It had been a few days since Steven Universe had been born. The Baby was tiny and red, with a small patch of curly black hair and the even tinier pink Rose Quartz Gemstone on his stomach where his Belly Button would have been if he were fully human. As Steven's father ran through the snow with his son and a bag of baby supplies in his arms, what was happening inside the boys mind was even more interesting. Standing in a mostly empty space, were two girls. One was yellow with a blue glow around her form. She had short blue hair and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a light green dress with blue stars on it. The second girl was short and blue with short blue hair and blue eyes with glasses. She wore a white turtle-neck jumper with blue leggings.
Both had a portion cut out of their clothes to show that they too had the same pink stone on their stomachs. Neither emotion knew what to make of this, since the few times they had seen Daddy without a shirt, he never had a pink stone. However, they figured they would find out later. Both girls were standing in front of a single stand with a button on top. Right now, the first girl, Joy was standing in front, pushing the button to convey a sense of contentment. Every once in a while, the second person, Sadness, would hold up a hand and Joy would move back. Sadness would then press the button to make Steven feel upset because he was cold and getting hungry. Both emotions knew from instinct, that Sadness would be at the helm for a while. As he was only a few months old, Steven was going to need Sadness to let his father know when he was hungry, when he was cold, when he needed a Nappy change and other things. Behind the two emotions, there was a short rack with around five orbs of yellow and blue. These were Stevens Short term memories.
Being only a baby, he couldn't remember very much yet. As the last blue memory clinked into place, Joy pressed a button in the floor and the rack holding all the memories opened up and all the orbs traveled down into Long Term Memory, which was only a few feet larger than the other place Steven and Daddy lived. Suddenly a new memory fell into Head Quarters. Except this one was glowing bright yellow. The two emotions watched as the memory traveled down under the floor and up into the strange white construct that neither seemed to have a name for yet. As the glowing memory clicked into place in the device, a line of glowing light shot out from Head Quarters and, as Joy and Sadness watched out the window, a huge construct was made. When the light faded, the two emotions saw that it was a huge island, depicting a man holding a baby. "Daddy Island" Joy said, with a big smile.
Soon they turned their attentions back to the view screen that was Steven's sight. Daddy held them gently but firmly in his arms as he walked over to a couch and sat down, while holding a warmed bottle of fresh milk. "Ooh, milk! It's my turn now, right Sadness?" Joy asked excitedly. Sadness nodded, "uh huh, we should be happy that we're eating and that Daddy's not letting us starve" she replied softly. Joy skipped back to the button and pressed it so that Steven felt happy and content again with the warm milk entering his tummy. Soon all the milk was gone, and, as Joy again made Steven feel content that he was full and warm, they began to notice that their boy's eyes were closing. Soon Steven was asleep and Sadness again pressed the button on the floor to send all his Short term memories to Long term.
"Okay, since Steven is having a nap, we should probably get some rest too" Joy said, skipping over to their two rooms. Sadness trudged along behind. Joy turned back to her companion, "awe, come on Sadness! I know being sad is your job, but aren't you at least proud of yourself? You let Daddy know that Steven was cold, so he got us into the warm house faster, you made sure he got nice warm milk so that he wasn't hungry any more, and today we got our first, what I have decided to call, Core Memory, and our first Island too! Surely, that's something to be at least a little bit happy about, right?" she asked. Sadness looked down, "yeah, I guess" she replied. "That's the spirit, now, let's have our nap, so that Steven can be happy or sad later, okay?!" she asked, before going into her bedroom.
Just before entering her own, Sadness turned back to the window of Headquarters, seeing the brightly shining island, that showed how much Steven loved his Daddy. Slowly, the tiniest of smiles crept on Sadness's face, before she entered her own room for a nap.
ŚÚ.ÌŎ
Sadness was the one who woke up first. She just felt compelled to, by a strong sense of feeling bad. The blue emotion walked up to the button and pressed it, causing Steven to wake up and begin to cry. As he wiggled around in his blanket, Joy came out of her room, "what's up Sadness, is Steven hungry again, or need to have a Nappy change?" she asked with a yawn. Sadness looked over at Joy, "I don't know, he just feels like something is wrong, so I'm letting Daddy know" she replied. Daddy looked down at them, "hey Stu-ball, you're doing a lot of dancing in their" he said softly.
"You wanna get out of their and show me your moves?" he asked as Steven finally broke free of the confines of the blanket and Daddy saw that he'd managed to open his onesie as a blue memory rolled into Headquarters. "Hey now, you unbuttoned all your buttons I buttoned up" he said, before blowing a raspberry onto Steven's chest. Joy smiled and pressed their button, making Steven laugh at the tickley feeling of the Raspberry. A yellow memory rolled in. Daddy then lay them down on the couch, "let's get you buttoned back up" he said, as he went to work doing up the buttons, with his sons hand on his mouth, "ookie pookie" he said as he finished.
