|| Heyo! My name's mpuppy4, you may shorten that however you will. So welcome to a thing that pretty much exists entirely because of Tumblr. I asked the SvTFoE fandom if I should write a Janstar story, and received overwhelming positivity. So I guess I'm writing a Janstar story now.

What's that? What do you mean I'm already working on six other projects and I really shouldn't be starting a seventh? Sonic Legacy? Skylanders Short Stories? Device of Life, Spirits of Evolution, Reaper Academy, Problems Progress and Parents? What are those? Janstar story! ||

1. What's the Worst That Could Happen?

Janna peered over the wall just behind Echo Creek Academy, glancing around to be certain that the coast was clear. This wasn't the first time she was late for school, and she was well aware that it wouldn't be the last. Her attendance record was already completely trashed, so what did it matter? Besides, with all her experience, she had gotten pretty good at sneaking in without being caught.

She tossed her bag onto the other side and stealthily slipped over to meet it, sticking the landing as professionally as a cat. Janna dusted off her hands and scooped her bag back up, tossing it over her shoulder. She then snuck around to the back of the building and pulled herself through the window that she pulled herself through pretty much every morning. She landed in an empty classroom. After slinking over to the desk at the front of the room, snagging a key from the lowest drawer, and unlocking the door, she emerged into a barren hallway, grinning to herself as she relocked the door behind her and slipped the key into her sweater pocket for later. Perfect as always.

Janna wandered around the school for a few minutes, evading the attentions of any and all teachers or students who might have spotted her. First period had already started, and was probably nearly over, which meant that she would have to wait until second before she could go to class. No problem there, she hated algebra with a burning passion anyway.

There was a supply closet near the gymnasium that nobody ever used. Nobody except for Janna, that was. She had claimed it has her hangout spot, specifically for moments like this one. There were a few brooms inside, a couple of shelves stocked with cleaning supplies, as well as one or two towels and a mirror. Upon sneaking her way inside, Janna pulled the cord to turn on the one dim and flickering light bulb in the cupboard. She turned to check herself in the mirror. Brown shirt and boots, green jacket, yellow skirt. She adjusted the brown beanie that sat over her short-cut black hair to make it a little looser, then made finger guns at her reflection and a "k-chk" sound.

There was an empty ledge at the back of the closet, just tightly enough secured to the wall for it to support a person of Janna's size. She a threw her backpack onto one of the empty shelves and climbed up onto the ledge, lying down in the cozy space and pulling out her phone to check the time. 8:31. She could probably just wait there until second period.

Just as long as she didn't fall asleep.

She fell asleep.

She didn't even stir from her loud, nasally slumbers until sometime much later, when a ruckus from the gym caused her to attempt to bolt upright and instead knock her head against the ceiling. Rubbing her forehead, she checked the time on her phone again. 9:43.

"Crap."

Janna gave an audible groan. She was going to have to wait until third period to try and blend into the crowd as if she had been there all morning. That wasn't going to be for almost another hour. Honestly, at that point she may as well have just gone home.

She shook her head. No, Janna wasn't a quitter. Besides, sneaking into the school was one thing, but getting out was on an entirely different level. She'd just have to wait for third period.

She sat around on her little ledge for a while, playing free games on her phone and checking the time regularly to be sure she didn't miss her next opportunity. After about ten minutes of complete and utter boredom, she started knocking her phone against her head to keep herself awake. This was a terrible idea. She should have just come to school on time. But no, of course not. She was too busy with her own things to worry about school. It was difficult to break habit.

"Wow, that dodgeball really got you good, didn't it?"

Janna was startled from her self-deprecation by a familiar voice sounding from the hall. She sat up slightly, careful not to hit her head this time, and turned her head toward the door.

"Yeah, ow. I think I might be bleeding internally."

"Hey, don't be bleeding internally! Come on, let's get you to the nurse's office! Let's go!"

"Star, hey- wait!"

Janna slipped down from her ledge and stumbled a bit on the landing. Quietly opening the door just slightly, she peered out to see who was making the racket. She saw exactly who she was expecting to see.

"Star, hold on," said one Marco Diaz, whose left eye was looking black and bruised, pulling his wrist away from his friend's grasp. "Running is gonna make it worse. Please don't."

"Oh, right," said Star apologetically. "Sorry, sorry!"

"Hey, don't worry about it. But, thanks for volunteering to walk me down."

"Oh! You're welcome!"

Janna couldn't help but chuckle at how ridiculous Marco looked with that injury. Granted, Marco always looked kind of ridiculous, but this made him look exceptionally ridiculous. And Star, naturally, cheerful as ever and practically glued to her housemate's side. Nothing unusual here. Janna herself wasn't entirely sure why this had warranted her getting up.

