It had been two days. Two days that had been quiet and uneventful - Beach City had been quiet, as had pretty much everywhere else. No corrupted gems to catch, no artifacts to collect, no ships from Homeworld threatening the Earth and causing the residents to evacuate.

Yet, for Steven, things were piling up.

After his talk with Connie, he couldn't push Jasper out of his mind. Ever since she was poofed for the first time, he had never wanted to just leave her in that bubble. But actually going ahead and healing her? It seemed like it was out of the question. And yet, here he was, lying on his couch, leg and arm hanging over the edge, as he questioned what would be best. That's all he had been doing these past two days.

He was broke out of his thoughts when he felt the leather of the couch dip just beyond the top of his hair. He tilted his head back, seeing a tall, red figure gazing down at him with eyes that he couldn't see.

"Hi, Garnet," he greeted, forcing a smile. Garnet's expression, or at least what he could see, didn't change.

"Something's been on your mind," she stated bluntly. Steven tried to hide his shock, stilling his body as much as he could, but he knew that the fusion could see right through his act. She had three eyes beneath that visor, after all.

"What? Pshh… no…" He flickered his wrist, waving his hand in a gesture that would blow off any kind of suspicions she may have.

Garnet said nothing. Just stared him down, which, even without visible eyes, was very intimidating. Steven felt beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead, and hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until his lungs began to scream at him to let out the carbon dioxide, and inhale oxygen. He pushed himself up and swung his one leg over the edge, while shifting his body around so that he was sitting on the sofa normally.

"Alright, you got me," he sighed. "Yeah… something's been on my mind lately."

He felt a hand land on his head, squishing his brown curly hair. He glanced at her nervously, already guessing what her reaction would be as soon as she got him to spill the beans.

"You want to try and heal Jasper."

Nevermind, she just did the hardest job for him.

He tilted his chin back and looked straight at her, eyes wide and guilty.

"I'm sorry, Garnet, it's just-"

"I know." She interrupted. "I know it's hard accepting losing someone who you know you could've helped," her head drooped a little, as if she were thinking of an experience of her own, "but some things you just can't help. Something we love about you is your determination, Steven. One of your greatest strengths is your need to help everyone around you." A corner of her plump lips picked up. "But you must understand, not everyone will accept it. Jasper is one of those beings who has already refused."

Those words made Steven's heart twist into a knot. His face scrunched up, the thought of Jasper being trapped in that bubble for the rest of her existence haunting him.

"I know I can't help everyone, but…" His eyes narrowed, now from said determination. "No one else can help her but me!" His knees were raised from their relaxed sitting position. "I know she hates me. I know she hates all of us. But I can't just leave her in there!" He furrowed his brow. "I gave Lapis and Peridot a chance. And… I get Jasper doesn't want anything to do with the Crystal Gems, but if I could just heal her-"

"Steven." A hand on each shoulder silenced him. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but there's no guarantee that healing her will work as well as it did with the Centipeetle. And even with her, she still reverted back to her corrupted state."

The memory of her cries rang in Steven's head, until he shook the thought away. "I know, but Jasper wasn't corrupted by the Diamonds. What if it's different with her?"

He gazed at Garnet with pleading eyes. The gem paused for a moment, as if considering what he had just suggested. This flared up some hope inside him.

"It's a possibility," she hummed, finger and thumb now cupping her chin. "And she hasn't been corrupted for long."

Steven grew even more excited, a grin beginning to spread across his face. "Yeah! It's been like… a couple of weeks, right?"

"I'm not saying yes to this, Steven-"

"But you are saying maybe?" he sang, eyes now wide and glittering. Garnet was visibly discomforted by the sight of his puppy-dog eyes.

She finally let out a sigh. "I'll talk it out with Pearl and Amethyst. But no promises, okay?" She told him firmly as she stood up. However, he barely heard that last part, as the enthusiasm bubbling inside of him distracted him from any sort of warning. He leaped off the couch and wrapped around Garnet's leg, hugging it tightly.

"Yes! Oh, thank you, Garnet!" he cheered. Garnet gazed down at him and couldn't stop herself from smiling.

"I can't do anything if you keep hold of my leg," she stated. Steven's eyes shot open and he released his grip on her.

"Right, sorry." He chuckled nervously.

