Chapter 4: The Reveal

"How did you enjoy your tour of Earth, Commander?"

Cinnabar straightened up, placing her hands behind her back as Pearl's question registered in her mind. It took her a moment to readjust to a more serious temperament.

"It was… satisfactory. I was rather impressed by Steven's prowess with Earth culture." She grinned, an eye glancing back to Steven. She resisted the urge to snort as she saw him reflecting her pose and expression. "He's a valuable resource to this colony."

Pearl gave an awkward and nervous laugh.

"Well, I'm pleased that you enjoyed it. And oh! Would you look at the time!" Pearl rushed out as she grabbed onto Steven's arm, pulling him away from the commander.

"Hey—"

"Goodnight, m'lady!" Pearl pulled Steven through the house, rushing him to the warp pad room and through the temple doors before either he or Cinnabar could really argue. Frowning, Cinnabar cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Goodnight, Steven of Quartz!"

Pearl and Steven ran up the staircase of Pearl's room, to the main water platform where everyone was waiting. Ruby and Sapphire saw the two approach and cheered in unison.

"Steven!"

As Pearl pulled him onto the platform, the two Gems enveloped him in a hug. He giggled.

"I see you guys missed me."

"What did she tell—" Sapphire paused as Ruby shook her head. "—Wait."

Ruby swept Sapphire off her feet, twirling her around for just a moment. And like that, the two were gone, and Garnet remained. Taking a moment to summon her visor, Garnet stopped just short of putting them on.

"What did she tell you?" she asked.

"Not much," Steven began, answering after he gave Garnet a strange look. "We mostly hung out."

"Where did you go?" Garnet pushed. Steven began counting on his fingers.

"Well, we went to get donuts, squished fries on the beach, went to the park, saw my dad at the carwash, except I had to pretend he wasn't my dad." Steven paused. "And then we went to Funland!"

"Yup," Amethyst muttered. "I had to watch, like, the whole thing. All day."

Garnet fell to her knees and wrapped her hands around Steven's arms.

"What did she say? Any plans to contact Homeworld? Any Stories? Anything?" Garnet, in the middle of her spiel, inadvertently called out her gauntlets, squishing Steven.

"Uh, she told me a story about the Diamonds, and what Homeworld is doing," Steven confessed. Garnet went quiet for a few moments before recalling her gauntlets. She rose to her feet and, without turning, she pointed to Pearl.

"We're telling him."

"But I thought—"

"I don't care," Garnet declared, staring at the visor in her hands. She looked down at Steven.

"Garnet?" What he thought was her usual stoicism was instead a look of fear. Tears welled in her eyes, though she wiped them away.

"Steven, for too long we've kept the truth from you; to protect you until you were older," Garnet began, her voice regaining its strength. "But I realize that it has been too long. You're almost fourteen now, and we've agreed to start acting like it."

Amethyst and Pearl nodded, though the latter was apprehensive. She gave Steven a look of concern before stepping forward.

"Really?!" Steven yelled with a smile, his face lighting up at the news. Garnet nodded, and that sent Steven over the moon. He was so glad the Gems were finally trusting him. He had given up trying to pry information from them years ago, so it was great to finally hear more!

All at once, Pearl began projecting a star map from her Gem, which Garnet stepped through.

"Can I assume Cinnabar started her story with 'In the beginning, there was chaos and darkness'?" Garnet asked. Pausing, Steven nodded his head after a moment of thought. Garnet didn't react. "Well, that's one of the few times she'll be right."

Each star in Pearl's projection lit ablaze, all in different, vibrant colours. Steven stared in amazement, his own stars growing in his eyes.

"After the beginning, Steven, there was light!" Garnet's voice cracked through the room, causing Steven to snap to attention. "Stars were born, giving energy and illumination to the universe!"

The lights dimmed.

"But then, Gemkind crawled into existence. At first, there were only four: White Diamond, Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, and Pink Diamond."

The star map zoomed in, showing a middling planet in the light of a red sun. On that planet were the oversized caricatures of four Gems.

"But these Gems were not born from the planet's soil, or from the light above," Garnet explained, her eyes training onto the sight of Blue Diamond. "No, each came from the darkness that existed before!"

Dark clouds began to surround the planet, causing it to shake and tremble.

"But other things were born from this darkness and chaos." Garnet's lips went tight, as she resisted the urge to shudder. "Things that defined the word eldritch and gave names to the fear of the dark. The Diamonds could beat them off only once."

