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Question Box

Box 13: Only Her Name

It all started on an ordinary day, Lemmy was playing with Iggy near a small pond. The water was crystalline and calm, a soft breeze blew and the sun was shining. Lemmy never thought he would see someone like her that day. One second he was playing tag with Iggy and the next he was hypnotized by her beauty. For the first time as long as he could remember, Lemmy lost his sense of balance completely and fell off the ball he usually rolled around on.

Iggy stopped and gave his brother a surprised look before rushing to help him stand up. "What happened? You never fall like that? By the way, you're still 'it' this doesn't count."

For Lemmy, Iggy's voice was a distant echo as he stared at the young girl swimming in the pond. She was like a shelled angel.

Iggy waved a hand in front of Lemmy. He was staring into the pond with the most absurd expression. He looked strange, yet happy. "Did you hit your head too hard? That silly smile is starting to worry me."

Suddenly, the girl's gaze shifted in their direction and Lemmy was quick to turn around in embarrassment. "Is she looking?"

Iggy raised an eyebrow in confusion, but looking at the pond over his brother's shoulder, he soon realized what he meant. "No, she's swimming around oblivious to the world."

Lemmy let out a sigh of both relief and disappointment.

Iggy had no clue what was going on in his brother's head. "Relax, she's too far to give us cooties."

"It's not that," Lemmy was clearly uncomfortable talking about her. "It's just that..." He didn't finish, he didn't want his brother to feel betrayed. They had agreed that all girls, with the exception of their sister and Peach, had cooties. Though even Wendy sometimes exhibited symptoms of having the fictional decease that was all too real for the boys.

"What is it? You can tell me," Iggy encouraged.

Lemmy felt his cheeks turn red. He stared at his feet, examining the ground with great attention. "It' just..."

'Spit it out already!' Iggy wanted to say. He was caught off guard by his brother's uncharacteristic doubtful behavior.

"I kind of like her," Lemmy confessed, his face continued to turn a deeper shade of red by the second.

Iggy stared at his brother as if he grew a second head. "But she has cooties!"

"Shh! Not so loud, she'll hear us!" Lemmy shyly looked towards the pond. The girl continued to swim around peacefully, floating on her shell. He felt like he could stare at her forever.

"Lemmy!" Iggy's voice snapped him out of his day dream. Iggy pouted and exhibited his best pouty face. "Let's go home." He didn't like what that girl was doing to his brother. She was brainwashing him and turning him into a mindless zombie with her cooties.

"I want to go talk to her. Do you think she'll like me?" Lemmy asked.

Iggy looked upset. "I want to go home, now!"

Lemmy looked towards the girl, then at his brother, back and forth a few times and finally stopped. "Aright, let's go home." Of course he planned to return. He would be back with a plan to talk to the beauty from the pond.

xoxox xox xoxox

Once at the Koopa Castle, Iggy tried to keep Lemmy busy. "Let's play some video games." Surely that would cheer Lemmy up.

Lemmy forced himself to smile. "You go, I think I'm going to... take a nap, I'm tired."

"No you're not," Iggy looked suspicious. Lemmy particularly disliked naps, always being hyper all day long. He never took naps when they were younger, no matter how much Kamek begged him to sleep, and he certainly wasn't going to take a nap now.

"I'm going to talk to King Dad about something... alone," Lemmy added before Iggy could comment on it.

Iggy crossed his arms. "Fine, I'll go play video games with Larry!" He walked away, stomping his feet visibly upset.

"Sorry," Lemmy whispered, but Iggy did not hear him. He went in search of his father who was most likely busy with the kingdom's royal duties at the time, but this was an emergency.

xoxox xox xoxox

"And that is why it is vital for me to kidnap princess Peach Toadstool," Bowser finished his speech. How dare the council question his reasons? Kamek, head of the council should have warned them not to do such a thing. The room was filled with the soft murmurs of koopas, paratroopas, magikoopas and even goombas, commenting on the king's explanation.

Quiet knocking was heard on the door. Bowser looked towards Kamek, who took a quick look around the room. Everyone who was supposed to be there was already there. He glanced at the door then shook his head in reply to Bowser's silent question, indicating that he didn't know who was at the door.

The room was once again filled with quiet murmurs, as the king walked towards the door with a none too happy expression. Who ever had dared to interrupt his meeting better have something very important to say. He opened the door to find his son Lemmy standing there. "This better be important!"

Lemmy looked at his feet and for the second time that day, he appeared to be fascinated by the surface he stood on. "I needed to talk to you," he kept his gaze on the gray stone floor.

Bowser grew more impatient with each passing second. "I'm in a very important meeting. I'm warning you, it better be very important."