"Absolutely not!"

Steven frowned at Pearl, whose eyes were wide with astoundment at such a suggestion.

"But, Pearl-"

"There is no way we're healing Jasper!" she berated. "It could go horribly wrong. I don't even want to think about it!"

"Things didn't go so bad with Centi, though," Steven protested, before turning to Amethyst, who was slouching over the kitchen counter, kicking her short, stubby legs childishly. "What do you think, Amethyst?"

The quartz gem shrugged, glancing away casually. "I dunno, man. Seems pretty risky."

"But you're all about risky!" he retorted desperately. Amethyst held her hands out in front of her defensively.

"I know, I know. And yeah, it sucks that she got corrupted. I never wanted that to happen to anyone. Not even her." Her voice grew soft, which is how Steven knew that she was taking this more seriously than she usually took most things. "But we don't know how this will play out. I mean… what happens after you heal her? I mean, no offence, but I doubt it'll work in the way you want it to."

"I know that. I just need to convince her that I'm not trying to make her join our side, and that I just want to help her."

Pearl scoffed. "And you think she'll believe you? Must I remind you that this is Jasper that we're talking about?"

Garnet then took a step forward, standing beside Steven. "Let's think about this. How is Jasper most likely going to react?"

"Don't ask us, you're the one with the future vision," Amethyst shrugged.

"And there's no way to know for sure," Pearl added, her tone calming down. "For all we know, she might lunge at Steven as soon as he releases her from the bubble!" She then immediately became more panicked. The boy looked dejected.

Then Garnet spoke up. "I see the possibility that she will be half-healed, similar to Centipeetle. How will you respond if this is the case, which is most likely?"

Steven bit his lip as he thought. "I… before Centi reverted, I was going to let her stay here. What if I do the same with her?"

Pearl grew discomforted at the thought, Steven could tell by how she tensed up, fingers twitching anxiously along with her shoulders raised.

"I don't know, Steven. I just don't trust her to stay here. With you. Alone." She shivered, her blue eyes rolling over the house.

"One of us can watch him," Amethyst suggested half-heartedly. "I mean, I doubt I can do much if she snaps, but we can always fuse and get Smokey to do our buis' for us."

"Guys, don't you think you're being a little harsh?"

The three gems turned to Steven with confused looks upon their faces. He eyes were full of pity, tinged with disappointment.

"You're all assuming that she's gonna fight back, but… if I'm her only chance that she'll get better, why would she do that?"

Pearl and Amethyst shared uncertain glances, while Garnet stared at something unbenounced to them as she was lost in thought.

"She didn't want your help last time, Steven," Amethyst reminded him. Steven's face scrunched up at the memory of her helpless form as the corruption slowly constricted her body, crawling up one arm, then the other, until finally it could infect her mind. He shook the image of her face, full of pain, yet still burning with hatred, out of his mind, not allowing Amethysts words to deter him.

"I know, but just because she doesn't want my help, doesn't mean that she doesn't need it!" he argued, fists clenched stubbornly. "I've just got to convince her of that - if she still hates me afterwards, I'll be okay with it."

Amethyst and Pearl stared at him, surprise and even some pride sparkling in their gaze. Then, for the first time, Pearl offered a supportive smile.

"I can't say that you're wrong, Steven," she admitted. "Because, as terrible as she's been to us, no one deserves what she got." Her voice grew quieter when she said that, light blue eyes darkening, mouth covered by curled up fingers. He relaxed in seeing this, and returned her smile.

"Exactly. I just want to at least try…" He latched onto the joint in the middle of his arm with his hand. "I can't just leave her like that."

He saw Amethyst look at Garnet, the corner of her lip quirking up.

"You can't say no to that," she laughed, hopping down from the kitchen counter to walk over to his side, then gave him a friendly nudge with her elbow, earning a chuckle from him. He then turned to face Garnet, whose lips were pursed. He heard her hum quietly, as if Ruby and Sapphire were debating with each other, and all that could come out was a 'Hmm'.

Pearl let out a sigh, sauntering to Garnet's side. "If we do this… there's just so many risks, I just don't know-"

Garnet lay a hand on her shoulder, which clamped her mouth shut.

"This is risky," she started, a serious tone that worried Steven that she was about to say no. However, this was not the case.

