This is definitely not dedicated to any of my friend. Especially not to a certain purple zoroark who loves STFOE and recently ranted to me about how much he hates to see it end.

Nope.

Definitely not.

Star looked at her hand. Her right hand. It was empty. And there's a part of her that disliked how empty it was.

She was incomplete.

She still could imagine it, even after all these years; the smoothness and fluffiness of the handle, the smeared glassy surface, and the bright, diamond-edged star in the center, always glowing. Always stealing everyone's attention.

Even humans who didn't believe in magic stopped and looked at it and let it enthrall them, even if only for a few seconds.

It wasn't just completion. It was stability, and a source of strength. One that she relied too much on - a crutch, even.

Without it, she hadn't known who she was, hadn't known if she even had any self-worth, and had clawed and begged and screamed for it to come back.

"Huh," she'd said, at a dark time, more to herself than to the loneliness of the night, "if only I knew my family's precious wand could be such an addiction."

In all honesty, Star wasn't sure if she'd even uttered those words.

The moment in-between where she was now and before was blurry. A time of adjusting. A time of cleansing.

A time of realizing she was more than her wand, and her status as a princess.

The bus screeched, and Star jolted clumsily forward. Thankfully, she didn't hit her head, this time.

"Hey!" She stood up, drawing the eyes of the few passengers. "Passenger safety is something that exists, you know!"

The driver grunted and shrugged to himself. He clicked a button and the door opened. Star's eyes lingered to that door. She still wondered how it was possible for this world to be the way it was without magic. It was almost as advanced as Mewnie - and in some aspects, more so.

The only thing that's lacking was the ever-so-faithful portal scissors. Not to mention wicked, mushroom castles.

Star shuffled out, and hated how other people pressed into her as she was getting out. Not to mention it reeked with a strange odor, too. She hated the whole 'bus' concept, if she were being honest. Sure, it allowed her to interact with people, but most of the time, the people she tried to talk to never bothered to talk back. They just looked at her like she was a weirdo!

If only I had my wand, then-

Star stopped the thought before it fully formed.

The knots in her shoulder never untied, and her muscles never loosened. Not until she opened the door to her house - to their home - and heard a chipper, "Star! You're back!"

She replied, with a languid grin, "Hey, Marcoroni."

She heard rustles in the kitchen in the back, away from her peripheral vision, followed by a delicious smell, and imagined Marco's pout as he said, "I told you to stop calling me that."

She clicked her tongue, impish. "And I never listened."

Marco appeared with a flowery-patterned apron and cute-looking cooking gloves.

His brows were furrowed, which meant he was trying to tell her that he was angry, but his mouth kept on twitching up, which meant he actually wasn't.

So Star smiled a starry smiled and waited until Marco took off his adorable cooking gear before she jumped into his arms.

"Missed you," she mumbled into his ear.

His chuckle rumbled, and trembled in her shoulder. "Same." They pulled away, only for Marco to peck her on the forehead, and Star, on his cheek. "Elly keeps calling me Daddyroni."

"Aww, that's sweet of her."

"Embarrassing, you mean."

"Speaking of - where is that little fellow?" Star wandered through the hallway, a large grin on her face. If seeing her husband on a long day made her feel at ease, then seeing her daughter made her happy. "Elizabeth~ I need my daily dose of child love~"

She heard a loud crash coming from the room decorated with pinks and golds and reds, and chuckled to herself.

Elizabeth sure did inherit her clumsiness from her mom.

Elizabeth opened the door, only to cross her arms and leaned into the doorframe. She whistled. "Sup, Mom?"

And Star couldn't help it; she tackled the cute little baby into a bone-crushing hug.

Elizabeth squirmed and hacked and said a surprised "Mom!" and that only made Star hug her harder.

Eventually, Elizabeth hugged back, her strength rivalring Star's.

She heard a low cough. "Are you guys seriously leaving me out?"

Star wanted to open her arms and let Marco in on the hug, but Eliza was already sticking out her tongue and saying, "No way, Dad! This is a mother-and-daughter hug only!"

Star had to hide a smile when Marco blinked, fauxed his dumbfounded look, and tilted his head to the side. He pressed the spatula to the side of his head. "I don't get it, I'm a mom too."

"I mean, your dad is great at cooking." Marco brightened at that. Star smiled at him before booping her daughter in the nose. "And don't stick your tongue out like that, young lady. Especially not to your father."

Elizabeth tried for a glare that ended up a pout. At least she put her tongue back to her mouth.

Star pinched her on the cheek, which elicited a squeal, and squealed herself when Marco did the same to her.

She changed into a more casual, less tight and dull-looking PJs as the evening turned into the night.

Dinner was a fun and messy affair, as usual. Elizabeth asked a lot of questions about magic and kingdoms, and wondered if she had powers too, with or without the wand.

"You don't need magic or kingdoms, Elly," Marco said, food still in his mouth. "You're already cool enough as you are without them."

"What, cool like you, Dad?" Elizabeth grinned a delighted grin, already knowing what her father would say.

Marco, oblivious to her teasing, puffed his chest. "Exactly!"

Star and she laughed, and Marco spent the rest of dinner wondering what was so funny.

Star had to put a firm hand on Elizabeth's shoulder when she was trying to retreat back into the comforts of her room.

"At-tut-tut," said Marco, besides her, hands on his hips. "Have you forgotten, kiddo?"

Elizabeth gave them a confused, blank stare.

Marco and Star shared a look, and grinned to each other.

"It's Taco Tuesday!" they said, at once, bewildering their child.

They ended up choosing a horror movie. And by they, she meant she herself and her daughter, while Marco sulked and tried to list off logical reasons why horror movie shouldn't even be an option in the first place.

Marco kept squirming and shrieking at each jumpscare, and Elizabeth kept laughing at him for it. Star kept alternating between scolding her daughter for making fun of her father and laughing at her husband because really, it wasn't that scary.

And as the night went on, Star felt foolish for thinking she was incomplete.

Because now, filled by the love and laughter and warmth of her family, Star realized that a silly old wand would never make her feel complete - not the way they did.

Because they - Marco and their sweet, sweet daughter - completed her. They were stability, and a source of strength.

With them, she knew exactly who she was, realized that she always, always had self-worth no matter what, and would tear the world apart for them.

And so, after tucking Elizabeth to bed, and receiving a long, passionate kiss from Marco, Star had to say, "I love you."

And she had to smile when he, in kind, responded, "Same."

This took me less than an hour to make. And I know posting 2 stories in a day is kind of reckless, but I can't help myself.