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Chapter Text

Stepping onto the smooth top of the palace's galaxy warp, Steven only feels the smallest amount of nervousness. 

He's never left the palace before, never really had a reason to anyhow. Everything and everyone he could ever want was within its luxurious halls.

But he had a mission to do, a very important job that only he could do, and that's the reason why he steeled his nerves, took a deep breath, and visualized as best he could the destination in his mind.

Earth.

Feeling and hearing the warp pad activate, Steven is unable to keep himself steady and tumbles midair. He quickly devolved into a fit of giggles, whatever seriousness that he had been trying to emulate gone in a flash.

He had no idea that warping could be so much fun!

Steven's laughter ceasing, he straightens his form and leans forward into the stream of light as though it would get him to his destination any faster.

Not that he was on a time crunch or anything, truthfully he figures that maybe only two people would notice- or care- about his disappearance.

His Diamonds certainly wouldn't notice that he was gone...

Shaking his head of those negative thoughts- sometimes if he lingered on them for too long his heart would start to hurt as it pounded in his fleshy chest- he focused on the fact that he was going to be exploring totally new places! A whole new world! 

The stream of light carried him across space, past planets and stars until finally, finally bringing him towards the Earth. 

The light around him starts to disappear into the smooth blue crystal of the warp pad, and even though no one was going to be there to see, he closed his eyes held his hands out in what he thought was a graceful pose.

Feet settling down slowly, Steven opened his eyes and took a step forward-

Only to immediately trip and fall flat on his face.

"Oww," he whined, holding a hand up to his head, wincing. 

Oh well, not so bad for a first try! Plus there were no gems around to see, so he could keep this little slip up between himself and the Galaxy Warp.

Speaking of which...

Pushing himself up onto his feet, Steven looked around with wide and curious eyes, taking in everything he could see greedily. 

The softly lapping sound of waves draws his attention the most, and he wanders toward the edge of the hub to stare down at the water and kneels down.

In fact, all around him was water, stretching out as far as his eyes could see. Steven's never seen so much water in his life, it's glistening and deep blue color calling out to him.

Stretching out a hand so that his fingers could dip into it, and he gasps in wonder at the cool feel of it, and he takes a few seconds to play with it, splashing and drawing patterns.

Satisfied, and resisting the urge to jump into it to play even more, Steven gets up and looks at all of the warps.

There are so many of them, and he's not sure which is the right one that he needs to use, and as he wanders close to one of them, he tries his best to recall what he was told.

"My Steven, it's going to be so scary for you to be alone out there, but I made sure to send one of the Peridots to repair the main warp and only that one. All but one are deactivated, so don't worry about getting lost. You can be brave for me, right?" She had asked as he sat in her lap.

"And you're going to have to search the desert to find my lion," She cupped her hand around his cheek, and he leaned into the touch. "There's someone in there I need you to get, she's in his mane- oh I hope out of all my powers you got, this is one of them- and I wish I could get her myself, but I can't."

"What should I do when I get her," he had asked, looking up at Her.

"Set her free, and tell her," She paused, a faraway look in Her eyes. "That I'm sorry. And I'm going to do my best to say so to her in person. Soon."

"Ok," he nodded, committing Her words to memory.

She brought him closer to her chest and hugged him tightly, he felt something wet drip onto his curls.

"I don't want to make you my messenger," She whispered. "If there's any sign of danger, run. Run back home."

He didn't respond but he snuggled closer and held her just as tightly.

Nodding to himself to rid himself of the memory, he stepped onto the nearest one and tried to picture the desert. But there's no sign that the warp is working, and he taps his foot against it hoping that it would activate but it just didn't.

Figuring that it was one of the broken he moves onto the next, and when the same thing happens he moves to the next and the next and the next-

And after the last one doesn't work, Steven sighed and flopped down onto it, staring up into Earth's night sky staring at completely unfamiliar stars.

Was it him? Did the warp pads here not recognize him as a gem? If so, how was he ever supposed to get home?

Or maybe it couldn't take him anywhere because he didn't know what a desert was? All he knew was that it was hot and that it was filled with something called sand-

Hearing the crinkling of the warp pad, he shoots up and rushes to stand properly on the crystalline device.

Warping this time is much quicker than going from Homeworld to Earth, and he's standing in the middle of semi-constructed human settlement.

For some reason, this steals his breath away more than seeing the ocean for the first time. Stepping closer into the house, Steven fiddles with his hands as he looks around, taking in the furniture- it looked so much softer than what his room had back home- and the sturdy wooden planks that made up the entire house.

So this is what humans lived in. It's- it's surprisingly more normal than what he expected. But not disappointing.

Although this house doesn't seem like it's lived in. There's nothing, no toys or books, or little knickknacks, or just things that he was told humans liked to gather and display.

The front part of the house isn't finished, giving him a full view of sand.

The desert!

Leaping over to the open wall, Steven jumps down onto the sand watching in wonder as it all shifts under his weight. Every step is unsteady, and it's so exciting!

The water is even here too! Walking closer to it, he noticed how it was slightly darker than the water at the Galaxy Warp. And the waves here moved back and forth constantly, pushing and dragging the sand which was a darker brown the what he was standing on.

Moving closer to it, he poked one finger down and stuck out his tongue at the wet feeling. Wanting to experiment, he went back to the much drier sand and did the same thing, pleased to find it warmer and not gross.

Wiping his hand against his puffy shorts, Steven looks up and down the desert, finding it much smaller than he had thought it would've been.

Well, that just made his job so much easier! Now all he had to do was search for Her lion- and maybe name the animal too, he couldn't just call it the lion, unless he made it's name Lion? He'd have to think more on this later- and release whoever was stuck in there.

Taking a random direction, he decided to search the desert to the right of the human house, walking past the stone hand protruding from the ground. Looking up he can see a statue of what must have been a very large- and perhaps, even scary- gem, and further up a strange spiraling human structure. 

If there was time after finding Her lion, Steven would like to explore the Earth a little more. Maybe even meet a human or two. There was just so much about this side of his heritage that he didn't- wasn't allowed- to know.

But he had to focus on his mission first, do that and then maybe have a little bit of fun. And get back home to His Mom as soon as possible. This could quite possibly be the longest that he's been away from Her.

Because he was only eight years old, alone on a planet mysterious to him, but His Mom gave him a job, and he'd get it done if his name wasn't Steven Spinel Universe.

Chapter Text

So... either deserts were really, really small or Steven was just really bad at searching for a lion.

And it probably wasn't that, because he was the best at playing games like hide and seek- His Mom said so, so it had to be true.

Confident in his seeking skills, Steven searched everywhere in the desert. He even searched underneath the weird wooden bridge that was on the edge of human settlement, looking around the wooden beams as though the lion would be hiding behind them! 

But all he found was some shells and wet green stuff. And then there was the bigger wooden platform, but when he went underneath that it rumbled loudly, and he had quickly raced away. Peering up to see what could have caused the horrible noise, he just saw the strangest machines so unlike anything that he had seen on Homeworld. It almost sounded like people were screaming, so he figured that that must have been where humans were harvested or shattered. 

He shuffled back towards the house, wincing as he felt sand in his slippers, and was introduced to a whole new feeling of uncomfortable due to the tiny grains.

Steven just didn't know where else to look! If Her lion wasn't in the desert then maybe-

He turned and looked in the direction of the human settlement.

Maybe Her lion was there? 

Trying to think if She had warned him away from interacting with humans, he comes up blank. Which meant that it was probably ok, right? He even wanted to meet a few humans anyhow, so this would be like getting two of his goals done in one.

But His Diamonds didn't like him knowing about his human-half, and talking to actual humans would probably fall under that.

And yet, His Mom broke that rule all the time, during his night cycle by reading to him and singing him songs that she said that she had learned on Earth.

So maybe it would be ok, so long as no one found out.

Apprehensively walking towards the settlement, he wrung his hands and played with his fingers a little bit. As he stood at the edge of the town, he kept his eyes down to stare at his feet.

Lifting one foot up, it hovered over the street- so different from the pathways that Homeworld had, everything was so very different- before he placed it down. Steven winced, half expecting to hear the chiding and furious voice of Yellow Diamond, but nothing happened.

Opening his eyes, he looked around- just to make sure- and let out a breath of relief.

Now that nothing bad had happened, he hopped so that both of his feet could be on solid ground again. 

Looking around, he tried his best to spot if Lion- he decided that it would be so much easier to call him that- he couldn't see the animal anywhere.

He wandered further into the settlement, heading for the section with wooden boards, and looked into the buildings- from a distance of course- to see if he had spotted the animal.

Steven almost continued forward if it wasn't for the grimace walking gave him. So he sat down instead and took off his slippers, smacking the bottom to get all the sand out of them.

But then he caught a glimpse at the bottom of his feet and saw that some of the sand had actually clung to his skin.

Sticking out his tongue at how gross that was, he wiped off the soles of his feet, thankful that at least while sand was messy it came off easily.

Satisfied with how he wouldn't bother him to walk anymore, Steven put on his slippers and bounced up, reading to continue searching.

Only to turn around and be face to face- well more like face to chest since he was much smaller in comparison- with three humans.

Squeaking- and only the slightest bit embarrassed at the sound- he stepped back to increase the distance between him and them.

"H-hi," he managed to get out, face flushed at how awkward his first contact with actual humans went.

"Hey there," the higher-pitched voice one said, giving him a small wave, and she had what felt like to him as a kind smile on her face. The two other humans besides her gave their own greetings- the one with weird ear coverings nodded and the one with the visor said 'sup.' "We haven't seen you around before, are you visiting?"

"Um," his eyes trailed to the side, nervous at how sudden this all was. "I'm... looking for my Mom's pet."

"Oh no, did it get lost?" she asked. "Well what type of pet is it, maybe we can help?"

Shaking his head, not wanting to keep his interactions with humans separate from his mission, he said, "No, no it's ok! I can find him myself."

"Well if you're sure," she trailed off looking at the other two.

"But, can I ask if you've seen a lion," he asked, not wanting to waste an opportunity when it presented itself. 

"You mean in a zoo?" the one without a visor asked.

"Aren't zoo's where humans are kept?" Steven tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Why would a lion be there?"

At first, they looked confused when he said that, and he was worried for a moment that they would realize that he wasn't fully human at all when the one with a visor nodded and said, "Yeah, society is turning into a zoo slowly if we don't stop the man. I like the way you think."

Steven wasn't too sure who The Man was, or what any of that meant, but when the other two humans nodded in agreement he just took it for what it was.

"Well, there are no lions here in Beach City," the girl said- causing his heart to drop into his belly because he was in the wrong place, of course- and she crouched down next to him. "But hey! We've got a lot more interesting stuff if you want to check it out. How long are you and your mom staying for?"

"Oh, my Mom isn't here with me," he said.

The human blinked, and a flash of concern popped onto her face, "How old are you now?"

This was probably safe information to give outright? Probably.

"I'm eight," Steven said. "My name’s Steven."

"Oh right, probably should've introduced ourselves earlier, I'm Jenny," and she held out her hand for some reason. "This here's Sour Cream and that's Buck."

Steven just stared at her hand, wondering what she wanted, and by default settled on a Diamond salute.

Eventually, she dropped it and settled it on her knees, lips pursed in thought.

"What's an eight-year-old wandering around without his mom for?" Jenny asked.

"I'm looking for her pet," he said, repeating himself. Humans must not be able to remember a lot if she already forgot about that.

"Right," she nodded, getting up from her crouch. "Hey, is there any number we can call for you?"

What number? He doesn't think that humans used the same numeric system as gems...

