Dragon Titan 1: I'm glad you liked it and I hope you stay pretty good too.

"So Lion took you and Connie to a cave full of ancient artifacts, one of the artifacts came to life and attacked you, and Lion summoned a sword from his mane for you to defeat it with?"

"Yeah! You guys seriously should've seen it! The explosion was awesome!"

Pearl stepped onto the Warp Pad with the other Crystal Gems. "That's a... very interesting story, Steven, but right now, I want to focus on retrieving some weapons littering the strawberry field."

"Can Lion come too?"

The Gems watched as Lion tried to catch a fly that was buzzing around the beach house.

"Maybe when you've trained him better, you can take him on missions. Now let's go."

Steven ran over to join them. "I wanna try warping us over there!"

"Of course! It's actually quite simple! All you have to do is think about the place you want to warp to, and you're there."

Steven closed his eyes and visualized the strawberry field, with the wild strawberry plants it was named for growing as far as the eye could see, in his head. He could feel the Warp Pad humming to life under his feet, and then felt his body lifting off the ground as the Warp Pad made its signature ping sound.


When he opened his eyes, he saw that he had successfully warped himself and the Gems to their destination.

"I did it!" Steven cheered. "I'm the Warp Master!"

"Nicely done, Steven," Sapphire said.

"Uuugh, Steven..." Amethyst moaned, clutching her stomach. "I think you warped us there too fast. I feel kinda sick..." Then she unzipped her fanny pack and took out a can of silly string, spraying Steven while going "Bleeeaaaagh!"

"That's enough, Amethyst!" Pearl reprimanded as she snatched the can from her.

Amethyst crossed her arms. "Aw, you're no fun."

"Come on, Gems," Ruby said as she stepped off the Warp Pad. "We've got weapons to grab."

The Crystal Gems all walked around the strawberry field and began picking up the various weapons that were scattered all over.

"Is it me, or does this place look a lot weapon-ier than the last time we came here?" Steven asked.

"This place was actually the site of the Great Gem War between the Earth and Gemworld," Pearl said. "Every weapon here was left behind by a Gem who fought in the war 3,000 years ago before this entire field was overgrown with wild strawberries. I feel rather bad about disturbing historical grounds, but we all agreed that it wouldn't do any good to just leave everything lying around."

"Hey, guys!" Amethyst called. "Check this out!"

Steven and Pearl ran over to see Amethyst grinning broadly while holding up a large axe that was twice as tall as her.

"I think I just hit the jackpot!"

"I believe that axe may have been used by a higher-ranked Quartz soldier," Sapphire observed.

"Whatever," Amethyst said. "I'm definitely gonna be keeping this." She swung the axe over her shoulder, nearly hitting Pearl in the process. "If anyone needs me, I'll be looking for more stuff to add to my weapon pile."

"Amethyst, be careful with that thing!"

"Did Mom fight in the war?" Steven asked.

"She sure did!" Pearl jabbed a thumb at herself. "And I personally fought by her side!"

Steven gasped in awe. "Really?"

"That's right! While I was a tad young at the time, she trusted me to fight alongside her in the front lines. She trusted me with everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything. I was her most trusted confidant. She's shown me things that nobody else knows about." Pearl leaned down to whisper in Steven's ear. "Not Amethyst, not Ruby, not even Sapphire."

"Whoa..."

"Hey, you two!" Ruby called to them as she held some weapons in her arms. "Are you gonna come help with this or not?"

"Coming, Ruby!" Steven ran over to her before tripping over something.

Pearl helped him to his feet. "Are you alright, Steven?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." The boy dusted himself off before bending down and picking up what he tripped over to examine it. It was a long, magenta object that had a rose design on it like his shield. "What's this?"

Pearl's eyes lit up as they set on it. "It's the scabbard for your mother's sword!" She grabbed it and cradled it fondly in her arms with a long, dreamy sigh. "It's been so long..." She then blushed in embarrassment as she met eyes with Steven again. "Um, I mean... since the war, that is."

"Man, the Great Gem War was pretty nuts, wasn't it?" Amethyst asked, now holding more weapons than someone her size could feasibly carry. "I wish I could've gotten to fight in it!"

"No, you really don't, Amethyst," Ruby said sternly. "There were a lot of Gems on both sides who died."

"But we won!" Pearl added as she took some weapons from Ruby to lighten her load. "Our fates were uncertain, but Rose bravely led us to victory, and the Earth was safe from being colonized!"

"I think we've collected more than enough weapons for the time being," Sapphire said. "Let's head home and get everything put away."

Everyone started walking back to the Warp Pad.

"Hey, Pearl?"

"Yes, Steven?"

"What was Mom like?"

"Oh, Steven, she was courageous and strong, but also very kind and selfless. She was just..." Pearl let out another longing sigh. "wonderful."

