Waves rushed up to meet his feet, foam washing over his chubby toes, then receding away, back into the depths. This process repeated itself, over and over, far until the sun went down, leaving him standing in the damp sand as the tide fell away. He had run out of tears for now, his usually bright and happy face now gloomy and puffy from crying. Steven, the son of Rose Quartz and Greg Universe, the first half-human half-gem child, the Crystal Gem's leader and a defender of both Earth and humans, had nearly lost his best and only friend.
And it was all his fault.
The day was hot, a warm breeze wafting past their noses, carrying scents of donuts, bits, and the other various greasy food that normally attracted tourists on board walks. Steven held the bag of freshly baked sweets out to his taller friend, crumbs covering his face as he grinned up at her.
"Ya' wawnt sum, Connif?" He muffled out from behind a doughnut, forgetting to not speak with his mouth full like that. Connie in question just giggled at how he spoke, politely declining the dessert. Her smile slowly fell, and she went back to how she had been appearing all day; upset, worried, and all those other nervous emotions.
"Steven," she spoke suddenly as he swallowed his bite and wiped his face clean. Connie came to a full halt, her hair blowing in the breeze around them and Steven waited up for her.
"What's wrong, Connie?" The boy questioned, raising an eyebrow. Something then clicked in his mind: The donuts! "You didn't like the donuts we bought did you? Oh no, I'm the worst! I got the wrong flavor, didn't I?"
His friend shook her head. "No, no, I just didn't want to eat one, Steven... We just... need to talk." She sniffed, turning away to look out at the ocean as the sun began its descent behind the horizon. She rested her head on her arms, leaning over the railing of the boardwalk, avoiding Steven's curious gaze.
"Let's talk then." Steven rested a hand gently of his friend's shoulder, trying to catch her eye. Connie shivered, sniffling again and burying her face in the crook of her elbow. "Connie..." Steven, concerned and confused by her sudden tears, didn't understand how to react or comfort her. The best he could do was hug her, his small and pudgy frame pushed awkwardly against her tall, thinner one.
"We can't hang out as much anymore. My mom is being relocated to a new hospital, and its two hours away. We have to move." Her voice cracked, her last bit of strength leaving her. Tears spilled, staining her blouse and the wood of the boardwalk below. Beach city was all Connie knew- she had grown up here, met her first and only friend here, and learned how to fight -and now she was leaving all of it behind. The happy memories, her friend, the Crystal gems, all of it. She watched Steven's face fall, a few tears forming in his eyes as well as he took in the information.
"Why can't you ask your mom to let you stay here? I mean, you can still go to school, and-and still have chances to see them too. You have to keep up your training! You- you just can't up and leave! What if... What... Connie..." His question trailed off, leaving her slightly confused, but she couldn't stay.
"My mom barely accepted any of the magic stuff, Steven," Connie spoke softly, tears still falling and leaving marks on her face. "I doubt there would be a chance that I could stay here without her supervision, and that's not even including what Dad would say."
Steven wrapped his arms around her without another word. She felt him shaking, felt him take deeper breaths as he cried on her shoulder. Connie carefully pushed him away to look him in the eyes, a sigh escaping her as she turned away.
"Goodbye, Steven." At this the bag of donuts dropped, spilling onto the dock as she sprinted off, leaving her one and only friend behind.
The way she spoke, her chosen words, it all reminded him of how Lapis had left him the first time. Another friend, saying goodbye yet again.
He had wanted to run after her. He should have. He should have talked to her parents, convinced them to let her stay. This wouldn't have happened if he had chased her. It was his fault, all of it. His fault for befriending her, his fault for not chasing her, his fault for not stopping her in time. Everything was Steven's fault.
The next few weeks passed too slowly for anyone's liking in the temple. No new dangers or threats had been detected, all the forced fusions that the gems could find had been found and bubbled, and the back end of the temple had been mostly repaired with the new recruits help. Steven and the rest of the gems had been dumbfounded when not only Peridot, but Jasper as well, had redeemed themselves by joining the group. Lapis, too, had decided to stay, and although slightly weary from her control over Malachite for several months, was getting along with Jasper just fine.
The former Homeworld gems had explained as much as they could, about Yellow Diamond and the current situation on Homeworld. The forces on Homeworld had been planning a revisitation to Earth for a while now, with several clusters of forced fusions having been successful from other kindergardens on other destroyed planets. Initially, they were going to take their time and send more reconnaissance forces like Peridot, but when Lapis had returned, they knew more action had to be taken. Had she not warned the Crystal Gems prior to Jasper's arrival with the wailing stone, they wouldn't have been as prepared.
