Welp, here it is. Last chapter of PART 2.

I thought i'd be more excited about this but i uh, i just came back from a job interview. Didn't get it. So i'm kinda blue now, so i thought the best way to fight it was to publish something. That always cheers me up.

Anyway, we're back to Steven's POV. Remember, this is the last chapter of part 2, and part 3 is gonna be WAY shorter, so we're close to the ending.

Stay tuned folks!


Seriously now —why choose a name like 'Death River'?. Was it on purpose, as a way to warn people away from it? Or is it some sort of willful thinking, naming the town something you wish it to become? Like with children… Parents pick all sort of weird name for their children, sometimes with obscure or unknown meaning, passing all their insecurities and fears onto their kids and hoping them to be better than what they are.

'Steven', by the way, meant 'crown', and ever since he'd found out Steven haven't known what to make of it.

This was the topic Steven's been thinking about to forget about how he'd mind-controlled, brainwashed, knock out cold —and nearly, possibly, kill— the first real friend he'd made ever since he left home. Soledad had said nothing about it —even though Steven was sure she remembered more than what she lead on. Steven didn't ask her neither. He just drove the Dondai, following the tail of Rain's bike, into the city.

In the quiet night, the music was almost a gift. The stereo was still playing Steven's 'Best of Country Music' discount mix tape.

Three thirty in the mornin', not a soul in sight

The city's lookin' like a ghost town on a moonless summer night

Raindrops on the windshield, there's a storm movin' in

He's headin' back from somewhere that he never should have been.

A knot grew in Steven's guts. Maybe 'blessing' wasn't the right word. This is ridiculous, this song have nothing to do with me. Despite Steven's self-reassurance, the guilt kept snowballing in his chest. And the song was getting worse.

The thunder rolls, and the lightnin' strikes

Another love grows cold on a sleepless night

As a storm blows on out of control

Deep in her heart the thunder rolls.

Steven blushed profusely, his palms burning for clenching the wheel. He turned to Soledad. She was hunched over by the tension, twice the bundle of nerves Steven was. But she wasn't scared. Her eyes flickered with curiosity and questions.

Steven turned back to the road. Soledad tried to look at anything else but him.

"I think," Soledad began. Steven turned the volume down a little (feeling no little relief in that). "I think this mix tape is getting there. I mean you can't go wrong with Garth Brooks, youknowwhatimean?"

"I was thinking the same thing," said Steven. "Maybe it just needed to grow on us."

"Or maybe its one of those things." Steven shrugged. Soledad rolled her eyes. "Come on, those things. You know how there're moments that kinda suck at first, and you hate it and you wanna quit? But if you keep going, if you just give it another chance, you find you're having the time of your life. Thosekindathings, I don't know."

Steven hummed. He knew the feeling alright. Half of his friendships have been that way. Peridot, Bismuth, Lars. And this one too, he supposed, although he was speaking only of himself. He ought to talk to Soledad about that, and all the other stuff that happened tonight. But now the air between them was calmer to the point they could talk amicably. And Steven didn't want to ruin that.

Except that was a lie. None of this was because of her, it was because of Steven. He'd gotten them into this mess and failed to get them out of it smoothly. And when things turned for the worst, he lost control and erased the memories of his mess up from his friend's mind. And now she was lying to Soledad about it. Everything has been a massive cover up effort to hide what he'd done. To wish it away so he wouldn't have to face it. Very much Pink Diamond-like, in Steven's opinion.

Soon enough they entered the center of the town. Rows of newer, bright-colored shops interweaved with old fashioned colonial houses. Tall evergreens and oaks standing by the dozens on every street. All the stores except a few bars were closed. Everything was quiet, except for the occasional group of people hanging on the street or gathered around some bench on the park. Everything was peaceful. Nice.

"Feels homey," said Steven, voicing his thoughts.

"It is."

It made Steven think of a house in a faraway, home-like town. A house only for him. A house with a big garden and a warp pad. He could go to Beach City and return when he wanted to be alone. He wouldn't have to miss his family, but he also didn't have to live up for them. Finally, he could be himself. Not 'Steven, son of Rose Quartz', or 'Steven, son of Pink Diamond'. No more, 'Steven, the half-gem hybrid', 'Steven, the kid with a magical destiny", nor 'Steven, the boy with no friends but one".

Just Steven. That was Steven's dream, and he'd begun to understand it was too much of a titanic task for a simple cross-country road trip.

He followed the Triumph as it turned right, into a secluded T-shaped street. At the end of the street, the bike stopped, as did Steven. The house was anything you could imagine, except a hostel. It was all wood, likely as old as the town itself. Massive windows, protected by steel guards with strange humanoid designs. The front yard was large enough to have several statues of deranged creatures with big eyes. A wooden sign proclaimed it was 'Castle Street 499 — Rains' Hostel'.

