Alright, no matter how much groveling I do I just can't express how sorry I am for this taking so long, I know it's been a while, and it's not cause of something I can't control, I just wasn't sure what to do with this chapter in all honesty, and I can already see this story going downhill, but I won't stop here cause I got big plans.
Anyway, yes, I have heard of the account that is rewriting this story in Spanish, and while it wasn't with my permission at first, I decided to let them do it cause not everyone can read English.
Now with that being said, I don't want to see any other people rewriting any my stories again, if you catch this, please tell me so I can take care of it.
-=The Diamond house=-
-=Steven/Spinel=-
The next morning Steven woke up to the smell of breakfast, him and Spinel still on the couch. He opened his eyes and looked down to see that one of the Diamonds had put a blanket over him and Spinel.
Then he realized that Spinel was cuddling up on him, still sleeping with a content smile. He blushed a deep red, realizing the implications of this now that he was fully awake, unlike last night.
He went to get up quietly, but she coiled her arm around his torso at the slightest movement.
He gave a sigh as he laid his head back down. "Guess I'm staying here till she gets up." He thought to himself, closing his eyes and taking the time to review everything that had happened yesterday and last night.
His trip to earth didn't go as planned, being interrupted by the issue with Ronaldo, and then finding out that if that book is as specific as the other, someone now has all the information they'll ever really need about him and the Gems.
Then after the stressful second half of that day, he came back to Homeworld only to find out that he had Gems rebelling against him, going as far as to have an all out war with his supporters.
Luckily enough no one he knew personally was hurt, but there were still many Gems shattered and the capital was in shambles.
He was close to having another breakdown, but Spinel was able to clear his mind before they returned to the house.
He then remembered the time that they spent together. If he was being honest, up till yesterday, he was still hung up over Connie. He felt alone in the universe for so long after loosing his best friend, as she had always been there for him when the Gems weren't.
Then, he met Spinel. She was a regift to him for his birthday, but as you could easily assume, he didn't just see her like that. Spinel was already truly his new best friend.
He was able to talk with her about his feeling on Rose/Pink because for once he had someone who would agree with him and not just get mad about his opinions on and feeling about her.
Then there was how she reassured him that just as he was there for her from now on, she was going to be here for him as well; something Steven needed to hear more than he would've ever thought.
And of course how she kept him from breaking down again last night. Now that he was thinking about her, he came to realize just how close they've grown in just two days. Maybe he needed her just as much as she needed him, what with the lonely lifestyle he had on Homeworld and just the stress of everything, he needed someone to confide in, someone to just be there for him whenever he needed it.
Sure, Citrine and Dendrite were good friends, but in the end, but he couldn't help but feel that they liked him just because he was royalty here.
So, in conclusion, he needed someone that he could trust to share his true feelings and thoughts with, as well as someone to keep him company, and she needed someone to put her trust in and attach herself to so she would never have to feel alone and abandoned ever again. Sure, maybe it wasn't the most healthy relationship in the world, but it worked for the time being.
Steven laid there for what could have been more then an hour for all he knew, listening to the quiet sounds of her steady breathing, making him aware of just how silent the house was right now.
A few minutes later, Spinel's eyes opened as she woke up from her long night of sleep. She found herself feeling unnaturally comfortable, more so than she probably ever had before.
The pink Gem then realized that she had her arms wrapped around something, or as she came to realize a second later, someone.
She too blushed deeply when she realized that Steven had an arm around her and she was holding onto him tightly.
"H-hello..." She said quietly, feeling the warmth in her gem spread to all over her body as an almost unbearable heat.
"Heh, good morning sleepyhead." Steven chuckled, taking his arm off of her, though much to her disappointment, as him doing so making the warmth fade away slowly.
Spinel stood up, letting his other arm go, giving a light chuckle as she spoke, "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to be all over you like that."
"It's fine, don't worry about it." Steven reassured her with a smile as he got up as well. "I assume you slept well this time?"
"Yeah, I didn't have any 'nightmares' and sleeping actually felt really nice this time around." She answered with a nod and returning a smile.
"Well I'm glad to hear that. Maybe you're getting over your anxiety already?" Steven theorized.
"Maybe, but i think it was..." She thought for a moment and decided it would probably be awkward to say that he was the one who kept her mind at peace. "n-never mind."
"What? If you found something that helps you sleep alright, I'd like to know." Steven insisted.
"Um, hey, what's that smell?" She asked, avoiding questions as she made her way to the kitchen.
Steven gave her a raised brow but decided to drop it anyway. Once they entered the kitchen/dining room area, they were surprised to see that despite the fact that breakfast was still fresh in the air, none of the Diamonds were present.
