It was one in the morning when a knock sounded at the bathroom door. Pearl, who was laying in the tub, inwardly sighed and sat up. The knock sounded again and she groaned. "Amethyst, go away."
"Um…Amethyst is in her room. It's me, Steven."
That caught her by surprise. Pearl thought Steven was asleep.
"Steven, what are you doing up? Your bedtime was three hours ago!"
"I know…but, I had a nightmare."
"Oh…"
Pearl slid back under the water a little as a few seconds of silence followed. Then Steven asked, "Can I come in?"
"I suppose," came the answer after a short pause. The door opened a second later and Steven came in, closing the door behind him. Then he walked over and sat on the floor beside the tub.
"Are you okay?" Pearl asked, moving up so her head was completely out of the water. "Did you try going back to sleep?"
Steven nodded and said, "I've been trying for a while, but I can't. Not even Lion can help."
"Hmm…" Pearl hummed, thinking.
Steven didn't say anything else. He started to twiddle his thumbs as Pearl absently pushed the bath water around with her hand. Steven stood up to grab something from beneath the sink soon after, once he realized Pearl had zoned out. (She actually did that rather often)
What brought the Gem's attention back to the real world was Steven attempting to balance a rubber duck on her knee. Pearl just watched for a few moments before straightening her leg so her knee would go under the water, causing the duck to bob away.
"Aw, why'd you do that?" Steven asked, leaning over the side of the tub to grab the duck. "I almost had it."
"Steven, tell me again, what was the point of interrupting my bath?"
"I had a nightmare and no one else was around or awake."
"Yes. So what did you want me to do?"
The boy shrugged and placed the duck on the floor. "I dunno. I just thought getting up and talking to someone would help…"
Pearl chuckled and sat up as Steven poked her leg. "Well, did it work?" she asked, cocking her head to the side slightly.
"I guess. But I still don't want to go back to bed yet," he answered, grabbing the duck again and filling its belly up with water.
A split second later he squeezed it at Pearl, but she shifted into a fish before the water hit her. Steven huffed when her head poked above the water, then laughed when Pearl squirted water at him before shifting back to normal.
"Are you going to go back to bed anytime soon, Steven?"
"Yeah…but can you do something for me first?"
"Of course."
"Can you sing that song for me? The one you used to sing to me when I was little?"
Pearl hadn't sung that in a while…she wasn't even sure she remembered it all. But nonetheless she agreed.
"Alright…now, you'll go to bed after this, right?"
Steven nodded.
"Okay."
She quickly ran through the lyrics in her head, making sure she still knew it, then began.
"Little tree blossom blowing in the breeze, you used to be a bud but bloomed in the trees. You and your friends bring color to the world, and when the wind blows, your petals, oh how they swirled. They twirled and they spun right into the sun, and left behind lovely trees so full of green leaves. Now the bright colors are gone as the petals were drawn, and away in the breeze they flew."
Steven clapped, a grin on his face.
"Thanks Pearl. I feel a lot better now."
"Are you going back to bed then?"
"Yeah."
Steven got up and turned to leave, but paused. He then came back and gave Pearl a hug, despite the fact that she was wet. Pearl blinked and returned it.
"Okay, I'm gunna leave now. Good night, Pearl," the boy said, finally walking to the door. "Good night, Steven," Pearl said with a soft smile as Steven left. "Sleep tight."