Content warning and possible trigger warning: Emotional and sexual manipulation, and sexual innuendos galore

Following that Halloween night, the gems worked hard to restore the home. They repaired everything they could and trashed the rest, leaving the home almost barren of any furniture. Steven's blanket had been stitched, the walls scrubbed clean, and the gems even resorted to scrounging through Amethyst's room to see if there was anything worth using; there wasn't. And then there was the one thing that wasn't replaceable.

Rose's drawing was completely ruined, and Pearl's attempt to restore it only made things worse. Ripped down the center, marked in sharpie, destroyed. Then, a few days later, Greg came to them with a glimmer of hope.

"I think I got a copy of it in my own storage unit," He said, "Vidalia always likes to make at least two copies when it's a really good painting. I was planning on hanging it up when I got a place of my own but…" Greg blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, not completing the sentence.

Pearl suddenly seized Greg by the shoulder with panic in her eyes, "Greg you have to give us that painting!"

"Of, of course." Greg slowly removed Pearl's hands, "It'd do better here than collecting dust in some old unit, anyways."

Pearl stumbled away, nearly falling with every weak step, and collapsed by the painting's destroyed remains, clutching the few areas that still had some semblance of Rose.

"Better hurry before Pearl has a meltdown." Spinel half-joked; it already seemed that Pearl was far past the meltdown stage.

"Yeah, that's the thing…" Greg began slowly.

"Greg." Garnet said with a hint of warning in her voice.

"Listen, I know it's in the storage unit, I just don't know where it is, exactly. There's a lot of stuff."

"Wait." Amethyst suddenly piped, "You're saying you have a sea of junk that needs exploring?"

"Uh. Yeah. I guess?"

Amethyst pushed Spinel and Garnet out of the way, sticking out her chest. "It's it's junk you need exploring, then I'm your gem!"

"No, I think I can do it myself just fine, it just… might take… a while?"

"Oh, come on Greg~" Amethyst stood uncomfortably close and dragged her finger across Greg's chest, "I've seen your junk before!"

Greg pushed Amethyst away and stumbled back, flushing deeply and shaking his head. Amethyst only laughed.

"Amethyst." Garnet's voice was cold, "Go wait in the temple."

"Oh, you're no fun!" Amethyst listened to the leader, but made sure to do so agonizingly slow, and not without casting another wink in Greg's direction.

"Greg," Garnet said, "I know being with Amethyst probably brings back some… uncomfortable memories for you, but she is right. She'll be able to find the painting before any of us, and it is imperative we replace the one we lost."

Garnet didn't even have to mention Pearl for Greg to know who she was talking about.

"Yeah, right. I'll take her in the morning."

Garnet laid a gentle hand on his shoulder for a fraction of a second. "Thank you, Greg."

Steven was conflicted. On one hand, he was always excited to go on a trip with his dad to the storage unit: there were always so many cool things his dad would let him keep and explore. On the other hand, the reason they were going there together (He, Amethyst, Spinel, and Greg) was a less than happy reason. Someone had trashed the house, but Steven was almost certain it was three someones. Almost, but not entirely, and that's what kept him from telling.

Steven brought his mirror friend along for the ride, to show her all the neat stuff too. He had already asked her if she saw anything that night, but she said she didn't; she couldn't. She could only give the audio of the house being trashed while giving an unmoving view of the ceiling. Steven could hear the voices, but couldn't make out who was saying it. He couldn't just assume it was them.

Steven turned to Greg. "It's really lucky you have an extra copy," Steven said, "I miss having mom in the house… I miss looking at her."

Greg gave a small chuckle. "Yeah, me too, Stewball. I'm just glad someone's gonna get some use out of it."

"Why did you put it in storage anyway?"

"Eh, after Rose…. Well, I just couldn't stand looking at it, ya know?"

Steven shook his head. "No, I love looking at mom. Imagining she's looking at me too, and what she sounded like, and what she was like."

"You would have loved her, and I know she loved you. She was willing to give up everything for you."

"I know… I just wish I got to know her…" Steven leaned against his father.

Greg wrapped his arm around Steven, "Don't you worry, Steven, your mothers likeness will be hanging on the wall of your living in no time! You can count on it!"

They pulled into the parking lot and stopped in the usual empty space.

