Ocean Gem

Even with the sun high in the sky, it still felt as dreary and dark as the previous night.

"We gotta find him! We can't just be sitting around!" Pearl said frustratedly as she walked up and down the living room. Her hair appeared more messy, and all over the place. Amethyst and Garnet were in the kitchen, Amethyst sitting on the bar table with her arms crossed tightly. Garnet stood still while holding her visor, as if she was looking into the future.

"Well, we can't really do that Pearl! We don't know where they went!" Amethyst yelled as she scowled at the pale gem, her hands squeezing her arms tightly.

"You two! Quiet!" Garnet barked while she fixed her visor and glared at the two.

"Well, we really can't be when Steven got freakin 'napped!" Amethyst shouted back, causing Pearl to reprimand her angrily.

While the two began arguing again and Garnet grew more frustrated, Pink sat on the couch with her head resting in her hands. One of her legs was shaking uncontrollably, and some of her fingers were twirling and pulling her hair.

Garnet sneered before letting go of her visor and looking over to Pink. She internally sighed and glanced down, knowing that she wouldn't get any help from her.

Amethyst and Pearl's arguing became loud enough to where she couldn't even think properly, and she opened her mouth to hush them.

That moment would never come as Greg busted through the front door, panting and sweating, "You guys really need to come and check this out!"

The ocean was gone.

Completely gone.

The once vast water-filled horizon was now replaced with a barren, sandy wasteland. Boats and old strange carved rocks were all that was left. A crowd of local residents, and tourists, stood outside at the edge of where the ocean was.

As the gems followed Greg to the crowd, Mayor Dewey noticed them approaching, "Hey! It's those magical ladies!" He yelled through a megaphone before running up to them, "What's going on here?!"

"The ocean is gone, obviously." Garnet stated as she walked ahead of the gems

"That's right! Now it's just a desert! No one wants to visit Desert City!" He yelled, growing more and more despondent. "We're gonna lose all our summer tourism!"

More residents and business owners began speaking up, and Dewey came face to face with Garnet.

"As mayor, I demand you explain this immediate-" He yelled, before his megaphone was smacked out of his hand by Garnet, making him instantly shut up.

"It was by a gem named Lapis Lazuli. She was released from a prison, and is using her powers on the ocean." She explained, while Pearl created a hologram of said gem.

The people gasped as they saw her, whispering to each other. Some were more surprised by the hologram itself, asking how she did it. The hologram disappeared quickly, and Garnet fixed her visor, "I suggest you all go home until the situation is taken care of."

"And speaking of which, Greg, we need to talk." She turned to the middle-aged man, who rubbed the back of his neck.

"Alright, what is it? Is it something magical, because you know I don't like that stuff."

If Steven wasn't half-gem, he'd surely be dead by now.

And that fact was currently thought number one as he looked down from the edges of the tower with wide, fearful eyes. The edge went down roughly twenty kilometers, and branched outwards into other towers and flat plains. Even he knew that people weren't supposed to be this high.

"W-we're really high up, y'know?" He said loudly as he glanced behind him. Lapis stood a few feet away with her arms surrounded by water, which twirled down into the floor.

"I'm focusing, Steven." Lapis muttered dismissively, making Steven frown and look down at Earth. It seemed so far away, and the specks that were clouds and storms surrounding the tower hammered that in for him.

He stepped back from the edge and held his stomach, placing his hand on his gem.

'I really messed up, didn't I? Oh stars...' He felt sick to his stomach; a sinking feeling in his gut. Nearly falling to his knees, he saw Lapis free her hands from the water and look over to him.

He stood up straight and watched her warily as she walked over to him. Her eyes were reflective like mirrors, and he saw himself in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she looked at him carefully, putting an arm on his shoulder.

"Y-yeah, I'm just not a fan of heights." He said, huffing a laugh that wasn't all there.

"Good. I didn't want them trapping m-us." She corrected herself as she sat on her knees and looked out into space.

