Steven had done everything to complete his day: Picking up mail from Jamie, band practice with Sadie and the cool kids, gaming at the arcade (and miraculously not being banned in the process), and visiting Lars on Homeworld. As he climbed back through Lion and thumped on the floor, he could definitely conclude that he was tired. It was just his luck the bed was only a few steps away, but to him it felt like traversing the Sahara desert. But with renewed bravery, he stood boldly and took the challenge... of going to bed.
"Ahh, good night Lion..." he said, yawning and collapsing into the toasty warmth of his bed as Lion let out a small yawn of mutual tiredness. He managed to pass into the realm of unconsciousness before his head even hit the pillow, at which point his mind would get the chance to relax in dreamland. He assumed it would another typical journey of eating cookie cats with Dogcopter and maybe fighting some robonoids with Connie: Ordinary things. In fact, that seemed to be the case for a short while, but then something shifted.
The dream trembled like an earthquake and threw Steven out of balance. The whole world began to collapse around him without warning, leaving him lying helplessly on his back. He wanted to escape this, but his mind was stuck. No amount of daily distractions or pleasant dreams could avoid the truth. Cracks appeared everywhere as the emerging nightmare chipped away at the wall he put up to hide. There was no time or place, only the domain that he had to face. With a crash, the wall soon fell down, the dream had died, and Steven was left alone with everything he wanted to not think about. It consumed him.
The jolt should have surely thrown him into a standard nightmare, or maybe even awake, but this was different. No night or day, no up or down, no sense or place. This was The Truth. The whole world had been undone like a delicate bow, and the new world that replaced it was nothing but a lone figure. He gasped as he witnessed a face he hadn't seen for what felt like lifetimes, someone who was obviously on his mind and troubling him, and there was no escape. She coldly stared into his soul with a face of blue and wings of water, wanting him to go away it seemed. Any rational part of him would do just that, but his inner mind was obsessed. Against his will, he was pulled closer.
Closer and closer he came, feeling like he was travelling millions of miles at once, but when he arrived, there was no more face. Instead what he saw seemed to be a desolate wasteland, except there wasn't even much of that. Everything felt cramped and tiny, with the illusion of only getting smaller with each passing second. There was a fuzzy outline shape-shifting in front of him, trying to find a form, trying to find an identity, but failing. What did it all mean? Steven couldn't even think, but he knew one thing: He had to escape. Before he knew it, it was the only thing on his mind.
Whatever he did seemed to work, as soon the world faded around him. The horrible nightmare was coming to an end, but just before he snapped out of that reality, a voice spoke out, "There's no hiding, Lapis!"
Awake. He was most definitely awake now, but things didn't seem right. He didn't feel the warmth of bedsheets around him, or the familiar sounds of the distant ocean. It seemed oddly... silent. But that wasn't all that was amiss. He could tell he felt extremely cold, yet for some reason it didn't bother him much, and when he opened his eyes, they didn't feel like his. Then there was the sight that those eyes brought him. Space, once more, filled his vision like a familiar friend... or foe. But the surroundings brought something a lot more familiar. The sight of tires, wooden planks, and various bizarre sculptures dawned the truth on Steven immediately.
"I'm in the barn? What?" He said, or at least, he thought he did. Moving his mouth felt weird. Doing everything felt weird. Then when he decided to look downwards, things only became weirder. As he looked at his arms, legs, body, there was no doubt about it. He had transported into the body of Lapis Lazuli. He thought he was yelling in shock, but once again nothing. Of course it was obvious to Steven what happened, but what he couldn't grasp was how it happened. How had he made himself travel millions upon millions of miles through space through just a dream? Reaching Lapis underwater across the Earth was already extraordinary, but this was something else. Steven felt this new body around again, feeling unsettled and disoriented with just about everything, before trying to properly think things through.