"I hope you can find it." Greg began to fiddle with his keys in search of the one that opened his unit.

"I can find anything!" Amethyst boasted.

"Yeah, well, it's got a lot more cluttered since the last time you saw it."

Greg finally found that special key and pulled up the door to reveal the overbearing content within.

"You're welcome to anything else you find in there too."

Amethyst cracked her knuckles and wasted no time in diving head first into the junk.

Steven looked to his dad hopefully. "Dad, can I look for junk too?"

"Of course, kiddo! But be careful!"

Steven was always careful. With the mirror in one hand, and Spinel's hand in his other, Steven went as far as he could before he met a wall of trash and grabbed the first thing he saw.

"This is a fan!" He held it out for the mirror to see, "It blows cold air and helps to keep people cool."

Spinel had long since been aware of 'the game' that Steven played with the mirror, and was more than happy to join in. She grabbed an old blue bear with an S on its stomach.

"This is a stuffed animal!" She reported to the mirror, "You hug it!"

Spinel did just that.

"Yo!" Amethyst popped her head out of the trash mountain, "Who are you talking to?"

"The mirror!" Steven held it out for Amethyst to see.

"Uh. Cool, I guess." Amethyst ducked back into the trash and out of sight.

Spinel grabbed something else. "This is a dream catcher! It protects you from bad dreams and nightmares!"

Steven gasped. "Can I keep it!"

Spinel tossed it to him.

"Yay!"

The rear end of a purple octopus appeared from a distant pile of trash, and Steven knew immediately who it was. The octo-Amethyst slowly weaseled herself out of the mound, pulling with her several things that filled six of her eight arms; among them, was the flawless, delicate image of Rose Quartz.

"You found it!" Steven gasped.

"Yay!" Spinel cheered.

"Wow." Greg gave a long whistle, "I didn't actually expect you to be able to find it in this mess."

Amethyst popped back to her normal form, but stretched out her arms to catch all her findings before they could fall. "There is so much cool junk here! Way more than last time!"

"Yeah, well, I never really stopped using it."

"I mean, I knew you had some sweet junk, but this wasn't the junk I was thinking about! Haha!"

In that instant, three separate emotions hit Steven at once: An awkward, embarrassed heat like lightning; a staticy hesitance like a computer buffering; and a burning heat that screamed out for a drink to quench its flame.

"Amethyst!" Spinel scolded, and then glanced down at Steven.

"Sorry." Amethyst didn't sound sorry, "Anyway, look!" She held out a bunch of old VHS recordings.

The lightning immediately faded into a warm and fluffy feeling that made the other two feel dull and made a serenity wash over Steven.

"Little Butler!" Greg exclaimed, "I can't believe I still had this!"

"All six seasons!" Amethyst continued, and then waved a seventh recording, "And the director's cut!"

"We used to watch these all the time!"

"Yeah, while wittle baby Steven slept the day away." Amethyst made dramatic snoring sounds, but quickly became bored of it, "But like, I gotta admit, I digged the style!"

"Why did we ever stop watching these?"

It seemed as soon as Greg asked the question, the answer struck him in the back of the head. His eyes widened and he took a sharp intake of breath.

"What's Little Butler?" Steven asked; he was far too aware of the haunted look on Spinel's face.

"Only the best show ever created!" Amethyst said.

"Yeah." Greg laughed, and then coughed, "We used to stay up for days watching this!"

"Hey, you remember when…"

Steven was immediately lost by Amethyst's retelling, and while his dad indulged the purple gem in her excitement, he took the opportunity to talk to Spinel.

"What's wrong?"

Spinel said nothing.

"Spinny? Are you okay?"

Steven's chance to talk to Spinel was over in a flash.

"Anyway," Amethyst said to Spinel, "I saw a bunch of old furniture in there that we could probably use. Wanna help me get it?"

"Yup!" Spinel acted like she was immediately over the emotion that devoured her, but Steven could still feel it, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

"I'll help too." Greg offered.

Steven closed his eyes and cradled his head. The heat inside him was almost unbearable, even when the air was cold. Hot and cold and fire and frost fighting over control as he struggled to unwind the tangled emotions that ensnared his mind.

"Steven?"

