Darkness and Hope

by Volyren Nightsong

COMPLETE, FINALLY! [Ep. 2 - Crystal Hearts Trilogy] 100% done* Steven and the Gems are trying to come to terms with the fallout from the battle four months ago. Amethyst's emotions are in turmoil, and her cold avoidance is causing Steven to spend more time away from them. A mysterious stranger may hold the key to their problems, for better or worse - 160 pgs

FINAL UPDATE – 3:28am EST 5/8/14

I am terribly sorry for the long delays and waits between releases. I am finally finished with this story, and will hopefully soon be able to start working on the final chapter in this trilogy. Thank you all for sticking with me, and your kind words of encouragement.

I never expected the sequel to a 50 page story to reach 160 pages, but now I know what I am in for with the third. I can't make any promises, but I know it will probably exceed 100 pages as well. I'm not going to beg for reviews and things, but just know that this story exists, only because of how many people asked me to continue the first. No matter what happens in the future, I give you all my word that Light and Love will be completed. Thank you all for reading, and I hope I have done justice to the story you have all enjoyed.

UPDATE PLACEHOLDER – 3/22/14 & 3/25/14 Just two sections away from linking the final bits of story together. I hope to have them done this weekend. I am posting this on Google Docs as I write it out, so if you are reading this, just know that the listing will not be updated until this entire story is complete. Just a few more pages…

UPDATE 6 (3/10/14) This is the last true update. The very next update will finish the story, and I promise not to make it take so long as this one. Sorry for the delays, and I hope you are enjoying the story! Don't forget to favorite and review to be notified of when the story is finished! The final episode, Light and Love will begin soon after I finish this one.

UPDATE 5! (2/23/14)

Holy crap… This is going to be a huge update. I finally wrote the conjoining sections of story that were preventing me from releasing much of what I had written. So be forewarned. This is a 30 page long update. (yes, you heard right, 3-Freakin'-Zero)

Please be warned that this update DOES contain more mature material than normal. If you are offended by innuendo and PG 13+ material, then please send me a mail, and I can send you a further edited version that will not remove any major plot. The first story was written for a little girl, but the trilogy (the second and third stories) were written entirely for the people who read and loved the first story. It is only because of all the encouraging emails, and multiple requests for the story to continue that any of you are reading this now. I hope I am doing justice to what you wanted. Feel free to email me if you have any comments, and please leave a review if you enjoy this.

At current, I am close to finishing the second episode. This story is now around 85% complete. I hope you enjoy!

UPDATE 4.5? Sorry for doing that to everyone with that last update. If the two curse-filled emails (one of which calling for me to catch the plague…) were any indicator, I should have thought better about where I end the story in any particular update. Save your hate, and please continue reading. This is a smaller update than normal, but I felt it was important not to leave you all hanging on like that…

THIS IS THE FOURTH UPDATE (2/21/14) – I should be back to full steam working on the story. Current progress is about 70%. I am also happy to announce that artwork is in progress for scenes from Rage and Beauty. I also feel the need to apologize for this particular update. I'm sure after reading you will see why. Just play "The Parting Glass" by The Wailin' Jennys when you are done.

THIS IS THE THIRD UPDATE (2/14/14) – (Fighting the flu, and have no power thanks to the snowstorm that has slammed the southeastern US, so this is a much smaller update than I normally release, but wanted to make sure to get this part in due to a certain element that I thought felt right to release on Valentine's Day. I will attempt to make a larger release later in the week. Hope you enjoy!)

SECOND UPDATE. (2/10/14)

If you would like to receive email updates when more is added to this story, please mark it as a favorite. If you are like me, you probably like to wait until something is finished to read it, and if that is the case, please favorite or follow my story or author profile. Once completed, I will send PM's to everyone who has favorited/reviewed/etc.

As of this update, I am posting the story to google docs, just like the first. I hope you will read it there, as it will be much easier to read. (the link, again, is on my profile page on fanfic, near the bottom.)

***This is a preview of the second episode in the Crystal Hearts trilogy. If you have not read episode 1, "Rage and Beauty" then please don't continue further.

I will continue working on the story over the next few days, releasing more as I write. As with the original story, the best way to read this is via the Word document on Google Docs. You can find the link to it in my profile page on Fanfiction. (I would post the link here, but all links are automatically edited out by fanfiction, just like my spacing and formatting). I hope you enjoy, as this story only exists because of multiple requests from readers of my first!

Steven Universe – Crystal Hearts Trilogy

Episode 2

"Darkness and Hope"

*PREVIEW ONLY* [65% of story]

*BREAK*

There was nothing on TV.

What a surprise, Steven thought sarcastically. Just like every time he was bored.

He looked over to Amethyst who was busy playing a game on her phone. He wanted to ask her if she wanted to hang out, but he already knew the answer.

Nearly four months ago, his life had changed.

Steven had broken a dark gem that had turned out to be a dimensional prison for the most frightening creature he had ever seen.

The demon's name was Zircon. The Gems had been fighting him for hundreds of years. He was known as the False Gem, the Blood Diamond and The Gem Cutter. He killed Crystal Gems and claimed their stones as his own. He had watched that monster manhandle his friends like they were nothing. It changed everything for him. The Crystal Gems were the strongest, most heroic people Steven had ever known. They were his friends, his teachers, and they were his family.

He had been there on the beach during that horrible battle. He had been struggling to reach his friends as Zircon was closing in on them. His heart was aching with the thought that the demon was going to hurt them. He was going to take them away from him. The Gem Cutter was going to take Steven's family away.

Something had snapped inside of him, and he could feel his Gem activate. Steven had managed to create a protective barrier around the Gems, and keep them safe.

But then the monster turned on him. Steven had never been so afraid in his life. But as the demon laughed at him, and told him that he was going to kill his family, Steven had felt a much larger power building within him. He remembered yelling at Zircon, the same way he had yelled at those boys who had been hurting Amethyst. And just like that time, he felt a strange weakness come over him. He remembered seeing some sort of explosion, and then Zircon being blasted away from the impact, but it all became fuzzy after that.

He had woken up some time later on the lip of a large crater in the sand. The Gems were all at its bottom, and they looked like they had been crying. He ran down to them, happy that they were all okay, but each one of them acted strange. They kept looking at him and crying. No matter how many times he told them that he was okay, they just kept breaking down. It made him feel awful that they had worried so much about him.

If Garnet and Pearl were acting strange, then Amethyst was a completely different person. When he made it down to her, she kissed him, and on the lips! Then she cried and said something about 'returning a favor'. Pearl and Garnet laughed at his embarrassment, and he asked again and again what was up with Amethyst, but Garnet always stopped him, and told him to leave her alone.

Pearl told him that she would be okay, she just needed some time to work out some things.

Well, Steven thought, I have been waiting for 4 months, and she still won't look at me. It hurt him to think that he had done something to make her angry with him. Amethyst was his best friend. They did everything together, but since that day, she had been avoiding him like the plague. She always seemed to have an excuse to leave the room when he came in, even if she was in the middle of something.

A few times he followed her and pressed his ear against the door, and heard her sobbing and muttering about how 'unfair" all this was.

He wished that he could tell her everything would be okay, that she was his best friend, that he loved her, that he was sorry, for whatever he had done to upset her so badly, but the few times that he had the opportunity to do so, Garnet or Pearl were always there to stop him, and beg him to leave her alone.

It was just like so many things around this house.

Secrets.

They always felt the need to shield him from things. He could not count the number of times that he had been told that he was too young to understand, or that they would explain it all later.

But later never came, and Steven knew that it wouldn't the moment those words left their lips.

Garnet and Pearl seemed to be mostly back to normal, though they still had weird moments, but it was Amethyst's coldness that hurt him the most. Since that day, there had been no more laughs. No smiles. No snuggling, no meal sharing, no TV watching.

Steven was lost. And he was beginning to resent the Gems for the way Amethyst was acting. Garnet and Pearl were mostly alright, but the fact that they were keeping the truth from him drove a wedge between them.

Lately he had been spending more time away from the temple. Normally, he would get a lecture from Garnet about needing to focus on his duty, or from Pearl, who would chide him for neglecting his lessons.

But none of that had happened. They had not said one word to him about it. If anything, they all seemed to be more like themselves when he was not around.

TV could only fill so much of a void, and Steven was tired of playing video games. He wanted 'real' people to interact with. He had tried talking to his dad about it, but as with most 'magical' things, his dad seemed uncomfortable and didn't want to get into it. Asking him if he knew what was up with Amethyst got him only a shrug and an apologetic expression.

Most of his friends were busy with their own lives, whether school or jobs. He would occasionally hang out at the doughnut shop, even though Lars was a bit of a jerk, but one day Amethyst had shown up, and when she saw him, she turned around without a word and left.

He made a point to never go anywhere that he and Amethyst liked to go unless he knew she was away with the others on a mission. He tried hanging out with Peedee, but even if he wasn't working, they never really had any fun. Mostly it was just Steven listening to his depressing epiphanies about the meaning of life. Steven had enough problems of his own without being burdened by someone else's.

A few days ago, he had run into Connie, who was back for a few months while her dad oversaw security on the new marina construction. She had taken a walk with him, and it was nice to finally have someone to talk to about all of his problems. Steven was shocked to learn that Connie had seen the pink bubble barrier from the fight, even though she was on the other side of the country at the time. She explained that when she saw it up in the sky, she knew it was Steven, because it was just like the bubble he had trapped the both of them in when he first introduced himself to her.

He was shocked to learn that his bubble had apparently covered the whole earth for a few minutes. Steven couldn't remember doing anything like that, but he wondered if it had something to do with the way the Gems were acting. It was a lot like that time on the beach with Amethyst, when he had hurt those boys. But the Gems had gotten over that in a few days. He had been determined to ask about it when he got home, but as usual, Garnet asked him to drop it. Pearl had tried to explain that it was something about his barrier reflecting on the clouds, but he could tell by her stammering that she was just making it all up. It did nothing to improve his mood.

He and Connie had been hanging out nearly every day since. It was nice to talk to someone who didn't treat him like he had some sort of disease. He was supposed to meet her at Fun Land later. Connie had convinced them to let Steven back in as long as he promised to behave.

He sighed and sank back into the couch, flipping off the TV.

He could hear Garnet and Pearl talking in the kitchen. Something about some dark force being behind sending 'you know who' to the beach near the temple, because it couldn't just be coincidence.

Normally, Steven would have found the conversation intriguing and been dying to know more, but he just didn't care. He didn't want to go on a mission, and he didn't want to stay here even a minute longer. It just didn't feel like a happy home anymore. He stood up to leave, grabbing his cheeseburger shaped pack, and the book he had been reading. As he walked to the door, Garnet called out to him.

"Steven, where are you going?" She asked.

Steven turned back around, looking at the gems. Pearl was just staring at him worriedly. Garnet's expression was unreadable behind her sunglasses, as always. He opened his mouth to tell them he was going to meet Connie, but he stopped as his eyes met Amethyst's as she looked up from her game. The eye contact only lasted a fraction of a second before she looked back down, slumping her shoulders.

What the heck was her problem!? Steven wanted to scream.

"Steven?" Garnet asked again. "Where are you off to?"

Still staring at Amethyst, who refused to look back up at him, Steven began to get angry. He turned and opened the door.

"Out." He said as he walked out the front door.

Steven was so lost in his thoughts and internal questioning about the Gem's strange behavior, he almost slammed into someone who was making his way up the steps to the house. It appeared to be a young man, with long black hair, pulled back into a ponytail. His clothes were ripped and tattered and he was grasping the railing as if he could barely stand. His breath was coming out in ragged gasps, and his pale face was beaded with sweat.

Jeez, Steven thought. This guy looks like he is dying or something. He turned around and called back into the house.

"Hey Garnet! There is some sick guy out here!"

Steven needed to hurry if he was going to meet Connie at funland on time, and he knew the Gems would help this guy out. He gave the man a wide berth, not wanting to catch whatever he was sick with, and apologized as he ran down the steps.

"Sorry, guy! I'm in a hurry, but the Gems will be here in just a minute!"

Not giving it a second thought, Steven ran down the beach, already starting to feel better, with every step that carried him away from the tense silence that had taken over his happy home.

He couldn't wait to see Connie. He had bought another copy of the same book he was reading, and given it to her the last time they had hung out. He couldn't wait to talk with her about it. He hadn't finished it yet, but he was close.

Steven knew that Connie read a lot of books, and he hoped that they would be able to finish at the same time. He wasn't much of a book reader, and he worried that she would finish the story before him, and as much as he wanted to talk to her about it, he didn't want her to ruin the ending for him.

Stuffing the book into his backpack, he quickened his pace down the beach, smiling for the first time that day.

*BREAK*

"Amethyst, go see who is there." Garnet called out to the sulking Gem.

With a sigh, Amethyst closed the game on her phone. Its not as if she was enjoying it, anyway. It was just a way to kill time and occupy her mind so that she didn't have to dwell on the events of four months ago.

She had been happy, carefree and perfectly content with her life. She hadn't given much thought to her future, or finding someone to spend her life with. She had fun with Steven, enjoyed playing pranks, either with him, or especially on him. Now she just couldn't make herself look at him, no matter how she tried.

She knew it was unfair to him. She knew it was hurting his feelings, and that made her feel even worse. But every time she saw him, heard him, even thought about him, it made her insides twist into a painful knot. How was she supposed to feel about him? He was a child, and she had never once thought of him as a romantic interest.

But then, a young man from the future appeared, saved her life, and the whole world. He sacrificed himself for her. And with his dying breath, he had confessed a deep and abiding love for her. So shocked by the events she had just lived through, her mind spinning at the forces unleashed in just the span of a few minutes, she was struggling to keep hold of her sanity.

And then, just as her confusing mix of emotions threatened to overwhelm her, he looked into her eyes, so lovingly, and kissed her.

Amethyst had never thought of herself as someone to desire. She was happy with herself, but she knew that she was no beauty. But in that moment, her life changed.

Something blossomed inside of her when his lips met hers. All the physical and emotional pain she was feeling at that moment simply washed away. For that one sweet moment, the universe stood still, just for them.

Never had she felt so safe, so comfortable and warm. She had never felt so loved.

She would have sold her soul to live forever in that moment.

But a moment was all she had. That young warrior who had saved her life, had done so at the cost of his own. The fact that his dying wish was only to kiss and hold her, threatened to break her heart each and every time she thought of it.

To have filled her heart with such emotion, to make her feel as if she were worthy of being loved for the first time in her life, and then to have it taken away before she had the chance to embrace it, was the worst pain she had ever had to endure.

Then Garnet handed her 'that' letter.

The letter that the young knight had written for her, alone.

Every word written on that page was painful.

Painful AND confusing.

To find out that the young man who had just stolen her heart was no stranger to her, but was the young boy she had always loved, was maddening. Steven was like a brother to her. He was a CHILD. He was her friend.

No matter how hard she tried, she just could not bring herself to think of that young boy like that. But more confusing was that she knew in her heart that she was deeply in love with the man he was destined to grow into.

She had tried to fathom a way to come to terms with these conflicting and confusing emotions, but every time she tried to work through them in her mind, she came away feeling more confused, more conflicted, and with a heavy heart that could not possibly endure any more pain without killing her.

Add to this whole mess, the young boy who had first helped her feel comfortable in her own skin.

She knew Steven was upset. She had spent so much time with the boy, just having fun and being herself. She had always felt at ease with him around, no matter what problems she was going through. And she knew that she meant just as much to Steven.

That was what made all of this so horribly unfair.

She knew that she was not the only one in pain. She couldn't bear to look at him for fear of her heart breaking, but avoiding him was only making the problem worse. The few glances she dared to take of him showed her the pain and confusion etched onto his normally joyful face.

She never saw his wide smile anymore. He seemed to be avoiding her as much as she was him. It pained her to know that she was hurting him, but she couldn't bring herself to fake happiness while her heart was crying out.

He had been spending so much time away from the house that she thought she could have the time needed to work through this awful pain. But she found herself constantly worrying about him, wondering what he was doing, and even convincing herself that she should go out and find him. But she never did. Her body simply wouldn't let her take the first step towards the door. What could she say? How could she apologize?

She knew that she couldn't tell him the truth. It would destroy their friendship and confuse him. Nevermind what knowing that there was another 'him' somewhere out there might do to his sense of self.

"Amethyst." Garnet called out to her. "Are you going?"

Trying to shake clear her head of this emotional maelstrom, she called back.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going."

She opened the door, and saw what appeared to be a homeless man. His ragged clothing seemed dirty and stained, and the large duffle bag slung over his shoulder was in just as rough shape, with bits of mud caked along its length, as if he had used to cushion himself from multiple falls.

He was bent over in double, breathing heavily. His unkempt hair which had been pulled back in a ponytail was frayed and barely contained, falling from its binding and obscuring the man's face as he clutched the railing for support and sucked in repeated ragged breaths.

He looked as though he had escaped from an intensive care unit and then hiked a thousand miles to walk these stairs.

As he took the last step, he attempted to straighten himself, but it appeared that his body spasmed and his knees buckled.

Amethyst reached out and caught him, pulling his weak arm around her shoulder, and supporting his weight.

"Don't worry, guy, I got'cha." She assured him as she helped him inside.

Pearl and Garnet saw the sickly man being led inside by Amethyst and rose to their feet, rushing over to help the struggling duo to the couch.

The man collapsed onto the couch with a huff, as if the simple act of sitting has forced all the air from his lungs. He clutched his knees in pain, his knuckles white.

His head hung low, as if he lacked the strength to even sit up straight. His greasy hair hung like a curtain in front of him.

Garnet knelt down beside the man, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

The man took a deep breath and attempted answering, but his hoarse voice crackled and he could only manage a coughing fit.

Pearl ran to the kitchen and returned with a two glasses of water, one of which the man gladly accepted with his shaking hand.

Throwing his head back as he gulped, his hair fell to the sides of his head as streams of water poured over his lips as he drank, running down his dirt stained skin.

Garnet tiled her head to the side as the studied the stranger, her eyes narrowing as she stared.

Pearl dropped the other glass, shards skittering across the floor, carried by the miniature flood of water it had once held.

Amethyst stared intently forward, her mouth open wide as if some exclamation were forthcoming, but only silence issued forth as her widening eyes filled with tears of disbelief.

Swallowing the last gulp, the man tilted his head forward again, and wiped away the remains of the liquid as familiar eyes locked onto Amethyst's wide, lavender irises.

He gave her a kind hearted smile as he forced the pain from his face.

"Hello, beautiful."

With a gasp, Amethyst's eyes rolled back as she fainted to the floor.

*BREAK*

Her eyes fluttered behind her closed lids. Swallowing, Amethyst tried to clear her head.

What had just happened? She remembered helping a sick man onto the couch, and then…

As she awoke, she could hear voices around her.

"That is strange." Garnet agreed. "And you just woke up there?"

"Yes." A weak voice replied. "Nothing had changed. Your grave was still there."

"But how are you still here?" Pearl questioned.

The other voice sighed. "I don't know. I thought I was dying, and then… nothing. I woke up outside of the temple, and nothing had changed." The voice seemed filled with sadness. "All of it… For nothing…" Another sigh, and the voice continued. "I knew that with no gem, my life was fading, and so I decided that if this was the end, I wanted to die on my terms… in 'her' arms."

Amethyst bolted upright. Her eyes locked onto the young man in front of her.

"Steven?" she questioned, in disbelief.

"Yes, it's me." He smiled weakly.

Amethyst could barely contain her tears. He was here! She could feel her heart flutter as her emotional turmoil seemed to fade away. She reached her shaky hands out to his, afraid that she was dreaming, and that he would disappear as he had so many times upon her waking.

Her hands met his, and their fingers entwined.

Amethyst lost it at that moment, and began sobbing uncontrollably. She reached around him and drew him into a frantic embrace. He wrapped his arms around her in return and rested his face on the top of her head.

"I'm so sorry, Amethyst." He said. "For everything. I know this can't have been easy on you."

Burying her face in his chest, she weakly nodded her head, too overcome to speak.

"I only ever wanted to see you happy." He explained "And once again, I am here, causing you pain." He spoke softly, with genuine remorse. "I have been so selfish. I should have stayed there."

"No!" Amethyst cried, as she pulled away from him, wiping her tears. "You are here now…" She began, pausing to swallow. "That's all that matters. I can finally hold you and never let go."

His eyes lowered in shame and the Gems shuffled their feet uncomfortably as they stared at the ground.

She could tell that something was up.

"What?" Amethyst asked as dread filled her. "What's going on?"

Pearl looked away from the pair, and Garnet continued looking at the ground, unable to look her friend in the eye.

"I can't stay." Steven finally explained.

"What?" Amethyst questioned. "Of course you can! I-I- mean, we can clear you out a room!" She raced to think of what she could do to make him change his mind. "You can stay here with us! I mean, we can make it work, anything you need!"

She pleaded with him as she sobbed. "Just… Just please don't leave me again!"

Swallowing his emotions, Steven tried to think of some way to lessen the blow.

"Amethyst, nothing would make me happier. But… I …" He began, forcing himself to speak. "I don't have a choice in the matter I'm afraid."

"But…" Amethyst began, struggling to understand.

"He doesn't have a Gem…" Garnet explained. "He's .. "

"I'm dying." Steven finished.

"No…" Amethyst gasped, horrified at the news.

"I'm sorry, I-" Steven began.

"NOOOOO!" She screamed, pounding her fists against his chest.

"Why…" Amethyst sobbed. "Why can't I just be happy? Its so unfair…"

"I still have a little time. After all, I was able to make it here wasn't I?" He said as he was struck with a coughing fit.

"Enough" Garnet spoke authoritatively. "He needs to save his strength. There might be something we can do."

Amethyst looked to her with hopeful eyes.

"Look, I don't know how long I have, " Steven began "So I want to give you these before its too late."

He motioned for his duffle bag which had fallen by the door. Pearl nodded and brought it to him.

Undoing the bindings with his shaking hands, he pulled out a long, thin, blanket wrapped package.

"Pearl, I brought you this." He said as he presented the crudely wrapped package to her.

Pearl untied the cord around the item, and as the blanket slid away and fell to the ground, she gasped in awe.

"I thought you would appreciate it. It's what gave me the inspiration for my own blade." Steven explained.

Pearl held the sword up, admiring the crystalline masterpiece. It was the same swept-hilt design rapier that he had summoned from her gem when they battled Zircon. It was obviously an ancient Gem weapon of extreme quality. She was deeply touched at the gift.

"Thank you, Steven… I … I don't know what to say…" She stammered.

"You are more than welcome." He smiled. He then turned to Garnet. "For you, I don't so much have a gift, as I have something that should be returned to you."

He pulled out a stack of books and journals, carefully corded together. "These are your journals and the ancient texts that you and I recovered over the years."

Garnet opened her mouth, but Steven cut her off. "Yeah I know. Altering the future, past events, blah blah blah."

Garnet glared at him.

Steven looked down, his mood somber. "If I have learned anything from this, its that the future can't be changed… No matter how hard you try."

Garnet accepted the journals and books without any more argument. "Thank you."

"And for you…" He spoke as he focused his attention back on Amethyst. "I could never think of what to get you to properly express my love."

Amethyst pleaded with him. "You don't need to give me anything."

Steven smiled. "But I have been meaning to give these to you for a very long time." He reached into his sack and pulled out a fancy, gift-wrapped box.

Amethyst recognized that box.

"I bought this for you a very long time ago." He explained. "But the day I was going to give it to you was the day that… I lost you…"

"Steven…" Amethyst began. "It's ok, I don't need the candy, I just want you."

Steven raised his eyebrows in confusion. "How did you know that these were candies?"

Amethyst began explaining. "Because you have already given them to me… or rather, Steven did… young Steven… you know…" She tried to think of how to explain. Having two Steven's made speaking about them quite difficult. "I…" She sighed, giving up on the whole confusing mess. "I don't even like butterscotch."

Still trying to figure out what she meant, Steven reached into his bag once more, producing a small velveted box.

"I'm sorry I don't have anything better for you." He tried apologizing. "This is the only other thing I could think to give you."

He extended the box to Amethyst. "I found this growing in the ruins of our old temple, and it just seemed so beautiful that I-"

Steven dropped the box as he was racked with an uncontrollable coughing fit. He tried to cover his mouth as he slumped over onto the couch. Amethyst reached out to him, and gasped in shock as she saw the blood that he was coughing up onto his hands.

Steven looked so pale and sickly. Even as he brought his coughing under control, he seemed drained and weak, unable to speak.

"Garnet…" Amethyst cried. "Please! We have to do something!"

Garnet nodded, and turned to Pearl. "The stasis chamber. Go get it ready."

Pearl nodded, as she ran to the temple door, glancing back at the dying young man and wondering if there would be time enough to save him.

Garnet grabbed Steven's legs, and motioned Amethyst over to his head. The short Gem rushed over, placing her hands on his face, and looking deep into his eyes.

"Hold on Steven! Don't you dare die on me!" She pleaded.

Steven forced his eyes to lock onto hers, even as he was racked with another coughing fit, blood flecking his pale lips.

Amethyst began to panic as she realized that his eyes were no longer focusing on her, but staring blankly off into space.

Chocking back her tears, she and Garnet lifted his limp body and carried him into the temple.

*BREAK*

Past the beating crystalline heart of the Gem temple, lay a small alcove with a multifaceted locking mechanism. A panel of gemstone shaped recesses spotted the large crystal platform. Many of the openings had been closed off with a dark brown mud-like mass. It was as if the temple knew the owners of these gems would never be returning, it had tried to close off the openings like they were bleeding wounds.

Wringing her hands, attempting to calm herself, Amethyst looked down at the motionless form of the man she loved. Choking back her tears, she pressed her hand to the panel. A violet light began to glow around the crystal lock. With a bright flash, one of the open portals filled with a holographic amethyst.

She stepped back, and knelt beside Steven, grasping his hand in hers, and hoping that somehow he would squeeze her hand back.

Pearl knelt beside Amethyst and wrapped her arm around the troubled gem in support as Garnet offered her Gem's power to the panel. Giving the grieving Gem a hug, Pearl rose to her feet and repeated the unlocking procedure.

Garnet scooped up the young man in her arms and stood before the raised platform. Pearl assisted Amethyst to her feet and over to the dais.

The Gems had not had any reason to enter this area of the temple in many years. Sadly, most of its functions were lost to them now, but one of the few research areas still powered by the few remaining gems contained the object that Amethyst and her companions hoped would allow them to save their future friend.

With a rumbling, groaning echo, the crystal wall in front of them began to rise. The wall creaked and whined as it rose, as if the temple itself was complaining about being awakened from so long a slumber.

The darkened room that appeared as the wall rose slowly began to illuminate as the temple diverted power away from other systems and back into this long dormant area.

Rows of bookshelves lined the walls, with many empty slots where the books themselves had once been. Now they lay scattered around the area, on desks, tables, and the floor, as if the Gems who had been working here had abandoned their research in a hurry. A large desk with a swivel chair sat in the center of the room. Neat stacks of papers lay in two piles to either side of the desk, which was strewn with various crystals and strange tools.

Behind the desk, in the center of the back wall was the object that they had come to find.

The stasis chamber was originally used in experimentation and on rare occasion as a last ditch effort to save wounded Gems as the others sought ways to repair the damage. A large clear tube extended from floor to ceiling. Flanked by twin towers of crystalline composite, studded with various gemstones which were flickering to life and projecting data on holographic screens.

Pearl looked around in remembrance of the past, when Gems of all hues and abilities would have been working here for the betterment of all. She shook her head, thinking of all that had been lost over the years.

Garnet carried Steven toward the stasis chamber as Amethyst pumped her short legs in an attempt to stay near Steven as Garnet's long strides brought them to the device that she hoped would keep him alive long enough to find a way to save him.

The stasis chamber did not truly stop time for the one inside. It merely slowed time's advance to a snail's pace. Garnet knew that there was a very real possibility that Steven might not survive the night, let alone long enough for her to find some way to stabilize his life force.

Garnet waved her hand over the chamber's activation panel, and the tube opened up with a hiss, stale air venting out from long years of inactivity. She maneuvered Steven's body into the tube and raised her hand to close and activate the chamber.

"Please wait…"Amethyst pleaded with her. She stood on the tips of her toes and leaned in to kiss the young man who had stolen her heart. His lips were cold, and it broke her heart to think that even after being reunited with him after these long months that she would lose him once again.

"Amethyst" Garnet cautioned "Every second counts."

She forced back her tears and stepped away from the chamber as Garnet sealed Steven within it. There was a sound of venting gasses as Steven's body was enveloped in a shimmering cloud. As the cloud cleared, it was as if a sparkling blue glow surrounded his body.

Amethyst teared up. It looked like he was frozen. She had to fight the urge to crawl into that cold tube with him. If she could not keep him warm, then she wanted to die with him.

Pearl placed her hand on Amethyst's shoulder. "Come on, we should probably go for now." She forced a smile for the shorter Gem's sake. "Maybe get something to eat?"

Amethyst couldn't tear her eyes away from the tube. She weakly nodded as Pearl led her out of the research room.

"What about you?" Pearl asked of Garnet as they neared the exit.

Garnet was busy organizing papers on the large central desk, and unwrapping the bundle of books that the young man from the future had gifted her. She did not raise her eyes from the paper she held in her hands as she spoke.

"I need to work."

Pearl nodded silently, and led the heartbroken Gem out of the lab as Garnet began writing in an open notebook.

I know you can find a way. She thought, and held Amethyst tightly as they made their way back out of the temple.

*BREAK*

"Hey!" Steven called out. "Where did you get to?" He looked all around. The mirror's reflections made his head spin. He had already ran into so many walls that his nose was getting sore. He decided that he did not like the fun house at all.

Now where the heck did she go? He thought as he held his hands in front of himself and slowly walked forward, feeling his way through the maze of glass and mirrors. Staring intently ahead, he was so focused on the task at hand that it took him a moment to register a slight tickling feeling on the nape of his neck. He felt it move up into his hair, and immediately thought of spiders.

"Waaaa-aaaaahhhhh!" Steven screamed as he ducked down and began furiously slapping at his head.

"Boo!" A voice shouted as a figure jumped in front of him, causing him once again to yell, not at all unlike a frightened little girl.

"Haha!" Connie said "I told you I would get you!" She laughed as she extended her hand to the young boy.

Trying to calm himself, and think of a way to save his 'cool', Steven accepted her hand and pulled himself to his feet.

"Umm… yeah… Ok, you got me." He stammered. "So umm.. Can we get out of here now? This place is giving me a headache."

"Sure" Connie said with a smile. "Let's go grab something to eat." She kept hold of his hand as she led the young boy around the false walls and turning pathways.

Steven stumbled around, marveling at how she was able to navigate the corridors without running into the walls as he had done so many times.

He was acutely aware of the warmth of her hand in his. It felt nice. It made him feel right. He couldn't figure out how to describe it, but he knew that he wanted to keep holding her hand for as long as he could.

They finally reached the exit, and to Steven's dismay Connie pulled away from him and excitedly skipped over to the nearby food cart. A bit disappointed that he couldn't hold her hand longer, Steven internally groaned as he saw which food stand that Connie was heading to.

Steven never visited the Salad Shack except to snag bacon bits for his cheese fries.

But he knew that Connie didn't like 'unhealthy' food, so he was determined to smile and bear it. As he walked over to her, she was completing her order for a veggie pita. Yuck! Steven though to himself.

Connie turned to the trepidatious youth as the attendant began making her order. "So, like… You are always complaining about how the Gems never take you on missions, right? So I figured if you tried eating more healthy things, you would have more energy, and you could show them that you are being serious about your job."

"Okay…" Steven slowly intoned, not quite grasping what she was getting at.

Sensing that Steven wasn't getting the point, she sighed and explained. "So… I was thinking that you might want to try something from here. They used mixed greens and spinach, which have a lot more minerals and vitamins that lettuce."

Steven's blank stare seemed to provoke further explanation

"You know, to give you more energy? So that you will feel like being more active…" She began to wonder just how dense Steven really was. She could see from his furrowed brow that he still was not getting the point.

Giving up on being succinct, Connie flatly stated "If you eat stuff from here, you will probably get to go on missions more often."

"Oh, yeah, I got that part…" Steven lied as he queasily studied the menu. "I just haven't decided what to order yet."

Connie could see by his face that he was not too impressed by the healthy stand's offerings. She knew that he would probably still be staring at the menu board long after she had finished her food unless she intervened.

"He'll have a chicken caesar wrap." She told the attendant.

She could see that Steven still looked a bit skeptical about the food.

"Add bacon bits, please." She finished.

She took the two orders and led Steven to one of the nearby benches that lined the boardwalk.

As they sat, Steven tried to look like he was enjoying himself, though he was deathly afraid of making a sour face when he ate the wrap he was holding, nearly at arms length.

I can do this! He told himself.

All I have to do is chew really fast and swallow without breathing, and I won't have to taste it!

He steeled himself, and went in for a bite.

"So how is it?" Connie asked as Steven's plan fell apart.

He knew he couldn't chomp through this quickly when she was looking right at him, so he mentally prepared himself, and chewed a few times.

To his surprise, it was not that bad!

The grilled chicken was real, not like that processed 'grilled chicken' stuff he had the misfortune of trying when he ate Pearl's lunch by accident. The greens were not as bitter as lettuce, and the sauce was sort of like ranch dressing. The bacon was just a bonus.

"It's pretty good!" Steven exclaimed as he chewed.

Connie laughed at his apparent shock, and then promptly told him he shouldn't speak with his mouth full.

The mortified look on his face made her laugh even harder, and as soon as Steven realized that she was just teasing him, he joined her, nervously at first, but then truly laughing along.

After they finished eating, Steven couldn't really think of anything to say, and so he just stared at the looming sunset, as it bathed the rippling ocean in a brilliant myriad of pastel colors.

"So, what's up with you lately?" Connie asked.

"Huh?" Steven replied, as he turned to her with a questioning look on his face.

"We've been hanging out for the last few days, and that's great and all, but don't you normally spend all of your time with the other Gems?'

