"Here you go, Peach," Kamek said as he gave her a necklace with a blue gem, "it's a gift from Junior."
"Oh, it's lovely," Peach said as she looked at the gold necklace that made the light blue gem pop. It even looked like it was glowing as she put it on.
"Indeed, Junior told me to give it to you as a gift from Bowser." Kamek explains, which made her hold the gem. "But we both know you would never accept a gift from him." And that comment made her uncomfortable.
It had become clear Kamek had some bitter feelings towards Peach, but he still treated her with kindness. She never noticed these feelings, maybe because she hardly spoke to him or they were never around each other for so long. He was always cheerful when talking to her, but she noticed he tried to avoid her as much as possible. Like the other day, when Junior invited him to join them in the garden for a picnic, he told them he was busy with a new spell and couldn't join. Puffing away before they could ask him to stay. Even when Bowser was calling him, and he didn't show up, he had to go all the way up to his tower; Bowser still didn't bring him down when he came back. Peach shifted her weight as she wondered what she did that made him dislike her.
"Is something the matter?" Kamek asked. Peach watched his face, but she only saw his round glass, not telling how he felt.
"Um, Kamek, can I ask you a question? It's one that may hurt someone's feelings but I want to know the truth."
Kamek raised a brow but nodded to let her ask.
"Do you hate me?" Peach asked, which made him open his mouth as that caught him off guard. Even though he was in shock, returning from the straightforward question didn't take long.
"Hate is a strong word. Disfavor would fit better." He admitted, Peach looking down to the ground as she kept listening to why that was.
"I know you hardly know anything about Bowser besides the things you've learned from all the times you've been kidnapped or the three weeks- almost a month you've been here is all you know but." Kamek stopped, letting out a tired sigh, "Bowser is like my son. I watched and raised him as if he was my own. It hurts to watch him get heartbroken over and over again by the same person... He's my King first and foremost but I'll always look out for him as if he was my son first and foremost. Till then, I'll do my best to make you feel like family. I don't wish to cause bad blood between us."
"That's going to be hard knowing the truth...." Peach said, looking at the old Koopa
"You wish for the truth, and you got it." He replied as he started to fly past her before stopping next to her. "When you see Bowser, thank him for the necklace. Not for my sake or his, but for Junior." And he kept flying till she was left alone in the hall. Peach looked down at the necklace before putting it on so Junior could be happy. She decides to talk to Bowser about this just to reassess herself. She didn't want to feel this anxious feeling any more than she already was.
Junior carries Luigi over to Bowser's offices as he tells Luigi all the fun things that have happened between him and Peach.
"And she's been teaching me how to make cupcakes! With homemade buttercream! It tastes so good!" Junior told his story.
"That sure sounds like her. You should ask her how to make her signature homemade pear pudding cake; that's actually good." Luigi giggled as he sat in Junior's hand.
"Pear pudding cake? I've never had any, I'll ask her when I see her today!" Junior said before slowly stopping, "Um, Luigi, why did it sound like you met her before?"
Luigi's eyes widened as he realized his mistake; he closed his eyes and waved his hands.
"Well, both you and your dad talk about her so much, it makes me feel like I've known her my whole life," Luigi said with an award smile.
"Then what about the whole pear pudding? I didn't know she knew how to make that. Did dad say something about it?"
"Y-yes, he did. He has a sweet tooth, after all... it's only natural that he knows all the desserts she can make...." Junior stared at him as if he didn't believe Luigi, but before he could say something, thumping noise could be heard coming their way.
"Ah! Dad's coming! What should I do?!" Junior said as he looked around to hide Luigi.
"Remember what I told you! Your dad thinks your grandpa made me, and you don't know I can talk. Just tell your dad you found me in his tower, okay?" Junior nodded as Bowser got closer. Junior took a breath and walked around the corner. Bowser was thankful alone when he spotted Junior and Luigi, and he grew unhappy when he saw them together.
"Junior, what's that in your hand and why do you have it?"
"Um, it's...a new toy I found in grandpa's tower! Yeah, and I name him Luigi!" he said as he shoved Luigi toward Bowser.
"Junior, hand the toy over. Kamek is going to be mad that you took it," Bowser told him as he put his hand out.
"Oh, come on, Dad! It's just a wooden doll! Can't I play with him a little longer?:
"Junior, toy. Now." Junior pouted as he handed Luigi over to Bowser. He crossed his arm once Luigi was in Bowser's hand.
