Steven was still in shock, he was also angry. After learning the truth about his mother, everything seemed to spiral out of control. Pearl was in tears, Sapphire ran away, Ruby and Amethyst were in a panic. He didn't know what started it but somehow, he had managed to get into the warp stream and now he was being teleported to who knows where.

Steven cried in the stream until the light finally went out and he found himself in a green mountainside. A part of him wanted to find Sapphire but another part of him wanted to go elsewhere, back where 'it' happened, and it seemed the latter had won out. He stepped off the pad, walked up a dusty trail, and soon he was surrounded by fluttering, pink hibiscus flowers. Steven continued until he was just a foot away from the long–broken palanquin.

He could still see the event of the past in his mind. Pink Diamond poofing, the fake shards flying, and Pearl as Rose secretly holding the diamond in one hand and the sword in the other.

"Why?" Steven whispered to himself before he fell to his knees. He clutched onto his shirt, "Why do you keep doing this? Everything I believed about you; your ideas, your history... your name! Everything I ever thought about you was a lie!" the tear kept falling, heavier than before. "I thought it was bad enough that you shattered Pink Diamond because you had to, but this... this is so much worse. You weren't a just a liar, you were a cheat and just–... just..." he couldn't finish that, as the words were now stuck in his throat. He knelt before the palanquin, crying his heart out.

In his sorrow, Steven didn't realize the giant arm–shaped shadow looming over the sky. But it disappeared into the clouds quickly before another palanquin fell from the palm.

Steven then heard the swish of the doors and he turned his head in time to see a familiar giant dark–blue cloak heading in his direction. He panicked for a moment before finally jumping into the broken palanquin. Steven slipped across the uneven floor before hiding himself behind the chair. He held on for life and did his best not to make any noise.

The first thing he heard was gentle footsteps on the grass.

"What are you doing, Pearl?" came a solemn voice.

Steven flinched at the sound of Blue Diamond's voice.

"I thought I saw something, my Diamond." Came Blue Pearl's voice. "I think something is in there."

Steven was shaking now but tried his best to remain silent.

"That is unlikely, nothing has disrupted the palanquin in years. Now bow with me and no more talking from you."

Blue Pearl silently obeyed and bowed to the pink palanquin next to Blue Diamond.

"Pink," Blue Diamond spoke, "We nearly had Rose in our grasp not long ago... but she escaped."

Steven could feel the tears running down his cheek. He quickly realized these were Blue's tears again.

'But what if...' Steven thought, 'What if these are Pink's tears too? We are both diamonds.'

"The trial was a disaster. Nothing was gained by it, except a ludicrous theory from my Zircon about how only another diamond could have shattered you rather than Rose." Her voice was breaking. "These ideas along with everything else is just so frustrating!" then she quietly added. "I just want the truth."

That last statement stung Steven the most. He knew the truth now and he wanted to jump out and tell Blue everything... but that would probably be a mistake. While Blue seemed like the more merciful diamond compared to Yellow, she was still a threat to Steven and she would either drag him back to Homeworld or; to quote Blue "...do something worse."

As Steven thought, a hibiscus floated into the palanquin by the breeze outside and land on the top of the chair. After it landed, it dropped gently down onto the boy's nose. Steven was startled before swiping the flower off but it was too late as some of the pollen had already traveled into his nostrils after he took in a sniff. His allergies were acting up, but he tried to hold the sneeze.

"I know I said before that I couldn't come back again but I just had to come back one more time before it was too late... I just wanted to tell you that I–"

"ACHOO!"

Everything seemed to stop then and there. Blue Diamond looked more closely into the palanquin and she suddenly saw a flash of black from behind the throne.

"I know you are there, I hear you." Blue Diamond said, "Who are you?"

Steven knew now that the odds were against him at this point and delaying an answer wouldn't help himself. What could he say? But then he remembered that if there was one thing he learned from the Crystal gems, it's that you rarely give a straight, forward answer. Praying that maybe she wouldn't recognize his voice, Steven spoke up.

"I-... I'm not so sure how to answer that but please, I don't want any trouble."

