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Chapter Text

“Steven, keep up!” Garnet called, and behind her and Pearl, Steven bolted up from his crouch. “Coming!” He called back, and pocketed his phone after a last quick glance at the photo of the mountain slope. He ran to catch up with Garnet and Pearl, winter boots dragging through and crunching in the heavy snow from mountain flurries. He stumbled over a hidden stone, before settling in stride between the two.

Once back at their sides, Pearl gave him an excited smile. 

“Find something cool?” She asked, and Steven grinned. “Yeah! I took a photo of the view so we can show Amethyst when we get home!” He said, patting the phone sitting cozy in his jacket pocket. “I don’t think it’s gonna hold up after staring at Vidalia’s painting’s all day long,” Garnet joked, ruffling his hair, already icy with snowflakes, and he laughed.

They kept walking until they reached a pass nearby a fur tree forest dotted with boulders, spotting tracks in the freshly fallen snow. 

“There!” Steven called, and Pearl marched forward towards the direction of his extended arm. 

She looked down at the tracks for a minute in thought, humming as she gestured for them to come closer. 

“I definitely believe this is our corrupted gem. Look at the number of claws- that’s three.” 

Garnet nodded, and Steven snapped a photo of the prints. 

“This way,” their leader proclaimed, and Steven and Pearl filed after Garnet. They walked for enough time to pass that Steven got hungry enough to eat a protein bar, and kept walking until they heard something- a roar loud enough to shake the pine trees.

“That’s them,” Garnet said, and with a clunk her gauntlets materialized. With that, the battle began.  

The monster burst from behind the trees, and with a heavy snort steam rose into the air. It roared again, and the sound buffeted them all. Garnet hefted her fists and darted towards the beast, while Pearl drew her spear. Together, they charged the corrupted Carnelian . 

The corrupted gem reared back at Garnet’s punches, only to be met with the blade of Pearl’s spear. Entrapped, it shrieked again and charged the two. With a yell, Pearl went flying into the trees, and Garnet was shoved abruptly out of the way by the monster’s large tusks. 

Its stampede brought it straight to Steven. He lowered his stand and summoned his shield. With a clang that reverberated through the mountaintop, it appeared on his arm, growing in size until it was larger than the corrupted gem. 

“Steven!” Garnet yelled, “Bring it my way!” 

“On it!” He responded just in time for the monster to collide with him. 

He gritted his teeth together and grunted at the impact, sliding backwards at the force. Creating a second shield, he threw his arm back and whipped the second shield around the first. It’s orbit curved, and it hit the side of the beast harshly. The gem howled, and rearing again, focused its attention back on Garnet. 

Steven breathed heavily, hands going to his knees as the gem turned its back to him, before he summoned another shield to hurl at the monster from behind. 

Darting out from under the cover of the trees, Pearl readied her spear. With a boost from Garnet, she flew up high before reigning down a forceful blow to the corrupted Carnelian. The stubborn thing didn’t poof, and instead, only turned around to charge back the other way. 

“Steven watch out!” Pearl yelled, and Steven ran to the side. He yelped when his foot sunk into the snow, almost throwing him to his knees. He threw a frantic glance towards the rapidly approaching beast as the situation suddenly grew dangerously perilous. 

Tugging desperately to pull his boot from the slush puddle, he heard Garnet rushing forwards to try to steer the corruption away to no avail. The beast was far bigger than her, and leagues ahead. 

Unable to free himself, Steven threw up a shield, and braced for a second impact. Pearl and Garnet yelled for him, but the sound was lost over the terrible clang of the monsters tusks colliding with the light shield. Steven cried out as his ankle, trapped in the slushy snow quick-sand, bent with the force. The damaged Carnelian raised a huge, clawed paw, and struck, shattering the shield in one blow. 

It reached down, grabbing Steven and pulling until his foot came loose from his boot. Then, it reared onto its hind legs, and brought its other massive paw on Steven’s other side. With a final stretch upwards, it slammed it’s paws down into the frostbitten earth, taking him with it. 

He heard Pearl scream, felt an agonizing pressure, and then he knew no more.

“Steven!” Pearl cried. A blast of pink smoke and the chiming ring of a poofed gem exploded in the snowy mountain side, immediately poofing the corruption and sending the trees swaying. Garnet and Pearl ducked down, and the second the blast was over saw Pearl sprinting towards the bare gemstone. 

Steven’s gem, concealed by the smoke still being swept away by the wind from the peaks, fell to the snow in a bright glimmer. Pearl, despite Garnet’s shout, rushed towards the sparkling stone. Weapon dematerializing, she crashed to her knees in the snow over the precious stone to conceal it from Garnet’s view. Tentatively digging her hands into the snow around the pink gem, she lifted it to cradle it to her chest, hiding it from view. Behind her, she heard the crunch of footsteps in the snow, and the tell tale sound of the corrupted gem being bubbled. 

Without turning around, she felt Garnet’s questions. None of the crystal gems had ever seen Rose’s gem- none but her, at least. Their leader had to be curious, even though only a simple quartz was expected. For Rose to have not have poofed the entirety of the rebellion, only to now, had to be extraordinary. 

She felt Garnet crouch beside her, refusing to meet her gaze when she saw that the fusion's visor was gone. 

“Pearl,” Garnet murmured, and Pearl shrunk away. Her hands clasped tightly around Steven’s gem, although her left arm kept twitching in a beginning struggle to cover her mouth. 

“Pearl,” she started again. “He’ll be okay. Steven is resilient, and he has hard light running through him just like we do. He’ll come back.” 

Pearl’s shoulder’s shook, and the cherry gem beside her frowned. 

