The gems stood there in shock, even Garnet.
"Did he?" Amethyst said, the first to break the shock.
"He did." Spinel answered.
Pearl covered her mouth with both of her hands. "Oh my... stars."
Garnet looked down at the ground. "That little boy is in big trouble."
Then she took off. Pearl gasped.
"Garnet, No! I'm sure he doesn't know what he's doing!" Pearl ran after her.
"Steven!" Spinel ran after Pearl.
"Wait, I wanna run too!"
Amethyst started off running, then quickly grew tired. She jumped up just high enough to give herself time to fold up, and when she fell back to the ground, she tucked herself in and shot in a spin-dash. Past Spinel, past Pearl, and past Garnet. She slowed herself once she got near Steven, to match his pace perfectly.
Steven looked over to her, "Amethyst?"
"Need a lift, little man?"
Steven skidded to a stop, and Amethyst stopped beside him. Steven looked behind them.
"STEVEN!" Garnet's scream shouted in the distance.
He turned back to Amethyst and nodded, too exhausted to respond. He held out his hands to her like a toddler to its mother. Amethyst grinned, and in a flash she had doubled in size. She seized Steven by his sides, held him safely to her chest, and tucked into another spin-dash.
Through the trees and out into the open, past rabbit holes and rocky outcrops and into the sand. The world around seeming to slow to account to her speed. She didn't even need to see to find her way; the vibrations of the earth under her body gave her everything she needed to know: when to turn, when to slow, when to speed. When to dodge, and when to duck, and when to tumble. All this, and she wasn't even going her fastest; she didn't dare do that when she had Steven with her. She knew exactly where she was going to go.
Amethyst stopped right in front of the counter, still holding a disoriented Steven under one arm, and reached into her gem. "One donut, please!" She held out the money, and Sadie stared at her as if she was crazy.
Amethyst looked back at the flaming, black trail behind her.
"Amethyst!" Steven shouted.
"Right, right, sorry." Amethyst said, "Two donuts please!"
"Amethyst!" Steven wailed, "She's gonna kill me!"
Sadie's expression shifted from shock to concern. "Who's gonna kill you?"
"Garnet!"
Concern shifted to confusion. "Huh?"
"Steven ran from the Big G, and now she's after him. All for this little thing!" Amethyst snatched Steven's mirror and waved it in the air.
"Aw, that's gotta be scary." Sadie put her hand to her chest, "But why does she want your mirror?"
"Because the mirror's sentient and she talks to me but the mirror doesn't want to go cause she thinks all the Crystal Gems are monsters! Well, everyone except me, cause she calls me family and that's really sweet, but that's besides the point! Amethyst, they're gonna catch us!"
"Relax, Steve-man!" Amethyst leaned on the counter, "No one can catch me. I'm fast like lightning! Er, make that three donuts there, blondie."
"Of course." Sadie seemed too tired to care anymore, "What kind?"
"Chocolate, jelly filled, and pink frosted!"
"Right away ma'am. Is that for here or to go?"
"Uh." Amethyst looked outside at the approaching Garnet, "Better make it to go."
"Amethyst!" Steven clung to Amethyst's arm, "We have to go!"
"Relax, Steven!" Amethyst said, "We've got plenty of-"
Amethyst's words were cut short when Garnet busted through the door.
"STEVEN QUARTZ UNIVERSE!"
"Gotta run"
Amethyst snatched her donuts, and then snatched Steven. She moved fast, even faster than Garnet could grab her, and she only picked up speed once she got into open ground. She was dashing toward the house, toward the warp pad, and she would decide what to do when she got there. When she reached the bottom of the steps, she stopped abruptly as Spinel crawled out from between the cracks, flat at first but quickly regaining her form.
"Drop him!"
Amethyst turned on her heels and fled toward the shore; if she couldn't warp across the ocean, she'd just have to run across it! But when she got to the line where the sea met the land, Pearl raised up out of the ocean brandishing a spear in each hand.
"Amethyst, stop!"
Amethyst stopped. She made an attempt to run toward the boardwalk, but was quickly met with Garnet. Surrounded on all sides; Pearl at the waters edge, Garnet at the boardwalk, and Spinel from the house. Amethyst shrank back to her normal size, wrapping both her arms around Steven, who kept both of his arms around the mirror.
"End of the line, Steven." She whispered to him.
"No." Steven looked down at the mirror, "I'm sorry!"
The mirror began her chanting of 'no' once again.
"I'm sorry!" Steven sobbed, "I don't know what to do!"
He held it even closer as the gems approached.
"Steven." Amethyst warned.
"Please."
Amethyst looked up at a storm brewing.
"Just tell me what to do!"
Lighting cracked in the distant and thunder echoed not far behind. The mirror stopped.
Instead of screaming faces, she now showed Steven. Not in color, not in detail, but made of water with Amethyst behind him, made of water, and the mirror in his hand made of water. His imagine turned it around to the back, to the cracked gemstone, and he grabbed it. He pulled, and he pulled, and he pulled, until streaks of white flowed all around him aiding in the escape until the gemstone came loose, and all faded back to the present reflection.
"Steven?" Amethyst could truly feel the storm now, approaching fast. She looked at the darkened clouds, then back down at Steven. "If you're gonna do something, do it now man!"
"STEVEN UNIVERSE!" Garnet sounded furious, "Don't you move!"
"You don't understand!" Steven cried out into the winds, "You don't know!"
"I know better than you!"
Garnet began to approach. Steven turned the mirror around and grabbed the gemstone on its backside, and he pulled. Amethyst looked around her as the ocean crashed and roared, throwing Pearl off balance in its currents.
"Um. Steven?"
Steven continued to pull, and the waves grew stronger around them, reaching further onto the shore and only parting where he and Amethyst stood. Pearl went flying through the air by a seemingly invisible force, and landed hard in the sand.
Spinel stared in wonder. "What's going on? Steven?" She tried to approach.
Arm like tendrils stretched out from the water and struck her back like whips controlling animals.
"What in the universe?"
"No." That was all Garnet could say as the tendril's worked to keep her back too.
A few more of the offensive attack came to life all around them, and they looked black under the stormy skies. They reached around Steven, and for the first time, he opened his eyes to see just what these things were that were helping him. They reached around the gemstone, now partially lifted from its prison, but still stuck by a powerful magic that made Amethyst want to retreat back to the hole she emerged from.
The tendrils pulled, and Steven pulled, and then there was wail, a crash and an explosion. Amethyst closed her eyes as a great wave washed over her.
