Chapter 14

As lava quickly overtook the mountains surrounding Toffee, Marco briefly felt a grim satisfaction. Either the bastard was dead, or he wished he was.

However, as quickly as it came, it fell away. These past two months, he'd shoved aside everything- the pain and heartbreak- to focus on taking Toffee down. Now that he'd succeeded, what was left?

He looked down at Star's corpse. It felt wrong. Star was always so animated, colorful, full of life- her unmoving, sunken, hollow shell felt like an abomination. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. Not to Star. Never to her.

But it was real.

Marco fell to his knees, long repressed tears breaking free once again. "I'm sorry, Star." He wept. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, so sorry."

This was his reality now, but Marco didn't want to live in a world where Star was dead.

Marco was startled from his grief by what sounded somewhat like shattering glass, but also reverberated dissonantly like a gong. He looked up in time to see the space in front of him facture, cracks spreading from a single point. Then the sound came again, this time accompanied by a fist punching its way through. The arm drew back, but then three hands began prying at the hole it had created, breaking off pieces and casting them aside.

Marco's heat leapt in hope. It could only be one person.

Finally, Star was able to claw herself through the rift she had created. "Marco!" She gasped, catching sight of him. She launched herself in the air, wings flattening as she made a bee line towards him.

He whispered her name like a prayer. At one point Marco had thought her butterfly form had been scary, but right now she looked like an angel.

She pulled up right in front of him, she took in his tear streaked face, and her gaze flickered to the body at his feet. "Oh. Oh, Marco." Without further prompting, she gathered him in her arms. She held him gently, tenderly, each of her hands either cradling his body or caressing him soothingly. "Shh, its okay. I'm here. It's okay." She murmured, and the sheer affection in her voice broke Marco's defenses as much as her loving touch.

"Star." Marco broke down crying "I-I" He couldn't find the words. How much it hurt, how seeing her again was like a balm to his soul, even as his heart still wrenched itself over the death of her other self.

So instead of speaking, he just clung. He held onto her like his life depended on it. Like she was the one thing keeping him from drowning and slipping forever into the abyss. Like she was his lifeline.

In response, her arms wound around him tighter, clutching him to her chest and resting her cheek atop his head. Marco sunk into her embrace, tension easing from him as his tears trailed off. They might have stayed like that for days, or perhaps it was only seconds- enjoying the mutual security and comfort that came from holding each other. "I've got you, Marco. I've got you, and I'm never letting go again. I-if you'll have me."

Marco pulled back slightly, but only so he could see her face. "Star… what are you saying?"

"I love you Marco. I'm in love with you, and I have been all this time. I've been a complete idiot, and I'm so, so sorry, for everything. And I know that you've moved on, I know that you're happy with Janna and you deserve to be. B-but- I though you deserved to know how I felt."

Those were the words Marco had been hoping to hear for years, and she was saying them. She loved him. She loved him. She loved him. The chant echoed in his heart, each time growing in strength as a bolt of euphoria suffused him.

Wait, what was that about Janna?

"Star? Why do you think Janna and I are a thing?"

"Well, Janna said…"

Marco merely raised an eyebrow in response.

"Wait, she lied?" Star gasped, before giggling "She's such a… a… scoundrel!"

"Did she set you up with Jackie too?"

"Oh my corn! She did!" Star and Marco laughed together, for the first time in way too long, to be honest.

"So wait, does that mean, that you, that you…" Star probed hopefully.

"Yes." Marco affirmed, looking into her eyes "I love you, Star Butterfly. Even when we were separated, I still loved you. I don't know how to stop."

With those words, Star crushed him in another hug, this time tightly wrapping her arms around him. Then she pulled back and asked "Kiss me."

Star wasn't sure what she did wrong. Things had been going so well, so incredibly, wonderfully well. Marco was safe and in her arms, and he somehow, still loved her, and wanted to be with her. She had her best friend back and more.

So why did, when she asked him to kiss him, did he look so pained? Why was he looking down at… oh.

