Luigi groaned as he hit the ground with a harsh thud. Looking up, he could see Bowser's back turned to him; his attention was now on someone else. Mario!
It was yet another brutal encounter with Bowser on a balcony of his stone palace. Luigi didn't remember how the fight had started or when, but he knew it had been going on for a long time and the princess was nowhere in sight. She must have escaped to safety.
At first Luigi wasn't too concerned. But as he sat up, he could see the Koopa King glowering over the comparably tiny form of Mario: pinned to the ground under a giant foot, his brother was wrestling to get free. Bowser let out a triumphant laugh.
"Who knew that all these years, all I had to do was step on you?" he cackled uproariously.
Then came the rumble that Luigi knew was the fire forming in the back of his throat. "Mario, NO!" Luigi screamed, darting forward. He reached Bowser's foot just in time...to meet a wall of flames.
"EEYAAAAAAAAH!!" He screamed, shooting up a mile. His head smacked into something hard and he plummeted back down, landing in the unexpectedly soft comfort of his bed.
Panting in terror, Luigi looked wildly around his bedroom, clutching his blanket like a two year old. The white sprinkles from the ceiling powdered over him like snow and made him look like a teenager who was trying to hide dandruff and failing.
"M-Mario!" He snapped his head around and caught sight of him. There he was lying in his bed, his back turned and still as death. That was enough for Luigi.
"Mario!" He scrambled out of bed and rushed to his side. "Please don't be dead! Wake up!" He cried, shaking his shoulder.
Mario slowly sat up and yawned lasagna in his face.
"Luigi, what's going on?" He moaned, then squinted. "It's five in the morning."
Luigi breathed a huge sigh of relief, then grabbed him in an overly aggressive hug. "Oh Mario, don't die! Don't do that ever again!" he cried.
"Agh, Luigi, let go of me...Um, that was just a dream," he said over his shoulder. "I didn't die, anyway."
Luigi pulled back. "You had that dream too?"
"Yep."
By now they were quite used to sharing or having similar dreams. It wasn't too rare that one would start talking about it and realize they'd dreamed about the same thing. Sometimes they could talk about them for half an hour like it was some tv show that no one else knew about.
Luigi trembled. "But Mario! It was so dangerous-I mean you were so close...I almost saved you and then-
"Luigi, relax," Mario said, trying to fix his bad case of bed...mustache. "Can you get off me a little bit, you're kind of sweaty."
"B-but it could happen in real life-
"Luigi, I said drop it. I can take care of myself and you know it. Now since you're up and you interrupted my precious sleep, go make some French toast."
Luigi gasped. "No, no Mario, I can't, it's...it's the middle of the night!"
"Then go to sleep!"
With that Mario rolled over and was snoring within two seconds. For a second Luigi sat there. Then he got up, grabbed a book called The Italian Breakfast that happened to be sitting on Mario's nightstand, and plunked back down with it on the foot of Mario's bed.

When rays of sunlight finally broke through the window and hit Mario's eyes a couple of hours later, he stirred. Sitting up, he yawned, "Come on, Luigi, rise and Super Mario Sunshine!" Then his vision came into focus and he jumped. "Ah!"
Luigi was sitting right in front of him, already on the edge of his bed.
"What are you doing?"
Luigi closed his book. "Nothing. Come on, let's go have breakfast!"
Mario gave him a quizzical look. But what was he gonna do, say no to breakfast? Not even in his dreams.
Mario noted wonderingly why Luigi stood there and seemed to watch his every move as he jumped out of bed and tidied it a little. Everything seemed to be fine as they were eating in the kitchen, though.
"So we're going to play Donkey Kong and Yoshi today?" Luigi asked.
"Yep."
The bros were going to be playing some tennis with their friends that morning at Peach's castle court.
"Eggs are up," Luigi said, delivering them to Mario's place. "But wait, because they're super hot!"
"They seem alright," Mario observed.
"Just do as I say!" Luigi said.
Mario gave him another questioning look, but Luigi wasn't aware of it.
When Mario tried them a minute later, he spat them out. "Wow, I guess you were right," he panted.
Luigi widened his eyes. "Mario! Those were really hot! You shouldn't have done that!"
"It's okay Luigi, really."
"No Mario! It's not okay! Don't you see if those had been really hot you could have been badly burned! Do you want me to get you some water?"
"Um...just chill, Luigi, I'm fine." He gave his brother's back another odd stare.

After breakfast, Mario and Luigi arrived at the tennis court. Mario couldn't help noticing as they walked along their way, Luigi would seem to get almost into a battle stance whenever they passed someone.
"Luigi," he said observingly, "you seem quite a bit on edge today."
"Well, of course I am, someone has to be!" He replied.
Mario didn't know what that was supposed to mean.
"Hi, guys!" Princess Daisy called to them as they approached the courts. "The others are already waiting."
Peach was also standing there, and she smiled. "Good luck!"

