Chapter 1: Promotion

The Dimension of Mewni

The Butterfly Kingdom

Four years after Star's return to Mewni.

"I must stay strong for the Mewmans... everybody."

As Princess Star Butterfly walked along the stretched red-carpeted corridor of the Butterfly dimension, she thought about this often. Her mother, Queen Moon, was dying. The entire kingdom would be at her disposal soon, and as she knew, many historians and critics of the Butterfly lineage would question if she were ready.

As she withheld the stress from her insecurities and pressures, Star entered a door to her right, peeking in to find a small hospital bed. The white-coated nurse greeted the Butterfly Princess as she went in.

"Ah, Princess Star," the nurse said as she looked up, acknowledging Star's authority. "Your mother is here as always. Just fed her some food."

"Thank you, Ingrid," Star said, but did not look at the nurse, only to her weakened mother on the tattered hospital bed. Both of her eyes were shut as she seemed to be embraced in a deep slumber. The nurse, Ingrid, put a hand on Star's shoulder.

"Also," Ingrid said quietly, "I have something important to tell you." Ingrid put her lips close to Star's ear, and whispered softly. Star knew that it couldn't be good.

"Your mother has gotten weaker since I last checked in on her hours ago," Ingrid spoke softly, with a sense of remorse on her tongue. "She is in really bad shape. I don't think she can live much longer."

Star's eyes begin to widen, as she did her best to try not to cry in front of Ingrid. Ingrid had been a very good friend to her in the last few months that her mother was in the hospital, either way. Ingrid would be willing to miss some of her off-duty breaks just to care for the Queen, something which Star respected of all the other nurses that cared for her mother. Ingrid seemed to almost immediately sensed Star's feelings, as the nurse began to give her a comforting hug. Star felt a slight sense of security, and it had reminded her old Earth friend, Marco.

She sighed once her thoughts collected Marco's name. Marco Diaz. The boy who she left on Earth four years after. Would he remember her as she remembered him? The blonde, blue-dressed princess remembered her current position, and backed off from the hug, with the nurse looking at her with mild concern.

"Well then," the nurse said, after a brief silence, "I'll leave you alone with your mother then. I'll see you, Star."

"Bye," Star said blankly. Her mind was incoherent as she looked from her mother's bedside. The queen was awake tonight, but her eyes were half open, mostly due to fatigue.

"Star-r-r-r..." her mother spoke wearily, clearly enjoyed to see her daughter once again, though she talked softer, unlike her usual shrill self.

"Yes mother?" Star asked as the Queen raised her weak, elderly hand to Star's arm.

"Thanks for visiting again," the Queen said, smiling weakly to her only daughter. "Now, I called for you here because, I have some... very important issues to bring up with you."

"Yes mother." Star repeated again.

"Now, as you know, you are a young woman now. Around twenty-some years of age?"

"Twenty-one," Star said briefly, quickly kneeling by the Queen's bedside as she spoke.

"Yes, sorry," the old Queen said. "My old mind can't collect things the way it used to. Now can I sit up for a second?" Star pressed a button on the side of the hospital bed, which retracted so her mother could sit vertically. Star noted that her mother was getting weaker and weaker with every passing moment, as seen through the inability to press a simple button.

"Now, anywho, like I said before... I obviously don't have much time to live, as the nurse may or may not have pointed out. Therefore I assume the Queenly duties to you. You've trained for about seven long years for this." Star awkwardly looked at herself through her mother's bedside mirror. Had she changed since leaving Marco? Was she good enough to keep the Kingdom of Mewni strong? As she pondered these questions, her mother kept speaking. "I would give you a speech about the huge responsibility given this kingdom, but you've heard it so many times anyways."

Obviously, thought Star. It is a big responsibility. What's your point?

"The point being," the Queen stated, "There's something I think you'd wanna know, a little unwritten rule, shall we say it, before ruling Mewni."

"Don't worry mother," replied Star unshaken, "I think I'll be fine, regardless of what it is."

"No, daughter," the Queen said, reaching out her arm weakly to Star. "Since you h-h-haven't a suitor for the newest king yet, we will place k-kingship, in t-t-temporary charge."

"WHAT!?" Star shouted, hand over her mouth in shock. "Why can't I rule on my own?"

"We cannot break a trend that... that... that... has been in the g-g-generations of the Butterfly Kingdom."

"I don't need a suitor or a king," scoffed Star, as she turned away from her mother to look out through the palace window.

