Hello everyone! Welcome to my prequel to Separate Ways, hope you've stuck around long enough to read this story as well. For new readers, let me explain myself.

This story is a prequel for my story Separate Ways. You can read this until it's finished and then move on to Separate Ways, but you could also read the other story first since it's already completed. Do what you wish, either way I hope you enjoy the first chapter. Let's begin.

There were many things that to happen soon. So many things, and all of them terrible. Yet they'd all occur in the near future, not the present. No one could see what would happen, not even the ones who could forsee the future. There were things, amazing things happening in the present that took everyone's focus away from the storm ahead.

And one of those things had started something. Something that would change the way people lived their lives forever.

The first known healing of a Corrupted gem.

The boy stood in the center of the Burning Room, holding a green gem in his hands. The room had shown signs of a fight occurring. There were deep scratches all over the marble floor, the boy's shirt being melted in various spots on the salmon colored fabric, and a ripped up leash on the ground next to the boy's feet. Despite the damage left behind the boy was only a little banged up and he held the prized gem in his hands. He had poofed the beast for the third time this week without success of curing the monster and his attempts at helping it had taken a toll on his body. Today he only received a few burns and scratches, but previous sessions has done things like bruised up his ribs and left gashes around his neck and back. His shirt his the injuries well, So as long as he kept his actions a secret he would be fine. And he was eager to make another attempt at fixing the creature.

He licked his hand, making sure to completely cost his palm with his saliva, and wrapped his fingers around the gem. He waited for any kind of response from the gemstone in his hands as his spit covered the whole thing. He waited.

And waited. But nothing happened.

Steven's heart sunk, but it was a feeling he had become familiarized with when trying to heal some of the corrupted gems. Some days it seemed that the only things he gained during his "sessions" were bruises, scars and a bunch of disappointment. Whenever the corrupted gems reformed they would always return to their monster-like tendencies and usually try attack Steven. No matter how much spit he sloshed over the gemstones, nothing would ever change. It seemed that there was no cure for cord at all and the demented beasts were doomed to their garbled forms forever.

Steven had been trying to heal the corrupted gems for a few months now with no success, and his hope was starting to dwindle. He had come so close to healing at least the Centipeedle, but it seemed that his luck had ran out. Maybe he wasn't as strong as he thought he was, and he already held himself so low.

Despite the grim situation Steven refused to just give up. He would come to the Burning Room every chance he got, until he was able to heal at the very least one of the captive gems. There was no way Steven would ever stop until he kept his promise to the Centipeedle and helped her. He just couldn't bear to see her suffer any more. No matter how many of the monsters attacked him, no matter how many broken bones or scars he received, he'd give her his all to the very end.

Another thing that made his sessions more difficult were his injuries. Of course he had his healing spit that would patch up any one of his injured loved ones, but for some strange reason it never fully worked with his personal injuries. He was only able to heal deep wounds and broken bones, but anything past that would stick with him. The pain was getting worse and there was no way to soothe it, so he just hid his injuries from his family. Thank goodness his shirt and jeans hid almost all of his injuries. Most of the pain was stuff he could just ignore, but whenever it got too intense for him he isolated himself from his friends and family as to not alarm them and ask him questions about how he got hurt. That did not need to happen.

Steven hid all of this from his loved ones for many different reasons. The first and foremost reason was that he knew they would never leave him unsupervised with a gem monster, not even after how far he's come with the Centipeedle. The Crystal Gems would most likely attack the creature if anything got out of hand, his father would tell him to leave the monsters to the Gems, and Connie would insist on being there to observe a Corrupted gem for the first time. She'd end up getting hurt, which is the last thing he needed on his already heavy conscience. This is also why he kept his injuries a secret so they didn't worry about him 24/7. On top of all that, he was worried that if he told anyone that he was still trying to help the monsters, they'd all keep pestering him about how well it's been going. He didn't want to let anybody down every time someone would ask, cause then even they'd lose hope too. This was just going to be Steven's little secret until there was some sort of improvement with the Centipeedle, or any of the monsters at that. He had always been good at hiding his issues, and over the years he had internalized a lot of conflicts. What's one more secret from the world going to harm?

