Washed Out
*SPOILER ALERT*
This One-shot takes place during the episode "Lint Catcher" and will contain spoilers for that episode and much of the early dialog is taken straight from the episode as well. Read on at your own risk!
11/10/2017 Edit: Fixed some grammar and spelling errors. Also reworded some things. If you see anything else while reading, hit me up with a PM!
Alternate Title: Marco Diaz and a Semester AbroadCastle Butterfly, Laundry Room
"My own squire?! What do you call him?" Sir Lavabo exclaimed excitedly, wiggling his rubber glove clad fingers over his face. He could not believe Princess Star had come to visit him again, and brought another friend besides!
Sir Lavabo had served Castle Butterfly for most of his life as part of the illustrious order of the Knights of the Wash. He had been alone for years as his brothers had perished, one by one, to the magical horrors that resulted from the dirty laundry of Castle Butterfly. Furthermore, he was excited to be trusted with a new Squire. To teach a new generation of Laundry Knights was Sir Lavabo's dream, and one he hoped to fulfill before his time came. Hopefully, this new boy, clad in King Butterfly's Meat Blanket, would survive longer than the last one. Poor Doug.
"Marco Diaz!" Star replied placing a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Whaat? I'm squiring for the Laundry Guy?" Marco replied in dismay. He couldn't believe that she was seriously going to make him work for a Knight whose duty was doing chores. He wanted to learn to fight better so he could keep up with her on their future adventures. If they had any future adventures that is. He'd been feeling a little...unwelcome ever since he arrived.
"Yeah!" Star replied, "This is Sir Lavabo! He's super cool!"
"But I'd be way down here in the basement..." Marco said as a knot of anxiety began forming in his stomach.
"Actually...sub-basement...!" Star replied with a wry smile. "So moody! You're gonna love it!"
"Yeah, but, just the same...how about you princess me up something a little closer? Like, say, something in the Castle?" Marco said with gritted teeth. He was bad at reading social signals, but he'd have to be an idiot not to notice Star was putting him as far from her as she could.
"Marco, just because I'm a Princess doesn't mean I can do anything I want."
"Yeah, but, if I'm all the way down here, we're never even gonna see each other!" Marco said, his voice tinged with anger.
Star responded with a growl of frustration.
"You don't appreciate anything I do!" She yelled at him, before storming from the room.
"Star!" Marco called after her, "I didn't mean..." he began to apologize, but she slammed the door of the laundry room, cutting him off.
"Marco Diaz..." Sir Lavabo began, as he approached Marco. Marco turned around to see Sir Lavabo with a look of pure seriousness on his face. Marco had written him off earlier, but something in his face told Marco that he was a True Knight who had seen combat, not some laundry maid. "Are you ready for your first quest?" He continued, putting an arm around Marco's shoulder.
"Yeah...sure." Marco replied, pushing Sir Lavabo's arm away. "What are we doing?" A small smile appeared on Marco's face. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. And Star couldn't ignore him forever...right?
"You must empty the lint catcher!" Sir Lavabo said with the same gravity he would have used if he ordered Marco to fight a dragon.
'Got that one wrong.' Marco thought with a sigh, oblivious to the true danger of the quest Sir Lavabo offered.
"Actually, Sir Lavabo, I don't think I'm going to stay." Marco said, reaching up to the clasp of his cape.
"But Marco, you just got here!" Sir Lavabo exclaimed. How cruel could fate be, to bring him a new protege, only to snatch him away before they could begin.
"I know, but I don't think I'm welcome here. I did sorta show up unannounced. King River even said he didn't think he'd ever see me again. And Star...we're supposed to be best friends, but she put me down here as far from her as I could possibly be without being outside the Castle Grounds entirely. I came back to Mewni for adventure and fun with my bestie, not to do chores. I'm sorry." Marco pulled off his cape...no the King's Meat Blanket and began folding it.
Sir Lavabo began to protest, to tell Marco that he was welcome with him. That he would train him to be a true Knight of the Wash, a proud, necessary job in Butterfly Castle, but one glance at Marco's face told him what he needed to know. Sir Lavabo picked up a nearby mop bucket and turned it over into a makeshift seat so he could be at eye level with him. "You know she won't be like this forever, right?"
