FUCK!

NO- It's still five minutes away from being the fifth day of not updating in my time zone, I am technically posting today! Here- I got so bored reading my own content that I fell asleep many times in editing, I'm sure I looked over it all but if I kept restarting every time I fell asleep I REALLY wouldn't get anywhere.

-=Steven's Living room=

-=Steven/Spinel=-

A week. It's been a week since the Dendrite incident and Steven had only just started using his right arm at full capacity three days ago as Dr.Maheswaran had suggested, though the injury was the last thing on his mind for the past seven days.

First there was Citrine: one of the first real friends he made on homeworld... only to become his first experience with death like that. He knew that much was also affecting Spinel...well that's what he believed. Spinel had still been feeling horrible; a empty husk of who she was becoming since she met Steven and while she felt bad about the Citrine situation this was for a different reason. She knew it was probably silly, that she should just try and give the situation time so she could feel better, but she couldn't rid herself of this pain.

It confused her. She hadn't felt anything like this before. Even when Pink abandoned her it was a clear mix of anger and sadness...but this was different. In the beginning felt light blows of it whenever Steven would mention that they're just friends, that they were nothing more than that...but after she admitted her feelings like that in the emotional state of fear and worry that she was in, only for him to not even hear any of it and go right back to insisting they were just friends.

She couldn't figure it out; he said this all the time and it never got this bad, but for some reason, even though she knew he didn't hear her...he seemingly never even thought twice about any feelings of love...that's what this was...true unrequited love...she felt empty and yet full of pain, she could hardly find the energy required to get up and move around

She read about this feeling once in one of his books, alway thinking that it was over exaggerated for the sake of good writing but now that she was feeling it first hand she realized that it wasn't a lie in the slightest, if anything it felt worse than how they wrote it, but it hurt so much that not even the explanation she was giving felt comparable to how she really felt. Nevertheless, the pink gem wore a smile around her half human friend, he had too much to deal with as it was, she didn't want him worrying about her issue that she would never even dare to tell him of all people about in the first place.

There was one person who was able to help her feel somewhat better, but she was still stuck with this feeling. Nevertheless, she was somewhat happy that she was able to connect with someone else over the feeling of unrequited love.

-=Two Days Ago=-

-=Spinel=-

The usually happy gem looked down on the teenager who was sleeping peacefully in his bed. It had been five days since the pain began, this being the only time that she could show her true emotions without him finding out or being curious about her unusual lack of presence.

Spinel has begun leaving the room in the middle of the night, knowing he would always be there when she came back every time, so tonight she deciding to make her way onto the deteriorating hand of the temple for some time alone.

She looked over to the full moon and sat down against the washing machine that was sitting up there, pulling her legs to her chest before resting her forehead on her knees and letting the tears flow. Crying felt good, it helped her temporarily confront the hurt that was in her without needing to tell anyone these pesky and private feelings.

"Spinel?" A voice spoke, startling the depressed gem, almost making her slip and fall off the statue but a slender white arm caught her by her wrist and pulled her towards themself, bringing her face to face with Pearl. "Woah there, be careful." She said in a stern yet gentle voice.

"Y-Yeah...sorry." She said, turning away and trying to make it look like she wasn't just crying right in front of her teacher. "What are you doing up here?"

"I should ask you the same question seeing as you're never away from Steven, but I feel like I already know the answer." She sighed, sitting down on the edge of the hand and motioning for the younger gem to take a seat next to her. "Go ahead- if you can't talk to Steven about it then talk to me. I may not be as great with emotional support as him but I can be of some help."

Spinel was reluctant to open up to anyone but she had obviously already been caught so she decided that it would be better to let her address it here rather than bring it up later and potentially in front of Steven. She joined the slim gem with a sigh, looking up towards the moon as she wiped some tears away.

"So, what brings you out here away from Steven and crying all alone like that? Did something happen?" Pearl questioned, turning her attention fully to her pupil, still unable to imagined reason this gem would leave Steven's side.

"You have to swear to never bring this up with anyone else..." Spinel gave her demands, shooting a serious look at her, failing to hide the tears that were stinging the corners of her eyes, holding out her pinky in the same gesture that Steven taught her meant the unbreakable promise. "Pinky promise."

The pearl just gave a light chuckle as she wrapped her pinky around Spinel's, signaling to her that she could trust her. "Now go ahead and tell me all about it- nothing from this conversation leaves here unless you want it to."

