Long live (Song Inspired)
One-Shot
Marco was extremely tired after a more than usual busy day at work for doing one of his wife's chores… but due to the fact that he didn't stop listening to his kids playing around in the room and his wife stopped being heard too, he could bet that she hadn't succeeded in the mission of getting their children to sleep. Of course, the now adult took into account the fact that her chore was pretty complicated even in normal families, so imagine how hard it'd be for them. Groaning, he managed to go upstairs and open his kids' rooms with sleepy eyes, just to find his lovely wife asleep in one of the corners of the room. She seemed too peaceful asleep for being bothered, so he decided to turn her quest into his.
"Alright…" Marco said putting his arms on his hips and frowned, trying to seem a bit threatening -at least for his children-. "What did you do to your mother?"
Both kids shared a glance, before the younger of the siblings talked. "She came here and tried to make me sleep… but I think it worked for her…" he explained. "And she didn't get to sing me a bedtime song!" his son reclaimed, almost in a spoiled way before turning to his sister. "And she doesn't want to sing for me!"
"I don't sing!" the 12-years old exclaimed folding her arms. "Less for you…"
"Oh, right… but I heard you sang for your little boyfriend once…" the 4-years-old said with a little smirk
"Stop saying that about my best friend! He'll get the wrong idea!"
The blonde boy giggled. "You didn't deny it though…"
"That's it!" the brunette screamed before running to him with a deadly glare that was even more threatening than her father's one, though for her brother that was the perfect invitation to prove his cunning.
Marco wide opened his eyes, realizing the big argument in which they both were heading up to. Knowing his daughter that well, he knew that mentioning her best friend in a conversation in that way was enough for her to be transformed from a cute innocent girl into a serial murderer. "Woah, okay!" he called trying to make them calm down. "You both stop right now or you'll be punished!"
"What?! Dad!" his daughter called irritated. "He started it!"
"And it's not my fault she's in denial…" the blonde boy pointed out with a naive -and really well fake- smile
Before the bedroom was transformed into a wrestling room, Marco quickly grabbed his old acoustic guitar he had in his room and played a chord, finally getting the full attention of his kids. "As your mother is asleep, I guess I'll have to sing the song for her"
Both children shared a confused glance, not used to hearing their own father singing. Although only mentioning the idea was enough for them to be extremely anxious. It was acknowledged that every Diaz knew how to dance, but singing? That was a completely different story. Marco tended to avoid those kinds of things unless it was extremely necessary. As someone who didn't like being the center of attention, it could be something quite hard to do, but it was indeed a case of extreme need. The poor adult didn't have a way out this time.
"You can… sing?" his daughter asked him with a grin, always happy to know more hidden talents from her amazing parents
"Eh… Sort of…" he answered sincerely. "Your mother's the singer one in the house… but I can make an exception… but with one little condition…"
"Which one?" his kids asked at the same time
"I won't only sing a song… but also tell a story at the same time"
Instead of getting a bad reaction to this, both kids wide opened their eyes in awe and sat on the bed, eager to hear the musical story. Even the oldest one seemed interested in his performance, and stayed there instead of going to her room.
"Aren't you old for this? This musical is for me!" her brother reposed glaring at her
"Hey, just because I'm almost a teenager it doesn't mean I'll lose an opportunity to see my parents humiliated... "She said trying to act as a rebellious teenager… though she was lying. The young girl loved her parents and honestly admired them in more than just a daughter and parents way. It wasn't surprising why she felt this way, of course. Anyone with parents who not only have a giant amount of love for each other and their family, but also were known worldwide –or more-. They were just so great for their girl hat her only wish was to become like them someday.
Marco chuckled. "Great! It's always a pleasure to be humiliated by the people I love!" he admitted as he started to play the guitar's strings, just to make sure they were all in the correct key to be played. And as soon as he found an off-key string, he proceeded to tune them up. When everything was just in perfect symphony he put his fingers in the position of G. Then, he looked up to his children.
