I'll Be Fine
Princess Star Butterfly and Prince Tom Lucitor sat outside the long abandoned monster shrine that had hosted an ill-fated party just moments prior. While the blonde heiress to the Mewni throne had the best of intentions, her plan to unite the many different kingdoms in peace had failed spectacularly. She sat on a bench with her boyfriend Tom Lucitor, the Prince of the Underworld; reflecting on the fact that her ancestor had sired a child with a monster. Tom had offered the upset teenager a warm beverage as the chill of the night air began to take hold. "Anyway, the party was a disaster…" she mused while glancing down at the golden chalice that contained her drink. "What! No! It was a great party… I mean sure, some monsters got caught in a closet and Mina probably traumatized some people… And we got busted by the cops… And I'm not helping at all right now…" the three eyed heir replied as he tried convince her otherwise, before realizing he had once again gone on too much. "This is all my fault! I thought I could change everything overnight! Ugh! I was so wrong!" Star said in a dejected tone as she looked away; disgusted in herself for failing once again. "Don't be so hard on yourself… There's no way you could have known that all this weirdness would happen…" Tom tried to reassure his girlfriend. "That's the problem Tom, I don't know anything… I don't know how to fix what's wrong with Mewni… I don't even know who my own family is anymore… All that stuff with Heinous and Eclipsa, I just…" she said before noticing some of her monster guests being led away by knights from her kingdom. She immediately stopped her self-pity and addressed the situation.
"What the?!... Hey! Hey! Hey! What do you think you're doing? Let those monsters go!" the light blue dress clad woman said as she shot up from her seat beside Tom and addressed one of the knights that were leading the creatures away. The burly female knight, who was dressed head to toe in a suit of armor, turned and addressed the Princess. "We found these monsters loitering outside of the temple… I need to take them in for processing…" she stated in a monotone voice to the younger woman. "Oh really? Then don't why you process those hooligans?" the royal asked as she turned and pointed to a group that included other heirs and heiresses to the various kingdoms of Mewni. "More hot chocolate Your Highness?" a large male knight asked the green dress clad Princess from the Spider Bite Kingdom. "Yes" she meekly replied as both the female knight and Star looked on. "Well, uh…" the light brown haired guard stuttered as she struggled to come up with an answer the heiress found suitable. "LET THEM GO!" the blonde fourteen year old shouted at the metal clad woman. "YES, YOUR HIGHNESS!" she dutifully replied while saluting the teenage girl. Star looked cross for a moment before softening her expression and facing a group of monsters she had invited to the bash. "I am SO sorry this happened to you guys…" she addressed the crowd, before being cut off by a monster who sported a large trunk on his face. "Ugh, it's okay Star… This sort of thing happens to us all the time" the brown skinned and hipster attired monster said with a sigh. He knew that the young woman had only the best of intentions, but that centuries of bias and social injustice wouldn't be changed in a single evening.
"I-I can make it up to you… Stay for the after party? Snacks on me!" she pleaded to the group of monsters assembled before her. "Uh, thanks… But I've had enough parties for a while…" the elephant like creature said in a tired tone of voice. "Yeah, we almost died, for real…" a green slime monster chimed in. "Catch you later, okay?" the trunked creature said before leading the group away. Star stood in disappointment as she lost any hope that she could turn the night around and achieve her goal of equality between monsters and Mewmans. Tom had come to a realization while watching his girlfriend desperately try and salvage the situation. In his mind, he was just as guilty as Mina for causing the party to become an utter failure. Perhaps if he hadn't been so self-centered and spent more time throughout the night with the sapphire eyed princess, then he might have helped to avert the whole situation. Instead, he now felt unworthy of her love. "Hey Star… C-Can we talk?" the red hued teen asked hesitantly to the still upset girl. "Yeah… What's up?" she asked as the duo once again took a seat. "Well… I-It's just that… I feel like I let you down tonight…" he began as the hand of his girlfriend came to rest on his thigh. "What?! No! You were there when me and Marco needed help the most. That spell you cast was amazing…" Star tried to reassure the downtrodden heir. "I-It was pretty boss… But I just don't know… A-About us…" Tom said as he ran a hand through his messy purple hair. "What's there to know? You're my boyfriend and I'm your girlfriend…" the blonde stated as she leaned in for a kiss; Tom fighting every urge to lash out at the naïve teenager as he pulled away from the gesture.
