A/N: So, I guess I'm just gonna be entertaining an empty crowd (save for the favorites and follows) for an indefinite amount of time... well, the show's gotta go on. Chapter Thirty-Two, come on out!
WARNING: Prepare for extreme fluff.

A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Thirty-Two: That Elusive "E" Word

Steven hopped back onto his bed, and lay down, sighing a little. Bill rubbed at his eye, as if preventing tears from falling, and stared at Steven, eyebrow raised, "How was your sleep, kid..?"

"Confusing. I saw Lapis but she was screaming. And there was a boat, I think...?" he shrugged.

The demon blinked at this. He had a nightmare? without his counsel? Bill had to fight a smirk from crossing his eye, strangely enough. Instead, he focused on this boat, "A boat, eh?"

Please don't say what I think it is.. please... he mentally pleaded, but it wasn't transmitted so that Steven could hear. The boy would have no idea what it meant to the triangle anyway. But, regardless of what Steven's answer would be, he was thankful for yet another change in topic. Perhaps now his past would finally stop dancing mockingly in front of his mind's eye. But, judging by how his luck ran today... he figured it would only be a matter of time...

"Yeah, like a yacht. Or, actually, more like a speedboat. Or... I can't really remember, to be honest. But it wasn't a boat I've seen at the harbor before."

"Oh.. I see..." the triangle rubbed at his "chin". Well, this didn't help much in disproving or even proving his thought. There were other boats out there that fit Steven's description. But it had to be that one. He groaned a little, looking towards the door. Bill figured Wendy would call them.

"But I do remember there were three people on the ship. One of them was green or something. That's all I got..." he sighed.

The demon pondered on this, falling silent for a while. Something green... another Gem, maybe? he figured Sixer wouldn't let her be. He clenched his fists. Before, it didn't matter if they came for him, because at that point it would've been too late and he most certainly would have destroyed everything, and everyone, and definitely he would have turned his destruction onto the two elder Pines twins. But now? he was unsure. He stared at his hands, floating over to sit on the edge of the bed, and his mind drifted back on that one word that kept eluding him, and was still eluding him. He just couldn't figure that out, to save his eternal life.

"Bill? whatcha thinking about?" Steven sat up beside him.

The triangle snapped out of his thoughts, and turned his gaze onto Steven. He couldn't tell him what he was previously thinking about, so he decided for the current one, "Well, I'm thinking about that 'e' word again... it's.. confusing... I'm supposed to know so much, and yet I can't get a simple word..."

His frown then deepened, and he actually took off his hat for a while and started fiddling with it.

Steven frowned. "Hmm. Maybe you should just stop thinking about it?" he suggested, a technique that often worked for him.

"Can't... I need to know..." he tightened the grip on the rim of his topper. "You ever wanted to know something, kid? like really bad?"

"Yeah... I get what you mean..." he sighed, thinking about something as well that he really wanted to know. The demon looked at the kid. He frowned a little. He probably had the answer to whatever Steven was thinking. But did Steven have the answer to what he himself was thinking about? he stared at his hat. The triangle now wondered why he treasured it so much. It was, after all, inspired by his father. But it was the one thing the square was actually proud of. Bill felt a little sick inside, and shifted a little bit. He knew he'd think about them again...

"You can't dwell on it forever, Bill," the boy's voice rang out again all of a sudden.

This snapped him out of his little trance, and he looked over at Steven. He sighed, drooping a little and replacing the hat onto his top point, "I know. I know."

"You can't let your problems become who you are..." Steven sighed, staring at his hands, then clenching them.

The triangle, with this, soon realized something, which hit him like a train going one hundred miles per hour. His eye widened, and he began trembling again, "I.. already have..."

Bill grabbed at his arms, squeezing them as he rocked a little on the bed. He muttered, eye still wide, "I've become worse than them... became worse than my parents..."

Steven stared at Bill for a while, before he soon said, "But you're getting better, right?"

