Star VS. The Forces of Evil Moon and Toffee

The Kingdom of Mewni had fallen.

Queen Moon walked through the halls with as much pride as she could muster. She kept her chin high and her face defiant, staying strong under the eyes of monsters. Passing ones glared at her, snarling, but she did not react. She kept her eyes forward.

Mewni had fallen. Millennia of prosperity and strength, long lines of queens in the royal family, and all was lost. The monsters had finally claimed victory.

She was the only queen to fail. Her ancestors would shame her forever.

Worse yet, the monsters had been led by him.

The monster leading her through the castle turned right and she followed. There were more behind her to ensure she wouldn't try anything. Oh, she wanted to try something. But it was her compliance that kept her husband, daughter, and friends safe.

They turned again. Queen Moon obviously knew her own castle better than anyone else; they were leading her to the throne room.

Of course. To see him.

Though she kept herself stone still, she shivered on the inside. She was being brought before him. He had won. Now it was time to face him again, after all these years. And she wouldn't be able to try and kill him this time. She would have to speak to him. And hear him.

She steeled herself as they entered the Grand Hall. Just a few more steps and they'd be in the throne room.

The Grand Doors opened. Moon entered the room she spent so much of her time in and wished nothing more than to leave.

He was there.

Toffee sat comfortably on her throne, lounging to one side. The glowing gold seemed darkened, like himself, grey and unassuming.

He smiled at her, almost fondly, and he regarded her when she came to a stop. She didn't meet his eyes, not quite.

"Hello, Moon," he said, in that calm, courteous, collected voice of his. "Finally. We meet again."

"Yes. Finally," Moon said simply. She allowed some ice to come into her voice. He smiled, amused.

"Leave us," Toffee said, flicking his hand at the monsters around him. His tail twitched. They eyed Moon suspiciously for a minute before shuffling out. Moon would never admit this, but she wished they would stay so she wouldn't have to be alone with the real monster.

The doors closed and they were alone. Moon did nothing. Toffee eloquently got up from the throne and began to slowly make his way to her, his tail slowly moving from side to side. Moon resisted the urge to back away.

"I've met your daughter," Toffee said casually while still walking. He smiled again, tilting his head. "Charming. I like her." Moon said nothing. Toffee frowned, just a little. "She reminds me of what you once were. What you almost were."

"Really," Moon said dryly. "And what was I "almost"?"

He came to a halt just a few feet away from her. He inclined his head towards her, only a wisp of a smile on him now.

"Unafraid," he said. "You may be Undaunted, Moon, but you've been afraid. Or perhaps you've never not been afraid."

"I am not afraid of you," Moon said, though deep down, she wondered about that.

His smile widened.

"You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that," he said. "Even if I think you might be lying. But no, I wasn't saying you're afraid of me. You're afraid of who you are."

"You don't know a thing about me, Toffee," Moon said. "Not anymore. Things have changed. I've changed."

His face fell and he looked at the floor.

"Yes, you have, haven't you," he said softly. "Which is so sad. Your fear truly overcame you."

"And what, exactly, am I afraid of?" Moon asked, slightly exasperated. "Who exactly do you think I am, if I'm afraid of myself?"

"Queen Moon Butterfly," Toffee said simply, but he continued before she could retort. "A member of the Butterfly Family. That is what I mean. You were always afraid of letting down the past queens, your ancestors, and it overcame you and you lost who you were."

He leaned in. "Star doesn't have that. She doesn't care about 'upholding the family honor.' She's a 'rebel princess.' She does what she wants, what she thinks is right, even if it's crazy or risky or unapproved. You used to do that, sometimes."

Moon had a temporary lapse. She remembered being Star's age, so much like her, sneaking out of the castle for thrills and wandering off in search of adventure. She would battle monsters or play with them, climb mountains or set pranks, coming home dirty but smiling until her mother and aunt turned to scold her. But still, no matter how much they punished her, she always went back for more.

She never did it as much as Star did now, and she grew out of it, eventually. She let Star run crazy because she didn't want to treat her daughter like she had been treated. Moon knew that Star had to grow out of it, one day.

Those times had been the happiest of Moon's life, until…

Moon snapped back to the present and glowered at Toffee, finally looking him in the eye. "I grew up, Toffee."

Anger flashed through his eyes.

"Gave up on your dreams, you mean," he said spitefully.

"That is reality."

"No, that was cruel," he said, his composure breaking. "They took you away. They turned you into a perfect princess, another simple link in the chain just like all the others, took away all the ideas that you had, made you forgot all the promises you made. You were going to change everything but they didn't like that. So they took you away from—"

He cut off, breathing a little heavy and glaring furiously at her. Moon stared at him, dread dawning on her.

