Episode one: Remember?
Marco sat on a crate, rummaging through another box, blowing dust piles out of the way. This would make it easier to find what he was looking for. He sighed. Like the other 14 boxes he'd already gone through, this one still didn't have what he was looking for.
"Whatcha lookin' for Marcooo?" Star said, suddenly behind him, looking over his shoulder. Marco jumped, yelping, "How did you get up here so fast?!" Star only shrugged, "I dunno! Maybe it's all of those sugar-ritos I've been eating. They make me, like, super hyper!"
Marco sighed, pushing the box away with his feet. "I'm looking for our old photo album, from when you first came to Earth." Star's eyes widened slightly and she laughed nervously. "Ahhaha, about that, you see-" Marco suddenly jumped to his feet, his hands gripped on her arms, and his face only inches away from hers. "Where is it?!" Marco cried, desperate to see the photos again. Star pushed his arms off of her and summoned a door with her hand. "It's uh," she said, opening the door, "in my closet?"
Marco just looked at her. "Did you steal the photo album, Star." She just grinned at him. "Maaaybeeee? You were just so cute! Plus, I didn't know when I would be back to Earth," she said in a morose tone, "I put it in there before I left, and I didn't think to take it back out. Also, I didn't really want to give it back."
Marco walked inside the closet and retrieved the album, then shut the door, sitting on the crate again. "I wanted to look at it again," he said softly, a small smile tugging at his cheeks, "b-but mostly I wanted to show Marco Jr.!" He erupted, his cheeks blushing slightly in shapes of moons. Star laughed, her cheek marks blushing slightly too. "I'll go get him then!" She said, leaving the attic and coming back with Marco Jr. in her arms. "You wanna see pictures of Marco Senior as a babyyy?"
Marco Jr. clapped his hands in approval. "Star!" Marco cried, crossing his arms. "I wasn't a baby. I was fourteen."
"I'm thwee and a half!" Marco Jr. said with a giggle. "Yes you aarreee!" Star cooed at him, pinching the glowing moon underneath his mole. Star smiled, looking to Marco, then pinching his cheek as well. "And you are a man now. Stop being a baby," she said with a giggle. Marco rolled his eyes, then opened the album. Star sat down, holding Marco Jr. in her lap.
The first photo in the album was of Marco at age fourteen, shoeless and soaking wet with a cup, with Star at age fourteen as she holds her first wand in one hand, and a lazer puppy under her arm. They're both grinning from ear to ear, shoulder to shoulder, standing in the doorway of the Diaz house. "Aww, look Marco Jr.! It's Bubby and I on the first day we met! Look how unmuscular he waaaas! So cute!" Marco blushed hard enough to outline his moons very clearly. "Star!"
"Whaaat?" Star said with a grin on her face. She'd gotten him again. She was eating his reactions up and he knew it. He grumbled, turning the page. He wasn't even one picture in before Marco Jr. was trying to go through boxes out of curiosity. Star saw a frown appear on Marco's face and felt a twinge of pain in her chest. In an effort to make Marco happy, she called out, "Marco Jr., come baaack! I'm getting so lonely!"
Mr. and Mrs. Diaz popped their heads up into the attic. "Oh, there he is!" Mrs. Diaz sang. "Come to Papí, Marco Jr.!" Marco Jr. suddenly jumped out of a box, running on his short, toddler legs, and jumped into Mr. Diaz's arms. "That's my chico! You've grown so much!" Mrs. Diaz sighed, a sparkle twinkling in her eye as she looked from Mr. Diaz and Marco Jr. to Star and Marco looking at the old photo album.
Star caught her eye and smiled, acknowledging the feeling she was having. That feeling where everything is right in the world. Star knew that feeling very well, especially on the day that she had made Marco her squire. Although she'd taken Marco from his family, she and Marco had been living the life together. Fighting monsters, but with purpose. Protecting the kingdom, and each other. These last few years together had been wonderful.
They'd grown up together in so many ways, and they'd kept most of the memories in this album. At least, she did. She'd had it in her closet all these years. So really, she was the one keeping the memories alive, but she knew Marco would have done the same thing. She'd honestly forgotten everything that she put in the album. She'd put lots of photos in there. Too many to remember, really. What a surprise the both of them were in for.
"Well, maybe when Marco Jr. is older, he can relax enough to look at all the pictures." Mrs. Diaz said with a smile. "Why don't you two come down to the couch so we can all look at the album before you leave? These stairs are bad on my knees these days."
Marco closed the freshly opened album and looked to Star with a smile. The genuine happiness on his face made her insides squirm like they were fifteen again. Marco took the book and started towards the staircase, and so did she.
After the Meteora disaster when they were fifteen, she and Tom had broken up. He said that she and Marco were better for each other. She had known how Marco felt about her after that time they got stuck in the photo booth. She felt herself blush slightly just remembering it. She knew that she felt the same way, even if she was hiding her feelings for Marco with her feelings for Tom. Somehow they had just stayed friends ever since.
Perhaps Marco felt different about her now. It had been four years, that's enough time to change your mind, right? Well it hadn't changed how she felt about him, so maybe it hadn't changed for him either. She mentally crossed her fingers and followed the Diaz family to the couch.
