Pearl paced back and forth in Yellow Diamond's control room, twisting the material of the sash in her hands.

"Pearl?"

At Connie's voice, she stopped and lifted her head.

The girl smiled nervously back at her. "Steven's been here before, remember? And he came home, just fine. I'm sure he's okay."

Pearl bit her lip, shaking her head hard. "You don't understand, Connie. White Diamond is different. He's already been in there for three of Earth's months! What if she did something to him? What if he never comes back? Then . . . Then it would have all been for nothing."

She felt a hand on her arm and turned to Amethyst. "P . . . he'll come back. Blue and Yellow promised."

Pearl's shoulders relaxed, but only slightly. "They left . . . hours ago. What if they can't find him?"

Amethyst's only reply was a gentle squeeze.

Hoping for some further consolation, Pearl lifted her gaze to Garnet, seated cross-legged next to Connie. The permafusion had been quiet for days — and today alone, she hadn't moved a muscle. Every so often, Pearl thought she saw her tremble, but it was always gone too quickly to be sure.

She exhaled, sliding to the floor next to Amethyst. "Oh . . . this is all my fault."

"Pearl . . . no."

Amethyst settled next to her, sliding her hand to Pearl's knee. "We're all to blame. I mean . . . yeah, maybe if we hadn't let Steven come here in the first place, then the Diamonds wouldn't have come after him. But . . . you couldn't stop that. Alexandrite couldn't, and she tried."

Pearl sat back and pulled her knees to her chest, giving a quiet sniff. "I miss him."

"Me too."

"We all do," Connie broke in. "We just . . . have to hope for the best."

"Gems! Pearl, Garnet!"

Yellow Diamond's strong voice echoed through the space and they all jerked to attention. The Diamond pair stepped through an open panel and into the room. They both looked breathless.

"She said yes," Blue breathed.

"She has him," Yellow stammered. "Steven. We can see him."

Pearl jumped to her feet. "Where? Where is he? Is he okay?"

The Diamonds looked at each other.

"She wants to meet us in her quarters," Blue said.

"Then let's go!" Connie cried, pushing herself to her feet.

Garnet remained, unmoving, in her meditative position.

"Garnet! Come on!" Amethyst was next to her in a flash, pulling at her in an effort to stand her up. "We gotta go see Steven!"

Garnet didn't budge. Around the third time the smaller Gem shoved her she ground out two words.

"Let go."

Amethyst stepped back, a little shocked, as Garnet rose slowly to her feet. She moved stiffly and gave the air of a tiger on edge. She stood, trembling fists clenched at her sides, mouth a thin line.

"Okay, everyone's ready? Perfect! Let's go, then," Pearl motormouthed, and sprinted off towards the Diamonds, who were already turning to lead the way. The rest of the party followed.

They hurried through corridors, breezeways, past barracks and command centres, first through a yellow and then a white labyrinth. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the Diamonds came to rest at a leviathan door engraved with a star. Yellow Diamond stepped forward to file a request on the doorside panel, and with a few quick swipes of her fingers she was done, stepping back to wait anxiously beside Blue.

Connie caught her breath.

Amethyst bit her lip.

Pearl's knuckles whitened around the fistful of sash.

Garnet stood stock still, trembling.

A few tense seconds ticked by.

"What's taking them so long!" Amethyst burst out, voice strained.

At that moment, a small white panel in the door lit up, and out glided a smiling boy.

"Steven!" Pearl cried, throwing herself at him.

She squeezed him tight, sniffing back tears. "Thank goodness! I was so worried. Steven, I—"

She stopped, the unnatural absence of movement finally registering, and pulled back. What she saw horrified her.

Steven's lips were drawn into a small, fake smile, his eyes wide and unblinking — and now she could see the difference on the right. The iris was pale and bleached, a lifeless disc behind a diamond-shaped pupil.

Pearl was suddenly numb to everything except the heavy sickness in her stomach. She let go and stumbled back, hands trembling, and slowly looked up at Garnet.

She was still standing, tall and tense, with her hands clenched at her sides. Her whole body was shaking, her teeth gritted, as tears streamed down her face. Slowly, it dawned on Pearl.

She had known.

Connie, on the other hand, was blissfully unaware of the extent of the damage that had really been inflicted. Pearl watched as she scrambled forward, hands clamping down on his shoulders.

"Steven?" she cried, face pinched with fear. "Steven, are you okay? What's wrong!"

Steven's body tilted its head to the side. "Hello. I am well." His voice sounded flat and wrong. He had pointedly not answered the second question.

Behind them, Garnet's form quivered and distorted before her components fell to the ground. When Pearl turned, she found a stricken, almost paralysed Ruby trying to hold a sobbing Sapphire in her arms.

"Don't lie to me! What happened? Please!" came Connie's voice, and Pearl whipped back to see Amethyst pull her away. From here, she could see that the purple Gem was sickly pale and short of breath, her eyes brimming with tears. She looked like she was going to be sick, or cry, or both. And then she opened her mouth to speak.

"That's not Steven."

Amethyst's voice trembled and cracked. Pearl wouldn't have recognised it if she hadn't been looking at her when she said it.

"What do you mean!" Connie yelled desperately. "Of course that's Steven! Steven—" she whipped back again to face him and made a frantic lunge. "Steven please! Talk to m—"

She was only whisked away again, held tight in Amethyst's arms as she turned away. Pearl watched her as chest heaved and tremors wracked her body. Connie only continued to writhe in her arms, gasping, confused and panicked. With her subconscious connection to Amethyst, Pearl could understand how the two of them felt. Two fusions were dead, and the sudden gaping hole left in them must be unbearable. She had felt the same way when Rose had gone.

"I kn— knew it, I cou-ould see him . . . I SAW him— I KNEW AN— AND I COULDN'T HE — HEL. . . W-WE—"

Pearl couldn't hold back the all-consuming sobs at Sapphire's shrieked words. She felt her arms give way and her torso hit the floor. All she could make out was cold and salt.

Not him. Not again. Lost again.

Connie had heard as well. She screamed and struggled, writhing until Amethyst's arms let her fall to the ground. Beside her, the latter doubled over, shuddering, retching.

Pearl heard scuffling behind her and turned her head, making out two blurry but distinct shapes through the tears. Ruby appeared to be struggling to wrap her arms around her lover, the other Gem's convulsing throwing her world more out of proportion. Suddenly, the room was enveloped in blue and she couldn't make out anything at all. Her vision flashed white, purple, white, red . . . Garnet flashed in and out of existence, splitting and convulsing, until their overloaded bodies disappeared, gems clinking together to the ground.

Pearl found she couldn't move. She was trapped on the floor, limbs turning to lead pipes as soon as her vision had gone blue. She lifted her head, blinking away the river of tears, and managed to catch a glimpse of Steven before her world blurred again. Mustering up the last drop of strength left in her leaden muscles, she pushed herself forward and up, feeling her arms wrap around something solid and her cheek brush something soft.

"Steven. . ." she breathed against cold skin. "I'm— I'm sorry I. . ." I was supposed to protect you. "'M sosorry. . ."

Her fault. Her fault. Her fault.

And it all ended with this.