"Um...hello?!" Steven called out, peeking out through the door back into the rest of the house, no sign of his Diamond aunts.
"Wait, Steven, look at this." Spinel called for him from the table. Steven walked back into the room, noticing that she was now holding a device, inspecting it closely.
"What do you got there?" Steven questioned, stopping right next to her. "Something from the others?"
"I dunno, it was on the table with a doodle of what I think is you on it." She said, handing him a small paper with a cuddly drawn picture of him on it.
He gave a laugh as he took the drawing and put it in his pocket. "Yeah, I'm not all that good at the Gem language, and they're still learning how to write in english, so Blue usually just draws little pictures of what she's trying to tell me; she's actually getting drawing lessons from her old Pearl too."
"Really? A Pearl teaching a Diamond something? Things really have changed around here." Spinel said, handing him the device that was assumably for him.
"Yeah, it's like I've been telling you." The hybrid chuckled as he looked it over until he finally remembered what it was. "Oh, a hologram message."
He opened the little compartment on the bottom and pressed the button. A light shone from the top of his, prompting him to set it down on the table again.
"Hmm, I think I figured it out." Yellow said, seemingly fidgeting with the piece of tech. "Here Blue, go ahead and tell him what you just needed him to know."
The image went blurry from movement for a moment before Blue was seen in its place.
"Hello Steven." She said with a smile and a wave. "We have an important meeting to attend at the palace, and you look too peaceful and content to wake up." She said, giggling quietly as she peaked the camera around the corner to show him and Spinel sleeping on the couch.
"I made you two some breakfast, it's in the 'microwave' thing, make sure you eat it as soon as possible before it gets cold." She informed him.
"Blue, darling, will you please move it along? We have a long day of talking and paperwork ahead of us." White said with a sigh.
"Right, goodbye Steven." She said, her smile just as bright as ever. "Say goodbye you two." She said, flipping the camera to the other two Diamonds.
"Oh,...goodbye Steven, try to relax, we'll be home by tonight." Yellow said her goodbyes.
"Right, we'll be home soon Star Shine." White hummed sweetly with a dismissive wave.
"See you tonight Steven, stay safe." Blue said before the hologram disappeared.
"Heh, Blue is such a sweetheart." Steven smiled as he set the recorder down. "Anyway, guess that means we still get some food from her today, I wonder what she cooked up."
He opened the microwave to see two plates with hash browns and eggs on them. "Hm, guess she had someone go to earth to pick some stuff up...I just hope they didn't use my warp pad."
He set their plates down at the table, giving Spinel her glass of milk, this time with chocolate powder in it, and a cup of water for him.
"So, what is this?" Spinel asked, eyeing the new food curiously. "It's not the same thing we had last time."
"No, it's eggs and hash browns today, they're both pretty good with ketchup, but we unfortunately don't have any right now." He said, taking a bite of his food.
Spinel watched him closely before mirroring his actions, eating some of hers. Once again she was done with her food long before he was, enjoying the new flavor.
After they finished breakfast, Steven went to take the shower he missed last night, Spinel being able to sit back in their room with her bear, not having any issues.
Steven knew she'd have to get used to not using the crutch, but for now he was glad she was making progress so fast.
After his shower, he returned to his room and grabbed his shoes. "Oh, are we going somewhere today?" Spinel questioned, looking up from her book.
"Yeah, I fell asleep without calling the Pearls last night, so we're heading over there to make sure everything is going ok with them." Steven nodded, walking over to the warp pad.
"Oh, right, you wanted to check on the Pearls." She said, remembering what he mentioned the previous night. "So were going right now?"
"Right, grab whatever you need." He nodded, as he waited for her. "You probably won't need your hoodie, we won't be going to the capital this time, I had a warp made in their house that basically works like ours does: if don't know exactly how to get to it, you can't."
"Alright then." She smiled, grabbing her book and putting it into her gem. "Let's go then, I'd like to properly meet the other Diamond's old Pearls for the first time."
"Really? You knew Pearl back on earth though, right?" He asked her as she joined him on his warp pad.
"Well it's not like we've ever conversed before that, we only saw each other at the garden a few times." She explained before they warped away.
"Wait, now that I think about it, did you ever really leave the garden before? Like, even while mom was still here?" Steven said, finding it surprising just how awkward it felt to call her his mother nowadays.
"Nah, Pink never brought me out." She shrugged. "But none of that matters now, I'm trying leave my past back in the past; you know, trying to forget about her and live in the here and now...with you." She continued with a smile.
