Chapter 1

"Once upon a time, the Gem Homeworld was ruled by Diamonds - White, Yellow, Blue, and the littlest Diamond, Pink. While the other Diamonds conquered many planets across the galaxy, Pink had only one, the planet Earth. One day, Pink fled the comforts of Homeworld. On Earth, she made a new home, new friends, and finally, new life; Giving up her form to bequeath her Gem to her half-human son."

"STEVEN!"

"Steven!"

Steven stepped off of the warp pad into the arms of Connie, who had been patiently awaiting his return from Homeworld.

"What took you so long?"

He watched her gather up her books and notes as he replied, "It's the Diamonds. They reeeeally want me to move in with them."

She giggled. "Why?"

"Cause they want to smother me in affection 24/7," He gave an exasperated sigh. He wanted to like the Diamonds, he really did, but they could be so exhausting.

"Well, I'd love to fill in that role," she started teasingly, "but unfortunately I have to leave soon for space camp. Come on." She smiled and led him from the greenhouse.

He followed her down the steps and through the sliding glass door into his bedroom, where her luggage waited for her. He cast an apprehensive glance at the bags."You're really going through with it? You've literally been to space multiple times!"

"Of course I am, Steven! My parents are doing what they can to support my interests; it's sweet, really. Besides, I'll only be gone a couple of months. I'll be back before you know it!"

He plopped down onto his mattress, sighing. "I will most definitely know it. I'll miss you! Just promise me you'll have fun." Of course he wanted her to have a good time, and he was happy for her, but two whole months without his best friend did not sound nice. Plus, it was summer! He had spent every summer with her since they met. Missing her would be very strange.

She sank down onto the bed next to him and laced her fingers with his. "Oh, Steven. I'll miss you too, of course I will!" She tilted her head over to nuzzle the crook of his neck. She breathed in his scent and squeezed his hand before reluctantly pulling away.

"Besides, I'm not leaving you empty handed. Here." From her pocket she withdrew a small square photo. "In the photo on your desk, I'm like thirteen. I figured it's time you got an update."

She grinned sheepishly as she placed her portrait in his hands. It was a polaroid, like her other photo. This one was vastly different, however; it was an action shot, taken during one of her sword-training sessions. Her whole body seemed to be springing forward as she lunged at a holo-pearl, her fierce expression perfectly framed by her short hair flared out around her face. Her limbs and clothes were blurry from her movement, but to Steven, it couldn't be more perfect.

It was a stark contrast from her previous photo, back when she was just a shy girl reading on the docks. How she had changed. His heart swelled with admiration for the girl in front of him; his best friend, his other half, the love of his life.

He raised a hand to hold her cheek and guided her nearer. Their foreheads tentatively rested together, and he could feel her breath breeze across his lips. They stayed like that for a few moments before Steven spoke, in a voice that came out strangely gravelly,

"Thank you…I- just, thank you."

HIs stomach did a somersault when he felt Connie's hand moving slowly up his arm before coming to rest in his hair, cradling the back of his head. Her nose lightly skimmed across his own, and he felt her lips graze his. Without thinking, he leaned forward and pressed their lips together. Her kiss was soft and warm. He held her tighter to his own body, reveling in the feeling of her.

They had kissed before, but not like this. They would just playfully peck, testing the waters. This, this was different. This was deeper. He was kissing her like he was saying goodbye.

.

He lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Connie had left a couple of hours ago, blushing from their intimate kiss. Steven felt his face grow warm thinking about it.

"Tell everyone at space camp that space used to be super scary and dangerous, but it's great now!"

He lifted the photo he held up to his face, and soaked in every detail all over again. With a sigh, he sat up. He decided this photo was too important to just leave lying around. It was time to utilize that neat trick Pearl had taught him. Pulling up his shirt and with a deep breath, he focused his mind on his task. He purposefully moved the photo in front of his gem and held it there a moment. His brow furrowed with concentration as the photo began to glow white and be absorbed into his shining pink gem. He let out his breath when the task was finished, and smiled with satisfaction. It would be safe with him now.

