Cairn and Morion get inspired to search for a place to call their own... but things never seem to turn out as planned.

Kids ages: 11/9/7


Cairngorm closed the cover of the book with a satisfied sigh and flopped over in bed, clutching the tome to his chest. Beyond the glow of his reading light, the bedroom he shared with his younger sibling was faintly lit by the predawn sunlight trickling in through the window. He knew he should wait at least another half hour or so before leaving his room, but he was full of bottled excitement.

"Mor!" he whispered. No effect. He called again, louder, rousing his younger sibling.

"Wha?" Morion rolled over, hair a curly tangled mess.

"You awake?"

"Nooooo," Morion groaned and turned back over, too used to Cairn's early morning wake up calls.

Cairn rolled his eyes and started tapping out a rhythm on the cover of the book, anything to pass the time. Squirming to the beat in his head, he quickly lost himself and started whistling the chorus, "oooo, o-o-o, oo-oomf!" Morion's pillow smacked him in the face brought and quickly brought Cairn back to earth. Abashed, Cairn flicked off the reading light and quietly slipped out of bed, padding down the hall to the bathroom, peeking into the living room to check if anybody else was out yet. All was quiet, even the Gems were still in their rooms.

He brushed his teeth, took a shower, and fixed his hair three different ways before settling on a look he liked. Rushing back to his room, he clicked on the closet light and shut himself into the packed side room. Grabbing various pieces he assembled and tried on multiple outfits, checking himself out in the mirror on the back of the door, imagining himself shipwrecked on a tropical island and exploring an exotic jungle. He heard the bedroom door open from the hallway.

"Morion, time to get up, kiddo."

"Mkay, mom."

A few minutes later Morion opened the closet door with a yawn, and reached around Cairn, grabbing Morion's favorite pair of old, faded jeans.

While his sibling was pulling on the pants, Cairn picked out a shirt and held it out to Morion. Morion looked at it warily and rubbed the sleep from one eye,"That's your's."

"I know, but you can be the pirate-"

"Pirate?" Morion turned the shirt over, revealing the skull emblem on the front, "Uh… thanks… but… I'm… more a star person than a dead…person... head person." Morion handed the shirt back to Cairn and started rummaging through the clothes littering the floor.

"It, it has as star!" Cairn insisted, sticking his hand into the shirt and holding it behind a vaguely star-shaped hole, "See!?"

But Morion was pulling on one of the many faded star shirts that could be found in any of the closets of the house, "What are you even doing with a holey shirt?"

"Well it's not like I was going to wear it," Cairn mumbled as Morion headed back out to their bedroom to pull on a pair of hand-me-down yellow rain boots.

Morion headed to the bathroom and Cairn bounded into the living room, happy to see his father cooking breakfast in the kitchen, "That smells great!"

"Cairn! Thanks, its almost ready, can you go make sure Citrine is up?"

Cairn's thin shoulders slumped as he glanced out the window, "But dad…"

"Your mom's getting ready for a big meeting today, and I haven't seen the Gems," Steven flipped over the sizzling bacon, "the sun's almost up, you should be fine," Steven laughed. "Ah, here," he flipped a finished strip out of the frying pan and tossed it toward Cairn, who caught it in a bubble with a smile.

Holding the bubble aloft in one hand, Cairn opened the door to his older sibling's room. The curtainless windows let in sunlight from the now fully risen sun, amplified by its reflection in the ocean water. "Citriiiine," She lay face down in her bed, still as a rock, and Cairn poked her roughly in the shoulder before jumping back out of her reach, "Dad's making breakfassst..."

Cairn watched as she emerged from her hibernation, twisting her head from side to side and popping her back. Impatient, Cairn unbubbled the bacon, and blew its irresistible aroma across the room. Citrine sprang up, and stretched in the sunlight, eyes large as they focused on the bacon.

"Yeesss, gimme!"

Cairn laughed and broke it in half, jumping onto the bed next to her. He finished his bit quickly, while Citrine ate slower, still waking up. Cairn swung his legs and excitedly told his captive audience about the book he'd just finished.