Amethyst opened her eyes to a bubble of pink around her.
"Woah. Never been in one of these before."
Steven stood in front of her, both arms extended against the sides of their bubble prison. The mirror lay broken at his feet, its back bare without the gemstone; a few of the shattered fractures of glass had found themselves embedded in Steven's arms, and once had pieced Steven's cheek. A thin stream of blood trickled from each of the punctures, and the blood on his face mixed with his tears as he held the bubble around them to keep the water at bay.
Then the water receded, but only from around them; the waves still crashed and the thunder still boomed and the lightning still flashed. And on the shore, among the chaos and the storm, stood a gem.
A beautiful, blue gem in a dark dress, with bare feet and short hair. From the back, Amethyst could see the place between her shoulder blades where her dress cut off and her tear-drop gemstone was on display for all to see.
"You…" She stood facing Garnet, Spinel, and Pearl, "You three knew I was in there…"
Steven fell into Amethyst's arms, and she was ready to catch him the moment he did.
"Steven? You okay?" There was no response.
"You knew I was trapped in there, and you didn't do a thing to help me!"
Steven groaned, but didn't wake up, and that was enough to catch the gems attention. She turned, her eyes glossed over as same as the mirror that had kept her prisoner. Those glossy eyes widened, and then she raised a fist into the air and drew forth a wall of water from the ocean, using it to block her in with Amethyst and Steven. Lightning shot out behind her and illuminate the scene for only a second before it was gone.
Amethyst pushed Steven behind her and held him there, which was increasingly difficult since his unconscious state made him little more than dead weight. The gem continued her slow, unsteady gait toward them, and Amethyst pulled her whip from her gemstone, ready to defend Steven with her life.
"Back off!" She flashed her weapon to show that she meant business.
The gem didn't stop; she didn't even give it a second thought before raising a hand and sending those tendrils out from the rising walls of water around them. The tendrils seized Amethyst's and pried them from her grasp and into their murky depths.
"Hey!"
The gem continued to approach. Amethyst bared her teeth and growled.
"Stay away from him!"
The mirror gem tilted her head; staring into her eyes, Amethyst found it strange to see herself staring back.
"Is he okay?" Her voice was gentle and soothing, not at all like the violence she had just displayed.
Amethyst didn't know how to answer. When she didn't immediately respond, the mirror gem continued her approach, trying to catch a behind Amethyst, but every time Amethyst would move to continue to block her. The gem finally had enough of that, and summoned more tendrils that wrapped around Amethyst's arms and legs, restraining her and pulling her away from the boy she was trying to protect.
"Steven!"
More of the water arms stretched out to catch him before he would have fallen, and the mirror gem fixed him with a pitiful look. Another wave, more tendrils. This time, they wrapped around Steven's wounds, delicately removing the glass and soaking up the blood before reaching out to pull Steven toward their owner.
"No!"
"It's okay." The mirror gem hummed, "It's alright…"
She carefully took Steven in her arms.
"Let him go!" Amethyst wailed.
The gem didn't react. She carried Steven in her arms, running her fingers through his hair and humming a song.
"Who are you?"
The gem turned to look at Amethyst.
"And what do you want?"
The mystery gem's eyes narrowed, and the storm behind her gave more truth to the storm inside.
"I want... to take Steven home."
Amethyst stared. "Huh?"
"I am Lapis Lazuli, and they can't keep us here anymore!"
The waves gave way in the background, washing Amethyst back to shore.
She wanted to fly. She wanted nothing more than to take to the skies and fly into the stars, through the vast emptiness back to homeworld and to her diamond. She would bring Steven with her too, her 'family'. She'd take him away from those monsters that called themselves Crystal Gems and give him a new life on Homeworld, where he could be safe with her. They'd terraform together, and tell their jokes, and laugh just as they always had. She just had to figure out a way to get off of the planet.
She couldn't fly, so she lifted herself and Steven off the ocean floor using the water as her guide; there was lots of it on this planet, just as she remembered. That's what had made it so worthy of her prescence, so worthy of terraforming. So worthy of the gems that were supposed to be planted in its core. She still could only imagine the beautiful gems that could have come of this planet had the war not taken it. Had she not been imprisoned and stolen away by that Pearl and what remained of her army. If only.
Lapis Lazuli pulled more and more water to her aid, until she it was like she was flying even without her wings. Even with her cracked gemstone, trapped on this planet, she had never felt so free. It felt good to have the wind in her hair and the water in her hands and under her feet. So much water. Maybe she could use it to build a staircase to the heavens, to her and Steven's freedom. Back home.
She stopped.
This place she was in, the landscape usually holding thousands of gallons of water in its large sea, seemed familiar. Far too familiar, and at once she knew she she was, and what she was to do.
The moon would help her. The Goddess that owned the night sky, and the goddess who reigned over all gems blue and green and purple. The guardian of the oceans and the water and those who terraformed the planets in her image. She would guide them to the stars, set them free. Lapis knew where she was, and she knew where to go. She knew. She knew.
The Moon Goddess called to Lapis with her siren song, and Lapis couldn't deny it. She had to answer the call.
Amethyst spat out the sea water that had found its way into her mouth. She had tasted some nasty things in her thousands of years, but seawater was always top-tier grossness. But at least she was out now, because Pearl had pulled her out, and she felt the sand beneath her toes and the wind in her air; if she was human, this would suck.
"What was that?!"
Pearl and Garnet could barely look at their companions, but in the end it was Garnet who decided to speak.
"That was a Lapis Lazuli."
"Well duh!" Amethyst exclaimed, "She told me that herself! I meant what was she doing here! How'd she get in that mirror?"
"I don't know!" Pearl shouted, "You expect me to know?!"
"We'll you're the one who gave the thing to Steven in the first place!"
"You think I wanted this to happen?! If you hadn't helped him to run in the first place we wouldn't have this problem!"
"Right!" Amethyst rolled her eyes, "You'd've just bubbled that Lazuli up and hidden her away without telling us anything!"
"You don't understand the kind of power we're dealing with, if you would have stopped to think-"
"Stop."
The argument stopped at Garnet's command. Pearl and Amethyst turned to Garnet, and then they turned to Spinel. She was standing with her back to them, staring at the rapidly receding ocean and the rapidly disappearing Lapis Lazuli.
"She… took him…"
"Spinel."
Garnet put her hand on Spinel's shoulder, but Spinel quickly shoved her off and spun around with literal flames burning in her eyes.
