Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

With all the recent happenings and revelations on Homeworld (Hiatus-wise and to gems anyway), gossip at the Human Zoo was at an all-time high. All were wondering when they’d get some more screen time again; or perhaps more appropriately, what to do with the Zoomans…

However, the gossip soon faded as their attentions turned towards more interesting things like hanging out, pranking Holly, watching and chatting with the Zoomans, challenging each other, or just about anything to distract from their ‘isolation’ without bringing up too much…

“Ahem,” Holly Blue announced as she addressed the Famethyst, “So, fellow Quartzes, how are you doing on this fine day?”

“Pretty great Hols,” Chip replied, “Especially with these new HOURS! We’ve NEVER felt better!”

“Well that’s just fantastic! I was starting to think you’d all gotten cabin fever by now from this silly Hiatus.”

“Nah, can’t strike us down that easily,” Carnelian commented, “Say Holly, this isn’t just a check-up is it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… let’s just say you ain’t fooling us,” Skinny clarified, “We’ve been here for like 6000 years, and we can tell something’s up.”

Holly was sweating up a storm, she had to do it now or the moment would be ruined – she’d never want that, even if her interactions haven’t been the best before...

“SURPRISE!” Holly exclaimed as she moved aside, gesturing with her arms for attention.

All the Famethysts did a double take as they registered just whom Holly was hiding, a few even blinking twice. Gems rarely had to blink, but when they did…

“8XM!”

“BUFFY!”

“I can’t believe my EYES!”

“Yup, that’s us!” Amethyst replied as the fam continued shouting greetings; Jasper just standing there taking everything in, “I know it’s pretty unbelievable, but that’s Steven for ya.”

“You’re OK!” One of the curlier haired Amethysts shouted.

“Love the new outfit sis!”

“Well thanks, can’t be seen walking around in last Era’s fashion now can we?” Amethyst joked as she gave Holly a nudge, “So, have you been nice Holly? Or do we have to whip your butt some more?”

“Ye-s, ev-eryth-ing is g-ood,” Holly stammered while she looked at Amethyst, then up at a smirking Jasper. ‘Figures…’

“So sis, whatcha think? Pretty cool right?”

“It’s… they… there’s… SO MANY OF THEM! I never thought…”

“Say it…”

“IT’S WONDERFUL! Come here!” Jasper exclaimed as she ran headfirst into the Famethyst, arms open – with maybe just a few tears in her eyes.

“Jas, you’re worse than Pearl!” Amethyst said as she walked closer.

“Shut up and join or I’ll make you ‘runt’.”

“Fine, HOTHEAD!”

Holly watched on as everyone entwined together in an embrace, exchanging playful punches and such. Jasper was especially animated as her smile only grew with each passing moment; not even bothering to ‘get’ Amethyst ‘back’ and instead just enjoying the moment.

“It’s been so long…”

“Darn right,” One of the Jaspers quipped, “What happened to you?”

“Became obsessed with ‘avenging’ Pink/’destroying’ Rose, got scoped up by Yellow, came back to Earth and thought Steven was Rose, became corrupted, got healed by dunking in a pool with all the diamonds’ essences, accepted Steven as his own person, found out about the whole thing, blah, blah, you know…”

“That’s one way to put it,” Jasper sighed, “Without actually watching the WHOLE show! You can’t just sum everything up like that…”

“It’s not like they have cable, right?”

“Probably not,” Jasper shrugged, “It’s been a rollercoaster; but I’m glad we’re here.”

“Me too, me too.”

They all stayed like that for the next few minutes, until…

“Oh crap! I totally forgot the most important thing!”

“Amethyst, language!” Jasper said in her best Pearl voice, “I’m going to have to wash your mouth out with soap if you keep this up.”

“Jokes on you Pearl, I’d probably enjoy it.”

“Hmph!” Jasper huffed and crossed her arms, imitating the pale gem as Amethyst and her Fam laughed.

“Phew, so I’m not the only one who finds her annoying,” Holly commented, trying to connect.

“Eh, just wait till you see my room.”

“I’ll decline, I’ve seen enough with these Amethysts; I can imagine what 5000 years and a whole Earth of stuff means...”

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“Some of you were at the Era 3 ball right?” Amethyst asked, “’cuz they HAD to be you!”

“Yeah, Blue picked up a few of us, but told us to stay quiet,”

“Sorry for not saying hi, it’d be hard to explain…”

“All G,” Amethyst chirped as she pulled out her phone.

“So the diamonds thought Steven was Pink because he had her gem,”

“And he threw the ball because he wanted to have fun partying and change the diamonds’ minds?”

“That was the idea… BUT HEY it all turned out fine in the end!” Amethyst backtracked, “So, remember how he…”

“How could we forget? This was the first ball in like FOREVER! Steven was all upset sitting on the throne, until his friend…”

“Connie, her name’s Connie.”

“…Connie asked him to dance with her and led him to the dance floor.”

“They danced and spun round each other, not a care in the world, getting happier by the moment… and then there was a bright Pink glow as they fused into…”

“Stevonnie – that’s their name by the way –, I named them! Aren’t they awesome? I mean you only got to see them for a bit, but you know...”

“They’re AMAZING!”

“Breathtaking,”

“Gorgeous and stunning beyond words,”

“Good job naming ‘em by the way, LOVE IT!” 8XL complimented, ruffling Amethyst’s hair.

“Shame about the diamonds though, even if their reactions were pretty wild…” Another said.

“AANYway,” Amethyst continued, “That was Stevonnie, Garnet, Opal, and that Jade fusion we inspired. They’re probably fine… So Steven and Connie basically saved us and helped the diamonds work things out!”

Jasper gently nudged Amethyst to remind her.

“Oh right,” Amethyst said, “On top of that, it turns out the diamonds really LOVE STEVONNIE! CHECK THIS OUT!”

Everyone crowded around Amethyst as they observed the picture on the device.

“Is that… the Diamonds and Stevonnie?” Holly Blue asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

“Who else would they be?”

“Well Jasper, it’s just that…”

“They’re all so cute and adorable,”

“And look at their outfits! It’s all themed!”

“How’d you get this by the way?”

“Peri installed a few cameras...” Amethyst casually replied.

“That would be Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG,” Jasper clarified, with a few Quartzes nodding in response (who didn’t know about her by now?).

Amethyst continued swiping through the photos as the Famethyst oohed and aahed, Holly and Jasper joining in occasionally.

“Just look at their SMILES!”

“Look at them! So peaceful and happy.”

“I could just look at this all day.”

“Who knew they could look so CUTE!” Holly blurted on one particular photo.

“I never got to see much of Pink, but seeing them so happy like this… makes me feel…”

“Gooey inside,” Skinny concluded as she hugged Jasper harder, “It’s okay sis, we’re all Quartzes here; don’t be afraid to be yourself.”

“I love you all so MUCH,” Jasper ‘almost’ cried, “You’re all the best!”

“Now I feel terrible about how I treated Steven and Greg. If only I knew…”

“Don’t feel bad about it,” Amethyst reassured, dragging Holly into the pile, “You’re a Quartz too right?”

“Yeah, I am… so?”

“That means we’re all family,” 8XG said.

“Thanks,” Holly replied with tears in her eyes.

“They’ve probably forgiven you already,”

“Yeah, Greg probably made a song about living in a zoo by now.”

“Don’t remind me…”

Suddenly, their viewing/cuddle party was interrupted when the door opened, Jasper and Holly stepping back reflexively. Amethyst immediately put her phone away, hiding the ‘evidence’ before the ‘intruder’ could notice.

“Hey guys, whatcha doing?” Stevonnie asked as they stood in the doorway.

“Um, Hi!” Holly waved. ‘Stupid Agate, that isn’t how you…’

“Oh hey Holly Blue,” Stevonnie greeted, “Ooh, Jasper and Famethysts.”

“Sup Stevonnie,”

“Nothing much, just thought I’d explore a bit you know; visit a few places…”

“You look fantastic!”

“Aw thanks,” they blushed, “You guys look wonderful too. I hope you’re all doing alright…”

“Thanks to you, we’ve never been BETTER!”

“That’s GREAT!” Stevonnie cheered as they hugged the Famethyst, “You’re all so soft…”

“And you’re so squishy, yet comforting and reassuring, but I LOVE IT!”

“This feels SO great! I can’t remember the last time…”

Holly watched on as Stevonnie and the Famethysts exchanged compliments and hugs like old friends. There were many quartzes, but somehow Stevonnie managed to include every one of them. Seeing their smiling faces, she couldn’t help but join.

“Stevonnie, about…”

“It’s ok,” they reassured as Holly joined in.

“OHMYSTARSIAMTOUCHINGADIAMOND!” Holly squealed as she made contact.

“Hybrid-Fusion, but close enough.” Stevonnie ‘corrected’ as they nuzzled into the agate’s neck, “… mmm… so nice…”

“Jasper, you’re missing out!”

“Right…” The orange gem sighed as she awkwardly joined in. ‘I’ll work this out later.’

Although she could tell her sisters were really happy about Stevonnie being here, Jasper’s feelings were much more conflicted. Nonetheless, she still enjoyed every second of the shared embrace.

“I never thought I could get any more smothered, but here we are!” Stevonnie mumbled deep within (but still not enough for suffocation of course).

### Some minutes later… ###

 “Well I’ll see you all later,” Stevonnie waved.

“Bye Stevonnie! Say hi to Greg for us!”

“Will do, want a lift?”

“No, I think we’ll stay,” Jasper replied.

“… at least for a bit; we’ve got a LOT of catching up to do!” Amethyst finished, turning back towards the fam.

“I guess I’ll tell Pearl then…” Stevonnie said to themselves as they made their leave.

For the rest of the day (more like the next 18 hours), Amethyst, Jasper, the Famethyst – as well as Holly Blue –, all snuggled together in a pile, just catching up, chatting about things, and snoozing/sleeping. It was a pleasing experience for them all, and afterwards Jasper felt more invigorated than ever.

Chapter Text

Spending time at the Zoo with her family was just what Jasper needed after everything that’s happened. Although her choices had left her with permanent scars, the love and support of the fam really helped her come to terms with things. Amethyst had played a big part in getting her to feel more confident, and seeing so many Betas alive and well was just the cherry on top.

However, there was still one thing left to do…

Walking along the beach, Jasper could see Stevonnie standing on the beach, just admiring the calm ocean waves. They looked so majestic and magical, seemingly floating on the sand and barely leaving a dent. Jasper thought she was close to her diamond, but apparently, that was all an illusion – Pink was never her ‘real’ diamond, Rose was. She had made mistakes before and missed the chance to fix things, but this was different. She finally understood her diamond; she could be part of her vision and ‘legacy’ – even if she herself was no longer… She will build a glorious future together – from the ruins of old…

“Oh hey Jasper,” Stevonnie greeted as they turned around, “How was the zoo?”

“It was… really nice,” Jasper replied as she struggled to hold back her emotions, “You should’ve seen Holly’s face…”

“I know you didn’t come up to me to talk about that,” Stevonnie sighed, “I’m sorry if you didn’t… at the zoo…”

“No, that was… fine… “ Jasper took deep breaths as she collected her thoughts, “I have something I need to say…”

“It’s totally fine Jasper,” They reassured, “Whatever you have to say, I promise I won’t mind.”

Hearing this, Jasper let everything go as hot tears streamed down her face. They really were wonderful, and she couldn’t be more thankful.

“I’m sorry My Diamond,” Jasper cried as she subconsciously hugged Stevonnie, ”Everything I ever did… I’m sorry Pink… for never… seeing how much pain… never understanding…”

Stevonnie was a little confused, but they comforted the blubbering quartz anyway – sometimes you just have to let it all out.

“I’m sorry Rose, if only I knew… No, I should’ve known. I-… I’m sorry for all the times I… And I’m sorry, Steven; sorry for thinking you were your mother. Rose wasn’t perfect, but you always try so hard to be better… even when I…”

“Hey…” Stevonnie rubbed the quartz’s back soothingly, “It wasn’t that bad… I-Steven used to almost die every other episode or so… so yeah…”

“Doesn’t make me feel any less guilty… to know that I almost… I’M SO SORRY CONNIE! I almost took Steven away from you, how I treated you and Steven so terribly, yet you’re still here giving me a chance… I’m sorry Stevonnie. You’re a wonderful fusion and I never should’ve made you feel like that… It makes me feel so terrible knowing…”

Stevonnie hugged Jasper in reassurance, connecting with her via their aura. It wasn’t something either had intended, but felt right nonetheless. Inside, Stevonnie could see her lingering butterflies clear as day…

“You did what you thought was right – just like mom…”

“It must’ve been hard… I can’t even imagine…”

“It was…”

“It’s just so… messed up…”

“Shh… It’s okay Jasper… it’s all in the past now…”

“No hard feelings?”

“No hard feelings… We’re family Jasper, and we’ll help you no matter what.”

“In that case, I promise I’ll never stop trying. You’re the best, Stevonnie!”

“Oh you…” Stevonnie blushed as they kissed the orange gem, “There, all better!”

“All better…” Jasper exhaled as she let Stevonnie cradle them.

As Jasper listened to the gentle waves in Stevonnie’s arms, all her worries melted away. It was something she had yarned for back in the day, but could never admit to or get because of the authority. She is gone, but they are still here…

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“You know Stevonnie,” Jasper said as Stevonnie sat in her lap, “I’ve never told you how beautiful and amazing your features are; the way your components combine into someone so… gorgeous – I mean Steven and Connie are both cu…”

“I know, I know…” Stevonnie beamed, “We’re all the BEST!”

“Yep,” Jasper replied as she held Stevonnie, “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened, and stars be damned if I let you get hurt.”

“I can handle myself, I’m a diamond!” They ‘protested’.

“Sure…” She replied as she kissed Stevonnie, causing both to giggle.

They spent more time just hugging it out, getting to know each other better, or just discussing recent events… Some were hard to get through, but others proved hilarious in hindsight – especially the pebbles’ antics and being stuck in Blue’s ‘pool’…

Although not many humans were privy to what had happened on Homeworld (except most of Beach City), Kevin was especially keen on getting the ‘lowdown’. With his connections, he easily obtained the relevant streams and articles relating to the events of ‘Diamond Days’. What he ‘uncovered’ only made him admire a certain someone more…

Stevonnie and Jasper were still hugging it out when Kevin approached them. They quickly broke away, looking at him mildly confused. Although he had lost his usual rude attitude, his current awed expression just meant neither were comfortable…

“OMG STEVONNIE!” He squealed as he ran towards the fusion and hugged them.

“Hey, Kevin…”

“What you did on Homeworld WAS AMAZING!”

“I’m… not even gonna ask…” Stevonnie replied and mentally sighed.

Kevin spent a few more moments just jabbering incoherently as he hugged Stevonnie. His thoughts seemed to be all over the place, but since they were all positive, Stevonnie supposed that’s a good thing… ‘Better this Kevin than the ‘old’ Kevin, I guess…’ They thought, shrugging.

“Stevonnie you’re sooo fabulous and gorgeous… I HAVE TO take a photo with you!”

“Um, thanks Kevin…” They replied, blushing a little.

“CAN I TAKE A PHOTO WITH YOU STEVONNIE, PRETTY PLEASE?” He asked, jumping up and down.

“Is he… bothering you?” Jasper quizzed as she picked him up.

Even being on the verge of possibly being crushed by this gem, Kevin’s excitement did not falter.

“So, you’ve got a bodyguard aye? I get it…”

“Listen,” Jasper whispered into his ear, “Don’t try anything funny alright?”

Still determined, Kevin smiled at Stevonnie as they smiled back (despite it all).

“No… He’s fine Jasper… Put him down, gently.”

“SWEET!” He exclaimed, running back and hugging them once more…

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Stevonnie smiled along as Kevin posed and took photos with them, smiling and grinning the whole time. Surprisingly, never once did he bring up anything about that; instead, he was all compliments and admiration – seemly either unaware of their mild ‘discomfort’, or was just too engrossed and captivated to care…

Jasper watched with renewed interest as she recalled everything that she heard about Kevin. If she didn’t know better, she’d say Stevonnie was actually friends with him…

“THANKS STEVONNIE!” Kevin cheered once he finished taking photos, “You’re the BEST!”

‘Well, he seems nice… I dunno… Stevonnie should give him a chance, we shouldn’t judge… I guess you’re right…’

“See you later Stevonnie,” He said as he gave them one ‘last’ hug, nuzzling their torso…

“Kevin…” They whispered, half-giggling as he broke away.

“Nothing… BYE STEVONNIE!” He replied as he ran away blushing.

“Bye Kevin!” Stevonnie waved and grinned, “Have a nice day!”

“YOU TOO!”

“So…” Jasper began.

Stevonnie sighed and replied, “It just feels rude to say no, but We-I just feel kinda awkward around him…”

“Makes sense…” She replied in understanding, “Want to go get some donuts? And maybe get your mind off you know…”

“Donuts?” They beamed, jumping up and down, “Oh BOY DO I… YES!”

“Let’s go then kid,” Jasper replied, smiling happily.

Although the day had some interesting developments, all that was on their minds were donuts by the time they had made their way inside the Big Donut. Jasper hadn’t thought the flavours could ever be so interesting, but now she truly understands.

Chapter Text

After clearing everything up, it was very clear that some gems definitely deserved a break – innocent gems who became involved with Steven and ‘punished’ because of it. They were obviously still welcome on Homeworld; however, the Diamonds could also tell that there was unfinished business. Catching the rubies up could take a while, and Aquamarine would never go under suggestion – she’d have to decide for herself –, however…

“I STILL CAN’T believe I’m right!” Blue Zircon exclaimed as she paced aboard the Roaming Eye.

“Not completely…” Her Yellow counterpart interjected, “Her own Pearl, Onion, another Diamond or gem even, but you had to admit, never could you have thought Rose and Pink were one and the same.”

“And faked the whole thing herself with the help of her Pearl?” Blue Zircon replied, “Wasn’t even on my mind. That said… how the other Diamonds treated her did also play a part… so in a way I am still right!”

“Fine, you WIN! You saved Steven and unknowingly toppled the first domino, you’re the best and luckiest Zircon ever, you happy?”

“You should try to be more positive, you almost got Steven killed, but he’ll probably still forgive you anyway.”

“You’re right…” Yellow Zircon replied as she held Blue’s hand, “Things happen, but we should be glad at least this author didn’t forget about us.”

“Are we there yet?” Lime (Yellow-Green) Jade asked, “I just can’t wait to see what Pink had fallen so in love with!”

“Jade, we’re taking the scenic route…” Mint replied, looking at the console, “It’ll be a few hours.”

“I don’t think we would’ve had the courage to fuse at the ball,” Blue Zircon admitted, “If they’d even invite lawyers to parties.”

“Who says we can’t be fun?” Yellow smirked and raised her eyebrows.

“You two tried to read the whole user manual before we left! That would’ve added DAYS to our trip!”

“Which is why we aren’t driving…”

“Exactly!” The Jades replied in unison, “If we tried to follow EVERY rule in EVERY sector…”

“We’d never get there…” Everyone replied as they shared a laugh together.

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They decided to take a brief detour to the Jungle Moon before resuming their journey towards Earth. After all, it carried significance for both Pink Diamond and Stevonnie. They didn’t stay long, seeing as the state of the colony wasn’t entirely uplifting…

After that, getting to Earth was mostly straightforward, save for visiting some ‘landmarks’.

“This is Voyager 1,” Mint announced, “The furthest object than humans have sent from Earth; launched in 1977, it has provided invaluable scientific data for decades, and carries with it the Golden Record – an audio-visual record and time-capsule for humanity and any aliens who may come across it…”

“Fascinating…” Blue said as she and the others studied the seemingly unassuming craft.

“What are we waiting for Jade? Play it!” Lime interrupted.

Mint Jade fiddled with a few controls before pressing a big red button.

“Scanning Contents…” An automatic voice said, “Scan Complete… Decoding and Playing…”

“Greetings, we cast this message into the cosmos in the hopes…”

The gems listened intently as the record played and images appeared on their screen, the voice of Morgan Freeman filling them with a sense of wonder and respect.

“…Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, some – perhaps many – may have inhabited planets and space faring civilizations…”

“…This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts, and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours. We hope someday, having solved the problems we face, to join a community of galactic civilizations. This record represents our hope and our determination and our goodwill in a vast and awesome universe.”

“Amazing…” Lime gasped, “And it’s in full colour too!”

“Yeah…” Yellow quipped, “Somehow holograms are actually a step backwards in terms of colour reproduction…”

“Anyway… Here we have Pluto; discovered in 1930, the not a planet Planet – some still argue about it to this day…” Mint continued as she jumped from planet to planet, “Neptune – Jasper was never here –, Uranus… don’t ask…, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Venus!”

“AND EARTH!” Lime beamed once the blue marble came into view, “It’s so… COLOURFUL!”

“It looks so… alive,” Blue whispered as she stared outside the window.

“You bet! All right, hold on… I’ve been told re-entry can be a bit tricky…”

“Have you actually piloted a ship before?” Yellow Zircon asked.

“You’re really asking NOW?!”

“We’ll be fine…”

As Mint prepared the decent, everyone bar Lime was hanging on for dear life; for all they had between them, what they lacked was an actual pilot…

(It wasn’t an oversight on the part of the Diamonds or a plot to incapacitate them, they just couldn’t spare any other gems with all the work needed back on Homeworld…)

Down below on the beach, Steven and Connie watched on in amusement as the ship descended through the atmosphere, twisting and turning like a thrown dice.

“It’s… very green,” Connie commented, “Did Peridot ever tell you anything about exterior colours?”

Steven shrugged, “Connie, I’d be lying if I said I knew… but it’d make good camouflage!”

“In a neon green forest, maybe… Almost looks like they have their flares on…”

“JADE! WHY DID YOU TURN THE FLARES ON?!”

“Well Zircon, I thought it’d be a good idea to let people know!”

“You do know this is LITERALLY a UFO!”

“We haven’t been stopped yet, so we’ll be fine… OH LOOK, there they are!”

“Just land it already!”

“Sure thing!”

As soon as the ship landed and the engines were off, everyone disembarked. The sensation of sand was a foreign one, but it only made the moment more special.

“Zircon! And Jades!” The kids greeted, “It’s great to see you! You’re all ok!”

“Well I don’t like to brag…” Blue Zircon smiled, “But yeah, we lived!”

“I think proper introductions are in order,” Yellow smiled, “It seems we didn’t get off to the best start…”

“It’s really alright, you were just doing your job…” Steven reassured, extending his hand, “My name is Steven Quartz Universe, son of Greg Universe and Rose Quartz.”

Blue and Yellow stared at his hand for a moment before shaking it, “Glad to finally meet you Steven. Just call us Blue and Yellow Zircon.”

Connie smiled and approached Blue, whispering into her ear, “Thanks for saving my biscuit, by the way.”

“You’re welcome!”

“Connie,” The girl beamed as they shook hands.

“I’m Mint!”

“And you can call me Lime!” The jade beamed.

“Thanks for sticking up for us at the ball by the way, it means a lot.”

“It’s nothing really,” They blushed, “We just couldn’t stand love being oppressed like that…”

Steven and Connie blushed in response as the gems shared a giggle.

“You two are really great together you know,” The jades said in unison, the kids only blushing harder in response.

“Thanks…”

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“So that’s how you two…” Steven said with stars in his eyes.

“YEP!” Mint and Lime replied.

“That’s so beautiful!” Connie finished, equally awed.

“You must’ve been really surprised at the ball…”

“Yeah, but it was just so beautiful!”

“It is,” Steven and Connie finished, hearing a slight shuffling in the distance.

“What…” Yellow began, turning around only to find…

“STEVEN!”

“CONNIE!”

“PEBBLES!” They exclaimed in unison.

“We snuck on board once we found out,” The pebble who sounded like Steven started.

“Couldn’t miss the chance, right?”

“So that’s how Pink passed her time…”

“Yeah… It’s kinda sad,” Steven replied, “But look, they’re so CUTE!”

“Come here you!” Connie and a few pebbles squeed simultaneously.

The Zircons and Jades couldn’t believe themselves as the Pebbles ‘swarmed’ them, hugging them and clearly overeager to have fun.

“Just look at them Jade, they’re SO TINY!” Lime squeed, kissing and hugging them.

“And we’re still nowhere near as big as old Pink or the other Diamonds, gosh…”

“I think the beetles are about the same size…” Connie added.

“We’re not sure what type of gems they are but… yeah, about the same size.”

The Zircons raked through their memories as they tried to figure out what they were referring to, moments later, it finally clicked.

“Oh right, them!”

“Hey there!” Blue greeted a Pebble.

“Hey! Thanks for being such a great lawyer!”

“It’s all… part of my job,” She replied proudly as the shenanigans continued.

Being on sand, the Pebbles really couldn’t build anything solid, however, that didn’t stop them having fun. Steven, Connie, and the Jades took turns building sandcastles for the little gems as they pretended to be part of a tiny kingdom.

“Watch out! It’s the evil giant Zircon!”

“I’ve got you now!” Yellow exclaimed, juggling them as they giggled.

“Yellow, what did I tell you about…”

“HURRAY! It’s the good Zircon, we’re saved!”

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“That was fun!”

“It was Pebbles,” Steven and Connie nodded.

“So now that we’re properly introduced…”

“Mmm,” The Jades and the kids nodded in response, embracing and twirling round each other as they began their respective fusion dances.

As the Pink and Lime glows intensified, both the Zircons were speechless at just beautiful it was – Fusion, the fusion of souls and bodies… Even as the glow reached its apex, they could tell their smiles were still growing, each becoming their own amazing and wonderful experience. Maybe they could even try themselves one day… although… the banter…

“Oh my GOSH | STARS!” They exclaimed simultaneously as they saw the other, “Just look at you! You’re so CUTE | ADORABLE…”

“Stevonnie,” “Lemon Jade,” They offered, shaking hands, “It’s SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!”

“STEVONNIE!” The pebbles jumped up, hugging them.

“Hey guys!” Stevonnie beamed, kissing every single one of them, “I missed you so much!”

“We missed you too!”

“I love you!”

“Aww… love you too!” They replied, hugging the pebbles more.

“So… Stevonnie, right?”

“YEP!” They beamed as they shook the Zircon’s hands.

The Zircons took a moment to look them up and down, and smiled once their focus was back on their smiling face.

“Good to meet finally meet you,”

“Let me just say, you look fantastic,” Yellow complimented.

“Aww… thanks!” Stevonnie replied, hugging them both, “You’re the best lawyers ever!”

Blue and Yellow couldn’t help but blush, “Well, we’ll leave you to it…”

“Don’t want to bore you or anything…”

“We’ll see you round.”

“See ya!” Stevonnie waved as they left, the pebbles also going their own way – to the beach house.

“Ah, finally… time for me and you!”

“Love you Zircon,” They kissed in the distance, causing both fusions to erupt in giggles.

“Be good, pebbles!”

“Yes, Stevonnie!”

Now that they were alone together, Stevonnie and Lemon Jade could finally say what they wanted to say to the other.

“Thanks for inspiring us at the ball,” Lemon Jade said as she hugged Stevonnie, “It really meant a lot… seeing…”

“Nothing like being yourself right?” They replied, grinning.

“Thanks to you, I’m finally FREE!” She exclaimed, kissing them, “Stevonnie, you’re the BEST!”

“And-and-and… You’re SO beautiful, gorgeous, and amazing!”

“Aww…” Stevonnie’s heart melted as Lemon held their face, and returned, “Jade you’re AMAZING TOO! You’re SUPER CUTE, loveable, and SO CHEERY!”

“Can’t be all boring and dreary right? It really means a lot coming from you!” Lemon Jade beamed as both admired the other.

“You’re a bit cheeky aren’t you,” They teased, kissing her cheeks, “Trying to steal my thunder like that… Whole fandom’s gone crazy over you!”

“Maybe I am…” She winked, “But WOW, Pink’s outfit looked FANTASTIC on you!”

“Yeah, I actually liked it too. Shame I didn’t get any more screen time…”

“Poor Opal…”

“So forgetful, they ‘forgot’ to use someone who sounded like her!”

“Oh…” Lemon Jade burst into a fit of giggles as Stevonnie followed, “She… smol…”

“Too… meta…”

After they stopped laughing, they went back to hugging (and talking).

“So Stevonnie, what should I do now?” She asked, full of positivity, “There’s SO MANY THINGS I COULD DO!”

“Whatever you want,” Stevonnie replied as they held her, “If you ever need me or anything, you can just come to the beach house. Although…”

“Right…”

“And if you need fusion advice, you can ask Garnet!”

“Love you Pink Diamond-Stevonnie…” She stammered, blushing.

Stevonnie thought for a moment and sighed happily, “Love you too Lemon Jade, whatever you are going to do, HAVE FUN!”

“So I can call…”

“YUP!” They nodded.

“I think I’ll… explore the Earth, see what amazing things it has to offer!”

“If anyone asks, you can say you’re with the Crystal Gems.”

“Will do! But before I go…”

“You want another dance?” Stevonnie asked, smiling.

“YES! Oh my stars, you read my mind!”

Stevonnie pulled out their phone, set it down, and began playing (gentle) dance music on it.

“This is Earth music, it might be a little different, but…”

“I love it already!” Lemon Jade replied as she started moving with the rhythm, twirling, dancing, and moving.

Stevonnie also began their own dance, moving on their own, occasionally falling in harmony revolving around Lemon Jade. As the first song finished, both were grinning ear to ear.

“May I have this dance?” Stevonnie asked and bowed.

“My pleasure!”

All doubts vanished as the dancing continued, both too happy and in the moment to care about specifics. Instead, they revelled in joy, happiness, and appreciation, for it truly is a wonderful world.

Chapter Text

Aquamarine never really admitted it, but after the revelation, she grew increasingly ashamed and embarrassed of her past actions with each day that passed. Eventually she had to do something about it, lest the Rubies beat her. She’d much rather swallow what ‘pride’ she had left, then have it be completely obliterated; it was only a matter of time before the Rubies finally got everything, and boy is she certain that they won’t doddle about.

Therefore, after asking for the very same Topazes from Yellow Diamond, she set off towards Earth to make amends – and maybe even become a better person in the process…

“Topaz… I hope you don’t have any hard feelings about this,” Aquamarine said as she sat in her chair, now floating at more or less eye level.

“It’s okay,” She replied, flashing her a cheery smile, “Thanks for not reporting me by the way; I’d say we’re pretty much even.”

“Would you have gone to Earth without me?”

“I’m… not sure… I think Yellow actually expected you to show up eventually… I mean she just had me reading up on everything and moving a few things around. I also feel bad for not really helping with anything, but…”

“You liked the break didn’t you?”

“Yeah, it’s… relaxing… I might even…”

“Stay on Earth?” Aquamarine finished as she nodded, “I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“Yeah…”

Landing directly on the beach this time, it was painfully obvious to both just how conspicuous their ship was…

“Oh. My. Stars.” Aquamarine exclaimed as her eyes met the Pink Leg-ship, “Pink. The Diamonds definitely weren’t kidding when they told me what their ship looked like, ghee…”

“I like it,” Topaz replied, “It’s got… character.”

“Can’t argue with that, now…”

“Steven! Connie!” Topaz called, waving excitedly as the kids came outside to investigate.

“Hey Topaz!” Steven replied in his usual cheery manner, “What are you doing on Earth?”

“To… make amends,” Aquamarine finished sheepishly, “Since you know… the thing…”

Both smiled as they neared, just happy that things are working out. Even though prior circumstances were anything but pleasant, Steven and Connie still made Topaz and Aquamarine feel extremely welcome. Aquamarine didn’t really know how to apologise, but if there’s one thing she knew, it was sucking up. ‘It isn’t perfect, but it’ll have to do…’

But before she could even begin her ‘monologue’, Topaz jumped the gun for her, scooping up both kids in a hug.

“You’re both so… CUDDLY!” She squeed.

“You know, this feels so much nicer than being stuck inside you,” Connie commented, her feet dangling in the air, “This is a REALLY good hug by the way!”

“Thanks!” Topaz replied blushing, “How are you doing there Steven?”

“Just dandy!” He smiled, “And it’s okay, you were just doing your job!”

“So…” She asked hesitantly, “Can I…?”

“Stay?” Steven finished, “YES! OMG, Garnet will LOVE you!”

“Well, looks like the rest of the town is going to have to wait…” Aquamarine giggled slightly, before putting on a poker face trying to keep her ‘cool’.

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After Topaz had had enough of hugging the kids, it was time for Aquamarine to work her ‘magic’…

Flying around them and studying them closely, she had to admit that in light of the new information, they are actually pretty alright.

(Well, more than just alright really, but this whole thing is still new to her… so give her a break…)

“My Diamond, Steven,” She said kneeling and bowing, kissing his hands then his gem, “I’m terribly sorry for my behaviour towards you and your friends. Will you please forgive me, my adorable, radiant, living, and amazing highness?”

“Well, when you put it that way… YES!” Steven replied, giving her a quick surprise hug.

Almost immediately, Aquamarine pulled away.

“Wellthatwasnice, thankyouforyourforgivenessmySteven,” She blurted as the others giggled.

“This her first time?” Connie whispered in Topaz’s ear.

“Apologising? …Yep!”

“I can still hear you!”

“Well Aquamarine, what about me?” Connie asked, “I’m sure you haven’t forgotten…”

Putting on a smile, Aquamarine continued, “I was just getting to you, my sweet, beautiful Connie.”

Even though she knew she was sucking up, Connie couldn’t help but smile, giggle, and blush, for the sincerity truly shined through Aquamarine’s words. Aquamarine kissed Connie’s hands, knelt down and bowed lower than before – as if mirroring the praying worship of a deity.

“My Connie, I’m sorry for treating you, Steven, and your friends so rudely; it is very unbecoming of me to treat you like that. You and Steven are both very special, and I regret that my actions have caused tension between you two. Can you in your infinite wisdom please forgive me, my loyal, humble, smart, caring, loving, beautiful, cute, and wonderful elegance?”

“Hmm…” Connie mused, rubbing her chin, slightly blushing, grinning, and smirking almost imperceptibly, “… I accept your humble apology… IF…”

“A catch, very well; name your price.”

“You have to come to dinner with my family and eat, and talk to them afterwards.”

“That… will be arranged; I will make myself available.”

“Connie!” Steven whisper ‘shouted’, “You…”

“Oh don’t worry now, my sweet biscuit,” She replied, giving him a quick kiss on the cheeks and causing him to blush, “I’m just… being sincere and you know… A girl has to have her ‘fun’ somehow…”

“Topaz,” Aquamarine whispered while they were distracted, “Is it just me or…”

“I see it too Aqua, cute isn’t it?”

“I…”

“Anyway, it’ll probably be this weekend,” Connie added, “I’ll make sure to get a highchair for you!”

Quickly glancing at her calendar, Aquamarine nodded and beamed, “Got it, thanks!”

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“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen you fuse,” Aquamarine stated, barely hiding her curiosity, “I’ve heard great things about them, but I’m certain mere words can never adequately describe the amazing experience that they are.”

“O-okay Aquamarine…” Steven and Connie giggled in response, blushing a little, “Of course, you haven’t… You can stop flattering us…”

Aquamarine blinked, realising she wasn’t being as subtle as she thought. Meanwhile, Topaz was looking at Steven and Connie with her best puppy dog eyes; as if they didn’t already get the message, or needed the extra ‘persuasion’ at all.

“Come on, we’ll show you!” They beamed, taking a few steps back and beginning their dance.

Topaz and Aquamarine watched on intently, entranced by their seamless harmony and captivating dance moves as the kids danced, their bodies moving closer and closer, a pink glow overtaking the beach – their forms uniting; fusing. Both gems were no strangers to seeing fusion in action, but they were different and special – the ultimate union of human and gem, on a level beyond what had ever been thought possible… Steven is amazing in his own right, but…

“Oh my gosh!” Topaz exclaimed, tackling Stevonnie into a crushing hug, overjoyed by their endless grace, beauty, and awesomeness, “Stevonnie, just look at you! You’re so… PRETTY and AMAZING! AND YOU’RE EVEN MORE CUDDLY TOO… and-and you’re SO LOVEABLE that I don’t think I can ever let you go!”

“Hehe… Thanks!” They beamed, blushing faintly, “You’re quite huggable yourself! You just need big arms!”

As Stevonnie stretched their arms around the Yellow fusion, Aquamarine could only look on in amusement, Topaz’s heart melting even more.

“I-I’ve never felt so GOOD before, thanks for the hug Stevonnie!” She replied, tightening her hold, “You’ve made me happier than ever and I don’t even know how to thank you… I LOVE YOU STEVONNIE, you’re the BEST!”

“Love you too, Topaz,” They giggled, struggling to breathe, “But er… can you… go easy with the hug please… I…”

“Sorry, you’re ‘my’ diamond now and I’m not letting go! The Gems and Earth can wait; right now, I just want to keep HUGGING YOU ALL DAY!” She replied, radiating with joy.

“Help me Aquamarine… I-I could suffocate!”

“But you’re just so adorable!” She cooed as she flew around them, just out of arms reach, “You’re starting to have me convinced about staying. I’ve got to say, you are pretty great together… AND… I just can’t get enough of how cute and gorgeous you are! What kind of person would I be if I dared to interrupt this cute scene? And how can I not admire you, Stevonnie, my diamond; your presence has graced the world with greatness!”

“Aww Stevonnie, I think she’s saying she wants to stay because of you! Amazing isn’t it?” Topaz smiled, “Isn’t that right Aqua?”

“Stevonnie, Topaz… I…”

At this exact moment, Lars walked past them, stopped, and looked at them blankly, interrupting their ‘fluff’-fest. Stevonnie waved what little their arms were free and called out to get his attention.

“LARS! You have to help me! I’m getting crushed… BY LOVE!” Stevonnie said dramatically as Aquamarine unknowingly flew closer…

“Hey Stevonnie,” He replied, waving cheerily, “Having fun?”

“YES and NO!”

“Well that’s fantastic!” Lars grinned as he walked away, “Have a nice day! You too, Topaz and Aquamarine; they’re a riot!”

“Lars…” They exhaled once he left hearing range, somewhat ‘defeated’.

Seeing Aquamarine within reach however, Stevonnie’s mood ‘brightened’ immediately. Swiftly dragging her into the hug, it would only be a matter of time…

“Hey, I’m not some…” She started, settling into the embrace reluctantly, “Baby or toy…”

Topaz looked at her curiously, having never seen her so happy and… innocent.

“…This… is actually quite nice, now I see why…”

“Knew you’d LOVE IT!”

“I will say we made up if you don’t tell anyone about this,” Aquamarine replied formally, before fully giving in as she relaxed.

“Okay!” Stevonnie beamed, kissing Aquamarine as she smiled, her heart softening.

“I feel so… happy, light, and fuzzing inside… What is…”

“It’s love Aquamarine! You’re feeling love!”

“It’s WONDERFUL!” She smiled and kissed them back, “Thanks Stevonnie!”

“You’re welcome!”

