Holm

by leebozeebo

Steven and Connie go on an adventure in the desert and encounter a corrupted gem.

Holm

A Steven Universe Fanfic

by H.L. Starnes

The Usual Notes: Steven Universe characters and settings are copyright Rebecca Sugar, the Crewniverse, and Cartoon Network. This is entirely a fan constructed work and does not earn me any form of income. I hope everyone enjoys!

One

Connie Maheswaran sat on the beach patiently, watching the ocean's ebbs and tides. She closed her eyes as the sun fell on her face and removed her glasses, hooking them on the front of her shirt so they wouldn't get lost. They served no purpose other than to continue the charade that she had less than perfect vision. Her sight had been healed by Steven Universe long ago.

Speaking of Steven, Connie thought to herself, frowning. He's late again.

Though her friend was normally fairly punctual, he'd been very busy running off with the gems on magical adventures as of late and had a tendency to lose track of the time. Either that or he was stuck in some sort of inner-space dimension, fighting against hordes of oppressive creatures to make his way home.

Connie sighed. "I wish I could fight oppressive creatures," she muttered to herself. "I'd be like, 'Get back, everyone! I'll protect you from this authoritarian system of government, and also monsters!' It would be so epic."

A shadow fell over her, and she looked up, surprised. "Oh, hey, Lion," she said, addressing the enormous pink cat before her. Lion remained silent, staring at her. Connie blinked. "Is, uh...is Steven coming soon?"

Lion yawned, revealing a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, and collapsed next to her, immediately rolling on his back. Connie idly rubbed his belly. She glanced down at her watch. Steven was over thirty minutes late, which was extraordinary even considering his globe hopping exploits. She picked up her phone. No missed calls. She wondered if she should call him. Would he even be in a place where he could answer?

She had already begun flipping through her contact list, an action that didn't take very long considering that the only people in it were her parents and Steven, when she suddenly heard her friend's voice calling from across the beach.

She looked up, smiling, as she saw Steven running at top speed from his house. "Connie!" he called, sounding winded. "Connie!" he cried again, as he tripped and fell down the stairs, causing her to wince reflexively. "Connie!" he cried a third time, after picking himself up, tripping, and picking himself up again.

The rest of his run was without incident, but he had to pause for a good while to catch his breath when he finally reached her.

"Hey," he wheezed. "'Sup?"

"Not much," she replied jovially. "I was actually about to call you."

"Aw, I'm sorry," Steven said sheepishly. "I was with the gems on a mission. Did you know there's a temple that floats in the sky?!"

Connie grinned earnestly. "Tell me about it?" she asked eagerly. "It already sounds amazing. I wish I could explore one of those ancient temples with you."

Steven's smile faded a bit. "Yeah, I wish...they're pretty dangerous, though. Amethyst had to save me a couple of times. If I didn't have the gems with me, I dunno."

Connie shook her head. "It's okay, I know I'm not like you guys. I just sometimes want to do stuff that's less boring, you know? I want to see amazing things, like Princess Almas in The Sand Chronicles." The young girl gestured at the small stack of books she'd brought with her to the beach.

"Oh, yeah! Let's start the first meeting of the Super Beach Best Friends Summer Book Club! And to follow up on what you just said, those books were soooo good!" Steven cried, falling into a seated position next to his friend. "When Almas runs away from her father, and there's all those armed guards, but she just jumps over them? That was so impressive! She's not afraid of anything!"

"Definitely!" Connie enthused. "And in the end she's able to thwart the Sultan's regime through civil discourse! And she even managed to rescue those ancient artifacts that allow her to stop an evil plot to prevent the treaty signing between two warring nations. I was sweating during that whole scene. It was intense!"

Steven laughed. "And don't forget when Almas has to sneak into that big party, and then everyone agrees that she's wearing the most beautiful dress there. She has to turn down four marriage proposals!"

Connie rolled her eyes. "You would like that part."

Steven grinned happily. "The description made me feel like I could really see it. All that dark green silk and crushed velvet. I bet that dress would look really amazing on you, Connie."

Connie blushed deeply as Steven flustered for a moment. "But, you know, I really like all the clothes you wear. Your dress today is just as good, maybe better than the one Almas wore, because it's got those...stripes, and…" the young boy trailed off, clearly not certain how to get their conversation back on the rails.

"Well," Connie began carefully. "The descriptions really were on point. Every time Almas would talk about the desert, all I could see in my mind was this shimmering sand. I'd love to see that. Like an ocean of sand."

Steven shrugged. "It was kind of like that when Lapis stole the ocean."

The young girl shook her head. "That wasn't the same, really. There was still some plant life that had lived at the bottom of the ocean, and some stray starfish, coral….I mean a real desert. That would be so amazing."

Steven Universe stared out at the ocean before glancing over at Lion, whose ears perked a bit as though the boy had spoken directly to him. The great cat looked up from his nap, blinking slowly.

"I know where there's a desert," Steven said at last. "We could...go there. If you want."

"Really?!" Connie asked excitedly, her eyes shining. "Are you sure that's okay? Do we need to bring the gems?"

Steven shook his head. "They're not home. They had to take this tiny bird statue to some ancient tree, and something about an egg, and….restoring a thing?"

Connie raised an eyebrow. "Steven, you really need to improve your listening skills."

"Yeah," Steven agreed nonchalantly. "But anyway, I can show you the desert where I met Lion. It was kind of dangerous when we first went there because Desert Glass was building all these sand castles that were all unstable, but we bubbled that so it should actually be fine now. Right, Lion?"

Lion stared deeply into Steven's eyes, his tail swishing back and forth.

"...see? Lion thinks so, too," Steven said confidently.

Connie looked back and forth between her friend's cheerful expression and Lion's blank one. "If you think so," she said, a little confused.

"Yeah!" Steven said, excitedly. "Come on, Lion, can you take us? We want to have an adventure in the desert!" The young boy began to chant: "Adventures in the desert! Adventures in the desert!"

Lion stood suddenly, kneeling slightly to allow the children to climb onto his back. Once they were aboard, he straightened, setting off at a gallop before roaring, causing an energy wave to pulse out and create a portal that he leapt through, leaving no trace of them behind aside from a small stack of books.

Two

"Hot," Steven said plainly, as sweat accumulated on his brow. "Really hot."

Connie stood next to Lion, surveying the miles of sand that surrounded them. She glanced up at Steven, who was slouched over Lion's back, his tongue out and panting. "Well...yeah, Steven. This is the desert," she said, bemused.

She looked back out at the shimmering heat waves that rose up in the distance. "It's so beautiful," she said softly, brushing her hair back behind her ear.

Steven hopped off Lion's back to stand next to his friend. "Yeah," he said in agreement. "I wonder if there really is an oasis out in those heat shimmers, just like in book three."

"When Almas discovered that utopia ruled by the Sand Goddess? That was my favorite. She used her magic to help all the people who lived in the oasis. She was like their mom, taking care of them. A giant, thirty feet tall!" Connie smiled, kneeling to pick up a handful of sand and let it cascade through her fingers. "That's kind of like your mom, right, Steven?"

"Oh," Steven blushed. "Yeah, I guess it is. But my mom isn't that big." He chuckled nervously.

"Honestly, I think the Sand Goddess's extreme size is more a metaphor for her universal maternal nature than anything else."

