Sorry about the long wait, guys. Had to get some school stuff done since it's my very last year in high school. And don't worry, I'll still be writing the "Steven telling Rose that she's isn't his mother" one-shot :)

Several days had passed. Still no sight of Steven.

The Diamonds kept searching for him, night and day. The Crystal Gems and the others traveled through several countries, far away from Beach City and even Empire City until they were stuck in Appalachian Mountains for the night. They could definitely see that, from the crushed trees, Steven had been here. But now, after hours of constant traveling and contacting the Diamonds, they stopped by someplace to camp for the night.

Spinel sat with her wife and Garnet, with everyone else around her chatting and conversing; Amethyst, Bismuth, Jasper, Lapis, Peridot, Greg, Connie, Spade, Club, and Diamond. Lion remained asleep and laying on his side, with Connie leaning against his mane, her nearly broken nose still healing.

Pearl glanced over to the sullen Gem, noticing how quiet she was, not making any movements and staring at her lap, her hands intertwined. And Pearl wasn't sure if it was her imagination since they were in front of the fire, but to her, Spinel's pink eyes looked more dull and her eyelashes had lengthened, almost like her previous tear-markings.

"Hey..." Pearl whispered, making sure the others didn't hear her.

Spinel didn't look up.

The pale Gem moved closer, wrapping an arm around her wife, "It's alright if you don't want to stay to talk with us."

"... No. It's nice to be around them, and you. Now that Steven is not..." Her words faded.

Pearl breathed out gently, moving to nuzzle into Spinel's hair, sighing deeply, "We'll find him soon. I can promise you that, love."

Spinel didn't reply, but only after a quiet moment between them, she separated herself from her partner and said she was going to take a walk. Amethyst, while knowing what she's going through, is still in that funny mood from her conversation and jokingly asks, "Whaaaaat? Is P being too affectionate for ya?"

This only received a small laugh from a oblivious Peridot.

Pearl shot Amethyst a glare, but Spinel didn't seem offended or irritated in the slightest, "No, I just need to stretch my legs." She turned and left.

Sighing, Pearl felt Garnet plant a hand on her shoulder, "She's still deeply troubled."

The pale Gem made a face that read that she already knew.

"But we will find Steven soon," Garnet continued, removing her hand. Her tone sounded deeply determined, Pearl didn't need to see the look in the fusion's eyes.

After a long while, everyone was still talking and telling stories, until Connie stood up, holding her waterbottle, "Oh jeez, I'm out of water. You guys don't mind if I leave, do you?"

"Go right ahead," Greg shrugged, "Just make sure you don't fall over. It's getting really dark out."

Just as he said that, Connie felt Lion nudge his head under her arm and she got the message quickly.

Deep in the woods, but not too far from camp, Connie and Lion were able to find a little, clean creek to fill up her water bottle. She took a few sips from the water, and nodded a bit in approval. She was sure that the water was clean and could tell this was freshwater.

"Yep, this seems sanitary. Let's head back," Connie commented, and was about to head back with Lion, only for the large pink cat's ear flicked, as if he heard something, "Huh? What's wrong?"

Lion looked around for the noise, completely silent. Connie tried hearing for it as well. At first, she just heard rustling, added with nocturnal birds and crickets chirping, but when she listened closer, she could hear... whimpering? She glanced over to Lion, confused and worried.

The two followed the whimpering, only pausing a few times, but they managed to find the source of the noise. Connie could see in the distance where, hugging her knees to her chest, back against the willow tree, in front of a shimmering lake, was Spinel. And as it turned out, the whimpering was coming from her, though, the whimpering had evolved into muffled crying.

Connie quietly walked over to Spinel, only for her foot to step on a twig and making it snap. Spinel tensed up and stopped crying, glancing over to who it was and gasped, "O-Oh! C-Connie!" She hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes, "I-I didn't hear you! Was I being too loud?"

"No, you weren't." Connie replied, sitting next to Steven's mother, "Why are you crying?"

"Oh, you did hear me," Spinel laughed halfheartedly, "I just... I was just thinking about Steven and I didn't want to have a meltdown while you guys were having fun."

Connie wasn't sure how to respond other than, "We'll find him eventually-"

"I know!" Spinel snapped at her, her pink eyes blazing with brief fury until she was taken aback by her own tone and and looked away, clutching her knees, "I-I'm sorry... I shouldn't have done that."

"It's... alright," Connie replied, "You're just worried, right?"

Spinel only glanced towards the lake after a moment of silence, "... Connie."

"Huh?"

"Do you think... I caused all this?"

"W-What?"