"This is so unfair!"
"You have plenty of toys in your room. How about playing with them? In the meantime, I'm taking this back." Bowser said as he turned away, going back from where he came from. Junior watches as Luigi is taken away, hoping he'll be okay and his acting skills are good enough. Bowser didn't take Luigi far, just somewhere where it was private before he turned his hand into a fist.
"What do you think you're doing near my son?!" Bowser growls at Luigi as he closes his eyes.
"N-nothing, your nastiness! He doesn't know anything, I-I swear." Luigi said
"He better not, Greenie! I want you as far away from him as possible, and you better listen. I'm not afraid of breaking a talking doll." Bowser threatened. I know, Luigi thought as he looked away from Bowser, not wanting to know precisely how he planned to do that. Why did he go along with this crazy plan?
"I'll try. I have a feeling that he's going to ask Kamek if he can play with me..." which isn't true since Luigi sleeps in Junior's room. That didn't amuse Bowser as he huffed a puff of smoke in Luigi's face, making him cough, "I mean, he'll never play with me again."
"Good," Bowser said, releasing his fist so Luigi could sit on his palm. This had started getting Luigi exhausted as he breathed a breath of relief. One minute he was just Junior's toy that he wished was alive; now, he's that and Bowser's problem-solving talking doll that helps him get Peach to fall in love with him. He had to be careful with the two of them to avoid messing up with what they believed he was; a toy and a problem. He started to think people not remembering him wasn't bad. After that thought, Luigi soon gave himself a mental slap since he knew being forgotten was worse than playing pretend.
"Look, your nastiness, we got off on the wrong foot. How about we start over and be friends?"
"Start over? Why would I want to be friendly with a doll with fake memories? Especially when those fake memories come from Mario." Bowser explained as he put Luigi down. Luigi was shocked by this. Was that what Kamek told him? That he was a copy of Mario, that doesn't hate Bowser?
"W-what do you mean by that?" Luigi asked; he had to know more now.
"Why does it matter? Kamek enchanted you to forget when I spoke about this; you'll forget about this all by tomorrow. I'm only doing this since I felt pity for a wooden doll with no real personality being cursed with those bastard memories." Bowser said, staring at Luigi; his red eyes were searching for his reaction.
Luigi couldn't believe this, so that's why he went along with this plan? Because he thought that he was a pathetic version of Mario. Luigi started to tear up in frustration as that thought came to mind, and it wasn't just that. It was also the fact that Kamek told him that he would forget, the fact that now Luigi had to pretend that he was his brother, the fact that he had to pretend that he was nothing but a stupid nutcracker, and the fact that Bowser did this out of PITY. That last one was the kicker to Luigi's anger since that was the one thing he didn't want anyone to feel toward him. Junior felt pity for him, but Junior was a child that didn't know that Luigi was a person. Bowser, on the other hand, Bowser knew that Luigi was human even if he couldn't remember right now. But he cries despite Luigi wanting to yell at Bowser since yelling at him won't make sense.
Bowser saw the little toy cry at his words, was this going to happen every time he told him the truth? If so, he wouldn't tell him again; he was grateful that Greenie would forget by tomorrow. But now Bowser had a new problem; how would he stop Greenie from crying? Was he like a child or what? He knew nothing about Mario, so he couldn't cheer him up that way besides showing him to Peach. Yeah, that was never going to happen.
"Bowser!?" Peach called out, making Bowser shoot his head to the door. Oh no, Bowser thought as he quickly turned back to Luigi.
"H-hey! You got to be quiet...." Bowser said in a whisper, but Luigi wasn't calming down. "Look, I didn't mean any of that!"
"Y-yes you did, liar...." Luigi said bitterly as he moved away from Bowser, but Bowser grabbed him. Even then, Luigi wouldn't stop, and Bowser holding him in his fist wasn't helping as Luigi didn't look at him.
"Oh, come on! I'm your King, for goodness sake! You got to listen to me!" Bowser said, a bit too loud for his liking.
"A-and I was made by Kamek, so that m-makes him my creator!" Luigi said between angry sobs as he tried to keep the act up. Before Bowser could start yelling, he heard a knock.
"Bowser? Are you in there?" Peach asked as Bowser started to panic.