Steven fidgeted. "Right. Yeah."

Connie smirked. "Race you to the top of that dune!" she suddenly cried, and broke off at a sprint.

"Huh?" Steven said in surprise. He hesitated a moment before bolting after his friend. "Hey, no fair!" he called after her. "I wasn't ready!"

Connie made it to the top of the dune, handily beating Steven, who was already winded as he approached. "I call shenanigans," he said, wiping sweat from his face.

Connie did the same. "No way," she said with pride. "I beat you fair and square, for I am Almas, Princess of the Kingdom of Ubar!"

Steven's eyes shone brightly as he bowed low. "I acknowledge my defeat at your hands, my princess. I, Sahib, remain your ever faithful servant."

"Ohhhh, I love Sahib!" Connie said quickly, then blushed. "He's a great character. In the books, you know?"

"Heh, yeah," Steven said, also blushing. The two stared at each other for a moment. They inched closer together.

Lion's face suddenly appeared between them, staring. He snorted, his tail swishing back and forth in the sand.

"Uh, hey, Lion," Steven said. "What's up?"

Lion looked into the distance, where a small cyclone of sand was swirling about. Connie gasped. "Oh no, is that going to come over here? Mmmmmaybe we need to go."

Steven squinted. "No, it seems to be staying in that one spot. That's super weird. Hey, is there something over there? It seems like there's something in the sand. What is that?"

Connie put her hand above her eyes to shield them from the sun and squinted as well, "Yeah...Steven, there is something out there. It looks like some kind of stone structure. I wonder if it's a buried cave! That would be…" Connie trailed off, as Steven smiled at her.

"Want to check it out?" he asked.

Connie brightened immediately. "Yeah!" she said excitedly.

Steven turned to Lion. "Hey, Lion, can you take us out to where that tiny sandstorm is?"

Lion sniffed and laid down in the sun.

Steven turned back to Connie. "Walk?" he asked. Connie nodded.

It took the two about half an hour to reach the spot where the cyclone swirled. Up close it seemed just as small as it had from a distance, but the wind was indeed kicking up a fierce amount of dust. Steven reached into his pocket and pulled out two handkerchiefs, handing one to Connie. They wrapped them around their mouths and noses as they approached.

"This isn't a cave, Steven - look, it's the entrance to some kind of temple! The stones are laid out in actual brick form!" Connie ecstatically pointed at the structure. Stone steps led down to an open, jagged entrance. The entire structure was under the ground.

Steven took a step back, nervous. "I don't know what this is, Connie," he admitted. "After we took Desert Glass out of here I didn't think there'd still be a place like this. I wonder if I should tell the gems about this."

Connie turned around. "Oh," she said, slightly disappointed. Her disappointment quickly turned to anxiety. "You're probably right. We don't know what's down there. It may not be safe. Maheswarans are all about safety."

"Right," Steven said, pleased.

"Do you think," Connie began carefully. "That after you and the gems investigate this and find that it's safe, we could come back?"

Steven paused, and looked into Connie's eyes. There was only a 50/50 chance that the structure would still be there once the gems were through with it. He scratched the back of his head. "We….you know, this couldn't possibly be associated with Desert Glass. It's bubbled back home. This probably isn't even gem related. Gem stuff is always...cleaner. I bet this was built by humans."

Connie glanced at the temple entrance. "Do you think so?" she asked skeptically.

"Sure," Steven said with confidence. "And I can handle that. I've gotten a lot stronger. If anything is in there, I can put a bubble around us. Come on! This is your chance to have a real adventure in the desert!"

"Well…" Connie started. "If we wind up being the first people to document the inside of this ancient temple, that would probably help me get into a top-tier university one day."

"Uni-huh?" Steven said, confused.

"Sure," Connie said decisively, her eyes shining as she took Steven's hand in her own. "Let's do it, Steven!"

And with that, the two rushed past the small cyclone and into the darkened temple below.

Three

Inside the temple, pillars of loose, crumbling stone appeared to leak sand in time with the twirling of the cyclone outside. Though it had seemed dark when the two friends entered, they soon found there was enough ambient light from eerily glowing crystals hanging from the ceiling to enable them to see everything they needed.

Connie found one of the glowing crystals on the sandy floor of the temple and quickly held it up. "Built by humans?" she queried, her tone of voice making it clear that she was doubtful of Steven's earlier claim.

"You never know," Steven said, shrugging.

Connie lifted her crystal up and the two surveyed the walls of the first room, adorned in rich murals depicting humans and various animals bowing down in front of a much larger person, with a green glowing rock where her mouth should have been.

"Okay, this temple was built by gems," Steven conceded. "Maybe we should head back to Lion before we trigger some weird tra-"

"What was that noise?" Connie asked, railroading Steven's words. She swung wide with her crystal, shining light all around.

"I, uh...didn't hear anything," Steven said, confused.

"Shhh!" Connie demanded, and the two stood perfectly still, and waited.

It was moments before they both heard it. A scratching, scraping sound, like something moving very quickly along rock and sand. The noise was impossible to pinpoint due to the echoing nature of the large, seemingly empty room.

"First vote of the Super Beach Best Friends Summer Book Club is to get out of here," Steven said quickly.

"Seconded," Connie said, already backing up.

"Motion passed," the young boy replied, moving with her.

Just as it seemed they would finally back themselves all the way to the entrance, that same scratching, scraping sound resurfaced directly behind them. Twirling around quickly, Steven immediately cried out at the sight of a large, scorpion-like creature. Its claws were short and curved, but clearly very sharp, and its tail was primed to strike, with a large, pointed green gem where one would expect to find a stinger. The creature made no other noise besides its movement because the front of its face was completely smooth, like the shell of a crab. There were no eyes, mouth, or any other features that might indicate its ability to see, hear, or cry out in attack.

"Connie!" Steven cried, instinctively pushing his friend aside as the scorpion attacked. Its stinger came down, but only collided with the dirt where the Universe boy had once stood, as he quickly rolled away. Running fast, he grabbed his friend's hand and the two rushed deeper into the tunnel. "Come on!" Steven yelled. "We have to find another way!"

Connie's eyes darted as the sounds of the scorpion rushing after them filled her ears. "Left!" she cried, suddenly seeing a side hall up ahead. It looked narrow enough to potentially lose the beast. Steven nodded as he ran, and the two dived into the new hall, running as fast as they could.

The scorpion ran head first into the narrow hallway, but couldn't get through. The creature's scrambling against the opening caused the walls to shake dangerously and knock Steven off his feet. Not knowing his own strength, the sudden fall caused him to accidentally fling his friend several feet in front of him down the hall, but before he could rise up and reach her, the scorpion slammed into the hall entrance again, causing a significant part of the wall and ceiling to come crumbling down in between the two.

Connie looked up in time to see Steven's anguished face just before enough stone and sand fell between them to block her view of him entirely.

"Connie!" Steven called, already frantically digging at the rubble.

"Steven!" The Maheswaran girl called back. She listened carefully, but could hear nothing.

Steven continued digging, though quickly found it was a lost cause. It would take him countless hours to even make a dent in the pile of rock and sand that had collapsed between them, and in that amount of time…

The Universe boy turned, suddenly, and his eyes went wide when he saw the scorpion had disappeared from the end of the hall. "Connie," he whispered, and broke into a sprint. He turned back down the main hall they had come from and ran deeper into the tunnel. "Where are you?" he shouted, this time clearly talking to the creature. "I won't let you hurt Connie!"

