Sugar and Spice - Chapter VIII: Everything Nice

Sugar and Spice
Chapter VIII: Everything Nice

Star and Marco had both slept through most of the return trip from the Sanctuary. This time around, Marco didn't even need any elixir. He was so exhausted he had simply fallen asleep in his seat in the carriage opposite from Star, not even being able to stay awake long enough for a conversation. By the time Marco woke up, Star had already left the carriage and vanished to somewhere inside the castle.

The trip back had taken a good part of the day, and when they finally reached the castle, it was getting close to dinner time. As soon as Marco awoke, he'd been called into the situation room for a private meeting with Glossaryck, who had laid out his own plan to put an end to Star's transformations.

It hadn't taken nearly as long as Marco has expected.

Now he and Glossaryck were making their way through the castle, soon arriving just outside Star's room. Before entering, Marco decided he should try to get clarification on what Glossaryck had told him, just in case he had missed something. He sincerely hoped that he had. "So... let me make sure I understand this. If I have it right, your plan, with the disturbingly ironic title of Operation Lovebug..."

"Nailed it on the name, right?" Glossaryck smiled with pride, holding his hand up in an OK sign.

"Your plan, in its ENTIRETY..." Marco ignored the probably rhetorical question. "... is to put me and Star in a room together and hope we can figure it out."

"Well, perhaps it APPEARS that way, to your naive mind and untrained eye. But that's only the tip of a very large iceberg." Marco could already tell Glossaryck was building up to a full dramatic speech. "Laying out the details of this strategy in a way you could understand would take days, WEEKS even. The sheer intricacy of this scheme would shatter your fragile mind beyond repair and force you to reject everything you now believe to be true. Why, even the barest hint-"

"OKAY! I get the point." Marco pinched the bridge of his nose, idly wondering what proportion of headaches in the castle were Glossaryck induced. "Is this really happening or am I just hallucating from too much elixir?

"Maybe. How many fingers am I holding up?" Glossaryck lifted up one of his hands, raising three fingers... then two more, then lowering one, continually shifting them before Marco could respond.

Marco was reaching the limits of his patience for Glossaryck's games, growling angrily. "How many fingers do you think I'm about to hold up?"

"Woa-ho-ho! Easy there, killer." To Marco's surprise, Glossaryck actually seemed to be backing down, holding his hands up defensively. "But it's a good thing you still have some fight left in you after all this. You might need it."

Marco sighed dejectedly. He wasn't sure how much fight he actually he left at this point, and he really hoped he wouldn't have a reason to need it. "That doesn't exactly inspire confidence."

Glossaryck gave Marco a broad, self-assured grin. "Marco my boy, have I ever steered you wrong?"

Marco said nothing, and instead simply stared back at Glossaryck with the most incredulous expression he could muster.

Glossaryck quickly dropped his smile. He gazed back at Marco for a moment before tenting his index fingers together in front of his face, finding himself in an impromptu staring contest with the boy. "Allow me to rephrase the question. You can just trust me on this one, or... you can take your chances with another round of the snuggle struggle." Glossaryck waited for a response, but Marco remained silent. "Well?"

Marco felt he was up to the challenge, glaring right back at Glossaryck, his expression unmoving. "... I'm thinking."

"Well." Glossaryck grinned back at Marco, choosing not to back down this time. "Don't hurt yourself."

"Fine, whatever! Not like I have any better ideas." Marco threw his hands in the air in sheer frustration, finally giving up on the staring contest with a resigned sigh. "Let's just get this over with..."

"That's the spirit!" Glossaryck shot Marco an overly enthusiastic thumbs up. "Oh, one more thing. I thought you two might get hungry in there, so... I got you takeout!" Glossaryck clapped his hands together, then slowly spread them apart, a large plastic bag appearing in a sparkle of magic and hovering in the air.

Marco carefully took the bag, examining it skeptically. There was a name printed on the front: The Fat Dragon. The title was accompanied by a small drawing of a chubby, sleeping Chinese dragon. Marco assumed it to be the restaurant, but it wasn't a name he recognized. "Uh-huh. And what did you do to it?"