"I'm not so sure. She's got Tom now...and I think I'd just be in her way. It's been weeks since I last saw her after the Battle for Mewni, but she never contacted me once. She seems to have completely moved on from me. Like we were only friends because she was on Earth. I think it's best if I give her some room for now." Marco said, holding the Meat Blanket out to Sir Lavabo. "Could you return this to King River for me?"
Sir Lavabo accepted the blanket from Marco with a tear in his eye. One who could so perfectly fold a blanket that had a collar sewn onto it could have made an excellent Knight of the Wash.
"I understand, Marco. The path of the Knights of the Wash is not an easy one. One such as you, so young and with a conflicted heart, might break under the strain." Sir Lavabo said warmly, "Should you ever change your mind, know that you will always be welcome in my Laundry Room."
"Thanks, Sir Lavabo." Marco said, looking down at his hands.
"What will you do now, my boy?" Sir Lavabo inquired.
"I guess I'll return to Earth..." It wasn't what Marco wanted. All Earth had for him was the drudgery of his Sophomore year, which would be starting in a few days, and heartbreak. His heart longed for adventure, excitement, and a bit of danger. It had ever since...
"Actually, I think it's long over due for me to visit one of my old friends. It's been years..." Marco said as he pulled out his Dimensional Scissors and cut open a portal.
"Be well, Marco Diaz." Sir Lavabo said with a salute. "May our paths cross again!"
Marco smiled back at Sir Lavabo before stepping through the portal and closing it behind him.
"Alas! It falls to Sir Lavabo to clean out the Lint Catcher!" Sir Lavabo yelled to no one in particular. He drew a sword that was belted to his waist, said a prayer to the Linen Gods, and charged towards the Lint Catcher and near certain doom. "FOR DETERGENT!"
Castle Garden
Star stomped her way up the stairs to the basement, down several hallways, and then to the first floor of Castle Butterfly, muttering angrily to herself the whole way.
"Oh, hey, Star! I just showed up out of nowhere. Why don't you give me a job to do?" Star said mockingly. "Okay, Marco, here's a job. No, not that job! Another job!" She continued as she marched her way into the garden.
Before she realized what was happening, the ground suddenly rushed up and punched her in the face. Dazed, Star looked up with a groan to see former Queen Eclipsa sitting on a bench in a purple dress and hat. Around her ankle was a manacle attached to a large chain. Star quickly realized that the ground hadn't punched her, but rather she had tripped over the chain. Eclipsa sat quietly, feeding the birds like some sort of grandma.
"Hello." Eclipsa greeted her great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter.
"Eclipsa!" Star said, surprised to see her grandma out of her quarters. "They're giving you some outdoor time. That's great."
"I know! And real Dragon Chains too!" Eclipsa said with a fond sigh, "They make a Lady feel so free."
"Oh, yeah, uh, that's really awesome." Star said, too preoccupied with thoughts of Marco to act properly interested. "Can I sit? Sit, like, right there?" Star asked, pointing to where Eclipsa sat.
With a grunt of effort, Eclipsa began sliding over. Once Eclipsa finished moving, Star plopped down onto the bench with a sigh.
"Thanks."
"Here, take a load off. Feed the birds." Eclipsa said, handing Star the bag of bird feed. "Always makes me feel better." Star snatched the bag from her hands and jumped into telling Eclipsa her problem.
"I don't get how some people think it's okay to just drop into your life without so much as a heads up. You know what I'm saying?" Star said, throwing a handful of seed to the birds before stuffing handful into her mouth. "And then, you try to help them out, no appreciation!" Star complained throwing a handful of seed into the air and Eclipsa's face. Multiple colorful birds suddenly flew down, landing on Eclipsa's lap and Star's head.
"So, what's his name?" Eclipsa asked slyly.
"Huh? What?" Star said, perking up. "No, no, no, no, no, it's not like that. Well, well, not anymore. It's just Marco." Star said, waving her hands around.