"What do you mean?" Steven asked as he sat down next to her. "Did something happen for you to be trapped?"

"Back during the war… I was caught in the fighting. After hearing that rebels had taken over the planet... I tried to run," Her hands grabbed a hold of her skirt tightly as she continued. "I was caught, and gems put me in that mirror. They used me, like a tool, like I wasn't somebody!"

Her voice rose and quivered, water nearby violently rising like waves. She stopped and took in a deep breath, before sighing and looking at Steven.

"But you… you treated me like… like a friend! You talked to me, and liked me!" She said as her spirit lifted, "I can't thank you enough. And once we go home, we can forget all of this ever happened."

"Home? But… this is my home." Steven muttered, making Lapis look at him in confusion. "All of this is my home. The ocean is a part of it. Why are we even up here?"

He grew frustrated slightly, waving his arms out. Lapis scowled slightly, standing up and looking down at him.

"We're using the ocean to get home. If I stretch it far enough, we can get there." She said before she began walking away, into the center of the tower. "You're a Crystal Gem, I doubt you'll come with me."

She stopped walking and water lifted around her arms again, and she sneered angrily, "They're here."

Steven raised his eyebrows before understanding what she meant. He didn't know dread and hope could come together in a package, but now he did.

The drive was taking longer than expected, and they didn't even know how long it would continue. The sun had long gone down in the distance as they crossed across the barren wasteland the ocean once covered.

Greg was currently in the back of the van, his hands connected in a tight bind while sleeping. Amethyst sat next to him, snoring loudly. Pearl sat in the back between the passenger and driver seat, facing Greg and Amethyst.

Her eyes were shut, but her hands rubbing together nervously showed she wasn't asleep in any capacity. On top of the van, Lion slept soundly, and in the driver's seat was Garnet, driving with one hand on top of the wheel. Sitting in the passenger seat was Pink, who was fidgeting still, looking out of the window.

The silence was almost drowning, and was broken when Garnet spoke, "You've been quiet all day." She said as she turned her head to her leader.

"Y-yeah… maybe I have." The words came out irritated, but rotten with anxiety.

"We'll get him back. Just remember we're counting on you to lead us." Garnet said as the van rattled slightly. After getting no response, Garnet sighed and shook her head.

" Rose should be here ."

Garnet felt her form go cold from the whisper, and she glanced over at Pink with a deep frown, her mouth parted slightly.

"Rose would know what to do. I can't make strategy like her . "

Garnet tightened her grip on the van's steering wheel as she sighed, "Of course you do . For now, think of a plan and go from there."

"I don't know… we'll… we'll just n-need to be quick, poof Lapis. Get Steven… and go home." Pink muttered as she messed with her fingers, trying to interlock them messily.

A cough from behind got the two's attention, but only Garnet looked back to see Pearl leaning between the seats. She had an anxious look over her face, and Garnet didn't need any future vision to know what she was gonna ask.

"Do you think he's safe?" The white gem asked as she looked to Garnet with a frown.

"Lapis sees him as an ally. She… she's desperate, so we'll have to be careful." Garnet explained, making Pearl sigh shakily.

"Yes, and we can only hope she hasn't left with him. I-" She stopped and grabbed onto the edges of the seats, then rose up slightly. Her eyes were fixated on something up ahead, and the two others looked to see a large tower of water.

The tower appeared to never stop rising, and water was rising up into it from cracks in the ground. Dark clouds also surrounded it, droplets of water rushing out to join the behemoth of water.

The van came to a stop a few meters away, and the gems rushed out of the car. Greg stepped out too, and looked up to the tower with the best album cover idea in mind.

"Stay alert, she could be anywhere." Garnet said as she summoned her gauntlets, the gems summoning their weapons soon after.

"What could she want with the ocean?" Pearl asked as she saw different sea animals swimming in the water.

" Go away! " A thunderous voice shouted, shaking the area with a tremble. Water at the base morphed into a large head, glaring at them. "Before I make you!"

