Well, TimeLordDavidTennant, you wanted to see another sickfic with Dimentio, so here you go! :D

Also, spoilers ahead! And by spoilers, I mean don't freaking read this unless you've beaten Super Paper Mario!
You have been warned...

Although it was hard to tell with the ever-darkened sky, it was late at night in the Castle Bleck dimension, and two weary figures were getting ready to turn in for the night.

Blumiere—formerly known as Count Bleck—and his wife Timpani had spent the past few days making the castle a suitable home to live in, and they had been staying up later and later every night to finish what had to be done.

They had enjoyed their time alone together in their own little dimension, but after some time they began to miss social interaction with people other than themselves. So one day they made a decision; they had gotten married, and had their honeymoon, so now it was time to settle down in a home and start a family. Castle Bleck would be their home, and Blumiere's former minions would—hopefully—be their family.

Once the castle was fit for living in again, they would track down the remaining members of Count Bleck's team.

Mimi, O'Chunks, and Nastasia. Out of five minions, they were ones left.

While Luigi was certainly still alive, his alter ego known as Mr. L ceased to exist. And Dimentio, had his game not ended, most likely wouldn't have been welcomed back after the way he had betrayed everyone.

"Well, I don't think it will be too much longer before this old castle is cleaned up and ready for living in," Blumiere said quite proudly. He and his wife had been working very hard, and their work was finally paying off.

"I agree. It looks much better in here without all the dust and cobwebs. But it feels rather dreary with so much black interior…"

"Now, now. I've told you before, Timpani; the blackness gives it charm."

"If you say so, dear," Timpani laughed.

"I suppose we've done enough for one day. Let's go to bed now." Blumiere started to head upstairs where the bedrooms were, but stopped when he noticed Timpani wasn't at his side. "Are you coming, my dear?"

"Yes, I'll be right there," she answered. "I just want to get a drink of water first."

"Very well. I will be waiting for you then." The dark-skinned man winked at the young woman before going to their room.

"Oh, you," Timpani said with another laugh, although there was no one to hear her.

She got her drink of water then went upstairs, turning off lights in the rooms she went through. The lights in the second floor hallway had been dimmed, making her feel slightly uneasy, but dimmed lights were better than no lights.

As she walked past Dimentio's room, Timpani stopped and frowned a bit.

Even if Mimi, O'Chunks, and Nastasia didn't want to live in the castle again, they would be invited at some point to go through their rooms and work out what they wanted to keep and such, and Luigi would invited to take care of Mr. L's room, but what should they do about Dimetio's room? For the time being they would leave it alone, but would leave it as was forever?

After a few moments Timpani sighed quietly and turned to leave. She hadn't taken more than two steps when she froze in place. She could have sworn she had heard something…

There it was again. This time she knew what the sound was: It was sound of muffled coughing. And it was coming was Dimentio's room.

Timpani felt her pulse quicken as she tried to figure out what was happening. How could someone possibly get to the second floor without Blumiere or herself noticing? And what could they want from Dimentio's room? Unless…no. It couldn't be. His game had ended.

But if his game hadn't ended?

There was only one way to find out. Her hand trembled as she placed it on the doorknob. She was afraid her fears would come true, but she couldn't go to bed without checking.

Taking a deep breath, Timpani opened the door and went into the room calmly as if it were her own bedroom. If he really was in there, the last thing she wanted to do was startle him by rushing in suddenly. And appearing to be scared seemed bad, too. Acting calm was the best way to handle this.

Evidently, she failed to not startle him because the moment she opened the door, she heard a sharp intake of air, sounding like a gasp through the nose rather than the mouth.

Entering the room, Timpani did a gasp of her own. Just as she had thought, the one making noise was Dimentio.

The jester stared at her like a deer caught in headlights. His mouth was open, but he couldn't manage to get any words out. It was clear he had thought the castle was still abandoned.

"Dimentio…" Timpani said softly, closing the door behind her. "You came back."

The jester finally found his voice. "Considering my game supposedly ended, you don't seem very surprised to see me." His voice sounded calm as ever, but the young woman knew he was terrified he had been discovered.

"I'm not sure if I should be surprised," she said matter-of-factly. "But I would like to know why you're here right now." Taking a closer look at the jester, Timpani noted his clothes were a bit ragged, and his mask didn't hide how tired he looked. She also suspected he had lost some weight, but he had always been skinny so it was hard to confirm.

