A/N: Guys, I'm so sorry for how late this is. But I'd been feeling sick and lazy. But, well, better late than never, eh? anyway, I'd like to say thank you to the following: TheLilyoftheValley, ...and that's actually it. Well, uh, thank you for the favorite and follow! so, let's get this show on the road, eh?

A Triangle in the Stars
Chapter Sixty-Five: A Haunting Reprieve

And thus, they all headed towards Steven's house, and the boy was somewhat slacking, rather tired after the long day. Connie called her mom and talked it over, and Priyanka allowed her to stay the night with the boy. Garnet followed the half-Gem, arms crossed, and Peridot looked down at herself, just now noticing how short she was. With all that was happening, she barely cared. The demon had made it back long before they did, sitting on the railing. He looked a little down.

Steven reached the top of the stairs first, and noticed. Glancing at his isosceles friend, he asked, "You okay, buddy?"

The demon looked up at the boy, and shook himself, "Not really, kid. I made so many mistakes back then..."

And back then he wouldn't have called them mistakes. He sighed, looking at his hands now. Garnet opened the door, letting Connie and Peridot in, and then entered herself. But she stood at the closed door then, listening. Steven cast his gaze down to the wooden floor, "I'm sorry. I keep forgetting..." and then his eyes brightened up a little, as he looked at Bill again, "but it's a good thing, right? I mean, you've changed so much, everyone else can start forgetting too." He smiled.

The demon glanced his way, and slowly smiled back, "Yeah, that's true.."

Garnet smiled at this, placing a hand on the screen.

"Some day, everyone will forgive and forget what you did. Even you," the boy hugged him then.

Bill Cipher teared up, and hugged the boy back, "Thank you.. I don't know about forgetting, but maybe.. I'll be able to forgive myself..."

Steven nodded, but didn't say anything, for he was at a loss of words. And then the triangle started crying, remembering his building depression. His adopted brother, his parents, his former society, everything about his past, every mistake he made - it all led up to this. It all led up to his depression, all his problems. But he was moving past it, wasn't he?

The boy pat him on the back, "Sh, it's okay, Bill... come on inside, I'll get you a cup of hot cocoa."

Bill sniffled, and nodded, "Hot cocoa would be nice..."

Garnet then walked away from the door, sitting on the couch with Connie. Peridot, after checking in with Stan and Ford, had gone to explore, and had mostly taken interest in the bathroom. Steven led him inside and shut the door behind them both. He let go of Bill and went to the kitchen to make some refreshments. "Who all wants hot chocolate?" he called, glancing at the twins for a second.

Ford immediately raised his hand, revealing the blue bracelet on his wrist and smiling as he chewed. He'd gotten better fairly quickly, and Pearl was impressed. Of course, food and rest were part of the reason for his fast recovery. Garnet also raised a hand. Bill sat down beside Garnet and sniffled again, tears still falling. This time around, he didn't care if the twins saw him cry. Connie raised a hand, smiling a little. Stan shook his head, still eating along with Ford.

"Let's see... one, two, three, four, five..." he started making drinks for all of them, and when he was done, he hand delivered them all. The fifth one he kept for himself, and he sat next to Bill. The demon wiped his tears away and shivered as he sipped at it. It felt pretty good, and it warmed him up inside. Ford also drank it with his food, and it all tasted delightful. He had to hand it to Pearl. She was excellent at cooking. He wondered how long she had to train to get this good. Garnet also sipped at hers, not having to wait till it got bearable enough to drink. She did drink coffee for breakfast, anyway. Metaphorically speaking.

Steven sighed, sipping at his cup. "Pretty good, eh?" he asked, glancing at Ford.

The man nodded, smiling even more, "It's excellent."

The demon silently agreed, staring at the Warp Pad for some reason. He began to suspect something...

