Story's back! Wanted to take a break for a bit but when I got back, I couldn't figure out how to open up this chapter or what Connie's initial reaction should be. So that's why it took a bit long to get back on track.

Also, feel free to comment on the story if you like it or are wondering what's gonna happen or if you guys have any questions. I'm glad people are reading and favoriting it and such, but feedback is something I don't usually get much of. Would most certainly be appreciated. :)

Other Times

"Aww, that's really sweet!" Connie seemed engulfed in the story, her head lying on her palm, her eyes half open and smiling.

"Yeah." Steven laughed nervously, his fingers scratching the back of his neck. "So...what'd you think?"

Her eyes opened up and realized something. "Wait, you jumped off a moving vehicle, putting an entire parade to a halt and not to mention a few people as well as yourself at risk... for me?" She blushed.

"Well, when you put it like that..." Steven sat down, looking at the floor. "Yeah, that's exactly what happened." Warm colors were becoming apparent on his cheeks.

Connie was reaching for something behind her but couldn't seem to get a hold of it. She then turned her head around for a split second as not to be rude to the storyteller in front of her and located her picnic basket that she brought with her. She placed it in front of her and opened it up.

"You didn't have to go through all the trouble, you know. Only cost me fifty cents." She gave Steven a sandwich, peanut butter & jelly.

"Well, I wanted to." he took a bite. "Figured it was important to you, and I just...really wanted to talk to you." Steven went back to his sandwich, not looking at Connie's reaction, which was another blush that then turned into a soft smile. She picked up her sandwich and softly took a bite.

"You said there were other times."

Steven looked up. "Hmm?"

"Other times where you tried to talk to me?"

"Oh! Right." He put the remains of the sandwich down. He pondered for a couple moments, trying to remember the other moments and which came first.

"Well..."

It was two months following the disastrous parade and everyone had forgotten about it. There was a short time where Mr. Smiley was very apologetic toward Steven for nearly running him over and gave him free tokens for the arcade as well as tickets for Funland that would last him for a year. (Like Steven would be capable of suing someone if he didn't accept them.) He accepted them as a kid would and used today as another day to use a few of them to have a good time as he didn't want to waste them all in one visit. He considered bringing the Gems over as they have never been but they were busy on another one of their missions protecting the Earth from bad gems that he currently has no knowledge of.

Oh, well. One day, he thought.

But that's okay; there was always next time. Today was to be a day of fun and excitement and hot dogs and...

Steven's eye was caught as he continued walking. A girl entered Funland. The very same girl! She hasn't changed since the day he first saw her. She seemed to be carrying a book that was quite thick. The title couldn't be seen but the cover and back seemed rather colorful. Another thing that hasn't changed was her lack of smile, no excitement whatsoever. She was stepping into the most fun place in all of Beach City and she's not happy to be here? She didn't look sad or anything, just...unsure. She stopped and her head moved around catching her surroundings as her left hand was caressing her arm carrying her reading material. He wondered if he should approach her, would he even recognize her? He doubt it, but he could maybe-

That train of thought was immediately derailed as Steven had an encounter with a trashcan and eventually, the ground.

The glasses-protected eyes that he hoped to encounter maybe were scanning by him, but in a different light. A quick gasp escaped Steven and jumped back behind the fallen trashcan. After a good seven seconds, his head peaked out and saw that she was gone, out of sight. He lay back down and groaned, then hit the ground with his arms and legs, flailing like an infant.

"I'm so stupid!" he muttered.

He worried that she may have seen that and immediately thought that the boy atop the car wash float who waved at her a couple months ago turned out to be a weirdo. Maybe she didn't know that was he. It's possible. It could've been anyone on top of that thing.

An hour has passed and Steven was sitting on one of the tables nursing a hot dog. Not exactly the fun day that he was hoping it to be. He noticed that the girl was sitting down on another bench reading her book but having a hard time concentrating. Throughout the hour, Steven noticed that she walked around a lot and didn't really get on any of the rides, except for maybe the Ferris wheel, but even then, she spent the entire time on it reading until it was time to come back down. He wondered what was up with her and wanted to know, but first he had to get her attention, but how?

He looked around the amusement park for anything. Many of the carnival games were too easy and didn't require much stamina. The arcade had a variety of games that he could maybe take on despite having played them all before.

But wait; there was a new one just installed. It was called "Meat Beat Mania". "Shake the beat to the meat," he read the top part of the console. "Shouldn't be hard enough."

He could look cool while doing it also. After all, he had his smooth charm or "funky flow" as he prefers to call it.

Steven picked up the two pieces of plastic ham and inserted a quarter into the machine. The game immediately began.

The first few levels were simple enough, just point the giant hams towards the arrows as they were going up, kind of like an odd version of "Dance Dance Revolution".

