Welcome, your first time in my fanfic? I bring you the chapter 8. Enjoy it! ^o^

Notice: There is no particular notice ^o^

Synopsis: Remembering the past is not always living again and that is something that Steven and the uncorrupted gems know very well.

Chapter 8 - Wartime Friendship

Saturday, August 6, seems to be a normal day for anyone, even for the Crystal Gems who are repairing the wall of the house, but this isn't an ordinary day for the uncorrupted gems, who intend to apologize to Steven for not helping him in his meltdown. It isn't a normal day for Steven either, that nightmare he had at dawn left him scared at that moment, even while he was trying to go back to sleep, but it isn't time to think about that, he went to the Fountain to relax and the uncorrupted gems went to accompany him.

And here they are, talking and at the same time remembering the past. Let's take a look at the present, after Steven mentioned to them that because of the repair of his house, the construction of Little Homeworld and the school, they never had an opportunity to really talk.

"You're right, we were very busy lately," Ponytail looked to the side, with some guilt shame. "But that's no excuse, we should have acted as soon as we saw you with... that form of yours."

"Or when you locked us in that dome," Lace A. made a facepalm after saying it. "We knew you had a problem but we didn't think it affected you that much."

"It's actually more than one, my new powers and a few more," those a few more are the problems Steven prefers to hide.

"Well, you're half human, I suppose your problems are somewhat unusual, but we'll do what we can to help you," Blue Lace said determined to help.

"It's not that simple, you'll complicate in vain," Steven didn't want to worry in vain the gems who went through millennia of gloom.

"It doesn't matter, if... the teachers will take the risk, why can't we do it too?" Ocean commented, sensing that there are many problems.

"You helped us a lot in these years, it's time we do the same for you," Aura added with determination.

"You see, the thing is—" Steven tried to say some of his problems, but couldn't.

"Can't you tell?" Pigtails asked after a few seconds, Steven nodded to her question making everyone put on a sad face. "Of course, we did more than enough."

"I suspected it would be difficult for you to talk to us, we should have thought of a more formal apology," added Tourmaline looking down.

"Besides, we hardly see each other, it's obvious that there is no longer the same connection as with ... the teachers," Zebra commented with her arms crossed.

"We thought that everything would be the same as two years ago, but well, we were wrong," H. Beetle commented with some disappointment.

"In fact, it was always different with us, with the Crystal Teachers that connection of friends was always noticed, and it still continues to be noticed," Buns mentioned, a little hurt on the inside.

"We're just... extras," Larimar said with her head downcast.

"That's not true, you are my friends too," Steven tried to clarify the complicated situation by seeing the sad gems.

"Not in the same way as... them, that's why you won't let us help you," E. Beetle said directly.

"Hey, accepting that you help me still costs me a bit, I didn't even tell my family about my problems," when Steven said that, all the gems made a surprised face. "But... it's true, I neglected with you guys, and it's not your fault, I was so focused on fixing everything my mom did that I forgot to create true bonds of friendship with each of you, I'm sorry."

Let's detail a little, not counting Jasper and Nephrite —With them is another story—, the uncorrupted gems always got along well with Steven, but sometimes they felt that he kept a certain distance with them, although Steven is always generous with them, as with everyone (Or most...), their friendship ties with him were never the same as those he has with the main Crystal Gems. They had the idea that if they had met him before they would be as close friends with Steven as he is him with his family or Team B, furthermore, there wouldn't have been that inferiority complex that separates them from him, but we'll see it later...

Let's go back to what interests us, the emotional moment of Steven and his 18 gem friends.

Steven's apology caused the eyes —Both visible and covered by hair— of the gems to begin to form the gem equivalent of tears.

"We're sorry too, I mean, it's not like we've tried to talk about this a long time ago," Snowflake said turning her head to the side.

"We were supposed to come to cheer you up and apologize to you for... you know, but inadvertently we came up with this issue," Spodumene added, embarrassed.

"There's no problem, we can start over," Steven said happily, the gems responded with "It's fine by me", "Sure", "Definitely".

"Of course!" Crazy Lace replied happily. "And about your problems, we can wait."

"You've just gone through something terrible, it's only fair that you take your time," Biggs showed a smile as she said this.

"We'll listen to anything you want to say when you're ready," Bixbite added as she wiped the last tear from her eye.

"Thanks guys," Steven was just as moved as they were. "We can talk about a lot of other things."

"How the creation of this fountain?" Cherry asked curiously.

"Rather about the remodeling of the fountain," Steven corrected, neither does he know how his mother Rose Quartz created the fountain, but he does know how it became Steven's Fountain.

Flashback Act Four: New Friends

Steven was watching TV in his house, recently remodeled a few days ago. Shortly before reaching the best part of the episode of the series that he's watching, the video call bell on his cell phone rang, when Steven answered, he saw Peridot and the gem that she captured months ago on the screen.

"Steven! Steven! Steven!" Peridot was so excited she couldn't stop repeating Steven.

"He already heard you," the former corrupted gem gave Peridot a light hit, not out of malice, but that's just who she is.

Steven replied happily. "Hi Peridot, hi—"

The former corrupted gem interrupted. "What's that?" She asked surprised when she heard voices, although she didn't understand what they were saying.

"It's the series that I'm watching," Steven showed them the television, there the main couple was seen giving the first kiss, thus ending the episode. "It finally climaxed," Steven was blushing after seeing the love scene.

"Even Percy and Pierre would have done better," Peridot said after seeing the scene.

"Better tell him why you called him," The former tongue gem made a disgusted expression after seeing the scene.

Peridot turned to her right. "That's what I was going to do," she looked at the screen of her tablet again. "Come quickly Steven, we finished!"

"Have you finished?" Steven got excited. "I'm going there!"

In just a few seconds Steven arrived at what was Rose's Fountain, now instead of Rose's statues were Steven's statues, but the healing water —Not to say Rose's essence— still didn't come out, also the surroundings were frozen.

"You're in time for the final part Steven," Bismuth told him, she was along with some uncorrupted gems some distance from the edge of the fountain.

Near the new giant statue of Steven were Ruby and Sapphire.

"All yours dear!" Sapphire said to her partner.

Ruby took a big jump. "Hi-ya!" Summoning her gauntlet she gave a great blow to the head of the statue and was next to Sapphire when she reached the ground.

