Here's another chapter! It's not exactly plot filled, but I personally find how Pearl acts towards the two to be fun lol

I'm not sure when the next chapter is coming, as I don't know what I want from it just yet, but if you get bored, why not read my alternate ending to Change Your Mind? It's my story "Rewriting History" and it is in fact an evil Steven AU.

SPOILERS for whoever reads it or wants to but (read backwards so you can't say you accidentally read it when you glanced over it) s'tI a todivetS yrots tub m'I gnikam a lenivetS etanretla tuor esuac I evol eht pihs oot hcum ton ot.

Please try not to share what that says so people will remain unspoiled, I'll probably just take the comment down anyway tbh. .x.

Unless it's right here, in that case, go ahead for those who don't want to read the whole thing, and to those people who actually plan to read it,...well you've been warned I guess.

-=Spinel/Steven=-

-=Beach House=-

Steven and Spinel have been training vigorously, Spinel having made an amazing amount of progress, it being easy to tell that she was excited to begin fighting with Steven. Well luckily for her, today was the day that would happen. Connie was coming over and they were all training today, and that meant the two of them would be finding better ways to fight with each other and support the other's weak points while making their strengths all the stronger.

"Hey Stevo, you excited for today's training lesson?" Spinel asked her friend as she joined him on the couch, the pink gem recently learning the concept of a nickname and deciding that it would be fun to give him some, his new nicknames consisting of Stevie and of course Stevo as she just said.

The teen gave a chuckle in response, "You bet, though I don't know if I could keep up with you all that well, I mean the way you fight is like a graceful dance of war and half the time I just end up watching in amazement at how far you've come in this past week."

"Aw shucks, you're give me too much credit here, it's a lot in part to Pearl's help, but hey, you're a good fighter too, it makes me wonder how you even lost to the rebels in the first place." Spinel questioned, recently finding out that the hybrid really was a lot stronger than she initially thought he was.

"I'm not really sure, I think I just started panicking when the guards that were given the job of defending me were being shattered one by one and then it only got worse when I saw it was Jasper who was leading the attack...I mean, I didn't want to hurt her, I thought we were starting to become friends after we uncorrupted her, but she still seems to hate me, and this time it's specifically me, not Rose... and in a weird way, somehow people hating me for something that I've done feels a lot better than if I'm being blamed for something that my mom did." He explained before realizing he was deviating from the question. "But uh- yeah, I guess I was just taken off guard and by the time I was able to accept the fact that she was still my enemy, I had already been restrained."

Spinel noticed his glum attitude that he was trying to hide. "Oh geez, you know you can talk about whatever happened between you two if you want, I'm still here for you, and that goes for more than just being here to fight for you." She offered as she grabbed his hand.

Steven wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to tell her about this voice, he wanted to tell her about Pink Steven and his boosted power, and he wanted to tell he about how he was...dead. He wanted to get all of this off of his chest, but he just couldn't bring himself to tell her those things as he knew that telling her about his unfortunate temporary demise would only upset her and telling her about anything else would lead back to that...so he couldn't tell her, once again he had to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself for the sake of others. When he thought about it like that he realized it sounded like he was blaming them for it but he didn't hold any resentment towards them, those would just be natural responses to something like that after all.

"I'm fine, don't worry." He said, putting on a smile with a dismissive wave as Pearl walked into the house with Connie in tow. "Let's just hope everyone can get along this time around." He added quietly.

The two of them joined Pearl and her other student, Steven being the first to address her. "Hey Pearl, are we going off for training now?"

"Yes, I was just about to come and get the two of you." She responded with a smile. "Are you ready?"

"Wait, the two of them? Will someone be joining us for training today?" Connie asked as she set her bag down by the kitchen, dreading the response she already figured she would get.

"Yes, in light of recent events, Spinel wants to get stronger so that she can fight with Steven without him having to worry about her getting hurt." Pearl explained, completely oblivious to the mood of the room. "In fact, she's been training almost nonstop for an entire week now so she could fight by his side equally and protect him. It's actually quite similar as to why you once fought, but now that you and Steven hardly even speak and he lives on Homeoworld for the most part, I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that he is in capable hands."

Connie just stared at the pink gem who was standing behind Steven, now in her training cloths. "I'm not completely helpless ya know." The hybrid chuckled. "But yeah, even if I'm not exactly all for her putting herself in danger, it's really up to her; that's why I've been training, so I could protect her as well."

