Steven didn't waste any time when finding the very magical monastery that was Amethyst Ditto Burrito she left rotting in the temple for over five years. The thing hit him like it was his morning alarm, though he didn't know what really woke him up first: the burrito or Pearl's bird squawking screech. Garnet had decided that this could become a mission, but this time the young boy didn't let the food crazy quartz even take one bite of this toxic stuff.

"Amethyst no," The hybrid chuckled as he watched his supposed purple older sister growl at him like a dog. He smacked her with the stick he used to find the burrito. "Bad quartz. If you eat this you'll get food poisoning."

Amethyst just whined, drooling as she tried to reach for the green rotting monster. "But it's Ditto's! Come on Steve-man!"

Steven just smacked her hand again and sighed, rubbing his face in playful annoyance. "Man Amethyst," He sighed and smiled. "I swear you eat things that can kill you if you're not careful."

Pearl rolled her eyes as she watched the two try to fight over a burrito. She did though stop as her eyes lit up at what the boy said. "Well Steven we can't really die from food poisoning," She stated in her knowing all tone.

The hybrid already knew this, but acted shocked anyhow with a big, "Really!?"

"Yes." Garnet confirmed as she came up behind the three. "Most things like age or poisoning are unaffected to us."

"Seriously? What do you mean by ag-" Steven stopped as he saw the purple quartz now completely chowing down on the burrito. "AH! Amethyst no! Bad girl! Bad quartz goblin!"

Amethyst just hissed and ran away from them to finish the burrito. The young hybrid didn't even bother chasing her since in about five minutes she was going to puke out the thing anyhow. Sighing, Steven smiled at once again reliving the fond memory. He can sort of remember this day being when he found out that the gems are millions of years old. Remembering correctly, Amethyst was only over a thousand old while Pearl is the oldest by around ten or eleven more. It was sort of silly to think now what happened to him also killing himself with his own silly 'getting too old for birthdays' midlife crisis.

You're never too old for birthdays, the birthdays just mature along with you. While he did enjoy the silly balloons, clowns, and tiny car races he had with his Dad, Steven also enjoyed the new crazy birthdays he had being sixteen. He can still recall when he had his first birthday on Homeworld with the Diamonds and basically all of the galaxy celebrating. He could remember when Blue Diamond made him a massive Ball to his liking and Yellow even put in new improvements to his Diamond ship, even though he kind of said he would never ride it again. Sad thing that happened was when Connie taught White Diamond had to make a cake. It ended up being a cake of all kinds of food that organics eat on the other planets they made as colonies. It wasn't persay, but it was definitely the wrose cake the hybrid prince ever had.

The Diamonds were a handful, but it wasn't all that bad. When the Gems and half of Beach City came to Homeworld to celebrate with him, it brightened up the hybrid's spirits. He remembered redoing the whole ball with Blue and Amethyst in the lead, making a much smaller gift for him with Lapis and Bismuth teaching Yellow not to go too much. Everything happened so fast and crazy, but it filled Steven's heart to see his human friends help and catch gems on his birthday. The Ball was amazing, seeing everyone dance how they wanted to dance, play how they wanted to play, party how everyone should enjoy a party. The new sixteen year old was just happy to sit in his pink throne and watch his ever growing family enjoy themselves on his birthday. He got so many gifts too. He remembered his favorites being a new jacket from Connie and a beautiful newborn star placed in a locket from Yellow. Pearl and Blue even made him a new diamond outfit he really enjoyed wearing as well. White and Garnet ended the day with a very big, but much less crazy birthday cake that was strawberry and his favorite. He even got to try beer his first time with his Dad, regretting it. The whole day and night was crazy, but just screamed his life. Steven honestly listed it as one of his best birthdays ever.

He wondered if he would ever get a birthday like that again? Can he keep this timeline the same enough to even get such a special day again? He highly doubted it, and it made the boy spitefully hate being twelve again. He wishes... He wishes he could...

"Steven?"

The hybrid jumped, turning back to the gems to see that Pearl was looking at him in slight concern. Garnet was looking worried as well which wasn't a good sign. He quickly shook the thoughts out of his mind, thinking he may have been standing in silence for too long.