"Star Butterfly was the powerful and magical princess of the dimension of Mewni…" the adult began to tell as if they didn't know that tale. "She and her best friend had been through a lot of incredible adventures. Some of them were fun, others were impossible, most of them were near-dead situations... but in all of them they were together, side by side, fighting as if each other was the only thing they had. But there was something both of them ignored: they were secretly in love with each other"
The brunette man started to play a soft but deep melody on his guitar; it was a promising tone that seemed somehow controlled, as if it was going to get really intense in any second. It was almost hypnotic. A sweet and strong music that reflected the relationship of the young Star and Marco who used to be together in those days. "The year the princess turned twenty one years old, she was ready to become the queen of Mewni, but not before getting a king. In order to find a proper husband, her parents decided to organize a fight in a magical stadium in the dimension of Vold… imagine the stadium" he got closer to his younger son, trying to sound as scary as possible to catch his attention, while his daughter was giggling. "An enormous stadium of 150 feet of high, with many different environments: volcano land, frozen heart and the wild forest" he told with a mysterious tone without quitting playing his instrument. "All the suitors had to fight the different creatures hidden in the place, plus try to defeat the rest of the competitors. The last one standing would win the hand of the gorgeous princess of Mewni, having proved his strength to her… though she didn't seem to mind about any of the suitors at all… until a familiar face showed up in the arena"
Star slowly stood up as that recognizable sunned face with a cute mole walked in. The brunette boy looked up at her with a concerned expression, knowing fully well that he was letting her down by doing it. Of course she didn't need a hero, but he needed to win her heroine. They shared a glance that said it all, a glance they would never forget. Everything around Star stopped existing at the second she realized what was happening: Marco was going to compete for her hand too.
The music stopped as Marco began to sing.
"I said remember this moment, in the back of my mind"
A strike of heat affected Marco as he got inside the fighting place. His chest felt heavy and he was overwhelmed by the crowds that were cheering the fight. The boy didn't know how to feel anymore. He was anxious, sad and uncomfortable… but he had never been so determined to win something before. He needed to be the winner, not only for Star but for him. The human knew that he would never handle the idea of Star marrying someone who wasn't himself.
"The time we stood with our shaking hands, the crowds in stands went wild"
The king's hands were shaking and his voice cracking, but he had to keep up. Even though he knew about the situation and tried to convince the young boy not to do it, the poor man wasn't prepared to see him in the arena. "And now…" he presented sweating. "The eh… next competitor… is from the Earth dimension..."
"We were the kings and the queens and they read out our names"
"No…" Star mumbled still astonished
"Behold… Marco Diaz!" the king finished more nervous than the boy in question
"No!" the blonde girl screamed in denial, nothing in the world could ever prepare her for such a sacrifice, what if Marco lost? What if he died because of her fault? She madly turned to face her parents. "Did you know about this?!"
"Eh... perhaps… uh… I…" her father mumbled without giving the correct answer
"DID YOU?!" she repeated in a louder and madder tone
"Yes, we did" her mother answered coldly
"How did you let him do this?!" Star continued questioning horrified
"We didn't have anything to do with this, Star. It was his own idea…"
The blondie stared at Marco one more time, quick memories of him flashing in her mind. Their hugs, all the times he supported and cheered her up, the few times they shared a dance, the blood moon ball, the time she realized she had a crush on him, the first time they kissed, the endless nights they spent watching movies with a bowl of nachos, mindlessly laughing at the world.
"The night you danced like you knew our lives would never be the same"
"Marco!" she called breaking every rule about not interfering. "Don't you dare risking your life for this, Diaz!" she screamed with a frown, though her eyes were full of tears
The rest of the suitors glanced at the young adult who was trying to avoid looking at her in the eye. He couldn't do it. He knew that she wouldn't be agreeing, but at the same time he couldn't stay at his home with the arms folded, waiting for her wedding invitation.
"I'm sorry, Star… but I have to"
"No! You don't!" she claimed before her frown softened, turning into a desperate expression. "Please, Marco… you won't win anything by dying"
"You held your head like a hero on a history book page"
The brunette teen made eye contact with her for the first time in the day. He was dressed with a Mewni's warrior suit that actually fit him. His brown hair was made a mess, but it was still surprisingly attractive. His chocolate brown eyes had a determination she didn't remember seeing before. "At least I'd have tried… you know I love you"
And she did it. Star wasn't innocent, she was aware of his feelings for her, but she never expected him to love her as much as risking his own life for her hand. A tear rolled down her cheek as she realized she would do the same for him. Being honest, they were having a kind of couple relationship in secret in the last few years. They had it in secret so no one would want Star to go back to Mewni before it was time for her to become a queen, but in spite of all the risks, they both couldn't conceal their feelings. "And I love you too, idiot…" she admitted making everyone in the stadium gasp
"It was the end of a decade"
He smiled. "Trust me, okay?"
