Chapter Twenty-One: One Last Obstacle?
A few hours had passed since Sodalite was healed. Once Garnet had reformed, the blue Gem spent nearly half an hour apologizing. It seemed even without taking in a Gems negative feeling, she was a rather anxious Gem. Since she had come here looking for Pink, Steven had to explain what happened to his mother. It took little while, but eventually Sodalite understood and told them how she had gotten to earth.
Sodalite explained that she had escaped Homeworld before she was supposed to be shattered. When she heard about Pinks Colony, she tried to make her way to Earth, certain that Pink would protect her from Blue. Or at the very least, let her hide on Earth. Unfortunately, her ship malfunctioned and exploded somewhere in space. She floated aimlessly among the stars, her Gem broken from the explosion, until she met a girl that promised to help her. The girl pointed the way to Earth and vanished.
"So…this girl just happened to show up and help you before completely disappearing?" asked Garnet.
Sodalite nodded her head, "Yes. …At times I wondered if I had imagined her. I can't even recall what she looked like. I just remember that she called herself Mara."
"Mara…" Garnet repeated. "…well, we can look into that later. For now, we can get you a place to stay here on Earth."
"I…I can't stay with him?" Sodalite asked meekly as she pointed to Lars. Since he was the first person that didn't frighten her, she had grown attached rather quickly.
Lars flinched a bit, "Ah, well I'm sure you'd feel more comfortable in your own home, right?"
"Come on. We can figure this all out on the way to Little Homeworld." Garnet stated as she gently shooed Lars and Sodalite towards the door. "I'm sure you two have something to talk about. See you later," added Garnet before she left the house with the other two.
Alone in the house again, Steven and Spinel stood in the middle of the living room, still reeling a bit from everything that had happened. It all started and ended so quickly and it was because of Sodalite that they all had been emotional and irrational. Spinel couldn't help but worry that Steven might regret some of the choices he made while affected by Sodalite.
"…I guess…things should be calming down now, right?" Spinel asked, trying to break the silence.
"I hope so, but our lives are never that calm anyway," Steven replied with a smile. He felt much more like himself now that all those awful feelings had been lifted from the air. "Garnet was right though, you and I need to have a talk before the others get back."
Spinel didn't like the sound of that. That's usually what Pearl said when she had bad news or was about to scold her. Still, it's not like she could run away from whatever he wanted to tell her.
"O…Okay…" she mumbled sheepishly as she braced herself.
"We need to decide how to tell the others about us…" Steven began with a blush.
Spinel's breathe hitched a bit, surprised by what he said. Tell the others?
"…you mean…?"
"Well…I mean…I know we never really talked about making anything official," Steven continued awkwardly. "…I wanted to wait and talk about it after we spoke to Pearl and the others…and I still need to speak with Connie. Just to clear the air you know? …and when my Dad gets back I'm sure he'll be surprised…"
"S-So, you still want to be with me?! Like—like regular humans do?" Spinel asked with a hopeful smile.
Steven stared at Spinel with a blank expression for a moment.
"Y…yeah. Did you think-? Seriously? After all this, you still think I'm gonna just change my mind and decide I don't want you?"
Spinel shrunk a little, "…I was just…worried…" she admitted. "I still feel like I'm gonna wake up and find out I dreamed all this…"
Steven stepped up to her and took Spinel's hands before he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
"Well, if it does turn out to be dream, I'm pretty happy that you're in it with me."
Her cheeks burned terribly, "that's so cheesy," Spinel giggled.
"Well, you know me," Steven laughed lightly. "…I hope Pearl won't be too against this. I'm sure she will have something to say about it when we talk to her."
"…She said she was worried I would get hurt," began Spinel, "but I wonder if that's really all it is."
"It doesn't matter if she disapproves or not. It will certainly make things awkward, but I'm sure in time she will come around. I just want to make things clear with them so that they all know exactly how our relationship will change. …and I…still want you to sleep in my bed, but I'm sure they won't be too keen on that."
"Why not? I've slept in your bed a lot of times."
"Well…just because we'll be alone in bed…and I might have trouble controlling myself—you know we can talk about all that stuff later on!" Steven backtracked quickly. They had a lot of stuff they needed to discuss, but most of it could wait until later. For now, just clearing the air with a few people was going to be difficult enough.
"I'm sure Lars will be happy that everything will be settled. We've troubled him a lot the past few days." Spinel commented, still feeling guilty for putting their friend through so much because of her rash actions.
"You know…" began Steven irately, grabbing her waist and pulling her forward to hold her flush against his chest. "This is the second time you've mentioned his name when we're close like this. Are you doing this on purpose?"
The moment he pulled her close, Spinel felt her heart skip a beat. "N-no. I just…thought he might be angry and I felt guilty."
"I'm sure he's not mad. He was trying to help, but if it makes you feel better, we can apologize to him again later on." Steven smiled. Spinel often seemed irresponsible, but she cared so much about people. "In the meantime, do you want to rest a bit? It's been such a long couple of days."
