A/n: Thanks for the (unexpectedly) large response!
Pearl grabbed Steven and ran. There was no time to check whether Amethyst was following - they needed to get out. If Garnet couldn't dodge the corrupted gem's attacks, Pearl didn't have any hope, let alone Steven.
Speaking of the half-gem currently held awkwardly under her arm... Pearl set him down on the warp pad (thank goodness they hadn't been too far away) and checked for her fellow crystal gem.
Amethyst leapt the final few feet to the pad, landing on it and activating it in the same moment. As the light surrounded them, Pearl allowed herself to relax slightly.
A sniffing sound beside her reminded her, yet again, that Steven was with them.
"Is Garnet..." the child was crying, squinting through blurry eyes at Amethyst's hands. The purple gem held up the two gems that made up their leader, and nodded.
"She'll be fine," Amethyst said. Steven tried to smile, but his tears betrayed his emotions.
"She shouldn't take that long to reform," Pearl told the boy (why couldn't it have been her, or Amethyst - Garnet was the best when dealing with Steven's emotions), "You can keep watch until then."
Steven nodded, a determined glint entering his watery eyes, and took the two gems from Amethyst's open palms.
"Hey, Amethyst?"
The purple gem looked up at Steven, who was still watching the gems on his cushion. "Yeah?"
"Why does Garnet have two gems?"
Amethyst froze in sudden realisation. "Uh," she hedged, "She..." Where was Pearl in situations like this? "Why don't you ask her when she comes back?"
Thankfully, Steven accepted this, and turned his attention to the two gems in front of him. "I wish she'd come back sooner..." he whispered.
A bright light interrupted Steven's sleep. "Wha..." he murmured, sitting up and blinking. "Garnet?" he realised, perking up. "Guys!" he shouted in the direction of the temple door, "Garnet's back!"
Steven grinned as the light faded - what was Garnet's new form going to be? It looked smaller than usual; she must've changed more than Pearl did. It was dim enough to see the reformed gem now, and Steven was confused by what he saw.
"Garnet?"
The gem was too small, and too different, from the Garnet he knew. The hair was similar, but that was about it. "Why did you change so much?"
Garnet startled at Steven's voice. She stared at him for a moment, then suddenly cried out: "Don't look at me!" Steven watched as the small gem ran off, hiding her face.
"Garnet, wait!" This hadn't happened when Pearl reformed... "Garnet?" Steven stared at the temple door, the image marred by the tears in his eyes, and the light coming from next to him.
"Light?" Steven turned back to the cushion. There was Garnet's other gem, reforming. Another small gem was created, but this time she moved straight to give Steven a hug.
"I didn't want you to find out like this," the blue gem apologised, wiping the tears from Steven's face.
"Garnet?"
The blue gem shook her head. "Sapphire," she corrected. "Me and Ruby... we fuse to make Garnet."
Steven's jaw dropped. "Garnet's a fusion?"
Sapphire nodded. She climbed off Steven's bed, and made her way over to the temple doors. "Come on, let's find Ruby."
It didn't take long to find Garnet's other half. The red gem was seeking them out too, eventually realising that she'd left Sapphire behind in her rush to get away.
"Sorry, Steven," she apologised. "I didn't want you to find out like this..."
"That's okay!" Steven grinned. "You being a fusion is so cool!"
Ruby nodded, then turned to Sapphire. The two span in a circle together, grinning at each other, and merged into one. Garnet appeared as the light of fusion faded. The first thing she did was give Steven a hug.
"Garnet's back," Steven smiled from within the embrace.
Idk, I thought this was okay.