He ran until he found himself in a wider end of the hall, completely filled with pillars, It was rounded, and clearly a dead-end.

Crying out in exasperation, he turned around. "Connie!" he shouted again, and then moaned. "I shouldn't have brought her in here. I should have brought the Crystal Gems. I keep messing up! I just…" he trailed off for a moment. "Everyone is always telling me about my mom, and all her protective power, but I never knew her, and she can't teach me how her powers are supposed to work. Sometimes I just wish...ugh, what am I doing? Connie, can you hear me?"

Steven shifted to run again, but heard that scraping, scratching sound just as one pillar suddenly crashed into another, causing a chain reaction that caused the entire room to begin caving in on itself.

The young boy ran with a speed beyond he knew he was capable of, leaping over bits of rock as they fell and sidestepping others. In the end, however, a large piece still managed to come down and collide with the side of his head, causing him to fall to the ground, sliding along the sand until he came to a stop, safe from the collapse, but clearly unconscious. A large shadow slowly crept over him where he lay.

Meanwhile, Connie, unsure how long would be appropriate to wait, started to slowly work her way down her end of the narrow side hall, investigating a very bright light she saw ahead. "I won't go too far," she whispered to herself. "Because the best thing to do in a situation like this is to wait where people know they can find you."

But her curiosity overwhelmed her, and though she was scared, every time she felt she should go back, she found herself taking yet another step towards the light.

Eventually, she reached a large room. In the center was a small display pillar, surrounded by bright lights. At one point something had clearly been placed there for others to view, but whatever that something had been, it was long gone.

Connie approached the display pillar, looking for some clue as to what had once rested there. Before she could reach it, she heard the scorpion, moving in its familiar way behind her. She turned, seeing it, and the two regarded each other for a moment.

The Maheswaran girl was scared, but knew there was no point in trying to outrun the creature. She had once heard Pearl and Amethyst say that the monsters in their world were once gems like they were, and this made Connie wonder if she could try to reason with the creature. She bit her lip. "I'm sorry," she said, looking down. "Please...don't hurt me. I wanted to have a desert adventure. I wanted to be brave like the gems, and see amazing things like they do. I just wanted to understand what it's like."

The Scorpion paused at her words, but then advanced on her regardless. Seeing no way to fight the monster, Connie Maheswaran lowered her head and closed her eyes tight, waiting for the end.

As the scorpion's shadow crept over her body, she slowly dropped to the sandy floor below.

Four

Steven Universe opened his eyes to a bright blue sky full of clouds. His vision was blurry, and as it came into focus, he saw a silhouette of somebody leaning over him. With the light behind her it was hard to make out, but as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he saw unmistakable bright pink hair.

"Are you done with your nap?" Rose Quartz asked warmly.

"M...mom?" Steven asked, uncertain.

"I think so. Let's check. Same eyes," she said, leaning in close to reveal the star-shining orbs. "Same smile," she added, grinning. "Annnnd...same tummy!" She straightened, showing her bright pink gem revealed through a star-shaped cut out on the front of her dress.

"But how…" Steven started, and stopped. "Wait, what was I doing before?" he asked himself, confused. "I was….hold on, did you say same tummy?" Steven quickly lifted up his shirt to see that he had the exact same gem he'd always possessed, right where a normal human's navel would be.

"Come on, Steven," his mother said, standing. "We came out here to pick berries. Pearl and Garnet are already way ahead of us."

Steven brought himself to his feet with uncertainty before looking around. They were in the strawberry battlefield, the location of an enormous gem battle between the Crystal Gems and those from Homeworld thousands of years ago. It looked much as he remembered it, but with one stark contrast - there were absolutely no weapons riddling the bright green and red fields. None.

"Did we clean up all the gem weapons?" Steven asked himself. "We took some when we first received that message from Lapis, but we couldn't carry them all…"

"Hurry up, Steven!" Rose called, already well ahead of him. Without thinking Steven sped after her. He was thoroughly confused, but there was a strong part of him that wasn't sure if he needed answers to the questions gathering in his mind. He was with his mother, the gem who had given up her physical form just to create him. Somehow they were in the same place at the same time. As he grew closer to her, he realized he could finally do something he'd always wanted to do. Something important.

Steven collided with his mother's legs, hugging her tight. His fists clutched at her dress and tears built up in his eyes to the point of blurring his vision.

"Steven?" his mother asked, concerned. "Are you all-"

Before Rose could finish her sentence, Pearl landed lightly next to her. Anxiety was painted all over her face. "What's wrong with Steven?" she asked, kneeling to look at his face. "Did he get hurt? Is there a corrupted gem creature here? Garnet!"

Rose blinked, and Garnet landed with the sound of a thunderclap next to Pearl, creating a small crater in the earth. Metal gauntlets were already on her hands and she scanned the strawberry fields. She pushed her sunglasses squarely against her face before declaring, "There's nothing here."

Pearl stood, confusion evident on her face. She looked up at Rose. "I don't understand. Steven never cries."

Steven blinked back tears and looked up at his mother. "I'm sorry," he said, sniffling. "I just...I'm so happy to see you. I don't know how to explain it right now."

Rose smiled warmly, but looked concerned. "I'm happy to see you every day, Steven. Do you not want to pick strawberries with me? We can go home if you're not feeling well."

"No!" Steven said quickly, wiping at his eyes and nose with one arm. "No, mom, I really want to pick strawberries with you, and Pearl, and Garnet, and….where's Amethyst?"

Garnet looked from Pearl to Rose quickly. Her face, as usual, was impossible to read.

"Steven," Pearl said carefully, trying to gauge Rose's reaction. "We don't know any Amethysts. There's just us."

"What?" Steven said, flabbergasted. "Of course we know Amethyst. Short, purple, kinda wide, big hair? She's always eating and picking her nose?"

Pearl seemed to relax somewhat at Steven's description. Turning to Rose, she attempted to put a hand up to guard her mouth from Steven's eyes and whispered, "Imaginary friend."

Rose smiled and picked Steven up to place him on her shoulders. "Whoa!" Steven said, surprised to suddenly be so high. He had to push some of her large hair aside just to see in front of him.

"We'll go looking for this Amethyst after we pick our strawberries," Rose said placatingly, walking further into the strawberry field. Garnet and Pearl followed, leading them to a small clearing where they each had an enormous bag full of berries, some larger than Steven's entire body.

Steven whistled at the sight, and Rose tickled him a bit, causing him to laugh. Her expression softened further as she surveyed the fields around the clearing. "Isn't it beautiful, Steven?" she asked, and he nodded. "It's hard to believe that thousands of years ago a battle was fought here."

"I know!" Pearl said gleefully. "It was so dreadful, all that fighting. And so silly, when I look back on it."

"We are all gems," Garnet said, plucking a strawberry the size of her head.

Steven nodded again, but slowly, not sure how to respond. After a momentary silence, he said, "I wish dad could see this. It would be so nice, for all of us," he said at last. Pearl and Garnet looked pointedly busy at his words.