He hopped up out of bed and bounded down the stairs towards his front door. On the porch, he could see Pearl and his dad playing guitar.

"Hey guys! What's up?"

Pearl looked up from the lawn chair, "Oh, hello Steven! Greg here is teaching me to play the bass!"

Greg chuckled, "I keep trying to tell her, it's 'base'."

Pearl retorted, "Excuse me, b-a-s-s spells bass.

Greg gave up the already lost battle, "You're the boss, Pearl! So, whatcha up to, son? I saw Connie leave a little while ago. You've got the whole summer to yourself!"

Steven didn't know what to do with all that time, but he knew where to start. "I was hoping to help out with Little Homeworld. You know, hang out with Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth."

"Well, if we're done for today, I'd love to join you." Pearl looked over to his dad, who had already begun wrapping up their amp wires.

"Oh, yeah that's fine. We've been playing for a long time anyway. You're getting really good, Pearl!"

"Thank you! You're a great teacher, after all." She handed him her bass and followed Steven down the stairs onto the beach.

While they walked, Steven struck up a conversation. "So, I was able to put something in my gem today. Thank you so much for teaching me how!" He smiled up at his caregiver appreciatively.

"I knew you could! It's just a matter of practice, that's all." She beamed down at him and they continued to walk the path to Little Homeworld in a comfortable silence. That was, until a shout caught their attention.

"Steven, over here! I saved you some!"

Garnet was seated at a picnic table in front of the Big Donut, holding out a plate. She sat with Lars and his crew, the Off-colors. Steven and Pearl approached and greeted them all, and Garnet handed Steven his plate. The purple-and-white swirled Ube cake looked delicious, but he had just eaten not too long ago.

"I'll save this for later, thank you Lars!"

"Ooh, Steven, show Garnet your new skill! Garnet, watch this!" Pearl looked at him expectantly.

With a nervous chuckle, he bubbled the pastry and lifted his shirt. Everyone watched with rapt attention as the bubble glowed white and was sucked into the pink gem. Applause rang out at the table, and Steven could hear the faint clink clink of Garnet's gems tapping together.

"That's a neat trick, good job." Garnet placed her partially gloved hand on top of his hair, smiling.

"Thanks! We were just on our way to check on Little Homeworld, did you wanna come with us?"

"Of course; let's take the warp."

…

Their feet landed on the warp pad in unison, the bright flash dissipating around them as Steven moved to step off. His foot left the edge and he fell straight forward, looking down at the ground 50 feet below him. Pearl yelped in surprise as something whipped out and wrapped around his waist, catching him. Amethyst heaved to pull him back up, earning a thumbs-up from Garnet.

"Watch your step, bud!" She put her weapon away and waved up at someone, shouting, "We're good! Let's keep going!"

Steven squinted up to see Bismuth and Lapis operating a crane that was supporting the warp pad, which apparently hadn't actually been installed yet. A green gem came flying towards them from below, riding a silver trash can lid.

"Hey, Peridot! How's it going?" Steven always had a soft spot for the adorable gem.

"Steven! You're just in time. We're about to install the new warp, which means Little Homeworld is…." she squinted at her tablet, "83.7 percent complete!"

Lapis came down from the lift, "Only 83.7 percent? We'd better get cracking!" A few drops of salty water landed on Stevens face as she flew over his head on her oceanic wings. He faintly wondered if she could keep fish in them.

His train of thought was interrupted when the warp pad suddenly shifted and swayed, gently lowering to the ground. Moments later, they landed with a loud bang and he gratefully hopped off. A thud and a rising cloud of dust to his right signaled to him that Bismuth had jumped from the crane. He caught her hand with his, in greeting.

"What brings you all the way up here, Steven?" She shook the dust from her rainbow locs and stretched her arms.

"Well, I was wondering if you needed any help this summer? I'm pretty much free. I'd love to help!" He was honestly desperate for distraction.

