"Star, honey, no one will judge you if you decide to take a small leave,"

Moon quietly comforted her child, a delicate hand placed over her thigh.

"You have done your time here. Go; visit him."

As much as she tried to keep them trapped, warm tears spilled onto Star's cheeks and down to tap on Moon's hand with a simple drip drop. Those were the words she had been waiting to hear for almost four years and yet, they just didn't give her the satisfaction she was expecting. In fact, her reaction was the exact opposite.

Why? Why is it so hard?

"I want to, Mom. I guess I'm just really afraid. Which is ridiculous since I've fought monsters much scarier than an eighteen-year-old human."

Moon nodded, taking a handkerchief from her dress pocket and dotting Star's eyes with the tip.

"Perhaps it's best if I send someone with you? A guard, your father?"

Star quickly shook her head, "No. If I'm going to go, I want to be by myself," She peeked from the corner of her eye to see if there was any negative reaction from the tone. "No offense."

"None taken," Moon replied, smirking.

Star's voice had lowered to a whisper now, "What if he doesn't recognize me? What if he's so mad he doesn't even want to speak to me?"

"A lot can change in four years, love. But If I remember anything about that partner of yours, he'll welcome you with nothing but open arms. I'm sure he truly does miss you, Star. Who wouldn't?"

Moon and her daughter had bonded immensely over the last few years. At first, it was very difficult for her to allow Star anywhere near the battlefield. Determined to protect her daughter, the next in line for the crown, it had taken months of River and Star pleading before she finally conceded.

There were still several practice sessions between the three of them before Star saw any real action. If you took away the imminent threat of death, it could actually have been viewed as a nice family activity.

River took Star through several of his most important fighting techniques, most of which she had already been using in her own sort of novice way. Together, they were able to refine to a point where Star was almost certain she could handle herself even without the use of magic. These sessions came naturally to her, mostly because she was in a comfortable environment with her easy-going father. It was during these times she could actually find herself cracking a smile and giggling after weeks of nothing but sadness.

Sessions with her mother were a completely different story, however. Being the proper queen she had been raised to be, simply standing in place would get Star berated by Moon. The atmosphere was thick and heavy, suffocating Star every time she walked into the room. It wasn't until the lesson about Dipping Down did the bond between them change. In place of the small child Moon had pictured Star as in her mind, a young woman appeared with a determination she had connected with. Her magic not only grew stronger but absolutely flourished as she was able to learn at her own pace.

When Toffee and his minions were finally defeated, it was only because of a joint effort from the royal family. All of the members of the Magic High Commission had been resurrected and the kingdom of Mewni had, at last, achieved some peace.

What did this leave for Star, though?

Technically, she was only to be sent to Earth for four years to practice her magic. Now that four years were up, filled with nothing but practicing and real life situations, did that mean her training was complete? Glossaryck seemed to think so. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Star had completely changed from the person she was before she left Earth. Personality and appearance wise, there was a distinct transformation. It was sad, in a way. Moon thought of it as something that had similarly happened to her. Toffee had drained the joy from her. She always thought it was only necessary for Star to calm down her eccentric nature, especially as she reached the age to take the throne. Not like this, though. This Star would only bring disarray to the kingdom.

In a way, Moon was correct. The situation with Toffee had done a number on her psyche. But truthfully, deep down, she was still upset over her lack of closure with Marco.

"You're right. I'm tired of being pathetic." Star finally huffed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm going to see him. Can I have some space while packing?"

"That's my girl. Let me pull your father in to say goodbye. I'll give you the scissors whenever you're ready."

The faint click of Moon pulling the bedroom door shut sprung Star to life.

She only packed a few changes of clothes and hygiene items in her small backpack. As much as she wanted to stay, she knew she probably wouldn't be welcome for more than a night or two.

I wonder how the Diaz's will react when they see me?

It was almost certain that Marco was going to be mad. It was her biggest fear, but Star didn't blame him one bit. Without much of any explanation, almost every trace of her ever being on Earth was gone. Of course, he still had his memories, but would he really still want them if he thought he was being betrayed?

She decided that even if she didn't get to talk to him, just seeing him might be enough. Maybe he'll still be with Jackie, happy and completely moved on. That was what stung the most.

