Hey everyone. Long time, no update. I hope you like fluffy stories where almost nothing happens because BOY is there a whole lotta nothing happening in this one!

This story is set on the same day as the episode Britta's Tacos, which, based on the context of the episode, I'm guessing is the day after Doop-Doop (and therefore, this story takes place after chapter 3 of this fanfic).

Reminder for anyone who doesn't know: Mrs. Diaz teaches at the local community college.

Star awoke to the sound of birds singing happily outside the window of the Diaz's guest bedroom, with warm, golden sunlight streaming through the glass. She smiled to herself as she quickly sat upright. "Good morning, Earth! It's great to be back!"

Star was thrilled to be back on Earth. Just yesterday, she had been too stressed to even think straight. She had stalled leaving for her trip with Tom for as long as possible, which had led to a big fight with her demon boyfriend. But now, she was back in her favorite place in the multiverse: On Earth, staying with the Diaz's. She felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.

Throwing off the covers, Star hopped out of bed and used magic to instantly change from her pajamas into her green octopus dress. She half-walked, half-danced her way down the hall to the bathroom. Marco was already there, brushing his teeth.

"Good morning, Marco!"

"'Monin', Sar," he mumbled through his partially open jaw. He set down the toothbrush and quickly rinsed the toothpaste from his mouth. "Sleep well?"

"I sure did! Best sleep I've had in ages!"

Marco pointed to her attire. "Haven't seen that dress in a while."

"What can I say? I was feeling nostalgic." She pulled open the top drawer of the vanity and found her Love Sentence singing toothbrush. "Ah! Still there! Right where I left you last summer when I left to go fight Tofffffffffff-!"

Star froze. So did Marco.

The former was suddenly struck by a flashback of drowning in a sea of fouled magic, the gloopy slime filling her lungs and burning her eyes as she lost consciousness. The latter recalled the gut-wrenching feeling of a suit-clad humanoid lizard crushing his half of the wand crystal in his fist and saying "She's gone."

Each felt a shiver run down their spine. Star quickly shook away the feeling and corrected her sentence, changing the inflection. "Right where I left you last summer!" And with that, she quickly triggered the electric toothbrush on. It began to vibrate and sing "It was no secret, the way that we feel-" the song drowning out the awkwardness in the bathroom.

Morning ablutions complete, the pair raced downstairs to the kitchen. Mrs. Diaz was at the table, feeding Mariposa.

"Good morning, Mrs. Diaz!"

"Morning, Mom!"

"Good morning, kids!"

Star bent down beside Mariposa's highchair. "Hi, Mariposa!" She gave the smiling baby's cheek a gentle pinch, eliciting a giggle. "Aren't you just the cutest?!"

The baby clapped, apparently agreeing.

Star quickly assembled a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table. "Having a royal chef cook a gourmet breakfast every morning is great and all, but nothing compares to a simple bowl of sugary Earth cereal!"

"I don't know about that," Marco mused, taking a seat beside her. "Eclipsa's monster chef made some amazing crepes."

Star slid the cereal box over to him. "Here, Diaz!"

"No thanks, Star. I've got big plans for today, and breakfast will only hinder them."

"Well, whatever your big plans are, can you take Mariposa with you please?" Mrs. Diaz asked, wiping mashed squash from the baby's face. "I have to go to the college for a meeting and run some errands afterwards."

"Sure thing, mom. Not a problem."

A short while later, Marco pulled his sister into a harness so that he could carry her hands-free. "Star, can you grab the diaper bag?"

"Uh…yeah yeah yeah, sure sure sure." She raised her hand. "Summoning Cloudy Charm!"

Cloudy materialized with a pained cry. "Hi, Star!"

"Hey, Cloudy." She tossed the diaper bag atop him. "Can you carry this please?"

"Sure thing, Star!"

The pair bade Mrs. Diaz farewell and happily headed off with Mariposa and Cloudy in tow. "Don't wait for us for dinner," Marco called. "We'll probably be back late, and I doubt either of us will be hungry!"

The sun was setting by the time Mrs. Diaz returned home. The faculty meeting had run exceptionally long and by the time she had finished her errands it was nearly dark. She was incredibly grateful to find Rafael setting the table, the wonderful aromas of cooking food wafting from the kitchen.

"Hola, Mí Amor!" he greeted. "Dinner is almost ready! Where are the children?"

"They went out for the day and took Mariposa with them. Marco said not to wait for them for dinner, so I guess it's just the two of us."

Mr. Diaz smiled slyly. "Should I…light some candles, then?"

Angie chuckled and dimmed the dining room lights. "Absolutely."

The Diaz's had cleaned up from dinner and the kids had still not returned.

"I wonder what is keeping them," Raphael said. "I hope they are not in any sort of trouble."

Recalling the time her son had been kidnapped, Mrs. Diaz grabbed her cell phone. "I'll just send him a text."

