With Steven having shared everything he wished, will his hopes of the gems having a solution to help him come to fruition?
...
The beach house was silent. Not much noise was made after Steven bid the gems and his father farewell for the night. It didn't take long for the boy to fall into unconsciousness as the events of the day had taken some toll. As he laid down for the night, the gems quietly listened to ensure that he had gone into slumber. Once they knew he was out, they each moved onto the front porch with Greg, who had made sure the young man wasn't still up and about beforehand.
"Man, he's already out. Guess whatever you guys did today really wore him down. Speaking of which, what did you guys do? Most I saw from any of you until this past evening was Steven come out of Rose's room, though he seemed upset."
"Yes well...reliving past traumas can do that, I'm sure. To answer your question, Steven wanted to show us some past moments, ones that we weren't exactly there for. Some of them were a bit...distressing, to put it lightly." said Pearl
"So, what did you guys find out then?
"-sigh-, we found out that Steven's been keeping a lot of things to himself."
"Yeah, little man's really been put through the wringer. Like, we knew he had been through a lot, but to know that he still had more that we didn't even know about..."said Amethyst
"Alright, you guys are starting to scare me a bit here. I mean, yeah we know he's been through a lot, but what else could there be?" asked Greg, who was growing more worried by the second.
"Hang on...I'll show you." said Pearl as her gem lit up. Soon, she was projecting a hologram version of what she saw. As the memories were shown, Greg seemed to grow more flustered. Once the memory of what happened in White's gem came up though, everyone flinched as the thought of it happening and Steven not sharing it still didn't sit well with anyone...and they suspected it never would either. After the final memory came and went, the group sat in silence for a moment to allow the info to process.
"That's...wow. I, uh...I think I need a minute." the older man said as he quickly moved from the balcony to the beach.
"I'll go with him. See if I can't give him some comfort through this." said Pearl as she departed, leaving Garnet and Amethyst behind.
"Man, he's not taking this well either."
"Honestly, it's better than what I expected. Some other times where he learned about all this...he didn't survive in some of those."
"Oh wait...what! Really?"
"He is an older human Amethyst. From the times I saw, what the humans call a 'heart attack' is the most likely cause. It's honestly a miracle that it didn't happen here."
"Jeez...though I can't say I blame him really. Not like we really handled it much better ourselves. To think that all this time, he was holding in something so...terrible, even from such a young age. No wonder Connie or White didn't want to tell us about it. And to include everything else too...no wonder he broke."
"Everyone has a limit to these things...though to see it happen is...unsettling."
"Yeah, no kidding." said Amethyst. Before she could continue the conversation, she noticed Pearl and Greg coming back up the stairs. Soon enough, the group was settled down again.
"You alright Greg?" asked Amethyst.
"Yeah...-sigh-, actually, no...no I'm not. Hearing that my son had to have himself basically torn apart to get to where we are now, along with everything else he's been through...it was a bit much for this old man to handle. Swear I could feel my left arm go numb for a minute there. But enough about me, what's your guys plan to help him? I'll help out however I can."
"That's the thing...we don't really have one." said Pearl.
"What? But we can't just do nothing. He needs us!"
"Greg, when we said we were going to help him, we did so with the knowledge of what we knew at the time. Now, with everything that's come up...I don't believe we would even be able to know where to begin to help him." explained Garnet.
"We could listen in and give him advice until the sun sets and help guide him along, but in the end...that's all we know. Dealing with this...it's not something we really understand. Gem's don't usually experience trauma on this level, and even if we do...it doesn't effect us nearly as much. Even before his kidnapping or his breakdown, we didn't really understand what trauma was or how it effected humans. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that for the help Steven needs...he won't be able to find the sufficient amount from us. It's not something we're glad about either. Not being able to help him...it's almost more painful than watching what happened in White's head". said Pearl.
"-sigh-, yeah, I hear you...and that's what I was afraid of. Guess there's really only one option then...kid needs a therapist."
"Haven't we tried to get him to agree to that before though. He's turned that down from us and you on a couple occasions, both before and after his time with Black Diamond." noted Amethyst
"Yeah, he did turn us down. But, I think he also believed that he didn't need it, that his problems could be handled either by himself or with our help. Once he hears that we can't really do much...I only hope that he'll see to reason."
"And if he doesn't?" the purple gem asked.
"We'll cross the bridge when we get to it. For now, getting Steven this kind of help might be our best solution." said Garnet.
"So it's settled then. Tomorrow, we'll bring it up to him. With any luck, we'll be able to change his mind about it all." said Greg.
With this, the group of four continued small talk for sometime. After awhile, they moved back inside. Greg went to sleep and the gems, minus Pearl, who wanted to stay nearby in case of another night terror from Steven, went into their respective rooms. The night seemed to slow as it seemed sunrise took an eternity to arrive. Soon enough though, the day had begun. As Pearl decided to begin breakfast, she soon found Steven had woken up and was moving about.
"Good morning Steven."
"Morning Pearl."
"You sleep alright?"
"Yeah, I think so. Didn't have any more nightmares or visions of my gem, so I guess whatever we did worked out well enough."
"That's good to hear. Breakfast should be done here shortly."
As he began to get around for the day, the other two gems soon joined the group. Not long after, Greg was woke up as well. As the six of them finished breakfast (those who ate anyway), they sat around afterwards.
