And now, the moment you've been waiting for! No more delays! It's time to get to the meat of things, all the answers up ahead...
*SLAP!*
Sorry, that was me cutting myself off before I stalled any longer... Onward!
It was almost midnight when Adamite and Cinnabar arrived with an unconscious Steven to a desolate plateau past the border of Delmarva. Their destination was an unsuspecting outcropping they discovered among their endless years wandering the world with nothing of interest but a single large stone slightly larger than the two gems. The stone was once an ornate artifact used in the days of the original gem war adorned with delicate carvings painted in vibrant hues, but have long since faded thanks to years of exposure to the elements.
"Keep an eye on him," commanded Adamite as she lowered Steven to the ground. She had to focus her abilities is she wanted to restore something so decrepit without damaging it.
Cinnabar walked over to where their hybrid hostage was lying on the ground. The flow of water from his eyes had stopped, but he was shivering fiercely. For reasons she still did not fully understand, this made her upset. In only one day she had grown to care over some random boy they were supposed to kidnap and hold as their ticket back to their old life, yet he made their travel so much more entertaining. She placed a hand on his cheek and pumped a small amount of warmth. It ceased his quivering and brought an earnest smile to her face.
As Greg watched four frenetic alien women try to finish a cell-phone locator in order to recover his son still in the clutches of two unknown gems that had powers equivalent to a certain cartoon he enjoyed, he realized how he rarely applied the millions he had practically. He could easily buy a house in full, yet he still lived in his van. He could even afford all the best insurance policies and upgrades to make it more comfortable, yet it remained the same when he was trying to sell CDs out of the back door as a wannabe rock star. He could also restart his musical career with all the experience he has gained and easily fund any expenses, but he kept those dreams behind him. As this night dragged on, however, Greg swore to himself there would be three items he would purchase that morning: A repaired beach house with his own room in it, some yoga lessons, and a coffee maker.
The first so he could finally watch his son in person (plus now he could actually hire employees for his business, yet another novel concept that he realized he could afford now,) the second to control his stress and the third so the next time a rescue operation pushes into the dead of night he could stay awake.
"At least my stress is good for something at this point," he thought bitterly.
While Greg was preoccupied with financial planning and self-loathing, the gems were still bustling as their apparatus neared completion. Pearl and Peridot were carefully balancing speed and precision as they put on the final steps to make their device work while Amethyst and Lapis kept vigil over Garnet, the unconscious fusion now missing most of her legs which slowly disappeared into the ether.
After several hours of straight work, the two mechanical gems finally deemed their project complete. Amethyst and Lapis managed to take their eyes off of their comatose comrade along with a beatdown father and watched with bated breath as Pearl activated the tangled mess of wires, dissected cell phones and a tiny generator with a repurposed light switch. Within seconds the phones blared to life and sent out signals across the various satellites over the planet and after minutes which felt like eternity to the onlookers, Peridot's tablet displayed a set of coordinates that revealed Steven was somewhere in the Adirondack Mountains bordering several states. After a quick round of cheers and remembering a warp pad was only a few miles from there, the Crystal Gems ran off to recover their beloved goofball. Greg stayed behind to watch over Garnet, grumbling that he was also getting life insurance after this was all said and done.
As the two parties of gems rushed towards their goals, Steven and Garnet were still together in the fusion's mindscape which was quickly unraveling at the seams. The surreal harmony of the volcanic winter was becoming a boiling maelstrom that was threatening to swallow both of their minds whole in a tidal wave of emotional strife. Fire and ice met in a steaming meltdown as plumes of magma and waves of freezing water battered the small circle of black rock holding the only denizens of this place. Somewhere in the midst of their mutual angst, Ruby and Sapphire fled and were nowhere to be seen.
The once proud Garnet, a guardian of Earth so unshakable that all but the greatest dangers fazed her. Now all of the pressure and turmoil she has experienced over five thousand years were threatening to crush her spirit and send her into oblivion.
As for Steven, he was desperately yelling for Garnet to snap out of her delusion as pain racked his entire body. His ability to connect with others seemed like a blessing most of the time, but now it was a horrible curse as Garnet's crippling doubt and sorrow was wrecking his entire system. His throat was sore from the constant yelling and his tear ducts ran dry, but he kept his sight on his comrade as the sights and sounds of countless mistakes blared around him. All the torment and anguish he was suffering was unbearable, but he would not let Garnet fall victim to her own mind. He tried lifting his foot, but it felt like he was lifting a boulder. He forced his body to cooperate and managed to take the first step; refusing to let this suffering continue.
