"I'm coming, I'm coming."
Whoever was on the other side of her door had to be trying to sell her something. Sadie couldn't imagine anybody coming over to her house for any other reason.
Steeling herself to inform the salesperson to try another house, Sadie opened her door and froze.
On her doorstep was one of the last people she thought she'd see again. She should hug him. Or shake him for doing something so boneheadedly stupid.
Instead, she stood there staring at him like an idiot. A gem monster could crash through her house and she doubted she'd react to it.
"….Steven?"
"H-Hi Sadie…"
Sadie peered over him in case the other person who'd got taken to space was hiding somewhere behind him.
"Where's Lars?"
Something hard and cold jabbed itself into her heart as Steven flinched at Lars name.
"T-There's something I have to tell you."
Steven Universe. The kid who always came into the Big Doughnut with the biggest smile on his face. Who always had some corny joke. Who could always find the bright side in anything-had come to tell her Lars was dead.
Sadie closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her door wide enough for Steven to come through.
"Why don't you…why don't you come in a-and tell me what happened."
Steven just nodded as he quietly entered her home.
…
They were in her room. Both sitting on her bed, right next to each other but the heavy silence between them was enough to make it feel as if they were a world apart.
Seeing Steven this quiet hurt nearly as much as the knowage the Lars was dead. Sadie couldn't imagine how hard it must be for him to figure out a way to express what had to have been a horrifying thing to witness.
He hadn't been able to watch a horror movie but he had had to watch a friend die.
Swallowing, Sadie forced a small smile. She couldn't make this talk easier, but maybe she could ease them into it.
"So, how'd you get home? Did the Gems fly a spaceship and get you?"
"No. I got home through Lars."
Shit.
That made things even worse then. The idiot had probably gotten killed sacrificing himself to get Steven home.
If Lars wasn't already dead and on some alien planet, she'd smack him.
"Oh. Uh-"
"He was awesome! Lars and I had escaped from the diamonds-they're the ones who want to kill me, well my mom, but they think I'm my mom-and we ran into some other gems who were in hiding. And everything was going okay until these robots came in to shatter everyone but Lars saved us cuz he doesn't have a gem so the robots couldn't see him and…"
Steven trailed off as he gazed at the carpet.
It was such a 180 from the excited rambling from just a couple of minutes ago to….this that Sadie didn't know what else to do but pull Steven into a hug.
This had to be the moment Lars had died. He's found his courage and he'd…
"…He….jumped on top of the last of those robots and….. stabbed it with some rubble a-and it blew up while he was still….." Steven sniffed and she rubbed his back.
"You don't have to tell me anymore."
"I do. I promised him I would." Steven took a deep breath. "He…. fell. There was this big spire of rock and he hit it. A few times."
Sadie closed her eyes. Lars was a jerk. But he didn't deserve to die like that. She opened her mouth to say something comforting when something Steven said earlier hit her.
"Steven…how did Lars get you home if he went through all…that?"
For the first time since he'd came over, Steven avoided her gaze.
"Steven?"
"Sadie I'm really really sorry. I didn't mean to, it just happened, I-"
"What happened Steven?"
Steven clenched the sheets on her bed before relaxing his grip. "I-I brought him back to life." He mumbled.
"…What?"
"I brought him back to life!" Steven wailed and not for the first time, Sadie was glad she lived alone.
"So…he's a…zombie now?"
Steven violently shook his head. "He's got a heartbeat. It's just…. really slow now. But he's still the same Lars. Mostly."
"Mostly?"
"He's pink and like Lion where I can….travel through his hair…to a….magic dimension. That's how I got home…H-He insisted…"
"…Are you mad at me?"
"What?! No! I'm just-" Sadie sighed. "It's…a lot to process. That's all. I'm not mad Steven. Promise. I just wish I could see him again."
Steven was quiet for a moment.
"I could…help you see him. I'd have to ask him if was okay, but I could…take him to you. Maybe. I-I don't know if regular humans can go through that dimension-I think so but-"
"Steven."
He looked up at her and it broke her heart to see him looking so dejected.
"I'd love to give it a try."
And for the first time since he'd come over, he gave her a sincere smile. Just like he did before this whole crazy stupid mess with kidnapping gems started.
