It was almost noon by the time Steven awoke from his long slumber. With his overcompensation for several sleepless nights complete, Steven rose to find the sun high in the sky and his stomach rumbling. The only one around was Pearl, no doubt keeping an eye on him more discretely, who on the couch doing a puzzle to pass the time.
"Oh Steven, you're finally up! I was wondering when you'd awaken. There's someone here to see you." With her message delivered, she began breaking her diversionary puzzle back into individual pieces with the utmost care not to bend one. Steven stood refreshed for the first time in days and bounced his way downstairs still in his yellow pajamas. As he began to rummage through the fridge, he heard the bathroom sink running and saw Connie emerge wearing an unusual black dress and a solemn look on her face.
"Connie! Sorry I was asleep, it was a long night."
"Hm? Oh, don't worry about it Steven. I only got here ten minutes ago." She bore a small smile upon seeing him in his full banana-colored attire, but the glum look soon returned.
"You look nice in that dress. It's a little hot for a black dress on a beach, isn't it?" asked Steven trying to lighten the mood and silently remember where he put his bald cap.
"The dress? Oh that, I'm going to my grandmother's funeral this afternoon. Pearl called my mom earlier this morning to ask for a visit and she thought seeing you would cheer me up." She sat down on a stool by the kitchen counter and proceeded to rub her bare arms that were exposed by her gown.
"Pearl used the phone? And got it to work?"
"After about six tries… One of which led to her nearly putting a spear through the phone."
"Your mother said she wouldn't speak of that! How was I supposed to know that the voice saying 'leave a voicemail' wasn't some miscreant spying on our conversation?" said an addled Pearl who just finished deconstructing the puzzle. The two adolescents could only laugh as Pearl put the box away and strutted back to her room with a noticeable blue blush.
"Guess she thought doctor-patient confidentiality applied at all times? I think my mom just told me that to brighten my spirits. It's her mother's funeral we're going to after all…" said Connie, her face becoming somber once again.
"Connie, what's a funeral? Can I make it better?"
"You don't know what a funeral is?" she asked incredulously
"Connie, I don't know what are essays, grade-point averages or puberty is. But if a funeral is something bad, is it something I can help with?"
"Steven that's very kind of you but it's not anything like that." By this point, she almost had to remind herself how unorthodox Steven's life was compared to her own.
"A funeral happens after a person dies." She explained. "That person's family and friends gather in a certain place and mourn the loss of their loved one. Mourning is basically letting out how upset they are about the one they loved dying. Everyone makes speeches, or eulogies, about how they loved the one who passed on and then the person is either buried in a grave or cremated which means the body burned to ashes and put in a special urn, a jar where the remains are kept and stored in memory of the one you loved."
"Wow. That sounds really nice and thoughtful but also super sad. So it's your grandmother?"
"My mother's mother. I've got to leave in about fifteen minutes so I don't have much time. Do you want to do something while I'm here?"
Her question fell on deaf ears as Steven was rolling an idea around his head. Something about the idea of celebrating someone who was gone just clicked with him and he was already putting the pieces together for a plan that could help him and the Crystal Gems with some… personal issues.
"Hello, Steven? Anyone in there or did you leave your brain in space?" said Connie as her friend was still lost in thought. "I wonder if I have enough time to teach you the basic format of writing an essay…"
"Maybe next time." Steven said coming out of his trance "Sorry about that, I guess I just… spaced out!" he said wiggling his eyebrows. Connie could not help but laugh at his cheesiness.
As they sat there enjoying each other's company and chatting, Steven kept milling his idea around until Dr. Mahesweran came in dressed in a black pantsuit and clearly suffering from sleep deprivation. Her rigid posture had gone slack and her vigilant eyes were puffy from frequent crying and full of exhaustion. She did not trust herself to speak so she silently waved hello to him and ushered Connie back to leave with her. She did not even care about the sand getting onto their attire which truly struck Steven as odd.
With the two grieving women gone, Steven went up to his bed and decided to wait until the Gems came by to share his idea with them. Garnet was the first to come through, heading in from the beach, when Steven stopped her.
"Garnet, help! I'm gonna fall and hurt myself!" Steven shouted as he pretended to hang on for dear life from the edge of his loft. He tried to swing his feet and look panicked but that only resulted in stubbed toes and melodrama.