The four Diamonds gave way to a gigantic caricature of a woman with four Gems on her body. Pulling energy from the nearby sun, the giant woman struck the darkness, driving it away.

"Never wanting to return to the ways of before, the Diamonds created the rest of Gemkind."

The planet began to wither away, as thousands of smaller Gems popped up all around the large Diamonds. In a few moments, Gems began appearing on other planets nearby and soon the whole map was inhabited.

"But the Diamonds became hungry for power. They no longer wished to just protect themselves. They now wanted to 'save' everything, all of the universe, even if it meant destroying what they considered inferior."

The star map stood still, growing dim. Steven's head shot around, looking for some movement, for some life. All there was, however, was silence.

"But then," Garnet smiled. "Your mother came into the picture."

The star map shifted, revealing Earth orbiting the Sun.

"She saw the beauty of humanity, of earth, and of organic life."

A caricature of Rose Quartz sprung up from the Earth, her long billowing dress wrapping around the planet. Holding up her shield, the image of Rose braced as a beam of light shot across space.

It was yellow, blue, and white.

"And though Rose could not save everyone, she defeated Homeworld and disrupted its efforts of conquest. If not for her, the planet would not be here today." Garnet looked down at Steven as the star map blinked away and returned to Pearl. "That, Steven, is the history of Gems."

Garnet's words hung in the air, barely registering for Steven, who stood there stunned silent. The stars in his eyes faded away, his irises growing dark as he was left in thought. Left wondering, with questions still racking his mind.

What were the Diamonds like? What made them change from just wanting to protect themselves? What was Homeworld like in general?

A lot of questions, ones Steven still wanted the answers to. Yet, as he looked up at Garnet, who had Pearl and Amethyst join her side after a moment, he began to smile. They had already told him so much.

Steven rushed forward, enveloping the three Gems in a tight hug.

"Thank you, guys," he said with a sniffle.

"For what, Steven?" Pearl asked, pulling away and putting her hands on his shoulders. He looked up at her, wiping away a tear.

"For trusting me!" Pulling them in for another embrace, Steven sobbed happily as he squeezed tight.

"Entrusting you with this information means things will change now, Steven," Garnet explained, running her fingers through his hair as he looked up at her. "By telling you the truth, we expect you to act more like an adult. And for now, the most important thing we expect is handling Cinnabar."

Steven gave Garnet a look of concern to which she returned a smile.

"It's still your project, Steven. We'll follow your lead on this," she continued. "But when the time comes, we expect you to be on our side if we need to stop her."

Steven pulled away at this point.

"She needs help, Garnet. Sh-she doesn't understand," Steven started, sniffling. "I feel like I really got to her today. Please don't talk like she's some, some—"

"Eventuality?" Pearl suggested.

"Yeah that," Steven finished, his gaze returning to Garnet.

"Steven, I trust you wholeheartedly on this. I trust you like I did your mother." She crouched down, resting her arm on her lap and wiping a tear from Steven's cheek. "And thus, I want to protect you as I did for her."

Steven's small smile fell, replaced by a growing frown. Garnet chuckled.

"However, if you promise to stand with us if the time comes, then we'll promise to stop talking about it. How does that sound?"

Steven's look of concern gave away to another grin.

"You guys are trusting me so much, I should do the same." Steven stood up straight and beamed. "I promise!"

Garnet rose to her feet, content with his response. She slipped on her visor with a grin before turning.

"Alright, Gems! I'm off. Preparations must be made for tomorrow."

"Wait!" Steven called, causing Garnet to pause but not turn back.

"I want to sleep in my room, with Cinnabar."

"What!?" Pearl panicked. "Absolutely not, she's too dangerous, and—"

"Pearl," Garnet simply said, stopping her. "It's Steven's project. And he's old enough to start making his own calls now. If he wants to, let him."

Garnet began descending the stairs, leaving Pearl in silence. Before slipping out of view, Garnet raised her hand into the air.

"Goodnight Steven!"

The quiet that took the room afterwards was soon broken, as Amethyst tackled Steven, holding him in a joking headlock.

"Ahhh yeah, Steven! Growing up on me, are ya?" She delivered a fake noogie to his head, to which Steven just laughed. "Pretty soon I'll have to be calling you big man, you know that? No more little dude."