But he had a feeling that something he said had made them concerned, so he should probably move on from this disastrous first attempt at human contact.

"I would give you a number but, I have to go really," he backed away.

Steven didn't give them a chance to respond before scurrying off back towards the desert, taking a leap, and gliding as far as he could away. He fumbled the landing, slipping on the sand but scrambled right back up, swiping some of the sand behind him in his haste, and ran off towards the house.

Turning his head behind him he saw that the humans didn't follow after him thankfully, but it wasn't before he reached the section of the desert with the house that he allowed himself to stop and take a breather.

Heading over to the stone side of the desert, he leaned against it and slid down, just taking as many deep breaths as he could. The house was much farther away from the settlement then he had thought at first. He's not used to running so fast- running in general when playing? Yes. Running- running? Nope, not at all.

It wasn't so bad though, at least he had experience with short bursts of trying to catch up with any one of His Diamonds. They were so much bigger than him, and they didn't have the time to wait for him to catch up.

His Mom never made him run after Her. She always picked him up and carried him in the crook of Her arms.

"Well," he spoke as soon as he got his breathing under control. "That could have been worse."

Still, though, he would have to wait some time before he tried again- because he didn’t feel comfortable leaving without having made absolutely sure that Lion wasn’t here- and maybe they would forget they even saw him and he could be free to walk around and search again.

This was fine, just a small hiccup, he could still do this. But after all that searching he found himself tired and drowsy.

Looking up at the unfinished house, he considered for a moment sleeping in there. But he didn't like it when other gems came into his room when he wasn't there, so humans were probably the same.

With no other place to stay, Steven resigned himself to sleeping on the sand. Laying down, it was still warm, which was nice and he hoped it would continue to keep him warm throughout the rest of the day and night cycle.

He stared at the waves until his eyes fluttered shut and he fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Steven's not used to not dreaming. Other gems didn't have the need for a rest cycle like he did, and when he slept he saw things that made no sense at all. Sometimes scary things, or memories he guessed, but they were never his. And he was never alone either in his dreams, His Mom was always there with him.

But She'd sweep him up away from the dream and then they would just talk the two of them until he woke up. And She'd remember their conversations in the day too, so he knew that She was really there with him.

Steven had no dreams on Earth. He tossed and he turned uncomfortably on the sand, unable to rest easy. It was empty and he felt so alone, he almost wished he saw something at all, even if it'd end up being something scary. Instead, he just sat alone in an empty grey and wavy- like how the sand looked closer to the water in the desert- mindscape.

Just as he was wishing for anything to happen, he was brought out of his dreams by the feeling of someone poking him on the forehead.

He scrunched his nose and shifted on the sand, eyes fluttering open but still blurry from his restless sleep.

Steven saw a human girl back away from him, he even heard her gasp in surprise before she ran away and around the corner of the cliff.

Another human, except she looked around to be his age unlike those humans he ran into earlier.

Pulling himself up from the sand, he rubbed his eyes- and wiped some sand off his face while he was at it- debating internally whether he should follow after her.

After yesterday, he was convinced that he just wasn't going to be able to interact with humans at all, no matter how much that fact stung.

But he couldn't deny the desire inside of him that wanted to connect with this other half of him. And hey, maybe yesterday went so badly because he wasn't trying hard enough or because those were adult humans.

Before he could get up fully the ground shook, causing him to tumble down again. Steven's eyes blew open wide as he looked around half-expecting the Earth to crack open or explode.

But the shaking didn't occur again, and nothing looked out of place, and after waiting what he thought was an appropriate amount of time, Steven deemed the event as something that was common on Earth.

Still, he didn't want to wait around any longer, so he pushed himself off the sand and dusted himself off. And he stalked closer to the side of the cliff to peer over the side that the girl had disappeared behind not long ago.

There. She was sitting down holding up a book- a real human book- holding it up real close to her face.

She looked busy, he shouldn't bother her. Just as he was about to turn away and continue his- what was looking like- a futile search for Lion, he saw her peek over the top of the book towards his way only to 'eep' at the sight of him and hide her face in the book again.

Steven would have been discouraged if it wasn't for the way that she peeked at him again.

Right, he could do this. He could just- walk! Walk over towards her and introduce himself, pretend like he was a normal human boy. This could totally go better than yesterday! Definitely...

Taking in a deep breath, he ran a hand through his curls and turned the corner.

He would start off with his name. He wouldn't mention Lion, at least not at first. He would ask her about her book! He's never read an authentic human book before, just the ones that Rhodonite had made for him...

Just as he was almost in greeting distance, the Earth shook again and a creaking sound snapped his attention towards the top of the stone cliff. Parts of the rock face were just moments from collapsing, and his attention went down to see where they would land he saw the scared human girl looking up fearfully.

Going into a running sprint, he reached out for her to push her out of the way just as the rocks started to fall, yelling, "Look out!"

His hands made contact with her first, before he barreled full-body into her, causing the two of them to tumble down the desert and away from the rocks that crashed violently into the sand.

Coughing from the exertion, Steven blinked sand out of his eyes, looking back at where the girl had just been moments before at the sizable boulders.

He turned back to face her, and introduce himself when he made eye contact.

All the breath was stolen from him, and his mouthed gaped, opening and closing, trying to get something out, before his brain eventually spilled out, "My name's Steven."

"I'm- I'm Connie," the girl- Connie- said, her eyes wide. "You- you just saved my life."

"Whaat," he dragged out. "That- uh, that was nothing! I mean- ah, I'm just glad you're ok..."

"Thank you," Connie said, and she just sounded so sincere, even if her voice was a quiet hush. "But, um, could you get off of me...?"

"Oh sure," Steven said, embarrassed- they had probably been too close for normal human comfort, especially since they had just met, at least, that's how he's judging the situation. "I'll just-"

As he tried to get up, he tugged her up as well, not out of a gesture of kindness like he had been planning to do once he was up himself, but because they were tangled together.

"Oh no," he whispered, trying to yank his arms loose. "I- I'm sorry-"

"Ow," she hissed. "What are you doing?"

She looked down at their embrace, before realizing what was wrong exactly-

"How are you doing that with your arms?" she asked, but instead of horror like Steven had expected, she sounded fascinated. 

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking when I reached out for you!" he apologized. "My powers- I'm not good at controlling them yet! I didn't mean to-"

"Are you a mutant?!" Connie blurted out, before blushing furiously. "I mean- are you like one of those superheroes from comic books? I'm more into fantasy myself, but I've seen a few in bookstores and..."

She trailed off, and Steven had a feeling it was because of the confusion that was clearly showing on his face. He didn't know what any of that was, was there some sort of difference between a human book and a human comic book?

Looking away, shoulders hunched as much as they could with his arms wrapped around her, "Sorry, that was stupid of me."

He didn't like that at all, Steven didn't want to be the one to make her feel stupid.

"No, it wasn't!" he insisted. "No, you're actually right, I do have powers, I'm just not one of those, um, mutants? That’s what you said right? I'm actually part gem."

"What's a gem?" Connie asked, turning her head back towards him.

"We're-" how to describe gems in a way that wouldn't offend His Diamonds or be disingenuous to His Mom. "Aliens?"

That sounded about right.

"Aliens are real?" she asked. Then she shook her head, mumbling, "Maybe we could continue this conversation after we're untangled?"

"Oh, right!" looking down he tried to find a good place to start. But considering he didn't have access to his own hands, and he was pinning Connie's arms tightly to her side, he didn't know how they were going to get free.

He closed his eyes trying to undue the shape-shifting, but he didn't feel anything shift, and cracking one eye open showed that nothing happened at all. Opening both eyes fully, he sighed and bit his lip lightly.

Usually, when he had troubles with his powers he would run to His Mom. But She was galaxies away, and he couldn't keep Connie trapped like this.

"Hey, Steven, maybe we can ask one of the adults at the boardwalk for help?" Connie suggested.

She turned her head towards the human settlement, and although Steven was nervous to encounter the same humans again, he knew that wouldn't be fair to Connie. He would just have to take his chances, and if he ran into them again just find some excuse for running off yesterday.

"Sure, sounds good," he smiled at her, trying to convey an air of calm even though he had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next.

"Now, how are we supposed to get over there," Steven wondered aloud.

"Maybe we could scuttle sideways like a crab?" Connie said a small smile on her face.

"What's a crab?" Steven hadn't heard about an animal like that before.

"Oh, you don't- alien, right," Connie mumbled. "Well, they're a crustacean, except if you don't know what a crab is then you won't know what that means either- ugh, ok, so we just walk like this-"

She demonstrated, taking the lead and guiding him to walking sideways, and it was such a silly motion that Steven loved it instantly.

"There you go, you got it!" Connie said encouragingly when they started to make distance across the desert towards the boardwalk.

"What human are you going to ask for help?" Steven asked, curious.

"Maybe one of the workers at the Big Donut?" Connie sounded unsure. "I've never been in there, but maybe one of them will be nice enough to help out."

"I don't see why not, the humans I met seemed nice..." even though he had run away from them. 

"How many humans have you met so far?" Connie asked.

"Just you and three others, but I ran away from them," he admitted. "I'm sort of... on a mission."

"An alien mission?" Connie had a hint of excitement, although she kept her voice leveled.

"The only alien part of it is being here on Earth," Steven said as he looked towards the ocean.

"I guess we're the aliens from your point of view," Connie nodded. "You look pretty human to me though."

Looking back at her, he searched her eyes for some sort of lie, but she didn't even seem to realize the weight of what she had said.

"Thank you," his eyes darted towards the sand.

"Oh, we're here," she announced, and he looked up at the clear doors of a human building. Looking up he saw some sort of circular food thing. "One of them is in there, but how should we get their attention?"

Looking through the building he saw a short human behind a counter and a taller lankier one next to them.

"Like this?" he asked before nudging the door open.

"Oh, perfect!" Connie held the door open with her shoulder so they could scoot inside.

"Um, excuse me," she called out towards the two humans.

"Oh, hello! Welcome to the Big Donut, how can we help you today?" the smaller human said. But then she blinked and furrowed her brow once she realized the strange sight that they made. "Are you guys ok?"

"Actually, could you, um, help us out," Connie's voice became much more demure. "We're stuck..."

The human moved from behind the counter and approached them.

"I've never seen anything like this," she blurted out. "Oh, my name's Sadie."

"Hi," Connie murmured.

Steven knows that he should be polite and greet her back, but his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and he found himself paralyzed at talking to her, even Connie seemed more nervous. Maybe he was reflecting her energy too? He's normally much more cheery, his time on Earth must be getting to him.

"Lars, could you help me with this," Sadie called towards the other human, exasperated.

"No way," the other human- Lars- scoffed. He moved away from the counter but walked right past them, looking down at Steven with a judgmental face. "You can deal with the fairy prince and his girlfriend but I'm going on my break."

Steven's faced heated up, and he wasn't sure what this emotion was but he didn't like it. It felt the same as when any of His Diamonds looked at him longer than they usually did.

"Your break's not until another hour- ugh, he always does this," Sadie growled under her breath. Any annoyance slipped off her face once she redirected her attention towards the two of them again. "Don't mind him, he's always like that."

"He sounds like a jerk," Connie mumbled but didn't say any more on the subject.

"And for the record, I like your outfit," Sadie directed towards him. "It's very cute."

"Thanks, my Mom made it," he muttered, because even though he was apprehensive about older humans, His Mom had made this outfit, and he had to accept any compliment on her behalf to tell her later too when he got back to Homeworld.

"Aw, that's adorable," Sadie said. "Now, let's see if we can get you guys untangled."