Lemmy shyly looked towards the conference room behind his father. The entire royal council was there, as well as representatives from different parts of the Darklands. He couldn't possibly say what he needed to say with all of them listening. He made a movement with his hand that indicated he wanted his father to come closer.

Irritated but curious, Bowser did what his son requested so the young koopaling could whisper whatever he was going to say without anyone else hearing it. Bowser's irritation disappeared as Lemmy spoke in a hushed whisper that only the king was close enough to hear. His face showed a mix of happiness and worry, with a hint of pride.

When he finished narrating the earlier events to his father and communicating his imperative need for advice, Lemmy went back to his previous activity of staring at his feet. A hint of red was starting to appear in his cheeks as he thought about her.

Bowser turned around to face his subjects, who were waiting in the conference room. With a blissful expression he announced that they were done. "Ladies and gentlemen, this meeting is cancelled!"

Once again the conference room was filled with murmurs, as Kamek and Kammy exchanged confused looks. The whispers of the crowd were a little louder this time. It was obvious that they were curious to know what the young prince had told his father that was so important.

xoxox xox xoxox

Bowser had led Lemmy to the royal throne room and closed the doors. It was a process he had done with Ludwig when he came to him with girl related questions. He had noticed girls staring at him and following him around. Ludwig had fan girls before he even knew what a fan girl was. That's when Bowser had a long talk with him in the throne room. Now it was Lemmy's turn. "Sit down," Bowser spointing to the throne.

Lemmy looked at his father a bit surprised that he was being asked to sit in his throne. After a moment of doubt, he quietly sat down. He wondered if he was in for lecture, but his father didn't sound angry. He sounded happy and sad at the same time. It was a combination beyond what Lemmy thought was possible.

The next few minutes passed slowly as Bower went into a long speech that mostly revolved around Peach. Lemmy failed to notice how all of that was related to his situation. "In conclusion, if you like this girl, you need to let her know and she will come to you. If she doesn't, then invite her over to make it obvious that you want to spend time with her. If she says no, simply kidnap her. Do you understand?"

Lemmy nodded slowly, "I think so."

"Good, you can go now. Don't forget to beware of fan girls, they are very dangerous, but if this girl is normal, then it's safe to attempt a kidnapping," Bowser warned.

Lemmy gave his father another nod, acknowledging his last statement, and hopped off the throne. He started walking towards the door.

Lemmy was half way across the large throne room, when he felt his father pick him up and hug him. "My little Lemmy is growing up!"

Lemmy blinked, then stared, then blinked again. "King Dad... Are you feeling alright?"

Bowser put Lemmy down. "Of course, I'm perfectly fine."

"If you say so," Lemmy left the throne room and wondered if he should follow his father's advice. He wasn't sure if that girl from the pond would be too happy to get kidnapped. He wondered if she was even still there. The water pond in question was a long way from the Koopa Castle since the only ponds near it were made of lava instead of water.

Maybe the entire kidnapping deal was something his father would do in an attempt to impress princess Peach but maybe it didn't work that way anymore. Maybe it was a something that belonged to their generation only. Lemmy nodded to himself and decided that even if his father was trying to help, his technique may be a little old to work for someone so young. But if his father couldn't guide him, then who could?

xoxox xox xoxox

As he walked along the corridors of the Koopa Castle, music reached him. Lemmy smiled and quickened his pace, following the sounds. Surely his older brother could have more up to date advice to offer. "Ludwig! Ludwig!"

Ludwig instantly stopped playing and let out an exasperated fiery breath. He had received countless interruptions from his siblings that day. If it kept going like that, he would never finish his symphony. "What apprehension may I facilitate you to flee?"

Lemmy's shyness returned full force and once again he stared at his feet. "I wanted to ask you something."

Ludwig looked at his brother with curiosity. "Your conduct is reasonably abnormal. Yet astonishingly, I do not deduce that you ruptured any article."

Lemmy was silent for a moment as his cheeks turned that familiar red color. "It's about a girl."

Ludwig took a moment to process his brother's words; then smiled. "I perceive you are experiencing infatuation, I should have acknowledged it by your expression!"

"I was hoping you could give me some advice. King Dad said I should kidnap her, but I don't think she would like that," Lemmy mused.

Ludwig shook his head. "I have the necessity to vigorously offer my recommendations in opposition to such proceedings. I counsel you to compose a symphony and serenade her."

The idea of writing her a song appeared to make more sense than kidnapping her. However, Ludwig was the only composer in the family. Then again, he did find many secret hand-written poetry books in his father's room when he was sneaking around once. Bowser had firmly denied writing them, but it was his hand writing, Lemmy was sure. "Can you write a song I can use?"

