Archive of Our Own

The sun was casting a honey glow across the wispy clouds that stretched out across the sky. The suburban homes were covered in a warm palette of gold, the streets empty except for the two kids playing catch in front of their house , and a small stray dog wandering down the road. The sound of a flock of geese in the distance reached Star's ears in a soft pattern, and her lips twitched with the intent of a smile.  It almost became one too, but then she got hit with another wave of emotion,  and she lost her smile once again. She sighed heavily, getting her fingers caught in the back of her hair as she ran them through it.

Everything was different now. Her wand, her relationship with Marco, even her relationship with her mother. Everything she thought would stay the same for all eternity had suddenly shifted.  Star combed out her hair, placing her hands flat on the windowsill. She knew that nothing was going to last forever, but she had hoped that a change would've  at least  been for the better, like coming to Earth, or meeting Marco was for the better. But instead, it seemed like the exact opposite had happened  to her. Ludo had been overthrown, Toffee's whereabouts were unknown, and no one had seen him since the explosion wrought by the whispering spell he had forced her to cast to save Marco.

Star's fists clenched on the ledge as her muscles tensed. The memory replayed in her mind, of speaking the first spell her mother had told her in case the wand was ever to fall into the hands of evil forces, but her mother had never warned her about the words the Chosen Unicorn would say as his ghost passed on , panging in her heart like a train smashing into a brick wall. She squeezed her eyes shut, her throat closing up as tears boiled in her eyes. No, she couldn't think about that now. Crying about it wouldn't change anything.  

She had to accept that everything was different now. She knew that it wasn't all bad, regarding her mother and Marco. Her mom had never given her a hug after she'd screwed up majorly, and yet that's exactly what she did when she basically blew up the wand. And Marco........she thought  she was going to lose him. For one terrifying moment, Marco was about to die. The wand was what worried her  now, obviously , but when Toffee put her between a rock and a hard place, it wasn't a hard decision  to make . Marco's life was worth giving up her family's most prized possession for,  her greatest source of power, what made her the magical princess she was,  and she would have given up so much more to save him. She loved Marco with all her heart,  despite her constant battle between platonic, and not-platonic love,  but what was different was that Marco knew that now. Any doubts, any bad blood between them had been erased after Marco had seen Star, the girl he was always jealous of, the girl  he  wish he could save for once, give up what made her magical just to save ordinary, human, him.   

Star sniffled and took a deep, shaky breath. She couldn't keep dwelling in this pity party in her room. She hadn't left it since they had gotten back from Ludo's castle, and she knew that the family-  

She blinked. The family. Her family. At last, a  small smile crept onto her soft face. The Diaz family truly was a part of her family now, and there was no doubt about that. That's why she had to snap out of it. She couldn't hurt them anymore, and no doubt would her depression make the rest of the family feel bad. She sighed and leaned onto the window sill, letting her forearms rest on the cool stone underneath her as she stared at the sun preparing to set. A small figure down below in their backyard caught her eye, and she looked down to see Marco dragging a giant porch swing into the middle of the lawn, grunting and groaning as he strained to lug the porch swing alone.  He wasn't wearing his casual red hoodie, and was instead just in his fitting  grey  t-shirt, which was starting to stain a darker grey where he was beginning to work up a sweat.  Star stared for a few seconds as she watched her friend struggle on his own, and finally the notion to help him hit her.  

"Marco! What are you doing?!" She shouted, leaning out her window.  

He yelped as he  jumped and dropped the porch swing, and he shrieked again as he pulled his foot out of the porch swings way before its leg could smash onto his foot. He let out a sigh of relief, but looked back up at Star nervously.  

"Uh, nothing really! I was just wondering if maybe-you know, you've been in your room for a long time-not that that's bad! Just-Just, uh-" Marco stopped talking, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes and gave her a heart-melting smile, full of expectation.  

"Wanna come down and talk?" He said. "The sun's about to set, and you haven't been out in a while, so I just thought maybe you could use some fresh air and watch it set with me."   

Star's face went blank, but a smile crept onto her face. Marco rolled his thumbs as he gave her a hopeful smile. Star knew he'd been wanting to hang out with her as usual, and she had been depriving him of that due to her anxiety and depression flaring up after the incident with Toffee and the wand. She wanted to be with him, too.    

"How thoughtful, Marco! I'll be right down, okay?" She said in reply.  