“This is the best! I JUST can’t believe I’ve been missing out for so long! If this is what love feels like, I never want to stop feeling it! Now Topaz, if you may…”

“Gladly,” She replied, smiling even wider as she adjusted her hug, “How’s that?”

“Much better!” Stevonnie replied after taking a few breaths, “Careful now, baby Aqua is in the middle! How’re you feeling in there?”

“…Loved… and very safe…” She cooed, almost dozing off, “…Just… Happy…”

Aquamarine may not have intended to find love ‘hidden’, ‘trapped’ deep in her heart, but it was almost certainty from the moment she decided to visit Earth. Even if she might have been a touch undecided about their message of love, here right now in the hug, Aquamarine could now finally see, feel, and understand it. Experiencing it firsthand, it had never been clearer – love is wonderful indeed.

The road ahead for the new Aquamarine would be a very long one, with more amazing discoveries and oodles of love that she still couldn’t begin to imagine. However, all that was on her mind right now was enjoying the hug and the rest of the afternoon with Stevonnie and Topaz (and maybe just want dinner holds…).

Chapter Text

Once the Rubies finally got up to speed with everything, they made their way to Earth as fast as possible, super eager to just set things right and make new friends. Standard Gravity Engine speed obviously wasn’t enough for five Rubies in a rush…

“Aaaaaa… what’s… happening…” Leggy screamed as the ship accelerated faster and faster, everything almost becoming a blur, colours and patterns…

“RUBIES, WE’VE GONE FULL PLAID!!!” Doc exclaimed, pressed hard into her seat and struggling to retain control as they encroached limits of both gem form and ‘warp’ regulators.

“It’s… beautiful…” They said in unison looking forward, everything Blue-shifted and somehow coloured plaid at the same time…

Only 42 seconds after they engaged the gravity engines, they reached Earth orbit, still reeling from going faster than anyone has gone before as they began their descent.

“So er…” Navy quipped, “How’d we do?”

“Well ahead of everyone Ruby,” Doc replied smirking, looking at her console, “Aquamarine did it in 88 seconds; HA, Beat that!”

“I thought the Nova Thrusters made The Sun Incinerator the fastest?”

“If you only count standard superluminal travel, Ruby; then it’d be 69 seconds, but when you can already bend space… What’s a few dozen seconds of insane G’s? We can take it!”

“Okay!” Leggy exclaimed, satisfied with the answer.

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Naturally, as soon as the Rubies disembarked, they were met with warm, enthusiastic welcomes from Stevonnie.

“Oh, hey Rubies,” Stevonnie greeted cheerily, waving, “What’re you guys doing here?”

“To apologise,” Leggy spoke for the quintet, Stevonnie’s openness easily easing the unease, “I hope it’s not too late… We’re really sorry for everything, we came as quick as we could after we…”

“It’s alright,” They smiled, walking forward and hugging her, “It’s never too late!”

“Thanks…” Leggy replied, blushing from the contact, “I-I…”

“You’ve done nothing wrong Leggy! Sorry we left you in space… We just kinda… forgot after the zoo. I hope you’re not mad…” Stevonnie apologised, deepening the embrace.

Leggy thought for a moment before it all connected, “Oh that? Don’t worry about it! Honestly, I had forgotten it, until you reminded me! Now that I think back, IT WAS FUN! Just floating around… Looking at stars, planets, and everything else…”

“I still can’t believe you-Steven fell for the ‘eject’ button, given what happened with the airlock on the moon…”

“Well…” Stevonnie mused, “Eyeball did… you know… so I’d say we’re pretty much even!”

“You know…” Doc went up to them, speaking the ‘obvious’, “… it would’ve gone a lot easier if you were just honest… We probably would’ve just left you guys alone anyway! But I suppose we didn’t give the best impression either…”

“Playing Baseball was still really nice though,” Stevonnie replied, adding her to the hug, “Even if it may have been a bit silly…”

“By the way, how’s Garnet doing,?”

“Pretty great actually,” They replied, “I think they might actually be able to go more than a few minutes without flirting now!”

“Oh boy!” Doc air-‘jumped’ in joy, “We need to have a Ruby get together!”

“Sure,” Stevonnie giggled, “I’ll ask Garnet!”

As Doc imagined all of the fun activities they could be doing together, Navy approached. For all that she ‘pretended’, she had to admit, she actually liked Earth, having Fun, and learning about everything…

“Like I said, we both could’ve been honest… But that would just be boring! Anyway, we’re here now…” Navy smiled, extending her hand, “No hard feelings?”

“NOPE!” Stevonnie beamed, shaking her hand…

Only to get buzzed and shocked… “HEY!”

“That was fun!” Navy exclaimed, giggling joyously, “You didn’t think I wouldn’t take the chance and prank you again did you?”

“That…” They started, before pausing when they realised she was right.

“Well, I tried to stop her…”

“Ya got me!” Stevonnie ‘back-pedalled’, whispering, “Just don’t try it on Yellow okay…”

Seeing their positive reaction, Navy’s grin only deepened, for both now found joy in the hijinks…

“Okay!” she beamed, putting on an innocent face.

Stevonnie had to admit, in this new friendly context, there was no hiding how amusing it was. As long as it didn’t get out of hand – possibly like Amethyst used to –, they supposed having Navy prank them occasionally wasn’t so bad…

Noticing that two had yet to speak, Stevonnie put on an even more reassuring, comforting, and supportive face; eyes bright and smile wide…

“You know Stevonnie, you’re actually…” Army said, walking up to them, “…alright. I mean, Rose-Pink only meant well… It was one way for things to go, and it definitely wasn’t easy…”

“Um…” They mumbled, not sure where this was going…

“Earth is BEAUTIFUL!” She ‘relented’, ”And I think it’s so wonderful that she… Steven… and-and… Stevonnie you’re really nice, beautiful, amazing, and just SO GREAT!”

“Aww… thanks!” They blushed in response, “New feelings can be hard, but…”

“It also feels fantastic letting it out,” Army smiled as Eyeball began tearing up.

“DAMN IT,” She vented, tears dripping from her eye, “WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO HARD?”

“Come here!” Stevonnie beckoned.

Slowly, Eyeball made her way over into Stevonnie’s arms and into a hug, all while tears continued flowing.

“Thanks…” She whispered, smiling, the others joining in.

Hugging them all, Stevonnie could feel all the warmth that they had. Even though they were emotional, they still stopped well short of being uncomfortably warm…

“YAY!” They cheered simultaneously, “Stevonnie Diamond is the best!”

“Eh,” Stevonnie shrugged, smiling, “Close enough…”

“This feels so good!” Leggy chirped, “I’ve never felt so HAPPY! I could just stay here forever…”

“But then you can’t see the rest of Earth!” Navy added, “I love the hug, Stevonnie!”

“So warm… and cosy…” Doc murmured.

“If this is a dream, I don’t think I want to wake up…”

“I love you Stevonnie,” Eyeball cooed, returning the hug earnestly, “I don’t think I would’ve ever been so… if… But… I’m glad you’re here… You’re not a war criminal Pink, Rose, Steven, Stevonnie; you’re a saint, a saviour, a bringer of light!”

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The Rubies had a lot of fun just hugging it out with Stevonnie; however, Navy soon gave them an idea they couldn’t resist…

Coordinating their attack, Stevonnie stood no chance as they were tickled all over, the Rubies’ hands coming in every direction. They had no choice but to burst out giggling, lying down and trying not to hit the Rubies as the ticklish high reached new heights.

Seeing their reaction, the Rubies only intensified their ‘attack’, Stevonnie now laughing uncontrollably with tears coming out of their eyes.

“Stoppp…” They giggled, “I can’t…”

“I’ve got you now!” The Rubies returned in unison, “And it’s FUN!”

Eventually, the Rubies were satisfied and stopped tickling Stevonnie, instead just enjoying the view on the beach.

“I think I’ll stay…” Leggy said, looking at her surroundings with bright eyes, “It’s just SO BEAUTIFUL here!”

“Us too…” The others added, “Just for a bit though, to check things out… you know…”

“That’s FANTASTIC!” Stevonnie beamed in response, once again scooping them all into a hug.

“YAY, VACATION!” They cheered, giggling as Stevonnie returned the tickles.

“Oh Rubies…”

“Oh no…”

“… we’re sorry!”

“… aaaaa…”

“Missed a spot!”

“Nope!” Stevonnie grinned, “It’s on now!”

Although this wasn’t really like ‘typical’ Ruby fun and games, the laughter and smiles on each of their faces was still the same, if not better. Earth had brought out latent aspects of their personalities and the Rubies were enjoying every bit of it.

Chapter Text

She never expected there being anything for her afterwards, but it seems the universe had other plans…

Rose was no stranger to the concept of afterlife from her times with humans, and recollecting her early years as Pink, she knew gems also had their own beliefs – many of which were strikingly similar. For all that she had done, could’ve done better, or otherwise… she really didn’t expect any mercy from the godly heavens beyond – if it even existed. All she had hoped for was that her child, Steven, could experience life free from her own sins, mistakes, and have a loving childhood/family that she herself never got. Anything else… was a bonus.

However, once again, the impact of her choices didn’t end with her… They lingered, echoed, and shaped… Even from the moment Steven was born, Rose could see that things wouldn’t align with her naïve wishful thinking…

As she transcended to the ‘plane’ above, everything around him only became clearer, everything Greg and the gems felt and said… echoes of Pink, Rose overshadowing her wish for him to be free…

Moment after moment of cringe-worthiness, she was forced to watch, unable to do anything, unable to be there for her boy, unable to change…

Fate though, thankfully did not repeat itself. Every time, he would be the spark that set change in motion; change what she thought was set in stone… the gems, the world – ‘her’ world…

Even as she was reminded of her past, she couldn’t be any prouder of him; Steven Universe, always full of love, doing what she couldn’t…

His first steps, his first song, moving in with the gems, learning his powers – the powers he deserved more than her… –; Lapis, Stevonnie, Connie, Peridot, Nephrite, the Zoo…, the Trial…, Lars, the Jungle Moon…, Ruby and Sapphire…, Bismuth…, the Diamonds…, and finally…, even Jasper…

14 years filled with love and wonder, and so, so much more to come…

Everything Rose saw…

Tears she cried, happy…

Happy tears she never stopped crying, watching…

“I’m glad you worked things out with them,” She whispered as she floated next to her child.

They couldn’t hear her, of course, but she could see the warmth in their gem as words and emotions flowed.

“I’m so proud of you Steven, Connie, and Stevonnie,” Rose cooed, crying happily, “I love you so much, and…”

“I love you too, mom,” Stevonnie whispered as they held their gem, looking at all the new gems settling in, “I hope you’re happy… everything you’ve… we’ve-I’ve wanted, everything we-I have worked for… it’s all true, we’re getting there…”

“It’s beautiful…”

“Love you,” They whispered, hugging themselves as they walked to greet the gems.

“Love you too…” She replied, feeling the love, warmth, happiness, joy, and so much more…

Although she could never meet him, let alone them, never once did she feel the loving connection less… Even though she wasn’t there, just being able to see them grow up here; watching on as their mother, she couldn’t be any happier, finally growing herself…

“So,” the godly omnipresent voice of beyond asked, “Thoughts?”

“Proud,” Rose, ’Pink’ replied resolutely as she smiled, “I’m proud I made what was possibly my only right choice; having him, them…”

“Good,” the voice replied, “That’s how you know…”

“I think…” She said, relaxing as she laid down, “I’ve finally found peace…”

“Even so, you’d much rather stay here, right?”

“Yes,” Rose nodded, “Others may think this is eternal punishment, being stuck ‘between’… everything moving on… However, this is better than any heaven there is – for me anyway…”

Others may be satisfied with heavenly bliss… For Rose… it wasn’t ever really about herself, it was everyone else; seeing the joy of others always felt better than her own… Maybe that was her ‘destiny’, maybe it wasn’t… But now, she could be happy with them…

Instead of indulging in (im)possible illusions, she chose to immerse in the wonder… of them, the gems, and everything else…

It is better anyway, and there’s still much, much more to come…

Chapter Text

Pink Pearl was very confused, one moment she was with… and the next she… wasn’t…

‘Waking’ up in White’s ship with no memory of anything, she yarned for answers, yarned for her…

As the strange gems and the other diamonds left the ship to clear things up, she was still readjusting to her own form, sitting on the steps to White throne… – the missing an eye, the soreness…

Looking around, she could only see two… kids?

There was the boy, Steven, who felt strangely familiar, and yet… different…

And the girl, Connie, his friend, the adorable round face, the beautiful smile…

“I-I don’t understand…” She said softly, trying to piece anything together as Steven and Connie sat beside her, hugging her supportively.

They felt warm, very warm… almost like… but also… more alive… like…

“I think,” They said, “We should start from the beginning.”

“The beginning?”

“Yeah” the girl replied, “From when… you know… It’ll probably be a shock, but…”

“We’re here for you,” They finished together, tightening their reassuring embrace, “We promise.”

“Okay…”

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“Do you remember how you used to play games together with…?”

“Mmm…” Pink Pearl reminisced, “It was so fun… and all those creatures she… but… They took me away from her didn’t they?”

Both nodded solemnly,

“Then they gave her a new Pearl, a ‘better’ one…”

“And White made me her ‘own’…”

“Yep…”

“At least that’s what we think…” They alternated,

“We’re not really too sure, but…”

“Eventually, Pink Diamond was given her own planet, Earth…”

“Wanting to explore the Earth, she disguised herself as a Quartz soldier – after being given the idea by ‘her’ new Pearl –, Rose Quartz…”

“It was always her wasn’t it,” She giggled, “Never the Pearl… I-she…”

“Both enjoyed seeing her smile, making her smile…”

“Yes… So what happened next?”

“Well… like many other planets, it was filled with life, life that would be destroyed by colonisation…”

“Oh no…” Pink whispered, “No…”

“She pleaded to Blue and Yellow, to stop… but…”

“They didn’t listen, figures…” She stated dejectedly.

“But… She decided to fight back, as Rose Quartz, leading the Crystals Gems against Homeworld, the Diamonds and their ways…”

“She was ashamed, never told anyone…”

“Yeah… Eventually, she faked her own shattering, thinking it would stop them…”

“Oh Pink…” She cooed, shedding a tear, ”…‘silly’ Pink…”

“Anyway… She lived the next 5000+ years in hiding, living with her secret as Rose, unable to tell anyone… socialising, living…”

“Mingling,” Pink smiled.

“Exactly,” They smiled, “And one day, fell in love with a human…”

“Of course she did…”

“She… genuinely loved him, and he loved her just the same… never questioning, always just being… there…”

“Something Pearl could never truly be…”

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

 “Ultimately, she decided to have his baby; giving up her ability to exist, so their child could…”

“I’m Steven, and…” He said, lifting up his shirt to reveal his gem, “Rose is my mom…”

“She’s… gone…” Connie added, “It’s just…”

“Me,” Steven finished, “I’m… sorry…”

“That’s fine,” Pink Pearl smiled, “I’m… not upset… She always wanted… and now…”

“We did it…”

“Yes…”

After the euphoria of the new utopia, her thoughts drifted back once again, to Pink, Rose, ‘her’ ‘diamond’ and more importantly… her best and… only friend… Everything had given her a lot to think about, but…

“She’s gone…” Pink stated, “Forever… and…”

“We’re…”

“Still here; yes…” Pearl and her bicolour counterparts said as they walked in, having overheard, “We’re still here…”

“It’s good to have you back,” The Pearls whispered, joining in the embrace, “It’s been… a while…”

“Yeah…” Pink whispered, smiling as she relished the feeling of being surrounded by them all, “So what’d I miss?”

“A lot…” Blue and Yellow replied, “Yellow being called a clod twice by the same Peridot, Blue getting a barn dropped on her by Lapis, and of course, Yellow breaking down in tears once… you know…”

“Yellow, crying?” Pearl and Pink asked.

“Mmm-hmm,” Steven and Connie nodded, “It was… really moving…”

“So, are you doing alright there, Pink, Yellow, and Blue? I know this is a lot to take in…”

“Well…” Blue began, Yellow joining in, “We had a feeling things were different… Things that made us think… It just wasn’t until the ball that we figured out (mostly)… Because as reckless and wild as Rose was, she’d NEVER be brave enough to dance in front of everyone…”

“Yellow… Blue…” Pearl urged supportively.

“Steven and Connie, we’re so proud of you!” They admitted, kissing the kids in question, “For standing up against them, for making things EXCITING! And now, we’re all better thanks to you!”

“Aww… thanks!” They replied, returning the kisses as they blushed.

“I almost had second thoughts, but… seeing Stevonnie and Garnet… and those Jades in the background… I was convinced.”

“And to think, you were ‘supposed’ to be the more ‘proper’ Pearl,” Blue and Yellow joked, “So much for that right? Terrifying Renegade Pearl…”

“Oh stop it…” She blushed, “Enough about me… talk about them!”

“Pearl!”

“Sorry…”

“We almost forgot how fun it was hanging out with you, but yeah… We can do that later…”

“It’ll be a bit before we’re ready to set off to Earth,” Pearl stated, “And I promise afterwards, Blue, Yellow, and Pink, we can all get together for some Pearl time.”

“Sounds good,” They replied, Pink Pearl choosing to relax and enjoy the company.

There really was still thousands of missing years for the Pearls to catch up on; however, they really weren’t in much of a hurry either…

“By the way, Connie,” Yellow and Blue smiled, “Thanks for being so polite to us, it’s… a pleasant change… feeling like you matter…”

“No problem!”

“And,” Blue continued, “I loved your outfit for the ball. It was… really elegant and fashionable… If you don’t mind, I’d like to draw you the next time we meet – but maybe after I get something other than a holopad… I feel like it really limits what I can express you know…”

“Sure,” Connie beamed, “I’d love to!”

“OOH!” Steven piped, “You should ask Vidalia to teach you!”

“Oh yeah, she’d LOVE YOU!” Pearl and Connie exclaimed, “Now that I think about it… she kinda looks like you Yellow.”

“Right,” She ‘huffed’, “We’ll see…”

“Where were you guys anyway?” Steven asked, “We haven’t seen you since the ball…”

“Watching,” Blue and Yellow smirked, “Since ‘our’ Diamonds were figuring stuff out and well… we had nothing to do…”

“You really do make a good Jam Bud, Connie,” Yellow complimented as the girl blushed, “You were SO brave ‘out there’… just being there and… getting into the action, even without a weapon…”

“AND,” Blue added, “You and Steven really got through to Blue and Yellow Diamond; the power of your voices… was really inspiring!”

“Gee…” They replied sheepishly, rubbing their necks, “Thanks…”

“You’re welcome! We knew you could do it!”

“We were both secretly rooting for you,” Blue admitted.

“Even if we didn’t look it,” Yellow clarified.

“Aww… I love you!”

“Thank you, Steven and Connie,” Pink Pearl whispered, kissing each in turn, “For everything… Things are different… but I think it’ll all work out… I love you!”

“Love you too…” They returned as they all smiled.

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

“So… Steven and Connie… since everyone else are still figuring things out outside…” (conveniently avoiding another Stevonnie ‘confrontation’ until…) Blue and Yellow Pearl reiterated, not quite sure how to ask.

“Sure,” They smiled understandingly as they got up.

Even without music, their rhythm and harmony were unmistakable as they danced together, twirling and spinning joyously, Blue, Yellow, and Pink watching on intently… fun laughs and giggles… Their senses seldom lied, but all the Pearls could swear they were hearing soft melodies and notes, intensifying as the pink glow overtook the space around…

As the fading glow revealed Stevonnie, all were in awe, eyes and jaws wide in admiration.

“WOW…” They cooed, “Up close, it’s… so much more amazing…”

“Just look at you…” Blue said, brushing her hair aside to reveal her glistening eyes, “Stars…”

“Beautiful, gorgeous… and also… SO ADORABLE!” Pink squeed, running to tackle them into a hug.

The moment they connected, the ship was flooded by an overwhelming Pink aura of joy, happiness, and love. Stevonnie was glad to have helped her, and she was happy to have someone to play with again.

“If you squint,” Yellow and Blue giggled, “It’s almost exactly like when Rose first got her… Except…”

“…better,” Pearl finished, tearing up.

“Come on now,” Stevonnie beckoned, “There’s still room…”

Hearing this, the rest of the Pearls also jumped up, running to embrace them.

“You’re so… warm and cuddly…” Yellow cooed blissfully, “I love it!”

“So tall… and strong, I bet,” Blue complimented, causing them to blush, “You’re incredible together Stevonnie!”

“Hehe… I get that a lot…”

“Just so you know,” Yellow grinned, “You still owe us hugs after this!”

Stevonnie giggled, and replied, “I won’t forget, maybe I’ll even bring Lion…”

“Lion?” Pink perked up, exclaiming in joy, “Oh boy!”

Pearl simply smiled as she thought about the possible reactions of the pink feline and her counterparts; it would surely be cute for one…

“Pink’s outfit looked really good on you Stevonnie,” Blue stated, now confident saying it, “If you ever… you know… maybe with a few changes… that is, if…”

“Yeah… I’ll… consider it,” They replied resolutely, turning their thoughts towards the future.

Many things had happened, but Pink Pearl was positively glad that things are finally better, and happy to have gained new friends and family. The future never looked better…

Chapter Text

After discovering the joy that is human childhood, Peridot couldn’t help but think how amazing it would be for gems to experience it firsthand – as themselves, instead of watching on –, the purity and innocence bought on by a small adorable form, full of joy and curiosity, the caring love others gave, and everything else…

It wasn’t just about being small relatively; being held by a larger gem is amazing, but there was just something special about kids and babies… especially, it seems… being them…

Obviously, it wasn’t something gems could just do on a whim (for an extended amount of time), so Peridot set out to build a device that would do just that – allow gems to experience the wonders of childhood. Logically, parameters would have to be agreed upon before activation, but that didn’t really bother Peridot right now, since she was barely into the prototype stage…

The device would certainly need to have some form of control over space-time, as well as possibly gem form regulation if needed, since she wasn’t exactly certain how to achieve the desired result given gem ‘programming’…

Gathering the required parts proved extremely easy, most coming from Amethyst’s room (she didn’t mind at all). Putting together parts relating to the Glass of Time, bits from disassembled gem destabilisers, the regulation module from a scrapped Roaming Eye, as well as a few pieces of logic provided by spare gem and human electronics, and Peridot was done. There was the ‘small’ matter of ‘calibration’, but other than that, it was complete.

As luck would have it, everyone was present, all chilling on the beach as Peridot walked out to greet them.

“Hey clods,” She exclaimed, full of confidence, “Prepare… to WITNESS GREATNESS!”

“Er, what is it?” Amethyst asked, studying the device intently.

“Just watch,” Peridot announced, pressing some buttons and turning some knobs.

The device beeped, bopped, whirred, and shot out a wave of something, what though, nobody was sure, since it seemed to pass without doing anything…

Looking around, the Diamonds were confused, nothing had happened, and yet, they felt something close to them shift…

Scratching her head and looking around, Peridot looked for any sign that it did something.

“IT WORKED!” She shouted, before realising exactly what she’d just done and shrunk down into a defensive position.

Everyone was still confused, that is, until they moved to look at where Stevonnie had been moments earlier…

Shrinking down a bit, upon closer inspection, the Diamonds gasped as the gems simply stared unblinking.

“Starlight | Stevonnie | Pink is a BABY!” They said, uncertain how to feel, “W-w-wha-at…”

“Wow…” Garnet said, lowering her glasses as she put on a surprised expression, for even she did not see this coming.

To be fair, even after listening to Peridot ‘explain’ everything, Amethyst was equally surprised – it had worked, instead of blowing up like ‘usual’.

“Mama?” Baby Stevonnie said sweetly as they took in their surroundings (and situation).

“Well,” Amethyst jested, “At least they’re still dressed!”

“I’ll admit…” Pearl mused, “That is interesting…”

As everyone crowded around baby Stevonnie to see them better, they only beamed more, eyes shining wide, bright, giggling, and smiling carefree as a baby does.

They were still sitting on the sand, and wearing a combination of Steven and Connie’s outfits. Steven’s T-Shirt and jeans turned into a bright pink jumpsuit, while Connie’s top and skirt turned into a cute little cyan dress layered on top. As usual, their gem was exposed, albeit via a cut out, instead of their tops simply turning into crops.

After the initial shock wore off and making sure Stevonnie was fine, everyone moved to interrogate Peridot for answers.

“I take it that that wasn’t exactly what you anticipated,” Garnet stated calmly, “They’re a cute baby… but…”

“Sorry…” She apologised, “I just… wanted gems to be able to experience childhood, like humans, and maybe I rushed a few things…”

“It’s okay!” Baby Stevonnie babbled in the background, causing everyone to break out in smile.

“Well,” Garnet patted the green gem’s shoulders, whispering, “You’re lucky they’re happy, or we’d probably be having some very stern words…”

“So you’re not mad?”

“Nope,” Everyone replied.

“Now, if you please,” Yellow enquired calmly as she approached, “I’d just like to ask, why did it only affect them?”

“Hmm…” Peridot pondered, thinking about all the possibilities. It could’ve just been plot convenience, but soon the obvious answer surfaced in her ocean of thoughts.

“I guess it’s because they’ve – individually of course – been babies some point chronologically, and since they’re a hybrid-fusion, they do not have a set ‘state’ of being… In other words, the device does not yet function on full gems or organics yet…” She said, pointing at the still adult gems and unaltered critters around, “Therefore, it had merely – seemingly – affected them quasi-temporally, turning them into a baby without temporal displacement.”

“That makes sense…” The gems nodded.

“So, P-Dot,” Amethyst asked, wrapping her arms around the green gem, “How long is Lil’ ‘Von gonna stay like this? Because OH BOY ARE THEY CUTE!”

“Let’s see…” She replied, taking out her tablet to do some calculations, “…If this equals that times this squared… and all these ‘constants’ have been calculated correctly… It should be… 1.25 million seconds from when I activated it… which is just over 14 days from now!”

“OH YEAH!” Amethyst exclaimed, “Baby do-over!”

However, the diamonds didn’t share the same sentiment – at least not yet anyway…

“Two WHOLE weeks, what are we going to do!?!”

“Calm down White, we’ll-we’ll… EXTEND OUR STAY, YES!”

“But YELLOW, WE ARE NOT PREPARED for this! WHERE WILL WE EVEN STAY?! AND WHAT ABOUT HOMEWORLD?!”

“OH STARS! Um-um…” She stuttered, as all were on the verge of freaking out.

“Calm down…” Pearl cooed, shrugging and jumping up to calm the Diamonds down (Stevonnie normally did this, but right now, they were busy being a baby…), “Call the Pearls and tell them calmly, they can handle it.”

“Okay…” They exhaled, taking deep breaths, “It’ll be fine, there’s nothing to worry about…”

“That’s right, now… I think we need to make some calls locally…” Pearl said, making sure everyone else understood, whilst trying to avoid face palming…

The problem though, was that none of them wanted to be the one to call Dr Maheswaran, for even Yellow Diamond knew the intensity of her ‘wraith’. She’d often just concede, respecting her authority and parental instincts, wanting to avoid further escalation.

“Let’s just ‘draw straws’,” Peridot suggested cheerily as everyone giggled, “Shortest one calls Dr M!”

“Seems fair,” Bismuth commented, “Let’s do this!”

It was hard, what with all the hands and fingers, but they managed to each draw their own straw.

“Hmm…” Amethyst quipped, slapping Jasper in the back, “I think you’re it, sis.”

“Guess so,” Smiling back, Jasper gladly took the phone, and dialled the doctor’s number with a shrug, “Can’t be that hard…”

As soon as she started speaking however, Jasper immediately regretted being so ‘cool’ about the whole thing…

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

“YOU DID WHAT TO MY CHILD?!” Dr Maheswaran screamed over the phone, loud enough that the Diamonds could hear.

“Just calm down, Mrs…” Jasper said as calmly as she could, only to be met by more shouting.

“Calm down? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE CALM?!” She continued, Jasper wincing away from the phone, “When I GET MY HANDS on YOU LOT, I’m gonna SHOVE my FOOT UP EACH AND EVERYONE single ONE OF YOUR SORRY BEHINDS AND YOU WILL LOVE IT!”

“She wouldn’t…” Amethyst egged on as Pearl face palmed.

“OH YES I WILL! And don’t you try getting out of this Amethyst, I KNOW you had something to do with it!”

“She’s good…” White whispered to her fellow Diamonds, “But if she continues like this, it might upset our little Starlight.”

“I hate it when you’re right,” Blue cooed, looking at Stevonnie who was on the verge of tears, as if telling them to stop fighting.

“Now, Dr Maheswaran,” Yellow said calmly as she steeled her nerves, “I understand your frustration, but for the sake of them, can you please calm down and just see for yourself? They’re probably very confused and just want love, not more arguing from us.”

“I guess you’re right…” Priyanka replied after taking some deep breaths, “I might have overreacted just a bit… I’ll come right away… And can I please talk to them?”

Walking over to Stevonnie, Jasper could see their eyes already starting to sparkle again.

“Mom wants to talk to you, Stevonnie,” She said in her softest, most gentle voice.

“Jaspfft, mama want talkie meh?” They babbled, their expression brightening.

“Yes, here,” Jasper nodded, sitting down in the sand next to them.

“Stevonnie?” The woman asked as Jasper held the phone up to them.

“MAMA!” They beamed upon hearing her soothing, comforting, and familiar voice.

“Don’t worry baby, mama will be right there okay?”

“Okay, I luv you!”

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Honestly, Priyanka didn’t know what to expect to see. She had met Stevonnie many times before, and knows what Steven and Connie look like as babies, but…

“OH MY GOSH,” She squeed, immediately running over to hug the baby fusion, “You’re just SO CUTE!”

“Mama!”

“I’m glad you’re alright honey…” Kissing them on their adorably round cheeks, she couldn’t help but smile and tear up in joy.

They were every bit as cute as non-baby Stevonnie, but gosh… They were also SO, so much more PRECIOUS!

Cradling them and gently swinging back and forth, baby Stevonnie was fast asleep in their mother’s arms.

Now that they were asleep, Priyanka wanted to ask some important questions. Trusting her mothering instincts, she handed them to the now shrunken diamonds. They were now much smaller – still taller than Rose, but smaller than Pink Diamond –, so as to not squish Baby-vonnie.

“Thanks… Oh my stars… they’re so tiny!” Blue cooed as soon as they were safe in her arms.

“Obviously,” Yellow ‘teased’, “They’re a baby!”

“So… are they really stuck like this?”

“It seems so,” Pearl replied, “They’re a baby after all, and probably can’t unfuse. But I’d say that it’s for the cuter, I mean, would you rather have two babies or an adorable awesome fusion baby?”

“Guess you’re right…” The woman giggled, “I mean just look at them… so precious and lovable… I wonder what they’re thinking…”

“No idea,” Garnet shrugged earnestly, “This is new, even for us…”

### Meanwhile, in Dream-Fusionscape… ###

Baby Steven, baby Connie, and baby Stevonnie were all cuddled together, smiling and giggling joyfully as they watched beautiful abstract colourful patterns play out all around them.

Stevonnie was taller than either of their components – poor baby Steven somehow being shorter than Connie, even if by just a few fractions of an inch –, but was nonetheless, equally as cute, precious, and sweet. Alone, they were overwhelmingly loveable and Together, they were instant heart-meltingly cute and impossible not to love.

“Wowie, so colorpul!” Stevonnie babbled, “Dream is nice!”

“Weee… Me likie!” Connie burbled as Stevonnie kissed them both, “Luv you!”

“Wa-wo-Con…nie… Ste-bonie! Stevie lubsies you too-ses!” He jabbered, beaming with stars in his eyes, “Me wantie to-toget-gether FOREVER!”

“YAY; TOGETHER!” Stevonnie cheered, “Jammie Buddies!”

“Strawbearlby.”

“Biskit.”

“Strawbelly Biskit!”

“FOREVER!” They all exclaimed in unison, embracing as they all faced each other.

Outside, the diamonds watched as their smile only grew and grew, a faint yet concrete aura of love emanating from them.

---

“Well, it’s been nice, but I’ll need some time to arrange things…” Priyanka said as the diamonds perked up, her own ears tearing up, “So I guess you can have ‘first’ ‘dibs’… I’m sure they’ll be fine when they wake up, they’ll love you!”

“Oh you don’t have to,” They cooed, hugging the woman, “But thanks, we’ll take good care of them until you can take them home with you.”

That night, though without her baby, Priyanka still smiled as brightly as ever, content in knowing Stevonnie was in good hands, their aura reaching her through the dreamscape as they slept soundly with the diamonds…

Chapter Text

Unlike most babies, baby Stevonnie was a rather heavy sleeper, and slept all the way through the night without fuss, the diamonds gladly watching them sleep in their cot, before they too fell asleep themselves…

As Stevonnie stirred awake the next day, the sweet smiling faces of their diamond moms greeted them.

“Doctor Mama?” They asked, puzzled as they looked around.

“She’s busy, so we’ll be taking care of you. Doesn’t that sound lovely?” The diamonds cooed, lightly tickling Stevonnie.

“That’s okay,” They smiled, walking over to kiss each of the diamonds.

They were a little wobbly, but from what the diamonds had learnt, they were definitely lightyears ahead of your ‘typical’, ‘messy’ baby.

“You’re a smart one aren’t you?” Blue teased as they babbled happily in response.

“Let’s get you ready for today Starlight; we are going to have so much fun!”

“YAY!” They cheered, clapping their little hands.

It was a typical day in Beach City, sunny, but not overwhelming – perfect for family beach activities.

Nobody really bother them as they walked down the boardwalk, each taking turns with Stevonnie riding on their shoulders, looking at everything in awe.

After finding a spot big enough, the diamonds took out an oversized towel and umbrella, and quickly set it up, not wanting to keep the excited baby fusion waiting.

Immediately, Stevonnie got to work making sandcastles, working in record time going between the sea, taking in more sand, and setting the next section down surprisingly symmetrically. The diamonds had to work overtime making sure their precious baby didn’t trip over or hurt themselves on some shell or creature. Normally, such things would be fine, but with their speed and energy, one could never be too careful…

“Tada! How’d I do?” They beamed, showcasing their creation as they finished.

“Brilliant work, Stevonnie,” Yellow complimented, “Way better than ours!”

“Aww… thanks!”

Thinking they were done, the diamonds leaned back in their beach chairs, admiring everything as Stevonnie walked towards them. Blue had built a somewhat round structure, more akin to a sand igloo than a castle. Yellow, obviously, went for utilitarian, or rather, she tried, but failed with the soft malleable sand, only to end up with a vaguely squarish building which looked more like a fort. White had mostly gotten it, except the nails occasionally caused accidents to happen, scratches and little imperfections that gave it character, she said.

They could tell how proud Stevonnie was of their sandcastle, grand, massive, and quite possibly so well done that it could’ve been mistaken for something made by an adult.

“Smile for the photo!” The diamonds smiled as they did the same, striking a pose in front of their domain.

Luckily, one picture was enough, as Stevonnie soon turned their attention elsewhere…

“No, no, no…”

“BIRDIE!” They screamed, chasing after a seagull that got too close.

“Oh dear…” White said as she got up, “Looks like we have a runner…”

“Stevonnieeee…” Blue called out as the diamonds gave chase, somehow losing sight of them in that split second, “Where are you?”

“Starlight? Don’t you want to be with mommy?”

Hiding, they giggled as the diamonds tried to find them.

For the rest of the afternoon, the diamonds chased Stevonnie around as they gave chase to whatever, or hid in the oddest places for reasons only known to them. Safe to say, by the time it was time for dinner, the diamonds were visibly exhausted, while Stevonnie seemed none the worse for wear.

The next day (?) proved much the same, albeit with different locations and activities. By the time Doctor Maheswaran was ready to pick them up, the diamonds looked pretty much ready to drop down and sleep; however, they were still smiling, having relished and enjoyed all the fun.

“Have fun…” The Diamonds said wearily, still smiling wide, “We love you!”

“I luv you toos!” Baby Stevonnie air-kissed back, the diamonds melting.

“So, thoughts?” Priyanka asked.

“I don’t know how you humans do it,” Yellow replied, not even trying to hide it, “But it has really given us a new perspective; it is hard, but ABSOLUTELY worth it!”

“Alright, go take care of yourselves,” The woman said, waving as she walked away with Stevonnie in her arms.

“Will do.”

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

The Maheswaran residence had already been ‘redecorated’ in anticipation, and as baby Stevonnie laid eyes on it all, they were in awe.

“Wowie… It like paradise!” They babbled.

“Only the best for our best,” Their mom replied, giving them a kiss, “Love you sweetie.”

That was enough to put them over the edge, causing them to erupt in incoherent happy and joyous noises.

As Stevonnie played with Steven and Connie’s childhood toys, neither parent could look away from the scene; they were just TOO cute!

“Smile for the camera!”

“Dada, mama!”

“Aww...” They cooed as Stevonnie waved back.

Even as Priyanka and Doug took turns making dinner, Stevonnie continued playing happily in the background, occasionally walking to peek, but otherwise just enjoying themselves. Their bond was unmistakable, and seeing them as a baby, Priyanka and Doug couldn’t help but think about that. They weren’t really sure what their thoughts would be on the matter, and it seemed that they didn’t themselves either… The best they could do was enjoying their time together – especially now –, and wait to see where the future leads…

“Dinner’s ready!” Mom called from the kitchen.

‘I’m not hungry,’ Baby Stevonnie thought as they continued playing, ‘Am I?’

‘Alsos, why me no tired?’

‘Who cares? Baby Stevonnie is the best!’

“I luv you Stevonnie!” They replied, hugging themselves.

“Don’t let the dinner MONSTER GET YOU!” Doug exclaimed, sneaking up and tickling them, “Come to dinner, OR FACE MY WRAITH!”

Brawling out on the floor in a fit of giggles, they struggled to reply – from both laughing so hard, and just ‘limited’ speech ‘development’ –, “Dada… no, no…”

“Well?”

“Okay… I go dindins!”

“Here comes the airplane!”

Stevonnie shook their head, as if saying they could manage themselves, but soon, the temptation overtook them.

“Mm…” They gladly gulped down the food, “YUMMY!”

“That’s a good baby,” Their parents smiled as they enjoyed being fed, “Now if you can finish this, we can have dessert!”

Gladly, Stevonnie took the spoon into their own hands and shovelled every last scoop into their mouth – all without spilling any on their highchair or bib.

“Well, here’s your favourite…” Priyanka announced as she turned around, revealing a strawberry biscuit pudding to the drooling and wide-eyed baby fusion.

“Wows, thanks mama!”

“You’re welcome!”

To their parents surprise – and even their own –, they had finished everything, burping as they laid back content.

Some stories and games later, and it was bedtime, however, as Priyanka prepared to dress them in their pyjamas…

They had decided to run around bare – as a baby does –, easily having undressed themselves without help.

“I’m freeeee…” They squeed, running around the house as the woman tried to keep up,

“Oh no you don’t,” Priyanka ‘lectured’ as she half-giggled, “In this house, we pride ourselves on having some decency!”

“Catch me if you can!” They jumped, beginning to float just outside arms reach.