Rose's face became tight, and she set Steven gently on the ground. "Steven," she began, sighing. "I know we don't talk very much about your father, and that's bound to make you curious. You have to understand, it's a very difficult subject for me. He made a choice, and...he loved you, Steven. He believed in you. I suppose I can tell you…"

Rose trailed off and looked up at Pearl and Garnet. Without a word, they both grabbed their bags of strawberries and leapt away, towards the warp pad that Steven knew would take them home.

When Pearl and Garnet were gone, Rose knelt down. Even kneeling, she was much taller and larger than him. Steven had never felt more like a lost child than in the presence of his mother.

"Steven, before your father….there was something he said, and it was very beautiful. I'd like to tell it to you now. I think you're old enough." Rose looked earnestly at her son.

"O...kay," Steven said uncertainly. He didn't like the direction this conversation had turned.

"He said that he would always be a part of you, and that's true, Steven. He is. I see so much of him in you, every day. You have his mannerisms, his smile, and his amazing gift for music. Your father….Greg...he said that every day you loved being you, that would be him, loving you. I've seen your happiness, Steven, and I know that Greg is happy. It's all I ever wanted." Rose smiled, and pulled Steven into an embrace, not noticing her son's wide, astonished eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, concerned at his silence. Studying him, she muttered to herself, "Perhaps we should take today off from training…"

Steven's mind raced. The way his mother had spoken, it was obvious that his dad was gone. But gone how? Had he left? Was he…?

"Yeah," Steven said at last, his eyes down. "I'm okay. Do you think we can go home now?"

Rose nodded, scooping her son up once again. "Of course, Steven. Anything for you."

Five

Connie bolted up with a cry as she heard the sounds of explosions and clanging steel. All around her gems were fighting as far as she could see. Weapons lay strewn about the grassy field she cowered on. "What's happening?" she yelled, looking for any opening through which she could run for cover from the maelstrom of destruction in her midst.

"Coming through!" an angry voice called, and Connie rolled to one side as a young red girl bolted past her, a thin ribbon tied around her hair to keep it out of her eyes. She grinned as she leapt into the air, the gem on her left hand glowing as a pair of metal knuckles appeared over her fist right before she landed a hard punch on a gem three times her size. She savored the way her opponent fell to the ground with an exaggerated poofing sound just as a yellow gem, lanky and with spiked hair, landed nearby and began moving at an almost blinding speed, knocking the smaller girl about with ease as she prepped and missed every punch.

The red girl growled, missing another punch. "Hey, come on!" she angrily yelled. Another missed punch as the taller yellow gem smirked, showing off the diamond symbols on her cuffs and the yellow gem embedded in her flesh there as she made a jazz hands motion in the small girl's face. "I'm getting mad!"

A blue gem of similar stature raced past Connie at a speed equal to, if not greater than, the tall gem who was causing so much trouble. Her long white hair flowed behind her as she jumped up and kicked the yellow gem in the chest, using her body to launch backwards. As the blue gem flew through the air, she grabbed the red gem's hand. Grinning, the red gem began twirling her around at a speed almost too fast to see.

The two small gems laughed gleefully as they glowed a blinding white. Connie shielded her eyes, unable to tell where either gem began or ended. When the white began to fade, a familiar metal gauntleted fist swung out, colliding with the yellow woman's gem in her wrist, knocking her back twenty feet only to have her body turn to clouds around yet another adversary.

"Garnet?" Connie said in awe, clearly confused at what was happening. "Then those other two gems were Ruby and Sapphire? Where...hey, wait! Garnet! Where are you going?"

But Garnet had already disappeared further into the chaos of the surrounding battle. Gems continued to clash against each other around the young Maheswaran girl. She'd never seen anything so destructive and frightening in her life.

An enormous gem fusion swung a battleaxe nearly fifteen feet above her head before having both its gems pierced by arrows from somewhere far away, and before the axe could even fall to the ground, two more gems fused and grabbed it, swinging in an upward arc to collide with ever more foes.

It was full-scale war unlike anything Connie had ever read about. She stood to her feet and ran, darting in and out of the way of attacking warriors, but somehow never getting caught in the crossfire of their ceaseless battling. As she ran, she reflected on Garnet's face...the strange mix of glee, determination, and horror, as though she was happy to be alive but unable to reconcile that feeling with the wanton destruction she was forced to cause others to survive. She had smiled, but there was anguish in her eyes.

Connie shook her head, darting behind a nearby rock. She knew for certain that she never wanted to see Garnet make that face again.

Something collided with the rock Connie was hiding behind, and she dared to peek around the edge. It was Pearl! Breathing heavily, the thin, bird-like gem ducked and dodged around an adversary many times her size, her spear spinning as she searched for an opening. Another gem, roughly her own size, attempted to attack her from behind, but at the last moment, Pearl sidestepped, swinging her spear around to collide with the sneak attacker's gem, cracking it directly in the center and causing her spear to slide effortlessly through a body made of nothing but vapor.

The spear never slowed down for a second as Pearl twirled her body around, a movement born more of dance than fighting, and Connie saw the tip of her spear glow white hot as a solid ball of energy built up before Pearl caught the twirling weapon in both hands, holding it not unlike a rifle as the energy blasted out, crackling with intensity. The giant woman Pearl had been fighting roared as that energy collided with all four of her eyes, blinding the giantess just as Pearl shot three more blasts, each making direct contact with one of the fusion's gems.

As her second opponent fell, Connie noted Pearls white-knuckled grip on her spear, and the look of abject terror on her face.

"Pearl," Connie whispered, her heart aching to see another of Steven's mothers in such pain.

The young Maheswaran girl attempted to reach out to Pearl to get her attention, but suddenly found her surroundings swirling around her, color washing into a blinding flurry of hues that nearly made her sick. When the world became right again, she found herself far away from the spot she'd just been hiding, standing near a tent adorned with a large, bright blue triangle. In front of the tent knelt an immense orange gem, streaks of a much darker, almost burnt orange adorning her body. Connie couldn't be sure if they were tattoos or well-patterned birthmarks. All she knew for certain is that the woman looked frightening, with a bright shock of long white hair, not unlike the color of Amethyst's, waving behind her.

"Jasper," an authoritative voice said from within the tent. "Report."

Connie gasped quietly. Steven had told her many things about Jasper, and none of them were positive. Though her friend hadn't really mentioned just how large the orange woman was. Connie looked over Jasper's bulging arms and found herself crouching more than was necessary to avoid any kind of detection.

"Rose Quartz has amassed a larger and more formidable army than we originally anticipated," Jasper said, her voice a mix of anger and respect. "But she's the key to their defeat. If we can fell Rose Quartz, this war will be over before the day ends. Her people will scatter like cowards. I'll stake my entire reputation on it."

There was an uncomfortably long silence while the entity inside the tent seemed to consider the large orange gem's words.

"Your orders?" Jasper asked, looking up briefly.

A sigh could be heard from within the tent. "Go and do what you were made for," the voice said, a barely disguised note of disdain present.

If Jasper was aggravated by the distasteful way her supervisor spoke to her, nobody would ever know it. The gem smiled, but there was none of the fear Connie had seen on Pearl's face, or the anguish she had seen on Garnet's. Jasper's smile was genuine.

"With pleasure," she said, and stood to her full height of eight feet, a hard crystalline helmet materializing on her head as she climbed into what Connie could only describe as a sort of walking tank. A large gem was embedded on the underside of the weapon as it slowly powered up and began a determined walk directly into the center of the battlefield.