After a few seconds of silence, the pigtailed gem broke down, resting her head on Pearl's chest and letting herself go, sobbing uncontrollably now that she had someone there to cry on. "H-He doesn't love m-me!" She cried out, just quietly enough to keep anyone else from hearing it. "H-He will n-never feel the s-same about me!" She continued, surprising Pearl with her openness about such a situation much less the amount of emotion she put forward out of nowhere.

"Oh my- I see...,what brought this on so suddenly? I knew you had emotions for him but I had no idea you felt like this." Pearl asked in the most comforting voice she could muster, placing a hand on the crying gem's head.

"You-You knew?..." She asked weakly, not even bothering to look up. "Have I been so obvious that he figured it out and he's just uninterested in ever returning my feelings?..." She spoke mostly to herself as her crying began to calm down.

"I wouldn't worry about that, he seems completely oblivious to how you feel for now." Pearl tried to reassure her, only for the anxious gem to stop leaning on her and wrap her arms around herself.

"That's the problem...or maybe that's for the better? I don't know, I said it...I said out loud that I loved him like an idiot, and he still doesn't know but...now that I've admitted it even to basically no one, it somehow feels worse to hear him all but flat out say that he doesn't like me like that." She explained on the verge of breaking down once again.

"You know, I was kind of in your position at one point..." Pearl spoke, looking over the ocean; the large moon reflecting off the surface. "Back when we were all settling down after the war...I thought me and Rose would finally be together. She acted like she felt the kind of love I felt but she would just run off with a different human almost every month...but never would she even acknowledge my loyalty and passion. Now she's gone and never once did she see me as I saw her."

"How...how do you deal with something like that? My chest feels so empty and yet tight at the same time, it hurts so much that I don't think it'll ever go away...why do I even feel this intensely for him, we've only known each other for like a month or so."

Pearl just gave a sigh. "I won't lie to you...I never completely got over the pain of Rose's unrequited love myself but...Steven isn't like Rose, he will either tell you he likes you or turn you down as gently as possible, but he would never lead you on if he could help it."

"But- if he turns me down, it could make our friendship awkward and he'll grow further away from me and then not only will I love someone who doesn't love me but then I'd loose a friend too and-" Pearl was quick to stop the panicked gem. "Spinel, even if he doesn't feel the same, he wouldn't like you any less because you have feelings for him. Steven is a sweet boy, even after all he has been through, he would never do something like that to someone- especially not someone he cares about as much as he seems to care about you."

Spinel took her words into consideration, thinking back to how kind he always was to her, how he let her follow him around everywhere all day everyday, how he took her out of that horrible garden in the first place...Steven cares about her and he wouldn't hate her for loving him, right? But she already knew he wouldn't feel the same anyway. "We're just friends... he says so himself all the time." She thought to herself.

Spinel felt better about the aftermath of being potentially being rejected but she was still terrified of verifying what she was sure was true anyway. These emotions didn't make sense- she knew he didn't like her that way...but she was so scared of confirming it because she knew it would hurt all that much more.

The two of them spent the rest of the night growing closer together through sharing their emotions and thoughts on things such as earth and Steven's mission to fix homeworld as well as all the consequences of said mission. Pearl told her about the war, about their struggles to make everything go back to some resemblance of normal and all their adventures with Steven ever since he became an official Crystal Gem. Spinel was grateful for the distraction, she really needed it.

-=Current Time=-

-=Steven/Spinel=-

Spinel was in her own situation but so was Steven. You see, her worries we're all based off of his confusion. The hybrid had been stuck in trying to decide what it was that he felt. "What if she didn't mean it that way? Am I really just overthinking this? Does Spinel even understand those kind of emotions? Do I even understand those emotions? I mean I can't even decide if this is love I feel or not! What's wrong with you Universe?! You should be getting ready to go back to homeworld, not be overthinking what's possibly not even what you think it is.

They were both stressed but Pearl had told them to come to the galaxy warp in Steven's tower around this time, apparently having a surprise for Spinel that not even Steven was aware of. They decided that they had no reason not to go, or at least no reason they would tell each other, so in the end the duo agreed to go along with Pearl's 'surprise'

"So, what do you think this is about? She seemed happy when talking to us, so I don't think I did anything wrong at least." The pink gem contemplated as they started to make their way upstairs.

"Nah, you haven't done anything wrong. That just leaves the question of what it could be, but there's no point in trying to figure it out now, we're almost up there after all." He said, opening the sliding glass door before leading her up into the tower.

