They were sitting in the van, on their way to Beach City.
They had driven for who knows how long, and the fact the sun was up didn't occur to them. The blizzard had worsened and the sky was so dark they couldn't tell the difference between day and night.
Pearl was driving while Greg took a nap in the passenger's seat, beneath a blue blanket.
Steven was asleep as well, taking the opportunity to take a nap.
He slept on the floor, leaned against's Bismuth's leg as she sat beside him.
He opened his eyes and sat up.
He yawned and stretched his arms before looking around the small space.
Everyone was quiet and the atmosphere was heavy, but cozy.
He could see Amethyst's back and long hair kept inside her hoodie before him as well as Garnet's form beneath a blanket.
Steven crawled over on all fours and sat beside her.
"How long until we're home?" Steven asked her lowly.
"7 minutes..." Amethyst answered, slightly drawling as she was half-asleep against her palm. She was holding Garnet's hand in hers, letting it rest in hers softly.
"What?" Steven frowned in confusion.
"Wh-WHA-?!" Amethyst suddenly flew back with her head, clearly waking up. "Oh... sorry, dude." She grinned tiredly.
"It won't take long." Pearl announced, turning her head for a second before turning back to her driving.
Steven nodded and crawled closer to Garnet.
"Hey, Garnet?" He said softly in a whisper, rustling her shoulder gently.
Garnet hummed in response, clearly awake somewhere beneath her visor.
"We're not far from Beach City." Steven whispered softly. "How are you holding up?"
"Never felt better." Garnet smiled softly, before suddenly-
She yelped, head lifting up and her mouth agape into a grimace.
Her sudden outburst caused Amethyst to jump as she almost had fallen asleep again.
Amethyst caught her glowing hand again, taking a hold of it like if a rope had escaped her.
Garnet rest her head back against her pillow, a soft frown on her face.
Garnet's gem glew brightly.
Steven grimaced. "I hope Peridot will make it in time." He hoped lowly.
"Don't ya worry meatball." Steven turned to see Bismuth speaking to him with an encouraging smile. "I really like Tiny. She never quits." She chuckled.
When suddenly, the van began jumping slightly.
"We're here." Pearl turned her head to announce.
Steven stood up a to look through the front window with Pearl and his newly awoken dad.
He could see the new water-tower, with a big text saying 'Beach City'.
"Yeah! Alright!" Bismuth cheered with a laugh as she joined them, looking out. "Now. Where are we?" She asked, resting her hands on her waist.
No one answered for a while.
"Home."
Steven answered bluntly.
The door opened and Pearl stepped inside the beach-house, followed by Amethyst.
Pearl turned on the light-switch on the wall and stepped inside.
Amethyst sighed happily, stretching her limbs as she stepped inside. "Ahh! It's good to be home!" She grinned as she walked inside.
Steven was next, holding his pillow. He stopped as soon as he had stepped a foot inside the house.
It looked exactly like they left it. Only more... empty. And just like last time, the temple-door and warp-pad were still broken.
"Well! So this is the base now days? Ha! And you have build it out of wood?!" Bismuth laughed as she walked inside after Steven, Garnet close behind.
Garnet smiled and rest a hand against the doorframe. "We're home Obsidian." She hummed. When suddenly, her gems started glowing again and frowned. She leaned forward, resting her weight on the door frame.
Steven noticed and grabbed her hand for support.
Garnet smiled warmly and ruffled his curly hair with one hand.
Pearl stepped into the middle of the room, placing a thinking hand to her chin.
"Now. I think no-one saw us so I think we're fine for now." She announced as she turned towards the rest. "Steven, take Garnet to your room. I think there are beddings in Greg's van."
"I'm on it!" Greg waved his hand before exiting the house
Steven nodded determined
"Good. And Garnet, if the glows changes, you need to tell us, okay?" Pearl added, with more emphasis considering Garnet didn't tell them last time.
"Right." Garnet nodded as she stood up straighter, her gems stopped glowing.
When suddenly, there was a sound.
With a soft gasp, the inhabits of the room turned towards the door, where they could clearly see the door-knob twitching.