The princess gulped and bit her inferior lip. She didn't want that, she wanted to skip that stupid competition and marry Marco right there. But it wasn't any boy who was going to fight for her… Marco was a black belt and he had fought monsters that were three times his size. Maybe… just maybe he had a chance to win.
"But the start of an age"
She slowly nodded. "I trust you"
"Long live the walls we crashed through, how the kingdom lights shined just for me and you"
And that's how the competition started. With only a sword on his hand and barefoot, the brunette boy went inside the volcano land. To win this part, he had to cross through a little and cracking bridge that was barely standing a few centimeters away of the lava to get to the other part of the volcano, in order to get to the next part of the contest. At the beginning, it didn't seem so hard, until the suitors discovered that the volcano's lava had life… and once in a while attacked the competitors. As soon as Marco put a feet on the bridge, it almost seemed as every drop of lava wanted him dead, as it all began to unexpectedly combat against him.
"I was screaming long live all the magic we made, and bring on all the pretenders"
With the image of Star smiling at him, the human grabbed his sword in panic and tried to cut the lava in the half, thing that surprisingly worked… for a few seconds until it came back to its right position. "Oh, c'mon…" he muttered angrily wondering if Star's parents really wanted him dead
Taking a deep breath, he ran as fast as he could to get to the other side of the bridge, dodging attacks, jumping lava and without the need of harming anyone on the way.
"I'm not afraid"
After arriving quickly to Frozen Heart, the lava stopped following him. He then turned to the next part of the quest, this time; the environment was a peaceful and snowed land, with pines and frost. The boy was just wondering what was going to be the next trap when he noticed that his feet weren't moving. That's right, they were completely frozen in the two minutes in which he was in the snow, looking at the sides, he realized that many competitors were trapped by the ice trick, and many others were untouched, decided instead to attack the trapped ones. The human had to find his way out of there, but how? With a deep breath, he used his sword to slice the ice in two, though the ice was too frozen to free him only like that.
A suitor noticed his situation and decided to take advantage of it, internally liking the idea of killing the biggest threat in the arena. But when he tried to attack him, the stuck boy found the perfect occasion to free himself. Marco managed his opponent to break him free from the ice, due to the fact that the sword instead of hurting Marco damaged the ice. The boy smirked before kicking the suitor, not too hard, but with enough strength to make him fall.
"One day, we will be remembered"
Afterwards, he moved to the last part of the challenge, the wild forest, fighting some monsters -without necessarily hurting them, just distracting them-, while he remembered all the adventures he had with Star, along with all the fights they fought together as an inseparable team. Those thoughts were plaguing his mind when he saw the ending line and he slowly put his guard down, thinking that he had won that easily… but nothing is easy.
Without any warning, another competitor jumped over him, with a dagger on his hand and a furious expression, showing high desperation for winning the princess' hand; little did he know that Star would never marry someone who even cut a Marco's hair.
"Marco!" the princess exclaimed getting ready to jump out of her sit and go help him
"Hold on to spinning around"
"Star!" Moon called grabbing her arm. "No! You can't interfere!"
"Let me go!" Marco shouted as he was trying to stop the guy's hand that held the weapon
The blonde girl's heart stopped beating at the thought of losing her best friend.
"Confetti falls to the ground"
The stranger tackled Marco to the ground as his dagger was getting every time closer and closer to his throat, as the Latino was trying to put all his strength on stopping him and surviving. But it was no use, the knife was too close, so he just closed his eyes, almost accepting the obvious dead.
Star's eyes were filled with tears while she truly discovered that she was an idiot if she let him die having the chance of saving him.
"May these memories break our fall"
Marco's guitar got louder and louder, reaching an intense rhythm that sent shivers down his kids' backs, to then stop all of a sudden making both kids stare in confusion. "So?" they asked
Their father was still shaken for those memories that haunted him. Of course, he knew there was nothing to do about that situation now. He had to move on and repeat to himself that there was nothing he could do to change it. No, it wasn't his fault. How come would he suppose that would happen? Who would ever know? Nobody blamed him for it though, but that memory was an open scar that even after fourteen years it hasn't completely healed yet.
