The sky was a cool baby blue, dotted with white, puffy clouds. The sun rays bounced off the dull rocks teasingly, while a gentle breeze would weave in and out of each individual blade of grass and caress the dirt, while above the ground, seagulls would glide on the weak gust of wind, white wings stretched out beside them as each feather - each one withholding a purpose - slid along the wind, directing the bird in different directions as their eyes scanned the ground in search of abandoned food scraps.

On the ledge of a cliff, settled just behind the rim of a large statue's hair, lay to figures. Both of them were gazing at the clouds as they drifted overhead, ever so slowly. Occasionally, the slimmer figure would point out a familiar face staring back at them through the evaporated water, before letting her arm drop back onto the grass.

Today was beautiful. It was days like these that the citizens of Beach City had come to appreciate. Yet… there was an eerie silence lingering in the air. A sound was missing.

"Steven?"

The boy blinked, jerking his head away from the cloud hovering thousands of feet above him. His brown eyes landed on his friend lying next to him, who was staring at him with a concerned look.

"Yeah, Connie?"

"You've been awfully quiet…" she said, furrowing her brow. "Are you alright?"

Steven visibly tensed up and he tore his gaze away from her.

"Uh… yeah. I'm fine." He forced a cheerful tone. It came out flat.

He heard the grass rustle as the girl sat up, staring him down with empathetic eyes.

"Steven… is this about…" she clenched her teeth nervously, debating whether or not to finish what she was about to say. "The other day?"

The other day. It didn't need a name - Steven knew what day she was talking about. He sighed, defeated, and threw his arms back so that they would land on the ground, stretched out beside his head.

"Yeah…"

Connie shifted herself so that her legs would be crossed, and that she would be facing him directly. Steven chanced looking back at her, but didn't move from his position.

"Who were they all, anyway? I-I mean…" She fiddled with her thumbs anxiously. "One of them was Jasper, right? What happened to her?"

Steven exhaled, before pushing himself off of the grass, some pieces clinging to his curly hair and the salmon-pink fabric of his shirt. Connie looked as if she were about to take back what she had just said, but he interrupted her.

"She became corrupted," he replied sadly, leaning his arms on his knees. His fluttered her lashes.

"Corrupted? Like, she became a monster?"

He nodded, his head practically being dragged up and down. "I… I tried to help her. I wanted to try and heal her before it got any worse, but she just wouldn't listen! I…" He gulped. "I failed her…"

Connie gaze oozed with pity. She brought up her hand and placed it on his shoulder.

"But you tried. That's what matters. It's not your fault that she wouldn't let you do anything!" Yet, one thing still didn't make sense to her. "I just don't understand why she didn't let you..."

Steven pouted, his eyes glistening. "Just… a lot of things to do with my mom." He shrugged. "I learned a lot of stuff about her that week… and not good stuff."

He was more than grateful that she didn't press on with that subject - it was something he needed more time to process before he talked about it with anyone.

"Maybe it would've been different, though. If they saw me as Steven instead of her," he murmured, his hand moving down to grip his navel. "That's why it all happened." His brown eyes trailed into the distance, beyond Beach City below them. Connie followed wherever his gaze took him, her own pupils landing on the countryside miles away from where they sat.

"That's why Peridot and Lapis became my friends. They see me as Steven, not Rose Quartz."

Connie's gaze flickered back to Steven, who still had his eyes on the lush hills in the distance.

"Can't you change their minds?" she asked. The boy bit the inside of his cheek.

"Well… I doubt I'll ever see Eyeball again-" he turned to face her, "-she was the Ruby with one eye. And Bismuth… I don't know." His eyes grew watery again. "Maybe one day, but… I just don't know."

She tilted her head to the side. "Did she come from Homeworld?"

Steven shook his head. "That's just it. She's a Crystal Gem, but…" He squeezed his eyes shut. "She might lash out at me. I mean, so would Eyeball and Jasper, but they have somewhere to go afterwards. Bismuth wouldn't."

He knew that Connie was completely lost to what story was behind Bismuth being poofed, but she decided against asking.

"And… I guess Jasper's out the question." She tucked her knees under her chin and draped her arms around her calves.

Steven chewed on his lip, looking unsure. "I wouldn't say that… I mean, I was close to healing a corrupted gem."

Connie widened her eyes. "What? When was this?" She edged forward, the new information intriguing her.

Steven blinked, surprised by her reaction. "Oh. I never told you?"

She shook her head.

"Oh… sorry. It didn't end very well, so I guess I just… didn't wanna talk about it." He saw her face drop, which urged him to add, "But I'll tell you now! I mean, it didn't go as I planned, but she's happy."

