A Great Place

Aurora was shown sleeping in her bedroom, the same one where her father slept in when he was living on Earth. Surprisingly, she didn't transform it into a tower like her mother turned hers onto one when she first came to Earth, most likely in order to not draw any attention to whoever it was that tried to kill her.

Aurora finally began to stir and woke up yawning to a new day. She got up and changed from her pajamas to one of her other outfits she brought with her to Earth. This one was a light green sleeveless dress with a picture of a pepper on its front, along with pink pantyhose and white boots with red details. She then went to brush her teeth in the bathroom, eat breakfast, and get her stuff ready for school. At school, she was shown studying math in Miss Skullnick's classroom, Skullnick shown to still be in the body of a troll. Finally, Aurora was walking home with Sam after another simple school day.

However, as soon as they entered the Diaz household, the smile Aurora had been carrying the entire time instantly faded away and replaced itself with a look of sorrow. Sam takes notice of this as the young princess sadly walks to her room, closing the door behind her. This worries Sam, making him wonder what could be troubling his friend. It had been happening for a week now, and everytime he and her grandparents tried to entertain her, her smile always faded away afterward.

"She's been like that for a while now." he heard Mr. Diaz point out. "We try to use all the things we did with her mother to put a smile on her face, but after a while, it shortly fades away again."

"I wish we knew what was making her so unhappy." Mr's. Diaz wondered at her husband's side.

Deciding to figure it out for them, Sam went upstairs to Aurora's room and slowly opened the door. Looking around, he saw her sitting at her desk looking at a small model of Butterfly Castle, giving off sad sighs as she did so with her chin touching the desk.

"Hey, Aurora?" Sam calmly called as he came over. "Is everything alright?"

Aurora lifted her head and started acting in a poorly calm manner. "Oh, sure, everything's fine. You and my grandparents don't have to worry about anything. It's not like I miss my home on Mewni or anything."

That last line made Sam finally realize what's been going on: Aurora was homesick. In a way, he knew what that was like, as he has no memories of his own home or where said home is. Not wanting to see his friend in this emotional struggle, he decided to do something about this and help her adapt to her new life on Earth.

"I have an idea of what we can do today. How about we take a stroll around Echo Creek and see the sights?" he suggested.

But Aurora, feeling that a walk around town would only make her feel more homesick, was quick to refuse. "No thank you, Sam. I appreciate the offer, but I don't think I should." she said politely.

Sam however, was not going to take no for an answer. "Oh, come on." he insisted grabbing onto the princess' arm to pull her out of her chair. "We'll just take a walk around town and see some of its many landmarks. And maybe you'll see something that'll make you feel like you're back on Mewni already."

Seeing the insistence in his face, Aurora could tell that her friend/bodyguard wasn't going to back down from this. So she gave a defeated sigh and reluctantly gave in. "Alright."

With that said, Sam quietly escorted Aurora out of her room and out the house to take a calming stroll around their new home in Echo Creek, Angie and Rafael looking out the door and waving at them with smiles.

Their first stop was at the park. At first look, it was quite clear not much had changed. The Echo Creek Mud Pits were still in business, the dog space was quite alive, and everyone was happily enjoying themselves.

"Isn't this nice?" Sam asked with attempted excitement, trying to help cheer up Aurora. "It's like the town has its own little forest within it. You can enjoy the sunny skies, skip stones in the lake, and what I think is the best part, none of those jerks in Mewni's nobility are here to pick on you."

That last detail was apparently enough to lift Aurora's spirits a little and help her manage a smile. "Yeah, I guess that's a good thing." she said calmly under her breath.

Their calm moment was soon halted however when they heard the sound of a twang and a thud. Curious, they follow the sound towards some bushes, which they part in order to see what made the sound. They saw that it was coming from arrows being fired at targets by the Archery Club, most likely practicing for an upcoming tournament.

While Sam's gasp from seeing this was more out of surprise, Aurora's was more out of fear. Upon seeing the arrows hit the bullseyes, she had a flashback of the time when the arrow almost struck her heart had Sam not pushed her out of the way. The memory of that terrible moment caused Aurora to faint from the shock, something that Sam caught onto.

"Aurora!" he cried as he caught the fainted princess in his arms. Concerned for his friend, he worried about her before looking back at the archery going on, making him realize what made her faint. He started seeing this trip to the park as a bad idea and quickly carried his friend away to the next stop on his trip to try and cheer her up.

The second stop in Sam's planned trip was the local pet store, where they had a large variety of cute animals, such as rabbits, puppies, kittens, hamsters, and even baby monkeys.

Aurora found herself full of happiness at seeing all the adorable animals, and even tried her hand at feeding some of the bunnies. "Here, little guy." she said with sparkling eyes and cuteness in her voice as she held out a piece of celery for them. At first none of the bunnies came over, but then one with snow white fur gained the courage to slowly hop over and take a nibble at the celery. Its nose twitching as it ate made Aurora's heart swell with joy.

"Aw." she cooed.

