Crystal Prince

by psytronix

Rose Quartz remains on an Earth where the men are dying out, as the leader of Terra Amor. Steven's perfect world is threatened by a Gem invasion and a betrayal from humankind. Can Amor's love remain intact while their worlds fight against them? AU, GENDERBENDS, WEIRD SHIT

2. Trial by Frost

Greta awoke, earlier this morning, barely making out the outline of her wife's face as they slept. It was thanks to her gem's glow she could see anything at all, the morning's sun not having risen yet. Rose was awake, though. In her hands, she was playing with a long lock of Greta's hair, twisting it, twirling it, clearly agitated.

"Mornin'," Greta yawned, "what's wrong?"

Rose inched closer to Greta, and hugged her tight, so very tight. Their bodies squished together in a lovely, curvy sight that only a few would ever know about. Rose sighed, and stared deep into Greta's eyes, guilt written in them.

"Greta," Rose crooned, "there's something I haven't told you. I… I never thought the Diamonds would rear their heads again, but, well…"

"Here they are," Greta sighed, kissing at Rose's impeccably soft jawline, eliciting a whimper from the gem. "It's fine, Rose. Please."

"I… Am… I was Pink Diamond."

Greta stopped. And took one long look at her wife, Rose Quartz. The alien woman she'd married 20 years ago, the being of pure love and compassion.

"Pink… The other side of that Rebellion?"

Noticing the shock evident in Greta's face, Rose nodded. "Yes. I… When…" She found it so very hard to continue, paralysed in fear of what Greta would say, if she would leave her, then and there. It didn't help that she'd gone stiff, cold in her arms.

"Say what you need to," Greta assured her. "Surely you had a reason for this, Rose."

She took a deep breath, not out of need, but to simulate that human alignment, that reconnection to her love. "I did. When… When I-I saw Earth, really saw it for the first time, and all the people and creatures developing in it, I… S-Something in me snapped."

Rose took another deep breath, and tore her gaze away from Greta, only to have her shift her sight back with a gentle hand to her cheek. "Go on," the rockstar crooned.

"I saw our h-harvesters, our kindergartens first. Then I saw the tribes we were displacing. History in the making. But… Then I saw families. I saw babies, lovers, people being torn apart but these c-cold, unfeeling gems who-" Rose stopped herself, feeling a tear trickle down her eye. "It was awful. What we were doing was awful. S-So, that night, I talked to Pearl. And we came to the conclusion that Homeworld wouldn't stop."

"You couldn't just leave Earth alone… I get it," Greta noted. Try as much as a Diamond would, all the stalling in the universe wouldn't have been able to postpone Earth's harvest.

"So, we sowed dissent, with me as Rose Quartz. We encouraged cooperation between humanity first, m-made other gems see them like we did. It took a long time, but… Eventually, it started spreading on it's own. Many, many gems wanted to stop it all, like we did, so we enacted the next step of our plan."

Greta caught on again. "You showed them that a Diamond could be killed."

Rose nodded. "I thought… I thought, back then, as dumb and as naive as I was, that the Diamonds would never return if one of their own was shattered. F-For a time, I was right… I'm sorry."

Greta thought on it, for a good long while. It was minutes to her mind, but ages more for Rose. And Rose felt more of those hot tears streak down her face at that indecision, until her wife sighed. Shocked, Rose gasped as she was pinned to the bed, Greta straddling her. She pressed their chests together, rubbing their nipples and grinding their sexes.

"What do you want, right now?" Greta asked.

Rose thought it was a trick question at first. Her mind was flurrying with hundreds of emotions, but the most prominent were thoughts, really. I've just revealed a lie to the one I love, and I want you to punish me for that. But Rose took the words into consideration, and ignored that mounting arousal, Greta's hands pinning her to her bed.

"I… I want to protect you and Steven. And I want to keep Earth, and the people in it, safe. I want Yellow to see our love when she arrives, too."

"Then your name, your past and the mistakes with it, will not make me hate you, Rose. I married the woman who saved Earth from Homeworld. I married the woman who changed my life, who gave me a family and a love I'd never forget… And as far as I can see, she's still here with me."

Past the tears, shame, and guilt, there it was. A kiss. Their love.

"I love you," Rose sputtered, "Greta Universe, I love you…"

Greta silenced her with another kiss. And then another. More to her face, to her body, to her fingers, as if affirming her position in the world, right there, and right then. By the end of it all, Greta lay atop Rose as the gem played with her hair, calm again.

"S-Steven needs to know-"

"-I'll tell him," Greta assured her.

"A-and… He needs to know what he's facing, for these trials. My stars, i-it's going to be a busy month…"

(...)

It was a gentle night in Prisma. On a street some distance away from the city's citadel, there sat housing, extending rows of unique domiciles. They were kit homes, designed to connect to each other modularly, to morph to the inhabitants' whims. It was on that street, on a faux-cobble path, Steven led Connie to his home.

She noted it as he unlocked it with a wave of his hand. It maintained the appearance of a red brick home on the outside, but revealed to her something more modern than most other houses she'd been in.

"So, you've got my room for the night - hope the bed's comfy enough. Did you wanna stay up, have some food, maybe talk? A-All good if you don't, I know I'm being a bit forward-"

"-Food sounds awesome," she sighed, trying to quell the gurgling of her stomach.

"O-Oh, cool! Penne carbonara it is!"

Connie sat at his bench, in his kitchen, slowly watching him work as the clock approached 10PM. A gentle drizzle was rolling outside, reverberating on the roof, twinkling off the cobble path. It calmed her so. It was replacing her mounting doubts, her fears, in a swirling tide of homey grace - a stark change from yesterday.

She could hear her mother now, rattling off quickfire questions, after she'd returned home from university. Connie wondered in that brief moment if her mother knew of her plans, and if she did, if she gave a damn. If Priyanka had the self awareness to know what stress her actions caused. If she could get it through her stubborn skull that Connie wanted to learn about their two worlds.

But that didn't matter now. She was a citizen of Amor, despite her intrusion. She was given the right to vote and to live freely under the oath that she would cause no harm to her fellow citizens. She was free, in a big way. But most importantly, she had a big bowl of freshly cooked, expertly seasoned and creamy carbonara in front of her.

If a new life didn't grant her that calm she so desperately desired, then that first bite did.

"So… College in New York - you gotta enlighten me…" Steven began, almost trailing off.

"Mm?" Connie mumbled.

"Is it true you guys all sleep in the same building? Like… Where you learn, you put your bed and stuff?"

Connie almost spat out her pasta, trying to hold back a giggle. "Uh… Mm, no. I mean students get fatigued and everything, and I've pulled a few all nighters myself, but I wouldn't be caught dead sleeping in a lecture theatre. Or an exam hall."

Steven nodded, furrowing his brow. "Sheena was making fun of me, then! Aw, man-"

"-I'm sure she was just having a bit of fun, and, well, there were a few spots for on-campus living too, so it's not that much of a stretch…"

"Fair. Did you live on campus at all?"

Connie swallowed, and went distant for a time. She swallowed again, trying to sigh to calm herself. It didn't work.

"For a super brief period. Met a few people I hit it off with, and… It… Well, this is going to sound a little… Dorky, but…"

She paused, stuttered, blushing, and sighed again. Steven put a hand to her shoulder, smiling at her.

"Remember, if it's uncomfortable, you don't have to say it if you don't want to. If you do, take as long as you need. I'm not going anywhere," he assured her.

Connie perked up, snorting, "well, they were kinda my first friends. Ever. Like, I had people I knew all the way back from kindergarten and daycare, but… They weren't great people. A lot of competition, one-upping me and making me look bad in front of my moms, and I…"

Another pause. She still felt his hand on her shoulder. Comforting. Warm. Connie also swore she could hear some faint jazz, emanating from the upper floors of the house.

"Well. These girls were just different. They made me laugh, made me feel accepted, included me in outings, and… And…"

Anger. Steven felt it radiate from her, in tempered, cracking waves.

"I went out with them, for one night. Stayed up two hours past my bedtime. I explored a city at night for the first time in my life, and woke up late for an exam the next day."

Steven nodded again, heart skipping a beat as her hand raised to his, clutching his fingers tightly.

"My next grade dropped by 5 points, compared to my average. My mom… She f-fucking audited me."

He squeezed her shoulder as tears pricked at her eyes. Sliding 'round the kitchen bench Steven took the crying girl in his arms and hugged her, only letting go after she did. And oh, did she linger in his grasp for a time - savouring that warmth.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Steven, I-"

"-Don't be. I… Can gather the rest from there. I'm… Well, I'm sorry you had to grow up like that, Connie. It… Was it always like that?"

Connie shook her head. "Not at all. I mean, m-mom was always uptight, but… I…"

Another pause. Connie practically held onto Stevens' arms for support, thinking she'd crumble and sob without them. So the gem-hybrid sighed, and got her attention.

"I'm happy to change the subject if you'd like."

She nodded, "I was going to a-ask anyway, erm… Have you ever been outside of A-Amor?"

"Mm," he nodded, eyes glazing over for a split second. "Paris, Karoshlev… Cairo, Cape Town… Plus just about every major capital in America - including New York. All in the past… 2 years?"

"Wow," Connie blinked. And coughed, feeling a bit flustered. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and resumed eating as Steven returned to his side of the bench. "I can't believe I didn't hear of you in New York. Donation runs, right?"

The term made him cringe. "Tribute", as demanded by the United Nations, as granted by every other sexually mature male in the world. His seed was to be stored in banks all around the world, after it had been thoroughly tested and deemed safe for usage in insemination trials.

"I…" He paused for a moment, blushing as the joke came to mind. Deciding to test the waters, he shook his head, and chuckled. "I have never had to masturbate into as many cups as I had to during those runs. It was awful."

Connie flushed with heat herself, but snickered, nearly choking on some rogue penne. "I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, just-"

"-It's fine," he assured her, smiling. "I'm just glad I don't have to do it again until after my birthday. I love travelling and meeting new people, but…"

"It's so different, out there," she nodded, referring to the rest of the world as if these things existed completely separately. As if she herself hadn't succeeded in migrating. That felt odd to her. "You guys just operate so… Disparately to us, almost like we're in another world."

"That's… An interesting way of putting it," he mumbled, eyes widening as Connie gave him a look. "No, I'm serious. Amor's a bunch of aliens and humans. I find when I'm, you know, out there, people like to forget we exist."

"Well, some countries find you guys threatening," Connie noted, going through history notes in her head, "all that gem knowledge, and Rose Quartz's refusal to keep human tech at the same level as Amor's? People think she's keeping one step ahead."

Steven opened his mouth to defend his mother, but stopped, thinking on the woman's words. "You know what, that's fair. Would be weird coming from an outside perspective. Still, paying for hotels, for food, for domestic travel, that's a… A nightmare."

"Tell me about it…"

"Seriously! Aw, man…"

They sat in silence for a bit, Connie noticing that faint music in the background still. The look in Steven's eyes told her he was still confused with the experiences he had, outside of Amor. Thinking of the Earth, it drew her mind's attention to another extra-planetary threat, Homeworld. With a shaky, shaky sigh, attempting to relieve herself of stress, she met his gaze.

"You… Do you think we can win against Homeworld?"

Steven, with eyes locked on the girl, let his shoulders lump with a sigh. "Yes, yes I do. But what it takes to get there, to victory, I just-"

He broke their gaze.

"-I don't know if I can do what needs to be done. Like… I know what Pearl was asking of me, but I don't know if I'm okay with… With…"

"Honeypotting the enemy," Connie finished for him.

