A/N: Please don't hate me for this chapter, lol. I don't really have a lot of comments to make before I start here, so IDEK what to put. Just hope you guys enjoy this chapter and it makes sense. :)

Marco sat in his desk chair, casually writing in his journal. 'June 30th, 2021 - It's been just over four years since Toffee showed his ugly face again, yet nothing has really changed. Star and I are still happy together and have been training with Johan every day. Everyone is always on high alert though we haven't been attacked by Toffee yet and The Magic High Council members have been put in magical stasis. I'm beginning to doubt that we'll ever see Toffee again. Anyway, Star said she had some important news for me again today so hopefully she'll tell me this time.' He read over the entry carefully. "That'll do it for today."

"Still writing there, Marco?" Star popped her head into the small closet-like area with a smile. "It's time to reveal the big secret."

"Just finishing up, I'll be out in a minute." He stood up and closed the journal. "And it sounds like someone's particularly excited."

"Oh, hush! You would be too if you knew what was going on." She had moved back to the bed and was waiting as patiently as she could.

"Alright, what's up? You've been like this for a week," Marco sighed. "Are you actually going to tell me this time?"

"Yes, I am." She stood up and hugged him. "Let me ask you this. Are you ready to be a dad?"

"What do you mean, 'am I ready to be a dad?' I thought we'd already talked about this." He said, very confused about what Star meant.

"Okay, let me phrase it this way. Do you remember that talk with my parents four years ago when we found out humans can get mewmans pregnant?" She sighed heavily at the non-understanding.

Marco's eyes went wide and he couldn't stop himself from smiling. "You don't mean- Star, are you pregnant?!" He was nearly dancing with joy as the words escaped his mouth.

"Took you long enough." She teased. "Yes, we're going to have a Butterfly Jr."

"Oh my god! This is great news!" Marco was literally dancing now. "I'm gonna be a DAD!"

"Jeez, keep your voice down. God only know's how my parents would react..." Star put her hands on her overexcited husband's shoulders.

"Sorry, sorry." He quieted down but couldn't shake his smile. "You haven't told them yet?"

"No, I wanted you to be the first to know." She smiled back at him. "I thought it'd be better that way. Not everyone needs to know about this, anyway."

"Well, why don't we go tell your parents together right now?" Marco grabbed Star's hands and pulled her toward the door. "I'm sure they'll be thrilled with this, becoming grandparents and all."

"Heh, yeah. At least my dad will be." She giggled at the thought of King River parading down the halls with a small child on his back and a hearty smile on his face. "He'll finally have someone he can give piggyback rides to, again."

"That will be nice for him. He won't have to take those unplanned 'national meeting' trips anymore." Marco chortled. He had to quiet himself when he heard footsteps around the corner.

"Star, Marco. I was just headed to get you." Queen Moon stepped into view. "We need to discuss the state of things."

"That's funny." Star laughed awkwardly. "We were just on our way to share some news with you."

Moon looked confused. "Well, whatever is going on can it wait until your father is present?"

"It'd be better for both of you to hear at the same time." Star and Marco spoke and nodded in unison. It was a common thing to happen anymore for the two to mimic each other's speech and movement, so no one batted an eye at the duality.

The group promptly headed to the royal bedchambers for a family meeting. It was a long and vaguely awkward walk that ended in the usual seating arrangement. Everyone in the room stared silently for a moment before River cleared his throat.

"It's time to discuss this month's taxes and where they need to be directed." He droned.

"Uh, before we get too far into that stuff... Marco and I have an announcement to make." Star spoke softly. "I'm uh- I'm- I'm-"

"Star is pregnant. You're going to be grandparents." Marco finished the statement for the stammering princess.

The king and queen nearly went into shock, and their separate reactions began. King River was jumping for joy and shouting joyously while Queen Moon hugged Star and smiled proudly.

"Congratulations, you two." Moon pulled Marco into the hug. "Have you got a name in mind?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Star pulled out of the hug and beckoned her father over. "She feels like a 'Blaze'. Blaze Butterfly."

"I like it. It's a good, strong name." Marco proudly stated.

Suddenly there was a frantic knock at the door. "Queen Moon, King River! Emergency!" It was one of the castle guards on the other side of the door. "Toffee is here!"

Everyone in the room panicked. Star began shaking her head and Marco had frozen with fear. Moon and River had charged out of the room to aid the castle guards.

"Quickly, this way!" The guard escorted them out to the balcony, soon to be joined by nearly petrified Star and Marco.

Toffee was visible just outside the castle gates. He had regenerated most of his body back to its original Septarian form. "Why hello there. I'm glad everyone could show up for this little meeting. Especially you, Marco. How are you doing?"