Sadness pressed the button, making Steven feel uncomfortable again and pull open the onesie. "Wha- huh?" Daddy asked, looking down at the baby, "does your, Gem need to, breath?" he asked in confusion. "Hmm" Daddy thought for a moment, changing how he did up the buttons, "how about, this?" he asked. Neither Joy nor Sadness could see what he'd done, but they could both feel a much more relaxed vibe, and Joy went over and pressed the button making Steven laugh, while another yellow memory came in. Suddenly the doorbell was heard and Daddy left their line of sight. "Daddy left us, we should probably be sad" Sadness said, but Joy stopped her, "hold on a moment, we don't know how long he'll be gone, let's just wait a second" she said.
A minute later, Daddy came back in with three people Steven didn't know. "Who are they?" Sadness asked, "I don't know, but if Daddy's letting them in, they must be good people" Joy replied optimistically. She pressed the button and Steven looked over as Daddy came over with the three other people, "can I get you guys anything, we've got water, uh, old plates- how 'bout some- tea?" he asked. One of the new people looked down, as the tallest one came and sat next to Steven on the couch and neither Joy nor Sadness know what kind of look was on her face, "no, we're just here to drop off these gifts" she said shortly.
"Right, sure" Steven heard Daddy say, but he was more preoccupied with the pretty bright purple box with the pretty yellow ribbon over it. "What do you think they are?" Sadness asked. "I don't know, but they're pretty and the big person is giving us something, let's be nice" Joy replied, pressing the button, and Steven made some excited sounds. "You'll probably have to open that up for him" Daddy said. "It's just a box, made to look like it's been carefully wrapped" the big person said. Joy smiled, "she has a nice voice" she said, as the big person pulled the top of the box off, to reveal a long thing with a strange shape, "tada!" the big person said. "Woah!" Daddy exclaimed suddenly, picking up the thing and keeping it away from Steven, "thanks Garnet, but I don't think he needs this" he said.
"Oh he'll need it, in the future" the big person replied. Sadness looked at Joy, "what do you think she meant?" she asked. The yellow emotion shrugged, "I don't know, but look! We've got the pretty box!" she exclaimed excitedly, as she pressed the button and Steven laughed and held it up. "Let's open mine next!" the shortest person said excitedly, ripping open the brown paper to show a big box. "Wow, diapers! This is so practical!" Daddy said happily, taking the box. Suddenly he frowned, "wait, are these adult diapers? They're way too big for him!" The short person looked over at Steven, "so tell him to make himself bigger, you can do that, right little Greg?" she asked, rubbing his hair.
Joy pressed the button making Steven laugh at the attention. "You can call him Steven," Daddy said, and the purple person turned to look over at him. "That's the name Rose and I, liked the most" he explained. The two emotions inside Steven's mind looked at each other, "whose Rose?" Sadness asked. Joy shook her head, "I don't know" she replied. "Well, whatever you call him, he'll need this" the thin person said, handing another present to Daddy, "er, thanks," Daddy replied as he opened the present, "is it some kind of kids book?" then he deflated slightly, "oh, a dictionary" he said. "Obviously, it's the best gift for a being that can't yet communicate" she replied. "Well maybe you can use it to look up what 'a baby' is," Daddy said. "These gifts are great, but, Steven's just too young for this stuff" he continued, putting the present down on the big box.
Meanwhile Steven was passively sucking on his Dummy, "now-a-days he's really into this" he heard Daddy say. Suddenly a jingling sound caught his attention. Joy pressed the button, "ooh, ooh, it it?" she asked as Steven turned to look at where the sound was coming from, "yes, it's the jangly things!" she exclaimed, pressing the button again, making Steven laugh and try to reach for the jangly things. "Whoa, he loves it!" the short one said, taking the jangly things from Daddy and dangling them above him, "hey, lil, Steven" she said. Joy continued pressing the button with a smile on her face, and Steven reached for the jangly things and laughed. The thin one laughed slightly, "well, he's certainly, captivated with those things" she said.
The tall one chuckled slightly as well, "well next time we'll just bring a big box of keys for Steven" she said. Everyone laughed at this. Joy smiled, "you know, I like these new people, they're nice" she replied, as she absentmindedly kept pushing down on the button for too long. Suddenly a bright pink glow filled the room, emanating from Steven's Gem. Everyone gasped, even the emotions, as Joy's Gem also glowed. After a moment the glow faded, both inside and out. Suddenly a chime echoed in Headquarters and Joy and Sadness turned and looked as a yellow memory rolled into the room. This one was also brighter than the rest, but instead of glowing yellow, it glowed bright pink, while the inner part was yellow. The core memory travelled under the floor and into the tall holder thing with the other one.
