Star gasped as she woke up, she was in her bed, and judging by the light streaming in through the window it was around midday. Star sat up and looked around to find that she was all alone and so she took a moment to collect her thoughts, she knew that this was a dream and none of this was real, or maybe this was real and she had just woken up from the dream. Star ran through everything in her head again, from the fight with Marco in the gardens to waking up in Kasula's dimension. Okay so, I was pulled through a black portal in the gardens of the castle by Kasula and was placed in her dimension on that weird golden slab. That must have been when Kasula trapped me in the dream world the first time. Wait, was it a dream world? Or did I wake up from the dream? No, definitely a dream, everything was weird there, definitely not real. Then I woke up in Kasula's dimension and she told me her entire plan. Then she touched my forehead and I woke up here, back in Mewni. Oh wait no, fake Mewni, this must still be the dream... right? Star was having a back and forth conversation with herself, trying to figure out which reality wasn't really examined her surroundings again, it all seemed pretty real to her, how was she supposed to know which was the real one? This one has to be fake, everything is far too nice here, no way it's real.

Marco came into the room while Star was still trying to separate the fake memories from the real ones.

"Oh, Star! You're up! Are you feeling ok? You took quite the fall yesterday." Marco asked, concerned.

"Huh, what?" Star wasn't really paying attention, she was still concerned that she could be living in a dream.

"Yesterday... when you collapsed." Marco continued before putting his hand on Star's cheek and pulling her head around to face him. "You sure you're okay?" Marco was looking deep into her eyes now and Star blushed a little in response.

"I'm not really sure Marco, I have a feeling this may not be real." she said looking at him completely seriously.

"What do you mean not real?" Marco asked, a fleeting look of concern crossing his face.

"There was this evil lady that kept putting me into a dream... she wanted to take my powers." Star continued.

"Sounds like you had quite the dream Star, but if there really were an evil woman putting you into a dream world, don't you think I would notice."

"Shhhhhhhh Marco, you are not helping." Star said as she placed a finger on Marco's lips to prevent him from speaking.

"Okay then, you take all the time you need." Marco said as he left Star alone on the bed.

Marco did have a point though, he would have noticed if someone had abducted her. He would likely have stopped at nothing to find her, maybe this was the real world after all.

Star laid in bed for a minute or two longer before getting up and starting to get ready; the nation had already been without it's queen for a day, she didn't want to neglect her duties any more. Star quickly made her way through the corridors of Butterfly castle and headed towards her office. On the way, Star was noticed by many different members of staff and was asked if she was okay more times than she cared to count. It did make sense, Star knew that the news of her blackout would have travelled through the castle like wildfire and would be surprised if anyone in the castle didn't know about it.

Star had taken a route that went past the gardens, there were plenty of windows on the way that allowed her to enjoy the view. Star couldn't quite place her finger on it, but she had a feeling that something bad had happened in the gardens very recently and her morbid curiosity kept drawing her back here.

Star tried not to dawdle and hurried off towards her office. Upon entering, she found Marco at her desk, hard at work, sorting through various pieces of paper. Marco looked up and was surprised to see Star standing in the doorway.

"Star! I thought that you were going to rest a little longer?"

Star shrugged. "I was feeling better. Thought that I could come and help you. It is my kingdom after all."

Marco smiled and pulled up a second chair to the desk and gestured for Star to join him.

"Your company is always welcome."

The King and Queen sat in Star's office and worked through the remaining paperwork for the rest of the day. There was surprisingly little work to be completed. Normally there would be disputes and problems to deal with but it seemed as if she was just signing documents that would allow for trade between other kingdoms and approving gold to be spent on various festivals which would take place throughout the year.

Once the work was complete, Marco took Star by the hand and led her out of the room and down the corridor.

"Where are we going?" Star asked through giggles of excitement, but Marco did not respond save for smiling back at her. The royal couple almost exactly retraced the steps that Star had taken earlier until they arrived at the gardens. It had already turned night and the Mewnian sky was lit up with countless stars. Marco stopped in the middle of the garden.

"Marco, what are we doing here?"

"I just thought I would treat my wife to a romantic evening after she has had a tough couple of days." Marco said as he pulled her closer to him. Star giggled and returned his embrace before leaning in to kiss him lightly. As they broke apart, slow music began softly playing throughout the gardens. Marco then led Star in a slow dance and Star rested her head on his shoulder as they gently swayed from side to side.

