Me and my cowriter worked on this for a while and she's the one who finished it up. Hope you guys like it, cause we think it's pretty heart warming!
It was snowing in Beach City yet again. No matter how long she lived here, Spencer could never understand how a city by the ocean could have snow. Not that she hated the snow. She loved it. And with Christmas being the next day, she was very happy.
A hand on her shoulder made her turn around. She wasn't surprised to see Garnet and Pearl standing behind her, who had sensed her silence. Reaching forward to cup Spencer's hands together, Pearl put a mug of hot chocolate in the youngest member's hands as Garnet dropped in a few more marshmallows than normal. Greg, who had just come downstairs, saw Spencer and, sensing that she was thinking about something or a certain someone, gestured for her to come sit by him on the couch.
"Come on. What's wrong, Moon-jade?" He gently asked, using the nickname he'd come up with especially for her. "Is something on your mind?"
Spencer thought for a moment whether or not to say what it was that on her mind, only sipping her hot chocolate slowly as Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl came over, too, to hear what she had to say, no doubt concerned about her. Before she could answer though, they all turned to see the front door open as Silver came in, an excited grin on her face and a postcard in her hand. Greg looked apologetically at Spencer, who shook her head and only sat down her cocoa as she then stood up, walking over to her friend.
"What's that?" Spencer asked.
"It's a post card from one of my adoptive sisters." Silver answered. "She told me that she just had a baby and that she's named after me."
"What's her name?" Spencer asked.
"Silva Mila Swenson." Silver answered. "Ammie was the youngest of my sisters in my Earth family who temporary took me in and the only one that cared to reach out to me after I left, even after all this time."
"That's awesome." Spencer said. At the mention of Silver's family, flashes of her real father blinked through her mind, and she clenched the bottle of Onyx's shards around her neck. She let out a slow breath, trying not to ruin anyone's fun.
Amethyst, now interested in this news, started asking more questions about Silver's family, who answered them tentatively despite the smile on her face. Spencer slowly looked away, walking over to the window again. Despite her leave, both Greg and Silver took immediate notice and followed her.
"Moon-jade?" Greg started. "What's on your mind?"
"Yeah, come on. What is it?" Silver said.
With two voices now worried about her, Spencer sighed and turned to them to say, "Nothing, I'm just thinking. It's Christmas tomorrow and one member of our family is missing."
Pearl started tearing up, sniffling a bit as she softly sighed and said, "You don't need to remind us, Spencer. That reminds me … Amethyst, Garnet!" The two gems looked at her as Pearl smiled softly. "Remember that Christmas a few years ago, not long before Spencer joined our family? Do you remember that time we were all snowed in together and when Steven was fourteen? He wanted to know about everything, even what his presents were. And then we told him that story of when we 'kidnapped' him from Greg." Garnet and Amethyst nodded and Greg started laughing.
"Yeah, I definitely remember!" Greg said, chuckling with an annoyed smile all the same. "You three took off with the van and left me running after you guys in the snow and a borrowed bobsled."
Spencer and Silver, though, were confused. That was when Greg started telling them the same story he and the Gems had told Steven all those years ago. When he'd finished, both Spencer and Silver had started laughing.
"We didn't know what Steven was completely, then," Pearl said, only relenting as Amethyst couldn't stop laughing at what they had done and Garnet looked at her with a small smile. "At least, not then. I didn't want to give up on my belief that Rose was completely gone." Showing no more tears, Pearl only sighed against the thought of what she had almost done. "She gave up so much to have Steven. We all made mistakes."
"Pearl, we all know that Rose never liked to talk about the past. One thing was clear, though, she wanted Steven to have what she didn't." Garnet said, pausing to consider something else before Amethyst finished, "A family."
"And, love," Garnet also added, seeing the look that reflected even in Greg's eyes as their wish for their little man to join them grow. "Which included you, too, Greg."
"And Silver and Spencer, too," Pearl said, coming over to sit a hand, too, behind Spencer as she said nothing. "He and Rose brought us all together."
