Steven waited until the next morning to say anything, returning to the house after spending a night out at the barn with Lapis and Peridot. Blue and Yellow had made themselves scarce, taking some time for themselves since they knew the Crystal Gems would probably want privacy.

"Guys?" he asked as he came inside.

Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl immediately turned their attention to Steven.

"I want to talk to you about something."

"We know," Garnet said softly, patting the seat beside her. "It's time we told you a few things."

"Really?"

Pearl nodded, slightly jittery fingers pushing a plate of cookies across the table. "Do have one before we start; Amethyst just made them."

"Oh, cool." Steven hopped up on the stool and reached for one. After his first bite, he gave Amethyst a thumbs up. "My compliments to the chef!"

"No prob." She took one herself and popped it in her mouth. "Comfort food's my specialty."

She meant literal comfort food too, Steven realized as he munched on the cookie. All three of them looked incredibly solemn as they watched him.

Swallowing down the last bite, he leaned forward a little. "I want to know more about Homeworld and the rebellion and—and all the important stuff. I know you were probably just trying to protect me, but you can't leave me in the dark forever."

"We weren't trying to," Pearl reassured him quickly. "It's just—there are so many unpleasant parts of our history that we didn't want to burden you with."

"I know Homeworld's done some really terrible things—"

"This isn't just about Homeworld," Garnet interrupted gently. "It's about the Crystal Gems too. And about your mother."

"It's about Mom?"

"She was a super awesome rebel leader," Amethyst said. "She had a bunch of stuff to deal with, you know?" She shrugged. "But I'm gonna let Garnet and P explain most of it 'cause I wasn't around yet. I'm just on cookie duty."

"Oh, okay."

After a few seconds, Pearl cleared her throat. "Alright. Well, I suppose we should begin with Homeworld as it was before the war. As you know, there has always been a fairly strict hierarchy based upon gem type. It affects everyone differently, of course, depending on their own place and whether they feel fulfilled in their given role." She took a deep breath. "Rose and I didn't. A lot of gems didn't. We certainly weren't the first rebellion Homeworld had to deal with."

"We were just the first to put up such a fight," Garnet continued easily as Pearl paused. "Several factors—including Pearl's own tenacity and Rose's healing powers—made us a very real threat to Homeworld at the time. We forced them to take us seriously. We forced them into a real war, one they hadn't thought would be necessary."

"And the longer we held out, the more gems came to join us," Pearl said earnestly. "All sorts of gems, all the time, and it was wonderful. Homeworld didn't take us seriously at first, but it gave us time to learn and train and bring together our own little army to defend the planet."

"Uh, quick question," Amethyst interjected. "Why'd everybody care about Earth so much? I mean, I get why Rose cared about it and why we care about it, but I never really got why there used to be so many gems from all over that wanted to save it."

"Oh. Well…" Pearl faltered. "I suppose it wasn't all about Earth for many of us. It was Rose's primary motivator, but for others…I think it was always more about the freedom Earth represented. They grew to love it with time, but it wasn't the reason they defected from Homeworld."

Amethyst nodded and Steven did the same, nearly synchronized.

"That said," Garnet added, "while we were growing in number, you have to understand that the Crystal Gems, back then, were still not as big a threat to the Diamonds as we needed to be. We weren't losing the war, but we certainly weren't winning it either. We knew it was only a matter of time before we might be backed into a corner. There were new gems popping out to join the opposite side, in far greater number than our own."

"Oh," Steven said solemnly. "What—What did you do then?"

"We came up with our own plan." Garnet sighed and reached up to remove her visor. "Earth, as a colony planet, belonged to Pink Diamond, and we knew that if things got dire, we'd have to take direct action against her."

"The initial plan," Pearl said, eyes distant, "was to trap her. The handful of us that were closest to Rose came up with it. Some of our number even argued that it wasn't enough, that we needed to get rid of her entirely, but Rose…Rose never liked that. She attached so much meaning to life, to living, even if it was the lives of our enemies. We never shattered gems if we could help it."