“Not even Steven was this terrified when you poofed,” Garnet observed to herself, and Pearl winced harshly. 

“If his gem isn’t fractured or chipped, he’ll be fine.” Pearl shook her head again, unable to speak.

“Pearl, if he’s damaged, you need to tell me so we can go to Rose’s fountain.” Garnet ordered, placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder, but Pearl only pressed Steven’s gem closer to her chest, hands wrapped tightly around the pink stone so that only the pentagonal top was visible. She couldn’t let Garnet see it. 

“Pearl,” Garnet barked, not mean spirited, but Pearl continued to shy away. 

The white gem took a harsh inhale, breathing in the cold mountain air through her mouth. It felt like a declaration. Garnet didn’t move, and left her hand, previously on Pearl’s shoulder until she’d moved, to hover in mid air. 

“It’ll be different,” Pearl toned softly, finally finding her voice, and she closed her eyes. She knew Garnet recognized that look. She was viewing old memories as she spoke, watching Pink’s smile from behind her closed eyes.  

“We don’t know what happens, when someone like Steven is poofed. We can’t know.” The words fell from her lips softly and slowly, mournfully sad in a hideously cold truth. Garnet let her hand drop back to the snow, and fell the short distance to her knees. Around them, the planes and slopes of the mountain range spread out far into the horizon, meeting with none but the brilliant azure of a never-ending sky. The last of the pink clouds from Steven’s poofing were whisked away by the breeze falling from the mountains peak, stirring up snow eddies as it went; only for them to crash to a halt as they hit pine trees or large boulders dotted here or there.

The land around them was quiet.  

“You never questioned where I came from. Who I belonged to,” Pearl sniffled, despite not being able to be affected by the frosty chill. She shivered anyways. “You weren’t supposed to.” 

Clutched tightly between cupped palms, Steven’s gem rested dormant; pressed close to Pearl’s chest, reminiscent to how she had held him when he was still just an infant. Except now, there was no soft breathing to accompany the weight of a little child, nor a head of curly hair to rest contently on a chest of light. There was only the snow, the cold, the barely visible top of a supposed pink quartz, and Pearl’s mournful words; words that felt like a funeral. 

“I just...I’m so afraid of what he’ll see.... Who he’ll see…” 

“Pearl…” Garnet toned, warning lacing her voice. 

“And what if, what if we don’t even get Steven back?” 

The words stilled the world around them. 

As if made of oil paint, everything froze in the midst of the troubled fears. The mountain range held its breath- 

“We will. Steven will come back.” Until Garnet spoke, words quiet but steady and sure. Pearl looked up, and in Garnet’s three eyes, she could only see concern and certainty. 

“How can you know?”

“Because I can see it. Granted, not very well. The future in this branch is...blurry. It’s hard to make out. But every stream I see has Steven in it.” She reached out again, and placed her hand back on Pearl’s shoulder. Her friend didn’t shy away. “He’s a constant, Pearl. There isn’t a river of time without him.” Pearl let her gaze fall to the trampled snow beneath her. 

She felt relieved. Relieved, and terribly resentful. 

She would get her baby back- it was definite,- but she wouldn’t be getting her . She would never see her again. Rose was gone. She knew that. She should know that. 

But beneath the shallow relief, was true fear. Fear, for what Steven would reappear as. Fear, for what he would know. Fear, for how the others would treat him- how they’d react, whom they would blame. 

For she knew it was her fault. 

Chapter Text

He felt...submerged. As if he was floating in a sea of not water, but air. 

He felt light. 

Behind closed eyes, he could see the impression of pinkish light, though it was dimmer than imagined. Hesitantly, he opened his eyes, and was awash in curiosity. 

There wasn’t much- nothing at all, actually. 

But he could feel it all. 

He knew exactly where he was. There was no feeling like the type he got in dreams or sleep; he felt a clarity, one belonging strictly to this place alone. His gem. 

In front of him was nothing but soft, radiant pink light, and he knew without turning around that behind him was the same. He floated as if underwater in an expanse of soft pink, and though it looked as if there was nothing, he could feel the brimming of everything further- deeper- inside. 

Without having to ask, he knew instinctively how to get to each and every hidden layer in his gemstone. He frowned when he tried to think of what they were, and what each held. He couldn’t remember. 

He let himself fall back a little deeper into the quartz, and fell into a soft field of pink hibiscuses. He settled on a small hillside, underneath a hanging cherry blossom tree. Opening his eyes, he took in his surroundings. 

Staring out at the flowers, he tried to remember- 

The carnelian! It had...poofed him. 

He stared down at his hands, unmarred, and then flexed his ankle, sure that it would be sprained. His foot moved fine and without pain. He smiled. 

“Woah.” He looked down, and plucked a small pink hibiscus from the hillside. 

“I hope Pearl and Garnet are okay…” He murmured, and with the heavy weight of realization settling on his shoulders, swallowed thickly. 

“I can poof, then.” He thought for a moment, and wondered about other instances where he might have poofed, but hadn’t. 

“If I can poof, though,” he thought aloud, “Then why haven’t I before? What made this time different?” He didn’t know. He sighed, and upon feeling a chill, wished for clothing. 

“Um, gem,” he started, and having no idea how to materialize light clothing, began with the most obvious route. “I wish for clothes!” 

A poofy white dress, very obviously not fit for him, materialized from the light he was made with, and fanned out around his feet as it settled. It was far too large, and Steven giggled as it pooled around him. 

“Maybe not this clothing,” he chuckled, and his laugh echoed and rang in the endless space. He held the dress up to his chest to keep it from pooling sadly around his feet, and willed for something more fitting to himself. The dress, while lovely and somewhat familiar, had belonged to his mother and not him. 