"But...what about Stevonnie?" Connie asked, not sure why this was getting to her, she had a boyfriend now after all. "And all those days we spent training together? What about all of that?"

"Well, if I'm being completely honest, I could ask you the same thing. I mean, up till my recovery...you didn't want anything to do with me..." Steven said, obviously uncomfortable about having to address the subject. "Since I've met Spinel, me and her have gotten close and she's helped me through some things I never thought I'd be able to confide in anyone."

"Right...so you two are a couple now then? Is that what this is?" Connie questioned, surprising Pearl on how big of a deal this was to the human.

"Not that it should matter to you what our relationship is, but it's not like that, she's my best friend and we have promised to always be there for each other, and that means if we have to be able to do so with weapons and fighting, then that's just the reality of the situation." He shrugged as he started making his way over to the warp pad along with Pearl and the gem in question. "Listen, let's just try not to make this another incident like last week; we're willing to put that in the past if you can just be neutral about this whole thing, I mean Spinel isn't a bad gem."

"Oh? Did something happen between you three?" Pearl asked with a raised brow, previously unaware that she was being left out when it came to issues they were having.

"Nah, everything is fine, don't worry about it." Spinel responded quietly. "I'm sure she was just having a bad day, it's really nothing."

Connie didn't say anything as she pulled her sword out of her bag and walked over to the warp pad with the rest of them. She stood on the opposite end of Pearl with a blank face and a tight grip on her weapon. Steven and Spinel just looked at each other, the former giving a shrug as they all just stood there in silence for a bit.

"Alright then, if you say so. Anyway, we're burning daylight, let's get to it then." Pearl instructed with a smile, trying to lighten the mood before warping everyone to the arena.

-=The Arena=-

The group flashed into the training arena, the silence only being broken when they appeared. "Alright you three, today is going to be a long one so I hope you're all well rested." Pearl informed them as she walked ahead of them and towards the main area.

"Yes ma'am, what are we doing today?" Connie asked formally, doing her best to keep her mind strictly on training, honestly somewhat embarrassed by her behavior last week, or maybe she was just embarrassed because she was caught.

"Well as usual you will be doing your exercises and stretches before you fight the holo-Pearls as to stay in battle shape." Pearl informed her as she stopped and turned to the trio. "As for Spinel and Steven, they will be learning to fight as a duo since they will inevitably have to fight together at one point or another what with this...rebellion."

"Oh, I see. Alright then, I'll get to it right away." She nodded as her grip on her sword tightened even more. The human teen set the aforementioned weapon aside before starting her stretches.

"I'll be with you momentarily Connie." Pearl called to her with a wave before turning to Steven and Spinel. "Alright, it would be best if you did your stretches first, Steven. You have a human body too you know."

The hybrid gave a sigh. "Yeah, that's fair. Sorry Spinel, I gotta get ready before we can start." He apologized to his friend with a smile. "It should be pretty quick though."

"Don't sweat it, take all the time you need." She said as she pulled her scythe from her gem, apparently having found out how to put it in and pull it out with ease. "So, what are we doing after he gets ready to start?" She asked Pearl, propping herself up with her weapon as she put all her weight on it.

"Well, I was going to suggest you two try and fuse today, but with the kind of relationship you two have, I would personally like to know you two had your first fusion together under...well under different circumstances and it happen because you wanted it to, not because I told you to. So I guess today you'll be learning how to support each other's weaknesses in a fight." Her mentor explained to the now blushing gem.

"F-f-fusion?..." She fumbled with her words as her face heated up to an almost unbearable level. "I-I um, I've never thought of- of doing something like that..." The pink gem said quietly as she played with one of her pigtails, flustered by the notion.

Pearl gave a knowing chuckle. "Don't worry, you can move at your own pace, and remember: it's not against the rules to fuse with other gems anymore, not even with him, Diamond or not. Knowing that though, you should only move at your own leisure, if either one of you is uncomfortable with it, your fusion will turn out unstable and it could just ruin the entire experience."

"B-But when will I know if I'm ready? And what if he isn't ready? I mean, doing something like that is a big deal, what if he doesn't feel the same way and me trying to do that just pushes him away?" She questioned, seemingly having a mini panic attack at the thought of rushing him in to something like that or not being ready for it when he is.

