Chapter 7: Reunion

The house was still as the morning sun approached. The sun shined through the windows, sweet, salty, sea air wafted throughout the house, and a young boy has just awoken from his sleep. His poofy hair was frizzled even more, and he was still half asleep by the time he sat up. He got out of bed and walked towards the dresser. He pulled out a red T-shirt with a yellow star on it, a pair of small jeans, and a pair of underwear. He turned around and walked down the stairs and to the bathroom. He reached up to the cup on the sink to grab his toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. He placed a dab on his brush and began to clean his teeth. After a minute of brushing, he took a sip of water and spat out the remaining white foam. He took off his PJ top and looked down. He stared at the bright pink gem on his chubby belly and smiled a little. He got changed into his outfit and exited the bathroom. The house was still empty, so he decided to make himself some breakfast. He climbed onto the counter, opened the cupboard and grabbed a box of cereal. Carefully, he slid off the counter and opened the fridge to grab some milk for his cereal. He was ready for his first meal of the day, when he realized that he forgot to grab a bowl while he was up there.

"This always happens Steven. You go straight for the gold but forget to have something to carry it all." The young boy thought to himself.

He jumped back onto the counter once more and shimmied over to the cupboard with the bowls and other plates. He opened the cupboard and grabbed a small bowl with a smile on his face. He was ready for his cereal but in his excitement, he stepped on a rag and slipped on it. He almost fell off the counter but was stopped by someone. He regained his balance and stared into the face of his saviour. Her ricotta skin was made more evident by the light, her turquoise eyes looking at Steven with a concerned look on her face. She brushed away a strand of her soft orange hair and spoke.

"Steven! What have I told you about making yourself breakfast?" The pale gem scolded.

"It's fine as long as I am aware of my surroundings?" Steven replied.

"And what just happened?" She asked sternly.

"I forgot that the dish towel was on the counter and slipped on it?" Steven again answered.

"Yes, and if I wasn't here you could have gotten hurt. Next time you want breakfast just wait for me okay?" She requested.

"Aww but Pearl! I don't know when you or Garnet or Amethyst come here! You're so random sometimes." Steven complained.

"Well I'm sorry Steven but if you're going to end up hurting yourself you leave me no choice." Pearl replied as she made Steven's cereal, "Here you go.".

With that, Steven lightened up with a big smile. He grabbed the bowel and Pearl handed him a spoon. He grabbed it from her and gave her another smile, "Thank you!".

With that began to shovel spoonfuls of the his favorite cereal into his mouth, careful to eat properly. Pearl taught him proper table manners, and he knows how much it disappoints her when he doesn't follow them, so he tries his best. As he continued to eat, a strand of red light drew itself across the door across the room. The door separated into three pieces and opened, revealing a tall muscular gem with a skinny waist and large afro. The tall gem wore a and a red black jumpsuit and a yellow visor that covered her eyes, leaving a reddish-brown nose and sweet luscious lips underneath. She was accompanied by a short, lilac colored gem. Her long lavender hair dragged on the ground, past her purple top and black pants with star shaped holes in them.

"Hey Steven!" The short girl shouted cheerfully.

"Good morning." The tall woman said in a smooth tone.

"Morning Garnet and Amethyst!" Steven replied back.

The two walked past the warp pad between the door and the kitchen and approached Pearl.

"So how's the situation?" Pearl asked.

"It's big, but should be easy to stop with proper preparation." Garnet explained.

"What's big? How's what situation?" Steven asked as he continued to eat.

"There's this huge monster approaching Beach City. We have no idea what it is but it won't be a problem, so long as we're ready for it." Garnet continued.

"Wooaaah! So we're gonna have a huge fight with this thing!?" Steven said as he pumped himself up.

"Yes, WE are. YOU are to stay in the temple." Pearl commanded.

"What, why?" Steven asked.

"This is a threat that we cannot take lightly. We have to stop it while it's in the water. If it reaches land, it'll be far more difficult to take down. This requires complete focus. One wrong move, and the situation will become infinitely worse." Garnet explained.

"Couldn't you just take the gem sloop out and take it out at sea?" Steven asked.