"So, what's on the agenda for today?" said Steven.
"Nothing really. Though, we would like a second if we could son"
"Alright...what's up?" said a suspicious Steven.
"The gems showed me everything from yesterday. I know about the events we weren't really there for."
"Oh. Well, at least now I don't need to get you caught up on...those points."
"Steven...you've been through a lot...far more than anyone should have, even in a lifetime. You've done more in a few years than what most people will do in their lives and we're proud of everything you've accomplished, proud of the man you've become."
"...thanks?"
"But, those events still took a toll on you. Before your kidnapping, we promised we would help you however you needed. But with everything that's happened up until now...well, to say it frankly, we don't believe we can help you how you need." said Greg.
"What? But, that was part of the whole reason of getting you guys caught up with everything big. Aside from the alternative of the threat of another breakdown, that was all so you guys could be better prepared to help me figure out what I need to do."
"And it did prepare us even more than what we were initially Steven. It prepared us by showing us that we don't know what to do to give you the best recovery possible. Before, we thought that we could help you get through this, but everything you showed us...it just confirmed that we really don't know what to do." explained Pearl.
"So what, we just don't do anything then?"
"No one said that Steven. We can't help you the way you need, but we can help you by guiding you. And we believe that therapy would be best for you."
"You guys have brought that up before. I'm still not sure about it."
"It might be something to consider man. Like we said, we don't really know what to do here, but someone else would. From what I know, these guys are literally experts in this kind of thing." said Amethyst.
"Yeah, but they wouldn't understand any of this like you guys would. They don't know gem stuff or how to approach any of it."
"That might be true, even if a little, but I believe that there is a solution. Connie mentioned seeing a therapist of her own. I'm sure she's told them about our adventures. If they can help her through her troubles with everything, then they must have some understanding." Pearl explained.
"Maybe...but what if they don't. What if they just end up doing more harm?"
"Steven, we wouldn't be bringing this up if we believed there was even a chance of you getting hurt from this. We only want what's best for you, and we can't provide that ourselves. You need help Steven...more help than we can give you." said Garnet.
"Yeah...but"
"Steven, even if they don't understand things the way we do...they do understand how to approach difficult events in someone's life. They could at least give you ways to cope with everything that's happened. Please son, we wouldn't be asking you this if we had another option...can you trust us on this?" said an emotional Greg.
"Guys...you really think that this what's best for me...that you guys can't help me anymore than what you have?"
"I'm sorry Steven...but on both of those accounts, yes." said Garnet.
"Alright...I'll give it a try then. I won't like it...but if it's what you guys think is best...then I'll try it."
"Thank you. You'll have nothing to worry about." said Greg.
With this, the emotional group decided that therapy would be best for the boy. By the end of the day, an appointment was set with Connie's therapist, whom seemed eager to learn more about Steven as she apparently heard about several adventures through her patient.
As the days went by, Steven began to attend therapy and though it was difficult, he soon began to show signs of improvement. The night terrors he experienced disappeared in it's entirety and he was able to begin to move past everything that happened. Soon, the days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. As his appointments continued, he also continued to improve and find closure in everything. After 5 months, Steven was leaving therapy when he got a call from Connie, who found time in her schedule to meet up. Soon after, the two young adults were sitting together as they caught up on everything.
"So, how's everything been?" asked Connie.
"It's been good. You were right, Dr. Connors get's it."
"Well, I think I had a hand in that. I'm not sure how she'd react if she had to deal with your issues first rather than mine."
"Fair. It's funny though. Something did get brought up today...something that I've been thinking about for awhile now."
"What's that?"
"Well, before my breakdown, I was upset that everything was changing, that everyone was moving on in their lives. Now that I'm getting the help, I've been thinking about what's next for me. I ended up bringing it up to her in therapy today and she gave me some good points."
"So, what are you thinking? What's next in the life for Steven Universe?"
"I'm still tossing around a couple ideas, but there is one that's sticking out for me more. It's something Dad brought up a while back, even before my breakdown. Honestly, I was surprised to hear her bring it up as well"
Seeing the look of curiosity on Connie's face, he smiled and continued
"What do you think about me taking a road trip across the country?"
...
And that's that. The boi got therapy, and the idea of taking a road trip has begun. Soon, he'll do the same as he did in Future and move on, with the main differences being that of the time difference and the events with Black Diamond and what came after. With this though, this marks the official end of the series. Unless I update Control with other what ifs (I have one planned right now for the weekend, looking forward to that), then the series is done and complete.
It's funny. If you told me that the idea and build up I did at work back in March would have turned into something that would expand and continue all the way into June...I'd have called you crazy, but here we are regardless lol.
From here, after I throw in the second What if, I'll be moving on with a new fic, the one being that of a crossover of SU and Skyrim, where the main cast is interjected into the plotline of that game.
Until then though, glad I was able to finish this up. Thank you to everyone who read this all the way through. I hope that you all enjoyed it, even if a little (which you must have to an extent if your reading this lol). This series was the beginning for me as it was my first official attempt at writing, something I've found that I enjoy a bit more than I thought I would. With this, looking forward to continuing with the other projects.
Thanks again all. Hope the week went well, and hope to see you all again soon.
The Answer by Aivi & Surasshu (SU Season 2)
Also, for this second part, Echoes of an Old Life by Bear McCreary