Immediately, Pearl summoned her spear. Amethyst was second, stretching her whip, third was Bismuth who shape-shifted a war-hammer hand. Lastly, Steven summoned his shield and stood before them all, holding it up.
The door slowly opened.
"Steven?" A familiar figure suddenly spoke, holding a flash-light and wearing a blue winter-jacket.
"Connie?" Pearl hummed in surprise, lowering his phone.
Everyone else seemed to lower their weapons as well.
"Connie!" Steven exclaimed in joy, running up and embracing the girl. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?! What are YOU doing here?!" Connie explained in confusion.
"I asked first!" Steven argued.
"I was just on my weekly temple check-up. Like you asked me to." Connie explained, pulling off her blue cap. "And then I saw the van on the beach, and I thought 'what is going on?' And-."
"Hey, hey. It's okay." Steven lifted his hands, trying to calm her down. "I'm glad you're here."
Connie smiled and took a deep breath, calming herself. "What are you doing back here?" She asked him seriously.
Steven scratched the back of his head. "It's... kind of a long story..." He looked back at the gems, who already had un-summoned their weapons.
Except Bismuth, who looked confused.
But Pearl rest a hand on her shoulder, telling her it was alright.
And Bismuth un-shape-shifted her hand
Connie continued her joyful dislike. "Steven, if anybody saw you come here, they're gonna call the police!" She said with a soft hiss.
"We know, but-." Steven tried to explain, when suddenly-
The door opened and Greg, holding a hand-full of white bedding-sheets, stood in the door-step.
"Uh, you guys. I think Peridot's here." He told them.
The following hour, they spend greeting Peridot as she had indeed arrived with her ship. She was overwhelmed with excitement as she saw Steven and Bismuth, but got serious the second the Cluster came to mind.
She got some stuff from the green ship parked outside and followed Steven and Garnet upstairs.
Right now, Pearl, Amethyst, Bismuth and Greg sat in the couch, after have explained the situation to the young girl.
Pearl had made some tea on the stove in some of the things they had left in the cabinets because it didn't fit in the van.
Pearl and Connie drank tea while Amethyst swallowed the bags.
When suddenly, everything became dark.
Everyone sat up straighter and looked up.
"What happened?" Bismuth asked.
Pearl sighed in annoyance. "The power must have turned off." She thought loudly. "Amethyst, help me find some candles. I think there are some left in the cabinets beneath the microwave." She stood up and walked away and Amethyst joined her after swallowing a tea-bag.
"Got it!" Amethyst called.
When suddenly, there was a sound coming from outside.
Amethyst and Pearl stopped and turned around.
"What was that?" Bismuth asked, looking around and then back at Greg. "Is that normal?"
Greg squinted his eyes towards the window beside the door. "No. I better go check." He answered. He stood up and began to walk towards the door, but Connie grabbed his arm.
"Mr. Universe! What if it's a gem monster?" She asked him, sounding kind of worried.
"She's right." Pearl told them as she stood before them. "Connie, Greg, wait here." She told them before walking over to the windows.
She started with just looking outside for a moment before leaning her weight against the window and leaned her head closer in a try to see anything.
But after a moment, she stood back and smiled towards the humans and gems. "It's nothing. Probably just a branch or-"
BAM!
Pearl screamed and jumped back as suddenly a hand pressed itself against the window.
Greg stood protectively in front of Connie as Pearl stepped back, summoning her weapon along with Amethyst.
"What is that?" Connie asked as the hand slipped down against the glass, making the glass scream by the touch.
The hand was soon joined by a second hand and soon, they could see a face press against the glass, grinning from ear to ear.
And she sang her creepy song:
"Here is the story about the Crystal Gems.
They left their home and betrayed all their friends
They lost the war and let the Cluster drip down the drain
After Spinel and Jasper crushed them, they weren't heard from again."
And after that, they heard a wicked laugh.
The gems and humans took a step back.
Garnet was sitting on the bed, her legs hanging out the side.
Steven fixed the bed behind her, straightened the quilt and fluffed the pillows. "Is this okay? Do you need anything?" He asked her as he fluffed the last pillow. Peridot stood beside his bed, getting her equipment in order. And by 'equipment' I mean stuff she had gotten from the ship like screens and wires but also stuff from Andy's house.
