Pearl swung her sword in an arc and turned on the spot, slashing through the air. She was in her favorite spot in the woods, in the clearing near the cave where she'd hidden from what she was calling the gem beast. For eight months, she'd training with Rainbow Pearl to become a knight to Pink Diamond. She technically had the day off, but she was planning of using the day to train, anyway.

"Connie!"

Turning, Pearl saw Steven making his way towards her through the woods. He had his usual pink, light pink, and white cloak on, and had a basket over his arm.

"Hey, Steven. What's in the basket?"

Steven grinned and held it up. "I packed a picnic! Do you want to have lunch?"

"Oh!" Connie shifted on the spot. "I was going to train today."

"Well, you train every day. One day off won't hurt."

"I don't know, Steven. Being part of the Pink Stars is a great honor, especially for a pearl like me and—"

"Connie," Steven interrupted. "Hold the phone. Now, give the phone to me. Working hard is important. But feeling good is important, too! You should take a day off and have a picnic! Then get back to work tomorrow."

Pearl frowned as she thought about it.

"Well, overworked muscles wouldn't be a good thing…" She smiled and nodded. "Okay," Pearl said. "You convinced me. Let's have a picnic!"

They walked through the woods, talking about Pearl's training and their favorite book and movie series Kitty-copter, laughing and enjoying the day. The sun streamed down through the trees, filtering the forest with hues of green and yellow. Finally, they came to an enormous cliff overlooking the entire area.

The Pink Stars base laid out across the land below them. The training field, the forge, and the library were all visible. Beyond the base was the unused gem temple, erected as refuge by the rebel Rose Quartz during the rebellion and preserved by Pink Diamond after her return to power. Along the right, the beach and ocean stretched out into the distance. Pearl felt her eyes water.

"When I learned I was going to be living on New Homeworld, I almost cried. I knew I would never see the colony I grew up on again." She wiped the tears from her eyes. "But New Homeworld is so beautiful. I see why Pink Diamond lives here."

"It is beautiful," Steven said. "I've lived here all my life. I've never wanted to be anywhere else."

Steven paused. Pearl could see him out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to have more to say, but he didn't speak. He just stared out over the landscape, frowning sadly. His hood was pushed back and a few strands of his black hair had escaped his ponytail and were swept into his face. He looked so handsome and so troubled.

"Steven? What's wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, heh. It's nothing." He wiped a tear from his eye. "Just thinking."

"I understand," Pearl said, taking his hand. Steven's hand was bigger than hers, warm, soft. He squeezed her hand back, not looking at her, but just holding her back.

They stood together, hand-in-hand, for a few moments before Steven took a breath and held up his basket.

"Lunch?" he said.

Steven spread out a blanket and unpacked the lunch. There were hot dog sandwiches, fruit salad, biscuits and jars of jam. Steven explained each item as he took it out. Pearl grinned. She'd only recently had most of the things he'd brought. Pearl had been right. The colonies had nothing on New Homeworld's food. She was paying attention to the food instead of Steven and reached for the strawberry jam at the same time as him. Their hands overlapped again, and Pearl paused and blushed.

"Sorry," she said at the same time as Steven. She pulled back as Steven took the jar and opened it up. He spread some jam on a biscuit and handed it to Pearl.

"Here," Steven said.

"Thanks," Pearl muttered, taking the biscuit.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, a comfortable silence. There was birdsong in the air. Off in the distance, the sounds of quartz soldiers training in the bases wafted up. Even farther away the sound of the ocean waves washed over everything.

Pearl ate slowly, savoring the taste of the jam. Steven hummed between bites. She closed her eyes and smelled the woods, moist and deep, the ocean sharp and salty, the food and the base, sweet, mouthwatering, metallic and clean. Pearl was warm and content in the sun. She was home.

"I wish I could stay here forever," Pearl muttered, almost to herself.

"We could do this every day," Steven said, "and it wouldn't be enough."

"Mhm!"

Pearl sighed, so grateful that Steven had come and whisked her away from her training. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

Steven was definitely handsome. He had deep brown eyes, suntanned skin that was almost freckled, and the most peculiar hair. It was so curly his ponytail could barely contain it, and deep black. In his highlights where the light hit his hair, it shone reddish, almost pink, like rose quartz. Pearl chuckled and looked off into the woods to hide her blush. Steven was so gorgeous he was sometimes a little hard to look directly at if he wasn't hiding behind his hood.

"What?" Steven asked.

"Nothing," Pearl said, still smiling.

Steven laughed. "Connie, what?"

"Nothing!" Pearl sang. Then something in the woods caught her eye. Her smile faltered ever so slightly.

"Come on," Steven sang back. "What's going—"

"Shush!" Pearl blurted out.

"W-what?"

