Okay, I am so sorry. I left you all on a cliffhanger, and then I didn't post this for months! I'm sorry I did that, really, but I'm also really excited. This is ending, finally! The long awaited ending! I only hope that I don't dissapoint. So, onto the writing I guess!
UPDATE FROM FUTURE ME: Uh, spoilers, this isn't the end. Oops? Still, sorry for taking so long! Enjoy!
Star curled in on herself, shivering a bit. Oh boy. Oh man. This was overwhelming her a lot faster than she thought it would. Marco, Marco was back, and he'd found her. He'd finally found her, after all this time!
A part of her had hoped that this would happen, but a larger, more anxious part of her didn't want to face him. She didn't want to have to face what she'd said, or how suddenly she'd left. She didn't want to.
...But knowing Marco had missed her.
Knowing that Janna was still upset over her absence.
Knowing that it was noticeable, even to those she didn't talk to much, that she was gone.
It filled her with a strange sense of belonging.
She shouldn't feel this way, everyone was in pain, that shouldn't comfort her, but… it was somehow soothing, knowing that even after all this time, people still thought about her.
But at the same time, it was terrifying. It was made her feel so guilty, so horrified, knowing what she had done.
Everyone was in such pain, for so long. They had gotten attached to her, cared for her, and she'd just… ripped herself out of their lives! Without any warning, without even saying goodbye to all of them properly, she'd just left! She'd dropped the bombshell that was her crush, in front of everyone, in front of Jackie, and ran!
Knowing that Marco was hurting.
Knowing that Janna was still in pain.
Knowing that everyone felt a sense of void, of someone missing.
It overwhelmed her with an intense feeling of despair.
She'd caused this, she'd made this happen. All of this was her fault.
There was a small part of her that was telling her that she shouldn't feel like this, that she had done nothing wrong. It told her that it was her mom, that it was Toffee that had taken her away from everyone. But the larger part of her only felt the crushing guilt.
She'd let this happen. It was terrible that, after all this time, people still hurt over her.
It was overwhelming, the sudden rollercoaster of mixed emotions, the pain of allowing this to happen and the comfort of knowing she had so many people who cared. It was all making her feel almost dizzy. But the only thing she could do was curl up and wait for a reply from the boy she'd…
No, the boy she loves. Not the boy she'd loved, the boy she loves. How is that even possible? It had been 3 years, 3 years since she'd seen him! How did she still love him?!
(Silent and watchful, the Blood Moon flickered in the Mewnian sky it didn't belong in.)
She didn't know, but she couldn't really bring herself to care either. The only thing that mattered was how badly it hurt, the pain it was bringing her. Being away from him for so long, not having any closure for so long. She didn't even know it was possible to feel this way, to feel for someone so intensely after not seeing them for years.
And wow, that sure made her feel a whole lot worse! Still crushing on a boy she hadn't seen in years, really? She was really still waiting, despite not even knowing how he would have responded to her feelings? She had to admit, that was kinda pathetic.
And after all that, there she was, waiting for him to respond to her message after 3 years apart. Here she was, being forced to wait as he realized she was still here and that now he could say whatever had been on his mind for all those years...
Yep, she was totally feeling fine and dandy! Not feeling the impending mental breakdown coming her way at all! Yeah, nope, she was perfectly fine!
Wow, she was screwed. How had this happened? She didn't know, and at this point she couldn't care. All that she could focus on was the incoming message, the start of the first conversation between her and Marco in literal years. All she could see was the computer sitting in front of her ready to deliver and receive the words of this monumental reunion.
The computer in front of her that had just dinged with a notification.
Oh fuck.
…
The ping of the computer, despite not being nearly as loud as Janna or Marco, seemed to echo in the room. Immediately, Marco and Janna shot up, leaning over to see the computer screen, almost not believing their eyes. There, on the screen, was a single unread message.
GhostingNova: It's ok, I'm still here
Janna shivered a bit, Marco sobbing a bit harder, this time out of relief. She was still here. Somehow, she was still here.
"Oh… Oh man. Thank god." Janna wheezed, trying to catch her breath as relief flooded through her. Marco tried to compose himself, but struggled as the tears continued streaming down his face.
"It's okay, it's okay…" Janna muttered, placing a hand on Marco's shoulder, trying to comfort him. He choked a bit, leaning into the touch as Janna wrapped an arm around his shoulder. She wasn't great at comfort, but it was clear that Marco really needed it, so she'd have to try.