'Star… I'm a mess… I-I…" he began before being cut off by the Princess. "Tom… I know you have your flaws… I accept them. That's because… Well… I'm not without fault myself. I mean, I'm always messing things up… First with my powers… Then with Ma-" she began before being interrupted by a now red hot Prince. "STAR! I'M BREAKING UP WITH YOU! Okay?" he said as molten lava tears escaped his eyes. While he still harbored feelings for the future Queen of Mewni, he knew that they could never work as a couple. The blonde fourteen year old was stunned by the words that had just come out of her boyfriend's mouth. Sure, she knew of his anger issues, but when you're the Prince of the underworld and your mother is a demon, that is to be expected. She saw that Tom was trying to change and wanted to be by his side through the good times, as well as the bad. "Why?!" the sapphire eyed teenager asked as she began to cry. "Because… I'm trying to change… But I can't be something I'm not… Truth be told… I'm the same guy you broke up with last year. You don't want to be with me. I-" he explained before being cut off by the emotional girl. "YOU ARE CHANGING… I SEE IT!" she pleaded with Tom as he continued. "Look… I've learned that you can try to fight your fate as hard as you can, but in the end we're all destined for something… For you it's to become the Queen that will unite all the people of Mewni… For me? Well… I'm just going to continue my family's legacy of ruling the underworld with all the fear and might that they have for centuries. You can hate me all you want, but you know I'm right…" he trailed off as he stood up from the bench.
"TOM! PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS TO ME!" the blonde pleaded as her boyfriend began to storm off. "I don't hate you… I could never hate you… I-It's just that I want to save you while there's still something left to save…" the blue dress clad woman said as Tom turned around. "Star, I love you… But I am far beyond saving… Just accept it… I already have…" the demon Prince said as he turned once more and walked away from the upset Princess. The blonde heir to the Butterfly throne fell to her knees and grabbed handfuls of her locks as she let out a shriek of pure frustration. Marco, who had been seeing off the rest of the Prince and Princesses from the monster shrine, heard the scream and immediately raced toward where it originated from. The sight he came upon shattered his heart into a million pieces. The once prim and proper Princess kneeled in the dirt; her head in her hands as she openly wept. "Star…" the red hoodie clad boy began in a soft tone of voice. The girl in the blue dress gave no response as Marco drew closer still to the distraught royal. "What's the matter Star?" he asked again in a soft voice as he took a knee in front of his best friend. She looked up and saw the familiar hazel gaze of the fourteen year old boy. "T-Tom… H-He dumped me…" she struggled to say between rapid breaths as she broke down once again. Marco took a moment to process the situation before speaking. He had just gone through a similar heartbreak when Jackie Lynn Thomas broke up with him the week prior. While he had known about the blonde's crush on him since the fateful end of the school year party a few months ago, he had wrestled with his own feelings for her. He did like her; as a friend, but also maybe as more than a friend. He wasn't sure to be truthful. However he did or didn't feel about Star, it was not the time to be thinking about that. For now, he knew he just had to be there for his best friend in her hour of need.
"I-I'm so sorry Star…" he said while looking the upset teenager in her sapphire eyes. "I just don't get it… I-I thought we were doing great…" she remarked as Marco stood up and offered his hand to her. After pulling herself up, she walked over to the bench that just moments ago, Tom and she had sat on as a happy couple. "Maybe he just needs to chill out for a bit… I mean, it was a pretty intense party…" Marco offered as he sat next to the blue dress clad girl. "Nah… He was pretty clear that we were done as a couple… I-I just don't get it. I mean, sure he was still just as big a hothead as ever, but he was working on it. I saw it Marco…" she said as fresh tears formed in her eyes. "I did too, Star… I'm sure that it's his loss…You did everything you could to try and make it work… It's on him…" the mocha skinned teen said as turned and faced the still distraught heiress. "M-Marco… Am I a horrible person?" she asked as a desperate look formed on her face. She hoped he would refute such a thought, but at the same time braced herself to hear an unpleasant truth. "A horrible person?! Why would she think such a thing? She's the most amazing person I've ever met! I mean, yeah, she can be a bit selfish and headstrong at times, but she's not that way on purpose… It's sort of just a result of being a magical Princess from another dimension… I'm sure if I grew up in that situation, I might be the same…" the brown haired fifteen year old asked himself as he wondered how to answer her question.
