"Pearl! Steven!" Amethyst yelled, running up the hill. "Are you guys alright?"

Pearl said nothing. She simply stared at the gem shards, her eyes not registering what was happening around her. Steven was almost beside himself for what he had done by stabbing Jasper, and Amethyst was frantically trying to calm him down.

"I can't believe it! I stabbed him. Amethyst, stop...I can't do this!" Steven was yelling. Amethyst finally hauled Steven over one of her shoulders, and turned around to look at Pearl. Pearl glanced upward, trying to get onto her feet, and fell over.

Amethyst knowingly helped Pearl up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders in order to help her walk down the hill. As the three gems began their descent, they simply walked past the wreckage and torn chunks of earth that littered the hillside and beach. For once, Pearl didn't worry about the structural damage of their home. She was just happy to have come out alive.

Garnet held up a small pouch of gem shards, and shook it softly.

"These should do. It was all I could collect."

Amethyst nodded. They were standing in the house part of the temple, near the repaired warp pad. The original had been crushed by Jasper's wolves. Amethyst and Pearl had returned to the house with Steven after Jasper's death to find that Garnet had been damaged, but also that the beasts had disappeared before she was forced to retreat into her gems. After a few days, Garnet walked to the top of the Rose Statue and collected the remains of the Jasper stone.

"Are you sure this will work?" Amethyst asked.

Garnet shrugged. "I don't know. It's a thing in ancient texts, that when one gem takes another's life..."

"But he took tons of lives. And everyone else's gems are still intact."

Garnet could only shake her head. "How are Steven and Pearl?"

Amethyst bit into her lower lip. "Steven will be alright," she said finally, glancing upstairs at Steven's destroyed room. "He's been pretty upset since Jasper died. I really hope that this works." Amethyst paused for a moment. "Pearl hasn't come out of her room at all. Her door won't even open for me any more."

"I guess that that is to be expected. She was happy to see him alive, save for the fact that he was a gem killer," Garnet said. She looked up toward Steven's room.

"I wish Rose were here."

"She'd know what to say," Amethyst said finally, and said no more.

Pearl sat near the bottom of her small lake, away from the waterfall. Being a gem, she didn't need to breath; she hadn't come out of the water since entering her room a few days earlier. It swirled and ruffled her hair, but she kept her eyes closed.

After several long moments, Pearl half-opened her eyes, and swam to the surface of the water. Ungracefully climbing to the pool's edge, she dragged herself onto the marble floor near her door. Standing up, Pearl glanced down at her hand, lifting it to eye level and opening it enough to see a small green peridot that she had clasped so hard that it dug into her hand. She sighed, taking one last, long look at the gem before she threw it into the water and watched it sink, deeper and deeper, until it finally disappeared.

Giving herself a firm nod, Pearl turned around and opened her door to the temple, choosing not to look back.

"Hey Steven?" Pearl delicately walked up the stairs to see Steven face down on his bed, and unmoving. He said nothing.

For once, Pearl did her best not to immediately console him. Instead, she chose to sit down next to the top of the stairs, and let her feet hang down off of the upper floor.

After about twenty minutes of waiting, Steven broke the silence.

"Pearl, I don't feel like myself," Steven said, looking up from his bed. His eyes were red, and he no longer wore his usual smile.

"What do you feel like?" Pearl asked, making an invisible effort restrain herself from saying anymore.

"Weak," Steven said. "I don't feel like singing or anything. I just feel sad."

Pearl gave Steven a soft smile. "You saved my life," she said quietly, bringing her knees up to her shoulders.

Steven's face changed, and a small smile appeared. "I guess I did."

"You completed the most dangerous part of the mission. And...you avenged all of the gems that he killed."

"Wait, that guy was a gem killer?!" Steven asked, unabashed. Pearl's eyes widened, but her smile remained and she nodded.

"Before he was a gem killer, he was my teammate."

"Woah..." Steven said, eyes brightening. "And what do you mean the most important part of the mission?"

"Garnet said that the mission isn't quite done yet. She was planning on sending just the two of us out to the plains' temple-the one that your mother built-in order to take care of a few things."

Steven grinned. "Let's go! I'm ready when you are!"

Pearl looked down, and then glanced back up at Steven. "I'm still really sorry about what happened at the temple in our last mission," she said.

Steven shrugged. "It's okay, Pearl. I forgive you. I'm honestly happier that I got hurt than you did...That's why I stabbed Jasper."

Tears came to her eyes. "I never meant for you to feel the need to protect me," Pearl gasped, and hugged him.

They appeared on the warp pad outside the plains' temple just as the sun was setting.

"Woah, this place is huge!" Steven said excitedly, staring up at the expansive structure in front of him. The temple was shaped like a gentle whale, and appeared as though it was resting on a sea of grass.

Pearl nodded in appreciation, and beckoned for Steven to follow. She held the pouch of jasper stone shards in one hand, and opened the door to the house part of the temple with the other.

The inside of the temple was still full of destroyed furniture, and looked as though it had not seen light in decades. Pearl pointed toward Jasper's door, and held up the bag of gem shards.

"Garnet reminded me that ancient texts spoke of how gems were at war with each other. When one gem took another's life, it would gain it's strength."

"Wow," Steven said. "So that's why he was so strong? But how many gems..."

Pearl shrugged, and handed him the pouch. "That's what we are here to find out."

They walked through Jasper's door, and once again, Pearl felt herself grow weak at the sight of the pedestals.

"Pearl? What do I...?" Steven began, but watched as the bag of shards began to light up. The pouch tore open, and the shards hovered in front of Steven for a moment. His gem began to glow.

Pearl glanced over at the shards, and back at Steven. "It's offering you strength. Of Jasper, and of all the gems he had slain."

Steven's eyes widened as they searched the shards. "But what if I don't want it?" he said, looking back at Pearl. "What about being strong in the real way?"

Pearl felt herself smile. "That's the real reason we are here." She gestured to all the gems on pedestals. "Tell the shards no. And watch. I've never seen what happens after that point, but I read up on what is supposed to occur."

Steven looked at the shards, and finally shook his head. Each shard began to glow a deeper red, before finally shooting off in various directions like fireworks. Pearl smiled with pride as she watched the shards of the jasper stone strike many of the gems throughout the room, and each gem that was hit with a shard erupted with light.

After several flashes of blinding light, people appeared in each of the places where the gems once stood.

"Woah," Steven exclaimed again. "What are they? What happened to the gems?"

Pearl beamed in pride at Steven. "They're human," she said.

ONE MORE CHAPTER =D