Author's Note: Salvete. I've decided to dedicate the rest of the fanfic to Justin Carmical AKA Jew Wario, who took his own life while I was working on this chapter.

My good sir, you were one of the greatest comedic performers I had the fortune to watch and I will never forget that, despite having only watched you in the TGWTG anniversary specials, in the Pokemon movie reviews with Suede and Linkara, and in the Atop the Fourth Wall/Spoony Experiment crossover review of Warrior #1-4. It saddens me to know that many fans will never be able to meet you in person and you will no longer be able to come back to your roots. I hope you would've been a fan of Steven Universe, sir, because this fanfic from here on out is for you. Rest in peace, JewWario. You will surely be missed.

This has been my pleasure to address him this way. Enjoy this chapter for now. Vale!

-Voltalia

Aquamarine didn't know why, but for some reason, she seemed nervous and on edge. It was hard enough trying to adjust to life without Rose, but how would the other Gems who had left the Temple years ago react to Steven now? She tried not to dwell on these matters, but it was all too much. The last time they had all been together was just before Steven was born, but when he came and Rose's physical form was lost, only Pearl and Garnet and Amethyst were left in the Temple to look after him.

"You see anything?" the sky-blue-hued girl asked Garnet anxiously. "Where are we going anyway?"

"If I remember correctly, Tanzanite said she was going to take the rest of the crew back with her to her old home." the stoic Gem replied.

"You mean like in the Beryllium township?" Aquamarine promptly guessed.

"Somewhere around that area."

"Well, can we get there quickly? I'm not sure we have a lot of time left."

Pearl was confused by that last statement. "What do you mean you're not sure?" she asked.

"Well, a Gem year equals a hundred Earth years, right?" Aquamarine asked uncertainly.

"Yes." Pearl answered.

"So if a day on Earth equates to twenty-four hours and a day here equates to about a hundred Earth days, therefore making it twenty-four hundred hours, how much time d'ya suppose we got left, huh?" Aquamarine retorted. "Not a lot?"

"Well..."

"Exactly. So we got to get moving."

Several miles later...

They finally made it into the Beryllium township where Tanzanite's former home was. Right in front of them was a domed marble building adorned with fresco paintings of several multicolored women in headdresses and flowing robes (these were supposed to represent the priestesses) and a carving that had been deciphered as being Latin for "What you have, we shall share it together."

"Just go up there and ask to enter." Pearl told Aquamarine in an imperative tone. "It's always been Tanzanite's number-one rule."

Aquamarine made an eye-roll so subtle that no one could detect it; after her little stint, she did as was instructed of her and waited for a response.

"Well?" Amethyst asked anxiously.

"Hold on a second, lady." Aquamarine replied. "It's only been a minute, so there's no need to-"

She was interrupted when the marble building's doors opened up and revealed a fair-skinned madame with crystal-blue eyes, blue-gradiented hair, and sporting a violet-hued Victorian outfit. She was followed by a slightly built green-hued female with a star-shaped scar on her right cheek, a strikingly beautiful short-haired pale blonde woman with a white gem on her chest, a petite bluish-black-hued girl with puffed-up hair and a wild look in her eyes, another girl who appeared to be four years old and was orange-hued (excluding the hair, which was rose-colored for some reason), and lastly an electric blue-hued woman with curves.

"Aquamarine? Is that you?" the blue-gradiented-haired madame Tanzanite asked Aquamarine. "When did you get better?"

"Yeah." Aquamarine replied. "I've been out of the quarantine cube for a while. Hey, did you know that-?"

"That's all I need to hear." Tanzanite interrupted calmly. She craned her neck to see Steven behind the girl and addressed him as such. "My Goddess, you've grown so much!"

It only took a moment for the blonde Zirconia to notice the prepubescent boy right there before she started panicking.

"Zirconia?" Aquamarine asked out of concern. "What's wrong?"

"Everything's coming back to me!" Zirconia screamed. "Please! Get him away! I don't want to think about it!" She then started to foam at the mouth.

"About what?"

"What happened that night! When I lost Rose, I lost everything! It's he who represents what went wrong!"

"Look, I miss her too, but I don't know if tantrums are gonna help ya much."

"But you don't understand: I was supposed to be her best friend. It was always like that, but when she fell in love with him, well..." Zirconia felt herself choking up and struggling to find her train of thought again. "...ugh. You'll understand when you've grown so attached to someone that you don't want to let go."

"What's this all about?" Steven couldn't help but ask Pearl, sotto voce.

"Oh, yes. I forgot to mention." Pearl started speaking. "Zirconia hates you and your father because she thinks both of you drove a wedge between her and your mother."

"How could she hate me?"

"Well, let me put it this way: Zirconia loved her just as much as we did, but I think there was much more to their friendship than just... well, friendship. But that'll be for another time."

"Jade, would you and the others mind inviting our guests in?" Tanzanite asked the barely husky green-hued gladiatoress. Jade caught wind of what had been asked and turned to face her Victorian-dressed friend.

"Certainly, madam." Jade replied in a subdued manner while she had the mostly orange-hued Topaz on her shoulder.

Fluorite the petite bluish-black girl and the curved electric blue Chalcanthite appeared to have been bored out of their minds and yet so engrossed in what was going on. They and the other women let their guests inside.