Tossing and turning on the uncomfortable lump that never seemed to be soothed, Kathryn fought the idea of sleep for what seemed like ages now. Everyone went home. Star and Marco went to bed. Why couldn't she? Kathryn seemed to sleep the rest of the time why was now any different. Fed up she quickly sat up in her bed with the intent to go down stairs and see what she could gorge her feelings.

"What the-" Kathryn sat up in bed but not in her room. Inky blackness swallowed every last inch of the space around her. Wiping at her eyes like they were just buggy or she had them closed. Nothing cleared. There was absolute nothing around her.

The rubbing alleviated nothing but the persistence of the empty void clung to all over the mewman's senses. Addled if she even knew up from down, the creaking at the lower section of her bed grabbed her attention. Eyes darting down to the obscure noise Kathryn didn't have to squint to see the figure on her bed, "Toffee-"

Lost for words she clambered out of her blankets about to lung onto his broad shoulders when the nip of cold danced up her spine, "....wait....no wait, this-" Kathryn leaned back on her knees fixed on the figure of her septarian partner at the edge of her bed, "You...you died, you-" Her lip quivered. Words came but none of them made him face her, "You left me."

"Rasticore." His voice filled her senses enough to choke her to a stop.

"Wh-what?"

Toffee turned his complacent expression towards the pajama cladded mewman an arms length away, "A bounty hunter? All is well he never worked well in close quarters with any of us."

"Toffee wait what are you even-" Kathryn not caring about seeing an old acquaintance since she had so much to say to the lizard in front of her for the first time in months.

"And that's what you really wanted?" His scaly brow arched up, those yellow eyes boring into her like they saw it all, "To run, run away and never come back?"

"No!" His words spiked tears in the corners of her dreary grey eyes, "No, no I never wanted that! Toffee I came back- I came back to you- I...I wanted you...why would you-"

He reached out and cupped her pale face. Thumb lightly pressed over her lips to silence Kathryn's fretting troubles. Toffee looked her over. Wordless, taking in the mewman in his hand.

All Kathryn could feel was the distant cold touch she regretfully remembered too well, "...you're cold....so, I really have lost it..."

The hand that kept her mouth shut shifted up to her cheek and the two out of the three intact fingers wove themselves into the nap of curls around her ear, "You've done well, my dear."

Dribbles of lukewarm tears didn't cease even as she turned her face into his palm, "...I failed...I didn't want any of this...not without you...now that you're-"

"Dead?" Toffee calmly interjected. His melancholy tone struck a chord and he watched her shoulders tremor with the sob she choked down in her chest. Only turning further into his palm she hid her emotions knowing better but unable to keep them in check. This was her dream after all. Dreams could be anything, even sad.

"I didn't do anything...I failed you...I failed us..." she bit down so hard on her lip fighting the tears that she expected to taste blood.

Forced onto her back, Kathryn had not even a second to react as Toffee pinned her down under his suited body. His yellow eyes fixated on her before she could speak out he wedged himself between her legs and didn't hesitate to hold her arms down above her head. Unable to even process what was happening with the torrent of emotions going on in her, Kathryn arched her chest up with a small gasp as Toffee lowered his face one on one with her own.

"Remember all those times you tried so desperately to beat the scary monster in the woods," the corners of Toffee's maw curled up ever so slightly, "And you never could."

Embarrassed just by the simple fact her cheeks were really heating up after all these years, Kathryn ran her tongue over her dry lips and tried to form a reasonable sentence, "I...you did cut our training times in half, with, other business," she chewed on her bottom lip as Toffee released one of her arms.

Kathryn new better than to make a move at all. Entranced to watch his hand drift down to the waistband of her panties and then drag his index claw right up her stomach, between her breasts and scrap against her throat. Kathryn not even fighting the low moan that piped out from between her lips.

That distance gorging look he wore every time he looked at her, he smile at her old little game of cat and mouse, monster and mewman, "You will take the dimensional shears, come to the forest of certain death."

"The forest of certain-" Kathryn shook her head scowling at his words, "No, I can't. I can't leave earth or else they might-"

Toffee circled his fingers around the side of her neck and laid his thumb on her mouth, "Come find me, little mewman."

Her eyes lit up in an instant, "Find you?! Come find you?! Does that mean you're-"

"The time will come my dear," Toffee firmly pressed his thumb over the dribble out of her mouth. Swallowing the buzz of mixing emotions, most of them positive for the first time in months, Kathryn could't stop the squirming under his intense gaze all she wanted to do was scream and latch onto him.