"But nothing we can't handle."

Steven's eyes lit up, joy about to burst out of his chest. If anything, it allowed him to leap into the air, carrying him all the way up to Garnet's height so that she could wrap his arms around her neck.

"Yes! Oh, thank you, Garnet!" he exclaimed. Garnet smiled, and sighed,

"You've already done this today."

"I know," Steven smiled sheepishly, letting go of the fusion and jumping back down, floating through the air until his feet touched the wooden floor below. "I just really want to help her."

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Amethyst asked, a wide grin plastered on her face, already marching forward towards the temple door. However, she had only taken a few steps when Pearl grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Wait, wait," she muttered, edging Amethyst back to her original position. "We can't just waltz in the burning room and pop her bubble and hope for the best!" She furrowed her brow and gritted her teeth. "We need to think about this." She exchanged a look with Garnet, searching for support, who nodded.

"Pearl's right. Let's think this through, then take action whenever Steven's ready."

After discussing their plan, as well as their many, many backup plans (mostly thought out by Pearl), Steven, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl each made their way to the burning room, Steven leading the way. He graciously hopped down from the entrance, followed by his family who jumped after him nervously. His dark brown eyes scanned the cluster of pink bubbles, searching for the familiar orange-coloured gem that was known to be Jasper's. Eventually, he spotted it, letting out an 'Ah-ha!' once she did, before jumping up and latching onto the magenta bubble, and dragged it down with him.

Once he landed on the rocky floor, he found his own imperfect reflection staring right back at him, curved by the roundness of the bubble. The longer he locked eyes with his own, the more uncertain he thought he looked.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Steven?" Pearl's voice made him whip his head around to face her. Her words began to make his stomach churn and hands tremble, to the point where he thought he would drop the bubble.

He then inhaled deeply, letting go of his worries. "Yes, I'm sure." His gaze looked as if it were about to split into the surface of the bubble and pop it just like that, but luckily that didn't happen. He chewed on his bottom lip, both mentally and physically preparing himself for what was about to happen.

"Whenever you're ready, Steven," Garnet cooed softly. He gave her a gracious look as his digits twitched, each second passing by, one slower than the last.

"Wait."

The gems paused, wondering why Steven had stopped.

"We should take her outside," he said, which just confused the others more. "Because she's gonna be… pretty big." He looked at Amethyst, waiting for her to agree with him, as she had been a witness to her corrupted form. The quartz huffed in agreement.

"She'll probably knock all the other bubbles over." She gestured a finger towards the other contained gems. Pearl and Garnet exchanged glances, before nodding.

"Alright, let's move," their leader commanded, making her way to the exit. The others followed close behind, Steven taking his time with each step, not paying attention to his surroundings, as his eyes were fixed on the bubble pressed against his palms. He gazed the the small gemstone contained inside, a mixture of emotions buzzing in his brain.

Please, let me help you, he pleaded internally.

"Right, here should be good."

Steven snapped out of his thoughts, and was surprised to see that they were already outside, on the beach.

Suddenly, things felt too real.

"Let's get this over with," Amethyst insisted, already summoning her weapon. Pearl mimicked her teammate, slipping her spear out of her gem. The three of them spread around, forming a circle around the bubble, and were ready for any sort of fight they would have to partake in if things went wrong.

Steven tried to control his shaking limbs, before nodding.

"Okay," he breathed, before placing the bubble down on the ground. He hesitated for a split second, still questioning himself to whether or not he was making a mistake, but he figured there was no going back now. He pressed down, until the bubble popped and disappeared into thin air, releasing Jasper's gem.

"Brace yourselves!" Garnet called as Steven stumbled back, waiting for the corrupted quartz soldier to form. For a moment, her gem was still, lying on the ground with no sign of life. Then, it began to glow. It glowed so bright, Steven had to look away.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a white silhouette form in front of him. He chanced a glance, and saw that it was not the large monster's shape he had expected. He recognized the figure of Jasper's regular form, as her features began to grow from her body - most notably her wild, unkempt hair. Still just white-coloured light, the gem gripped the sand, her fingers creasing up the tighter she did so.

Part of him was hoping that this was it; she would be back to normal. But he knew that was impossible, and that the worst was yet to come.

