Note: There is an illustration for the last chapter which can be found at Archive of Our Own under Be His Knight Act I.
#
"Why won't you just let me do this for you, Rose?!" Rayne screamed. She had a sword in her hand and was shaking. In one of her previous forms, she looked younger and frantic.
Steven looked younger, too, maybe fourteen or fifteen, swimming in his oversized pink cloak. Furious, with a pink hue to his skin and hair, he screamed, "I am not Rose!"
His scream pushed the air from around him, broke the statutes of the sky arena, and cracked the floor under his feet. Lacey threw her arms up to cover her head. Rayne jumped between her and Steven, shielding her from the wind. The blast wasn't strong enough to hurt either of them, but the cracks on Lacey's face grew, anyway.
#
Connie sighed as the mirror went blank and showed her reflection again.
"I wonder what Lacey thinks of everything. I wonder why she thinks Rose changed."
"I want to tell her," Lapis said in Rayne's voice. "She deserves to know. I… understood so much more when I saw her side of things. If only she could get to see mine."
"I wonder," Connie muttered. "Deep down, does Lacey still think of Rose as the person who cracked her? Does she know how badly doing that hurt Rose?"
"I… think… she… does…" Lapis said in cut up pieces of Rayne's voices.
"I hope so," Connie sighed. "Okay." Connie paused, considered what her next question should be. "What made Rose pick me?"
The mirror lit up, but before any images could fill its surface, the door to the bedroom opened and Steven walked in.
"Connie!" he called. "You're awake."
Connie put the mirror down and smiled. "Yea. How were your meetings?"
"Ugh, awful. There's going to be more on the ground fighting. I'll need to head down there soon and try to quell it. But not until you're well."
"I see. Well, if it comes to fighting, we might have Bismuth on our side soon." Connie raised the mirror. "I've been learning about Eras 1, 2 and 3."
Steven took the mirror more roughly than Connie would have likely and looked at it. When he flipped it over, he frowned. "Your mirror is broken," he said. "I'll get you another."
"No," Connie said. "I'll keep this one."
"But it's broken," Steven chuckled. "Why not get one from the archives? I'm sure Terri is dying to get you something. She was with me yesterday and all she did was talk to the other archivers about you."
"Really?" Connie said, taking back the mirror.
"Oh, yea. She was saying how cool you were, and how classy and polished. She's dying to give you a gift."
Connie smiled and blushed. "Well, that's nice. But I'll keep my mirror, anyway. It was a gift from Rayne, so…"
"Oh! In that case, forget it. It's probably from Era 1, and those are scarce. No wonder it's cracked. I have an idea!" Steven hopped on then the bed, grabbed the mirror, and gave its gem a quick kiss.
"Um, Steven?" Connie muttered.
Steven laughed. "Healing kisses," he said. "It's likely why you heal as fast as you do."
Connie smiled and tilted her head to the side. "That's nice and thank you, but it's still cracked."
Steven's face dropped.
The crack did attempt to close, but then stopped closing and split open again.
"What the…" Steven paled. "She's shattered!"
"I know," Connie muttered. "Her name is Lapis Lazuli. She was shattered during the Rebellion. The mirror is holding her together."
"Stars!" Steven gasped. Then he grinned. "Wait! I have an idea! I was going to suggest that we go see your Mom today."
"My Mom? Why?"
"Just because. You've been here a year. I think it's time you went home for a visit."
"A… visit?" Connie squeaked, she felt tears in her eyes. She couldn't breathe. Connie had been sure she was going to live and die without ever seeing her parents in person again. To think she was going to visit them was enough to render her speechless. She nodded.
Steven grinned. "I thought you'd be happy. I've spent a lot of time with my aunts lately, and it made me realize I missed being with them. Dad used to take me to see them all the time when I was a kid before I started my training with Axelle, Rayne, and Garnet and started living in the Tower. I sort of started rebelling around my teen years, too. I missed them, though. And I thought you must miss your Mom and Dad too. Plus, I've never met them. So, we're going to sneak off and go see them!"
"Wait. Sneak off?" Connie frowned. "Steven."
"Well, I have meetings and stuff about the Jade System and you're supposed to be resting, but Axelle and Terri came up with a plan."
"Wait again. Terri. Are we actually calling Terentius Terri?"
"Are you going to say Terentius every time?"
Connie laughed. "No. Okay, so what did they come up with?"