"I'm not floating..." He said, jumping a few times to prove his statement. Of course, he could float, but he didn't have the faintest idea how to use those water wings, or really any of Lapis' powers. "Of course!" He said while facepalming, which hurt a surprising amount. "Gems don't float because they adjust their weight," he continued. It was then that he found nothing but pure silence accompanying his remarks. This prompted another facepalm, as he finally realised that sound can't travel in space. (He concluded that the drowsiness was getting to him.) It seemed wrong though. He could remember talking to Eyeball through his bubble. "Maybe Lapis is deaf?" He failed to say. There had to be a logical explanation for this dilemma, and he felt like he was missing an impor-
"The water!" He mimed, running over to the edge of the barn. Outside he could see floating chunks of water slowly and loosely circling the barn. Of course, with all of Lapis' powers gone, the barn was no longer being flown through space, and simply remained stationary along with all the water that came with it. As he stared onwards, he also noticed it was gradually starting to freeze up from the bitter chill that outer space brought. This was already a lot for Steven to take in, but then it only got worse as, with a gasp, he fell to his knees, suddenly feeling weaker inside. Something was welling inside the very gem he possessed, and now he shook in fear with a body he didn't own, in a barn away from home, in the middle of barren nowhere. It was enough to bring tears to his eyes, but this only led the feeling to get stronger and completely take him over.
At once, the tears stopped. At once, their face took on a much more confident and determined expression. They didn't say anything though, and instead took to manipulating the water around them until it warmed once again and shielded the barn from top to bottom in a neat and elegant bubble, spinning at high speeds and carrying the lost piece of human culture across the stars. The silence was now vanquished, instead replaced with a smooth ambience and the sound of sloshing water, which now blocked the light out even further. This was their soundscape. In response to this, they swiftly took a match and flicked it against a series of lanterns adorning the floating establishment. Suddenly, everything in the room looked more lively. Everything but the person standing within it. Who were they? They simply stared out into the cosmos, apathetically travelling to a place and time that was still uncertain.
Lapis breathed in the empty space around her, thankful to apparently have her body back. It was a painful fight, but she couldn't let her gem be tortured any longer. She was sure it was Steven who had possessed her, but that only raised more questions. Even as she took deep breaths, she still had to shake off the shock of what happened. If it had been any other gem, they may have been traumatised, but she just needed some time. Time that wasn't going to come. Not 5 minutes after its departure, the feeling welled up inside her gem again. Soon afterwards, Steven came back.
"Augh! How?" She said, confused and a little annoyed. It didn't make sense how his mind could exist with hers at the same time. It felt wrong, and the severe pain in her gem certainly proved that feeling right. "It's you isn't it, Steven? Why are you i-inside me?!" She almost choked out.
"I-I just had a dream about you and then ended up here..." Her voice said back to her, still just as confused and lost. She couldn't be mad at him, but this was the last thing she needed.
"Why can't you crystal gems just leave me alone?" She said. Her voice was starting to shake now. Steven took a moment to think about this, before making the most logical argument he could think of.
"Because... you are a crystal gem, Lapis," he said, making her smile a little against her will, which soon got corrected to a look of slight disgust. Another wave of pain was sent through their shared gem, this time hurting both of them.
"But Steven, this is wrong. You can't have two people sharing one gem. It's hurting me, and it's risking both of us being killed. You must go back now!" She almost screamed the last part, making herself back away in fear.
"I don't know how to!" Her voice responded. Their body convulsed in agony as a war waged for control. Neither of them wanted to fight, but the nature of the situation left no other choice. Steven's last words left both of them in silence, save for the occasional groan of pain. At times, they looked guilty for what was happening...
The instability soon forced them to sit down in the barn. Even controlling the water was hard now, as gaps started to periodically appear in the bubble. Another minute of this passed, and Steven couldn't bear the tension any longer.
"N-nice view from here?" He said.
"It's not that special for a gem," she quickly snapped back. Steven decided not to try small talk again. Now it was up to Lapis to decide to speak, which almost made her feel like she was back to her normal self if it wasn't for the sharp pains that still persisted. As much as she loved being silent, this could not go on for much longer. She had to somehow get Steven back to his original body. "Has this ever happened before?" She said, sounding a little hopeful.
"Yeah, with Lars," he said, perking up a little.
"How did you wake yourself up then?"
