Half of What You Think of Me | Steven Universe x Reader | Book 1

by OutThere_Somewhere

Summary:

Sometimes, when you look at yourself in the mirror, you can't help but wonder "Why am I here?"

You knew your mom wasn't in love with whoever your dad was.

And you knew she gave up everything-her friends, her physical form, everything she truly cared about-to have you. But...why? She was everything you could never manage to be, confident, strong, friendly, perfect, and to top it all off, she would never stop until everyone around her was happen.

You're absolutely nothing like her, and everyone knows it.

Well, almost everyone knows. There's one person who doesn't know, or maybe he just doesn't care.

Steven Universe. Anytime you start to doubt your existence and yourself, he's always around, lifting you up and admiring you in ways you didn't know were possible.

You've been friends for your whole lives and he still admires you, somehow even more than before...

You can help but admire him more too. He means everything to you and more.

Chapter 1: Gem Glow

I let out a puff of hot air against the glass display, humming to myself as I doodle smiley faces all over the glass.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

My whole body pauses, I glance at Steven in concern. "This can't be happening! This has to be a dream!" He screams, he latches onto Lars. "Lars! Lars! Please tell me I'm dreaming!" Steven pleads desperately, Lars groans and shakes him off, "Get off me, man. I'm trying to stock here." He sighs. I wordlessly watch Steven slump to the floor.

Lars shoos me away from the glass display, I pout, but don't put up a fight. I walk over to Steven, poking him. Steven sniffles and latches onto me instead, "They're gone, Y/N. They're gone..." He whisper sadly. "...What's gone exactly?" I ask him. Steven looks up at me with teary eyes, "Cookie Cats..." He says. "WHAT?!" I scream, I whip my head to look at the Cookie Cat freezer. It was bad enough they made it smaller, but now they're gone completely?! "Hey! The only reason I like you is because you're quiet. We don't need both of you screaming." Lars sighs, forcibly shoving items onto the shelf. I shoot him a bitter look, but it's not like he was even paying attention to me to notice it.

"I'm sorry, guys. I guess they stopped making them." Sadie says, Steven jolts up from the floor, resting on his knees. "Stopped making them?!" He shouts "Why in the world would they stop making Cookie Cats?! They're only the most scrumptious and delicious ice cream sandwich ever made! Don't they have laws for this?!" "Tough bits, man. Nobody buys 'em anymore. I guess they couldn't compete with Lion Lickers." Lars snorts. I glance over at the freezer stocked full of Lion Lickers, "Ugh, not Lion Lickers..." I groan "Nobody likes them! They don't even look like lions!" Steven complains beside me. "Kids these days, I'll tell you what." I sigh, shaking my head, Steven nods in agreement.

Lars laughs loudly behind us, "Well, if you miss your wimpy ice cream so much, why don't you make some with your magic belly button and shoulder." He mocks, heading to the back. "That's not how it works, Lars." Steven huffs defensively, he glances at me in confusion, "Right?" He asks. I shrug, poking at the Gem on my left shoulder, "You've been a Gem longer than I have." I state "Only by 2 months." Steven sighs, he sadly walks over to the Cookie Cat's tiny freezer. "Oh, sweet Cookie Cats, with your crunchy cookie outside, your icy creamy insides, you were too good for this world." Steven mumbles sadly, he doodles a cat on the door, pressing a soft kiss against it.

"Uh...Steven?"

Steven said nothings, hugging the freezing as close to him as he can. "Do you want to take the freezer with you?" Sadie offers awkwardly. Steven sniffles, not even caring that he's getting frost in his hair, I turn to nod at Sadie, "That would be nice. Thank you..." I say.

~💎~

Steven hums as we make our way back to the beach house, I absentmindedly step in the footprints Steven leaves in the sand instead of creating my own. Steven pushes open the door, "Hey guys! You won't believe this!" He shouts out before a Gem centipede pushes against him, knocking the both of us to the ground. Steven and I scream in fear, a purple whip wraps around the centipede-gem-monster-thing and yanks it away from us. "'Sup?" Amethyst greets casually, yanking the centipede across the room. That centipede was only one of many. There's a bunch of them in our room! They're...kind of creepy, but cool.

"Hi, Garnet!" I say, earning her attention from the other side of the house, "Hello, Y/N." Garnet chuckles. Steven and I watch Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl fight off the centipedes. "Awesome!" Steven gasp in awe, I glance at the centipede carrying one of the throw pillows across the room, "What are these things?" I ask. Pearl sighs, grabbing one of the centipedes, it hisses and jerks around in her grip "Ugh! Sorry, you two. We'll get these Centipeetles out of your room. We think they were trying to get into the temple." She says. I look at the Centipeetle in awe as it continues to wiggle in Pearl's arms, "Aw. You don't have to get rid of them. They're really cool." Steven says, smiling at the Centipeetle. It snarls, spitting at us, I quickly jump back. Pearl, Steven and I watch in horror as the Centipeetle's spit burns through the floor. "If those things stay, I'm moving out..." I say "Where would you even go?" Pearl asks. "You've seen my sand castles, I'd just live in one of them." I state, Pearl shakes her head with a sigh.

"Um, you guys? These things don't have gems." Amethyst calls out, "That means there must be a mother somewhere nearby. " Garnet states. A Centipeetle jumps at her, she quickly punches it away. I look at her in awe, she's so freaking cool, "We should probably find it before anyone gets hurts." Pearl says. Steven jumps eagerly, "Ooh! Ooh! Can we come? Can we?! Can we?!" He asks, "Steven, until you and Y/N learn to control the powers in your gems, we'll take care of protecting humanity, ok?" Pearl snaps the Centipeetle's neck as she speaks. "Aw, man..." Steven pouts while I left out a breath of relief. My attention snaps over to the fridge, "Hey! Get out of there!" I shout, yanking off my shoe and throwing it at the Centipeetles. It scatters away from the fridge, knocking over the milk in the process. I let out an annoyed huff and grab some paper towels, "Ugh, they got into everything!" I groan.

Steven walks over and gives me my shoe back, "Not cool!" He shouts to the Centipeetle I shooed off. Though, I doubt it heard him...since Garnet punted the it across the room. Steven lets out a loud gasp, I stop wiping up the milk to look at him. "No way..." He says "I-it can't be!" I wipe my hands on my pants and stand up to peek in the fridge too. I let out an excited gasp "Wha?", Steven grabs one of the Cookie Cat sandwiches. We stare at it in awe, "Where did you get these?! We thought they stopped making them!" Steven says, Pearl shuts the freezer door for us. "Well, we heard that too, and since they're your favorite..." She chuckles "We went out and stole a bunch!" Amethyst eagerly finishes for her. "Whoa, cool." I say, Pearl lets out a disapproving sigh, "I went back and paid for them." She says.

Wait...with what money?

Does Pearl have money?

"The whole thing was my idea." Garnet says, her gauntlets disappear in a purple glow. "It was everyone's idea." Amethyst says "Not really." Garnet says bluntly. Pearl shakes her head as Steven and I continue smiling eagerly at the Cookie Cat, "All that matters is that Steven and Y/N are happy." She says. We all glance at Steven when he sucks in a breath, "AAAAAAAAAAH—🎵He's a frozen threat with an all new taste🎵-" He sings, it doesn't take long for me to release what he was doing and joined him "'🎵Cause he came to this planet from outer space!🎵" We start singing the words from the commercial together, "🎵A refugee of an interstellar war, but now he's at your local grocery store!🎵"

"🎵Cookie Cat!🎵"
"🎵He's the pet for your tummy!🎵"
"🎵 Cookie Cat!🎵"
"🎵He's super duper yummy!🎵"
"🎵Cookie Cat!🎵"

"He left his family behind!" Steven says dramatically with teary eyes before we both take a deep breath, "🎵Cookie Caaaaaat!🎵" We sing together. Steven quickly adds "Now available at Gergins off Route 109." The Gems laugh and Garnet applauds us. "I can't believe you did this!" Steven says, I mirror his bright smile "Yeah, you guys are awesome!" I agree, latching onto Garnet happily. "We're gonna save these forever." Steven tells them, I pause and let go of Garnet. Steven and I share a look, "Wanna split that one at least?" I ask "Yeah, we can save these forever after we eat this one." He says.

Steven rips open the pack, "Hello, old friend." He says before breaking the Cookie Cat in half. He hands me my half and we immediately start eating our piece. It's a little melted from Steven holding it for so long, but it's still good. "I like to eat the ears first." Steven tells the Gems. They lets out surprised gasps, I open my eyes to look at them, I glance over to Steven as the room is covered in a soft pink light. I gasp in awe at the sight of Steven's gem glowing with through his shirt.

"Uh, Steven?" I ask, he looks at me with a grin before realizing what's happening. "My gem!" Steven gasps, pulling up his shirt to look at his gem, "Quick! Try and summon your weapon!" Amethyst says. "I don't know how." Steven says. The glow begins to dim, "AH! IT'S FADING! HOW DO I MAKE IT COME BACK?!" Steven asks, looking around the room in a panic "Calm down, Steven," Pearl says gently "Breathe. Don't force it." Steven grips his hair, not even caring that he's getting ice cream in his hair and hair in his ice cream. "Yeeeah, and try not to poop yourself either." Amethyst says, "Please don't." Garnet says. Steven's gem stop glowing completely, we all huff in disappointment. I pop the rest of my Cookie Cat into my mouth while Steven puts his back in the wrapper. "Aw! I was really close that time! Can one of you just explain how to summon a weapon?" He sighs, "Ooooh! 🎵I'll go first~🎵" Pearl sings out in excitement

~💎~

I raise my hands upward catches petals that fall from the tree, "Y/N, this lesson is important for you too." Pearl says. I turn my attention to Pearl, she nods in approval. "Pay attention to these petals. The petal's dance seems improvised, but it is being calculated in real time, based on the physical properties of this planet. With hard work and dedication, you can master the magical properties of your gem and perform your own dance!" She tells us eagerly before summoning her weapon with ease. "Like so." She says confidently as a petal lands in her hands. Steven and I look at each other, sharing lost expressions

~💎~

"Ok—now!"

I toss the petals into the air, watching them fall gracefully, "Did Pearl you the petal thing?" Amethyst sighs knowingly. "Yeah. We need to practice really hard so we can dance like a tree...I think." Steven says, I shrug. "Listen, kiddos. All that practice stuff is no fun." Amethyst says before stuffing the rest of her donut into her mouth. "Whenever I need to summon my weapon, it just happens." Amethyst says with her mouth full. Her gem glows and she immediately summons her weapon with ease. She uses her whip to split the garbage bin behind the Big Donut in half, "See? Didn't try at all." Amethyst says with a shrug. Steven and I share even more confused glances.

Lars lets out a loud gasp, staring at the garbage bin with wide eyes, "AGAIN?!"

~💎~

Why do I even care about summoning my weapon? My gem doesn't glow, it hasn't glowed this whole time. Maybe it's broken...maybe I'm broken...

I flick my gem with an annoyed pout, Steven grabs my hand and pushes it down to my side without even looking at me. "So, we're supposed to work really hard and not try at all at the same time?" He asks Garnet. "Yes." Garnet states, the window blows, brushing against my skin. "Or..." Garnet starts and her gems begin to glow, "You can link your mind with the energy of all existing matter, channeling the collective power of the universe through your gem, which results in..." Garnet then summons her gauntlets. "At least that's my way of doing it." She says. I don't even bother looking at Steven, I can feel that we're both completely lost.

~💎~

"I think my best bet is to recreate what happened the last time my gem glowed." Steven says, guiding everyone into specific places, "So, Garnet and Amethyst were here. Pearl was next to the fridge. Hmm. Hmm." Steven mutters, "Amethyst, I think your arms were crossed." He says, Amethyst crosses her arms, "Ok, your majesty." She snorts. "And, Pearl, your foot was like this." Steven says, leaning down to adjust Pearl's foot, "I don't think it works this way, Steven." She says.

Steven pulls me closer to him, and pauses and places his palms against my cheeks. He smooshes my cheeks together, "Uh, yeah. That works." He says, letting go of my face, for unexplainable reasons, my face feels warmer. Yep, unexplainable. Steven opens the freezer, pulling out his left over Cookie Cat. "Then I took a bite out of this Cookie Cat." He says "Oh! Wait! We sang the song first!"

Steven sings a rambly version of the commercial, we all just wordlessly look at him. Steven sighs, "Aw! It was funnier last time!" He huffs, he lifts his shirt slightly and looks at him gem. "Maybe I'm not a real Crystal Gem." He says, I hug him comfortingly, "On the bright side, at least you're not alone. We get to be useless together." I tell him, Steven leans into me and sighs, "Yeah...true..."

Pearl bends down to our height, "Don't be silly, you two. Of course you're Crystal Gems." She says "And you guys are run to have around, even if your gems are useless. And hey, Steven, at least gem is doing some things. We still don't know if Y/N's gem even works." Amethyst says, Pearl lets out a disapproving grunt. "I mean, you guys are Crystal Gems, just like us. We're not the Crystal Gems without you." Amethyst says. Garnet nods in agreement, Steven's looks at all of us with stars in his eyes, "Yeah, even if I don't have powers, I'm not alone." He says, glancing at me. I smile and unwrap my arms from him, "And I've still got...Cookie Cat!"

Steven eagerly chomps on the Cookie Cat, his gem immediately starts glowing again as he chews, except this time, a pink shield appears in front of him. Garnet, Amethyst and I all gasp, "Steven.,.it's a shield!" Pearl says in awe. Steven opens his eyes to see the shield glowing in front of him, "Oh! What?! I get a shield?! Oh yeah!" He cheers, he jump of excitement shoots the shield away from him. It bounces around the house, crashing into lots of different things. I inch myself closer to hide behind Garnet. The shield eventually crashes into the tv. Amethyst laughs loudly, "Oh! Cookie Cat! I SUMMON MY WEAPON BY EATING ICE CREAM!" Steven announces eagerly.

"...What's in these things?" Pearl asks, studying the back of the wrapper. The ground shakes, Steven's shield disappears. There's something...big climbing up the wall outside, I tense at the sound of screeching and roaring. "What was that?" Steven asks, Garnet runs outside with Pearl and Amethyst following closely behind, "It's the mother!" Garnet shouts, jumping into action. "Stay in the house." Pearl says sternly "No way! I'm coming too!" Steven says, he runs back inside the house. Pearl and Amethyst share look, but leave to join the fight anyway. "...Steven, what are you doing?" I ask, watching him pack a bunch of Cookie Cats in the mini freezer. He attaches an extension cord and plugs the mini freezer in.

My eyes widen when Steven heads towards the door, "Steven, seriously what are you doing?" I ask more urgently, Steven turns to me with a fully confident grin. "I finally know how to use my power, Y/N. I'm gonna help the Gems." He tells me "You can't just-" "You're gonna have to stay inside still, but don't worry, I'll be back soon." Steven says, I let out a nervously sigh "Steven, this is a really bad-" Steven cuts me off again, grabbing my face and playing a kiss on my forehead. "Wait for me." He whispers before grabbing the freezer and taking off. I watch him leave, completely dumbfounded. I snap out of it, rushing outside.

By the time I get outside, Steven's already throwing rocks at the mother Centipeetle. "Hey! Leave them alone!" Steven shouts "STEVEN! NO!" The Gems shout from the hand statue they were hiding behind, the Centipeetle looks down at Steven, I tighten my grip on the railing of the balcony. "Cookie Cat Crystal-Combo Powers, ACTIVATE!" Steven shouts, taking a large bite out of a Cookie Cat...

And nothing's happening...

The Centipeetle crawls over to Steven, hissing. Steven's chewing slows, I guess he realized this isn't going to work... "Uh oh." He says, running away from the Centipeetle as she tries to attack him. The Gems can't help Steven because they're still stuck dealing with the Centipeetle's tail. Steven stands there, stuffing his face with more Cookie Cats, "Why isn't it working?!" He shouts. The Centipeetle hisses, opening her mouth wide to attack. My body moves without my permission, "Steven!" I shout. I push Steven out of the way of the Centipeetle's acid spit attack.

A sharp, stinging sensation against my skin rips a hiss of pain out of my mouth as Steven and I stumble to the ground. "Ah, Y/N!" Steven gasps, staring at me with wide eyes. What is the smell, it's awful. I sniff the air in confusion, only to glance at my burning arm "Oh...that acid melting my skin..." I say with a nervous chuckle, tears already pricking the corner of my eyes. Steven's expression shifts to a look of horror when he sees my arm, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" He says in a panic. I try to soothe him, "Steven, I'm ok! It's fine-" "No, it's not..." Steven says firmly, he looks around the area, stopping when he see what's left of the Cookie Cat freezer. Most of the acid hit Cookie Cat freezer, it sparks beside us.

"Cookie Cat, he's a pet for your tummy." Steven mutters, staring at the freezer. He tenses angrily and grabs the freezer's extension cord, he's super duper yummy!" Steven shouts, he runs and drags the freezer towards the Centipeetle. "Cookie Cat! He left his family behind! COOKIE CAAAAAT!" Steven screams, throwing the freezer at the Centipeetle, it smacks her on the back of the head, electrocuting her. "Now available...nowhere." Steven sighs sadly, falling to his knees. The Gems come out of hiding, summoning their weapon. We watch them take down the Centipeetle with ease.

Garnet traps the Centipeetle's gem in a bubble and the bubble disappears. Steven buries a Cookie Cat wrapper into the sand, "Farewell, sweet Cookie Cat. I'll always remember the time we spent together." Steven says, I pull a leaf out of my pocket and place it on top of the wrapper's grave. Steven's stomach gurgles, "Shh. Hush now." He whispers, hugging himself. "...Are you crying?" Amethyst asks "Only a little!" Steven wails.

"Well, I guess your powers don't come from ice cream." Amethyst chuckles, Pearl and Garnet approach us. I wince when Garnet check my arm, "Of course they don't come from ice cream." Pearl says, she crouches to Steven's level, "Don't worry, Steven. I'm sure someday you and Y/N will figure out how to activate your gems." She says.

"Yes, in your own special way." Garnet says with a gently smile. She picks me up and holds me in one arm...it's like a weigh nothing to her. "I'm ok, guys. I just—" Steven gags before continuing "I-I think I ate to many Cookie Cats..." He grins awkwardly. Everyone chuckles, we stop when Steven actually does end up vomiting...

~💎~

"There. That should do it." Garnet says, I look at my arm. The acid 100% left a visible mark on my skin, Garnet had to put a lot of bandaids on my arm just to cover the injury. It was hurting really bad before, but not I can't feel anything at all. I smile up at her, "Thanks, Garnet." I say. She smiles and pats my head before heading off. I lift myself up from the couch, only for Steven to run up to me, "Wait!" He says.

I shoot him a confused look, "There's one more thing." Steven says, he slowly, gently takes my arm, "Steven, what are you-" He presses a kiss on top of my bandaid covered burn mark. My eyes widen and I tense, "There! That'll make the healing process go a lot faster!" Steven says with a toothy smile. I stare at him, unsure of what to say for a few second, "Aw ha...you don't have to do that anymore, Steven..." I chuckle awkwardly. Steven's smile immediately drops, "Wha? How come?" He asks "It's just that, we're not little kids anymore. Things are different now. And I don't want you to feel like you have to do that every time I get hurt." I tell him.

Steven's smile returns and he waves off my overthinking concerns with practiced ease. "Oh, I get it now. It's ok, Y/N. I want to do it. In fact—" Steven kisses my injured again "Now you're going to heal two times faster!" He states "...Thanks, Steven." I chuckle, fighting back the warm feeling taking over my whole face.

"Anytime, Y/N."

Chapter 2: Laser Light Cannon

Steven, Amethyst and I run as fast as we can towards Beach Citywalk Fries. "Hey, Fryman!" Steven greets once we finally reach the shop, "Give us the bits!" He says eagerly. "Steven, we're closed." Mr Fryman tells him "Aw, what?" I ask, Amethyst slams her fist against the counter. "Give us the bits!" She cheer before chanting "The bits! The bits!" Steven joins in, slamming his fist on the counter too. I join in without chanting, slamming down my palms in the same rhythm.

Mr Fryman sighs, "Ok, ok. Take it easy on the counter, will ya?" He says. "Yes!" The three of us cheer, Steven and Amethyst high-five. "I can give you actual fries, if you want." Mr Fryman says "Just the bits, please." Steven says with a toothy smile. Mr Fryman hands over the a bag and Steven eagerly take it, "Thanks." He says. I wave goodbye to Mr Fryman as we walk off. We all dig into the bag, taking handfuls of fry bits. Steven lets out a relaxed sigh, "Ah, sunset—my favorite time of day, when the sun does down and the second sun gets bigger in the sky." He says, stars forming in his eyes. I smile at him while Amethyst laughs loudly, "Yeah, that big, hot second su—" Amethyst gasps when she looks at the sky.

"Oh no. What is that doing here?" She asks, Steven and I continue munching away on fry bits. "What is it?" Steven asks, Amethyst somehow manages to grab both me and Steven and run off, carrying us over her head. "AAH! My bits!" Steven yelps, we end up smooshed together as Amethyst runs, she head straight for towards the temple. "GARNET! PEARL!" She shouts once she reaches them. "Hi, Garnet!" I greet, she cracks a small smile at me, "Hello, Y/N." "We already know. Some of us are trying to protect humanity. Where were you?" Pearl asks, placing her hands on her hips. Amethyst puts me and Steven down, "Eating fry bits." She states.

Pearl groans, "Can I see?" Steven asks, looking through the telescope. I glance up at the sky, squinting, "Whoa. It's a giant eyeball! Awesome!" Steven gasps, "Not awesome! It's a Red Eye!" Pearl sighs. "A Red Eye?!" Steven gasps loudly, I look at the eye fearfully, "It's going to infect us all!" I gasp. I turn on my heel, moving to hide in the house, Garnet grabs me by the shirt, "That's Pinkeye." She states, Amethyst laughs.

"It's going to crash into Beach City and crush us, along with a bunch of oblivious, innocent people. We have to stop it." Pearl tells us, I clench my shirt tightly, "No. I'm oblivious and innocent!" I say with a stressed tone. "Yeah, you'll probably be the first to go." Amethyst states "Oh stars, she's right!" I gasp, covering my mouth in fear. Both Pearl and Garnet shoot disapproving looks to Amethyst, Steven wraps his arms around me comfortingly. "What are we going to do?" He asks, "The only thing powerful enough to destroy it is a light cannon that belonged to Rose Quartz." Garnet says.

"My mom?" Steven asks, Amethyst sighs, "If Rose were here, this would be so easy!" She complains. "I know, but she's not, and the cannon is missing. The last one to know where it would be is Moissanite, and...she's gone too..." Pearl sighs, I grab my gem when Pearl mentions my mom "We'll have to find another solution." "If it belong to my mom, I bet my dad knows where it is. He can help us save the day!" Steven says, stars forming in his eyes as he unwraps his arms from me. "Huh? Eh?"

The Gems and I are silent, I'm silently because that's my preferred volume, the Gems are a...judgy silent. Pearl speaks first, "Greg is...nice, Steven, but I doubt Rose would entrust someone like him with such a powerful weapon." She says, Amethyst drops a hand on Steven's shoulder, "Your dad is kind of a mess, Steven." Amethyst says bluntly "Amethyst!" Pearl scolds "I'm just saying. Even if she did leave it with him, he probably broke it or lost it or dropped it in the ocean by now." Amethyst says "...True." Garnet agrees.

"No way! I'm sure he's just keeping it somewhere safe. Come on, Y/N, let's go ask him." Steven says, tugging me along. "We can handle this, Steven." Garnet states before looking at Amethyst. "Ready?" Garnet asks, Amethyst nods and Garnet grabs her. Garnet leaps into the air and throw Amethyst directly at the eyeball. She lets out a battle cry, but ends up smacking into it and fall straight into the ocean. We're all quiet for a moment...Steven pulls me to follow him again, "Uh...we're gonna go." Steven says awkwardly "Bye, Garnet." I say, neither Pearl nor Garnet look back at us as we leave, "...Bye, Y/N." Garnet says "Ok, good luck..." Pearl mutters with a half wave.

~💎~

Steven bangs on the backdoor of Greg's van, "Dad, it's me!" Steven shouts. "Dad? Are you in there?" Steven calls out. Steven walks away before running to hit his shoulder on the door, "Wake...up! We have to save the world!" He shouts, I watch Steven for a few more second. I shrug and climb on top of the van, "Ooh, good idea!" Steven says, I pull his arms and help him join me up top.

We hop on the van, "Dad!" Steven shouts, his slips on his flip flop, knocking me over too. The van's car alarm start going off, Steven and I share wide grins when Greg finally comes barreling out of his van. "Who's there?! I have a waffle iron!" Greg shouts, "Dad, it's us!" Steven says. Greg turns to us and drops the waffle iron, squinting his eyes tiredly. Greg turns off his car alarm, "Steven? Y/N?" He ask, I wave at him. Steven hops off the van and runs over to hug Greg, I climb down, unsure of what else to do while they hug. "You two almost got waffled! What are you guys doing up so late?" Greg asks "What do you mean? The just went down an hour ago." Steven says.

Greg chuckles nervously, "Oh. It was a slow day at the car wash. Anyway, what's up. Just needed to see your old man, pal around, learn some lessons about life?" Greg asks. "No. I need the light cannon that belonged to mom to blow up that eyeball!" Steven tells him "Eyeball?" Greg asks, I point at the sky. We all look at the eyeball, Amethyst screams, hitting the eyeball again and dropping into the ocean.

The Gems are still doing that?

"Wait! Is that a magical thing? The Gems told me not to get involved with magic stuff. It--it could be dangerous or interfere with what's left of my hair." Greg says nervously "But they need Mom's cannon. You've got to know where it is! Like a cave dungeon or a cloud fortress or in a clam at the bottom of the ocean." Steven says eagerly. Greg puts away the waffle iron and shuts his van doors, "Well, I don't about all that, but I have an idea where it might be."

~💎~

Steven and I follow Greg to...a bunch storage units?

"A magical storage unit!" Steven says, running ahead. Greg chuckles, "Huh, not exactly. But some would say there's magic inside." He says, he winks. Steven and I wordlessly stare at him, Greg chuckles a bit awkwardly, "It's just a shed I use to keep things that don't fit in the van. Though Moissanite loved putting things in here too...without tell me. So, if it's anywhere, it'll be in here." Greg says as he opens the door.

Steven and I get closer to the inside of the storage unit, Steven tries to move some boxes--causing them to violently fall. "If I'm going in there, I'm gonna need some gear." Steven says, he grabs a flashlight and places it on top of his head, tying a random sock around his head to keep the flashlight in place. I grab an extension cord and tie it around Steven waist, he grins, "Here I go!" He says, heading inside the storage unit. "Good luck." I say, keeping a firm hold on the extension cord. Greg and I stand there silently.

"So...Mom used to leave stuff in here too?" I ask "Oh, Moissanite? Yeah, one time she raised a bunch of living orange and left them in here." Greg tells me "Living oranges? She could bring fruits to life?" I ask, Greg laughs. "If it came from a plant, your mom could do anything with it," He says, Greg rubs the back of his neck "Anytime I needed a bouquet to give to Rose--or even just relationship advice, Moissanite was the first person I'd go to. She was the perfect wingman—or wing-gem." "Wow..." I say. Whenever I ask the Gems about my mom, they always say that she was very...different than I am. Mom would always try to make a friend out of everyone, and if they weren't her friends, she'd never hesitate to put someone in their place. Maybe that's why I can't use my gem properly, I'm nothing like Mom. And this will always be her gem.

"-Ah, you know..."

I glance at Greg, "I know it's already hard not having a mom, and your dad being out of the picture isn't...the best either, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you too. You might not be my kid, but who knows, you might be in a few more years." He states. How on earth would I be his child in a few years? "What does that...mean?" I ask, Greg chuckles and waves off the question, "Not important, but my point still stands." He says. "Thanks, Greg, but you don't have to worry. Garnet's kind of already like my mom, and she's like two parents rolled into one." I tell him, "Yeah, yeah, that's actually kind of--" Greg gets cut off by the sound of Steven calling out.

"Dad? Do you golf?!" He shouts, Greg pops his head into the tunnel Steven made through all the junk, "Eh, I like to think of myself as someone who would golf...eventually." Greg says. "Hey! There's a bunch of copies your old CD!" Steven says loudly "Bring them out!" I say, cupping my hands on the sides of my mouth. "Will do!" Steven giggle echoes from inside. Greg snorts nostalgically, "Oh, man. I couldn't give those things away." He says before going off on one of his life stories, "You know, before I ran the car wash, when I was a one-man band, I traveled the whole country."

"I know, Dad." Steven chuckles,  but Greg continues, "When I came to play a concert here in Beach City, no one showed up except--" "An alligator!" Steven chimes in "--No, it was your mother." Greg says "I know." Steven snickers. "And we were always together after that, until she gave up her physical form to bring you into the world. I don't know what a magic lady like her saw in a plain, old dope like me." Greg states. I tighten my grip on the extension cord...

It's always weird hearing about Rose and Greg's love story. They always sound...so in love, but whenever I ask about my dad, no one has anything to say about him. Nothing about who he was or what he was like. Not how Mom fell in love with him. I don't even know why he's not around. Why did they even have me? Why would someone as great as Mom leave behind all her friends and everyone she cared about to have...someone like me? Her complete opposite?

"--If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs."

I glance at the Red Eyes, it looks...bigger. Which probably means it's closer, Greg turns to look at it too, "Oh, boy. That thing's giving me the willies..." He mutters. "I found it!" Steven shouts eagerly, "Really?" Greg asks "Get the van!" Steven says.

~💎~

I tie the other end of the extension cord to the back of Greg van's, I move out of the way and give him a thumbs up. The van starts driving, pulling all of the stuff out of the storage unit. Everything comes out in a neat little box shape before falling out of that neat little shape. I stare at the cannon in awe, "It's...beautiful." I say "And it could save the city. We've gotta get it to the beach!" Steven says "How? It's too big for the van." Greg states. A wagon conveniently rolls in front of us, I tie the extension cord around the wagon's handle while Steven and Greg lift the cannon into the wagon. The wagon instantly breaks under the weight of the cannon.

~💎~

I peek at the light cannon as it drags harshly against the road, "Is it gonna be ok?" Steven asks, we both look at Greg. He shrugs, "If every porkchop were perfect--" "We wouldn't have hotdogs!" Steven eagerly shouts. "That thing's getting huge." Greg says, I look at the Red Eye nervously, "It's not getting huge, it's getting closer." I tell him. Greg shudders, "It's freaking me out." He says, "Can't the van go any faster?" Steven asks.

"This is faster!" Greg stresses "Oh...well don't worry! Come on, let's put on your CD." Steven says "Yeah!" I cheer, Greg glances at both of us in surprise, "What? Really?" He asks. Greg clears his throat with a bashful chuckle, "Uh, come on, you've heard it." He says, "Yeah, and we love it." I state "You come on." Steven giggles, putting the CD in the player. It doesn't take long for the song to start.

🎵I know I'm not that tall🎵

🎵I know I'm not that smart🎵

🎵But—🎵

"🎵Lemme drive my van into your heart!🎵" Steven and I loudly sing with the song. Singing is a great distraction from the sky turning blood red.

🎵Let me drive my van into your heart🎵

🎵I know I'm not that rich, I'm trying to get my start🎵

🎵So, let me drive my van into your heart🎵

🎵Let me drive my van into your heart🎵

Greg drive the van onto the beach, stopping beside the Gems. They look back at us in shock

🎵And if we look out of place🎵

🎵Well, baby, that's ok🎵

We hurry out of the van just in time to see Amethyst wash up on shore, the CD continues playing as we rush over to the cannon, I wave at the Gems as we move. Sand begins flying in the air and the ground shakes violently, the Gems rush over. Pearl looks at the cannon in a panic, "I don't know how it works! It was Rose's!" She shouts over the wind, "Dad, how do we use it?" Steven ask.

Greg shrugs, "Steven, this is serious." Pearl says, she gasps, "The gem. You have Rose's gem!" She says. "That's it!" Amethyst gasps, grabbing Steven and pressing him against the cannon. "Ah, come on!" She grumbles, "Stop that." Garnet says firmly "Oh, it's no use." Pearl sighs. "Fine! Forget it! Throw me again!" Amethyst says, she jumps into Garnet's arms, "That's not going to work!" Pearl shouts.

Steven yelps when the cannon starts moving towards the Red Eye too, "I got this." Greg says, untying the extension cord. The van keeps moving towards the Red Eye, it gets closer to the ocean, "No! Wait! No, maybe I don't!" Greg yelp, holding the extension cord. I frown as Greg gets dragged towards the ocean, "Please work." Steven says to the cannon, banging on it "Unlock. Activate. Go. Please?" Steven begs.