"Don't worry, she's here, she's still here." Janna murmured, almost not quite believing the words herself. She had no idea how Star hadn't gotten scared off, considering how elusive she'd been this whole time.
Once, about 2 years ago, the messages Marco had left on her old social media accounts had been seen by her. The status on the messages he'd sent had changed to read, but no response came. She'd gotten them, but she'd never replied. After he realized that, Marco had attempted to confront her about it, tried to get her to respond, but she never did. The messages were never marked as read again.
Marco didn't get out of bed for days after that.
And yet here she was now, still here, responding to their messages. After all these years, finally, she was here!
Speaking of the messages, they should probably respond to Star's. Janna, despite wanting to say more to Star, decided to let Marco have the computer. He'd been far more affected than her by this. He deserved to talk to her first.
"Hey, she's still there, you should probably say something." Janna muttered, causing Marco to choke a bit, before typing quickly. He must've forgotten to reply.
CuteLittleMole143: thank you
CuteLittleMole143: thank you ror not leaving
CuteLittleMole143: thanks yuo really im so glad youre here
If Star noticed Marco's awful typing, she didn't seem to care.
GhostingNova: You're welcome
GhostingNova: I'm sorry for leaving for so long
GhostingNova: I really shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry
CuteLittleMole143: its okay
CuteLittleMole143: youre back now, its okays
GhostingNova: No, it's nmot
GhostingNova: I messed up, MArco
GhostingNova: I messed up bad
Ghosting Nova: I hurt you
GhostingNova: I hurt everyone
GhostingNova: I shouldn't have done dtha
CuteLittleMole143: no, its okay
CuteLittleMole143: you're here now
CuteLittleMole143: thats what matters
CuteLittleMole143: thats all that matters
GhostingNova: No! It isn't Marco!
GhostingNova: I could;ve done somethine, but I didnt
GhostingNova: I jsut left, I shouldn;t have just left lik e that, i didn;t even get to say goodbye to everyone properly!
CuteLittleMole143: its okay, youre hre now, oyu can talk to everyone now, oyure back it sokay
GhostingNova: It's not
CuteLittleMole143: Even if its not, i dont care. I forgive oyu
GhostingNova: Marco
GhostingNova: You're too nice, Marco
GhostingNova: I'm sorry I wasn't there, I should've been there, but at least I'm here now
GhostingNova: I won't leave you again, Marco
GhostingNova: Never
…
Things had been going better.
Like Star had promised, she didn't leave again. She'd go offline occasionally for sleep or food, but even then, she was always back quickly. Marco was inseparable from his laptop now, and even if he was away from it, he had his phone with him, so he could still talk to Star.
It was amazing how close to each other they still were, despite the years apart. They fell into routine almost immediately, Marco being more like his old self than he'd been in years, and Star's excessive amount of happiness returning, to the point where it was obvious how cheery she was, even through the screen.
Despite being on Mewni again, she seemed to have a much better understanding of Earth culture than she'd had before. She had explained that it was because for the first few months, she hadn't trusted herself to interact with anything on the internet herself. She'd only watch things happen, learning a lot from YouTube and other social media. She'd learned a lot before she trusted herself to post anything, not wanting to get anything wrong.
Still, though it was much less common than before, occasionally she would misunderstand something, leading to some pretty funny moments. It was good to see that deep down, Star hadn't changed that much.
Star even reached out to a few of her other friends back on Earth. She talked to Janna often, and had gotten into contact with a lot of her old classmates. Starfan13 was overjoyed to talk to her, saying something about a hiatus being over.
Despite that, Star still didn't talk to anyone as much as she talked to Marco. They both typed very quickly, so their conversations went by at incredibly fast speeds. It made it hard for others to read over their shoulders, which rarely happened of course, but it was still nice.
Everything was going well, overall.
Well, except for one thing.
Every time Marco mentioned the possibility of meeting up again, Star would change the subject.
It was confusing to him. They were talking again, and it had been years, by now she could come back, right? If she couldn't come back permanently, surely she could at least visit? He didn't even know why she'd left, but the problem had probably been fixed by now. If not, how did she have so much free time? If there was still a problem, Marco was sure she'd be trying to help fix it.
So why was she dodging the question?
Unless… she didn't want to see him…?