"We thought of that, and it's too risky. It can easily escape in deep water, so we have to catch it at the shoreline. Our timing has to be perfect." Pearl answered.

"You'll kind of get in the way Steven." Amethyst stated bluntly.

"Amethyst!" Pearl snapped.

"What, it's true. Don't take it the wrong way Steven, when we're on missions together we have a lot of fun, but this is a super serious situation." Amethyst explained.

"I can be serious!" Steven pouted.

"Be that as it may we can't afford to keep an eye on you while combating this thing." Pearl politely stated.

"Awww...alright." Steven said.

"Don't get mopey, I set up a chair outside for you. You'll get to see everything! Just...don't do anything, okay?" Amethyst said.

"Oh, okay! When's this thing coming anyway?"

"Tomorrow afternoon." Garnet stated, "Today is about preparations.".

"Okay, then I'ma go into town and do stuff while you guys work on your business!" Steven said as he ran up the stairs.

The gems looked at each other for a second and Steven came back down with a sock full of coins.

"Where ya gonna go?" Amethyst asked.

"To the Funland Arcade!" Steven declared.

"You're still allowed in there after what happened?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah, I cleaned up and paid off my debts. Mr. Smiley gave me a second chance. I'll see you later!" He said as he ran out the door.

"...He took that well." Amethyst said.

"He understands the circumstances." Garnet added.

"Alright then, lets get to work." Pearl declared.

With that the gems walked out the door and onto the deck. The sky was a shade of blue hanging over Beach City, the air was still, not even a breeze caressed the gems. Miles away across the sea, dark clouds were beginning to form.

"Did the weather channel ever mention something about a storm?" Pearl asked.

"If it did, I didn't see it. The news is boring." Amethyst replied.

"Something tells me that our mystery beast is stronger than I previously thought." Garnet stated.

"It's creating an entire storm? What kind of magic does this thing have?" Pearl asked nervously.

"I'm not sure, but one things for certain, there is no way we can fight it out there. That storm will tear the sloop apart." Garnet explained.

"Geez, and here I thought this was going to be easy. If I knew this is what we were dealing with I would have put off my rest and snack time." Amethyst whined.

"There's no time for that now. We have to start preparing now." Garnet commanded.

"It's going to be a busy couple of days, that's for sure." Amethyst said.

Tourmaline looked at the people walking along the sidewalk. Happy, not a care in their world, just enjoying the day. He wishes that he could enjoy his time here, but his business comes first. With his friends beside him, he continued to search for the crystal trio. Ruby was just as determined as he was, as was Tanzanite. Tanza and Sapphire seemed uncomfortable, and Taz was beaming with excitement. It was always fun for her to meet new people I suppose, despite any and all circumstances.

They came to the end of the sidewalk. Across the street was a beautiful beach. White sand shimmered in the sun and the clear blue sea sparkled like a million diamonds. Storm clouds rolled in far across the sea, but it didn't look like they were coming here anytime soon. As Tourmaline stepped forward to cross the street, a young boy ran past him, causing him to step back. The boy looked back, realizing what he did.

"Sorry about that!" He said as he continued on.

He turned around and ran with a sack of what sounded like coins in his hand. Tourmaline stared at him for a few seconds. There was something about that kid. A familiar feeling, something about him interested him.

Ruby snapped him out of his daze, "Tourmaline? What's up?".

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just something about that kid." Tourmaline answered.

"What do you mean?" Sapphire asked.

"I don't know...just something about him. He feels...I don't know." Tourmaline continued.

"Well whatever, lets focus on our goal here." Tanza stated.

"Yeah, you're right." Tourmaline said.

The group crossed the street to the beach. If the crystal trio would be anywhere, it would be on the beach. To their left was a shipyard and the rest of the city, to their right was a large cliff. The group went to the right to hopefully find the other gems. As they walked alongside the jagged walls of the cliff, they spotted some people. Three women, all in odd attire, looking out at the sea. There was no doubt about it, they found the crystal trio.

"That's them alright. That's Rose's group; Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl." Tanza stated.

"But where's Rose? I don't see her." Sapphire said nervously.

Taz was about to run up to meet them but was stopped by Tanza.

"Topaz we can't just rush at them, we need to approach this carefully." Tanza said.