"I'm fine, Steven." Garnet smiled at him
"It's weird. Normally you fix my bed." Steven joked with a soft laugh. Garnet chuckled along with him.
But Steven's smile disappeared as soon as Garnet's smile did and she just looked down. She looked troubled.
"I guess this is it." She muttered quietly.
Steven tried to look supportive. "Hey, It's gonna be fine." He told her with a supportive smile. "Peridot's here, and everything's gonna be fine."
Garnet smiled back at him. She then looked down again.
"It's odd. During these past few days, I have been feeling like a ticking time-bomb." She muttered, running a hand up and down her belly. "Everyone tip-toeing around me, like they thought I was gonna explode."
"Hey, it isn't like that-." Steven tried to comfort her.
"It is like that." Garnet confirmed right away. "And it's true. They know that the moment I explode, we'll have another problem on our hands." She said lowly. "Everyone is right to be scared. Even me."
Steven sat down before her. "The big bang was an explosion. If that didn't happen, we wouldn't even be here right now. Not me, not you, not even Homeworld." He tried to cheer her up, grabbing her hand.
Garnet smiled softly.
Until suddenly, Garnet's gems started glowing again.
She grunted uncomfortably, her forehead starting to get sweaty again.
Steven watched her worriedly.
When suddenly, they heard a crash.
All three of them looked up, turning their heads towards the sound.
"The gems-." Garnet confirmed and stood up, but Steven stopped her.
"I'll go! You stay!" He demanded, waving with his hands in front of her.
Steven rushed down the stairs, but stopped as he heard what sounded like a song.
"-they weren't heard from again." And following, was a wicked laugh.
"What's happening?!" He whispered loudly.
"It's them." Pearl alarmed.
"They're here?!" Steven gasped.
Bismuth nodded and grit her teeth and turned towards the door as they heard a wicked laugh in the distance.
Spinel giggled loudly as she pressed her face against the window, widening her grin from the pressure. "You know Crystal Gems, the other day when I went back to the ship to retrieve your remains, something occurred to me!" She shrugged. "You were down in the essence chamber when the Cluster dripped down the drain! You are the only ones who would have an idea of where that 1/1.000 000 drop of essence went!"
Suddenly, she slammed her hands against the window. "YOU know where the Cluster is!" She pointed a finger at them and giggled.
The gems tensed and their faces froze.
"Jasper got a little mad when I told her that after I left the ship to destroy you! But oh my luck! Here you are!" Spinel giggled. " I finally found you! Like we were playing hide and seek!"
"But guess what? You're IT!" She laughed loudly and bounced off to the beach and shape-shifted her hind into a huge horn.
She blew it and out came a loud thunderous sound.
The dark clouds separated and let room to a green ship looking like a hand which soared down until it almost touched the ground.
Spinel giggled loudly as she jumped up high into the air.
Steven, Pearl, Bismuth and Amethyst rushed out to the balcony.
Spinel landed on the roof of the ship, just in time for the ship to position so it looked like a finger-gun aimed at the house.
"This can go so smoothly, cutie-pie!" Spinel shouted through a shape-shifted megaphone. "Either you let me and Jasper blast your lovely base, or you can tell us where the Cluster has been planted!" She shouted. "And no cheating!"
The gems could only watch as the ship aimed towards them aimed to shoot them.
Millions of thoughts went through their hands.
If they lied, they were gonna blast the house with everyone inside. And if they told the truth, they would take Sophie away from Garnet.
What were they gonna do?
The green ship soared above the snowy sand, aiming it's canon towards the house.
Opal stood on on the balcony, aiming her bow and arrows towards the ship.
She fired, but just like they had done before, the arrows got disabled by some sort of power-field
The others had retreated back into the house.
Opal fell down to her knees in exhaustion, steadying herself with her arms on the ground. She groaned as her body started flashing bright white. But it soon faded and she exhaled heavily. "Don't." She groaned in exhaustion. "You need to keep it together."
Her hair wasn't as long and beautiful as before. Because of Amethyst's hair, it looked rough and frizzy with some shorter spots here and there.
