Marco jolted upright in his bed, panting. Beads of sweat collected on his forehead, and he pushed off his covers. He put his hand over his heart, trying to calm down. Glancing around the room, he groaned and checked his watch. 1:49 am. This had to be the third time in one week. He thought he had gotten over this, that it was a thing of the past. He was wrong. Memories of the 16 years spent chasing down Hekapoo barged its way back into his life, taking charge of his brain and causing him to have these terrible nightmares.

When he had first returned to Earth from that dimension, he had gone through the same thing. The weekly, almost daily, nightmares. He had managed to return to reality fairly quick with Star by his side, as well as the occasional luxury of returning to his dragon cycle with the help of his dimensional scissors. However, due to the recent events of Star's dream-portaling, he was forced to sacrifice his friendship with Hekapoo and his ability to return whenever he pleased in order to salvage Star's well-being.

He sighed and leaned back in bed. Images of a past spent adventuring filled his mind as he scrunched his eyes shut and attempted to fall back asleep, knowing that even if he was successful, nothing but nightmares awaited him.

"..arco!"

"Marco!"

Marco woke with a start and raised his head sleepily, facing an irritated Star. Looking around at Star's room, he recalled having been performing his duties as a squire-assisting Star with the task of practicing her speech for an upcoming formal banquet, up until the moment he had dozed off from lack of sleep.

Star, who had been frustrated at Marco for snoozing during her speech, softened as she noticed the dark bags under his eyes while he rubbed them sleepily.

"I-" Marco stopped to yawn. "I'm sorry, go ahead Star."

"No, that's.." she paused for a moment as his head lolled forward slightly, eyes closed. "Marco, are you.. Okay?"

He blinked his eyes open and put a smile on his face. "Of course, why would you-?"

"You can't even keep your eyes open." she gazed at him worriedly. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

He frowned as he pondered telling her the truth. Knowing Star, she probably wouldn't believe anything other than it at that point. He sighed, defeated. "Well, I..." he scratched his head and glanced away subconsciously. "I've been having.. Nightmares."

Star bit her lip and tried to lighten the mood. "So, you want me to sit in your room when you go to bed this time around?"

They both chuckled slightly. "Sorry, that was in bad taste." Star gave a half smile and asked, "What do you have nightmares about?"

Marco stiffened and exhaled. Would she get upset like she had before? "About.. About the time I spent pursuing Hekapoo... All those years. The memories." he looked down at his hands. His teenage hands, not the aged, calloused hands of his former adult self. "I know you probably don't want to hear about it, but.. It was sixteen years, Star. And.. even if it was only a few minutes here on earth, while my body was not affected, those feelings, those experiences will never leave my mind or my heart. It really…. changed me."

Tears started to well in his eyes as he spoke, and he turned away from Star, sniffling. "Sorry, it's not.. It doesn't matter."

Star grabbed his shoulders and spun him around, her face right in front of his. Tears were also streaming down her cheeks. "You think it doesn't matter? You said it yourself, that was sixteen years. And I don't want to hear about it? Where did you get that idea? Just because I wasn't there doesn't mean it doesn't involve me! You're my best friend, Marco!" her voice caught as she began to sob. "How much.. You don't know how much I regret not being there.. Not being with you. Leaving you alone.."

Her arms fell to her side as she stared at him, as surprised as him at her sudden outburst. Marco pulled her in for a hug. Star welcomed the embrace, resting her chin on his shoulder and weeping. Finally Marco whispered, "I didn't know you felt that way, Star. Please, you know…. It's not your fault. You couldn't have done anything."

"No, it-it is my fault." she murmured. "I gave you those scissors. I let you get that way. I left you." She pulled away, searching his eyes. "And-now you're having nightmares." She dropped her face into her hands, her hair cascading down around her.

"Star.." Marco was at a loss for words. Had this been bottled up inside her all this time? She had acted like nothing happened at that time. He reached out and put a comforting hand on her back, out of ideas.

Star raised her head and looked at him, getting frustrated. "And now I'm making this about myself. Why can't I just stop?!" she slammed a fist onto the carpeted floor, slouching her back. She slowly exhaled then bouncily sat back up and flashed a grin at Marco. "What can I do to help?" she said cheerily.

Marco raised his eyebrows at her uneasily. "Star..?"

"Yep, that's me!" she jumped onto her feet and put her hands on her hips. She beamed at Marco, but he caught the twitch at the corner of her mouth, the absence of the normal liveliness in her eyes.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Star," he took a hold of her hand and pulled her down next to him on the carpet. He placed a hand on her face and stared into her eyes. "This isn't something you can run away from. I can't either. It's.. something we need to face together."

Star looked down nervously, then hesitantly placed her hand over his and smiled at him, gazing back at him with as much intensity. "Okay, Marco…" she said shakily. "Let's do this."