I think I've changed my mind as to how I'm going to publish this. I was originally going to make this part of a collection of oneshots but it might be better to publish them separately.
It was a peaceful, cool night. The waves of the ocean softly rolled against the sand while the moon cast dazzling reflections over the water. A soft breeze rolled swiftly through the beach as a young Greg Universe tuned his guitar, humming to himself. He was considering composing a new song for the love of his life and his sole source of inspiration- Rose Quartz. He still was baffled by the fact that such a magical lady like her was fascinated by a regular old human like him. Greg felt as though he didn't deserve someone like her.
"GGRRREEEEGGG!" came an excited cry from the other side of the huge hill he was leaning against. There was only one person that could be, and every day she filled him with such joy. Smiling, Greg watched as his Rose bounded across the beach towards him, stars in her eyes, all excited and giddy about the little things in life. It always made Greg have a greater appreciation for life when he saw how much Rose was fascinated by it. He blushed, smiling as she approached him.
"Greg, guess what?" she said, all giddy and energetic. "I have the most exciting news!"
"Oh yeah?" he replied. "I can't wait to hear it!"
"I'm pregnant! To be honest I wasn't entirely sure if it was possible for a gem to conceive a human child but now that I have this is the happiest day in my life! And that's saying something, because I've lived for thousands of years."
Greg was quite shocked, to say the least. Tears of pure joy began to well up in his eyes. He was going to be a father! "Rose…" he began. "Wow. I-I can't believe it either! This is amazing!"
They both laughed in delight and Rose picked Greg up and spun him around. The two shared a passionate kiss as the moon rose even higher in the sky. Then they relaxed on the sand, gazing into each other's eyes. Greg could not imagine anything more perfect than this moment he was sharing with his love, his Rose. Just spending the night with her under a beautiful night sky with the prospect of raising their child.
Greg finally spoke after several moments of silence. "So, how far along are you in the pregnancy?" he asked.
"Oh, it's actually still quite early," Rose replied. "Humans gestate for 9 months, right? Though it's not entirely certain because the baby will be half gem, of course. But that's the exciting part! Not even Garnet will be able to predict how this will all turn out!"
He smiled at her. "I must be the luckiest guy in the cosmos. Starting a family with the most amazing woman in the world."
"Family," Rose mused. "This is all so new to me, and it must be so ridiculous to you, but what exactly is family? Human relationships are so hard to understand."
"Oh," Greg said. "To be honest, even that is a little hard to explain. I guess 'family' consists of parents, children, siblings, and others related by a common origin. Sometimes family members are adopted, but the most important thing about family is the strong bonds you form with each other and the memories and experiences you share together."
"So then, what about your family?" Rose asked.
Greg looked somewhat wistful. "Heh, that's a bit of a long story. I haven't really seen my family in quite some time."
"Oh?" said Rose. "Why not?"
He took a deep breath as he began his story. "Well, back in the day, we were all pretty close. I wasn't always Mr. Universe. I was once just plain old Greg DeMayo. My aunt and uncle had a barn, sometimes we'd visit and I'd spend time with my cousin Andy. He was really taking after his parents, into airplanes and aviation. We had some similar interests, I was into space and he was into flying, plus we often worked together on cooking our traditional meals. Us DeMayos were really into keeping our traditions."
Rose was listening intently to Greg's story. It seemed to bring back old memories of her own.
"Anyway," Greg continued. "I was kinda young, and I didn't really have much of a plan. My parents decided to put me through community college in the hopes that I could find a career to pursue. Thing is, after I got there, I somehow felt like it just wasn't for me. I wanted to become a
musician, start up a one man band, and travel all over the place."
At this point, Greg noticed that Rose had tears in her eyes. "Uh, Rose, are you okay?"
"Oh, I'm fine!" Rose replied. "Please, continue. I want to hear more."
Looking at the ground, Greg went on with his story. "My parents weren't exactly the most supportive of my decisions. They didn't think I could make it as a musician, and they never came to any of my shows."
"That's awful! I'm so sorry," said Rose.
"Well, Greg DeMayo didn't exactly cut it for marketing my music. So I dropped out of community college, changed my last name to Universe, took the van, and pretty much left everything behind," Greg finished. He was surprised at how upset Rose looked, now she was really crying heavily and it worried him. "But hey, if I hadn't done any of that, I never would have met you, and you're the best thing that's ever happened to me! I don't regret a thing."
"It's not that," Rose admitted. "You were being so honest and open, and it made me feel awful because there's something that I've kept from you. I've kept it from all the gems, really, except for Pearl. But even I ordered her not to speak about it." She took a deep breath and continued, "I know how much you want to have a serious relationship with me, and I owe it to you to tell you the truth about myself. But please, promise me this: that you won't tell anyone else about this, especially not the gems."
"Um, okay?" Greg said.