Blue Diamond did find that voice somewhat familiar but without a face, she couldn't figure it out. Anyway, she was too busy trying to figure out how to find the intruder without disrupting the site.

She was moving her head around, trying to catch a glimpse of him, saying. "Are you a human... or a gem?"

Steven's mind raced, filling with stress, "I... can't answer that either."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm neither but at the same time I am both." His voice growing sadder. "It's hard to explain... just like everything else."

The diamond was rightfully confused by this but that last part caught her attention. She tapped the top of her pearls head softly, and silently twirled her finger around before placing it on her lips. Blue Pearl understood the silent order and proceeded to step quietly around the palanquin.

"Why can't you explain yourself to me? It should be an easy answer, should it not?" Blue Diamond said, keeping the conversation going.

"Not everything has an easy answer. Or maybe they do, and we just accept it while being blind to what is true. Until today, I thought I knew the truth about... someone close to me only to find out that it was all a lie."

'Truth?' Blue Diamond stopped moving and just kept her eyes on the throne, "But why did you come here?"

"I... I just wanted to get away from my friends and I knew they wouldn't come here. I just wanted to be alone to think about my m-... someone I lost."

The diamond raised an eyebrow at that. "You lost someone?" she asked.

Meanwhile, Blue Pearl did her best trying to locate the intruder in the palanquin. Even parting her own hair slightly to help her vision but with all the vegetation of the hibiscus plants, the pearl couldn't even see the back of the throne let alone the person.

'Must be a small native.' Blue Pearl thought.

"Yes..." Steven answered solemnly, unaware of the pearl scouting around the palanquin. "Someone I really cared about, and I thought she cared about me too... but now I'm not so sure."

"What do you mean by that?"

Blue Diamond saw her pearl in the corner of her eye. Blue Pearl gave an apologetic look and bowed to her diamond.

It took Steven a moment to sort out his feelings. "I thought she was this thoughtful, honest and caring person who did her best to do what was right. But I found out that she was the opposite of all that. She lied to everyone and she didn't care what it costed everyone else. People lost their minds and even their lives for her because they believed in a liar... And-... and it hurts to think about her that way." Steven's tears came back, and he sniffled. "There was a time where I would have given anything to learn the truth about my mom and now I wish I didn't."

To put it simply, Blue Diamond was conflicted right now. Being a diamond, there was no room in her heart to care about the life of an organic being. She had her duties to think about after all. However, something else, something... deep within her felt empathetic towards this unknown creature's plight. Blue could hear the tears in his voice, and she could actually sense the level sorrow that seemed to radiate from him. Though it was meek compared to her pathokinesis, she could still feel it. At that moment, Blue started to let go of the fact that she was one of the high-ranking gem leaders of Homeworld talking to a presumably lower lifeform.

"I... I am sorry that you feel this way but if I may say so, it can't be that much worse than never knowing the truth. I've spent so many years thinking that my fellow diamond had died because I didn't do enough to protect her..." she said in despair.

Steven could feel it. "I'm sure you did your best."

"But it wasn't enough..."

"But it also wasn't your fault, you didn't know it would happen, you didn't use the sword and you couldn't have been th-..." Steven words died down when realized his mistake.

Blue Diamond's eyes went wide. "How do you know it was by a sword?" she questioned. Her sense of authority and frustration returned and, with no hesitation, she reached into palanquin.

Steven saw the blue fingers and with a rush of adrenaline, he ran out of the palanquin. His eyes met with Blue Diamond's briefly before he kept running.

Blue Diamond was frozen with shock for a moment before she muttered. "Rose..." then, without another word, she ran after the boy.

"My Diamond!" Blue Pearl cried out as she followed her diamond.

Steven ran as fast as he could, but where could he go? In his hast, Steven ran deeper into the forest, away from the town and the warp pad. His heart thumping loudly in his ears, it nearly drowned out the diamond calling out to him. Steven ran past trees, bushes, and rocks but no matter the obstacle, Blue Diamond pushed through, leaving destruction in her path. The boy never looked back not even when a branch scraped his face, creating a scratch against his cheek, he just kept running until he had to stop at the edge of a cliff. As Steven looked down the cliff into a raging river, he panted and he heard the diamond behind him.

