AN: I only recently became a fan of Steven Universe, so I apologize in advance if I've misinterpreted certain aspects of the show while writing this, or if the characterization is off.

One thing that I always found interesting was the idea that Gems are perfectly capable of dreaming, but because they do not strictly need to sleep, and in fact don't even seem to understand what sleep is, most never experience it for themselves. I thought it'd be fun to explore that idea a little with Spinel, whomst I love :^P

I lack any kind of talent for songwriting, so the song that Spinel sings in this is the opening verse to CPR/Claws Part 2 by Typhoon, the lyrics of which seemed appropriate.

I know I'm pretty late to the party to be writing stories inspired by the movie, since it came out last September and all, but I hope that you enjoy!

Visions in the Garden

How, exactly, is this a game?

Spinel had asked herself that very question countless times each and every day for the past one-thousand-and-one years, and as always, the answer eluded her. As far as she could tell, there was nothing fun about standing perfectly still for such a long period of time in the center of a rapidly-decaying garden, and if there was one subject in which Spinel was better versed than any other Gem, it was fun.

It was what she had been made for, after all. Her one and only purpose.

Fun meant spending quality time with her very best friend. Fun meant playing games that were not governed by such mystifying rules. Fun meant hide-and-seek, and red-rover, and baton twirling, and, perhaps best of all, tag.

Tag; Spinel could not help but smile and let out a wistful swoon at the mere thought of it. She had long ago made a mental note that the very first thing that she would suggest to Pink as soon as she returned would be that they play a nice, long game of tag, something that would give her a chance to run free and stretch her aching legs, so sore and cramped from centuries of standing as still as a statue, so ensnared by weeds that it was difficult to tell where she ended and the garden began.

Of course, there was always the possibility that Pink would never return…

That they would never play tag together again…

Spinel pushed such unpleasant thoughts from her mind and focused again on the matter at hand. If games were not supposed to make those playing them feel so awful as she had felt for the past millennia, then the question remained.

How, exactly, is this a game?

Spinel considered her surroundings. What was once a beautiful playground populated with exotic flowers of every color from distant worlds had been reduced to ruin. Death surrounded her on all sides, from the crumbling architecture to the desiccated ivy that covered every surface, strangling the garden with serpentine vines. Even all of the butterflies had died off centuries ago, reduced now to dust. Spinel still mourned their loss deeply. How she missed the way that they would sometimes gently flutter about her heart-shaped pigtails, as if to reassure her that she was not totally alone. Next to Pink, she considered them to be her dearest friends.

There was no longer any fun to be found in this desolate place, a playground no more. Pink had taken all of the fun with her when she left.

How, exactly, is this a game?

The question repeated itself again and again, and Spinel knew that she would have no peace of mind until she resolved this riddle. With despair bubbling up in her chest and tears welling in her eyes, she cast her memories back upon every playdate that she and Pink had ever shared in the hopes of stumbling upon some clue that would unlock this mystery.

That was when it hit her.

Had there not been so many occasions, back during the golden age of their friendship, where the smaller Gem would hide behind any of the number of columns that stood tall within the garden, a mischievous smirk carved upon her face as she lay in wait for her best friend to turn the corner so that she could jump out and surprise her?

Perhaps Pink was merely returning the favor. Perhaps her trip through the galaxy warp had only been a sleight-of-hand, and she was actually secretly hiding around some corner, or in some patch of tall weeds, waiting for the perfect moment to burst out of nowhere and yell out, "Gotcha!"

The only problem was that Spinel was all too aware of her surroundings. Surely, that must have been it; that she had merely been playing the game all wrong this whole time. Honestly, she told herself with a tsk-tsk of her tongue and a soft chuckle as she brushed away the few tears that had rolled down her cheek, she should have known all along that Pink would never make herself known as long as Spinel was expecting her. All that she had to do now was stop anticipating her return, and then it would surely only be a matter of moments before she would feel Pink's finger tapping her on the shoulder.

Spinel would jump and shriek and pretend to be frightened, Pink would say something to the effect of, "You should have seen the look on your face," and then they both would share a long laugh together before running off to earth for that game of tag that Spinel so desperately looked forward to.

