Chapter Text
Steven pressed his forehead to the window, mug warm between his palms. Beyond the glass, Pearl and Peridot knelt in the sand, hunched over the battered frame of the Supremo. Tools gleamed in the sun, scattered on a tarp while Peridot fiddled with wires and Pearl leaned close, tightening bolts with practiced precision.
Behind him, the warp pad surged to life in a wash of pale light. The shimmer resolved into Bismuth, broad shoulders bent under a massive car part balanced with casual strength.
“Hey, Steven! This should be the last of the parts.”
He didn’t turn. His thumb traced the rim of his mug. “Pearl and Peridot are still out front. Just take it to them.”
“Sure thing.” Bismuth started for the door, then stopped short. She lowered the part with deliberate care, eyes fixed on his expression.
“Is everything okay with Rose?”
Steven’s gaze didn’t shift. “She’s on the couch playing Dig-Build with Connie.”
On the cushions, Rose sat cross-legged, noise-cancelling headphones snug around her head, the mic angled toward her mouth. Her eyes locked to the laptop screen, fingers flying- completely immersed.
Bismuth glanced around, puzzled. “I don’t really see Connie anywhere…”
“It’s an online game.” Steven sighed.
“Ooooh… right. I knew that.” Bismuth smiled faintly.
Steven glanced at a smiling Rose. “She doesn’t want me to play with her too for some reason.”
“She told you off or something?”
“No. She just gets in a mood when I try.”
“Huh.” Bismuth scratched her jaw, awkward. “I’d try to offer some advice, but she is a subject I don’t really understand any more.”
She bent, hefted the car part again, and set it against her shoulder. “Good luck, little friend.”
Steven managed a tired smile. “Thanks, appreciate it.”
Bismuth turned for the door, angling the heavy piece through the frame- only for the top corner to splinter wood with a sharp crack.
“I can fix that later!” she called over her shoulder, already trudging out into the sand toward Pearl and Peridot.
Steven sighed, his eyes drifting back to the couch.
Rose leaned closer to her mic, voice bright with focus. “Look out, I saw a Jeeper around here!”
Steven muttered under his breath, voice barely above a whisper. “I gotta find something I can do with you.”
The warp pad flickered alive, flooding the room with white-blue light. Steven turned, mug still in hand, as a familiar blue figure with eyes covered by hair stepped through the glow.
“Hello, Steven,” Blue Pearl said, with that calm yet almost shy tone.
“Blue Pearl?” Steven straightened. “What can I do for you?”
She folded her hands in front of her. “I came as a favor for Blue Diamond. She wanted you to know she needs to see you on Homeworld.”
“What?” Steven blinked. “Why doesn’t she just ring the communicator in the garden?”
“She says she has been. It hasn’t been coming through for some reason.”
“Really…” His eyes slid sideways toward the couch. Rose sat oblivious, headset on, voice carrying brightly into the living room.
“Want some iron? I got a lot that I don’t need,” She chirped into her mic.
Blue Pearl tilted her head, responding to the oblivious Rose. “I don’t think I really need some, I’m good.”
Steven lifted a hand, already weary. “No, she’s- nevermind. What does Blue Diamond want?”
“She says White has been hiding in her head, ever since you stopped responding to their communication requests.”
Steven pressed his palm to his forehead. “I was wondering why White wasn’t visiting. Let me pack some food first.”
“I’m just going back to Little Homeworld to draw. Yellow Pearl wanted to do some sessions later this evening.” Blue Pearl waved Steven goodbye.
The warp pad shimmered again as she disappeared, leaving Steven standing in the quiet with only Rose’s laughter spilling from the couch. He downed the whole mug in one gulp.
Steven hauled his backpack onto the counter, and started stuffing it with juice boxes and snack bags.
Amethyst drifted in, scratching her head as she glanced toward the couch where Rose was still laughing into her headset. Her eyes slid back to Steven’s pile of supplies.
“Headed out?” she asked.
“Yeah. Little Homeworld,” Steven said, tucking a sandwich bag into the side pocket.
He grabbed a pen, scribbled on a sticky note, and pressed it to the fridge door:
I’m visiting Little Homeworld. If I’m not back tomorrow morning, look for me - Steven.