He shuffled away from her as her arms, that were already huge as they were, rippled and stretched out, her hands becoming more animalistic, more identical to how they looked when she was corrupted. Her hair grew longer, becoming more tangled as it did so, and she remained on all fours the whole time.

"Steven! Now's your chance!" Garnet called. Steven glanced at her, seeing that she had one foot behind the other, gauntlets out and fists clenched. He knew she was right - he had to do this, now or never.

He grunted as she darted forward, jumping as he slapped his hand on his tongue, collecting a good amount of saliva on his palm. He reared his hand back, waiting until her gem was right in front of it. Once it was, he threw it forward, landing it squarely on her gem. The pointed edge dug into his skin, which stung, making him wince. As he built up some force on his arm so that he could use Jasper's form to push himself away from her, he felt the pain disappear, most likely due to his healing spit. He fell backwards, ending up landing on his rear end rather than his feet. He sat there, frozen, watching the process of his healing spit take place on the soldier.

For a moment, nothing happened, scaring Steven in that he thought his healing powers had failed him. But relief flooded through him when he saw the huge, monstrous figure begin to shrink, starting from her large upper body. He watched in awe as her waist became more slim, as well as her chest becoming smaller and dipping into a neck on the top. Her head began to revert from her round beastly face to the familiar shape that he knew to be Jasper. Her hind legs began to stretch out, mass from her front looking as if it were lending it to her thighs and calves. Her hair retreated back towards its roots, until it began to look more identical to Amethyst's, only a little longer and more wild.

Last were her arms. Her right arm began to break through the spiny skin that coated her normal muscles, and her long claws retracted into regular sized nails. However, her other arm still held the white silhouette that belonged to a monster. Steven stared at it intently, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing did.

That was it - he had expected something like this to happen.

Steven had been so lost in watching what parts of Jasper would heal and what wouldn't that he hadn't payed attention to the roars spilling from her crooked mouth. His attention was immediately drawn to her face once he realized he could still hear monstrous screeches coming from her, and saw that her head was still in the process of transforming. He saw it shapeshift messily, her cries beginning to sound more...

Human.

No other gem had dared to move. No one knew if she was still in a fight-or-flight train of thought, and it was best not to provoke her if she was. They waited patiently for the white glow to fade, and reveal her form in its completion, but it seemed like it was taking forever.

But, honestly, her transformation from a beast to being close to her original form had only taken a few seconds.

Steven could feel his heart in his throat as the bright light finally began to fade, slowly revealing her red and orange skin, beginning from the slight hunch she had kept from her corrupted form. From there, clearness trickled down her spine, revealing her torso and eventually her legs, which all, aside from the hunch, looked normal. The light then faded from her hair, and probably her face, however those wild strands were flopped over, making it impossible for him to see. Eventually her arms were revealed, and Steven wanted to choke.

Her right arm was fine, but her left hadn't changed at all. It was identical to how he had last seen it, even the feral hand attached to her wrist.

Then, he saw some of her hair flop over to the sides, and cringed when he saw dark green spines sticking out of her shoulders, and one piercing through her sandy tresses that looked like it was coming from her head.

But what about her face?

He took a moment to find his voice. "J-Jasper?" he stammered, standing up and taking a step towards her, legs feeling like jelly. "Are you… there?"

He heard her growl, one that was a blend of her regular deep voice and her animalistic roaring. Steven flinched when she dropped onto her knees and elbows, her head hanging low. Heavy gasps were heard, which squeezed some pity for her out of Steven, and Amethyst, who loosened her grip on her whip, and took a step forward.

"Steven! Amethyst! Be careful!" Pearl warned from somewhere behind the large figure.

"Is she okay?" Amethyst asked, brow furrowed. Steven didn't reply, since he didn't know the answer. Instead, he just called out again,

"Jasper?" Another step forward. "Are you okay?"

Suddenly her head whipped up as she gasped. While Steven was relieved to see her face was identical to how she used to look, with the exception of some blue-green speckles threatening to step over her jawline, her expression made him stumble backwards until he stood next to Amethyst.

Jasper stared at him, her yellow eyes burning with all sorts of emotions, none of them positive ones. Her teeth were clenched and her lip was curled, and there were creases underneath her eyes.

