Chapter 20: Final Curtain

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So what was the favor Star asked of her family, Marco, and Buff Frog? It was to accompany her to the local Echo Creek cemetery. More specifically, it was to find the grave of Giovanni Hershel Diaz, Marco's late uncle. Strangely enough, Marco did not put the pieces together until they had all arrived at the spot in question and Marco had gotten a good look at the tombstone Star was walking up to. Rafael and Angie were a bit uneasy about this development - at times his death was still raw to them - and Star's parents had no idea what to expect.

Star placed the bouquet of flowers she was holding gently on the ground in front of the tombstone and sat down, preparing herself to speak. "Um...hi, Mr. Diaz." She started, her voice quivering. "M-My name is Star. I'm...I'm your nephew's girlfriend." She spoke very slowly, taking extra time to ensure she articulated properly everything she wanted to say. As for the rest of them, they stood back and let Star speak. "We...We've been together for only a couple of weeks, but...w-well, actually I guess technically we've been together for well over a year now. I mean we didn't start out as dating, but he's been the best friend I've ever had so we might as well have, right?" Sometimes Star did great with speaking. Sometimes she did not. "I'm rambling, where was I? Oh yeah.

"I...I just wanted to come by and say I'm sorry for what happened to you. I...I know about what you went through. I know about your struggles. And I'm so sorry you couldn't beat them. I can't really fathom what it was like to go through what you did for as long as you did." While she was speaking, Rafael & Angie got Marco's attention and silently questioned him, having not realized that he had told her about Giovanni; it was a very tightly kept secretly that nobody outside the family knew about. Then again, given that the circumstances of his death and the circumstances of Star's explosion of rage were so similar, it only made perfect sense for her to know about it.

"Marco...Marco told me all about you. And wherever you are, I hope you know that he loved you very much." Tears started forming in her eyes. She tried to picture in her mind what it would've been like for him to be playing with her the way he played with Marco. She had no doubts that he would've loved her the way he loved his nephew. "I know you were a big part of his life when he was younger, and...I know you would be proud of the man he's grown up into. I know I am." She looked back at Marco, drying a tear and blowing him a kiss, which he immediately returned. She turned back to the tombstone, the tear she wiped away returning quickly. "I know it's probably weird to have someone you've never met talking to you like this, but...I just felt like I had to. See, I kinda went through something like this myself. Actually...I'm still going through it.

"See, I come from this whole other dimension called Mewni. Or at least I did before the whole-you know what, it's not important. Point is...a lot of stuff...happened, and I had to deal with all of it, and I didn't really do a good job of dealing with it. I'm still really not, but I'm getting there. But I had to put up with a lot of stress and responsibility, and when that started to happen...I started to push the people around me away. And that still bothers me. They stuck around for me because they're the most awesome friends that I don't deserve, but...it was relentless, exhausting, a-and one day it just...I just finally snapped and I started wailing on a mirror. You know...like you did."

She paused to compose herself. The physical pain of her glass encounter may have been long gone, but the mental scars were almost as fresh as ever. Eventually she would have to fully confront this side of her. The side of rage, anguish, fury, and resentment...eventually she would have to face all of her demons and either conquer them or let them conquer her. But today was not that day. "I...guess I lucked out, since I'm...still here. But I can't lie, it's n-not been easy. It's not easy to think sometimes that maybe - just maybe - I shouldn't be here. But you know what? Despite all of that, I'm glad I'm still here.

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