The dress melted into white light as it changed into something else, and Steven parted his mouth in confusion when he wasn’t met with jeans and a simple shirt, but a poofy pink outfit. He brought gloved hands to his face, perplexed, and lifted his arms to his head to examine the rest of the frilly thing. 

“What…?” He muttered, twisting around and turning his head to see the back. Odd. When had his mother worn something like this? Why would she? Did Rose Quartz’s all wear things like this? He chewed his lip in thought, before shaking his head and willing for blue jeans. 

A jolt had him startling, and the poofy outfit only just beginning to melt into light again froze as its hard light pattern was interrupted. 

He frowned, and again willed for blue jeans. The same jolt met him, and he reeled slightly at the mental abhorrence of anything not a shade of pink. 

“What can’t I make jeans?” He sputtered, and tried once more, only to clash with the pulling desire for pink pink pink. He sighed. 

“Why does my gem just want pink?” He questioned, and upon no magical answers, gave up. Instead, he let the poofy shorts of the frilly outfit extend into pants. He willed the puffy arms to turn into t-shirt cuffs, and melded the frills of the half skirt into a short but longer half-skirt train. 

Standing back on one leg, he examined the pants (and their deep set pockets, he noted with glee) along with the new shirt. It was, to his mild dissatisfaction, something almost resembling a crop top. He tried to get the middle of it, split and ruffled as to display his gemstone, to fall further down. The garment refused to budge. 

“You too?” He sighed. “Does everything have to be this particular? Maybe this is why Pearl takes so long to reform,” he joked to no one. He did wonder, however, if the gems remade their outfits like this too? Vaguely, he wondered if the clothes would still exist on him when he reformed since they were made of light. And if they did, would he be able to change them? He swallowed, and decided that was a problem for future Steven. 

He bit his lip in concentration, and tried one last time to get the shirt to extend down in the front. Slowly, the cloth made of light did so, but something in the back of his mind pulled against it. He groaned, and instead settled for a cut out half star in the front of his shirt. It showcased most of his gem, and he had to admit, it was rather cute. 

He put a fist to his mouth in thought as he looked out at the flowery field, gently biting his knuckles as wonderment after wonderment raced in his mind. 

Why did something in him not want to cover his gem? Maybe it was a gem thing. But aside from that, he reveled in the feeling of being within his gemstone. It felt like coming home, even if it was technically his mothers. 

He sat upon the hill under the cherry blossom tree, and sighed, staring up at puffy power pink clouds. His mother had sat here once, too, and stared at these clouds. He felt warm at the knowledge. 

“I wonder if you can see me,” he whispered to the false breeze rustling the blossoms, and leaned against the trunk. “You said that you’d become a part of me, right? It kinda makes me wonder if what you said is true, and that this really is you, loving me.” He fell silent. 

“I hope so.”

Eventually, he grew bored staring out at the pink flowers, and still curious about his gem as a whole and not ready just yet to try and reform, turned around to face the tree on the hill. He couldn’t remember how, but he knew this tree was the key to going deeper into his gem than just surface level. 

He bit his nail in nervous excitement, before spotting the small carving in the white bark. It was a simple star, and tracing it, he let himself be pulled forward. He felt giddy. 

When he re-materialized on a different plane, he opened his eyes to see an early temple, before the beach house had been built. 

“Woah! This place looked so different!” He laughed, and ran along the sand to the cave. It was empty, save for the warp pad and the temple door. He spun in a small circle in front of the cave, and catching a view of one of his dad’s old concerts over top of the rusting chain link fence blocking off the temple from the city, decided to take a look. He grinned, pointedly ignoring the steadily growing feeling of foreboding as he ran to the fence. 

He could see the pinks and purples of his dad’s stage lights, and with a bound, leapt over the fence. He felt his feet touch the sand of the opposite side, and stared in awe at the stage that had been set up. Music poured from it, as did stage light and his dad’s voice. He grinned, and took a step forward, only to be met with a blur, and then a completely different vision.

Chapter Text

He gasped and cowered back, grasping in terror to the chain link fence as he stared out at the raging battle field before him. He took another step back, and looked down to see gem shards. He flinched, stumbling to the side in his haste to move away. He looked up to see a littered trail of broken shards, a bread crumb path to the war ahead. 

He shook at the abrupt change, trembling as he watched gems fight, and crack, and be shattered. Without direction, he ran. Trying to skirt around the war zone, he followed the fence up the hill until he reached a rocky area. Everywhere, gem’s still fought. With a panicky breath, he looked around frantically, now lost. A voice that sounded an awful lot like Pearl piped up in the back of his head, saying that maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to explore his war criminal mother’s gemstone- and by consequence her memories. He whipped around as a shadowy, large gem seemed to loom above him. The outline of an axe raised high and he squeaked, turning and sprinting away just to slam into a newfound boulder behind him as the scenery changed yet again. 

Fighting blurred across his vision until his eyes landed on a pink palanquin, the inside shrouded by gossamer curtains. Almost compelled, he ran towards it, and hoped against everything it wasn’t that memory. 

A tall, pink figure stepped out, and he tripped over his feet in his hasty stumble to stop, tumbling to his knees in a flurry of panic. He looked up, and gasped in shock at the same, poofy outfit he himself had worn and changed only moments ago. 

The glinting light reflected off the shimmering pink diamond embedded upside down in her stomach stole his breath, and suddenly, he knew where he was. His felt his hopes crumble. This was where his mother had shattered Pink Diamond. He struggled to breathe, mind unable to match the connection of the simple garments to the diamond, and his mother. 

