I forgot to upload this to FFN last week and boy is my face red. Almost...Ruby red. Yes sir, I am a funny one.

Anyway, enjoy!


The Fountain

"Are we rolling?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, good. Ahem. Welcome to my new video blog, The Crystal Gems and You!"

Ronaldo Fryman stood on the top of the cliff, the picket fence in the background. He wore his suit jacket and tie and carried a battered microphone that didn't actually work in his hand. Peedee stood in front of him, recording him on an old camcorder.

"Now, not many of you may know this, but this town is inhabited by a team of magical women called the Crystal Gems," said Ronaldo.

"I'm pretty sure people know that, Ron," grunted Peedee.

Ronaldo shushed him.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, "Real magical women, right in Beach City! But worry not, dear viewers, for these Crystal Gems are here to help us! Take this fence, for example."

He walked over to the fence, leaning against it.

"Are you sure you should..."

"Peedee, we're filming," said Ronaldo firmly, "Now, you might be asking, why would magical ladies build a picket fence? I have the answer."

He leaned further over the fence, looking down over the cliff.

"Inside this cliff is a colony of tiny, carnivorous tunnel monsters bent on devouring..."

"Ronaldo!"

Peedee jumped as Mr. Fryman stormed up the hill. Ronaldo turned his head to look at his approaching father but continued to lean heavily on the fence.

"You were supposed to be on shift ten minutes ago!" snapped Mr. Fryman.

"Daaaaad, I'm educating the public!" replied Ronaldo, "I have a responsibility to the people..."

"You have a responsibility to empty the grease traps!" grunted Mr. Fryman, "You can do your conspiracy theory stuff after work, but I need..."

"I need to tell people the truth!" retorted Ronaldo, "You just refuse to understand! This is my calling, dad, and you're chafing m-"

CRACK.

The fence gave way.

For a brief moment, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Ronaldo saw the beach about thirty feet below him - he suddenly realised how high that actually was. Maybe he shouldn't have leant on that fence after all.

Then gravity kicked in and down he fell.


Sadie Miller sat on the couch in the Beach House, gazing at the small box on the coffee table.

To say she'd had a rough few days would be an enormous understatement. If she were to tell someone who hadn't been there about it, they'd probably think she was mad. Over the course of just two days, her estranged father had returned - as a government agent on the trail of a mysterious object. A chance discovery of a photograph in his wallet had then revealed that her parents had found a crashed alien ship when they were first dating. She'd searched for answers and found nothing but lies and half-truths, until eventually, her parents had been pushed into a position where they had been forced to tell the truth.

The man she thought had been her father, Agent Clancy Miller, was not. Her true father was a gem, a Ruby designated 1GK - Kay for short. She had had an affair with her mother, and that affair had resulted in her. Only Clancy had attacked Kay at the moment of conception, and as a result, Kay's gem - her gem - had had to be removed.

Now it sat in the box in front of her. She hadn't dared to open it - in any case, she had no key, though she waged a good hammer or rock would get it open.

Now she was here. Clancy had gone back to Washington and she couldn't face her mother at the moment, so she had opted to stay at Steven's place for the time being. She'd now been a guest at the Temple for three days. Steven and Peridot had done their best to make her feel welcome, but there was a dark atmosphere in the house - Sadie had not been the only one to have been lied to.

Amethyst lay on Steven's bed, staring at the ceiling. The Gems had left on a mission which Amethyst had refused to join, and Steven and Connie had taken Peridot to Funland to give them both some space. She almost wished they'd stayed - the house felt way too quiet.

"Hey, donut girl?"

Sadie looked up.

"You can call me Sadie, you know?" she said, "I mean, I don't even work at the Big Donut anymore..."

"Uh-huh," nodded Amethyst, "You ever think of just...running off and doing your own thing?"

Sadie shrugged.

"That's kind of what I'm doing now," she said.

"Yeah, but I mean leaving everything," explained Amethyst, "Like, disappearing. Leaving everyone behind and starting over somewhere else. Somewhere not in Beach City."

Sadie scratched her chin.

"Maybe?" she shrugged, "But I don't I think...I've got friends here. Like Buck, Sour Cream, Jenny, Steven. Lars when he gets home. And I guess I need them right now - they keep everything stable."