Steven was brought back to reality with a great boom inside him as sounds and other senses came rushing back. "Huh? Sorry, could you say that again?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to help out, Stewball."

"Oh uh. Sure!"

Confusion pooled in from all three of his elders, but Steven did his best to ignore it.

Garnet hummed. "The new furniture fits nicely."

Pearl was busy cleaning the cobwebs and dust off of the newfound furniture; so busy that it took her almost a minute to process Garnet's statement and respond.

"I know." Pearl began to push the new couch into place, and Garnet was quick to help her, "And that painting is an exact replica of ours!"

She looked toward the replica with a loving look in her eyes and a smile, as if the painting would open its still eyes at any moment and gaze down at her with a similar look. She looked away just as quick.

"Are you sure it's safe? Being put in the same place?"

Garnet considered. "Yes, it should be." They finished putting the couch into place and started work on scrubbing down two twin tables, "As an extra precaution, I am commissioning Vidalia to make another copy to be stored in the temple should such a need arise for replacement."

"Blessed be the Goddesses for that, but…" Pearl sighed, "I wish it was someone other than… her."

"Amethyst and Vidalia are both consenting adults." Garnet reminded her.

"I know, I just… wish they would cut it out already! Amethyst barely does her duties as it is, and we all have more of those since Rose left! It seems whenever she gets back into all these 'relationships' of hers, she forgets all her obligations!"

"She is young, Pearl, and she'll learn in her own time."

"There." Pearl finished scrubbing the table and picked it up as well as the one Garnet had scrubbed clean. She started to look for a place for them. "Though we might want to get new cushions for the couch, given its, ahem, history."

Garnet looked the cushions over. "Yes. That would be best."

Steven was still getting used to the new furniture. The new shapes that formed new figures in the darkness, more dark corners where monsters could hide and more chance of stumbling in the dark should he get up to go to the bathroom in the night. Shapes that towered high and shapes that hung low, and shapes that you couldn't see until it was too late and you would be falling over them.

Steven rolled over to face the wall and buried his face in the familiar scent of his blanket. It wasn't just new shapes the furniture brought to his home, but a new scent that hung heavy in the air. It wasn't bad; if anything, it was good, and it reminded him of the times he'd spend with his dad. It was just different than the usually, rosy scent that would lull him to sleep all other nights; this was the smell that meant he should be awake, and with his dad, and he was only one of those things.

Steven reached for his new alarm clock and turned it to see the time. 2:15 am. He sighed, turned the clock back around, and reached blindly for his mirror.

"Hey." He said to it," I can't sleep."

In the dark, Steven saw the mirror reflect the scene. "I can't sleep."

"You too huh?"

There was no response.

"So what do you think of the new furniture?"

"Yeah!"

That seemed to be the mirror's favorite thing to say.

"Yeah, me too."

Steven sighed and looked up at the dream catcher hanging above his head.

"It's supposed to help me sleep, but I guess it doesn't work on me. Maybe it will for you? Do you wanna try sleeping on the pillow?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay."

Steven put the mirror on the pillow beside him, and pulled the end of the blanket up so it covered the hilt of the mirror.

"Goodnight, Mirror."

"Goodnight-Steven!"

Steven opened his eyes to the feeling of being watched. He sat back up in his bed and let his eyes scan over the vague shapes surrounding him until they landed on one familiar to him.

"Dude." Amethyst said in a sing-song voice, "Creepy!"

"Amethyst! What are you doing here?"

Amethyst crawled onto the bed and reached over Steven to turn on the light before she answered. "I was gonna ask if I could borrow your TV, but now I wanna know about this creepy talking mirror you have!"

She roughly snatched the mirror from the pillow, but Steven quickly took it back.

"Careful! She's delicate! And she's not creepy! She started talking to me a few days after you guys left for your mission."

"So cool!"

Steven felt bubbles and butterflies radiating from Amethyst.

"Does she have a name?"

Before Steven could respond, the mirror answered for herself. "Mirror."

"Awesome!"

Amethyst took the mirror from Steven again, this time more delicately, and turned it around in her hands. Her eyes settled on its back, on the gemstone, and the invisible bubbles around her all popped, but the butterflies remained. She gently traced her finger across the gemstone.

"How's this thing work anyway?" She asked.

