Author's notes: What with the impending doom that is "BonBon the Birthday Clown" quickly approaching us, I had to get another story pushed out before its release. Us Starco shippers are going to need all of the help that we can get...

In response to those who left a review on my latest story:

The Eternal Winter: I'm glad to hear that you liked it! I'm looking into what I can do for more stories involving the AU. It's too good!

Help I'm Shipper Trash: Thank you very much! I'm always striving to improve!

As always, comments and critiques are greatly appreciated!

Disclaimer: Star Vs the Forces of Evil belongs to Daron Nefcy

The emptiness of the void surrounded him completely. One moment he had been in his house, sitting on the couch and watching a popular comedy show, and when he had turned his head, he found himself here. He couldn't see, hear, touch, or smell anything, and for a moment, he wondered if he had ceased to exist. A bright light suddenly popped up in the distance, growing increasingly larger as it came towards him, and it was then that he realized that he was still there, that he was still alive.

When the light faded, a new scene greeted him as he worked on clearing his eyesight. A light shone down from above, drawing attention to a small chair in the middle of the room that he was now in. There were leather straps on the arms and legs of the chair, and behind it was a circular object connected to a metal rod, hovering just above where the person would sit. A sense of dread began to well up within him as he hesitantly made his way over to it, glancing around occasionally to see if something would emerge from the shadows encompassing the rest of the room.

He dared not sit in it when he reached the chair, both out of curiosity and fear, for whatever reason; he could have sworn that he'd seen this somewhere before, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Looking down at his hand, he took a deep breath before moving towards one of the chair's arms, his hand hovering just above the material. He could feel his heartbeat quickening, his breathing becoming more shallow, and his hand suddenly beginning to shake and it wouldn't stop.

Just as he had mustered up the resolve to close the distance between his trembling hand and the eerily familiar chair, a voice sprang up from the encroaching shadows, forcing a small yelp out of him.

"It's only a matter of time, Marco. You can't keep her safe forever."

A confused expression made its way onto Marco's face as he turned around, his eyes darting around frantically as he tried to locate the source of the voice. Just like the chair, the voice had also seemed so familiar. Why couldn't he figure out why?

"Marco?"

His eyes widened, Marco Diaz quickly turned back around to see a blonde haired girl sitting in the chair, the circular device now strapped onto her head. The small, pink hearts that were ever present on her cheeks, the green dress; Star Butterfly stared at him with the most heartbreaking expression he wished he'd never have to see on her. Walking up to the girl, Marco could see the overwhelming fear in her eyes, desperation emitting from her in waves.

"Star, everything's going to be fine. I'll get you out of this." With his fear squashed underneath the overwhelming desire to save his friend, Marco tried to undo the leather straps and free Star from her bonds, but no matter how hard he pulled, they just wouldn't budge. A similar situation arose when he had tried to remove the device from Star's head, finding it firmly latched onto her as if it had been super glued on. A frustrated groan escaped him as he moved away from the chair. "What's going on? Star, do you have your wand on you?"

Before he could receive a response from the girl, the chair suddenly turned around and sped off at a rather fast pace, moving along an outstretched wire underneath it. It took him a moment to realize what had happened before Marco gave chase, running after it as fast as his legs would allow. Yet, with every step he took, it only seemed to get further and further away, taunting him. When he had run out of breath, Marco reluctantly came to a stop, watching as it continued to get further and further away. Just as it was about to disappear from sight, a large screen descended from above, settling right in front of Star. The last thing he heard was her calling his name before she eventually disappeared, leaving Marco alone once again.

"Star? Star?!" No matter how far he ran, he wouldn't have been able to catch up with it, he realized; sinking to his knees, memories and thoughts bombarded his mind, forcing him to clutch his head from how much was being processed. The voice from before returned a few seconds later, though this time it was joined by two others.

"It would seem that you simply weren't determined enough to save her. Weren't you, Marco?"

"All that's left is to take her wand, and the power will finally be mine!"

"Now that I've finally got that girl under control, the reform school will be acquiring new princesses left and right once I'm through with her! Thank you for your help, dear."

Slowly raising his head, Marco could see the forms of Toffee, Ludo, and Miss Heinous, staring down at him with amusement. Laughter soon echoed within his ears as they began circling him, and he covered his ears in an attempt to block out the noise. Curling up into a ball, Marco Diaz let out a heartbroken yell as the realization that Star Butterfly was truly gone entered his mind, and he was soon enveloped in darkness.

"Star!"

Marco shot upright in his bed, panting heavily as he held a hand against his chest, which, to his dismay, was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Looking around, he let out a deep sigh before running a hand over his face. While he may have been slightly uncomfortable, nothing could compare to the relief he felt when he realized that he had only been dreaming. Peering through the darkness, Marco carefully grabbed his phone, letting out another sigh when he realized how early it was. Figuring that he wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep for the time being, Marco made his way out of his room, almost tripping over something in the process, and proceeded down the hallway towards the staircase.

