"Okay Steven," said Avery, pointing at the paper before him and the boy. "Because of the structure of this sentence, what use of 'there' would you need to put in the blank?"
Steven sat across from Avery, scratching his head. Avery had been tutoring Steven for around two weeks at this point in time, and Pearl had wanted the both of them to start going over English next. Because of this, Avery figured he'd start out with some basic fill-in-the-blank questions.
"Hmmm… would it be… t-h-e-i-r?" Steven asked.
"That's correct! Good work!" Avery exclaimed.
"I am the English master!" Steven proclaimed, his arms raised skyward.
"Don't get cocky just yet." Avery said, smiling despite himself. "This is just simple stuff, things are going to get much more complex as we go on."
"I know, but can't I at least be happy for getting it right?" Steven questioned.
"I never said you couldn't be happy," Avery started in a semi-defensive tone. "I'm just saying don't get too ahead of yourself."
"If you say so."
Avery looked to his watch. An hour had passed since the tutoring had begun, the usual allotted time for the two of them.
"Wow, time certainly flies." Avery said. "Well, I think that's enough for today, Steven." He continued as he began to stand up.
"Okay." Steven said. "Hey, if you have some time to kill, you wanna stick around? We can watch Crying Breakfast Friends like last time!"
"Actually," Avery said, cutting off Steven. "I have my own show I want to introduce you to." He explained with a smile on his face.
"Really!?" Steven asked excitedly. "What is it?"
"Before I show it to you, I need to ask you: Are you ready to experience one the greatest adventures put on television?" Avery inquired in an overly dramatic tone.
Steven's eyes transformed into their trademarked starry look, the biggest smile Avery had ever seen plastered on his face. "You know I am!"
"Then let me be the first to introduce you…" Avery paused, reaching into his jacket pocket. "To this!"
Avery pulled out what seemed to be a DVD case. On the front there stood a man leaning back in what appeared to be space.
"Cowboy Bebop." Steven read the title in wonderment as he took the case from Avery. "What's this about?"
"Space bounty hunters."
"WHAT ARE WE DOING, WAITING AROUND HERE FOR!?" Steven shouted, nearly knocking Avery off of his feet. Apparently 'Space Bounty Hunters' was a happiness trigger for the boy. "LET"S GET WATCHING!"
"I couldn't agree with you more!" Avery complied.
The two were about to rush up to Steven's room, but suddenly Steven stopped and said:
"Wait!"
"What?" Avery asked.
"We can't watch something like this without popcorn."
"Hm. I suppose you have a point." Avery admitted.
"I'll get to making it!" Steven exclaimed, going over to the kitchen and rummaging around in the cupboards.
As Avery took a seat on the couch, waiting for the popcorn to be made, a question was posed to him by Steven:
"So, not sure if I asked you this before, but what made you want to move here?"
"You actually asked me this the day we met. It was for a job acceptance, remember?"
"I know that part. I mean did you move here for any emotional reason?"
Avery thought back upon his reasons for moving to Beach City. He couldn't lie and say no to Steven, as there were plenty of emotional reasons for moving here. However, Avery wasn't sure if he was necessarily ready to share them with anybody, let alone somebody as young as Steven.
"Oh, I had just lived in a big city for a while and I wanted to get away from all the hustle and bustle." Avery said. It wasn't a lie, per se, but it also wasn't the whole truth as well.
"I see." Steven said. He was about to continue on, but his last statement was punctuated by a knock at the door.
"I'll get it!" the boy said. Upon opening the door, he revealed a girl around his height with brown hair and dark skin.
"Oh, hey Connie! What are you doing here so early?"
"Hi, Steven! Well, I figured I'd come to hand out for a bit before practice. That is, if you have the time."
"I always have time for you!"
"Great!" Connie said, walking inside. "Oh. Who might this be?" She asked while looking at Avery.
"Oh, this is Avery. He's that tutor I've told you about."
"I see." Connie said, walking up to Avery and holding out her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Avery. I'm Connie Maheswaran."
Avery crouched down to Connie's height and took her hand in his. "Pleasure to meet you as well." He said, surprised at the girl's formality. Avery also realized something strikingly familiar about the girl, both in appearance and name.
"Oh." Avery said aloud, now realizing the similarities. "You must be Priyanka's daughter."
"How do you know my mom?" Connie asked.
"I work under her. I'm the new director of mental health over at the hospital."
"Ah, so you must be the Avery she talks about sometimes."
"She talks about me at your home?" Avery said, surprised to hear such a tidbit.
"Yeah. Needless to say, she isn't impressed with your work." Connie said.
Avery suddenly became very worried. "She isn't!? What is it that I'm doing wrong?"
Connie then started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Avery asked her.
"I was only joking. She's more than happy with your work."
"Oh… I suddenly feel very stupid."