"Now, Star, *cough*" the Queen sputtered out, "Do what you like *cough*, but you know you'll have to face the music later. We've prepared your whole life for this moment, and if you won't come out of your shell and reach for the stars, it will never come again."

The princess looked back and sighed. "So, can you tell me who you picked as my suitor?"

The Queen, with half-opened eyes, stood silent.

"Please don't be Tom, PLEASE DON'T BE TOM," the blue-dressed princess hollered in hysterics, "ANYTHING BUT TOM!"

"Star," the Queen quickly rose her hand, "Don't be *cough* so daft. I can't put up *cough* with this much longer."

"Sorry."

Queen Moon laughed modestly, "I wouldn't do that to you, Star, who *cough* do you think I am? Miss *cough* Heinous?"

Star gave out a chuckle. When the laughter died several seconds of silence quickly followed.

"I think," the Queen said, breaking the silence, "Your father will be in charge for the while, before we will find you a suitor. It's all up *cough* to you, Star. I won't force who you *cough* want as the *cough* King."

"Alright mum," Star replied.

"Come here, Star," the Queen spoke cheerfully, inviting Star with wide arms. Star accepted her arms and the two were locked in an embrace. As the two hugged, Star noticed her mother's grip getting weaker. As she looked at her mother's face, she stared in horror, seeing her mother's eyes were wide open. Her mother's body slouched on the bed, falling gently out of the princess's grasp. Instead of an air of calm and serenity, Star was met with a fear of the inevitable.

"INGRID," she screamed, jumping up and calling for her nurse, "HELP, MY MOTHER'S BLACKED OUT!"

As Star paced around the room in a panic, she took a vase sitting on a side-table and chucked it across the room.

"PLEASE DON'T BE DEAD, PLEASE DON'T BE DEAD, PLEASE DON'T BE DEAD." Star's hysterics died down and turned to sadness as she fell on both knees beside her mother's bedside. She hit the side of the hospital bed, her mother still slouched with her eyes wide open.

"Star, what happ..." broke out Ingrid, who just scurried the room. She looked at the Queen's fallen body on the bed, and knew she couldn't do anything now.

Instead, Ingrid focused her attention to the devastated daughter. Ingrid knelt down and stood the princess up, walking her out of the room. Star Butterfly's eyes were closed, swelling from the tears. Ingrid said nothing else, except for one minute line.

"May the space god be with you, Queen Butterfly."

Earth

Explorer Corporation Headquarters

Echo Creek, CA

"Alright, Mr. Diaz. You have ten minutes to explain why our corporation should hire you. Give me everything that you have."

Marco Diaz, now a young Mexican adult, was sitting in an office chair, placed adjacently to the CEO's desk, to where Explorer CEO James Martin, spoke. The CEO was a tall with a long set of hair. He appeared in his 40s, but didn't come off as a gruff or serious-looking man. Marco was afraid of an experienced employee asking him the questions, but he found it even scarier to be talking directly to Mr. Martin.

"Um, shouldn't you be asking the questions, Mr. Martin?" Marco asked nervously.

"Oh, so the boy's a bit of a rebel, eh?" Martin snickered, "Very well then. Why don't you tell me about your alma mater?"

"Um," Marco paused, "I had a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering here at Echo Creek College."

"Interesting," Martin pondered, pacing himself between the constraints of his office. "I'd ask about how college was for four years without a dorm and living in your parent's basement, but now's not the time. Anywho, do you have any idea what our company does?"

"Questioning the World, Evolving the World." Marco had recited the company's motto. "You guys have many different fields, like inventing different mechanisms as well as in the field of bio-medicine which examines genetics to find cures to the most incurable of diseases."

"Someone's been doing some research," the witty CEO replied, grin still plastered on his face, "Now tell me, Mr. Diaz, what kind of problems do you want to solve in our world, and why do you think our company will help you get there?"

"Huh," Marco was caught off guard with the question. However, Martin still did not show any frustration and stayed collected during the interview.

"Sorry, that question gets a lot of people," chuckled Martin, "When I think about hiring a person for the first time, often the question that pops up in everyone's head is 'what they want to be when they grow up.' That solitary statement good, but not great. It often comes up as 'I want to be a electrical engineer', or other questions."

He paused a bit, looking right at Marco's nervous and sweaty face. "No, when I look for an employee, I ask them 'what kind of problems they want to solve in their future.' I am a firm believer that everyone has a gift from God. We all have a purpose to live on the Earth. The question asks them about what they want to solve, how they want to impact a world and make it greater than it already is. Just wanting to be an electrical engineer doesn't tell us about how you change the world. A better question, wouldn't you agree, Mr. Diaz?"

