Once I Called You Lover

Once I Called You Lover

Luigi franticly palmed his way through the unusually darkened Koopa Kingdom and toward Koopa Castle, determined to see the king, plague of darkness be damned. Potholes the size of washtubs pitted the ground around him, nearly causing him to trip over as he grew ever closer to his destination.

Bowser was going to listen to him this time, he will make sure of it!

He just had to.

There was too much at stake if he refused now.

For him and Luigi both.

He sighed as he felt his way towards the main gate. The Koopa guards had long abandoned their posts when the fourth plague came in the form of a swarm of flopters, so there was no fear of being stopped for trespassing. Luigi knelt down and felt around the ground before finding an abandoned torch before venturing closer to the lava moat and dipping one end, lighting it. Though the darkness still obscured his view, the glow of the lava moat and his new torch allowed him to make out the extensive damage the castle took from the bob-omb sized balls of fiery hailstones from two plagues back. Chunks of obsidian stone were missing from the castle's battlements, dashed to pieces by the fiery balls of ice. Stone statues of the gargantuan Koopa we're missing limbs if not completely smashed all together. As he turned his gaze from the building, he felt his heart constrict with sympathy. Whatever damage Bowser's castle had sustained was nothing compared to the absolute devastation that his citizens' homes endured. The few he was able to see had irreparable damage, ranging from nearly being burnt to the ground to being almost crushed by an giant hailstone, or both. Many of the citizens who lost their homes had to take shelter in one of their gaming arenas, leaving the streets completely empty.

So much destruction. And for what?

He placed a hand over his face before taking a shuddering breath.

How did it come to this? He thought to himself.

What was supposed to be a simple plumbing job with Mario to "save Brooklyn" had turned into a few months of a dream turned waking nightmare. And all because of a certain king whose selfishness was going to get others even more hurt.

Including himself.

Suddenly, the castle gates were opened, causing the timid man to jump. He looked down as Kamek, the royal Magickoopa and one of Bowser's closest advisors, glared at him through his thick coke-bottle glasses.

"What do you want?" He sneered, his beak turned up in a snarl.

"I... I need to speak with Bowser," Luigi stammered, holding the light closer to himself.

Kamek scoffed, "Oh, do you now? What else could you possibly have to say, hmm? What? Was turning our only water supply into lava not enough? What about the frogs? Or our moo-moos dying? Hmm, maybe when you gave everyone shellpox?"

"Kamek-"

"Oh wait, maybe it was last time when the swaphoppers destroyed the rest of our crops after the flying balls of fiery hail burnt most of it to a crisp?"

" C'mon-"

"Let's not forget about the skeeters and flopters! Although, I might be speaking to someone else entirely, considering it's so dark here lately, I haven't been able to see my own beak in front of my face!"

Luigi went silent for a moment. He couldn't blame the elderly mage in the slightest for his anger. But the more time he spent with Kamek, the more time was running out.

"Please, Kamek," Luigi begged, "He needs to hear this. If he doesn't, this next plague will destroy us!"

Kamek paused.

He very well knew what Luigi meant by "us".

He growled.

"I swear, if any harm comes to my grandson-"

"That is what I'm trying to prevent!"

Kamek stared at the young human. When he first arrived in the Darklands, his son had just finished conquering almost all of the known kingdoms after Princess Peach rejected his marriage proposal for the last time and fled to Sarasaland, which was currently under siege. He remembered the way that Bowser's obsession of the Princess seemed to melt away in an instant after locking eyes with this green plumber. The two of them connected in a way that he had never seen before, and he could see just how much his very presence brought out the best in him. He was able to make him laugh (and a real laugh, not the hollow-sounding cackle that he adopted during his conquest), he would stay in the library and learn everything that he could about Koopa culture in order to better understand the things that Bowser held near and dear to him.

But what had really won him over was the way Luigi bonded with the Crown Prince.

If Bowser was in love with Luigi, then Junior seemed to worship the ground he walked on. Every waking moment of the day, Junior wanted to spend it with the green clad man, no matter how boring the task. And who could blame him? In the few times that Bowser kidnapped the princess, Peach would sulk in her room and refuse to let anyone inside, even to give her meals. And though she was never cruel to the poor boy (at least not intentionally) the few interactions she did allow were filled with an apathy so palpable that after a while, Junior stopped asking for her altogether.

But then Luigi arrived.

Soon, the halls were filled with the little prince's laughter as the two of them drew together, played video games, went karting around the castle courtyard, and baked delicious treats together. And with the happiness of the prince, the king's happiness was doubled.

Happiness that the scrawny human brought.

It wasn't very long until Bowser was writing love poems and ballads dedicated to literally sing his praises and three months in, he had commissioned an engagement ring for him.

What a shame that it didn't last.

Without another word, he opened the door wider for his supposed-to-be son-in-law to let him in.