As usual, Spinel wasn't tired, but she was sure that Steven needed a nap after everything that happened. Nodding her head, she allowed Steven to lead her by the hand up to his bedroom. Steven really must have been tired, it wasn't long after they laid down on the bed that he fell asleep while hugging Spinel close. She smiled while she looked at his sleeping face. All of this must have really worn him out. It was easy to forget how drained his human half could get. Still, she wasn't lying to Steven before. There was a big part of her that worried this was all some dream. Even so, Spinel closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, finding it hard to stay awake when she was so comfortable.
While Steven and Spinel slept, the other Crystal Gems finally made their way home. Pearl took part in finding Sodalite a place to stay after tearing her away from Lars with some difficulty. Garnet and Amethyst healed the broken Gems and explained to them what had happened. Peridot was over the moon to have Lapis back to normal, though equally annoyed that her robonoids hadn't found Garnet before this all got out of hand. As they were about to enter the house, Garnet stopped Pearl to speak with her.
"Now, remember what I told you," Garnet began quietly.
"I know…" Pearl sighed, "…I'll…keep an open mind, but—"
"—Just let them talk," continued Garnet, "it might be difficult for you, but let them say their piece before you voice your concerns. Steven is growing fast and this is all new to Spinel. It's going to be confusing enough for them, we shouldn't pile on."
Pearl knew Garnet was right, but this was hard for her. Spinel was like her little sister and Steven like a son. She always assumed he would fall in love with a Human and live a relatively normal human life with her. Also, what if one of them hurt the other? Two people that were very important to her would be upset. She didn't like those odds at all. "I'll do my best," replied Pearl.
With that, they stepped inside the house. Pearl had expected for Spinel and Steven to be waiting for them, but when she didn't see either of them, she couldn't help feeling anxious. Had they gone to Rose's room in the temple again? Just to make sure, Pearl walked up the stairs to Steven's bedroom, and was surprised to find Spinel and Steven in bed asleep. Though she walked up to the bed with the intent of waking Spinel to make her leave, when she looked down at the two, Pearl lost her will to interfere. Steven looked so content while he held Spinel close and as she slept, Spinel's gem was glowing lightly. Sighing in defeat, Pearl grabbed an extra blanket and placed it gently over the two. She still had her concerns about this, but for now, she would let them sleep and hope that their dreams were pleasant ones.
When morning finally came, Spinel woke up in bed alone, a little disappointed that Steven had left with without waking her. Without Steven here, there wasn't much point staying in his room. Ascending the stairs, she found herself a little confused to see the others Gems sitting at attention on the couch while Steven stood in front of them.
"Ah, I was just about to wake you," Steven remarked before holding out his hand for her.
It was then that Spinel knew what was going on. They were going to talk about this so soon? She wasn't so worried about Garnet or Amethyst, but she already knew that Pearl didn't like this. With a deep breath, Spinel stepped over and took his hand, facing the others along with him. This was terribly awkward. It felt a lot like she was asking their permission to be with Steven and wasn't sure what to do if they refused.
"…Well, um…I'm sure this isn't a big surprise to you guys…" began Steven as he cleared his throat. After all, Pearl had caught them a couple of times in an intimate situation, Garnet could see the future, and Amethyst just seemed like she had expected this to happen.
"…but um, I wanted to make it clear that...I…have feelings for Spinel and we—"
"—I LOVE STEVEN!" Spinel shouted nervously, finding herself panicking more than she thought she would.
Steven flinched a bit, surprised by her outburst. Perhaps they should have gone over what to say.
"…y-yes…and I…love Spinel too," he added, hoping Spinel would be less anxious about this as they went on. "Just to be clear, we're not asking permission to be together or anything. …I wanted to tell you all because you're important to me and…obviously since it's Spinel and she's been with you all for a long time…and we all live together…it just seemed like the right thing to do. …so…that's…what we wanted to say." He finished awkwardly. He'd played this out in his head, but facing them and talking about Spinel like this felt like strange. Surely telling his Dad would be a lot easier.
Amethyst smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "well, whatever you guys want to do, I'm cool with it."
"Have you two really thought about this?" asked Pearl, her expression revealing that she was holding a lot back.
"What's there to think about?" replied Steven, preparing himself for an argument. He knew how attached to Pearl Spinel was and she really took her words to heart. He didn't want anything Pearl said to make Spinel doubt this or feel guilty.
"Lots of things," insisted Pearl as she stood from her seat. "Spinel, you were MADE to care and love for your best friend, are you sure you're not just confusing those feelings because you've never been in love before? And Steven, human feelings are meant to change, what if you fall for someone else? Or find you would rather be with a human girl? If you're with a Gem, you surely won't have a normal relationship like other humans. Not to mention, even if you won't age as fast humans, you are still aging and Spinel won't age at all. What if-?"
