Steven looked up at Garnet, staring into her third eye. Garnet rarely removed her visor and whenever she did Steven could not take his eyes off of Sapphire's eye. It was just so cool. And also vaguely hypnotic. When he stared into the eye, he was almost drawn into it. It made it seem as though nothing around him mattered. It made him forget what was happening. It made him feel calm.

Realising that Steven had been captivated by her third eye Garnet promptly replaced her visor. She cleared her throat. "Steven?"

"What?" Steven asked, not quite back in the room although the hypnosis had been broken. "Oh, yeah. Right. Feelings. I guess it's really scary. I don't want to imagine a world without Pearl. Who would do all of my laundry?"

"Be serious, Steven." Garnet said sternly.

"I am being serious. Pearl loves doing chores. If she ... Garnet, do you really think it's my fault if she dies?"

Garnet said nothing. Steven couldn't see her eyes behind her visor, but her was sure that she was was staring at him, hard. Then he noticed the single tear that was trickling under her visor and down her cheek. It was the first time he had ever seen Garnet cry. It made him realise how serious the situation was. It made everything seem more real. He hadn't wanted to accept the possibility that Pearl might die. "Yes." Garnet said, very quietly. It was a lie, but she knew that Steven's powers were linked to his emotions. She despised lying to Steven. She despised lying to anyone, but she knew it was the only way to save Pearl.

However if Garnet, usually so together, was crying then it meant the possibility of her death was very real. He jumped up from his spot on the floor, tears in his eyes and started to run around the room aimlessly. He wailed as he went, tears spurting from his eyes. "She's going to die. Pearl's going to die, and it's all my fault."

Steven's wailing didn't last for long. Garnet placed a strong hand upon his shoulder. "Steven, stop. Pearl is not going to die. I think you should try again." She picked Steven up and carried him over to the sofa where Pearl lay, looking even more pale than before. She placed him down on the floor gently. "Try again."

Steven, this time feeling the urgency to heal Pearl's gem, placed his slobber covered palms over it again. This time he knew it had worked, as he felt the power tingle through his body. He let out a sigh of relief before collapsing on the floor. Within seconds, he was drooling as he fell into a slumber.

Garnet sat on the floor next to him, leaning against the sofa. She held her head in her hands, relieved that Steven had pulled through, but also disgusted at what a mess she had made of things. At that moment she felt like a fraud. Ever since Rose had given up her form for Steven, she had been the one that kept the Crystal Gems together. Amethyst, Pearl and Steven all looked up to her and followed her advice. This made Garnet feel strong and powerful, so she continued to share her advice and wisdom. It wasn't always correct though, but her friends failed to see that. They failed to see that. They failed to see that sometimes she needed to be told no. She could see that Steven would be angry at her later, for her actions towards Amethyst, and rightly so. It would have been better if Steven had felt able to tell her no in the first place. The kid had clearly been uncomfortable with the plan. If he had known how uncertain Garnet had been that his powers would work then he would never had agreed. But Garnet had this way of acting like she knew all, when all she really knew was that anything is possible, even the worst eventualities. They just had to try to make the choices that prevented them.

With a groan Garnet pulled herself up from the floor and walked over to the front door. She opened it slowly, and walked out onto the porch. She watched for Amethyst returning, but there was no sign of her yet.

Garnet stayed out there for an hour, just watching, hoping that Amethyst would return soon, though knowing in her gut that she had hurt Amethyst deeply and she wouldn't be coming home any time soon. She felt a presence behind her, which broke her out of her trance, and turned to see Pearl. "Good. You're awake. How do you feel?"

"Actually, I feel really great. The last thing I remember is a pile of Amethyst's … stuff," Pearl spoke with disgust when she said the word stuff, "collapsing on me. Do you happen to know what has happened since? I don't appreciate having gaps in my memory."

"You're gem was broken. Steven healed it." Garnet was no longer looking at Pearl, and had continued to gaze out into the horizon, watching for Amethyst.

"Steven? Oh that is great." Pearl blushed with excitement. "His powers are developing even farther than we could have hoped."

"I had to tell him I would blame him if you died" Garnet said distastefully. "His powers cannot be relied on"

"Oh." Pearl said with a small frown. "Where is Amethyst? I need to tell her that I don't blame her for this. Of course, if she had of listened to me it wouldn't have happened. Why does she never listen to me?" She sighed.

"Because you never listen to her." Garnet snapped.

Pearl was taken aback by Garnet's tone, and took a step back almost as though she had been physically slapped. "I do listen to her."

"No. You don't. How many times has she told you she's happy with her room the way it is. I told you to stay out of there today. But you didn't listen." Garnet said these words so forcefully that they came out as a growl.

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to protect Steven. It could easily have been him, you know? He is always in her room, though I can't imagine why."

Garnet shrugged.

"Where is she?"

"Not here."

"Garnet, what did you do?"