"Well, Marco. So that's it." Eclipsa said with a knowing smirk.
"Marco thinks that just because I'm a princess, I can get him whatever job he wants." Star said, stuffing her mouth with more bird seed.
"Well, can't you?" Eclipsa replied with a smile, causing Star to cross her arm and look around guiltily.
"NO...yes. But that's not the point!"
"Well, now that he's here, do you want him to stay?" Eclipsa asked, holding up a bit of bird seed for one of the bird that landed on her hat.
"Uh...yeah...no. Ugh, I don't know!" Star said dejectedly, "Doesn't matter anyway. I already made him a Laundry Squire." A sudden look of concern washed over Eclipsa's face.
"He's squiring for the Knights of the Wash? Well... then your problem will take care of itself, dear." Eclipsa said uncomfortably.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Star asked, worried at her grandma's tone.
"No squire has ever survived more than a day in the Laundry Room. It's the most dangerous place in the castle!" Eclipsa explained, causing Star to gasp.
"Marco! I gotta go! Thanks for the Popcorn!" Star shouted as she threw the bag of bird seed to the ground.
"That...wasn't popcorn." Eclipsa said to herself.
Laundry Room
Star suddenly burst back into the Laundry Room where she found Sir Lavabo on his hands and knees panting, his sword on the ground next to him. The knight was covered in cuts, bruises, and lint and looked as though he had been through a vicious fight, though his sword was fairly clean.
"Lavabo! Are you okay? Where's Marco?" Star cried as she knelt down next to the wounded knight.
"Do not trouble yourself, my princess! I just had to clean out some lint that had blocked the lint catcher's fan. It put up a bit of a fight I must say! As for Marco..." The knight gave her a sad look. "I am sorry, Princess."
Star grabbed the knight by his shoulders and began shaking him, tears in her eyes. "Where's Marco?! If you let him get hurt I swear...!" She yelled as the man began to look dazed from the rapid motion.
"Ple...Please stop, Your Highness." The knight said, gently grabbing her wrists so she'd stop shaking him. "I am sorry to say your friend departed this dimension a little while ago. He rejected your generous offer to squire with me, saying he felt like he would just be in your way if he stayed." The knight released Star's wrists and she let them drop to her side. Rage and relief, warred inside her. On the one hand, she was glad Marco was spared the fate shared by so many Squires of the Wash, but for him to leave without a word made her anger flare up.
"Did he say where he was going?" Star said, gritting her teeth. "I'm gonna give that turd a piece of my mind, making me worry and then running off."
"He did not. Just said that he was going to visit a friend he had not seen in years. Though if I am any judge, he appeared to go through a portal to Lady Hekapoo's dimension. I wonder who he knows there..." Sir Lavabo said thoughtfully. Star's gaped at the knight who was muttering to himself. There was only one person Marco would visit in Hekapoo's dimension...well one person and a dragon cycle.
"I need Dimensional Scissors!" Star said, getting to her feet. Sir Lavabo hesitated under her gaze before pulling out a pole with a hook on the end.
"I have this Dimensional Wash Pole that I suppose I could use to open a portal for you." Star snatched the hooked pole and swung it through the air. Reality caught on the hook of the pole and a portal peeled open, swirling with a bright orange color. Without another word, Star tossed herself through the portal and into the homeland of Lady Hekapoo, Forger of Dimensional Scissors...and other sorta sharp objects.
Hekapoo's Dimension
Star had aimed for Hekapoo's home, but landed outside of a log cabin, instead of the cave she had last seen Hekapoo and adult Marco in. Deciding that whoever lived in the cabin could at least give her directions, she marched up to the door and swiftly kicked it off its hinges.
She rushed inside, before slowing down to take in the interior. The front room had the kind of atmosphere she'd expect in a hunting lodge. Along each wall were the heads of several exotic creatures that she, despite being an experienced dimension hopper, had never seen and other body parts of creatures she assumed didn't have a head. The floor was hardwood, though there were rugs in several places including a massive rug that appeared to be the skin of a three-headed bear. There were multiple cabinets and shelves throughout the room as well that seemed to hold various trinkets and treasures. A fireplace dominated one side of the room and had a blazing fire within. Several couches and chairs formed a half circle around the fireplace. She gaped in awe at the things she saw in the living room, before someone cleared their voice, startling her.