"You aren't freaked out?" Steven asked, confused about how neither of these two humans hadn't reacted in fear to his powers.

"Oh not at all, strange things happen all the time here," Sadie responded, walking around them. "Actually, now that I think about it, wouldn't be the first time someone with stretchy powers wandered around town, there's this lady who lives down the beach who- oh! Here we go, I think if I just-"

She reached over and pulled at something, and Steven spun away from Connie from the force of his limbs snapping back into place. Dizzy now, he held up a hand to his head, before realizing that he had his hand back. 

"Hey, we're free!" he cheered to Connie who had stumbled slightly into Sadie's arms. 

"Yeah," Connie said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, and she rubbed one of her arms.

Now that they were free, Steven finally got a look at Connie, everything from her red-framed double visors and her grey dress.

She was so pretty. No gem could compare to her, nor any human that he met so far, there was just something so unique about her...

"Thank you," he said to Sadie, who simply smiled at him.

"Oh, it was nothing, really," she said. "Hey, since Lars was a jerk earlier do you guys want anything? It can be my treat, it looks like you guys have had a rough day."

"I really shouldn't," Connie waved her hands apologetically. "My mom doesn't want me eating foods high in sugar like donuts, it'll ruin my diet."

"What's a donut?" Steven asked, considering this was the second time he had heard the word.

Connie and Sadie both looked at him in shock, before understanding blossomed onto Connie's face.

A thoughtful look broached her face before she turned back towards Sadie and said, "Actually... if it's really ok, could we have two chocolate donuts? But only if it's ok!"

"Sure thing," Sadie moved back around the counter. That's when Steven noticed the small circular objects behind the glass case that resembled the much bigger one on the roof. "Would you guys like this for here or to go?"

"To go please," Connie walked towards the counter. "Are you sure it's ok?"

"Don't worry about it," Sadie waved her off. Then she handed a bag to Connie, "Here you go. You guys seem like good kids, I hope you guys come around more often."

"Thank you," Connie nodded at her, hurrying back towards Steven, grabbing his hand and leading him out of the store.

They headed back towards the desert, and away from the boardwalk much to Steven's relief, but not exactly where they had been earlier.

Connie plopped down on the sand, and Steven joined right beside her. 

"So, you're an alien, can we talk about that?" Connie said, as she reached into the bag and pulling out a 'donut.'

"Of course, anything you want to know," Steven said, tracking her movements. "So, what is a donut exactly? Is it a fruit?"

"No, no, it's like a cake? It's a dessert," Connie explained, handing one over to him.

"A desert?" Steven widened his eyes, bringing up his donut to scrutinize it, maybe Lion was in it.

"Huh- oh no, dessert, not desert," Connie said, giggling slightly at him. "Like a bonus treat after you had all your meals."

"Oh," he chuckled, pulling the donut away from his face. 

"Here, eat it like this," Connie brought her own donut to her face and took a bite.

Steven mimicked her and bit into the donut, and he nearly cried at the sweet flavor.

He practically ate the whole thing in two bites, saying, "This is the best thing I have ever had."

"I'm guessing they don't have desserts in space," Connie said with curiosity as she ate her donut at a more relaxed pace.

"Gems don't eat," he told her. "I'm the only one that does, my Mom grows fruit for me and feeds them to me. That's the only thing I've ever had until now."

"Wow, so there's probably so much stuff you've never had," Connie speculated. "Can I ask what you're doing here on Earth? I'm taking it that this isn't something gems normally do."

"I'm here on a mission to find my Mom's lion," he told. "I came to this desert, but I haven't found him anywhere! There's someone trapped in there who needs help after I free her I can return home."

"But this isn't a desert," Connie tilted her head at him.

"What?" he blinked. "But there's sand everywhere! Deserts are made of sand, right?"

"Well, yeah, but this is a beach," she explained. "Plus, there are many deserts all over the world. Did she say which one?"

Steven didn't respond to her, instead, he laid back on the sand and stared up at the sky. He tried to blink away the tears, but that hopeless feeling that he had had from before was back and meaner than ever.

There were multiple deserts on Earth?! How was he supposed to search all of them for Lion?!

"Hey, don't cry," Connie consoled, waving her hands at him. "It's gonna be ok!"

He brought his hands to cover his face, whispering, "I've never been to Earth before, how am I ever gonna find Lion?"

Connie was quiet, before she said, "Maybe I can help you! We can search the library for books and- and I know Earth and humans!"

Sliding his hands off of his face, he asked her, "You would help me with that?"

"Sure! I owe you one, after all, you saved my life," Connie blushed, looking to the side. "Plus, I've never had a friend before and-"

She looked at him before hiding her face behind her hands, "Ah, sorry! I shouldn't have assumed that we were friends- it's just that I feel so comfortable around you, and I'm normally so shy- gah, I'm just making a fool of myself."

Steven shot up from the sand, looking at her with widened eyes.

"You've never had a friend before?" he asked.

"Don't make fun of me, please," she whispered.

"No, no, I'm not making fun of you!" he hurriedly explained. "I've never had a friend before either and- I'm a spinel!"

"A spinel?" she asked, looking at him from behind her hand.

"Yes!" he jumped off, proudly showing off his star-shaped gem. "My gem's a spinel! And because I'm part human I wasn't made for anybody," he pointed at his yellow puffed sleeves, blue puffed shorts, and pink top. He didn't bring up his light-grey colored slippers, "I'm just the Diamond Court spinel. So I can be your best friend!"

"I don't want you to be my friend just because that's your job," Connie sounded apprehensive, but her eyes held wonder as she stared at his ensemble and his gem.

"I want to be your friend!" he insisted. "And I'm great at being a friend, I can do a handstand," he did one to demonstrate, "-and do a cartwheel!" He tried to do one but wobbled and fell on his back. "Ok I'm not so good at that, but I can do other things too!"

Connie laughed at his display, saying, "Ok, ok. I believe you. We can be friends."

And she smiled at him, and he felt so excited that he gave her a big grin back.

Then her smile faded off of her face as she looked at the sky, "Oh shoot, it's getting late. I really should be heading back before my parent's worry."

She got off of the sand, dusting off her dress.

"I'll try to come back as soon as I can, and we can go to the town's library! There's gotta be tons of books on deserts," Connie explained, walking back towards the boardwalk.

Steven followed after her to continue the conversation for as long as he could, "And they'll have information about Lion?"

"Probably, it depends, do you know what Lion looks like?" Connie asked.

Steven shook his head, only having the barest idea of what a lion even looked like from the sketches His Mom made over the years.

"Oh boy, this might be harder than we thought," Connie said with a hand to her chin. "You don't have a phone by any chance do you?"

Once again, Steven shook his head.

"Right," Connie sighed. She had stopped by the Big Donut again, looking at him, rubbing her arm again saying, "I guess this is goodbye. For now at least."

"I'll see you soon, right?" Steven asked.

"Of course!" Connie promised. "I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise."

"Ok," he smiled after her, happy now that he had a friend- and someone to help him on his mission. Everything didn't feel so lonely anymore.

He waved goodbye to her and he stayed there until she disappeared fully from view. He had stayed into place until a thought popped into his head.

Steven hurried down the beach and searched for- there it was. The book that Connie had been reading earlier.

With it in hand, he headed back towards the Big Donut and took a seat at the table at the side of the building. He stared in the direction that Connie had left.

He could wait here for her to come back! That way she wouldn't have to search for him on the beach- and it would probably be more comfortable to sleep on a chair than the sand. 

And Steven didn't mind waiting, His Mom said that spinels were particularly good at waiting in one place.

Chapter Text

There weren't a lot of things that Steven considered boring. Up until now, the only thing that popped into his head were the occasional meetings between His Mom and His Diamonds which would just go one forever and ever and end up nowhere! He had to stand next to the Pearl's and he wasn't allowed to do anything else.

But waiting in place? That somehow topped his list of the Most Boring Things Ever, possibly of all time.

He had considered reading Connie's book to pass the time- and to get to know more about human stories too- but when he opened it he couldn't understand a single word, it was all written in human. And there weren't any pictures either. But the cover looked so cool, he just doesn't understand why it wouldn't have pictures!

With that as a bust, just settled with humming some of the lullabies His Mom sings for him. Tapping his fingers against the table, he watched as the sky got darker and darker.

Steven wondered where Connie lived in the settlement, probably somewhere nice. Someone as nice as her probably lived somewhere equally nice. 

His thoughts were interrupted by that strange shaking again, turning towards the beach when he heard a faint roar. 

Perhaps the shaking was caused by some sort of Earth creature? No one seemed to be panicking at the tremors, or the loud shriek that got cut off not too long after the third shake. After that he didn't hear any more noise, so he figured that the creature went away finally. He didn't mind so long as that meant that there wouldn't be anymore shaking, because no matter how many times it happened it still freaked him out that the ground could just move like that.

It was really dark out by the time the first donut worker came outside, and at the sight of him, Steven ducked his head and looked down at the table, hoping that he wouldn't notice him.

"Oh, you're still here," Lars said is disdain. "Don't you have a home to go back to?"

This Lars wasn't one of His Diamonds, he wasn't obligated to answer him, he could just pretend as though he couldn't hear him and eventually he would go away.

"Ugh, I don't care enough to deal with this," Lars groaned, walking back into the building.

Steven thought that would be the end of it, but then Sadie came outside after a few seconds.

"Hey, you're the kid from earlier, right?" she asked, smiling at him.

Since she had been nice earlier, he actually looked up at her and nodded his head.

"What are you doing out so late?" she asked. "Your parents are probably worried about you."

"My Mom isn't here right now," Steven said. "She's back on Homeworld."

"Homeworld?" Sadie questioned with a tilt of her head. "I haven't heard of that city before, is it close by? Maybe I can give you a ride home?"

"It's somewhere else in space," he answered, playing with the pages on Connie's book.

Looking away, he completely missed the concerned look that flashed on Sadie's face.

She came closer to him and pulled out the chair on the other side of the table so that she could be at the same level as him.

"Can I ask what your name is?" Sadie asked, crossing her arms on the table and leaning forward. "You and that girl didn't mention it earlier."

"It's Steven," he answered, and really he's given his name out to so many humans in the past two days, what harm would it be for another one to know?

"Well, Steven, I'm just concerned about your well being," Sadie started with. "You can't be much older than, what? Eight? Either way, it's not safe for a kid your age to just be sitting outside all alone here."

"Would over there be better?" Steven asked, pointing at the bench on the other side of the Big Donut.

"Ah, not quite what I meant," Sadie chuckled awkwardly. "Why are you sitting outside here anyhow, don't you have somewhere to stay?"

"I'm waiting for Connie," he said, kicking his feet back and forth from where they were hanging off of the chair. "I slept on the beach last night. But I want to make sure she'll know where to find me, so tonight I was gonna sleep here."

"You slept outside?!" Sadie's eyes flew open and she sounded so concerned. Was it not a normal thing for humans to sleep outside? He thought that's what they did all the time. "You can't sleep outside, that's not safe!"

Shrugging, he rested his chin on the table, "Where should I sleep then?"

"You-" Sadie started but then stopped herself. She brought her hand to mouth in consideration before lowering it and looking at him, "You're really here all alone aren't you?"

"Mhm," with all this talk about sleep he was starting to get really tired. He even opened his mouth in a small yawn, lifting his arms onto the table as a cushion.

Sadie didn't say anything for a moment, before getting out of her seat, and gesturing towards him, "Come on, Steven. You don't have to sleep outside tonight."

"Why?" he slipped down from the chair and followed after her as she re-entered the shop.

