WOW, another 150 view overnight and two more favs. And to think, this started out as a bunch of Ideas I wrote down in a notebook because I was too restless to sleep. Thank you all for reading. Anyways, I own nothing.
Taking a human from the earth was nothing new to the diamond. Plenty of them were brought in for the zoo back then, so there was no difficulty with bringing Steven to the base.
Taking care of Steven, apparently, was a whole other matter. It was fairly easy to think of a place to put him, Pink Diamond room. Right there, he could be surrounded by what was once a numerous and grand gem kind. Oh, the stories she could tell, how helpful those Rose Quartz had been, how brave and bold they had been, how during the war they, they…
You know, maybe she should avoid telling him that story altogether. Maybe in another 100 years or so. He'd be mature enough by then, right?
Anyways, the room was perfect. Only Blue Diamond was allowed to enter that room first, so when she left him by his own with Blue Pearl when she had to do her duties, she wouldn't have to worry about someone like Yellow Diamond or Holly Blue Agate barging in and seeing him. Although, there was that one time he stepped out to greet one of the Rubies, who would've seen him if Blue Pearl hadn't grabbed him at the last second. His curiosity was troublesome at times, but that was just one of the things she admired about the boy.
Of course, being human, Steven had certain needs that were necessary for his organic body to function properly. Luckily, Blue had watched the humans long enough for her to know what to do. So, every day, whenever Steven looked hungry, she would open a secret entrance to the zoo and have him enter it in order to take care of business, eat, drink, bathroom, and e.t.c.
When he first entered the zoo however, he was greeted by a handful of the human inhabitants. Their nice, naïve nature and their child like attitudes made them very approachable to the young boy, so befriending them all was no problem. What Steven especially liked was how they set up a specific time to roll around, reach for the stars, and to just sniff the flowers. Why wasn't this ever on his schedule before. This made him happy enough to start playing his ukulele, something the other humans found really interesting. So, they all sat around a circle, and they clapped and cheered him on with every piece of sound that came, out of the wooden instrument, even when he was just tuning it.
So, from then on, Steven would bring his ukulele to the zoo, and about three to four hours later, he would always walk out of the zoo being covered head to toe in flowers, and a small kiss on the cheek from one of the older females, though when Blue Diamond first saw that, she restrained herself from crushing the woman into nothing.
When she left him alone with Blue Pearl, she decided to pass the time by educating the young gem in Homeworld's culture and history. She first just tried to tell him about it, but all that did was bore him into naptime.
So, next, she tried singing about it, though that was really an excuse to sing without have permission from the Diamond first. It worked for the first five minutes, but then Steven once again brought out his Ukulele, which lead to about an hour-long sing-a-long.
Finally, she decided to just show him by using her holograms to project the necessary images. This finally got him to calm down. He thought of the holograms as one big movie, so he was eager to watch and learn. She would have him set in her lap as she would wrap her arms around him. If you asked her, she would've said it was for keeping him still, but in reality, she really wanted to be as close to him as possible. There was a bond forming between the Quartz and the pearl, and she wasn't willing to lose that bond anytime soon.
Then around by the time they were done, Blue Diamond would come to relive Blue pearl of the kid, as she would take him to her palanquin, where they would talk for hours.
Well, Steven did most of the talking. For a human so very young, he would have a lot on his mind to talk about. He would sometimes give Blue Diamond a play by play of his entire day, or he would even talk about subjects back on earth, like his favorite things to eat, what a beach was, or even his dream to finally meet cookie cat face to face and keep him as his pet.
Blue, who often didn't understand the concepts of his words, just chuckled as he tried his best to explain everything. He was just so uplifting about everything. All the gems around her were blunt, and if she had to be honest, never really saw anything good, even when there was plenty to go around. But Steven saw the goo in everything, from her to her pearl. She would never think once about thanking her pearl, yet Steven talked about her since "she was the best part of the day, aside from you of course." But Blue was intrigued, how could one enjoy the company, of a pearl of all things. This required looking into.
The next time she left Steven with her pearl. She came by an hour earlier, and she watched them secretly from a distance, making sure to have absolute silence while observing them. She watched as they watched pieces of what is now lost culture of their kind. Every time an image passed by, she was reminded of how long it had been since the war. 5,000 years.