The quartet of Amethyst, Lapis, Pearl and Peridot arrived in the Adirondack Mountains with the green tech whiz in front with her old tablet showing the coordinates of their target. Lapis took to the sky to scan the area for their enemies and any water she could use in the upcoming fight. The group may want a peaceful resolution to this whole mess, but all of them knew those two would not release their hostage willingly. With Lapis airborne and Peridot keeping focused on navigating, Pearl and Amethyst were left to their own devices as they closed the distance.
"So…How are you feeling?" asked Amethyst while scratching her neck in an awkward attempt to cut through the palpable tension.
"At this point I am so exhausted, a flying whale could drop out of the sky and even I would barely bat an eye. I just want this whole ordeal to be over." Pearl had already brought out her spear in preparation.
"Heh, I could have used that when I spilled grape juice all over the couch. Would have saved a lot of squawking," The purple jokester noticed her companion formed a smile for a split second and decided to continue.
"I mean, I wish it didn't take Steven getting kidnapped to get you like this, but at least it won't happen again. And he's safe this time." Pearl stopped in her tracks hearing that.
"I hope so…I just wonder how she would-"
"Pearl, stop. You know thinking like that is not helping."
True to her word, the spindly swordswoman could not raise an objection and continued along the winding rocky trails, occasionally hopping over a crevice or moving an inconvenient hunk of rock along the way. According to Peridot, they were only a few thousand yards away.
"Good job with that cell phone tech-tracker. Smart idea."
"Thanks. I'm more surprised Greg thought of it. I wonder how he's taking all of this."
Amethyst shrugged as they began to climb in silence with their green guide hopping on Pearl's back as they ascended a steep cliff. They soon spotted their two targets with Cinnabar guarding Steven while Adamite was tampering with an odd cylindrical stone with a large hole missing from its center.
"What's the earth chick doing?" asked Amethyst.
"I can't tell from this distance, but that might be a large wailing stone she's manipulating…Rose planted dozens of them during the war," responded Pearl.
"Wow, you all had some real archaic technology back then," commented Peridot, earning a stern glare from Pearl.
"Not that they weren't effective!" backpedaled the minute techie, "I mean, even after millennia of exposure to erosion it's still standing and I recall Lapis used a more compact one to contact you from Homeworld so it must have incredible signal strength!" Peridot chuckled nervously until the white gem stopped shooting daggers at her.
With her temper soothed, Pearl motioned the others to slowly approach the two making as little noise as possible. As both of them were preoccupied, the three made their way over and saw Adamite was indeed using her terrakinesis to slowly mend the cracks and faults in the ancient communication device. Due to how precise the process was, however, it was clear that even for her it would take hours to properly restore. As they were ready to launch a surprise attack on the two, Lapis flew back to the peak and landed in plain view of Cinnabar.
"Lapis?! What are you doing here?" sputtered the red rogue.
"I…came here to find Steven. Is he still okay?" Lapis noticed, much to her delight, that the boy did not have a scratch on him.
"He has been out for a long time now, but he's fine otherwise. We're not just giving him up, you know."
Lapis sighed, already expecting that rebuttal. "How long are you going to keep him? He needs food and water to survive, you know."
"He could be with us for a long time, but he's been very cooperative so far. We'll make sure he survives otherwise Rose Quartz will not surrender."
"There's just one thing I don't get, though. Why do you two want to go back to Homeworld so badly?" Lapis sat next to her red doppelganger and placed a hand on the still resting Steven.
"Because we want to be useful again," she answered as if it were the easiest question in the world, "Adamite and I can go back to doing missions to help the Diamonds!"
Lapis clinched her teeth hearing that, the pure eagerness in her voice sounding as painful as nails on a chalkboard.
"You know, Cinnabar, I was back on Homeworld too. I flew all the way back there myself. And when I got there…" She noticed Adamite was glancing in her direction, awaiting her answer as well as the scarlet arsonist.
"They…forced me to come back here along with two other gems to be an informant for them."
"That's understandable, especially if you brought up the still-active rebellion on this planet," stated Adamite as she resumed work on the wailing stone.
"Yeah, well, they also put me in a cell like a prisoner. And that's not the first time they did this either…"
"What? Why would they do that? You didn't say you were part of their group, right?" wondered Cinnabar.
