The Princess' Guard

Chapter 1: Truly Caring

The darkness of night was reflecting on the kingdom's land, which went from the forbidden forest of the north to the island of Luna. The three moons that the place had were reflecting over a window of the castle, where a young blonde girl was sat, staring at the beauty of the kingdom that someday in the future she was supposed to rule. Mewni was a gorgeous dimension which many would love to own. It had a mild weather perfect for farming, a lot of free lands, ideal for cattle rising and a magical view that was literately breathtaking. And let's not even talk about the castle, an incredible castle compound by many pink towers with jewels on their sides. It was an enormous palace too, with so many rooms that the girl couldn't even count, so of course the castle was full of servants, though she didn't mind much about them.

A kingdom as powerful as that one was indeed wanted for many other royals, who would do anything to get a little portion of it, so of course there were many guards too, and this time the girl did mind about them. Especially her personal guard who wasn't only annoying but also boring, two things that weren't really nice in someone who had orders of following you all day long. Alright, she was the princess of Mewni, but by the way he treated her, it almost seemed as if she was a porcelain doll or a four-years-old kid. After having known her since they were children and an entire year of 'protecting' her, some will think that the young guard would have at least warmed up to her, but instead of that, he only seemed to think she was crazy every time she tried to use her wand, or when she shared a thought about life or even that moment when she explained her organization system, which basically consisted in all her mess being in only one place. A burning feeling grew inside the princess at the thought of that stupid boy who called himself her personal guard so proudly. She didn't even understand how come he was so boring, I mean, if he were a 40 years-old adult she would get it, but he wasn't even that. In fact, he was her age, he was also fourteen years old and he acted like an adult already. Let aside the fact that he hadn't always been that way. When they were kids, they used to be partners in crime, but some unlucky events turned him into the most boring teenager she had ever seen.

"Just for the record, I hate you" she said out loud as her guard Marco Diaz got into her bedroom

The brunette boy rolled his eyes. "Sorry your majesty, but your mother called me to assure you didn't escape… again"

Star groaned. Even with that perfectly formal tone, he found the way to show her how superior and mature he was compared to her. She could even sense the disappointment tone he used when he said 'again'. "I didn't escape again yet, as you can see. Now if you excuse me, I want to sleep"

"Of course, your majesty" the boy said turning around and walking closer to the door. Before getting to it, Marco stopped on his feet, as a feeling of guilt and pity hit him. It wasn't his fault he was so over protective with her, but she was apparently looking for it, due to the fact that she always was trying to escape from the castle. A princess shouldn't act in that way at all; even he with his little knowledge about royalty knew that. He wasn't even a real guard yet, but just a dedicate apprentice who the Butterfly family knew too well, moreover being the son of the –now dead- amazing knight from the Queen Moon, Rafael Diaz. Someday he hoped he could do something as great as his father, who died on an important mission, one day. Something that everyone would remember and admire... but that'd obviously be hard for him... for he couldn't even get on an agreement with Star. He glanced at her. She was staring at the window with an exhausted and somehow sad face without even noticing his staring. Why did she hate him so much? Why was she trying to run away from her golden future? Why was she so complicated? All those questions started bothering his peaceful mind as a sudden question related to how come she looked so pretty even when she was sad came and he decided to leave the room as fast as possible.

Star silently heard the door close behind him. He delayed a bit more than usual, thing that he had been tending to do in the last weeks. It made her wonder if perhaps there was something else he didn't have the guts to tell her or maybe he actually had orders to stay a bit longer for making sure she didn't have anything under her sleeve. If that was the case, then she was so little sorry to tell that he failed miserably.

The girl smirked as she ran to her bed. Then, she ducked and took a white cape and a rope made out of blankets before putting her pillows under the bed's cover making it seem as if she was actually sleeping there. Afterwards, the blonde girl took the fake rope, tied it and pulled it out of the window. Despite the fact it seemed a bit crazy; her needs for exploring the world she was so forbidden to explore were even bigger. As a princess, she didn't have any experience worthy enough of claiming being a teenager. She had never even been to a party! Why? Well, just because her mother thought that was an 'inappropriate' activity for a princess. It didn't matter that all the royal teenagers -including the super handsome prince Oskar Greason- was going to be on the party, her mother still believed she wasn't bound to go to places.

Star took a last glance to the door, as if she was secretly waiting for someone to come and stop her before taking a deep breath and climbing down the rope with a bag pack with a party dress on her back and her wand on a pocket, ready to go to her first party.

