With things now changing the way that they are, Steven knew that he needed to keep moving on with his plans. He hardly had time to just spend with the gems or even doing his own thing. The hybrid was too busy with planning and training his powers to become stronger and better then before a lot sooner than before. He had mastered his bubble powers and was now just trying to form his shield and psychical strength, still having no such luck with his gem weapon any time soon.

Still, with how everything was going Steven continued his plans as normal. With the gem mutants now down until the Cluster begins to surface, the hybrid was now just trying to find a way to the galaxy wraps while also getting Lapis out of the mirror. It was harder than it looked to try and find some alone time when it came to the galaxy wraps, finding the gems to be around him a lot more often than he remembered. With Lapis it was impossible because he needed a way for Pearl just to give it to him, and with Connie not his friend at the moment he wasn't sure how to do it. The young boy sighed, knowing that for his plan to work he needed the galaxy wraps fixed first. Once he fixes the main base one, he can get Lapis to take it to homeworld as well as himself, or better yet... get to Spinel.

His dreams were still haunted her. Every night he would see the same events of their death, and then the events of what happened to her. With his powers increasing much faster than before, and knowing what he knew about his mother, he started to get more of her memories back. He saw himself leaving the happy gem behind, feeling a sense of relief and freedom leaving the gem behind. He knew it was Pink Diamond doing it, but he felt bad every time he dreamt the day his mother left her best friend alone in that garden. Now Spinel was back at the garden, waiting for either her and him now and he couldn't have that. Whatever promise he made to Spinel, he knew he had to keep it and make it come true. Plus there was a sense that she knew what was going on, that she was in the same terrible boat as himself. Brought back with the memories of the life you no longer have anymore, put on repeat game with the vile shadow that has some sort of deal with him he couldn't remember.

Steven missed Spinel. Even though she tried to kill him, even though she tried to destroy his home, the hybrid missed her. She was the only thing that wasn't different, the only gem who could understand him at this point. Even with the Crystal Gems at his side, even with his father still loving him, they were different people. Spinel wasn't, he knew she wasn't which was why he had to get her out of that garden prison and set things right. This time, he would make sure that she got a happily ever after.

"Steven...? Steven... Hey Steven!"

Steven gasped, feeling his father pelt him with cold water from the hose. He was pulled away from his thoughts as he saw Greg smile at him though there was concern in his eyes. "Hey Stew-ball," He exclaimed slowly, chuckling. "Sorry about that, but you looked so sad all of a sudden that I got worried. You okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine Dad. Just lost in thought." Steven gave his father a big grin, getting better at faking his happy and carefree nature. It was still hard at times to try and act like he hadn't matured four years.

Greg though not seeing the drew on expression, just grinned back at his son as they finished up Mayor Dewy's van. "So what do you think kiddo? Did we do a great job or what?"

The hybrid just smiled, getting a cool idea. "Well you missed a spot Dad."

"Huh? Where did we-Ahh! Hey!"

Steven couldn't help but laugh as he sparked his father with the hose in his hand, finding his Dad looking like a wet mop to be pretty funny. Greg felt the cold water hit his face, choking slightly before he went to laughing himself and firing the hose at his son. The young boy ducked, his reflexes coming back to him, but the two continue their playful manner. Hosing each other down and chasing one another.

Unknown to Steven though, who was just trying to enjoy some bits of his new life, Greg was smiling brightly inside at the sight of his laughing son. The old man may not be completely good at it, but he could tell that something was different with Steven. One day he was the loud and excited young man he always knew his son to be, but then the next day he became so closed off. He saw how his son was off in space more, thinking to himself, not chatting with others who walked back. He even heard from the gems how he seemed no longer interested in missions anymore. It was like his son was replaced with someone, but then that was crazy because he still saw Steven in there. He still saw the stars in his eyes, he still saw the shine in his heart and the kick in his step that was just like his son, but it was dimmer in comparison. He wondered what could have happened to his son. He knew the gems could see it too somewhat. Amethyst has been complaining about it none stop when she came to visit him.

Something was different, no doubt, but he wasn't going to push it and ask. Right now he was having fun with Steven and Greg honestly didn't want to ruin the moment. Too bad someone else decided they wanted to ruin the moment anyhow. Well until they heard the annoying sound of an old Mayor.