"Lapis Lazuli! Where's Steven!" Pink stepped forward, hands shaking while gripping her sword.

"Noo! " The face morphed into Steven's, and then changed into Lapis'. "You're the reason I was trapped here! You and you're Crystal Gems! Just… leave me alone."

The face disappeared into the water, making the gems growl. Pink stepped forward again, and pointed at the water.

"We're not leaving until we get Steven back! The ocean, too!" After a few seconds of silence, the ground rumbled before forming cracks. Water seeped up and began forming into the gems.

A water clone of Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, and Lapis herself soon faced them, glaring with contempt. The clones summoned their own weapons, which were made of hard, solid ice.

Pink backed up and rejoined the gems, who were growling at the clones. Greg stepped back and got in his van, hiding down in the back.

"If we stay together, we can-Augh!" Garnet was cut off when her water clone punched her square in the gut. The force sent her flying back into the ground, eventually coming to a stop nearly fifteen meters away.

She pulled herself out and cracked her neck, as Water-Garnet landed a few feet away. Garnet charged at her clone, who blocked it with her gauntlets. The impact created a huge crater around them, cracking the ground into pieces.

This time the clone attacked, throwing a punch towards her. She matched the punch, and then the one after that. Soon the two were caught in a flurry of fists, each colliding with each other.

The ground shook as they fought, and Garnet broke the chain by ducking quickly and uppercutting the clone. Water-Garnet's head broke up and broke into water droplets, before rejoining together.

Garnet's mouth opened in surprise, but was quickly replaced with pain as the water clone kicked her away, sending her into a boulder.

As Garnet leaped back into battle, the boulder was grabbed by Amethyst's whip. It was sent flying towards Water-Amethyst, who reformed to dodge it. This continued as Amethyst kept throwing nearby boulders and rocks at her clone.

After the clone dodged again, Amethyst stomped her foot, "Oh c'mon!" And felt her leg get wrapped around by water. She was thrown up and back into the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust.

"Well, if we're playing fair!" Her form glowed and she shapeshifted into a wrestler. Jumping up, she began falling quickly at her clone with her knee aimed at it.

Pearl was having to deal with two of her own clones, after she had cut the first one in half. She ducked under their spears, and dodged their slashes. Their fighting styles were identical to hers, down to the simplest step.

After a spear grazed her arm, leaving a bright white cut, she gritted her teeth and somersaulted backwards. With a raise of her arm, a thin wall of sand hid her from them. The Water-Pearls jumped over it, with their spears raised up, but were blown away as a large white ball of energy hit them both.

Pearl stood up and dropped the sand wall with a sigh, "I hate fighting me."

Water-Lapis raised her arms, sending water rising from the cracks in the ground. Pink leapt to the side as a large fist of water crashed down where she was standing.

She rushed towards Water-Lapis, her sword aimed at her target. A rush of wind by her side made her glance over and see the fist coming straight at her. With barely any time, she raised her sword defensively and took the strike.

The blow sent her flying off to the side, and broke her sword in two. The Lapis clone stepped towards where Pink landed, two large fists forming from her back.

Pink raised herself up, her form glowing a low pink, and two hexagonal shields formed next to her. She glared at the clone and snarled, "Is that all, come at me!"

Water-Lapis sent the two fists at Pink, but they were blocked by the shields. The clone narrowed its eyes and raised water again, creating a set of chains up. A main row of water fists came directly at her, spinning around like a tornado.

Pink formed a new shield in front of her when the fists came into range. They exploded against the shield, but soon formed past and kept coming. Her eyes hardened as she created two hexagonal orbs around her fists. She reeled back her left arm and awaited the water fists. They came roaring closer and closer. Then they stopped.

She gasped and choked when a water chain flew into the back of her neck and stopped her from moving. More chains came flying in and grabbed her arms and legs. A pair wrapped around her torso as she began struggling against them.

Water-Lapis rose up and looked down at the struggling Pink with anger. Her pure blue watery eyes showed nothing but fury.

