They stared up at the house, watching it tremble. As they watched, a brilliant flash of light erupted from inside. Steven gasped, and rushed towards the house before the gems could tug him back,

"She's coming back!" he yelled, bolting up the stairs and throwing the front door open. The gems standing on the beach exchanged glances before pounding up the stairs after him. They burst into the house and saw the pale blue gem rising into the air above the pillow nest on the floor. Steven quickly tugged the nest away as the gem began to take a human form. The glowing figure grew tall and lithe, with long, flowing hair and greek-style robes. The gem's eyes were closed as she slowly descended to the floor, her feet settling as the glow faded. Her eyes opened and the first thing she saw was the three Crystal Gems standing before her. She gasped,

"Where - where am I?" she asked, in a soft voice that was rough from lack of use. Steven slowly approached her side, tugging on her hand,

"You're safe!" he said, "You're with the Crystal Gems! On Earth!" She looked confused,

"I know Earth, but I do not know these… Crystal Gems…" she said, gazing at the three in front of her, "Where are Blue Diamond and General Apatite?" The pale gem before her took a step back, looking uncomfortable,

"They're gone," Garnet said, "They've been gone for about six thousand years." The blue gem looked shocked,

"They - they left me behind?" she gasped, her hands clenching, "They left me behind down there…" Pearl placed a gentle hand on the blue gem's back, guiding her to the lounge to sit down. Gathering around her, the gems were silent in their support. Steven reached out and laid his hand on her knee.

"Hey," he said, "What's your name?" The other gem took a moment to respond to his question,

"Name?" she murmured, seeming confused, "Well, I suppose they call me Larimar."

"Larimar…" Steven repeated, "That's a pretty name." She shrugged,

"Not really," she replied, "It's just the name of my gem." Garnet looked at the other two Crystal Gems,

"We'd best leave them to acquaint themselves," she said, standing up and walking away, "Don't worry, Pearl. Steven and Connie will be fine."

RTDRTDRTD

Steven and Connie sat on either side of Larimar, gazing at her silently,

"So, where are you from, Larimar?" Connie asked, eyes sparkling at the chance to learn from someone new,

"I came from Homeworld a long time ago," she said, gazing off into the distance "But now, I'm from Earth. Homeworld is nothing, not after what they did." Steven and Connie exchanged a worried glance across her,

"Cool!" Connie chirped, "My name is Connie, I'm a human, and I've always been on Earth." She smiled at the new gem, who visibly relaxed,

"I'm Steven!" the boy announced, "I'm from Earth, but sorta not… because I'm also kinda my own mom." Larimar looked questioningly at him but he shrugged, "I don't know that much. You'd be better off talking to Pearl about that."

"Who is Pearl?" Larimar asked. Steven was a little surprised,

"Pearl is the tall one with the nose," he explained, "Garnet is the tallest one, but she's really a fusion of two tiny gems, Ruby and Sapphire, Amethyst is the short and purple one, and I'm a confusing mix of gem and human!" Larimar nodded, seeming to understand.

"So… why did we find you on the beach two weeks ago?" Connie asked, curious to know,

"Yeah, did you come from the ocean?" Steven asked excitedly,

"I - yes, I came from what you call the 'ocean'," Larimar replied, gazing out the window of the house to the blue expanse stretching toward the horizon, "The ocean has been my… home for many years."

"So Homeworld just left you here, huh?" he asked, looking down at the wooden floor,

"It appears so," she replied, "I thought General Apatite would have at least stayed behind, but she is gone." Larimar turned away from the sea and stared at objects inside the house,

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Steven asked, being careful to consider her feelings,

"I - yes," she replied, "I would like to tell you about the ocean." Connie looked up and saw the mellow look on her face,

"You don't have to," she said softly, "If you don't wanna think about it." Larimar shook her head,

"No," she said, clasping her hands together, "It would feel better to finally be able to talk to anyone other than myself for a change." With that, she calmed herself and began telling them about the temple in the sea.

RTDRTDRTD

"When I came to Earth with Blue Diamond," She began, "It was over six thousand years ago, well before what I assume was a war. It was at a time when Homeworld had little resources to spend on constructing buildings, so they began testing a new technology. It was a cuff designed to run off a gem's energy, whilst still keeping the gem in their physical form. The cuff would use the energy to project a temple structure. The temple could be used for research and production which, when complete, could be picked up and moved. I was the gem working under General Apatite's command." Larimar stopped to recollect herself before continuing, "I worked with General Apatite's lead team for centuries until one mission where we had set up base just off the coast of this place. They received an order from Blue Diamond herself and suddenly, they all left. Being the gem attached to the temple's power source, I had to stay behind to care for our mission. They never came back." She sighed and slumped against the back of the lounge. Steven reached out and hugged her, with Connie joining him a moment later.

"Larimar, it will be okay," he told her, "You're not in the sea anymore, and the cuff is gone. You're safe." She gave him a shocked look, a few tears welling up in her pale blue eyes,

"Thank you, Steven, Connie," she said softly, "This is the first time I've talked to anyone bigger than fish in ages." As Steven hugged her, the temple door opened and Amethyst came out into the house,

"Hey Steven! Hey Connie!" she greeted, "Do you guys wanna come and introduce your new friend to human culture?" The resounding chorus of 'yes' was all the answer she needed and the children helped Amethyst shoo an unsure Larimar out of the house and down onto the beach.

RTDRTDRTD

"Where are we going?" Larimar asked as Steven tugged her down the beach toward the human settlement. Amethyst and Connie were walking just behind them.

"We're introducing you to the wonders of donuts first!" Amethyst announced as they approached the Big Donut.

"What is a 'donut'?" Larimar asked. Steven smiled up at her,

"It's human food!" he announced, pulling her inside the shop. She watched as he approached the two humans behind the counter,

"Hi Sadie! Hey Lars!" He greeted, looking at the donuts in the display.

"Woah Steven," Sadie gushed, "Who's your new friend?" Steven pulled Larimar up to the counter,

"This is Larimar," he said, "She's from the ocean!" he turned to his new friend, "Hey, what sort of donut do you want?"

"Uhh…" the blue gem hesitated and Sadie decided to help out,

"Well, seeing as you're trying donuts for the first time, how about we start with something simple?" she suggested, selecting two cinnamon donuts and sliding them into a paper bag, "Here, try these." Steven reached into his pocket to pull out some money,

"Can we also get two chocolate donuts for me, two apple ones for Connie and two grape donuts for Amethyst?" he requested, beaming as Sadie bagged the treats. He slid the money across the counter to Sadie and smiled up at Larimar,

"You guys enjoy your donuts, okay?" Sadie said, waving as they headed for the door, "Welcome to Beach City, Larimar!"