"Can't I just leave already?" Marco asked.

It's now been half an hour since Marco finished his soup. During that time, he lied on the uncomfortable bed, facing towards the window. Maria stayed in the room with him, making sure he was safe and sound. It creeped him out a lot, so he decided to avoid eye contact with her as much as she can. Nevertheless, neither one of them moved a muscle.

"I already told you, no," Maria replied. "You need to get fully recovered."

"But I am recovered," Marco mentioned. "No need to check up on me or watch me anymore."

"Yeah, well, you still ain't 100%," Maria responded.

Marco sighed and asked her, "You should really stop playing it safe, kid."

"I am not a safe kid!" Maria exclaimed, as she fluffed up his pillows for a brief moment. "I'm only keeping you alive, that's all."

"You're keeping me inside a prison, safe kid."

"Shut up already!"

"If you insist, safe kid. I'm your captive, after all."

Maria tried her best not to punch him. She clenched her fist so tightly, but it was simply no way to treat a man, especially if that man almost died. Marco looked at her and smirked directly to her. She still kept her cool and decided to sit back down on the chair, while making sure there were no splinters on there.

The room went silent for the next couple of minutes. Marco still faced the window, thinking about how the heck he was going to get out of here and have Star's parents bring him back to Earth. On the other hand, Maria felt a little tired from watching him lie on the bed. She gave a couple yawns and slowly closed her eyes, but she still remained awake in her chair. In order of her to remain awake, she took out an instrument from underneath the bed. And with no hesitation, she began to play a song she knew a long time ago.

Soon, Marco began to hear notes playing inside the room. The music felt like he was back with his family. He began to turn around to see where the music was coming from. Once he found the location, he saw Maria sitting on her chair, playing such beautiful music that came from none other than a guitar. He took his head off the pillow and laid his feet on the floor, so he could be starstruck from her music filling up the room with her strumming hand's movement.

Never would he thought anyone else could play the guitar quite like him.

Marco laid quietly in a chair that was next to his office desk. The red hoodie Diaz was left with nothing to do on a Thursday night. He finished all his homework for his classes, wrote all his essays that needed to be turned in, and studied well enough for a couple of tests. It may have been boring and tiresome, but it never wore him down and he would always get the job done. He could play some more video games to cure his boredom, but he felt like it wasn't enough to take his boredom out. No one, not even Jackie Lynn Thomas, were sending him any replies to his texts he constantly sends. And he had enough adventures with Star for one day.

So he grabbed his old guitar his grandpa gave him when he was 12 underneath the bed. He tried to remember a song he would always listen to in his younger years, but the most part, he was winging it. Then, he strummed the notes in his head, and it played throughout the corners of his room. He wasn't sure if anyone else in the house could hear the guitar playing, considering that he closed his door to not get bothered, but he kept on playing. That was soon to change once Star came bursting through halfway through the song.

"MARCO!" she yelled as fast as she can.

Marco got terrified as he immediately stopped playing. Something suspicious was going on, but he couldn't put his finger one it.

"Are you ok?!" Star said as she ran to him as quickly as she can. "Are you hurt?! Did anyone else get hurt?! Is someone hurt?!"

"Star, it's fine," he told her, trying to calm her down. "I'm still breathing, dude."

"So, you really are ok? You're not hurt or injured?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I didn't get hurt at all."

"And no one got injured? Everyone's not dead?"

"No one got hurt. Everyone's still alive."

Star let out a sigh of relief. She got extremely scared on a false alarm. Marco, however, felt really confused on his situation. He was only trying to play the guitar once more, after all. Yet, here they are, with a princess finally calmed down and a guitar player sitting in silence.

"Is there any reason why you burst through my room like that?" he asked. "I mean, I only wanted to play a song and maybe eat something afterwards."

"Oh, right," she responded as she took a seat on his bed. "I'm sorry about that. It's just... a long story from long ago. You know how it is, right?"

"I'm listening."