"Hush, Steven! There's something…" Pearl paused and hopped up into a crouch. "There's something in the shadows." She crept forward, standing, edging towards the woods. Before she could get past the blanket, a gem beast came crashing out of the woods.

It was twice Pearl's height and just as wide, with four legs, two arms, no difference between its body and head to speak of and body sized mouth with rows of sharp teeth. On top of its round form was a single antenna. Pearl turned for the sword which was resting by the back side of the blanket where she had been sitting, but before she could reach it a white-hot light-beam shot from over her shoulder and knocked it farther away. She turned back, but barely had time to dive out of way before beast warmed up its antenna again and shot at her.

"Connie!" Steven shouted.

Pearl looked at Steven, then looked at the gem beast. Her sword was laying by cliff edge, out of reach for the moment, but Steven didn't have a weapon at all as far as she knew. She braced against the ground and decided. She hadn't been able to summon her gem weapon again since the first, over eight months ago, but she needed to protect Steven.

"Steven, run!" Pearl shouted as she darted for the beast, hoping her weapon would materialize in her moment of need.

She got close and prepared to strike, only to be hit by a beam. She shuddered in place, pain shooting through her jerking body, then collapsed, faintly hearing Steven calling her name.

It took Pearl a moment to shake off the shock of the hit and looked up to find herself in a pink bubble with Steven.

"Connie?! Connie, are you okay?" Steven shouted. Outside the bubble, the beast was shooting at them.

"Steven? How are you doing this?"

"Connie, we don't have time. We have to run!"

Another shot hit the bubble and Pearl stood and shook her head clear. "There… there's a cave. We were by it earlier. We can regroup there."

"Can you run?"

Pearl crouched on all fours, looking towards the cave. "On three, dropped the bubble and follow me."

"Okay!" Steven answered.

"One." Pearl dug her feet and hands in the dirt. The thumping from the gem beast attacks was pounding in her ears. "Two." She tensed all her muscles. "Three!" Pearl shot forward, trusting Steven to drop the bubble in time and follow her.

She ran full speed through the woods. The gem beast was roaring and stomping behind her, but Steven was in her side vision keeping up nicely. They reached the clearing and Pearl grabbed Steven with both hands and without stopping shoved him ahead of her.

Steven hit the rock wall with an audible thud, but Pearl ignored it and started shoving.

"Squeeze in, Steven! Squeeze!"

Pearl pushed and shoved until Steven let out a coughing sound and popped through the crack. Then Pearl wriggled in herself, but before she was cleanly inside, she felt a light beam from the gem beast hit her on her back. She shuddered again and felt her legs give out, but Steven caught her and dragged her deeper into the cave.

They wedged themselves back into behind some ridges. The beast roared, chewed at the crack, and shot at them for a while, but the shot burned the walls next to them harmlessly and after a while the beast growled and backed off.

Pearl waited for the feeling to return to her legs before pushing off Steven's chest and standing up. Evening standing, the space was tight enough that they weren't far apart.

"Thank you," Pearl sighed, her hands still on Steven's chest. She took a deep breath. "We'll wait here for a while until we recharge a bit, then go back for my sword." Frowning, Pearl dropped her hand to her sides. "Unless… have you got a weapon? And how did you make that bubble? And where is your gem and harness?"

These were questions that Pearl should have asked months ago. She'd never seen Steven's gem or harness. And even though she'd been to the medical building, she'd never seen Steven's name on any of the rotation sheets. She should have been suspicious, but Steven had been so good to her during these last eight months, so encouraging, so sweet, that she'd never bothered.

Steven looked down for a while before shifting and opening his cloak. Under the cloak was a plain pink shirt which he lifted to a revealed a pink gem, not in a harness, but set directly into his body.

"Rose! You're a natural gem?" Pearl said in disbelief.

"I'm an organic-natural gem hybrid."

"A… what? I've never heard of such a thing before. That's… that's… Amazing! Do have a weapon!"

"Yea, a shield."

"Oh, my stars! That's amazing! A shield, a protective bubble. Anything else?"

"… Lots. I'm still learning control, though. I do more damage than anything else."

"My stars! Do the Pink Stars know about this?"

Steven's face fell. "You can't tell them you know about me! It's a secret! Top level clearance only, even the soldiers on the base know nothing. If they find out you know…"

"I might get in trouble," Pearl muttered. "Or worse. You might get in trouble." Pearl took both of Steven's hands in her own. "I swear on my honor I won't tell anyone about this. You have my word, Rose Quartz. I'll protect you."

Steven's eyes watered up as he smiled. "Pearl…" he muttered.

Pearl smiled for a second, then looked over her shoulder. "I don't hear anything," she whispered.

"Me neither," said Steven. "Let's go. I'll go out first with my shield, you make a run for your sword."

"Right."