Connie bit her lip. "I have to tell somebody," she said to herself. "But...what good would it do? I don't understand what's happening here at all. What is all this?"

As Connie spoke, the colors once again washed together and she found herself near Jasper's tank, which was easily destroying every Crystal Gem it came into contact with. Within the cockpit, Jasper laughed gleefully, turning multiple gems to nothing more than vaporous clouds with every swing of the tank's arms.

"Somebody!" Connie started to cry, but then stopped short as she saw Garnet suddenly come plummeting straight down from above, her fist outstretched to collide with the cockpit window of Jasper's weapon. The window cracked and shattered, leaving Jasper open to attack, but before Garnet could launch another offensive, the fused gem was grabbed by one of the tank's hands. Jasper's eyes were wild as she made the mechanized weapon squeeze Garnet painfully.

"You're nothing," Jasper spat, but then her eyes went wide as she looked beyond her latest capture.

Connie followed Jasper's gaze to the side of a hill, where Rose Quartz stood, digging through a weapons cache. Her white dress was in tatters and her pink hair was frazzled. Her skin seemed to have a criss cross of scarring from a series of near-missed cuts to vital areas. Despite all this, her appearance was unmistakable to Connie, who had seen impressions of Steven's mother all throughout his home.

And even in her battle-worn state, Connie had to admit that Rose Quartz was beautiful.

But more importantly, she was distracted, and had not yet noticed Jasper's walking conveyer of destruction.

"Yesssssss," the orange woman hissed, licking her lips. The other arm of her mechanized tank raised up, a cannon of some kind mounted on it that was already powering up. "Just a little more...little more…"

"No!" Garnet cried, struggling against her bonds. The fusion's gauntleted fists left long scratches in the tank's arm but did not free her.

"Die!" Jasper whispered, her finger sliding against one of the controls in her cockpit. But before the weapon could take any action, another gem Connie had never seen before leapt up onto the front of the walking tank. She appeared to be wearing a green hijab, and her face was mostly obscured by a similarly colored veil, decorated by a field of beautiful stars. She held a curved dagger in one hand, but rather than bring it down on Jasper's gem-nose, she merely reached out her other hand, glowing a bright green, and touched it.

Jasper screamed immediately, and the tank jerked wildly, firing a powerful laser far into the distance. The aberrant movements of the tank caused the green gem to go flying back into the fray, and Garnet was thrown in the opposite direction. "Get out of my head!" the orange gem cried out, vigorously flailing at nothing.

Connie blinked. There was something familiar about the green gem who had attacked Jasper. She silently glanced over to the hill where she had previously seen Steven's mother and now found Rose Quartz standing at the top of the hill. A warm breeze had picked up, and carried her pink curls off to the side just as her dress wafted about her powerful exposed legs in the same direction. One arm lay at her side, her hand clenched into a fist. Under the other arm was an enormous pink cannon, shaped like a newly budding rose.

The sight didn't at all surprise Connie. Nobody but Steven's mother could so easily carry such a large weapon. Indeed, the cannon rested against her prodigious hip effortlessly, as though it was made to be set there.

Though she was far away, Connie could clearly see Rose Quartz's lips form the words "I'm sorry" before she brought the cannon up to point at Jasper, and fired.

Six

Steven sighed in relief when he and his mother materialized on the warp pad in his house. It was exactly as he remembered it, wood tones and all. Garnet and Pearl were already sitting on the couch, Garnet in a classic lounging position, and Pearl with her legs crossed daintily while reading a magazine, which she dropped immediately at the sight of her friends.

"Oh, good!" she cried. "I wasn't sure how long you would be and I thought I might need to come back and find you. Rose, you should read this human article on seasonal fashion colors. It's fascinatingly inane and I think I may be an Autumn."

"Maybe later," Rose said gently. I think Steven and I should go for a walk around Beach City. He needs to decompress a little."

"Wha-? But he looks-" Pearl started to say before Garnet elbowed her. Pearl blinked and took a closer look at Steven's face. "Oh! Decompress. I see. Yes, of course. Steven should spend some time among the humans, that's an excellent idea. We should all have a full sense of our heritage. Or a half-sense, in Steven's case, yes? That's a joke, Steven! You love those."

Garnet slowly lowered her face into the palm of one hand as Rose ignored Pearl's words, leading Steven outside. "Feel better, Steven!" Pearl called after them.

"What?" Steven heard Pearl say to Garnet as they walked down the outside stairs of his house, her voice becoming softer as they moved further away. "I'm helping."

Steven walked silently with his mother, afraid to ask any more questions for the answers he might be given. He remained silent even when they came across the enormous chain-link fence separating his beach from the rest of Beach City, though he did stare a bit too long at the two armed gems standing in front of the gate, guarding it. He'd never seen them before.

Rose led Steven through the gate and then sighed, staring at his face. "Steven, would you like a donut?" she asked, gesturing towards the Big Donut in the distance.

"Sure," Steven said, controlling his voice. He didn't know what else to say. Standing next to Rose Quartz was fulfilling his lifelong dream in a way he couldn't express, but everything else about his world made no sense.

"Hi, Steven!" Sadie called politely as the two entered. Lars was conspicuously absent. "Hello, Ms. Quartz."

"Hello, Sadie," Rose said warmly. "Steven, tell Sadie what kind of donut you'd like."

"I…" Steven started, but tripped over his words. "Sadie, do you...uh...usually work by yourself...at this hour?"

Sadie bit her lip. "Oh, you mean Lars?" Steven seemed to visibly relax as she said his friend's name. "He's had to…" Sadie trailed off, glancing up at Rose. "He'll be back when school lets out."

"School? But don't you guys-"

"Sadie, can you get Steven a chocolate covered donut with sprinkles on the side?" Rose asked, lifting Steven up and kissing his cheek. The motion was so intimate and effortless that Steven forgot his confusion, and his eyes threatened to well up with tears again. She smiled at Sadie and whispered, "He likes to dip."

"Sure thing, Ms. Quartz," said Sadie, as she immediately and hurriedly prepared their order in a bag for the two to take outside. "No charge! Have a great day!"

As Steven ate his food at a boardwalk table in front of his smiling mother, he surveyed the surrounding area. He saw Mr. Smiley, a few members of the Pizza family...for the most part things seemed fairly normal. He began to question if maybe this strange world he'd woken into was truly so bad. But still, there was the issue of his dad. The young boy's stomach clenched in a knot at the thought.

Steven saw another familiar face in the small shop of Mr. Fryman, and he turned suddenly to his mother, "Hey, mom, can I go say hi to Peedee real quick?" he asked. "And maybe get some fry bits?"

Rose smiled warmly at Steven. "You love the bits," she said, and motioned for him to go have fun.

Steven walked towards the fry shop and a bored looking Peedee when he suddenly saw the young Fryman's eyes go wide as a large shadow was cast over him, causing Steven to stumble and trip over himself. "Huh?" he asked confusedly.

"You should be more careful, Experiment Twenty-Six," said a familiar voice behind him, gleefully.

Steven turned, his face a mask of horror as his eyes went up the body of Jasper, a gem he'd hoped to never see again after his first encounter with her. Her words washed over him and he felt cold from the experience. "Experiment…?" he whispered.