"SHE TOOK HIM! She took our baby!" Where Spinel's tears touched her cheeks, the pink skin was colored black, adding to the extra tear streaks that had stained her since the day Rose died.
"Spinel, we will get him back."
Spinel barely gave Garnet the chance to finish her sentence, "No we won't!" She shoved an accusatory finger against Garnet's chest, "Cause you're the reason she took him!"
Garnet was lost for words from the hostility, and so she just stood there and allowed the pink gem to take out her rage.
"She said that us three knew she was in there, but I have no idea who she even is! She wasn't facing Amethyst, cause Amethyst was helping Steven!"
Garnet backed up, her chest heaving and a few puffs of smoke escaping from her mouth.
"That must mean she was talking about Pearl and you! You two are to blame! You three are to blame!"
Garnet stepped forward, and immediately after, Spinel stepped back. She still held that hostility all around her, and Garnet only magnetized that with a heat of her own.
"Garnet, don't-" Pearl began.
Garnet blew a smoke cloud from her nose, and walked past Spinel to the ocean; or, at least, to where the ocean should have been. Now, it was nothing but dry, barren wasteland.
"Let's go." She called without looking, "We got a lot of ground to cover if we want to catch up to that Lazuli and Steven."
The silence was deafening. There were no animals for miles, no water, nothing. Even the sea floor was completely dry and barren of life; it seemed that the lapis had taken with her every lifeform that dwelled in the water she stole. It was better than the alternative, which was to leave all the sea creatures to suffocate and be scorched by the sun as she stole their homes from right beneath their fins and flippers. She hadn't left behind any coral or other plants either, and the ground showed many signs of having those plants having been safely removed and brought along.
Garnet was in the lead, far ahead of Amethyst and Spinel, but never quite out of sight. Pearl had opted to stay behind; she said it was to protect the people of Beach City should the gem return, but Amethyst knew better. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife, and countless glares between Spinel and Garnet told her that it wasn't going to change any time soon. Amethyst was beginning to hope that she had stayed behind too, but if she had she knew that this temporary peace between Spinel and Garnet would have long since fallen apart. She was the only thing keeping the calm, and that made her anxious.
"Hey Spins!" Amethyst elbowed Spinel gently and winked at her, trying her best to keep the mood light, "I'll be right back."
Amethyst got ready to dive away into her dash, but she was quickly pulled back. Spinel was crying again, holding onto Amethyst tight and refusing to let go.
"No! Don't go!"
"Huh?" Amethyst quickly came back, "I'm not going anywhere! I'm just gonna go a bit ahead to ask Garnet where we're going. We've been walking for hours."
Spinel only whimpered and tightened her grip.
"Or... I guess I'm not gonna ask."
Spinel's eyes gave the smallest gleam, and she continued to walk, pulling Amethyst alongside her.
"Steven's gonna be okay, you know that right?"
Spinel sniffled. "How would you know?"
"She... seemed to care about him." Amethyst said slowly, "I don't think she meant to hurt him. She said she was taking him somewhere."
"Where?"
Amethyst paused, and looked up at the starry sky. The clouds had gone now, and the storm with them. It was a full moon.
"Home."
"Everybody calm down."
"How can we be calm?!" Lars Baringa cried, "The ocean is gone!"
"I'm aware." Pearl said.
"There's no reason to panic!" Mayor Dewey was red in the face, even more than usual, and coated in sweat, "This kind lady's friends are uh, getting the ocean back right now!"
The mayor tried to put his arm around Pearl, but Pearl quickly stepped out of reach.
"I heard that a missing ocean is a sign of a tsunami!" Said Jenny Pizza, "Should we be like, worried?"
"This ain't no tsunami!" Said her twin, Kiki Pizza, "Did you not see that strange blue woman? And that storm?"
"So what, it's a gem thing?" Jenny Pizza asked.
"I assure you all that you are safe!" Pearl lied.
"How can you be sure?" Asked Sadie, "She took Steven!"
The crowd all shouted their agreement.
"What if it takes my boys?" Vidalia asked, holding Sourcream and Onion close.
"Or my boy!" Said Fryman, holding little Peedee Fryman close.
"Don't you have two sons?" Pearl asked.
Fryman didn't respond.
"This is crazy!" Peedee cried, leaning into his father.
"It's insanity!" Fryman agreed.
"The ocean is gone!" Shouted Nanefua Pizza, pointing at Mayor Dewey, "What are you going to do about it?"
Mayor Dewey pulled at his collar, "Uh. Everyone gets uh. A free donut from the... Big Donut?"
The crowd was not impressed.
"Seriously?!" Lars Baringa said from the back.
"Donut's can't solve everything, Dewey!" shouted, "Trust me, I've tried."
"You clearly don't know what you're doing!" Nanefua accused, and the crowd shouted their agreement.
"Everyone stay calm!"
"Stay calm, stay calm!" Lars Baringa mimicked in a high pitched voice, "Is that all you know how to say?! Stay's calm!"
"Lars, calm down." Sadie stroked Lars arm, "You're gonna give yourself a panic attack."
Pearl sighed. "I'm beginning to wish I went with Garnet."
The crowd gave a collective jump at the sound of a horn blowing.
"Sorry! Sorry!"
Pearl turned around. "Greg?"
Greg was driving slowly through the crowd in his van, sticking his head out the window to get a better view of the road to make sure the crowd was parted before he even dared to continue on.
"Greg, what are you doing?!"
Pearl immediately ran to block Greg's pass. Greg blew his horn, but Pearl didn't move.
"Just where do you think you're going?"
"To get my son!" Greg shouted back, "You said he was stolen by some riptide queen, and I wanna know why! Actually, that's a really good name for a song, but that's beside the point! My son is missing!"
"I assure you Garnet and Amethyst and Spinel are going to get him back."
"And I need to be there for it! He's my son!" Greg pulled the van up ever so slightly.
"He's Rose's son!" Pearl argued.
"He's my son too!" Greg counted, "I'm his family just as much as you are! If you don't get out of the way, I'm gonna run you over!"
Pearl scoffed. "As if you would."
Greg pulled up further to show he was not kidding.
"Okay, okay!" Pearl stepped to the side, but before Greg could pull off, she was quick to jump into the passenger seat.
"What are you doing?" Greg asked.
Pearl fastened her seatbelt. "I'm going with you!"
"No you're not."
"Yes I am! Steven would never forgive me if I let you go out there alone and you got hurt."
