Work Text:
“You never asked them about it?”
Steven and Connie were taking their first day off from finding a way to get Lars and the Off Colors back to Earth. The other Crystal Gems were somewhere in South America trying to piece together the wreckage of old ships, but for the moment Steven and Connie could just relax with their feet in the ocean. Steven had been reluctant to open up about the trial; he’d told the gems that there was a trial and that he’d faced both Blue Diamond and Yellow Diamond themselves, but he hadn’t told them about the wave of blue light and that horrible, crushing sense of loss and grief. The words Blue Diamond had screamed at him, “It was a sword! You shattered her with a sword,” still echoed in his mind every time he closed his eyes.
“No, I,” Steven rubbed the back of his head and looked away, “I only found out that mom shattered Pink Diamond when we went to the moon a few months ago and then I got sucked into outer space. Then Dad got kidnapped. Then we all got kidnapped. And we’ve been trying to get Lars back.” Steven just trailed away into silence. He knew Connie was staring at him, so he turned back. She didn’t look angry or frustrated, just sad. Her hand moved across the wooden planks until it rested on Steven’s hand.
“Steven, you’ve been through a lot, maybe more than most humans go through in a lifetime. I understand if you’re not ready, but this is important. You need to know what happened, not just because the Diamonds might come back, but because I can see how much it bothers you.” Connie stood up and hugged herself, shivering as if it wasn’t the middle of summer. “Even before Aquamarine and Topaz took me, you’d stopped looking at your mom’s portrait over the door. You used to smile at it every time you walked out of the temple. And then you left earth.” She choked back a sob.
I'm my mom. I'm Rose Quartz!
Steven?
No. Don't! Steven!
What are you doing?!
“When that door closed, I thought I’d never see you again. We all thought we’d never see you again.” Steven reached for her, but Connie jerked away.
I get it now. I'm the only one who can stop what she started. I can stop all of it!
You're wrong! Steven, get down here!
She wouldn't have wanted this. But I do.
“You changed after Bismuth. I know you did. You just looked defeated.”
I'm gonna kick your butt if you don't come down here right now!
Steven.
No! Don't you dare!
I love you.
No! Stop!
“And you accepted leaving the Earth. I know that you said you were going to try to escape, but I can tell when you’re lying. You,” She had to take a breath before speaking again, “You knew you weren’t coming back.” Connie paused and just let the wind blow across her hair. “I need to go home, but please ask them.” She walked back across the pier into the night, and Steven didn’t attempt to follow. He slumped back down onto the wood, then stared at the stars, which seemed less friendly by the day.
Steven walked back to the temple and sat down, legs crossed, by the warp pad, waiting for the gems to return. Eventually Lion curled up behind him and gently licked his arm, before falling asleep. Soothed by Lion’s constant purr, Steven thought back to the trial and Zircon’s words.
“You don’t know how it happened. There’s a reason they want you to explain how you did it. It’s because it doesn’t make sense!” And it didn’t make sense, although not for the same reason that Zircon thought—Steven wasn’t quite ready to accept the idea that one of the Diamonds shattered Pink after seeing Blue and Yellow Diamond cry twice. Bismuth forged mom’s sword especially so it wouldn’t shatter gems, but Blue had said that it was a sword, and Eyeball had seen Rose’s sword. Steven sighed, snuggled back into the warm pink fur and fell into his first dreamless sleep in days.
The chime of the warp pad woke him as he was bathed in its light. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl stood on the pad in the midst of a heated discussion. “The ships are six thousand years old. I’m amazed they’re still intact. How can we expect them to fly again? I wasn’t an engineer when they were made! I just opened doors! I was barely even constituted!”
“Chill P., it’ll be fine. You got the lights to flicker a few times today.”
“Amethyst is right. This is progress.” Garnet looked liked she was about to say more, before noticing Steven staring at the trio. He didn’t need to say anything; Garnet knew. “Amethyst, Pearl, stop.” It was total silence when Garnet walked over to Steven. She kneeled and dismissed her glasses. Three eyes stared down looking sad. “Steven, are you sure?” Steven just nodded, then buried his head between his knees, and started crying. “Okay, talk to Pearl. Amethyst, come with me. We need to leave Steven and Pearl alone.”
Pearl looked confused until she saw the look in Garnet’s eyes heard Steven. After the other two gems had left the temple, Pearl walked to Peter and ran her fingers through his hair until he stopped crying and looked up. He whispered, “Pearl, Blue Diamond told me that it was a sword, that mom shattered Pink Diamond with a sword.”
“Steven,” Pearl tried to interrupt, but it wasn’t enough.
“But mom’s sword can’t shatter gems. That’s what Bismuth told me. That’s why Bismuth made the breaking point. I stabbed Bismuth with the sword! Which sword did mom use?” Each sentence came out faster than the last until Steven was sobbing again. Pearl wrapped her slender arms around his shoulders until Steven was just quiet. He looked up, haunted.
Pearl’s expression changed from afraid, to sad, and finally to determined. “I need you to come with me.” She held his hand as they walked to the warp pad. The feeling of the warp didn’t bother Steven anymore. It was a sudden force upwards, falling apart in the light, and then you were someplace else. He and Pearl were in Strawberry Fields. He walked with her in silence past the overgrown strawberries, swords, axes, maces, and weapons Steven didn’t even have names for, until they reached the edge of the cliff before the floating islands. “Steven, do you need help here?” She didn’t look at him before she leapt. He knew Pearl had seen his floating powers. He’d grown a lot since the last time. He made it to the top seconds after her. She walked over to the edge and sat down. She was stiff, even more so than when she’d showed the hologram of his mom. Steven approached the edge slowly, but there was nowhere else to go. He sat down and leaned against Pearl.
There was silence for a few minutes. Steven was willing to wait. “It was my sword. My sword shattered Pink Diamond.” Then her hologram unfolded in white and blue light. Pink Diamond drew the curtains of her palanquin aside, and took one step. The steel flew toward her. It hit her gem, and flexed. There was no way it could break the gem. But then there was a second push and the steel straightened. Steven didn’t have the right words for what he saw. There was a terrible light, both brighter and darker than the world. It was everything that Pink Diamond wasn’t. The shards just fell into the hole in reality where Pink Diamond had been. All the nearby gems were screaming, weeping, dying. They wanted to shatter, but couldn’t. Steven scrambled away from Pearl.
“So now you know,” she said not looking back.