Steven edged out of the space first and crept up to the mouth of the cave. He peeked out of the crack and whispered back.

"It's gone for now."

"Okay," Pearl said. "Let's go."

Steven nodded and squeezed out of the crack, after which Pearl followed. Outside the cave, Steven tensed and over his left arm materialized a pink shield with a flowered design on it. Pearl smiled in delight as she eyed the shield.

"I love it!" she squealed.

"Thanks," Steven said, blushing. Then he straightened his face. "Okay, sword."

"Right, sword."

They marched off toward the cliff, moving fast, keeping quiet. The forest was still unnaturally quiet, no birdsong, no animals in the underbrush. Everything was hiding. The gem beast was still nearby.

Pearl wondered what it was. She'd never seen a gem animal before coming to New Homeworld, but had seen two since. But she'd been too busy training to ask the Pink Stars what they were, where they came from, or why they were exclusive to New Homeworld. She also didn't know what the Pink Stars had done with the last gem beast's gem instead of shattering it, or where gem was now. Garnet had sort of caught it and done some sleight of hand to disappear it from sight. Pearl frowned to herself as he realized how little she knew about New Homeworld and the Pink Stars. She wasn't sure even why she'd been chosen to join them before she'd even been born.

As they approached the cliff, she glanced at Steven; a natural-organic hybrid and living secret. He probably knew more than she did, but now wasn't the time to ask.

The sword was up ahead, near the cliff edge. Steven fell behind her, keeping back towards the forest while Pearl went for her sword. She was almost at it when she heard a roar. Without thinking, Pearl dove forward, but it was too late. A light beam hit the sword and knocked it over the edge of the cliff.

Swallowing a scream of frustration, Pearl whirled around and faced Steven and the gem beast. Steven was fighting the beast alone, blocking light beam shots with his shield and getting in hits while the beast was charging up between shots. Pearl clenched her fists and planted her feet. She was going to fight. Even if it was with her bare hands, she was going to fight. She touched her gem, for luck, for courage, then charged into the fight with a roar.

Her shout must have scared Steven, because he blocked a light beam, then turned and looked at. Pearl barreled past him and leapt into the air, bringing her right fist down on the gem beast's head. Light wrapped around her fist, condensed, solidified, and created a sword which met the beast's next light beam head on. There was a moment of tension where Pearl was held in midair, falling into the beast sword-first and getting knocked away with the same amount of force. Then the balance tipped and was blown back clean into the air, head over heels.

"Connie!"

Steve's voice came from all around her as she was spinning. Then he was by her side, clutching her around the waist, holding her to him.

"Steven!" Pearl grinned, then noticed the cliff edge passing them than an arm's length away. She clutched Steven and bit back a scream.

"It's okay!" Steven shouted. "I got us!"

The cliff rolled by, slower than it should.

"Gem power?" Pearl asked.

"Yep," Steven said.

"Steven, you're amazing!"

"Thanks. I like your sword."

Pearl beamed and looked at her gem weapon. The sword was a standard cutlass with a board, slightly curved blade of solid deep red and a black hilt with a cupped guard. She felt its presence to her bones and knew that she would never struggle for it again.

"Connie! It's coming!" Steven shouted.

Looking up, Pearl saw the gem beast running down the side of the cliff, shooting at them. She wriggled in Steven's grip, brandishing her sword. Steven held her tighter.

"Connie! Wait until we reach the ground!"

"Can you speed us up?" Connie shouted, watching the beast come closer. "Then slow down right before we reach the ground!"

"Right!" Steven shouted, and they began dropped faster, faster even than natural. Then in a few seconds they suddenly stopped.

After a second of hovering, they touched solid ground again and Pearl jumped from Steven's grip.

"Cover me!" she shouted as the gem beast came barreling towards the bottom of the cliff, then she charged forward.

This time she aimed for the underside of the beast, slashing from the left and right before rolling back to the right to allow Steven to block a shot from the beast's antenna. She spun on the spot, then came back around to slash again, this time right above the beast's gem. It roared, lit up, then poofed into a cloud of smoke. Then the smoke cleared, a single gem was left behind.

Pearl frowned ad lifted the point of her sword over the gem only to have Steven shout.

"No!" He caught her arm. "It's not her fault! You don't have to destroy her."

"What… what are those things…?"

"That's… complicated. I'm sorry."

Pearl sighed. "It's fine. I understand." She dissipated her sword and watched Steven place the gem in the bubble and send it away. That explained the sleight of hand.

"I'd better going, Connie," Steven muttered.

"Me too," Pearl sighed. She spied her original sword by the cliff foot and wandered over to it. "That was way more training than I intended."

Steven laughed. "New Homeworld can be more unpredictable than the colonies, I'm told." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small communicator. "Here. For you."

Pearl took it with a smile and a blush. "I'll see you soon, Steven."