Steven in turn just gave a slight chuckle and a small blush. "R-right, sorry for asking."
The two of them finally ended up at their destination, almost immediately greeted by the blue Pearl who was sitting on the couch and drawing. "Oh, hello there Steven, is everything ok?"
"Hey Blue Pearl, I'm just stopping by to make sure everyone is alright here after what happened yesterday." The young Diamond replied with a wave.
"Yesterday? Did something happen?" She asked, setting her pad down on the table.
"Really? You haven't heard?" Steven asked, surprised she didn't hear about the chaos that enveloped the center capital the previous day.
He then went on to explain everything he knew, the followers starting a war, his supporters all being destroyed, the rebellion that was started against him.
"Oh my, that's horrible." She gasped, unable to fathom a rebellion being started right on Homeworld of all places. "I'm just glad you were safe, who knows what would've happened if you were still living in the palace."
"Yeah, I'm sure we would've had another incident by now, I mean, since we've left, we've had reports of our followers breaking in or at least attempting to." He said, thinking back to the multiple reports of intruders at the palace, all more than likely being followers.
"But in the end, me and Spinel were visiting earth at the time, but it's no safer there than it is here to be honest."
"I see, what happened on earth?" She questioned.
"It's another long story, all I'll say is that someone made a very detailed book about me and the Gems and it sounds like we're in danger, I'm not sure if it's connected to the rebellion or not though." He explained.
"Well as long as you're with the Diamonds I'm sure you'll be safe." She said with a smile and a nod. "Thought I must ask: who is this Gem that's accompanying you today? Are you sure that it's ok for her to know about the warp?"
"Oh, go ahead and introduce yourself Spinel." Steven offered, motioning to the Pearl."
"So, you're Blue Diamond's old Pearl? You seem to be as calm and collected as I imagined you would be." Spinel said with a smile. "It's nice to finally meet you."
"A Spinel you say?" The Pearl says, seemingly taking a moment to think. "You wouldn't happen to be the Spinel that Pink owned, would you?"
The pink Gem gave a slight chuckle as she nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "W-well I guess I am, yeah. But I'd really rather not get into all that yet again, I'm Steven's best friend now and that's all that matters."
"Oh, I'm sorry if I was pushing anything unpleasant into your mind, that wasn't my intent." She apologized quickly.
"It's fine, don't sweat it." Spinel chuckled with a shrug. "So, where is Yellow's old Pearl?"
"She went out to work with Pink." She answered as she made her way back to the couch, picking up the holo-pad she dropped.
"Pink? I thought Pink Diamond's Pearl was living on earth with the rest of her friends." Spinel said, now very confused.
"Wait, you don't know about her first Pearl?" Steven asked with a raised brow. "I guess that makes sense, you probably would've used that against Pearl in your guy's argument yesterday."
"Wait, what happened to her 'first Pearl'?" Spinel questioned, things getting even more complicated for her.
"Well, all the evidence points to White being the one who broke her eye, plus she was under White's control for what I assume to be a very long time." Steven sighed, thinking back to when he found out about White's Pearl's dark secret.
-=Memory=-
-=Six month's ago/four months after Steven arrived on Homeworld=-
-=Steven/White Diamond=-
"Yes Steven?" White Diamond hummed with her usual smile. The large alien ex-dictator had come down to spend time in the palace more often since Steven had convinced her to let him take the lead on making Homeworld a better place, but the time to tell that story is neither here nor now.
"I had a dream a few nights ago and...well it's been killing me not knowing this." Steven began, slightly nervous about asking the intimidating Diamond about this.
"Please do tell, what is it that's on your mind Starlight." She questioned, making him feel at least a little better about this.
"Well...your Pearl, she wasn't always yours, was she?" Steven asked, stealing his nerves as he expected a poor reaction from her.
"Oh, no she originally belonged to Pink before she had her earth colony, why do you ask?" She answered in a much more casual manner than Steven was expecting.
"Well...she's white now and her eye is broken...was that you?" He continued hoping the answer was no.
"Yes, those are of my doing. Now as I can already predict how upset you'll be about this, I'll explain myself." She sighed, sounding more annoyed than anything.
"You see, Pink had a colony at this point, she was so proud of herself that she decided to start acting more mature I guess." The larger Diamond began. "Now before you even get upset at me, this was her own choice, we gave her the colony assuming she could manage work and play properly, but I guess we were wrong."
