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"What kind of Gem was it?" Peridot asks on the walk home. It suddenly occurs to her that she should probably know these things. That these were, intrinsically, Gems. Corruption was such a new concept for her; these hulking, monstrous beings that used to be fully functional Gems horrified her still. She didn't know how the others could casually fight them. She still wasn't sure how she had casually fought it.

It hadn't felt like fighting a Gem. It'd felt like fighting a dingo over her limb enhancer.

Steven clicks his tongue and slowly shrugs. "I, uh, I don't know? The Gems don't tell me these things. Or maybe they just don't know?"

Peridot touched her forehead. "It was shaped like a Zircon. But why would a lawyer be on Earth?"

"To hold Rose Quartz's trial," Steven deduces. "It- it feels wrong. Guessing like this."

It did. It felt like rewriting the history of a stranger. But Peridot would stare up at the Gem in the barn that night, trying to decipher who she could've been if not for the Diamonds.

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"We love you," Garnet says. It becomes a mantra that night, as if she's realized something horrible. "We're so proud of you."

She pats Steven on the head and holds Amethyst close. She prays it's enough. It's not. Prays she's caught this low self-esteem early enough. She hasn't.

Pearl has always been someone who does acts of service. She makes Amethyst her favorite tea that night, making sure not to flinch as the bag squelches between her teeth. She orders Steven his favorite meal from Fish Stew Pizza and picks at a napkin in a cheap facsimile of eating. Garnet throws an arm around thin shoulders and joins her.

They both think it's enough.

It's not.

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Dewey the Dunce reads his manuscripts quietly and slowly. Buddy is thankful that there's no raised eyebrows, no snorting, nothing to show that he finds the ideas presented preposterous. Just a careful perusal of useful information.

"And they were human-sized?" he says finally, closing the pages.

"Aye. Why wouldn't they be?"

"Remember that giant lady of yore I told ye about?" Dewey rubs his chin. Ample sweat has begun to grow on his brow. "I think you might have met its babies."

Buddy stares at him, gobsmacked. "They acted like adults, Dewey. One of 'em was even in the war."

"Aye, but how else would ye explain a giant magical woman and tinier, equally magical women?"

He fell back against the stacks of barrels they keep lying around. "Great Scott. I met babies."

Dewey's lip quivers as both men consider what they've just learned. They're both thinking the same thing. How long until there's three giant magical women rampaging down the beach? Would they be alive to consider it?

A tiny red lady happens to be passing by. She's dressed in men's wear, with a prim hat carefully tucked on one corner of thick hair. She snorts and waves at them. "We're not babies, ya dweebs!" she bellows across the way. "We just turn big sometimes!"

The woman next to her is blue, equally dressed, and holding the red one's hand as she adds, "It's very confusing!"

Buddy wipes his bald spot with a splutter. "They've already invaded."

"Long as they keep to their own," Dewey decides. "We'll keep to ours."

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The hard part was that Connie didn't feel anything.

Afterwards, sure. She'd looked into Jeff's eyes and felt a gaping pit of horror unfold. This was a child. She was a child. And the arm he was clutching to his chest was such an ugly shade of purple. Not like Amethyst, who had a great lilac hue that got softer in the dark. This was pain. She caused the pain.

Connie turned and ran.

But during it... she'd felt nothing. She always thought that she'd have that fear during battles, but it was just... Enemy has touched Connie. Enemy is being flipped. She thought she'd heard Pearl whisper in her ears, saying good form! Excellent grip! Make sure to move back to avoid it grabbing your ankles and pulling you down.

Jeff wasn't an it.

Connie never realized how terrifying losing that humanity could be. And that sense only grew as she hefted her bag onto her shoulder and went to learn how to fight better, be stronger, kill another. It was like walking beside herself- she, the concerned onlooker, and she, the stalwart apprentice.

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Garnet's future kisses always left him buzzy and a bit disoriented after.

But today was fun! Today was good. It was better than the other times. He recalled seeing the house explode with a shudder. He remembered his moms in prison with a sick feeling in his tummy. Future vision was normally only given to him as a last resort, as a way of showing him how to save the day or die.

This felt like a gift. Gifts weren't a thing Gems did.