"Opal!" Steven gasped and rushed out of the house and over to her, resting a hand on her side and her arm. "What's happening?" He asked worriedly.
Opal shuddered from exhaustion and touched the side of her head. "It's been hours. Normally they can only keep it together for a short period of time." She sighed in exhaustion but still forced a smile to the young boy. "It's a miracle how Garnet can keep it together as much as she does." She chuckled.
Steven looked skeptical. "Maybe that's too early to say." He turned back to look at the beach-house worriedly.
Meanwhile, back in the beach-house inside Steven's room
Garnet's face frowned as she breathed heavily, her gems blinking on and off with just a second interval.
She was covered in a blue blanket, laying on Steven's bed with a pillow beneath her head.
Peridot was sitting on her left side. She had a screen behind her, actually an up-dated version of Andy's thick TV. There was a diagram on the screen, ever so slowly getting smaller and smaller.
Bismuth was sitting down on her knees on Garnet's right side, keeping an eye on her.
When suddenly-
Garnet leaned forward and grit her teeth.
"AHH-AHH!" She yelled as her body suddenly began to glow bright white.
Bismuth reacted immediately and grabbed her shoulder.
"You're going off-track, soldier!" She shouted, trying to get her attention.
Peridot yelped as she looked back at the diagram, which started getting smaller and smaller by the second.
At last, Garnet's color-scheme came back to normal and she exhaustedly rest back on the bed.
Peridot sighed in relief as she noticed the diagram on the TV had been been stabilized.
Connie and Greg rushed upstairs to see what was going on.
"How's it going?" Greg asked the gems.
"Power-couple's getting real tired." Bismuth shook her head as she rest a hand on Garnet's head.
"Her energy levels are running unpleasantly low. It will only be a matter of time until her energy runs out and affects her physical form." Peridot explained it further seriously.
"What does that mean?" Connie asked worriedly.
"It means she can unfuse." Peridot answered her question, pushing her visor up her nosebone.
That was not a pleasant answer. This caught the humans with terror.
Steven suddenly rushed up-stairs, out of breath and freaked out.
"We need help! Opal can't hold on much longer!" He said alarmingly.
"Not her either." Connie nodded towards the fusion laying on the bed.
Steven looked Garnet's way and rushed over, grabbing her hand.
"We need them to leave." Connie pointed out the obvious.
"No. We need to give them an answer." Bismuth pointed out.
"Can't we lie? Tell them the Cluster is somewhere else?" Steven suggested, holding Garnet's hand.
"During those months they have been on earth, I'm pretty sure they've gone over 98% of the planet's crust." Bismuth pointed out seriously. "They have run out of places to look. That's why they found us." She explained.
"Can't we just hand the Cluster over to them?! If we do that they'll leave us alone!" Peridot tried to reason with them.
"No! Sophie is a part of this family, and we're not turning her over!" Steven said strictly. "I thought we talked about this."
"Just because I'm assisting in it's emerging, doesn't mean I'm gonna be present for it's innocence." Peridot told him coldly.
Steven was growing mad and was just about to speak back when Bismuth stepped in the middle. Metaphorically.
"Hey! Fighting is not gonna make this any easier!" She told them strictly. "Right now we shouldn't be enemies, we should be allies!"
That gave Connie an idea.
"Hang on. I have an idea." She told them and walked down the stairs, put her jacket on and walked back up.
She took a grip of the door-window and opened it.
"Where are you going?" Steven asked.
"Trust me! I'll be back!" Connie told them, shutting the door and pulled up her scarf and ran off.
"If we hand Sophie over to them, they're gonna sell her to the facility!" Steven argued.
"They won't. Because we're NOT handing her away." Bismuth said sternly, looking strictly at Peridot.
Peridot frowned. "So what are we gonna do then? Talk to them?" She snarled.
Steven nodded.
Opal shot her last arrow from the balcony before she groaned and fell to the ground, leaving Pearl and Amethyst on the ground.
"No! Amethyst! Let's fuse again!" Pearl told the amethyst, supporting her weight against her elbows.