Marco began to smile, but then suddenly shook slightly.  

"Oh, I'll meet you in the house, actually. It's getting kinda chilly, and I need to grab my sweater. "  He stopped and lifted his arm up and sniffed, scrunching up his nose as he let his arm fall.   

"And another shirt."  

Star laughed and  patted the windowsill as a new happiness found her again. She felt a cold breeze fold around her bare arms. She shivered and rubbed her arms, now covered in goosebumps.

"Autumn's making a real comeback!"  She thought, and jogged to her closet to grab a teal sweater with a lavender narwhal on it. S he let out a content sigh as she fit her arms through her sleeves. Only Marco could make her depression and anxiety seem so far away in such little time.  She sprinted downstairs  as she zipped her sweater  up, and saw  Marco, who was jogging up the steps.  

"I'll see you there in a sec, okay?" He said, and he held his hand out.  

"Okay! Don't take too long though, it's getting cold." Star said, and she extended her arm and gave him a high five  and a fist bump , and they passed each other. Star hopped off the last stair, and waltz into the kitchen, humming random notes to herself as she strolled to the back door.  

"Star! Do you have any idea why Marco's dragged our porch swing from the front of the house into the middle of our backyard?" Mrs. Diaz said, who was washing dishes at the sink. Her husband was humming cheerfully as he dried the dishes she handed them and sorted them into stacks.  

"Oh, um, he said he wanted to talk to me? So he brought the porch swing out there, I guess. The hammock can only fit one person, after all!" Star said, stopping mid walk and placing her arms on the counter. She set her wand down, feeling comfortable around Marco's parents. They'd seen a lot of crazy stuff since they'd taken Star in, so she knew they could be trusted, no matter how strange the situation may be. Mr. Diaz laughed and gave a knowing glance to his wife.  

"Not if you try hard enough!" He said. Mrs. Diaz laughed and shoved him lightly in the shoulder. Star rolled her eyes, despite the rush of warmth flooding into her cheeks. Mr. Diaz's laugh resided into his signature smile.  

"But seriously, tell him to put the swing back in the front when you two are done. I don't want any extra junk in our already messy backyard, okay?" He said.  

"Alright, alright, dad." Marco said, placing his hand on Star's shoulder. Star whipped her head around to see Marco wearing his red hoodie zipped all the way to the top, his hair slightly messier than its usual composure. He gave her a crooked smile.  

"Let's go!" He said. He patted her shoulder and ran off, shouting, "Race you!"   

Star huffed in mock offense, grabbed her wand, and took off after him. "No fair, Marco! You got a head start!"   

Marco giggled as he grabbed the edge of the door and swung out into the backyard, with a giddy Star following right after. Their laughs faded from the Diaz parent's earshot, and they gave each other a warm smile.  

"Those two are inseparable, aren't they?" Mrs. Diaz said, returning to her dishes.  

"Yes, they are. Though I'm sure their bond is a little different than they think it is." Mr. Diaz said, drying another plate. Mrs. Diaz nodded in agreement and picked the next glass out of the dirty side of the sink.  

Marco huffed and flopped onto the porch swing as Star jogged the last few feet. He swayed slightly as Star walked up to him.  

"Marco, you're such a cheater!" Star said, and the two laughed as Marco pulled his feet in. Star sat in the corner, and Marco groaned as he sat upright next to her. The sun had already disappeared behind the skyline, only it's glow lighting the now-lavender sky.  

Star frowned. "Aww, the sun's already set. I'm sorry, Marco."  

Marco leaned back into swing  and laid his arm behind Star's shoulder, letting out a sigh. Star looked at him quizzically, but he just stared forward, his face with no smile, but soft all the same. He finally gave a shrug.  

"That's alright. I know that what comes after the sunset is pretty cool, too. Oh," He moved his arm from behind Star and clasped it with his other. He slouched over and began to twist his thumbs anxiously.  

"So, I wanted to talk to you about what happened back at, uh, Ludo's castle." He gave her a quick glance, but looked back at his thumbs. "About Toffee an-and the wand and stuff." He froze for a second and closed his eyes, letting himself steady his breathing. Star could obviously see Marco was pretty shaken. "I think there's quite a bit we need to talk about."