"... how cool would it be if we had a treehouse like they did? We could climb way up into the branches and watch the sun rise over the ocean, and the leaves would rustle like music, and we could lay in hammocks that rock you in the wind-"

"Euh," Citrine covered her mouth and then disguised the action as wiping away the remnants of bacon grease. "No thanks," she hopped off the bed and threw on her clothes and sandals.

"Why not!?"

"Sandcastles are way better than treehouses," she ran her fingers through her thick dark hair and headed to the kitchen, ready for more breakfast.

Cairn followed closely, "But when the tide comes in, sandcastles get destroyed! You can't play in sandcastles, and you get sand stuck… everywhere."

"Yeah," Citrine agreed, vaulting herself up onto one of the counter stools, "those are the best things about sandcastles!" She grabbed a handful of bacon and caught the orange that Steven tossed her way from the fridge.

After getting situated in the middle stool, Cairn uses the tongs to transfer two pieces of bacon and a pancake onto his own plate. He continued retelling the story between bites as Morion ate half of a syrup-soaked pancake and a few giant red-ripe strawberries. Steven packed the kids lunches, set aside two loaded plates, and finished off the leftovers himself. He checked his phone for the time, then headed upstairs.

"... they made the tree their home using driftwood and scavenged wood planks and pieces of shipwreck!" but Morion remained uninterested in Cairn's idea until he mentioned the animal friends from the book, and described the lush, curtain-like boughs of the Samaan tree, teeming with life. Then, Morion was hooked.

"How'd your meeting go, mom?" Cairn and Morion sat at the table that evening after school. Steven and the Gems studied a map spread out over the coffee table as Connie prepared dinner nearby. Cairn was finishing his homework and Morion was dramatically coloring a picture.

"Pretty well," Connie smiled, instantly realizing something was up, but appreciating the sentiment anyway.

"Good, good," Cairn nodded and tapped his pencil against his chin and eyed the empty spot beside him.

Taking the bait, Connie asked, "Where's Citrine?"

"She's outside building sandcastles..."

"Uh huh?" Connie prompted, looking between them.

"Yeah," Cairn continued, "and… sandcastles are great and all, but you know how they are, so temporary," he sighed, "If there was a place we could always go, that wouldn't get washed away, like, oh, what's that you're drawing, Morion?"

"It is a treehouse! Here is the tree, and here is the house in it, and I drew a ring-tailed lemur, and a boa constrictor-"

"Ew, why'd you draw a snake?"

"You said to draw animals-"

"Yeah but like, cute ones,"

"Snakes are cute, they got little noses and wherever they go they're always dancing-"

"They can't dance," Cain scoffed, "they don't have any legs," Morion frowned then smirked, and started bobbling like dancing cactus, "or any arms," Cairn continued. Arms lowered, Morion flopped like a fish out of water, falling against Cairn and sending crayons rolling off the table, "what is wrong with-pffft" Cairn lost it when Morion started making funny "snake" faces, and they both burst out laughing.

"Why don't you ask one of the Gems to take you out to see some animals?" Connie chuckled and looked around the room, "I'm sure it would be very educational."

"Ooo," Pearl perked up from her perch on on the couch, "I know some amazing places we can warp to if you're interested in studying biodiverse environs," she slid out from around the others and walked toward them, projecting holo visions of the places she most wanted to share, "there's the Tolaria Reef, the Orinoco River, the New Guinea Mangroves-"

"Mangroves!" Morion cheered excitedly, and Cairn nodded his head in eager agreement.

"Wonderful!" Pearl ushered them towards the warp, spewing facts about the south pacific island and its many ecoregions.

"Wait! Hold on, you can't go now," Connie interjected.

"But mom!"

"Dinner's still cooking, you haven't finished your homework, and it's a school night... New Guinea will still be there tomorrow."

Morion sighed, and Cairn looked up to Pearl, who nodded encouragingly, "of course it will!"

Cairn and Morion did enjoy the mangroves that Pearl showed them the next evening, even though Pearl quickly put a stop to them trying to construct a fort in the protected World Heritage site. This seemed to be a theme, they quickly realized after visiting a few more of Pearl's "spectacular" environs. Rainforests, wetlands, ancient woodlands, and towering redwoods…

"Pearl, these places are really cool, but… we want somewhere we can create something of our own."