"Wow, paranoid much? I made a special trip all the way to earth to generously procure this meal for you, and in return, all I get is suspicion?" Glossaryck did his best to look offended, but Marco was almost certain it wasn't sincere.

"Alright, alright, sorry." Marco couldn't help but notice that Glossaryck hadn't given him a direct answer, which told him that Glossaryck had done something but wouldn't admit to it. Still, he didn't feel like he had much choice except to play along for the time being. "Thank you for the takeout, Glossaryck."

"You're quite welcome. Oh, and don't forget your fortune cookies." Glossaryck pulled out two plastic wrapped fortune cookies, one from each sleeve of his robe. He dropped one cookie in the bag with the other food, then held the other up to Marco. "I've got a good feeling about this one. But don't tell anybody your fortune, or it might not come true."

Marco raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What? That's not how fortune cookies work."

"Hey, thanks for the information! I'll just file that away with all the other little factoids I've collected while being a magic teacher since before your puny, insignificant race was a twinkle in God's eye." Glossaryck's face twisted into an expression Marco didn't recognize, almost like he knew he had misspoken in some way. "... and by race, I mean the human race, not-"

"I knew what you meant." Marco let out a sharp, judgmental sigh. "I'm just not sure that makes it better."

"Did I ask for your moral approval?" Glossaryck slipped the remaining fortune cookie into a pocket of Marco's hoodie. "Now take the magical wisdom dispensing cookie, and save your lip for your girlfriend."

"She's not my- oh, wait. I guess she actually is now." A nervous smile spread across Marco's face, rather embarrassed at what he nearly said. "Sorry. Reflex."

Glossaryck smiled wide, shooting Marco a sly wink. "I won't tell if you won't."

"Anyway, time to turn a bug back into a princess." Glossaryck gestured toward the door of Star's bedroom. "Try not to have TOO much fun."

"That's the idea." With a deep breath, Marco turned the door knob and headed into the room, finding Star inside, sitting on her bed. When she looked up from her phone compact, she didn't seem particularly surprised to see him, although she was clearly uncomfortable with his presence, her eyes darting nervously away from him.

Marco was already uncertain about Operation Lovebug, but the look on Star's face drained away any remaining confidence he might have had. He turned back to Glossaryck, who was already slipping out the door. "You're really sure about this?"

"Not really." Marco jumped as he heard the response, trying to shove a foot in the door and make his escape, but it was already too late. Glossaryck was on the other side, holding it open just the barest crack. He poked his nose in, whispering quietly to Marco. "You know... I do this because she loves you."

"Yeah, I remember you told me that once before when I was stuck in a room, and I still don't..." Marco did a mental double take as he realized what Glossaryck had just said. "Wait, did you just say because SHE lo-"

Glossaryck slammed the door in Marco's face before he could finish his sentence.

Marco knew there was no getting out of it. He swallowed hard as he turned to face Star, slowly entering into the heart of the lion's den. "H- hey Star."

"Hey... Marco." Star looked about as nervous as Marco felt. That somehow made things a little better for him. At least he wasn't alone in his feelings.

"So... here we are. In your bedroom. Where it's always fun." Marco laughed nervously, taking a seat next to Star on her bed. "I don't suppose Glossaryck explained any of this Operation Lovebug thing to you?

"THAT'S the name he went with? Wow. Classic Glossaryck." Star giggled at her mentor's strange sense of humor, but was quickly reminded of the gravity of the situation. "But no, not really. Glossaryck said you and I would be able to find the answer together. Which, you know... big help."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. This is really the only thing he gave me." Marco held up the bag full of Chinese food for Star to see. "Takeout, I guess. Considering who it came from... we should probably check it for traps."

"Chinese food, huh?" With no table in her room, Star decided to grab a blanket from her closet and lay it out on the floor for a makeshift indoor picnic. "So, what? You think it's still alive or something?"

As Marco set the bag down in the middle of the blanket, his imagination flashed with pictures of the food coming to life, with he and Star being forced into battle against it. It wouldn't be the strangest thing that had happened to him on Mewni. "At this point, I wouldn't rule anything out."

Marco closed his eyes as he took his food from the bag and popped open the lid. When he managed to pry one eye open again, he was pleasantly surprised to find the box full of shrimp lo mein. "Huh... he actually knew my usual."

