Here is my first ever story on the website. Hopefully everything works properly, since this is the third attempt to upload this story. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its characters.

"Happy birthday, Steven!"

Balancing an enormous cake between them, the Gems walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. Steven dropped the book he was reading and ran over to embrace them. In doing so, he slammed into Pearl, who dropped her side of the cake. Luckily, Garnet caught hold of it before there was frosting all over the floor. She held the entire thing aloft with one hand.

"Oops, sorry guys. I kinda just got really excited!"

"Hey dude, no big. See, the cake's totally fine. Until I get at it, that is." Amethyst grinned and lunged at the cake. Before she could reach it, though, Garnet used her free hand to grab the purple Gem by her head. Garnet set the cake down on the coffee table, but didn't let go of Amethyst. Everyone settled down onto the sofa. Steven looked over and saw Pearl's eyes were shiny with tears.

"Eighteen. You're all grown up." She took a big sniff in through her nose. Steven wrapped a muscled arm around Pear's thin figure.

"Don't cry, Pearl. Eighteen is just a blink in your guy's eyes." Steven smiled, looking down at the thin, pale Gem.

"Yes," Garnet said, "but these eighteen years have been the best ."

Both Pearl and Steven started bawling.

"Oh brother." Amethyst rolled her eyes. She pried Garnet's hand from her head and walked over to the kitchen. Her figure disappeared for a moment behind the counter, and then reappeared, carrying a knife. "Can we eat this thing now?"

"No," Garnet answered.

"Hey," Steven said as he wiped away some tears, "since it is my birthday…" He threw a glance at Garnet.

"Right."

Standing up from the couch, Garnet's form began to shimmer. She blazed a brilliant white as a line split down the center of her body. Two small figures crashed down to the floor.

"Ugh. We can never land that quite right." Ruby stood up, brushing off some dirt. Sapphire floated onto the couch, elegant as ever.

"Good to see you guys!"

"Nice seeing you too, Steven." Sapphire smiled over at him. Recently, she'd been wearing her hair parted at the front, revealing her enormous eye. Pearl had been against it (she hates change) but Steven thought it was cool. Of course, Ruby was 100% for nearly anything Sapphire did.

"Ugh." Ruby moaned again, rubbing her forehead.

"Hate to interrupt whatever," Amethyst gestured towards Ruby, "this is, but I would like to eat this cake before Steven turns nineteen!"

"Yeah! Oh man I can't wait to try this. It looks awesome. And familiar…" Steven suddenly jumped up from the couch and gasped in surprise.

"Steven! What's wrong!" Pearl sprang off the couch, her spear protruding halfway out of her gem.

"Oh my gosh! This is the cake from Unfamiliar Familiars! It looks just like they described it in the book! And not like in the… movie adaptation." Steven shuddered a bit thinking about that.

"Oh, yes! We made it just for you Steven," Pearl said, relaxing.

Amethyst handed him the knife she'd grabbed. With it, Steven cut pieces of cake for everyone, except Pearl, and sat back down on the sofa.

"So, what are we doing after this?" Steven asked, cake in his mouth.

"Funland," Sapphire immediately answered.

"Well, that's settled."

Everyone finished eating their cake and got ready to leave. Steven grabbed his wallet from his room and followed the others out the door. He pulled out his phone and dialed the number under Dad. It rang a few times until Greg picked up. Steven invited him to join them at Funland, to which Greg said,

"Oh no!"

"Dad! What is it?"

"Oh, I can't believe I forgot!"

"Forgot what?"

"Your birth- I mean, to get the mail! Bye gotta go I'll see you there!"

"Oh…kay?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Calm down."

"NO! THIS IS AWFUL! THIS IS TERRIBLE!"

"Ruby, it's okay."

"NO IT'S NOT!"

The former skee ball machine lay in a decimated heap. Ruby's gauntlet had made giant holes in it. Smoke poured from her feet. Sapphire stood nearby, trying to calm her down. Steven watched the commotion from nearby. He looked around nervously, hoping that Mr. Smiley didn't see. The last thing Steven wanted was another ban from Funland.

"Ruby, you missed one shot," Sapphire reasoned.

"IT BOUNCED OUT OF THE HOLE!"

"That is no reason to punch the machine. Ruby, I think it's time we fuse again. You're starting to get a little…unstable."

Ruby whipped around to face her. "NO SHI-"

"Ruby! There are children nearby. Will you just come here?" Sapphire grabbed her by the arm and yanked her around the corner. Steven saw a flash of light, and Garnet stepped back out.

"Sorry about that," she said.

"Maybe that's enough fun for today," Steven decided. He and Garnet rounded up the others. They found Pearl playing a racing game, Amethyst asleep on a skee ball ramp, and Greg eating pizza. Everyone walked towards Greg van. They filed in, and Greg drove off.

"How 'bout we get some donuts? You know, since I wasn't there to have cake." Steven regretted telling his dad about the cake. All Greg had done was complain that he hadn't gotten any.

"Sounds good, Dad. Why don't we-"

"No. Stop the van."

A screech filled the air as Greg slammed his foot down on the breaks. All eyes turned to Garnet. She stared straight ahead, not a trace of panic on her face.

"Go to the temple."

Greg turned the van around and drove towards the beach. Everyone kept asking Garnet why they were going home, but she wouldn't answer. Although, her left did hand twitched as Greg turned down the road. He pulled up to the temple and shifted into park. The instant the wheels stopped turning, Garnet flew out of the door and ran towards the house. Pearl and Amethyst followed. Hesitating, Steven looked over at Greg. It would be rude to just leave him here. But Greg gave him a strained smile. "Go," he urged.