"Hey, you're overthinking the whole thing, fusion is much more simple than than, it's like- well it's hard to explain, but when you know, you know. And anyway, I know he wouldn't have any problems fusing with you under the right situation, no matter what kind of love you two have for each other when you eventually do it, so even if he doesn't feel the same kind of love, I can tell he adores you nevertheless. Or hey, maybe he feels the same way you do, you never know.." She explained, hoping that she could make the experience be less stress inducing than she apparently already made it. "Honestly, Garnet would be the best one to go to for this, but just try not to think about it, you'll work yourself up needlessly."

The pale white gem set her hand on the younger gem's shoulder as to try and calm her down. "R-right...don't get worked up..." She took a breath and shook her head as she remembered what the Pearl had said. "Wait, what do you mean 'the same kind of love'? W-we're just friends, he literally just said that earlier." She said in a hushed voice, the short moment of non-blushing interrupted as it started all over again.

"Take it as you will, but just try not to deny your feelings ." Pearl said with a wink as she walked over to Steven, leaving her red in the face from how embarrassed she was, the Pearl's leaving words not helping in the slightest. "So Steven, are you ready to start today's training?"

Steven turned back to her, being completely unaware of the conversation the two gems just had. "Yep, I actually just finished up, so I'm ready whenever you guys are."

"Good, I'll go get Connie started on some exercises before I set you two up." She nodded before turning to go and interact with her other student while Steven made his way over to his pink friend who was still slightly flustered.

"Hey there, you ok?" He chuckled as he noticed her blush that had yet to completely die down. "You're cheeks are all red."

"Oh, don't worry about it, it's nothing." She said, waving it off in hopes that he wouldn't push further as she wasn't personally ready to tackle that conversation just yet. "Anyway, are you ready to begin? Pearl told me we're fighting holo-Pearls today, but this time we're looking into fighting together instead of separately; something about learning to support each other's weaknesses?"

"Correct, you two are strong when by yourselves, but when you have one of you compensating for the other, you'll be even stronger." Pearl said, walking up on them seemingly out of nowhere. "Anyway, I have no combat experience with a shield or a scythe personally, but I do know that while the scythe is great for offensive attacks when in the right hands, it's not so good when it comes to switching to defense quickly."

"Oh, I think I get it," Steven spoke up, realizing where she was going with this. "that's where my shield comes in right?"

"Correct again, and as for you, Steven, you're alright at fighting and all, you just...well the way you fight, you almost always try and see if you can reason with them or just subdued them, almost always leaving you on the defensive end of the fight. Now, while there is nothing wrong with trying to find a peaceful solution to things, sometimes you have to actually fight back, so when you're having doubts about fighting your enemy, Spinel is a great partner for that, as I'm sure she wouldn't stand for someone attacking you like that."

"Well I wouldn't say I don't fight back at all, I mean I always beat your holograms, but I guess I can't say I don't see your point, that's exactly why I lost to Jasper in the first place after all." He admitted with a shrug.

"But I feel like that leaves me depending on him more than the other way around or at least equally." Spinel spoke up, sort of disappointed that there wouldn't be more she could do to help him like he was with her.

"I made it as equal on both ends as I could, this way when you fight together, he's the shield and you're the blade. Anyway, with how fast you're learning and how well he can fight when he isn't being indecisive, you two may not have to rely on each other all that often after all, it's just something I'd like you to learn to do until... well never mind that, we'll cross that bridge when we get there." Pearl said, looking over to Spinel specifically.

The aforementioned gem trying not to give her a reaction as she knew this to be her just getting teased like Amethyst would do to Steven, while the hybrid just looked between the two confused about the apparent inside joke they had going on.

"Anyway, how about we get to it then?" Pearl hummed as she created a group of holo-Pearls, all on around medium difficulty. "I want the two of you to get used to the other's style of fighting for now, once I'm sure you understand each other, I'd like to see your guys' interpretation of what would be the best way to fight along side the other, and after that, I'll adjust things accordingly."

The duo looked at each other with a nod before readying themselves, Steven pulling out his shield and creating a bubble around his hand before spiking it. Spinel grabbed ahold of her scythe and spun it around as she got into a fighting position.

"And begin." Pearl said as her holo-Pearls rushed right for them. Steven was quick to realize that he couldn't get too close to Spinel without impeding on her fluent and graceful motions, so he just made sure to keep in her direct vicinity as to be ready for anything.

Spinel on the other hand was having a hard time trying to find a way to help Steven out as well, as he was faring well alone, just like she was. They soon realized that Pearl had gone off to help Connie so they couldn't really ask her opinion on the matter, and even then, she already admitted to never using either of their weapons, so would she even be able to help?