Star felt her anxiety bubbling up her throat, but she swallowed it down, letting out a quiet breath through her mouth in a steady stream. She was pretty shaken up too, to say the least. But she knew that Marco was the one taken in the first place, so she couldn't act like she was the only one being affected. Plus, there was a lot left unanswered after the whole ordeal, even concerning what she thought of feelings in herself, but before she could delve into them,  Marco interrupted her thoughts with a question.  

"Were you really going to give up the wand for me?" He said, his voice small and fragile. She looked at him, and saw that he was staring straight at her. She cleared her throat, struggling to keep a steady voice as she felt her eyes well up with tears.  

"Um, well, yeah." She said, and she gave a shaky laugh as the fear she felt when she was about to lose Marco started to sneak back into the pit of her stomach. "T-Toffee, uh-He wasn't gonna let you go unless I did, and after the horrible stuff I said that morning, and you were about to  di -"  She gave a small gasp and cursed herself as she felt her muscles tense, and she felt her chest tighten. Marco grabbed her arm.  

"Deep breaths." Marco said, his face full of concern. Star gripped his hand as she tried to calm herself down, sudden dizziness taking over as the repressed yet fresh memories flooded back in.   

"Take deep breaths, okay? I'm really sorry, Star." Marco's voice whispered in the distance as Star saw herself holding her wand in her hands as she spoke the Whispering spell to it. She was back in the glass holding cell next to Marco, waiting for the Whispering spell to take full effect. She was back in Marco's arms, feeling the warmth of his arms as she felt her body tense up with the fear and hopelessness setting inside of her after what had happened. Star took slower breaths, and she quickly realized that Marco's arms were indeed around her, and he was stroking her hair, his voice soft and soothing, whispering the way a mother does to her crying child. Star felt her tears return, and as she tried to force them down, something unexpected happened. She felt Marco's hand stop, and tighten around her waist as he began to cry.  

"I'm not worth giving up your wand for. You have so much to do-so much to accomplish, and I'm," Marco gave a shaky laugh as he  sniffled  into Star's shoulder. "I'm just Marco Diaz, dorky karate boy who can't even talk to the girl he likes after a decade."  

Star's eyes were welling up with tears once again, and the fear of her incomplete wand, Toffee's  evergrowing  power, and of what was to become of her future on the throne, finally spilled out, and she squeezed Marco back fiercely, letting her body rack with heart-wrenching sobs. Marco held her as he sniffled, letting her tears and snot soak into his shoulder without a care. Star decided that it was time to let her heart have a say , and so she spoke it.  

"You deserve the sacrifice of a thousand wands and then some, Marco. You- I-I don't know! I just-I had to choose between you and my wand and I chose you! And you know what?! " Star pulled away from Marco and gripped his shoulders, locking eyes with him. A fierce pride took over her, like a madness that boiled in her tears as they leaked across her cheeks.  

"I would do it again. If I had to choose between saving the world, and saving you, I would choose you every time. You are worth it." Star said determinedly, her voice wavering slightly.   

Marco wiped the tears from her face silently. Star returned the favor, sitting in silence as she waited for Marco to say something.

"Thank you, Star." He whispered.  He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a weary sigh.  

"I'm sorry for crying. That was just some pretty intense stuff we went through back there, is all." He said. He grabbed her hand and sat back on the porch swing. Star leaned back, intertwining her fingers with his as she leaned back on the seat next to him. A slight gasp escaped from her as she realized what had happened to the sky.  

"It's a new moon tonight. I don't think you've been able to really take in what that does for the sky, so I just thought that you would appreciate enjoying it now." Marco said. Still holding her hand, he pointed up at the stars in the night, which looked like  lighthouses in a ocean of pitch black.  "That's ones called the Big Dipper. Oh, there's Orion's Belt!"  

Star's eyes were wide in marvel as she stared up into the faint traces of swirling galaxies above her.  

"This is amazing!" She said, breathtaken . Marco smiled and began naming all the constellations he could remember, Star completely entranced by the night sky's mysterious beauty, and it seemed like in that instant it was just her, Marco, and the stars. Her worries, anxieties, fears; They all just melted away, even if just for that one moment. Star listened to Marco's enthusiastic voice, listing the stars of the night, and the two knew one thing: Even if they ended up battling for a final day together, they wouldn't fear the sun leaving them. The light of the morning star  didn't mean that a chance at a new beginning was lost, it just meant you were left with something that could end up being even better than a sunset.