He raised his eyes higher and looked on in growing terror at pink eyes- diamond iris’- and poofy pink hair that looked so much like his own. The gem trapped in his stare looked down and met his gaze. She jumped slightly, looking surprised. Steven swallowed. In all the murals he’d seen, and the stories he’d been told, she’d always seemed...bigger. More imposing. Intimidating. 

Here, in this memory, she looked like a child. 

Movement behind Pink Diamond caught his attention, and his horror mounted as he watched his mother's shadow soaked silhouette quietly step out of the palanquin. He watched, eyes blown wide, as she lifted her scabbard. Around them, the raging battle fell silent. The pink hibiscus’ around them thrashed harshly in smoke filled wind. 

Frantically, he tore his gaze away from his mother to look back at Pink Diamond. She was still staring at him. Slowly, she crouched down to his level, and extended a questioning hand forward. 

“How did you manage to end up all the way here?” She spoke, words soft and voice achingly familiar as she gently touched gloved fingers to his cheek. Behind her, he trembled as he caught a glimpse of his mother, edging closer. 

“You’d have to be poofed to be able to...I did wonder if you’d be able to poof,” Pink Diamond continued, unconcerned with the mounting presence at her back. Steven’s eyes snapped back to her face, pink and close and so familiar-  

Suddenly, it clicked. Her voice- that was his mother’s voice. The one he’d heard in the sparse VHS tapes they’d left him and in her room. But how? How could she possibly- and her face. Her face- it resembled his own. Those eyes- aside from their iris’- were the same as his. Her small smile looked so much like his own, and her hair- he brought a shaking hand up to hold onto her wrist, her palm cradling the side of his face. 

He’d stared for years at the portrait of Rose Quartz, wondering why, why didn’t he have the same curls? Why wasn’t his hair like hers? 

“I suppose you have questions,” the littlest diamond continued, and Steven saw the glint of light flashing on pink blade behind poofy pink hair. He brought his other hand to Pink Diamond’s wrist, pressing her large hand closer to the side of his face and searching her eyes in desperation for something he couldn’t identify. She grimaced, offering him only a sad smile and a gentle swipe of her thumb across his cheek. 

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to go to the palace if you want answers. I’m afraid I’m almost out of time.” 

“No- no wait- the palace? But mom’s-” 

Pink quieted his frantic questions with a gentle finger to his mouth. 

“Please remember, I love you,” she whispered, and then her face was contorting into shocked pain- her eyes blowing wide and teeth clenching as the sickening sound of a sword drove through her. He looked down, and blinked as tears muddled his vision of a pale sword tip sticking out of Pink Diamond’s stomach, just above her gem. 

Steven felt thick tears fall down his cheeks as Pink Diamond went up in smoke. Smoke. She’d been poofed. She hadn’t been shattered. 

He looked up, crying, into the equally teary face of his mother. From his vantage point on the earthy ground, he saw a glimmer of light reflect off a gemstone in her head- a loud clamor had her whipping her head to the side in panic, and he felt the breath leave his chest as the pearl on her forehead became visible. 

In her hand, she clutched Pink Diamond, and before the battle could end in corruption, Steven got up and sprinted for the palanquin. It would take him to the palace. 

Go to the palace. 

He slashed the curtains out of his way, and desperately looked around for something he couldn’t remember. A hand print control on the arm of the chair inside sparked recognition inside him. He jumped up with a harsh push of his legs, and slammed a hand down on the control pad. 

Go to the palace. 

He did. 

Chapter Text

The scenery around him changed in a blur, and suddenly he was in a white hallway with windows overlooking a purple sky. He gasped, disoriented, and turned around at the sound of shouting. 

Behind him, he watched Yellow Diamond yell at someone he couldn’t see, as they were in front of the giant dictator. He bit his lip, wiping his face with one arm, and started towards them. 

He edged around Yellow Diamond, to see Pink Diamond arguing back, her arms held in front of her and fists clenched in anger. He watched her, transfixed, and feeling denial root firmly in his chest. 

“I had it handled!” 

“You were making a bigger mess! You completely overshot the purpose of your soldiers and because of it an entire fleet was crushed by that rebellion!”

“They took us by surprise-! ” Pink protested, but she was cut off. 

“That is no excuse! ” Yellow Diamond roared, and Steven hugged himself tight as Pink Diamond looked down, teeth grit tight, and looking seconds away from tears. “You are a Diamond , Pink, you should know better! That miserable planet is your colony; you should know what’s going on at all times! ” 

“But I was working on new kindergartens- I was managing the new gems-” She started, pleading. 

“Which is an agate’s job! You must learn your place, Pink. How many times must I reiterate that you are a diamond?” Yellow lamented piercingly. She poised a hand to the bridge of her nose, frustrated as she looked back down to Pink. “Managing kindergarten’s at face is beneath you! You should be overseeing the colony as a whole-” she lectured, throwing an arm out to the side, only to be interrupted. 

“I was just trying my best!” Pink yelled, and Steven watched her tears drip onto the fancy palace floor. When he brought his eyes back up to Yellow’s face, he only saw rage. 

“That is it.” She hissed, and Pink Diamond winced. 

“You are going to the tower to reflect on your actions. Blue will take on the arduous task of overseeing your colony while you are incapacitated.” She bent down, grabbing Pink’s arm as the smaller protested. Yellow didn’t spare a single plea the justice of being acknowledged. 

Steven ran to keep up with the two, and the scene changed again in time with Pink Diamond’s pleads. He stopped, breathing hard, as dark walls cemented in place. He was greeted with the sight of the smallest diamond hunched on her knees, illuminated only by the meager light of a small window far above. 

Quietly, he padded towards her, and the closer he got, the more he saw. Her hair was badly ruffled, her poofy outfit wrinkled, and scuff marks marred her skin. Blinking back tears, he slowly stepped closer to her, until he was standing in front of her. He held his arms close to his chest, and looked up. Even kneeling, she was so much bigger than him. 

