Embrace the Truth

"We can't go in," Marco said quietly as he placed a soothing hand on Moon's shoulder, "she wouldn't want us to know that we listened in on her meeting. She'll think we're underestimating her." The heartbroken queen turned to face the short boy with furrowed brows.

"How can you say that? Right now, she needs to know that me and River support her. You too, you have to help when something like this happens. She'll lose her confidence and become the very thing she fears," Moon said furiously. She turned away from the silent teen and opened the door. Star was sniffling in the dark as her mother silently entered the room.

"Go away," the royal ordered weakly. She had pulled her legs up to her chest and used her hair to hide her face. "I mean it, leave me alone."

"Star…," Moon said softly as she slowly embraced her daughter from the side, "I'm here. I've always been here for you." She placed a kiss on her daughter's head and hugged her tighter. The teen refused to release her hold on her legs and tried to make herself smaller.

"So, you heard," Star spat out bitterly, "you heard what a disappoint I was. I can't even take care of my own people when they need me." Silent sobs forced her body to shake in her mother's warm embrace. Star dug her fingers into the sides of her legs, angry and upset about everything that had happened.

"Star, you're not a disappointment. You never have been, and you never will be. I'm sorry that all this is affecting you the way it has been. I never wanted you to feel like I did when I was younger, but you're here now and you'll be stronger for it."

Outside, Marco felt like he was intruding on a very rare, very private intimate moment and left the two alone. His footsteps faded as he became farther and farther away from the two female royals. Moon began to wince from the strain being placed on her wounds and stood up. She took her depressed daughter's hand and led her to her bedroom so they both could be comfortable.

"Come on Star, I know how much you love to lay in our bed," Moon coaxed. Pouting, the teen feebly crawled onto the large bed and crawled underneath the warm covers. She felt like a child again as she laid next to her mother on the large, plump pillows.

"I wanted to show you that I could be a responsible queen, but instead, I messed everything up. Now, the Commission won't even include me in their investigations. Heckapoo was right," Star whispered, tears filling her eyes once more. She gave in to her mother's accepting gaze and moved closer to her. She wrapped her arms around Moon's small frame and tried to relax.

"Don't listen to Heckapoo. She probably doesn't even have information to give and the next time I see her…well, we'll have words," Moon said threateningly. Star shifted so she wasn't laying on her mother's hair and sighed.

"But she is right, I'll never be as amazing as you are. Not even close," Star admitted, closing her eyes as she began to feel sleepy.

"My darling girl," Moon said as she brushed a few locks of hair out of Star's face, "you already are amazing and a far better queen than I was. You're tackling issues I never dreamt of touching." Star let out a long yawn. "Sleep for now, but when you wake up, you'll see that I'm right."

Star mumbled something incoherent as she finally drifted off to sleep. Moon waited for her breathing to slow before letting out a sad sigh. She knew she wouldn't always be there for Star, but while she could, she just wanted her daughter to be happy.

GEGEGEGEG

Star woke up to an empty room and felt her stomach growl from a lack of food. She rubbed her eyes before sliding off the large bed and padded over to the door. She wasn't sure what time it was, but the sun was down, meaning it was already late. She heard voices coming from the dining hall as she slowly reached the entrance. She inhaled the smell of juicy meats and the sweetness of the night's desserts. Too hungry to care what they thought, she pushed open the door and silently walked over to her seat.

"Oh, Star, it's good to see you're finally awake," her friend said from his spot. He continued to eat as he waited for her parents to say something.

"Yeah," she replied softly. She dropped into her seat and placed what she wanted onto her plate. She took big bites and ignored the stares from those around her.

"How're you feeling," River asked. He had walked into the bedroom not long after his daughter had fallen asleep. Moon had left with him to tell her husband everything that had happened between Star and the Commission. Seeing her in front of him now, he could see how the stress was eating away at his little girl.

"Fine, I guess," she said without looking at him. She kept her eyes trained on the plate of food before her and focused on eating.

"I found out some stuff about Ms. Heinous. Wanna hear about it," Marco asked from beside her. He knew how much she wanted to help stop the evil headmistress and thought this was a good place to start.

"Not really. I just wanna eat my food and go back to bed," the teen said dejectedly. Her voice was void of her usual emotions, as was her face and posture. The others frowned at her lack of enthusiasm which prompted Moon to finally speak up.

"Mina's gone after her, so you don't have to worry about it anymore. I also talked to Heckapoo and-," she stopped when she saw Star's head shoot up. Her vacant expression had finally changed to one of anger.

"Well, that's just great! Now, she probably thinks that I crawled to you for help and she'll never see me as an adult," the teen groaned. This was not what she wanted to hear upon waking up. She put her face in her hands as she hunched over in her chair.

"Star, if you would let me finish! Heckapoo said that Ms. Heinous is something far more dangerous than we had previously thought. She didn't want to put the bloodline in jeopardy. That's why she decided you shouldn't handle this. She doesn't even want me to interfere."

"Oh, of course, the precious 'Butterfly' bloodline," Star hissed but kept what she knew to herself. "Why couldn't she just say that instead of being a jerk? It would have been easier to handle than what she chose to say."

"She wanted me to tell you that she was sorry for the harsh things that she said," Moon informed.

"I'll believe that when she tells me herself and to my face. I wasted a whole day because of her. I could have been looking for information on Eclipsa or making new spells," the acting queen said. She resumed eating and returned her eyes to her plate.

"Actually, my dear, your mother and I were thinking that you might need a break from all of this. Why don't you and Marco go to Earth for a couple of days and relax," River asked.

"Are you kidding!? I can't leave just because I had one rough day. Am I that bad that all of you would rather me be on Earth than Mewni?"

"No," her mother said, "we just don't like to see you so unhappy. This is all too much for you and it shows."

"I defeated Toffee! Don't you think that I can handle this? You fought a battle and didn't get the chance to 'take a break', so why should I? I'm not even fighting a war, and everyone thinks I'm going to fall apart under the stress. I can do this, I know I can," Star stated angrily. She wasn't surprised that everyone was beginning to doubt her, the feeling that she had disappointed them came rushing back. "I can do this," she repeated to herself.

The others were stunned into silence, not knowing how to respond to her questions. Of course, they believed in her, but it didn't take a psychologist to see that Star was stressed about Ms. Heinous and Eclipsa. After a moment of silence, Star dropped her fork onto her empty plate with a clatter. She rose from her seat and left the dining hall and headed to her room. It seemed the only one who thought her capable enough to handle the truth and weight of the kingdom was Eclipsa.

GEGEGEG

Author's Note: I'm going to be out of town for a couple of days, so I'm posting this early. Also, if you haven't seen it yet, go to YouTube for the new promo that was released at SDCC. It's awesome and I can't wait for the show to be back! Hope you enjoyed!