Amethyst blew a hair out of her face.

"Stable," she muttered, "Who wants to be stable?"

"I guess-"

There was a loud banging on the door.

"Ugh, mailman," grumbled Amethyst.

"But Jamie's already been, hasn't he?" said Sadie, getting up.

She opened the door.

"Peedee, what are you-oh my gosh!"

Peedee stood at the door, pale and shaking. Behind him, Mr. Fryman was carrying an unconscious Ronaldo over his shoulder - he was badly bruised, his arm bent backwards in a nauseating fashion. She could see several more injures, and he was bleeding from a gash over his forehead. She fought the urge to retch.

"What happened?" demanded Sadie.

"He was leaning on the fence," Peedee replied frantically, "And it broke and he..."

"Never mind!" interrupted Mr. Fryman, "Just get him an ambulance."

Amethyst walked down from Steven's bed as Sadie fished for her phone. She winced.

"Aw man, that looks bad," she said.

"You think?!" shouted Peedee, "He fell off a cliff!"

"What, near the lighthouse?" asked Amethyst, "But that's why we put the fence there..."

She snapped her fingers.

"Hey, donut girl, forget the ambulance, I got a better idea," she said.

"What do you mean forget the ambulance?" spluttered Peedee, "My brother might be dying, and I can't..."

"We've got Rose's healing fountain," explained Amethyst, "I mean, Garnet and Pearl said I'm not supposed to talk about that to humans..."

Her expression darkened.

"...but you know, who cares what they think," she growled.

"A magic fountain?" asked Peedee, "And it'll heal him?"

"Yep," nodded Amethyst.

"Does this fountain have a warp pad?" asked Sadie.

"Sure does."

"No," snapped Mr. Fryman, "Sadie, call that ambulance. I'm not going to risk-"

Peedee turned to Mr. Fryman.

"Dad, if we go to this fountain, Ronaldo won't have to go to the hospital," he said, "Maybe he'll have a better chance, and...and you know we can't afford..."

"Peedee," said Mr. Fryman.

Peedee stopped talking, but continued to look at his father with pleading, watery eyes.

Mr. Fryman turned to Amethyst.

"You promise me this fountain of yours will work?" he demanded.

Amethyst nodded. Mr. Fryman breathed in and out, closing his eyes.

"Alright," he said, "Take us there."


The fountain was an amazing sight. It was a great, walled courtyard, surrounded on all sides by towering mountains. At the centre stood the enormous fountain - water flowed from the eyes of a massive statue of Rose Quartz, gently flowing into the stone catchment below. Sadie had no time to take in the sight at the moment, of course - Ronaldo needed her help.

Mr. Fryman carried Ronaldo over as quickly as he dared, taking care not to knock him on the way. Amethyst went on ahead, stopping next to the fountain and patting the stone wall.

"Alright, just dunk him in," she said, "Let the water do the rest."

Mr. Fryman lay him gently on the side of the fountain. He gave the purple gem a meaningful gaze.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" he asked.

Amethyst nodded.

"Alright," he said, "What do I do?"

"Like I said, dunk him in," shrugged Amethyst.

Mr. Fryman turned to Peedee. He swallowed and nodded.

Gently, Mr. Fryman lifted Ronaldo up again, lowering him into the light pink waters of the fountain. As the water touched his skin, it began to glow softly.

Sadie gasped as she watched Ronaldo's wounds begin to heal. His gashes closed themselves, his bruises vanished and his arm reset itself. It was as if time was running backwards, every injury disappearing as though it was never there to begin with. It was like magic - no, it was magic.

Ronaldo coughed. Mr. Fryman jumped, accidentally dropping Ronaldo into the fountain. He landed with a big splash, drenching his father.

"Ron!" exclaimed Peedee, running over, "Are you okay?"

Ronaldo slowly sat up, rubbing his head. He slowly glanced up at Peedee.

"Come on, say something!" Peedee begged.

Ronaldo coughed again and cleared his throat.

"Uh...you...you got that all on camera, right?"

"Oh, Ronaldo, you dumb..."

Peedee didn't finish his sentence, instead embracing his brother in a tight hug. He laughed and cried at the same time - Ronaldo, somewhat confused, hugged him back.

