As Steven grabbed the three Diamond Aura bottles from the bathroom mirror, he winked at his reflection and couldn't resist glancing proudly at the flower pins on the right side of his jacket, consisting of a pink carnation, a white poppy, and a gladiolus flower.
With the bathtub filled, he placed a drop from each bottle into the water, including his saliva. The water turned rainbow colored and swirled.
Reaching for a bubbled gem, Steven sang, "Happy welcome-back day~" and placed it into the water.
When the bubble popped, the pink spotted gemstone fell in. A glow formed and the Gem, specifically a Cherry Quartz, reformed as her normal self. She opened her eyes, gasped and jumped back.
"Hello!" Steven greeted.
"Where am I?!" Cherry frantically asked, "Who are you?!"
"Hey hey hey, I know things seem scary and don't make any sense right now, but I, Steven Universe, shall be your guide!" He replied, "... Oh, and you're in a bathroom."
Cherry leaned over to the mirror and saw the three horns on her head, "What happened to me?!" She continued to look around, gasping and grabbing a plunger, pointing at the teen, "What is this?!"
"You were corrupted in a Diamond blast, but you've just been healed," Steven replied calmly, lowering the item in her hand, "And that is a plunger..."
Twirling the keys, Steven sat in the driver's seat, telling Cherry to watch her head as she sat in the passenger's seat.
He drove over to Little Homeschool, monologuing, "Life is a little different these days. The Diamonds have ended their reign of terror. The intergalactic war is over, and Earth is officially an independent planet. We're all safe to explore our dreams. Lars opened up his own pastry shop, and it's got a real cute space gimmick goin' on. Sadie's been touring with The Suspects, promoting their new album, and Connie has been getting a head start on college prep. She's two years away from applying, but she says it doesn't hurt to start early. And speaking of higher education, Spinel, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, and I have been cooking up a dream of our own!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Cherry.
Steven chuckled, "Don't worry about it. You'll learn all that, and more, right here at Little Homeschool."
The teen began touring the Gem around Little Homeschool, where other Gems could learn about their identities, grow new ideas, and find their 'inner morp'. And from what we have seen, Gems from Earth and Homeworld had traveled from space to learn at this paradise.
"Find your center," Garnet spoke, laying upside-down on her head and teaching a class with Topaz, a Zebra Jasper, a Ruby, a Nephrite, and a purple Jasper, "Remember; your body isn't just a projection of light, but also a reflection of your inner soul."
Steven turned to Cherry, standing on his hands, "Garnet teaches all lot of stuff about inner stuff."
With Pearl, she was teaching a class of Snowflake Obsidian, Larimar, Angel Aura Jasper, Orange Spodumene, and a Nephrite about technology.
"Hello? Pearl speaking."
"This is Holo-Pearl."
"Oh, hi Holo-Pearl! To what do I owe the pleasure of your calling?"
"Just calling to see how you are."
As the Holo-Pearl dissipated, Pearl showed the Gems the item she was using, "That's an example of the use of the human short-range telecommunications device, called a phone."
"Pearl will teach you all about human technology." Steven explained.
Cherry was confused, "Whose Pearl is that?"
Steven smiled, "No-one. Nobody belongs to anybody anymore. On Earth, you can decide for yourself what you want to do. Here, let's go find Spinel's class."
"Spinel? What's that?"
"I'm so glad you all could come here for our Horticulture class!" Spinel said happily, standing next to a table with pots holding multiple types of flowers. Her group of Gems consisted of a Citrine Quartz, a Fire Agate, a Serpentine, a Hawk's Eye, a Jade, a Howlite, and even Iris sitting and stared at the pink Gem with interest.
"Now, before we get to the complicated stuff, let's start off with the lesson about certain flowers and their symbolism," She explained before picking up one of the pots, with a cluster of orange marigolds spread proudly.
Steven instantly recognized them and smiled from an old memory from many years ago.
"For example," Spinel showed them the flowers, "These are marigolds, a play-on words on 'Mary's gold'. They are supposed to represent pain and grief, which I had to deal with for a long time."
"That's sad..." Citrine sympathized.
"Sssssssshut up," Serpentine hissed.
Spinel brightened up, holding up a pot of birds of paradise, "But then, I became like these birds of paradise, which mean joyfulness, magnificence, and indicates excitement." Her students all gasped in amazement.
"How delightful!" Iris chirped, clapping her hands together.
Spinel's eyes shifted to her son and she waved to him, holding the birds of paradise in one arm. Steven waved back and glanced over to Cherry, "And that's for the Gems who want to grow life and learn their meanings, and my mom's the best Gem to ask about 'em."