Garnet had asked about fusion on Homeworld, only to grow disgusted on the views provided by Jasper alone. Working class gems, generally weaker than most gems, when needed for war, were given a randomly selected partner and told to fuse when in battle. Sometimes the fusion outcomes were too toxic for the battlefield, like Sugilite or Malachite, and the gems involved were cracked or forcefully shattered by commanders, as they weren't fit for war in the eyes of the Diamond authorities. "Fit fusions," as Jasper had explained, were often stronger than gems like Jasper and Garnet combined, but were more refined, like Opal and Sardonyx. Though nearly perfect, the fusions were still facing prejudice from other, non-fused gems, as they were so weak, they had to be fused.
Now, with what little information they had, and an unknown time-frame for preparation, the Crystal Gems began their training. They found it harder to work with Steven, whose attacks and formations had always included Connie. In addition to changing formations, he had seemed lost recently without his best friend, unable to be consoled by any of the gems. He did his best to focus, but mainly sat alone in the hand of the temple that held his laundry. He had been sitting in front of the lighthouse, but Ronaldo's endless questioning and quirky attitudes made it hard to mope around. For over three weeks, he was like this, until he received a phone call.
"Steven! I'm glad I got a hold of you! Grass Village has been crazy- I've made new friends on my new tennis team, and everyone here is really nice- as long as you don't step on their lawns and ruin their hard yardwork. I've told so many people all about you, and they all want to meet you!" Connie had spoken so quickly, it took Steven a moment to comprehend and understand all of her words. Before he could reply, she continued. "I like it here a lot, but I miss Beach City a lot. I miss training with you and Pearl and the rest of the gems. It feels weird having so much free time now… I don't know what to do with it."
"I miss you too, Connie. Beach City seems so plain and boring, even with the gems around. There hasn't been any danger, and I can't focus on my training without you in the formations. I keep trying to practice fusing with the others in case of an emergency, but I haven't been able to do it."
"Well, I mean, that does make sense. Your dad wasn't able to fuse with your mom because he was a human. Maybe your human genes are preventing your fusion with the others?" Connie suggested this lightly, not wanting to hurt Steven's feelings.
"I'm just worried that even when I've mastered most of my gem abilities, I still won't be able to do it. We haven't even fused into Stevonnie during practice- or, when we did practice. The only times we fused were when we had fun." Steven sighed, listening to the brief silence on the other end of the line as Connie thought this over.
"I have an idea. What if you came to Grass Village with the gems, and they helped us practice fusing? I mean, there's no reason you can't visit." This brought a smile to the young gem's face, and he nodded as he replied.
"Yeah! That sounds like a great idea, Connie! But, uh, how are you going to explain the fusing part to your parents?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Connie said, brushing off his concern.
And with a simple phone call, the moping had ended, and he rushed to make plans with the rest of the Crystal Gems. His dad allowed them to borrow the van, suggesting that Jasper and Garnet either ride on top of it to save space, or to ride with Steven on Lion. By the end of the week, they headed out, taking a few hours to arrive to the new town.
Decorated, well managed lawns of town houses filled their gazes as they arrived. Grass Village was one of the most well known towns of their state, having been a mining town turned a lawncare and landscaping town. A forced floral smell penetrated their noses- except Jasper, who could taste it instead - despite there being not many flowers in bloom, as it was nearly the end of summer.
They arrived at the address Connie had given, looking like quite a group of ragtag misfits, which, given that they weren't human, they really were out of place. Garnet grimaced as other residents- working on their yards of course -gave them looks. The fusion's irritation only worsened as Connie opened the door, greeting them all and inviting them to the backyard. She sensed something would go wrong on this, but couldn't pinpoint it exactly.
"My mom has been slightly informed of the situation," Connie explained, fidgeting with a button on her shirt. The rest of gems nodded, affirming that the training would be approved.
"You guys always seem so quick to fuse in dangerous situations, and Connie and I have yet to do so. The only times we've fused have been on accident, and I haven't been able to fuse with you guys in training either, so Connie and I need to be able to fuse quickly."
Garnet nodded in agreement, stepping forward as she spoke. "Ruby and Sapphire are willing to teach you. I'm only going to split up today, and today only because this is important to learn." Before anyone could suggest otherwise, the gem unfused into the smaller gems, Ruby and Sapphire. The two nodded quickly to each other, approaching Steven and Connie while holding hands. The red gem spoke first, grinning wildly.
"First, you have to know your partner. I'm assuming since you guys are even more refined than us, this isn't an issue. Do you guys know your dancing styles?"
"We've really only fused while goofing around. Before we fuse, it usually ends with me taking Steven for a dip." Connie explained, showing Ruby how they usually ended up fusing step by step on her own. Steven nodded, explaining that they also ran around a little the very first time they fused, to which Connie confirmed with a brief nod.
