Pearl hurried over to Steven's bed, putting the sword back in his backpack. As soon as she zipped the bag shut, the familiar sound of the warp pad was heard. Pearl turned around and saw Garnet stepping off. Pearl greeted her.

"Garnet, how was the warp pad check?" she asked, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice.

"Everything is clear. For now." Garnet replied as she fixed her glasses. Pearl then noticed the absence of the two other gems.

"Where is Amethyst and Steven?" she questioned again. As if on cue, the warp pad lit up once more, revealing both of them. Amethyst walked in first, holding a navy blue gem in her hands. Steven followed behind, bearing a few scratches from whatever battle they had endured whilst checking. But the one thing that was noticed was a large tear on the back of his shirt.

Steven looked up at Pearl and smiled.

"Hey, Pearl!" he exclaimed cheerfully. He looked into Pearl's face, as if expecting her to say something. Her eyes moved over to Amethyst.

"Amethyst, what do you have in your hand?" she asked eyeing the gem curiously. It was navy blue, with a cyan outlining the edges of the gem. The light from the room reflected off of it, giving off a glow that seemed to brighten the room even more.

"Oh, this? We found a corrupted gem near the warp pad. It was clawing at it like crazy. Maybe it wanted to go somewhere. Too late for it now." She said before handing it to Steven. Steven held it out in his hands.

"No, wait, I want to see it up clo--!" Pearl tried to say before Steven bubbled it, sending it to the Bubble Room.

"Oh, sorry Pearl."

"Steven, I wanted to see it."

"I'm sorry," Steven said, seeming a little upset. "I can get it from the Bubble Room."

She sighed. "No, it's fine."

There was a small pause of silence before he finally spoke.

"Don't you want to know what happened to my shirt?" he asked, obviously confused as to why she hadn't spoken about it yet.

"No, I know the corrupted gem must've torn it." She turned to Garnet. "I'm going to my room to organize my things. Make sure the temple stays silent." Garnet's face went from confusion to understanding, and she nodded as Pearl left.

Steven spoke up. "Garnet, do you think there's something different about Pearl?"

He grew kind of suspicious when she had recently been flaking on missions, saying she would take care of the house while everyone else would go. Not only that, but her personality seemed to change as well. Usually, if Steven came back with just a tiny scratch, she would lose it, asking exactly what happened and if she could make it any better. Now, she wasn't even asking if he had fun. She just went and left to her room. But, he cleared that thought away from his head. There must be some reason Pearl doesn't want to go out. Maybe it's because of fear of a certain creature, or maybe she wants to figure out certain strategies in fighting. Garnet kneeled down to face him.

"It's best not to get into her business. Garnet replied. "You don't know if Pearl might be going through something." She hugged him, and walked to her room, leaving only him and Amethyst.

"So, do you want to go hang out in the Bubble Room? I bubbled some fry bits in there. The first one to get to it gets them!" Amethyst said before playfully shoving him and bolting for the room. Steven ran after her, laughing.

'There's nothing to worry about,' he thought. 'Pearl still cares about me.'

Soon enough, he wouldn't know what to believe anymore.

=

And there is the second chapter! I know not a lot has went down, but trust me, it will get better the more it continues. Please give feedback and plenty of reviews!