"Everyone's counting on you! You can't just be useless! I know you can help!" Steven bangs on the cannon harder, "Steven! It'll be ok," I say, I don't know why I said that when I don't believe it, but whatever "We can figure out something else, something even better." Steven looks at me with teary eyes, but smiles, "R-right. If every porkchop were perfect..." He says, "We wouldn't have hotdogs..." We both finish, chuckling nervously. Steven gasps when the cannon begins glowing and...activating?!

"It's working!" Pearl gasps, Steven gets knocked off the cannon, it falls forward, aiming nowhere need the Red Eye. Steven and I act quickly, trying to lift the cannon and aim it at the Red Eye. It was a struggle, but our 13 year old kid strength was actually managing to lift it. Suddenly, the cannon becomes light as air, we look back to see the Gems lifting the cannon too. "This is it!" Amethyst says "Brace yourselves!" Garnet warns. The cannon fires a beautiful laser, blowing the Red Eye into pieces.

The pieces scatter around the city and beach, creating holes and even destroying some cars. "Steven! You just saved most of Beach City!" Amethyst says, "...Sorry about that!" Steven shouts to Mr Fryman "WHAT?!" Mr Fryman shouts back. "How did you get it to work?" Pearl asks "We just said that Dad always says." Steven says "That thing about pork rinds?" Pearl asks, Garnet places a hand on her shoulder. "Hot dogs." Garnet states.

"Rose..." Greg mutters with teary eyes as he continues to start up at the sky. We all yelp when the ocean comes in, splashing us with water. Everyone chuckles and laughs, Greg stops chuckling when his sees his van floating past us. "My van!" He gasps "It's ok, Dad," Steven says, patting Greg's shoulder "If every porkchop were perfect--" "I LIVE IN THERE!" Greg shouts when the van starts drifting to sea. Steven and I move through the water to help the poor guy, "Wait up!" Steven laughs, paddling over to Greg.

~💎~

I squint my eyes, staring down an orange as it sits on the table. I hear footsteps approach behind me, "Hey, Y/N. What are you doing...?" Steven asks "Your dad said that my mom could bring fruits to live." I state. Steven gasps, "Whoa! Really?!" He asks eagerly, rushing to be closer to my side. "Yeah, but I'm not having any luck so far. This was a dumb idea. That was Mom's power not mine..." I sigh, I poke the orange, it rolls across the counter.

Steven catches the orange before it could roll off the edge, "What? Come on, Y/N. You're giving up on yourself before you even try. You remember what Pearl told you?" He asks "If I track sand in the house one more time and she's gonna wrap me up in plastic wrap every time I go outside?"' I ask, dumbfounded. "She...did she tell you that?" Steven asks "Yeah, yesterday." I say with a shrug. "Oh. Well...that's not what I meant. She said that we can't rush figuring out our gems. We've gotta take it one day at a time," Steven flashes a gentle smile "You can do it. If not today, then maybe tomorrow, or even the next tomorrow!"

I can't help the small smile forming on my face, he's joy is so contagious...

Steven places the orange in my hand, I squeeze it lightly. "Yeah. You're right—and Pearl's right too. I can't give up yet. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to do it one day." I say quietly, Steven nudges me, "Yeah, positivity!" He cheers. I lightly scratch the area around my gem, smiling hopefully...

Chapter 3: Cheeseburger Backpack

I shuffle around my greenhouse, humming as I water some of my flowers. This greenhouse used to belong to Mom, it even has a Warp Pad in the middle of the room. And after weeks of begging and convincing Garnet that I wouldn't fall off the balcony and die, I finally get to bring back Mom's garden back to its former glory. It's a slow process, but the flowers are sprouting really nicely! And once it's gets a little warmer, I'll try planting fruits and vegetables too. I would spend a millions years here if Steven and the Gems would let me. I smile warmly, taking it a smell of dirt and plants, "It'll be like you never left." I say quietly, I lightly squeeze the shoulder that holds my gem. A bright flash in the corner of my eyes grabs my attention, "The Gems are back!" I gasp excitedly, running out of the garden.

I spot Steven once I reach the front door. He has a package smooshed under his arm, "Oh, cool. It came." I say "Yeah, it did. I can't wait for the Gems to see this!" He says, grinning. Steven pushes the door open and we head inside, "Huh?" Steven gasps, we look at all the feathers scatter around the house, "Hello, Y/N. Steven." Garnet greets, she has feathers in her hair. "Amethyst, we do not need that. It's not going to fit in the fridge." Pearl sigh "What? I got this." Amethyst says, she yanks the shelf out of the fridge, spill the milk and dropping a pack of bagels on the floor. I watch in confusion as she puts a giant egg in the fridge, "Look—it fits!" She says, slamming the door shut. I wince at the sound cracking when she slammed the door.

"Ha! Oh man, we could make a big omelet or a quiche or big sunny side ups..." Amethyst continues listing off everything we can do with the egg. "Uh...?" I mutter "We fought a giant bird." Pearl states, already knowing the question I had on the tip of my tongue. "We're only here for a second. We've got to go back out." Pearl says "What? Why?" Steven asks "We have to place this Moon Goddess statue on top of the Lunar Sea Spire before midnight. Without it, the whole place will fall apart." Pearl explains, showing me and Steven the Moon Goddess statue. "Oh, you should have seen the Spire back in its heyday." Pearl swoons as her gem starts showing a projection of the Spire. "It was an oasis for Gems on Earth."

Pearl's projection pops immediately, "It's abandoned now, but we can still save it with this statue." Pearl says. "Whoa...that's—" "Perfect!" Steven finishes for me. "What? Why?" Pearl asks, Steven slams down his box in front of everyone, "Because I can help carry it for you...in this!" Steven says, ripping open the box. "Whoooooosh! Pwing pwing pwing pwing pwing." He makes sounds with his mouth before showing off his new cheeseburger backpack. "...A...hamburger?" Pearl asks "It's a novelty backpack shaped like a cheeseburger!" Steven explains happily.

"Aw, I blew it," Steven huffs, putting on the backpack "I was just gonna wear it one day, and you guys would be like 'Dang, Steven, that's so cool!', but this is obviously important Gem business." "Yes, so you should let us take care of it." Pearl says. "Whaaaat?" Steven whines, his pulls up his shirt to show his gem. "I'm a Gem!" He says, looking at his gem and then at Pearl again. "But you've still got a lot to learn." She says, "So let 'em come. It'll be educational." Amethyst says, doing jazz hands. "Hmm. Alright. You can carry it in your hamburger." Pearl says, giving Steven the Moon Goddess statue. 

He takes it eagerly, taking off his backpack and opening it, "Check this out—everything's a pocket! Even the cheese is a pocket! I can fit a lot more stuff in here. Give us a minute, we'll pack extra supplies." Steven says, I follow him and start grabbing possibly helpful items. We head upstairs to our bunk beds, "Hmmm." I mutter as I pick up my flashlight, I shrug and toss it into the backpack. Steven looks around before stepping on Mr Queasy. Steven and I laugh when he starts shaking the doll around. "Kid, don't shake me!" The doll groans "Mr Queasy!" Steven giggles "Ooh, I got a medical condition." Mr Queasy says "You're definitely gonna come in handy." Steven says, taking out the first aid kit and dropping in Mr Queasy instead...

I mean, we don't really need a first aid kit. The Gems can't get hurt and I doubt they'll let me and Steven get hurt so bad that we really need first aid.

"Steven! Y/N! Let's go!" Pearl shouts, Steven and I hurry don't the stairs, "Uh! Coming!" Steven shouts, we quickly join the Gems on the Warp Pad. "Whoa, did you two bring your whole room?" Pearl asks "Back that thang up." Amethyst snorts. "Let's Warp." Garnet says, we're surrounded with a beam a light, but nothing happens. "Suck it in, Steven!" Amethyst says, Steven sucks in a deep breath and it feels like we're floating.

Steven and I float around while the Gems stand just fine, "Do you remember how to do this?" Pearl asks sternly, Steven and I laugh, bumping into each other as we try to steady ourselves. Steven ends up with his head outside of the Warp, but he's still laughing "Keep your head in. Come on!" Pearl sighs. 

The beam of light disappears, Steven and I stop floating and hit the ground. "...Whoa!" We gasp, looking at the Spire, "The Sea Spire!" Steven says, the Gems sigh at the sight of it. Which is understandable, this place is crumbling to pieces! "It wasn't like this a hundred years ago." Pearl says, covering her mouth. "I'm sensing structural instability." Garnet warns, I move away from Steven as I look around in awe. This place might be old and unstable, but it's still beautiful in its own way. "Oh, yeah, that's never good." Steven says, Pearl lets out a gasp a horror, "Y/N!" She shouts.

"Huh—" Pearl quickly grabs me, the place where I was standing crumbles, dropping into the water below. "Alright, hold on. We're taking Steven and Y/N back!" Pearl says firmly, "Aw, what?" Steven whines, Pearl places me down, "Steven, this place is your heritage! I want you guys to stay and help, but you've really got to take this seriously. Can you do that?"  She asks with a stress tone. "You got it, dude!" Steven says, giving Pearl a thumbs up and sticking his tongue out. Pearl stares at him, dumbfounded. "Yessss..." She mutters, "Enough. We have to move." Garnet says. Steven grabs my hand, I shoot him a confused look, "This way we can stay together." Steven tells me, squeezing my hand. "We were staying together just fine..." I state "Yeah, but holding hands makes it fun. Come on." He says, I say nothing else and we follow closely behind the Gems.

Garnet makes us stop in front of a dead end, looks like the bridge to the entrance broke. "What's the holdup? We can clear this easily." Amethyst states "No. the magic that sustains the whirlpool creates a vortex that will pull us below." Garnet warns, she picks up a nearby boulder and tossing it over the gap. The boulder freeze midair before plummeting below. "So we can't jump?" Pearl asks "Oh, wait!" Steven says, he lets go of my hand to sort through his bag. He pulls out a bunch of sweaters. "What are those for?" Amethyst asks "They were for keeping warm, but check it out." Steven says, tying the sweaters together. Steven swings the sweaters around until it attaches to the Spire. 

"Y/N, grab onto my back." Steven says "...Ok." I say, wrapping my arms around him, Steven takes a deep breath. The Gems gasps behind, "Wait!" Pearl shouts, Steven jumps off the edge, I tighten my hold on him, gritting my teeth at the sensation of the vortex pulling us down. 

I really need to stop blindly following Steven around. 

That might just end up being the way I die. 

"They're getting sucked down!" Amethyst shouts with a stressed tone. Steven presses his feet firmly against the Spire, "CHEESEBURGEEEEER!" He screams, basically running up the wall and flinging us to the entrance. I can hear Steven heart pounding in his chest, we both pant nervously, I let go of him and slump to the floor. "Steven, way to go!" Amethyst shouts, summoning her whip and hook it around the Spire, she grabs Garnet and Pearl. "🎵Steven-Style!🎵" She sings, swinging across the gap and running up the Spire the same way Steven did. 

"Don't ever do that again!" Pearl says sternly, "Sorry!" Steven says with a wide smile, Garnet ruffles his hair and pulls me off the floor. Amethyst brushes past us, nudging him with her shoulder. Pearl places a hand on Steven's shoulder, "But...it was pretty great." She tells him. Steven beams, retaking my hand in his. He swings our hands as the five of us continue walking deeper into the Spire, "Oh, no, no, no. This is even worse than the outside." Pearl says, she comments on every single thing that was different.

"Oh, Steven, Y/N, once this statue's in place, it'll restore all of this to its former glory—" Pearl lets out a gasp of horror as weird gem creature climb around a broken statue, Pearl summons her weapon and slices the statue in half, "What was that goober?" Steven asks "Crystal Shrimp." Pearl state.

"You guys! We've got a problem!" Amethyst shouts, Pearl heads up the steps with Steven and I walking behind her. Pearl gasps at the sight of Crystal Shrimp everywhere, "It's an infestation! And we have to pass through there to get to the top." She states, I look at the Crystal Shrimp curiously, "Can't you just squish 'em?" Steven asks "Can't we just go around them?" I ask at the same time. Pearl grabs the two of us and yanks of back, "Don't touch that! Their shards are deadly!" Pearl shrieks.

"We need to clear a path," Pearl says, a lot calmer once Steven and I were out of the way. Pearl makes a hologram of Amethyst. "Amethyst, if you go around to the side and disturb them with a spin attack." Pearl says before the hologram of Amethyst disappears and a hologram of Garnet appears in its place, I start digging through the backpack while she's speaking, I grin when I find a bagel sandwiches I made for the trip. "And, Garnet, if you move to the ceiling and strike this exact spot. Then I can advance with my—" I throw one bagel sandwich to one side of the room and the other sandwich to the other side of the room. The Crystal Shrimp move quickly to the sandwiches, clearing a path for us.

"Brilliant." Garnet says, ruffling my hair "Oh, hey. What do you know?" Amethyst chuckles. Steven squeezes my hand eagerly, "Uh...uh." Pearl stumbles over where words, she looks at me in surprise, "...How did you know that would work?" She asks "I had to do that days ago when seagulls were attacking Steven." I tell her, Pearl looks at me with a dumbfounded expression as we continue through the room and head up the stairs. "I just want everyone to know—my plan would have also worked." Pearl states. "Watch out!" Garnet suddenly shouts, using her arm to hold us back. I flinch and tense up, a wave of water breaks through a shut door. "Whoa!" Steven gasps, "What are we gonna do?" Amethyst asks.

The Gems look at me and Steven, "What—us?" Steven asks "What've you got?" Garnet asks. Steven pulls off his backpack, rummaging around, "Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack!" Amethyst chants "Pearl! Come on." She says. "Oh, alright." Pearl says before they both start chanting "Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack! Cheeseburger backpack!" 

Steven grins, "A RAFT!" He cheers, pulling out it out of his back. Garnet and Amethyst gasp in awe, "Steven, that's so sensible!" Pearl says proudly, Steven chucks the raft onto the water, Amethyst, Pearl, Steven and I all watch quietly as the raft floats away on the stream of water until it walls down a waterfall. "Aaah..." We wince quietly, Garnet punches a column, knocking it over. She walks on the column like it's a bridge, "Good idea, anyway, Steven." She says, the rest of us walk across the column too. "Yeah, that can't all be winners." Amethyst says with a shrug.

 

~💎~

 

I look around in awe when we finally reach the top of the Spire, my attention is glued to the stars twinkling above us as a grin I can't hold back sits on my face. Out the corner of my eye, I can see Steven's smile...but it's more aimed at me than the stars. He lightly pulls along with him, "This is it. The Moon Goddess pedestal. And the moon is almost overhead! It's not too late to save this piece of history!" Pearl says eagerly. "Steven, the statue." Garnet says, he nods, releasing my hand to take off his backpack. Steven rummages through his backpack, after a few minutes his eyes widen.

"Uh, I-I...uh..." Steven mutters to himself, going through the backpack with a more nervous expression. I frown in concern, Steven motions for me to help him look. I start looking through the other layers of the backpack, I can feel the Gems' intense stares behind me, "Yo, what's the holdup?" Amethyst asks. Steven and I share horrified glances, "...I don't have it." Steven says nervously. The Gems gasp, "WHAT?!" Pearl screams "I must have left it on the bed!" Steven stresses. I grit my teeth together anxiously, "There's...there's no time!" Pearl says, staring at the moon sadly. 

"Wait! I have an idea!" Steven says, pulling out Mr Queasy. "...Ah." Pearl says "Could that work?" Amethyst asks, both of them look to Garnet. She shrugs, "We won't die from trying." I say, giving Steven a confident smile. I look at Garnet nervously, "Right?" I whisper to her, she shrugs again. Which does not make me feel better...Steven carefully carries Mr Queasy over to the pedestal. He places it down, "Oof, kid don't shake me." Mr Queasy groans, flopping on his side. I hide behind Garnet when the pedestal begins to glow and light from the moon shines down on it. We all watch in awe as Mr Queasy floats towards the moon. He stops abruptly, we all gasp. Mr Queasy shakes aggressively before exploding.

We all let out screams at the ground shakes below us, "Everyone, keep steady!" Garnet says. It's kind of hard to do that when the ground beneath of is crumbling, my eyes widen as the water gets closer the closer before the whole Spire is submerged...

...

I force my head out of the water, sucking in a deep breath of air, Steven lets out a breath of relief before sighing deeply, "This is all my fault. I broke it!" He says sadly, "No, Steven, the Spire was falling apart when we got here. You both handled everything well under pressure. You did great." Pearl says gently "Yeah! 2 out of 4 of your ideas worked—that's 50%." Amethyst adds. 

Is...is that good? 

Greg's always super happy when things are 50% off, so I guess that's good. 

"Yeah, I guess you're right. They can't all be winners." Steven says, suddenly, the raft from earlier pops up from the water. We quietly stare at it for a moment, "WHOO!" Steven cheers, throwing his fists into the air.  We climb onto the raft with Pearl and Amethyst chanting "Cheeseburger backpack!" Steven and I beam proudly, "It's a 3 hour paddle home." Garnet states, Pearl and Amethyst stop chanting, "...Anybody want a wet bagel?" Steven asks, flashing a goofy smile.

 

~💎~

 

"You sure you don't want to dry off first? I'm fine with waiting." Steven says, I raise my hand to shoo him off to the bathroom, "I'm sure. I wanna see if I can find the Moon Goddess statue." I tell him. Steven looks at me curiously but heads to the bathroom, "Well...ok. I'll try not to take too long." He says. I walk around our room, searching for the statue, "I might as well put up everything else too..." I mumble to myself.

Great, Pearl's rubbed off on me.

I am not cleaning that fridge tonight. 

I sigh and start putting away everything Steven and I pulled out while packing. I flinch at the sound of a thud behind me, I turn around to see the Moon Goddess statue sitting on the floor. I pick it up, frowning deeply, "Why'd you let us leave you behind? You knew how important you were. Now the Gems are gonna think we're failure. They probably already think that, but now Steven's gonna think it too!" I huff under my breath, glaring at the statue, the Moon Goddess statue says nothing. "Y/N! I'm done, it's your turn." Steven calls out, I flinch, "Coming!" I call back, I look around the room before my eyes land on the closet. I wrap the Moon Goddess statue up in a blanket, I toss it far back into the closet and shut the door.

"Did you find it?"

Steven walks up to me, offering me a tower. I take it out his hands, "No. It'a really weird. It's like it just vanished completely." I state, Steven tilts his head in confusion. "The statue was supposed to be magical, right? Maybe it just didn't want to be found. It's not our fault." I tell him "Huh, maybe you're right. It could've grown legs and walked away!" Steven laughs with a bright grin. I mirror his expression, "Yeah! Who knows, we probably did bring it to the Spire and it magically disappeared on its own." I say, heading towards the bathroom.

Steven and I didn't forget to bring the statue. 

It just got lost. No one was ever able to find it.

Maybe I should just chuck it in the ocean later tonight...

Notes:

I made a tumblr blog to post info dumps and updates for this fic. Check it out if you’re interested in this book enough to wanna know more and/or ask me questions. I have thought out the lore for this so much I have a whole notebook full of ideas.

Link: https://www.tumblr.com/halfofwhatyouthinkofme-suxreader

Chapter 4: Together Breakfast

"Wow, you guys are growing a lot faster than you're supposed to!" I say proudly, reading through the plant book Greg had got for me. "Man, I can't wait for Steven and the Gems to see you guys. They'll be so impressed. Especially with you, Sunny." I say happily, I look up at the sunflower I planted a few weeks ago. It was the first flower I've ever planted, the tallest plant in the whole green house, and most importantly, it is Steven's favorite.

"Y/N!" 

I flinch in surprise at the sound of Steven's call, I put the book away and head outside. Steven waves at me from the front door of the house, "Come help with breakfast!" He shouts, cupping his hands beside his mouth. "Breakfast...?" I mumble before cupping my hands around my mouth, "OK!" I shout as loud as I can. I can see Steven's cheery grin from here as he goes back inside the house. I take off my gardening gloves, "Alright, friends. I'm heading out, I'll be back to water you tomorrow. Sunny's in charge." I state, leaving the greenhouse and heading down to the house house.

"I'm here." I announce, Steven rushes over to me. He doesn't hesitate to eagerly wrap his arms around me, "Welcome back!" He greets. "Steven, you're acting like you didn't just see me 10 minutes ago." I chuckle "Was it 10 minutes? It feels like it's been 10 years!" Steven sighs dramatically. He lets go of me, "Check it out. I made breakfast for us!" He says, I follow him into the kitchen. Steven shows off a plate of waffles covered in whip cream, popcorn, and chocolate syrup. "Wow...that looks like a breakfasts I'd see in my dreams." I say in awe. "Thanks! And I saved the most important part for you." Steven states, something cold and moist touches the tip of my nose as Steven lets out a happy "Boop." 

I take the strawberry from Steven, glancing at it. He gestures to the waffles, "You get to put the strawberry on the top!" He tells me with a wide grin. I mirror his expression, "Alright. I won't fail you." I chuckle. I hold the strawberry carefully, examining the best spot to put it. Eventually, I settle for the perfect spot. "It's done!" Steven cheers, picking up the plate and holding it up. He sets it back down on the counter and hums in thought, "This thing's too good for just the two of us to eat alone. It's a...together breakfast." He says. 

We both flinch when the Warp Pad begins glowing, Garnet appears, holding a rolled paper in her hand. "Hi, Garnet." I say, she raises her empty hand to wave. "Ah, Garnet! Perfect. Check it out!" Steven says, excitedly showing off the breakfast, "It's not exactly healthy, but it's in a stack, so I guess you could say it's a...balanced breakfast." He jokes, looking at Garnet expectedly. She looks down at us and says nothing, I glance at Steven, his smile strains. I laugh a little at his expression, "You know, like, I made us all breakfast. I thought we could eat together like—like best buds." Steven states.

"I can't stay. There's business to attend to inside the Temple." Garnet says, she turns to the Temple door, her gems glow and the door begins to open. "Aw, business? Like what?" Steven whines, Garnet turns to us again, "I have to burn this." She tells us, unrolling the paper. It...it actually looks kind of cool, like, I would put that on my wall. Maybe...

I snap a picture of the paper with my phone, maybe I can get this printed out.

Garnet takes my phone out of my hands, "I have to burn this too." She says, walking into her room, I rush after her, but I wasn't fast enough. The door shuts in front of me "What?! Garnet, nooooo! My apps!" I whine, clawing at the shut door. "It's ok, Y/N. You can just use my phone until Dad gets you another one." Steven says, patting my shoulder...wait a second. I huff, rolling up my sleeve and pressing my gem again the door. Unsurprisingly, nothing happens, "Ugh, this thing never works." I sigh, pulling my sleeve back down. The front door slams open, "DUMB POLICE! Uh, you're dumb!" Amethyst shouts with a deep voice, shooting a water gun, she had shapeshifted to look like a cop.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Steven gasps and jumps in front of the together breakfast, shielding it from the water. Amethyst laughs loudly, "Oh, man! I totally got you. You should've seen the look on your faces." She says "We knew it was you." I state, Amethyst places a hand on her hip, "How?" She asks, Steven takes off his shirt and goes into the closet to get another one, "'Cause that's a water gun, and we're not dumb." I sigh, Amethyst looks at me a moment. "You got some dirt on your shirt." She tells me, I look at my shirt in surprise—only to get hit with water, "Duuuuuuuuh-umb!" She laughs, now aiming for my face. I block at the water with my hand, Amethyst only laughs harder. She stops when we hear the Temple door open again. 

Is it Garnet? Is she not going to burn my phone?

"Hey! That's my door!"

I guess not...

Amethyst morphs back into her normal form, Pearl steps out of the door, carrying a sword. Amethyst walks up to her with an annoyed look, "Oh, Amethyst, there you are. Care to explain what one of my swords is doing in your room?" Pearl asks "Having a sword party." Amethyst says with an unserious tone, "Oh, please! You took it." Pearl scoffs "I did not!" Amethyst snaps, Steven and I wordlessly share looks. "It's fine. It's in the past. I forgive you." Pearl says, Amethyst groans, rolling her eyes. "Also, I cleaned up your awful, awful mess. You're welcome." Pearl adds smugly "You did what?! I have a system!" Amethyst shouts, running into her room. "Amethyst, wait!" Steven shouts desperately. Pearl looks at us, "What's the matter, Steven? Y/N, change your shirt." She says respectively. Steven heads to the kitchen while I head over to the closet. 

I pull out one of my shirts, it was some old unsold merch from Greg's concerts, just like Steven's shirts. The only difference is that mine is a ringer t-shirt that is green with F/C rings. 

"I wanted us all to have breakfast together, so I made Together Breakfast, but everyone keeps leaving!" Steven explains to Pearl while I change my shirt, "Oh, that's nice." Pearl says, definitely not even listening. She opens her door, heading inside. I tug my head through the hole, "Oh no! Not you too!" Steven shouts, he grabs the waffles firmly. "I can't let this become together brunch. Come on, Y/N." He says, moving quickly towards Pearl door. I follow behind him, Steven sticks his arm through the door, stopping it before it could close. He pushes it open and we force our way inside Pearl's room.

The door shuts the second we're inside, "Wow, Pearl room is so...graceful." I say, looking at the water everywhere, waters shoots upwards in different places making platforms to stand on. Pearl pops up on one of the water platforms, she dances around as swords float around her. She stops her dancing, placing the sword Amethyst took back its rightful place. "There we go." She says, she adjusts the sword again. Pearl lets out a relaxed sigh, "...HEY PEARL!" Steven shouts loudly.

The swords drop into the water when Pearl notices us, "Steven! Y/N! What are you two doing in here? You know it's dangerous for you inside the temple." She scolds, her door opens behind us. Steven frowns in determination, "We're gonna have a nice Together Breakfast even if I have to get my shoes wet." He says, hopping into the water. I let out a sigh before following him. Huh...surprisingly, this water isn't super cold like I was expecting. It's actually nice and has the perfect temperature. "WHAT?! Get out of there!" Pearl shouts, "I'll swim it over to you." Steven says "And I'll make sure Steven doesn't drown while trying to bring it over to you." I say. "See? Doggy paddle, forward!" He cheers, but the water's already moving us itself...right over the edge of a waterfall. "Oh, gosh. Wait, uh, doggy paddle reverse! Reverse" Steven shouts as we ride the water straight down to who knows where.

"Steven! Y/N!" Pearl shouts in horror.

Waterfall starts to feel less like a waterfall and more like a water slide. Steven and I yelp and scream at each bump and turn. "Keep it together, breakfast!" Steven shouts before going underwater, I suck in as much as I can, getting pulled underwater too.

...

I lift my head off the ground, the concerned frown on Steven's face vanishes when he sees I'm not dead yet. I stand up, "Huh, good job holding on to the Together Breakfast." I say "Thanks." Steven says with a smile. I notice Amethyst not too far away. She throws some things around her room, "Better." She hums.

"Amethyst!" Steven calls out, waving at her eagerly. She glances at us, "Oh, hey. Did you two come down the waterfall?" Amethyst asks. I look around her room curiously, it's a lot of junk everywhere, it reminds me of Greg's storage unit. I wonder if Mom left stuff in here too. Wait, now I can't help but wonder what her room is like. Amethyst lets out an annoyed sigh, "Pearl gets so mad that I have her junk, but it's always falling down here." She tells us "Junk like what?" I ask. "Junk like...you!" Amethyst laughs, grabbing me and lifting me up high. The three of us laugh, "I'mma throw you in the junk pile!" Amethyst tosses me on top of one of the many piles in her room. Our laughter dies down when Amethyst sighs, "Isn't it awful? Pearl organized everything." She says. "I can't really tell." I state, Steven nods in agreement "Yeah, it still looks messy to me." He says. "Aw, thanks. I try." Amethyst says proudly.

Amethyst kicks over a pile of junk, "Oh, what's that, Steven?" She asks, looking at the plate in Steven's hands. "It's a Together Breakfast." He tells her, "Alright! Snacks!" Amethyst cheers, she reaches for the plate. "No! It's for everyone to eat together! That's the essence of Together Breakfast." Steven says sternly, holding the plate close to his chest. I shimmy off the junk pile, "Ah..." Amethyst mutters. Steven and I glance at each other, "Gimme! Gimme!" Amethyst shouts. Steven and I run away with her chasing after us. "We have to eat it together!" Steven shouts as we run through a tunnel.

Amethyst snickers as she gets closer and closer, "Neither of you can out run me! We all have short legs!" She cackles. I slow nervously once I see the end of the tunnel, Steven and I come to a stop. In front of us is floating platforms, "Uh...maybe we can just talk things out with her?" I suggest nervously, looking at how far the ground is from us. "Steveeeeeen! I'm hungry!" Amethyst shouts, Steven adjust his grip on the plate to hold it in one hand, he grabs my hand and pulls me to jump on the platform in front of us. "Just. Hold. On!" Steven shouts with each platform we jump to. "An exit!" I gasp, we jump over to the exit, Steven catches each waffle perfectly on the plate, "Skills!" He laughs and we run through the exit.

"Get back here." Amethyst says, "You're completely missing the point of this." Steven sighs, we run into a new room with a pole in the middle, we keep moving until we latch onto the pole. Amethyst instantly stops moving, "Hey! Wait a second." She says quickly. "Steven! Y/N! There you are." Pearl says, entering the room from the other side. "Pearl! Sweet! 2 outta 3." Steven says happily, Pearl looks up with a worried expression, "Oh, oh! Steven, Y/N. Be careful." She says "Why?" We ask. Slowly, we look up to see—IS THAT A HEART?! 

Why do we never get to see the cool things around here?

"Whoa..." Steven gasps, "You guys really shouldn't be in here. This is the Crystal Heart. Oh! It's connected to the most dangerous areas of the Temple." Pearl stresses, I look around the room in awe, "Hold on tight, and don't look down." Pearl says, I instinctively glance downwards, my heart drops at the sight of the darkness below us. My grip on the pole weakens as I shift nervously—the movement was enough to cause me to start going down the pole, Pearl and Amethyst gasps, "AAAAAAH PEARL WHY'D YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT?! I BLAME YOU IF I DIE!" I cry out in fear, shutting my eyes and clinging onto the pole as tight as I can., but it’s not enough to make me slow down. "Ah, hold on, Y/N! I'm coming!" Steven shouts.

I crack open an eye, suddenly I was moving through a soft pink room...and then a room that looked almost like a rain forest, "Huh...this isn't so bad..." I mumble, only to leave the rain forest room and end up right back in another jagged rocks area, I go back to screaming with my eyes closed, "Never mind! Never mind!"

My body stops moving and my feet are touching what I hope is floor, I open my eyes slowly. I look around the new room in confusion, until I see Garnet. Steven joins me, luckily he's still somehow managed to not drop the Together Breakfast. We quietly watch Garnet walk up to a lava pit, she holds up my phone and snaps it in half, dropping it into the pit with zero hesitation. My jaw drops before my face squishes into an offended expression. Garnet starts dropping it the super cool future poster into the lava. She traps it in a bubble when it starts to burn, Amethyst and Pearl join us. 

"We're getting you two out of here." Pearl whispers "Come on." Amethyst whispers. "Huh? This is great! We're all together!" Steven says loudly, both Pearl and Amethyst wince and try to quiet him down. Garnet looks back at us in shock, "We can finally eat! I mean, we don't have any forks, but we can use our hands. I'm not gonna judge." Steven says, but I don't think the Gems were listening to him. Pearl and Amethyst rush over to Garnet, "Steven, Y/N, go!" Garnet says sternly. "Ok! Want to meet in the kitchen?" Steven asks. 

The bubble Garnet made bursts, a smoke monster fills the room, swinging at us. Steven and I stumble back, "It's trying to escape! Force it back!" Garnet shouts. I grab Steven by the shirt and drag him away from the fight, the smoke monster still tries to grab us. "Get back!" Amethyst shouts at the smoke monster, jumping in front of us when the its hand gets a little too close to grabbing Steven. The smoke monster hisses, moving around the Gems before it eventually hits Steven.

"Steven!" We shout in horror, the smoke monster disappears...inside the Together Breakfast. Steven groans, he looks at the plate nervously as the food starts to jiggle and jerk, "...Together Breakfast?" Steven asks before the food grows in front of him. "It's taken refuge in organic matter!" Pearl shouts, throwing her spear at it. The breakfast monster shoots whip cream and syrup at her, causing her to stick to the wall. Pearl screams and writhes in agony, though...I don't really think it's hurting her. It's probably just making her sticky. "Now it has all the power of a breakfast. We have to destroy it." Garnet says "AAAH! IT'S HORRIBLE!" Pearl screams. 

I carefully try to approach Steven without getting attack, he sniffles from under the monster, "I didn't want this. I just wanted to eat together like—like best buds!" He cries, struggling to keep the monster from crushing him. "Steven! Come on, you gotta get away from there!" I stress, holding out a hand for him to grab, "But my breakfast!" Steven says before Garnet and Amethyst get trapped between the wall and a giant waffle. The monster turns to me, growling, "Oh no..." I say nervously, accepting my fate. I get hit with a wave a stickiness, I end up trapped in a pile of syrup and whip cream. I can't really tell if I can't breathe because of syrup or because of the fact I'm trapped in a small space and I'm panicking...maybe it's both. No wonder Pearl was freaking out so bad...