Pacing wasn't a new habit of hers, but she had become increasingly dependent on it within the last few months or so. It kept her distracted when she was angry, jolted new thoughts into her head when she was troubled.

Then, Star caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

Should I change? Maybe something a little bit more formal?

Her hands ran slowly down the sides of her waist, smoothing wrinkles from the dress she was wearing. Years of fighting had definitely given her muscles definition, but aging had filled her body as well. The curves of her hips weren't very apparent in this dress, but maybe something tighter...

"How long have I gone without buying clothes?" Her yelling was muffled as she fought through several dresses way too small for her. When her face hit the floor from tripping over a toppled shoe, she groaned in agony.

That is, until she saw the one.

"A-ha!"

Star scrambled to her feet and held the fallen hanger an arm's length away. She nodded to herself in satisfaction and slipped the bottom over her head. The sleeveless red dress was simple but formfitting. The end of the fabric barely brushed the floor without shoes on. She styled her long, blonde hair into soft curls and applied the faintest of makeup across her eyes.

For once in a very, very long time, Star Butterfly felt pretty.

"Mom! I think I'm ready." As she called into the hallway, several servants bowed to her while passing by. A small group of three women scurried down the staircase at her announcement, most likely going to retrieve the queen for her daughter.

One last look into the mirror still gave her a nagging feeling, way in the back of her mind.

Something is missing.

She was dressed – shoes on, backpack ready, wand in tow. Was this just her nerves?

But as she ran her fingers through her hair, halfway across her skull she stopped.

With widened eyes, she gasped, "My horns!"

It had been so long since the last time she wore them. Funky headband phases had come and gone over her entire existence, but the horns always reminded her of her time on Earth. When one of the spikes almost got burnt off, she couldn't bear to wear them during a fight again. Tucked neatly into one of her built-in's drawers, her headband laid safe and sound. But at 18, could she really justify wearing them? A much simpler barrette in the shape of a star was what she wore these days to keep her hair back.

Why the hell not?

The worn headband had just begun to push her wispy bangs back as her parents walked into the room.

"Great idea, sweet pea. There's no way that boy won't see you now!" River chuckled, leaning against the doorway.

Star couldn't help but smile at her parents. If you had told her four years ago that she would be where she was today, there would have been a lot of kicking and screaming involved to get her out of it. Now that she was here, though, it wasn't so bad.

"Okay, Star. You can do this. Deep breath!" The hiss of air being loudly sucked between her teeth made Moon wince.

"Just promise us you'll be safe." She pleaded.

As the silver scissors were placed into Star's hands, the familiar weight triggered something within her. She knew exactly what to do, despite being without them for so long.

"Just like riding a bike," She grinned madly. "I promise, Mom. Thank you for everything you've done for me. I think I'm going to be okay."

Twilight had almost reached Echo Creek as she stepped through the portal in front of the Diaz household.

Their driveway was empty, and she noted that almost all of the lights were off inside the house.

"That's not a very good sign." She mumbled and allowed herself to peek through one of the windows on the bottom floor. When it didn't appear that anyone was home, she decided to slip through the fence gate and, with a simple spell, unlocked the back door to let herself in.

"Don't mind if I do."

The house was eerily quiet. She was positive now that no one was home, so the first thing Star could think of to do was check for clues to where the family might be. With all of the preparation she did, there was no way she was going to let this go to waste. When the living room was fruitless, she remembered that Mr. Diaz liked to put any event reminders on the fridge.

You could almost hear her heart shatter as her eyes swept over a photo of her and Marco together. It had faded significantly, but the joy on their faces couldn't have been any more obvious.

In her nostalgia, she almost missed the thick card stock announcement with the words, ECHO CREEK ACADEMY GRADUATION CEREMONY

"The high school! Of course!" Star squealed, noticing the ceremony had already started according to the time on one of the clocks in the room.

It didn't take her long to reach the familiar building. How many times had she walked to school with Marco? She could have walked there with her eyes closed if she was feeling adventurous enough. Like the house she had just casually broken into, the school windows were dark and shuttered. A faint, muffled voice was coming from behind the building, however, and Star followed it until she reached the gymnasium doors. Thankfully, she was able to slip in without making a commotion.

On stage at the head of the gym, several rows of her classmates stood in ugly, over-sized robes and hats.

Are these hideous clothes part of their ceremony? Maybe they should hire me to design their outfits next year.

