"Star…"

Marco leaned over his wife and brushed her hair out of her face. He hated to wake her since this was the first time in a week she'd gotten more than three hours of sleep. Finally, she looked peaceful. More than anything, Marco wanted to leave her be in the safety of her dreams rather than let her face the harsh reality waiting for her. But, the citizens outside were getting anxious, her dad was growing more and more depressed, and the kingdom needed a queen.

"Star," he whispered again, gently shaking her shoulder. "Hey, c'mon. Open your eyes."

"Don't wanna," she groaned quietly. Marco sighed. He resisted the urge to kick off his shoes, snuggle in bed with her, and hold her tightly in a protective embrace. Today was the funeral, the day she, her father, and Marco would lead the citizens of the kingdom through town as they sing in the wake of Queen Butterfly. Marco would do absolutely anything if it meant she didn't have to go through that.

To his surprise, she rolled open and looked up at him. She was more awake than he realized. He offered her a warm smile and took her hand. "Good morning," he said as he intertwined their fingers. She smiled back, but it was forced and the light in her eyes were gone.

"I don't want to do this," she admitted, her eyes straying from his.

"I know. But everybody's lost without you."

"How's my dad?"

"Hasn't said a word all day."

"And the people? Have you heard anything about them?"

"The entire kingdom has been outside the front gates all day. I sent some servants out to bring food to them a few hours ago."

"That was nice of you. You're going to make a great king, Marco. I'm glad you're by my side."

Marco dipped his head and planted a soft, lingering kiss on her forehead. "And I'm never leaving."

There was a knock at the door, followed by a hesitant, "Princess Star, your father is asking for you." The kingdom's guards were shaken, too, especially the ones who guarded Queen Butterfly's chambers that fatal night. Star knew which pair of guards right away when they approached her with guilty, scared expressions on their faces as they gave the heart wrenching news. They expected her to punish them, Star guessed, but she knew it wasn't their fault. There's no way to predict a heart attack, after all.

So, Star slowly dragged herself out of bed and stumbled across the room to her dresser. As she bent over to grab a pair of leggings from a lower drawer, Marco's shirt slipped up her back a bit, revealing that she wasn't wearing any kind of shorts. Marco snickered.

"Stop looking at my butt," she ordered without looking back.

"I wasn't!" he declared defensively, even though he shamelessly was. She grabbed a pair of black see through leggings and turned to him with a knowing glare. All he could do was grin innocently.

"You're such an awful liar," she muttered, heading sitting on the bed again. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her cheek.

"It's so amazing that I can't help but stare at it."

Star snorted and sounded like a pig, which made Marco release her and throw himself back on their bed, laughing loudly. She rolled her eyes and pulled on the leggings before headed to her closet. There was a hat on the top shelf that was reserved strictly for these occasions. Thankfully, she hadn't needed to wear it much since she and Marco came to live in Mewni three years earlier. With both of her arms stretched up, she jumped and tried her best to knock the hat off with what little contact she was allowed to reach, but she was forced to come to the conclusion that she was simply too short.

"Marco," she whined, looking back at him. He was just changing into a white tank top when she called.

"Yes, princess?" he asked, walking over to her. With a pout, she pointed to the top shelf she was unable to reach. Marco smirked and grabbed the hat with ease. Star was so jealous that he'd hit a growth spurt after high school. Now he was four inches taller than her, and one of his favorite hobbies was teasing her about it any chance he got. She hadn't grown since they graduated, and a twenty-three year old princess standing at five foot five wasn't very impressive.

As he plucked the hat off the shelf, a picture was knocked off and floated soundlessly toward the floor. Star caught it in front of her face and she smiled. It was a picture of the two of them when they were younger, celebrating Marco's favorite holiday for the first time. Their faces were painted like candy skulls, thanks to his mom. She longed to be that age again fairly often. Things were much simpler in those times.

Her eyes suddenly widened. "Marco!" she gasped, looking up at him. Marco blinked. The light was suddenly back in her eyes. He hadn't seen them like that in a week. He missed them, so much.

"What?" he asked, getting excited himself. Whatever it was that made her brighten up so suddenly, he was one hundred percent on board with it.

"Remember when we were kids and you taught me about Day of the Dead? And remember how I said I wanted to change some old ways when I become queen?"

Marco caught her drift and grinned. "You want to celebrate your mom, Dia de los Muertos style, don'tcha?"

"More than anything."