"That's enough!"

I can see Steven through the syrup, he starts pushing the monster towards the lava pit. His voice is muffled, but I can still just barely make out what he's saying, "I don't care if you...are the most important meal of the day!" He shouts, forcing the monster into the lava. "I made you to bring us together, not to tear us apart!" Steven screams before the monster disappears into flames. The Gems make their way out of the food they were trapped in. I stay where I am until Amethyst pulls me out of the syrup and we all join Steven by the lava pit. "I'm sorry, guys..." He sighs sadly "I guess I dreamed too big."

 

~💎~

 

I wait patiently with a bowl of strawberries as Garnet and Amethyst toast the waffles and tosses them onto a plate. Pearl covers the waffles in syrup, Steven dumps the popcorn on top, Garnet adds whip cream, and I get the honor of carefully placing the strawberry on top of the whip cream.  

"It looks great!" Steven says happily, looking around the room with a bright smile, "It's even more together and even more breakfast." He says. We all look at the Together Breakfast nervously, "...I don't think I can eat this." Steven says, "Maybe we can just order a pizza." I suggest, Steven and the Gems let out noises of agreement, "Pizza's a better idea." Steven says "Yeah. It's good." Pearl agrees "Definitely." Steven says. Garnet covers the new Together Breakfast, "It did try to kill us." She says.

Chapter 5: Frybo

"Why do we have so many pairs of socks?! We wear freaking flip flops all the time!" I sigh, staring at the mountain of rolled up socks in from of me. Steven walks past me with an annoyed sigh , "What's wrong, Steven?" I ask, "I can't find my pants." He says, I pause and take a brief look at him. I quickly turn away with a warm face, "How'd you lose your last pair? Did you throw 'em in the pile" I ask, continuing to roll up socks. "I dunno." Steven sighs as he—I assume—checks his dirty laundry pile. Steven clicks his tongue, "You're a mess, Steven." He sighs.

"I know I had eight..." Pearl mutters to herself, looking around the room, "Hi, Pearl. You lose something too?" I ask "Hello, Y/N, Steven. Have either of you seen a gem shard anywhere? It's very important." She says. "No. Have you seen my pants? They're also very important." Steven says, Pearl looks at him for a moment, "I'm serious, Steven. These shards have a powerful partial consciousness that has been harness by gems throughout history in order to create..."

I start to zone out, enjoying the peaceful buzz inside my head.

 

...

 

I blink in confusion when Steven's pants go running past me. "Uh..." I mutter "—If you see it, bring it to me right away. I'm going to check in town." Pearl says, heading for the door. "For my pants?!" Steven ask, "I guess I'll keep looking here." He says "I'm pretty sure I just watched them run across the room." I state "Huh?"  Steven asks. "Look." I point to his pants as it stands across from us, "That's unusual!" Steven shouts, chasing after it.

I go back to folding my own laundry as Steven chases his pants around the house. "Come on! We used to be friends! We used to go everywhere together!" Steven shouts. He tackles his pants to the floor, "Got you now, pants!" He shouts,  putting them on, I glance at him once he actually had pants us. "I wear the pants in this relationship." He says, putting his hands on his victoriously. "...Why are your pants wiggling?" I ask, Steven looks at his pants, "I...dunno. What's gotten into you?" He asks.

Steven digs into his pocket and pulls out a gem shard. His pants immediately stop moving, "Oh. It's a...thingy." Steven says "I think it's Pearl's shard thingy." I tell him, I stop folding my clothes to walk over to him. My shirt tugs in the gem shard, Steven and I yelp, Steven yanks the shard away from me, he grabs one of the nearby socks and puts the shard inside the sock. The sock wiggles and flicks around in Steven's hold, "Whoa!" I gasp. Steven giggles, "Now who's smart?" He asks before the sock starts hitting in the face repeatedly, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Steven yelps. "Stop!" He shouts, holding his nose, the sock freezes.

We share confused glances, "Oh...thanks." He says with a smile. He grabs his cheeseburger backpack, I briefly shoot it a bitter look, I still haven't forgiven it for the whole Sea Spire thing, "We've gotta get you to Pearl." Steven says, dropping the sock inside the bag and zipping it up. I head to the door, "Hey, hold on," Steven says with a concerned frown, I watch him head over to the closet "It rained today. So we need our—raincoats!" He happily pulls out a pink and green raincoat, he tosses me mine. I pout, "Aw, but I like when the rain makes me all soggy." I sigh, Steven shoots me a knowing grin, "But do you like being sick and stuck inside all day?" He ask. I huff and put on my raincoat, "No..." I whine, grabbing our rain boots, Steven's yellow and covered with ducks patterns while my is covered with flower patterns. 

 

~💎~

 

Steven and I walk side by side down the boardwalk, I make an effort to step extra hard in every puddle that comes across our path. "Hey, Pearl! Pearl!" Steven calls out, he lets out a focused hum, "She must still be looking for my pants." He says before something knocks me over, I land in a puddle, "AAAH! PLEASE HELP ME! AAAH! NO GET THEM AWAY!" Peedee screams desperately as seagulls swarm him. Steven and I let out scream in horror, shielding ourselves from the swarm. 

"I'm not fries!" Peedee screams angrily, ripping off the head on his fry costume. The bird fly off, the three of us let out sighs of relief. Mr Fryman steps outside, "Ah, where your face, Frybo?" He asks with a disappointed sigh. "Being part of the Fryman family means you gotta sell fries...—and be my son, which you are." Mr Fryman states, Peedee rolls his eyes and lets out a sigh, Mr Fryman flashes a grin, givimg Peedee a thumbs up, "...So...you're already halfway there. Keep at it, Frybo!" He says, shutting the door. "I'm Pee—" Mr Fryman shuts the door before Peedee could finish "Dee..." He sighs.

Steven reaches a hand out to help me up, "Hi, Peedee!" Steven greets happily, Peedee lets out a heavy sigh, "When I told my dad I wanted to be part of the Fryman family business, I didn't think it meant being stuck in a sweaty old costume," He complains, Steven and I listen to him intently as he puts the costume head back on, " Things used to be different. Nothing to worry about back then except making myself dizzy on the old seahorse ride at Funland." Peedee's voice cracks at the end. Steven grabs my hand and pulls me up.

"Oh, Frybo, you're hilarious." Steven says with a toothy grin, Peedee stares at him a second before sighing, "I wish there was a way for this costume to do its job without me in it." He says. "Huh...maybe it can, Peedee." I say, I turn Steven around so I could dig into his backpack, I pull out Pearl's gem shard—at least this didn't disappear when I needed it. Peedee stares at it in confusion, but takes off the Frybo costume. Seagulls immediately swarm it, "Shoo! Shoo!" I say, Steven helps me wave them away. 

Peedee watches us questioningly, I drop the gem shard inside Frybo. The costume begins twitching before it starts rolling around on its own. "Whoa..." Peedee gasps, Steven and I grin excitedly. Frybo begins rolling away, "Stop!" Steven shouts, the Frybo instantly stops. Peedee grins, "Unbelievable! Get up!" Peedee shouts happily. Frybo moves to sit up, "Do a little dance." I tell him, the three of us watch eagerly. Frybo grows a pair of creepy looking fry legs, "Ugh!" Steven and Peedee groan in disgust. I cringe, Frybo turns to face us, he starts to do a floppy little dance.

"Whoa! Alright!"

Peedee ducks behind Steven, covering his mouth with wide eyes. Mr Fryman looks at Frybo approvingly, "Well, it's about ti—I mean, good job, buddy! That's what I'm talking about, Frybo," He says proudly, Frybo stops dancing to look at him "Keep it up!" Mr Fryman shuts the door again. Peedee pops out of hiding and lets out an excited squeal, "I'm free!" He says happily. Peedee runs up to Frybo, "You've got the job, Frybo! Let's shake on it."  He says, Frybo picks him up and begins shaking him rapidly. Steven and I laugh at the sight, "He's got jokes!" Steven giggles, Peedee gags. "Ok, no more shaking, put me down!" He shouts.

Frybo drops him, "Just go make people eat fries." Peedee tells Frybo, Frybo runs off. Peedee laughs out a laugh, he grabs me and Steven's hands and drags us with him, "Let's go be kids!" He says, Steven and I happily follow him without putting up any fight.

 

~💎~

We put quarters into the kiddie rides at Funland. Peedee gets on the seashore in the middle, Steven gets the jellyfish on the right, and I get shark on the left. The rides take a moment, but begin moving slowly and rigidly. Well...mine and Peedee's were moving slowly, Steven's was jerking him side to side, "...This seahorse used to make me so happy. Now it's just giving me whiplash." Peedee sighs, his ride beeps and comes to a stop.

Man, that was fast...

"I feel like there's just no point to it. You know what I mean?" Peedee asks, my ride stops only a few seconds after his, I frown a little, "Yeah...I feel like that a lot." I sigh. Peedee frowns sympathetically, "I-I-I just feel tingly!" Steven says, still keeping his wide grin. Peedee sighs, "He'll understand when he's older." He states "He's older than both of us." I tell him. Peedee raises an eyebrow and looks back at Steven, "No way. He is?" He asks, I nod. "Well...he'll understand when he has a job." Peedee states. Steven's ride comes to a stop, "I do have a job—we both do," Steven says "We protect humanity from magic and monsters and stuff." 

"I mean a real job that you get paid for." Peedee states "We're paid in the smiles across the town's face." Steven states, "...I don't see anyone smiling. You pick up a job to buy a house or raise kids or to...impress your dad" Peedee sighs, Steven and I listen to him quietly, "You work away your life, and what does it get you?" Peedee asks "Smiles and happy faces?" Steven asks "No. You get cash—cash that can't buy back what the job takes..." Peedee leans forward, hugging the seahorse "Not if you rode every seahorse in the world." He sighs.

"...Whoa..." I say, feeling a sense of dread forming in my stomach... "...Want to try the jellyfish?" Steven offers before we hear a sudden scream. "That came from the fry shop!"  Peedee says, we hop off the kiddie rides run towards the fry shop, I turn around and quickly grab Steven's backpack, he left it on the ground.

I reach up the fry shop a few second after Steven and Peedee, people are running away from the fry shop in horror. Tentacles wrap around them and yank them back into the shop, "We didn't tell him to do that! Did we tell him to do that?!" Peedee's voice cracks as he screams, the three of us duck and scream when a table is thrown out the window. I slowly turn to see Frybo holding four people with its tentacles, "Please! No more fries!" Mr Smiley cries, Frybo stuffs a handful of fries into his mouth anyway.

"Frybo, stop!" Steven orders firmly, Frybo pauses and slowly turns to us, we all tense up. Peedee screams as we duck again, Frybo throws Lars at us. I wince sympathetically when he hits the table. Lars spits the fries out of his mouth, he runs off crying "I don't even like fries!" "Why isn't he listening?!" Peedee asks "I don't know!" Steven shouts nervously. I get closer to the window to get a better look at what's going on inside the fry shop, Peedee and Steven do the same. 

The door behind Frybo opens, "Peedee! Where's all this coming from?" Mr Fryman asks in concern, Frybo grabs Mr Fryman and drags him closer. "Aw, I get it." Mr Fryman sighs, way too calm for the situation he's currently in, Frybo grabs a handful of fries "I pushed you too hard. I thought you wanted to be as good a Fryman as you could be. You're a tough kid for putting up with it as long as you did. The truth is, you're a valued member of the Fryman Brothers, Incorporated, and all its affiliates!" Mr Fryman cries, now he sounds like how he should in this situation. 

Peedee's eyes are wide and watery as we helplessly watch Frybo stuff fries into Mr Fryman's mouth. "DAD!" Peedee cries, moving to jump through the broken window, I grab his leg and pull him back, "No!" I shout "He'll mash your potatoes!" Steven warns, he tugs my arm, "Come on, Y/N." He says, I frown nervously, "What are you gonna do?!" Peedee asks "Our job!" Steven asks happily. Mr Fryman lets out a scream and suddenly we're crushed under him. 

"Steven! Y/N!"

Pearl runs up, "Did you put my missing shard in that fry costume?" She asks "YES!" Steven and I instantly answer. "Didn't you hear what I said about the living armor and infantries and many, many deaths?!" Pearl asks "NO!" We instantly answer again with stressed frowns. Pearl sighs deeply, summoning her weapon. Pearl throws her spear at Frybo, it stabs him in the eye. Ketchup squirts out of Frybo's eye, it sprays all over Pearl. "Pearl!" Steven shouts, Peedee manages to roll Mr Fryman off of us, Steven and I race towards Pearl.

"Ugh! The ketchup! It's everywhere. I can't see." Pearl says, trying to wipe the ketchup off, but she's just spreading more ketchup in her. Steven glances at the pile of shards on the floor, "Shards...need!" Steven suddenly shouts, grabbing the shards. "Steven, what are you doing?!" I ask "Trust me! And, uh, don't look at me!" Steven says, running off. "What?!" I shout after him "Y/N? What's going on? Where Steven?" Pearl asks, feeling around in confusion. "Uh..." I mutter, Frybo stomps out of the fry shop. 

"DAD!" Peedee cries, grabbing Mr Fryman's hand, Peedee grabs a plank of wood and swings it at Frybo. "Go away!" He screams with teary eyes, Mr Fryman wakes up, glancing at Peedee in surprise, "...Peedee?" He asks "You are awful! I hate you! I've always hated you!" Peedee screams "Wait...you've always hated Frybo?" Mr Fryman asks, Frybo snatches the wood plank out of Peedee hands. Peedee stumbles back fearfully, landing in Mr Fryman arms. Frybo growls at them, I frown when I see Peedee cowering in Mr Fryman's arms. 

I grab a nearby rock, shakily holding up my arm. I throw the rock at Frybo, he snaps his attention to me. I let out a nervous yelp, I instinctively duck behind Pearl. She grabs my arms and pulls me closer to her, "Y/N? What happened? Are you ok?" She asks. A...familiar pair of pants run up, kicking Frybo in the face. "Steven!" Mr Fryman, Peedee and I all gasp, "WHERE?!" Pearl asks, I glance at Steven—my eyes widen when I realize he's only in his underwear and I look away immediately. Ah, so that's why he told me not to look at him...

I suck in a deep breath, feeling that warm buzz in my face again. I've been feeling that a lot lately. "Your move...Frybo." Steven says, Frybo lets out a horrifying scream lunging at Steven. "Attack!" Steven screams, I wordlessly watch Steven's clothes fight Frybo. Frybo smacks at Steven, Steven stumbles out of my line of sight again, "I didn't wanna do this, but you leave me no choice. Underwear—go!" Steven shouts, my eyes get even wider. I let out a sigh, wiping some ketchup off of Pearl and wiping it on my own eyes. 

I hear Frybo scream before silence, I'm assuming this means Steven won. Pearl stands up and moves away from me. "Steven! Are you alright?" Pearl asks "...Fine..." Mr Fryman mutters, "I'm ok. As soon as I bared my butt, I knew he'd crack." I hear Steven say. I can't help but laugh at that.

 

~💎~

 

Mr Fryman, Peedee, Pearl, a still fully naked Steven and I stand on the beach. I next to Pearl, using her to completely block Steven out of my view. We watch Steven's clothes carry Frybo out to the shore. "You were great, Frybo. Kids today just didn't understand, and now...they never will." Mr Fryman cries. "Weren't people scared of it before he attacked them? It used to give Y/N nightmares." Pearl says "It still does...and it definitely still will after today." I sigh.

Steven shushes both of us, Mr Fryman pulls out a lighter. "It's time...to send him off." He says, lighting Frybo on fire. Pearl rolls her eyes and uses her spear to push Frybo out to the ocean, where he will give the fishes nightmares instead. Mr Fryman sighs, "As greasy in death as he was in life." Mr Fryman and Peedee look away from each other awkwardly, "Dad, um...I'll...are you going to get another costume?" Peedee asks. Mr Fryman glances at him, "No, I don't need another Frybo. I've got the Fryman." He says, wrapping an arm around Peedee. Peedee cracks a small smile, "Pearl, Y/N, I think our work here is done." Steven says victoriously. Pearl glances at him, but I don't risk it. "...Put your clothes on, Steven." Pearl sighs.

Chapter 6: Cat Fingers

"Almost done! Steven, Y/N, get the hubcaps."

"Hubbin' it up!" Steven cheers, wiping down the wheel extra hard. I do the same, "Hub it good. This is a high profile job." Greg states. "You mean 'cause it's the mayor's election-mobile?" Steven asks, "If we do this right, we might get ✨political favors✨." Greg tells us, Steven and I share confused look. I hand Steven the hose, "I'm not sure what that is, but I like it." He says, spraying Greg with the hose, Greg chuckles and sprays us back. The three of us laugh, I duck behind Steven.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! I'm not paying for family bonding here." Mayor Dewey sighs, running up to us. Steven sprays him with the hose, I snicker beside him, "Universe! Control these kids." Mayor Dewey says. "Spray him again." I whisper to Steven, Greg rushes over to us, "Steven! Y/N!" He...scolds...kinda, taking the hose from Steven. "I'm sorry, Mayor Dewey," He chuckles nervously "Uh, this one's on the house." 

Mayor Dewey looks at the election-mobile, "On the house, eh? I like the way you do business, Universe." He says, climbing inside and driving off. "Mayor Dewey! Mayor Dewey!" His election-mobile repeats as he drives off. Greg lets out a sigh, "...✨Political favors✨~" Steven whispers to Greg with a wide grin. Greg scoops him up, "Ah, you rascal. Enough with the hose fights." He says, ruffling Steven's hair. "Oh, ok." Steven giggles before they both spray with water.

They glance at me, I look at them just as confused before we all look over at a cat holding the hose. "...What the?" Greg asks "Whoa!" Steven gasps. The "cat" chases us around, spraying us with the hose. Steven and I laugh while Greg looks panicked, "What is with this cat?" Greg asks, I try to explain it to him "It's not a cat, it's—" Amethyst shapeshifts back to normal, she laughs, "Got you guys!" She spits the hose out of her mouth "No, you didn't. I knew it was you." I say, Amethyst sprays me with the hose again, I laugh. "Amethyst!" Steven says in awe "Uh...pretty cool Amethyst..." Greg says with a nervous smile.

"Really cool! I wish could shape shift like you." Steven says "You could probably learn." Amethyst says, trying the hose. "Really?" Steven and I ask "Sure, you've both got gems." She says, "Whoa! Magic stuff. Should I get out of here? Is there gonna be an explosion?" Greg asks nervously "Ah, it's no big deal, Dad." Steven says, Amethyst shapeshifts into Steven, "Yeah, it's fun~" Amethyst says, Greg lets out a horrified gasp.

 

~💎~

 

"Hey, Pearl!"

Steven and I watch back at the house as Amethyst shapeshifts into a seal, "Do more!" Steven laughs "Check it out." Amethyst says before shapeshifting into a lot of different forms. She turns into a bluejay and lands on Steven's head, "Whoa!" I gasp, "Amethyst, you're overdoing it." Pearl sighs "Uh, chill it, dude." Amethyst scoffs. "Just because you can shapeshift doesn't mean you should." Pearl says.

"Can you shapeshift?" Steven asks, Pearl chuckles, "Well of course—" Amethyst cuts her off, shapeshifting into Pearl, "Well, of course I can. I'm perfect. Whomp! Whomp!" Amethyst mocks, hitting her butt. Steven and I hold back our laughs, Pearl shoves Amethyst away, "All Gems gave shapeshift powers, we can turn into objects, we can change part of our bodies, or...we could do that." Pearl says, using a hologram to explain it. It disappears when she looks at Amethyst, "Whomp! Whomp! Whomp!" Amethyst shouts, "I wanna try it all!" Steven say happily "Don't bite off more than you can chew, Steven." Pearl warns.

"Whomp! Whomp!"

Pearl lets out an annoyed groan and heads outside, Amethyst turns back into herself once Pearl's gone. Steven runs up to her, "Alright, show us how to change into a huge lion!" Steven says, "Yeah...no thanks." I say, Steven shoots me a confused look, "You don't wanna know how to shapeshift?" Steven asks "Nope. I like being Y/N and Y/N I will stay." I state, I already barely know who I am now, why would I change into something else and make myself more confused. "Aw...ok. Well, teach me how to shapeshift into a huge lion!" Steven says to Amethyst "Actually, for once, Pearl is right. If you're gonna do this, you got to start with something easy." She says.

Steven stares at his hands, "Like that cat you turned into?" He asks "That sounds good. Now follow my lead. First—think of what you want to be, and then just shake it out." Amethyst explains, turning into a cat. "See?" She asks, hopping into my arms, "Now your turn." She says, "Ok." Steven says, taking a deep breath and shutting his eyes. "Hey, let's get some chips." Amethyst tells me, I shrug and grabbing a bag of chips. "CAAAAAAT!" Steven starts screaming, tears filling his eyes from the strain, I open the bag and take a seat on the floor next to Amethyst. 

"Nah, you're too tense," Amethyst snorts "Just relax and feel it. Don't make me send Y/N over there." "...Why would you send me over there?" I ask, slowly putting a chip on my mouth, "What? Steven's powers always work better when you're around~" Amethyst says teasingly. I snatch the chip bag away from her, "Hey! Gimme those!" She whines, "Feeeeeeeeel iiiiiiiiiit." Steven groans, rubbing his head. Amethyst glances at him, "Uh, if you're not ready, we can try later." She states. 

"No way. I can do it." Steven says, Amethyst shapeshifts back to normal, snatching the chips away from me. I huff, Steven moves his arms and shuts his eyes. "Yeah. Yeah!" He says, Steven poses, but nothing happens. Amethyst holds back a laugh, "Well, it was a good try." She says, I nod. A cat meow, we pause, Steven slowly holds up his finger. His finger's a cat?! We all share looks of awe, Amethyst chuckles, "This is so cool!" Steven gasps. "You should go show your dad. He's gonna freak out!" Amethyst laughs, the cat meows happily.

 

~💎~

 

Steven and I run to the car wash, "Dad! We're back!" Steven shouts happily, Greg shifts in his lounge chair, grinning at us, "Hey, Stuball, Y/N." He greets. "Check it out!" Steven says, showing Greg the cat finger. Greg yelps in horror, he flings the water bottle out of his hands. It hits Steven in the head and spills water on the cat, the cat lets out a hiss of pain. "I shapeshifted my finger into a cat." Steven tells him as I pet the cat with my finger, the cat calms down, purring quietly. "Whoa!" Greg says, he lets out a nervous laugh, "Is...is that a thing you can do now? That's pretty cool." He says. "I know, right? Come on, Y/N! Let's take this show on the road!" Steven says, laughing and spinning around as he walks off. I wave goodbye to Greg and follow Steven.

 

~💎~

 

"That'll be a $1.05." Sadie says, Steven turns to me with an excited grin, "Y/N, do you have a nickel?" He asks, "Yep." I place the nickel down on the counter, "And I've got the buck!" Steven says, showing his cat finger. The cat holds the dollar in its mouth...gross. "What?!" Sadie and Lars asks in a mix of confusion, awe, and disgust from Lars. The cat meows and drops the dollar on the counter, Sadie leans in to get a better look, "Oh, Steven, that's adorable!" She says, gently petting it with her finger. The cat finger purrs, "...Are you making it purr?" Sadie asks, she pulls her finger back.

"It kinda does what it wants." Steven tells her, I pet the cat, it leans into my touch and purr. I pull away when Lars brings his finger towards it, "Really?" He scoffs, poking the cat finger. It hisses and bites Lars' finger, "YOW!" Lars yelps, glaring at Steven. The cat finger glares right back at Lars, "See what I mean? Bad cat finger!" Steven scolds "Aw, I'm sure it just wants to play." Sadie tells him. Steven gasps, "You're right. And he doesn't have any friends." He says "Oh my gosh, it's just like you, Steven." Lars mocks. "Y/N's my friend." Steven states "Right...you're friend." Lars scoffs. Steven stares at him a moment, "Yeah, my best friend." He affirms, wrapping an arm around me. 

Eh, I'm used to being friendzoned...

Steven unwraps his arm from me and turns his attention back to his cat finger. Steven sucks in a deep breath and starts moving his arms around, "Uh...what is he-" "Just trust the process..." I state. The rest of Steven's fingers on his right hand turn into cats. "Ha ha!" Steven laughs, his fingers meow happily.

 

~💎~

 

"Hey, Peedee!" 

Steven and I run up to the fry shop, Peedee walks up to the window, greeting us with a friendly smile. "Whoa, you work the deep fryer now? Congrats!" I say proudly, "Make me some fry bits!" Steven says excitedly. Peedee narrows his eyes at him, "Steven, I take my job seriously. Please use the actual menu." He says, Mr Fryman walks up. "Give me the bits! The bits!" Steven cheers, slapping his non-cat hand on the counter. "Alright, listen. It'll be over sooner if you just give them what they want." Mr Fryman tells Peedee. He sighs, but heads into the kitchen to get the fry bits.

"Whoa. Hey, hey.  It's not for us, it's for—these guys!" Steven says, proudly showing off his cat fingers. They purr and meow, "What the hell..." Mr Fryman mutters, Peedee walks up with the fry bits. "Uh, here's your...bits." Peedee stares at the cat finger with wide eyes. Steven sticks his fingers into the fry bits, they eagerly eat up the fries, "I can't...look away." Mr Fryman says "Steven, that is freakish." Peedee says. "No, it's not. It's natural. Shake. It. Out!" Steven shakes his other hand, making more cat fingers appear on his last fingers. "See?" Steven says proudly, sticking both hands in the fry bits. Peedee and Mr Fryman gasp in awe while I frown in concern, I didn't think Steven was going to let both his hands be taken over by cats. How is he going to survive without fingers? Steven stands there with a smile that tells me he didn't think this through at all. His smile shrinks a little when he sees my expression, I instinctively push back my nervousness to force a smile.

I take a deep breath, they’re just tiny little cats. It'll be fine. Maybe...

"You know who would love this? Your older brother. Yo, Ronaldo!" Mr Fryman calls out, he walks up with a box in his arms, "What's up, Dad?" He asks before gasping at the sight of Steven's fingers. Ronaldo shoves Peedee out the way and screams at the sight of Steven's cat fingers, "I gotta take a pic for 'Keep Beach City Weird'!" He says, pulling out his phone. Steven beams and holds up all 10 of his cat fingers. Ronaldo takes the picture of Steven, "Uh, what's Keep Beach City Weird?" I ask. "Oh, Y/N, you didn't." Peedee sighs tiredly while Mr Fryman walks off, "It's my blog! Keep...Beach...City...Weird!" Ronaldo explains, moving his hands as he speaks. Peedee lets out an annoyed sigh, "Can I see the picture?" Steven asks.

Ronaldo hands Steven his phone, Steven grabs it. His cat fingers begin yowling and hissing, Steven drops the phone, "Yikes! Oh, oooh. Sorry, guys. I guess cat fingers don't function well as...fingers..." He says. I silently take a deep breath

This is fine.

This will be fine. 

 

~💎~

 

Steven's fingers have been meowing and hissing ever since we left the fry shop. I hug my knees into my chest as I lay on my side on the couch. "Shh! I'm just getting a snack." Steven sighs, he lets out a scream and I lift the pillow off my face, "You sure you don't want any help, Steven?" I ask nervously "Nah, it's cool." Steven says, holding the plate with his elbows, I sigh and toss the pillow to the side, "Yeah, no, I'm helping." I say. "Hey, kiddos." Amethyst greets poking her head through the window, she stops for a second when she sees all 10 of Steven's cat fingers "Uh...do you need some help?" She asks "Y-" "Nope, we got it." Steven says immediately.

"Oh, good. See you later, then." Amethyst says "Huh?!" I ask louder than I normally would. "We're taking the Gem Sloop out to sea to fight a living island." She tells us before heading off "What?!" Steven gasps, he drops the plate before I could grab it. His cat fingers meow, he looks at me nervously, I swallow a large amount of spit, "...Amethyst, wait!" I shout. I run outside, Steven can't have these cat fingers forever. He needs to get rid of these fingers before he has to go to the bathroom!This is really getting out of hand! I stumble as I run down the stairs, Steven rushes behind me. 

"Amethyst!" I call out, earning the attention of the Gems as the Gem Sloop goes further from the shore, "Hey! You guys coming with?" Amethyst asks. "No, we need to do something about Steven's fingers!" I stress "What's wrong with Steven's fingers?" Pearl asks, frowning in concern. "Aw, they're not that bad, Y/N." He says, I grab his wrist to show Garnet and Pearl. They all gasp at the sight, Steven's cat fingers purr and rub against my skin. "What is going on?" Pearl asks, Steven yanks his hand away from me, "Uh, it's nothing! I just turned all my fingers into cats!" He says. 

Amethyst snorts at the sight, "You guys gotta help him." I beg "We can't. This is a tectonic emergency. We will deal with Steven when we get back." Garnet states "But-" "Amethyst, I blame you for this." Pearl cuts me off "Eh, that's fair." She says with a shrug, Pearl lets out an annoyed growl, "Steven! Just try to stay calm! Y/N! Keep an eye on Steven!" Pearl shouts. I clench my  fist, nervously glancing at Steven as his fingers continue to meow. "Ok...ok. Keep an eye on Steven. I can do that. I keep an eye on Steven all the time." I tell myself, turning Steven and pushing him towards the house.

"You don't have to keep an eye on me. I'm fine. I mean it." He says "Steven—" "You know what? I think my fingers are hungry. Can you get some more fry bits?" Steven asks, I stare at him with a panicked look. "Steven, Pearl literally...she told me to keep an eye on you." I sigh "Come on, you can leave me alone for a few minutes. I'll be fine. Promise!" Steven says with a wide smile. I let out a sigh, "Ok, fine. I'll be back as fast as I can. Stay...stay in the house." I tell him, he tries to get me a thumbs up, but his fingers only hiss, "...You got it." He says, his smile straining. I turn and run off as fast as a person wearing flip flops can.

 

~Author's POV~

 

Steven waits until you're out of sight to head back inside, his cat fingers meow in distress, growing louder and louder. Steven sighs bitterly, "Enough!" He says, frowning at his fingers. "It's no wonder you guys are freaking Y/N out. That's it. No more cat finger. I want Steven fingers!" Steven sighs, he pauses, "And I don't mean little me-heads on fingers. I mean my regular fingers." He states. "I got to get rid of you guys before Y/N gets back, at least then she won't be so scared of..." Steven trails off, and his cat fingers begin to meow sadly. Steven takes a deep breath, resting his hand on his forehead.

He flinches when he hears a meow on his forehead, a cat head appearing there too. "Uh..." Steven says nervously, his hold hand and lower arm morphs into a cat head. Steven lets out a scream, "Whoa! AAAH! Stop!" He shouts, shaking his arm. More and more cat heads begin appearing on his body. Steven's foot shapeshifts into a cat head, he loses his balance and falls to the floor. Steven groans, "Amethyst! Pearl! Garnet!" Steven shouts out desperately, fearful tears filling his eyes.

"...Y/N!"

 

~Y/N's POV~

 

I move in place anxious, standing in the long line at the fry shop. Why did it have to be busy now at all times?! I've already been gone for way too long, and the sun's starting to set! I'm not even allowed out by myself after sunset. I take one more look at the fry shop before suddenly getting a really really bad feeling. I step—run out of line and race home. 

"I'm sorry, Steven, but I care more about you than I care about your stupid cat fingers." I mutter, I take off my flip flops to run faster without the risk of falling. I don't think I've ever ran this fast in my life, I rush up the stairs of the beach house. "Steven! Hey, I'm...I'm sorry. The line was too long and I really didn't want to risk anything bad happening while I was..." I trail off when I see a ball of cat heads morphing and shifting chaotically. The cats let out meows of pain. "...Steven!" I shout fearfully, running over to him. "Steven, what—what happened?!" I ask "I'm sorry, Y/N...I couldn't make them go away. I just made it worse..." Steven sniffs, I can't even see him past the cat heads.

Man, times like this it would sure be nice for the Gems to actually stick around and be helpful!

What do I do? How do I fix this?

"Steven, don't apologize," I say firmly "Can...can you stand up?" Steven groans, but manages to stand, the cat heads hiss, growing large. "Ah!" I yelp, I bite the sound back, "Ok...good. Really really good. Come on. If we can't count on the Gems, there's only one person we have left."  I tell him. Steven gasps, "Dad..." He says, slowly, but surely following me out of the house. I watch him carefully, making sure he doesn't fall down the stairs. The cats' meowing gets louder, I frown deeply, "I'm sorry, Y/N," Steven winces quietly "I...I know you're scared of me right n-now. I can make it to Dad's on my own. You don't have to do this." 

