|Outside,Morning|

Dagger watched as he could see Star and Joker approaching. People stared at them when they walked by, before they started whispering behind their hands, pointing at the two. It wasn't long before Dagger understood why, as the two were talking so loudly that he could hear them from a while away.

"… still doesn't mean you had to go at it all night!" Star said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"Ye had fun doing it too! Ye even begged me at one point." Joker replied, throwing her a smile.
"Begged you? Oh please, I did not. I was merely giving you a nudge.'
"Well, ye could "ave screamed a lil' less. No need to be that loud about it."
"That's your own fault. You shouldn't have been so rough with me. I swear I'll have bruises."
"As if ye bruise that easily. And seems like it cured ye. Maybe we should do it more, eh?"

Star replied by pulling Joker's hat down over his eyes, looking mildly angry with him but amused nonetheless. "Maybe. If you're good." She said.

Giving Dagger a wave she walked off, cheeks red with either a mild fever or excitement. Dagger watched her walk away, mouth opened in a flabbergasted expression. He did not believe his ears for a second. Had he just heard what he thought he had heard? Star had spent the night in Joker's tent, but he hadn't expected the two of them to go that far immediately.
"J-J-Joker, did ye and Star? Did I hear correctly? Ye and Star actually? I can't believe it!"

Joker looked at his brother in a way that suggested the man wasn't making any sense at all.
"Dagger, could ye talk in, like, a normal way? What ye blabberin' about?" Joker asked.

Dagger grabbed him by the sides of his vest, shaking the ringleader back and forth as he sported a blush on his cheeks as tears sprung to his eyes.
"Congratulations, brother! I had no idea ye was about to confess to Star! To think that she said yes! Ye even spent the night together already. Ye really are one lucky son of a bitch, aren't ye? Congrats, congrats, congrats!"

Joker stopped Dagger from talking by placing his hands to the sides of the man's head, pushing him back like that a little. Dagger kept spouting out his heartfelt happiness for Joker's newfound luck, and was vowing that he would look out for any children that Joker might have conceived the previous evening.

"Dagger, me an' Star didn't do anythin' last night. Well, we did end up havin' a pillow fight or two, but I didn't lay a hand on the girl."

Dagger seemed to crumble to ashes as he heard that. "A … pillow fight?" he asked.

"Yeah."

Dagger grabbed Joker by the vest again, this time shaking him back and forth in a more furious manner. He seemed to be gravely disappointed.
"But last night was the PERFECT moment for ye to confess! Both of ye were still worn out from yer adventure together, and Star came to yer tent because she was worried about ye."

"Ye wanted me to confess while both of us were collapsin' from a fever then?" Joker asked, blinking in surprise.

"Ye don't get a thing about romance, brother." Dagger mumbled, letting go of the older man, letting himself drop on a barrel standing there. He rested his head on his hands, looking at the ringleader in a dejected manner. "Ye and Star could've been halfway to church an' about to get married of ye had played yer cards right."

Joker scratched the back of his head, laughing with a blush on his cheeks. The notion of getting married was almost just as embarrassing as confessing his love to Star.
"Shall I push ye and Beast in the river then? Ye can test for yerself just how well a proposal goes when ye're both nearly fainting with a fever."

Dagger frowned, giving Joker a glare. "I'll be fine getting Big Sis to love me, thank you. I was merely saying that ye an' Star need some serious help getting together. The both of ye are so oblivious of one another that it's a miracle ye even spend some time together instead of fretting if the other person likes ye back. Star was worried about ye last night, and I'm sure she cares about ye, but she's too thickheaded to realize that she likes ye."

"Hah?" Joker said.

"Now ye aren't that stupid, but still ye're scared of telling her that ye like her, even though it's obvious to everybody else in the circus that the two of ye are emittin' hearts each time ye see one another. What am I –"

"Dagger, stop talkin'. Ye were sayin' that Star likes me?" Joker asked, not really believing what Dagger was saying.

Dagger threw the ginger an annoyed glance. "Of course that's what I'm sayin'. Thing is, she's too oblivious to realize she does. Do ye have any idea how irritating it is watchin' the two of ye?"

"Star likes me?" Joker asked again, just to make sure.

Dagger gave him a punch in the shoulder, looking annoyed. "SHE LIKES YE!" he yelled.

Joker let himself drop against a barrel, holding a hand against his forehead as he did so. "Star likes me." He mumbled. Then he got up, grabbing Dagger in a hug.

"She likes me!" he said again, and this time Dagger was the one getting shaken back and forth.

"That what I've been saying the entire time! I take it back, yer even worse than Star."