"Mom?" Cherry was confused.
Steven only shrugged nonchalantly, "Yeah, it's complicated, but let's head over to Jasper and Amethyst's class, shall we?"
"Hello, I'm Professor Amethyst," said Amethyst, wearing a pair of glasses, " And we have our special guest, Jasper."
"Hello, everyone," Jasper greeted herself, slightly nervous.
Amethyst grinned to her then to her class, "Go on, take a seat wherever. I'll be teaching 'How To Decide Stuff For Yourself 101'. Today's lesson is... there is no lesson!" She removed her glasses and even Jasper broke the writing-board in half over her knee "Just so whatever you want for an hour. And now, a PSA from our one and only Jasper. Take it away, sis!"
Jasper nodded, then made a proud stance, speaking loudly, "Alright you rookies, let me tell you about what to do when you're being targeted! If someone's telling you that you shouldn't be happy, that you shouldn't be yourself, that you should be ashamed of being the way you are, SCREW 'EM!"
Cherry was slightly startled by Jasper's voice, but Steven reassured her as Jasper continued.
k"Why should it matter if they call you names? They don't even know who you are! They're just people with issues they need to deal with! So, make sure to ignore those who insult you, don't give them the reaction they want! And if YOU catch yourself insulting other people, just... find where that anger is coming from. That is all."
When the Gems (including Steven and Amethyst) clapped after her presentation, Jasper felt her anxiety fade.
"That was amazing, sis," Amethyst whispered to the larger Gem.
As Cherry sat down to interact with the other Quartzes, Steven smiled in satisfaction. Another newcomer welcomed into-
"Alright dear sisters, this is the Little Homeschool that the Gems keep talking about!"
"O-Oh, oh my. Little Homeschool is a little... bigger than I expected."
"Rubbish! This doesn't even compare to Homeworld!"
Instantly, Steven, Amethyst, and Jasper froze, along with the other Gems nearby, except Cherry who was more confused. They recognized that voice all too well. They all watched three Gems walking towards them, oblivious of the looks of the other Gems as they chatted among each-other.
The one in the middle finally noticed them, her dull gray eyes wide with surprise. She stopped the two Gems similar to her from stepping forward and they saw the group as well. An awkward silence fell around them.
"Oh..." The Gem breathed out before smiling sweetly, "Hello again, Steven Universe!"
Steven couldn't reply, no one else could, except Cherry who asked, "Who and what is that?"
"Hey Steven, would you mind helping-" Spinel was walking over to the horrified teen with a pot of yellow carnations until she saw what they were looking at, and she dropped the pot.
"Apache Tears..." Steven gasped out.
Jasper instantly stood her ground, "What are you doing here?" She snarled.
Amethyst, while not as furious as the orange Gem, was still unhappy to see a familiar face, "Yeah, what exactly are you doing here?"
Apache Tears laughed lightly, "Oh! We're here to sign up for the school, of course! And better yet, White gave me two more sisters!"
"H-Hello..." The taller Gem with her long straight hair covering her eyes waved, "I-I'm Midnight." Her charcoal gray dress had a white puritan collar, long sleeves, and the lower half of her dress was shorter, almost like a ruffled skirt. Her gemstone was located on the back of her head, along with a tiny white bow planted on her left side of her hair.
"And I'm Shade!" The shorter Gem yapped. Her hair was neatly tied into a bun with a white pin holding it together, but her bangs were very unkempt. Her outfit was more of a suit, almost historian, along with a cape behind her. Her pants were more puffy and stretched down to her knees. Her gemstone was on the right palm on her hand.
"And you guys can simply call me Apache from here on," Apache finished, "Now, where do we sign up?"
Steven was still baffled, like everyone else. It was as if Apache didn't even remember what she did all those months ago. He didn't know if it was intentional or just plain ignorant. Plus, he, the Gems, and the citizens of Beach City were too wrapped up in fixing the city and rebuilding Little Homeworld to think about Apache or giving themselves any time to forgive, especially not now.
And of course, he had cooled down when Apache left Earth for good, but to see the Gem who nearly destroyed his hometown, attempted to kill his family with no regard, and manipulated his mother return so soon on what was supposed to be a happy day really made that hatred return.
At the same time, he tried to be polite, "A-Apache, I thought you promised you would stay on Homeworld."
"Oh, I know," Apache agreed, sounding way too happy, "But staying up there, looking up at the stars like I've done for... what? Nine thousand years? Ten thousand?" She giggled, "I actually don't know, I'm just sick of being in space! And now that I'm not the only Apache Tears anymore, I implore you to let us all in, and we won't cause any trouble."