Pink felt anger and anxiety build up as she hopelessly struggled against the chains. Her chest felt like a bottomless pit as anxiety grew in her. She was trapped. The pink glow around her grew brighter before she opened her mouth and shouted, "That's… Enough!"

The chains broke apart as a shockwave hit Water-Lapis, causing it to shake and disappear into a puddle. A large crater surrounded Pink, and cracks with a low pink glow spread out from her feet. She fell on the ground and gasped.

The other water clones the gems were fighting disappeared, shaking before exploding into puddles. The gems looked to their leader as the fight finally ended.

The tower of water began shaking slightly, a few large chunks nearly falling off. Some did fall off, landing and causing great waves.

Steven lost his footing as the tower shook, causing him to fall on his face. Lapis was panicking nearby, trying to keep her hold on the tower as her powers failed.

She regained control and growled angrily before Steven yelled at her, "Lapis! You need to stop! This is crazy!""

"I need to do this Steven!" She yelled back as she turned to him. "I'm so close! I can't give up now! If I stre-"

"No! If it worked, we would've been there already!" Steven said before he frowned sadly, "I know how important home can be… but, that's why you need to stop. The ocean is a part of my home, and you took it away."

Lapis closed her hands into fists, but dropped them as she sighed, "I… I just want to go home. My gem is cracked," she looked down as her will to fight died, "If I stretch the ocean enough, I… I can… this is never going to work."

She fell to her knees and held herself with her arms, making Steven frown and walk over. He joined her side and got on his own knees.

After the two were silent for a while, Steven spoke up, "I… think I can help." Lapis looked over at him, confused, her eyes reflecting his face.

"Well, maybe not me… but I think Pink ca-"

"Pink? Pink Diamond !? She's the reason I'm stuck here in the first place! Why would I even go to her?!" Lapis gained more anger at the idea. "If she wanted to help me, she could've not started her horrible rebellion that trapped me here!"

"Wait, Lapis, please!" Steven started, but paused when he saw the furious look on Lazuli's face. It seemed to calm, but turned into a stern look. "Please, Pink… has healing tears. She can heal gems! She could heal yours! We just nee-"

"I'm sorry, Steven. But I can't risk it anymore." Lapis said defeatedly as she stood up. She slowly stepped away, but stopped when Steven spoke up.

"No, wait! How will you get home then?!" He argued, pointing at the distant galaxy she had just been staring at longingly not even five minutes ago. It was incredibly noticeable in the sky, glowing pink, blue, yellow, and white all around it. Lapis glanced at it too, then scowled at him.

But he was right. Her entire fight died when it came to going back to Homeworld . Her gem was cracked, her strength was almost gone, and whatever they did down there had made her powers completely useless. There was nothing she could do.

And so, she looked back at Steven angrily, "What if she healed me? How do I know they won't just put me back in a mirror? How can you know that they won't, Steven? Your friends, they aren't right. They're rebels! They don't care about anything other than this planet and themselves."

"No, it isn't like that. Lapis, I've known them my whole life! They won't trap you again, if… if they try to," He set a hard glare. "If they try to then I'll stop them." Lapis' eyes widened at the force of his words. He looked genuinely ready to do just that.

Lapis tried speaking, words catching in her throat, before she finally spoke, "Okay… thank you." She smiled in appreciation before she raised her arms up. Water surrounded them before they began descending through the tower. Steven gasped at the sight of fish and other sea life floating around them. It was beautiful in a way he couldn't explain. Lapis glanced at him and smiled a little bit more when she saw his awestruck face.

The trip down ended after a few minutes. Their feet touched the sandy ground beneath them, making a soft crunching noise. Through the blurry blue water, he could see the gems outside. It looked like they couldn't see him though, as they huddled near each other and raised their weapons. He could also barely make out his dad's van.

He looked up at Lapis after nothing happened for a few moments, "Are we gonna go?"