Marco sighed tiredly as he was walking to his room. He didn't like having such a bad relationship with the princess because it really made the job of protecting her a real challenge. He didn't even understand how the queen thought that the idea of having a boy from Star's same age as a personal guard was going to be a good idea. I mean, it was obvious that there was no way they were going to end up being friends. Alright, once upon a time they had been friends, but they were only kids back then! Who'd say that they both changed so much in only the last four years? But of course, Moon still thought that her daughter was like her. The queen and Marco's father used to get along pretty well although they only had a professional relationship. But Star was different. She wasn't like the normal princesses; she had a freedom wish so big that sometimes concerned the young guard. Plus, she wasn't nice to him at all, which made everything worse. If only she could understand that everything he did was for his job. It's not like he truly cared for her. The brunette boy passed over a window and sighed. If only Star wasn't so rebel, they could even come to an agreement to go where she wanted with his protection. Well, as long as the place was relatively safe, right?

He looked through the window. "There are many places we could go to…" he muttered. "The Mewni's garden, the feria, downtown…" and as the guard continued signaling the places as he named them, he suddenly saw a figure with a familiar cape walking out the castle's main door.

Marco wide opened his eyes recognizing the cape Star wore the last two times he sneaked out of the palace. "She did it again!" he exclaimed in panic as he run extremely quickly to the queen's room. "Holy nachos…" he mumbled as he was running through the different large halls that existed in the castle, passing over wondering eyes of the servants and the rest of the guards, who never had seen him so desperate before. It almost seemed as he actually cared for the person who made him act like that.

Forgetting every kind of manner that he had learnt in the palace, Marco opened the queen's room with a start. "Queen, the princess has…" but before he could continue, he realized Moon wasn't on the room. Or at least not in the first part of it. At the beginning, his mind was plagued with possibilities about where the queen could be so he could tell her the situation, but as he was slowly going out of him shock state, he realized that the way he had acted hadn't been a real objective and proper way to act. "What am I doing?" he asked to himself as he rubbed his forehead. There was something wrong with him acting in that way, something he still couldn't understand, but it wasn't like he wanted to do it anyway, for he was pretty afraid of finding the answer. It wasn't his fault Star was gone. In fact, even the queen knew that she couldn't blame him for that! Everyone in the castle was aware of the princess' wishes of sneaking out, as well as everyone was aware of the big party that was holding in the princess Pony Head dimension, party that the princess wanted to go and was denied to.

"I'd better leave" the young guard slowly decided as he moved away from the room

"You must give her some time, my dear" the recognizable voice of the king River echoed through the bedroom's hall

In any normal occasion, Marco would have just left the king and queen speak alone… but something told him that their talk would be relevant, so he decided to overhear it a bit more.

"Some time? River, she's out of control! If Star doesn't start acting properly, we won't hesitate anymore. Just one more strike and she'll go directly to St. O's"

The young boy's blood turned cold at the thought of Star going to a place like that. St. Olga's reform school for wayward princess was an institution where princesses went in order to become the typical Disney princess who everyone expected them to be. It didn't seem as much, but every girl who went inside that school was never the same again. And though he didn't know what they did there, he could bet that it wasn't something nice. Alright, Star was someone reckless and not really female like all the time… but that didn't mean she had to go to such a horrible place!

"She can't go there…" Marco stated with a determined face before walking away from the room

He couldn't tell her parents or anyone else in the army if he wanted to keep it as a secret… but he couldn't let Star get away with it either. Not because he cared, of course… it was just a normal reason: Star was outside, which meant that Star was in danger. He would never forget himself if he didn't help her, especially being her personal guard. How come would he show his face in front of the Butterfly's again if something bad happened to their daughter, more if he knew where she was…? He had to do something... but he needed a plan for that... And as he noticed an old and red tuxedo that the king used when he was his age, an idea came up inside his mind.

"Oh, girl! I'm so glad you could make it!" Pony head exclaimed with her usual grin as Star walked into the party. "How did you manage to escape Mr. Protector-Turd?"

The mewman sighed. "Ugh… this time he even came to see if I was in my bedroom at 2 a.m., I don't know how…" she stared confused. "Wait, how did you know I've escaped?"

