Chapter 3:
Plenty of Fish in the Sea
"Oh, wow!" Lapis exclaimed. "How rude!" Pearl was now standing outside on the balcony again, and was staring at the two of them, as she had a look of hate in her eyes. "I think I should be going," Lapis exclaimed, as she released him but held onto his hand. Steven felt the sensation of Lapis's fingers slowly slip through his hand, as she flew away. "Isn't she amazing!?" he whispered, as he watched her disappear into the clouds. "She's so cool!" Pearl was now standing next to him, with her arms folded, when she replied, "Not to me she isn't! She's not amazing at all!"
"Now if you're done drooling over her, then can you please come back inside to say goodbye to your friend Connie!? She and her husband are leaving now!"
The Ride Home
"So honestly, how was it seeing Connie again?" Greg asked, as he looked over at his son. "I mean, was it awkward, upsetting, or hard to see her get married?" Steven was smiling, and was staring out of the passenger side window, when he replied, "Yeah, it was great. I'm very happy for her." He then turned his head to look back in the van towards the gems and said, "I haven't seen Lapis in forever! Do you guys remember the last time that we saw her?"
"Ahh geeze!" Amethyst exclaimed, as she rolled her eyes. "Who cares about the broad! She sucks!" Steven ignored her words, then he looked over at Garnet as she replied, "I'm sorry Steven, but I'm afraid I don't remember." There was silence, until Pearl finally spoke up, "I remember!" Steven looked at her, and became excited as he asked, "When Pearl!? Because I honestly can't! I think I forgot!" Then she replied, "It was five years ago, on Valentine's day!" Steven thought for a moment, then finally said, "Oh, yeah! Now I remember! It was Valentine's Day!" As he was smiling, looking out towards the sky, Pearl snapped at him, "YOU GAVE HER MY ROSE'S, STEVEN!"
"What!?" Steven exclaimed, as he looked back at her. "I don't even remember that!" "Well, I do!" Pearl hissed. "It was 6pm in the evening and we had just returned from a mission. It was a dozen roses, and you had just given us a box of chocolates, which Amethyst devoured single handedly." Amethyst looked over at Pearl and said, "You have a really good memory." Pearl turned her head opposite of Steven, to look out towards the driver side window, then whispered, "I remember when someone has stomped all over my heart!"
A Late Night Visitor
That night, when everyone was sound asleep in the temple, Steven began to toss and turn in his bed, as he heard the sound of someone tapping on his bedroom window. He opened his eyes, then whispered, "Lapis!? What are you doing here!?" She smiled, as she held a finger up to her lips, as if she was signaling for him to be quiet. Their eyes met, as she pointed to the front door and began to glide around the side of the house. Steven slowly made his way down stairs, and when he opened the front door, he saw Lapis sitting on the railing of the steps with her legs crossed. She leaned forward, then smiled as she said, "So, how's your evening going!?"
Steven yawned, then smiled as he replied, "It's going pretty good I guess!" He walked over towards her, then leaned his elbows onto the railing, and began to stare at her legs. While he was staring, she asked, "Did I come at a bad time? Do you have a curfew?" Steven looked up at her, then laughed as he said, "No! Of course not!" He then jumped up onto the railing, and sat down beside her, as he began to stare up towards the moonlight. Lapis looked up towards the night sky as well, but as she did she heard Steven sigh, then she asked, "Is everything okay?" "Yeah," Steven exclaimed. "Everything's fine."
"I'm just not excited about having to go on a mission tomorrow." "Why?" Lapis asked. Then Steven replied, "Because it just seems like that's all that we ever do. It gets boring after a while." Lapis became silent, as she looked down at the floor, then replied, "You feel like you just want to break away from your normal routine." "Yeah!" Steven exclaimed. "You get how I feel! Do you ever feel that way sometimes?" "No, can't say that I have," she replied. Steven looked at her, then asked, "Well, what do you do?"
"Mostly, I keep to myself," Lapis responded. "I spend most of my time underneath the surface of the water, as opposed to being on dry on land."
"What's it like down there?" Steven asked. "It's a whole other world," she replied. "It's far more massive than the world that you live in."
Steven thought for a moment, then finally asked, "Do you think I could go check it out sometime? Like maybe you could take me?" Lapis simply smiled, then said, "Sure, that's fine with me. But your friends on the other hand, they might have a problem with it."
"By the way, your friend this evening, the one who got married, she was very kind to me."
Steven laughed a little, then replied, "Her name is Connie, and yes she has a very kind personality. Don't worry about the gems. They're more like overprotective mothers, than they are friends. I'm older now, so I can pretty much decide who I want to have in my life." He looked over at Lapis, then asked, "We're still friends aren't we!?"
She looked back at him, then replied, "Of course, Steven! We never stopped being friends!"
"Why would you even ask that!?"
"I'm sorry," he exclaimed. "I just haven't seen you in a while! I just want to make sure things are still the same!" She shook her head, then smiled as she said, "The only thing different now is that you're older and wiser."
She looked at him, then finally asked, "So when do you want to go?" "What?" Steven asked. "To the bottom of the sea?" "Yep," she replied.
"Whenever I guess," Steven exclaimed. "How about now?" she asked. "Right now?" Steven said, "But it's late!" Lapis smiled at him, then said, "Come on Steven, don't be such a female! I thought you didn't have a curfew?"
Steven looked back at her, then laughed as he said, "I don't have a curfew! I can leave whenever I want! I can come and go as I please!"
"And you're the one who's a female!"
Lapis had a smile on her face, as she batted her eye lashes at him, then replied, "I thought that much was obvious!" She took his hand, then said, "Come with me, let's go. It'll be fun, I promise." Steven held her hand, then grinned at her as he said, "I'll go with you if you stop teasing me."
She smiled back at him, then stared into his eyes as she said, "Alright then."
"I'll stop being a tease..."