"Well, I went over to my house in Lars' body and kinda, shook my body around until it woke up I guess."
"What?" Lapis said, her fingers trembling and her voice almost cracking. "If you're implying what I think you are..."
"Going home? Maybe. I mean, that might be the only way we can fix this problem," Steven said, making his new body shrug a little. This shrug was soon replaced by an exasperated look of panic in their face as Lapis began screaming internally.
"Y-you planned this, didn't you?" She said in wavering tones.
"What are you talking about?"
"You wanted to possess me just so you could bring me home." She paused for a second, "It's not even my home!" She shouted, her voice echoing in the barn. The water was unstable and risking collapse at any moment. 30 long seconds passed in silence as both of them felt like they were about to tear apart.
"Please, Lapis, just try to stay calm. I didn't mean for this to happen, I swear!" He said.
"Then how did you get here? You were dreaming about me, you said."
"I-I know..." He struggled to explain himself, "I was dreaming about you, because I miss you." Steven waited for Lapis to respond, but no such thing happened, so he continued, "I do want you to come back, but I never meant for this to happen. I'm sorry," he finished. A tear rolled down their face, clashing against the dry deck of the makeshift spaceship. Starlight briefly glimmered through the cage of water as it began to settle down. For a brief second, Steven felt like he could be back at Beach City, relaxing by the waves.
"Steven," she began. "You can't stay here. Please, just forget about me," she said.
"No Lapis, come on. The gems will probably wake me in the next 12 hours," he said, another tear rolling down.
"We can't stay like this any longer. This is too unstable."
"But how do I get back home?"
"I'll make you," Lapis said. Her tone was deadly in its coldness. Steven couldn't help but take it as a threat. Without warning, she stood up and concentrated hard. Her gem glowed, and Steven could feel himself losing control rapidly. His mind was squeezed through an increasingly thinning tube, an exit he was forced to take, but still he held on.
"Lapis, please promise me you'll come back," he said, straining to use his friend's voice.
"I made my choice. I'm sorry, but this is for the best," she said as she struggled to fight against Steven. Even with her strength, ejecting him was no easy task.
"It's not for the best! Peridot misses you. All your friends just want you to come back," he yelled. It was getting harder to hold on with each passing second. Tears were flowing now, but nothing could be done. The water outside fell into chaos and the barn tilted slightly as it was thrown off balance.
"My friends will die if they stay on earth to fight Homeworld!" She said, turning her head away. Her movements faltered with each protest Steven made. "I don't want to lose everything again..." And at that moment, she focussed with all her might. Steven's fate was sealed.
"Lapis! Lapis!" He shouted his last words with her voice as he felt himself lose all control. Even with all his strength, there was no coming back. His one chance to get his friend back was over, and now he had to return home. His mind passed back into the dream, back into the long ride to his own body.
"Just leave me. It's better this way," Lapis spoke. Her mind fell into despair as she forced herself to be alone once more, without friends, and without company. She tried to push away what he had said. She tried to ignore all her time spent with Peridot, with the gems, and with Steven. It seemed useless though, and instead she regained control of the water, got the barn moving again, and curled into a tight ball.
Steven's journey back to Earth was quicker than his journey to the barn. He was jolted from his sleep by impulse, and soon afterwards he was crying. Not long afterwards, Pearl and the other gems came to his side and asked what happened. He tried his best to explain, still hoping inside that maybe it was just a crazy dream, but he knew it was all too real. After a few minutes and a heartfelt talk, he felt calmer. A little later, and the gems left him to go back to sleep with lion once again by his side. He knew Lapis had most likely locked him out now, so there was no use in trying to contact her again. It was really painful anyway, he decided. Before nodding off again, Steven took one last glimpse out the window into the stars above, and sent a wish.
Out on the rim of the solar system, Lapis finally felt calm enough to sit up again. She decided to pass the time by making a window in her water bubble and staring out into the vast cosmos around her. Part of her wished she hadn't ejected Steven so harshly, but it was too late now. There was no turning back, right? As her feelings weighed her to the ground, she sighed and turned her eyes to a lively blue speck in the distance. "Nice view from here..."