I look at him with wide eyes, "Don't be stupid, Steven,"  I immediately say with a harsh tone, I quickly soften it, but still keep it firm enough to get my point across, "I'm not scared of you, it's hard to be scared of you—I've never been scared of you. I don't think could ever be scared of you. I'm scared for you, which makes a lot of sense considering I'm always scared on your behalf because I care about you a lot and I don't want anything to happen to you. And then stuff like this happens, and I never know what to do or how to help. I then I feel like...I dunno, an awful friend, like I don't deserve to be your friend—wait why am I talking about this?" I sigh, cutting off my own rambling. I glance at Steven, the meowing had stopped, the cat heads simply look at me silently, "...Steven? Are you still there?" I ask nervously.

"Yes..." He says, my eyes light up at the sight of the car wash, "There it is! Come on, Steven!" I urge, running towards the car wash. "Greg! Greg!" I shout, he pulls off his headphones, "Oh, hey, Y/N. You're not supposed to be out this late alone." He says, tilting his head in concern. "I'm not—look, Greg, you've gotta help Steven!" I tell him desperately. Greg frowns in concern, "What's going on?" He asks. Steven crawls out of the shadows, the cat heads were growing larger and they kept moving. Greg screams, spraying Steven with the hose, the cat hiss, but disappears a bit to show Steven was still there. Honestly, if I didn't know what was going on, I would never believe that this ball of cats is Steven.

"Stop! Stop! It's Steven!" I tell him, Greg jerks the hose away from Steven and look at me with wide eyes "What...?" He asks, taking a good look at him, "Dad!" Steven cries out with teary eyes. "Steven?!" Greg gasp "Dad—help!" Steven cries, the cats start forming again all over. "Y/N, what is happening?!" Greg asks "That cat fingers are taking over his body!" I explain quickly. "Please! You gotta help him. The Gems are gone and I don't know what to do!" I stress, my own eyes tearing up, Greg looks back and forth between me and Steven in a panic. "Ok, ok. Hold on, I'll get you out of there!" Greg says. 

He tries to pull the cats off of Steven, one of Steven's cat arms bites Greg and throws him. "Ah! No!" Steven shouts, moving...but I'm not really sure if he's the one moving at this point, "Bad! Bad cat fingers!" Steven scolds before he steps in a puddle, the cats hiss and Steven leaps onto the top of the car wash. "Can't you make them go away?" Greg asks him "I don't think he can..." I say nervously, watching Steven as the cats grow even larger than before. Greg covers his mouth, all we can do is watch Steven in horror as he becomes less Steven-like and more deformed cat monster-like, "I tried, but it made it worse. Oooh, my life is over. I can't go on magic adventures. I can't even open the fridge. I'll never get to marry Y/N. And I'll never get have another water with you, Dad, 'cause these things hate—" Steven cuts himself off with a gasp "Water! They hate water. Dad, spray me again! Y/N, get the other hose!" Steven says, I quickly pick up the second hose and Greg and I start spraying Steven with water.

The cats hiss  and meow angrily, morphing to charge directly at us. Greg screams while I spray the water in their faces. The cats don't get any closer, we glance at Steven to see him clinging onto the carwash, "It's not enough water!" Steven grunts, "Turn on the Superwash!" He shouts "What?! Steven, that's insane!" I shout. "No, I won't do it. Y/N's right, it's too dangerous." Greg agrees, the cat start surrounding Steven again. "You've got too! I'm a monster! I'm an adorable cat monster!" Steven cries, "No, you're not! You're my son!" Greg shouts. "Dad! Please!" Steven screams out, the cats are almost the size of the carwash. I look to Greg for guidance, but he's looking at me with the same expression.

I frown in determination, "Start the Superwash. I'll get him in there." I state, Greg nods. "Steven! Steven, come on. Can you walk—um, crawl still?" I ask, Steven manages to somehow follow me inside the carwash, I flinch at the sound of the buzzer, but keep guiding Steven through the car carwash. "Y/N, don't go...any further." Steven tells me "But-" "No. I have to do this, but you don't. Wait for me on the other side. I'm not going any further until you leave." He says firmly through winces of pain. I hesitate, but join Greg outside.

We watch from the carwash windows as Steven through the whole Superwash cycle. I race to the end of the carwash, Greg grabs the hose and follows me. Steven lays on the floor, he's tired, but all the cats are gone. Greg and I both sigh in relief, "Guys...we did it." Steven says, he sits up and reaches a hand towards us, a single cat finger meows happily. We all scream, Greg sprays Steven's finger. The cat disappears, and the three of us try to calm our breathing...

 

~💎~

 

I hug my pillow close to my chest, staring at the glow in the darks stars on the ceiling. "...Steven?" I call out quietly, I can hear him shifting below me, "Mm, yeah?" He asks. I lean off my bunk to look at him, we stare at each other for a moment in the darkness, "Are you ok?" Steven asks, I push myself to lay back in my bunk, "That's sorta what I wanted to ask you. Everything about today was pretty messed up..." I sigh, hugging my pillow tighter.

I can still hear his screams and the pain in his voice…

"Aw, I'm sorry-"

"I don’t want an apology. I just want the truth. Are you ok?"

Steven's quiet for a few minutes, he lets out a sigh. "Hey...you know what we haven't done in a while? Built a pillow fort." He says with a more hopeful tone, I frown for a second, leaning over to look at him again, "Please." He tilts his head and smile gently. "...Yeah, it has been a while. Hopefully I'm not too rusty." I say softly, climbing down the ladder. Steven perks up and climbs out of his bunk. We roam the house, grabbing blankets and pillow and throwing them into a pile in the middle of the living room, "Think this is enough?" I ask. "I think...we can go bigger. Let's get the pillows from our beds too." He says, already heading over to our bunk beds. Steven grabs the pillows while I drag the blankets and we throw them in the pile. 

There wasn't anything that really needed to be said at this point, we get to work. Steven flattens blankets while I use the couch cushions to build a stable wall. And after a few minutes, our fort is perfect. I glance out the window, it was already late before, there's no telling what time it is now. I rub my eyes tiredly and Steven lets out a yawn, "Alright, I think that's good. Now, all we gotta do is sleep in it." He says. We climb into the pillow fort, I rest my head on my pillow, listening to Steven's sharp breathing as I shut my eyes...

 

~Author's POV~

 

Steven lays on his back, no longer forcing a smile. He lets out an exhausted sigh as he stares at the ceiling with a distant gaze. Everything that happened today starts to truly sink it, Steven lifts up a hand to look at his fingers. He wiggles them, appreciating his hand in their normal form. Steven's distant gaze drifts away from his hand and onto you. You had finally fallen asleep, he knows it. Your hand stopped gripping your pillow so tightly, now you were relaxed. 

He only gets to see you genuinely relaxed when you're asleep...

Is it his fault?

He's the only person that's constantly around you. And you did say you're always worried about him.

But...he's always worried about you too. That's not bad, it just means you care about each other. Steven sighs deeply, pulling the large blanket. He tosses half of it on top of you and takes the other half. He glances at you again, it's good that you care so much about each other. He could've had to be all alone after all that happened. 

Steven never has to worry about that.

He's not alone. 

He'll never be alone with you around.

Steven sighs against, but this time it's more soft and relaxed. The last thing he sees is you as he shuts his eyes and mutters...

"...I'm glad you're here, Y/N." 

He really should tell you that more often.

Chapter 7: Episode 7: Bubble Buddies

I hum a little tune to myself as I carefully walk alongside the shore, there's been a lot of random earthquakes lately. And I don't want to risk falling on any potential sea turtle eggs, I let out a disappointed sigh, "Sure. We can have magic monster attacks like every week, I can't find and normal sea turtle eggs?" I grumble to myself. I pause, feeling another presence close by. I spot a girl sitting by the rocks, silently reading her book.

She hasn't noticed me yet...

Wait a second...it's her!

My eyes widen and I quickly turn to leave, but something tightly latches onto my leg, causing me to smack face first into the sand. I let out a cry of disgust, spitting out sand. My eyes dart over to the girl, she's not reading her book anymore...now she's looking right at me. My face burns in embarrassment, I feel whatever's wrapped around my leg trying to pull me into the sand. I pull my leg away, I glance at the vine sticking in out the sand...it still has my flip flop...both the girl and I wordless watch it disappear into the sand. 

Ah, whatever, I didn't like it that much anyway. 

I jump to my feet and book it towards the house. I let out a heavy sigh of relief once I make it inside, only to see Steven and the Gems all staring me down. "...Oh no." I mutter knowingly, "Y/N, who were you talking to?" Pearl asks with a smile "Huh? I-I was talking to someone?" I ask awkwardly, Garnet places a hand on top of my head, I look up at her. "That girl." She states "Oh...her? I wasn't talking to her." I state, Amethyst laughs loudly, "Yeah, you fell flat on your face before you even had the chance." She snorts. "Amethyst!" Pearl scolds, Steven looks at me with stars in his eyes, "Y/N! This is perfect!" He says "It is?" I ask "Yes! You finally have a second chance!" Steven tells me excitedly.

He scrambles into the kitchen and pulls out the glow bracelet that's been in there since last year. "A second chance?" Pearl asks, raising an eyebrow, Steven turns to her "Yeah, last year a girl dropped her bracelet. Y/N found it and wanted to give it back to her but-" "She was too much of a big chicken?" Amethyst asks "Hey!" I huff. "It doesn't matter what happened back then. Now you have a chance!" Steven says confidently, he hands me the bracelet. "To...give her the bracelet back?" I ask "And to make a new friend!" He says.

"Steven, she might not even remember this bracelet. I don't even know why we kept it this long." I sigh, Amethyst grabs my my, "Aw, it's because you really wanna be friends with this girl! Oh ho ho, our precious baby Y/N is growing up! Our little butterfly is finally spreading her wings and being social!" She cries dramatically, I huff and squirm out of her hold. "Oh! Let's set up a playdate! I'll write up an invitation and work out a schedule. Ooh, we'll have to find out her favorite kind of tea." Pearl says eagerly. 

"No," Garnet speaks up, I look up at her "Just talk to her. It'll be good for you to make a new friend. You can rely on Steven forever." "...I can't?" I ask "Nope." Garnet says. "I...reject that statement, but fine. I'll go back out there, give her back her bracelet, and get my shoe back, but you guys can't watch this time. It's weird. And Steven's coming with me." I state, shoving the bracelet into my pocket. "We won't watch." Garnet says, adjusting her shades. "Alright! Come on, Y/N." Steven says, dragging me outside, I frown nervously as we get closer to her, "What am I even supposed to say? 'Hey, girl I've never actually met, here's the bracelet you lost like a year a go. Why do I still have this? I dunno, I have issues.'?" I ask "Aw, I don't think you need to say all that. It's really easy! Just start with your name. 'Hi, my name is Y/N.'." He tells me "Hi, my name is Y/N..." I repeat.

"Yeah! You got this!" He says, patting my gently and nudging me to keep moving. I glance at the ground, at least the sand didn't end up eating my flip flop. I quickly put it back on and move towards the girl, she was back to reading her book like nothing ever happened. "Hi!" I squeak out, the girl flinches while I wince at my tone. What is wrong with me? I reach to pull out the bracelet, "Hi. Uh, my name is...um, not important. I...we just wanted to-" The 

The ground shakes violently, I yelp and try to steady myself. I hear Steven gasp behind me before his arms wrap around me and there's a sudden pink glow. A pink bubble forms around me, Steven and the girl. "Whoa...how did I do that?" Steven asks, looking at the bubble in awe. The girl stares at us with wide eyes, "Hi! My name is Y/N. This guy's Steven." I greet, smiling nervously. "...Connie." She says as she fixes her glasses. Connie stares at us with wide eyes, "What...happened?" She asks. "Oh, uh—" "We're magic." Steven answers for me "Well...we're half magic. Our moms were magical besties, and now we're half magical besties." He adds.

"So, you guys did this?" Connie asks "Steven did. If it's pink, then it's Steven—wait, since when can you do this?" I ask, looking back at him. "Uh, I dunno, the rocks were going to fall on you...so, I just did it." He says with a shrug. Steven looks at Connie with a friendly grin, "We're members of the Crystal Gems. We fight monster and protect humanity and stuff." He states "Oh, that's kinda of like my dad. He's a cop," Connie says, she frowns slightly "Well, more like a private security guard."  She look at us, Connie shuffles awkwardly. "So, how long does it usually last?" She asks. "Oh, right." Steven says, he grunts, trying to make the bubble disappear. "Is...is he ok?" Connie asks, I nod slowly, "Yeah. He's fine. This is kinda a new power. So, it's gonna to take a lot for him to make it disappear." I say, "...Oh." Connie says. I look away from her awkwardly.

Yep, this a great result for me trying to make a new friend.

I basically got the poor girl kidnapped!

"It...uh...doesn't seem to want to go away." Steven says with a nervous smile. Connie frowns, Steven tries to push the bubble to move, I immediately go over to help him. I glance at Connie, "So...you're not around that often." I say curiously, she joins us in pushing the bubble, "My dad works for a bunch of different beaches, so we're never in the same place long." She says. "We go on adventures with the Gems sometimes. They usually say it's too dangerous for us, though." Steven says "And it usually is." I add, nearly falling over when the bubble starts to move, "Y/N said that this was new...so I'm guessing this doesn't always happen." Connie states.

It's weird, it's like we're trying to push through plastic or something.

"No, I don't know what this is, but it's ok. The Gems will know what to do." Steven says confidently, Connie nods and the three of us start rolling the bubble up to the beach house. The ball rolls back when we reach the hill, "Aw, what?" Steven mutters, Steven and I try to push again, but it doesn't work. "Hey! Guys!" He shouts "Garnet, help!" I shout. "I don't think they can hear you." Connie states, I let out a frustrated sigh, "Of course they can't. I told them not to watch." I groan, slapping a hand over my face. "We can just wait here until they come out." Connie suggests "There's no telling how long that'll take. They've been gone for a whole week before..."  I state. Connie expressions shifts into a fearful one, Steven nudging me a little. "No, no, no. It's ok. We've got other friends that can help." He says.

~💎~

Lars laughs loudly while Sadie repeatedly hits Steven's bubble with a hammer. "Way to go, Steven! Not only did you trap Y/N in your magic love bubble, but you trapped an innocent bystander too! There are better ways to get a girlfriend, you know!" He mocks, pressing his face against the bubble. Connie stares at him, "That's Lars, we're basically BFFs." Steven tells her "He makes weird faces..." Connie says. We all watch Lars poke his lips out and lick all over the bubble, "Yeah, that's just how he is." I say.

"Lars, quiet being a jerk and help!" Sadie sighs "What? I am helping. Steven obviously doesn't know how to woo a lady." Lars snorts "Oh, and you do?" Sadie scoffs. The two of them start to argue, "Lars and Sadie run The Big Donut." Steven says "Do they get along?" Connie asks. Sadie starts shoving Lars while they shout, "...They're crazy about each other. Y/N thinks they're gonna get married." Steven says. "You do?" Connie shoots me a curious look. "Yeah, I read it in a book once, they start off fighting, and then next thing you know, they're married with 2 kids and a dog." I say with a shrug. Connie's eyes light up slightly, and she suddenly seems way more excited than before, "You read? What do you—"

"Ugh! I'm gonna go try something else!"

Sadie storms inside The Big Donut, "Anyway, this place has the best donuts. We come here like every day." Steven says "My parents don't let me eat donuts. They have trans fats." Connie states "WHAAAAT?!" Steven and I shout. "You've never had a donut? Like ever?!" I ask, Connie shakes her head. "I think this might be the first time in my life that I'm actually happy I don't have parents..." I say. "You...don't have parents?" Connie asks "Biological parents? No, my mom gave up her body to have me and my dad is...I have no idea what happened to my dad." I tell her. Connie frowns sympathetically, Steven quickly chimes in, "But it's fine cause she's got Garnet!" He states. "Garnet...?" Connie asks "She was my mom's bestest friend—well...if we don't count Steven's mom." I state, Connie looks at me...sympathetically. I rub the back of my neck awkwardly.

Is my family situation really that bad?

Sadie lets out a battle cry, throwing a chair against the bubble. The chair instantly shatters, we all share shocked expressions before I let out a nervous chuckle, "I think I have another idea." I state.

~💎~

Steven, Connie, and I roll down the boardwalk, being extra careful to not run over any people or seagulls. "A...fry shop?" Connie asks once we come to a stop, "Peedee's smart, I'm sure he'll have some idea how to help us." I say. "Oh, yeah!" Steven laughs in agreement, "Peedee! Hey, Peedee!" He shouts out with an eager grin. "Guys, I'm kind of busy cleaning today. I really don't—" Peedee trails off when he sees the three of us.

"Uh..." He mutters, his eyes widen for a split second, Peedee drops his mops and joins us outside, "How?" Is all he managed to get out. "It's a long story." Steven chuckles "No, it's not. Some rocks fell and Steven formed this bubble to protect us." I say. Peedee taps the bubble with a distracted look, "Um, so who's your friend? I'm used to you two getting into weird stuff alone." He asks "This is Connie!" Steven says happily, she politely waves. Huh, she kinda reminds me a Pearl. "I've seen you before. I think." Connie says, Peedee's eyes light up, "Oh! Yeah. Yeah! We went to school together up until...2nd grade." He tells her "Yeah, that's right around the time we moved out of that district." She sighs with a bitter tone. "Wow, so you guys are friends?!" Steven asks, looking back and forth between them.

"No."
"I wish."

Connie shoots Peedee a surprise look, "Uh, I mean..." Peedee fidgets nervously. It's the first time I've seen him act like this...and some magic mess isn't the cause. "Hey, Peedee...is there any way you can help us pop this thing? We're kinda stuck." I say, Peedee takes a deep breath, "Sure. Sure. Hang on a second." He says, heading back inside. Connie watches him, she looks down with an upset expression, "Are you...ok?" I ask carefully. "Fine. I'm just...starting to feel a little claustrophobic in here." She says, hugging herself.

Peedee returns back outside, carefully holding a large kitchen knife, "This is Old Faithful," He says as he gets closer "Dad says it can cut anything. So, maybe..." Peedee stabs the bubble with the knife. We all flinch at the horrible sound of metal bending, Peedee looks at the knife before letting out a horrified squeal. "No! Not Old Faithful! Dad loves this thing more than me!" He shrieks. Connie, Steven and I share tense looks while Peedee stares at the bent knife, Steven starts pushing the bubble off in another direction, "Well, uh...we'll see you later." He says awkwardly before we roll off.

~💎~

"Whoa! A trawler! And a little skipjack." Connie says, looking around the dock with an amazed smile, "You know a lot about boat." Steven says, Connie turns to him, "Yeah. That's what happened when you hang out at the beach and don't swim and don't have any friends." She says, her smile becoming strain. Steven's smile drops while I look at Connie in concern, she chuckles nervously, "...You look at boats." She says.

Onion walks past us, chewing on some popcorn, "Oh! Hey! Onion! Onion!" Steven shouts, Onion stops in his tracks. He waves happily at us, "We need a harpoon gun." Steven tells him "What?!" Connie and I ask. "To pop the bubble." Steven says "Steven, if a knife couldn't pop this thing-" "A harpoon is a lot stronger than a kitchen knife." Steven tells me "Can't we just go back to your house?" Connie asks nervously, I mirror her expression, Steven shoots us a confident grin, "It's ok. Me and Y/N are Gems," He states before turning back to Onion "Onion, we need a harpoon gun. Haaaaaarpooooon guuuuuuun." Steven speaks louder. "That's odd, everyone else had no trouble hearing us..." Connie says "No, this is how we talk to Onion even when we're not trapped in a bubble. He not really known for his listening skills." I say with a shrug.

Onion continues to happily munch on his popcorn, Steven lets out a sigh and blows a good puff of air. He draws a harpoon gun on the bubble, Onion counties to watch us. Steven facepalms and sighs, "Let me try." Connie says, she puffs air on the bubble and manages to perfectly write "harpoon gun" backwards. Onion gives us a thumbs up before running off, Steven and I look at Connie in awe. "It just made more sense." She says with a shrug. A ship horn blows loudly, Onion's already at the harpoon, ready to fire without warning. We yelp, ducking as far as we could to the side in the bubble. Connie was on one side while Steven and I were on the other. Onion fires the harpoon gun.

The harpoon bounces off the bubble and crashes into a trawler. It sinks, Onion gives us another thumbs up, "The trawler..." Connie sighs sadly as we watch it sink. "Uh...anymore ideas?" I ask Steven, a grin slowly forms on his face.

~💎~

The three of us roll to FunLand, "FunLand?" Connie asks "Yeah, tons of horrible accidents happen here every day. There's go to be something to break this bubble." Steven explains, "Um..." Connie says with a frown. "We just gotta find the right ride." Steven adds. I glance up the roller coaster above us. "Yeah! The kiddie coaster!" Steven cheer, rolling towards the stairs, Connie and I help, but our nervous expressions don't disappear.

"Alright, we just roll down this ramp as the carts are coming at us, and the crash will break us free." Steven explains with a wide grin "What happens after the bubble pops?" Connie ask. "We'll be free." Steven repeats with the same grin, "Steven, this is a really really bad idea." I tell him, placing my hand on his shoulder. Steven pouts slightly, the ground begins to shake. Steven takes the opportunity to roll onto the track anyway, "This will work!" He shouts, we all scream loudly as we roll down the track—only to get hit by the actual coaster and get pushed in the other direction. I'm pretty sure none of us are standing right now.

The bubble doesn't pop, it ends up getting launched off the track. And we land into the ocean, my stomach drops when we hit the sea floor. "Where are we...?" Connie asks, Steven hand Connie her glasses that were knocked off her face. "The bottom of the ocean..." I state, Connie gasps loudly, "It's ok!" Steven quickly says. "Are we even close to the shore?" Connie asks, I open my mouth to tell her the truth—Steven quickly covers it, "Yeah. Sure!" He tells her. Connie lets out a shaky breath, standing up. Steven helps me stand up, "Let's start rolling." Connie says, she adjusts her glasses and we start rolling.

Where are we even going?

"It's a good thing this bubble is airtight. Otherwise, we'd be drowning down right now." Steven chuckles nervously, Connie expression becomes horrified and I probably look just like her, Steven stops chuckling when he sees our expressions, "Don't worry. I have an idea that'll definitely work. When we get back—" Connie lets out a shaky scream, cutting Steven off. We all look up to see a— "A huge worm!" Steven gasps, Connie covers her eyes fearfully. "Aw, it's ok, Connie," I tell her "Look. I think it only wants to get that glowing stuff." "Yeah! It's not scary at all." Steven says

The worm lets out a loud roar before it dives into the ground, the ground breaks and a large crack forms under us. The bubble falls through the ground, now we're even deeper than before. And now it's super dark. I grunt, landing on top of Steven, I roll off of him and groan. "Oh! Sorry!" Steven says, he takes his foot off Connie's face. "Are you guys ok?" Steven asks "We are going to die here..." I mutter, tugging the sides of my hair, Connie stands up wordlessly. Steven gently pats my back, "It's not so bad," He says, Steven takes a look around "Uh...it's—it's ok. It's—" "It's not ok!" Connie shouts.

Steven and I look at her with wide eyes, "You keep saying that, but you two don't know what you're doing! Now we're going to suffocate or starve at the bottom of the ocean, and only my parents will notice, because no one else cares about me!" Connie shouts, tears forming in her eyes, "Huh...?" Steven gasps quietly. Connie continues, "I'm gonna disappear without ever making single friend." She breaks down into a fit of sobs. I glance over at Steven, he frowns at Connie sadly. I take a deep breath and approach her, pulling out her glow bracelet. The bubble lights up with a pink glow.

Connie pulls her face out her hands, "We want to be your friends," I tell her, she stares at us in disbelief "We saw you at the Boardwalk Parade last year. You dropped your bracelet. And...well, I picked it up, but I kinda suck at talking to new people. So, I waited too late and by the time I got the courage to approach you, we couldn't find you anymore." "We saved it in the freezer so it would last longer, in case we ever saw you again." Steven says. Connie's eyes light up in recognition, "Oh! You were those kids on the car wash float. You guys had soap bubbles in your hair." She says with a slight laugh in her tone. I chuckle and rub the back of my neck, "We were supposed to be scrub brushes." Steven says with a nostalgic grin.

The three of us chuckle, I sigh and give Connie her bracelet. She takes it and places it around her wrist, "I'm really sorry, Connie. I hadn't been a big chicken and returned your bracelet back then, you wouldn't be stuck in this bubble with us now." I state "No, it's ok. I'm having fun." Connie says, I look at her in disbelief. "You are?" I ask, she chuckles, "I am." She reaffirms. I let out a sigh of relief, letting my shoulder relax as my head leans against Steven's shoulder.

The bubble protecting us from the water around us pops.

Water surrounds us, I cover my mouth in hopes of not drowning. Steven grabs my hand and grabs Connie's arm, the three of us swim to the surface. Connie and I cough, sucking in as much air as we can. Steven starts to laugh—before the worm from before launches to the surface with us. The force of it causes a wave that throws us back onto the shore. The worm screeches loudly, Connie jumps to her feet and pulls me and Steven with her, "Come on! Come on!" She shout. We break out into a run, "Hide in the rocks!" Connie says, splitting away from us.

I stop in my tracks when the worm instantly start following her, Connie lets out a scream, "Ah, why is it chasing us?!" I ask, Steven lets out a gasp, "The bracelet. It is being stuff!" He states. I look at him with wide eyes before my attention snaps to Connie, "Connie!" I shout, running over to her with Steven following closely behind me. We quickly join Connie as she runes away from the worm, "Give me the bracelet!" I say quickly "What?!" Connie asks, I take it off her wrist. "It's ok!" Steven tells her, "Steven, take Connie the other way!" I say "What? But what about you?" Steven asks. "Just go! Run that way!" I stress, shoving Steven into the other direction. He bumps into Connie, Steven grabs her arm and pulls her away.

Man it feels good to be a hero for once and save my friends.

The worm screech loudly behind me, I let out a scream, running even faster.

Shoot, now who's going to save me?

I run underneath the docks, running through and around the support beams. The worm starts to get tangled in the beams, "Y/N! Run this way!" Steven shouts. I glance over to him and Connie, Steven waves his arms in the air. I turn and run over to them, Steven wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer. The worm gets completely tied into a knot, we all stare at it in horror as it jerks around angrily.

The dock crashes on top of the worm. It disappears in a puff of smoke...

"Steven! Y/N!"

Of course they show up now.

The Gems run up to us, "Y/N, Steven? What's going on? What did you do?" Pearl asks. "That was incredible!" Connie says excitedly "Wait, seriously? You mean it?" Steven asks. Connie nods happily, I wiggle out of Steven's arms and hand her back the glow bracelet, "Here's your bracelet...again." I tell her "Thanks." Connie says while Garnet heads over to check the damage. "So, you're Steven and Y/N's new friend? Pearl asks, she chuckles, "Y/N was so excited to meet you~" "Pearl!" I say quickly, my face burns in embarrassment. Amethyst snickers, Connie smiles at this both politely and awkwardly. 

Connie glances at me, and suddenly I wish I was being pulled into the sand again...

 

Chapter 8: Serious Steven

~(2 Weeks Ago)~

I tremble anxiously in Garnets arm as I look around Funland.

What...happened?

What is happening?!

All the tea cups were scattered around the area, my ears are ringing and my gem feel like it's buzzing. I flinch when Garnet starts to gently pat the back of my head, "Y/N. It's alright." She says.

"B-but-"
"Breathe. Just breathe..."

~Now~

I fidget with my hands anxiously as the Gems, Steven, and I travel through the Warp Pad, "Pay attention, you two, this is going to be your first serious mission. You need to be ready." Garnet says with a serious tone. "Yes! We're ready! We're so ready!" Steven says eagerly, he's been hyped for this mission ever since he found out we were tagging alone. My tense expression loosens at the sight of Steven floating upside down around, I giggle at him. Pearl lets out a sigh and grabs Steven, "Steven, come on. You're going to make yourself sick." She warns before getting hit in the face with Steven's ukulele. "Why did you bring that?" Pearl asks with a groan.

"I dunno! I was excited and it's mine and it always cheers Y/N up and I like it!" Steven tells her, his ukulele floats off of him. We watch it float up higher and higher, Steven gasps and swims through the air after it, "Steven! Get back here! You could get seriously hurt—" Pearl's cut off by the Warp Pad coming to a stop, the four of us are standing safely on the Warp Pad. My eyes widen at the sight of Steven falling, "Quick, Y/N! Grow something that'll break his fall!" Amethyst says, nudging my shoulder "I-I don't know how to do that!" I say "You're surrounded with plants. Just get creative!" Amethyst grabs me by my shoulders and starts to shake. "Enough." Garnet says, Amethyst lets go of me and sighs. Steven ends up landing on a giant strawberry, we quickly head over to him, "Steven, are you—" "I'm fine! I'm good. I'm just gooey!" Steven says, he starts licking the strawberry off his arm. 

I still frown in concern, I don't know how to use my powers. I never knew how to use my power...so what happened at the—

A swarm of...something surrounds me, covering my vision. I let out a startled scream "FLYING MONSTERS!", I drop to my knees and try to get whatever it was off of me. "AH! AAAAAH, THEY'RE IN MY EYES! AAAAAAH!" I can hear Steven scream too over my own screams and the whispers...at least I'm not getting attacked alone. Steven knocks into me and we both get covered in strawberry juices. "They're just butterflies." Garnet says, she waves them away. Steven and I look up at her, my cheeks feel warm from embarrassment...Steven chuckles awkwardly, he grabs my hand and pulls me up. "Uh, well, they looked a lot bigger when they were on our eyeballs." He states, Amethyst snickers, "You dorks are a riot." She says.

"...I'm suddenly having second thoughts about bringing Y/N and Steven on this one. Y/N's powers have already been acting a little-" Garnet places a hand on Pearl's shoulder, shushing her. "Just look at them." Garnet says, they both look at us. Steven crosses his arms with a confident smirk, I wave awkwardly. Garnet ruffles my hair and keeps moving, "Now, let's go recover the gemstone." She says.

The rest of us follow after her, "Unbelievable," Pearl says, looking around "This was once Gem battlefield. Now it's wild strawberries as far as the eye can see. Oh, that's what I love about the earth!" Amethyst rolls her eyes at Pearl's happy twirl. "Maybe this will be a light mission after all. Y/N, maybe you should collect some strawberry for your little garden." She chuckles before walking into Garnet. We look up at a...upside down pyramid? "Maybe not." Garnet says, she makes a smaller pyramid appear and place it in a square hole. A door opens, "Whoa!" Steven gasps in awe, the Gems head inside.

Steven grabs my hand and tugs me to follow him, he looks back at me with a toothy grin. "WHOA!" He gasps once we're inside. I look at all the drawing all the wall...that one look like Steven's mom... "Steven and Y/N are the best!" Steven shouts out, his words echo back to us. I snicker, "Why thank you, temple~" I say while Steven giggles beside me, "You two are doofs." Amethyst snorts. I split away from Steven and step closer to the wall, beside the drawing of Rose was a drawing of Mom. At least, I think it's her, the drawing is of a woman surrounded with plants...

I look at the rest of the drawings curiously, "Hey, what's this thing? It's like a cool floaty triangle thing." Steven says. "W...whatever it is,  you probably shouldn't touch it." Pearl states before the ground immediately starts shaking violently. Small pieces of rubble start to fall, Garnet walks over to Steven and the floaty triangle. Amethyst and Pearl rush over too, "Steven! What have we told you about touching magical things?" Pearl asks "Definitely always...never do it." Steven says, fidgeting with his fingers. The five of us are yanked away from the floor, we all let out surprised screams. I wrap my arms around my legs and curl into a nice...hopefully safe ball.

We go through a weird tunnel...hole...thing. The Gems land perfectly while Steven and I slam into the groan. The ball wasn't safe, my butt hurts. Garnet lets out a gasp when the hole above us shuts, torches light around the room. "Looks like we're gonna have to split up." Amethyst says "Right. Steven, Y/N, and I will stay right here where it seems to be safe while you guys go and solve the mystery of this place." Pearl says "I'm fine with that..." I sigh "Wait. I wanna help solve the mystery! Come on, Y/N, don't you? It'll be like all those books Connie lent you. We could be...uh..." Steven trails off, frowning in thought. "Like detectives?" I ask, Steven grins, "Yeah! Like detectives!" He says. "Yeah. Come on, kiddos. Let's solve the mystery." Amethyst says, she grabs me and carries me towards one of the many doors in the room. "Yeah! Mystery solvers!" Steven cheers, following us.

Pearl grabs me and pulls Steven away from Amethyst, "Nope. No, no, no, no, no. You three are a disaster waiting to happen." She says, patting Steven's head. "Steven and Y/N go with me." Garnet states, everyone looks at her "Really?" I ask, an excited smile starting to form "Awesome!" Steven cheers. "But remember, this is a serious mission." Garnet says "Understood." Steven says, I nod in agreement. Steven frowns seriously, pressing two fingers against his head "Serious Steven and Y/N..." He stops when he realizes Pearl was still holding me. "Pearl, can you put Y/N down?" Steven asks "What? Oh, yes. Of course." Pearl says, she gently places me on my feet. "She needs to be by my side or else it doesn't work." Steven explains. He then quickly takes my hand in his, "Serious Steven and Y/N....ACTIVATE!" He shouts, raising are link hands into the air. Steven starts walking in the direction of one of the doors, Garnet and I follow behind.