More tears fled down Spinel's face as she tried to keep her crying quiet as possible, "I-If I hadn't been so protective of him, if I had just let him think on his own without always helping him, if I just let him grow up normally like you or everyone else... maybe all of this wouldn't have happened. Steven would've been more independent, but now, he's scared, lost, and thinks that he's a monster. I'm a terrible mother, Connie, I'm a terrible mom..." Finally, she covered her face and cried, the loudness muffled.

Connie stared at her in shock, shaking her head and gently grabbing the Gem's shoulder, "N-No! Spinel! Don't blame yourself! You're not a bad mother! You've never been! You've always been loving towards him and me! None of this is your fault, it never was! You've always been a loving, kind, and amazing mom you could ever be! If you were a bad mother, you wouldn't care about Steven and you wouldn't blame yourself. But you do care and you are blaming yourself. Though you shouldn't. This is not your fault, nor the Gems, or the Diamonds, or even Pink Diamond."

Spinel looked up at her, sniffling and unable to respond, only wrapping her arms around the sword-fighter and laying her chin on her shoulder, clutching the back of her white polo tightly.

"... Connie?"

"Hm?"

"Can you promise me something, if you and Steven... ever live together?"

"Y-Yeah, what is it?"

"Whatever you do, make sure... that you give him the best treatment you could ever give him. He deserves nothing but that best after everything life's done to him. Can you promise me you'll let Steven know he is loved when I'm not around?"

Connie smiled, "Of course. I'd do anything for him."

"Good... thank you. It means a lot to know my son will be okay in the future, even without me."

"Yeah..." Connie agreed calmly, "Hey, how about we head back? It's kinda getting chilly out here."

Spinel laughed a bit, "For you, I don't feel a thing."

The two laughed, mounting onto Lion's back and they rode back to the campsite. Thankfully, Spinel had felt better talking to someone who wasn't the Gems or Greg.

"Oh You're all back!" Diamond greeted them.

Lapis lifted her body up, "And just back in time too! Spade and Club have a really funny story to share."

Spinel and Connie got off the giant cat, the latter asking, "What funny story?"

Spade was practically bouncing, "We have this story about a whole fight that broke out because of the voting for the Zircons thing!"

"The blue Zircon works harder, honestly," Club added.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, until Connie, unsure how to react properly, forces herself to laugh when it died out.

Shrugging, Spinel sat down next to her wife, "Well, I'd like to hear it."

As Connie and Lion laid down beside Greg, the rest of the night is spent with everyone laughing how ridiculous the fight went down to the point Club's Diamond had to use her clouds to pacify the arguing Gems.

That morning...

"Everyone! We need to move!" Garnet exclaimed loudly, "NOW!"

From the sheer urgency in the fusion's tone, everyone woke up in a panic, the pink Gem appearing first before the others could.

"W-What?! What's going on?!" Spinel asked frantically.

"The Diamonds have located Steven! They're with him right now!"

Greg hurriedly drove his van down the road with Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Bismuth, Jasper, Spade, Club, and Diamond inside. Lion was sprinting alongside the van, with Connie and Spinel on his back. Lapis and Peridot were already up ahead. They made haste to find where the Diamonds and Steven were. The closer they got, the louder the roars became and the ground shaking intensified.

It didn't take too long before the whole group were forced to head up one of the shorter mountains, with them all staring out to see the fight. It was Steven, his claws locking with the Diamond Mech's hands, his other two arms clutching the sides tightly, slowly crushing it.

When they reached the top, they finally skidded to a halt. Greg and the Gems got out of the van, Connie and Spinel hopped off of Lion, and Lapis and Peridot flew down, looking over the fight. The Diamond Mech let go, which proved to be a mistake as Steven punched it without stopping, and swung his long tail and struck it down.

With his foe failing to get up, with his horns, tusks, and spikes glowing bright pink, Steven sucked in a breath and unleashed a large plume of purple fire from his jaws onto it. It scorched the side of the giant robot, and the flames even hit the surrounding trees. Flocks of birds flew away to escape, animals rushing away to avoid getting stepped on by the dark purple monster.

"We have to do something!" Amethyst shouted.

"Against that?!" Jasper exasperated, "How do we even stand a chance?!"

Bismuth stepped in, "We have to! Steven's going to hurt himself and other humans if he keeps doing this!"

"But how are we going to talk to him if he's like this?" Lapis asked frantically.

"We can't." Garnet replied for her, "He's too unstable like this, his powers and his emotions have taken over his sense of right and wrong."

Peridot stared wide-eyed at Garnet, "Are you saying his powers are tied to his emotions?! That would explain a lot!"

"And since he's the only half human half Gem we know of, who knows what else his gem could do!" Diamond added, Spade and Club hugging each-other fearfully.

