Disclaimer: Characters, settings, names from the cartoon television show 'Steven Universe' are creations and property of Rebecca sugar and Cartoon network. Any Non-steven universe characters, settings, names, Gems, Gem powers, beliefs, mythology are my own creation.
Author's Note: Having fused with Lapis Lazuli, Steven and Lapis's fully armored ethereal third body get's its name and the two demonstrate the power of their combined power. Meanwhile, Greg Universe gets comfortable with an old High school friend of his, but what does this entail for his future. Will Greg remain a widower or will new roses bloom in the empty field of his heart.
Story Tags: Steven Universe, Connie Maheswaran, OC's, Lapis Lazuli, Pearl, Amethyst, Garnet, Beach City, Gem Powers, Romance, Adventure, Comfort, Destiny.
Music Inspiration for Chapter: "Dream a Little Dream of Me" By: Mickey Thomas
Chapter 14: Greg in Love
Saturday
May 9, 2016, 4:30 [Evening]
Beach City, Atlantic Ocean
Flapping their water wings, and flying at mid level speed. Steven and Lapis were working together to keep their gigantic third body intact. Since this was Steven's first fusion with a gem, and not a human. Keeping the body or 'link' from breaking apart was difficult. It felt like Steven's mind was still dancing with Lapis's. Each step in his mind that he took was taken with careful steps. One wrong misstep, a simple trip could undo their fused body. Lapis who had more experience with fusion and keeping a link from coming undone, did most of the gem-linking work.
Following behind Their fused partners, Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet were barely able to keep up with Steven and Lapis when they picked up their speed. Amethyst watched this pink Giant (Steven's Gem Body) being encased in dark blue centurion armor (Lapis's Gem powers), it's light blue cape flapping in the wind as air blew behind all around it. The dark blue plume on top of their helmet also blew back due to the wind.
"Hey Guys, I just thought of something. You see how Steven's pink giant body looks like behind of Lapis Armor, it's purple like his shield. How about we call them...Purple Fluorite." Amethyst suggested.
"It fits them perfectly in all honesty. What do you think pearl?" Garnet told them, agreeing with Amethyst.
"I don't care if they call themselves Lolite or Tanzanite. Steven shouldn't be fused with someone like her, she's still an outsider and enemy." Pearl replied back sounding cold about it.
"Steven already made her a Crystal gem, and Steven is Rose's son, so his decision is absolute. Besides, Lapis isn't so bad."
"It's true pearl, Steven trusts Lapis. And if he trusts her, we should too. It's better to have her as an ally, than an enemy." Garnet said.
Pearl furrowed her brows in a scowl. She looked over to Garnet and Amethyst. "Why are you two ganging up on me, you can't possibly trust her."
"well she hasn't done anything so far. She's protected Steven, flew him back and forth to Connie. And she's managed to fuse so perfectly with him. I say their both..."
"You finish that sentence Amethyst and I swear." Pearl said frustratingly, warning Amethyst.
Purple Fluorite stopped flying and hovered above the ocean, he turned his head left to right. Lapis looked down towards Steven who looked like was about to fall asleep.
"Hey Steven, are you ok?"
"Yeah Lapis i''m fine, oakey dokey."
"I'm sorry for dragging this out for this long. It's just that, i'm curious to see what this body can do, and I like being fused with you."
"I like being fused with you too Lapis. If connie saw this, she might not be so...excited or enthusiatic as we are."
"You fused with her yet?"
"Only once, but it's impossible for us now. Her gemstone belongs to a commander."
Lapis looked surprised and puzzled. "A Commander, do you know from who?"
"Yeah, it belonged to a gem called Commander Smoky." Steven told her, yawning.
"Comma...Commander Smoky!? That's whose gem she has on her chest."
"Do you know him Lapis? Connie's told me that he stopped an entire Gem Invasion to Mars by himself. And that -"
"Yeah I heard of him. I heard how he had a change of heart when he refused to follow through with The Goddess Taffeite's orders. He was born from the goddess of his time, Red Beryl. Before he was used to enforce Taffeite's orders, he protected Homeworld with one hundred thousand asteroids that orbited our planet. He could send those to destroy fleets of enemy ships, or send multiples of them to destroy the planets or moons of our enemies. There were plenty commanders who had dominion over their own elements and abilities. but Smoky was special. He served as guardian, soldiers, leader and father figure to many gems. He's legendary. Commanders can't fuse, not even with others like them. Because when you see them do what they were born for...you'll know why."
"But there's no way of knowing unless we try. I'm sure mom thinks we can, I can feel her, it's like she's telling me we can." Steven yawned and closed his eyes.