Steven's mood visibly dampened. "They have been acting really strange lately." He confided. "I don't really like staying at home when they are like that."

"What do you mean?" Connie asked, concerned.

Steven began telling her about how everything had changed since the battle with Zircon, and about how Amethyst was avoiding him. He explained how he felt like he was just in the way, and that they seemed to be happier when he wasn't around.

It made Connie sad to see Steven, normally so excitable and jubilant being so morose and down on himself.

"I guess I am just a big burden to everyone…" Steven lamented.

"That not true, Steven." Connie placed her hand on his. "I like hanging out with you."

Steven looked up, her touch shaking him from his dark mood. "Really?" He asked.

"Of course!" She assured him. "As long as I have been in Beach City with my dad, you are the only person who has even bothered to talk to me."

Steven smiled at her.

"I'm glad you're my friend." She told him.

"Me too." He assured her.

A few seconds of silence later, Steven became acutely aware that he was holding her hand and looking into her eyes. The realization seemed to strike Connie at about the same time.

"Well…" She said as she turned back around, putting her hands nervously in her lap. "It's getting dark…"

"Yeah…" Steven said, drearily, wishing he could have stayed that way for at least a bit more.

Sensing that his mood was once again on the decline, she asked "Care to walk me to the marina?" She offered her hand to the sad looking boy.

Brightness returned to his eyes, as he happily accepted her hand, being careful not to let it go this time.

The pair disposed of their trash and began walking down the boardwalk to the construction site that her father had been hired to provide security for.

The old marina had been damaged during one of the Gem's scuffles with those strange creatures that always seemed to appear from nowhere. Steven remembered destroying some of it himself during his first meeting with Connie, when he had trapped that large sea worm around the columns of the pier. Not long after those events, Beach City had been hit by a large tropical storm, and without needed repairs, the pier, a section of boardwalk and nearly the entire marina had been torn apart.

Focusing on the warmth from Connie's hand, Steven said a silent 'thank you' to whatever forces had brought the storm.

As they approached the construction site, Steven released Connie's hand, not wanting to give him any reason not to let Connie continue spending time with him.

Connie reached back to him and took his hand again, and gave him a look as if to say "Don't worry."

Taking relief from that, Steven asked "So where is your dad?"

Connie checked her watch and told him "He should be here in a few minutes. We can give you a ride home if you want."

"Nah, that's okay." Steven assured her. "I like walking home on the beach at night. It's really peaceful."

Standing there, still holding her hand, Steven began to feel nervous. What if her dad doesn't like me? I mean, I know its not like we are going out or anything, but… I would really miss her if she couldn't spend any more time with me.

Connie could tell that Steven was getting a bit nervous. His hand was getting sweaty. She thought it was cute. She knew her dad wouldn't care. Connie was a model student, and had never been in any trouble. She had earned her dad's trust. She really liked spending time with this goofy boy.

"It's okay, Steven." She told him. "I promise, my dad will like you, after all, he—"

A loud crashing sound caught the pair's attention, as several garbage cans tumbled over in the darkened corner of the construction site.

"What was that?!" Connie questioned, as she moved in closer to Steven.

"I don't know." Steven admitted. "It's probably just a dog or something."

Through the darkness, they could begin to make out the shape of a four legged animal moving amidst the overturned garbage.

"See?" Steven assured her. "It's probably just a hungry stray."

Squinting through her glasses, Connie could see that this was a very large dog. Maybe a great dane? No, It seemed bigger than that. She caught a glimpse of a tail as the creature buried its head into the overturned can's refuse. She tightened her grip on Steven's hand.

"Steven!" Connie whispered frightfully. "I don't think that's a dog!"

"Wha-" Steven began, but was cut off by a booming and authoritative voice.

"Connie!"

She turned around, nearly yanking Steven's arm out of the socket as she retained her frightened grip on him. "Dad!"

Steven turned to look at the source of the voice, and could make out a tall, muscular man wearing a security uniform. He was brandishing a bright flashlight and waving emphatically with his other hand towards the two of them.

"Get over here now! It's not safe!" He yelled at the two frightened children.

Steven glanced back toward the animal, and caught a glimpse of two glaring yellow eyes on a very un-dog-like head.

Before Steven could make out any more details, Connie tugged his arm and began running, pulling him behind her. He tried to keep up, but his shorter legs just could not keep pace with Connie. As she pulled at his hand, he tripped over his own feet and fell hard to the ground, landing on some scattered construction materials and bashing his knee on the corner of a two by four.

"Steven!" Connie screamed.

She turned around and ran back to where he had fallen as her father continued yelling for her to get away.

Steven rolled over and sat up, as Connie began grabbing his arm and trying to pull him to his feet. There was a loud 'thud' that seemed to shake the ground as the creature landed in front of the two struggling youths.

Steven stared as the pale light from the street lamps illuminated the creature.

Four muscular legs supported the creature's rippling body, each terminating with a series of wicked looking claws. Iridescent scales covered the reptilian monster and reflected the wavering light of the flashlight that Connie's father was holding as he ran towards them. Those two yellow eyes shone with an inner glow on either side of the creature's prehistoric looking head. They seemed fixated on Steven and Connie, as its forked tongue flicked out from a mouth of razor sharp teeth.

The creature snarled, coaxing a frightened scream from Connie. Steven's mind raced with fear while he struggled to figure out a way to get them away from this thing. Connie's father jumped over the two children and positioned himself between them and the beast.

Steven tried to stand, but a shooting pain in his knee stopped him abruptly. He had hit the corner of that board hard, and could already feel the wetness under his pants leg that let him know that he had broken the skin.

"Back!" Connie's father yelled at the creature "Back! HYYYEEEEAAA! BACK!" He waved his light and spread out his arms in an attempt to look intimidating to the beast.

Connie's father was forced to jump backwards, nearly tripping over Steven as the creature snapped its jaws in the air. He reached to his belt and pulled out what looked like a gun.

"Back off now!" He warned the creature. "I will use this!"

The creature reared up on its hind legs and appeared to be about to pounce. The frightened security guard pulled the trigger and fired.

Steven had braced himself for a loud report from the gun, but there was no sound. Confetti seemed to shoot from the barrel of the gun and two wires fired forth, striking the creature in the chest, as what looked like lightning arced across the front of the weapon.

The taser spikes bounced off the scaled hide of the beast in front of him. Stunned, Connie's father stepped forward, slamming the still firing weapon into the broad chest of the reptilian monster.

Seemingly unfazed by the attack, the creature snarled and spun to the side, slamming its thick tail into Connie's father, knocking him from his feet and sending him tumbling into a pallet of cinder blocks.

Screaming, Connie ran to where her father had fallen. Steven stared at the beast before him as the movement caught its eye. It turned away from Steven and stared menacingly at Connie and her father.

No! Steven thought. There must be something I can do! It's going to hurt them!

The memory of a warm hand in his flooded his mind. He really cared about Connie.

And this thing was going to hurt her.

Steven could feel a now familiar pain in his heart. He did not need to look down to know that his gem was pulsing. He had to stop that creature.

But in the back of his mind, a worry stalled his action. I'm going to mess this all up again, just like the other times.

Each time he had felt like this, he had unleashed the power of his gem. And each time the people closest to him seemed to shun him. Steven forced that feeling down into the pit of his stomach. He could not rely on that power. It had hurt those boys on the beach. It had trapped his friends while a demon nearly destroyed him. It had taken away his best friend, and made it so that she could not even look at him.

No. This was something he was going to have to do himself.

Glancing down, Steven could see that his Gem had stopped pulsing. Good, he thought. Even if I could put a barrier around them, I would just be forcing them to watch while that thing attacked me. If I were to release that force, I might hurt Connie and her father. And what good would a tiny pink shield be here?

What Steven needed was a weapon. Something to make that thing back away from his friend. Wincing at the pain in his leg, he stumbled to his feet and began frantically searching for something he could brandish against the creature.

He limped and stumbled towards Connie and her father, the whole time scanning the ground for something he could use as a weapon. This was an active construction site, so surely there was something he could use. He passed over trash, gravel, bits of splintered thin wood, unsuitable for a weapon. He had covered nearly half the distance, and the creature was nearly upon them.

Muttering words that he was sure Pearl would not approve of under his breath, Steven cursed his luck. This was supposed to be a construction site! Where was a nail-studded board, or a metal pipe when you needed one?

The creature leaped up onto the cinder blocks and hissed at its intended prey.

Still stunned from the impact, the security guard could only stare at the rows of menacing teeth, just feet from his head. Connie struggled to pull her dad away from the creature. Steven could see the panic and fear in her eyes.

His heart began to ache.

He struggled to calm himself once more as he abandoned his search and ran headlong towards the creature.

Sliding to a stop, Steven spread his arms in defiance, blocking the creature's path to Connie and her father.

"Steven!" Connie yelled, pleadingly.

Coughing, her father hoarsely yelled at the young boy. "Please… Take Connie and run."

Steven turned his head to meet the eyes of the father of the girl whose friendship he treasured. He could see in his eyes an urgent need. He needed to protect his little girl, and he knew that he couldn't. Steven was sure that there was something else he could see in his eyes. Maybe it was the corners of his mustachioned mouth, turned up in not-quite a smile. Maybe it was the tears he could see welling up in an otherwise expressionless face. It could have been in the tone of his voice as he pleaded with Steven to take his daughter and run.

Steven instinctively knew. He was trusting his little girl's life into Steven's hands, knowing that he was going to die here.

Bravery, in its purest form.

Steven could feel that sensation building up in his Gem once again, as he struggled to quell his own fear, and the tears that he felt pooling in the corners of his eyes.

Steven felt the world slow as his mind was gripped with epiphany.

Connie needed her dad.

Steven could see his life stretching out across the future.

Holding Connie's hand as rain obscured the tears on her face as she stared at the coffin in front of her. Returning year by year to lay flowers on a cold marble slab, engraved with the name of the man who should have been there beside her.

Steven saw the future laid bare before him, all the choices, the changes, as he grew old and sickly until the time came when it was him lying on a hospital bed. A small, trembling hand gripped his, and the tears falling were 'for' him this time. Every one of those days of his life ended the same way that his final moments on this earth did.

With regret.

He could see the salmon colored glow of his gem reflecting on the broken bits of glass at his feet.

My power is a shield, he though to himself.

But I can't summon it.

Steven smiled.

I can be the shield.

Time seemed to return to normal, and Steven was still staring into Connie's father's eyes, as he waited for the young boy to answer his final plea.

"No." Steven said. He gave her father a smile, and turned to meet whatever fate had in store.

He felt calm. Right. At peace.

The creature lowered itself, shifting its weight on the cinder blocks as it prepared to pounce on the chubby child in front of it.

Steven glanced down at his Gem, wondering if he would get to meet his mother. But he was shaken from his mental monologue as he noticed something poking out from under his shirt.

Did something stab me when I fell earlier? Steven wondered as he raised his shirt over the protrusion.

There was what looked like a handle of some sort, coming right out of his gem! Steven grabbed the object and could feel that it was solidly stuck, and very deep.

Oh, well. Steven thought. I'm not going to go out looking like a shish kebab!

Gripping it tightly, Steven pulled hard on the handle as the creature pounced. To his shock, it slid free easily and painlessly. As the object was removed, he could see that it glowed a warm pink hue, not unlike the sunset that he had seen earlier while sitting with Connie.

As it slid out, Steven's eyes grew wide. The tapered tip finally came free, and Steven held the object in front of himself.

The creature flew through the air, straight at Steven, and Connie screamed, burying her face into her father's chest unable to watch what she knew was going to happen to her only friend.

Her father did not close his eyes. He was still wondering what kind of crazy kid would throw away his life so casually, before his attention was stolen by an intensely bright light.

He watched in amazement as the young boy raised his arm to the approaching creature. Clenched tightly in a trembling fist, was a blazing sword. The blade appeared to be made of some sort of rose colored glass, and was emitting light so intense that it made his eyes water to view it.

He watched as Steven dropped down defensively. He kept his weapon held high as the creature flew over where his head had been a moment ago. There was a flash of light as the blade touched the creature's chest. The reptilian beast let loose a momentous screech as the blade slid through its armored scales as if they were made of gelatin. The beast's momentum carried it over the young man's head, as the blade neatly bisected it.

As the blade finished its work, two separate halves of some unknown monstrosity seemed to melt away into mist.

Awaiting the pain of the monster's attack, Steven kept his eyes tightly closed. All he could hear was a clanking sound as if something had fallen to the ground.

Slowly opening his eyes, he spotted a fist sized green gemstone at his feet.

Confused, he lowered his arms, and beheld the sword that was clenched so tightly in his hands.

It took him a moment to figure out what was going on, but as the realization came to him, he was filled with the pride of his actions.

"Steven?" He heard Connie's voice, and excitedly spun around.

"Connie! Check it out!" He proudly extended his hand to show off the blade he had summoned.

His fist was empty.

"Aww, WHAT!" Steven yelled, disappointedly. He looked pleadingly at his friend. "I summoned a sword! I swear!"

"Steven, what are you talking about!?" Connie yelled back at him, still shaken from the attack. Her eyes darted all around, searching for the creature.

"But…" Steven let his voice trail off. "…I did…"

"I believe you." A strong voice replied, as Connie's father rose to his feet. "I saw what you did for us."

"Huh?" Steven questioned, still unsure of what he had done to stop the creature.

Connie's father walked over to the young boy. He clapped his hand on Steven's shoulder.

"That was a very brave thing you did."

Steven nervously laughed, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to think of how to respond.

"It was also extremely stupid." Her father continued.

His expression flipped, as Steven began stammering out an apology, worried that he had upset the security guard.

Connie's father laughed. He turned to Connie "I can see why you like this guy. He's funny."

Embarrassed, Connie blushed and whined "Dad!"

"Look, Steven, I don't pretend to know what it is you and your 'gems' do, but I can say that I'm glad that my daughter has a friend who can protect her when I'm not around."

Steven shuffled his feet nervously, not knowing how to reply.

"Seriously, son, thank you." Her father clapped him on the back.

"No problem…" Steven managed.

He walked over to check on Connie, giving Steven a break to mentally digest what had just happened. Steven bent down to pick up the gemstone that the creature had left behind. He had seen many like this, each time the Gems had fought off one of those strange monsters.

"It's kinda pretty." Connie said, admiring the gem.

"Do you want it?" Steven asked as he offered the object to her.

"Is it safe?" Connie's father asked.

"It should be." Steven explained. "The Gems usually seal these in the temple, but it can't do anything without one of those creatures to absorb it."

Steven handed the stone to Connie. "So, uh…" Steven began.

"Do you need a ride home?" Connie's father asked. "After tonight, I think we both just want to get home and get some rest."

"No, that's okay." Steven assured him. "It's not far, and I like the walk."

"Alright, young man. And thank you again." He turned to Connie as he opened the driver's door of his truck. "Come on, baby. Let's get you home."

Steven waved goodbye to his friend, and turned around to walk home.

He could hear footsteps running up from behind. He turned just as Connie reached him and wrapped her arms around him.

Stunned, Steven froze.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the Salad Shack, same time, okay?"

"Yeah… umm … sure…" He managed as she squeezed him and then turned to run back to her father's truck.

Steven stood and waved as the truck pulled away, its lights disappearing down the road.

As he turned to head home, Steven stopped, as he realized something horrible.

"AAawwwww, MAN!" Steven groaned aloud, slapping his forehead. "I didn't hug her back!"

*BREAK*

The sound of a door opening signaled the end of her sleep. Pearl opened her eyes, half dried shut with recently shed tears. Her left arm was dead asleep, Amethyst's head resting upon it, her sleeve still moist from her crying herself to sleep.

Pearl glanced down at the sleeping Gem, her face still twisted in pain, as though her dreams offered no solace from her heartbreak.

Footsteps caught her attention as she glanced Steven walking through the living room. It must be at least close to midnight. What was he doing out so late?

She wanted to question him, but she dare not disturb Amethyst. She needed the rest. Watching him through mostly closed eyes, she noticed that Steven barely stopped as he saw them on the couch. He made eye contact for only a moment, then silently turned and headed to his room, shutting the door behind him.

Oh, Steven. Pearl thought to herself. I know this is hard on you, and it's not fair. She wished that she could give some comfort to him, but the few times she had tried, she felt that she only made it worse. It would be so much easier if she could just be honest with him, but how could she? Steven was an innocent, sweet boy, and she could not begin to think of how to explain the harsh reality that future Steven had been through, nevermind how she would explain the second Steven to the boy.

Pearl sighed.

There was nothing good about this situation they all found themselves in. Not one single part of any of this mess seemed fair to anyone. Amethyst's heart was twisted in one painful direction after another. Garnet hadn't slept in almost 3 days, Steven was becoming more distant to all of them, and the young man who had un-intentionally started this whole mess by sacrificing himself to save them all, was on death's door, clinging to life by a thread, frozen in the stasis chamber.

Failing to see any light at the end of this bleak, dark tunnel, Pearl rubbed her temples with her free hand, trying to massage away the growing headache she was developing trying to wrap her head around this awful mess.

She looked down at Amethyst's sleeping form.

I should count my blessings, Pearl thought. I could be in her shoes now. The battle scars having been healed before his disappearance, Future Steven was quite fetching. She could not imagine the pain the diminutive Gem was going through. Twice she had had her heart filled with love, and both times only to have it snatched away from her.

Pearl noticed the velveted case that Steven had been trying to give her before he passed out. Amethyst had it clutched tightly in her hands. The twine that held it closed was still intact. So she hadn't been able to bring herself to open it…

There was a slip of folded paper sticking out from the closed box. Struggling against her curiosity, Pearl reached out gently, and gripped the edge of the protruding paper. It slid free from the box with little resistance.

The folded note was addressed to Amethyst, from Steven.

Swallowing, Pearl began to unfold the paper as she glanced down at Amethyst to make sure she was still asleep.

As she began to read the words, she immediately wished that she had not. This was not for her. She had to choke back sobs, as not to wake the sleeping Gem, as she continued reading. As much as she knew that she should not be reading this, she could not tear her eyes away from the words on the paper.

How one person could love another so completely, having never had the chance to be with them, was beyond her.

Reading Steven's heartfelt words, she could feel his pain. He knew that there was a very good chance that he would never be able to give this to Amethyst.

There was more on the reverse side. Pearl turned the paper over, and openly wept, as she bore witness to Steven's soul, set to paper.

"Amethyst, I have no idea what to possibly say to you. I cannot even be sure I will have time to try.

I want to apologize to you for the pain I am putting you through. I can only admit that my actions now, and before are completely selfish. I know that I have no way of staying with you. I am deeply sorry for the pain I have caused you. I have no claim to you. I have lost my chance in this world with you, and I have no right to interfere with 'his'.

But my heart compels me to write this last letter to you.

My brain just seems to turn to mush when I try to think of some words that even begin to convey the depth of my feelings for you. Garnet often told me that when you have a problem that you cannot seem to work through, it helps to write it down, and put it all into perspective.

I have already been through two whole pencils and this is the last page of paper that I have been able to scavenge. So this has to be it.

I have never tried to write poetry, but I know that my heart sings when I think of you.

I can't know how much time I have left, but I know that I am going to risk it all to make it back to you. I would rather die in a world where you can still smile, than live forever in a world devoid of your glowing presence.

I'm sure its going to be cheesy, and you will probably tell me I'm a goofball and an idiot, but I could think of nothing else to write to you.

Amethyst, I give to you my first, and last poem.

I can only hope it begins to help you understand just what you mean to me.

I love you.

With any luck, I'll see you soon, even if for only a moment.

MY LAST REQUEST

By your goofball

If my love for you could be distilled into a single drop

Then perhaps I could finally share it all with you.

An endless ocean, stretching into the infinite blue.

And a colossal flood no earthly force could stop.

In darkness, lost, my soul did scream

For the loving light I'd lost so long ago

On the beach where first my gem did glow

Your perfect smile now only in my dreams

No future here, or reason for me to exist

This broken world as empty as the darkened skies

Where the stars reflect the light within your eyes.

This horrid pain in my heart I can't resist.

Only one way to escape this overwhelming force

One final act to stem the pain within my heart

A last return to where this awful pain did start.

My soul now at peace, committed to this course

I know that both pain and life are only finite

But the ache in my heart is equal to

The growing love I have for you

I cannot live in a world without you in it.

I'll give my life to keep you from all life's harms.

Forgive me now, dear Amethyst

And grant to me this last request

To gaze into your lavender eyes

And claim your lips as my last prize

And let my final breath be taken in your arms."

Pearl's hands trembled as she read the words.

She was suddenly overcome with anger.

How could the world be so unfair? How could the thing they have given so much to protect deny them the chance for happiness that their actions gave everyone else?

Pearl refused to believe that this could end in tragedy. Steven WOULD live. Determined to see that there was a happy ending to be had here, Pearl gently slipped her still numb arm our from under Amethyst's head, replacing it with a pillow.

Confident that she would remain sleeping, she slid the note from Steven, under her outstretched arm, so that it would be the first thing she saw as she woke.

Looking at her friend once more, she silently swore to her that she would not let her heart know the pain that Steven had endured for so long.

Tip-toeing out of the room, Pearl opened the temple door, and went to see if there was anything that she could do to help Garnet out.

The research lab's door slid open, and Amethyst ran in, crying. Her eyes locked onto the now empty stasis chamber.

Her heart nearly stopped beating as cold fear struck her. She quickly searched the room, and spied Garnet and Pearl standing over a bed.

They both turned as she entered, and between them Amethyst could see the shape of a man under a white sheet.

She dropped to her knees as the pain overwhelmed her.

"No." she weakly managed as she doubled over in pain.

Pearl looked to Garnet. "I can handle this. Just get her out of here."

Nodding, Garnet passed a spherical bubble to Pearl, and quickly picked up the wailing Gem, rushing her out of the research lab.

Pearl turned back to the young man on the slab in front of her. She took in a deep breath, slowly letting it out, to calm herself. She then turned her attention to the spherical barrier.

Inside was the only remaining evidence of the battle of four months ago.

A tattered scrap of the Gem Cutter's sash fell into her hands as the barrier was dispelled. Twelve cracked and desecrated Gems were embedded in the demon's sash. How many of these Gems belonged to comrades that Pearl had fought beside? How many were the last remains of her friends and loved ones?

She fought against the urge to retch. As much as even letting this scrap of that monster exist made her shake with anger, right now it was the only hope of preventing further pain and heartbreak.

Garnet had spent long hours researching and decoding her alternate self's notes. It turned out that most of the journal's that Steven had brought them were about research that she had been conducting on how to augment a Gem's power through the artificial implantation of other gemstones. This was Garnet's way of sidestepping the cost of using the time portal. She had never intended to leave Steven all alone. She wanted to make sure that there was some way for her to survive the trip there and back so that he would not have to live in that blasted world all alone.

Unfortunately, Garnet had hit a wall in her research. There were no other Gems with which to bind to Steven.

Pearl had entered the lab, to find Garnet sitting at her desk, her head in her hands. There were multiple deep gouges in the walls of the research lab, as if there had been a great battle in there while her and Amethyst were resting.

Garnet's battle fists were still activated, and Pearl knew that something must be wrong.

After hearing what Garnet had learned, Pearl was struck with the hopelessness of the situation. She was ready to give up.

Looking at the young man, frozen in stasis, Pearl was struck by an idea.

She mumbled under her breath. "If every pork chop were perfect…"

Garnet had questioned her, as Pearl quickly detailed her idea.

If there was no perfect solution to this problem, then why not find an imperfect one? Pearl immediately went to the sealing chamber below the Crystal Heart, and retrieved Zircon's sash.

Garnet was dubious as to whether the cracked gemstones would be able to hold Steven's waning life force bound to his physical form, but with no other options, and no time left to find any, they decided on this course of action.

Pearl held the scrap of dark cloth in her hands.

She could only hope that the twelve cracked gemstones would be enough to sustain the young man. Mouthing a silent prayer, Pearl activated the large gemstone above the operating table.

A holographic lens appeared over the young man's lifeless body. Pearl gripped a scalpel-like instrument from a nearby tray, and as its tip flared brilliantly, the lens began to display the weak currents of life energy still running through Steven.

Taking a final deep breath to calm herself, Pearl lifted the white sheet and began her first incision.

"But I want to help!" Amethyst protested as Garnet held her back.

"Amethyst, please." She tried to get the distraught Gem to see reason. "Pearl is working on him right now, and she needs to have total concentration."

"But…" Amethyst began, then hung her head, and slumped back against the wall, sliding to the floor.

"I know how you feel, but all we can do now is wait." Garnet assured her as she placed a comforting arm around her.

The two sat in silence for quite a few minutes, as Amethyst calmed herself. Garnet noticed the box that Steven had given her was still clutched in her arms. Hoping to take her mind off what was going on in the other room, she tentatively asked, "So what did he give you?"

Handing the box to her friend, Amethyst did not have the strength to speak.

Garnet opened the box, and nearly dropped it as she saw what it contained.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Amethyst asked.

Garnet could scarcely believe her eyes.

Nestled between layers of crushed velvet lay a single rose. But this was no ordinary rose. It appeared to be carved from a single perfect crystal. Each petal was perfect, without any blemish, and like a natural rose, each was as thin and delicate as its earthly counterpart.

No artisan, no matter how skilled could have ever carved such a piece. No, this was something that Garnet recognized very well. A Prism Rose. There was only one in all the galaxy, and Garnet knew exactly where it was growing.

Deep in the heart of the temple, was a room that could only be opened with every Gem's power. A room that is now forever closed to them.

In that room was a garden of pristine beauty. Flowers from every corner of the cosmos had been brought and cultivated there. But as resplendent and awe inspiring as the garden's beauty was, there was something even more precious at its center.

A single crystalline rose. THIS rose.

Surrounded by a magical barrier, no Gem in Garnet's memory could enter the center grove. Most often regarded as an oddity, only true scholars knew the legend behind the barrier and the rose.

Long ago, before she, or any of her friends were alive, there was a Gem who fell in love with a mortal. Just like, Rose Quartz, Steven's mother, this Gem gave up her life energy to bring a child into the world, and bestow upon it, the power of her Gem.

It was the first time in the records that such an event had taken place. And it was marked as a solemn occasion. All Gem's were in attendance for the event, in the sacred garden. They gathered there to both welcome a new life, and to bid farewell to a friend. But the true purpose of the gathering was the celebration of love.

On the very spot that one Gem ended, and another entered this world, a small bud appeared. The Gem's that tended to the garden tried to nurture the bud, but found that none could approach it. The barrier surrounding it drained them of their strength and no matter how they tried, or how many years spent researching a way through, none were able to enter the center of the sacred grove.

Each century, the bud would sprout and grow into a wondrously beautiful rose. It lasted for a few days, and then wilted and died, leaving behind a sprout which renewed the whole process. Gems used to gather around the barrier each hundred years to mark the occasion with celebration as the rose bloomed.

There were legends alluded to in some of Garnet's recovered texts of a few Gems during the course of history who were able to pass the barrier. In each case, it was said that true love was the key to enter the sacred grove.

Some of her texts suggested as many as three separate occasions where the Rose was plucked, and others suggested that it occurred only once. Garnet was unsure of what to believe, but she knew from her lifetime, and the few times she was able to attend the blooming ceremony, that couples would often 'test' their love by attempting to reach the Prism Rose. Some made it farther than others, but Garnet never recalled anyone making it even to the halfway point.

At the time she discounted the whole 'true love' explanation. She knew one of the couples who had attempted the task, and there could be no doubt of their love for each other. They had barely made it a few steps into the barrier before collapsing.

How Steven could have managed to pass through the barrier and pluck the rose for Amethyst, Garnet had no idea. Even if the temple were in ruins, the barrier should not have been down. It was sustained by the Rose, itself.

She stared at Amethyst, whose eyes were locked onto some faraway place, though her head pointed to the floor. Garnet often doubted Steven's claim of loving Amethyst with skepticism. She would never have voiced her opinion to the heartbroken Gem, but she knew that given the circumstances of Steven's life, he had chosen to fixate on Amethyst to give himself some sort of feeling of belonging. A goal to strive for. Garnet had always assumed it was loneliness that drove Steven to create this 'love' for Amethyst in his mind.

Yet here, in her hand, resting in a lovingly crafted box, sat the proof that disproved all of her assumptions.

Amethyst noticed the strange look on Garnet's face. "What?" she quietly asked.

Garnet handed her the Rose, and began explaining what she knew of it.

Amethyst stared intently at the delicate looking flower in front of her as she listened to Garnet's story. Her expression did not change even as Garnet finished explaining the importance of the crystalline Rose.

Garnet gave up waiting on a response. She could only imagine what Amethyst was going through.

"You can save him, right?" Amethyst asked.

"I hope so." Garnet told her. She wanted to reassure the heartbroken Gem, but she did not want to lie. In truth, Garnet had no idea if this plan would work at all. Her analytical mind could only assign a success rate of twenty percent or less to the operation, even with Pearl's steady hands.

Garnet moved as the lab door slid open.

Amethyst looked up, hopeful.

Pearl's brow was dripping with sweat. She wiped it away, giving the best reassuring smile she could manage to the wide eyes staring up at her. She then turned to Garnet.

"I could really use your assistance right now."

Garnet nodded, and stood up, placing a reassuring hand on Amethyst's back. "You should wait upstairs." She told the ailing Gem. "It will still be a few hours before we are done."

Amethyst weakly nodded as Garnet followed Pearl back into the lab.

The door closed behind her, leaving Amethyst alone in the empty hall.

*BREAK*

Clutching the velveted rose box to her chest, Amethyst slowly made her way through the twisting tunnels and pathways of the temple. Every step carried her further away from her heart, but closer to peace. She was becoming emotionally numb. Too many conflicting emotions had been fighting within her for so long that her heart felt like a war scarred battlefield.

She knew that there was nothing she could do but wait, and it was that very waiting that she feared would kill her at the moment. She needed something to take her mind off of the struggle to save the life of the man she loved.

Lost in her thoughts, Amethyst reached the temple's exit without remembering having taken a single step away from the locked door of the lab. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door into the house and made her way over to the couch.

Perhaps some television could steal her attention for a time. She looked around for the remote, and not finding it, began fishing between the couch cushions.

She heard a door open and recognized the heavy footsteps of Steven. He walked right past her and into the kitchen.

Summoning her courage, she walked around the counter, and stood in front of the boy as he was grabbing a bottle of water. Steven looked at Amethyst with trepidation, unsure of what her reaction would be.

"Hi." Amethyst said with a sad smile.

Steven's eyes widened. That was the first word she had spoken to him in almost four months. He stared at her blankly, trying to gauge her reaction before daring to speak.

"Hi." He replied, but the look on his face made the response seem more of a question than simply returning a greeting.

Silence reigned for a time, until they both began to become uncomfortable with each other's presence.

Amethyst ventured further words. "How have you been?" She immediately regretted her choice of words. She knew how he had been. He had been hurt. And it was her actions that had hurt him so.

"Okay…" Steven began, as Amethyst simultaneously muttered a hasty "I'm sorry."

Steven was clearly uncomfortable with the exchange. His seemed like he might hop over the counter just to get away from it. Amethyst wouldn't blame him, she felt like doing the same.

"Look, Steven," She began, placing her hands to her chest, to indicate her sincerity. "I know I have been a real bi-… umm, a real jerk lately, and I'm really sorry."

Steven placed the bottle of water into his pack, and shifted his stance nervously. He wasn't looking at her, rather at the ground, but still replied.

"Okay." It was all he could think to say at the moment.

Amethyst was going to have to do more than apologize, and she knew it.

"If it's okay with you, I was wondering if you would like to maybe take a walk." She offered. "Maybe we can go get some doughnuts or something."

"Umm…" Steven began.

"It's okay if you don't feel like it," Amethyst quickly explained. "I understand."

Steven still wouldn't meet her eyes. He looked past her, above her, at the ground, anywhere to avoid her gaze.

"It's okay," Steven explained. "I'm trying to cut down on the doughnuts."

"Oh..." Amethyst replied.

What? Steven was cutting down on the doughnuts? Since when? Amethyst realized that her friend had changed more than she could have imagined these past four months.

"Yeah…" Steven began. "Well, I'm late for meeting Connie, so…"

"Oh." Amethyst replied, trying to hide her heartache. "Well…Have fun…"

"Yep." Steven told her as he brushed past her on his way out the front door.

Amethyst was left standing in the kitchen, alone.

Steven had never once turned her down for anything. Amethyst wasn't sure if she was more hurt or shocked. And when had Connie moved back to Beach City? She was sure that Garnet or Pearl would have mentioned something about it if they knew.

Her heart began to ache with loneliness. She couldn't help but feel like she had just watched her best friend walk away forever.

Suddenly she very much wanted to leave this house and all its memories of laughter and games. She stumbled her way back to the temple door, trying all the while to make her mind blank, as Pearl had often counseled as a way to meditate on difficult problems.

She struggled with that very exercise the entire way back down through the temple.

Reaching the research lab door, Amethyst finally gave up on the vain attempt to clear her mind, and instead broke down into tears.

She pulled her legs up to her chest and rocked herself gently, keeping her back to the door. This was as close as she could get to anyone who could comfort her.

As her tears ran unchecked, her rocking gradually slowed, then ceased as her exhausted mind finally gave in to restless sleep, and she finally achieved the solace of unconsciousness.

*BREAK*

"Well at least she talked to you." Connie offered encouragingly.

"Yeah, I guess" Steven replied. "But it was really weird."

"How so?" the inquisitive young girl asked.

Steven thought about that for a moment. What was strange about it? He couldn't really put his finger on it, but Amethyst just made him feel incredibly uncomfortable earlier. Maybe it was the fact that her voice was so uncharacteristically quiet and filled with sadness. Was it because she realized how much she had hurt him and truly was sorry? Somehow, Steven didn't think that was it. But he was here with Connie right now, and the last thing he wanted to dwell on was more of the strange behavior the Gem's, and particularly Amethyst had been displaying of late.

Shrugging his shoulders, Steven could only offer, "I don't know. It just was."

Connie could tell that this was bothering him, and so she let it go.

