Return of Agate.
Chapter One: The Missing Gem.
I do not own Steven Universe or any of its characters, I do however own Agate.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LEFT STEVEN IN THE TEMPLE BY HIMSELF?!" Pearl's screeched echoed from the Crystal Gems' beach house home and into the streets of Beach City.
Amethyst rubbed her now very sore ears, trying to stop the ringing caused by the blue wearing gem's outburst, "Geez Pearl, calm down would ya? It's not like I just dumped him in some random part of the temple, he's in my room."
"HOW IS THAT ANY BETTER?! Amethyst, your room is an accident waiting to happen! What if Steven gets lost in there? O-Or what if one of your gross piles of who-knows-what falls and crushes him?!" The taller gem only grew more panicked with each offered scenario, nearing the point of hyperventilation.
"Pearl, you need to calm down." Garnet ordered, "Steven will be fine, we'll just go into Amethyst's room and find him."
Taking a few deep, calming breaths the pale skinned gem nodded in understanding. Before the group could make their way to the temple door however, a sticky, purple line curved across the door, opening to reveal a perfectly safe Steven standing on the other side.
The youngest of the gems had an excited grin on his face, though he usually always did, and in his arms he held what looked to be a book that was almost as big as his torso.
The curly haired boy ran towards the older gems, "Guys, guys! Check out what I found!"
Pearl met the young boy halfway, trapping him in a bear hug, "Oh Steven! Are you alright? You're not hurt are you? Let me see you."
"I'm fine Pearl!" The rose gem giggled, then held up his treasure proudly, "But check this out! I found this old scrapbook, it's got tons of pictures of me as a baby! I remember most of the people in here I know, but there's one that I don't recognize."
"Oh yeah, I forgot that was in there." Amethyst chuckled, scratching the back of her head nervously.
Pearl cooed happily, clapping her hands together, "Oh, so wonderful! Now, who's this person you don't know?"
Flipping through the book Steven stopped somewhere towards the middle, turning the book so the gems could see the picture. As soon as the gems laid their eyes on it, however, their excited expressions fell.
In the picture, Steven was sleeping peacefully on the chest of a beautiful young woman. Her skin was peach in color, and her hair was a dark green with small traces of black mixed in. She wore a ripped green tank top covered by a black leather jacket with a star on the left side, both of which were short enough to expose her stomach. A pair of ripped blue jeans and black combat boots completed the outfit.
She and Steven appeared to be lounging on the beach in front of the temple, the two fitting comfortably into a worn old hammock. She had on hand placed protectively over the sleeping baby, and one eye was half open and staring at the camera, revealing light green eyes. A small, content smile played across her lips.
Pearl's voice came out hesitant and weak, "O-Oh, I see … yes, I suppose you wouldn't have recognized her."
"Who is she? How come I haven't seen her around before?" The oblivious boy questioned.
"Her name is … was Agate, Steven. She was a gem, too." The blue gem explained, voice shaky.
Steven frowned, looking between the older gems, "Was? … What … what happened?"
Amethyst stepped in, "It all happened during one of our missions. We were in the Rugan Temples, the remains of some ancient civilization on another planet. Things went south, and she got separated from us."
"We managed to get the artifact back to the temple, but when we tried to go back for her …" Pearl continued.
"The teleporter on the other side had been damaged. We couldn't go back, and she couldn't return." Garnet finished quietly.
The room grew quiet and the air turned thick. None of the older gems dared to speak, for fear that it would cause old wounds to reopen, and force the tears that were burning their throats to spill. Steven's eyes fell, slowly drifting back to the picture, and suddenly something clicked in his mind.
Hey now kiddo, what do I always say? Leave no room for doom and gloom,- The gentle words echoed through the young gem's mind.
A small smile formed on Steven's face, and soon he found himself finishing the phrase, "Let joy lead the way, I remember Augy."
This caused the other gems to cheer slightly as well, and Garnet cleared her throat, "Well then, now that Steven's safely out of the temple, it's time that we get going."
"What? You guys have another mission?" Steven groaned, "Can I come this time? Please?"
"I'm sorry Steven, but this is too dangerous for you." Pearl sighed as she and the other gems stepped onto the teleportation pad, disappearing in a flash.
Heaving a sigh Steven turned and walked up to his room. Opening the sliding glass doors the curly haired gem motioned for Lion, who was lounging just outside, to come in. Normally the lazy pink feline wasn't allowed in the house, due to the fact that he shed like most animals, but Steven always snuck the gentle beast in when the gems were out.
Suddenly Steven's front pocket began to vibrate violently, tickling the sensitive boy. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the source of the disturbance, a cell phone. Sliding the device open Steven opened the text he had received.
Connie: Hey, what's up?
Steven flopped onto his bed before typing his reply.
Steven: Not much, the gems just went on another mission, now I'm just chilling with Lion.
Connie: Well, if you're bored the boys and I can come hang with you til they come back.
Steven smiled, he knew by now that when Connie said 'the boys' she was referring to Onion and Peedee. The four had been friends since any of them could remember, being the only children in Beach City the same age, and it was a common sight to see them either hanging out in front of the temple or on the boardwalk.
Steven: Sounds like a plan to me, how about we order some pizza too? I'm starving!
Connie: You read my mind! You remember what to order right?
Steven: Of course!
Connie: Great! We'll see you in about fifteen minutes.
Slipping his phone back into his pocket, after ordering the pizza of course, Steven stood and stretched before turning to look at Lion, "Whelp, it's time to move this party outside buddy. Think we need to bring anything out?"
The giant pink furball stared at the boy for a few minutes before standing with a yawn. Stretching out Lion padded over to the bed, nudging the scrapbook gently towards Steven.
The youngest gem grabbed the book, "You want me to bring this? Well, I guess the others would get a kick out of it, and I haven't really taken the time to really look at all the pictures. Ok, I'll bring it, now come on, the others will be here soon."
Yay! Chapter one is done! You guys know what to do but I'm gonna ask anyway, please read and review! Don't forget to let me know if you see any errors, and feel free to ask any questions that you have!