A quiet sniffle broke the heavy silence, and Steven bit his lip. 

“Um,” he whispered, and Pink Diamond tilted her head up. 

Pink eyes met his own, and he swallowed nervously. She smiled wearily. 

“You said- to come to the palace. For answers.” Anxiously, he curled his hands into his chest. 

“I did, didn’t I?” Pink responded, and her voice was soft, and warm. She sighed. 

“I’m sorry you have to see me like this,” she apologized, and curved one hand around him. “Sit with me?” She asked, and Steven nodded, allowing himself to be scooped up. She pulled him close, and shifted so she was sat in a butterfly. She set him on her leg, and kept one hand behind his back so he wouldn’t fall. 

“I hoped this wouldn’t happen.” 

“This?” Steven questioned, wiping away any leftover tears, and Pink nodded. 

“This. I- well, she, never wanted you to see...this. Inside her gem. It’s a damaged place. You’ve seen the war.” Steven nodded, and fiddled with his thumbs. 

“You- are you actually Pink Diamond?” He blurted, and Pink looked startled for a moment, before she laughed. It was a full, joyous sound. 

“Oh, you’re funny! No, sweet, I’m merely a projection of her. A memory, if you will.” She sighed, and looked down. After a moment of quiet, she spoke again. “Although, I bet you wish I was. I wish that I was.” Steven stumbled as she scooped him into her hands once again, and brought him close to her face. 

“She wanted so badly to meet you.” Pink said, and staring up into her eyes, filled with regret and longing and a vivid desperation to be understood, Steven got it. He pried the denial from his chest, and reached up to lay a hand on her face. 

“Mom was Pink Diamond, wasn’t she.” Pink nodded. 

Steven drew his brows together, and waited for Pink to shift again before he voiced his question. She brought her knees up and rested him on them, again placing a hand on his back, and the other to the side of his head. He leaned into the touch. 

“How?” He asked. “Everyone believed you were Rose Quartz. And it was Pearl that faked your shattering- I just- how did no one know?” He swung his arms out in his exclamation, and Pink sighed. 

“She would shape-shift into a rose quartz. That’s how she was introduced. It was her most guarded secret; so secret, that only one gem knew.” 

“Pearl,” Steven whispered, and Pink nodded. She brushed a thumb over his bouncy curls, and gave a small smile. Likely, at how similar they were to her own. 

“Why? What reason would she have to fake her death? To free her own colony? I don’t get it.” Pink smile grew, and fondly, she laughed. 

“Pearl.” At Steven’s stumped expression, she laughed again and with stars in her eyes, began the story. 

“Oh, you should have seen her back in the day! Well, it all started when I wanted to see the earth…” 

Chapter Text

“I don’t get it, Garnet, he should be back by now!” Pearl exclaimed, throwing her hands up as she paced a nervous groove into the hardwood. 

From her position leaned against the counter top, Garnet remained unimpressed. 

“He’ll reform when he reforms. You took two week last time you poofed.” 

In the living room, Pearl stopped her pacing and blushed a cool blue, arms tucked close to her sides. “That’s- that's different!” She protested, and Garnet only stared, unnecessarily fixing her visors now back in their usual place. 

Steven’s gem rested wrapped up and snug in a kitchen towel, lying face up in a small ceramic dish. Pearl had been frantic when they’d finally managed to warp back to the house, adamant that she do everything herself. The only thing the cherry colored gem had been able to do without Pearl throwing a hissy fit had been to collect Steven’s duffle bag from where it had been half buried in the snow. Garnet couldn’t fathom why. 

The fusion just couldn’t solve the puzzle. Pearl had cradled the gem close to herself, kept it concealed from view and offered only worrying questions and half answers when prodded. It was odd. Beyond a worry for Steven himself, Garnet couldn’t explain Pearl’s behavior. The only time she had ever acted even remotely similar was when asked about her former owner- a line of questioning everyone had learned early on not to pursue. 

Garnet sighed, and continued her vigil at the counter top, watching Pearl pace a groove into the living room floor. 

They’d gotten back late, and had decided to wait for Amethyst to get home before either calling Greg using Steven’s phone- currently charging on the living room table,- or finding the man. The other gem was expected back at some point within either that night or the next morning. She’d spent the day with Vidalia, and had left just before noon. 

They were stuck waiting for Steven to reform before they did anything. The boy had never done anything like it before, and it was unclear, even for Garnet, if he’d need help. He’d gotten exponentially better at using his gem abilities as he’d gotten older, but there were always hiccups here or there- that, and Steven had never poofed before. There was no telling if he’d even figure out how to reform. 

Tuning out Pearl’s unintelligible mutterings and pushing aside her own worries, Garnet settled in to play the waiting game. 

It was going to be a long night. 

It was another three hours before Amethyst came home- enough time for the moon to peak in the sky. 

They’d heard pounding steps up the beach house, and with a slam of the screen door, Amethyst had come bounding in, yelling, “I’m home! ” at the absolute top of her lungs. 

Garnet thought Pearl would have snapped, if she hadn’t already an hour ago. 

“Yo nerds, how was your trip?” Amethyst asked, kicking the beaten up screen door shut with her foot. She went straight to the fridge, missing the tense, charged atmosphere as she searched for a snack. 

“Me and Vidalia had an awesome time,” The purple gem started when neither Garnet nor Pearl spoke. Gathering the mustard bottle, the ketchup bottle, the entire only loaf of bread they currently had, and a whole roll of salami, she prattled idely about her own adventure. 