"NO! And don't you ever think that again!" Marco replied in a bit of an offended tone. Star was prepared for a multitude of responses, but not this one. "But I-I…" she began before Marco put a single finger to her plump lips and silenced the often outspoken royal. "Look… That's on him… You were more than understanding… It's his loss if he can't see that…" he said as he removed his finger from her mouth; the normally alabaster hued cheeks of the teen girl now displaying a more rosy color to them. Star's mind melted as she struggled to come up with a response. She couldn't recall a time that someone had been so bold towards her and she was absolutely at a loss as to what to do. She was particularly taken aback by how out of character the action was for the usually reserved Marco Diaz. Sure he was prone to an occasional outburst at the blonde from time to time, but had never outright shut her down like he just did. No one had, and if she was being completely honest with herself, she really liked it. "Uh, Star?" Marco asked as an odd expression had formed on her face. It was best described as sort of a distant gaze with a soft smile. He had only seen it directed towards him once before, and that was when she had found him in Hekapoo's home dimension. The fourteen year old had become completely smitten with his time accelerated body; especially his abs and deep, husky voice. Now that same look adorned the Princess of Mewni and the hazel eyed teenage boy was just as confused now as he was back then. "Huh?! Wha?!" Star replied as she snapped out of her trance; embarrassed that she had allowed her raging hormones to momentarily stupefy her. "You okay?" he asked with genuine concern. "Y-Yeah… Perfectly fine!" she said with a nervous chuckle; running her hand along the back of her neck as she tried to play off the awkward situation. Marco knew it was an outright lie, but decided to let it go as he was sure the young woman had gone through enough for one day.
The pair of teens sat on the bench for a few more minutes; the cool breeze of the late evening blowing through the leafless trees. "Well… We should get back to the Palace… The guards are probably alerting your parents to what went down here and we should be there to tell our side of the story…" the red hoodie clad teen suggested as he stood up and offered his hand to the Princess once more. "Yeah… You're right…" she replied as she took his hand and stood up. Marco had noticed that the glove clad digits of Star had not released their clasp of his and wondered if he should say something. If he were to be completely honest with himself, he didn't mind it a bit. At best, the two were beginning to sort out their feelings for one another and at worst he was simply her squire, leading her through the uncertain and perilous nighttime journey home. Star had absent mindedly continued to hold the hand of Marco Diaz; her best friend and royal squire. Part of her felt as if she should let go and not give the boy the wrong impression. Yes, she still liked him, but she was in an odd place at the current moment emotionally. She had just had her heart broken by Tom Lucitor, Prince of the Underworld and Marco was still reeling from Jackie Lynn Thomas ending their relationship a week prior himself. They were two lost souls navigating the rough seas of adolescence and love. Perhaps it was too soon, or perhaps it was just what the pair needed on a chilly Mewni night.
Author's Note: This started out as a songfic inspired by Rise Against's Savior, but kinda morphed into something completely different. I am more of a Starco Fan, but realize that just like in real life, sometimes we have to go through different situations to make sure something is right. I tried to present the break-up as realistically as I could and wanted to plant the seeds for Starco, but not out and out have them get together just an hour or so later, as that's super unrealistic and rarely ends well for anyone. I hope you enjoyed! Until next time… -iKLOT
My Playlist for this story:
Rise Against – Savior
Alan Walker ft. Noah Cyrus w/ Digital Farm Animals – All Falls Down
Avicii ft. Rita Ora – Lonely Together (Alan Walker Remix)