The heat from the flames was intense. He wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious, but the battle obviously was still raging around him. An inhuman scream shook him back to reality as the gem hybrid staggered up to his feet.

It had been 10 years since the cluster had been stopped and Malachite dragged herself back into the ocean after Jasper nearly took control in an attempt to crush the crystal gems only to be subdued by Lapis. It was an uneasy truce. They had separated after the news of the impending touchdown of Homeworld's armada, Lapis joining Steven and Jasper rejoining Homeworld. No one was certain how Jasper managed to get off world, but they were even more surprised to see her still holding high rank when she returned with the first fleet of warriors instead of being crushed for cowardice.

The Crystal Gems had known this would happen. A transmission that had been intercepted from another Gem-controlled planet had warned them of it 2 years after the cluster was stopped and they had begun attempts at shoring up their own defenses. When Malachite was unfused 5 years later, Lapis had almost too eagerly thrown herself into training alongside those who were once her enemies. When the armada touched down, most of Beach City had been evacuated, with Greg reluctantly leaving Steven and helping to lead people out of town and to safety.

The humans who stayed were given access to armor and weapons from Rose's armory, but still warned to leave if things got too serious. The last that Steven had seen, Onion, Jenny, and Buck were somewhere near what used to be the pier. They would probably retreat soon. It was OK though. The Crystal Gems had their own army now.

After a near corruption of Peridot 3 years after the destruction of the cluster, they had come up with a way to help the bubbled gems in the temple and any other corrupted gems that they found. They could never have their humanoid forms again, but they were tamed … almost aware of themselves.

It was 5 years ago that Steven almost lost Connie for the first time. During fight with a corrupted gem who had not yet been tamed, something went wrong. Connie got between the gem and Steven who could not summon his shield and was seriously injured.

That was their first kiss. They wouldn't talk about it for a long time after that, focusing more on trying to save the earth instead of their own budding relationship. They each thought that they would have time after the end of the war.

A blast of ice shook Steven out of his reverie once more. Sapphire and Ruby must have split at some point in the battle, he thought. He followed the trail of ice to see the Homeworld Gem, frozen in its' tracks. It poofed in moments, the ice shattering it. He looked back to see Sapphire, a picture of calm rage.

"Where's Ruby?" he asked when he found his voice finally.

Sapphire produced a small, red gem from her dress and then put it back before aiming at a gem that was flanking her.

"You need to go find Connie. She was last seen near a Tourmaline. She will need your help soon," Sapphire said, cooly. "I will be fine."

Steven nodded and ran through the battlefield, shield up and ready.

He looked around, watching former gem monsters, now allies, attacking the Homeworld gems. A bright orb flew over head, landing in a crowd of Homeworld Gems before exploding, immediately shattering the group. Peridot's doing, of course. Pearl had spent many months teaching Peridot to summon a weapon. Peridot had learned to summon orb-like bombs that could be useful in pushing back an enemy. Of all of their allies, Peridot was the most eager to prove herself to the Crystal Gems after all of these years.

A shriek and Steven watched the Centipeedle come in between him and a Moonstone, a more battle ready version of a Pearl. Peridot had told him about their design after intercepting transmissions from Homeworld. She blushed at the explanation of how they used to just be a higher class servant than a Pearl until stories came back about the war for Earth and the Pearl used by the "traitorous Rose Quartz". Now Moonstones were repurposed as elegant warriors, happily kept by many elite gems for protection.

Centipeedle hissed at the Moonstone and spit acid at her, the Moonstone shrieking and producing a spear in response. Centipeedle then tackled the gem, knocking the spear from her hands. Steven could not stop to help however. He made a mental note to check on his first "monster buddy" after the battle.

"Steven!" he heard a cry over the chaos. He turned to see Connie and Pearl, back to back, facing a trio of Rubies. They were very different from the one he was familiar with. Flames shot out of their gauntlets as they formed a triangle around the pair.

"Stay back! We have this!" Pearl cried out as the Rubies drew closer.

"I still think you could use a little help," Steven said before launching his shield at a Ruby's back, slicing through it. The Ruby poofed, causing the other two to direct their attention to Steven. He called his shield back, slicing its way through another Ruby before it returned.

Connie leapt at the final Ruby and cut it down before joining Steven.

"Where have you been?" She asked as she turned to face the Tourmaline that she had escaped.