"Dude, we're gonna poof if we stay fused any longer. I'm shut down." Amethyst said tiredly, bags under her eyes.
When suddenly, Steven stepped outside the door, keeping the simple sign of ´Time out' with his hands.
"Steven?" Pearl asked as he passed them and walked downstairs.
"Dude! What are you doing?" Amethyst whispered loudly.
Steven ignored their attempts to stop him and walked out on the beach.
"Spinel!" He called.
Spinel, who had almost fallen asleep on the roof of the ship, sat up and looked down.
"I am declaring an agreement of TIME OUT!" Steven called over to them, showing her the gesture. "There will be no fighting involved! Just you, me and Jasper having a civil conversation on the beach!"
"Ohhh! How fun!" Spinel giggled and slipped down a vent in the roof, shouting `WEEEEEEE!"
Steven waited patiently, until the ship landed on the beach.
The doors opened, and there she was.
Jasper.
She jumped down from the ship, Spinel close behind her.
She walked up to Steven, until she stood about 20 feet from him.
Her outfit had changed from brown and red, to a mainly red body-suit with golden details.
"So?" She frowned deeply.
Steven was scared. But he took a deep breath. "We know where the Cluster is."
"Huh?" Amethyst lifted her head from the floor of the balcony.
Jasper frowned even deeper.
"Told you!" Spinel laughed. "What do you think Morganite will give us? A new ship? Maybe two new ships!" She shook Jasper's arm excitedly.
"B-but…." Steven stuttered. "I have something…. That is even more priceless than an entirely new gem kind…"
"This better not be another waste of my time." She crossed her arms. "Go on."
"But before I show you….Steven began, trying to find courage. "I need you to promise to never care for the Cluster again, and leave our home alone."
Jasper frowned again.
Spinel seemed tumbled and looked up at Jasper, waiting for her respond.
Jasper grunted beneath her breath. She summoned a screen and pressed a button.
The ship behind them, which was glowing, slowly stopped glowing as it was shut off.
Jasper un-summoned the screen and nodded.
Steven nodded as well.
He summoned his shield and held it out.
Jasper's eyes widened. "That shield….. that symbol!" She gasped in joyful terror. "You….you possess the power of Rose Quartz!"
Greg rushed out of the house and leaned on the railing. "Stu-Ball!"
Steven nodded. "I am Rose Quartz. Leader of the rebellion. Leader of the Crystal Gems!" He pulled his shirt up to reveal his gem.
Spinel gasped. "What an unforeseen turn of events!" She gasped, hands on her cheeks.
"You…" Jasper stepped forward and picked Steven up by the shirt, lifting him up.
"Steven!" Pearl gasped as she tried to get up to her feet, steadying herself with her spear.
"Rose…why do you look like that? Why are you so weak?" Jasper hissed to the struggling boy in her grip.
"OHH! This will for sure make Morganite happy!" Spinel said excitedly, rubbing her hands together.
"Forget Morganite." Jasper hissed and Spinel looked up at her in chock. "Yellow Diamond will want to see this….thing."
Steven was trying to struggle to get free, when suddenly-
A snow-ball slammed Jasper in the back-head.
"What the-." She dusted the snow off her head, when suddenly another snowball hit her in the same spot. She dropped Steven to the ground, and he landed on his stomach.
He lifted his head and gasped at the sight before him.
Sadie, Vidalia, Yellowtail, Pedee, Ronaldo, Jenny, Sour Cream, Buck, Kiki, Mr. Maheswaran, Nanefua, Mr. Fryman, Mr. Smiley.
Everyone walked in one big crowd towards the Beach-house, holding different kind of weapons like baseball-bats, irons, crates.
Onion held a baseball-bat.
"Huh?" Jasper grunted as she turned around to watch the crows. "Who are they supposed to be?!"
Spinel hid behind Jasper's legs.
"Wha?" Pearl hummed in confusion as she stood behind the railing, Amethyst beside her.
Steven grinned widely.
The crowd stopped and two men in suits lifted up Nanefua up on their shoulders.
She cleared her throat.
"Attention, evil rock-thingies!" Nanefua shouted into a megaphone. "You are invading my town, and by invading my town you're invading my citizens." She spoke. "You are free to leave or you will face the consequences!"
