Chapter 1: A New Discovery
"I-I can't believe it!"
Steven was walking on the beach with Connie.
"What is it, Steven?" Connie asked. Steven motioned Connie over to where he was standing. "Wow,
Steven!" Connie said. It was a Dogcopter poster, a movie/book franchise that Steven and Connie both liked.
"You should have it, Connie," Steven said. "Sure, it's a sketchy poster we found on the beach, but there isn't even any sand on it!"
Connie shook her head. "No thanks, Steven." she kindly. "You can have it. My parents don't let me have posters in my room. Besides, you were the one that found it."
"Wow, thanks Connie!" he said. He was going to pick it up, but then Connie's cell phone rang.
"Oh no, it's my parents. I was supposed to be home 5 minutes ago!" she said. "They're going to be so mad! Goodbye Steven!" Connie dashed off. Steven was about to say goodbye, but she ran off before he could even say it.
"Connie..." he said under he said under his breath. She was... such a perfect person. He knew that they had always been such great friends, but... maybe there was something more. He shook it off as a crazy idea and picked up the poster. It was a Dogcopter 3 in 3D theatrical poster. "Wow, this is so cool!" Steven exclaimed. He wondered where it came from. He picked it up. But as he was walking off, he saw a shimmering blue jewel in the sand. It must have been under the poster! Steven picked up the gem and examined it. It had a large crack on it! That's when he realized-it was Lapis Lazuli! "I have to heal her!" he whispered to himself. "Sorry Lapis, this may be a little weird..." He drooled over the crack on the gemstone. Suddenly, the crack was gone! The gemstone began to glow. It transformed into... Lapis Lazuli!
"Steven... you… saved me twice!' She hugged Steven, tears in her eyes.
"Lapis... I thought you were gone..." Steven whispered. "How did you survive?"
"When I pulled Jasper down under the ocean, we unfused. Jasper and I battled. I won, but it was a close call. Jasper died, she just couldn't fight while I had the powers of the ocean at my expense. But I took too much damage. My life force faded, and I knew I couldn't stay a cracked gem forever. I just hoped that someone, you, would fix me. I-I-" She burst into tears like a child that got hurt on the playground. "I was so scared, Steven. I thought that I wouldn't survive!" She continued to sob over his shoulder.
"It's OK, Lapis… it's all over now." He broke the long, awkward hug. "Lapis, I-I just don't know what to say… I'm just so glad that you're back!"
Lapis wiped the tears from her eyes. "Steven, I-" Lapis quickly snapped into a serious disposition. "What are you going to tell the other gems?
"I don't know. I know they don't exactly, um, well-"
"Trust me…" Lapis continued.
"Well, yeah. But I think I can figure something out… maybe."
"Just talk to them. I'm sure they can trust me now, after I turned on Jasper like that. And if not, it's not like they can exactly stop me." she said confidently, although Steven could see that she wasn't exactly sure. "After all, where else will I go?"
"Yeah, I suppose." Steven said quietly. "All we can do is hope."
Steven now realized that Lapis was… a true friend. After everything that happened, from the mirror, to the ship, to now, he couldn't allow anything bad to happen to her. He was the only one that truly understood her. And he knew that if the gems laid a finger on her, he would do anything to protect her.