“Doug… come here…” She whisper-called, “They, they…”

“Yes…” He began nonchalantly, before going into full amused-awe mode, “STEVONNIE, you’re naked and FLOATING!”

“Hehe…” They giggled, rotating and posing in the air as their parents watched on amused.

Of course, neither Doug nor Priyanka were strangers to their abilities, but… this wasn’t anything like baby Steven…

Regardless, it just made everything better anyway!

Slowly but surely though, they drifted downwards, yawning as sleep draw closer…

“No, no…” They protested; flutter kicking and trying to stay aloft to no avail.

“Got you!” Priyanka exclaimed, pulling their legs through their pants once they got low enough.

“Darn…” They pouted momentarily, before smiling, “BEDTIME STORIES!”

“Hmm, let me think…”

“Please!” They replied, pulling puppy dog eyes.

“Honey… you don’t need to do that,” She laughed, “Of course I’ll read you a story!”

“YAY!” Baby Stevonnie cheered, throwing their arms into the air as mom put on their top.

“All done!”

“I luv you mama and dada.”

“Love you too…”

Spending time with baby Stevonnie was beyond marvellous, their joy simply brightening everything so much. Whether or not they would ever get grandkids, the Maheswarans did and would forever cherish the moments and memories of their time with them.

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

When Greg had found out about the whole thing, he just shrugged and sighed, giggling, having long been used to shenanigans caused by gems. The only real surprise for him, really, was that baby Stevonnie behaved themselves and the gems not needing his help. Even so, he still gladly accepted when Priyanka handed baby Stevonnie over to him, saying that he deserved some time with them too. This time though, he wouldn’t be completely ‘blind’; therefore, he could really enjoy bonding with baby Stevonnie.

“So baby ‘Vonnie,” He asked, cradling them in his arms, “What do you want to do with daddy today?”

They beamed and bubbled, “Anything you want!”

“How about we play something together?” Greg replied, “That sound good?”

Stevonnie nodded, hugging him, “Luv dada!”

“Love you too,” He replied, giving him a kiss, “Let’s get started then.”

Greg had found an Ukelin – a curiosity he collected from his days as Mr Universe –, and handed it to baby Stevonnie, not expecting them to play. He started by playing his guitar, not anything in particular, but just what he felt flowed through him. Stevonnie responded by moving along, reacting to the notes, before starting to play themselves as they sang along. Pleasantly surprised as they lead – playing expertly, mostly belying their current baby-ness –, Greg seamlessly fell into sync.

“Baby, tell me, is there anything better than Peace and Love?”

“Peace and Luv, on the planet Earth…”

“Yes, tell me, is there anything better?”

“Yes… and no…”

“Huh? I’m not sure I understand.”

“Luv, is the greatest, and Peace, we all wants, and will gets…”

“Spreading joy, sharing love, makes everyone happy…”

“The Milky Way, the local Superduster, the whole Universe…”

“Isn’t that a bit ambitious?”

“Not when you have forevers, I see stars, planets, and a whole universe to love…”

“All I want is spreading joy, sharing love, together forevers… Universe, together, happy…”

“Better than peace and love on the planet Earth, is something very sweet indeed…”

“Peace and Luv, on the planet Earth, Homeworld, beyond, and the whole universe…”

“Peace and love…”

“Forever and always…”

Before either knew it, their time was ‘over’. Although Stevonnie loved daddy and didn’t want to go, they also understood.

He cooed as they kissed him, “It’s been nice, but…”

“It okays dada…”

“You need them more than I do,” Greg said as he handed them back to the gems, “After all; it’s not everyday something like this happens…”

“Thanks, Greg,” Jasper and Pearl replied, hugging the man, “It means a lot… for helping us…”

“Aww… shucks,” He replied sheepishly, blushing, “Thanks…”

“Is there anything we should know?”

The father thought for a moment, before replying, “Um, yeah actually there is… It seems that baby Stevonnie might have a few tricks up their ‘sleeves’, so to speak…”

As he said that, they smiled coyly, earning a few ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from everyone present.

“Noted… We’ll keep that in mind…”

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Even though they didn’t plan things out at all, everyone still managed to spend time with Baby Stevonnie – with the obligatory photos, of course. Surrounded by all their gem moms, Stevonnie couldn’t be any happier. Bismuth was first, and she was obviously very curious just what they could do.

“Show me what ya got sport,” Bismuth said as she laid on the floor, letting Stevonnie play with her hair.

“Mama Bizzy want show?” They asked as she gave them a light tickle.

“Don’t worry,” She chuckled, looking at Jasper on the sofa, “We can handle it!”

“Okay!”

With that, Bismuth sat back and prepared. Stevonnie dug deep, concentrating as their gem glowed, and summoned an adorable tiny shield. Both gems immediately perked up, cooing in awe.

“What-wow! Would you look at that? It’s a shield!”

“Mama!” They beamed, summoning another shield and banging them together like drums or something, “I’ms making music!”

Strangely, it was actually making recognisable notes, instead of the usual metallic clang. ‘Probably because baby powers,’ they thought.

“Mama Jaspy, catch!” Stevonnie called, jumping up in the air with flutter kicks and throwing their shields like Frisbees, “You too Bizzy!”

Jasper didn’t even blink as she caught hers, smiling as she threw it back, “Here you go kid!”

Bismuth though, partly off-guard, had to stretch to reach, and ended up falling over catching it.

“You’re just full of surprises aren’t you?”

Baby ‘Von didn’t reply, except for giggling playfully.

They continued playing catch for a few turns, before they got ‘tired’, deciding to just cuddle.

“I love you,” Jasper smiled as she cradled, hugged, and kissed them, “You’re just so fun!”

“Stevonnie luvs mama Jaspfft too!” They replied, returning the affection in kind as Jasper teared up.

“Hey, what about me?” Bismuth joked, lightly elbowing the pair.

“I luv you too!” They exclaimed, jumping into the smith’s arms.

“Love you! Hey tough stuff, there’s still room…”

“Not for long,” Jasper replied as she joined in, Stevonnie playing with her hair and grabbing her horns – not that she minded anymore, “I’d say it’s packed to the brim with love.”

“Bursting,” Bismuth returned, laughing.

Jasper had accepted the horns as part of her now, serving as a constant reminder to never make the same mistakes again, and to instead, embrace the present and future with those around her. Spending time with baby Stevonnie only made Jasper love everything so, so much more. They really were magical…

Not one of them looked at a clock as they continued enjoying everything. Later, Pearl would find Stevonnie asleep cuddled between Jasper and Bismuth’s strong yet caring arms, their combined gentles snores, warmth, and aura filling the whole house with love…

Her fears of Stevonnie being crushed were completely unfounded, since both made sure to leave space – even as they turned towards the fusion in their sleep, smiles on their faces.

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Pearl was honestly glad to spend time with baby Stevonnie, having somewhat missed Steven’s initial months. Although it wasn’t the same, neither minded since one could never get enough of this.

Holding them in her arms, cradling, hugging, smooching their adorable face, Pearl didn’t want to move at all.

“I can’t believe I didn’t do this more…” She admitted, whispering in their ears, “But we’re here now, and that’s good enough for me…”

“Mommy Pearl always mama for me, I never not needs you,” Stevonnie babbled, “I luv you forevers and evers!”

“Aww…” She cooed in response, “I love you too.”

“Mama, can I hears a story?”

“Of course!” She beamed.

For Steven, especially Stevonnie and baby Stevonnie, many of her stories would remain tainted by the war – some probably too gruesome or emotional – and therefore remain off limits. However, for each of those, there were equally many more amusing takes and stories of times gone by, which Pearl happily retold.

Whether it was the story behind an item in her gem or amusing anecdotes with Pink/Rose, Pearl animatedly recreated everything, gesturing, using projections, and sometimes even summoning the items as props along the way as Stevonnie’s smile and laughter grew and grew.

“Wowies… that’s amazings!” They cooed, stars in their eyes, “Me’ll never get tires of these stories evers!”

“We’ll see…” She chuckled as they kissed her, “But for now, it’s bedtime.”

“Night, night, mama.”

“Night Stevonnie…” Pearl whispered, tucking them in against her arms as she laid down to sleep herself.

Throughout the night, the mother and her child snoozed soundly, dreaming together as the gem projected the happy scenes…

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Garnet (and by extension Ruby and Sapphire) was never that good with babies. She was unexperienced and they were unpredictable, however, she’d thought to give it another try. She had grown, but the experience was still relatively new to her, but that’s just what makes it special.

Holding them carefully, Garnet was all smiles, Stevonnie giggling as she tickled and played with them.

“Mama Garnet!” They hugged and kissed her.

“That’s right,” She beamed, smirking, “I’m the best mom!”

Looking ahead, Garnet found the perfect activity to surprise them with and thought she’d try something before heading off.

Stepping back, she unfused into Ruby and Sapphire, unsure how they would respond. Stevonnie is a fusion, yes, but right now, they were also a baby; it was anyone’s guess really.

Immediately, Stevonnie’s eyes sparkled with recognition, “Mama Ruby! Mommy Sapphy!”

“They know us!” Ruby exclaimed, tackling her wife into a hug.

“Yes…” Sapphire smiled as they walked towards them, “Let’s get you dressed!”

“YAY, ADVENTURE!”

Stevonnie was just having too much fun hugging and loving their moms as they struggled to dress them appropriately. Eventually though, they were all ready and made their way to the warp pad.

Ruby and Sapphire had to admit, this being a mom thing was fantastic, especially when the baby knew who they were (it just opened up way more possibilities).

Shortly after arriving at their destination, Garnet reappeared as Stevonnie stared in awe at their surroundings. It was snow as far as the eye could see, and boy would they have fun.

“What’d you think?” Garnet asked, picking them up.

“SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!” Was their only response besides joyous giggling.

Obviously, their gem had to be covered, but they never fussed about it, seemingly content with the replicated graphic form on their puffy jacket.

Together, they did the usual; snow angels, snowmen, snow fights, and so on, Garnet’s smile only growing, threatening to overtake her face…

“I love you!” She cooed, calling out to them.

“Luv you too!” They beamed, giggling and smiling mischievously as an idea appeared in Garnet’s thoughts.

“The snow queen,” Ruby said dramatically, “Has frozen all the land, our mission is to infiltrate her ice castle, and bring her to her senses!”

“We’ll tells her we luvs her, and she makings the villagers miserable,” Baby Stevonnie spoke resolutely, roleplaying, “And change her hearts!”

“Yes,” She replied, staring intently, “Together, we will thaw her frozen, icy heart!”

Therefore, they marched on towards her castle, Ruby leading and carving a trail through the thick, thick ice/snow as Stevonnie giggled at the perfect outline left behind. Ruby and Sapphire rarely used their elemental powers like this – directed and with purpose –, so besides happily entertaining Stevonnie, this was also good practice.

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Amethyst, while still wild and ‘just’ ‘possibly’ a bit reckless, had grown enough and proved her trustworthiness. And that only meant one thing…

“So, er… I’m gonna take baby ‘Vonnie out for the day,” She said slowly, deliberately making sure everyone heard.

“Have fun!” Pearl and White Diamond waved from the kitchen bench, both exchanging happy (and embarrassing) memories and stories with the other.

“Let’s go!” Amethyst cheered as she picked Stevonnie up.

“Mom-sis Amefest!” They bubbled, giving her their usual greetings and love.

“Love ya!” She kissed them, walking towards the door.

Walking down the boardwalk with Stevonnie in her arms, Amethyst noticed the little fusion perking up whenever they passed by anything food related. Easily reading their mind, she headed towards Peedee’s food truck…

Enthusiastically ringing the bell, baby Stevonnie and Amethyst began banging and chanting, trying to draw the boy’s attention.

“The bits, the bits, the bits!” Stevonnie bubbled gleefully.

“Coming…” Peedee said as he turned around, momentarily puzzled, “… Stevonnie?”

“Peedee!” They beamed, clapping their baby hands before returning to chanting, “Bits, Bits…”

Giggling, he replied, “Okay, okay… How can I say no to that adorable face?”

A moment later, Peedee handed them their ‘order’ of bits, Stevonnie jumping up on the counter and hugging the boy’s face to say goodbye.

“Bye Peedee!”

“Have a nice day!” He waved as they walked away, not even taken aback by the whole thing – he had long gotten used to gem silliness.

After Stevonnie finished munching on the crunchy bits, Amethyst took them to get ice cream. As always, their smile, even (especially) in baby form, brought smiles to everyone they passed – even those not used to Beach City or the Gems.

There were two favours, Vanilla and Chocolate; as Stevonnie looked between them, there was only one choice…

“I wants boths!”

“I’ll try,” The teen behind the counter smiled, walking over to the soft serve machine, “Here goes…”

The cone turned out great, alternating brown and white spirals, tapering to a point. Amethyst giggled and cooed as Baby Stevonnie gently licked the humorously large treat in their hands.

“Aww… Gee, you’re so cute!”

“Mm-hmm…” They nodded, exclaiming, “Ice cream yummy!”

Part of Amethyst wondered if they would finish it before it melted, but then Stevonnie dove right in, devouring the sugary dessert in record time, leaving an ice cream beard around their mouth.

Amethyst never took out her phone out quicker to take photos and videos, managing to catch everything as Stevonnie licked themselves clean with their tongues.

Content, they quickly fell asleep, snoozing happily in her arms.

## # Bonus Cool Kids ‘Interlude’ ## #

The Cool Kids – plus Sadie, Lars, and Kiki – were enjoying a pleasant day off, walking along the boardwalk as they hung out when they saw Amethyst walking towards them.

“Hey Amethyst,” They waved, greeting her and noticing someone sleeping in her arms, “Who’s…”

“Yo…” Amethyst returned, whispering as she turned Stevonnie to face them.

“Is that…” Sadie and Lars began, Kiki finishing, “…Stevonnie…?”

“Yep!” She beamed, adding in a whisper, “Peridot.”

“Ah,” The older teens nodded in understanding.

At this moment, baby Stevonnie stirred awake, staring starry-eyed at all their friends.

“Aww… They’re so cute…”

“Buck-Buck… wants to hold baby… Too cute, can’t resist…”

“Sure,” Amethyst replied, handing them over.

Adjusting them in his arms, Buck felt a growing sense of warmth.

“Aren’t you just the cutest,” He cooed, lightly tickling as they giggled.

“Duck, Duck.”

“No, Buck…” He ‘corrected’.

“Luck, luck!” Stevonnie giggled, whispering, “Buck.”

“… Cheeky!” He smiled, taking off his glasses and putting it on them, “And now you’re cool.”

“Yay! I Cool!”

“Eh,” Sour Cream shrugged, producing some baby sized glow sticks, “Here…”

Stevonnie took them as he smiled, nodding in approval.

“Now you’re cool.”

Taking Stevonnie into his arms, Sour Cream did what any cool teen would do with a baby – dance and dab.

“Baby dance, Baby dab!” He voiced, mouthing a few beats.

Soundlessly, they broke out into a full dance, impressing the DJ.

“Wow, nice moves!”

“Thanks!”

“So Stevonnie, how’re ya feelin’?” Jenny and Kiki asked, taking turns holding and hugging them.

“Great!” They beamed; giving the pizza twins thumbs ups.

“Aww…” Jenny smiled, “That’s wonderful!”

“And you’re still a cutie, more so than ever,” Kiki complimented, kissing baby Stevonnie as they blushed.

“We cans hang outs later,” They replied sweetly, returning the gesture, “My mamas are waitings for me!”

Holding her prom date and friend turned baby in her hands, Kiki couldn’t help but smile – even as a baby, they were as understanding and as good a friend as ever!

“In that case, I’ll see you later!”

Last to hold baby Stevonnie was Lars and Sadie, both still vividly remembering that day…

“You know,” She said, cradling them, “I think this is a nice experience, both for them and the gems…”

“Yeah…” Lars nodded, “If I didn’t know otherwise, I could’ve honestly joked that this was all a ploy to make everyone…”

“Lars!” Sadie ‘backhanded’.

“But look,” He said, taking them into his arms, “They’re giggling!”

“Say-die, Lars!”

“Okay, that’s cute!” Both melted; Lars’ pink smiling face only making things more adorable.

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Topaz had to admit, holding baby Stevonnie in her arms, they couldn’t possibly be any more adorable and huggable. When she found out, she couldn’t believe her ears, almost passing out from overexcitement.

Taking great care not to smother/crush them – ‘regular’ Stevonnie already got enough of those –, Topaz gently hugged them, ensuring their every bit of their face was covered with kisses.

“Aww, Stevonnie…” She cooed, feeling the maternal love flow through her, “This is just the best!”

“Mama Topaz!” They babbled, reciprocating the love in kind, “I luv you!”

“Love you too…” She smiled, “I’m glad to be a part of this AMAZING family!”

Ever since moving to Earth and joining the gems, every day Topaz found herself surprised by how happy she was, each happier and better than the last.

Knowing their eagerness to play and have fun, Topaz set baby Stevonnie down after they seemed satisfied with hugs. Immediately, they stood up, took a few wobbly steps backwards, and sat down.

They concentrated for a moment as Topaz looked on encouragingly, in anticipation. Their gems began to glow, sparkles forming around their forearms as a small pink shield materialised.

Topaz squeed, clapping enthusiastically as both smiles grew.

“Look, I has a hat!” They beamed, bubbling childishly with their shield-hat on their head.

“Yes you do!” Topaz squeed, chuckling from the amusing sight.

It may be silly, but neither minded, both simply relishing it all. Topaz eventually joined in herself, using her mace to play and interact with Stevonnie’s shield, balancing it like a spinning plate, using her mace as a spinning top of sorts, play fighting with their shields as clay pigeons and so on.

They stopped for meals, but otherwise played non-stop, their overflowing baby-like joyous energy easily making up for their otherwise reduced stamina.

After a few hours though, nature’s call eventually caught up to them…

“Mama Topaz… I needs to go potty…” Baby Stevonnie said, doing the potty dance.

“Oh,” She replied understandingly, “You need help?”

“Mm-hmm…” They nodded.

“Alright then…”

Although they didn’t need diapers like other babies, Stevonnie still needed help reaching (and not falling in). Therefore, during busy nights, they gladly wore diapers – just in case… (They actually found the snug feeling on their body really nice).

“Wee… weeeeee…” They exclaimed as Topaz held them, both giggling, “Weeee… And… Done!”

“Here…” Topaz whispered, giving them a hand with the toilet paper, before they redressed themselves.

“Thanks mama-paz!”

After they flushed and both washed their hands, they got back to more activities together…

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Later, after having spent her time with Stevonnie, Peridot had postulated about baby Stevonnie, satisfying her own curiosity. [Log Date 15 26 5: Prototype Mk 1 Remarks] “…They’re a smart baby because of Connie and fusion, but the baby form is inhibiting/attenuating their normal intelligence/thinking, so they act (mostly) like a baby, instead of normal but looking like a baby…”

---

Naturally, Peridot was eager to spend time with baby Stevonnie, simply curious about their current state – in additional to Lars/Lion, Steven and Stevonnie’s ‘oddities’ (Not that she didn’t know better…) …

They were comically large in her hands – for a baby anyway –, but Peridot still tried her best despite the awkward proportions and leverage. Soon though, she had adjusted and found a comfortable position for both, and wow did Peridot love it!

“Oh my stars… This is… AMAZING!” She exclaimed, starry eyed, “I feel so… warm and gooey inside!”

“And you’re just so cute!” Peridot continued, kissing them as they giggled, “You like this don’t you?”

Stevonnie nodded in response, bubbling, “Stevonnie luvs hugs and kisses!”

The green gem smiled, “Well… Just say it and you’re gonna get ALL the hugs and kisses in the WHOLE UNIVERSE! What’d ya say?”

“Stevonnie, Mama Peridot…” She whispered, urging them.

They thought for a moment as Peridot visibly tensed, beads of sweat starting to drip from her forehead.

“Aunt Peri!” They beamed, hugging her.

“Close… enough…” She sighed semi-dejectedly before smiling once more, “How would you like to help Aunt Peridot? That sound fun?”

“YES!” Baby Stevonnie shouted, before the logical/curious part of made them ask, “But what… I can help withs?”

“Tests and one of my Projects! I mean aren’t you curious about yourself…? And you get to spend your time with the BEST gem ever while I work on something amazing!”

At that, they giggled, as if telling her she wasn’t the ‘best’, “Okay!”

Having already prepared for this, Peridot immediately set baby Stevonnie down, and instructed them on what to do.

“First, I’ll need you to complete this IQ test.”

“Easy!” They smiled as they blazed through the questions, amazing Peridot with the results.

“Second, is the aptitude test; you are not expected to complete all the tasks, as I specifically designed it to stump even the most knowledgeable of individuals and AI alike…”

“But you mades it…” They interjected.

“Doesn’t mean I know the solutions every time or can get the perfect score – the closest I got was when I fused with Pearl to ‘cheat’, and even then she needed double the time limit. So, no pressure really…”

The baby fusion nodded, turning to face the screen, tongue poking out as they tried their best.

“Gee… this is hards… It okays Stevonnie, we cans do this! Alrights here goes…”

As Peridot waited for the results to process, she continued, “Next, it’s time for physiological and motor-based assessments; it means you get to show off and move around!”

Eagerly, they jumped up.

The fixed tasks were okay; so-so on fun, maybe a bit frustrating at times as they struggled – some due to their baby-ness, but others just because of their impossibly difficulty (like drawing a perfect circle or long straight parallel lines…) –, or just bizarre to them; but as it came time for freestyle, their enthusiasm easily exploded.

Not even waiting for Peridot to ‘change gears’, they ran over and easily picked her up, holding her above their head as they giggled.

“Stevonnie…” Peridot called out, uncertain of their balance and grip.

“I picks’d up aunt Peri!” They smiled.

“I noticed,” She replied, smiling and patting their hair, “Stars you’re super strong, even for a baby!”

At that, they blushed, and quickly put her down.

“Thanks!”

Peridot could barely believe herself as she watched baby Stevonnie; she knew they were pretty flexible and athletic normally, but it was clear that being a baby didn’t change any of that – if anything, it just made it more mesmerising.

Jumping in the air to spins and flips, doing cartwheels, splits – both in the air and on the ground –, acrobatics and such, they could easily be mistaken for a professional gymnast; if not for the fact that they were a baby, and neither actually did gymnastics at any point.

“Well done!” Peridot smiled, clapping them on as they continued smiling.

As Peridot analysed the results, the baby fusion waited patiently, until eventually, the gem arrived at a conclusion…

“So Baby Stevonnie,”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Your results appear to align most with that of a toddler – with the exception of a few crucial aspects reliant on things like brain size, etc.… where you fall closer to a baby… Other than that though, you’re pretty much your usual amazing self! Isn’t it AMAZING?! And… you can always come back later…” (Later, they did just that, acing it all as Peridot almost passed out from their awesomeness…)

They babbled happily in response, giggling as Peridot ‘unveiled’ her project.

“Whats is it?” Baby Stevonnie asked, unsure what they were looking at.

“A device capable of bending reality, space-time, and such… It isn’t anywhere near complete yet,” She paused to look at them, their enthusiasm unwavering, “Wanna help?”

“YES, of courses I want to helps!”

As they worked on what some would come to call the ‘Reality Warper’, Peridot was pleasantly surprised to find just how helpful they were. Despite Steven’s cluelessness during the drill construction, Stevonnie – baby or not – understood everything she said, at points even being a step ahead of her with the next tool or thing she needed already in their hands.

It wasn’t the same as being a gem mom, but it was close enough for Peridot to understand and appreciate what the gems did. Part of her was disappointed for sure, but it was also refreshing to have a perspective as equals.

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Seeing Stevonnie as a baby, it was impossible for Lapis not to melt – they were just so adorable! She herself could never believe how much she was enjoying it, if not for the fact that she was actually here.

As soon as they saw the other – before they could even start having fun –, both eagerly ‘jumped’ into the other’s arms, seemingly set on just enjoying the comforting touch of a hug.

“Stars…” She cooed as she held them in her arms (more like them hugging her as she returned), “Stevonnie you’re just ADORABLE!”

“Hehe…” They giggled, smiling, “You cutes too, Lappy!”

“Aww… thanks!” Lapis replied, both nuzzling closer together.

“Beach Summer Fun Buddies!” Baby Stevonnie beamed, giving her a kiss on the cheeks.

They were much more comfortable around Lapis, helping the water gem relax more thoroughly and enjoy everything in a carefree manner.

“Beach Summer Fun Buddy!” She replied, beaming brightly and returning the kiss on their cheeks.

A slight blush formed on their round cheeks, but it soon disappeared as they continued embracing her. ‘This is nice…’ Lapis thought to herself.

Although both were happily content with doing nothing but hugs, cuddles, tickles, and such, it would also be unwise not having some fun…

“Wait right here,” Lapis said softy as she put them down in the sand, “Lapis is gonna give you an exclusive front row seat to something that will surely blow you away.”

Baby Stevonnie only smiled, waiting in anticipation as Lapis moved closer to the water, searching, manipulating…

Moments later, a cylindrical wall of water rose from the ocean, slowly moving closer to Stevonnie as their eyes widened and turned into stars.

Sun shining overhead and without meters of water dulling the light, all the fishes and aquatic creatures inside could be seen clearly through the almost crystal-like water. Slowly rotating the water around and bringing selected fish closer…

“FISHIES! FISHIES! Lappy… fishies… Stevonnie…” They babbled, incoherent from excitement.

“Like it?”

They nodded, never once taking their eyes off.

Bringing up wall after wall of water with different species, Lapis never stopped smiling as they watched baby Stevonnie giggle, smile, and pet everything. It wasn’t hard for her at all, but their joy and happiness made her feel like the most important being in the universe…

Occasionally, she would draw up some additional water to manipulate with her power, providing a spectacular show to Stevonnie and all those on the beach. However, that often proved too much for the giddy baby fusion as their euphoria exploded, making Lapis giggle along and almost lose concentration.

Others often spoke of Lapises divinely, praising them like goddesses, complementing the elegance, allure, charm, beauty, and more as they ‘unleashed’ their power. Lapis herself didn’t think much of it – apart from feeling important and being ‘worshipped’ –, however, here with a captivated baby Stevonnie, she supposed that even (especially) babies saw it in her.

Even as the sun set, Lapis noticed that Stevonnie’s eyes never left her or the water she manipulated. Immediately upon dropping the last bit of water, they had bounded up to her, hugging and clinging to her front.

“LAPPY, LAPPY! THAT was AMAZINGS!”

“I’m glad you liked it,” She smiled, brushing through their hair as they hummed, “Let’s get you home!”

“Okay!”

Once they got home, it was clear that they still wanted to spend more time with Lapis, staying close even as other gems beckoned. Baby Stevonnie obviously loved all their mamas, but there was just something about Lapis… the allure and charm… – as well as just seeing how bubbly and happy she was – that made them want to stick around. Lapis had no problem with that…

“It’s time for their bath,” Pearl stated as Stevonnie perked up, “Now, Lapis, I…”

“STEVONNIE LAPPY BATHS TIME!” They exclaimed from Lapis’s arms as she and Pearl barely suppressed a giggle.

“Yes,” Lapis cooed, leading them into the bathroom, “Stevonnie Lapis Bath Time!”

As Lapis prepared the bath, testing to make sure that the water was at the right temperature and putting in the appropriate amount of bubble solution, Stevonnie wasted no time taking off their outfit.

“Stevonnie… you’re naked…” Lapis giggled after she turned and saw them.

They returned laughing, carefree and not embarrassed at all, “Nakie Baths TIME!”

Lapis broke out in full on characteristic laughter, now unable to contain herself as she turned the water off.

“Water’s ready!”

“YIPPEE!” They squealed, jumping up and into the water.

Lapis helpfully used her powers to contain the stray splashes, allowing them to have their fun whilst making clean up easier later.

“Let’s get you clean!” Lapis smiled as she sat down on the edge of the bathtub, only to be pulled in by Stevonnie.

“Lappy baths too!” They babbled.

“Alright then,” She replied, changing into a swimsuit with a flash.

“Lappy beautiful!” Baby Stevonnie replied, wide eyed.

Splashing around with them in the bathtub as she controlled the water for entertainment and cleansing, Lapis had once again lost track of time, their happy smiles and giggles as she cleaned every part of them filling her with warmth and melting her heart.

Minutes passed by as the water stayed warmed to the touch – simply a trivial matter of vibrating the water atoms – and they were no closer to being finished.

“Lapis… Stevonnie…” Pearl called, knocking on the door, “It’s been over an hour, surely you must be done by now…”

“Oh sorry mama, I was just havings so much funs!”

“Yeah, we’ll be out soon; we promise!”

“Okay!”

Some more playing and a rinse later… both emerged from the bathroom, cleaned, dried, and ready for bed.

Lapis had dressed Stevonnie in their pyjamas and she changed to match, seeing as they were still clinging to her with no sign of leaving. Not that she minded, because any time with Stevonnie is time well spent.

Part of Lapis still felt weird as she slid into Steven’s bed cradling Stevonnie. There was the fact that they were a baby, as well as their usual self…

But that didn’t matter right now, she knew Stevonnie (baby or not) truly enjoyed spending time with her; they just showed it unhesitatingly…

Reading the story they picked out, each word narrated by Lapis only furthered baby Stevonnie’s smile and closeness to sleep. It may have started off as an ‘accident’, but for them in this moment, all that was forgotten.

“I luvs you Lappy!” They exclaimed after she finished reading the story, hugging and kissing her cheeks, “You’re the bests!”

“Aww…” she cooed in response, returning the kiss, “I love you too Stevonnie!”

“Beach Summer Fun Buddies!”

“Yeah, Beach Summer Fun Buddies!” Lapis exclaimed gently as she tucked them in.

“Night, night Lappy!” They yawned, eyelids drifting closed.

“Night Stevonnie…” She replied, her eyelids following.

As the Beach Summer Fun Buddies slept together, snoring happily and making cute noises, Pearl made doubly sure to take extra photos. They’d probably ‘flip’ once they found out, but a priceless moment like this simply couldn’t be missed!

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Despite everything that’s happened, it was still easy for Pink Pearl to get used to living on Earth. In a way, she was much like Rose; fascinated by all the amazing and wonderful things around her every day, wholeheartedly diving into the love and support of her new friends, and always cheerily wearing a smile on her face.

Knowing who Stevonnie was, she had no problem with looking after them. In fact, her delight practically exploded when she finally held their baby self in her arms.

“Oh my stars you’re so, SO, SO CUTE!” She squeed as she cradled them in her arms, nuzzling close, lightly tickling them, and peppering them with kisses, “I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!”

“I luv yous too, Mommy Pink Pearl!” They bubbled, returning the affection.

Any other time, she would be tempted to play or move around, but right now, she was simply overjoyed letting them guide her. Part of her thought that it was ironic and amusing how their ‘roles’ – or rather relative sizes – had been reversed, with her taking care of them…

Admittedly, she had dreamed of holding her in her arms, but she had always kept that a secret, until now – with them –, as she thoroughly demonstrated just how much she enjoyed it, laughing and giggling.

‘Drawn in’ by the overflowing joy, Lion and the Pebbles walked over so they too could enjoy.

“Oh… Hey Lion,” Pink Pearl cooed, rubbing the feline’s fur as he nuzzled into the embrace, “You want in?”

He nodded, purring softly.

“Stevonnie!” The Pebbles exclaimed, cheering as they latched on and covered them.

Pink was forced to put the baby down as she became overwhelmed with amusement, “Aww…”

“Peddles!” Baby Stevonnie blubbered, causing everyone to laugh, “Me Luvs yous!”

“We love you too!”

“YAY!”

It soon became a big snuggle pile as the Pebbles, Stevonnie, Pink Pearl, and Lion all hugged, nuzzled, and just smushed together lovingly. The Pebbles were still tiny, but with Stevonnie being a baby, it was much easier for both of them to play and get along/have fun.

One of the Pebbles jumped up and whispered into Pink’s ears. Nodding, she produced some items from her gem as they got to work. The Pebbles built whatever came to mind – mainly small playthings/houses/structures/blocks – as Pink did the same, helping them and joining in.

Lion would occasionally ‘destroy’ the creations, only for Stevonnie and the Pebbles to giggle as they ‘rebuilt’ it into something new.

‘It’s almost like old times… But better…’ Pink Pearl smiled as she shed a few happy tears.

Noticing this, Stevonnie stopped playing and turned towards her, with Lion and the Pebbles also stopping to observe.

“Mama?”

“It’s… okay… I’m just…”

Pink subconsciously reached for her broken eye – her reminder… –, as Stevonnie jumped up into her arms. Suddenly, feeling the fusion’s weight growing, Pearl sat down on the couch so she wouldn’t drop them.

“I-I…” She tried to reassure them, but couldn’t find the right words.

Baby Stevonnie seemed to be in thought before they suddenly frowned, having remembered… bad memories… her past…

“Mama, I…” They stumbled, crawling upwards towards her broken eye – the crack in her otherwise joyous cheery face…

Wordlessly, they kissed the broken eyes, their baby tears falling and dripping onto the broken surface. They continued for a few moments as they gathered the right words.

“I luvs you Mama Pink Pearl… I-I… is sorrys… You…”

“No, no… you don’t have to be sorry… it’s not your fault…” She cooed, rubbing their back soothingly.

“But, but…” They cried more earnestly, feeling her pain, as well as the love and compassion lost and now re-found… “You shouldn’t hurts… I wants to makes it better…”

“Oh Stevonnie…” Pink Pearl kissed them, “Being here with you is better enough…”

Lion and the Pebble’s eyes widened in awe as a gentle pink glow emanated from the pearl’s broken eye, both of them seemingly unaware…

Stevonnie was still crying when Pink Pearl blinked her eye… eyes…?

Leaning back as they looked first puzzled then relieved and overjoyed, Pearl moved her hand side to side, in front of her face…

“I-I… Oh my stars…” Seeing the parallax – the tell-tale sign of binocular vision –, she immediately jumped forward, enveloping baby Stevonnie in a passionate hug, “You-you fixed my eye! Thank you so much Stevonnie!”

“I did? I DID!” They beamed, “YAY! I luv you!”

Lion and the Pebbles did a double take before moving closer, basking in the seemingly miraculous feat they had just observed.

“Unbelievable…”

“They really did it…”

“You’ve never looked better Pink!”

“Thanks!” Pink Pearl replied, smiling as she and Stevonnie were swarmed on the couch.

The first thing Pink Pearl did – after a lot more hugs, kisses, and more with and for baby Stevonnie, Lion, and the Pebbles – was watching a 3D movie and obviously the sausage finger trick. She was so engrossed with everything that she kept subconsciously playing with her eyes, crossing them, rolling them, or moving them individually as Stevonnie and the others giggled and smiled, taking many cute photos together.

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Earth never ceased amazing Leggy with its wonderful sights, sounds, smells, and sensations. Even if she sometimes seemingly forgot a few things, never once did she mind. Slowly, she ‘broke’ out of her ‘shell’, learning to stay composed and not forgetting important things…

---

“I can have them?” Leggy asked, incredulous as Garnet handed baby Stevonnie over.

“Yes,” The fusion replied, ruffling the ruby’s hair as both smiled, “It’ll be good for you.”

“Oh my gosh, THANK YOU SO MUCH!” Leggy replied enthusiastically, jumping up to hug Garnet with them in her arms.

“I’ll leave you to it then.” Putting the excited ruby down, Garnet smiled, waving as she left via the warp pad.

“So baby human,” She cooed ‘teasingly’.

“My name Stevonnie, mama Leggy!”

“Aww… just look at you Stevonnie! So small and cute! AND LOVEABLE TOO! I LOVE YOU!” She blurted, kissing and embracing them.

“Luv you toos!” They replied, returning with more kisses.

At this, Leggy blushed and began warming up, causing Stevonnie to burst out giggling from the comforting warmth. “Hehe… Mama warms…”

“Okay…” She said, putting them down for a moment to compose herself, “I’ve got this…”

The moment of pause gave her an idea, and although she wasn’t sure (certain) that baby Stevonnie would see through it, she also knew they would definitely enjoy it.

“Whoop!” She exclaimed, hiding behind her hands, “Where’s the baby?”

“Goo-gaga… mama?” They called out, giggling and beaming, part ‘confused’, part amused, “Where’s you ares? Behinds these hands?”

“Peekaboo! I see you!” Ruby exclaimed, ‘reappearing’ as she giggled along, “There’s the baby!”

“Mama…” Baby Stevonnie burst out laughing, “Agains, agains!”

They continued doing this for a dozen more times, until Stevonnie suddenly ran away giggling, leaving Leggy ‘in the dark’.

“Peekaboo? Hello…?” She asked, looking around as she heard faint laughs, “Wherever can the baby be?”

“Find me if you can!” Stevonnie called out, projecting their voice as they did a bit of shuffling.

“Okay… I’m going to count to ten, then I’m come and find you…”

“Nine… ten… Ready or not, here I come!”

Leggy called out as she ‘searched’ the house, under the carpet, between the cushions, inside the cups in the cupboard, and all manner of ridiculous places while Stevonnie snickered at her ‘obliviousness’.

After looking everywhere but where they hid, Leggy sat down in front of their hideout and sighed.

“Oh, I’ve looked everywhere but I couldn’t find you… Whatever will I do when I tell them I lost you…?”

“I guess I’ll just hide myself in this closet, and hope they never find me…” She said, stretching out every word as she opened the door, “Nothing in here but some clothes and baby Stevonnie…”

“Yay… I found you…”

“MAMA!” Stevonnie exclaimed as both laughed.

“Love you!” Leggy beamed, hugging and kissing them.

Of course, Leggy never actually ‘gave up’; she just thought it would be fun for them!

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Lemon Jade loved exploring the Earth as a free gem, everything ‘forbidden’ before was now within her grasp, and she couldn’t be happier – well, until she found herself face to face with baby Stevonnie anyway…

What ‘compelled’ her to be present those weeks, she couldn’t really answer; these days, she just let her heart guide her – it was usually ‘right’ (fluffier) anyway!

She could barely believe how small they were in her arms, so vulnerable, yet strong…, adorable, loving, and bubbly as always…

“Hey there Stevonnie!” She cooed cheerily, brushing their hair and rubbing their cheeks, “Stars… I’ve never thought… OH… BABIES ARE THE BEST! You’re the BEST! The CUTEST, most ADORABLE, LOVEABLE AND WONDERFUL fusion-baby EVER.”

“Mama Lemonade!” They clapped their hands, kissing her cheek and gems.

“It’s Lemon Jade…” She giggled, kissing them back.

“Lemonade, Lemonade! I luv you mommy Lemonade!”

“Aww…” She beamed, her heart melting even more, “I love you too!”

As Lemon Jade deepened the embrace, all that was on her mind was how overwhelmingly wondrous and amazing it was. However, she remained just composed and grounded enough for both to continue enjoying the company and presence…

Just when she thought it couldn’t get any better, Lion appeared, walking up to nuzzle them both!

“Lion! Lion!” Baby Stevonnie babbled, eyes impossible wide and starry.