Toffee let a small smile fall on his scaly lips. Lowering his face down his thumb was replaced with the whispering sensation of his words on her pouty lips, "My plans, never included your failure my dear."

"My cob! Does anything wake you up!?!"

"Uh?" Kathryn groaned and slung her arm over her eyes.

"Wake up!" Star took the pillow out from under her friend's head and swung it like a bat right against the side of her head.

Shouting out in surprise it was not Kathryn's fault when she lurched forward with her elbow and threw Star onto the hard ground with a thud, "Oh my, oh no Star! Star I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Finally!" Unphased by the wallop she'd taken to the ground. Star leapt up to her feet even to Marco's surprise, "I've been trying to wake you for the past hour!"

"It was really only five minutes," Marco rolled his brown eyes to the back of his head at Star's exaggeration.

"Hours!!" Star flailed. She crawled back up onto the bed as Kathryn drug half of her groggy self up to be sat up at least. Rubbing her palms into her tired eyes Star leaned in with the biggest grin on her face, "Guess what day it is??"

"Uh, Sunday?" Kathryn scratched her head and looked to Marco for a clue as to why Star was pouncing on her like a rabid squirrel.

"It's our friendiversary!" Star bolted off the bed towards Marco and fished the little piece of plastic out of his jacket pocket.

"Hey?!" Marco snapped at her violation of personal space, "Star I thought you said that was mine?"

"It is!" She held the purple and blue plastic card adorn with a symbolic eye on one side and a totally unamazing barcode on the other side, "But, this gift card here, is special!"

"Yeah Star it's a gift card," Marco grumbled and snatched the gift from her hands, "Listen Star it's Sunday no one wants to do anything or make a big fuss after last night. Can't we just do it some other weekend?"

"No!" Star jumped to steal the gift card away from him once again, "We can't!"

"We?" Kathryn cocked an eyebrow at her as the mewman slithered out of bed.

"Can't?" Marco echoing the other part of Star's little conviction.

"It expires today!" Star pointed out the tiny little minuscule fine print on the back of the card, "We have to go today!"

Marco sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Star, it's fine. We'll just call and get an extension on it and-"

"You can't!" she shook Marco like he was daft, "These....may or may not...a uh, friends to the end..heh."

"That laugh is never good," Kathryn pointed out as she wandered into the walk in closet not ready to jump right into Star's crazy.

"Star...." Marco narrowed his eyes at his best friend casually making sure not to make eye contact, "What does that-"

"It means if you don't use it today it expires and get something you truly desire then it won't work!" Star laughed loudly over his question.

"Won't work?" Marco inquired.

"Marco just go," Kathryn grumbled from her flurry of clothes in a closet she refused to wear anything but her skull t-shirt and black leggings.

"We have to go!" Star laminated grossly loud as she threw herself onto the unmade bed.

"Why would you get me a gift that expires on the same day!" Marco already hyperventilating at the idea of such a pressure.

"I didn't read the fine print ok!" Star huffed.

"Shocking," Kathryn bantering to herself as she was getting ready for the inevitable day out.

"Marco pleeeeaaassse! Let's just go to Quest Buy! Kathryn's never been!" Star gestured towards the other mewman who wasn't even arguing with her but instead getting ready.

"Just do it Marco," Kathryn laced up her shoes finishing her little clothing routine, "You know Star will get us there anyways."

"Why didn't she get one?!" He pointed an accusing finger at the only other occupant besides Star who wasn't helping Marco weasel out of this escapade at all.

"Oh her," Star glanced over at Kathryn who was all dressed and ready beside her, "Quest Buy won't sell to people serving time. So I made her a friendship bracelet!"

Happy about the simplicity in her friendiversary gift Kathryn showed Marco the cute little bracelet Star had woven for her in a plethora of colors, "I like it."

"Why couldn't I just get a bracelet!?" Marco groaned as she retook the gift card from Star and looked it over. Noticing the little sticker that needed to be removed before use he picked at the little sticky feverishly as he mumbled nothing ness under his breath.

"You got a bracelet for our three month friendiversary! This is our eight month friendiversary! That's different!" Star expounded on what she thought was beyond obvious.

"Got a bracelet, I wanted not to do this," Marco huffed into his shoulder as he folded his arms and pouted.