"I can't turn love into a weapon. If we do, then that's not love. The only way I can see us… The only way I can see myself getting out of this, like, really," he repeated to her, clearing his throat, "getting out of this, is by hoping they feel our emotions. Seeing that there's more to life than conquering and hollowing worlds."

"What I want to do," he continued, "is to protect everyone. To save the world from this threat, to prepare myself, should the worst happen, and to… Love."

Connie felt his conviction, and his belief. It gave her peace, knowing her world wasn't going to be upheaved again, just yet. She smiled at him, and felt a twist of heat lick at her cheeks. "I think if you keep your head up high, if you keep that… Y'know, that love in mind, then I've got faith in you, Steven."

He blushed, shying away from her gaze, rubbing the back of his head. "Thanks, Connie... That means a lot to me. W-When you finish up, I'll show you to your room."

Repurposed and cleaned within seconds, Connie marvelled at it as he left her there, going to sleep on a lounge on the bottom floor. It was huge compared to her room back at home, with a bed to fit upwards of ten people comfortably. She darted her eyes around it, finding that only a few pieces of furniture contained any Earth-native organic materials, such as an oak dresser.

His bed, closet, and what looked like a monitor frame on the opposing wall and light fixture were all gem-tech, no doubt alloys and blends of flexible, charged metals. Morphmetal, they called it. She'd seen them before, only in public installations back in NY - and mostly in train stations. They could repurpose into any shape, morph for multiple uses, and remain unchanged for years at a time without maintenance. The only issue was that one had to be a Gem to use them, or at the very least, to program them on the fly.

That faint jazz was clearer now, as well, and she found it emanating from the spherical light fixture as she slept in that beautiful bed. Within seconds it had lulled her to sleep, and it was at that twilight of consciousness that Connie reaffirmed her position in life. At that warmth, that fullness in her belly and the promise that she had the right to live in Amor, without worry, she knew she had made the right choice.

As she awoke in the middle of the night to do her ablutions, Connie had noticed three things. One, the music had changed. It was slower, more sensual and wanting, an instrument not unlike a saxophone whispering sweet licks into her ear. Two, the lighting in the room had changed. A dull, warming redness pervaded her vision, making sight in the dark easier. And three, she could hear some commotion downstairs.

Reason told her that Steven likely had a visitor over. A lover. He was popular, and not without reason, if his charms were anything to go by. As the sole male of Amor he likely entertained his fair share of maidens and madams, all of whom knew where stayed.

Curiosity, on the other hand, told her to catch a glimpse. To see what the world had rattled on about, how it criticised Amor's free love and open relationships. Connie fretted, trying her best to head back to sleep, but tossed and turned in the huge bed, trying to shake the gentle, loving music from her mind. Snapping her eyes open, she found the colour warmer, and snuck out the doorway.

The words were hard to make out, but she stalked down the stairs, with great interest.

"-pillow princess… I'll be quiet, just… please?"

That sounded like Amethyst. And upon closer, sneakier inspection, Connie applauded herself for a correct guess. Squinting, making the couple out just above the dull glow of their gems, she saw them together. Steven's singlet had been tossed on the couch's head, a bed having extended out of it. Amethyst was beside him, curled into his chest, already having dematerialised her top, revealing her tits to her lover.

"...Okay, alright. Just… If we wake her up-"

"I won't, w-we won't," Amethyst assured him, peppering Steven's chest with light, wet kisses. He responded in kind by crooking one arm on the bed's head, stroking her hair, and using his other to fly down her chest, beneath the hem of her pants. Connie looked on in delight, blushing deeply, thinking on if she should stop.

She remained rooted, leaving the peeping guilt to eat at her mind later. For now she indulged, watching the display before her - the rounding curves of Amethyst's jiggling breasts, and rock-hard rivets of Steven's abs. She watched as whatever tenseness Amethyst was experiencing left her body with every gentle ministration Steven put her under. And then he climbed atop her.

Connie imagined herself in Amethyst's place, as she stared up at him with teary, starry eyes. As those locks dangled from his head, framing his sure, his hopeful face. As Amethyst opened to him, trusting him and loving him completely and utterly.

"We're going to win. And it'll be thanks to you. All the training you and Garnet put me through… All the times you had my back when we were travelling. And when we're done, when the dust has cleared and the champion's defeated…" Steven uttered, trailing each pause with a kiss to the gem's cheeks, to her lips, to her forehead, dotting loving feelings throughout her body.

"...I'll be waiting for you," she finished his words, kissing him back, gasping as he clasped her hands together above her head. He held her arms in place, leaving her boobs splayed, nipples puckering promptly, and smiled.

"We'll celebrate," he assured her. A kiss, "we'll invite Yellow, her champion, and whatever posse they've got with them."

"F-Fuck… K-Keep going Stevo… W-What else will we do?" she asked, pleaded, grinding her hips, her wetting pussy against the grinding length in Steven's underwear.

His smile deepened, and he began linking kisses down her face, to her jaw, then down her neck, sparking love and light and calm towards every inch of her body, relaxing Amethyst further. It made Connie rowdy just witnessing the act, let alone imagining herself pinned under the hybrid's mighty frame.

He stopped just shy of Amethyst's gem, and stared back up at her. "We're going to celebrate the way that we love, Amethyst. If they want, if the Champion sees us and our love, and… Wants in, then…"

He laid his lips, his saliva upon her now shining gem. And when he did, Connie audibly gasped. She would've been heard if not for the moan that emanated from Amethyst; one Steven had to silence by clapping his hand over her mouth. Once she'd calmed, both of his hands now groped at the gem's tits, pawing at them and playing with glee.

"Ah~, oh~, f-fucking god damn it… Oooh…"

"We'll love them," he licked at the gentle indents around Amethyst's gem, pouring all the love he could and then some into that wet, sloppy kiss, sucking at it thereafter. "We'll love them raw. Until they twist and wriggle and sing."

"You'll… L-Love them hard, too…" Amethyst panted, hands driving the back of Steven's head deeper between her tits, jittering at the little licks and twists to her chest.

"We'll love them until they can't walk. And then, once we're done… We'll all hug in a big pile, and just… Talk."

"C'mon… W-What else will we do?"

Connie found herself asking the same question.

"Something like this," he said. Grabbing both of Amethyst's breasts and crashing them together, he pinched and rolled her nipples gently, flicking his tongue back and forth at them, sucking, alternating between them. "And this," he continued, letting those purple teats splay either side of her chest again, dragging his cheek down her soft, round belly.

"U-Uh huh~, g-go on~..."

Connie's eyes widened as Amethyst's did - Steven's magical saliva dribbling directly onto her light-moulded clit. If his previous kisses sent little sparks, little dots around her body, then a sloppy kiss to her jewel set her alight. His head disappeared beneath the covers, but Connie could tell that he was working slowly, tenderly, seeing his fingers grip the gorgeous thighs of the gem. Amethyst's back arched as she bit down on her own finger, her body convulsing in that wonderful sea of sweetness Steven was plundering.

"S-So-oh fuck!"

In a flash, faster than Connie could see, faster than that hot feeling travelling up and down her own body, Steven emerged from the blanket and clapped his hand 'round the gem's mouth again. Their eyes met and he smiled, hand darting back down under the covers and into Amethyst's gemcunny again, fingering wildly now.

"I told you to be quiet," he said seriously, "now I'll show you what I'll do to the champion. For being a naughty girl, I'm gonna make you cum. Only good girls get tongue, Amethyst."

"Mmmf, fk~!"

Well, that was a fetish Connie didn't know she had. Without thinking, without taking her eyes off the pair, she caught her own damn hands travelling to her chest, to her pussy. The sight was too much to take in - how Steven had snapped from casanova to dom just like that - and how he stared at Amethyst now, with those burning, astral eyes. She couldn't see his hand, but she could hear it now, thinking it was a machine at first. He began slow, ramped up fast, then slowed again, probably to punish Amethyst still. The gem looked at him with pleading eyes, shaking again as her crystal was wracked by another orgasm, and mumbled into his hand, kissing into his fingers.

"Plff~... Ll bh gdd..."

"You'll be good?" he asked, getting a nod in response. His fingers slowed again, that wet schlick getting quieter and quieter, and he climbed atop her again, placing himself, his length, in between her legs. Removing his fingers last, Steven stared down at her with nothing but love, and took grip of those impeccably tender thighs again.

"Motherfucker," Amethyst panted, snorting quietly, "give half that to the champ and she'll fall in love on the spot, Stevo~..."

He laughed first at motherfucker, truth be told. Then he sawed his turgid cock in between the squishy, soaked valley of Amethyst's inner thighs, sighing.

"One step at a time, Amethyst. And our next step…"

Connie could barely make out the colossal cock of the gem-human man before her eyes. She couldn't get an accurate length, but balked as she saw it crest out between Amethyst's lifted, clamped lap, then continue. It reached all the way up to the gem's bellybutton, then a bit further. She then was made witness to the first of many couplings she would see in Amor; Steven entering Amethyst with deftness, unhurried. It was ushered in by a single, unbroken gasp from the gem beneath him, one which he came close to silencing again. By the time groin had met groin fully, that flesh and gemlight had met in a glorious, intergalactic union, Amethyst was close to cumming again.

It was on the second thrust that she did cum again, boobs bobbing with every quiet smack of Steven's hips to hers. Connie watched on for what felt like hours, until she felt tired again; until a small wetness found its way to her own pussy. She watched on as Steven would pause, to kiss Amethyst senseless, resuming his thrusts whilst they hugged. Connie peered with perilous pleasure as, past Amethyst-orgasm number ten or so, Steven came himself, bottoming in the gempussy.

Connie could see Amethyst's stomach distending a tad earlier, but could more clearly see it bulging now, for minutes after Steven had stopped, no, slowed. He loved on, with deliberate, impacting thrusts, as Amethyst's womb came under assault from the hybrid spunk. Connie gave a brief, if funny thought to Steven's saliva, and then, his semen. If he could heal, make people feel good with this spit - then was his cum the same?

Judging by Amethyst's choked moans, plugged deep by Steven's tongue, no, it was not the same. Even if Connie was asleep, this would have woken her. The music from Steven's room grew, crescendoing in a brilliant, harmonic crash. And Amethyst writhed under him, trying desperately to thrust her hips back onto the cock with fervour. It appeared it worked a tad better than his spit. Something Connie would have to confirm, for the good of… Science.

"I love you," Steven broke away from their kiss, linking more sweet pecks to her cheeks, "I love you so much Amethyst."

Tears were now starting to form in her eyes. "I l-love you too, S-Stevo… Ah, fuck~... Finish on me!"

Yes please, Connie thought. Cum on her. On her gem.

And so he did, his slickened, cum-glazed meat more visible now. It spurted sparkling, shimmering cum as it slid from Amethyst's freshly stuffed pussy, spraying her in a thick coating of white. Like cream did she lap at it, sticking her tongue out and catching what she could, smearing it into her chest otherwise. And once an errant spurt or two hit her gem, she shrieked in pleasure, causing Steven to clamp her mouth shut again.

Pressed atop her, chest to chest, he spurted his last for the night, but showed no signs of slowing. He removed his hands from the gem's mouth, transfixed by the roaming, starry look in her eyes, and sighed.

"You good?"

"...Y-Yeah… Fuck… H-Hold me, please?"

And Connie damn near yelped as Amethyst turned herself, panting all the while, clearly exhausted. Steven laid behind her, facing his stairwell, and wrapped an arm 'round his lover's bod. There they laid, under a noisy, raining roof, their gems beaming with coloured light. His deep red and her lush purple mixed in a berry-blasted haze, coating the room. And so did his whispers begin, Connie shaking as she heard him, as he played with Amethyst's hair.

