It had been nearly three days since Pearl regained her memories, and somehow it felt like an hour.

He still had the image of Pearl crying burned into his mind. He tried to process everything, but it was too hard to comprehend. She was still mourning his mom… and she ran away as a result. It was scary, in all honesty, and with how distraught she was, he began worrying.

She ran out the front door and never came back. He remembered Garnet running after her, while Amethyst stood still and, after a few awkward glances, retreated to her room. Leaving Steven alone in the house to dwell in his silence and dread.

Everything had… gotten worse. Well, it became worse, but he didn't deny the possibility that things were gonna go downhill from here. But Pearl got some of her memories back and instantly caused her to break down. What if that happened every time?

Did it mean that she couldn't get her memories back or else she would slowly get worse and sadder?!

Would it even be right to give Pearl's memories back?

She wasn't perfect, and she would get angry all the time. But it was better than her having a mental breakdown in front of him, grasping onto him as she sobbed. His eyes squeezed shut as he threw his hands in his face and groaned.

He pushed himself off the bed, getting on his feet for the first time in four hours. His head felt light, and his legs were weak from being unused. At least one of those hours was spent asleep.

Even when weak, his feet took him to the kitchen without faltering. He stopped once he reached the counter and felt dead to the world. He looked around, walked to the other island, then flopped down.

Truthfully, he'd forgotten what he was actually gonna get. His mind was already sluggish, so he didn't care about it that much. All he really wanted was Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst back. He wished they could all hang out and have fun, just like they used to.

Continuing to wallow in his own regret, he let out a sigh and closed his eyes for good. Since they weren't there, they probably wouldn't mind if he slept on the counter. They never really cared about what he did.

Until a loud crash resonated through the cave part of the house, echoing from the temple door. It was loud enough for Steven to bolt up to his feet instantly. Standing on the counter, he stared at the temple door in confusion. Despite the fear crawling in his stomach, he hopped down and cautiously approached.

As he stepped closer to the warp, he heard another loud crash, followed by a scream. It made him step back, his whole body leaning away as it fell silent. He willed his legs to move closer to the pale blue door.

Now, just a foot away from the towering entrance, the sounds of clattering junk and stomps became clearer. His ear pressed against the door, curiosity peaking as the sound of a muffled roar of rage rang out. Another sound of clattering junk made it to him, and he let out a sigh.

He faced away from the door and slid on his back. Once he landed on the floor, he drew up his legs to his chest. His head rested on his knees as his arms wrapped around them.

'Why do I mess everything up?'

"Pearl! Wait!"

Her legs were moving on their own. She didn't have a clue where she was, where she was going, or where to go.

"Pearl!"

Garnet's voice grew more distant, drowning from the thumps of her footsteps in the sand. Some sort of settlement was to her right, a few humans walking around like nothing was happening.

She didn't care, and she kept on running. Eventually the sand died under her feet and turned into grass. Tress passed her left and right, outstretched plants and bushes biting at her form. Small cuts of white light began building across her form, fueling the tears on her cheeks.

Huffs came out of her mouth, driving her to run faster. The trees began changing around her, growing taller and thicker above her. Rocks began appearing, another obstacle for her that she jumped over.

Until one left her face first in a shallow river. It caught her foot from beneath her, sending her careening into the water. Her gem hit a rock, making her jolt up in pain. Water splashed all around her as she heaved and sobbed, tremors racking her form. It became unbearable, the reality of her world sinking into her very gemstone.

Rose was gone.

She was dead, now just a gemstone stuck in some horrible human offspring. And she had lost her mind, stuck to do some animal's commands like a mindless servant.

It made her stomach coil around her throat, her sobs cracking and turning into high pitched cries. Her screams echoed around her, birds flying away from the river. Dark storm clouds rolled in, almost unnaturally fast. Rain pattered down on her, popping against the water.

Time went by like a… well, a river. She lost track, all the minutes and hours rolling off of her as she cried.

Until she couldn't. Once her tears ran out, her eyes were pale blue and puffy, the deep stains on her cheeks mixing with rain. Lifting her gaze to the river bank, she squeezed the dirt in her hands and pushed herself up.

She felt like a statue after hours of sobbing and kneeling in the river, feeling as if she had sat there for six thousand years. Her shoes, wet and soggy on her "feet", slapped the clingy sand beneath. It clung on to her, the disgusting feeling hanging over her as she continued her travel into the forest.

It felt like her thoughts were stuck in a vortex, far down into her memories. Her chest rose and fell as her breathing picked up speed. Not even the cold from the air could cool the burning lump in her throat.

Her legs carried her past rocks and trees until they began disappearing. She stopped walking once she lifted her eyes and saw a cave, dark and moist, but away from the rain. It was enough for Pearl to trudge into the shadows and fall against the wall. Resting on her shoulder, a sob clawed up her throat, racking her form with tremors.

Rose was dead and here she was, groveling in mud to some unknown deity to just bring back anything. Her friends, her life. Just… anything.

Instead, she got silence.

She didn't know, she also got eyes watching her from afar.

Behind the treeline, Garnet placed a hand on a tree and stared at the cave's entrance. Her vision had gone blurry an hour ago, the timelines splitting too much to search. She was relying on herself, her wit, and all her struggling willpower to find Pearl.

The pale gem had disappeared hours ago, and she lost her trail in the thick forest. But she eventually found imprints of her footprints in the mud, leading to a clearing in the forest.

She tried ignoring the whirlwind of emotions inside her, from both herself and her components. The whole crisis left her the most unstable she had ever been in a decade.

But Pearl's sudden rejuvenation and words had left a permanent scar in her mind. And all of it surrounded Pink Diamond.

Pearl called Steven the aforementioned diamond; a very confusing, confounding action that Garnet had been stuck on. She split apart because of it.

She was very close to doing it again. Her hands were shaking lightly, not enough to warrant her attention. But it became hard to handle, and she raised a hand over her visor.

Deep down, she could feel her counterparts rise and argue again. Her thoughts became harder to understand, drowned out by echoing shouts and calm, condescending retorts. Desperately, she wanted to calm them, deeper down to her inner mind. Her mind.

But she couldn't think. Not when her counterparts were taking hold of her thoughts like a tug of war. Her form tightened as it strengthened and brought her leaning against the tree. A growl resonated in her throat as the tugging tore through her form.

She was seconds away from losing her form, a pain resonating from her gems.

And yet, she stayed. Finally, the voices had died down and her mind was slowly pieced back together. Leaving her exhausted, mentally and physically.

Despite not needing to breathe, she sucked in air through her teeth and looked back at the cave entrance. Pearl didn't seem to leave, but even if she did, the ever increasing rain would most likely wash the footprints away.

The void of the cave stared at her, mocking her as she slumped up against the tree. For the first time in years… she felt incapable of doing anything. Her hand rested in front of her visor.

This…

This was too much.

NOTES

Hey guys, guess I should say that I disappeared for over a month lol

I lost a lot of motivation for writing this fic, but I hope that making this chapter will motivate me to finish the rest!

Leave a review if you liked the chapter... or disliked it!