"Mine too." Star held up her own takeout box and tilted it toward Marco, revealing it to be full of orange chicken and rice. "I know Glossaryck can be pretty... Glossaryck. But he's actually really good about stuff like that."

Marco eyed his box of shrimp cautiously, somehow expecting that it would start moving any second. "... still though."

Star giggled, breaking her chopsticks apart. "Fine, fine. I'll try it first, scaredy cat." She carefully lifted up a bit of the orange chicken for examination. Finding nothing wrong with it, she popped it into her mouth, chewing slowly. "Hmm. It tastes..." Her eyes went wide with surprise as she swallowed. "It tastes almost like..."

"What?" Star didn't seem to be in any immediate distress, but she had clearly found something to be off, and Marco was very curious what it was. "Like chicken?"

"No. Oh no..." Star's face suddenly turned dark as she pushed the box of chicken and rice away.

"What? What is it?" Marco's previous suspicion was now starting to turn to panic. "Is it poison!?"

"Worse! Marco!" Star reached across the blanket, grabbing Marco by his hoodie and pulling him closer. "I think the food Glossaryck got us might be... LOW SODIUM!"

Marco dropped his chopsticks in shock, gasping dramatically. "That FIEND!"

Star and Marco stared at each other in absolute horror. The facade didn't last long. Star broke first, her lips twitching into a small smirk. Marco tried to keep his poker face, but seeing Star's smile made him crack, and a giggle slipped out. Before long, the couple burst out laughing together, taking entirely too long to regain their composure after Star's awful joke.

"So... still think yours is gonna attack, Safe Kid? Do you need me to check for monsters under your food?" Star shot Marco a teasing grin, reaching over to poke him with her chopsticks.

"Safe Kid? Come on Star, you know me better than that by now. I'm a misunderstood bad boy! I'm not afraid of shrimp monsters." Marco prodded back at Star, then gingerly took a bite of the shrimp. He found himself pleasantly surprised at the quality. Between the Chinese food and a desperately needed moment of happiness with his best friend, Marco was shocked to actually find himself grateful to Glossaryck.

"You know, this is actually... nice." Sharing a peaceful indoor picnic with Star, Marco was almost able to believe that nothing was wrong. But the knowledge that it wasn't really true weighted heavy on his mind, and he felt the illusion of normalcy already starting to slip away.

"Yeah. It's... it's great." From her uneasy tone, Marco thought Star was probably thinking along the same lines.

The pair said nothing more for the entire meal. They could hardly stand the oppressive silence, but neither could find the words to fit their feelings. The shared knowledge that Star could transform at any time didn't exactly help the mood. The couple continued to eat quietly, tension slowly building between them as they finished their food.

As Star put her trash back in the bag, she discovered a single wrapped fortune cookie at the bottom. Star quickly perked up as she pulled it out, grateful to have something to take her mind off the awkwardness. "Ooh, fortune cookie! Feels like I haven't had one of these babies in years." Star cracked her fortune cookie, pulling out the message and reading it aloud. "Stop and smell the roses." Star stared curiously at the slip of paper, until a look of understanding slowly spread across her face. "Ohhhhhhhh, I get it! Hey Marco, when this is all done, do you wanna go on a date to royal garden with me?"

"Star, that's not what it..." Gazing at her wide, hopeful smile, Marco found that he didn't have the heart to correct her. Besides, even if her interpretation was a bit literal, she wasn't really that far off. "Heh... sure. That sounds nice."

Star squealed with excitement, tucking the fortune away into the pocket of her dress as a good luck charm. "What about you? Did you get one? What's yours say?"

"Oh, uh... let's see here..." Marco reached into the pocket of his hoodie, pulling out the fortune cookie Glossaryck had given him. He split it open and unfolded the paper, staring at it in confusion.