Star quickly pulled out her wand and pointed towards the door of a side room where the noise came from. A man in a wheelchair suddenly rolled out the the room and shot her a grin.
"You know, young Lady, it isn't polite to kick down someone's door." He said as he rolled towards her.
The man was incredibly old. His face was heavily wrinkled and had multiple scars. One trailed from his hairline down over his eyebrow and behind an eye patch over his left eye. He had straight shoulder length white hair that did not appear thin, despite his advanced age. She noticed he had a peg in place of his right leg and he was missing his left arm just above where his elbow would have been. She then noticed he was wearing clothes that made him appear ready to travel, a sturdy boot was on his left foot, and he had a dark pair of rugged pants with multiple pockets. He had a flannel shirt on with a durable looking brown jacket and a red scarf. The last thing she noticed was a sword in a sheath on the left side of his wheelchair, if he was younger, she would think he could jump up, draw the sword, and swing at her in the blink of an eye.
"Careful now. There is a table with a sharp corner right behind you. Wouldn't want you to get hurt." The man said. She had been so distracted by the man's appearance that she started backwards and tripped over her feet. If she had blinked she would have missed it and even then she wasn't sure what she saw. Something blurred in her vision, she heard a sharp crack, and then caught herself on the smooth edge of a table that she hadn't noticed when she walked in. The edge was warm, almost hot, to the touch.
"Heh. Still got it." The old man groaned as he fell back into his wheelchair, returning his sword to its sheath with a satisfying click. Star looked down at her feet and saw a perfectly smooth chunk of wood at her feet. "Though I hate to damage that table. It's made of mahogany from Dimension Malchior-7. The trees there are bigger than you could believe and breath fire! Very difficult wood to work with, ya know?" Star stared at the man in disbelief. He had to be nearly a hundred years old and was wheelchair bound, but was able to somehow get behind her and cleanly cut the corner of a table so she wouldn't injure herself on it? It blew her mind. On top of it all, there was something familiar about him.
"Do...I know you, Gramps?" She asked the man, hoping the term of endearment would keep him from turning that blade on her. He could cut her in half before she'd even get a spell off...
"First off, ouch, and second how about you lower that wand. Don't want anyone getting hurt!" The man chuckled. She only then realized she had pumped magic into the wand, ready to blast the man if he did try to hurt her.
"She has you pegged though. You've gotten old, dear." Another familiar voice said from a different doorway. Star spun around to see Lady Hekapoo, Dimensional Scissor Enforcer, stroll into the room wiping swear from her brow. Star knew time flowed differently in Hekapoo's dimension, but she didn't look any different than she did at Lekmet's funeral. Well, other than the fact that she was wearing overalls that faded from red to orange to yellow from the top of the outfit to the bottom. Star noted she was holding a hammer in one hand and a strange sword in the other.
"It's nice to see you again Princess. It's been a while." Hekapoo walked over to the elderly man and kissed his head before showing him the sword. "What do you think, Love?" The man took the blade from her and hefted it. He made a few cuts in the air, limited by being in a wheelchair, focused, and then cut a small portal open. He reached into the portal and pulled out a soda which Hekapoo promptly snatched from his hand.
"You know you can't have that much sugar. It's bad for a human your age." She said in her usual calm tone of voice, though Star thought she heard a bit of true concern hidden in her words. The man scowled.
"Never get married, Star. They'll just hound you to your death. Anyway, it's close, but the balance is a bit off. Would get a guy killed in a fight." Hekapoo rolled her eyes and grinned at him as he handed her the sword.
"You humans are so stupid. Doing things the hard way." She leaned down and kissed his head again causing his scowl to soften into a small grin.
"Maybe," He replied, "But isn't it interesting to see if you can forge dimensional weapons with different methods?"
Star shook her head and finally got her wits back.
