Dreams Come True

Aeon Star

When we all stepped onto Mewman grounds, I found that we were on a cliff that was overlooking the whole kingdom. Butterfly Castle stood strong in the centre of the town, the sounds of an active population hitting my ears. One thing was clearly apparent...

"I was expecting it to be..." Majima said slowly. "More on fire..."

"I guess Galacta just isn't here yet?" Steve suggested.

"Or he just set that up to trick us." Jenny said. "He's either off attacking somewhere else, or did this so he can plan something else."

Star just watched her home over silently, the wind blowing her hair like a flag. Me and Marco shared looks, and then walked to either side of her. Marco put a hand on her shoulder, while I just looked over the kingdom with the princess.

"I'm sorry I caused this, Star..." I said sadly. Star and Marco looked at me with sad looks.

"Caleb, this isn't your fault." Marco said carefully.

"I know... I just can't help that I'm still partially responsible." I looked to the side and kicked a pebble off the cliff. "If I just recognized Galacta's crystal sooner, then we wouldn't be in this mess..."

Star suddenly hugged me close, but I didn't reciprocate. "Caleb-Cat, it's cool. None of this is your fault. You've been such an amazing friend for me and Marco, and I can't be happier."

I felt my whole world come to a screeching halt when Star called me that. Caleb-Cat. I hadn't been called that since... since forever ago. I didn't scream, however. I didn't rage, I didn't cry, I didn't laugh. I just simply turned around and hugged back.

"We'll figure this out." She let me go, and she and Marco both smiled brightly at me. "We just gotta stick together."

I smiled at the two of them, then looked at the others. They were all smiling at me, and I saw Gladius give off a nod. My smile grew, and I looked back to the magical princess. "You're right." I said. "We came this far. Some puffy knight isn't gonna stop us anytime soon."

"YEAH!" Everyone cheered.

"So, what's the plan?" Majima said as he adjusted his gloves.

"Let's get back to my place", Marco said. "We don't know where Galacta is, so we can use this as a chance to get prepared."

"Good call, Diaz!" Star said while shooting her friend a finger gun. She pulled out her scissors, twirled them around dangerously, then cut open another rift. We all followed after her and stepped back into her room. Marco quickly left so he could check up on his parents; Jenny, Ralph, Steve and Majima left so they could make up a plan; Hilda, Vanellope, Alfur, Twig and Gladius all left to relax after the stressful day. That left me and Star alone in the princess' room. Said princess let out a shaky breath and walked over to the edge of her balcony. I carefully walked over to her side, and I was quick to notice how... unusually quiet.

"Hey, Star..." I began slowly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah..." She said, "Just thinking. I guess seeing Galacta Knight in action made me realise how... how small I am."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Galacta isn't like anything I've seen", she continued. "It just makes me see that... I'm me, in not just a massive universe, but a whole multiverse with people stronger than even my family. It makes me feel so small..."

I looked at her quietly, taking in what she said, then looked forward to the city. "I get what you mean..."

Star looked at me in confusion. "You do?"

I sighed. "Yep. Whenever I would leave my safe space at home, I'd always feel so small, just enough that people could walk over me because they were smarter, stronger, more creative, whatever..." I looked down at my hands. "I would watch cartoons, play video games and read so I could escape that. You, Ralph, Jenny, and many others became my heroes because you could do all these impossible lives with amazing friends, crazy powers, and fantastic worlds. You all had the sort of life... I longed for..." I fell silent as nothing but the sound of the breeze flowing through the trees and passing cars echoed in my mind. Star looked at me with a shocked face, then slowly brought me into a one arm hug. I leaned into her, accepting the embrace. We stayed like that for a few minutes.