"Please, girl…" the unicorn said with a chuckle. "I know you! And your parents! And especially that party-pooper who is always telling on you!" her friend laughed evilly, finding the activity of insulting her personal guard amusing

Star laughed too, relieved to finally be able to get out all the bad things out of her chest. It's been months since she last had seen Pony Head, her formal best friend ever, and even though they tried to communicate via mirror every week, it wasn't the same than being face to face in a place without the need of not speaking too much to waste all their credit, due to the fact that going to Pixtopia to pay the phone's bill wasn't something enjoyable at all. "Oh, Pony Head… you have no idea of how annoying my guard can be! I seriously don't know what to do to get rid of your personal guards"

"Oh, that's easy, B-fly. I have two plans: bravery, threatening or scaring. Though usually the last option is the one that works most. Apparently, finding a dead corpse in your room is something frightening!" the flying head exclaimed with her typical laughter

The blonde girl stopped paying attention to her friend as a familiar figure passed walking closer to her. His brunette hair was super soft and bright, while his blue eyes -unfortunately not always visible- were as deep as the sea, full of emotions that she was eager to find. He wasn't the charming prince normal princesses were looking for, that was for sure, but he definitely had something that caught the girl's attention: he had a record, a bad boy one. He had driven his royal vampire parents crazy more times than the ones he could even recall, and he claimed to be a great musician (although the only instrument he ever played was a key tar, and he wasn't a real Beethoven playing it). In addition, his clothes were ripped off in a rock star style, making the girls in the party like him even more.

"Oskaaaar…" Star mumbled with a dreamily sigh as the vampire dimension prince Oskar Greason noticed her and waved

The girl let out an awkward giggle as she tried to wave back with an obvious love-struck expression on her face. "Hey, Oskar"

"What's up?" the lad carelessly asked before going to the center of the party, ready to dance

"Woah, you still got it bad, B-fly" her friend mocked

The blonde-haired laughed. "Of course I do! He's the one for me, I'm telling you!"

Oh, classic Star. She had always been so confident about her feelings that everyone was jealous of the security she had on herself. Since the first moment she saw the vampire prince Oskar Greason, the young woman's heart knew it. He was the guy for her. Not only he was a former bad boy or a musician, but he only had a good family, so her parents would never be able to stop their relationship. Since she was young, she had always been afraid of falling for someone inappropriate for a princess… but now she didn't have to worry about it anymore. Now it was only a question of time 'till Oskar realized she was his true love and they get engaged.

A soft, sweet tune started to echo through the party's large ballroom. It was an easy recognizable song that Star's mom used to play on the piano when she was a non-trouble-maker kid, an especial waltz that the queen Moon called "Blood Moon Waltz", a song which also contained a legend. According to it, the two people who danced together under the blood moon light will be bounded for the whole eternity. It was without doubt one of the most romantic myths the young princess heard and remembered. Dancing to the waltz was also a good luck omen. If you danced with somebody you were interested to, it'd mean that you are meant to be or at least a good match.

That thought gave Star an idea. "I'm going to dance with Oskar" she claimed with a smile

Her magical friend stared at her in awe. "What if he says no?"

"He won't… if we're both here… and we dance with this waltz, it may mean we're truly meant to be!" the naïve princess exclaimed with exciting eyes that were longing for a fairy tale love story, though she'd never admit it out loud

"In that case, go kill him, girl!" Pony Head motivated her with a big smile on her face, being reminded of the reason why they both got on so well, they were so sure of what they wanted!

The blonde girl started to walk to get to his prince. Her heart began beating faster and faster with each step, as the anxiety was taking over her. However, she wasn't as confident as she always was, something inside of her was making her nervous… but that's okay. It may be the enthusiasm due to the fact that she was already going to dance with her crush. Or it may be the fact that she was a bit concerned. Not for the reasons you imagined. If he rejected her, the princess was more than ready to get over him… still something was concerning her… something her unconsciousness didn't want her to know yet.

And just when she was only three steps away from him and the music was slowly becoming more and more intense, something, or better said someone, grabbed her hand and pulled her close to itself, just when the lights of the room were completely red to match the beautiful extended version of the waltz.

Everything happened so fast that she didn't even realize what was happening until she was staring at two beautiful chocolate sweet eyes and a handsome face she hadn't noticed before. His sunned skin was a perfect combination for his style, his hair -even softer and more beautiful than Oskar's- was perfectly brushed and for the first time in her entire life, he was finally smiling to her. His tender, protective and somehow innocent smile was directed to her, and for some reason, that fact made her heart stop beating. The time was frozen as that thing inside of her that had been off all this time was slowly being fixed.