Large waves of tears began to come out from the eyes of the statue, these began to fill the fountain and incidentally drag Ruby and Sapphire to the bottom, in a few seconds, holding hands, they came to the surface where the others were.

"It was just like you predicted baby, it turned out perfect," Ruby said to her soulmate as they went to the edge of the fountain.

"Not as much as you," Sapphire looked at Ruby, she returned the look.

Both gems kissed and fused into Garnet again, this left Steven and the Crystal Gems present in wonder, the gems previously loyal to Homeworld reacted surprised, which is progress, before they would have reacted with discomfort.

"Garnet, that was amazing!" Steven liked watching the fusion, even more after seeing how the series he was watching ended.

"It's one of the new fusion styles of Ruby and Sapphire," after saying this, Garnet saw the multitude of gems. "I can see that it was well received," Without anyone noticing (Due to her visors), she looked up for a second.

"Yeah, all gems are adapting quickly to life on Earth," Steven commented, happy to see how everything is going. "I'm sure it'll be a happy future for everyone."

Garnet thought a bit and said loud enough to be heard overhead. "Keep in mind Steven, it can sometimes take a while to really get to know a gem," that said, she went to where some of the first Crystal Gems were.

Steven thought about what Garnet just told him, until four gems landed from above.

"Nephrite, Nephrite, Nephrite, Nephrite?" Steven still doesn't know what nicknames to give Nephrite's crew. "I hadn't seen you, I even thought you weren't coming."

"This was my idea after all, we had to be present," Nephrite mentioned, then pointed to the fountain. "Do you like it?"

"Love it!" Although a statue of him still seems ostentatious to him, Steven prefers that it be in a fountain instead of a city. "Did you see that it's easier if the others help you to materialize your idea?"

"Well, it's faster," was the only thing the captain gem said.

"Yes, it's much easier, stopping the water and destroying part of the sculptures was complicated at first," a nephrite mentioned, this one has the gem on her chest.

"Besides, we all agreed that you deserved to have a special place, that made it easier for us to work as a team," another nephrite added, this one also has the gem on her chest, but her skin is paler.

"Although there is something curious here," the nephrite with the gem in her belly approached Steven, as if she were going to tell him a secret. "Usually when the captain is denied something she fights until she gets it, but this time she didn't quite, there won't be a statue of you in the new city but there is one here—" She would have said much more if it weren't for her captain grabbing her shoulder, as a sign of saying "Stop".

Steven, a little surprised, looked at Nephrite, she just closed her gem-eye and smiled at him.

"So, with the repair of your ship almost done, how about taking a break for today?" Steven suggested to the quartet. "There are many gems with whom you can befriend."

"Okay!" The three nephrite crewmembers exclaimed happily.

"No breaks! Work comes first, you know that," Nephrite reminded them, totally serious.

"But captain, how many times did some of us escape from the ship?" The first nephrite with the gem on her chest clarified. "We also need to rest outside the ship from time to time."

"We work nonstop every day and haven't really talked to almost anyone here until now. You can understand, right?" The nephrite with the gem on her belly mentioned, a little afraid of how her captain will react.

"That doesn't matter, we were made to be a team, we don't need to meet other gems when we have ourselves," Nephrite replied with an authoritative voice.

"With Steven we do talk, and he's different from us," saying this, the second nephrite with the gem on her chest pulled Steven to her side. "Also, you spoke to his Connie recently so there should be no problem."

"Yeah. Listen, it's hard to adjust to a new life, but if your crew wants to try, you shouldn't stop them—" Steven was giving his thoughtful speech until Nephrite interrupted him.

"Okay, I get it, but just for today," she replied, her crew went straight to hug her.

"Thank you captain, we love you!" The trio of gems said in unison, the two with the gem on their chest went to different sides.

The nephrite with the gem in her belly happily took her captain by the hand. "Let's go there! They seem friendly."

"You can go, I'll leave here," Nephrite replied, saddening her crewmember a bit.

"Well, but come back whenever you like," after saying this she, again cheerful, left with another group of uncorrupted gems.

"Steven, weeks ago you wanted to hang out, didn't you?" Nephrite reminded him, approaching the aforementioned.

"Yeah, but I would also like you to talk a little more with the others," he said. "I can help you—"

Nephrite interrupted him by touching him on the shoulder as soon as she heard him say help you. "We already talked enough during the remodeling of the fountain, that's enough for me."

Without having the option to help her, besides that he also wanted to hang out with her, Steven responded with his characteristic smile. "Okay, let's go!"

They both went to the Warp Pad and were transported to the only house on the beach, however a great surprise awaited them.

"Wow, they mean it," Steven said when he saw a couple of jaspers coming down the stairs and a quartet of aquamarines carrying materials unknown to gems that aren't adapted to Era 2.

"What are you talking about?" Nephrite asked him.

"Come, I'll show you," after Steven said that, they both went up to the bedroom.

Already being in the mentioned room, they both saw Pearl along with Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl, the three of them entered from the balcony and passed by their side.

"The Diamond's pearls... Are they here?" Nephrite came out onto the balcony almost running.

"Nephrite!" Steven's call didn't work out. "I guess she'll find out on her own." He decided to wait for her in the room.

A few minutes passed and Steven was still waiting, seeing that Nephrite was taking a long time, he decided to go for her.

As he walked, Steven took a look at the new project at his home, the construction of the glass conservatory that will connect the Earth with Homeworld, just as the Diamonds had told him before returning to their home planet, they wanted to keep in touch with Steven and he agreed, although deep down he would rather not have, but for the possible good of the majority throughout the galaxy he had no choice.

Abrupt End of Flashback

"Rather, the story of the end of the remodeling of the fountain and the beginning of the construction of the conservatory," Cherry mentioned after hearing the story.

Steven laughed a little. "Yeah, I wasn't there for much of the construction, I can't give many details, but certain gems I know can..." He said lengthening the last word, as if it were a riddle.

"Who are they?" Larimar looked around after asking. Realizing it, she made a facepalm gracefully. "Ah, I get it, well, first you and Team Nephrite told us about their leader's idea and we all agreed to help her. We went to the fountain, Garnet unfused, Sapphire froze the fountain, we all started destroying Rose's statues, and—"

Ocean interrupted her, knowing that her explanation would take a while. "In short, it was just destroy, rebuild and have some fights."

