A Nutcracker and the Beast

Chapter 16: Sleepover

The last drawing was actually a drawing of a family. It had Bowser holding Peach's hand while Kamke held Bowser's other hand on his right. In the middle between Bowser and Peach was Junior, and it looked like he was hugging Luigi. It had everyone smiling, and at the very top, between the corner sun and the tree in the background, it said 'My Family' written in green. Luigi felt warmth from the fact Junior added him to the drawing, feeling the tear build from the amount of joy he was feeling. He let out a laugh, he shouldn't be tearing up, but boy, he couldn't help it; Junior's small actions were so pure and genuine that they made Luigi forget that he was a nutcracker. Luigi's smile grew as he ran his hand over the painting, tracing everyone individually. Kamek, Bowser, Junior, himself, and Peach. When he traced Peach, a strange feeling started to creep in. It was odd and wrong, like he should feel guilty for having this feeling.

He covers her with his hand, reading 'My Family' and only showing the four of them. Luigi liked how much better it looked without her in the drawing, but he felt guilty for doing it. So he covers himself and reads 'My Family' with Peach in the photo. This upset him; everyone always wanted Peach. Luigi gasped in shock at his own thoughts; Peach was his friend, and she had done nothing wrong but show kindness to him. But, the more and more he looked at her in this drawing, the more and more he felt like he was angry?

Peach always wanted everyone to like her, but Luigi always saw everyone pick her. When Mario became her knight in shining armor, it felt like he would drop everything with him to go save her. Mario was friendly to at least finish Luigi's food or finish the small thing they were working on together before running off. Daisy would do the same thing, but when Peach came running, Daisy would leave with her - not even a goodbye as Luigi waited for Daisy. And with Bowser -Bowser loves her and wants her to be by his side, to be the mother that Junior never got. Everyone seemed to pick her as he stood by the sidelines; he didn't know why he felt like this; he's done the same things. Luigi has left Mario without saying a word, and he has tried to hurry up the little things to help Daisy in her need. He was at fault for the same things, but it felt like it was always once in a blue moon when that happened, and he always made it up to them. With Peach, everyone would willingly do it in a heartbeat, not thinking of the person they left to help her. That was when Luigi had thought, was this feeling of anger, he was feeling jealousy actually - was he jealous of Peach?

When he moved his hand to show all five of them again, he felt the ache in his chest. He was jealous of her, and he didn't know why.

"Oh! Hehe, what do you think of the drawing, Luigi?" Junior asked as he came out of the bathroom; his hair was still wet as he saw the drawing in Luigi's hands. Luigi was glad his back was towards the bathroom; he feared Junior had seen his upset face.

"It's lovely, Junior. Thank you!" Luigi smiled, "Do you think you can help me put it up on the wall?"

"Yeah!" Junior said as he picked Luigi up and put him on the nightstand. He opens the top drawer and pulls out a few things. One of them was a music box that caught Luigi's eyes.

"What's that Junior?"

"Oh! I asked Kamek to make me this back when you broke your arm. Look," Junior said as he opened it; inside was a short version of Luigi with his name on the bottom of the lid and all sorts of things. It had the Dark Moon piece that shined so bright from the last time Luigi saw it, small drawings of things that Junior and Luigi had done together like baking and dancing, and recipes on index cards; the sugar plum recipe having a superstar on it with 'my favorite candy' underneath. "These are all my memories and treasures of what we have done together. Even the song that plays is the first time I tried Ballet too!"

Junior told him as he twisted the key in the music box; once he stopped, little Luigi started to spin as the music played. Luigi watched it while Junior put the paintings on the wall; Luigi couldn't believe the small details that Junior had put into the music box just for himself. When he pulled away, he saw the drawing all hanging up, including his.