"At least I found you" Marco said with a relieved and exhausted tone of voice

It took her a few moments to process the events in her mind, and it still wasn't enough time for her to recompose herself from that apparent strike that hit her. "Marco?" she asked with an astonished expression

"Yeah, look, we have to get out of here... or your parents are going to notice you're gone"

The girl couldn't understand anything anymore. She had been living with that dork since she was born and all of a sudden he seemed... different, and in a good way. "Marco?" she repeated, not being able to work properly any longer

This time, the guard noticed that the princess wasn't really paying attention to him. "Eh… Star? Are you okay?"

"Marco…" Star said this time as a statement looking down for a few seconds

"Star?"

"Why are you here? Why… why did you come? How did you even get in?" she asked with a trembling and confused voice

"I… well I…" he took off the plastic golden crown he was wearing and looked in a shameful way to an old red tuxedo from her dad that he was wearing. "I came disguised so they'd think I'm a human prince…" he explained with a nervous chuckle

"So… you came with a fake crown and one of my dad's suits?" the girl questioned with a smirk, not letting go of his hand

"Good summary… but Star, we must leave before your parents find out"

Wait, before her parents found out? If he said that, then it must mean one thing. "They don't know I'm here?!" Star screamed shocked as he nodded. "But… you're here! Why didn't you tell them?"

At that question, he stood speechless. Why did he do it? Why would he risk his job, head and sanity just for Star? And as he slowly realized that he hadn't been calling her princess since they left the castle, he felt a shiver going down his spine. "I just… thought you've been punished enough time already" the brunette tried to explain carelessly but his voice was failing him as it sounded nervous

"Wow… that's… kind of nice" Star stated with a sweet smile that made Marco smile too, thinking that it was at least worth it if she was happy

"Can we go now, princess? Before they find out I'm not royalty" he said as he put his typical poker face, decided to try to pretend his new found feelings towards the princess

"Sure"

Marco sighed. "Great, that was easier than what I…"

"But not before you dance with me" The mewman said as she put her free hand on his shoulder

"What?!" the guard exclaimed surprised. "I don't dance!"

"I won't leave until you share a dance with me, Marco Diaz…"

He groaned, buy obeyed by putting his other free hand around her waist. And as the blood moon waltz continued echoing through the halls, both teenagers looked at each other eye to eye as if they were sharing a secret that only they knew. A beautiful secret that seemed like an inner dream they both had but never noticed until that exact moment. The music was in perfect synch with their feet; though they didn't seem to mind that, for the only real thing they were focused on were each other's hypnotic but honest eyes. It was the first time they were being truly honest with each other since they were ten and they didn't even need to speak a single word. It was the honest and sweet innocence of ignoring everything -like the fact that they were in love- what made the moment unique. Every step was better than the last one, and even if at the beginning they were a little tensed, as the song continued and they felt more secure, they felt free to smile and truly enjoy their dance, with some spinning and laughter.

They could have been dancing for three minutes of three years; they lost count of time as the song unfortunately came to an end, just when they were only a few inches away from each other. Their faces were even closer than their bodies, all of a sudden they felt extremely attracted to each other, as if their faces were some kind of magnet that made them move closer and closer to each other, as in a dream... until Marco woke up and stood a bit away. "Well… now you have to come back"

The princess opened her eyes in disappointment. "Right… I promised it, didn't I?"

"At least that's what I recall, princess" her guard answered as he freed his hand

She stared obviously taken aback, but decided to play his same game instead of telling the truth of how tough it was for her to realize that he started to treat her as a princess again. "Alright then, Diaz" she decided as she took her scissors and opened a portal. "Let's come back…"

As they put a feet out of the portal and inside the castle again, they were really surprised to find the queen Moon sitting on Star's bed with a deadly glare on her face. Both teenagers gasped in horror as soon as they saw her, realizing that they were both dead.

"Good night, Mr. Diaz" she simply said before glancing at Star. "Star, I just wanted to tell you good night when I came in and found these pillows under your blankets" the queen explained signaling at the pillows the princess used to escape. "I didn't know you could turn into pillows, Star, good magical technique I must confess, I'd like to learn to do that someday in fact, would you mind teaching me now?"

Star groaned annoyed by her mother's sarcastic attitude, but before she could even start an argument with her, Marco lifted his arm up, stopping her. "Actually, your majesty, I can explain" he claimed as the princess stared at him with begging eyes and a scared heart, not really sure of what would happen once her mother discovered what she did. "I'm too sorry to tell you that… Star escaped because of my fault…"

"Excuse me? How is that possible?" Moon questioned in shock as Star wide opened her eyes. Was he blaming himself for something she did?