Amethyst frowned. “That’s grim. What’s the deal?”
“White’s been hiding in her head,” Steven muttered, zipping the bag shut.
“Ah, crud.” She leaned against the counter. “And what are you gonna do?”
“Talk her out of it.”
Steven slung the bag over his shoulder and started up the stairs.
“I’m coming with,” Amethyst said, pushing off the counter.
“Someone should stay here and watch Rose. And Garnet’s not exactly been around often…” Steven replied without slowing.
“She’s not a kid, Steven. She can look after herself.”
They climbed together, the greenhouse dome hot from the afternoon sunlight. The homeworld warp pad sat waiting.
“Look,” Steven said, adjusting the strap of his bag. “Just let me do most of the talking.”
“Sure thing, bud.” Amethyst’s mouth twisted, her gaze dipping. “Didn’t think you thought of me as some burden.”
Steven paused. “Yeah, but if there’s trouble, you can still kick butt…”
Amethyst grinned, though it didn’t quite mask the sting. “You’ll kick more butt, you jerk!”
“No way, you’ll kick so much butt, you’ll kick my butt!”
“You’ll be kicking my butt!”
“You’ll be kicking White’s butt!”
“Agh! You buttface!” Amethyst playfully punched his shoulder.
Their laughter echoed inside the dome as the warp pad surged to life beneath their feet, light wrapping around them until both were gone.
Blue sat on the steps of the throne room museum on Homeworld, her fingers pressed to her lips, her eyes shadowed with worry.
“Oh, White… what are we going to do with you…” she murmured, glancing back at the big statue of White's ship above the building.
The warp pad at the base of the staircase flared with light. Steven and Amethyst appeared in its glow, stepping forward.
Blue’s face lit up. “Oh, thank the Stars! Steven, you got my message!”
“Where’s Yellow Diamond?” Steven asked.
“She’s back in her workshop,” Blue said, rising to her feet. “Trying to stay busy in any way other than whatever White wants her to be.”
Steven blinked. “…What?”
“It’s best if I showed you. Come.”
Blue lowered herself, cupping her massive hands. Steven stepped carefully into them, Amethyst climbing in beside him, and Blue lifted them with gentle care. They soon found themselves carried down the vast corridors of the museum, which led to other areas in the capital.
There was worry in Blue’s tone. “Why haven’t you been responding to our calls?”
“Something’s wrong with our communication relay,” Steven said. “We just noticed something was off.”
“I see…” Blue’s voice trailed, heavy with thought.
Steven glanced up at her. “What is White doing?”
Blue’s eyes dimmed. “She’s been reaching out to old commanders from her armies. And she’s been pressuring us to do the same.”
“Why?” Steven asked, an edge of dread building. “Aren’t they all doing something else now anyway?”
“To look for the alien. And possibly protect against it,” Blue said. “Not all of them are content with their new lives. A number of them… miss the old regime.”
A weight pressed down on Steven’s chest, and it showed plain in his face. His shoulders sank, and his mouth tightened as Blue carried them through the long halls until they came to a wide chamber lined with tall windows.
The place smelled of wet clay. Where once Yellow Diamond’s workshop had been filled with her fusion experiments- first when she was making them, then when she was undoing them- now it was cluttered with enormous clay vessels in every stage of completion.
At the center, Yellow sat hunched on a too-small stool, her long legs folded awkwardly as she worked a spinning mountain of clay between her hands. Her sharp fingers coaxed it into the walls of a massive pot, shoulders taut with restless energy.
She spotted them as they entered. Her eyes flicked up, quick and bright.
“Steven! And his little Amethyst, too!” she said, before her focus snapped back to the clay wheel.
Steven glanced at Amethyst, uneasy. “What’s going on, Yellow?”
Without looking up, Yellow barked, “I need to get one hundred million pots made by the end of this cycle, that’s what’s going on.”
Steven opened his mouth, then closed it again. “I…”
“Uuuuuuh…” Amethyst scratched her head.
“It’s her trick to avoid answering White’s demands.” Blue almost crossed her arms, before the squirm of Steven and Amethyst in her palms stopped her.