"I got knocked out by a Beryl. Not sure how long I was out, but I think Garnet took it down before she separated."

"I don't think I can beat this one alone," Connie grinned. "I think Stevonnie might be able to handle this one though."

Steven nodded and joined hands with Connie. They had perfected their fusion dance, much like Garnet's. All they needed was a twirl and they were together. Normally their thoughts were still protected from each other. However, both of them had troubled thoughts going into the fusion. Stevonnie shuddered for a moment before remembering why they were here. They had one purpose - protect each other so they could live to talk out their thoughts later.

The Tourmaline stood, shocked at the fusion of a human and a gem, which gave them a distinct advantage at the start of the skirmish. The Tourmaline swung at Stevonnie with her axe. They dodged the attack and sliced at one of her legs. She screamed in pain and swung around, only to be hit in the face with the shield. She landed a glancing blow on Stevonnie's arm, producing a shallow cut. They growled and leaped at the Tourmaline again, slicing down the middle. She shuddered and poofed.

Stevonnie stood, looking out at the battlefield. They were winning. They knew it.

"Good job!" A mirthful voice called behind them. They turned to see Amethyst, coiling up her whip, "Want to help me take down a Diamond?" she chuckled.

"We'll need more than just the three of us to take her down," They stated, looking out at the battlefield.

Steven and Connie's thoughts were whirling around in their head.

If something were to happen to you, I couldn't go on.

I almost lost you …

Stevonnie grasped their head. The thoughts were almost enough to make her unfuse. This was not the time for their much needed talk.

"Are you going to be OK?" Amethyst asked.

"Yeah. Just thinking … remembering. Let's try and find the others."

Amethyst nodded and the two set out to gather their core group. Pearl was found first, resting after taking out a large Amethyst with her spear. She looked up at Amethyst and Stevonnie and blushed.

"Sorry, Amethyst. I had to -"

"It's cool," she grinned. "That one was bothering me a moment ago before I got distracted by a Moonstone. It's funny, P. They really keep trying to perfect their higher end servant class gems. I think you really scared them with whatever stories Jasper had. Shouldn't try to remake something that already works."

Pearl grinned.

"Pearl, we need to find Sapphire. It might be time to try the Temple Fusion," Stevonnie stated. They were still grappling with their thoughts and emotions. Wait, do you really feel that? Or is that just a side effect of fusing?

"Wait … What about Ruby?" Pearl asked.

"They had to unfuse. Hopefully Ruby has regenerated by now," Stevonnie said.

A cloud of steam erupting from an area near the temple called their attention.

"Looks like she has," Amethyst exclaimed before she began to run to the temple.

They charged past the remaining combatants. There was no sign of the humans that had stayed to help fight. Hopefully, they had left and were safe. It became obvious that the former gem monsters had the remaining Homeworld Gems on the retreat.

They reunited with Ruby and Sapphire who had steamed their attackers back into their gems.

"You want to fuse," Sapphire said upon seeing the group. "I can see many different outcomes, but this may have the most desirable effect. We should tread warily, though," she grimaced. "I see one unfavorable outcome that has a higher chance of actually happening than I would like."

Across the battlefield, Peridot and Lapis were leading the charge of former Gem Monsters towards Jasper's battalion of Rubies. Jasper turned to see them and laughed.

"You foolish clods," she gloated. "Don't you see that ultimately you can never win? Even if you take down Yellow Diamond's armada, there is still White and Blue diamond to deal with. And a Diamond always has someone to take her place. Someone stronger than either of you."

Lapis growled and pulled up a wave from the ocean. "I can drown you once and for all, Jasper. Sink you to depths so low you'll never be able to crawl out."

Jasper turned to see the wave and nodded to a group of 10 rubies who immediately fused and launched a giant, flaming punch at the wave, evaporating it into steam.

"You see, Lapis, things have changed since you were last on Homeworld, as you saw. I hadn't told you that fusion techniques had been improved. Fusing as many gems of the same type as possible as quickly as possible has made it so we can easily overpower you," Jasper laughed.

"Ugh. I'm so sick of this clod!" Peridot groaned. "You're worse than the janitor in Lonely Blade Vee-Eye!"

She launched a bomb at Jasper who activated her helmet and butted it back at Peridot. "Your aim is off, drone," she laughed.