The pain that she felt now would surely be replaced, nay, outweighed by joy as soon as she and her best friend were reunited once more. The greater the sorrow, the greater the relief once it was over, surely…

All of her patience would pay off in the end.

A new question presented itself.

How best to play this game, now that the rules are clear?

The way that Spinel saw it, there was really only one option for how to proceed.

She closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled a series of deep and steady breaths as she tried her best to clear her mind of all of the thoughts and questions and doubts which had been buzzing around her head for the past eon. Her logic was simple; if she could only let down her guard completely and absolutely, then Pink would finally see that the time was right for her to leap out from wherever it was that she was hiding. Spinel just had to make it clear that she was the perfect target for what was surely a prank, one that had gone on for a bit too long but that was still perfectly harmless, all things considered.

Even if her plan did not work for whatever unfathomable reason, she wagered that it was still at least worth a try. It was not as though she had much else to do with her time, after all.

For hours she stood there, trying to clear her head to no avail. Strange how the mind had a tendency to resist all of her self-conscious efforts to command its thoughts, like a flame that, rather than being extinguished upon being fanned, only roared ever higher. Images and memories of happier times seemed to play upon the inside of her eyelids in a rapid loop; there was the time when she had taught Pink how to juggle, there was the time when Pink and her had practiced their cartwheels by the fountain, there was the time when Pink had found out that she had finally been given a colony of her very own and she looked so happy that Spinel could not help but cheer and jump around in celebration…

All of Spinel's thoughts, one way or another, always led back to her. She had never known anything else.

Eventually, the day came when all of those memories finally faded away, and, for a moment at least, Spinel saw only darkness

Upon that day, a single petal fell from the stem of a dead rose somewhere in the garden.

Her face, forming in the shadows.

Her voice, distant yet clear as a bell.

"Spinel…"

The rose petal landed upon the ground, and Spinel's eyes burst wide open.

Such was her surprise at what she had experienced that she nearly fell backwards, but luckily she managed to catch herself in time. She had no idea of what the consequences would be if she were to move from her spot, aside from the fact that by doing so she would be forfeiting Pink's game. All that she knew was that she did not wish to find out.

"Pink?" she called out in a half-whisper, and received only silence in reply. "Pink!?" Louder now, enough to where her voice bounced and echoed off of the glass dome overhead. Still, there was no answer. Faking a chuckle, she decided to switch tactics. "Okay, very funny, Pink," she said, her tone wavering between hope and desperation. "You win, Olly-Olli-Oxen-Free. Why don't you come back out of your hiding spot and we can laugh about this together? Whaddya say?"

Nothing at all.

Spinel simply could not understand it in the slightest. She could have sworn that Pink had been standing before her not even a moment prior, so close that she could easily have reached out and touched her blushing cheek. Why had she retreated once more after such a long absence? Why show herself for only a moment just to disappear all over again?

Unless…

That had never been Pink, not actually. Only a vision. Only a desert mirage that disappeared and relocated the moment that Spinel approached.

Once again, Spinel felt tears stinging her eyes, this time at the realization that her many long years of isolation were finally taking their toll on her mind.

Clearly, her grip on reality was slipping. Why else would she be seeing Gems who were not really there?

Eventually, she decided that it was perhaps best not to dwell too deeply upon it.

Back to the game she went.

Spinel could not be certain exactly of how many years had passed since her strange vision. There was once a time when she would count the moments until Pink's return, but she had lost track somewhere along the way. Judging from the positioning of the stars that hung in the endless sky overhead, however, her best guess was that at least five centuries or so had gone by since last she had seen Pink's face, and even then, only as an apparition.

Cursed with an abundance of time, Spinel had long ago devised various ways to help whittle away the countless hours and days. Games, naturally, came easiest to her.

Games within a larger game…

"I spy with my little eye, something…" She paused a moment to glance around for something, anything, that she had never noticed before, a difficult task seeing as she had memorized nearly every feature of the garden. Finally, however, she spotted something on the periphery of her line of sight; a new fracture in the decaying stone column to her immediate left, revealing a dull and ugly color beneath the outer layer of pink marble. "…Grey."

It was no use. To play was pointless; there was no amusement to be found in always being the winner and the loser all at once. Spinel sighed at the realization that all of the best games were played with friends.