“Oh hey…” Lemon Jade greeted, reaching out to rub and pet his mane, immediately hitting a new high of euphoric bliss/joy, “OH MY GOSH, YOU’RE SO SOFT!”

“Of course he softs mama, Lion is the CUBBLIEST!”

“Cluddiest,” She ‘corrected’, giggling.

“Ro-awww!” Lion purred, pouncing onto them and proceeding to lick Lemon Jade.

“Eww… Lion…” Stevonnie ‘chastised’ in mock ‘disgust’, “… gross…”

“He loves me!” Lemon smiled, kissing him despite the slobber, “And I love you too!”

“Me too, toos!” Stevonnie added, only making Lion ‘clingier’ and purr more…

These last few years were certainly the liveliest ones in a long, long time for the Pink feline, but it had also brought on changes not just for him, but for all those around him as well. Even though he did not speak, his actions spoke louder than words ever could, of how proud, happy, and glad he was and is.

After he was satisfied, he heartily ‘let’ them continue with their fun, content with just watching them as he became an oversized living pillow/cushion…

“Okay… How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Um… Nine…? Stev-ven…?” They replied, uncertain because of the unfamiliarity of extra fingers and lack of thumb specification.

“CORRECT! Well done!” She complimented as they blushed, “So What’s next? I can’t wait!”

Baby Stevonnie responded by looking at her hands, then back at theirs, and back to hers again before clapping happily.

“Oh, OH, OH! I know this…” Lemon Jade shouted, recalling the game Stevonnie had taught her not long after coming to Earth.

Beginning to hum and sing along, both fusions joyfully exchanged claps, slaps, and bumps perfectly in time/tune. It didn’t matter that Stevonnie’s hands were tiny compared to hers, for both played just like ‘old times’, with Lemon Jade effortlessly switching between – and mixing – ‘girlfriends’ and mom modes.

One day, Lemon Jade would probably turn out to be a really great and awesome Aunt-Mom, what with her endless enthusiasm, cheery personality, and never-ending smiles, kisses, and hugs. Then and again, she would certainly be equally as good at anything else. Despite only knowing the basics (and ‘freestyling’), Lemon Jade’s maternal ‘instincts’ couldn’t be any clearer.

“I love this so much…” Lemon said thoughtfully as she held them fondly in her arms, wariness beginning to consume both…, “Thanks baby Stevonnie!”

“Yeah… I luvs this too!”

Steven’s bed was obviously too small for Lemon Jade, but short of a queen-sized bed, she supposed it was more than comfortable enough…

Needless to say, many more cute photos and selfies were/had been taken that day, up and until both had fallen asleep… as had happened with every other day before that that baby Stevonnie had had with all their moms…

Chapter Text

Everyone had just the awesome-est time with baby Stevonnie, playing with them, caring for them, and letting their baby adorableness overtake them. They so focused on having fun that they failed to realise more than 14 days had passed.

In fact, if Peridot’s original calculations were correct, they would’ve returned to normal around the time they healed Pink Pearl’s eye.

Thankfully, they had cleared everything in their schedule for 4 weeks instead of two – apart from the one event that they overlooked… –; meaning that though unexpected, the surprise ‘extra’ time was pleasant nonetheless.

Peridot, though seemingly ashamed of her mistakes outside, was actually secretly glad inside, having found it so much more enjoyable than she anticipated.

“Sorry about that…” She apologised to the gathered crowd, “But hey, it means we’ll get to spend more time with baby Stevonnie!”

“Oh the Perfect Nerd has made a mistake, how tragic…” Amethyst snickered half-mockingly as she put her arm around the green gem, adding in a whisper, “You know, a man once told me that there are no such things as mistakes, only happy little ‘accidents’…”

“Okay…” Peridot brushed her off, trying to hide her feelings, “Back to the subject…”

“So what happy little ‘accident’ did you accident?” Garnet asked, seeing her through.

“Stars,” She exclaimed, face palming dramatically before rapid firing her answer, “I rounded when I shouldn’t have! It should’ve been exactly 14.5 days – an extra 2800 seconds! Of course, that would only be an extra 46 minutes and 40 seconds… Then I realised, I FORGOT to ‘carry’ the 1.21 gigawatts squared, and afterwards DIDN’T add the 37 leap seconds CUBED which also needed 1.21 ‘carried’ squared… Obviously, rounding and forgetting the leap seconds only made it out by less than 1 day – less than 5 percent… And when it comes to nature, that’s probably exact enough… ANYWAY… It means it would’ve been 1,908,385.54 seconds… – or 1,908,400 seconds since my machine increments in 50 seconds! Which is just over 22 days, so… WE STILL HAVE more than half a week after the convention!”

“So you knew exactly how long?” Priyanka asked, incredulous.

“Well no, not exactly… It wasn’t exactly calibrated, but I DO know it has 50-second increments! I just did the calculations in my head!”

“We’ll need a baby sitter for Stevonnie,” Jasper stated objectively, “Since we’ll all be busy, at the convention…”

Garnet opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, so she just shrugged instead as they set about finding a babysitter…

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After that incident when Steven was a baby, it was just easier and made more sense for the gems to babysit without having to worry about explaining anything or the possibility of Steven’s power manifesting…

As circumstances would have it, everyone they knew that had even the vaguest idea of gems and just basic safety were unavailable. Ronaldo was frantically ‘confirming’ all his ‘theories’; Lars, Sadie and the Cool Kids (plus Kiki) were on a road trip with the crew; Jane was chasing after her boyfriend; and every gem bar one was scheduled for the convention with most of beach city…

There was however… one name – person – on both Steven and Connie’s phones who definitely knew more than enough to take care of Stevonnie… and would definitely be free…

That person was Kevin; he knew – more or less – exactly, what Stevonnie’s nature was, as well as quite a lot about gems…

With no other choice, they made the call with Connie’s phone…

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“You want me, Kevin, to babysit Stevonnie… who is currently a baby…” He restated after they finished explaining as much as they could concisely on the phone.

“That’s what we said,” Lapis replied.

“Good, I thought I was hearing things… I’ll be right there.”

True to his word, Kevin arrived in front of the beach house a mere 6 minutes later in his Himitsu X-12.

Walking up the steps and into the house, he could see that everyone was, in fact, here. The only one he interacted with before was Jasper when he fanboyed Stevonnie fangirl-style, and yet, under the ‘stares’ of the Stevonnie’s mom squad, he showed no sign of ‘fear’, remaining composed as ever (despite his ‘track record’ when it came to interactions…).

“Hello, you must be all their parents (and friends)!” He said, smiling and trying his best not to come off as unruly, “It’s an honour meeting you all!”

Despite how unconvincing he was, they all greeted him warmly, shaking hands, introducing themselves, and briefed him on everything he needed to know – be it fusion, gem powers, or just where the supplies were.

After they all waved goodbye to an ecstatic Stevonnie and left for the convention, Kevin slumped onto the couch, the gravity of the situation hitting him. Precarious as their relationship already is, he really didn’t want to mess things up even more. Last time probably didn’t leave the best impression… but then and again… he also found himself unable to stay away…

Stevonnie was sitting on the floor, looking at Kevin expectantly. Those bright shining eyes, adorable round cheeks made even cuter now that they were a baby…

His subconscious already made the decision for him, surrendering ‘everything’ to the hands of ‘fate’…

“Hey Stevonnie, aren’t you just the cutest?” Kevin cooed sweetly as he leaned forward, “Well you are, but I must say baby… you’re especially cute today! I mean you’re a baby, so I guess…”

Once the other part of his brain ‘caught up’, he face palmed and leant back, “ARGH, Kevin; nice work genius! If it wasn’t already weird enough already you just made it even weirder! That’s it, you’re done… they’re definitely weirded out. Why. Must. You. Always. Mess. Up!”

Knocking himself as he prepared for what was to come, Kevin really wished he knew how to be a better person (or even friend). From the moment he met them, he knew they were special; they were someone wasn’t to be treated tactlessly, and someone he wanted to be in good graces with.

He supposed, sooner or later, he’d mess up – they being a baby didn’t matter…

To Kevin’s surprise however, the worst didn’t happen.

Instead, baby Stevonnie simply smiled.

“Hehe,” Giggling, they jumped up and hugged him, “Kevin…”

“What?” He paused his breakdown to look clearly at them, his expression ambivalent.

They were so close, closer than he had ever been – mere centimeters…

“I’s is a baby!” They beamed, holding his face in their hands as he adjusted to make them comfortable, “Kevin didn’ts upsets baby Stevonnie, it’s alright…”

“Really?” He asked, taking them into his arms.

“Mm-hmm,” They nodded, smiling brightly.

This was the nicest they’ve been to him, so full of empathy, love, compassion, and wonder…

Moved, he easily ventured into the unknown lands (for him anyway) of friendship…

“Aww… you’re just too kind…” Kevin returned, smiling as he held them in his arms and hugged them, “You’re the best Stevonnie!”

They squirmed happily, babbling cute baby noises as his smile continued growing.

“I-me l-li-luvs you Kevin…” They bubbled, hands playing with his cheeks and giving him a quick peck.

Kevin giggled, returning the kiss and playing with their cheeks, “I’m sure that wasn’t the vocabulary you had in mind, but I know what you mean, baby. I ‘luvs’ you too.”

Both their cheeks warmed in response as baby Stevonnie continued dishing out their love.

“You know,” He said softly as they rested on his shoulders, “This still feels a bit weird…”

Not opening they eyes, they blabbered, “Lappy feels’d the same too! But… me and Kevins… Not really the sames…”

“There’s the dorkiness I know!” He chuckled, patting their head and brushing their hair… so soft and magical…

“I luvs you Stevonnie,” They said, hugging themselves, “Luv you toos Stevonnie!”

“Aww… good for you,” Kevin smiled earnestly, “You want to play now? I love the hugs and stuff, but I’m sure you don’t want to miss out…”

“PLAY! PLAY!” They babbled excitedly, clapping their hands, “Stevonnie play!”

“Let me just grab…” He started, before baby Stevonnie picked him up and jumped off the couch, “Woah…”

“I picked you ups Kevin!” They giggled, walking over to the toy box with him above their heads.

“You’re strong aren’t you?” The teen asked, trying not to throw off their balance.

“Hehe…” They blushed at the compliment.

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Although it was ‘childish’, Kevin still enjoyed playing along with them. They had already completed a few advanced puzzles and had put them away again. He honestly wasn’t sure why they found the puzzles interesting or worthwhile. Baby Stevonnie was quick with the puzzles, so it seemed like the only reason they did them was to get Kevin to open up, talk and chat.

It had worked, Kevin talked out some of his closest demons as they listened and offered support. Not wanting to overwhelm them, once he felt better enough, he moved on to talking about more pleasant things.

Finding their company increasingly enjoyable, he soon totally forgot about everything else…

Eventually, they ‘settled’ on playing with blocks and such, things undeniably ‘for’ and enjoyed by all ages.

“Okay Stevonnie, spell Amethyst,” He asked as they played with blocks.

“Amefest!” They proclaimed proudly, showing him their work (which despite their pronunciation, was spelled correctly).

“Well done!” Kevin clapped and pondered, “I think that’s all the gems…”

“I puts them away now thens.”

“Good… Stevonnie,” He settled, patting their head.

“Wanna see something cools Kevin?” They asked eagerly, excitement visible in their eyes.

“Of course, I’d love to Stevonnie!”

They sat down and stretched a bit before concentrating, focusing. Their gem starting glowing a brilliant pink, and with a flurry of sparkles, they materialised their shield.

“Looks, it my’s shield!” Baby Stevonnie announced proudly.

“Aww… it’s so cute and little…” Kevin moved to lie face down on the floor as they fiddled with it like a plaything of sorts.

“It strongs too!” They ‘huffed’.

Rolling onto his back, taking the shield into his hands and studying it, Kevin was amazed and awestruck.

“You’re right, it is strong! It’s so wonderful how you have these cool powers, how you can fuse… But hanging like this is cool too…”

“Kevin…” They giggled, sitting down on his chest.

“Hold up, I gotta take another photo!” He paused, pulling out his phone, “Smile!”

All the happiness, laughing, and giggling as they posed for photos soon drew Lion to them, his portal opening right next to them with the tell-tale signs.

Standing above the hysterical teen, Lion had that snuggle look…

“Lion… LION…” Kevin called out as the pink feline lowered himself.

“Lion!” Baby Stevonnie giggled, calling out to their ‘pet’, “You can’ts lies on Kevins, you’ll squish him!”

He put on a cute face and smiled before backing away, pretending to ignore what they said and acting as if it was all planned.

“So you want ins?” Kevin asked as he sat up, catching Stevonnie, “Well why didn’t you say so?”

“Silly Kevin, Lion can’t speaks!”

“Oh is that right?” Kevin thought he heard a grizzly ‘British’ voice say to him, “Of course I can speak, young one. I know your time will come, and you will do great things indeed… Until then, this will be all you hear of my true voice… Because now it’s time for hugs, cuddles, and snuggles! And boy does Lion LOVE them!” The last part of which sounded more like an excited toddler/talking kitten-cub – which Lion is…

Figuring it wasn’t that much weirder (more awesome) than what he knew of already, he just shrugged and leaned into the pink feline, letting his arms wrap around the mane as Stevonnie amusingly tried to do the same.

“LION SNUGGLES TIME!” Stevonnie exclaimed, muffled by the fur.

“HUGS AND MORE HUGS!” Kevin followed, letting his body relax.

“I luv you Lion!”

“He’s pretty great, isn’t he?”

“And the best part is,” Baby Stevonnie sat up as Kevin did the same, “Looks, I can puts stuff inside hims!”

They proceeded to pull out a bicycle and some of Steven’s knick-knacks as Kevin found himself unable to resist laughing at how magical and hilarious it was.

“You… I mean Steven, has a magical ‘pet’ Lion, but you use him like an oversized ‘purse’?”

“When you puts it that way,” They giggled, replacing the items, “Yeah!”

“You are a dork… But so am I…” Kevin scooped them up and hugged them, “A happy, compassionate, loving, friendly, and amazing dork… And possibly my first true friend…”

“Hehe… thanks Kevin!” Baby Stevonnie gave him another kiss on the cheek, “You’re pretty great yourselfs too, when you knows…”

“I know…” He returned, “Aren’t you just the sweetest, cutest little baby?”

At that, they beamed, radiating an aura of pure joy and love.

Lion finally got up and walked over to them to do what he came here for – hugs, proper.

As Lion began wrapping his arms around them, Kevin could feel the warmth growing increasingly soothing, his slow heartbeat adding to the whole experience. It was almost as if time itself had stopped…

It was a while later that Kevin finally had an epitome. He wasn’t sure how long he spent in the hug with Stevonnie and Lion, but there wasn’t a second more to waste…

“Argh, what am I doing?!” He asked himself as he put Stevonnie down and Lion returned to naps, “I have to fix- no, SAVE salvage my life and get it back together!”

Baby Stevonnie pouted, sad that their time was cut short. Noticing this, Kevin looked them in the eyes and reassured them, saying in his calmest, sweetest voice, “I’ll be back okay… And we can hang out then! That is, if you have nothing planned with Lapis…”

He half-expected them to blush, but instead, they just grinned. Obviously, he wouldn’t push further, since they understood…

“Pinkie promise?” They asked, eyes wide in anticipation.

“Pinkie promise,” Kevin replied as he held out his pinky for them.

Even though their fingers were tiny compared to his, he could feel the firmness and resolution as they shook.

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

“Aquamarine?” Kevin asked as the communicator call connected.

“That’s me!” She replied, sporting a friendly smile, “What’d you need?”

“Look… I- Can you come look after baby Stevonnie. I-I need…”

“You need to right your wrongs, I get it,” Aquamarine finished for him.

“How’d y…?”

“Let’s just say, we’re similar in a lot of ways… Used to be you know… until…”

“They helped us both realise some very important things,” Kevin finished.

“Exactly,” She beamed, “I’m on my way Kevin.”

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

After Aquamarine and Kevin exchanged a few greetings, the teen turned to leave, more reinvigorated than ever.

“Bye-bye Kevin!” Stevonnie called out, waving excitedly, “Good luck!”

“Thanks! See you later, Stevonnie!” He replied, waving back equally energetically.

The baby fusion continued waving even as the X-12 sped away from the beach.

“Come on,” Aquamarine urged as she giggled, flying in front of them to grab their attention, “Aren’t you excited to spend time with me?”

Attention captured, baby Stevonnie beamed, walking forwards to embrace her.

“Mama Aqua!” They babbled, arms just reaching around the gem as hers did the same, “Mama Aqua!”

“Yeah… Mama Aqua…” She echoed, once again feeling the warmth and comfort.

“I luvs you!” They said, kissing her cheek.

“Of course you do…” Aquamarine giggled as she returned, “I love you too!”

If there ever was a contest for most unlikely ‘gem mom’, Aquamarine would certainly win hands down… Yet, here she was, being just that…

“It’s weird you know…” She spoke up after a while, having made their way onto the couch, both looking comically small on it…, “I was always the smaller one in the hug, and you were the bigger one… It was so… nice, how… But look at us now,” She gestured around them,

“We’re essentially the same size… and yet…” Aquamarine paused to make sure she hadn’t lost them, “…it still feels the same… and more… It’s a bit funny, but if anything, I’d say we’re closer than ever…”

Aquamarine had a point; although the size relationship had changed, the dynamics didn’t change, it only expanded…

(Both were all too happy to see where this would lead.)

“Aqua play-play?” They probed, adding, “I has fun toys!”

“Play-play!” She replied, childish excitement overtaking her.

This time Stevonnie ‘skipped’ pass the more advanced logic/puzzles and settled on more ‘juvenile’/simplistic playthings. Though deemed 'childish’ to most, Aquamarine didn’t care; for her, they were new and exciting – things she hadn’t encountered outside of her research, things she wanted to experience in person.

“What do these do Stevonnie?” She asked as she looked at the assortment of toys, Stevonnie supressing the urge to tell or giggle.

“You can finds out, togethers!”

“Alright,” Aquamarine beamed.

She started by playing with a few of the toys which contained small plastic balls. As she interacted with them, Aquamarine found the balls bouncing around which captivated her attention.

“Wow, just look at how everything bounces and interacts…”

“It’s FUN and edu-ama-cational!” Stevonnie happily provided as they played along.

While somewhat pointless, the endless collision and ‘particle’ physics interactions were just fun to watch – like many a visualiser or screensaver.

“Agreed!” She exclaimed gleefully, and in spite of how silly it may look later, continued taking photos the whole time.

“Okay, now mama…” They said as they produced a box with a small handle, “Promise you won’ts freaks out?”

“I promise,” She nodded, unsure what to expect, but followed along anyway.

Putting her hand on the handle as Stevonnie held hers, the gem slowed turned the handle. The box responded by producing a gentle melody, and Aquamarine could begin to feel the growing tension of the mechanism inside…

Suddenly, the top face of the box opened, revealing a spring-loaded clown.

“Ho-ho HEY-HEY KIDS! It’s your pal, Jack in the box!” He ‘said’ as he bobbed around.

“ARGH!” Aquamarine and Stevonnie reeled back in surprise, before both bursting into a fit of laughter.

“Stars… that’s… gosh… I thought…” She stuttered between snort-chuckles, “This… can’t be a real toy… It would scare… SO many babies!”

“Mama funny!” They rolled on the floor giggling, “It’s real toy!”

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“The cow says… MOO!”

“Moo! Meh a cows!”

“Oh no! Where did Stevonnie go, all I hear is this cow!”

“Moo!”

“Cow, do you know where Stevonnie is?”

“Moo-Nooo?” They replied, unable to keep it up with Aquamarine’s curious ‘ignorant’ face so close to them, “Stevonnie is heres!”

“You’re not a cow?” She asked, hugging them.

“Nope Mama!”

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“And dones!” Stevonnie smiled proudly as they finished stacking their cube tower.

“Well done!” Aquamarine complimented as she finished her own creation with the help of her wand, “I made a castle!”

“It looks AWESOME like MINES!”

“Bet Peridot would LOVE THIS!”

“She woulds!”

Tungsten ballast cube/blocks weren’t ‘meant’ to be used for play – or played with –, but this was Era 3! Besides, being a dense non-toxic substance, it made for just the slightest of a challenge.

Stevonnie could easily manipulate the 20-kilogram liter cubes, but being that it outweighed them (as with most heavy things Steven lifted), they had to concentrate on keeping balanced and grounded. For Aquamarine, the hardest part was using her wand to build and stack precisely, instead of just holding or tossing.

It wasn’t hard work per-se, but after taking a moment to admire their creations, both were content to retreat to the sofa for less strenuous activities…

“That was surprisingly enjoyable…” Aqua whispered, lying back with Stevonnie in her arms.

“Yeah, its was fun!”

“Here comes the tickle monster!” Aquamarine exclaimed as she began tickling baby Stevonnie, “Tickle, tickle!”

Immediately, they began laughing and giggling as they threw their arms around, “Mama Aqua… Stops…”

“I don’t think so…” She returned, ‘teasing’, “This is too cute!”

“Its… tickles…” They blubbered between hearty laughs, “No… I…”

“Of course it tickles…” The gem paused momentarily to give them a break, as she herself began laughing at the sight.

Seizing the opportunity, baby Stevonnie swiftly rushed to begin their ‘retaliation’, taking Aquamarine by surprise. Now caught in tickles of her own, Aquamarine’s laughter only increased.

“Oh no… I’ve been foiled…” She exclaimed in mock exasperation, “Tiny hands… so much more… ticklish!”

“I’s tickling mama!” They bubbled, their small agile fingers making short work of ‘reducing’ Aquamarine into an incoherent of mess of chuckles, snorts, giggles, and flailing limbs.

Occasionally, the tables would turn as the role of tickler and tickled reversed. However, both clearly left ‘holes’ in their ‘defences’. Neither was certain what exactly happened… but eventually both ended up brawling out laughing together on the floor, a tangled mess of limbs, laughter, tickles… until finally…, hugs.

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The idea hasn’t crossed her mind before; being as small as she was – though powerful as a gem –, Aquamarine could, at most, pick up a Ruby or Pearl (not comfortably, she might add) and fly.

Long ago, an agate had dared her to pick up and fly with a quartz – which she did, except the flight was more like a controlled fall. Now though, was the perfect opportunity; she could easily carry them, and they certainly wouldn’t mind… (She could still probably fly them at their ‘normal’ size, but it would be awkward and they’d probably prefer flying with Lapis anyway…)

“Say baby Stevonnie…” She said, peaking open an eye, “How would you like to go flying…?”

“Stevonnie FLY-FLY with mama Aqua!”

“Alright, just hold on…”

In a swish, Aquamarine adjusted her grip on Stevonnie, summoned her wings, and flew out the door into the calm breezy afternoon. (Lion closed the door.)

“Weeeee…” Baby Stevonnie squealed joyously as they ascended higher and higher.

“Yippeeee!” Aquamarine joined in, making sure she kept her hands on the baby, “Woo… Yeaaaaaa… Baby fly!”

Stars formed in Stevonnie’s eyes as Aquamarine experimented with what she could do without letting go. Her natural affliction for flourish and spectre easily translated into aerial-acrobatics as she found herself performing corkscrews, barrel rolls, loops, and more freestyle combinations of twists, turns, and rolls.

“I LOVE THIS!” She beamed, “I mean I’ve done some fancy flying before, BUT IT’S SO MUCH BETTER when your audience LOVES YOU TOO and can enjoy the wind in the face TOGETHER with you!”

“Awws mama… I’ms glad you likes this toos!”

Since the town was practically empty, it became their aerial playground, the many signs, structures, and such making for excellent obstacles for flying through and around.

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When everyone made their way back from the convention, the sun had already set many hours ago, and the beach house, though pitch black, wasn’t empty. The sight that greeted them when they turned on the lights was nothing short of adorable.

Baby Stevonnie and Aquamarine were snuggled together, snoozing away blissfully and snoring faintly as Lion watched over/laid next to them. (Yet more cute photos were taken – for later…)

“Aww…” Topaz, Lemon Jade, and Pink Pearl squeed simultaneously, “Look at them… They’re SO CUTE!”

“Agreed,” Jasper and Lapis nodded in affirmation (for entirely different reasons), “They’re cute and adorable…”

Lapis found herself smiling as she walked towards the sleeping duo. Leaning down, she gave Stevonnie a kiss on the cheeks and whispered sweetly, “We’re back, Stevonnie!”

“LAPPY!” They shot up awake, returning the kiss as they hugged the water gem, “Lappy’s back!”

“Miss me much?” She asked, giggling.

“Uh-huh!” Baby Stevonnie nodded, “I’s miss’d Lappy and mamas!”

Stirring awake and looking up, Aquamarine giggled. ‘Stars… those dorks…’

“We’ll ALL be staying here in the house with you for the next few days!” Amethyst blurted, strolling up to the Beach Summer Fun Buddies, “Whatcha think about that Lil ‘Von?”

“All…? YIPPEE!” Stevonnie shouted ecstatically, kissing Lapis’s lips in their excitement and causing everyone to giggle.

“Well this is going to be fun isn’t it?” Lapis asked rhetorically, cheekily returning the kiss to their lips and giggling herself.

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The next few days were packed to the brim with baby hijinks, hugs, kisses, laughs, HEAPS more fun, games, and more as everyone once again lost themselves to the love and magic of baby Stevonnie.

Not knowing if this would be the last time, they all savoured every moment, leaving the ‘final’ hours for just having a giant snuggle-fest.

As the final seconds ticked down, everyone’s eyes (and a few cameras) were on Stevonnie, uncertain what exactly to expect…

When the ‘countdown’ reached zero, Stevonnie stretched as their gem started glowing brilliantly. Over 100 seconds, they slowly returned to their ‘normal’ size as their visibly re-aged, until finally…

“I’m back!” They exclaimed gleefully, hugging themselves and feeling their body, “Yeah… Stevonnie’s back! I’m back! We’re ‘back’!”

“Are… you sure?” Priyanka asked, her objective doctor side getting the better of her, “Sorry if that’s…”

“It’s alright mom,” They gave her a quick hug before returning to the question.

Stevonnie shrugged as they looked themselves and felt around more. While being a baby was fun, there was also a comfort in being themselves…

“I think so… Well I feel fine… Mom, if you want… I…”

“To the Hospital!” Peridot shouted, breaking the ‘tension’ for them.

“Greg and I should come too,” Pearl added as the woman nodded.

“Thanks you guys…” Stevonnie smiled, a few tears falling from their eyes, “I’ve couldn’t have asked or wished for a better time as a baby… It was fantastic…”

“Who says we can’t have more time like that Starlight?” White quipped, playfully punching Stevonnie on the shoulder, “We will always love you!”

They chuckled in response as Yellow spoke up, “Alright, call us when you’re done Doctor Maheswaran, we’ll come post-haste! I think we’ve got a few things to get out of our systems…”

“Sure…” She flashed a grin as they left for the car.

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Priyanka Maheswaran spent the next few hours at the hospital running tests and checking up on Stevonnie to make sure they were fine, as well as establishing a ‘baseline’ in case of any future eventualities. Since Steven never needed to go to a hospital, Greg helped fill in on what he knew and calm their nerves while Peridot and Pearl helped analyse, interpret, and focus on key aspects.

With their combined knowledge between them, they were able to make sense of the results.

Just as they all knew, Stevonnie was alright; the results merely confirmed what they already knew. As a doctor and mother, Priyanka was glad that everything was fine. Apart from Stevonnie being themselves and the results surprising and confusing a few of the doctor’s colleges overlooking the results, the experience went surprisingly smoothly.

“I love you Stevonnie,” Stevonnie said as they hugged themselves, glad for everything, knowing their instincts were correct, “Love you too Stevonnie!”

“It’s good being me. It is; you’re the best! We’re; I’m the best…”

Mom chuckled like always, their self-love never ceasing to amaze and amuse her.

“Hey mom…”

“Yeah, what is it sweetie?” She asked, already half-knowing what they would say.

“Can I… stay for a bit more… just… to be sure…?”

“Of course!” She beamed as they tackled her into a hug.

“Thanks mom! I love you!” They smiled, kissing her before turning to hug Pearl and Peridot, “And thank you too!”

“It’s no trouble Stevonnie,” Pearl cooed sweetly, returning the embrace and kissing them as well, “Love you!”

Peridot, though comically dangling her feet, was also all smiles, “It’s been… educational and… eye-opening… so thanks to you too!”

“Aww… you’re too kind, Peri!” Stevonnie smiled, continuing the hug.

“Come on,” Priyanka urged, giggling as she moved to the door, “Everyone’s waiting outside!”

Walking out into the hospital parking lot, Stevonnie once again felt the overwhelming love and support, the space packed full with people they knew and loved.

Kevin was the first to approach, exuding a newfound sense of resolve and friendliness.

“Hey Stevonnie,” He greeted cheerfully as he firmly embraced them, “I came as soon as I could… and I’m glad you’re okay!”

“Me too Kevin, me too…” They replied, deepening the hug, “It was nice, being a baby…”

“Yeah… and thanks for making – helping – me realise what is really – truly – important… It really changed my life for the better…”

“You did all the work; I was just the baby…”

“A really cute baby, I might add. And I do intend on sending those photos to you.”

At that, Stevonnie giggled, Kevin following soon after.

“Rematch?” Kevin asked, gazing towards his car, “No nitrous or tricks this time, I promise. Heads up, it’s still faster than before.”

Stevonnie turned to get a better look at the X-12. It was still recognisable as the same car, except it was now much, much yellower, had cyan neon and racing strips along the length on top, colour changing flame decals on the side which cycled through cyan, pink, orange/gold, and purple, a lift kit, and off road tires. Most noticeable though, was what appeared to be glowing bits of gem tech integrated into the bodywork as add-ons and PCB-like traces.

“It’s… bold,” Stevonnie remarked as he explained, “I like it!”

“Thanks!” He smiled, “I always loved the early Rapid and Rumbustious movies and cars. Who cares if people think it’s ‘lame and tacky’ now? All that matters is that I like it!”

“What about the…”

“Gem tech?” He finished, “I’m no fighter like you, but I can sure as hell drive! I want to help…”

“Top of the mountain, tomorrow night at 8?” They said, skipping over a few unneeded sentences.

“Sounds good!” Kevin beamed, before asking for clarification (not that he needed it), “… Does this mean we’re friends now?”

“Yes Kevin you silly…, we are,” Stevonnie giggled, pulling back and giving him a playful punch, “Same goes for us.”

“You’re the best friend ever Stevonnie!” He exclaimed, hugging them once more as he beamed.

“You’re a goof, you know that right?”

“So are you!” He ‘teased’ back.

“Touché, Kevin… touché…”

Looking over at them, Priyanka just wasn’t sure what to think/feel. Silently, she walked over to Yellow Diamond, and whispered in her ear as she shrank and leant down.

“Is this… weird…?”

“No,” Yellow replied half-amused, “When it comes to them and this family, it’s just what happens…”

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Though they didn’t need to, the diamonds still shrunk down to hug Stevonnie – being closer in size made everything SO much better!

“Starlight… you were so small! And we shrank, but you were still really small…” White rapid fired as everyone giggled, “And now we’re almost the same size and-and… YOU WERE SO CUTE! AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! You were such a hassle, but we still LOVED IT! Thank you!”

“I love you too mom!” Stevonnie exclaimed, tackling all three into a hug as they giggled.

“We love you too!” Blue and Yellow added.

“I know you weren’t really like an actual baby Pink, but it still made me appreciate everything so much more…”

“Yellow’s right… motherhood… is magical…” Blue said as she brushed Stevonnie’s hair, “And to think, mere months ago…”

“It’s been chaotic, but it is worth it!”

“Thanks…” Stevonnie beamed as they felt themselves lighten considerably from euphoria.

“If it isn’t my favourite fusion, Stevonnie!” Aquamarine piped up as she approached, “You look as wonderful as ever!”

They knew, this time, those word were absolutely sincere.

“Hey Aquamarine!” They smiled, greeting her enthusiastically as they opened their arms, Aquamarine quickly flying in for a hug.

“I think I’m going to stay around… it’s so nice around here with everyone!”

“And I think you already arrived at that decision when you came back for good…”

“Yes, but… the added ‘encouragement’ certainly helped.”

“Welcome to the Crystal Gems, Aquamarine!” Stevonnie beamed as they hugged her.

“YAY-yeah! New shorty squad member!” Amethyst shouted from the background.

“Is she always like this?”

“What do you think?”

There was no answer as Aquamarine simply giggled.

“So…” Lapis said sweetly, walking up to Stevonnie as she smirked, “Being a baby, aye…”

“Yeah…” Stevonnie blushed visibly, before hugging her nonetheless, “It was something…”

“Sure was, Beach Summer Fun Buddy.”

“Beach Summer Fun Buddies…” They said softly as the hug drew on, both not letting go.

Lapis could still feel the slight warmth on their cheeks as they left matters unsaid, for they both secretly understood…

Though dysfunctional in some ways, everything that had happened only brought this family even closer together. Once again, Priyanka and Yellow giggled they watch on, this being just one in the many fluffy dorky moments yet to come…

Chapter Text

It was just another normal day in the future _{(their present)} for adult Stevonnie when Peridot, once again, decided to test out one of her many machine/device/creation/invention-s. Often, things would not go according to plan; however, the consequences/effects were seldom consequential…

“Stevonnie, check this out!” Peridot said, grinning as she proudly walked into the room with the device in hand, “It’s my new prototype!”

“Of what?”

“The Childhood Giver! Name pending and likely not final, obviously…”

“Oh,” Stevonnie exclaimed in realisation, that being all the context they needed.

Not wasting a second, Peridot activated the device. To her disappointment/surprise, no age regression had occurred, instead, the effect was temporal displacement.

“I just can’t shake the feeling that I knew about the ‘effects’ long before the ‘cause’ …” Peridot said to herself, “Good luck, I guess, past Peridot…?”

“So you knew about this?” Pearl asked, her memory matching up to the situation.

“Not exactly… They never told us when exactly it had-would happen. And I don’t even want to begin thinking about the possibility of a ‘time-loop’…”

“Fair enough…”

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In a flash, adult Stevonnie arrived in the past _{(our present)} on the beach. Everyone was crowded around someone, but they soon turned their attention towards them…

Although this is their first time meeting them, it was undoubtably crystal clear who they were.

Nonetheless, they still took the time to look from baby Stevonnie – who had turned into a baby upon their arrival – to them _{(adult Stevonnie)} to take in all their features.

They were tall – very tall –, taller than current _{(previous to their arrival)} Stevonnie and Rose – but shorter than Pink Diamond –, had long voluminous hair tied into a vague ponytail with a pink hair-tie, wore a cut-out top exposing their gem with puffy sleeves like Pink Diamond, the same floating ball shoes – albeit with more _(adequate) sole support for a hybrid like them –, but had a pink skirt with cyan bike shorts underneath _{(instead of the puffy shorts and leggings)} – for extra flare and convenience, of course.

To finish off, they wore pink and cyan glowing bracelets with gold accents (for Lapis) instead of gloves.

“Stevonnie…?” Pearl asked, addressing them.

“Yeah, that’s me/h!” Adult and Baby Stevonnie answered simultaneously as a few of them giggled.

“PERIDOT! WHAT DID YOU DO THIS TIME?!”

“Nothing… I…” She mumbled meekly before _(Adult) Stevonnie ‘intervened’.

“Pearl, relax…” They said, walking up to place their hand on her shoulder, their hand, while much larger, still held the same comfort, “Peridot didn’t do anything… at least not yet anyway… it was future Peridot.”

“So you’re…”

“Stevonnie from the future? Yep!” They beamed, scooping her up into a hug.

Even though they were much taller ‘now’, Pearl didn’t feel any less like a mother.

“I just have one question…”

“The temporal wakes intersected,” Peridot and adult ‘Von explained, “Resulting in an effect on them/us upon arrival… Should snap back in three days…”

Pearl nodded silently as Stevonnie put them down. They pulled back and did a few stretches before answering the other obvious question – their height, since everyone seemed to take notice of that most (besides the outfit and their very presence…).

“I probably can’t say exactly when I came from, but I will say it’s more than several centuries from now…” Stevonnie expounded while trying to avoid critical spoilers, “I didn’t notice it at first, but I had kept growing slowly decade by decade… I only stopped growing about… 20 years ago!”

“Don’t worry though; I learned/figured out how to control my size/height long before I couldn’t comfortably fit in the house.” They grinned as everyone caught up.

“But you’re like…” Peridot quipped, doing mental calculations, “10 FEET TALL!”

“315 centimeters or 10 feet 4 inches in the old system; America finally switched to metric when Lapis became President… Any taller and things would get really awkward…”

“So…”

“I normally stay at human size when I’m by myself – just a tad taller than Jasper,” Stevonnie stated as they demonstrated by shrinking down, “And the best part, the magic clothes resize with me!”

Giggling, they did a few twirls and cartwheels, their skirt continuing to twirl even when they were upside down, all the while not ‘flying up’.

“So you just ‘stretch out’ occasionally?”

“Yeah, and for gem appearances and such. I get enough energy from food and my gem to maintain my size and change it whenever I need to… But I do love being more personal, so…”

They shrank yet again, this time they were just ⅔ of a head taller than current Stevonnie.

While Stevonnie would get ‘carried away’ sometimes, their constant self-love and enthusiasm was endearing for everyone who knew them. Who could blame them though, faced with the opportunity to ‘explain’ and show-off to their confused loving family, seeing their amused smiles, feeling the love and warmth of being themselves…

“Thanks for explaining yourself, Stevonnie… I’m sure the information will come in handy… So… how is the future?” Peridot (finally) asked candidly, her brain already overflowing with thoughts and questions that needed answers.

“Um…” They mumbled before finally turning to face Lapis, only to begin blushing as they gazed at her beautiful features…

In the corners of their eyes, they could already see the cogs turning for Amethyst and Peridot. Sheepishly rubbing their neck, they prepared for the worst…

“So… I gotta ask, ‘Von are you…” The purple and green gem began to ask, only to be muffled by a smiling Garnet.

Though rest of the words were inaudible, the Beach Summer Fun Buddies already knew what they were.

At this point, baby Stevonnie had wondered over to their adult counterpart and jumped up to hug them. Subconsciously, the adult shifted their arms to support them, and thus returning the embrace.

Feeling the comforting contact, both smiles grew – even as their focus returned to a giggling Lapis.

Seizing the moment, Lapis walked towards the entranced ‘duo’ with a smirk on her face, their aura/s intensifying with each step.

Both remained speechless as Lapis proceeded to hug them resolutely. At the same time, Peridot and Amethyst were clearly ripe to ‘explode’ in excitement.

“Don’t ruin this,” Jasper whispered to the shorter duo, taking over as Garnet lost her grip.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lapis pulled away from both Stevonnies.

“Have fun (playing) with yourself Bob!” She called out as she walked away backwards, giving them a few very conspicuous winks along with finger guns.

Even as she disappeared from view, the Stevonnies continued blushing; baby Stevonnie mainly from seeing their blushing adult self…

“Well, I guess we’ll leave you to it then!” Amethyst called out from a shapeshifted mouth, leading the others away.