Steven leaned in.
#
The hospital in District 1 of Centuri had the same mural of Pink Diamond that the Launch Bay did. Connie now knew that it was Steven, not a Rose, and it depicted him as a child. That had been when his silhouette matched his mother's better and when the last of Centuri had been built. That had also been during Connie's own childhood. Vaguely, she remembered the big glass mural at her school being unveiled. The popular gems had sat under the mural for lunch. Connie had never sat there.
They had taken the palanquin from the launch bay to the hospital and seen that bismuths had placed new statues around the city. They were of Steven and Connie at the Era 4 Ball, commissioned as a special surprise by Steven. "Better than a ribbon wand," he'd said as they passed them. The artist had taken some license with the statues. Steven was much bigger than Connie in them, towering over Connie the same way Rose had with Rayne. Still, Connie memorized every statue. Steven couldn't help what a thoughtful malachite believed would make him look better.
However, in the hospital the same mural of a child-aged Steven remained, his foot on an enemy helmet, holding up New Homeworld in one hand, his gem turned inward, making him look like a quartz. Connie smiled at the mural as she sat on the examination table. In a reversal on their norms, she sat while Steven stood by her side.
"Are the mix of murals too much?" he asked. "Should we keep the old murals in the hospital?"
"I think it's different," Connie said, choosing her words carefully. "It will remind people you grew and changed and that they should too."
Steven looked at her out of his thoughts for a few seconds and didn't speak, then smiled.
"You should try writing a song. You're so clear and timeless. I'd love to hear it."
Connie laughed. "I can try. I'll give me something relaxing to focus on."
There was a knock on the door, then a voice Connie recognized.
"My Diamond? May I come in?" Rose Quartz asked.
Steven grinned and nudged Connie before composing himself and calling, "Come in!"
The doors slid open and Rose Quartz stepped into the room. She saluted professionally, never taking her eyes off Steven.
"My Diamond," she snapped.
Steven broke out into another grin. "Rose! Can I call you Rose?"
"I… Yes, My Diamond!" Rose Quartz stammered.
"Steven," Steven corrected. "In private, you can call me Steven." He rushed up to her and hugged her, engulfing her in pink bliss as he did so.
Rose Quartz smiled and hugged him back. When Steven let go, she had tears in her eyes. "Priyanka," said. "You can call me, Priyanka, My Diamond."
"Priyanka!" Steven said. "What a beautiful name!" A fresh wave of pink bliss flooded the room.
Connie heard sighs of relief coming from all around them and smiled to herself. Priyanka was crying now.
"Amazing," Priyanka said. "Just by being here, you've taken away so much suffering."
"Well," Steven said, "Pink Diamond's job is to make things better. Oh! Connie!" He turned and held out his hand for her.
Connie hopped off the table and went to Steven and her mother. Steven took her hand and handed Connie to Priyanka, who squeezed her.
"Stardust," Priyanka said. "I thought I'd never hug you again."
"Hi, Mom."
Priyanka let Connie go with a sigh. "I was told you were hurt. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Mom," Connie said."
"We may have stretched the truth a little," Steven admitted. "Connie got hurt," he said. "But she's fine now. Probably."
"Probably." Priyanka muttered. "Well, let's look you over, in case."
"Okay, Mom," Connie laughed, knowing better than to argue. "Steven, why don't you get a check up, too?"
"Why?" Steven said. "I'm a Diamond. I don't need check ups."
"You may be a Diamond," Connie said. "But you're also organic. And you've never had one."
"How do you know that?!" Steven asked.
"Lapis," Connie said.
Steven paused for a moment. "How long has Rayne had Lapis?"
"Your entire life," Connie answered. "I can't believe you've never had a check up."
"My Diamond," Priyanka interrupted. "You've never seen a rose quartz?"
Steven turned. "I… um. I guess not."
Priyanka sighed. "Undress. Both of you."
#
After Priyanka finished looking them over she sat at the desk scrolling through images on her terminal with an intense stare.
"Fascinating," she muttered, seemingly to herself. "Absolutely fascinating."
"What is it?" Steven asked as he adjusted his cape.
Priyanka turned around with a smile. "Well, My Diamond, it seems your healing ability is far more advanced than we ever thought."
"What do you mean?" Steven muttered.