As principal Skeeves continued talking to the audience of parents and teachers from behind a podium, Star began to scan the crowd of students for him. Although she recognized Jackie and Janna almost immediately, there were faces she had never seen before. People she could recognize, but their names were at the tip of her tongue...

When she finally saw him, it was as if her heart took flight. She swallowed the lump in her throat and examined him inch by inch. His hair was so short. Styled nicely, but nothing like the usual swoop that hid his forehead. Although he was a good distance away, she could swear that there was some stubble on his chin. Unfortunately for Star, the graduation gown was covering him from the neck down.

It was almost alarming how her body seemed to gravitate towards him. She didn't mean to take those two steps into the standing crowd but before she knew it, her body had taken her almost halfway across the gym.

Having never been to an Earth graduation ceremony before, she couldn't say she knew the exact rules of etiquette for this situation, but she did know it wasn't something to interfere with. Fourteen-year-old Star would have rushed onto the stage and pushed over almost everyone in her way until she reached her best friend. With a little more wisdom on her shoulders, she could hold back that urge. For now...

Being the only one standing in the sitting area with a bright red dress on was basically the equivalent of holding up a large sign saying, Marco! Notice Me!

But maybe that's what she wanted.

Her classmates on the risers stirred nervously as the ceremony changed. The principal had started to call out names, and the respective student would walk from the risers to get a scroll of some sort. It wasn't long before they got to the D's, and Marco was called. She could hear loud cheering from across the gym that was sure to be Angie and Rafael.

As Marco reached the bottom of the risers and walked to the front of the podium, she could see his eyes scanning the spectators. She had been in a similar situation multiple times, there just wasn't any way to get over the sheer "wow" factor you felt when you had hundreds of people watching you.

When his gaze reached her side of the crowd and their eyes met, it was as if time stopped.

The ringing in her eyes was so loud, she almost didn't hear him scream the first time.

"Star!" He shouted, "Star Butterfly!"

The risers began to shake from the students whipping their heads around, searching the crowd for what Marco saw.

Star? Star Butterfly? That Star? Star? The Star that ran away? Star?

She could hear her name being repeated over and over, some in hushed whispers, others yelling almost as loud as Marco.

Principal Skeeves was very obviously agitated at this point. "Quiet, everyone! Quiet down! Let us proceed!"

Before Star could react, Marco had jumped off the stage and started a full sprint towards her. He navigated the clustered audience chairs with ease, even in a flowing gown, although his hat fell off almost instantly.

Even when he finally reached her, he couldn't stop moving. In one full motion, he scooped the princess up into his arms and twirled three, four, five times before setting her onto the ground again. At this point, the entire crowd had stood up to catch a view of the reuniting friends.

"Don't you ever leave me like that again, you hear me?!" Marco's voice cracked with frustration, and tears began to pour from his eyes. "Star, don't you ever!"

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his body.

It felt like an eternity for Star, but only seconds had passed before he took a step back. Holding onto her arms at her sides, he leaned down to softly ask, "Are you okay?"

"I just...I just thought..."

"What, Star? Tell me." The tears had stopped forming, but not without soaking the entire front of his gown.

"I thought you were going to be so mad at me. I didn't think you would want to see me." Star shriveled underneath his gaze, wincing in anticipation for the anger to come.

"Are you crazy?" With a gentle shake, Marco asked again, "Seriously, are you insane? Ever since the day you left, the only thing I've even thought about doing was seeing you again."

Before Star could respond, the principal's harsh voice echoed across the gym, "I said, ENOUGH! Marco Diaz return to the stage at once!"

"Don't leave me again, I'll be back." Marco lowered his voice to a whisper only the two of them could understand, and he returned to the stage almost as fast as he left.

In that moment, Star felt a small hand being placed on her shoulder. With a tight squeeze, Angie's voice broke her out of her haze, "Dear, will you please sit with us? It's so good to see you."

Rafael was only a few feet from the stage now, snapping photos of a grinning Marco as he shook the principal's hand and received his scroll. As they returned to their seats, Star realized she had been shaking the entire time. She was holding in so many emotions. The most prominent one was the relief that washed over her as Angie put her arm around Star's shoulders and gently squeezed.

"You're not...mad?" Star peeped, the call was several students passed Marco now and she wasn't afraid to speak again.