"Because Homeworld doesn't care about gems. If anything is not absolutely perfect to them, they throw it away! You know Peridot once talked to Yellow Diamond herself and told her about all the unique resources on Earth after staying here for so long? Yellow Diamond rejected it because she just wants the Earth to blow up!"
Adamite scoffed at that suggestion. "That is preposterous. A Diamond, of all gems, would never act in such an illogical, foolhardy manner when presented with a situation where she would have everything to gain and nothing to lose aside from some minor altercations with the Crystal Gems. I do not say this to demean your…compatriots, but a large-scale invasion would annihilate all of them in no time at all. She would know all of the risks and rewards involved, so why act so rashly?"
"Because the Diamonds are jerks! They don't care about you, or any other gem!" Lapis shouted as she got into Adamite's face and forced her to make eye contact. She noticed how her face, identical to her own in every way except expression, stared back at her with no emotion. "They want to blow this place up because they don't like it! They aren't geniuses! They are overpowered children who are still whining and pouting because they didn't get what they wanted! That gem war was thousands of years ago, and they are still sore losers over it even though it's the only time they've ever lost out of tens of thousands of planets! Why would you honestly want to work for them?!"
Instead of a proper answer, Adamite looked her blue counterpart in the eyes with an inkling of pity and a great deal of disappointment. Her thick arms pushed the scrawnier gem away with ease as she returned to her work.
"I am sorry for you Lapis Lazuli," she muttered with her back turned, "You have truly lost your way. You are no longer the loyal partner I worked with for so long. Out of what respect I have left for you I will not force you to abandon this planet you have grown attached to, but I will not defend you or defy my Diamond when they inevitably come to shatter you for your insolence. I will give you one chance to flee now, but if we ever meet again I will act as a proper Homeworld gem and attack a traitor such as yourself. Now go while I resume my work."
"I'm not leaving here without Steven!"
Cinnabar stood after watching their confrontation sitting down. Her hands were already igniting as she shared Adamite's disappointment of seeing a long-time friend turn on her, but lacked any emotional subtlety and looked ready for a fight.
"You think we're going to listen to you after that?! And besides, you're here all by yourself with no water!"
"Wrong." Lapis need not say more as a massive pool of water, enough to fill several actual pools, floated above her from several mountain streams and ponds to right above their heads, distorting the moonlight and covering them in shadow.
The other three Crystal Gems, having watched the whole encounter in stunned silence, took their cue and rushed forward with Pearl and Amethyst jumping into battle while Peridot ran towards the unconscious Steven. Lapis caused tendrils of water and fly towards both her opponents, but Adamite tunneled behind her while Cinnabar turned them to steam with streams of flame.
As their battle was beginning, though, another was being waged by the Steven Universe as he walked onwards towards the near-broken Garnet despite his body screaming for him to stop. Every inch he put between him and her caused throes of agony in every fiber of his being, but he refused to stop.
The mental landscape around them was still crumbling, the ring of black rock beneath them being the only land remaining as pools of molten lava and frigid water met in a violent storm. Snow and ash fell from the sickly violet sky in a black and white downpour that threatened to swallow everything.
"Garnet, please get up!" he pleaded ten feet away from her, "You can't lose yourself now! We still need you!"
For the first time since her initial breakdown, Garnet spoke. "Why? So I can fail you again? Like I failed you, the Earth, Rose…"
"Garnet, you are not a failure! You have done your best to protect me and everyone else that matters!" he argued as he felt a second wind driving him forward. He blocked out the freezing flakes and burning ash falling in his face as he felt his chest warm up as his vigor returned.
"Look at me, Garnet! You're getting upset about the past when you can't do anything to change it! I get it, you feel you could have done better, but that's not important now! What's important is that we look forward, not backward!"
Garnet's head rose and saw Steven staring into her eyes, amazed by the ferocity of his gaze. The blizzard around them started to subside and the steam began clearing away to reveal a ravaged series of black islets in a boiling ocean.
"Don't beat yourself over it all, it won't help with anything! You have so many incredible things in the past and you still can!"
The screen of clouds from before returned, only now above both of them as practically every memory of Garnet played out in rapid succession. While many had her in the heat of battle, others were her just providing advice or being a reassuring presence in troubling times. For the first time in days, Garnet could feel her spirit lifting. As she rose, Ruby and Sapphire returned and stood behind her, holding hands as they remembered all the amazing accomplishments they have had together with the blue cyclops knowing for a fact that countless more could be on the horizon.