Before Peridot could react, her view was blocked by a blue body. She looked up to see Lapis smile sadly at her, enveloping her with her watery wings.

"You know what to do," she said. "Save Steven."

The shockwave knocked Peridot out of Lapis' protective embrace. She rose to see Jasper laughing over Lapis' cracked gem. Before she could lunge, Jasper grabbed it and held it high.

"Pity that she was crushed, saving a lost gem like you," Jasper laughed before crushing Lapis' gem in her strong hands. Peridot was frozen in fear.

"I won't even bother with you. You're nothing without your limb enhancers, anyway. I'm off to meet with my destiny. Yellow Diamond's Sapphire revealed to me that something wonderful could happen, and I'm not about to miss my promotion," Jasper gloated as she led her batallion of Rubies away.

Peridot looked down at the shards that remained of Lapis. It soon clicked what was going to happen.

She had to stop them.

The Temple Fusion towered over the battlefield, swiping Homeworld gems out of the way. They had to make it to Yellow Diamond. They were more in sync than they had expected to be. One common goal of saving the earth.

A cluster of Moonstones charged at the Fusion. A loud roar distracted them, and a blur of pink ripped through the crowd. Lion stood victorious over the poofed gems. He growled and led the way to Yellow Diamond who was pearched on the hand shaped ship that still sat on the beach. Next to her was a Peridot, wearing the same limb enhancers that the Crystal Gems' ally used to wear. It sat, hands at the ready to do Yellow Diamond's bidding.

"You meet me as a fusion. How fitting. I can end all of you together and finally take over this miserable planet so we can resume Kindergarten operations."

"Even if we fall, we still have our army and the people of this planet. They will not let you take their home," the Fusion grinned.

"I wouldn't be so sure about your army," Yellow Diamond laughed. She motioned to the Peridot that was seated next to her. This one nodded and pulled up a screen with her hand. She pressed a button and every Moonstone's gem began to glow. The ship rose up, hovering over the beach.

Realization of what was to come dawned quickly. Lion roared and warped away.

"Bubble. Now," a voice in the Fusion said.

They were enveloped in pink during the ensuing explosion. As the dust cleared, they found themselves standing in a crater, littered with shattered gems of enemy and ally alike.

The ship lowered and Yellow Diamond stepped down to meet the fusion who dropped their bubble.

"Why would you do this? You even shattered your own army!" Another voice in the confused fusion asked.

"There will be more. This was never meant to be the only mission from Homeworld. This was just meant to clear the way. I have another armada just waiting at the edge of the Kuiper Belt for my signal that you have been defeated. They will come and take this planet and resume Kindergarten operations. With the life that has developed here, my armada will be in control of the strongest Gems in galaxy."

"We'll never let you do this," the fusion growled before summoning each weapon. A pair of gauntlets appeared on two of the hands, a spear and whip were produced from two more gems. The fusion picked up Rose's sword and wielded it while producing her shield. "You will have to shatter us before you can take over this planet."

Yellow Diamond stilled for a moment before producing her own weapon, "Very well. We can do this gem on gem. No tricks. After all, I would love to battle this infamous fusion for myself."

She lunged at the fusion with a spear made of light. They clashed and sparks flew.

Peridot had been taken out to sea rather suddenly by Lion when he had warped next to her and grabbed her. Her eyes widened as she watched the explosion.

"No ..." She whispered.

Lion growled and ran back to the beach on the water. He could still sense that Steven was OK and that was all that mattered.

"Why are we going back?" Peridot asked. "We lost -" She gasped as she saw the battle between the Temple Fusion and Yellow Diamond. "Oh no … they have no idea ..."

When she was nearing the beach, she watched Yellow Diamond fall. The Temple Fusion raised their spear and plunged it into Yellow Diamond's form, poofing her and then shattering her.

"No!" Peridot gasped. She was too late to stop it. Maybe if they stayed fused –.

With a pop, the fusion split. Steven walked over to Yellow Diamond's shards.

"She was a Citrine ..." Garnet confirmed to Steven, finally having reformed as herself. "Much like how your mother was a Rose Quartz who rose in the ranks ..."

"We … we did it then," Steven gasped. "There's no way she would've had the signal sent out, right? We've won for now ..."

He turned to look at Connie who was staring out at the battlefield. He gently grabbed her hand.

