Stevonnie had never dreamt before. Oh, they had memories of dreams, but those weren't their dreams. Or, not fully their dreams. However now they were dreaming their own dreams and in them, they saw images that were both familiar and strange. They saw their Dad, slumping into a beach chair outside his van. He had his guitar in hand and was casually tuning and strumming it. He continued this until he seemed to notice Stevonnie. He paused, unsure for a moment before cheerfully beckoning them over. As Stevonnie approached, the image of their dad and his van seemed to dim before disappearing completely. But before they even fully understood what happened they thought they could hear their name being called. They slowly turned around and found themselves face to face with the Gems. All four of them were talking to one another, however, they made no sounds even though their mouths were moving. They all had a look of concern on their face, as if whatever they were wordlessly talking to each other about was very distressing. Stevonnie tried to talk them, to ask them what wrong. But whenever they did, the Gems merely looked at them with their sad expression deepening as they turned back towards each other to continue their silent conversation. Stevonnie tried to call out to them again, but before they could the Gems were gone, replaced by two more figures. Stevonnie knew instantly they were. Mom and Dad. Their looks were both intense and disapproving. For a long time, nothing happened. Stevonnie didn't move, nor did their parents. And just as their pointed gazes were becoming too much, they too faded into nothingness. Stevonnie was now alone and was unsure what to do. They dropped to their knees while covering their face with their hands. They didn't know what was going on or why they were here. As Stevonnie tried desperately tried to make sense of what was going on, they could begin to feel themselves falling. They were falling and falling. Faster and faster, with no end in sight. Stevonnie clamped their eyes shut trying to wish all this away as the ground began to come into view and…

Stevonnie jolted awake, the top of their head hitting the wall that the couch pressed up against. The hit caused what felt like cannon blasts to erupt in Stevonnie's head. The freshly formed fusion clutched their head with both of their hands as they shut their eyes tight and endured the pain. As it began to recede and Stevonnie posture relaxed, they could feel a hand on their shoulder. Stevonnie slowly opened their eyes, careful to not start the internal fireworks again. The sight of the wood plank roof above them was a sight of relief.

"Stevonnie." a calm and even voice spoke. Stevonnie turned their head and saw a red hand resting on their shoulder, connected to a similarly red arm. They followed the arm with their eyes until they landed on the face of the shade wearing leader of the Crystal Gems.

"Garnet!" Stevonnie cried, igniting a mild barrage of pain inside their skull. They winced at the pain as Garnet kneeled down to be at Stevonnie's level.

"Easy." Garnet said. "You need to relax."

Stevonnie nodded softly as the pain once again receded. "I'm… back at the house, right?" They carefully moved their head around to get a better look at their surroundings. They saw the coffee table and the fireplace behind Garnet. In front them, they saw the way to the Crystal Temple and to their side they saw the kitchen. "What… What happened, Garnet?"

"That's… not an easy question, Stevonnie." Garnet replied.

At the mention of their name, Stevonnie's eyes grew wide with the worry of a sudden realization. They laid, frozen for several seconds before saying, almost too quietly to hear, "I'm fused." They refocused on Garnet. "I'm fused." Their voice grew in volume and worry as they spoke. "I don't remember fusing, Garnet. Why am I fused?!"

Seeing the rising panic in her friend, Garnet placed a heavy hand on their chest. "Stevonnie, you need to stay calm. Your physical form is still adjusting to the fusion."

"Adjusting to the fusion." Stevonnie repeated a slight hint of panic still in their voice. "I never needed to 'adjust' for any other fusion."

"I know. But this wasn't a… normal fusion."

Stevonnie let what Garnet said to hang in the air for a moment before speaking. "So." Stevonnie said finally as they slowly pushed themselves into an upright sitting position. Their head dully throbbed in response, but otherwise, the pain and discomfort seemed to be going away. Now sitting up, Stevonnie continued, "Let's start from the beginning." They closed their eyes. "The last thing I remember happening is that I was-… or Steven and Connie, were trapped in the blue pyramid thing." The fusion opened their eyes and saw that Garnet had perched herself on the coffee table opposite of them. They looked down at their bare feet as they continued, "And then there was a bright light and I was on the ground and I saw you guys come towards me and…" Stevonnie trailed off. "And then I woke up here." They looked up at Garnet. "That's all I remember… Garnet, did that pyramid do this to me?"

Garnet nodded slowly. "We believe so, yes. The machine was not active. We checked it when we did our initial clearing of the area. However, Peridot theorized that the Blue Beetle's self-generating electric charge also created an electric field around itself that acted as a jump start to the pyramid's fuel cells. And as a result, it discharged that power the only way it could. By activating." The Gem raised her hand to her mouth in contemplation. "Or, at least I think that's what Peridot said." She lowered her hand, revealing a small, bemused smirk. "You know how she can get sometimes."

Stevonnie awkwardly returned Garnet's grin. "Yeah. I know."

Garnet's smirk slowly faded as she continued, "Regardless of how it happened, the pyramid machine does seem to be the source of this forced fusion. Which… leads to the more troubling element in all this." Garnet paused as if considering her choice of words. "Stevonnie." she began heavily. "What do you know about diffusion?"

Stevonnie blinked at the seemingly random question. "Diffusion? As in, me?"

Garnet nodded.

"Well…" Stevonnie started uncertainly. "There's not really much to it, right? I mean, every other time I've fused, I just… feel like I want to diffuse and I do."

