-Chapter 3-

Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into another month. She had approximately—and assuming she was lucky—one month left on Earth. The rate at which time was hurtling by was scary. Every day brought her closer to that blasted marriage and hour by hour, minute by minute, she was being driven insane with a growing mix of stress, anxiety, fear, dread, anticipation, worry...and a different emotion she couldn't admit to herself. An Earthling and a Mewnian together smacked both worlds in the face.

"Posture!" she scolded herself as she practiced in the mirror.

Standing up straight, she did look graceful...to an extent.

"Head up..." she mumbled.

She lifted her head. Whether she was truly talking to herself or a pathetically lonely room was uncertain even to her.

"Down a little," she said as she tilted her head just a hair earthward.

She had to be ladylike. Princess-like. She had to have royal dignity. An air of importance. She had to stand graceful and proud. Mask the confusion. Silence the conscience. Calm the fear. Tame the sea. But never—never—move the mountain. The mountain was the mask, the silence, the calm, and stood strong against the angry waters that dared to brush against its base. A valley would become a moat. A trap.

Then she would be her mother's equivalent. She would finally be fit to wed.

"Star, honey, dinnertime!" Mrs. Diaz yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

"Of course, Mo— I mean, Mother," she quickly corrected, all the time muttering under her breath in secret practice.

"Please excuse me." She curtseyed to the mirror and turned around to head downstairs.

She had been privately training herself in royal behavior. This way she could come back and show her parents that she had been listening to their lectures instead of spacing out on them—which she had but if they knew that...

She took a breath as she entered the dining room, this time as herself instead of a person of higher political ranking. She slouched during dinner, smiled, and laughed at a few points. She barely ate though. She nibbled on a piece of chicken before setting it down and pushing the plate away from her just slightly. Nevertheless, it didn't go unnoticed by the Diaz's like she hoped it would. Breakfast was dead to her now and lunch was a stranger. She scarcely ate dinner and more often than not refused it. Then, when she did eat, an eventual subject would be brought up either at the table or in her own mind that would make her so nervous she would become nauseous. On occasion, she threw up from it.

And a select few words were more than enough to cause a miniature panic attack when she heard them. Mrs. Diaz in particular seemed to use them far too often for her comfort. She had a feeling that the woman was doing this intentionally. For what reasons, she didn't know...

And then, naturally, she heard one of the words, this time in a peculiar sentence that she'd never heard come from any of the Diaz's before—nothing even similar. Then again, she hadn't been keeping up with the conversation so it was taken completely out of context.

"Marco, you need to marry a girl like Star," Mrs. Diaz laughed.

"MOM!" he seemed to chastise.

Marry. Marco. Someone she knew. Someone who made her smile. Someone she wasn't allowed to marry.

She paled at the mention of the word and her grip on the cup she'd been holding to her lips weakened significantly. It slipped. The sound of shattering glass was the only thing that broke her out of a trance.

She rushed to grab some paper towels and clean up her spilled drink, along with sweeping up the shards of broken glass.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "It just slipped."

She didn't mean for it to happen, but her voice was shaky and her breathing was rather erratic. Even her heartbeat seemed—and probably was—irregular.

She felt two arms hook under hers and pull her to her feet.

"Um...Star, I got this," Marco's voice said. "I think you should try burning incense or something—whatever will get you to relax."

He gently nudged her towards the living room and she complied without a single word.

She sat down on the couch and tried to even out her breathing, but couldn't resist looking back to the dining room. Marco was busy cleaning up her mess and his parents were just turning their heads away pretending to never have been looking at her, belatedly hiding their worried expressions.

She dropped her head into her hands and ran her fingers through her hair. Once she was gone they would have one less person to worry about. Although right now she didn't feel like a person so much as an item about to be pawned off. Pawned off to who though...? Some random person she'd never met, of course, but who would her groom be? The man she would be married to, bound to forever... Once that ring went on, the ceremonial dance would begin. And when that dance was over, when that final move was made, she would gain a kingdom and a husband. But was it truly 'gain'? In a way, she supposed. She was Mewni's answer to a diplomacy problem. Her marriage would bring together two entire kingdoms—surely this was reason enough to celebrate. Yet here she was, dreary and ready to break down in the middle of the Diaz's living room. If it was supposed to be for the best, why did she feel as if she was losing it all?

