Happy Birthday, Steven!
Garnet's plan had been to introduce Ruby and Sapphire at Steven's upcoming birthday. Due to the Homeworld Gems, Steven had met the two gems prematurely. Now it is Steven's birthday and the two gems get properly introduced to Steven. Rupphire. Sapphire x Ruby.
It was a bright, sunny day at Beach City. The beach air was salty, but refreshing, and the wind was comfortably cool. Pearl was setting up tables on the beach shore. The tables all had colorful cloths, bright signs, and pointy hats.
There was three tables set up. One table was for the presents. Another table was for the food. And, the last table was for eating at. This was perfectly in line with how Pearl had envisioned it.
Amethyst was lazily snoozing in one of the chairs. She didn't help Pearl set up and that was honestly more preferable to Pearl.
Meanwhile, Garnet was preparing the birthday cake in the kitchen. She placed sliced strawberries on the marble iced cake. She had mixed feelings about Steven's birthday party. She was excited for Steven to meet Ruby and Sapphire but she was dreading unfusing.
A vision of Steven, Connie, and Greg walking up the beach appeared to her and she placed the last strawberry on the cake. Garnet stepped away from the cake and closed her eyes, forcing herself to concentrate.
Her entire body began to glow and the house was lit in white light. She felt herself separating and closed her eyes. Her left and right gems separated and the white light was replaced by two small gems.
The two Crystal Gems looked at each other. Sapphire gave a little smile and stepped towards Ruby, placing a small kiss on her cheek.
"Are you okay?" Sapphire asked with a gentle softness. Ruby gave a nervous smile and nodded.
"Are you?" Ruby asked with a rough voice. Sapphire nodded.
She placed a gloved hand on Ruby's cheek and leaned forward. She captured Ruby's wine colored lips in hers. It was a short, sweet kiss.
Ruby tucked a stray blue piece of hair behind Sapphire's ear and Sapphire smiled at the hotheaded gem. Shei8 grabbed the large, heavy plate with ease and the two shared one last intimate look before exiting the temple.
Pearl saw the two Crystal Gems walking up the beach towards her and Amethyst. She gave them a warm smile as they approached her.
"Hello, Ruby and Sapphire," Pearl chimed. Amethyst opened her eyes, letting out a yawn.
"Yo," Amethyst greeted them, sluggishly.
"Hey," Ruby said as she placed a hand on her hip.
Sapphire set the cake on the designated table and looked at Pearl and Amethyst.
"Is everything ready?" She asked in her stoic manner. Pearl went through her mental checklist.
"Yes. Everything is in order," Pearl beamed.
Ruby squinted as she saw Steven and Connie bounding up the beach with Greg walking behind. His hands were full of presents. Steven froze in amazement at the decorations and the presents.
"Happy Birthday, Steven!" the Crystal Gems all said in unision. Steven stared at Ruby and Sapphire and his eyes widened even further.
"You unfused?!" Steven said in shock.
"Just for you," Ruby said with a rare warm smile. Sapphire smiled equally warm. Connie walked up to Steven's side.
"So this is Sapphire and Ruby?" Connie asked, politely. Greg caught up to them and Pearl directed him to the already overflowing presents table.
"Ya," Steven said to Connie. He walked to the two gems who were nearly the same height as he and Connie. He hugged them both and then looked at Connie with a bright smile. He pointed to Sapphire.
"This is Sapphire," He said and Sapphire bowed slightly. He then pointed at Ruby.
"And this is Ruby," He said and Ruby gave a smirk.
"It's nice to meet you both," Connie said with a smile.
"Who's ready for a party?" Greg said a bit exhausted already. He ruffled Steven's curly black hair.
"I am!" Steven cheered.
"Alright, Stu-ball. It's your party. So, what do you want to do first?" Greg said, happily. Steven glanced at all his options and his young eyes got little small stars in them.
"We should most definitely do the pinata first. Then we can eat," Steven said, nodding. Amethyst smirked, grabbing the aluminum baseball bat. Greg grabbed the pinata and the blindfold. He tied the red cloth over Steven eyes and Amethyst started to spin Steven around.
"Who wants to hold the pinata?" Greg said, remembering how when Steven was six he had hit him in an unpleasant place.