"Hey! Hey!" Both Steven and Greg turn off their hoses, turning to see none other than MAyor Dewy walking up to them with a scowl on his face. "What is this? I don't pay you people to have fun."

Greg got nervous, but quickly frowned when seeing something in his son. Steven's smile had dropped completely and took a type of annoyance look similar to the Mayor. Almost as if he was disgusted. Not having time to think on it right now, he looked at Dewy and said quickly, "Sorry Mayor Dewy. My son was just playing with his good old man."

"Well make sure it isn't around my Van next time Universe," Dewy spat, glaring at the two as he walked over to his clean van. He hummed, "Nice work... could have been better if you didn't slack off."

There is was again. Greg saw how his son tense and and lose more of the shine in his brown eyes. In fact, they looked also magenta in color. Not good! "O-Oh well... um It's on the house Mister Mayor," He explained nervously, not noticing the glare in his son's eyes get even darker.

Dewy, being completely oblivious to the odd behavior, grinned at the older Universe before patting his back. "Now that's what I like to hear Universe. Guess I'll be on my way then."

With that, the skinny old Mayor of Beach City got into his van and drove off, the repetitive blaring sound of 'Mayor Dewy' coming out from his head speaker above. Greg did nothing sighed in relief before turning to look at Steven. He felt his spine leave a slight cold shiver downward, his hands growing a bit sweaty as he saw his small ball of sunshine give off an aura as dark as the space night. The hybrid was just glaring at the man's van with a hateful glare, the sight making his eyes give off a dark color with almost a pink shine to it. It was shocking, and somewhat terrifying to see his son so angry than he should've been. So their Mayor was an asshole, that wasn't new even to Steven.

The older Universe played a hand on his son's shoulder, twitching when he felt a slight coldness to him which he blamed the water for. With a deep swallow he tried saying, "S-Steve-AH!"

"Wha-Mmph!"

Both Steven and Greg snapped out of the odd atmosphere as they were played it with more water from a hose. They both spat out the water that entered their mouth before turning to see how might have done that. Looking, they were quick to see a purple and silver cat holding the hose in their mouth. It gave them somewhat of a grin before spraying them with the hose. The older man was going to tell the cat off, but was quick to hear his young boy laughing at getting wet. The dark shine in his eyes was gone, and it was like his bright boy was washed clean of the dark feel in his eyes. That caused the man to smile as he started to chuckle and try and run away from the cat spraying at them. It needed them the cat chasing the two as they got drenched in cold water from the green hose before Steven tripped and the two men went down on the ground.

Greg, still laughing and smiling, wipe the extra water off his face and said, "this is some odd cat."

"D-Dad," Steven smiled, moving over to pet the cat as he spat out the last of the water in his mouth. "This isn't even a cat. Are you girl~?"

"Huh? How do you even-" Before Greg could even finish his state of confusion, the purple silver cat smirked and dropped the hose before starting to glow.

"Aww Steven," The cat shocking whined as it grows in shape, forming the body of a familiar short gem. The hybrid just smiled as the silver cat slowly became the figure of the one and only Amethyst. "You totally ruined my surprise. How did you know?"

That's what Greg wanted to know too, since his son most likely knew nothing about shape shifting. Steven though seemed to be one step ahead and just pointed at her gem. "Only one awesome gem has a gem like that," He states. "But I had no idea that gems could do that! Is that a new power?"

Amethyst smirked, standing up as she dusted herself off. The gem answered, "Yeah man. It's really cool. Gems like us, can shape-shift into anything we want. Unless you're Pearl, she hates when I do it."

"Oh gem related stuff," Greg raised his hand, already feel a bit put off. Ever since it was clear that his son would get his mother's powers, making him a gem, he has felt bad not being able to help them and tries hard not to be apart of it simply cause Pearl and the others give him the stink eye. "Should I go or something now..?"

"Dad it's fine." Steven waved his hand off, remembering how nervous his dad was around stuff like this.

"Yeah it's fine~"

Both of the males jumped in shock to see Amethyst shift into a purple version of the hybrid. Greg turning a slightly shocked face as the second Steven did a slutty pose.

Steven chuckled, used to it in his first life of his sister doing things like this. He ruffled her(his) hair and smiled. "Amethyst, cut it out."

"Aww, but I like this body. Fits me kind of good right~?" Amethyst purred, which having the hybrid's face really made the older Universe feel a bit uncomfortable.

