A/N: If you don't usually read these author notes, I would humbly ask that you read the bottom one! It's very important and contains information that has to do with every single unfinished Steven Universe fic I've written.
A Forget Fusion's First Time
In permanent marker, written on each of her four hands in Garnet's handwriting is: 112 Grove St. Beach City Mart. Buy milk and diapers.
Even despite the very simple directions, Opal had gotten lost three times already. If it hadn't been for Steven – two years old and inexplicably well-versed with directions – they certainly would have been lost in the maze of Beach City forever.
She can't really remember why she's here – not in the middle of Beach City, she knows why she's doing that – but instead why she's even here to complete her task instead of Amethyst and Pearl.
One moment she wasn't, then in the next she is; sprawled out on her behind, one foot in a puddle and the other in a trash pile (much to her partial disgust). Opal had stumbled out of the temple, confused, but happy to be there when she had fallen gracefully into Garnet.
It hadn't mattered what she had been going to do, when Opal had caught sight of Steven in Garnet's arms, all she could remember that was she wanted to hug him and kiss him and make him laugh and play with him and-and-and…
"Uhm…Opalie?" Steven can't pronounce her name very well. She lets it go though, even mispronounced she can't help but feel ridiculously happy when the jumbled syllables tumble out of his mouth. "We here."
Indeed they are. The grocery store is surprisingly small…or maybe she's just too big now. She shimmies Steven into a racecar styled grocery cart, he delights at the strange little contraption, pretending he's the one steering when in actuality it's Opal (but she doesn't mind, it's important to start teaching Steven how to pilot things early on).
It's difficult to remain on track, she's easily distractible even when she's completely focused. Every few minutes, when she wanders off the path – interested in some new product or kissing Steven senseless – Steven will tug at her hair and point to her two hands not occupied with steering.
"Oh yes!" She grinned. A quick kiss to Steven's curly head and she quickly rights herself. She starts a mantra: Milk, diapers, Garnet. Milk, diapers, Garnet. Milk, diapers, Garnet.
She zooms through the small shop, so focused on her singular task and getting back to the house before she forgets that she doesn't even notice the strange looks she's getting. It isn't as though Beach City's citizens haven't seen giant women before, they're just not entirely used to one holding four different types of diapers in each of her hands while talking to herself.
But she does it! She gets the milk! She gets the diapers! She checks out, pulling a crisp twenty dollar bill out of the gem on her forehead, much to the astonishment of the little cashier. She returns the cart and then races back to the house.
Garnet will be so proud of her! Then they'll have time to spend together. Opal knows it been several decades since she's last been here, a blink of the eye really, but now that she's here she wants to spend every moment of it alive and present (who knows how long this will last?)
Opal burst into the house, proudly shoving the grocery bag in Garnet's face, who had been lounging on the couch. Opal watched as Garnet digs through the bag.
"I didn't forget anything!" Opal boasted, a wide grin on her face. "I did a good job?"
Garnet nodded, then paused. "Where's Steven?"
…
Steven watched as Opalie walked away. He liked watching her walk – she walked on her tiptoes like a ballerina. He wondered when he would be able to do that. He flapped his little legs, still stuck in the little leg holes of the racecar cart – he dreamed of dancing gracefully alongside her.
He's not really sure who Opalie is. He's pretty sure they've never met before, but she holds him just as tight as Amethyst does, while tucking his head under her chin just like Pearl. Anybody who could give such good hugs was a good person in his books. He wonders when she'll come back to get him though – he's still too little to get down by himself, not to mention he doesn't know how to unbuckle himself yet.
"Stee-vin?" Steven whipped around at Nanefua's voice. She walked over, waving at him.
"Nana!" Steven waved at her, his legs kicking excitedly. "You go gocery shop?"
"Yes, with Kiki and Jenny." Nanefua unbuckled him and helped him hop down. Steven caught a glimpse of the two little girls that lived with Nanefua and Kofi. They're both wearing the same flowery dress and zooming around the organic fruit stands near the door of the grocery store. He can never tell which one is which – they're always dressed like the other, both toting similar if not identical hairstyles. He's constantly calling Kiki, Jenny and Jenny, Kiki – which Nanefua thinks is adorable.
Jenny…or was it Kiki? – one of them – did not think it was adorable at all. She would pout her lip and declare that she wasn't Kiki…or Jenny. He didn't want to make them sad, so he learned to just say KikiandJenny – even if there's only one there (a forgivable act in the eyes of the Pizza twins).
Nanefua took hold of his hand and started leading him toward the girls. "Who are you here with? I do not see you father."
"Opalie." Steven shrugged, pointing in the vague direction of where he'd last seen her.
"Is Opalie related to those ladies you live with? Four arms? Purple?" Nanefua asked.
"Yes!" Steven exclaimed.
"She went flying when I parked the car." Nanefua said. "She jumped over seven cars before jumping back to the beach."
"Oh." Steven sighed, suddenly plopping down next to the bench Naneufa had led him to. He looked so heartbroken that Jenny stopped her frolicking and came over to pat his head. "Opalie forget Steven."
Nanefua scooped him up into a hug, trying to halt the tears she saw coming. "I'm sure she didn't mean to – ah Jenny do not pull your sister's hair!" Nanefua helped him to his feet. "We will wait with you. I'm sure she's coming back right now! Nanefua will buy you an ice cream."