"Rose!" Blue Diamond shouted.

Steven turned around and he saw the diamond, her dress torn slightly at the hem from the debris and her expression hostile. The blue pearl soon joined her diamond's side.

"Blue Diamond please, I can explain." Steven cried out through bated breath.

"It wasn't enough that you had to return to the scene of your greatest crime but you had the nerve to mock my pain with your false sympathy!"

"I wasn't trying to mock you I really do feel bad about what happened..."

"Don't give me that. You admitted on Homeworld that you alone sh-... shattered Pink. More than five thousand years since that horrid day and now you feel guilty? What more is there for you to explain?" She questioned with tears in her eyes.

Steven's eyes resumed their tears again, reflecting those in Blue's. "I-... (sniff) I want to tell you. I want to tell you everything but I can't because there's no way I can prove it to you."

"Prove what?"

Just then, something large and pink sprung out of the woods and made its way to Steven. When Steven opened his eyes, he saw the furry face of his pet.

"Lion..." Steven muttered.

But Lion did not acknowledge him, he starred up at the diamond and growled at her.

At first, the diamond was angry but as she looked on at the beast, Blue noticed something... familiar about Lion. Her expression softened to that of curiosity.

"Where did this beast come from?" Blue diamond asked.

Steven, meanwhile, quickly but carefully got on Lion's back while not taking his eyes off the diamond. When she asked him her question, Steven answered.

"I found him in the desert on earth but I think my mom was the one who made him pink."

"Your... mom?"

"Erm-... Rose Quartz," Steven said sheepishly.

"I..." Blue Diamond stuttered, "I don't understand."

"I know it would be hard for you to understand because gems don't have moms but Rose Quartz was my mom and I am her human son, Steven."

Blue Diamond was about to speak up when she saw the red running down his cheek from a cut. She focused closely on it and that's when she realized what it was. Blood.

'But how can that be? Gems cannot bleed.' Blue thought.

Blue Diamond's confusion continued. "Her... human son?" she eyed him doubtfully.

"I told you at the courtroom that I was Rose and that I shattered Pink because I wanted to save the humans your gems were trying to take away from earth and to maybe help give you and possibly Yellow Diamond some closure. But I was wrong because..." Steven wanted to tell her more but how could he.

"Because..." Blue Diamond pressed on.

'Well, it's now or never.' Steven thought before he said aloud, "Pink Diamond's shattering was staged. Her gem is still whole and safe for now but Pink herself is gone."

Blue Diamond was silent with an unreadable expression but Steven didn't want to stick around to see what else she would be, emotionally. So, he left her with one last piece of information.

"I know you won't believe me but if you really want to prove me wrong, just check the remaining diamond shards you have from that day. If they're really Pink Diamond then you can hunt me down here on earth and have me shattered, just so long as you leave the earth and any remaining gems living here alone. But if I am right and Pink Diamond isn't really shattered, then you can look for me again and then we can talk, calmly."

With that, Lion turned his head, let out a portal with a mighty roar and started to bound towards it.

"Wait!" Blue Diamond tried to protest but she was too slow to stop them, and Steven was gone.

Peridot awoke with a yawn and a crack from her back. She walked out of the bathroom, rubbing her eyes.

"Morning everyone," Peridot greeted sleepily.

She expected a greeting in return but was met with silence. When Peridot looked around, she saw that the beach house was empty.

"Where is everybody? Any ideas veggy?"

The living pumpkin only responded by nudging against Peridot's leg.

All of the sudden a pink portal appeared above the warp pad and out came Lion with Steven on his back. Peridot jumped, barely missing the lion before it crashed against the front door. Steven groaned and Pumpkin barked from behind Peridot.

"Steven," Peridot cried out in surprise and made her way to Steven, "What's going on? I realize that you can't always control your lion but surely, he can underst–..." Peridot stopped mid-rant when she saw Steven's beet red eyes and his tear-stained face along with the cut against his right cheek. "Whoa, what happened to you? You look like Pearl on a good day."