"Yeah," Amethyst agreed as Greg only chuckled. Running up to tackle Pearl to the ground, the both of them started to laugh as Garnet brought them all in for a group hug. Someone squirming free, they all five didn't see as a small little form slipped out from under their grasp and slipped out the front door, the wind whipping it shut with a hard bang that made Amethyst look up past Silver's and Greg's shared look of concern, calling out, "Spence?"
Spencer stormed out of the house and down the steps, madly brushing the tears coming to her eyes as she sat on the beach, not caring that she was sitting on snow.
"Why are you out here instead of with your friends?" Spencer sat up straighter and turned around, surprised when she saw Jasper standing behind her, glaring at the half gem.
"No, why are you here?" Spencer snapped. "I thought you didn't like coming around us unless Steven was here."
"Well, you can blame it on your planet's Earth holiday. With all this so-called festive cheer going on, I only thought my Diamond would be here." Jasper said, standing against the cliff as she then crossed her arms, looking away from Spencer.
Spencer rolled her eyes. "I thought he told you not to call him that."
"It's a sign of great respect on our Homeworld!" Jasper yelled.
"We're not on Homeworld!" Spencer screamed back. "Steven never wanted that anyway, any of it. He didn't want to pretend to be something he wasn't. All he ever did was try to help everyone, even when he wasn't sure how to help his own self and turned him into his own worst enemy. Though, of course you know all of that already, don't you?"
"Hmph," Jasper scoffed, reading a little bit of Spencer. "It sounds like you think a lot of him."
"Maybe I do," Spencer said, surprised she was admitting it to an almost complete stranger. "Sometimes a little bit more that I respect myself, sometimes."
They stood (well, Spencer sitting) in silence a few minutes before Jasper spoke again.
"So, why are you so angry?" Jasper asked. "I didn't think anybody else in your little rebel group could get so emotionally upset that it was enough for them to just storm out of the cozy nest and match my Diamond's … ahh, Steven's … imbalance."
"That's none of your business." Spencer snapped.
"I told Steven that expressing anger is better than keeping it bottled up." Jasper said, subtly emphasizing a point.
"Where it all led up to him shattering you by accident!" Spencer said. "You pushed him past the point of knowing when to stop."
Not knowing that she had gained Jasper's attention, Spencer continued. "Being angry is only temporary. It's a mask that only blinds you beyond what you can control or are afraid of letting out." Clutching her side, a lonely tear slipped down Spencer's cheek as she said, "Growing up, there was always one who was solemnly angry at me because of something that wasn't even my fault, just for existing."
Sensing the gem soldier move closer to the half gem underneath Spencer's brow as she raised up her head to stare at her dead in the eyes, Jasper only stared harder as Spencer again continued her story.
"I never understood why he did it, until I was old enough to decide for myself that enough was enough. So, I left. I'm sure, like the others though, you've heard the rest of it by now." Getting up, she continued lightly, "Yes, my mother was a Gem, a Jade Nephrite, if you didn't already know. Did she get corrupted when the Diamonds tried to wipe every Gem off the Earth to avenge Pink Diamond? Maybe and no, no one except a few knew enough of my mother's story to fully explain how she survived and stayed herself. Even after she had connections with the Gems here on Earth, did she know what she was doing when I was born? Probably not, but I don't blame her ... I can't. It wasn't her fault I was born, and just like with Steven ... I found myself being part of a world I had no understanding of and part of a legacy I had no idea how to follow."
"Wait," Jasper said, surprising Spencer a bit as she just planted a fist to her side and looked Spencer right in the eye, the gem partly in her field, too, as she sighed. "So, you just did... nothing?"
"Well, not nothing exactly," Spencer said, remembering what she had did after her actions had turned him in to jail just a few years ago.
"No, what I mean is ... You never once tried to pay him back for all the scars he left on you?" What Jasper had asked surprised Spencer, seeing that Spencer didn't have to say 'who' it was that gave her that pain.
