'You're going to be something extraordinary.'

Steven woke up groggily. He looked down at what he was laying on- his bed. He furrowed his brow. The last thing he remembered was being on the couch. Steven looked around the house, finding it empty once again. He threw the blanket off of him, trudging down the stairs. He rubbed his eyes lazily as he smacked his dry lips. He yawned, stretching his arms up like a little kid would.

"Morning, sleepy-head!"

"Wha-!" Steven jumped, slamming his back against the fridge. "Oh my gosh, Amethyst, you scared me!"

"I know!" Amethyst hopped off the counter, giving Steven a smirk. "It was fu-unny. Your face was like- doi!" Amethyst slapped her hand on her knee, laughing. "How'd ya sleep, Steverooni?"

"I slept okay. How about you?"

"Eh, yanno. Awesome, like always. Are you gonna make some food? I could use some right now."

"What do you want?" Steven chuckled, slipping two pieces of bread in the toaster.

"Surprise me," Amethyst replied, jumping on the couch and laying back, relaxed.

"Okay, but I'm gonna rush it."

"Why?"

"I'm gonna go hang out with Connie later."

"Aw. Well make sure my food isn't burnt or anything. You wouldn't wanna make me angry."

"I know that!" Steven made the classic breakfast: eggs, bacon, toast, and some juice. Handing Amethyst her breakfast, Steven awaited for her reaction. When Amethyst swiftly took another bite, Steven smiled from ear to ear. "I knew you'd like it!"

"Yea, yea," Amethyst waved off. "Shouldn't you be running outside or something?"

"Oh yeah! I'll see you later, Amethyst!" Steven ran outside, waving eagerly as he ran down the steps. Amethyst rolled her eyes while she smiled at Steven. After finishing her breakfast, Amethyst threw her plate in the sink and went into her room, snickering when she heard an angry cry from Pearl.

"Hey, Steven!" Connie waved over to Steven. "What's up? Did you just wake up a few minutes ago or something?"

"What?" Steven smiled innocently, rubbing his eyes quickly. "Psht, nahh. What do you wanna do?"

"Hm," Connie tapped her chin in thought. "Ooh! How about we go play hide and go seek tag?"

"Two games in one?!" Steven cried enthusiastically. "Okay!" They both ran over to the beach. "Who's it?" Seeing Connie run off, Steven smiled. "Guess I am. I'm gonna count to, uh, 30, okay?"

"Okay!" Connie yelled back. Steven averted his attention to the wide and vast ocean, the smell of salt water filling the air. Steven looked down at it, bending down and swishing his hand around in it. 'Lapis,' Steven thought to himself. 'I mean, Malachite. But... Lapis.' Realizing it was well over 30 seconds, Steven stood up and announced he was starting to search for her. He looked behind big rocks on the beach. He circled the beach many times, liking the challenge. Connie giggled from a distance, getting Steven's attention.

"I heard you, Connie," Steven said out loud, looking around him. "You might as well come out before I get yo-ou!" Another giggle from Connie, but from up high, not his level. Steven turned around and smiled- the house. He scurried up the stairs, trying to be as quiet as he could be. He slowly opened the door, sliding inside. Steven bumped into something and fell down. Rubbing his head, Steven squinted his eyes. "Ouch."

"Steven! I'm sorry, I didn't even see you there." Steven looked up and stared straight into Pearl's eyes. Pearl offered her hand to him. "Here, let me help you." Steven mindlessly took it and got on his feet, not taking his eyes off of her. "Steven... are you alright?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Have you seen Connie? We're playing hide and go seek tag, and I think I heard her up here!"

"I don't recall seeing Connie, sorry," Pearl smiled while she shrugged. Steven put his hands on his side.

"You know where she is!"

"A good person never reveals another's hiding place, Steven," Pearl bent down slightly and patted Steven's head. "Nothing personal." Pearl was about to go off when she caught sight of Steven's gem. She glanced at it for a moment, snapping out of her trance. "Lift your shirt down, Steven, she'll see you and run off."

"Oh, yeah, thanks, Pearl!" Steven tugged his shirt down, running around the house to see if Connie was inside. He looked in the corner of his eye as Pearl left. He knew she was staring at his gem. He shrugged it off, his tongue out in anticipation as he tore up the house. "Geez, Connie, where are you?"

"Ugh! Are you kidding me?"

"...Connie?"