Half an hour later was when the game started to get intense. Well, as intense as it could be for an eleven-year old. Every arrow as well as every move immediately depended on his life. He almost didn't notice the small crowd of people behind him watching as he waved the plastic hams back and forth, left and right, etc. Well, good thing they couldn't see him nearly breaking a sweat or his weird facial expressions one gets when trying not to die.

"Well done! You're on fire, Player One!" the game exclaimed as Steven reached the most recent level. A small little applause was heard. The game immediately started setting up the next level as Steven turned to see if the girl was anywhere near the arcade, so far nothing.

"Ready? Go!"

The level began and Steven quickly turned around to face his challenge. His eyes however kept scanning away from the screen for any sign, but the constant chicken squaking and pig squealing kept forcing him to pay attention.

His eyes scanned for a quick peak then back. Wait, a splash of green flashed into his line of sight and he had to turn back around. It was she, walking on the dock, with book in hand, and disappearing behind the crowds.

Steven tried to see through the crowd but "Baw-kawk!" and turned back around. The music started to intensify but his concern was longer on the game itself. Again, he turned around and saw her coming out of the crowd. She stopped for a moment and turned toward his direction. He gasped and went back to the game.

Okay, this is it. Just keep playing, look cool, and everything will work itself out, Steven thought. A few seconds passed, nothing. He glanced at the reflection on the screen where he could see the small crowd aweing at how far he is but at a distance could see the girl walking away nearing the edge where the arcade entrance ended.

What? No, no, no! His mind went crazy. "Baw-kawk!" the game went, this time signaling the level had stopped, for Steven had lost. "You're toast, Player One!" The crowd lost interest and walked away towards other things. Steven dropped the plastic hams and ran towards the entrance. The girl had once again left, out of his sight and out of Beach City.

Who was she?

Three months later, Steven was by the Beach City dock performing magic tricks for a tiny audience. He had ordered a magic kit via mail and wanted to try it out publicly. He was using a small boy with an onion-shaped head as a volunteer when the girl came across the street, wearing a beach hat and reading another book while walking. He figured maybe if he talked loudly and enunciated his instructions, maybe she'd take notice and turn towards him, so he did. He covered Onion in a blanket claiming he would make him disappear. He tapped him three times on the head with his magician's wand and claimed that he would be gone once he uncovered the blanket on the count of three. Not even taking his eyes off the girl, he lifted it up and yelled "Ta-daaaaah!"

Then he felt a tap on the leg. He turned to look at an unsatisfied Onion shaking his head in shame. Steven groaned and saw that the girl was walking further and further away from him.

Six months have passed and a lot has happened since then. Cookie Cats went off the shelves and Steven's gem glowed for the first time. He hasn't gotten the hang of getting his weapon out but the Gems assured him that he would in time. He got to use one of his mom's Light Cannons against a giant Red Eye that was on the verge of sucking up the town and even found out something cool about his dad's motto with the pork chops and the hot dogs. He got to go on his first mission ever with the help of his brand spanking new Cheeseburger Backpack, which definitely came in handy, even if the mission was deemed a failure. He fought a corrupted gem taking control of the Frybo suit naked and had his fingers turned into cats.

Wow, even Steven thought he went through so much in such a short matter of time, but he definitely was excited for the many things to come now that he knew his gem was working properly. He was exuberant.

That or he still had some excitement left over from his twelfth birthday that came and went. It was a small, quiet engagement, at his beach home, with the Gems and his dad by his side. There was cake, streamers, glow sticks, etc. But the important thing is that Steven was happy. He got some rather odd gifts from the Crystal Gems, especially from Amethyst's room. However, the gift he got from his dad outdid them all.

It was a bicycle, but not just any bicycle. This one had five speeds, hand brakes, and an electric blue finish with a tiger bell. Truly this was the bike of all bikes and he couldn't wait to try it out. Oh, and he got him a helmet also.

"Safety first!" Greg suggested.

A week has passed and on this particular day, the Gems were out, so Steven was all alone as always playing RPG video games on his Nintendo 64...that is if the stupid tremors he was feeling would let him play.

"Oh, come on!" he shouted at the screen as he struggled once again with beating the final stage. The screen flashed GAME OVER in giant bright letters.

"I was so close!" he tossed the controller. "Stupid tremors not even letting me play the stupid game I've been trying to beat for months." he muttered under his breath.

He opened the sliding door and stood outside putting his hands on the wooden railing, taking in a deep breath of the beach air.

He exhaled, "Well, at least it's a nice day out."

Another tremor, bit light this time but enough to make Steven lose his balance. He catches himself but turned his head to the right in the process. He gasped; tiny stars became visible in each center of his pupils.

There she was again, that girl, and it looked like she picked the perfect spot to read once again.