"I'm sorry your majesty… but… I wanted to go to the princess Pony Head's party… that's why I took one of your husband's old suits and went disguised. Star saw me and she followed me to bring me back so nobody would find out"

The queen inspected his disguise, realizing he was really wearing a River's tuxedo. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I'm… slightly interested in one of the princess who was invited… I just wanted to talk to her…"

Moon stared pretty shocked after hearing that answer and then she rolled her eyes. "Well, in a normal case, I would send you far away from the castle, but due to the fact that you're a loyal guard and this is your first strike in fourteen years, I'd let this one pass…" she decided before turning to Star. "And Star, I understand your concern over your friend, but next time tell other to go, alright? It can be dangerous"

"Of course, mother" Star managed to say as she was deeply touched by Marco's action

The queen slowly began to walk away before turning around a bit. "An advice, Mr. Diaz… if you're interested in a princess, I recommend you to forget about it. You aren't a royal, that girl's out of your league… at least legally. Don't be so exigent, that was what killed your father…" she coldly said before leaving the room

The young guard looked at the queen with a confused and concerned expression. The story of how Rafael Diaz died remained a mystery to him. Marco only knew that one day, when he was ten, his father went to one of his knights quests and he never came back. Not having met his mother, he was left completely alone. Thanks goodness the king and queen of Mewni sympathized with him, so he could stay in the castle as he was learning to become a Mewni's guard. That's the reason he also became the princess' guard in such a young age. You must think he had a rough childhood after his father's dead, but in reality, his father was all the time in quests through the different dimensions, so Marco didn't feel his absence more than what he used to do when he was alive. Luckily, he had many servants who were his friends, and he had the Butterfly family supporting him -up to a point, of course-. Still, that data about his father's dead was something that indeed echoed inside his mind.

'Don't fall for a princess, forget about it, that's what killed your father' those words were extremely stunning for him. Could it be that his father's dead reason hadn't been his bravery but his fool heart? And in that case, who was the forbidden woman he had been so in love with? Was it his mother? Now that he thought it, every time he asked the rest of the servants about his mother, they all tried to change the topic. Maybe he wasn't so alone after all...

Interrupting his thoughts, he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. And as he turned around, he found Star looking at him with a small smile. "Thanks, Marco… but you didn't have to do that"

The guard couldn't recall the last time he had been so nice to him... but he liked it. "I know… but I didn't want you to be in more troubles" he admitted smiling back

"But why? That hadn't stopped you before"

Marco bit his inferior lip nervously. Should he tell her about her parents' plans? Well, it didn't seem like he had a choice. Plus, she had to be more careful now on. "I was going to tell them but… I overheard them talking… they are planning to send you to St. O's"

The blonde girl wide opened her eyes, horrified. "Ah! Not St. Olga's reform school for wayward princesses! Wait…" she made eye contact with him in a suspicious way. "Why wouldn't you want me to go? Since we met the only thing I've done is making your job twice as hard!"

"That's not true… we've known each other since we were born, and before I became your guard you weren't this way…"

Star giggled remembering those times in which they weren't more than ten and used to travel through the castle together playing hide and seek or monster hunting -though there wasn't any real monster on sight-. They used to be the best of friends as kids! Of course, everything changed when Mr. Diaz died and Marco started his training, not having time for playing anymore. And the last she knew, he had become the boring guard she now knew… though he still had some tricks under his sleeve. "Aw! I still remember how cute you were with your braces!"

The boy nervously rubbed his neck as he laughed. "See? We used to be friends…"

"But we changed" she stated with a sad tone. "As well as our relationship"

"Not so much…" Marco opined. "You'll see... I don't hate you, Star… I… still care for you" he said honestly as he walked to the room's door

The princess' inside was shaken like a leaf after that confession. It made her wanna hug him, happy to see that his amazing and talented friend was still inside of that apparently cold-hearted guard. "Marco!" she called before he left. "I don't hate you either"

The boy smiled. "I know…" he said before leaving

And that's my last fanfic for the Starcoweek2, day 7 AU of choice! I came up with this personal guard x princess AU while watching "The Princess Diaries 2" because the queen and the guard were so cute together and my shipper mind couldn't help itself xD

Hope you enjoyed this story! In fact, I liked this AU so much that may continue writting it... just tell me your opinion in your reviews, guys! If this gets many positive reviews I may keep on writting it! I have a good setting in my head, but I'm not sure yet.

Thank you for supporting my stories, guys!

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