Hello! So to pass time and because I really wanted to get this story out of my way as I work on life and my other stories, here is a random little one shot I wrote a while back. I hope you all enjoy it!

I own nothing more than my ideas. And all the fluff!

Winter

Roy Koopa officially hated winter. He hated it with a passion so strong he couldn't describe it himself.

Roy hated the freezing temperatures that kept him and his seven siblings trapped like rats within the castle walls, each day wanting nothing more than to taste the sweetness of actual fresh air. He hated his younger brothers would often be ill during the seemingly long and cold season and all he could do was clench his fists because he couldn't have prevented Mother Nature from working her curse.

Most of all... he hated how close he was to losing a member he never thought would have had the will to keep fighting.

Yep, Roy hated winter.

Sighing, the burly pink headed koopaling pried himself from the window and trudged heavily over to a large scale bed. Occupying said bed, layered in three good sized blankets but still shivering because of his small stature lay his older brother Lemmy Koopa.

'Dammit, Lemmy! Why... why you of all damn koopas...'

Anger boiled in his system as his shaded eyes took in the nearly still form laying helpless on his bed. After nearly being killed for trying to do what was right, Lemmy was now floating in and out of a feverish dream that he hadn't been able to break out of for going on six days.

Six days. That's how long Roy had been by his brother's bedside, wanting his face to be the first the clown-loving koopa saw when he finally broke his fever. He needed to tell him so much, but where would he start?

Even more so, would Lemmy forgive him? 'After all...', Roy realized with a heavy heart as his fists clenched again and it took all his power not to whirl around and punch the mirror behind him, '...it was MY fault that ya got in this, Lem...'

Roy sighed. If only his father had actually listened to him and let him go on the mission alone... it was just a simple scouting errand, something he'd done countless times before and always succeeded in! Well, except for the one time, but Roy never counted it.

Lemmy's raspy breathing pulled him back to what was going on. He leaned over and placed a hand on his brother's forehead. As he expected, it was burning up. He had no clue how bad it was, but all Roy cared about was getting his brother better however he could.

"But I can't fight this one for him! He's gotta fight alone... dammit!" Roy's sudden yell caused Lemmy to jerk his head slightly before the strangest thing happened.

"R-Roy... run... p-please get out of... of here..." Lemmy mumbled. He opened his eyes, just enough to see something floating in his field of vision. Unable to tell it was actually Roy, Lemmy struggled to sit up and warn his brother about his 'danger'.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! The hell?!" Roy said, pushing Lemmy back. But the little koopaling shocked him.

He pushed back. Even harder. Hard enough to cause Roy to stumble backwards and trip over a few items laying nearby. Looking up in confusion and worry, Roy watched as Lemmy weakly pulled the covers off him and leaned forwards.

"Get out... run... r-run away!" he tried to scream, but it came out as more of a strained plea. He stumbled forward, unknowingly advancing towards Roy, before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed.

"Ah, dammit Lem!" Roy cursed as he quickly moved to catch him. Lemmy shook almost violently and curled into a small ball in Roy's large arms. "What on... earth..." the strong koopaling muttered at the sight.

"... so cold... I'm cold..." Lemmy whispered quietly. But Roy smiled.

"Yeah. I know. It's winter, ya idiot. And ya not supposed to be outta bed."

Standing up, he carefully carried Lemmy back to the bed and waited- with him still shivering in his arms- for him to calm down enough to move him. Once he did, Roy laid him down and covered him with the three thick blankets he'd been under.

'R-Roy... thank... thank you..." Lemmy breathed before he was pulled back into a twilight sleep. The pink koopaling didn't move, but sat perfectly still as Lemmy's tiny fingers wrapped tightly about his own. Roy was left spechless.

He was the older brother, but the way he was acting... he just seemed so childlike. Roy smiled softly, thankful his brother would never see it.

"Ya welcome. Don't get too used to that. And by the way..."

He leaned close to Lemmy's ear, knowing he more than likely wouldn't remember what he was about to say next. "I'm sorry, bro. I'm sorry I almost let ya go. Winter's not takin' ya from me or any of us. Never again. Not while I'm here. Remember that, ya got it?" he whispered before he smiled and straightened up. Lemmy mumbled something but Roy didn't hear him. It didn't matter.

It would take a little while longer, but Roy knew in time, Lemmy was going to be alright. He would break his fever, get over his infection or whatever it was, and he would be back to being the only sibling who could bring laughter during a really crappy time such as this, as much as Roy would NEVER admit it openly.

He would go back to be the sunshine that melted away everyone's anger, especially Roy's. He would be back to being Lemmy. He had to.

Lemmy smiled faintly in his sleep, and Roy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, thing will be back soon, bro."

Roy turned to look back out the window. The cold air that fluttered the soft white mountains of snow had begun again, causing a beautiful dance of white against a black, starless, nighttime sky. A faint smile tugged once again at Roy's snout when he felt Lemmy slowly but surely let go of his finger, smiling softly as his sleep became peaceful and deep.

"I still hate winter..." he mumbled to himself. He shook his head and sat next to Lemmy, unable to sleep as the hours went by and the cold winter air brought the white flakes to the window, leaving small piles of snow on the windowsill.

Then again... maybe winter wasn't so bad, when he realized he thought about it. It could be just as beautiful as it was annoying. Lemmy was somewhat the same way.

Even when he whined, played, goofed off and acted like he was a baby when he was almost 18 years old, he did it so no one would be sad. The snow was a symbol of that happiness as well... for the Royals.

It was a great night to be out during the day, and the cold air was usually a good way to forget about everything he had to deal with...

"Lem... ya so lucky. Ya just so lucky you don't even know..."

Maybe he could learn to like the cold season... and all that it could bring.

END

And complete!

I'm not sure where the idea for this came from, but I liked it and it was cute and had fluff so... here we are I guess.

Please leave a review, comment, tell me how to improve, no flames, the usual.

Thank you for reading! Until next time!