- Love is always the answer. -

"... what?" Marco thought the phrase sounded familiar, but he couldn't place where he'd heard it before. He considered showing Star the contents, but soon remembered what Glossaryck had said to him. Against his better judgment, he decided to give Glossaryck the benefit of the doubt. "Mine... doesn't really make sense." It wasn't exactly a lie. Marco had no idea what, if anything, to make of the strange fortune. He didn't really want to keep anything from Star, even if Glossaryck had told him to, but he had no real insight on it in any case. Star tilted her head curiously, wondering what exactly the fortune cookie really said, but she chose to accept Marco's explanation.

With their food finished, neither of the two were sure what to do with themselves, and they could no longer ignore the tension hanging in the air. "So..."

"So...?" Marco rather hoped Star had a follow up, since he could think of no real response.

Star sighed heavily, having put off the conversation for as long as she could. "Marco, are we just gonna sit here and keep pretending nothing is different?"

"...can we?" Marco had been dreading this discussion. Even if he knew it was coming, he had somehow hoped there might be some way out of it.

Star shook her head sadly. "No... I don't think we can."

Marco knew that Star was right. In a way, he was glad that she had been the one to say it. If they were going to get things out in the open, having Star break the ice somehow made it a little easier. Now he didn't feel like he was accusing her of anything.

Marco had been plagued by endless questions over the past few days, but he was finally down to what only Star could answer. "Can I ask you something? Your parents covered of most of my questions, about how the magic worked and all that stuff. But there's something they couldn't tell me." After Moon's ominous reaction to the question, Marco wasn't sure what sort of response to expect, but he felt he had no choice but to ask anyway. "... Star, why were you reading Aphrodisia's chapter?

"Well, you know what they say." Star laughed darkly to herself. "Curiosity killed the... innocent, unsuspecting boyfriend of the magical bug princess."

Marco twisted his face in confusion. "That absolutely is not what they say."

Star gazed back at Marco with the most grim expression he had ever seen on her face. "It is on Mewni." After a moment, Star shook her head, sighing softly. "Okay, look. Everything since we started dating... it's probably been the best time of my life. But it was so good, I just kept wanting more."

Marco was more or less in agreement so far, and he sat across from Star on their picnic blanket, listening attentively to her story. "That night when you touched my wings... it was absolutely amazing. But then you wanted to stop, and I thought... I mean, I didn't think anything bad about YOU, but I thought maybe... I dunno. Like you stopped because you thought we were doing something wrong."

"Marco, I don't want things to always stay the same with us. I want them to always keep getting better." Star paused briefly to search for the right words. "You know how they say if you're not moving forward, you're going backward? It's kinda like that. Like somehow if we didn't keep going, that meant something was wrong with us. I know it's dumb, I don't know why I thought that..."

Marco nodded slowly, considering Star's explanation. He knew he had been a little more conservative in their relationship than she had, and he was quite happy to take things slow and steady. But he understood what she was trying to say. "Yeah, no, I get it. You're right, since we started dating, everything has been just... unbelievable. But maybe that's why I didn't us want to be in a hurry. Because I felt like everything was already so perfect. Does that even make sense?"

"I think so. And believe me, now I wish I'd been thinking like you were. But... here we are." Star fidgeted nervously, a question of her own now weighing on her mind. "Marco, tell me the truth. On a scale of one to weird, how weird are things right now?"

"... I don't know. Since all this stuff started, there are times when it really does feel like everything is normal. Like just now, sitting here, having an indoor picnic, eating low sodium Chinese food with you, talking like nothing is wrong. But..." Marco's contented smile twisted into an awkward frown as quickly as it had appeared. "Other times... it's been SUPER weird. Like, scarfing down a whole cart of Goblin Dogs weird. Like you said, things are different. I don't think they'll ever be undifferent. But that doesn't mean they won't ever be okay."

"Heh... yeah. And I mean, it's not like EVERYTHING is different, right?" Stars scooted closer and smiled warmly at Marco, reaching out to take his hand in hers. "You're still my best friend."

Marco felt his heart jump at the warmth of Star's hand, their fingers lacing together perfectly. Marco returned the gesture, beaming right back at her and taking Star's other hand in his own. "I still have a crush on you. More every day."

"Awwww, Marco! That's the cutest, sweetest..." Star let slip a girlish giggle in response to Marco's flirting. "... corniest thing I ever heard."

Marco flashed a knowing smile. "Yeah, but you love corn."