Priyanka tapped her terminal and brought up a series of images. "Now here we have some x-rays. Some organic-gems, some natural-gems, you, my Diamond, and Connie."
Connie and Steven approached the terminal and looked. Connie had seen x-rays of gems before. The first two images looked standard. Organic-gem x-rays showed bones and a gem. Natural-gem x-rays showed only a floating gem. Naturally, Steven's x-ray showed both bones and a gem, his gem pointing inward for the moment, reaching all the way to the back of his body. However, his skeleton was littered with fractures.
"What are those cracks?" Connie asked.
"Healed breaks," Priyanka said. "It looks like the bones broke and healed immediately."
Steven shrugged. "My training was hard. And I was a rough kid. I'm not surprised. But Connie has healed bones, too."
Connie frowned. "What!?" She looked at her x-ray and saw that her own x-ray had healed cracks on it. "Where did those come from?" she asked.
"Probably from the robonoid blasts," Priyanka said.
"You know about that?!" Connie said, blushing.
"Garnet told her," an unknown voice said over the sound of the door opening.
Priyanka, Steven, and Connie turned in time to see a sapphire walk into the room.
"Hello Priyanka. It's been quite some time," the sapphire said.
"My Sapphire!" Priyanka said with a salute. "How have you been?"
"Innae!" Steven said with a blush. "What… are you doing here?"
Sapphire smiled and pushed her hair away from her eye. "You've been talking with your aunts on a personal level a lot. It was clear you were going to take Connie to see her mother and the hospital would be your first stop." She smoothed her skirt. "I haven't been here since I designated Connie."
"Since you!" Steven paused. "Oh! Connie. This is Sapphire. Her name is Innae."
Connie was frozen. She'd never met Juhreul's components before and wasn't sure how to act. Without thinking, she saluted. "It's nice to meet you!" she said.
Innae laughed. "It's nice to meet you, too, Connie. You don't have to salute."
Connie blushed and lowered her hands. "Sorry," she muttered.
Innae closed the distance between them and took Connie's hands. Her skin cooled Connie's; her smile was bright and inviting. Innae's hair was braided around her head except for her bangs which covered half her face. Connie was grateful to be kept cool by her Innae's touch. The short gem was too pretty to look at.
"Connie," Innae said. "You don't have to be nervous. I already know and love you. I've known you since before you were born. I have always loved you."
Connie blinked to keep from crying and nodded.
"You'll get used to it," Steven said.
When Connie looked over at him he had a strange look on his face as if he was going to cry. "She's… just like this."
"Now," Innae said, letting go of Connie's hands. "Let's see those x-rays. You were saying something about the robonoids, Priyanka?"
"I'm going to the restroom," Connie said, before heading towards the door.
She slipped out and walked towards the nearest bathroom, only to walk past it and keep going when she found it. As she walked, she slipped Lapis out of her gem.
"Hey, Lapis," Connie whispered.
"I… didn't… expect… Innae… to… be… here…" Lapis said. Her voice was bits and pieces of Rayne's speech.
"I know," Connie said. "But we'll be quick and hopefully-" Connie stopped and ducked behind a corner.
"I can't believe you guys came all the way here!" Ruby-Doug, Connie's father, turned a corner into the same hallway as Connie and Lapis up ahead. He was talking to another ruby Connie had never seen before.
"That's… Gyeogno… Innae's… partner…!" Lapis whispered urgently from her place pressed into Connie's chest.
"Hell!" Connie whispered.
Ruby-Gyeogno was shorter than Ruby-Doug but built like a fortress with a wide grin.
"It's a surprise for Connie," Gyeogno said. "She's a hard worker, so we're treating her. You should see what we've got cooking for her birthday."
"You guys know you don't have to do this," Doug said with a laugh. It was obvious he was enjoying the attention Connie was getting.
"No way!" Gyeogno said. "Connie's our girl! We love her. You know, she reminds me a lot of myself when I was young. And her fusion with Lotus is beautiful!"
"My daughter can fuse?!" Doug shouted.
"Uhhh… maybe you should talk to the wife about that. Come on."
Gyeogno led Doug down the hallway, past Connie. Doug was looking down and Gyeogno was looking at him, so neither saw her.
"You guys are playing something for my birthday?" Connie asked Lapis.