"Garnet, you told me that I shouldn't worry about every little thing in the future and live my life! Now I'm asking you to do the same thing. Don't worry about what might happen, but do your best to make it the future you want! We've been through a lot together, but we always got through it and we can do it again! I know that, and so does everyone else! That's why we look up to you Garnet, so we can be in that great future with you!"
The fusion was beaming as she soaked in his words, the world around them reflecting her mood as the volcanic winter returned in all its surreal beauty. The red and blue resumed their ethereal dance above them and the majestic beauty of icy rivers and lava streams came into focus. The two managed to wave goodbye to each other before they began to fade back into the real world.
Greg had briefly walked away to get a cup of coffee to force himself awake until his son came home and to continue watching over Garnet. The fusion was halfway to evaporating into nothingness, her legs barely visible and her hair had begun disappearing as well. Her gems were still gray and her eyes closed. Greg felt utterly powerless as he could not look at his house or else he would remember his part in those two gems kidnapping his son. If he looked down, he saw a long-time friend of his slowly disappear into the ether with no way he could even slow it down. If he looked up towards the sky, he was reminded of how Homeworld had a death wish out for his son and the entire planet at large.
Just as Greg was about to give up and return to his van, the blinding lights from Garnet's gems sprung to life with a vengeance. The drowsy dad was shocked right back into being fully awake as the red and blue lights spread from the fusion's palms up her arms until it consumed her entire form. Once her whole body was reformed, her form shone with the intensity of a polychromatic sun as she was lifted off the sand and several inches into the air. In only a few seconds Garnet stood, reborn as if nothing had happened.
"Garnet?! What happened to you? What was that?" he began spouting, trying to wrap his mind over the lightshow he just witnessed, but the towering fusion wasted no time dashing straight towards the house. She literally broke down the door and hopped onto the warp pad, letting her future vision guide her to her Steven.
Greg looked on and, after what may have been the worst day of his life, passed out from all the hectic gem chaos around him.
Steven awoke to find himself in the middle of a battle between Adamite and Cinnabar and the Crystal Gems minus Garnet. Amethyst and Peridot were currently contending with the scarlet-skinned arsonist who was bombarding the two with fireballs of every shape and size. From tiny embers made to upset their tactics to spheres large enough to engulf them, Cinnabar was frantically trying and failing to hit Amethyst who was spin-dashing and leaping out of every strike. The red gem stood between her and Steven with the obvious goal of protecting her hostage whom she had to admit was not bad company. Peridot was both loving and dreading her role as a distraction as she insulted and taunted Cinnabar to draw her literal fire away from Amethyst while she tried to ensnare her foe.
That left Adamite to content with Pearl and a very peeved Lapis Lazuli who was trying to pound her ex-comrade with globs of water from her massive reservoir. Adamite was forced to exert herself more than she had in centuries in order to avoid the watery missiles and contend with Pearl who was nimbly dodging and circling around every blockade and attack she summoned from below with her usual dexterity. Adamite was gradually being pushed away from the wailing stone and even with her tunneling ability, the onslaught would simply pick up where it left off.
Steven simply took it all in and debated with himself whether he should jump into the fray as well. On the one hand, these two rogues abducted him and had a clear loyalty to Homeworld meaning they would fall under the "bad guy" label. On the other hand, he had spent hours bonding with them and they clearly meant no harm to any innocents. Not only that, they made good on their promise to leave them unharmed when both of them could have easily ended him.
Eventually his decision was made for him as Adamite, realizing she was once again being overwhelmed by superior numbers, forced a ring of rock to rise around Steven up to his neck. Unlike her encounter with the ruby captain from earlier, though, the earth gem left it at that and made no plans to severely harm him unless necessary.
"That is enough," she commanded, "We still have possession over your ally. Surrender now and we will ensure he is unharmed until we acquire Rose Quartz."
"Hey, come on!" griped Amethyst, feeling an awful sense of déjà vu, "That's not fair! First you almost roast his dad, now you're going to bury him?! You two are sick!"
"Fair is irrelevant. We have a clear goal in mind to reunite ourselves with Homeworld so we may be of use to the Diamonds once again. This boy is a key bargaining chip so that we may convince Rose Quartz to surrender for her crimes and for our acceptance back into the Diamonds' graces. We do not wish to harm him, but we will if you do not surrender immediately."