Steven begrudgingly bubbled the Centipeedle's gemstone and let it rise back into place next to the other captive beasts. He'd be back later for her. Then he went over to the door to the temple, the Rose Quartz gem on the door already glowing, and the temple door opened. Steven stepped through and found himself back in the Beach House. The door closed behind him, and he made his way to the fridge for a quick snack.

It was nighttime, and on his way to the fridge he spotted the clock and noticed that it said 12:03. It was way past his bedtime, so the Gems thought that Steven would be in bed now, giving him plenty of time to have his sessions with the monsters. He waited until nighttime to enter the Burning Room under the cover of darkness to do his furtive deeds without drawing suspicions from his family. It wasn't easy to keep his doings from everyone he cared about, and the guilt was so overbearing that he could barely stand to look the Gems in the eyes when talking to them. Steven knew that he couldn't keep up this act forever, and so he sincerely hoped he could cure the Corrupted gems soon or he'd crack under all the pressure.

Steven looked around the refrigerator and settled on eating an apple, so he grabbed one of the fresh fruit and closed the door before taking a big bite out of the apple's crisp surface. While he was chewing he swore he heard the steps leading up to the house creaking, indicating that someone was here. Steven Immediately stopped chewing and strained to hear the sound, but the creaking had ceased as quickly as it occurred. After a few seconds of listening to silence Steven proceeded to eat his apple, dismissing the noise and thinking it was his imagination at work. Then he heard the noise return, and a few second later he saw someone appear at the screen door, silently open it, and creep into the house. The silent intruder was hidden in the shadows, so Steven couldn't make our who it was, but he was scared nonetheless. He was even more freaked out when the shadow quietly called out his name.

"Steven? Are you here? Are you alone?" A female voice said.

Steven was confused. Why was this mysterious intruder looking for him at such a late time?

"Yes I'm here," he said to the shadow, making his way to the living room. "Who are you?"

"It's Lapis," she said, stepping out into the pale moonlight seeping through the windows and revealing herself.

Steven let out a breath of relief, thankful it wasn't a burglar. "Oh hi, Lapis. What brings you here at such a late hour?"

"I um...I just wanted to see you," Lapis said sheepishly, picking at the hem of her dress, looking at the ground. "Is this a bad time?"

"No of course not Lapis," Steven said, setting the apple down on the counter and walking over to the gem. "It's always good seeing you."

When he left the kitchen and walked over to Lapis he gave her a big hug, causing both him and Lapis to blush with embarrassment. Nonetheless she returned the gesture with a hug if her own and the two friends were locked together in a warm embrace. After a few seconds of hugging Steven broke away from the hug to ask the question that was on his mind at the time.

"What are you doing here, is something wrong?" He asked, a look of concern plastered onto his face.

"No everything's fine," Lapis said reassuringly, putting Steven's mind at ease. "I just missed you. Is it okay if we just talked for a while?"

"Absolutely. Do you want to go someplace more private? I don't want the Gems coming out of their rooms and Interrupting us."

"That sound alright," Lapis said in agreement. "Got any place special in mind?"

"How about the hill behind my house, at the top of the temple," Steven suggested.

"That seems private enough. Let's go."

Lapis followed Steven out the door and down the stairs until they were on the sandy shores of the beach. Then without warning Lapis grabbed Steven, hoisted him into her back and flew up to the hill in one consecutive motion. At first Steven was surprised that Lapis did that but his confused was quickly diminished and replaced with excitement as they soared up to the hill within seconds before landing on the grassy landscape.

"Whoa, thanks Lapis that was fun!" Steven said happily, while the two of them sat down on the crisp, cool grass.

"No problem Steven, I like having fun with you," Lapis said with a smile.