"We were still adapting to the new Earth and to a peaceful coexistence, fighting was normal, until that day," Blue Lace added with some embarrassment when remembering the past of two years ago.

"Oh yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday," H. Beetle mentioned excitedly.

"Me too," like them, Steven remembers that day perfectly well.

Flashback Act Five: War or Peace?

A few days have passed after the creation of Steven's Fountain, a project that required teamwork between the Crystal Gems and the gems formerly loyal to Homeworld, the coexistence between both sides seems to be working well, although from time to time there were some differences, but will today be the same?

Today was a normal day, until the Earth began to shake a little, and no, this time it's not because of the Cluster, but because of a giant fusion, she carries in her left hand the remains of the ship that gave so much work to Nephrite and her crew.

"We arrived!" The giant fusion noticed when she reached the beach.

Upon arrival, the fusion put her right index finger on her right shoulder, because there were Steven and Nephrite. When they went to her finger, she put it in the sand for them to come down.

Stepping on the ground, Steven took a deep breath, the beach breeze was so nice after a space adventure. "Home sweet home."

As her friend breathed in, Nephrite looked at the fusion and dropped to the sand with her arms outstretched. So many things were going through her mind now, the irreparable state of her ship, the doubt if Steven really had a good time and seeing her crew fused into a single gem caused her to think to herself "Swallow me Earth".

"It was the most exhausting space travel so far, wasn't it?" Steven approached her.

"If by exhausting you mean dangerous for a half human then yes, it was," Nephrite was still lying on the sand, that didn't stop her from looking seriously at Steven.

"Come on, I had a great time even if it wasn't as planned."

Nephrite sat down, she was a little angry. "Steven, please, let's be honest, this went wrong, we were almost destroyed."

His friend's reaction made Steven reflect on the reality of the space travel.

"Yeah, you're right," he admitted, a little more and the space adventure would have ended in tragedy.

This is an unusual situation for Steven, normally his family and friends, both human and gem, feel better when he gives them words of encouragement, comforts or helps them, directly or indirectly. Being used to thinking of the good of others before himself, Steven is sure that helping others is his calling in life.

But this is different, Nephrite is very different from most of Steven's friends, although he tells her that everything is fine, she doesn't see it that way. It's very easy for Nephrite to realize that not everything is fine, because she has the same habit to minimize her feelings for the sake of her loved ones, even in life and death situations.

While they were talking, Steven's gem family, the Crystal Gems (Original Team) came home through the Warp Pad, they went out to the beach as soon as they saw them through the window, it's very notorious for the new fusion.

"Wow, look at her! She's huge!" Amethyst got ahead of her friends and teammates and approached the fusion. "Did you think about having a name of your own?"

"Well, we haven't decided yet, but we're between—" The fusion was commenting until Pearl interrupted her.

"Oh my stars! I knew that would happen!" She exclaimed altered when she saw the destroyed ship, she knew it was irreparable from the beginning. Between worried and furious she approached Nephrite, she already stood up since she heard the Crystal Gems approaching. "How could you carry Steven in that junk?!"

"I know! You don't have to reproach me," the captain gem complained, trying not to fight against, according to her, a simple defective pearl.

"Let's calm down, no one was hurt so everything's fine," Garnet intervened separating the two gems, she saw that the discussion would have ended with a battle, and now isn't the best time to fight.

"Yeah, everything's fine... only with us," Amethyst mentioned looking to the side, in a gesture of remembering something.

"Did something happen guys?" Steven asked, between curious and concerned.

"While you were in space, some problems occurred with the other gems," Pearl explained, still glancing at Nephrite and her team's fusion.

"We tried everything but nothing works," Garnet added with seriousness and analytical tonality.

"It's normal for them to fight each other but this time..." Amethyst grunted a little, what happened is difficult to explain. "You'll have to see for yourself."

"Sure, I'll go help," Steven said with determination.

"Well, let's go!" Amethyst told him as he walked toward the house.

"Put that thing next to the temple first," Pearl ordered as she also walked towards the house, Garnet followed her.

There were a few seconds of silence, previously Steven spoke with Nephrite about the future of the remains of her ship, but they didn't reach an agreement, he believes that it would be best for it to be inside the Crystal Temple, but she argued that there's no reason and that it was her ship, although it's destroyed and without remedy.

"Nephrite, you'll have to accept it, it's better this way," Steven tried to reason with her again. "It's hard to let go of a part of you—" He said until Nephrite covered his mouth with her hand, a philosophical Steven is the last thing she wants to hear.

"Team!" The fusion stared at her, although for now she's superior in size and strength, Nephrite is still her captain. "Take the ship to the base of the Crystal Gems, we'll leave it with them."

"Sure?" She suspected her captain disagreed entirely.

"That's an order."

"Yes, captain," The nephrite fusion went to fulfill her order.

"And unfuse before we go!" Nephrite added, then turned to Steven, forcing a very credible smile. "We'll accompany you."

"Sure, but are you feeling okay?" Steven asked surprised.

"Um, yes. Why?"

"You changed your mind very quickly about your ship, you didn't even let me finish, I don't want you to feel compelled to—"

Nephrite interrupted him, still trying to keep her smile. "You said it was the best for your planet."

"Yeah, but not long ago you refused, now you're even smiling."

"I accepted it, as you said, it's better this way."

Meanwhile, let's see what happens on one of the battlefields.

"I don't care if the war is over, I'll pulverize you!" Lace A. exclaimed while fighting a rival gem.

"I'm going to destroy you, I should have done it long ago!" Aura declared fighting in another area.

"Whoever called us creeps. We're going to shatter you!" E. Beetle tried to threaten, while protecting her life partner from possible blows in battle.

"For those who called me purposeless fusion. Come here if you are brave!" Crazy Lace exclaimed, losing sight of the gem that insulted her.

Lapis intervened by flying towards one of the zones. "Stop fighting!" She demanded as she transformed her wings into palms after landing, it's the most she could do now since there was no water in the aforementioned battlefield to stop the uncorrupted gems by force.

"Get out of my way!" Spodumene attacked her from behind, pushing her a short distance.

"They're so stubborn, I wasn't even like that," Peridot commented after Lapis fell close to her.

Near them, Bismuth tried to avoid more confrontations. "Wait Biggs, you're not like that."