No, that was ridiculous. She was so guilty over leaving and not contacting anyone, there's no way she just didn't want to see him, right? That didn't make sense….
Right?
Marco kept these thoughts to himself, not wanting anyone to know that he was thinking this. It was stupid, Star obviously wanted to see them, she clearly missed them, so there was no need to ask anyone and look like an idiot over it.
(Or, maybe he was just afraid they'd tell him he was right.)
Well, whatever! No need to focus on that. After all, he had a best friend to talk to.
He was using his actual account now that Star was willing to contact him, which, although it didn't really make a difference, was nice.
GhostingNova: Okay but Marco
GhostingNova: You don't understand
MarcoDiaz650: What do you mean?
GhostingNova: They're totally into each other dude!
MarcoDiaz650: oh
MarcoDiaz650: O H
MarcoDiaz650:OH THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW
GhostingNova: Yeah! It was obvious, how did you miss that?
MarcoDiaz650: Wow
MarcoDiaz650: I don't know
MarcoDiaz650: I'm an idiot
GhostingNova: I mean
Ghosting Nova: Yeah
MarcoDiaz650: Wow
GhostingNova: Hey, you said it first! Don't pin this on me!
Marco grinned a bit, chuckling. Man, it was great to have her back. Sure, she was a bit different now, but deep down she was still the same Star he knew and loved. He was so glad to have her back in his life.
... But why did she leave?
Marco paused, sighing. That question had been bothering him for a while now. The problem was probably gone by now, yeah, but that didn't mean he didn't want to know what it was. It had been bugging him for a while now.
His computer pinged again, and he looked down at it, blinking.
GhostingNova: Marco? You still there, bud?
MarcoDiaz650: Oh, yeah, I'm here
MarcoDiaz650: Just, uh
MarcoDiaz650: Thinking
GhostingNova: Well that's ominous
GhostingNova: Whatcha thinkin about?
Marco hesitated for a moment, before deciding to give the girl an honest answer. This question wasn't as stupid as the last one after all, and he did really want to know.
MarcoDiaz650: Well
MarcoDiaz650: Uh
MarcoDiaz650: Why did you leave, Star?
GhostingNova: what
MarcoDiaz650: Why did you have to leave Earth 3 years ago? I never found out
GhostingNova: oh
GhostingNova: Well, uh
GhostingNova: Remember Toffee?
MarcoDiaz650: Toffee?
MarcoDiaz650: Wait, wasn't he that lawyer guy that kidnapped me?
GhostingNova: Yeah, that's the guy
GhostingNova: Well it turns out, uh
GhostingNova: Yeah he's back
MarcoDiaz650: whAT
MarcoDiaz650: I'm sorry, HE'S BACK?
GhostingNova: Yep
MarcoDiaz650: Wha
MarcoDiaz650: How? He died when Ludo's castle exploded!
GhostingNova: Um
GhostingNova: Apparently not?
MarcoDiaz650: What?!
GhostingNova: If it makes you feel any better, I don't understand it either
MarcoDiaz650: Dang
MarcoDiaz650: So, how'd you defeat him?
GhostingNova: well uh
GhostingNova: that's the thing
MarcoDiaz650: What.
GhostingNova: He's, uh, kinda not here?
GhostingNova: We're still looking for a way to defeat him
MarcoDiaz650: WHAT
MarcoDiaz650: HE'S STILL OUT THERE?!
GhostingNova: uh, yeah
GhostingNova: but we know he's gonna come back, eventually
GhostingNova: he kinda threatened my mom that he was going to hurt me
MarcoDiaz650: WHAT
GhostingNova: Yeah, we kinda still have his finger, and he told her to tell me that he was coming back for it
MarcoDiaz650: WHAT
MarcoDiaz650: Is THAT why you've been dodging my questions about coming back to Earth?!
GhostingNova: Um
GhostingNova: Yeah
GhostingNova: Sorry
MarcoDiaz650: No
MarcoDiaz650: It's okay, it's totally not your fault
MarcoDiaz650: Just
MarcoDiaz650: Wow
GhostingNova: Yeah, not fun
GhostingNova: And they won't even let me help look for him!
GhostingNova: Since I'm the one who he was threatening and stuff, I'm suddenly not allowed to help out! That doesn't make any sense at all!