"So…" Star came again, causing Janna to perk, and reopen the door she had been intending to close. "Marco! Marco, the Marcster, my main man… there was something I wanted to ask you…"

"Star…" There was warning in Marco's voice.

"No, no! I swear it's not something that will get us killed this time. Well, maybe. Okay, fifty fifty. But hear me out!"

"Star, if this is anything like the 'zombie burrito' dimension…"

Janna leaned farther out the door to try and hear the rest of their conversation, but unfortunately for her, they had left the gym corridor, and were now too far to be anything more than muffled white noise.

Janna retreated back into her closet, pressing her ear against the door for no reason in particular. As much as she didn't want to get caught out of class, she was also particularly fond of spying, and was curious as to where this conversation was going. Star's ideas were usually interesting, to say the least, and Janna was always up for some excitement. She scratched her chin thoughtfully.

Then she snapped her fingers. She reached into her sweater pocket and dug around a little. Some bubblegum, a paperclip, the key to the room she had snuck through, Marco's house keys, a shady business card... and spare change.

Janna retrieved a quarter and turned it over in her hand. Heads, she would go after them. Tails, she would stay in the closet. In the dim and flickering light, Janna flipped the coin. It landed on the back of her left hand, and she clasped a palm over it. She lifted her hand curiously.

Tails.

Janna blinked.

Then she stormed out the door.

She could catch up to them before they reached the nurse's office if she ran, but she'd have to be careful not to raise any suspicions. Funny thing is, it's actually pretty difficult to run silently. But Janna made do, running where she found it possible and sneaking on all other occasions. Being that the nurse's office wasn't actually that far from the gym, the task was made easier for her. Once she had caught up to Star and Marco barely a single hallway from their destination, she ducked behind a corner and patted herself on the back.

"Come on, please?"

"Star, no! I said nothing that would get us killed, and that sounds exactly like something that would get us killed."

"Oh, come on! It would be so much fun! Plus a great bonding experience, and I know how much you love bonding experiences!"

Janna peeked around her corner to get a look at the targets of her interest. Star was gripping Marco's wrist again, staring through him with wide, pleading eyes. Marco was obviously not buying it.

"Star," Marco sighed, "I said 'no', and that's final." He shook his wrist from her hand, only to then set his own on the girl's shoulder. "Look, I just don't think we should be taking… unnecessary risks right now."

"What does that mean?"

"It means," Marco retracted his hand, "that we're not doing anything that could get us killed."

Star gave a groan of very vocal annoyance. "You're no fun! I thought you liked a little adventure!"

"I have nothing against adventure. Until it gets us killed."

"But-"

"No."

"But I-"

"Nope!"

"But you just-"

"Shhhhhhh!" Marco silenced her, pressing a finger against her lips. "No." Star pushed his hand away and folded her arms defiantly. However, she didn't say anything. Marco smiled compassionately. "Thanks for walking me down, but you should really get back to class. Can I trust you to go back to gym without exploding anything?"

"Yeah…" Star pouted, her lower lip visibly protruding.

Marco patted her on the back, before turning and entering into the nurse's office on his own. Star watched him do so, then let her arms fall to her sides, kicking the ground and sending up a cloud of dust.

Janna raised an eyebrow. Dangerous and fun sounded right up her alley. Of course, she was just going to have to figure out how to casually bring it up to Star without seeming suspicious. Oh, who was she kidding? She was always suspicious, and Star was the last person she had to worry about seeming suspicious around.

Wait, crap, she was coming in this direction.

Janna hurriedly retraced her steps back to her closet, only narrowly avoiding tripping at one point. She really didn't care about being stealthy at this point, not being found by Star was more important.

When she made it back to the closet, she accidentally slammed the door behind her. Not only was this much louder than she had anticipated, it also caused a couple of the brooms to fall over, and in turn, knock a bottle of cleaning liquid off of a shelf. Janna stood completely still for a moment, before slamming her head against the door.

She made to correct the mess she had made, hoping to herself that the ruckus hadn't attracted any unwanted attention. When everything was back where it had been before, she hopped up and gripped the ledge she had been sitting on, and attempted to pull herself up.

And then the door opened.

"Janna?" came Star's voice.

Janna clenched her teeth and mentally cursed herself, before turning her head around to catch sight of her visitor. Sure enough, there was Princess Star Butterfly, holding the outside doorknob in her right hand and looking highly confused. She adorned the usual, seafoam green dress, striped socks, and horned, fuzzy pink boots. Her red devil horn headband held back her long, blonde hair, and her starry blue eyes twinkled with curiosity even in the dim light. This girl was entirely, undeniably cute, even Janna would admit. Although now was probably not the best time to be making that observation.