Marco nodded his head slowly. "Yes sir, I believe the problems I want to solve are very tech-oriented. Because we live in such a world where technology is key, I want to fix technology when it goes wrong."

Martin nodded. "I couldn't agree more. Our world is often technology oriented. We use our phones every day, we drive cars or take trains to go to work. With all of this power, anybody can become very wealthy with tons of effort put in, like this very corporation, not to brag."

Martin opened a drawer from his desk and pulled out a stack of sorted papers, filled with resumes. "Marco Diaz, correct?" Martin spoke, to which Marco nodded. As Martin flipped through the papers, he managed to find Marco's, which he had submitted the past week.

"I'm just checking your resume." Martin declared as he went through the contents of the resume. "Criminal Record, none. Drinking or Drug related issues, none. Model student in both high school and college, Applying for the Mechanical Engineering job, and you've graduated from college just this year. Is any of this information incorrect, and are you just fibbing? Such a safe kid, eh?"

Marco nodded his head no, though he was bothered with what Martin had just said. Placing the paper flat on his desk, Martin walked over and stood near Marco and stared him down. Marco was intimidated by the man and shrunk in his chair.

"Marco Ubalbo Diaz," Martin said with a smile, "You've done something that has really impressed me. Out of all the applications and interviews I have done with college graduates in the past month, you have displayed what seems to be the most commitment to getting this job. You might want to work on your self-confidence though."

He gave his hand out to Marco. "Welcome to the Explorer Corporation. I hope you make the company proud."

Marco's eyes widened, as he shook Martin's hand. "Thank you, sir." He honestly couldn't believe that he got the job. Amazed, he was about to walk out of the door.

"Oh, and don't forget Marco," Martin stated, just stopping him before he walked out the door. "Your job starts at 7 AM tomorrow. I'll get an employee to show you around the workplace tomorrow. Please take it easy on the celebrations tonight. I don't want have to sack you tomorrow."

"Yes, thanks Mr. Martin." Marco gave a light smile, before heading out of the office.

Marco went home to his small apartment, which he had just rented through his spare scholarship money. The first thing he did when he got home was remove his coat and rummaged through his refrigerator to grab a can of light beer. Marco normally didn't drink, unlike his two best friends, Alfonzo and Ferguson, who had a drink every time he hung out with them after college hours. Marco made a vow to limit himself to have one drink a week or less, which seemed all the more important with his new job to maintain.

As Marco slung himself on his living room couch, sipping from the can, drowning out his thoughts on the current day, his eyes wandered around the tidy room. He was thinking about watching some television, but as he reached for the remote, he felt he would only be able to watch TV in sobriety. As he looked around the room for a book to read, or something to do, his eyes caught a single photograph, locked in a black photo-frame.

Marco put down his beer can and picked up the black photo-frame. It was a picture of him and his old friend Star Butterfly, the photocopy that Marco had kept. Star was seen, her arm slung over his shoulder while giving the peace sign. It was taken when Marco was at his happiest. Sighing, he recollected his memories of her. The times that they had fought monsters together, the times that the two went dimension hopping, he craved for those days in high school with Star, as without her, all the excitement, all the love in his life had mostly diminished.

Marco didn't let go of the photograph for a long time.

5 years ago

Star ran all across her room, searching for the many things she may have forgotten, placing them into Star's huge treasure chest to make sure she was ready. Marco sat on her bed, studying for his college placement exams.

"Star, I'm gonna miss... OOF!" Star, with her eyes watering, had leapt on Marco on the bed, hugging him for such a long time. She showed no intention of letting him go, letting her emotions get to her.

"I'm going to miss you, Mark," chuckled Star, while tears streamed down her face, pulling him even tighter.

"Hey," Marco bluffed at the nameswap, but returned the hug. "I'll miss you too, Star."

As the Star skipped down the stairs while Marco hauled the luggage down the stairs, Marco's parents greeted her. Their eyes were red, like they had cried in the past hour or so. Marco's mother, Mrs. Diaz did nothing but welcome Star into her arms.

"We're going to miss you, nuestra pequeña mariposa," said Mr. Diaz as Star moved to give him a big hug.

"Thanks you guys," sighed Star, embracing the emotion of this particular moment, "I love you guys too, and I'll always remember you."

Marco, who stayed silent during the entire scenario, looked at the small litter of laser-eye puppies lying on the ground... "What about the puppies?"