"But this could be the teacups all over again."

I tense, frowning deeply at that. Steven quickly turns around, "Hey! We're putting that behind us." He says sternly. We continue walking, "🎵Well, we're on a magic treasure hunt for some magic treasure junk. Something, something, magic something!🎵"  Steven sings happily as we walk. We enter an empty room, this seems ok. The door shuts behind us and bars appear in front of it too...

Never mind, this is not ok.

I want to go home...

A few of the squares on the floor begin to glow, "We need to stay on the glowing panels." Garnet tells us. "Right. Serious Steven...go!" Steven shouts, he hopes from square to square with ease. I do the same, it's just like hopscotch. Steven reaches the door before me and Garnet, "Oh yeah!" He cheers proudly, Steven starts to do an excited dance, but ends up losing his balance when the temple starts shaking again. Steven falls, hitting one of the nonglowing squares. The whole room glows red and the squares begin to fall into A FIERY PIT! My eyes widen fearfully as the squares around me start to fall, the square I was standing on begins to shake, I swallow fearfully.

"Y/N!" Steven and Garnet shout when my square falls, I let a fearful scream, shutting my eyes. Garnet quickly grabs me, I open my eyes. Garnet wasn't even standing on a square, her feet were stabbed into the side of one. Steven gasps in awe, "Garnet! That was...uh, seriously dangerous. Thank you, Garnet for saving a fellow value member of the Crystal--Y/N's hair is on fire!" He says, "It's what?!" I gasp in a panic, Garnet pulls me away from the fire pit and grabs Steven. She hops over to the door and we leave the room.

I quickly pat the flame out of my hair, letting out a shaky sigh of relief when it finally goes out. Steven shoots me a concern smile, the door slams behind us, I let out a startled yelp, jumping away from the door. The room starts to shake again, I cover my ears, letting out an overwhelmed noise. Steven carefully places a hand on my shoulder, I flinch slightly, "We can take a break if you're not feeling well, Y/N." Garnet says. "Huh? Uh, oh, no. I...I'm ok. I can keep going." I tell her, forcing a confident smile and leaning my hand against the wall. I've already messed up in front of her once, I don't need to do it again...

My hand sinks into the wall...like there was a button there, I glance at the spiky image I pressed. "Oh no..." I mutter "Huh, there must be a lot of triangles hidden somewhere in this room." Steven says, spikes appear in the ceiling, "RUN!" Garnet shouts. We scream, running towards the exit, spikes slam down in front of us, ripping Steven's shirt and the strap for his ukulele. Garnet forms her gauntlets, I watch her hold back the spikes with a fearfully expression, "Oh! My ukulele!" Steven gasps, I glance at him. Steven tunes his ukulele with a focused expression.

"Steven!"

We both look at Garnet, "Now is probably not the best time for that." She says "Oh! Uh, right!" Steven says, he grabs my arm and we run to the door. I look back at Garnet nervously. She cartwheel past the spikes, "Now, that was a pretty close one." She says, Steven chuckles and the door opens. "Yeah, that was a pretty...close one..." Steven trails off, I look around the next room with wide eyes. I let out a fearful squeal, seeing all the spikes, and lava, and fire, and possible ways I could--no, I will die in here. Garnet glances at us.

"Get ready, this is going to be intense." 

My eyes widen even more...

~(2 Weeks Ago)~

"Get ready, this is going to be intense."

"We're ready!" Steven says eagerly "Yeah!" I say, staring up at the teacup ride as the line moves forward. Garnet, Steven, and I climb into one teacup together while Pearl and Amethyst ride in the other.

I hold onto the railing as the ride starts, "This is fun." Garnet says, Steven laughs happily, "Yeah!" He cheers. I shut my eyes, trying my best to ignore that weird dizzying feeling.  It's not everyday I get to hang out with Garnet...especially not at a place like this. I will not ruin this. My body twitches and my shoulder burns. The rides comes to a sudden stop, everyone yelps, "Huh? What happened?" Steven asks, my grip on the railing tightens. A thick vine shoots out from the ground, causing everyone to let out startled screams as it crashes into the ride.  Teacup goes flying off the ride, Garnet grabs me and Steven, tighten her grip around us.

Our teacup crashes into the ground, leaving a huge crack. Mr Smiley lets out a startled yelp, he looks at the ride in horror as teacup continues to hit the ground and more and more vines start growing. My eyes widen fearfully, "Y/N!" Garnet says, Steven and I look at her. "You need to calm down!" She urges, "What?! Why do I...how am I supposed to-"

I tremble anxiously in Garnets arm as I look around Funland.

What...happened?

What is happening?!

All the tea cups were scattered around the area, my ears are ringing and my gem feel like it's buzzing. I flinch when Garnet starts to gently pat the back of my head, "Y/N. It's alright." She says.

"B-but-"
"Breathe. Just breathe..."

~Now~

I blink, snapping back to reality. I look at the exit door with wide eyes, "We...didn't die?" I ask "I carried you while you had a panic attack." Garnet states, she gently places me down beside Steven. His grin was completely gone, he stares at me with a concerned look. "Panic attack...?" I mutter in confusion as we leave the room. "It's ok...she had to carry me too." Steven says, patting my shoulder. "I wanna go home..." I sigh, Steven pulls me into a quick comforting hug before we head after Garnet.

"We're back where we started." Garnet sighs, "WHAT?!" Steven and I shout in shock, "Garnet! There you are! The doors and rooms here make no sense. They all bring you back here." Pearl says, Amethyst runs out of one the door. She lets out a frustrated growl, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" She screams before running through another door. "There are 16 doors, and we enter from the northeast and went through three consecutive rooms in a straight line..." Pearl trails off when Amethyst comes back with a beartrap on her head, "OW!" She shouts, yanking it off and running back through the door.

Pearl continues, "...But arrived back here out the southernmost door, which can only mean--...w-well, I don't know what it means! I-" Amethyst comes out another door, this time she's trapped in a block of ice. "THIS IS A DEATH TRAP!" Pearl shouts, she summons her weapon and starts breaking Amethyst out of the ice. "W-what do we do?" Steven asks "We go back in again and again and again and again." Garnet states, my body trembles anxiously.

"I CAN'T!" I shout "Y/N..." Pearl says gently. "It's ok." Garnet says, I stomp my foot with frustrated tears in my eyes, "No! No it's not ok! Pearl was right about me. I only wanted to do this to prove to all of you that I wasn't a big chicken! But now I just want to cry and throw up. THIS IS JUST LIKE THE TEACUPS!" I shout, this whole time, I keep trying to move ahead, but I feel like I'm going in circles. We're all just going in circles. My eyes widen in realization, "Oh, Y/N. I didn't really mean that..." Pearl says apologetically. "Wait! This really is just like the teacups!" I say, Steven gasps, I'm guess he's figuring out what I did.

"That's why we're getting so lost, and why Y/N's feeling so sick." Steven says "All the room are spinning us around so we end up back here!" I state. Garnet walks away, we all watch her...well Amethyst is still frozen. Garnet summons her gauntlet and starts punching the ground. It starts to crack, crumbling underneath us. Garnet lands on a spinning triangle platform, she catches me and Steven. "Whoa!" Steven gasps, Garnet places us on the platform with her. I shut my eyes and swallow nervously.

Pearl looks around in awe, she makes a hologram appear, "This is unbelievable! This gem-powered mechanism, it's manipulating the rooms above. Every room we entered spun us until we came back to the central chamber. It's just like the teacup ride at FunLand!" She explains, "...I thought we already knew that..." I mutter, opening my eyes to frown in confusion. "Steven and Y/N already figured that out." Garnet tells Pearl. "Oh..." Pearl pushes her hologram back into her gem, Steven gasps and nudges me with his elbow, "Look!" He says.

We look to see a yellow gem glowing in a statue in the middle of the room.

"Garnet, I need to get off the ride." He states, Garnet glances at him for a second. She picks him up, "Serious Steven...go!" She shouts, throwing him at the statue. I shift awkwardly beside her.

"...I don't have to do that right?"
"No. You don't."

I let out a soft breath of relief, Garnet gently pats my head. Steven grunts, pulling out a gem as it glows yellow. The platforms freeze and start to glow yellow too, everything gets sucked into the gem in Steven's hands before there's a bright, white flash and then an explosion...

...

"Steven?! Y/N?! Where are there?!"
"Oh, they're over here!"

My eyes slowly open, I watch Steven's pink bubble pop quickly. Steven holds the gem above his head, he looks at it in awe, "The gem." He gasps, Pearl takes the gem from him and surrounds it in a bubble. "I'd say you both handled that adventure very well." Pearl says "Yeah. Nice job, Serious Steven and Y/N." Amethyst laughs, she pulls me and Steven up with ease. Garnet walks up, holding Steven's ukulele, "I prefer Regular Steven and Y/N." She says with a soft smile.

"Hey! My ukulele." Steven says, happily taking it out of Garnet's hand. "🎵Oh, that's the end of another day. It was mighty serious, I'd have to say. The Crystal Gems looked really cool when they made the temple explode!🎵" Steven sings before butterflies swarm us again, I let out a startled yelp, shielding my eyes in my arms. Steven wasn't so lucky, "AAH! THEY'RE IN MY EYES AGAIN!" He screams.

 

Chapter 9: Tiger Millionaire

"Connie! This book is the best thing I have ever read in my whole life!" I squeal, kicking my legs eagerly. "RIGHT?! Connie asks in excitement, "And you haven't even read the rest of the series." She tells me, I let out a gasp, "There's more?!" I ask. My voice echoes through the silence of the house. It's kind of weird. The Gems and Steven went out on a mission, and Garnet let me stay behind. She said it was because of how much I've been training this week.

Sure I've made no progress with my powers, but I've tried.

Garnet said she's going to ease up on training at least...but I think that means she's giving up on me right now. 

That's fine. I don't blame her. And it's actually peaceful being home alone, it's nothing like the movies.

I jump at the sound of the Warp Pad, "Oh, Connie! That's Steven and the others. Can I talk to you after dinner?" I ask "Definitely! I'm going to write out the rest of the books in the series so you can read them in order." Connie says "Thanks, Connie. Bye." I say, hanging up my phone and leaving it on my bed. "Hey-" "How could you possibly think punching a Blood Polyp was a good idea? Look at all the gunk you got on me! And look at Steven!" Pearl shouts, ignoring my greeting entirely...

And there goes the peacefulness.

I shoot Steven a concerned look, he beams at me with gunk all over his body, "Hi, Y/N! I'm ok. It's not so bad once you get used to it." He states "See? He likes it!" Amethyst says "He certainly won't like it when it hardens." Pearl sighs "Uh...what?" Steven asks with a confused frown. "I'm gonna go wash." He says, waddling towards the bathroom, Pearl and Amethyst continue to argue back and forth. "...Hi, Garnet." I greet, she places her hand on top of my head, "Hello, Y/N." She says. 

"Did you enjoy your conversation with Connie?" Garnet asks "Yeah, we got to freak out over a book together--wait, how'd you know about that?" I ask her, she chuckles and adjusts her shades, "I know everything." She states. "Wow..." I say in awe. Pearl and Amethyst's shouting grows louder, "You're always putting us in danger with your little outbursts! Oh, you are just...so...childish!" Pearl shouts "Yeah, yeah. Don't forget 'reckless', 'vulgar', 'loudmouth', and that just what makes me so awesome, right, Garnet?!" Amethyst shouts back. Garnet turns her attention to Amethyst, "Amethyst, you are a Crystal Gem. You need to act like it." She states, Amethyst frowns, looking back and forth between Pearl and Garnet. I feel bad for her, she's basically getting ganged up on...and this happens a lot Pearl crosses her arms at Amethyst, "Fine." She says, storming away. 

Amethyst heads inside her room, "Is Amethyst...ok?" I ask "She's fine, Y/N." Garnet tells me. "I think we really got through to her! Oh, Moissanite would be proud." Pearl says happily, I shoot her a confused look, Garnet sighs and walks towards the door. Pearl follows closely behind her, "Right, Garnet?" Pearl asks. I watch the door close behind them, "...Mom would be proud...?" I mumble, "Uh...Y/N? A little help?" Steven calls out, I glance at him, he stands like a frozen statue in front of the sink. I let out a sympathetic wince, "Yeah, I got you." I say, heading over to him.

~💎~

"Y/N..." 

A hand, more than likely Steven's, shakes me awake. I jolt, "It's ok! It's ok, it's just me." Steven says gently, "Steven? What's wrong...?" I yawn, rubbing my eyes tiredly. "Nothing's wrong. Well, I don't think. I saw Amethyst sneaking out." He tells me "Sneaking out?" I ask, I glance up at the starry, night sky, "Where's she going this late?" I ask. Steven shrugs, "That's what I wanted to find out...wanna come with?" Steven asks, he looks at me hopefully. 

Looks like he didn't want to go alone. 

"Yeah. Let's go." I say, Steven climbs down the ladder and I follow behind him. We sneak out into the night as quietly as we can. 

~💎~

"-For those of you befuddled by the events of athleticism, you're about to see the Purple Puma--R'AW!--is the single, most hated wrestler in Beach City Underground's history!"

Steven and I peek through the window, it's not hard to see Amethyst standing in the middle of a wrestling ring. "Whaaat?" Steven gasps quietly, Amethyst grins eagerly, it looks like she shapeshifted to look bigger and more muscly. She doesn't even seem fazed by everyone booing her, "Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Let's introduce his opponent-or should I say victim? The Lochness Blogster!" Mr Smiley announces.

Ronaldo stand on the other side of the ring, "I'm..." He laughs nervously before trying to look threatening, "Going to end your reign of terror! AAAAH!" Ronaldo charges towards Amethyst, she knocks him out with one punch, Steven and I wince sympathetically. "Oooh, that was quick." Mr Smiley says into the mic, everyone starts booing. "Yeah, yeah, I don't like it either, but hey, what do you do?" He asks, Amethyst picks Ronaldo up and throws him out the ring. Steven and I share nervous looks...

~💎~

Amethyst steps outside the wrestling building, she screams victoriously and shapeshifts back to normal. "Amethyst!" Steven shouts, running up to her. Amethyst grabs him and quickly throws him to the floor. Steven grunts out in pain, "Ah, it's us! It's us!" I shout quickly, Amethyst looks at us with wide eyes, "What are you doing here?" She asks, Steven looks at her with stars in his eyes, "Are you a secret wrestler?" He asks.

"...Yeah." Amethyst states, looking around. "But how?" Steven asks "But when?" I ask, "But why?" We both ask her, Amethyst takes a deep breath, "Come here. Let me explain something to you." She says, Steven shuffles over to her on his knees while I lean in closer. Amethyst drapes her arms around the two of us, "In the ring, nobody can tell me what to do! And if they try, I hit 'em in the face with a chair!" Amethyst explains happily. "And people...like that?" Steven asks "Like it? They LOOOOVE it!" She says laughs. 

"Well, they hate it, but it's all part of the fun, you know? E-everyone here...gets that." Amethyst says before she lets out a frustrated groan. "You don't know what it's like having Pearl and Garnet on your back all the time! And the one person who'd always have your back is..." Amethyst trails off, glancing at me. She sighs, "Are you kidding?!" Steven chimes in, "'Oh, Steven, I told you before not to take peanut butter on mission!'" He says mimicking Pearl. I do the same, "'Y/N! How many times do I have to tell you not to drag dirt into the house!'" Steven pushes his hair over his face, "'I'm not going to say anything, but I expect you to understand that that was wrong.'" He says, mimicking Garnet.

Amethyst laughs at us, "Let us be wrestlers with you!" I beg, she shoots me a surprised look, "Really? Little Baby Y/N wants to be a wrestler?" She snorts. "It looks fun! And...maybe it'll help me unlock my powers!" I say "We're so stifled!" Steven adds, Amethyst hums, "Well, I haven't won the Tag Team Belt yet, but you can't tell Pearl and Garnet." She says "Deal!" Steven and I say happily. 

~💎~

I rummage through the closet, pulling out green pair of shades and a green hoodie. I cut up my jeans and the hoodie, messing up my hair and throwing on the shades as a final touch. "Y/N, are you done-Oh! You look great!" Steven beams, "So, do you. That ring won't know what hit it!" I laugh eagerly. "Are you ready?!" Steven shouts excitedly, Amethyst sits up on the couch, watching us excitedly. "Presenting...Tiger Millionaire! Rich, feline industrialist from Jungle Island! Once the single child of the wealthy tiger family, he clawed out his own destiny making money in the coconut mines." Steven says "Wow! You just came up with all that?" Amethyst asks, grinning at him. Steven looks at us, "Well, yeah. What's you guys' backstory?" He asks, I chuckle awkwardly. "I didn't come up with one. I'm the Weed. No matter how many times you try to take me down, I just keep coming back worse than I was before!" I say dramatically. Amethyst laughs, "Pumas are cool." Is all she says to explain her wrestler name. "Uh...w-we'll workshop those later." Steven says. 

~💎~

"Two local heroes in the ring tonight. They build hospitals for the sick, and they build muscles that look slick. Give it up for Concrete Heat and Chunk Truck!" 

Everyone cheers for the duo, Steven and I grin excitedly, hanging on the ends of the ring. Mr Smiley continues announcing, "Facing off against the Purple Puma and our two newest-mew-est competitors...Tiger Millionaire and the Weed!" He says, the crowds boos at us. Steven waves happily, "Now remember, teams of more than 2 are allowed, but only 2 are allowed in the ring." Mr Smiley says. "Can I go first?" I ask Steven, he nods, I excitedly move to join Amethyst, "Y/N, wait. I'm just using you guys to get the Tag Team belt. I'll do all the actual fighting." She says, picking me up with one hand and dropping me beside Steven. 

"Aw..." I huff "Do we still get to wear the costumes?" Steven asks "I don't care." Amethyst snorts. Steven grins and gives her a thumbs up, "Ok!" He says. A bell rings and Amethyst lets out a loud roar before charging towards Concrete Heat and Chunk Truck. She easily knocks Chunk Truck over, "Ooh! A devastating move by Puma!" Mr Smiley says, Concrete Heat sneaks up behind Amethyst, "Ame-Uh, Purple Puma! Look out!" I shout, wincing with Steven when Concrete Heat shoves a traffic cone on Amethyst's head, "What a gross misuse of safety equipment and your tax dollars." Mr Smiley laughs. 

Amethyst stumbles around, struggling to get the cone off her head, "That's not fair..." Steven says "It may not seem fair, but hey, anything goes in wrestling." Mr Smiley says "It does?" I ask "Oh, yes it does!" He laughs. "Hm..." I mumble, frowning in thought. "Hey, Chunk Truck! I will give you Tiger Millionaire's million jungle bucks if you throw the match!" I shout, "What's this? It looks like the Weed is offering a bribe!" Mr Smiley gasps, "Y/N, what are you doing?" Steven asks "If anything goes. Anything goes." I say, taking his briefcase out of Steven's hand. 

It was unsurprisingly light, Chunk Truck walks over to us, eyeing the briefcase curiously. "Why, we could fill 1000 potholes with-" I swing the briefcase, it smacks Chunk Truck in the chin, he stumbles back, holding his face in pain. Amethyst finally manages to get the traffic cone off of her and tackles Chunk Truck to the ground, "Wow! Oh, I mean, just wow!" Mr Smiley says. I grin eagerly as I give Steven his briefcase back, "Way to go, Weed!" Amethyst says. She grabs my and Steven's arms in each of her hands, lifting us up. The crowd is still booing at us, but I can't help the grin on my face. 

~💎~

"...Where'd you get a giant phone from?" I ask Steven as we watch Amethyst fight in the ring. The phone it pretty the same size as us! "I thought it'd be a good prop!" Steven tells me, one of the wresters runs to get out of the ring, Steven presses the phone to his head and turns away, knocking the wrester back into Amethyst arms. "Ha! That was a good prop!" I laugh over the sounds of the crowds boos

~💎~

The three of us high five, "What are you 3 celebrating?" Pearl asks as she and Garnet stands on the Warp Pad. "Nothing!" We all say with growing grin, Pearl raises an eyebrow. "Steven...what's on your face?" She asks, I glance at Steven's face to still see the Tiger Millionaire mouth on him. Amethyst covers his mouth, "Oh, that. That's nothing. Probably some dirt or something from helping Y/N in her garden!" She says "Y/N hates having others in the garden..." Garnet states, "Yeah, but we all know how much she loves Steven." Amethyst snorts. "I have nothing to say to that..." I sigh "Aw, I love you too, Y/N." Steven says with an affectionate smile and stars in his eyes as Amethyst drags us away. 

~💎~

"Whoa! Where'd you get all the coconuts from?!" Steven asks in surprise, I rest a tennis racket on my shoulder. "I grew 'em!" I say proudly, "You can grow coconuts?" Steven asks "Yep! They sprouted in my garden last night. I didn't even have to plant them." I say, I throw a coconut into the air before hitting it as hard as I could with the tennis racket. The coconut knocks out the final wrestler in the ring, Amethyst shoots me a wide grin, I snicker proudly.

~💎~

"Alright, fake news papers are done!" I say, handing Steven the news paper prop. He frowns thoughtfully, pretending to read it, "Oh, by the way. Pearl found one of your Jungle bunks. I took it back from her, so, nothing to worry really worry about." I tell him. Steven nods before he throws it into the ring, causing a wrestler to fall. Amethyst grabs him and throws him into the ground, she turns and knocks out his partner too. 

~💎~

I wipe the sweat off my forehead, "Ok, now I regret making a hoodie a part of my costume..." I grumble, Amethyst was still fighting the wrestlers with ease. 

She's lucky Gems don't have to deal with human problems. I wish I didn't have to human problems. 

"Record breaking heat tonight folks. Could it be? Tiger Millionaire has bought out our soda stand."

I look back to see Steven walking up with an armful of soda cups, he looks at me with a toothy grin. I tilt my head in confusion, "Maybe he'll share with his thirsty fa-OH! Now there's no sodas for anybody..." Mr Smiley sighs as Steven smugly dumps all the soda on the floor, "Wha?! And now he's putting on galoshes?! Wow, folks. This is really hard to watch." Mr Smiley says, Amethyst and I watch Steven, snickering at the sight. The crowd starts to boo, but honestly, they do it so much that it barely matters anymore. Lars runs up to Steven excitedly, "Tiger! Hey, Tiger! W-would you sign this? It'd be so rad!" Lars says excitedly, holding up a soda cup.

Steven stares at him eagerly with stars in his eyes before jumping back into character, "You couldn't afford it!" He shouts, smacking the cup out of Lars hands. Lars eyes widen, he looks around in embarrassment, the crowd's booing get even louder. Steven's grin falters at the sight of Lars, "Whoooa. Never thought I'd live to see the day when a contender turned on his own fans." Mr Smiley says, Lars storms off. "I thought we were just having fun!" Steven shouts out to Lars. "Tiger Millionaire, you are the cruelest creature on the planet!" Mr Smiley says, dropping his face into his hand and shaking his head. Steven looks around at the crowd in a state of panic.

I guide Steven away from the crowd and back towards the ring, "Steven, don't worry about all that. That was awesome!" I tell him, Steven looks at me with a sad expression, "But...then why do I feel so guilty?" He asks. I pat his cheek, "You're not used to truly feeling bad about yourself." I state, Steven sniffs "I'm not?" He asks "Yeah, people usually praise and love you, it makes sense you don't know how to respond to negative attention." I say. I pull him into a hug, Steven slumps into me, "Are...are you used to feeling bad about yourself?" He asks quietly, I say nothing to that question...

~💎~

Amethyst walks up to me, "Whatcha got there?" She asks "Something that'll really help take out the competition! Pollen." I say, showing her the bag full of pollen, "And...what's that gonna do?" She asks dumbfound. "Have you ever tried to do anything with intense allergies? Too much of this might actually kill a person." I explain, Amethyst frowns for a second, "It won't actually kill them, it'll make them really really sick." I say. 

"Oh. I like the way you think, Weed! Come on, let's go grab Steven." Amethyst says, dragging me up to our bed area, "Hey, Tiger! Are you ready to win our final match?! Y/N's got something that'll kill the competition!" She says excitedly, Steven's eyes widen, "Not literally." I tell him, "Oh..." Steven sighs before he frowns sadly, "Am I...the cruelest creature on the planet?" He asks "No." I say without hesitation, Amethyst chuckles. "Oh, Steven. Those are just words people use to describe how they feel about you." She explains, but that only makes Steven look more horrified, he wraps his arms around himself.

Amethyst and I share worried looks, "Listen Steven," Amethyst says "You can't let anyone make you feel like garbage." Steven glances at her "Is that how you feel?" Steven asks. Amethyst frowns, "I only feel how I want to feel." She says before storming off. 

I watch her, I sigh and turn to Steven, "This is our last night, Steven. After tonight, you can be done for good." I tell him. "...What about you?" Steven asks "What about me?" I ask, "Doesn't it bother you? I mean, everyone hates us...and I don't think that'll help you not feel bad about yourself." Steven says, I sigh, "Honestly, Steven, forget I said that." I say "I can't just forget," Steven huffs "I care about you a lot and I don't like the thought you not liking yourself." "Steven, I don't...hate being hated. I mean, I strive in it. I don't have to try so hard to be liked if the crowd already hate me anyway," I nudge Steven gently "And I still got you. As long as you still like me, nothing else matters to me." "Yeah, and I'll never stop liking you." Steven says with a teary eyed smile.

~💎~

Amethyst and I grin eagerly as the lights around the ring begin to dim, "Ladies and gentlemen, fans of wrestling, welcome to the Tag Team Championship! In the ring tonight, they've stomped their way through the tournament and into our hearts. Give it up, y'all. Give it up for Dashing Dave Doober and Handsome Hank Hackleschmidt! Only one thing would make these men look better, folks. It's the Tag Team Belts! But!...Standing in their way, the ruthless King of the Jungle, they'll eat your kids, fire your parents, and damage your lawn! Ooooh! Yes, it could only be...The Purple Puma, Tiger Millionaire, and the Weed!" Mr Smiley announces, everyone boos at us. Amethyst growls, flexing her muscle with a wide grin, I play along, blowing kisses to the crowd. 

Steven stands beside us with a depressed expression, I pat his back gently, "Don't you dare hurt those men, you monsters!" Someone shouts in the crowd, "Get the pollen ready." Amethyst tells me as she starts to climb into the ring. The lights suddenly turn back on, everyone gasps before Garnet and Pearl hop into the ring, "Pearl?" Steven gasps "Garnet...?" I say nervously. "What are you doing?" Amethyst asks "What are we doing? What is this?" Pearl asks, showing Amethyst a handmade poster advertising our fight. 

Amethyst looks back at me and Steven, "I thought we could use some promotion..." Steven says with a sad sigh "I thought making it would cheer Steven up..." I add. "Looks like we have some new opponents!" Mr Smiley announces eagerly, Pearl shoves him away, "No, you don't! This match is cancelled." She says sternly. The crowd grumbles, "What? Why?" I ask "Why?! I can't believe you two have been sneaking off to this-this...circus of violence!" Pearl scolds. "But I like the circus of violence..." I grumble, but Pearl continues, turning to Amethyst, "And you! Using your Gem powers on humans?" Pearl says. 

"It's not enough that you're on my case all the time? You have to ruin this for me too?" Amethyst asks angrily "We're not here to fight." Pearl sighs while the crowd starts chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" "Y/N, Steven, Amethyst..." Garnet starts "WHAT?!" Amethyst shouts, "Go back to the Temple." Garnet says calmly. "I DON'T WANNA!" Amethyst screams, shoving Garnet. She shoves her feet into the ground, stopping herself from being thrown across the ring, everyone gasps.

Garnet walks up to Amethyst, she still looks so calm...but I still feel terrified on Amethyst's behalf...

"Don't do this." Garnet warns, Amethyst charges towards her, throwing a punch. Garnet catches Amethyst fist and summons her gauntlet, hitting Amethyst in her stomach. Amethyst goes flying across the ring, Pearl, Steven and I have to move out of the way before Amethyst crashes into the wall. Amethyst lunges at Garnet again, but Garnet knocks her away, the two continues to fight,. I move to run over to Garnet, but Steven quickly grabs me and holds me back, "Guys, stop!" He shouts out in concern, the whole ring shakes because of the fight. 

Steven quickly takes the microphone away from Mr Smiley, "Wait!" He shouts into the mic, everyone looks at him, "I want to tell you Purple Puma's backstory. He was the wildest cat in the jungle...so wild, the other cats couldn't take it. So she-" "He." I quietly correct him "--I mean, he--went to look for somewhere he fit in--somewhere with other people who felt misunderstood." Steven says "That why we're all here. To be wild and free and body slam each other and wear cool costumes as much as we want," I add, wavering when Steven puts the mic closer to me and when Garnet started walking up to us "And-and...uh, can't we just have this? Can't we just...wrestle? And it'll...it'll be ok?" 

Garnet takes the mic away, "No." She says, making me, Steven, Pearl and Amethyst all gasp in disbelief. Steven and I look up at her sadly, "Because...we are...the Notorious O-Order  of...Wrestling Haters." She says, gesturing for Pearl to play along. Pearl chuckles awkwardly and takes the mic from Garnet, "That's right. Um, we want to stop all wrestling everywhere! You're going to let us destroy all wrestling?" She's using the same tone she'd use when she use to read me stories at night.

"You gotta save wrestling! Come on! Tiger! Weed! Puma!" Lars chants, the crowds starts to join in, well, except for Sadie, she just looks embarrassed. Steven grabs a spare mic and we run over to Amethyst's side, "We'll stop you!" He says. "What a stunning turnaround! The Jungle Trio are fighting back!" Mr Smiley says, Steven and I throw a fake punch at Pearl, she dramatically falls back. Amethyst grabs Steven and swings him at Garnet, he doesn't actually hit her, but she falls back anyway too. "And they've taken down Captain Square. But wait. Wait. It's the...it's the Good Looking Gang with a ladder! A-are they planning to steal the belt?" Mr Smiley asks before they place the ladder down in front of me.

I grin when they both give me thumbs ups, I start to climb up to the belts, "Ooh! They're actually helping Weed up!" Mr Smiley gasps, I reach up and grabs the belts, "The Weed has claimed the Tag Team Belts! The Jungle Trio have won the championship and saved wrestling!" Mr Smiley cheers loudly.

"I LOVE YOU TIGER MILLIONAIRE!" 

Steven's smile grows to its fullest, "Was that Lars?" I ask, squinting my eyes to get a look at the crowd. "It was." Steven squeals, he wraps his arms around me and squeezes me happily.

Chapter 10: Steven's Lion

I crawl weakly beside Steven, "W-water..." He groans "Ugh...so thirsty...for water. Y/N...Y/N...if I perish, there's something I've always wanted to tell you...I...I was the one who ate the last Poptart." "Wha...I blamed Amethyst for that..." I croak out "Mm, she did." Amethyst huffs, "It'll be safer if you stand up and walk." Pearl sighs, looking down at us. "You don't understand. This is how...you're supposed to act...in the desert." Steven says, I let out a loud groan as I force myself to stand up, "Is this the thing?" I ask Garnet. "Yes, Y/N. The power in this structure has turned aimless." She states, I wipe the sweat off my forehead. "It's building columns with no roofs--stairs that go nowhere. This is out of control!" Pearl says. Steven stands up beside me, "Then I guess we better-" Steven and I yelp when Amethyst leaps over us "...Roll on over there." She snickers. 

"That was a bit unnecessary." Pearl sighs, Amethyst makes a mocking noise, "Excuse me?" Pearl asks, glaring at her. I flinch at the loud sound of something roaring, "What was that?" Steven asks, looking around. "Let's go!" Amethyst says eagerly "It'll be best if you two stay here." Garnet says as Amethyst runs off, "We'll be quick." Pearl says, following her. Steven and I glance at each other nervously, "What if something eats us?" Steven asks. Garnet pats his head and flicks his sweat at him, "Don't worry, wet one. There's nothing out here that can harm you guys. See you soon." She says, jumping off towards the same direction Pearl and Amethyst went. 

"Ok. Come on, Y/N. Let's go find some shade." Steven says, he grabs my hand and drags me out of the harsh sunlight. We plop down and lean against one of the columns, soaking in as much of the cool shade as we could. "It's...so...desert." Steven groans, pulling the front of his shirt over his face, I rest my hand over my eyes, "I know...all this sand...and we can't even built a sand castle or...something." I sigh. 

Something growls again...this time it sounds closer.

"What was that?" Steven asks, we both look around nervously. Steven takes a deep breath, "Nothing can harm us. I am the wet one." He says, we let out startled screams at the sight of something large watching us in the distance. I jump onto my feet and tug Steven to run out of sight, we hide behind the column, "Good thing this column was here." Steven says before the column breaks into a normal pile of sand. The creature from before is closer than ever, we scream.

