The temple was designed to provide sanctity and silence for the gems who had built it. There was very little on Earth capable of even cracking the durable skin of the temple. The temple had stood strong against the occasional freak blizzard, hurricane, flood, angry mob and gem attacks throughout the centuries. Garnet could sit in her room and if not for her future vision, she wouldn't be able to tell if the entire population of Beach City was outside with pitchforks and torches. One would need to be very close to the temple door to be heard and even then the sound was distorted and muffled.
Garnet always liked that about the temple. She liked her privacy and the ability to escape from the evolving buzz of humanity. Their rooms were divided, providing them all with their own private sanctuary that cut them off from Earth and each other.
Garnet had been meditating. It was an activity she had taken to doing at nighttime when she wasn't busy with missions or other activities. She found it that doing so relieved her stress and gave her time to bask in the love that she was. Ruby and Sapphire were constantly apart of her, but being together so long they had willingly faded away to let Garnet dominate. In times of harmony like this, they were all present. They didn't speak, only reveled in their togetherness.
She would've continued doing so until early morning, as was her normal schedule, but a vision hit her. A storm was coming; a massive, powerful dark squall that would crack the sky in half. Lightning, so bright, would briefly light the horribly gloomy sky. The giant roar of thunder would shake every building in Beach City. She briefly saw a few residents, safe and sound in their beds. She saw Pearl, oblivious to the chaos outside, dancing in her room and Amethyst sleeping soundly in a puddle. But she didn't see Steven-when she looked all she was darkness.
Garnet's future vision rarely failed her. She could look into the future as easily as Steven could walk. She didn't always have control of it though. More than often, her future vision commanded her into action with very little short notice. In all of her years (and Sapphire's years), futures never were just darkness. She checked again, this time catching the shadows of furniture when a humongous blue bolt of lightning flashed in the sky. Steven wasn't in bed. When a crash of thunder followed the lightning, she heard Steven whimper. He was there, safe in the house-she just couldn't see him.
Garnet stood up and silently made her way out of the temple. She didn't want to admit it, because so often she was the one who didn't usually freak out, but she was a little worried. Garnet always had her future vision trained on Steven. From the moment he had become mobile-Garnet had been watching. Even though Steven was four years old now and less likely to extremely hurt himself than before, she hadn't stopped watching.
When she stepped into Steven's room, she knew the power was out. The constant hum of the refrigerator was gone and Steven's trusty nightlight was off despite it being plugged in. The warp pad provided some light, but the oppressing dark from outside shrouded most of the house. The massive bolt of lightning split the sky and the thunder slammed into the earth and once again she heard Steven whimper. This time she could turn her head and look around elsewhere.
She stepped onto the loft, pausing to 'check' under the bed before seeing that Steven was in his little closet. As the vision faded away, she noticed that a barely noticeable green glow from under the door. She could hear him now, whimpering something to himself over and over again.
"Steven?" She called softly, just loud enough to overcome the staccato of the heavy rain. The whimpering stopped and slowly, the closet door cracked open.
Steven's face was wet and his nose was running. His usually pleated pajamas were ruffled and he was missing one sock. He had Sir Bearington in a near death grip and Garnet could see the huge crack in the plastic covering of the little flashlight he held in his shaking fist.
"G-Garnet?" He snuffled, wiping his noise and sticking his little feet out.
"Steven, are you okay?" She stepped forward, letting him shine his little flashlight as her. She sat down next to the closet and opened her arms. Steven stumbled out, tripping on Garnet's leg and falling into her lap. He quickly wrapped his shaking arms around her and flinched when thunder shook the house.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Steven whimpered, pressing himself as hard as he could into Garnet torso. Garnet hugged him hard, setting his flash light up so that the loft was slightly lit up.
"Steven, you don't have to be sorry for getting scared." Garnet hushed him, kissing his slightly sweaty forehead.
"I broke it." He whispered, almost too quiet to hear over the rain and the low rumble of thunder.
"What broke?" She asked, leaning over to check the closet. Sure there were a few plastic hangers snapped in half and a bunch of Steven's clothes were on the floor, but they always had more hangers.
Steven silently pointed his finger behind Garnet. She turned and pointed Steven's flashlight toward Steven's bed. Steven's new big boy bed that had been personally constructed by Greg and Pearl.
