A/N: Written as a gift for my friend cashewpeanut on Tumblr.
"Connie look out!" Steven called out in warning. He managed to jump in front of her right in time. He wasn't quite so quick in deflecting the blow from himself.
Okay, ow! Steven flinched as razor sharp legs glanced over his shield and sliced across his exposed arm and down his side, cutting deep. Like really deep. Connie was safe though. That was a good thing.
"Steven!" yelled Connie from behind him. It was echoed by everyone else. The giant corrupted gem monster rose up again. Steven winced as he raised his shield to stop the next blow. The Gems didn't stop when they got hurt. Neither would he. Connie darted in front of him though, her sword flashing.
As the corrupted gem monster came down, Connie's sword slid right through its middle. It fell backwards in a loud screech right before going poof. Steven heaved a sigh of relief and let his shield retract back into his gem. "Alright! Good job everybody. Excellent job with the finishing move Connie if I do say so myself."
"Steven!" Pearl shrieked as she came running to his side. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Steven smiled and waved it off despite the fact that he could feel blood welling up from the cut.
"Steven, that looks really bad." Connie told him as she stepped over to him to look. She had maneuver around Pearl who was currently on her hands and knees staring at his wound. So long as she didn't touch it, he was pretty sure he was going to be okay. If only his hands would stop shaking. Actually if his entire arm would stop shaking that would be great!
"Connie's right Steven. That doesn't look so good." agreed Amethyst. It was really weird hearing that kind of tone coming out of her mouth.
"Aww, Amethyst do you care about me?" he teased laughingly to dispel the too serious look on her face. When had it suddenly gotten so cold?
"This isn't funny." snapped Pearl. Her voice shot up an entire two octaves. An impressive feat for Pearl.
"Steven you should sit down." Garnet told him calmly.
"I'm fine. I'm fi..." he started to insist right before the dizziness hit him like a freight train. "Oh... okay."
The world seemed less like a tilt-a-whirl when he was sitting on the ground. Connie had her jacket off and was pressing it to his side. "Humans aren't supposed to bleed this much." Pearl pointed out.
"He needs to go to a hospital." Connie added. Pearl began adding her own gauze bandages to his arm.
"Guys, I'll be fine!" he reassured them. He pointed his thumb at himself. "I'm a Gem! Remember?"
"I mean, I guess that's true but..." Amethyst said.
"You're half human too." Garnet reminded him. That's when he noticed the very subtle way Garnet was biting the corner of her lip.
"Just give me a couple of minutes and I'll be a-okay!" promised Steven. "Watch! Watch!"
He screwed his eyes shut tightly and channelled all his energy into healing himself. Steven focused on stopping the bleeding that Connie and Pearl were so worried about. He focused on quelling the dizziness that had prompted Garnet to tell him to sit down. He focused on the shaking that was probably, more than likely, making Amethyst nervous. Steven was a Crystal Gem. Crystal Gems could recover from a little hit like this, no sweat.
Alright so he was sweating a tiny bit but at least the dizziness was gone. When he opened his eyes again, everyone was looking at him expectantly. However, a quick peek down at his arm and side showed him that the wound had stopped bleeding. Connie and Pearl were no longer holding things to his side either. Oh! And his hands weren't shaking anymore! "See guys! Not a problem! I got this!" he told them as he popped up to his feet.
He must have gotten up to fast because all of a sudden he was really light headed. And not the kind of light headed he got when he got off the roller coaster. No, it was more like the light headed that he felt when he was out on the beach in the sun too long without drinking water. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. He couldn't stop the groan that escaped him as he pitched forward again.
"STEVEN!" screamed everyone just seconds before his light headedness turned into light bodied-ness and his vision went black.
X X X
Being all light bodied had it's perks. When he cracked an eye open, he was floating, suspended as if he were dreaming. Only he wasn't dreaming. Steven was fairly certain of that simply for the fact that the wound on his side was still aching slightly. It didn't explain why there didn't seem to be a ground on the Earth anymore or why the only thing that seemed to be around was fluffy pink clouds. "Uh... what's going on?" he called loudly as he looked around. "Pearl? Garnet? Amethyst? Connie? Where is everyone? Where am I?"