MarcoDiaz650: I mean
MarcoDiaz650: Well, you're the one they're trying to protect, I'm sure they just don't want you to get hurt
MarcoDiaz650: But yeah no you could probably help a lot, if nothing else is working it's kinda stupid to not let you help
MarcoDiaz650: What're they even doing about this, anyway?
GhostingNova: Well, uh, hold on let me explain this
GhostingNova: Well Ludo and Toffee are kinda sharing a body now, right?
MarcoDiaz650: I'm sorry what?
GhostingNova: Yeah, apparently Toffee sorta took control of Ludo's body or something before killing all the members of the magic high commision, and then threatening my mom before she escaped
MarcoDiaz650: WHAT
MarcoDiaz650: THE MAGIC HIGH COMMISION IS DEAD?!
GhostingNova: Wait no that was bad phrasing
GhostingNova: They're not dead! They're not actually dead
MarcoDiaz650: oh thank goodness
GhostingNova: He just kinda drained them of all life force or something and now they're all weird and floaty
MarcoDiaz650: WHAT
GhostingNova: It's okay though! We can fix it!
MarcoDiaz650: oh, okay
MarcoDiaz650: wait
MarcoDiaz650: you meant "we fixed it", not "we CAN FIX IT", right
MarcoDiaz650: RIGHT?!
GhostingNova: Um
GhostingNova: That's the thing
GhostingNova: The revival thingy requires magic, right? But no magic is really working right now
GhostingNova: Not even mine! Something really bad happened to it, but I don't really know what. But mom confiscated my wand, so I can't use it now even if I wanted to. The only thing I had time to do before she took me to try to get the commission fixed was set up a magic link to earth so that I could get wifi
MarcoDiaz650: WHAT?!
GhostingNova: Hey, don't blame me, if I'd have known that it was the last time I'd be able to use magic for years, I'd have put my energy into something more useful!
MarcoDiaz650: NO, WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO MAGIC IS WORKING THAT'S CRAZY
MarcoDiaz650: IS THE COMMISSION JUST STUCK LIKE THAT NOW?!
GhostingNova: Oh, uh
GhostingNova: Yes?
GhostingNova: But don't worry, as soon as we get this fixed we can get everything back to normal!
MarcoDiaz650: Well what are you doing to fix it?!
GhostingNova: I was getting to that!
GhostingNova: After mom figured out we couldn't revive the high commission, we got straight back to the castle and put everything on lockdown. The entire kingdom is trying to find out how to beat Toffee, so that we can get our magic back and keep everyone safe
GhostingNova: So we've kinda just been planning
MarcoDiaz650: WHAT
GhostingNova: Yeah, I know, it's crazy! We're just sitting around doing nothing, we haven't even TRIED anything since last time. Which yeah, last time went pretty badly, but still! Everything would've been gone by now if it wasn't for how hard the royal guard's been training.
MarcoDiaz650: Wait what do you mean by that last part?
GhostingNova: Oh, well, Ludo's tried to attack the kingdom a few times since we put it into lockdown. He can still use magic, which is because of Toffee I guess, but luckily we were still able to put a stop to his attacks pretty quickly since everyone is on such high alert
GhostingNova: But we can't ever catch him and put him in the dungeons
GhostingNova: Whenever we're about to get to him he "levitotatoes" outta there or whatever
GhostingNova: Luckily Toffee hasn't tried anything himself yet, he just lets Ludo do things. But he's gotta be waiting for something
MarcoDiaz650: oh my god
GhostingNova: Yeah, it's not good news, at all. I'm sure we'll beat him eventually, but it's going to take a while
GhostingNova: And until then I'm stuck waiting
MarcoDiaz650: I'm so sorry, that must be awful
GhostingNova: It's okay, we're able to hold him off, Ludo's not too good at his magic. The leviatato thingy is pretty scary, but the guards can dodge. It's mostly harmless, it just puts them in the air
GhostingNova: Pretty soon, things will change, I know it
MarcoDiaz650: okay
MarcoDiaz650: That's all really scary though, I hope you're right
GhostingNova: Yeah, I'm sure I am. It just sucks needing to wait like this.
GhostingNova: I guess that's why I took up art, it's a nice distraction. And plus, it makes people really happy. If I can keep making people happy, then I guess that means I'm helping in some way
MarcoDiaz650: Wow
MarcoDiaz650: That's a really nice reason to do that
GhostingNova: Oh, haha, yeah I guess
GhostingNova: But even that gets boring after a while, especially now that my main project is gone.