"I agree." Sapphire added.

"Why's that?" Taz asked.

"Yeah, why?" Ruby and Tanzanite repeated.

"...Alright here's the deal. I've known the gems for a long time. I was raised by them, but something...unfortunate happened along the way and I ran away. This will be the first time I've seen them in decades, and I doubt they'll be happy to see me." Sapphire explained.

"Unfortunate?" Taz repeated.

"I don't want to talk about it." Sapphire said dismissively.

"I'm not on the best grounds with them either. Not like you Sapphire, but more of a bad first impression." Tanza added.

"Wait what!? Why haven't you told me about this!?" Taz shouted at her.

"I knew it would upset you but I couldn't let you know. They were going to destroy an artifact I was looking for, I got angry and tried to take it by force." Tanza explained.

"I can't believe-!"

"Enough! I get it, you two have had it rough with them but you have to remember that this is about TOURMALINE." Ruby snapped.

The two gems looked at the young girl and nodded.

"You're right. So how are we going to do this?" Tanza asked.

"I'll go up with Tanzanite. It'll be easiest if we go first and talk to them and introduce you all. After that we'll have Tourmaline ask his questions and be on our way." Ruby elaborated.

"Uhhh, Ruby?" Tanzanite uttered as she pointed towards the trio.

The group looked in the direction she was pointing in to see Tourmaline already behind the gems, still oblivious to stared in awe for a brief second, and Ruby let out an annoyed groan.

"Or we could let Tourmaline break the ice and improvise!" She angrily exclaimed.

The group began to run towards Tourmaline, now appearing to talk with the crystal trio, hoping to keep the situation calm.

"Shouldn't we let him talk?" Taz asked.

"We should but I'm not sure about him. He might act like...well himself." Ruby answered.

"I don't think he'd do that. He's very serious about this." Tanza replied.

"Well maybe not but we're gonna have to talk to them anyway, so lets just get this over with!" Ruby shouted.

The crystal gems were staring out towards the storm clouds. Garnet observed the waves while Pearl looked on through her telescope. Amethyst was sitting in the sand, waiting for her turn with the telescope.

"Anything yet?" Amethyst asked.

"Hard to tell, it's so dark over there." Pearl answered.

"Then what's the point of even looking through the telescope?" Amethyst continued.

"I don't know maybe the creature will come up for air and I can catch a glimpse of it. Some kind of clue about this thing would be helpful." Pearl explained.

"Really? The whole 'brings a storm with it' thing not a big enough hint for you?" Amethyst said sarcastically.

"Well maybe it's just an actual storm and we're overreacting, I don't know!" Pearl replied, irritated by Amethyst's comment.

"You overreacting? That's a shocker." Amethyst continued, rolling her eyes.

"Excuse me!? I do not overreact to anything! You just underreact to everything!" Pearl snapped.

"Well maybe that's because I'm not as uptight as you!" Amethyst snapped back.

"Enough!" Garnet said in a stern tone.

The two gems silenced themselves and looked away from each other.

"The waves are moving irregularly. It's moving faster than I expected." Garnet stated.

"How much time do we have then?" Pearl asked.

"It should be here by nightfall." Garnet answered.

"There's not enough time." Pearl said horrified.

"There's enough time. We just need to get started now." Garnet reassured her.

"Um, excuse me?" They heard a young man's voice behind them.

The three gems turned to lock eyes with a tan young man, eyes green as grass. He stood there, in an uneasy stance.

"Uh, hello. Is there something we can help you with?" Pearl asked calmly.

"I have some questions for you." The young man replied sternly.

"What questions could you possibly have for us?" Pearl continued.

"Uh, Pearl? Take a look." Amethyst said as she pointed towards the boy's legs.

Pearl and Garnet looked down to see two large green gems embedded into the boy's legs. Pearl and Garnet stared at him in disbelief.

"You're...you're a gem." Pearl said flabbergasted.

"I...yes. My name is Tourmaline." Tourmaline stated.

"Hello Tourmaline." Garnet said, "What exactly do you need to know?".

"I...I need to know about my fa-".

"Hold it!" Ruby shouted, interrupting Tourmaline.

