How's it going, and welcome back to Don't Even Bother.
Remember what I said in chapter four about how school and other things may interfere with when I write, and thus when I release new chapters? Well, that's exactly what happened with this one, which is why this chapter took a little longer than I would have liked to release (I actually wrote and proofread this entire chapter today, which almost never happens. It usually takes a minimum of two days). Sorry about that.
In the event it seems like it's been a little longer than usual since a new chapter's been released in the future, please note that it probably means I'm busy with other stuff. It will come.
Anyways, I'm sure most of you saw Nightmare Hospital this past Thursday. Another excellent episode as usual, although I missed the first three minutes and I had to watch it again later. I'm glad Connie and her mom are finally communicating. And speaking of Connie, guess who FINALLY makes just their second appearance in this story so far this chapter?
Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe. Steven Universe is owned by Rebecca Sugar.
Present
"Thoughts"
Author's Note
Flashback
"Where could they be?"
It was only after she quietly uttered this line out loud that Connie realized how weird she probably sounded mumbling to herself. With a sigh, she put her hands in her pocket, instead choosing to silently walking down the beach this time, with her head down. As much as she tried to keep things in perspective, however, she still found her mind running wild.
Although she didn't admit it out loud to anyone, the past two weeks had been a little rough. Actually, completely miserable was probably the better term; it felt like something was missing in the young girl's life in recent days. And she knew exactly what that something was.
Steven.
As much as she tried to forget about it, the argument they had that one day still weighed heavily on her mind. Considering it was the most recent time she had seen Steven, it wasn't like she had anything else to really think about. Not even things about unrelated to the boy.
Ever since their fight, Connie had basically become just like Steven, never leaving the house and never doing any of the things she used to enjoy so much. She didn't even want to think about how rusty her sword skills had become. Actually, she didn't really want to think about any gem stuff at all, especially Steven.
Until today.
It was somewhat early in the morning at 6:45 AM, but rather than sleeping in on a Saturday like today, Connie instead sat on the couch in her home, reading a book. The sun was just coming up, and it looked like it would be a beautiful day outside, but she had no desire to leave the house and experience it. Actually, she had no desire to read, either, but she had to pass the time somehow.
Finally, after reading what felt like the same sentence over and over again, Connie leaned her head back against the couch, closing the book in the process. Try as she might, she simply couldn't get her mind off of everything that's been happening in the past week or two. Or, to be more specific, everything that HASN'T been happening in the past week or two.
In her mind, she knew the cause of her moping about: her argument with Steven. Ever since that day, she only really left the house to go to school. Aside from that, basically everything about her life was on hold.
She hadn't returned to the temple in weeks for a sword fighting lesson with Pearl; she just couldn't bring herself to do it. All of her normal hobbies and interests, such as violin and tennis, also basically flew out the window. She just didn't have any desire to do them.
And it was all because of Steven.
As soon as this thought crossed her mind, Connie immediately regretted it. It wasn't Steven's fault everything was going the way it was, it was her fault for not doing anything about it, for not trying to help him more. After all, it was because of their most recent fight that she was acting this way in the first place.
She missed Steven. And it probably wasn't just her, either, as Steven had an enormous impact on everyone.
In the moment this idea popped in her head, Connie's eyes grew wide. The reason everything was so down in the dumps was because Steven's change in personality was dragging everyone that noticed it down with him. Didn't he realize the kind of impact he had on people? His happy demeanor. His constant positive attitude. His care and devotion to everyone he loved. Without him, there was a void. Not just in her life, but in everyone else's, too.
And he didn't even know it. Especially not now.
Connie made up her mind. She hadn't even attempted to contact Steven in the past two weeks; she had been too scared to do so, for fear of another outburst similar to the one that happened last time. Now, however, she had a newfound resolve. No matter how much he would try to deny he needed it, she was going to help him. He needed it.
She was going to do something about it. About bringing Steven back.
Her Steven. Their Steven.
"Well, I can't really do anything about it if nobody's home."
Connie shook her head to herself as soon as this thought entered her mind. It was quite ironic, in a way; she was almost completely confident Steven had spent the entire month in his house, leaving for basically nothing. Except for today.
It was just a little suspicious, as none of the Crystal Gems appeared to be around, either. It was likely they were either in the temple or on a mission, but from what she could remember the few times she had been over after that one mission all four of them went on, it didn't seem like they went on missions together very often anymore. It was a bit of a mystery where they all were.
Nevertheless, she wasn't giving up. And she knew exactly where to check next.
After a few minutes of walking through the various streets of Beach City, she finally came across a very familiar car wash, appropriately titled It's a Wash. At the same time, Connie couldn't help but smile when she also saw a very familiar van parked in front of the building. The side decal clearly read "Mr. Universe."
Not even a second after she observed this, the back doors to the van swung open, revealing who was inside: Mr. Universe, Steven's father. If anyone knew where to find his son, it was him.