Spencer sighed. "I wanted to, believe me, but if I had struck out at him in the same way he had hurt me, that wouldn't had made me any better than him at all. And I doubt I would've made my mother proud that way. Besides, how could I when the one who did was bigger and more stronger than I could ever be?"
"Strength has nothing to very little to do with size, Spencer," They both heard Silver say as they both turned and saw her coming down the steps as she pocketed a few envelopes in her bag that was hanging down at her side and walked down the steps towards them. "You could have been angry and chose to make it plain, but you didn't. You didn't bend to make a reckless and rash decision that you would later regret, but it was also one you were afraid of letting out because deep down you still hope that he learns from his mistakes. Love is a strength, too, Spencer, one that is not defined by hate, pride, or blame. That's what made you different in how you took it, and look at what you have because of it now."
Spencer smiled softly. "I guess you make a good point, Sil." She took the hand Silver offered her and allowed her best friend to pull her up.
"Come on." Silver said. "We need to go deliver the invites to the party tonight to Peridot, Bismuth and Lapis."
Spencer nodded and started to follow Silver towards town. Then she stopped and turned to face Jasper. "Hey, why don't you join us, Jasper? You can even join the party tonight, if you want to."
"Why would I bother?" Jasper asked.
Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Maybe because you actually like us? Or at the very least, you've learned to tolerate us." Jasper rolled her eyes at that statement, but she surprised even herself as she frowned in subtlety and followed the two of them into town.
As they passed more and more people on their way to Little Homeworld, they were all three wished 'happy holidays', a warming phrase that Spencer and Silver wished them right back in joy. Soon, they exited the town and went up the hill to Little Homeworld.
They were surprised when they saw Volleyball conversing with Yellow and Blue Pearl, all three pearls ordained in holiday cheer. "Volleyball!" Spencer exclaimed. The three Pearls jumped and looked toward Spencer's voice, smiling each in their own way when they saw Spencer and Silver.
"Spencer! Silver!" Volleyball exclaimed as she ran up to them both.
Spencer wrapped her arms around Volleyball in a tight hug. "Merry Christmas!" Spencer exclaimed as Volleyball returned the hug.
"What are you two doing here?" Silver asked Yellow and Blue Pearl. The other two Pearls only smirked as they laughed at their expressions.
"We accompanied our Diamonds here." She said, gesturing towards the back of the hill to where the top half of the Diamonds combined ships sat with the hands gestured up.
Spencer and Silver looked over in shock. "How did we not see them before we got here?" Spencer asked. Silver shrugged.
"Selective sight maybe?" Silver suggested. Spencer chuckled.
"The Diamonds wanted to see more of Little Homeworld, so we invited them to come along with us to see it," Yellow Pearl started, a slight look of disappointment cross her face as she looked over her shoulder to where it started to snow just around them in awe.
"They're currently not with us right now, though," Blue Pearl said, holding a hand up to pull back her bangs a bit to smile at Spencer, too, who touched hers in mild irritation as it showed half of her exposed gem. "They went off to see more of your planet covered in that white stuff."
"That white stuff is called snow," Spencer said, bending down to scoop some up in her hands as she cupped them and formed it into a ball. Throwing it, she tossed it with enough force that it thwacked against the back of Jasper's head as she turned around to see who had done that. Nervously chuckling a bit, Spencer felt Silver's gemmed hand shield her in the front as Silver's staff appeared as a warning to the approaching Gem, who only said nothing and looked away.
"The Diamonds have never seen snow, before?" Silver asked.
This only earned her a keen look from Yellow Pearl who only tsked and said, "The Diamonds never cared to stop and look at the small details that a planet such as this provided ... until recently."
"You mean because of Steven, right?" Spencer asked with pride, seeing how both Pearls reacted with a respected nod and acknowledgement to the other half-gem with a smile that said that she was right.
Silver smiled. "Have you guys seen Lapis, Bismuth and Peridot perchance?"
