Missing Peace: Chapter 30

Beach City:

Steven stood nervously on the beach outside his house, absent-mindedly drawing patterns in the sand with his feet. He looked around at the group that had assembled at his request. This time, their mission to Homeworld was clearly going to be make-or-break, so Steven had brought in pretty much everyone.

Pearl, Garnet and Bismuth were busy carrying the last of the luggage out of the house. Amethyst was chatting to Lapis and Peridot, who had only just arrived after flying there themselves. Greg was helping Connie get her things out of the back of his van, having picked her up from her house a couple of hours prior.

It wasn't long before they were all due to set off. They were just waiting on a couple of things, the most notable of which was their observer. Steven knew that Earth's leaders had assigned someone to them to make sure they accomplished their mission, though he didn't see how whoever it was could be of any help. Connie had trained with the Gems to learn how to fight Homeworld. This observer would have no experience with this sort of thing; they'd probably just be someone else to protect.

Of course, he knew the actual reason this observer was tagging along. Earth's leaders didn't really believe that having a human present would help beat Facet 31; they just wanted someone to keep an eye on Steven and the Gems. They still didn't trust them. While he knew he shouldn't blame the humans for being cautious, he still found himself feeling frustrated. What was it going to take for these people to believe he was on their side?

Deciding it would be better to turn his mind to something else, he turned to the other problem. Their ride hadn't arrived yet. During the meeting, Yellow had brought up the fact that they couldn't approach the human zoo using the Diamonds' fleet; at least not without putting Facet 31's hostages at risk.

Steven had a ship of his own of course. The legs were currently exactly where he'd left them after the bubbled Gems were cured; lounging against the cliffside next to the temple in an almost comical pose. Sand had started to accumulate around the right foot, and Pearl had nagged him more than once that if he didn't take the ship out for a spin soon, it would start gathering moss. However, that would have to wait for another day. The giant pink pair of legs, aside from being attention grabbing in its own right, was also the only ship of its kind in the galaxy, so using it would definitely give the game away to Facet 31.

And so, Steven had explored an alternative. Now if only said alternative could actually show up…

After another few minutes of staring up at the sky, during which Steven occasionally looked down at his phone and wondered if he should call Sadie, the ship finally arrived. As it crested the cliff, the Sun Incinerator came into view. The setting sun gleamed elegantly off its angular design, the light obscured only slightly by the accumulation of dust on its surface. Evidently it hadn't been flown in a while either. Small landing struts extended out of it as it set down on the beach. Moments later, the door hissed open, and a familiar lanky pink figure stepped out.

Steven's face brightened instantly as he ran over. "Hey Lars!" he said cheerfully, high-fiving him in the torso. "Thanks for coming!"

"Ah, no worries" said Lars, returning the bizarre high-five slightly less vigorously. "As nice as it is to be home, I could use a little excitement."

Lars spoke in a jovial tone, but knew deep down that he wasn't joking. The past few weeks had been a… difficult adjustment. Being back on Earth was amazing, yes; but it had also been hard to get used to the slow pace of 'normal' life again, even in a place as weird as Beach City.

He loved watching his off-colour crew adjust to life on Earth, and he could often be found standing off to the side like a proud father every time they discovered something new, but there was a part of him that was still on edge; like he should be looking over his shoulder for an attack from Emerald at any time. Logically, he knew this wasn't true; the Emerald he had known was a loyal servant of the Diamonds, and, unlike another Emerald Steven had told him about, wasn't a member of Facet 31. She wouldn't be coming. But that knowledge couldn't make the feeling go away.

Sometimes, even innocuous sounds, like thunder, or a raccoon sniffing through his parents' bins, would cause him to spring bolt awake in the middle of the night, in full fight-or-flight mode. Such an event had happened just the previous night, when a clattering from outside had shocked him awake, startling Sadie as he yelped and sat up.

She had been concerned enough to see him that easily startled, and even more so when she found out moments later that he now slept with a Gem destabiliser under his pillow. She had hugged him from behind, gently kissed the side of his neck, and spent the next few moments assuring him that everything was ok. He had relented to lying back down much sooner than he normally would have had he been alone. On the nights Sadie wasn't visiting, he would often wander downstairs, destabiliser in-hand, to check the source of the noise himself, undoubtedly terrorising the local small mammal population in the process.

Everyone always did their best to comfort him, but none of them truly understood. He was glad about that. If they did, they'd probably think he was insane. After all, the sensation he felt in those moments wasn't fear, at least, not entirely. It was excitement. He had grown so accustomed to his life as a space pirate that the pace of life in Beach City had become almost…boring. He felt horrible for thinking this, after all, his parents finally had him back; Sadie finally had him back. But still, he felt it all the same.