He was looking down at the body of this world's version of her, and he was still grieving for her. Star wanted to weep at the intensity of emotion he felt for her. "Oh, Marco." She tried to comfort him, bringing a hand to his cheek "Do you want to talk about it?"

His hand took hers, and he brought it to his lips, kissing it softly. "She… she was afraid, and alone, and hurt." He sniffled "She… she asked me to kiss her before she... left. I was holding her."

"I know it doesn't help much, but… at least you were there. I know how much you just being there would have helped her." As she said this, one of her hands went to wipe his tears away one at a time.

"We should bury her." Marco said. "Wait, isn't cremating more traditional?"

"So knowledgeable." Star teased "And yeah, Queens are normally cremated."

"We'll need to see if Eclipsa's escaped. And find the high commission and revive them."

"Mmmmhhhm."

"Except for Omnitraxus."

Star chuckled "Bastard. But we might need him to get back."

"Couldn't you just do it?"

"Well, I could, but I'd probably get lost. I was able to follow you with our bond." Oh yeah, she needed to tell him about that too.

"What?"

"You know, the blood moon? Apparently it's a real thing and it's bound our souls together for eternity or something."

A look of comprehension spread across his face "Oh. Well I guess it's a good thing I love you, then." As he said this, Marco snuggled in closer to her, tucking his head against her shoulder.

Star giggled "I love you too." God, it felt good to say that, just like it felt good to hold him. It felt right, like this was where she belonged.

They didn't stray far from each other for the rest of the day. They worked mostly in silence, piling up wood and propping her… body (corn, that was weird to think about) atop it. After Star lit the pyre ablaze, Marco turned and folded himself back into her- seeking comfort she was all too willing to give.

"I can't lose you again, Star." He croaked "I don't think I could survive it."

"You won't" She promised fervently, looking into his eyes "I'm here, Marco, here to stay. Whatever happens, whatever comes, we can beat it- together."

"Together." Marco affirmed, and then their lips met. They kissed, softly, sweetly, lovingly.

Finding the high commission, dealing with Eclipsa and Omnitraxus and whoever else was left… that could wait. Marco and Star spent the rest of the night holding each other, until they drifted off to sleep together.

"Look, I'm sorry Tom, but I don't think this is quite legal." Hekapoo told him skeptically.

"Well, someone needs to lead Mewni while Star's gone." Tom replied "And as far as anyone knows, I'm her fiancé, so it should logically be me." Tom, along with Star's circle of advisors- Rhombulus, Hekapoo, Sir Stabby, Steven, and Buff Frog, were meeting in Star's council room.

It had been two days since she had disappeared.

"Except you're not her fiancé." Sir Stabby noted.

"Well, does anyone have a better idea?" Tom challenged the room at large "If there isn't some semblance of leadership, the kingdom could fall apart.".

"Are you sure you're up to task?" Buff Frog asked him "You've got good heart and good head on shoulders, but do you think you can lead country?"

"I… I don't know." Tom admitted "But I guess I'll need to learn eventually."

He'd been putting that off again and again. Always with an excuse- he'd have advisors, it would be years before he'd be needed to lead the underworld, he could handle it. But it was time that Tom faced it- he was woefully unprepared for the task before. "Look, I don't intend on actually ruling Mewni. I figure we can work together on that until Star gets back. But at least I can be a figurehead."

That was the other thing Tom needed to face. He had no way of knowing that Star or Marco would ever be coming back. It was possible he'd never see them again. But it wasn't a possibility he wanted to think about, ever. Star and Marco would be back. There was no way that whatever dimension Omnitraxus sent them to could beat them when they were together.

Seeing no protests, Tom continued. "So look, there's a lot of issues that we're facing right now. I guess I'm opening up the floor to suggestions, concerns, compliments."

"We've still got the giant crystal of Omni in the time dimension still." Rhombulus piped in. "He's just way too big to move!"

"Maybe a little more urgent than that." Tom suggested.

"Well, at least Mina's stopped attacking." Steven added in.