Steven shoves me behind him and the two of us back away, "No, no, no!" Steven says fearfully, a sand wall forms behind us, Steven gasps, "No, no! At least eat me first!" Steven begs, "What?! I don't wanna see you die! Why I can't I get eaten first?!" I shout, frowning at the thought. "A world without you is a world I never wanna see!" Steven shouts, continuing to shield me. The creature makes no effort to attack us, "Huh?" Steven mutters. The creature...which now, after getting a better look at it...I think its a lion. A pink lion? 

The lion lets out a yawn before flopping down on his stomach. "Huh." Steven says, we stand up. Steven curiously approaches the lion, he reaches towards him. The lion's ear flick, Steven lets out a startled yelp and I yank him back. The lion lifts his head to look at us, Steven carefully reach out and touches his nose, "Don't bite." He says, quickly pulling his hand back. When nothing happens, Steven touches the lion again. "Aww, you just wanted attention. Didn't you? Didn't you?" He says before grabbing my hand. "Y/N, it's ok. Pet it." He tells me, guiding my hand to the lion's mane. I carefully pet him, "Your mane...it's so soft." I say, running my fingers through his pink mane. 

"It is!" Steven says, he takes a seat beside the lion, "So you from around here? We're just here on business." Steven tells the lion. "I really like your pink fur. You're like the cotton candy of the jungle" I tell him, the lion licks his paw. It rolls onto its side, "We've always wanted an animal friend, but I thought it would be like a goldfish." I say "Or a dinosaur!" Steven cheers "I guess fate had other plans." I say with a shrug. The lion places his paw on top of Steven. He grins eagerly with stars in his eyes, "He's our best friend." He says.

There's an explosion in the distance, I jump closer to Steven as sand flies up into the air. 

"Amethyst, bubble it away!"
"No! Quit being jealous, Pearl. My kill, my keep."

Pearl crosses her arms, "I'm not jealous. Just be careful! If you drop it on the sand, it'll rebuild everything!" She sighs, I gently pat the lion's face, grinning softly when it licks my hand. Steven lets out an excited gasp, "Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are coming! Quick, put my head in his mouth." He says "What-no, that a horrible idea-" "STEVEN! Y/N! What is that?! What are you doing?!" Pearl shrieks, they Gems quickly summon their weapons. "Uh...stop! It's ok! Look, he's totally tame!" Steven tells them, "That's impossible." Pearl says.

"But it's true." I state "Yeah! We taught him to say 'I love you'." Steven says. "We did?" I ask, Steven starts to move the lion's mouth, "I love you." Steven says for the lion. "That's so sweet! I-I love you too." Amethyst says, Pearl lets out a sigh, making her weapon disappear. "Get your hands out of that thing's mouth." She says sternly, Steven pulls his hands away from the lion, "We have to get the Desert Glass out of the desert!" Pearl says, she tries to take the gem away from Amethyst, Amethyst holds it away from her. "I got it." She says, walking ahead of the group.

Pearl frowns and follows her, "Let's go." Garnet tells us "Aww..." I pout, I latch onto the lion's leg sadly "Ok, give us a sec." Steven sighs. "Hey, Lion, we've got to go. You were a lot of fun. I feel like you really get us." Steven says to...well, I guess we're naming him Lion. Wait, Greg says if you name an animal, it's basically yours! Lion looks at Steven, Steven shushes him, "This is already too hard for all of us. Come on, Y/N. You gotta let go." Steven says, he wraps his arms around me and drags me away from Lion. "If you wanna find us, we're that one house on the beach at Beach Ciiiity!" I shout to Lion as Steven continues to pull me away. I sadly wave goodbye to Lion.

"Amethyst, that pillow needs to be contained!" 
"Yeah, yeah. I know what to do with it." 

~💎~

I wake up to the sound of scratching on the front door, I sit up slowly, rubbing my eyes. "Anyone else hear that?" I ask, Amethyst covers my mouth, "All I hear is your mouth." She sighs, not even opening her eyes. Steven opens his eyes, glancing at Amethyst, "I thought Gems don't need sleep." He says "We don't," Amethyst states as she pulls her hand off my mouth "Feels good, though." The scratching on the door continues, I grumble tiredly and crawl out of the pillow fort we made. 

"Hold your britches!" I shout, opening the door. Lion stands in front of me, staring me down. I let out an excited gasp, "Steven!" I shout, he quickly runs over, "What? What happen-"Steven cuts himself off with a gasp, "Lion! Oh! Oh my gosh! This is such a surprise!" He says "I knew giving the stranger we met our address was a good idea." I say proudly. Steven pauses his excitement to glance at me, "Yeah...we're gonna have to have a talk about that, young lady." He says, jokingly waving a finger at me. 

Lion moves to come inside, "Whoa! You're fresh. You can't go in there. Amethyst is pretend sleeping, but whatevs." Steven chuckles, Lion steps back and we come outside, Steven shuts the door behind us. I happily hug Lion's leg, "We're together again. Now we can do everything best friend trios do!" Steven states "Like what?" I ask.

~💎~

"Ok! Here I come! I'm gonna jump! Get into position!"

"Steven, I don't like this idea!" I shout, looking up at Steven. Lion licks his paw, unbothered by everything, "Ready?!" Steven calls out "NO!" I shout. "And...catch me!" Steven shouts, I move, ready to break his fall if I need to. I pause when I realize Steven hasn't even jumped yet...

"I'm jumping! Lion, catch me! I'm falling! Do it! Catch me! I'll die! EEE!" Steven shouts, still remaining at the edge of the cliff. We wordlessly watch Lion walk away, "Ok, obviously, you're not into this-WAH! AAAH!" Steven yelps, stumbling off the cliff, "STEVEN!" I gasp. A bush grows out of the sand and breaks his fall, "...Game..." Steven groans, he lifts his head up, "Hey, look, Y/N. You made a bush grow!" Steven chuckles proudly, I help him off the bush. "Yeah...if only I understood how I did it..." I sigh.

~💎~

"Steven, Lion's basically a cat. I don't think he'll like fetch." I state, doodling in the sand "Trust me, Y/N. He will." Steven says confidently, "Ok! Gonna throw this ball! Here it comes!" Steven shouts to Lion, throwing the ball. It bounces in front of Lion, "WHAAAAAAAAAT?!" Steven groans loudly, he runs over and picks the ball back up, "That throw was so good! Lion, all you got to do is catch it in your mouth. See?" Steven toss the ball into the air and catches it with his mouth. 

Lion looks away from him, letting out a faint huff. Steven spits out the ball, "You don't like that one either? Ok, wait! I've got something you've got to like. Come on." Steven says, he guides Lion towards the town. I continue to doodle in the sand, "Huh? Y/N! I meant you too!" Steven shouts, "Oh. Ok, I'm coming." I say, I stand up, dusting the sand off my hands before running off to join Steven and Lion.

~💎~

"Fish Stew Pizza!" Steven says, looking up at the building excitedly. "This...might actually work." I say hopefully. "Yeah! Cats love fish. Everybody loves pizza. Lion's gonna love this!" Steven says, Lion stand in between the two of us, "Whoa! This place is jumpin'!" Steven gasps. "Wait here with Y/N. We're gonna blow some minds." Steven tells Lion before marching inside. 

I glance at Lion, he looks down at me, flicking his tongue out. I flick my tongue too, a startled yelp causes me to flinch. "Oh, hey, Peedee!" I greet, Peedee stares at Lion with a startled expression, he slowly puts some trash in the trash can before he approaches, "Y/N, is that an actual lion or have I just lost my mind?" He asks "Nope, you're still sane, Peedee. This is Lion, Steven and I found him-wait, where'd he go?" I ask, looking around in confusion. "Maybe we're both insane..." Peedee sighs, I grab his shoulders, "This isn't good, Peedee! I gotta find him! What if he eats someone?!" I ask fearfully. 

"He eats people?!" Peedee yelps nervously "No!...I dunno! He's a lion, I'm just assuming he could eat someone!" I say, the two of us share panicked looks, I let go of Peedee. "I'm gonna go look for him. Uh...maybe stay inside for now..." I warn, Peedee nods. He quickly scrambles back inside the Fry Shop, I suck in a nervous breath. "There's no way Lion could eat someone...he can't even catch a ball. How could he eat a person...?" I mumble, running of to look for him.

~Author's POV~

"Hey, guys!" Steven greets happily, Onion and Ronaldo briefly glance at him before going back to what they were doing. 

Steven happily makes his way to the counter, "I'm doing ok, you know? Just getting some pizza. Kofi. Kiki." He greets, "What are you having, Steven?" Kiki asks, looking at him with a friendly smile. "Large pizza, please. Extra fishy." He says "Whoa, you and Y/N must be hungry!" Kiki chuckles, ringing up the order. Steven chuckles, "Actually, I'm ordering for three." He tells her. Ronaldo spits out his soda, "STEVEN'S PREGNANT?!" He screams with a concern expression, Steven turns to him. "I don't think so." Steven says "Y/N...pregnant?" Ronaldo asks slowly "Nope. But we have a giant pet lion right outside!" Steven laughs.

"You're not lyin', are you?" Kiki asks, Steven laughs at that. "That's funny! But I'm not." He states, "I believe it! Lot's of weird stuff happens in Beach City!  You'd know if you read my blog 'Keep Beach City Weird'! I also have buttons!" Ronaldo says eagerly, Kiki rolls her eyes. "Just go outside, and see for yourselves! Y/N's with him right now." Steven says before Kiki, Ronaldo, and even Onion head outside. 

"This is amazing!" 

"Mmhm!" Steven says proudly "It's invisible!" Ronaldo gasps. "Huh?! What?" Steven asks, running outside, "He's not invisible. He's pink." Steven says, looking around with wide eyes. Ronaldo feels around in the air, "Pink? How can he be invisible and pink?" He asks "There's nothing out here, Ronaldo. Y/N's not even out here. Steven was lyin'. Sorry for using the same pun twice." Kiki says, she heads back inside. Ronaldo heads back in too, "Bet you're not even pregnant." He grumbles. "No, I'm telling the truth! He's real! Y/N is watching him, may...maybe he just ran off or something!" Steven says desperately. 

He glances at Onion, "Onion! You believe me, right?" Steven asks, Onion glares at him and lets out a huff of air through his nose. Steven eyes widen, he wordless watch Onion walk away from him...

~Y/N's POV~

I stay latch onto Lion's back leg, and it is painfully difficult trying to hold back a creature that is more than double my size. "Lion! Come on! We already told you, you can't...go in there." I grunt as he scratches on the front door of the house. Lion continues to move like I'm not even holding him back, "Ugh, I'm starting to wish you were trying to eat people..." I sigh

"Hey!" 

I flinch, glancing over my shoulder to see Steven angrily walking up the stairs, "You guys left me at the pizza place! I looked like a fool! I had to eat a whole pizza by myself!" He says. "...You know you could've just got a to-go box, right?" I ask him "That's not the point!" Steven huffs "It's not my fault we left, Lion's the one who-AAAH!" I let out a scream when Lion decides to break through the door. He flicks his leg, shaking me off with ease, I stumble to the floor. The impact would've been a lot more painful if it wasn't for Steven catching me. 

"Lion! Lion, no!" Steven shouts, Lion walks inside and makes his way over to Amethyst and our pillow fort. "Lion?" I ask, tilting my head in confusion, he lets out a loud roar, causing me and Steven to cover our ears. The roar sends Amethyst flying back and knocks over the pillow fort. Amethyst lets out a sigh, "Keep it down, kiddos." She says before going back to sleep. "What was that for?" Steven asks, Lion looks towards our bunk beds. We follow his line of sight, "The pillow?" Steven asks, he runs over and grabs the pillow we brought back from the Gem desert

"Is this what you wanted? This pillow? We've been trying to play with you and feed you 'cause we thought you were our friend. Did all of that mean nothing to you?" Steven asks, his eyes growing bigger and sadder with each word. I watch Lion climb up to Steven, he lets out a startled yelp and runs over to me. I glare at Lion with a hurt expression, "Fine! If you want it so bad," I take the pillow out of Steven's arms, throwing it out the door "You can have it!" Steven looks at me in surprise. I cross my arms angrily at Lion, Steven joins in and we both glare at him...

Until the ground starts violently shaking. 

"Huh?" Steven gasps, we run outside and down the stairs. We gasp at the sight of sand columns forming. "Steven! Y/N!" Pearl shouts, I look back to see the Gems standing on the porch, "The Desert Glass! It's rebuilding its castle. Why didn't you bubble it earlier?" Pearl angrily asks Amethyst, "Welcome to Shrug City, P." She says with a shrug. "Don't move! We're coming!" Pearl shouts to us, "Ok!" Steven shouts back before sand completely blocks our vision. 

I let out a hiss of pain when sand gets into my eyes, "Ack, Y/N! Take my hand so we don't lose each other!" Steven shouts over the blowing winds, "Ok!" I say, I feel around for his hand. We somehow manage to find each other, I firmly hold Steven's hand. "I...I can't see anything!" I tell him "It's ok! I can...I can sorta see! Um...come on!" Steven tugs my hand and I follow him. "There it is! The pillow! We have to get it off the sand." Steven say. I force my water eyes to open, I look around spotting the pillow sitting on a continuously growing pillar.

The grounds continues to shift and morph around us, "Steven, split up!" I tell him "W-what?! But I don't-" "I'll be fine, Steven. It'll be harder to get the pillow if we stay together." I state, letting go of his hand and running towards the pillow, "AAH! Y/N!" Steven shouts after me in a panic. I run up some sand stairs...they stair to crumble under each of my footsteps. I fall, landing on a column as it grows taller. I let out a scream as it grows high than I expected it to.

Steven was doing a better job that I was getting to the pillow, I jump towards a nearby column, it instantly crumbles and I start falling towards the ground that is extremely far away. I suck in a horrified breath and cover my mouth. If I scream, it'll alert Steven and he'll get thrown off...and he might fall too. I shut my eyes, well, I guess I had a good life. 

Maybe if I die Mom will come back to life. 

I bet that'll make the others happy...

I let out another started noise when I land on something that wasn't the hard, spiky ground. "Lion!" I gasp, Lion keeps moving quickly, I hold onto his mane as gently, but firmly as I can. Steven lands on Lion behind me. Ok, I guess he wasn't doing a better job than I was...we were both struggling. 

Steven gasps when he realizes it was Lion who saved us, we both scream as Lion continues to run storm the chaos. He lands on a safe spot, "You didn't come here to steal the pillow. You came here to protect us from it!" Steven says, Lion roars in response. "It's there! It's putting up defenses!" I shout, pointing towards the pillow as walls form around it. "How are we gonna get up there?!" Steven asks, Lion lets out another powerful roar. It breaks down some nearby columns, I shrug, "Yep. Sounds good. Let's go." Steven says.

Lion races towards the pillow, using his roar to knock over columns. I tighten my grip on Lion as he leaps into the air, Steven wraps his arms around me protectively, "Now, Lion!" He shouts, Lion breaks through the wall surrounding the pillow, I quickly lean over and grab it, holding it firmly. "WHOO!" I laugh "ROAR!" Steven shouts at the same time, Lion lands, causing the two of us to roll off of him. I keep the pillow snug against my chest. 

The Gems pop out of the sand as the sand storm clears and all the sand structures officially disappear. They look over at us, Steven chuckles nervously. 

~💎~

"We should've done this in the first place." Pearl sighs, bubbling the pillow and sending it off. "In my defense, I forgot." Amethyst states, Pearl rolls her eyes, "So, I guess this is goodbye. We had some good time, but I'm sure you have other magical stuff to smash with other magical children." Steven tells Lion with a sad tone. I pause, "There's other magical children?" I ask in confusion.

Why didn't I know about this?

"I love you, Y/N."

I snap out of my thoughts to shoot Steven a surprised look, "Huh?" I ask, my face already feeling warmer. I calm down when I see Steven making Lion's mouth move.

Ah, ok, Steven didn't say that. Lion did. Cool.

Very cool.

"I want to stay with you and Steven forever." "Lion" says, I let out an excited gasp "Really?" I ask, Steven grins with me, "Guys, you hear that?!" He asks the Gems happily. 

~Author's POV~

The Gems watch you and Steven latch onto Lion happily, "...Are we really going to let them keep that?" Pearl asks "We let Moissanite keep Amethyst." Garnet states bluntly, Pearl starts to laugh, "Keep Amethyst?! Oh, Garnet! That's priceless!" She wheezes.

~Y/N's POV~

"Yay, Lion!" Steven cheers happily, I sit on Lion's back, I gently shut his eye, making it seem like he was winking. Steven and I giggle together at the sight.

~💎~

I let out a tired yawn, cleaning my now empty cup that used to be filled with water. I groan quietly, I think I have in my lungs. I finish drying the cup and put it back in the cabinet, leaving to get back in my nice warm be-

"AAAH!"

I let out a started scream, biting my tongue to shut up. A pair of glowing eyes stare me down through the darkness, "Y/N? What's wrong?" Steven asks, looking at me in concern. He turns on his phone flashlight and shines it in my direction. Lion licks his paw, "Oh...his eyes were glowing again, huh?" Steven asks knowingly, "Yeah...sorry." I sigh, I shuffle over to him. "It's fine, Y/N. It's scared me a few times too." He chuckles as I climb up to my bunk. 

"It's just gonna take some time to get use to...and he's gone again." Steven says, I pause on the ladder and glance at Lion's spot to see him gone. "How does he do that?" I ask, Steven shrugs. He lets out a yawn, "We can figure it out in the morning." He tells me. I can't yelp but yawn too, "Yeah...we can..." I mutter, burying myself in my blankets. 

 

Chapter 11: Arcade Mania

"I should've listen to you, Steven. I'm freezing..." I sigh, shivering as I walk beside Steven, he shoots me a sympathetically, "Aw, want my jacket?" He offers, he already moving to take it off. "No thanks. Then you'll be cold. I'll just hang around Garnet. She's always warm." I say, I move faster to walk beside Garnet. "Shh. This way." She whispers, I but make sure to be as close as I can to her without blocking her path.

It's really quiet here-well, except for the sound of Steven's jacket rustling. 

"Ugh, Steven! This is a stealth mission. You making too much noise! Take off that jacket." Pearl whispers with a scolding tone. "Huh...but I don't wanna catch a cold." Steven whines quietly "Then why are you still wearing sandals?" Pearl sighs, Steven and I glance at his shoes. "I can be quiet. See? Stealth." He says quietly.

"We're getting close." Garnet whispers, I follow closely behind her. "Come on, then." Pearl tells Steven before the rustling starts again, "Amethyst." Steven huffs quiet "Steven!" Pearl scolds quietly "It wasn't me! Amethyst, you're making me look ba-AAAAAH!" Everyone's attention snaps to Steven when he begins to scream and stumble at the edge. "Steven!" Pearl gasps quietly, "Stealth!" Steven says before he falls off the path, he screams loudly. I look at Garnet, but she's already gone.

Amethyst, Pearl, and I rush to check on Steven, peeking over the edge. Garnet was holding him...and also staring down the monster the Gems were here to fight. It shoots out spikes, Garnet manages to dodge them all while keeping Steven safe too, "She's so cool..." I say under my breath. "Steven!" Amethyst and Pearl shout, Pearl jumps down. Amethyst turns to me, "Let's go, Shortie." She says, grabbing me and jumping down too. "We're almost the same height." I huff "Eh, I still got an inch over you." She snorts.

Amethyst lands besides Steven, picking him up and holding him in her other arm, "Come on, Poofy!" Amethyst says as we carries us out of the danger zone "What about Garnet?" Steven asks, watching her fight. Garnet fights the monster with ease, "Go, Garnet! Go!" I cheer, Garnet punches the monster. It glows brightly before exploding into a big poof. "Wow! She's so fast." Steven says. Garnet walks out of the dust, the bubbled gem floats above her palm.

"Garnet! You're amazing! How'd you even do that?" I ask "Look! The little ones didn't explode! They're drilling away!" Pearl gasps as the monster's spikes drill into the ground, Amethyst drops me and Steven to the ground. "I got it!" She says, jumping into one of the holes. We snicker at the sight of Amethyst stuck in the ground, "Let them go. They're just parasites. If they want to be a problem, they'll have to answer to me." Garnet states, sending away the gem. I stare at her in awe, "She's so cool." I tell Steven, we watch Garnet pull Amethyst out of the ground, "I swallowed a rock." Amethyst states with a wide grin.

~💎~

"We all worked so hard, we deserve a reward." Steven says as the four of us walk down the boardwalk, "Sounds like you have something in mind." Pearl chuckles, Steven snickers. "We're taking you guys to the best place in Beach City--Funland Arcade!" He announces. "Do we have anything else to do?" Pearl asks "We don't." Garnet states "Uh, don't you need money for that place?" Amethyst asks. "Ah, don't worry about that. This trip's on me!" I say proudly, showing off my bag full of tokens. "Y/N, where did you get all that?" Pearl asks "That's a secret." I say with a shrug, Pearl narrows her eyes in concern.

Steven and I nudge the Gems inside the Arcade, "Welcome to a wonderland of fun-tronic game-ventions!" Steven laughs excitedly "Humans find such fascinating ways to waste their time..." Pearl says "Pearl!" Steven says "Huh?" She asks, Steven grabs her hand and drags her away "Pearl, come on! You'll love this game!" He tells her, "...If you say so..." Pearl says. It doesn't take long for him to come back and drag Amethyst away to a game. I take on the job of finding Garnet a game to play.

"Garnet, come on!" I says excitedly, pulling Garnet to a game. She follows behind me, "Oh! Greg taught me how to play this one." I tell her, I guide her to one of the machine "Teens of Rage!" The Machine says as gameplay flashes on the screen, "It's a lot of fun. My favorite guy is Joe Rock. His special move is...uh forward, forward back, top towards half circle, medium kick. Wait, no. I don't think that's it. Greg and Steven know better than I do. Doesn't matter, just punch, and you'll be fine." I ramble out a...pretty poor explanation.

Garnet punches the screen, it shatter instantly, "I did it." She tells me. "Y-yeah. Good...great job, Garnet...come on. Let's play another one." I say, guiding her away from the broken game as fast as I could. "Ok, this is a game that you should be able to have a better time punching." I state "Come on! Give it your best shot, kid!" The Punching Machine, Garnet knocks the punching dummy off the machine with ease, I watch with wide eyes as it goes flying across the arcade.

"I win again." She says "Wow." I say dumbfounded. I look around the Arcade, "Oooh, ok! Garnet, come on, this one over here is my favorite game." I say, Garnet follows me to the Meat Beat Mania game. "You don't have to punch anything in this. Just shake the meat to the beat. I play this one for hours! A lot of the time, Steven has to drag me away." I tell her, handing her the fake meat. She holds it firmly, "Are you ready? Let's meat it! Shake it! Shake it! That's it! Well done! Keep it up! Now, you're cooking!" The Meat Beat Mania Machine says. Garnet moves perfectly to the beat. "Awesome! Garnet, you're amazing at this too!" I say, letting out a breath of relief. "Y/N!" Steven calls out, he walks over to us, Garnet doesn't respond to his presence, "Ooh, got Garnet into Meat Beat Mania? A classic." Steven chuckles.

He holds out a pair of F/C, star shaped shades, "I had won a few tickets and got these! Check it out, we match." He states, gesturing to his own pair of pink, star shaped shades on his face. I giggle and take the shades, putting them on my face. "How are Pearl and Amethyst doing?" I ask "I'm about to go check on them. Wanna come with?" Steven offers, I glance at Garnet. It looks like she'll be busy here for a while, "Yeah." I say, we walk over to Pearl.

"You're horrible!" "Stop saying that!" Pearl shouts angrily at the game "Uh, having fun?" Steven asks as we walk up to her. "Why am I doing so badly? I haven't crashed into anything!" Pearl says "You're supposed to crash into everything." Steven states "What?! That's horrible! Are you two playing games like this?" She asks with a concerned frown, "You're horrible!" The game shouts.

I glance at Amethyst, she sits on top of the Skee Ball Machine and throws balls directly into the top whole. "Man, why did I never think of that?" I mumble, Steven turns his attention to Amethyst at that. He gasps, "Amethyst!" He shouts, racing over to her. "Good luck, Pearl." I say, running after Steven. "What are you doing?!" Steven asks. Amethyst pauses, glancing at us, "I'm-a win a airplane!" She says, Steven stops her from throwing in another ball. "That's cheating! You're gonna get us in so much tro--" He warns

"Hey!" Mr Smiley calls out, the three of us glace at him, "Do you guys know what happened to Teens of Rage?" He asks "Uh..." I say nervously, I glance at Steven for help. He blinks knowingly, "Let's run!" He says, dragging me and Amethyst away, "This place is fun!" Amethyst says as we run. "Pearl, we're leaving!" Steven shouts, Pearl groans "Ugh, good!" She says, I grab her and pulls her away. "Wait," I say, making Steven pause "Garnet, we're leaving!"

She continues playing the game, Mr Smiley lets out a horrified gasp, "What happened to Punch Buddy?! Who did this to you?!" He asks, shaking the punch dummy. Amethyst and Pearl start walking off, Steven drags me away, "See you at home!" Steven shouts to Garnet.

~💎~

Steven and I sit together on his bed, eating cereal. Pearl practices with her weapon while Amethyst lounges on the couch, "So, w-what's today's mission?" Steven asks with a mouthful of cereal. "I hope it's...fighting...a giant...foot!" He says, "If we're supposed to a 'giant foot'...Garnet would let us know." Pearl chuckles. "Yeah. Garnet's the boss." Amethyst states "Well, we're all a team. Garnet just has heightened perception that guides us towards our mission objectives." Pearl explains. "...Yeah...she's the boss." Amethyst reaffirms.

"So, where is Garnet? She didn't even come say goodnight last night." I huff "Maybe she was f-fighting a foot." Steven says through chews "She's not fighting the foot," Pearl sighs "And Y/N, you know Garnet goes off on missions without us all the time." "She's been doing it since you were a little baby." Amethyst adds "Yeah...I know..." I sigh, frowning in disappointment. Garnet usually says goodbye at least...

Pearl smiles sympathetically, "She's probably doing something very important." Pearl tells me. I quietly finish my cereal. "Oh, wait, Steven!" Amethyst gasps " I just remember---Garnet had a special mission for you. She says "Really?!" Steven asks eagerly. "Yeah! She says...um...you have to slam your face into that bowl of cereal." Amethyst states, "Ok." Steven says before slamming his face into his cereal without hesitation. I laugh, "Good job, Steven! You stop the foot!" Amethyst laughs "There is no foot!" Pearl groans.

"Not anymore." Steven says, pulling his face out of his cereal, "Ugh!" Pearl sighs in defeat, I collect our bowls and take them to the sink while Steven wipes his face on his shirt, "Well, now that that's done, time to comb the beach for quarters with our...Metal Mutt!" He announces, holding up the old metal detector Greg gave us.

~💎~

"A silver dollar? Useless!" Steven sighs, tossing the silver dollar away. I pick it up and place it in my pocket, "Gotta start saving up for college." I say, "You wanna go to college?" Steven asks, I shrug. "I don't know. Connie says its important." I tell him "But...we've never been to school school." Steven says "Yeah, but maybe one day we'll go to a college anyway." I say, sounding more hopeful than I mean to.

The Metal Mutt begins barking again, "This better not be another cat." Steven says, he digs in the sand and end up pulling out...another Metal Mutt. "Double dogs!" He cheers, "Now you've got your own too!" He tells me before both Metal Mutts start barking, "Quarters!" Steven says happily, digging them out of the ground. Steven screams when something latches onto his hand, "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" He screams, "Steven, stay still so I can try to grab it!" I shout, grabbing what's on his hands--ew, it's so gross feeling. Steven continues squirm and jerking his arm around, until the thing on his hand gets launched into the sky.

We watch it go higher and higher, "Is that...a starfish?" I ask, squinting my eyes. It suddenly turns into a spike and falls towards us, "AAH! EVIL STARFISH!" I scream, Steven gasps and pushes me out of the way, the spike digs into the ground and pops back up with three more starfish things. Steven picks up his Metal Mutt, standing in front of me protectively, the three starfish turn into spikes and fly at us. Steven swings the Metal Mutt around wildly, my jaw drops when the spike breaks it easily...

At least they didn't hit us.

More and more spikes shoot out of the sand, Steven and I scream loudly, running towards the house. Amethyst and Pearl rush over to us, Steven looks back before forcing the two of us to drop to the ground, spike quickly fly past us. "Steven! Y/N!" Pearl shouts, "It's the little guys!" Amethyst says. Pearl summons her weapon, but there were too many spikes for them to fight. Amethyst and Pearl runs towards us, Pearl drags Steven away while Amethyst drags me away.

The four of us run into town, dodging spikes as the shoot out of the sand and rocks. They're even started to destroy the town too! "They're everywhere! Why didn't we see this coming?!" Pearl shouts "We need Garnet!" I shout "We don't know where she is!" Pearl says. I glance at the Funland Arcade, stopping in my tracks, "Meat Beat Mania..." I gasp, I run towards the Arcade. "Y/N!" Steven shouts, I hear him run after me "Where are you two going?!" Pearl shouts.

Steven and I make it inside the Arcade, I gasp at the sight of Garnet. She's still playing the game, we run up to her. "Garnet! You got to come quick! Whew...Garnet," Steven pants out "Those little guys are back, and--and they're a problem!" "Whoa...I've never seen anyone get this far!" I say, taking a look at the game. I tug on Garnet's leg, "I don't wanna make you lose your streak, but you gotta get back and help the others! They're a mess without you." I tell her "Y/N, that's mean. Amethyst and Pearl are doing their best. " Steven says "They are a mess, though." I sigh.

Garnet says nothing, "Uh, Garnet?" Steven asks. "Garnet, come on!" I say, I keep tugging on her leg, Steven joins in. "Hey! Garnet! This is serious. You're always the one tell me there's time to play and time to work. Well, it's time to work right now." I grunt, I stop tugging on her and decide to climb up to her shoulders instead. "Pearl and Amethyst are in trouble!" Steven states, I rest on the top of Garnet's head, "Ha...it's lucky I've been climbing up here for years..." I breathe out tiredly.

I wave my fingers in Garnet's face, but nothing happens, "Garnet!" I shouts, I take off her shades. I gasp, dropping her shades, Garnet stares lifelessly at the screen...well, two of her eyes stare lifeless, her third eye looks around in complete sync with the game, it's even turning different colors. "That's rare!" The game says, I glance at it in frustration "Oh my gosh!" Steven gasps "I'll save you, Garnet!" Steven shouts, unplugging the game.

The screen goes black, Garnet pauses, she tosses the fake meat into the air, I yelp when she starts moving towards the game. Her hands begin to spark with energy before she touches the game. It comes back on and she catches the fake meat, Garnet goes back to moving to the rhythm like nothing happened. "The rhythm has her." Steven says, I slump in defeat, resting my head on Garnet, "Great, now I'm an orphan for real..." I mumble. "Don't worry, Y/N," Steven says "I got this. The only way to defeat the beat...is with meat!" He grabs the extra fake meats and begins playing against Garnet, "I HAVE TO WIN!" Steven shouts.

"Let's meat it! Prepare your meats! Shake!"

Steven and Garnet move to the beats, I awkwardly try to climb off Garnet. It's kind of hard when she's moving around so much, but I managed to get down...just in time to see Steven lose. "Player 1 wins! You're toast Player 2." The game announces, Steven frowns, putting in another quarter and going back to playing. I stand beside Onion, I chew the inside of my cheek nervously. Onion holds up his straw to me, "Ah...no thanks." I tell him.

"A Player 2 Barbecue!"

Steven groans, "Aw, no!" He pulls out another quarter. "This...is our last shot." He says, shoving the quarter into the slot. Steven quickly hands me the fake meats and puts me beside Garnet, "Steven, what are you--" "This is your favorite game, Y/N. You way better at this than I am." Steven tells me. I frown, "Yeah, but there's no way I can beat Garnet. No one can beat Garnet." I say nervously "Let's meat it! Rack those ribs. Spice it up. Thrill is in the grill." The Game says, I move the meats to the beat, glancing at Garnet nervously.

The game starts to get faster, "You're toasted." It says, I grit my teeth as I jerk my movements even faster. I gasp when my character loses, "Player 1 wins! You're toast, Player 2." The game says, "I knew I couldn't do it..." I mumble, Steven places a hand on my shoulder, "Hey, it's ok. We find another--" I shrug Steven's hand off of me, standing in front of Garnet, "Garnet, snap out of it! What's wrong with you?! You have to stop playing this horrible game!" I shout, my eyes filling with frustrated tears. "Y/N--" I throw the meats across the room, I pull the fake grill out of the machine and start to smash the screen over and over again.

"Y/N, stop it. The glass is getting in your hands!" Steven stresses firmly. He wraps his arms around me and drags me away from the game, I let go of the fake grill, it stays stuck in the screen. "...Y/N! Steven!" Garnet gasps, we look back at her "Garnet!" Steven says in relief, I break out of his hold and run over to her, hugging her legs. Garnet makes her shades appear back on her face, "You won." She says with a smile.