"We're gonna win," he said. "I've got you. I love you."

(...)

The morning, by contrast, was stark. Awoken by Amethyst, Steven was. She looked tired, sad that their union had come to an end that morning, but determined. It drove him, as well.

"Training starts soon," she said, sounding stern, "c'mon."

Leaving Connie with a brief, gurgled, dreary goodbye, Steven travelled to a section of land dedicated to combat, near the southern outskirts of Prisma. It was a vast stretch of green valleys and grey mountains, dotted with observation stations and pillars, and gave many a gem their whetstone to improve their combat abilities. As he and Amethyst approached, Garnet was clear in view, with Biggs Jasper behind her.

Training, as he'd done every day since being able to walk, consisted of a few things, designed to achieve a few goals. First was attuning himself to his gem, the red, heart-shaped jewel embedded where his belly button would be. The purpose of this was to hone his alien side, to draw upon inner strength and supernatural help when needed, to protect others. Second was exercise. In simple enough terms, it built endurance, strength, and speed. Third, was combat. Sparring, conjuration, defense - combat built many things - chief of all Steven's resolve, his spirit.

Should he ever be attacked, should war fall upon him or the hungry hordes of harridans seek to steal him from home, from his loved ones, Steven would be able to defend himself.

Fourth, which had only been introduced since he had turned 18, was the act of lovemaking. Once all was said and done, once sweat and spit were spilled upon the spirited grounds, they would come together. It didn't matter if it was Garnet, Amethyst, Biggs, Pearl, or any other teacher Steven had taken on, the act was entered into by all parties. For the release of stress, for an affirmation of love, and for training for training's sake - for Steven to be able to hold out against a horde or worse - they laid together in sweet, sore salubriousness.

"Hiya," Biggs winked at Steven, ensuring she adjusted her singlet in full view of the young man, "you two look chipper."

"Morning sleepyheads," Garnet smiled at them, phasing her armoured knuckles into reality, "are we ready for today's session?"

"We are," Steven clapped his hand to Amethyst's shoulder, leaping backwards as Garnet's fist cracked into the ground just where he was standing. Ah, he thought, we're mixing it up today!

"Then we shall battle," Garnet advised, striking at the lad as he dodged, weaved, and struck back, "at least until six, or seven. Your first trial awaits."

"First trial?" Steven asked, yelping as Biggs charged at him with a furious strength, letting Amethyst speed forward, careening gently into his chest. "Oof!"

"Yeah," Biggs answered, casually, "gotta trip to Antarctica waiting for us… Can't reveal too much yet, but-"

"Ah-ah," said Garnet, "training now, interruption next, trial later." She rushed, ducked, and leaned to hit Steven again, but found her knuckles impacting with his gem's weapon - a shield. It was massive, holographic and red to the eyes, shaped much like his gem, but stretched enough to be able to cover his body if needed.

They fought, cycling through a synchronicity of gem-harmony between the four of them, a rough spar, and a squat-crunch-pushup regimen. Their interruption, as predicted, was the entrance of Greta. As they wound down, as muscles and gemlight cried out in exasperation, Steven's eyes snapped to his mother, and he cleared his throat, shaking himself of any lewd thoughts.

"Morning mom - is it time?"

Clad in a puffy coat, with one ready for her son, Greta nodded, halting the group with a sigh, staring forlornly at Biggs and Amethyst.

"Hey, Schtuball… Before we go, there's something you need to know. About your mother."

Tenseness filled the air as Amethyst darted a gaze to Garnet, as Biggs looked around, then matched Greta's weary stare.

"For what it's worth, and for what I know of gem history, which isn't much at all, Rose trusted me to tell you guys, definitively… That she is Pink Diamond."

Steven blinked. "Invader of Earth, Pink Diamond?"

"Crazy Diamond Ho number one!?" Amethyst barked.

"The woman Rose rebelled against!?" Biggs balked, shaking her head.

"Huh," Garnet mumbled to herself.

"Pink Diamond… Was your mother's original form, her identity. What she was before she saw humanity for real, and before she could… Be like us, after seeing us."

Steven felt a wedge drive itself into his heart. The woman who raised him, who gave half of her cosmological essence to ensure his conception, who preached peace and love and freedom to all sentient creatures, was a member of the all-exterminating Diamonds? At first he couldn't believe it.

"Gems, early on, back then, they… They couldn't rebel. Not under a Diamond's orders. Rose knew this, tried sparing as many as she could as Pink, but her sisters were relentless, Steven."

"She had to kill a Diamond. In their eyes, shatter one and scare them away!" Biggs added, voice shaking.

"...It worked," Garnet croaked, burning a tear away as the stares fell upon her. "Up until now… That's why she's telling us."

"Wait, so if Rose, Pink-ergh, if the Diamonds didn't invade, would Rose ever admit to this?" Amethyst questioned, moving to stand at Steven's side.

"She would've," Steven nodded, suddenly feeling the faith in his mother leak away, oozing straight from his heart, "in time, she would've confessed it… At least…"

Faith shaken, yes, but broken? No. Rose Quartz saved humanity from it's darkest night, repelled the invading forces of Homeworld, and gave a chance for many gems to live - free from the tyranny of the Authority, from their iron castes. Rose… Pink, whatever she called herself, loved another human enough to shatter her essence into pieces and place a little into him, weakening herself in the process.

"She made a mistake, and grew a conscience," Steven echoed. "I… She… She's telling everyone about this, right?"

Greta nodded, "of course. She'll be making a speech today, and from today, offering a vote for a new leader of Amor. Maybe even a council, to take her place, if people want."

"Good," Biggs said. "Rose Quartz made me more than a soldier. She let me live a life of my own… As far as I'm concerned, I'm glad she had a change of heart."

"I can't excuse the shatterings of those who opposed Pink to begin with," Garnet intoned, "nor the deaths of any humans displaced by our injectors, but… She can atone. And she has been atoning since."

Steven's eyes fell to Amethyst, and she scoffed. "Back on Homeworld, I would've been sorted into a pile and crushed to make a 'better' gem… Rose has got a lot to answer for, as Pink, but… I wouldn't have Stevo if it wasn't for her. I wouldn't be here. I… I wouldn't be."

"And, if we win this thing," Greta gulped, sweating under her jacket, "we'll have all the time in the world to talk this out… Maybe work on her atonement," she giggled.

A pause filled that whipping air. Deliberation. A bit of hurt, but, ultimately, resolution.

"...So, Trainers," Biggs smiled, filled with a resolve that had not just been tested, but reinforced, "to Antarctica?"

(Some time later…)

Amidst the blistering winds of an icy, desolate desert, there was a boom. It cut through the whipping high frequencies with an earthy, resonating thud that seemed to linger for far too long. Antarctica was a beautiful, dangerous place, all things considered, and the science teams surrounding the great sheet didn't seem to mind the visit. Nor the massive beam of light that reached into the cosmos, disappearing as soon as quickly as it came.

Save one.

Steven read their flags. Spain. There were three, clad in similar-looking high-vis orange gear, and together they blocked their passage, keeping a barrier between the calm and frigid cold, and the blistering dale's winds beyond, near their station. From what the group could see, there appeared a simple structure built into an ice-wall, outlined by grating and littered with piercing lights. Even in the day the bright LEDs ripped through the snow, guiding any teams home.

Steven cleared his throat, and put on his best, most disarming-est smile, and nodded to them.

"¡Hola amigos! Cómo van las cosas, eh-"

"-Cut the shit, Toro. What's Amor doing in Antarctica?" one asked, standing strong with a hand on her hip, near a pistol.

"Easy, friendo," Greta held her arms up, chuckling, "we're here to clean up an Amor problem. Word is you've got a Gem loose?"

Steven's eyes narrowed at their nametags now, reading Alcazar, Cruz, and Royez. Royez had her hand twitching near her gun, as her other hand remained idle, not wasting their heat. Alcazar and Cruz were without weapons, instead holding flashlights and heat batteries. Royez shook her head, and Greta had to strain to hear a chuckle under the woman's breath.

"Typical," Cruz sighed, letting her shoulders slump, striking Alcazar, "¡dijiste que era un terremoto!"

"You let this thing loose, so says our report. We've taken readings, and the last time your little teleporter-pad was used was around 30 years ago. This means you're solely responsible for the ice cap's instability as of late, Gem-fucker. We've also been given orders to apprehend him," Royez motioned a hand towards Steven, who just shook his head at her. The gathered Gems didn't acknowledge the slur they threw Greta's way, as it just seemed to slide off her.

"Apprehend? Orders from who? On what charges?" Greta scoffed, immediately moving to stand between her son and the woman. Steven placed a hand on her shoulder, and went to speak, finding himself stopping as Biggs moved in between them.

"No charge. We just think it's irresponsible to let your sole male loose, and we're looking to help correct that."

Steven swallowed as her hand twitched near her gun again. They were really going to try and take him, weren't they? He made a move to speak again, but Biggs shot him a look, and shook her head, turning back to the crew.

"Unless you want to be up to your ears in seismic ruptures and ice-storms, I'd suggest you let us pass. And unless you want to explain to your government why Amor wants a war, then he joins us," Biggs stated calmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Royez backed away from her as she approached, looking back to the rest of her team. "Y-You're bluffing-"

"-I'm really not. You touch him, and find out."

The crew looked to Garnet, then Amethyst, and finally Greta, who glared at them with impunity. They then finally matched Steven's eyeline, finding themselves judged by his gentle stare, something only a disappointed parent could give them.

"Fuck it. Move on. Get that rock out of here, and don't ever come back."

And thus, the Gem troupe travelled onwards. The winds began to pick up, slicing bare skin with impunity, halted only by thick coats or light-moulded bodies. With her hand on her son's back, and another to a communicator in her headset, Greta hailed the team, ensuring they heard her.

"Alright, here it is, Schtu! Rose has said your first trial is to convince a rogue gem to come back to Amor! Her name is Bismuth, and like that science team said, she's been banished to these parts for the past 30 years!" she roared.

"Woah, mom banished her!?" Steven asked, hissing at the cold. He stared to the fusion as she laid her arms upon his shoulders, staring into the icy wastes with a longing.

"She banished herself, but, all the same," Garnet intoned, cringing out the two humans shouting. "I mean, it all makes sense now - she created a weapon which Rose Quartz forbade; something made to shatter gems. Rose didn't want to kill them; only to defeat them… Steven, Bismuth was a friend to all, and the former blacksmith of the Crystal Gems. This…"

"It won't be easy," Biggs added, ensuring that Steven looked at her, grabbing the sides of his face. "Without her, even ignoring the weapon she was making, we wouldn't have won the war. She's tough, rough, and she knows when she's being lied to. If you're going to get her back… And that's a big if, then you'll need to be honest."

Biggs' wild mane of white hair whipped in those whistling winds, winding and whirling westwards. Thankfully, Steven thought, it helped make them all out amongst the thick winds - three colourful targets he could return to. He also thought of the task ahead, and sighed, shooting his gaze back to Amethyst.

"I don't know her, dude!" she barked, "I suppose I'm just here to cheer. Also, making sure Greta doesn't fall in the ice!"

The ground shook then, with another boom. Beneath them they could feel the very ice sheets cracking, warping and groaning with the gargantuan pain of being split. Steven's eyes snapped to the makeshift fortress that had been erected on the horizon line. It was tall, sparkling, but built strictly, strong, and without any extra flair. Attached to the sides of the fortress, linked with a net of hundreds of devices, were giant pistons that routinely punched the ice beneath them, creating the boom that rattled the group.