Steven chuckled nervously, rubbing his rub. "Sorry about that guys. didn't mean to black out again."

Pearl looked coneringly at Garnet, shaking her head. "T-That wasn't it..." She bit her lip before slowly saying, "You... Steven it looked like you were getting taller."

That made the brunette freeze. Taller!? But how he wasn't supposed to be getting any taller for another three years. Fit yes, but not taller in anyway shape or form. Steven tried to hide his shock, most likely fear from his eyes as he looked down at himself to see if maybe Pearl was wrong. Whether she was right or wrong didn't seem to matter though, cause the moment Steven looked down at himself to see if maybe his pants got smaller, he saw the smallest shift of his body seem to shrink back. He wasn't fully sure, but the hybrid only felt relief and a small sense of fear that his body stopped aging.

He looked back at Pearl and Garnet, seeing their confusion on their faces before Amethyst broke in with a look at the hybrid. "Wha? Steven looks the same as he always did," She waves her hand over his short form, now chewing up the rest of the burrito.

Pearl frowned, shaking her head. "Must have been my imagination then.. Sorry for bringing your hopes up Steven."

"It's... It's okay Pearl. Maybe I will when I turn thirteen next year." Hopefully not sooner. Growing up around the gems is the last thing he needed right now. Steven sighed and rubbed his face, feeling the cold chill at his spine before walking to the temple. "I'm going to the bathroom. You guys deal with Amethyst puking."

He didn't bother to let Pearl rebuttal or reach out to him. With his head held low, Steven walked past the Garnet and out of the entrance of the purple gem's room. It only took two seconds later behind the magic door to hear a loud shout of disgust at the projectile vomit now most likely on their feet. It brought a small airy chuckle to his lips, but the nostalgia of the horrible gagging memory wasn't enough to bring the light into his now haunted eyes. Instead, the small fondful memory brought back another issue he remembered that was supposed to be happening today. The fact that he could age with only the state of his mind, and the extra bit on how he almost died of old age from it.

Remembering that bit of his power could do to his aging process, only seems to bring worry on what could happen now. While his body was that of a slow blooming twelve year old, his state mind was definitely sixteen. His powers are still weak from where he used to be in his previous life, but he was pushing them at a much younger stange of his life. If this was the case, that only meant that he wouldn't be able to control his body from aging anytime soon. Sure there was a point where he could shape shift his age with just a simple thought, but his body was still too young and weak to even do that on a will. His powers only work on emotions right now, on only the state of his mind. Pretty soon he will be forced to be walking in a much taller, much older Steven Universe, and right now that was just bad for him all around. The only real age he can shift to his sixteen years of age is when he is fourteen, anything sooner will only raise concern from the gems and much worse his Dad. They would never leave him alone if that happened, maybe even push harder for him to join missions and train on his gem powers. While that would be cool, it wasn't what Steven needed right now. He needed the gems to be in the dark until he could get a hold of Lapis and heal her gem. Once he gets Pearl's trust enough to get the mirror, he could open up to things he never had before with the gems.

With a deep sigh, now in the bathroom, Steven turned on the facit and splashed his face with cold water. There was no time to panic right now, but honestly can he be working alone, under a rotting smelling creep thumb, was already getting to him a be. He felt cold, really cold and alone. If only he had a way to tell someone, speak to someone who understood what he was going through. Another chuckle left his lips, a painful smirk marking his tired face as his eyes locked onto his reflection. He would honestly wonder if getting used to seeing the reflection of your own corpse was healthy.

"Hey boss..." Steven mumbled, touching his fingers to the cold surface of the glass. It was nothing compared to the ice age within his body right now. "Think your pawns would take a break?"

Nothing happened, no shadow grinning monster, no rotten scent of death coming to fill his mouth, but he knew the freak was watching him. He knew the bastard was listening to the request as clear as day. The silence only meant that he was either upset or denying him of his little request.

Pissed off, he tipped his head and growled at his reflection once more. "You owe me after the little stunt I did with Amethyst. You promised we could do breaks. I. Want. It. Now..."