She had been worried that Steven wouldn't show up today, after last night's attack. She waited on him, and was beginning to worry that something had happened to him on the way home. But just as she was about to head down to the beach to his house, Steven came walking up.

Steven had already stopped by the Salad Shack, and picked up lunch for both of them. Connie was both surprised and happy at the fact that he seemed to be taking to his promise of eating healthier food. She really like Steven and wanted to see him healthy and happy.

There was a tall oak tree in the park across from the boardwalk. Connie had always wondered how a deciduous tree could thrive in such a tropical environment. But then again, most things in this town seemed to make no sense.

She had brought Steven here to sit under the tree with her. It was one of her favorite places to sit and read. But today, she had brought her notebook with her. She was determined to help her friend figure out how to control his powers.

She had written down each instance that Steven could recall when his gem had activated. After talking to Steven about his frame of mind in each instance, Connie had a pretty good theory on what controlled his Gem's powers.

"Okay Steven," Connie said as she brushed the crumbs from her dress. "Are you ready to give this a shot?"

Steven stood up and took a deep breath. He wanted to do well today for her, but he knew from his own experience that it would not be simple to master something that he barely understood. He was more than a little anxious that he would let her down somehow.

"I guess so…"

Connie could see that he was worried. "Steven, it's really okay. I just want to help you."

Steven gently nodded his understanding.

"Okay, so lets start with your shield. That was the first time you had used your gem, right?"

"Yeah, I think so." Steven said. "Well, there was that incident on the beach, but…"

Connie held her hands up in an apologetic gesture. "No, don't think about that. I don't want you to worry about that. Let's start small, alright?"

"Okay." Steven took another deep breath. "So, my shield, right?"

Connie nodded. "From what you told me, you thought it was because of the ice cream, right? The cat things?"

"Yeah, Cookie Cats. They're my favorite. Way better than an ice cream sandwich." Steven's eyes lit up as he remembered his favorite treat.

Connie was happy to see Steven smile. He had been down since he arrived, and if her theory was correct, his mood was of utmost importance.

"Okay, so you were eating a Cookie Cat. And the Gems were all there, right?"

"Uh-huh." Steven confirmed, wondering where all this was going.

"And do you remember how you were feeling at that moment?"

"Hmmm." Steven thought back. "I had just got back from the Big Doughnut, and Lars had told me that they weren't going to make Cookie Cats anymore. I was really upset. But when I got home, I looked in the freezer, and there were dozens of Cookie Cats there!" He smiled and almost teared up, thinking back on that moment. "The Gems had heard that they weren't going to make them anymore, and bought every single one left in the store." Steven remembered how happy that had made him. "It… It made me feel like they really cared about me, to do something like that."

"Steven" Connie said.

Steven opened his eyes, and noticed the strange look on Connie's face. "What?"

"Look." She said as she pointed to his stomach.

As he glanced down his excitement grew. His gem was shining brightly enough to be visible in the daylight beneath his shirt.

"Yeah!" Steven shouted in excitement. "This is awesome!"

But his spirits faded as quickly as they had risen. Before he could even lift his shirt, the glow had faded away, just as every other time Steven thought he might be getting somewhere with his power.

Connie could see his frustration, and she needed to quell it quickly if there was any hope of testing her theory.

"Steven, stop!" She begged, as she grabbed his hands. She looked directly into his eyes, hoping to steal his focus. "Calm down."

Steven's mind reeled as he held her smooth hands in his. She was just looking into his eyes. He couldn't even form a thought. He just wished that time would freeze right now.

"I just want you to think about being happy." She said, as she smiled at him.

Steven felt warm all over. He almost felt like he was blushing, but he could feel it in his arms and legs. The warmth seemed to be coming from Connie's hands and radiating up through his forearms all the way up into his head, turning his brain to mush.

Still staring into her eyes, Steven mumbled softly. "I like mush…"

Connie bursted out laughing, nearly doubling over.

Still holding onto her hands, Steven felt like he should be embarrassed, but instead, he began laughing along with her. He thought about how silly that must have sounded, and it made him laugh even harder.

Nearly a full minute later, they both got their giggles under control, and Steven found himself once again staring into her eyes and holding tightly onto her hands. He knew it probably seemed strange to still be holding onto her, but he couldn't bring himself to let go. A though popped into his head, and before he knew it, it was out of his mouth.

"Sorry I didn't hug you back last night." He immediately regretted saying it, thinking that surely Connie would find it a weird thing to say. He started to pull away, feeling embarrassed, but she tightened her grip on his hands, and pulled him back to face her.

"It's okay, Steven. It's not like you hurt my feelings. It was… a pretty strange night."

"Yeah…" Steven said, his eyes on the ground. He was still embarrassed, and couldn't bring himself to look at her.

"Besides," Connie said with a laugh. "There's always next time."

"Huh?" Steven looked up at her, confused, as she pulled him close and wrapped her arms around him.

Once again, he found himself stunned. Before he could even gather his thoughts, Connie reached down and grabbed his arm, placing it around her shoulder. Steven didn't need any help with his other arm.

Steven felt…happy. Warm and content, like being wrapped in a blanket that was fresh from the dryer.

Just as he was wishing to hold her forever, she groaned. "Steven, I can't breathe."

He quickly released her, and she stumbled back. "Stay calm Steven…" she begged him as she caught her breath.

"Wha-?" confused and concerned, Steven's attention was drawn to Connie's outstretched arm. She was pointing, and he glanced toward what her finger was directed at.

A bright rose-hued shield hung in mid air in front of his stomach.

He gently reached down, touching the shield gently. It was as if it were held in place by some magnetic field. As he gripped the handle, the force seemed to vanish, and he was able to lift it easily.

"That's awesome, Steven!" Connie praised.

Steven shot her a big goofy grin, and jumped into the air with glee.

"Whoooooo!" He shouted as he threw his arms up into the air.

Suddenly, the shield seemed to break free of the handle, and flew violently away from his outstretched arm. Steven could only watch in shock as it cut through the air, and slammed into the top of the large oak tree, lodging firmly into a large branch. Leaves and bit of bark rained down onto him and Connie.

Steven sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he nervously laughed. "I'm…uh…sorry about that…" He muttered.

Connie stood and brushed the leaves from her dress. "No, Steven, don't apologize! You did a good job!"

"Really?" He asked.

Connie took his hand in hers again. She noticed that it seemed to calm down the excitable young boy. "Really." She assured him. "Want to practice some more?"

Steven began feeling that warm fuzzy sensation again, as soon as her hand met his. He really wanted to master his power, but he knew that at this moment he would eat a dirt and dog poo pita pocket if it just meant he could hold Connie some more.

"Amethyst."

A warm hand was on her shoulder. She opened her eyes slowly, crusted with dried tears. She sat up straight, attempting to shake herself awake. Her back was killing her, and her behind was asleep. She wondered how long she had been asleep.

Pearl and Garnet were standing in front of her. The look on their faces woke her up fully in an instant. She jumped to her feet and grabbed Garnet's labcoat tightly.

"Steven!" She shouted at her. "Is he…" Her face wrinkled up as she struggled not to lose control once again.

Pearl grabbed her hands and released them from Garnet. She looked into her friend's eyes. "Amethyst, I… We…" Pearl sighed. "We've done all we can."

Seeing that the distraught Gem had misunderstood, Garnet explained. "He is alive… for now. But he still hasn't woke up."

Amethyst's momentary elation was short lived.

"He might not wake up at all…" Garnet continued. "We just don't know if Zircon's corrupted gems can sustain his life." She looked down, feeling defeated despite the successful implantation.

Pearl added. "Amethyst, this is all we could do. It's all out of our hands now. It's up to Steven to fight."

Tears flowing yet again, Amethyst turned to the open laboratory door. She looked at the bed that they had moved down there for Steven. Various medical screens displayed his vital signs, and IV tubes cris-crossed above his bed. The large aperture holographic crystal display showed the flickering lines of Steven's erratic life energy. Amethyst was no medical expert, but she knew that they should be much larger. What should appear as rivers of energy looked like drought-stricken creek beds. Barely a trickle flowed through his body.

She turned from her friends and walked towards the lab door.

"Where are you going?" Pearl questioned her "He needs his rest, there is nothing we can do for him but wait."

Amethyst paused a moment. She did not turn around as she spoke. "I'm going to help him fight." She resumed her slow walk to her heart's truest desire.

"But…" Pearl began, but Garnet shook her head, silencing her.

Amethyst walked to the side of Steven's bed. His face was so pale. But at least he looked peaceful. She could not see the pain etched on his face as was so prominent earlier. She took his limp hand in hers, and dropped to her knees. She kissed the back of his hand gently and then pressed it gently to her face as she closed her eyes and offered a silent prayer to any being that would listen.

Pearl brought her hand to her mouth to stifle a sob. She stepped forward, intent on offering her wounded friend comfort.

Garnet's long stride carried her to the door before Pearl could reach it. She waved her hand and the door slowly closed.

Pearl looked to her, with sorrowful and questioning eyes.

"These moments are hers alone." Garnet spoke softly. "We have said our goodbyes." A tear appeared below the rim of her mirrored shades and fell to the ground at Pearl's feet. "This is what HE would have wanted."

Wiping her eyes as she nodded her understanding, Pearl accepted Garnet's arm around her shoulder as the two left the pair to what would likely be their final moments together.

*BREAK*

Emotions raw, and her eyes dried up, Amethyst slid the IV stand to the head of Steven's bed. She then scooted the heavy crystal monitor back away from the foot. She swiped her arm across the desk that Garnet had been using for her research, knocking the various papers, books and tools to the floor.

Grunting with the strain, she began sliding the heavy desk across the marbled floor. She slid it carefully against the bedside. Looking around she spied a pile of discarded linens in the corner of the room. Crudely folding them as best she could, she piled them on the desk to provide some small barrier of comfort against its cold hard surface.

She gave a small leap up, kicking her short legs as she struggled to pull herself onto the desk.

Amethyst scooted over as close as she could get to Steven's unconscious form. She paused for a moment and fear took her as she could not see his chest rise and fall. Panicked, she prepared to give him CPR, but just as she was about to give the breath of life, she noticed a slight tickle on her skin as a shallow breath escaped his parted lips.

Calming herself, and breathing a sigh of relief, she re-assured herself that the monitors would notify her of any emergencies. Comforted that his heart would not stop, nor his breath fail while connected to the machines, she allowed herself to relax.

She positioned herself on her side beside him. She lifted his arm and placed it under her head, resting her head gently on his chest. Amethyst then lifted her leg up, bending at the knee, and threw that across him. She worked the arm she way laying on under Steven's neck, careful not to disturb him overly much.

She lay there for a moment just staring at him. Amethyst allowed her eyes to take in every feature of his face. She wanted to make sure that this image was forever burned into her mind.

The hard life that Steven must have been through had taken his chubby baby-fat face that was so endearing and molded it into a manly visage of inner strength. She traced her finger across the profile of his face. The brow, crossed by lines created by near constant expressions of pain, led to his lightly hooked nose, which had obviously been broken at least once. It turned ever so slightly to the left, giving this future Steven a charming roguish appearance. She ran her hand across his thin lips and shallow cheeks, feeling the short, scratchy stubble growing on his face. A mix of light brown and dark hairs grew most prominently on his upper lip and his strong, jutting chin. She traced her fingers back and forth across his lips.

Those lips that had so quickly stolen her heart in one bittersweet moment.

"You can't die." Amethyst whispered to him. "I won't let you."

She took her free arm and fished the velvet box from her fanny pack. She placed the crystalline flower on his chest. She sat the box behind her on the desk as she gripped Steven's letter tightly. She began unfolding it once again, carefully. The folds in the paper were wearing thin to the point of tearing from the many times over the last two days that she had read his words to her. Her eyes caught on the last stanza of his poem.

She struggled against her own tears.

"I'll give my life to keep you from all life's harms.

Forgive me now, dear Amethyst

And grant to me this last request

To gaze into your lavender eyes

And claim your lips as my last prize

And let my final breath be taken in your arms."

"You better not die…" She choked. "I'll never forgive you."

She wrapped her free arm around the young man beside her, and locked her fingers together with the arm she had under him. Struggling to find her voice as she sobbed, she pleaded with him.

"I know you are fighting in there…" She swallowed her tears. "And if the world is so cruel as to… to take you away… after all you've done…"

She kissed his lips softly, her tears dropping onto his peaceful expression.

"You can have your last request." She choked. "But only if you swear to take me with you…"

Amethyst wiped her tears on the tattered shirt her head lay upon. She snuggled into his chest, straining her neck until her ear was over his heart.

She closed her eyes as she listened to rhythmic beats of hope. She focused on each heartbeat. She wanted nothing more than for him to wake up and hold her forever. But in this moment, she was as close as she could be. It would be enough for now.

Lying on a hard wooden desk with little padding, her arms nearly falling asleep and with no back support or pillow, Amethyst was the most comfortable she had ever been.

She just 'knew' that he would be alright. She refused to believe that the world they all fought so hard to protect could be a place that would punish so selfless a soul as he. Or that it could be a place so cruel as to deny her this chance at finally feeling complete.

Steven's weak heartbeat in her ear, and the quiet blips sounding from the holographic monitors began to blend together into a calming white noise. She tightened her grip on her time-travelling savior as she fought against the physical and emotional exhaustion of these past few days.

But it was a losing battle.

Soon sleep claimed the heartbroken Gem, as she lay next to the very thing that could repair it.

And the bright glare of the laboratory lights shined upon the still forms of two time-crossed lovers, fighting against fate for a chance at happiness.

*BREAK*

Amethyst traced her fingers along the grooves carved so deeply into the cold marble slab. Reaching the end of the engraving, she lifted a bruised and bloody finger and placed it back at the beginning of the words carved into that lifeless rock.

Footsteps beside her registered in her ears, but she did not react to them, continuing another full tracing, and beginning again. Bright red blood smeared across each groove, over top of an older brown stain that had seeped into the porous stone.

Voices were heard beside her, but she did not move her unblinking eyes from the stone in front of her.

"Garnet, we need to do something. It's been over a week" Pearl pleaded with her friend. "This isn't healthy."

"Do what?" Garnet asked of her. "Think how you would feel."

"Yeah…" She conceded.

Amethyst reached the end of the grooves, and again repeated her tracing. She could feel a hand on her shoulder, though it had long since gone numb. More words.

"At least try to eat something." Pearl whispered to her.

She felt something being placed beside her on the ground. A basket? She reached the end again, and once more placed her finger to the top of the first letter at the top of the stone. It didn't matter. There was no need to look at anything else.

"Come on." Garnet called.

"Right." Pearl replied.

A hand on her shoulder again. It jarred her finger from the grooves. She stopped and returned to the beginning of the inscription.

"We'll see you again tomorrow." The hand squeezed. "Just because you don't need sleep doesn't mean you should sit out here all night, you know…"

She continued her silent vigil of staring and tracing.

Eventually the hand left her shoulder.

Her ears picked up fading footsteps.

She reached the end of the inscription once again, as rain began to fall.

She brought her hand back to its beginning, but stopped as she witnessed the rain washing over the stone. As each tiny drop formed into rivulets, they swept down the face of the stone, running into the grooves. The water ran pink as it reached the bottom of the upright marble.

The world once again washes away what I want, Amethyst thought to herself.

She brought her tattered fingertip to her mouth as the beating rain forced her out of her trance. She watched as the falling droplets erased what she had spent this last week doing.

Placing her finger back to the start of the inscription, she winced with pain. She had been robbed of her self-imposed duty. The beating rain ran down her soaked hair and into her dry unblinking eyes, forcing her to rub them as they began burning.

"So you still want more tears from me?" Amethyst questioned as she stared up at the sky.

Overcome with anger she rose to her feet and threw back her head, yelling up at the sky.

"What else do you want from me!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Only the sound of the beating rain answered back.

Laughing madly, she continued her tirade at the empty sky.

"Of course! Why bother answering me?!" She laughed and sobbed as she pulled at her damp hair. "You don't care about me!"

She looked back to the lifeless stone in front of her and anger blossomed anew.

She screamed at the top of her lungs "You don't care about any of us!"

Shaking her head with the futility of this whole situation, Amethyst suddenly felt her purpose clearly.

"You don't deserve to be protected…" She whispered to the world.

Tears joined the rain flowing down her cheeks. "And… I won't do it anymore…"

Amethyst brought her shaking and bloodied hand to her chest. She winced as her nails dug into her own flesh.

She looked defiantly up to the sky. "I won't protect you anymore…" she growled through her teeth, gritted against the pain in her chest and hand, but mostly from within her soul.

"I will watch you die… Just like…" She flexed the burning muscles in her hand as hard as she could, feeling her fingers begin to catch the edges of the amethyst embedded in her chest. Screaming in pain, she pulled with all her might.

With a flash of violet light, her body felt like it had been hit with a bolt of lightning.

Her muscles all clenched involuntarily, dropping her to the ground. Her head hung low as she sucked in one ragged breath after another. She forced her eyes open and stared hatefully at the Gem still firmly attached to her chest. Bloody wounds surrounded it where she had tried in vain to remove it.

Determined to try again, she struggled to her feet, but her exhausted body would not allow her to stand.

She dropped to her knees hard, feeling the soft grass of the mound on which she stood through her ripped pants.

She reached out to the stone for support, and prepared to rise again.

But as she looked up, her eyes transfixed once again on the inscription on the cold marble in front of her.

Here lies a nameless HERO.

Beloved friend and savior of the people of this world.

May the ages record his sacrifice with honor.

And may the world enjoy the mercy that it denied him.

Amethyst gripped the stone tightly as she felt her heart would finally break.

"Oh, Steven, why…?" She sobbed against the stone.

The pain in her heart turned to rage and she threw back her head and bellowed at the uncaring world…

*BREAK*

People ran to find shelter or an umbrella as the sky opened up and began to pour.

Lars and Sadie prepared for the inevitable rush that came with dreary weather. Putting on a fresh pot of coffee, and preparing the spare basket with a filter and several scoops of freshly ground Kona blend, ready for when the pot brewing now ran out.

The bell on the door rang as an elderly couple hurried inside. The gentleman lowered a soaking wet newspaper that he had been using to shield himself and his wife.

"It's really coming down, huh?" Sadie asked of the customers.

"Yes, dear, it certainly is!" exclaimed the grandmotherly woman as she shook the water from her hands. "It was the strangest thing." She explained. "It was just a drizzle, even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky. But suddenly, dark clouds moved in and then it began pouring in just a matter of moments."

"Never seen anything like it in all my years…" The white haired man added.

"Heh." Lars chuckled. "Strange things like that happen around here all the time." He looked the couple over, not recognizing them. "You must be from out of town, huh?"

Once again mortified by Lars' boorish behavior and rude questioning, Sadie interrupted. "Can I offer you a hot cup of coffee? It's fresh."

Nodding her head, the woman replied. "Oh, that would be lovely dear."

The Big Doughnut shook as thunder rumbled in the distance.

"And now lightning, eh?" the old man rhetorically asked, as he glanced out the plate glass windows.

The shop shook again with the rolling thunder.

Lars raised an eyebrow as he stared out the window, and then his eyes opened wide.

A bolt of lightning pierced the gloomy skies, striking so close by that it made the shop's windows quiver as if in fear.

"Did you see that, Charles?" The elderly woman asked of her husband.

"Yeah…" The man began, as he wringed his hands nervously "I ain't never seen any purple lightning before, though…"

Sadie worriedly walked over to the window and joined Lars and the couple. They all stared quietly at the spectacle. Bolt after bolt struck down from the heavens. Each and every one seemed to be striking the same spot near the beach.

Just as she was about to comment on the absurdity of such a thing, There was a brilliant point of light high up in the clouds. They all glanced up in unison, as a massive violet bolt of energy streaked earthward.

The brightness was unbearable, leaving each of them with a flashing streak burned into their retinas.

The ground began to quake and buck as if an earthquake had just begun, and then a shockwave slammed into the Big Doughnut.

The four threw up their arms as the plate glass cracked and shattered inward, wind whipping the thousands of tiny shards around them.

A deafening scream reverberated through the whole of Beach City, filled with such pain and rage that the hearts of every man, woman and child echoed its tormented beat in sympathy.

"WHY COULDN'T I GO WITH YOU?!"

*BREAK* -

(SORRY TO HAVE LEFT YOU HERE WITH THE LAST UPDATE. MY BAD…)

*BREAK*

"…go…with…you…"

Squinting, as bright light poured into her eyes, Amethyst lifted her arm up to shield herself.

Her body felt stiff, and she was very cold. She brought her arm down to her face, to massage some moisture back into her dry eyes, and could feel something cold and sticky on her cheek. She ran her hand across it, and realized that it must be drool. She tried to sit up, but her aching muscles would not respond.

Still squinting in the bright light, she attempted to massage her eyelids to remoisten her irritated eyes.

Peering through the slits in her eyelids, she tried to make out what was going on. She could make out movement, and suddenly her eyes were relieved as something moved in front of her face, blocking out the harsh light.

She struggled to blink some tears into her eyes and un-blur her vision, and as she did so, something reached out and grabbed her arm. She jumped with a start, her muscles crying out in pain as she did. The grip on her arm was not rough, but she pulled back in fear. She broke free and brought her arms up to defend herself. She could feel something touching her arms, and she began screaming and thrashing, confused and frightened.

"Whoah! Calm down!" A strong voice called out.

Ceasing her struggles immediately, Amethyst forced her eyes open. Finally, she managed to blink a few tears into her eyes, and the world began to focus around her.

Her irritated eyes opened wide as a cascade of black hair fell about her face. Two bright and familiar eyes, filled with concern, peered over a nose that turned slightly to the left.

"Hello, Beautiful."

*BREAK*

Sitting on the well worn couch, Pearl leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees as she let out an exhausted sigh. She glanced over to her companion.

Garnet was sitting with her legs crossed on the other end of the couch with her hands folded neatly in her lap. She looked like she was merely sitting calmly in silence, but Pearl knew better.

Garnet's breathing was far too regular. It was always hard to read the strong and silent Gem, but Pearl knew her well enough to know that she was just as distraught and exhausted as the rest of them.

"So you finally get to sleep…" Pearl whispered quietly. She looked to the carpeted floor, sprinkled with the glittering grains of sand that no amount of vacuuming could ever hope to dislodge. She shook her head.

As tired as they both were, she knew that they had the easier time of this unfair situation. How Amethyst endured through this emotional rollercoaster, Pearl could only imagine. She always played up the mature and intelligent persona, but deep down she envied her two friends. Garnet was always so strong and certain, never doubting herself or panicking, even in the most dire of situations. And Amethyst was unflinchingly honest and comfortable with herself, flaws and all. Pearl maintained her collected exterior around everyone, but inside she was constantly full of doubt and fear.

Amethyst called her 'graceful', and 'the pretty one'. But secretly Pearl wished that just once, she could be as comfortable as the diminutive Gem. For all of her posturing, Pearl spent much of her time 'meditating' daydreaming of living life the way that Amethyst did every moment of the day. Never regretting a decision, whether mistaken or fully knowing that she was wrong, Amethyst never lost her smile or her bubbly personality.

At least that used to be true. Amethyst had not been the same since meeting with the 'other' Steven. Pearl could only imagine the pain in her heart. Spending much of her free time reading romance novels that she was sure Garnet would call 'trashy', Pearl used to imagine herself in those books.

But for all the passion, joy and happiness that she could daydream about, she knew that there was another side to the double edged blade called love.

And it's wicked edge had pierced the heart of her friend.

Pearl usually skipped over the sad or depressing parts of her books. Deep down she knew that she was just using them as an outlet to experience the part of herself that she kept locked away, but now she wondered if she could ever truly handle the heartbreak that real love would expose her to.

Shaking her head once again, she tried to clear her mind. These thoughts would do her no good. She turned her head as the sun's rays peeked through the crack in the curtains, striking the crystalline hilt of the sword that Steven had gifted to her.

She let her eyes follow the twisting tines of its swept hilt as it wound its way around the detailed engravings on the hilt. Pearl brought the blade closer to her face so that she could study the carvings closer. There were silhouettes of various warriors that she assumed were ancient Gems battling some sort of humanoid enemy. She had never seen anything like them before. But the strangest part of the tiny mural was at its top, near the hilt.

There was some long-bearded, robed figure holding aloft a staff. There was some sort of halo or sunburst depicted behind him that struck Pearl as strange. The sage-like figure clutched a long quilt like fabric in his other hand. The cloth was extremely detailed for something so small. Pearl could see more and more detail in it the closer she studied it. The cloth twisted back on itself in a horizontal figure eight. What was it that you called that? A moebius strip? She knew it symbolized the infinite.

What an odd thing to have on a weapon used by Gems, she thought to herself.

Just as she was about to set the blade back down, she noticed tapered rays of what she had originally just assumed was a background to the battle scene. Upon closer inspection, the rays were coming from the raised stave that the sage held above the battle scene below. She followed the rays down as they cris-crossed the battle scene.

Pearl began to feel a sense of dread as she did so.

The rays were striking the Gem warriors. Each warrior who was struck were depicted with arched backs, as if in pain and the detailed carvings of the gemstones on every warrior were suspiciously absent from the ones who were hit by the rays coming from the sage. Instead there was just an empty recess that was much deeper than the rest of the engraving where each one's Gemstone should be.

Pearl suddenly lost her fascination with the sword. She set it down and drew back her hand quickly, as if afraid it would strike at her.

She exhaled a bemused chuckle.

Pearl, you are losing it. Are you afraid of a carving now? She felt foolish about her own reaction, though she was the only one there to view it. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair as she leaned back on the couch, ready for a rest from all of this madness.

She closed her eyes and relaxed. Sleep would do her good as well. She spread her arms out and stretched languidly as she yawned.

Stretching her neck from side to side, she settled down on the padded cushioning atop the couch and took a deep breath.

Then she wrenched her neck as she shot forward in her seat, wide awake.

A klaxon was sounding loudly in her ears. Garnet was already on her feet, adjusting her glasses as she looked around, gathering her bearings.

"What's going on!?" Pearl shouted over the blaring alarm.

Garnet's face was pale, and her lips were ashen as she stared at Pearl clenching her trembling fists.

"What?" Pearl yelled, fearful of her answer.

Garnet un-pursed her lips and chewed her bottom lip before speaking quiet words that Pearl could understand even over the blaring siren.

"Steven…"

No… Pearl refused to believe it.

Before she could let herself think about shedding a single tear, both her and Garnet were moving down the twisting hallways at breakneck pace.

Pearl was there when they set up the monitors. Steven was clinging to life by a frayed thread. She ground her teeth as she ran as fast as her legs would carry her. There was only one reason that the main alarm would have sounded.

From Garnet's heavy breathing and pumping arms, Pearl could tell that she was thinking the same thing as she was.

They rounded the bend ahead and could see the elevator in front of them, ready to take them far down into the temple's heart. Shaking her head, Pearl knew that every second counted here.

Garnet stopped before reaching the elevator. She was thinking the same thing.

"Pearl" Garnet called to her as she caught up to the statuesque Gem. "Where are the thermal vents?"

"What?" Pearl questioned as she struggled to catch her breath.

"The vents that channel the hot air from the magma." Garnet stated flatly.

Confused, Pearl looked at her friend, wondering what she could possibly be thinking. "Why do you need to know where the…"

Of course!

"Hang on!" Pearl called out as she began scanning the featureless walls of the corridor.

Deep below the temple was a magma well that provided not only heat, but energy for every part of the temple. Buried within the walls were hollow tubes which carried not only the energy from the Crystal Heart, but also the warm air from the natural heat source.

Pearl began projecting holographic layouts on the sheer wall, scanning from right to left, while simultaneously trying to line it up with the map of the temple she had memorized.

If she could just locate the proper conduit…

Various tubing and support structures appeared as Pearl swept the holographic beam from her forehead across the wall. She needed the large, ribbed tube that she knew supplied most of the power for the entire temple. The laboratory consumed a large amount of energy, thus requiring a larger aperture in the conduit than most of the other sections of the temple.

She scanned quickly back and forth across the wall, and then stopped suddenly. She moved her gaze back a few feet and there she could barely make out a faint outline of ribbing on the conduit deep within the wall.

"There!" Pearl pointed sharply at the section she had highlighted.

With a crimson flash, Garnet drew back her arm as she summoned her weapon. She brought it to bear against the solid crystal wall, as cracks radiated outward from the impact. Striking again, several small pieces of clear composite broke free and fell to the floor.

Growling in frustration, Garnet summoned her other gloved fist and launched a furious assault against the sturdy wall.

Pearl gasped as Garnet pounded away. She could not recall a time that she had ever seen the normally calm Gem so uncontrolled. She could see Garnet's teeth clenched tightly as frothy flecks of spittle flew from her mouth with each breath. Every impact seemed to rattle the entire corridor.

In just a few moments, Pearl could barely see the wall for the cloud of pulverized crystal, as fine as talcum powder.

With a guttural grunt, Garnet struck one last blow, as the wall finally gave way.

Pearl peered through the debris-clogged air to see whether they had breeched the conduit. Before she could make out anything through the billowing cloud, Garnet's gloved fist shot forth and grabbed her by the collar.

Pearl screamed as she was jerked into the swirling cloud. She closed her eyes and held her breath so as not to breath in any of the pulverized crystal, and suddenly felt herself falling.

She opened her eyes as a blast of heat engulfed her. They were in!

Pearl could feel the ribbed edges of the conduit slide past her as they plummeted, but it was so dark she could not see what was going on. She would occasionally glimpse a flash of light as they passed by a side vent.

Only through the quickness that these appeared and disappeared could Pearl tell just how fast they must be falling. Oh no! Pearl thought to herself. At this speed we could shoot right by the lab and land in the magma!

"Garnet!" She screamed as the acoustics of the conduit and the rushing of hot air distorted her voice.

Suddenly sparks appeared below her to either side, illuminating the entire conduit with flickering lights.

Garnet dug her fingers deep into the heated crystalline material of the conduit as she and Pearl slowly ground to a halt right above a large opening with bright lights shining through. There were a number of tube-like cables running through the opening.

Garnet grabbed Pearl before she could react and tossed her through.

Pearl slid down the inclined vent with a yell, slamming into the grate and breaking through. As she hit the ground, she rolled, just in time to avoid Garnet landing on top of her.

She placed her hands on the floor as she sought to catch her breath and calm her beating heart. However, Garnet rolled to her feet as she landed and began running without missing a beat.

Doubled over and breathless, Pearl cursed under her breath and stumbled after the athletic Gem.

They rounded the last bend in the corridor before reaching the lab door.

As she ran, Pearl wondered what they would find. How panicked would Amethyst be? Steven's heart had stopped and she was sure the alarms were going crazy inside the lab.

She knew that she might have to restrain her friend so that Garnet could attempt to save Steven's life.

Garnet reached the door first, and slid to a stop in front of it as she slid her hand across the activation panel. Pearl could see the bright lights of the laboratory spill out into the hallway. They illuminated Garnet as her hands fell limp to her side and her mouth opened in wordless silence.

Oh no… Please no… Pearl begged as she raced forward. She could hear the faint whimpering of Amethyst sobbing from within.

She dug in her heels and held out her arms as she slammed into Garnet as the reached the doorway. Fearful of the sight inside, she slowly raised her eyes and peered into the brightly lit room.

*BREAK*

Amethyst tried again and again to speak, but the moment that her mouth opened, only a whimpering, choking gurgle would come forth as she was wracked with sobs and tears. Her stomach would not stop clenching even long enough for her to raise her head.

Her tear filled eyes caught blurry motion as the lab's door slid open.

She could make out Garnet and Pearl, standing there, breathing heavily and slack-jawed in complete shock. She tried to call out to them, but a strange mix of laughing and crying was all she could manage as she screamed.

She reached her trembling arm towards her distant friends, but a strong arm lifted into view and clutched her hand tenderly and it was pulled back to her side as that arm wrapped her in a warm and loving embrace.

She screamed again as those strong arms gently squeezed her. She felt soft lips upon the top of her head as stumbling footsteps approached. No matter how she tried, she was blinded by a river of tears each time she opened her eyes.

It was all she could do to keep her struggling grip on sanity. She gave up on trying to do anything but quiver in the strong arms keeping her from floating away into nothingness.

Someone nearby gasped. She could hear a shaky whisper "How…"

Amethyst couldn't tell which of her friends had spoken.

She was suddenly startled as two more pairs of arms wrapped around her. She could feel the shaking in both of them as she heard whimpering sobs join hers.

She managed just one thought as she gave up trying to contain her emotions. Wrapped in three sets of loving arms, tears streaming down her face, and every muscle in her body crying out in agony, Amethyst managed the first genuine smile of these past four months.

I have never been this happy in my whole life.

And with that realization, she succumbed to a flood of tears, laughter and warm embraces.

*BREAK*

Still clutching Amethyst's shaking form to his chest, Steven adjusted himself to a more comfortable position on the small medical bed. He looked towards Garnet and Pearl who were still drying their tears and calming their nerves.

"I'm sorry I scared you." He apologized. "But when I woke up, Amethyst was lying next to me, and…" He glanced down as he blushed. "I… Just wanted to lie there and watch her sleep."

He looked back up to the Gems. "I didn't want to wake her, and I was getting very uncomfortable. So when I saw all the diodes and IVs, I …" Steven sighed.

"I started to pull them off of me, and then an alarm sounded." He gave Amethyst a squeeze and kissed her forehead. "Then she started moaning and mumbling. It seemed like she was having a bad dream. I tried to gently wake her up, but she started freaking out."

Steven smacked his lips, trying to work moisture into his dry mouth. "Next thing I know, you guys are bursting in here and bum rushing me, nearly squeezing the life out of me."

Steven managed a smile, to show that he was only joking, but soon it left his lips as he furrowed his brow. "So tell me." He asked, staring at the pair. "How is it that I am still here?"

Garnet and Pearl looked at each other, as if each were asking the other to explain what they had done. They both knew that it was likely to upset the young man.

