Pink lowered her head a bit and sighed. "I knew you were going to ask that." She put her hand on Steven's shoulder. "Not a day goes by when I wish you didn't have to."

"What do you mean by that?"

"When I met Greg, at first, I just saw him as a fun human who wasn't put off by me being, well, an immortal space alien. But as time went on, I learned so much more about him. I learned he was kind, honest, caring, passionate, loving!" Pink wiped a tear away. "Everything the crystal gems thought I was." She turned her head away as she brought her hand to her chin.

"Everything I wasn't."

It was Steven's turn to comfort his mother. He put his hand on her forearm.

"I don't know what he, or anybody else, could have possibly seen in me. I put his entire planet in danger by lying for over five thousand years, and forced the only gem who would call me a friend to a life of silence just so I could run away from my responsibilities!" Pink's eyes were welling up. "Rose Quartz didn't deserve any of the praise she got. She was no better than Pink Diamond. Everything she did, she did without thinking about what she was doing. Without caring who got hurt. All she cared about was being something she wasn't!" Tears pooled on the translucent pink floor. "Greg was the first human I ever looked up to! He was everything I wanted to be! Everything that I could NEVER be!"

Steven and Pink had been sitting on her bed for the last 20 minutes. Steven had his arm on Pink's shoulders as she tried to calm down enough to talk to Steven.

"When Pink Diamond," She finally said through light sobs, "Burst out of the ground nearly ten thousand years ago, all she wanted was what was promised to her name. When Rose Quartz saw the earth for the first time, she wanted to be its' protector." Pink finally stopped crying and looked at Steven. "But when I found out that Greg and I could make a child, and raise you as our own." She held her hand to his cheek. "There wasn't a single thing in the entire universe I wanted more than to call myself your mother," She kissed Steven on the forehead. "And call you my child."

Steven blushed at what his mother said. "That sounds beautiful. But," Steven shifted a bit. "There's a little more to the story, isn't there?"

Pink chuckled a bit. "You're part human alright. Do you remember the story Greg told you about when I met baby Sour Cream?"

"Y-yeah. Didn't you say that you admired humans because they were able to be whoever they wanted to be?"

"I admire you because you can grow up. I thought, if I raised you, I could grow up with you. I could learn with you about everything I couldn't understand. I wanted... I wanted to learn how to love with you."

"But... if you saw the world through my eyes, doesn't that mean you learned with me?"

Pink was silent for a moment, lost in thought. "Not to me."

"What are you-"

"I've made so many mistakes by acting without thinking Steven. As Pink Diamond and Rose Quartz. But the worst mistake I've ever made, the biggest regret I've ever had..." Pink covered her face with her hands. "... Was not being there for you."