The demon stared at Steven for a good, long time. His usually glorious golden color was now pale. He trembled like a leaf in a storm. But he was thinking on this question, checking his inner self too. It was strange, but he wasn't really feeling any compulsions to cause chaos, much less harmful chaos, for right now anyway. And his mind was considerably less insane, and his brow furrowed a little at this, as if confused. How did that happen? and then there were the acts of kindness. He seemed more willing to pull them off. With all this, the answer to the question would be yes, but he wasn't sure. He almost slid back with Connie and Wendy, after all. But wouldn't that be expected? he eventually sighed, and nodded, halting his rocking, "Y...yeah... I guess so.."

"Then you're not worse. You're awesome, you know? you might have made some mistakes but just by making an effort to get better you're fixing them. And that's awesome."

The demon blinked at him, and then slowly smiled, his color restoring itself, "Aww, shucks, kid... thank you..."

And then he did something not even he himself expected. He hugged Steven. Steven was surprised, but almost immediately hugged back. He was so proud...

The demon continued smiling, and tears ran down from his eye, unwittingly. But they were predominately happy tears, in spite of everything. Bill kept up the hug, actually enjoying how it felt now, and closed his watery eye. It was miles above the high the sensation of pain had more often than not given him. And there was an upside—unlike pain, this feeling was sure to last. Steven sighed happily, patting his back, "See? I remember when you wouldn't let me hug you at all. You're not a bad guy, Bill. It's just everything that happened to you that made you think you were." He closed his eyes, smiling.

The golden triangle sighed too, and stopped the flow of tears on a dime. He still couldn't understand this. A lot of the horrible things that happened after he liberated his home dimension were his fault—in fact, he himself did things that would make him a bad guy in the eyes of all societies, even most alien ones. And yet the kid was looking past it and saying he wasn't a bad person? it almost made him laugh and then cry some more, but a little chuckle of bewilderment escaped him. What was that word...? he thought for sure it fit right here, and even then he wasn't sure.

Certain, yet not certain. What an oxymoron.

Bill soon pushed these thoughts aside and answered him, frowning a little now, "I guess..."

Steven hugged him tighter, sighing. "You've probably got a lot on your mind. Can you tell me anything? it could help..." he suggested, before letting go to get a better look at him.

The demon slowly nodded, setting his arms down by his sides, "Sure thing..."

His expression was a lot softer than it had been, like an enormous weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and there was a subtle warm glint in his eye. It made his hellish pupil seem unnatural now. He glanced about the room, trying to figure out where to start. The demon certainly didn't want to go into those horrible things he had done, though. He frowned softly, and decided to ask, "Have you figured out that 'e' word, yet?"

"E...? what about 'empathy'?" Steven asked, frowning. He noticed the change in Bill and smiled.

His eye widened. That was it! but he still seemed unsure about it. Confused, too. He reiterated, raising an eyebrow and tilting himself, hand on his "chin" now, "E..empathy?"

"Being able to relate to people. Like sympathy, but on a more personal level," his smile broadened.

He blinked. Once. Twice. And then... "Oh... I see..."

He still didn't seem to understand though. He'd been so out of touch with it for so long, it was no surprise he'd forgotten how it worked. How it felt. He frowned, staring down at the bed now, "Hm..."

He began wondering if some of those feelings he felt almost since he started staying with Steven was a form of empathy. And, with this, he finally seemed to realize that this was the boy's doing, intentionally or not. He was a bit unsure how to feel about that.

"Empathy... how do I describe it...?" he asked himself, standing and looking around the room for something to help him explain it to Bill. Bill directed his full attention to Steven now, eyebrow raised again. He hoped this would help him. Though he had a feeling he'd have to experience it again. He hummed a bit, thinking on that plan he had developed since Steven freed him from a state of immobile limbo. The plan to backstab him. The demon found himself cringing at it now. He couldn't bring himself to fulfill it anymore. The boy understood him, reached out to him, and helped him more than anyone else ever did and was willing to do, and he started to find that he appreciated that...

..Who was he to spit that back in his face?

Besides, he didn't want a repeat of what happened at the school.

