field filled with flowers of many different colors and types on a landscape that had a very slight upward incline heading away from the window. The landscape had small hills, bushes and shrubs, and the occasional tree that dotted the area in small groups, gradually turning into forest the farther out he looked.

There was one tree however that always stood out to him. A moderate sized oak tree that resided alone on a small shallow hill around 40 meters straight ahead from the window. It's a good place to sit under for some shade, maybe relax, like how that kid was doing.

Turning his attention back to the dirty plates sitting in the kitchen sink, he picked up the dish cloth before soaking it in the warm water and got ready to-…

Wait a second…

Once he processed what he just saw, Luigi did a double take while quickly snapping his head back up to see if he saw correctly, and he did. Luigi's eyes widened as he jumped back slightly, absolutely stunned by the sight. There, relaxing under the tree was someone he never in his wildest dreams expected to see there of all places.

Ooh, a mystery person! Who could it possibly be?

...

O-Okay it's pretty obvious but it still counts as a cliffhanger!

Now, as I've stated in the previous chapter, I already had this one finished for months. But after taking a break for a couple days after grinding out the last chapter, I was able to get this revised fairly quickly. I have the first bit of the next chapter written already as it was originally planned for this chapter, but I have since split it off from here. As for when it'll come out, I don't really know. Given what happens in this one, I'm probably going to get stuck and stumped for a little while. Or maybe I won't and will finished it in a few days. What I'm 100% certain is that it's not going to take 4 months again. (Probably)

Right then, time for me to enjoy the rest of my evening.