It was dark, and everyone in the temple was asleep. Well, Steven was. Pearl and Amethyst were just in their rooms, doing who knows what. Garnet was on a solo mission, and was just returning now. The gem she had found was encased in a rose-tinted bubble, which she poofed away. She usually would have examined it a bit, to check for cracks and what not, but, for some reason, there was an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, and she couldn't be bothered. It didn't hurt, really, but, it was enough to get her to notice what she usually wouldn't have.

Before heading to her room, she thought she would check on Steven; Pearl was very insistent on having her or Amethyst watch him sleep, and, she thought she'd just do it for her. So, Garnet quietly headed up the stairs, and looked down at their "son's" sleeping form. His mouth was slightly open, and he was breathing through it, looking so peaceful. Garnet couldn't help but smile, and sat down next to him, stroking his poofy hair with a gentle hand, being sure not to wake him.

She would have stayed there for a while longer, but, after a bit, the irritating feeling in her stomach morphed into something she'd never felt before, what people call nausea. As Garnet was a gem, she'd never experienced it before. She looked down at her midsection with a confused expression.

"What do you want?" She muttered, placing an ungloved hand over it when it made a weird noise. "What is it?"

After a few minutes of this, Garnet decided she'd leave Steven; her stomach was being so loud, that, she was almost certain he'd wake up because of it. With one hand clutching it, and the other using the wall as a support, she got herself to her feet and carefully walked down the stairs, planning to head to her room, but, quickly deciding against it; she had to sit down now. She made a beeline for the couch and sank onto it, sighing unconsciously. Her stomach gurgled angrily, and she looked back down at it, panting slightly.

"Ruby? Sapphire? Are you guys okay?" she asked under her breath, assuming that the cause of her discomfort was that her makers were fighting. She heard them both answer through her mouth,

What are you doing up there, Garnet? This sucks!

Garnet, we both feel awful. What's happening?

"I don't know!" Garnet herself answered, a little louder than intended, clutching her churning stomach with both hands, hunching forward slightly. She started to shake feverishly. She felt downright miserable and, quite honestly, a bit scared; what even was this feeling, and why was it rendering her this pathetic?

Garnet, could you go to a bathroom?

Sapphire asked, and Garnet answered back in a pained voice,

"Why?"

Could you just please?

That's when it hit her; this absolutely horrible feeling like something was going to come out of her. Saliva filled her mouth, which she tried to swallow back, but just more came. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and Garnet got nervously to her feet, starting to walk quickly to the bathroom. She closed the door as quietly as she could and walked over to the toilet, unsure of what she should be doing. A sudden spasm in her throat made her get down on her knees in front of it, and then lowering herself down into a sitting position when she found she was too tall. Before she could even figure out what to do with herself, she was leaning forward, and vomiting into the toilet, eyes wide and terrified behind her shades.

By the time she was finally done, Garnet felt terrible; her stomach somehow still hurt, her throat was stinging, her head was pounding and she was trembling. She was reminded of when Amethyst had gotten food poisoning from a rotten tuna burrito. Did she have that? Or were gems capable of coming down with human viruses, and they just had never been exposed to them? The thought scared her into a fit of dry heaves that hurt every inch of her body.

Eventually, she finally came to a stop, and flushed the toilet with a shaking hand, getting to her feet and stumbling out the door, clutching her paining stomach. She managed to get back to the couch before all but falling on to it, curling up and facing the wall. She thanked God that no one else was around to see this.

Pearl exited her room, intent on checking on Steven; even though she said she wouldn't be any more, she'd had her fingers crossed (metaphorically speaking). She crept out and over to the stair up to his little floor, before hearing a soft moan from behind her. She turned, surprised to see Garnet curled up on the couch, her arms wrapped around her stomach, trembling. She wasn't sure if she was asleep or not.

Pearl shyly walked over to her friend to see if she was alright, when she suddenly sat up, mumbling deliriously, "Garnet, this is miserable." Obviously either Ruby or Sapphire were saying this.