Sucking in a deep breath in preparation, Garnet stepped forward. "Well…"

Steven kept hold of Amethyst through the entire explanation. His expression was unreadable to Pearl. Only the slight twitch of his eye, and the pallid hue of his cheeks betrayed his disgust with what had been done.

Garnet finished her explanation with her hands held palms up in front of her, in an apologetic gesture.

"I see…" Steven quietly muttered, as his hand slowly reached below the sheet covering him. He stiffened as his hand reached his left thigh.

"So now I have a piece of that monster inside of me…"

Pearl brought her hands to her lips in worry. "Steven, I am sorry. I didn't know what else to do…" She pleaded. "You were dying, and… Amethyst…"

"It's okay." Steven cut her off. He forced the anger from his face. "My disgust was not for what you did. I am… grateful." He looked lovingly at Amethyst, her deep violet eyes sparkled with tears in the glaring laboratory lights. "I would endure anything to spend another minute here with you."

Amethyst returned his gaze, and lifted her head at his words. She quickly wiped at her eyes and nose. She then wrapped her short arms around Steven's neck and hugged him tightly, kissing his neck repeatedly.

"Pearl," Garnet called as she turned for the door. "Let's give them a moment."

Pearl nodded, tearing her eyes away from the loving scene with no small amount of envy.

"Wait…" A hoarse, whispering voice called back to them.

They turned back to Amethyst as she struggled to find her voice.

"We really need to get out of this lab." Amethyst pleaded with them.

"I second that." Steven admitted as he raised his arm. Both of them ached all over from lying for so long on such hard surfaces.

Before anyone else could say anything, Steven grabbed his stomach as a loud growl echoed in the spacious room. He glanced back up, his face red with embarrassment.

"And maybe some food?" Steven sheepishly requested.

Pearl laughed loudly, glad for the levity after so long a period of heightened emotion. Garnet and Amethyst even managed to chuckle.

"Sure thing Steven. I'm sure we can fix you something."

The young man smiled widely, and suddenly all three Gems were struck by how alike his expression was to their little Steven.

"Alright!" Steven cried out excitedly. "It's been so long since I had anything that wasn't moldy, canned or scavenged from somewhere horrible!"

He slid his feet off the side of the small bed, and dropped gently to the floor as he tested the strength in his legs.

He began to stumble, but caught himself. However to his shock and horror, the blanket wrapped around himself fell to the floor, and with it his modesty. Steven froze in absolute embarrassment standing in front of the Gem's. Their wide-eyed, open-mouthed expressions nearly mirrored his, as Pearl's face turned a shade of deep red, bordering on crimson.

A few agonizing seconds passed without anyone making a move. Finally, Amethyst shouted at the two Gems. "Hey! This ain't a peep show!" As she moved across the bed, trying to cover Steven's exposed body with her tiny hands.

However her hands were too small to do so effectively, and it just made the entire scene that much more embarrassing for everyone there. Amethyst stared up at the young man as both of them realized at the same time, just how improper this had to look to Garnet and Pearl.

Simultaneously, Steven jumped back, covering himself as he turned around as Amethyst sat back on the bed, covering her mouth with her hands. Her normally grey skin grew nearly as red as Pearl's face.

Garnet reached out with her hand, and closed Pearl's open mouth. "Come on, we can prepare a room for our "guest" while he gets decent."

Pearl's heels dragged across the floor as Garnet pulled her by the back of the shirt out of the room.

Pearl was still unable to look away, her mind reeling from embarrassment, shame and fascination. As the door slid closed, she could see Amethyst's mortified face as she mumbled through the hands she had clamped tightly across her mouth.

"I…Could feel…His heartbeat…"

*BREAK*

Steven adjusted his new clothing. The long sleeved white shirt was far too long for him, flowing past his waist and nearly to his hips. The baggy pants, also bright white, bunched at his ankles, nearly covering his bare feet.

He reached to begin buttoning the strange, Japanese-looking stick clasps on his shirt. Steven had never seen anything quite like these strange garments.

"Amethyst?" Steven asked. "Isn't there anything less…Weird that I can wear?"

Having recovered from her emotional shock and earlier embarrassment, Amethyst adjusted her hair as she turned to the young man. His muscular chest was visible through the open shirt that he was fumbling to close. She swallowed and answered him.

"Sorry, Steven. There isn't anything else." She explained. "Your clothes were too damaged to save, and your clo-" She caught herself, as she lamented the confusion this situation was sure to bring more of in the future. "Young Steven's clothes certainly won't fit you. Unless you want one of my sweaters or a dress, then these old clothes we had in storage are all we have for now."

"That's quite alright…" Steven assured her. "I think I'll stick to my karate-looking shirt thingie."

"You sure?" Amethyst teased. "Garnet has this strapless dress that she never wears." She chuckled at him. "I bet we could braid your hair, and you would look seeexxxaaayy in it!"

"Oh, that's it! Your gonna get it now!" Steven laughed as he chased the short legged Gem around the laboratory.

Amethyst laughed as she ran around the bed and desk. But she only managed a few steps before strong arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her off of her feet.

"No fair!" She giggled. "Your legs used to be a lot shorter!"

Amethyst's laughter quickly faded as she realized what she had just said.

Steven obviously was having the same thought, as he gently lowered her back to the floor.

Amethyst cursed herself. This was the first time she had felt like her old self in forever, and she had just ruined it. This was not young Steven. He was out with his friends, and still a boy. This young man before her had her heart, but she still knew him as the child that had become her best friend.

"Grrrr!" Amethyst muttered. This was all so confusing!

"Hey," Steven assured her. "It's alright. I know it has to be a pain." He reached out for her and pulled her into an embrace. "I still have all those memories of you." He pushed her back a little, so that he could look into her eyes. "You are still my best friend." He assured her with a smile. "You always will be. That will never change."

"But it has changed." Amethyst told him sadly, her smile fading from her face.

"I know…" Steven admitted. He could see the playfulness and joy once again leaving her. It broke his heart.

"Please don't…" Steven begged her. "It hurts."

"What hurts?" Amethyst looked to him, worried that something was going wrong.

Steven took her hand gently, and placed it against his bare chest. He peered deeply into her eyes. "It hurts here."

She remembered those words from so long ago, spoken on the roof of their home. When she was at her lowest and feeling worthless, Steven had told her that the pain she bore was causing his heart to ache. And here was a man, who bore not only the likeness of her little friend, but also his kind heart, repeating those words to her again.

But she knew that there was more meaning behind them this time.

She smiled at him. Not one of the fake smiles that she had forced onto her face so many times these past months, but a genuine, honest smile. She took his face into her hands and locked her eyes to his.

"I know that there is a lot of weirdness to come, and it won't always be easy." She confided in him. "And even though I haven't had the time to get to know you – the new you, or the man you are now, " She fought her frustration. "I want you to know that from the moment you looked into my eyes at the bottom of that pit, even before you kissed me, I have been yours."

She flashed him another smile. "I just want to tell you that no matter what happens, or what strange days lie ahead for us, that I love you with all of my heart."

"Amethyst..." Steven whispered, his brow furrowing in concern.

"No." She assured him. "I know what my heart tells me." Her eyes began to well up with tears. "These last four months, and especially these last three days have caused me more pain than I have ever felt in my entire life."

Steven looked as though he would begin to apologize, but she pressed her fingers to his lips. "The reason my heart has ached so much was because I was afraid of losing the person who finally made me feel whole."

Steven just stared into the eyes that had haunted his dreams through ten long years of suffering. He just wanted to lose himself in them.

Amethyst moved her fingers, and pulled his mouth to hers, as they shared a passionate kiss. She reached her small hands around his head for leverage, running her fingers through his long, dark hair. Steven grasped her jaw gently, stroking her face with his thumbs.

They pulled apart for a moment to catch their breath, and darted back in again, pawing at each other as their hearts raced.

Knock, Knock.

"Are you decent?" They could hear Garnet outside the lab.

They pulled away from each other, wiping away a string of spittle that had clung between their lips.

Steven cleared his throat, and looked to Amethyst.

She nodded her head as she began straightening out her clothing.

"Yes, come on in." He called back to the door.

The laboratory door slid open, and Garnet and Pearl entered, carrying linens and pillows. They handed them to Steven as Pearl began explaining. "Sorry if these smell a bit stale…" She apologized. "But everything we have here has been in storage for a very long time."

Steven nodded. "It's alright. It's probably better that I stay down here anyway." He sighed. "That way you won't have to worry about Steven and me runni-"

"No." Garnet cut him off. "You can stay in the guest room in the house."

"But…" Steven began.

"Oh shut up!" Amethyst chided him.

"Yeah!" Pearl agreed. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it."

Steven was stunned and grateful. "Thank you… All of you…"

"Oh, enough with all this mush!" Amethyst shouted as she slapped Steven's behind. "Now move yer' buns hero boy!"

*BREAK*

As the temple door closed behind them, Steven took in the sights and smells of the house he had grown up in. It was just as he remembered it. He was struck by a bout of sorrow. At least it is just as he remembered it before that demon had laid waste to Beach City.

No, none of that. Steven forced the thoughts from his head. He was happy, for the first time in as long as he could remember, and he was not about to let the specter of that monster deflate his mood.

Garnet took the piles of bedding from him, and went to prepare his room, as Amethyst kissed his cheek and hurried into the kitchen, promising him his first good meal in ages.

Steven sighed contentedly and plopped down onto the couch. He saw the remote sitting next to him, and debated whether or not to flip on the TV. It has been almost 7 years since the last time he was able to watch anything. The last station that was on had just been broadcasting a repeating emergency message before Zircon had demolished the tower that was transmitting the signal. There were not many opportunities for entertainment in his world anyway. Even if Steven had found an intact movie store, he doubted that he would have ever felt like watching them anyway.

Pearl sat down beside him. She gave him a warm smile.

Steven let all those horrid memories go. He was back amongst his friends, and for once, he dared to let hope back into his hardened heart.

"You doing okay?" Pearl asked the young man.

Steven nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yes. I feel better than I have in as long as I can remember."

"You want to see your room?" Pearl questioned.

"Sure." Steven told her. "I would like that. I could use a good nights sleep on a soft bed."

He lifted himself up from the couch, his aching muscles crying out for rest.

Pearl helped steady the young man as they rounded the couch and began walking towards the hallway. She could feel the hardened muscles beneath his thin shirt, and turned her head away as she felt blood rush to her cheeks. She hoped that the trouble Steven was having walking would keep him from noticing her blushing.

She struggled to keep those instinctive thoughts buried and cursed herself for letting her mind wander there to begin with.

The sound of the front door opening startled her, and she nearly dropped Steven, as he reached out to the wall to steady himself.

Oh no. Pearl swore.

Steven closed the front door behind him and sat his pack beside the doormat. He turned to walk to his room and stopped in his tracks.

What was going on? Who was that? Steven looked closely, and thought he recognized the sick man that he had passed by a few days ago on his way to meet with Connie.

Steven stared for a moment at the strangely dressed man, before raising his hand slowly.

"Umm… Hi." He said softly, his eyebrows angled in confused questioning.

Pearl just stared at the young boy. She couldn't think of what to say or do.

"Umm… Hey." The young man muttered. Pearl glanced back at the older Steven and she could see the nervous look in his eyes. He was very clearly uncomfortable. She could sympathize with that.

She noticed Amethyst, frozen in place in the kitchen, with the same worried look on her face.

Oh no. Pearl thought to herself. All this pain and tragedy, emotional turmoil and sadness.

It had to stop.

The young boy walked over to the young man, and extended his hand in greeting.

"Hi, I'm Steven." He said with a smile. "What's your name?"

The young man's eyes opened wide, as panic began to seep into his every pore. What the hell do I say? Steven's mind scrambled for an answer. "I…Uh…" he laughed nervously. "You see, I'm…uh…"

Pearl noticed Garnet peeking out of the door at the end of the hall, her unreadable eyes did nothing to hide the panic written on her face. Pearl knew that none of them knew what to say.

That's it. Pearl told herself. No more.

She decided that this was as good a time as any to start opening herself up, and living more like Amethyst did. Total honesty, and damn the consequences. It almost felt liberating.

"Actually, Steven, this is also Steven from an alter-"

The young man clamped his hand down hard on Pearl's mouth. She looked over to him with wide eyes, questioning, as if she didn't know what was wrong.

The boy's eyes lit up. "Whoah, cool! Your name is Steven too!?"

"Um…well…" The young man began.

"Oh and I didn't hear the last bit, what was it? Altar?" The boy chuckled. "Mine's Universe! Ha! I know, weird, right?!"

Pearl struggled away from Steven's grip, and gave him a stern look. She huffed, and then brought a smile back to her face as she turned to the young boy.

Not again! Steven thought to himself. She is going to cause a real problem here!

As Pearl began speaking again, Steven shouted over her.

"I TOLD YOU I LIKE TO INTRODUCE MYSELF! AND FOR THE LAST TIME, IT'S NOT 'STEVEN'!"

Everyone in the room stopped and stared at the young man.

Embarrassed by his outburst, he held up his hands in apology and nervously chuckled to himself.

"Sorry about that…" He admitted.

He turned back to his younger self, shooting Pearl a menacing glance as his eyes passed over her.

"What I was saying, is that Pearl keeps getting my name wrong! My name isn't Steven." Steven assured the young boy. "It's…Sven."

"Sven?" The boy repeated. His face broke into a silly grin as he laughed aloud. "Hehe! That's a relief! Having two Stevens around would get kinda confusing!"

"You have no idea…" Garnet muttered under her breath.

Steven's laughter seemed to be contagious and everyone joined in, the rest of them relieved that the potential crisis had been averted.

"But, hey…" Everyone ceased laughing as the boy began speaking. "If Pearl is having a hard time remembering your name, then maybe we can use your last name, eh?"

"Huh?" the elder Steven questioned.

"What was it again? Altar?" The boy asked.

Altar? Oh crap! Steven thought to himself. That will never work. I need something that we can use that I will actually answer to. Sven wasn't much better. He racked his brain for a quick solution.

There was no real question in Steven's mind. He would have a hard time remembering to answer to Sven, but during years before Zircon's second escape from the gem, Steven had busied himself playing online games while not being dragged all over the Earth by Garnet as she searched for a way to stop the Gem Cutter. He thought back to the hero from his favorite book series.

He always used the name Eltarr as his username, whether in multiplayer games or forums. He had always thought of himself being like the hero from his favorite book, asking himself what he thought the hero would have done, even in the end when he had intended to sacrifice himself to stop Zircon, just like Eltarr had done at the end of the trilogy of books. It was actually a fairly depressing story, though the first book didn't seem so dark.

"Yeah, Pearl really seems to be getting bad at remembering names, huh?" Steven postured, shooting the Gem a look that let her know to keep her mouth shut. "Like I told you before, its not Altar, its Eltarr!"

The young man smiled to himself, thinking he had just found the perfect solution to the problem.

"Whaaaa-aaaat!?" Steven said, his eyes growing wide with amazement. "Just like the hero from the book I am reading!"

Cursing himself under his breath, the young man bit his tongue to keep the string of expletives from leaving his mouth. How could I be that stupid!? He asked himself. Of course Steven had the book. Garnet had bought it for him the Christmas before he found that awful gem on the beach.

"Umm…. What book?" he lied, with a nervous laugh.

"It's this cool book called 'In the Shadows of Light'! The main character, Eltarr has to save the world and stuff!" Steven told him excitedly as he ran to the door to retrieve it from his pack.

He came running back, waving the book as he ran. Steven recognized the artwork on the cover. But he didn't remember the book being so worn, not even the copy he had left back in his own world. Strange, he thought to himself.

"See? Check it out!" The boy exclaimed as he passed the book to the young man.

Studying the cover, with all its new creases and wear on the spine, Steven realized that this young Steven must have been reading it over and over. He couldn't recall even finishing it until years after the Gem Cutter's attack.

Did this mean that he 'had' changed the future? He didn't have time to worry about all this time travel paradox stuff that Garnet had warned him about. He made sure to keep his smile believable as he passed the book back to his younger self.

Feigning ignorance, Steven replied "Ah. That's cool, I guess." Hoping he had avoided suspicion, he added "It's good that a young man like yourself likes to read. It is important to learn as much as you can, so that you can be a better Gem when you grow up!"

Smiling at the praise, Steven asked "Umm, so can I call you Eltarr? Or do you go by Sven?"

Steven knew that the boy only had the first book, as the second had only recently came out. Garnet would never have bought the hard-cover, and it would have been some time before the paperback came out. And the third book was still years away. Steven had only been able to read it because he dug one out of the rubble of a bookstore while passing through a destroyed town. This younger version of himself, with his innocence intact, could still believe in heroes, and happy endings. That was the sort of person who Amethyst deserved. His heart aching with the thought of his love for her, he forced the best fake smile he could manage, and replied to the excitable young boy.

"You know what? Go ahead and call me Eltarr. I never liked Sven anyway."

"Awesome!" Steven replied excitedly. "I'm gonna go read some more of my book!"

He took off down the hallway to his room, holding the book above his head as he ran, as if he were brandishing a hard-won trophy for all the world to see.

Garnet exited the guest room and joined the others in the hallway. Everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, except for Pearl, who looked ashamed of herself.

Before Pearl could begin an apology, Garnet placed her hand to her shoulder. "I'm sure we all thought about doing that. It would have been easier." She gave Pearl's shoulder a squeeze. "So don't feel bad about it, ok?"

Pearl nodded as Steven stepped in front of her. "I'm sorry too. I didn't grab your face too hard did I?"

Pearl shook her head. "No, it's alright. I just…" She sighed. "I'm just sick of all this secrecy and heartache. It's not fair to us, and its not fair to Steven…Or you."

Steven hugged the morose Gem and gave her a genuine smile. Pearl returned the gesture, and nothing more needed to be said about the incident.

Steven sighed loudly and ran his fingers through his hair. Nodding to himself, he tried to mentally prepare his mind for the months ahead.

The young man turned to Garnet and Pearl. "I guess I'm Eltarr, then." He sighed. "And Garnet?"

"Yes, Ste…" She stopped. "Yes, Eltarr?"

"Don't buy him the second or third books for a long time."

Garnet raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

Eltarr gave her a serious look. "Just trust me on this one. It's gonna be his favorite book of all time." He lowered his eyes. "And not all fairy tales have happy endings." He looked back up at her, awaiting her response.

"Understood." Garnet nodded.

Amethyst slowly walked out from the kitchen, carrying a plate of sandwiches. She smiled warmly at the young man and winked.

"So Eltarr… Wanna eat some sammiches?" she laughed. "That is such a silly name. Don't expect me not to tease you."

Eltarr smiled in earnest. "I wouldn't dream of denying you anything. Even if it's going to be at my own expense." He looked at her lovingly. "As long as you keep smiling and being yourself, you can shoot my kneecaps out if you want."

Garnet looked to Pearl, and she nodded. "Alright you two, play nice. We all need some rest. Amethyst, make sure he gets some sleep after he eats."

"No promises…" Amethyst said before purring at Steven.

The young man blushed as his eyes opened wide. He began fidgeting nervously, embarrassed to have Amethyst acting this way in front of the others.

"Amethyst." Garnet scolded her. "He needs rest."

Huffing, Amethyst turned to Garnet, prepared to counter argue, but she could see from her stern posture that she was in no mood for her 'shenanigans'.

"And," Garnet continued. "Don't forget that Steven is just in the other room. He is a child, and you need to control yourself. You don't have the luxury of ignoring your responsibilities."

Sulking, Amethyst slid back down onto the couch, her arms crossed. "Yes ma'am." She said sarcastically.

The two Gems left for their rooms, leaving Amethyst and Steven alone.

"Hey." Steven spoke softly. "Don't worry about it. I'm not going anywhere."

Amethyst relaxed her arms and smiled in spite of herself.

She turned back to the newly named Eltarr. "You know, she said I had to make sure you slept. She never said where, or that it had to be alone."

Steven chuckled at her devious personality. She was everything he remembered. "Well, I suppose the couch is pretty comfortable…"

Amethyst flashed him one of her unique toothy grins. "You do really need some rest though." She told him. "If you push yourself, and end up dying…" She lowered her head.

Steven reached for her, to reassure her that he was alright. As he did so, she jumped quickly, startling him.

"Then I might have to kill you!" She growled as she made claws of her hands and began chomping her teeth at him.

Steven laughed. "And you called ME a goofball?"

She turned her head and huffed smugly. "Just where do you think you learned it from, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess that explains a lot…" Steven teased.

They laughed together for a while, before Amethyst stood.

"Alright, I can hear your stomach growling, and if we don't do something about it, you are gonna wake everyone." She grabbed the sandwiches from the table and passed them over to him. She reached for the remote and flipped on the TV. "Why don't you relax for a bit and get something to eat."

She yawned and stretched her arms. "I'm gonna go grab a shower, and I'll get some pillows and blankets." She looked at Steven questioningly. "You sure you feel like camping out on the couch?"

Steven chomped quickly and swallowed the bite he had just taken. "I don't mind at all. As long as I have you close to me."

She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Alright, but no funny business. Garnet might be a wet blanket, but I won't risk you injuring yourself… Not when…I … Just got you back…"

Steven sat the plate down, and leaned his head back, so that he could look into her eyes. "I promise you, Amethyst. I will never leave you again." He sighed longingly. "I'm still afraid that I will wake up tomorrow, back in that dead world…" Steven choked as his eyes filled with tears.

"There is nothing closer to Hell for me than a world without you in it." He gazed into her beautiful eyes. "I swear to you that I would sell my soul just for one more day with you. I have no intention of going anywhere. And I pity the reaper if he comes for me now… You make me feel stronger even when I am weak. So if Death thinks he can take me from you, he is in for a royal butt-kicking."

Amethyst smiled warmly at him. "I think I put too much cheese in those sandwiches. It seems to be coming back up…" she teased.

Steven shook his head. "Give me a break. I've died twice, killed a demon, travelled through time, woke up on an operating table with demon parts stuck to my leg, cried my eyes out with the girl of my dreams, met my younger self, and worst of all, endured your teasing." He finished his list "So you will just have to live with my cheesy lines, oh beauteous temptress, because I'm starving, exhausted, and wishing you would just shut up and get done with everything so that you can get back here and snuggle with me!"

Amethyst smiled warmly and then snapped to attention, jerking her hand to her forehead in a salute. "Yes, SIR!"

Steven watched as she walked down the hallway to the bathroom. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. My God, he thought to himself. She is beautiful. He struggled to keep his mind from wandering where his body was telling it to go, and realizing that it was a futile endeavor, he instead concentrated on slowly eating the first real food he had eaten in weeks.

He flipped through the channels as he ate, overcome with the nostalgia of his favorite shows and even the commercials. It had been so long since he had even dreamed of a normal life.

Pushing the empty plate back on the table, Steven leaned his tired head back on the couch and absentmindedly flipped through the channels. There wasn't much of interest on at this time of night, and he struggled to keep awake.

There was some kind of knife infomercial about ceramic cutlery or something and…Suddenly, he felt the remote being pulled from his hand. He realized that his eyes were closed.

He saw Amethyst as he peered through his half closed eyes. She was wearing a long white bathrobe and her hair was pulled up into a towel. She quietly flipped off the television and sat something down on the couch.

Steven was struggling to wake up, so that they could talk some more, but he was having trouble even opening his eyes. He felt her lift his head gently and slide a cool, soft pillow under it, and that just made matters worse. He was so comfortable that he was afraid he would pass out each time he blinked.

He could feel her sit down beside him, her warmth against his ribs. She smelled nice. Like he remembered. Was it some perfume? Or just her shampoo?

She leaned in and rested her damp head on his shoulder. The sudden moisture made him very aware of how cool it was in the living room. But no sooner had he noticed the cold, Amethyst brought a soft faux fur blanket, printed with a forest scene and a unicorn in its center across the two of them.

He recognized that blanket. Twelve long years had passed for him since he shared it with her on the roof of the Gem house. He remembered being so very tired then too.

"Beholder eyes…" Steven mumbled.

"What?" Amethyst asked.

Steven struggled to wake up even just a little. "So warm…cozy… on the roof." He began.

"Huh?" She asked, still not understanding.

"On the roof, twelve years… no, two years ago…after the bullies…"

"Oh…" Amethyst replied. Her eyes dropped. She didn't want to think about that horrible day back on the beach.

"We… looking… at the stars…" Steven mumbled. "You… so beautiful… smelled nice…"

Amethyst looked at him as he fought against sleep.

"I remember… never wanted to take my arm…away… snuggled with you… felt so …nice."

Amethyst was conflicted. Was that really what Steven had thought back then, even as a little boy?

"Hey!" she scolded the sleepy man. "Stop making this weird!"

"I… Sorry… not…trying…" Steven paused, and though she waited for him to continue, it was obvious that he was out cold.

She sighed and snuggled into him, pulling her feet up onto the couch and tucking the edge of the blanket under to stop the draft. This seemed to wake him up again, and she watched as he leaned forward, his lips pursed. She turned her head to meet him and puckered up.

Amethyst waited.

She finally opened her eyes to see his head nodding back and forth as he tried to stay awake. Finally, he leaned too far and his head fell forward. Amethyst moved her neck back to avoid getting head-butted, and Steven faceplanted right into her exposed cleavage.

She was trying to decide whether to be annoyed or to laugh, when Steven suddenly began to snore and the vibration tickled her so badly that she nearly clobbered him as she wiggled around involuntarily.

"Huh?" Steven sleepily muttered as he lifted his head, awakened by the movement.

She shook her head and giggled. "It's nothing, just get some sleep."

Steven's eyes fluttered as he began nodding back and forth again. "Mmmm…okay."

His head slowly lowered again, but this time Amethyst guided it to her shoulder. She wrapped the blanket tightly around them and then rested her head against his.

As she closed her eyes, she realized that he was right about one thing.

This really WAS the best feeling ever.

*BREAK*

As the Gems and Stevens slept above, the temple lay quiet and dormant.

The power that had been routed to the laboratory was shut off, and the bright lights were out. The vents that supplied the warmth and energy were closed.

But deep in the bowels of the temple, below the crystal heart, in a chamber long sealed and forgotten, something stirred.

Light slowly began to gather within a massive orb of crystal, and as it grew, illuminated a hexagonal chamber surrounded by pillars of multi-hued gemstone.

As the light slowly gathered, a thin ray emerged from the central sphere and struck one of the pillars. The others began to slowly pulse in a rhythmic fashion as some ethereal chime quietly echoed in the still chamber.

The chiming slowly faded as the light in the central orb dimmed, leaving only the pillar that it had touched aglow with eldritch energy.

Silence and darkness returned to the chamber.

And then the light began to gather within the central sphere again…

*BREAK*

Steven yawned and rolled his shoulders to stretch out the kinks in his muscles as he slowly awakened. He could hear cartoonish voices coming from the television, and he wondered if perhaps he had left it on. He couldn't really remember falling asleep last night. He vaguely recalled a wet towel on his shoulder, but it was all fuzzy.

As he forced his eyes open, He noticed that he was covered in Amethyst's favorite blanket, but she was nowhere to be seen.

He was about to being worrying, but the smell of bacon filled his nostrils, and the clanking of pans in the kitchen, just on the other side of the bar alerted him that he was not alone.

He arched his back and leaned his head over the top of the couch, and spied Amethyst retrieving plates from the cupboard.

She noticed his eyes on her, and gave him a warm smile. "I thought you might like something for breakfast."

Steven righted his head and tried stretching out the rest of his body. "Oh, you are truly a benevolent goddess."

"Oh, really?" she teased as she walked around the bar, carrying two plates of eggs and bacon "Well, in that case, we should talk about worship services. I demand much from my servants!"

Steven couldn't help but smile. Her playful and fun personality was something he had missed even more than her beautiful smile, or her amazingly captivating eyes.

Amethyst sat next to him and passed him a fork.

They didn't say a word to each other as they ate. She seemed absorbed in the show that was on. It was some cartoon that Steven didn't recognize. One of those anime things where everyone shoots beams out of their hands and stare at each other for half the episode. He had never really gotten into that kind of thing. He preferred something that would make him laugh.

Steven found that he couldn't take his eyes off of the woman beside him. Her full figure, long snow-white hair, even her clothes just drove him wild. Her pale purplish-grey skin, so much an oddity that most would find strange just seemed perfectly normal to him. He loved how her full cheeks would dimple when she smiled or laughed, highlighting those splotches of darker purple freckles. The way her sweater sat, lopsided on her shoulder, exposing the strap of her bra so playfully…

Steven had to catch himself as he realized that he was visualizing everything under that sweater. He felt a little conflicted about the whole thing. Amethyst was wearing what she always did. He could remember nearly every detail from back when he was a child. And that was precisely what made him feel like this was wrong. He never had these kinds of thoughts back then.

He still thought of her as his best friend, and enjoyed every moment spent with her. But he knew that there was much more to his heart now. It almost felt like a perversion of something pure and innocent, but at the same time, he knew that his feelings were not wrong.

Amethyst noticed him staring at her, and was about to tease him, but the look in his eyes made her decide against it.

She had never seen anyone look at her that way. In truth, she never thought that she would. He had a hungry, needful glint to his eyes, and yet at the same time, there was nothing but love expressed on his face.

Amethyst knew how she felt about him, but deep down she was still insecure with her self. Steven had helped her become a stronger person after that horrible day on the beach. But that didn't mean that she stopped thinking of herself as unattractive. She had just decided that she would be happy with who she was, safe in the knowledge that her friends loved her for who she was.

But she never let herself believe that she would find love. She wasn't tall and strong like Garnet. She was definitely not thin and graceful like Pearl. She was a short, chubby, loud-mouthed hyperactive girl with grey skin and old lady hair. She was probably the exact opposite of every starlet or model that she had ever seen on a magazine cover or on television.

People who looked like her were relegated to being fiendish villains or at their best, comic relief.

Never would someone like her be depicted as anyone's love interest, especially a brave, roguishly handsome hero like the young man in front of her had proven himself to be.

She knew what kind of world he had grown up in. He had never had the opportunity to find someone to love. And deep down, she feared that her happiness would be short lived. Steven's rugged good looks, and kind heart would attract nearly every single girl in Beach City. Amethyst would never be able to compete with that.

"Hey!" Steven called to her, his voice raised.

"What?" she asked, wondering if she had somehow upset him.

"I know that look on your face." He scolded her. "In all the years I have known you, I only saw that hopeless look in your eyes once."

"Steven…" She began, knowing he was once again referring to the night they spent up on the roof.

"I don't want to hear it, you idiot." His words stung her, as she could detect no hint of mirth in his voice. He was not teasing her.

"How many times to I have to tell you how I feel about you?"

"I know, I know…" Amethyst pleaded with him. "But… Steven you have turned into such a handsome man… And I … I'm still me…"

Steven reached out and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "And you have no idea how thankful I am that you are still you."

"But…" She began.

"No buts…" He cut her off. "Except for maybe yours, because it looks awful nice when you walk away." He smiled at her. "But I'm being dead serious, Amethyst. What is it going to take to get you to believe me when I tell you that no one else on this Earth will ever be as beautiful as you are to me?"

Amethyst sighed and quietly nodded. There was no way she could get him to understand her worry. "Beholder eyes, right?" she asked.

"Your damned right." He told her, as he embraced her tightly.

He held her for a moment, not really wanting to let go. Finally, he released her and stood.

"Now, enough of this moping. This is the first day that I haven't been hungry, in pain, or running for my life in over ten years. And if that weren't wonderful enough, I am here with my friends in a world that isn't filled with ash and death. I don't know about you, but I intend to enjoy it!"

Amethyst smiled in spite of herself, and tried to push her melancholy thoughts from her mind. "Alright, enough lecturing." She took a deep breath, and calmed her raging emotions. "So what do you want to do?"

Steven smiled down at her. "Well first things first." He stated bluntly. "I just woke up, and I gotta use it!"

"Ugh!" Amethyst sneered and wrinkled her nose in mock disgust before bursting out laughing. "So, your majesty, after you visit your throne, what then?"

Steven was glad to see her patented sarcasm and laugh back again. "Well, I really think I should probably shower. I didn't exactly have that luxury where I came from."

"No complaints here, Stinky!" She teased him. In truth, Amethyst didn't think he smelled bad at all. He smelled like wood smoke and grass. And she would be kidding herself if she said all those pheromones hadn't had an effect on her.

"Ha. Ha." Steven replied dryly. "And if you think you might be up for it, I could really use a trip into town…" He tugged at his shirt. "unless you really like the barefoot Bruce Lee look you guys have forced on me."

"I think it's quite fetching." Amethyst lied as she batted her eyelashes at him mockingly.

"Yeah, yeah…" Steven spoke, then added, "And don't worry, I don't expect to be a freeloader. I have some things in my pack I'm sure I can take to the pawn shop to get enough for a few sets of clothes."

"OOOOOHhhhh!" She blurted out, excitedly, "Can I help you pick out clothes?"

"Hmmm…" Steven stroked his chin thoughtfully, then raised a questioning eyebrow at the hyperactive woman. "I don't know… I don't want to end up in a dress or something silly like that… I KNOW you…"

"Awww, come on!" Amethyst pleaded. "I wouldn't do that to you, I promise!"

Steven studied her a moment. She seemed sincere. "Alright, then sure. I wanted you to come with me anyway." He smiled at her. "Alright, well, I'll be back in just a bit, ok?"

She nodded at him. As he walked to the bathroom, she spoke just loudly enough for him to hear. "I wonder what patterns of thongs they will have that fit you…"

Steven groaned aloud as he shut the bathroom door, leaving Amethyst to laugh at her own joke.

*BREAK*

Steven exited the bathroom as steam drifted out into the hallway.

It was so nice to have a hot shower. It had been so long since he felt clean. He rubbed the towel back and forth over his head, trying to dry his long hair. He couldn't remember ever having to do that.

The inability to figure out just how to dry his long hair made him realize just how long it really had been since he had showered.

He smiled. "And she still snuggled with me two nights in a row…"

"Bad news!" He called out to her from the hallway. "Stinky died."

He could hear her laughter from the other side of the couch.