"Thank you." Luigi whispered. The elder nodded his head as he passed, but not before calling his name.

"Luigi."

The green plumber turned around to face the elderly Koopa once more. The weariness from the plagues caused him to slouch and lean against the heavy door.

"Convince him. I don't know how much more of this we can take."

With a nod, Luigi ventured further into the castle, the atrium growing darker as he carried the torch inside.

Luigi breathed in the familiar scent of smoke and brimstone that permeated the castle, his heart aching. This was his home. All he had ever wanted was right here. The man of his dreams, a child to call his own. Everything that his heart desired was right inside this castle.

But the ends can't justify the means.

In the absence of the normal hustle and bustle that used to echo in these halls, the sound of a mournful piano concerto filled the air.

Bowser.

Following the sound, he walked the empty halls as memory after memory played like a broken record in his mind.

The awkward first meeting, when the Koopa spun him around in an attempt to interrogate him.

The room he was given after staying in the dungeon for all of 30 minutes before the little prince came and broke him out in order to play with him.

Their talks in the library.

The first dinner date where they talked long into the night and into the next morning.

Bonding with Junior.

Their first kiss.

The proposal.

The night they shared after.

He stopped outside the music room door, the piece nearing its end as he tried to quietly open the door to not disturb him right away. Bowser poured his heart out over the music willing the plumber to both stay rooted to his spot on the floor and to run into his arms as the crescendo rang out of the instrument and slowly began to fade, much to his dismay.

"Bravo, mio Re. Bravissimo." Luigi whispered.

The Koopa king was startled, his claws causing the piano to create a cacophony of mixed up notes. Luigi had ended up right at the base of the floating stage. He growled as he caught sight of his former lover.

"Oh, let me guess. Greenie wants me to 'let the kingdoms go'?" Bowser spoke, sarcasm lacing his words.

In the poor light, Luigi was still able to make out the king's hulking frame as he hunched over the piano keys. A golden goblet sat right on top of the piano as he paused to take a gulp from it.

"I... I was hoping to find you here."

"Get out!" He barked, chucking the half-full goblet at the voice.

Luigi quickly dodged as the cup shattered on the floor next to him, the sheer force behind that throw causing a dent in the obsidian stone floor.

"Bowser, we need to talk."

He slowly inched his way closer to the piano before Bowser let out another snarl.

"Oh really? What else do we need to talk about that we didn't discuss the last nine times you were here?"

With a heave, he got up from the piano bench and stomped past him, nearly toppling Luigi over with his spiked tail.

"Now leave. And don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Luigi breathed out a sigh as he tried to keep up with the fleeing Koopa, his gigantic strides causing him to jog to the throne room after him, torch in hand like he was in the opening ceremony for the Olympic games.

If it weren't for the situation, Luigi would have chuckled at himself.

Bowser, meanwhile, was getting agitated. The green man was the one person he most definitely didn't want to see right now. Or ever again, for that matter.

Liar. His heart seemed to reply.

He finally got to the throne room doors and tried to quickly open and close it before Luigi could follow him in. He didn't care if the room would be pitch dark. In fact, he would actually prefer it at the moment. But the presence of a tiny glow of firelight that lit up the dark room made him aware that his efforts of keeping him away were in vain. Luigi had already found a fire pit nearby and threw his torch into it, lighting the pit into flames for the both of them to see each other better.

With a defeated sigh, he stumbled his way towards the throne, slouching and folding his arms with a pout. It took all of Luigi's willpower to not just go up there and kiss that pout away, just like they used to, but there was too much at stake now.

"Well? Get on with it! Tell me how awful I am and how I am such a monster." Bowser interrupted his thoughts.

The human glanced at the Koopa, a hurt expression on his face.

"You're not a monster."

Bowser scoffed.

"Oh really? Then why did you leave, huh? I get the fact that you would have been startled by my plans for world domination, but to up and leave like that?"

Startled? Luigi thought, That was an understatement.

"Did you know that I had to try and explain to Junior why his Mama was missing? Why every time I looked for you, I could never find you? He was crying every night for two weeks straight!"

Luigi was stricken dumb as his heart sank. He never intended to hurt the little prince. Junior might as well be his own heart, he loved that little boy as if he was his own.

And that's why I got to convince him!

"I-"

"And then, you just decide to show up after abandoning us!"

"I didn't -"

"And then-

"WILL YOU JUST LET ME TALK?!"

Bowser jumped in shock, shutting up immediately. No matter how angry he was, Luigi had never yelled at him like that.

He didn't know whether to be scared, pissed, or aroused.

And he didn't know which one he wanted to feel more.

"Bowser, we both know there is no other option. Your people are suffering; the plagues are not going to stop unless you do what's right and let the other kingdoms go."

And... The feeling's gone.

Bowser huffed at that.

