So this is the prompt for the 4th day of @starcoweek3 and it’s the only one I’ve actually been able to do. I’ve had literally no time to participate this week due to college exams but I just couldn’t pass up this one day. I might end up spending next week to do all the prompts I missed this week.

Sorry it’s so long. I intended for it to be MUCH shorter but I got carried away like I usually do. Expect angst on so many levels.

Also, if you’re a Hamilton fan, tell me if you spot any of the references I smuggled in. ;D

Standing on the raging battlefield before her, a blonde princess tightened her grip on her magic wand as she stared out at all the bloodshed before her. Dressed in her Mewnian armor, she checked one last time to make sure that all the pieces were secured correctly. Once she was positive that nothing would fall off or shirt, the girl quickly ran into battle. As she dashed through the battlefield, her thin iron-plated skirt seemed to shimmer while her grey boots kicked up dust from the dry earth. While the gray knee spikes usually made it hard to move swiftly, the blonde wasn’t allowing them to slow her down. She had to protect Mewni and there was nothing in any dimension that could stop her. Star Butterfly had already gone over the plan with her mother last night at it was quite simple. The two planned to split up while in battle only to meet back up where Toffee was. If they could successfully defeat the lizard, the rest of the monsters who were fighting against Mewni would certainly stop with the loss of their leader. It was a simple but sound plan and Star hoped it went well. However, there was a constant nagging in the back of her head that seemed to be warning her otherwise.

The warning had been there long before the official war had begun. In fact, the nagging feeling had started when her mother had come to pick her up from Earth. However, the feeling became impossible to ignore once Star had confessed her crush to Marco before running out on him. When she had told her best friend goodbye, the princess had still hoped she would be able to return one day. Even so, it seemed as if her heart felt different on the matter. No matter how she tried to justify it, Star continued to feel as if her goodbye signified more than her departure. Her goodbye felt… permanent.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, Star forced herself to leave those memories in the past. She couldn’t let herself be lost in her memories on the battlefield, it could cost her life. Taking in her surroundings, her blue eyes soon caught sight of her mother and Toffee in a vicious battle. Wasting no time, the princess took out anyone in her way while moving towards the two. When Star finally got close enough, she made it just in time to watch her mother fall. With a cry of shock, the blonde tried to intervene only to find her magical attack blocked. Unable to do anything else, Star watched in horror as the magic was sucked out of her mother and her eyes turned into black voids.

Almost instantly, Star felt herself overcome with despair and rage at the sight. As tears sprung to her eyes, the princess lifted her wand and let out a beam of green magic, “TOFFEE!”

Taken by surprise at the green magic, the lizard found himself unable to dodge it. Instead, his left arm as easily taken off. However, just like he had done in the past, the monster seemed unaffected as he simply grew the arm back. Staring at the enraged princess, the man behind the war simply teased, “It’s so nice to see you, Star. Though I must say, I didn’t expect our reunion to start in such a hurtful way. Tell me, did you bring my finger like I asked you to?”

“Of course not!” Star hissed, standing her ground as she prepared her wand for another attack. Trying her best to reel in her frustration, the girl knew that using green magic against Toffee wouldn’t help at all. She had to be calm if she wanted access to her pink magic once again. Staring at the monster before her, the girl was surprised when he simply let out a disappointed sigh, “I see… Guess I’ll have to go into the castle and get it myself.”

Star decided not to comment on that, seeing as how she knew where Toffee’s finger really was. She had left it behind in the closet of the Diaz’s guest bedroom, hidden beneath a magic dampening spell in hopes of making it harder to detect through magical means. Everyone knew that Star would do anything to keep Marco out of the danger this war brought, which was why hiding it at his house was the perfect spot. No one would suspect it, not even Toffee.

With nothing left to say, the two instantly began to clash. Magical attacks from both Star and Toffee seemed to fly everywhere as the two expertly attacked and dodged. While the princess used a mixture of both green and pink spells, the monster was only able to use green magic. Despite the fact that both the warriors were out for blood, the fight looked oddly like a dance as the two bobbed and weaved around each other. Once in awhile, an attack would strike Toffee’s chain mail chest plate or a spell would clash through Star’s Mewnian armor, yet neither seemed to be giving in.