Steven shoved out of the van door and ran after the Gems. Over the years his legs had grown strong and powerful. He easily reached the house, barely breaking a sweat. With a quick shove, Steven opened the door. His gem glowed, ready to summon a shield if need be. He stopped inside the door, looking for danger.

Pearl and Amethyst stood in the living room, weapons drawn. Behind them, Garnet sat on the warp pad, back towards the door. Her body flickered and she muttered to herself and . Steven stepped forward. "Garnet?"

Her head whipped around. Steven gasped and covered his mouth. Garnet's face was mutilated, a blob of eyes and a twisted mouth. She moaned, then exploded in a flash of white light."

Two figures fell and hit the ground. Ruby smashed down onto the warp pad while Sapphire gently settled down on her knees. She glanced about nervously, almost waiting for something to happen. Her eye made contact with Steven, who stood, dumbfounded. He watched as Ruby pushed herself up, legs shaking. She rubbed her forehead and looked around. "Wha…"

Sapphire suddenly stood up and dashed over to the Temple door. While Ruby was still groggy from unfusing, and the other Gems were too shocked to move, the blue Gem opened her room and slipped inside without a word.

"What was that?" Steven looked around at Pearl, Amethyst, and Ruby, expecting an answer. Everyone looked as confused as him, if not more so. Ruby seemed to reorient herself and stood up. She noticed the others standing, their weapons still out. Slowly, Amethyst de-summoned her whip and relaxed. Pearl did the same, and the two looked about nervously, expecting danger to attack at any minute. Not entirely sure what he should do, Steven crossed the distance to the warp pad and knelt down next to Ruby.

"Ruby? Is everything okay? What just happened? Is Sapphire-"

"Steven, just shut up!"

He did, and backed away from Ruby. She began to pace across the warp pad, but didn't burn the magical material it was made from. Seeing that he'd get no answers from her, Steven turned away from Ruby and faced Pearl and Amethyst. Both of them stared at the little red Gem, unsure of what to do now.

Eventually, Steven walked back towards the Temple. Making sure to give Ruby and the warp pad a wide berth, he stopped in front of the temple door. Tentatively, he raised his right arm up and clenched his hand into a fist, hovering it by the door. Steven knocked three times, causing an echoing bang bang bang to dance through the house.

"Sapphire?" he called. No one answered. He tried again, only louder this time. Still the door remained shut, mocking him.

When he turned around, Steven jumped in shock. He hadn't notice Ruby leaving the warp pad and coming to stand behind him, but she had. "Let me try," she offered. Steven stepped aside and let her try knocking on the door.

"SAPPHIRE?"

No answer.

Growling in frustration, Ruby summoned her gauntlet and smashed it against the door. It made the entire house tremble on the foundation, but Sapphire didn't come out.

"RRRAH! What is she doing?" Ruby stormed away from the door, shoved passed Steven, Pearl, and Amethyst, and angrily flopped down on the couch. The upholstery started to steam, filling the house with the disgusting smell of burning cloth. Everyone watched warily, waiting to see if it would ignite into flames. It wouldn't be the first time.

Pearl walked over to Steven as Amethyst went into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out a cardboard box, which contained leftovers from dinner two nights ago. In one bite the entire container was gone. Steven turned back to Pearl, sighing.

"So, umm, do you have any idea what that was?"

Pearl shook her head. "Sometimes, Ruby and Sapphire get into fights, as you know." Steven nodded. He'd seen the two small Gems get into plenty of arguments in his life. No one liked to see them fight. Ever.

"Usually, though, we have some context about why they're bickering. And it normally isn't so unprompted like this." Pearl rubbed her forehead. She took a seat at one of the stools in the kitchen. Steven sat next to her.

"Has anything like this ever happened before?" Steven asked, glancing back at Ruby. Her body wasn't smoking anymore, but she still looked irritated.

Thinking for a moment, Pearl gestured with her hands as she talked. "I can only think of a handful of other times this has happened. Once a very long time ago, back during the war with Homeworld. The others I can't recall very well."

"What…what happened during the war?"

Pearl began to speak, but was cut off by a voice behind Steven.

"We unfused. Normally, while Sapphire and I are Garnet, if we unfuse, it's either a mutual agreement or sudden and uncontrollable. That time, though, Sapphire seemed to pull away from me. She was blocking Garnet's future vision, preventing us from talking or summoning a weapon, and pushing. Constantly pushing until I gave up control and let Garnet come undone. It's been quite some time since it happened and I'm trying to remember why she gets this way. It...it's confusing being me again. My memories are hazy when they're on their own."

Once she was done, Ruby looked away from everyone and muttered to herself. Steven looked back at Pearl, wondering if there was more she would say. No one spoke and silence hung in the house, sending shivers up Steven's arm.

Amethyst finished eating the last thing in the fridge and walked over to Steven. She patted him on the back, although it was more like a painful slap. "Well, it's been a long day. I'm going to sleep. Happy birthday again, Ste-man." She walked over to the Temple door and went into her room.

Steven stood up, knocking over the stool as he did. Sometimes he couldn't keep track of his own limbs. Pearl looked up half-heartedly, and Ruby stole a quick glance to see what the noise had been, then continued to talk to herself.

"I think I'll go to bed too. It has been a long day. If anyone thinks it would be a good idea to tell me any more of that story, you know where I'll be." He crossed to the stairs, fell down on his blanket, and fell asleep instantly.

This chapter is a bit longer than what I intend for the others. I couldn't find a good way to break this one up without ending up with making two shorter chapters. Hopefully the story is enjoyable so far.