Steven soon found his ukulele and grinned, beginning to strum it, to get a rhythm going. That eyebrow rose even higher. Was he going to sing? well, to be honest, he should've expected this. Steven, after all, was known for breaking out into flash songs. Bill swayed a little to the beat, swinging his legs too.

The boy frowned. "No, that's not quite right..." he went for a different tone, one more upbeat, but not too fast. The demon blinked a little, and began humming along quietly, too quietly.

He changed it up again. "How about..." he finally settled on something, smiling.

The triangle, having cut off his humming, frowned a little as he continued staring at the boy, crossing his arms now and growing a tad impatient, "Well, c'mon now, kid..."

"Sorry, just getting a good rhythm going here!" he tapped his foot to it.

Bill nodded, squeezing his arm now, "Alright then."

And finally...

"When you see someone happy, it makes your spirits oh so tappy!" Steven sung to the ukulele, grinning, ear to ear. "Don't you see now? don't see you now?"

The demon blinked a little bit, but swayed to the song, trying his level best to get this. He wondered when he ever felt like what was described. Perhaps it was when he cooked for the boy?

"When you see someone's sad, it should have you feel bad," Steven kind of danced to the song, stomping his foot, to help with the rhythm. "Don't you see now? don't you see now?"

Bill watched him dance to it, and squeezed his arm again. When had he felt like that recently? he frowned a bit, remembering. The school, and then the boy and Connie yesterday on the beach. But he was still unsure, because he was highly conflicted both those times.

"You reach out, with compassion, to those hurting, no more lashin'," he closed his for a moment, his smile disappearing, and continued, "'Cause pain only makes it worse, and it'll only badly reimburse," he opened his eyes and smiled. "Don't you see now? tell me don't you see now?"

The demon rubbed at his "chin", his pupil a small question mark for only a moment. He was sad that he was right—a song barely helped him fully understand. It only helped him know the assigned name to some of those little feelings. Nothing real or more to it. He sighed, but kept listening. Maybe it was one of those delayed reactions.

"You're tuned in to all those emotions, other people feel," Steven hopped on the bed, not smiling as much, eyes closed again. Bill could probably tell he was really into it. "When they're hurt, you can heal. When they're smiling, you broaden the deal..." Steven jumped back off, opening his eyes and looking, leaning towards Bill, as if legitimately asking him this time, "Don't you see now? don't you see now?" he fell silent for the most part then, still strumming the tune.

The demon took in this last verse, and smiled a little bit, having seen how Steven was so into this song. But it didn't last. He soon frowned again. He still felt little more than what he expected. Which was next to nothing at all. He still could barely get it, and voiced it, "Eh... I don't think I understand, or... see, this, as you say, kid... it seems like an entirely different language from what I'm used to..."

Steven stopped strumming and sighed. "Maybe you just need more time to understand..." he said, putting his ukulele away, shaking his head.

"I.. I guess so.." he sighed too. He drooped a little bit, "I'm sorry."

Steven sighed again, "It's no biggie. I'm going to get some more sleep... can you watch over everything for me?"

Bill nodded, but still wasn't certain that the boy really thought this was okay, "Sure thing, kid."

He floated off the bed, and looked out the window. It wasn't really as sunny as before. In fact, it looked like dark clouds were rolling in. They were still distant though, but he could feel it. Steven bundled himself up in the sheets. With such a long, crazy day, he fell asleep with ease.

I find this chapter extremely adorable. :3 Ace was Steven, (it was wonderful) and I was Bill. I hope you enjoyed it! Also, I thought up the lyrics myself. Yep, this is an original song for the story, called "Don't You See Now?". :3
Here's the acapella version. It's the best I can do, but I know some people will be able to modify it and stuff, add music to it. In fact, I'm counting on that. :3 I'm looking for a Steven Universe feel to the song, similar to Here Comes a Thought and Tower of Mistakes, but kind of upbeat, with the main instrument, of course, being a ukulele.
picosong zgNH
(Enter it without the spaces.)
So, yeah. :3 I'll see you next Thursday then! please review, wherever you guys are...