Her expression lit up. "That's good! And who's 'she'?"

A corner of his mouth picked up. "'She' is Centipeetle. I mean, that's not her actual name, but I named her back when I released her accidently…"

He proceeded to tell the story about how he had befriended the centipede-like gem on one of his earlier missions, only for her to sacrifice herself and get poofed once again. Then he told her about how he had tried to heal her with his healing spit, how it had only half-worked, but still worked. Connie's eyes shone at the part about their blooming friendship, but a frown formed when he got to the part about her reverting back to her corrupted state. Eventually she found her smile again, once he got to the end about Centi finally finding her crew after thousands of years. In fact, that part warranted some tears. Steven took note of this, and arched a brow.

"Are you okay?" he questioned, beginning to regret revealing the story of his corrupted bud.

She nodded, grinning and wiping her tears with the back of her hand, then wiped the liquid on the grass.

"That's so sweet… how her crew waited for her after all those years."

Steven smiled gingerly. "Yeah… it is." Then he frowned again. "I wish Jasper had a crew that was waiting for her…"

"But didn't she come with a- oh..." She stopped herself as she answered her own question. "They're not really her crew anymore, are they?"

"Honestly? Out of all the gems on Earth, it's those two that I wouldn't dare let her approach," he grunted.

"Really?" Both of her brows picked up. "You don't think she'd be more mad at you guys instead of them?"

He gritted his teeth, his head sinking between his shoulders. "Well… one of them was the one who poofed her, while the other… erm… well, I told you about Malachite, didn't I?"

She pursed her lips. "Yeah, I guess." She fiddled with her fingers. "So you don't think you can heal Jasper, then?"

Steven gripped the grass, his digits curling up, nails digging into the dirt. "I don't know. I don't know much about corruption and how it works, but…" He squinted. "She wasn't corrupted like the others. She just kinda… caught it. Like a disease."

Connie remained silent, but Steven could see curiousity seep into her expression.

"She fused with a corrupted gem, she wasn't damaged by the Diamonds like Centipeetle was," he briefly explained. Connie gave a nod of understanding, allowing him to continue. "I mean, I could try, but I don't know what would happen afterwards. She didn't want my help because she thought I was manipulating her to join our side."

She was taken aback at this. "That's ridiculous!" she exclaimed. "You're not manipulative! You're kind, caring and just want to help!" The corners of her eyes creased as she offered a warm smile. Steven couldn't help but blush, as her smile was contagious.

"Heh… thanks, Connie," he chuckled shyly. "And, yeah. I'd never manipulate anyone to join our side. I love making new friends, and would love it even more if they stayed with us forever, but if don't want to do that, I can't make them." His gaze flickered off into the distance again, towards the barn that Lapis and Peridot had settled in. "I just want to help. If they don't wanna be my friend afterwards… that's okay. I just don't want to leave them when I'm able to do something that can help them."

Connie gazed at him thoughtfully. "Why don't you just tell Jasper that?" she suggested. Steven stared at her with uncertainty.

"Would she believe me?" he wondered. She shrugged.

"It's worth a try, right?" She smiled sheepishly. "You can try and heal her, and if it works, then maybe she'll at least thank you."

The idea was appealing to Steven. "Maybe, but…" The image of a half-healed Centipeetle flashed in his mind. "I doubt it would work completely. Even if she wasn't corrupted by the Diamonds, I doubt my healing spit could heal Jasper so that she would be back to normal. I don't even know if she would be able to speak!"

The two stared at nothing as they thought of all the different possibilities, different outcomes to such an idea. What if Jasper didn't heal at all? What is some of her healed, but not enough that she could be kept un-poofed? What if she lashed out at Steven or anyone else before he could explain his intentions?

But what if it worked?

"...I'll think about it," Steven finally said. Connie glanced up at him, surprised, but clearly pleased.

"You're gonna do it?"

"Maybe," he corrected her. "I have to talk to- or, maybe persuade them to give it a chance."

His friend chuckled. "Yeah, I can imagine." She craned her neck up to look at the sky, and gasped, her finger shooting to somewhere behind Steven.

"Oh, that one looks like a lizard!" she proclaimed. He swung his head around, searching the sky frantically for what she was directing him towards, until he finally saw a cloud that held a rough shape of the slim body of a lizard.

"Oh yeah, I see it!"

They sat there for what was left of this beautiful day, Steven's joyful voice now accompanying the faint sound as the waves lapped onto the shore below them. All the while, thoughts of Jasper buzzing in Steven's mind, as much as he tried to distract himself with the shapes the clouds painted.

It's worth a try, right?