There was no answer and somehow it didn't surprise Steven. Then he heard it. The soft sound of someone singing.
The notes were light and travelled through the air like a summer breeze across the ocean. The song wrapped around him, protectively almost like the way Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst's songs did only a little bit stronger. It warmed his body, making him feel as though he'd never known what cold was!
An island rose out of the nothingness and Steven found his feet firmly placed on sand. Warm waves lapped at his feet. The smell of roses wafted through the air. Looking up, he could see exactly why. There was a briar of rose bushes filled with blooms of every color imaginable. Mainly pink though. Lots of pink. In the middle of the briar was a woman, a Gem, that was taller than even Garnet. It was she who was singing.
The notes of her sweet song rose around him, Steven crept closer to her. Wind tugged at her pale pink curls and snowy dress, lazily pulling them into the air. Sun shone down on her which gave her an ethereal glow. He'd only seen her in pictures. Those really didn't do her justice. He could see why everyone had loved her so much.
Steven didn't remember just how long he stood at the edge of the roses listening to the tranquil song of a mother's love but he felt tears pooling in his eyes as the last notes died away. Rose Quartz turned to face him. She extended her hand to him and the thorns and brambles pulled away from him to create a path. "Steven, come here my precious boy." she called to him with a soft smile he'd once seen on a home video.
Without a single word, Steven scrambled up the path to her side. He threw his arms around her middle and hugged her. "You're so beautiful." he whispered into the layers of her dress.
"And you've grown so much. I barely saw you before I gave up my physical form but I remember how small you were." Rose Quartz told him laughingly. She pulled him away from her gently and brushed her fingers over his deep cuts. "You're hurt."
"Only a little." Steven smiled weakly. It didn't really lessen the look of concern and disapproval from his mother's face. He plastered on a big smile. He didn't want his mom's first impression of him to be that he was reckless. Or irresponsible. Or helpless. "I made it stop bleeding all by myself. I'm a Crystal Gem! I fight monsters and everything with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. Just like you did!"
"I know you do and you are wonderful at it. So strong and brave. Everything I'd hoped you would be." she assured him. "But I still worry about you every time you call on your shield and fly into battle with Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, and Connie. I've been dreading this day since the moment you came into being."
"You mean meeting me?" asked Steven, voice small. Without any real warning, his insides twisted in on him.
"What?" Rose Quartz looked at him. Her confusion evident on her face. Steven chewed his lip. Realization dawned on Rose Quartz's face. "No! No, no, no. Steven that isn't what I mean at all. I mean you coming to this place. You retreating into your gem."
"My gem? Aw man! You mean I went poof?" he cried in dismay. Steven threw his hands on to his face. And here he'd thought that he'd done a good job healing himself. "The Gems are gonna be so mad at me!"
"No they won't Steven. They'll be nervous and concerned and probably very scared. They won't be angry though." Rose Quartz said as she knelt down to his level. She ran her hands over his shoulders soothingly.
"Are you sure?" he questioned hesitantly.
Rose Quartz laughed. It sounded like bells. "Very sure. You did perfectly well with healing your wounds from a human standpoint but you're also half Gem. There are some things that can't be healed so easily which is why you come here..."
Her face became serious. "No mother wants to see her child hurt badly enough for him to have to come here."
"Can't be all bad here. It's pretty." he told her as he looked around again at the passing clouds and the tranquil island.
"It's pretty because you make it so Steven. You're so bright and loving and sweet."
"And you're here too." he added quietly.
"Yes, that as well and though I wish the things that lead to you coming here were different, I am so glad you are here." Her hand trailed down the side of his cheek. An unstoppable smile spread across Steven's face. He leaned his face into Rose Quartz's hand.