"Ohhhhoho, you have no idea." Star batted her eyelashes, leaning in closer to Marco, who responded in kind. As the distance between them slowly closed, the pair felt a hot tension beginning to build between them. Star's lips were slowly making their way to Marco's neck, and she was close enough that Marco was starting to feel the warmth of her breath against him. But just as Star felt the excited anticipation beginning to rise in her chest, she suddenly felt something inside her snap.

"Oh no... no, not now!" Star jerked back and out of Marco's grasp, grabbing her chest in pain. "Marco, it's starting! Whatever Glossaryck was trying to do, it didn't work... you have to get out of here!"

Marco showed no hesitation. He jumped to his feet, rushing toward the door, but finding that the knob failed to turn. The door stubbornly refused to budge even when he pushed against it with everything he had. It didn't take Marco long to figure out what had happened, but he was less clear on the why. "Glossaryck, you conniving son of a-" Marco was cut short by a strange rustling sound behind him.

He turned back toward the center of the room, finding a huge pile of purple heart stickers at the center. Marco held his breath as it laid silent, then began to shift ominously.

Marco hadn't actually been present at any Star's initial transformations, but if previous encounters were anything to go by, he had a good guess what came next. He ran to the balcony, desperately searching for another way out. He thought it might be just possible for him to slowly climb down the castle walls, but he suspected he didn't have that kind of time. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard the pile of heart stickers beginning to stir again from inside Star's bedroom.

Running back inside, he fixed his gaze on the pile again. He was suddenly paralyzed with fear as Star arose from the hearts, in the now familiar form of a purple bug creature. She wasted no time as she set her sights on Marco, immediately charging toward him.

Shaking off his terror, Marco twisted out of the way at the last second. After the past few encounters, Marco was starting to understand Star's pattern of attack. and he had gotten better at dodging. He didn't have many other options. Even if he was willing to fight back against Star, which he wasn't, he didn't think he was physically capable of fending her off. Still, he knew he could only avoid her for so long. "Star, listen to me! You don't want this! You have to fight Aphrodisia's magic!"

This time, Star approached slowly, forcing him backwards as she tried pull Marco into a grapple. With great effort, he was able to slip free each time she reached out to grab him, but he was losing ground quickly. Marco knew that if she got a grip, the "fight", such as it was, would be over. "This isn't you! The Star I know would never do something like this!" Star showed no visible reaction to Marco's pleading, continuing to drive him backward.

As Marco took another step back, he felt his leg make contact with something soft. Looking back to see that he just bumped into Star's bed, he suddenly realized that she had gotten him exactly where she wanted him. Taking advantage of Marco's momentary distraction, Star lunged foward, tackling him onto her bed.

Star immediately crawled on top of Marco's body, holding him down on with her weight and sheer strength. Whatever Glossayck's plan had been, Marco was certain this wasn't part of it. Star reached down to tear away Marco's hoodie, and he could hear the fabric beginning to strain as he fought against her grip. In the struggle, Marco noticed something fall out of his pocket, which he recognized as his fortune from earlier. The words written on it suddenly flashed through his head.

'Love is always the answer.'

The revelation dawned slowly as Marco's eyes widened.

'Glossaryck said that we could find the answer together.'

Another memory rose to the surface of Marco's mind as he mentally connected the dots.

'I do this because she loves you.'

Marco finally understood what Glossaryck had been trying to do, or at least he hoped he understood. Though he wasn't certain if this had been the specific plan, he had a guess at what he had to do next. Marco spoke aloud to himself, knowing Star couldn't hear him anyway. "Glossaryck... you better be right about this, you little freak."

With every bit of strength he had in his body, Marco slapped Star's hand away from his chest. Before she could react, Marco closed his eyes and reached up to rest his hands on each side of Star's cheeks, cupping her face in his palms. Leaning up as far as he could, he drew in a deep breath, and pressed his lips gently but firmly against Star's. Marco felt time freeze around him as they made contact. Though at first he felt as though he was with a stranger, as Marco held the kiss, the taste of Star's lips somehow grew more... familiar. Like he had finally managed to reach some part of her, and she was somehow reaching back.