The two of them walked in, noticing that Pearl was waiting for them on the warp pad just as she informed them. The aforementioned gem turned to the two of them with a wave. "Hello, I assume if you're here that means you two are ready for today's events."

"Yeah, but aren't we doing some more training together like last week?" Spinel asked as she stepped onto the warp pad. "Or are we going somewhere new for today?" The pink gem obviously not having the will or energy to do any training right now.

"Don't worry, what we're doing today has to do with your training, but we're doing something a little different." She responded with a smile. Steven had come to realize just how friendly the two of them had gotten, and he wasn't sure when it started, but he just assumed it had to of been when he was in his comatose state cause since then they haven't even looked at each other dirty. They had become, dare he say, close friends.

"If you say so." The stretchy gem said with a shrug, trying not to show her unwillingness of leaving the house in front of Steven before turning to the aforementioned hybrid. "Hey, you coming, Steven?" She questioned as she motioned for him to join the two of them. Steven gave a nod and put on a smile as he obliged and made his way over next to her, the trio leaving in a flash of light moments later.

-=???=-

-=Pearl/Steven/Spinel=-

The three of them ended up in a strange structure that seemed to be under water. "Um, where are we? This doesn't seem like anything that could have something to do with our training." Spinel spoke hesitantly as she walked ahead of them, making her way over to a window. "Though it looks really nice."

"Well, Spinel has learned as much as I can teach her by herself, and you two were victorious in a real battle recently, so I thought we could do something special to commemorate the incredible progress she's made in just such a short time." Pearl announced as she walked over to a hand scanner in the middle of the room. "Steven- If you would." She looked over to him with a smile, motioning to the panel.

"Right." He said as he walked over to her and set his hand on it, the room seemingly activating as soon as he did so. "Greetings, Pink Diamond." It said to him.

"Um- Call me Steven." He requested uncomfortably. "Greetings, Steven." It corrected, the hybrid being relieved that it wasn't as literal as Yellow Pearl. "Have you come to fix your Pearl?"

"Uh...Pearl?" He questioned as he turned to her. "No, we're here for an update slash add on." Pearl corrected.

"I was asking Steven." It responded firmly. Pearl went to argue with it but Steven held his hand up with a sigh as a gesture not to start an argument with a literal structure. "An update slash add on...please?" He repeated, seemingly not wanting to deal with this right now.

"As you wish, please follow the path so you may update your gem." It ordered as a set of doors behind it opened, revealing a large hall. "Please take a moment as you pass through to view our newest models."

Pearl just gave a groan as she started walking. "Let's go ahead and get to where we need to be." She said as she took the lead, followed by her two students.

"Wait, what was that about upgrades and add ons? What are we really doing here, Pearl?" Spinel asked, becoming slightly anxious over the secrecy of this whole thing before Steven put a hand on her shoulder as if to tell her it would be ok, successfully calming her down but making her feel somewhat worse for having a soft warmth still in her gem whenever he would give her a comforting touch like this.

"Well, I guess since we've reached our destination, I might as well let you know before you put it together yourselves." She began, her smile returning as the door at the end of the hall opened. "Since you've gotten through my 'classes', I thought I would bring you here. Now, you seemingly don't have your own weapon, and since this isn't just a slight modification to a weapon you already own, I've brought you here to be given your very own scythe."

"Wait, really? You can do that?!" She asked, seemingly getting very excited at the idea of having her own weapon and not having to rely on something she could loose, such as her current scyth she was holding in her gem from Pearl. Her mood went from awful to a little better after being told this, somewhat completing her true goal here today: make Spinel feel better. Pearl saw herself in this gem...both the good and the bad, so she felt like she had to help her in some way.

"Well, this place is made for Pearls to come and get fixed and be given updates. That being said, it's not limited to only Pearls, so as a congratulations to you for...well I guess 'graduating' from solo training." She explained, leading them into the room. "All you need to do is stand on that pad, and I will begin the manual override that will allow you to make your own modifications from inside your gem."

Spinel hesitantly walked over to the outlined area. "Um- when you say 'from inside my gem' does that mean I'll have to be put into my gem while we do this?..."

"Unfortunately, yes, that's how this works. Now there's no need to be scared though, you have the two of us here to make sure nothing happens to you." The Pearl responded, trying to reassure the younger gem.

