The sun began to set. Steven's room was bathed in a golden glow from the beach horizon. Virgil had spent the entire day showing Steven ways to use his healing to not only to heal, but to empower. Today Steven learned something Virgil called Gem Enchanting. It was some strange healing technique that Virgil taught Rose during his visit to her. Virgil seemed to be very fond of Rose. Apparently Rose was some sort of acolyte to Virgil, and that originally she wasn't able to heal people. Virgil spoke some tale of a great battle, between Gems and some unholy beast "The Heart of the Engulfer" and how Virgil was ripped in two pieces by this beast's jaw. If it hadn't been for Rose Quartz sewing him back together, there would be no Wandering Caretaker today. So, in return, he granted he the power to heal. The only thing that confused him, was why she was only able to heal when she cried. The only thing Steven was wondering about at the time was if Virgil was actually made of grey cloth, and apparently he is.

But that was before. Now Steven was playing his Nintendo Gamecube, while Pearl and Amethyst were tiding up a space for Virgil to sleep.

"Where is he gonna stay" Pearl panicked as she furiously scrubbed the floors in the kitchen clean, "This place isn't suited for him!"

"Does he even sleep anyway?" Amethyst said as she began stacking books that were on the floor in the living room.

"Oh, I don't know, better safe then sorry!" She jumped up and quickly plugged in the vacuum wasting no time as she cleaned the floors. Garnet was outside talking to Virgil at the time, distracting him from the racket that was going on inside. Virgil stared at the ocean with discontent. He could hear the wringing in his head, he could hear Lapis calling for rest, for a break.

"Garnet...Do you hear her?" Virgil sat hunched over the balcony and grabbing his stomach, like he had a terrible cramp.

"I choose to ignore it...but it gets very hard at times." Garnet stared blankly at the surf.

"It's ripping at me...I need to help her...but I still have matters to attend to here." Virgil turned around to look at Steven and Amethyst through the window. Steven had gotten up to help, and Amethyst laid sprawled on the floor with exhaustion. Pearl was still vacuuming, but she had done most of the house. Twice for that matter. Virgil smiled at them "You four make a wonderful family." Garnet looked confused, they never call themselves a family, its usually the Crystal Gems or the team. Family never occurred to them.

"We don't usually call ourselves a family." Garnet was now looking at the inside with Virgil.

"You should, a family is something precious, something to hold on to for as long as you can. Sometimes I wish I had..." Virgil trailed off, "Family." Garnet looked at Virgil, his mask, covering his blank stare into the room. She couldn't tell whether he was sad or jealous. "Maybe I should go inside." He mumbled. Virgil walked inside the house, Pearl looked up, put the vacuum away, and then bowed to Virgil. Virgil giggled as he gave her a big squeeze, "Pearl, I'm made of rags, not linen. You don't need to treat me like royalty, but I do appreciate the way you cleaned just for me." He said with a nice, light voice. Pearl blushed at the remark. He walked over to Amethyst, who was still laid out on the floor. "Amethyst." He said softly. She looked up. "I need you to come with me, outside, for just some time." Amethyst got up and followed Virgil outside, as Pearl gazed out the window to watch them. They walked to the front of the statue in back of their beach house. Amethyst sat down with Virgil as they gazed at the surf. No waves broke, and there was a calm silence. The sky above was illuminated with stars, and the Crest of The Caretaker shown brightly in the sky overhead.

"Amethyst." Virgil looked at her, his mask gleaming in the light, "Rumor has it...you aren't a Homeworld gem..."

A cold chill went down her spine. "...well...yeah..." She mumbled shamefully.

"And you were made...like the other Gems? You came from a parent rock?" Virgil held her hand, he could feel the tears resonate in her eyes.

"Yeah..."

"How did they get you out of the rock?"

"Well..." She folded her hands nervously, "When I was made, they would try to get me out with a hook, and if that didn't work... they'd kinda zap me until I jumped out."

Virgil almost fainted when he heard this, he began coughing a wheezing, like someone had just knocked the wind out of him.

"Where is the festivity? The song of Birth? Where am I?" He stammered.

"Why does it matter!"

Virgil stopped, Amethyst had never heard the song of Birth. Never felt the first feeling every gem in Virgil's care has felt. She was never truly safe. Virgil hugged her tight. He wouldn't let go, at first Amethyst began to struggle, but then, she felt a warm feeling resonate inside her. It was something she never felt before. It was safety, security, and trust. She felt happy. She relaxed, and after sometime Virgil let go. He went into his robe and pulled out the instrument he showed to Steven before. The Instrument of Birth.

"Every time a new Gem is born, I am called upon to play this song." Virgil cleaned the instrument off, "I think it's time for me to make up for some lost time, and play for you." Amethyst smiled through the tears that had been streaming through her face. He put the reed of the instrument through the hole in his mask, and began to play. The music was so mellow, so melodic, so sincere and well tuned, even the stars above flickered to the beat. The Crest of the Caretaker shown brightly in the night sky now. When the song ended, she leaped onto Virgil crying, but it was a good crying. She was happy, happy that someone wanted to be there for her, someone wanted to be there for her anytime. She was happy that the Caretaker had wandered her way. Even Virgil couldn't help but shed a tear, tears dripped from under his mask and onto his robe. "That get's me every time." He whimpered. The two finally broke the hug, returning back inside, only smiling as Amethyst went to her room, and Virgil decided to rest on the couch. From that moment on, Amethyst knew that she didn't just have a protector.

She had a Caretaker.


Chapter 4 done. I got the inspiration for Virgil's music from the song Pocket Universe by Aivi and Surasshu. Who actually turn out to be the music producers for SU, so there's a coincidence. I highly suggest you check the song out because it's probably one of their best pieces. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the read. Please reveiw for anything you might wanna see or if you have any criticism that I need to hear. Trust me, I wanna hear it. Thanks for reading