••••••••

Four and a half hours later, Star walked onto the balcony of her castle. She surprised that her people are still outside, waiting. They cheered when they saw her, and many people once sitting or laying down rose to greet her. She looked out over the thousands of people gathered in front of her castle and felt her chest her. She wasn't sure if it was guilt from making them wait so long or the joy of so many people coming to respect her mother or even the fact that this was the first time she'd ever spoken to her people in her life. Her palms were sweating and her legs wobbled with nerves. She gripped the rail along the balcony tightly.

A microphone was attached to the collar of her dress so her voice would be projected through the kingdom. Since she'd been back, Mewni has been working on being a bit modern. She was most proud of this suggestion, because finally, everybody in the kingdom could hear what the queen had to say.

"People of Mewni," Star began, pausing to listen to her voice echo through the streets, "I'm so sorry for making you all wait so long. I'm deeply grateful for the dedication you all have to this kingdom, especially in this time of need. I immediately felt so much better when I stepped outside to see you all still here, even after the sun's beginning to set. So thank you, for not giving up on me yet. This is all very new to me, public speaking and everything. It kinda stinks that my first order of business for Mewni is to lead the ceremony of my mother, but I'm honored to do it. My mother was an amazing, wise woman, even though we didn't see eye to eye most of the time. She was an incredible queen as well, always knowing what to do and understanding her people so well. I don't know if I can ever live up to who she was because those are some major shoes to fill. I know I've been a bit reckless in the past, but I'm not a little girl anymore. I hope you all can accept me as your queen and I swear, I was do my very best to follow in my mother's footsteps."

As the crowd erupted into cheers, Marco stepped onto the balcony and wrapped an arm around her waist. She smiled at him as he pulled her close and kissed her hair. When the cheers died down, Star continued her speech.

"My time on Earth was well spent learning about juggling responsibilities and still having fun. I have so many wonderful memories from my time there, but there's on in particular I'd like to share with you all. From this day forward, I'm having a cemetery built so you have the option of burying your loved one, which is what a lot of Earth's citizens do. With the new generation, I think it's time to start new traditions. On this day, I hereby declare this as Day of the Dead. Every year, we can dismiss our regular daily chores and come together as one to celebrate those who we have lost. Dying doesn't have to be sad all the time. Instead of mourning our lost loves, we should remember the good times we had with them. This is a festival my husband's family celebrates on earth. It's a two day festival filled with music, food, and dancing. I know this is a lot to take in at once, but please, step inside and see it all for yourselves. I, soon to be Queen Star Butterfly, give you the new generation of Mewni."

The large, iron gates of the castle groaned as they jolted and split apart. The citizens gasped and chatter rippled through the crowd. People flood through the gates, multiple emotions drifting through the air. Star eagerly grabbed Marco's hand and they rushed down to meet everybody.

It sure was a hassle, trying to get everything together last minute. She had to round together at least thirty servants who could draw decently well, order the guards to set up tables around the courtyard, and have the cooks throw together enough food to feed an army. Star was so proud of her staff when everything was finally finished. She apologized for making the cooks work so hard and gave them all the day off, although most decided to stick around for the festival. Marco called his parents and they joined as well. His dad brought his guitar, which he can play surprisingly well, as Star learned her senior year of high school.

When the two finally reached the courtyard, they were overwhelmed with joy. The citizens really seemed to be enjoying themselves! The lines for face paintings were long and overlapped each other, small children ran around with candy skulls painted across their faces, adults ate happily and chatted amongst themselves, and even the staff seemed to be happier than they had been the past week. Marco's dad was playing his guitar and his mom was dancing, but nobody else seemed to be.

"C'mon, this isn't a festival without dancing!" Marco exclaimed, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the middle.

"Oh Marco, you know I'm bad at dancing," she said with a laugh.

"Just follow my lead. It's just like prom, remember?" He shot her a smile and grabbed her hands. Marco's mom made him go to a ballroom dancing class during their junior year, much to his dismay, but Star couldn't tease him anymore because he actually got pretty good at it. And, in both that particular moment and prom, she was thankful his mom forced him to endure it for nine months. He was a great lead, as well.

The citizens of Mewni partied the night away and Star, even though she knew she'd be crowned queen the next day, refused to turn in until she physically couldn't party anymore. When that happened, Marco laughed, scooped his queen in his arms, and headed for the castle. As he walked to the door, he paused to wink at the painted portrait over the door of Queen Butterfly.