“That’s not true at all!” Yellow’s hands pressed hard into the clay, warping the pot’s lip. “I spoke with an Agate from Little Homeworld who liked doing this. These things actually serve an important function!”
Steven managed half a grin. “It… carries water?”
“It can carry all kinds of liquids!” Yellow snapped, her tone wobbling between pride and strain. “It- agh!”
She crushed the top of the mound between her hands. She turned to the pair standing in Blue’s hands. “Steven, you have to talk to White! You’ve ignored us for far too long.”
Blue pulled Steven and Amethyst closer to her chest. “His communication relay is down.”
Yellow’s eyes cut to Steven. “Does this new Pink have anything to do with it?”
Steven swallowed. “We- ”
“She wouldn’t have done such a thing-” Blue’s voice trembled, almost a whisper “-Would she?”
“Who knows.” Yellow eyes fixed downward, a shadow falling across her face. “I realized a while ago that I never understood her.”
Her posture sagged, shoulders folding inward as her voice cracked. “…I never did.”
Blue stepped closer, careful with each stride, Steven and Amethyst still cupped safely in her hand. She reached out and drew Yellow into a gentle embrace, her own tears glinting. “We both didn’t.”
Yellow sniffed hard, her frame trembling. “I wish I could still blame this on your powers, Blue.”
She pulled herself upright, breath hitching, and turned her head toward Steven and Amethyst. Her stare landed on them like a weight. “I want to see her.”
Steven shrank beneath that demand, his voice faltering. “S-she’s not ready.”
“Why?!” Yellow’s eyes burned. “What is she doing that she can’t be capable of seeing us?! Even you are able to be here!”
Amethyst’s jaw tightened, her hands curling into fists. “That’s not your business!”
“Amethyst- ” Steven tried, but she cut him off.
“She’ll come to you if she wants to, not because you want her to! If she doesn’t want to ever see you again, then that’s no one’s problem but yours !”
Yellow glared even harder than before. “You little- ”
“You need to respect her wishes!” Amethyst shot back, fierce and unflinching.
Blue raised her hand, voice breaking but firm. “We do respect her wishes!”
“Then quit your whining,” Amethyst snapped, “and take us to White so you don’t have to deal with everything going back to the way it used to be.”
The room went still. Yellow and Blue both let out long, weary sighs. Then, almost in unison, they lifted their heads with a new steel in their eyes.
They crossed the vast expanse of Homeworld’s ecumenopolis, the skyline a forest of spires in various shapes and sizes, and now with a build up of planted vegetation, although it was unclear if it was organic or gem based. A broad bridge led them to the titanic shape of White’s ship.
“White! Steven is here to see you!” Yellow’s voice rang out, thin with practiced cheer.
The ship’s eyes opened, and stared down. White’s voice vibrated through the air, “Is that thing with him?”
Yellow’s mouth tightened. “What thing?”
Steven swallowed, pushing away the person sized thumb of blue- trying to pet and console him. “No, Rose is not with us!”
“Is Spinel with you?” A tinge of panic leaked through her normally composed voice, “I haven’t been able to find her!”
“Oh boy, she must still be on earth.” He trades a worried look with Amethyst. Then he cups his hands to yell up at the ship. “She’s not with us, but we’ll look for her!”
“Alright, you just come in by yourself, dear,” The ship said, trying its best to sound chipper and unbothered.
This didn’t fool Steven. “No!”
White’s booming voice was sharp in its reply. “What did you say?”
He lowered his hands, hoping White could still hear him without shouting. “I brought Amethyst with me, and I think Blue and Yellow have something they need to say to you.”
The eyes of the ship glanced at the former planet conqueror. “Yellow? I thought you were busy making liquid containers?”
“I am,” Yellow answered, voice thin but steady. “But this seemed more important and short enough to attend to!”
The ship’s eyes narrowed; they shifted to the mother of the gem’s justice system. “Blue, why can’t I seem to reach you? And the same goes for you, Steven!”
Steven opened his mouth, then closed it as Blue stepped forward, unsteadying his balance in her palm. “Both our communications are down, unexpectedly! We just now noticed the problem!”