As the heat of the moment slowly died out, Marco realized that Star's assault had ceased. Marco slowly pulled away, and Star held dead still and silent. He stared back into her gaze, and though Star still seemed to lack any conscious awareness, Marco saw the trace of a soul in her alien eyes for the first time. Star turned her head to the side, taking her weight off her arms, and promptly collapsed on Marco. She scooted back and relaxed her body as she rested her head gently against Marco's chest.

Marco was too scared to move. He had no idea whether his idea had worked or if he has merely bought himself a brief respite. He laid perfectly still, and as seconds turned into minutes, Star continued to show absolutely no sign of activity. As Marco listened closely, he sensed that the rhythm of her breaths had gradually become slower and more gentle. After minutes that felt like hours, he realized she had fallen asleep. Breathing a powerful sigh of relief as quietly as he could, Marco decided to follow her lead, and allowed his consciousness to slip away with Star resting silently on top of him.



The next morning, Moon made her way to Star's room to see what had transpired the previous night. Following Glossaryck's instructions, she had left the room and hallway unguarded and unmonitored, so she had no idea what she expected to find. She feared it would be a scene of physical and emotional devastation similar to that of the Forest of Inevitable Relaxation, or the Magical Sanctuary, but she tried to remain hopeful. Accompanied by Glossaryck and River, the Queen rapped her knuckles gently on the door of Star's bedroom. "Star? Marco? Are you two decent?" After a second knock, and a few seconds of no response, Moon slowly opened the door. Fearing the worst, she peeked inside slowly, followed by her companions.

Moon was amazed to find no signs of a struggle. Not a single piece of furniture was destroyed or even out of place. Her eyes slowly made her way over to her daughter's bed, where she found Star sleeping peacefully in Marco's arms. She was pleasantly surprised that, as far as she could tell, they were both fully clothed this time, and Marco displayed none of the usual shellshock.

"Shh." Marco looked up at Moon and put a finger to his lips. He carefully peeled the top of the blanket away, revealing Star clinging to him, resting face down against his chest.

"It's over." Marco nodded in response to Moon's veiled question, and the queen felt a sense of relief wash over her.

"I'd very much like to know how you did it." Moon began to slowly approach the bed, a look of genuine curiosity on her face.

River reached out from the doorway and took his wife's hand, gently pulling her back. "Darling, please... we should give them some privacy."

"Your Majesty, four transformations in four days?" Glossaryck's voice was full of concern for his student. "Even Star must be hurting after all that. Oh, and Marco could probably use some rest too, I suppose." The last part was said almost as an afterthought, though Marco was at least a little impressed that he had refrained from a smug "I told you so."

Moon paused to consider the request, then nodded, stepping back to the door with a small smile. "We'll be in the throne room. Take all the time you need, dear." The trio slipped out the door together, leaving Star and Marco alone together.

After being drained by recent events both physically and emotionally, Marco was grateful for the chance to rest a while longer. And though things weren't exactly back to normal yet, this moment of quiet intimacy with Star was at least something normal. Something right. For the first time in days, Marco felt true peace in his soul as he held his lover in his arms. He tenderly caressed Star's sleeping form, his touch gradually becoming slower and softer as he began to fall back asleep.

"Marco..." Marco heard a faint whisper that instantly snapped him back to full awareness.

"Star?" Marco blinked in mild surprise. Considering that Star hadn't stirred when Moon came in, he figured she'd be out for a while longer.

Star rested face down against Marco's chest, her words slightly muffled. "I remember now."

Marco wasn't exactly sure what Star was referring to. "Remember... what?"

"Everything." Star slowly raised her head from its resting place against Marco's chest. Tears filled her eyes as she gazed mournfully up at her best friend. "I'm sorry!"

Marco immediately understood what Star had remembered, and what she was apologizing for. "It wasn't your fault..."

"IT WAS!" Star shouted back at him with conviction. "If I had listened to Glossaryck, if I hadn't looked in Aphrodisia's chapter... If I hadn't been in such a hurry..."

Even though he understood what Star was trying to say, Marco still couldn't bring himself to blame her for anything. "There's no way you could've known what would happen..."