"I… don't… know…" Lapis said. "Maybe… Garnet… didn't… tell… Rayne… before… she… gave… me… to… you…"
"Ugh, we don't have time for this," Connie muttered and took off down the hall. She carried Lapis to the Kindergarten Ward and slipped inside as discreetly as she could. Then she held her head up and walked around the back of the desk.
"Oh!" A rose quartz said when she noticed her. "You're Priyanka's daughter, Pearl, aren't you?"
"I'm Lotus Diamond's Pearl. May I sit down at the terminal?"
The rose quartz blushed. "I heard you and His Lustrousness were here today but I… Yes, you can." She turned her head away.
Connie sat down and typed. After a moment she gave herself access to the room she wanted and logged off.
"Thank you, Rose Quartz," Connie said.
"You're welcome, Lotus Diamond's Pearl."
Connie headed farther into the Kindergarten Ward then behind a locked door that warned "Staff Only" on the front, guarded by two robonoids on either side.
"Is… this… going… to… work…?" Lapis asked.
"It should," Connie muttered as she locked the door behind them.
Inside the locked room were jars and jars of dead gems. Technically, they weren't dead, more like undead. These gems had already been pulverized and pressed back together. They were for the baby gems that would be designated in a different part of the Kindergarten Ward. Over to one side there were three pale pearls, awaiting baby pearls to be born and claim them. Connie smiled at them.
"I used to be scared of this room," she said. "Dead gems used to freak me out."
"Let's… get… the… stuff… and… get… out… then…" Lapis muttered.
"I'm okay. But yea. Let's." Connie ignored the empty, sleeping gems and ventured farther into the room. In the back were more disturbing items. Gem powder in jars, ruby powder, jasper powder, different powdered pearls. Connie understood the need. Sometimes a baby was born that a hospital didn't have a gem for and a specialist made one on the spot, but the powder made her skin crawl.
"Oh… stars… let's… get… out… of… here!" Lapis pleaded.
"If we go now, you'll be in that mirror forever," Connie whispered. "We have to find—ah!"
In a locked cabinet with a window in it, Connie saw four bottles, each a different color and shape, each like a three-dimensional mural of the Diamonds. Connie hurried to the cabinet and unlocked it. Then took the pink bottle with her to the nearest sink.
"Okay," Connie said. "Steven said to turn on the water," she did so, "and put you in."
"Will… this… hurt?" Lapis asked right before the mirror touched the water.
"I… don't think so. No. Steven wouldn't hurt you. We have to trust him. Here we go."
Connie placed the mirror, gem side up in the shallow sink, opened the pink bottle and poured in its contents. Not knowing how much to use, she poured until the water glowed pink for a moment. Next Connie returned the cabinet and repeated the process with the blue, yellow and white bottles. Then she waited.
The water glowed and sparkled, then rose out of the basin of the sink and condensed into a form, a gem's a form.
"Let me out," an unfamiliar voice said.
"L-lapis?"
"Yes. Let me out. It worked."
"Lapis!" Connie rushed to the sink and stuck both hands into the water for the mirror. She found it at the bottom of the basin where she'd left it and pulled it out. The gem in the back was whole. A grin spread across Connie's face and dug her fingers into the back of the mirror. The side of the bevel cut the tips of her fingers, but she ignored it. When she felt her nails under the gem, she pulled and Lapis' gem popped out.
A light engulfed the room which Connie squinted against, and in a moment Connie wasn't alone in the room. Lapis was tall and willowy. She wore strap sandals, gauzy pants, and a halter top. Her hair was as dark as the bottom of the ocean but airy as a sea foam. She threw her arms around Connie.
"You did it!" she said.
"It was Steven's idea!" Connie replied. "Welcome back!"
"It's good to be back!" Lapis laughed. She let Connie go. "I can't wait to see Rayne."
"Yea. We gotta go before-"
"Someone finds you?"
Connie turned to find Innae and Gyeogno standing at the door.
"Well," Innae said. "I didn't predict this."
"Then how did you find us?!" Lapis accused.
"We asked the rose quartzes where you went," Gyeogno said with a smile. "Hi, Bob!"
Lapis snorted. "Hi, Gyeogno."
"Bob?" Connie said.
Lapis blushed. "It's short!" she said. "My name is Subobsolete."
"Not clearly defined?" Connie said. "Or… murky? Like the ocean."
Lapis raised her eyebrows. "Not many gems get that."
"It's very you," Connie said.