Gripping onto the handrail as he walked down, Marco made his way over to the kitchen. He winced a bit when the appliance's interior lighting kicked in, and quickly grabbed a water bottle before closing the door shut. Uncapping the bottle, Marco made his way back into the living room and took a small sip of the cold drink.

"Marco?" Is that you?"

A combination of a yell and water had almost made it out of his mouth from the sudden surprise of hearing another voice, but Marco managed to keep himself quiet by quickly forcing the water down his throat. Coughing a bit, Marco turned his phone on, using the screen's light to find the source of the voice, when he found someone sitting on the couch. "Star? What are you doing up this late?"

"Same could be said for you. Humans don't normally stay up this late, do they?" The light chuckle that she received in response caused a bit of a grin to form on her face as the boy made his way onto the couch. A moment of silence passed between the two before Star quietly said, "Bad dream?"

"Yeah. It, uh… it wasn't all too great. How'd you know?" The grin on Star's face had been swiftly replaced with a nervous smile as she cast her gaze downwards. "Star…"

Withering under Marco's stare, Star huffed as she brought her knees to her chest, keeping her eyes on anything but the boy sitting next to her. "...It was more like a nightmare."

Taking Marco's silence as her cue, Star spoke, keeping her voice to a soft murmur. "In it, we were kicking butt like we normally do," she grinned for a moment, a flicker of light dancing across her eyes as the memory resurfaced, but it died down as she continued, "beating guys left and right. Things are finally starting to die down, and I'm looking around to see if we got everyone when I hear you just scream all of a sudden." Regret was written on the girl's face as she shook her head, her voice considerably weaker as the last of the dream entered her mind. "I looked away for just one second, and then I see you on the ground. You aren't moving, you aren't breathing, you're just-"

By this point, tears are threatening to fall from Star's eyes as she finally faces Marco, her gaze focused on him alone. "Marco, you're one of the best friends that I've ever had. You're… I just can't imagine a life without you in it," she murmured, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to stop her tears. "But you could end up getting hurt one day, or worse, and I can't stay here forever. Eventually, I'll have to head back to Mewni and take over as queen, and you'll still be here on Earth…"

Acting on instinct, Marco brought the girl closer to him, gently running a hand through Star's hair as she wraps her arms tightly around him. "Hey," he murmured, "you're not going to lose me anytime soon, alright? I've taken on my share of monsters and gotten through them just fine. And even if we're dimensions apart, that doesn't mean that I won't still be with you." His response prompts Star to look up at him, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"I'll always be with you, just like you'll always be with me, right here," he said, holding a hand over his chest.

"You'll be in my chest?"

"Wha- No! I mean emotionally, Star. All of the time we've spent together, all of the memories that we've made; even if I'm not actually there, that doesn't mean that I'm not always with you."

A sigh escapes Marco's mouth as he offers Star a quick apology, not knowing whether or not he's just confused her even more. "Besides," he adds, "there's still the dimensional scissors, right? Even if it means having to cross multiple dimensions, I'll always be there for you if you need me, Star."

A bit of heat dusted Star's cheeks as she found herself with a smile that matched Marco's own. Everything that he'd said - despite some of it being corny - was filled with a genuineness that Star couldn't help but believe in. Unlatching herself from Marco, Star covered her mouth as a yawn escaped her before saying, "Thanks for cheering me up, Marco. You can head back upstairs if you want. Don't want to keep you from your sleep."

A small part of him wanted to head back to his bed, primarily fueled by how much time had passed when he had checked the time again, but his body refused to move, instead remaining rooted to the spot as he shook his head. "Hold on a second."

Getting up from the couch, Marco exited the room, silence reigning for a few moments before, returning just as quickly as he had left, he found himself back in his spot, spreading the blanket he currently held out across the entirety of it so that they both had an ample amount to themselves.

"This way we can both get some sleep." A yawn escaped Marco's mouth as he wrapped an arm around the girl, digging into the blanket a bit more until he was comfortable. "I'm not going anywhere, Star."

A light feeling spread throughout Star's chest as she chuckled, shaking her head before snuggling into the boy next to her, resting her head on his shoulder. She'd found that part of Marco endearing; his concern showed just how much he cared about others.

Just as the two found themselves drifting off to sleep, Star whispered, "Marco?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember what I said before? About how someone might be waiting for you in another dimension?"

"I remember. Why are you asking?"

A few seconds of quiet passed by between the two of them, confusion written on Marco's face as he turned his head towards Star. Figuring that she must have fallen asleep, he had just placed his head back on the cushion when he heard it. It was barely audible, but it might as well have been said through a speaker:

"Maybe you don't need to go looking anymore?"

Heat quickly rose to his face as his head shot back up, his eyes wide and mouth hung open slightly as the words played over and over in his mind. The weight on his shoulder increased slightly, and he hoped that his heartbeat wasn't as loud as he thought it was.

Did she really just- She- Star… Once the realization slowly set in and his face was considerably less warm, Marco closed his eyes as he let his head fall back, chuckling softly.

"You know… I was thinking the same thing."