Steven replayed the day over and over in his head, wondering if he'd done good. Wondering if he'd failed whatever test he'd been given today, and if that meant they would leave him again.

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Pearl was finding she quite liked 'garage' music. It reminded her a little of the war. A bit campy, a bit scary, but mostly just a group of people feeling outcasted for their taste in something. For something they loved.

And, well. The pretty ladies didn't hurt.

Amethyst sidled up to her and gave Pearl a solid punch in the elbow. She'd been very excited about bringing her in the first place, and had spent most of the night reinforcing Pearl's confidence. She wondered if the Gem even realized that. "Get it, P! Good job on the Greg."

"The Greg?" she asked, rubbing her elbow.

Amethyst shrugged. "Aw, c'mon. Think about it. Going to a little rock show, following a dream and a cute lady. Breakin' the rules. Sounds a little familiar, don't it?"

It did. Pearl didn't bother to correct Amethyst that she was technically the first one to do that. She knew what the purple woman meant. She also knew that Greg following Rose over the fence that night hadn't been some dream. It'd been a promise.

"Yes," said Pearl, who suddenly understood Rose a lot better now, "It does."

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Onion understands that problems require solutions. Like Steven. Steven's problem is that he doesn't have enough friends. No one does, true, but Steven needs more his age. Steven likes Onion- or Onion thinks he does- and his friends are like Onion. Boom! Solved.

But now they're gone, and it's just the two of them again.

He eventually drags Steven home for dinner. He doesn't even tease him. Sour Cream ruffles Steven's hair and Vidalia tells stories about stupid things Greg Universe did as an adult. Steven laughs along and eats macaroni and cheese.

That's another thing Onion's noticed. He eats alone a lot. So he comes by often, even if he doesn't like most foods. Onion thinks he's doing a pretty good job at friend, though. He makes a Steven head out of noodles as a present, and Steven gives a wobbly thumbs up. Onion takes that as a win.

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Andy smokes an old cig that night, trying to get the stress out. He's not had one in almost five years, but flying nephews'll make you wanna get back into that old destructive habit. He exhales as Greg comes over, perching on the lip of his van. It's an ugly thing, that van. They'd all loved riding in it as kids. Then Greg used it to never see them again.

"When'd you pick that up?" he asks.

Andy grunts. "Last time Aunt Deb got sick. Won't bring it around Steven or anything, don't worry."

"I won't," Greg promises, knowing Andy is, overall, a genuinely alright person. "Have you, uh, seen my folks since-"

"Nope. Everyone cut 'em off after they told us everything. Real messed up stuff, Greg." Greg doesn't answer that. Andy supposes he doesn't really have to. He exhales again. "Any more of that hippie nonsense I should know? It's a good time to tell me; all my surprise got blasted out by the flyin' lady."

"Uh, not really. One of the kids uses they but I don't think you'll meet them anytime soon-" Andy makes a mental note to figure out who that is later- "I'm, uh, I'm bi myself."

Andy laughs. Like, actual belly laugh. "Greg, I knew that already."

He stares at him. "You did?"

Andy nods, flicking some ash away. "What was the name of that fella you brought one year? Carlos? You couldn't stop makin' goo-goo eyes at him if I threatened to take 'em out with a spork."

"So that's why Bubbe kept looking at me funny," he muses.

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Garnet says that everything will be about Steven, but Amethyst kind of thought it always was. Even when it was about Rose- it was about the Rose inside of Steven's belly.

"Humans don't come with instructions," Greg says after they all squeeze onto Vidalia's couch, Steven snoring in his tightly-wound arms. "He won't know how to be a Gem. You'll have to teach him."

Amethyst remembers being a young Gem. She remembers all the copying she did, trying desperately to understand her powers. Trying to figure out her place in the world. She didn't know if Steven would be like that, but she at least knows the thought process going into it. She knows how to help.

"If he even gets those powers," Garnet rumbles quietly. "It's possible that was a fluke."

They don't say it's possible the powers inside him won't come until the fleshy bits are gone. That's just gross. But it's possible. Amethyst tried to get a tattoo once, and her form fell apart under the ink. Maybe this would be like that.

It's Pearl who speaks up next. "We should build him a house."

