Star Butterfly didn't know what to do. Such a situation was knew to her- she always knew what to do, whether she was punching a monster, cheering up her best friend, or taming wild unicorns. But today... today was the exception. A form of a plan lingered, just out of her reach, but she had no time to think. She had to act or….

"Miss Butterfly, if you please." The voice, smooth as silk, boiled her blood yet left it chilled. Her blonde hair stood on end as she met the stone cold gaze of Toffee, eyes as dead and dark as charcoal. She glanced fleetingly at Marco, pushed impossibly close to the glass, tears welling up in her wide blue eyes, and as the crystalline drop fell from her eye, it all became clear. Tearing her gaze from Marco's panicked form, she glared wickedly at Toffee before uttering the forbidden Whisper Spell, fresh tears welling from her eyes at the loss of the greatest magic known to Mewni, her family's heirloom, the one thing her mother had entrusted her with, her one chance to prove herself- gone. By her own hand, she had just destroyed a sacred piece of her history. She realized, as the wisp of a unicorn flew from the wand, that it didn't really matter. None of it mattered, as long as she was with-

"Let Marco go now," she muttered brokenly, staring forlornly at her almost crushed best friend. "Let him go!" However, Toffee would not listen. His previously dead eyes had arisen from the grave, a true miracle, and were lit up with the fire of accomplishing a long sought after goal, a goal that took years, blood, and sweat to fulfill, that was finally coming alive before his eyes. "Toffee! Let him go!"

His snake-like eyes snapped to her glossed over ones, ice seeping into her veins. She jumped across the table, attacking him, and he made no move to stop her. She beat on his chest, screaming, and he laughed. He laughed in her face before lightly shoving her away and doubling over in a sick, twisted cackle that sounded like ribs breaking and skulls grinding between a thin line of velvet. Star yanked at her hair and ran to Marco's glass prison, his own personal grave, banging on the glass. He was almost entirely crushed by now; she could hear his anguished cries, heard his ribs snapping and other disturbing sounds emanating from within the glass torture chamber. "Marco," she sobbed. "Marco… no… Don't leave me, Marco, please! I need you!" Tears were staining her face, her hearts drenched with the salty water, and she slid to her knees with both hands pressed weakly to the glass. "Marco… please…."

She heard the softest of thuds, the lightest glimmer of hope. Her head shot up, and her breath caught. On the other side of the glass, Marco had raised his tan hand, bringing it to rest where hers laid, with just a solid layer of glass between them. His guttural groans quieted for a short moment. "S-Star…"

"What, Marco?!" she shrieked, impossibly trying to clutch through the glass.

"I… I lo-"

The most sickening combination of a squish and a splat filled every corner of the room, and Star screamed with such intensity, such anguish, that it shook the crumbling castle.

Star Butterfly didn't know what to do.

The scream was still pouring from her lips when she woke up, white hot tears streaming down her face. She sobbed, clutching her knees and burying her blonde head of hair in them. Marco….

Just as she ventured to catapult from her bed to his door, a haphazard looking Marco, eyes alight with fear and body sluggish from sleep, burst through her door. "Star!" he cried. He drank in her current state before rushing toward her and sitting on her bed, preparing himself for whatever she was about to say. Before he could begin his "Dr. Marco, PhD" bit, his other dimensional best friend threw her arms around him in a vice grip, startling him as she continued to sob into his shoulder. "Hey, hey, Star, what's wrong?! Are you okay?" He positioned himself so he could embrace her fully, trying to stave off the fact that they were so close; now obviously was not the time for hormones.

She clutched him tighter for a moment before whispering, "I… I saw you die, Marco." Marco was stunned into silence. "Toffee wouldn't… he wouldn't let you out of the glass! He just left you there to- to be-!" Star choked on her sobs, burying her face in her hands as she shook. Marco stared in wonder at the girl before him; the girl who stormed a castle with only the assistance of a former enemy, who faced down an unknown foe, who gave up her most prized possession, her wand, for him. Marco remembered his own dream, with a twist far worse to him than Star's. He was still trapped in the glass prison, rendered completely helpless as the events of the night played through again… only completely wrong. Once Star had essentially killed the wand, Toffee had laughed in her face before releasing Marco. As soon as he had gotten to hold her in his arms, had smelled her delicious scent, and finally felt whole again, a sickening snap overtook the air. Star's body sagged against his, a panic unlike anything he had ever experienced filling his entire body. He had woken up drenched in sweat, mouth open in preparation for a scream. Without hesitation, he caressed her hair with his calloused hand and drew it across her pale face until it cupped her cheek. Her eyes, glowing an unearthly blue from the tears, met his and she was taken aback by what she saw there; they were the softest brown she had ever seen, filled with something akin to adoration. He scooted closer to her, now only separated by only a few centimeters as he pressed his forehead against hers.

"I'm right here, Star," he whispered, closing his eyes for a moment. He leaned impossibly closer as Star sat completely motionless, not sure if what she thought was happening was actually happening. As his lips ghosted over her own tear-glistened ones, he murmured, "I love you," before pressing their lips together in the most innocent, chaste, meaningful kiss two teenagers can share. She reluctantly pulled away a moment later, eyes glistening with the smallest of grins on her face. "I love you too, Marco," she whispered, and neither of them suffered from any more bad dreams that night.