Steven and Amethyst stared up at a nervously smiling Blue who returned the glance down at her hands.
The ship’s gaze lingered on them. “…They are both down?”
“That’s right!” Blue answered.
“Yeah, she’s right!” Steven added.
“At the same time?”
“Yes!” Both Blue and Steven shouted in unison.
White considered them for a long, slow beat. “Then you must share the same malfunctioning Peridot, then.”
Amethyst cringed at White’s casual caste bigotry, “Ooookay…”
Steven steeled himself, “White, we all need to talk to you. Together.”
Steven traded looks with Yellow and Blue. Yellow gulped, Blue narrowed her eyes up at the ship.
“...Fine.”
They waited. Steven and Amethyst small in Blue’s cupped hands- while Yellow lingered, one boot tapping a slow, impatient rhythm against the ground, finger drumming her hip. The three of them stood awkward and exposed beneath the ship’s giant gaze.
“White, can you bring us in?” Steven asked.
“What?” White replied, distracted. “Oh, right.”
A pale sphere of white light swelled around them, clean and clinical, swallowing the three up. The sphere floated up and forward and vanished through the ship’s vast eye like a pearl dropped into a bowl.
Floating through the innards of the face, the Pearl touched ground and dissipated. Then the four found themselves set down in White’s grey bridge. White stood above them on her pedestal, limbs locked in a T-pose, the smile flat and uncanny on her face.
Steven stared up at the colossal figure, unease prickling his skin. “Uh… why are you doing that, White?”
White’s smile stayed glued to her face. “Doing what, my little star?”
Amethyst jabbed a thumb at White’s outstretched arms. “The thing where you stand with your hands out like that, like you’re trying to balance a pumpkin on your head.”
“Well…” White huffed, the laugh brittle. “It’s just soothing, okay?”
“Maybe you can sit down?” Steven suggested, voice small.
White’s gaze flicked over him in that slow, clinical way; the smile never left but the blankness in her eyes softened.
“White! Please!” Yellow pleaded.
“You’re scaring us!” Blue said sharply.
“Oh fine!” White rolled her shoulders and, with a faint sigh, folded down off her pedestal.
She slumped at first, then squared her shoulders and straightened, the pose trading comfort for composure, smiling again. Blue eased Steven and Amethyst down from her cupped hands so their feet touched the ground again.
Steven stepped forward. “White, tell me what’s going on.”
White’s expression shifted toward a shaky, stressed smile. Then it collapsed.
“There’s still nothing on this creature!” She blurted out. “It’s out there, doing who knows what! We need to defend ourselves! We need order along our territories!”
“We already have order!” Yellow’s words snapped out.“The Zircons are- ”
“No crosstalk!” Steven cut in, voice small but firm.
Yellow blinked. “What?”
Steven took a breath. “I learned it from support groups. Everyone waits their turn to talk. No crosstalk. We only talk about how we feel. And if we’re feeling a lot of negative stuff, we try to find at least one positive thing.”
He glanced up at White. “White, is there more?”
For a heartbeat, she looked almost small against the cavern of her ship. Then her shoulders trembled and a brittle edge crept into her voice. “I’m terrified.”
This confession startled Yellow and Blue.
“I can feel this thing everywhere- crawling on my gem.” Her eyes darted between everyone, “I thought, when all of you stopped answering me, that it had done something. That it had reached you all, somehow.”
She looked down in thought, remembering to look for the positive. “Steven, I’m glad you’re here now, so we can take care of this thing together.”
For a moment the chamber held its breath. They waited, quiet and careful, giving White space, making sure that was all she had to say.
“Okay, I’m gonna take my turn now.” Steven drew in a steadying breath and pushed himself upright. “White, I am afraid of what bringing back the Gem Empire would do to us. I don’t feel that I would be safer if it existed, I feel that it would make everything worse.”
White’s smile tightened into something smug. “But I suppose it’s just a coinc- ”
“I’m not done talking,” Steven snapped, but it failed to reach her.
“-cedence that the alien arrived shortly after the Gem Empire was fully dismantled, hmmm?” She gave him an expecting look, as if waiting for him to admit she was right.
