One Complete Heart

December 25th

Mario sat up from his bed and stretched his arms, the clock beside his bed reading close to three in the morning. He didn't usually get up this early, but it was Christmas. Over the years, it had become a tradition for the two brothers to wake up at unreasonable hours. Ever since they were kids, they'd be sneaking into each other's rooms, excited for what the morning would bring. They still continued the tradition, even as adults, although now it was less about being excited for what the morning would bring and more about just being together and bringing back those memories.

Or, they had every year prior. Mario patiently waited for Luigi to come, but the sound of footsteps outside of his door couldn't be heard. The man in red watched, hoping for his door to quietly creak open so he could be greeting with Luigi's soft voice saying, "Mario, it's Christmas."

After thirty minutes, Mario got out of bed to check on his brother. It was early, so he very well could have been asleep. That wasn't it, though, and he knew it.

"Luigi?" he asked, quietly sneaking down the hall to his brother's room. He used the back of his fist to quietly knock twice on the man in green's door, although he didn't need to. It was slightly cracked open. The rule with the house was open doors could be entered whenever, but closed doors required a knock. Still, Mario usually knocked, even on open doors.

After a moment, he slowly pushed the door open, expecting to see Luigi buried in a mess of blankets and pillows, as he had been every morning since he had gotten his heart back. At first, he was having a hard time adjusting to having it back, but over the past few days, he had gotten better. It had been just about a week since everything was solved.

Well, not everything. Mario had some news, actually, but was planning on waiting until the morning came to share it.

"Hey, bro," Luigi breathed, keeping his gaze on the open window. The breeze slowly pushed the door back to its barely cracked open position behind Mario after the man in red stepped inside.

"You're awake," Mario said, walking over and sitting down next to Luigi, who was situated on his bed, facing the sky.

"Yeah," Luigi breathed, turning his gaze from star to star. "Sorry... I was about to come over."

"Don't be," Mario said. "I don't know why we always go to my room. Your window has a much better view of the sky.

The man in green nodded, shifting closer to the window so his reflection wouldn't obscure the view of the stars so much. He could see Rigel, the brightest star in the constellation Orion, located in the hunter's leg. Up on Orion's right shoulder, Betelgeuse was shimmering not quite as brightly. Rigel was far prettier in his eyes because it glowed blue, but it was still hard not to appreciate the fiery red light that came from Betelgeuse. Especially since it could supernova at any moment.

"Did you sleep?" Mario asked.

Luigi nodded. He had slept a little. Less than usual, but not by much. With all the emotions and thoughts whirling around inside of him, it was hard to find the peace needed to fall into that state of darkness. Not that he was avoiding the darkness. Maybe it was the fact that he desperately wanted to fall asleep with ease each night that was preventing him from doing it.

He wondered if the darkness that took control of each person as they fell asleep was the same darkness Dimentio was lost in now. What would that make dreams, then? Was Dimentio trapped in a dream? Was it a good one?  Did that mean his mind was still alive? What would happen if he stopped dreaming? Would that be the end? Would he wake up then, or would the emptiness claim him? 

Did he dream the same things Luigi dreamed every night he fell asleep without a heart? The man in green hadn't thought of it much before, but every time he closed his eyes, he felt himself go back to that place he started in. The place with the thin blanket. The place is filled with missing items that were never found. It was a place where all the stars were organized like a grid, none shining brighter than the rest. There was no Rigel, no supernovas, no black holes, and no constellations.