Chapter 1
Greg and the the gems clustered around Rose in the makeshift maternity ward they had converted the cave into as they watched her form start to glow and crumble away. She smiles at each of them and gives a slight wave before she finally leans back in the bed and closes her eyes, her form crumbles away piece by piece as if it were comprised of dust until her physical form was no more. The group sits there in silence as tears stream down their faces. Their grief was interrupted by the cry of a young child bearing a pink gem half the size of his head that had been left in the place of the once mighty gem. Greg stares at his lap for a moment as he listens to the crying child before he finally gets up and walks to his son. The new father wipes the tears from his face and does his best to smile warmly at the young boy before he picks him up and wraps in a blanket, he then states calmly "Hey there, it's nice to meet ya Steven."
Garnet turns to face Greg and stares down at the child with her usual stoic demeanor. She slowly extends a hand towards the newborn only to find him wrap his small fingers around her hand. She lets out a weak chuckle and states "Hey there cutie pie." Amethyst walks over and inspects the young child but remains silent. Without saying a single word Pearl walks out of the room, Garnet purses her lips and releases Steven's hand before following after the pale gem leaving Amethyst and Greg alone with Steven.
The night went on and the pair remained in utter silence until Amethyst looks to Greg and mumbles "So man...How are ya holding up?" Greg glances over to her and laughs exclaiming "How do you think I'm holding up Amethyst. My kid was just born, and my wife just went up in a puff of smoke! As it stands the only reason I'm holding myself together is so that I can come up with a plan as to what I'm going to do next!" Startled by the sudden noise Steven starts crying. Greg jumps and exclaims "Oh! I'm sorry little guy, there's no need to cry. Please stop crying." He lifts Steven up and down before his eyes start to well up and he is forced to wipe the tears away, he had to stay strong for his kid, but this attempt fails and they flow freely down his face. "Come on now, please stop crying...Please."
Amethyst glances over to Greg and states "I'll take him off your hands for a sec G-man... Just... make yourself respectable." She watches Greg nod pitifully and he then hands Steven over to her. When he had first been born she hadn't known what to make of the little guy. She wanted to hate him! After all he had just taken Rose from them, but then she held him in her arms, she listened to him cry and no matter how much she wanted to, she just couldn't. 'You never wanted any of this huh little guy, you never wanted to be made. Rose was the one who made that choice.' She glares at Greg for a brief moment before the thought crosses her mind 'Because of him.' She pushes that train of thought off to the side for now, Steven needed them "Yo Greg, you good dude? This little guy is getting heavy."Greg nods and wipes the tears from his face.
By the time Greg had calmed down Steven had gotten comfortable in Amethyst's arms and it took a few minutes for him to return to a restful state of sleep, once they were sure that he was calm they carefully passed him off. He barely noticed being moved around as Amethyst returned Steven to his father. Greg tightens Steven's blanket and cradles him in his arms. Amethyst then sits down beside him and states "So Greg what do ya plan to do now?" Greg shrugs "Well Vidalia's offered to let us stay in her place, and if that doesn't work out...Well I don't really know what I'm gonna do. The van isn't really a good place to raise a kid." He runs his free hand through his hair and glances at Amethyst who just shrugs "Well man, I'm sure you'll figure somethin' out. In the mean time, I guess me and Garnet will try our best to give ya a hand when we can. The least we can do is keep Pearl off of your back." Greg chuckles and exclaims "Good luck with that! She was bad enough when Rose and I had been together for a few years!" Amethyst cackles in response "Dude you didn't have to live with her! Almost every day of that first year or two she'd whine about some little thing. She was nearly as unbearable as you and Rose."
