Fusing again was… different.

There was little hesitance on either end, whatever apprehension Aster had held previously having been replaced with excitement, and Steven was more curious than anything to see what his brother was up to. They stood for a moment after they fused, teetering slightly on their feet, before they noticed something else a bit… off. They were taller. They looked down at themself for a moment, wide eyes focusing on their hands, their feet, their gem. Both halves fit together perfectly, and of course they did. The thin crack down the center didn't faze them anymore, but it didn't stop one of their hands from raising involuntarily to cover it somewhat instinctively, fingers curling gently around the buzzing, humming gemstone as they lifted their gaze again. A few strands of pink curls fell in front of their face; they blew it away wordlessly, and raised an eyebrow despite themself as their eyes rose. Pink hair. The rest of them was the same, mostly human, but their hair was pink. They wished they could get a better look at themself, but…

They paused, blinking, and shook their head. Right, Aster had an idea and Steven wanted to hear it. The fusion sat down, sinking back sharply against the wall, and closed their eyes.

"Take a moment to think of just…" They murmured.

"Flexibility, love and trust
Take a moment to think of just
Flexibility, love and trust…"


Steven met Aster in a familiar-looking place. Well, it was kind of familiar; the blue sky above them, the butterflies fluttering around. Below them, however, was a field littered with flowers. Not many of them; roses and lilies and dandelions, flowers of different colors and sizes. The hybrid stared down for a moment, gazing silently at a rose beside his foot. He stared until a butterfly swooped down to land on it, wings fluttering as it landed on one of the petals, and Steven managed to crack a hesitant smile before turning back to where Aster had been. His brother was surrounded in butterflies, though he didn't seem too fazed by them. He moved past them - through them, really - and approached Steven with one still settled on his shoulder, smiling despite it all, though the hybrid couldn't help but spare him a concerned look. "You okay?"

Aster blinked and gazed at him for a moment, pupils shifting into question marks. "Why wouldn't I be?" Then he followed Steven's gaze to the butterfly on his shoulder, and huffed out a giggle. "Oh, no, this little guy. I'm okay! They're not that bad." He looked back at the swarm of butterflies, though most of them had dispersed and fluttered back up into the sky. Steven stared at the one on Aster's shoulder for a moment longer before looking back up at his brother again. Aster was silent for a few seconds, an odd look on his face, but then he suddenly lit up and whirled his head around to look at Steven again, pupils shifting into exclamation points. "Oh! Right, my idea. Okay. Okay, okay, okay. So what if we…" He paused, seemingly just for dramatic effect - which got a smile out of Steven - and finished in a whisper, "'play along'?"

Steven paused, mouth open, and furrowed his eyebrows. He had a slight idea what Aster meant by that, but he also wasn't completely sure. He had a feeling he knew where this was headed, though, and the gears in his head had already started churning by the time he managed to reply. "Play along…" He furrowed his eyebrows, silent for a moment. "I don't know, Aster. This isn't… a game. And the last time I tried to play along here…" He shook his head, trailing off.

"I know," Aster assured him, exclamation point pupils shifting back to normal. "But White Diamond thinks it's a game. And we already made her mad before, right? And she threatened to keep us in here longer. But now she's trying to win us over with food and drink and clothes. She thinks we're gonna fall right into whatever trap she's setting for us, either because we'd be too scared to defy her or because she thinks we don't know better. Whatever the case is, she's not just going to let us take a ship and fly outta here like before, right? We've gotta focus on getting out of this room, much less getting off of this planet. And with those bubbles of hers, and her mind control thing…" Aster fell silent for a moment, and Steven narrowed his eyes. He'd forgotten about the mind control thing, that Pearl… "But maybe it doesn't have to be like that. We could look at ourselves as prisoners here, or…" Aster paused again, and inclined his head.

"We could look at ourselves as two Diamonds, just like them," Steven finished, eyes widening.

"Exactly!" Aster grinned. "We're royalty! We've got an advantage. Plus, we've got Yellow on our side and Blue'll have to swim through her own tears before she can get her hands on us again anyway. Not to mention, we're not just any Diamonds; she thinks we're Pink. The one she lost and grieved over and then unknowingly tortured for eight months." He narrowed his eyes for a moment, pupils briefly shifting into pinpricks. He didn't need to finish for Steven to understand. "All I'm saying is, this is a pretty big step up from being a soldier, right? And you were already gaining respect from other gems before they even knew you were a Diamond in the first place."

"It's certainly different," Steven conceded, furrowing his eyebrows. He still didn't know how to feel about the fact that he was a Diamond at all, if he was being completely honest. But he definitely understood what Aster was saying. "But that's… stars, I don't know. It's different. I'm a soldier, for Homeworld's sake - I hardly think I'm qualified for Diamond status, regardless of…"

"Steven, what are you talking about?" Aster exclaimed, taking a few steps forward. The butterfly on his shoulder fluttered its wings, almost in agreement. "This whole thing- it'll be a breeze!"

Steven inclined his head toward him, silent for a moment. "But we're not like them."

"We don't have to be," Aster replied, eyes sparkling. "We could be better." Steven blinked, taken aback by that, while Aster crossed the distance between them completely and reached out to grab his hands, pinprick pupils shifting into diamonds once again. "Think about it. You and me. The new Pink Diamonds. We don't have to be like Blue Diamond or White Diamond, or even Yellow. We don't have to be cruel and evil and ruthless. What we are doesn't have to change who we are." He paused. "But what we are does matter. Especially right now. It should matter."

"We should matter…" Steven murmured, raising his eyebrows slightly and looking down with a smile. He fell silent for a moment, curling his fingers with Aster's, and allowed his smile to widen briefly into a grin. His brother was… onto something, actually. Hell, he was a genius. An absolute genius. Homeworld needed to change, but Steven couldn't bring that change when he was just some hybrid abomination, some Quartz soldier, some war criminal. He wasn't Rose Quartz and he wasn't Pink Diamond, but he was a Diamond. They were Diamonds. And if there was ever a chance to step up and accept that title, embrace it, even, then right now had to be it. Because Aster was right. "And… what about the others? White Diamond, Blue Diamond?"

Aster offered a lopsided grin, and his diamond pupils shifted suddenly, spinning around for a moment before settling on what Steven thought looked like a four-pointed star. "What about them? We've got no obligation to Blue Diamond, I'll tell you that much. She can get cracked for all I care, she's not a part of this. White Diamond, we might have to get a little sweet with, but…" He paused, and his grin melted into a somewhat mischievous smile. "You know what they say. Hate the sin, love the sinner. She wants a Diamond? Let's give her two. Her game, our rules."

"You…" Steven allowed his face to split into a grin, stepping back and pulling Aster along with him to spin them both around, and the pink gem squealed out a startled laugh. "Are a genius!"

Aster laughed as they came to a stop, rocking up onto his toes before falling back. "Thank you!"

Steven giggled, and smirked, thinking for a moment before he spoke. "This is perfect… and with Melanite out of the way, we're not in any danger, are we? Not as long as we do what she wants. Which won't be a problem now…" He trailed off, his grin widening for a second. "But hey, this is what she wants, right? 'Return to Homeworld without a fuss'. Oh, it's tough to be Diamonds…" He smirked, and Aster giggled, looking up at him with wide eyes. "But home sweet home, right?"

"Home sweet Homeworld," Aster corrected, grinning. "So…"

"So," Steven murmured, narrowing his eyes. "Let's get comfortable."