"You should be happy," a voice said behind her.

She whipped her head to the side just in time to find Mrs. Diaz sitting down beside her. The boys had gone—where she didn't know; she hadn't paid much attention to them.

She gave the woman a confused look.

Taking a breath, it was explained. "You've been here on Earth for some time. We've grown to know you. You've been yourself for so long now that it's easy to forget you're a princess. I bet every penny I own that all this has something to do with that."

"It's nothing, Mrs. Diaz. It was just a little embarrassing when you said Marco should marry me. Caught me off guard."

"You weren't keeping up with our conversation, were you? I was saying that Marco needed to marry a girl like you because he was too organized and single-minded. He needs an essence like yours around to brighten his days and make his life more fun."

She opened her mouth to speak but was abruptly cut off.

"Now, Star, what's all this negative energy about? You never had anything like this before. You were so full of life and cheer. Where did that go?"

"I have to go back to Mewni soon," she confessed. "I guess it all went there without me."

Mrs. Diaz chuckled lightheartedly. "You once took us to Mewni. Such an exciting place to live. Beautiful, really. And your castle? There must be breathtaking views."

"Earth has breathtaking views. The plants are so colorful, especially in the springtime. Humans are so wonderful, even the ones that lack...respect. Everything here is just so free and incredible and I never want to leave."

"Oh, now, you're the princess. Freedom—"

"Doesn't exist on Mewni," she finished for her. "Not even for a princess—not even for me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm never going to come back to Earth after I leave."

"Why not? I thought you liked Earth."

"I love Earth so much but I can't come back. There's no freedom."

But if there was such thing as a loophole, where she could just cancel the marriage and run back to Earth, where she could stay forever and marry whoever she wished—whoever she wished—then she would've found it by now.

"You know, you may think you've seen all of Earth but actually, this is just a country—a kingdom, if you will, that lacks a king. Other parts of the world have different cultures where, like you said, freedom doesn't exist. Those parts of the world govern themselves by this culture." As did Mewni despite the royal family... "Women there are sold off like cattle. Some marriages are polygamous, meaning one man has multiple wives. Some are forced, especially with royalty. I don't suppose Mewni has such a strict marriage system?"

The woman gave her a look only a mother could give—one that very clearly said she already had an idea and was waiting for further confirmation.

"Why do you keep using that word?" she muttered.

"Because even if I'm not your mom, I'm a mom; and mothers know everything. I started noticing your behavior changing whenever someone talked about marriage or love. You get edgier when you heard those words. Is there any particular reason behind that?"

She quickly shook her head. "Must be a coincidence."

"Star, please. It isn't very hard to see what's going on. You're a princess, you're extremely nervous, you're from a different dimension with a different culture, you hate talking about marriage, you threw Marco's boom box out of the window the other day because they wouldn't stop playing love songs on the radio, and you don't want to go back home. I noticed immediately that Mewni was different from Earth when you took us there. Add all that up and you get a pretty clear idea. Of course, the boys haven't figured it out, but they aren't moms either."

Mrs. Diaz tenderly put an arm around her and pulled her closer.

Now that all the cold, hard evidence had been laid out in front of her, it was a dead giveaway to her reasons for being so against returning to her home dimension. She didn't want to and that was fact. She had to and that was fact. If not then...well...then the obvious could and would happen.

"It's a diplomatic solution," she finally said. "Mewni's been on the brink of war for ages with a kingdom just as big as mine. I tried to ignore it for as long as I could but about a year after coming to Earth, my parents told me I would marry the eldest prince of Thagerie. On my eighteenth birthday I'll go back to Mewni and join the two kingdoms. There won't be a war. No one will die."

"I would imagine you would be proud to do this then. What's holding you back?"

"I don't know who I'm marrying. He could be very violent for all I know."

"In that case the marriage could be called off."