"I can't just let a kid sleep outside," Sadie explained. "You can stay at my house for tonight, I'll have to talk to my mom about it but I'm sure she'll be fine with it."

"Like a real human house?" he asked, eyes lighting up. "A completed one?"

"Er, yes?" Sadie sounded confused but didn't retract her offer.

She led him to the back of the store, explaining that she just had to lock up the store before she could leave.

Lars was waiting for her outside and seemed disgruntled by the fact that he was trailing after her when they finally exited. But Sadie gave her a small glare and he at least looked away with at the unspoken scolding.

Steven let Sadie bring him to her house, amazed at going much further into the 'town' than he had before. 

All the little human houses were so cute! Nothing like the palace or the unfinished one the warp pad was surrounded by.

And Steven was absolutely delighted by the wooden barrier that surrounded Sadie's house- a fence. To keep out who? Animals? Other humans? Either way, it was delightful, and Steven didn't feel so timid anymore by the other human.

She must have been the nicest adult human that he's met, not that he gave the first three much of a chance, but Lars was certainly a good example of what a mean human could be like.

"So this is my house," Sadie said sheepishly after unlocking the house- with keys- letting him wander in. "Do you need me to get you anything? Something to eat or drink?"

"No that's ok, I had that donut earlier," Steven responded. Truthfully, he was a little bit hungry, but she had already given him free food earlier and didn't want to test her hospitality.

"But that was hours ago, and a donut isn't really a meal either," Sadie looked concerned again.

"What's a 'meal?' More human food?" he looked towards her, somewhat excited at the concept of something different and new.

"No, no, a meal is like breakfast or lunch or dinner," Sadie explained. "You usually need to eat something more than just sugar and junk food, those are more snacks than anything else."

"I normally just eat fruit," Steven shrugged.

"Just fruit," Sadie moved towards another human room, one with a lot of different machines. "That's... not really healthy either."

Well, he didn't really know what to say to that, opting to shrug instead. He just ate whatever His Mom was growing in her garden, and that happened to be fruit, so...

"Well, let's not focus about that right now, I'll heat up some leftover's and you can have some, but first would you like to take a shower or just use the bathroom in general? You already spent the night on the beach, you could probably do good with a shower- no offense," she offered apologetically.

But he had already perked up at hearing at 'bathroom' nodding his head quickly saying, "Yes, please! Do you have a bath?"

"Yeah I can draw you up a bath," Sadie nodded. "And while you get cleaned up I can put your outfit through the wash, but- oh geeze, you don't have a spare set of clothes on you, do you?"

"Nope!" he shook his head, curls bouncing. "I can just wait for you to clean this, it's my uniform anyhow!"

"It's gonna take a few hours for me to wash and dry it, Steven," Sadie said. "Come on, I might have something in my closet for you to wear, we're about the same height anyhow."

She led him down a set of stairs, into a room underground! Human houses just kept amazing him.

He figured that this must be her room, and wow, to have a whole floor to herself, Sadie must be pretty important.

She had a bed and a pile of plushy figures that immediately drew his attention, turning away from the human as she looked through a wall-storage.

"Ah, most of these are girl clothes," Sadie lamented. "You won't mind, right? Not like clothing matters or anything, I just want you to wear something you're comfortable in. Oh, maybe my old softball uniform could work? At least for right now..."

"Sadie what are these?" he asked, completely ignoring what she was talking about- because clothes were clothes, and while he normally only wore outfits His Mom made, it wasn't like he was going to throw a fit at wearing something else- picking up one of the dolls.

"Ah, those are just gifts from my Mom," Sadie rushed over to him and threw a blanket over the huge pile. "She just doesn't get that I'm a little too old for stuffed animals like those."

"A stuffed animal?" Steven looked closer at the doll. "Are these- are these toys?"

"Sorta," Sadie ran a hand over her neck as she watched him give the toy a gentle squeeze, amazed at the texture. "Do you not have any?"

"No! All of my toys are made out of stone," Steven set down the toy. "The Rutile Twins make me toys but they're not soft like this is!"

"Right, well, come on, let's get you out of those clothes and into a bath," Sadie brought over the outfit she had been talking about before. "I'll just start it for you and leave the uniform with you, take as long as you need. I'll start on heating up some leftovers like I mentioned."

Human bathrooms were much smaller than the one he had in the palace, but they were filled with a lot more things, like pictures of the ocean or carpets on the ground. Sadie ran the water for him and quickly left the room after handing him a new bar of soap and a towel.

Steven let out a sigh of relief after taking off his outfit and settling down in the hot water. It felt so good to be clean again, there had been sand in places that he never wanted sand to be ever again.  

The soap was slippery and hard to grasp, but he was grateful to scrub himself clean that he didn't even mind the weird way humans bathed. After scrubbing his curly hair free of soapy water, he got out of the tub to dry off.

Wrapped in the fluffy towel, Steven looked at the outfit he was going to wear while his uniform was washed. He wasn't really used to wearing anything other than what His Mom often referred to as his play outfit. He had different variations of the outfit, in different monotone palettes, but this one was his standard one.

But, it was pretty dirty and covered in sand. So he supposed he could wear something else for the time being. 

Slipping on the outfit, he scrunched his nose at the texture of the unknown fabric. It wasn't made of silk like his uniform, but he could tolerate it for the moment.

Not sure where to set down the towel he left it on a rack on the wall, figuring that's probably where it went and looked at the tub waiting for the water to drain on its own. But it didn't, and it hit him that it probably wasn't automatic like back home.

Looking at where the water had come from originally he found a little metal piece that jiggled when he messed around with it, so he pulled it up and heard the water start to drain. Just to make sure that it really would drain he waited until all that was left was suds on the bottom of the tub.

Ok, now he was done with the bathroom. Grabbing his uniform into his arms he headed towards the door and opened it. 

Peering out he tried to see if Sadie was close by, he didn't see her but he did hear the sound of things being moved so he just followed that.

"Oh, you're done," Sadie exclaimed at the sight of him. "Let me just take your clothes while you sit down at the table, I'll be back in just a sec."

Handing over his outfit, he watched Sadie disappear to a different part of the house, so he listened to her instructions and sat down at one of the chairs.

Just like she said, it didn't take long for Sadie to come back and set down a plate with food in front of him and herself.

"It's not much, but it is pretty late after all, it's bad to eat after eight," Sadie told him as he stared down at the human food.

"What is it?" he asked as he examined the strange object she had set beside the plate. He looked at her and saw that she was using it to pick up the food so he mimicked that.

"Oh, this? It's just some stir-fry from last night," Sadie shrugged off.

Taking a tentative bite, it was much different from the donut earlier, but still a brand new taste and super different from fruit. This time he ate much slower, not paying attention to Sadie who glanced at him every so often.

"Steven, are you..." she struggled to say. "Did you run away from home?"

"Nope," he said around a mouthful of food. Swallowing, he explained, "My Mom sent me here."

"Like, she left you here?" Sadie furrowed her eyebrows.

"No, She hasn't been to Earth in a while," Steven answered. Sadie sure asked a lot of questions about His Mom.

"I know we just met, but, you can trust me, Steven," Sadie said as she pushed her plate slightly to the side. "I promise I'm trying to have your best interests at heart."

"I trust you," as one of the few humans that he's met so far, Sadie didn't seem like she would lie to him.

"So, gah," Sadie brought a hand up to run through her hair. "I guess there's no easy way to ask this, but, were you being abused? Or hurt, at all?"

Abused? Was that even a thing a gem could go through? He twisted his fingers together, biting the inside of his cheek as he thought about the way His Diamonds treated him, from yelling at him whenever His Mom had barricaded her door with vines again or when Blue Diamond caused him to sob with her, or whenever Yellow Diamond scolded him for not acting like a proper spinel should or when White Diamond-

"Nope," he answered back cheerfully. 

Sadie deflated slightly, but she didn't look convinced in the slightest. But before she could say anything the door jostled and she threw a panicked look at it.

"Gah, that's my mom," Sadie exclaimed. "I should explain to her that you'll be staying the night-"

The door swung open, shocking Steven in his seat as a woman who looked similar to Sadie- but also the oldest human that he's seen so far- came in calling out, "I tell ya what Sadie, Greg keeps getting better at cards, it's nice to see that sad sack get competitive for-"

She stopped in the middle of whatever she was saying at the sight of Sadie and Steven at the table, and considering that this was Sadie's mom, Steven stood in his seat and gave a diamond salute for good measure.

"Sadie, you didn't tell me that you picked up babysitting as a side job!" the mother crowed.

"No, mom, that's not what this is, I-" Sadie tried to explain, but Sadie's mother rushed over to Steven and picked him up to look at him.

"Oh, now who's this little scamp? You even put him in your old softball uniform, he almost looks as adorable as you did," she said to Sadie.

"Mom, please put him down!" Sadie admonished. "This is Steven and I'm not babysitting him!"

"Oh, right, right, sorry about that kiddo," Sadie's mother said as she set him back down on the chair. "And what do you mean you aren't babysitting, what's he doing here then? He looks a bit young to be one of your friends, Sadie."

"Actually, could I talk to you about that, privately," Sadie threw a look at Steven before apologizing, "We're just gonna leave for a second to talk about something, don't worry we'll be back in a bit."

Sadie corralled her mother into a different room and closed the door behind them.

But if there's anything Steven's learned from the Pearl's, it's how to eavesdrop on gossip. So he snuck close to the door, keeping his steps light which was exceedingly simple considering he wasn't wearing his slippers at the moment.

Putting his ear against the door, he strained to listen in to what they were talking about.

"Mom, I'm being serious here," Sadie whispered. "He told me that he slept on the beach last night, and I found him outside the Big Donut because he planned to sleep there tonight."

"Is he homeless?" Sadie's mother seemed like she was a person full of energy, just from his first impression of her, so to hear her being quiet interested Steven. Was sleeping on the beach really and truly not that normal? Maybe that’s why Connie had approached him?

"No, yes? Ugh, I don't know, every time I try to ask him about his home life I just get more and more confusing answers," Sadie responded. "Like- he told me that he's only ever had fruit before, nothing else. He didn't even know what a meal meant!"

"That's concerning," Sadie's mother remarked.

"Right? And he said something about it being 'more human food,"' Sadie quoted. "I think, well, maybe he might be related to those ladies who live down the beach? The magic ones?"

Sadie's mother was quiet for a moment, before asking, "Does he have a gem?"

Steven's eyes flew wide, and he brought a hand over his mouth to cover the small gasp he let out. How could a human know about what a gem was, unless-

"Yeah, it's star-shaped," Sadie said.

"Oh," somehow Sadie's mother seemed disappointed about that. "For a minute I thought he could be Greg's kid, you know the one-"

"What? Really?" Sadie sounded shocked.

"He does look a bit like him, but the gem is the wrong shape," Sadie's mom sighed. "That would have made his whole year..."

"Well, I told him he could stay here for the night," Sadie changed the subject. "That's ok with you, right?"

"Of course, sweetheart! Magical powers or not, a kid's still a kid, and no kid should be sleeping on benches or the sand," Sadie's mom exclaimed. "Heck, he can stay here for as long as he's staying in Beach City!"

"Really? I'll let him know," Sadie sounded surprised, but Steven could tell that there was a hint of relief in her voice. 

"Sadie, I just wanted to let you know I'm real proud of you," Sadie's mother said with such sincerity that Steven started to back away quietly from the door. "You did a good thing bringing that kid here and..."

He couldn't hear anymore before he raced back to the chair and settled on it as though he hadn't been eavesdropping.