Marco was too stunned to make a witty comeback. Instead he stared in fearful awe at the suited reptile in the sky.

"What brings you here after all this time, Toffee?" Star yelled, wand at the ready.

"Oh, nothing much. Just thought I'd drop by and give you a little heads up." He grinned evilly. "I want to fight you at your best, so be ready tomorrow. I will wait for you at the plains beyond the forest." After he spoke, the sky darkened and with a flash of lightning he disappeared.

The butterfly family retreated back into the royal bedchambers and collapsed in exasperation. Even the joyous news of a new addition to the family had turned into fear. The one thing everyone had constantly in the back of their minds had been brought to the surface.

Moon was the first to take action, standing up and rushing out of the room whilst barking orders at every knight and guard she passed. She had to do whatever she could to protect her family and had focused on bolstering the castle defenses.

River, on the other hand had turned to Marco. "I want you to promise me you'll all come back safe from this." He pleaded.

"I will do my utmost." Marco promised.

Star grabbed Marco and dragged him off to their room before collapsing back down on the bed and sobbing uncontrollably. "Today was supposed to be a good day!" She pouted, punching Marco in the arm repeatedly.

Marco just pulled her close and ran his fingers through her hair. "It'll be alright. We've been training for four years now, there's no way we can lose." He spoke to reassure both him and his wife. "I promise we'll get a happy ending."

The two spent the rest of the day cuddling and trying to overcome their shock at the events of the day. It was dark out before either of them had the strength or willpower to sneak out into the kitchen for a snack.

"I know what'll help." Marco dragged a puffy eyed Star around in search of ingredients. "I'm gonna make some nachos."

"Nachos sound good." She sniffled. "Can you make them extra spicy?"

"Sure thing, my love." He giggled as he dug through the last few cupboards. "You normally don't like them spicy, though."

"I know, just craving them I guess." Star sighed and wrapped her arms around Marco from behind.

It took ten minutes before the nachos were ready and a small table was set. The young couple sat and eagerly devoured the late night snack with near silence.

"Thank you. I really needed to get out of that room for a minute." Star said between spice breaths. "And don't ever let me make you cook super spicy nachos again. I don't know why I thought that was a good idea."

"Yeah. That might not have been the best idea, my bad." Marco rubbed the back of his neck.

"Nah, I'm the one who asked for them that way." she smiled at him and stood up. "We should head back and get some sleep, Marco. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

"No kidding... Let's go." He stood up and took her hand, beginning to walk back to their room.

When they got back to their room, there were two notes left on the nightstand. One from Moon and one from Johan. Moon's read, 'Star, I urge you for the sake of the Butterfly line, please don't participate in this upcoming battle. Keep Blaze safe.' and Johan's read, 'Gone to gather magical items, no training tomorrow.' Guess nobody told him what was going on.

"This is ridiculous. Does she expect me to sit by and let you guys do all of the fighting?" Star complained loudly, flopping down onto the bed.

"No, but she expects you to keep you and our child safe." Marco rephrased. "I'll be making sure you're safe by defeating Toffee."

"Then I'll fight, too." Star made a grumpy face and folded her arms. "But first, I'm gonna sleep."

"Okay. I'm going to go write in my journal for a minute, then I'll join you." Marco knew there was no point in trying to argue, her decision was final.

"Okay, don't take too long. You know it's hard for me to fall asleep without you." She grumbled.

"I won't be too long." Marco's voice was now echoing through the door to his closet-study. He sat at the desk and pulled a dusty leather-bound book off of the small shelf next to him. It was the first magical item he'd gotten from Johan, and within its pages was the secret to beating Toffee once and for all.

He flipped open the book and the pages turned automatically to a spell labeled 'Absorb All' with a description that left him speechless. "Absorb All allows the caster to completely consume any object or being he or she so desires. In the case of absorbing a being, all memories and ability are transferred to the caster. Spell range: touch. No counterspells." Marco read aloud softly.

Was this really the only way to defeat Toffee? "I guess it does make sense. After all, It's kind of hard to wreak havoc if you've been absorbed." He began to form a plan as he carefully placed the book back in its place and headed back to the bed.

The morning sun rose, and with it, Star and Marco. They were fighting in the front lines despite Queen Moon's pleas for Star not to participate. River made Marco promise that his family would make it back to him alive and well. Marco had every intention of honoring that promise, and he had a plan.

With one spell, Toffee blew away almost all of the mewman army, leaving the royals standing unscathed. "Today's battle will be between the Butterflies, and me. No interruptions."

The battle had begun, Star, Marco, Moon, and River were the only people in the way of Toffee's total domination.

A/N: Sorrynotsorry. Happy mother's day, for those of you who celebrate that.