"She can repeat stuff she's heard," Steven answered, "Or things she's seen. Can I have her back now?"

"Huh?" The butterflies were gone now, too, "Oh yeah, for sure."

She gave Steven the mirror back.

"Thanks. Um. Why do you want my TV?"

"Cause I don't have one! Duh!" In response to Steven's confusion, she quickly elaborated, "Greg and I wanna re-watch Little Butler!"

"Oh. Okay."

"So can we borrow it?"

"Sure..."

"Thanks, Steven!"

The next few days were no different. Steven would stumble, even in the light, and it took a long time to get used to the smell enough to sleep, but with Pearl setting up several sprayers to go off at various times in the day, it became slightly more bearable. When Steven would finally manage to fall asleep, however, he'd always be awoken not long after by the incessant laughter and giggling of his dad and Amethyst, or the loud jokes that came from the show they were watching in the living room below.

Steven made an attempt to get into the show at first, staying up late into the night to watch rerun after rerun of the same episode and the same gag and the same joke. He made an attempt to see what Greg and Amethyst found so amusing about the small butler, and Greg took the time to explain the things he didn't understand, while Amethyst barely even acknowledged Steven, unless it was as a nuisance. Steven gave it three nights before he gave up and left them to it.

Two weeks into the endeavor, Steven woke to a familiar, annoying laugh track and an even more familiar, burning heat; he had grown to associate it with Amethyst, but still couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was. He tried to ignore it and go to sleep, but then the fluff of his dads emotion turned to static and Steven jerked awake once more.

"Amethyst, don't."

Static and heat danced all around Steven and the blanket over him became too hot, so he kicked it off. The static buzzed in his ears louder than ever; not just in his ears, in his head, and buzzing around in his chest and stomach too.

"Amethyst, You promised not to do this."

"Come on Greg~"

There was another wave of heat.

"No one's gotta know except you and me…"

The heat burning Steven up was temporarily with an intense tsunami that, while it didn't wash away the heat, brought a heat of its own.

"Amethyst, Steven's sleeping up there!"

"Exactly, Greg. He's sleeping. It's just you and me~"

There was the sound of blankets and pillows shifting, and Steven could see Greg rush to the kitchen.

"I need a drink."

Amethyst quickly pursued him. "What's your deal, huh? Am I not good enough for you?"

Greg had both hands planted on the cold metal of the sink. "Amethyst, don't do this."

"What? You think Steven's gonna wake up? We can go to my room if that's the case."

Greg didn't respond, and so Amethyst persisted.

"C'mon Greg. It's not like we'd be doing something bad. If anything, it'll feel good."

Amethyst tried to reach around to grab at Greg's front, but Greg quickly elbowed her away. Amethyst stumbled back, caught herself on the counter, and then stared Greg down with an ever growing heat.

"Is it my form?"

"Your form's fine, Amethyst. There's nothing wrong with you, I just don't want you, okay? Not like that."

The passion quickly turned to malice.

"You wanted me back then…"

"I wasn't in a good place back then… Rose just died and…"

"Ugh! Rose, Rose, Rose! All about Rose. Never about me!"

"I care about you Amethyst, just not like that, and I want to hang out again, I really do. But we can't if you keep trying to do stuff like this!"

Amethyst slowly advanced on Greg.

"I used to have someone who wanted to be with me. To spend time with me. To hang out with me."

"Amethyst-"

"Do you know what happened to her? The one person who cared about me? The one person who understood?!"

"Amethyst, please."

"You killed her. You took her away! For your own gratification."

"Rose and I both wanted to have Steven, she wanted a child!"

"And you gave her one. Knowing what it would do to her. Knowing what it would do to us…"

"Amethyst, she wanted Steven more than anything…" Greg finally turned around, "She wanted to make life from nothing, and she did. She wanted Steven to live and to grow and to love, and he is. Isn't that enough?"

"It was enough for her, but not enough for me!"

They both went silent for such a long time with that shout, and Steven could only watch what happened next.

"I bet… you'd do it for her…"

Greg immediately turned around.

"Amethyst, I beg you, don't."

Amethyst didn't listen.

Her unkempt hair expanded and formed into curls, and her short frame grew greatly in mass. Higher and higher until she towered over everything else. Her simple, comfortable attire unfolded into a beautiful violet dress.