"Mija, no! We're a little shocked, is all. It's been so long." Rafael cupped a hand over Star's tear-stained cheek. "What brings you back to Echo Creek now?"

"Can I tell you after...this?" Star replied, looking around the gymnasium. "It's a little loud and my story is very long."

All of this was true, but really the princess was hoping that she could prolong her visit as much as possible.

"Of course."

One last look at the stage told her that Marco's eyes had not left her body since arriving.
Not even once.

"Basically, what took us so long is not knowing the full severity of Toffee's plans. He had been creating this uprising for longer than I was alive. He had connections to people that we didn't even know existed."

Marco was sitting attentively on the edge of the Diaz living room couch. Star was in the middle of the family and had been explaining herself for what seemed like hours. What she had not noticed was how Marco's hand had carefully been sliding towards hers over the duration of the speech. At first, his touches were light, just the pads of his fingertips touching the back of her knuckles. She subconsciously played back, twitching her digits until their index fingers hand intertwined.

"But we're safe, for now. The commission has gotten their power back, things are returning to normal."

By this point, the two teenagers had been holding hands with such strength that veins in their hands were bursting against their skin. Clutching on to each other for dear life, as if the other would disappear if they happened to let go.

Angie was the first to notice. "Dear, don't you think it's time for us to call it a night? I'm sure these two have a lot to talk about. Please, Star, won't you stay the night? The guest bedroom is still where you left it."

"Thanks a lot." A full, toothy smile spread across the princess' face. "I think I'll stay if it's alright with Marco."

He gave her hand one more squeeze.

When they reached Marco's bedroom, the afterglow of their meeting had started to dwindle down and awkwardness took its place. Star was sitting on his bed, gently kicking her feet back and forth above the floor. There were so many things she wanted to ask, but the most pressing questions on her mind were about Jackie, and she hated herself for it.

She let her eyes wander around the room. Surprisingly, not much had changed in four years. Toys and action figures that had once filled his shelves were replaced with trophies and medals for karate.

Marco caught her eyeing them and cleared his throat, "Yeah, once you left I really focused on martial arts. It helped me work through a lot of rough patches."

She nodded absentmindedly, reading his name over and over again in the engraved metal.

It wasn't obvious to her at first, but the room was fairly empty. There was a stack of folded cardboard boxes leaned against his desk, but some of them were already taped up and labeled.

"Are you moving to the guest room? It is bigger than this, I guess." She asked with a polite tone. "Should've done it right after I left, though, that's a little long to wait."

When she turned to face him in the doorway, Marco's face had completely paled.

"Actually...I'm - I'm moving away from Echo Creek."

"What?!" Her voice raised at least 3 octaves and pierced the silence. "But you can't! All of the memories here!"

"It's just a part of life, Star. I just graduated tonight so it's not like I'll be leaving tomorrow. But now that high school's over, it's time for me to spread my wings and fly."

"You don't even have wings." She chuckled darkly.

"Metaphorically, then."

"What will you do?" The floorboards creaked as the princess took a step towards her friend.

He shrugged, "Basically what every other Earth teenager does after school. I'll go to college, buy a house, start a family, et cetera."

"But, that's so boring," she whined. "You're better than that. You're Marco freakin' Diaz!"

"I'm not royalty like you. I don't get to have a kingdom to rule over, Star."

A few strands of her hair wrapped around her fingertip. "I mean, you could be."

"...What do you mean?" His breath hitched, and the room grew dark around them.

"You could come back to Mewni with me. And live...with...me." Marco's feet blurred into nothing as tears began to spring in her eyes.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Star suddenly clutched her hands to her chest, waiting for the impact of his rejection. Why couldn't she just be happy with today? This was more than she could ever ask for from someone she left unexpectedly.

Greedy, greedy, greedy.

"I can't just...leave like that." Marco stuttered, waving his arms around rapidly and began to pace. "I mean, I have a path to follow here, you know? What if something goes wrong? What if-?"

"What if, what?" She sniffled.

He stopped in his tracks then but continued to stare at the ground. His arms fell flat to his sides, and the boy she once called her best friend refused to even face in her direction. The awkward tension formed again, and it was obvious to both parties that there something was wrong.

"Out with it, Marco! Can't we be done with secrets already?"

Her pleading tone sent a shiver through Marco's spine, and he nodded.