Joker let go of Dagger, suddenly realizing something.
"I should 'ave confessed last night." He mumbled with a sudden terror in his voice. He had missed one of the most perfect chances he could have ever been given. The timing and setting had been perfect. When he had pulled her in that embrace, he ought to have had pressed a kiss on her rosy lips and told her that he wanted her to stay. Stay forever with him, so he wouldn't ever have to worry about her. That's what he should've done.

Dagger patted him on the shoulder, making sympathizing sounds. "Ye should 'ave. But there'll always be another chance."

|Somewhere Else|

Meanwhile, Star was pondering on her newly found feelings for Joker. Was she really serious about him? She had been in love before, but that had been with the boy that she had been supposed to marry when she had still been a noble. It had been perhaps a more dutiful kind of love, instead of real, heart-thumping love. Still, how was she supposed to know? There hadn't been any time for a man in her life the past years. It was as if being in the circus had given her heart the time to heal, and now it was pumping with a renewed vitality.

"Star, what are you doing… asks Marx." Snake's voice came from behind her.
Star looked back into his eyes, and sent a the man a smile.

"Hello, Snake." She thought about what she should tell him. "Well, I was wondering what love is, actually." She said truthfully.

Snake looked at her in surprise. He hadn't been expecting an answer like that. And though he would have liked to answer that question, when he thought about it, he realized he didn't really have a clue about it either. His snakes were of the opinion that love was simply finding someone you wanted to procreate with, but when he told Star, she seemed doubtful about it.
"I don't know…that seems like it's very simple. I don't think it can be that simple." She mumbled, placing her elbows on her knees.

Snake nodded, agreeing with her. Goethe told him that if that was how Snake wanted it, he should sort it out himself. After all, Snake was a human, and humans and snakes thought about these kinds of things in a different way. Finally he had an idea.
"We should go and ask Peter and Wendy." He said, not adding his usual 'says this snake' after it. It was after all an original idea of his, and not that of one of the snakes.

"Peter and Wendy?" Star asked, looking up in surprise.

"Because they are always together, and they probably love each other too… says Goethe." Snake said, his reptile friends explaining what he couldn't.
Star shrugged, getting up as she thought about it. "I guess you might be on to something here." She said, gesturing Snake to come with her.

"Huh? What love is?" Peter asked surprised. He and Wendy had been lying in a stack of hay, trying to get a nap while they didn't practice. Tonight there would be another show, and they needed their rest. Wendy looked too, her face frowning as she thought about it.
"I guess love is…" she started.

"… findin' someone who is in the same situation as ye…" Peter continued.
"… an' trustin' them with yer life." Wendy ended.

Star and Snake folded their arms over one another, trying to figure out if this was truly what love was. It didn't quite match the things she associated with Joker though, and she let out a sigh.
"Not really what I was looking for, but thanks. At least it's better than the previous answer."

"I can't help it… says Emily." Snake replied. Star had started an interesting quest, and he was curious if they would be able to find an answer that fitted her needs.

"Well, if ye don't like our answer, why don't ye go askin' Jumbo? A big lob of a lad should 'ave a big 'eart as well." Peter suggested, pulling his hat over his eyes.

Snake looked at Star, who shrugged and walked off in search of Jumbo.

"Love, huh?" the big man asked, scratching his chin as he pondered the question. He looked down at Star and her companion, and placed the torch he had been using to train in the sand. Sitting down on a crate, he scratched his hand.

"Love would be… havin' a warm home, and kids running around. Food on the table, an' a person to share yer thoughts with."
Star thought it sounded about right, but then again, she couldn't imagine Joker ever settling down to start a family in a small home and getting a normal job as a worker. His arm would get in the way, for one, and of course he was far too flamboyant for a life that was as common as that. And she didn't feel like just staying at home, minding the children and not be able to go out at all. She had had her taste of adventure, and now she wanted more.

"Thanks Jumbo, but I don't think that's it either. For me, at least."
Jumbo shrugged, picking up his torch again. Before they left, he suggested she should go and ask Doll. Perhaps the girl would be of more help.

"Heh, ye're askin' me what love is, Star?" Doll said, getting her costume ready for the show. Her hair was swept away from her forehead, and her scar around her left eye was visible now. Star didn't mind, to her Doll was still a beautiful girl.

Snake stood behind Star, not watching as Doll changed. His back was turned to the two, and he listened as Doll explained. The girl put a finger to her cheek as she mused about it.
"Well, I s'pose that love is what I feel for ye, an' George, an' Snake, an' Joker, an' all of the others. I guess love is like bein' together like we are, in a big group where we all love each other, not 'cuz we 'ave to, but 'cuz we want to take care of each other. It's like bein' friends, but bein' family even more. I guess that's what love is to me; havin' friends that'll care for me like I do for them."