"Hmm," Pearl contemplated, "There is… well… Steven might be able to help you out with that."

Saturday morning, Connie looked up from her book after a few hours of rare quiet in the Universe household when Steven rushed noisily out of the temple door. He plodded over to her and leaned over, hands on his knees. Connie smiled at his dramatics. "It went well then?"

"The three of them wore me out!" He sighed dramatically and then fell onto the couch, careful not to crush her, but nuzzling against her neck, tickling her with his beard.

"Steven!" She got out between laughs.

"Yup, so tired, I'm gonna sleep like a baby tonight!"

Connie gasped playfully as Steven's gem began to glow, "You better not!"

Suddenly her giant husband was gone and a tiny infant lay in her arms, sucking his thumb and feigning sleep. "Hmm, now I understand…" she baited teasingly. He popped one eye open, questioning, "...why the Gems kept you," she continued, "you were definitely cuter as a baby!"

"Mom?"

Connie bolted upright, sending the infant flying to the other side of the couch, blush spreading across her face. A shocked gasp sounded from behind her and she turned to see Citrine a few feet away, standing with arm out to keep her siblings behind her. Morion's hands were trying to rein back the gasp, and Cairn shifted nervously from side to side, eyes flitting from person to person.

"Uh," Connie cleared her throat and glared back at her goofball, who was chortling and blowing snot bubbles on the side of the couch.

"You can't throw babies, Mom," Morion whispered, appalled, to which Steven laughed even harder.

"Steven!" Connie implored him, and his gem began to glow again, suddenly revealing Steven.

"Dad!" The kids cheered as Citrine jumped onto him.

Morion ran to Connie and snuggled up into her arms, breathing hard.

Steven wiped his eyes, "Bored with Rose's Room already?"

"Once you left everything poofed!" Cairn crossed his arms, upset that all their hard work was gone.

There was a knock at the front door, and Greg walked in, much to the delight of the kids. He asked them how their weekend was going, and they told him about Cairn's book, and visiting exotic places with Pearl, and building crazy clubhouses with Steven in the temple.

"But as soon as he walked out of the room, everything just disappeared!"

"Haha, well," Greg rubbed the back of his neck, "that'll happen… sounds like you had fun though?"

"We did," Cairn explained as he absently circled his grandfather, "but we want a place that we can make on our own."

"That won't poof," Morion added.

Greg nodded, deep in thought, "Oh hey! Steven, what about the old barn!?"

"Is that… still… standing?"

"Sure it is… I think."

Connie's arms tightened apprehensively around Morion, her chin resting on her youngest child's head.

"The kids and I can at least go check it out," Greg offered with a smile, "there's lots of cool junk out there, and all our old UUU tools!"

Steven laughed, remembering the time they'd spent building spacecraft, "Yeah, I bet they'd have a blast out there." Cairn and Morion excitedly gathered their things for their next adventure, and Citrine grabbed the remote off the coffee table before going to jump back into Steven's lap.

Steven caught her mid-jump, holding her aloft, "Citrine, can you please go with them?"

"But Dad, I-"

"In case anybody gets hurt, you can heal them… I think it would make your mother feel better," they look over to Connie, who was staring toward the others, torn between concern for their safety and pride for their adventurous spirits. Citrine nodded and Steven put her down, and she hugged her mom reassuringly before joining them. Connie smiled proudly and waved as the four of them walked out the door, the house's sudden return to silence distinct. "So, looks like we have an afternoon to ourselves..."

"Perfect," Connie cooed.

"Yeah, you think so?" Steven smiled.

"Mhmm," She smirked as she picked her book back up and pretended to read, "Now you can take a nap since you're so tired!"

The kids spent the rest of the weekend at the barn, which was in better shape than first imagined. Greg told them stories about Steven's childhood, and learning about gem magic, and even what the Gems were like before Steven was born. Cairn was the most into actually building, setting up a clubhouse in the barn's hay loft, while Morion explored the surrounding fields. Citrine stayed near the van, singing songs with her grandpa while keeping an eye on Morion, who lost interest in the barn when it turned out not to have any animals in it at all.

Cairn was upset when Monday rolled around and they didn't have time to travel to the barn after school. Morion didn't seem to mind, hopping up on the couch to watch an old documentary with the Gems as Steven and Connie worked on something at the computer in the office loft.

