[[Spoilers: For 'Wanted' special, particularly Lars' Head.]]

Fireflies

Lars yelped as a hand emerged from his hair.

The Off Color Gems stopped in their tracks, turning as Steven gasped and tumbled out of Lars' head. Steven landed on his feet, but he had to help Lars off the floor.

"Hi everyone! Sorry, Lars…"

Lars waved it off. "Just give me some warning next time, okay?"

"Okay!" Steven shrugged a backpack off his shoulders. "Where are we? Is it safe to talk?"

The light of the Twins' gemstone swept around the tunnel they were trekking through.

"No problem."

"All clear!"

"We're on our way up… to the surface," Rhodonite said with a shudder.

"Already? Guess you won't be needing these…"

Steven opened his backpack and Lars noticed a glass jar.

"Candy?" he guessed. "That's nice, but I'm, uh, still not hungry…" He hadn't felt hungry for weeks. Well, he thought it was weeks. Time seemed to work differently on this alien planet. Once he'd asked Fluorite about it, but she said everything moved slower for her because she was such a large fusion. She suggested he should take it up with Padparadscha – her visions could help enlighten him.

Unfortunately, Padparadscha wasn't the best judge of time.

She gasped as Steven held up the jar. "Steven's with us again!"

The jar didn't contain candy… unless Steven had discovered some sort of glowing yellow candy. (Lars wouldn't be surprised at all.)

"What are those?" Rhondonite wondered.

"They're fireflies!" explained Steven, patting the jar. "Me and Connie caught them last night."

All of the gems gathered round to study the jar, with Flurorite peering over their heads. Rhondonite was amazed that such tiny creatures could be made from fire. The Rutile Twins were horrified when they saw each fly had a yellow gem on its abdomen.

"Are they Yellow Diamond's spies?" one twin squeaked.

"No, they're just bugs," Steven chuckled. "I thought they could help light the way – giving your gemstones a break."

Lars shifted so Padparadscha could get a closer look. He coughed to Steven, "How's your… friend Connie? And everyone else?"

"Connie's great! She's been keeping an eye on me since I got back, same as the gems, my dad, the Cool Kids, Kiki, Jamie, Onion…" He smiled. "And Sadie."

Lars forced a smile and clenched his fists. There was a magical portal inside his head, but he still couldn't tell her how sorry he was.

Steven noticed. "She keeps asking about you," he whispered.

"A-and my parents?" They were probably freaking out over how much school he had missed. Or maybe they were glad to have the attic back…

"I told them you wouldn't need food, but they wanted me to give you this."

Steven passed him a lunchbox from his backpack. Lars' mouth watered at the cake roll inside. "Ube!" (Thanks, Mom!)

"Ooh-bay?" the Rutile Twins echoed.

"It's delicious – here, you can all try some." He was more than willing to share, especially since his appetite hadn't fully returned. The gems were confused when they each received a piece of the cake.

"Um…" Steven chomped down his piece. "You're gonna need some digestive systems for that. Maybe I should've brought Amethyst – "

"Can we try the fireflies too?" Rhondonite asked, hugging the jar.

"I wouldn't…" Steven grinned. "They're just here to… enlighten you!"

Fluorite hummed happily.

"How kind – Steven comes bearing gifts," Padparadscha chimed. She smiled at Lars. "They must remind you of your home."

"Yeah," he agreed, smiling from her to Steven. "They really do."