"IT WAS YOU!"

We turn to see Mr Smiley stomping up to us, "You've been breakin' my games!" He shout, Garnet ruffles my hair before running off to help Amethyst and Pearl in the fight. "We can help too!" Steven says, he grabs my hand and we try to run out, Mr Smiley grabs me by my shirt and drags me back. "Oh, no! No, no! Don't you go flippity-floppin' out of here!" He says sternly, Steven look back at me, "Go on without me. If I don't come back, tell my story..." I say with a nervous grin. Steven frowns a little

~💎~

"Steven, you didn't have to stay and help. This is my punishment, not yours." I state, Steven continues to help me sweep the floor "Aw, I couldn't leave you, Y/N. Besides, I know you only broke Meat Beat Mania, not those other games." He says. The ground shakes as Garnet attacks a bunch of those little guys at once, Steven and I cheer at the sight. Mr Smiley clears his throat and shoots me a stern look, "I'm working! See?" I say, going back to sweeping. Mr Smiley sighs and continues to try and fix the broken arcade machine.

 

Chapter 12: Giant Woman

I sit quietly behind Amethyst, braiding her hair as she plays checkers with Pearl. "Ha! Take that!" Amethyst says confidently, "Wow, Amethyst, I'm impressed." Pearl hums proudly before Steven throws a water balloon at her. "Now, it's your move, Pearl!" He announces, sitting in a life guard chair. "...Steven, are the water balloons really necessary?" Pearl asks "Yeah! This way the moves really matter." Steven says "But it's checkers. Every single move matters." Pearl sighs.

"It's a nice way to beat the heat." I add quietly as I pull a seashell in Amethyst's hair, she snickers, "It sounds like someone's being a sore loser." She says. Pearl glares at her, "I am not a sore loser." Pearl says, she moves her piece quickly across the board "Because I just won the game." She grins smugly. Amethyst and I gasp, "Whaaa?" Amethyst asks before she tilts her head to look back at me, she flashes a wide grin. "Brace yourself, Y/N. Here it comes~" She laughs.

An army of water balloons fall on us, we laugh, "Ah, feels good to lose, doesn't it?" She asks, I snicker "Definitely in this heat." I say happily, Pearl clears her throat, "I certainly hope that's not the attitude you have during battle." She says sternly, Amethyst rolls her eyes, "Ugh, you're no fun anymore. This is why we never form Opal." She says, Steven and I share curious looks, "We don't form Opal because you're difficult and a mess." Pearl scoff bitterly, pointing her finger in Amethyst's face.

"We don't form Opal because you're uptight and a pain in my a--" Steven cuts Amethyst off, he jumps off the chair and steps in between Amethyst and Pearl, "Guys! Guys! What is Opal?!" He asks "Oh, it's the two of us mashed together." Amethyst explains, Pearl scoffs loudly, "Is water just hydrogen and oxygen 'mashed together'?" She asks, we all stare at her in confusion, "Uh..." We mumble "Analogy wasted..." Pearl sighs, she pushes the checker board away. Her Gems glows as the sand forms into to small figures that look like Pearl and Amethyst.

"Look here. When we synchronize our forms, we can combine into a powerful fusion Gem named Opal." Pearl explains, they figures dance before Amethyst stomps her into them. "Except I don't dance like that." She scoff "Amethyst--" "Wow!" I say in awe "That's so cool! But tell us more about Opal!" Steven says excitedly with stars in his eyes, Amethyst chuckles, "Well, kiddos, she's an ultra-powerful, stone cold betty. That part's me, She explains "And she's like...kinda tall. That part's Pearl." "What Amethyst is attempting to say is Opal is an amalgam of our combined magical and physical attributes fused into a single entity." Pearl corrects.

"Wow! Can you do it right now?! Come on, form Opal!" Steven says excitedly, tugging Pearl closer to Amethyst. Amethyst scoffs, "I'd rather form Snapdragon." She states "Who's Snapdragon?" I ask, Amethyst grins. "That is...was my fusion with Moissanite." She explains "Really?" I ask "Yep. Moissanite named all her fusions after flowers. She was weird like that, but our fusion was a total bada--uh, she was really cool." Amethyst states "Wait, does that mean we can fuse?" I ask. Amethyst snorts, "Probably. I think you can fuse. Actually--you and Steven tried it once." She says casually "Whaaaat?!" Steven and I shout.

"When?!"
"How?!"

"Amethyst. We agree not to bring that up until they understand their powers better." Pearl sighs, Amethyst shrugs off Pearl, but says nothing else. Steven and I share confused looks, "Listen, you two. We only form Opal when it is absolutely necessary." Pearl states, we all pause at the sound of the Warp Pad, "Garnet's back!" Steven says before the two of us race towards the house. "Hi Garnet!" I shout, happily latching onto her leg, Steven stands behind me. "Did you bring us anything?" He asks, Garnet holds up a rock, "Whoa! A rock!" Steven says in awe, I let out a gasp and let go of Garnet's leg, "And there's a caterpillar on it!" I add, I bring my finger to the caterpillar and let it crawl onto my finger. I quickly run over and place it on plant growing by the window.

The caterpillar inches up the plant and I beam before heading back over to the other, "So, was your mission a success?" Pearl asks "I've located the Geode Beetles of Heaven and Earth. We should split up to retrieve them." Garnet states. "Well, I'm going with Not Pearl." Amethyst says, Pearl rolls her eyes, "That's perfect because I don't want to go with grammatically incorrect people anyway." She says.

"Is her talking about us?" Steven asks, still lightly biting on the rock Garnet gave him. "You four go together. I go alone." Garnet says "What? Why?" Amethyst and Pearl asks. "The Earth Beetle is at the bottom of the Boiling Lava Lake, and only I can swim in Lava." Garnet states, she makes a pair of goggles appear on her face, "You'll find the Heaven Beetle at the top of the Sky Spire. It's safer." She adds. "You mean boring-er." Amethyst complains "You mean 'more boring'." Pearl says, "So you agree with me." Amethyst says.

Pearl lets out an annoyed scoff, "Come on, you three. Let's go." She huffs, walking towards the Warp Pad, Amethyst rolls her eyes, but follow Pearl. Steven places his rock on the floor, and we head after Pearl and Amethyst. "Steven, be sure to keep the harmony. Y/N, don't die." Garnet adds, I give her a thumbs up, "I'll do my best." I say, Steven beams and we step in between Pearl and Amethyst, "No problem. Today's gonna be all about haaaaaaaaaarmoooooooooooony!" Steven shouts as the Warp Pad activate.

...

Steven and I lose our footing and end up falling. I stand up, looking around the Sky Spire in awe, "Whoa!" Steven gasps "This is where the harmony beetle lives?" I ask "Apparently." Pearl says "All the way at the top." Amethyst says. Steven pops up beside me, looking at Amethyst and Pearl, "So, when you fuse, do you turn into a giant giant woman or just a regular sized giant woman?" He asks, Amethyst lets out an annoyed groan and walks ahead. I follow her, "Does one of you control the right arm and the other control the left arm?" Steven continues to question, "Come on, Steven." Pearl sighs, "Wait! These are extremely important questions!" Steven complains, quickly running to catch up.

I slow my pace to walk beside Steven, I shoot him a sympathetic smile. The four of us start to walk up a long flight of stairs, "Whew! There sure are a lot of stairs! How about you form Opal and give me and Y/N a piggyback ride?" Steven suggests, "No!" Pearl and Amethyst say firmly. I run my hand along the wall as we continue to go up the stairs. My hand brushes against something mushy, I pause and glance at the wall, "Whoa...moss..." I mumble, it starts to morph around my hand. It grows all the way up to my gem, I let out a snicker, "Gross..." I say before realizing Steven and the other two are a lot further than they were before...

~💎~

"What about if you ate a hot dog? Whose stomach does it go into, or do you share the same stomach?" Steven asks as we finally reach the very top, "Ew." I snicker beside him, Steven glances at me with a smile, he pauses at the sight of the moss on my arm, "Uh—" "It's fine. I like this." I tell him, Steven tilts his head. He gives me a thumbs up, "Ok!" He grins at me.

We all jump at the sound of something moving in the bushes, Amethyst and Pearl summon their weapons. A goat hops out of the bush, chewing a rose. Steven lets out a terrified gasp, "Look out! It's a magical goat guardian! Quick! You have to form Opal! It's the only way to defeat it!" He shouts, he grabs me and wraps his arms around me protectively. "Hurry before it kills us all!" He pleas, Steven looks back and forth between Pearl and Amethyst.

Pearl sighs deeply, "Steven, we only fuse for deadly situations. Does this look like a deadly situation?" She asks, walking up to the goat. It bites her, "OW! Hey! Bad mountain goat!" Pearl scolds, Amethyst laughs loudly. "Darn it..." Steven sighs, he lets go of me with a disappointed pout. "Aw, I'm never gonna get to see Opal." Steven says.

"🎵All I wanna do is see you turn into a giant woman. A giant woman! All I wanna be is someone who gets to see a giant woman.🎵" Steven sings, Amethyst and Pearl glance at each other, but say nothing and we keep moving.

~💎~

"We have to go up there?" I ask nervously, looking up at the tall ladder going up the wall. I flinch Amethyst grabs me, she summons her weapon and ties it around the two of us. Our backs are pressed against each other, "There. Now you don't have to do any of the work." She tease, but I still let out a relieved chuckle, "Amethyst, how can we expect Y/N to face her fears when you do things like this?" Pearl sighs, Amethyst rolls her eyes. "You wanna watch Y/N turn into a sobbing mess, which will make Steven turn into a sobbing a mess?" Amethyst asks, placing her hands on her hips. Pearl narrows her eyes at Amethyst, but sighs, "Fine. Let's go." She says, "Yeah!" Amethyst cheers, Steven and Pearl climb ahead. Amethyst climbs after Pearl, I shut my eyes fearfully.

🎵All I wanna do is help you turn into a giant woman🎵

🎵A giant woman!🎵

🎵All I wanna be is someone who gets to see a giant woman🎵

Amethyst lets out a grunt, "Hey! Watch it, Pearl! If I go down, Y/N's going with me!" She shouts, "What?" I ask nervously, glancing up at Pearl. She shrugs at Amethyst innocently and keeps climbing. Amethyst growls in annoyance, but keeps climbing too. Was my life just at risk?

~💎~

🎵Oh, I know it'll be great🎵

🎵And I just can't wait to see the person you are together.🎵

Steven and I carefully hope from rock to rock as we cross a river. I hold out my mossy hand to him, Steven looks at it nervously, I quickly switch to offer him my normal hand. Steven take it and we keep moving to the other side. The goats starts to nibble on the moss on my arm, "You think the Gems would let us keep the goat?" I ask Steven. He shrugs, "I mean...they let us keep Lion, but wouldn't we be worried about Lion eating the goat all the time?" He asks. I frown, "Yeah...you're right." I sigh, Pearl lets out a startled yelp and I hear a splash. I look back to see Pearl in the water and Amethyst shapeshifted into a shark. She shapeshifts back into herself, laughing. Pearl glares at her,

~💎~

🎵If you give it a chance, you could do a huge dance🎵

🎵Because you are a giant woman.🎵

"--It could stay in my greenhouse! That way it'll be well fed and Lion won't be able to eat it--"
"Y/N, you are not keeping that goat."

Pearl sighs at me as the four of us--and the goat--walk across a long bridge. I pout, Pearl chuckles to herself, "You know, walking across this bridge almost reminds me of that movie you and Steven loved watching so much when you were younger." She says. I shoot her a confused look, "Oh, you know, that one with the donkey and that...other thing." Pearl explains, my eyes widen slightly in realization, "Oh! You mean Shre--AH!" I let out a started scream, the bridge starts to shake and sway violently. Pearl gasps and wraps her arms around me protectively, she looks back and glares at Amethyst. "AMETHYST!" Pearl shouts, storming over to her as she hops up and down on the bridge.

Amethyst and Pearl start yelling at each other, it's hard to tell who's saying what. Poor Steven, he's stuck in the middle of all this.

🎵You might even like being together🎵

🎵And if you don't, it won't be forever.🎵

Steven smiles in the chaos, wrapping his arms around both Amethyst and Pearl. They look at him in surprised before sighing and glaring in different directions.

~💎~

"—🎵But if it were me, I'd really wanna be a giant woman. A giant woman!🎵" Steven sings, the two of us ride the goat up the steep hill. Amethyst and Pearl are doing just fine walking, they even reached the top before we did. The goat stands in between Amethyst and Pearl.

"🎵All I wanna do is see you turn into a giant woman.🎵"

Steven Jr bleats loudly, he shakes me and Steven off of its back before he hops from platform to platform until it reaches the other side. "Ah, wait up, Steven Jr!" I shout, I move to jump after him, but Pearl quickly grabs me. "Aw, you named it after me~?" Steven asks, pressing his hands to his cheeks as he looks at me with stars in his eyes.

"Wait. Listen, I'm not sure you two can make those jumps." Pearl warns, I take a moment to look at how actually big the gap is. Yeah...I would've definitely died if Pearl didn't stop me. "Oh! You should fuse into Opal, and then lay across the rocks like a bridge." Steven suggests, there's a pause. Amethyst and Pearl share looks, "We don't need Opal to get across." Pearl sighs "Can you do it anyway? Please? It would be easier, wouldn't it?" Steven begs.

Amethyst grabs Steven, "Not as easy as--this!" She throws him over the gap and onto the floating platform, Steven screams, he quickly recovers and grins. "Wow, Amethyst. That was a really good idea!" He says "I know. I'm full of 'em." Amethyst says proudly, Pearl and I stand there with stressed expressions, Pearl shouts out in frustration. "Aw, come on, guys! It's safe! Just look!" Steven says before jumping up and down. Amethyst grins and starts jumping too--accidently causing Steven to fall off. He screams as he falls, Pearl shrieks in horror. She and Amethyst share a look I don't understand.

The two of them jump into action, Amethyst summons her weapon and ties it around Pearl waist, Pearl leaps after Steven and quick grabs him. Amethyst pulls the two of them onto the platform with her, I let out a breath of relief, dropping to my knees. "...That was so great how you worked together." Steven says with a shaken smile. "Why don't you do that all the time?" He asks, Anethyst and Pearl glance at each other before letting out annoyed huffs. "Never mind that, Steven. We still need to get you and Y/N across." Pearl says "Actually, I'm fine here!" I call out. Amethyst wraps her weapon around me and yanks me to them. I let out a fearful squeak, "Yeah, yeah. Nice try." Amethyst says, flicking her braid in Pearl's direction.

~💎~

"I can't feel my legs anymore!" Steven complains "I can't feel my arm anymore...I'm actually getting really tired..." I sigh, I glance at my moss covered arm. All I can feel is a tingly feeling when I try to wiggle my fingers. And now the moss is spreading to my neck, I'm sure that's fine.

"Hey, look at that! It's a Tiny Temple!" Steven gasps, he runs up to the small temple. Pearl and I walk over to him, "It's just where Garnet said it would be. The Heaven Beetle should be inside." Pearl states, Steven giggles. "Check it out!" He says, the two of us peek through the tiny windows, "It's even got a little beetle bedroom and little beetle bongos and a little beetle baby book." Steven says "And a little beetle cactus." I say, Pearl gently nudges Steven so she could look inside, "But where's the beetle? It's supposed to be here. The heaven beetle wouldn't leave wouldn't?" Pearl asks "I know I wouldn't if my house was like this." I say, jumping slightly when Steven pokes my moss arm.

Steven frowns, "Oh! It could be anywhere!" Pearl shrieks "Uh, heh, maybe you should freak out some more. That's really gonna help us find it." Amethyst scoffs. Pearl stomps up to her, "I can't believe your attitude, Amethyst! And now you're just slouching over here doing nothing!" Pearl shouts "Hey! It's not my fault the beetle isn't there! Why do you have to make things worse by squawking at me?!" Amethyst shouts back. Steven and I frown at the sight as they grow more and more upset with each other. Steven Jr bleats, "Oh...all this fighting is freaking out Steven Jr..." I sigh, covering my own ears.

"I don't squawk!"
"Yeah, you're squawking and commenting on my posture!"

Steven runs over to Amethyst and Pearl, "Hey! Cut it out! You're scaring Y/N and Steven Jr!" He shouts, I remove my hand away from my head when a giant bird flies out of the water. We all gasp, Steven Jr continues to bleat anxiously. "Steven Jr! It's ok! It's—" The bird's beak snaps shut around me and Steven Jr...

~Author's POV~

"Y/N!" Steven, Amethyst and Pearl scream in horror. Steven covers his mouth with teary eyes, "...Y/N...No. No. I was supposed to die first! WE'VE DISCUSSED THIS SO MANY TIMES" He shouts with a shaky tone. Pearl summons her weapon and throws the spear at the bird. The bird swallows the spear with ease, Steven screams loudly. Amethyst grabs Steven and yanks him inside the Temple, "In here, guys!" She shouts, Pearl runs after them. "W-what about Y/N?!" Steven asks, looking at Pearl in a panic, she frowns and glances off to the side.

If she comes home without you, Garnet will shatter her. No doubt about that.

"I don't know...it swallowed my spear!" Pearl stresses, Steven trembles, tugging at his curls. "Relax, Steven. I'm sure Y/N's fine. Garnet wouldn't have sent her on this mission if she thought Y/N's life was at risk." Amethyst tells him. "Guys, come on! Seriously! I can't think of a better time for you guys to form Opal." Steven says, Amethyst and Pearl look at each other. "Please! For Y/N! And our goat son!" He begs, tears and snot rolling down his face. They frown, but move to stand in front of each other. Steven plops down nearby, watching Amethyst's and Pearl's gems glow

Pearl starts to dance gracefully while Amethyst moves chaotically with a mix of different dance moves, "...Oh, brother." Pearl groans, the pair dance closer, Amethyst grabs Pearl and pulls her closer. Pearl falls into Amethyst arms and they start to fuse together in a beam of light. Steven watch as they start to form into...something...but they end up being pushed apart.

"So, you wanna try that again with less hitting me in the face this time?" Amethyst asks, Pearl rolls her eyes, "Well, it would have worked if your movements weren't so erratic and formless." She says, Amethyst stomps up to Pearl, "So it was all my fault?" She asks, Amethyst laughs dryly, shoving Pearl "You totally weren't even trying to sync with my dancing. You should know how I dance by now! You're the only one who has an issue with syncing with me!" Amethyst shouts.

Pearl shoves Amethyst back, "STOP!" Steven shouts, he stares at them with teary eyes. "Come on, guys! Please stop fighting! Y/N wouldn't want you guys fighting! She's gone, a-and her last memories were of you guys fighting!" He scolds, the bird screeches loudly outside, "And of her getting eaten by a giant bird!" Steven adds. The ceiling breaks above him, and soon, he's also getting eaten by a giant bird.

"STEVEN!"

...

~Y/N's POV~

I rock back and forth, sitting on top of a pile of junk.

How did half of this stuff even get in here? Where has this bird been?

Steven Jr sits next to me, he peacefully eats the moss of my arm. I hold the Heaven Beetle in my other hand, "How long is it going to take for Pearl and Amethyst to save me?" I ask. Maybe they think I'm dead, and they went home. Poor Steven. He wanted to die first...

I jump out the sound of screaming, Steven falls down the throat and lands near some skull. "Y/N! NOOOOOOOO!" He screams in horror, grabbing one of the skulls, "Steven?! What are you doing down here?!" I ask in disbelief, Steven looks at me. He throws the skull to the side and charges straight for me, "Y/N!" He shouts, he tightly wraps his arms around me. I let out a small noise when he squeezes me. "Careful, Steven. We're gonna smush the bug..." I warn, gently patting his back. "I don't care. I thought my favoritest person in the whole universe was dead." He sniffles, he hold me even tighter. My cheeks warm up at that, "I'm your favoritest person in the whole universe? What about Greg?" I ask "Second favorite." Steven says

Steven glances at Steven Jr as he continues to eat, "Steven Jr! How can you eat at the time like this?!" He scolds "Eh, he actually just helped me a lot. The moss was starting to burn my skin. I can't feel my arm anymore." I tell him. Steven looks at my arm in concern, "That explains why your skin looks all red..." He says "Yeah...I think it was trying to eat me. I mean, my skin is on fire." I sigh.

A large fist punches its way inside the giant bird, we scream fearfully. Steven wraps his arms around me as more fists punch through the bird, "What's going on?!" He asks, one of the hands grab Steven Jr and yank him away, "Steven Jr!" Steven and I shout, a hand grabs me and yanks me away from Steven, "Y/N! No, not again!" Steven stresses, a hand grabs him too. We're suddenly being held in someone's 4 arms as the bird disintegrates.

I crane my neck, letting out a gasp, "Opal?" Steven asks, staring up at her too. She places Steven Jr down, she watches the gem shards left by the giant bird morph into smaller birds. She dodges their attacks, heading down the Sky Spire with ease. Steven and I yelp as she places us down, "Stay low." She says seriously. She summons Pearl and Amethyst's weapons, but they also fuse-into a bow! Opal aims for bow for the small gem birds, shooting them all down with ease.

Steven and I stare at her with stars in our eyes. She turns to look at us and pulls the two of us up. Steven continues to stare while I tilt my head awkwardly, "Do you...know who we are?" I ask, Opal looks at me, she chuckles and runs her fingers along her braid, she begins to sing "🎵All you wanna do is see me turn into-🎵" "A giant woman." Steven says in awe.

~💎~

"WE'RE BACK!" Steven calls out happily as we stand on the Warp Pad at the Temple, Garnet walks up to us, "The Heaven Beetle." She says, Opal gasps, "I don't have it." She says before splitting back into Amethyst and Pearl. "Amethyst, you got distracted!" Pearl shouts "Hey! You were the one getting carried away with all those fancy backflips!"

"Guys, hold on. We've got the beetle!" Steven announces, I hold up the beetle with my not covered in moss hand. Garnet takes it out my hand, "Good job, you two." She says, she places the beetle with the Earth Beetle before bubbling both. "I also see you helped your teammates fuse." She says, Steven beams, "And all we had to do was get eaten by a bird." He says proudly. Garnet pauses, "What?" She asks, Pearl and Amethyst tense up.

Garnet looks between the two of them, she doesn't say anything and just walks away.

~💎~

"Ow..." I wince softly as Steven applied some medicine on my skin. I want to pull my arm away, but Steven's firm grip is proving that that won't be possible. "Sorry, I know it hurts to touch, but this is supposed to help with burns. The pain will get worse if we don't treat it." He says. I groan miserably, "Just cut it off." I whine.

Steven chuckles softly and starts to wrap my arm and hand, "There's no need for that. I'm already done." He says, I sulk wordlessly. At least it's over. "Oh, wait! One more thing." Steven says before gently kissing my knuckles, "A kiss to make it better!" He says happily, I stare at him with burning cheeks. "...Ok, let's...let's go make dinner..." I say awkwardly, Steven smiles, "Ah, don't worry about it. I can do it. Just focus on letting your arm heal, ok?" He tells me.

I look down at my arm, lightly moving it, "Steven, you've done enough. I can help. My arm already feels a lot better." I say, Steven gently nudges me over to the couch, "Siiiiiit. You got eaten by a giant bird today. You need to rest." He says "So were you." I slightly, but Steven's already heading off to the kitchen.

Huh weird...my arm really does feel better.

 

Chapter 13: So Many Birthdays

"Hey, Amethyst? Are you sure no one died in here?"

I poke through Amethyst's junk piles with a stick, Steven does the same with his own stick, "Trust me, if someone died in here. You'd be the first to know-mainly cause you'll be helping me hide the body." She snorts "Yeah...that's true..." I mumble "Huh?" Steven ask, his hand was clamped over his nose, but he still manage to shoot a concerned look my way. "I read it in one of my plant books. Dead things are good for soil." I tell him with a shrug, he looks even more concerned. "Relax, Steven. We're joking...mostly." Amethyst states.

Pearl and Garnet join us once again, "Ugh! How can you live like this?!" Pearl gags, Amethyst's playful smile disappears the second Pearl speaks, "It was fine 'til you guys started whining." She says "Whining?! The whole Temple reeks!" Pearl shouts. Amethyst rolls her eyes, "I found it!" Steven calls out, we all turn to him.

"...What is that?" I ask, walking up to him, "What manner of magical alloy is this?" Pearl asks. Steven unwraps it and the smell becomes even worse, I gag harshly, "It's a burrito." Garnet states. Amethyst happily snatches the burrito out of Steven's hand, "It's the tuna burrito from Aqua Mexican!" She says "That place closed like 5 years ago." Steven says, Amethyst bites into the burrito with zero hesitation, I gag even more while Pearl stares in horror.

My eyes land on a picture in a frame, I carefully pick up the frame, "Hey, what's this?" I ask, turning to everyone else. Steven take a good look at the photo, "It kind of looks like you guys and our moms." He says "But in old timey clothes." I add. My gaze lingers on Mom. Wow...she looks so beautiful in this picture. She must've looked beautiful all the time.

"Oh, that is us." Pearl says nostalgically as she takes the photo out of my hands "Really?" Steven asks "The hard part was getting the shark to pose." Garnet states, I giggle at that. "How come everyone's dressed like old timey people?" I ask "They are old timey people." Pearl tells me, Steven and I glance at each other. "...How old are you guys?" Steven asks "Much older than any human." Pearl explains happily "Does that mean you'll live forever?" Steven asks excitedly "No, no. We don't age, but we can still get hurt and die." Pearl states, Steven and I frown in horror. "Not me though," Garnet tells me "I'm too tough to die." I let out a breath of relief.

Amethyst groans...she looks greener than normal.

She collapses to the floor and coughs harshly, "...And we can't die from food poisoning." Pearl adds, I stare at Amethyst as she twitches in pain. "I just can't believe you guys are like a bazillion years old! How do you find a cake big enough for all those candles?" Steven asks, Pearl looks at Garnet in confusion, "We don't really celebrate birthdays." Garnet says. Steven gasps, I tilt my head in confusion, "But I've had birthday parties." I state "Yeah...that was Greg's doing." Garnet tells me. 

"W-why?! How do you guys not celebrate birthdays?!" Steven asks, Garnet shrugs, "It's not our way." She says "Well, I can't just ignore this tramesty of unjustice!" Steven says "I pledge that you will have your birthdays! Will all the candy, cake, and ice cream you've been denied!" He announces "Yeah." I agree, Steven grins at me. We both flinch when Amethyst begins to vomit.

 

~💎~

I take a deep breath, blowing air into a balloon until it's nice and round. "Oh, that look great, Y/N!" Steven says happily as he carries his special Birthday Suit over to the Gems. I smile and tie the balloon tight, I grab a marker, doodling a face onto the balloon. 

"And the Birthday Queen is...Amethyst!" Steven announce happily, placing the crown on top of her head. "I hope you like it. Dad made me this outfit and it brings me special birthday luck every year!" Steven tells her, Amethyst snorts, Steven presses a button on his toy microphone, "🎵It might as well be your birthday! So why don't we have a party? Even if your age isn't real and your body's an illusion🎵-" Lion knocks his party hat off, Steven turns to him, "Hey! It goes like this." Steven says, adjusting Lion's hat.

Lion tries to knock the hat off again, Steven holds his hat firmly, "Lion, you're killing me." Steven says. "Um, Steven...?I know you and Y/N put a lot of effort into...putting faces on things, but could it be we're just a tad...mature for this ritual?" Pearl asks carefully, her smile strained. Amethyst walks up to Pearl with a party hat on her nose. She pokes Pearl's nose with the party hat and runs off, "Oh! You will remove that this instant!" Pearl shouts, angrily chasing after Amethyst. Steven chases after them, "Hey! Wait!" He calls out. I hand Garnet the balloon with a winking face, she hold it without a word.

"Here!" Steven says, he holds out a bat, Amethyst grins widely, "Awww! I'll use it all the time!" She says, readying to hit Pearl with the bat. Steven gasps fearfully, "NO! It's for the pinata!" He says.

...

"The pinata is an artifact from ancient Aqua Mexico." Steven tells Pearl as Amethyst blindly swings the bat around. Steven yelps when the bat gets a little too close to hitting him, he screams and gives Garnet the stick to hold. I sit beside Lion, softly stroking his ear as he sleeps peacefully. Amethyst hits Garnet a few times with the bat, "Am I...getting...close?" She asks before hitting Garnet's head, "Higher." Garnet says, Amethyst lifts up the blindfold and grins. 

She leaps up and smacks the pinata with all her strength, sending it far out into the ocean. Lion stirs awake and we all watch the splash, Amethyst snickers, "What next, Steven?" She asks "Well, you were supposed to get delicious candy when you broke it open..." Steven says, Amethyst gasps. "Wait. You had candy and you didn't just give it to us?" She asks, "There will be more sweet treats at Pearl's party. I promise" He tells her. 

~💎~

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst sit on a picnic blanket while I finish writing down some jokes, Steven stands in front of everyone, wearing a clown costume.

"Honk!" Steven happily honks his nose, a warm feeling manages to worm its way on to my face. I can't help it...he's too cute for this world. "Steven, that is a brave look." Amethyst says "No, it's funny!" Steven tells her "...How?" Pearl asks, Steven pauses. "Uh...oh, geez, I'm breaking character." He says nervously, Amethyst and Pearl share confused glances.

"Wait, wait, wait! I wrote some jokes." Steven states, I hand him the paper. It's a good thing I read that book with 100 jokes, "Why did Pearl throw butter out the window?" He starts "...You did what?" Amethyst asks, shooting Pearl a judgmental look "To see a butterfly!" Steven finishes. Pearl frowns, "I never did that. Steven, are you and Y/N telling lies?" She asks with a devastated tone. I glance at Steven with a confused frown, "N-no!" He says quickly, he tightly grips the paper. "Oh, I know! Pearl, do you like pie?" Steven asks.

Pearl then smiles, "I do like pie." She states, "Well, you're in luck! I baked you a pie!" Steven grins and pulls a pie out of a picnic basket. "Oh no, I don't see this going well..." I tell Garnet with a sigh as Steven begins walking closer "Me neither." Garnet agrees. "I sure hope nothing happens to it!" Steven giggles "Yes, me too." Pearl says innocently.

Steven pretends to trip "Wh-whoops!", Pearl leaps and quickly catches him, "Whoa, Steven! I've got you! Be careful. You almost fell right on that-" Steven slams the pie into his face. Pearl gasps, "See, Pearl? It's fuuuunny!" Steven tells her as pie drips off his face, Pearl backs away from him and hides behind Garnet.

"...Pearls says she's all partied out and she's ready to go home." Garnet states, Steven frowns and turns away from everyone as he pulls off his clown wig. "This isn't going at all like it should." He sighs, I walk up to him. "Ready to call it a day? I still got the cupcakes we baked in the fridge." I say, he firmly shakes his head. "No. We've got to pull out the Ultimate Birthday." He says. "Oh, yeah! If the Gems don't like this, they're a lost cause." I say happily. 

~💎~

"Ok, there's no way you're not gonna love this! I know Y/N does!"

Oh, man. The Gems looks so miserable...

The Gems stare at the three little kids cars in front of them. "It's Kazoo Racers! You get in a car, you play a kazoo! What more could you want?!" Steven asks happily, "Dad used to do this for Y/N's birthday every year!" He adds. "I think this is why aging makes humans die..." I hear Pearl whisper to Garnet...I don't think I was supposed to hear that. 

Garnet walks up to us, "Steven, thank you for the birthday parties, but I don't think we'll need any more." She states. "Why not?" Steven asks in disappointment "Our age is only an illusion. And Pearl's pretty sure this ritual is more for human children." Garnet says "Nothing against children!" Pearl chuckles nervously. I frown at her,  but honestly, it makes sense she doesn't like stuff like this, she never did like having me around when I was super little...I think she might've been scared of me, but I've never been too clear on that. And it's not like I'd ever ask her "Children?" Steven asks, he stares at the Gems in shock, "Everyone gets to have birthdays! Seriously. Give it a try! You're never too old!" He says, rolling one of the small cars closer.

"We're just too big." Garnet states "You're not too big. Y-y-you just get in and then...uh..." Steven trails off as he climbs into the small car. It's kind of sad to see the joy leaving his eyes in real time. "I can fit!" Amethyst announces proudly, but she's shapeshifted into a baby...

Wow, she's seriously not helping us feel any better.

"Which way to the baby war?" She asks, the small car speeds off as fast as a toddler car can. "Eat tread, dirtbags!" Amethyst cackles. "...What if birthdays are just for little kids? What if even we're too old...?" Steven asks sadly "No way. You totally fit!" She says, she grabs me and shove me into a car. I yelp, getting smoosh "Oh, my bad. You are too old." Amethyst states. Steven stands up...and the small car stays stuck on his butt. "I...I just need to think. Kazoo Racers suddenly seems undignified." He sighs as he walks off on his own. I move to follow, squirming out of the small car...