"Amethyst, come on—" Steven's laughter died down as he looked up to see Pearl. Not taking notice, Amethyst released him before patting his back.

"Alright sure, big man, see ya tomorrow." And with that Amethyst walked straight off the edge of the water platform, plummeting down with the stream which would lead to her room. Steven gave her one last smile and wave before turning back to Pearl, trying his best to keep his cheery expression.

Pearl's gaze stayed locked onto him, holding for a moment before it broke. Collapsing to her knees, Pearl threw her arms around him.

"Ohhh, I'm so proud of you, Steven!" she said, squeezing him in a tight hug.

"Pearrrrl." Steven laughed.

"You're more like your mother every day, you know that?" Pearl said with a smile, pulling herself away from Steven. He gave an awkward laugh, eyes looking to the side before Pearl finally released him. She rose to her feet, a calm look to her face. "Goodnight Steven. Tell the commander that as well."

Steven nodded before breaking away to head back to the house. He was grinning like a madman as he descended the stairs, excited about what he just heard.

Today went great!

He had befriended Cinnabar, learned a lot about Homeworld, and the Gems were really beginning to trust him!

Pausing as he approached the door, Steven took a moment to think. The thought of moving into his mom's room crossed his mind again, though he quickly tabled that idea. He liked his room anyways. Smiling, Steven entered the house.

It felt like he was finally being treated like an adult…

Steven's eyes fluttered open, the sunlight from his windows waking him. Yet when his vision focused, he was met with a wall of red. Standing by his bed was Cinnabar, who looked down at him with a quizzical expression.

"Uh, morning?" Steven greeted, lifting his head.

"Something quite strange has happened, Steven of Quartz."

Steven sat up in concern, his mouth going flat. Yet, as soon as he did, he noticed what Cinnabar meant. His pajamas shrunk! All that was left was tatters that clung to his frame.

"Huh? What—" Steven looked down at his hands, his gaze immediately locking onto how thin and long they were. "Have I been dream shape-shifting?"

"I think it's a bit stranger than that," Cinnabar commented back.

Steven stood up from his bed, yelping as the tightness of his clothes began to ride up. Looking up at Cinnabar, Steven paused. He quickly realized she was right, something strange was going on. The night before, Steven's height could reach about halfway up Cinnabar's thigh. Today, he easily cleared her waist!

He had grown taller!

"Ah!" Steven panicked, falling back onto his bed. He ran his hands all over his body, trying to gain some familiarity with it. He was definitely taller, significantly so. His frame was thinner now as well and he could feel his neck quite easily. A neck! He had a neck!

Steven began thinking. He hadn't changed his age since that birthday incident last year, so there's no way it suddenly cropped back up. But if not that, what could it be?

After a few moments, Steven sat up, realizing his body wasn't reverting back any time soon. He looked up at Cinnabar.

"We need the Gems."

Rushing into the temple, Steven and Cinnabar rounded up the Gems into Pearl's room in no time flat.

Steven kept his eyes firmly at the ceiling, trying his best to not look at the faces Garnet and Amethyst had whilst Pearl was examining him.

She poked and prodded his new body, memorizing the measurements as she went along. He was taller now, reaching about a meter and a third. Not only that, he was thinner too. Seemed as if a setting had moved some of his width to his height.

"You sure you aren't just stretching yourself out, Steven?" Amethyst questioned, sounding quite grave. "That can seriously mess you up, ya know."

Steven shook his head as Pearl finished her examination.

"It's a complete mystery," she declared, shrugging. "Somehow, your shape-shifting has locked onto an olde—"

Pearl paused, remembering Cinnabar was still there.

"—a taller form," she corrected, pursing her lips. "Like you've gotten stuck whilst shape-shifting."

Stepping forward, Cinnabar surprised the Gems as she lifted Steven up by his arm, alarming the whole room. She laughed as she saw how high it went.

"This is no mystery. Steven of Quartz has ascended," she proclaimed. Dropping him, Cinnabar turned, gaze going to the ceiling as she smiled. As her smile became a wide grin, she pointed into the air. "Congratulations, Steven of Quartz! Welcome to a new class of Gem!"

"What do you mean?" he asked, rubbing his wrist as Cinnabar looked back down at him.

"I say that you have managed to become a stronger Gem, by your own volition! Your height is simply a reflection of that." She pushed Steven over to Amethyst's side, noting his new height over her.

