Steven was clutching his stomach as Jasper came out of the spin next to a wrap pad. "Next time I ask you to do that, please don't," he said, but was surprised when Jasper had no response, not even one that showed she didn't understand the joke. She was simply looking off at nothing at particular. So he went on, "I'd better go over by myself first and explain things. You just wait here for a bit, and I'll come get you if they're okay with it. All right?" She still didn't give any acknowledgment that he'd spoken, so he simply shrugged and stepped onto the pad.

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Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl despondently trudged back up the path to the Temple after two days in a row of fruitlessly searching everywhere they could. Though none of them would admit it, they were all thinking they might actually never see Steven again, and couldn't begin to deal with the emotions that thought brought up.

But it didn't last any longer, because no sooner had they walked in the door than the house's warp pad activated and Steven came running out. "Guys, I'm back!" he shouted, and the three Gems all incoherently shouted out their joy as they ran to each other. But there wasn't time for more than that, because Jasper followed right behind him.

"Jasper, I told you to…" Steven was cut off there as Pearl gave a furious "You!" and charged at her, with Amethyst and Garnet close behind. However, they were brought up short as they took in the Gem's full appearance.: head bowed, shoulders slumped, and not making a single move to defend herself.

She looked up in surprise at their pause and said, "Go ahead, do it. Nothing matters anymore. I don't matter. So just shatter me, I won't stop you."

None of them moved a muscle or said a word as the shock of that statement hit them. But soon Steven came running up. "You can't mean that!"

Jasper turned to him, and the sheer loss on her face was terrible to behold. "For thousands of years, the only thing that's kept me going was the idea of revenge, and now I find out it was all a lie. So what is there left for me? It's better if it ends right now."

This caused Pearl to chime in. "I've had that same thought." She completely ignored Steven's surprised interjection as she went on, "I had to keep the secret all these centuries, and sometimes it was so painful I thought it would be better to just be shattered. But I always found a reason to keep going, and I'm glad I did, because there was a lot of good to experience too."

Jasper scoffed. "Because you had all these other Gems around you. But I'm alone, everyone I could have had to help me is gone because all I cared about was that lie."

Now it was Amethyst's turn. "Why don't you come with us?" As everyone looked at her in surprise, she said, "I mean, you're from this planet, and you said before you wanted to protect it. You just had the wrong idea about who you needed to protect it from."

Jasper turned away from them all. "It would never work. I did so much to hurt you all, and Peridot…" she shuddered as a new thought hit her, "…and Lapis. You're really able to just forgive all that?"

The Crystal Gems all glanced at each other, gauging their reactions. Then Garnet walked around and looked Jasper in the eyes. "I'm willing to give it a chance. So that's two votes for you."

Amethyst quickly jumped in. "We're sisters, after all."

Pearl took a bit longer, but finally said, "If they're all okay with it, then I guess I am too."

Steven walked right up to Jasper and said, "So what do you say?" When she still didn't give a reply, he got an idea and started singing, one that Garnet had taught him a while back and seemed to fit the current situation with just a few changes.

This is who we are

This is who I am

And if you think anything's the same now

Then you need to think again

Because I am a feeling

And I will never end

And I will let you help my planet

And I will let you be my friend

Jasper had tears in her eyes by the time he finished. "Well, how can I say no to all that? I guess I can try it out." She was then surprised when Steven jumped up and hugged her, quickly followed by Amethyst. "What is this? What's going on?"

Steven laughed. "I guess you have a few things to learn about how we do things on Earth now. It can wait until tomorrow."

After the hug broke off, Amethyst elbowed Steven and said, "By the way, love the new look." Steven gasped, having completely forgotten he might look different after being poofed, and ran into the bathroom. He found that his hair now had orange stripes through it. Amethyst waited by the door and said, "I guess Tiger Millionaire really rubbed off on you."

Steven laughed again. "It'll make things easier if we ever do a comeback, I guess." He came back out, and they looked to where Jasper was now talking with Pearl and Jasper, although they were a bit far away to hear it. "This is going to be pretty interesting, huh?"

"Definitely. Though you think you could give us some warning the next time you decide to let someone out of a bubble? We were all really worried about you?"

Steven blushed and looked away. "I'm really sorry about that. I guess I have to tell them that, too." Suddenly a new idea occurred to him. "But now that you mention it, there is someone else who we should tell about Mom. Although this one might be even harder."

Amethyst looked at him in shock. "You don't mean…"

"Yes I do. We need to tell Bismuth."

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A/N: I originally intended to end the story here, but it's gotten such a huge response that I've decided to keep going with it, hence that little tease. It might be a little while before I actually get the next part posted, seeing as I have to actually come up with an idea of how Bismuth would react, but I'm definitely going to be keeping to it being a lot harder sell with her.