The three of them had a good laugh at that statement.
"So," Connie started. "What are you guys doing?"
"We were just about to watch this apparently super awesome show that Avery likes." Steven said with excitement.
"What show might that be?" Connie questioned whilst turning to Avery again.
"Cowboy Bebop." He said "Ever heard of it?"
"I have, actually. My dad watched it when he was younger."
"Your father has good taste." Avery said with a slight chuckle.
"Would you mind if I watched it with you two?"
"Not at all. The more, the merrier!" Avery said.
With that said, Steven put the finishing touches on the popcorn and the three huddled around the TV in Steven's room.
"Oh, just a warning to the both of you: I hope you like jazz." Avery said, smiling with anticipation due to his favorite show about to play."
"I like jazz!" Connie said.
"I, uh, don't really listen to it." Said Steven.
"Trust me, you're going to love it by the end of this series." Avery said, preparing the remote control for the DVD player. "Well: Here we go!"
And thus, Avery pressed play.
"Well… It certainly is large." Said Pearl, slightly intimidated.
What Pearl was referring to was a gigantic pillar in the middle of the mountains. Set atop said pillar was an even larger spherical shaped thing covered in what appeared to be various different colored hexagonal gems. Those gems were currently firing out large bursts of energy, letting them loose mainly towards the sky. A few stray ones, however, were flying off into multiple different directions.
"If we don't destroy the protective casings to those gems and bubble them quickly, those blasts might head towards civilization." Garnet said. "We can't allow that to happen."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Amethyst said while brandishing her whip. "Let's go!"
"No." Garnet interjected calmly. "This is a problem too big for just the three of us. We need to fuse."
"I agree." Said Pearl. "Even though she is a bit reckless, Sugilite does seem like the best option for this occasion."
"That works for me!" Amethyst said excitedly.
"Actually," Garnet started, turning to Pearl. "We need a more methodical approach for this. I think Sardonyx would be more appropriate."
"Wait, what!?" Amethyst screamed questioningly.
Pearl was hesitant, surprised at Garnet's offer.
"Are… are you sure?"
Garnet smiled reassuringly and reached out her hand, preparing for fusion. "Yes. I am."
Pearl shyly inched closer to Garnet, her hand slowly reaching out to the taller gem's. At the last moment, however, Pearl's hand flinched and she retreated back several steps.
"I'm just not sure I'm ready after… you know…" Pearl said nervously, thinking back to the Sardonyx fiasco.
Garnet sighed deeply. "Pearl, you know I've forgiven you for all of that."
"You have, but I don't think I have just yet."
"Pearl, I understand, but you need to get over this one way or another. What if Steven's in danger and we need Sardonyx? We can't always just turn into Sugilite whenever something like this arises." Garnet said.
"As much as I don't wanna agree with her, Garnet's right." Amethyst said. "C'mon, P, you can't let guilt make every decision for you." She added with genuine worry.
Pearl consider what both her long-time friends had said, and hated to admit that they were both right. Still, she couldn't help but let guilt infect her conscience.
"I'm sorry, but… not this time. Maybe later, but not now." Pearl turned her back on Garnet and Amethyst. "I'm going back to the house. Connie should be there by now, I don't want to keep her waiting."
"Are you sure about this?" Garnet asked the slender gem.
"Yes, I am."
"Very well." The visor clad gem said understandingly. "You best be on your way, then."
"Again, I'm sorry." Pearl apologized.
"No need to be, you just need some time. That's all."
With that, Pearl headed towards the teleporter. Sadly, it was quite a distance away, so that gave Pearl's guilty conscience a chance to sneak up on her again.
'It must be so hard for Garnet to be understanding when I'm like… this as of late. Nevertheless, I am at least happy that she's being patient with me.' Pearl reasoned with herself. 'Plus, even Amethyst is being sympathetic, at least somewhat. I can't remember the last time that happened.' She added as a small smile found a way onto her face.
'Still, Amethyst was right. I can't let this guilt control me. Hmmm… maybe I should finally take up Avery's offer and talk with him. I wonder if he's still at the house."
Finally reaching the teleporter and activating it, Pearl's question was answered.
"So, what did you guys think of episode one?" The man Pearl was thinking about said.
"That." Steven started.
"Was." Connie continued.
"AWESOME!" Both finished simultaneously.
"I'm glad you liked it." Avery said, laughing slightly at the duo's reaction. After saying that, he caught Pearl in his line of sight. In reaction to this, Avery called out to the floor below:
"Oh, hello Pearl! Good to see you."
"It's good to see you, too. I was actually hoping you were still here."
"Is that so? Why is that the case?" Avery asked while climbing down Steven's ladder.
"Well, you see… You know what, it can wait for a while. I need to give Connie some practice."
"Are you sure it can wait? It sounds urgent." Avery said worriedly.