Steven looked around at his old home. It looked just the way he remembered it. Every door, every light, every plant and poster. He noticed that all the doors were open, and he didn't see Garnet or Pearl, or for that matter, his younger self anywhere.

"Hey…" he asked, as he rounded the couch, finally managing to get his hair up in the towel without falling back out. "Where is everyone?"

"Oh," Amethyst began, still watching her anime. "Garnet and Pearl are out in the sloop on a mission. They said that they would be back tonight, and told me to keep an eye on you." She tossed a piece of popcorn into her mouth and chomped loudly.

"And younge- er, I mean Steven?" He asked.

She munched on a handful of corn, and wiped her buttery fingers on her pants. "Oh, Steven went out. He has been doing that a lot lately. He usually gets back kinda late."

He was shocked to hear that. Pearl would have scolded the skin right off of him if he ever just took off all day, especially by himself, nevermind staying out past dark. Something was off here.

"What?" Steven asked, even more concerned about Amethyst's nonchalant attitude about it.

"Don't worry, its ok. Things have been kinda weird since the battle. Steven has been having a rough time with it all." Amethyst looked ashamed. "It's partly my fault."

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"Well, after I lost you… I …" She struggled not to get upset again. "I kinda retreated into myself." She admitted "I couldn't stand to be around him… Because he was… you… but.. not you, too."

Steven started to understand just how much hardship he had brought on everyone. It made him feel awful.

"I… understand…" He muttered quietly. "I am so sorry for putting you through that. It was cruel and selfish of me."

"Oh, don't you start now!" Amethyst pleaded with him. "There has been enough heartbreak around here to last me for the next century!"

She turned to face Steven. "You are here now, and you are alive, and… and….BAH!" Amethyst threw her arms up in frustration.

"But…" Steven began.

"And besides," Amethyst talked over him. "Last night was the first night I have seen Steven act like his old self in a long time."

She took a deep breath remembering the last conversation she had with him. "And anyway, it's not like he is off on his own. He is out there with that girl he likes… what's her name…Connie."

"Connie?" Steven asked, thinking back. "Oh, you mean that girl with the glasses? The one I ended up trapping in my barrier?"

Amethyst looked at him like he was stupid. "Um, yeah, that Connie!" She stared at him for a moment. "You really forgot? I thought you had like a crush on her or something."

A puzzled look crossed the young man's face as he racked his brain, trying to remember. He shrugged his shoulders in apology. "I honestly don't remember having a crush on her." He told the aggravated Gem. "Besides, I thought she moved away just a few days later, after the whole bubble thing."

"Well, apparently she is back, and Steven has been spending nearly every day with her."

"Hmmm…." He put his head in his hand, trying to compile all of this new information. He guessed it was to be expected that the future would play out differently, but it all just seemed so surreal. He never thought that he would live to see any of it, so Steven had never really spent any time thinking about it.

He sighed and leaned back on the couch. "So much has changed, even though it all seems the same…" he said quietly to himself.

"Tell me about it…" Amethyst chimed in. "But some changes are a definite improvement…" She reached her hand out to his, and Steven became keenly aware of the warmth of her palm.

He stood back up, nervously shifting his weight back and forth as he scanned his eyes around the house. He knew how he was feeling, and couldn't help but feel like he was doing something wrong, for which he was about to be caught.

Amethyst stood on the couch, bringing her head level with his, and forced him to stand still as she took his face in her hands.

"Finally" Amethyst sighed as she looked lovingly at Steven, "We are alone…"

He swallowed hard. The air was running full blast, but Steven suddenly felt very hot.

"Yeah," Steven replied breathlessly. "I have been wanting to…spend time with you without… all of the distractions and interruptions…"

Amethyst sat down on the couch and patted the cushion next to her, motioning for him to join her, which he happily did.

She pulled her knees up onto the couch and leaned over to him, resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her, and scooted over a bit closer until they were pressed against each other as closely as could be. Steven could feel her warmth through his shirt. Her body heat felt wonderful against him.

He let out a contented sigh, and relaxed back into the couch.

Leaning over to kiss the top of her head, he took in the scent of her hair, a light fruity and floral aroma that he very much enjoyed, and remembered from back when he was young.

He felt so content at that moment, that he doubted anything in this world would ever be able to make him so happy as this.

Amethyst lifted her head and turned to him, and he looked deeply into her eyes and he became lost in them. Those large twin orbs of bright lavender, flecked with shades of deeper purple, as if looking into the surface of a lake on some alien paradise world. If the eyes were truly the window to the soul, then surely he was dead, and an angel was here to guide him home.

Home.

That is exactly how he felt when he looked into her eyes. Even just being near her. No. Just thinking of her. He knew that he was so deeply in love with this wondrous woman that no language on earth held any words fit to properly describe its depths.

"Amethyst." He began to speak.

"Yes, Steven?" She replied, in a soft whispering voice that made his heart race.

"I just…" He paused, looking for the right words to express his feelings. "I'm trying to think of how to say this right."

"To say what?" She asked, never breaking her gaze from his.

Trying to concentrate while staring into her eyes was like trying to stand in a bonfire and not get burned; it was impossible.

"To tell you just how much you mean to me." He said. "To tell you how happy I am just to be here with you now, to tell you that I love you with all of my heart and soul, and that looking into your eyes right now, feels so wonderful and right, and comforting, that if I were to die at this moment, and go to heaven, it would feel like hell compared to the joy I am in right here, right now with you."

She continued to stare into his eyes, unblinking, and silent.

Worried that his latest attempt at describing his feelings to her had fell flat, he began to become increasingly nervous the longer the silence dragged on.

"What I meant…" He began, wiping at his brow, though there was no sweat upon it.

"What I am trying to say, to you, is that… my feelings…" He let out an exasperated breath.

"Amethyst, it is so hard to find the words to express my heart to you." He admitted. "I love you so much its like… like…"

"Steven." She said, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yes?" He asked, as he continued searching for the right words in his mind.

"Shut the hell up." She said as she darted in and clamped her lips to his.

Shocked from his flustered and stammering state, his mind seemed to shut down as the sweet sensation of her soft lips kindled a molten fire within his body that seemed to spread from his head to his toes, and his tense muscles seemed to relax completely.

Gently biting at his lower lip, she pulled away from the kiss, still staring lovingly into his eyes.

Steven could not even begin to think of any words that he could string together into a coherent sentence, and was rather proud of himself when he was finally able to exhale a breathless "Wow."

Amethyst giggled. That wonderful, playful giggle that he used to love to hear when he was younger. It always made him happy. Though at this moment it was stirring new feelings that his mind was trying to comprehend, though his body seemed to know instinctively.

"See?" She said to him, in that low, throaty voice that was making his heart skip. "You don't need words to express your love. You can say things much better without saying anything at al-"

Steven leaned in, cutting off her words with a kiss of his own, kindled by the inner fire that she had ignited within him.

He relished the feel of her soft lips to his, as he felt her tongue enter his mouth. For a while it was if they were playing a game of cat and mouse, tongues darting back and forth, trying to catch each other as they kissed.

Steven could taste the slight salt upon her lips, left behind by earlier tears and popcorn, and the sweet taste of the butterscotch candies he had gifted to her before he nearly died on this very couch.

I thought she didn't like butterscotch? He tried to wrap his mind around it, but the mush between his ears was incapable of thought at the moment. Except for this one;

He knew in that moment that nothing would ever again taste so sweet and wonderful as this kiss.

Arms wrapped around each other, rubbing and grasping as if looking for a handhold to prevent themselves from falling into an endless abyss, Amethyst pulled away from their exchange and bit down on his ear gently.

"I want you." She breathed through her clamped teeth.

Whether her words, or her warm breath in on his sensitive ear, Steven was overwhelmed with need.

Their kisses and embrace continued as they struggled to get to their feet without separating and began stumbling their way down the hall towards the room that had been prepared for him.

Amethyst tugged at his shirt as they crossed the threshold, and both closed and locked the door. No chance for interruptions now. He assisted her by raising his arms, and then took her face into his hands as he kissed her deeply. She ran her fingers across his muscled back, drawing circles with her fingertips as she worked her way down his spine.

Steven reached for her sweater, but she pulled away, smiling.

"Oh, not yet" she said devilishly. "First you have to close your eyes."

Grinning slyly, Steven fought against the overwhelming desire to cross the empty space between them and reengage their embrace, and closed his eyes.

He could hear her clothing being stripped away and it took all of his willpower not to peek. There was a slight but momentary brightening of the light in the room that he could detect even with his eyes closed.

He could feel arms wrap around his waist and that familiar warmth press against him, and his body ached with anticipation.

"Okay, you can open them." He heard her sultry voice permit his heart's desire.

He slowly opened his eyes and met hers.

Steven pulled away and turned around, hurt and angry.

"What…What's wrong,?" Amethyst asked, worry evident in her shaky voice.

"You know exactly what's wrong." Steven replied, coldly, as he turned back to face her.

Standing in front of him was a tall, lithe, grey skinned beauty. Her perfect breasts sat atop a chest that was part of a toned and flawless body. Her waist seemed almost ridiculously thin in comparison to her full hips and shapely legs.

The only part of the woman in front of him that he could recognize were her eyes, now filled with confusion and worry.

"Why?" He asked.

Her eyes dropped, and she shrugged her shoulders. "I wanted you to think I was beautiful." She said. "I just thought that…" She sighed shakily, as tears seemed inevitable.

"You thought what?" Steven began, the hurt and betrayal evident in his voice. "That I wanted some cookie-cutter Barbie doll clone?"

"No!" she cried. "I just didn't want you to see…" she thought and began again "I just wanted to be as beautiful as the woman you wrote about in your letter. I wanted to be as beautiful as the love I keep seeing in your eyes." She began sobbing. "I just didn't want the first thing you see of me to be a muffin top…"

Sighing, he stepped forward and embraced her tightly. "Amethyst, you idiot." He hugged her tightly, and looked deep into her eyes, which were still the same ones he had fell in love with.

"If you can remember our talk on the roof all those years ago, you would know that I have always thought you were beautiful. I love the real you. I always have. I don't need this…" He glanced back down at the too perfect body that he was embracing.

"I want the 'real' you." He pleaded with her. "Please."

"But..." She began.

"Get over it!" Steven scolded. "I want Amethyst, not some fictional Amazonian princess from one of Pearl's stupid romance novels!"

She looked up to him with tearing eyes.

"I want the real you, dummy. Muffin top and all." Unless you want me to start altering myself too." He teased. "If I remember correctly, cat fingers didn't work too well as fingers, it would be a shame if something else started 'meowing', I mean you know how terrible I am at transformations…"

Amethyst smiled and laughed. "No that would be bad…" She looked back at him with those hungry eyes that made his heart flutter earlier. "Besides, I have plans for that momentarily."

With a flash of light, Amethyst was herself again. No longer so tall or thin, Amethyst sheepishly covered her full breasts with her arms, as if suddenly embarrassed by her nudity. She stared at the ground and rocked from side to side slightly as if trying to comfort herself.

"Hey." Steven said, cupping her chin in his hand and pulling her face up to his, meeting her eyes. "I can't get a smile?"

Amethyst managed a nervous smile, and Steven hugged her tightly. "That's much better." He said. "So soft and warm, not like that bony hag I was rubbing on earlier."

Amethyst laughed in spite of herself, and Steven knew that she was going to be fine.

"There she is!" He exclaimed as he stared at her body with a sly wink. "There's my sexy little purple magic midget!"

Amethyst smiled at him devilishly. "So where were we?"

Steven's heart began racing again. "We… umm… I think we were…"

Amethyst smiled at his flustered state, and uncovered herself, seeing from his body language, be it the hard swallow, the wide eyes, or the growing bulge in his pants, that he did in fact find her very appealing.

She adjusted her panties, running her thumbs under the waistband as she pulled them higher, giving Steven a good look at what lay beneath as the fabric was pulled tightly against her.

She saw him raise a questioning eyebrow as he stared between her legs, and she giggled. She stretched the fabric out flat, showing off the design on the front, as Steven pointed.

"Umm, Amethyst, is that…" Steven gave her a sly grin "Oh, what the hell, girl!"

The tiny triangle of fabric that made up most of her underwear sported an iconic image that she knew Steven would appreciate. It was an oblong cartoon face with two pointy ears. "I got them just for you." She said slyly. "It's your favorite!"

"Cookie Cat." Steven said, shaking his head in amused disbelief.

"You know it." She replied.

Steven began to chuckle, but Amethyst would put up with no breaking of the mood. She grabbed him by the front waist of his pants and pulled him over to the bed. He was pulled down on top of her, pressing her full breasts against his bare skin and setting his desire aflame. As he leaned in to kiss her, she placed a finger to his lips, halting him.

"No, no." She teased. She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled his head down her body, between her breasts, past her embedded gem and towards her soft stomach. He looked up at her mischievous smile, and her gorgeous eyes, full of the same desire reflected in his own. She nudged his head lower still.

"I know cookie cats were your favorite treat" She teased in that raspy whispering voice that drove him wild. "So why not unwrap this one and let's see if they still taste as good as you remember…"

His eyes widened as the meaning behind her words finally registered in his brain. His blood pumped through his body like the pistons in some tricked out engine. He struggled to keep from shaking. This was really happening! So many dreams, so many nights spent alone, in fear and pain, with only the thought of this moment; this wonderful woman to keep his sanity in check.

He looked into her bright and shining eyes. He stared into them across her bare chest as the dim light from the sun peeking through the curtain caught the gemstone between her breasts, cascading rainbows across her soft body, like some beautiful light show.

She arched her back and moaned softly as he slid the fabric of her novelty wear aside.

She bit her lower lip and inhaled sharply as Steven lowered his eyes from hers.

"Eat the cookie cat, huh?" Steven muttered softly.

…

Outside of the house, a small flock of seagulls, busily pecking away at the breadcrumbs left on the deck of the house suddenly scattered and flew away in startled unison as a deep-throated, ecstatic scream broke the tranquil and quiet morning.

*BREAK*

Dust swirled through the air on a cold, zephyrous breeze.

The darkened skies swirled with the ash of a dead world.

A robed figure walked along the beach, littered with the flotsam of the nearby city. Mangled corpses lay strewn about, in various states of decay, spread amongst the detritus left behind by all the material things that they had once treasured. No birds or crabs feasted upon the bodies. Even the carrion eaters were gone. This world was dead.

The stagnant and putrid water swirled around the figure's sandaled feet, occasionally splashing onto the hem of his long robe. Sighing, the man made his way around the larger pieces of concrete and rebar that littered the beach as if blasted away from the nearby city by some incredibly destructive force.

Using his walking stick, the robed figure climbed up the bank near the sheer cliff face that separated the city above from the ocean below. Small patches of dried and dead grass, preserved by the salt in the air wicked away the filthy water and clumps of damp sand from his robe as he walked over them.

Nearing the top of the bank, he surveyed the site in front of him. Splintered wood was all that remained of some sort of dwelling that sat against the cliff face. Underneath and behind the remains of the house, lay a ruined temple. Its side had been blasted completely free from the rest of the structure. Multiple levels were visible, all the way from the top of the cliff face down to where the sand, clogged with trash was beginning to spill into the open rooms. He knew that there were many more levels below the sand as well.

He started towards the ruins, and stumbled on a raised stone jutting up from an oblong mound of sand, lined with rocks. He leaned in close to inspect the object. There was crude writing carved into the flat face of the rock.

"Garnet.

I'm sorry.

I have to break my promise to you.

I have to save her.

Please forgive, and watch over me."

As the man leaned in to view the inscription, his long, flowing, white beard lightly brushed against the sand. He looked at the message with bright eyes that seemed far too young for his aged body. No emotion registered on his wrinkled and grandfatherly face.

He reached out to pick at some brown, crusty substance adhering to the side of the stone.

His thin and spindly arms, covered in liver spots moved steadily and with a sense of unnatural strength that seemed at odds with his withered appearance.

As he examined the dried blood he had scraped free into the palm of his hand, he could hear footsteps approaching him.

He turned and rose, using his staff to support himself.

A humanoid figure approached the elderly man. It was about five feet tall and stocky. Its skin was as white as snow and entirely devoid of any distinguishing features. There was a thin metallic band about its forehead, with two black stones to either side of a central blue cabochon that seemed to be set in the metal band, but also a natural feature of the strange creature. Two lidless black eyes stared forward as the creature raised a sleeved arm and brought it across its chest in a salute.

"Lord Overseer." The creature spoke in a hollow, empty voice.

"Report." The elderly man demanded.

The creature bowed curtly, its grey robes flapping in the sea breeze.

"We have discovered the portal. We are currently searching for the last destination it linked to."

"You might have better luck with this." The Overseer held out his bony hand, placing the dried blood flakes in the strange creature's outstretched hand. "I am certain that this is 'his' blood."

"Very well, Overseer." The creature bowed again, and turned to leave.

"Hold." The robed man commanded, as the stocky figure halted in its steps. "What is the current status of the gateway?"

Bowing once more, the creature replied. "Humble apologies, Overseer. The gateway has been activated." Twin black orbs stared forward lifelessly at the elderly man before him. "We currently have 6 of the 12 pillars fully powered. The gateway should be ready within twenty three central rotations."

"So three days?" The Overseer demanded of his minion.

"Not quite, Overseer. Seventy hours and fifteen minutes."

The man stroked his beard pensively. "Tell the others to speed up the process. Do not wait for his location to be found. The Weave is all important. We must repair this tear before more damage can be done."

"It will be done, Lord Overseer." Snapping into another bow, the ivory-skinned creature spun on it's heels and quickly walked back to a small gathering of identical humanoids surrounding a raised platform at the center of one of the exposed rooms.

The Overseer looked up to the dark clouds swirling in the lifeless skies.

"This is the last time I allow you to unravel that which the universe has woven." Sighing, and suddenly looking very tired, the elderly man muttered under his breath as his eyes seemed to peer off into a distance that only he could see.

"You have lived amongst the mortals for far too long. You have become blind to the task for which you were created. Your Threads must be removed before the Pattern becomes too chaotic, and the Tapestry itself begins to unravel."

He glanced down at the crude grave marker near his feet.

"Zircon, you fool. You went too far this time. It was you that set this all in motion. You were supposed to watch over the Pattern." Shaking his head, his beard whisking across the fibers of his robe, a brief glimpse of sorrow shone within his eyes.

"And now, I must clean up your mess once more. The Gems must be removed."

Looking back to the dark skies, as if speaking to someone, the man continued.

"You sought to make the Pattern perfect, and in doing so, you have nearly destroyed it."

A single tear ran down his wrinkled cheek.

"You were destroyed by your own actions… my brother."

And dust from a dead world, carried by the wind, swirled around the robed figure as he stood beside the ruined temple of this world's protectors.

*BREAK*

The sword whistled through the air as the mannequin's arm dropped to the ground. The skateboard that it sat atop slowly came to a stop as it reached the grass at the bottom of the hill.

"Good job, Steven!" Connie yelled to him.

Panting, and wiping the sweat from his brow, Steven nodded to her in acknowledgement.

He dismissed his blade and bent over to pick up his bottle of water. He gulped several mouthfuls down before stopping himself, remembering Connie's father, Frank's advice. Never drink too fast when you are working out or running, or you will get sick. Steven was still thirsty, but he just held his last gulp of water in his mouth, and up-ended the bottle, letting the cool water pour over his face and down his shirt.

He screwed the lid shut and took a deep breath. He began calming his mind.

"Steven!" Frank called to him. "Are you ready for defense traini… Oh! I guess you are!" He stopped himself as he watched the young boy summon his shield. Frank watched Steven as he walked over to the second set of dummies that he had set up for him.

Frank could not believe that this young boy held so much power within him. He could barely recognize this serious young man was the same awkward young boy who had saved him and his daughter from that scaled creature just a few nights ago.

Frank walked over to the tennis ball launcher that he has sat atop the hill near their rental house. He watched as Steven walked a short distance beyond where the rolling dummies were stopped, having reached the end of their ropes. He had set up six more of the mannequins that had been stored in the basement of the rental property. Each one was dusted with a fine chalk powder so that each ball strike would leave a mark.

Steven stopped in front of the group of dummies, and raised his shield, his eyes narrowed against the sun, with a look of grim determination on his face.

What is with this kid? Frank wondered.

He was taken aback when Steven had approached him after walking Connie home the other night. He could tell something was bothering the young boy.

*BREAK*

"Sir, can I ask you a favor?"

Frank was a bit surprised with the formal request.

"Sure thing, Steven. What's up?"

Steven had looked down at his feet, as if mustering the courage to speak. Frank had expected this for some time. He thought it was a gentlemanly thing to do, asking a father's permission to date his daughter.

But he was not prepared for what the boy was going to ask, and it took him by complete surprise.

"Can you teach me to fight?"

Frank studied the boy's face. There were tears welling up in them. Steven's jaw was clenched and his lips were quivering.

"Steven, why do you want to fight?" He asked the boy.

Steven struggled to keep his emotions in check as he explained. "Because… I am tired of everyone having to protect me. They do so much to save the ones they care about."

"Well Steven," Frank tried to explain "That's because people care about you. It's only natural to want to protect your loved ones."

"No…" Steven shook his head, blinking away his tears.

"Some people do too much…" He fought to keep his voice from cracking.

"What about the people I care about? What about Amethyst? She has suffered so much because of…." Steven caught himself. " What about Garnet and Pearl? What about you and…Connie…"

Frank was genuinely touched. He had only met this young man a few times.

"Steven, I appreciate that, but you don't have to worry about me. It should be me taking care of you guys. That's my job."

Steven shook his head again. "No, its not that… I… Know how much you mean to … " Steven looked past Frank, to the young girl who was at that moment just making it up the hill and to her and Frank's front door.

Frank followed his gaze and began to understand.

"Steven, listen, I"

"NO!" Steven shouted. "Please…please… I just want to do my part…."

"Steven!" Frank shouted at him, finally getting his attention. "As I was saying… I'll help you."

The tears in that young man's eyes reflected the light of the stars as his expression changed to one of hope.

*BREAK*

Frank set the ball cannon to its mid-level setting and took aim. "Steven, are you ready?"

The serious looking boy nodded his head, and brought his shield up in a defensive posture.

"Alright…" Frank aimed for the second left dummy. "GO!" He fired off two quick shots, then changed his target and began firing off round after round.

Steven braced himself and blocked the two incoming balls. The fuzzy yellow tennis balls bounced off the hard exterior of his rose tinted quartz shield. Steven had winced against the impact, and then cursed himself for closing his eyes. The next ball struck the mannequin next to him before he could react. Steven scrambled across the line of dummies, slamming away the incoming projectiles as quickly as he could. It seemed as though his feet were his greatest opponent. As he ran back and forth, attempting to keep each ball from hitting its mark, the tall grass pulled at his feet, and began tripping him up.

"Last round!" Frank called from the top of the hill.

Several balls fired in rapid succession, and Steven struggled to get his tiring body to respond to his commands. He managed to block one, and then began to panic as he heard two more hit their targets. He glanced up as the final projectile hurtled toward the dummy farthest away from him.

Steven threw himself forward as the ball flew through the air. He winced as the bright yellow ball struck across his ribs hard, as he dropped to the ground.

Connie began running towards him as he got to his feet. He looked at the dummies behind him and saw that many of them bore multiple marks where balls had taken the powdered chalk off when they had impacted.

Screaming in frustration, Steven slid his arm free of the shield and slammed it down to the ground. The crystalline construct faded into twinkling lights as it left his hand, not even giving him the satisfaction of the impact with the soft grass below.

"You alright!?" Frank called down from the top of the hill.

Steven threw up his arm in a dismissive gesture, then plopped down on the soft ground, tired and feeling defeated.

"Steven…" Connie began as she reached him. She looked to the dummies, and all the marks made upon them. "Come on, don't be so down. You did better this time!"

Steven looked up at the smiling girl with self-disgust written across his face.

Dismayed at his negative attitude, Connie tried to point out his improvements. "Come on Steven! The first time you could barely block any of them! And look there." She pointed towards the line of mannequins. "Two of them didn't get hit at all!"

Steven dropped his gaze back to the ground as he muttered under his breath. "Yeah… Great… Now those two can mourn the other four and never be the same again…"

"Steven…" Connie whispered, realizing that something was really getting to the happy-go-lucky boy that she loved spending time with.

Frank walked up to the pair.

"Come on, Steven. You are being way too hard on yourself." He offered a smile. "You know how long it took me to get good enough to pass the CQC exam back when I was in the army?"

Steven looked up at him and shook his head no.

"Three years." Frank admitted. " And I worked hard at it every day." He helped Steven to his feet. "You have only been at this for two days, and already you have improved to the point where you can take down three of the six attackers, and kept two out of six targets from being hit. I think that's a miraculous improvement, if you ask me."

Steven forced a smile, and nodded his head in agreement.

"So how about we take a break and get some sandwiches?" Frank offered. "I made my famous meatball subs."

Steven 'was' hungry.

He nodded his approval to the idea with a smile.

"Good call." Frank assured him. He handed the winded young boy a new bottle of water and motioned for Connie to follow him. "Come on, sweetie, let's go get the food ready and give Hercules here a bit to catch his breath!" He tousled Steven's hair to show him he was just teasing him.

Steven flashed a genuine smile as Connie and her father went inside.

Steven found himself sitting on the hill, lost in the swirling thoughts in his head.

He reached into his pack and pulled out a book.

But this was not the book he had been reading with Connie. This was something else. Something that had confused the young boy greatly, and led him to a true understanding of just how messed up things were now.

*BREAK*

He looked at the worn book in his hands. He read the title. "The Fire Within."

It was the subtext that had shocked him. "Book 2 of The Infinite Lament." Steven opened the cover and stared at the first page.

'By the best-selling author of "In the Shadows of Light – Book 1 of The Infinite Lament trilogy."

He thought back to two nights ago, when he had found the book sticking out of the worn duffel bag, still sitting by the door.

Steven had never known that his favorite book had a sequel. Thinking that this was some sort of gift for him, he ran through the house, looking for Garnet or Pearl. He realized that everyone was asleep. He tiptoed around the couch in the living room. Amethyst and Eltarr were asleep, wrapped in a blanket. Steven stopped for a moment as he stared at her peaceful face. Was that a smile he saw on her face?

Steven was happy to see her smiling once more. He really missed the old Amethyst. He just hoped that nothing would happen to bring her down again.

Thinking that he might get in trouble for sneaking his present too early, Steven went to return the book to the duffel. As he lifted open the bag, he noticed another book sitting there.

Curiosity forced his hand, and he sat down on the carpeted floor as he rifled through the tattered bag. He pulled out the second book and his eyes grew in astonishment.

"The Breaking of Infinity" – Book 3 of The Infinite Lament.

As Steven thumbed through the pages of the book, his eyes caught on the print page at the beginning of the prologue.

There was a warning about buying books without covers. That was normal. There was a roman numeral publishing date and the ISBN, as well as barcode symbols. But what truly filled Steven with wonder and dread was the bottom line of the book's information.

"First Printing… ed. 2019 – London."

2019? What is going on?

Steven tossed the book back down as if it would catch fire. This isn't right!

Steven couldn't believe his eyes. It was just now 2014! So this book was written five years in the future?

Steven shook his head, telling himself that it must be a typo. He still remembered finding a few of them in his book. This just had to be another.

Steven opened "The Fire Within" and flipped to the publishing page.

"First Printing…ed. 2017 – London."

Steven felt flush all over as his stomach began knotting up. Just what was going on here? And who's pack is this? Steven began digging out its contents and found a tattered journal with a nearly used up pencil jammed into its spiral binding. He gasped as he looked at the writing scratched into the thick red cover.

"Property of Steven Universe"

Steven's hands were shaking. He tossed the book down and ran to his room as fast as his short legs could carry him. He dove across his bed and pulled out a cardboard box from underneath it. He tossed away stuffed animals and toys as he dug down to the bottom of the box. Origami animals and paper planes that had been crumpled from the long period that they had been sitting at the bottom of the box tumbled through the air as the boy frantically pawed through the clutter of things that he had grown out of.

He reached the bottom of the box and his breath caught in his throat.

There was a red notebook, still crisp and clean. Steven knew that he had only made one entry in it. Pearl had bought it for him as a birthday present, and instructed him on how to keep a journal. Steven had only done it that once so that he wouldn't hurt her feelings.

Scratched into its red cover were the words that he had already seen just a moment ago.

"Property of Steven Universe"

Clutching the notebook tightly, he slowly made his way back to the front door, where the duffel bag's contents had been spread out. He glanced down and there it was. His notebook.

Steven laid the two books beside each other and immediately recognized that the covers were identical. There was even a long, trailing mark at the bottom of the "N" on the end of "Steven" that he remembered from when he first used the eraser on the pencil to rub away the red on its cover.

Both books were identical… Almost…

Steven picked up the worn notebook, and slowly opened it, fearing what he would find.

He stared at the words on the front page as his eyes filled with tears of uncertainty.

"March 3rd, 2009 –

Pearl bought me this notebook. It is nice. I hope she knows that I really like it. I like that is it red. I promised her that I wood rite in it every day. I like how she looks while I am riting this joornul entrée."

Steven struggled not to cry. He was feeling so many things at once. He was embarrassed at his spelling and simplistic writing. He was feeling ashamed that he had not continued writing, even though he promised Pearl that he would. He was sorry for all the times that he had lied to her and told her that he was still writing in it. And he was terrified of what he would find on the next page.

Steven opened his own notebook, and stared at the first page. It was like looking at a photocopy. He turned over the page to a blank, crisp sheet of paper.

He tentatively reached out to the doppelganger book and began to turn that page as well.

He could already see writing there.

As the page fell to the other side of the spiral bound notebook, Steven's eyes caught on the date at the top of the next entry.

"February 7th, 2014"

"No…" Steven breathlessly whispered. "But that's the day…" Steven felt as if he would be sick. That was the day that he had found that awful black crystal on the beach. It was the day that everything went wrong.

He flipped to the back page of the book, his hands still shaking.

He glanced at the date, and felt as though he would faint.

"September 28th, 2024"

He closed the book quickly, as he wrung his hands together, trying to process what he had just seen.

He heard Amethyst mumble in her sleep and smack her mouth dryly. He turned and watched her as she adjusted her head, snuggling against the young man who had been staying with them for the last two days.

Steven carefully pushed everything back into the duffel bag except the two books and his journal. He carried them carefully around the couch and down the hallway to his room and shut the door behind himself. He pushed his heavy dresser in front of the door, and sat down on his bed. He sat the two books on the floor beside his bed, hidden from anyone that might come in, and with determination, he swallowed and opened the red notebook.

Tears rolled down his face in waves as his mind grappled with the harsh truth written on those pages from the future.

*BREAK*

"Here you go, buddy." Steven snapped from his reverie and looked up. Frank was holding out a paper plate to him. A French roll was cut down the middle and filled with meatballs. It was smothered in sauce and cheese, and even in the heat of the midday sun, Steven could see the steam rising from the sandwich.

Steven accepted the plate with a smile, but inside, his heart was still torn from the truths he had learned two nights ago. He absentmindedly took a bite and inhaled as he chewed to cool it down. He looked sheepishly up to Connie, who had just taken a seat next to him. His eyes met hers as he chewed, and he suddenly became worried.

Connie laughed at him. She held up her plate, loaded with the same smothered sandwich as his. "Don't worry about it, Steven!" Connie assured him "It's ok to eat stuff like this every now and then! Besides, you have been working really hard today…"

Steven swallowed the bite without really tasting it, even though his nostrils could tell him that it was delicious. He didn't feel like celebrating. "Not hard enough…" Steven muttered as he stared at his food.

Connie frowned as she looked at the distraught young man. She hated seeing him like this. Maybe a visit to Fun Land would cheer him up?

"Hey Steven.." She began, but Steven was already speaking.

"Frank." Steven looked to her father, who sat his sandwich down. Wiping his hands on a napkin, he looked to the troubled young man.

"Yes?"

"Can we train some more?" Steven asked.

Connie's father looked at the young boy with concern. "Steven, you should eat first, ok?"

Steven shook his head. "You told me that working out on a full stomach isn't a good idea."

Frank was hoping to get him to drop it, but he could see that Steven was not going to let this go. "Look, Steven," he told the boy, "You can't push yourself. You have to take it slowly. You can't start bench pressing buses on your first day. You have to start with something small, like um… a go-kart!" He laughed, hoping Steven would join him, but he let his laughter die out as he saw the look in the young boy's eyes.

"Please…" Steven begged. "Just one more round. Then I will eat, and I promise I will take a break."

Frank stared at the determined young man. This is the boy who saved me and my daughter, he thought to himself. I guess this is the least I can do for him.

"Alright Steven." Frank said as he stood.

"But, dad!" Connie protested.

"It's okay, sweetie. Steven just wants to be able to protect you…" He looked to Steven. "Right, young man?"

Steven nodded. There was no hint of his earlier embarrassment at such an admission.

"Connie, why don't you take our sandwiches to the oven, that way they will be warn when we get done in a few minutes, okay?"

Connie could tell that this was some sort of guy thing. She shook her head in disbelief. Why do men always have to act so tough and push themselves too far? Suddenly realizing that she had just thought of Steven as a man, she blushed and hurried inside with the food before Steven could see her reddened cheeks.

"Steven." Frank called out to him. "Why don't you set the attack dummies up on the hill, and I will get the chalk for the others."

"Sure." Steven agreed as he began climbing the steep hill. The dummies were all on rolling platforms. Some were on skateboards, others on wagons, and one was on what Steven thought was one of those rolly-things that mechanics use to slide in and out from under cars. He began pulling them up by their ropes and tying them off on the pegs that Frank had pounded into the dirt. Frank would be able to pull the ropes and have the knot slip from the pounded pegs, sending the 'attackers' down the hill towards Steven.

Each dummy was covered in many places with duct tape, from earlier damage done as Steven tried to strike each of them as they hurtled down the hill towards him. Steven could not ask Pearl for help with his swordsmanship, she would just tell him that he would hurt himself, and forbid him from trying again.

Steven knew that Frank was a security guard, and Connie had told him that he used to be in the army, so Steven decided that if anyone could help him learn how to fight, it would be him.

