(note: Butterfly Follies I & II + Escape from the Pie Folk spoilers, mainly toward the end)

The future is a funny thing.

At one time it seems clear and definite, and other times, it becomes uncertain and astray. One's world may seem stable and secure and within a flash, collapse into an emotional rollercoaster which would seem to have no end in sight. That's just how things work. You pray for the best and plan for the worst, and do your best to get on with the day. There isn't truly much you can do other than that.

The future is unknown until it becomes the present. The future cannot be fully understood until it becomes the past. You can predict and calculate what may happen, you can gamble and bet on the outcome, but there's no guarantee. That's that. No exceptions.

For Star, this seemed no different. She was not one to plan ahead, at least to the extent of Marco. She was not one to reflect heavily on past experience either. Everything that happened to her seemed spontaneous and was unexpected.

The past few months had been a rollercoaster in itself, full of sacrifices and pains, suffering and risktaking she'd hoped she'd never have to deal with before. New challenges and dangers, thoughts and feelings that came along as time passed ever onward.

Leaving Marco behind in the worst of circumstances, fighting Toffee and nearly losing, dealing with her conflicted emotions and her strained relationship with Marco, trying to mend a divide that seemed nearly impossible to solve, fighting Meteora and not dying only because she saved last minute by Eclipsa, and trying to adjust to her new life outside of the role of Queen (or even princess, for that matter) with her mom still missing.

All of it was such a different picture from the previous year or so. When she came to Earth that first time and met Marco, everything seemed boundlessly bright and infinite, as if her 18th birthday wouldn't come any closer or as if the weight of her responsibilities as princess ever dawned on her. Or as if Toffee would never have a chance of coming back and threaten the kingdom. Or as if there wouldn't be any other threat lurking in the shadows worse than Toffee. Or, really, as if her friendship with Marco was something guaranteed, something that would never change or be put under strain.

Ahh, hindsight… if only she knew what she knew now back then.

This was the hardest year of her life, bar none.

But at the very least, it looked like that was all behind her now.

And even if she was wrong, even if for some reason fate had other plans for her and the challenges were to become worse, she could still say it would all end okay.

Why?

Because she had assurance. Assurance that when the storm was over and the struggle was won, everything would remain intact. Everything would return to normal. Her assurance was in the form of a picture, with the words "Beach Day" etched on its bottom, a smiling Marco to the left of her beaming self.

To others, it looked as if the photo was nothing more than a saved memory, two friends having fun at the beach. But to Star, it was a guarantee. A look into the future upon which she could place her trust.

Maybe it seemed normal when she'd first received it and was still on Earth. Everything wasn't complicated and it seemed nothing would stop them. When Father Time gave it to her and told her it was from in the future, she didn't know what would be in between that point and now. She'd assumed it was something that would happen within weeks or days, not months.

But when she found herself running away from Earth to face a threat at home, with her relationship with Marco destroyed and her heart aching with his absence, that photo kept her going.

Knowing she'd still be living and smiling, with Marco still by her side despite what happened now. They'd still be friends even though she'd left him and said she'd never see him again. Which meant Toffee would lose. No matter what happened, Toffee would lose.

Despite how her world was crumbling around her, she could find solace knowing this all was temporary.

And the experience with Meteora was no different. The photo had yet to happen. When it seemed her kingdom was destined to collapse, with Tom and Marco down, alongside her dad, her mom, and everyone else she could rely on, Father Time held true to his word.

It all came to pass, they all made it through.

And now, when everyone thought her mom was gone and she struggled to find her for the longest time, she refused to give up and trust in this picture. She was happy in the photo. If she didn't find her mom, how else could she find it in herself to keep smiling? To have fun and keep going on as if her absence wouldn't affect her?

And like clockwork, her assumption held true. She may have doubted herself before, but she found Moon in the last moment.

Star had a certainty about the future very few others ever could've.

Where others could only make predictions of the future by the present and the past, Star could make predictions on the future and the present by the future. She could look at a photo and deduct how things would go now because of how she looked in that photo. She would know of her temporary immortality, of how she (or Marco) wouldn't have any chance of getting fatally hurt at all at any moment until that day at the beach occurred.

It was a power that could've easily been abused and exploited. To make her careless and direct in her approach to her problems. To justify her actions and let her waltz anywhere as if consequences weren't a concern for her.

But when you see yourself leaving your best friend behind while just having admitted your crush, when you're seeing your home threatened by the actions of one and having multiple near-death experiences, when you see your friends almost get hurt of what seems to be your fault, when your mother goes missing for the longest time and you nearly lose it all, none of that is a concern.

When your world turns itself over and is collapsing around you, all a look into the future can do for you is serve as assurance for the present.

She could be sure they'd make it.

Until this photo would get taken, she could be sure.

And in this time, where nothing was set in stone anymore and everything could change within a moment, that was all she needed.

(1,130 words)

A/N: totally wasn't gone for like 30 days don't mind me

I haven't written in a while so feel this is a bit rough around the edges, but it's a good way to come back, I think especially with the info regarding the photo being from the future in the new season. If ya think its crap i dont blame ya but thanks for reading...

hope i don't disappear for another month

bye