After that, Aurora started wandering around to see what other creatures the store kept. Her wanderings eventually led her back to the register, where she would bear witness to a cute little puppy being purchased by a woman for her little girl.

"Oh, thank you, Mommy!" the little girl said happily to her mother as she cuddled with her new puppy. "You're welcome, Sweetie." her mother replied.

Aurora found herself frozen from seeing that, her eyes looking like they were staring into space. It was because this sight reminded her of the time when her grandmother gave her Toggy on one of her birthdays, and how she would cuddle with him like that sometimes. This memory caused Aurora's smile to vanish and her homesickness to resurface.

Sam was happily looking at the snakes and lizards before noticing Aurora standing in a daze. "Aurora?" He quickly came over to find out what's wrong with her now, and soon saw the little girl and her mother walking out with the new puppy in her arms. This made him realize what was happening, seeing this brought back memories and reminded Aurora of home. This visit to the pet store wasn't working either, much to Sam's disappointment.

Not giving up, he took Aurora by the arm and dragged her to his next choice.

The next stop was revealed to be a restaurant, which Sam already managed to get Aurora and himself a table at. Aurora was excited to get some food in her stomach, as she hasn't eaten since this morning. But after looking at the contents on the menu, she found herself bearing a look of disappointment when she saw only seafood dishes on it. Looking around, she noticed the waiters were dressed like pirates. This made her realize this was that pirate-themed restaurant her father once told her about, the Salty Barnacle Club, which meant that seafood was the only food that was available here.

This made Aurora give a disappointed sigh and fold up the menu, her unhappiness not going unnoticed by Sam. "Aurora, what's wrong?"

"You may not have known this, Sam, but I'm not at all a fan of seafood." the princess replied with a sigh as she rested her head in her hands.

Seeing that this failed, Sam decided to try the next stop... after he paid for his meal of course.

Their final stop was a golf course called Chibi Golf, which Sam was shown having a good time while Aurora was feeling a bit uncomfortable, as some of the holes had structures that resembled medieval castles.

When they came to the next hole, Aurora couldn't believe her eyes. The castle structure was an accurate replica of Butterfly Castle back on Mewni. Seeing this made her finally snap, and she gave a loud wail of anger and violently thrust her golf club into the ground, something that the other golfers who heard her cry gasped in alarm from seeing this.

"Hey, you two! Get out of here!" the golf manager shouted after seeing the princess damage the golf course.

The next thing they knew, Aurora and Sam were standing outside looking at the now-closed gate to the golf course, having been kicked out due to Aurora's behavior.

"Well that's just great, Aurora." Sam began scolding. "I brought you here to help you have a good time and you get us kicked out!"

"Oh, shove it, Sam!" Aurora shot back. "I know you had good intentions, but nothing you've shown me is working!" she then listed down all the things that happened. "The park had the Archery Club there today, which reminded me of my near-death experience and made me faint from shock. The pet store only reminded me of the good times I had back home with Toggy and made me start missing him. The restaurant you picked had only seafood, which I don't like. And finally, this place had an exact replica of my home castle on Mewni. If anything, this tour you set up has made me even more unhappy with being here!" she whined grabbing the sides of her head.

Sam could only remain angry with her for feeling that way. "I took you on this tour to help you get your mind off of Mewni!" he scolded. "You can't keep whining and complaining over every single detail you see that reminds you of home!"

"It's not...that..simple, Sam!" Aurora snapped back. "I have been ripped from my own home because of an attempted assassination. My mom practically banished me here to protect me. I now have to abandon the life I've known since the day I was born!" at this time, tears started to form in her eyes, showing how much it hurts to confess her pain. "Do you know what that's like?!"

Sam looked at Aurora for a moment before giving a sigh of disappointment, in disbelief that Aurora had already forgotten about his amnesia. "Aurora, I do know what that's like because I don't even remember what my life was like before I met you." he began explaining. "I don't even remember my own home, and in a way, that makes me homesick too. But you still have your memories of home, and right now, it's hurting you more than it hurts me."

Aurora, finding herself at a loss for words, remarked how she agreed to help him find his lost memories. "That's right, I promised that I'd help you remember your past."

"But before you help me, you first need to help yourself." Sam replied.

This conversation left Aurora speechless, making her realize how childish she's been for thinking about only her own problems. More tears started streaming from her eyes before she embraced Sam in a hug, sobbing as she did so. "I'm sorry, Sam." she apologized.

Sam calmly returned her hug and forgave her. "It's okay, Aurora, you just need to remember that we're here for you, both me and your grandparents."

Aurora smiled at his comment, wiping the tears from her eyes. Then she decided to ask him something. "Can I ask, why did you accept my parents' request to be my bodyguard while we were here?'

"Because in my mind, it was an offer that gave me more than just a chance to find my past." he replied. "It gave me a purpose in life."

Aurora found herself speechless once again before smiling and continuing their hug. When they broke it up, they decided to start walking home for dinner. But on the way, Aurora realized something.

"You know, we can still stop by the museum. I heard from school there's a perfectly preserved Triceratops skeleton on display."