"You know, when I said, big man. I didn't mean it like this," Amethyst groaned as Steven snorted. He resisted the urge to lean on her shoulder. Before he could be tempted to go through with it, Cinnabar pulled him back, lifting him into the air again.

"Whoa!"

"Steven! Today, you must go out and present your new body to the world! Show them the greatness Gemkind has to offer!" Cinnabar declared, depositing Steven onto the ground. Pearl stepped forward to stop the conversation, but Ruby and Sapphire held her back in unison.

"Well, uh, ok." Steven turned to Cinnabar. "But what about you? Don't you want to see more of Earth?"

"Oh, don't worry about me, Steven of Quartz." She backed up between Amethyst and Pearl, wrapping her arms around them. "Today, I'll take a tour of the settlement's functions. Right, Commander Pearl?"

"Uh, yes!" She hesitated, looking at Steven's new body. Slipping from Cinnabar's loose hold, Pearl approached him. "We'll be showing Cinnabar around today."

Pearl winked at Steven who then nodded.

"Steven, you should honor the Commander's request and—" She looked back at Cinnabar.

"Show the world the power of Gemkind!"

"Yeah, that." Pearl looked at Sapphire and Ruby who shrugged. Steven's situation probably wasn't urgent, they thought. It was about time he got a growth spurt, anyways.

Steven nodded, his pajamas popping under the pressure of the corny salute he gave. Pearl sighed before reaching down to him and whispering.

"Perhaps you should talk to Greg about getting some new clothes."

Steven grimaced, looking down as another tatter of cloth fell from him. He'd be stark naked soon.

"Got it!" he said, nodding and running off. As he ran though, he called out. "Bye! Love you guys!"

Pearl turned back to Cinnabar, catching her giving Steven an affectionate look as he left. She attuned herself as she noticed Pearl's wayward glance.

"So, what is it that you do here, Pearl?"

Steven stepped back into the house, his mind racing as he looked over his tattered pajamas. It occurred to him after a moment that if what he was wearing was too small, his usual shirt and jeans would be too. He couldn't go out like this.

"Hmmm," he hummed in thought, going up to the closet beneath his stairs. He began rummaging. There had to be something, he thought, trawling through the piles of loose clothing. Before his mind could wander, he found something. "Ah! Perfec— Ow!"

Steven hit the frame of the short closet door as he stood up with his find.

Rubbing his head in pain, Steven grumbled to himself as he threw on the only fitting piece of clothing he owned: his hoodie. Convinced he could finally go, Steven left through the front door.

As Steven walked down the beach to his dad's car wash, he stretched, amazed by the new length his arms could reach. He ran a hand across his neck, captivated by the fact it was actually visible. Looking down at his gemstone, Steven watched as it shimmered in the daylight.

"Heh, so, are you doing this, or is it just because I'm human?" he asked, to no one in particular.

The gemstone remained silent, much to Steven's expectation.

He began thinking.

Cinnabar had told him to enjoy the day, so what should he do? The idea of inviting Connie over crossed his mind, though at that, he frowned. She was probably still tired from fighting that monster the other day, he decided. Plus, she couldn't come over that often; her parents still had a tight leash on her and everything.

Despite that, Steven decided he'd call her up in a bit. First, however, he'd need new clothes.

Steven knocked on the door of the It's a Wash Car Wash and waited. Realizing it'd take a bit for his father to answer, Steven decided to use the time to keep exploring his new height. Could Cinnabar be right? Did he just give himself a new body?

Steven poked his belly and laughed as it jiggled like it did the night before, albeit less so. He could get used to this.

"We're not open till—" Greg called, freezing as he opened the door. Steven turned, facing his father who gave him a confused look. "Steven!? What happened to you?!"

Greg stepped out of the car wash and began pacing around his son. His eyes darted up and down, as he tried to fully understand what he was looking at.

"Uh, growth spurt?" Steven said, shrugging. "My diet's working?"

"Since when were you dietin— Never mind. Steven, you've grown like a foot!" Greg placed his palm on Steven's head and noticed how it reached up to his own neck. "Is this some kind of weird Gem thing?"

"I don't know. Pearl said something about my shape-shifting getting stuck or something. She wasn't really sure." Steven held up a tatter of his pajamas. "Uh, Dad, I actually really need some new clothes."