Tourmaline and the gems looked towards the motley crew running towards crystal trio's surprise raised even further. The group ran up to Tourmaline and faced the crystal gems. Garnet Amethyst and Pearl stared at the young red haired girl and her friends. They saw Tanzanite, Taz nearly bursting with excitement, Tanza standing uneasily...and then Sapphire.

"Sapphire!?" Garnet exclaimed.

"Hello Garnet…" Sapphire replied nervously.

"I...how dare you show your face here. After what happened all those years ago you have the nerve to just waltz back in here and-" Pearl yelled at her until Amethyst stopped her from chewing her out even further.

"What are you doing here Sapphire." Amethyst asked coldly.

"Trust me, I wouldn't be anywhere near you if it weren't for Tourmaline." Sapphire replied.

"And I take it he knows about the incident?" Pearl brought up.

"He doesn't need to know about that!" Sapphire replied angrily, "And I've moved past that incident. I may have not acted like I cared back then but I do now! I regret that day and I wish I could change it, but I can't.".

"Caring about it now won't bring those people back." Pearl said coldly.

"Neither will arguing about it." Sapphire said.

Pearl opened her mouth to yell again, but felt Garnet's hand on her shoulder. She closed her mouth and looked up at her leader.

"It's...good to see your still here." Garnet said.

Sapphire averted her eyes. Tanza was the next to step forward.

"Considering were just putting this out in the open, we might as well get my case out now." She said calmly.

"Yes, lets discuss what you did….you." Amethyst said confused.

"Wait, you don't remember me?" Tanza said, mildly offended.

"Uhhhhh." Amethyst uttered as she scratched her head.

"The big fight a few decades ago? I wanted an artifact that you were about to destroy. I fought with Garnet?" Tanza explained.

"Oh yeah! That was an awesome fight! I wanted to give Garnet a high five after that sweet match, but Pearl said it would be inappropriate." Amethyst said.

"That artifact was far too dangerous to let anyone hold. I told you that. So have you learned your lesson?" Garnet asked.

Tanza was boiling at this point. How dare they talk down to her about her humiliation. But she knew this was important to her friend, so she swallowed her pride and changed the subject.

"This isn't about me. This is about our friend." Tanza said calmly.

"Yeah, go on Tourmaline." Tanzanite said.

Tourmaline looked away from his friends and back to the crystal gems, all of them staring directly at him.

"I...I'd like to speak with Rose." Tourmaline demanded.

The gems reeled back. A pained expression spread across each of their faces. They looked at each other and after a few seconds, looked back to Tourmaline.

"I'm sorry...but Rose is no longer with us…" Pearl said somberly.

Tourmaline and Sapphire's eyes widened. Tourmaline took a step back and Sapphire raised a hand to her mouth. The others stared at them with empathy.

"No...how. How is this possible!?" Tourmaline shouted.

"She had a son. When he was born, she passed her gem along to him...killing her." Garnet explained, choking on her last words.

"I...no...Rose." Sapphire whispered to herself.

Tanzanite looked at Sapphire's pained expression, tears welling up in her eyes. "Sapphire?".

"No...I...I have to go!" Sapphire shouted as she ran off towards the town.

Ruby placed a hand on Tourmaline's shoulder.

"I know this is disappointing but you can at least ask them." She reassured him.

"I know that but it's just...I mean...DAMN IT!" He shouted as he ran towards the boatyard.

"Tourmaline wait!" She shouted at him, "No.".

The crystal trio stared at the remaining girls, all looking at their fleeing friends. Their sadness from remembering Rose was replaced with a new empathy for the young girls.

"I'm sorry to say this, but if you have nothing to say to us now, you have to lea-" Pearl said before Amethyst dragged her and Garnet away from the group.

"Amethyst what is your problem!" She shouted at her.

"Shhhhh, keep your voice down." Amethyst shushed.

"What do you want?" Garnet asked.

"I just got a great idea!" She answered.

"Oh no." Pearl said.

"Look, this monster is coming fast right? So we might not be entirely prepared for this thing. But if we had some extra help, it'll be a breeze!".

"This doesn't involve them!" Pearl snapped.

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought protecting humans was A gem's duty, not just ours." Amethyst replied snarkily.