Garnet had stood and placed her hand on Pearls shoulder to stop her. Even with her warning not to pile too much stress on them, Pearl couldn't seem to help it.
Steven glanced at Spinel and frowned when he saw her troubled expression. Sure enough, she looked like she was being berated by her older sister.
"No, we haven't talked about those things, because they are all just negative 'what ifs.' Starting a relationship…why would anyone constantly bring up the things that might go wrong? Spinel and I can't see the future, but I'm not planning on any of that to happen. I don't doubt that Spinel is being honest about her feelings and I'm certainly not planning on leaving Spinel on a whim, I'd like to think my feelings are stronger than that."
"…B-but you two are so young, do you even really know what it means to devote yourself to someone? Saying you are in love…this could just be a crush or—"
"It's not just some crush," Steven insisted, gripping Spinel's hand gently. "I'd know if it were. …I've known Spinel all my life, but I'm not a little kid anymore. Growing up…she's been my best friend and I think…now that I'm older and understand what it means to love someone…romantically, my feelings for her started to change without me really knowing it."
"Me too…" Spinel began finally. "…Steven's always been my friend. It's true that I...was made to be Pinks best friend and I was sure that meant I was made to be Steven's friend too, but…this feeling is so big…I can't be confusing it for something else. …and if I was confusing this feeling…wouldn't I have been confused with Pink too? It's not like this feeling happened overnight. In the last year or so…this feeling has just been building and getting stronger. So much so…it almost hurts."
Steven blushed as Spinel spoke, mostly glad that she hadn't let Pearls words question her feelings.
Pearl appeared as if she had more to say, but Garnet stepped in front of her with a calm smile.
"Pearl isn't wrong. Because of how different you two are, there is a lot to consider, but that doesn't mean this is doomed to fail or that your feelings aren't real. Ultimately, the most important thing is that you two are happy."
"O-of course we want you two to be happy," added Pearl with a nervous smile. She didn't want them to think she was trying to pry them apart; she was just concerned and honestly a little scared. Though she would prefer this never happened, Pearl didn't want them to hate her if she was too against it.
"…I'm just worried about you both…"
After a little while of Spinel and Steven trying to reassure Pearl that everything would be okay, she seemed to finally concede defeat, at least for now. Still, it was clear that this was going to be an uphill battle with her. Even when the talk was over and Steven said they were going to take a walk, they were lucky Garnet was there to keep Pearl from tagging along. She seemed horribly reluctant to leave them alone together.
Once he and Spinel were outside walking along the sand, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh. He figured Pearl would be difficult, but the talk was more exhausting than he anticipated.
"…that…took longer than I thought." He said finally.
"It would have been really short if it were just Amethyst and Garnet. …Pearl really seems like she doesn't want us together…" replied Spinel, her pigtails drooping lightly.
"It doesn't matter," he added quickly, "like I said, we weren't asking for permission. No matter what they ended up saying…I was prepared to stand my ground."
Spinel nodded. Though initially she had been afraid that Pearl would disapprove, when it felt like she was about to, Spinel only felt more determined. "I don't want Pearl to be upset with me, but...I nearly shattered at the thought of being without you. …so I know for sure that these feelings are real."
Being forced to recall that incident, Steven felt a pit form in his stomach. She didn't want to be without him and when he thought she was going to shatter, he couldn't imagine a life without her either. He was just glad he didn't have to lose her to realize how he felt about her. After all that happened, he wasn't about to let a few disapprovals make him miss out on being happy with his best friend. Of course he didn't know how the future would play out, but he wasn't planning on making Spinel unhappy. He had the opportunity to make her happier than she had ever been and he wouldn't let that pass him by.
"I'm sure Pearl will come around. In the meantime, you and I will be together…and that's all I need."
Spinel blushed, unable to hide her joy as her Gem began to glow softly. "…that's all I need too."
Steven stopped walking, glad to see Spinel's sweet smile. He truly loved her smile. Taking her hand, he leaned forward to kiss her lips, but was interrupted when they heard Pearl calling for them frantically from the house. With an irritated sigh, Steven pulled back and looked back at the house. "…I'm going to talk to Pearl about some…boundaries. Let's head back before she comes after us." He relented, turning to walk back, already prepared to argue with Pearl about some privacy issues that were already frustrating him.
Spinel laughed softly as she watched him walk off, but before she was able to take a step forward and follow after him, she was distracted by a strange flash of bright light that forced her to cover her eyes for a moment.
"Spinel? Are you coming?" Steven called back, waiting for her just a little up ahead.
Though she felt lightheaded at first, with a quick shake of her head, everything was back to normal. She was sure the sun had just gotten in her eyes and thought nothing more of it as she ran over to join Steven. No matter what obstacles they faced now, none of that would matter so long as she could be with him. Together with him, they could handle anything that came their way, couldn't they?
A/N: With this Chapter, "With All My Heart," is over. The Sequel, Only You is up next and I hope that you all enjoy that story as well!