"Here," Jasper said with a cruel smile. "Let me help you up." She reached a large hand down to grip him by the arm, hauling Steven to his feet. Her grip on his arm didn't release once his feet were on the ground, and she leaned in close to his face. "You look like you're holding up pretty well since you left Kindergarten, kid."

Peedee suddenly leaned out the fry shop, dismay on his face. "Hey!" he called. "When is my brother getting out of school?"

Jasper wheeled on the small boy, who cowered back inside his window. "When he learns," she spat.

Turning back to Steven, who was still staring at the large hand grasping his arm, Jasper sneered. "So, where's your mom?" the orange woman asked, a barely disguised hint of scoffing on the final word.

"Right here," Rose Quartz said behind them, causing Jasper to release Steven immediately and straighten up. Jasper turned to address Steven's mother, the two looking at each other eye-to-eye.

"Rose," Jasper said curtly in greeting. "You'll want to be more careful where you let your things wander. There's been an influx of corrupted gems in this quadrant. It's been in the reports."

"I'm aware," Rose said, her voice warm even when it seemed vaguely menacing. "And he's my son, Jasper, you know that. But what brings you here? I thought you were back on Homeworld."

"Reassigned in accordance with treaty law," Jasper said bitterly. "There's been too many corrupted gems on this planet, they want me to reign it in. I swear, we've never had problems like this on any other world. I'm going to take care of it as quickly as I can so I can get off this rock."

"I'm certain you will," Rose said, aware of how tightly Steven was gripping her dress as Jasper loomed.

Jasper thumped the multi-colored diamond on her outfit. "As a side perk, they put me in charge of upholding our laws in this area as well. This is a good opportunity to let your son know about the new curfew. He's still part human after all, and the laws exist to protect them. Steven Quartz, be certain to be home by 8:00," the large orange woman said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

She jerked her thumb to motion at Mayor Dewey's truck. "I had local humans fix up this outdated mode of transportation for me to move about town. It's completely ridiculous, but bizarrely, it's starting to grow on me."

"All human things have that effect over time," Rose said, smiling.

Jasper nodded and climbed into her white truck. A large, cartoonish picture of her face was painted on the side of it. Waving briefly, she started it and began a slow drive down the boardwalk as the speakers turned on and serenaded all the citizens of Beach City. "Ma-yor Jas-per. May-yor Jas-per. Ma-yor Jas-per."

Steven blinked, and shuddered involuntarily. "Mom?" he asked uncertainly.

Rose picked Steven up to comfort him. "I know. That was the same Jasper I've told you about before, who fought against me in the wars. But she won't hurt you, Steven. Do you understand? That war is over. We made sure it was over. We've had peace for thousands of years and a very prosperous partnership with Homeworld that has kept this planet safe."

"O...kay," Steven said, even though he felt anything but. Something Jasper had said to him stuck out. The Kindergarten. He needed to go there. "Hey, mom, I think I left something back at the strawberry field. Do you mind if I go grab it real quick?"

Rose laughed, a gentle, tinkling sound that managed to touch Steven in his core even as he felt dismay creeping all about him. "My Steven. We should really get you some sort of backpack to store your things so you don't lose them so often. Of course, go. But be sure to be back before 8:00. You heard Jasper. The law applies to everyone."

"Yes ma'am," Steven said, suddenly feeling a need to address her more formally. He ran back to his house as fast as he could.

There was no sign of Pearl or Garnet. "They must have gone to their rooms," Steven reasoned. He looked at the familiar door leading inside their temple. Instead of five points of light on each tip of the star symbol, there was a square of four points in the center of the star. "Amethyst," Steven said forlornly, and stepped onto the warp pad, causing a bright flash of light to shoot up around him, taking him away.

Steven gasped when the light faded. He'd been to the Kindergarten before, but had never seen it in any state of order. Equipment was now neatly lined up to one side, and the rows of gem-shaped holes in the sides of mountains appeared to extend further than he remembered.

"Hey," a familiar voice called. "You can't be here."

Steven's face brightened as he recognized Amethyst's voice, but it turned to shock when he turned around and had to look up, up, and up into her face.

"A….Amethyst?" Steven said, incredulous. His fun-loving short-stack of a mother figure was a behemoth, with a body more similar to Jasper's than his own. He couldn't be certain, but she might have even been larger than Jasper. Her face looked tired.

"Look, kid, you can't...juuusssttt….oh, what? You're the Quartz boy! Is your mom here?!" Amethyst's eyes brightened and she began looking frantically around the Kindergarten for any sign of Rose.

"Amethyst, you're so...big," Steven said, somewhat awestruck.

Amethyst blinked and then grinned. She flexed a bicep as she responded, "Well, we build 'em up big and strong at the Kindergarten, little man. You know." She quickly glanced over Steven from head to toe. "Well, uh, usually."

"Oh, yeah," Steven said, remembering why he had come. "I'm, uh, here to investigate...the premises."

Amethyst raised an eyebrow.

Steven closed his eyes and raised a finger in the air. "I'm very important."

Amethyst sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, it's not like anything else is happening in this dump. Come on, I'll give you a tour." The purple behemoth started walking, her hands in her pockets. Even her outfit had changed, Steven noted. Though the color pallette seemed the same, her tank top had been traded in for something strapless that revealed the gem in the center of her chest more prominently. And the star shaped holes on her pants had been traded in for diamonds. Her boots seemed somehow more menacing than they ever had before. Everything about his friend seemed formidable.

"So, there's the equipment," Amethyst jerked her thumb at the large red and black machinery looming high in the sky. "But it's all shut down for now. Over there are the holes where grown gems pop out. That one there is mine."

Steven walked to the hole Amethyst had gestured to. It was in a familiar spot, but as he stood in front of it and looked far up, he realized the size of it had clearly shifted to denote Amethyst's larger stature. He glanced to his left at some of the other holes. They only seemed to get larger as the line went down.

"That's pretty much it," Amethyst said from behind Steven, causing the boy to jump in fright. "It's so stupid that they even assigned me here to guard it. This whole place is dead. Total graveyard."

"Heh, yeah," Steven chuckled nervously. "Soooooo, I don't suppose you could show me…" the young boy trailed off, not sure how to phrase his question.

Fortunately, Amethyst was bored enough that she wasn't interested in waiting for him to complete his sentences. "Oh, right, you want to see where you came from. Uh, sure, I guess. We don't normally let anybody into that part, but you came from there and you're one of Rose Quartz's, right? So it should be okay."

She started to walk off and then paused and turned around. "But just in case, don't tell anybody I showed you, okay? If your mom talks to my boss...ugh, the last thing I need is another stupid lecture from Peridot."

Steven blinked, and then followed Amethyst, his mind racing with a thousand questions, few of which he thought Amethyst would know the answer to except for one. "Hey, Amethyst," he started, fidgeting. "Have you ever heard of a gem named Lapis Lazuli?"

Amethyst stopped mid-stride and turned back to Steven with fearful eyes. "How do you know about her?" she asked, trepidation in her voice.

"Uh, my mom mentioned her once," Steven lied, wincing.

The large purple gem seemed to accept that answer. "Lapis Lazuli," she said, resuming her walk, "Is like the scariest gem I've ever seen in my life. I'm so glad she's on homeworld and not here. Sometimes us Kindergarten gems get sent to her for training. It's a nightmare."