"She has a point." Garnet added.

"Hmmm, well I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask." Pearl wondered.

"That's the spirit!" Amethyst said excitedly.

The trio walked back towards the other gems. They all turned to face them, their worried expressions still on.

"Hey, would you like to come back to our home for a bit? We have a bit of a situation and we'd like you to help if you can." Pearl asked.

Tourmaline sat at the docks, staring at the boats, confused and angry. He came all this way to see Rose, and for what? Just her lackeys. What would they know? Her mother said he was closer to Rose anyway. On the other hand, he regretted just running off, leaving his friends behind like that.

"I should have asked them about dad, I should have taken it better. Stupid. Stupid! STUPID!" He shouted at himself.

He flopped back and grabbed his hair, and let out a frustrated scoff. His scoff turned into a louder groan as he rolled on the hot boards and then, just flopped out and stared at the sky.

"Hey, you alright?" A kid's voice asked him.

Tourmaline turned his head to see a young boy wearing a red shirt with a star on it looking down on him. Tourmaline took a second but realized that it was the kid from before, still holding that bag.

"Uh yeah, I'm fine." Tourmaline said.

"My friends say it's not good to lie about how you feel." The boy replied.

"...Smart friends. I guess I'm doing relatively bad." Tourmaline said solemnly.

"Aww, why's that? Wanna talk about it?" He offered as he sat down on the dock next to him.

"It's beyond your grasp kid." Tourmaline said looking away from the kid.

"I can grasp it! I can firmly grasp it!" He whined.

Tourmaline sighed. "I don't think you can. It's about family.".

"Oh...I guess so. All I have is my dad, so I'd only know half of what you're talking about." The kid said somberly.

"So you have a dad huh? Well I guess I win in this case." Tourmaline said sitting up.

"Huh?" The boy said, puzzled.

"...I don't have a mom or dad." Tourmaline admitted.

The kid stared at him, mouth hung open, "Whaat!? That's so sad! Wait, how can it involve family if...nevermind, I don't want to say anything mean by accident.".

"It's fine. I came here to ask for answers about my parents, learn something about them...find out what they were like. Now that I'm here, that I know who knew my parents...I can't even look them in the face without getting angry." Tourmaline explained.

"What are you talking about? What happened to your parents?" The kid asked.

"You wouldn't believe me. Heck you'd think I'm crazy." Tourmaline responded.

"Weird stuff happens here all the time. Try me." The boy challenged.

"Well okay. I'm from a race of people called gems, we essentially are guardians of the world." Tourmaline stated.

"Woah woah woah woah woah!" The boy shouted loudly, "You're a gem!?".

"Yeah." Tourmaline said as he turned to show his gems, "You've heard of us?".

"Of course I have! I was raised by gems, I'm a half gem myself!" He exclaimed as he lifted up his shirt, revealing the gem on his belly.

"Wha-wait...who are yo- who are your friends?" Tourmaline asked, astonished by the revelation.

"I'll tell you later, go on with your story!" The kid demanded eagerly as he dropped let his shirt back down.

"Well. Long before you and I were born, the gems did some terrible things you see, and made something angry." Tourmaline went on.

"Terrible things? I thought the gems were nice guys." The little gem said.

"We are. It's just that back in the day, we had different views. We couldn't agree on a way to settle on things...so we turned to war to find the way. In the wake of the war, they awoke a huge monster, that wanted nothing more than the destruction of our entire race. Our remaining forces banded together to fight this thing, my father being the leader of the army. The battle raged forever, until it was only him, and these four other gems: Rose, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl."

The kid wanted to say something, but held it in to let him finish.

"The beast lunged at Rose...and my dad pushed her out of the way. He was killed, and the others used the opportunity to kill the monster. In the meantime, my mom was about to give birth to me. When I was born, no one else was there. My mom faded away and left me behind. The gems couldn't raise me themselves, the society was in ruins. So I was sent away to a human orphanage. I was treated like a freak for years. I grew to resent humans, and I even became an assassin...just to find some sense of revenge against them.".

"You're...you're a bad guy?" The little boy asked, shocked.