"I'm sure. I don't want to keep Connie waiting. Speaking of which," Pearl paused momentarily to redirect her voice to the girl in question. "Are you ready you start, Connie?"
"Yes I am." She replied.
"Say, what are you two practicing, anyway?" Avery asked.
In response to this, Connie unsheathed a sword Avery hadn't noticed her walk in with.
"Swordplay." The girl said proudly.
"Woah, seriously?" Avery turned to Pearl. "You know how to wield a sword?"
Pearl laughed her trademarked dorky laugh. Doing such made Avery's heart skip a beat.
'Not now, feelings.' Avery thought, irritated.
"Know how to? Avery, I can run circles around anybody who claims themselves to be a swordsman."
"Is there any chance I can watch you two?" Avery asked, his excitement growing.
"Be my guest." Pearl answered with a shrug.
"Thank you."
"Just wait 'till you see, Avery," Steven started. "Pearl and Connie are amazing!"
"I'm not that good, just yet." Connie said, blush apparent on her face.
"Oh, don't talk like that." Said Pearl. "You've improved significantly over the past several weeks."
Such talk made Connie only blush deeper.
"So, do you guys just train in the house or is there somewhere special it takes place?" Avery asked
"You'll see." Pearl said plainly while stepping on the teleporter. Soon after, Steven and Connie followed suit, with Avery finally stepping on after a 'C'mon' from Steven.
After doing so, Avery felt a hand on his shoulder. Turing his head around, he could see the hand belonged to Pearl. As he was looking at her questioningly, Pearl answered Avery with:
"I just want to make sure you don't fly away."
"What do you mean?"
Avery's questioned was answered when soon after, the teleporter activated. Feeling a sudden lightness of his being, Avery almost stumbled out of the beam of light surrounding him and the others. Luckily, Pearl was there to right him.
"Are you okay?" She inquired.
"Um, yeah, I'm… Okay." Avery answered, blushing with embarrassment (and something else, unbeknownst to Pearl).
After that little escapade, the light surrounding the group died down to reveal a gladiatorial style arena surrounded by clouds.
"Wow." Avery said, distracted by the beauty of their location. "Where are we?"
"The Sky Arena!" Steven exclaimed, arms outstretched.
"Why don't you and Steven sit over there," Pearl pointed over to some stone seating with her own sword. "We will begin momentarily."
Finding a spot with a good view of the upcoming action, Steven and Avery situated themselves.
"I hope you guys are ready for a show!" Connie called out to the two in the audience.
And what a show it was.
While Pearl was the prominent displayer of the more advanced maneuvers, Connie also did a decent job keeping up with her mentor. They showed off different uses of the parry, thrust, and multiple kinds of guarding and countering. It was all very exciting to Avery.
He, however, couldn't help but notice something off with Pearl. Even though this was the first time he saw her using a sword, her movements seemed somewhat delayed and her gaze was elsewhere most of the time. Connie must have also noticed this, because after practicing for a while she asked:
"Are you okay, Pearl? You don't seem yourself."
"Oh, it's nothing, really. I just have some… things on my mind."
"Would you like to talk about them?" Avery called from the stands, jerking his head over to the teleporter.
"… I would, yes."
Pearl and Avery started to walk towards the teleporter. Steven and Connie were about to do the same, but Pearl stopped them by saying:
"Steven, why don't you stay here and help Connie with her training for the time being?"
"Oh. Okay." The boy replied.
With that, the slender gem and the young man disappeared within a beam of light.
Upon the duo's departure, Steven's face morphed into a small smile.
"Why are you so happy?" Connie questioned her best friend.
"Oh, no reason. I'm just rooting for those two."
"Rooting? How so?"
"You know, I'm hoping they get together." Steven explained in further detail.
"Really?" Connie asked with a small laugh.
"Yes, really. Look, you may not know him that well, but Avery's a really good guy. He can be a bit dorky, but so can Pearl! Besides, whenever he's around, Pearl's always smiling and enjoying herself. At least, more so than any other human I've seen her with. Plus," Steven continued, his face becoming more serious. "I just want Pearl to happy, and I think with Avery she can have that."
"I see." Said Connie. "Well, it seems she at least trusts him to talk about her problems. Also, even though I barely know him, I guess I can agree with you about Avery being a good guy." She reasoned.
"See, I told you!" Steven exclaimed. "So, what do ya say: You wanna help me get those two crazy kids together?"
Connie looked down to the ground, thinking momentarily before saying with a smile:
"Okay, sure, why not?"
"Alright!" Steven exclaimed, following with an overdramatic utterance of the words:
"Initiating: Operation Pearlvery!"
Good Morrow, People of Fanfiction! Sorry if this chapter isn't as good of quality as the last one, I've been preoccupied with some other things at the moment. Nothing much else to say except leave your reviews to tell me what I can improve.