"Oh, hey Star," she said casually.

"What are you doing up there?" Star inquired.

Janna observed her current position. "Oh, you know," she replied, "just hanging around."

She completed her intended action of climbing to sit on the ledge, and looked down at Star from her new level. The alien had her head tilted in thought. Then her neck corrected itself as a sudden look of realization crossed her face. "Oh!" Star giggled. "Ha, I get it. But, no really, what are you doing in a stuffy broom closet? It smells like…" She drew in a deep breath. "...nightmares."

"If you're coming in, you can close the door behind you," Janna completely ignored her friend's question.

"Oh. Uh, right!" Star took a couple steps forwards, the door clicking shut in her wake.

"There you go. Good girl."

"Aw, thanks!" Star smiled a flashy grin. "But, aren't you supposed to be in class right now?"

"There's a lot of things that I'm 'supposed' to be," Janna answered. "Don't mean that I am them."

Star nodded slowly. "Ooh, riddles," she muttered. "I'm… not very good at riddles."

"I don't expect you to be. Hey, you coming up?"

"Huh? Sure."

Star retrieved the funny looking magic wand that she always carried and aimed it at the ground. A moment later, a beam of rainbow fired out from it, gently escalating Star upwards.

"Oh hey, watch your-"

"Oof!"

"...head."

Star shook herself briskly, chuckling off the minor head injury like a champ. She now sat beside Janna, although they both had to slump forward due to the low ceiling. "Heheh, guess me and Marco are Head Injury Buddies now…"

Janna rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it, I do that all the time." As Star laughed, Janna considered her options. She could take now to address the topic, which would probably be best since it was still fresh in Star's mind. She did have the girl right here, after all. That, or she could wait until later.

Nah.

"Hey, speaking of Marco, what was that you were talking about with him just now?"

Star blinked. "Oh… you heard that?"

"Well, duh. I hear everything."

The princess gave a heavy sigh. "Oh. Well, it's nothing important. Just a crazy idea I had, but he said it was too dangerous."

Janna scoffed. "Marco doesn't know what he's talking about." She nudged Star in the ribs with her elbow. "What's the idea?"

Star met her gaze for a moment, fiddling with her wand in her hands. "Wellllll…" she droned, turning her head away. "I found this paper in my spellbook. It's not a spell, but…" The corners of her mouth curled up slightly. "It… well, how can I explain without it sounding weird?"

"Are you kidding? Weird is my middle name," said Janna, watching Star chew the wand's wings thoughtfully.

"Hm… okay." Star nodded, setting the wand back down in her lap and patting it against her palm. "Have you ever wondered about the meaning of life?"

Janna raised an eyebrow skeptically, before quickly composing herself. "Pfft, obviously," she responded. "I mean, hasn't everybody?" Star tilted her head. "But… Come here, I'll let you in on a little secret."

Star leaned forward in anticipation, and Janna smirked.

"I already know the meaning of life."

Star gave an exuberant gasp, her eyes lighting even brighter than usual. "Really?! What is it?"

Janna raised her index finger matter-of-factly. "42."

Star frowned. "Huh?"

"42," Janna repeated. "The meaning of life is 42." Star didn't look convinced. "Hey, I'm dead serious! Ask me any question, anything at all."

"Uh, okay. Um… how many aunts and uncles do I have?"

"42."

Star gasped again, pressing her hands against her cheeks. "Ohmygosh! That's totally right!"

"Told ya." Janna pointed a finger gun at Star to compliment her smug, confident smirk.

The princess broke into a fit of giggles, encouraging her friend to laugh along with her. Once she stopped, Star brushed a strand of hair away from her face, smiling brightly. "But, I'm serious! I mean, like, the actual meaning of life."

"Oh. I thought you actually fell for that."

Star shoved Janna playfully, and they laughed together again.

"Alright, alright." Janna waved a hand. "I'll stop messing with you. What were you thinking of?"

Suddenly, Star's expression unfolded into the widest grin, and she excitedly reached into the star-shaped pouch she carried around her waist. "Here, here! Look at this, you're gonna love it!" She shoved something into Janna's chest, which Janna then took and examined as Star leaned over her shoulder.

