Chapter Eleven - Put That Thing Back Where It Came From

Lapis followed Steven back inside and waited while he activated the door to his room. The two of them stepped inside, and she turned in a slow circle, marvelling at its beauty. "It's really pretty in here. It reminds me of the clouds in the sky," she commented.

"It used to be my mom's room," Steven explained, walking over to the lone bubble bobbing above the clouds. "I can control it, but I have to be specific. Like…" He thought hard. "Room, I want a hammock."

Lapis jumped back in surprise as two spindly trees appeared out of nowhere, a strip of fabric stretched between them. Steven cheered and scrambled into it, then rocked leisurely back and forth for a moment. Then he hopped back out and waved his hands, dismissing the hammock in a puff of pink cloud. "Cool, right?"

"Cool," Lapis agreed. "Does it work for anyone or just you?"

"Just me," Steven said proudly. "OK now, room, we want to get to Amethyst's room. The real room. I have to make sure I say exactly what I want," he explained to Lapis as the clouds parted to reveal one of the crystal veins. "Or things get… weird. Now, if I remember correctly," he said, walking around the vein and looking up, "the Crystal Heart should be directly above us. There's a door there that leads into Amethyst's room."

Lapis joined him and looked up. There didn't seem to be anything but pink fluffy clouds as far as the eye could see, but if Steven said that was the way to Amethyst's room, she believed him. "Well, hop on," she said, kneeling down so he could climb on her back. As soon as Steven was settled, she unfolded her wings, picked up the bubble and followed the vein up through the clouds.

Sure enough, they flew through the clouds and suddenly emerged in a crimson chamber. Lapis landed, allowing Steven to slide off her back, and gaped at the enormous crystal heart that beat above them, casting a soft red glow over the room. "That's amazing!"

"Shh!" Steven pressed a warning finger to his lips. "Pearl's room's through there," he whispered softly, pointing to a doorway where Lapis could see soft, flickering light. It reminded her a little of sunlight on the ocean. "Amethyst's room is this way," he added, leading her to another doorway.

They peeped inside at the familiar piles of junk. "I don't see her," Lapis whispered. "Should I fly up for a better look?"

"OK," Steven whispered back. "Leave the bubble with me."

She flew up as high as possible, and flew slowly around the room, aware that quick movements were more likely to be noticed. There didn't seem to be any sign of Amethyst, so she allowed herself a little more speed as she flew back to Steven. "I don't see her," she reported as soon as she landed.

"Huh." Steven peered into the room again, as if expecting Amethyst to suddenly appear. "Maybe she's in Pearl's room or something. OK, let's put this thing back where it came from, or so help me!" he sang. Lapis gave his pop culture reference a blank look and he sighed. "There are so many movies I need you to watch."

Lapis smiled and knelt down so he could climb on her back again. "Maybe we could do that after we put the wailing stone back?" she suggested.

"Oh, I need to make a list first," Steven warned, holding on tight as she picked up the bubble and took off again. "There's just far too much media to jump in with no plan."

"We could maybe fly somewhere then?" She could see the giant battle axe up ahead, but flew past it so she could prolong their time together. "I mean, I know you must have been so many places with the gems, but is there somewhere else on Earth you'd like to visit?"

"Hmm…" Steven thought for a moment. "I'd like to visit Britain. British people always seem so nice and polite on TV and I always wanted to try a scone. There's no warp pad there, so I've never been. But it rains a lot, so maybe not."

"Another time maybe," Lapis agreed. "Anywhere else?"

Steven suddenly gasped and sat up straight and Lapis almost let go of the wailing stone, ready to catch him if she needed to. "Australia! I wanna go to Australia!" he exclaimed.

"Australia?" The word was vaguely familiar to Lapis; she was fairly sure she'd heard it on one of the documentary shows. "We can go to Australia." She circled back towards the battle axe and glided down to the ground. "I think it came from here."

Steven slid off her back, popped the bubble and pushed the wailing stone against the axe's giant handle. "Here?"

"Yeah, that looks about right. So why Australia?" she asked, getting back to the subject as they started walking back to the temple door. "Is there something special there you wanna see?"

"Not really," Steven admitted. "I don't know a lot about Australia. I mean, I guess I'd like to see the Sydney Opera House and the Great Barrier-maybe not," he quickly corrected himself. "I guess it's because me and Peridot were just talking about it the other day, so it's on my mind."

Lapis stiffened, the mention of Peridot taking her by surprise. "Y-you were?" she stammered, trying to act casual.

"Yeah, we had a little competition going," Steven said cheerfully, side-stepping a broken dresser. "To see who could find a poisonous insect that wasn't from Australia. We both lost."

"Oh. Are poisonous insects a big problem there then?" Lapis asked, trying to get the subject back away from Peridot. "We could go somewhere else." Preferably somewhere that didn't trigger any mention of the little green brat, she added internally.

Steven laughed and shook his head. "The internet says all the wildlife in Australia is Mother Nature's attempt to fight back, but I think they're exaggerating a bit. I'll pack bugspray anyway though."

They reached the door and stepped back out into the beach house. Lapis sat on a stool and watched as Steven made straight for his cheeseburger backpack and began stuffing it with bottles of water and snacks. "I kinda wanna try Australian food," he explained, pulling a handful of granola bars from a shelf. "But I think they use different money, and I don't have any-"

The temple door suddenly shone with light and Garnet stepped out. "Good morning, Steven. Hello, Lapis."

"Garnet!" Steven jumped up and ran over to hug her legs. "Lapis and I are going to Australia!"

"I know," Garnet said simply. "I came to say goodbye and to have fun." She paused. "Goodbye, and have fun."

Steven laughed. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Hmm." Garnet adjusted her visor slightly. "Don't eat Vegemite. Lapis," she said suddenly, turning to look at the other gem.

"Yes?" Lapis asked guardedly. Garnet's future vision made her apprehensive and she wondered if the other gem suspected what they'd been doing in the temple. Although she knew it wasn't true, sometimes it felt like the fusion could read her mind. And she knew Sapphire's visions weren't perfect - she had, after all, been there in Blue Diamond's court when the other gem's vision of the end of the rebellion had failed to materialise - and her visions were even more uncertain now she was fused with the unpredictable Ruby. Still, she couldn't help but be on edge around the fusion. Did Garnet know what she had planned for Peridot? Even now, when all she had was vague ideas and a few petty actions?

But all Garnet did was nod to the warp pad. "Australia's a long way to fly. There's a warp pad in China that will get you closer."

xXx

How do you decide what TV to show an alien? There's SO MUCH good stuff - and yet, so much inappropriate stuff. Like, Disney seems harmless enough until you remember Snow White has the magic mirror on the wall. Beauty and the Beast's probably out too. And Aladdin. Hmm. Yep, Steven def. has the right idea to make a list first.