The two got real quiet as they observed the beautiful night they were having. The moon was full, shining in all of its heavenly glory on the sleepy town of Beach City, illuminated the two friends who sat together, enjoying each other's company. The grass that they sat on was cold and a little wet, indicating that the summer months were coming to a close and that autumn was just around the corner. The healthy green blades were just beginning to frost over, and so Steven's rear was kind of damp, but perfectly bearable for him. A chilly gust of wind blew through the night, causing Steven to shiver a bit as the chilled air bit at his skin, including the various bruises, burns and cuts he received while dealing with the gem monsters.

Lapis noticed Steven's shivering, so she scooted over behind him and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body against his and basically giving him a hug from behind.

"Are you warm enough?" Lapis asked sweetly.

"I am now," he replied, feeling a little nervous that this beautiful gem was putting her body against his back. "Thank you."

"So how have you been doing while I was away?" She asked.

"Well let me think," Steven said, thinking about everything that's happened since he saw her last. "Did I ever tell you about our showdown with Jasper at the Beta Kindergarten?"

"You told me that Peridot took you and Amethyst there and that Jasper was there when she became corrupted from a fusion , then Peridot poofed her."

"That's all I told you!? I never told you how Amethyst and I fought her?"

"No, you told me you'd tell me more another time," she said. "I'm all ears now."

So Steven told her everything. He told her about fusing with Amethyst completely by accident, and that Smoky Quartz beat Jasper like it was nothing. Then after Peridot finished Jasper off, they bubbled her and then the three of them came home and dealt with the Rubies.

"Oh my gosh, Steven that's incredible!" Lapis exclaimed. "Your first fusion with a gem!"

"Yeah, it felt pretty awesome, and just think Amethyst really needed it. When you're fused, you can see into each other's minds, and Amethyst evidently has a lot of emotional baggage. Fusing with her did some good for her, and I'm always happy to help people. You know that."

"So you had fun as Smoky Quartz?" Lapis asked.

"I had a lot of fun," Steven replied.

"Well it sounds like you had quite the experience. Anything else happen worth mentioning?"

"Mmm, let me think," Steven said, recalling all that's happened recently. He though of a few...unpleasant things that were on his mind, plus everything he was hiding from everyone, but he wanted to keep all of that to himself. So he just played dumb and told Lapis "Nope, nothing else happened."

"You sure?" Lapis pressed further.

He shook his head.

The silence returned between the two once more, but it was because Steven didn't want to say anything more or he'd crack under the pressure. Steven cared about Lapis very deeply, but she'd been through so much pain already. He didn't need to give her the burden of knowing all of his issues and problems while she was dealing with her own.

It wasn't just that though. He felt really uncomfortable with how Lapis was hugging him, using her body to keep his warm. He began to blush, silently grateful that the night sky hid his rosy cheeks. You see, ever since Steven released Lapis from the mirror he had a huge crush on her and got super nervous whenever she was around. Even though he was great at hiding his emotions, inside he was a mess in her presence. She was just so beautiful and sweet, of course he'd be crushing on her, at least just a little bit. Great, just another thing he had to hide from everyone.

After a few minutes of just sitting with each other quietly Lapis broke the silence. "Steven, can I tell you something?"

"You can tell me anything, Lapis," Steven answered. "What's up?"

"As you know, while I was trapped in that mirror I saw a lot of different things," she started. "People would always ask me questions and use me as a tool, and sometimes someone would just talk to me like I was some sort of therapist. Some gems would reveal to me all their secrets and desires, their fantasies and dreams, basically spilled their guts to me. I've seen a lot of people with a lot of different problems clouding their minds, so I can read people very well. The only benefit of my time in the mirror."

"So you can know someone's having issues in life just by their mood? Steven asked.

"Yes, but also by reading their body language, their actions, and whether or not they talk a lot."

"Okay, so is someone you know having problems?"

"Yes. It's you."

Steven's uneasiness began to grow. He gulped hard before speaking again. "What gives you that idea? I'm fine, nothing's worn or anything. Why do you think that I'm having issues?"

"I haven't seen much of you lately for one," Lapis explained. "And it seems that you've been kind of distant whenever you visit Peridot and I at the barn. Are you having problems with the Gems?"