"Oh! Course. Clothes don't magically grow with you, heh," Greg laughed, trying to put his mind off thinking of what was going on. Running over to where his van was parked, he tried not to dwell on the thought of this being a regular occurrence. "Nothing you have fits anymore, does it?"

Popping open the back of the van, Greg brought out a box and began to dig into it, browsing through the clothing he owned. He pulled up a copy of Steven's normal shirt in a larger size and, after that, what appeared to be some faded jeans.

"Oh wow, this is old," he commented, returning with the clothing. At once, Steven smiled at the sight of pink in Greg's arms.

"Oh cool, it's my shirt!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, thankfully I still have old merchandise from my ole rocker days, so we can replace your stuff pretty easy." Greg handed Steven the shirt before showing off the pants. "But hey, take a look at this! Oh man, Steven, these jeans are like actually older than you. I had these before I met your mom."

"Cool! " Steven buried the thought that perhaps the old pair of pants contained some 'rocker' essence that'd rub off on him. "They seem a bit big, though."

He held up the hem of the pants to his chest and watched as the bottom touched the ground. This'd ride half way up Steven's chest. Holding back a chuckle, Greg took the pants back.

"Yeah, I guess they are. But hey, we can fix that. Take a look." Greg ran back to the van and pulled out a pair of scissors from the front seat. "Watch Greg Frugal Universe at work!"

With a crude and messy cut, Greg chopped off the bottom of the pants legs until they were about Steven's size. The teen in question laughed as he received the modified jeans.

"Thanks," Steven said, pulling his dad in for a hug.

"You're welcome!" Greg squeezed Steven tight, patting him before breaking the embrace. "Now, let's see ya get done up!"

Undressing in a flash, Steven quickly threw on the new duds before going to show them off to his dad. Greg grinned.

"Hey! Lookin' good!"

"You know it!" Steven said, shooting his dad some finger guns. With one final word of advice and hug of good luck from Greg, Steven was off, walking back to the temple with the morning sun on his back. Watching, Greg sighed.

"He's literally growing up…" Greg snorted, turning back to the van. "Did not think that'd be one of my worries."

A bit later, as Steven returned to the house, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the Gems and Cinnabar teleporting away on the warp pad.

"Awwww, darn it! Just missed them," he whined. Cupping his hands, Steven yelled into the house. "Bye! I love you guys!"

They wouldn't hear that, of course, but it's the thought that counts. Running up the stairs, Steven took a running leap onto the bed, landing on his back as he giggled to himself. He stretched, pausing as his hands hit the wall his bed was pressed against. There really was a lot to get used to with this whole new height thing.

Steven pulled his phone from his pocket, punching in Connie's number as a smile grew on his face. He began to think of all the things they could do today, like go get donuts, eat fries, and…

His train of thought was cut short as his call was answered.

"Hello, this is the Maheswaran residence. Priyanka speaking." She sounded cheerful, Steven thought.

"Hey, Dr. Maheswaran, it's Steven," he greeted, grinning into the phone as if she could hear his lips curl up through the line.

"Oh," she started. That wasn't good. "...hello, Steven."

"I was wondering if Connie could come over today," he asked, mouth going flat as he went straight-faced as possible. There was silence on the line for a few moments.

"No, Steven. She can't. She's still quite sore from the incident a few days ago," Priyanka explained. "It took a lot of convincing for Doug to believe she had just over-exerted herself, and I can't have her go back so quickly."

Steven frowned.

"Awww, okay," he said, defeated. "But what about in a few days, though?"

Another pause.

"Alright. In a few days. But not an hour earlier," she agreed as Steven resisted the urge to yell out with a cheer. Thankfully, Mrs. Maheswaran continued before he could embarrass himself with that. "And Steven?"

"Yeah?"

"What's happened to your voice? It seems exceptionally hoarse."

"Oh, uh." Steven realized at that point that his voice had dropped along with his increase in height. "Yeah, real hoarse. Just recovered from a cold."

"Well… alright. Goodbye then." Dr. Maheswaran then ended the call, leaving Steven to listen to the disconnect tone. He missed another opportunity to say goodbye. Stuffing his phone into his jeans, Steven flicked his eyes up to stare at the ceiling. He tried to think of what to do before he died of boredom.

After many excruciating minutes, Steven swore it would be the end soon. A lack of engagement would get to him, and he'd dropped dead without a fight. Yet, he was saved at the last moment, as the silence of the house was shattered.

It was a loud crash from the bathroom.