She shook her head as tears became heavy in her eyes. "This marriage is vital to the safety of Mewni's citizens. If I try to get out of it, I'll be imprisoned. Or maybe worse, since this would count as betrayal to the king. On top of all that, it could be the trigger Thagerie's been waiting for—they've been trying to find even the smallest excuse to declare war on Mewni. We've been sending ambassadors to discuss treaty options but the only one they'll accept is the joining of the two kingdoms, and that can only happen intimately within the royal families."

"I see... And is there something—or someone—else holding you back?" Mrs. Diaz asked suggestively.

"It really doesn't matter at this point," she sighed.

And although it may have sounded rude, she spoke the truth. She was the only one capable of doing this. Thagerie had been waiting so long for one tiny reason to break the ceasefire and attack Mewni. Going against such a contract would result in the mother of all massacres. By following through with such a contract, Mewni would gain additional funds from Thagerie's treasury, which at the time of marriage would immediately become a shared treasury. Once combined with Mewni, both kingdoms would prosper. Thagerie would have the agricultural lands of Mewni and Mewni would have the military support of Thagerie. The impasse would be over and everything would work out...

"I can't say I know as much as you about royal matters and wars and diplomacy and whatnot, but if you must marry someone, make sure he can hold onto you—even if he's not a prince." Mrs. Diaz stood up and smirked. "Between you and me, my husband and I both agree you'd make a very fine daughter-in-law." A sly wink. "But maybe I'm just babbling."

A soft blush began to bridge her nose, extending quite nicely to both cheeks.

"D-Don't tell anyone about this whole arranged marriage," she said as Mrs. Diaz walked out of the living room giving her a thumbs-up.

At least she was safe from anyone else finding out but...now she had to deal with herself and the guilt she would feel upon leaving Earth in the near future. The guilt...and being married to someone she didn't love. Maybe Earth's culture—or at least this 'country's' culture—had gotten the best of her emotions and it was in conflict with Mewni's culture. Maybe her emotions were clouding her logic. She should want this to happen, for the good of her people if nothing else.

Yet for some reason, she didn't...

A/N

This should properly explain more about the arranged marriage...hopefully. And I hope you like such a quick update! That's pretty rare for me! :D

I don't really have anything else to say... That's new... I'm also tired so I'll just get on to the review replies and be our of your hair. Again, um, read, review, blah blah blah, stuff you don't care about.

Review replies:

Rainbowlaserparty- First off, AWESOME name! Secondly, I'm glad you like it. Hope I can continue to entertain you. ^.^

lolsayzme- Don't worry, this is a Starco fic. ;D Starco action is coming, just, you know, not yet.

PlasticPencils- I did!

bleventeen- Thanks! And done and done! ^.^

jappleseed2468- Well yeah, she's getting married off even though she loves Marco.

Prattle of the Sun- ...Maybe I will make this another ARWP situation... O-O Maybe I will...and maybe that's why it'll be Tragedy...

GravityFallsMabel- X'D That's a new way to kill Josh. Everyone else went for knives and guns, you went for sharks. I admire that!

Plugging Up- Yeah, I'm so tired of seeing everyone else write Mewni's culture as being the exact same as on Earth, but I don't think that's true at all. And I'm glad I got her emotions down. :) That's a big part of every story!

Sambamastah- Actually...there is a little something more going on... ;) But no spoilers.

CornerstoneKey- Awwww, thank you. That was quite an analytical review there. To answer one of your apparently many questions, yes, something deeper is going on with her. Buuuuttttttt I can't tell you what it is, sorry.

JDaddyExplosion- Thanks, and done!

Omega Ultra- Why thank you! I've been really busy lately but I've also managed to scrape some writing time in.

Gliss Phantom- Thanks so much! :D Mewni's culture does go a bit deeper though, but for now this is the extent of what you need to know. I will!

TripleAAA1183- I was actually factoring said "squalid conditions" into this chapter here, when I spoke of Thagerie's funds and militia.

Soos Ramirez- Oh don't worry, this fandom won't stay small for long. Already it's climbing the fanfiction ladder!