Steven had grown too big to sleep in his crib, but more than a few times a week he had fallen out of the new bed. It hadn't been a very big deal, but of course as soon as Pearl had found out-adjustable bars had been built. Unlike his crib, the bars were only set up around the head of the bed. Steven could roll about, but he wouldn't fall down. Once Steven woke up in the morning, he could put them down all by himself (something he was rather proud of).
The bar that protected Steven front hitting the floor was on the floor. Snapped clean from the metal hinges, they lay splintered and chipped on the floor.
"Oh." Garnet sighed. "You broke it."
"I'm sorry Garnet. I didn't mean to. The thunder went BOOM!" Steven let go of her to show the explosion with his hands. "I got scared inside my heart and I tried to get out of bed, but it fell off. An' it's my fault."
Steven's eyes grew watery and his pressed his hands together. Garnet cupped his hands within hers. Steven's strength was constantly fluctuating. Most of the time, his incredible strength lay dormant and he was like most human children his age. But if he became too excited or scared, then he had very little control of it.
"It's okay Steven, it was an accident." Garnet whispered, kissing his little palms. There weren't any splinters or scrapes on his hands.
"I don't like havin' accidents." Steven mumbled, tugging one of his hands free so that he could wipe his face.
"We all have accidents." Garnet whispered, scooping him into her arms. "Amethyst has accidents all the time. And so do Pearl and I. Most of them though are during missions so you just don't get to see them."
Steven nodded, flinching when another crash of thunder sounded through the house. He sniffled and whimpered again, he began to nuzzle into Garnet's chest.
"I want my Daddy." Steven wailed and Garnet tightened her arms around Steven before another rumble of thunder shook the house. Steven began to sob, clinging to Garnet so hard that if she had been human, he would've left tiny bruises along on her arms. Garnet flashed through dozens of scenarios, trying to bring Steven to Greg-none of them worked out. The storm was humongous and the rain would be painful against Steven's delicate skin. The wind would hurt Steven's ears, the lightning was painfully close, and Steven got sick in half of the scenarios.
"I'm sorry, Steven." Garnet whispered, patting his back as he cried. "We can't go get Greg."
"Daddy! Daddy! Please, I just want Daddy." Steven moaned, bumping his head again and again into Garnet's chest.
Garnet sighed. Steven must really be frightened if he was asking for Greg and not Pearl. Most of the times when Steven was injured or not feeling well or scared, he would ask for Garnet or Pearl. He would cling to them and cry, but their presences alone helped calm him down. But when Steven cried for Greg, they all knew that it was serious.
Another earth-shattering crack of thunder blasted through the sky and Steven's wails only became louder. Garnet hadn't heard Steven cry like this since he was an infant. He was crying so hard that he was gasping for air and coughing.
Garnet stood up, cradling Steven in her arms as he wept. She couldn't leave him here and she didn't think sitting with Steven in his bed was going to help him get to sleep. The storm was much too loud and Steven was much to upset. She walked down from the loft and tucking Steven into her neck, so that he couldn't see the violent burst of lightning illuminating the dark sky. She stepped into the cave, past the warp pad and to the temple door.
She walked inside the temple and as soon as the temple door shut-the storm was no more. Steven was still wailing, his unfamiliar voice bouncing off the countless bubbles littering the ceiling. Garnet looked around the Burning Room with another sigh. She walked around the burning pit, quickly exiting into the temple's hallways. She easily made her way to Pearl's room. She would've called out, but Steven's wailing had summoned Pearl for her.
Pearl was at the edge of her room, her head pressed against the summoned temple door with Amethyst standing a little ways behind her.
"Can you hear anything?" Amethyst asked, looking uncharacteristically concerned.
"No, it's strange. I could've swore I heard Steven crying." Pearl said. "But I can't hear anything outside. Where did you hear it again?"
"Well, I was napping in a puddle and all the sudden I could hear Steven really loud!" Amethyst muttered, crossing her arms. "It freaked me out so I ran up here."
Garnet patted Steven's back, his wails had died down to whimpers. She easily crossed the floor to them, tapping on Amethyst's shoulders.
"Oh, hey Garnet. Have you heard Steven crying-like not normal crying but like-…is that Steven?" Amethyst asked. Pearl whipped around and gasped, bring her hands to her mouth.
"Oh my goodness. Garnet, why did you bring Steven into the temple? It's dangerous for him." Pearl squawked.
"There's a storm." Garnet said, turning Steven's weepy face towards them. In the light of the temple, Garnet could now see the big red circle under Steven's shiny, irritated eyes. His cheeks were flushed, snot was all over his pajama shirt and Garnet's top and tears were still running down his face.