Spinel felt dread claw at the core of her gem, clutching onto Pearl, "Garnet... what are you saying?"

"I'm afraid that since Steven believes he's a monster, he'll stay one."

Spinel's already horrified eyes widened even more, then turning to face the sight. Steven was still towering over the giant robot, breathing deeply, his eyes boring into the eyes of the Mech.

"Then... what are we going to do?" Connie asked, "There's got to be something."

Greg nodded in agreement, "Connie's right. And I want to help. He's my son, and I too need to be there to protect him, even now."

Garnet looked down, and after a thoughtful moment, something came. "Spinel. Pearl. Amethyst."

The Gems she called glanced at her.

"I know it's been many years before we've done this but... I think now, it's the best time to use it."

Pearl blinked, "What, Garnet? What do we need?"

"... We need Kunzite."

At the mention, Amethyst, Spinel, and Pearl all stared at Garnet. The others either reacted with confusion or slight surprise.

"Who's... Kunzite?" Connie inquired.

"Kunzite is the fusion created by the four of us," Pearl replied, referring to herself, Spinel, Amethyst, and Garnet, "We only formed her once at one point, but I'm not sure if this'll work..."

"We just need to weaken Steven," said Garnet, "When we have him exhausted, that'll be the best time to try to get through to him."

Amethyst seemed to approve, "Can't argue with that! Let's-"

"NO!" Spinel shrieked, shaking her head, standing in front of the fusion, "I can't! The last time I hurt him, I was scared he would never forgive me! Garnet, I don't think I can go through with this! There has to be another way, I refuse to hurt my own son just so-"

"Spinel."

Spinel stopped, her soft pigtails faltering.

"Believe me, I don't wish to resort to harming Steven, but the Steven we're seeing right now is being controlled. If we could just weaken the beast enough, I think Steven himself would have an easier time reaching out to us. You have to trust me, Spinel. We're all in this together, this is the only way to get him back."

The pink Gem remained silent, breathing out deeply and glanced down to her feet. Her gaze then lifted to Pearl, Amethyst, Connie, Greg, Bismuth, Jasper, Peridot, Lapis, Diamond, Spade, and Club. They all stared back at her, either worried or certain with the plan.

Feeling a sense of hope billowing in her gemstone, Spinel looked up to Garnet, "... You're right. Alright, let's do it."

Garnet smiled, her visors glinting, "Good. We all have a plan. When we're Kunzite, the rest of you can distract Steven the best you can." She glanced over to the others, "Will you do that for us?"

"Of course," Connie nodded, everyone else nodding in agreement, Lion growling gently.

Pearl looked over to her fellow Crystal Gems, "Well, what do you say we set this plan into action?"

"Me!" Amethyst pumped her fist up.

Spinel and Garnet nodded.

The four main Crystal Gems, all holding hands, ran towards the cliff and jumped off. The other group rushed over to watch. One by one, Amethyst, Garnet, Pearl, and Spinel performed dancing in the air while falling. It ended in holding hands whilst spinning, becoming enveloped in a white light. The ball of light with all five gemstones flew up, and a new Gem began to form.

Disrupted by the noise, Steven turned his head around to see what was going on behind him, and he nearly flinched, stepping backward from the glowing figure.

When the light faded, Kunzite had formed.

Standing at a mere 80 feet in height, a bit taller than Steven, Kunzite had pale lilac skin, and long, thick, velvety lavender hair, tied into a long ponytail. Her nose was only slightly pointy, and her lips were barely plump.

On her chest area, was a white star outlined by red and blue. Her magenta shoulder pads were only on her upper arms, sharply pointed. The color to her top was a dark purple, to the point it was almost black.

While she did have three pairs of arms, the middle row had two arms and hands intertwined, the rings on them prominent to who arms they belonged to. The lower arms were slightly thicker. To the upper arms, they had plum-colored, fingerless combat gloves on, rings on their hands as well, also revealing Ruby and Sapphire's gemstones.

Around her waist, was a long mauve translucent dress, several black, yellow, and white stars scattered around. Her leggings were a dry lilac, slightly torn and her boots were a peach pink. All of her gemstones, on her upper arms, to her chest, to her forehead, all now had colors of violet, lilac, pale pink, lavender, and white.

Under her pale peach visors, were two pairs of eyes and one larger eyeball on her forehead. The lower eyes were periwinkle, the middle eyes being pale pink, and the eye on her forehead was a dark violet. They opened and narrowed at Steven, but not in anger.

She immediately summoned the weapons of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. Holding the spear, whip, and gauntlets together, the weapons glowed and fused into a new weapon: a kusarigama.