Jasper glared at the crowd.
"I will give you five seconds to leave my town or prepare to get your butts whooped!" Nanefua threatened.
She counted down from 5.
But Jasper kept her ground.
Nanefua frowned and nodded. "Citizens of Beach City. Whoop their butts!" She called.
Immediately, the people of Beach City picked up snow and started throwing snowballs at them.
They hit Jasper and she tried to cover her body with her arms. She angrily summoned her helmet on her head.
Spinel was almost hit in the head and rushed for the ship.
"Come back here! They are just humans!" Jasper shouted furiously but Spinel retreated inside the ship.
Pearl and Amethyst shared a determined glance and nodded.
"Let's do this." She nodded and they summoned their weapons before jumping up into the air.
They landed just meters away from Jasper and started fighting her with their weapons.
"Steven!" Connie rushed over to Steven and helped him up.
"Connie!" Steven hugged her. "How'd you do it?" He asked.
"I told them homeworld gems were invading the city and Mayor Nanefua set the alarm." Connie answered his question.
"Wait, Nanefua is mayor now?" Steven asked confused.
"I'll update you later." Connie rest a hand on his shoulder.
Steven grabbed her by the hands. "Connie! I have an idea!" "You remember that floating thing I can do with my powers?"
"Yeah?" Connie asked confused.
"Listen. I can't get through to Jasper here, but maybe I can do it when I'm asleep." Steven explained to her.
"You think that will work?" Connie asked worriedly.
"I don't know. But I got to try." Steven told her.
Connie nodded determined when she had pushed away her doubts. "Come on." She hooked his hand and rushed off to to town, unknowing of the pink gem on the ship's roof watching them.
"Ready or not. Here I come." She giggled with a wide grin.
Steven and Connie rushed off into town, passing by the big donut.
When suddenly, Steven stopped.
He grunted loudly, holding his head painfully.
"Steven!" Connie gasped as she turned and held his shoulders. What's wrong?" She asked worriedly.
"It's Garnet…" Steven grunted, sweating lightly. "I can feel her energy. She's weak."
"What? What do you mean?" Connie asked terrified.
Steven grit his teeth painfully. "It's….It's nothing. I'm okay." He told her.
They ran behind the big donut, where Connie helped Steven to sit down and lean against the wall.
"You can rest here." She told him. "Don't worry. I got your back." She sat down on her knees.
Steven nodded and shut his eyes. He slowly drifted off to sleep.
Connie sat by, watching him until a shadow covered her. A finger poked her her in the back.
She turned around with a gasp.
"Tag! Now you're it!" Spinel giggled loudly.
Connie stood up, grabbing the lid of a trashcan and held it before her.
Steven opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by statues in the darkness.
There were so many right now, considering the amount of people.
All the humans were fighting along Pearl and Amethyst.
"Jasper….Jasper…." Steven mumbled as he searched through the statues until he at last found it. "There!"
Jasper was dodging someone attacking her from the air and she pushed her away.
Steven narrowed his eyebrows and started floating towards the statue.
When suddenly, he heard a groan in the distance.
It gained his attention and he stopped and turned to look over the statues again.
On top of Garnet's statue, laid Garnet on a bed of blankets and pillows on the floor.
"Garnet!" He gasped, not looking back before he started swimming towards the head of the statue.
He stood on top of it and hurried over.
She was laying down on her back, breathing heavily. Her visor laid a few feet away from her, instead replaced by a cold cloth that dripped with water along her face. Her gems were at this point glowing non-stop.
She looked weak and exhausted.
"Garnet!" He grabbed her by the hand, and Garnet tensed for a moment.
"Steven?" She said in surprise, blindly turning her head to the right where his touch felt against her hand.
"Great! Now she's talking to herself!" He could hear Peridot shout from her statue in the room.
"Peridot!" Scolding at her was Bismuth's voice in the distance.
"Garnet, you're right. It's me, Steven." Steven told her.
"Steven! Are you there?" Bismuth asked from her statue.
"Yeah! Yeah I'm here!" Steven shouted back. But she couldn't hear him because he wasn't touching her.