"I dunno...I'm not really comfortable with doing that. You sure there isn't another way?" She questioned nervously as she looked over to her teacher and then to Steven, her body seemingly tensing up against her will.

"Spinel, I promise I'll be right here the entire time, you don't have to worry about a thing." He assured her with a warm smile as he put a hand on her shoulder, the contact seemingly enough to calm her nerves. "It'll be over before you know it and we can go back home. But, if you are really uncomfortable with this, you don't have to go through with it- no one will think any less of you for it."

"No, it's ok...I trust you, Steven." Spinel responded with her own little smile and a nod, holding his arm for a second, relishing the warmth that filled the emptiness the previously felt before letting go. "So- how do we go about getting me inside my gem?" She asked, slightly nervous about this part.

"Well usually it's destabilization, but that hurts a lot more than if I were simply to just pull out your gem." Pearl offered as Spinel hesitantly made her way over to her. "Would you like that or would you just rather take the destabilization?"

"No- go ahead and pull it out, I don't even want to know what destabilization feels like." Spinel agreed, stopping before her. "Just...make it quick please."

"Of course." Pearl nodded, placing her fingers around the heart-shaped gem in her chest and gripping it firmly, giving a hesitant sigh before steeling herself as she placed her hand against the pink gem's chest, giving her a solid place to pull her gem from, instantly poofing her without pain.

Steven, who was still slightly uncomfortable over what just happened, approached her. "So, what do we do with her gem?" He asked, placing his hands in his pockets, the fact that she had to her poofed bothering him to no end.

"We set her right here and begin the process." Pearl responded, walking over to a pedestal and setting the perfectly cut gem down gently on a pillow before making her way over to the panel and opening the bottom up. She was down there for a good minute before coming back up and activating said panel.

To Steven's surprise, they were able to hear Spinel now. "Um- guys? There's like- screens in here, what do I do?" She asked, sounding very confused and slightly worried.

"Good, it worked. Alright, those are there for you to model a weapon and create a new outfit if you'd like, do you think you can do that?" Pearl asked slowly and clearly. "Everything you need is on the screens and in your gem."

"Right- Yeah, I can do this." Spinel responded, looking through all the screens and many options, slightly overwhelmed but able to handle herself nevertheless. They spent the next twenty minutes waiting for Spinel to customize herself though neither of them minded waiting for decisions that were this big, especially the weapon.

Once Spinel finished the AI began to speak. "Add ons applied, would you like to scan this gem for imperfections that would require fixing?" It offered, Steven giving a raised brow and a shrug. "Sure, she doesn't seem to be cracked or anything but it wouldn't hurt to check."

"Steven, no!" Pearl shouted, seemingly panicking. "Steven cancel it!" She urged the confused teen. He turned back, seeming to panic as well for because she was. "U-Um cancel that!" He ordered the computer as it began scanning Spinel's gem.

"Sorry, command not accepted, current action already commenced." It responded, Spinel's gem being covered in a blue light.

"Pearl, what's going to happen to her?!" Steven asked, grabbing her arms and slightly shaking her. "What did I just do?!"

"Steven, this place is meant to fix Pearls, if it finds any imperfections on not just her gem, but her mental state; she will be rejuvenated without hesitation." Pearl explained as she summoned her spear and jammed it between the two halves of the clam shell-like casing, attempting to pry it open.

Steven was quick to join her, trying to pull it apart with his hands. "What does that mean?!" The hybrid continued as he used all his strength to pull, but to no avail. "Once more, your emotions are going to explode in a burst of power, not only slowly killing yourself, but bringing harm to those in the area due to lack of control. Recommendation: do not let it out- beings you care about are in the vicinity and likely to get hurt, or worse." His gem warned him as he felt as if there was a fire in his stomach, right where his gem was.

"She will be completely reset; the Spinel you know and care for will be gone and replaced with who she was when she was first created." Pearl responded, trying to stay calm and collected as she pulled with all her might. "Knowing her past, she definitely holds resentment for Pink Diamond and that will get her in big trouble here."

"What?! No, she can't just be reset!" He said, letting go of the shell incasing Spinel and turning to Pearl with a desperate idea. "Pearl, please! We have to try and fuse!" He decided, grabbing her hand, hoping that fusion would get him out of a messy situation just like last time. "Please, help me get her out of there!"

"Imperfections found. Resentment for: Pink Diamond detected as well inappropriate feeling toward the Steven Universe (her superior). Reset required for the safety of her Diamond and deletion of inappropriate feelings. Please stand by." It announced, the inside of the shell turning pink slowly, Steven hardly paying attention right now.

