Chapter 39 Not So Surprised

"Come on, come on, come on!" Iggy exclaimed to the others. "Get those decorations up pronto!"

Every other Koopaling who was present groaned. Why did Iggy have to be so demanding and bossy? That was the question of the hour for sure. He was so bossy that he made even the most enjoyable tasks complete and total chores. Case and point, decorating the hallway.

"Roy, put your back into this! This is important and we need to take this task seriously!"

Roy flashed Iggy a glare as he held a streamer in place. "Yeesh Iggster, we're decorating for a party, not finding a cure for cancer."

Iggy laughed. "Of course you're not finding a cure for cancer! I already found one last month."

Wendy dropped her end of the banner and gawked at Iggy. "Wait really?" When he nodded, her face lit up even more. "That's incredible!"

Larry, however, just scoffed. "Sure was nice of you to share your discovery with the rest of the world."

"Oh, cool your jets," Iggy told the youngest. "I plan on revealing my discoveries at some point." He straightened his posture and puffed out his chest. "For everything there is a time and a season."

"Really?" Roy asked with a wicked smile. "Does that mean there's a time and a season for this?" He jumped off the ladder and gave Iggy a noogie. The scientist shrieked and tried to pull away, but there was no hope of escaping from Roy's hold.

"STOP!" he exclaimed.

"Why?" Roy asked in a giggly voice. "I'm having fun! Isn't that the whole point of having a party?"

Larry laughed before he saw Ludwig coming down the hallway. He let out a gasp. "Guys! Code red!"

The speed that the Koopalings displayed as they dismantled the decorations would make a cheetah blush. They just barely managed to tuck all the decorations safely into their hammerspaces by the time Ludwig arrived.

"Hey guys," said the oldest. He raised an eyebrow; he could see something blue and shiny poking out of Wendy's hammerspace. "Uh, what's going on?"

"NOTHING!" All five Koopalings said in unison.

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "Yeesh, this has got to be the least productive day of all time for you guys."

"What…whatever do you mean?" Iggy asked with a scratch of the head and a nervous chuckle.

Ludwig was silent for a minute before shaking his head and sighing. "It's nothing." He let out a breath. "Okay guys, I have a really important favor to ask you. Do you think you can find some decorations that Lemmy might like? I want to throw a party for him."

"A party?" Roy asked. "On your birthday?"

Ludwig nodded. "I know, I know, it's a little unorthodox. But Lemmy needs some cheering up." He looked Iggy dead straight in the eye. "The swap has been really tough on both of us, so I want to alleviate some of his worry."

Larry laughed. "Says the guy who hasn't come out of his room for three days straight."

"Lawrence!" Iggy snapped. He sent another eyebrow down toward Ludwig. "And you believe that the way to do that is by throwing him a party?"

Ludwig snickered. "It's Lemmy. Is that really such a big leap in logic?"

"Fair enough," Iggy said. He exchanged a look with the others. "I..suppose that wouldn't be too much of a challenge."

Ludwig smiled. "Thanks!" He began walking away. "I think something rainbow-esque would be a good choice! Try to locate those, okay?"

"Okay!" Iggy said as they all waved at Ludwig. When he was outside of earshot, their faces fell.

"Well," said Larry as he pulled the sparkly blue streamers out of his hammerspace. "That's forty coins that we're never getting back."

Wendy looked at Iggy with a furrowed brow. "What are we gonna do? We can't throw two parties at once!"

Iggy sighed. "No. But I do not believe that a surprise party for Ludwig would do much good if he is so determined to do this for Lemmy." He took a step forward. "Come on. Let's go get some new decorations."

…

At around six o'clock that evening, Lemmy couldn't help but feel a little…well, weird. Ludwig had taken him out for a day on the town, with every single action that he took making it obvious that he wanted to keep him away from the castle. Now, Lemmy had thrown enough surprise parties in his day to know that this was a sign that Ludwig was planning one for him. A little inconvenient for Lemmy, especially seeing that he wanted to throw one for Ludwig.

"Ludwig," Lemmy said to his brother as they walked back to the castle. "I…I think we might want to reevaluate things."

"Reevaluate things?" Ludwig laughed and turned toward Lemmy. "What's there to reevaluate?" He pulled Lemmy by the hand, all the more determined to keep marching forward. "Come on, we have to get back to the castle!"

Lemmy furrowed his brow. "Ludwig, it's your birthday…"

"Again," Ludwig said, "you're technically me at the moment, so this day is as much yours as it is mine." He continued pulling. "Come on Lemmy, if we don't hurry up, the sun is going to set."

Lemmy sighed. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't exactly reveal to Ludwig his own plans. But then again, going along with this odd little scheme of Ludwig's just made Lemmy feel…well, it made him feel wrong. It felt almost as wrong as being in possession of Ludwig's body.

"Ludwig…"

Ludwig sighed and came to a stop. "Come on Lems, you should be happy about this! You love it when your birthday comes around!"

"Yeah, but, it's your's…"

"Lemmy," Ludwig said sternly. "Will you please just…will you please just lighten up! It's just one little insignificant day of the year. We can celebrate my birthday when yours comes around in two months."

That suggestion felt seriously wrong to Lemmy, ultra wrong. However, seeing how stubborn Ludwig was being, Lemmy knew that there was very little point in objecting.

"Okay. As long as that's what you want."

A flash of sadness flew across Ludwig's features. If Lemmy focused on what his brother was thinking, he could hear the pained thoughts and objections running around in his head.

"It's…of course it is."

Lemmy felt a pang. Ludwig really didn't want this. He wanted his body back, his life back, his world. But that wish was ungrantable. Everything, including his own birthday, didn't rightfully belong to him anymore. Lemmy felt like he was on the verge of crying as they stood there in silence.

Finally, Ludwig sighed. "We're taking too long. Why don't we fly back to the castle."

"Uh..sure." Lemmy allowed Ludwig to hop on his back, and together they flew. When they got there, Ludwig smiled as he hopped off and stood in front of the door.

"I think you're really going to like this." He pushed open the door, and the sight of the rest of his family was there to greet him.

"SURPRISE!" they shouted.

Lemmy forced on a smile. "Wow," he said quietly.

"I know, right!" Ludwig exclaimed. "They spent the whole day preparing this for you!"

Lemmy looked at the others. "Really?"

"Well, yes," Iggy said. He came over and whispered in his ear "We're sorry that Ludwig's party fell through; he was really determined to have this happen."

Lemmy sighed. "It's okay," he said as he patted Iggy on the back before turning to the others. "Thanks guys. This is really nice."

"Nice?" Ludwig asked with a cheeky grin. "Try flipping incredible!" He grabbed hold of Lemmy's hand. "Come on! Let's get this party started!"

Lemmy sighed. "Alright." Maybe if he did that, the painful thoughts running through Ludwig's head would go away.