"You don't have to do this." Greg looked over at Pearl with big, sad eyes.
"It's not up to you to decide what I have to do! I'm my own gem!"
"Thank you."
Greg tried his best to smile, and Pearl did her best to return it. She leaned out the window to face the crowd.
"Go inside and wait. We'll make an announcement when it's safe to come out."
The crowd murmured amongst themselves before listen to Pearl and scatter toward their various houses to take shelter. Greg stepped on the gas, and they pulled off the road and across the beach, to where the ocean would usually sit. Dirt and sand kicked up in their wake, and it didn't take long for them to encounter the countless holes made by the lapis lazuli's havoc.
"Jesus." Greg drove slow, partially to take in just how much damage the gem had done, and partially to avoid hitting a hole too fast and totaling his car. "That gem sure did a number on the ocean, huh?"
"Well, she was a lapis lazuli after all." Pearl stated.
"Is that... dangerous?"
"They're a very powerful gem type, and that particular one seemed to be a perfect cut."
"That's bad?"
"It's bad. Really bad."
"Oh crud. I hope Steven's okay."
Greg flinched and slowed the car to a stop as Pearl touched his shoulder.
"Steven's gonna be fine. He's strong, and he's got Rose's bubbles. Worst come to worst, he could buy himself a few minutes."
"That's not comforting, Pearl!"
"Sorry! Sorry. The truth is I'm freaking out too. I mean, poor Steven can barely use his powers! Ugh! I should have never given him that mirror!"
"Hey Pearl, don't blame yourself. You didn't know it was sentient! You didn't, right?"
"No! I thought it was just another gem artifact! It had a crack for diamonds sake, I thought whatever gem used to be in there wasn't anymore! I wouldn't have given it to him otherwise!"
"I know you wouldn't Pearl. And I know you and me had our differences in the past, but we have something in common now: Steven. And we'd both do anything to protect him, right?"
"That's right."
"Then let's go get him back from that riptide queen who is super mean!" Greg laughed at himself, "That's good, that's real good."
Pearl rolled her eyes. "Just step on the gas. The sooner we get to Steven, the sooner I can fix my mistake."
She watched Steven curiously. She had often seen him something like this through the lens of her mirror prison, lying almost motionless in his 'sleep'. But even then he would move sometimes, to roll over or rub his face or reposition himself. And he never did it like this before; he was always in his 'bed' when be performed that strange ceremony. This wasn't his bed, this wasn't his room or his house. Lapis didn't understand, but she still watched over him.
The walls of water around and beneath them were steadily increasing in high as she drew in more water and more mass for her reach toward the stars. She had reached the tower of her desire, found the artifact of the moon she had sought for, and brought it with her as she made the tower of water. She not only took the artifact, but the guardians. Her poor, poor little shrimp. She had no idea why they looked like she did, all pointed and savage and corrupted. She hadn't even considered that they could be; they didn't have gemstones after all.
Corrupted or not, they were coming with her. They were hers, and she was theirs; at least, most of theirs. A few of them belonged to the other Lapis's that had called earth home in the early days, but the shrimp listened to her all the same. She had told them to stay back, and they did. She knew just how dangerous they could be to gems who couldn't control them, like Steven. So instead of crawling all over her and the family she held in her arms, they circled her. An endless, ever-moving stream of ice.
Lapis Lazuli rubbed her hand through Steven's hair. She wished he would just wake up already, so she could tell him all the fun things they would do once they put this planet behind them. He'd finally get to hear her voice! They had been talking for so many revolutions, yet this would be the first time he ever truly heard her speak. It would be magical, if only he would move.
"It has to be enough." She said to her circling shrimp, "This planet has so much water, it has to be enough to lift us to the stars."
She didn't expect an answer, and didn't get one.
"Oh, Steven's gonna be so happy I saved him! No more running." She rolled him over to look at his face, "No more fear, no more hiding. It'll just be us. Wake up, Steven."
She tapped his face.
"I know it's night, and it's sleep time, but it's not sleep place, Steven."
Steven moaned.
"That's it! You're doing great..."
"That's it, you're doing great..."
That voice. Steven clenched his teeth and worked up wake up. The first thing he saw through blurred eyes and dancing thoughts was a beautiful, blue face staring down at him. Short, Persian blue hair with skin of deep sky blue and glossy eyes that reflected all around her. She blinked, smiled softly, and tilted her head.
"Oh good! You're awake!"
Steven sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Huh? Who are you?"
The blue gem tapped her hand to her chest. "Family."
"Family?" Realization dawned on Steven moments later, "Mirror friend!"
She nodded. "Mirror friend!"
Steven looked over him, and couldn't bite back a scream at what he saw; endless, clear, and seemingly bottomless water swimming with all sorts of sea life. He looked around him and saw the world shifting ever higher in the sky, surrounded by sickening familiar creatures of ice. Crystal Shrimp.
"Where am I? Where are the gems?"
"They're not here." She said, "Don't worry, they can't hurt us anymore!"
"Can't... hurt us?"
She shook her head, and helped Steven to stand. The feeling of standing on solid water, still moving with all sorts of life, was indescribable.
"Can't hurt us!" She repeated, "But I have a name! I am Lapis Lazuli!"
"Lapis... uh hi, I'm Steven." Steven dumbly held out his hand, and Lapis stared at it.
"We've already met."
"Yeah." Steven lowered his hand. "Hey, I recognize that statue!"
Gray on grey, with a rainbow dancing across her ever-moving frame.
"Are... are we at the Moon Spire?"
Lapis grinned. "Yes! I don't know where she is though."
The blue gem wandered away from Steven, to the end of the water, and peered over the edge at the full moon. The crystal shrimp parted to let her past, and left the path open long enough so that Steven could follow after her. He was willing to be left alone, but his gaze ventured down instead of up. Immediately, a sense of vitiligo was instilled in him, and the drop seemed to go on forever into the inky blackness. Steven stepped quickly away from the edge, far too aware of how little space there was to move without moving or being stung by the crystaline creatures that quickly surrounded him.
Lapis clicked her tongue, and immediately the creatures stopped their approach and turned to look at her, despite their lack of eyes. They immediately set off to surround her instead of Steven, and Lapis fell to the ground (if it could even be called that). She watched unperturbed as the creatures advanced on her, not bothered at all by their threatening spikes, dripping with clear poison, or their aggressive presence. Maybe she didn't know?
"Lapis, no!"