“We did portraits for a little while, and then we started seeing what weird shapes I could shift into for abstract art, and-” she cut off abruptly as she dumped her findings on the counter top, finally seeing the source of the charged mood. 

“Is...is that...Steven?” She asked quietly, cowed at the sight of the pink gem. Looking behind herself, Garnet nodded. In the living room on the couch where she’d finally settled, Pearl didn’t lift her head from between her knees. 

“I thought- but I thought he couldn't poof!” Amethyst exclaimed, confused and searching for denial. Garnet turned around to face her. 

“We thought so too.” 

Amethyst deflated, and staring at Steven’s gem, she looked lost. 

“How did it happen?” She asked gruffly, and on the couch, Pearl’s head sunk lower. Garnet placed a hand on the counter top. 

“We found the corruption we were tracking, and it attacked. We almost had it, but Steven caught some bad luck and his foot got stuck in a slush puddle. It charged him, and pressed hard enough to poof him.” 

Amethyst grimaced, looking down. 

“That sucks. Is he gonna be okay, Garnet?” She half demanded, worried and scared just like the rest of them. 

“Yes.” Garnet answered. “In every branch of time I can see from this point, Steven always comes back. It varies, but he’s a constant.” Visibly, some of Amethyst’s worry quelled, and her shoulders slumped. 

“That’s a relief,” she muttered. Her sandwich forgotten, she glanced at Pearl. 

“What happened to Pearl?” 

“Stress,” Garnet said. 

She fixed her visor again, feeling fidgety. Yes, Steven was a constant; he’d always return. The time, however, continued to vary. It was so hard to see, with everything so blurry. All she could ever make out was either very short, or very long stretches of time. Part of her worried that his human half would take too much energy to reform quickly enough. A waiting game it truly was. 

“I’m glad you decided to show up tonight. We were waiting to tell Greg until you got home,” Garnet said, moving towards Steven’s phone, resting fully charged on the coffee table. 

“Woah, you were gonna wait?” Amethyst exclaimed, and Garnet unlocked Steven’s phone to pull up his contacts. 

“Yep.” 

“Dude, shouldn’t Greg, like, know? I mean, he's Steven’s dad.” 

Garnet nodded. 

“Yes. He should. But he’s more likely to stay calm if someone else is calm. Namely, you.” 

Amethyst ‘oh’ed her understanding while Garnet clicked the man in question's contact. The phone began to ring, and he didn’t pick up until the second try. 

“Steven? What’s up kiddo? It’s like twelve a.m.?” 

“Greg.” Garnet greeted.

“Oh, uh hey Garnet. Did something happen?” 

“Yes,” she said. Holding the phone up to her mouth, she gave Pearl, who had finally untucked her head from between her knees, a stern look. 

“We need to you come to the temple. It’s not urgent, but it’s something you’d like to know about.” 

“Alright, I’ll be on my way up, then,” Greg responded, sounding uncertain. 

“Just-” he started, and the connection crackled. “Is Steven alright?” 

Garnet pursed her lips, drumming a silent nervous tattoo against her thigh. 

“He’s not dead,” was all she could offer. 

Greg hung up with a sigh. 

Chapter Text

“He poofed?!” 

Internally, Garnet lamented her fate. 

“Yes.” 

“I just- he’s human! How could he even poof? Is he gonna be okay?” Greg yelled, reaching levels of shrill he’d never reached before. 

Greg had walked in expecting something half dead, she knew, although Garnet severely doubted the man could have possibly expected his son being poofed. He’d spotted the pentagonal pink gem wrapped snug in a towel and dish on the counter top, and promptly lost his mind. 

It hadn’t been until after Garnet had relayed to him the story she’d given Amethyst, and the man had seen how the purple gem was reacting- which to say, having gone back to her forgotten sandwich- had he chilled out. 

 Some. 

“Steven will be fine,” Garnet repeated for what felt like the fourth time that night, arms crossed and hips slanted. 

“How can you know!” Greg demanded, and Garnet tilted her visors down to peer at Greg with her third eye, unimpressed. 

“Oh,” the man deflated. “Aw jeez,” he muttered, visibly slumping. 

As if weighted down, he moved to the opposite end of the couch, as Pearl had claimed the other half, and bonelessly sunk into the cushions. He put a hand over his face, and sighed heavily. 

“Do you have any idea when he’ll be...back?” He asked, eyeing Pearl where she sat, head still bowed between her knees. 

Garnet resumed her place leaning against the kitchen counter. 

“No,” she responded, watching as Greg’s expression plummeted to something crestfallen. “Not really.” 

“Well, do you have any kind of time constraint? At all?” He asked, half desperate, and Garnet felt sorry. 

“The future here is...blurry. The best I can give is anywhere from a few more hours to three months.” 

“Three months?” Greg asked, incredulous, and Garnet nodded. 

“It’s the longest possibility, but that’s always liable to change. It really all depends on Steven, and when he either figures out how to reform, or when he decides to.” 

There was a lapse in conversation after that. Greg sat quietly on the couch, dozing as he worried. Pearl sat rigid on the other half, as she had been for hours now. Amethyst, finished with her abomination of a sandwich, had taken to flopping out on Steven’s bed in the absence of the boy, and Garnet stood ever strong at the counter. 

It was all they could do to wait, but waiting only made Steven’s absence that much more apparent. The house was silent without him. Silent, quiet, and lacking something. Something important. 

They stayed that way for hours. It wasn’t until the sun had begun to rise around six a.m that something happened. 

Pearl sucked in a breath, and Garnet’s attention was peaked. 

“I think...before Steven reforms, I think that-” she cut off, obviously struggling with the words. “That- guh- there’s something you all- should know.” She looked up, and the predawn light set soft shadows upon her face. 

