Heyo, my loyal readers and peeps (love you all!) So this chapter is gonna be a long one (yay!!) and I would really like to keep this story going but I am really kinda pushing it right now. I still don't have my old memos recovered yet for this story but I was still able to find a way to keep it going and keep the storyline and flowing plot moving so, enjoy!

...

The way back to my awaiting prison was silent and neither of us had said anything. As Noah and the other elderly angel had taken the lead infront, Star and I followed closely behind.

As we were walking back, she reached for my hand by my side and before I knew it, our fingers were entangled in one another once again. Her hand was sneaky and I knew she knew that if Noah or the other angel had turned around, for even a split second, they would see. Still, she didn't let go. And neither did I.

My wings skipped a beat and felt the need to flap and flutter but I knew flying would be too inappropriate for the current situation.

We were brought back to my cell and dried off with the towels we were given. I had mine slung around my neck when I was sure my hair was as dry as I could get it to be.

The elderly angel had ushered me back to my cell and was about to lock the gate behind me before Star had protested. "Wait," she said. "I need to talk to Marco - in private."

Surprisingly, he nodded and allowed her to pass, even leaving us alone, just like she had requested. When she was sure we were left alone, she began. "Marco," A slight pause stretched as if she ceased to collect her thoughts.

And when she gazed up with those angel eyes - damn, those eyes. Her fixated, holy stare could bring even the most deepest and darkest demon down to his knees. She could make him confess to all of his sins at once.

There was no way I could tell her that everything was okay.

"Just tell me right now. I just need to know. Do you..." Her volume had dropped low to nothing more than a whisper at her last words, almost as if she didn't want to ask or question her doubt.

"Star, I-" I don't know why but I couldn't make the words come. What if I said it and couldn't take it back? What if I said it and it wasn't true?

Still, my head fell hopelessly until our foreheads were laid upon one another.

...

STAR

• ☆ •

His lips lingered again and, again, they disappeared. He stepped back and shook his head, staring at the ground.

He was so close, yet too far in his thoughts to close the extra inch of space between us.

...

MARCO

• ◇ •

"I'm sorry. This is all wrong." And just like that, I had disappointed her again.

"What? What do you-"

"I-I don't know. I don't know how I should feel..." I stuttered more, searching for more useless words to say. "I mean, I really want to - but..." I covered my face in my hands and turned away, too ashamed to even face her. Star took this as a chance to speak.

"Marco, it's okay."

"No, it's not!" Through my hands, my words came out muffled. I could feel my throat forcing to swell and close up. I began choking on my own words and tears came out in a hiccup. "You're not supposed to be here. You're supposed to be... dead! But instead, you're here. Even after everything I put you through, you think you can keep coming back to me."

"Marco, stop. Wait." She tried to intrude again, though when I found everything to tumble out at once, I couldn't stop. I kept going. I took a seat down on my bed and Star followed. I was still hiding my face behind my hands.

"You're only hurting us both, Star. C'mon. I mean, you gotta know this... we... we can't be together. Maybe the angels are right..."

For a long time, it was quiet and still. Surprisingly, Star did not protest this time. She just sat and thought for a moment as if to consider what I had said. I thought she would get up in that moment, leaving me as if I was right. Like I was right about angels and demons and how different we really are. Like angels and demons are right and wrong, left and right, above and below, good and bad. We are different. Too different to ever be the same.

Yet, all this, she did not even protest against, like I thought she would. Instead, she pulled me closer, wrapping her arms around me.

Who was I kidding? I needed her. And she needed me.

I reached out and hugged her back. I held her so tight, I was practically squeezing her. Her voice came out a bit squeaky and breathless. "Uh, Marco? You're kinda crushing me."

"I know."

We stayed quietly holding each other for a few extra seconds before Star took my hand again to hold it in her's. Her hands were soft yet dry and delicate to the touch. Her head still laid on my shoulder as she stared down at our entwined fingers.

"All the angels are talking about you, y'know?" She said softly. Her tone of voice was nothing more than a mumble and she remained relaxed and comfortable. Her fingers began to play with my own, stroking them and attempting to become accustomed with their touch. At one moment, her fingers had met up to the tips of my blackened claws and, self-consciously, I wanted to hide them in my pant pocket.

I let out a heavy and lengthy exhale, probably a concerning sigh too because Star had noticed. "Marco?"

"Hm?" I responded half-heartedly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I guess." I had concluded that what I had mumbled wasn't very convincing because she questioned me again. Though, I can't blame her. I didn't even believe I sounded that convincing either.

"Are you sure?"

"No." An audible, bittersweet chortle came out of my mouth.

"Whatever it is, I'm right here." She held my hand just a bit tighter and for some reason, I didn't think she had any ideas of freeing me from her grasp until I had told her everything.

I sighed again, yet it was brief, a pocket of air to have energy to talk further. "Star? Do you think I..." Halfway through my own sentence, I lowered my volume as if to become self-conscious and insecure about the next words. "...killed you?"