“Why’d I even bother…? You could’ve…”

“Eh, I’m not that party pooper sis… Even when they’re that ‘hopeless’…”

“How about we grab some donuts,” Jasper asked, ruffling her sister’s hair, “And maybe help you get it out before you explode on them afterwards…”

“Are we really that easy to read?”

“What do you think?” The orange gem giggled, much to the ‘chagrin’ of Amethyst and Peridot.

“Garnet,” Pearl asked once out of earshot, glancing back, “Do you think it’s a good idea for them… what consequences could…”

“I dunno…” Garnet shrugged, “They’ll be fine…?”

Although the answer was the opposite of reassuring, they still left the Stevonnies to their own devices, trusting their judgements and lack of concern.

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Obviously, this wasn’t something that either had intended or ‘predicted’; nonetheless, they would make the most of this.

“Hey baby Stevonnie,” Adult Stevonnie cooed sweetly, looking at them intently, “It’s nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meets you toos other mehs!” The baby babbled happily, “Yo-I talls!”

“And you’re so tiny and small!” They giggled, “Just look at you! GOSH… SO PRECIOUS!”

“Heh… of courses, we’s the bests!”

“I am the best! Don’t let anyone make you doubt that okay?” Adult Stevonnie smiled, peppering kisses over themselves.

“Stevonnie forevers! And we’s always loves us’es!” They returned, giving kisses of their own, “I luvs you-I-meh Stevonnie!”

“That right! Remember to always love yourself and others. I love you-us too, Stevonnie!” Cooing, they hugged themselves and themselves even harder as their faces nuzzled closer together.

“Yous sillys,” B giggled, “I knows that! Yous is I-us!”

“Well…” They admitted coyly, “I just felt like saying it…”

‘Must be nurturing maternal instincts… But they’re us… Does that matter? No, I suppose not… Stevonnie, you’re a dork! Yeah…’

“You-I and Lappy marreh?” Baby Stevonnie bubbled, breaking the older out of their thoughts about themselves…

‘Our own worst enemy and best friend…’ Sighing, adult Stevonnie sat down and began mediating with baby Stevonnie.

Their breathing soon synchronised as they entered their fusion mindscape together. Inside, the adults and the babies could see their other selves. All their eyes were glistening starrily as they finally ‘met’, immediately they hugged their respective selves, before all coming together in an otherwise impossible miracle…

Deciding it was easily to communicate everything in here, they stayed together with themselves as they bonded. Even though what they said wasn’t much more coherent, they understood it all the same, if not more, the addition of their components adding dimensions and much needed fluff.

There was, however, one thing they couldn’t do in their mindscape – take photos. So once their ‘curiosity’ was contently sated, they returned into reality so they could really begin having their fun together…

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

“Wee… YIPPEE!” Baby Stevonnie shouted joyously as they flew through the air, occasionally using their powers to change their velocity and vector, ‘forcing’ adult Stevonnie to play catch up.

“You know, if you fall, it’s only your fault,” They said ‘sternly’ beneath a flurry of giggles, “But I know that won’t happen… I got you!”

“Uppie again, uppie!”

“Here we go…!” Stevonnie beamed as they tossed them high into the air.

“Lookie meh, looks!” The baby fusion beamed back, giggling as they spun, flipped, tumbled, and freestyled in the air, “I’s an acrobat!”

“Yes you are!” They cooed in response, jumping up to join them with their phone in hand, “I’m coming up!”

Thankfully, neither had become queasy as the sense of up and down almost vanished completely, their acrobatics amusing both themselves and a few observing gems (not that Stevonnie or Stevonnie minded though, since they were cheering them on).

“Playin’ with myselves is funs!”

“Just wait until you see what toys I’ve go…t… baby me…”

Without waiting for themself to finish, they had begun diving towards the ground at breakneck speeds. Giddily, Stevonnie followed their baby self towards the ground.

“I’s gonna luvs playing with meh!” Baby Stevonnie babbled happily as adult Stevonnie summoned some toys.

“Of course you’re…” They giggled at themselves, grinning brightly, “These are hologram blocks!”

“What they do’s?”

“Well… they can change colour… stick… float…” Stevonnie began listing off everything special about the blocks, only to get cut off by an overexcited baby Stevonnie.

“Less talkie, more play!”

“Sure!” Stevonnie smiled as they adjusted to sit them comfortably in their lap.

Not a single word was said as blocks were put into place, creation slowly coming to fruition. Baby and Adult selves, working together in perfect harmony and understanding that could only come from oneself (apart from Steven and Connie, obviously).

Once completed, both smiled equally brightly as they admired their creation.

“It’s perfect/s!”

“It is!”

There was talking to yourself and talking to yourself, and then there’s this; talking to yourself talking to yourself… Not that it mattered, because any time with Stevonnie and themselves is time well spent for Stevonnie.

The only limit to holo-items was one’s imagination; however, Stevonnie and Stevonnie were also just content with the ‘classics’. No wanting to miss the opportunity to ‘properly’ play board games with themselves, the older quickly suggested connect 4. Nodding, baby Stevonnie moved to sit opposite them in the sand.

“You go first/s!” They said simultaneously (unsurprisingly), then beaming and breaking out in synchronised giggling, “No you/s…”

A hilarious moment of stumbling later, baby Stevonnie finally started themselves off.

“Good move!” Adult Stevonnie complimented, noticing they had gone for the middle.

“Thanks!”

Knowing themself naturally made it intense. Regardless of who started, both were equality likely to win, remaining tied game after game, ‘swapping’ victories as the holo-connect 4 game announced and popped holo-confetti.

“Baby Stevonnie wins!”

“Adult Stevonnie wins!”

“Baby Stevonnie wins, again...”

They also built some sandcastles – out of natural sand – together, before finally settling for more laid back ‘shenanigans’. Since the morning, they had already taken many cute photos together, but there was always room for more…

Whether it was making faces, posing (cheekily), or just general goofiness, baby and adult Stevonnie enjoyed and indulged, the joy and amusement reflecting, infecting… Goofy selfies are DEFINITELY better with yourself and yourself!

The fact that they were so cute only made it harder to stop… The adorable round faces, radiant ecstasy, and so much more…

“I love you Stevonnie,” Adult Stevonnie cooed sweetly, hugging their baby self closely (and by extension, themselves), “And you too Stevonnie.”

“I luv you toos!” They bubbled joyfully, equally resolute in their hug, “And you!”

“You’re the best!” Stevonnie exclaimed as they peppered yet more kisses over themself, “This feels… so good…”

Baby ‘Von returned with more kisses, “It’s the bests!”

As they continued exchanging kisses ‘back and forth’, their joy soaring ever higher, it felt like time itself was stopped. Soon, there was no spot left unkissed on either’s face.

Self-love materialised, in a way they knew but couldn’t before…

“I definitely needed this… it’s… cathartic…” They whispered, laying in the sand with their baby self snugly on their chest.

“Meh glad this happens’d…” B replied, voice barely audible, “Me so happy!”

“Same…” Stevonnie said as they unintentionally tickled them.

“Hehe…” Giggling, they returned, “Me tickle, yous tickles toos!”

“Oh no…” The older gasped, continuing the tickles as both burst into hearty laughter, “hehe… Tiny hands…”

“Meh only weakness! But big hands alsos tic-tickless…”

By the time the sun had set, both were thoroughly covered in sand, and yet, were smiling (though somewhat clichéd) brighter than ever thanks to the time they’ve had.

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Before they could tuck into bed together, however, they had to clean themselves off. Since taking a bath in the tub wouldn’t work for adult Stevonnie, they decided to have a shower… together…

Although adult Stevonnie’s clothes could phase off any dirt or grim, they also loved the fresh smell of cleaned clothes, so they still had them ‘washed’.

After setting aside a change of clothes, they walked into the bathroom together, and removed their dirty clothes.

Immediately, both looked at the other’s body, their body. Not that they could blame themselves, since they were literally seeing themselves as others did – not in a mirror –, and grown up/as a baby at that… for the ‘first’ time…

Being themself, they had nothing to be embarrassed about, both smiling together without blushing as they made their way into the shower together.

Adult Stevonnie summoned a small shield for baby Stevonnie to hover-sit on during the shower as they took turns tending for the other, baby Stevonnie helping adult Stevonnie with their hair as they helped with theirs.

Yes, they could just as easily wash themselves respectively, but this was also a great bonding experience…

Once the hair was finished, they moved on to their bodies, in sync.

After drying their hair in no time thanks to gem tech, they got dressed, exited the bathroom, and made their way to the ‘bedroom’.

“Oh…” Adult Stevonnie said longingly as they looked at Steven’s bed, “This really takes me back…”

“Goods or bads…?”

“Goods…” They replied, flashing themselves a smile and picking them up, “It’s less comfortable, sure… but there’s just something about real springs and foam…”

“Storeh?” Baby Stevonnie suggested, breaking them out of their nostalgic trip through memory lane…

“Sure!”

Therefore, after Stevonnie picked out a story, they began reading to themself as they snuggled in bed together, drifting closer and closer to sleep…

The story was silly, but that didn’t seem to matter, for both just enjoyed the soothing sounds of their own voices and comforting warmth together.

‘Both’ would vividly remember the happy amazing dreams of that night would for eternity, each perspective further deepening their love of themselves, and for themselves. As they fell asleep, resting together, recharging for more fun _{(and happiness)} ahead, everything was more than sweet beyond words…

Chapter Text

The year is 4020; the end of Era 3 is in sight, and Era 4 is only a few centuries away on the horizon.

Ever since the day that will be forever remembered, many changes had taken place all across the now former empire, its colonies, as well as the solar system and the Earth itself. Steven had set the cogs of change in motion, and progress, though seemingly slow at times, never stopped.

From the ‘ashes’ of The Great Diamond Authority rose The Great Diamond Alliance, renewed with a newfound ‘purpose’ of bringing good to all throughout the universe, quenching and converting ‘evil’, and to forever cherish and embody the love made possibly by Rose’s sacrifice.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was the empire; therefore, greater changes for the better also took their time. Most of Era 3 had been focused on reforms, rebuilding, and cosmic peacekeeping, while Era 4 would be when gemkind would finally be ‘reborn’, able to produce new members sustainably – no longer a ‘parasite’, and instead nurturing life everywhere.

The most important reforms such as allowing fusion, abolishing shattering and castes happened almost immediately, their effect far too close to home to ‘ignore’ with people like Stevonnie, Garnet, Lemon Jade, and Pearl…

Further restructuring of society and ‘psyches’ as a whole took a little longer, but with the help of everyone, everything was once again flowing smoothly, if not better than ever, thanks to the efficiencies of increased work ethics from more freedom.

The much harder task was rebuilding. This included fixing up everything that had been built – and abandoned only until recently – on Earth, Homeworld, its ‘serviceable’ (still habitable) colonies, and ‘outposts’.

The results were remarkable to say the least; with minimal effort and materials, structures and places long deemed too luxurious to construct anew had been returned to service. Places like the Lunar Sea Spire, the floating Sky Arena and Cloud Arena, all bustling with life, gems and others going about and mingling.

Now paying more attention to life around them in the cosmos, the Diamonds could see injustice, conflict, and unfortunate happening peppered throughout. Humans had proposed the zoo hypothesis for non-intervention, but now enlightened, they couldn’t simply stand idly by – so they helped and kept peace.

Humans, gems, and other species had been coexisting for 500 years (at peace for 2000), living, working, growing together, unified – the ‘ultimate’ intergalactic super civilisation. With this brought wonders, sights, planets, peoples, and items so unique and diverse that it just kept blowing everyone’s minds away.

Humanity, while instrumental in the ultimate turning around of gems as a whole, also had their fair share of problems and issues as a species, an unresolved civilisation with both good and bad, one that was amongst the worse gem kind had encountered, and yet, held immense potential.

In the eyes of the gems, they had risen in only a mere blink of the eye, and at the same time, charted and doomed to fall even faster in the course that they had plotted themselves. The writing was on the walls, but there was still denial, inaction, indecision, and dismay; caught in the wake of their careless industrialisation and modernisation without an effective solution, petty barbaric tendencies outpaced, made worse by technology.

While some argued that humanity should learn, unaided, for themselves, time was also running out, and history did not paint a picture of favourable odds at all. Thankfully, gem kind could now return the favour, and give them the helping hand needed to safeguard their survival, longevity, and prosperity.

Undoing the damage of decades, centuries even, of pollution, global warming, and short-sighted thinking was no easy task. However, it would still be easier than terraforming Mars for human habitability.

Starting in 2030 with the help of gemkind’s best, icecaps, glaciers, and permafrost were unmelted – refrozen –, oceans cleaned of pollution, deacidificated, desalinated to ideal levels, atmosphere scrubbed, natural composition restored, climate restabilised, excess desertification reversed, soil-fertility and bio-diversity, important extinct/endangered species of flora and fauna restored, reintegrated, and reinstated.

At the same time, thanks to eons of their own history laid out before them, gems finally helped humanity move past their own suicidal tendencies, pettiness, and backwards behaviours. Shameful things like overly selfish greed, extremism, supremacist views, and violent radicalism vanished as humanity as a whole embraced love and peace, striving to build a better future united and together as one.

Small technology exchanges between humans, gems, and other species occurred until ‘peak’ science and finally, the ‘merger’ as a community in 3520. Gems let them mostly develop on their own and join when ready, while keeping a close eye and ensuring they wouldn’t kill themselves or others. An ancient civilianisation enlightened by the result of a chance crossing of paths with their young civilisation, now guarding them in turn, ensuring history remains history, and nurturing their journey to the stars and beyond…

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

“Hey Lapis?” Stevonnie asked as they sat beside her on the Pink Diamond ‘throne’, Lion by their other side. Even after all those years, there was still much work to do, so eventually, Stevonnie found themselves falling into a loose structure for convenience and sanity.

“What is it Stevonnie?” She returned, smiling as she put her arm around them. Lapis had added a pink and cyan bow in her hair, and returned to wearing a skirt, with shorts underneath like Stevonnie.

“I’ve just been thinking…” They replied, hugging her closer, “About everything that’s happened… What about you?”

“Same… It’s amazing isn’t it, how everyone united and stuff…”

“Yeah… It is…” Stevonnie smiled characteristically as Lapis kissed them.

“I love you Stevonnie Pink Diamond Maheswaran-Universe-Lazuli.”

“I love you too, Lapis Lazuli Mahesiverse.” They returned with more kisses.

Giggling, Lapis let out a snort, “People just call us Stevonnie and Lapis – or Azure-Violet when we’re fused – anyway, so why…”

“I guess it feels more special…?” Stevonnie replied uncertainly.

“I feel special enough being with you Stevonnie, who cares about name formalities anyway!”

“I feel special being with you too, Lapis…”

“You know, we can always take some time off…”

“But I don’t want to move… it’s so comfortable here!”

“It is, but so is the bed…”

“Lapis!”

“You love it!”

“That I do…”

Although Stevonnie and Lapis officially held the most ‘power’/respect as ‘leaders’ of their ‘court’, they knew better than to take on all responsibilities for themselves. Besides the many gems doing what they enjoyed doing, there was Holly Blue Agate and _(Pink) Kevin who worked for/with them directly.

Holly had wanted nothing more than to love and learn, so as soon as plans for zoo reintegration were announced, she showed up at the temple, practically ‘begging’ to finally be of some use (not that she needed to, since Stevonnie saw and understood her when they met briefly at the zoo).

Another important milestone on the horizon was the 2000^th anniversary of Steven and Connie’s marriage; or perhaps more aptly, Stevonnie’s third millennium of being a permafusion. Brought together, united, by the love they shared for themselves, each other, and themselves – almost 2000 amazing years filled with love and all things good.

Not long after Stevonnie permafused, they and Lapis _finally ‘started’ dating, their long known and ‘hidden’ feelings ‘set free’. They had always enjoyed each other’s company and loved finding excuses to hang out, so it came as no surprise to their friends and family. (To this day, Lapvonnie and Connverse remains tied as the most hopeless dorks in love.)

They _{(the Beach Summer Fun Buddies)} themselves married soon afterwards, and filled with even more love, their ceremony easily eclipsed the prior in flair, extravagance, tears, joyous auras and such, dancing, and embarrassing stories…

They (Steven and Connie) did miss seeing each other, each of their faces so expressive, loving, caring, complimentary, breathtaking, and beautiful – gorgeous, handsome – on their own… looking, admiring those different, yet so similar features – eyes, smile, quirks…

However, they would also miss being together together, being Stevonnie, much, much more. In any case, they could still each other’s faces when meditating. It wasn’t entirely the same, but the fusion mindscape was also where Steven, Stevonnie, and Connie, all were simultaneously…

Besides, as Stevonnie, they had Lapis (and she had them)… And between that, loving, and being themselves (as always), they couldn’t think of how it could be any better…

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

Today was Steven and Connie’s wedding, and Stevonnie’s fusion ceremony, and Lapis couldn’t be happier for them. The procession couldn’t have gone smoother with Sadie and herself as Connie’s Maids of Honour, their speeches as emotional and moving as Kevin and Lars’s as Steven’s Best Mans – both pink ‘teens’ wearing heels and plaited dresses resembling tuxedos while Sadie and Lapis wore more intricately designed dresses complimenting Connie’s hybrid saree/wedding gown.

Happy crying and smiles were everywhere as the Jam Buds shared their final kiss, a familiar pink glow washing over the beach, and then fading, to reveal Stevonnie, together, themselves – for good.

Their outfits had combined into an extravagant, flowing, breathtaking, and spectacular tux-gown bursting with colour, frills, accents, and more…; flowy and ‘wild…, yet perfectly showcasing their gem, toned physique, _(undeniably) heavenly body, long stunning legs accentuated by their heels…

After giving her Beach Summer Fun Buddy a quick hug (more like Stevonnie giving her a quick hug), Lapis moved to sit down next to Pearl, her emotions and feelings muddled…

“Lapis… what’s wrong?” Pearl asked tenderly as she gave the water gem a kiss on the lips, “You know you can tell me anything…”

“I know moon pie…” She replied, returning the kiss purposefully – or so she thought –, but Pearl could tell otherwise… “I…”

“You’re happy for them right?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She chirped, “Of course I’m happy; happy that they ‘found’ each other – themselves –, and be together, themselves, forever…”

Pearl, noticing Lapis gazing longingly at them, gave her a reassuring squeeze of the hands to calm her nerves.

“We both probably know it already, but trust me, it’ll be better once you say it…”

“Thanks Pearl,” Lapis replied, turning to face Pearl and kissing her on the gem, “You’re a great gem, you know that right?”

“Oh…” She blushed blue as Lapis gave knowing looks to Yellow and Blue Pearl, directing their attentions towards their counterpart.

“I’m happy for them Pearl… It’s just… there’s this part of me that feels hollow – empty – when it… shouldn’t be? They’re happy which means I’m happy…? Or I am, but… It’s like… something’s telling me in my… maybe… And this…”

Lapis gestured between herself and the slender gem,

“We-I… Doesn’t feel right… for me…” She admitted, somewhat shameful,

“Don’t get me wrong, this…-you’ve helped me so much with moving on from the past… It’s just…”

Lapis’s gaze returned to Stevonnie, full of yearning, wistfulness… drawn ‘back’ together…

“I understand Lapis,” Pearl replied delicately, catching her attention, “I’ve been doing some thinking myself too…”

“But I… Stevonnie… them…” Lapis stuttered, not expecting the conversation to advance so quickly, “I-I don’t…”

“Know how to feel about Stevonnie, and whether…” Garnet, Blue, and Yellow Pearl ‘deduced’.

“Yeah…”

“You won’t know what happens unless you try…” Garnet smirked – as if already knowing –, patting Lapis’s back before walking away.

“I’ll miss you Lapis, but I know they… You and Stevonnie will figure it out, I know it.”

“You’ll be-no, are going to be great together,” Yellow Pearl smiled, “You two, looking AMAZING together, not letting anything put you down, being so happy…”

“A match made in heaven,” Blue Pearl finished – smiling – (with Yellow tearing up at the possibilities), brushing aside her hair to look Lapis eye to eye, “We’re all rooting for you!”

“Come on Lapis,” Kevin added, “For as long as I’ve known you and Stevonnie… Ghee, you really are hopeless… JUST. Go. Get. ‘EM. ALREADY!”

“Fine…” Lapis laughed, and let out a snort, the blunt but honest statement giving her the support and encouragement she (finally) needed to take that ‘first’ step – and then married Stevonnie so soon…

Standing up and walking over to them, Lapis could feel a slight warmth spreading through her cheeks. Not caring if anyone noticed, she closed the remaining distance and hugged Stevonnie determinedly.

“Hey Stevonnie,” Lapis said, kissing them on the cheeks, “Congrats on the ceremony… It was fabulous, and you look FANTASTIC!”

“Aww… Thanks Lapis!” They beamed, scooping her up in a hug and returning the kiss (despite their own blushing), “You’re the best!”

“So are you!” She smiled sweetly, “I was thinking Stevonnie…, maybe we could you know… hang out afterwards?”

“I’d LOVE to Lapis!” They exclaimed as they deepened the hug, “It wasn’t like I was planning on having a honeymoon or something…”

“Oh you…” Lapis giggled, “Now are you going to keep dancing by yourself until then or what?”

“Maybe…? It is great… Lapis, what…”

“I’m asking you to dance with me silly!”

“Well okay, but we might end up fusing…”

“It’s your wedding; you’re ‘allowed’ to crash it…” Lapis smiled as they giggled, “Come on, let’s dance!”

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

“I still can’t believe how our wedding had topped mine when we ended up fusing…”

“Me neither Stevonnie,” Lapis replied, giving them a kiss, “But it did… That’s why you’re so great.”

“We,” Stevonnie stressed, “are.”

“I love you Stevonnie.”

“Love you too Lapis!”

*Ring ring*

Just before they could go ‘further’, their communicator had started ringing…

“Lapis, it’s mom and dad!” Stevonnie beamed upon picking up the device up and seeing the contact pictures of their parents.

Lapis perked up even more at this, and beamed as they pressed the answer button together.

“HEY MOM! HEY DAD!” They shouted ‘like’ overexcited children.

“Hey Stevonnie and Lapis,” Priyanka and Greg replied, smiling just as brightly as their ‘children’, “Good to see you!”

“It’s good to see you too!” Stevonnie and Lapis happily chirped.

While some may think it is ‘strange’ for them to be so childishly affectionate even after decades, centuries, millennia even, one is also never too old for a parents love…

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

“Mom… dad…”

“It’s okay Lapis and Stevonnie…” Priyanka, Doug, and Greg said reassuringly, rubbing their backs soothingly as they hugged, “It’ll be okay…”

“I love you…” They said together, kissing their parents.

“We love you too sweetie, we’ll be okay…” Mom held them tenderly as she returned with more kisses.

“It’s just…”

“We aren’t going anywhere; we’ll still be here…”

“Apart from dad…”

“Look,” Doug replied as he looked into their expressive eyes, “We never thought we’d live to see the 22^nd century, let alone the 24^th century… And yet, thanks to you, here we are…”

“Your love and healing has worked wonders for us Stevonnie,” Priyanka joined, “We can’t thank you enough for that…”

“What can I say …?”

“We just love having you around!”

“We know sweetie, you’ve told us like million times before!” Priyanka joked.

“Don’t mean we’ll stop saying it!” Lapis and Stevonnie cheekily replied.

“No it doesn’t…” The three ‘adults’ giggled lightly.

Despite being over three and a half centuries old, both Maheswarans stilled looked fantastic. Neither had a single blemish, wrinkle, or grey hair anywhere, and was as energetic as ever. Greg, though as limber as he was before Steven’s birth, still lacked hair on the front half of his head.

Soon though, that would all change…

“We’ve lived longer than almost all other humans, seen many breathtaking sights, experienced many amazing things, accomplished and done more than enough to be remember for a long time, and I think to say that we’ve experienced all that is humanly possible at this point. It has been great being your parents, but…”

“You see…” Doug said, taking over from his wife, “We know there’s still yet so, so much left in space, the cosmos, universe, and beyond…”

“The universe is calling out my name, our names; calling out to me, us… and the stage…”

“What we mean is,” All three said in surprising synchronicity, “We want to continue being your parents, forever; to see and experience what is still out there, be there with you – as well as so many others, and help gems, humans, and others alike…”

“With each decade, we’re constantly reminded about our own mortality – and at the same time, gemkind’s uncertain future in regards to growth. We definitely don’t want to put you through that or that… So this is what we’ve decided…”

“Although I don’t like thinking about it,” Stevonnie and Lapis replied to their mother, “I’d rather it be this way too… Besides, I don’t think we would’ve come up with anything better…”

“Someone had to do it; take that next ‘step’,” Doug interjected, trying to shift the mood, “FOR SCIENCE, and for a sustainable future for gems!”

“And leaving your mark in history…” Stevonnie added amusedly.

“What can I say?” He replied, “It’s hard not to when you’re part of this family.”

“I’m really going to miss you,” Lapis said, hugging the man and giving him a kiss, “I love you daddy.”

“I love you too sweet-pea,” He returned the kiss, “and I’m not really going anywhere, I’ll just be with mom now…”

“It’s funny, I never thought I needed a mom, and yet… Every day with mommy, and you – and Stevonnie, of course – has been SO, SO happy…, given me so much to be thankful for… I can’t wait to spend so many, many more happy years, decades, centuries, millennia, and more together with you all…”

“And maybe we’ll finally get to see those gorgeous grandkids after all!” Mom quipped as they blushed.

“Maybe…” Lapis and Stevonnie smiled sheepishly as they kissed, “We’ll just have to see…”

“Now all we need is a lot of Pink Diamond essence…”

“No problem!” Stevonnie beamed as their parents smiled even brighter, for they never ceased being the amazing child that they helped nurture, raise, and loved so, so much.

Thanks to Doug volunteering for ‘destructive reverse engineering’, science, once again – not just human, but gem as well –, could take the next big leap; the mechanics and intricacies of human consciousness and sentience finally fully understood, and the foundations for sustainable gem production laid…

The prototype, custom gem forms which Priyanka and Greg’s consciousness would be transferred – integrated – into would be completely sustainable – no life force drained from incubation –, and be much more humanlike in terms of form and feel while retaining characteristic gem attributes and powers. Although this would come at the expense of a much longer regeneration time of up to 9 weeks, they didn’t mind at all; they would have all eternity to spend with – and help – their children, their friends and family, as well as so many others to come…

With best minds gathered for this momentous opportunity, all the knowledge and data would be collected and deciphered in a matter of hours, the invaluable information gained remaining treasured and studied for eons to come.

Unsurprising to some, they had confirmed that souls indeed existed, intangible, incorporeal, inextinguishable, everlasting, existing outside the quantum multiverse, and yet, as real as the building blocks of the universe itself…

Doug’s soul was then used as the ‘seed’ for Priyanka’s new form, forever unifying him and his wife; only she would be able to hear his thoughts and he had no control of the body, but that was already more than good enough for either of them…

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Priyanka, being the first injected for incubation, was also the first to emerge with a flourish of light and sparkles. Opening her eyes, she could see that Lapis, Stevonnie, as well as a few closer gems were already there, waiting and ready to greet them.

“Mom…” Lapis and Stevonnie squeed as they looked upon her form adoringly, almost unable to believe their eyes and her appearance…, “Gosh, you’re so GORGEOUS and PRETTY!”

“Where’d you think you get it from Stevonnie?” She replied, half-mockingly in good humour, “Certainly not the Universe side…”

“Mom!”

“Because that’s where you get your cuteness from!” Mom beamed as her children laughed.

“I love you mom!” They said, walking up to hug and kiss her, “… and you feel just the same!”

“Well, better than that… I’ve haven’t felt this energetic SINCE I WAS A TEENAGER! I can carry EVERYTHING I’ll ever need… I’m young again!”

“Yeah; they really did a great job didn’t they?”

“They did… And I love you too!” She returned with equal enthusiasm.

“We’re going to have SO MUCH FUN TOGETHER MOMMY!”

“Yes we are sweetie, yes we are…”

Apart from a few photos and home videos, neither knew mom when she was ‘in her prime’, but now they could really get to know her wilder side. She had a chocolate coloured pearl on her chest that was almost imperceptible since it perfectly matched her skin tone, and was less thinly built than ‘typical’ pearls because of her human appearance.

Long luscious hair flowed from her head, which while not as impressive as Stevonnie’s, was still impressive nonetheless. She looked every part the teen/young adult rebel that she undoubtably had been at one point with her crop top, skirt with barely there leggings/tights, heeled boots, ‘makeup’, and various other eye-catching accessories.

“So how does dad feel?” They asked, almost smothering the woman with their intense hug.

“He says he’s happy, really happy… Love you, sweet-pea…”

“Aww… I love you too daddy… and mommy…”

“Come on,” Jasper chuckled, tapping them on the shoulder, “You don’t want to miss this; I can practically feel it… All that quartz energy, ready to take form…”

“I’m won’t be going anywhere soon, I promise. Now get ready to meet dad… I’ll probably need some time to figure this out…”

“Okay!” Lapis and Stevonnie shouted as their gaze turned towards Greg’s spot.

“Here, I’ll show you the ropes…” Pearl smiled as she walked over, “I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it in no time!”

“It never gets old, does it?”

“No it doesn’t… Especially not when they’re so special and amazing…”

The tension and energy in the air was palpable, growing and intensifying, until finally, Greg made his loud rock star entrance. ‘Weapon’ (guitar) already in hand, and shades already on, he practically announced his own arrival with the mad_(rad)dest series of riffs and notes imaginable as the earth around him seemingly shook in tune with his grandeur…

“DAD!” Lapis and Stevonnie practically shouted as they ran over to hug him, “You look FANTASTIC!”

“I know!” He replied, smiling brightly and kissing them, “If it isn’t my favourite water ‘witch’ daughter and fusion-child… I love you both!”

“Love you too dad!” They beamed, returning the kiss, “Gee, you’re so, so…”

“Handsome…? Breathtaking…?” The rock star suggested.

“You’re SO HOT GREG!” Amethyst shouted, unable to contain herself.

“Super-duper hot,” Jasper added playfully as Lapis and Stevonnie burst into blushing giggles.

“You know it Jasp,” He smirked, playing off her tone, “I still got the charm and so, so much more…”

“Obviously…” The Quartz sisters giggled as they approached a very smooth Greg…

“Careful now, the universe charm is not a force to be reckoned with…” He winked and did the finger guns as his kids became even more flustered.

“Sure…” Jasper and Amethyst replied as they hugged the man, “Welcome to the club, Greg.”

“Thanks!”

The universe had always been calling his name, and now, he could answer it in all his glory and more… Mr. Universe, a rock star ‘reborn’…, all his mighty hair, youthful glow and intense, energetic passion – fire – returned, even wilder, thanks to the round quartz gem now residing below the front of his neck. Though not built as buff as a ‘typical’ quartz, he more than made up for it with practically never-ending energy and countless songs yet to be sung to ‘last’ well into the eternity ahead…

The cosmos and universe was now his stage, and he would not ‘rest’ until the whole universe knows the power that is music…

“You know what the best part about this is? I don’t have to worry about outfits EVER AGAIN; or running out of guitars for that matter… not that it’ll stop me using my collection!”

“Of course you’d say that Mr Cool dad…”

“What can I say? I’m practically set to rock the whole universe!” He exclaimed, gesturing towards his gem.

“Was he always such a fan of ‘dad’ jokes?” Jasper whispered into Amethyst’s ears.

“Well yeah… You’ve known ‘em long enough to know that it’s pretty much a family thing…”

“Is that why Smoky love puns, or is that mostly you?”

“Eh, it’s a bit of both…”

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

“So how are you doing?” Mom and Dad asked tenderly through the video screen.

“Fantastic as always!” Lapis and Stevonnie beamed, “Everything is GREAT! What about you?”

“Oh you know,” Mom replied, “The usual… giving fantastic advise, being a mentor… just more of helping out everyone in general… You wouldn’t believe how many problems everyone still has…”

“That’s why we and they have you, mom!”

“True… and Greg has been a fantastic band/musical manager! How many is it now?”

“Um…” He replied uncertainly, “I lost count about 600 years ago… But yeah, it’s AWESOME! I have a concert coming up and I’m playing…”

“Save us the tickets, we’ll be there!” They practically shouted.

“Already did, kiddo…s…” Dad smiled as their smile widened in response.

“You’re the best, dad! We love you!”

“And we love you too! I guess we’ll leave you two to it than…”

“BYE MOM, Love you! BYE DAD!” Lapis and Stevonnie waved cheerily, blowing air kisses as their parents giggled and blew kisses back.

“See you later…”

“Have fun!”

“So Stevonnie… where were we up to?”

“Gee, I don’t know Lapis… something about love or having fun or beds?”

“Just kiss me, you dork…” Lapis giggled, snorting.

“Sure thing, wifey Lappy!” Stevonnie too giggled as they kissed her.

“You’re so cute when you do that…”

“What… this?” They asked, pulling an ‘innocent’ face, “We’re both cute Lapis!”

“Yeah, we are…” Lapis cooed, doing the same face herself, “The cutest…”

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Another cute couple who were going strong after all these years were Lars and _{a yellow} Sadie. They, though as hopeless as Steven and Connie had once been, quickly proclaimed their love for each other and proposed with Lars’s newfound confidence. Together, they – the reanimated ‘off-colour’ ‘pirate’ captain and Sadie Killer Miller – with the help of the Off-Colors help manage the grey areas as they roam across the cosmos – a life together, with friends, the stars and galaxies as the grand cosmic backdrop of it all…

The matters that they dealt with weren’t exactly lethal, dangerous, or even weaponiseable. They were just things and items still of dubious, questionable, or objectionable nature to at least one of the many races that the alliance encompasses. This included things like ‘exotic’ psychoactive substances, non-hazardous items and materials with yet unknown or seemingly anomalous properties, as well as other miscellaneous ‘paraphernalia’.

Since no one was pressuring them to do anything, Lars and Sadie also regularly performed as leads in a band, their 2000 years of experience making them some of the best – besides the Mr Universe, of course…

The Sun Incinerator, thought now tactless in naming, was still running in tip-top shape thanks to Lars and the crew. He had decided against renaming it when it became expended, quoting bad luck from the sailors of yore, as well as various nostalgic reasons. The vessel now included a fully featured bakery complete with kitchen, allowing Lars – now a cosmically renowned chef – to bake, cook, and create when and wherever he so wishes (which was quite often, since the galaxies and cosmos offered endless inspiration and exotic ingredients ready for transformation).

Sometimes, Lars would stay around instead of traveling the cosmos, and occasionally, Stevonnie would host cooking contests that they would enter. Since both were indistinguishably close – on par even, certainly – in terms of their culinary excellence, the contest would always end up in a tie with them and Lars (or rarely, a multi-way tie with other contestants).

Nobody minded that the host and their best chef/baker friend would always be winners since it was all friendly competition as everyone created and showcased their culinary creations and skills. Other times, Stevonnie would instead hold ‘royal’ fests featuring Lars and their cooking (where Lars didn’t have to be in person, since he could just send food through his hair-portal), as well as other festivals where art, expression, and love are celebrated.

Although they’d try to not grab the spotlight – and letting others lead –, they also couldn’t help it when it came to flair, extravagance, and just showing off in general as their endless ‘horde’ of admirers cheered them on in their (always) sold-out performances.

Pink Pearl, stars bless her heart, was now happier than ever thanks to Stevonnie and Lapis (as well as Lion). They were the endless joy and happiness that she enjoyed so, so much. Helping them with things, playing together, and just seeing their smiles was all she ever wanted. Being the sweet soul she was, she preferred the company of Stevonnie, Lapis, and Lion, even when she sometimes joined the other Pearls in their ‘quests’…

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Emerald knew, saw that Lars was the better captain, but her immense ego had prevented her from just admitting defeat and conceding. Even after the declaration from the diamonds, she would make excuses to ‘confront’ Lars and ‘attempt’ to ‘take back’ her ship. Thankfully, she never did use real cannons after that, so Lars happily played along – almost flirtatiously, some might say…

After a few years too many, however, it was getting beyond ridiculous. Knowing Emerald herself wanted ‘a way out’, the diamonds held a competition to finally ‘decide’ who the rightful owner of The Sun Incinerator was…

~~~

“Well Lars,” Emerald said, not even looking at the results, “I’ve lost; you’ve beaten me in every single area/criteria, everything that I had been ‘made’ to do, as well as being a good person in general… You can have her… The Sun Incinerator is yours now; take good care of her…”

“I will Emmy, I will,” Lars reassured the crying Emerald, hugging her comfortingly and rubbing her back, “I won’t disappoint you.”

“I know you won’t…”

“So what’ll you do now?”

“I dunno… never thought I’d retire… but here we are…”

“You know, I heard Lemon Jade is in need of a good pilot…”

“For sightseeing?” Emerald asked, “Surely…”

“You never know when you’d need to use evasive manoeuvres… And while they’re an excellent tour guide, they’re a pretty lousy pilot…”

“Is that why they’ve just been using the wrap network?” She asked, curiosity piqued.

“Yep… Stevonnie could never say no to them flying, but…”

“Take care Lars, I’ve got an overexcitable Jade fusion to surprise!”

“Will do Emerald, you take care too…”

~~~

Somehow, despite their vastly different personalities, Emerald and Lemon Jade worked fantastically together as tour operators. Lemon Jade’s endless happiness and cheery energy – no matter how many time they’ve seen something or been somewhere – combined with Emerald’s amused indifference easily allowed them to avoid so many clichés and ‘downfalls’ that seemed to plague so many in the early 21^st century human tourism sector.

---

The Zircons had been instrumental in, and were heavily involved with both human and gem law/politics up until their retirement 750 years ago. In their ‘tenure’, they had overseen many great changes, breakthroughs in important issues, and a total societal shift towards the better because of reforms and the global, universal ‘enlightenment’ to the message of love and all things good.

“Everything’s pretty much settled, which is why we’re leaving now…, but alas… there are still other things left to do in the universe,” They had said at their exit speech/ceremony, “Wrongs to right, truths to uncover, justice, probably… mysteries to solve…”

“Well good luck and Godspeed to you both, it’s been a pleasure working together with you.”

“Same here, adios amigos!”

Two very gay Zircons, with the universe as their detective playground, cracking the toughest cases and being the best in Alliance space… putting the askew slivers of ‘reality’ back into order…; more excitement, mystery, and deep, dark secrets than a life of lawyer/politicians leads…, but it was also extremely rewarding. ‘Accusing’ the diamonds had opened the proverbial (though good this time) Pandora’s box, and it wasn’t a ‘thrill’ that they’d stop enjoying anytime soon…

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Jasper had taken things surprising well thanks to Amethyst and her family, and became a Crystal Gem herself, proudly wearing the stars on her form as well as getting along extremely well with everyone. Since the rest of the Ruby squad still admired her greatly, Jasper couldn’t go very far without them – not that she wanted to anyway. She had sworn with all her heart to the cause, continuing/safeguarding her diamond’s – Rose’s – legacy and ensuring Stevonnie’s (as well as Lapis’s, and their family’s) safety.

