Past Lives Could Never Come Between Us

33

The moment Luigi's gone, Pauline's all apologetic, "I'm sorry!"

"Nothing to be sorry about." Mario mumbles.

"There was something going on here and I ruined it." Pauline says.

"Trust me, it was already ruined." Mario tells her.

"Ah ah ah." Pauline goes to sit next to her, ignoring Mario's protests. "Start talking. What the heck has been going on with you two lately?"

"Nothing!" Mario denies, then backpedals. "Besides him dreamwalking through my subconscious and seeing exactly how I feel about him."

"He knows?" Pauline exclaims.

"Uh huh." Mario nods, willing this conversation to be over already.

"This is terrible." Pauline decides, making Mario look at her.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because the ball's in his court, not yours." Pauline points out.

"Wrong." Mario argues. "I know how he feels too."

"That's what you think." Pauline says. "Let me guess. He said he doesn't know how he feels."

"Enough." Mario stands up and puts his and Luigi's glasses away.

"It's textbook!" Pauline calls after him.

"Hey, leave him alone." Mario says in a warning tone. "Up until a few weeks ago, Luigi had no feelings to know about!"

"Okay, Mario?" Pauline's smile makes it clear he's testing her patience. "I love you both to death, but I really don't think this is a can of worms you want to open."

Mario sighs, like he already suspected that, but Pauline keeps talking.

"You loosened him up with a spritzer, you bribed him with greasy food, and you were hugging--"

"And you walked in right as we were about to talk." Mario says.

"Mario, be serious. If you were gonna have the talk, a girl in her bathrobe walking in wouldn't have even registered." Pauline says confidently.

"Okay, I can't stay cooped up in here." Mario says.

"Aw, don't go!" Pauline calls as she watches him head to the door.

"If you're here, I'm not here!" Mario says as he shuts the door behind him.

Luigi walks into Molly's apartment garage, telling Clark, "If my uncle left in a hurry, he probably slipped up."

"Then we'll find something in here." Clark says as she starts looking around.

But Luigi seems to be thinking of something else, "Hey, can I talk to you, person to person?"

"Okay." Clark shrugs.

"How did it feel when you found someone you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?" Luigi asks.

"You mean when I found the person whose heart I broke right in half?" Clark corrects. "The same person who would've done anything for me if I just asked, and instead let him think I wasn't in love with him anymore? Is that who you're talking about?"

"Sorry." Luigi kicks himself. "I didn't know."

"Don't be." Clark waves it off as she keeps searching through the garage. "It's all water under the bridge. But I didn't have a choice, not really. I still love him. Never really stopped."

She stops for a moment, then shakes her head, "But that was me in a past life."

"When I knew you." Luigi says. "You wore a wedding ring. But since you got out of the hospital, you stopped."

"I'm not that girl anymore." Clark says sadly. "And I can't pretend that past life never happened.", then she moves right along. "So based on that, maybe you should ask someone else. But I can tell you if you find someone who not only knows what they're in for with you, they still want to figure it out together?"

She turns to face him, "That's a unicorn. Treat them like one."

Luigi thinks on that right as Clark says, "Hang on. What is this?" and pulls a garment bag over to Luigi.

"Must've been a dress Molly had." Luigi waves it off.

"Did Molly wear tuxedos?" Clark asks, opening the bag to reveal one.

"And it's from an expensive tailor." Luigi says, once he sees the tag. "Not much to go on."

"Barely anything." Clark agrees. "But still something. Which you didn't have not even a minute ago."

Mario walks through the aisles of his local gourmet market aimlessly, not really looking for anything in particular when he stops at a selection of bottles of cooking oil.

He moves them around, careful not to jostle them too much when he hears.

"Excuse me?"

Mario startles, but still keeps from dropping anything or bumping his head as he turns to see who it is, then immediately bowing in respect.

"Y-your Majesty!" he stutters. "Forgive me, I didn't expect to see you here."

He tries to move out of the way, but the Princess stops in front of him again, so she tries, but he stops in front of her, so he just backs away altogether, watching her pick out a bottle.

"Pardon me, your Highness, but are you a baker?" Mario asks tentatively. "Because that acorn oil works wonderfully in biscotti!

"I use it all the time!" the Princess smiles.

"Oh yeah?" Mario's eyes light up. "Tell me some ingredients in your pantry."

"Is this a quiz?" the Princess asks.

"And if it is?" Mario asks back. "Tell me what the secret is to a perfect pie crust."

"Cold butter." The Princess replies smoothly.

"Puff pastry?"

"Also butter, but heated, which makes steam."

"Hm. Impressive." Mario smiles. "Uh, your Majesty."

"You were expecting otherwise?" the Princess smiles back.

"No, of course not!" Mario says immediately, blushing and shaking his head. "It's just I don't usually see you here, particularly not when I'm here."

"Au contraire. I think I'm here more often than you." The Princess replies, "May I ask you a question in return?"

Mario looks slightly put out by this, but still says, "O-of course, Your Highness."

"If I happened to come back here with a bottle of gold flake truffle oil...would you happen to be here as well?" the Princess offers, prompting Mario's mouth to drop open in shock.

"Are you serious?" he gasps. "As in actual high quality truffle oil with gold flakes, the likes of which is coveted by chefs across several worlds, including this one?"

"Is that a yes?" the Princess asks hopefully.

"A-absolutely!" Mario nods vigorously.

"Wonderful." The Princess hands him a card. "Here's where you can reach me. Send me a letter, and I'll send one back when I have the bottle."

Mario takes the card, and as he walks away, he can't stop smiling.