The only thing missing was an old coot approaching Steven to give him a stern warning. 'Don't go in there boy! That's ol' Rain's house. Its haunted —haunted I tell you!' It would be appropriate.

Steven stopped the car and got out. Goodbyes were always hurtful, and he wanted to do it quickly. Rain was the first. She pulled him aside from the other and began her sincere —if a bit scolding-like— talk through:

"It's been a ride kid. Seriously. I'm not one for giving advice, but I've been doing a lot of things tonight I promised myself I wouldn't," she shrugged. "So here it goes. First, your powers —magic or whatever—, are part of you. Just a part. I can tell that you're always struggling with this and I don't know why —and I don't want to know. But don't let your powers define you, or better yet, don't worry about defining yourself at all. You don't need a label to be happy.

Second, be more careful with showing your 'talents'. Most humans don't believe in magic, so they won't recognize it when they see it. But there are others, humans and non-humans alike, that will. So don't rush to show your true colors to everyone. They might be out for blood, and you're one juicy snack. Uh, no double meaning intended.

And third and most importantly, chill!" she playfully shoved Steven's shoulder. "You're young, you're on a road trip and you have no bills to pay! Just ease up on the drink and you'll be fine." She crossed her arms, serious again. "You got all that or you need to jot it down?"

"No. I think I got all that," said Steven, who got nothing at all.

It wasn't his fault! Not entirely, anyway. Soledad was distracting him. As soon as the Dondai stopped moving, she'd taken off and took Peeps aside. Their chat quickly evolved into a heated argument. Peeps looked like he was being interrogated. What could they possibly be talking about?

So Steven had switched between nodding at Rain's speech, and eyeing behind her at Soledad, while trying to learn how to read lips on the fly. In any case, her speech was not completely lost to Steven. In the coming days, free of the effect of the alcohol, more and more of it would come back to him. But for now, he wasn't paying attention.

Peeps farewell was shorter but more effusive. Steven went for Peeps hand, but the man came for the hug. Poor Steven was crushed under the force of a 5'9'' man embrace. It was meekly compared to a gem's strength —Amethyst's hugs sometimes left Steven hurting for hours— but it was full of emotion.

"Goodbye Steven. You're like a goat, but you're legal." Peeps shifted left and right, shaking Steven like a garden hose. "I hope the roads nice to you and don't stop visiting. Boa viagem, cara." Steven was gently dropped on the floor. After that, Peeps left with no more words, following Rain into the building.

Which means it were only he and Soledad, and oh how much he dreaded that. By instinct, they gravitated around the car, their shared space for most of the night. Steven on the driver's side, and Soledad on the passenger's. The girl rested her head on the roof.

"So."

"So…" Steven said with eloquence. "What a night."

"You're telling me. Longest car trip of my life. I should probably give you something for the gas, tho." Soledad's laugh turned into muffled panic. "Ohshoot. I should give you something for your car. Notthatihavemoney, but-"

"No no, please, its fine. Really. I can pay to fix it. And for the gas. Or my dad can, actually, but its all the same. You should save your money for you. Whatever you decide."

Soledad gave him a doubtful look before mouthing an 'o'. "You're right. I have some choices to make. I could leave, or…" She looked back at the hostel. The lights on the second floor were on. The light coming from the circular window made it look like —surprise! — an eyeball staring at them. "But it's good to know I have options now."

"I'm not so sure. I hate making decisions."

"So do I. But having choices is better than having none, right?"

Steven relented. She got him there. Seconds ticked by, getting away from his grasp. He'd so much to say, but he didn't know where to start.

Guess the beginning was as good as anything. "Listen Sol. About what happened tonight, after we crashed-"

Soledad lifted a silencing hand. "Save it."

Steven mumbled a few senseless words. "Don't you want to know everything that happened?"

"I have a pretty good guess of it. Besides, you're allowed to have your secrets."

Bile made itself present in Steven's belly. This was wrong. All of it. Soledad deserved to hear it from himself, and Steven couldn't get off of it so easily. It wasn't fair! Soledad's aura was a wall of steel, however. She won't listen to anything he'd to say; she'd made up her mind. This was wrong.

"However," she began, her aura flickering with anticipation, "you can make it up by doing me a solid."

"Really? What is it?"

She leaned closer to Steven, a gesture which he copied. Soledad looked around for invisible eavesdroppers, then she whispered, like speaking of a secret: "You gotta tell me how you guessed my name."