Mr. Universe cracked his neck once he opened the doors to the van, taking in a deep breath of fresh air. As soon as he opened his eyes, however, he was a little surprised to see Connie standing in front of him, by herself.
"Oh, hi Connie. What brings you here?"
"Hi, Mr. Universe. I have a question to ask."
Greg's face morphed into a confused look. "A question? Uh, okay?"
"Have you seen Steven recently?"
Greg wasn't entirely sure why at first, but he suddenly felt that strange feeling you sometimes get in the pit of your stomach. It only took him a moment, however, to recognize what it was: fear. Why would Connie be asking him this question?
"Come to think of it, I haven't. Isn't he at the house?"
Connie shook her head. "I just checked there, but he wasn't home. It didn't look like any of the Crystal Gems were, either. I was hoping you would know."
The feeling of fear Greg was experiencing intensified. Just yesterday, Amethyst told him she was playing hide-and-seek with him, and he believed her. If that really was the case, however, then why was he still missing? And how come none of the Crystal Gems were around? There was always at least one at the house, from what he could gather.
What was going on?
"... And that's what happened."
Peridot stared at Steven with her mouth hanging open a little from surprise. Whatever theories she came up with in her head in regards to why the Steven was running away from the Crystal Clods were dead wrong. Nevertheless, there were still a few parts to his story she didn't quite understand.
"So, let me get this straight... you're escaping those clods because they only see you as your 'mother?'"
Steven nodded his head and smiled. "That's right."
"What's a 'mother?'"
Steven's face fell.
"Well, she's... your mother is..." Steven stumbled to come up with an explanation. Now that he thought about it, he didn't exactly know what a mother was like, either. Sure, the gems always were, or at least pretended to be motherly figures to him (at least Pearl and Garnet were), but he never experienced what it was like to... truly have her. After all, he never got to meet his real mom. Rose.
"Let's just say your mother is very important. Well not to you, 'cause you're a gem and you don't have a mother, but to humans."
"I don't understand. How can you have a 'mother' if only humans can have one? You're a gem!"
Steven shook his head. "No, I'm half-gem, half-human. I kinda get the best and worst of both."
Peridot looked utterly bewildered. "How does that even work..."
Steven smiled a bit at her curiosity. He wanted to explain the tale on how his mom fell in love and vice-versa, but that would take just a little too long to warrant doing so right then and there. "Well, that's another long story. We can get to that later, I guess. My da... I mean, someone I know very well told it to me once. It was a cool story."
After thinking about it for a second, Peridot decided what he was saying was sound logic. Nevertheless, there were a few more things she needed to know. "But why would they think you're your 'mother?' You're the Steven."
Steven couldn't stop himself from chuckling. "No, they don't think I'M my mom, they just... wish they had her instead of me," said Steven, his laughter slowly fading the further along he progressed in his statement.
Peridot once again felt that sad feeling well up inside of her. She didn't like seeing the Steven lose whatever it was that made him so happy. Still, she needed to know a few more answers before she could do anything about it. "And your... 'mom'? That's a term you just used, is it not?"
Steven gave her a confused glance and nodded. "Yeah, so what?"
"What's a 'mom?' Is it a different kind of 'mother?' Is a 'mom' like the other side of..." cried Peridot, her voice and tone growing increasingly confused and fast as the questions flowed. She was interrupted, however, by Steven's laughter returning.
"Hahaha, no no, mom is just short for mother. They're the same thing."
Peridot was still a little fuzzy on the whole "mom" thing. Nowhere in the word "mother" was "mom" present. The proper term should've been "mot" or "ther." It didn't make any sense to her, but she decided to ponder that information later. There were more important matters to attend to.
"So your 'mom' is Rose Quartz?"
Steven's laughing once again died down as he frowned a little bit. "Yeah..."
"Why would they wish they could have your 'mom' instead of you? Isn't Rose Quartz already with the rest of the clods?" Peridot asked.
Steven's frown remained; it was clear Peridot had no idea that his mother had sacrificed herself so he could exist. "No, she... she gave up her physical form. For me. Now I have her gem."
Peridot still didn't know how that whole process worked, but the Steven said he would explain it later. For now, though, all that mattered was...
"I'm not sure why they would rather have someone else."
Steven was confused. "What do you mean?"
"Like I said earlier, you're the Steven. I've read various reports and bios about Rose Quartz, but I still don't see why would they want her back. Why would they when they have you?"
Peridot couldn't believe what she just said.
It wasn't even two days ago that the Steven was her enemy, the obstacle preventing her escape from Earth. And now here she was, reassuring him in his time of need? How did the tables turn so much?
And yet, she didn't feel bad or angry about it. In fact, she felt... happy. Happy that she was helping him.
Happy.