"Preposterous, the melody is obliged to originate from your own inspiration!" Ludwig urged.

"Okay..." Lemmy was disappointed.

"Conceivably, flowers may be adequate," Ludwig suggested.

"Yeah flowers, why didn't I think of that?" Lemmy's dilemma had been solved. How could he miss the most obvious option? "Thanks Ludwig!" He ran off as fast as his legs could carry him to search for flowers.

xoxox xox xoxox

At some point in time during his flower quest, he realized that finding them in the Darklands was impossible. After searching high and low and finding nothing but dry, hot land where no vegetation would grow, Lemmy was about to give up. Then he remembered that girl swimming around with more skill than he thought was possible for any koopa. He smiled at the image in his mind and with renewed energy he continued his quest to find flowers.

Lemmy's journey led him all the way to the Mushroom Kingdom. Surely, there he would find plenty of pretty flowers. The question was what kind of flower was most appropriate. Since he was already in the Mushroom Kingdom, why not ask Peach?

"Princess! Princess!" Toad's panicked voice was heard. He ran towards the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, who was sitting in her garden surrounded by beautiful flowers. He fell because he was forcing his short legs to move faster than it was possible for them and Peach helped him get up.

"Are you alright, Toad? What's wrong? You sound very alarmed," Peach asked.

"It's terrible! Just terrible! There's a koopaling here to kidnap you!" Toad cried.

"I'm not here to kidnap Peach," Lemmy had made it past the guards and now stood a few feet away from Peach and Toad. "I'm here for advice." For what felt like the millionth time that day, he once again stared at his feet and realized his claws could use a little clipping.

Peach took note of the embarrassed look in Lemmy's face, the red color of his cheeks and how he shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another, while staring at his feet and the ground below them. No doubt about it, the boy had a crush. "Toad, please allow me to speak with Lemmy in private. Thank you for letting me know he was here."

"Princess?" Toad looked shocked, but Peach's smile convinced him that everything would be okay. He reluctantly left, heading back inside the castle after looking over his shoulder several times during the walk.

"Please follow me," Peach voiced. They walked a short distance to a bench in front of a fountain. "Sit down, let's talk." Lemmy nodded and sat next to her. "Tell me Lemmy, what is her name?"

At first, Lemmy was going to ask what she meant, but suddenly it hit him like a ten ton Chain Chop. Was he being that obvious? "I don't know. I haven't talked to her yet. How did you know it was about a girl?"

Peach continued to smile. "It's pretty obvious really. I can see it written all over your face."

Lemmy was tempted to run to the fountain to look at his reflection in the water and see for himself if his face had changed, but instead he remained seated. If there was really something written on his face, he would have noticed before. "King Dad said I should kidnap her to show I care. Ludwig said a serenade was a better idea, but he couldn't help me with the music because I had to do it myself. So Ludwig said I should give her flowers if I couldn't write a song. It kind of made sense, so I thought it was a good idea. The problem is I couldn't find any flowers. I don't think there are any in the Darklands. I thought that maybe I could find flowers in the Mushroom Kingdom and since you're here, I could ask you to help me pick which flowers to give her."

"I would be very happy to help. In fact, we can use the flowers from my garden. I'll make them into a really nice arrangement." Peach sighed with an unexplained happiness and satisfaction. "Your first crush, how cute!" Skipping along a flowery path, the princess led the way further into the garden.

Not too long after, Lemmy had a bouquet of rare pink roses, which Peach was certain any girl would love, or at least any girl who liked pink as much as she did.

xoxox xox xoxox

By the time Lemmy arrived back at the pond, it looked like the girl was about to leave. She was about to climb into a nearby pipe when he called her. "Wait, don't go. I wanted to talk to you. Do you have to leave?"

She nodded in response.

"Will you come back soon?" Lemmy asked.

The girl paused then shook her head.

"Oh... You don't really like me... I brought you some flowers. Take them, I wouldn't know what to do with them anyway," Lemmy sounded heartbroken.

She accepted the flowers and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

His face turned bright red. "So you do like me?"

She nodded and smiled then looked sadly at the pipe.

"I understand, you were just visiting, right? You live far away and have to go home..."

She nodded.

"I guess there's no choice. I'm still happy I met you. I'm Lemmy Koopa, before you go, please tell me your name."

"Squirtle," the girl replied.

Though she had to return to her home, he would never forget her. Lemmy returned to the Koopa Castle and kept telling himself that he might see her again someday. Deep down he knew that their paths would most likely never cross again, but he would always remember her, the beautiful Squirtle.

End of Box 13

Disclaimer, I don't own Super Mario or Pokemon.