"Gah! Stupid thing! Gah!" Steven looked at the gem door. He stepped closer to it, startled when it was kicked. "If I dent this door again, Pearl will chew my ear off." Amethyst stared at the framed picture of Rose Quartz on a desk she had managed to find in her room, sighing in frustration. Her hand shook, the recent burn marks on her palm made by the curling iron bright red. "I just wanna look like her a little bit. It's probably stupid of me thinking that just curling my hair like Rose's will make me a better crystal gem warrior, but Rose was such a great fighter and stuff- maybe this will make me feel better about myself and make me stronger."

Steven's eyes felt a bit heavy. Hearing this brought back his negative thoughts. He tried pushing them away but it was getting harder with every confession he heard from the gems. Steven pushed himself away from the door before he could make himself more upset or risk being caught. He didn't even feel much like playing anymore, but he didn't want to keep Connie waiting and he didn't want her to think something was bothering him. He didn't want to bother her with this. He scurried out of the house and back onto the beach, calling out her name.

"Connie! Where are you?" Steven hollered out. He felt like he was searching for hours. Connie giggled behind a rock, seeing Steven struggle to find her. She saw his slumped stature as he merely walked, a bit puzzled. He was usually running around when they played. She cleared her throat loudly for Steven to find her. Steven turned her direction, waiting to hear another noise from her. Connie looked at Steven's eyes; they were a bit puffy and he had little bags under his eyes. Connie faked sneezed and saw Steven come her way. "Gotcha, Connie!"

"Oh man!" Connie shot up and pretended to get her foot suck between a rock. Steven quickly tagged her and started jumping around. Connie smiled in sympathy, still wondering about how all these sudden features came to appear on Steven now. "I guess you got me, Steven. Nice game!"

"You were a pretty good player yourself," Steven replied, helping her to pull her leg out of the rock. Steven looked up at Connie and met her gaze. He flushed, gulping a bit. "Hehe, uhm, what are you doing?"

"Huh?" Connie snapped back into reality. "Wha- oh, uh- Steven, are you okay?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Steven chuckled nervously.

"You seem... off... is something bothering you? I just-"

"Connie! Time to come home!" Steven and Connie heard a shout from the other side of the beach. Connie's parents were in their car, waiting.

"Aw, well, I guess I gotta go, Steven."

"Aw no! Well, I guess we can hang out tomorrow, if you wanna."

"I think I wanna start dumping out all my junk from school tomorrow, but we'll for sure hang out the day after, okay? I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay, sounds like a plan!" Steven and Connie hugged quickly, earning a disapproving look from Connie's parents. Steven smiled innocently as Connie ran over to her car and got into it. She waved as they drove away. Steven waved back, waiting for her to be out of sight before he let his smile fade. He shoved his hands in his pockets and went back into the house. He heard indistinct chatter coming from inside and became curious. He looked through the screen door and saw in the middle of the room; Amethyst, with her hair curled exactly like Rose's.

"Amethyst... how did you even...?" Pearl's eyes went wide at the sight of Amethyst's hair, a bewildered expression on her face.

"I know, pretty cool, right?" Amethyst smiled confidently, blowing on her nails, when she was really blowing on her palm. "I look so awesome."

"You look more stunning than ever," Pearl whispered in admiration. "If only my hair was long so I could style it like that."

Amethyst turned around and met her gaze with Steven's. She smiled, her brow raised. "Hey, Steeveen! Whatcha think of my new do?"

"I-it looks great," Steven smiled at her, his voice cracking a bit. "I don't know why you just didn't shapeshift into Mom like you did last time..."

"You wha?" Pearl's voice strained just hearing the sentence. Amethyst's eyes shot open wide, a nervous look on her face. Amethyst shot a look at Steven, huffing a breath.

"I wanted to personally style it myself, not do it the easy way, Steven. But I look good, right?"

"Yeah," Steven replied. "Yeah."

"Steven," Garnet started as she helped Steven into bed. "Sorry we've been kind of sparse here, lately. And for not telling you, we just want you to have a little bit of fun so you're not very stressed."

"Hehe, I know, thanks." Garnet smiled down at Steven and patted his hair. "Night, Garnet."

"Good night, Steven." Watching as Garnet walked down the steps and walked into her gem room, Steven turned toward to face the wall. He bent his knees up to his chest. He felt his eyes starting to well up, but he didn't know exactly why they were. Why was he so upset over this? It usually doesn't get to him, he knows Rose is an admired and a very-well missed person to the gems. Steven sniffled a bit and shut his eyes tight, waiting until he fell asleep, just so he wouldn't have to think of everything going on in his mind. Sleep seemed like the only safe haven for him in that moment.