"Not anymore. I met some this girl Ruby. She made me see that people aren't as selfish and evil as I originally thought. We traveled the world, protected people from monsters, made a lot of new friends. I've turned my life around, now I just need to learn this final piece of information to leave my past behind.". Tourmaline finished.

"Do...do you blame my friends for what happened to your mom and dad? What happened to you?" The kid asked.

"You're frie-...I don't know…" Tourmaline said as he looked away.

"You don't know? Why?" The boy asked.

"I...just don't know. I don't how to feel towards them. My dad died protecting one of them, but they just left my mom and abandoned me. I don't know if that was intentional or not...but I don't understand why they didn't try to find me." Tourmaline explained.

"Oh. Well, their main goal is to protect the world. So maybe they tried to find you, but tons of things came up and they couldn't do it." The kid said, his tone getting more and more cheery, "They're good people. It's just that sometimes they don't understand certain things.".

"You think so?" Tourmaline asked.

"Yeah! And I bet they would want to help you after they realize what a good guy you turned into!" He beamed.

"...I don't think I'm a good person." Tourmaline said turning away.

"But you said you weren't a bad guy." The young boy said.

"There's a difference between being a good guy and a good person." Tourmaline answered.

"I don't get what you're saying." The boy said, scratching his head.

"I didn't think you would. You're too young to understand." Tourmaline said as he looked out at the ocean, "Then again, maybe I am too.".

The young kid just stared at him for a second, trying to process what he meant by that. He tried to get what he was saying, but he gave up. He just sat next to him and looked out at the sea with him.

"So Tourmaline?" The kid said.

"Yeah?" Tourmaline responded.

"Did you...ever kill people?" Steven asked with morbid curiosity.

Tourmaline heaved a sigh.

"Yeah but they were all bad." He responded bluntly.

The kid stared at him again.

"Like, what kind of bad?"

"The kind of people that would hurt others for their own gain. The kind that would want to make others suffer, steal from others, and do horrible things." Tourmaline explained.

"Oh...so you were kind of a good guy back then." That boy said.

"Excuse you?" Tourmaline said puzzled.

"I mean, it's not like you went to go kill any person. You specifically went after bad people, you stopped them from doing bad things. It might not have been the right way, but I guess no one ever taught you what the right way was."The kid explained.

"...You think so?"

"Yeah. You're not a bad person, you just haven't learned what it means to be a good guy."

Tourmaline looked down at his reflection. Was the kid right? Was he a good guy after all? He couldn't tell, it was too much to take in. He looked back to the boy, a big grin on his face. Tourmaline smiled himself.

"Hey kid. What's your name?" He asked.

"I'm Steven!"

"Nice to meet you Steven." Tourmaline responded, "So you going home now?".

"Hmmm, I don't know. You still seem a little down. Come on! I'll take you somewhere nice!" Steven shouted as he pulled on Tourmaline's arm.

Steven struggled to pull Tourmaline away, but he wouldn't budge. Steven strained to get him up and then he felt himself lift off the ground. Steven looked down to see Tourmaline's feet. He was handing onto his arm. Tourmaline extended his arm and had Steven hang there. He swung it slowly, like a makeshift swing he moved Steven back and forth. Steven laughed and Tourmaline smiled. After a little bit of fun, he put Steven down and Steven ran ahead, waving Tourmaline to come follow him. Tourmaline chuckled to himself and ran after the young gem.

Back at the gem's home, the crystal trio and the other gems are sitting around the kitchen's island. Pearl stood between Ruby and Tanzanite, Garnet was beside Tanza in an uncomfortable stand off, and Amethyst was sharing a bag of chips with Taz. Garnet turned to the others.

"Alright, here's the deal. Some sort of creature is approaching our city. We don't know much about it, except that it's big, it's powerful, and it's coming here fast. We're unsure of ourselves to be honest. But if we had your help, we could easily take care of this monster." Garnet explained to the young gems.

"So you need us to kill this thing?" Ruby responded, "That seems a little rude. We just got here and you're already giving us orders.".

"Not as rude as your friends running off like that." Pearl said.

Tanza looked at Pearl and scowled at her.

"Right now we couldn't give a damn what you think about our friends." She said angrily.