Wonder what she's reading now, he thought. Also, how the heck is she able to read with all these tremors going on, not to mention the noise of waves? Then again, she was able to read at Funland of all places.

He wondered if he should go up to her. What would he say? How would he get her attention? Should he just go up and talk to her? No, he'd probably scare her or she'd think he was a weirdo. His mind once again raised so many questions.

The bright bulb that lit up atop his head and ran down to the living room to retrieve his latest gift distracted his mind. This should be perfect!

He then ran to the closet and retrieved his helmet. "Safety first!" he exclaimed as he strapped it on.

Grabbing his bike, he headed out the door and lowered it down the stairs. He hadn't fully tested it in the sand yet as he didn't know if it was smooth enough to even navigate through but he didn't have time to worry about that. To him, it was now or nev- Whoa! Another tremor.

The Gems had come back wondering what the tremors were when they saw Steven. They wondered why would he want to navigate his bike in the sand but he gave them no answer and went toward his mission...regardless of conflict towards goal. I mean, hey, its just sand.

He stopped his bike near her but still keeping his distance and parked it.

"Some smooth ride." he complimented before immediately turning around to spot a reaction, if any. Nothing.

He stated what the bike had, trying to sell it off and make it sound cool. Still, nothing could get her attention from the book she was immersed in. He also started to wonder who J.D. Salinger was and what was he writing that she can't put it down for two seconds. Can she even hear him, despite the sound of waves colliding with each other?

He kept trying however; maybe she just needed to see him ride it- Whoa! A wrong step and down he went with the bike. He was all right; nothing really hurt...his pride on the other hand...

He immediately turned but it was too late for the girl was already staring at him. Embarrassment overtook him, not knowing what to say and seeing that his bike was flat on the ground. His cool was lost. What should he do?

Run.

Helmet tossed aside, he took off back inside the beach house, gasping for air, hoping nobody saw-

All three Gems were by the window looking at the boy trying to catch his breath and immediately trying to gain his cool back around them.

"What up?"

They ask who the girl he was talking about was as this was their first time actually knowing about her existence. Steven can't reply however because they've never actually talked and she's just a girl he's seen before. The Gems get excited, Amethyst claiming that he likes her and Pearl wanting to force a play date on them. Garnet however was a bit more subdued in her response, which was basically just going up and talking to her, something Steven could've gotten out of the way ages ago.

He agrees to this, however, he didn't want the Gems to watch him this time. It would mess with his charm, his flow, his "funky flow". Garnet agreed.

Before he stepped outside however, he figured why not? He ran towards the freezer and pulled out the bracelet, still glowing and still pink even after a full year came and went. He then closed the freezer and ran towards the door, putting it in his pocket.

"What's that?" asked Pearl.

"Nothing!" shouted Steven.

He went back to the beach, this time fully facing the girl reading her book. He felt confident with just a hint of nervousness. He practiced how he would approach her, how he would introduce himself, what would he talk about, etc. He got closer and closer, what if he screwed up? What if it didn't work? What if-

Another tremor, this one more violent than the last, enough so that a piece of carved stone from the Fusion Statue that represented the Crystal Temple had broken off and was headed towards her direction.

Steven immediately notices and ran towards her. He had no plan except for a half-baked attempt at saving her. The girl turned to face him, confused, but had no time to reply as Steven piled on top of her. Time stopped and everything turned…pink.

The rocks were heard hitting something, something that wasn't ground…or them. Steven opened his eyes and saw the pink wonder he and the girl were surrounded by. It was round, like a bubble, a bubble big enough to fit both of them. He looked at the top of said bubble and saw the remains of the rocks hitting the top of it.

"Whoa, how did I do that?" He was in awe of what he, or should he say his gem, did. Now he had more questions, but they'd have to wait as he had a very confused girl right under him. He turned his attention to her.

"Hi…my name…is Steven."

The girl had her mouth agape. She rearranged her crooked glasses and was able to get out a name.

"Connie."

"And then we were stuck in that bubble, and then we almost drowned, and I gave you back your bracelet, and I saved you, and that's how we met!" An excited Steven concluded his story.

"Well, that's quite a story." Connie commented. "I'm just afraid my story won't be as good as that…or as interesting." She looked down.

"That's okay!" said Steven. I'm sure I'll still like it anyway, and you tell awesome stories regardless!"

"Yeah, not my own usually."

"Pleeeeease?" begged Steven.

"I can't say no to that face." Connie giggled.

Both kids switched places, Connie getting up and Steven sitting back down, sipping on the remains of his durian juice box.

"So…where should I begin?"

"Well, the beginning always helps."

"Yeah, just wish I knew where that was exactly…"

Connie thought for a moment before beginning.

A/N: It won't be over a month until the next chapter comes out so don't worry! I'll have it out soon enough. Right now, I got a vacation to enjoy! :D