#nessvilly

…But he stopped halfway through his next step, because suddenly he remembered.

“You’re as much a part of this team as us, Villager. And we need your help just like you need ours.”

Mario’s words from before were rattling around in the back of his brain. They had never left, really, since even after they had cheered him up it still felt like he was barely helping. It wasn’t as if he was bad at fighting, but the others were just more experienced. Better. Aside from that, and providing everyone with snacks, Villager’s attempts to even out the burden-to-help ratio weren’t working.

So should he do something here? This was his chance to make up for it all, with one of his friends at that, and if he could run errands for the citizens back home then maybe it wouldn’t hurt to-

It didn’t matter what he decided anyway, because right then his overthinking was cut off by a burst of light. Whatever flickered behind him came completely out of the blue. The brunette squeaked and hurtled to the ground.

When Villager opened his eyes again, the other boy was staring at him.

The mayor shot to his feet. “Uh. Heeey, Ness.”

“How- how long have you been there?” came the tense response. 

“Doesn’t matter.” He’d play it cool. “What’re… what’re you doing crying out here? Really loudly? …In the middle of the night?” Okay, maybe that wasn’t so cool.

“Stop it! I’m not crying.”

“There are tears all over your face.”

Ness turned away. “It’th the PK Flash.”

Raising an eyebrow, Villager pressed, “Since when has that ever affected you?” The PSI user just shrugged. His hands were still fizzing with bits of green. “Come on now,” the kid in the No. 1 shirt continued, “there’s nothing to hide out here! Nobody’s gonna laugh at you, you know, if you’re the one saving the world.”

“…I don’t care if people laugh at me.”

“Oh?” 

“Well, I’m a laugh-y guy, right? Heh…” When Ness paused, it left the sounds of sniffles and the distant pummeling of a waterfall. “It’s worse when people get all worried.”

Villager ran over the sentence in his head. “It’s… worse when… Huh. I guess I never really thought about that.”

“Everybody’s got their own problems,” sighed the kid in stripes, “especially right now. You’ve seen it, I’m sure. You see how hard they’re taking everything, and the least you can do is be the big guy. Make sure you don’t worry ‘em even more.”

“Mm. …You know what?”

“I don’t really know a lot of things. Uh, what?”

“Of course we’re going to worry, but- if we get to, then you should too! Our team will only be as strong as the weakest of us, so we all gotta get stronger! And that doesn’t just mean physically. So go ahead and tell me… what’s wrong? I’m no Lucas when it comes to this stuff… but I’ll listen.”

Contemplation on Ness’s end, drawing out the seconds - one K.K. Slider, two K.K. Slider, will-he-ever-choose-K.K. Slider - until finally he set his backpack aside. “Okey,” he breathed. “Oookey.”

His violet eyes were some dark shade of tired when they met Villager’s.

“You see… I’m homesick again.”

The mayor blinked. “Wait wait wait, ‘again’? This is a recurring thing? I never knew you were homesick in the first place-”

“Well, I was! Why do you think I just randomly run off after matches? Whenever it happens, I can’t do anything until I call Mom.” 

Leaves were rustling in the wind behind them. Villager gave a sympathetic nod.

“It’s always been like this,” continued the PSI boy. “As soon as I left Onett to find the Melodies I started calling her, and then, when I got back, then it was Paula, Jeff and Poo, a-and- And I know it’s such a tiny thing. I know they’re just a call away; so I don’t make a big deal about it. ‘Cause I’m not gonna weigh everybody down when they’ve got real problems and mine are always just a single call away.”

“…You say always… except…”

Quietly, almost hysterically he snickered to himself. “Yeah, you get it. You get it! Now there’s no one to call, is there? Some angel alien thing lasers everything away and now Mom’s a Spirit, and Tracy and Dad, and nobody answers me anymore! And I need them, Villy! I mith- miss them so much, this ithn’t fun anymore… I want to go home, but I can’t, and I can’t ring up anyone either so the feeling’th not gonna go away! Which meanth I’ll be all weak and utheleth right when you need me, I can’t do thith now, not when you need me, I-I-I-”

A moment of pause as Ness scrubbed at his eyes. Shaking, he tried to take a breath, but when he opened his mouth another thought spilled out instead.

“And I hate thith lithp too! You can’t underthtand anything I’m thaying, all of it jutht-”

What happened next looked to Villager like some kind of distraction, because his friend shot to his feet and was suddenly very interested in doing yo-yo tricks. Walking the dog, rocking the baby, a million other tricks Villy didn’t know the names of but were probably more caretaking terms… until Ness was able to slowly calm down again.

“…Nice tricks,” the mayor offered.