After what felt like an hour, the two jumped away from each other for a moment in hopes of catching their breath. At some point, Star had lost her helmet and the few pink gemstones on her armor had fallen off. Star’s leggings were ripped up while her skirt was singed and melted in some places. Scratches marred her face while blood from some deeper wounds on her body began to slowly soak into her clothing. Meanwhile, Toffee had lost both the skulls that he had been using as shoulder guards. Along with that, his black shirt was torn to shreds and was barely hanging on. Due to the fact that Toffee was technically still using Ludo’s body to keep his form, the monster’s healing factor was much slower than he was used to. Wounds littered his body, yet they were slowly closing up with time. While his clothing soaked up some of the blood that was oozing out, there wasn’t much to worry about for him.

“Just give it up, Toffee! I’m not going to let you win,” Star shouted, never letting her grip on her wand tighten. The palm of her hand was bloody and raw from the grip she had on her wand, yet she didn’t let the pain bother her at all.

“Now Star, we both know that I can end this pointless battle whenever I feel like it. Instead of all this fighting, why don’t we strike a deal?” Toffee offered, a coy smile on his face. With the ease of a businessman, he stated, “If you give me my finger, I’d be happy to take you under my wing and train you. I haven’t seen a Mewnian use green magic in centuries but the last one that could was practically a god.”

“I would never help you!” Star spat, lifting her wand up and aiming at the monster before her, “I have to protect the people I love and helping you would put them all in danger. There are so many people I care for that need me. My parents, Janna, StarFan13, and Pony Head are just a few. Most importantly though, I need to protect the happiness and well being of-!”

“Star!” a familiar voice cried out, catching the blonde by surprise. With wide eyes, the girl swiftly turned her head to see the one person she had been trying to keep away from this battle. As the portal behind him closed, the princess caught sight of the dimensional scissors that were in his left hand. Glancing up to meet his eyes, Star took in the disbelief and shock that was easily portrayed on his face. It was obvious that the boy hadn’t expected to step onto a battlefield. After all, she hadn’t told him what was going on.

“Marco…” Star whispered, a frown set on her face as she slightly lowered her wand. The brown-eyed boy looked at her with utter confusion in his eyes, “Star, what’s going on? You left with no explanation and it was impossible to get to Mewni for the longest time. Now I can finally cut a portal open to here only to step onto a battlefield!?”

Before the blonde had a chance to answer, Toffee cut her off, “Well well well, seems as if I won’t need to make a deal with you after all, Star. It looks like the Earth boy decided to bring my finger to me as a reunion gift.”

That was when Star noticed the finger that was clutched within Marco’s right hand. She wasn’t sure just how he had found it but now wasn’t the time for questions. Almost immediately, Toffee fired a magic attack at Marco. Quickly taking notice of the green fireball heading for Marco, the princess ran towards her best friend without a second thought. She knew that he wouldn’t have enough time to move due to the confusion he was currently battling.

As Marco stared at the fireball in horror, the boy quickly curled in on himself in hopes of protecting himself slightly. While the excruciatingly hot wave of air came to smack him in the face, the fire itself never touched him. Slightly confused, the boy slowly straightened back up only to catch sight of the blonde that stood before him. Before he could speak, the princess crumpled to the ground only for Marco to catch her at the last second.

“S-Star…?” Marco fumbled out, staring down at his best friend. Star’s eyes were closed and her body was littered with second and third degree burns. The scent of burnt hair seemed to permeate the air due to her singed hair which was now choppy and utterly a mess. Star had obviously taken the attack head-on as the gaping hole in the chest plate of her armor hadn’t been there before. For a moment, the red-sweater clad boy was terrified that his friend was dead. She wasn’t opening her eyes and her breathing was so shallow that her thought he might be imaging it. However, her eyes opened a moment later as she stared up at him. Obviously disoriented and pained, the princess whispered, “Run… Don’t come back…”

“Not without you,” Marco firmly replied, forcing himself to stand with Star still in his arms. With one hand, the boy did his best to ignore the advancing lizard as he cut a portal back to Earth. Quickly stepping through it, the Earth boy closed the portal behind him before placing Star on the bed in the guest bedroom. Unaware of what he had left behind, Marco quickly ran downstairs to get his parents for help.

