Chapter 6
Steven dived for the ball as it shot towards the sand following an impressive hit from Snowflake. The towering Gem had, rather predictably, shown quite an aptitude for beach volleyball, and Steven had been one of the few people brave enough to actually try to intercept her shots. Steven's team had both Bismuth and Garnet to balance things out in terms of power, while Snowflake was teamed with Crazy Lace and an Ocean Jasper whose name Steven couldn't yet remember on-command.
Steven knocked the ball upwards with both fists, teeing it up for Garnet, who sent it rocketing over the net. Crazy Lace narrowly managed to reach it, knocking it high into the air over Steven's side of the field. Steven grinned as the ball came closer; it was time to show off the move he'd been working on. Jumping multiple times his height, he positioned himself in front of the ball. "OK; here goes: Boomeraaaaang Ball!" he shouted, smacking the ball back with enough speed to send it into the sand before Snowflake's team had a chance to react. As he drifted back down, he high-fived Garnet and Bismuth. "Nice job Steven" said Garnet "but there was nothing really boomerang-y about that. It just went in a straight line."
"Yeah, and even if there had been, wouldn't that have been a bad thing?" asked Bismuth. "Isn't the whole point that we don't want the ball to come back to our side?" Steven smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, the name's more for cool-factor than accuracy." Garnet and Bismuth simply chuckled in response, and followed Steven as he headed to the balcony for some water. As Steven took a bottle and plonked himself down into one of the chairs, his gaze shifted towards the boardwalk. Garnet noticed his face fall slightly as he did. It was so subtle that few would have picked it up, but she had known him for long enough to be able to notice the slightest change in his demeanour. "You're thinking about Rose and Sapphire" she stated matter-of-factly. Steven knew better than to deny it. "I hope their day out is going well" he said, looking up at Garnet. "They were both so sad before. I can tell that they want to hang out again, but what if I'm pushing them back together before they're ready?"
"Steven" said Garnet earnestly, leaning down and cupping Steven's face between her palms, "you've always been an excellent judge of peoples' feelings. You pushed Greg and Pearl together when they had issues to work out, and you did the same when Pearl and I weren't speaking, and it turned out for the best both times. From what Sapphire said to me, I think you did the right thing here too." Steven perked up slightly in response, rewarding Garnet with the broad smile she liked seeing as often as possible.
"Hey" shouted the Ocean Jasper from down the beach with a smile. "Are we playing or what?!"
"Coming!" shouted Steven, now fully perked up. Within a minute the game had started back up, and Snowflake was more eager than ever to get a win. Her shots came with so much force now that even Steven was thinking twice about getting in the way of them. As the latest volley shot his way, Bismuth slapped it back, her hand shifted into a hammer for extra power. It was enough to catch Snowflake off guard. The massive Obsidian hit the ball far too high, and with enough force that it flew high over the net, beyond the beach, and into the forest on the other side of the boardwalk. "Eheheh…oops" chuckled Obsidian nervously, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Don't worry about it Snowflake" said Steven. "Us Gems don't know our own strength sometimes. Garnet, do you know where the ball went?"
Garnet stared off into space silently. The almost imperceptible shimmer that ran across her visor was the only giveaway that she was using her future vision. "Found it" she said after a few seconds, before beginning to walk off, presumably to retrieve the ball. "I'll help!" Steven piped up, jogging after Garnet as she left. He knew that she didn't really need any help, but truthfully he welcomed the opportunity to continue their conversation from earlier. They were going via the boardwalk too, so he figured that if he was lucky he might even get a glimpse of Rose and Sapphire along the way. Unfortunately, he had no such luck. As he and Garnet passed the boardwalk, he saw plenty of Humans and uncorrupted Gems making their way in and out of various shops, but he saw no sign of Rose and Sapphire. Steven made a mental note to catch up with the two of them later, and started considering convenient times to see them. He chuckled to himself when he realised that he was all but booking an appointment in his head. "I really am turning into a counsellor aren't I?" he laughed under his breath.
Garnet smiled to herself as she heard Steven chuckling behind her. She knew that he was still concerned for Rose and Sapphire, as she herself was, but she was glad to see that it wasn't making him too worried. She had hoped that, with the fight against the Diamonds over, Steven would be able to stop shouldering other peoples' problems quite so much. She realised now though that that was never going to happen. Worrying about other peoples' feelings was just in Steven's nature; it was what made him so brilliant; it was what made him better than the last person to bear his gem. Sometimes, that meant that he carried more burdens than he should, but that was just who he was. Besides, she and the other Crystal Gems were there to back him up if it ever became too much.
The pair wandered into the forest which bordered Beach City, with Garnet leading the way in deliberate fashion, already knowing that the ball was in a clearing not too far from their position. Steven was following a bit more playfully, stopping occasionally to watch an animal or take in a pleasant view, but he still kept up with her easily, his boundless energy seemingly undented by an extended game of volleyball. "Alright Steven" Garnet called back to him as she reached the clearing. "The ball's right-" Garnet stopped as she emerged into the clearing. The ball was exactly where she had seen that it would be, give or take a centimetre. What Garnet hadn't foreseen was what else would be there. Sat in the clearing, propping itself up on three small landing struts, was a Roaming Eye.
Steven bumped into Garnet's back as he caught up with her, having not expected her to stop so suddenly. "Woah! Garnet, what's...?" Peering around Garnet's hips, Steven caught sight of the ship. "A Roaming Eye? What's one doing here? Are some Homeworld Gems visiting or something?" Steven was somewhat surprised; it had been agreed that Homeworld Gems would avoid coming to Earth unannounced, given how high tensions were running between Homeworld and Earth. It seemed strange that the Diamonds would break that agreement. Then again, Gems were allowed to roam freely within the confines of Beach City; a concession that had been made by Earth's governments which had been intended to allow the uncorrupted Gems to lead normal lives on Earth. Steven doubted that the decision had been made with the intention of more Gems arriving, but word of Earth had been spreading like wildfire across Homeworld since the beginning of Era 3, so it certainly wasn't out of the question that more Gems might come to visit, or even set up home.