"Hey, we did it," he grinned. "I couldn't have done it without you."

She smiled. She could maybe talk to him soon about … everything.

"Steven!" A voice called out.

"Peridot?" Pearl gasped. She was certain she had been destroyed in the explosion. She was happy to see the gem, but the look on her face was troubling. She rode astride Lion who was running as hard as he could to reach the group.

"Look out!" Peridot cried. She had not wanted them all to just focus on her. Someone had to be watching out in case it happened. But no, everyone was watching her now. "Behind you!"

Steven whirled around, but it was too late.

Connie shrieked as she watched the sword's blade pierce through Steven's back. Time seemed to have slowed as they looked at the crazed expression on Jasper as she held the sword that had been plunged into Steven. She laughed as her uniform changed, going from her brutal warrior garb to a more royal uniform. Steven slumped to the ground.

"Finally! I have defeated you, Rose!" She laughed as she set her foot on Steven's gem."And now I can go back to the armada and show them that a new Yellow Diamond is in charge! I will be renowned throughout the cosmos as the one who destroyed Rose Quartz! I'll –"

A slash across her face stopped her mid sentence and caused her to stumble back. She glared down at the human who had attacked her. Connie panted, rage filling her in a way she had never felt before as she stood, protectively, over Steven's rapidly weakening form.

"You dare to challenge me, you pathetic human?" Jasper growled, raising her sword.

Her form shuddered. She gasped and retreated to the ship to yell at the Peridot at the controls.

"Get me out of here, you clod!" she growled at the Peridot. "We need to leave before I poof. I'll be back, Crystal Gems! With the rest of the Homeworld Invasion force!"

The rest of the gems paid her no heed, however. They had turned their attention to Connie who cradled the dying Steven in her arms.

"Steven, please don't leave me. We can get you to your mom's fountain … we can save you," Connie whispered, holding back tears.

"It's OK, Connie. I'm just glad that you're all safe for now," he smiled. "That you are safe ..."

Connie gently pressed her head to Steven's. Pearl cried into Garnet's shoulder as Amethyst grabbed her hand. Garnet stilled, trying to keep herself from coming apart. How did we not know? Peridot stared at Steven and Connie. She had been too late.

"Steven …" Connie whispered.

Steven smiled and cupped her face with his hand as he tried to hold back a cry of pain. He wanted to say more to her. His eyes grew heavier as he tried to stay awake just a little longer.

I can just close them for a little while … He thought. She'll still be here when I ...

Connie kissed Steven gently as he faded out of consciousness. When she realized he was no longer responsive, she wept, holding his still form close to her.

"He … he can't poof into his gem, can he?" Peridot whispered, grabbing onto Garnet's arm gently.

Garnet stared forward. She should have seen this coming. She should have known. It was one of several possible outcomes. It hadn't presented itself as the only one until it was too late to react. Right when she looked at Peridot, she had felt that possibility click into place, like a piece of a puzzle. She had to keep it together for everyone else.

A low growl startled everyone. Lion walked over to Steven and rubbed his head against Connie's. She looked up at Lion who chuffed before nudging Steven's gem which glowed dimly.

"Lion … I don't know what you're trying to say ..." She whispered.

He grumbled and his mane glowed. Soon, Connie realized it.

"But … can he survive in there? He said that there wasn't any air when he told me about it-"

Lion growled. Connie gently tried to lift Steven into Lion's mane. Lion helped the rest of the way and soon, Steven was gone. Lion laid down, looking back at the temple. Connie buried her face in Lion's mane.

Garnet watched silently. She had seen this possibility as well, but it was a hazier outcome. They could get Steven back or he could never return. They could also end up with Rose reforming and, while they all missed her, they would miss their Steven more.

"He's been in Lion's mane before, Connie," Garnet said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not sure what is in there, but Lion seems to know what he is doing."

Connie nodded and hugged Lion tighter. They all sat on the beach, looking out at the shards that littered the beach like glass. Normally, the gems would not concern themselves with cleaning up the destruction brought upon the town but Steven would have wanted them to. They would start after they finally got Connie put to bed. After she was settled, they could begin the long task of clean-up.

It wasn't very long before they got to the Temple and helped Connie into Steven's bed. She faced the window and curled up tight with Lion resting against her back. He gently nuzzled her before closing his eyes.

There is work to do ...