As Adamite tried to prove her point by forcing the rock around Steven to tighten, a strange thud could be heard in the distance. The entire party, friend and foe alike, was caught off guard as the sound grew louder until a figure came into view bounding towards them, leaping dozens of feet into the air off of mountaintops and ridges of rock until it landed square in the middle of them all. After the dust from the impact settled, Garnet stood there as calm as could be.
"Garnet, you're okay!" cheered Steven as the rest of the Crystal Gems stood dumbfounded at their de facto leader's sudden recovery. Adamite and Cinnabar, on the other hand, were less than impressed.
"I was questioning why you were not here previously," stated Adamite as she and her partner readied themselves for another round, "From Steven's words I would assume you were incapacitated."
"Pretty much," replied Garnet, as frank as ever, "Now I'll give you both one chance. Release Steven now or I will personally take you down."
"Hah, really?!" boasted Cinnabar, "It took all of you Crystal Gems to beat us last time and even that didn't work! And now you think you can beat us both yourself? Not going to happen!" To properly start the battle, the flame-throwing gem sent a fireball straight at Garnet's face. The fusion responded by raising her left hand and catching it without so much as flinching. In only seconds the ball was fully extinguished in her grip.
(Cue Epic Theme Song: Unfinished Battle from Xenoblade Chronicles)
As Cinnabar stood dumbfounded, Garnet let out a hearty chuckle. "Somehow…I knew you'd say that."
The fusion took off like a rocket straight towards her red foe, summoning her gauntlets in a literal flash, but her fist punch was met by a wall of rock intercepting her fist. Garnet plowed right through the barrier and landed a hit straight to Cinnabar's stupefied face.
"Hmph. Not bad, but you're going to need more than that," she taunted, even goading Adamite by beckoning her forward. The normally aloof gem forced her temper down as she levitated several dozen stones to fly at Garnet. Each one was dodged or deflected without a second's delay much to Adamite's bafflement.
Cinnabar tried to capitalize on the opportunity by blindsiding her from the back, both her hands engulfed in flame and ready to strike only to find Garnet's foot sweeping under her legs forcing her to jump over her.
"What's going on?!" yelled the scarlet arsonist as she got back on her feet, "It's like she knows everything we do before we do it!"
"Heh, you're not far off on that," laughed Garnet before coming at the two again. The duo split up to throw her off and launched volley of stones and embers only for Garnet to leap out of harm's way, forcing the elemental gems to dodge as well.
While the two-on-one battle continued, the other Crystal Gems were amazed at what they were beholding.
"Dang, Garnet's rocking those chumps! She must have had a really good nap!" cheered Amethyst, elated to see such a masterful butt-kicking.
"Indeed, her bravado seems fully restored but how?" questioned Pearl, "It's as if her being unconscious revitalized her. Any ideas, Peridot?"
"At this point, I am merely grateful this debacle is over. We can analyze this situation later!" The diminutive engineer was too swept up in the excitement about finally seeing these two getting their comeuppance to properly answer.
Garnet's opponents, however, were only feeling frustrated at how one gem was making a mockery of them. Adamite was trying every formation and tactic she could think of, even trying to blindside her larger opponent, but Garnet shrugged off almost everything she threw at her. Her compatriot was doing even worse as Cinnabar was futilely throwing everything she had at Garnet only for it to be dodged or completely pointless. Her rage was growing with every missed shot and her pointed hair was literally smoking in anger.
After several dozen more shots missed their tall yet surprisingly limber target, the arsonist gem was at her wit's end. She had to face the reality that her pyrokinesis was not affecting Garnet in the least. Her eyes gradually moved to the assembly of gems still watching the brawl in awe. She could see Steven was still off the side, not having moved an inch since the fighting started. With no hesitation, she opened both her palms and summoned the largest column of fire she could muster, enough to swallow all four gems whole and then some. She did not care anymore, not even Adamite could talk her out of it. The immense stream of fire was only seconds away from the gems, all of them turning to face the oncoming inferno in horror. All of them were frozen to the spot, some already wincing from how much it would hurt, others deducing how much heat her gemstone could take before literally melting. Steven was about to cry in agony, half ready to leap into the flame's path to stop it with his shield and talk Cinnabar down. Anything to save his family from being incinerated…
…Then the flames just stopped. In mid-air. Still hot and perfectly capable of scorching, but completely still. Even Adamite's jaw dropped at this spectacular defiance of physics.
