"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Amethyst, be careful!"

Amethyst responded with a mirthful laugh. She was holding the small babe in her plump, orchid-hued hands at arm's length. The three-month old was kicking his legs as quickly as possible in his one-piece baby blue garment. At such a young age, he already had a full head of curly chocolate hair. He was attempting to bounce up and down as excited garbles pushed past his pacifier. "Aw, come on, you do it all the time!"

The baby's father, a man in his early thirties with shaggy brown hair grown down to his mid-thighs, let out an anxious groan. The past three months had left him a nervous wreck. His eyes were wide, and beads of sweat rolled down his face at the slightest hint of panic. He held out his arms, partially for his son and partially to gesture the Crystal Gem to calm down. "Not like that! I don't even let go of him that much!"

"Neither am I," Amethyst countered before tossing up the baby once again. She must not have comprehended human height yet, because "not that much" to her was actually seven feet in the air. When his son nearly crashed into the wooden roof, Greg Universe made some sort of panicked screech. The young Steven didn't seem to care at all, instead letting out an excited giggle.

When his son fell back into Amethyst's arms, surprisingly gently, Greg didn't hesitate to pull him away. With one arm under the boy's bottom and the other hand cradling his head, he cried, "That's not safe, Amethyst! You can't do that with a baby!"

Amethyst stuck her tongue out at him, blowing a raspberry. She crossed her arms over her chest, pouting. Her bright violet gem glimmered over the neckline of her shirt. "You're no fun. Is there anything I can do that is safe?"

Greg sighed, but suggested, "How about a game of Peek-a-Boo?"

Amethyst's pout melted away to a grin. She unfolded her arms to swipe away her white bangs from her face. "Okay!" She knelt down to the infant Steven, whom Greg positioned to face the Crystal Gem in turn. Amethyst hid her face behind her hands. "One…two…three…"

At the cry of 'Peek-a-Boo', Greg yelped and jumped back. Amethyst's face had shape-shifted into that of a crocodile, with a long snout and round eyes. It was the razor teeth that bothered him—they had come so close to snapping at Steven. But again, all the baby did was squeal in delight. Seemingly oblivious to his father's discomfort, Amethyst repeated her actions, this time lunging at them with the face of a lion.

Greg glared at her, burying his son's face into his chest. "Amethyst!"

"What?"

From the other side of the cave, Garnet sighed at the two's bickering. She was perched atop one of the piles of wooden blanks and beams. Soon, construction would begin to create what would be Steven's room of the temple. Simply put, it would cover the entrance to the temple, and it would hold the Galaxy Warp in the middle of it. It had already been agreed upon that Rose's Room was no place for a human child at the time.

Garnet continued to watch the two until her three eyes scanned the room. There was Greg, holding his son Steven away from Amethyst. And then there was herself. The third Crystal Gem was absent. She usually was those days, especially when the newest Crystal Gem was brought to the temple by his father.

She decided to leave them in favor of finding where the missing Gem was. She marched out of the cave completely unnoticed. Outside, the sky had become a canvas of pink and powder blue smeared with violet clouds. The golden sun sinking into the horizon glimmered on the ocean water. The roaring waves lapped at the shore and receded. But the Gem was nowhere to be seen. Garnet knew where she was. And it wasn't going to be at the beach.

Garnet stepped down the stone fingers of the temple until her feet sank into the soft sand. She walked past the temple, where the sand turned to grass and the ground elevated into rolling hills. By the time she reached her destination, the sun had sunk three-quarters into the ocean.

At the peak of one of the hills, silhouetted against the bright sky, a lone Gem sat at the edge. Her arms were wrapped around her legs, her long nose poking over her knees. Beside her, a small sapling sat in a mound of freshly dug earth. One day, it would grow into a cherry blossom tree—one of the few plants on Earth that the Gem approved off. But it wasn't planted out of care. It was a memorial.

"Pearl. Steven is here."

She didn't reply. Instead, she reached for the sapling. As she held the soft white petals in her pale fingers, she murmured, "She adored these. She said she wanted to keep one. She never got to." Her voice was robotic and flat.

"You haven't played with Steven yet."

"…"

"Pearl, you can't ignore him. Steven is a Crystal Gem. But he's still human, and we're going to have to care for him in Rose's place."

"…He looks like her so much. He has her eyes, and her smile…and her Gem." A shaky breath came from her mouth. "Do you think she can still see us? Through his eyes?"

Garnet's face appeared stoic, but behind her shades, her eyes were filled with pity. There was no positive answer to that question. "I don't know, Pearl."

She didn't say anything further. Her round blue eyes were trained on the sunset. Another one of the few sights she enjoyed on this planet. One hand was still gently holding the sapling. She held it as if it were a hand rather than a young tree.

Garnet knew that any further conversation would only upset her further. Either that or she wouldn't say anything else. So instead, Garnet turned away from her and headed back to the temple. She didn't look behind her. If she did, she would see Pearl with her face buried into her knees.

A Pearl without her master, lamented Garnet, is such a tragic sight.