Everything ok? Mari giving you any trouble?

The reply came back shortly after.

We're all good. Mari hasn't been any trouble

Mrs. Diaz sent back: Coming home soon?

In a little while

"He says they're fine. And it sounds like they're staying out a bit longer." She pocketed her phone. "Well, as long as I have a little free time, I think I'm going to bake some cookies!"

Raphael raised his eyebrows excitedly. "Ooh, cookies!"

Angie grabbed her purse, rummaging around inside. "My friend from work gave me a recipe I've been wanting try and I just haven't had the time." She pulled out a torn scrap of paper with some hastily scribbled writing in pencil. "Ah! Here we go!"

She headed into the kitchen and set the oven to preheat, then read off the list of ingredients and began to gather and assemble them on the island. "This will be a nice surprise for the kids when they get home."

Cloudy floated down in front of the Diaz's front stoop. Star and Marco were too tired and full from spending all day at Britta's Taco's trying to fill up Marco's frequent eater card to walk home and had taken to riding on Cloudy instead, Marco holding Mariposa on his lap. It was late. They hopped off on the front walk, Star carrying the diaper bag while Marco hoisted his snoozing sister over his arm.

"Thanks for the lift, Cloudy."

"Anything for you, Star!"

Star waved her free arm and Cloudy popped out of existence. She opened the door for Marco and was greeted by a warm, sweet aroma. "Mmmm, something smells good!" she said quietly as to not wake the sleeping baby. "Smells like cookies!"

"Please don't talk about food," Marco pleaded quietly, sick to his stomach. He sniffed. "Huh, you're right. It does smell like cookies."

They ventured into the kitchen.

"Hey, Mom. We're home."

Mrs. Diaz was transferring hot cookies from a baking tray onto a cooling rack. "There you guys are! Did you have a nice day?"

"We sure did!" said Star.

"What did you guys do all day?"

"Almost nothing!" Star replied dreamily. "It was sooo great."

"Did Mariposa give you any trouble?"

"Nope! She was good as gold." Marco gently set the sleeping baby into her highchair at the kitchen table. "But boy am I tired of carrying her."

"What kind of cookies ya bakin', Mrs. Diaz?" Star asked excitedly, hovering over the cooling racks and inhaling the sweet aroma.

"Go ahead and try one! See if you can figure out what it is."

"Okay!" Star snatched up a warm cookie and happily ate it whole. "Mmmmm…thath gud."

"What's it taste like?"

"Well…" Star swallowed. "It's got chocolate chips. And something else." She ate another, a little slower this time. "Hmm…I'm not sure. Here, Marco, you try one."

Marco covered his mouth, feeling sick. He was breathing heavy, his overly-full stomach making it difficult to get a full breath. "I can't, Star. I'm so full."

"C'mon, Marco! It's just one cookie! I don't care how full you are, there's always room for a fresh-out-of-the-oven cookie!"

"…Alright, fine. Give it here."

She happily dropped the warm confection into his palm, and he took a cautious bite, chewing slowly. "Mm…this is good, Mom."

Mrs. Diaz smiled. "Any guess what the secret ingredient is?"

"Um…tastes like some kind of candy. Not caramel, but something like it. I'm not sure."

"We give up," Star admitted, already reaching for another. "What is it?"

"They're toffee chocolate chip!"

Both teenagers froze. Star had a cookie halfway into her mouth. She slowly retracted her hand and set the cookie on the countertop, her face drained of color.

Mrs. Diaz was confused. "Everything okay, Star? You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

Marco abruptly sprinted out of the kitchen. A few seconds later, the bathroom door slammed shut, but it was not enough to mask the sound of him vomiting.

"Um…yeahhh," Star said slowly. She carefully walked backwards out of the kitchen. "Everything is fiiiiiine. Uh, great cookies. Real great!" She flashed Angie a hesitant thumbs up. "I'm, uh…I'm gonna go make sure Marco's okay." And with that, she quickly hurried away, rather feeling like she was going to throw up herself.

Mrs. Diaz raised an eyebrow. "That was odd."

A few moments later, Mr. Diaz came in from the backyard, having been out in the shed. "Hello, Dear. Oh! Mariposa! I suppose that means the children are home."

"Yes, they are."

"Ooh, cookies!" He happily ate one. "Mmmm! Delicious! Tastes like toffee and chocolate chip!"

"I'm glad you like them. Star and Marco did, too, until I told them they were toffee. When I told them that, they both had an almost visceral reaction."

"Huh. How strange." Mr. Diaz shrugged. "Oh, well! More for me!"

There's a package of toffee chocolate chip cookies sitting on my kitchen counter, and I suddenly wondered how Star and Marco would feel about toffee candy after the events at the beginning of season 3. I feel like this could have been a very quick throwaway joke in a late season 4 episode.

…this whole story could have been like three paragraphs, but it's been so long since I've written a one-shot, I wanted to actually make it a full story.