10 minutes and 37 seconds later
"STEEEEEVEEEN!" Pearl sounded beyond hysterical. She sprinted across the parking lot (while crying mind you), with Amethyst and Garnet not far behind her. She vaulted over a teenager returning grocery carts and then slid under a moving car before skidding to the bench Steven's sat at with Nanefua and the twins. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"
"Hi Pearl." Steven didn't mind being lifted into Pearl's thin arms or squeezed so hard that he dropped the last dollop of his popsicle. "Where's Opalie?"
"She's not here." Pearl grumbled, giving Steven another squeeze. "Are you alright? Were there strangers? You didn't talk to them, right? Did you see white vans? Do you remember what I told you about the white vans-?"
"Pearl we were literally only gone for like ten minutes." Amethyst stood by Pearl's side, trying to look aloof but unable to hide her relief.
"Thank you for watching Steven." Garnet shook Nanefua's hand. "For keeping him safe."
Steven said good-bye happily, giving all the Pizzas strawberry-flavored kisses before letting Pearl cradle him. He wouldn't mind walking all by himself – he really would like to start practicing his Opalie walk, but he's never one to say no to being cuddled.
"Pearl, where Opalie?" Steven asked again, looking around as though she was hiding amongst the neighborhood houses.
"Um…Opal left." Pearl shrugged, catching Amethyst's eye before quickly looking away.
"At home?" When Pearl shook her head, he asked. "When she coming back?"
"'When is she coming back?'" Pearl corrected. "And I don't know. Opal was an unexpected guest today."
"Yeah, sorry about her leaving you there, li'l dude." Amethyst sighed. "Opal can get…distracted sometimes. She didn't mean it."
"Opalie have accident, dats okay." Steven assured them. "Everybody make mistakes."
"Would you like to see her again?" Garnet asked, laying an arm around Pearl's shoulders and a hand on top of Amethyst's head. "You two did have fun."
"Yes, I want to give Opalie hug goodbye first then she can leave." Steven pouted. "Ganet, when she'll come back, do ya think?"
"Oh…" Garnet hummed. "I don't know. Why don't you ask Amethyst and Pearl?"
"I mean…I'm up for Opal or whatever." Amethyst shrugged, looking off into the sunset with a vibrant blush on her cheeks. She shook off Garnet's hand. "It's been a while…it-it wasn't bad right?"
"No! Of course not." Pearl squeaked, clinging harder to Steven. "It has been a while. We just got caught up. I'm sure Opal wouldn't mind seeing Steven again."
"YAY!" Steven squealed, wiggling so hard in his joy that he almost fell out of Pearl's arm.
Garnet rushed them all back home before something, no, anything can be said after that; it would only take the teeniest, tiniest spark to ensure that Opal would be decommissioned for the evening.
It hadn't always been like this. Once upon a time Opal had been a tad more frequent in her visits, her arrivals fluctuated like the weather; weather driven by a Rose tinted sun. Opal had been absent during the past few decades while Rose and Greg were together, only making brief appearances for emergencies only.
Rose's departure from this world had knocked their worlds upside down. Opal no longer had a sun to enjoy, yet she had appeared. Even in her absence Rose was still encouraging them to grow – Amethyst and Pearl were both unwillingly maturing. And with their individual growth, they had found the strength to try mature together. They were still fighting against it – gems were creatures of uniform and rigidity; if they could've stayed stagnant and unchanging forever then none of them would've blinked an eye at that fate. Garnet knows it's for the best and that it isn't something that she can rush. Opal will come with time, it'll become easier and easier for Amethyst and Pearl to coexist as her outside of missions or emergencies.
Garnet knew that day wouldn't come for a while, but it didn't hurt to give a helpful little shove in the right direction every now and again.
Opal did return. It took a little convincing to pry her from behind Garnet (despite earlier reassurance to her counterparts, she still believed Steven was mad at her). But by the end of the night, somehow every one's been roped into dancing with diapers on their heads while balancing on their tiptoes well past Steven's bedtime.
It's a rare night – not one soon to be repeated, much to Opal and Steven's dismay. But it's one night Opal would never, ever forget.
A/N: Hi guys, I have some very, very bad news. I haven't posted anything in the past few weeks because my external hard drive (which is basically like a giant USB stick) broke. That external hard drive contained every bit of fanfiction and everything I've ever written since middle school. The data is most likely recoverable and I sent it off to some company to see if I could get the documents on it back, but there's no guarantee. What that means is, that every unfinished story or fic I have is gone except Crystal Gem Academy. So More than Asset, The World Left Behind , every series in this fic like Connie's Vacation or Doctors are Expensive (basically anything with a part in it's name) is going on temporary hiatus (at least until I get a response from the company). The upload schedule is going to decrease significantly and I apologize for that but, before I was constantly working on maybe four or five chapters at a time and now I have nothing.
Which is where you guys come in. I have lost all my prompts. I have maybe 3 on my phone and some in my emails but for the most part I can't find anything else. What I would like to ask of you all, is to leave a review (not a PM! PMs show up differently in gmail and make it harder to find, while reviews chain together) with a prompt. Any prompt, if you sent in before then please send it again so that I can get back on the writing 'horse'. That would be beyond helpful, because my brain is a big ol' stressball and I can barely think let alone write a story because I'm so freaked out about my hard drive.
Writing is my greatest joy and for the past few weeks, I've just been stuck in a writer's block abyss full of sadness and anxiety. When I get a response from the company, I will post another story with another author's note explaining where I'll be going from here.
Thank you for your patience and for any prompts you can give. I hope you enjoy this chapter.