"Wait. Hekapoo, is he your...?" Star asked in disbelief.
"Yup! This is my husband of nearly 70 years! Though I guess it would be like 35 minutes in Mewni time..." She said, looking thoughtful and placing the hammer against her lips. The move drew Star's eye to a ring on her hand with a beautiful stone she'd never seen before.
"OHMIGOSH! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME OR INVITE ME TO THE WEDDING!" Star screamed excitedly running to embrace Hekapoo with a hug.
"We did invite you and your parents." The old man said. "But with the way time works here, if we had waited for a guard to find you, 20 years would have passed. Glad everyone else made it though!"
"Everyone else? Wait, did my parents go? Hekapoo, who is this old guy?" Star asked, rapid fire, drawing another scowl from the man. Hekapoo held her hands up.
"Whoa there, Princess. Yes, your parents made it. A lot of your friends were able to make it, which was surprising given that it was such short notice. Princess Pony Head, Rombulus, Omnitraxus Prime, Tom, Buff Frog, Ferguson, Alfonzo, Rafael and Angie, and Janna too."
"Ludo also showed up, fell straight out of the sky. Somehow managed to bring a gift despite there being no way he could have known we were getting married." The man said, jumping in. "Though Tom's was the best. That rug by the fireplace came from a rare Cerbearus! They're only seen in the Underworld!"
"That still doesn't tell me who you are, old guy!" Star practically yelled. She also made a mental note to give Tom an earful when she got back to Mewni. The old man suddenly clutched at his chest as though he had been struck by an arrow.
"Star, you're gonna hurt his feelings. Surely you recognize him?" Hekapoo asked with a look of amusement at her husbands antics.
"Last time she called me 'Beautiful Stranger!' Now it's just old man this and gramps that." The man lamented.
Star looked a little closer at his face as he shot her a grin. It was only then that she noticed the mole beneath his right eye.
"Marco!"
"Finally! Surely you didn't forget me in the what, forty-two minutes I've been gone?" Marco said with a laugh.
"Forty-Two and a half." Hekapoo corrected gently.
"Geez, 85 years. Where did the time go?" Marco said, slumping in his chair a bit. Hekapoo patted his shoulder gently.
"You lived here for 85 years, Marco?! Why?" Star yelled, taking a step towards the man. "Why would you stay away from everything for so long? What about your friends? Your parents? Me?" She asked, echoing her statement from her last visit to Hekapoo's dimension.
"I missed the adventuring life, Star. I only left H-Poo's..." That earned him a smack from his wife."Ahem, my wife's dimension the first time because of you. For my best friend. After you and your family game me such a cold reception, I realized it was wrong of me to show up unannounced, but I wasn't ready to return to Earth. So I came here, where I knew I could adventure for years, maybe get it out of my system and then go home." Marco looked a bit wistful at that. "But the years came and went. Without the trial putting us at odds, Hekapoo and I fell in love and were married. After she got pregnant..." Marco said, but Star suddenly got in his face.
"PREGNANT!"
"Yes, Star." Hekapoo said with a smirk and a patronizing tone as she pushed Star away from her husband. "You see, when a human and an interdimensional goddess fall in love, they give each other a special hug and sometimes a baby is made. I guess. Kind of a first time thing here." Hekapoo said with a grin. She started to make some obscene hand gestures causing Star to blush furiously, but Marco stopped her before it got too bad.
"You're embarrassing her, dear. Anyway, after Scyllapoo was born, Mom and Dad came to stay with us for like 20 years so they could see their grandchild grow up. They went home, but promised to visit. That was like 20 minutes ago though, earth time." Marco said sadly. "Scyllapoo should be doing alright though! I think she's visiting the Underworld right now? Oh! Dear, why don't you get the photo album and we'll show Star some of our adventures!" Hekapoo nodded and went to retrieve the book.
"Marco, why are you still here. Why don't you go home and be young again?" Star asked softly.
"I couldn't bear to be back on Earth without you. It was lonely, especially after Jackie broke up with me. I couldn't go to Mewni because you were mad at me. So I just stayed here. I just..." Marco started having a coughing fit and covered his mouth. Hekapoo rushed back into the room with the photo album. She was concerned, but merely knelt next to her husband.