"Well…" She looked around at the dozens of Gems running in all directions, carrying building supplies, writing blueprints, or tending to the nubile gardens. "You could probably help the gardeners, Steven. Pearl, we could definitely use your help organizing the armory, and Amethyst can help you. Ummmm… Garnet, could you come up with a list of classes that could be taught here?"

"Done." Garnet held up a stack of papers filled with lists. She pushed up her visor as she said "I knew you'd ask. I'll help Steven, today."

Bismuth didn't look remotely surprised. "Thank you. Alright, let's get cracking!" She clapped Steven on the back as she jogged past him to her next task.

They all worked most of the day; Steven gently placing potted plants into the soil along the sides of every building, Pearl and Amethyst bickering over whether to sort the weapons by size or alphabetically, and Garnet silently walking behind Steven with a watering can.

…

Steven flopped down in the sand, letting the sunset wash over him. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl settled down next to him.

"Little Homeworld sure is coming along, huh?" He felt very satisfied after a long day of working, although his hands were a little blistered from digging.

Amethyst sighed, "It sure is. I'm so glad all these Gems are choosing the Earth as their home. I wish I had this when I first emerged." She seemed to get lost in her own thoughts, staring at the swirled pink and orange clouds.

Pearl sighed, "Yes, everything's going perfectly. Who would've guessed? I mean, we've all come so far!"

Steven and Amethyst chimed in, "Hear, Hear!"

Pearl smiled, "I guess I'm just trying to say, I'm proud of us."

Garnet put her hand on Pearl's shoulder and smiled. They settled into a content silence, all of them in their own heads. Steven was drifting off to sleep on the soft, warm sand. He imagined himself floating in a sea of dark…

Black. He felt a cool embrace pressing in on him from all sides, almost crushing him. He could hear sporadic cracks and booms from above and all around him.

The others…

"STEVEN!"

He shot up at Garnet's shout, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Strong wind whipped his hair across his face and tugged at his clothes. He stood up, bracing himself and summoning his shield to protect his face from the sand blasting at him.

"What's going on?!"

There wasn't time to reply before the sky cracked open. The thundering crash was too much; Steven dropped his shield and clapped his hands over his ears. He looked up to the gray dusky sky and couldn't believe his eyes. A massive fireball parted the clouds; hurtling towards the beach, leaving a billowing trail of black smoke behind it.

"MOVE!" Garnet ordered, picking up Steven and running to dive behind one of the temples many hands in the sand. An unbearably loud crash resounded behind them, and drops of melted sand hit the statue and flew past them.

Dread coursed through Stevens veins.

Not again, please not again, I thought the fighting was done, please, not again.

Steven shakily crawled from Garnet's lap and peeked around the giant hand. Black smoke rose in a column from the center of what appeared to be a spired tower of glass, erected instantly by the crash. Its menacing spikes shielded him from whatever had built it.

He glanced back at Garnet. "What should we do? What is that?"

Pearl and Amethyst peeked from behind a boulder a few yards away, evidently pleading for Garnet's help as well.

Garnet was frozen. She didn't move or speak. Steven knelt in front of her, waving his hand in front of her face, but got no response. He pulled off her visor, and saw all three of her eyes staring wide, looking right through him.

"Please, Garnet! We need your help! Talk to me!"

"No…" Her voice was weak.

"Wh-What? Garnet, what's going on!?"

She seemed to snap out of her reverie. With alarm, she started, "Steven! You need to-"

As quick as lightning, a flash of pink came within inches of Steven's face. There was an unbearably hot electricity radiating from it.

Steven fell backwards from Garnet's lap and landed hard in the sand, losing his wind. With horror, he saw his guardian's face split in two by a blinding scythe, with veins of pink lightning spreading all across her form. Two of her eyes were already dissipating, but she focused on him with the last of her strength and breathed,

"...run."

Author's notes: This is not a cute, fluffy story. It only gets darker from here ;) Thanks for reading.