Steven felt a little guilty that he didn't go to his dad first, but he knew that his dad had a business to run, and wouldn't have the time to help him. And then there was the irrational fear of anything remotely magical. Steven hoped that his father would not find out about this, because he knew it would hurt his feelings.

But he needed to get stronger. He needed to make sure that Amethyst would never have to cry again. That she would never have to worry about losing the thing that kept her happy.

"All done?" Frank asked as he reached the top of the hill.

"Yeah," Steven told him. " I tied them all down together so that you can release them all from the same peg, instead of having to run back and forth. Now you can send them one after another."

Frank looked at Steven's handiwork. "Good job, Steven." He admitted. "In a real fight, no one will be stopping to let you catch your breath. Just make sure you don't overdo it, okay?"

Steven nodded as he began walking down the hill.

Connie came back out of the house and began walking towards Steven. She waved to him with a smile, but she soon let it fade from her face as she realized that he was not paying attention to her.

She could only watch his back as he walked down the hill toward the training dummies. She thought that his posture seemed different, as if he were holding his shoulders back. No, that's not it, Connie thought to herself. He isn't strutting around.

She watched him intently as he took up position to intercept the incoming dummies. She could barely recognize Steven as she looked at the stern expression on his normally smiling face. It was almost like he was struggling against some immense weight that threatened to crush him. Connie just wanted him to smile and joke with her again. She needed to get him to stop all this training. It was obviously not good for him.

Determined to get him to come with her away from all of this serious stuff, she started making her way down the hill to speak with him. She was certain he would agree with her. If the park wouldn't tickle his fancy, she was prepared for that. She had been saving up her allowance, and she would even go to the arcade if that's what it took to get him away from the training. She wasn't fond of the place, but she didn't care if they were taking a walk in the sewage drain-off, as long as she could get him to smile again.

Frank stood at the top of the hill, holding the first rope tightly in his hand. He could appreciate Steven's desire to become stronger, but he was beginning to worry about the boy. Children should work to better themselves, but they should also enjoy childhood. They should be out playing and having fun. He was proud of his daughter, but he had been worried about her for some time. With his job taking him all over the country, he knew that it was hard for Connie to make friends. She was a model student, and whenever she wasn't doing homework, she would have her head buried in a book. Frank had been concerned that his daughter would never have a normal childhood, and it weighed heavily on him.

He had looked for other job opportunities in each town they visited. He wanted to find steady work that would allow them to stay in one place for more than a few months, to give Connie a chance to make some friends, to laugh and play, even get in trouble from time to time. Normal kid stuff.

But nothing ever panned out. That was why he was so happy that she had met Steven. He couldn't remember Connie ever being in a rush to make it out of the house in the morning. He was a little concerned that his daughter was growing up too fast, especially hanging out with a boy. But his first meeting with Steven confirmed that he could trust his daughter's judgment.

But now he was worried about the boy.

Frank made a mental note to have a long conversation with Steven about the need to enjoy his childhood before he lost his chance at it forever. There was plenty of time to grow up.

Steven readied his blade, and nodded. Frank gave him a silent nod in return, before pulling the first rope free.

As the dummy rolled and bounced down the hill, Steven brought his blade to his side and moved his left foot back, in a balanced stance that he had seen Pearl use when anticipating an attack.

The dummy lurched forward, gaining momentum as it neared the bottom of the sloped hill. The uneven ground and patches of tall grass caused the cart to which it was attached to bounce around and veer slightly left or right.

Steven watched closely as it reached the bottom of the hill. It was going as fast as it was going to get. He raised his blade to attack, but then noticed something.

The cart was barreling towards him from straight ahead. Steven's eye caught on a rough patch of dirt between the cart and himself. He followed the path of the cart with his eyes and could see that the left-side wheels would pass right over the patch of dirt.

Steven quickly stepped to the right and adjusted his stance.

The cart ran over the patch as the wheels dug into the loose earth, causing the cart to veer to the right, straight into Steven's waiting blade. With an effortless swipe, the entire torso of the mannequin fell to the ground as the cart hurtled to a crashing stop against the rail ties that lined the edge of the property.

"Great job!" Frank called out to the boy. From his vantage point on the top of the hill, he thought that Steven was merely dodging the cart. When the cart veered right towards him, Frank realized that he must have been anticipating its path, and moved to intercept it. He shook his head in disbelief. Kids don't think this way, he thought to himself. As you grow older, you start to see patterns in the way things happen. This allows you to prepare for what's coming. It's like a game of chess. You need to think a few moves ahead if you want to ever master the game.

Steven was starting to think like a soldier.

Frank had an uneasy mixture of pride and concern brewing within him.

Steven raised his blade to signal his readiness to release the next wave.

Frank grabbed the next rope, and started to pull. He quickly stopped himself as he noticed Connie on the hillside, walking towards the young boy.

"Steven!" Connie called out to him. His determined expression softened as he looked up at his friend.

"How about we go somewhere after this?" She asked as she skipped down the steep hill.

Steven was about to tell her 'sure' but his words died on his tongue as Connie's foot caught on a tangled patch of weeds and she fell hard onto her knees.

"Oww!" She cried out.

She rolled to the side, and grabbed her knee. The skin was broken and her knee was aching. She had came down hard on a half buried rock.

Steven was immediately flustered. He wanted to run to her, but he couldn't think of anything to say. He took a few steps in her direction as her father called out to her with concern.

"Hang on baby! I'm coming!" Frank sat the ropes down and began making his way down the treacherously steep hillside.

Steven walked slowly over to his friend, wondering what to say. She was crying and holding her leg tightly. He was worried that she would be embarrassed for him to see her crying, but he just wanted to go to her and try to help.

As he was nearing Connie and her father, his ears picked up a familiar whining sound.

He glanced up the hillside and saw one of the training dummies picking up speed as it hurtled towards them.

"Hey, look out!" Steven yelled as he pumped his legs furiously, struggling against gravity and the slope of the hill as he tried to make his way to the pair.

He was breathless and panting as he reached them. The heat of the mid day sun was beating down on his skin like a thousand red hot hammers. He squinted his eyes as the skateboard carrying the mannequin hit the steepest part of the hill, picking up speed. His blade was still in hand, and he moved between Frank and Connie.

Frank glanced up from tending his daughter's wounded knee. He saw the training dummy coming at them. There was no worry in his mind. Steven was more than capable of handling it. He did wonder how the dummy had been released though. He never pulled at the rope. Connie's pained cries forced his attention back to soothing his little girl's injured knee.

Steven took a deep breath and readied his blade. He stumbled as he attempted to assume his stance. The steep hillside made for treacherous footing. It was not at all like the level manicured grass that he had been training on. Sweat was dripping into his eyes, causing them to sting. He furiously blinked the moisture away, as he fought against the blinding light of the sun.

The sun was right behind the mannequin at this angle and Steven was having a hard time focusing on it as it speeded up on its way towards them.

Stumbling and nearly blinded by the sun, Steven raised his blade and batted away the training dummy. He felt a great sense of relief when he felt his sword connect. The skateboard pivoted to the right under the force of his swing, and it continued rolling down the hill, past Frank and Connie.

Steven released the breath he had been holding in, and let it blow through his lips. He was exhausted.

I think I will take Connie up on her offer, Steven thought to himself, as he turned to check on his wounded friend. He thought that it might be nice to invite her over to visit his dad. They could have a spray fight. Steven knew that the cool water would feel nice in this insufferable heat. He knelt down to check on Connie, but his heart caught in his throat as he saw the training dummy hit the bottom of the hill.

There was a rope trailing behind it. Steven quickly shot a glance back to the hilltop.

Four training dummies were wobbling as they were pulled towards the lip of the incline.

"Oh, no…" Steven groaned as he inwardly cursed himself.

It had been his idea to tie all the dummies down to a single peg. The ropes must have been caught on the last dummy and pulled free. He watched in horror as the remaining mannequins began slowly picking up speed. They were bouncing around and slamming into each other, causing them to veer back and forth erratically.

He moved between Frank and Connie once more. He tried to follow the paths that the dummies would take, but with all the bouncing around, he was hard pressed to even keep watch on a single one.

This is hopeless he thought.

He considered using himself to block them, in case he couldn't stop them all. He shook his head and threw away that idea, as he realized that the speeding mannequins would likely knock him over and into Connie and her father. The hillside was littered with jagged rocks, and they would all topple down the hill and someone was bound to get hurt badly.

Steven readied his blade. He frantically searched his thoughts for a solution that would see them all through this safe. Panic was beginning to set in.

They are going to get hurt, and it's all my fault!

Steven could see the silhouettes wavering in front of the blinding glare of the sun. They were picking up speed.

Steven was still tired from the earlier training and running up the steep hill. His blade began to twinkle as it did when he would dismiss the power. Steven was tired and his muscles were aching all over.

He knew that he was close to his 'wall'.

He thought about all the times that he pushed himself beyond this point.

Those boys he had hurt back on the beach those years ago were only the first incident. He recalled how much it had hurt to see his friends in danger that terrible day when Zircon was trying to kill them all. Steven had at least taken comfort in the fact that he had protected them, even though he had to release that terrible power.

Tears welled up in his eyes.

But 'I' didn't save them.

Steven had read the words of that journal. That heart-rending journal that was both his and not his at the same time.

The second to last entry chronicled how his future self had arrived just in time to save Amethyst from that horrible monster. Every detail of it would forever be burned into Steven's mind. All the pain and fear, told firsthand in his own words. Steven knew that he had not saved anyone that day. If anything, he had made things worse, and nearly gotten his best friend killed in the process. All these months of Amethyst's coldness became understandable and clear.

She had been saved by a REAL hero, and then fallen in love with him.

Steven's stomach muscles clenched as he fought off a sob.

And then she lost him right in front of her eyes.

It was all my fault.

All of it.

All my fault.

I broke the crystal. I let that monster out. I trapped the Gems. I almost got her killed.

Steven ground his teeth together as the tears streamed down his face.

And I'm doing it again.

Connie and Frank… Both of them are in trouble because of my stupid decisions.

Through the harsh light of the sun, and the tears filling his eyes, the wavy silhouettes of the mannequins loomed ever closer. Pointed sticks and wooden swords made for practice would do a lot of damage at this speed.

This is all my fault.

Steven could feel the 'wall' as he struggled to hold onto his fading blade.

Connie was rocking back and forth in pain as her father dabbed at her skinned knee with a handkerchief. She cursed herself for her clumsiness. All she wanted was to see Steven happy and smiling again, and here she was, only making him worry even more.

Suddenly there was a bloodcurdling shriek, and both her and her father turned towards Steven.

Steven screamed at the top of his lungs. His blade flickered in and out of reality as he struggled to summon up energy that he simply did not have.

He wouldn't let his mistakes hurt anyone else!

Steven pushed against his 'wall' with all of his might. No matter how hard he tried he could not make it budge. He screamed and railed against it as he pounded on it.

His friends were going to be hurt.

*BREAK*

He could almost see the 'wall' in front of him. Shimmering pink energy blocked his path.

He could feel the cool ocean breeze on his skin. He turned around and the world vanished.

He was on the shore outside of the Gem Temple.

He looked all around, confused as to what had happened.

The sky was turning dark, and the stars were already bright in the sky above, though the ocean was still alight in the ambers and pinks of the setting sun.

Steven stumbled about in the sand, his muscles still aching and weak from his struggles. He turned to the cliff face and inhaled sharply as his eyes beheld what lay before him.

A giant wall of shimmering rose hued light stretched up and down the beach. Steven could see figures beyond the barrier.

As he walked closer, he was forced to rub his eyes as if to dispel an imagined sight. He could see Connie's rental house beyond the wall. The hill was there, with Connie and Frank knelt down beside her. Steven thought he must be losing his mind. He could see himself.

He was standing between the practice dummies and his two friends. His hand was raised to the sky to block the harsh rays of the sun, and his sword was clutched tightly in his other hand. He could see that the blade had already begun to disappear, as it faded into a sparkling mist. His mouth was open in a silent scream. It was almost like looking at a photograph. Everything was frozen in time.

His curiosity was abuzz with the strangeness of his situation, but his heart burned with need as he looked through the mirror-like wall. His friends were on the other side. They were in trouble and they needed his help.

Steven ran towards the wall, and placed his hands against it.

The surface seemed to ripple as if it were water when he touched it. Steven gave it a push.

Regardless of how liquid it seemed, it was most certainly solid. He dug his feet into the sand as he pushed against the barrier.

Steven yelled in frustration as his feet slid backwards.

As he regained his footing, he began to feel like he was being watched, but a cursory inspection of his surroundings revealed nothing. He still could not shake the feeling, as if eyes were on him as he struggled against the barrier.

The more he stared through the wall, the more frustrated and enraged he became. He punched and kicked at it with all the strength he could muster. He picked up a large shell from the beach and tried chipping away at the barrier all with no effect.

Steven stepped back and lowered his stance.

With a yell, he ran headlong into the barrier as hard as he could.

It felt like he had just run into a brick wall. Steven clutched his bruised shoulder as he fell back onto the sand. Just as he was about to scream his frustrations to the sky, he suddenly felt that there was someone nearby.

No matter where he looked, once again he could see no one anywhere near him.

Suddenly, he heard a faint, soothing voice call out to him.

"You have to stop, Steven. You will hurt yourself…"

Again, he could see no one. He stood again, and returned to the wall.

Steven struggled with all of his might to push against the wall that was holding him back.

'My friends are going to be hurt… I need more power!' Steven screamed back at the soft voice.

'You must stop. The power you seek will hurt you.'

Steven screamed in rage and desperation as he banged his fists in futility. He slumped to his knees as he sobbed.

'I don't care…" Steven moaned as he fought against the hopelessness of the situation. 'I need… to save them…'

The soft voice seemed clearer, as if it were closer this time. 'You don't have to worry about protecting anyone yet… You are still young."

Steven was getting angry. He spun around, searching for the source of the voice. "I can't rely on everyone to protect me all the time!" He stormed back to the wall, and pointed a finger angrily at the scene beyond it. "These are my friends! They need my help!"

The voice seemed much closer this time. "You have done all you can. You cannot push yourself any harder. There are limits to the power of all beings."

"That might be true" Steven yelled back "But right now, I am the only one who can save them!" Steven shook his head at the absurdity of the situation. He was arguing with a disembodied voice. "I know I can push myself farther!"

Steven waited for a response. The rolling waves broke gently on the tranquil beach.

After some time, the voice returned.

"The power you seek will harm you. You must not…"

Steven yelled back, cutting off the voice. "I DON'T CARE!" He took a deep breath. "They are my friends. I MUST do everything I can to help them! I don't care if it hurts me! I…" Steven's voice trailed off as he realized that he was completely sure of his next words. "I don't even care if I die…"

'Steven...' There was a hint of sadness is the ethereal voice.

"No!" he screamed. "I mean it!"

He turned back to the wall, and his friends beyond it. "I don't want to die…" he admitted. "I want to spend more time with them, and with Garnet and Pearl and Amethyst and Dad." Steven wiped away his tears as he began pushing against the wall again. "But I would never enjoy that life if it meant living on, knowing that I did not do everything I could!"

Steven struggled against the wall with all his strength. He thought that he might be imagining it, but it seemed to dip slightly as he pushed, as if it were bending. He dug in his heels and shoved so hard that he could hear his shoulders popping. There was a small sound like the first footstep onto freshly packed snow.

Steven looked up as he rubbed his shoulder. His eyes brightened and the smile returned to his face despite the pain.

The wall had a crack in it.

Steven walked to the water's edge, and turned to face the barrier.

'Steven…" The voice called out once more.

But he had heard enough. He needed to help his friends.

He pumped his arms and legs with all the strength he could manage from his exhausted body and ran straight at his wall.

"I only ever hoped to see you smile…" The sorrow was evident in the voice as Steven reached the barrier.

With a deep and throaty scream, Steven slammed his body into the wall a final time.

The rose-hued barrier shattered.

'Go with all my love…'

The voice began trailing off and fading away as Steven burst through the barrier, back into the blinding glare of the mid day sun.

'…My Son.'

*BREAK*

Frank snapped his head up as he heard Steven scream.

He immediately cursed himself for not paying attention. The dummies were all rolling towards them at once, and Steven had put himself between them. The trailing ropes told him what had happened. He was worried that this might occur. It is why he had set them all up separately. He didn't want to make Steven feel bad, and so he had went against his better judgment and left the dummies tied to a single peg.

The dummies were almost on them. Steven's sword has faded away and he could see just how tired the young man was.

He needed to get Steven back, so that he could keep the mannequins from hitting the children.

Frank jumped to his feet and reached towards Steven as he lunged.

Steven was still screaming at the top of his lungs. The pain in his voice tugged at Connie's heart. She found herself clamping her hands to her head to block it out.

Steven's scream began to raise in pitch and became a deafening roar. Frank's ears were aching as he wondered how he could yell that loudly. This was worse than being next to a concert speaker.

In two steps, he reached the boy, and stretched out his hand to grab hold of Steven's shirt, to pull him to safety.

Frank immediately withdrew his hand. It felt as if he had stuck it into a roaring fire.

The ground began to shake as Steven turned towards him.

He gasped as Steven's face came into view.

Steven's expression was lifeless. His eyes were glowing with crackling, rose-hued energy. They seemed to be on fire, the flames licking at his brow, still dripping with sweat.

Steven reached out a hand towards the two, and an intense brightness forced Frank and his daughter to shield their eyes from its glare.

Once it passed, the now frightened security guard opened his eyes.

There was a wall of pink light around the two of them.

"This is…" Connie began, remembering the last time that she had seen this very barrier.

Frank stared ahead at the young boy who had earned his trust and friendship. Steven's face was without expression. He flicked his right hand out, and suddenly a blade appeared in his hand.

Frank furrowed his brow as he saw the weapon Steven was holding. It was not the short sword that he had seen the boy use before. This blade was easily 3 feet long. Almost as long as Steven was tall. The blade was wide at the hilt, which was covered in twinkling points of light. As the blade stretched away from the sparkling lights on its cross shaped grip, it tapered to a needle thin point. The double bladed sword had, on one side, cruelly barbed and serrated edges. It was a wicked looking blade.

Frank looked up, back into the flaming eyes of the expressionless boy before him. Was this even still the same Steven?

Steven raised his left hand and with a slight cracking sound, a large shield appeared on his arm. This too was new.

Gone was the small rounded shield that the young man had employed during his training. Instead a thick and heavy-looking tower shield graced his arm. It's top was nearly as long as his forearm and it stretched down past the boy's waist before tapering to a sharp, triangular tip. The beveled edges of the shield appeared as if they might be sharpened into blades. The sunlight caught the front of the construct, and Frank could make out the intricate carving of a single rose emblazoned across its surface.

He could not tear his gaze away from the twin burning orbs of Steven's eyes.

The boy opened his mouth, and a deep and ethereal voice echoed forth.

"I will protect what is precious."

And with that, the boy turned his back to Connie and her father.

Steven's arm shot out in a blur of motion, knocking the first dummy to the side with such force that it hurtled through the air, breaking apart from the impact as it flew across the property.

Steven spun on his heels and slammed his shield into another mannequin as it passed. It seemed to stop for a brief moment, as it connected with the summoned construct. Steven twitched his arm, and there was an infinitely brief flash of light.

The stilled practice dummy crumbled to dust as the boy turned to face the remaining two. They were tangled together and bouncing erratically.

Steven extended his sword point towards them. He flicked his wrist in small swipes through the air. The twinkling points of light on the blade seemed to 'wink' out as he made each movement. Steven then slammed the point of his blade into the ground with enough force for the two awe-struck humans to feel its impact in their feet.

As he did so, bright pink lines appeared across the dummies, as if some web had been spun onto them. The lines flared brightly, then disappeared.

The dummies collapsed and fell in pieces onto the ground as they rolled to a stop against the shimmering wall of the barrier that had been erected around Connie and her father.

Steven began to tremble and stumble as his weapons faded from existence. The bright flames in his eyes faded and died, and the pinkish aura slowly faded away from his body. Steven spun around as his knees buckled and slammed into the ground. His lifeless eyes met Connie's briefly, as gravity pulled the young man's face into the soft grass.

As Steven fell, the barrier surrounding Frank and Connie seemed to melt away. In seconds, the air was clear and the blue skies could be seen above them once again.

The stillness was suddenly absolute. A few moments of silence passed, as the two digested what they had just witnessed.

Connie mustered enough saliva to mouth two words that she had never used before.

"Holy… Shit…"

*BREAK*

Amethyst slowly opened her eyes.

Her face was stuck to Steven's chest. She must have been lying there for some time. She glanced to the window, and could not see any light peeking through the blinds.

So I must have been asleep for hours, she thought to herself.

She lifted her arm from under the covers and stretched it across Steven's broad chest. He stirred slightly from the movement, but thankfully remained asleep.

Amethyst stared at his face as he slept.

He looked so peaceful and content.

For the first time since she had met this man from the future, his face was relaxed. Gone were the pained lines in the corners of his eyes. His jaw, which was normally so clenched, was loose and she could see the corners of his lips turned up into a slight smile.

She could feel her own cheeks pulling her mouth into a happy grin. She could not help herself but to smile. She even tried to force it to go away, but it was as if her lips were no longer under her control. For what seemed like the billionth time in these past months, tears came to her eyes.

But unlike the sea of salty tears that had poured from her over these heart wrenching weeks, these tears came from the unbridled joy in her heart. Never in her life had she felt so content and complete.

Lying there next to him, doubt, pain, heartache and sorrow all seemed like foreign concepts that she only vaguely recalled hearing about once, lifetimes ago.

If the world were to end at this moment, Amethyst would regret nothing. She knew that if she and Steven lived from this moment until the sun grew cold and dark, that no second of that incomprehensible span of time would ever hold a happiness as great or as complete as this.

"You know, I have already had a shower today…" Steven teased.

Startled, Amethyst lifted her head and stared into the eyes of her love.

Steven reached up to her face, and wiped away her tears.

"Are you okay?" Concern crossed his face as he stared into her eyes.

Yet more tears flowed as she closed her eyes tightly and embraced Steven.

"I just love you so much!" She mumbled against his chest.

Steven held her gently and kissed her head.

"I love you too, Amethyst. So very much."

Holding each other in the silent, darkened room, the pair relished the warmth and closeness of each other's embrace as the minutes passed.

Sleep had almost claimed them once more when a noise snapped them to alertness.

They could hear the front door of the house open and close.

Looking at each other for a moment, Amethyst jumped from the bed, and frantically began pulling her sweater over her head.

Steven sat up in bed, pulling the covers over his nakedness, and looked questioningly at Amethyst.

She shrugged her shoulders, letting Steven know that she had no idea who would be coming in at this time.

They both froze in their actions as a pair of footsteps could be hear coming down the hallway. They stopped outside the door to the room.

The doorknob slowly turned, then clicked back to its resting position as a muffled voice whispered harshly.

Steven and Amethyst looked at each other in confusion.

Then there was a quick succession of raps at the door.

Garnet called out. "Is everyone decent?"

Amethyst quickly pulled up her pants and called back "Yeah, guys, its fine."

Steven pulled the covers up closer around him as he shot an angry glance at the fully clothed Gem.

Amethyst just flashed her wide lipped smile, taking great pleasure in Steven's embarrassment.

The door opened and Pearl and Garnet entered the darkened room.

Pearl flipped the lights on and as she met Steven's wide eyed gaze, she blushed and looked away.

"Oh… Um…" Pearl stammered.

Garnet tossed a bag onto the bed. "We thought you could use a normal change of clothes"

Steven pawed through the bag's contents and found a pair of jeans and several T-shirts among various garments. Amethyst jumped up on the bed and began excitedly digging through the items.

"So you guys had time to go shopping after your mission?" She questioned her friends.

"What?" Garnet queried.

"The mission? You said before you left this morning that you…"

"Right." Garnet interrupted her. "It didn't take as long as we thought."

Pearl raised an eyebrow in questioning "What mission? You said that we needed to give them some time to get all those hormones out of their sys-"

Garnet clamped her hand tightly over Pearl's mouth and slowly began dragging her friend out of the room, closing the door behind them.

Steven groaned as he placed his hands over his face, as if to hide his shame from the world.

"Oh, get over it, Steven. It's not like they didn't know…"

Sighing, he nodded. "I guess so…"

Amethyst began laying out clothes, tossing the pair of jeans towards him. "Go ahead and put those on. Let's see what else we have…"

*BREAK*

Garnet looked up as Steven and Amethyst emerged from his room. Steven was wearing the snug fitting jeans that they had just purchased for him. A white tank top that complimented his physique was worn underneath a bright floral patterned black Hawaiian style shirt.

Pearl glanced over and then down, at his feet.

"Really? Socks with sandals?" Pearl raised her eyebrow. "Isn't that supposed to be tacky?"

"Shut-up, Pearl." Amethyst shot back. "I think it looks good."

Rolling her eyes, Pearl muttered under her breath "You would…"

Steven laughed nervously, his hand going to the back of his head out of habit. "Well, at least its comfortable!"

Just then, the power flickered momentarily.

The four looked around for the source of the power drain, but could find nothing.

"Probably just a surge" Steven told them.

"Doubtful." Garnet explained. "The house's power is tied to the temple. We have never had an interruption before."

"Really?" Steven asked.

Nodding, Garnet stood and began walking toward the temple door. "I'm going to go check it out."

"It's probably nothing." Amethyst remarked as she flipped her hair in dismissal. "You're always too serious, Garnet."

Placing her hand upon the activation panel for the Temple door, Garnet stood motionless as the door remained sealed. Her mirrored shades glared back towards the short Gem. "Still think it's nothing?"

Worriedly, the others joined the stern woman at the temple door.

Pearl and Amethyst both tried to open the door, but it would not respond to either of them.

"This is bad, right?" Steven asked.

"We have never been unable to open the temple door." Garnet admitted. "So, yes, this is bad."

"Let's get to the access hatch." Pearl turned as she spoke, making her way down the short hallway toward young Steven's room.

"What access hatch?" Steven questioned as they followed Pearl.

The door opened into Steven's old room. Memories flooded back to him as he gazed upon his lost childhood.

Taken aback, he stood motionless in the doorway as his eyes focused on the various objects strewn about the messy room in fond reverence.

There was the messy bed with the stained pillow. Steven remembered spilling spaghetti on it, and being embarrassed to tell anyone, since he wasn't supposed to be eating in his room. He had turned the pillow over after wiping away what he could. He could still remember smelling the pasta as he drifted off to sleep many nights.

There were the Guys scattered across the top of his dresser. He knew that one was missing. He hoped that Onion enjoyed Ranger Guy.

His eyes swept the room from side to side, focusing and remembering each object in turn. It was a surreal experience. As if the past 10 years had never happened.

He had to catch himself as he thought these thoughts. This was not HIS life. This was young Steven's. His things were burned to ashes, along with the rest of his world.

Suddenly, the happiness he had felt at seeing those material things which held so many pleasant memories turned sour, and he became uncomfortable standing there.

Once again, he felt like he was an intruder. It was as if he had came in and taken someone else's place. He had felt that way many times since waking on the operating table. No matter the moments of happiness, the smiles of his friends, or the soft lips of Amethyst, he could not shake the sensation of wrongness with everything.

Steven found himself shaken from these dark thoughts, as Garnet lifted the bed with one hand and slid it against the far wall.

"Pearl." Garnet spoke.

Pearl nodded and summoned her blade.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Steven demanded, realizing he still felt protective of these things which were not really his.

The dainty Gem brought the tip of her blade downward and stabbed it into the carpeting. She slid the blade around the outline of something, and then knelt down to lift the flap of shaggy carpet. Underneath was a round pearlescent hatch, it's handle sticking up slightly above floor level.

Steven was stricken speechless in wonder. He remembered that raised section of carpeting well. He had rearranged his room because he had kept stubbing his toe on this very spot.

He could barely believe that all this time the hatch had been right here. All those times that he wished he could go on missions, or even just spend time with the Gems who had sequestered themselves in the temple for one reason or another, this hatch had been right under his very feet.

Pearl was struggling with the handle, using both hands to pull, but to no avail.

"Step aside, let me try." Garnet said, as she moved to the stuck hatch.

After a few minutes of straining and heaving, Garnet finally stood, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"This doesn't make sense." Garnet remarked. "This hatch is manual, there is no power keeping it sealed. It should open with ease."

"Alright, you weaklings, let me show you how it's done!" Amethyst quipped as she leaped over and began tugging and pulling at the unmoving lever. Straining and grunting, the short Gem became increasingly frustrated with each try. Suddenly, her hands slipped and she flew back into Pearl and Garnet, knocking them into the wall, and falling into a tangled heap.

Pearl admonished Amethyst for her careless actions, while Amethyst began blaming pearl. Garnet tried to talk the two hot-headed women down, which ended up getting her stuck in the middle of a bickering match.

Steven knew that something must be very wrong for Garnet to be so concerned about the power. The door to the temple being sealed merely confirmed the uneasy feeling he was having. Knowing from experience that there was no stopping the arguing Gems, he stepped over to the access hatch, and inspected the handle.

The handle would turn easily, but the hatch would still not budge. Steven could feel the locking mechanism click as the handle was turned, so he knew that it was not the lock holding the hatch firm.

He leaned over and lifted the carpeting a bit higher, and suddenly his eye caught on something. There was a small 't' shaped piece of crystal that had become wedged in the side of the hatch's seal.

Noticing Steven, Garnet clamped her hands over the mouths of the arguing pair. The three looked on as the young man pulled the object free.

Recognition hit Pearl immediately and she stood up, snatching the object from Steven.

"Steven!" She yelled angrily. "You lied to me!"

Steven laughed nervously as he forced his eyes to the ground in embarrassment.

"What's going on?" Garnet demanded.

"This is what's going on!" Pearl stated indignantly.

She held the object up for the others to see as she angrily stared at the red-faced young man who was avoiding her gaze as if it were the plague.

Amethyst stood on her tip toes to get a better look.

Pearl was holding a very small sword. It was only about the length of her finger. Despite it's size, it was exquisitely detailed, down to the gold inlays and precious gemstones that had been meticulously set into the hilt of the blade.

"I told you a thousand times Steven, these are not toys!" Pearl angrily scolded. "I knew it was you!"

Seeing the shame in the face of the man in front of her, Pearl suddenly found herself feeling guilty.

This is not the boy who did this, she told herself.

"Steven… I…I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…" Pearl began, but Steven looked up with that damnable smile of his, the one that always got him out of trouble.

"No, Pearl. You don't need to apologize." Steven admitted. "I did take them. I know those figurines are something that you cherish. I knew it was wrong even back then." He explained.

"I kept seeing those figures you kept in your room, and I always wanted to play with them. I had taken two of them to play with, and when I heard you guys getting back, I panicked and ran to put them up as fast as I could." Steven sighed. "As I was putting them back on your shelf, I noticed that one of the weapons was missing." He shook his head, ashamed of his own actions. "I ended up tearing up my entire room looking for it, but I never did find it. When you came and asked me about it, I denied it right to your face."

"Steven," Pearl smiled warmly. "It's okay. You were just a kid. I forgive you."

Suddenly Amethyst lunged forward and grabbed Steven's ear, twisting it painfully.

"Well I don't forgive you!" Amethyst twisted harder, as Steven dropped to his knees.

"You jerk! Pearl blamed me for that! Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it was to clean up my entire room with her breathing down my neck, just to prove to her that I didn't have it!"

"Sorry, SORRY!" Steven pleaded. "Ow,oww,owww,OWWW! UNLCE!"

Amethyst released the young man as he rubbed his aching ear.

Soon all of them were laughing.

Garnet watched her friends with a warm smile. This young man WAS really their Steven, despite the hellish life he had been forced to live through.

As Amethyst began kissing Steven's aching ear, while Pearl laughed on, Garnet found herself wishing more than anything that Rose could be here.

"Do you know what a great son you have?" Garnet muttered silently.

Garnet walked to the hatch, which swung open freely, now clear of the obstruction.

The laughter subsided as the four looked down into the darkened tunnel.

"It looks like the power is off in the temple." Pearl remarked.

Steven's mirth faded completely, as his gut was once again filled with that uneasy sense of discordance. Of un-belonging. He swallowed hard, as Garnet dropped into the tunnel, followed by the other two Gems.

He made his way forward, and sat on the lip of the access hatch. He was a little unsure of the distance to the ground. He could not see the Gems below. Despite feeling back at full health, he could not depend on his Gemstones. Steven feared that if the fall were too great, he might break his leg, as any normal human being would.

As if reading his mind, Garnet's voice called out from the darkness. "It's alright Steven. It's only about 8 feet."

Taking a deep breath , Steven slid himself over the lip of the access hatch and launched himself into the darkness.

Steven could not see the bottom, and landed hard, falling back onto his butt as his legs gave way.

"Ouch…" Steven complained. "How are we supposed to get through here if we can't see?"

"I got it." Pearl spoke as a pinpoint of light appeared in front of Steven.

The glow slowly increased, revealing Pearl's long nose and porcelain-like skin. She increased the brightness of her Gem slowly until the tunnel was aglow with an almost fluorescent light.

"So which way do we go?" Amethyst asked, eyeing the branching tunnels to either side.

"We follow Pearl." Garnet commanded.

Steven nodded in silent agreement. Pearl was a logical point person for this task. She could illuminate the way for the others and had perfect recall for directions and maps.

"Steven."

The young man turned to Pearl. "Yes?"

There was a flash of light, as Pearl activated her gem once again. She pulled a sword from her magical storage.

Steven looked questioningly at her, as she handed the blade to him.

It was the same swept hilt rapier that he had given her before succumbing to what he thought would be his last breaths.

"Take it." Pearl stated as she extended the hilt towards him once again.

"But… I gave it to you…" Steven's brows furrowed in confusion. Did she not like it?

"I appreciate it. It is a beautiful gift." Pearl explained. "But if there is danger ahead, you need a way to defend yourself, and I would rather you didn't try to use those cracked gemstones."

Steven's face unhardened as he began to understand. "Right. That makes sense."