They stepped onto the Warp Pad and warped back to the Temple.


"Man, this is great!" Amethyst said after they warped back home. "Look at all the weapons I got!" She stepped off the Warp Pad and walked towards the Temple Door.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Sapphire asked her.

"Nah, I got it." And the purple Gem dropped the weapons on the ground, creating a loud clanging sound. She then pulled down the neckline of her sweater and opened the Door to her room.

"That's quite a lot of weapons you grabbed," Ruby pointed out as she picked some of them up. "How about Sapphire and I help you put them away anyway?"

"Won't hurt my feelings."

As Ruby and Sapphire proceeded to help her, Pearl stared at the painting of Rose Diamond that hung over the doorway of the beach house. With her warm pink skin, and her light pink curls that were like a crown on the head of the most beautiful queen, and her pale pink dress that had a star-shaped hole which exposed the brilliant pink gemstone in her abdomen. She looked so beautiful in that portrait, like she did before she left this world to bring Steven into it. Sometimes, Pearl thought that he looked so much like her...

"Is something wrong, Pearl?" Steven asked her, taking her out of her thoughts.

"Oh! It's nothing, Steven. I was just... looking at the portrait of your mother."

"Do you ever miss her?"

"There's not a day that goes by where I don't." Pearl looked down at Rose's scabbard before handing it to Rose's son. "Here, Steven. I think you should hold onto this."

"Thanks, Pearl. You said this was for Mom's sword, right?"

"That's right. There was nothing else that could fit so perfectly inside."

"So, where is it?"

Pearl crouched down to whisper in Steven's ear again. "There's a place far away from here that belonged to Rose Diamond which she kept secret from everyone. Aside from me, of course. But since you have her gem, it's now yours, and I can show it to you. Let's warp there real quick while the rest of the Gems are still occupied."

"Okay." And so Steven and Pearl warped away.


Steven saw that they had warped to a large canyon. "So, where are we going?"

"We'll be climbing up that steep cliff to enter the cave at the top." Pearl pointed to a tall cliff that had a large whole near the top. "It's only about 3 miles away from the Warp Pad."

"Seems like a pretty long climb," Steven pointed out uneasily.

"Don't worry, I can carry you." Pearl kneeled down to let Steven climb on her back, and the two set off.

"So, why did Mom keep so many secrets?" Steven asked.

"She had to!" Pearl answered. "All great leaders are supposed to know what sorts of things should be kept from those they try to protect. But not me! For the longest time, I was her sole confidant. For anything she could share with no one else, I was the one who would listen to the words she couldn't speak, the one who would be shown the things she couldn't show." As soon as they reached the the base of the cliff, Pearl started climbing up the wall. "Hold on tight." After a few long minutes of Steven asking if they were there yet, they had finally reached the cave, and climbed in.

Steven climbed off of Pearl's back and started walking behind her as she walked towards a large, circular platform sitting in the middle of the water-logged cave. "Here it is! Rose Diamond's secret armory!"

"Whoa... This is the place I was telling you guys about!" Steven ran up the steps onto the platform.

"What?" Pearl shook her head. "Surely, you must be thinking of some other cave full of artifacts. I was the only other Crystal Gem to know about this place."

"Not since Lion took me and Connie here!"

The platform then started glowing pink as the hand-shaped pedestal rose from its center. Steven put a hand on it.

"There's lots of great stuff here that we saw." Steven cleared his throat. "Let me see everything this place has!" Just then, all of the artifacts in the armory rose up from the platform.

Pearl started walking around the platform, dumbstruck as she ogled the various artifacts. "What the-? I- How- The Axes of Ages? The Armor of the Fallen? How did you access all of this?"

"It was really easy! I just put my hand on here and said 'Let me see everything this place has.'"

"But I don't see her sword here! Rose's sword should be in this armory, but it just isn't!"

"What does Mom's sword look like?"

Pearl sighed and projected a hologram of the sword. "It's a large, straight saber with a pink blade and a magenta handle, with vines etched in the guard that connect to a rose-shaped pommel."

"Oh, I know that sword! That's the sword Lion gave me!"

Pearl's hologram morphed into a male lion with Rose's sword in his mouth. "What?"


Lion sat on the beach house floor grooming himself. "Hey, Lion," Steven said. "Do you wanna show me the sword in your mane?"

Lion just yawned and rest his head on his front paws.

"Aw, c'mon," Steven put his hands on the feline's cheeks. "Pwetty pwease with catnip on top?"

Lion stood to his feet and bowed, his mane glowing and Rose's sword rising from it. Steven grabbed the sword by the handle and pulled it out. "Here it is!"

Pearl took the sword from Steven and put it in its scabbard. "But... how? Why? What was it doing in there?"

