Rose's blessing

"So if A squared plus B times two is equal to three fifteens..."

Connie yawned as her teacher droned on and on about the math lesson. Normally, she would be listening carefully and jotting down notes, but today Connie was extra tired. That night she had snuck out past curfew to help Steven battle one of the few corrupted gems they missed. It wasn't easy, but by fusing into Stevonnie, the two of them were able to defeat it.

"So if the number is fifteen, what would the answer be if..."

Connie yawned again, her vision going blurry. She tried to keep her eyes open, but sleep was quite persistent.

"Maybe just a quick..." She began as her head dropped onto the desk and she was out cold.

"Connie... Wake up." A voice called.

Connie opened one eye and gasped. She shouldn't be sleeping in class!

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, I..." Then she got a better look. Instead of her classroom, she was in the middle of a forest. It was quite dark, but the trees were raining pink petals and little creatures were fluttering everywhere.

"Where am I?" Connie thought, sitting up.

Looking around, she saw a large lady sitting in a huge tree. She had long pink hair in ringlets. Feeling brave, Connie made her way over to the woman.

"Excuse me," She began, "can you tell me what's happening?"

The lady turned and smiled. "Connie!" She happily exclaimed. "I've been waiting for you."

Connie's eyes widened, then she recognized her from the picture and Steven's hallucinations as Stevonnie.

"I know you! You're Rose Quartz!" She exclaimed.

The woman smiled and nodded. "It's nice to finally meet you, Connie." She replied.

"How do you know who I am?" Connie asked, surprised.

Rose laughed so her curls bounced like springs.

"How am I talking to you?" Connie continued.

Rose hopped out of the tree and fluttered down. She seemed so angelic, Connie felt shy and unworthy.

"I may be gone, but my gem is still around." She said, winking. "As for how we are talking like this, when you fuse with my son, some of my gem magic was accidentally transferred to you."

"So why don't you use this to talk to Steven?" Connie asked.

Rose smiled sadly. "I left him a tape with my final words for him. But you..." She took Connie by the hand. "I have a few things I would like to discuss with you. But we shouldn't talk here. Let's go somewhere else."

"Wait..." Connie exclaimed. "Where are we..." before she could finish, Rose had taken off, carrying Connie along with her.

The two girls flew through the sky, clouds and flying creatures passing them until they eventually came to an island.

"Here's a good place." Rose replied, landing gracefully on the island, Connie on the other hand had to stumble to regain her balance.

"Now," Rose began. "Ever since you and my son met, you've become quite familiar with gem culture, no?"

"I know some of the basics..." Connie nervously began.

"You are truly a special human." Rose continued. "You are the first human to officially fuse with a gem, you've trained under my pearl and you are quite good at battling. I know you were even able to hold off Blue and Yellow until the truth about me came out."

Connie blushed. The fact that Rose was even praising Connie made her feel happy.

Rose smirked teasingly. "And I also know that you have feelings for my son."

Connie's face burnt crimson. "How did you..."

Rose laughed. "You look at him the same way Greg and Pearl looked at me." Then she went serious. "Listen, Connie... Things are different now than when you and Steven first met. Due to my... secret getting out, I understand that Steven is going to be going through a rough patch... Finding out almost everything you know is wrong is hard."

Connie nodded in response. Rose reached over and took Connie's hands. "I must ask you something, not as a diamond, but as Steven's mother..."

Connie nervously looked down. Was Rose going to tell her to stay away from him for the time being?

Rose continued. "I want you to be there for him when he needs you. You two have a bond that's so strong..." Rose paused before letting go. "Just, please be there for him."

Connie looked down at her hands to see a pink hibiscus flower.

"Please." Rose begged.

Connie was about to reply when...

"Hey Maheswaran! Wake up!"

Connie snapped awake to see her teacher standing over her desk.

"Connie, this is Math class, not nap time." She replied.

"Sorry Ma'am." Connie replied as the class laughed.

After school, Connie slowly walked to Steven's to get in some more training, Rose's words running through her head.

Was it a dream? She was going to dismiss it all as such, when something caught her eye: It was a single pink hibiscus.

Reaching down, Connie picked it up.

"I'll do my best." She whispered as she headed to Steven's.

As she walked off, a ghostly apparition of Rose Quartz slowly started to take place in the spot the flower was.

"Thank you." Was all she could say.