"I..." Steven felt great hesitation but inhaled a breath, "Apache, you don't understand. It's nice you want to come here, it is. It really is. But... we haven't exactly... forgiven you yet..."
Apache's smile faded into a shocked frown, "W-What...?"
Spinel stepped up, looking bitter, "All of you, leave right now or else."
"Yeah!" "Get out of here!" "Dirty manipulators!"More of the other Gems shouted their agreement. Steven couldn't believe what was happening, but the Gems who heard the commotion and saw Apache all began to surround her and her sisters. The trio of Apache Tears cowered in fear as they were greeted with angry, disapproving eyes and frowns.
"B-But..." Apache whimpered, "I-I thought we'd put that all behind us!"
"We haven't been thinking about it yet!" Steven yelled, "Besides, I remember saying you were banned from Earth!"
"I thought you're weren't being serious!" Apache snapped back.
Steven became frustrated, "I was being serious! The moment you came here, you wanted to do nothing but kill us! You didn't seem to care that there were innocent people and Gems on this planet! Plus, you had no reason to take revenge on us! We did nothing to you, Homeworld didn't do a thing to you, not even Pink Diamond didn't do a thing to you, but you went ahead and came here and not only caused massive destruction to our home, but you manipulated my mother and nearly killed me! I'm sorry, Apache, but you're still not welcome here. Take your sisters and leave." His cheeks blushed bright pink.
"S-S-Steven?" Midnight anxiously asked, "Are you alright?"
Shade snorted, "That pink is really showing, even by human standards."
"H-Hey..." Apache stepped towards him, unknowingly worsening his stress, "Steven Universe, are you-"
"GET OUT!" Steven roared as he shoved Apache away from him.
The monochrome fell to the ground, the crowd gasping as Steven's body was covered in a pink glow. However, no one seemed to notice that Steven's teeth were slightly... sharper?
"Just... Just leave, please Apache. You're going to regret staying any longer," He told her. Spinel stood behind him, unable to say a word.
Apache got up to her feet, scowling, "I came all this way with my sisters who did nothing wrong, after months of waiting, and this is what I get?! What's the matter with you, Steven Universe? You can't forgive a simple Gem who caused a bit of destruction on Earth, but you can forgive three Diamonds that are even worse than me?! Is it because you still blame yourself for sending that bloody message? Are you still so ashamed of yourself that you-"
"SHUT UP!" Steven screamed, clutching Apache by the neck and pressing his thumbs onto her gemstone. The crowd around them became breathless as Steven and Apache stared into each-other's eyes.
From Apache's perspective, she saw nothing but hatred for her and love for everyone else around them. Her body began to tremble, her eyes shaking as she tried to break eye contact, but couldn't bring herself to do it.
To Steven, he just wanted nothing but hurt Apache. For everything she did to him and his family the moment she came back. He wanted her to suffer like he did. He wanted to...
Steven flinched before he could finish the thought. The pinkness in his body faded as he slowly released the frightened Gem, her pupils still shrunken. She held her clenched fists to her hips, trying not to shake even more.
The young boy sighed, turning to the other two monochrome Gems, "You two, what do you say?"
"... Well... we don't want to go if Apache can't," said Midnight.
Shade humphed, "Agreed. I'd rather be with my sister than a bunch of wankers!"
Steven nodded with slight understanding, "Then it's settled. All of you leave and go back to Homeworld."
Apache looked like she was going to protest, as if there was something she knew, but seeing the look in everyone's eyes, knew she was powerless, "... As you wish, Steven Universe."
Much to everyone's relief, Apache, Midnight, and Shade all made their departure. But before they were out of the their sights, Apache turned her head sorrowfully to Steven one last time. Steven returned her stare, his eyes blazed with silent anger. Sighing, the three Gems left at last.
Steven sighed heavily, a gloved hand resting on his shoulder as the crowd dispersed since the situation was over.
"You alright, love?" She asked.
The teen turned towards her, "Yeah, I am. I just... kinda lost control there. I just can't... forgive her!"
"You don't have to." Spinel said, "You don't have to forgive anyone. It's a hard lesson to learn. But everything's gonna be okay, I can say with certainty."
"Right."
"... That's kinda why I'm staying at this school for a while longer," Steven told Cherry, "I still have a loooonng way to go. I'm still young, so what better time than to become independent and grow up a bit more?"
Cherry shrugged, "Yeah yeah, could you uh... sign off on my class schedule?"
"Of course," Steven smiled warmly, writing his name on the class schedule of the new student at Little Homeschool.
OOF ALL THOSE FLOWER SYMBOLISMS
If you get why I added Jasper teaching about bullying, I love you and you're a wonderful person :)