Sadie and her mom came back to the room he was in, with the mother announcing, "Steven, was it? You're more than welcome to stay here for the time being! We'll set up the couch all nice for you and it'll be much more comfortable than sleeping on the ground."

"Oh, thank you!" Steven smiled at her, and really he was thankful especially since they didn't have to let him stay. "I don't mean to be a bother Mrs. Sadie's-Mom."

Sadie's mom let out a bark of laughter before saying, "None of that kid! You can just call me Barb!"

"Ok, Barb," the name sounded weird in his mouth for some reason he couldn't really exclaim. Maybe it was because he never referred to His Mom as Rose or anything like that. 

"Now, Sadie here was just telling me that you only had one outfit to wear," when had she said that? Must have been during the time that he was sneaking over to the door. "And while you look as handsome as a button in that uniform, I'll go out and buy you a few different outfits to wear. It'll be real easy to do since you and Sadie are the same size!"

He'd really rather get back to wearing his uniform, but since he didn't have any alternate ones, he figured that it'd be ok, plus it could help him fit in with other humans. Maybe Connie would like it?

"Thank you," he flashed her a smile, and she gushed at him and pinched his cheeks. It reminded him of what His Mom used to do when he was much younger and he relaxed at the action.

"Well, I'll go fetch you a blanket from the closet and a pillow too," Barb said.

Sadie glanced as her mother left, but then turned to Steven with a yawn, "Let me take your plate to put in the sink, I'll do the dishes in the morning. It's been a tiring day, so I'm gonna head to sleep now. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask either me or my mom."

Even though he'd been saying it a lot recently, he still made sure to express his thanks to the human, "Thank you for bringing me here and letting me borrow your clothes, Sadie. You're the nicest human I'll probably ever meet."

Sadie paused slightly, but gave him a smile and said, "No need to thank me, Steven."

Soon enough Barb had swaddled him in blankets and a pillow on the couch, and it was instantly more comfortable than a chair or the beach.

As his eyes fluttered shut and open, his mind spiraled briefly about how Barb could know what a gem was.

He knew that His Mom used to be on the Earth- how else could he be half-human?- but She returned to Homeworld not too long ago. And She insisted to anyone who asked that She was the only gem left on Earth. That all the other's- the Crystal Gems, a name only whispered when She read him his books in his room secluded away from all other gems- were shattered in the final attack from His Diamonds.

Maybe humans still remembered or learned about the Gem War? If it was a heavily talked about subject, then perhaps it wasn't unusual that humans knew what gems were.

Except Connie and Sadie didn't jump to that term immediately. Maybe a human would have to be a certain age to learn about them? Only the wisest, or the oldest, or...

His thoughts helped lull him to sleep, and he dug closer into the pillow, leaving the matter until morning. Or if it became a concern.

Chapter Text

"I don't know about this, Rose," Greg said as she smiled down at him. "This doesn't seem safe! What do the gems think about this- or Garnet! Garnet knows the future right, so what does she say about it?"

"It'll be fine, Greg," she reassured. "And the gems are used to me going off on my own, there's nothing on Earth that could possibly hurt me."

"I know, I know, it's just..." he ran a hand through his long hair, looking down at her stomach. "It's not you that I'm worried about."

Following his gaze, her smile became a lot more wistful, and she placed her hand above her gem.

"I won't let our baby get harmed," she promised, rubbing her hand in a calming nature as though her child- and what a wonderful thing that concept was, she was going to have a baby- could feel it. "I'd just like to spend a little time with them, just the two of us."

Greg's gaze softened, and he sighed saying, "As long as you play it safe."

With a grateful turn of her lips, she tilts his head up to place a soft kiss on his lips. Greg was always so understanding, she was going to miss him so, so much.

"I'll be back soon," she promised, walking towards the warp pad. She paused on it to turn towards Greg who had followed her to the steps of the warp. "I love you."

"I love you too," he gave her a smile and waved her off as she activated the warp.

She cradled her stomach and closed her eyes peacefully. This was something that she had wanted to do for some time now, ever since she had filmed that tape for their baby- their Steven.

Rose wasn't sure whether or not the baby would be a boy or girl until they were born, but she just had a feeling that they would end up being Steven. And how wonderful he would be, a completely new being able to choose whoever he wanted to be.

And if the baby ended up being Nora, she would love her too, with all of her being.

It didn't take long before the warp stream brought her to her destination, the blazing sun is a mere ray on her form. Stepping off the crystal pad, she walked across the hot desert sand as though it was nothing.

There was someone she wanted her baby to meet, someone who would undoubtedly love him as she did.

And of course, because of their connection, it wasn't long before her pink lion was bounding across the sand dunes to race up to her side.

The stoic animal blinked at her, coming close to her stomach and sniffing it.

"You can feel them, can't you," she smiled at the creature, reaching out to scratch under the creature’s chin. "That's my baby, aren't they wonderful?"

Her lion leaned into her palm, clearly enjoying her affections.

"I have something you need to keep safe for me," Rose said, pulling back her hand to pull out the tape that she and Greg had put together, this one For Steven. "I'm going to be going away soon, and my baby, whoever they end up being, I want them to have something from me so that they can know how much I love them. They're going to be a Crystal Gem, and they're going to need as much help as they can get. Would you be willing to look after them, for me?"

Her lion looked up at her sadly, and she knew that he understood that she was going to die soon. But he knelt down, producing his mane for her, and she began to tear up.

Slipping the tape into her lion's glowing mane, she kissed him on his head.

"Thank you," she said as soon as the tape was safe inside of the mane.

The lion stood back to full height, looking up at her and nudging her stomach slightly, giving it a small lick. 

Laughing, she ran her hand through his mane, exclaiming, "Yes, when they're here, you can give them all the kisses in the world."

She didn't want to leave, but there were things that she wanted to show her baby and she wouldn't have much time to do so if she stayed much longer. So Rose said one final goodbye to her dear pet and returned to the warp pad, prepared to warp to the Strawberry Fields.

Rose didn't plan to visit all of the historical ruins from the time of gem occupation on Earth, but she had a few places in mind where she could rest and just talk to her baby.

As soon as she got to the former battleground, she walked until she found an open part of the field where she could just sit down and talk.

"There are things I regret," she said allowed, running her thumb against her gem in a calming manner. "And there are things I wish I hadn't done. But you will never be one of them, and neither was protecting the Earth."

Gently leaning back against the grass, she stared up at the sky.

"It's so beautiful here," she stated. "Unlike anything Homeworld could ever produce. And the humans who inhabit it, I want nothing more for you than the chance to be one of them. The freedom to change and grow up, oh, I hope you cherish it."

Looking to the side, she watched as brilliant butterflies fluttered around the monumental strawberries that she had grown here in the field.

"I hope that you love me," she whispered. A tear slipped down her face. "If you ever find out about all of the mistakes that I've done, I hope you can find it in yourself to love me still."

Rose stayed there, laying down on the grass, enjoying the nature and life all around her. Just a moment between her and her baby.

She hummed one of Greg's songs under her breath- she had all of them memorized into the very core of her gem, she was pretty sure- resting her hands on top of her stomach.

Losing track of time, when Rose opened her eyes, the sky was tinted orange as the sun began to set. Carefully pushing herself up, she dusted off her dress- although she really didn't have to, she just enjoyed the human aspect of it- and walked back toward the warp pad.

Rose probably had enough time to visit one more spot, and while there were hundreds that came to mind, she settled on the idea of visiting the Galaxy Warp, just one last time. To solidify in her mind the decisions that she made to stay on Earth, and perhaps explain to her baby what it meant to abandon Homeworld.

Settling onto the warp pad for one last warp, she watched as the Strawberry Field melted from her view, as she headed towards the Galaxy Warp.

She had been expecting to land on the quiet warp pad center, she had been expecting to stay for a few minutes at most before heading back to Greg and the gems.

Rose hadn't been expecting to hear an accented voice filter through the warp stream as she landed, "Honestly, Topaz, I haven't the slightest clue on why my time is being wasted collecting more of these-"

As soon as Rose properly exited the warp stream, she became face to face with two unknown gems-

Homeworld Gems.

The small blue one- an Aquamarine her mind whispered to her- looked shocked at her appearance, but swiftly took to the air on her water wings, snapping off her bow into a wand.

She didn't even have a moment to react before she became trapped in a tractor beam from the wand.

"Topaz, are you seeing what I'm seeing," Aquamarine seemed shocked, hovering just in front of the fused Topaz. The Topaz didn't respond, but Aquamarine carried on anyhow, "Of course you do, my eyesight is perfect, and as such we're actually staring at the Rose Quartz!"

The little being cackled and fluttered close to Rose, keeping a firm grip on her wand, "Can you believe this? To think we were just here to collect a handful of organics, and instead we stumble upon one of Homeworld's most traitorous gems! Come now, Rose Quartz, don't you have anything to say?"

Gritting her teeth, she tried to break the hold on the beam- why could she not move, a normal gem perhaps could get stuck, but her, she was- unable to move her mouth to demand that the little gem let her go.

"Forget about the original mission, Topaz," the Aquamarine turned towards her partner, ignoring Rose. "Once the Diamonds hear about this, we'll be rewarded, perhaps even with my very own pearl!"

No. No, no they couldn't bring her back there- this wasn't happening- this wasn't fair-

The Topaz diffused, approaching menacingly, but was stopped by Aquamarine's tutting.

"No, Topaz and Topaz, we won't trap her the usual way," Aquamarine turned towards her with a smug look. "I want to make sure she can't possibly get out, with you there's just too much of a risk."

The two Topaz's refused, heading back towards their ship that had been hovering just above the ocean water. 

Aquamarine dragged Rose along by the beam- and she couldn't stop struggling, she had to break out of it, she just had to- pausing by the Galaxy Warp, remarking, "I bet you're the reason why this didn't work. We had to come all this way out with a ship, you Crystal Gems just destroy anything good don't you?"

Pausing, the Aquamarine mulled over her words, speaking slowly, "Say, Rose. Are there any more you traitors left? Or was it just you here on this miserable planet?"

She didn't think it was possible to become even more paralyzed with fear, but the thought of gems coming back for the other gems petrified her. No, she couldn't endanger them either, she had to keep them safe, she had to keep them all safe-

"Bah, not like they matter much," Aquamarine dismissed, continuing to the ship where Topaz was waiting for her. "You're the real prize here."

This couldn't be happening, this wasn't real, this wasn't the way it was meant to go at all-

She was supposed to return to the temple and embrace Greg and her-

Her baby.

What would they do to her baby?

They would shatter Rose Quartz. There wasn't a question on if they would, they would hold a mock trial and sentence her to shattering, but oh stars what would that do to her baby?!

She couldn't allow this, she couldn't allow them to kill her baby, and they would, how could she possibly explain to them what a baby was? 

What could she do- 

Rose knew what she had to do. But she froze at even the thought of it- and how could she possibly think that way, when the life that she and Greg created was in such danger?

"Topaz, fly the ship all the way straight to Homeworld, I'm going to call Blue Diamond," Aquamarine spoke shaking Rose out of her thoughts. "How do I look, Rose? I want to make sure I look my absolute best when presenting you as a gift to my illustrious Diamond. Oh wait, that's right, you can't talk, ha!"

They were leaving the Earth. There was nothing that she could do, stuck in the blue beam, and waiting to face judgment thousands of years later.

A part of her wanted to scream out in anguish because internally she knew-

Rose was never going to see the Earth again.

The Aquamarine flew up to her control panel, keeping Rose out of sight. It didn't take long before a communication line was established, the screen coming to life to show the demure Blue Pearl.

"This is Blue Diamond's line," the soft-spoken pearl said. "What business do you have with my Diamond?"

