Chapter 16 True Reunion

Bowser sat beside Junior's bed, stroking his son's head. His face gave away all of his thoughts, his concerns. Would Junior wake up? What would he say when he did wake up? Would he still be angry?

"I think it's been about a day now," Wendy said.

"Actually to be more precise, it has been twenty five hours, forty eight minutes," said Iggy. Larry laughed.

"Of course you would keep track of that," he said. Iggy shook his head, rolled his eyes, and gave a little smile. Bowser sighed and turned to the Koopalings.

"I know I've said it before," he said, "but I just want to thank all of you for bringing Junior back."

"Ehh, it wasn't that hard," Roy said.

"Roy, Bowser is trying to have a moment with us," said Wendy. "Don't ruin it."

Bowser chuckled.

"It's okay," he said. "I don't say this very often, but you all are amazing koopas. No matter what you choose to do when you are old enough to leave, you'll be amazing at it."

If the Koopalings were warm blooded, they would have blushed. Morton, however, cast a glance at Ludwig. Ludwig looked at his younger brother with a look that said "please don't tell him."

Suddenly, Junior began to stir. His eyes began to flutter and he glanced at Bowser.

"Dad?" he asked. Bowser beamed.

"Junior!" he cried with delight. He wrapped his arms around his son. "Oh I missed you. You are in so much trouble, but I missed you."

Junior smiled warmly as he hugged Bowser back. Then he cast a glance at the Koopalings.

"You guys saved me," he said.

Larry stepped forward, a grin on his face.

"Of course we did squirt," he said. "We're your family."

"Family…"

Suddenly, Junior's eyes started to well with salty tears.

"I...I'm sorry," he said. "For...for...you know."

Larry approached Junior's bed.

"Buddy, it's okay," he said quietly. "We know that you were upset about your birth story. Honestly, it must suck for a kid to find out something like that about yourself."

Junior nodded. Larry came forward and gave him a hug, and Lemmy, Wendy, Iggy, and Roy joined in. Ludwig, however, left the room, and Morton followed. It wasn't until they were a good ways down the hallway that Morton decided to speak up.

"You did the right thing."

Ludwig sighed.

"You're right," he said. He chuckled. "Thank you for knocking some sense into me."

Morton just stared at Ludwig, making him feel uncomfortable.

"What?" Ludwig asked.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure if it was my words that brought you around," Morton said. "Be honest with me; what really made you realize that we needed to get Junior?"

Ludwig hesitated.

"I...I don't want to talk about it."

Morton raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?" he asked.

Ludwig thought about this. He could trust Morton with secrets. But could he trust him with the secret about what happened to Frostwall?

"I..I'll tell you later," Ludwig finally said.

Morton smiled.

"That's good enough for me," he said. Then he walked away.

Author's Note: Yes! It's finally finished! Thank you so much to all of you who have read, reviewed, and taken my poll. Now, onto the shoutouts. This list is longer than usual, so brace yourself. Thanks so much to TheGhostlyRobot and FierySpyro for favoriting, PinkRose0106 for following, and 7KingBowser7, digimonhero, and shadowpheonix3214 for favoriting and following. Once again, thank you to all of you, and see you next time for Super Koopalings Episode 5: Power Surge!