The carnival was in full swing. The two girls had traveled from edge to edge, with Star more often than not leading them from interesting sight to sight. Whatever tickled the princess' fancy at a given moment in time was their guide through the cacophony of lights and sounds. StarFan13 tended to avoid anything that costed too much money, and more often than not reluctantly went along with it whenever the blonde offered to pay. Despite being tugged around everywhere and feeling bad about not paying for herself, the brunette was still having a good time.

The haunted house had been a blast, with Star having nearly blown a hole in the roof not once, not twice, but three times. Thankfully, she had her 'date' to stop her from causing too much property damage. The bumper cars had been especially well received by the warrior princess, having gotten into it from the first crash she made. The royal treasury was going to have to cover a few replacement cars after that.

"What next?" Star asked excitedly, the hours having passed in a blur, and yet her energy undiminished.

StarFan13 couldn't say the same, and quickly looked around for a solution. A moment later, she saw it, "Oh! There!" She pointed, then froze as sense caught up with her suggestion.

The princess took a moment to look at it more closely. "...the Tunnel of Love?" She blushed awkwardly as thoughts of what could go on in there flooded her poor, alien mind.

Mouth suddenly dry, the brunette started talking rapidly, "Well, it's a pretty standard affair for carnival dates! You get on a little swan boat and ride around while music plays and there's hearts and stuff everywhere. It's meant to be private and romantic." She blurted out. A deep breath, she continued, "But uhh... it's mostly because it's on the flash cards. It's part of the whole package."

The mewman calmed down a little at this, "Oh, okay... that makes... well, that makes no sense to me, but half of Earth doesn't! Let's go!" She finished with a smile.

The line to the Tunnel of Love was mercifully short, and it didn't take them long to get on one of the weird, swan shaped boats. The two giggled lightly as they jumped into in, rocking the boat. Once stable, the attendant let them off, gently moving down the tunnel.

Things were quiet at first, but soon, as the sounds of the carnival became faint echoes in the tunnel, the mood music started to set it. The mewman princess wasn't entirely sure what to make of it, and unbeknownst to her, an awkward silence had come across the two as she tried to puzzle it out. Well, awkward for StarFan13 at least. Much to the human girl's credit though, she was trying to break the silence.

"This is uhh... nice?" She offered.

Star blinked from her internal critique of the music when the brunette spoke, turning to her and smiling, "It's weird. A little boring. But the music is... odd. I can't quite place it..."

"Well, it's meant to be a little ah... romantic?"

"Hmm... Not quite. But almost. Ah! I know!" The princess exclaimed, smiling. "This is cuddly music." Without a hint of hesitation, Star leaned against StarFan13, for no other reason than she felt the music demanded it.

The human shied away a little, "S-Star..." She let out awkwardly, the dark lighting in the area hiding a blush on her face.

"Shut yer face. I know this is practice, but this is part of it, and I like it." She said bluntly, continuing to smile.

"Well... if you say so."

Awkwardly, brown hair touched blonde as StarFan13 joined in. The rest of the tunnel was spent in silence. Neither had anything to say, Star too lulled by the music, and it made for a good break from the rest of the 'date'. They hadn't realized it until then, but now that they were sitting down, they were exhausted. So much so, in fact, that by the time they reached the end of the ride, Star had fallen asleep.

"Star?" Asked the brunette, shaking Star a little. "Star." She said again, a little more forcefully. Not wanting to anger the attendant, who was waiting for them to get off, she poked the princess in the face a few times.

"Narwhal... bla- wha-huh?" The mewman looked around bleary eyed. "Oh, jeez, sorry!"

Leaping out of the swan boat, Star made a landing on the exit walkway, followed soon by StarFan13. She spun on her heels, looking to her date and smiling sheepishly. "Sorry about that, I guess the night's catching up with me. Hopefully there isn't too much more running around."

The brunette giggled, "No problem, Star. And no, not really. There's a ride on the ferris wheel before the fireworks, and then I'm supposed to walk you home."

"That sounds doable, and fun!" After a moment scanning the area, the princess continued, "Ah, there it is! That was supposed to be one of the good ones, right?"

"Yeah, but maybe not for what you might be thinking. It's a slow ride, private like the Tunnel of Love, but it shows off a great view of the city, and the fireworks."

"Sounds even better! How long until the fireworks?"

"Around twenty minutes, which we'll probably be spending in line." StarFan13 sighed, "Lines... always lines."