The hybrid and his best friend actually didn't take long when it came to defeating the holograms, neither needing to help the other all that much cause neither of them really need it. "Geez, that didn't go over as well as I woulda hoped, I mean we were both killing it out there but we didn't really learn anything." Spinel chuckled as he rubbed the back of her head. "Looks like we might have a while to go before we figure this out I guess."

"Yeah, but I mean it's not like you really needed my help anyway at least, I mean you were just taking them out one after another." Steven said, returning a chuckle. "Plus I still can't get over how beautiful you look when you fight, it's almost a distraction." He joked.

Spinel turned red again, finding it odd that she was blushing so much today despite never doing so before even once in her life, though it was probably cause she was coming to be familiar with the implications of everything. "W-Well it was Pink's favorite thing that I did, so I guess I must be good at it..." She said bashfully as she fiddled with her hair.

Steven noticed her behavior and immediately realized what he said. "I-I mean like the way you fight, not you specifically- not that you aren't beautiful or anything, I mean you are and all, but- I just meant- uggghhh." He hid his face in his hands, now becoming embarrassed as well, only receiving a chuckle from Spinel, who was glad to know she wasn't the only one.

"Alright you two, settle down with the 'flirting'." Pearl said as she approached them, wording the word 'flirting' awkwardly in hopes that she even used it right. Yes, that's right, Pearl thought they looked good together as a couple so she would start teasing them and pushing for it to become a reality; mostly a suggestion from Amethyst when she mentioned how cut the two of them looked together to the purple gem.

"What? No, that's not what's going on here," Steven defended, his blush only getting worse much to Pearl's delight. "Anyway, shouldn't we be moving along to something else?"

"Amethyst was right, this is fun, he's too adorable when he gets all bashful." she thought to herself with a smile. "We I don't think you two are ready for the next stage of your training just yet, so I'll just up the difficulty in hopes that it gets you two working together, though I could honestly see the issue you two are having with being too close with that weapon, but hey, you learn primarily from experience. I'm sure you two will be able creat your own way of fighting, and if not, at least it's training you to pay attention to the safety of not only yourself, but someone else as well." Pearl explained, the two of them relieved that this whole thing wasn't for nothing at least.

"Alright, I guess that would be useful to get used to." Steven shrugged. "But what is the next stage of our training? We're both fighting good individually, and we're getting better at having each other's backs, what else could we have to do left?"

"I'll tell you when the time comes, the last thing I want to do is put pressure on the situation." Pearl answered before stepping back. "Anyway, let's begin." Once she gave the command,the holo-Pearls went into action, the two of them exchanging smiles while preparing themselves for the barrage.

-=End of Chapter=-

How nice, Pearl went from disliking her, to admiring her devotion, to all but shipping them. I don't know why Pearl wanting to get the two of them together sounded like a funny idea, but someone has to do it, and while Garnet probably could, Pearl has a larger range of emotions.

Anyway, sorry for the lack of plot. I personally was going to have them fuse here but the two of them fusing because they were told to so they could train...well I would be less than ideal. Also, I have no idea what their fusion would look like to be perfectly honest.

Also, I really was trying for a bit to think of a weakness for Steven that Spinel would be able to support with her Scythe, but he's actually a good fighter and his arsenal is meant for defense while also having the ability to be used offensively, and I've already kinda hyped up the fact that he's been undergoing training all this time as well, cause...well why the hell wouldn't he?

Idk, Steven's weapon(s) is/are perfect for both solo combat and supportive combat, what with the way he utilizes what he has, I just can't see combat being something that needs back up on.

That being said, Steven himself isn't exactly a perfect fighter, in fact, as he is right now, he would rather try and make friends before throwing fists, so he needs someone there who knows when speaking won't work and when he needs to actually fight or at least defend himself, and who better than his best friend who has vowed to protect him at all costs?

Also, SUF was amazing, every episode had me laughing and Steven himself doing the Pink Steven scream attack gave me chills, but seeing the mentally traumatized Pink Pearl...all imma say is that I called it. I mean, everyone always insisted that White did it to her, and I didn't want people to think I'm just making Pink out to be a bigger villain than what she was (even if I was spot on about her just tossing her broken toy aside for a new on) so I just made some passing drama with Steven and White, but hey, Pink is far from innocent here anyway.

Anyway, as always-

Good morning, goodnight, or good afternoon, I'll see you all again soon!