She thought her mind was playing tricks on her. That the boy standing just a mere few feet away from her, whom she has come to love with every cell in her body, was just a figment of her imagination. Even the world around her, a mixture of hers and his, seemed too good to be true. It's all a dream. It has got to be a dream. She's dreamt of this dream many times before and the result always ended the same.

She wakes up.

And yet...no dream where this event has happened has ever felt this real. And she's still not waking up. She's still here. He is still here. Nothing is misting away and no bright light is blinding her, causing her to wake up back to reality. Because this is her reality now. Or so she hopes. She prays.

Please, she internally begs as she cautiously makes her way towards her boy. Don't let this be a dream. Please let this be real.

She's not sure if the weakness in her knees is due to all the running she had done moments before the merging of their two worlds, or if it's because her love is standing right in front of her, slowly making his way to her and she to him. She didn't even know she was walking towards him until the distance became shorter, the two of them getting closer. She's not even sure who started walking first.

And oh how she wanted to run again. To jump into his arms and hold him tight. To never let him go. To kiss his face all over, especially his lips. To breathe in his scent. To tell him that she loves him.

And little does she know, the boy is thinking the same thing. Little does she know that he wants to run to her, that he wants to hold her tight, breathe in her scent, kiss her all over, and tell her over and over again that he loves her. Little does she know that his heart is beating just as fast as hers and that he's internally begging for all of this to be real like she is too.

But neither of them run because at the same time they're both afraid that if they do, something will happen. So they take it slow, trying their best to ignore the ache in their heart. The greedy want. The urge to run. Because if they went too fast and suddenly wake up, that type of ache will hurt more. That ache will be more unbearable than their slow, painful walking.

It's because of that ache that they stayed in the realm of magic instead of going to their homes where they knew they'd be safe. Being safe didn't matter if they weren't with each other, both knowing that they'd never see the other again.

And now here they are, no longer walking, standing directly in front of each other, but leaving a good amount of space so they can both fully look at the other, taking note that they are both in one piece, alive and breathing and so very real.

"Hey," Marco breathes, softly, smiling.

"Hi," says Star in the same soft tone, mirroring his smile.

He doesn't say anything after that and neither does she. They both just stand and stare, drinking in every detail of the other. And then, before Star could help herself, her eyes begin to water and her face scrunches up in emotional pain. "Is this real?" she says, her voice cracking, on the verge of a sob. "This feels real, but...I've dreamt of this many times before. I...I don't know if I'll be able to recover from this if it's not real."

Her lips tremble as she fights back a sob and that's when her tears fall. That's when she looks away, embarrassed, and squeezes her eyes tightly closed, which spilled the rest of her tears and blocked her new ones from escaping. But they seeped through anyway and when they spilled, so did her sob.

Marco's tears were already down his face when he cupped her left cheek with his right hand and brought her right hand upwards to cup his left cheek, keeping his hand on top of hers as his cheek absorbed her soft hand's warmth. God, he thought he'd never be able to touch her again, to feel her warmth. Star stiffens at the contact and her eyes open wide to gaze into his watery, brown eyes; eyes that were full of love. Eyes that showed her reflection. She knew he could see his reflection in her eyes too.

Her soul in his and his in hers.

"I'm real, Star," Marco assures her, wiping away a falling tear with his thumb as more tears formed in his own eyes. His other hand, the one on top of her hand on his cheek, squeezes her hand tight. "Don't you feel me? I'm real. You're real. This is all real."

She doesn't say anything in response. Instead, she stares at him and focuses on the heat of his hands, her cheek and hand burning at the touch of them, but it's a burn she gladly accepts. And then, her left hand is moving up to cup his other cheek and as she did this a tear falls down Marco's face, making her wipe it away and for him to smile.

And of course, the tears kept coming, leaking out of her eyes one after the other. "You're real. You're really real. Marco," she finds the strength to laugh. "You're here! We are here. Together! We did it!"

And then she's pulling him into a hug before he can respond, laughing and crying, and squeezing him so tight that he can barely breathe. But he doesn't mind because he holds her even tighter, laughing and crying too, and then he's spinning her around, which makes her giggle even more and his heart just bursts at the sound.

He thought he'd never hear her laugh again, and it's in this moment that he vows to make her laugh for the rest of his days.

And when the spinning stops, Star leans her forehead against his, eyes closed and no longer wet, smile wide, hands on both sides of his face, and finally at peace, cherishing every second of being in his arms. And Marco does the same, only his hands are wrapped tightly around her waist and he keeps his eyes open, studying her again, and Star feels it, the heavy weight of his gaze. She opens her eyes, locking them with his once more, and says after a moment, "I love you, Marco Diaz." Her human. Her best friend. Her soul mate.