"Onto the Temple?" Amethyst asks. Because where else would they build? Beach City is kind of built already.

"We'll be able to keep a better eye on him that way."

Amethyst starts studying new animals to shapeshift into. For Steven. So Steven can learn where he wants to be in the world, unlike her.

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Garnet carries him to a warp pad Steven hadn't even been aware of. It's just logical for her to do it, as Garnet is faster than Steven. He thunks around in her arms and fights off the cold sting of shock, knowing that he needs to be present.

"Why didn't you tell me Blue Diamond was here?" he asks, quiet.

Garnet gives a great leap over the fence, landing heavily. "You still would have gone."

"But I wouldn't've brought my dad!"

She pauses. Normally, when Garnet pauses, it means that she hadn't thought of that. Steven felt a shot of frustration go through him. This was just like her. She always assumed how things would go, then get stumped when life has options. He's seen it before. But getting angry won't get his dad back, so he shoves it in a little box and locks it up tight.

"Then you would've been taken," she says finally.

Steven didn't see how that mattered, really. "But I know what Gems are like. I know space! I would've been fine."

Garnet just shakes her head and keeps moving, unable to consider losing her son. Steven would have to sit and consider losing his father instead.

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Amethyst's never met another Gem besides Peridot, and that had been plenty. Tracking her down through the world as she hissed and spat and shot orbs of lightning at them. She's never been this far from Earth, or felt this alone.

She stares up at the Amethyst guards ahead and feels inferior.

She steps forward and takes Steven's hand, squeezing. She can't begin to imagine what he's feeling right now. Maybe he's just as scared, or maybe he's in awe. Maybe he's judging her less-ness to them. This isn't the time to go spiraling into her self-esteem issues.

He squeezes back and Amethyst tries to be brave.

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They manage snippets of conversation behind Holly Blue's back. Little things that are viewed as rebellion in their own right.

"Oh, I wish we didn't have to leave Amethyst back there. What if they're mean to her?"

"I'm sorry, Pearl. She shouldn't say that to you."

"You're not disposable."

They say very little to Steven. Steven understands this- he's stuck at the front, totted around beside Holly's loud shoes, and speaking to him is very dangerous. But anxiety creeps up his wrists and through his belly, making him ill as they walk along. As if he's nothing. Just a thing they have to whisper around.

He wishes it was safe again. He just wants to be told he's their little boy, again. Being a big boy was a lot rougher than he'd thought it'd be. He doesn't cry. He can't. He just keeps on moving.

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Steven chafes the moment the earrings are in place. They tell him when to eat, when to sleep- they tell him how to live. Steven's fourteen years old, a certified Big Boy, and he doesn't need a schedule given to him by aliens that barely comprehend what sleep is.

Greg laughs, lays back, and says, "Kinda reminds me of my folks."

Steven curls up beside him and feels oddly cold. He doesn't know a lot about his grandparents. Technically, he doesn't know anything about them at all. He only knows Uncle Andy, and Uncle Andy's never made mention of them. It's... weird.

He has a whole herd of family on his mom's side. All he has on his dad's is a pair of earrings.

It's hard to be human. Even harder when he doesn't have a lot of reference.

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"You failed, Holly," said the giggling Amethyst on her left.

I noticed, Holly thought tightly, but was still too shocked to speak. The rebels- when did the Diamond Authority get rebels? Earth was gone!- had fled in the ship they'd brought with them.

(Briefly, she'd wondered why a Sapphire would need a single Ruby, but had brushed it off as Sapphire things she wouldn't understand. How was she supposed to know she was for fusion?)

"I'm aware," she manages to get out eventually. It's choked and bitter as it comes out. "Just... let me know when they come to poof me. I'd like to get a few things in order."

The Amethyst stops laughing. "Who's gonna poof you? They left already, ding-dong."

"Don't be dense," Holly snaps. It comes out more casual and soft than it does an actual reprimand. Holly Blue Agate was many things, but dumb wasn't on her performance reviews. Full of herself was. "There's no reason you shouldn't report this to the Diamonds. I failed my duty."

They probably thought the next Agate that came would be nicer. Jokes on them; Holly Blue was considered sweet among her Gem-type.