"Welp, now that we've found you, why don't we get back," Gyeogno said as she turned around. "Your parents are waiting and Steven can only keep them busy for so long."
"Agreed," Innae said. "When he breaks the terminal trying to juggle, Priyanka is going to be very upset."
"When he what?" Connie said. " Steven, no!"
#
They arrived back in the room as Steven began to juggle. Connie snatched the balls out of the air with a frown, shaking her head. When Innae announced they had made it before Steven broke the terminal, Priyanka suggested that maybe they should meet after her shift, somewhere else.
"I know!" Steven said. "We can meet at my Base! I've never been to it."
"The base here?" Connie mused. "Where the balls are held?"
"Yea. I assume it's bigger than your parents' house."
Connie smiled. It hadn't hit until then that it would be her parents' house. She didn't live there anymore.
"Yea," she said, keeping up her smile. "The base would be perfect."
"You two go on," Innae said. "I'm going to do some designations with Priyanka."
"And I'm going to go patrol with Doug!" Gyeogno said. "No sense in slacking off for the day. Steven, you call your aunts and tell them Connie is okay. Bob, it's your job to look out for them."
"They don't need looking out for," Bobbi said. "But I'll go with them, anyway."
Steven snickered and took Connie's elbow in one arm and Bobbi's elbow in the other. "Okay! We're going!" He led them out of the room with a smile.
They walked arm-in-arm back to the palanquin where Steven sat in his chair and Connie and Bobbi sat down on the floor at his feet. Steven had the curtains closed as they got started towards the Base.
"Connie?" Steven murmured.
"Yea?" Connie muttered.
"Are you… okay?"
"What? Why wouldn't I be?"
"Ugh, duh?" Bobbi said. "Even I could tell. Maybe you can fool Rayne and Juhreul, but that's because they're too busy keeping their own secrets. You can't fool us. What's wrong?"
Connie blushed. "Nothing," she said. "It's nothing." She paused. "I've left, is all. It's weird. Being out and away from my parents."
"Oh man," Steve said. "I get it."
"You do?" Connie said.
"Sort of," Steven muttered.
"Is this about when you ran away?" Bobbi asked. She turned to Pearl. "Right after what happened in the Sky Arena, Steven left Star City for three years."
"What?!" Connie said. "My parents would have shattered me if I did that!"
Steven blushed. "Bob, how much do you know about me?"
"Everything Rayne knows," Bobbi said. "You left for three years. You looked totally different when you came back. Do you know how long three years is for an organic-gem? Do you know how worried we all were?"
"Yes!" Steven said. "I do! I'm sorry. I just…" He turned to Connie. "I started to realize at the time that the Stars saw me as an off-shoot of Mom. I needed them to see me as me. I needed to do something Mom would never do. So I ran away. Mom would never do that."
Connie laughed. "Rose was complicated," she said.
"I know, but she was always faithful to her job. She had to be kidnapped to get away from it. So I did the furthest thing from what I could think of. I left."
Connie kept laughing. "Where did you even go?"
"I ended up on some random island two years later. I stayed there for a year. I grew watermelons that were sentient."
"You did what?!" Connie held herself up with the side of the chair.
"They proclaimed me their leader. I have a little watermelon colony out there in the ocean."
"How did you bring the melons to life?" Connie asked.
"His saliva," Bobbi said with a smile.
"Is that why you eat so fast?" Connie asked. "You're afraid your food is going to come to life and start worshiping you?"
"Shut up!" Steven said. "I can't eat fresh fruit. If I spit out the seeds I grow walking, talking people!"
They laughed for a few seconds.
"Anyway," Steven said. "I needed a break from the Stars. And when I came back, I realized I wasn't their kid anymore. I was their leader. It must be like that for you, too. You're not some kid anymore. You're Lotus Diamond's Pearl."
Connie put her head on Steven's knee and sighed. "It… is like that. I guess I didn't realize how far away I was from them."
"You don't have to be," Bobbi said. She placed a cool hand on Connie's head. "Neither of you do. Your parents are proud of you."
"Even my Mom?" Steven asked.
"Especially your Mom," Bobbi answered.
Steven sighed and sunk into his chair. "I hope so," he said. "Hey! Let's take a detour! I wanna see your parent's house!"
"Should we?" Connie asked.
"Come on," Bobbi muttered. "He's going to convince us, anyway. Besides." Bobbi unfurled two massive wings made of water. "I bet we can swing there and back no problem."