Still nothing, but somehow, he just knew that at this point he didn't give a crap.

"Fine, You won't help..." Steven grins and leaves the bathroom, mumbling to his shadow. "I know just where to go to get there myself."

At this point, he was too desperate for company to care what punishment the stupid monster in his shadows dished out afterwards. With a determined look on his face, seeing the gems still not in the house, Steven walked calmly over to the wrap pad and wrapped away the second his feet touched the cold glass surface. His brown eyes were cold, distant, and most of all just hollow. His mind wandered as the wrap took him to his destination, all wandering around with the one person who can understand. How long has he been in this rest world, alone, making up a plan while she stayed in the garden cold and alone. Was she even still there in that rottened wasteland of a graveyard? She had to be. There was nowhere else she could go without being questioned or even poofed, by homeworld or the gems. This sudden coldness only got worse, the need to see her gnawing him even harder then the pain coming from his rapid heart beat. Was this worry, fear, or was he just finally realizing how alone he was feeling in this horrible copy of his life. It hurt. It hurt and it felt like he couldn't stop shivering now. It was like everything around him was slowly turning black and voidless. It was... strange. Like back when he was in his mom's room and pulled out his phone to see nothing but darkness.

That's it. That's why he was feeling so cold. That's why everything feels just so crazy and weird. It was like he was in the cloud room again, reacting and playing with copies of his friends, his family, and it was just so empty! He hated it, he hated how everything was starting to feel so empty to him, like nothing around him was real or made sense anymore. Why would it make any sense. He DIED! If anything, he shouldn't be real. This shouldn't be happening. He shouldn't be here and he shouldn't be in this weak small childish body!

He wanted out! He wanted to stop pretending! He wanted... he needed... the ONLY thing that was still real in this universe.

"SPINEL!"

The light vanished, the wrap pad stopped the moment he screamed throughout the stream. His eyes snapped open, not even remembering when he closed them, and felt the cold air around the area frosting on his nose. Everything around him looked a bit smaller, like he maybe...

"Spinel."

Steven felt his jeans slightly tighter and his shirt pulling at the seams of his collar, but it was like his body was autopilot as he stepped off the wrap pad. His distant eyes only focused slightly to see the dozen of broken before him. He was at the galaxy wraps, the only remaining pieces to network through Homeworld and many other planets out in space. Each one was cracked and inactive. That much he knew, and he didn't need the crying breakfast stickers to tell him that. He remembered that after everything with Era 3 back in his world, these were the only few places he never bothered to fix and reuse. In fact, there were tons of places and even planets he had forced the Diamonds to abandon to the vast space of the universe. Thinking back on it made him frown, almost kicking himself on how fast and quick he wanted Era 3 to be done with that he made that stupid speach. It was the main reason everything happened in his timeline in the first place, the main reason why he died. If he didn't rush it, if he took his time to look at every planet and every wrap pad system, maybe she wouldn't have gone crazy as she did. He could have saved her sooner.

"Spinel..."

He mumbled it just barely off his lips, his eyes now trained on the biggest pad in the center of this magical place. It was cracked, but not as bad that Garnet put it when Peridot first came to the planet. Steven walked calmly over it, his body still shaking with coldness as he touched his now visible neck. A bit. He knew his healing powers were still shaky at best, they go off and on as he pleases, but he had better control of it when he desperately needed for his training.

Steven kneeled down on top of the jagged cracked surface of the pad, tracing his fingers along the spider patterns as the hand on his neck moved slowly to his own lips. This has to work. He couldn't take this black voidless world alone anymore. It was so suffocating to pretend and be alone in this copy. With that in mind, without any hesitation, the hybrid licked his hand from the palm up to the middle finger slowly. After that lick, he licked once more, again and again until his whole front hand was covered in his saliva. He knew it was a bit overdone, but he had to make sure that his magic was put into the spit this time. It was crazy, he never had healed a wrap pad before, but it was just hard to work for this hollow teen. There was just no way that he could wait until Peridot came and fixed it herself. If he was going to do this sooner than that, it had to be now before he completely fell apart and revealed everything to the gems. Destroy his chance to change the future, ruin his only chance to make sure she was safe and not killed by this lurking creature in his shadows. This was his only chance. She wasn't going to be alone again. He wasn't going to let her feel when he is feeling right now for the next four years.