Lapis whistled, and the creatures stopped where they were, and Steven did too. The song, flowing through the air all around him, whistling past his ears. Everything was somehow better. Soothing and calming and calling him into the distance toward an unknown destination. He could almost feel himself melting with the emotion, his eyelids heavy like he was falling asleep.
Then he remembered Spinel. And then Amethyst, and Garnet, and Pearl. He remembered his dad. Where did all these water come from? What did Lapis mean? He was never in any danger, not any true danger. He tried desperately to fight the trance, but it was so hard, and it was so late. He wanted to sleep.
Steven.
The trance faded slightly. Where?
Steven.
The darkness around him seemed less dark, and the soothing song seemed less soothing.
"STEVEN!"
Steven was finally himself again. Lapis looked angry. She pushed a few of the crystal shrimp off of her, and Steven couldn't help but notice that the shrimp seemed smoother than usual.
"They followed us."
Steven hurried to end the edge, and the vitiligo was just as strong, but some resolve inside him was stronger. The tower was high, far too fight to clearly make out anything on the ground beyond apart from three vague figures approaching fast.
"Don't they ever leave?"
"Spinel!" Steven called down; he couldn't see who the figures were, but knew that, no matter what, Spinel was one of them.
"Give him back now!"
That was Garnet! The third figure was smaller, maybe Amethyst, but until they spoke Steven couldn't be sure.
"Why can't you just go away?!"
Steven could feel the tower begin to shift on its foundation, getting smaller as Lapis pulled forth a great amount of water from its depths. At the base, three figures became four, and then five, and then six.
"Just leave us alone!"
"Lapis!" Steven grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back, but she stood strong, "What are you doing?!"
"I'm ending this! So we can go home."
"You think he's up there?" Amethyst asked.
"Where else would he be?" Spinel asked, running forward to take the lead away from Garnet.
"Spinel, don't."
Spinel didn't listen, nor did she care. "Steven!" There was no response, and so she called twice more.
"Spinel!"
Spinel's world seemed suddenly lighter just from Steven's voice alone; it meant he was conscious, he meant he wasn't so hurt he couldn't speak. It meant he was alive. Garnet came to stand by Spinel's side.
"Give him back now!"
"Why can't you just go away?!"
The water began to ripple, and out from its walls came four figures of pure liquid: A tall one, with visors, a medium one with pigtails, and a small one with a mangled mane of hair. All there wore frowns and identical, bored expressions.
"Woah!" Amethyst summoned her weapon with eyes round as saucers as she came to face her double; the doppelganger did the same with the same, fluid motion.
"It's like seeing double!" The water-gem mirror-copied Spinel down to the last detail.
"Don't let them distract you." Garnet said, summoning her gauntlets as her twin did the same, "We have to get Steven back at any cost."
"Just leave us alone!"
Garnet was the first to throw a blow at her double, and the shaped water did the exact same motion. Both Garnet's met in a standstill, causing no more damage than a simple shock wave as their gauntlets met. Garnet tried a different motion, and the other Garnet copied again, blocking her path.
Amethyst cracked her whip, and so did the other. They both shot their whip through the air, and the ends met at a standstill.
"Hey, stop copying me!"
The reflection tried to copy her, but all that came out was a strange gurgling. Amethyst sent off another attack, and another. All were quickly met with its counter, until Amethyst finally had enough and screamed. She charged up her spin dash while water-Amethyst did the same, and they both charged at each other with supersonic speed, and met in the center with a great explosion. Both stumbled out backward, still the same even in their disorientation.
Spinel stretched her legs as high as possible and grinned down at her confused double. "Copy me if you can!"
The double scowled, and water from the tower began to pool into her, and with every new addition she got, she stretched farther and farther and farther until she matched Spinel's disproportionate proportions. The tower got ever so smaller. A literal lightbulb dinged to life above Spinel's head.
"Oh yeah? What about this?"
Spinel stretched her arms up just as high as her legs were, doubling her size, and watched as the double struggled to keep up. Then she stretched her neck, and her torso. The continued to shrink as it lost more and more of its water to Spinel's antics.
"Okay, bored of this!" Spinel wrapped her form around herself, and the double struggled to copy her movement.
Spinel didn't give it a chance. She sprung up before it could mimic her, and soared through the air toward the top of the tower.
"Hello!"
"Goodbye!"
She was met with two powerful fists of water slamming into her stomach and sending her flying back down to earth.
"Spinel!" Amethyst ran to her and crouched down beside the crater made by her impact. "Are you okay?"
Spinel sat up, her eyes spiraling and three song birds cooing and dancing above her head.
"What happened?"
She shook her head with an audible rattle, and then growled.
"She hit me!"
"Tough break, Spins." Amethyst gave her a firm pat on the back, "This guy's still copying me."
Amethyst pointed back at the double Amethyst who was doing the exact same to the double Spinel, in a crater of her own.
Garnet joined the rest of her team. "We have to think of a plan."
Amethyst rolled her eyes. "I could have told you that."
A burning glare from Garnet silenced her at once.
"Lapis!" Steven wanted to run down to Spinel, to make sure she was okay, but there was no way down. "Why did you do that?!"
Lapis looked to him. "They won't let us leave."
"They… huh?"
"There's not enough water, I can't build the tower high enough. But if you heal me, I can fly us out of here. You can heal me, right?"
"Heal…?" Steven had almost forgotten about her gemstone, "You can fly?"
Lapis nodded. "All Lapis Lazuli's can! But I can't unless you heal my gem."
Lapis turned around and kneeled, so that Steven got a good view of her gem. It seemed just as bad as Amethyst's had been, but then why was Lapis acting so normal? The only thing Steven could see about her that couldn't pass as such were her eyes like mirrors.
"Whenever you're ready, Steven."
Lapis sounded pleasant; patient. Completely willing to wait for however long it took to repair her gem.
"Wait, can I ask you some questions first?"
"Hm?" Lapis looked over her shoulder.
"You said we'd fly away together, but where? And why?"
"We'd go home, Steven, to where all gems like us belong."
"But I'm not a gem, I'm human mostly."
"You have a gem."
"Yeah, but I don't know how to use it all that well." Steven lifted his shirt to get a better look at his gemstone, "I've only ever made bubbles so far with it, and healed Pearl and Connie."
"Well then heal me."
Steven considered. "I'll try."
Lapis smiled and turned back around. Steven spit into his hands.
"This might be a bit weird."
"It's okay, I'm used to weird."