Garnet nodded again. "Yes, that's about what it's like, I suppose. But there's a bit more to it than just that." Garnet paused again before continuing. "You see Stevonnie, diffusion, much like fusion itself, is an innate trait for a Gem. A human doesn't think about breathing and yet they continue to do so. It's similar with fusion and diffusion for a Gem."

"So it can happen without you thinking about it." Stevonnie said, thinking back to the first time Steven and Connie fused on the sunset steeped beach.

"Yes." Garnet replied. "This applies to both fusion and diffusion. Like you said, when it feels right, it happens." Stevonnie remained silent as they listened to Garnet. "But there are other ways to cause a fusion to diffuse. The most common are stress. Whether physical or mental, when too much stress is put on a fusion they will diffuse."

"Well jeez…" Stevonnie pondered. "Considering what the aftermath of being zapped by the pyramid felt like, I'd hate to see what kind of stress is needed to… diffuse…" Stevonnie trailed off as Garnet's point began to dawn on them.

Garnet seemed reluctant to continue. "For awhile after the incident, we didn't try and move you because we thought you would diffuse. But you didn't. And that is… concerning."

"Well, here." Stevonnie said as they tried to slowly rise to their feet. Garnet stood from her seat and took their arms to help them up and keep them stable them. Immediately Stevonnie felt a surge of lightheadedness that almost knocked them back down. But with Garnet's support, the feeling passed and Stevonnie was able to stand on their own. "I'll just try and diffuse." Garnet said nothing in return, only taking a step back and waiting. Stevonnie closed their eyes, though they felt somewhat unsure how to proceed.

"Just relax." Garnet said, sensing Stevonnie hesitance. "Do what comes naturally."

Stevonnie nodded and inhaled deeply-

We want to diffuse, right?

I think so.

Well, we can't stay like this forever. What would our parents say?

Yeah, I agree. Dad probably wouldn't be too happy.

And I don't even want to imagine what Mom and Dad would say.

Yeah, it would be a very weird conversation, that's for sure.

And, you know… we can… always fuse again sometime.

Heh heh. Yeah. I know… Alright, are you ready?

Yep.

Okay, let's try it.

-and exhaled quickly. They opened their eyes expectantly but were disappointed when they still saw Garnet at their eye level.

"It didn't work." Stevonnie lamented. "I… I can't diffuse."

"It seems not." Garnet said simply.

"What am I going to do, Garnet?" They spoke quickly and frantically. "If I can't diffuse then-"

"That's enough." Garnet said, cutting Stevonnie off. "We are already working to fix this. Pearl, Amethyst, and Peridot are still at the archival room and are pouring over all the notes, logs, and other bits of information about the pyramid machine that they can get in order to try and find a way for you to diffuse."

However, Garnet's words did very little to calm the increasingly frantic fusion. "But…! But Garnet! What if… what if I… never diffuse?"

"You don't need to be thinking like that." Garnet firmly responded. "We're going to find a way to help you." Stevonnie however, still felt despondent. Garnet could see tears beginning to well up in their eyes. "Stevonnie." she said, stepping closer to her worried friend. "Let me ask you something. If this wasn't an abnormal fusion if it was just like every other time you had fused, how would you feel?"

"Um… well, I-… good, I guess." Stevonnie fumbled around, trying to find the right words. "I mean, now that the shock as worn off, I feel… amazing, mostly. Just like when I first fused."

"Good. Now, do you remember what I said when we first met?"

Stevonnie hesitated before answering. "That I'm an experience."

Garnet stepped closer to Stevonnie, placing her hands on either of their shoulders. "That's right. And even though this isn't a normal fusion, that is still true. You need to be the best experience you can be, even now. Especially now."

Stevonnie sniffed as they wiped the tears from their eyes. "Okay, Garnet. I'll try."

Garnet softly smiled. "Good." She pulled Stevonnie closer and planted a quick kiss on their cheek. The Gem's leader put her arms back at her sides as she continued. "For now, I want you to leave the house and go have some fun."

"What are you going to do?" Stevonnie asked.

"I'm going to return to the archival room and see if the others have made any progress." She began to walk towards the warp pad and Stevonnie followed behind her. The red Gem stepped onto the pad and turned back towards Stevonnie. "Remember. Be the best experience you can be."

Stevonnie nodded, smiling just slightly. Garnet both nodded and smiled back at them and, in a flare of light from the warp pad, she was gone. However Stevonnie just stood there, their head still swimming with everything that had happened. They closed their eyes, trying to focus and sort all the conflicting feelings they felt now. Stevonnie inhaled-

We can't diffuse.

No, we can't.

What are we going to do now?

Well, Garnet said they were working on a way to diffuse us. So we just need to wait.

Just wait…

Hey, are you alright?

Oh, Steven. I just… I don't know what's gonna happen…

It's okay, Connie. If… we're being honest with each other… I'm kind of afraid too. But it makes feel better that…

What? It's okay, Steven. You can tell me.

Well, I feel better knowing your with me.

…Thanks, Steven. And your right, no matter what happens during this, we're in it together… That does make me feel kind of better.

So… I guess we should follow Garnet's advice.

Let's go have some fun?

Yep. Let's go.

-and exhaled sharply. Without even realizing it, they were now smiling deeply. The deep sense of dread that had taken root after their failed diffusion attempt didn't go away, but now Stevonnie felt like they could handle what came next. Their feelings were clearer and their mind was set. They turned and made their way towards the door leading outside. As they opened it and felt the sunshine on their face, they felt better than they had since waking up.

They weren't alone.