"When the lad opened his eyes… he saw something terrifying… Star was on him, receiving the stab instead"
"What?!" they almost yelled surprised
"That's right…" he confirmed returning his guitar playing. "She used a portal to get there in time, preferring to risk her own life for him… just as he would do for her"
There was no need to mention that every single being in the stadium stared completely speechless at the situation. They couldn't believe their own eyes: the princess gave her life for the suitor she was really in love with, just like that. But no one was more speechless than Marco, who stood frozen as the girl dismayed on his arms.
"S-S-Star?" he questioned astonished, not fully falling into the account that that situation was really happening. "Star?!" he asked this time louder as he looked down at her injury: the dagger was stabbed in a side of her hips. The suitor dropped the dagger in shock. Not even his eyes were fast enough to see who he was actually hurting. "No, no, no… Star!" he screamed caressing her face in panic as she weakly opened her eyes
"Will you take a moment, promise me this"
Marco?" she asked whereas the boy grabbed her hand desperately
"Star… I'm here…" he managed to say at the border of tears. "Why did you do that?"
"Well, now we're even. You risked your life for me, and I did the same for you"
"That you'll stand by me forever"
"No… this… this is wrong" the brunette boy reposed as he was mentally freaking out
"I couldn't let you die" the girl admitted with a small smile
Marco looked down at her injury, which was losing a lot of blood.
"But if God forbid fate should step in"
"I can't let you die either"
Star smiled. "I'll be okay… I suppose that as a mewman I must be more resistant…" she sobbed
"What if not?"
"And force us into a goodbye"
The blondie caressed his soft hair one more time as she let some tears down, the pain being almost unbearable. "Then, could you do something for me?" she asked a question which the boy almost frenetically answered nodding
"If you have children someday"
"Know that this wasn't your fault… that I love you and…" her voice softened even more
"When they point to the pictures… please tell them my name"
"Remember me" Star finished with a sincere tone of fear, the fear of being forgotten by the person she cared the most
"Tell them how the crowds went wild; tell them how I hope they shine"
Marco slightly smiled at the memory. "Long live the walls we crashed through, I had the time of my life… with you" he finished staring at his sleepy children. "The end"
"What? It can't…" the young boy made a break to yawn. "End like that!"
"Yeah! Is that even a real story?" his daughter questioned, also tired but more outraged
"Hey, remember that an ending brings also a new beginning…" the adult explained leaving his guitar aside. "Tomorrow I can tell you the continuation of it, with a happier song, telling how Star really survived because of her mewman's strong genes and how everyone in the kingdom agreed to let the princess and her best friend get married"
"You'd better do so…" his wife opined standing up. "Because as far as I know, I'm still alive"
Marco chuckled. "Weren't you sleeping?"
"Oh, honey, if you don't want to wake me up… next time try to sing in another room" Star proposed with a giggle
"Right, now, kids…" when he turned around, Marco was surprised to find both of his children asleep in the bed.
With a shrug, he took his daughter in a bridal style and carried her to her room so she could sleep peacefully.
As soon as he left the room, the brunette girl giggled and took her cellphone, calling to his best friend. "Connor? Are you awake?"
The black-haired boy tiredly rubbed his eyes. "Nova? It's more than midnight, what happened?"
"Oh, do I have a story to tell you! My dad finally told me and Sol the story of how they got engaged! And it was in Disney style!"
Long, long live, the look on your face, and bring on all the pretenders.
One day, we will be remembered.
Starco week, day 6, song inspired.
As I was listening to this song the other day, I just couldn't help but thinking of these dorks. I mean, they are literately having their time of their lives crashing walls, moving mountains, fighting monsters and being together. So, it was a little dramatic there, due to the fact that I wanted to make it seem like Marco was fulfilling his promise of telling his kids about Star, just because I'm mean xD
Anyway, thanks to Mr. Evaunit, who gave me the permission to use his characters "Nova", "Sol" and "Connor", I love his AU of Star and Marco with children. If you don't know his fanfics, please read them!
Hope you enjoyed it!
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