Hey guys, welcome back to the "Everyone's having an existential crisis" Arc!


"C-Connie!" Steven cried over the phone, "I'm sorry for what I did! I thought what I was doing was right!"

"..."

The boy sniffled and wiped the tears from his eyes, "I-I know that was kinda stupid, but they were going to take you away along with everybody else!"

"Steven." Connie finally spoke, "I know you're sorry, but you really terrified me back there. It's like you just… gave up."

"I-I-"

"Stop it Steven, I don't want to hear it…" After a moment, she sighed, "Look, I care about you, Steven. You and your family are the best, especially Pearl and Spinel. You're fun to hang around. But when you do stuff like this... it just... I just think you're going to end up dead and it breaks my heart from the thought."

"Connie..."

"We're just going to take a break, okay? We're still friends, I promise. But... I need more time to think about this. ... Bye."

Before Steven could protest, his friend already hung up. Hiccuping, he placed the phone back and walked over to the couch, sobbing into the pillow.

Spinel, who had overheard their conversation, walked from the kitchen and walked over to Steven, sitting close and stroking his back.

Her boy looked up at her, tears staining his face, "I-It's all my fault! B-But they were going to kill everyone, I- I had to tell them! But then YOU told them because you knew the truth, but then you nearly got killed! I-I DON'T DESERVE ANYTHING!" He cried to the point where he was screaming.

"No... Honey..." Spinel pulled him into a hug, softly swaying side to side to rock her boy, "It's not your fault. It's no one's fault. I never blamed you, and I never will."

"I-I nearly got you killed for me!"

"And I'll do it multiple times if I have to."

"WHY?! WHY DO EVERYTHING FOR ME?!"

"... You're my baby, Steven. The moment I saw you when you were tiny, I knew you were the most precious little being in the world, more precious than any jewel or anything in the world. I... heh heh... I-I wouldn't know what to do without you. You make my life whole."

Steven sobbed into her shoulder, Spinel holding him closer.

"It's alright, sweetheart," She crooned, "Everything's going to be alright. I'm here. I'll always be here..."


Two more days passed. Bill Dewey lost his job to Nanefua and got a new one at the Big Donut. Sadie quit her job after hearing what happened to Lars and wanted to start a band with the Cool Kids. Peridot and Lapis argued about leaving Earth, but Lapis, feeling too connected to the Crystal Gems and Earth, decided to stay. Jasper had nearly left too, but found comfort in Spinel and even Amethyst. Still no response from Connie.

Ever since Ruby and Sapphire separated, the red Gem ventured outside with Steven and Greg following her. The prophet kept to herself and remained silent, believing her relationship was based on a lie. Jasper and Amethyst had already gone out to find the others, leaving Pearl, Spinel, Lapis, and Peridot in the living room.

Pearl kept her arms around her partner, nuzzling and pecking consoling kisses into Spinel's hair as the pink Gem sipped on her tea.

"So..." Peridot wasn't sure what to say, even though she wanted to break the silence, "How's your… emotional state?"

Spinel placed her teacup down, leaned back against Pearl and exhaled, "Pretty dreary to be completely honest."

"Agreed," said Lapis.

Peridot looked away, "Yeah... It's been pretty quiet around here lately."

"You don't say."

The pink Gem clutched onto Pearl's arm, "I never should've listened to Pink. I-It never should've come to this."

Pearl's hug tightened, "I couldn't agree more, dear. She must've known either one of us would tell it one way or another. Steven deserved to know the truth.

"I know, and he knows too," Spinel agreed before she stood up, "Let me get some more tea for you all." She headed towards the kitchen, looking for the-

"Spinel!"

The pink Gem froze. Did she just hear Steven's voice? She looked around, wondering where it came from, but she realized it came... from her head?

"S-Steven? Where are you?"

"I-I don't know what's happening!"

"W-What's..."

Spinel didn't know when she shut her eyes, but when she reopened them, the ground and sounds had vanished, and she saw that she was floating in a void of pale pink. Bewilderment overwhelmed her as she tried to figure out what was going on.

"H-Hello? What is this?"

"Spinel! Help!"

She heard Steven's voice again, from behind her this time. Swerving her body around, she saw Steven flailing his arms as he floated in the void a fair distance away from her. Thinking fast, she stretched her arms out to coil around him and pulled him into her chest, the impact forcing them to spin for a moment until they stopped.

"S-Steven!" She said in relief, "A-Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah! I just... I don't know where we are. It kinda looks like Rose's room, but like... no clouds or ground."

"Were you doing something before this happened?"

"I..." Steven thought for a second, "I was thinking about you and what'd you tell Sapphire in this situation, and then things got weird. I felt lightheaded for a moment and called out your name for some reason. And bam! I appeared here!"

Spinel was confused as well, but then slowly thought of a reason, "Could... Could this be another power?"

"Power?" The boy's eyes widened, "Oh my gosh! Now I get it! But this seems pretty different from the other mind-things I can do."

"Like what?"

"Reading minds, feeling another one's emotions, possession, stuff like that. But this is completely unlike those! Actually... come to think of it... This only happened when I was thinking of you..."

Spinel blinked, "So... This could be more of a... Bonding kind of power?"

He nodded, "I-I think so. I'm getting the feeling that's what's happening to us."