"Y-yeah, um, O-one sec!" he yelled as he grabbed a blanket and wrapped Luigi in it. "Don't make a sound," Bowser whispers as he puts Luigi on the table and opens the door to see a concerned Peach looking at him. He also noticed her new necklace as she had held on to it.
"Are you okay? I thought I heard crying...." Peach said as she looked past him, "And why are you hiding in the closet?"
"Of course I am! Never better!" Bowser said, trying to block her view, "But, um, I was just looking for some blankets. It can be hard to pull them out from the back." he added, pulling on a random blanket that led more to fall on top of him.
"Oh my," Peach said, letting out a giggle. Luigi unwrapped himself from the blanket watching this; after all, Peach seemed to be enjoying herself. It could give him some time to wrap away the angry tears.
"Well, I was hoping to talk to you about something." she said as she helped Bowser remove the blankets from his head. "It's about Kamek."
"Kamek? What about him? Did he do something?" Bowser said, surprised by this
"Um, well, I um...have a feeling he doesn't like me," she told him, holding back information.
"What? No, Kamek likes you! Just like how Junior likes you! What makes you say that?"
"Well... he's been avoiding me. Like the other day. We invited him to the picnic and he didn't want to join us..."
"W-well, he was busy. I checked on him, and he was working on a spell," Bowser explained, not telling her that the so-called spell was Luigi.
"I guess. Hard to tell with him, you know, because of his glass," Peach joked as she faked adjusting her non-exist glass. Bowser let out a laugh.
"You can say that again, I still do that from time to time. You should have seen it when I was younger." Bowser laughs as Peach joins in. Peach soon places her hand over the necklace that she got from Kamek.
"Oh, by the way, thank you for the necklace."
"Necklace?" Bowser said before playing along, "Ah yes, the necklace, I hope you like it, hehe."
"I do," she said as she fiddled with it, "but I should go now. I promised I would bake with Junior; that boy sure does have a sweet tooth." She said, waving goodbye. She fidgeted with her dress down the hall. Bowser sighed as he watched her leave, his eyes half closed as he stared.
"You know she was anxious, right," Luigi said, snapping Bowser out of his trance.
"What do you mean anxious? She was having fun!" Bowser said as he closed the door to ensure no one saw them talking.
"Fun? She was fidgeting with the necklace. She does that to distract herself," Luigi explains; Bowser soon leads in to listen to the toy. His face soon turned curious and worried.
"W-what else give it away?" Bowser asks, his eyes looking down at the table.
"Oh, now you want my help!" Luigi said, crossing his arm and turning his back to Bowser. "I thought I was nothing but 'a wooden doll with no real personality'"
"Hey! Don't use my own words against me!" Bowser said as he slammed the table, which made Luigi jump back into the blanket.
"Then you shouldn't have been so rude about it!" Luigi talked back as he hid, and Bowser was taken aback by this.
"W-well you...you shouldn't have been a known-it-all!"
"Really? Is that the best you got?"
"Would you like to see my anger instead? I'll gladly do so!"
"Okay, okay! No need for you to threaten me! All you have to do is apologize!" Bowser pulled back, taking a deep breath in before exhilarating. Luigi pecked out of the blanket to see him calm down.
"If I apologized, well you explain why she was anxious."
"Yes...but you also can't refer to me as Mario!" Luigi said, hoping that Bowser would keep that part of the deal even after Luigi played dumb.
"...Fine," Bowser said begrudgingly. He took another deep breath in, then exhilarated before getting to eye level again. He even lifts the blanket that covers Luigi's head. "I'm sorry that I insulted you. I'm also sorry that I threatened you. Can you tell me now why Peach was anxious?"
"What's the magic word?" Luigi said, which got Bowser to growl at him, "I was looking for please but t-that works too..."
"Peach gets anxious when people don't like her. Being the princess is hard enough, and she knows that even some of the Toads don't like her, at least her decisions but that doesn't change the fact that she always wants to make everyone happy."
"So her thinking that Kamek not liking her is what causes her to be like this?"
"Yup, and sometimes she's not good at hiding it when it comes to her feelings. She fidget with her dress or hair, she tells jokes to lighten the mood, and cuts things short. She doesn't do it a lot but when it does happen she stresses out a lot." Luigi explained Bowser had to pull back with a troubled look, biting on his thumbnail.
"Is there a way to calm her down?"
"Two ways really," Luigi said as a smile came on, "have anything that can keep up with her motorcycle?"