"If that is all you have to say, then you might as well see yourself out. I'll take my chances with the plagues."

Luigi growled in frustration. If he had the power to yank this Koopa around and shake him until he had some common sense, he most absolutely would.

"Stars! Why must you act like such a-"

"Like a what?! Go on, say it!"

After a moment of silence, Bowser huffed again, deciding to be petty.

"Well, at least I am not someone's pawn!"

Luigi felt his blood boil at that.

"You take that back!"

"Why?" Bowser sneered, " Does the truth hurt?"

"At least I actually care about what happens to your citizens! You're so willing to let your people get hurt 'cause of what?! Some... stupid sense of pride?!"

"Do you think I like this?! That I like to see the people I love so much suffering?!"

"Then why don't you just let the other kingdoms go, tu... tu esasperante tartaruga?!"

"Because I will not allow myself to be weak again!"

Luigi was stunned into silence. Bowser slumped back onto his throne, emotionally exhausted. It was no secret that Bowser was a very passionate king. It was regarded as his best (and worst) quality, as Princess Peach had attested when he ran to Sarasaland. His love was just as deep and consuming as his rage and both resulted in something breaking.

Or someone.

Luigi sighed. This was getting nowhere, like the other nine times. Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Why don't we just...talk?"

Bowser did not reply, avoiding eye contact with him.

"No arguments, no fighting, just a regular conversation."

Silence. Bowser was not going to budge, not one bit.

Nope.

Not by a long shot.

Let him stew in his-

"I'm sorry for not saying goodbye."

Bowser looked up at that. The plumber stood still, green cap in his hands, his eyes casted towards the floor as he spoke.

"I'm sorry for hurting you like that. For hurting Junior like that. No matter what I saw, what I heard, I should have at least left you a note. But I... I knew that if I didn't go then and there, I would never leave."

Bowser still didn't reply.

Luigi sat down at the foot of his throne, his back turned to the Koopa before he heard him grumble.

"I didn't know where you were. I thought something bad had happened to you and that you were gone forever. And when you came back, I was so relieved. But then..."

He stopped talking, unwilling to speak on that moment.

The day his world seemed to crash and burn.

He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he himself had spent many a restless night sobbing his eyes out. He never had romantic feelings about anyone in his life. Even with Peaches from before his takeover, which he had now understood as an obsessive infatuation. But Luigi was different, even now.

Luigi was the first and only person he had ever truly loved that wasn't his adopted father or his son.

And the first and only one who truly loved him back.

I highly doubt he loves me now, the Koopa King thought.

Luigi felt his eyes well up with tears of shame. He truly didn't take into account just how much his disappearance affected them. Sure, he knew that Bowser would be upset, maybe even feel betrayed, but he didn't mean for him to worry.

"I meant what I said, y'know. When you first came back."

Luigi looked up and met the king's amber eyes as he stared directly at him, watching his every move before he continued.

"You were my everything. The best thing to ever happen to me. And, to be honest, you still are. Even if you don't love me anymore, I still love you. And whatever I did to loose that love, I'm sorry."

The silence was deafening as Bowser laid his heart bare for the plumber. Luigi's own heart seemed to mend and break as his feet seemed to take a mind of their own. He sprinted up the throne steps, climbed atop the throne armrest and hugged him as best as he could before speaking.

"But that's the thing, amore. I never stopped loving you."

It was then that Bowser felt it.

The fluttering of his heart that he tried to ignore as he took Luigi and held him closer.

"Just as beautiful as the day I lost you," Bowser whispered as he cupped Luigi's face with his paw.

He closed the space between them in a kiss. Time seemed to melt away at that moment and it was just the two of them and eternity. The weeks of pain that they went through was inconsequential, it was just them, that moment, forever.

The kiss broke all too soon as they touched foreheads, their eyes closed.

"I love you, mio Re. Tu avrai il mio cuore per sempre." Luigi whispered.

He felt Bowser set him down on the floor him as he opened his eyes, gasping at the sight before him.

"Then stay. Please."

Bowser was on one knee, a heartbreakingly hopeful expression on his face, and in his claws was a golden ring set with emeralds and a large ruby in the middle.

His engagement ring.

The same engagement ring that Bowser proposed with all those months ago in the castle courtyard.

The same engagement ring that he wore when he ran to Sarasaland to meet up with his brother and Princess Peach.

The same engagement ring he wore when Rosalina, Princess of the Lumas, commanded him to go to Bowser and demand for the freedom of all of his conquests.

The same engagement ring he gave back when he returned the first time.

"I-"

"Mama?" A small voice interrupted.

The couple turned around to see a little Koopaling carrying a flashlight in one claw and a teddy bear in the other.

Junior.

Junior couldn't believe his eyes. His Mama was back home where he belonged. Dropping the stuffed animal at the door, he took a running start at the plumber before taking a flying leap into his arms. Luigi caught him and twirled him into a bear hug.