From his half sleep on the other end of the couch, Greg cracked open an eye. 

“Yeah?” He grunted, creakily adjusting the blanket over his lap as he fought off a yawn. “You might wanna wake up short-stack over there before you do,” he muttered, pointing upwards towards the loft, sleep turning his voice thick. 

They woke up Amethyst, and then gathered in the living room, much to Pearl’s avail, and left the gem to explain. 

To Pearl’s horror, she found that she couldn't

“...and we won. The end.” Pink hummed, and tucked in her lap, pressed snugly between her stomach and her raised knees, Steven smiled. Holding one of her gloved hands, he yawned, blinking tiredly. 

“That...was a really-” he fought off a second yawn- “Nice story. I’m glad we won, in the end.” Pink smiled down at him, and brushed a hand through his curls. 

“I’m glad,” she murmured. “But I think it’s time you go.” At Steven’s surprised look, she smiled fondly, if sadly. 

“You're tired, and the other’s are surely waiting on you. Imagine how worried they all must be?” Pink reasoned, and Steven blanched. 

“Oh no- Pearl’s gonna lose her mind! And what’s Dad gonna say-” He fretted, only calmed when Pink stroked a hand through his hair again. 

“They’ll say, ‘ I’m so glad you’re back, Steven! We missed you!’ ” She teased, dropping her voice to raise a laugh out of her boy. Steven giggled, and tiredly agreed. 

“I just...I don’t want to go yet,” he murmured, and Pink curled around him a little snugger. 

“I know,” the last figment of his mother said, forlorn and as sad to part as him. Her eyes grew determined as she looked back to him. “But you have to.” 

Steven leaned against her, and wished for more time. 

“It’s been hours, and you have a life. I’m just the past. I’m not even real.” Against her chest, Steven nodded. 

“You need to go home,” she said, and her voice washed over him like flower petals. 

He sat up, and staring into her eyes, he tried not to cry. 

“Will I ever get to see you again?” Pink’s face turned sad. 

“I hope not. I never want you to be poofed like this again. And-” she held up a finger. “I want you to promise me that you will never , under any circumstances, come here intentionally.” She gave him an imploring stare, severe gaze demanding he promise so. 

Steven nodded. “I promise. Pinky swear?” He asked, and Pink smiled. 

“Pinky swear? What’s that?" She asked, and Steven grinned, excited to share. 

“It’s an unbreakable promise!” He chimed. “You link pinkies, like this-” he linked his pinkies together, to Pink’s amusement, “and then you pinky swear on it. They’re unbreakable,” he said, very serious, and Pink bit her lip, her grin wide. 

“Alright, lets pinky swear!” She hushed excitedly, and the two linked pinkies. 

“Wait!” Steven interrupted, and Pink tilted her head. 

“Are we missing something?” 

“Yes. I want you to swear something too.” Steven stated, determination setting his shoulders. 

“What could I possibly swear, sweet? I don’t really exist.” Steven looked down. “I know,” he murmured. 

He nodded to himself once, and leveled his gaze with Pink’s own again. 

“I want you to pinky swear that you’ll always exist here, in my gem. So that, even if I never do poof again, I’ll always know for certain that you’re with me.” It was a heartfelt request; one he desperately wanted. Pink’s eyes grew warm, and her smile became achingly fond. 

“I’ll promise. But Steven,” she moved her free hand to cup the side of his face. “I’ve always been with you.” 

“I know that now,” he said, leaning into the touch. “I just want to make sure that you’ll always be there.” 

They both laughed happily, sadly; an intertwining mixture. 

“Ready to swear?” Pink asked, and Steven nodded. 

“I pinky swear to never poof myself intentionally.” He whispered. “Even if I really want to.” 

“I pinky swear to always be here, with you.” She whispered back. “Even if you never see me again.” 

They shook, and grinning back at one another, couldn’t help the tears at the imminent farewell. Steven lunged forwards, wrapping his arms around the diamond. 

“It was really nice to meet you,” he cried, and he felt Pink reach up to coddle him back. “I feel the same,” she hiccuped, and they sat for a long moment just trying to quell the infinite tears. 

Eventually, slowly, Pink pulled him back so they could look face to face. 

“Don’t ever stop being you,” she murmured, tilting their foreheads together. “And loving being you.” She swiped her thumb along his cheek to wipe away tears that tipped over his eyes and fell down his cheeks. “You are special . You’re something unique. Treasure that, Steven.” 

“And know, that above everything else; everything I’ve done, everything that hurts- know that I love you, that you were made for love, and nothing else.” She leaned up, and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. 

With one last smile to him, Pink breathed in. 

“But now it’s time for you to go. Goodbye, sweet.” 

“Bye, Mom,” he murmured, and with a last kiss pressed to his cheek, he was being pulled from the tower. He caught a glimpse of the palace, before a raging battlefield took it’s place. He caught sight of the palanquin, and then he was on the other side of the rusting fence. He blinked, trying to clear his vision of tears, and was met with the sight of the cherry blossom tree. 

Sniffling harshly, he fell to his knees and sobbed. He pulled a breath in, and held it. After a moment, he breathed out, and though he was still in tears, he felt a little better. 

He brushed his fingertips over the carving of the star, and smiled. 

She’d always been there. 

With that, he breathed out, and turned around. Staring out at the never ending field of pink hydrangeas, he looked up to the clouds. 

He was ready to go, now. 

Chapter Text

With a deafening, internal realization, Pearl realized that she could not say the words. 

Around her, the others waited patiently. Waiting for words, for information, that would not come. She inhaled a breath she didn’t need, and tried again. 

“There are... things ,” she spit past the gag order. “That I cannot tell you. Things about- Rose. And about Steven.” 