MarcoDiaz650: Your main project was the comic, right?
GhostingNova: Oh! Uh yeah, it was.
GhostingNova: Um, it's okay that I made that, right? I didn't really ask for permission or anything
MarcoDiaz650: What? Yeah, it's fine
MarcoDiaz650: No one really minds, you kept everything fairly anonymous with the name switches and everything
GhostingNova: Oh, well, okay. Still, sorry I did it without permission
MarcoDiaz650: It's okay.
GhostingNova: Well, okay. It doesn't really matter now though, I can't really continue it anyway. Nothing's happened, and it's not like I can just make Comet wait around on Mewni for three years like I did
MarcoDiaz650: Ah, I guess not.
MarcoDiaz650: Well, why don't you just make something up then?
GhostingNova: Ah, I don't know
GhostingNova: That just feels wrong at this point, I can't just make something up after everything… not until something actually does happen. I can't make anything up while I'm still just waiting, ya know?
MarcoDiaz650: Alright, I guess that makes sense. That'd just make you feel bad for not being able to actually do anything
GhostingNova: Yeah, exactly. But it's okay!
GhostingNova: Like I said, I'm sure things will change soon, so I'm sure I'll get back in the swing of things soon
GhostingNova: After all, now you're here! That makes things different already, right? So I'm sure that things will keep evolving from here! Bigger change will come after this, I'm sure
MarcoDiaz650: Yeah, yeah. I'm sure you're right.
GhostingNova: Yep! So until then, we'll just have to wait. So do you want to talk about something else then?
MarcoDiaz650: Yeah, I guess...
Marco leaned back a bit, pressing a palm to his forehead. That… was a lot to take in. Toffee was back and in Ludo's body, the magic high commission was temporarily dead, and Star couldn't do anything but wait and hope for the best.
Marco remembered how close Toffee came to crushing him to death. He remembered his hazy 16 years spent in Hekapoo's dimension, and the strange bond he had grown with her over the time he'd spent there. He remembered Star's wide grin and sparkling blue eyes.
He felt uncertain, and afraid. Who knew what Toffee was going to do? And what about Ludo, who'd learned some kind of spell from the book and was using it to try to attack the castle? How much longer would Hekapoo and the magic high commission have to wait before they were revived?
Marco didn't know the answers to those questions, but he did know one thing.
He had no idea why, but for some reason Star's words of big changes to come left a deep, unsettled feeling in his gut.
…
Despite the serious talk they had, things were still going well between Star and Marco. Star still remained optimistic despite the dire situation she was in. Marco was uneasy for a while after their talk, worried about Star's future, but eventually brushed it off just as Star had and focused on other things.
Toffee, it seemed, was still nowhere to be found. Ludo must still be in control for now, and doing other things instead of attacking the castle, otherwise Marco was sure he'd hear some news from Star about it.
So until then, all they could to is wait, and have a good time in the downtime they had.
They were doing just that when Star sent Marco a series of strange messages.
Marco had been walking out of class that day when he opened up the app he was using to message Star on his phone. He blinked, seeing that he had a string of new messages. This, in itself, wasn't too weird; Star usually tended to message him a lot, even when he was gone, so they always had things to talk about when he got back.
Marco didn't think anything of it until he opened up the messages.
There laid the 5 unread messages that would give him the shock of a lifetime. Marco's eyes widened, hands trembling as he was hit with wave after wave of emotions. His eyes scrolled across the messages in disbelief.
GhostingNova: Hey, uh, Marco, so I was thinking
GhostingNova: Um
GhostingNova: Since nothing else is happening on Mewni
GhostingNova: Maybe
GhostingNova: I could maybe visit Earth?
Oh. Oh boy. It's not the end, still? I thought it would be the end. It's still not? That's weird. Hah, well, sorry I took so long guys, hope you enjoy! Oh, I'm so excited to get this back to you all, I'm sure you've been in suspense for a while now!
And dang, when I first wrote this, I thought I'd just ignore the lore of the show because I didn't know how to incorporate it, so I thought I'd just focus on shippy stuff, but now I actually have a vague plan for the series! I'm so excited! But, uh, this might not update again for a while. I hope I do it soon, really, but I might not for a while… Anyway, please do leave your thoughts in the reviews! Thanks for reading!