They all sat down, setting the album on the coffee table in front of them. The house really hadn't changed at all. The Diaz house was like a second home to Star.
Marco opened to the first picture again, where Mr. and Mrs. Diaz got to look at it as well. Then he turned the page to some polaroids of their adventures. Marco's nachos, the bounce lounge, some pictures of Ponyhead, Star, and Marco in the photo booth. "Awww!" Star shrieked, immediately pointing at fourteen-year-old Marco. Marco laughed and put his hand on Star's arm. His touch sent chills up and down her arm, but she shoved the feeling down. So she smiled and rested her hand on top of his as she continued to turn the pages of the album.
The next few pages consisted of more polaroids, one of which being the beach day they'd spent together. She grinned at the memory, "Remember when you tried to teach me how to play volleyball?" Marco laughed with her, holding a hand over his head. "You already knew how to play, except with heads, and a lot more danger."
Star felt herself laughing harder as she remembered the memory. "You tried to show me how to play without danger, but I tried to play dangerously with the ball anyway. Everyone was watching!" She felt her lungs tickle from the lack of air. Marco and Star's laughter filled the room, causing Marco Jr. and Mr. and Mrs. Diaz to laugh along. She felt Marco's hand leave her arm and begin to hold hers weakly from all the laughter. She didn't pull away, nor did she want to pull away from it. This is the closest they'd really been since Eclipsa took her wand. Of course, they'd hugged, but this was different.
Once she calmed her nerves and wiped a few tears away, she turned the page again to reveal a series of photo booth pictures, all identical in outfit, some of them different poses. Most of them were exactly the same poses as the previous photo booth picture. One of the photos stood out. Immediately Star knew what picture this was, but before she could turn the page, Mr. and Mrs. Diaz had seen it. They gasped, then giggled. She heard Marco groan as she covered her face with her hair, hiding her glowing cheek marks. Their hands pulled away from each other after that, embarrassed of the memory. "Ahhaha, maybe it's time to put the book away for now. It's getting pretty late," she said, looking for any way out of the situation. Lucky for her, the sun had just set, which meant the free day she and her squire had was coming to an end.
Marco picked up the book, closing it as quickly as he could. He cleared his throat and avoided his parent's eye contact, though he could still feel them boring into his face.
Star and Marco were both blushing enough for their cheek marks to show. Everyone stood from the couch, ready to give hugs before parting again for an unknown amount of time. "Thank you guys so much for dinner, the meal was sooo goooddd."
Mrs. Diaz laughed and hugged Star. "I've been cooking for you for years, you don't have to thank me." Before Star could pull away, Mrs. Diaz whispered into her ear, "Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble." The two ladies giggled together then parted. Star and Marco switched parents to hug then, saying their goodbye's, because they didn't know when they would come back next. Marco Jr. ran into Marco's arms. Marco picked him up and spun him around in the air, then finally pulled him into a tight hug. "Can I go with you?!" Marco Jr. asked with his high pitched voice, excited and hopeful. Marco set him on his feet and ruffled his hair. "Not until you're older Jr. Okay? I promise when you're ready, I'll take you on a Mewnian adventure."
"Pinky swear?" Marco Jr. questioned.
"Pinky swear." Marco said, holding out his pinky to Marco Jr.
Marco Jr. took his brother's pinky in his, "Cross your heart?"
Marco chuckled, marking an 'X' over his chest, "and hope to die."
Star smiled at them, then crouched down to get a hug from the little boy that looked so much like the friend she'd been in love with for so long. "Bye, Jr." she said with a laugh. He ran into her arms and hugged her tight with his small arms. "Bye, Star! Please bring my brother back soon! He promised to take me on an adventure!"
"Don't worry," she said with a hard laugh, "I will. Pinky promise." They interlaced pinkies and shook on it, then she gave him a kiss on his forehead, standing up and opening a portal with her scissors.
They waved goodbye to each other, then walked into the portal, ending up in front of Star's room. The portal closed behind them, leaving them alone in the hallway between their rooms. The memory of the photo booth was fresh again, almost as if it had just happened all over again. The silence between them was deafening, so much that it startled her when Marco grabbed her hand with his.
"Star," he said finally, his voice echoing down the hall of the castle, "I just want you to know that I never did stop loving you."
Star's heartbeat was so loud, she thought the whole hallway could hear it. "Marco," she started, but Marco cut her off. "I don't know how you feel about the situation, I just wanted to let you know. I didn't want to get in a relationship with you right after you'd broken up with Tom because that's just wrong. He and I were friends, and you and I were best friends. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable because I loved you. And it wasn't like I couldn't go on awkward adventures with you anymore, because I knew you loved me too. We were allowed to just be ourselves finally. It wasn't complicated anymore."
Star looked at him, allowing her eyes to meet his. His deep brown eyes were full of emotion and- was that hope? Maybe.
"Star, I love you. I know it's been four years, and I know that I would die for you, and I know that I love you." She didn't say anything, she simply couldn't. Marco let her hand fall to her side and said, "Goodnight, Star." He left her alone in the hallway, shutting his door behind him.
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