When it had entered it's designated slot, a beam of bright white light shot out from Headquarters and a second island formed. However, this one looked strange. It was basically a huge version of Steven's gem. "Gemstone Island?" Sadness said in confusion. Joy shook her head, "we'll probably find out about this when we're older, right now, we have other things to do" she replied, going back over to the button, only to see them back in Daddy's van being held by the tall person and no Daddy in sight. "Wh-where's Daddy? What's going on?" Sadness asked, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "Now, now, I'm sure everything's alright, Daddy must trust these people with Steven, that's why he left us with them" Joy replied, trying her best to keep the situation calm.
The short one came up, "alright Rose, we saw that glow, so why are you still a baby!?" she asked in a strange tone of voice. Joy looked at Sadness, "what does that mean?" she asked. Sadness shrugged. "Is it," the short girl squinted her eyes, "really fun or something?" she asked, suddenly engulfed in purple light. When it faded, she was a baby like Steven. "Woah, cool!" Joy exclaimed, "how did she do that?" Sadness asked. "Garnet, hold me" the person who was now a baby said. The tall one picked her up too. "Alright, I get it, this rules" the new baby said. She suddenly threw her arms down, "but it's been so long, like months, that's longer than I was a toilet!" the baby exclaimed, jumping out of the tall ones arms, "come on Rose, you have to change back!" she exclaimed, "baby," suddenly changing back to what she looked like before, "normal, baby, normal, baby" as she said each of these, she changed between being a baby and her regular appearance.
"That's so cool!" Joy exclaimed, pressing their button and Steven laughed. The short person frowned, "it's so easy, why can't she do it?!" she asked. "Hey Joy, do you know what they're saying?" Sadness asked. Joy shrugged, "nope, but they're funny" she replied. The tall one turned him around to face her, "Steven, I understand that Greg is part of you, and you don't want to unfuse in front of him" she said, and her even tone of voice calmed them. Suddenly, the thing covering her eyes disappeared, and Joy and Sadness saw that she had three eyes, "that would be very rude, but he's not here right now, you can take a little break" the tall one said, handing him to the short person, "here, I will too" she said.
Suddenly, the tall person was engulfed in light like the other person had been. Before Joy could get excited that something cool was going to happen again, the light suddenly changed into different ones. "What! Where did the big person go?!" Sadness exclaimed, taking control and making Steven look around. "She was just here, where is she?" she asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Joy tried to comfort her, "oh, hey now, Sadness, it's okay, maybe she's just playing a game?" she suggested. But both emotions could feel the strain. First Daddy's gone, now the big person who was very gentle with them was gone too! Sadness hurried over to the button and pressed it multiple times, making Steven start to cry, and tears to trail down his cheeks.
Suddenly the big person was back, but Sadness continued to make the baby release his tension through tears. "Everyone calm down" they heard the thin person say as she came over and picked Steven up. "We can all see her, she's right their" she said. "She just can't reform, because she has this, baby, around her" the thin person smiled, but it seemed weak, "Rose, I know you're in their- I can let you out," she said, reaching down to their Gem, and touching it, "we'll be, together again" she said. Suddenly, Joy pushed the button and Steven giggled. Sadness turned to her fellow emotion, "sorry, it tickled" she explained. "I can't" they heard the tall person say, "I can't! she wanted this so much, I just, don't understand why!" the thin person said.
"Everything should grow, and everything should change and isn't it so great how it comes so naturally to humans?!" she asked, and Sadness noticed the tears running down the thin person's face, "well it's not natural for us!" she exclaimed. The thin person sobbed quietly, "it's not natural, for me" she said softly. "It will be," the tall person said, looking down at them, "for him" she said. All three of them looked down at Steven sadly, "what about Rose?" the short one asked. "This isn't about Rose, from now on, everything has to be about Steven" the tall person replied. All three looked down at Steven. Suddenly, the two emotions heard strange sounds, and the tall person opened the van door. Daddy jumped into the car with a blanket wrapped around him.
"It's Daddy!" Joy exclaimed, making Steven laugh happily. "Hey, wait a minute, why did you take Steven on a joy ride in the middle of a blizzard?!" he asked, taking him from the thin person. "See, I told you Daddy would come get us Sadness" Joy said to her shorter companion. Pressing the button again, Joy made Steven laugh and grab the blanket Daddy had wrapped around himself. Soon they noticed Steven's eyes drooping as he started to feel sleepy again, "Well, I'll see you later Sadness," Joy said as she went back to her room. "Okay, I'll see you later then Joy" Sadness replied, turning to look back at the screen. In truth, Sadness was actually the leader. Because everyone was feeling sad soon after Steven was born and because somehow, the baby could pick up on those emotions, Sadness was the first one to appear in Steven's mind, even though Joy was the one who handled most things in day to day life, as Steven was normally a very happy baby.
Looking out the window, Sadness stared at Steven's first two Islands of Personality. Daddy Island and Gemstone Island. Looking down at the Gem embedded in her own stomach, she hoped that one day, she would know more about their host, as their seemed to be a lot of things they didn't understand.
To be continued