"I'll do it," Ruby said, taking the stick that held the pinata with a string. Ruby hoisted the pinata in front of Steven. Amethyst stopped spinning Steven, abruptly. He wobbled in the direction of the pinata.
"Birthday boy gets three hits," Greg said, smiling. Sapphire sat delicately in one of the white chairs her fingers weirdly tight.
Steven stumbled slightly and swung hard at the air.
"To the left!" Connie shouted, beaming. Steven nodded and sliced the bat hard left.
"Get closer!" Amethyst said and Steven stepped forward.
He pulled the bat behind him and concentrated. He breathed out and swung with all his might.
WHAM!
Steven felt the bat make contact. He removed his blindfold expecting candy to be spilling out of the pinata but Steven looked at the end of his bat. It had hit Ruby squarely in the face.
"Are you okay?!" Steven hollered. Ruby simply blinked, unfazed. She smirked.
"Ya. That didn't hurt," Ruby said, puffing out her chests slightly.
"Really?" Steven asked, unsure.
"Yup," Ruby replied.
"My turn," Amethyst shouted, taking the bat from Steven. She raised the bat behind her and swung with all of her strength. The bat hit Ruby in the side of the face and the aluminum bat bent in half. Steven and Connie looked wide eyed as Ruby just yawned.
Amethyst sighed, dropping the misshapen bat.
"Amethyst!" Pearl squawked, frustrated. She forced herself to count to ten.
"Luckily, I have another bat," Pearl said, materializing a new bat from her gem. Pearl handed the bat to Connie who hit the paper pinata on her first swing.
Colorful candy spilled out of the paper mache horse. Steven and Connie grabbed handfuls of candy. Everyone started to shift towards the eating table. Ruby picked a seat next to Sapphire and pushed the chair as close as it could go to Sapphire's. Ruby sat down, grabbing Sapphire's tense hand. She began to make small circles with her fingers on her hand.
Pearl placed the cake in front of Steven and placed eleven candles on the cake. She lit the candles and when she finished, Connie started singing.
Happy Birthday to you
Greg joined in.
Happy Birthday to you
Pearl and Amethyst looked at each other with puzzled looks as they joined in as well. Ruby joined in to.
Happy Birthday, Dear Steven
Sapphire joined in last and everyone dropped out as they stared at her.
Happy Birthday to you
Sapphire's voice was rich and soothing. It covered its listeners in a wave of cool relief. It was simply heavenly. Everyone sat staring at her in astonishment except Ruby. Ruby was the only one who heard Sapphire sing often. Even Pearl and Amethyst gawked.
"Beautiful, right?" Ruby asked, smiling brightly.
"Beautiful? That was breath-taking, Sapphire," Steven beamed. Everyone nodded.
"Thank you," Saphire said in a soft voice.
"Steven, don't let the candle wax get on the cake," Pearl nagged.
"Oh," Steven said as he quickly blew out the candles. Pearl began to cut the cake and Amethyst brought over the hotdogs and hamburgers.
"Ruby and Sapphire, do you like to eat?" Steven asked, curious of the two. He grabbed a hotdog for himself, putting mustard and ketchup on it. Ruby shrugged.
"We don't really care about eating or not eating," Ruby replied. Pearl shuddered at the thought of eating as Amethyst stuffed a whole piece of cake in her mouth.
"Do you want a piece of cake?" Steven asked, pushing a small plate with a slice of cake on it towards them. Ruby shrugged, taking the plate. She reached for the two forks.
"It's really good," Steven said, grinning as he ate his own slice.
Sapphire gracefully scooped a small bit of frosting on her fork. She placed it in her mouth, savoring the sugary flavor. Ruby was less elegant. She stabbed the cake and took a hunk of the cake. She shoved it in her mouth.
When everyone was done eating, Steven smiled.
"Can we do my presents next?" Steven asked and Pearl nodded. Steven began to open his presents.
Steven got multiple items. Some were magical and others were normal. He loved all his presents and said Thank you so many times. He and Connie went off to go play with some of his presents.
After a while, Steven turned to the water.
"Did you bring your bathing suit, Connie?" Steven asked Connie nodded, grabbing her suit from her bag.