Steven could hardly breath.

"Oh Greg." Amethyst chanted, "Why don't you turn around? I think you'll like what you see,"

"I know you're doing it!"

"Doing what?" Amethyst (if you could even call her that anymore) folded down and wrapped her arms around Greg, "Come on. You wouldn't say no to me."

Greg quivered, but made no movement as Amethyst felt her way around his waist, and he didn't move when Amethyst leaned down and kissed his neck.

"You love me, don't you Greg?"

Steven felt cold. Despite the heat swarming in a cloud of haze around him, emotions shifted and shaping and forming and disappearing all at once in a confusing knot of conflicted feelings, he felt the cold above all else. Not a cold that belonged to Greg, nor to Amethyst. A cold that belonged to him and him alone.

"Stop!"

Everything froze. And then Amethyst turned around, and the eyes Steven saw staring back at him weren't Amethyst's, but his mothers. Wide, starrying, and surreal. For a moment, the only moment in his eyes, Steven locked eyes with his mother. Rose.

The TV turned to static, and in an instant Amethyst was herself again, with that same, horrified look in her eyes.

"What are you two doing?!"

Greg nor Amethyst answered. Greg just stood there, looking ashamed and horrified, but not nearly as much as Amethyst. She looked from Greg, to the TV, to Steven, to the picture of Rose. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, small at first but quickly giving way to a dam of emotion.

She wailed, covered her face, and ran out the door into the cold night, leaving father and son alone in their shock and horror. Steven was quick to shake it off, and ran after her.

"Amethyst!"

"Steven, I-"

"Sorry dad, I'll be back!"

Steven pulled on his sandals and ran out of the door as fast as he could.

"Amethyst?"

There was no verbal response, but it didn't take Steven long to realize that the cooing of a nearby owl was wracked with grief and sobs. He followed it to a tree in the sand, and at the top of the tree, perched on a broken branch, sat a sobbing, purple owl with her head in her wing.

"Amethyst?"

The owl cooed its shock, looked down at Steven with wide, watering eyes, and wrapped its wings tightly around its body.

"Amethyst, please come down."

The owl blinked. "You're crying."

Steven touched his face, and he was shocked to find it warm and wet. "I… didn't even realize." He wiped his face with his sleeve.

The Amethyst owl glided down from the treetops and popped back into her true form. Surrounding her was nothing but shame and guilt, and Steven felt the feeling settle in his stomach, as if he had eaten just a little too much.

"I'm sorry, Steven, I… I just wanted to…"

"Amethyst." Steven said, "It's okay, I think. But can you… do that again?"

"Huh?" Amethyst tilted her head like a dog.

"What you did… you turned into mom…"

"Oh…" Sadness turned back into confusion, and then the two mixed together, "You want me to do that again?"

"Just for a minute?"

"Why?"

"I just…" Steven couldn't look at her, "Want to know what it feels like for my mom to hug me…"

It seemed every emotion filed into Amethyst at once; Steven could decipher just one, and when he tried he was too slow, and the emotion was quickly replaced by a new one, and then another.

Amethyst wordlessly made Steven's wish come true. She doubled in size and in weight, her clothes faded into a dress, and a lifeless, false Rose Quartz gem formed into the star cut into the fabric on her stomach.

"Oh... " Steven felt cold and warm at the same time, and it was water was welling up inside him soon to overflow, "Hi…"

Amethyst (Rose) stared down at him with gentle eyes, and Steven couldn't take it. He stepped away, looking down at his fingers, to look at anything but her.

"Steven…"

Amethyst didn't even sound like herself, like she was making an effort to sound like Rose.

The rose quartz fell to her knees, and even then she towered high over Steven. Steven finally worked up the courage to look at her again. Gentle eyes filled with all the stars of the universe, and those soft features that gave her the motherly appearance she most desperately sought for in life. And then she smiled a gentle, caring smile that was so unlike Amethyst Steven could almost believe it wasn't.

"Steven." Said the Rose-Amethyst, "Look at you… you uh… you. Just you."

Steven didn't dare to blink, because if he blinked, she'd be gone. So instead, he sank into the frills of her dress, and felt her wrap her cold, gentle arms around him in a mother's embrace.

"I love you, Steven. I love you with all my heart."