The two walked in silence for a while before approaching a lit building, surrounded on all sides by mountains of junk. "They wanted this thing to stay pretty hidden," Amethyst said with a grin. "So I made a junkyard around it. Pretty great, huh?"

"Yeah," Steven said, with the first genuine smile he'd been able to wear since seeing his mother in the strawberry field.

As they walked inside, Steven heard a familiar theme coming from a small TV off to one side. "Is that….Li'l Butler?" he asked, dumbfounded.

Amethyst brightened immensely. "You know it? Aw, man, that show is the best! This guy introduced me to it and let let me have all his tapes. I just keep watching them. Sorta helps to deal with the boredom, ya know? Hey, do you wanna watch? We could start from the beginning, so you can get Li'l B's origin story."

"Uh, no thanks," Steven said, causing Amethyst's face to fall and then look dispirited. "But hey...what guy gave you those tapes?"

Amethyst turned away, hiding her face, but not before Steven could see the signs of a blush. "Just some guy," she said. "What does it matter? He was nice. You know, before he left." Amethyst resumed walking deeper into the building, hoping to leave the subject behind. Steven ran after her, his eyes already noting the strange equipment in many of the rooms he was passing as he sprinted down the hall.

"Where did he go?" Steven asked quickly. Too quickly. Amethyst's face was a mask of suspicion as she stopped to round on him

"What do you care?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "You know what? We're not supposed to be in here, anyway. Come on, I have to take you out of here. You need to get back to Rose Quartz"

"No, wait!" Steven cried, but stopped short when he saw the wall of a large laboratory down the hall. There was an unmistakable diagram that featured him, as an ordinary human being, with a gem next to it and an indecipherable language that looked like a mix of alien words and chemical equations. There was a photo of Greg Universe tacked to one corner of the diagram. The door to the lab swung loosely, revealing the number etched into its surface: Twenty-Six. Steven's mouth gaped for a moment before it set into a hard line.

"Where...is he?" the young boy asked Amethyst, no sign of the earlier fear or anxiety in his eyes. "I know you've met him. Where's my dad?!"

Amethyst's fists clenched. "You're not Steven Quartz," she said defiantly. "He wouldn't have even come here. Who are you? Tell me!" Amethyst reached up to her chest and pulled her weapon from her gem - a whip even longer and more deadly than Steven had ever seen it look in her hands.

Steven blinked back tears as he saw his former friend lift her arm up, preparing to bring the whip down on him. "I'm-" he began, gritting his teeth. The end of the whip was hurriedly making its way towards his face as he brought his arms up to protect himself.

"Steven Universe!" he finished, and he heard the loud residual hum of Amethyst's whip bouncing harmlessly against the shield he summoned. The gonging sound wave knocked the large purple gem back into the far wall, and she looked up at Steven from the floor with new fear in her eyes.

Seeing that look on her face was more than Steven could take. "This is wrong," he moaned. "Everything is wrong!"

He turned away and ran out the door of the strange Kindergarten facility, past the immense piles of junk and debris, through the valley of gem equipment and past the warp pad into the vast, barren, clouded desert that surrounded that dark place.

Seven

Connie's grimace slowly faded as she realized that Rose's light cannon hadn't completely disintegrated her. She opened one eye just a hair and peered through her arms, which she'd thrown up to shield her face just moments prior. She still seemed to be surrounded by bright light, but nothing was happening. Surprised, she lowered her arms.

Everything around her was so bright because she was surrounded by a desert, she realized. Light reflecting off the yellow sand caused her to squint her eyes and throw up a hand to block some of the sun's rays. "Huh," she said to herself. "Where am I now?"

Turning, she saw humans working to build a small village. The way they were dressed, Connie realized she was at some point long ago in earth's history. But she couldn't quite place the location or specific time. Spending time with Steven and the gems had taught her that most of the history books she'd been exposed to were woefully inadequate.

Connie continued to survey the surrounding landscape, and then blinked in surprise. Walking among the humans was Garnet. She carried an enormous block of stone on her shoulder, which she gently placed next to many other smaller ones as many humans stacked them with a binding agent stored in clay containers.

One of the humans stopped and spoke to Garnet, who nodded just as a roar could be heard in the distance. Connie turned in the direction of the sound and saw a corrupted gem in the shape of a great sand worm slithering and diving in and out of sand banks as it quickly made its way to the makeshift human town. As she watched the worm, she saw Garnet land on the beast, striking multiple deadly blows to its body and causing it to almost immediately poof. She could just barely make out Garnet catching the creature's gem, bubbling it, and sending it away.

Connie reflected back on everything she'd seen and tried to piece together all the things Steven had told her about the gems since she'd met him.

"I saw that battle before," she said to herself, thinking. "Or part of it, I guess. Steven's told me a little about that. And I saw his mom. And she was...oh, Steven. I have no idea how to tell you about any of this. I don't think that's how your mom would want you to see her at all."

As she talked to herself, Connie slowly moved into the town. People milled about her and she went largely unnoticed. At one point she stood directly in the path of a man walking with a stone, and he actually stepped around her without even looking at her.

"Yeah, okay, this is definitely a dream," Connie said. "That's so weird. I don't think I usually know when I'm dreaming. Maybe I should-"

Before Connie could finish her statement, she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Startled, she turned and found herself looking up at a somewhat familiar face. It was the green gem she had seen earlier, when she was witnessing part of the Gem War.

"Hey!" she said excitedly, but stopped to compose herself. "Uh, hey. I saw you before. You...you saved Rose Quartz, and Garnet."

The gem said nothing, but her eyes showed bemusement above her green veil.

"Are you...a Crystal Gem?" Connie asked uncertainly. "I thought they all...I mean, during that battle, so many were…" she trailed off, seeing the green gem's eyes suddenly become downcast. "I'm really sorry," the Maheswaran girl said earnestly. "I saw, and...yeah. It was awful. I'm sorry."

Connie looked down and saw a red pillow clutched in one of the gem's hands. Embedded in the center of the pillow was a lighter green gem, smoothly polished and glimmering in the sun. "Oh!" Connie exclaimed, seeing the gem's other hand, which seemed to be turning black and misshapen. The green woman shook at the sleeve of her outfit, causing it to fall and cover up her deformity.

"Um, that's a very nice pillow," Connie said uncertainly. "Did you make it?"

The woman shook her head.

Connie once again glanced at the gem in the center of the pillow. "Is that...somebody you know?"

The woman said nothing, but the Maheswaran girl saw the way her eyes glanced down at the pillow as well. They were sad eyes.

"Well, you should talk to Garnet, she would help….you?" Connie ended her statement with a heavy note of confusion as she looked around to suddenly see that the bustling construction around her had completely disappeared, leaving her and the green woman alone in a vast, empty desert.

"Hey, what's-" Connie started to ask, but stopped yet again when she turned to see that the green woman was far away from her, setting the pillow on the ground and curling up against it, clearly going to sleep. A wind kicked up as the Maheswaran girl ran after her, squinting her eyes against stinging sands. "Wait!" she cried, but by the time she reached the green woman, she was gone.

"Hello?" the young girl called, expectantly. There was no reply.

She sighed.