Steven sat up, suddenly remembering Peridot was actually living in there. Her absence from the past two days then registered in his mind, as he was posed with a question. Peridot had been the one most excited to release Cinnabar, heck she wanted to do it in secret. So, why has she barely interacted with her?

Steven jumped up from his bed and walked down to the bathroom door. From it, he began to hear a flurry of exasperated pants and grunts. Frowning, Steven knocked.

"Peridot?"

The noise came to a halt. The sound of a hasty cleanup soon followed. After a few moments, Peridot opened the door, looking more dignified than she sounded.

"Yes?"

"Uh, hi?" Steven answered, his deeper voice apparent. Peridot had to glance up to look him in the eyes now, which sent her mind racing.

"What… happened to you?" she questioned, pacing around him.

Steven shrugged to which Peridot gave an exasperated sigh.

"Of course you wouldn't know." Pulling at his arm, Peridot took a quick examination of its length. Noting that, she then crouched down to see his Gem, pausing as she realized it wasn't glowing. That would signify shape-shifting. Peridot seemed to shake in frustration.

"You've gotten taller!? How? I've never heard of a Gem becoming bigger by themselves before!"

"Pearl said something about my shape-shifting," Steven replied, his memory of her explanation escaping him. Peridot sighed before pulling Steven into the bathroom. "Hey!"

"Pearl's knowledge of Gem physiology is far less suited for examinations than mine." Peridot stopped by the corner of the bathroom and pulled out her limb enhancer foot. "It'll take some rewiring, but my resources are more than capable enough to properly... diagnose you."

She tapped a button that was flush with the foot's side, and a small compartment opened up, revealing a handheld device. It was in the shape of a tuning fork, with small switches on the handle.

Steven looked at the device Peridot was holding, with a nervous worry.

"Uh, Peridot. What is that?"

"Just a simple examination tool," Peridot said, swiping small switches on the handle. "It'll give me a report on the state of your gem."

Peridot flicked the metal of the device, watching as it came to life with a flurry of sparks. Smiling, she turned back to Steven as small bands of electricity flowed between the two prongs.

"Is-is that gonna hurt?" Steven took an apprehensive step back. She gave him a look of disbelief.

"What do you take me for, some kind of sadist?"

And with that, Peridot jabbed it into Steven's gem.

Vibrations rang out from the tuning fork, resonating throughout Steven's entire body. His fingers jittered, his teeth chattered, and his hair began to shake as the machine did its magic, measuring his gemstone.

The feeling was strange. It was like waves of energy flowing through his body, bouncing off the walls of his skin and the pillars of his bones. Yet, it wasn't painful, just… muted.

Peridot pulled the device away, causing the vibrations to flow out from his body.

"Hehe." Steven giggled as his jittering fingers came to a stop. Rolling her eyes, Peridot turned away and placed the device on the kitchen sink.

"That'll take a few minutes to analyze the information." Peridot dug out some measuring tape she had swiped from the barn and got to work. "Until then, I'll take some manual measurements."

Peridot pinned the measuring tape to Steven's slippers before stretching to bring the roll up to his head. She paused, however, as she realized she couldn't quite reach.

Right, new height.

"I could use some assist—" Peridot paused as her eyes flicked down to meet Steven's. It occurred to her then, just how close she was to him. She could practically map out the colour in his irises.

"Uh, hi?" he greeted with a confused look. Peridot stumbled away, the tape falling to the ground.

"Agh!" she choked, scrambling back.

Steven extended his hand to help her up, but she rejected it, standing up by herself. He then took notice of the bright blush on her face.

"Forget the manual. I'll just read the report." Swiping up the tape, Peridot turned away from Steven to the device on the sink.

The tuning fork then dinged, prompting Peridot to pick it up. She began flicking switches on its handle, grumbling more to herself as she stayed faced away from Steven.

The teen soon grew impatient, peeking around Peridot's side to see what she was doing. Madly swiping switches and notches, Peridot pursed her lips as a blush became visible on her cheeks. She didn't look happy, Steven thought, before turning away.

Peridot spun around with the device in hand, flipping it to reveal a small screen on the other side. Studying the output as it flew past her eyes, she grumbled. Her face twisted and turned, confusion and relief hitting her in waves. Steven, meanwhile, stayed silent, wondering what the results were.

Peridot cringed before crying out in anger.

"Ah!" She tossed the device into the corner before squatting down in frustration.