Garnet nodded, and glanced at Bill, and at the Temple Gate. She was expecting someone, and was fully prepared to defend the triangle. Steven grinned just then, constantly sipping at his hot chocolate. Connie soon felt out of place here, so she tried to make conversation with Ford, who then returned her attempt, finishing his meal and sipping more at his hot chocolate. He seemed to be handling himself well, now, despite Bill being on the couch, in the same house with him. Stan seemed to share the same sentiment, but his eyes held their gaze on his food. Steven relaxed in the face of this, finishing his hot cocoa too.

And so it was peaceful, in spite or perhaps because of the craziness that happened just thirty minutes ago. But there was still some unease. Particularly between Bill and Garnet, who were staring at the Warp Pad and the Temple Gate respectively. They could sense the drama no one else could. The one of many drawbacks with future vision. Connie bit her lip as the conversation seemed to reach an impasse, and so she said nothing.

There was silence then, now. Bill and Garnet were both finished with their hot cocoa at this point, and while the demon felt better about earlier, he still felt stressed about something. He was about to express it when the white stone on the gate glowed, and said door opened, revealing Pearl on the other side. Garnet bit her lip, glancing at Steven and the triangle. The tall Gem had come out to check on the two old men, making sure they were fine, and held a small conversation with them. Luckily, on her way to the kitchen, she didn't notice Bill. Yet.

Steven wondered why everyone was so quiet, but did nothing to break the silence. He looked at Pearl, waving. Pearl noticed the boy out of the corner of her eye, and waved back, turning to face him fully. And then she saw Bill, and paled completely. The fusion held a hand in front of the demon, who closed his eye, Here we go...

The air was tense, the room was silent. Who would be the first to break it? Connie looked around, noticing the atmosphere had changed. For the worse. Pearl ended up being the one to break the silence, frowning softly, "Steven.. you need to get away from him..."

Garnet was honestly surprised at how calm Pearl was, but she knew a meltdown was well on its way. Ford put all his attention on this exchange, eyebrow raised, and Stan too. Bill squirmed, screwing his eye shut.

"Pearl, he's on our side..." Steven began, highly confused and afraid as well.

"You really believe that?" the Gem looked shocked, and stared at them all, "all of you?"

Garnet nodded. Ford exchanged glances with his brother, furrowing his brow, and Pearl rounded on him, "Wasn't he the demon you came to defeat? why isn't he gone?"

"He's, uhm, reformed," Ford frowned.

"And you take his word for it?" she kept being calm, and it was honestly unnerving.

"Pearl, please," the demon began, and the Gem tossed him a glare and shouted, "Shut up!" and he immediately shriveled up and curled up on the couch. Steven didn't know what to say now, pressed up against the couch. Connie, too, was at a loss of words, her hot chocolate chilling in her hands.

The tall Gem began shaking, eyes narrowing at Bill, "You deserve death for what you've done. For what you've done to the Gems, for what you've done to everyone.." and then her voice increased in volume, "and for what you did to Rose!"

She unsheathed her spear, all of a sudden not caring if children were here, and was about to drive it right into the demon's eye. She was doing what she thought was right for her family and loved ones, dead or alive. Garnet stood up, standing in front of Bill, blocking the spear, "Pearl. Stop this."

"I've tried to listen to you, Garnet, but it's not working!" tears slipped from her blue eyes. The fusion wasn't letting up. Ford's eyes widened. Both at how she got out her weapon and what was happening. Stan had stopped eating, slowly, biting his lip.

"Wait, what did he do to mom?" Steven interjected, eyes a little wide. He was trying to figure out what had happened. He realized Bill still hadn't told him everything... but could he blame the guy? no.

The Gem glanced at him, taking deep breaths, the spear still aimed towards Bill even though Garnet stood in the way, "He manipulated her. Like he did to Sapphire! only it started a large war. The war we told you about."

The cat was out of the bag. Multiple, deadly cats. The fusion lowered her head. She didn't want Steven to find out this way. The demon curled even more, tears falling. He didn't want to move anymore. He wanted to die right now. The only thing stopping him from going out, summoning a lightning storm, and overloading himself was his promise to Steven. And their friendship was probably going to hang in the balance.

