Chapter 42 The Song Will Go On

Lemmy beamed as he listened to Ludwig's song. The Koopa prodigy had reworked one of his previous masterpieces, "Blossom in March," and turned it into something that was…well, SPECTACULAR! Seriously; the electric guitars that delivered the melody to the captivated audience made the littlest Koopaling's heart flutter. They were terrific and twangy and timed just right…oh ho ho, Lemmy was so glad that Ludwig had remade this! By the time the song came to a close, Lemmy was the first person to offer a standing ovation. He even whooped and cheered as Ludwig turned to the crowd and took a bow.

Later, Ludwig was standing on one of Bowser's Castles many balconies. He smiled as he looked up at the stars, lighting up the night sky in a way that only they could. Lemmy came out onto the balcony, his heart still pounding even though it had been two hours since he had heard Ludwig's song.

"Hey, Ludwig!"

"Oh, hey Lems!" The way he smiled at Lemmy…he had never done it like that before. Caring, sweet, supportive…it was almost too good to be true.

Lemmy smiled back. "Wow man. You really outdid yourself tonight!"

"Hehe, thanks." Ludwig looked down at the ground as he adjusted his bowtie. "I…uh…I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Well, of course I enjoyed it; you wrote the song!" He giggled. "You know, 'Blossom in March' had always been one of my favorites of yours."

Ludwig blinked. "Really?" He chuckled. "Why am I not surprised?"

Lemmy laughed. "Maybe you still have the ability to read my mind."

"Yeah, maybe that's it," Ludwig said with a snort. He squinted at Lemmy. "Let me guess; right now you're thinking about…" he snickered. "Robots wearing swimsuits playing soccer."

Lemmy faked a gasp. "By jove, you got it on the nose!" Both he and Ludwig laughed before he spoke up again. "Actually, I was thinking that maybe the best way to cap off this night is by eating something sweet."

Ludwig put his hand on his stomach. "Oh no Lems; I practically made out with the chocolate fountain earlier; I think I'm all set."

"Hmm. Okay then." He slowly pulled something out of his hammerspace, taking his sweet time for maximum dramatic effect. "I guess that means that I'll have to eat Morton's chocolate chip chipotle cookies all by myself."

Ludwig's face lit up. "Gimme!" He grabbed hold of the bag, opened it up, and chowed down on one of the cookies. "Oh man." He laughed, the crumbs in his mouth distorting his speech. "If for some reason my death doesn't involve eating these cookies, I'm gonna be pissed."

Lemmy laughed. "How can you? You'll be dead!"

Ludwig swallowed. "Hey, just because I'll be dead doesn't mean I'll have lost my sense of taste."

Lemmy laughed again, this time holding onto his sides. "Oh, you slay me." He shook his head, reached into the bag, and pulled out a cookie for himself. He took tiny, delicate bites. As the spicy, chocolatey chunks flooded his taste buds, he couldn't help but look up at the moon. He never really thought about it until now, but half moons were actually really pretty.

Ludwig let out a sigh just as Lemmy swallowed. "Man, last week sure was crazy."

Lemmy nodded. "Yep." It was exactly a week after he and Ludwig switched back, and by jove, was it a nice week. Lemmy couldn't remember the last time he and Ludwig had gotten along this well. Heck, Ludwig hadn't even given him any snarky insults!

Ludwig smiled. "I am really glad to be back in my body."

"Me too." Lemmy giggled. "I'm just happy you haven't noticed the tattoo yet."

"WHAT!? YOU GAVE ME A TATTOO!?" Ludwig examined himself in a panic, which in turn caused Lemmy to laugh.

"Psych!" He hugged his sides. "Man, I got you good!"

Ludwig breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh. thank God." He flicked Lemmy on the head. "That wasn't funny!"

"Then why are you smiling?"

"I'm not smiling; the corners of my mouth are just turned up in anger!" He shook his head. "Don't freak me out like that again!"

"Okay. I'll try, but I make no promises." He winked.

Ludwig shook his head. "Seriously, Lems." He looked back up at the stars. "How can I have you as a partner if you're gonna pull one over one me like that?"

Lemmy raised an eyebrow. "As a partner?" Ludwig smiled a little, which in turn caused Lemmy's heart to pump. "Wait, what do you mean by that?"

Ludwig giggled. "Well…I was thinking about what you said the night before we swapped back, about starting something new. I think that might not be such a bad idea." His smile grew bigger. "And what better way to establish this new start than by collaborating on a song with someone?"

Lemmy's eyes grew wide. "Are you…are you serious?" he gasped.

Ludwig nodded. "Yep."

Lemmy's jaw dropped. "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness!" He wrapped Ludwig in a hug. "Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!"

"You're welcome, Lems." Ludwig hugged him back. "I had a feeling you'd be excited."

"Of course I'm excited!" He jumped up and down, clapping his hands as he did. "This is going to be awesome!"

Ludwig grinned. "Yeah." He patted Lemmy on the back. "I sure look forward to working with you, Lemonade."

Lemmy smiled. "And I with you."

AN: It's over. This remake is actually finished. Let's hope that this will be the last time I have to rewrite this story lol.

Well…I finished something for the first time in forever. This…is actually a little bittersweet for me. I mean, I LOVED working on this story. Oh well. I guess this means I can finally move on.

Have a good day everyone. Stay safe and stay awesome!