The silhouette of Rose Quartz was outlined by the setting sun that rested over the beach's horizon. Her pale pink ringlets blew in the wind. The sweet scents of the sand and saltwater tinted the air, calming Rose's frayed nerves as she took deep breaths in through her nose. If humans were to make a beach-scented perfume or cologne, she thought, it should smell like this.
A warm hand touched her shoulder. She almost jumped, but she realized who it was by the feel of the palm. More likely, she recognized the lack of a palm.
When she turned around, she met Garnet's gaze, which was hidden by her shades. "Rose," she said. Her smile was happy, but the three eyes behind her shades told a different story. "What are you doing outside? Pearl said it isn't safe outside while the fence is being repaired. Another human might come again. They could be dangerous."
The pink-haired Gem chuckled, shaking her head. She caressed the edge of Garnet's face and grabbed her triangular shades. Garnet cleared her throat in discomfort and stood up straight so that Rose would stop touching her cheek. The shades bubbled away. In any circumstance, she would put them right back on the bridge of her nose . . . but she didn't. Rose wanted to see her eyes clearly; Garnet could tell.
"Pearl has been poisoning your mind with her opinion on humans. They're absolutely harmless. How I wish she could understand that," Rose claimed, her starry eyes dreamily staring at the large Gem on the temple. "Ever since Greg came along, we've all been so distant around each other. I remember back when we could . . . we could . . . we could work so well together."
Garnet stood stiff, still facing Rose. She began, choosing her words carefully, "We're still adjusting to Greg being here, Rose. It's been so long since we were able to trust humans. It's been . . . centuries, sir."
Both Gems froze. Garnet couldn't believe she really said that. Sir. The last time she called Rose that was during the rebellion. Those were such hard times for all of them. Garnet could still remember the speech that Rose gave afterwards.
"Thousands of Gems," Rose began, her torn, pink flag waving triumphantly in the air, "have died here in the past years. Though, that was the past. Our teammates, no . . . our friends will be remembered for as long as we all live. Their lives will never be forgotten, and may we give a moment of silence . . . for our friends who we've lost . . . The war is won! The Gems from our home world . . . they will bother the Earth, our home, no longer! Kindergarten will be deactivated, and no more Gems shall invade here any longer. No more Gems, besides us. We are the Crystal Gems, and we will not live by the Diamond Authority. A single star will represent us. The star that we looked upon in our hopeless moments in battle will be our emblem!"
"I-I'm sorry," Garnet muttered. Rose chuckled, her eyes glistening with nostalgia. It was too late that Garnet realized hers were too; a single tear fell onto the sand. She turned around to face the temple, remembering the last time all four of them fused. She could feel the rush of adrenaline they felt when all four of them, herself, Amethyst, Pearl, and Rose, were on top of the world.
"No need to be," Rose whispered, sitting down on the sand and pulling Garnet gently down with her. The sky had become dark around them, and their emblem shone in the sky. They lit up the beach as the sun would. Garnet remembered the first time she saw Rose. The first thing she had noticed was her eyes. She had no specific eye color, in her opinion. If she had to describe Rose Quartz's eyes, she would say, "They are the color of a starry night sky."
Rose asked a question that Garnet never saw coming, "What is my child going to be like?"
The Crystal Gems didn't like discussing Rose's child that was on the way. They all knew that it was against Gem and human nature. Somehow, Rose let it happen - and none of them were fond of it.
"Will they be strong?" Rose wondered, her mind wandering to all possibilities of her child. "How about their leadership? Will they be strong? I don't want to expect too much of them. Babies are so fragile, aren't they?"
"You're going to have a son," Garnet replied. Rose's eyes lit up in reply.
"Oh, Greg said he's always wanted a son!" Rose exclaimed. Tears welled up in Garnet's eyes. She was glad that Rose was happy about her child, but Rose didn't see the possibilities of the future like Garnet could. With each possibility, not very much good would come out of the birth of this baby boy.
Garnet began, "He'll have doubts in himself at times."
"Maybe I'm not a Crystal Gem," Steven sighed.
"But we'll find a way to get his confidence back up."
"You're a Crystal Gem too," Garnet smiled. "We're not the Crystal Gems without you," Amethyst said. "I'm sure someday you'll figure out how to activate your gem," Pearl told Steven.
"He'll be a great and very strong Gem."
"I'm a Crystal Gem too!" Steven shouted.
Pearl stepped back from the fence. It looked good as new, just as she had planned. Amethyst climbed up onto her shoulder, telling her she did a nice job on repairing the fence that Greg had ripped open with his van. The two of them made their way towards the beach, where they found Garnet and Rose staring at the sky together. Garnet had taken off her shades, and Rose was . . . crying.
"What's going on here?" Pearl inquired, approaching the two of them. Amethyst crawled into Rose's lap.
"Garnet is telling me about my son," Rose explained, "and what he's going to be like. Would you like to listen?"
Pearl felt something worse than the feeling of getting a Gem cracked when she heard these words. Out of the three Gems besides Rose, the thought of Rose's child disgusted her the most. Garnet told her what this baby was going to do to Rose, and she didn't like it at all. Amethyst grabbed onto one of her legwarmers. "C'mon, P! Let's hear about baby Rose!" She'd said that when Garnet told them about what "baby Rose" was going to do to their leader. A sigh escaped the scrawny Gem's mouth as Amethyst pulled her town next to Garnet and Rose.
"He is going to be very musical . . . very lively," Garnet continued.
"Cookie Cat! He's a pet for your tummy!"
"All I wanna do . . . is see you turn into . . . a giant woman, a giant woman!"
"Dear old dad, remember this true . . ."
"Steven and the Crystal Gems, we're gonna make you smile!"
Pearl's gem began to glow as she pictured what the little boy would look like. He was short, like Amethyst, and chubby, like Rose. He had a curly mop for hair, and he wore a shirt that looked like what Greg wore the first night they'd met him. A pair of jeans and a pair of sandals accompanied his outfit. The hologram of thirteen-year-old "baby Rose" danced and laughed as Garnet described what he'll be like.
The hologram seemed to look straight at them, and he said, "I have healing spit!"
The four of them chuckled as the hologram ran off in the other direction, apparently chasing a butterfly around. Amethyst stood up, a mess of loud laughing and frizzy hair, and ran with him. She tripped over Pearl's outstretched leg, kicking up a cloud of sand. "Amethyst!" Pearl gasped, the small purple Gem pulling her up. She pulled the taller Gem around as they chased after the hologram.
Rose laughed, watching the happy scene. "He sounds perfect," she said, gazing back up at the temple. "What's his name?
"Steven," Garnet replied. "Steven Cutie-pie Universe."
"Cutie-pie?" Rose exclaimed in surprise.
Garnet chuckled and shook her head. "No. His middle name is Quartz."