"Then it's settled!" Star looped her arms up under both her friends arms, "To Quest Buy!"

Quest Buy really was something else. Kathryn gawked until her neck craned so far back she feared the spinal fracture was imminent. When Star bounded out of the dimensional portal at the front of the store and Marco explained it was like a earth mall but bigger. The partially sheltered mewman was not ready for the gargantuas shopping hell before her.

Neck bent up as she followed Marco and Star, Kathryn couldn't take in enough to process the vastness of the multi galaxy retailer, "This is..."

"Welcome to Quest Buy!" Star took the words from her friend's mouth and introduced her pride and joy of self indulgent shopping, "Everything and anything! Galaxies, dimensions, good or evil!" Star twirled into the middle of the infinite section of aisles that lead off past how far the eye could see, "Quest Buy has it all!"

"All and a pain in my butt," Marco added in a grumble as he scratched the nape of his hairline, "Star you know I don't work well on the spot. This gift card is so-"

"So perfect to help you find the perfect gift!" She interrupted as Marco moved to tap what was a preloaded trap sold in bulk but he had no clue of telling that as it nearly snapped his hand off before Star pushed him out of the way, "There's literally everything here!"

Kathryn bringing her eyes down from the neverending ceiling she blinked before scowling at Star in confusion, "But, like, Marco can't even pick a different type of cereal when his mom took us shopping...."

"Exactly!" He waved his arms at the mewman he rarely agreed with yet alone so vehemently, "She gets it! This, this is so much! I- I can't chose! Oh my god I can't chose this is going to expire and then-"

"No no no no!" Star shook her hands in front of his face, "You can't let it expire!"

"Fine!" Marco already past his mental lot for a Sunday grabbed the nearest thing on the shelf which happened to be a salad spinner, "I'll just pick something now, and exchange it later when I can think about what I want."

Kathryn frowned when she watched Star lurch to swat the item out of Marco's hand but something weirder than that happened. The inanimate gift that had lived comfortable in Marco's pocket shot like a rocket out of his coat pocket.

"Error," it spun around and buzzed mid air between the three of them before a body of static light materialized with the gift card as it's 'eye'. Which why wouldn't it shoot a laser out of its eye and force Marco to drop the salad spinner, "Gift card cannot be spent on unauthentic items."

"Star?!" Marco shrieked when his now very alive friendship gift of course turned violent.

Kathryn wiggled her finger at herself and shook her head, "Ok see, now I don't regret growing up in the middle of nowhere without weird mega malls like this."

Of course Star uttered a sheepish laugh and motioned vaguely with her hands, "Heh, friends to the end gift cards may or may not mean you have to spend it only on something you really want."

"Star?!" At least this time it was both Marco and Kathryn to reprimand the idiocy of the incorrectly planned gift.

"What?!" She through her arms up innocently, "I knew Kathryn would love the bracelet! Three month friendiversaries always mean bracelets! But- But eight months, Marco I just really wanted to get you something that you wanted. Not just another thing you didn't care about."

Obviously executed as poorly as it was, the sentiment really was hard to ignore. Marco couldn't even be mad at that, "Alright, fine." He looked up and down the aisle then to both the friends eyeing the static death gift card hovering above them, "We got the rest of the day right."

"There are exactly; eight hours and twenty seven minutes and forty three seconds before expiration."

"Thank you, gift card," Marco appreciated a little unnerved, "So what we just find something I need."

"And if you don't make up your mind like the time at the grocery store?" Kathryn pessimistic at the aspect he could actually do this.

"Termination in eight hours and twenty six minutes and fifty one seconds."

"Oh my god we're going to die," Kathryn groaned as she drug her palms down here cheeks.

"No!" Valiantly Star struck a heroic pose, "We are three best friends!"

"I don't know about best friends," Marco teetered his hand with a look over at Kathryn. Who respectively scowled and socked him in the shoulder at the remark.

"Marco we are here for you," Star gripped his shoulders forcing him to look her straight in the optimistic blue eyes, "We will die to help you make a decision."

"Uh..I don't really want to die..." Kathryn piped up in a dry tone.

"We will die! To find you the perfect friendiversary gift!" Star spun him around so he could face out at the never ending halls, "With friendship!"

Kathryn's head flopped back and she groaned in her throat. Marco not any better he did at least share her desire not to die, "Fine, fine we will do this! We will do this because I talked to Jackie almost all day friday at school and that is going too well to die on this!"