Across from her, Greg leaned forwards. 

“What about Steven?” He asked, and Pearl had to physically pull away the hand that clamped over her mouth. 

“It’s. I can’t. I-” She exploded in frustration, blocked at every impass as she tried hard to overcome her own coding. 

“It’s built into my own code- I was given an- an order- to not. To not. Talk. About- certain things,” she finished, words trembly by the end, even as her teeth ground together. 

“What kind of things?” Amethyst asked, an imploring curiosity painting her face. 

“Things revolving around- around-” 

“Around who owned you on homeworld.” Garnet chimed in, trying to help her struggling friend. Pearl sighed gratefully. 

“Yes, thank you, Garnet.” 

“Wait- owned you? Someone owned you on homeworld?” Greg repeated, incredulous. 

“Yes. Pearls are a sort of, multi-purpose secretary, almost, on homeworld. Only the elite get them.” She explained bitterly. “I belonged to the elite of the elite.” 

“You belonged to a diamond,” Garnet realized, and Pearl nodded. “So that’s why you always get so worked up,” the fusion mused, and Pearl couldn’t disagree. 

“Wait, Pearl, you belonged to a diamond?!” Amethyst yelled, rocking back from her place on the floor next to Garnet. 

“Wait wait- did you belong to Yellow diamond?” The purple gem guessed, and Pearl shook her head. “Blue?” Again, Pearl silently answered no. “What about white?” Amethyst exclaimed, and still, Pearl shook her head negatively. 

“You belonged to Pink diamond.” Garnet stated, and finally, Pearl nodded yes. 

“But what does that have to do with Steven?” Greg asked, pulling the blanket around his shoulders a little tighter. 

“Well. Rose- she...wasn’t- oh how can I possibly phrase this-!” Pearl exclaimed. She searched for a minute, before finally settling on an answer. 

“Rose wasn’t- she wasn’t always- rose. There.” She panted, wrung out from fighting against her own hard drive. 

From her spot on the floor, Garnet’s eyes widened. Wordlessly, she got up, and walked to the kitchen, where gently, she picked up the small dish that had Steven’s gem wrapped snug inside a kitchen towel. 

“In the mountains,” she started, walking back to the living room. “You didn’t let me get near his gem. I couldn’t catch a glimpse of it.” 

She sat back down on the floor, placing the dish on the table. Her hand trembled. 

“The reason-” She stuttered. Pearl looked on with sad eyes, watching as Garnet began to fall apart. “That gem, is not a rose quartz.” 

The statement was final. With visible effort, Garnet began to unwrap the pink gem, but dropped the towel corner as if burned not moments later. 

“I- I’m sorry. I can’t,” she fumbled, clutching herself around the middle. In a flash of light, she’d come undone, and in her place, Ruby and Sapphire sat shaken on the carpet. Amethyst reeled back, and Greg looked away. 

“You’re right,” Pearl murmured, picking up the towel wrapped gem in her own hands. “This isn’t a rose quartz. He isn’t a rose quartz.” 

With trembling fingers, she unwrapped the towel cushioning the pink gem, to revel not a double sided pentagon, but a diamond. A true pink diamond. 

Before the revelation could truly sink in, the gem began to glow. It shown a brilliant light pink, and rose up and out of Pearl’s hands. Hanging far above the coffee table, everyone watched transfixed, as the light silhouette of a gem formed. 

It grew tall at first, with poofy curves, only to compress into the much more familiar shape of Rose Quartz. Finally, it shrunk further into the distinct shape of Steven. With a slight flash, he materialized in fancy pink and white clothing, slowly floating down to the coffee table. 

He opened his eyes to the sight of a bewildered Ruby and Sapphire. 

“Oh man,” he sighed, the corner of his lips tugging up. “I knew I shouldn’t have waited that long. Guess you guess missed me, huh?” He chuckled, and a chorus of ‘Steven!’’s greeted him, along with a tackle of hugs. 

He was pressed into arms after arms, a round table of ‘are you okay?’s to ‘why did you take so long?’s giving him no room to answer. 

“Woah, woah guys calm down! I can’t answer you all at once.” His family dispersed, leaving him to sit sideways on the coffee table, a dopey grin stretched across his face. 

“Woah, stu-ball, you okay? You’re crying, kiddo.” 

“Huh?” Steven swiped at his eyes, and found they still came away wet. He chuckled. 

“I guess I still am. About that,” he looked up, into the waiting faces of his family, and gave a reminiscent smile. 

“I met someone. Someone I think you all should know about.” 

Beside him, Pearl gasped. 

“You- you really got to meet her?” Steven grinned. “I did!” 

“Was she everything you’d hoped?” Pearl asked quietly, and Steven smiled softly. 

“Everything and more.” 

“I wanted to tell you so badly,” Pearl murmured, and Steven looked away, so he was smiling down at his hands. 

“I know everything, now. She talked for hours about how you swept her off her feet, y’know. I thought I’d never hear the end of it!” He joked, and Pearl laughed. 

“She?” Greg asked, and Steven nodded. 

“Mom.” He said. 

“Rose-” Sapphire started, grasping the table top in tightly clenched hands. It frosted at her touch.  “Is she- was she-” 

“Pink Diamond?” Steven finished. Sapphire nodded. He looked between her and Ruby, at Ruby’s curiously fragile expression, and Sapphire’s desperation, and nodded his head. 

“She was. But-” he started, before Sapphire could yell, “she told me a story. It’s a really nice one, and I think you’ll all want to hear it.” 

“A story?” Ruby asked, tentative hope peaking out in her voice. 

Steven grinned. 

“Yup. A story. It starts like this…”