"P-Pearl? Uh, I…" Garnet moaned, having seen her, before that horrid feeling was on her again, and she got up to run, but, the motion stirred up her gut just enough that she immediately started throwing up all over the floor. In a weak attempt to stop it, she raised a hand over her mouth, but, that really just made it worse.

Pearl was in shock; both she and Amethyst had been sick like this before, but, never Garnet. Pearl had just assumed that she never would, so, this was a bit of a knock on the head. She stepped forward after Garnet appeared to stop, and asked,

"Uh, are you okay, Garnet?" Garnet looked up at her with exhausted eyes that Pearl couldn't see, and answered in a quieter than usual voice,

"I feel horrible." Pearl walked over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder, which she was surprised didn't get batted away; she merely looked at it for a second, before looking down at her dripping hand. She walked off silently to clean it off, and Pearl followed her. She watched from the doorway as Garnet washed her hands. When she froze, Pearl asked,

"Garnet?" Her friend's hand rushed to her mouth, and she moved quickly to the toilet, falling to her knees again. When she started vomiting, Pearl had to come and help her, and knelt down beside her, rubbing her shuddering back. Garnet moaned when she felt her hand, and muttered,

"This is humiliating." Pearl smiled in sympathy when she started heaving like her life depended on it, and she stroked her cube of hair.

"Calm down. It'll be okay in a moment," she reassured her, and even though she assumed Garnet would make some remark, she only nodded, continuing with her disposal.

Sure enough, in about one more minute, Garnet settled down enough to sit back from the toilet, one hand miserably rubbing her stomach, the other pressed against the ground to keep herself upright. Her head sagged forward, and she rested her heated forehead on her knees. Pearl was going to say something, when Steven's tired voice came from the door.

"Garnet? Pearl? Is everything okay?" The gems both looked over at him, and Steven took in the scene in front of him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Is Garnet sick?" He asked, and Garnet rushed to reassure him that she was fine, but, couldn't get the words out. Pearl answered for her,

"She certainly doesn't feel the best, but, I'm sure she'll be okay, Steven." He nodded, walking in and putting a hand on her shoulder, about to say something, when Garnet beat him to it,

"Steven, I'm okay, really. Please go back to bed." Steven looked unsure.

"It's just that, Connie said there's a tummy bug going around her school, and that she had it recently," he informed them both. Garnet didn't really understand, but, Pearl caught on.

"Oh. So, Steven's a carrier, and Garnet got it from him," she mused. Garnet moaned, clutching her stomach again.

"Great…" she mumbled to herself. "Just great." Steven noticed this, and followed up with,

"She said that she felt like you do now for about two days, and felt better on the third. That's reassuring, isn't it?"

"You mean I have to feel like this for two days?" Garnet griped, her stomach churning. "It's only been a few hours." She shuffled herself closer to the toilet, and Pearl followed. Steven didn't think anything he said by this point would make his motherly figure feel better, and was about to leave when Pearl asked,

"Did Connie say how to fix it?" He smiled, and answered,

"She said that she had to drink water, and eat things like toast and Saladas. Mostly she said that rest was the main thing." Pearl nodded, noting that Garnet was blindly searching for the toilet again. She pushed her towards it, and watched helplessly as she threw up for a fourth time. Steven grimaced and shivered.

"Okay, Garnet. I know you know what you're doing. Feel better," he said quickly, before scurrying away.

Before long, Pearl was walking Garnet out of the bathroom and to the couch. Garnet had said she could do it herself, but, she didn't know that Pearl could see through her visors, and saw just how exhausted her friend was. Once laying down again, Pearl found an extra blanket in the cupboard, and draped it over her, noting the way she seemed relieved with the extra warmth. She then brought the mop bucket over and set it beside her, so that she wouldn't have to worry about getting up anymore. She leaned forward and removed her shades, revealing her exhausted and moist eyes, kissing her on the forehead.

"I hope you feel better when you wake up," she whispered. "Goodnight, Garnet." Garnet smiled miserably.

"Goodnight, Pearl."