It was nighttime in Beach City, and the young Steven Universe was in his bed, his head buried in his pillow, doing his best to keep himself from bursting into tears again, as he still failed to come to terms with the fact that Lapis Lazuli, wanting nothing to do with Earth, left for Homeworld. Steven was a wonderful boy who saw the good in everybody, and he'd always be there to help those in need. And even when there are some hoops and bounds he couldn't manage on his own, Steven has the Crystal Gems, a trio of magic-wielding aliens, on his side. Steven and the Crystal Gems have bested dozens of terrifying foes, and have helped the eccentric citizens of the Beach City numerous times. Whether it be the ever-respectful Connie or the ever-ungrateful Lars, this quartet has yet to ever run into a person whom they could not help. That is, until they ran into Lapis Lazuli.

Lapis Lazuli was of the same species as the Crystal Gems, but unlike the trio Steven has known all his life, Lapis Lazuli was far different in many ways. Lapis didn't care to help anybody. The various problems that plagued the Earth and its inhabitants were of no concern to her at all. All Lapis wanted to do was to go back to Homeworld, the planet where the Crystal Gems and she all originally hailed from. Lapis wanted to go back to her home desperately, so she stole the Earth's oceans, and used it to build a tower of water all the way up into the heavens, believing she could reach her home… But Steven and the Crystal Gems felled Lapis Lazuli, and retrieved the oceans of the Earth. Lapis, however, managed to escape to Homeworld, never to be seen again. Hence, here is Steven now, alone in his room, on the verge of a breakdown, as he lamented how he couldn't get Lapis to stay on Earth.

"Everything's going to be all right, Steven, I promise," a soft voice told Steven.

Steven looked up from his pillow, and noticed Pearl, one of the Crystal Gems, was (once again) watching him in his bed. Steven stumbled onto the floor at the sight of this, even though he's well aware Pearl has had a strange habit of watching him sleep for quite some time now. Pearl picked the boy up and propped him back up on his bed, then sat next to him, giving him a warm look of sympathy. Steven couldn't hold it back anymore and broke into tears as he gave the Crystal Gem a big hug.

"I miss her, Pearl," Steven said.

"I know, Steven," Pearl said. "But there's nothing you could've done."

"I did try to do something!" Steven cried. "I tried… I tried to be her friend."

Pearl got up from the bed and gave Steven a gentle yet forlorn look as she walked towards the door.

"You can't be friends with everybody, Steven," Pearl said. "It's just… It's just a fact of life."

And Pearl closed the door behind her as she walked out of Steven's room, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts. Steven understood what Pearl meant, yet he couldn't accept it; he knows he did his best to show Lapis Lazuli that the world isn't as dark as she thinks, and that not all humans and creatures out there are as vile and monstrous as the ones she encountered in the past. Perhaps he didn't try hard enough? Perhaps he should've been more aggressive in his tactics? And even if that's truly the case, does it really matter now if Steven realized what he should've done… now that Lapis Lazuli's gone? The young boy buried his head in his pillow once again, and while trying to stop his tears closed his eyes, and eventually drifted off to sleep.

Pearl walked down the corridor and saw Garnet and Amethyst standing atop the temple's warp pad.

"How's he doing?" Garnet asked.

"Not good at all," Pearl said. "It's going to take more time than I thought."

"I can't imagine what's he feeling, but there's no time to worry about that right now," Garnet said as she adjusted her visor. "My future vision's foreseeing… something. It can't pinpoint it, but there's some sort disturbance going on around the Galaxy Warp… I can't tell exactly what it is, though… How it looks is very vague, even with my future vision."

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Amethyst asked as she took out her whip from the gem on her chest. "Let's get over there and take it out!"

"What?" Pearl asked hesitatingly. "But… But what about—"

"He'll be fine, Pearl," Garnet said. "Let him sleep for now—we can sort that issue out in the morning."

Pearl looked back at the door to Steven's bedroom, but reluctantly walked atop the warp pad, and vanished along with Garnet and Amethyst in an instant.

"….en

"….St….ven…..

"S-Ste…..v-v-ven…

"…

"STEVEN!"

The young Steven jolted awake from his bed at the sound of his name being shouted by the ominous, yet gentle-sounding voice.

"H-Huh?" Steven asked, holding her ears in pain. "W-Who… who said that?"

"Steven… It's me."

"…Lapis?"

Steven hopped out of his bed and sprinted out of his bedroom and into the kitchen, looking back and forth and every other way to find the source of the cold, distant, yet calming and soothing voice.

"I can't see you!" Steven yelled. "Lapis, if that's you… tell me where you are! Please…"

"Where you freed me from the mirror…," the voice stated.

"The… The seashore?" Steven asked.

He exited his house and darted down the stairs and out into the shore of the beach below. And lo and behold, Steven indeed saw the person he missed: Lapis Lazuli. As he laid his eyes upon the Gem, the frown on Steven's face curled up into a wide smile, and another stream of tears escaped his eyes. It's unknown whether Lapis was frowning and smiling, however, as she was starting out into the sea with the light of the moon illuminating the horizon, with her back to Steven. Steven walk towards Lapis and held her hand, then went on his knees and sobbed uncontrollably.

"I'm so glad you're here, Lapis," Steven cried.

"Steven…," Lapis said in a low, solemn tone.

"Yes, it's me! It's Steven," Steven said. "Come on, we can talk inside."

"S-Steven… Home… H-Homeworld."

"You don't have to worry about that anymore… You're here now, away from all of that… You're here with us now! I-I can teach you all about Earth! I can introduce you to my friends and family! Dad, Connie, Sour Cream, Sadie… You could be friends with all of them! Just… Just give Earth a chance, Lapis… Why can't you give us a cha—"

But Steven failed to complete his plea to Lapis, as the Gem seized Steven's left hand and squeezed it so hard that she broke every bone in it. Steven cried out in agony and yanked his hand out of Lapis's grip, and fell onto the sand.

"L-Lapis!" Steven cried. "L-Lapis, what was—"

Lapis turned to Steven, and that's when the young boy saw what was wrong: Lapis's face and the entire front of her dress was completely covered in blood. The Gem's eyes were hard and glassy and completely devoid of emotion.

"…Lapis?" Steven asked in a tone of voice that showed how much he couldn't believe what he saw before him.

"N-No… Homeworld… H-Homeworld did… something… to ME," Lapis said in a voice that endlessly fluctuated in pitch and tone.

Steven backed away from the Gem.

"Lapis… What's going on?" Steven asked.

"R-Run… Get away… T-They want them…," Lapis said. "T-They… W-We…"

"Lapis, no!" Steven yelled.

The Gem grabbed Steven by the scruff of his neck, and in the deepest tone of voice, she went up close to Steven and said:

"WE WANT YOU."