Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe!

Title: White Pulls an Icarus

Summary: Pink has never been the most overprotective mom, but then White decided it'd be a great idea to hurt her little boy.

Setting: Post Change Your Mind, only in an AU where Pink got the Earth AND had a baby and basically the best of both worlds tbh.

…

Pink hadn't been back to Homeworld in about five thousand years, and she hadn't exactly missed it, either. Maybe once upon a time, when she was young and she thought she'd deserved the treatment she'd suffered, but today she stared at the planet with a certain deadness to her eyes. Earth had life and plants and humans and she could love. Here, all she had was a dark room and her Pebbles.

That reminded her. "Nephrite, remind me to grab the Pebbles on the way out."

"Yes, my Diamond," her pilot replied. Her sharp teeth and fluffy collar weren't technically standard for Nephrites, and her abdomen and pinchers even more so- remnants of a war Pink regretted almost as much as she already regretted returning. "Anything else?"

"Keep the engine running."

"Absolutely, my Diamond."

The ship was coasting to a gentle landing, but it felt a bit like her form was shattering under an unknown pressure. Pink turned her gaze to Connie, currently sharpening her sword. "I hope you realize this is a diplomatic mission."

"Yes, ma'am," said Connie, slipping the sword into place with an awkward smile. "But you assigned me the role of protecting you today. I have to take that seriously."

"You were witness to what went on here. That makes you an important ally right now."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll keep that in mind."

Homeworld wasn't looking at its best as Pink and Connie disembarked. Multiple buildings were broken to bits, crushed into perfect imprints of various limb-shaped ships. Others had deep gouges cut into their sides, crumbling but trying to keep some level of dignity. Bismuths were numerous, climbing and cutting and fixing. Pink had been created long after Homeworld was established, but she imagined it had looked something like that when it was. Maybe the buildings themselves were a bit lower, a bit simpler, but the concept was the same. A big ol' cage.

And her fellow Diamonds were front and center. Yellow looked as stiff as usual, shoulders straight, arms tucked behind her back. Blue's eyes were welling up as she regarded the smallest Diamond, hands clasped close to her chin, but the pull of her powers wasn't present. They both had more worry lines than when she was here previously.

"Oh, Pink," Blue sighed, sounding torn between relief and a sob. "It's been too long since we've all been together. How have-"

"Where's White?" Pink interrupted.

Blue flinched. Yellow set a steadying hand on her arm and replied. "In her head, as usual. But I have to warn you- she might be a bit more... open, but she's still as White as ever."

"I heard," she answered. "I could've sworn you promised to protect Steven from that."

"We did our best, but things got messy quickly. Honestly, Pink. Why let him come if you knew he'd make so much trouble?"

Because he's a better person than me, Pink thought. Because he begged and he pleaded and I honestly thought he would be safe. Because I trusted you, like an idiot, to do right to him, when you never did it for me. Pink pushed between the two of them, Connie sprinting to keep up. It wasn't nearly as powerful as she'd hoped- more like awkwardly shoving their knees to the side- but right now she was too mad to care.

The first sign that White was making an effort was that the doorway into her sanctum was unlocked. Two Topazes guarded the door, true, but it was more than Pink had known to expect of her, even before all the chaos. The second was that White wasn't standing in an awkward position- she was sitting, her cape curled around her side like a snake, hands carefully clasped in her lap.

Then she smiled, and Pink was left to fight down thousands of years of bad memories. "Starlight! What a pleasure to see you. I must say, your little ambassador was... interesting."

"Steven is my son," said Pink, coldly. "Not my ambassador."

That startled a chuckle out of the Diamond. "He's certainly a lot of things, starlight, but he's no sun. More of a dwarf planet- tiny, but strong, able to survive the harshest of things."

"Speaking of." Pink clenched her hand into a fist. Her shield came to her without much effort; she clenched the lip of it in her fingers, promptly tossing it full-force at White. It hit her directly in the nose, making her flinch and shuffle back, but otherwise was unharmed as she faced down a bundle of pent-up rage. "How dare you hurt him."

White's smile faltered. "Starlight, please understand, I was confused-"

She cut her off. "I don't care what you were, White. I sent Steven here for training. For safety and comfort. I always knew you were bad to me, but I thought you might try to be good for him. That maybe he was worth more to you as a child than I was newly-emerged." Pink gestured to Connie with her hand, the girl clutching tight to the handle of her sword, holstered but very there. "I've heard more than enough from his knight. Punishing him for being himself, for being Stevonnie-"

Her nose wrinkled. "You have to admit, that's a little odd."

"-Locking him in that stars-damned room that you used to lock me in!" Pink shuddered at the mere mention, but otherwise stood her ground. Tears pricked the edges of her eyes- White had been someone she wanted to respect, once. Not anymore. "Tearing out his half of my Gem!"

"Losing your full Gem made you weaker! I wanted to help you!"

"I don't care if it killed me," she spat. "I don't care if you really have changed this time, and you become the most benevolent Diamond in the galaxy. I don't care if you ever learn to love without hurting them. I've learned my lesson."

"Star-"

"My name is Pink. And if you don't want that name to be the name of your shatterer, you'll stay away from my planet and my son." Pink whirled on her heels, just barely missing Connie. "Fix your world, White. Fix your head. Fix your heart. Just- never talk to us again."

White stood in a hurry, raising a hand out almost desperately, but she made no move to take control. "Pink, I-"

For the first time in her existence, White Diamond had the door slammed in her face.

"Awwww, they're so cute!" Steven gushed through the grainy monitor, waving at the Pebble waving back at him. "Dad, come look!"

Anger simmered inside of Pink, so much so that even the sight of Greg didn't ease it, but Pink was a good faker after so long of pretending, so she smiled just as naturally as ever as he laughed and waved too. "We should be home early tommorrow morning." She paused, contemplating the blow to her status by being mushy now. She was around friends. It should be okay. "I miss you two. I'm so sorry I left suddenly like that."

"Hey, no worries," Greg said, playing with the ends of his slowly receding hair. "You had important Diamond stuff to do."

"You're safe as long as Centi is the one flying you," Steven chipped in. Pink wasn't certain where the nickname came from, but she enjoyed the comradery. It was great for the future that her son was on speaking terms with her crew.

The pilot Nephrite sent him a thumbs up. "I'll bring our Diamond home safely!"

Connie cleared her throat.

"The human too!" She paused, squinting. "I forget- you guys need air, right?"

Steven watched Greg and Connie fill in the Jade on various human necessities, face oddly blank. In a quiet voice, he asked, "What did White say?"

Pink leaned back in her chair, setting her chin on her fist. "Nothing much. She won't want us back anytime soon, though."

"Aww," he said. "What a shame."

She shrugged. "Not really."

Author's Note: I bopped this diddy out mostly in one sitting! It's technically in the same universe as Mother Doesn't Know Best, but it can be read alone. Hope the person who wanted this enjoys it!

-Mandaree1