"Not too long after she was given the earth, she began getting rid of all her little pets and toys, her Pearl being one of the latter." She explained. "So, she came to me asking for a more mature Pearl. Thankfully enough the poor thing didn't have to witness Pink tossing her aside, I'm sure she thought I was the one at fault for that."
"Wait, but in my dream the two of them- uh, us? I-it's complicated, but Pink and her seemed so happy together, why would she do that?" He asked, more questions appearing for every answer he was given.
"Steven, I don't think you have a proper grasp on what kind of Gem Pink was." White chuckled softly. "She surrounded herself with lower beings to make herself feel like the best, and as the 'best of the worst' she never saw those below her as anything but toys; little playthings for her entertainment until they were no longer interesting."
"Anyway, I'm sure you've heard many great things from her little 'friends' but that's only because she was more manipulative than even I." White said, seemingly enjoying the fact that the hybrid was visibly confused.
"Why do you think you know her so well? Why should I believe you?" Steven sent her a slight glare.
"Oh please Star Shine, I knew Pink better than anyone." White laughed amused by the conversation. "I mean she lied to her entire rebellion about being a Rose Quartz, and she personally bubbled all the Rose's in her human zoo just to cover her tracks. Think about it, did anyone else but her Pearl know who she really was?"
Steven took the time to mull it over, and now that he thought about it, Pearl really was the only one who knew and she was brainwashed into keeping quiet. He knew his mother wasn't exactly the best person but he never thought about her being this bad.
"Listen, why take my word for it? You can ask her old Pearl yourself." White said, the pale Gem appearing from under the ground. "That's what you were going to ask me to do anyway, right? Release her from my control?"
"I-...Yes, I'm making all of Homeworld let their Pearls be free and creating equality, that's my next goal." Steven nodded.
White gave a sigh. "Very well, go ahead and ask her about the many Gems she played with before tossing them aside I guess, since you refuse to believe me."
The Pearl dropped to the floor onto her knees as the white seemed to fade away, slowly being replaced by pink.
Steven made his way to her side and quickly helped her up. She put her hand against her broken eye looking disoriented. "Wh-Where am I?"
"Hey, don't worry, you're safe." Steven reassured her, still helping her stand upright. "Are you ok?"
"I...I don't know.." She said, seemingly regaining control of her limbs and being able to comprehend her surroundings. She took a moment to look around until her eye landed on White who was sitting there expectantly.
The frightened Pearl was quick to hide behind the stranger that is Steven, peeking out from behind him. "We need to leave, now!" She panicked.
"Don't worry, it's ok, she won't hurt you." Steven promised, wondering exactly what the eldest Diamond did to this poor Gem. "You're safe, I promise."
"Well? You have questions for her, no?" White asked, becoming impatient.
"White, she just came back, I think we should give her some time to readjust and have her own questions answered before we start barraging her with questions alrea-" He tried to argue but once more he was interrupted by the Diamond.
"Pearl- this is the half human offspring of your old Diamond, he has questions about the Gems that she used and tossed aside, he doesn't seem to want to believe me so you're going to tell him about them." White ordered.
"I-um...r-right, if I have to tell the truth, yes, she did that quite often..." The Pearl said, seemingly ashamed that she had to speak of her Diamond in such a manner, in fear that if she lied to protect her she'd be punished. "But, she was always really nice and had good intentions, I know she wasn't bad!"
"That will be all." White dismissed. "So you see now? Pink wasn't as amazing as you seem to think, so in the end you can't possibly be upset at me for the whole mind control thing with this Pearl." She smiled with a wave of her hand, completely underplaying this.
"What?- No, that's not how that works! Just because she wasn't exactly the best person doesn't mean you get to say what you did wasn't wrong!" Steven argued, becoming upset that she tried to use this as a distraction.
"I suggest you remember that I am still above you Star Shine." White responded, her smile fading as she spoke in a firm voice. "I'm just letting you play your little game, you wanted to run Homeworld and you thought you could do it better than us so that's what I'm letting you attempt, that does not give you permission to talk down to me."
"If I'm going to change Homeworld for the better, you three need to change with it." Steven sighed, refusing to back down. "I don't understand how my mortality works, but I more than likely won't be around to do this forever, you three need to adapt to a better Homeworld too, not just the Gems who work for you."
"I don't understand what has you so worked up, I let the Pearl go, she's yours again." White said, becoming frustrated by the fact that Steven was acting irrational in her eyes.
"You let her go, yes, but you still don't understand that what you did was wrong, no matter what led you to this point!" Steven argued, raising his voice at her much to the surprise of everyone in the room, including himself.