As if breaking him out of his assessment, they had to brace themselves once more, as the hammers struck again. Boom, they went. The gang surmised they were a warding guard, meant to keep the Antarctic plains free of intruders, but, it'd been getting more and more intense. Reports from local stations had warned about increased seismic activity in the area, but couldn't trace the source reliably themselves.

Steven took off in a sprint, keeping his steps light and his ears to his communicator.

"That's a Bismuth invention, alright! Jeez, I've missed her… Erm, if I'm not mistaken, the power source for those will be kept central to Bismuth's base. Unless she's figured out how wind-power works," Biggs advised, scanning the horizon again.

A great whir could then be heard, cutting through the winds. Erecting from the base's centre, four small turbines begin spinning their blades wildly, crackling with a bit of blue electricity.

Amethyst cleared her throat. "She's figured out how wind-power works."

"Steven, I don't like how this quake's goin'! If it continues, there's no telling what damage it'll do to the ice caps!" Greta warned.

"Ignore the generators, ignore cutting off the power - talk Bismuth down first and she'll depower the shock-hammers herself-"

"Guys, I appreciate it - yow! - but I get the feeling mom wanted me to do this as solo as possible. I'll keep in contact regularly, but, trust me, I'll be fine. I'll bring her back!" he assured them, skipping past a massive ravine in the ice, revealing nothing but blue darkness the further it went down.

"...Good luck," his mother said.

Amethyst snickered, and pat Greta on the back, "we're all counting on ya, Stevo."

As the radio chatter died down, and in between the force of the hammers slamming into the ice, Steven caught a bit of silence, thinking of ways to talk Bismuth down. As far as he'd been aware, she'd developed something that made Rose - Pink, too, he reminded himself - banish her. The thought had troubled him, because as Pink Diamond, Rose did bad things. The colonisation of Earth was only the beginning of her sins, and, it was a lucky, lucky shot that humanity caught the gem's eye.

It hurt him a little, to not know that about his own mother, but he moved past it for now. What he'd do later was ensure it became public knowledge, that Rose would step down from leadership if requested by the people, and that they'd elect a successor. Too many Crystal Gems would call for blood, or fragments, so it'd be important that the successor was not related to Rose, in any way.

He knew just about every Gem in Amor by name. It'd be tough, and he'd have to reconcile a little too much for his liking, but Steven would do it. His family meant too much to him. His friends and his home meant too much to him, to lose them. And, of course, that made him think of Connie, amidst all the rocking of the world beneath him.

She was beautiful, he thought. Like so many gems and others he'd met, there was something about her - that rebellious spirit hidden inside a studious, polite shell - yearning to be free from an oppressor. Save for, in this case, the oppressor being her own parents, and not the whole damn Diamond Authority. He just hoped the Placaters were doing well on their own.

The Sleuths would be fine, he thought, snickering. He then yelled, as he tripped, and fell, into a large valley. Steadying himself with happy, happy thoughts, Steven halted in mid-air, and scrambled to the top, gripping the ice with transformed fingers, clawing deep. Feeling something dreadful, he whipped his head back. Ah. It was closing in! Leaping upwards, with a roar, he found himself past the sheet's surface, and sighed in relief.

Smack went the two ice sheets, colliding back into place, creating hundreds of tiny fractures at their edge.

"You good!?" he heard Biggs yell, making him wince.

"Yup! Just, erm, uh… Got lost in introspection."

Assaulting the crystalline keep was easy enough - he dodged and defended, with a conjured shield, a slew of ice-bolts, fired by turrets on the keep's battlements. As he made it to the grand, square doors of the fortress, he marvelled at their true size, dwarfed by them. And it was with an apprehensive, shaky heart that he took a deep breath, and prepared his entrance, so grand it would be!

Knock, knock, knock.

As if recognising him for his true intentions, the defences receded, and the hammers softened. He heard the bellowing of the black billowing smoke, rising from what he could only assume was a forge. Then, he heard a yelling, a knocking of things about, and finally, a clearing of a throat.

"That you, Martinez? You know you're not supposed to come out here - and I'm certainly not dealing with Spain's government yellin' at me again! Sal de aquí!" she yelled. Steven noted a smooth, cool bass to her voice, equally as rugged and husky as she'd been described.

"No, it's Steven Universe, from Amor! I just wanted to-" he pulled his mask down from his lips, muffling his communicator.

Immediately, Bismuth scoffed. "-Another one gets the boot from 'ole Rose Quartz, huh? Come in for a spell, and sit by the forge, weary Gem. We've got some bitchin' to do."

Damn, Steven thought. He wasn't very good at that.

The walls creaked and almost broke into frozen pieces as they whined, not having been moved in some time. But when they parted, they revealed the fortress's inner workings. Steven was taken aback by it all! The whole thing had a massive square perimeter, which led down in concentric squares, steps leading downwards into the keep's core. It was a brilliant, honest-to-god Gem-Forge, the kinds he'd only heard about, from the Rebellion.

"Wow," he uttered, eyes trailing to the back of the Bismuth. She was tall, with rainbow dreadlocks, and the finest back Steven had ever seen in his entire life. He felt quite rude for staring at the bastion of muscly perfection that was the back of Bismuth, so he stopped himself. Fanning his heating head, he was surprised at how warm the interior of the fortress was.

"Yeah, she's not much, but she's home. Used to be the same back all the way in Amor, before it was called that - you'd see hundreds of these bad girls, all set up yours truly," she boasted, arms stretched out as she displayed the weapons, ammunition, lasers and rockets on the walls. Steven balked at the sets of armour - glorious gilded pieces of golden sets, complete with a helmet resembling a bear's head.

"Not much?" Steven laughed, "this is awesome! How… How did you learn to do this all?"

"Ah, I'm self-taught," she had the decency to blush, given the change of colour on her projected skin. "Started way back when Homeworld still had feet on the planet, and all I was asked to build were spires, spires, spires - monuments to the Diamond's supremacy. But I said no - and I joined on with the Crystal Gems - I made weapons, tools to end wars!"

"...And works of art," he breathed, eyeing the very centre of the forge, about 40 meters down from the perimeter. Inside was a bubbling, melting, cauldron of incredible heat - no doubt a magma vein maintained by Bismuth, tapped into from the heart of the world.

She blushed deeper, and finally whipped around to face him. "Stop, stop, you're making me blush-"

His eyes widened as he caught her face. Surprise, like all of the light-moulded warriors from Homeworld, she was breathtaking. Her dreadlocks framed her perfectly - and her gem showed the same radiance she did. Dirt and muck marred her features, but that broad jaw and thick lips were unhidable.

"Oh," the colour on her cheeks deepened. "You're a human. I'm probably spouting a bunch of gibberish, and-"

"-I know about Gem history," he assured her, grimacing a little, "and, uh-"

"-Not a worry then, c'mon," she urged him to sit on the second or third rung of the steps. "Share with me your woes, lonely primate. What did that whore Rose kick you out for? Surely a male like you's gotta be worth a bunch."

A part of him wanted to probe then. A part of him wanted to pretend he was kicked out, getting her to say why she felt the way she did. Why she was exiled. But Steven sighed, and approached her, slowly.

"Wait, wait, please, just wait a second," he stopped her, gently placing a hand on her arm. "And… Trust me when I say I'm here to help. Rose Quartz... Is my mother."

That jovial smile that Bismuth wore soon fell. At first she doubted him, and for good reason, looking at him incredulously. Steven took a deep breath, and hiked up his jumpers and coats, revealing to her his gem. Slowly, Bismuth stood, her face neutral - on the precipice of flaring. She stalked, so very slowly, to a weapon wall. But she stopped before it, and didn't move her arms. They hung limp.

"Why did you come here?" she asked.

"To make the past right and bring you back to your loved ones. Because Garnet misses you. And Biggs-"

"Don't you dare use Biggs against me. Biggs was beloved by all - what in the stars above did Rose tell you!?" she snarled.

"Everything. Who she was, and what she did, what she felt, and how she hurt you."

Bismuth felt a twitch in her arms. "Everything, huh? She tell you about the Breaking Point? Did she tell you that when I walked, none of my friends joined me?"

From her description, her eyes on the wall, and the massive drill device that looked like it could be arm-mounted, Steven put two and two together.

"She did, Bismuth. She made a mistake, and she changed. I'm not here to defend her, but what I am here to do is tell you that Biggs still loves you. Garnet still does. And my mom does, too," he advised, pouring his heart out.

"Don't pretend, don't fool me into thinking that Rose has grown a conscience. She's spineless-"

"She had a moment of weakness. She grew too human at the last second, and told you the truth, Bismuth. She then told the others what she did. You are not the only one that's angry at her - and you don't have to be alone."

There was a pause between them, and Bismuth let her head fall, staring down to the ground.

"...What did Biggs have to say about me?"

"She said you're smart. Resourceful," Steven answered.

"That all?" she asked, with a chuckle.

"No… When she thought of you, her eyes got a little distant. She… She misses you."

Bismuth chuckled, and rotated, facing him. A bit of her smile came back - and that same starriness glittered within the forgemaster's eyes. She was tired. As tired as a Gem could be - emotionally and spiritually done.

"And what about you? What have you heard about me? Why come after me, after all this time?"

"Because Earth is in danger, and I needed one of two things from you. Either Earth gets destroyed by Homeworld, and you spend your last moments as a free gem with the ones you love, or you make me the finest, most alluring armour anyone has ever seen, and we save the world with love."

Bismuth, with all the shock she could manage, paused. And thought. And laughed, before that light died in her throat.

"What in the world has been going on?"

So, Steven told her. With nothing but the unabridged truth and the threat of war from both sides, Bismuth began to understand.

"Homeworld won't take Earth without a fight… Why the hell are we even entertaining them with this?" she challenged, eyeing the tools on her walls.

"Because there's no telling if this is just Yellow's Facet or the whole Authority. We're outnumbered, either way," Steven answered, calming himself, happy that Bismuth was seeing reason.

"The Crystal Gems were always outnumbered, but we were never, ever outgunned," she came back from the walls with guns, swords, bows, arrows and shield aplenty - and hundreds of fusions in between, shoving them all into Steven's arms.

"Bismuth, with all due respect, and I mean that, I really do, I don't see us winning this in a traditional sense. We're aware that Yellow is likely trying to set a trap, so we're using it against her. It's a game to her-"

"-And when she gets bored, what will she do?"

"We'll make her see reason. Or love. Or both. And, we'll have another Diamond on our side."

She laid her hands atop the tools in his arms - eyeing the snow-gathering hilts and blades, the chambers and the frosty fixings. Bismuth then stared into the hybrid's eyes. So full of light they were, that he couldn't, or wouldn't see the darkness, she thought. So dazzling.

"Every gem that fought for Earth was once a Homeworld gem," he said, gently laying the weapons on the ground, burying themselves in the ice. "So I can not hurt them. I can't shatter them."

"Then, Steven, we'll lose." Bismuth bit back.

"Not with your armour. Not with you bolstering the morale of every gem you ever met, back home. And certainly not after you return home to give Rose Quartz a piece of your mind."

Bismuth chuckled at that, eyeing her work, on the ground. She still thought he and Rose were crackpots - but, she wouldn't mind creating her last, best work, surrounded by those she loved. "The armour…"

"I… Probably won't be able to defeat Yellow's champion in a fair fight... So we're going to fight dirty, fight human. I need something that will echo what Pink Diamond felt when she saw humanity - a love. A tight set of armour that will make this gem swoon."