~💎~

I quietly walk beside Steven as we move through the fog that was covering the boardwalk, he briefly glances at me with a distant look in his eyes, but he somehow manages to smile. "You didn't have to come with me, you know." He says, I smile at him, "I wanted to make sure you were ok." I tell him. Steven scoffs gently, "Are you ok? You're just as upset as I am..." He says.

"Look, let's not worry about me right now. I want to worry about you." I sigh, Steven sighs, a fog begins to roll over the boardwalk, "I never realized birthdays meant leaving things behind." He says, I tense up beside him, "I never thought about it like that..." I mutter "Do you think one day we'll leave each other behind?" I ask. Steven pauses, "What? No...no way. That won't happen. It can't happen. We'll always be together, Y/N." He says, but his tone doesn't sound sure...

I swallow thickly, Steven lets out a frustrated sigh. "All these parties...ugh! So embarrassing." He huffs, his voice slightly deeper. I squeeze my fist together, "It's not our fault. Of course we still act like dumb little kids. Everyone always treats us like we're little kids. We can't be expected to think or act any different..." I sigh, Steven only sighs in response. I feel a weird tingle in my shoulder, I shut my eyes as we continue walking. 

I don't want to grow apart from Steven.

I don't want to grow up at all. 

It's not fair...why do the Gems get to stay the same?

I don't want to change either. 

I feel smaller with each step I take.

I slow to a stop, looking at the bright flashing sign above the arcade. "...Wow. Hey, Steven! Let's go to the arcade! Mr Smiley unbanned me last week!" I tell him eagerly. Huh, my voice sounds weird. What's wrong with it? Steven lets out an uncomfortable groan, "Oh...I can't be seen playing childish games, Y/N..." He say, his voice sounds weird too. It's really deep, but really pitchy. "Who cares if it's childish? I'm gonna win all of 'em!" I claim proudly, rushing inside. 

"Y/N! Wait!" Steven calls out in panic, I dig into my pockets for  some spare tokens I collected while cleaning here. "Wha? Only one? Boo, I thought I had more than this..." I huff bitterly, I look around the arcade. Onion walks past me, I watch him curiously break open on the the arcade games, "Hey!" I call out as he pulls out an armful of tickets.

Onion flinches and stares at me as I walk up to him. I frown deeply, "Can you do that for other games too?" I ask, he continues to stare, but nods slowly. I grin excitedly, "Show me! Show me!" I say, Onion grins and we head over to another game.  

~Author's POV~

Steven stands there, looking and feeling a lot older than he usually does. He can no longer sense you beside him in the fog. "Y/N...she deserves to enjoy her childhood a little bit longer, but I'm still two months older. It's time that I grow up." He sighs softly, he walks away from the arcade dejectedly. 

"Have all the fun in the world for the both of us, Y/N. I'd join you, but a boy on the cusp of manhood can't spend the whole day whackering." Steven sighs, he glances at the help wanted sign posted in a store's window. "I need to take control of my life." Steven says, his teen body growing into an adult. Steven steps inside the store, "It's time to get a proper job! But which one?" He mutters, examining the shirts in front of him.

"Surf Master? No. Love Doctor? I'm too squeamish. Aha! Now this is the job for me." 

Steven grabs the Professional Beach Hunk shirt and leave the store. "Ha. This day went so fast. I need a pick me up!" He says, walking down the boardwalk. 

...

~Y/N's POV~

"Bye, Onion! Thanks for the help!"

He waves goodbye to me, I giggle mischievously, running off with a giant sea turtle plush. I hold him close to my face, "You're so beautiful. I'm gonna name you Seymour. Seymour Turtles." I whisper to him, I squeeze tightly "I love you, Seymour...let's go get donuts!" I say, I run across the boardwalk and head straight for the Big Donut. 

Steven and I have been coming here since we were little kids. I still remember when I was finally strong enough to open the door on my own. It was proud day-hey wait...

I put Seymour down, struggling to push the door open. It manages to swing open, "Man, did you guys get new doors or something?" I ask, dragging Seymour behind me as I walk up to the counter. Sadie glances at me, she shoots me a friendly, but concerned smile. "Oh, hello. Welcome to the Big Donut...is there a parent with you?" She asks, I stare at her in confusion, "No...I don't have a parent. I've never had parents, 'member?" I ask. I pull myself up to peek over the counter.

Sadie sucks in an awkward breath, "Is there any adult around for you...?" She asks "Yeah! She's probably back at the Temple. Can I get two of our usual, please? It's been a hard day." I sigh, Lars looks down at me. He snorts, "You must be confused, kid. I work here every day and I've never seen you before." He states "...You literally saw me yesterday." I huff, narrowing my eyes at him. 

Lars raising an eyebrow, "I walked into the door...?" I offer, but he only scoffs, "Y/N walked into a door." He states "I am Y/N!" I state. Lars and Sadie glance at each other, "Why are you guys acting so weird? And what's with the giant counter? What happened to the old one?!" I sigh "That's the same counter we've always had..." Sadie says in concern, I scoff and let go of the counter to give my poor, little arms a break.

...Little arms?

I look at my arms, holding my hands in from of my face, they're so tiny...I'm so tiny. I glance at my reflection, "I'm a little kid?! When did that happen?!" I shriek in terror. What am I like 8 or something?! "You were a little kid when you walked in..." Lars says, I pull up my sleeve, "Seriously?! You actually work?! Why couldn't you just be a decoration!" I shout at my gem angrily, "Whoa...you really are Y/N." Sadie gasps, Lars laughs. "No way, you turned yourself into a baby!" He wheezes, Sadie smacks his chest, the bell jingles and an middle aged guy walks inside. He looks exhausted. 

He kind of looks like an off-brand Greg. 

I pause, staring at the older, "...Steven?" I ask unsurely, "Huh?" He mutters, he looks at me in confusion before his eyes immediately widen with recognization, "Y/N?! What happened to you? You're so little!" He shouts "Me?! What happened to you?! You're an old man!" I stress, Steven looks at his reflection, he lets out a startled shout "I'M OLD!". "How the hell did neither of you notice being younger or older?" Lars asks "It's been a lot going on, Lars!" Steven snaps, I stare at him nervously. 

He glances at me and take a deep breath, "No, no. This is ok, we can fix this. We just need to get back to the gems! You need more birthdays and I need less birthdays. Yeah, that'll work! Come on, Y/N!" He says, Steven runs out the store, I pick up Seymour and chase after him, "Steven, wait! I got little legs!" I call out, I run through the fog. 

"Steven?!"

No way he's already gone super far...he's old. Greg can't even walk too far without complaining about his knees. I look around in confusion, I shouldn't be left alone! I'm too young for this! My body glows green and shrinks to an even younger age. "Ah, no! Stop it! Stop!" I shout, stomping my foot in frustration. My foot slips and I slam into the ground, I let out an instinctive cry as my body continues to shrink and my age becomes even younger, "GARNET!"

Garnet? 

Why would I call for her...?

Why would she answer my call?

It's not like I'm a baby anymore...

~Author's POV~

Lion approaches an old Steven, "Lion...! Where's...where's Y/N? She was right behind..." Steven trails off weakly. Lion picks Steven up in his mouth before tossing him onto his back, Lion runs off, grabbing a baby you as you cry and tremble. Lion gentle grab you with is mouth and takes off quickly.

...

"You know, Steven and Y/N were right. This is fun." Pearl says as the Gems clean up the leftover from each party "You don't have to keep wearing that stuff." Amethyst tell Garnet. She shrugs, still wearing Steven's Birthday Suit, "It makes me feel...important." She says. Garnet tenses at the sound of a cry she hasn't heard in years. Lion stops in front of the Gems, placing you and Steven in front of them. "STEVEN! Y/N!" Pearl shrieks, she cover her mouth in horror. Garnet and Amethyst drop everything, rushing to your sides.

Garnet quickly picks you up as you continue to cry, "What's wrong with them?" Pearl asks "Steven's ok! He's just really, really, really, really old." Amethyst says, Garnet holds you tensely, "And Y/N's just really, really, really young..." She states, Pearl looks back and forth between the two of you. "Gems can't die from aging, but...Steven's half human. Oh! And what about Y/N, if she gets any younger...she'll cease to exist!" Pearl says, tears forming in her eyes. "Can't we fix them?" Amethyst asks. "My...my birthday suit my help..." Steven croak, Garnet shift to hold you in one arm, taking off the suit and putting it on Steven. "Good as new!" Amethyst says, her smile cracks, "Right...?" 

You finally stop crying, trembling in Garnet's arms. "Thanks, guys...but I guess this suit's all out of birthday magic. We had a good run, huh?" Steven says, he glows and grows older. Garnet watches you glow and become younger...she places you don't beside Steven. "More birthdays... now." Garnet says, dragging Pearl and Amethyst away. 

"Y/N...are you still there?" Steven asks, you open your eyes and wordlessly look at him. "Look at us...an old man and a baby...at least you're gonna get to start your life over..." Steven breathes in heavily, tears filling the corners of his eyes, "I'm just sorry I won't be able to be with you this time..." 

You sniff quietly, leaning against him. "Check out, b-day buddies! Heh,  I'm a tiny car!" Amethyst says, she's shapeshifted into a small car while Garnet rides around in her, "Beep beep." Garnet says, Amethyst shifts back into herself. They both look at the two of you hopefully, "Kid's...stuff...?" Steven mutters weakly, his body growing older, you stare off distantly. 

Amethyst quickly shapeshifts again, "Eh, pinata time!" She says, turning into a pinata, Steven continues to grow older... "It's not working!" Garnet says "PEARL! Get over here!" Amethyst shouts. "I can't!" Pearl says fearfully. "FOR THEM!" Amethyst shoves Pearl in front of you and Steven. Pearl looks at the two of you, Steven's breathing is rough and shaky while you look no longer aware of where you are. 

"O-oh, look...I have what, uh-what appears to be...a delicious pie!" Pearl says, trembling with tears in her eyes. "I sincerely hope that...nothing happens to..." She breaks down into a fit of sobs and slams the pie into her face. "Are you trying to kill them faster?!" Amethyst shouts, Pearl stares at her with teary eyes before latching onto her and crying more. "PEARL!" Amethyst scream in frustration, Garnet pushes past both of them. She looks down at you and Steven, Garnet picks Steven up and starts to shake him. 

"GARNET!"

Pearl and Amethyst pry her off of Steven, Steven grows older, groaning weakly. "I thought violence...would be the answer..." She says, her voice shaking as she looks at you, your body begins to glow again. Garnet quickly looks away, covering her eyes as tears start to spill out. Amethyst and Pearl's yells start to blend into the background...

~Y/N's POV~

Pearl and Amethyst are yelling...

Garnet's not even looking at me...

And Steven...he's suffering and no one knows what to do to help him. 

I blink slowly. Now that I have Steven around to take care of me, I always forget...I didn't get much time to act like a dumb little kid. With Garnet as my only parental figure...she had no idea how to take care of a human baby. She didn't ask to be stuck taking care of a human baby...she only takes care of me because Mom asked her to.

Garnet didn't want to be my mom, and she's not my mom.

I had to grow up...I have to grow.

My body glows a faint green as I make my stand up, my voice is slurred as I try to speak without any teeth. I grow up a little, cringing as teeth reappear in my mouth-ew, "Can you just stop it?!" I shout, stomping a foot into the sand. The Gems looks at me with wide eyes, I let out a deep sigh and turn to Steven as my body continues to glow and grow.

"Steven." I say, patting his cheek until his eyes open "You're ok..." He gasps weakly when he sees me. "Do you remember when we watched the Wiz and I had nightmares about dancing scarecrows taking me away for a week?" I ask, Steven lets out a soft chuckle, "Yeah...we built a pillow fort and I promised to make sure nothing took away while you slept." He says, his body begins to glow and he looks slightly younger...he's still a grow man, but he's not a dying old one. 

"What about when Greg took us to the fair and I put a bunch of cotton candy in your hair? You smelled so good for a few days." I giggle, Steven ages down while I continue to age up, "I remember that! I was also really sticky for a few days too." He says, his voice cracks as he shift into an awkward teen body. "What about that time we nearly destroyed the kitchen while trying to make smores for the first time? Pearl was so mad." He says, finally shrinking back into his normal Steven size and body. We smile at each other-Pearl latches onto the two of us first and Amethyst the same two second later, both of them crying-laughing. 

~💎~
~Author's POV~

 

"Well, at least we officially know my gem does work." You say, poking your gem. Amethyst snorts, "Oh, Y/N. We've always known that," She says "Your powers are just showing up a little bit slower than Steven's because you're a big scaredy cat." You shoot her an annoyed look, "Hey, Y/N was very brave today." Steven quickly chimes in your defense. "Steven's right. You did a very good job, Y/N." Pearl says, Steven beams, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and pulling you closer until your cheeks touch. "Hey, maybe I would've made myself so young, I'd turn back into Mom."  You state, Amethyst and Pearl tense awkwardly, Amethyst laughs and quickly waves the comment off "Nah." 

...

...

...

Garnet stands off to the side, far away enough where no one would be able to hear her, "-We got lucky. We are lucky. Y/N and Steven are ok and-They could have died. Died! Y/N was so small and fragile in our arms, we didn't help. We couldn't help her. She knew, she knew we wouldn't be able to save her." Garnet sighs deeply, she wraps her arms around herself, she need to keep it together. Garnet squeezes her shoulders, "She was strong enough to save herself and Steven, too. That is what we want. We want Y/N to be strong. We want her to be safe and happy. We want her to feel like she can depend on us for anything..." Garnet thought start to form in perfect sync once again.

We want to be the mother she deserves.

 

Chapter 14: Lars and the Cool Kids

I hop from rock to rock, spotting moss floating in the water, "Whoa...cool." I mutter reaching for it. It starts to reach for me, too. Whoa...plant powers. "No, Y/N!" Amethyst and Pearl shout. "Don't get near that stuff!" Pearl warns, a larger rock hits the one I'm standing on, launching me upwards. Pearl catches me, "Y/N's here." Steven cheers happily.

Pearl gently place me down, "You have to be careful, Y/N!" She says "What is with you and weird moss?" Amethyst asks "I just like it. It speaks to me." I say with a shrug, the moss latches onto a falling branch, pulling the branch inside of it. "Whoa..." I mumble "What is that stuff?" Steven asks "It's the moss that Moissanite raised on the hill." Garnet states.

"Mom planted this stuff?" I ask "Well, duh. Who else would?" Amethyst snorts, "She used to climb that hill every spring and tend to the moss at the top, but now that Moissanite is...gone, the moss is on the move." Pearl explains "It's lost." Steven says sympathetically "And lonely..." I add sadly. "It's not lost or lonely. It's gross." Amethyst sighs "Yes, but Moissanite loved it anyway. When it came to Earth, she saw the beauty in everything, no matter how gross or weird-she and Rose were alike in that way..." Pearl states "Fortunately, I know just what to do in this situation."

~💎~

Garnet, Amethyst, Steven and I sit together as Pearl stands in front of us with her back turned. She abruptly turns to us, making weird noise with her mouth and doing random poses until her gem starts to glow. "This is why I get up in the morning." Steven says with an eager smile. Amethyst rolls her eyes while I stare at Pearl with a confused expression.

A roll of police tap falls into Steven's hands, "Is that...police tap?" I ask "Isn't it great?! This way we don't even have to use magic. Humans will just see this and walk away." Pearl explains happily.

~💎~

I look down at the moss sympathetically as Steven and the Gems put up the police tap. "This isn't fair to you guys...if it wasn't for me, Mom would still be here to take care of you. I'm sorry..." I say. I always thought she only left behind the Gems, but...I guess there are more living things that would be heartbroken by her absence...

"Hey, Y/N!"

Steven waves me down, "Wanna get some lunch?!" He shouts.

...

~💎~

"🎵Gettin' us a P, gettin' us a Za. Gettin' us a P-P-P-P-Pizza. Gettin' us a P, gettin' us a Za...🎵" Steven starts to hum happily to himself. "Hey, is that Lars?" Steven asks "Is it? What's he doing out of the Big Donut?" I ask. "Let's go say hi to him!" Steven says "...Do we have to? Can't we just get the pizza and pretend we didn't see him?" I ask, Steven only grins and runs towards Lars, I let out a heavy sigh. 

"LARS!"

Lars groans, "Got a high five for ya from waaaaaaaay downtooooown!" Steven shouts happily, holding his hand up as he runs to Lars. Lars rejects the high five and says something too low for me to hear, Steven smiles and place the high five on Lars' chest. I keep walking towards the door, I guess I can go on and get our order done-Steven wraps his arms around me from behind and drags me over to Lars, "Come on, Y/N. We're socializing." He tells me "I don't wanna..." I groan. I came here for pizza, not Lars...

Lars and I share disinterested looks with each other.

"So..." Steven starts "Y/N wanted to know why you aren't at the Big Donut." Lars lets out a scoff, "I don't spend my whole life at work. I do...other things." He says "Like standing against this wall?" Steven asks "What does it look like?!" Lars shouts "Like you're doing a whole lotta nothing." I say. Lars smirks, "That's the plan. Just playing it cool today, you know?" He says with a shrug.

Steven lets go of me, "We are so much alike." He tell Lars "Excuse me?" Lars asks. "You want to get a fresh pizza right out of the oven, but you don't want to seem too desperate, right? Well, there's no need to be ashamed. Just walk right in and ask. That's what we always do." Steven explains, I start to head towards the door, "Y/N, don't go in there right now!" Lars whisper yells, I peek inside. Steven does the same, "Why? It's not busy..." I say "Hey, isn't that Kiki's sister and her friends?" Steven asks.

"Yeah, Jenny. She's nice...I don't know those other guys' names." I state "Sour Cream and Buck Dewey..." Lars mutters behind us, we look back at him, "Oh. You know those guys." Steven says. Lars scoffs nervously, "Not quite, but I'm sure we'll hang at some point." He says. "You should go in and talk to them." Steven states "Or at least stop stalking them outside the window." I say "That is not what I'm doing!" Lars snaps "And that's not how these things work!"

Lars takes a deep breath and goes back to leaning against the wall, "The plan is to keep it cool and let them come to me." He states, the door opens and the group walks outside, "Here they come." Steven tells Lars happily, Lars yelps, "Turn around! Act natural!" He stresses. I watch them walk right past us.

"Tell Dad I'll be back later~"

"I don't think they saw you." Steven says, Lars huffs "That's because you were blocking me with your...big hair!" He says "Sorry! I'll got tell them to look over here!" Steven says, he's already walking away. I instinctively follow after him, "Steven, Y/N, no! Don't go over there! I hate yoooou!" Lars whisper yells. "Hey, you're walking to talk to a large group. I'm proud of you." Steven tells me, I smile weakly, "I'm walking because I didn't wanna be stuck alone with Lars." I state. "And I do sorta know Jenny. It won't be hard talking to her." I add, we walk up to the group.

"—Muffins that are like this big."
"Those things are too sweet for me."

"Hi!" Steven greets, holding up his hand. "My name's Steven and this is Y/N." Everyone high fives him and says their names: "Buck Dewey." "They call me Sour Cream." "I'm Jenny."

Jenny looks at me, "I've seen you around before. You're that girl that writes her order on a paper to avoid talking." She snorts "Huh, I recognize you, too. I think my little bro has a shrine of you or something." Sour Cream says...who is his brother? Steven gently shakes my shoulder with a toothy grin, "Whoa! Look who's Ms Popular!" He giggles. "So, what are you two doing?" Jenny asks "Oh! Our friend Lars wanted to hang out with you." Steven explains, pointing to Lars as he stands there with his back turned away from us.

The three share a look, "I'm down. Y'all can come on a ride with us." Jenny states "Awesome! Hey! Hey, Lars!" Steven calls out, hopping from foot to foot. Lars doesn't respond, "I think we're too far." I tell Steven. "Aw, you're right. Let's go get him." Steven says.

"Hey, Lars!" Steven calls out "Yo." Lars says casually. "They invited us along for a ride!" Steven says, Lars stares at us, "Huh? W-wait a minute. They...you—Steven, you got lucky. So, don't ruin this with any of your lame shtick. And Y/N, don't be awkward." He says firmly, Steven sets off some finger guns, "You got it!" He tells Lars.

~💎~

"Hop on in, guys." Jenny says as we walk up to her car, "Whoa...pizza car..." I mutter in awe, slowing a bit. Steven takes my hand and pulls me to keep walking, "Aw yeah! Middle seats!" Steven says happily, we push into the middle seats in the back of the car. I sit in between Buck and Steven, "Where'd you get that rad shirt, Steven?" Buck asks.

Steven looks at his shirt and smiles at Buck, "I have no idea where any of my clothes come from." He states "Yeah, man. Livin' free. I like it." Buck says. "Hey, check out my shirt." Lars chimes in, Buck chills smile falters, "Oh. That snake is nasty." He says "Oh, uh..." Lars laughs nervously "Yeah. I hate snakes."

"Oh, what? That's too bad. Some snakes are pretty cool." Buck says, Lars frowns and says nothing else. Jenny starts the car, "Sound like it's time t buckle up." I say, Steven almost instantly starts to look for his seatbelt. "Quick being lame, Y/N." Lars scolds, I frown nervously at that. "Hey, man. There's nothing lame about seatbelt safety." Sour Cream says, narrowing his eyes at Lars, Jenny looks back at me with a relaxed grin, "Don't worry, Y/N. This car does not move 'til we're all buckled up." She states. Everyone buckled their seatbelt, "Yeah. Now let's get some spaced out beats up in here." Sour Cream says, he messes with the radio on a weird song begins to play. "I can rave to this." Sour Cream says, dancing in his seat.

There's no lyrics or anything, just random noises...

As someone who spends a lot of time with a musician...I feel offended.

But...Greg said music is music, it just depends on a person's taste.

I shut my eyes as the wind brushes over my face and ears, "Hey, this car's really cool, Jenny." Lars says "It's just a delivery car for my dad's lame shop. Make me smell like pizza." Jenny complains, "Where to, y'all?" She asks. The car finally pulls off, I open my eyes, looking around the area, "I don't even know." Buck scoffs "Oh, can we stop by the Big Donut?" Steven asks. "That old place?" Jenny asks "Man, that place is a drag." Buck states, Steven tilts his head, "But that's where Lars—" Lars starts to cough violently. "Are you ok?" I ask in concern "You need some water?" Steven asks with the same amount of concern, Lars glares at us.

~💎~

"What about the arcade?" I suggest "Oh, yeah! FunLand Arcade is the best! Let's do that!" Steven says happily "Man, I beat all the G's in there like 3 million times." Sour Cream scoffs, Steven and I gasp, "Seriously?! Teach me your ways." I say. "Yeah, me too." Lars says smugly "No way!" Steven gasps. "Honestly, though, I'm just exaggerating to sound cool..." Sour Cream says. Steven smiles and places a hand on his shoulder, "I appreciate your honesty." He says

The car comes to a stop at a red light, "Hey, Buck, isn't that your dad?" Jenny asks as Mayor Dewey does another one of his reelection campaigns, he does these like every day. "Another reason you should reelect me: I love babies! Will you look at that? A baby! Gonna kiss it~" Mayor Dewey says into a mic before kissing a baby's cheek. The crowd claps, but the baby doesn't look too happy. It looks confused, I guess I would be too if some random dude was kissing my cheek. 

"Hm, I like his policies on babies." Steven says "Man. He never kisses me like that." Buck states. "That's rough, bro." Lars says sympathetically, Buck glances at him, "It's not rough. The lack of daddy kisses in my life made me who I am." Buck says, Lars stares at him. Huh, Buck kind of reminds me of Garnet. Both are really chill and they both wear shades.

Interesting.

"Oh, my gosh, guys," Jenny says, she grins "We should check out Dead Man's Mouth." "What's Dead Man's Mouth?" Steven asks "Oh, it's this lake where some dude died or it looks like a mouth. I forget the specific." Buck says with a shrug. "Dead Man's Mouth, here...we...come." Jenny says eagerly and the car begins to move faster, "Sounds good to me!" Steven cheers.

~💎~

"We're here." Jenny says as she and the rest of the teens hop out of the car. Steven lingers for a moment, "Hey, Y/N." He whispers, I glance at him curiously, "You're doing greeeeat~" He says. "...Steven, I haven't done anything." I say with a confused smile. Steven only beams, "You still need to hear that you're doing great." He says, "Hey! Come on, y'all. You can flirt later." Jenny calls out, my face burns. Steven doesn't even deny it, he just giggles, "We're coming!" He shouts back. 

I stare at him in disbelief as we join everyone else. He...he's not going to try to deny it? Why isn't he denying it?! Was that flirting? But Steven always talks like that to me...

Steven gasps, I look at him in concern, "What?" I ask. Steven points ahead of us, my eyes widen at the sight of all the police tape the gems worked hard to put up. Steven splits apart from me and rushes to stand in front of the group, "Y-you know what? I know this place may seem cool, but it's actually a lot less cool than you think. Why don't we just go have some more gun at the Boardwalk?" He suggests with a nervous smile. 

Lars walks up to Steven and whispers something I can't make out, "Let's check this place out." Lars says confidently, walking ahead of the group. The rest of the teens follow, "...Maybe the police tape will scare them off...?" I say "Oh! Pfft! Right, the police tape!" Steven says, he grins and pulls me to join the others. They stare at the police tape covering the rocks, "Huh. Police tape?" Sour Cream mumbles.

He pulls down the tape with ease, Steven and I gasp. "Awesome." Sour Cream says, everyone keeps walking. "I'm above the law." Buck says, he knocks down more of the police tape. "Who wants to go for a swim?" Jenny asks, grinning mischievously. 

No one. 

No one should want to swim in the water...even if it didn't have the murder moss, it looks gross.

I cringe as Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream start taking off their jackets, "...I hope I don't get this weird when I get older." I mumble, "Pants become shorts." Sour Cream says, ripping off the bottom half of his pant legs with ease. Lars yelps and and throws off his shirts, taking a deep breath and making his way towards the others. Steven jumps in front of them, "Lars, don't go in there! It's dangerous!" Steven warns.

"Steven, you tryin' to scare us?" Jenny snorts "Build an atmosphere. I appreciate that." Buck says "Ooooooooh." Sour Cream says with a spooky tone. The three of them laugh and dive into the water, "WAIT!" Steven and I shout in concern. Lars moves to join them-Steven latches onto Lars, wrapping his arms around him firmly. " Hey! What are you doing, man?! Y/N, call him off!" Lars shouts "DON'T!" Steven sobs, looking at Lars with tears eyes. "Don't go in the water, Lars." I urge, he huffs and keeps moving, pushing Steven towards the water too, "What...is...your...deal?!" He grunts out. I glance back at Jenny and the others, they seem...happy? They're splashing around like nothing's wrong. 

Maybe the Gems were wrong, and the moss isn't harmless.

The moss moves fast, taking over the water and surrounding Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream, "Ugh, ew!" Jenny gasps as her hand gets caught in the moss. Lars and I gasp as they're dragging into the moss, Lars screams, stumbling back. "Oh, no!" Steven gasp, moss latches onto his foot. Steven screams, I gasp and grab the moss, trying to pull it off. It burns my skin, I hiss in pain and yank my hand back, "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Lars asks "It's some kind of magic moss my mom planted!" I explain.

"Wait. Your mom?" Lars asks, the others pop out of the lake. They gasp out for air and swims towards the shore before slamming into the dirt. The moss covers them completely, "Guys, hang on!" Lars shouts, we try to dig them out the moss. I wince at it still burns my skin when I touch it, every time we get moss off, it just comes right back!

I chew the inside of my cheek, if only Mom were here. She could tend to the moss like she used to...and it would still be...

I gasp and look back at the hill behind us, "Steven, Lars. I think I know what we have to do-" "This is all your fault!" Lars shouts, I pause, looking at him with wide eyes, "Huh?" "I knew if something went wrong today, it would be because of you two. Now I'm never going to be friends with these guys, all because of you and weird mom!" Lars shouts angrily. 

"You think this is my fault...?" I ask Lars in disbelief, Steven frowns in concern "Y/N-" "You think this all my fault?!" I shout, Lars' eyes widen slightly, "I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask to be born! I didn't ask for my mom to give up everyone and everything she was so I could exist! Most days I wish she didn't! Everyone wants me to live up to her, and I don't even know her! I do know she had the power to see the beauty in everything, even in stuff like this moss! And even in jerks like you!" I shout angrily, Lars looks at me nervously. 

Steven stares at me with wide eyes, I let out a heavy sigh, "Now shut up and help me get them to the car." I say, grabbing a moss covered body and dragging it away. Neither Steven nor Lars say a word as they grab their own body to drag. 

~💎~

Steven buckles the bodies in the back of the car, I glance at the burns on my skin as I sit in the front seat. Why is the moss only hurting me...? Is it mad at me? Because I took Mom away?

I take a deep breath, I can't think about that right now. I have to focus...three innocent people could die if I don't get it together. I glance at Steven as the moss grows on his leg, "The moss belongs on the top of that hill." I state, Lars nervously struggles to start the car, "Come on, Lars?! What are you waiting for?!" Steven asks "Uh...I don't know how to drive a stick shift!" Lars says anxiously, Steven and I share a look. "We'll work the stick. You just keep us on the road." Steven states. "...Let's do this. Ignition!" Lars shouts, starting the car "Stick problem!" Steven and I shout, we place ours hands on the stick together and jerk it foward. 

The car zooms towards the water, "NO! Put it in reverse!" Lars shouts "Which one is that?!" I shout "The one with the R on it?!" Steven asks, we jerk the stick back, the car zooms backwards. The three of us scream, "JENNY'S GONNA KILL ME!" Lars cries out as the car slams into some rock. We keep going in reverse until we reach the main road, Steven and I move the stick forward and the car heads down the road. "What's gonna happen when we get to the top of that hill?" Lars asks.

"I...I don't know." I say "You don't know?!" Lar asks, I glance at Steven. My eyes widen nervously as more moss forms around him, "That's just where the moss wants to be!" I stress, I hiss in pain as the moss gross around my body too, "Huh? AAAAAAH!" Lars screams, the car starts to swerves, "It's getting everywhere!" Lars screeches, "CALM DOWN! We're not the ones getting the worst of it!" I shout, I try to pull the moss off of Steven's face. I manage to at least get it off his eyes, Steven gasps loudly, "TRUCK!" He shouts

I quickly turn back around, Lars jerks the wheel, we just barely dodge it, still hitting the truck's headlight. We laugh, "We did it." I say in relief as we start drive up the hill, "We made it!" Steven cheers. "We're almost there!" Lars says hopefully, the car complete to a complete stop near the top. "What do we do now?" Lars asks, we hurry out the car, "We gotta get up to the top!" I state, we each grab a body and start dragging it to the top of the hill. It's a lot harder now that we've got moss on us too...

"Hurry!" Steven grunts out "I'm...getting...stuck." Lars says, the moss latches onto my leg and I fall into the grass. "No...we've can't give up!" I say as the moss goes up to my neck "Steven...Y/N." Lars says softly, we both look at him. "What?" Steven asks weakly "...This sucks." Lars huffs before being completely surrounded in moss.  "LARS!" Steven and I cry out, the moss surrounds us entirely. I shut my eyes as the burning takes over my body completely.

At least Steven and I died at the same time. Now we don't have to worry about grieving each other...

"You brought them here?"
...
"Thank you. Thank you so much, Y/N."
...
"...It's ok. They can take it from here."

What...?

I flinch when it feels like something it touching my head. It's like a hand...it softly rubs the back of my head before disappearing all together. 

I let out a sharp gasp, struggling to catch my breath. I hear Lars and Steven coughing beside me. "...Are we dead?" I ask, sunlight covers us and green flowers fly in the air. Oh, we've gotta be dead. Steven grabs my hand and pulls me to stand up, he smile softly at me, "The moss was just trying to bloom." He says, Lars catches one of the flowers and stares at it. Jenny, Buck, and Sour Cream cough, "Ugh, what happened?" Jenny groans "I think I died." Sour Cream states. 

I step closer to the edge of the hill, pulling Steven along with me. We look at the view of Beach City together, Lars even joins us. "Guys, look!" Jenny says, the rest of the teens walk up. We all wordlessly admiring the view together. "You can see all of Beach City from up here." Sour Cream says as the flowers float all around Beach City. "It's beautiful." Buck says "How did we even get up here?" Jenny asks. "Well, Y/N thought that-" "Lars drove us here." I state, Lars looks at me in surprise. The rest of the teens give him praises, "I can totally rave to this." Sour Cream says. "Go! Go! Go! Go!" Jenny and Buck cheer as Sour Cream starts dancing and making noises with his mouth. 

Steven holds up a hand to high five Lars, Lars shakes his head with a smile and lightly smacks him on the chest. Steven giggles with stars forming in his eyes, "Yeah!" He cheers, doing the same to Lars. They stay like that for a few seconds, "Ok, that's enough." Lars says, pulling his hand back, I snicker softly as he looks away from us.