"Marco! What's wrong?" Star cried in alarm as he pulled his hand back. It was covered in blood.
"I'm old, Star. My health has been declining these last few years..." Marco replied with a grimace.
"Why. Are. You. Still. Here?" She asked, punctuating every word, her voice tinged with anger and desperation. "If you go back home, won't this be all undone? You'd be my age again! Just like last time." This time Hekapoo replied.
"It isn't so simple, Star. Last time Marco was much younger. Only 16 years had passed." She said simply.
"I don't think you realize how hard it was for me to readjust to life on Earth, Star. 16 years of adult stress is hard on a teenage brain. It took a few weeks for me to remember things like my computer password or where things were in Echo Creek. I kept tripping on things because I wasn't as tall as I was. For months, I had reoccurring dreams and nightmares of my time in Hekapoo's dimension. The people I met and helped, the battles I fought. The people I lost. It was hard." Marco explained, grimaced as though the memories pained him.
"Time spent in my dimension fades from the conscious mind fairly quickly once you return to your original dimension, but the things still happened." Hekapoo continued, "If he were to go back now, the 85 years of stress would probably fry his brain."
"And more importantly, I couldn't bear to forget my wife and daughter." Marco said quietly. Star had been ready to speak up, but that last sentence brought her up short. "Oh Star, don't cry for me. I've lived a good life. You're too pretty to cry. As beautiful as I remember." Marco said softy. Star reached up to touch her face. She was surprised to find tears there. She wiped her tears away and put on a smile. It was hard. Marco, her bestie, was dying.
"Come now! Let me tell you the story of my life, Star Butterfly. That one day you might tell your daughter you knew a great Hero from Earth!"
Marco and Hekapoo spent the rest of the day and most of the night regaling Star with the stories and pictures of Marco's time in Hekapoo's dimension. In one picture, Marco had tried to replicate his old adventuring outfit soon after he had arrived, but his 'hot bod' didn't reappear when he came back so he looked a little silly with his baby fat causing his stomach to look a bit pudgy. Another picture showed him fighting a hydra. This lead them to telling Hekapoo about the time Star and Marco made a hydra tie its necks in a knot. Hekapoo burst out laughing when Star told her that Marco ran into its stomach looking for his parents who had been vacationing on Mewni as a gift from Star.
Another picture showed Marco and Hekapoo on their first date. Marco had been there for a few years and had turned into quite the handsome man, his 'hot bod' had come in by then and Hekapoo seemed to appreciate it. Star did too, but didn't say anything. She just blushed furiously as Hekapoo whispered into Marco's ear. She didn't catch everything, but she heard enough to send her head to naughty places.
The next photo showed a pregnant Hekapoo and Marco looking every bit the nervous future dad. Hekapoo was just beginning to show, but the next photo was of their wedding and she was heavily pregnant at that point.
"Strangely enough, Hekapoo was pregnant with Scyllie for nearly 2 years before she delivered. We had no idea what to do and since Glossaryck..." Marco said quietly. "I was a mess at any rate.
They had many photos of their wedding. Apparently, Tom and Alfonzo got into a fight about who would be best man. Tom tried to set Alfonzo on fire, but the Pixie Empress was present and sicked her royal guardsmen on him. This in turned caused Tom to summon a bunch a demons to counter them. By the time they finished explaining how the war had ended, all three were wheezing with laughter.
"And after all that, Janna stole Hekapoo's ring from my Dad's pocket and held it hostage until we let her be ring bearer." Marco said, wiping tears away as he chuckled. His laugh turned into coughing again, sobering Star and Hekapoo up a bit. They moved to help him, but he waved them off. He pulled a cloth out of his pocket and wiped the blood from his hand and mouth. "Don't worry your pretty heads. You clucking over me isn't going to change my condition. Let's keep on with the pictures. Scyllie's pictures are next!"