"Well, even after the great monster massacre that changed everything, there were still fights going along. But it wasn't Mewmans against monsters that kept on fighting. Instead, Mewmans was fighting against other Mewmans. Months after the kingdom of Mewni was made, riots filled up the streets, fighting for fair rights and whatnot. Surprising how it takes one to bring an uprising to a kingdom. War was basically fought between the villagers and the queen's guards, and it wasn't pretty. Some guards died, and some villagers died as well. In short, this uprising was cut short when the leader was cut in the gut.

"Anyways, when a guard or villager got really hurt from the battle, an instrument just like yours was played next to the guy that got injured. It was said that any song played from that instrument was to help recover the man from certain death. Sometimes, the song would work for them, and it got them better. Other times, it wouldn't work, and they would die like that. One of my great ancestors who served as one of the guards for Mewni died like that... I don't know how the song went, but it was the last song she heard before she passed..."

A tear from her eye fell to the ground. Marco had never seen this side from Star in his entire life. He knew about Mewnipendence Day. He read every page, took out every flap, and stared at all the pictures it created. But he would never think there would be another side to this holiday. A part of him wanted to look further to it, but his only concern was about her.

"Geez, Star," he said as he put away the guitar, "I'm so sorry. I- I didn't know about it. I can put it away if you want."

"No, it's ok!" she said sniffling. "It's nothing really. You're really good at playing it. Go play another song."

"No, I won't play another one."

The guitar went back underneath his bed. He put his hand on top of hers, hoping that he could cheer her up. She stared at him, only to see how concerned he was for her. She might had some regrets from telling her story, but she let fate take its course, and let Marco take care of the situation.

"Star..." Marco told her, as he was touching her hair with his other hand. "I know it means a lot to you. And I'm not playing another song. The least I could do is keep this princess happy."

The moment he said that, his mind went blank. He didn't know exactly what he said, and he wouldn't believe it if he heard it again. And it left her speechless. His left hand was still on top her hand, and his right hand was still messing around with her hair. This was the type of thing he dreamed of with Jackie Lynn Thomas. He would always think of playing his guitar in front of her, which had her captivated by the notes. Then, the two of them would get closer than they've ever been, and rest would be history.

But it wasn't Jackie Lynn Thomas. It was Star Butterfly instead.

Marco finally stopped what he was doing. He giggles and scratched his head in disbelief. Star giggled as well, as she tried to sink this moment in. The room went back into silence again, as the two of them put the past behind them.

"So, uh," Marco asked, "are you gonna watch anything on TV tonight?"

"I might," Star responded. "You wanna join me?"

"Sure, I could go for some TV."

Marco continued to listen to Maria's guitar music. All of the notes sounded like the notes he would play when he was young. And he couldn't believe it one bit. Although he still thought about Star and the reason he was here, he was captivated with the music. In short, her music took him away.

"Maria," he asked her. "How did you learn how to play like that?"

"Oh, this?" Maria replied as she continued to play her guitar. "Well, before my grandma died, she taught me how to play this thing. My husband loves it when I play songs for him."

"I don't blame him. You're an excellent player."

"Why, thanks. I've also heard stories about what happened after the great monster massacre, but Comet says he's cool with me playing it. He must really like my music."

"He really does. Really..."

Marco got out of the bed as soon as Maria finished playing the guitar. He helped her by putting it back to which it came. Then, he laid his left hand on her should and his right hand on her face. Maria had no idea what was going on; she knew his scars are much better than before, but his plans were a blur with her. She felt like she were under his will now.

"Maria..." he told her.

"Marco?" she asked. "What are you-"

Before she could finish, Marco locked lips with her. And it most definitely caught her by surprise. She wanted to let go of him, but she was actually enjoying it. In fact, after she was in shock for a couple of seconds, she closed her eyes. His kiss was unlike her husband's kisses; Marco had a sense of passion the longer it went, while Comet can be a little aggressive when he does it. In fact, she didn't even thought about Comet during that kiss.

After a long, enduring minute, the two finally stopped kissing. They wanted to say something to each other, but no words flew out of their mouths. Marco's mind went blank once again, while Maria blushed at him. She started to think if he lost control of himself, and the speculation grew once more when he started to grab her hand.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?!"