"Yes, just… hold on." Lapis grabbed her elbow and looked off to the side. Steven put a hand on her right arm and patted it, "Hey, it's gonna be okay. I'll go first." He pointed at them while never taking his eyes off her. She nodded hesitantly and opened a small path for him.

The gems came into view and they looked at him in surprise. Pearl was the first to run up and hug him as he stepped out. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried, "Steven! Are you okay!? Did she hurt you?!"

"No, I'm fine! But-" He took a glance at the others and his assumptions were right, they were glaring right at Lapis. Pearl took notice when Lapis walked out from the tower herself, looking afraid. Rightfully so as Pearl yelped and summoned her spear.

"L-Lapis!" She screamed and pushed Steven behind her, but the boy fought back and stepped away from her. "Steven, what are you doing?!"

"I'm sorry, but we all have to stop." He made it to Lapis and winced at the betrayed looks of the gems.

"Dude, what are you talking about? She straight up 'napped you!" Amethyst said as she pointed at the gem behind Steven angrily.

"I know! She just wanted to get home, but her gem is cracked! So we all have to stop and fix this!" He pointed back at her, sending her a reassuring grin for a second. His eyes locked onto Pink as she stared at him with a mix between confusion, shock, and… regret.

Pearl spoke up, "Wait, are you saying we… help her? She's too dangerous! We don't know what she could do!" She argued and pointed her spear at the blue gem.

"She isn't gonna do anything! Right?" Lapis looked between him and the gems and slowly nodded.

"We still can't let her go, Steven. If she makes it to Homeworld, they'll most certainly come back." Garnet explained, unsummoning her gauntlets.

"I don't care about that, as long as I get off this planet." Lapis finally talked, taking a step forward. "Look, I just need to get home. I…" She looked at Steven and became silent in thought. "I… won't tell them about you. As long as my gem is healed, I won't tell them you're here."

The gems became still at Lazuli's words. It was risky, and highly dangerous- "Okay."

And then all of that was thrown out the window by Pink's words. Pearl looked slightly mortified, but it went ignored. "I'll heal you, and in exchange you won't tell any gem that we're still on Earth." Her gaze intensified at the last part.

She walked forward ahead of Pearl and stared at Lapis, waiting for an answer. Steven's eyes flicked between them, waiting with anticipation. Lapis slowly nodded and stepped closer, "Okay… I won't."

"Then let me do this real quick." Pink's gaze fell slightly as she walked up to Lapis. The blue gem eyed her warily for a second before asking, "Um… what exactly do I do?"

"Oh, just turn around. I need to see your gem." Pink did a small circle with her finger, making Lapis turn around and shift on her feet. "Like this?"

"Perfect, now let me just…" Pink looked at the gem, studying the crack before licking her thumb and pressing it against Lapis' gem. She shivered at the contact before letting out a gasp. Her gem mended back together, then shot out a beam of light as she took a wobbly step forward. Her eyes lost their reflection, giving way to a pair of dark blue. Two wings made of clear water shot out from the sides of her gem, taking experimental flaps.

She looked back at the diamond behind her and gave a small, but thankful smile. " Thank you. "

Steven ran up to her and stopped just three feet away. Lapis' smile brightened and she hugged him, "And thank you Steven! I don't know what I could've done without you! Just… thank you for everything." She tightened the hug as Steven returned it.

"No prob' Bob." He said jokingly, making Lapis pull back and crack a raised eyebrow, "It's Lapis."

"Ha, I know!" He laughed, making Lapis chuckle. Steven missed the confusion in her small chuckle, but it probably wasn't important. Lapis stood up and turned back to the Crystal Gems, giving them one last look before flying up in the air. She stopped and gave Steven a longing glance before sighing.

"Goodbye Steven."

And with that she was gone.

Everyone watched her fly high into the air, circling around the tower for a few moments, before fully disappearing in the sky. They sat in silence before Greg spoke up nervously. "Is she gone? Thank god!" He jumped out of the van and ran over to Steven. "Steven! Are you okay?!" He dropped down and put his hands on the boy's shoulders. His eyes scanned every inch of Steven, trying to find anything that pointed to him being hurt.