Steven however, was used to this and just giggled. "I think I wear the face better Amethyst. You do make a better cat than me anyhow."

Amethyst shifted back into her normal form, smiling. "You can learn to do it too Steven. I mean, you are a gem, so it could happen."

"Thanks, but I'm pretty good at doing that." His answer, among other things, left both Amethyst and Greg in a state of shock. The young boy didn't notice and tap his chin. "In fact... I got something to do. I'll get back to you later."

"W-Wait Steven I thought-"

"Sorry gotta go!"

With that, the two watch Steven race off to the temple, their eyes wide and filled with concern and utter confusion. Greg was definitely concerned about his son now. He didn't want to learn new gem things!? This a whole feet that just wasn't like him at all. He wondered why the sudden change in the boy and if it was something serious. Now that Greg thought about it, he also remembered at times when Steven would hardly even talk about the gems anymore. In fact he never talked to them anymore, and if he did it was never in excitement. It was like he was holding something back, that he found something about the gems that made them less likable in his eyes. It saddened the poor man to see such a mature nature to his twelve year old boy. It was like a piece of his innocence was removed, like someone or something had taken it and left a hole there. He knew it was Steven, his shine was there, but this shine was different and he was worried and what could have happened.

It would seem that Amethyst thought the same, cause she sighed and just sat in one of the land chairs by the hose, looking completely upset. She crossed her arms and gave a slight pout, looking in the direction that Steven had gone. "Something isn't right..."

Greg sighed, looking at the gem with a sad smile. "So I'm not the only one noticing."

"Noticing? More like not stupidly in denial," She whined out as she kicked a bit of dirt with her foot. "I mean, it's not hard to see that something is wrong with Steven. Hell even I can see it..."

"Did something happened? I mean he..." The old man rubbed his neck, confused. "Seems so distant and always busy with something."

"And is clearly hiding something. It's like he has more important things to do, but what can a twelve year old possible be doing but be whiny and hanging out with friends. Steven though... It's just too weird!" She stood up and shook her head, looking more worried than upset.

"Yeah, and then I heard about what happened with Mr. Smiley."

"That was even weirder," She answered. "He's looking over his shoulder, mumbling to himself, and gone when he thinks we don't know. Last week we went on a mission, and this time he didn't want to come. It made no sense to me, but I helped him try and not force Garnet to make him go."

Greg frowned. That was weird for Steven. "What did the others think about it?"

"Pearl is in denial and Garnet won't speak to me. She told me to let Steven do his own thing, but even I can tell she is worried."

"Shouldn't you try following him," The old man asked, turning to the smaller gem.

Amethyst bit her lip, but gave a soft defeated sigh. "I would, but something is telling me not to. I... I can't explain it, but my gem... is telling me to trust Steven. That even though it feels odd, everything will be alright."

Greg felt that too, the small feeling in his heart. He thought it was heartburn, but maybe it was something much more. He felt like he could trust his son's judgement, that even though he was so young he was mature beyond his years to know what he was doing. It was an odd feeling, and a scary one. Even though his heart was feeling hardly any worry for the boy, his mind told him otherwise. He knew Amethyst felt the same. Whatever was happening with his boy, he hoped that it would change very soon.

As for Steven, he was able to sneak into the Temple and get his packed cheeseburger backpack before rushing to the wrap pad. The hybrid had already had gotten his bag packed with water and food just in case he was going on one of his own missions. He sighed, knowing once again that he was going off script, but honestly the boy didn't mind doing it this time. As much as shape shifting was cool and all, it was one of the powers he wished never to use again. Shape shifting for himself is dangerous and he never learned to control it right. It was best not to let Amethyst teach him that one. Plus, seeing her as a fluffy got him thinking of a very old friend.

A friend he was dying to see again.

Steven wasted no time to wrap himself to the very familiar and hot yellow winds desert. He already had a water bottle in hand as he walked out into the desert sand, not caring about the hot grainy pebbles getting into his sandals. His face turning from the fake young boy grin to a mature look his father had seen before. His eyes dimmed in color and he looked like a hybrid on a mission in which case he was. The hybrid wasted no time walking into the desert and not caring as to where he was going. He already knew this place inside and out. While others saw nothing but the same sand over and over again, the gems in his first life have taught him how to handle the place and know his surroundings. March to where the sun set, about an hour in. He knew he will find his place once he continued to walk. He didn't care how long it took, because sooner or later he would see his friend again. With that he walked on, pulling out the umbrella from his pack to cover his face from the sun.