Bismuth sputtered, choking a laugh down. "I can't do that," she shook her head, slow, "I can't make armour that'll make a gem swoon, li'l Prince... What I make, will make this bitch go insane."

That promise shook him. Made him shiver, in the best, most exciting of ways. Extending his hand out for a shake, he smiled to Bismuth. "Then, o' mistress of the forge, shall we abscond to Amor?"

She shook her head. "Not so fast. Before I go with you, I want to see how you battle. See if Rose or the others have trained you at all."

Steven gasped as she reached for a longblade on the ice-walls, throwing it at him. He caught it, and recoiled at the bitter touch of the metal, admiring it's razor-sharp edge and brilliant craftsmanship. Seeing it even reflect light was a sight to behold, as the sun's rays bounced off it in spectacular, sprinkling fashion, giving it an ever moving shade of blue.

"Come," Bismuth implored, already walking out of her fortress, "and show me what you're made of, Steven."

He followed, noticing their terrain had settled, that the winds themselves had seemed to calm. Presented in front of the pair was a large, flat ice sheet, crested by the sun itself, dotted with grid-markers. In the distance, not too far away, Steven could see his team, and hailed them to witness their battle, to prove the progress of his trial. With a motion, Bismuth set Steven in position, arming herself by moulding her hands into hammers.

"Back not so long ago, your knights used to do this, for glory, for their kings," Bismuth yelled across the plane, clanging her hammer-hands together with an echoing thud.

"I don't think they ever looked as cool as you, though," Steven smiled at her, testing swings of the blade. "And they never had weapons as good as these."

She chuckled as he swung it, quickly getting a feel for the weight, heft and aerodynamics of the sword. "The time for flattery has ended, Prince. Best me in three rounds of combat, and I shall accompany you and the Crystal Gems all the way back to Amor."

"And if I lose?" he asked, curious.

"I'll stay."

He nodded, standing firm as he beckoned his shield, drawing it's lightweight cast from his gem. Steven condensed it's form to a buckler, a brace, covering his left arm entirely. He darted a gaze to where he and the Trainers had arrived from, and saw them clearer now, as they watched on in awe. Greta and Amethyst made a move to travel past the grid's boundaries, but Garnet stopped them, motioning Biggs to do the same.

With one nod, Steven smiled at Garnet, and she smirked back.

"Good luck Stevo! Try not to die!" Amethyst roared.

"Oh my-Stay safe Schtuball!"

He slipped into a stance - something appearing rigid outwardly that gave him plenty of options to redirect - and took one big, long breath. Seconds flew by as they waited - perhaps for the snow to fall in just the right positioning, or for the sun to set a little lower in their eyes. But Steven couldn't drown out the blood pumping in his ears, nor the echoing thrum of adrenaline in his veins. He couldn't lose. He had to bring Bismuth back. For the world. For her. For Pearl, and Garnet.

She roared as she lunged at him, striking the earth in a massive leap. Snow rocketed from the ground and soared down in a thick sheet, leaving Bismuth in its wake. Through that ice-screen did Steven skirt, bringing his sword down upon her head. She flew a hammer upwards and blocked the strike, smiling.

"That's a Pearl switch-up," she panted, bringing both hammers around for a whirling strike. "And Garnet and Biggs watch on. You weren't lying, were you, Prince?"

"No," Steven answered her, calm and keen. "And this one comes straight from Garnet!"

One of his fists struck her stomach as he ducked under her swipe - and Bismuth attempted to peddle back as he rocketed her, weaving past every defense she tried to erect. Hand to hand styles were Garnet's game, often used for their incapacitating blows and predictive trajectories. With one big oof, Bismuth crumpled to the ground, blade at her gem.

"They taught you well," she breathed, smiling as the raw energy of battle flowed back within her. "Round 1 to you, Prince."

He bowed to her, offering his hand out to help her up. And was then promptly slammed into the ground, arm used as a handle. Before he could register the dull pain to his body, Bismuth was atop him - hammers positioned either side of his head.

"If you're going to be fighting dirty with Yellow's champ, then fight dirty with me. There's no honour to be found in war, and much less honour in the days preceding it. Understood?"

Steven just panted on the ground, blushing. "So, if I hit you while we talked, you wouldn't be mad?"

"No, of course-"

Wham, went his palm to her face. It rocketed her upwards a bit, leaving him to rush her in the air, leaping from the snow. Kicking more of it up, Steven went on the assault, ensuring she couldn't recover in time to retaliate. Slicing through the air with his blade, he collided with her thick hide more than once, backing up as she roared and slammed her fists into the ground again.

Steven stood before Bismuth, and willed his shield into its larger form, panting. As she settled herself and stared at him, an image came crashing back into her mind, almost forcing itself upon her psyche. With a gentle, controlled stride, he approached her - and she saw Rose. It was in that second that she lost the third round, charged and slammed into the ground again.

"Round 3, to me. C'mon," he ushered her, offering his hand again. She eyed it dangerously, and slapped it away, smirking to him.

"No."

"As you wish," Steven bowed, keeping his gaze on her. He then backed up, humming a tune to himself as he recovered, stalking 'round the gem circularly.

Bismuth grunted as she got up, wincing at the fuzziness of her arm where her own blade had struck. "You've got Rose, Garnet, and Pearl behind you. The only person I've seen recover that quickly is Biggs. And that speed, that I have not seen before. Any more tricks I should know about, Prince?"

"No tricks," he shrugged, "but it takes a village to raise a child. I was just the lucky ape who managed to be born into a village of warriors."

"Ape?" Bismuth chuckled, "you fight like a gem. Doesn't matter your blood or your body; you use it as we do. You fight as we do. So show me, Prince, strike me like a Crystal Gem would!"

She pulled a radiant, blinding sabre from her gem in that moment. Her hammers went back to hands, and Bismuth launched at Steven in one final clash. Trusting her own make, ignoring the awe in which he witnessed the battler, the human lad found himself charging back at her. With trudges of snow settling upon the ground, a silence in the winds, and a gleam of the sun's might across a white field, a clang sounded.

Then Bismuth looked to her blade. It's remnants. A handle, spurting shards upwards. In between them both, in her defeat, his victory, she saw light resonate from themselves. Colossal rainbow glimmers from hers, and a luminous red roar from his. That resonance left them panting, smiling, shaking. Then the footfalls came rushing over, congratulations and kisses.

It was as Amethyst was smooching his cheeks, as Garnet was smooching Bismuth's, that the forgemaster cracked a grin to him.

"To Amor."

(Prisma, 1 day later...)

Pearl replayed the message. The warning, the challenge from Yellow Diamond. Struggling to break down it's language and determine if any further meaning could be derived from it.

The first image was blurry, but fixed and sharpened itself quickly, revealing a starship's interior. Front and centre to the communicators' camera was another Pearl - straightlaced and standing tall, unmoving. She had a face that scrunched and sneered much like a goblin's, and was smiling even now, giddy at serving her Diamond.

"Broadcasting to all open, all primitive channels," Yellow's Pearl began - oh how Pearl despised her attitude, "a message from the luminous Yellow Diamond."

The communicator flickered. Another face. A titan, if the scale was to be believed, staring neutrally at the camera. Hair arranged into spikes - looking like a helmet, almost, Yellow Diamond was a being of power, plain and simple. She consolidated it, controlled it, and wielded it at a scale well known to all Gemkind, judging those in need of it.

"Greetings, as they are due," she said. Her voice was deep, booming, cutting past even the distortion of the comms-channel. "To Earth, it's inhabitants, and the abhorrent specks of filth known as the Crystal Gems, I present to you an ultimatum."

Images flashed past. Men and women, fighting and dying in combat. Scores of faceless, human hordes being sent to their deaths. Satellite images - revealing bloody swathes of abandoned lands, after artillery and arms alike had left their mark. Then, at the end of it all, a single image. A gladiator, in an arena, taken from the perspective of one of the crowd.

Two women. One victor. And the glory and spoils to the one left standing.

Homeworld's eyes never left the planet, it made Pearl think. It was an intimidation tactic of it's own - to show that Earth had, still, always been in the Authority's scope, always waiting. To her, it made her think of them as cowards - usually so quick and eager to harvest primitive planets, now left to wait after their sister had been shattered?

Yellow Diamond's expression changed. A slight twitch to the left corner of her mouth. A smirk.

"Too long has Earth shed its own lifeforce. Shattered its own women. Pit army against army in a toiling, endless feud. It has made you weak. War has rendered your planet barren, left to rely on the stocks and reserves of previous generations, and it has starved you."

It felt like it was beginning to stick to domination, Pearl continued to herself. Yellow must've seen Pink's shattering not only as a failure, but a humiliation against the Authority. A humiliation she would return.

"So I present to you, as Homeworld's force-commander, a challenge. My champion, my gladiator," she enunciated, "against yours. You may select the arena, the location, and any weapons you wish, but the reward, I dictate."

"Earth," Pearl found herself echoing with the Diamond, the weight of that word alone making her shoulders fall.

The feed cut from Yellow Diamond, back to her Pearl, who was smiling deeper now, trying to hold back a taunting laugh of her own.

"We shall land in an Earth-month, at section 12, facet 9X. Present to us with your champion, or we shall assume this a breakage of the ultimatum."

Then, it cut out - showing a symbol of the diamonds - Pink's square having been wiped out, cast from memory. Pearl then sighed, gathering her thoughts, and turned her gaze back to her compatriots.

"P-Pearl, it's fairly straightforward, please don't play it again. I-It just makes me nervous," a multicoloured gem squeaked.

Gathered together, ready to scope the land and tap into communications where they could, the Sleuths awaited their final member. Pearl and Sheena groaned as Crazy Lace Agate kept her eyes peeled - standing atop Freywood Hill, looking over the outer bounds of Prisma.

It had been a long, dragging morning, and Pearl above all was keen to finish their tasks for the day - for she had heard Bismuth was returning. Unluckily, their 4th member appeared to have disappeared from the town. Standing were the Agate, Pearl, and sitting on a nearby bench was Sheena. With Crazy Lace on lookout and Pearl on top of team morale, they waited, watching with ire as the sun rose to its peak.

"Rosebud Sapphire, literally the key to our team, up and gone. Awesome. No, really, a great way to spend my morning. Fuck," Sheena cursed, death-gripping her cup, once filled with coffee.

"Sheena, please," Pearl tried to calm her, digging her fingers into the human's tense shoulders, rubbing gently. "Crazy Lace, any sight?"

"None," the multi-coloured gem answered, gem-eye focused like a laser. "Usual haunts are empty. Her clinic is closed, but Larimar's ice-cream stall is open."

"Didn't know they were still together," Sheena noted.

"Since January," Pearl added, idly, adding the information as it came to her amidst other gossip and rumours, floating around in her mind. "Had a break last December. Larimar spent her time amongst the snow, and… You know how she gets."

"Judging the cutest couple in town, are we, Pearl?" Crazy Lace smirked, levelling a gaze the duo's way.

"I think you mean second cutest," Sheena scoffed, faux-offended, "and Pearl's incapable of judging. Wait - no, she's really good at picking peach-pink apart from salmon-pink-"

"-Oh my stars, you're still upset about that? I apologised, Sheena! And if you hadn't died your hair at that silly salon, you-"

"-I was on the road, babe! I can't just warp back, pop in for a haircut, and pop out-"

"-You absolutely could, though! I wouldn't mind a little company here and there, even a quick visit-"

"-Oh sure," Sheena scoffed, smiling bright and laughing against Pearl's grin, and her light slaps. "A quick visit turns to a quick sleepover and all of a sudden you've just slipped a collar on, and-"

"Shut it, lovebirds, I see a pink blur!" Crazy Lace cut them off, blushing at the exchange, laughing along with the pair.