"I don't know why it's here" Garnet said matter-of-factly, hiding the trepidation she felt. "I didn't see it when I used my future vision." Garnet's miraculous power had one limitation: it bombarded her with so many possible futures, that it was impossible to take them all in. All she could hope to do when she used her power was to sort them by probability; an easy task, as the likelihood of a given future tended to correspond to the clarity with which she saw it. However, this did mean that less probably events could catch her by surprise, such as the appearance of the Roaming Eye. Throughout her time on Earth, Garnet had always had visions of Homeworld ships showing up, looking for her and her friends. Even after the end of the war, it had remained an unlikely yet distinctly possible outcome, so her future vision had always been plagued by at least one outcome involving an unexpected ship. She had learnt over the years to ignore or filter out these possibilities, as they virtually never came to pass. Today though, seemed to be an exception. Internally, she chastised herself for her carelessness. If the war hadn't been over, such an oversight could have put the others in danger. As it stood though, it was likely just some sightseers with a nebulous regard for Earth's privacy.
"Well, only one way to find out I guess" said Steven, walking towards the ship. Garnet made sure to use her future vision this time, and, sensing no danger on board the ship, followed behind him. As Steven and Garnet walked through the open hatch, they were met by an interior that was much the same as every other Roaming Eye; a deceptively spacious bridge with bright orange walls, lined with low-to-the-ground consoles intended for use by Rubies. What they weren't met by however, was any sort of crew. The ship was completely deserted, and, judging from the lack of the distinctive electronic hum that usually typified all Gem technology, powered down. "Hmm" said Steven, scratching his chin "guess they already headed out into the city." Garnet glanced over to him. "We should probably get out there and track them down" she said in a calm but serious tone. "The people of Beach City may be used to Gems, but a bunch of Rubies with no idea of Earth's laws running about could still cause some trouble." Steven silently nodded in agreement, and the pair headed back outside. "I'll ask a few of the others to come and help move it once we're home" Garnet remarked as they headed back through the forest, volleyball in-hand. "We can't just leave a functional Roaming Eye sitting around where Humans could run into it." Steven nodded again, thinking back to his misguided attempt to operate Peridot's escape pod. Even a small Gem ship could do a lot of damage if it wasn't properly operated… or even if it was for that matter. What if an innocent Human stumbled across it? What if Onion found it? Steven shuddered as he considered the possibility, and picked up his pace; the sooner they got that ship somewhere safe, the better.
As he and Garnet emerged back onto the boardwalk, Steven finally caught sight of Rose. He had actually forgotten about her for a moment, what with the Roaming Eye and all, but his thoughts quickly returned to her situation as soon as he noticed her. She was sat alone on a bench, looking out over the beach. His stomach dropped; the fact that she was alone probably wasn't a good sign. "Um…Garnet? Would you mind heading back to the house on your own?" Garnet glanced over at Rose and immediately understood. "Sure thing. You just leave the ship to me, and go do what you do best, counsellor." Steven shot her a mock scowl, which she answered with a smirk, before strolling off back to the beach house.
Now alone on the beach, Steven wandered cautiously over to Rose. Various questions played in his head to explain why she was sitting around on her own. Had her day out with Sapphire gone badly? If so, which of them had called it off? Rose noticed his approach as he got closer, turning her head to face him and giving him a meek smile. She didn't look too depressed, which Steven took as a good sign at least. "Hey Rose" he said as he sat down on the bench beside her. "You ok? How… how did it go?" Rose gave a small sigh and looked out towards the water again. "I'm not sure. I think it went well; I mean; we had a good time and everything. It's just…"
"Just...?" Steven pried.
"Sapphire… has some things she needs to work out right now; besides the stuff with me I mean" Rose replied. Steven wasn't sure what to make of that. Sapphire had seemed to have enough on her plate with just the tension between her and Rose. The idea that she might be shouldering another issue was concerning. Too much pressure could crack even the strongest Gem, and Sapphires didn't exactly fit that definition. "Do you know where she is?" he asked. "I'm sure if we talk it out she'll-"
"Steven" Rose interrupted, holding up a hand to indicate that he'd said enough. "I know your natural urge is to be everyone's therapist, and Sapphire and I both really appreciate what you've done for us, but please, leave Sapphire be for now. This is something that she only shares with people when she has to. If and when she's ready, she'll come to you. Until then, I think it's best if we both give her space."
Steven nodded meekly in reply. He knew full well that this was hurting Rose a lot more than it was hurting him. The fact that she was being so respectful of Sapphire's boundaries despite obviously wanting intensely to be with her showed just how far she had come in a few short weeks. "Ok, I'll leave her to it for now. But if things get too much for her, you let me know, ok?" Steven said the words with kindness, but also with enough force to make it clear that the point was non-negotiable. "Ok, ok" said Rose, chuckling and throwing up her hands. "I'll make sure she doesn't get in over her head." With that established, the two of them turned their heads back to the sea, watching as the tiny waves rippled against the shore. "Hey" said Steven, "I don't suppose you could use some company for the day? Garnet's handling some Gem stuff, so I'm pretty sure my volleyball game just got cancelled." He was making the request as much for her as for himself. He was sure that, as much as things had improved between Rose and Sapphire that day, both Gems still had a long way to go, and they would need all the companionship they could get along that journey.
Rose looked down at him with a smile so warm that it conjured visions of his mother's portrait on the beach house wall. "I think I'd like that Steven."