"Oh, you guys can keep them," Star waved off, petting one of the puppies on the head. "Oh, who's a good boy Mister Fluffykins? Starry's gonna miss you too!"

"Hey Star, want to take one more last walk through Echo Creek?"

"Would I," Star beamed, her silly little grin on her face. "I can say goodbye to everybody!"

Marco heaved the large treasure chest along the sidewalk, while Star bid her farewells... to everybody and everything.

"Bye cars," beamed Star, waving a hand to the cars parked on the side-road, "Bye squirrels in the trees, bye birds in the sky, bye Jackie Lynn Thomas!" Marco blushed, seeing the blonde girl skate by on her skateboard. Jackie waved back at the two of them.

Star finally completed her tour which ended on the tallest hill at Echo Creek Park. Exhausted, Marco nearly collapsed from heaving the heavy luggage around the park. Star bounded to the top of the hill, to see the entire town showered by a red sunset glow. Overlooking the view, they could see the school, Marco's home, and everything else. Marco walked towards Star, observing the beauty of the view with her. They spoke about the many adventures they had together, recollecting each one with laughs and tears involved.

"Just thinking about the many adventures we had here amazes me," Star said in amazement, "We definitely did a lot, eh, partner?"

"Yeah," Marco agreed. "Sure did."

As the two looked out towards the skyline, Star replied, "Y'know, through these four years I've been on Earth, there was one thing that stood out."

"And what would that be per se?" Marco smirked.

"Obviously I'd say Oskar Greason!" Star blurted out. Marco fumed.

"Really? You spend four years here and all you can think abo..."

Star put a finger to his lip. "I'm just kidding, Safe Kid. You stood out of the whole thing. I finally had someone who liked battling monsters with me. You're almost like my brother. Maybe even more. Also, did I mention you're really gullible?"

Marco laughed, "Says Princess Cuckoo-Head. Y'know Star, all seriousness aside, you're pretty something."

"Please Marco," spoke Star sheepishly, "Using the line from Paper Towns. How cliché."

"That's the only line that I can use perfectly in this moment, Miss Butterfly."

Then, before he could react, Star pulled herself closer to Marco and gave him a small kiss on the mouth. Though surprised at the ordeal, Marco slowly returned it. The kiss hadn't lasted long, but it was enough to quench his desires.

When they pulled apart, the feeling was gone, replaced by the fear of Star's inevitable absence in Marco's life.

Star heard her small magical wristwatch beep. "Well, I guess this is goodbye. I hope I have time to visit Earth again, but..." She pulled out her dimensional scissors and slashed a portal open. "You could come with me if you want."

Marco had to decline the offer, "Star, as much as I would like to, I'm sorry. I have far too many goals to work towards on Earth. I have to graduate from college, you have to become Queen of Mewni... We're choosing different paths."

"I understand," Star replied sweetly, as she shoved her chest into the portal, "Goodbye Marco."

"Goodbye Star."

Marco gave her one last wave before she slowly descended into the portal. As soon as the portal close, a tear slid down Marco's face, confused about what had just conspired.

As Marco awoke from his slumber on the couch, he looked at his bedside digital clock. It was 5 PM. He had been out for about two hours. He also realized that he had still been holding the photograph in his hand while he slept. Putting it away, his cellphone rung.

Marco picked it up, "Hello?"

A girl's voice was on the other end of the line spoke, "Marco, what's up? I haven't talked to you since College Grad!"

Marco recognized that voice. "Jackie? Long time no talk! What's up?"

"Nothing much Marco," spoke Jackie, "Alfonso told me you had an interview with Explorer Corporation. How'd it go?"

"Great, I actually got the job, so that's a start."

"Congratulations man! Y'know, since we haven't talked for a while, why don't we set up a date to celebrate? We can go to that Chinese restaurant, um, what was its name again, Wong's Cuisine?"

"I don't know Jackie," Marco said with a slight hesitation, "I've got work tomorr..."

"Oh, Marco," replied Jackie teasingly, "It's just a date. We can just eat there and walk downtown, then we'll be back just before your bedtime, alright?"

Marco questioned himself if he would go out, and risk tiring himself out on his first work day. He finally obliged. "You got yourself a date. What time?"

"I don't know, 6:15 sound good to you?"

"Deal."

A/N: Well, that concludes the first chapter. Reviews are appreciated.

I'll also be answering questions per chapter, but I will not be putting any responses up on the actual fanfic. They will be on my Blogger, 'The Canadian Infernape Show'. I can't post links here so you're gonna have to find it yourself. I hope you enjoyed it ;3