True to his word, the next pictures showed Scyllapoo from the time she was born until she was ready to set out on her own. It looked like a surprisingly normal life to Star. "I took a break from adventuring to help raise her." Marco explained. The pictures showed them doing normal things like reading to Scyllapoo, changing her diapers, stopping her from wandering into Hekapoo's scissor forge (though they later learned she inherited her mother's fireproof nature). Marco was featured in one picture chasing down what Star assumed was Scyllapoo's first boyfriend.
"These next ones are a bit rough. Marco tried to jump right back into adventuring when Scyllie left." Hekapoo said grimly.
The next picture showed Marco in a Hospital recovery room. He was grinning at the camera, but the rest of the picture was grim. "I was probably 50 when this was taken. Toffee ambushed me on my first trip out. I guess we didn't quite get him the first time." Marco said with a grimace. Star eyes widened.
"Wait, is he...?" Star started, but Marco shushed her.
"Punched me straight through the lung as revenge from when I did it to him, only I didn't have his regenerating factor. Got my leg too before H-poo swooped in and saved the day. It's why I've been coughing up blood, I think." Marco said as he rubbed his chest.
"He was still weakened from the spell you blasted him with, even after all those years. Probably the only reason we won." Hekapoo said.
"A few years later, I was tracking down a cult when some sort of mutant flamingo got my arm. I had to quit adventuring after that." Marco showed Star a picture of him trying to get Hekapoo to high-five his arm nub. The next picture showed Hekapoo slapping the daylights out of Marco a moment later, causing Star to giggle.
"We didn't take too many pictures after that. Marco said he didn't want people seeing him get old." Hekapoo said with a sigh.
"There was one more, from about 15 years ago." Marco said, pulling the picture out. "We reaffirmed our bond with one another. I couldn't believe she still wanted to be with me after all these years. The picture showed an older Marco in a suit, his hair was still short, but had long since gone white.
"I do love you, even if you're a lame fleshwad from Earth." Hekapoo said defensively.
"I know." Marco replied with a small smile and a yawn. "Well, it's probably about time to call it a night."
"You could stay with us tonight if you like, Star." Hekapoo offered, "We have room."
"Star shook her head. I didn't tell anyone but Lavabo where I was going. I don't want to worry them." Marco and Hekapoo exchanged a glance, but didn't say anything. Even if she had stayed a week, mere moments would have passed in Mewni. But, it was a lot to take in. She'd probably want to have time to think on it alone.
"Could I... hitch a ride?" Star asked with a sheepish smile. "I kinda forgot to bring a pair of scissors with me." Hekapoo started to agree when Marco stopped her. He reached into a pocket on his jacket and pulled out his personal pair.
"Here, Star. I want you to have my old scissors." Marco held out the scissors that Hekapoo had given him after his trial. The brass blades and dark handle still glistened like new. They always reminded her of a sword. Fitting for Marco, it seemed. Star reached out hesitantly.
"You sure? Won't you need them?" Star asked a little shakily.
"My wife is the Forger of Scissors. I think I'm covered." Marco grinned. Star looked at the scissors again. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she suddenly regretted. It was all too much for the young princess. She started bawling and launched herself into Marco's arms. He held her with the same gentle sureness he always did when he was younger. Rubbing her back and whispering that everything would be alright. "I'm here, Star. Your bestie is here." He let her cry herself out and when she was done she reluctantly accepted his scissors. She opened a portal home and looked at Marco and his wife. She thought they looked cute together. She wanted to tell him she loved him. Instead she said goodbye.
"Goodbye, Marco Diaz of Earth." She said with a small smile.
"Goodbye, Princess Star Butterfly of Mewni." Marco returned her smile.
After the portal closed, Marco leaned forward and shakily got to his feet.
"Well, I don't know about interdimensional goddesses, but a human's gotta sleep!" Marco said cheerfully. He gave his wife a kiss and she watched him walk to his room. He made it about halfway before he collapsed to the ground.
Hekapoo panicked and went to her husband, but he was unconscious. She carried him to his bed and held his hand as his breathing slowed. Slower. Stopped.
She cried.
She heard the front door open.
"Mom, Dad? I'm home for the weekend!" Scyllie called out.