"Have you ever tried fusing quickly? Or has it just been the few times?" Sapphire asked, stepping a little closer.
"Not really. There's never been a rhyme or reason to it. It just happens." Steven murmured, shrugging in reply to the blue gem's question.
"Well, I guess the only way to practice this is to put you in a combat situation." With a quick motion, Ruby and Sapphire bounced backwards, summoning their gauntlet weapons in unison.
Steven leaped in front of Connie, drawing his shield out from his gem as she drew the sword Rose once wielded. The two pairs stared at each other, the forced floral scent drifting by once more as the remaining gems gazed onward from the sidelines, analyzing the training at hand. The two gems dashed towards the other pair, Ruby pushing Steven back with one blow to the shield from her gauntlet. The two friends were quickly separated, Steven handling Ruby, and Connie facing Sapphire. It wasn't too bad, until the gems switched placed quickly, leaving the friends to figure out their new opponents moves. The pair were cornered quickly, Steven unable to fully attack with just a shield, and Connie unable to defend herself with only a sword.
Amethyst attempted to cheer them on, giving them words of encouragement, Lapis following, until all the non-training gems were cheering Connie and Steven on. With a sudden, inspired block, Sapphire was pushed back by the shield, leaving Steven enough time to reach Connie and push Ruby back. Connie met Steven's gaze as he bubbled them.
"We need to fuse. They're just going to separate us again and again." Steven nodded, dropping the bubble and giving his friend a brief twirl, followed by a dip. Not as long and elaborate as their usual fusing ritual, but it got the job done. Their bodies merged into one new being: Stevonnie.
To test and see how stable they were, Ruby and Sapphire launched toward them, swinging separately. Stevonnie blocked, pushing them back before pulling their sword forward and taking a swing. Guaranteed, it wasn't full power as this was just training, but it did the job, causing the gem pair to halt.
Red eyes met blue, and the pair fused back into Garnet with a quick motion. Stevonnie grinned, hands on their hips, shield poofed and sword sheathed.
"Pretty good for a quick spar, but Stevonnie, you'll need separate training in the future. Though you use both Connie and Steven's moves, you'll need to develop your own, less predictable ones." Garnet gave a soft smile, placing a hand on their shoulder just before they unfused.
Training continued, only half of the time being used for actual spars, and they weren't full capacity spars either. Most of their practice fights prior to Connie's move had been large scale, included everyone, more surprise fusions, more land damage. Yet, with the new town, they couldn't be as reckless. During a break, Connie mentioned how strange people acted around here, and although they were nice, they were more like mindless creatures until you stepped on their lawn. Then, they would be fierce, lunging and swinging and shouting nonsense until you left.
Garnet, for the most part, was silent, deep in thought, up until Connie mentioned Grass Village had formerly been a mining town long ago.
"Are the mines still used at all?" The fusion suddenly asked, standing to her feet. Pearl raised an eyebrow, opening her mouth to speak when Connie answered.
"Not at all. They're blocked off. People used to do tours of them, but not any more. There are reports of people getting lost in the deeper crevices and ravines."
"We need to go investigate. I have a bad feeling about them." Garnet murmured, heading out of the backyard with Steven and Connie closely behind, Pearl and the rest of the gems quickly following. Most of them were silent, except for the occasional excited jitters from Steven, who was just excited for a possible mission.
"Do you think it's them? The ones that we couldn't find in the clusters?" Pearl asked quietly as they loaded into the van.
"It's possible. I could see it briefly, but I need to confirm it with my own eyes." Pearl nodded to this response, and they headed out towards to forgotten mine shafts.
On the outskirts of town, nestled in the mountains untouched by human hands, were the caves. They were the only man-made thing around for miles, blocked off terribly my larger boulders and spare plywood. The gems quickly cleared up the entrance, and before anyone could say otherwise, Connie was pulled into a trance, entering the cave without a word, despite the others calling for her to stop and not enter.
"Connie? Get back here-" Steven then rushed into the dark abyss, ignoring the calls of his fellow gems. He could see a faint blue glow ahead, blocked slightly by a figure he presumed to be his friend.
"Connie!" He called her name, but got no answer, even as he approached her. She remained silent, staring a blue geode that glowed faintly out of place on the wall. Steven's name echoed deep into the cave as the gems called out for him to return, but he couldn't leave without Connie.
"Come on- we need to wait for the gems." No response given, his friend slowly reached out a hand, and stroked the blue geode. A great, blinding flash shocked him, leaving him on the ground, now alone in the cave. Connie was gone, and the geode was shattered, pieces around him, unable to be placed together and healed by his saliva. Footsteps pounded behind him, a tear sliding down his face. He had lost his friend, yet again, and now he was unsure if he'd ever find her again.