The young half Diamond sighed once more as he ran his hand through his hair. "Listen, I don't know specifically what you did to her, but you need to apologize and realize what you did was wrong. I understand that it will be difficult for you to change so fast but you need to at least put forth an effort, ok?"
"You know, you're really asking a lot here, but if that's what you need to happen then fine, I guess if Yellow and Blue are trying so should I." She reluctantly agreed, not wanting to seem unable to change while her younger sisters could.
"Alright then, start with an apology to her, maybe if you can actually feel sorry for your actions, you will see why you should never do stuff like that." Steven ordered, hoping that he was legitimately getting through the usually stubborn Diamond.
"Very well, though I still can't believe you're turning this around from being a conversation about Pink's horrible nature to what I did." She commented as she moved forward.
"White, this wasn't about my mom in the first place, you tried to turn it around to avoid being blamed for your actions, now apologize to her so maybe that can at least start to make up for your misdeeds." Steven said again, though he knew an apology was meaningless when someone took away thousands of years of your life.
White turned her attention to the Pearl. "I apologize for taking your mind and body over, while I'm not aware how I'm more in the wrong than Pink, I can and will acknowledge that the punishment I gave you was probably a bit harsh, and I apologize for that." White gave the Pearl her long winded apology that had slight undertones of sarcasm.
The Pearl in question just gave an uncomfortable look, still standing behind Steven. "I...I acknowledge your apology." She said plainly before looking to Steven. "Can I leave now?"
"Sure, I'll take you to my room and answer any questions you have so you can be readjusted, sound good?" Steven offered as he turned to her.
The timid Gem kept her eyes on the larger Diamond while she spoke. "Very well...lets just get out of here."
-=Back to the present=-
Steven remembered how she was (needless to say) super confused when he entered his mother's room. He had to explain to her what she did to create him and the consequences for doing so.
She seemed to be too emotionally drained to activity show her distress, opting to just sit down a cry silently.
Steven did his best to comfort her and while at first she wanted to blame him and hate him, she couldn't bring herself to do so. He had been nothing but nice to her and seemed to be a genuinely nice person.
In the end he never told her about what White had told him, as he didn't want to hurt her already fragile mental state.
"So, Pink really had another Pearl huh? Dang, I gotta say I feel bad for her. Not only was she abandoned by Pink but she was under White's control for all that time? I'm surprised she's even functional enough to have a 'job' here on Homeworld." Spinel commented after he finished explaining. "What did she even do to have White do that to her?"
"Well from what she told me, she shouted at White and let her anger get the best of her, resulting in her threatening to shatter White." Steven sighed, honestly quite surprised that White didn't do more to her. "You'd never guess she'd say something like that with her timid personality, did she have a temper or something before?" He asked the blue Pearl.
"Hmm, She was more playful, but not in any way was she an angry or violent Gem, I don't think any Pearls really are outside of that renegade Pearl of yours." She said, mentioning the Pearl he was used to with distaste.
"Honestly, you and Yellow Pearl really need to get over your differences with Pearl, we're all friends now, remember?" Steven commented, really wanting the four of them to get along.
"Whatever you say, Steven." The Pearl said, looking back down to her pad. "Anyway, if you plan on staying, go ahead and make yourself at home I guess, the other two won't be back for a bit."
"I guess we don't have much else to do." Steven shrugged. "Anything come to mind for you, Spinel?"
"Well you could go and join the Diamonds in their meeting. It sounds important enough to require you to be there too." Spinel asked the hybrid.
"Hm, I'm sure I've already missed out on half of it and they didn't really seem to need me, but at the same time, it is about the rebellion against me..." He took a moment to think of his choices, deciding that even if it is just a meeting, he should be present for any big decisions that would be made without him.
"Right, it's probably for the best if we go, meetings usually just entail us being told specifics of situations that are happening around Homeworld, but this is bigger than anything I've seen in the year I've been here, so I should probably be there. Better late than never, right?"
"Very well, I hope to see you two again soon." The Pearl nodded with a smile. "It was nice of you to come over, and it was nice to meet you, Spinel."
"Heh, nice to meet ya too." She responded, shaking the Pearl's hand.
"We'll probably end up calling after the meeting anyway." Steven said, giving her a wave as he made his way to the warp pad. "Talk to you later." Spinel followed him onto the pad before they warped away, heading to the palace.
-=End of Chapter=-
So yeah, this chapter took forever and a half to make, as I was really struggling to find a reason for a filler chapter.
Anyway, like I said, I'm terribly sorry for the wait, and I thank those of you who are still reading.
Anyway, as always-
Good morning, goodnight, or good afternoon, I'll see you all again soon.