In an instant, cracking the small amount of wind that surrounded her frame, a pink, primped Sapphire had joined them, hand to her cheek, full of titters herself. She didn't shrink, didn't squirm, and certainly did not waver her smile in the presence of Sheena's anger.

"Mm-hoho! Good morning, ladies!" Rosebud Sapphire, shorthand "Rosebud" or "Bud", bowed to Pearl, Sheena, and Crazy Lace Agate.

"Rosebud," Sheena grabbed the tiny gem by her shoulders, and lifted her up, bringing their eyelines to meet. "Where the fuck were you? We were looking everywhere!"

"Calm down, girl!" Pearl shot Sheen's arms down, depositing the gem back safely to the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Miss Sheena! I was keeping tabs on some friends, that's all - and time seems to have slipped away on me! Though I can tell you right now that somewhere, Steven Universe is making Sadie Miller and Lara Barriga very happy."

There was a pause, where all the gathered gems shared a look. A bird chirped, and the wind whistled, and, in the end, Rosebud blushed.

"Very happy indeed."

"Hm," Crazy Lace dipped her head in thought as Pearl began projecting their current plan to the ground in the middle of them. "How's Bismuth readjusting?"

"Lace, not now-" Pearl butted in, cut short by Rosebud herself.

"-Magnificently, dear Agate! Why, it seems absence truly has made our prodigal Bismuth's heart grow fonder - she's even entertaining missus Garnet as we speak," the tiny gem crooned, sighing in joy.

"Oh," Pearl piped up again, "that's… Actually very good to hear. Ahem, ladies, our job..."

"Recon. Following the inquiry into Connie Maheswaran's "disappearance", talk has spread among other nations about what they can demand from us. The Australs think we've gone soft, whereas the ladies up in France have it in mind to request half of Steven's junk, or just him, again."

"3rd time, actually," Pearl corrected her, "4th if you count that visit where he just so happened to run into their president at the time of his 2nd donation."

"Was that Dubois? The one that visited here? She was kinda alright I thought," Lace quipped, humming.

"No dear, Anne Blanc visited us. Dubois was the frumpy woman who had a bad limp. The Misanthrope they called her-"

"-What anyone with that nickname was doing in public office, I'll never know why. We're getting off topic again though, but this is precisely why we're together! Our job is to collect information to feed to the Trainers and Placaters, so we can arm them better. For the Placaters, we'll know every dirty secret kept in every closet by every politician on Earth. For the Trainers, we'll record every single habit on Homeworld's people as soon as they hit the ground," Sheena announced, voice empowered, but quiet.

"But... You do know what Homeworld will show us, right? It'll just be a lot of waiting on their ship, that is, if they don't bring their whole damn armada down upon us," Lace commented.

"Mm-mm," Rosebud shivered for a bit, body shaking as her eye opened briefly, then shut closed. "They won't just wait, Agate… They'll pace, ponder, perilous and such… But they'll leave the ship eventually. Yellow won't be able to keep them on board…"

"And when they do, they'll see the planet. They'll see humans, and gems. And when they see Prisma, Amor, they'll see what we can make together. Sure, it'll be just Yellow, her champion, and perhaps some of Yellow's guard to start, but the others will follow," added Pearl, glowing.

"Didn't know you could tap into Homeworld gems like that, Bud," Sheena snickered.

"Means they're close, doesn't it?"

"That's right, Agate… And… No armada, no Facet behind her… It's hard, but amongst stars and moons, there she stands. Angry. Hurt."

"And… As wrong as it may be," Pearl paused, sighing, "we can exploit that. We can prevent Earth from falling again."

There was a pause between the four as they looked at one another. The dirty hands of Amor, the hand on the pulse of the world and worlds beyond. A single prong of three total, that would pierce past the invading forces, and find love on the other side. Pearl was resolute with their purpose, and, though she could see doubt brewing in Sheena's face, the gem knew she could count on her. Rosebud and Crazy Lace looked to one another before staring back at Pearl, Bud clearly uncomfortable with the idea of her ability being used for dirty deeds, but nodded.

She assured herself that this would be the first and only time she'd stoop this low. That the Placaters and the Trainers would find ways to keep her in line. That she would retire to bed at the end of the day, in her little cottage, with Larimar at her side.

Pearl nodded back. "Ladies, shall we?"

(...)

"People of Amor, I have not been truthful to you. Amongst our records, I have struck the truth from a single fact that has kept you in the dark, and I am sorry. Pink Diamond was not shattered all those years ago, she…"

From the middle-ring of Prisma Tower did Rose's throat hitch.

Greta, she thought. For Steven.

"Pink Diamond transformed, taking form as Rose Quartz… Myself."

A gasp filled the crowd's air - as humans and gems alike bore witness to the appalling news.

"I was Pink Diamond. I am Rose Quartz. I… Committed crimes. Performed acts unspeakable and nearly wiped out Earth in the Diamond's initial conquest. And I am sorry. No amount of reparations nor atonement can make up for the broken tribes or shattered gems of the Gem War."

Greta. Steven. Pearl. Garnet. Amethyst… Me.

"And no amount of begging can grant me forgiveness for my actions. I made a mistake. I thought that by breaking a Diamond in full view of the War, I would shake fear into the hearts of the Authority. I was wrong."

Silence.

"I wanted to repair, to make things right and for each gem to break free from their castes. To see their own binds and to break them, to discover the love that the humans felt. To help them rebuild Earth. But I must live with my mistake. And it is for that reason that I will send a vote to all booths."

"Banish me, depose me, elect my successor, or enable a council - Amor deserves that right, that choice, and so much more. As I encouraged gemkind to break free their bonds, I encourage you now to use your freedom and judge me. Confer for as long as is needed, and I will continue to serve you all in the meantime. May love be with us all."

That message, that speech, was broadcast to all corners of the state. Eventually it would reach international traffic, and the world would be out for her head. It was only fair that they produce the facts and determine the story properly before others got their hands upon it. At the tower, foot traffic came to a halt, and, all things considered, it had gone better than she'd expected. There were those that cursed her name, for sure, but the gems gathered had taken faith in her.

Hearing her words after the fact, they had recognised her as the one who had saved them from Homeworld. Who let them experience the joy of love, the joy of experimentation. As far as the majority of citizens were concerned, Rose Quartz was still the Gem who had broken them out of their castes. The one who had allowed them to connect with others around them.

It was as the vote was underway that Rose took the Placaters somewhere high up in the Tower, past the residential zones, up to the communication zones. Gathered were the small, wiry Larimar; a speckled and ghostly looking ice-thing, Snowflake Obsidian, joyful as ever, and Connie herself, having been summoned personally by Rose.

"Joy," Larimar noted, with a coy smile. "Much joy is felt here. They continue to scream, Rose!"

"Scream?" Connie asked the tiny, icy gem, who rubbed her hands together as she fell into step behind the Quartz. "Sounds like… Laughter, cheers, some booing-"

"-Larimar gets emotions and actions mixed up sometimes, best not to get bogged down in semantics. Ain't that right, Rose?" Snowflake snickered, slapping the gem on her back.

"O-On the contrary, semantics is where we may excel today, Obsidian. Here," Rose said shakily, ushering them into a room, tucked into a long hallway segment of the comm zones.

It was a long corridor, with a viewport overlooking the north-western expanse of Amor and its surrounding territories. All along the curved window were telescopic frames, which could be adjusted by hand, or, gem-interfacing, revealing and magnifying different parts of the nation. Dotted along the walls were chairs, and a series of microphones, radios, and computer screens.

"It's not much, but this will be our HQ until further notice. From here we can keep in touch with the other teams, relay info between them, contact what leaders and dignitaries we may desire, and keep an eye on our borders," Rose announced, motioning to the communication devices as necessary. On cue, the group felt the tower lurch as their current section began rotating.

"Woah! I-Is this linked with that big observation station in the atmosphere?" Connie asked, cautiously approaching the systems.

"That's correct," Rose smiled to the human girl, and flicked a screen on, revealing the status of an uplink to the Oculi, pinging a surrounding area for any nearby aircraft - it's range reaching thousands of kilometres upwards. "From here we can reach any country on Earth - and even ping our observation site on the moon."

Rose then ushered them to their stations - rough as they were - sitting the crew at what she felt they could've excelled at. Larimar was set with a keyboard or two, taking Pearl's job of filtering incoming messages and replying to them over text; her analytical mind allowing for a keen parsing of data. Most messages were then filtered through Snowflake before being sent off - correcting any and all "gem harshness" Rose felt might've leaked through their language.

What requests that couldn't be satisfied via text were given to the Obsidian via vid-chat as well, or, if they were deemed critical enough, to Rose. Snowflake had been one of the first to defect against Homeworld during the Rebellion - had fallen in love with humanity as her sisters did, and found joy in mimicking, learning how they spoke with one another. Her appearance put off some, but, she rolled with their shock, disarming their conversations with poise.

That left Connie to peer over Prisma's borders, with Rose sitting at her side. No task had been assigned to her - but she imagined her confession of escape from New York was coming up soon. The poor girl had so many questions. She wanted to learn. She wanted to do so much in Prisma, but found herself at a loss with the nation's leader overseeing her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Rose asked her, placing a hand on her back. That snapped Connie out of her funk pretty quickly.

"A-Absolutely, ma'am," she breathed a sigh of relief, the gem's hand calming her some, "the fusion of architecture and the landscape in particular is just… Wow."

Rose snickered, blushing.

"You don't have to call me ma'am, you know. Rose, or Missus Universe, or Miss Quartz is fine. And thanks - the preservation of the land was my idea - just about all of it was laid out first by our Bismuth," the Quartz's smile faded a bit, and her eyes wandered.

Connie cleared her throat, "is… She the one who you sent Steven to retrieve?"

"Mm," Rose nodded in agreement, sighing, dragging a spare monitor over to their bench. As her hand touched it, it lit up, revealing a fuzzy, but legible recording - from ages past. "It's kinda what I wanted to show you today. A… Frame of reference, sort of like a history lesson."

Connie's eyes lit up. It was the Gem in question - if Rose's prior description was anything to go by - fighting in a desert. Craggy peaks surrounded them, lined by hundreds of multicolour turrets. They spewed forth brilliant lasers of every tone imaginable - and a few that Connie had to stress her eyes to see.

"So you can… Understand the importance of today, what I've done as Rose Quartz, I wanted to explain this; the Rebellion."

Spoken of, oh-so-briefly, in human textbooks. Earliest human records - 15000 years ago, detailing the war of gods. While cavewoman fought with spear and stone, Gemkind destroyed with lumimechanical wonders - shattering the night sky only to remake it on a whim, to distract their enemy.

"Long ago, Homeworld invaded Earth. To grow Gems, devices known as Injectors were used to bore into planets, harvesting minerals and voiding the soil of all substance, until it's essence could coalesce into our shapes, as you see them."

"Your… Gems," Connie noted, awkwardly.

Rose nodded, "correct. Earth was but a stepping stone into this arm of the Milky Way. To all but it's overseer - Pink Diamond. Myself."

The image Rose projected now swapped. A tall, thick-lipped, puff-clad woman appeared in its wake. Her beauty, much like the other Gems Connie had seen, was ethereal. There was no grace, no contemplation behind her expressions - just an unbridled stream of emotion. Joy, excitement at seeing a new world - her first world - and utter exhilaration in learning it would be her own project!