"But things changed," Garnet murmured. "We lost a great number of friends as the war dragged on. We were holding on, but just barely. When she was confronted by Pink Diamond herself, Rose knew she had to take action. It was what she needed to do, so that we could finally have the freedom we'd been chasing."

"Wait," Steven said, mouth dry. "Are you saying that Mom…?"

"She shattered Pink Diamond, yes."

Pearl nodded, eyes bright with unshed tears.

"She—She wouldn't do that! She wouldn't," he insisted, clutching at the front of his shirt.

"She didn't want to do it," Pearl said softly. "And it was always one of her biggest regrets, having to go to such lengths, but she loved this planet and—"

"How does that make it okay to kill somebody?"

The three of them watched him, upset.

"I-I don't understand."

"It's war, Steven." Garnet placed a careful hand on his head. "Things get very gray, and things get very tough. Rose did what she believed was best for the Earth at that moment in time—she freed it from Pink Diamond's power. And whatever anyone thinks about the rightness or wrongness of it…it happened."

Steven gulped, staring down at his lap. "Okay."

"If you have any questions, we'll do our best to answer them."

He nodded mutely.

Pearl, unable to restrain herself any longer, rushed over to Steven's side of the table and gathered him close.

"Wh-What happened after?" Steven asked after a moment, clinging onto her. "Did you win?"

"Things turned in our favor, yes," she murmured. "Homeworld was devastated. Diamonds don't—You can't understand how it is without experiencing it, but your Diamond is meant to be everything to you. They're the most powerful gems in existence. Even to have injured one would be legendary. To destroy one sent shockwaves through every gem-inhabited planet in the universe. And for a while that was good, that everyone was scared of what we'd do next. They couldn't write us off as a joke." Pearl squeezed him tighter. "But that also meant we were too dangerous."

Garnet nodded. "That was the instigator for the destruction they unleashed later. The corruption."

"Oh."

"I'm not sure any of us considered it a victory at first," Pearl whispered. "Earth was safe, but we lost so many…" Tears welled up in her eyes.

No such thing as a good war, kiddo.

Steven understood that a little better now, even as he felt he understood less and less about his mother.

He didn't know what else to say, or to ask.

After a few long moments, Amethyst hopped down and came over to join in the hug, giving them both a firm squeeze. Garnet was there beside them in an instant too, gathering all three of them into her arms.

"I know we've avoided talking about the war," she said, hand resting protectively on Steven's head, "but it wasn't just because we wanted to keep this a secret. It's just difficult."

"Y-You guys always talked like Mom was perfect."

"Nah, that wasn't it," Amethyst said quietly. "We just talked about the things we liked about her. Cuz that's what we miss."

"She was never just the leader of the rebellion to us," Garnet agreed. "It would be a great disservice to both of you to speak of her only as a figurehead and not a gem. A person."

"There's…there's nothing else this big, is there? No more secrets?"

"No secrets," Garnet answered gently. "But there is more we can tell you, about Rose and about Homeworld, if you want us to."

Steven nodded. "I don't really wanna talk anymore right now," he mumbled against Pearl's shirt.

"Then whenever you're ready." Garnet ruffled Steven's hair, then lifted her hand to Pearl's cheek to bring her glassy eyes back to the present.

Pearl drew in a ragged breath, still holding Steven like she was afraid to let go. "I'm sorry we've never understood how—how all this human parenting is supposed to go and when to do things and…"

"It's okay," Steven whispered. "Thanks for telling me everything."

The Crystal Gems—the original four—must have spoken at some point as promised, because the next time Blue saw Steven he seemed unusually solemn and wasn't talking much.

A part of her wished she could have at least listened in if not participated. She knew very little about Pink Diamond's shattering, when she thought about it. She'd been alive during that time, yes, but…

How much of what Homeworld told them was true? And how much was made up to honor their fallen leader while also refusing to dwell on her lest they be perceived as weak? Diamonds weren't supposed to fall to any gem. Certainly not a rogue Rose Quartz and her army, on a planet they had already considered to be theirs.

But that conversation was something private, something for the gems that really knew and loved Rose Quartz, and not for curious newcomers. So instead, Blue and Yellow found other ways to spend their time, talking and working and appreciating each other's company.