The Amethyst slaps her across the back. "Quit throwin' a pity party, already! If we wanted you dead we woulda done it ages ago." The one on her right grabs and yanks her to her feet. "Let's go, Holls. We're getting so much milage outta this."

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"How do you do it?" Connie asks, still exasperated as she recounts the events.

Steven shrugs. "I guess I'm just used to it?"

Still, he was impressed. Lapis and Peridot were wonderful friends, but they were not easy to get moving. It usually took him most of a day to get them up to going anywhere- on a good day, anyway. To have them up and moving and doing things that weren't for pleasure, but for work, was a Maheswaran Miracle.

Connie groans like she's dying. "I almost killed them."

Steven breaks into surprised laughter, cupping his mouth to keep it quiet. It felt kind of mean to laugh at his friends. But, stars, did Steven get it. Gems were not the easiest to work with.

"Please don't," he says between snorts, a sort of middle ground.

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Gems don't have a body temperature of their own.

It's an advantage, Peridot says. They could go to any planet with any form of weather system and not need to worry about regulation like a human does. Hugging a Gem is like hugging empty air. There's textures- Pearl is bony, Garnet is muscular, and Amethyst is soft- and sensations but no warmth, no cold, no nothing.

If it goes on long enough, they can slowly begin to take on the temperature around them. Summer days can leave Gems like hot cars, sweaty if you're touching them too long. When Pearl hugs him in the north it's like a bucket of ice. One time Steven laid on Garnet's lap while playing a video game and she became pleasantly lukewarm, almost alive. It was nice.

As Steven hugs the Rose made by the room, she's warm.

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Ronaldo hadn't meant to get so excited. Really, he hadn't! But when Steven had said they weren't so different... stars, how could he not be? It meant answers. It meant friendship. He thought it meant he could help and be the hero he felt he was, deep down.

But he'd been offensive. And mean. And Ronaldo didn't think he could take that back.

"Peedee," he moaned, flopping onto the table. "I think I committed cultural appropriation."

Peedee, mid-peel on a potato, paused long enough to laugh at him before resuming. "Well, I wouldn't put that on your galactic resume."

"This is serious, Peedee! I offended the entire Gem race!"

"Ronnie," he says, with no offense intended, "I don't think the entire Gem race knows who you are."

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"I just..." Steven shifts awkwardly, arms crossed as he sinks into the arm of the couch. "I don't want to feel this way anymore."

Amethyst's heart ached for him. She knew that feeling well. How easy it was to fall into making someone else happy, to be what people want. It got you so much love, but it all felt like chalk in your mouth. It's empty. You're empty.

She swallowed a tea bag and said, "It gets easier, man."

Steven's eyes flickered to her. "Maybe. It was for you."

The barb is there, but it's soft. Amethyst can't help but imagine how hurt he felt, alone in those feelings. Amethyst was starting to get better. Steven was starting to get worse.

"I'm here for whatever you need, Steven," she says. It was the least she could do. He'd been what she needed, too.

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Lapis celebrates. She splashes water and skids her fingers, creating spray that arced around them as she cackles. She spun in the water and flared her water wings, giddy to be right, to know she wasn't an outlier, to have been tricked.

Steven, floating in the ocean, says, "Lapis, would you mind getting me back to shore? Humans can only swim for so long."

"She'll be at that for a while," Peridot tells him, spluttering as water gets in her mouth. "I could float you if you have some metal on."

"I do not have metal," he replies, not bothering to explain that heavy objects wouldn't be in his best interest anyway. Steven sighs and backfloats to avoid exhaustion, knowing that while Navy was smarter than she looked, Lapis was definitely pettier than she seemed.

Peridot doggy paddles over and whispers, trying to make him feel better and also make Lapis look better. "She's actually a lot nicer than most Lazulis."

Steven doesn't doubt that. He's starting to understand that he doesn't know much about Gems at all.

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Greg bundles Steven into his side and holds him tight. Steven buried his face into his belly and tried to forget the pink-haired woman on the screen. He didn't want to think about Rose Quartz right now. Just once, he wants this to be about him. Just for tonight.

"I love you, Stchu-ball," Greg murmurs, a bit disconcerted. This was a strange new side of his son he didn't know how to handle just yet. "I'm so proud of you."