"Steven..." She calmly spoke, "Please come back... This isn't who you are..."

But Steven only responded with a incredibly furious roar that shook the ground, scaring more birds and animals away. Kunzite didn't budge, only staring at the monster.

"Hm, this will more than words to get through to you. So be it!"

Steven made the first move, roaring and firing another blast of fire towards her, but Kunzite dodged sideways and with her other limb grabbing the chain of the kusarigama, it swung the chain over and over again before launching it and tied it around Steven's sides.

"Let's not waste time while she's got Steven under wraps!" Bismuth called out. Connie and Greg got onto Lion's back, the pink cat roaring to create a portal and leapt into it. Lapis summoned her water wings and grabbed Jasper's arm while Peridot took out a garbage can lid and hovered on it so Bismuth could grab the handle as they soared towards the struggling Steven.

The three Spinels glanced to each-other, but they decided to take things into their own hands as well. Locking their legs into springs, they leapt into the air with the others, Spade and Club grabbing onto Jasper and Diamond able to reach to Peridot. The other Gems smiled and they continued to fly towards Steven.

As the giant monster continued to struggle, Kunzite watched a pink portal open and Lion, with Connie and Greg holding on, leapt towards Steven's head and roared at him to temporarily immobilize him even more. The three Spinels leapt up to grab onto his horns, avoiding falling off.

That's when the attacks begun. One by one, repeatedly, all the Gems hit Steven as many times as they could. Diamond, Spade, and Club kept distracting Steven into drawing his attention to him while the next wave of Gems landed another hit at him.

But eventually, Steven, despite his injuries, was getting extremely angrier by the second, and Kunzite's hold was slowly losing its strength. Steven began to swing his head side to side, the Spinels hanging on for dear life.

His tail flicked and swerved up and unknowingly hit Lapis and Jasper. Lapis was still able to keep flying, but she gasped to see Jasper falling, about to get hit by the tail again. Determined, Lapis swooped down and grabbed the Quartz soldier, swiftly missing the tail.

"L-Lapis!" Jasper gasped, "You... saved me!"

The blue Gem grinned and winked, "Why wouldn't I? We're a team, aren't we?"

In response, Jasper began to laugh, and Lapis laughed as well, a glow surrounding their forms, and when it dissipated, it revealing a new Gem fusion, still keeping Lapis's water wings.

"W-Whoa!" The new fusion exclaimed, "We... fused!"

Indeed they did, now having white hair, four eyes, another pair of arms right under their normal arms, a greenish-black halter top, a golden belt with a yellow star buckle, and long leggings with no boots, they were now someone else.

Several screams were heard. The new fusion looked over to see that Steven was starting to break free from the chain, thrashing his head around. Finally, Diamond, Spade, and Club were forced to let go.

"Hold on! Malachite's here!" She cried out, flying in to save the three Spinels from falling, gently clasping them in her fist and flew up.

"Whoa!" Spade gawked, "Thank you, whoever you are!"

Malachite winked and then, summoning Jasper's helmet, swooped right back down and struck Steven right on the cheek, leaving a small bruise from the force.

Steven grunted and panted, still furious, yet exhausted. Then, just as everyone was in the air, surrounded him, the monster shut its eyes, almost as if he was in pain, and he whimpered from it.

"W-Wait," Spinel's voice was heard over Kunzite, "Let my try to connect with him! Maybe I can find him!" With the small, upside-down heart gemstone glowing, Spinel tried to connect herself with Steven, whose gem began to glow, making him growl with confusion and irritation.

However, Kunzite pulled away in shock, gasping, "N-No... I-I can't get through to him!"

Having enough of these creatures attacking him, Steven let out a bellowing roar, breaking free from the chains. In fact, he smacked the other Gems away from him and pounced onto the stunned Kunzite, holding the fusion down.

"S-Steven... Don't do this..."

The monster only snarled, his eyes burning with rage.

"I know you don't want to hurt me. You still love the Gems, you still love the friends you made, the family who would do anything for you."

Relief swelled in her as Steven stopped, a glimmer of hesitance in his feral eyes. From behind them and the cracked ground, a familiar mutant grew out, taking form of a giant skinless hand.

"The Cluster!" Peridot proclaimed, everyone else looking up to see it. Even the Diamonds, after recovering from the damage Steven did, were surprised to see what was happening.

Clenching it's fist, the Cluster lunged in to grab Steven, pulling him off of Kunzite. Steven roared and tried to fight back, but even he couldn't do anything.

