"Noonononononono." Mario says in despair when he sees Luigi's vitals dropping again, then grabs Luigi's chin, seething. "Don't you dare give up now. You understand me?"
"Huh?" Mr. L keeps forcing Luigi to step back. "If you're so sure your life with Mario is so much better than my life alone, why haven't you woken up yet?"
Luigi's shaking now, but as he looks into Mr. L's eyes, he sees it.
"No fucking way." Luigi says, then of all things, starts laughing.
"What?" Mr. L demands.
"I know the answer." Luigi replies, voice the most confident it's been since he came here.
"Wanna bet?" Mr. L crosses his arms. "Enlighten me."
"You're still here because you don't know what you're missing." Luigi replies simply, then grabs Mr. L's face.
Mr. L puts up a fight, trying to pull away, but Luigi's grip is strong, right as his hands start to glow, and the longer Luigi holds on, so do Mr. L's eyes.
"What're you doing?" Mr. L protests, but Luigi can see tears beginning to fall from Mr. L's eyes.
"Can't you see?" Luigi says calmly, like he's got all the time in the world for this. "I'm giving back your heart."
"Come on, Lu." Mario whispers against Luigi's chest. "Come back to me."
"What? No! Stop!" Mr. L's protests get louder, but Luigi seems to be getting stronger with every struggle. "I don't want this!"
"Shh." Luigi hushes gently, like he's soothing a wounded animal. "It's okay."
"NO!" Mr. L screams, but that eventually gives way to sobs, and before he knows what he's doing, he's hugging Luigi. "Please stop."
"Why?" Luigi asks. "What're you so afraid of?"
"You know."
"Weegee, if you wake up right now, I promise, I'll never leave you behind on an adventure again." Mario vows.
Luigi nods, then pulls away so he can look Mr. L in the eyes. "But that's okay, because I'm scared too."
"Yeah?" All the confidence from earlier is gone now, as Mr. L stares back.
Luigi nods again. "But we'll get through it, together, because no matter what, we always have him." He reaches down to grab Mr. L's hand, thumping their joined hands on Mr. L's chest. "Right here."
"Promise?" The concept is clearly so foreign to Mr. L, Luigi would laugh under different circumstances.
"I do." Luigi swears.
Mr. L seems to mull that over, then sighs, "Alright. You win."
The moment he says that, a blinding light envelops the store.
Mario feels like he's about to collapse when he sees Luigi's vitals start to go back up.
"That's it, Weegee." Mario whispers. "Just a little further. You can do it."
"What? What's happening?" Luigi asks in a panic.
"You're going home." Mr. L says simply.
"What?" Luigi gasps as he feels himself slowly slipping away again.
"Don't worry." Mr. L hugs him again. "I'll stay as long as I can."
Luigi holds on with what strength he has left, as the blinding light keeps pulling him away, back to the only home he'll ever know.
YOU ARE READING
At Least Your Brother's Not Gonna Die Because of You!
Fiksi PenggemarSequel to We've Never Been Apart This Long This is it. No tricks, no getting out of it. It's not the way Luigi ever thought he would die, but he doesn't regret the life he's lived. If only Mario could see it that way.