"That gem insulted me, I won't let it happen twice!" Biggs replied before inadvertently pushing her to where the almost new Crystal Gems were.

"It's like we're still in The Rebellion," Bismuth mentioned after falling close to Peridot and Lapis.

At that same moment the Warp Pad lit up, showing Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. They approached Team B who were in sight but far from the Warp Pad.

"You were lucky?" Amethyst asked, although inside she sensed that the question was in vain.

"This is for calling me a failure!" Tourmaline exclaimed as she attacked near them.

"Quite the opposite," Peridot said tired of the strong confrontation today like the others.

"Think about your last words!" Blue Lace yelled at a rival gem before attacking her.

"If Steven were here, everything would be so easy," Bismuth mentioned.

"I agree," Lapis added.

"You'll pay for this!" Ocean threatened when she saw a gem that attacked her a while ago.

"Steven will be here soon, we told him about this mini-war," Garnet commented, hoping for Steven to hurry up.

"Did he come back from space so fast?" Peridot asked surprised.

"I won't forget about that, you'll see!" H. Beetle exclaimed while flying through the air, not even her partner could save her from the last blow.

"There were some problems that could have been avoided," Pearl is still upset by what happened a while ago.

The Warp Pad lit up again, this time showing Steven and the octet of nephrites —Captain and crew—, they're grouped to fit all in the Warp Pad.

"We're here," Steven brought his megaphone and ukulele with him, he was surprised to see the battle scene. "Oh, this is a big problem," Steven was the first to go to where the other Crystal Gems were.

"Look out!" Nephrite lunged towards Steven when she noticed that he was going to collide with Larimar, who is flying through the air after receiving an attack.

"Stay away from them Steven, they are enemies!" Larimar warned him as she flew.

"I will avenge you Larimar," Snowflake declared after her friend collided with her, as a team they attacked an enemy gem.

Steven used his megaphone. "Stop it, you don't have to fight!" He said, it's worth mentioning that Nephrite is holding him as if she were introducing him to a crowd.

The former water bear gem collided with Nephrite from behind, fortunately she with some last minute maneuvers fell with her back against the ground, avoiding hurting Steven, although the megaphone didn't suffer the same fate, as he released it by the force of his friend's maneuvers.

"We have no choice, besides, they started," the former water bear gem mentioned after the collide, immediately returned to battle.

"The truce is over!" The former tongue gem added after braking against the ground from the impact of an attack, this accidentally caused Steven's megaphone to be pushed further.

"Hey, I know you fought each other for... centuries, but, it was because the Diamonds forced you! Now you no longer receive orders from them, you no longer have to live as they imposed on you, now you're free to do whatever you want, you can start a new life, life doesn't have to be a war!" Steven said, rather yelled, his emotional speech, but he was barely heard, the whole confrontation is so boisterous.

"What did you say?!" Zebra asked while flying by the impact of an attack.

"It would be easier if I had my megaphone," Steven saw his megaphone fly along with some gems.

This was the scenario now, despite the almost 6000 forgotten years trapped in the gloom of corruption, for the uncorrupted gems it's not easy to live in harmony 24 hours a day, although they were already getting used to it, there are still some differences that may bother to the Crystal Gems or the gems formerly loyal to Homeworld, however today is the strongest fight they had since they were healed, and who got the worst part was... Steven's megaphone.

During the battle, Steven's megaphone collided with a gem, mistaking it for a weapon, the gem threw it towards Bixbite.

"With what? Using a weapon from Earth, right?" With a couple of pincerchings, Bixbite left the megaphone in a thousand pieces. "I guess this does help," she said referring to her not so new pincer, her more predominant corruption scar.

"That's it. I know how to fix this!" Seeing this scene gave Steven a great idea.

Immediately, Steven shared his idea with the Crystal Gems —Both teams—, they all agreed.

Before begin, the mega confrontation between the ex-corrupt Crystal Gems and the gems still loyal to Homeworld of Era 1 must be calmed down, so Steven, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl performed a fusion dance, the same one they performed when they faced the robot constituted of the four ships of the Diamonds. When finished, the fusion glow emerged and their bodies began to merge into one.

"ENOUGH!" Obsidian's scream was heard between words and roars, all the uncorrupted gems stopped fighting in fright.

"After Garnet, they're my favorite fusion," Bismuth said happily impressed.

"They make the fusion look like something phenomenal," Lapis added, also impressed despite still considering the fusion as a prison.

"Is it fusion day?" Nephrite asked not so happy, she and her crew were close to Team B at that moment.

"You'll get used to it," Peridot mentioned, based on her redemption arc.

Obsidian continued putting order. "DON'T YOU GET IT YET?! YOU ARE FIGHTING FOR NOTHING! WHAT IS THE USE OF CONTINUING FIGHTING FOR A WAR THAT ENDED WHEN THEY HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON?! ALL OF YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH CORRUPTION! IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND IT, SEE YOUR PHYSICAL FORM! IT'S AFFECTED FOREVER!"

"Ahem," Nephrite coughed a little to remind them that not all uncorrupted gems have vestiges of corruption.

"WHY DON'T YOU START AGAIN FOR THE THOUSANDTH TIME?!"

All the uncorrupted gems that were fighting a while ago trembled in fear upon hearing Obsidian.

"Obsidian, I think you went too far," Bismuth mentioned, Peridot nodded in agreement and Lapis raised her right thumb.

Seeing the frightened gems, Obsidian separated into Steven and his gem family, they only fused to stop the battle.

Steven took the floor. "What Obsidian meant is that you no longer have to fight each other, there is no longer a rivalry between the Crystal Gems and Homeworld, the Diamonds are now on our side, you can leave the past in the past."

Still scared, the uncorrupted gems that fought a while ago nodded, curiously all of Nephrite's crew nodded as well.

Steven noticed the fright of the gems, it shows in their faces. "I know what will help you, sit over there, I'll go right away," Steven pointed to an area almost untouched by the fight, all the uncorrupted gems present there heeded him and went there.

Everything was ready, the uncorrupted gems as the audience, the Crystal Gems in the backstage and Steven with his ukulele as the artist. He started singing a song he heard on television but adapted the lyrics for the uncorrupted gems.