Pearl could see that he had misunderstood her intent. "I really do like it, Steven." She assured him with a smile. "But I would rather have you here with us, instead of a prized sword in my collection."

Steven smiled as Garnet placed a hand on his shoulder. "I agree with Pearl."

"Me, too!" Amethyst chimed in. Then she leaned over towards Pearl and whispered loudly in her ear. "Besides, he's got a much better sword that's built in, but it's all MINE!"

Pearl's eyes grew wide and her face turned a bright shade of crimson as Steven groaned and rolled his eyes.

Amethyst never ceased to amaze him with the things that came out of her mouth.

His hands covering his face in embarrassment, Steven pleaded with Amethyst to stop saying things like that.

"Enough. This is serious." Garnet counseled. "We need to pay attention. I have a bad feeling."

Steven forced a serious look back onto his face, as he took the sword and ran its scabbard through a belt loop on the side of his jeans. He ripped a small section off of the bottom of his shirt and tied the sheath securely to the belt loop.

Pearl resumed her lead position, and even Amethyst seemed serious. Perhaps joking around was her way of dealing with anxiety, but even she felt the uneasiness that seemed to permeate the air.

They began slowly walking down the twisting corridors of the temple's rarely seen service area. Various cables and scattered tools littered the floor, left behind long ago by Gems who were likely no longer among the living.

Steven shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the vast span of time. The Gems were essentially immortal, ageless beings. There was no way to know just how ancient the temple was. He wondered how long it had been since feet has tread upon the cold crystalline composite that his steps carried him over.

Despite the fact that the corridors they were walking down reminded Steven of something out of a science fiction series he could feel the immense weight of time that gave these twisting passageways the feel of some long forgotten ancient tomb.

Walking next to Garnet, Steven looked at her, trying to imagine what an endless existence might be like. He could not even begin to fathom the concept.

In his brief twenty two years of life, he had experienced the joys of childhood, and the pain of losing everything. He thought back to the last years, spent running for his life with Garnet-HIS Garnet- by his side.

Seven long years spent in fear and pain. But in all of that time, there were still moments that he cherished. Though the good times were brief, and few and far between, the pervasive darkness and horror of his life made them seem all the more precious and special.

He had asked Garnet many times how old she was, but she would only tell him that she did not know. At first, Steven did not believe her, but now, he thought that he could begin to understand a life so long as to find the passing of years nothing to bother remembering. Those seven years seemed like at least three full lifetimes. If not for his journal, Steven doubted that he would have been able to track the passing of time. More importantly, given the circumstances in his world, there didn't seem to be a point to keeping track of the days. There was nothing to look forward to, no date that held the promise of something happy or memorable. Nothing to excitedly count the days while looking forward to.

Steven was struck by a sudden pang of sympathetic pain for Garnet, and all of the Gems. His father had once told him once, that a cold, rainy day was a blessing in disguise. It was raining and miserable that day, and Steven and his father were supposed to go on a trip to the largest amusement park on the coast. Steven had been waiting over a month since his dad had promised to take him. He had been marking the days on the calendar with anticipation of riding the new roller coaster.

The night before, Steven had been unable to sleep due to his excitement. Finally, well past the point when he wanted to go to bed, he finally found a restless sleep. When he awoke, it was to the sound of thunder, and the pounding of heavy rain being blown against the window of his room by gale force winds.

It was like waking on Christmas morning to find that there were no presents.

His dad tried to console him, but Steven refused to give up on the day. He spent hours watching the boring weather channel, hoping against hope that they would report a break in the clouds. The hours passed, and finally, after making a phone call, his father had to report that the park was closed for the day.

Steven was inconsolable.

He had dismissed his father's words that day, but he recalled the truth in them now.

"Son, this day is actually a blessing in disguise. If it was warm and sunny every day, then those warm sunny days wouldn't mean anything would they? It's the rain that makes us cherish those days."

Steven never did get to go to the park. It had burned down a few weeks later. It was a sore subject for a long time.

Now, with his hindsight as clear as an eagle's vision, Steven saw the wisdom in his father's words. If it were not for those awful years he suffered through, and the most painful time spent all alone on that dead world, he would not be here now, amongst his truest friends, and loving every moment of it, even this dangerous time.

He could remember the epiphanies he had experienced throughout his life. Those rare moments when his thoughts clicked together and one of the mysteries of life and the universe was laid bare before him.

Still looking intently at the statuesque warrior-woman beside him, he wondered how many of those same epiphanies that Garnet had experienced. He wondered how many more she had realized than him. Once again acutely aware of the vast span of time, Steven pondered just when his paltry handful of life altering realizations had been also realized by her.

Suddenly, Steven stopped in his tracks. Amethyst nearly slammed into him.

"Hey! Why'd you stop so…" Amethyst's words trailed off, as she realized that Pearl and Garnet had frozen as well. Garnet's fists were clenched, and her gloves were activated. Pearl had drawn her sword, and she could hear the crystal rapier sliding free of Steven's sheath.

Amethyst tried to adjust her eyes to the glaring light of Pearl's Gem. She peered past her friends, to the end of the corridor.

She could make out the outline of what looked like a head and arm poking out from around the corner. What she assumed was the head of a humanoid creature was topped with what looked like a thin metallic band, studded with gemstones. However she could not make out any facial features. She squinted and stared, as she thought she could make out what looked like a nose, and maybe a line where a mouth should be, but it was hard to tell. Just as she was wondering if this was some trick of the shadows cast by Pearl's light, two pitch black orbs appeared above the creature's nose, as it's eyelids opened.

Amethyst gasped in shock, as the creature ducked around the corner and disappeared from sight.

Pulling her whip, Amethyst felt the need to state the obvious.

"I don't think we're alone…"

*BREAK*

Steven held up his hand, motioning the others to hold position.

They had been following the creature as it meandered through the twisting passageways of the temple's service corridors. Pearl had whispered for them to stop three turns back, as she had explained that the creature had went down a dead end. They followed quietly, and now Steven was pressed against the smooth wall right next to the corner.

He glanced back to the Gems, and nodded, holding his index finger up in the air. He turned back around and swallowed hard. There was only silence in the passage.

Slowly, cautiously, Steven peeked around the corner, his hand tightening on the hilt of his rapier, preparing for an attack.

He peered down the dimly lit corridor and then slowly pulled his head back, his free hand still motioning for the others to hold and wait.

The Gems backpedaled, sliding their backs against the wall, making way for the young man who was retreating from the corner.

Once they reached the end of the corridor farthest from the creature, Garnet whispered in hushed tones.

"So what did you see?"

Steven shook his head with the absurdity and strangeness of the situation.

"It was just standing there." He reported. "It was just staring ahead blankly and not moving a muscle."

"Odd…" Pearl said.

"Agreed." Garnet nodded. "What the hell is going on here?"

Steven thought for a moment. "You know, maybe it's not a threat."

The others gave him a look that made Steven feel naïve.

"No, no,no…" Steven began. "Hear me out."

With eyebrows raised in skepticism, the others waited for the young man to speak.

"I mean sure, that thing looks really creepy, but what exactly has it done to us? Think about all the weird things we have seen, hell, think about how you guys can look to some people…" Steven held his hand out, as if looking for some support for his thoughts.

"We don't even know if this thing is hostile. It hasn't done anything threatening, and we aren't even sure it has anything to do with the power drain, are we?"

Garnet stepped forward. "Look, Steven, I hear what you are saying, but we can't-"

"Just let me go try to talk to it." Steven knew where Garnet was going with this. He had been in many tight spots with her, or rather, her future self, and he knew exactly what she was thinking. Garnet had the same heart of gold as the rest of the Gems, but she also had a cold and logical side which made her such a fearsome warrior and natural leader.

He could see Garnet's telltale muscle twitch, which she tried to hide by adjusting her glasses. Steven knew she was getting annoyed.

"Look, Garnet, you forget how well I know you. You are getting annoyed with me, because you think I am being foolhardy and childish. You are about to interrupt me and go attack that thing, but I'm going to stop you right now."

The look on Garnet's face was unreadable as always, but the open mouths of Pearl and Amethyst were almost enough to make Steven burst out laughing.

"You have no one to blame but yourself, Garnet. You are the one who lectured me over and over about compromise, and now I'm gonna hold you to it. I'm going to sheathe my sword and go talk to that thing, and you, Pearl and Amethyst are going to wait at the corner, weapons drawn, and get ready to back me up in case I am being an idiot, alright?"

This time, even Garnet's mouth hung open in shocked silence at the way Steven was speaking to her.

"Alright, I'll assume by that, we are in agreement." Steven said with a wry smile. "Now," He sheathed his weapon and turned on his heels. "I gotta go talk to a weird little crowned albino alien."

Steven paused at the corner, giving the Gems time to join him, and took a breath. He closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself, and took one more deep lungful of air, before rapping his knuckles on the wall.

Steven slowly walked around the corner, careful to show that his hands were empty.

The creature stood motionless a few feet from the dead end, staring ahead with unblinking black eyes.

"Hello…" Steven said nervously. "I'm not here to hurt you."

The creature made no movement, and no sound. It's black eyes stared straight ahead, as if looking past Steven. It was very unnerving.

Steven continued to stare at the creature as the moments passed. He was becoming very uneasy about the whole situation.

Steven tilted his head to the side, studying the motionless little alien.

"Umm…Are you alright?"

Still there was no response from the creature.

Steven was beginning to get frustrated. He waved his hands around and raised his voice.

"Hello!?" He shouted. "Can you hear me?"

Suddenly, the creature tilted its head, and it's eyes focused on the young man.

Steven froze.

The alabaster-skinned humanoid's eyes opened wider and the near invisible slit of its mouth opened.

"Primary target located. Secondaries currently unaccounted for. Beginning elimination."

Steven stepped back as he heard the creature's hollow, unfeeling and robotic voice. The sound sent shivers his spine, even before the intent of its words registered in his brain.

As Steven's hand went to the hilt of his rapier, the gemstones in the creature's crown-like headband illuminated and suddenly, it seemed as though the small white being's body became translucent.

Steven tried to focus his eyes, as his vision blurred. He could see three ghostly mirror images of the humanoid in front of him, as if he had crossed his eyes.

Then a strange thing happened.

Steven realized that it was not his focus that was to blame, as the mirror images became solid and separated.

The young man was left wide eyed as he stood before four of the unknown creatures, each a perfect copy of the original.

Steven could hear the quick and heavy footsteps of the Gems coming up from behind.

At least this would be an even fight, he thought. Brief flashes of multi-colored light reflected off the pale skin of the opponents in front of him as the Gems summoned their weapons.

Amethyst ran forward and stepped in front of Steven, brandishing her thorned whip. Garnet appeared to his right, and took up a defensive stance, while Pearl brandished her blade, spinning it around in a short kata before also widening the space between her feet and dropping her center of gravity to prepare for combat.

What a show-off, Steven thought. Pearl might be a competent warrior, and a good person, but he had almost forgotten just how full of her self she was.

"What are they doing?" Garnet wondered aloud.

Steven too was noticing the strange behavior of the group of creatures. They were once again standing motionless.

"What is going on?" Steven questioned. "Are they going to attack or not? And they are unarmed…"

The creature farthest to the left tilted its head, the same as the original one had done, and began speaking. It's hollow voice was seriously creeping everyone out. Just as before, it seemed to be speaking, but not actually addressing anyone.

"Universe G-76659216-Kappa Alternate 9. Cycle shift 4.338. Physics model variant 8."

Before the Gems could even wonder what any of that gibberish meant, the other three tilted their heads in unison, joining the first.

Though all of them now spoke in unison, their voices were exactly the same and in perfect synch, which made it seem as though only one were speaking.

"Accessing armory for physics model variant 8."

The creatures seemed to twitch in unison as if they were being mildly electrocuted.

"Restriction detected. Quark-based atomic structures present in current universe. Restrict neutrino, anti-matter and Omega particle. Accessing optimal conventional arms."

"Enough of this!" Garnet hissed. "Gem's let's go!"

Garnet leaped over Steven's head and brought her battle fist down hard on the skull of the leftmost creature. There was a crunching sound that made Steven wince, and the creature crumbled into fine powder.

Garnet too, seemed taken aback by the result of her strike, and she fell back to join the others.

Pearl looked to her friend with a horrified look on her face. "Don't you think you went a bit overboard? I mean, they haven't even attacked us!" Pearl looked much paler that usual. "Why did you kill it?"

Garnet held her palms up, in defense of her self. "I didn't hit it that hard." She turned back to the creatures, who seemed unfazed at the loss of one of their own. "These things are extremely weak…Maybe we should try to capture them instead."

Before anyone could react, the creatures crown-like bands began glowing in unison, and with another vertigo inducing 'phasing', there were again four creatures in front of them.

"Guardian-class magical constructs detected. Restriction G-7 lifted. Anti-Gem weaponry authorized."

Steven felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he watched the ivory skin of the creatures began to undulate and shift as if they were made of gelatin.

The ripples seemed to flow down the outstretched arms of the albinoids, and in mere moments, the once empty-handed creatures were holding weapons.

On the far right, a two handed hilt terminated in three scimitar-like blades set side by side with only a few centimeters between them.

The next creature's arms had been completely transformed. Where hands used to be, circular openings had appeared, looking like the barrels of some macabre frankenstienian cannons.

The humanoid that was second to the left was wielding a staff topped with a half moon-shaped blade. The blade reminded Steven of those strange farming machete's that the gauchos used to harvest the agave plants that they used to make tequila.

The last one held what looked like two thin dowels, with small rounded balls on the end. They didn't look like much as a weapon, but at this point Steven wasn't willing to take any chances.

Those hollow, soulless voices filled the silent air once more.

"Accessing war records. Anti-Gem tactic R-235. Three Guardian-Class; One unknown. Primary objective is capture of Unknown. Secondary is capture or elimination of all Guardian-class entities."

"Yeah! Well capture this!" Amethyst yelled as she lifted a leg and farted loudly.

No one laughed, as the four creatures began moving in unison quickly towards the assembled group. Steven drew his blade and stood beside Amethyst.

The short gem ground her teeth as she tightened her grip on the handle of her whip.

"Uggh…" She muttered under her breath.

"These guys have no sense of humor…"

The creature wielding the triple bladed scimitar swung in a downward arc, straight at Garnet's head. The statuesque Gem raised her gloved fists up, forming a cross block to deflect the blade.

As the blades hit Garnet's gloves, a strange humming began to sound, as if she had just been struck with a tuning fork.

Readying herself for the albinoid's follow-up attack, she backed away and lowered her arms, but was puzzled by what she saw.

The creature had backed away and turned his back to her.

Garnet was usually calm under duress, but the fact that her opponent would underestimate her so completely infuriated her. She drew back her arm for a mighty blow, and bolted forward, focusing her aim on the creature's thin neck.

With her first step forward, Garnet suddenly fell to one knee.

Shaking her head, she found her vision blurring. Her muscles began trembling.

Garnet was overcome with a sensation of weakness. She had never felt this way before in her entire existence.

Clenching her fist tightly, she struggled to stand once again, but a creaking, cracking sound reverberated in her ears.

Suddenly, Garnet found her mirrored shades fading away. Instinctively she raised her hand to her face to reapply them, and watched in horror as cracks were spreading across her gloved fists. Shaking in part from weakness, and partly from the shock of it all, she watched her weapons crumble to dust in front of her eyes.

Staring at the twin garnets embedded in her naked palms, Garnet struggled to re-activate her powers, but the gemstones remained as dark and cold as an ordinary stone.

Dodging a thunderous blast from the cannon-armed creature, Pearl noticed Garnet's plight and rushed over to her side.

Sweat dripped from the normally composed and proper Gem. Sucking in a deep breath, she yelled at Garnet to rise to her feet.

Garnet still stared at her lifeless gemstones, muscles quivering. "How…?" She muttered, obviously in shock.

Pearl stared at her own weapon. Fine hairline cracks radiated out from each point of the blade where she struck a blow against the creatures. She had been unable to even put a scratch on them.

Catching sight of the staff wielding albinoid, Pearl called out a warning to Amethyst, who was busy fending off the dual wielder.

The short Gem turned her head to catch sight of the wicked crescent blade descending towards her head. Her eyes widened as she realized that she would be unable to dodge the blow while fending off her own opponent.

Assaulted from both sides, Amethyst dropped into a ball, trying to shield herself from the worst of the twin attacks.

She felt a rush of air rustle her hair as something passed close by to her. As she heard a low, grating whine, she opened her eyes to see the creature in front of her staring at the stumps of its hands in apparent bewilderment. The sound of a blade clattering to the floor caused her to spin around, where she was met with the sight of Steven's back, his arm extended to his side, crystalline rapier in hand.

As Steven stepped aside, the staff wielding albinoid came into view, its face and body seemingly frozen. It's arms were raised as if still clutching the wicked polearm. A fine crack appeared across it's chest, and the creature seemed to separate along the fissure along it's chest.

As the top half of the creature's torso slid free of it's body, the entire creature crumbled to dust as it had when Garnet had first struck.

"Are you alright!?" Steven cried out, running his hands up and down Amethyst's arms as he frantically searched her for wounds.

"Steven! Calm down!" Amethyst assured him. "I'm not a delicate flower. I'm fine." She realized how panicked he had become, thinking that she had been hurt, and her heart swelled. "But thank you for saving me." She flashed him that warm smile that seemed to be reserved only for him.

Steven eyed the remaining two creatures, who were standing back, as if sizing the situation up. He noticed Garnet, and his fear returned.

"Garnet!" Steven yelled, grabbing Amethyst with his free hand, and rushing to her side.

Amethyst turned to the remaining albinoids with anger blazing in her eyes. "I'll keep an eye on them…" She told the young man.

Nodding, Steven knelt beside his friend and grabbed her by the shoulders. Her whole body was quivering, her eyes were unfocused and she was muttering to herself.

Steven gave her a shake.

"Garnet! Snap out of it!" Steven could not keep the panic from his voice. He had been through so much to be able to have his loved ones back, the thought of losing any of them now, was more than he could bear to comprehend.

With a fluttering of her eyelids, three clear and intelligent eyes looked up and locked onto his tear-filled orbs.

"Steven?" Garnet spoke softly.

Clenching his jaw and blinking away his newly formed tears, Steven grabbed Garnet into a tight embrace.

"Damnitt, Garnet, please don't scare me like that!"

Confused, Garnet was taken aback by Steven's naked emotion.

She could feel his tears dropping onto her back.

"Steven, I'm alive." Her voice quivered, not from emotion, but from the weakness she still felt. "Now is not the time for this. If I was truly your teacher, you should know to silence your emotion in battle."

Steven released her, drying his eyes, as he stood. He shot her a knowing smirk. "You know what a hardheaded person I am. Some lessons I refuse to learn."

He helped Pearl prop the weakened Gem against the corridor wall before joining Amethyst's side. Pearl stood to his left, her weapon readied. Steven noticed the cracking along her blade.

"Pearl, what happened?" Steven asked, worried about what powers these creatures might have.

"I couldn't damage them…" Pearl, whom Steven knew to be forever overconfident and composed, seemed to be doubting herself. Her clenched jaw showed the level of her frustration.

"They… took my power…" Garnet called out weakly from behind them. "My gems…I can't use them…"

"What!?" Steven questioned.

"Don't…" Garnet took a deep breath. "Don't let them touch you."

"That explains my weapons at least…" Pearl muttered.

Steven's lip curled into a toothy snarl. How the hell were they supposed to fight these things, then?

"But Steven killed two of them!" Amethyst protested.

Pearl shook her head, trying to consider what their options were, but once again, the creepy albino creatures began that monotonous chanting.

"Forbidden Weapon detected. One Guardian class entity disabled. Switch attack pattern to 532 Beta."

Steven watched in horror as the creatures once again phased into four separate beings. Each now held the same twin dowels with rounded tips as the one whose arms had been lopped off in his last attack.

"Everyone, please fight defensively. If you can't damage them, then try to keep them busy until I can deal with them." Steven extended his blade towards the charging group. "And whatever you do, don't let them touch you!"

Within moments, blades were clashing in a furious melee. With Garnet out of the battle, it was all that the Gems could do to contend with the four.

Pearl furiously parried again and again, all the while, her blade was chipping away. She gritted her teeth. If this continued, she would soon be unarmed, and an easy target.

Amethyst was constantly forced to backpedal away from the creatures. She swung her whip around in a defensive arc, trying to use denial of area attacks to keep them from getting too close, but her whip seemed to have no bite against these creatures, and they showed no pain from its cracking impacts.

Steven sliced through his opponent with ease, and then turned to aid his friends. Two more swings, and two more of the creatures crumbled to dust. Steven turned to face the final creature, and cursed under his breath.

There were four opponents coming right at them.

"You have to be kidding me…" Steven muttered, as the two Gems fought a losing battle against an opponent that they could not damage.

Strike after strike, Steven cut them down, but no matter how many he felled, they simply respawned themselves.

"Try to bunch them together!" Steven called out to his comrades. "I will try to take them all out at once!"

Pearl and Amethyst nodded, and began a furious assault against their opponents, while Steven continued to battle against two at once.

Steven struggled to resist the urge to strike at every opening he had. These creatures were not very adept at combat, and he was finding it difficult to push them back without accidentally dispatching one of them. That would make this plan fail. Steven knew that he needed to get all four of them within striking distance before he attacked.

He hoped that if he could land blows on all of them quickly enough, the creatures would have no time to use that phasing technique.

They were making progress, slowly but surely. There was only a few meters left before the albinoids would have their backs to the wall.

His concentration was broken as he heard Amethyst gasp.

He turned to her, and saw that the creature she was fighting had grabbed her whip. He watched in horror as the albinoid monster yanked on the whip, causing Amethyst to stumble forward, into the reach of its weapons.

Steven launched himself between the two, slamming his blade into the creature's chest all the way to the hilt.

As before, the creature froze when it came into contact with Steven's blade. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief, when he turned to check on Amethyst.

The creature's arm was extended, the rod like weapon thrust right past Steven's head. As his eyes followed the still form of the creature, his heart sank.

The rounded tip of its weapon was resting gently against Amethyst's forehead.

Steven's eyes grew wide as panic forced his heart into his throat.

Amethyst was frozen in place, her muscles quivering.

Steven watched her as her legs buckled.

He screamed his rage and disbelief as her knees hit the ground. Amethyst's whip seemed to explode in a shower of violet, incandescent sparks.

Spinning and swinging with furious strength, Steven cut down his two opponents, and scooped up the limp body of the woman he loved. Rushing over to Garnet's side, He placed Amethyst gently beside her.

"Please…" Steven began.

"I will…" Garnet nodded to him. "Now get back there, before…"

Suddenly the corridor grew dark.

Steven turned to see Pearl on her knees, a shattered hilt clenched in her trembling fist.

Her body fell backwards, as the brilliant glow from her gemstone faded and died out.

Damnitt! Steven cursed himself. Why did I leave her alone like that?

Despair clutched at his heart. He had failed his friends.

"Guardian-class entities neutralized. Switch to capture unknown target."

Steven looked down at Garnet, her muscles still twitching, as she cradled Amethyst's head, offering what comfort that she could to her friend.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and his fists trembled as they clenched in rage. He looked up to Pearl, now curled into a fetal ball twitching and trembling uncontrollably.

Steven felt a great hatred rise within him. His teeth creaked and groaned as his jaw clenched tightly. He could feel the blood pumping in his veins, threatening to deafen him with its roaring in his ears.

Forcing his jaw open, Steven closed his eyes tightly and bellowed his rage and frustration. The scream echoed in the silent corridor, his unbridled hatred given voice.

Garnet stared at the young man with concern. She had never seen that look in his eyes before. His smiling face was twisted into a visage of madness.

Garnet gasped as a sickly glow caught her eye.

Twelve multi-colored pinpoints of light could be seen dimly shining on Steven's hip through his jeans.

Garnet shook her head in disbelief and fear as she watched tendrils of inky blackness rise from the tainted gems embedded in the young man. They began winding up his body and snaking down his arm, toward his clenched fist.

Garnet felt revulsion at the sight before her. Steven seemed unaware of what was going on. The writhing mass of darkness began to coalesce into solid matter, and Steven's arm was transformed.

Oh no… She thought to herself. Is this the Gem Cutter's power? She looked up to her friend's face, and hers went pale as she felt sick to her stomach.

Steven's eyes were wide, almost bugging out, and his lips were pulled back into a wicked grin, full of rage and madness. One of his eyes was completely black and lifeless, as if an inhuman eye was peering out into the world from behind the flesh of her dear friend.

The creatures seemed to notice something was amiss, and gathered back into a tight group, as they began their twitching head movements once again.

The soulless voices seemed a little higher pitch this time, and Garnet could detect a hint of fear in the normally cold and emotionless tones.

"ERROR…" The creatures looked to each other, as if expecting that one of the others might have different information.

"Overseer-Class power detected. ERROR. No tactical data available. Shutting down…"

Garnet watched as the four beings seemed to twist and shift as they phased back into each other, and the single creature left, dropped limply to the ground.

Steven began cackling madly, laughing at the fear he saw in the small statured albino creature.

The creature twitched a few times, and then groaned.

Garnet could only wonder what was going on at this point. The creature's movements seemed to be completely different. Almost human…

Slowly, it struggled to its feet, grasping at it's head as if in pain. Garnet noticed that the metallic band that had seemed to be embedded into it's skin had fallen away. She could clearly see confusion on the creature's face.

The creature locked it's eyes on Pearl's limp form and it's mouth opened in shock.

"Oh no!" The albino creature ran towards her.

Grabbing her shoulders, he shook her until Pearl seemed to snap out of her trance. She lifted her head weakly, and weakly screamed and tried to raise her arms in defense as she noticed the creature in front of her.

"Please!" The creature pleaded. "Lady Gem, you need to listen to me now, as I might not have much time!"

Pearl looked questioningly at the creature. She did not know what was going on, and it was so very hard to make out anything in the near total darkness that bathed them in the service corridor.

"My lady, if it so pleases you, my name is Ferrite. I apologize for my current shape, but that is what is so urgent for me to report!"

Pearl tried to clear her head, but it was so difficult for her to concentrate in her weakened state. All she could manage was a weak "Huh…What?"

"Please, Lady Gem, don't move or try to speak. Let me heal you." The creature raised its hand and a golden glow began to flow from its outstretched arms and into Pearl's trembling form.

"I am sorry, my lady, but I have an important report for the council."

The confused look on Pearl's face caught the creature off guard.

"My apologies, my lady, I forget my place." Still keeping the healing going, the creature bowed its head in reverence. "I am Ferrite of the 37th forward battle group, Intel Division. I see you bear a pearl, so I know you must be a part of the council's intelligence division. I have an urgent report that must reach them, but I am afraid that I will no longer be able to deliver it myself."

"What!?" Pearl managed, as she was beginning to feel her strength return.

"As I said, my lady, I am uncertain of how much time I will have, so please listen closely. This may well decide the outcome of the war!" The seriousness in the creature's eyes gave Pearl pause.

"O..Okay…" She stammered.

Bowing it's head once again, the creature delivered it's report.

"The 22nd and 47th battalions have been wiped out, I am sorry to say. On my honor, each Gem fought with bravery and heroism, until the last guardian fell. I am afraid I have further bad news milady." Pearl was shocked to see inky black tears rolling down the creature's cheeks. "We lost the other five forward battle groups due to a traitor!"

The albinoid's fists clenched as it tried to contain it's anger.

"Lord Zircon has defected to the enemy! I would have scarce believed it, had I not seen him and Emperor Calcitus together! And that is where my second and most troublesome bit of bad news comes from. I cannot stress enough that this must reach the Gem council!"

The creature's black eyes focused on its own body, as more tears flowed down it's face.

"As you can see by my appearance, I must report that the rumors have proven true. Emperor Calcitus has managed to create a device that enslaves us Gems! Even with this transformation, I still have my Gem pride, but he can, at will, bind us and take from us our minds!"

The creature's body began to tremble and the glow faded from his hands.

Pearl caught the weakened creature as it slumped forward into her arms.

"Forgive me, my lady. In this form, I am weak. My power was not enough to fully heal you. I have used all the energy I have."

"It's alright…Ferrite, was it?" Pearl assured him. She could not begin to understand what was going on. War? She could not recall any war in her lifetime. Especially not between Gems. How absurd…

"My lady, please. I ask one request. Before the control crown reappears, please, end my life."

"WHAT!?" Pearl exclaimed, shocked by the request.

"Please, Lady Gem. I do not wish to lose myself again. I can only assume that it was I who injured you so, and I have to live with the knowledge that I may be responsible for killing my fellow Gems while not in control of my body. I can only assume that you managed to free me, and for that I am grateful, but I cannot bear the thought of becoming a mindless puppet again."

The creature was trembling and sobbing as it pleaded with Pearl.

"Please, my lady, release me from this suffering! Tell the council that I did not abandon my duty and died well!"

Pearl could only stare in shocked disbelief at the creature's request. Despite their earlier battle, Pearl's heart agonized in sympathy with this being.

"I…I…" Pearl stammered.

A booming cackle of mad laughter filled the corridor, and the albinoid stumbled over to Pearl, placing himself between her and the unseen enemy in the darkness.

Pearl activated her Gem, finding it easy to do so now, and light flooded the hallway. She instantly wished that she had left it dark.

She screamed at the sight of what was happening to Steven.

"Lady Gem, please retreat from this place! The message must reach the council!"

Forcing the trembling from his muscles, Ferrite brought his hands to the blue gemstone in the center of his forehead, and with a flash, a crystalline longbow, with an arrow knocked appeared. He drew back the bow and aimed right for Steven.

"Lord Zircon! Traitor!" The creature snarled. "You have no shame! Emperor Calcitus will fall, and I shall take you with me into the next world!"

Even as Pearl yelled for Ferrite to stop, the arrow was in flight.

Garnet watched as the glimmering shaft spiraled through the air and sped towards Steven's heart.

Tendrils of darkness shot forth and flattened into a solid mass, as the crystalline arrow shattered against the ebon barrier.

The maniacal laughter resumed, as Steven lowered the dark barrier.

He sneered at the shocked creature before him.

"You pathetic worm!" The voice coming from his mouth was certainly not Steven's. Garnet felt sick to her stomach. She knew that voice. It would forever haunt her dreams.

Zircon, the Gem Cutter.

"I had almost forgotten that my brother's Agents used to be those pathetic Gems." Steven laughed madly, as if he was the only one in on a tremendously funny joke.

"I listened to your rambling, little worm. I found it highly amusing." Steven's face twisted into a snarling smile. "But you are several eons late with that report, you know…"

"What!" Ferrite screamed defiantly. "You lie!"

"Look around you, whelp, for these pitiful specimens are all that remain of your precious Gems…"

"No…" Ferrite shook his head in disbelief. He turned to Pearl. "Lady Gem, is what this monster says true?"

Pearl pursed her lips tightly. She tried to find some words to console him, but she could only lower her head.

"I see…" Ferrite's shoulder's slumped in defeat. "So…I failed in my mission…We lost…"

"Ferrite…" Pearl reached out to the despondent creature.

"No, Lady Gem." He looked up and met Pearl's eyes. "You owe me no explanation or apology. You were born long after this calamity. You could have done nothing. But perhaps I can do something for you. One last thing…"

He turned his gaze toward the darkness enveloping Steven.

"I assume this is a friend of yours?"

The worried looks on Pearl and Garnet's face told him all he needed to know.

"Lord Zircon," he stared into the blackened eye staring out from the left side of Steven's head. "You were my leader. And you betrayed me, and every one of my friends, your troops!"

Steven sneered at the pitiful creature before him. "And?" he asked, mockingly.

"You forget yourself, you evil bastard. You are still living like a parasite. You sicken me."

Snarling in rage, Steven lifted his darkness shrouded arm towards Ferrite and the tendrils of darkness began to swirl in his palm.

As soon as they appeared, they faded and Steven's arm began to tremble.

"Grrrraaaahhhh!" He yelled in frustration. "This one still won't give in!"

"And he never will!" Pearl screamed at the monster. "He killed you once, and you have no power over him!"

Ferrite's eyes widened. "This young man killed Lord Zircon?!"

"Yes he did. He gave his life to stop him from destroying this world." Garnet spoke up. "We managed to save his life by implanting the remnants of Zircon's sash to stabilize him."

"I see." Ferrite nodded his head in understanding.

He stepped toward the writhing mass of blackness that was trying to possess the young man.

"It seems that we are no longer a part of this world. Our time has long passed. I think it is time I left for good."

Ferrite reached out and clasped Steven's darkened arm.

"And, Lord Zircon, I think you need to come with me!"

Steven's dark eye widened in shock, before narrowing in anger.

Zircon's scream left Steven's lips as Ferrite brought his other hand to his sky blue gemstone.

"I questioned the wisdom of creating this weapon…" He smiled as the gemstone flared brilliantly. "But it won't harm beings with physical forms. We had saved it for Emperor Calcitus' ethereal legions, but I think it's fitting that I get to use it to remove a damnable traitor from this world!"

Ferrite turned and gave a salute and bow to Pearl and Garnet before turning back to the task at hand. He placed his hand over his heart and sighed.

The blue gemstone flared brilliantly as a holographic screen appeared before him.

Pearl had never seen anyone else use images from their stones. She wished that she had had a chance to get to know Ferrite. He seemed a loyal and honorable Gem. She felt the wetness on her cheek as tears flowed down her face.

This was the second time that she had to watch a hero die before her eyes. She could not even muster the words to beg him to reconsider. Her stomach was knotted too tightly to let any breath pass her lips.

A woman's voice sounded from the hologram.

"Gemspark authorization passphrase"

Taking a deep breath, the former Gem spoke.

"Ferrite. Ein Beyla Trankua Jirium D'nai!"

The screen flickered and flashed green.

"Passphrase Acknowledged. The Council has been notified of your heroism. Your name will be inscribed in the halls of memory."

Ferrite closed his eyes, and took one last breath, as his Gem flared brilliantly.

The screen flickered once more and the voice came back on.

"Gemspark activation override. Playing recorded message."