"What…" she wheezed, her eyes darting around her, taking in her surroundings. "Where…" She lifted her right hand and slapped it on her head, before running her fingers through her hair. Then, her digits collided with a spine sticking out of her neck, and she paused.

Then she looked at her other arm.

Her face screwed up in horror at the sight, which began to build up even more guilt in Steven.

"Jasper, I'm sor-"

"What did you do?" she screeched, cutting him off. He saw Amethyst tense next to him, bringing up her weapon, just in case. Steven shrank under her burning gaze as she continued.

"Why did you do that?" she hissed, eyes narrowing. "I never asked for you to heal me!"

Steven widened his eyes. "I-I…" He raised his hands out in front of him in defense. "I couldn't just… I couldn't just leave you like that!" He cried desperately as the gem lifted herself up from the ground, leaning on her extended, corrupted arm.

"I didn't want your help, Rose Quartz!" she spat, lip quivering. "I'm not playing your pathetic game. I refuse to let you manipulate me like you did with… with…" She groaned, kneeling back down and squeezing her eyes shut, digging her nails into her corrupted arm. Concern for her began to grow as she let out a pained hiss.

Steven's first instinct was to console her, but he knew that was practically a death wish, so he forced himself to stay put.

"Is she okay?" Amethyst wondered out loud. Steven ignored her question.

"Jasper, listen," he began, fiddling with the fabric of his shirt nervously. "I'm not manipulating you. I'm not going to force you to listen to me." Jasper opened her eyes to glare at him. "I'm just going to offer to help you with this. You don't have to say yes, and even if you do, you don't have to like me." He lent a smile. "In fact, if I manage to heal you completely, I'll let you go right back to trying to kill us all."

Jasper locked eyes with him, her face scrunched up in disgust.

"Was this your plan? Giving me the choice to either be your prisoner in your base or be confined in a bubble?" She scoffed, with a sense of helplessness seeping through her words. "I don't have a choice, do I?" She sneered."Very clever, Rose."

"Or, y'know, you could just kill us all now." Amethyst shrugged casually. Steven panicked, taking a step away from the half-corrupted gem.

"Uh… no. Please don't do that!" he pleaded.

Amethyst chortled, nudging his arm with her elbow. "Ha! Just kidding, dude. Besides, if she does that, what happens afterwards?" She puckered her lips, her half-lidded eyes flickered over to her fellow quartz. "I mean, she can't go back to Homeworld, right?"

Steven was about to smile, but the sight of Jasper looking away, her bangs covering most of her face, stopped him from doing so. He shot her a sympathetic look.

"You don't have to stay with us, Jasper," he suddenly said, which caught her attention. "You can just… leave. If you want to."

She held his gaze for a while longer, but couldn't reply, for Pearl suddenly dashed over to them.

"We can't just leave her out there!" She gestured to the ocean, revealing the vast distance beyond the shore.

He tilted his head. "Because doing that would do more harm than good to her corrupted state?" he guessed.

Pearl pursed her lips. "I was going to say that she could do a lot of damage to the beings on Earth… but yes, that too."

Steven sighed. This was going to be difficult.

"Okay, okay, Jasper, I'll let you choose," he told her. "We can either form a truce and let me figure out some way to heal you, or we can just go back to being enemies. It's up to you." He put his hands behind his back, awaiting the gem's answer.

Jasper narrowed her eyes at him, then glanced at the gems around her, including Garnet who had come into her view. She then looked at her corrupted arm, and finally gave a disgruntled sigh.

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" she muttered. "You have a talent in cornering gems, Rose." She pushed herself up again, still holding her corrupted arm. "And I don't have anything to gain from your other offers, so I'm being forced to become your prisoner."

Despite how pessimistic Jasper's view was, Steven's eyes still lit up. "You mean, you'll let me help you?"

Jasper snarled. "Unwillingly."

"Thank you, Jasper!" he exclaimed gleefully, followed by a look of determination. "I promise I won't let you down."

She didn't reply, instead just glared at him spitefully, despite his enthusiasm. Then, Amethyst chuckled.

"Alright! New roommate!" She grinned at Steven, then glanced at Pearl, who had a look of uncertainty, while looking over towards Garnet, whose expression was unreadable.

"Welp, better get you settled in, then!" Steven smiled, and began skipping towards the house.

Jasper stared after him, anything but pleased.