No matter. There were other ways to pass the time.

For example, she always used to sing to Pink whenever her best friend was in dire need of some cheering up. Perhaps a song could help raise her spirits as well. Besides, Spinel still clung to the hope that one day Pink would return to her. On that day, she hoped to serenade her with a song that she had been crafting for the past month. She certainly did not want her voice to get rusty before then.

Making lists of the things that she and Pink would do as soon as they were reunited. That had become another one of her favorite little time-killers.

After taking a moment to clear her throat, Spinel began to sing.

"Your help is on the way
Just sing yourself a song and wait
Nothing was promised in the first place
But we suffer for as long as we can take

And then the suffering
One way or the other
It will go away…"

Her voice, as lovely as ever, rang out through the garden, and while the song was preferable to the still quiet, she did not, in fact, feel any better. If anything, she was only reminded of just how alone she truly was without an audience to applaud and cheer her performance.

A sigh escaped from Spinel's lips. "What could be taking her so long?" she whispered to herself.

Had Pink somehow gotten lost along the way back? Not likely, Spinel was certain; warp pads were fairly commonplace, especially for a Gem of Pink's stature and with access to her resources.

Had Pink been poofed, or perhaps even shattered? Spinel would have shuddered at such a horrible thought if not for the fact that the idea alone was completely ridiculous. Pink was a Diamond, after all, and diamonds were perfect and unbreakable. No, Spinel could at least feel comforted in knowing that, wherever Pink was, she was most definitely safe.

Had Pink merely forgotten all about her best friend in the whole universe, Spinel? Had Pink found a new group of Gems to spend her playtime with? Had Pink, in fact, left Spinel in the garden to rot?

Of course not. Spinel would not even entertain such an absurd notion.

She just had to have faith was all. One day, she told herself, all of her suffering would go away. One day, her patience would be rewarded, and she would see Pink's face again smiling down upon her, bathing her in love, and everything would be alright.

Almost against her will, a thought hatched within her head.

Why wait at all?

She could, after all, at least in theory, see Pink whenever she felt like it. All that she had to do was close her eyes and clear her mind and let reality slip away. It had worked once before, so why not again?

It was a tempting notion, though a frightening one. Spinel could not shake off the hunch that spending time with what amounted to little more than a ghost of Pink would do little to fill the empty space inside her heart, where the weeds had taken root just as much as in the garden.

An imaginary friend would surely be no match for the genuine article.

Then again, what harm was there in indulging in a little fantasy?

The garden seemed wrong, all ethereal and dark, as though a mist had descended. The stars were gone from the sky, leaving only a pure blackness overhead. Suddenly, laughter rang out from somewhere in the distance, bubbly and sweet and familiar, somehow.

So very familiar…

A rustle in a far-off bramble of weeds, the sound of running footsteps echoing ever nearer.

A tap on her shoulder, and then-

"Surprise!"

There she stood, just as beautiful as Spinel had always remembered her, wearing the sort of proud and mischievous grin that only ever crossed her face after she had pulled off a successful prank.

"You should have seen the look on your face," she said in her voice so sweet and playful, so much so that Spinel knew instantly that her best friend had never meant to hurt her in such an awful way. "Admit it; I really got you good, didn't I?"

Spinel, at first, was too busy wiping the tears from her eyes to respond, but eventually she smiled as widely as she could muster and sputtered out a few words. "Yeah, Pink," she said happily. Just as she had expected; joy followed in the wake of sorrow. All around her, the garden returned to life. The flowers bloomed, the dust changed back into butterflies, and even the ivy went from a dull brown to an emerald green. Spinel could tell that she was entering into a new golden age. "You got me. Now how's about a game of tag?"

There in the garden, night after night, for a hundred years Spinel slept with a tiny smile etched upon her face as her head was enlivened with visions of Pink and her playing all manner of wonderful games together, the kinds of games where nobody had to get hurt.

As a Gem, Spinel did not know what it meant to be tired, and she certainly did not know upon waking that those fantastic visions were called dreams, or that she had been sleeping. Try though she might, she never managed to do so again.

Still, few deserved rest and escape quite like she did.