She knew that before the universal peace was achieved, threats – those just in this dimension – could still appear from anywhere. Therefore, together with the ever-enthusiastic Rubies, she leads the ‘charge’ of training new recruits. Individuals not just content with peace in their immediate sphere of existence, all embodying love and more, and prepared to quell any ‘uprisings’ or ‘evil’ – peacefully, of course, and converting them with the help of everyone else.

---

While still part of the Crystal Gems, Topaz and Aquamarine also loved – enjoyed – spending time with Stevonnie and Lapis, only growing ever closer as time went on. They were perfectly capable of handling themselves, but they had insisted on becoming their royal ‘guard’. Since threats rarely materialised, Topaz and Aquamarine often just acted as close friends/moms/godmothers, looking after/out for them, taking care of or organising important things, as well as snuggling with them at times – which they loved.

Another frequent ‘guest’ around these parts was Onion… who despite being over 2000 years old, is still alive and well as a young man – looking, seemingly having stopped aging soon after the Lapvonnie wedding. Since he still look the same – debatably human –, as well as Topaz and Yellow Pearl being the only ones who understood him, it would remain a mystery that even the Zircons ‘ignored’ (knowing his history certainly didn’t help…).

Whatever the reason though, everyone was glad that he was still alive – and thankfully, not evil –, just doing Onion things as he does… (as well as visiting White Diamond occasionally…)

Little did they know, however…, the very source of his key to immortality was not the nature of his very self, but something core to all gems which now ran through him…

~~~

His friend Steven had married – permanently fused with – his best friend and Jam Bud Connie only a few years ago, and recently, they – their fusion –, Stevonnie, had married the pretty blue gem known as Lapis Lazuli. (Onion always knew they were sweet on each other, and their amazing marriage was something that he would never forget.)

They were good friends to Onion, and Onion loved hanging around them and the gems – as well as doing whatever he usually did…

Mother had said that Onion would always be special, but Onion still does not know what that meant. He also knew that he would outlive his mother, father, and brother one day. People online often joked about his supposed immortality and powers, but should he let that sway him?

The diamonds had just unloaded another batch of essences – “for science,” they had said – and looking at the massive almost overflowing containers, Onion felt something familiar shift inside him…

He knew that they had more than enough, and certainly wouldn’t mind (or notice) a small decrease…

Remembering how Sadie had turned yellower, Lars and Kevin pink, Onion supposed that he could easily find the right combination to match his skin tone…

Carefully mixing the Yellow and White Diamond essences in a small cup, he had managed to recreate his skin tone perfectly. After making sure he wasn’t noticed, Onion moved his father’s truck from its hiding spot, and proceeded to fill the large aquarium tank in the back with the exact mix from the containers…

Afterwards, the containers of essences still looked the same to Onion. Therefore, he simply put the lid on the tank, and drove off towards his home as if he didn’t just steal a few hundred liters of some highly personal alien substance…

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

Having a ‘space pirate’ as a boyfriend did have its perks… Namely, Sadie could go to space whenever she wanted and tag along with the crew – which she did, a lot. In fact, she had practically become the honourable first-mate/co-captain for the off-colors.

When she wasn’t rocking out with the suspects, she would be flying across the cosmos with Lars, helping out with whatever that may require their exceptional wit and quick thinking, or just visiting whatever place or facility had piqued their interest.

Today was a day just like that…

Walking into the industrious structure, they had felt a slight chill up their spines, something possibly amiss… but they had dismissed the thought as the spectre of the machines, mechanisms, tubes, tanks, and everything else overtook them.

“Wow…” Sadie exclaimed in awe, eyes glistening like stars, “This is so beautiful Lars…”

“I know!” The pink male chuckled, “And I don’t even know what they do!”

“Maybe we can ask?”

“Nah… It might ‘ruin the fun’, besides… I figured out the Sun Incinerator well enough, didn’t I?”

“Sure Lars, sure…” She replied nonchalantly as they continued moving through the facility.

Mid-way through their ‘tour’, alarms began blaring all around them as gems scrambled all about.

“Lars should we…”

^{“Agdeie…”}

“Sadie…”

“^No, _no, no, ^no! It gfe^wue_-…”

Black, everything was black… Whatever happened had knocked/blanked Lars out. Part of him felt so stupid for not asking what everything was for – not that it mattered…

It could’ve been seconds, minutes, or even hours, but when Lars finally came to, Sadie was nowhere to be seen!

“Sadie, where…” He called out, looking around whilst noting that he wasn’t physically affected at all.

“THIS IS A DISASTER 6GG! Look what happened!” A Peridot shouted at an Agate, “I TOLD YOU ALL!”

“DON’T REMIND ME! IT’S NOT LIKE WE CAN CHANGE THAT NOW 1OL! Are you going to yell OR ARE YOU GOING TO HELP?!”

“I AM HELPING, but…”

“Need a hand?” Lars asked as he walked up to the mess ahead of the two gems.

“YES!”

With three sets of hands, the mess was quickly cleared away, revealing…

“SADIE!” Lars exclaimed as he rushed in to hug her, “You…”

Although she looked fine on the outside (like Lars had been…), there was the noticeable absence of a heartbeat, breathing, and the usual warmth…

“Oh dear…” The two gems gasped in realisation at what had happened to his friend…

“6GG, 1OL where-what-h… I…”

“No, no, NO! SADIE…” Lars sobbed as Yellow Diamond shrank down and approached the visibly distressed teen, “You can’t… Please… I love you so much and you-I… we-but…”

Hearing the emotional outpour, Yellow was on the verge of tears.

“Why…?! WHY!?” He continued weeping, emotions and feelings clear for all to see, “This is so l-lame-me…! You can’t go, NOT like this… We still have so much left to do… Many things to see… I CAN’T LOSE YOU! You make my life so much better and-and… MY LIFE HAS NO MEANING WITHOUT YOU… without love… without someone to share it with… WITHOUT MY PLAYER TWO!”

If Yellow wasn’t emotional enough already, this had just pushed her over the edge. She lost what little composure she had left as she wrapped her arms around them and broke down.

“This should never have happened…” Yellow sobbed over the duo, “But I-I-We… gems had been seen as disposable and safety was never a priority… If it didn’t contribute to ‘productivity’ and ‘efficiency’, we hadn’t bothered… BUT THE WORTH OF A LIFE IS MORE THAN JUST NUMBERS! Sadie… you are such a good person and… YOU AND LARS are so great together…”

“I know-w…” Lars replied, the impact of losing his friend overshadowing the contact from the diamond, “I DON’T DESERVE THIS…!”

“No you don’t… NOBODY DOES… IT IS SO UNFAIR! With gems… BUT you’re not… AND now…” Tears poured like waterfalls from Yellow’s eyes, drenching Lars and Sadie in a layer of Yellow liquid, “I’m so sorry…”

Lars couldn’t feel any effect on himself, however, obscured by his own tears and Yellow’s, he didn’t notice Sadie’s subtle shift in colour…

Gasping for her breath and dispelling the tears from her airways, Sadie shot up and reopened her eyes to see Lars and Yellow both sobbing over her. Instinctively, she tightened the grip on her pink boyfriend.

“Lars?” She asked after she put enough clues together to figure out what had just happened, “I’m…”

“SADIE!” His demeanour flipped instantly, “You’re… you’re…”

“Alive?” The yellow girl suggested.

“Well yeah… But not really? Like me?!” He stumbled, “I-I thought…”

“Pretty sure I was Lars,” Sadie stated the obvious as she moved to hold Yellow’s hand, “Yellow Diamond, you, you…”

“I-I…” Her tears slowed as she caught up, “I healed you – brought you back to life –, like, like…”

“You did,” Lars and Sadie said simultaneously, smiling, “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” She sat back as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes, “If nothing is done, this will repeat itself – and I cannot allow nor live with that! I WILL make sure this never happens again, and I swear to not stop until nothing like this even has the slightest possibility of happening. I will oversee the overhaul of safety standards MYSELF if I ‘have’ to, if it means the alliance can be the safest it can be…”

“Would’ve thought that with all the reforms,” Lars took on a ‘snarkier’ tone, “But NO…! You’re just as bad as us… That said, thinking back… Steven did tell me how used to almost dying he was… Can’t really blame him or you guys for this not having crossed your minds…”

“Yeah… Maybe we can learn together…”

“Obviously, you wouldn’t believe how many people on Earth…”

“Well, progress won’t just happen by itself; I’ve got a lot to do… See you later, Lars and Sadie.”

“See you later Yellow!” They smiled, before adding to themselves in a whisper, “And now we can be together forever. Yeah…”

Despite the low volume, Yellow had heard and chuckled, “Just call if you discover any new abilities that are different to his or Kevin’s…”

“Will do!” They replied, waving cheerily.

Since that day and the safety reforms brought on by it, not another single accidental death had occurred – or a single preventable accident for that matter…

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

Everyone had taken things surprising well to all the changes that had occurred so quickly – practically ‘overnight’, especially for most gems. Those that didn’t took a bit of convincing, but most were surprisingly open thanks to Kevin.

Though not much of a fighter, he and his now gadget equipped Himitsu X-12 proved to be an invaluable combination in quite a few ‘confrontations’ – it helped that gems had expected ships, not potentially physics defying cars – and more than adept enough in helping secure a better outcome with said skills/abilities.

While Stevonnie _{(or Steven and Connie)} with the personal appearances of gems like the Diamonds, Lapis Lazuli, Jasper, and Aquamarine was enough to convince most, Kevin, being the ever-relatable person that he was, was unexpectedly convincing with what he said and getting the message through to those who the others couldn’t convince.

Together, they soon converted many ‘holdouts’ to their side. Eventually, they had ‘worked’ their way down to the last of one of the last holdouts – a single Emerald standing alone in conviction, still clinging to and worshipping the old system, the Authority… She wasn’t much of a threat initially, but she would always ‘get away’, only to come back with more extreme and desperate ‘plans’.

Today was just the latest in the series of a dozen or so ‘skirmishes’ that they’ve had, and though they would never give up, it was simply getting somewhat tiresome at this point…

“Emerald, please… listen to us, to my friends, and family…” Stevonnie said, resolute as always in their cheeriest and sweetest voice, “We want to help; help you and make everyone find their happiness. The old ways… they were terrible… they caused many to feel horrible inside; left to suffer as society taught them to ignore it and push on… It is not too late to change, to find happiness together… And not be alone, miserable and despised…”

“Lies, ALL LIES!” She spat back, “Everything was perfect, and you-you RUINED IT!”

“It wasn’t, WE WERE MISERABLE!” Yellow and Blue shouted back at her, as if saying it would make the pain she brought back up go away. Every time after Emerald 4LK, they’d need to spend at least a day with Stevonnie and the gems to feel better, but they still tried, because they cared – even if the gem in question showed no signs change… “WE PUSHED Rose away, AND SHE GAVE UP HER EXISTENCE FOR A CHILD – WHOSE childhood WE MISSED, because we made it look like we wouldn’t care OR listen – who’s had to DEAL with everything she’s left behind. BECAUSE he, they want to help, AND WOULDN’T catch a break if they DIDN’T! NOTHING WOULD’VE CHANGED WITHOUT THEM, and we wouldn’t be here giving you a CHANCE!”

“Oh, no, no, no…” Emerald chuckled before continuing, “You, Stevonnie, have tainted the authority with impurity, CORRUPTED the diamond’s thoughts with NONSENSE! Because of you, THE DIAMONDS ARE RUINED! You’ve brought disgrace to the name of the great diamonds, and you have the AUDACITY to just go around, ACTING LIKE a Diamond, PINK DIAMOND! A bastard with no RIGHT AT ALL!”

“Don’t listen to her, Stevonnie!” Lapis and Kevin reassured them, squeezing their shoulders comfortingly, “You’re the best person AND Diamond ever! You’ve helped so many and everyone’s better because of you!”

Stevonnie smiled, “I already know, but thanks…”

“Absolutely disgusting! It’s bad enough that you drag down an elegant gem like a Lapis Lazuli, you’ve dragged the Diamonds down and surrounded yourself with FILTHY, HIDEOUS ORGANICS!”

“I was ABANDONED, treated like a TRAITOR, almost killed them and the whole Earth,” Lapis shouted, “But guess what, they still helped me! I LOVE being around them, because I’VE NEVER BEEN HAPPIER IN MY LIFE! A life with friends and family makes everything so much better than living in the past and blaming everything for your problems.”

“Aww… Lapis…” Stevonnie cooed, “I love spending time with you too…”

“I was horrible, demeaning, creepy, even, to them, but when their family called me to babysit them after they had turned into a baby, I still did it,” Kevin said passionately, not letting what she said get to him, “NOT because I had intended to make up, but because I was the only one available, and because I WAS THE ONE OBSESSED! And yet, they did give me a chance as a baby, helped me realised what was important. They KNEW what I thought, and when I showed up as a new person, they didn’t back down on our friendship because they wanted to continue helping me, as friends… I can’t thank them enough for that.”

Stevonnie only smiled wider (despite it all) as Kevin continued hopefully, “Just… Give us a chance… to help you Emerald… I promise you’ll be happier because of it! It isn’t too late to change, live a life of love and joy, instead of suffering and fear.”

“That’s enough!” Emerald roared with venom, “This is it; I see what I have to do now… With you AND your gem truly gone, Stevonnie… The Diamonds will be rid of their poison, everything will be back to the way it was!”

“What… no…” They all gaped in shock as Emerald threw a very ominous device straight at Stevonnie.

Even before Stevonnie finished summing their shield, Kevin had jumped in front of them and directly into the way of whatever Emerald had concocted to end them and their gem… Simultaneously, Lapis shifted her water arms into a palm, and began moving it in front…

Time seem to have both slowed to a crawl and sped up, everything clear as day, but also a blur…

There was a bright glow of light and almost silent kinetic energy as Lapis was blown back, the surface of her palms acting like a sail, pushing her away from her closest fusion and Beach Summer Fun Buddy…

Stevonnie couldn’t make out what happened as the brightness had caused them to close their eyes reflexively; however, they could make out the distinct sound of an unnerving thump, squelch, and crunch, impacts on flesh and bone – impacts on Kevin.

When the energy subsided, Stevonnie opened their eyes to find themselves and Kevin just 2 feet from where they had stood, and that both had sustained injuries. Just seconds later, Stevonnie could already stand up as they brushed themselves off, their healing powers having taken care of their injuries already.

Kevin, on the other hand, however…

Having taken the brunt of the impact, he looked worse than ever; face bruised and pale at the same time, his clothes heavily weathered, and general demeanour bleak…

Even as Emerald stood on, watching, Stevonnie wasted no time in rushing to his side.

“K-Kevin, you…” Stevonnie spoke with concern and tenderness, hugging and pressing him deeply into their reassuring and comforting arms.

“Stevonnie…” He stumbled and smiled at them, “You’re fine…”

“Of course I am, you silly… BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU?! You’re… you’re hurt really badly, and I’m…”

“It’s okay…” Kevin said softly, brushing their hair back, “Everything’s okay as long as you’re okay…”

“No… Kevin…” Stevonnie exclaimed, seeing where this was going, “You’ll be okay… stay with me, please…”

“Baby… these last few years I’ve spent with you and the gems has been the happiest, best, and most satisfying I’ve ever known… It never ceases to amaze me how great things could and do get, and I have lived a life that I’m happy and proud of thanks to you… Please don’t cry because of me baby, because I have no regrets or shame now… And I have finally found my peace…”

“Don’t be like that…” They sniffed, “You’ve come so far Kevin, and-and… There’s still so much more… So much to learn, see, do, experience, and more… You can’t go now, NOT LIKE THIS! Just hang on for me please, stay with us… We-I’ll… You’ll be FINE… It isn’t over yet… Promise you’ll stay strong for me, okay?”

“I’m afraid that’s one promise I can’t keep, because time is running out for this dork… It’s been an honour being a Crystal Gem with – alongside – you… Make sure nobody ever forgets my sacrifice… Etch my name into the history books…”

Stevonnie pressed them even closer, as if it would stop the inevitable…

“Why did you have to be so reckless Kevin, I could’ve… I’m not ready to lose you… You’re a great friend, and I don’t want you to… not like…”

“Maybe… but what if…?” He quipped back despite his condition, “I can’t live with that… You’re such a good person Stevonnie, and a universe without you would be so much worse than one without me… I had been a fool, but you turned me around…”

“Yes I did…” They smiled back, “And we can help and do so much more, if you just…”

“I’d like that, but maybe in another life… I love you baby…”

Kevin was slowly drifting away, and Stevonnie couldn’t just let that happen without doing anything. Ignoring what parts of their mind told them, they acted…

“Kevin, you idiot!” They exclaimed, closing the gap between them to kiss him on the lips as they held his face gently. Pulling back, they said, “I’ve got healing spit rem…”

Despite all their emotion, heart, and empathy, however, nothing had happened as Kevin simply smiled…

“Why isn’t…” They mumbled to themselves, kissing him again for good measure, this time much longer, “Kevin…”

Kevin smiled ever so slightly and tilted his head upwards to touch their cheeks and return the kiss with all the strength he had left. Stevonnie swore they heard him say ”Finally kissed me proper, baby…” as his lips pressed against theirs.

As the warmth faded from his body and his lips and hands lost their pressure, however, it was clear that he hadn’t said anything. Instead, they were his final thoughts, only heard by Stevonnie thanks to their powers (something close and personal in the moment…)…

His body slumped to the ground, lifeless…

Whatever reserve Stevonnie had was gone as they wept pink tears from their eyes and onto his face and body. Leaning down, practically lying on top of him, their faces touching, it soon became a mess of slobbery saliva, tears, and snot… Unlike Lars, nothing had happened with the first tears, so Stevonnie kept on crying – crying for the friend lost, and crying for lost future opportunities…

During all this, everyone and Emerald just stood, unmoving… the heartfelt scene unfolding in front of them vividly, rocking all of their very cores…

Slowly though – not that they noticed, since their eyes were still closed or clouded with tears –, the effects of Kevin’s fatal injuries faded – became healed… –, colour and warmth slowly returning before shifting to pinker hues…

“Kevin… I’m so sorry… And-and… even though it isn’t my fault… I still feel so terrible! You were a kind soul with potential and…”

“Hey…” Kevin choked out some fluids and pinched their cheeks, “I-I…”

“Kevin, you’re…” Stevonnie pulled back for a moment, blinking their wet eyes in partial disbelief.

“Pink…” Everyone (including Emerald) said simultaneously.

“I… revived you!” Stevonnie smiled, “I-I… thought…”

“Stevonnie, it’s fine… I’m not mad, how could I be? I get to live forever now!” Kevin beamed, letting out a small chuckle as he sat up, adjusted to his new pink form, and hugged them, “Thank you…”

“ARGH!” Emerald shouted, breaking the mood of the scene, everyone bar Kevin and Stevonnie turning towards her, “OF COURSE!”

She mumbled something incoherently before pulling out a blindingly sharp knife, aiming it directly at the gem above the navel in the middle of her torso. With immersive speed, she plunged the blade into the core of her being; a sickening, high-pitched ring resonating through the space as her form, gem, knife blade, and handle all shattered into countless pieces no bigger than grains of rice.

They didn’t need to see it, because they knew it…

“E-Emerald, she…” Kevin stumbled out, words catching in his throat, genuinely feeling sorry for her tragic end and not being able to help her.

“I-I know…” Stevonnie’s stammered as they hugged him tighter – or rather, both hugged each other –, tried to reassure him (and themselves), “… I-I’m here Kevin… We-I’m… Stevonnie’s here… it’s…”

Both broke down in tears.

Seeing her friend in distress, Lapis moved to comfort them – not just for their sake, but hers as well…

“Stevonnie…” She said softly after kissing the side of their head, a hint of trembling in her voice as she hugged them (both), “It’s… everything will… be okay… I’m… Lapis is here, we’re okay…”

“Lapis, she-she…”

“Shh… shh…” Lapis cooed, rubbing their sides soothingly as she herself broke down, “It’s over… The-there’s… She was the last one… and… we…”

“Couldn’t help her…” Blue Diamond wailed as she ‘joined’ in, wrapping her arms around them all and failing terribly as she was already crying, “But-but… mom-Blue is here now… I’m… still here…”

“Blue…” Lapis and Stevonnie giggled slightly despite their tears, “You’re not ‘supposed’ to be crying if… but…”

“Who cares? We-we…” Blue tried to sound reassuring, only to plunge into more tears herself.

“We’re here…” Yellow and White Diamond said as they (and everyone else) became part of the ever-growing pile of ever-larger tears and attempted comforts, “It’ll… She’ll be the only one we c-can’t help… We can’t help her but… we’ll still help everyone else… it’s f-fine…”

“It’ll be fine…”

“When’d we all get so emotional…?” Kevin asked amusedly, already knowing the answer.

“When we learned to care,” Jasper was the only one who could still answer through it all, “… love… Cherish life, individuality and the value of it all…”

“Sounds about right…” He replied from the middle of the hug.

“Kevin?” Stevonnie asked after they regained enough composure.

“Hmm… what is it Stevonnie?”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to…”

“Stevonnie, I’m not going to let this… stop me… If anything, it is motivation to try harder… I want to keep helping you, the gems, and whoever else needs help out there, together; it doesn’t just end with gems…”

“Together,” They smiled, spirit uplifted and resolve renewed, “I like that sound of that…”

“Me too…” Everyone echoed their sentiments.

“Same.”

“Let’s get out of here…”

“Yeah!”

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

Since that day about 2000 years ago, Kevin and Stevonnie’s friendship only grew as the former’s contributions as a Crystal Gem grew in turn. Like Lars, being ‘reborn’ had only brought out their best qualities – in his case, even more so –, and soon, he because just as pivotal as the others and Stevonnie themselves.

Both were just friends (maybe with some benefits if they felt like it) – for now… – and he is a missionary for love, dedicating his life to spreading joy, happiness and love, and the way of Stevonnie/Pink Diamond as he travelled the stars, visiting civilisation after civilisation as the Alliance ‘expanded’ to encompass more and more races of beings.

Simply put, there were too many beings for Stevonnie (and Lapis) to manage on their own with all the other things, so Kevin had taken it upon himself to take most of their workload off.

“It’s the least I could do…” He had said, “I ‘owe’ my life to you; I died saving you, and you brought me back to life… It’s what a friend would do… The right thing to do with my ‘gift’…”

“Well… I’m not stopping you,” They had replied, “But you know I can’t help it if I do join… or make appearances or whatever…”

 “I’d be worried if you didn’t.”

“You know me so well Kevin…”

“You and Lapis are just easy to read.”

“Eh… so maybe ‘von and I are…”

Since they were all on the same level, Stevonnie and Lapis felt no stress about having to do everything (it helped that they were also so eager), and whenever they were relaxing or taking a ‘holiday’, they knew they could count on Kevin and Holly Blue to run things.

While the other Diamonds were essentially Crystal Gems themselves now, there never ceased to be a need for the other Crystal Gems. Though vague initially, overtime, the Crystal Gems had defined themselves and became a special division as part of the greater Great Diamond Alliance. Most of them still do their thing and help gems and organics alike, their much greater flexibility and adaptability (and outward friendliness) invaluable on the many vastly different worlds out there. (The Diamonds were just as friendly, but when you are visiting beings the size of pebbles or something, it helps not sending the ‘wrong’ message – or creating unnecessary awkwardness…)

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

Despite their past, Blue Diamond and Garnet had turned over a new page both as allies, and as close friends. Naturally, that also meant she became quite close to Cat Steven, the ever adorable and vulnerable fluff ball that she is.

Today, Garnet was away on a dangerous mission and Blue was looking after, taking care of the calico feline for her like she had done so often for over 3 decades now. Cat Steven was quite old in cat years, but all signs pointed to many happy years yet to come; she was still energetic as always and could still keep up with Pumpkin and Lion…

“You know…” Blue cooed as she gently petted her soft fur, “You really are a magical creature… So cute, yet regal… So approachable, and yet, able to be fierce at a moment’s notice… No wonder humans used to worship your species…”

Cat Steven let out a soft purr in response, melting the Diamond’s heart.

“I love you, Cat Steven…” She leaned down to kiss her, however…

Blue could no longer feel the gentle beating of the creature’s heart, her gentle breaths, or now that she thought about it… her usual warmth.

“No…” She sniffed, knowing what that had meant…

As if things couldn’t get any worse, it was at this moment that her communicator had begun ringing. Without even bothering to see who it was, she answered the call and turned to face…

“Hey Blue, it’s Garnet, how’s…” She said casually, before noticing the solemn expression on the now usually bright diamond’s face.

“Cat Steven, she’s… she’s…”

“No, no… She-she was so…”

“Healthy, I know…” Blue replied bleakly, “But just a moment ago…”

“If-I… Why…?” Tears flowed down Garnet face as she removed her clouded visor, “I know… but… I’m sorry; I have to… go… I can’t…”

As the screen cut out, Blue could swear she saw Garnet erupt in a waterfall of tears like she herself had when she…

Tears were already beginning to form when she heard the distinctive sound of a portal opening beside her.

“Mom… I-I, Lion… and…” Stevonnie stammered out as they dismounted Lion and witnessed her distress.

“Stevonnie… Cat Steven, she… and-and… Garnet called, and she…”

“What…” They breathed, not wanting to believe what they heard, but there Cat Steven was… lifeless and unmoving… “Cat Steven… No… You-you were…”

“Ro_oaawrr…?” Lion tried to ‘wake’ up his friend, but had no such luck.

Lying down and licking her fur, he whimpered as realisation had set in – she was dead like many that Lion had known in passing (but never so closely) over the years…

Stevonnie picked up the now barely lukewarm calico, and hugged her close to their body as Blue wrapped her arms around them and Lion, tears dropping down all their eyes.

“Stevonnie, I love you so much and… seeing… I don’t… I know you’re… but…” Blue broke down wailing, “Just the thought…”

“Steven… Connie… I-we… me and Lapis… I love being me, Stevonnie… and… Lars and Kevin… and…”

“I know…” Blue cooed, giving Stevonnie a kiss on their head to reassure them despite it all, “Since we…”

Words soon became a mess of unconnected sounds as their grieving auras aligned, amplifying their emotions and tears – tears that all were now crying, mixing together in a wash of Pink and Cyan as it thoroughly soaked Cat Steven…

It was hard to feel anything as their trembling bodies easily masked whatever was happening between them…

Slowly but surely though, Cat Steven’s palette shifted to shades of Pink, Cyan, and Purple, and as the transformation completed with a sheen and flourish, small gentle breaths and beats of a tiny heart (while much slower) once again graced her form.

“Meow?” She purred, grabbing the attention to those surrounding her.

“Cat… Steven…?”Stevonnie and Blue whispered in sync as Lion perked up and blinked, “You…”

“Me-ow…” She nodded in acknowledgement.

The three pulled back to get a better look at the calico feline, their eyes glistening partly in amazement at the seeming miracle, and partly in relief that it had worked. After the initial surprise thought, all went back to hugging the fluff ball, Lion licking her as he had done with all of his pink friends, and the two adults once again at a loss for words.

---

When Garnet made her way to Blue’s bedroom afterwards, she had expected the worst. She knew they’d wait until she had said her goodbyes…

However, stepping into the room, there was the distinct absence of one thing and presence of another; the room was not awash with Blue and sadness, instead…

“MEOW!” Cat Steven purred loudly as she leapt into Garnet’s arms from behind a smiling Blue.

“Garnet, I…” The Diamond began before she cut them off excitedly.

“Cat Steven… Blue… you… and… You revived her! I-I… but…”

“Yes I did,” Blue cooed, “And Stevonnie helped too, that’s why…”

“OH MY GOSH!” Garnet squeed, “I… didn’t even notice, and…”

“Now she looks just like you!”

“Aww… she does!” Garnet hugged the cat close, giving her many kisses and ruffles before hugging Blue, “I-I… Thank you so much, Blue Diamond!”

“You’re welcome, Garnet…” She replied as she ruffled the fusion’s hair.

“I saw… there was, but I…” She stammered as happy tears flowed.

“I know, I know…” Blue cooed as she scooped them up for a proper hug, “Life has its ways, doesn’t it; always surprising you with how it turns out… and how happy things can and do come to be…”

“You’re one to talk…” Garnet giggled in her strong yet comforting arms.

“I learn from the best…”

When Garnet turned to leave with Cat Steven in her arms, she couldn’t help but feel something amiss…

Turning back and jumping up into Blue’s arms, she held out her arms…

“Garnet…” Blue asked, baffled, “What…?”

“I think you need her more than I do now,” She replied, “I can see how close you’ve become over the years and… I know sometimes you… So I want you to have someone keeping you company when we’re away.”

“You shouldn’t have… I can’t… she…”

“What do you say, Cat Steven?” Garnet cooed as she gently brushed her fur, “You want to move in with Blue Diamond? I’ll still visit, of course… and take you when I’m on holiday… Does that sound good?”

The calico purred sweetly and licked Garnet’s face, causing her to smile and giggle before she meowed a portal right onto Blue’s hair loop.

“Well, that settles it…” Both whispered as they giggled some more, with Garnet adding, “Heads up, once she gets settled, she doesn’t like to move…”

“Got it!” Blue leaned back slightly as Garnet left her room in an otherworldly state of bliss, having helping once more, in a way only possible because of them…

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

For whatever reason, Pumpkin had managed to outlive all of Steven as well as Stevonnie’s other plant ‘creations’. She seemed to be an outlier, and every attempt they had made after her proceeded similarly to the Watermelon Stevens – limited lifespans with later ‘generations’ and ‘sub-species’ the result of being grown and farmed.

Eventually, everyone had stopped trying to seek an explanation and occupied their minds with other matters, just assuming she’d life forever – or at the very least, until her time came…

Today was like any other day, pumpkin just had her 53^rd birthday a few weeks ago, and Peridot was working on something…

“Hey Pumpkin, check this out!” The green gem exclaimed, calling out to her, but received no response

“Pumpkin…?” She tried again, dropping her ‘project’ and slowly walking to where she had last seen the Veggie Head, “…”

When she saw it, her heart sank; Pumpkin way lying on her side, eyes unmoving, feet limp, and white foam spilling out of her mouth as uneaten parts of her last meal laid messily around her (she was always a messy eater)…

“No, no, no, no, no!” Peridot pleaded as she inspected the food closely, “… Why… how… the food… I should’ve checked… I never…”

Receiving no response, she screamed, “FOOD POISONING?! My FAVOURITE veggie head… dead from FOOD POISONING? THIS IS SO UNFAIR!!!”

Soon though, her anger was replaced with depression as she slumped down over her lifeless, delicious body… NO, she would not eat her, never… “So unfair…” She would return her to the Earth that had birthed her, complete the cycle of life – it’s what she’d want…

“Farewell, my mysterious vegetable friend, I will miss you…” Peridot wailed, “I WILL MISS YOU SO, SO MUCH!”

It seemed like she would not receive any comfort in her desolation; Lion hadn’t been seen for almost 4 months, Cat Steven was holidaying with Garnet, and Onion was… Onion…

However, it was at this moment that a familiar pink portal appeared next to Peridot. Out of it came its usual passenger – Lion –, however, he wasn’t alone. There was something – someone – clutching onto his mane was and beside him was what appeared to be a normal lioness, except upon closer examination, appeared much too yellow.

“Lion!” Peridot brightly slightly, but not completely, greeting him with a hug as he purred in response “Where have you been? Stevonnie and Lapis have been worried sick about you…”

He purr turned into a slight whimper as he felt what Peridot assumed to be ‘guilt/shame’, but that soon vanished as he smiled and lovingly leaned into the lioness’s side.

“Are… are you…” Peridot asked, threading her fingers together to illustrate her point.

“Roawr!” Both roared, nodding proudly.

“WOW, Congratulations! She’s beautiful and…” She hugged them both, unable to shake her sorrow completely, “I’m sorry, it’s just Pumpkin…”

But he seemed to have already understood as he nudged her head back up.

Gently, the lioness put her mouth around Lion’s ‘stowaway’ as he laid down.

Peridot blinked, before her was an adorable (female) lion cub, orange just like pumpkin was and full of energy…

“Oh my gosh… Lion… you and… You…”

They nodded, saving the gem from saying it.

“Ruff!” The cub barked? (They were not ‘supposed’ to do that?) as she approached Peridot.

“Hey…” She softened, “You’re a strange one aren’t ya… just like…”

As if illustrating the point, she wagged her tail before she gave the gentlest ‘roar’ Peridot ever heard.

“Aww… so you can roar… They must love you already! You’re cute, adorable like a cat/cub, AND excitable like a newborn puppy! They’re so lucky…”

Peridot prepared to give her back to her parents, but they nudged her arms back upwards…

“No, no… I can’t break up a family, Lion… I…”

She tried again as they did the same.

“Ro-aww-awr…” They said, noses firmly pressing into her…

“If-if… You’re saying you can visit her at any time because of the portal thing? OF COURSE YOU CAN, She’s still your cub! Oh, THANK YOU LION!” Peridot hugged them (more like splayed out as they surrounded her and the cub), “You’re the best! What should I even call you… You’re orange… and… How about Pumpkin Junior? That sound good?”

All purred softly in agreement.

“Pumpkin Junior it is!” Peridot beamed as she heard what seemed like giggles – or as close as they could get – from the adults.

Pumpkin Junior wasn’t a vegetable, but she was just as much the spark of joy and energy that her ‘predecessor’ had been. And even as the years, decades, and centuries passed, she remained just the same while she grew ever so slightly – a cub who did cat things, but was excitable and behaved more like a (newborn) puppy –, bringing joy to Peridot and everyone around her everyday… it was almost like…

---

After ‘delivering’ Pumpkin Junior to Peridot, Lion left via portal with the Lioness, proud and happy…

With a roar and a flash, both arrived at their next destination.

“Oh my stars… Lion…” Yellow Diamond exclaimed, “Gosh you really scared me there… Here I was minding my business…”

He shot her an apologetic ‘smile’.

“Well I can’t stay mad at that… but you should know they’ve missed you so much, you rascal…” She cooed, giggling as she ruffled his mane, “And oh… who’s this?”

The lioness purred as she came forward for more of the same, leaning into her mate’s side lovingly.

“Aww… Lion did you… just look at you, so sweet… so colourful… she’s quite the catch wouldn’t you say?”

“Roawr!” Lion roared happily in reply as something connected in the diamond’s mind.

“Hang on a minute…” She said, looking intently at the gorgeous and fierce lioness before her, “I didn’t think li…”

More thoughts materialised as she gently concentrated her touch, the lioness’s fur lighting up as her fingers ‘disappeared’.

“But I don’t remem…”

“You didn’t,” A soft gentle voice spoke inside Yellow’s head, “I had come across some of your essence and ended up drinking it. And well… here I am, with this lovely pink hunk of a goof…”

‘He is a goof…’

“Oh…” Yellow smiled, “Well it all turned out well didn’t it?”

Both nodded before pushing their mouths together in a kiss.

“Aww… isn’t that the cutest…” She cooed, giving them one ‘last’ show of affection by rubbing their fur, “Well, I won’t be keeping you any longer; Stevonnie and Lapis are going to love you!”

When Lion turned to leave, however, the Lioness did not follow, instead, she had just nuzzled deeper into Yellow.

“You want to stay with me?” She asked the yellow feline, to which she nodded.

“I think you could use the company.”

“No, no…” Yellow shook her head, “I can’t possibly ‘break up’ a couple… I could never live with such a thing…”

“Roawwr…” Lion purr-roared as he nuzzled into Yellow beside his mate.

“Lion… I know you have a big heart, but… you can’t…”

“It’s okay… we’ve decided already… Besides, we can always visit each other!”

“Of course, of course; portals… and we’re all practically together all the time anyway…” Yellow smiled as she picked up the lioness and kissed her, “I love you already…”

“Nala.”

“Nala… that’s a beautiful name, fitting for a beautiful majestic lioness like yourself…”

“Thanks,” She smiled as the Yellow lowered her hand for them to kiss again, “Roawr… see you later Lion, my love.”

Yellow couldn’t help but giggle as he left like nothing had happened (they’re definitely in for a surprise next time…)…

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

Pearl had gotten together with her fellow pearls, Yellow and Blue. Together, it was as if all the years spent apart had just melted away, and yet, at the same time, still present and making them so much closer than ever before.

Their freedom allowed them to do things they never could before, and with Pearl’s newfound maturity and resolve, they live a life that continues to amaze them to this day. While they’d still help the diamonds from time to time – not out of misplaced worth or meaning, but because they genuinely wanted to –, they spent most of their time just enjoying themselves and being Crystal Gems.

Three pearls (sometimes four), not taking it from anyone and being the cutest and badest asses ever, ready to summon their weapons at a moment’s notice to get the job done or message across…

Together, few could rival their power, grace, and determination – if they’d even wanted to (most were friendly, especially to them). Their fusion, Rainbow Pearl, was nothing short of phenomenal. Eclipsing Yellow Diamond in height – White with all four –, they were neigh unstoppable; large and powerful, yet remaining just as adorable, agile, and precise as their components individually – on top of being remarkably stable.

~~~

The weather had just taken a turn for the worse on the ‘colony’. Moments ago, Stevonnie, Lapis, and Lion were just admiring their surroundings as they set about gathering data to aid future projects…

It was a rather empty planet, nothing much except for plant life, vast oceans, and a breathable atmosphere – perfect for a new human or gem settlement then.

However, that was the furthest from their minds at this moment as they struggled. Violent wind and rain coming at seemingly impossible angles, sky covered in a sea of stormy black-grey, and waves so loud it almost drowned out all sounds.

“Roa^rr…?” Lion tried to portal them away, but he quickly lost his footing.

“I got you Lion…” Stevonnie strained as they caught the large pink feline, already barely able to stay up themselves.

“Hold up…” Lapis stepped in front of them, digging deep with her powers as she attempted to calm the raging storm (or at the very least, create a safe ‘eye’).

“Lapis, you…” Stevonnie called out as they kept Lion grounded.

“Don’t worry, I got… ^this!” The intensity of the weather had overwhelmed her, blowing her away as her water wings did nothing to turn the tide.

Lion leapt from Stevonnie’s arm in chase, but was once again overwhelmed as he tumbled. Naturally, Stevonnie tried to follow, only to also become overwhelmed themselves.

Before things could get more out of hand, however, the four pearls quickly fused and caught all of the wayward beings.

“I got you!” Rainbow Pearl said, calm and gentle as ever as she hugged them close to her body, “We’ll make it!”

“Thanks…” Lapis and Stevonnie replied sheepishly, “We thought…”

“It’s okay…” Rainbow replied as she summoned/shapeshifted an extra set of arms to ‘carve’ a path to safety.

With them safely tucked against her body, Rainbow turned to face the wind and ‘salvation’. With all her powers, she made short work of moving forwards, gracefully leaping, dancing, and twirling as wind and rain deflected around her – as if by her will…

Ducking into a cave, she stayed fused as her extra arms ‘retreated’.

“You okay?” She asked, curling up with them in her arms, “That was pretty intense out there…”

“Just dandy!” They beamed, nuzzling closer together as they relished in the comforting snuggles, “Thanks Pearl.”