"Peridot?" Steven's voice cracked.

"The results make no sense!" she screamed, her voice a cocktail of anger and fear. "The information is self-contradicting! The logic is unsound! It's like half of it is missing!"

"Maybe you should measure my height then?" Steven suggested. Peridot shook her head as she began rocking in place.

"Simple manual measurements wouldn't fill the hole left by half the information not being present."

It suddenly hit Steven.

"But Peridot! That's it! I'm half human, remember? That's why half of it isn't there!" he explained, crouching down and putting his hands on her shoulders. Peridot peeked up from her ball of terror before recomposing herself.

"Oh… Yes. I've forgotten, you're part organic. That will befuddle my knowledge of Gem physiology." Peridot stood up, turning away from Steven and returning to her only possession, her enhancer foot.

Steven gave Peridot a solemn look.

"Why did you panic so badly when you read the results?" he questioned, looking down at her as she laid the foot in her lap and wrapped her arms around it. She remained silent.

Her face twisted and turned, before finally her lips burst open.

"Back on…" she mumbled.

Steven knew she was nervous, so he took a seat in the corner next to her. He offered his hand, sweetening the deal with a smile. After a few tense moments, she agreed, pulling a hand from the enhancer foot and slipping it into Steven's palm.

She continued.

"Back on… Homeworld, Gems are to have all their work done, perfectly, and on time," she explained, her eyes pointing straight ahead. "I'd never seen the Gem analyzer fail before, so I was afraid I'd…"

"Afraid you'd be?" Steven attempted to draw the answer out.

"Afraid I'd be punished," she said, leaving it to that. Steven frowned before standing back up.

"Peridot, you don't have to worry about that anymore. You're on Earth now, not Homeworld. No one's gonna hurt you." Steven extended his hand to her and smiled. "As long as I'm here, no one will ever hurt you."

Peridot looked up at Steven's eyes, at that expression that extruded a confidence she couldn't help but doubt. Yet, she didn't want to doubt it. Sniffling, Peridot let go the foot, letting it slip from her grasp. With a moment of apprehension, she wiped away her tears, before gripping onto Steven's hand.

He pulled her up from the ground and helped her regain her balance.

"I—" Peridot slipped on a patch of water and went into a crash course with the ground. Steven caught her, however, keeping her up as her legs slipped from under her. "Agh!"

"Ah, I got you," Steven said, lifting her up. Yet, as she got to her feet, she slipped again, this time in the opposite direction, towards Steven. When she came to a stop, she was anchored in his arms, her head dipped back as he held her with their chests pressed together. Steven smiled. "Hiya!"

Peridot shrieked and pulled away again, leaving Steven dumbfounded.

"Peridot, what's wrong?" he asked, a hand extending out to her.

Peridot crossed her arms and gave a deep sigh. Still turned away, she began speaking.

"You… You confuse me, Steven."

"What?"

"You confuse me!" Peridot screamed, turning around, more tears rolling down her face.

Steven recoiled in fear as Peridot threw down her arms. She continued to sob as she spoke.

"I have done so many things I never thought I would, the past few weeks, for you. I feel like every ounce of me is screaming out, yet I keep going, for you. I have abandoned my Homeworld, defied My Diamond, sabotaged my own plans for escape." Peridot wheezed. "Because of you."

Steven stumbled on his words.

"What do you mean? What escape?"

"Cinnabar, Steven! Cinnabar! I could've easily ratted you and the Crystal Clods out to Cinnabar and be on a first class trip to Homeworld. But I didn't, you know why?" Steven saw the tears roll down her face. "Because you were there! You don't just confuse my sensibilities of what should be possible for a Gem. You confuse my very purpose! I have this— this— this lump! This lump in my chest just when I see you! And then I start acting like a crazy Gem!"

"Peridot…"

"Steven, I think I—"

Steven enveloped Peridot into a hug, silencing her. She resisted at first but soon gave up, accepting the comforting gesture. He held onto her until her breathing evened out, before reaching down to wipe a lone tear.

"I get it, Peridot. You've got some strange feelings going on. Mostly about me, which is weird, but still, I'm here to help."

"But—"

Steven hugged her.

"Listen, I've got the whole day off, why don't I take you out to see Beach City? It'd be fun!"

Peridot mumbled to herself for a few moments. She wiped a final tear from her eye.

"Okay…"

End of Chapter 4