It was an ancient-looking piece of paper, the sides withered away with time. More interesting than its age was what was inscribed on the paper, in all sorts of fading greens, blues and reds. Runes were written down the sides in some sort of obscure language, though a few lines were cut off. Darker drawings portraying animals like birds and cats, as well as completely foreign creatures, stood around the runes. In the center was a very precise drawing of a tree, with multicolored leaves adorning the branches, and several falling to the ground below it. Its roots extended across the paper, all the way to the base, although some broke off before they could reach the end. The trunk had a single marking on it: two lines crossed, the vertical longer than the horizontal, with diamond shapes at either end. Atop the vertical, a horned circle, appearing almost like a head.

"Woah," Janna gasped. "What does it say?"

"I have no idea!" Star exclaimed enthusiastically. "But isn't it exciting?" She took the right side of the paper in her hand, while Janna still held the left in her own. "I asked Glossaryck about it, and he told me that it's some sort of myth about a dimension that will reveal the meaning of life to you. But! It'll only do so if you can pass all of the trials it places before you." Wiggling her fingers ominously, Star added, "Many have tried, but all have failed, and few have returned alive."

"Nice." Janna grinned, looking back over the paper. "So, I take it you want to go there?"

"Yes!" Star cried, pumping a fist in the air. "An epic adventure to discover the answer to question that everybody asks, but nobody knows, probably fighting monsters and doing other really fun stuff along the way? Of course I want to go!" As the light in her eyes died down, she lowered her head sadly. "But Marco said that it's too dangerous. We shouldn't be taking risks like that right now. He doesn't think I can handle something liek that..." She sighed. "He's probably right… I just get too far ahead of myself. I wasn't even considering the danger."

Janna frowned, observing Star's expression of disappointment. Then she scowled. "Meh. Danger, smanger." Star looked up, a new fire ignited in her gaze. "You know what? Sign me up. I'll go to that dimension with you, even if Marco won't."

The princess's huge smile reappeared on her face. "Really? Ohmygosh, Janna! Thank you!" Janna recoiled slightly as Star embraced her in a tight, suffocating hug. Not wanting to disappoint her friend, she gave Star an affectionate pat on the back.

"But wait!" Star released Janna, pulling away with her frown renewed, though her hands still rested on Janna's shoulders. "Marco's right, it is going to be dangerous. I can't take you with me, you could get seriously hurt. Or… worse." Janna looked at Star in confusion as the girl's eyes met hers, and a slight pink tint graced Star's cheeks. Then Star retracted her hands, hugging herself as she looked back to the ground. "I can't do that."

Janna gritted her teeth, grabbing Star's arm and shaking it. "What, are you saying that I can't stand up for myself?" she challenged.

"W-What? No, I-"

"I'll be fine!" Janna insisted. "Besides, you can't go it alone, and Marco's obviously not up the the challenge." She jammed a thumb into her own chest, declaring, "But I am."

Star was clutching her wand to her chest, apparently weighing her options. "Well… I mean, I guess… You shouldn't underestimate people…" Janna nodded, and Star smiled slightly. "Right… you're right." Star nodded back. "Okay! We'll go together. Just you and me."

"Cool! I won't disappoint." Janna punched Star playfully in the back, accidentally knocking her off of the ledge. Star landed face-flat on the dirty floor with a thump. "Oh. Sorry."

"Ah ha! Don't worry!" Star pushed herself back up to her feet, grinning nervously. "I'm durable!"

Janna snickered. "Anyway, you should get back to class before anyone realizes that you're missing. I'll stop by your house tomorrow morning, alright?"

"Oh. Okay!" Star waved up at Janna, and Janna waved back. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, then!"

"You sure will."

As Star bounded over to the door, something suddenly clicked in Janna's head. "Oh, hey Star?"

Star turned back, her smile just as bright as ever, even in the dark room. That girl could illuminate an entire continent with just one look.

"Don't tell anyone that you saw me here, okay?" Janna requested.

Star nodded. "Okay! I won't." As she closed the door behind her, she called cheerfully, "Tomorrow morning!"

Janna nodded to herself. "Tomorrow morning," she echoed, although nobody heard.

She lay back down on the ledge, arms and legs folded, smiling a bit in thought. However, these same thoughts soon caused her smile to dissolve when she realized what she had just agreed to. As fun as a journey across another dimension sounded, as did the satisfaction of an answer that nobody else knew, things kind of had a tendency to explode around Star, especially in other dimensions. There was a pretty high chance that they weren't going to come out of this in one piece.

Janna closed her eyes. No, she should trust Star. After all, even with all of the crazy stuff that had happened in the past, everything that Star and everyone around her had gotten wrapped up in, everybody was still okay. So Janna was confident.

After all, what's the worst that could happen?

|| I said that I would get serious about my writing after I published Reaper Academy. I swear I'm trying, but I just keep coming up with new things. But I'm determined to finish this story within at least the next year. How difficult could it possibly be?

...guys? ||