Steven nodded. His heart raced just as it had when he had healed Pearl, but the cool tense of tranquility inside him didn't reflect it in the least. He reached toward her gemstone.
The blaring of a car horn made both of them jump, and the serenity surrounding Steven to fade into pure rage.
"What now?"
Greg sped up as much as he dared under Pearl's instruction. She took the wheel from his hand once they got close, and used it to steer the van right into the path of the watery attackers. They exploded on impact, covering the van with a layer of water. It pooled at their wheels, then returned to the tower from whence it came.
"What was that?!" Greg asked.
Pearl offered no answer. "Stay in the car Greg." She exited.
For a few seconds Greg listened, and then he said, "Wait, my son's out there!" And followed after her.
Pearl had already joined her team.
"... completely irresponsible to bring Greg out here." Garnet was saying.
"What would you have had me do, tie him up? He wanted to come find Steven. And- oh my stars, is he in the tower?!"
"Not the only one in the tower." Amethyst grumbled.
The water tower began to bubble.
"Greg, get back in the car..." Garnet warned. "We'll get Steven."
Greg gulped. "Works for me!" He did as he was told.
The water gargled and bubbled and shaped itself until it took the form of the same Lapis Lazuli that had taken Steven away.
"YOU!" Pearl threw her spear, but it passed right through the clone and disappeared into the water.
"What do you want?" The clone spoke.
"We want you to die!" Spinel called.
"Spinel." Garnet warned, "We just want to talk."
"You're had your chance!" The clone growled, "He's mine now!"
"I have a plan." Amethyst whispered to Pearl.
"Is it a good one?" Pearl questioned.
Amethyst shrugged, "Dunno."
Garnet hummed. "Try."
Amethyst stepped forward to the water-clone. "Hey uh, it's me. Listen, we left off on the wrong foot, and I'm just wondering if we could..."
The clone darkened and reared up until her shadow fell over Amethyst.
Amethyst gulped, but carried on. "Maybe talk? Like, at least let me say goodbye to Steven if you're taking him home!"
"Amethyst!" Pearl gasped.
Amethyst looked at her. "What? I can't say goodbye to my friend?"
Pearl went to step forward, but Garnet put out a hand to stop her.
Everything was silent for the longest time, and then the figure faded back into her tower.
"Well, so much for that idea." Amethyst grumbled.
Then, as if on cue, the water began to rupture again, and right down the center formed a staircase spiraling upward in invitation. Amethyst turned back to the group, shrugged, and then took the chance. The moment she passed through the doorway, the walls closed in behind her solid as stone.
"Alright. Let's do this."
Steven was concerned. Lapis hadn't moved in such a long time; she just sat there, staring off into the distance, with the water from her tower branching up and wrapping around her hands, bubbling ever so often. Sometimes, the bubbles would be riding up from the bottom, but other times they'd be going down. Despite everything Steven had seen, these strange reverse bubbles was the he was curious most, and so he worked to block out everything else. Nothing else mattered, except the bubbles.
Then his focused trance was broken when the bubbles came again like never before, exploding across the surface and growing more and more violent until, at last, they all formed and in their place was a spiraling staircase of solid water.
Lapis blinked. "Your friend's coming." She said calmly.
"Huh?" Steven tilted his head, "Spinel?" He craned his neck to try and spot the pink gem.
"No, the amethyst."
"Oh, Amethyst!" Somehow, that made Steven even more excited.
Lapis stared. "Yes. That's what I said."
"Is she coming to take me home?"
Lapis shook her head. "She isn't coming home with us."
"I meant my home…" Steven explained softly, "Back on the beach?"
"Oh, your prison." Lapis said it so matter-a-factly, "No, you're not going back there either. You helped me escape my prison, so I'll help you escape yours."
"What? The beach house isn't a prison!"
"Oh, don't worry Steven, it wasn't your fault they trapped you there. They're gonna pay for what they did, I promise you. As soon as you heal my gem, they'll all pay!"
"What they did? What did they do?"
Lapis lowered herself to be on Steven's level. "You don't know?"
Before Steven could open his mouth to respond, both he and lapis looked up at the sound of footsteps on the water.
"Amethyst!"
Steven sprinted over to her, wrapping his arms around the gem just a little taller than he was. Amethyst returned the hug in a much more violent manner, lifting Steven off the ground and shaking him side to side before finally setting him back down.
"Are you okay?" Steven asked; he tried to feel what Amethyst was feeling, but there was so much emotion in the air it proved impossible. "I saw what my mirror friend did."
"Oh, you mean Lapis?"
"Good! You know her name! Did she…" Steven fiddled with his hands, "Hurt you?"
"Eh, I've been hurt worse." Amethyst said, and she ran her hand down the length of her neck.
Steven felt his heart fall. "She did? She hurt you?"
"Nothing I can't handle; gemstone's fine, trust me."
Steven crossed his arms. "Show me please."
Amethyst rolled her eyes and she pulled down her shirt just barely to give Steven a brief glimpse of her gemstone.
"There! Happy?"
Steven grinned ear to ear and threw his arms around Amethyst.
"Yeah, yeah, I love you too, shorty." Amethyst shoved him away gentle, "But enough with the hugs already!"
"Sorry, I'm just so happy to see you!" Steven took her by the hand and lead her over to Lapis, "Lapis, this is Amethyst! You met her already, but not in person!"
"Actually, I did." Lapis said.
"Oh?" Steven looked between them.
Amethyst scoffed and waved her hand. "Yeah, it was this whole inspirational speech! Like, a whole eleven words!"
Lapis got closer to her. "I'm surprised you remember exactly how many."
"Well, I got a pretty good memory."
Lapis inclined her head. "That's good. Are you good?"
"Mm, good? No. Will I attack you? Also no."
Lapis gave a snort of laughter. "Funny."
"Thanks, I pride myself on it." Amethyst winked.
Lapis was confused again. "What was that thing? That thing you did with your eye?"
"Oh, it's called a wink! It's like, something you do with a joke or when you telling a secret or trying to be flirty and stuff."
"What did that wink mean?"
"Depends on what you think it meant."
Lapis thought. "Joke?"
"Maybe."
"I knew it."
Amethyst looked beyond Lapis. "Ey, you got them lil' spiky dudes to be like, not spiky!"
Lapis looked over her shoulder. "Oh, you mean the crystal shrimp? Yes, they like me quite a lot."
"Who wouldn't?" Amethyst asked, "I mean, what's not to like."