"Now what?" she muttered, looking around for anything. Under her feet, there was a slow rumble as the sand began shifting. Another one of those worms? Connie thought, already backing away. After only a few steps, the sand in front of her erupted as a dark black shape exploded to the surface, claws snapping in the air.

The sight of the scorpion beast brought a rush of memories flooding back into Connie's mind.

"I...the sand temple! I'm still there!" she shouted, taking another step back. "And...Steven! I need to find Steven!"

Connie turned, breaking into a run. The creature sped after her, gaining quickly with an unnatural speed. The Maheswaran girl wracked her brain for any possible solutions, but given her surroundings she could only come to one: Call for help and hope for the best.

"Steven!" she cried with urgency, but then stopped her voice. "No, he can't….Lion! Lion, help me! I need to get to Steven!"

Connie didn't know how she knew that this tactic would work, but she showed no surprise when a pink portal opened up slightly ahead of her and Lion jumped through. Seeing the situation the great cat moved quickly, catching Connie's dress with his teeth and flinging her onto his back as he roared out another portal to take them away, the young girl gripping his mane tight and looking determinedly forward.

Eight

Steven wandered aimlessly through the darkened desert. If Amethyst had thought to give chase to him, he'd seen no evidence of it. He was alone.

"Mom," he said, sadly. "What did you do?"

He sighed and sat. Walking no longer seemed to make sense. "Dad's gone. Lars. Ronaldo. Amethyst is….and I don't know who else is changed. Or gone missing. When did all of this happen? Is this an alternate dimension? Ugh, come on. Think, Steven. What was I doing before all this?"

The Universe boy scrunched up his face, trying desperately to recall. "I...I can't remember! Wait...yes I can. Yesterday mom and I went fishing. Ha ha, Pearl fell in the water, and then Garnet - wait, no! That's not right. Is it?"

Steven fretted, shaking his hands slightly. "What's happening to me?" he whispered, already sniffing. "I don't like this place. I want my dad back. I want my friends. I want...Connie."

The young boy straightened and immediately got on his feet. "Connie!" he said again, louder. "I...something familiar...I need to...find? Yes! I need to find Connie!"

At Steven's words, he felt a shifting of the sand beneath his feet. A low tremor nearly knocked him over, and he saw something moving underneath him, like a fish swimming just beneath the surface of the ocean. A flash of green appeared beneath the sand.

In that moment, a portal opened up next to Steven, and Lion came bursting through, a shaken young girl on his back.

"Connie! Lion!" Steven cried, and then stopped, shaking his head. The sight of Lion shook a fog from his mind that he didn't even realize was present.

"Yeah, we're still in the temple," Connie said, climbing down. "I think we're dreaming, Steven. Or hallucinating, maybe. But...now we're both here. This is weird."

Steven Universe nodded. "Oh...wow. Wait, so are you in my head? Or am I in your head? Which one of us is dreaming Lion?"

Connie shrugged.

"I think I want to go home now," Steven concluded.

The sand parted and the scorpion gem burst forth silently. It was massive, much larger than either of them had seen it before. Steven reflexively stood in front of his friends. "You!" he shouted at the creature. "All this...was you? I saw so many...and you tried to hurt my friends!" The boy's hands clenched into fists.

Connie touched his arm gently. "I don't think she's bad, Steven. She's just...lonely. And scared."

Steven's arms went limp at Connie's touch, and he sighed. The scorpion twitched, waiting for whatever the trio might do.

"We're not afraid of you, anymore," Steven said, addressing the creature directly. Connie nodded. "And if you're lonely, we can come and visit you. Everybody should have friends. But we can't stay here. We have people who depend on us back home. So, will you let us go?"

The Scorpion took a tentative step forward, shrinking down until it was no larger than a toy poodle. Its tail seemed to wag, almost like a dog.

Steven smiled in spite of himself. "I wish I knew what you were trying to tell us," he said, reaching out to pet the creature.

As his hand grew close, however, the earth beneath them shook, and the scorpion backed away immediately. "Huh?" Connie said in confusion as the sand beneath their feet seemed to suddenly slip out from beneath them.

They sank as though trapped in quicksand, and Steven reached out to Connie instinctively as they slipped through the bottom and fell through black space. "Take my hand!" he cried just as their palms met, and everything went white.

Nine

Lion sat, patiently waiting for his friend to wake up as the sand temple trembled all around them.

The tall figure laying prone before the great cat stirred. "Huh?" the person intoned, slowly sitting up. "Wha-? Lion, how did you get me...us...wait."

Stevonnie looked down, surprised to be present in any capacity. The fusion flexed a bit. "Well, I did not see that coming."

Before any more words could be spoken, however, Garnet came crashing through a nearby wall, pushing the Scorpion with her gauntleted hands. If she was equally surprised at the sight of Stevonnie, she didn't indicate it. "You need to get out of here!" she yelled. "This whole place is coming down!"

Stevonnie nodded and yelled after Garnet, who was already lifting a fist to collide with the front of the great gem creature. "Garnet, please just leave her!"

The tall gem fusion paused, watching as the scorpion scrambled to dig itself deeper into the temple. It didn't show any indication of wanting to fight. She sighed, and nodded, running after Stevonnie as she rode Lion through twisting corridors, moving quickly towards the exit.

The trio jumped through the front entrance just in time for everything to collapse behind them, dust spraying everywhere and covering them all with sand. The small cyclone that had been swirling about before was gone, leaving only clear skies, dark night, and endless desert.

Garnet flexed and the sand covering her body shattered off of her and fell to the ground. Shaking her head, she turned to Stevonnie. "What were you thinking, going in there alone? If Lion hadn't come and got me…." she said, disappointment rolling off her tongue.

Stevonnie cringed under Garnet's tone, and the crushing feeling of guilt caused her to suddenly split back into Steven and Connie, who fell to the ground unceremoniously. Blinking their eyes and seeing each other, they immediately hugged, not caring how much trouble they were in.

Garnet shook her head. "Come on, then," she said. "We got a long walk back to the warp pad, unless your friend wants to do his thing and get us there faster."

Lion yawned in boredom and Steven smiled sheepishly as they all began to walk.

There was silence for a while, as Steven fidgeted. He kept glancing up at Garnet, and then back to Connie, who looked equally troubled. He finally couldn't keep his silence. "Garnet," he said, getting the tall gem's attention.

She said nothing, but glanced down at him.

"Was mom...good?"

Garnet stopped in her tracks. Looking down at Steven, she saw the anxiety on his face. Connie shared a similar expression. The gem fusion sighed, kneeling down in front of the two of them.

"Rose Quartz was good. She was a good gem, a good friend, and she was a very good leader. Good leaders make a lot of compromises to protect the people they love, and your mother loved everyone, Steven. She walked a hard road. But I always believed in her, and you should, too. Because she loved you most of all."

Steven sniffed, and Connie spoke up. "Garnet, in the temple, we saw-"

"Whatever you saw," Garnet said, holding up a hand, "is for you. And whatever you feel...is okay. Just don't get so wrapped up in it that you lose sight of the people who are most important to you. We're all here."

There was a momentary silence as the two children considered these words. In the end, both nodded.

"Then let's go home," Garnet said simply, and the group continued walking against a beautiful backdrop of stars.

THE END

If you enjoyed this story at all, feel free to check out my ongoing original story, Kitty Computer, at kittycomputer . com