She took another deep breath and sighed. "The truth is, Greg, I wasn't always Rose Quartz either. I took upon the form of one, but my true identity is something entirely different, something that I am ashamed of because of what it represents."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Closing her eyes, she stood up. She shapeshifted her form, doubling in size while rotating her gemstone. Stunned, Greg looked in awe at the woman who stood before him. Her hair was less curly, less long, and more light and fluffy, and her eyes were deep pink with strangely shaped pupils. While Rose had retained her lipstick, she had darker pink skin and a vastly different outfit. It consisted of long magenta gloves, puffy sleeves and shorts, white tights, and pink slippers with floating pom poms.
"Woah…" Greg said, blushing. "Rose, this is your true form? You're so… so… beautiful! I mean, not that you weren't before, but it just seems so… you! I don't think my eyes have ever seen a more gorgeous sight…" he said dreamily, blushing and absolutely smitten.
"What!?" she exclaimed, shocked and confused. "But I'm not- why would you say that? This is the person I used to be, and I've made awful, awful mistakes."
"Rose, it doesn't matter to me that-"
"No! It should absolutely matter!" she said, cutting him off. Realizing her mistake, she sat down and took another deep breath. "I'm sorry. But I'm really not the person you think I am."
Guilty and dismayed, she said, "Greg, remember how I told you that I had to start a Rebellion, and turn against my Homeworld to save this planet?"
"Yeah, of course I do," he replied.
"Well, I'm the reason why this planet was invaded in the first place." She sighed and continued, "I was known as Pink Diamond, and I was a part of the Diamond Authority. There were four of us, White Diamond, Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, and myself. We were the rulers of gemkind."
"Wow!" Greg exclaimed. "You were gem royalty?"
"Yes, and Pearl was my servant. Back then, I wanted nothing more than to have a world of my own, to have an army and spaceships to command. All I wanted to do was to be like the other Diamonds, because that's what we were supposed to do, we were supposed to lead, and that was my destiny. I embraced it for a time, and I fully regret that."
"Why?"
"Because I realized how much it was harming the native life here! I think I already told you this," Pink said. "I started a rebellion as a Rose Quartz, but as a Diamond, I begged the others to let me leave the planet, numerous times. They wouldn't listen, and so I had to cut all my ties with Homeworld. I thought my rebellion was successful, but then they corrupted all the gems on the Earth, with the exception of myself, Pearl, and Garnet. That's what we've been doing ever since, capturing monsters across the world, in the hopes that I will be able to heal them someday." Tears streamed down Pink's face again. "But I've never been successful. It's one Diamond against three."
"Rose, or Pink, or whatever you'd prefer," Greg started. "We've all made mistakes before. The important thing is that you've changed. You saved the lives of so many people on this planet. And giving up your status? That must've been a real sacrifice for you."
"But everything is my fault! If it wasn't for me, there wouldn't have been any kindergartens destroying this planet! If it weren't for my rebellion, the lives of thousands of gems would've been spared! I'm an awful leader."
"And if it weren't for you, you never would have inspired those gems to fight for their freedom! I wouldn't have met you, and I wouldn't be starting a family with you," Greg replied.
Pink chuckled. "Oh Greg," she softly said. "I couldn't have asked for a better father for our child. I don't understand how you can overlook everything I did."
"The important thing is that you were honest with me," he said. "But Rose," Greg continued, "Are you sure you want to keep this secret? I won't tell, but I think you should tell Garnet and Amethyst. You've been friends for thousands of years, and like you said, don't you think they deserve to be told the truth?"
"They wouldn't trust me anymore," said Pink. "My gems, they fought for a brave warrior who arose from humble origins, not some cowardly Diamond who ran away from her responsibilities. I don't want to ruin that."
"But what about our unborn child? Shouldn't he or she know the truth about you?"
"I hope it never comes to that," Pink said seriously. "I don't want them to grow up being burdened with this kind of knowledge of my past. I want my child to live their life as they see fit, exploring whatever possibilities they want! They'll be able to grow and change and love and live, and be whoever they want!"
Greg sighed. "Okay. But just so you know, truth can have funny ways of making itself known. You're better off telling your friends than keeping it secret."
The wind picked up, flew through the air, and cooled everything down. Greg looked at Rose Quartz, or rather, Pink diamond, and she looked back at him. He turned on the radio and went to a station playing romantic music.
"Well," Greg said. "May I have this dance? To remembering our past and looking forward to the future."
Pink giggled and gladly accepted. They danced a slow, sweet, dance, but everything was different now that she was twice as tall as Greg as opposed to only being a little taller. He didn't mind though. In fact, he relished in that one moment, two lovers who were so different and yet so similar, spending this short time to look back and remember where they came from. Neither knew what the future held, but both eagerly embraced the future possibilities of their love and of their unborn child.