Steven knew all of that. He just wished, just this once, just for tonight, that it'd be enough.

But he could say this and mean it, so he did. "I love you too, dad. I'm sorry."

"Nothin' to apologize for."

But there always was.

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Onion doesn't scream. He's too scared to. The big yellow lady swoops him up and suddenly he's in someone's shoulder. His body feels weird- suspended, like he's hanging mid-air. He tries to flail but finds nothing to flail at.

"That's an Onion, I Think?" the blue one says. She regards him with disgust. "Well, at least it smells better than the round one we tried to take with us. On to the next!"

She flutters away with quick flaps of blue wings. The yellow one is slower, stuck on the ground, but she keeps a good pace going. Onion lets out a few quiet muhs of fear.

"Don't worry," the yellow one says. Her voice is soft. "We're taking you somewhere nice."

That somehow doesn't comfort him. Onion struggles and prays Steven will come for him. Steven always knows what to do.

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Sadie gets sick exactly one (1) time the entire time she's working at the Big Donut. In that time, Lars brings her something she's never seen before. A soupy, rice-filled dish that fills her belly and leaves her warm.

"It's lugaw," he says. "Rice porridge and some garlic, basically. With some rousang for flavor."

"It's delicious," she says. "Tell your mom thanks for me, yeah?" Lars shifts slightly, and that's all she needs to know. Sadie is the master of Lars-speak. "You made this for me?"

"It's whatever."

"It's amazing," Sadie tells him, taking a big spoonful as proof. "You never told me you were a cook, Barriga."

"I'm not! I'm a baker. This is easy."

That's even better, she thinks, but telling him as much will make him all wiggly and a bit insecure. Sadie takes another spoonful and plans to get some of this delicious food in Steven, stat.

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Connie doesn't panic. Well, she does, but it's quiet, and that's what's important. She has a quick cry, a few whimpers, and then she starts to plan. She's a warrior. Everyone here is looking to her for survival. Until the Gems come, it's her job to keep calm. It's her duty.

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone. Steven's on speed-dial just for situations like this, and she hits the button and holds the speaker to her side to muffle it. As soon as they're in range, she'll blast that familiar ringtone and bring the Gems right to their door.

Topaz stops, twisting her head down with a frown. Connie swallows heavily. She wasn't sure what- if anything- the fusion could hear right now. She stops moving and that gets Aquamarine's attention, bringing her over.

"What's the hold up?"

Topaz gestures down with her neck. "Noise."

"Humans are all noise," Aquamarine scoffs, rolling her eyes. The ringtone feels dangerously loud as she cranes her own ear toward Topaz's chest. "What is that? Singing?"

"No vibration. They vibrate when they talk."

"Un-fuse."

Topaz does so. Connie scrambles to keep her phone in the rush, dropping it at Aquamarine's feet. She snatches it from the ground and hums. "Some sort of communication device. Clever little human, aren't you?" She waggles the phone. "I say we let her plan come to fruition, Topaz. I bet those rebells'll know where My Dad is."

Topaz nods and Connie feels like she's done something very, very wrong.

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There's a deafening quiet after the ship leaves orbit. Just human and Gems, floating in the rough waves as they try to come to terms with what happened.

Ruby and Sapphire un-fuse with a moan of agony, and it all comes alive again. Sadie bellows for Lars. Onion is talking rapid-fire in a language most of them don't understand. Jaime struggles not to vomit from the sheer weight of almost dying. Sapphire wails into Ruby's arms as Amethyst slaps the water, trying to destroy nature.

Connie just stares up the sky, waiting for the gotcha. The moment this turns out to be part of Steven's plan. He wouldn't dare actually do this, surely?

Pearl grabs and shakes her shoulders. Her nose is almost in her eye as she yells. "Why weren't you with him? You should've been with him!"

I was helping the others. The words dry up in her throat. Connie had honestly thought she was doing good, and Steven was right behind her. She hadn't wanted Sadie to jump alone. Steven was supposed to jump with Jaime. There wasn't time to consider alternatives.

"She was saving me!" Sadie shoots back. "Don't blame her for-"

It all turns to static in her ears. Connie keeps watching, unblinking, as her friend goes farther and farther away.