Mr. Fryman shook his head.

"I...I can't...how do I thank you?" he asked.

"Well, you could fix the fence," suggested Amethyst.

"The f...yeah, the fence, consider it done," said Mr. Fryman.

Sadie stared at the fountain as Peedee helped his brother out of the water.

"So this can heal anything?" she asked.

"Sort of?" replied Amethyst, "I mean, I don't think it works if you're sick, because otherwise Pearl would've probably drowned Steven in this the first time he got a cold. She might not have thought of that though..."

Sadie nodded, deep in thought.

Mr. Fryman walked up to his son, putting his hands on his shoulders.

"Ronaldo," he said, "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

He pulled him into a hug. Sadie felt a slight pang in her heart - she had to turn away.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Peedee walked up, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I mean, I heard something happened with you and your mom," he said, "Are you okay?"

Sadie sighed.

"I'll be fine," she replied, "I'm just working through some stuff, you know?"

"Well, if you ever need anything, let me know," said Peedee, "Even if you just want some free food. It's the least I can do, y'know?"

Sadie nodded.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said.


They warped back into the Beach House, finding Steven, Connie and Peridot watching something on Peridot's tablet.

"Amethyst, Sadie! There you are!" said Connie, "I...Ronaldo, do you have blood on your shirt?!"

"Long story," replied Ronaldo, "And you can read all about it on Keep Beach City Weird tonight!"

Mr. Fryman opened his mouth as if to say something, but he seemed to decide against it. Instead he put a hand on Ronaldo's shoulder and gave him a tired smile.

"Well, let's get you home," he said, "It's been a long day."

"What about the restaurant?" asked Peedee.

"Forget it," replied Mr. Fryman, "One missed dinner rush won't kill us. I'd rather just have a family night in with my boys..."

He led his sons out the door and off down the beach. Steven looked questioningly at Amethyst.

"Stuff happened," shrugged Amethyst.

Sadie walked over to the coffee table and picked up Kay's box.

"If Rose could take Kay's...my gem off," she said, "Could her fountain reattach it?"

Steven and Connie exchanged glances.

"I dunno," replied Amethyst, "I mean, possibly?"

"More like probably."

All eyes fell on Peridot, who was looking thoughtfully at the box.

"Rose Quartz could heal any physical ailments, right?" asked Peridot, "You not having your gem is a physical ailment. Logically, her tears could reunite your gem to your physical form."

"Like magic glue," nodded Steven.

Peridot winced.

"Yes, I suppose we could call it that," she said, "But it wouldn't be very proper..."

"It's worth a shot, at least," shrugged Sadie.

She shook her head.

"I probably shouldn't," she said, "Mom wouldn't want that. Garnet and Pearl wouldn't..."

"Sadie."

Amethyst spoke up, crossing her arms.

"This is your gem," she said, "And your body, and your life. It's not up to Pearl or Garnet or Barb. This is your choice. You wanna try putting that gem back on? I've got your back."

There was a long silence.

Sadie gazed down at the box. She knew that there was no guarantee that her plan would actually work. It was more likely that she was setting herself up for disappointment. Even if it did work, she had no idea what it would do to her. Would it simply attach? Would her body react badly to it? And would she then have to deal with emerging powers in the same way that Steven had? And could she be sure she wasn't just taking these risks to spite her mother and Clancy?

And yet this was her gem. Clancy had said as much. Now that she knew about it, she could hardly leave it out of sight and out of mind. And if Kay had been willing to have her, even despite losing her physical form, she must have intended for her to carry her gem, right? Surely this would just be setting right what had gone wrong. And if nothing else, she would have peace of mind when it was done, right?

She came to a decision.

"Tonight," declared Sadie, "We'll go tonight. Are you guys in?"

"Well, you'll need a certified kindergartener on hand, so yes, I'm in," replied Peridot.

"I'll ask mom if I can stay here tonight," said Connie, "It's not a school night, so she might say yes..."

"And I'll come too," nodded Steven, "Although I might be able to just spit on you see if that works."

"Thanks Steven," replied Sadie, "But I'd really rather you didn't."


AN: I honestly don't blame you Sadie.