"I believe they are over there." Blue Pearl answered, pointing. Spencer and Silver looked and saw the gems they were looking for. As Spencer headed towards them, Silver secretly handed Volleyball two invitations, one for the Pearls and one for the Diamonds, putting a finger to her lips in secret and gesturing at Spencer. Volleyball smiled and nodded as Silver went to join Spencer.
Wearing the T-shirt that Steven had given to her before he left, Peridot and Bismuth were laughing as Peridot talked about her views on Earth holidays were.
"… And so, I sat on this red man's lap only for him to ask me, 'Well, little girl, what would you like for Christmas?'" Peridot said, not noticing that Spencer and Silver had stopped right behind her as she then thrust both of her arms back in excitement, the impact sending both of them right into the snow right on their backs, Silver's knapsack slipping off as a couple of the leftover remaining invitations rolled out, too. "I said, 'Nothing'. When he asked me why, I only said 'Hey Clod, where's my present?' …' Huh?"
"Are you two alright?" Bismuth asked, hearing them fall and cutting Peridot off short as she saw what she had done, both of them confused as they watched what Spencer and Silver were doing in the snow. "What?"
"What are you two doing?!" Peridot exclaimed, watching them wave their arms and legs up and down in a skirt motion in the snow.
"What does it look like we're doing?!" Spencer asked, sitting up with specks of snow falling from the top of her head as Jasper, too, looked confused when she started laughing out right there in front of everyone. Standing up, she shook herself off right as she pulled Peridot forward with such a force that it almost tilted her back towards the snow, too. "It's a snow angel! See?"
"It's a 'what'? Hey!" Peridot said, watching Spencer fall back this time on her own, right as Spencer's touch on her arm loosened and it made her fall, too, with a soft 'flump' in the snow, too. Spitting out snow from her mouth, Peridot only said, "Hey, watch it!"
"Try it, Peridot," Silver said, getting up with some help from Bismuth who was still a little confused but amused at their play. "It's like making shapes in the snow. Like this one … it kind of reminds me of White Diamond's dress-cape. See?"
Seeing the downward wing-skirt imprint of Silver's 'angel', Bismuth had an 'Oh!' moment right as Spencer said, "Well, you did it your way. That's why every snow angel is different." Seeing the look on Peridot's face as she only held herself by her arms out of the snow, Spencer said, "Do it like this, Peri. It's fun!"
"Fun? Huh," Peridot said, thinking back to something else as she watched Spencer laugh once more. Watching how Spencer demonstrated it, Peridot let herself fall back into it as she annoyingly tried it, a smile of wonder soon replacing the one on her face as she then stood up with Spencer to see the one she managed to do in the snow. "Fun! I get it now." As she laughed, though, a solid ball of snow hit her right in the mouth as it caused her to fall back into a fresh drift as both of them heard a solid chuckle and a round snowball land in the palm of someone big. "Jasper?"
"Sorry, that wasn't meant for you," Jasper said, eyeing Spencer with a touch of revenge as she tossed another ball into the air lightly with a smirk. "I believe this is another game you guys like to call a fight, right?"
"Close," Spencer said, seeing the look on Silver's face as she whispered their plan into Bismuth's ear as she chuckled and helped to start making a snow wall. Dodging the pelt throw from Jasper this time, Spencer tossed two of her own and rushed past Jasper in time as one big snow ball from the Gem soldier bring up her arms in defense in a criss-cross shield across her face. "It's a snowball fight! Nice one, Bismuth!"
A few more snowball impacts later, this time with Peridot joining the game, a solid clank of a summoned helmet caught the four dueling gems' attention as Jasper lowered her head and made a run for the snow wall fort.
"Run!" Bismuth shouted, knowing the stories of what Jasper's helmet could do, seeing a receptive eye look down from one of the top branches of the tree just a few feet from them. Picking up Spencer, the rainbow-clad gem backed them all away right as Jasper barreled through and right up against a tree where one of her helmet horns got stuck, a tree where a certain river-clad Gem stood in wait.