"Without Omnitraxus' portals, she'd be a sitting duck." Hekapoo concluded "And if we'd gotten our act together before now, we probably could have taken care of her already."

"There's still-" Steven was interrupted, however by something spectacular. Right in front of them, reality bent and warped until it ripped open. Marco and Star, Tom's two best friends, were unceremoniously deposited on the floor of the council room.

Everyone just stated at them in shock, unsure of how to react to their sudden appearance. Star righted herself elegantly and dusted herself off, and said as if nothing unusual had just happened "Well, looks like everyone's here. Sorry we're late!"

Tom's eyes drifted down to their hands, which were clasped in each other, and he knew. He cared for both of them, but seeing them together was too much for him to bear. He knew that Marco would understand him taking some time for himself, and he hoped Star would. So with a sad, wistful sigh, he turned and left.

Tom went back home, to the underworld. He crashed into his bed. The same one he and Star used to share. Maybe he should burn it. Yeah, just dump it straight into a volcano. Get himself a whole new room that didn't remind him of Star or Marco.

Somehow that didn't feel like the solution to his problems.

He had no idea how long his thoughts whirled around chaotically in his mind, before he was drawn from his stupor by the buzzing of his phone.

Hm, it was Janna. They were never particularly close, but any friend of Star and Marco's sort of automatically became his friend as well.

Hey, I heard about what happened with Star. You wanna hang out?

Would I be hanging out with you, or Jackie? By now he'd heard of Janna's tendency to set people up for heart to hearts with her friend. Tom wasn't sure hanging out with Marco's ex-girlfriend was the best look for him right now. Janna though, certainly had an edge… a rebellious streak that appealed to him.

Only one way to find out ;)

Tom sighed. Did he really want to spend time anyone right now? Did he really want to be alone?

He had to face it; he wasn't going to be spending nearly as much time with his two best friends. Maybe getting to know other people was a good idea.

Fine. I'm curious, wanna hang in the underworld?

You don't have to ask me twice.

"So do you think that world's Omnitraxus is just as much a bastard as this one's?" Hekapoo asked.

"Honestly, I don't know." Marco shrugged. "We couldn't exactly move on him immediately, since he was the only way we'd get back. We let that world's Hekapoo, Rhombulus, and Eclipsa know about what he did in our world, so hopefully they'll be able to keep an eye on him."

"Well, muscles, I have to admit sometimes you can still surprise me." Hekapoo teased "I mean I never would have expected you to threaten and attack me. It brings me back to the good old days."

"I'm really sorry about that." Marco apologized profusely. Even though her teasing told him she'd already forgiven him, he still felt awful about thinking that she'd betray him.

Hekapoo responded by slapping him in the back of the head, eliciting a sharp cry from Marco and leaving a patch of scorched off hair. "There, now we're even."

"Er, Marco, sir?" It was Stephen, Star's former assistant.

"Hey, what's up?" Marco responded casually. Bluntly telling him to be less formal hadn't phased him, so Marco had taken to trying a different tactic around him.

"Queen Star has asked for you."

"Thanks. Why don't you go and study that math textbook I got you and go over a few of the practice problems in Chapter 3. Once Star and I are done, I'll go over some of the stuff with you."

After Stephen, hurried off, Hekapoo raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Training your replacement."

Marco smiled coyly "Not at all. He's not Star's assistant anymore."

"Oh?"

"He's mine."

While he was making his way to Star's bedroom, Marco was surprised when he ran into Kelly. "Marco!" She squeaked.

Marco did his best to school his features. He really didn't know where things stood between them. Last they'd talked, she'd basically said she no longer wanted to be friends and cut all contact. But the last time they saw each other, back when they were planning on intercepting Mina's raid, she had kept shooting him tearful glances.

"Hey, Kelly." Marco replied neutrally. He considered striking up conversation, but he really did need to get to Star and he wasn't sure how things could be repaired between him and Kelly. Honestly he wondered if it was best if they did go their separate ways for now. She needed space to get over him, and he knew if she kept hanging out with him it'

"Wait!" Kelly stopped him with a hand on his forearm, which Marco awkwardly pulled away from. "I know you've got a lot of other stuff going on, but I just wanted to talk to you, just a little bit."