Steven had to do mental gymnastics to recall what she was talking about. It had completely escaped his mind, what with everything that had happened. "You're still thinking about that?"

"Itsdrivingmecrazy, man! You're my 'I once meet a guy' story." Steven muttered a flat 'what'. Soledad huffed. "One day, I'll be at a party, or getting wasted with some friends or whatever, and we'll all exchange weird stories. And I'll be the one to tell how one day, a guy in a pink letterman did me a solid in a party, then took me for a ride in his car, crashed a police car, thrown us down a hill and-"

"Soledad! None of that was good."

"Of course it wasn't for us. But when I tell the story to other folks, It'll be epic. Best drunk adventure of all time!" she laughed loudly and proudly. "Obviously, there's a buncha stuff I can't tell. Stuff I don't really understand, and I can live with that. I can lie about everything that happened today. But the one thing its eating my noggin is how you guessed my name".

Soledad's fingers danced on the car roof. "So… can you tell me?

Steven considered it. Well, there's no harm done. "I read your mind," he said.

"Yeah, yeah, figureitso. But how?"

That was a tougher one, but he didn't have any choice. After everything that happened, he owed her the truth. Now, how to best approach the subject? After a little deliberation, Steven took the shortest route.

He took off his bean hat. Soledad eyes went wide at looking at his horns.

Too late to back off, now, Steven told himself and began to talk. "This is me. The real me. I can see people's auras and read their feelings I can get into their minds and possess them, even erase their memories. It's what I did to the sheriff. To you.

"And that's not all," a wild, almost insane laugh came out of him. "I-I can make plants grow and give them life. Heal other people too; it's really handy. What else? Super strength! I have it too. And super speed. I'm very tough too, like you said. Nothing can hurt me, and what can hurt me, I can sleep through it. That's what I think at least. I mean, there has to be something out there that can kill me, right?

"The reason I can do all that is because, as you can see, I'm not human." All joy abandoned Steven. All the burning energy went out, and talking was almost impossible. "I wish I were. But I'm not. Not like you, at least. And I'll never be."

Steven gasped painfully. Not for the lack of air, but for the lack of… Something. Timid tears began to roll down his cheeks.

"Damn."

As far as reactions go, Soledad's was very meek. Her tapping on the roof increased in speed, and her aura was unreadable. Either she didn't know how to feel, or Steven's own emotions were blocking his scrying. In any way, Steven was lost. For all he hated it, he'd come to rely on his ability to read into the emotions of others.

Soledad took the steering of the conversation. "You know what dude? Don't get me wrong but, like," she stopped, as is measuring her words, "I don't really get what the problem is?"

Steven scoffed. "I didn't think you would."

"No no no, that's not what I meant. I'm just saying this isn't that big of a problem," she said. Steven gave her a look full of Pink —and felt guilty pleasure at seeing her recoil. "Okyeathatsoundedbad. I swear that's not what I mean. I just mean you're making a scandal outta nothing."

She's doing it on pourpose, isn't she? "Soledad, that sounds even worse."

"That isn-Augh!" she shouted, throwing her hands in the air. "Don't be mean, man! You know words are difficult to me! Nice words, I mean."

Steven waited as Soledad tried to collect her thoughts. "Look, what I'm trying —andfaillingmiserably— to express is that… I don't care." Soledad shrugged, like she had been asked the answer to an impossible question. "I don't mind you're not human. In fact, you didn't need to tell me at all. Remember how I said you could save it?"

"But I owed you an explanation."

"Maybe about the stuff that happened in the river, yeah. But everything else, you can keep it to yourself. You don't owe explanations to anyone about who you are."

Wow. OK, that one hit like a truck full of steel beams. Despite her big, big trouble voicing her thoughts, Soledad was making a smart point. And one Steven couldn't seem to nail into his head, no matter how much he'd talked about with Dr. A. Here I am, oversharing again. Good job Steven. Real nice, he berated himself. On the other hand…

"You said it was fine before. We were on my car's roof, remember?" Steven retorted, making Soledad blush. Steven pulled his bean hat down, hiding his horns again. "But thanks anyway. I appreciate you're giving me the choice. And your vote of silence."

"I'm a tomb." Soledad brought a finger to her lips. "I understand this was probably hard for you to say and all. But just so you know, it doesn't change the way I think about you. Or feel about you."

Steven's whole body began to heat, and not because of his gem. Oh Stars, what do I do, what do I do? I don't know how to tell a girl off. I shouldn't have to deal with this, I'm not handsome enough! It shouldn't be that difficult. Steven just had to remind her he's happily in a relationship, and with a bit of luck that won't hurt Soledad.