There was another, to her side, as well. Puffier. Pinker. Smaller, and full of life, like Pink was.

"That's… Spinel… A companion I abandoned, once Earth was given to me."

Connie's throat tightened. Snowflake and Larimar had seemed to ignore them both, leaving her to face Rose's raw confession all on her own. It was almost choking, but, Connie kept with it, eager to learn of Earth, it's society in its infancy.

A new image. Colonies. People, and tribes.

"Your ancestors were just leaving their caves behind as we arrived. They took to us as gods - radiant beings who came from the sky - who worked at night, where the predators dwelled, and who could glow, who could change themselves. At first they tried appeasing us, offering sacrifice, keeping cautious."

Connie swallowed a lump in her throat. Pink's expression played out on the screen - curious, too curious. A human-modelled face, devoid of all emotion but curiosity. It was paired with new images - the Injectors - plunging deep into caves, valleys, forming holes and wastelands where arbor once was abundant. Humans tried, and failed to resist. Families were ripped apart, struck mercilessly and coldly by these human-looking things.

"You-"

"Tore apart the Earth. At least, 5% of it. We razed it to hell and back, producing two lines of Gems in perfect sync, until…"

Another switch. Pink was on the ground, away from her observation post, in the heat of it all. Tear-streaked, pleading eyes. A single human woman protecting her tribe - the tribe surrounding the young, the sick, and the elderly. Humanity, showing it's finest, when brought to its worst. There was a fire in the woman's eyes that Pink, Rose couldn't deny. A pause in the Gem-Queen's expression. She knelt, knelt before the tribe they had relocated, "defended" themselves against, and cried.

Pearl was by Pink's side, by the looks, affected by the same - recognising the compassion and care these scared "primitives" held, even when cornered, even when presented with the chance to betray each other. Pearl took note as Pink's tears hit the ground, creating life in their wake - reawakening the blighted dirt beneath them.

"Make no mistake that we are two different species, Connie. That, at the time of my conception, I could not feel as humans did. I could be angered, I could play, laugh, but… Not as humanity does. Not as humanity did back then. I am… I am what I think a grown, changed woman is. I am my mistakes, my failures, my lessons learnt, in a new form."

Connie blinked, several times, letting tears fall that she didn't feel forming.

"Th-that's… I…"

"I know it's a lot to take in. And I understand if you're upset, if this makes you angry… But I wanted to give you context. To every call and every message we receive, there's 15000 years of knowledge preceding them. There exists a genealogical and historical record of every country on Earth, freely given to it's leaders. It's corroborated by the records of thousands of Gem soldiers, presenting this planet with it's history in plain view."

Connie had heard about those - rumours and conspiracy theories mainly - ancient data disks held by the heads of state. It began to feel eerie to her - knowing that somewhere out there, someone could've traced her family line back throughout the ages, all the way 15 millennia back.

"My job, now our job, as it stands, is to remind Earth of its history. If my son's own blood is demanded for some silly reason, we remind them of the Poisoning of the Wayward Man, and how that wiped out two entire tribes. If they demand the dissolution of our state, we remind them of the Celestial Forge - how it's disappearance led to an arms race that nearly baked the planet," Rose said gravely.

The gem sighed, and let herself be rid of a growing anger. A rage that made her teeth clench, her body nearly seized. Connie witnessed this, and nearly shied away at the display of latent power surrounding the woman.

"If we are invaded by humanity, attacked," Rose continued, grabbing Connie's hand, squeezing it gently, "we remind them that we've spent 15000 years together. We remind them that it was their love that saved them from… Me. Homeworld. From Pink Diamond."

"...Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it," Connie breathed, nodding. She didn't know if she believed any of what Rose was saying - she wasn't raised and taught like this - but she'd never heard it from the Gem's side of the story.

"Of course," Rose sniffed, almost sensing the doubt in the young human, "I encourage you to seek out the past yourself. I've been around humans long enough to create my own biases, so," she chuckled, diffusing the tension between them.

"O-Of course, ma'am- erm, Miss Quartz."

"I'll give you unrestricted access to Amor's archives, like every citizen here has. Should you want to confirm anything or get any Gem's opinion on an event, well," Rose motioned to Snowflake and Larimar, smiling, "they're still here. Ask 'em."

Connie tried to smile, but found the events stuck in her head - Homeworld's invasion. What occupied her mind was their second attempt - what the hell would happen to them now?

"Th-thank you! Uh… I… I wanted to know, you know of the Gem in that message that Pearl received - she was called Yellow Diamond? A-Are there more of her?"

Rose's smile faded again, and she sighed.

"She's my sister. We were made from the same Injector, ordained by our… By our mother, White. Yellow… She's the commander of all Gem forces - and has conquered more worlds than I can count. And she's coming back because she thinks I killed… Well, me."

Connie blinked, eyes widening. "I… Wow."

Rose nodded. "Among them is Blue, as well. While Yellow is away, she coordinates takeovers of more… Barren planets. She also convenes with White, regularly, and, from what I could tell she confides a lot more in Yellow than she used to."

"Is… Will Blue and White join Yellow?" asked Connie.

"It's hard to tell," Rose answered, "Yellow doesn't like backup. She'll attack us from multiple angles, this whole gladiatorial thing is a stunt to dig at earth. If… If she loses, then Blue and White may arrive. I just hope there'll be enough strength among us to combat them."

Connie's head felt like it was about to burst, so she thanked Rose hurriedly and got to reading, curious as to the world's history, where her family had come from, and Steven and Greta, too. An hour or two had passed until she was alerted by an incoming name that Larimar parsed.

"We have a… Missus Priyanka Maheswaran requesting an "immediate" teleconference call. She has an official from the New York with her too!" Larimar shot up from her chair, motioning Rose to look at her screen.

"Connie," Rose gave her a comforting look, "do you feel comfortable admitting that you escaped New York voluntarily?"

"I… Erm…"

"I'm being hailed on my channel as well," Snowflake sighed, "this lady is super impatient."

Connie bit her lip hard, and huffed out a hurried breath. "Y-Yeah, okay… I think I am. P-Put me on."

And so, up in the heights of Amor did Connie come face to face with her mothers, Priyanka and Dipali. It was over the Internet, yes, but it had been days since they'd seen each other. A glimpse of worry on Priyanka's face was quickly replaced by scorn, anger. Connie could barely note the name or face of the government officer, instead petrified at Priyanka's visage.

"Connie, dear, are you safe? Do those things have you hostage? Did they take you from-"

"-M-Mother-"

"-Connie, talk to us," Dipali spoke, calmer than Priyanka.

"Did one of them contact you? Were you baited? Why did you leave!? Just say the word and I'll be over there-"

"-Mother!" Connie yelled, snapping her head down, then back up. "I left… I left because… Because…"

Her throat locked. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes as she met her mother's unfocused gaze. The woman whom Connie had escaped, the one her other-mother deferred to on all matters of discipline. Connie was free now, and here was her cage - her jailor - taunting her. Questioning her.

She couldn't speak. And so, with tears dripping down her cheeks, she hung up the call, much to the shock of Priyanka and Dipali. Much to the dismay of Rose Quartz, who pinched the bridge of her nose so tightly that Connie shrunk under the expression. Sensing the tension, the leader of Amor placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, and sighed.

"Connie, I understand this is tough for you. I am upset at the moment, but it will abate quickly," she intoned, eyes closed, frustration fleeting. "Blow your nose. Wash your face. Drink some water, then take the rest of the day off. Larimar will guide you out."

Connie, relieved, shattered, and angry all the same, nodded. Larimar pat her on the back, as high as the little gem could reach, as she sighed.

"Come now, we shall work this out, little earth-gem. Let us get you some ice cream, yes?"

(...)

Steven could tell when someone synced with their environment. Back at the bottom of the world, he could tell Bismuth was annoyed by the little things, the niggling things in her Forge. The wind, the snow-drops ruining her perfect blades, the occasional attack, maybe. But here, things were different. In Prisma, tucked away in the industrial sector, laid Bismuth's plot. It was walled off, roofed, and plain from the outside.

But once Steven stepped in, he smiled. Heat smacked him in the face, and he gawked at the wicked displays on the walls - the art and craft Bismuth had moved all the way from Antarctica. The place was kept dark, lit scarcely by sconce and furnace, and permeated a keen scent of something sleek Steven couldn't put his hand on. He announced his presence, and walked in carefully, minding the curated piles and deadly weapons.

"Hail, O' Mistress-at-Arms," he bowed, lowly, smirking as Bismuth shook her head at him. She appeared to be toiling away at a Furnace, a lava pool where something was submerged.

"Hail, li'l Prince. What brings a human boy to a Gem's forge?"

She turned her back on him, and Steven had to contain himself. Faux-crafted flesh and bone bent beneath a veneer of light-skin, an imitation of a human. But it was beautiful. To enhance her already strong character, Steven noted the Gem's back muscles, trying to decipher a pattern, a marking to them. He kept his more lewd thoughts to himself, but grew noticeably hotter under his loose collar.

"Ahem, the… The uh, armour I was looking to uh, to…"

"To commission," Bismuth finished, snorting.

"Yeah," Steven choked, "I didn't want to rush it or anything-"

"-Nope, I had already gotten your measurements when we first met. I used to do it with all my visitors; helped pass the time, and kept me sharp," she noted, idly. From the molten licks of the earth's magma veins, she lifted a cuirass; brilliantly pink and bronze, shimmering as the ambient light bounced off it's dripping plates.

"U-Used to?" Steven asked, eyes transfixed on the supreme chest-set.

"I stopped getting visitors after a while. My eyes were accurate enough that I could measure and arm anybody from a glance. But," she grunted, placing the armour on a nearby fireproof rack, "this ain't for war, and my eyes just won't be good enough."

Steven nodded, understanding what she was getting at. "Well… It's gotta be as tantalising as possible. Want me to take my clothes off?"

Bismuth blinked, keeping her eyes on the armour she'd just finished casting. She didn't dare look Steven in the eye. It had been years since she'd last seen a human, let alone a male, let alone naked. She assured herself that her attraction lied to the female form, what Gemkind had imitated for millenia, but then reminded herself of nights spent pouring over black-market erotica. Then, nights spent in the cold. Casting ice-sculptures of warriors, of men and women she'd never meet, only to see them trickle and crumble from the Forge's heat. Her own little slice of pornography.

If anything, the son of Rose Quartz, in all of his soft, naked humour, would make for a good laugh.

"...If you don't want them getting burnt, sure."

And so, with little care for his person, with little concern for the tremendous heat emanating from the fire, he stripped for Bismuth. It was done quickly, but once Bismuth turned heel and gazed upon him, they shared a gaze. Ah, she thought. That's funny. Laugh.

But, much to Steven's surprise, no laugh came.

"So… I kinda wanted to share my ideas while we, uh… Go about this. That all fine by you?"

"Heh-, uh… Yeah, yeah… Sure. Yep," she nodded fervently, swallowing, swallowing of all things.

She laid hands upon him, inscribing hundreds of measurements to her gem, storing them keenly, pouring over Steven's body. Bismuth began with this head, trying not to look into his eyes, and when she failed that, trying to look beyond their starry, starry glimmer. She held one arm up, then out, getting him to flex those muscles, for material-tenseness testing. She held him gently, letting the feedback of hard-soft, then hard reach her mind as Steven flexed, blushing.

"So… So, uh… Vines. My, uh… My core thing was going to be vines," he murmured.

"Uh-huh," she nodded, mouth agape as she moved to his forearm, getting him to rotate it, noticing how the ulna kept the motion smooth.