For some reason, she found herself worrying the boy hadn't been getting enough food in the past few weeks. But why was she worrying about him suddenly?

It's like the time I first met Blumiere, she realized. It's just in my nature to worry about others who need help. And Dimentio definitely needs some help.

"It's quite simple," Dimentio said, snapping the woman out of her thoughts and pointing to a backpack on his bed. "I came to get my things. Ah, but do not fear; I shall be leaving soon and you won't have to worry about hearing from me again."

By now they had both decided neither was a threat to the other, so Timpani watched quietly as Dimentio finished packing his few belongings.

"Where do you plan on going?" She asked quietly, hoping that if he planed to do something stupid, she could talk him out of it.

He paused in folding his blanket to consider the question.

"I don't know," he said honestly. He finished folding the blanket and put it down before adding, "I suppose I'll go somewhere my face and name aren't known."

The jester turned around and narrowed his eyes. "Is there a reason you are trying to make small talk? Are you perhaps waiting for Blumiere to come looking for you and find me here? Hmm?"

"No, nothing like that. I only want to be sure you don't plan on trying to destroying all of the worlds again."

Her words hit harder then she had intended. The boy flinched.

"No. I don't plan to do that. I've learned the hard way trying to do such things can be dangerous, and I don't want to nearly end my game for a second time."

"I see…" Timpani walked slowly to the bed and sat down. "What are you going to do, then? You must have some sort of plan, right?"

"As I said, I'll go where I'm not known by anybody, and then—"here he broke off and coughed a few times"—ah, apologies. Anyway, from there I'll settle down quietly and with any luck I won't have to worry about anyone—such as the Mario Brother—hunting me down."

Timpani stared at him thoughtfully. It seemed he was being truthful. The boy hadn't come to the castle seeking revenge; he just wanted to get his stuff so he could go off and live peacefully. He only wanted a normal life. And being part of a family was normal…

"Stay here with us," she said before she could think about what she was saying.

"W-what?"

"Stay here in Castle Bleck with me and Blumiere. We want to have a family, and in another week or so we're going to ask Nastasia, Mimi, and O'Chunks to move back into the castle, as well. You can stay here and be a part of our family, too, Dimentio."

Dimentio shook his head. "No, I can't do that." He went over to his desk to check the drawers and make sure nothing had been forgotten.

"Why not? You would be safe here."

"Well, for one, the count would never allow it after everything I've done." The jester quickly verified the two drawers in his desk were indeed empty. "Not to mention—" He suddenly groaned quietly and gripped the side of the desk as if to keep himself from falling down.

"Are you alright?" Timpani asked with concern as she helped the boy to his bed. "Here, sit down a minute."

"I'm…fine. I just got a little lightheaded…" He started coughing once more, and Timpani began to realize what was wrong.

"You're sick, aren't you?" she asked while gently rubbing his back.

"I suppose it's possible," Dimentio answered, giving one last cough. "I haven't been able to take very good care of myself lately, so I wouldn't be surprised if I was ill." He stood up and grabbed his backpack then readied himself to teleport.

Timpani knew that if she let him leave and didn't help him, his illness would get worse and he wouldn't last very long on his own. She had to say something to make him stay and fast.

"What were you about to say before you got lightheaded?" she asked, trying to stall for time to choose her words carefully. "After you said Blumiere would never allow for you to stay."

"Ah, that. I was just going to say…should the others choose to live here, they would never accept me as one of them again and I would most likely live as an outcast here. No. I would be happier on my own, somewhere nobody will look down upon me as if I were trash." He chuckled a bit. "But to be fair, anybody who chooses to do so has every right to."

"You shouldn't talk badly about yourself."

Dimentio glanced over his shoulder. "You don't have to act like you care; I know you must despise me as much as everyone else."

"I don't, though." Now Timpani stood up. "I don't know how you view humans, but most of us know how to forgive and forget. And in the short ten minutes we've had together, I've forgiven you for what you did. And I know that in time…I'll learn to forget what you did, too."

"Yes…I know how humans can be. I know all too well…" Dimentio put his hand to his face and slowly removed his mask. "I know because I am a human."

Timpani blinked. "You…are a human?"

"What?" the jester said with a smirk. "Did you think humans couldn't learn to use magic the way I do?"

"I hadn't thought about it before," the woman admitted.

The conversion had taken a surprising turn, and Timpani had run out things to say. The boy took this as a cue to leave, but before he could teleport, he became lightheaded again and had to sit down.