"I missed-ed you!" The little boy sobbed, dampening the front of his denim overalls.

"I missed you too, il mio Principe." He nuzzled the Koopa prince's fiery locks as he held him closer to him.

Bowser looked on as his two greatest joys reunited, his heart ready to burst. Junior had most definitely taken Luigi's disappearance the hardest. His crying and tantrums were loud enough to tear the paint off of the walls, and he even resulted to that when he learned that his Mama came back, demanding his father to let him see him.

And now his wish has come true.

Settling himself into Luigi's arms, Junior nuzzled his face into his shoulder, taking in his smell.

"You're home! I missed-ed you so much and I don't want you to go again! We can go see the new artwork I made for you and Papa and go round on my clown car and...and..."

Bowser laughed, ruffling his boy's head.

"One thing at a time, Junior. Mama just got back, but you have plenty of time to show him everything once he's all rested. Right, Luigi?"

Luigi's smile slowly began to fade, regret shining in his sapphire eyes. Junior, sensed his Mama's hesitation.

"You are staying this time, right Mama?"

With a shuddering breath, he hugged him closer.

"I'm sorry, tesoro. But I can't stay... Not this time."

Bowser felt his mind do a record scratch halt.

After all of that, after he had handed the plumber his battered and bruised heart once again, even after their declarations of love, Luigi had crushed it in his hands, like it was nothing. And now he has broken their son's heart in return.

"B-but, why?" Junior cried, tears forming in his crimson eyes.

Luigi was silent as Bowser gave a mirthless chuckle.

"Y'know, Luigi? You really had me there for a second."

"Bowser, I-"

"All those declarations of love you just spewed out, just gotta hit 'em where it hurts, right? So go ahead Luigi," Bowser baited, "Tell us. Why?"

"Because... because what you're doing isn't right and you know it, Bowser."

"Right? And what is right? Before I took over, those kingdoms were rife with war and famine, both with us and with each other! The citizens of those other kingdoms were treated unfairly, their leaders did nothing to help the poor and marginalized, so I instilled order by dethroning their corrupt leaders. And I don't know what "Princess" Peach or your nuisance of a brother tried to sell you about what the Mushroom Kingdom was like before, but it was not some happy-go-lucky utopia. In fact, her forefathers had once enslaved my entire kingdom for centuries. Enslaved, Luigi! Treated us like the scum of the earth! Made us fight to the death for their own wars and amusement!"

"And how is that any different, Bowser? How is taking over kingdoms by force any different from what the Mushroom Kingdom did to yours?"

"Because at least I can protect them just like I protect my own kingdom! Or at least I did, until you came along and brought these plagues down upon us!"

Here we go again! Luigi mourned.

"I'm not, Bowser. You are. The more you resist, the worse the plagues will be. If you would just please listen-"

Luigi reaches out his hand to touch his golden scales, but the king flinched away, his temper growing less and less restrained.

"I will not be dictated to. I will not be threatened. I am the morning and evening star. I am Bowser! King of the Koopas!"

"Something else is coming, something much worse than anything before. Please, let go of your contempt for life before it destroys everything we hold dear. Think of our son!"

Bowser looked down as Junior clung onto Luigi's overalls, terrified but unwilling to let go of his Mama as he placed a gloved hand on his tuft of red hair. A moment ago, Luigi's claim to his little boy would have softened his heart, but now all he felt was rage. With a roar of betrayal, he punched his throne, hearing the distinct sound of metal being snapped in half and gems crushing under his palm.

"I do." He growled at last, "And fuck me for not doing this before."

Luigi felt his breath hitch in fear.

"Bowser? Bowser, what are you-?"

"Kamek! Get in here, now!"

With a pop, Kamek appeared on his broomstick, a worried look etched into his face.

"Yes, Your Wrathfulness?"

"Call the troopas! Tomorrow, we attack Sarasaland and destroy all who stand in my way, once and for all! Starting with Mario!"

He turned to the love of his life, a hateful sneer gracing his maw.

"And there will be a great cry throughout all the kingdoms, such as there never has been or ever will be again!"

Luigi's blood froze in his veins as he felt his knees sink to the floor, his grip on Junior growing tighter.

Bowser briefly stole one last glance at his family before glancing down at the crushed ring in his hands, a flash of regret and pain shining in his eyes before stomping past them as he and Kamek made preparations for a full-on ambush. .

The elder mage and the young man gave each other a horrified, knowing glance before the plumber broke down into sobs as king and advisor left.

He was right about one thing: tomorrow, there will be a great cry throughout the kingdoms.

But both his and Bowser's sobs will echo the loudest of all.

You failed. The words buzzed around his mind like an angry swarm of hornets.

"Bowser," He whispered sorrowfully, hugging their scared son for what would be the last time, "You have doomed us all."