"Come play on the beach with us!" Citrine offered Cairn as she ditched her shoes and backpack.

"There's no clubhouses on the beach," Cairn sighed as he placed his own bag against the bench seat. Citrine shrugged and pulled out her beach gear from the closet under the stairs before heading off to join her friends on the shore.

"There's the lighthouse." Garnet suggested.

Cairn spun towards his parents excitedly, "Ooo! Mom! Dad! Can we go!?" Steven straightened from his position leaning over the back of Connie's chair and she turned toward Cairn, confused, having missed the beginning of the conversation. "The lighthouse!" Cairn bounced fervently as he watched his parents have a quick discussion out of his earshot.

"You have an hour before dinner-"

"And you have to be careful-"

"Come on Mor!" He grabbed his younger sibling and hurried toward the door.

"Don't break anything-"

"And don't climb on the outside-" the door slammed as Cairn rushed Morion out of it.

Morion's faint "But Cairn…" swept away in the ocean breeze.

Cairn loved playing in the lighthouse. The view was amazing, and being up on the balcony was like flying through the clouds. It didn't have a hammock, or any wildlife, but he and Morion spent the next two afternoons exploring all the mysterious parts of the lighthouse, however, by the third day it was apparent to all the adults that Morion's heart just was not into it.

"What's up Ri?" Steven asked after Morion slipped into the house alone. Morion squeezed between Garnet and Pearl and into Steven's lap and yawned, earning a soft pat on the back from Pearl.

"The lighthouse is cool and all," Morion smiled politely toward Garnet, eyes drooping, "but its not like the book."

Steven laughed softly, "You have to use your imagination, like we did Rose's Room."

"Hmmm… my brain's too tired for imagination. Its just like the barn… no… life."

"Trust me kiddo, you wouldn't want to see the lighthouse with life," Steven joked, thinking back to the time it devoured two of his friends. But even Steven's jovial mood couldn't seem to penetrate Morion's funk.

"I want… to nap," Morion mumbled sleepily into Steven's comforting arms.

"Lighthouse not living up to its expectations?" Connie asked quietly as she walked over to them.

"No," Garnet answered, trying to conceal her disappointment.

"I've been researching types of trees that could grow here, but even if we planted something... "

"I could use phytokinesis to try and help one grow," Steven suggested, "but it might kinda… come alive…?"

Instantly imagining an angry whomping willow thrashing anyone who walked by, Connie quickly shot down that idea.

"Well," Steven said gazing down at the dozing child without a room of their own, "It's been ten years since our last building project, maybe we could dust off the old tools and T-square?"

That Friday, Amethyst and Lion intercepted the kids after school, packed with travel bags, camping gear, and coolers of food and drinks. "Road Trip!" She shouted excitedly as Morion barrelled into her.

"Sweet, Where to!?" Citrine hopped onto Lion and dropped her backpack into his glowing mane, scratching him fondly behind his pink ears.

"Mask Island!"

"Do we have to?" Cairn was eager to get back to the barn… or the lighthouse… maybe both?

"Uh, eyah," Amethyst playfully tossed Morion onto Lion's back and then transformed into an oxpecker and perched in his mane. Citrine pulled Cairn up by his backpack straps and they were off with a roar.

The island is one of the kids' favorite places, having spent many summer vacations and weekend family getaways there. However, this was the first time they had visited without either of their parents, and the kids were excited about the chance to spread their wings under Amethyst's watchful- but not too watchful- eyes. After unloading their things from Lion's mane and straightening up the shelter, they spent the next two days playfully re-discovering their island home away from home.

On the beach, Amethyst helped Citrine build intricate sand structures reminiscent of ancient gem spires. After taking a few snapshots with them, she helped Citrine with her favorite part: wrecking them Sugilite-style.

With Citrine and Morion settled in sleepily at the shelter, Amethyst flew around until she spotted Cairn at the highest spot on the island, staring up at the stars. They spent a few hours pointing out various constellations until Cairn noticed the wind changing, remarking that it felt like it would rain before the night was done.