A few minutes later they were all ready. Racket in hand, Luigi was just about to serve when he stopped.
"Oh wait! Mario you'd better stay in the back!"
"Umm...are you sure Luigi? It's your turn to serve."
"Yes I'm sure! Just go!" He said, pushing his brother towards the back of the court.
"Okay...sorry for the holdup," he called to DK and Yoshi. After he and Luigi had traded places he looked at the tennis ball in his hand and grinned. "Prepare to meet your demise!"

After playing a couple of games, Mario and Luigi were about to take the set when DK came up to serve. Luigi still hadn't let Mario stay in the front the whole time, and Mario wondered why he was being so pushy about it.
That's when DK's ultra smash ripped across the court and right into his shoulder.
"Ow!" Mario cried, dropping his racket and sinking to his knees, clutching his shoulder  fiercely. After several seconds, he looked up and yelled up at the ape, "What did I ever do to you?"
"Mario, I'm sorry, are you okay?!" DK asked when he reached him. Yoshi had come over too.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Mario said, then grinned. "Hey, this means we win!"
"Who cares about winning?!" Luigi hollered as he raced over, sliding to a stop beside him. "Mario, are you okay? On a scale of one to ten, how bad does it hurt? Oh, don't worry, I'll be Dr. Luigi for you!"
"I'm fine, Luigi," Mario said in annoyance. "Really, you're worse than our mother. Don't do that!" He yelled, slapping Luigi's hand away from his shoulder.
"See! You're injured! Oh Mario, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have let you play tennis!" He looked up at Yoshi and DK. "We're stopping right now. I just can't risk him getting hurt worse."
"Luigi, I'll be good as a plate of pasta before you know it," Mario said, standing up and brushing himself off. (By now everyone was used to his bizarre food similes.) "And I play tennis all the time."
"Well maybe you shouldn't!" Luigi told him.
"Uh, well, Peach said we could have parfaits when we were done, so do you guys wanna come with us?" Yoshi asked.
"Parfaits! Alright!" Mario said, seeming none the worse for wear. "Let's a-go!"

A little bit later, the foursome sat around a table in the lounge with the princesses and Toad, chatting over parfaits as promised.
"These are amazing!" Mario gasped after downing his second one. "You've gotta give Luigi the recipe!"
"Agreed!" Said DK, who was devouring his like...a wild animal.
Luigi rolled his eyes. "Mario, you'd better lay off thirds for right now," he said.
"Why?"
"Because it's not good for your blood sugar."
Mario crossed his arms. "And what do you know about my blood sugar?"
By now everyone was watching the back and forth conversation. Daisy slapped her hands over her mouth.
"That you have to be careful to avoid health problems!" Luigi insisted.
"Really!" Mario said, looking a little mad.
"Bro, I just don't want you to get diabetes or something. Can't you please watch your diet?"
"Um, actually these parfaits are quite good for you," Peach interrupted, hoping to smooth things over. Mario smirked at Luigi.
Daisy, catching her drift, said, "Isn't it nice with Wario and Waluigi not here for once?"
Peach giggled. "They wanted to come but apparently Waluigi's dad invited them over for a 'mandatory' visit."
Luigi chuckled. "Well, that's the best thing I've heard all day."
"Hey, Mario, wanna do that hand-wrestling now?" DK suddenly spoke up.
"Oh, sure!"
"What? What hand wrestling?" Luigi asked.
"Mario said he'd take me on in hand wrestling," DK explained.
"What! No, no, no no no," Luigi said, getting up and coming to separate the two, who were already holding hands. "NO violence people, we're at the table! And besides, Mario's got a hurt shoulder!"
"Honestly, Luigi, what's bothering you?" Mario asked, turning on him. "I hand wrestle apes all the time!"
"Yes, it seems you do a lot of dangerous things all the time," Luigi answered lowly. "Well enough is enough. Come on, we're going home. Thank you so much for the lovely time," he said politely to the princesses, then grabbed Mario's hand. "Now let's go, bro. It's just too much for one day."
Mario, confused, cast a helpless glance back at his friends as he let Luigi lead him out. When the door shut behind them, Peach turned to her cousin and said, "Well, he certainly is...considerate."