Because she knew him. She knew him so well, no matter how hard she tried to forget the good things. She snuck off to have adventures with him. He showed her so many beautiful and fun things, and they would laugh together. He was the biggest reason she came back from the castle. There was always a flutter in her heart when around him that she never acted on. Until, much later, her mother found out about him. That was when they really cracked down and stopped her, and she never saw him again. Never even got to say goodbye.

Until, of course, the monster rebellion. Only perhaps a year after Moon went under intense training, realizing her destiny and importance and how she couldn't risk it all, one of the greatest monster rebellions in history occurred. And he had been in it. And he had been leading it. And no one could stop him. So she had done the darkest spell she could to put him down and save Mewni.

"Toffee," Moon said softly. He had gotten his breath under control by now. "Please don't tell me this was all because of me."

His mouth twisted into a nasty smile.

"Why, Moon, of course it has all been for you," he said. "I raised that army to save you from the castle." He shook his head and laughed softly, lifting his hand with the missing finger. "But I was too late, wasn't I?"

Moon couldn't quite absorb it all.

"I always wanted equality for monsters, Moon," he said, turning away from her. "I told you that all those years ago. And you promised you would do it when you became queen. But when I lost you…it didn't matter anymore. None of it matter, except getting you back."

His hands grew into fists. "But then you…" she saw him rub his thumb against his finger stub. "And you became queen. And you worked on it, you did, but not nearly as much as you promised."

"What we planned was too harsh," she said softly, absentmindedly.

"Really," he said, still not looking at her. "No, it just would have made the Mewnans a little less comfortable, is what you mean. But you hardly doing anything proved to me—proved to me that you had forgotten me. That they had truly taken you.

"And to top it off," he said, his voice rising, "You sold yourself and married that s—"

"I love River!" Moon snapped, instinctively speaking up to defend her husband. "Don't you dare insult him."

He turned back, his brow furrowed and their eyes locked. She met his defiantly while he searched hers.

"You mean that," he said. She didn't break from his gaze, but he did, turning away again.

A blanket of silence dropped over them.

This was horrible. The Kingdom of Mewni had fallen because of something foolish Moon had done as a child. But it was worse than that. If Toffee had some horrible festering love for her, there was no telling what he might do to her family out of jealousy. He might—

"You can't hurt my kingdom," Moon said. She was desperate to save everyone from her mistakes, but she didn't let it leak into her voice. Toffee was still turned away from her. "And you especially can't hurt my family. Toffee if you lay a hand on River or Star so help me I'll—"

He suddenly whirled around, grabbed her face, and kissed her.

Moon drew in a sharp breath through her nose at the lip contact. His long snout had to part slightly to allow him close, but the kiss was pure, gentle yet assured. His right hand cupped the back of her head and she could feel his fingers and his stump comb through her hair.

His other hand was on her back, tucked under her arm firmly to keep her from drawing away. She felt his tail curl itself around her right ankle, and his long neck had to bend down to reach her.

His eyes were closed as his hand slowly moved through her hair. She blinked wildly, yet again far too shocked to react.

Her heart fluttered like it once had for him. His fingertips caressed her and his lips fitted themselves against hers. Though their chests did not touch, she could almost feel his heartbeat in the space between them.

He drew away, but only slightly. His eyes opened just a sliver, but he kept them down, only glancing up once to see her reaction. His lips hovered over hers, his snout brushing against her nose, and she could very clearly feel his breath when he spoke.

"Forgive me, Moon," he whispered. "You're…" He looked away, turning his mouth away from hers but staying where he was. He broke and began again.

"I would never hurt them, Moon," he said. "I'm not angry at…him…or your daughter. I actually think they're fine. And I would never lay a hand on them…because it would hurt you."

He looked at her but she still felt nothing but surprise. His hand on her back twitched.

"I'm sorry, Moon," he said. "I thought…that if I could just get to you…I could bring you back. But now than I'm here…you're right. It's reality. I'm giving up on my dreams, I suppose. You've changed. And I can't change you back."

Slowly, his tail unwound itself from her leg and his hands dropped. He took a step back, still looking off to the side.

"I'll end this," he said. "Go out and say you'll work harder to bring monsters equality. That should calm my followers down enough. Then I'll just…go."

He looked at her, but she didn't know what to say. She tried to find words but failed. She felt mute.

"Whenever you're ready just come outside and announce it," he said. "I'll vouch for you."

He walked past her, his arm almost brushing against hers. Almost.

He wasn't at the door yet when she spoke.

"Toffee," she called, turning. He stopped, not turning back. Moon swallowed.

"I…I can't say that I never loved you back," she said.

He nearly looked back at her. Nearly. But not enough to look at her, or for her to see his eyes.

He opened the doors and walked out.

Hm. I intended Toffee to be a little darker than this but he was just so sad. I just didn't think there were enough MoonXToffee fanfics. Ah, well. I hope you enjoyed it :)