The two remained silent for a moment, Spinel feeling a stinging sensation in her cheeks, but she ignored it.

"Then... how do we get out?" Steven asked.

Just then, the void started to fade, and Spinel felt like she was getting pulled away by some kind of unknown force, like with Steven. They shouted and reached out for each-other until everything went black and-

"SPINEL!" Pearl screamed, her final slap waking Spinel out of her trance.

The pink Gem shook her head as her feet touched the ground again and nearly fell back, caught by Lapis, "W-Wha? What just happened?" She rubbed her head.

"I don't know!" A panicked Peridot exclaimed, "You were asking where Steven was, and then you hunched over and didn't make any response to our attempts to wake you up!"

"What happened?" Lapis asked.

Spinel moaned from the lightheaded feeling and stood up straight, "I-I talked to Steven."

"You WHAT?!" The three Gems shouted in confusion.

She explained what happened to her and Steven, which left Pearl, Peridot, and Lapis bewildered.

"New power, huh?" Peridot questioned.

Spinel nodded, "Yeah. Steven already had the power like reading people's minds or emotions, but this time, he said he was only thinking of me before we appeared in the void. And I kinda was thinking about him too."

Pearl had her hand to her chin in thought, "Hm... That does make sense. You and Steven have the strongest bond out of all of us."

"Do you think it could work with us too?" Lapis pondered.

"Not sure..." Spinel shrugged, "We just learned this power. It might take time to get used to it and figure out if it can work on other Gems or people. Maybe I can try again..."

She pressed her fingers into her head, thinking about Steven and prepared herself for any side effects.

"Steven?" She whispered, hoping he could hear, "Can you hear me?"

When she felt the floor beneath her dissipate, Spinel focused on that, and the sounds faded once more and she felt light. She looked around the pink void and Steven appeared, this time more closer to her than last time.

"Spinel!" Steven gasped in shock, "You were able to do it!"

The pink Gem realized this and squealed in delight, "It worked! I can do it too! You know what this means?"

"Yeah... Yeah I do!" Steven shared her joy, "We can both use this power!"

The two laughed, hugging each-other tightly until Steven pulled away.

"Let's call this place... the Bonding Void!"

Spinel nodded in approval, "Sounds good with me." But then she tipped her head to the side, "And I forgot to ask, how's Ruby?"

Steven's joy faltered a little, "Um... ... Ruby's a cowboy now."

"... What?"

"Yep. Ruby decided to become more independent since she's not usually unfused from Sapphire, she's decided to make her own choices."

"She did?" Spinel glanced down, wondering how Garnet herself would think of this revelation.

Steven frowned a bit, "I-I'll let you know when we're coming back, are you doing just fine with Pearl and everyone else?"

"Of course, love." Spinel kissed his forehead, feeling the force tug at her. They were more prepared and let each-other go so the separation wasn't as rough or sudden. She waved to her boy goodbye as darkness swallowed her.

Spinel opened her eyes, sounds returning and ground under her feet. Pearl, Lapis, and Peridot were studying her close, and relaxed when Spinel became conscious.

"It worked!" She told them, almost bouncing on the couch, "I was able to reach out to him!"

Pearl was surprised, "Really? I thought Steven was the one who could use that kind of power. Maybe Steven really is bonded to you."

"What do you think this could mean?" Lapis asked, "If Steven and Spinel now have the ability to reach out to each-other, could this really help us?"

Peridot's floating finger touched her chin, "Very likely, if this power is handled properly or if the users are thinking about one another at a certain time. It will take some time to fully use this power to its full potential."

"You're right," Spinel nodded.


When the sky turned a pale orange with the sun setting over the ocean, Sapphire had finally appeared and talked with the Gems. Spinel was about to pour another cup of chamomile for her until she heard Steven's voice in her head.

"Spinel! We're back!"

"Y-You're back?"

There was no reply, as Spinel didn't need one as she could see the figures outside, Steven and Jasper at the porch. Sapphire was about to ask until she and the others looked outside. Running to the porch, they saw down at the ocean, there was Ruby, sitting upon a purple horse.

"Ruby!" Sapphire called out, running towards her partner.

Steven and the Gems watched as Sapphire asked if she was okay. Ruby hopped off the horse and it ran off as the red Gem approached Sapphire. Her voice went quiet until she held Sapphire's hand and got down on one knee, the wind blowing her hat away.

"Sapphire..." She finally heard Ruby speak, "Will you marry me?"

The Gems other than Steven and Jasper all gasped as Sapphire was in shock as well, but a more... happy kind of shock.

"M-Marry you?"

"Yeah! This way we can be together, even when we're apart! This time, being Garnet will be our decision. What do you say?"

"... Of course."

Ruby's eyes brightened with loving joy as she cheered "Yee-haw!" And hugged Sapphire tightly.

"I've been waiting to kiss your cute face!" Sapphire giggled as she kissed her partner's cheek.

"Aww!" Steven squealed as Amethyst snickered over to Pearl, Lapis, and Peridot, briefly startling them before they realized who it was.

Spinel looked over to Jasper, smiling, "Not gonna stop them this time, huh?"

Jasper shook her head, "No way. If they're happy being a fusion, I'll let them be."


The Bonding Power they had gained was created by Purplecatlover93 and all credit goes to her. Thanks for the idea! ^^

And hooray to Jasper for being supportive of Garnet!