At that moment, she finally lifted her head from my shoulder to meet my eyes. Her face showed signs of a mix of emotions at once - bewilderment, confusion, pain.

I could tell she wasn't expecting the question and she bowed her head. "I... I don't know. I mean, I was mad at you at first." She kept her head down and stared at her hands in her lap. She started sniffling, softly crying. "I didn't understand how you could... But I just kept telling myself that it really wasn't you, that you would never..." She let out a few sobs, then continued. "Marco, I know you didn't mean to. Isn't that enough? To forgive someone?"

"Why would you forgive me? Star, your parents are on Mewni - without you! Your whole kingdom is wondering where you are. You had a life...."

Great. Now I was going to be the one crying.

She shook her head slightly. "We're both dead, y'know?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Marco, you are never going to be the Marco you were before. I mean, we are never going to be the same people we were before. But... you still double-knot your shoes when you tie them like the old Marco, you still... hate coffee like the old Marco."

"How'd you know I hate coffee?"

"Grandma Comet told me."

Despite the seriousness of that moment, I couldn't help but chuckle.

I recalled one morning when Comet had brought breakfast for me to my cell, wafting down the smell of a warm, peppermint-scented coffee. I had told her that I wasn't really a fan of coffee, but for her sake, I drank it anyways. Strangely enough, however, she never did bring me another cup of coffee for breakfast. I no longer smelled that warm, peppermint scent.

"Tell me more... please." The words came out sounding too desperate.

"Well," She sniffled and wiped her nose with her naked wrist. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything. I just... I feel like I don't know who I am anymore. What was the old me like?"

A moment of silence. Then, she said, "Everything you did was planned. You had your whole life practically planned out. You never did anything without knowing a plan to it. You were a red belt in karate. You could play the piano. You made the best nachos. You wore ballet shoes around the house. You-"

"Wait, what? You're lying." I said, making Star laugh heavy-heartedly. I couldn't help but do the same.

"Nope. You said they were comfortable. Like slippers. But... you were also picky. You couldn't really buy something unless you really liked it, y'know?" I nodded at everything she was telling me. I was actually listening too. "You knew how to stand up for what was right too. You were... loyal. You were confident in who you were and didn't let anything get in your way. And that's how I..."

...

STAR

• ☆ •

I hesitated.

And that's how I fell in love with you.

...

MARCO

• ◇ •

She let her body fall backwards onto the bed and began to stare upwards as if to study the dark, bare ceiling.

Her head turned towards me just then, as if she had just realized something that I hadn't. A smile had appeared on her face, grinning from ear to ear. It was a sort of devious yet playful smile. "Are you still... ticklish?" She probed, lifting her hand up and making her fingers dance in a mocking and tickling way.

"What?" Right at that moment, she had brought her taunting hands closer, closing me in on my own impending doom. "No, Star! Wait! I'm very ticklish!"

Instinctively, to escape her teasing hands, I flew off the bed and into the air. She got up and followed me. She followed me into the air, letting her wings guide her upwards with a graceful boost from her feet.

"You can fly?" I exclaimed. I had never seen her actually use her wings before. "Wait, that's not fair!"

She let out a harp-tuned laugh. "I may not be the best flyer, but you can't escape from me, Diaz!"

I raised my eyebrow in confusion and smiled. "What did you just call me?" It was a genuine question, yet Star must have taken it as a sign that I was egging her on to come after me.

She aimed for under my arms and before I could object, I fell down in a fit of laughter. She tackled me with tickles, pinning me to the ground. Through my thinning lungs and heavy laughter, I tried to protest. "Star! Stop!"

"I reign supreme!" She shouted in joy. "I know all your weaknesses, Marco!"

Soon, we were both laughing uncontrollably. "Okay, okay!" I finally said. "I surrender! You win!"

She fell over and we laid on the ground for a moment, catching our breaths and letting out extra, leftover laughs. When the silence prevailed between us, Star spoke again. "It's almost like... you never left."

I sat up just then and had realized how cold my feet were. They were still wet from the lake. I let out a disgusted groan and Star looked up. "What?"

"My socks. They're all wet... and cold... and very-"

Right then, she dove at me, practically almost knocking me over so that I had to support myself with my arm.

Her lips on my own made my own stomach flip and flop and turn and twist. I couldn't describe the way it felt, yet if I had to describe it, I would say it made me feel a sort of joy and giggliness rise from my gut and into my throat. Her lips were still a bit moist from the lake and she had kissed me with such a strong passion, I had been momentarily stunned and paralyzed. My heart had this spontaneous sensation of fluttering and soaring so high, my lips savored every second of the touch of her tender lips on mine.

It was a strange, newfound feeling that I never knew, nor did I know how to describe it. Not only that, it was a pounding and thrashing and thundering feeling, a feeling that seemed to corrupt my whole mind and body with a deep and heavy grasp.

Was this what love felt like?

...

STAR

• ☆ •

I didn't know how much he had remained himself yet not know it. It was like he hadn't changed at all. Marco was Marco. He always was and will be. It was the reason why I had fallen for him. The way he was so unaware of this, made me want to cry and wail out loud.