"Spinel... I'm coming," Steven whispered, looking up at the stars above him, slapping his hand down on the wrap pad. "You're best friend is coming."

He didn't know if it worked, but that matter, could the moment he saw the dark blue sky become a bright stream of white and blue, all Steven could do was laugh in shock and relief. It worked! He could heal wrap pads just like any gem.

"Spinel!?"

The light was white now, the rumbling stopped, he made it to grab her arm. She looks at him in shock and realization, completely covered in fear.

"Steven!"

He clung to her. The injector exploded. The world went black.

It stayed black... for a really long time.

Steven stood, his body snapping and burning with so much pain. Everything hurt, everything burned and stung like he was dunked on boiling water, but he slowly felt cold. His chest felt like it had frozen over. He stood, he was looking for something. He didn't scream, even when the pain caused him to fall to the ground once more. It hurt... so much...

"Steven...?"

He looked up, his eyes meeting magenta.

The pain was gone, but the blackness remained. It was still cold, so painfully cold, but holding her hands in his made him feel warm enough. She was enough.

He felt his lips move, he was saying something but didn't know what. His ears only picked up her, her small airy chuckle, her fingers intertwining with his own.

"I'll remember that promise..."

The hybrid gasped, clutching his chest as he realized now that he wasn't breathing during the whole relapse. The light was gone, the wrap pad was no longer active, but at first he didn't notice that it wasn't even the same wrap pad. Steven was lost in what he just saw again, a new memory. What even was that? That blackness? He wasn't sure where he was in that memory, it was like the world just blinked out and only they remained. He felt it though, he felt the phantom burns of the explosion still over his face and skin. It was indeed a memory of after he died and ended up in that void with her. He wondered how he stayed so long in there with her, suffering in that pain of death before he had grown so used to it. To be able to not feel pain and just the ever growing coldness within his chest. What promise did he give her, what did he vow to the gem that stayed in that void alone with him. It was no wonder he felt this coldness now, no wonder he was risking it to see her. Just how long was he dead with her by his side.

"Ste... S-Steven...?"

He stopped breathing a second time, his eyes opening to see someone he never thought he would see. His eyes locked onto the magenta before him. Hollow and distant like his own, but magenta. It was ushc a familiar and soothing color, the sprialings pulling him in as his mind slowly broke from denial to realization. It wasn't... It couldn't be...

He saw the magenta start to spill over with clear tears, crystals in the dimm light of the area. A chuckle filled his ear, it was the same one from his memory, it matched so well with the magenta. It was her. It was truly really here again. She wasn't black like the rest of the world. She was real. Spinel was truly real before him at last, crying rivers of tears as he clutched to her upside down heart. It was still the same as he remembered, broken but somehow just so much like his own.

"You..." She sobbed, choking on her breath which she didn't even need. Her tears are only going faster. "Y-You really came... You kept your..."

"Spinel..." Steven cut her off, not even realizing his own river of tears. Without anything else, wanting her to stop trying to talk, he launched towards her and crushed her to his chest. Seconds later and he felt the coils of her arms squeeze at his torso. He laughed, sobbed, grinning while still feeling the horrible stab of coldness in his chest. "S-Spinel!"

"S-Steven!" She sobbed in return, knowing full well the pain and relief they both felt come off one another.

It was still cold, still so deadly cold that the two began to shiver down to the floor. It didn't matter though, the cold hurt but they had each other again. They couldn't give each other warmth but that didn't stop the two from squeezing only closer together. The world wasn't black anymore, they didn't need to pretend here and feel alone anymore in this fake world. They could cry together now. They could hold each other and think finally, finally something was real. It made Steven realize again why he was doing this all for, why he had to wear the mask. Even though all they were doing were crying and clinging to each other, strangling one another, he just knew. Maybe the next sixteenth birthday he shares with family again will be even better with Spinel by his side.

Hopefully.

I'm back. I'm back and kicking once more!

I'm just really happy. Really happy again.