Everyone seemed to expect him to settle back into his life (albeit a much improved version of the one he had led before becoming the man he was now), but he couldn't just readjust that easily. He often felt the urge to be back out there in space, aboard the Sun Incinerator, seeking out adventure and danger with his crew. A stupid thought, he told himself. After all, the only reason they'd been doing any of that was to get back to Earth; to live in peace. That was all his crew wanted. So why would he much rather be back in danger again? He'd always hated danger. Deep down, he knew the reason. He wanted to feel alive. He wanted to feel his heart pounding again, though of course, that was impossible. No matter how intense an emotion he felt; be it when he was woken in fear by noises in the night, or when he held Sadie; his heart repeated the same steady, agonisingly slow beat that it had retained since the day he…the day he died.

At least this mission would put him back in the captain's chair, and put him on an adventure with his friends again. The Off-Colours had all volunteered to take up their old stations. Despite their supposed aversion to conflict, the bond between Lars and his crew was such that at this point they would follow him anywhere. Sadie had offered to come too, but Lars had refused, stating that he didn't want her to get hurt. This was a perfectly valid reason given that unlike Steven, Connie, and himself, she had very little experience fighting Gems. OK, there was that one time on that island, but that wouldn't really be enough for where they were going. Secretly though, Lars had another reason for refusing her offer; one that went unsaid. Though he hated himself for thinking it, part of him didn't want a part of his old life coming to space with him. Out there, he could be someone else; an inspiring captain, an infamous pilot. It didn't feel right having someone there who mainly remembered his days behind the counter at a donut shop. So, he'd asked her to stay behind, simply reassuring her as best he could that he would some back safe.

He'd had to make the same assurance to his parents too. He hated making them worry. He knew that they must have been scared they might lose him again, but he couldn't stand sitting around his house any longer; pretending it hadn't happened; that he was still a normal human, or that he could just go back to school and a day job. No, this was where he needed to be. With his crew; saving the world.

"So" he said, looking down at Steven, who was blissfully unaware of his mental turmoil, "when do we leave?"

"Not sure yet" replied Steven. "We're still waiting for one more person."

What neither of them knew was that they were actually waiting for two more people. After another half an hour or so of packing and waiting around, a helicopter came into view, and landed on the beach nearby, kicking up billowing clouds of sand. Steven, who had been wearing a somewhat nervous expression, replaced it with one of pure surprise when the vehicle's passenger stepped out.

"President Dalton?!" he said, running over to him "What's going on? Are you our…observer?"

"Heh, I wish" Dalton said cheerily, though with a slight edge. "I just decided to come along too. No way I'm staying on the side-lines while you all risk your lives on something this important."

Pearl opened her mouth, clearly about to take issue with the idea of bringing yet another untrained human along for the ride, but Dalton pre-empted her. Raising his hand, he quickly added:

"I know, I know: fighting Gems is dangerous. Don't worry, I'm just here to keep watch and tell the UN what goes down. Just in case our other observer isn't on the up-and-up."

As if on cue, a taxi pulled up on the road closest to the beach. A slender, severe-looking Asian man stepped out, carrying a couple of small cases. Dalton of course already knew who he was, but his unseasonable business attire and steely expression likely would have given it away anyway.

The man walked over to Steven, set his bags down, and reached out to shake his hand. "Steven Universe? Li Jun, UN observer. I'll be joining you for this mission."

"Oh, yeah, hi." Steven said, trying to keep his tone from being too icy.

"Here, I'll stow your bags for you" interjected Garnet, sensing that in just about every possible future, this conversation got awkward if it continued too long.

"Thank you, but I can manage that myself" replied Li, picking his bags back up and striding on-board the Sun Incinerator, seemingly unfazed by the sight of a Gem spaceship. Steven and Garnet shrugged to each other, and everyone began to board the ship. It was going to be fairly packed with this many people, but desperate times demanded less-than-ideal living arrangements.

Minutes later, the ship's landing struts retracted as it lifted off from the beach, its anti-grav generators kicking up far less sand than the helicopter had not too long ago. As the ship rose above the head of the temple, Steven took one last look at Beach City through the front screen. He was going to make sure nothing happened to this city, or anywhere else on Earth. This time, he was going to keep everyone safe.

The Sun Incinerator activated its galaxy drive, and its form distorted towards the horizon as it jumped away with impossible speed. The booming noise of the jump faded, and all that remained was the sound of the ocean…