"But it still happened! And it happened because of what I did!" Star buried her head back in Marco's chest, trying to hide her tears. "You said I didn't want this, but... didn't I? Glossaryck told me that this happened because Aphrodisia's chapter tempted me with something. Doesn't that mean some part of me really did want this?"

"Star, don't talk like that." Marco knew Star didn't really believe her own words. He knew she might have been tempted into making a mistake, but he also knew Star never would've done what she did if she was in her right mind. "We both know this isn't what you wanted."

"Maybe... but I wanted something. I wanted you. I wanted all of you. And even after everything that happened..." Her voice was barely a whisper as she raised her head again, holding Marco's gaze for several seconds before speaking. "I still do."

"Look at me..." Star sobbed quietly, trying to hold back her tears in front of Marco. "I should be worrying about you and whether you're alright, and I'm so selfish that all I can think about is that I don't want to lose you. I can't go back to the way things were before! Marco, please... Tell me it isn't over! Tell me I don't have to wake up from the dream..."

Marco held Star closer, whispering softly as he lovingly stroked her hair. "Do you remember what happened just before we fell asleep last night?"

Star blushed lightly, glad that Marco couldn't see her face, the memory crystal clear in her mind. She laughed softly through the tears. "You mean that you're a really good kisser?"

"So... that's my answer. Whatever happens after this, I still want it to happen with you. And someday, when we're ready, we can still have... all of each other." Marco reached down to put a hand under Star's chin, briging her gaze up to his. With his other hand, he gently wiped away Star's barely suppressed tears. "You have no idea how much I've missed you. The real you. I'm glad you're back."

Star nodded and rolled off of Marco with a small sniffle, scooting up to lay beside him. "Listen... I know there's probably nothing I can ever do to make this right, but if I can, please let me try..."

Marco sucked in a breath before he spoke, not sure how Star would react to his request. "... your mom wanted me to go see a therapist. I think... maybe we should both go."

Star stared at Marco like she had just learned the meaning of total surprise. "Yeah, sure, and I think that's a good idea, but... Marco, you're serious? I'm here telling you to ask me for literally anything you want, and that's it?"

At Star's insistence, Marco decided to actually stop and think about it. But try as he might, with Star back to being herself, he couldn't come up with anything he wanted that he didn't already have. "Heh, well... I guess you could make me some nachos later."

Star snorted as she tried to stifle a giggle. "You adorable idiot. How can you be okay with everything that happened to you?"

Marco's face slowly fell as he tried to hide his expression from Star. "I'm not." As much as he'd tried to stay optimistic, he knew that he had still had numerous fresh wounds in body, mind, and soul. "Star, I'm scared, and I'm confused. This is probably the most messed up I've ever been in my life. I saw stuff nobody should ever have to see. It's gonna be weird for a while. I don't know when things will be completely normal again." Marco reached a hand out to touch Star's cheek, smiling softly as he gazed deep into her eyes. "But I'd rather be messed up with you than normal without you."

"Marco!" Star wrapped her arms around Marco, clinging to him and resting her head on his shoulder. She had been on the verge of tears before, but now wept openly, her tears staining Marco's hoodie as the pent up emotions of the past few days came rushing out. As Star cried, Marco began to cry with her, neither knowing which emotion finally broke them. The couple's tears flowed from relief, happiness, exhaustion, fear, and a few other emotions they didn't recognize. But most of all, they cried because they both knew, after all their trials and tribulations, that they could still call each other "friend".

When the two finally ran out of tears, Star and Marco laid silent in each others arms for what felt like an eternity, now simply savoring the warm comfort of their closeness.

"Hey... Marco?" Star hesitantly broke the silence. Before Marco could even open his eyes, Star gently brought her lips up to his. After holding the kiss for a few seconds, she drew away, her eyes wide and shining with warmth and happiness. Star nuzzled against Marco's shoulder, her warm breath teasing his neck lightly as she let out a soft giggle.

"Yeah." Marco didn't need any explanation. He leaned over and pecked Star softly on the cheek, pulling her as close to him as he could, silently wishing the moment would last forever. Marco whispered two small words in Star's ear before he gently drifted off to sleep beside his friend and lover.

"Me too."