Lapis's face fell. "There's no charming your way out of this."
"Out of what?" Amethyst asked quickly, "I'm not trying to charm my way out of anything, I'm just charming!"
"You can't stop me." Lapis approached Amethyst with malicious intent in her eyes. "I'm taking Steven home."
"Well, Steven's home is uh, thataway." Amethyst pointed north, "thataway." Amethyst pointed up to the stars.
"Steven's home is with me."
"Mmmm, I dunno." Amethyst turned her back on the lapis, "I think that home is where someone is happiest so shouldn't Steven's home be where he's most happiest?"
Lapis's growing storm fell silent. "That makes sense."
"I know." Amethyst said, "So, why don't you ask him where he wants to go, eh?"
"I suppose." Lapis turned to Steven, "Steven, where are you most happiest?"
Steven didn't have to think. "Back at home at the beach house, when my dad and Connie and my other friends are over and the gems are there too."
Lapis frowned, and growing sadness radiated around her, but she kept going, "Would you be happy out there in the stars with me?"
Steven didn't want to answer, but it seemed his silence was answer enough. Lapis closed her eyes.
"Leave us."
With a flick of her wrist, Amethyst was sent flying back to the staircase, and the moment her feet touched the first step it turned into a wild water rapid and sucked her down.
"Amethyst!"
Steven tried to run to her, but chains of water strapped around his wrists and held him in place.
"Lapis?" Steven struggled against the binds, "What are you doing?!"
The chains pulled Steven along hard enough to drag him off his feet and force him to Lapis's side.
"Heal me, Steven." Lapis turned her back to him.
One of the chains exploded into water and Steven slumped to the side, almost falling before the second chain tightened around his other wrist and kept him upright.
"O… okay."
Steven spit on his hand, and pressed the hand to the crack in Lapis's gem. Immediately it was healing. There was a fracture, and then there wasn't. Only pure, smoothly cut gemstone. Lapis looked over her shoulder.
"Did it work?"
"Uh, yeah. It… it worked…"
Steven knew he didn't sound happy about it, but he didn't care. He felt the chain on his wrist slacken and fall apart as Lapis stood and reached her hand back to investigate her gemstone.
"Thank you." She sounded truly grateful, and her voice was the haunted voice of someone who wanted to cry.
"No prob, Bob."
She turned to face Steven, her mirrored eyes now a deep shade of navy blue. "It's Lapis."
"I know.. Its um… an expression? Never mind."
Lapis seemed to forget about it at once. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and from behind her formed something truly extraordinary. Wings, shining and beautiful and exquisite, made of pure water that shined like the moon itself.
"Woah! Are those your wings!"
"Yes." Lapis smiled and blushed. "Oh, it feels so good to be hold again."
The wings gave a single, powerful flutter and her feet lifted off the ground. She laughed, and then she laughed some more. She flew up high and did a pirouette in the sky, and the she flipped and soared and dove. She was laughing, and so Steven started laughing and trying to copy her moves in the sky.
Lapis froze suddenly and looked to the moon. Steven stopped all the same, and his brief euphoria faded.
The moon seemed to blink, and then she appeared again; Steven recognized the pallid blue face, baby blue dress and long, dark hair. Her wings of pure light, like Lapis', except far more grand and elegant and seeming to encase the entire night sky in her limelight.
A whisper echoed through the air.
"Yes." Lapis whispered as she murmurs surrounded her, "I understand."
"Lapis, is she talking to you?"
Lapis didn't respond, and then it was Steven's turn to hear that whisper in his ear.
No one knows what makes you shine.
Before Steven could consider what Lapis meant by those words, the solid water beneath his feet gave way and he fell through as the tower began to fall.
"STEVEN!" A cacophony of shouts rang out through the night.
Garnet ran over to Greg's van, ripping the door off its hinges and grabbing Greg as the water came crashing down on them and washed them away.
Steven was falling. Through the water and through the sky and toward the ground, and if he hit it there would be nothing to soften his fall. No water, no gems to catch him. Through the stinging of his eyes he could see the downpour sweep away his friends and family, but he lacked the breath to scream. He had to catch himself, there had to be something, anything. Please! Please!
Please!
Steven closed his eyes for an impact that never came.
The gems and Greg returned back to that spot the moment they got the chance. Amethyst turned into a functioning motor boat and was easily able to steer them back in the right direction to the spire. There had been so much water, so much chaos, no one had gotten a glimpse of what happened to Steven. He had to be there, they all agreed. At least, they had to try.
"Greg, I'm so sorry." Pearl was saying, "I'm so, so sorry! I can help you get a new van-"
"I don't care about the van!" Greg interrupted, "I'm worried about my son!"
"Do you think she took him?" Pearl appealed to Garnet.
Garnet barely reacted. "He wouldn't make it past the atmosphere; the lapis lazuli would see that."
"I just hope we're not too late." Pearl held her hands to her mouth, "I told you! We live by the ocean, so Steven should have his floaties with him all the time!"
"He'll be fine!" Amethyst said over the sound of her own motor, "He has to be! Right?"
"I couldn't get to him." Spinel said softly, her voice dull and dark, "I couldn't help him…"
"None of us could." Garnet said.
"None of you could, but I should have been able to! I'm stronger than all of you!"
"Spinel, calm down." Pearl tried.
"No! I'm supposed to protect him! I couldn't stop her from taking him!" Spinel fell to her knees, "I… I failed."
Her pigtails fell apart and her hair fell ragged across her shoulders. No one could think of anything to say until Amethyst suddenly piped up with,
"FSO!"
"Huh?"
"FSO! Flying Steven Object!"
Everyone looked up.
From the light of the moon, against the starlit sky, was a small figure drifting ever-so-slowly to the ground, as if gravity had ceased to work.
"STEVEN!"
Spinel stretched up into the sky, taking Steven into her arms and bringing him back down into the makeshift boat. Steven was shivering and soaked, clinging to Spinel's body as if his life depended on it.
"Ya know, I'm really starting to hate the water."
Garnet held out her arms, but Spinel hesitated a second before handing over her precious Steven. Steven sighed as he leaned into Garnet's warmth. Pearl and Greg began to dote over him, brushing his hair in their hands, stroking his face, holding his hands. Steven flinched away from the affection.
"He's exhausted." Garnet said. "It's okay, Steven. You can sleep."
Steven whined, and said nothing more. Immediately, everyone began to talk in a whisper.
"When did Steven learn to do that?" Greg asked.