"Excuse you?" Pearl said looking at her.

"Excuse me?" Tanza repeated.

Pearl and Tanza stared at each other, and then Pearl heaved a sigh.

"Forget what I said. I guess I understand what Sapphire is going through, not so much with that Tourmaline kid." Pearl explained.

Tanza stared at her, still angry.

"I could use a drink, anyone else want a drink?" Tanzanite suggested.

"We don't have any alcohol in our home." Pearl explained with disgust.

"I'm not talking about that, I just meant some water." Tanzanite continued as she walked around the island.

"You really shouldn't jump to conclusions like that Pearl." Amethyst insisted as she jumped onto the counter.

Taz walked up and looked up to Tanza and saw her angry expression. She grabbed her hand and Tanza looked down to her. Her expression eased up a bit and she heaved a sigh. Just then, the door opened and in came Sapphire.

"What was that about?" Ruby asked.

"I...I just needed a moment to take in the situation." Sapphire explained.

Sapphire walked to the island and stood next to Ruby. Tanzanite was taking out glasses and filling them with water from the kitchen sink. Pearl and Amethyst looked at her.

"I guess you wanted to see her again." Pearl stated.

"Yeah...there was so much I wanted to say to her...so much I wanted to apologize for." Sapphire said gloomily.

Pearl's stern expression eased up to an empathetic look.

"She wanted to see you too." She said.

Sapphire was quiet.

"See, you I can understand. That boy is what's making me curious. Just interrupting us like that and running off as soon as we mentioned Rose was gone, what's his agenda?" Pearl wondered, "Maybe he wanted to meet the great Rose.".

"That's not funny." Tanza said.

Pearl looked back at her again.

"You have no idea what he's going through.".

"I don't? Then why would he come all the way here asking questions?" Pearl went on.

Tanza was losing her patience. Taz got closer to her and Tanzanite placed a drink in front of Pearl, drawing her attention away from Tanza.

"Hey come on now, we shouldn't be at our throats like this huh? We're all gems here, and we should all have a toast to this occasion!" Tanzanite exclaimed.

"Look, I just want you to help us with this one situa-." Garnet said before she was cut off by Tanzanite.

"Yeah Yeah we know. And we want to help, but just indulge us for a bit. It'll help ease the tension." She said as she handed a drink to Amethyst.

"Yeah Garnet, let em have this sappy little moment so we can get down to business." Amethyst requested.

Soon everyone had a drink of water in their hand. The looked at their glasses and towards Tanzanite, her drink raised high.

"To the future." She proposed.

Everyone took a swig of their drink. Amethyst chortled the whole thing down while everyone else took a small sip.

"There. Can we get to preparations now?" Garnet asked.

"Yes, lets find Tourmaline first. He needs to know about this situation." Pearl suggested.

"Tourmaline will come at the first sign of trouble. Don't worry about him." Tanzanite said.

"Well excuse my opinion, but if he ran from his own personal quest, I don't think he will come here unless he knows the situation." Pearl said.

Tanza was ready to yell at Pearl, sick of her attitude towards her friend, and Amethyst wanted to tell Pearl to lighten up on the kid. But before they could say anything, Ruby slugged Pearl as hard as she could, causing her head to be sent reeling back. The others just stared in pure amazement.

"How many times are you gonna bad talk him!? You're not his freaking mother so just shut up and leave him be!" Ruby yelled at her.

"I'm sorry, I'm just saying what I think of him is all!" Pearl yelled back as she pushed Ruby into the bar.

Ruby rushed towards Pearl and their arms locked together. The two struggled to get the upper hand but were soon separated. Garnet and Amethyst pulled Pearl away, and Sapphire and Tanza grabbed Ruby. The two gems shook of their holders and looked at each other, still angry.

"What is your problem Ruby?! What exactly do you want from us!?" Pearl yelled.

"What do I want!? I'll tell you what I want. I want a big smushed stub, where your big, dumb, gross nose used to be!" Ruby shouted.

"Excuse me!? How dare you speak to me like that! All because your friend doesn't have the gall to ask us some simple questions!?" Pearl yelled back.

"I cannot babysit you two like this! You're gems, act like them!" Garnet shouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I should explain the situation to you." Ruby said turning to her.