Ferrite opened his eyes in shock.

The screen flickered once more, and the static screen was replaced with a woman's face.

Ferrite's knees went weak, and he had to catch himself from stumbling as he stared at the face on the screen, tears pooling on the floor at his feet.

The woman on the screen had a greenish tint to her face and long, flowing golden hair. Pearl noticed two pointed ears protruding from her golden locks. Her eyes were as large as saucers and it appeared as if she had two concentric pupils of different color. Pearl had never seen any one or any creature like this before. Pearl could see tears flowing down this woman's face as well.

"Hello, beloved."

Ferrite sobbed and trembled as he reached a hand towards the image before him. "Areya-Nielaa…"

"Ferrite, I know this breaks your protocols, but I got your friend, Centrite, in the intelligence department to encode this message for me." The woman shook her head and wiped at her tears. "This is all I could do after you left. I know you promised me that you would be coming home." She chuckled through her sobbing. "So, I guess I hope that you never see this stupid message."

Ferrite wailed in emotional pain.

"But I know you, husband. I know the man you are. You will use that horrible weapon without a thought to yourself. You've always been that way. So selfless and caring. It's what made me fall so madly in love with you."

Areya-Nielaa took a deep breath, trying to stifle her emotions. "I knew what I was getting myself into when we married. You are a Gem, and your duty is not just to me, but to the whole universe. I truly pray that you will never see this damnable message, but I know in my heart that these are probably my last words to you, so I want to make them count, my love."

Ferrite managed to keep his grip on Steven, but dropped to his knees as his heart broke.

"I only have a minute more. This is being sent out on burst transmission, along with that horrible weapon program. There isn't much space for my feelings. If…" She broke down and began sobbing once more. "If you are seeing this, then I want you to know how proud I am to be your wife. And there is something you need to know. I didn't get to tell you before you left…" She reached towards the screen, and the camera shifted downward.

Ferrite's mouth hung agape, as he was wracked with sobbing.

Pearl stared ahead, tears flowing freely as she bore witness to a love from ages long past.

Areya-Nielaa's stomach was bulging below the fabric of her dress.

Pearl was filled with so many emotions. Sorrow, pain, admiration, sympathy, and deep down, envy…

Her belly was swollen with child.

Ferrite's child.

"It's a girl, Ferrite. I am going to name her Ferria. Our daughter, Areya-Ferria."

The camera shifted back to the tear stained face of a long dead woman.

"Ferrite, I have to go now, my love. I hope you know just how much I love you." She forced back her tears and failed miserably. Choking on sobs, she continued. "Please wait for us Ferrite. I know we will be together again. One day, whether the gods hear my prayers and it is soon, or if they forsake me and I must live out my life first, we WILL be a family again."

A male figure appeared behind Areya-Nielaa and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, my lady, but we need to get this sent. You are using up too much space."

She wailed as the man bent over to presumably press buttons off screen.

"I love you, my husband! I love you so much, Ferrite. The days we spent together were the happiest days of my life, and I want you to know how much you mean to me! I promise that our daughter will grow up strong and beautiful, just like the heart that beats within you!" Frantically, she choked back another sobbing fit, trying to get as many words in as she could.

"You are my heart, and I love you always, dear husband! I thank you fo-"

The screen flickered again.

"Playback complete. Re-initializing Gemspark…"

Ferrite's Gem once again blazed with golden light.

Sniffling and wiping his face, he forced himself to his feet and stared up at the ceiling.

Pearl knew that it was not the ceiling that his eyes gazed upon. She brought her tightly clasped hands to her heart, for fear that it might stop in this moment of sorrow.

'Areya-Nielaa… I am so sorry my love." Ferrite closed his eyes against the brilliant light, as his last tears fell. "It was you who had to wait on me…"

He forced his eyes open, so that he could once again see his beloved's face after the spark fired.

"I am coming now, my love. I cannot wait to see you again… and meet my precious little girl!"

A shockwave knocked Pearl from her feet, like a clap of thunder without sound. She twisted her ankle as she fell, trying in vain to block out the blinding luminescence.

Garnet watched the tendrils of darkness that were writhing about Steven begin to melt and disintegrate. Soon the light was far too bright for her to dare opening her eyes.

With a rush of air that made Pearl and Garnet's ears pop, the Gemspark activated.

And with a rush of warmth and serenity, the darkness of the corridor was flooded with light and love.

"…much time left, you must listen to me now!"

Steven struggled to clear his head. The voice seemed so demanding.

"Young man, please, hear my words, there is no more time!"

Steven opened his eyes, and found himself in a vast empty whiteness. He could see no ceiling or floor. No walls or objects with which he might measure the distance, as he stared off into the vast emptiness.

There was a single figure before him. A white skinned, black-eyed being, who reminded Steven of the Albinoids he had just been fighting against. There was something familiar about its face, and it was not a happy sort of familiarity. Steven felt rage build within him.

Zircon.

"You…" Steven muttered through clenched teeth.

"The creature sighed with exasperation.

"Yes, I am Zircon." He lowered his eyes in shame. "I can never ask your forgiveness for all that I have done, but I beg of you to hear me before the darkness returns."

"What?" Steven demanded, furious that this monster would beg anything of him.

"Believe it or not, we are both victims of the same monster." As Zircon looked back up, there were tears in his eyes.

That took Steven aback.

"A brave warrior just gave his life to protect you from the same darkness that has consumed me. And I want to honor his sacrifice, by making the most of this precious time I have." Zircon stepped forward, but Steven felt no need to defend himself.

"Long ago, there was a war between the Gems." He began. "We were all created to safeguard the Pattern. But a few Gems had a different idea about how to go about it."

"Pattern?" Steven queried.

"If there is time, I will explain, but for now, please listen to me!" Zircon's face was twisted with conflicting emotion.

"One of the Gems, a powerful one, named Calcitus, had determined that the only way to safeguard the Pattern, was to do so objectively, apart from the mortal beings who created it. He gathered a few like-minded Gems to his side, and separated from the rest of us. We chose to live among the mortals, and felt that it was our duty to protect them. Without them the Pattern would not exist, you see?"

Steven nodded, unsure of how he was supposed to respond.

"Calcitus had not the strength to challenge us, and so he waited. Many years passed with no word from him, or those who left with him. And one day, he contacted me, said he wanted to reconcile with the rest of us."

Zircon trembled with emotion. Steven could not tell if it was anger or pain.

"Calcitus was my brother. I had truly hoped to welcome him back. But it was not to be. I was deceived. Something was done to me, but I am unsure what."

The trembling increased as Zircon clenched his fists in frustration.

"I became his pawn, with no free will of my own. And I was sent back amongst the Gems as his spy. I was forced to watch everything from behind my own eyes, with no power to change anything. I wanted only to die when Calcitus launched his first attack, and the Gem Council named me High General."

Steven found himself pitying this creature. He wondered if this was what people meant when they said 'Sympathy for the Devil".

"With me in place, Calcitus knew every move that the Gems made. I watched friends and family, Gems I respected, lead to their deaths by my side. When finally, my treachery was discovered, it was already too late. Calcitus recalled me to his side, and decided to use me for further experiments. He wanted to control the defeated Gems, but he wanted full control. He knew that my consciousness remained."

Zircon seemed frantic at this point.

"That being you just fought is the result of those experiments. He was originally a Gem under my command, and one of my best friends."

Steven's mouth hung open in utter shock.

"But the experiments on me were a failure. Instead, I was turned into the monster who has caused you and yours so much suffering."

"I…" Steven tried to think of what to say, but his mind was reeling, and his emotions were conflicted.

"And I am afraid that this is it. You must wake up now, because the darkness is returning. It will not be safe for you here anymore."

Zircon dropped to his knees, wailing in pain.

"Never use the gemstones again! They are corrupted! Failures! They will consume you as they have me!"

"Do you hear me, Steven!"

"Steven!"

"Do you Steven!"

Steven's head filled with pain, like there were nails being driven into his skull.

"Steven!"

The pain subsided, and the young man opened his eyes again. His face was wet.

He looked up into the most beautiful lavender eyes, as further teardrops dripped onto his face.

"Amethyst?"

"Steven!" She cried as she furiously embraced him.

"Steven!" She cried as she squeezed him "We thought we had lost you! It was horrible…There was this darkness, and the creature was…" She lost it as she sobbed.

"I know…" Steven assured her. "I saw everything…But I couldn't do anything…I…Saw what Ferrite did…"

Amethyst squeezed him once more, as she sat back up on her knees.

Steven was suddenly overcome with panic. "Garnet and Pearl?!"

"We're here." Pearl assured him. "And Garnet is fine too. We are all just very tired."

Steven looked around at the state of the corridor. There were no scorch marks, no dents or dings, no evidence at all of the battle that had just taken place. Except for one thing.

Lying on the ground a few feet from him, was a thin, golden metallic band.

Remembering Ferrite's last moments, Steven reached out for the last remaining proof of his existence.

Garnet reached it first however, and summoned a containment bubble around it. She shot Steven that glare that she reserved only for him, when he was about to do something stupid.

"I know how you feel, but there is no telling what this thing might do to you."

Steven lowered his head.

No one seemed to want to break the contemplative silence that pervaded the corridor.

Each of them had to mentally digest the events that had just occurred, and the realization that this was probably only the beginning of their troubles.

An annoying and very loud alarm began sounding, forcing the Gems to their feet, snapping them out of their melancholy.

"What's going on now?" Steven groaned, exhausted from the recent battle and emotional turmoil.

Pearl hobbled over to the rest of the group, unable to put any weight on her twisted ankle.

"Let me check the security cameras. This alarm is for the main house, not the temple."

Pearl took a deep breath, and strained to activate her gemstone. She was still weak from the debilitating effects of the Albinoid's attack.

She projected the image outward for the rest to see.

The living room of the Gem house was visible, and everyone was immediately drawn to the large, imposing figure standing in front of the couch, looking around their home.

None of them recognized the man. He was stocky and tall, with dark skin and a moustache and beard.

"Oh crap!" Amethyst exclaimed "We're getting robbed!"

"What!?" Steven remarked as they all gathered around the holographic display. "Amethyst, don't you think that's a bit racist?"

"Huh?" She responded quizzically. "Why is it racist? I mean, if it was a Chinese guy looking around our house without our permission, would it be any different?"

"Well…Umm…"Steven though of how to respond, but realized that she was in the right.

"Yeah, okay, Amethyst, sorry." He conceded. "But we still need to find out why that guy is in our house. Do you think it has anything to do with all this strangeness and that Overlord guy, Garnet?"

"You mean Overseer?" She asked rhetorically "I don't think so. I mean, he doesn't look like he is doing anything, and …" She stopped as the front door to their home opened again. "Someone else is coming in…"

They all stared at the monitor as a small framed girl appeared on the camera feed, along with a much larger man, wearing a tank top and sandals.

"That's Connie!" Pearl exclaimed.

"And… my dad…" Steven finished.

Everyone looked to the young man, who was obviously distressed about the idea of meeting his father. How would this future Steven explain things to him?

"Come on Eltarr." Garnet assured him with a firm squeeze to his shoulder. "Let's go find out what's going on."

Pearl dismissed the monitor, and after taking a deep breath to calm the butterflies in his stomach, Steven nodded his agreement.

The corridor's non-descript walls stretched on as the group moved slowly toward the access hatch that led back into the bright, sunny home they all shared together.

Steven led the way, while Garnet and Amethyst were still recovering from the effects of the albinoid's attack. He tried to slow his pace, not wanting to force the two to push themselves too hard, but he found himself feeling slightly claustrophobic in the tight confines. He shifted Pearl in his arms, careful not to jostle her, and cause any further injury to her swollen ankle.

Pearl, so used to being in control and mothering (Amethyst would say 'nagging') Steven and her companions, but she found herself unable to put weight on her foot, and now was being held in the strong arms of a strapping and handsome man. She tried to force those thoughts from her mind, but they kept returning again and again. She cursed her choice of reading materials.

This was straight out of one of her romance novels. A rugged face, toned muscles, long flowing hair. She felt her cheeks warm and they made their way down the winding passage. She knew she must be blushing, and tried to hide her face – and her thoughts – from her friends, by turning her head into Steven's chest.

She immediately regretted it.

His warmth on her face made her cheeks seem cold by comparison, and his sweat and pheromones mixed with the light scent of soap and the fabric softener she herself had used on his clothing. It was enough to drive her mad.

These feelings were confusing and wrong, and yet she found herself unable to think of anything else save for the man whose arms were cradling her so gently.

She gave up trying to understand her feelings, and the situation as a whole. So many things these last few days had forced her to postpone dealing with their impact on her. She let herself relax and could not help letting slip a contented sigh.

"Hey, Pearl…" Amethyst called out. "You mind wiping your drool off of my man?"

Instantly her cheeks heated again, in total embarrassment. She jerked her head upright, and the mortified look on her face quickly twisted into a self-righteous sneer.

"Really, Amethyst, you have some imagination." She peered down her nose at the shorter Gem. "I don't know what you are talking about. I was just resting my head because my neck is sore."

"Yeah, right, you closet case!" Amethyst fumed "Why don't you go read another one of those stupid romance books!"

Pearl growled through her clenched teeth. "You are out of control! You're going mad with jealousy!"

Amethyst stepped right in front of her, forcing Steven and Garnet to stop in their tracks.

"Damn right I am!" She yelled. "Why don't you hop down and hobble on home, and Steven can carry ME!"

Steven rolled his eyes and groaned as the two began to squabble at each other. If he weren't dead tired and sore all over, he would probably find some sort of nostalgic mirth in their exchange.

"Oh, whatever!" Pearl said with finality, unable to keep up the argument. "If you really want to be jealous of anyone, it should be Garnet!"

"Okay, okay, now calm down you tw…Wait, what?" Steven sputtered in puzzled query.

Amethyst's eyes opened wide in realization. "Oh yeah, you're right!"

"What are you two going on about?" Steven asked, hoping to make sense of this madness.

Amethyst cocked her head to the side. "Umm, hello? That 'night when things got weird'. From your letter?"

Flabbergasted, Steven sat Pearl down to confront the diminutive Gem.

"How could you read Garnet's letter? Those letters were for each of you PERSONALLY. I can't believe you read her letter behind her back!"

"We all read each other's letters, you stupid goof!" She retorted.

"What!?" he replied, shocked betrayal obvious in his voice.

"Oh, please. Get a grip Steven! You were kinda dead at the time, and you never explained the whole mess. Right Pearl?"

Pearl glanced up at Steven, that prim and proper schoolteacher mien obvious on her face. "That's correct. We had no other option to uncover the details of your mission without comparing the notes you had left us."

"But…but…" Steven stammered.

"You know," Pearl began "I was always curious about what you meant by that as well. What happened between you two?"

Steven's eyes grew wide and he could feel the blood in his face boiling. "Come on, don't be like that… I mean… It's personal… you know?" He stammered, his panic rising.

"Nuh-uh, lover-boy, give up the goods!" Amethyst said in a huff.

Before he could even respond, Pearl added her agreement to the sentiment.

Steven could barely think. He had never expected this to happen, and was completely unprepared for the awkward situation he found himself in. He turned back to the one person who always kept a level head; the one he knew he could count on for backup.

"Garnet, a little help here?" He pleaded.

Garnet stared blankly in his direction from behind her mirrored glasses. After a momentary pause, he watched her eyebrow raise, and she spoke.

"Actually, I was curious about that part of your letter as well."

"Oh, God, not you too!" Steven lamented aloud.

Pearl and Amethyst continued pestering him as he searched for a way out of this situation, but he could find none. He turned back to Garnet once more, hoping she could see his distress, but the look on her face let him know that she wasn't going anywhere until she got answers as well.

His shoulders slumped in defeat, and he took a deep breath as he searched for the proper way to explain.

"Look, Garnet and me had been running for our lives for nearly three whole years. We couldn't separate, for fear of 'him' finding us. We constantly had to camp out in the wilderness as we traveled between Gem sites and old temples. It had been a full year since either of us had seen another living being."

"And?" Amethyst prodded.

Steven sighed. "We had to camp in the forest that night, somewhere in Washington state. We had to swim across a river, and we were both soaked to the bone. It got so cold that my shirt had already started to freeze." He closed his eyes so that he wouldn't have to see their faces. "We couldn't build a fire for fear of being found, and we needed to get warm. We had to strip off our wet clothes and huddle together in the sleeping bag."

Steven tugged at the collar of his shirt, swallowing hard. "Look, you have to understand. We… We were the last people left alive. It felt so nice… being warm… I was eighteen, you know, and my… hormones were raging…" Steven breathlessly exhaled a 'whoo' as he swallowed.

"Look, I'm serious, alright? I have said enough. Now can we please drop it?"

He looked up to the three faces before him. Their expressions were unreadable.

Finally, when the silence seemed as though it would smother him, Amethyst spoke up.

"Okay. We'll drop it." She cracked a goofy grin. "I can't be mad. The look on your face is priceless. You look like you are gonna pass out or puke or something, HA!"

Pearl joined in the laughter and Steven could swear he saw Garnet's mouth twitch ever so slightly upward before she regained her stoic composure.

Steven shook his head in disbelief. "Oh, you guys are such jerks." He stood and stormed off.

The laughter continued behind him, and he eventually stopped, not wanting to leave them behind. He could hear them talking just loudly enough that he could make out most of what they were saying.

Amethyst and Pearl were speculating on what happened, and Garnet even chimed in. Steven shook his head as they gossiped away, like nothing else in the world was so important as his embarrassment.

The consensus seemed to be that nothing happened, and that Steven never got past 'second base' as Amethyst so crudely put it.

"Yeah," Garnet agreed. "I'm not that into him. I doubt he would be smooth enough to change my mind."

"Unbelievable…" Steven muttered as he shook his head.

They want to tease me? Well two can play at that game…

"Ha, yeah, I guess you called it guys, nothing really happened. Like I said, things just got weird…" He walked back to the group and lifted Pearl back up into his arms, giving the others a moment to stretch before continuing on.

As they walked down the corridor, Steven could barely contain his smirk.

"Oh, and Garnet?"

"Yes, Steven?" She replied calmly.

"I never got a chance to tell you how much I liked that tattoo of yours."

One set of footsteps could no longer be heard, and the group turned to find Garnet stopped in her tracks.

"What?" Pearl spoke. "What tattoo?"

"Funny you should ask" Steven began, his smile widening. "Do you and Amethyst recall twelve years ago, at my mom and dad's second anniversary party?"

Pearl looked at Steven in confusion. "Steven, how could you know about that, you weren't even born?"

"Oh, don't misunderstand, I only know because Mrs. 'I'm-not-smooth-enough' told me all about it." Steven explained. "You and Amethyst were a bit tipsy, and you were both talking to this guy… I forget his name…"

"Mark?" Amethyst asked "Oh, yeah, it was! Mark, the tattoo artist!"

"That sounds about right" Steven replied. "Well, if you two remember, you thought he was the strong silent type, and you both thought he would be a good match for Garnet. So, you pestered the hell out of poor, poor Garnet, until she finally agreed to go 'out' with him. But if you recall, she only agreed that she would walk him home, since that was technically, 'out'."

"I do remember that!" Pearl exclaimed. "Garnet ended up staying gone all night, and we thought they had hit it off!"

"Yeah, but we should have known better…" Amethyst interjected. "She ended up finding a nest of Gem beasts on the way home, and had to hunt down the mother beast."

"Oh, Garnet…" Steven said, teasingly. "I never had you pegged for such a liar…"

"What?!" Pearl exclaimed. "Then where were you all night, we were worried!"

"Well, I'm afraid she never would tell me that part…" Steven told them. "But I'm sure the evidence will lead to the answer."

"Okay." Garnet said, her voice slightly trembling. "That's enough."

"Aww, come on Garnet, what's to worry? I'm not smooth enough for you to fall for me, right? So what's there to worry about?" Steven continued teasing. "You know guys, I have never met him, but I always wanted to tell Mark what a talented artist he was. Not just talented, but very, VERY creative as well!"

"Alright, Steven. That's enough." Garnet said, more forcefully this time.

Steven continued, pretending he didn't hear her. "I mean, I never had you pegged for someone who would get a smiley face tattoo, but I have to say, yours is one of a kind!"

Steven almost lost his composure when he glanced over at Amethyst. Her grin was so wide that she resembled the Cheshire cat, and she was bouncing up and down in barely contained excitement.

"I have to say, that those two eyes on your thigh, are absolutely gorgeous. Mark really captured a sultry look. Those are bedroom eyes if I ever saw them…"

Steven could hear Garnet's knuckles popping as her fists clenched.

Steven chuckled to himself. 'I've got her now!' he thought. 'Time to finish her off.'

"And Garnet, I have to say, that the placement of that tattoo is just genius. I mean, those eyes on your thigh, and when you lift your leg open, you can see that the smile is actually your-"

"ALRIGHT! That's ENOUGH!" Garnet shouted.

Steven could see her lips pressed tightly against her clenched jaw, and he noticed her nose twitching as she tried to control herself. Steven decided he had made his point.

"Sorry, Garnet. I'll let it go, okay?"

Garnet briskly walked past the rest of them, making her way down the corridor at a quick pace.

"Alright." Steven spoke to the rest of them. "Shall we get going as well?"

Pearl nodded, her face blood red. Garnet's demeanor belied the truth in Steven's words. Pearl could scarce believe that her and Mark; and for that matter now, apparently Steven, had won the strong silent Gem over with their charms. She fought off a pang of jealousy.

Steven shifted Pearl's weight and started walking, but stopped after a few steps. He heard a smacking sound, and jerked his head to the side to look to the noise.

Amethyst was rolling on the floor, laughing uncontrollably.

Steven shook his head in amusement.

"How is he, Frank?" Greg asked nervously, staring at the still unconscious form of his son.

Frank was kneeling beside the boy, his meaty thumbs clamped onto Steven's pale, clammy skin.

"No change yet, his pulse is still steady, but weak."

Frank hung his head. "Sir, I'm sorry. This was all my fault."

"It's Greg, not sir." He assured the large man. "And this is more my fault than yours. If I hadn't always pushed away from these magical things, Steven would have felt that he could have come to me."

Connie grabbed Steven's hand, tears welling up behind her glasses. "You idiot…Why did you push yourself like this?"

A low chiming hum resonated within the house, and the sound of creaking hinges startled the gathering of worried friends and family.

From the hallway, they heard several sets of footsteps approach.

Greg recognized Amethyst's scratchy voice, and laughter as she came around the corner, into the living room where they were gathered.

"…really blow a bubble, if your smiley face chewed a piece of gum? HAHAHAHAAAAA!"

The group heard a male voice respond, from behind her.

"Ok, that's enough Amethyst, leave Garnet alone, alright? The joke has grown stale."

"Yeah, but you have to admit its pretty funn…" Amethyst stopped as the serious looks on the faces of the assembled around the couch took her by surprise. She saw Steven's pallid hue and arm limply dangling off the side of the couch and she immediately lost all mirth.

"Steven!" She ran to his side, pawing at the young boy's cold face.

The others rounded the corner and bore witness to Amethyst's panicked ministrations.

She gently slapped his cheeks, but could get no response from him. His eyes were closed, and dark circles around them made him appear as if a cadaver.

Amethyst found herself once again crying over the young boy who meant so much to her. She never thought of the two in the same way, but the irony was not lost to her.

Pearl and Garnet rushed to his side, and the room exploded into frantic questioning, stammered apologies and explanations and Steven was forced to stand at the back of the maelstrom, eyes locked onto the boy on the couch.

It was so surreal to be looking at himself, from years ago, yet before his eyes. He felt immediately queasy. What had happened to him? What would happen now, if this younger Steven died? His thoughts could not be pondered over the cacophony of yelling, blaming and shouted apologies.

"ENOUGH!" Steven yelled, and the room grew quiet as all eyes turned to him.

He could feel the weight of the eyes staring him down. He suddenly felt as though he would be crushed.

He felt like he needed to run. Panic was taking hold of him, not least of all by the narrow-eyed look his father was giving him. As if he was studying him, to see who or what he really was.

Oh god… Steven thought. I can't let him know…

"Okay, everyone calm down…" He spoke softly, trying to contain his own panic while keeping his voice steady and authoritative.

"Now, let's start with what's wrong with… little Steven, there."

Connie stood up, tears in her eyes. The quivering in her voice belied her guilt and grief. 'It's all my fault… He was protecting me…"

Her legs went limp and she collapsed into a sobbing heap. "I am so sorry! Please help him!"

Pearl offered a comforting arm for the tormented young girl, and as they gathered around the boy laid out on the couch, Frank began telling them all that had been happening, how he had foolishly agreed to try to train Steven, to help his daughter teach Steven how to control his powers. He explained how the happy-go-lucky boy had suddenly changed, becoming far more serious than his age should permit.

When Steven had lost control of his powers, they thought of bringing him to the emergency room, but on the way there, Connie had suggested that they stop at the car wash, where Steven's father worked. He had agreed that the hospital might not be the best place for him, with this having to do with his magical nature, and they had rushed to the temple, hoping to find the Gems there.

Garnet was using her gem's energies to scan over Steven's limp body, and at last sighed and stood, as everyone waited to hear the prognosis.

"He'll live." Garnet assured them, and the room seemed to exhale relief. "But he is really weak. He pushed his Gem to the limit, nevermind the strain on his mortal body." She shook her head in amazement. "I don't even think I would be able to handle that much power without losing my body."

Garnet turned to the teary eyed girl, still gripping Steven's hand tightly in her own.

"He must really care about you."

Connie closed her eyes and sobbed.

Greg was finally able to breathe again, though his fear was still in the back of his mind.

He looked again to the young man standing around nervously in back of the room. He had caught him looking in his direction several times, but he immediately looked down, or away, as if he was afraid to meet his gaze.

"So, are you friends with the Gems?"

Steven took a minute to realize that the question was addressed to him.

He looked up with wide eyes, as panic threatened to overtake him again.

"I… umm… yeah, yeah I am."

"Well, then you must be friends with my son. Nice to meet you….?" Greg stood and approached Steven, his hand extended in greeting.

Steven struggled against the emotional turmoil. He had held his father's body in his arms. Pulled from the wreckage of the car wash when Zircon had laid waste to Beach City in retaliation for imprisoning him again. Steven had never had a chance to say goodbye, or tell his dad that he loved him. He bit down hard on his lower lip, to keep them from trembling, and extended a shaky hand to the man who had helped raise him.

"I… am….. uuh… Eltarr…. Sir.." He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Pleasure to meet you."

Greg took the young man's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze and shake. He thought he saw a tear forming in the young man's wide eyes.

Steven felt as though he would lose it if he didn't excuse himself.

"Sorry, to be abrupt… but… I ah.. I need to go."

"Already?" Greg asked, studying the young man's face and reactions.

Steven nervously brought his free hand to the back of his head and stroked his neck.

"Yeah, sorry… its ah… You know, things to do and all…" He laughed nervously.

Steven let go of his hand and began to pull back, but Greg caught his arm by the wrist and pulled him forward.

Steven stumbled forward, shocked, as arms wrapped around his neck and he found himself staring at the looks on everyone's faces as his head rested on his father's shoulder.

"Stupid boy…" Greg said. 'You think I wouldn't recognize my own son…?"

What?

Steven's eyes grew wide as tears began flowing against his struggles to prevent them. He buried his head into his father's shoulder and screamed as he wracked with sobs.

"I missed you… so much…"

Greg felt the trembling muscles of the young man as he held him tight. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew that this was his son, without a doubt.

"I… I…." Steven struggled to speak. "I never … got to tell you…."

Greg released the tormented young man, still shaking from the ordeal.

"Tell me what, son?" Greg offered him a smile, though his mind was still trying to understand what was going on.

"Dad?" A weak voice called out from the couch.

Greg spun around, to his son's voice, and immediately felt confusion wash over him. Two Stevens? He couldn't wrap his head around this feeling of discordance, but still he just 'knew' that both of them were Steven.

He looked back to his elder son, who nodded as he wiped at his eyes.

Greg made his way over to the little girl who was still clutching at his son's hands. She reluctantly let go, and moved aside for him to kneel beside the couch.

"Dad?" Steven struggled to open his eyes, but he was so very tired.

"Yeah, its me." Greg assured him. "You did a number on yourself, huh, little man?"

"Who were you talking to?" Steven asked, as he smacked his dry lips together.

"Oh, that?" Greg looked back to the young man, and to the Gems, and all of them shook their heads. "I.. Uhh.. I was talking to your new buddy, Elton."

"Huh?" Steven questioned. "You mean Eltarr?"

"Yeah, buddy. Sorry, you know how terrible your old man is with names, eh?"

Steven groaned and winced in pain as he shifted his weight on the couch.

"Dad, you are so full of crap." Steven said flatly. "I already know who he is. Please don't lie to me like everyone else. I'm not a kid anymore."

"WHAT?" Pearl exclaimed.

Greg held his hand up, hoping to silence her. "What are you talking about buddy? You know you kinda hit your head, right?"

The young boy forced himself to a sitting position, against the protest of all in the room.

"I'm so sick of you guys lying to me." He pointed at Steven, across the room. "Hey you, come here, okay?"

Still trying to bring himself back under control, and dry his eyes, he slowly made his way over to the young boy.

"Can you grab my pack, please?" The boy asked. "I have something I need to return."

Steven grabbed the bag, and sat it lightly beside the young boy on the couch cushion. "Hey." He told the boy. "Don't push yourself. You are making everyone worry."

Young Steven laughed sarcastically. "You are really one to talk… Steven." He finished as he pulled a tattered red notebook from his pack and passed it to the shocked young man.

"But…" Steven began, wondering when the boy had found his notebook, and how long he had known. "How did you…?"

"I'm really tired." The boy told him flatly. "I think I want to sleep now." He forced open his bleary eyes and looked to Greg. "Hey dad, can you carry me to my room?"

"Sure thing son…: Greg lifted the rotund little boy in his arms.

The assembled crowd parted for him. He made his way to the hall, and stopped as Steven spoke again.

"I'll be okay dad. You guys need to figure out what to do about the Overseer."

"Huh?" Greg asked questioningly of the boy.

"Steven…" Garnet began, fear creeping into her voice. "How do you know about the Overseer?" Panic creeped into her soul as she pondered the ramifications. They had only just learned of that being a few minutes ago, and Steven had no way of knowing what had transpired in the corridor. Had this Overseer done something to him?

"Mom told me." Steven replied with a yawn. "She said to tell you guys she misses… you. And dad, sh…loves…yo…" And with that, the young boy drifted off, lightly snoring.

"Rose…." Greg managed before his tears began falling. "Thank you…."

Garnet sat the plate of sandwiches down on the table, and the clanking sound, seemed to echo in the eerily quiet night.

They had been sitting in silence for what seemed like hours after Frank and Connie's departure. No one had said a word. They were all lost deep in thought. Some in personal reflection, some in concerns for the future and the coming battle.

Pearl closed the bedroom door quietly and walked softly down the hallway, rejoining the others. They looked to her and she nodded. "Steven is still sleeping. Greg's passed out in the chair next to the bed. I think he'll be fine."

Steven sighed and shook his head, looking at the sandwiches, but unable to muster an appetite. So many things happening, so quickly, as to leave him no time to work through any of them.

"So what are we going to do?" Amethyst asked the obvious.

Once again silence reigned. No one had any answers.

Steven looked to his friends, his mentors and his family. This was so unlike them.

But he could understand their feelings. None of this made sense. It wasn't as clean cut as 'go to this place and find some silly magic item and bring it back', or 'go there and kill this or that monster'.

Steven stood up. "Well, first things first. We are going to need some more weapons."

"Weapons?" Pearl asked, confused.

Steven grabbed the crystal rapier from the table. "Like these." He explained. "This was the only thing that seemed to hurt those things. And if this Overseer has an army of them, we are going to need to arm ourselves."

He looked at the Gems. As his eyes passed over each of them, he could see the uncertainty, confusion and fear that he knew resided within himself.

Just as their combined melancholy threatened to squelch the last spark of resolve from his overburdened soul Amethyst stood with him.

"I want a crossbow!" Steven knew that her toothy grin and excitement was being faked just for his sake, but it made him feel better none the less.

Steven returned her smile. "Thank you Am-"

Garnet stood. "I'll go search the records for any weapons caches leftover from this war Ferrite spoke of." As she walked towards the temple door, her strides seemed to have newfound purpose.

Pearl rose to her feet, and limped after Garnet. "I think there were some war records in the old supply room where we found those clothes earlier."

The temple door slid closed, and Steven was left with Amethyst in the darkened living room of the house they all shared. Filled with memories, both old and now new, so many emotions, tears and laughter, pain and bliss.

Amethyst reached her small hand out and interlaced her fingers with his own.

She looked up into his eyes, and he gazed into hers. Fine blue veins radiated outward from those saucer shaped orbs of lavender that held his heart so enthralled. They had all shed tears this day.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked him softly, never looking away from his loving eyes.

"As long as you remain by my side, I know I will be. No matter what troubles are coming" He smiled and squeezed her hands gently.

She chuckled softly as she pulled him closer. "Thanks for getting us off our butts. I knew you were always our heart."

He leaned in closer, and her eyes began to close as her lips parted.

"And you have always been mine." Steven assured her, as he kissed her gently.

In the darkness of that night, hope kindled in the hearts of two souls, entwined in loving embrace.

Below the house where two made their way to a room at the end of the hall, and below the temple where two toiled away, sifting through ancient records that predated their own existence, something stirred.

Down the corridor where a battle had hours ago raged, there was a slight hiss as fine lines appeared along a dead end, ancient gas seeping from the void secreted behind it.

Inside, a large central gemstone turned slowly in midair as a beam of light slowly faded, having been absorbed by the crystal in the center, whose thirst was soon to be slaked.

As a pair of friends sorted stacks of papers in a dusty room, and a pair of lovers embraced under warm blankets, a final gem sparked to life, and a thin stream of energy began to extend to the central stone.

A faint voice, both strong and sorrowful could be heard in the still chamber.

"Not long now."

END

(To be continued in Light and Love)