"This is the Aquamarine that was sent to collect more organics for Pink Diamond's Zoo," Aquamarine sat up straight. "I need to speak with Blue Diamond immediately."

A voice spoke from off-screen, causing Rose to have a pain in her chest at the familiarity of it, "Pearl, pass the communicator to me."

Blue Pearl did as such, curtsying and holding the pose.

And after thousands of years, Rose got her first glance at Blue.

Never did she think she would ever see the other diamond again, and she didn't know what she expected, what she thought she would look after all these years.

Rose never expected her to look so heartbroken.

"Aquamarine," Blue looked slightly confused at the gem, but otherwise closed off at the other lower-ranking gem. "You were just sent on your mission, what are you doing contacting me so soon?"

Flashing the diamond salute, Aquamarine bowed her head, "My apologies, my Diamond. I was stopped from completing my mission after encountering someone of great importance."

Blue narrowed her eyes at the smaller gem, gritting out, "Who?"

Using her wand to drag up Rose into sight, Blue Diamond's face crackled with anger, her fingers crushing the armrests of the throne she sat upon.

"You," she thundered. "How dare you still be alive, after all of the suffering you've caused!"

Aquamarine didn't say anything, but her hand slightly shook at the ferocity of Blue's voice.

"Release her," Blue Diamond commanded. "I want to see her grovel."

Aquamarine did as told, and Rose collapsed onto her knees, breathing out harshly even though she didn't need to, an arm wrapping around her stomach immediately, the other rushing up to meet her chest as it ached.

"Look at me," Blue spoke down at her, and Rose slowly raised her head to stare at the other diamond. "Tell me. I want to hear it from your mouth. Tell me why you shattered her."

Rose didn't say anything, tears cascading down her cheeks.

"Well?" Blue lost her patience. "I want to hear why you would shatter a Diamond!"

Still, she stayed silent, because there was no possible way for her to answer this question.

Looking back at the Aquamarine, Blue said, "Bring her to Homeworld at once. I want to make her pay, I want her to feel the pain of all the Diamonds. I want to do so much worse to her than shattering."

Before the Aquamarine could respond, Rose finally spoke up, with a hushed, "No..."

"No?" Blue parroted. "No?! You think you can tell me, a Diamond, what to do? Was that what Pink exclaimed before you shattered HER!"

Tears fell down Blue Diamond's face in an angry fervor, her pearl crying silently with, but the blue wave of light stayed on her side of the screen.

It was now or never. Be rushed to Homeworld to be shattered, or grovel before her fellow Diamond. A static seemed to fill her mind, tears continuing to slip down her face, as she got lightheaded.

Homeworld... why must it ruin everything?

"Cease your crying," Blue commanded, despite having her own tears rolling down her face. "You deserve this, and more, you traitor-"

"NO!" she yelled out, a wave of pink emanating from her, spiked like thorns, as she looked up at Blue Diamond in fright. 

Everyone looked shocked, from the Aquamarine to her side to Blue Diamond at seeing the display of familiarity.

But she didn't pay them any mind, as her mind focused on one little detail.

Rose had to protect her baby.

Chapter Text

Ever since Sadie had invited him into her home, things had gotten so much better for Steven!

Of course, he made sure that they were at an understanding, him and the Millers. Steven really wasn't supposed to stick around too long, and he didn't want to get their hopes up with the idea that he was going to stay on Earth indefinitely- although that started to become more and more tempting as the days dragged on-

Barb was completely understanding, and it didn't take her long before she had swaddled him with new clothing. She had remarked that Sadie was getting a little too old for her to dress her up in adorable outfits and that it was nice to have a little kid in the house again. Steven wasn't complaining in the slightest, so used to similar behavior from His Mom he just simply came to the conclusion that that was just how adults responded to cute kids.

She also had the habit of picking up those stuffed animals that Sadie had so much of, and after Sadie pointed out that he had never had a toy like that, Barb had immediately gone out and bought him one of his very own.

Steven is not ashamed in the slightest to admit that he had teared up a little bit as he held the teddy bear- another Earth animal that humans loved to make into toys- close to his chest.

He wasn't sure if, when he had to go back home, he could take the bear or the clothes with him so relished and enjoyed his time with them.

Apparently human children tended to name their stuffed animals, but he wasn't sure what to name his since he had no prior experience doing so. He was hoping to ask Connie if she could come up with one when he saw her again.

Speaking of Connie...

Steven had taken up to sitting inside of the Big Donut, staring out the window waiting to catch sight of Connie, accompanying Sadie during her shifts. So far he hadn't seen hide nor hair of her, but she was probably busy with other things.

"She probably had school, Steven," Sadie reassured after he laid down his chin on the table. 

"Which is where you should be," Lars snarked, rolling his eyes from where he held his head on his palm.

"Don't be mean, Lars," Sadie reprimanded her co-worker for what felt like the one-hundredth time that week to Steven. Turning her attention back to Steven, she continued, "It's the weekend again, so she'll probably have a chance to come down to the boardwalk."

"I sure hope so," he remarked. 

And it wasn't like he didn't like spending time with Sadie- he had experienced so many new and wonderful things, like food and TV shows and toys- in fact, he was having the best time of his entire life here on Earth.

But he missed His Mom. And he didn't want to keep her waiting for much longer.

And Connie was Steven's way of figuring out where Lion could possibly be, plus, she was his first real friend ever. And as a spinel, he wanted to pride himself in his ability to be a good friend, as Yellow Diamond imparted upon him during his lectures.

He resolutely decided not to think about how he would have to leave Connie to go back to His Mom. Maybe he could figure out a way to routinely sneak out of the palace back to Earth to visit her? Perhaps...

"Besides, why don't you take the chance to walk around the town yourself?" Sadie offered despite knowing what his answer would be. "It would probably be more interesting than just sitting here all day."

He was already shaking his head as soon as she started the suggestion. Steven had already met a handful of humans, satisfied his curiosity, and he didn't want to have a run-in with those original three. It would be awkward, and having to explain that he was currently with the Millers would probably make them suspicious, so no.

Besides, he'd go explore if Connie thought it would be a good idea. Lion wasn't here so this town really acted like a base of operation anyhow.

"That's ok, Sadie," Steven started to say, but he didn't say anything else when he saw a familiar figure looking across the beach, hand across her brow to shade her eyes as she looked around. "Ah! There's Connie now, gotta go Sadie bye!"

He rushed out of the Big Donut, calling out to Connie from the Boardwalk, "Connie! Connie!"

She turned around, and hurried from the beach to meet him halfway, "Steven! You're- you're actually here!"

"Of course! I've been waiting for you to come back," Steven told her, a bright grin on his face. "Sadie kept telling me that you were at something called a ‘school’, but I'm so happy that you're here now!"

"I almost didn't think you were real," Connie revealed under her breath. "I thought that maybe I had dreamed you up, or that you were imaginary and that-"

"Imaginary? But I'm right here," he cheered, grabbing her hands. "You changed your outfit!"

Instead of the dress that he had seen her wearing when he first met her, she was wearing a blue dress this time with white sandals.

Humans must really love changing their outfits. That was another thing that Steven found himself really enjoying about his time on Earth, even though he had been reluctant to part with his uniform at first.

"You did too!" Connie blinked in surprise. "Sorry, it's just, you looked so regale before and now you're wearing something I would expect to see from one of my classmates."

Letting go of her hands, to show off his outfit, he exclaimed, "Barb got it for me! I think it's called a t-shirt and overalls? I like the shoes though!" he brought up his foot to show off his flip-flops. Barb had gotten him a pair of 'normal' shoes, but he abandoned them in favor of these flippy-flops as soon as he heard the noise they made whenever he walked. 

"Barb?" Connie asked, looking away from his flip-flops to look him in the eyes. "Who's Barb?"

"Sadie's mom!" Steven explained, pointing at the worker who was peering at him from behind the counter of the shop. "I tried sleeping outside again and they offered to let me sleep on their couch."

"Wow, that was nice of them," Connie said, getting flustered now that she saw that they were being watched.

"Right?" Steven nodded his head up and down, before bobbing back up in remembrance. "Oh! I have your book inside, you left it last time! Come on, I'll give it back!"

He reached out to grab her hand, taking Connie by surprise. Steven dragged her back up to the Big Donut, entering without hesitation and going back to the table where he had left it.

"Here you go," Steven handed it over to her. 

"Thanks," Connie said, ducking her head and taking the book. "Um, do you- do you want to head to the library now?"

"That's where the books are, right?" Steven asked. 

"Yeah, it's a bit of walk from here, but it shouldn't take too long to get there," Connie kept her voice low, sending anxious looks at the two employees.

"I'll just let Sadie know!" Steven said, turning towards the said human. "Sadie, me and Connie are going to the library now."

"Ok, Steven," Sadie sent a reassuring smile in Connie's direction, likely sensing her nervousness. "That's fine with me, do you want me to come and get you when my shift’s done?"

"Yes, thank you," Steven waved to her and walked with Connie out of the store. "So what is a library exactly?"

Connie, now that they were out of the store, took the lead, leading him further into the town, "You don't have libraries on- what was your planet's name again?"

"Homeworld," he supplied. "And not really. Everything is digital, and I only have a few books in my room as a gift from my Mom's secret court."

"Secret court? What's that?" Connie asked, looking at him curiously.

Steven faltered, regretting mentioning them, saying, "I'm not really supposed to talk about them out loud. It's- it's for their safety."

"Oh so a secret- secret," Connie said, understanding. "Sorry for asking."

"Don't apologize, it's my fault for mentioning them," Steven berated himself. "But, yeah, there aren't any books on Homeworld."

"So no fiction stories?" she seemed slightly disturbed by that.

"What's fiction?" Steven asked.

"I'm guessing that's a no," Connie shook her head. "It's like, stories for fun. Made up."

"Oh! Those would be my books!" Steven lit up. "I have some of those. But everything else is like- reports about colonies or complaints about certain gems."

Connie's eyebrows furrowed at that, but she didn't get a chance to continue the conversation before they were staring up a big building, "Oh! We're here."

Opening the doors, Steven was hit by a cold wave that was both refreshing and surprising since outside was so hot.

But his attention was swiftly taken by the shelves upon shelves of books.

Stars formed in his eyes as he wandered closer in, amazed at how many books there were in just one spot!

"Connie," he let out breathlessly. "This is amazing."

A human behind the desk near the doors, let out a shush, prompting Connie to tell him, "We have to be quiet in here, to be respectful to the people studying."

Nodding, Steven was content to just look around without a word.

The only thing that dampened his mood was when he pulled a random book out the shelf to open it and be reminded that he couldn't read human.

"Oh right," he said quietly.

"What's wrong," Connie asked from beside him.

"I don't know how to read human," Steven told her after sliding the book back into its spot.

"Human? Oh, do you mean English?" Connie moved further down the line of shelves, Steven following after her.

"English? Is that what your language is called?" Steven asked, committing the language to memory.

"Well, that's just what we speak here," Connie said, searching for a particular row of books. "There are tons of languages on Earth."

"What?" Steven asked forgetting about his volume, before softening his voice again. "But isn't that confusing? How does your empire run on so many different languages?"

"Well, the Earth is split up into a bunch of different countries," Connie explained, finding the book she was looking for with a 'ha!' and pulling it out. "With their own governments and leaders."

"Really?" Steven was fascinated. "But you're all humans? Why be so split up?"

"It's just how the world developed," Connie said, grabbing another book. "Is it not like that on Homeworld?"