They could hear the faint screams of Spinel seemingly in pain as she was slowly erased and replaced, Steven doing his best to drown her out as he still internally panicked, tears of frustration in his eyes as he flashed pink for a second, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him.

"Right, no time to waste." Pearl nodded, wishing she could show a smile on her face to show her excitement as she pulled steaven close but this wasn't the time. Her hands landed on his shoulders and his on her waistline, the two of them beginning to do a quick and improvised slow dance, the two of them ending on Steven dipping Pearl low before they turned into light as their forms merged together, leaving a single being in their place, "Rainbow Quartz 2.0 here to save the day!" He said as he summoned his umbrella, aiming the tip of it at the shell that held Spinel and firing, making sure not to hit her gem with the blast.

"Rejuvenation complete, please enjoy your new g-" She was cut off after the blast created a hole in the side of the capsule. "...Complete?..." The fusion asked slowly as his eyes starred down at the now reset gem, the umbrella slowly lowering as his facial expression changed to one of shock in an instant.

"Warning: unauthorized entity found within the facility, defense protocols activated." The AI warned, security systems now blaring and shutting doors.

The entire room turned red as tendril-like grabbers shot from the walls. The fusion who had already shown himself to be a cheerful personality had only one dominant emotion left as he held Spinel's gem in his hands: anger. He shot a glare at the incoming tendrils as a voice spoke in his head. "Stress and anger levels hitting maximum capacity. Recommendation: destroy attacking entities as to blow off steam. Your only option to not loose control completely is boosted mode- would you like to activate it?"

"Wh-What is-" he began to question the voice with a confused look falling onto his face before one of anger took hold again. "Yes." He said through gritted teeth as he held onto his umbrella tightly. His entire being turned pink, his eyes glowing an extremely light pink, almost like Lion's when he got serious. The half of the fusion that was being held by Pearl, became overwhelmed by this anger and power, leaving it all to Steven and Rainbow Quartz, who was now only influenced by Steven's emotions.

The tendrils were inches away from grabbing them but he simply pointed the weapon up towards the ceiling and fired, the blast being so incredibly destructive that it literally blew a large hole in the water outside of the base and completely demolished the entire roof. He stood there for a second, his eyes flashing back to his normal ones as the power diminished, leaving Pearl more in control now.

He looked down at his feet with a look of fear and slight worry as he saw the floor under them had been completely shattered before looking up to see the light that was temporarily shining down on them disappear as the water began to fill back in and fall back down towards them. He put Spinel into his jacket and hopped onto his umbrella, allowing it to boost him through the halls, no system left to interfere with his escape.

He finally landed on the warp pad perfectly, glancing back for a second to see the water rushing towards him. Luckily enough he was able to warp away right before it reached him.

-=Earth/Steven's Tower=-

-=Steven/Pearl=-

The light of the warp flashed leaving Steven and Pearl tumbling out of it, now separated from each other. Pearl was the first to her feet, quick to look over at Steven, who was hunched over on all fours trying to catch his breath. "Steven!" She panicked as she ran over to him, holding him tightly against herself. "Steven, what-...What was that?..."

"S-.." The hybrid struggled to recollect himself as he kept trying to calm his breathing enough to form a sentence. "Spinel! Where- where's...Spinel?!" He managed to pant out as he pushed himself from her grip, struggling to his feet.

"Steven, please just lay down, I have her right here." Pearl urged as she pulled the heart shaped gem from her pocket. "Just calm down and breath."

He seemed relieved, reaching out to take the stone but falling over and passing out before he could. Pearl was quick to catch him, thinking back to how Spinel described him as all pink when he got to her. She just brushed it off at the time, but obviously something was happening to him and his powers...what was that voice?

-=End of Chapter=-

Done- and with two minutes to spare until tomorrow:p

Well Rainbow definitely could've had a better appearance, but I wanted to write his existence in for a reason other than just so Steven fuses with Pearl like in the show, and this reason leaves no time for Pearl to be excited and happy about the fact that they fused, despite how happy she might be under all the panic and stress.

Anyway, once again- I really need a new clothing design for Spinel! Last time it was for convenience and such, this time I've set it up for her to have a new style and I need suggestions.

Anyway, as always-

Good morning, goodnight, or good afternoon, I'll see you all again soon!