"We should go back down to camp," Amethyst suggested. Cairn insisted that he wasn't tired, but Amethyst reminded him that Morion would need them if it stormed.

The first drops hit just as they were arriving at the shelter. In owl form, Amethyst flew ahead and held the tent flap open for Cairn. He jogged in to find Citrine passed out, alone, in her sleeping bag… Morion no where to be found. At first Cairn figured Mor just went out to use the restroom, but after a few more minutes of increasing bad weather they tried waking up Citrine, never an easy task with the sun down.

After finally shaking her at least partially awake and alerting her to the situation, the three of them couldn't come up with any reason for why Morion, known to be fearful of storms, would be out in the squall… unless something was wrong.

"Stay here!" Amethyst squawked as she shifted, "In case Ri comes back!" She turned a steely eye onto each of them until they nodded their compliance, then took flight to scour the island. She headed straight for the forest, confident the kids' recent obsession was at the root of Morion's disappearance.

She almost missed her mark, but owls are one of the best nocturnal hunters. Huddled against the rootball of a tree, Morion was half covered by a broken branch, hair a bramble-ridden mess.

"Morion!" She landed nearby, relieved that the tree's broad leaves were keeping the child mostly dry, "What are you doing out here?"

Morion sniffled, huddled in an old hoodie zipped up to the nose, "I wanted to see what it would be like, living in the tree like in Cairn's book, but I… I did something bad Ammie," Morion teared up, hair turning limp and stringy.

"You mean leaving without telling anyone where you were going!?" Morion's head shook pitifully and Ri seemed to sink into the embracing bark of the tree. "Then what-"

Morion unzipped the hoodie, revealing a small grey-ish bird whose mature feathers were patchily growing in, snuggled cozily up against Morion's pajama shirt. "I was too heavy… I broke the branch and I broke...," noticing Amethyst, the young bird startled and tried to move, revealing its broken wing.

"Oh dang," Amethyst shifted into a less predatory -and hopefully friendlier looking- stork and looked around for a nest or any of its feathered family, but either the storm had blown it far from home, or they had scared any others away.

"It's hurt, I was gonna bring it back to Cit," Morion carefully zipped up the hoodie and Amethyst saw the dirty scrape that Morion had taken in the fall as well.

"Looks like she's not the only one Cit could help, huh?" Morion looked away, trying to slow the flow of tears, but lightning flashed at that moment, the crash of thunder causing Morion to cry out. "Come on lets get back to camp," Amethyst nudged Ri gently with her long beak.

"But the storm-"

"Its not safe here in all these trees, and you'll feel better with Cairn and Citrine." Still, Morion hesitated. "And she can heal your little friend." Emboldened, Morion nodded and struggled to stand, using the roots to push up against. Perched on Morion's shoulders, Amethyst spread her wings out and wrapped them over head to act like an umbrella and blinder as she guided Morion and the bird back to safety.

"Morion!" Cairn shouted excitedly as soon as they were within view of the shelter, running out to meet them. Amethyst stopped him before he accidently exasperated either's injury, quickly relaying what happened. Cairn nodded and grasped Morion's shoulder in acknowledgement before racing ahead to prepare Citrine, standing bleary-eyed at the flap door.

Morion gently passed the fledgling to Cairn when it proved too difficult to remove a wet hoodie with an injured arm. Citrine rubbed her hands under her armpits and softly pet the little bird's hurt wing with one hand, and then with the other sweaty palm she grabbed her youngest sibling's scraped up arm. In a few moments both were healed and fell into deep, exhausted sleep. Citrine tucked in the blanket and settled down beside Morion as Amethyst secured the shelter door against the wind of the dying down storm.

"Uh, guys?" Cairn asked nervously, bringing Citrine's and Amethyst's attention to him and the bird, which had perched delightedly in his hair.

"Looks like you got yourself a new friend, Cairn!"

The warp whistle sounded early Sunday afternoon, startling the kids and their avian friend. Amethyst gleefully gathered them up, and ushered them home through the warp, then quickly out the front door and down to the sand. Garnet, Pearl, and Greg smiled as the kids rushed to hug their parents, laughing when Steven picked all four of them up and spun them around before falling to the ground in a heap of giggles. Citrine rolled off the pile to wrap her arms around Garnet's leg. Pearl helped Cairn back to his feet with an excited smile, and Morion hugged Greg while Steven and Connie greeted Amethyst.