"No, the Gems have been treating me just fine," Steven said reassuringly. "Trust me Lapis, everything's just fine. I appreciate your concern for me though."

"Alrighty then," Lapis said, almost in an unconvincing tone. "I trust you."

Neither of them said anything more about Lapis' suspicions, so Steven's uneasiness disappeared and he thought he was in the clear. Unfortunately the silence between the friends grew from soothing and peaceful to uncomfortable and awkward, and Steven couldn't take it anymore. Desperate to break the silence he asked, "So how's life at the barn been? Have you and Peridot been getting along well?"

"It's been alright. Peridot's actually kind of okay to be around," Lapis answered. "She's been super nice and takes every opportunity to show me how sorry she is for kidnapping me for her mission. It's just..." she trailed off.

"What is it?" Steven asked.

"I just want to know one thing. Why do you trust her and the Crystal Gems? You know about everything they've done to me, and they bubble and trap gems like their some kind of animals! They betrayed Homeworld, and they were the reason there was a war in the first place. How can you trust them after all that?"

"Well, it's the same reason you trust me. We've known each other for a while now, and if you grow up around someone all the time, they basically become your family," Steven explained. "Does that make any sense?"

"I guess so. But gems don't grow up, so it's kind of hard to understand what you mean, but I get the gist of what you're saying."

"How come you still resent the gems after everything we've been through?" Steven asked. "Do you really think that they like doing what they have to do to protect the Earth? This place is their home Lapis...it's my home too. They believe all life is worth protecting, no matter what. Why can't you understand that?"

"Why can't you understand how bad they are?! They've trapped me and Peridot here, they've angered Homeworld by rebelling, and they shattered a diamond. How is that okay?"

"Perspective," he said plainly.

"What? How is that relevant to what we're talking about?" Lapis asked.

"This situation is different depending on who's perspective you're looking through. My mother, Rose Quartz believed what Homeworld was doing to Earth was terrible and she couldn't stand it, so she and the Crystal Gems rebelled. To the Crystal Gems and the Humans alive at the time, Rose's mission was one worth fighting for, so I'll always think that what the gems did was good because it allowed for me to exist and my home is still safe. From your perspective, rebelling against Homeworld, your home, is a traitorous disgrace and that all this rebels should be shattered for fighting back against the Diamond Hierarchy. You will always think of them as enemies to Homeworld for being out of align, and you feel that they are enemies because they had you trapped in that mirror for centuries. I think they're good, you think they're bad. It's all about perspective. But there is no right or wrong perspective, because perspective is neutral , it never takes sides. How's that for an answer?"

"I'd say very detailed, but my opinion of them hasn't changed," said Lapis.

"Oh well."

Steven got up from the ground and pulled away from Lapis' embrace. "Lapis, it's getting late and I don't want to get in trouble if the Gems wake up."

"I understand Steven." Lapis stood up and summoned her wings. "One last question though. What were you doing up so late?"

Despite the ever-present risk of having his secret found out, Steven calmly responded with "It's a secret, so I can't tell you. No one else knows either. Don't bring it up around anyone else, okay?"

"No problem," she said. "Goodbye."

And with that she flew away from the hill into beautiful night sky towards the barn, and soon she vanished into the night.

Steven stretched his arms out while letting out a yawn, and he made his way back to the house. After a short walk he made it back to the house, silently slipped inside and went up to his room where he plopped down onto his bed. He let out a loud sigh of relief as the comforting feeling of sleepiness overcame him. Right before he fell into a deep sleep however, he swore he saw a small silhouette dart around in the kitchen and disappearing into the darkness. He dismissed it as his imagination on overdrive again, and soon he fell asleep.

Even though Steven didn't know it then as he fell asleep, but this moment of peace talking with his friend and being able to fall soundly asleep instantly would be the last peaceful moment he'd have for quite a while. If only he knew of the trouble heading his way...

So here's the first chapter of my prequel to Separate Ways, I know it's kind of short and not very detailed, but this is just the beginning. There will be more to come over time so be prepared for an amazing story. I don't have a schedule, but I'll update whenever I can. Until next time, Lazuli out!