Shattered Stones
Chapter 2: Figuring Things Out

Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe or any of the characters involved except Amarl

Steven, Greg, and Amarl were sitting in the back of Greg's van as he handed Steven a drink.

"So, why do you call my dad, dad?" Steven asked Amarl.

He looked to Greg.

"Y'see, when your mom and I first met Amarl was still really young, and he didn't exactly have a father figure growing up with the gems. I took him under my wing, taught him everything I know, we agreed that it would be good practice so I was ready to handle you when you were born," Greg took Amarl under his arm and rubbed his fist into his head as he spoke.

"Because of that, I ended up calling Greg dad. It was a force of habit," Amarl managed to wrestle free and shrugged as he finished.

"That makes sense," Steven nodded before taking a drink.

"Where have you been all these years?" Greg asked Amarl.

"In the temple, I guess after a fight Rose thought I'd been shattered and she kept my halves to try and revive me," Amarl explained.

"I remember them coming back without you, they told me you'd died,"

Steven looked at Amarl's arms and realized that his gem was two half rectangles and that each was split down the middle lengthwise and infused into his forearms.

"Amarl, why is your gem like that?" Steven asked.

Amarl looked down at the gem in his arm before sighing.

"It's a long story,"

Steven smiled as he made himself comfortable.

"You shouldn't have told him that," Greg said with a grin.

Amarl sighed again, "Alright. A long time ago, during the great rebellion of Rose Quartz. Humanity was being defended by the Crystal Gems, at the time, our weapons were no match for the Gem Tech, and we were hiding from them as Rose and her army fought to protect us. I was young, and really dumb, I ran away from home with a spear in hand and went to help. I talked to Rose but she refused my aid because she didn't want to see me get hurt. I didn't listen and snuck onto the battlefield, but she was right. I was no match for even the lowest Ruby soldier, and soon I was captured and brought aboard one of the diamond's ships…" Amarl stopped as he stared down into his gem.

"What happened next?" Steven leaned forward, he was hanging on Amarl's every word.

"I'd rather not say, it's hard to talk about," Amarl told him.

Steven realized that his demeanor had changed, and he sat back down in his spot.

"After that, I reunited with Rose when she broke into the ship, and she took me under her wing and tried to figure out how to 'fix' me. I've been a member of the Crystal Gems ever since. Eventually when Rose met your dad we developed our father-son relationship and then… that was it. I got poofed one day and was trapped in the temple ever since. I guess I take a lot longer to regenerate than other gems,"

"They didn't think you'd regenerate at all," Greg told him.

"Yeah, that makes sense,"

Amarl was quiet for a moment before he shook his head, "Enough dwelling on the past! I'm back now, and I want to see how the world has changed these last few years,"

Steven grinned at his excitement, "C'mon, I know just the way to show you,"

Steven led Amarl out of the van and down the street, the pair waved good bye to Greg as they left. They stopped in front of the fry shack and Steven happily told Mr. Fryman to give him the bits. After a few lines of chanting Amarl joined in, not fully understand what the bits were. After a minute Mr. Fryman agreed and he poured out a few random bits of fried food into a bag and gave it to Steven.

"Thanks!" He said as he walked away with Amarl.

He reached into the bag and put one in his mouth, "What are these?" he asked.

"Fry bits," Steven answered, "Can you… taste them?" He stopped as he the thought dawned on him.

"Of course I can taste them, why wouldn't I?"

"Well, it's just, Amethyst doesn't seem to taste what she eats, since she eats a lot of weird stuff,"

"Well, don't forget I was human at one point, I still have my taste buds," He said as he popped another fry bit in his mouth.

"I was also curious, how do you… summon your gem weapon?"

Amarl looked down at Steven as he asked, his right arm began to glow as he reached over with his left hand and pulled out the same jagged blade he'd produced before.

"Real simple," He explained before shouldering it.

"Oh, I was hoping you had some advice on how," Steven told him.

Amarl looked confused for a minute before realization dawned on him, "You can't summon your weapon?"

Steven shook his head. Amarl frowned slightly before planting his blade in the sand and using it as a support.

"Well, your mom's weapon was a shield, so maybe it has something to do with protecting people? I know my sword appears when I feel violent or want to fight,"

Steven thought about it for a moment. "Yeah… that makes sense!"

Amarl smiled as he pulled the sword out of the sand and dismissed it into his gem. "We'll have to get some practice in once you summon it,"

"Yeah!" Steven smiled as he continued their walk back to the house.

"So, is there anything else I've missed?" Amarl asked as they turned the corner.

"Not really, if you were around for when mom met dad you already know about the corrupted gems, and what the gems have been pretty much doing the last twelve years, aside from raising me,"

"Twelve years and they're still trying to bubble the corrupted gems?" Amarl asked.

Steven nodded. "So long, although I suppose when you're immortal time seems to pass so much slower,"

"What about you… how old are you?"

Amarl considered the prospect for a moment, "If I can add this up correctly… I'm somewhere around one-thousand and 18 years old,"

"No way!"

Amarl nodded, "After the war my body… stopped. That's the best way I can describe it, I'm the same today as I was a thousand years ago. Anyway, we better get back or else the gems are going to be worried about us,"

"What do you mean?"

"I used to sneak off all the time when I first became a gem and Rose always got so worried about me. It was almost like she was my mom,"

"Well, if you think my dad is your dad, and my mom was your mom, would that mean we're like brothers?"

Amarl considered the question for a few seconds. "Yeah, I suppose it would. In that case, race you home little bro!"

Amarl noggied Steven before taking off down the beach toward the house.

Steven smiled "Not fair!" he shouted before running off after him. The two raced down the beach but Amarl won out as he arrived at the door first. He waited for Steven though before they walked in.

"Ah, Amarl, you're back," Garnet said as she and the other gems were waiting in the small kitchen.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"We need to talk," She told him, her tone was serious.

Amarl, who had a smile on his face from his sprint against Steven, frowned.

"Everything ok?"

"We want to make sure of that," Pearl added.

Garnet and Pearl stood up from the benches and walked over to the temple door. Garnet lit her gems in the doorway and it opened. Amarl looked down at Steven before smiling slightly and walking through. Steven went to follow but Amethyst stopped him.

"You better wait out here," She told him.

"But, what's going to happen to Amarl?"

"Nothing bad is going to happen Steven, we just need to talk," Pearl told him as Amarl passed her and entered the doorway.

She followed him a moment later and the door closed.