"We have a surprise for you!" They motioned triumphantly towards the beach house.

A tower of fine wood siding and large glass windows sat atop the beach house, the windows were thrown open wide, sure to have a breathtaking view of the ocean. Green curtains with appliquéd roses clearly meant to mimic lush tree boughs in spring waved in the breeze. Murals of various animals could be seen painted on the interior, and a porthole window added playful character. A group effort that the adults were all very proud to finally reveal.

Cairn was ecstatic, "AWESOME!" he squealed, jumping up and down in a circle before racing inside, the bird flapping enthusiastically as it clung to his shoulder.

"What is that?!" Morion asked, confused.

"We built you a treehouse!"

"Nooo!" Morion shouts, foreign frustration distorting the child's face.

"Okaay- wait whut?" Citrine's apathy quickly shifted to shock when Morion's reaction registered.

She was not the only one. The adults looked nervously at each other, this was not going like we thought it would, the shared look said. Steven kneeled down on the sand in front of Morion, "What's wrong kiddo, I thought you wanted a treehouse, like in the book?"

"That's NOT a treehouse! That's a … a… house-house!"

"Oh, sorry Ri, trees can't really grow on this beach..."

"And even if they could," Connie supplied soothingly, "it would take years… decades for it to be big enough for you two to play in…"

Morion looked around, taking in everyone's deflated faces. Just a minute ago they'd been beaming with pride and excitement at their surprise. Morion's lip quivered, indecisive, unsure…

Cairn shouted down through an open window of the new room, "Morion! come check it out! It has hammocks!"

"...okay…" Morion agreed dejectedly. Avoiding the uncomfortable silence, Citrine slipped off to the beach as the adults watched the youngest Universe slump back up to the house, unsure whether Ri was accepting their explanations or Cairn's invitation or both.

Pearl was the first to speak, "Amethyst… Was that a parrot?"

"Uuuuhmmm... no...?"

That night, Morion was sleeping alone in the room the two youngest siblings had always shared when Amethyst snuck in. Her gem glowing like a purple nightlight, she roused Morion with a few pats on the back.

"Ammeh?" Morion asked groggily, eyesight obscured by springy curls.

"We can't grow trees on the beach," Amethyst whispered as she searched for something on the floor, "but there's someone who could grow anything anywhere…" she found the boots and tossed them at Morion's feet, who then slowly pulled them on, "come on!"

She drug Morion to the warp pad, who'd barely had time to step onto it before she activated it, and they were gone.

They arrived at the edge of a garden that - if not completely overgrown - had definitely seen better days. The sound of crickets and sleepy night fowl filled the air, and trickling water could be heard in the distance. Numerous types of exotic plants filled the small valley, trying to reclaim it in the name of nature. Spiderwebs spanned from overgrown topiaries to untamed trees of various shapes and color, glowing eyes peered out of dens of who knew what, fat frogs croaked and sploshed their way through mud and muck, and weeds blossomed out of cracks in the stone path. There were rough gouges where intricate tile work had once been laid in breathtaking geometric patterns, heads and limbs of statuaries were eerily scattered about, and dead leaves and tumbleweeds crowded every protected corner.

"This place is safe, but nobody comes here much, at least not anymore…" Amethyst explained as she led Morion closer to the sound of the water, "we don't really need to I guess, and nobody's really got the hand for dealing with this sort of stuff, or would even want to..." she lifted a bramble out of the way, revealing Rose's fountain, the basin consisting more of decaying petal mush than healing tears, "but I was thinking, maybe you do?"

It was too much for Morion to take in a once, emotions were flowing like the fountain itself.

"Amethyst… It's... perfect."


This is a long chapter, and it started out significantly longer. I'm glad I chose to highlight how Amethyst has matured slightly over the 25-30 years since the canon timeline since Reformed came out and showed us she is on that journey. Thanks to Mechafone and Bauble for helping me out again!

Thanks for reading! Feedback appreciated! I have a few ideas for these characters outlined, but feel free to leave suggestions! If you'd like to see my art of these characters check out their dedicated tumblr: .com !