"Well, there are the three different courts," Steven said. "And my Mom's court. But that's been disbanded, and She's not allowed to have it back unless She... well anyways, even with that we're still one empire."

"Your mom has her own court?" she looked at him surprised. "Is she one of the leaders of your species?"

"It's complicated," Steven scratched at the nape of his neck. "She used to be, but not right now. She doesn't want it anyhow."

"So does that make you a prince?" Connie's face became flushed. "A space prince? That wants to be my friend?"

Steven had to think for a moment, before nodding and saying, "I guess it kinda makes me a prince! And why would that stop me from being your friend, I think you're pretty amazing!"

Connie stared at him, her face getting darker before she shook her head from side to side. "Ah, anyways! I got a few books about world geography and an encyclopedia. I was thinking we could go through those to see if there's some mention of alien activity in deserts. That's probably where Lion is, right?"

"Makes sense to me!" Steven followed her to a table where she set down the books. "Connie do humans just not add pictures to their books? That would help me understand a little better."

"Children's books do," Connie answered. "I can show you them after we've gone through these. Also, I have to ask, if you don't know how to read English how come you can speak it?"

Steven blinked at that. "I'm speaking English?"

"I mean, I assumed you were," Connie nervously tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Unless you can speak some sort of space language that automatically translates audibly. I read about something like that in a comic book once."

"I'm not sure," Steven brought up his hand to his chin. "I would have to ask my Mom. I learned how to speak from Her."

Connie nodded, satisfied with the answer, then pulled over one of the books, saying, "Well, we should get onto the search now."

They spent the next hour going through the books, but they weren't really much of any help. There wasn't anything that particularly stood out to Steven as being gem influenced. And there were so many deserts on Earth that checking each one of them individually would take forever! 

"Sorry Steven, I really thought this would help," Connie said apologetically as she set aside the current book they had pulled out, having combed through the library multiple times just to make sure they covered all their bases.

"It's ok, Connie, I didn't really expect humanity to know much about gems," Steven reassured. Or maybe only adults had access to those types of books.

"Still though," she huffed, resting her face in her folded arms.

Steven wasn't sure how to make his new friend feel better, eventually coming to the idea that he should probably change the subject.

"Connie, can you show me the children's section now?" Steven asked.

Connie looked up at him, and nodded, "Sure, let me just put these books on the return cart."

While she collected the books in her arms, Steven got off of the chair and wandered close by, looking at the bottom shelves and all the different books with their scribbles on the side.

The library was very well taken care of, everything was in its proper spot, which must make it easy to find things. 

Wait, a little way down the row Steven could see a book peeking out from underneath the shelf on the ground.

Someone must have forgotten to put it back in the right spot, Steven figured, heading over to it. Picking it up, he noticed that it was different from all the other books. It didn't have a cover with a title that he couldn't read or even some weird graphic on it. It was just blank.

The pages were yellowed too, and Steven was pretty sure that meant that the book was really old.

"What book is that?" Connie asked from behind him, having walked up to him while he was examining it.

"I don't know, it's weirder than the books you showed me," Steven passed it off to her.

Connie took it into her hands, looking just as confused as he felt. She opened the book, flipping through its pages, eyes darting as she read the notes.

But she landed on a page, and gasped, causing Steven to look down at the page, not understanding the written text but recognizing-

"My Mom!" Steven pointed at the brief sketch of His Mom, tapping it repeatedly. "Connie! That's my Mom!"

"No way, really?!" she exclaimed. "Steven, do you know what this is?"

Steven shook his head, causing Connie to point up at the picture hanging up on the library walls, "This is the journal of Buddy Buddwick, founder of this library!"

Connie flipped through the other pages, looking down at all the illustrations, "These must be records of different gem things, right?" she turned the journal towards him for his confirmation.

The drawing showed a bunch of different emergence holes, and Steven nodded his head saying, "That looks like a kindergarten!"

Turning the book back towards, Connie went back to the page that had the picture of His Mom.

"Mr. Buddwick must have met your mom years ago," she said, reading the passage. "It even mentions that she was followed by a pack of lions!"

"Connie this is it! That must be where Lion is!" Steven felt so happy, glad to have finally made some headway on his mission. "Does it say a location?"

Connie scanned the text, but then her shoulders dropped, saying, "Not exactly. There's a map but, I don't really understand it. This is so old that maps now don't match up anymore."

"Oh," Steven was dismayed slightly, but then he brightened up. "That's ok, we can just follow his footsteps!"

"Huh?" Connie cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Steven started to explain pointing at the journal. "That's towards the end of the book, right? So all those other pages, they must detail his journey and how he ended up in the desert. All we have to do is repeat everything he did, and boom! We find Lion!"

"We?" Connie's lip wobbled a little bit. "You're gonna bring me with you?"

"Of course, I mean, only if you want to," Steven was somewhat concerned at how upset she looked.

"Sorry, sorry," Connie brought a hand up a hand behind her glasses to wipe away her tears. "I just- I thought that you might not have wanted me to come with you now that you had the answer to finding Lion."

"What? Never!" Steven reassured, reaching for Connie's hand. "Besides, what's an adventure without my best friend at my side?"

"An adventure?" Connie started to brighten up. "Like in my books?"

"Sure!" Steven smiled at her. "I can't promise anything all too exciting, but we'll do it together."

Sniffling, but already cheered up, Connie nodded, saying, "Right, together."

Chapter Text

Holding onto Connie's hand tightly, Steven peeked around the wooden beam to the unfinished house, making absolutely sure that no one lived there.

After having found the journal, Connie had to go back home. She had asked the human in charge of the library to take out the book, but it apparently wasn't on their record. The woman said so long as she promised to bring it back, Connie could take it with her.

The two of them agreed that it would be best if Connie held onto it. Steven couldn't read English and he didn't want to leave it around in case one of the Millers picked it up and read it.

Sadie did show up to get him in time to exchange home phone numbers with Connie. So now they could communicate from something called a landline during the week when she had school. Connie was super busy with a bunch of other things she had to do like something called tennis and violin, but she managed to get out of it early the following weekend on the promise to her mom that she would do it the morning of.

Which led to Steven bringing her to the only warp pad in the area- the unfinished house on the beach.

"Is this really a good idea?" Connie whispered, peering from behind him. "Surely someone lives here?"

"I don't know," Steven said, walking into the unfinished house since the coast was clear. "Maybe it's been abandoned? I can't really see too many humans feeling safe living in a building with a warp."

"Maybe," Connie relented, following after him. Today she had worn khaki pants that went down to just above her ankles, a far cry from the dresses she had been wearing previously. Her blouse was a light blue and tucked into the waistband of her pants.

Steven, on the other hand, was back in his proper uniform, considering that he was getting back to his full mission.

He... did leave the grey slippers at the Miller's house, however, wearing his flip-flops instead. A mixture of gem and human fashion.

"Whoa," Connie remarked as soon as her eyes laid upon the crystal structure. "This is a warp? What does it do?"

"It's gonna bring us to all those gem locations in Buddwick's journal," Steven explained, stepping onto the platform with ease, but helping Connie get steady on it. "You're gonna have to hold onto me, I don't think humans can access this type of technology, sorry."

"I don't mind," she said, reaching behind her to pull out the journal from her backpack. "I'm the one holding the map anyhow, it can be like I'm the GPS."

"Gee-pee-wah?" Steven cocked his head to the side.

"Global positioning system, it helps people go where they need to," Connie explained helpfully. Flipping open the journal she turned to the first few pages, announcing, "The first place Mr. Buddwick visited was a field of swords and strawberries. With giant weapons, like these," she turned to journal towards him to show off the illustration of a battle-ax.

Nodding his head, Steven reached for Connie's hand and closed his eyes. Envisioning the ax in his mind, he heard the warp startup, and given Connie's sharp gasp he was sure that they were in the warp stream.

In no time at all, they arrived in a field exactly as Connie had described. This time, Steven was able to nail his landing, but Connie stumbled upon coming out of the stream.

"That-" she let out a shocked laugh, a dazed look in her eyes as she brought her palm to her head. "That was amazing!"

"Aw that was nothing, you should see the galaxy warp stream! It brings gems all across space," Steven said, but he was happy to see that she enjoyed it so much.

Looking around, he was slightly amazed at all of the monumental sized weapons and-

The strawberries!

Rushing over to one of them, he looked at how it was just as big as his head. They were exactly the same size as the ones His Mom grew in her garden.

Opening his mouth he took a big bite out of one of them, causing Connie to scold, "Steven! That could be deadly!"

Swallowing, Steven brought up his arm to wipe off the sweet juices exclaiming, "No, no! It's totally safe! Delicious even, come on you should try it!"

Connie looked to the side and bit her cheek, mumbling, "I really shouldn't eat unwashed fruit."

But her curiosity was too much because she approached and leaned over to take a small tentative bite.

Her eyes blew wide and she leaned away in shock, "It's so sweet!"

"We should take some with us!" Steven exclaimed, looking around to find smaller ones that could fit in his pockets.

"Maybe after we're done searching for Lion," Connie offered. "This is such a huge field, and the bushes are so large! It's gonna take a while to search even a small part of it!"

"Hmm," Steven brought his hand up to his chin in thought. If only they could get to someplace high...

Wait, that's it!

"Connie, I need you to hold onto me!" Steven told her. "I'm gonna jump really high so we can see from the sky if Lion is here!"

"Is that such a good idea?" Connie asked. "What'll happen when we fall back down?"

"Don't worry about that I have that covered too," he said, reaching out for her. "Trust me on this."

Connie still looked nervous, but came closer to embrace him, saying, "If you're sure."

Making sure to secure her in his grip, he used his stretching powers to curl his legs together in a spring-like fashion, wounding them tightly until he burst upward, launching him and Connie high into the air. Connie held onto him tightly, and while he did drift to the side slightly, they gliding across the field slowly.

"Steven, you can float?" she exclaimed in amazement.

"No, not really," he shook his head, feet touching the ground, and preparing the same action again. "I can really only glide down after jumping. Now, my Mom, She can float."

"So it's like an inherited power," Connie said. "Is it weaker because you're half-human?"

"No, I don't think that's it," Steven said, not really sure of how he could glide himself. Any information regarding his emergence was, well, classified. Even from him. All he knew was that normal spinels couldn't glide so that just made him rarer in the eyes of Homeworld society.

They bounced up and glided down all over the field, not catching sight of any sort of animal, beyond the few white butterflies that rested against the fruit.

"Well, at least we know that Lion definitely wasn't here," Connie supplied after they safely landed back on the ground. 

"Yeah," Steven nodded. "Even if he wasn't here, it's still such a beautiful view."

"Definitely," Connie agreed, staring out in the distance. "I wish I knew what happened here, with all these weapons."

"Whatever happened here, it sure must've been scary," Steven mulled over. "It might've been from when... when the Earth was a colony."

"A colony?" Connie blurted out shocked. "A colony to who?"

And Steven couldn't lie to her, so he answered truthfully, "My Mom."

Connie blinked at the sudden information, but took it in relative stride, although she sounded slightly scared as she asked, "Are we... are we still a colony? Does your mom own us?"

"No! Not anymore! This was a failed colony anyhow," Steven rushed to reassure her. "There was this whole gem war thousands and thousands of years ago- and even if there wasn't a war my Mom doesn't want to own colonies anyway! She fought for the Earth!"

"But... but she owned it. Why couldn't she have liberated us herself?" Connie asked. "Why cause a war against her own people?"

"I-" Steven wasn't sure how to answer the question. "I don't know. I'm sorry."

Connie mulled over his response, before reaching out for his hand and saying, "You apologize too much."