Greg chuckles and yet the mood slowly takes on a far more somber turn. He glances over to Amethyst and mumbles "Look I'm really sorry about this. Pearl was right, me and Rose..." Amethyst interrupts him by holding up a hand. She glares angrily at him and states harshly "Dude. Don't even go down that route. What's done is done. Besides ya made Rose happy." She glances at Steven and to change the subject she asks, "How's the little guy doing anyway?" Greg glances down at the bundle he held in his arms "Oh he's fine, just snoozing like a champ." Amethyst nods and creeps in to get a look at the child as he slept. Amethyst then glances at Greg who seemed to be dozing off as well and states "Hey man, go get some sleep I'll keep an eye on things." Greg glances at the purple gem and whispers"But what if he gets hungry?" Amethyst winks at him and studies her fingernails as she states states nonchalantly "Look I'm the one gem who actually eats often. I might not have been reading those books you, Rose, and Pearl were always staring at, but I can read instructions on a box well enough, and I know my food. Besides you're a human, you guys need to sleep. I on the other hand might like it, but I don't need it." Greg nods and lies in the sand leaving Amethyst and Steven on the bed he had set up in the van. Amethyst proceeds to transform into a cat and wrap herself around the newborn to keep him warm.
Garnet calmly walks into the temple and allows her future vision to guide her to Pearl. All the while poisonous thoughts tore through her mind and threatened to tear the fusion apart. 'We knew this would happen. We showed it to her. We caused this.' She shakes her head and hardens herself, 'Such self pity will not change what had happened. The only course we have is to move forward. The oath that they had taken when they had sworn themselves to Rose so long ago still held true. They were the crystal gems, and they would protect this world. Even without her here.' With that she continues to delve deeper into the temple with the aim of consoling her last surviving friend who had fought at their leader's side during the war. The tunnel opened up into a vast cavern filled with pillars of water which rose to grand heights. In the center of the room was a single pillar which towered above the others and a figure could be seen sitting on the edge.
Pearl sat at the edge of her waterfall staring at the abyss before her. She had nothing. She was nothing. The one being who had granted her freedom all those years ago was gone. She was gone because she had been weak. She was gone because after everything they had fought for, after everything they had seen, no matter how many times she had told her that it wasn't true. "I'm just a Pearl." She closed her eyes and slowly but surely she started to slide over the side of the waterfall. Her gem would probably survive the fall of course, there was more than enough water below to cushion her fall, but in this instance that fact did not matter. Just as she started falling a hand grabbed her shoulder and tore her from the jaws of the abyss. Garnet looked at her friend and removed her glasses. The triclops wrapped her arms around Pearl and states calmly "No you're not... You're part of this family. You are a crystal gem."
Pearl sniffs and states "We aren't the crystal gems anymore. Not without her." She then returns the hug. Garnet glares at her and states authoritatively "Just because Rose is gone does not mean that her message does not stand Pearl, that does not mean that her legacy will be forgotten. It is still our duty to protect the earth from our mistakes. It is still our duty to protect the humans from..." Pearl steps away from Garnet and screams "The humans are the ones who did this, they tore us apart!" She summons her spear and prepares an energy blast. Yet Garnet simply stands there and makes the simple statement "No they aren't... What put us in this state is Rose's choice, and your refusal to accept it. She told you months ago that this was going to happen, but you did not want to believe it. You refused to prepare yourself and now you are letting yourself think that you are hurting far more than the rest of us." Her expression softens and she continues, "Pearl please believe me, these times will be trying, the monsters that our fallen comrades have become will not stop causing harm to this world, I have seen our old technology become active once again. Rose's child will also need our help as well. We need to stand together now more than ever. It's what Rose would have wanted." Pearl snarls and sends the blast hurtling towards Garnet exclaiming "What do you know!"
Garnet takes the blast to the chest and finds herself hurled off of the waterfall and slammed into one of the other pillars. She swims to the top and calmly jumps back to the central pillar "Pearl." She reaches out to her old friend with one of her hands. Pearl stiffens for a moment and turns away from Garnet, she then returns to her perch atop the pillar. Garnet covers her face with her glasses and sits down on the side opposite of Pearl. Pearl will calm down eventually, all they have to do is wait.