The time went by faster than the hybrid thought he could really count. He was starting to see pillars and walls in his line of vision, they were there one second then gone the next. Rather than think he was crazy due to the heat, he smiled and followed the disappearing pillars and stairs. When he got close enough, he knew he was smack right into the crazy maze of the sand. Steven chuckled, looking at the weak pillars in front of him as they fell and rebuilt somewhere else. He tries to remember why the Diamonds even made a sandstone to build castles out of sand, but honestly he came up a bit blank. It wasn't his fault that Blue Diamond can get kind of boring with stuff like this when they were giving him Diamond lessons. The only thing he remembered was that the sandstone did this cause of the corruption blast and nobody was giving it orders. It just made stairs and walls now because it was bored.

While it would have made sense to grab the pillow to save the gems time on it was smart, he decided against it. Not only would it bring attention to the Crystal Gems, to the point where they would most likely ask questions, but it was also because he didn't care. The Pillow wasn't harming anyone, so it harmless. Besides, Steven knew there was something more important than that. A long old friend he was dying to see again.

"Come on now," Steven sighed, drinking more of his third bottle of water as he kept walking around the broken nowhere castle. "I know you're here... I know it."

"Rawr!"

The young boy jumped with a squeak, dropping his water and spilling the rest in the hot sand. Steven was quick to turn to see what had made the noise, his eyes of fear quickly turning to joy and excitement over who he saw. "Lion!"

It was indeed Lion, the pink wild cat of the sand jungle. He looked just as Steven remembered him to look like, seeing him carry a very neutral and passive face as his stood on all four of his legs and paws. His mane was a light pink and slightly covered in sand this time than before. Something told the boy that maybe the creature was fighting the pillow before he came here. Steven stood back up and looked up at Lion with a smile, moving to touch him but stopped when the creature gave him a small growl and slightly glared. This was new. Lion never growled at him like this when they first met. No, he remembered the massive cat falling and trying to take a nap of all things. This was different and when he tried again to touch his old friend, he heard something more than a growl. It was faint, but it was there. He heard Lion whine.

It was as if he got hit by a train and Yellow's boot all over again. Thoughts have clicked together and his hand stopped mid way. With wide and shocking eyes, Steven looked deep into the dark pools of his companion and whispered, "You know..."

Lion growled, but it was more soft and like a rumble. The pink animal still looking at the boy with deep and now saddened eyes.

"You know who I am... You can see it," Steven frowned deeply, but his eyes still held deep and utter shock. He moved to touch the creatures snot, and saw how the beast just whined and nuzzled it back. "You can see my soul. You know how damaged I am... b-but how?"

Lion of course gave no verbal response, just nuzzling closer to Steven as the hybrid just sighed and smiled. He did wonder how Lion knew what he really looked liked behind his younger form, but right now all he did care about was that he had a friend who knew now. It felt amazing that Lion knew, both great and yet sad. Sad being that he knew the large cat saw the dead body form of him, but also great cause he felt that for once he had someone who he could talk to. Lion was always the one friend he felt he can be honest with, even if he couldn't talk. Maybe now he could speak to Lion again about everything, have that sense of loneliness dim in his heart even if only by a small fraction. As the young boy nuzzled his face into his friend's massively soft mane, Lion growled softly and licked his cheek.

Steven chuckled, pulling away to smile up at the massive cat. "It's great to see you Lion. Even though we have just met."

Lion just stared down at him, face blank like always.

"Come on you big guy," The hybrid chuckled, climbing on the animal's back as he pulled out a Lion Licker. "Why don't I show you the way home again old pal? I got loads to tell you." Lion, not knowing what this boy meant, just growled softly and started to walk to where the wrap pad was. Steven just smiled, laying down in the soft mane as he closed his eyes. At least for a bit, he had one of his friends back.

'I'll remember that promise.'

'You have me as your friend.'

He gripped his head, feeling yet another memory return as well a deep gut feeling of guilt.

Sorry for a much slower chapter, but I missed Lion. I also wanted to show that Steven isn't being a sneaky as he thinks he is.

What do you think will happen now? Will Amethyst try and speak to Steven? What about this new line and memory unlocked to Steven? hopefully I write sooner to answer it for you.

Till then,

High Five The Sky!