“No problem…” Rainbow Pearl smiled as she caressed them gently, “I love you…”

“Love you too…” They murmured, drifting off to sleep as the storm remained as ferocious as ever.

The storm ended up lasting for three whole days, but thanks to Rainbow Pearl, it felt much more like a camping trip instead of a fight for survival.

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

Although the first time the other Pearls summoned their weapons had been much less stressful then Pearl’s own, it wasn’t without drama…

The core theme running through all four of them was the closeness of the circumstances to their heart and steadfast determination and resolve. People often said that love – in any of form, reality – makes you crazy, but not for them; it is because of love that they are stronger…

~~~

“Pebbles?” Stevonnie called out worriedly as they searched high and low, “Where are you…?”

They had been missing for only a day, and unable to find them, Stevonnie was already visibly distressed.

Pink Pearl didn’t like seeing them in this state; she had to something. Wrapping her arms around them and rubbing their sides, she spoke gently,

“It’ll be okay, Stevonnie… They’ve managed just fine without Rose, but if it make you feel better, I can look for them while you relax.”

“I’d like that…” They replied, hugging her back and giving her a kiss on her cheek, “You’re the best, Pink Pearl – besides Lapis, of course…”

“I know,” She beamed, “I won’t let you down, Stevonnie, my diamond… I’ll find them!”

“Thanks…”

Few were close enough to know (or do) something about it, and Holly Blue Agate was at the top of that list… Kevin wasn’t much of a prankster, and Navy, though brilliant, still wouldn’t ‘outsmart’ them.

Strolling into the agate’s ‘office’, Pink Pearl could already sense something amiss. Through trying her hardest, her poker face game had ‘betrayed’ her.

“Holly…” Pink began as she stared her down intently, “Spill it, what do you know about the missing Pebbles?”

“Pebbles?” She shook her head, failing to be very convincing, “Why that’s the first time I’ve heard…”

“Holly…” She restated, doubling down on her intimidation (though not as intense as the renegade, she, like the other Pearls – especially Blue – showed her ‘fangs’ when pushed), “I can see – know – you’re hiding something.”

“I did it okay! I hid the Pebbles! I thought it’d be funny…”

“It isn’t…”

Digging deep into her core, Pink Pearl concentrated and drew out energy… Though displeased, her eyes still sparkled as she inspected her ‘weapon’.

“It’s just a tube…” Holly said as she looked right down the ‘hot’ end, “What…”

Before she could finish the sentence though, a fist had sprung out of the tube, hitting her right in the face as bits of holo-confetti fluttered through the air. “Ouch!”

“That’s for making Stevonnie worried!” Pink Pearl ‘huffed’.

“I deserved that…” Holly rubbed her sore nose, just as…

“Pearlie Pink!” A pebble exclaimed as they broke out from wherever Holly had put them.

“Pebbles!” Pink Pearl immediately brightened as Famethysts piled into the room.

“You got owned Hols!”

“So owned!”

“By Pink Pearl and the Pebbles!”

“Holly Blue, more like Dolly Blue…” Skinny added as everyone – Holly included – burst into laughter.

“Oh burn…” Carnelian hi-fived her sister.

“I do make a pretty ‘lousy’ agate…” Holly admitted, wrapping her arms around the two quartzes, “But I do make a great quartz!”

“That you do, that you do!” The Famethyst all said in agreement.

Pearl smiled as she turned to leave, only to find Stevonnie already standing there… Caught by surprise, she inadvertently launched the cannon at them.

Though confused, they easily blocked the punch… by catching it dead in their palms. What followed was genuine hearty laughter as realisation set in, their eyes in the shape of diamonds…

“OMG… WOW! PINK PEARL you summoned your weapon! It’s so… YOU!”

“I know!” She beamed back at them, “And I found the Pebbles!”

“Hey!” The Pebbles smiled and waved as they made their way over to them.

“WE HAVE TO SHOW PEARL and AMETHYST!” Stevonnie practically screamed as they hugged her tight, “They’re GONNA FLIP!”

“Let’s go then!”

“Actually, I just have one last thing…”

“Okay, I’ll be waiting outside with the Pebbles!”

After Pink Pearl had left with the Pebbles, Stevonnie walked up to Holly Blue Agate and tapped her on to shoulder, “Hey Holly, you know I’m all for fun and games… but they’re family… so I’d definitely be upset if that happens again…”

“Sorry… it won’t happen again,” She replied humbly, “Pinkie Promise.”

“Pinkie Promise,” They shook her pinkie and hugged her, kissing her sore nose, “Here…”

“Thanks,” Holly hugged them back, “She really is a great friend, isn’t she?”

“She is, Holly, she is…”

Although infrequent, every time she used her weapon since then never failed to surprise whoever was on the receiving end. Sure, it wasn’t very ‘practical’, but she would also often ‘just’ pull out random innocuous looking items that turn out to be incapacitating. It was her way of ‘mixing it up’ and keeping the opponent on their toes…

~~~

When it came time to go back to the Jungle Moon to clean up parts from the crashed Star Skipper and salvage what they could from the moon base, the pearls gladly volunteered since it wasn’t the most pleasant of places (and they’d probably be needed anyway).

The density of vegetation and their resilience meant that they had to look really hard to find what they were looking for. That meant going over the satellite with a fine toothed comb, hacking away obscuring growth, and a lot of cross-referencing… if they could actually get anywhere, that is…

“Argh, this is hopeless!” Yellow Pearl groaned as she and her Blue counterpart fruitlessly beat upon some stray invasive vegetation with mere sticks, “We haven’t made any progress in hours Pearl!”

“This would’ve been so much easier if we had swords…” Blue Pearl added, “We might as well be using hands!”

“Well, if you have any better ideas,” Pearl almost shouted, “Do tell me! This is the one place where they’d come in handy, but I just had to ‘misplace’ them…”

“At least nothing’s tried to eat us?” Pearl heard, but wasn’t sure who said it she was occupied on the ‘mess’ in front of her.

Even Pearl was struggling, and that only made her fellow pearls more irritable in their overbearingly futile efforts.

“STUPID WEEDS!” Blue yelled venomously, having snapped, “KNOW WHAT is good for you AND GET OUT OF OUR WAY!”

“WE HAVEN’T come THIS FAR,” As she continued, her stick quickly wore away, “TO BE BEATEN by the PEST that you are!”

“YOU FEED on GOOD LIFE,” Yellow joined just as irritated, having had enough at this point, “AND YOU’RE JUST mediocre AT BEST!”

“I’VE HAD ENOUGH!” Both screamed, continuing even as their sticks became nothing, their gems glowing intensely…

In a flurry of sparkles, both had summoned their weapons. Pausing briefly to inspect them, they felt their resolve soar.

“OH, SWEET! Take that!” Blue exclaimed, swinging her axe with intensity, purpose, and ferocity as she made short work of clearing everything in her reach.

“This is more like it!” Yellow brightened, her katana slicing through everything in its path as her pride swelled.

An elegant and deadly weapon, fitting for a gem such as Yellow herself; and something that screams serious, don’t mess with me Bismuth for the secret badass that Blue is.

Trident or spear, Pearl’s weapon was one that didn’t work well for hiking. Her luck had ran out, and she soon found herself impossibly tangled in some vines.

“A little help please?” She called out to her currently engrossed counterparts while trying to free herself, only to get even more tangled with every swing of her spear/trident, “I seem… stuck…”

“Don’t worry Renegade, we got you!” Blue replied, charging towards her with axe in hand.

Blue got to work hacking away at the greater vines as Yellow skilfully sliced away the vines holding Pearl ‘hostage’.

“Careful!” Pearl squeaked, weapons coming uncomfortably close, especially for novices and even people she trusted so much.

“Relax, we got this…” Blue replied casually, almost hitting Pearl above the gem as she ducked.

“Tada!” Yellow Pearl exclaimed as the final vines dropped to the ground.

“Thanks…” Pearl blushed, “I’m usually… but…”

“Now we can all kick asses together!” Blue stated as she and Yellow dematerialised their weapons and hugged Pearl.

“Sure, sure…” She smiled, kissing their faces, “But first… we still have work to do…”

The Jungle Moon was ‘ruthless’, but together, they managed to accomplish what they came here for, with plenty of time to spare, obviously…

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

Peridot, though having more than her fair share of incidents and such over the years, remained an important part of the pink ‘court’. She was good friends with Stevonnie and Lapis, and her quarters/lab were situated close by.

Being so close also came with its share of attention, but she didn’t mind, for her grand aspirations craved an ‘audience’. Thanks to her adaptability and unrivalled access to things, she had become one of greatest science/technology innovators ever. There were times where she needed help, but her genius works were mostly solo efforts.

Every day, Peridot unlocked, demystified more ‘secrets’ of the cosmos, and at the ‘end’ was the ultimate goal of beating entropy. Some gems already ‘break’ a few ‘laws’ of physics and such, so it shouldn’t be much of a stretch – if time travel is possible, why should entropy be any different?

Amethyst was invaluable in helping her along. It didn’t matter what it was, whether helping with clean-up, parts collecting, or just being there for her in a variety of ways, Amethyst enjoyed being with/around Peridot.

Amethyst also spends her spare time hanging out with the Fam, and occasionally drags Peridot along as well (as her ‘date’ – even after they married…).

“Gotta leave time for fun, right?” The green gem had mused.

“Exactly, Peri!” The purple gem had beamed, kissing her lips.

“Before you and Earth, I never thought quartzes could be such enjoyable company… But you just bring it out in everyone!”

“Damn right, Dot! I’m the coolest…”

“Whatever you say, Ames…”

~~~

After all the bubbles had popped and corrupted gems healed, Steven and the Diamonds continued to stay in Rose’s fountain both to relax, and to make sure everything would be fine.

While Bismuth and Amethyst had jumped in, Peridot couldn’t see any visible effect the water had on them. From what she knew of corruption, Peridot knew it involved elements of all four diamonds’ powers; naturally, that meant she was intrigued.

Kneeling down at the water’s surface, she could smell a slight floral scent, sense and feel a slight variation in the charge and structure of the water, and something light, distant, and intangible – not too dissimilar to when it was just Rose’s lacrimal essence (in other words, mysterious as always). She would’ve taken a sample if she had a vile and the equipment required to analyse it, but she didn’t…

Instead, she just leaned her face closer and closer to the water, as if doing so will yield any answers…

Suddenly, a gentle breeze blew through the area, stirring the water ever so slightly and giving Peridot enough pressure to tip her balance over.

“Aaaahhh…” She squeaked as she slowly fell into the fountain, the water garbling the rest of her sentence.

Floating weightless in the liquid, she had never felt… calmer, relaxed, whole, refreshed, and alive…

Being an Era 2 had meant that she was made with less resources and everything, and before she met Steven and knew corruption, she had thought that gems, at their core, couldn’t change.

However, that clearly wasn’t the case; their gems could still be influenced and changed after emergence.

It felt like both an eternity and an instant, but when Peridot surfaced, she found herself surrounded by her friends and family.

“Peridot, are you okay?” Lapis asked, concerned, “You fell into the water and…”

“Not that you’d drown,” Amethyst joked, “But ya know…”

“I’m totally fine!” Peridot answered with more excitement and energy than ever, “If fact, I’VE NEVER FELT BETTER!”

Illustrating her point, she jumped up and out of the water without help, and spread her arms wide as her body seemingly glistened and glowed.

“Yeah Peri,” Amethyst beamed, “You look radiant AF!”

“Green is a striking colour,” She replied, casually tapping her gem as a flourish of sparkles erupted from it…

Slowly, it began to form into a solid object… a gem weapon, to be specific…

“OH MY STARS! I-I summoned a weapon – a CROSSBOW! The water must’ve…” Laughing giddily, she pulled the trigger without much thought…

“Offpph…” The arrow shot out at blistering speed as Peridot was thrown tumbling in the opposite direction by the recoil, “Aaahhh… oohhh… offfph…”

She then hit the outside wall/floor with an audible thump.

“I… did not think it would be this OP…” She said, rubbing her head as she stood back up.

“PERIDOTTHATWASSOCOOL!” Amethyst quickly ran over and hugged her, “AND HILARIOUS!”

“I know! I basically can’t use it unless I’m up against a wall!”

“Well, you’re up against a wall now… So GIVE IT ANOTHER SHOT!”

“OKAY!” Peridot chirped as the ‘next’ arrow was loaded.

With everything, it was unlikely that she’d need to use her weapon, but it was a reassuring comfort to have… once she ‘mastered’ it, of course…

Like before, she nonchalantly pulled the trigger, not bothering to see where it aimed…

*Woosh* the arrow sliced through the air even fast then before…

“OW!” She heard the arrow embed itself into someone as the ground trembled…

“Peridot, you-you…”

“Shot your arrow RIGHT into my knee!” Yellow exclaimed, speaking for the incredulous duo.

It was all so soon, and neither…

“Peridot, are you alright?” Yellow asked as she painfully removed her arrow and kneeled down, “You look a bit shaken there.”

She nodded and gave a thumbs up, words failing her.

Immediately, the diamond softened and smiled, “Come on, you might want to take another dip… just in case…”

“Thanks…” Peridot whispered as Yellow scooped them both up and walked back into the fountain.

“You know, it’s never a good idea to test out your weapon when friendly fire is a possibility – especially without giving a heads up –, but I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it…”

“Yeah… noted…”

~~~

Although she never did end up using her weapon as much as the Pearls, Peridot’s crossbow still ended up saving the day on more than one occasion… It was often surprising, occasionally hilarious, and always OP… (Perfect for her, then…)

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

“Enough about the nitty gritty…” Peridot said as she turned around _{(breaking the fourth wall)}, “Let me show you my crib / lab! It’s so awesome and has got so many amazing features that…”

Her voice trailed off as the threshold was crossed, but soon returned…

She was gesturing animated as she indicated to various items and vectors, “Over there, is my workbench and right below the murals…”

Chapter Text

“M-m-MY DIAMOND!” Holly Blue Agate shouted as she burst into room, “Pink Di…”

“Holly…” Stevonnie and Lapis replied half-concerned, sitting up straight on the their ‘throne’ as Lion’s ears perked up and eyes opened wide.

“I-I know…” She stammered back, “… just call you Stevonnie and Lapis unless it’s important… but THIS IS IMPORTANT! Peridot, she…”

Even before she could finish her sentence, Peridot burst into the room after her, holding a very familiar looking device…

“Oh no…” Holly said to herself, already thinking of the ‘worst’…

“BEHOLD!” The green gem exclaimed, projecting loudly to make sure she was heard.

Without waiting for any response, she activated the device…

With her eyes still focused ahead, Holly could just barely make out a glow coming from the device as Stevonnie, Lapis, and Lion seemingly disappeared in from of her very eyes…

“PE-“

“THEY’RE IN THE PAST! IT’LL BE FINE!!!” Peridot shouted as she booked it out of the room.

“IF YOU KNEW…” Holly called out, running after the Dorito.

“You can never be sure!” She replied in the distance…

Sighing, Holly called up Kevin on her phone, for they now had to fill in – and make sure Peridot doesn’t get into any more trouble before they returned…

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

One moment, Stevonnie, Lapis, and Lion were watching as Peridot pressed the button, the next, they were on the beach. Before Lapis could ask or Stevonnie could explain, however, they noticed that they weren’t exactly alone…

As if by ‘coincidence’, they had showed up right in front of their past selves…

Like before, the arrival had caused past them to turn into babies – or whatever their current state could be called. Stevonnie was just as cute as Stevonnie remembered being as a baby – heart-meltingly cute – and Lapis was just the cutest and most adorable Gemling there could be – her proportionally oversized head, stubby little arms, and blissful demeanour would’ve made anyone bend over backwards for her. Lion, while still pink, was now a cub barely bigger than Cat Steven before she had started growing, and apart from the slightest wisps of a mane, looked practically ‘normal’.

“Lapis… How long did we end up staying again?” Adult Stevonnie asked ‘pleadingly’, stars shining in their eyes as they rushed over to their baby self.

“5 days, I think…” She replied, smiling and giggling at her partner’s antics.

“5 WHOLE DAYS?! You hear that?” Stevonnie asked their baby self whilst hugging them and peppering their face with loads of kisses.

“Yippee!” Baby Von beamed, returning the hugs and kisses, “5 dayz!”

“Aww… You’re just SO CUTE! I mean I am, but you know…”

“Hehe… You sillies!”

“Of course we are!” Adult Stevonnie replied, lying down on the sand as both giggled.

Watching them act like a parent to themselves, taking photos, messing around, playing, and doing all manners of silly things on the sand, Lapis couldn’t help but smile and giggle harder as she made her way over to her baby – gemling – self.

“So Lapis,” She said somewhat amusedly, taking the gemling into her arms as she sat down, “You doing alright?”

“Fantasptic!” Gemling Lapis babbled as she hugged her adult self, “Lappy happah!”

“I’m happy too,” Lapis replied, grinning blissfully as the gemling smothered kisses all over her face.

“I lub you, me Lappy!”

“Aren’t you just the sweetest… I love you too!” She returned with more kisses.

“Yay!”

Being in the presence of (and holding) the pureness that is her gemling self, Lapis forgot about everything else. One could almost… It wasn’t as if all her past trauma and everything resulting from it simply vanished, instead, gemling Lapis just didn’t allow it to bother her – and by extension, herself – as they enjoyed their time together.

While the Beach Summer Fun Buddies were enjoying themselves, both pink felines had yet to move, seemingly caught up in confusion as they put things together…

After a few minutes too long with Lion being silent, Stevonnie and Lapis made their over to help him out and make sure he was okay.

“Lion, buddy, you…”

“You haven’t moved since we arrived…” Lapis finished for Stevonnie as she waved a free arm in front of his eyes.

Absentmindedly, he gave her hand a lick, only to end up licking gemling Lapis instead.

“Hehe… Lon!” The gemling giggled as Lion snapped to attention and tilted his head sideways.

“Lion,” Lapis knelt down in front of him, “I’m Lapis, and this is… also Lapis…”

His head tilted even more.

“Well, past me anyway, we travelled back in time…”

Lion’s head straightened slightly.

“And she-I turned into a gemling!” She gestured, “Lapis, Gemling Lapis, Lapis…”

“LION!” Baby Stevonnie beamed as they jumped onto him.

“And that’s baby me!” Stevonnie smiled as they watched them play with his mane (they didn’t ‘fall’ in).

_{“Roawwrr!”} Lion cub roared softly as he laid down in front of his adult counterpart.

“Roawr?” He ‘asked’ back, both licking each other simultaneously. ‘Me feels odds… I’m… huh?’

“Lion, that’s you! As a cub!” Stevonnie helpfully added, completing the felines’ comprehension of the situation.

Immediately, Lion scooped up his cub self in his mouth, and moved to a more relaxing spot before setting him down. With all of them ‘acquainted’, the fun was now in full force…

Or it would’ve been, if they weren’t content with simply just spending the first however many hours hugging, nuzzling, and adoring themselves together.

Occasionally, the adults would ‘swap’ or the babies would all come together in a mess of ‘aimless’ baby fun. Lion especially enjoyed this as he was the perfect playmate for himself, the understanding and mannerisms coming together in a tangle of pink fur, slobber, and sand.

At the same time, Stevonnie and Lapis both settled into letting their baby selves ‘lead’ the way.

“Lapis?”

“Hmm?”

“This is really nice…” Stevonnie said as their baby self rested on them, “Being there, just holding your baby self… is… awesome…”

“Can’t agree more honey, nah uh…” Lapis casually replied back, eyes barely open, until…

Lapis felt a small hand squeeze her boobs, before the weight of a gemling’s head started resting on them.

“Hey…” She opened her eyes to look at her gemling self.

“Mama!” Gemling Lapis babbled as she gave her boobs another squeeze.

Lapis giggled as she ruffled her hair, letting her continue playing with her boobs, “You already have boobs silly…”

“I knows!”

Meanwhile, Stevonnie was also lying back with their eyes closed…

Baby Stevonnie squeezed and played with their boobs before cheekily resting on them and babbling, “Dadmama!”

Stevonnie opened their eyes as their baby self continued. Sweetly, the adult smiled and kissed them on the forehead.

“You’ll get there one day,” They said, giggling with a smile, “But yeah, until then… you can keep doing that.”

“YIPPEE, Boobies!” They babbled again, causing Stevonnie to erupt in laughter as both Lapises did the same looking on.

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

“Hey Lapis…?”

“What is it babe?”

“Is it weird that they call us like parents?” Stevonnie asked as their baby selves settled down.

Lapis shrugged, “Nah… We are thousands of years older than them, and they are babies…”

“Makes sense…” They nodded as a figure appeared overhead…

As they came closer, they began to see who it was – Aquamarine. Likely, she had decided to check on them and check things out.

“Hey Lapis and St…” She began, only to pause as she saw their baby selves…

“Future Peridot did a thing…” Lapis supplied.

“Right…” The other blue gem replied, unmoving.

Lapis could already see Aquamarine’s eyes drifting towards gemling Lapis, her own composure vanishing as those cerulean eyes glistened and sparkled… Lapis knew she changed, but she had to admit, she’d never thought she could see Aquamarine this cute and smitten – by her (gemling) self no less… (Or actually, she did think that because she was from the future, but adult Lapis was sure gemling Lapis thought the same thing…)

“OMG LAPIS…” The smaller gem squeed, almost shrieking as she flew in to hug both water gems, “You’re so SMALL AND CUTE!”

“I know!” Lapis replied and beamed as the gemling became even more excited.

“Aqua! Aqua!” She reached out with her stubby little hands.

Smiling, she took her into her arms… and then froze… her smile so wide it passed her gem…

Stevonnie walked over to take a picture of her.

“CUTENESS LOVELOADS!” Baby ‘Vonnie shouted as they tackled Aquamarine, Lion following.

 Aquamarine had expected shenanigans, but this was something else…

“Mama Aqua!”

_{“Rooaawwr!”}

“You’re all just TOO CUTE!” Overcome with them all, she tumbled on the sand.

Instead of the babies being ‘upset’ at the ‘disruption’, they all seemed giddier for it as they giggled softly.

“Okay… one at a time… mama Aqua can’t play with you all at the same time!” She said as she dusted herself off, the babies beaming back at her.

“Okie!”

“I understands!”

_{“Roww-aaww.”}

“So Lapis…” Aquamarine cooed childishly, approaching the gemling and opening her arms, “How’d you like to play?”

“Plah, plah!” She babbled, giving her a quick hug before stepping back and summoning her tiny ADORABLE water wings.

Aquamarine gave her wings a few small flaps as both sets of eyes brightened and sparkled, “Aww… Baby Lappy wants to race meh… Okie!”

“Mama speakie silleh!”

“Try to keep up!”

As they took off into the skies (just a few meters off the ground), chasing after each other, playing, or whatever, it was hard not to giggle and become fixated as one watched on, their haphazard and silly antics ensuring constant excitement and amusement. Both were equally nimble, weaving and moving around the other without incident, however, gemling Lapis’s flying had – understandably – a distinct hint of clumsiness…

“Yippeeee… weeeee…” Gemling Lapis exclaimed in pure delight and bliss, “Plah funs!”

“It is!” Aquamarine was also pure joy, barely able to keep her eyes open through her wide smile…

“Oh nose!” Baby Stevonnie called out, grabbing their attention as they were moments away from crashing into each other…

Opening her eyes, Aqua quickly dodged out of the way, “Hey!”

“Sorreh…” She said sheepishly, rubbing her neck and blushing slightly as she slowed down.

“It’s okay!” Aqua smiled, “Come on, show me what you can really do!”

Immediately, the gemling forgot all about the near accident and shot up, concentrating as she set about ‘impressing’ the other gem with her aerial acrobatics.

Stevonnie and Lion were visibly jumpy as they watched on, clearly wanting to join… But they couldn’t fly, could they? Lion could walk on water and Stevonnie could float… Then, something stirred in their minds as a pink glow surrounded both of them…

The adults blinked, “Um Lapis…”

“Rooawwr?”

“Yeah?”

“Since when…”

“The Movie…” they said simultaneously, “but… maybe it’s only when I | you need to?”

“Okay!”

“Roaw-wr.”

“Sounds right…”

Having reached an explanation (kinda), they returned to watching their baby selves play…

The ‘commotion’ had caused Aquamarine and gemling Lapis to turn and look at them.

“Mama looks!”

“They’re flying!”

“We ares!” Baby Stevonnie beamed as they and Lion cub ‘met up’ with the two.

“Flah with Beach Subbeh Fun Buddeh!” Lapis bubbled as they began flying together.

Aquamarine and Lion cub were equally excited as well, since the former could never fly with more than one of them (even as babies), but now…

“YIPPEE!” She squeed joyously as she flew circles around them.

Not wanting to be outdone, the other three soon ‘upped’ their game… the area around them becoming a blur of blue and pink as they flew…

“Gosh Laps…” Adult Stevonnie cooed, arms around the other’s waist, “Watching them… they’re SO CUTE… and…”

“We can play too, later…” Lapis smirked, ”Just us… and maybe…”

Stevonnie smirked back at their wife and give her a playful nudge, “I’ll be waiting and ready…”

“Just watch, dork…” She giggled as they stopped before things could escalate…

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

After a while, the babies and Aquamarine stopped flying and just landed, settling ‘back’ into less rigorous activities. They could definitely keep flying all day, but that would’ve meant giving up other fun!

Both Aquamarine and baby Stevonnie were happy to have more time to spend together, and as they snuggled, ‘tussled’, and fussed – gemling Lapis always close by –, one would be hard pressed to think of Aquamarine as the person she had once been… especially with Lion cub around…

“This is confusing…” She said to the cub, “You’re old, pink, and revived… and whatever happened… you’re a cub and still pink… BUT IT JUST MAKES YOU CUTER!”

The cub purred as she showered him with affection.

“Lion is purrings!”

“Duh Vom, he cat!”

Again, they became a tangle of colourful and wholesome fun…

“This is cute, but Peridot is DEFINITELY on probation after this.”

“I agree… she didn’t even ask!”

“Yeah… rude, much… we would’ve said yes.”

“I know… but that in the past? Or is it the future?”

“Time travel is weird…” Both said in unison as they stopped thinking too much about it, going back to just watching the babies play…

The babies were back in their respective arms when they heard someone approach. Turning around, they could see that it was Kevin…

“Hey Kevin!” Adult Stevonnie and Lapis smiled brightly, waving to the teen, “What’s up?”

“Hi?” He replied, sounding uncertain as he took note of their features, outfit, then…

His eyes were fixated on their baby selves…

“Aunt Peridot froms the futures…” Baby Stevonnie babbled in explanation as Kevin smiled and walked closer.

“So…” He said, looking knowingly between adult Stevonnie and Lapis, “The future aye…”

“YUP!” They beamed as they held hands, noticing the tiniest of a smirk on Kevin’s face.

“And when you came back,” He deduced, “You-they turned into babies…”

“That’s pretty much it…”

Aquamarine just observed, for she never did see much of his change in person…

“How’s the future?” Kevin asked, curious.

“It is great… no, AMAZING! There’s always still work but yeah… it’s good…”

“Sounds fantastic,” He sat down, smiling, “I wish I could…”

“Um…” They hesitated, not sure what to say…

“Can’t tell me because future blah, blah… got it!” He smirked as they giggled.

“Mind if I hang out and play with baby you…” Kevin looked between Stevonnie and Lapis, their baby selves in the corner of his glistening eyes, “I know you’re… you know… and I don’t want to take any time away from you…”

“Of course you can, Kevin… we can all hang out and play together!”

“Sure…” He quipped before he scooped baby Stevonnie up into his arms.

“Kevin! Kevin!” They babbled as everyone giggled.

“Told you I’d be back!”

Once again, adult Stevonnie pulled out some toys for them to play with, and Kevin quickly lost himself in all the fun as his inner child shined through.

“Are you having fun?” He asked sweetly, playing with some blocks.

“Ah-huh!” They nodded as he melted even more…

Even as he played, he didn’t forget about the other two, and as soon as he and baby Von became ‘reacquainted’, he made his way over…

“So… Lapis…” He knelt down to be at eye level with the gemling, “How are you feeling? I know gems emerge fully-grown and don’t really have childhoods… It must feel so strange, being a gemling…”

“Eh…” She shrugged before smiling as Kevin picked her up.

“Guess you’re just loving the fun, isn’t that right?” He ruffled her hair as her smile grew.

“Mmm…” Lapis mumbled contently as Kevin giggled.

He hadn’t hung out much with Lapis before, but he was certain that would all change… There were no books on how to hang out with your potential friend when they had turned into a baby, but if it went as well as it did with Stevonnie… Kevin supposed it wouldn’t be a bad thing, being friends with a powerful alien capable of bending water to her will…

“Want to play blocks?” Kevin asked gemling Lapis as he set her down next to baby Stevonnie.

She gave a muted response as she grabbed a block…

Despite Stevonnie’s enthusiasm, Kevin noticed that Lapis had stopped after a few blocks.

“Do you want to do something else?” He asked.

She nodded vigorously, clapping her hands.

“You okay with that, Stevonnie?” Kevin asked, scratching their chin.

“YEP!” Baby Stevonnie beamed in response as his smiled grew.

Overhearing this, Lapis knew just what to do. She concentrated and searched within the depths of the ocean, until she found what she was looking for…

As the small ball of water emerged from the ocean, a few fish could be seen swimming in it… Kevin and the babies’ eyes were glistening in awe…

“Wow… it’s amazing!”

“Thanks, I try!” Adult Lapis beamed.

“YIPPEE!” Both babies jumped in excitement as it finally came within reach.

“Wowie…” Baby Vonnie babbled, “Fishies so beautiful!”

“Helloooo! Nice to meep you, fishie friends!” Gemling Lapis leaned in close, almost touching…

“Hehe… meep…” Kevin giggled, ruffling their hair with his hands, “Gosh you’re cute…”

“We ares!”

More than once, Kevin thought he saw the fishes ‘waving’ back…

“Looks Kevin, they wavings!”

“Fishies friends!”

“They are, aren’t they?” Kevin replied, “But not as good friends as you…”

At that, they flushed slightly…

“We’re so easy to entertain ‘Von…”

“Yeah… I guess that’s true… no matter what…”

“You’re rig…” Adult Lapis felt an odd tug…

“Fishies friend fors Kevin!” Gemling Lapis babbled, ‘pulling’ the sphere of water ‘out’ of her other self’s hold and closer to him.

The water was visibly wobbly and Kevin saw a few fishes jumping out of it…

“Thanks…” He replied, “But the ocean’s where they belong… I can’t take them from their home…”

“Okie…” She looked deflated, but her smile soon returned, “Times to take ‘em homes!”

With a flick of her tiny wrists, she flung the ball out towards the sea…

“Got it!” Adult Lapis smiled at her other self as she ‘caught’ the sphere of water and gently lowered them back into the water.

“How about we all play something toget…” Kevin was about to ask, but Lion cub had made his way into his lap and had begun purring.

As Kevin looked down, the pink cub rolled over a few times, “Aww… Lion…” He picked him up into his arms.

“Well aren’t you just the fluffiest!” Ruffling his fur, he purred even more!

“You gonna play, or are you just going to sit here like a cat?”

_{“Roawwwrr!” The cub roared, jumping out of his arms into the sand.}

“Play it is!”

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Adult Stevonnie had summoned/created a beach ball/bouncy bubble using their powers, and everyone was having fun playing with it.

“Oh, here, here!” Aquamarine called out, half-jumping, half-fluttering, as she held her arms out.

“Okay!” Lapis beamed, hitting the ball towards her.

“Meh, meh!” Gemling Lapis was eyeing the orb intently.

Grinning, Aquamarine passed the ball to the gemling.

While baby Stevonnie and Gemling Lapis were comically small in comparison to the orb, they both managed to play with it just fine, their stubby hands not affecting their passes and hits whatsoever. Kevin was particularly enjoying this game, as everyone’s laughter, giggles, and moves never ceased to amaze and amuse.

“Nice one, baby Stevonnie!”

“Thanks!” They beamed as Lion swooped in…

With a bop of his nose (plus his momentum), the large pink feline had sent the ball flying!

“I got it, I got it…” Kevin ran backwards, only to trip as everyone else laughed even more, “Ow…”

As everyone went to check on Kevin, Lion cub had run off after the ball.

_{“Roaawwwrr!”} The cub roared proudly as he comically nudged the ball back into the ‘field’.

Looking at his cub self, Lion couldn’t help but pull a funny face, “Rooa-awww.”

“I’m good, let’s keep going!” Kevin brushed himself off and stood up.

“Okay!”

Though Lion cub couldn’t jump as high as the others could, he seemed content to just run along on the ground and have the ball whenever. Occasionally, he would summon a portal to aerial tackle the ‘ball’, but that often just ended up with him running on the surface of it…

“That’s ADORABLE!”

“YEP!”

After what felt like both forever and not long enough, the group stopped playing to relax and sit together to admire the scenery.

Even after over 4000 years and seeing countless other worlds, Stevonnie and Lapis had to admit, there was just something about the Earth that made it so special for them. Perhaps, because it was their home, or maybe because it was where so much had happened… so many firsts…

Before they could think too much, however, some small giggles had caught their attention.

Baby Stevonnie and gemling Lapis hadn’t even been snuggling with Lion and Lion cub for 10 minutes, and already, they were getting ‘restless’…

“Let’s dances, Lappy!” Stevonnie babbled as they stood up and held their hand out for her.

“Meh dance withs Vom?” She asked in affirmation.

“Yup!” The baby beamed as the gemling did the same.

“Okie!”

At first, their babyness resulted in clumsy, chaotic movements of their body with many close calls of near bumps, trips, and such… However, their movements soon smoothed out as they began humming together, in sync. As they synchronised, the others were watching on in wonder; Lapis hadn’t really fused again at this point – even Kevin knew this –, and yet, looking at them, one would be hard pressed to tell…

Each of them complimented the other so well, and when their bodies moved together, it was almost hypnotic…

Then, their respective gems began glowing, their forms pulling, revolving closer together as the glow intensified…

There was no disorder as the glow faded, only a single fused being, coherent… as if already experienced…

“WOW…” Aquamarine breathed, blinking her eyes in partial disbelief… “THEY JUST GOT EVEN CUTER!”

“THEY CAN DO THAT?” Adult Stevonnie and Lapis exclaimed, half-quizzical… (Not that anyone else present could answer or comment on that, since they themselves would know more…)

Kevin gave no response as he noted every detail… secretly exploding in excitement inside for them and her (Lapis)…

Their skin was darker than Stevonnie’s with a hint of Blue/Purple, had 2 hands and legs, long wild – larger than life – hair that almost reached the ground, and four adorable round eyes showing hints of blue/azure and purple/violet.

“Who am I?” The fusion asked as they looked at their body and themselves, “I… Lapis and Stevonnie… Lazuli and Diamond… Azure-Violet Diamond!” They settled, babbling happily.

Meanwhile, Lapis had turned to look at Stevonnie with wide, expressive eyes, “Our first fusion… I love you, Stevonnie.”

“I love you too, Lapis.”

Stevonnie and Lapis leaned closer and closer together, until their lips met in a deep, audible, passionate kiss.

“You love birds…” Kevin sighed blissfully as Azure-Violet giggled.

After a few moments, they pulled out of the kiss and smirked at Kevin, “Nothing wrong with that…”

“I guess not…”

Slowly, the baby made their way over, each step visibly melting everyone’s hearts even more.

“AWWWW… just look at you!” Stevonnie and Lapis cooed as they bend down to look at themself.

“Mama, mama!” They reached their arms out towards Lapis.

“Mama…” She cooed in response, picking them up to hug them close.

With each second, Lapis’s grin widened even more. ‘Stars… we’re… amazing!’

“Um… Laps…” Stevonnie poked the side of her face, “You alright there?”

“YEP!” She spoke back, her grin still taut.

“Dadmommy!” Azure eventually reached for them, ‘relieving’ Lapis from her ‘torture’.

“Hey there, little… um me-us…” Stevonnie scooped them up to look at them before hugging them tightly, “How’re ya doing?”

Instead of words, they answer with more happy giggling, and various other noises.

“That’s wonderful!” They grinned, before looking towards Aquamarine and Kevin, “Want to hold them? That is, if it’s okay with you, Azure.”

“It okays, dadmama!”

“YES YES YES YES YES YES!” Aquamarine took Azure into their arms even before anything else could be said.

“MAMA AQUA!”

“Hehe…” She giggled as she flew backwards, slightly struggling, “… You’re heavier than you look, aren’t you?”

“Maybe…” They answered playfully as they blushed.

“Or I am just not used to this…”

“Definitely that!” Kevin jested as a few giggled.

“I wouldn’t speak so soon…” Aqua returned, ‘tossing’ the baby over to him.

“Hey!” He dived, ‘catching’ them, “Even if they can fly and float, that isn’t an excuse!”

“They aren’t worried,” She pointed at Stevonnie and Lapis, who were both chuckling.

“You’d make a good dad someday, Kevin…”

“Thanks…”

“BOOP!” Azure bopped Kevin’s nose, causing him to look at them.

“… and BOOP!” He returned, “Ha, take that!”

“PFFFFTTTT!” They stuck their tongue out, imitating a fart…

“I wonder who ‘taught’ them-you that…” Kevin glanced at Stevonnie and Lapis.

“Yeah… I wonder who…” Lapis replied, acting ‘innocent’…

Looking on as baby/gemling Azure-Violet ‘played’, Stevonnie couldn’t have but wonder…

“Hey Lapis… this makes me think…”

“About what?”

“…Kids… like should we maybe adopt a Gemling or see if we can make our own?”

“Oh… yeah… I guess…” She looked at them and held their hands, “Maybe eventually? We do have eternity to figure it out…”

“That we do…”

“And when we do have kids, we’ll be the BEST parents ever!”

“Yeah, we will… love you!”

“Love you more!”

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Another ‘bout’ of ‘quasi’-snuggles and such later, they were back with more active activities and playing.

In the late afternoon sun, the current ‘object’ of ‘play’ could be seen glistening, reflecting, and refracting the warm rays…

Azure-Violet had summoned a ‘human’ hamster ball of sorts around themselves with their powers – like those plastic ones, except tinted in their own hues. Currently, they were running around inside as the ball bounced around, occasionally throwing them into a tumble and laughs.

“WWWEEEEEE!” Their voice, though muffled, was still audible, “I’ma gets ya!”

“Nooo…” Kevin feigned despair as they roll-bounced over him like a spherical bouncy steamroller.

“Don’t worry, I got…” Aquamarine’s efforts to ‘stop’ only resulted in minimal change to the trajectory as she was deflected.

Likewise, Lion cub was equally ‘hopeless’, although he did seem to enjoy the large round spherical object as he chased it around with his adult counterpart…

Sometimes, they would swipe at it, only for it to get out of reach…

The best Stevonnie and Lapis could do, was stand still and bounce it off them as all giggled.

“Don’t we get tired?” The former asked rhetorically.

“Maybe… oof… But maybe it’s different for babies?”