She declared her love for him hours ago, which feels longer, but this second time is more special than the first and it brings tears to his eyes again, which worries her. "Oh no! Marco, don't cry! Our eyes literally just got dry and-"

And before she could go on, Marco's lips violently come crashing down on hers, kissing her as though he'd never see her again. And really, that almost came true, and when it all went down...he didn't give her a last kiss.

But now...now they can have as many kisses as their hearts desire. He knows this, and yet he can't stop the frantic hunger and passion and he makes sure to pour it all into the force of his kiss. To let her know that he's so overwhelmingly happy but fearful as well. Because now that their worlds are together, new hate might blossom and he'll be damned if anything were to come between them again. They've been through so much. Just give them a break already. It angers and saddens him because all he wants is to be with her. In peace. No complications whatsoever.

It's exactly what Eclipsa wanted with Globgor. And as far as Marco is aware, considering the evil has now been defeated, Eclipsa now has everything she has ever wanted. So there's hope for him and Star too.

Star was quick to return the kiss, her lips moving against his in a dance that put his actual dance moves to shame. Everything, from her toes all the way up to her head, was on fire, and it's in this moment that she decides she likes this kiss more than the one they had shared in the barn. She gives a quiet moan as her hands tangle themselves in his hair and it makes him shiver. She felt his small tremor of chills and it causes her to smile against his lips. He smiles too and ends up laughing, which ends the kiss, but in the most perfect way.

"I thought I'd never get to do that again when the portal closed," he admits, their foreheads touching again. "I thought I'd never..." He gulps and takes a shaky breath in, feeling emotional again. "I thought I'd never get to tell you that I love you."

"But Marco," Star laughs. "I already know. You told me in the Magic and in the barn."

Marco blushes, still embarrassed at himself for doing such a thing even though he had no control of himself. "Yeah, but...I don't remember anything from our time in the Magic, so it doesn't count. And in the barn, I still didn't actually tell you. And I hate that. I hate that my first 'I love you' to you is something I can't remember and I hate that I didn't tell you in the barn. I just-"

"Marco, you're rambling," Star cut in, smiling like a fool in love. Because that's exactly what she is. What they both are.

He chuckles nervously. "Hehe sorry. I'll just get right to it." He removes his arms from her waist to hold her hands, never looking away from her eyes. "I love you, Star Butterfly. So much that it literally hurts. So much that...that I was able to help create this world with you. I mean, look around," he gestures to their surroundings. "We made this, Star. You and I."

"Oh my gosh!" Star gasps and Marco swears he sees stars twinkle in her eyes. "Marco, we merged our worlds together! Do you know what this means?!"

"Uh...it means we get to be together now?"

"Yes, but what else?"

"Uh...Meteora and Mariposa can grow up together too?"

"Oh my gosh I didn't even think of that! But that's not it either."

"I give up."

And without skipping a beat, Star exclaims: "It means we're parents!" She does a little jump, while Marco's eyes widen.

"What?!"

"Think about it. This world is our baby." Star declares, matter of factly. "We made it, sooo...we're parents now. What should we call it? It needs to be a combination of Mewnie and Earth. Mearth? Earnie?"

Amused, Marco says, "We'll have to put it to a vote. I just hope no new problems will occur now that Humans will be living alongside Mewmans and Monsters and every other creature here."

"Don't be silly, Marco," Star playfully scolds as she links her arm through his and starts walking back towards the castle, "Of course there's going to be new problems. But like every other one, we'll make it. We'll survive. And do you know why?"

Yes, yes he certainly did know why. And with a wide smile that hurt his cheeks, he says: "Because we have each other. We belong together."

Star leans her head on his shoulder as they walked. "And together we can conquer all the forces of evil. It's gonna get a little weird and a little wild but-"

"We're gonna have a good time," Marco finishes then nudges her. "And since when has it not been weird and wild? I find it all normal now."

"You love it though." Star points out, speaking the truth.

"Because I love you." Marco remarks, speaking the truth as well.

"Aww, you're so cringey." But she still blushes.

"You love it though." Marco repeats, feeling clever.

"Because I love you." Star also repeats, feeling even more clever than him.

And as they walked and talked, consumed with a happiness like no other, silent thoughts of their future passed through their minds. Just little snippets of the things they have yet to do and the things they gladly want to repeat, such as late night cereal munchies and Taco Tuesdays. But first, duty calls, and while Star is no longer a princess, she is still a leader and Marco will always be her knight. Together they'll help the Humans settle in their new world, along with the Mewmans and Monsters now that the war amongst them is over. Together they'll make sure no new wars start. Together they'll bring peace. Together they'll be happy.

Oh yes, they certainly do belong together and being together is all they'll ever need.