Maybe I was wrong, I began to wonder. Maybe I was wrong about Marco. He was still very much alive. He was still Marco afterall. But as for me... I was still dead. And that was never going to change, no matter how deeply I wished it would. For me, I was just stuck. I was stuck in this strange afterlife where everyone else is stuck too. There is nothing after the afterlife. The afterlife is the eternity for the dead. And I was stuck for dead, immortal.

Yet, for a second, and only a second, I thought I felt his lips kiss me back. But, before I could know for sure, he pulled back and a strong disturbance had made him yelp out. His teeth clenched together and eyes shut tight in a sudden and overwhelming pain. After a few seconds, he fell to the floor and laid there, trying to make sense of what had just happened while holding his aching head.

When I turned around to find his attacker, I found Noah and the angel elder had come back. It was then that I noticed, with the elder's hands raised up in Marco's direction that I had discovered he was the one to electrocute Marco. His thin and wrinkly fingers still illuminated with magical, blue volts of light as he dropped his hands down by his sides.

"Stop it! He didn't do anything!" I exclaimed.

"I only stunned him." The elder explained. "He'll be fine. As for you, Princess, you shouldn't give into his temptations. He made you do it. It's what he wants. Don't give him the advantage."

"You're wrong you know?"

A thin and expressionless laugh huffed from his throat. "Wrong about what? A demon?"

"Hey, wait. I-" Before I was given the chance to go on, he stole it.

"We cannot trust what we do not know, Princess. You have to understand that there are great evils in this world that, sometimes, are evil by nature and there is nothing we can do about it."

I felt my fists clench together so tight that I could begin to feel my nails digging into the skin of my palms. "Marco isn't evil." I mumbled.

"How can you be so sure?" He seemed to provoke me. I opened my mouth to answer, but before I could, Noah replied.

"He is a demon. We don't know exactly if-" Immediately, a voice from behind interjected loudly and aggressively.

...

MARCO

• ◇ •

I had risen to my feet quickly and at the sound of his voice, I wanted to tear at his face, scratch out his smiling, smug eyes. I wanted to tug and tear at every limb until he begged for mercy. I wanted to make him sorry for ever coming back. Every demon instinct in my body told me to lunge at him.

"No!" I wailed and lunged towards him, grabbing him through the prison bars and jerking him by the collar of his white undershirt. "You're a liar! You're the demon! You think you can fool me but you can't, Noah! Or should I say... Tom?"

...

STAR

• ☆ •

He looked completely savage, like an animal finally being able to reach and grab their captor from through their imprisoned bars. His fanged teeth bared and his face was clenched with despicable rage, the face of a true demon. His wings were perked up behind him, stretched out as if to threaten his prey, like a peacock.

As for Noah, his mouth hung open in an unexplainable sort of awe mixed with shock.

"Marco," The angel elder warned. He leaned forward as if what he was about to say was importantly emphasized. "Anything you do from this point on can and will be used against you in the court of law so I suggest you choose your next actions with caution."

As I gazed back upon Marco, I found his eyes had shifted. His pupils had shrunk back to their normal size as his grip on Noah had loosened. It was almost like something inside of him had flicked a lever and had turned back on his sense of morality. Then, shame had appeared on his face as he had completely detached his hands and gave Noah one last final jerk backwards as if to jolt him passive aggressively before backing away himself.

Just as Marco did so, Noah fixed himself up, readjusting his black tie and straightening out his button up shirt. After that, he combed through his hair with his hand to repair the shaken strands of hair that had parted away from his head and fallen to his forehead.

Both Marco and Noah stared at each other with matching fixated and hardened glares.

Then, the elder addressed Marco from the other side of the prison's bars. "If you pull another stunt like that, consider yourself forever damned to the Underworld. You hear me?"

Marco was still huffing heavily, in and out, as if his fight took out the air in him. He hadn't looked up at the elder to acknowledge him. He kept a stare on Noah. This agitated the elder angel almost instantly.

"Hey!" It was a stern and hard word, coming out as if it were a word that was punched, yet it had done the job. Marco looked up at the elder now. "At least act like a demon who wants a trial, kid! Got it?"

Marco nodded softly, bowing his head now.

"Good."

...

MARCO

• ◇ •

Maybe I was losing it. Or maybe I was just really exhausted. I couldn't really tell. All I knew was I had had enough for one night and was going to get some sleep.

Before she left, Star looked at me for a heavy moment. I was going to try to explain myself to her right then, but unfortunately, I couldn't find the words. Probably because there was nothing really to say. My mouth hung unhinged for a bit yet all that came out was a fatigued and breathy sigh. And with that, Star gave me a weak, half smile and followed Noah and the angel official up the stairs and to her own room.

The angel official had called on guards that night to my prison to keep me attended to, yet I would be too exhausted and unmotivated to try anything. Instead, I laid down in my bed and tried to make pictures and imaginative stories out of the distorted, old cracks in the ceiling from above me.