The two of them spent to much time talking that Steven's limit on how long he could keep his side of the fusion stable, had run out. The 100 foot giant pink being that represent Steven's gem body, was fading away until it was gone. When it was gone, Lapis's armor and cape and their shield vanished too. Steven was falling down towards the ocean in a state of sleep. Amethyst, Pearl and Garnet were to occupied with arguing with each other, that neither of the trio noticed Lapis fly down and catch Steven in her arms. When they did, it was because of Pearl who flew over to them.
"What happened to Steven, did you do something to him Lapis!"
"No. he just became tired, fusion takes a lot of energy to keep up. And since Steven is still so young and half a gem, he can only keep it stable for no less than six to seven minutes. Because all of us here, with the exception of Seven, are full gems. We have unlimited energy and stamina that we can burn without fear of exhausting ourselves."
Lapis carried Steven and flew him back to his home, she looked down at him from time to time. She leaned her head down to plant a kiss on his forehead. Feeling her lips press on his skin, Steven moved his head closer to her chest, where he unknowingly swung his hand and kept it pressed it on Lapis's chest.
Lapis's cheeks went white, she was so shocked and surprised that Pearl noticed her shock clearly.
"Alright that does it!" Pearl yelled out. she flew over to Steven and told Garnet to turn into a giant bird. Pearl shape shifted back to her humanoid form and grabbed Steven out of Lapis's arms. Lapis was still in her own shock that she did not feel Steven leave her arms. Pearl climbed on top of Garnet who was now a giant Falcon. Amethyst settled down on Garnet's back and hitched a free ride back home."
Lapis was falling behind. She only noticed this when she looked down to see Steven, and instead only saw the blue ocean waves. She shook her head and saw Garnet carrying Pearl, Amethyst and Steven. She flew over to the right side of Garnet and saw Pearl cradling Steven in her pale arms. She preferred not to say anything, she needed some time to collect her thoughts on just what happened. By accident.
Star Trail Coffee, Beach City
5:25 [Evening]
After washing Sasha's jeep and drying it and giving it a thorough clean up. Greg got in Sasha's jeep and took a drive into the center of town. They stopped by a small local coffee shop. Sasha parked her jeep in a nearby parking lot owned by the coffee shop. Greg stepped outside first, walked around over to her side of the door and unlocked the door for her. Sasha came out and watched Greg close her door. She smiled at him and walked over to the coffee shop, for a moment Greg let his eyes wander down her back to her...trunk.
"Yo Greg, hey."
"Yes Sasha..."
"My eyes aren't down there. There up here." Sasha pointed out.
Greg blushed and looked off to the side, pushing his hands into the pockets of his trunks. Sasha placed her hands behind her back, put on a cute face and winked at Greg. Sasha took Greg's hand and pulled him into the coffee shop. Greg walked outside of the shop and took a seat at a table located just a foot away from the shop. He looked around him, and saw men and women walking together hand in hand. Some pushed their small children in strollers, others carried them on their shoulders. Most of them, the ones who didn't have kids looked like they were on their way to making their first, kissing, holding each other etc.
Such scenes of families, older couples in love got to Greg. It's been a long time since he took part in scenes like that. He rested the side of his face on his hand, tapped his fingers on the table in front of him and and let out a sad and tired sigh.
"Hey, why so sad rockstar." Sasha told Greg.
Greg shuddered from the sudden surprise and straightened himself. He turned to Sasha who was holding two coffee cups in her hands.
"Just realized I haven't done much with my life. Sorry, didn't mean to be so frank so quick."
"No. that's ok, I know what it's like. I wasn't employed after I left college, I couldn't find a job in the area I studied and worked so hard for for over four years. I wanted to be an Environmental scientist."
"That sounds wonderful Sasha. it sounds like the kind of occupation you would be very comfortable in, are you an E.S Sasha?"
"yes I am. This is our only planet, our one and only planet and look at how big businesses treat it. When the skies go green, the ocean turn red and the ground refuses to grow anything anymore. What are we all going to do?"
"It's a scary future Sasha. It's tougher knowing that it's an even less forgiving world for our kids. I have a kid, a son."
"Oh, married?"
"What, oh no. me and his mother were, we were in love. And I wanted to marry her after she had our son. but that was before she...she...well she passed away giving birth."
"Greg...I'm sorry. I never had much time for relationships, never thought I would make a great mother because of- maybe I should stop speaking."
"No Sasha, please continue on." Greg told her, placing his cup down on the small plate on the table.
"I don't feel like I could raise a kid, let alone give birth to one because I don't think i'm strong enough. I'm to work oriented, and a little...selfish."
"None of us are perfect Sasha. Imperfect beings in a less than perfect world."
"Sounds like you just found you're next song title, are you still playing Greg."
"I do, but my one man band thing is done. Has been since I met my son's mother. Wow, I haven't noticed it but i've been sipping from an empty cup for three minutes. Haha hahaha."