Now with the giant Gem mutant holding Steven back, Kunzite stood up and grabbed her kusarigama. "I'm sorry about this, Steven!" She yelled, before she ran over to him and swung the sickle at him. Steven cried out in pain. While the wounds did quickly heal themselves, they still left the pain behind.

Eventually, only after a minute, Kunzite stopped what she was doing. Steven was now exhausted and his body limped forward. Kunzite jumped back as Steven fell to the ground on his stomach, the Cluster still holding him down in place.

Knowing her work here is done, Kunzite unfused back into Garnet, Amethyst, Spinel, and Pearl, and they fell to the ground, panting in exhaustion. Spinel, however, got up quickly and ran over to the fallen monster, still far away from him. She was joined by everyone else, Malachite unfusing into Jasper and Lapis.

"Is everyone okay?!" Spinel asked them.

Diamond patted Spade and Club's head, "We sure are."

"More than okay," Jasper joked, patting Lapis's shoulder, who smiled back.

Peridot picked up the smashed trash can, "This isn't, but hey! I don't need it!" Bismuth laughed.

"All is good with us!" Greg gave her and the Gems behind Spinel a thumbs-up, Lion mewling in agreement.

"So are we," Yellow Diamond intercepted, along with Blue Diamond and White Diamond.

"I think that's got Steven down," Connie said, her smile fading into a frown, "But... Spinel, since you couldn't get into the Bonding Void with him, how are you going to speak to him?"

Spinel didn't reply. She lifted her head to the heaving monster, and began to trek over to him. Amethyst was about to stop her, but Garnet held her back and Pearl shook her head. Everyone else didn't speak another word, watching the pink Gem slowly step towards Steven and only standing still when she was only a few feet away from him.

"... Steven...?" Spinel gently whispered, "... Can... Can you hear me now?"

Slowly opening his eyes, Steven stared down at her, letting out a gentle growl.

She sighed in relief, "Oh good... Thank the stars you're alright..."

The memories from before all came back to Steven like a tidal wave, his eyes watering with thick tears. He began to sob and whimper, his four claws digging into the Earth beneath his body.

"S-Steven! Steven! It's okay!" Spinel tried to assure him, catching his attention, "C-Calm down, take a few deep breaths. Everything's going to be fine now, I can tell you that with confidence."

Blinking, Steven raised one of his claw over Spinel, yet instead of crushing her, he gently wrapped his large hand around himself and her.

Smiling, Spinel stepped close and pressed herself to his jawline, hugging it.

"Hey Steven... wanna hear a song?"

Steven, not wanting to fight anyone or anything anymore, let out a small whine. Spinel complied to his wish...

Spinel: Baby mine, don't you cry...

Baby mine, dry your eyes...

Steven froze in surprise, tears still freely spilling as his mother sung the song he knew from childhood.

Rest your head close to my heart,

Never to part, baby of mine...

Little one, when you play,

Don't you mind what they say.

Let your eyes sparkle and shine,

Never a tear, baby of mine...

Steven, his eyes half-lidded, stared at Spinel, leaning into her gentle touch.

If they knew sweet little you,

They'd end up loving you, too.

All those same people who scold you,

What they'd give just for the right to hold you...

From your hair down to your toes,

You're not much, goodness knows.

But you're so precious to me,

Sweet as can be, baby of mine...

As she was ending the song, Steven had closed his eyes and began to glow, his size reverting each passing second. The glow faded, revealing that he was back to his normal self, now curled up in a ball, now covering his face with his hands. From what they could see, only small purple splotches remained on his skin, and two pale pink nubs poked out through his hair near his forehead.

Silently, Spinel ran over to her son, checking to see if he was okay. Greg grabbed a blanket and walked over as well. Everyone else did come close, though they did keep their distance just in case.

Spinel stroked his back, noticing that the purple skin wasn't rough or scaly anymore, but smooth like his normal flesh. She could tell from his shivering that he was still crying. Slowly, Steven lifted his head, his face expressing nothing but pure sorrow and guilt, tears streaming down his face.

"... I... I-I..." He struggled to speak, his word caught in his throat and he choked on his sobs.

Spinel pressed a finger to his lips, clutching him tightly and stroking his curled hair, whispering out, "I already forgive you."

Steven stared at her, thunderstruck, until he completely broke down into tears and burrowing himself into his mother's chest. His father wrapped the blanket around the boy, joining in the hug.

They were able to calm down the beast, all that was left was Steven.

Canon Corrupted Steven: Who are you?

My Monster Steven: I'm you, but not wasted potential.

...

Headcanon Voice for Kunzite: Meryl Streep (Blue Fairy)

Headcanon Voice for Malachite: Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation)

...

Big thanks to Purplecatlover93 for helping me with Kunzite's outfit!