When they arrived home, Luigi suggested that Mario get some rest. At this Mario turned to him.
"Luigi, are you trying to prove that you can be a good doctor or something?"
"No."
"Good. Now believe me when I say I'm fine."
"But..."
"I don't know what's up, but don't think I don't suspect anything," Mario told him, poking his chest. Then he turned and headed down the hall.
"Nothing's up," Luigi said, racing after him. Mario opened a door and began to head inside, closing the door behind him. However, Luigi was so close behind that it whacked Luigi in the head.
"Ow!"
"Uh, Luigi, what are you doing?"
"Following you," Luigi said, rubbing his head.
"Yeah, well, do you mind?"
"No," Luigi replied.
Mario sighed. "That's not what I meant! Bro, a moment of privacy?"
"But privacy is so risky!"
Mario stared at him for a moment with a weird look frozen on his face. Finally he groaned and rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you're pulling, but it's creepy. Just let me go to the stinkin' bathroom!"
"But the bathroom is the best place for a murder!" Luigi cried so passionately Mario thought maybe he was going crazy.
Mario gave his brother 'the look'. "Luigi, quit trolling me. You're..." He glanced him over. "Freaking me out."
"B-but remember that horror movie with the blood all over the crime scene - and the bathroom - and the-
"Alright, Luigi, I'll be out in a minute. Sheesh," he said, going in.
"But Mario! How can I protect you if you're alone?"
"Luigi! Protect me from what, a broken toilet seat lid? I can handle that! I didn't hire a bodyguard, for Peach's sake!"
And with that he slammed the door.
Luigi paced about the hall nervously waiting for Mario's return. When Mario came out a second later, Luigi grabbed him.
"Mario, are you okay? Were you assassinated?!"
"Um...no...?" He sighed. "Luigi, why don't we just go watch tv or something?"
"Okay..." He said, following Mario away.
They ended up watching Friday the 13th. After about an hour Luigi starting throwing up, so they had to stop.
"Luigi! That's gross! You almost puked all over my sleeping couch!" Mario told him in disgust. Everyone who knew Mario knew that you DID NOT mess with his sleeping couch. Sometimes he referred to it as 'my precious'.
The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully, although Mario never got a solo moment. Luigi followed him absolutely everywhere, standing around him and keeping a careful lookout for seemingly nothing. Sheesh, I feel like a famous person, Mario thought. Goons constantly following you.
When bedtime rolled around, Luigi took Mario's hand. "Come on, it'll be fine," he said quietly.
Mario saw through it instantly. "Luigi, are you scared of something?"
"No! I just don't want you to be."
"Me?! Of what?"
"I don't know...murderers with chainsaws in the night!"
"Uggh, Luigi, really. I should've known better than to let you watch that movie."
"No Mario, I'm serious! You're in grave danger at night!"
"Luigi, the probability of anything happening is about as great as me refusing ten gallons of eggnog on Christmas morning."
"Are you sure?" Luigi asked quaveringly, for the odds were very low.
"Yes. Now if you could just please tell me what's going on!"
Luigi took a deep breath. "Bro, I'm just looking out for you. I don't want anything bad to happen. What would I do if...if you-
"Luigi! That's ridiculous! You can't micromanage my every move, and you can't always be hanging over me. What happened to trusting me? You think I can't watch myself?"
"Well, no, you're just a little careless...and I won't let anything happen to you!"
Mario sighed. "Luigi, I understand you're very shaken up by that dream, but that's just how life is. Yes, I'm in danger a lot of the time. Yes, you have to live with it. But you used to believe that I could do anything. Now you won't even let me hand wrestle an ape!"
"Hand wrestling an ape is a stupid pastime!"
"Well it's one I picked! And so you can't control everything I do, because where's the fun in that?"
"But Mario...I just don't want to lose you. To anything. Stupid freak accidents like toasters falling out of windows and giving you concussions, or a flock of rabid chickens attacking you, or you eating twenty twinkies and falling into a sugar coma, or pushing your limits and-
"Luigi!" Mario interrupted. He shook his head, exasperated. "You're not going to lose me like that. You're being extremely irrational."
"B-but what about the twinkies?" Luigi asked.
"Well, it does sound like a good idea," Mario mused dreamily, "but I won't. Promise."
Luigi grabbed him in a sudden hug. But this time, it was a peaceful hug. Mario rolled his eyes and smiled, hugging him back.

NintendoJedi: Whoa! Guys! It wasn't supposed to get this deep!

Luigi grabbed Mario's arm. "What was that!?"

NintendoJedi: Me! Your author!

"Oh...that's right."
"Well this is our story!" Mario shouted at the ceiling. "Go write your own!"

NintendoJedi: -_-

"Anyway," Mario said, turning back to Luigi, "I'm not saying you can't ever help me. You should look out for me; that's your job. Just don't take it to the extreme, okay?"
"Okay," Luigi said humbly. "I won't bother you anymore. But...for right now...is there anything I can do for you?"
"Well," Mario said with sheepish grin, "I guess I could use some ice for this shoulder."

Well, as I told them, I didn't expect the story to be so emotional 😳 But I told you not to expect anything!
That Luigi scream is actually his 'famous' one from Luigi's Mansion, there are obvious nods to Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, and Dr. Luigi. And maybe DK looooves his fruit parfait...
And about Daisy, it's unconfirmed, but many people believe that Nintendo originally stated her to be Peach's cousin. So we'll just go with that for now.
Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and let me know if you have any ideas you'd like to see me use!

~Daisy