Steven set his jaw. Amethyst padded his back in support. “This doesn’t work if you don’t respect our turns to talk,” He said.
White’s posture faltered; the rigid line of her shoulders slumped and her expression folded into a petulant pout.
“Okay.” Steven took a breath. “I’m hurt that you’re not talking to Blue and Yellow about your feelings in ways that don’t include orders and demands.”
This elicited blushed looks from the two giants at his side.
“But I’m happy that you are willing to have us here and give us our turns to talk.” At White’s blank stare, he clarified, “I’m done.”
White’s cracked a smile again as Steven finished. “Great, so it’s my turn- ”
“Someone else should go next.” Steven cut in, head swivelling between Blue and Yellow. White’s locked her jaw shut.
Yellow’s shoulders hunched; she glanced at Blue, looking for backing.
Blue inhaled, steady. “I will go next.”
Yellow blinked, surprised.
“White,” Blue said, voice low, “I feel the same as Steven- more so on that last part. In fact, I lied earlier. My communications aren’t down. I’ve been avoiding you.”
White’s jaw tightened. Fury simmered behind her cool mask, but she held her tongue.
Blue kept going. “I helped you with a small scouting expedition, but you’ve been making more demands ever since. Too much time was being taken away from my cloud production. A lot of Gems need it to feel better.”
Her tone went pleading, raw. “I need it to feel better.”
White grumbled, a sound of clear displeasure. Blue swallowed, then forced out one last confession: “…And I wish you would visit to feel better yourself. I’m always happier when you do.”
This drains the anger from White’s face, her eyes going wide.
Blue smiled, relieved to have spoken her piece. “I’m finished, Steven.”
Yellow straightened herself, shoulders squaring as if to hold the room upright. She brushed off a smidgen of clay dust that still clung to her fingers.
“Then the floor is mine.”
She met White’s gaze with a stiff, deliberate posture. As if a soldier standing at attention. “White, I will commit myself to anything you ask of me, short of hurting other innocent Gems. I would even rebuild the entirety of the Gem Empire with you, if you asked. I would conquer worlds again, in our name.”
White’s smile sharpened- a slow, private bloom of pride that tugged at the edges of her features. Steven’s face went pale; Amethyst’s jaw dropped. For a breath moment the chamber held the taste of something old and dangerous, like a tide turning.
Then Yellow’s shoulders sagged. The pride in her posture crumpled into exhaustion.
“But… I will do all of this, not because I want to make you happy.” Yellow’s fingers tightened around the clay dust coating her palms. “But because I can’t say no to you.”
Amethyst drew back with wide eyes. “Whaaaaa- ”
“No crosstalk!” Yellow snapped, her glare cutting down at the smallest occupant in the room. Amethyst shrank further, folding into herself, muttering nothing.
Yellow turned back to White, her gaze softened, but her posture remained tense. “I… I don’t think you were happy about the way things were. And I wasn’t happy about that, and about other things. None of us were.”
White was transfixed, mouth slightly agape.
Yellow exhaled, letting a tremor slip through her chest. “What made me happy was how much we could talk . About various things that weren't conquest and consolidation. But we only got that when we abdicated our power. ”
A sadness overtook White’s eyes.
Yellow closed hers. “That’s all I have to say.”
Steven, the young boy with a soft round face and a mop of dark hair, shifted his weight, glancing at Amethyst. She shook her head, arms crossed tightly, jaw set, refusing to add anything.
“White, do you have anything you want to say to all this?” Steven asked, voice low but firm.
White’s towering form remained rigid, hands pressed lightly together, eyes flicking to each of them in turn.
“I… I know you all want the best for us. And I want the best for you. I want us all to be happy-” She eyed them all as she said this- “but I also want us to feel safe.”
Her expression tightened, lips pinched and shoulders rising briefly, then falling as she blinked rapidly, casting a careful glance at Steven and the Diamonds. A pink flush spread across her cheeks, changing the room itself, and she pressed a hand to her chest, a subtle shiver running through her frame. The tension coiled in her stance, shifting from control to vulnerability, but she held it.
“Do… Do you all remember when I used to go on expeditions myself?”
Yellow nodded once; Blue shimmered faintly with agreement. Steven blinked, confused, glancing at Amethyst, who shrugged with a furrowed brow.