"Ruby no!" Tanzanite pleaded.

"Don't!" Tanza repeated.

"Because of your irresponsible and stupid actions, Tourmaline's parents are both dead!" Ruby shouted.

"What? Gems don't have parents. What are you talking about?" Pearl said, irritated.

"Oh, you don't remember his mom and a certain gem named Jade?" Ruby asked.

The gem's expressions turned grim. That was a name they haven't heard in forever. And now today, his son has found them?

"How...How do you know-" Garnet asked, shaken.

"Know that's his dad? Tourmaline knows because he learned about the war, about the leader of the army against that thing. And he also found his dad's shattered, lifeless gem just thrown to the side of the battlefield like a piece of trash! What a fun experience that must have been!" Ruby shouted.

"I...no. Jade...how can this be?" Pearl wondered.

"What, surprised he's alive?" Ruby asked.

"Yes." Pearl replied.

The gems stared at her, shocked and offended.

"Let me explain. Back in the day, we didn't have to reproduce, there was no point. However, some group hypothesized that there was some benefit to it. Jade and Aquamarine, the mother in this situation, volunteered to try birthing a new gem, in the hopes that it would have the same powers of the two parents combined." Pearl explained.

"The birth was a success, but we couldn't possibly raise a child in our war torn world, so we had no choice but to put him in a human orphanage. At least until we fixed everything." Garnet continued.

"We wanted to find the kid, honestly. But when we got back to the orphanage where we dropped him off, he wasn't there." Amethyst finished.

"So...Tourmaline was just...an experiment?" Ruby asked, appalled.

Ruby looked down, and looked back toward Pearl, enraged. Her back glowed and she summoned her swords. Instinctively, Pearl summoned her glaive from her forehead. Tanza and Sapphire restrained her to the best of their ability, but she still kicked and resisted.

"You think you can treat Tourmaline like some freaking science project and dump him away when you're done with him!? You think you can just abandon a child just because times are rough!?" Ruby screamed at them.

"I'm sorry but we never intended for this to happen!" Pearl responded.

"BULL...SHIT!" Ruby screamed, "That isn't an excuse for what you've put him through!".

"He grew up not knowing his parents. It sucks but it doesn't seem that bad." Amethyst nonchalantly said.

"Oh sure, being alone for centuries, being abused and labeled as a freak all of his life, having to kill just to get by!" Ruby shouted.

Just then, Ruby realized what she said. Her angry expression turned to one of horror. She beamed her weapons away. Tanzanite and Sapphire stared at her in shock, Tanza and Taz stared in disbelief, and the crystal trio was horrified. Garnet looked at Ruby with her mouth open, Pearl covered her mouth and let out a loud gasp, and Amethyst just looked surprised.

"What did you say?" Pearl asked.

Steven and Tourmaline were running up the hill by the beach, smiling along the way and having a good time. Steven beat Tourmaline to the top and gasped for air. Tourmaline caught up and looked down at Steven.

"Not fair, you got a head start!" He said looking down at the kid.

"Well I had to, otherwise you wouldn't know where to go!" Steven exclaimed.

Steven sat up and looked forward.

"There. Take a look." Steven requested.

Tourmaline looked over to see all of beach city, illuminated by the sunset in a hot pink. He could see everything from up there. The town, the boardwalk, everything. He stared in awe at the true beauty of the city.

"Pretty cool huh?" Steven bragged.

"Yeah, very cool!" Tourmaline admitted.

The boys looked on at the city, and then Steven got up.

"Come on, I gotta introduce you to the gems!" He insisted.

"Oh...no. I already met them and I don't think I can go back just yet." Tourmaline said shyly.

"Aw but why? They'll definitely listen to you if they know you're cool with me!" Steven again insisted.

"I'm just not sure I can." Tourmaline said.

"Sure you can!" Steven exclaimed.

"I think what he means is that if he should." A mysterious voice said.

Steven looked around confused until he was staring at a tall man with silver hair. Tourmaline turned and his eyes widened. It was him. He followed him all the way here.

"Topaz…" Tourmaline uttered in disbelief.

"Hello...partner." Topaz said with a wicked smile.