Snake nodded as this statement kind of reflected what he felt for the others. Friends, but even more than that a sheltering hand, like a family that looked out for all of its members, no matter who or what they were.
Star on the other hand still wasn't quite convinced. Everything everyone had said sounded about right, but instead of it being just what she needed, it felt like there was still a piece missing. Everybody had added something to her feelings, but not enough to be quite sure what she was still missing.
"Thanks Doll. You've been a great help." Star told the girl, before she left the tent. Snake bid her goodbye, together with his snakes.

She remained behind, leaning against a pole as she thought it over. She could try asking Beast, but she dismissed the thought. Beast would probably skin her alive if she even had an inkling Star liked Joker. The woman was hostile enough, without even knowing something like that.
Suddenly somebody put his hands over her eyes. "Guess who?"

"Dagger, let go of me!" Star said, trying to wave away the man's hands.

"How'd ye know 'twas me?" he asked, pouting.

"You're the only one who always sneaks up on me like that." Star replied, looking at him from the side. Before she had the chance to ask him what he thought about love, he started talking.

"I hear ye've been goin' around camp, asking what love is. Ye wanna know what I think about it?"

Star shrugged and nodded at the same time. Of course she wanted to know what love was to Dagger. The man smiled, adjusting his hat before he started talking. He looked at Star from the side as well.
"I guess that love for me is wantin' to protect the person I love. Even if, for example, she were to fall off a bridge, I'd be jumpin' in right behind her. 'cause if she died, I don't think I'd be able to keep on livin'."

Star opened her mouth in surprise, but Dagger stopped her by raising his hand.
"My live would be gladly given before hers, because I'd think the world would end of she wasn't around anymore. My world would end. To be prepared to give up everythin' for that other person, an' have my heart skip ten thousand beats if her hand brushes mine. To do whatever it takes to win her heart, even if she ends up scoldin' me. That's what I think love is."

Star touched her chest, and realized that had been the missing piece. She was indeed prepared to give up everything for Joker. Her title? That could go to hell, if it ever stopped her from loving him. Being a thief? She had given that up a long time ago when she joined the circus. Her life? It was his, if he wanted it. Dagger gave her a pat on the head, before he pointed to their right. Star's bright eyes followed his finger, and landed on Joker.
He was standing there, looking quite embarrassed with a single, bright yellow flower in his hands. It matched the color of the bow of his costume, and he twirled it in between his fingers nervously. When her eyes met his, he fumbled it, barely managing to catch it before it dropped to the ground.

Looking beside her, Dagger had left. She didn't wonder where he had gone off too, at the moment the only thing that mattered to her was where Joker was. He took a hesitating step towards her, and then another. Star did the same, her hands clasped behind her back rather nervously.
She felt like she had when she had been asked to dance for the first time. That nervous fluttering of her heart, the blood rushing to her cheeks. It was almost a drunk feeling, and her legs were shaky. At last she and Joker were face to face.

"Star, I –"
"Joker, I – "

The both of them stopped talking, wanting the other person to go first. After a few seconds of silence, a silence so tense it could pop open in a firework at any second, Joker held out the yellow flower.
"Gettin' a rose was a little hard, but I knew ye like yellow, so I guess this one would do."

Star touched the flower, and Joker took her as she touched his. His green eyes seemed to quiver under her gaze. Could he hear her heart thumping? He had to, it was going so fast and loud, there was no way he didn't.
"Star, I wanted to tell ye… I … like ye."
The moment the words left his lips, it was as if something inside him relaxed, and the next words just streamed out.
"I liked you from the moment I saw ye, I just didn't realize it then. And after I realized it, I had trouble eatin' or sleepin' because I was fussin' about if I would ever be able to tell ye, because ye're so amazin' and perfect, I couldn't believe that somebody like ye would ever be able to like me. But I can't hold silent any longer, I need ye to know. Star… do ye like me?"

She nodded. She felt as if her tongue was tied in a knot, and yet she managed to speak.
"I like you too Joker. I like how silly you can be, and how you can get flustered at the littlest things. I guess I liked you too for a long time now, and I only just realized yesterday. I can't believe I was so stupid not to notice earlier. I… I like you!"
She wanted to hide her face after she had said that, feeling even more awkward than the first time she had gone on stage.
Joker's fingers stopped her, cupping her chin so she was forced to look in his eyes. He smiled at her, and seemed to be at peace deep inside. His mouth moved towards hers, and every inch it neared her heart started to beat faster and faster.
He kissed her, such a soft, long kiss, she had to grab his arms to convince herself it was real. He had his hands around her waist, holding her closer and closer every second. Slowly she felt own self somehow melt into him, and for that one second… everything was just perfect.