White’s gaze drifted outward, distant. “It was when we only encompassed our star system. I would go out in my ship, exploring other systems, seeing what was out there.”
A smile played across her lips, “It was so fulfilling.”
A pale light pulsed from her gem, and a holographic screen sprang to life, casting flickering light across the room. White’s figure appeared in various stances, planets and alien landscapes shifting behind her: dense jungles, icy moons, jagged asteroids, swirling gas giants, and radiant nebulae.
“I encountered many lifeforms,” she continued, her tone steady, almost reverent. “Some could speak, many couldn’t. Many tried to pick a fight with me. Many failed.”
Images flashed: her ship encircled by alien tanks, sleek attack boats, and hovering jets; another frame showed her ignoring a hail of tiny arrows from medieval-like aliens, her expression unshaken.
“But… I never told you this…”
Her voice dropped, weighted. “One got really close.”
The holographic sequence shifted. White’s ship floated in the vast darkness of space. “I wasn’t even on a planet, or in a system. I was in the empty space between stars. At first I thought it crashed into my ship by chance, but now I think it was looking for me.”
A colossal, shadowy form surged through the void, slamming against the ship, landing with a splash. Slowly, almost deliberately, it slithered in streams inside through the ship’s massive eyes. Yellow stiffened, fingers gripping her arms. Blue covered her mouth. Steven’s eyes widened, trembling and Amethyst’s jaw dropped as they all gasped in horror.
“It got to me.” White’s shoulders shook as she clutched herself, voice trembling. “And it touched me.”
Her composure had crumbled, eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I think it tried to do some kind of fusion, whether I wanted it or not. I felt like I was being consumed. I fought it, for as long as I could. It lasted like that for five decades. I was only able to repel it because…”
The holographic screen shifted. Another ship appeared, smaller three legged astronaut suits boarded White’s vessel. It showed the inside now, the little beings swarming the interior. They prodded at the dark mass with unfamiliar tools.
“I don’t think they knew what they were doing, but they weakened its hold. When I freed myself, I attacked everything around me.”
Blasts of radiant light erupted, disintegrating the tiny alien figures. The black, writhing mass recoiled, hurling itself into the void of space.
“It got away. I went back home and stayed here in my head. For a while, I couldn’t leave because I could feel it. Like it was just waiting for its next chance.”
“Stars…” Yellow gaped, hand to her forehead. “I remember that.”
Blue’s hand brushed lightly against her own cheek. “I thought that you had only grown tired of your trips.”
White’s gaze hardened. “I wasn’t able to leave until you conquered your first system, Yellow.”
Yellow’s eyes tightened, recalling the memory. “They contacted us. Wanted to trade with us. I asked you what we should’ve done, and you said they can’t be trusted, they aren’t perfect like we are, and we must go and make a more perfect world out of theirs.”
“I did believe that…” White nodded, eyes distant. “But their system was also along the path I returned from, after it attacked me. When there was suddenly a colony blocking that pathway, with its perfect sensors and perfect defenses, I felt safer on Homeworld.”
Amethyst shifted uneasily, arms crossing, foot tapping.
Blue’s calm voice broke through. “Then you told me and Yellow to start colonizing more systems. Pink had to stay on Homeworld to produce her healing tears for our armies. That’s when we started seeing less of her.”
Amethyst’s eyes went wide. “Whaaaat?!”
Blue raised a hand, hesitant. “Crosstalk?”
Steven held up a hand, trying to restore order. “We’ve kinda lost track of whose turn it is. White, do you still have more to say- ”
Amethyst cut in, voice firm. “I have something to say.”
Steven’s voice trembled as he reached for Amethyst’s arm. “Amethyst- ”
White held up a hand, voice quieter now. “It’s okay. I think I’ve said enough.”
Amethyst’s fists clenched. “Good. I’m sorry, but everything I just heard was a load of clod!”
Yellow reeled. “That’s uncalled for!”
Amethyst snapped back, “Crosstalk!”
Steven raised his hands helplessly. “You can’t just hurl insults!”
Amethyst’s glare swept the room. “Oh right, it’s supposed to be how I feel, right?”
