Connie was laying on her bed, reading; when she heard the door bell ring. Instantly the young girl launched up and ran over to answer it, when she did she found her friend Steven. "Oh! Hi Steven!" She greeted.

Steven was flailing his arms repeatedly, "Connie! I need your help its urgent! You must come with me at once!" He shouted, his voice full of fear.

Connie knew he probably needed help with gem stuff, so she looked at her parents and they just gave her a nod. "Ok." She replied, stepping outside the door to meet with him. "What hap-" She got cut off by Steven grabbing her hand and dragging her away. "Ah! Steven! What's wrong? Where are we going?!" She asked, worried of what has happened that was so urgent.

Steven looked over at his Indian friend with a large grin, "nothing! I lied!"

"WHAT?!" Connie gasped, instantly skidded to a halt. "You lied?! Why? You have no idea how worried I was!" She asked, demanding to know an answer.

The instant stop made Steven stumble around to regain his balance, when he did he looked at Connie with innocent eyes. "Please don't be mad! I only lied, so your parents would let you come with me. I only wanted to see you and hang out, I'm sorry." He explained, looking at the floor.

Connie's anger faded and was replaced with a smile, "aww, Steven...you lied to be with me? I never knew you liked me that much." She giggled.

Steven checks flushed red, he smiled sheepishly and nodded. "well yeah..." He whispered, rubbing his arm to hide his embarrassment.

The Indian girl grinned and playfully poked Steven's belly, "Now that you got me, what is it you wanted to do?" She asked, laughing as he squirmed away from her pokes.

Once Steven escaped, he walked over toward a rock and waved his arms. "I'll explain on the way! Lion!" He called, hoping that the pink beast would come to his call; but as suspected he didn't. "Aww! Come on, Lion!" He groaned.

Connie watched as Steven looked around for his friend, about to say something; but was interrupted by purring and the feeling of soft fur rubbing against her. The young girl turned around to find the giant pink beast. "Uhh, Steven; I think I found Lion." She giggled, petting his soft fur.

Steven swung around, he laughed and bounded up to the two. "Lion seems to like you more than me, Connie!" He laughed, jumping onto the back of the lion. "Yay! Let's get going!" The boy laughed, helping Connie up, before they started heading to Beach City.

As the lion ran toward Beach City, Connie was watching as everything passed by, she sighed happily and turned back to Steven. "Will you tell me what we're doing now?" She asked, eager to know what crazy thing was planned.

Steven looked at Connie and grinned, he turned around and changed positions to sit the opposite direction then he was suppose to, so he was facing Connie. "Ok, so the gems were out on a mission, and I was home alone!" He began.

"Uh, Steven...don't you think it's bad to sit backwards like that?" Connie asked.

"Don't worry, Lion knows I'm sitting like this. Anyway, as I was saying-"

"But what if h-"

"Connie, it's fine; nothing is gonna happen. Anyway, the gems were out and I wanted to explore, because I'm the warp master I could go wherever I wanted! So I used the warp pad to take me to the strawberry battlefield, and I found something amazing; a part I haven't explored before! I thought it would be the best place for us to hang out and explore together." The gem boy explained, with starry-eyes.

Connie giggled, she always liked it when Steven got worked up over something and he got that look in his eyes. "Ok! I can't wait to see!" She replied, smiling sweetly.

"I know right?! I was hoping we cou-" Steven got cut off when Lion sat down, causing the young boy to fall on top of Connie. Lion then stood up and walked away. Steven sat up and noticed his position, "oh my gosh! Connie! I'm so sorry!" He apologized, blushing rapidly, with embarrassment. Connie just barely processing what was happening, caused her cheeks to flush a bright red. Lion looked at them and purred, as he laid down. Steven stood up and helped Connie to her feet, he turned to Lion and folded his arms. "LION! You did that on purpose!" He growled, his face more bright red.

Connie was still flushed, she giggled and grinned sheepishly. "I knew something would of happened with you sitting that way, but I didn't expect that!" She admitted, dusting the sand off her blue dress. "Don't get mad at Lion, he brought us to your place, didn't he?"

Steven looked around to find that she was right, they were on the beach right next to the temple, "well then...I guess you're right. Let's go!" He laughed taking Connie's hand, before bolting up the stairs and into the house. The young boy lead her toward the warp pad silently, trying to keep quiet; and unnoticed. Connie giggled and kept close to Steven, she didn't like feeling that they were doing something bad; but she ignored it.

