On a sunny spring day, Clawdia rocks on her rocking chair, hemming up an old piranha plant shirt Larry always wore years ago. As she looks ahead towards Larry's doomship parked in front of the castle, she sighs; she isn't ready to let go of him, just like she did with her six older children.

Truly, her life was devoted to her eight children. Sure, the start to her long, thirty-year marriage to King Bowser Koopa was the premiere to multiple highlights of her life, but none of the adventures the two had matched up to the joyful, yet perilous journey of parenthood.

With that thought, she couldn't help but think about Ludwig and how he blessed her life every day for the past twenty-seven years of his life. He was, and still is, incredibly smart for his age, and he was a fast, avid learner.

"Hey Mom!" a young Ludwig shouted, seeming to struggle with carrying a textbook of some kind, "Look at this cool book I'm reading!"

Clawdia smiled, although putting a finger to her lips as a swaddled newborn koopaling lies still in her arms, "Shh, hon, Roy's trying to sleep. Come here closer and tell me about it but keep your voice down."

"Yeah, sure," Ludwig acknowledged in a near-whisper, "It's this book I found in your room! It's a huge book with a picture of a potion on it! I've been reading it all day! But did you know that hydrogen and helium make up approximately 99 percent of all existing atoms?"

Clawdia stared at her son in shock. Not only did he find her college chemistry textbook, but he was able to understand it at a young age. She knew he was brilliant for a near three-year-old, but she'd never thought he'll be able to read material meant for those two decades older than him.

"Wow, really?" Clawdia voiced in silent surprise, but more-so of his comprehension skills than with the atom fact, "That's amazing, dear! You understood all that text?"

"Yeah Mom! I'm glad you thought so too! This universe is so big and amazing! And how it's made of all these small things, as well as energy! In fact, when I grow up, I want to start observing and experimenting all of the wonders and forces of the universe! Oh, and no I couldn't understand all of it, but I want to one day!"

Looking at Ludwig, she can see the eager smile he radiates. She herself cannot resist his contagious, determined expression.

"Well, hon, if you want to do anything, it's never too early to start. Well, except for surgery; please don't do that yet," she advised, laughing a bit at the joke she made.

Clawdia couldn't help but smile at the memory. Ever since that day, Ludwig's been inventing with almost every ounce of free time he had. She remembers that the week after, Ludwig invented a light-up necklace for her to use as a flashlight, although she never turned it on in fear of it blowing up, even with the additional help from Kamek and other sources for the first few years.

Around the time he turned fifteen, everyone in the castle was confident in his inventing abilities. Clawdia herself didn't want him to get involved with Mario, but after some coaxing from Bowser, she let him help the other Dark Land engineers and inventors with building Bowser's notorious airships.

'Something I'm definitely proud of, I'm glad I let him,' Clawdia snapped out of her memories and stares at Larry's ship. That's one less airship she'll see everyday; one less memory of her brilliant son Ludwig.

Of course, inventing wasn't the only thing Ludwig developed as a talent. Especially when he got older, he grew a love for composing music. As expected, his music turned out terrible at the start of his composing career, and not even Bowser supported him in it. Clawdia, however, kept encouraging Ludwig to keep continuing, despite her not liking his earlier music either.

"I would always tell him 'It's not too early to become a great musician, nor is it too late to improve. Just put your heart to it and you'll improve'," she voiced out to no one in particular as she flips over Larry's shirt, "And oh my, did he need improvement!"

Ever since Ludwig noticed the support, he kept with the music, gradually improving throughout the years. Now it's to the point where beautiful, emotion-filled melodies infect his composures rather than off-key, horrid sounds, much to the pleasure of everyone else in the castle.

However, time always drags on in the end. Not long after composing the final part of his Koopa Symphony, Ludwig announced some news to Clawdia that she'll never forget.

"Hello, mother. Do you have a minute? I want to tell you something."

Clawdia had a scared look on her face. She has an idea of what this would possibly be.

"Well," Ludwig continued, "Originally, I was angry with Junior obtaining the Crown Prince title instead of me, but over the years I've been thinking, and... I decided that position wasn't right for me in the end. I want to further my goals, so I've decided to work with E. Gadd on developing inventions."

"So... You're moving out?" although expecting that, Clawdia still sits, shocked.

"Affirmative. I'm twenty-one now; as much as I'd like to stay here, I want to make a mark on the world. That requires me to move out, and I need to depart in a few minutes."

"I knew that was coming," Clawdia sighs; she can feel the tears coming, but she needed to be strong, "I probably never had the chance to parent you the best that I could-"

"False, mother," he interrupted, "You've done so much for me, and I cannot thank you enough for it all. I'm eternally lucky to have you as my mother. Anyway, I should be off."

Both Ludwig and Clawdia sit up from their chairs, and give each other a fond embrace. They then let go as Ludwig walks towards his doomship. However, before getting onto the ship, he turns towards his mother.

"Oh yeah. Remember what you would say to me back then? The 'It's never too early to...' stuff?" Ludwig questioned, "Well, keep this in mind. If you honestly feel you 'need' to parent me more, just know it's the opposite for you: it's never too late. I won't be living here anymore, but you will always be my mother. Just know it'll never be too late to give me motherly advice."

With the tears streaming down her face, Clawdia smiles and gives him a little nod. Ludwig waves at her before turning around and boarding his doomship.

'Motherhood isn't what it panned out to be,' Clawdia thought, her eyes watering as she thinks about the memory of Ludwig's departure over six years ago. She always thought the sole source of learning comes from the parent to the child, rather than vice versa.

However, despite the struggles Ludwig had when learning something, he never gave up. He taught her a valuable lesson of perseverance; that she must do as every other child leaves the Keep one-by-one.

That fact in itself may be the one thing keeping her optimistic all this time, as well as the faith and love she has for each of them.

A/N: Well hey, first and probably last A/N for this story. But anyway, this is the brainchild of multiple "What-If's" I think about as I write Royal Flush and other stories in the past. I'll be working on this in conjunction with Royal Flush for sure, so ideas may correlate. I've always wanted to do a story in this format, but they always seem to start off awkward, so apologies if it seems that way.

Incase you couldn't figure out, I plan to do a chapter on each Koopaling.

Anyway, please feel free to review. :)