Then, when Ness didn’t answer, Villager took the opportunity to try and figure out what he had just heard. What was he supposed to say? How could he say anything at all? As if some cheesy “they might be dead but they’ll always be alive in your heart” would… 

“Hey.” That wasn’t a terrible idea, actually. “Let’s go to Magicant.”

“Wh- What in th- Where’d that come from?”

With an awkward chuckle, Villager replied, “Trust me on this, alright? I know it makes no sense, but I want to show you something.”

Ness just sniffed and shut his eyes.

“So is… that a no, or-”

A pulling in the mayor’s chest cut him off, and then the world was pink and green and soft all around. As he steadied himself, he could see his friend nearby, buttoning up his pajama top. I wish I pocketed my pajamas. Then at least saving the universe would be comfy. Wait, not a good time.

“Here we are, O great mayor.” Taking a step toward the shorter fighter, Ness threw his hands out. “The train has arrived at the station. Now why are we here…?” Villager noted that despite the grand words and sweeping gesture, his friend’s eyes refused to meet anything but the floor.

Trying to figure out how to word his speech, the little mayor glanced to the side. It was there that a scene caught his eye. Just ahead, amidst a swirl of clouds and veggies, there was… a family. A blond woman was eating steak with her daughter. A man and an old dog sat nearby. All of them were smiling. And then the woman turned, and saw the two of them in the distance.

And she beckoned them to join in.

Something twinged in Villager’s chest. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re here because they’re here.”

“You can’t be serious…”

Smile fading fast, the kid in the No. 1 shirt snapped back to his friend. There was practically steam rising from the watery glare he met. 

“Eh-? What’s with that look? What did I say?!”

“We just came so you could get me off your back! Villager, this isn’t real, everything here is just in my mind-”

“It’s not like that AT ALL!”

The next thing he knew, Villager had pulled the taller boy down by the shoulders and to his level. Suddenly the world seemed to dim around them.

“Listen up,” the mayor ordered. “This is for a reason, got it? Now pay attention, cause I’m only making my point once.” Ness nodded, startled, giving Villager the chance to take a breath.

“I know this is your mind. No duh! But can’t that mean these guys are made from your memories? The perfectly real memories that you’ve amassed over who knows how long? These are the people you know- they look and act and care like you’ve always seen. If you’re in a place where you’ve literally made memories, where everything is familiar, and where everybody loves you… I’d say, technically, you’ve got a home right where we stand!”

A step back. Crossed arms. Villager nodded in the family’s direction as Ness took a long look, contemplative. That wasn’t enough, was it? He’d still have to…

“…And, besides this place… I get missing them. I understand! I miss my family, my villagers, the shopkeepers… I missed Isabelle until we found her! Even now, Toon and Rosalina! I even… I even missed you-!” Warmth was starting to tinge his cheeks from such openness. He cleared his throat. No stopping now.

“Uh. Uhh, and I’m sure everyone else misses each other too. Mario talks about Luigi all the time, and Lucas is keeping an eye out for Red… What I’m trying to say is, you’re not alone in this. Any of this! Not just in feeling homesick, either. If you feel down? Insecure? Like you’re the biggest burden anyone in the entire World of Light has ever seen?! …I get it. We… we really, really get it. And if everybody gets everybody, then that means right now, we can be your family, too.”

Whatever reaction Villager was expecting, it wasn’t this. Had he been the one hearing it, he’d be saying something, not just… staring. Admittedly the stare wasn’t too surprising; it was more the fact that Ness was smiling, sincerely, for the first time since he’d been saved.

“You really do mean it, huh…”

“Well… yeah.”

Then he was almost sent toppling. The kid in stripes practically tackled him, squeezing him tightly. After flailing a moment, the mayor managed to find some kind of balance. He huffed, “Okay, what’s this for, it isn’t part of my deal-”

“I’d never expect that from you,” Ness whispered. “Thank you.”

“…Blech! You’re so sappy.” In response to the PSI user’s smirk, he merely stuck out his tongue.

“Says the guy with the big old speech. Who, ya know, is hugging me right back~” 

And Villager immediately dropped his arms. “Y-YOU HAVE NO PROOF-” It was true, though. Lately lots of hugs had been going around. Just this once, he’d wanted to return one. “F… fine, I guess you’re not totally wrong… But you better not go acting like it’ll happen again.” Shaking his head, he moved to change the subject. “Nevermind that. Why don’t you tell me about them? Your family, I mean? There’s gotta be something interesting about ‘em for you to care so much, right?”

“Heh, lemme see… There was this one time Poo took a prank call… … …”

A few early risers the next morning, checking to make sure no one had been spirited away, immediately noticed they were down two fighters. Their epic search lasted only a few minutes. In the grassy clearing of the cliff edge lay the two, sound asleep. 

The others stared a moment at their light-dappled faces before deciding to leave them be. Quiet, content… those expressions… who would want to interfere?