The lyrics of the adaptation expressed the point of view of both the Crystal Gems and the gems loyal to Homeworld, in the first group the need and obligation to fight for their worth was expressed, as Homeworld looked at them with contempt. However, the Crystal Gems are happy being the way they are, because they decided that way.

In the second group, the wrong idea of what perfection is, to such a degree to minimize their feelings in order to give a suitable image for their planet and its rulers was expressed, but they had to be shown that this can change, and who better than the uncorrupted Crystal Gems to make their former adversaries see that, with whom they now share things in common: The passage through corruption, the permanent consequences of this, and the hope of having a better life on Earth, but first they have to peacefully resolve their differences, not start another war again.

"I remembered it longer," Amethyst said, referring to the original song.

"It's an adaptation in progress," Steven improvised some of the lyrics as he sang.

After the adapted song there were a few seconds of silence from the uncorrupted gems.

"It's a nice song Steven, but I don't think—" Nephrite broke the silence, but couldn't finish what she wanted to say.

"I'm sorry, I never thought the way the Steven said," Lace A. apologized with a gem she fought earlier.

"I'm sorry too, as Crystal Gems we're supposed to help you see your freedom," Snowflake apologized to the gem that she team-attacked with Larimar earlier.

"Let's not fight anymore, I'll try, no, I'll understand your way of life," Zebra said to a gem that is on her left side.

"When we go through the temple I'll show you how I see fusion," Crazy Lace made peace with the gem that attacked her earlier.

And those are just a few words from some uncorrupted gems, it didn't take long for a sea of fights to turn into a wave of apologies with a few tears.

"This is beautiful, Steven. You managed to make all of them begin to understand each other," Pearl mentioned with tears in her eyes when she saw such a beautiful moment.

"Coming from you, I'm not surprised that this happened," Lapis added more relaxed.

"You have progressed a lot Steven, we're proud of you," when Garnet said this, Amethyst and Pearl approached her, Peridot, Lapis and Bismuth also approached, all of them looked happily at Steven, he felt so happy and they all hugged.

After the emotional moment shared between everyone, Steven and his family and friends Crystal Gems decided to return to the temple, while the uncorrupted gems remained on the battlefield as their temporary home to most of them.

"See ya later!" In the distance, Steven said goodbye to the uncorrupted gems, it's not surprising that they trust him more. Although they aren't saying it, they see him as their hero.

End of Flashback

"It's always beautiful to remember that," Biggs mentioned while hugging Pigtails.

"Well, the beautiful thing is the end of the story," E. Beetle assured, avoiding remembering the time of fights.

"And the song, don't forget the song," Pigtails added, still being hugged.

"Let's not forget the singer of the adaptation," Aura said looking at Steven, although it wasn't noticed by her hair.

"Yes, since then things have been better between us," Tourmaline agreed happily.

"And it's all thanks to Steven," Spodumene added, looking at Steven in admiration.

"Um, it's nothing, it was you who struggled to adapt to Earth, I just gave you a little nudge," Steven was a bit embarrassed by the flattery of the uncorrupted gems, although he understands why.

"But what are you saying? You helped us a lot during those months, you gave us a better life and did everything possible to make us feel comfortable with Earth," Ponytail mentioned, longing for those times.

"You also taught us to appreciate our... scars. If we are very well now, who knows how we would be if you didn't—?" Buns couldn't complete what she was going to say, instead, she sighed in pity.

"Yeah, I know," Steven understood what she meant.

"Well, the Diamonds are to blame here, if they hadn't ordered to build that conservatory, you would never have left for almost two years," Bixbite mentioned directly.

"Sure, although the galaxy would still be under the rule of the Diamonds, so that was a good thing," Steven concluded thinking about the benefits of his dedication to liberating the Diamond's colonies for over a year.

Flashback Act Six: Era 3

It has been a month and a half since the corrupted gems were healed, as we remember before they had problems living in harmony, but thanks to Steven everything improved a lot, although that doesn't mean that the gems previously loyal to Homeworld miss their home, and with the Crystal Gems who are hopeful that their native home will change for the better, the same can be said.

Finally the construction of the glass conservatory was completed, which has a Warp Pad that connects the Earth with Homeworld, this is a sign of hope for the gems that miss their native home, but before that, Steven will have to convince the Diamonds to accept that the uncorrupted gems return to their planet, and he will take advantage of doing it now because the Diamonds, through the video call system of the conservatory, told him that they wanted to see him right now, and not only that, they also told him that they wanted to see him in private, so Steven will go on the journey alone, leaving his family and friends Crystal Gems a little worried, but they trust that he'll be fine, after all, he's Steven.

"Don't come back until you convince the Diamonds, I know you can do it," the former tongue gem said as Steven prepares some things in his cheeseburger backpack.

"Hey, Earth can be home too, maybe you should think twice," Peridot told her, trying to convince her almost friend to stay on Earth.

"I already did, and I choose Homeworld, our true home," the uncorrupted gem replied, from her tone, it was obvious that she had already made her decision.

"I agree with her, Earth isn't bad, but if there's an opportunity to return to Homeworld, I accept it," the former water bear gem agreed, she also wants to return to Homeworld.

"Take it easy, you know what Diamonds are like, it won't be easy to convince them," Steven reminded them, but the uncorrupted gems still have their hopes in him.

"Except if you're the one who does it, if you convinced them to heal us, why not now?" Said a member of Nephrite's crew.

"I'll try, that I can assure you," Steven gave a confident smile as he assured this. Meanwhile, the ship where the gems that helped build the conservatory are began to take off outside.

"If you don't succeed, it doesn't matter, just come back unscathed," Nephrite told him, trying in vain to hide her concern, she wants to return home but she also wants to see Steven in one piece, and knowing he is half human, which makes him more fragile according to many gems, worries her a lot.

"I'll do it," Steven, already with his backpack packed, walked towards the new Warp Pad, it emitted a light that transported him to the distant planet full of gems.

It didn't take long for Steven to reach Homeworld, this time without ships, just using a Warp Pad. As soon as he arrived, he saw that the Diamonds were waiting for him very close to the Warp Pad.

"Yellow, Blue, White," Steven greeted them, showing sympathy on the outside but inside he would rather not have gone, being near the Diamonds makes him a bit uncomfortable.

"It's been a long time since we've seen you in person... Steven," Blue Diamond told him, still having a hard time accepting that Steven isn't Pink Diamond.