5,000 wasted years, mourning her loss.
Looking back, she realized that she was partially to blame for their lost culture. Maybe if she had done more, she could've preserved that as well.
Then there was Blue Pearl and Steven himself. It was clear that the two cared for each other. Loved being in each other's company. But she saw something she thought would never happen. A wide smile on Blue Pearls face.
It wasn't just a smile either. There was a flurry of other emotions splattered across her face. There was also the occasion embarrassment whenever Steven commented on something that was way over head, like fusion.
What was she seeing here? For a pearl, the was taboo and looked down upon. They were supposed to be fancy toys to occasionally show off, and responsible for a menial task or two. This was supposed to be wrong.
But looking at that bond, she saw nothing wrong with it. It looked completely natural. And those emotions seemed necessary for this. She herself, a Diamond, was in mourning and crying for nearly 5,000 years. If a Diamond could express such feelings naturally, then can't the same be said for the lower gems, even one as lowly as a pearl.
Seeing that bond, also made Blue question herself. Did she have a Bond with Steven? And even if she did, was it any higher, or lower than the ones with her Pearl.
Later that day, they entered the palanquin like they usually did. But today would be different. Today, should would be gaining understanding.
"Steven" she spoke with hints of sadness in her voice. "Am I taking satisfactory care of you? Do you enjoy yourself here?"
"Yes!" He exclaimed with joy." I love being here. I never been in space before. It's always colorful everywhere I look. Plus, all the other humans are the friendliest people I have ever met. Plus, Blu Pearl is always great to be with."
"But I've took you from your home, thanks to me, it'll be destroyed, and you may never see it again." She says full of guilt and regret. She fully expected him to lash out in anger.
Instead, he did the exact opposite. "Well that's okay, I may not like what happens, but I'm here now, besides, if every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs.
Blue Diamond just tilted her head in confusion, since they don't eat. Steven then tried to summarize it.
"Well, it means that not everything goes the way you want it to, but that doesn't mean something is useless. Sometimes, something even better can come out of it.
Blue Diamond was even more confused. What good could out of something not perfect. Gems that didn't fit their criteria were purged.
"For example, I'm not perfect." Steven stated
This shocked Blue Diamond even more. Steven may be human, but he spoke with wisdom. He knew how to deal with emotions that a Diamond was going through, and he had an enthusiasm to learn that not even the Peridots processed. How could that not be perfect?
"I'm human, so I'll always make mistakes, I sometimes forget what not to eat, I can wander to places I shouldn't go, I'm a gem, but I'm soft, not hard. Plus, my being born took away my mother."
Oh, she had forgotten that last part. Why would he blame himself though? Whoever the gem was, she clearly chose to give up her existence for him, and who wouldn't. Steven was the most precious thing she has ever met. If anything deserved to exist, then it was him.
"But it's not all bad" he continues, "I got to go to space, meet new people, learn incredible facts about gems, but I guess if I had to name the best thing about this, it would be you.
She froze, clearly not expecting that last part.
"Your tall and pretty, you brought me to a place I only dream about going to, I get to sit in your hand and talk for hours, and I feel as if you know what I feel like, and I love you for that, mom." He unintentionally adds that last part as he wraps his arms around her thumb.
Blue winced at that word. Mom. On homeworld, this word had no meaning, but only I while ago did she learn the meaning of it when Steven talked about the subject of families.
There's the father, he the head of the family, he makes the money to pay for things, sings songs with his gutair, and tells life stories to better your own.
Then there's the mother. She brings you to life. She loves you and tells you it's okay when things go bad. She kisses your forehead and tells you she loves you.
Finally, there's the child, like a son. He's always excited and always like everything he sees. He also greatly loves those who care for him.
Did Steven really see her like that? Did he hold her in such a high regard, as someone capable of showing and earning of such emotion, of such love. No one, not her pearl, and certainly none of the Diamonds ever held her in such high regard.
But the more she thought about it, the more it made her smile. Steven truly was Pink Diamond's last gift to her, so if he held her in such a way, then who was she to deny him.
So, she lifted her hand up, and gently pressed her lips against his head.
"I love you to, my little Quartz."
Nearly 2,000 words on this. It was really fun to write out the reactions of everybody in this chapter. Please leave reviews and I'll update as soon as possible.
