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I do not own Steven Universe or any of its characters, I do however own Agate.
Steven and Agate lay on the beach in front of their temple home, taking full advantage of their rare day off. Agate was lounging peacefully in her hammock while Steven sat a few feet away, carefully building little sand towns before destroying them and starting the process over again. Occasionally he would stop his game to sneak a glance at the older gem, a thoughtful look on his face.
"… Hey, Agate? Why don't you have your own room?" Steven questioned the green haired girl.
Agate opened one eye lazily, fixing it on the curly haired boy, "What are you going on about? Of course I have my own room."
Steven stood and walked over to her, "Then why don't I ever see you use it? The other gems are always going in and out of the temple, why don't you do that too?"
"… Hmm, I don't know really. The others are always doing something gem related, I don't really go into the temple unless I absolutely have to or I need a quiet place to nap." Agate explained with a shrug.
"Can I see your room?" Steven asked, eyes shining with hope and excitement.
This caused both of the green gem's eyes to open fully, a frown forming on her lips, "Now kiddo, you know Pearl doesn't want you in the temple until you can control your gem powers."
Steven clasped his hands together, expression pleading, "Pleeeeeeeease Agate? All I wanna do is see what your room looks like! I won't cause any trouble, I promise."
"Er … Oh, alright, I guess if it's just my room it won't hurt." Agate sighed, easily caving under the force of Steven's starry eyed stare, "But I ain't gonna be the one who gets in trouble if Pearl finds out, got it?"
"Ok! We just won't get caught." The curly haired boy eagerly agreed.
A wide cheshire grin spread across the green gem's face as she flipped out of her hammock. The pair quickly made their way to the house, sparing a fleeting glance to make sure the coast was clear before approaching the temple door.
The gem on Agate's back began to glow, setting off its counterpart on the temple door. A green zig-zag pattern crossed the door before splitting open, revealing a meadow-like area. The meadow continued for only a few short feet before climbing up to a cliff. On the top of the cliff there sat a single, towering weeping willow, its branches stretching to the ground.
The duo stepped into the room, allowing the door to close behind them.
"Well, what do you think kiddo?" Agate chuckled at the awestruck look on the younger gem's face.
Steven let out a big grin, "That's the biggest tree I've ever seen! And it's so pretty here!"
Agate shrugged, "Yeah, it's ok, but just wait until you see the inside."
"Inside?" Steven questioned.
Agate didn't answer his question, instead she began to walk towards the giant willow. Steven followed closely, practically dancing with excitement. When they reached the willow Agate held the branches open, allowing Steven to step through.
The curly haired gem gasped as he found himself standing before a set of stairs. The stairs continued up a good five feet before stopping at a balcony and large white door.
"You live inside a tree?! That's so awesome!" Steven exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.
Agate chuckled softly, "I know, now come on, I'll give you a tour of the place. But we'd better make it quick, it's almost lunch time, and Pearl's gonna worry if we take too long."
Steven nodded and followed the older gem up the stairs and into the house. The curly haired boy glanced around the large room. It looked like a mix between a den and a living room, and was filled with modern day furniture. The floor was covered by a white carpet, and matched three of the four walls around the room.
The fourth wall was painted a pale green color, and was decorated by numerous framed photos of all shapes and sizes. These caught the young gem's attention, and he approached the pictures to get a better look. One picture in particular caught his eye, and as he got closer he was surprised by what he saw.
It was a picture of his mother and the other crystal gems, though that wasn't what surprised him. What surprised him was the fact that his mother looked considerably younger than in any other picture he had seen of her, and the gems looked to be around the same age as him.
The sound of Agate's voice caused the boy to jump slightly, "What'cha looking at there Steve-o?"
"This picture, everyone looks so young! But, I thought Pearl said that gems don't age?" Steven questioned in confusion.
"Ah, well, that's not entirely true I suppose." The green gem shrugged, "We gems do age, but at a much slower rate than humans. We go through similar stages such as infancy and childhood more rapidly, but once we reach our teenaged years our aging slows dramatically."
Steven's eyes sparkled, "Does that mean you guys grew up with dinosaurs?!"
The older gem chuckled, shaking her head, "No, actually, Earth wasn't around when we were kids. And the dinosaurs had long since died out by the time we arrived."
"Aw man." Steven groaned, but his disappointment was soon forgotten as he turned back to the photo, "Everyone looks so happy, even Pearl and Amethyst look like they're getting along! … Why don't they act like that now?"
The question was followed by silence, and a frown formed on Agate's lips. Her eyes left the photo, and floated to another. This was a picture of herself and Garnet. The two were grinning broadly, arms wrapped tightly around each other, not a single worry or care on their mind.
Finally she let out a sigh, "Losing your mother, it was rough on us Steven. We all changed that day, some of us more than others, and well … sometimes change doesn't leave room for happiness."
"I'm sorry, if it wasn't for me, mom would still be around, and everyone would still be happy." Steven whispered, gaze falling to the ground.
"Hey now, none of that Steven." Agate's expression turned serious as she kneeled before the boy, "Losing Rose was tough, yes, but none of us would ever change what happened. Rose is a part of you, and you're family. Always remember that ok?"
A small smile graced Steven's lips and he wiped his tears away, "Ok."
The green gem returned the smile, "There we go, now, how about that tour huh?"
The older gem lead Steven through the tree house, stopping long enough to give a brief description of each one. There was the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, gym, training room, and the music room (That had been Steven's favorite room).
Too soon for Steven's liking the tour ended, and the two made their way back to the beach house.
"See Agate? I told you we wouldn't get caught." Steven stated proudly as the two exited the temple.
"Oh, is that so?" Pearl's even tone caused both gems to freeze.
Busted.
Well? What do you think? I was watching 'Together Breakfast' for like, the fiftieth time and this just sorta popped into my head. Anyway, please read and review, and let me know if you see any spelling/grammatical errors.