#
Connie's room was smaller than she remembered it. Or she was used to sleeping in Steven's massive rooms. Either way she, Steven and Bobbie felt cramped in her tiny childhood room.
"You didn't leave anything behind to come back to?" Steven said walking around the room, looking at the bare walls.
Connie sat down on the bed and sighed.
"I didn't collect much," she answered. "I… didn't have any friends to trade pictures with. And all my stuff with standard issue for my gem type so it all got traded in when I became yours." She rubbed her hand over the bare bed. "I used to wonder why I was so strange. Even other pearls in the black type didn't dress like me. They didn't get put in combat classes and…" Connie sighed, "mechanics classes."
"You got put in those classes so you could be a battle pearl," Steven said. "I mean… yea, they send battle pearls to a special school for that, away from other gems, but you did great. You had the harder path."
Bobbi nudged Steven in the corner of Connie's vision.
"It's okay, Bob," Connie said. "It's fine. I just wish it was… different. Not better, just different."
Bobbi frowned then held out her hands. From nowhere water filled the space under her hands and formed into two small shapeless blobs.
"I remember when she saw you," Bobbi said. "You asked what made Rose choose you. The answer is simple. She didn't."
One of the blobs turned into Rose, the other Juhreul.
"He'll need a pearl," Bobbi said as Rose. "An organic one, like him. But where can we find one?"
"There will be a lot of pearls on New Homeworld, My Diamond," Bobbi-Juhreul said.
"But I don't want any pearl," Bobbi-Rose said. "I want someone who will challenge him. Someone who will love him. I want a pearl who will be more than a pearl. Someone who will be… I don't know... his future."
"No one can be someone's future, My Diamond," Juhreul said. "The future is each of ours to make. But if you want someone who will walk with him into that future, then I think we'd better pick a partner for him, and designate them a pearl."
Rose gasped. "Exactly. But we can't just choose a partner for him."
"No," Juhreul said. "But we can see who he's likely to choose for himself."
"Can you do that?"
"Depends on how likely it is to happen," Juhreul mused. "And how many sapphires will help."
Bobbi let the forms disappear. "It took dozens of sapphires, and they looked all over the timeline. And do you know what they saw?"
"Me?" Connie said.
"Not exactly," Bobbi said. "They saw Stevonnie."
"What?!" Steven and Connie said at once.
"But Garnet said—" Steven began.
"Juhruel lies," Bobbi said smugly. "The Pink Court has known about Stevonnie since before you both were born. But no one knew their name or gem type." Bobbi counted on her fingers. "So they knew that if they found you the right pearl, you'd fuse with an organic-gem. Well, Rayne never believed it. She thought fusion between organic-gem gems was too crazy to be true. But Junreul was sure of it. So she followed the vision. They knew it would be a non-binary gem, so the pearl would have to be a girl. And they knew she'd have a dark gem on her chest."
"But… how did they know it was me?" Connie asked.
Bobbi shrugged. "They didn't. You're not the only baby they looked at. But only three were pearls, only two were of those were girls and only you had the right gem placement. By the time you were born they knew it had to be you. Then you fused and well…"
Connie looked down and sighed. So, it was almost random. There was nothing special about her at all. She fit some random vision. Any organic-gem could have been where she was. Her pain, her childhood, her existence, was for… nothing?
"Connie?" Steven said.
"Yea?" Connie wiped her face with her arm.
"Connie, it doesn't matter, you know. How we became friends."
"Yea. I know," Connie muttered.
"Were you listening?" Bobbi said, impatiently. "Rose didn't choose you. Steven chose you. You were going to become friends and become Stevonnie, anyway."
"What do you-" Connie began but Bobbi cut her off.
"They saw Stevonnie because Stevonnie had such a high probability of happening that they showed up in almost every time line before either of you were even born. So long as there is a Steven and a Connie, there is a Stevonnie. You meet and fuse pretty much no matter what. Your friendship is what Juhreul would call a timeline constant. It just happens. You chose each other because that's just what happens."
Connie sniffed and wiped her eyes. Steven breathed out.
"That's good," he said. "Come on. Visiting the past can be… painful."
"Yea, let's go," Connie agreed. As they walked out of the room, Connie took Steven's hand. "Can we talk later?" she asked.
"Sure," he said. "About what?"
"Just… everything."