Everyone gradually turned to see Garnet extending her left hand, a confident smile plastered on her face. She willed the fire to move towards her and slowly the flames entered the ruby in her palm. The two could have taken the opportunity to attack, but she was mostly certain her opponents were too shocked by the revelation to take advantage of her spectacle. Neither rogue elemental moved as the fire was slowly consumed in its entirety, leaving only some overheated terrain as proof it had ever existed.
Silence reigned for several seconds, the only sounds being those of any wildlife on nearby mountaintops and a gentle night wind. Then Adamite, all her confidence and analytical nature gone, dropped to her muscular knees in awe.
"H-H-How…?" was the only word she could utter.
"What, your friend isn't the only fire manipulator out there," Garnet replied conversationally, "I can do it too."
Holding out her hand once again, she pushed out her own geyser of fire straight from her palm. It may not have been anywhere near as large as Cinnabar's from before, but it was hot and fast enough to sweep the dazed Adamite away, screaming in shock and pain as the flames sent her flying into a nearby peak where she stopped with a harsh crash before sliding down like a ragdoll.
Having witnessed her most defining power being rendered completely useless and her partner being taken down so easily, Cinnabar made the most logical move at this point; run for her life.
She did not make it far, however, as Garnet had another new trick up her sleeve. She opened her right hand and from her sapphire flew an icy wind. In only seconds it caught up to the fleeing gem and left her frozen solid. Satisfied that the strenuous work was all done, Garnet strolled up while whistling a certain tune she taught another fusion some months ago. She calmly walked around to the front where an utterly terrified Cinnabar was too consumed with terror to try thawing herself out. She was more concerned that Garnet had her gauntlets put away for the first time in the whole battle.
"Hey Cinnabar," she asked casually. With her mouth still frozen, Cinnabar could only reply with an unsure "Uh-huh?"
"You lost," the fusion stated blankly. The frozen gem answered with a second, more downtrodden "Uh-huh."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to shatter you." A relieved sigh came from the gem turned ice-sculpture.
"But I am going to bubble you." She summoned her right gauntlet and wound up her punch as Cinnabar let out several terrified squeaks, hoping that would make her hesitate. Her cries fell on deaf ears as Garnet rammed a harsh punch right into Cinnabar's chest. With the numbing cold and intense pain of the blow proving too much for her form, she was reduced to a circular red gemstone now sitting in a pile of ice shards. The fusion made good on her promise to keep her whole and stored in a translucent red bubble. She sent it back to the temple with a flick of her hand before calmly leaping to a lower peak where Adamite was still recovering from her flash frying.
The green hijacker was still splayed out in agony on the nearest cliff where she crashed after being blasted by Garnet's fire, her long head of pale-yellow hair completely charred. While she may not have any skin, her entire form was in burning pain. She was only barely keeping her eyes open and when she spotted Garnet strolling towards her, she desperately tried using her powers. She managed to move a pebble a few inches before Garnet reached her and hefted her up by her broad shoulders.
"Hello there." There was no malice in her voice, but the tight grip on Adamite's shoulders let her know she intended to hurt her.
"You displayed…none of these abilities when we first fought," coughed Adamite with the last of her energy, "How…did you develop entirely new abilities in such little time?"
"Because of something you should have learned after all the time you spent on Earth. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet."
Adamite could not bear to speak an answer so Garnet replied for her.
"We are full of surprises. Especially when one of our own is in danger…" she let a trace of venom enter her voice as both her hands lit up with electricity. Adamite let out one last pained scream as thousands of volt racked her form before she finally could not stand anymore and retreated into her gem. Garnet quickly bubbled the pentagonal green stone and sent it back to the temple.
With all the chaos said and done, the confident fusion leaped back to the others who were still rooted to the same spot. Before the others could ask her any questions, Garnet made her way to Steven who looked at her in awe and wonder. She kneeled down to his level and gave him the biggest hug she could muster without harming him and whispered a heartfelt thank you into his ear for what he had done for her. The youth merely hugged her back and fell into her arms as hours of constant travel and his immersive trip into Garnet's mind caught up with him and fell asleep instantly. The fusion happily carried him home with the other four gems still following behind, all eager for some normalcy in their lives.
AND... DONE! About time too, this is one of my favorite chapters and now it's here for all to enjoy! Tune in next time for some calmer moments after all this action.
Thank you all so much for reading! Please feel free to leave a review!