When suddenly, Garnet grit her teeth as as if struggling to maintain something.
"Stay with us soldier!" Steven heard Bismuth shout.
Garnet struggled to stay together until she relaxed back on the bed again.
Bismuth leaned in closer.
"Steven, if you are there, I want you to listen to me. You need to keep Garnet with us. If her energy gets too low..." She trailed off for a moment and Steven's expression turned into a frightened one.
But then, he narrowed his eyebrows and made a determined nod and grabbed a harder grip around Garnet's hand.
"Garnet, look at me. You need to stay with me, okay?" He told her, grabbing her hand tighter. "We can just talk, okay? Just talk." He said. "Think of Sophie. You know Sophie? You gotta stay together for her, Garnet."
"I- I will try." Garnet nodded determined.
Steven nodded. "You - you remember the time when you got trapped in that game on Funland? You remember that you couldn't break away?" He chuckled.
"I…I really couldn't break away from it." Garnet chuckled through heavy breaths.
Her smile slowly disappeared and she looked at the ceiling for a moment.
"Garnet?" He squeaked. "Bismuth?!" He looked up at the blue figure as she joined Garnet's side again.
"We've lost her again!" Peridot called.
Bismuth rest a hand onto Garnet's shoulder and shook it.
"Garnet? Garnet!" She raised her voice. But Garnet's hand started shaking in Steven's grip.
Noting it wouldn't work, Bismuth looked Steven's direction where she thought he'd be. "Steven! Wake her up! Garnet's physical form can't handle it anymore. And if we're real unlucky... she can unfuse." Steven had never heard Bismuth's voice being so worried and determined in all his life.
Steven stared out the blue in pure fear and worry for a long time. His gaze then trailed over to Garnet for a second.
But at last, he took a deep breath, dried the threatening tears away and nodded determined.
He tightened his grip around the fusion's hand and clenched it.
"Garnet! GARNET!" He shouted, and just like if a brick wall hit her, Garnet broke out of her trance and looked back at him blindly through the cloth on her eyes.
"Hi. You gotta stay with us, Garnet." Steven told her, forcing a smile. "You wanna see Sophie, don't you?" He chuckled. "You remember that time when I was little and dad got me a babysitter? You guys really scared that poor girl when she took me to the park and threw that jungle gym at her." He laughed a little as tears started running down his cheeks.
Though Garnet's state, she managed to force a small smile. "You... " She took. deep breath. "..she had it coming..." She chuckled.
Steven smiled and made a soft laugh. "Yeah! And- and do you remember that one time we played Steven-tag? We scared Pearl so much that-."
"-she ran and hid behind Greg." They both said in unison and Steven ended up laughing.
But Garnet didn't seem that enjoyed as she continued breathing.
"It's okay. I'm here. I'm here." He told her calmly.
The moments flew and it felt like the two of them were the only ones in the world.
"Garnet, I'm sorry." Steven sobbed as the tears flooded his cheeks. "I…I tried to reason with Jasper. And…I offered her something…" He trailed off for a moment. "….something that would save all of us. But…." He sobbed.
"Steven…."
"Steven!"
When he suddenly heard someone shout his name in the background.
He turned his head.
"Connie?" He exhaled confused.
He could see Connie on her statue, shouting his name.
"Steven!"
And just in that moment, Steven's eyes went wide and he just sat there, looking at nothing.
Everything was in chaos. Everyone were fighting. Everyone were shouting.
He shut his eyes and held his head with one hand, trying to mute the shouting.
"Steven!" Connie screamed.
"Steven look out!" Connie screamed.
Steven let go of Garnet's hand.
"Steven?" Garnet asked, raising her head as his presence disappeared. "Steven!" She sat up, but immediately fell back on her back.
He opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Spinel, shape-shifting her hands incredibly large into one huge fist.
"After Spinel crushed you, you weren't heard from again." She sang and swung her humongous hands down.
"STEVEN!" Garnet shouted as her body started glowing white again.
Steven barely had time to react, but he shut his eyes and covered his face with his arm..
And then everything turned black.
Everything was dark. But in the darkness he could hear a baby crying in the distance.