The week following was very quiet. Steven seemed much more subdued whenever they saw him, and he spent large portions of time away from the temple and barn, usually with his dad or with Connie. And sometimes Lapis, because she seemed to enjoy flying him around.

Blue thought Lapis seemed less and less of a threat these days, and more just…lost. She hadn't quite figured out her place here yet, and she could sympathize with that. Earth was very different.

It was good different though, and despite current circumstances, Blue was enjoying the time she got alone with Yellow while Peridot and Lapis were off "being roommates" and the rest of the Crystal Gems were keeping to themselves.

Pearl had suggested during training that they practice fusing more—whenever they felt prepared—and Blue finally worked up the courage to say she was ready after a couple days.

Yellow gave her a surprisingly honest smile and extended her hand expectantly for a dance.

"Really?" Blue asked, giggling.

"Well, we don't really need to, but you seem to enjoy it for some odd reason, so…"

"Thank you."

The dancing relaxed her, or perhaps not even the dancing itself but the way Yellow's eyes were fixed on her and how steady her hand felt when she dipped her and all the small improvements Blue was so proud of her for making.

Green came into being with a contented sigh, hands coming up to touch both her gems, feeling each for imperfections before relaxing completely. "I'm okay," she murmured. Blue and Yellow's memories trickled into her mind slowly, and she tried to make sense of the events and discoveries after she'd unfused.

Blue had gotten hurt, really hurt. Guilt flashed through her, even though she couldn't have known that would happen when she'd charged headfirst into fighting Malachite.

She'd have to protect her two components—and herself—better in the future.

Or maybe not fight at all, if that was what it took, even though the thought made her feel awful. That was what they needed her for, wasn't it? If she couldn't, then…

Oh stars, everything was confusing now. Green felt more herself this time—not that she hadn't been before, but it was like she was slowly piecing together her own identity in addition to Blue and Yellow as individuals.

We can keep fusing even if we don't fight.

Green wasn't sure which of them the thought came from, but it calmed her, and she smiled as she touched the small space between her gems.

She liked existing, confusing or not.

Right then, she knew sword practice wouldn't do her much good, so instead she lay back on the grass and squinted up into the bright sky as she just let her mind wander.

We'll be okay.

It was nearly dusk when Green opened her eyes to approaching footsteps.

"Steven, Greg!" she greeted them. "Hi."

"Hi," Steven said with a small smile. "Are you stargazing?"

"Maybe. Oh!" She sat up quickly. "Hello, Greg. We haven't really met, so I should introduce myself, right?"

"It's okay," he laughed, surprise still showing in his eyes. "I think I can guess whose fusion you are."

"Fair enough," she returned with a smirk. "My name's Green. For now. I might change it. Blue's making me all indecisive now that she's met Pearls with more creative names."

"Then it's good to meet you, Green-for-now." Greg shook her offered hand. "Steven told me you were pretty cool when you guys went up against…" He glanced around, likely looking to make sure Lapis wasn't in earshot. "Malachite. So I wanted to say thanks for looking out for him."

"Oh, it's no trouble." Green's face warmed at the praise. "Would you, um, like to join us? Me, I mean?"

"What do you think, kiddo?" Greg asked, giving Steven a little nudge.

"Yeah. I think that sounds good." Steven hesitated. "Can I have a fusion hug?"

"I don't see why not," she agreed with a warm smile. "I promise not to squish you."

He laughed a little. "Hey, I'm pretty tough, you know!"

"I do know." Green let him clamber up onto her lap and then put her arms around him securely. "Are you doing alright?"

"Better."

They watched the stars in silence after that, Steven sitting between Green and Greg and cuddling up to each of them in turn. After some time had passed, both father and son fell asleep under the glimmering starlight and Green watched the two humans breathing steadily, if noisily, in and out.

Green let her own eyes slip shut as well, breathing Earth's air deep into her lungs and then exhaling slowly.

She'd do better too. She'd learn how to fight without putting Blue in danger. It would take practice, but she'd figure out how to keep them all safe.