"Steven, even if you did fall, the worst you could do was give yourself a bruise. Now stop messing around." said Garnet already aware of Steven trying to pull some kind of trick.
"Okay, I'm not in danger." he muttered as he floated down to the couch below him and took a seat. "But I really do need your help with something."
"You know that kind of charade won't fool me. Even Pearl would shrug that off."
"I just wanted to get your attention. I think I have a way to make everyone feel better about Rose Quartz."
"Dying your hair pink is not going to solve any problems Steven."
"No, I gave up on that weeks ago. Once Pearl and Amethyst get here, I'll let you know."
And so the two decided to wait until the remaining Crystal Gems returned. Garnet seemed perfectly at ease while Steven was more impatient. He changed out of his clothes in the meantime after Garnet swore to look away for modesty's sake. With his regular clothes on once more, Steven began humming the song Garnet taught him to regain his focus and make some lunch to ease his growling stomach. The other Crystal Gems arrived on the Warp Pad halfway through his meal and quickly joined Garnet around the table when Steven gave his pitch.
"Guys, I know you're all still upset about Mom. I just learned about something called a 'funeral' from Connie where humans mourn someone who died. And I got to thinking: why don't we throw a funeral for Mom so we can let all our feelings out?"
"What an interesting idea, Steven. How do you propose we go about this?" inquired Pearl who immediately loved the idea.
"Well, I don't know all the details yet but I'll get more from Connie once she gets back. For now you should all make a eulogy, a speech about what Rose meant to you to share later."
"Garnet, when is the best time for this 'funeral' to occur?" asked Pearl
"Three days from now. By that point, everything should have cleared up."
"Alright! I'll go talk to Dad about it too. He'll probably want to say something." added Steven
"Yeah, if you want to bum him out some more…" grumbled Amethyst who was, for once, completely silent for the whole conversation.
"Amethyst, what are you talking about? This is a wonderful outlet for us all to release any emotional buildup we've had since Rose's… departure." said Pearl
"Nuh uh. It's just a way to make us all feel like trash about Rose all over again. I think this idea stinks. No offense Steven, but if you throw this funeral thing I'm not coming." Amethyst said getting up with her arms crossed
"Amethyst, I know it's hard for you to let your feelings out but…"
"Steven, just stop. You don't know what how I feel because, frankly, it's not important. What's done is done and we should just forget it."
"I can't believe you right now!" shouted a fuming Pearl who was now glowering down at the smaller Gem "How can you stand there and say Rose's memory doesn't matter?! She was everything to us and we wouldn't be here without her!"
"Just because you get all sentimental the second Rose is brought up doesn't mean we all have to go to pieces about it. That's all I'm saying."
"You… I know you can be a hardhead sometimes, but this is inconceivable! Don't act like your above all of us just because you're too 'cool' to admit you miss her! I can tell how much you want her back."
"Really?! I'm amazed you can see anything past your oversized issues. All you do is prattle on about how perfect Rose is, how she was never wrong and how you would do ANYTHING for her. Gimme a break!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU BE QUIET, NOW!" snarled Garnet who looked half ready to bash the other twos' heads in with her gauntlets. Steven was just watching in horror as the two went at each other and could now feel his half-eaten lunch churning in his stomach thanks to Garnet's outburst.
"Guys, we don't have to do this. If you really don't like it…" Steven squeaked while trying to keep his meal down.
"Relax, Steven. You make a fine point. We all have a lot on our chests concerning Rose Quartz and this funeral of yours sounds like an adequate way to let out our emotions. I say we go along with it. In three days, we have this funeral and we all let this go. Is that clear, everyone?" She specifically directed her last line at Amethyst who looked half ready to fall apart.
Pearl was in full agreement and seemed to be calming down from the recent spat. "Okay, then it's settled. Steven, do you know what we'll need for this ceremony? Anything special or…"
"I don't know, Pearl. I'll ask Connie later. For now, why don't you all get to writing your speeches?" All the enthusiasm in his voice was gone. He seemed to be emanating uncertainty in the wake of the blowup he just witnessed. The others began to disperse with Amethyst heading outside, Pearl summoned a pad of paper and a pencil from her gem to begin her eulogy while Garnet trudged into her room without a word. Steven tried to stomach the rest of his lunch but could not shake the feeling he struck too many nerves. Now it would be three days until all of this would be resolved.