Hopefully.

He took an encouraged breath and began: "Sol, I-"

The lights flickered on and off, like someone was playing with a lantern. Or a curtain, in this case. In the second floor, someone —Steven knew who— was covering and exposing the window, turning it into a giant eye blinking at them.

"Guess the curfew's on," Soledad sighed. "Sorry, I gotta go."

Steven's soul (or two souls?) returned to his body. He couldn't deal with an emotional disillusion right now. "Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go, right?" he chuckled

Soledad laughed, in that unique way of hers. She didn't cover her mouth no more.

She'd made one step towards the hostel when she turned back, hand extended towards him. He shouldn't. If he touched her, and the bridge between them was still there, who knows what could happen? On the other hand, this may be the last time he sees her. Steven wanted to see the world through Soledad's eyes. See himself like she does.

His hand gently rested over her. As soon as they touched, the bridge opened. Confusion and curiosity. Anger but acceptation. Fear, not of him, but for him. Her aura sparkled with life. A picture of emotions, painted with all the colors of light. And there was… that too. But Soledad was not heartbroken. Sad, maybe, but happy too because she got to feel this way.

And if she was happy, so was Steven. And if Steven needed any proof she was feeling everything inside him too, he just had to see her expression. Pure peace.

Steven tightened his grip just slightly. As he did, he looked down at her arm. He laughed.

"What? What's so funny?" Soledad asked. Obviously, she can't read Steven's thoughts. Not yet.

"Your watch. I just noticed you have it."

Soledad slapped her hand over the watch while deeply blushing. "Ohthisoldthing? It's nothing, really."

"Well I like it. I've never seen a Cookie Cat wrist watch before."

"For real?" Soledad raised her voice. "This is the Premium Fully Voiced Inverted Colors Limited Edition Cookie Cat Watch! Submersible in water to 300 feet, only available on the West Coast, banned in the State of Nevada." Soledad took a deep breath. "I took of the voice box tho. It was-I couldn't stand this thing going 'Its Twelve O'Clock. Time for a Cookie Cat!' every hour."

From the deep corner of his mind, a childish memory made Steven giggle. "I remember that commercial now," he said. "Man, I wanted one of those SO bad, but no store ever sold them. 'Only available on the West Coast' alright… I'll never know why they advertized it in Delmarva."

"Marketing mistakes," said Soledad, and then to Steven's surprise she began to take the watch of.

'What are you-No." Steven shook both hands away. "It's your watch, I really can't."

"Yesyoudo."

"Soledad!"

"Dude," she shouted with the authority of a Captain. "Just take, alright? I have thousands more at home. Stupid family relics."

She finally got a hold of Steven's hand. She put the watch around his wrist, fingers touching the scale-like hardened skin. Not a word was said. There was no fear on her, either.

"There we go, sir. One watch for you," she said as she adapted the watch to fit Steven's wrist.

Steven looked at the precious object. It was as beautiful as he remembered from TV, and not so much at the same time. Just a watch, and a children toy at best, which were happy to have something that was 'limited edition'. Steven had never gotten his as a kid, and he didn't care much about it now. But getting it as a gift? That was something else.

"Thanks. I don't know what to say." Steven flipped his wrist back and forth, inspecting the steel and plastic frame. "It's kinda weird for a family heirloom, though. Specially if you have thousands of them."

Soledad looked offended, like he'd said the Earth was flat. Then her eyes got really big. "Ohshitdude, I didn't tell you?" Steven shook his head no. Although Soledad had said so many things tonight Steven might have as well not heard her. "My grandfather was founder of 'Funtime Foods Inc'. My family literally invented Cookie Cat."

Well, that is one way to have the air be sucked out of your lungs. She hasn't said that before; Steven couldn't have forgotten something that important!

Once again, the lights flickered as the eye on the house 'blinked'. Soledad yelled at the house that she was going. She said her final goodbye to Steven and walked to the hostel.

Midway to the building, she turned around and, a bit unsure, made finger guns at Steven. "See you later, Space Cowboy."

She walked backwards into the house, stripping with the first step and almost falling down, before disappearing quickly into the house, closing the door behind it.

Steven was left alone. Just him, the night, and the eye on the second store —and the people behind it.

He wanted to say something. Some final words. But nothing came to him; and there was no-one to listen them, anyway.

"Goodbye, Cookie Cat Girl."

He went inside his car. His beloved, beaten over Dondai. He turned the engine on and the stereo off, and then drove in silence to his hotel. The pitch-black sky was brightening up to a soft blue, as the stars began to go out, and the day began to shine.


There you go

As usual, please comment if you liked it. For real; your comments kept me going.