"That's the spirit!" Star pumped her fist up.

"I'll find something I want so I can go to school on Monday and say 'sup' and Jackie and I will have an actual conversation!" Marco getting into his little talk nodded on and on with his words, "Let's find something I want!"

"For friendship!" Star leap into a pose with him.

"So I don't die before I finish my box of poptarts," Kathryn made a pathetic cheer with her hands.

"Let's go!"

They charged off with a little more than eight hours to spare. More than enough time for Marco to find something he deeply wanted. The three of them had time and teamwork on their side.

Wrong.

Eight hours dwindled to four. Which dwindled to two. Every single item Star or Kathryn brought turned down easily by Marco himself. Or shot out of their hands with a singing beam of light from the onipicent gift card who seemed to be more honest than Marco when he would say it was 'ok I guess'. Feet sore. Legs weary. Exhausted to their cores Star and Kathryn were almost on the same page now that the idea of accepting death may come easier than Marco making a decision.

"My cob Marco!" Star exasperated from another trot down an endless aisle for something he just turned down again, "It's one thing Marco!"

"You're the one who bought this gift card!" He flicked frantic eyes at the impending expiration in physical form, "I don't even know what I want anymore! This, this thing keeps telling me otherwise!"

"Expiration in, twenty three minutes and eighteen seconds."

"I'm going to die in a glorified strip mall!" Kathryn at her wits end with the numerous loops, elevators, escalators and shopping to be done in literal hell, "And I don't even know what a strip mall is!"

"It's a mall that's outside!" Marco grabbed at the air around Kathryn like he wanted to choke her now constant whining out of her.

"We're not outside!" Star interjected frantic.

"I'll literally fist fought a dogbull and it wasn't as hard as this!" Kathryn gestured to the killer gift card all brought on by Marco's indecision, "Marco just pick something!"

"Now you say dogbull, is that a bull like a dog or a dog like a bull?" Star side tracking as easily as she did the first eight hours.

"Star! Focus!" Marco railed her back in.

"Right right right," she shook the question out of her system and grabbed Marco's shoulders once more, "Think Dias, think. What is the one thing you want? Want more than anything else!"

His face contorted and mashed into a million different expressions as he worked through the vague thought of what a he himself, a teenage boy with a magic best friend, endless adventures a foot and a criminal living under his roof, what could he want, "...I..I just don't know...I mean I don't need anything."

"Not need Marco!" Kathryn shouted at him, "This is a want! What do you want?!"

"I- I want- I mean my things," Marco panicked looked around like the answer was just hidden in the items on the Quest Buy shelves, "I want to...I want....THAT!! I want that!"

Believe it or not the answer really was on the shelves. Or really an end aisle display. Marco broke away from Star and Kathryn and swarmed over to the very plain display both females had overlooked.

"An infinity lock wallet!!!!!" Marco squealed like a girl at a surprise party. He snatched the midnight blue bill fold from the shelf and looked it over gushing over it's features, "Biometrics?! Magic seal!? No one but me could open it?! This! This is perfect!" Marco made the mistake of glancing back at the buzzing body of gift card that had only spent the last eight hours threatening them. It's eye rolled back and spun fast enough as they waited to see if this really was what they just spent all day looking for.

"Accepted!"

"Oh thank you! Thank you thank you!" All three of them nearing tears causing a scene in the front of the aisle. Enough commotion one of the employees, a begrudgingly bitter sloth, came meandering towards them.

"Are you ready to check out...gah...or am I gonna have to call for a clean up on...gah, aisle six hundred and fifty," the sloth creature motioned up to the gift card counting down ten minutes.

"Yes!" The shrieked and Marco shoved the wallet to the monster.

"Oh....one of these," the sloth took it and looked it over to point out the back of it, "Missing a barcode. I can't sell this."

"No! No that can't be true!" Marco fighting tears grabbed the sloth's polo shirt and pleaded with him, "There has to be more! More in the back?! In the store!? This is Quest Buy you guys have everything!"

"Gah, tsk, gah ok," itching the fur between it's eyes the sloth slowly articulated even as the literal clock ticked away, "There might be some in the back...."

"Yes!"

"But then again, those might be on aisle twenty three..." the sloth's words broke their spirits absolutely sure they couldn't make it to the back of the store AND check the other aisle before the gift card zapped them all.

"I am not dying today!" Kathryn righteously stepped up and looked at both Star and Marco, "Go with the stupid sloth-"

"Hey, I'm right here you know."