"Alright Kelly" Marco sighed "What do you want to talk about?"

"I'm sorry." She confessed "Look, I shouldn't have acted that way when you… rejected me. I was being a jerk and I didn't realize it until Janna kicked some sense into me."

"It's alright, Kelly. It wasn't a fair situation to you either." He understood where she was coming from, extraordinarily well, and had never blamed her for how she reacted, even if it had hurt him.

"Thanks." She said, before continuing more heavily "B-but, I think I need to take a break for this, us being friends." She'd spoken very deliberately, and it sounded like she'd rehearsed this speech in her head a thousand times- which was exactly what Marco had done when he'd broken things off with Star.

"I understand." Marco said solemnly, though inside he honestly felt relieved. Really, it was probably the best decision for both of them right now, and he was glad that Kelly could see it too. "I guess I'll be seeing you, eventually."

Marco walked away too quickly to hear Kelly's sad response.

"Yeah. Eventually."

Marco was at the door to her room, when conversation on the other side stopped him.

"I know what you did, Higgs." Star said sternly.

"What I did?" The girl was clearly nervous, despite her legendary bravado.

"Oh yes, Marco told me everything."

Shit. He'd told her about how Higgs had been the one that had convinced him to leave, but he didn't think she'd actually get retribution for it. He was prepared to intervene when he spotted the look in Star's eyes, and he relaxed.

"I-I'm very sorry." Higgs mumbled "I didn't think- oof!" Her half-baked apology was cut off by Star drawing her into a tight hug.

"Thank you."

"Your welcome?"

Star returned to a respectable distance and regarded her knight "Without you, Marco and I might never have gotten together. You made Marco realize that he should care for himself too. So yes, thank you. However," Her tone turned dangerous "If you ever make Marco question how much I need him again, you will regret it."

Higgs, for once, seemed properly chastised "I understand."

At this point, Marco decided to make his presence known "Hey Star, you asked for me?"

Star's demeanor shifted in an instant, and Star joyfully launched herself at him, wrapped her arms and legs around him, and showered kisses on his face.

While they were 'greeting' each other, Higgs beat a hasty retreat. Star returned to her feet and took his hands in hers as she asked "So I guess you heard all of that."

"Yeah." Marco admitted.

"Spying leads to crying, Marco." She teased.

Marco chuckled good naturedly "Well, how about I make it up to you?"

Star grinned flirtatiously "Oh? I'm eager to hear what you have in mind."

As tempting as it was to forgo business and just kiss her again (and again and again) he knew there was a time and a place for it "Well, I figured out how to solve our food shortage. We can trade for it."

Without Omnitraxus propping her up, Mina had been hilariously easy to subdue, but the aftereffects of Omnitraxus' machinations were still being felt. Thankfully, Marco had been able to find a market that was awash in surplus corn.

"Wait, really? But I thought I checked with all of the neighboring kingdoms. Most of them, we trade our corn to them."

"Well, I'm guessing you didn't check Earth, did you?" Yeah, there were a lot of complications with that. They'd have to officially open up diplomatic channels with Earth governments, which had literally never been done before. And likely, the trade would be in exchange for some manner of magically enchanted objects, which again, would be a game changer for Earth. But at the same time, he knew that countries like the United States had massive corn surpluses. It was too good to pass up.

"Marco…" Star blinked in amazement "You're a genius!" With her proclamation, she leapt forward again, capturing his lips with hers.

Okay, Marco conceded, the kingdom could wait, at least for a little bit.

A/N: Well, that's the end. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed and offered their support, it really helped me plow through moments where I wasn't feeling inspired. I hope this ending satisfied you guys. I did leave a few loose ends, and while I've had a few people asking for a sequel, at the moment I don't really have the inspiration for it. I do, however, have plans for another SvtFoE story, so keep an eye out for that!

Anyway, as always let me know what you think!