Greg started to laugh and so did Sasha who had to keep from spraying her un-swallowed coffee from her pursed lips. She swallowed her coffee and joined Greg in laughter. They left the coffee shop and walked over back to Sasha's jeep, where they drove to one end of a street and parked the vehicle there. Greg and Sasha got out of the car and walked alongside Greg.
Greg Universe
"I didn't want to admit it, but I was really happy that Sasha came by. I'm really happy that she happened to stop by. I spent enough time sitting in the back of my van, strumming the strings on my guitar thinking about the past. I was getting tired living life through my memories, falling in love all over and being in love only when I closed my eyes and let my thoughts take me to a time where I had it all. Ever since rose left me and Steven...i've been doing everything to keep my self from dropping down on my knees and crying out to the universe to bring rose back to me.
But she's gone. She told me, Greg i'm going to shapeshift a womb for our child to be born from. Then i'm going to create a magical egg cell from my magic. This egg cell is half of me, and when your seed penetrated it, that should replicate the human process of conception. Because I need to halves of my gem magic to exist, once this baby is born...i'll be gone. I was bound by human limitations. Sickness, aging, death. Rose could practically go on forever. She was the diamond in the sun, I was the raisin shriveling next to her year after year.
I'm happy she put herself through so much to give me a son, to make feel like I was in a normal relationship. Yes she was an alien, yes she was very tall. But she was also very kind, protective and empathetic. Something most humans were not, except for Sasha. She might have been a loner in the past, but she was heck of a lot more sympathetic to me than the rest of the people I called friends.
Strange, when I'm with her, with Sasha...i don't feel like I have to try very hard to make her laugh. To explain to her how human emotions work, to tell her to please try the food I worked hard to make. But she was who she was, just like Sasha is who she is.
Sasha Green
"To be honest when I first saw Greg back in community college, I thought he was just like all the other guys. Dudes with big dreams who set themselves to walk on three inch bridge. At the end was their dream, but below them was a void of nothingness but futile work and effort that would lead to nothing if they fell off. Funny, for a while I thought of myself as being in that same position. I don't think he was delusional, maybe a little overly ambitious with his dream, but hey what good are dreams if we don't hope and hope if we can't dream.
Me and Greg were never really friends, 'hi, hey, what's up, good morning, goodbye.' that's all that we ever exchanged between us. We didn't travel in the same circle of people. Still, I liked him because he wasn't a cocky arrogant person. Something most successful and unsuccessful musicians never really drop off.
Though there was one time where we and I did speak, and I never told him this. I don't even think he remembers anymore. It was the year in community college where he would drop out. I was in the gymnasium wearing workout gear. I was practicing in front of a mirror for a dance routing I was going to play later on. Greg, wearing those same ol jeans with the tears on his knees, walked into the gymnasium from the top floor. I had placed a cassette in a cassette player and pressed the play button.
Mickey Thomas's version of "Dream a little dream of me" started to play. Greg saw me practicing, he took a seat on one of the seats and then sat up and stopped me ftom practicing by screaming "Hey!" I turned and saw him jump over a railing. I didn't know why, but I kept smiling at him the whole way. He started to dance like the king of pop. I giggled and humored him by continuing to pay attention. I can still remember the lyrics to the song.
Stars shinning bright above you. Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you" birds singing in the sycamore trees, dream a little dream of me.
Just Say Good night and kiss me. Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me, while i'm alone and blue as can be, dream a little dream of me.
Stars fading, but I linger on, still craving your kiss. I'm longing to linger till dawn, just saying this.
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you, sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you, but in your dreams whatever they be, dream a little dream of me.
At the end of the song, he slid over to me on his knees and took my hand. He told me "Hey Sasha." panting from the complex dance moves. I chuckled and started to laugh, I told him he was crazy and he told me he tried. I liked him back then, the only guy to pay me any real attention. And I think I might still like him.
"Hey Sasha, up for a little swim?"
"Oh, yeah. Race you Mr. Universe!" Sasha said excitedly.
Greg took off as fast as he could, slipping out of his sandals and trying to keep up with Sasha. Sasha removed her towel wrapped around her waist and ran with all of her energy.
Outer Space, Asteroid Belt
The male gem traveling through space in a metallic sphere had passed The Kuiper belt and passed Jupiter. His pod had was nearing earth, he opened his eyes for the first time in a while. The pod induced sleep stasis was lifting. He stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles. He looked out his circular sixteen inch width window and saw the red planet and the blue and green marble, Earth.
Continued in Chapter 15.
(!) "I'm taking two weeks off to write out more chapter scripts and writing out several chapters. Thank you to everyone whose been reading, favoriting and following my story. I haven't seen this many followers since 2009 – 10. let's hope for new Steven universe episodes in the future."