"Dad! I'm fine!" Steven reassured him before bringing in a hug. Greg easily returned it, rubbing a hand through his hair.

"I thought I lost you for good! Please, don't ever scare me like that! I don't think I could take it."

"I don't plan on it dad." He said while smiling. Which he dropped as soon as a loud rumbling shook everyone. He looked around and saw the tower of water begin crumbling, large "cracks" running through the entire thing. The clouds surrounding it earlier spread out from it as it began falling.

"Uh, we should probably go!" Greg yelled as he held Steven close and backed away.

"Everyone! To the van!" Garnet ordered them as the tower crumbled, huge pieces slamming the ground and spreading out into large waves. They all ran to the old van and squeezed in quickly, not caring if it became cramped. You tended not to when the entire ocean was splashing down right next to you.

Greg smashed down on the gas pedal as the water rushed in behind them.

In Desert City(formerly known as Beach City), Mayor Dewey was crying his heart out while holding a water hose. His precious Beach City, held by his family for over 10 generations, is gone. Taken away by some witch lady with magic. Now no one would come back, all of the profits gone. Gone with all the water.

Then water swept him away backwards and made him scream. The ocean came in from all sides, surrounding Beach City(known formerly as Desert City).

Crowds of people came out and watched the spectacle, some even jumping in fully clothed. Although not all wanted to as Sadie pushed Lars into the water after he yelled, "Babe City here we come!" While fist pumping the air.

At the tip of the small peninsula, a large pink bubble with a van inside drove out, carrying the Crystal Gems and a very terrified dad. The van rolled to a stop and the bubble eventually popped, causing the van to drop to the ground. It's wheels gave out underneath as Greg rushed out and looked at the damage. The gems hopped out from the back, with Amethyst holding Steven above her head while laughing maniacally.

"We got the Steve-man back! Time for a par-tay!" She ran around in circles as Steven struggled to get out from her hands. Even so, he was chuckling all the same. Pearl crossed her arms and shook her head at their antics, smirking softly. But it didn't last long when Pink passed her quickly, making her watch the diamond.

" Steven!" A distant voice shouted, and the boy didn't expect to be nearly tackled to the ground. Key word, nearly , as he held his balance and excitedly hugged the tackler.

"Connie!"

"When you didn't call in the morning, I came to check and apparently you weren't there. The gems looked really freaked out and didn't tell me. Then I saw the literal ocean was gone! What happened!?"

"I… released this gem from a mirror. Then she kinda… kidnapped me-"

"Kidnapped you?! You stopped her right?" Connie looked freaked out at the idea. 'Steven kidnapped?! And by a gem… '

"Well, yeah. She just wanted to get home, so she tried using the ocean to do it. Her gem was cracked, but we healed it. So she's gone."

"Well, I hope she stays away. I kinda like the ocean."

"Yeah, me too. But… I hope she makes it home. She seemed really sad, like she's all messed up inside."

"Well, I'm sure she will. To some weird planet where all the animals are rocks!" She picked a rock up off the sand and shook it, making it look like it was angry.

"No! Rock animals! My only weakness!" Steven put the back of his hand on his forehead and leaned away, pretending to be scared. They both laughed while the gems tended to the van. Garnet patted Greg on the shoulder as he cried for his beautiful yet incredibly dirty road home.

Pearl was standing on the edge of the beach next to Pink, gazing up at the stars that printed the night sky. "So… Lapis is off to Homeworld."

"It would seem so." Pink said while never taking her eyes off the stars. A second glance and Pearl could tell she was looking at Homeworld's galaxy.

"What… are we gonna do if they come?"

"We'll see what happens. For now, we have to wait."

Steven and Connie continued joking around before Steven stopped and sighed. He looked up at the sky, seeing a bright light in the sky, wrapped around by different blue, yellow, and white lines. Lapis' home.

"See ya' Lapis… wherever you are."