Hearing Peridot start laughing, Jasper growled as she tried to pull her herself out by saying, "This isn't funny, you know?"
"Nor is playing rough," Bismuth said, nodding to their secret ally in the tree as a certain gem summoned her wings and jumped out of the tree with a big enough leap to make the snow from the top-most part of the branches come drifting down, right down on an embarrassed hot-headed Gem in an avalanche. "Nice play, Lapis."
"My pleasure," Lapis said, smiling as Silver and Spencer rushed over to hug her. Bending down to Spencer's level, Lapis only smiled at Spencer's grin as she said, "Hey, Spence. You've been doing ok?"
"Of course I have," Spencer answered, in a better mood than before but still down. "The few weeks, though … I've just been having flashbacks about before, but … Dad's right. I've been missing Steven like crazy, and without him here … I don't know. I just feel more confident with him here."
"That sounds familiar," Peridot said, joining them, too, as she only fingered the edge of the now snow-dusted star top. "We all do! Steven taught us and opened our eyes to everything."
"Including you," Bismuth said, with a firm nod from Lapis who dabbed one of the Spencer's tears off of her cheeks and just held her, letting her sniffle against her shoulder.
"Oh, wait a second," Spencer said, dropping lightly out of Lapis's hands as she dried her eyes and looked around for one of the invitations that told of their party, or so she thought. "Oh, here's one. We wanted to see if you guys … Wait a minute." Reading the wet paper now, Spencer's eyes grew excited as she read the first two lines of the letter that was disguised as an invitation. Dropping it into Silver's outstretched hand, they all five watched (even Jasper, who had pulled herself out of the drift in confusion) as Spencer took off running, shouting over her shoulder, "See you guys back at the house!"
Running down the hill in a hurried sprint, the trees seemed to sense Spencer's excitement as even her stride left their branches seeming to dance among the drift that seemed to follow her stride, a sight that made her wonder why even has her gem sparkled in her joy. Ignoring it for now, though, her feet carried her all the way back to the beach house with a pant.
Climbing the stairs, she heard voices inside as one in particular caught her ear with a smile.
Opening up the door, everyone turned to see a snow-dusted Spencer as the one person she missed solely more than she could say only smiled and said, "Hey, 'Sis."
"Steven, you really are home!" Spencer cried, rushing over to hug her older brother as both Universe siblings took each other's hands, Spencer throwing her arms around his neck as he only laughed, returning the embrace.
"I told you I would come home to visit," Spencer heard him say as he only let her hold up to him for a good solid minute, feeling the release of the last of her tears. "Dad told me you were having …"
"I'll always remember," Spencer said, not wanting to talk about her past fears now. "However, that doesn't change how I've feeling right now, how it feels to have you and the Gems as a part of my family … Our family. I've missed you like crazy!"
"I know," Steven said, feeling Greg's hand rest on his shoulder as he looked partly back up towards their father as he lowered his gaze back down towards his younger sibling's smile. "I've missed you guys, too, all of you."
"Oh, Steven!" Pearl said, not holding herself back anymore as she rushed forward to hug him, too, Garnet standing nearby to only smile endearingly as she distinctively wiped at a tear that emerged just underneath her visor.
"Dude!" Amethyst said, coming over tangled in tinsel. "How is it out there in the big world? Is it everything you thought it would be?"
"It's different," Steven said, honestly not sure how to put his brief experiences into exact words just yet. "But … wherever I go, you can bet I'll always come back home. You can count on it." Connecting his eyes with Spencer's in solidarity, he meant every word as they both turned to see the warp pad activate as Silver, Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot and a somewhat stoic Jasper all appeared in the temple room together. "Hey guys … huh? Jasper?!"
