"Star? Star honey get up! You'll be late for school!" Star's eyes creaked open to the sight of Angie standing above her.
"Mrs. Marco," Star groaned, and then rolled over and puked over the side of the bed, narrowly avoiding Angie's shoes.
"Oh dear, you must be sick," Angie said, "Don't worry, Darling. You can stay home today. I'll just clean this up and then get you some oatmeal for breakfast, yeah?" Star groaned again and rolled back on her back. Angie left the room. She briefly wondered why Angie had been the one to wake her up when Marco usually did it, but then remembered Marco was studying early today with Jackie.
Jackie.
It was good and fine, good and fine that Marco and Jackie were together. Jackie was pretty and nice, and Marco was happy and that's all Star could ask for, really.
Angie came back into the room with a glass of milk.
"Raph is cooking the oatmeal," she explained, pulling a chair over and sitting down. Star sat up and downed the water, and then Angie took it and set the glass on the floor.
"Have you any idea what this is, dear?" Angie asked. Star bit her lip. She knew exactly what it was. She knew exactly how rare it was to actually catch, and she knew it was fatal. She also knew she'd had it for awhile.
"On Mewnie, we have this disease," Star explained, "It's called Love Sickness Syndrome. See, when a Mewman develops a love for someone and that love is not mutual, there's a 0.0009 chance that you can catch it. I've known I've had it for awhile now." Angie's concerned look was increasing in intensity. She took the young girl's hand as Star's eyes began to brim with tears. "I need you to call my parents, Mrs. Marco. I…. I only have a few weeks to live."
It was in math class that Marco noticed Star was absent. The teacher called her name three times over before giving up and moving on. Marco shifted in his seat nervously.
He didn't know why she was gone, he only knew that she could be in danger. He didn't like that thought one bit.
Jackie, who was sitting next to him, put her hand on his shoulder and gave him an award winning smile.
He couldn't help but smile right on back.
Angie finished up the call with Star's parents, who said they would be there as soon as possible. They wanted to move her back to Mewnie, but Angie argued that that would take a huge toll on the already dying girl. Angie's eyes brimmed with tears each time she thought about it.
"Dear, how could you not tell anyone?" Angie asked, sitting back down and taking Star's hands, "Does Marco know?" Star tried to answer but dissolved into a hacking fit. Angie hurried to give her a tissue, and when it came away from the blond's mouth it was stained red. Star began to cry.
"Marco can't know," she choked between sobs, "He's the one I'm in love with." If there ever was a moment when Angie hated her son, it was those few seconds there as she realized the meaning of the words that had just come out of Star's mouth. Her hate subsided as she took a deep breath, calming herself.
Raph then entered the room, carrying a bowl of oatmeal.
"Hi ho, oatmeal delivery!" He exclaimed cheerfully. When he saw the tears running down Star's face his happiness faded. "Gosh, what's wrong?"
Angie explained to him the situation, and he took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"Is… is there anything we can do?" Raph asked quietly, resting his hand on Star's leg. Star shook her head.
"I'm sorry. I know this is terrible of me to spring on you, but there's no curing this now. The first two months are when it's curable, but I refused to say anything to him. I just wanted him to be happy." Star began to cry again and Angie gripped her hand tighter, crying as well.
"I'm so sorry, princesa," Raph said.
"It's not your fault," Star whispered.
Suddenly, something rippled in the air behind them and all three heads turned to see the disheveled king and Queen of Mewnie step out of a portal, rushing to their daughter.
"Hi mom," Star croaked, reaching out as her mother embraced her.
"Why have you done this to yourself?!" Moon raged. "You should've told him, or her, or whoever it is you fixated on. You should've said something!" Moon pulled away from her daughter as she was scolding, and then she dissolved into tears, "Oh Star, why have you done this?"
"I couldn't help it mom," Star cried, "I'm so so sorry!"
Mom threw herself into Angie's arms, and River took his daughter's hands.
"Stay strong, sweetheart," he said, eyes filling with tears as well, "We'll get through it."
Marco was on his way home when he got a call from his mother.
"Yeah?"
"Marco, this is important. We need to you stay away from the house for a few weeks. Stay at Jackie's, if that's okay with her parents. I'll bring you some clothes to wear."
"Mom is everything-"
"Just do what I ask." His mom hung up and he pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at it a minute before pocketing it again.
"Everything okay?" Jackie asked. He nodded.
"Yeah, but I need a place to stay for a few weeks, I guess."
"I got you covered." He grinned at her, and kissed her cheek. Life was good.