"I always wished I could meet you. Everyone has such amazing stories about you. I've always felt as though I was missing out on something important."
"I feel the same way. I'm jealous of the time that Greg, Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet get with you. I wish that I could've watched you grow up with them. I'm so proud of you."
"Really?" he pulled away in surprise. Rose Quartz smiled just as wide as he could.
"Of course I am. Standing up to Gems that are three times your size. Befriending people that aren't easy to be friends with. Keeping the Crystal Gems on their toes. I couldn't have asked for anything better for you."
"Everyone really misses you." Steven told her. "I'm starting to see why exactly."
"I miss everyone too but I wouldn't change anything that's happened. And they wouldn't either. It was difficult, I'm sure, dealing with my loss but every moment of your life has been worth it. I can't wait to see what you'll do next."
"Yeah, neither can I." laughed Steven.
"It will be amazing I'm sure." Rose Quartz told him with certainty. "There's so many things I want to tell you, that I wish I had time to tell you. I don't think even until the end of time would be enough though."
"Wait! What are you saying?" Steven looked at her, furrowing his eyebrows.
"It's almost time for you to leave your gem." Rose Quartz pointed out.
"No, I can stay a little longer. Besides I'm not feeling so great anymore." he lied through his teeth. All the Gems said it could take anywhere from a few hours to weeks to regenerate. There was no reason why he couldn't take an extended vacation in his gem, right?
She frowned disapprovingly at him, "I know you don't want to go but your arm is almost healed now."
Steven looked down at what had been his wounded side as Rose Quartz brushed her fingers over it again. There was only a faint trace of the deep cut that had once been there. Wow! He hadn't even noticed it getting better! "This isn't fair! I haven't even gotten to talk to you very long!"
"I know, and I'm sorry." she sighed. She reached up to one of the rose bushes that grew up beside her and pulled one of the flowers from it. Steven accepted the full, white and pink bloom from Rose Quartz while keeping a careful eye on the thorns. As he twisted the flower between his fingertips, she reached down and tapped his nose. "Remember Steven, I am always with you though even if you can't feel or see me. I see the world through your eyes. I will always watch over you and be rooting for you."
"Do I really, really, really have to go though?" he pressed.
"Yes, there are consequences for you staying inside your gem to long young man. You don't want that to happen do you?"
Steven pouted, "No."
"That's what I thought." Rose Quartz shook her head lightly.
"Will I ever get to see you again?"
"I'm sure you will the next time you return to your gem but promise me something Steven. Don't go looking to get hurt just to come back here alright."
He couldn't help laughing a little. "I think the Gems would ground me from TV again for another thousand years if I did that."
"A very appropriate punishment." Rose Quartz agreed. She was smiling too though. Then she wrapped her fingers around his arms tightly. It was almost as though she didn't want to let him go. "Please tell Greg that I think he's the best dad ever to you."
"I will." promised Steven.
"And tell the Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet that they're doing a fantastic job raising you."
"Okay!" nodded Steven enthusiastically.
"Tell them I miss them. Every last one of them." she added. Her eyes were wet. She didn't let go of his arms to wipe her face as tears started to run down her cheeks. "And tell Connie that I think she is amazing and I'm honored that she's your friend."
"I will." he said as he reached up and wiped the tears off of Rose Quartz's face. She smiled down at him. Warmth radiated from somewhere in his chest. Steven curled his fingers tighter around the rose she'd given him.
"I love you so much Steven." Rose Quartz told him so earnestly that it made his throat swell up. She tipped her face to his forehead and kissed him. The action took him so off guard that he went stiff in surprise. Rose Quartz pulled away from him, the biggest smile on her face. Steven wasn't sure why but her edges were starting to go blurry and out of focus. "Be good Steven."
"I will… Mom."
Everything went hazy and Steven felt like he was falling backwards suddenly.
X X X
It was like waking up after a good, long nap. Only after this nap, he'd woken up with the white and pink rose that his mother had given him in his hand.