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For as long as the brothers could remember, Luigi had always been incredibly susceptible to nightmares. There was no rhyme or reason to the terrifying dreams. They happened whenever, to varying degrees, and they managed to wake him from his slumber more often than not.
Mario was always there for Luigi when he got scared. Whether it was defending him from bullies on the playground, or being there to comfort him after a saddening event, Mario was always there. Even with how constant the nightmares were, Mario was always there. He loved his little brother to the ends of the Earth, and was more than willing to lose some sleep if it meant making sure he was alright. It was moments like these he was glad to have to share a room with Luigi, since he's always able to be there to comfort him as soon as possible.
Tonight, however, things were different. Luigi was sleeping peacefully. He was dreaming, yes, but it was a relatively normal dream. Weird stuff happened, but they weren't scary by any means. Just really weird.
Mario, on the other hand, wasn't having such luck. It had been another long day for him. Princess Peach was kidnapped again, and Bowser managed to beat him up worse than usual. Mario still won the fight and rescued the Princess in the end, he always does, but something felt off. Him and Bowser were on more equal footing. Typically, Mario is able to run in, stomp his head, then run right back out with Peach. Easy. It was always so easy. Then why was it so hard this time? What was he doing wrong? Was it only going to get worse from here on out? What if Bowser is able to defeat Mario next time? What if they lose the Princess? What if? What if? What if?
There was a constant flow of these questions and Mario just couldn't stop them. Even as he finally managed to drift to sleep, those intrusive thoughts continued to plague his mind. They crept into his dreams, and Mario had the worst night of sleep he's had in his life.
He found himself in Bowser’s airship, ready to battle. Just as he jumped up, aiming for Bowser’s head, the Koopa King raised his hand to grab Mario straight out of the air. He slammed the man’s body into the deck with ease, sending him careening to the ground at remarkable speeds. As Mario fell, all he could hear and see was Bowser cackling, claiming his victory, as he held a sobbing Peach. She was crying out for Mario, but he was completely helpless to save her. He reached out as far he could, stretching as far as his arms would allow, but nothing worked.
Bowser and Peach faded out of sight as Mario continued to plummet towards the sharp, rocky, lava filled terrain of Bowser’s kingdom. What was worse, he could still hear as Peach cried for help. He could still hear Bowser gloating about this accomplishment. He still couldn't move as he fell, further and further until—
Mario woke up with a start. He was sweating, dried tears were streaming down his face, and he was breathing heavily. That dream felt so real, at least in the moment. He knew something like that would never happen. Even if Bowser was closer to winning today, that doesn't mean he'll automatically be able to in the future. Mario always won, he knows this, everyone knows this. The dream wasn't even that scary, nothing really happened. It was silly to be acting this way. Mario was just overreacting, he knew it, so why was he still so scared? It wasn't real. It's never going to be real. Even so, Mario’s crying now. He was able to stay quiet, but he was still reliving the dream in his head. Over and over and over again. It just made him more scared. It made his tears stronger. Mario accidentally let out a small sob, quickly covering his mouth in an attempt to remain quiet and not wake up his brother.
This was unsuccessful. Luigi turned in his bed towards his brother. He always had been a light sleeper.
“Mario?” He quietly called out, “are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah, I'm fine,” Mario rushed out to reply, wiping his eyes in hopes of not worrying his brother.
This answer seemed to be satisfying enough for a very groggy Luigi, and he laid back down. Mario was about to breathe a sigh of relief, until he sniffled. Luigi immediately sat back up again and stared at his brother. The room was dark, but there was just enough moonlight shining through the curtains for Luigi to see the tears, dried and renewed, on his brother's face.
“Oh, goodness Mario,” Luigi said as he got up from his own bed to walk over to Mario’s.
“No, Luigi, go back to bed, I'm fine, really!”
It was too late, however, as Luigi had already joined Mario to sit on his bed.
“No, Mario. You always help comfort me when I need it, so I want to help comfort you as well.” He held out his arms, waiting for his older brother to accept his hug, just as he had done with Luigi many times before. Mario was quick to do so, falling into his brother’s arms and letting him pat his back.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Luigi asked hesitantly.
Mario sighed, and began to describe his nightmare to Luigi. As he did, he hugged his little brother tighter. A few more tears fell from his eyes, but Luigi was quick to help wipe them away.
They sat there for a few moments, simply hugging each other, accompanied by light swaying from side to side. It was nice. Mario felt much better than he did when he woke up. He'd always been hesitant to accept other’s help, especially Luigi’s. He was supposed to be the big brother, the one who took care of his little brother, not the other way around. Sometimes, though, it was nice to be taken care of. It was nice to be on the receiving end of the comfort. It was always nice to have a brother like Luigi.
Eventually, they let go of each other. They did still have to sleep after all. Busy day tomorrow. Before Luigi left to his own bed again, he pressed his forehead against Mario’s, a rest assured way to get the other to calm down no matter what.
“I’ll always be there for you Mario, don't you forget that.”
“Right back at you, Luigi.”