"Can we go?" Steven asked towards Sapphire. Sapphire nodded and the two ran up to the temple to change.
"Swimming does sound nice," Amethyst sighed as she transformed into a black one piece with a lavender star at the bottom corner.
"Come on, P," She said, tugging on Pearl's hand. Pearl thought and nodded with a small smile.
"I suppose," Pearl said. She transformed her clothes into a black one piece with a floppy hat and a skirt cover.
"Nerd," Amethyst teased. Pearl rolled her eyes with a hint of a smile on her thin lips.
"You guys coming?" Amethyst asked towards the two. Ruby nodded with a transformed her clothes into a maroon top and men's style swimming trunks. She got off the chair, giving Sapphire's hand a last squeeze.
Sapphire transformed her overflowing dress into a blue bathing suit with a blue top that covered her upper body. It collared to her neck and she wore blue shorts with a white skirt, slopping off her left hip to her right knee.
"Amethyst, don't you dare think I forgot about our match," Ruby said with a playful glare.
"Oh. You want a piece of this?" Amethyst asked.
In an instant, Amethyst and Ruby were in a wrestling match. Punches were exchanged and they kicked up sand as they play fought. Steven and Connie returned to the shore. Steven wore a red pair of swimming trunks and Connie wore a simple pink one piece.
"What are they doing?" Steven asked as Ruby struck Amethyst to the ground.
"Being barbaric," Pearl said, watching the two. Ruby quickly got on top of Amethyst, pulling her arms behind her.
"Say it," Ruby demanded with a smile.
"Never!" Amethyst barked. Ruby pulled Amethyst's arms tighter.
"Say it, Amethyst!" Ruby hummed, happily. She pulled her arms even tighter.
"Ahh! Okay. Okay. Ruby is the coolest gem!" Amethyst pleaded and Ruby let her go. Ruby was laughing, loudly.
"Shut up," Amethyst barked, playfully.
"Idiotic," Pearl said, raising her nose higher in the air.
"Come on, Connie. I'll race you," Steven said to Connie.
"Okay!" Connie aid and the two darted to the water.
Amethyst, Ruby, Greg, Steven and Connie played in the water. Pearl and Sapphire sat on the beach.
As hours passed, the sun began to droop in the sky and they all got out of the water. Steven and Connie were tired and sunburnt. Greg looked at the sun as they began to dry off.
"I should probably take Connie back home, buddy," Greg said towards Steven.
"Aww, okay," Steven said as he yawned and hugged Connie. She smiled at him.
"I'm going to be in town next week. Do you want to hang out then?" Connie asked and Steven smiled widely.
"Sure! We can see Dogcopter 2!" Steven beamed.
"Ya!" Connie said.
"Alright. See you then," Steven said as his dad and Connie left the beach. Pearl had already cleared everything, while they were swimming. She was a clean freak. Steven yawned again.
"Ready for bed, Steven?" Pearl asked. Steven rubbed his eyes and nodded. The five gems walked to the temple and Steven changed out of the swimsuit and into his PJs, when he got into the temple.
Steven looked at Ruby and Sapphire.
"I'm sorry I didn't spend much time with you Sapphire," Steven apologized, feeling guilty.
"It's okay, Steven. I spend everyday with you," Sapphire reminded him with a gentle smile.
Steven smiled and hugged the two gems.
"I love you," Steven whispered to them.
"We love you too, Steven," Sapphire said and Ruby nodded.
Steven let them go and smiled.
"Are you going to fuse back together now?" Steven asked with a warm, caring smile.
Ruby nodded, lightly punching Steven's shoulder.
"See ya around, Steven," Ruby said, turning towards Sapphire longingly.
"Steven, do you have your phone?" Sapphire asked and Steven nodded. He took his phone from the coffee table.
"Let's take a picture," Sapphire said and Steven beamed.
"Ya!" He said, setting up the camera. He held out the camera. Sapphire went on Steven's right and Ruby went on Steven's left. They smiled up at the phone.
"3…
2…
1!" Steven counted down.
Sapphire leaned over and kissed Steven's cheek and Ruby put her arm around Steven's shoulder.
Snap!
Fin
Thank you for reading. -N.S