Amethyst glare reared back up at White, “Well, I feel anger when I learn that when you were at your worst, you hurt the only beings willing to come and help you!”
White froze, shock spreading across her face.
Amethyst pressed on, voice rising. “And when I hear that you thought it was okay to conquer and destroy other worlds- worlds who only wanted to be friends with you- just to feel safe from that thing, I feel disgusted.”
Blue’s tone was calm but firm. “They would’ve made good allies…”
“Exactly!” Amethyst’s glare shifted toward Blue, then she jabbed a finger. “And crosstalk! Just because one alien thing wanted to hurt you, doesn’t mean they all do. It doesn’t mean you can just do what you want to other people.”
Steven’s shoulders shook, tears streaking down his face.
White’s voice cracked. “S-Steven?”
He sniffled, looking at Amethyst. “Is there more?”
Amethyst exhaled at the sight of Steven, her anger softening. “Um… I need a positive thought… I’m glad that you are willing to listen. And trying to change.”
She rubbed an arm, “That’s all.”
“Good.” Steven sniffed and wiped the tears from his face. “I’m sad that you were hurt, White. I’m sad that you felt the need to cause hurt afterwards. I’m sad that this hurt pulled all of you apart for millennia. I’m sad that things couldn’t have been different.”
Blue’s eyes softened, tears on her eyes now too. “Oh Steven, I’m so sorry.”
The sadness spread from Blue to Yellow, who whispered through her own tears. “Blue, crosstalk.”
Steven shook his head, trying to stay firm. “You guys are trying to do better. Geez, Yellow- you actually managed to heal all the fusion experiments on Earth.”
Yellow’s lips curved into a small, tear soaked proud smile.
Steven turned toward Blue, his gaze warm. “Blue, you’re working to spread happiness.”
Blue’s cheeks flushed, her hands fidgeting slightly.
Steven looked at White, eyes wide and earnest. “White, you’re- ”
“A monster.” White interrupted sharply, voice flat and heavy. I’m a monster, and a fraud.”
Amethyst’s jaw dropped, and Steven’s hand went to his chest, eyes locking on White in stunned silence.
White shifted forward from her spot on the pedestal, and her knees slammed against the floor with thunder. Her hands sent out a rumble as they landed, cracks spidering outward as she shook, body wracked with sobs.
“For thousands of years, no one had any idea how unstable I was. I could’ve been corrupted by that creature this whole time, and no one knew. Because I thought no matter how much I wrecked, I always fixed it afterward, by making everything perfect.”
Her voice broke, trembling as it spilled into the space. “All those innocent life forms… all those planets… Yellow… Blue…”
She gasped, voice catching on one name. “…Pink…”
Yellow stepped forward, her posture softened from the session, placing a steadying hand on White’s shoulder. “We are still together.”
Blue moved in from the other side, her palm pressing against White’s back. “Now’s our chance to do better.”
Steven and Amethyst watched, tense and quiet. Amethyst shifted, wrapping an arm around Steven, pulling him close as they observed the three giants of their world seeking a fragile moment of reconciliation.
Blue had raised her hand, and soft, glowing clouds of her joy-inducing mist drifted around the chamber, filling the air with a light, sparkling haze.
White threw her head back, laughing freely, a sound rare and unguarded.
“And that time you tried to brush her hair!” White cackled, shaking with mirth as she touched Blue’s shoulder.
Yellow’s laughter was loud, booming, echoing off the walls. “The look on her face as she tried to get away!”
“Pink was never the same around that comb.” Blue giggled, covering her mouth. “She screamed every time I had it in my hand.”
White jabbed a finger at Yellow, smirking. “Or the time she planted organic flowers all over your workshop!”
Yellow groaned, laughter bubbling through her. “I had to call Blue to help me restrain myself! She was-” Yellow was cut off by her own laughter “-she was so scared!”
Steven and Amethyst sat cross-legged on the floor a few paces away, shoulders brushing, watching the four of them laugh together. The tension of the past hours seemed to drift off with the sparkling clouds, leaving warmth in its wake.
Amethyst laid her back down on the floor, arms around the back of her head. “They’re really one screwed-up family, aren’t they?”