"Well, let's get to standing around!" Excitedly, Star grabbed onto her date's hand, and started off.

"Uhh... wrong way."

"Right!" She flipped around, and made for the ferris wheel.

The line was mercifully short. They were in for a bit of a wait, but would make it in time for the fireworks. The minutes ticked by in a tedium, people shuffling forward every dozen or so rotations of the ride, until, finally, it was their turn.

"Please be seated. Strap on your belts. Have a fun ride." The man attending the ride said, his tone bored from repetition.

The two thanked him and strapped themselves in. StarFan13 checked her watch again. "Just in time!" She exclaimed.

"Great! I haven't seen some good fireworks in a while. It should be fun!"

The brunette smiled wide, "I'm glad you're having a good time tonight. I was really nervous about it."

Star blinked, "Why?"

"Well, I mean, it wouldn't be good practice if you didn't have fun." The human replied.

"No, I mean, why would you think I wouldn't have fun? Sending time with you is always fun." She had meant to say that it was fun to spend time with all of her friends, StarFan13 included, but something stumbled her words.

The brunette blushed a little at the accidental compliment. "I-I dunno... I guess... I mean, why would you? I'm just some obsessive fan. I've been trying to curb it on these dates as much as I can, Janna's been coaching with that, but I still don't know why I was even picked. I'm just some boring, nerdy human. Not even a spectacular one."

The princess grabbed StarFan13's hand in both of her own, "But you are! Earth is amazing because of all the humans here! The things you've done, what you've made... what you're capable of! Mewmans in my mom's kingdom revere the royal family, but you! Everyone else made me feel welcomed, but no one else made me feel more wanted right away. And at the same time, you remind me a little of the adoration I get back home from my mom's people. Humans are great! And that includes you too, so don't sell yourself short, okay?"

The human with her sniffed a little and wiped her eyes, "Thanks, Star. That means a lot. Makes me feel a lot better about all of this."

Star smiled back, "No problem."

A sudden explosion startled her from the conversation. The only thing that stopped her from going for her wand was the grip she had on her friend's hand. Her nerves tensed up, but soon abated as saw StarFan13's face light up in both wonder and colour.

"The fireworks started! They're so pretty up close..." The brunette gasped.

Star looked up towards the light show, a small gasp escaping her lips. It wasn't the first time she'd seen fireworks, but there was something about the intimate space of the ferris wheel pod and the proximity to them that made it so much more wonderful somehow.

And so the two watched on, lost in the wonder of the lights.

"You don't have to do this, you know."

"But I have to! It's part of the learning process."

"I still think it's stilly."

StarFan13 giggled, "If you wanna date on Earth, you gotta be used to getting walked home. Or a drive, but neither of us is old enough to drive yet."

"Who needs cars when you have these?" Star flashed up her scissors.

"You're the one that told me that they aren't that easy to come by."

The princess giggled, "Yeah, I know. But I have them, so I'll never need a car."

"Are you going to try one anyway when you can?"

"Oh of course! I want to do at least one of everything on Earth."

"That'll take you a while."

"I know! It's it the best?"

The two giggled at that as they reached Star's - well, Marco's - doorstep.

"Well, I guess this is it, then. Date two of five, complete." Star stated, looking happy about it. Things had finally started picking up again in her life and mood alike, something she was grateful for.

"Yeah... oh! Wait!" StarFan13 said, reaching into her back pocket. "It's umm... well, it's not the butterfly you wanted, I couldn't win it with the money I had but... I got you this."

"Wait... did you spend all your money on that game?"

"...maybe?"

"StarFan13! Why?" Star chided.

"Because I wanted to win you the prize you wanted, really bad. But... I could only get this instead." She soon produced a small, green alien doll.

"What is it?"

"It's an alien. Well, what we thought aliens would look like." She paused for a moment, "It's funny that the first alien I ever meet looks so much like a human. A pretty one at that."

Star looked down at the doll and smiled as StarFan13's words settled in her. It wasn't what she wanted, but that didn't matter. This was filled with her friend's dedication and thoughtfulness. That made it better.

Leaning in, she planted a tiny kiss on brunette's forehead, who looked stunned at the gesture.

"I remember last week. End of the second date, right? See you at school."

And with that, the princess waved goodbye, leaving a starstruck StarFan13 on her doorstep.

A/N: And the second date is complete. Next chapter I had a hard time deciding what to do with, and ended up making something sorta filler-y, but with enough exposition to make it worth while. See ya next time.