Steven sent her a grateful smile, glad that she wasn't mad at him for revealing the true status of the Earth. Or for being part of the race that once owned her planet.

There wasn't much that they could do in the field anymore, and not wanting to dwell there any longer due to the true nature of it, they headed back towards the warp pad.

"Hey, Steven," Connie asked, as they started to warp back to the unfinished house. "What's it like- Homeworld?"

"It’s..." he started but paused.

Stifling, to sit and listen to Yellow Diamond lecture him and teach him gem etiquette only to get frustrated when he stumbled over something simple. Upsetting, when Blue Diamond called him to her to vent her grief over His Mom not letting her walk over Her any more. Scary, when White Diamond called for him, when she rarely did, just to...

Make him her. And make him go up to His Mom's room and coerce Her to leave it.

"It's wonderful," he concluded, looking up at her with a grin. "And beautiful! Not like the Earth is beautiful, but gems of all shapes and sizes make up the foundation of a harmonious society, with the Diamonds at the very top to lead us all."

"It sounds nice," she said. "Maybe... maybe one day I could see it?"

"One day!" Steven's grin became strained. "I think you would love it!"

Chapter Text

The very next day had Steven sneaking Connie back into the unfinished house so that they could access the warp again. This being the third time that Steven's been in the house, he was a little less weary that someone would show up, even a tad more curious as to the state of the house's abandonment. But in the face of his mission, it didn't really matter all that much.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this," Connie admitted, the blue light from the warp reflecting off of her glasses making her eyes shine.

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing, isn't it?" Steven asked as he stared at her.

"Yeah," she agreed absentmindedly. "I know you really don't tell me much about your world, but every time you do I can't help but want to learn more."

"I feel the same way about humans," Steven said as they landed softly against the warp pad. "I know I shouldn't but I do."

Connie's gaze softened and her grip on his hand tightened, and then she let go.

The next location mentioned in the journal was, according to Connie's reading, was the Mountains of Floating Land.

But looking around it just looked like normal land to him, with a stone pathway to follow.

"I don't really see the floating aspect of this location at all," Connie hummed.

"Should we bother with looking around?" Steven asked her since she was the official Earth expert.

"Hm," Connie brought up a hand in thought. "It could be possible that Lion is a mountain lion, instead of a traditional lion."

"Well then, let's get a move on!" Steven wanted to bring excitement to this adventure, not wanting this whole mission to be a repetition of brief joy before a solemn air took over because of Homeworld.

What was great about this location was that there was a relative path to follow, and the two of them mostly stuck to it. They kept an eye out for any animal that came within eyesight, but the only type of Earth creature that they encountered was something called a goat, which while absolutely fascinating, was left behind for the greater scheme of the mission. Also because Connie said that a lion would probably eat it and Steven couldn't bear witness to such a thing.

However, despite their initial discrediting of the name the journal listed, they eventually climbed a step and reached the end of the path. 

Which continued on in the form of several floating platforms, leading to another structure far on the other side.

"Holy cow," Connie exclaimed in a hush. "How is this possible?"

Looking up at her in confusion, Steven asked, "What do you mean?"

"This- this shouldn't be physically possible!" she exclaimed, wondering as close to the edge of the path as she dared to. "With the Field of Swords, at least I can imagine a race of aliens as big as monuments making swords of equal size, but this! This is just-" she grappled for what to say.

Not wanting to take the moment away from her, Steven idly wandered closer to the edge than she had. Looking down he saw how far of a drop it would be.

Gulping nervously, he eyed the platforms and the distance between them.

It wouldn't be... impossible for him to glide from each one safely. But he tended to drift on his way down, easily swayed by a breeze. It was controlled on a good day but...

He didn't want to risk Connie's life on a gamble.

"Hey, Connie?" he grabbed her sleeve and tugged on it a little. "I don't know about you, but I don't really think it's possible for Earth lions to have made it across this path. We should head back and go to the next location."

"What?" Connie looked shocked. "But don't you want to see... what's on the other..." she trailed off as her eyes looked over his form.

He must have been conveying his nervousness- which wasn't really a proper gem thing to do, but he didn't really care at the moment- and while she seemed disappointed Connie nodded.

"I understand," she said. "And... you're right. It wouldn't make sense for Lion to be over there. And it'd be probably incredibly dangerous to do so. If I'm ever curious I can just read what Mr. Buddwick saw! His illustrations have been very accurate so far."

Relief flooded his body, and he was really grateful that Connie was so understanding and rational.

"Let's head back! Where next did Buddwick go?" Steven asked as he leads Connie by her hand back down the mountain towards the warp pad.

Sticking her tongue out, she reached behind her into her backpack to grab the journal. Having a hold on it, she went towards the section she had bookmarked with a sliver of ribbon. Flipping through the pages she skimmed through the adventurous words and landed on, "The next place he visited was something called the Fountain Spire."

Turning the book around so that Steven could visualize the destination in his mind, Steven nodded his confirmation and she secured the journal back in her bag.

Destination in mind, they made the trip to this so-called Fountain Spire. Two spots in one day were something Steven was choosing to take as a positive since it meant that they were making good headway on the mission. 

Plus, it wasn't so bad that Connie was getting a chance to experience a muted version of gem culture. The architecture put together by Bismuth's really was something to admire.

If Connie was astounded by the floating platforms of the previous location, she was absolutely delighted when they warped to a tower surrounded why cascading water.

"Each place just gets more and more amazing!" she exclaimed, eyes glinting with stars behind her lenses. But her shoulders dropped when she realized how very secluded the location was, "Oh. As beautiful as it is I really doubt Lion is here of all places."

Biting his cheek, Steven waged a war in his mind. On one hand, she was right, and that it would be wisest to move on because the sooner they moved on with the mission, the quicker they would find Lion and the faster he could eventually go home.

However, the other hand tempted him with the reminder that he had already denied Connie one chance to explore gem history today, plus really it was just one spire how much time could they really waste her? Practically nothing! Plus, plus, wasn't it in his nature as a spinel to make sure that his best friend was having as much fun as he was? 

Final plus- more time on the mission meant more time spent with Connie.

The choice was pretty much clear.

Nodding in determination, Steven turned to Connie with a goofy smile, "Well, we're already here, might as well have a look around."

Connie lit right back up, a bright grin filling up her face, "Really?"

"Yeah! Plus, I actually know a little about what this is meant to be for," Steven revealed. "Come on, I'll show you!"

The spire was shiny as though it were built just a day prior, and there was a steady bridge connecting the platform with the warp pad to the building itself.

Crossing the platform, Steven's knees wobbled as he felt a strong force pulling down on him. He leaned against the railing of the bridge, one eye clenched at the strain of counteracting the forcing. Looking at Connie he could tell that she too was affected by it right alongside him on using the rail as a crutch.

Looking over the side, he saw what was causing the force- a whirlpool of gem design.

"Steven-" Connie gritted out with a great effort. "What is this?"

"Just a little side-effect," Steven explained, raising a shaky arm towards the waterfalls surrounding the spire. "Keeps- keeps the water down. Come on, the- the bridge will steady us."

Moving at nearly a snail’s pace, the second they reached the end of the bridge and reached the sanctuary of the pillar, Connie and Steven collapsed in a huff.

"Ugh," Connie got up and fixed her askew glasses. "I am not looking forward to going through that again."

"In retrospect, the design is a little rough around the edges," Steven ran a hand through his curls. "Era Two designs of these spires are much more refined."

"Era Two?" Connie questioned, getting up from their pile and reaching out a hand towards him.

"The current period of gem-kind," Steven said. "The Earth was an Era One, er, colony."

Connie took the mention of the colony fairly well, brushing over it to gush at the crystalline walls.

"This place is so pretty," she ran up to one of the statues. "Is this a statue of a gem?"

"Yep! Spires are like hubs for gems of a high enough class to enjoy. Real sophisticated stuff," Steven explained as Connie looked around.

"So you've been to a few of these?" Connie asked.

The question was so shocking to Steven that he couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh.

Connie didn't seem to understand his reaction, her eyebrow's furrowing and she cocked her head a little to the side.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just- it's easy to forget that I'm not with another gem," Steven explained. "I'd never be allowed in here by myself."

"Why?" she frowned.

And here Steven really did falter.

This wasn't really the place- or the person- to get into gem politics with. That was a touchy subject that he genuinely preferred to avoid altogether, despite getting dragged into it often.

Spinels were rare- as far as he was aware, they were made on a commissioned based request- but just because something was rare didn't mean it was valuable.

Plus there was that other aspect of himself that would make it impossible...

"Steven?" Connie stepped away from the statue and moved closer to him.

"Sorry! Was just trying to figure out how to translate it," Steven waved off her worry. "Spinels are a... performance class! Kinda like Pearls! But not exactly the same."

"Pearls?" at least that piqued Connie's interest enough to get her mind off of what he was trying his best not to insinuate.

"Another type of gem!" Steven started to walk towards the staircase. "Any type of gem you can think of, we all exist and with a purpose. Sapphires are seers, Quartzes are for our army, Lapis' for terraforming, you name it!"

"And Spinels are friend gems, but also performers?" Connie followed after him right by his side, in awe at all the sculptures in relief that dominated the walls.

"Basically," there was more to it true, but if you got down to the basis of it, that's what he was for.

Although His Mom was very vocally against all that. But she was against a lot of things that Homeworld considered the norm.

"So, hypothetically, if I were a gem, what kind would I be?" Connie asked, a joking air to the question.

But Steven paused and looked his friend up and down, thinking about what would fit her best.

Coming to a conclusion he answered with, "A Kyanite." 

"A Kyanite?" Connie repeated with interest. "What do they do?"

"You'd actually find Kyanite's in spires like these," Steven exclaimed, continuing their climb up the winding staircase. "They're a comfort court gem. They make gems feel better, not like healing but they realign a gem. If your physical form is in knots, a quick visit with a Kyanite will smooth everything out."

Connie giggled at his explanation, and said, "That sounds like a masseuse. So this is just a spa?"

Steven didn't know what that was, but if Connie thought the two sounded familiar than it must be true.

"So, what's a physical form all about?" Connie questioned, just as the steps led to a flat platform with pillars. It was completely empty so they walked across it without hesitation.

Ah, this was a bit of a more complicated question.

"Gems, they're- we're- we're our gems," Steven reasoned out. "Normal gems at least are just a projection of mass in the form of hardlight."

Connie poked him, saying, "You seem to be made out of regular human mass though."

"I am half-human, remember?" he said, even though he was pretty sure that she had forgotten. "I'm... different."

Reaching another flat surface, there was another bridge across a running stream.

"Different's good though, at least, I think it is," Connie said.

Their walk after that was a bit solemn, something Steven was hoping to explicitly avoid again, but it seemed like any conversation involving gem culture just naturally ended up there.

Only a few steps more, and they reached the very top of the spire, a shrine dedicated to a small statue holding a very familiar gem cut.

"Wait, I recognize that!" Connie exclaimed, reaching for the journal again. "Ha! Here it is, the Moon Goddess Statue! This must be what powers the whole place."

Leaning over, Steven observed the near-identical drawing of the statue.

"Aw man, I was hoping to see some Sparkling Slugs," Connie pursed her lips, pointing at a strange creature.

"Maybe they're in the water?" although Steven didn't know who'd be willing enough to take a dip in a vortex-induced pool.

"Probably, it's a good thing this place was empty, I'd probably get freaked out otherwise," Connie closed the book.

Wandering around the top of the spire, Connie observed how high up.

"Hey, wanna make a race down to the bottom?" she asked him.

Steven brightened at the prospect of the game, telling her, "You're on!"