"So what?" those two words shattered that trail of thought, but unknowingly caused more tension, as Pearl gripped the spear even tighter. He continued, "That was back then! he's a good guy now! you guys just... you have to realize he's trying to fix his mistakes, and help him." He tried the best he could, close to tears. He hugged his triangular friend. "Pearl... please. I know what he did. But I forgive him. It might take you longer, but... you should too."

The demon couldn't even hug the boy back. He was way too beside himself in his silent tears. Pearl glanced at the triangle, and then the boy again. She then growled and dropped the spear, which vanished, and said, "Fine. But if he does something, don't say I didn't warn you..."

She then retreated back into her room, the door slamming behind her. Ford was absolutely speechless, and Connie sunk into the couch. Garnet relaxed, but only a little bit, and she looked at the two. Steven sighed, hugging his best friend tightly, trying to soothe him and himself. Garnet sat back down and pulled them into a hug as well, and sighed, "..she'll come around."

"I'm sorry.. I'm so, so sorry..." was all Bill kept whispering, and otherwise was completely unresponsive. Ford simply sat there, unsure what to besides alternate his gazes from his brother, the Temple Gate, and the weeping triangle and his friend.

Connie sighed eventually, feeling out of place, "Should I go home?"

"You're fine, Connie," the fusion answered. "But if you want to.." The brunette frowned, conflicted as of this moment.

The demon was still incredibly inconsolable, but at least he finally hugged the boy back. Ford sighed. A certain green Gem then rushed in, looking a little worried, and frowned, "Looks like I missed a lot..."

Stan cleared his throat, pulling at his collar, "Yeah, you could say that again..."

Peridot sighed, "Well, hope whatever that was gets resolved..."

Garnet and Ford nodded. It was terrifying for the old man to see Pearl angry like that. Maybe it would indeed blow over soon.

"Man..." muttered Steven, looking down with tears shining in the corners of his eyes. Garnet was still holding him and Bill, and squeezed a little tighter to comfort them. The demon sighed, having finally stopped crying, "Yep.."

Peridot had gone over to Ford and Stan to get the full story of what happened while she was gone, listening intently. Otherwise, the silence again descended and overstayed its welcome. Steven soon wanted to be alone, so Connie went on her way home after parting some comforting words. He suggested the twins should go too, a hand on his forehead. He was tired, and felt like he might be coming down with something. The twins nodded, and Peridot did too. The old scientist stood up, "We've overstayed anyway. We should be on our way to Antarctica."

He didn't question the small green Gem nodding along with them. She belonged with them now anyway. And he wanted to learn how to operate the new weapons. Stan got up as well, leaving behind a few bits of his meal. He'd lost his appetite, but with what he ate he wouldn't be hungry for the grand majority of their journey. Garnet stood up too, "Good luck, you all, and get well, Steven," and into her room she went. Bill, however, stuck around, still feeling sick inside. But he felt he had something to do right now, as he stared at the Warp Pad. Ford began walking to the door, with Stan following behind, and Steven began up to the loft, a sort of limp in his step.

Peridot filed in behind the ex-manager, and Ford reached the door and looked back, "Stay safe, you all. And thank you."

The demon glanced at them and nodded. Peridot hummed softly, staring at her green bracelet now. Now she only came up to their knees. But this didn't take away from anything in Ford's eyes. She was still fascinating. She was still a friend. Steven watched, hands on the railing - silently, almost sullen as well. Ford waved one last time before he opened the door, and walked out, towards their boat. When he got to the end of the steps, however, something slipped out of his pocket, into the sands, to be forgotten.

"Goodbye..." called the boy, probably too soft to be heard. But Stan turned and smiled, and waved, revealing the red bracelet, before he would disappear from view.

"Bye!" Peridot waved back as well, and bounded down the stairs after them, the door shutting behind. Now it was just Bill and Steven. Again. It felt just as before. But so many things had happened that changed everything. Changed reality...

A/N: YES. But this isn't the end, my friends! when will we finally reach the end, you ask? well, you'll see. Because we don't know. xD
Ace was Steven, Stan, and Connie. I had Bill, Peridot, Garnet, Ford and Pearl. :3
Hope ya enjoyed!