"Just now I supposed." Garnet said.
"Rose could regulate the speed of her descent." Pearl added.
"Yeah, and she could control how fast she fell." Amethyst offered.
Pearl huffed, "That's what I said!"
"Hush." Garnet warned.
"Sorry, Garnet." Pearl was immediately quieter. "You think he's okay?"
"He's just tired and cold." Garnet said, "We need to get him back home. Amethyst."
"On it." Amethyst turned herself around and began to take them in the direction toward home.
"At least the ocean's back..." Pearl offered.
"I'm just glad we got Steven back." Spinel said; she had taken the chance to brush Steven's curls out of his face.
"Same here." Greg said, "I can get a new van, but I can't get a new son."
"Mmm." Amethyst hummed, "Technially you can."
"Amethyst, not now."
That was all it took for Amethyst to go silent again.
"What's the plan, Garnet?" Pearl prompted.
Garnet took a deep inhale. "We take him home and get him into bed. When he wakes up, we'll have a talk him with. And Greg."
"Yes?" Greg responded.
"You can stay with us until we can find you somewhere else to stay."
"Thank you Garnet. That makes me feel a lot better."
"And it will make Steven feel a lot better to have his father around. He might not understand what just happened. We need to make sure he does. When he wakes up."
Steven could never remember being so tired. His body felt stiff, like he had slept for a week, but his mind was so clouded like he hadn't slept in days. The only comfort he found solace in was the warmth and weight of the blanket on his body, and on the soft cushion under him. He was home, back in bed, and he wasn't alone. First he saw Garnet, and even sitting she towered high above the rest. Then he saw Greg, and then Pearl, and then Spinel, all gathered around his bed. He looked around.
"Steven." Pearl said, taking his hand in hers, "I'm so glad your awake!"
Steven strained to look even further. "Where's Amethyst?" The true question he wanted to ask was 'where's Lapis?'
Pearl huffed. "Amethyst ran off into her room the moment we got here, said there was something 'important' she had to do. Apparently, not so important she had to actually tell us. I mean, what could be more important than Steven's wellbeing?!"
"Pearl." Garnet said, and Pearl was silent. Garnet turned back to Steven. "Steven. We have some questions to ask you."
Steven knew that was coming, but it didn't make it any less intimidating. Steven say up. "Okay."
"Steven..." Pearl began softly, "Do you... know what happened to you?"
Steven nodded.
"Can you tell us?"
"I... let Lapis out of the mirror and she took me to the Sea Spire."
"Do you know what she was going to do with you Steven?"
"She said she was taking me... home. And that home was in the stars. That's not true, is it Pearl? I don't live in space, I live here on earth."
"Of course you do Steven."
"Then, why was she trying to take me with her?"
Silence followed for a while.
"Steven," Pearl said, "Sometimes when people have very few friends they can become... possessive of the few they do have."
"That's what happened with Lapis?"
"Yes, Steven." Pearl lowered her head. "Feeling close to someone is amazing," Pearl looked away, "but not so much if they don't feel that way too. She was trying to make you feel that way. The way she felt about you. She was going to take you with her."
"With her where?"
"Home." Spinel said, "To the stars; that's where we all came us. Me, Pearl, Garnet. Your mother."
Steven blinked away tears. "And Amethyst?"
"No, sweetness," Spinel cooed, "Amethyst was... born... here just like you."
Steven narrowed his eyes. "You hesitated."
"We'll, gems aren't really born. It's a... different process. But we'll talk about that later. All you need to know is that what Lapis tried to do to you wasn't okay. No one should ever try to steal you away from your family, no matter how much they say they love you. No matter how much they want to be your friend."
"That makes sense..." Steven concluded.
"Do you have any questions, Steven?" Pearl asked.
Steven shook his head. "I don't think so."
"Okay, Steven."
Garnet looked to Spinel, looked to Pearl, then looked to Greg. All three of them left her alone with Steven.
"Steven." Garnet said quietly, "Explain the reason you went with Lapis."
"She took me." Steven said.
"You know what I meant, Steven. Pearl and Spinel told me you fainted in the burning room, and you were muttering like a madman, yet when you woke you claimed you couldn't remember. Amethyst told me you fainted when you were confronted with the true power of the Lapis Lazuli, and that's how she took you."
"I... though I was just tired, or thirsty."
"I don't think you did, Steven." Garnet said matter-a-factly, "Tell me what you really felt like."
Steven sighed. "It's like... I got really, really angry, but I wasn't angry. I didn't have any reason to be angry, but I was so hot like I was on fire, and it drowned out all the noises and everything went black. I felt kinda like that before, but nothing like I felt then."
"That's when you were confronted with the lazuli."
"Yes. Lapis made me feel that way when I let her out, and it hurt. I didn't want to feel that way."
Garnet didn't react. "Tell me about the instance in the Burning Room."
"That's... really hard to explain. It was like I was everything at once. I was angry and happy and sad and scared. I felt really hot like I was on fire, but like it was a cold fire? And I was really cold? And all these thoughts exploded in my head but not one of them was mine."
Steven felt heat rise inside him and spill out in the form of tears.
"I was like I was fighting and being ripped apart. It hurt Garnet, it really hurt..."
"Shh."
Garnet pulled Steven tight against her, but Steven didn't have the energy to do anything but cry.
"I don't know why I feel like I do sometimes. It's like it's not my own emotion, but it takes over me. Is something wrong with me?"
"Steven, nothing is wrong with you."
"Then why do I feel that way?"
"Steven." Garnet moved away, "Your mother had the ability to regulate her descent and fall slowly, and under the moonlight you showed that same ability, just as you had done with your bubble."
"I... I flew?"
"Not flew, Steven. Regulated your descent. You fell, but slow."
"Oh." Steven wiped his face, "But what does that have to do with what's happening to me?"
"Steven, your mother was also what is known as an empath."
"What's an empath?"
"An empath is someone who feels the emotions of others as if it were their own. Your mother felt the sorrow and the pain of others like it was her own suffering, and she used to reflect that in her own emotions, until she learned to control it. Until she learned to turn that pain and sorrow into healing and joy. She could tell how a gem was feeling, truly feeling, even if that gem were too stubborn to admit it. She could help them that way, and so could you."
"So... you're saying...?"
"You have Rose's power. The emotions of others are aplified and focused inside of you, just as they were in your mother. None of this is your fault."
"So I'm not broken?"
Garnet laughed. "Steven, you're a whole as can be."