As they moved across the grass, Star caught a glimpse of a section of the wall that looked particularly foreboding. There was nothing visually different about this part of the wall, but for some reason, it meant something to her and it wasn't a happy memory. Star continued to allow herself to be swept along in the dance by Marco, but the thought of the wall wouldn't leave her mind.

All of a sudden Star remembered why that wall held unhappy memories for her, it was where she was taken by Kasula. It was like a dam had burst and all the memories of reality flooded back into her mind, she realised that she was in the dream world and that was like an emotional punch to the gut. Star looked up into Marco's eyes, with tears filling her own.

"What's wrong?" Marco asked.

"You're not real!" Star cried out before she pushed Marco back and ran away.

Star didn't look back, she just ran as fast as she could through the portal – she knew that if she spent any longer with Marco, she would begin to forget that she was in a dream world. Star didn't really have a destination in mind, she was just running through the castle to find somewhere she could be by herself. Star channelled her magic to open a portal, she didn't care where it went, as long as it was away from here. On the other side of the portal, Star found herself on a hill in the middle of a forest, the moonlight shining brightly down on her. It was good enough, Star broke down into tears and crouched on the wet grass trying to keep hold of the memories from her real life. The problem was that she couldn't remember which memories were the real ones any more so she just sat and sobbed quietly, lamenting the life that she feared she may have lost.

Star sat on the hill for a while longer, basked in the moonlight and looking out upon the quiet forest. There was an air of familiarity about this place, but Star could no longer trust her memories. Just then, she heard the ripping sound of a portal opening behind her. Star didn't bother turning around because she already knew who it would be and she doubted this version of him could help her at all, as much as he might want to. A pair of familiar arms found their way around Star's torso and pulled her into a tight hug.

"How did you find me?" Star asked – she knew that he would have eventually, but it didn't take him as long as she expected.

"I had a feeling you would come here." Came Marco's reply.

"Why? What is so special about here?"

"Do you not remember?" Marco asked, sounding slightly hurt.

"Maybe, but I can't trust my memory right now." Star answered truthfully.

"This is where I proposed." Marco said as he pulled her even closer.

Star let out a small gasp. Of course it is. I can remember it so well. Everything that I felt in that one instant. I was so happy. Is that memory really fake? Is my life here really fake?

"None of this is real, Marco." Star explained "You are not real. My memories of this place are not real. Our lives here are not real."

"What do you mean Star? I know I'm real, I can feel it!" Marco protested, but Star simply shrugged him off and stood up.

"I can't really explain it to -"

Star was interrupted by a feeling. A very familiar feeling that she hadn't experienced in a long time or at least what seemed like a long time. It came from a presence she knew well, the presence of Marco. Not the fake one that was stood behind her, but her Marco, from the real world! Star was overcome with emotion and tried to focus on the presence she could feel. It was near enough that she would be able to run to it and so without a second thought, she left her fake husband behind on the grassy hilltop and chased that feeling. As Star ran, she could hear Marco shouting after her, but she didn't care, this would all be over as soon as she reached him. Star was getting closer and closer and the feeling was getting stronger and stronger, just a little more and she would be with him again. Star was running through the trees now, dodging this way and that to avoid the oncoming tree trunks that stood between her and her destination.

It only took a minute or so of running before Star reached a bright white light in the forest and she immediately knew what to do, without hesitating she jumped head first into the light. Her head didn't connect with anything and she was now free falling through empty blank space. Suddenly a scene began forming in front of her. There was a large circular room with an enormous beautiful crystal in the centre of it. Marco was also there with what looked like a piece of the crystal in his hands and wearing torn clothes. Star's emotions took over and she reached out to him, the ends of her fingers just brushing the soft fabric of his hoodie.

"Marco!" Star called out to him.

As if hearing her, Marco turned around to face Star.

Star suddenly woke up, all alone in a completely golden room.

A/N: So I'm back! I said in my last chapter that I would probably be missing a week in my upload schedule and I did exactly that. It was probably a really good thing, because I was getting sorta burnt out on writing but since I took a week off I am back with a renewed vigour! Should be back to normal - releasing a new chapter every week - now and I want to thank everyone for enduring that slight hiatus.