"Oh, Steven what's the matter?" Pearl asked, summoning a handkerchief from her gem and wiping off Steven's face.
"Yeah, dude. D-did he have a nightmare?" Amethyst asked, frowning as Steven continued crying.
"The storm frightened him." Garnet explained. "He wants Greg, but I can't take him outside. It's quiet in here, so I thought it would help."
Steven whimpered, still tightly grasping Garnet's top. He hiccupped and sniffled, letting Pearl wipe his face off. He blinked furiously, before letting out a big yawn.
"Was that him screaming earlier?" Amethyst asked, watching as Garnet crouched down against the wall of Pearl's room. She sat down and laid Steven down in her lap. Pearl squatted, kissing Steven's cheeks as he calmed.
"Yes. I found him in his closet crying." Garnet muttered, rubbing her temples. "He's tired, cranky and he feels bad because he broke his bed."
"He broke the bed?" Pearl fretted.
"'m sorry Pearl." Steven whimpered, his lip trembling as he remembered. "I didn't mean to!"
"That's okay, Steven." Pearl said, kissing his wrinkled forehead. "It's just a bed. Greg and I can fix it again."
"Yeah dude. Remember when I broke the coffee table. You dad like, fixed it up really fast and it was okay." Amethyst reminded him, letting her hair tickle Steven's face as she leaned against Garnet's legs. Steven nodded, rubbing his fists against his eyes.
"He needs to sleep." Pearl whispered to Garnet, watching Amethyst shapeshift into a cat and crawl onto Steven's belly. Amethyst began to purr as Steven hugged her tightly.
"I know. But it's not gonna be easy." Garnet whispered back. "He can't sleep in his room and he's quite upset. I didn't want to ask this of you, but your room is the most calming-."
"Of course Steven can rest in here." Pearl said. "We'll just wait out that storm. It'll be like when he was a baby again. Late nights with lots of tears."
"At least we're not changing diapers anymore." Garnet chuckled.
"Or midnight feedings and spit up." Pearl sighed, sitting down and leaning up against the wall as well. "I really don't miss the drool."
"I didn't mind the drool." Garnet shrugged, shifting Steven on her lap as his eyes began to flutter shut. "He used to try to eat my gems."
"He used to try to eat your fingers." Pearl giggled. "He would try to eat my tutu and Amethyst's hair. You would've thought we never fed him."
"I liked the baby powder." Amethyst murmured, flicking her furry ears. "That stuff tasted good."
"Amethyst! I knew it. Garnet, I told you she was eating it!" Pearl hissed quietly, glaring at the smiling cat.
They talked quietly for hours. Recounting the good and bad memories from Steven's younger years. They had done this before, sitting huddled up together and helping Steven go to sleep. Steven hadn't been too fussy of a baby, but there were nights that he pushed them to all to their limits. When Greg hadn't been an option, they had just sat near his crib, whispering stories of their many past adventures, rubbing his back and kissing away tears.
Steven eventually fell asleep. It took them all over and hour to stop him crying and then with some rocking and a few lullabies, he had fallen asleep with one of Amethyst's paws in his mouth, his head in Pearl's lap and his feet resting on Garnet's sturdy thigh. He woke up only once-a dream about a giant crab eating all the cookie cats on the planet-but was easily lulled back to sleep. At some point during the night, Pearl had leaned against Garnet's shoulder and Amethyst had dozed off.
Garnet saw the end of the storm long before it died. The thick, dark blanket of clouds had slowly dissipated after it had ravaged the town. Weak, thin clouds strung like limp streamers across the pale orange sky and the sun peeked shyly from the horizon. Even after the future had become the present, Garnet had stayed there in Pearl's room.
Garnet enjoyed the soft weight of Pearl's head resting on her shoulder, Amethyst's shaggy fur against her arm and Steven's warmth on her skin. She loved the peace of the temple, the quiet calm that it allowed them when the world threw chaos at their doorstep. They all valued their privacy, not often would you find them all congregated inside one of their rooms.
But, that's what Steven did. He had forced them to break boundaries and rules they had set up for themselves in their past several millennia on Earth. The separated sanctity of the temple had been nice, but sharing the quiet morning with her family was all the more better.
A/N: Future vision fails for the plot! Future vision doesn't work like it does in the show-all for the plot! Thanks for the favorites and follows! Thanks to everybody who took the time to review too!