Steven sniffled. "Peridot, when did you get up?" he asked.

"A while ago... but what happened to you?" Peridot asked again.

Steven took in a deep breath before taking Peridot by the hand and brought her to the couch.

"Peridot, something big has just come up and I need to tell you what it is."

"Okay, what is it?"

"It's... it's about my mom and who she really was."

Meanwhile, Far Away in Space

A giant ship in the shape of a blue arm traveled at record speed. Inside was Blue Diamond and many of her gem followers, but as of now, the diamond monarch was alone in her private quarters. Except for her pearl, who was currently trying to repair the hem of her diamond's dress. The diamond sat on a giant throne with her head tiled and being held in her hand while the other hand tapped against the armrest.

Everything 'Rose' had said was buzzing in Blue's head like bees in their hive. Words of being human, staged shattering, and apparently, she thought she could just tell Blue Diamond what to do?!

"It's ridiculous!" Blue Diamond said in displeasure. "I should just have her hunted down now. Pearl!"

Blue Pearl was finishing up when her diamond shouted. The pearl sprung to her feet and bowed before her diamond.

"Pearl," Blue Diamond started, she wanted to give the order... but for some reason, she couldn't speak. 'Just tell Pearl to call Homeworld... and tel-... tell-!' Blue Diamond suddenly felt very unsteady, her words stuck in her throat and her eyes as wide as cartwheels.

"My Diamond?" Blue Pearl asked nervously.

But the diamond could barely hear her pearl and sat back down on her chair. She rubbed her forehead gently.

'But what if...' Blue Diamond thought. 'What if Ro-... that creature was telling the truth? Killing them won't give me any answers or bring Pink back. Oh, what do I do?' she thought about this for a little bit before she noticed her Pearl, still standing in front her. "Pearl close the door and come here."

Blue Pearl did exactly as she was told, as usual. She made her way up a flight of stairs leading to the diamonds armrest.

"Pearl, as my servant, you are bound to tell me the truth and or what I usually want to hear, correct?"

"Yes, my diamond."

"Well, right now I want you to do something different." Blue Diamond took her pearl into her hands and held her in her palm. "I want you to give me an honest opinion, your opinion. I realize you're not used to such a request but remember that this as an order none the less so do your best. Do you believe that Rose was telling us the truth back on earth? That maybe Pink's death was a ruse and that Rose claims to be a human instead of a gem?"

Under the long bangs, Blue Pearl's eyes went wide in wonder. Her diamond wanted to her what she thought, this definitely was a first. Pearl pressed her hands together tightly and she spoke in a soft but audible voice,

"My diamond, I-... I believe that the creature who spoke to us might have spoken truthfully."

Blue Diamond raised an eyebrow at that. "Go on..." she said.

"I believe that Rose would go to any lengths to protect the humans and the planet, maybe even surrender herself, but I couldn't believe that a gem would go so far as to look human to evade the diamond authority, even Rose Quartz. It just didn't feel right to me during the trial. And as for Pink Diamond, I think we should have a look at the shards that were collected after her death, just to be sure that it really did happen. That is all I have to say on the matter."

"That is all?" the diamond questioned.

"Yes, my diamond." the pearl answered swiftly.

Blue Diamond thought for a moment while holding onto her pearl in her hands. She thought and thought until she raised Blue Pearl closer to her.

"Thank you, Pearl, you have served me well with your voice but now we have to keep quiet again, especially about our encounter with Rose on earth, understood?"

Blue Pearl nodded softly.

"Now I want you to find our best peridot for gem identification and make sure she can keep a secret. We have work to do."

The pearl was gently placed back down and once she was on the floor, she made her way out of the room to the communication bay.

Alone, Blue Diamond stayed on her throne waiting for their return to Homeworld.

'I pray that I am doing the right thing.' Blue Diamond thought. 'Rose Quartz, if this was all a lie, I will find you and shatter you myself.'

Author's Note: Please leave a comment below and tell me what you think