“Definitely different…”

By the time Azure had stopped, the sun was less than an hour from setting. It was a great day, and no one could think of how it could’ve gone even better (except even more of it, of course…).

Despite knowing how much he had yet to change… there was something… special about seeing him grow so much – even in just the span of a day and so early…

“Hey Kevin, thanks for being a better person…” Stevonnie casually said.

“No, thank you for helping me, help myself,” He smiled back at them and Azure in their arms.

“When you say it that way…” They smiled.

“Now who’s a cute ‘wittle baby?” Kevin cooed, kneeling at their eye level, “Yes you are!”

“YIPPEE!” Azure beamed as their ‘parents’ giggled.

“We are cute, baby or not!”

“I have to go now, but be a nice baby alright?” He said to baby them.

They nodded and smiled as they hugged him, “Bye-bye, Kevin!”

“Bye!” The teen gave a cute little wave back.

Then, Azure smiled and jumped to the ground, running towards the Lions and Aquamarine… as if giving the three space…

Stevonnie and Lapis let out a small huff of a chuckle before both wrapping their arms around, and hugging Kevin in all its three-way awkwardness…

Smirking, they each simultaneously pressed their lips against one of his cheeks, giving him a deep, audible kiss…

“See you around…” They said as they pulled back, his cheeks visibly tinted with red by the blushing, “Kevin…”

“Okay!” He smiled, walking backwards and away…

After he left earshot, Aquamarine flew up with a smirk and whispered in their ears,

“Was that flirting? Because it looked like it…”

“Maybe…” They giggled coyly…

“Well, however many years it’s been ‘going on’, good for you!”

Normally, Priyanka Maheswaran wouldn’t go out of her way to visit Beach City without reason. However, today, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something important…

Making her way to the beach, she could see Kevin’s car coming towards her, pass her as he gave her a friendly wave, and head off into the distance. ‘Seems like I was right…’ she thought to herself.

As she rounded the corner onto the beach, the scene that greeted her eyes were both expected and surprising at the same time…

Before she could say anything, her feet had already carried her in front…

“HEY MOM!” Stevonnie and Lapis practically shouted as they tackled the woman into a hug and kissed her.

“Mom?” She raised an eyebrow, looking carefully at them, their outfits, posture… How they matched and how close they were…

Lapis looked… pretty much the same, but Stevonnie… looked somewhat older, taller… putting everything together, it was clear that this wasn’t her Stevonnie and Lapis she knew…

“Stevonnie… Lapis… are…” She breathed, glancing between them as they held hands…

They flashed her bright toothy grins – Lapis’s looking particularly familiar…

Then, something else caught her eye… Lion and a… smaller Lion – a cub, still pink… –, and…

“Future Peridot did a thing, again,” Stevonnie and Lapis explained, “And…”

Baby/gemling Azure-Violet made their way over, tugging at the woman’s pants.

She bent down to pick them up, hugging them close before looking back at the adults, “Let me guess… when you arrived the ‘other’ you turned into babies.”

“Yep!” They smiled, “We had SO much fun together!”

“CUTE fun,” Aquamarine ‘corrected’.

“And well…” Stevonnie continued…

“Baby us… fused…” Lapis finished, smiling sheepishly.

“Sounds wonderful…” Priyanka looked down, taking in Azure’s wonderful features, “And aren’t you just the cutest!” and gave them a kiss.

“MAMA!” They babbled and kissed her back as she chuckled.

She already knew that Steven and Connie would end up together, but this… was something else… Despite not knowing the timeline of things, Priyanka couldn’t help but smile even more… At the very least, she knew she’d have not just one, but two amazing weddings to look forward to, as well as becoming the loving mother of a (once) troubled gem… (If not more…)

It wasn’t something she would’ve ever thought about before Connie had met Steven, but this family thing was really starting to grow on her…

“So…”

“OF COURSE YOU CAN SEE THE CUTE BABY PHOTOS OF US!” Stevonnie exclaimed, pulling out their phone as their wife giggled (gosh, they were SO cute…).

“This is me, you already know that…” Stevonnie pointed to a photo of their baby self, before scrolling to one of Lapis, “And that’s Lapis! She’s JUST the cutest! You should’ve seen Aquamarine!”

“Aww…” Priyanka cooed as they all squeezed together and Stevonnie zoomed in, “Lapis… you are cute!”

“Thanks, I try!” She grinned innocently.

“I’ll leave you to it than,” Mom said, handing Azure back to Stevonnie and Lapis, “Later sweetie!”

She kissed each of them in turn before leaving.

“Later|s Mom|Mama!” They waved back.

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As soon as they stepped back into the beach house, all of them yawned.

“Tired, are we?”

“Yeah… Aqua… it was…”

“A bit of a long day…”

“Bathtimes!”

“Well… we can have little more fun…” Lapis and Stevonnie smiled as they took Azure into the bathroom.

Immediately, splashes and sloshes of water could be heard…

As she waited, Aquamarine gave herself a quick rinse in the kitchen sink. Smirking as she turned towards the Lions, she gathered a large amount of warm water in the sink…

Tossing a cat toy to lead them outside and with their backs turned, she picked up the water from the sink with her wand and flung it at them.

“HA!” She giggled as both were soaked and dirt washed off them, “Thought you could get away? NOPE!”

For a moment, she thought they’d be angry… but it seemed that she had saved them a lot of trouble, so they were just purring… as if asking for more…

It took about three blobs of water to clean off Lion, and drying him off proved a lot harder than it looked…

Still, as Stevonnie, Lapis, and Azure walked out of the bathroom with clean clothes, Aquamarine had already finished…

When Aquamarine turned to leave, she found herself unable to resist the cuteness… “I’m staying to make sure everything is ok…” She ‘explained’, even though everyone knew the real reason…

Since they all wanted to stay together, Stevonnie had pulled out an oversized mattress for them all to sleep on. Almost as soon as their bodies made contact, the lull of sleep took hold…

Azure-Violet stayed fused even as they had fallen asleep, nuzzled between Stevonnie and Lapis. Aquamarine lay in the ‘triangle’ of them, next to the adults’ heads, her arms firmly wrapped around Lion cub as one would with a stuffed animal. Lastly, Lion was ‘atop’ them all, snoring soundly as his fur brushed Stevonnie and Lapis’s hair…

It really was an adorable scene, and as Peridot came across it, she naturally took the opportunity to take many more sleeping photos for ‘blackmail’…

Chapter Text

Thinking back, Pink Pearl couldn’t be more thankful for all the support of her friends and family since that day on the ship. Without them, she could’ve easily lost it… finding out about the lost years and everything… it hit hard, especially given how close they had been even until…

However, the past is the past, and she knew not to get lost in it; she’d have many more happy memories to make in the present and future…

Although the concept of self-freedom wasn’t completely new to her – Rose had always been lax with her –, making a home on Earth wasn’t something she’d be able to do alone. Thankfully, she had Stevonnie and Lapis helping her, making her comfortable and safe…

Whether they were Steven and Connie or Stevonnie, Pink Pearl found their company to be greatly relaxing and joy inducing. Despite their young age, they had more understanding in their hearts than perhaps most; together, they were wise, understanding, and so, so loving and huggable… which she loved.

As for Lapis, once Pink Pearl had learnt of her backstory… they had naturally connected (on top of her already being close to Steven and Connie / Stevonnie…). Because of her trauma, she had become a lot more understanding (and humble), and despite the changes, Pink Pearl couldn’t help but admire and enjoy the beauty and presence of an important/powerful gem such as herself…

She trusted both deeply, and despite what the others said, Pink Pearl wouldn’t rather be anywhere but close to her former diamond’s child, caring for them, and bonding with them (and their friend, Lapis…) – being part of their family as she settled into her beautiful new home…

It didn’t mean she didn’t hang out with others, but she’d also never turn down an invitation from the Beach Summer Fun Buddies… (She always liked playing more than ‘work’… Besides, spending time with Stevonnie and Lapis… it seemed to help the latter as much as it helped herself, which was nice…)

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Today was another perfect day for hanging out and playing; the sun was bright but not overbearing, the wind was gentle and soothing, and the seagulls weren’t bothering them…

Pink Pearl had started off by juggling a few balls that she had, only for Stevonnie and Lapis to ‘take over’… Not that she minded, since it was as much fun watching as doing it… Stevonnie looked so much like her especially as they juggled, but it was also completely different; there was no fear, no playfulness, or ‘guilt’, only joy and happy giggles.

Lapis, on the other hand, would occasionally slip up – she was better with water, after all – but nonetheless, her smile held…

“Oops… this is harder than it looks…”

“It’s alright Lapis, you have water and we have this!”

“Guess you’re right…” She smiled as she felt Lion nudge into her side and she looked down, “Lion, you wanna try?”

“Roaar!” He nodded and rolled onto his back.

As expected, without ‘hands’ and ‘arms’, Lion could only manage to juggle by ‘luck’ – a few cycles –, before things got out of hand…

Several attempts later, he rolled back over and tried to balance them on his nose instead.

“WOW Lion, look at you go!” Stevonnie squeed, whipping out their phone to take a video of the feline balancing over half a dozen balls on his nose, “Don’t sneeze now… let’s see if you can hold it for 5 minutes…”

“He’s going to sneeze,” Lapis whispered into their ear.

“Hey, don’t jinx it!”

“Roa-chu!”

“Aww…” Stevonnie frowned momentarily, before the image of falling balls bopping Lion on the nose made them laugh, “…It’s okay Lion, you did good…”

“Yeah,” Pink Pearl joined, smiling, “That’s way better than us!”

“Roawh!” He nudged the balls back over and nuzzled into their sides.

“That’s a good boy… you want snuggles?”

“Mmm-hmmm…”

“Okay!” They exclaimed, all wrapping their arms around each other and Lion.

Pink Pearl loved hugs, especially ones with Lion in them… HE WAS JUST SO FLUFFY! He was warm and good squishy like Stevonnie, but with so much more magical hair/fur which was so nice to rest on and stroke/brush. Meanwhile, Lapis, while ‘cool’ as a gem, had a reassuming comfort to her; the way the water gem held her, always firm but never overbearing… it was grounding.

If Pink Pearl could only do one thing for the rest of eternity, she’d pick hugs without second thoughts – it was just the best (especially when it’s with her friends)!

Besides snuggles though, Pink Pearl also loved having fun – playing – with them. Earth had so many new games, activities, and more… and having come from just when they had… she was sure she’d never get tired of it!

They played a few quick rounds of board games, “Why did we do it outside?” She had asked.

“Dunno…” They shrugged and smiled, “But it’s nice being out, right?”

“It is,” She smiled back, “Still, we shouldn’t ‘waste’ such a nice day – even if every moment I spend with you, hanging out, is the best!”

“Oh I know!” Stevonnie announced, “Wait right here…”

“Will do, Beach Summer Fun Buddy,” Lapis replied as Stevonnie ran into the beach house and Pink Pearl giggled.

A few minutes later, they emerged from the beach house having changed into a lovely one-piece swimsuit with several buckets in one hand and a giant beach ball in the other.

“Now I’m ready!” They jumped from the porch and gently floated down in front of the two, “What would you like to do first?”

However, Pink Pearl’s eyes were firmly fixed on the stack of buckets…

“Guess that answers that…” Lapis smiled, “Come on, let’s build sandcastles!”

And build they did… While Lion could ‘only’ manage to make rough piles of sand with his paws, he wasn’t upset or anything. Occasionally, he’d find a pretty shell in the sand, gently pick it up in his mouth, and ‘hand’ it over for Stevonnie, Lapis, and Pink Pearl to look at.

“Wow Lion, that’s perfect!” Stevonnie beamed and ruffled his mane as they stood next to the castle they had built with Pink Pearl.

Lion looked at the castle and smiled, as if to tell them they did a great job, “Rooaaawwrr!”

“Oh it’s nothing…” She flushed, picking up the shell to place it, “Just a classic castle… You should see Lapis!”

“You know, I could use a hand in finishing it off…”

“Coming!”

Lapis had used her powers to shape the sand into an almost impossible shape – it wasn’t sand-shifting or full on terraforming, but the power of water isn’t one to be underestimated… –, impressively grand and intricate like the spires and towers that had once existed (and are now back) in gem territories…

Together, the four of them made the castle even grander and more beautiful – filling every bit with decorations they had found and personalising ‘their’ ‘part’ of the ‘castle’ (palace). Despite knowing it won’t last, they still savoured the moment, taking many photos and videos with it (who knows when it’ll come in handy?)…

Then, they played with the beach ball, each bouncing and hitting it around however they felt like… It was liberating, not having to ‘stick’ to any ‘rules’ and just… enjoy…

“I got it, incoming!” Pink Pearl loved how unpredictable yet unchaotic it was – never once did they seem overwhelmed, just amused.

“Bop, Lapis?”

“Yep!” Flying up, she caught the ball, before landing back down, “I think I’m gonna stretch my wings now…”

“Of course!” Stevonnie and Pink Pearl smiled, hugged her, and set the beach ball aside…

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Stevonnie had jumped up high into the air, hovering blissfully as Lapis carried Pink Pearl in her arms and flew around them.

“It’s beautiful… the view…”

“Is amazing… that’s Earth for ya,” Lapis smiled, “Sometimes… I forget just how amazing being able to fly is…”

Flying was something that Pink Pearl hadn’t even dreamed on before… – especially somewhere as beautiful as Earth –, and yet, she was enjoying every moment of it. The feeling of the wind through her clothing and on her form, the way the acceleration pulled, tugged, making her weightless and heavier…

Dynamic and alive, she couldn’t help but wonder if Rose had ever done it (she could float, but…) – not that the thought bothered her much anymore… Stevonnie had experienced it just like Pink Pearl herself had, and that’s all she needed to know.

Back on the ground, Pink Pearl was still giddy from ‘adrenaline’ when Stevonnie had extended their hand…

“May I? That is if you want to,” They asked softly, courteous.

Smiling, Pink Pearl took their hand, “Of course.”

They began by moving slowly to an invisible tune, each taking their turn ‘leading’ the dance as they spun, dipped, twirled, leapt, and stepped… With each moment, their speed and giddiness increased as they harmonised and let all else fade away. The glow of their gems was bright, pink, and yet, soft…

As the glow faded and they opened all four of their eyes, their first thoughts were to check out their new form.

“We-I Fused! This feels so good, no it feels great, NO, NO, FANTASTIC!” They exclaimed with childish excitement, causing Lapis to giggle, “We look just…”

‘Who are they?’ Part of them asked/thought to themself, ‘Well… Rose-Mom and Pearl-Mom…’

“Pink Stevonnie Quartz,” They said resolutely (it didn’t make much sense, but since when did it have to?).

Their gems – stacked atop each other; round Pearl on top, and faceted diamond below – were exposed via a cut-out on their naval (much like the OG Rainbow in the 80’s), and the skirt, while still present, was shorter in the back for ease of movement.

They were still twirling around, admiring themselves, when Lion approached them and sniffed.

“Oh hey buddy,” Pinkie Quartz leaned down to pet him, “Did I surprise you there?”

“Roa-awwr…” They weren’t sure what that meant, but his leaning into them, tackling into a quick hug and licking made it very clear…

“Aww… love you, Lion!”

“Ahem,” Lapis clear her throat, smiling as they stood up.

“Hey Lapis!” They tacked her into a hug as she giggled.

“Time for more fun?” Lapis didn’t mind, not one bit – they had yet to… so they and her… well, nothing wrong with friends… the more the marrier!

“WELL, YEAH!” Pinkie exclaimed, practically dragging her.

“Slow down… I’m gonna trip!”

“I’ll catch!”

“I’m taking a raincheck on that…”

Lapis barely had time to ‘change’ into a swimsuit before Pinkie had dragged her into the ocean for a swim. The ocean had stopped terrifying her long ago, and right here, right now, she’d enjoy it just as much as them!

Pinkie Quartz started swimming face down, their large size making short work of moving through water, before they turned onto their back and slowed down to wait for Lapis.

“Come on Lapis, just try to keep up!”

In response, the water gem sped up as she giggle-mumbled something under the water (which obviously came out unintelligible).  ‘Stars they’re goofy…’

Lapis could’ve easily made the water do the work for her, but that would be missing the point and experience… so she only did the barest of water bending to supplement her strokes as she kept up.

“You were saying?” She pulled next to them, hair slicked back from the water.

“You look great Lapis!” They exclaimed as they looked at her, still in motion, not quite answering her question.

“Of course I do,” She did a spin for them as they half-blushed… Then, without saying anything else, Lapis dove back into the water.

Pink Stevonnie Quartz stopped, breathed in, breathed in some more… and even more… ‘Huh, I swear I don’t normally… maybe it got stored because of our pearl? Yeah, that kinda makes sense…’

Putting the thought aside for later, they drove into the water after Lapis, forming a pair of goggles over their eyes so they could see. All around, the water was a crystal tint of aqua filled with life. They took a moment to admire the beautiful scene as their eyes adjusted, before finding Lapis and swimming towards her.

Without having to worry about running out of oxygen, Pinkie could fully enjoy all that the ocean offered. It was like flying since it also had three dimensions, but the feeling of water against their form was very different indeed, the density having a reassuring feeling to them…

When they decided they’d had ‘enough’ fun, they gestured for Lapis to surface. Smiling, she shot upwards as Pinkie did the same. However, the latter stopped short of breaching the surface, sitting just a foot below…

Concentrating, they exhaled all their spent air in one rapid breath, jetting water towards and onto Lapis.

They emerged giggling, just in time for Lapis to bring a wave over them,

“HEY!” They splashed her back with their hands as she prepared more attacks.

“You started it!” Lapis exclaimed, chuckling as she ‘retreated’ towards the shore while ‘striking back’.

Pinkie easily blocked her attacks with their shield and bubbles, but with only two arms, they had to weather it out as they prioritised swimming over defence… (They still threw in a few wild punches though…)

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Once both made it back to shore though, the water fight erupted in full force; Pinkie using their shield to shovel and splash ridiculous amounts of water at Lapis who took full advantage of her powers (within reasonable limits, of course)…, bringing down waves, throwing balls of water, deflecting, and more…

It was essentially pandemonium, meaning Lion was more than happy watching at a safe distance… a blur of pink and blue as friends thoroughly soaked each other repeatedly…

“Had enough?”

“Enough if you had enough, Lapis,” They replied, finishing with a few playful splashes.

“Ok, now I’m wet…”

“That’d sound so wrong out of context…”

“I know Lapis… so, can you help me?”

“Yeah…” Giggling and unable to supress a snort, Lapis helped remove water from their outside…

While they still had boundless amounts of energy, it was always nice to take it slow. So, Pinkie Quartz played some more games on the beach with Lapis and Lion, which was fun! It didn’t really matter what they played; there was just no such thing as a bad time with friends – especially when they were all so full of fun goofiness and love!

After they’d felt like they had enough fun together, Pinkie Quartz unfused with a smile that carried back into Pink Pearl and Stevonnie. Obviously, fusing with them wasn’t like what fusing with Steven (or Rose – as if that would’ve happened even without the other Diamonds…) would (have) be(en) like, but the bond shared by their components was one that enriched the whole experience, making it that much more special and amazing…

Pink Pearl looked to Lapis, then back to Stevonnie who beamed encouragingly at her – she knew Lapis’s experience with fusion wasn’t the best, but after fusing with them, she also knew she’d be able to embody a positive experience fusing with Lapis that would be another step in her getting even better! (After all, what are friends for?)

“Mmm,” Pink Pearl hummed, smiled, and made her way to Lapis.

Neither exchanged a word as they looked at each other, everything broadcasted through their expressions alone. Then, they nodded as they each extended a hand for the other…

The dance that followed totally captivated Stevonnie as they watched. Both gems were naturally graceful, and as such, combined to make for a very showy composition of twirls, twists, dips, tosses, raises, and such that was as at home here as it would be at a sold out ballet/dance/theatrical performance. (It wasn’t anything Stevonnie couldn’t do or would do when they danced, but that just wasn’t their style.)

The violet glow faded to reveal a beautiful fusion with violet skin, bright round eyes full of fun and curiosity, four magnificent arms, and violet hair streaked with pink and blue…

“OH MY GOSH, you’re GORGEOUS!” Stevonnie exclaimed as they jumped up to hug her.

“Coming from you, that means a lot, thanks!” She returned the hug with all four arms.

“Oh it’s nothing… so how do you feel? What’s your name? What do you want to do?”

(Stars did she love their excitement!) After a small giggle, she replied,

“Great! I’m Violet Moonstone … and… I don’t know?”

“Cool!” Stevonnie literally had stars in their eyes as they jumped back to the beach, “Okay, I’ll just give you some room if that’s alright.”

Violet smiled as Stevonnie stood back to watch.

While there were many things she could do, it also couldn’t more obvious what she’d do first…

Summoning her water wings with giddy excitement, Violet took off into the sky with both practiced grace and ‘unfamiliar’ newness.

“YIPPEEEE!” She exclaimed, testing her abilities as she did aerial stunts like rolls, loops and flips, “This is amazing!” ‘Of course it is,’ she chuckles, “It is more than just flying!”

This was something that wouldn’t have been possible without them, and she would make sure to enjoy ALL of it!

The feeling as her form moved through the air, the control, the total freedom…

“Hey, my hands are free! Obviously…” Grinning, she stopped several meters above the water and began to draw within her being, flexing her powers…

Feeling and seeing the water moving and raising at her command, Violet’s excitement exploded (even more) like a supernova.

“Wow… pretty cool, right? THE COOLEST!”

Combining both abilities, she made columns out of water, shot them as giant streams into the sky, and even dared herself to catch any ‘balls’ of water she ‘threw’ into the sky. It was strange, how despite knowing she could’ve done this at any time (before), all of her revelled the experience greatly. Perhaps it was Pearl’s playful nature or Lapis’s own personality shining through brighter than before, but it didn’t matter either way; they were having fun and loving it!

When their thoughts shifted to Stevonnie, she wasted no time in flying down to the beach and scooping them up for even more fun flying together!

“Aaahhhahaha,” Stevonnie giggled as well as they soared, Violet even managing to use some of her arms to lightly tickle them, “Noo…”

“Yes!” She gave them a more serious tickle and tossed them into the air as they fake-screamed.

“AAAARRRGH!” They waved their limbs around frantically as they fell.

“You can float and ‘fly’…” Violet said as she ‘caught’ them.

“It’s okay!” Stevonnie turned to hug them as they continued to fly with them.

Flying with Stevonnie may’ve been a bit harder for Lapis than just Steven, but not for Violet! They were practically the size of a toddler in their arms (relatively)! A very fun and loving ‘kid’ that helped and continue to help them…

Stevonnie enjoyed both the security and warm feeling of having fun with friends, and Violet loved how she was another ‘giant woman’ that they could have fun with… They enjoyed themselves all so much that they almost didn’t notice their gems glowing and their forms coming closer together, fusing…

“Hehe… HEY!” Still airborne, they blinked their four eyes in recognition, feeling their four arms and three gems… “WE FUSED! So we did!”

Laughing even more in a mixture of half-snorts, wholesome heartiness, and light ‘shy’ giggling, they continued flying…

Flying with a lot of goofiness thanks to their combined selves… backwards, sideways, upside-down, combinations as they free styled in aerial acrobatics and absurd awesomeness.

“YAAAAYYY!” They could hardly tell up from down if it weren’t for gravity and the large body of water below them that served as a point of reference… “Oh… YIPPEE!”

Lion looked on in amusement at first before he lost track of them (he could locate Steven or Stevonnie really easily somehow…) – or so he thought…

In reality, they were diving towards Lion right above him – surely, that can’t be right…

Before they could ‘crash’ into Lion, they levelled out behind and above him, did a 180 roll, and half looped – a Split-S – so they were close to the ground as they came up behind him…

The feline let out a roar in surprise as Violet scooped him up high into the air, but quickly relaxed when enjoyment took hold. Because if he were honest, feeling the wind against his mane and fur while being held by his bestest friends was the bomb!

Even when they did toss him, he found great joy in both them catching him again – like Rose had done when he was a lot younger all those years ago… that was nice… – and combining his portalling abilities with more speed and their flying to weave an intricate yet improvised mess of PURE fun!

“I love you Lion!” They said as they held him close in their arms, kissing him after adjusting their position.

“Rooaaawwrr!” He replied with an enthusiastic roar as they practically melted…

“Awww…” They flew a bit more, before their giddy joy fun-having had (inadvertently) resulted in them diving towards the ground…

(Lion wasn’t worried; he trusted them!)

With a foot of water and a bubble to cushion their ‘fall’, they crashed into and onto the beach with Lion. A bright glow and colourful flash of smoke signalled their unfusal through the ‘dust’ of the impact.

They continued laughing as they lay in a pile on the sand and didn’t bother getting up.

“Stars… that was SO MUCH FUN!”

“And Lion loved it!”

“We have to show ‘em to Garnet after this!”

“Obviously, Lapis!”

All Lion could do was smile as he watched in the middle of it all – shame he couldn’t laugh, because if he did, he’d be laughing right along with them!

Regardless, it didn’t matter, since being here with them was certainly more than enough for him…

And more than enough for Pink Pearl, Stevonnie, and Lapis too!

Friends are definitely the best, and they were all glad things turned out so well like this… More challenges will be ahead, but right here, right now, today, they were content in just being together, as themselves…

Chapter Text

While Era 3 had seen countless changes for the better, one of the greatest changes to come for gemkind would also mark the beginning of a new Era and the end of the last one. Eager anticipation and bursting excitement was everywhere; a complete opposite of the last two transitions, which was definitely a good thing.

(Not that one could tell by how the three at the forefront of it were dressed, since their usual was pretty fancy already and worked well for any occasion.)

‘Short’ as it was – under two and half millennia –, Era 3 had also been the best part of their lives for two of the three who found new purpose, friends, love, and so much more thanks to their shared best friend, Stevonnie. (Well, Steven did help Lapis a lot, but when Lapis and Stevonnie met, that was just a whole nother beautiful chapter…)

“Can you believe it?” Stevonnie said as they stood atop the valley on the lush, thriving surface of the planet, eyes sparkling with wonder and joy, “Era 3, literally my whole life… And now it’s time to say goodbye…”

“And hello to a whole new one?” Spinel, Stevonnie, and Lapis finished in unison, all smiles, “Yeah.”

“I love you Lapis.”

“I love you too, Stevonnie.” The couple shared kisses as Spinel giggled and hugged them.

“And I love being your forever bestie ‘third-wheel’!”

“If mom could see us now, I’d bet she’d be crying so many happy tears that she wouldn’t even be able to see anything… Thank you.”

In the background, the other diamonds simply nodded and smiled, happy just to be here watching their ‘kids’ welcome their first new and renewably produced gems – at least for now, until they’d join in.

“So Spinel, how long have we got to wait?”

“If Peridot’s calculations are correct, about five to ten minutes,” Spinel giggled as she replied to Stevonnie’s question, “Why are ya askin’ little ol’ me anyway, you’re the diamond!”

“Well, it’s just that you always keep such good time!”

“That I do!” She beamed at the compliment, happiness and warmth spreading through her just like always.

This March 53^rd _{(last week of the month)} was fine like any other on Mars – not too warm and not too cool –, leaves on trees were just starting to turn golden as peak of Autumn is about to come in April, various animals still months away from winter perpetrations…

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

Mars, being devoid of anything but microbial life and some scattered rovers, had been the perfect planet for terraforming into a new place for all to live on. A truly grand undertaking – even more so than reversing climate change and fixing Earth – with little precedent, but Lapises and terraforming gems had always relished a challenge or two.

It turns out they – terraformers – never had to stop terraforming at all, it was just how.

Instead of terraforming for one’s gain at the expense and exploitation of others’ diversity and resources, it was terraforming for the betterment of all. Whether it was undoing the damage done by prior ‘jobs’, rebuilding and reshaping, or the creation of habitable environments and planets where none existed before, the happiness, pride, and warmth it brought meant that the alliance was never short of hands for such tasks.

When Stevonnie had brought up the idea to Lapis, they didn’t even have time to finish explaining before she literally dragged them and the other Lapises (the curly haired one and the one with freckles and a ponytail) to the other diamonds to get started.

The allure of a blank canvas to flex her powers on was just too much to resist…

~~~ ### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ### ~~~

Power and teamwork, combined through the love of all life and creative freedom, had crafted a planet that while reminiscent of the ‘old’, was also many times more hospitable and awe-inspiring.

Core back at full temperature – flowing and molten –, magnetosphere strong, rotation and tilt stabilised, atmosphere thickened and adjusted, and soil enriched, the terraformed Mars was now a whole planet of endless possibilities.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Lapis cooed, looking at the masterpiece ahead of her.

“Not as beautiful as you, wifey…” Stevonnie smirked as they looked at her adoringly, “Nothing could ever be as amazing as you, no matter how close they come…”

“Except for you, babe,” Lapis returned with a kiss.

“Yep!” Stevonnie grinned, “Now let’s go greet some emerging gems!”

“Yeah!”

“Race you to the bottom!” Spinel called out as she sprinted, then jumped/stretched down into the valley.

“You’re on!” Stevonnie and Lapis replied, diving after their friend, neck and neck as they all did their own stunts to show off.

Unsurprisingly, the ‘race’ ended with a tie and less than a minute until the first gems would emerge. These will be first gems to be ‘born’ without an enforced or programmed ‘purpose’, just knowledge in general and those relevant to any powers they’d have, as well as the history of gemkind and a who’s who of the immediate Diamond Alliance and Crystal Gem circles, and an enhanced ability to change, grow, learn, and love. The best human and gems qualities combined, just like Stevonnie.

All of them had contributed to the injector essences, so they were like their children in a way, which made them just that much more excited…

“Oh it’s close; I can feel it!” Stevonnie squeed, sensing the growing life force ahead of them through their gem’s connection.

“I wonder what gem it’ll be…” Spinel cooed, bouncing up and down excitedly.

“They’ll probably be red, like Mars was,” Lapis commented, confident in her senses about it, “And a quartz.”

“That’ll be fun!” | “Yeah!”

Right after they finished saying that, a red glow formed in front of them.

“Knew it!”

Carnelian’s awareness came with a flurry of information, her mind flooding with both negative and positive feelings in response. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of her existence yet, since her mind was still less than a minute old.

One moment, there was nothing, and the next, here she was; a gem not made to serve, but made from love and care and desire to spread it across the cosmos.

Carnelian notes the life force in the ground around her, how full it was, undrained thanks to the new methods, the ever-growing sense of love and worth, her increasing strength and form’s tangibility… the warm sparkling feeling – joy – washing over her…

*POP*

Carnelian _{(between Amethyst and Jasper in height)} emerged from the ground in a puff of red smoke, her exit-hole fading as the ground retook its shape.

“Welcome to Mars, Carnelian!” Stevonnie, Lapis, and Spinel beamed as they rushed forward and hugged her, their eyes glistening stars, “Earth away from Earth.”

“Hey,” Carnelian giggled as a blush formed on her cheeks. Not even two steps and breaths in, and she already knew it would only get better.

“Pretty cosy, am I right?”

“Yeah, it’s nice!”

“I helped, you know,” Lapis stated proudly.

“As did Azure-Violet,” Stevonnie added as they kissed Lapis.

“Aww…” Carnelian cooed at the display of affection, “So ADORABLE!”

When she turned around to take in more of the scenery (she hadn’t even looked in that direction before being greeted with all the love and hugs), she spotted a growing pink glow.

“Stevonnie, Lapis, Spinel, LOOK!” Carnelian exclaimed, jumping like a child.

“You’re gonna be a big sister!” They replied as they ruffled her hair, “Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Stars, I’ve only emerged like a minute ago, it’s all happening so quick and it’s AMAZING!” She squeed, squishing her cheeks with her hands.

The pink smoke cleared to reveal another quartz – albeit much bigger/taller –, gem on the naval and hair puffy, wild, and pink, she, while a Pink Quartz instead of a Rose, looked more Rose/Pink than any of the other Roses put together.

“Welcome to Mars!” | “Oh my stars, I’m so glad to finally you! And I just emerged too!” The four burst forward with a hug as Pink Quartz did the same, enthusiasm evident from her starry eyes.

“Oof.” | “Ops!” Their hug connected with anything but grace, hands and limbs bumping against each other as all were equally eager.

“She looks just like mom Lapis!” Stevonnie exclaimed delightedly as she lifted them all up with her strong, caring arms, “And just as tall too!” She was full of love and joy like her, and so, so excitable and more, and they loved every bit of it!

“I know!” They replied chirpily as they leaned further into the hug.

Snug in her arms, Stevonnie, Lapis, and Spinel felt very safe indeed.

“Nora, my name’s Nora,” She exclaimed spontaneously as the idea struck her, “What do you think?”

“It’s wonderful,” They replied, giggling, “She would’ve loved it…”

“Nora it is then!” Nora beamed as she put them down to await their next member.

In the distance, just able to make out what they were saying, the diamonds smiled even wider.

“Guess Peridot wasn’t kidding about the bubbly personalities.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, no it’s not… it’s wonderful…”

“Welcome to Mars!” Nora burst out – ahead of everyone else – even before the orange smoke faded to reveal the next gem.

Stevonnie beamed (even more than they already were) the moment they saw the two gems on the Poppy Topaz’s shoulders, “OMG, a fusion! Isn’t that cool and wonderful?”

A red blush illuminated Poppy’s face as she freed her hands to return their hugs.

“The most,” She grinned as she took in her surroundings, eyes increasingly starry.

“So, what do you think about Mars? It’s great isn’t it?” Nora could hardly compose herself as words poured out of her, “The weather’s nice, and everything is just so lively yet relaxing at the same time!”

“Best thing my eyes have ever seen besides you guys!”

“Obviously,” Stevonnie and Lapis smirked. | “Heh, you should see Earth then.”

“We will, right?”

“Of course!”

“Yippee!”

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

“Taking a while, huh?” Stevonnie stated after more than 10 minutes of inactivity, having had sat down along with Lapis 3 minutes into the wait.

While the first three came in quick succession, this next gem was definitely keeping them on their toes.

“Yeah… I feel like it’s gonna be something big tho,” Spinel shrugged as she juggled items with Carnelian, Nora, and Poppy.

When the cliff in front started glowing in a giant (purple) heart shape instead of humanoid, they were even more confused as they approached with a puzzled expression on their faces.

“Wha-…” Stevonnie mumbled as a faint recognition flashed in Spinel’s mind. “Hmm…?”

Even the burst of smoke was heart shaped!

“Wel-“

“YIPPEE!” A rubbery springing sound cut them off as long, rubbery limbs wrapped round to hug them all, “I’m so excited to meet you all!”

Spinel blinked. This was another spinel just like her, and apart from her colour, was the splitting image of her old self.

Spinel smiled at her newest sibling/cousin, “It’s nice to meet you too!”

“That’s GREAT!” The new spinel beamed, “Oh, I can already tell we’re gonna have SSOOOO much fun together! We’re gonna be besties and be together forever and ever and ever and ever!”

“Oh gee…” Stevonnie and Lapis giggled awkwardly along with Spinel (hopefully this wouldn’t be a total repeat…), the other gems also smiling uneasily…

“Heh, I’m just kidding!” She pulled back from the hug and chuckled (just before it could get proper awkward), causing the others to laugh with relief, “That’d kinda get annoying and tiring real quick unless you’re like in love in love, am I right?”

‘I could never get tired of you Lapis, every moment with you is the best!’ Stevonnie and Lapis smiled and kissed each other, ‘Same Stevonnie, I love you SO MUCH!’

‘Aww… that never gets old and I love it!’

“Yeah,” They and Spinel replied to the already answered question as they returned the hug,

“But we can and are still gonna hang out heaps!”

“Totally!”

“Just call me Violet, by the way,” Violet helpfully supplied, “Yeah, yeah, I know… I’m more purple than violet, but the name works!”

“Welcome to the family, Violet!”

“Oh yeah!”

### ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ###

Without the need for dozens or hundreds of the same gem anymore, this first batch – about 3 of each gem type (apart from Violet) – in Era 4 would just be the start of many more rainbow colours to come.

The welcoming party, enthusiasm, and love only grew bigger with each blushing arrival; among them were a Pearl-height Golden Beryl who loved anything craft related, a Swiss Blue Topaz with long curly hair, Peridots of various cuteness (heights) and Peri-nality (nerdiness), a lean Cyan Quartz, as well as gems that were literally the firsts of their kind, which was exciting!

“Just one more to go Lapis, I’m so EXCITED!” Stevonnie would’ve practically floated off from joy if not for their wife and personal gravity field generators grounding them the moment Spinel and the newly emerged Peridots confirmed the final count.

“Me too!” Lapis beamed as she hugged her partner, “I think this one’s gonna be blue just like me.”

A moment later, a blue glow formed on the cliff, proving Lapis right once again.

“It’s a Beryl!” One of the Peridots chirped delightedly.

“Oh boy, they’re gonna be SO cute!”

“Nora, you think EVERYTHING is cute.”

“Well, yeah, that’s cuz they are Poppy!”

*POP*

When the blue smoke cleared, everyone’s already wide eyes got even wider from the cuteness.

The ‘big’ Aquamarine stood about one head taller than the one they all knew and loved, but was no less adorable or elegant. Her dress and hair bow fluttered as she did a small spin, bringing her butterfly-like water wings into full view along with the teardrop shaped gem on her back…

“OMG, they look just like a mini you Lapis!”

“I know!”

“Name’s Bianca, pleasure to meet you all!” She contently fell into the awaiting hug.

“Same!”

Having now greeted the whole batch of new gems individually, there was just one thing left to do for Stevonnie and Lapis…

Stepping back during a hug break, Stevonnie and Lapis hugged as they smiled and looked each other in the eyes, not a single word said as their gems glowed pink and cyan-blue respectively and forms came together.

“Ooo, yeah!” | “Is that what I think it is?!” | “Wow-wee!”

“Hey,” Azure-Violet Diamond said coolly as they opened their eyes, before scooping them all up in a massive hug (that Spinel also joined in on).

“Best emergence day EVER!” | “Agreed!” The new gems beamed, eagerly returning the hug and making Azure-Violet and Spinel all the more fuzzier inside.

Being here with everyone, fusing like she so often does and being able to share the experience with Stevonnie, Lapis couldn’t be any happier with the way life had surprised her. Thanks to them, the best fusion, fusion partner, and partner anyone could have and be with, she had rediscovered herself, and every time she thought about it, a grin would always form on her face.

‘I love you!’

‘I love you-me too!’

Oblivious self-loving grin on full display, Azure-Violet hugged themself with their water arms.

“Azure-Violet, Spinel, everyone,” The diamonds cooed, giggling as they approached and joined in on the hug.

“Mmm… this is nice…”

“The nicest!”

(It was a good thing they cleared the schedule for the whole day, because they definitely needed it!)

While ‘official’ celebrations were still days away, here in the moment, a once half-thought out idea turned reality through over 2000 years of hard work and lots of love, everyone was just content to bask in the happiest and best start to a new Era yet!

Life; forever changed for the better, a future and present full of possibilities, love, happiness, and so much more…

And they hadn’t even met everyone else yet!