“Tell me about it.” Steven rubbed the back of his neck, glancing at her. “Did you mean what you said?”
“Yeah,” Amethyst said, frowning. “How White reacted is all messed up- ”
“I mean before,” Steven cut in gently. “Do you really think everything will be okay if Rose never visits?”
Amethyst shrugged, sitting up on her hands. “If they try anything, we’ll fight them.”
Steven hesitated, biting his lip. “But what if it just makes her feel worse?”
“You can’t be serious,” Amethyst said, narrowing her eyes. “Even you gave them a wide berth before all this White Diamond drama.”
Steven exhaled, nodding slowly. “You’re right. Maybe it is for the best.”
The two of them watched as the three Diamonds doubled over in laughter, the light from Blue’s clouds glinting off their polished forms.
Steven reached for Amethyst’s hand. “C’mon, let’s go home.”
The warp pad flared to life in the greenhouse, bathing the room in pale moonlight.
Steven stepped off first, juice box in hand, glancing around. “I’ll talk to Peridot about getting our console fixe- ”
Before he could finish, the pad erupted in a spray of crystal shards as something heavy slammed into it.
Steven and Amethyst spun. Steven covered Amethyst, blocking flying debris with his shield, as she pulled her whip out of her gem.
Their jaws dropped. From the wreckage of the warp pad, Rose emerged, hair tousled, eyes blazing with anger. In her hand, she held the sticky note Steven had left on the fridge. Her glare cut straight through them.
“I thought I said I didn’t want you seeing them?” The coldness in her tone sent shivers in Steven’s spine.
“Rose, calm down- ”
“No. Enough of this talking down to me.” She stepped closer, shadow falling over him, her posture rigid, towering. “I am your mother. I am older than you, older than anyone among the Crystal Gems! I have my experience with them , and yours . I know what’s best for you!”
Amethyst retracted her whip into her gem. “Rose, please- ”
“And you!” Rose spun toward Amethyst. “I thought you were supposed to be mature now? Why would you be okay with this? You know what they did to him!”
“They are seriously messed up over there, Rose. If Steven wasn’t there- ”
“He can’t keep going there forever! They are not his problem to fix!” Rose stomped a piece of the warp pad, as if doing so made the diamonds further away.
Steven swallowed, glare firm. “You broke the comms relay too, didn’t you?”
Rose’s jaw tightened. “Only because you refuse to actually listen to me.”
“Well, you may be older, but I am old enough to make my own decisions,” Steven shot back, stepping forward.
“Please.” Rose scoffed, eyes rolling. “They wouldn’t even let me leave Homeworld until I was two thousand years old.”
“Well, this isn’t that family.”
“Well, good luck trying to talk to them again.”
Rose walked to the communication console. She balled her hands into fists and raised them above her head in a motion to smash the interface.
“I don’t want you talking to Connie anymore.” Steven’s words halted Rose mid-swing.
Her hand froze over the console, fists hovering like poised claws. “That’s not your decision- you’re not her keeper!”
“No,” Steven said, voice firm, but there was a shake in his legs. “But if I tell her I’m gonna stop talking and living with you, she’ll follow my lead.”
Rose’s shoulders stiffened, and she stepped back from the console, and turned with a glare hard enough to burn. Steven held her gaze, unflinching, his jaw tight, every line of him daring her to move.
“Rose.”
Garnet stepped forward from the corner of the greenhouse, out from behind a pot of plants.
Rose was surprised. “Garnet- ”
“You promised me,” Garnet said, hurt in her voice. “You swore you’d be careful.”
“I was careful. I am being careful.” Rose replied, but exhaustion was starting to build in her words. “I’m protecting him…”
Garnet didn’t answer.
Instead, she produced a broom and dustpan from her gems and began sweeping the shards of the warp pad, her movements calm and precise, completely ignoring Rose.
Rose’s expression went numb. She turned and walked away, steps heavy as she climbed down the stairs and out of the greenhouse.
Steven shook his head, looking at the quiet scene. “We’re really one screwed-up family, aren’t we?”
Garnet’s lips twitched in a small, knowing sigh. “Tell me about it.”