"We were hoping our gems would finish building the conservatory faster," Yellow Diamond complained a little.

"Next time we'll go ourselves to your planet," White Diamond suggested, not noticing that Steven made a gesture of discomfort.

"Well, it won't be necessary, with the Warp Pad I can get here in less than a minute," Steven told them, suppressing his nervousness and even a little resentment, especially towards White Diamond, how to forgive someone who left him on the edge of death by taking away his gem? "By the way, why did you want to see me right now?"

The Diamonds looked at each other and told him to follow them, he did so.

Soon the four were on top of Pink Diamond's ship shaped like legs, from that height you can see a large part of Homeworld.

"Ever since we returned, we've been thinking about our empire and our long-lived way of ruling it," Yellow Diamond started the conversation.

"We came to wonder if we should change some things," Blue Diamond added incredulously, still surprised by the idea of changing a system of government that prevailed for eons.

"Obvious" was what Steven thought. "If you're thinking about it, it's because you want to do it, and I think that would be the best for the whole universe," he smiled.

"Yes, yes, the point is that we don't know where to start, so we thought about asking for... some advice from you," White Diamond preferred to go straight to the point.

Steven had a lot to say. "You asked the right kid for help, first, remove your gem caste system, they're all worth the same way, second, let the gems choose their own path, if they want to dedicate themselves to something different than what supposedly corresponds to them, leave them, if they want to fuse for any reason, leave them, third, accept all the gems no matter what or how they are, there are no wrong gems or anything like that, you can start with accepting the gems that we heal, some miss this planet."

The three Diamonds put a face that indicates that everything Steven said went into one ear and out the other.

"That's all?" Yellow Diamond asked, expecting a Yes for an answer.

"There's more, the colonization of planets has to end, it destroys the existing life on other planets," Steven thought about the other planets that didn't have the same luck as Earth.

"That would imply the cessation of the creation of new gems," Blue Diamond explained.

"You'll find a way to create them without destroying innocent lives, all lives have the same value, be it human, gem, or some other form of life that I don't know," Steven argued, hopefully the Diamonds will understand his point of view by being one of them , literally.

"This is all so confusing, it'll take us millennia to adapt to your rules," White Diamond did a bit of drama.

"Not if I help you, together we'll shape Era 3," Steven's compassionate instinct was activated, he wanted a better life for the entire universe.

"Perfect!" The three Diamonds said looking at each other, as if they had planned everything to have Steven close.

When they finished talking about the almost new Era 3, the four of them went to the palace, where the thrones of the Diamonds were.

"We have to travel to all the colonies that we conquer, it'll be faster to communicate to our gems about Era 3 if we're present," with the technological systems of Homeworld, White Diamond began to search for the closest colony. "Steven, since you're the the only one of us who know the new rules perfectly, you'll have to come and be with us as long as it takes."

Steven was surprised, he wasn't expecting this. "Wait, I didn't mean right now!" The Diamonds were surprised.

"Your Crystal Gems and your humans may come over from time to time," Blue Diamond assured, wanting to keep Steven from regretting helping them.

"Yeah, but we're just agreeing on how we're going to do it, at least let me tell everyone on Earth about this," Steven's excuse sounded very convincing.

"Okay, you can use the communications system first," Yellow Diamond ordered her pearl to bring the aforementioned system, in less than a minute she brought it and ready for broadcast.

Steven felt pressured, he still didn't feel ready to leave home for long. "Not yet! If I'll be away from Beach City and Earth for a long time, I wish I had more time to say goodbye to everyone."

"How long will we have to wait?" White Diamond asked, hoping it's only one day at most.

Steven thought very hard about it, if it were up to him he would do whatever it takes to avoid seeing the Diamonds 24 hours a day, but the universe needed him more than ever, so he had no choice and chose what day to leave Earth to set off on the adventure of dismantling the empire of the Diamonds.

After agreeing everything, Steven used the Warp Pad of Homeworld to return to Earth, to his home. While he returns, let's see how everything is going on Earth.

On the beach...

"Aff! The Steven is already taking a long time, I hope he has convinced the Diamonds," The former tongue gem commented, tired of waiting.

"Not everyone can reason with those clods," Peridot told her, this annoyed her almost friend and some gems around her who wish to return to Homeworld.

"Have more respect, it's for the Diamonds that you exist until now, be grateful that they haven't destroyed you for being wrong," the former water bear gem scolded her, the other gems also joined in the scolding but Peridot defends herself.

Seeing and hearing what happened, Lapis flew over to where the group was. "Realize it, the Diamonds aren't what you think, Peridot doesn't call them clods for no reason," what she said meant nothing to many of the gems hurrying to return to Homeworld but for Peridot this means a lot.

Let's put ourselves in context to understand it better, since Lapis and Peridot regenerated with their new outfits the friend/platonic relationship between them is no longer the same as before, all the meep morps and memories that they formed together on Earth vanished when Lapis took away the entire barn. Peridot knows and understands that Lapis went through a lot for much of her life, yet she can't deny that what she did hurt her.

They both know that, at least for now, nothing will be the same as it once was, but that doesn't mean that their friend/platonic relationship is irreparable, before it was Peridot who strove to win Lapis's friendship, and it's worth mentioning that Steven helped in that, but now everything changed, now it's Lapis's turn to fix this matter, and if possible, make their friendship stronger than before.

Let's go back to the story.

"There is no doubt that they were created to be Crystal Gems," Bismuth saw what happened while walking with Garnet.

"It's how they said in the war, any of our enemies ends up becoming the very thing they swore to destroy," Garnet remembered smiling.

Inside the house, in the living room...

"Ah, how refreshing," Amethyst added more ice cubes to her juice, drank it from a pitcher.

"Nine letter word that means to fight for your rights. What will it be?" Greg was completing a crossword with Pearl, it was one of his ways of calming down when he found out that his son is on Homeworld.

"That's easy, rebellion," Pearl said, based on her fight for her independence.

"You hit the nail!" Greg exclaimed happily, Pearl also smiled.

When she finished her juice, Amethyst looked out the window towards the beach. "Everything is quiet here, I wish I could say the same about the conservatory."

In the glass convervatory...