"I dunno," Steven said with a shrug. "You could try asking him, but I don't think he'll answer."

"Interesting," Sapphire mused. "I believe Lion might have some sort of connection to Rose Diamond."

"Of course!" Amethyst said. "That's why he's pink!"

"I mean, it is pretty obvious," Ruby said.

"No!" Pearl exclaimed, now growing angry. "Rose Diamond did not have a lion!"

"Why not?" Amethyst asked.

"Because if she did have a lion or any other animal companion, then I would have known about it!"

"There were many things that Rose Diamond kept secret from everyone," Sapphire said. "Even us."

"But she would never keep anything from me!" Pearl insisted. "She would always tell me everything!"

"Why do you have to make this about you, huh?!" Amethyst snapped. "You think you're the only one who misses her?! News flash, Pearl! You aren't!"

"I don't want to hear it!" Pearl snapped back, starting to tear up. "None of you knew her like I did! What we had was special! None of you could understand how I felt about her!"

"Look, Pearl," Ruby spoke up, calmly but sternly. "We get that you were closer to Rose than the rest of us were, but don't you think you're acting just a bit irrational?"

"I am completely within my rights to act irrational!" Pearl gestured to Lion, who was sitting on his haunches watching everything transpire. "Why would Rose keep this from me when she always shared everything else with me?!"

"Maybe she just wanted to protect you," Steven offered. "Like she protected everyone else."

"How would you know?! You've never even met her!" Pearl slammed her fist into the wall, causing the painting of Rose Diamond to fall before Sapphire ran over and caught it. Pearl looked at each of the Crystal Gems, her tears running freely down her face. She then ran onto the Warp Pad and warped away.

"Fine, go cry about it!" Amethyst said.

"Where did she go?" Steven asked the Gems. "Is she gonna be okay?"

"Who cares?" Amethyst walked to the fridge. "I'm just glad she's out of here."

Ruby just stood there shaking her head with her arms crossed over her chest as Sapphire put a hand on her shoulder.

"There is a chance that she's sitting under her favorite tree," Sapphire told him. "She tends to go there when she's upset."

"Well, I'm gonna go see if she's there." Steven turned to Lion. "Come on, Lion."

Lion stood to his feet and bowed for Steven to climb on his back, and roared up a portal before jumping into it.

"Good luck, Steven."


Meanwhile, Pearl was indeed sitting underneath her favorite cherry blossom tree and holding the sword close to her. "How could she keep anything from me?" she quietly asked herself through her tears.

Just then, a portal popped up and Lion jumped out with Steven on his back. "Pearl!"

"Go away! I don't want to see anyone right now!"

"I just wanna talk!"

Pearl started running off. "I just want to be alone right now, Steven!"

"Don't worry!" Steven said as he climbed down from Lion and walked over to the upset Gem. "The two of us can talk somewhere nice and private."

"Just leave me alone!" Pearl snapped. "What about that lion made you feel that you couldn't trust anyone to know about it?! Not even me?!" Steven backed away with tears in his eyes. Pearl immediately regretted her actions. "Steven, I'm so sorry, I just-"

"Pearl... I know you're upset, but you have to tell me what's wrong."

Pearl gave a sigh as she walked back towards the tree. "Sometimes, you remind me so much of her..." Pearl kneeled in front of the tree and ran her fingers through the grass. "Do you have any of her memories? About this place? About the strawberry field? About all of the time we spent together?" Pearl wiped a tear from one of her eyes. "We talked here, those 3,000 years ago, when your mother decided to fight back against Gemworld..."

Pearl stood to her feet, turned 180 degrees, and projected a hologram of Rose Diamond.

"Pearl," she said, the hologram matching her lip movements.

"Yes, Rose?"

"I don't care what the other Diamonds say. I'm going to fight for this planet, if it's the last thing I ever do. You don't have to join me if you don't want to."

"But I do!"

"I thought you would, but please understand, that if we lose, you'll be killed, and I'll have to watch the Earth get destroyed. And if we win, we can never go home again."

"Why would I ever want to go home when you're here?"

The hologram Rose Diamond chuckled as she held out her hand. "I love you, my wonderful Pearl..."

"I love you too..." Pearl took her hand and wrapped her arms around the hologram's legs. The hologram vanished soon after, and Pearl hugged herself. "Everything I had ever done, I did it for her. She's gone now, and yet, I'm still here. What am I supposed to do now?"

Steven, not knowing what to say, just walked up to the tall, thin Gem and hugged her waist. "Well, if it helps, you still have all of us."

Pearl started tearing up again at that, and kneeled down to hug Steven back as she let her tears flow freely. "Oh, Steven..."

After what felt like an eternity of crying and hugging, the two of them rode back to the temple on Lion's back, Pearl recounting various stories about the time she spent with Rose all the while.