"Ugh, this could be a problem…"

Timpani sighed and sat beside him. "I know you're worried about how Blumiere might feel about you being here, but you shouldn't be traveling if you don't feel well. Teleporting will only drain what's left of your energy. Please, just stay for a few days to recover."

Hesitant silence.

"I promise you can leave as soon as you feel better. I just…don't want you to be on your own while you're ill."

"I suppose…I could use some time to regain my strength," Dimentio said thoughtfully before coughing.

Timpani smiled. "Just lie down and rest now. It's rather late to being eating anything, but I could go make some tea for you if you'd like."

"It's fine; I'm not very hungry right now anyway," the boy said, grabbing his pillow and blanket and making himself comfortable. "And please don't trouble yourself with making tea. I'll just go to sleep now."

"Really? I would think you'd be starving. Or have you been managing to get food to eat?"

"Yes, I should be quite famished by now, shouldn't I? However, due to my illness, I find myself lacking an appetite."

"Oh." Timpani reached over and gently put her hand on Dimentio's forehead. "It feels like you have a fever… You may have the flu, Dimentio."

"I'm inclined to agree with you. I can't begin to imagine what else this could be."

"Although… It doesn't seem to be very bad. It must just be starting."

"Um, actually…it's just ending," the jester admitted sheepishly. "I felt much worse a couple of days ago."

Timpani frowned at him. "You mean to tell me you've been sick for a few days and you thought using your energy to teleport here was a good idea?"

"I told you, it was worse a couple of days ago. I started feeling better today and I wanted to get a move on."

"I'm sure, but…" She sighed. "In the future, try not to push yourself if you aren't feeling good, okay?"

"Why do you care so much?" Dimentio asked softly. "I've never done anything to give you a reason to care, so why?"

"Maybe…it's because all I can see in you right now is a sick child, and it's bringing out my motherly instincts." Timpani stood up and shook her head. "I don't know. I'll leave you to sleep now."

"Technically, I'm a teenager. But I guess some may view teenagers as children still."

So, he had finally said it out loud. The boy was nothing more than just that: A boy. A boy who had been very naughty, you could say, but he still deserved a good home where he would be loved.

Love. It was all he really needed to settle down. And maybe underneath it all, it was all he really wanted.

Timpani couldn't bear the thought of him being on his own for the rest of his life. He needed to stay in the castle, with people he knew and people who had once cared for him. And the woman knew he had cared for them in return. Being in Blumiere's group, they had been a family.

"Please…at least consider staying," she begged. "You don't have to start a new life; you can continue to live the one you have here."

"I already explained why I can't do that." He looked up at Timpani with such sad eyes she could almost feel her heart breaking. He really did want to stay, but he was worried it would be a bad idea.

"But how do you know they would treat you as an outcast? What makes you think they won't give you second chance like I am? Everybody deserves a second chance, Dimentio. Even you."

Neither of them said another word as she left the room to let him rest and consider her words.

It was well after midnight by now, and Blumiere was sure to be wondering why it was taking her so long to get a drink of water, so she went straight to their bedroom and found her husband still wake and waiting for her.

"Ah, there you are! I was almost ready to come find you. What took you so long, my dear?"

"Blumiere," Timpani said, "whether you like it or not, we have a temporary house-guest."

Blumiere stared at her in the dark. "…what?"

"I see… So he's returned, has he?"

Blumiere looked down at the sleeping jester and mused to himself. Timpani had been worrying about how he would react to the news, but it seemed he wasn't upset. Just…serious.

Well, whether I like it or not, I can't very well throw him out if he's ill. As long as he can keep out of trouble he may stay until he feels better."

Blumiere started to leave when Timpani said nervously, "Um, one more thing, Blumiere."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"I hope you won't be mad, but…I kind of offered to let him stay in the castle as a part of our family?" Timpani smiled timidly.

"…" To her relief, her husband's silence was followed by quiet chuckling. "Oh, Timpani. You can be too kindhearted for your own good. As for Dimentio becoming a part of the family once again, we shall see. Come along, now; it's about time we both got some sleep."

"Alright."

Blumiere waited until his wife had started down the hallway before whispering softly, "Welcome home, Dimentio."

I'm sorry. I know I said it was a sickfic, but the sick part almost doesn't feel like the main focus. :p
I hope you enjoyed it anyway!

~Dawn