"I expect this from other gems, but from the Crystal Gems I don't understand. How can they be calm when Steven is alone on Homeworld? Don't they care?!" Nephrite didn't stop walking in circles with concern, her crew, on her orders, is blocking the door of the conservatory.

Connie tried to reassure her. "They're worried about Steven, who knows what might be happening to him there—" She inevitably remembered the moment when White Diamond pulled out Steven's gem, she's practically the only one who shares that memory along with him, the others were controlled by White Diamond so they have no idea what happened.

"That's what I mean, they forgot that he's half human, he doesn't have the same resistance as a common gem," Nephrite didn't stop walking, but she can hear Connie.

"But they trust that he can handle this situation, you know how Steven is, so kind and compassionate, he always wants everyone to be fine and is willing to help make it so," Connie smiled at mentioning Steven's qualities, then added more serious. "Although he should rest a bit, seriously, being the adult and being in charge of everyone and everything is exhausting," she stated, remembering when she gave her speech to calm a Lapis and Peridot fight a while ago.

Nephrite stopped walking. "I think the same thing," she said a little surprised, she already knew that Connie speaks her same language, but this left her even more impressed. "That Connie is unique," she thought.

At that moment the Warp Pad lit up, which means that Steven finally returned.

"Steven!" Connie ran to him and they both hugged happily, how many positive emotions can be transmitted to each other with just a hug.

"What a relief, it seems you didn't hurt yourself," Nephrite said after the future couple finished hugging.

"Yeah, I came back unscathed as you expected," Steven said happily.

"And what happened? Why did the Diamonds want to see you so soon?" Connie asked a little concerned, intuiting that Steven wasn't happy about having to go see the Diamonds.

"And tell us everything," Nephrite stared at him.

Steven isn't sure how they'll react when they hear everything that happened, but he still has to say it sooner or later. "You see, they want me to—" A little tremors interrupted him.

As soon as they saw the light of the Warp Pad, all the uncorrupted gems that were on the beach ran like a herd straight to the conservatory, producing tremors as they passed. They tried to enter the conservatory, luckily Nephrite's crew did their best to block most of the gems.

"And did you convince the Diamonds?" The former water bear gem tried to enter, but was pulled out at fair.

"I'll assume you made it. Right, isn't it?" The voice of the former tongue gem was heard.

Steven sighed. "Looks like I'll be making a new announcement."

It wasn't difficult to tell the multitude of gems to gather on the beach, after a short while, the Crystal Gems gathered the uncorrupted gems on their side, it's necessary for everyone to listen to Steven's announcement, so that they can get an idea of what will come later.

End of Flashback

Speaking of uncorrupted gems we wonder, what happened to Jasper? We'll move to the entrance of Little Homeworld to find out.

"Was that silly school canceled?" Jasper wondered as she explored the empty corners of the city of gems, she saw almost no one except a fusion of two topaz and a lapis with golden freckles, the last one approached Jasper when she saw her.

"Are you new here?" She asked curiously.

"I'm just inspecting," Jasper replied coldly, perhaps because now it's strange for her to be near any lapis lazuli or simply because of her attitude.

"The school?" The terraformer gem assumed. "Today is a day off, in a couple of days it will work again. Come, I'll show you the city," she flew holding Jasper, not giving her the option to say no.

Both gems traveled by air to various places of Little Homeworld, from the greenhouse to the central tower, from the forge to the empty fields, at a certain moment both landed in an area far from the other buildings, in that area there is a small house similar to a garage that is used as a reflection area, the gem equivalent of school detention.

"It may be complicated at first, but you'll get used to it, I know from experience," The lapis with freckles opened the door to the reflection area, it's unlocked when no one is there. "Otherwise, the teachers will send you to this place."

"I can see myself living here," Jasper commented, inside she was already getting used to the company of that lapis, she isn't like the other gems in the city that hate her or consider her crazy, and that's strange for her, she never knew that peaceful world until now.

The little house for reflection actually looks good, except for some destroyed desks and some scribbles and writing in English and Gem Glyph on the walls that made the gems that spent a few minutes of their life there. In most cases they go for minor things, such as distraction in class or unexcused absences.

While they were checking, Jasper found a damaged cardboard with a written phrase: A gem that treated you like garbage doesn't deserve to live in any world. It reads, you could see the anger contained in the cardboard due to the strong pressure when the phrase was writen.

The lapis with the gem in the belly approached to read. "That was written by an ocean jasper, they sent her here after class yesterday, the teachers said they understand her but what she wrote was very cruel."

"That weakling... is very complicated to overcome it," Jasper spoke a bit angrily while squeezing the cardboard, according to her logic, it was Ocean's fault for being corrupted in the first place.

"Let's leave that there, there is more to see outside," the Lapis Two hastened to change the subject, at no time did it cross her that Jasper is the gem mentioned in that writing, but, from what she said before, she did intuit that it'll be harder for her to adapt to the school more than to her, but she's willing to help her however she can.

Leaving the reflection zone as they found it, both gems went to, if we can say it like this, hang out for the rest of the day.

To be continue...

Extra Scene

Let's go back to Flashback Act Five, the day the uncorrupted gems really started getting along with each other.

A few minutes passed after Steven and the Crystal Gems left, the uncorrupted gems coexist in harmony, no more fights and no more insults, this is the beginning of the true new life for the gems, but there is someone who doesn't see it that way.

"But captain, where are we going? The ship is destroyed and..." The nephrite with pale skin argued. "That place is very desolate, here is much better, the other gems are here."

"That's no excuse, you'll come with me right now, without claims," Nephrite started walking towards the Warp Pad.

"You forgot what Steven told you!" The nephrite with the gem on her chest used her captain's weak point, causing her to stop, however she had no intention of shouting at her. "It's hard to adjust to a new life, but we want to try, you shouldn't stop us," she repeated what she heard from Steven days ago.

"Okay, but come back to our territory when it gets dark," the captain gem said without looking back, to then continue on her way to the Warp Pad that will take her to Pangea, the place on the South American continent where her ship previously was.

"Wait!" The nephrite with the gem in her belly ran at full speed and took her captain by the arm. "Just because we want to stay here doesn't mean you have to leave," she hugged her, the rest of the crew also joined in the hug. "We want you here, together with us."