The next week at the Diaz house was filled with a dark, depressing attitude. Angie and Moon both broke down at random hours of the day, River stayed with Raph, not knowing how to cope any other way than acting like it wasn't going on. Star was made as comfortable as possible, lying in bed with several pillows, blankets, many laser-eye puppies, and a stuffed cat she'd had since she was very little. She had a TV set in front of her, and they got her any movie she wanted, even if it was rated R or a My Little Pony film. Tom showed up, and even though he and Star had a bit of a rocky relationship, she allowed him to sit in bed with her and crack jokes and watch movies.
Marco was left in the dark.
"Ya know," she remarked, one time, voice hoarse, cracking on every other word, "For a dead girl, I'm being treated pretty dang well." River had laughed then, but after he had left the room he dissolved into wracking sobs.
"How can she make jokes in the face of death?" River asked Raph.
"Love does that to ya."
Marco was seriously getting fed up with this. His mom had brought him clothes, yes, but she'd just left them on the doorstep. Nobody was calling him, nobody was telling him what was going on, and he had no idea where the hell Star was. He was also highly aware of the lack of monster attacks. Where were all of them?
Ludo silently stood in the Diaz's backyard, his men, a small army of other monsters, stood with him. Queen Butterfly stepped out of the house, eyes red rimmed, looking more tired and devastated than a king ever should.
"River Butterfly," Ludo said, "We would like to ask for a momentary peace between us. We know that your daughter is dying." River lowered his sword. "We would like to stay back here, if it is alright, until she passed. Then, we promise you, we will leave Mewnie and pursue our lives of evil elsewhere."
River stared at them, nodded, and then went back in the house.
"Set up camp," Ludo commanded hoarsely. The monsters, solemnly, obeyed.
Another weak passed and Star was worse than ever. Tom had to leave, but not without telling her he loved her and tearfully embracing her before saying goodbye. Both of them knew it would be the last time they saw each other… ever.
Both sets of parents were constantly around, doing anything she asked. She was white as a sheet, burning up one second and icy cold the next. Her eyes grew sensitive to light, so they used candles to light the room instead of the normal lamps.
It was a Friday when she finally said it.
"It's today," she told the four of them, "Please… call Marco and Jackie and Janna…" They did what she asked without question, got the principal to excuse the four of them and even give them a ride to the Diaz's house.
"Do either of you know what's going on?" Janna asked, as they stepped out of Principal Fitz's car.
"No, but my parents have been really sketchy lately," Marco said distastefully.
The three of them walked up the drive and Marco tried the door. Locked. He knocked, and was shocked when Star's mom, looking completely disheveled, answered. Her face steeled at the sight of him, and when her eyes caught Jackie, she looked almost angry.
"Come in," she said, stepping out of the doorway. The three kids were welcomed into the living room by the other three parents, and the door was shut and locked behind them.
"We… We would like all of you to know," River spoke, voice wavering, "That the Star you'll talk to up there is not the way to remember her. Please. I beg of you." Panic settled in all three kids' stomachs. Marco especially. They were lead upstairs, and when they stepped into Star's candle-lit room, they were shocked. Even in the soft glow of the candles, you could tell she was sickly. The whites of her eyes were stained red, and dark circles rested beneath them. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and she was shaking, even though she was sweating. Her skin was as pale as a ghost.
"Star!" Marco exclaimed, rushing to her. She held his hand when he grabbed hers, smiling weakly.
"What's up, buttercup?" Tears brimmed in her eyes and slipped easily down her cheeks. Marco wanted to cry, too, and Janna and Jackie appeared numbly at his sides. Janna, queen of no emotion, was already wiping tears away, and Jackie couldn't seem to understand anything happening right now.
"Y-you'll be okay, right?" Marco asked hopefully. This was just a faze. If had I be. Just like that stupid Mewnie puberty.
Her hand let go of his and touched his cheek hesitantly.
"I can't lie to you, Marco. I only have maybe a few minutes." Janna began to sob and crawled into the bed, curling up next to the blond girl. Marco started to cry as well.
"H-how?" He asked.
"Please," Star said, "No matter what they tell you, no matter what they say, none of this is your fault. Believe that. Promise me you'll believe that." She pressed something into his hand, and he took it without question. Moon, River, Angie, and Raph all entered the room. Moon and River clutched each other's hands, and Angie hid herself in Raph's arms, sobbing.
"I love all of you," Star said, raising her hoarse voice. She looked at Marco with wide eyes, reached for him, and he wrapped her in a hug.
And then suddenly, she wasn't breathing anymore.
"No," Marco sobbed, he looked at the necklace (a star charm with a butterfly carved into it), "No this can't happen." Janna screamed and sobbed and hugged Star around the back. Moon sunk to her knees and and sobbed, River holding her like she was the only thing he had left. Oh god, she was. Angie sobbed harder. Jackie braced herself on the bed, tears dripping down her face like mad.
Outside, Ludo dropped to a kneel, his monsters following suit.
In a harsh whisper, he announced:
"Star Butterfly, Crown Princess of Mewnie… is dead."