There was no point in denying it, both to herself and out loud anymore: she cared about the Steven. He brought something to her life she didn't have before, and she didn't want to let go of it now that it was there.
And she hated seeing him sad. She really, really did.
Steven was stunned.
It was true that Peridot never knew his mom, which made her opinion biased. But in Steven's eyes, that didn't matter. Nearly every gem he had ever met - Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Jasper - they only saw his mom, although it hadn't been as obvious with the Crystal Gems as it had been with Jasper. Lapis didn't count, as she had been trapped in the mirror for so long that there was no way she could've known what Rose was truly like.
Peridot was different. She just admitted she knew all about Rose Quartz (even though she didn't actually know her), yet she reaffirmed she only saw Steven. Not his mom. Steven.
In Peridot's eyes, he was Steven. Or at least "the Steven," as she would say.
And that was good enough for him.
Rather than replying with words, Steven walked over to Peridot and gave her a hug. Actually, he gave her leg a hug, as she was significantly taller than he was. Still, a hug was a hug.
"Thank you Peridot," said Steven in a cheerful tone.
"Ack! What are you doing?" yelled Peridot, clearly not used to the concept of a hug.
"It's a hug. What does it look like?"
"It looks like you're grabbing me for some reason. What's a hug?"
Steven chuckled. "It's what you do when you're really happy with someone."
Now that she confirmed it wasn't some kind of strange combat grip or something, Peridot relaxed. Still, she was just a little curious as to why they did things such as "hugs" on Earth. "We have no such ritual back on Homeworld."
Steven finally broke off and looked up at the green gem.
"Well, right now you're on Earth, not Homeworld," replied Steven, giving her a smile in the process. Peridot sighed.
"Yes. I guess I am."
Amethyst filed into the entrance of the house, looking exhausted. This observation would be absolutely correct; she was exhausted, as she had spent the entire day looking for Steven. But her being tired wasn't what was on her mind.
For hours she, Garnet, and Pearl checked the Kindergarten. The surrounding area. They even visited a town about ten to fifteen miles south of the Kindergarten, and searched for him there. Nothing.
They weren't just tired. They were frustrated. And desperate.
Being the only one inside the house, Amethyst grudgingly went to turn on the lights; she was only here to gather a few supplies before they continued the search. Garnet and Pearl were waiting down on the beach, as they planned to split up again as soon as Garnet pointed out where they all needed to look on the map she was grabbing.
Amethyst suddenly felt a twinge of sarcastic happiness. At least Pearl and Garnet were willing to stand on the same beach together. That was a start.
It was approaching 11:00 PM, but gems didn't need to sleep. Even though Amethyst greatly enjoyed sleeping, she put doing so on hold for now. Steven came first. She wouldn't rest until the boy was found and back with them, safe and sound.
When she flicked the light switch to illuminate the house, however, her eyes grew wide. She was wrong about assuming she was the only one in the house.
Sitting on the couch, with his arms crossed, was Greg. He didn't look particularly happy.
"Amethyst."
Amethyst immediately fumbled in her mind for a reply, but she knew it was hopeless. The only plausible explanation for why Greg would be here at this hour was if he knew something. The jig was up.
"Greg! Uh... wh-what are you doing here? No wait, I, uh, how did you get in the house?"
"You guys left the door unlocked."
Amethyst inwardly slapped her forehead.
"Oh. Well then, hehe, just a mistake, I suppose," replied Amethyst, as calmly as she could. It didn't sound calm at all.
"Amethyst, I'm not going to waste any time. Connie came to me today saying Steven wasn't home. You know as well as anyone that he's always been home recently. But there's not just that, you also said yesterday that you and he were playing hide-and-seek. Wh..."
"Amethyst! Have you not grabbed that map yet?"
Greg stopped what he was saying mid-sentence due to Pearl unexpectedly entering the house. "I told you, it's in the cabinet near..."
She looked over to the couch. Pearl's eyes grew wide as well.
"Um... hello, Greg. What brings you here so late?"
Greg's expression didn't move. "Me and Amethyst were just having a little chat."
Pearl began to sweat. "Chat? Well, haha, what could you be chatting about? Hehehe," she replied as casually as possible. Smooth.
Greg finally uncrossed his arms and stood up.
"I'm not going to sugar coat it. Where's my son?"
"Stop the presses!" Or, in this case, the chapter. Eh.
I know that Connie's kinda been shoved to the side in this story since chapter one. I've been waiting for the right opportunity to bring her back, and it finally emerged in this chapter. We'll be seeing more of her in the future, don't worry.
Oh yes, and before I forget to mention this: please know that I am NOT trying to vilify Rose Quartz in this story. It may feel a little bit like that's what I'm doing, but there will be more information that gives a clearer picture in future chapters. Besides, Rose is one of my favorite characters, I could never make her an enemy, lol.
Well, that's about all I've got for now.
Have a nice day.