This is not at all strange, Nephrite is more than used to the displays of affection from her crew, but this time it's a stronger display of affection, she was never hugged by her entire team before, even less after an uncommon argument, that made her feel sensations that she was almost totally unaware of, the hug feels: Warm, pleasant, comfortable, a mixture of all the above? The important thing for her is: Is it okay to feel like this? Unintentionally she let herself go by those almost new sensations, she felt in a total peace, which was interrupted by the fusion glow.

The rest of the uncorrupted gems that are nearby, inevitably seeing the emotional moment of the octet of nephrites, ran in different directions, a giant fusion is forming.

The new fusion stopped glowing, she looks exactly like a common nephrite, only much larger and with corruption scars on both forearms. "What? This... can't be possible..." She didn't know how to feel, is she happy, ashamed, confused, surprised, angry with herself? An entire internal debate is going on in her mind.

The other gems looked at her in surprise, they were all impressed by the mega fusion in different ways depending on their side.

The fusion still continues in her internal debate, and it only takes the uncoordination of one of her components to become unstable. "No. No? No! This is wrong!" She glowed up and defused, causing the octet of nephrites to fall directly to the ground. The whole crew felt normal, the fusion feels very different to how other gems made it look on Homeworld, mainly when it comes to a fusion of different types of gems. But this isn't the same for the nephrite captain, she turned all green from shame, although her fusion has been with the same type of gem, she feels that she shouldn't have done it, there was no need and even then she shouldn't unless it's used as a last resort.

"I'll go ahead, and let's never talk about this," Nephrite said trying to keep her composure, she walked towards the Warp Pad and used it, leaving her crew worried.

The journey from the battlefield to Pangea is very short when using the Warp Pad, it takes only a few seconds, this is a stroke of luck for Nephrite because as soon as she arrived, she felt a strong pain in her arms, it's the second time that happens to her, the first was a few seconds before she passed out when she couldn't believe or accept that her former Diamond, Pink Diamond, and the declared enemy of Homeworld, Rose Quartz, are the same gem, and even less can he accept that her friend Steven has a direct link with... Her former Diamond, her enemy? "Why think about it?"

The point is, this pain is stronger than the first, and this has Nephrite worried, because if this continues, her crew and/or Steven will end up finding out about this and they will worry, and she can't and doesn't want to allow it, and also she mustn't allow it, she has to be strong, firm, a simple pain can't destroy those qualities, after all she was made that way, that's why she's captain...

Notes:

First of all, a thousand apologies for the delay in the chapter, the studies have me busy lately, but this beautiful fanfic will continue yes or yes, if you want you can see me on Twitter, I'm more active there ^o^

I tried to create some drama at the beginning of the chapter, as a way to show how the relationship is between Steven and the uncorrupted gems (As I said there's an inferiority complex, to such a degree that the relationship between them was more like a tutor/mentor-students), and we can say that now it will be better than before, they spoke with all honesty what they thought about their friendship with Steven, but now the question is, will Steven be able to tell them about his problems? Soon we will know...

If we notice, this chapter is full of several comebacks, both past and present, in this case we had Ruby and Sapphire (In the Flashback Act 4, I couldn't forget them), Obsidian (Flashback Act 5), Topaz (As a mini cameo in the present) and Nice Lapis/Freckles Lapis (Also in the present).

As I said at the beginning, I try to make my fanfic the closest thing to the cannon, and that includes the Save/Unleash The Light games that are considered level 2 cannon, I didn't get to see the whole story but I try to consider what I could see, so I'm assuming the Crystal Gems went to see Steven from time to time during Era 3 formation.

Speaking of Steven and Era 3, we know that before the movie Steven helped dismantle the empire of the Diamonds, and from what I understood, it took him some time, I based on that for Act 6, and this flashback will continue, in Act 7...

Let's go with the notes and curiosities:

-Do you remember that in chapter 2 when the uncorrupted gems were interviewed, none of them mentioned Rose or Pink Diamond? The reason is indirectly explained here and in the previous chapter, after learning the truth the uncorrupted Crystal Gems lost respect for Rose and the gems loyal to Homeworld could no longer see Pink Diamond in the same way, they could even consider her defective, and again Jasper and Nephrite are the only exceptions to this, the first feels that she can't contradict her Diamond despite not agreeing with her and the second finds it difficult to accept it, let's remember that her gem is her eye so it can mean blindness up to a certain point.

-Surprise! Two new fusions in one chapter, I wanted to put a fusion of all the nephrites at least once ^o^

-You may be wondering, can Obsidian speak? Yes, in Change of Mind they only roared, but if Fluorite, a 6-gem fusion, can speak even a little slow, why couldn't Obsidian, a 5-gem fusion?

-I put some references here: In Act 5, the scene of Nephrite carrying Steven is a reference to the beginning of the movie The Lion King, right after there is another reference, the scene of Nephrite doing some maneuvers to avoid falling on Steven is a reference to the anime Lucky Star, precisely in chapter 19, when Hiyori does some turns to avoid hurting her hand.

-There were some changes with the extra scene, it was actually going to be about Jasper but then I thought that the emotional scene of Nephrite and her crew would be better there (It was going to be in Act 5), so I located the scene with Jasper and Nice Lapis before. The funny thing is that this is the second time this has happened, and in both cases the scene was about Jasper xD

-I finally found the opportunity to talk about this: What do the uncorrupted gems remember from their time of corruption? Well, nothing xD Except for the things that marked them still corrupt. For this we will use the cases of Nephrite, Ocean and the tongue gem that Peridot captured. In Nephrite's case, she remembers Steven, because he befriended her, this made her develop a protective instinct for him. In Ocean's case, she has a grudge against Jasper, I don't think it has been pleasant for her that a gem treat her badly, much less force her to fuse. In the tongue gem's case... I just thought it would be interesting to give her a semi-friendship with Peridot ^o^

-About the friend/platonic relationship of Lapis and Peridot after Change Your Mind, there in Act 6 it's briefly explained, I will only anticipate that at present everything is almost as before ^o^

SPOILER DATA: About Steven's space adventure with Nephrite and her crew, I don't know if there is a space to put it here, otherwise I'm thinking of creating a mini fanfic to see how it was, but at most it would be 3 chapters.

See you in the third part of the chapter of the uncorrupted gems (By the way I give you a mini spoiler, three of them will show off a bit in the next chapter, one of them is confirmed to be a Crystal Gem) ^o^