"Relax, she's cool. I promise," Spencer said, automatically diffusing him as a slight pink glow from his hair revealed that he still was having a little trouble controlling his imbalance. Taking his hand in hers, she softly took him to the side to breathe, allowing her gem to vibrate just a bit to let out a calming aura that Steven knew as familiar as he only listened. "Before you get mad, just know that I was the one who invited her to come. If you want to be upset, be mad at me. Believe it or not, though, I know you know it differently, but … She helped me let out a couple of things I've been keeping locked up inside since you left and not in the same way she did with you. She listened."
Inspired, Steven only looked at Jasper with Spencer as they both watched as she interacted with the Crystal Gems, Lapis being the only exception as she stayed as far away from Jasper's touch as much as she could get. Why that was so was understandable, but they both watched as Lapis, Bismuth, and Jasper helped Amethyst stand up the tree that she had hidden back in one of the cavern gaps. "Really?"
Only nodding, Spencer only chuckled as Steven smiled proudly with this realization about how his past confrontations with the hard-headed gem finally reached a breakthrough. However, though, they both got a surprise when Jasper only passed them and said to him, "I'm not going to change just because you made me experience your planet and because of what you are, but … Listen, your friend there is a good ally to you. She brought it to my attention that I may have pushed you too far when you came to me, of all Gems, to ask for help. Strength through anger is not always wise … I get it, so … I'm sorry."
Seeing her older sibling just go into shock, Spencer only said, "I'm proud of you, Jasper."
"Just don't go spreading it around, alright?" Jasper asked, briskly turning away with a grin. Looking one more time at her 'Diamond', she said, "Take care of her."
"Oh, don't worry," Amethyst said, joining their small circle as she pulled the two half-gems closer to the tree. "We will."
"We all will," Garnet finished for all three of them as Spencer felt a small hand from Silver on her left arm right as Greg stepped around the Gems to embrace both of his kids as he settled his hands on both of their shoulders and they all gathered around their first tree as a family. "Greg, would you like to do the honors?"
"Sure," he said, strumming up his guitar after Peridot Bismuth handed him his guitar from of the couch where he had it waitng.
"Um … excuse us?" a voice said from the open front door as the Pearls stepped inside to reveal Yellow Diamond's eye from the beach house window as she looked in. "Steven?"
"Is he in there?" they could all hear Blue Diamond say from outside.
"Oh, Steven!" White called, joining their call. "We've come to say hello."
Hearing everyone look towards the door, Spencer only heard her brother briefly sigh as he chuckled at Silver's quiet admittance, "Sorry, I may have invited the Diamonds when I gave the Pearls an invitation."
"That's ok," Spencer said, amused slightly by it all as Steven sighed with a worried chuckle. "After all, they are a part of the family, too."
"True," he said, turning specifically at Spencer who rose an eyebrow. "Which also means if I have to deal with them … You do, too."
"Come on, you three," Greg said, calling them all outside to join the group, to which the siblings and silver pearl did with joy as they saw everyone interacting and getting along. "I'd say this Crystal Gem slash Universe family is something special, wouldn't you agree?"
"Absolutely!" both siblings cried, chuckling as their Christmas party just got livelier, especially when the Diamonds finally heard the official news of Spencer's adoption into the Universe family and accepted it with endearment. Cupped right there in the Diamonds' palms with Steven and the rest of their gem family, Spencer's heart filled with joy and love at all she had and a completion to how far she had come!
"Uh, Peri? Did you really get to see Santa?" Spencer asked.
"You mean the unresponsive red poly-plastic red guy that had all the presents in an inflatable bag? Yes, why?" Peridot replied.
"Peridot, that was a balloon. You know, an inflatable display for the antique shop's sale. We went with Spencer last week and she told us this." Lapis said.
"No wonder all the presents had nothing in them! It was all just a bunch of hot air!" Peridot exclaimed. Everyone laughed at that as they continued to celebrate. At least until Spinel jumped out like a spring, startling them into more laughter.
Well, what did you guys think? We thought that part at the end would be pretty funny! Hope you guys enjoyed this year's Christmas special! Leave a review and let us know what you thought! Happy Holidays!