"What do you think you're doing?!" A voice came from behind them.

All the crystal gems were standing by the door, Pearl was in the front; she had her arms folded and she didn't seem to be happy. "Steven, what do you think you're doing with Connie, on the warp pad?" She asked, not happy with him. Amethyst looked at Pearl and laughed, she loved it when she got that look on her face.

Connie glanced over at Steven, trying to find out what he was gonna say. The chubby gem boy placed his left hand on his hip and he waved his finger at Pearl with the other hand, "girl, you have no room to talk! I was left alone for hours! Connie and I are going to the strawberry battlefield and that's that!" He said in a silly prissy girl voice; he put the other hand on his hip and looked away with a 'humph'. Connie covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing, this was the most hilarious thing she has ever seen.

Pearl gasped, she growled and looked at Garnet for help. "Garnet! I know we left him for a while, but please tell me you agree; that it's stupid and dangerous to take Connie to that battlefield, right?"

Garnet looked at the pair, they looked so excited and eager for adventure. "I say, let them go."

"W-WHAT?! G-Garn-"

Amethyst cut Pearl off instantly, "OHHH YOU JUST GOT GARNETTED!" She laughed, smacking Pearl in the back; before bounding over to Steven and Connie. "So you're taking Connie to the battlefields? It's sorta like a date! Aww you're going on a date!" The purple gem teased, shape shifting into Connie; she walked over to Steven and pressed against him. "Oh Steven! I'm only 12, but I'm madly in love with you! Thanks for asking me out!" Amethyst laughed.

Steven was flushed, but also shocked that Amethyst did that. The young gem looked over at Connie, to find her eyes wide and her whole face bright red with embarrassment "Amethyst, don't! This isn't a date! C-Connie wouldn't act like that either!" He growled, shoving Amethyst away.

"Ha ha! I was only joking! I'm sure that's not gonna happen." Amethyst laughed, turning back into her normal self. "No point in stalling you! Have fun...on your date." She blurted.

Steven looked over at Connie who was still frozen from embarrassment, he took Connie's hand which snapped her back into reality. "Connie, I'm about to warp us. You need to be close to me, this might be shocking at first." He explained, before using his gem to warp them.

While the pair warped, Connie was amazed at the beauty of the warp stream. "Wow! This is incredible!" She giggled, moving her hand toward the stream.

Steven quickly grabbed her hand and stopped her, "Be careful! It's dangerous to go outside the stream, it's very cold. Trust me, I experienced it the hard way." He explained, Connie nodded and moved back next to him. After a few moments the light vanished and they were back on a warp pad in the strawberry battlefields. Steven jumped off the warp pad and walked ahead into the fields.

Connie jumped off and followed him, looking around at the beauty of this place. "Amazing! How could this of been battlefield? It's so pretty! I would never imagine this place to be bad." She exclaimed, picking one of the large strawberries to examine it, before taking a bite out of the fruit.

Steven looked at Connie with a smile, but this smile was full of sorrow. "Yeah...but it didn't always look like this, many gems died here. Even I have some bad memories in this place." He sighed, brushing his fingers against the strawberry bushes as he got those depressing memories back.

Connie felt bad for bringing bad memories back, she frowned, setting the strawberry back down. "Steven, I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine, Connie. It's in the past, everything's fine now!" The boy explained, walking over to his friend. He took both her hands and pulled her to him. "Besides, I have you here! Being around you always makes me happy." Steven added.

Connie gasped when he pulled her to him, blushing slightly; she nodded, "yeah..." She whispered, pressing her forehead to his.

Steven closed his eyes, wanting this moment to last forever, but he knew it couldn't. "Come on, we need to get going!" He pointed out, he moved away from their embrace and lead her outside of the strawberry field, into a field with glowing flowers, trees and a stream flowing through it. Connie was amazed by the beauty of this place, it was astonishing and unique. "Do you like it?" Steven asked, noticing her starry-eyes.

"Like it?! I love it! This is so cool! I've never seen glowing flowers! And this stream, it's so clear and pretty...reminds me of that story you told me about your mom's healing fountain."