When Star awoke, she found herself in an agonizing amount of pain. Glancing at her surroundings, the princess found herself unsure of just where she was. It wasn’t until she forced herself to sit up and looked out the window that the blonde was certain of where she was. Star recognized the view as the one she had from her guest bedroom back on Earth. She hadn’t even remembered just how plain the guest bedroom originally was until just now. Staring out the window, she didn’t drag her eyes away until she heard the doorknob move.

Turning to face the door, Star watched as Marco walked in with a first aide kit clutched in his hand. The moment their eyes met, Marco was taken by surprise and dropped the medical supplies. Almost instantly, he shouted her name and ran to her side. Sweeping her into a gentle hug, Marco did his best to hold back tears, “Thank god, you’re awake! You’ve been asleep for three days! I thought that you might never wake up again.”

For a moment, Star’s heart fluttered in her chest as she stayed in his embrace. Hugging him back, the blonde soon remembered her embarrassing goodbye and the fact that he belonged to another. Releasing him from her grasp, the princess gently pushed Marco away before giving him a half-smile, “I’m fine, Marco. We have more important things to worry about.”

“More important things? Star, you almost died! I wouldn’t be able to handle the pain if I lost my best friend!” Marco shouted, wiping away his tears with the heel of his hands. Hearing herself be called his best friend sent a pain through her heart. Had her confession meant nothing to him? Did Marco think she had been lying about her crush in hopes that he wouldn’t follow her to Mewni? Those thoughts hurt her but Star knew she had to suck it up.

Marco wasn’t just her best friend but he was also the person she had a crush on. She’d do anything to make sure that he was happy and safe, even if it meant sacrificing her own happiness and wellbeing. Star knew that she couldn’t force the boy to like her but she could still do anything to help him. After all, she had already hurt herself on numerous occasions just to make sure he’d keep smiling. From helping him with Jackie to throwing herself in front of a fireball, Star had done everything for him yet she was still just ‘the best friend’. She would be alright though, that she was sure of. As long as she could simply stay by Marco’s side and keep his eyes in her life, that would be enough.

Taking a deep breath, Star patted the area of the bed beside her before she replied, “Sit down, Marco. You deserve an explanation to what’s going on in Mewni as well as everything else. No more secrets, I promise.”

With a nod, Marco sat down beside Star as she began to explain everything to him. From her time back on Mewni to the arrival of Toffee, the princess was sure to not leave out any important details. However, the blonde was sure to avoid any information that may remind the brunette of her crush on him. At some point, Marco had taken her hand in his own and began to rub his thumb against the back of her hand. Star wasn’t sure if Marco had done it to convince himself that she was truly there and alive or if it was his own way of comforting her as she continued the story, yet she didn’t mind. The simple contact made her heart flutter and made her believe that perhaps she had a chance with Marco in the future. Of course, the girl made sure not to get too far ahead of herself.

As the two teens recapped everything and tossed questions at one another, things began to line up. Unfortunately, the blonde wasn’t happy about where things were going. By the time they were done, Star became aware of three fundamental truths at the exact same time - Mewni had fallen, Toffee had his finger, and she was still hopelessly in love with Marco despite being away from him for months.

Resting in the guest bed, Star glanced beside her and noticed that Marco had fallen asleep while she was piecing together her thoughts. With a soft smile, the blonde used her free hand to push the boy’s bangs out of his face. In the near future, Star knew she would have to leave for Mewni once more and save her kingdom. For now, she would have to stay here and recover. Until she was alright again, Star would cherish the time she had to be by Marco’s side again. After all, there was no way she would be bringing him into this war with her.

As long as Star could close her eyes and remember Marco as the safe kid whose smile stole her heart, that would be enough.

(submitted by sugarysweetsandknucklesandwiches)