"So, and t-tell me if this is too complex, or-"

"-Nothing's too complex, go on," she assured him, gasping as she played with his hand, clasping it in hers, getting lost in the movement of its cartilage.

"C-Cool… So, vines - they sorta wrap around me, twisting too, and draw eyes to certain zones. My, erm… Nipples, my butt, my hands, and my-"

"-Pectorals. Abdominals," Bismuth finished, laying digits upon his bare chest, dancing her fingers up and down it. She caught his eyes again, and they huffed breaths out to one another, puffing and blushing still.

"Y-Yeah… And my cock, too."

"I can do that," she assured, with a nod, "I can… I can make something. Flowers, too. Not just roses, we can play with some frangipanis on the pauldrons, or where the pauldrons would normally be…"

"Gotta have a lot of flesh showing," he noted, blush deepening as heat melted his cheeks, "tight in some places, loose in others. So it can all-"

"-Bulge," she breathed, "and bounce…"

"Yeah… F-Follow your heart, Bismuth."

She turned her eyes to his lips, finding them soft, wetted, Steven nibbling on them, so subtly. Follow your heart? Her heart was made of alloys long forgotten, on a planet long dead, and what did it tell her now? To kiss him. To taste those lips, to feel that feedback, to look down and see that both of their gems were humming, glowing again. For bringing her back, back to Garnet, to Pearl, and… To Rose.

Bismuth leant forward. Smack went their lips, so tender and gentle and kind, testing those nervous waters. He gasped, but kissed back, wrapping hands 'round the Gem's large frame, one to her back, stroking her muscles, the other to her side, tracing up and down. Amid the crackle and bubble of the magma vein, their embrace was heard, observed by forces unseen and eyes peering into the future.

They broke, and from their lips trailed faint moisture, steaming at their breaths. Steven found himself lost in the analytical, half-lidded gaze of the forgemistress, noting a keen purple to her iris. A hand drifted to her locks, playing with the rainbow dreads, shivering as his dick rubbed against her thighs.

"You're beautiful," he swallowed, a keen, magical taste of something sweet on his tongue. "And, uh… I'm sorry i-if I'm causing any confusion here-"

"-Don't be sorry," she murmured, stealing another kiss from the man, "I figured I needed to thank you for bringing me back."

"...You needed to be here," he mumbled, placing a hand on the Gem's cheek, smooching her back. "I… I hadn't heard much of what went down, all those years ago, but… When Pearl and Garnet heard of this mission, to come and get you…"

Bismuth looked away from him, going stiff in his arms. "I thought they'd abandoned me. I… I got so angry, then..."

"I'm sorry," Steven whispered, sighing. "Pearl... Garnet didn't… I-I think they both stayed because of… Me."

Bismuth nodded. "Yeah… Ain't nothing weaker than a baby, heh. You needed all the help you could get, and stars know that Rose Quartz couldn't do it herself," she snickered, shaking her head.

Steven hugged her, pressing his chest against her sweltering apron. She hugged back, and found it odd, how quickly she could confide and trust in the young man before her. How his words spoke, how he sang and walked among Amor, how much faith he had in them winning. How much he knew of her, despite only having just met her.

"I'm not angry at them anymore. And I don't hold any anger for you, so… Save the apologies," she said, grabbing a lock of Steven's hair and inhaling the chocolate scent, quivering.

"Of course," he chuckled, parting from her, nibbling at her lip again. She took him, delving her tongue past his kisser and into his mouth proper, feeling him further, deeper. They stayed in that embrace, by the forge's fire, until some time had passed. Until Bismuth remembered her task.

"D-Damn, didn't mean to bog you down with my woes, Prince-"

"-Nonsense," Steven assured her, panting, hands trailing down her strong arms. "I… Well, we haven't known each other for long, but… It, I don't know… It feels good to have you here, Bismuth."

She broke from him finally, smiling, and shook her head. Bismuth continued with her measurements, trying to search for the words, trying to think past the thick, erect rod stemming from the human.

"Still, listening to me gripe, I'm sure every gal and gem 'round these parts use you as a shoulder to cry on already," she chuckled.

"More than you know… B-But, still, if you ever need that shoulder-"

"I'll come runnin', don't you worry."

Steven relaxed as her hands pointed up and down the length of his sex, feeling a nice, if brief calm from the worry of the incoming invasion.

"So," Bismuth lost herself in thought for a bit, "should be done before the challenge is up… I'll get you in for a test fitting before it, then we'll go from there."

"Awesome, and as for payment-"

"-Not needed, Prince-"

"-I insist," he spoke, firmly, "even if that payment ends up with us like we are tonight… Just, please, think about it."

Bismuth shook her head again, "I'll let you know, then… Now, what were you thinkin' on colour?"

(Some time later, elsewhere...)

As it turns out, all the ice cream in the world couldn't stop Connie from feeling like shit. Mint came close, as did salted caramel, but that pervading aura of loss seemed to hang over the woman's head. She kicked rocks all the way around town, keeping her eyes low and wandering, as she replayed that moment in her head, cringing and cringing as she remembered her mother's faces.

Somehow, against all logic of following a familiar path back to Steven's place, she had found herself at a monument. Surrounded on all sides by roads and houses, was a park. In the park, she saw Rose, standing and staring at the monument in quiet reflection, sighing to herself. Connie remained rooted in place, but closed her eyes and sighed, feeling the energies of Amor flow through her mind.

Talk this out, she rationalised, apologise and agree to make up. You screwed up, and she's doing you a favour even harboring you.

"Ma'am-"

"-Rose, Connie," she smiled to the young woman, motioning her to stand by her side. "Call me Rose, please."

"R-Rose… I'm… I'm-"

"-It's alright," she spoke, so calmly, so gently, closing her eyes and inhaling as an errant waft of street-meat sailed past and into her senses. "It's… We're fine."

"W-We are?"

The pink-clad gem nodded. "In a major, major way, yes. I knew this was going to be a war on all fronts, and I knew we wouldn't succeed in every operation. But my son came back, and brought with him a dear old friend of mine. The Sleuths have found their first lead. My wife accepted me for who I am this morning, did not judge me for who I was, as I feared."

"O-Oh?" Connie asked, clearing her throat, staring more clearly at the monument. It was a silver-tinted statue of a gem and a human, embracing in matrimony. Whether marriage, friendship or celebration, it wasn't clear, but Connie thought that to be a feature of the piece.

"For now, a war still stands on our doorstep and Yellow Diamond is set to arrive soon, but you are allowed to make mistakes here. You are still so young, so it's to be expected, and, I suspect there's much you need to look upon before you can... Speak freely to your mothers."

"S-Still, R-Rose… I-"

Rose held a hand up. "I rushed you into it, Connie. I haven't even given you the time to get to know this place better. Here," she said, handing a set of cards to the lass.

"My own p-place?"

"The card can act as a GPS too, now that it's locked down to you. Every citizen needs their private space, and I figure if you ever need to shut down, escape, or just," Rose shrugged, "chill, then you need your own place."

That cloud of excrement had begun to slough off her shoulders. "Wow, I… I, uh, th-thank you, Rose!"

"It's my pleasure, and I hope you find yourself in Amor, Miss Maheswaran. The Placaters shall be gathering at noon for every day until Yellow arrives - so if you'd like to join us, you're always welcome. Don't feel obligated, and don't worry about your mom for now. If you still want to be here, then we'll fight for you," the mother-gem assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Th-Thank-"

"-And quit it with the thanks. Enjoy a night on the town, okay?"

"Okay… Okay!"

(Elsewhere...)

Garnet's abode was a simple one. As most gems had home entertainment systems attuned to their cores, so too did Garnet control one for both her halves. It made for a war inside her home, a brilliant clash of blue and red at all times, with a loving intersection of purple towards it's centre. She rarely visited it, so she kept it small, out of the way, ensuring she'd bother no one, and that when the time came, she could be alone, together. Seldom did she receive visitors, but today was a special one.

"Come in," she announced, rising from a meditative position in the centre of her loungeroom. No knock had sounded, and she smiled as a chuckle sounded from outside her door.

"Glad to see the digs haven't changed here," Bismuth greeted her, gasping as Garnet rushed to hug her. "Hey, it's like we didn't even see each other in Antarctica!"

"I know," Garnet said, simply. "I've been inside my head too much. Saw some… Less than pleasant things."

"Mm… Wanna lie down?"

Garnet answered by leading Bismuth by the hand, clasping gently around her fingers. She led her to a simple bed, tucked in a corner, near a window. As sunlight poured in, as Bismuth laid down and beckoned the fusion to lie atop her, their crystals shimmered.

"How have you been?" Bismuth asked, with a sigh.

"Busy, but well," Garnet answered. "Existing in two spots, mentally, for a while. It's only recently that I've taken a step outside of the future."

"What changed?"

"You came back," Garnet smiled, phasing her visor out, opening all three eyes to look upon Bismuth.

"And you never visited," Bismuth joked, tucking the fusion into the crook of her arm as Garnet laid her head on her chest.

Garnet paused, guilt travelling across her otherwise smiling face. As if both Ruby and Sapphire were trying to reach a consensus within her.

"I wanted to. But so much changed so quickly. Rose got quiet for a long time, and Pearl became reclusive. Biggs and Snowflake took comfort in each other, and-"

"-I was only joking-"

"-It wasn't fair to you… And I'm sorry, Bismuth. Ruby, Sapphire… They… I tried looking at us."

"Us?" Bismuth asked.

"You and I. Everything I had. All of my essence, and more, I used it to look into the future. As far and as deep as I could plunder, reading you," Garnet intoned, eyes growing distant as she latched upon Bismuth, hugging tight.

Bismuth linked her arms around her, fully. "What did you see?"

"The further I went, the less clear it became. When I saw yesterday for the first time, it was white. Then I saw you, your gem. And then something red."

"...The Prince…"

"I didn't know at the time. When I had tried to decode it, before I knew it, Greta had come along. Rose had fallen in love all over again. Then… Steven was born."

They stopped, simply stating outside to the verdant fields and trees, as the sun began a slow march down the sky.

"That's not all you saw," Bismuth grinned. "You kept looking when you got closer, didn't you? What happened to all those other futures?"

"They ended in heartbreak," Garnet answered, coldly.

Silence, again. Garnet then shifted her weight to either side of the blacksmith, straddling her, laying close. Her eyes were upon her gem, half-lidded, as her third gazed upon Bismuth's face.

"Ah. Still, the Prince… You saw him before he was born?"

"Without form, without flesh. He was a heart, just his gem, but… He led to good things. He was the only way we could've come back, like this."

"How do you mean?"

"He was such a ghost early on, such a little thing. But as he went through life, and as I saw his gem in the future, he influenced things. People. Humans and gems alike. He gravitated, and now gravitates a love around him," Garnet spoke, now fully facing Bismuth from her position on her chest.

They stared at one another for a time, and smiled again.

"He fixes things," Garnet continued. "Three paths I saw back then, Bismuth. One, where I stay with Rose after I travel to find you. That's ruin. One where I join your side, and we lead an empire… That's destruction. And then, the last…"

"Let me guess," Bismuth drawled, slipping her hands to cup the fusion's thick ass. "That's love?"

Garnet smiled. "You got it, hot stuff."

"I-I'm nervous though," Bismuth huffed. "I don't want to assume everything is back how it was, I mean-"

"-Take your time, now that you're here. Just… Relax with us. Experiment a bit."

Bismuth then closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she found a synchronicity she'd been missing since she walked away from Amor. She found a piece of her love, Garnet.

"Alright… Of course I will. Make me forget all about Homeworld, Garnet."