"I told myself if you ever came back, I wouldn't hide any more secrets from you. That's a promise."

"Then what? Is it...Jackie?"

He scoffed and a sad smile tugged at the edge of his mouth, "No, but of course you would think it was her."

"Well, she was the one you were pretty much destined to be with when I left."

"Listen. I've gone through a lot since you left. I lost all of our friends within the first few months of you leaving, Jackie included,"

He winced, "I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep. I refused to go to school or do any of my classwork. I realized after a while that it wasn't only you leaving that effected me, it was your confession too. But I wasn't mad at you for it. I understood for the first time since meeting you that, well, I liked you too. Loved you even, but you were gone."

Star thought her heart was going to explode. "Marco, I had no idea...But you mean to tell me, this whole time you've actually had a crush on me?" Or love?

"I'd say more than a little crush," He cracked a smile. "It grew to a scary obsession really quickly. All of my time was poured into researching how I could get to Mewni. My scissors were an obvious choice, but they disappeared from my drawer the night you vanished."

"That doesn't surprise me. Mom took everything with us when we left." Star replied in a monotone voice.

"Could we sit down? I'm feeling dizzy." Marco suddenly grabbed his head and padded over to the bed.

This was a lot to process for the both of them. The happy facade of reuniting had long since dissolved and the truth had been revealed. Would they be able to continue on? Earth wasn't even an option for Star. She would much rather choose to live with Marco, wherever he was moving to, but kingdoms don't run themselves.

"You wouldn't have to, you know, be with me if you wanted to come back to Mewni. You could have your own part of the castle and go on adventures!"

And then he looked into her deep, beautiful blue eyes. When he saw his reflection in them, his confession poured from his mouth into the stale air.

"I can't lose you again, Star. If you went back tonight and I left town, I could act like this never happened. I would jump in my car and drive and drive until I was free of you invading my thoughts. I would live a typical Earth life, have a couple kids...It's the safest choice."

A pitiful sob rippled through Star and she shook her head.

Marco continued on, "But if I left for Mewni with you, do you know how many things could go wrong? Say something like Toffee comes back and you die. Where would I stand in Mewni society? How could I stand to be in a place that killed my queen?"

"It wouldn't be like that. You would have to marry me, for one -"

"What if I want to?" The interruption startled her, and her eyes widened.

"Well, then...There are back up systems in place for something like that. The previous rulers would take over until a successor is chosen."

"Earth is warm and happy, there are so many places we could visit together here. We could rent our own apartment, have more laser puppies. We wouldn't have to worry about monsters or, or the unknown!"

Star took his face into her hands, "You can't be the safe kid forever, Marco."

Her soft fingertips against his stubble almost put him in a trance. He had had a full argument against this very phrase, but that disappeared with her touch. He visibly slouched, the tension in his shoulders gone.

"Can I try something?" He whispered, her affirmation in the form of a nod.

Soft huffs of breath tickled Star's chin as she watched Marco's mouth part. They had drifted towards each other all night, but she didn't realize how truly close they were until his tender, torn lips grazed against hers not a second later.

Star's fingers prickled against his skin as she ran her hands through his newly styled brown hair. This wasn't her first kiss, but it truly felt worlds apart from her last experience. They had both shared kisses that, compared to this, felt like tiny flames versus an explosion.

They only pulled apart when the need to breathe was hindering their mood. The teenager's faces were a patchy pink, from both nerves and the lack of oxygen. A tiny smirk was hiding behind Marco's lifted hand, but the other was now possessively gripping Star's waist.

"I don't know how it's going to work, but I can't let you go after that."

Star sighed contently, basking in the afterglow, "We'll figure it out."

"I'm probably going to freak out about a ton of things. You'll want to ship me back to Earth after a couple of weeks, I'm sure, but I'm going to try my hardest to make you the happiest Mewni princess ever."

"And I promise that we'll come back to Earth and try some traditional things as well, okay? Wouldn't want you to miss out on too much of the safe route."

"As long as we're together." Marco crooned, and Star eagerly reached for her dimensional scissors.

"Together."

AUTHORS NOTE:

This is the first story I've written in a while! I'd love to hear your feedback. Let me know what you think about a possible continuation of this or something entirely new!

Cover art is by – cakesugardraws on Tumblr