"Oh yeah! And then I healed your eyes! That reminds me of something...before you realized I healed your eyes, were you gonna kiss me?"

Connie's eyes grew and her face turned bright red, "W-WHAT?! W-What are you talking about? I-I wasn't gonna kiss you...I-I don't know what you're talking about." She stuttered, looking away to hide her blush.

"Oh yeah? Then why were you leaning in?"

"B-Becau-ugh! Even if I was trying kiss you, it probably wouldn't of happened! You were moving back every time I got closer."

"I didn't know how to react! I was nervous...wait, you just admitted it!"

Connie blushed even more, she folded her arms and looked away. "Pfft! So what?! I tried to kiss you...Doesn't mean anything." She giggled, looking up at Steven with a smirk. "It's in the past. You said it yourself, the past doesn't matter anymore!" She pointed out.

Steven cheeks flushed and he growled playfully, "I didn't say that!" He ran at her which caused Connie to squeal and run away. The pair chased each other for a while, until Steven tackled Connie down which caused them to roll a couple of times; until he was pinning her. "I win!" The boy laughed, looking down at his friend.

Connie stuck her tongue out at him and pushed him off, "yeah right, I wasn't even trying." She laughed, looking up at the clouds. "What should we do now?" She asked, looking over at Steven who was laying next to her in the tall grass.

Steven watched as the clouds formed shapes, he sighed knowing he couldn't keep his feelings a secret forever. The gem moved over so he was facing Connie, "Connie, I want to tell you something...I've wanted to tell you for a while, I just couldn't find the right words." He explained.

Connie didn't know how, but she felt like she knew what was coming. "Alright, whatever it is I'm sure it's important!" She said, biting her tongue.

"I-I see you more than a friend, I've liked you the first time I saw you. I-I guess what I'm saying is...I love you, Connie." Steven admitted, blushing rapidly.

Connie looked at her friend with large eyes, very flushed and shocked, "Steven, I-" The young girl stopped, when she heard a large screech coming from inside the forest.

Steven jumped to his feet instantly and looked ahead toward the sound, "That sounds like a gem creature! Connie, I need you to stay here! No matter what happens, don't move!" He ordered, running ahead. Once in the forest he found a giant moth wasp creature, with a giant spike for its proboscis, with a glowing green gem on its chest. Steven stepped back, shocked by this beast. This isn't good, I have to get Connie out of here! He thought, instantly running back to Connie, he grabbed her hand and helped her stand. "Connie, listen to me! I want you to take this." He began, handing her the warp whistle. "Take it, and leave! Get out of here, and go get the gems." The young gem explained.

Connie shook her head, "I'm not leaving you here with that thing!"

"Connie, I need you to do this! Please, just go!" He begged, before he knew it, the moth creature landed behind Connie, ready to attack. Steven growled, he grabbed Connie and threw her back away from the creature. Connie gasped, shocked that he threw her back, she fell over and caught herself before she rolled. She looked up to find, Steven holding the green, purple beast back from coming near her. Steven glanced back at Connie, seeing the fear in her eyes. "C-Connie, take the whistle and go!" He ordered, getting weak and tired from holding the monster away. Instantly the beast jumped onto its hind legs, in the process cutting Steven's stomach with its proboscis. The boy gasped, he clenched his belly, and ignored the feeling of blood seeping through his fingers. Steven looked up at the wasp moth, it was staring at him with those creepy eyes; while it stood on its hind legs. The gem boy knew what was coming, he closed his eyes tightly and turned away. Then the feeling of great pain came to the boy, he opened his eyes and found himself laying on the ground with the spike stabbed through his side, blood seeped through his shirt and onto the ground. Steven looked behind him at Connie, his eyes were dull, but still full of fear. "C-Conni-" He got cut off with a gag, as the gem monster forcefully removed the spike proboscis from his side. Steven looked at the massive wound that was now bleeding even worse, he noticed his gem start to glow; which caused him to panic. Quickly the kid rolled over and sat up, he clenched his wounds and looked at Connie. Connie saw the wound he was clenching, she began to cry knowing that this wound was fatal; however she forced herself to look up at her friend and listen. "Connie, d-don't freak out...I-I'm gonna be gone for a while, but just remember...t-this wasn't your fa-" Instantly a sudden small explosion of pink smoke happened and only the rose quartz gem was left.