"I will run to the other aisle and check! Meet at the back and buy the damn wallet!" Kathryn hysterical sprinted down towards the end of the store they'd already been. Marco and Star doing their part to hurry.

Searching the poorly marked aisle of the grand money pit of a store wasn't too hard for the ex militant mewman to find the exact number twenty three. What was hard was when Kathryn sprinted up the aisle fraught doe some semblance of the dumb wallet Marco had picked out. End displays. Between products. Shoved like maybe another shopper had picked one of the wallets up and crammed it out of place because they didn't want it. There was nothing.

"No-" Kathryn whipped around when she realized she reached the end of the seemingly endless artery of this damned store, "No there has to be one- One stupid wallet anywhere!?" She began tearing into the products on the shelves like there was no way that sloth was wrong, "Wallet- Wallet- Stupid wallet you'd better be-"

"Ahhhhh!"

"Star?!" She recognized that shrill scream out of thrum of pointless mall music anywhere. Filled with rage for not being able to find the pointless item the human boy wanted, Kathryn gritted through her teeth that if the wallet was here and she left then she doomed them all. But if that stupid bill fold wasn't in the aisle and she stayed to look for it, Star could be in danger.

"Argh- You stupid dummies!" Mind made up Kathryn couldn't spend a second longer in the aisle. She'd rip that forsaken gift card apart with her hands just to keep the mewni princess safe to repay her debt to her.

Feet pounding against the linoleum flooring Kathryn pushed her already sore muscles to carry her three times faster than they had before. Without an actual clock to tell when those last few minutes would really be up, her anxiety ticked in her head counting down the fact she was going to fail again at protecting the people she cared about. Guessing best she could where she'd seen the two of them follow the employee. Kathryn had no idea where or what the lay out of the 'back' of Quest Buy would be but she bobbed and weaved through enough aisles when she scrambled into the messy surprise of what caused the scream.

"Rasticore?!"

Broad shrouded shoulders of the setarian all her view was privileged too. Kathryn did not forsee turning the corner to see his giant body standing, back to the door, hole in the ceiling and pile of rubble under his boots. Chainsaw raised above his head it was Star's scream she had heard for sure.

"Huh- What the-" Rasticore yanked from concentration on his targets only turned his head getting the glimpse of the old familiar face, "Tiny one- ARGH!!"

"Your time is up." Igniting the pile of ceiling rubble with static white energy Rasticore wasn't left for half of a blink as the gift card vaporized him into nothing right before all the eyes of everyone.

Not a chance for anyone to even process what had happened with the flash of light, The onipicent gift card in all it's raw energy form floated over the dust of what was a monster moments before. "Prepare to be friends to the end. Thank you for shopping at Quest Buy, and good by-"

"Found one," lackadaisical it was more than a victory for the other three when the sloth employee pulled out the identical bill fold, "Oh, wait. This one is plum not midnight-"

"We'll take it!" Marco and Star lashed out all at once.

And that was that. The slot yanked the murderous gift card out of it's limbo, swiped it through his scanner, bagged the wallet to hand over to Marco and proceeded to run the gift card through a shredded that had no issue tearing up the single form of death they all thought was unkillable.

"Thank you...ugh, for shopping at tsk Quest Buy, ugh come again," their sloth cashier too lazy to even wave his hand only grumbling and wandering back towards storage, "Ugh, clean up on, aisle whatever."

Star and Marco out of the hot water joined in a good laugh about the hair splitting timing. When Kathryn wasn't heard joining it was Star who stopped to see what was wrong, "Kathryn...?" Her blue eyes fell on the other mewman staring at the dirtied mark in the ground where the giant lizard had been standing. Star tried to make eye contact but her eyes were glued on the spot where they'd been standing, "Hey-"

Jerking back to the present Kathryn looked like shell shock had taken a good swing in her direction. When those big pupils refocused and her grey eyes squinted at the princess looking on at her. Kathryn scrambled to find the words to distance herself from the clearly strange reaction she'd surely have to explain, "Oh I uh no it's-"

"Hey," Star stopped her, "Let's go home and have some friendship pizza to finish up today. How's that sound?"

At ease when Star's word sunk in and the forgiveness that she wasn't demanding an explanation gave Kathryn a chance to let the breathe held in go. The older mewman female looked at her then to Marco who was engulfed in setting up his new personalized security wallet, "Yeah....that sounds good."