The funeral for Grandma Mahesweran lasted well into the evening. By the time Connie returned to Beach City the sun was dipping below the horizon and her exposed sleeves were chilled by the ocean breeze. Her heart still felt heavy from the massive load of grief her entire family had dumped out in just a few hours. She was relieved when she got back to the temple so she could see Steven again. His bright outlook was bound to cheer her up and this unknown idea of his had piqued her curiosity.

She quickly ditched her shoes in the car as Doug and Priyanka sat by trying to recover from their loss. After a quick walk down the beach, she entered the temple to find Pearl madly scribbling on a pad of paper that was near empty. Around her were dozens of crumpled-up balls of paper which seemed highly unorthodox given her obsession with order and cleanliness. She did not even notice her enter. She soon found Steven in his bed though it was early for even him to be packing it in yet.

"Steven? What's going on with Pearl? Did I miss something?" she asked to the half-Gem who looked even worse for wear than her mother. His eyes were uncharacteristically bleak, his usual smile was a blank expression and he was tucked in like he was trying to fall asleep.

"Hey Connie. I'm just tired. It's been a long day." He managed to lift his head up and sit straight though his movements were sluggish. Connie wondered if they just came back from a brutal mission.

"What happened? Did anyone get hurt? Did Homeworld send anything else here?!"

"No. I just royally screwed up. I suggested we have a funeral, like the one you went to today, for my Mom. Then everyone started fighting and it's all my fault. Garnet insists we go through with it but I think I shouldn't've brought it up. Amethyst hasn't come out of her room all day, Garnet's nowhere to be found, and Pearl's been there writing her eulogy for hours. She hasn't gotten through a single page without tearing it up and starting over."

"That's terrible, but Steven you shouldn't blame yourself. If there's one thing I learned it's that everyone goes through grief differently."

"Maybe... I just wished I knew how to fix everything. All I wanted was a way to make everyone not feel so sad about Mom leaving but all it did was make them hurt all over again…"

"Steven, you've fixed worse than this before. You saved the entire world from the Cluster, you saved my life on multiple occasions and you've helped the Gems with their problems too. I know you'll figure something out." She ended her pep talk with a hug causing Steven to blush and regain some of his amiability. He stepped out of bed for the first time in hours and decided to walk Connie back to her car.

"So how do you plan to set up your own funeral?" asked Connie as they trudged through the cold sand.

"I don't really know yet. I was hoping you could help with that."

"Sure. I know we can't really bury Rose, but we can still have a ceremony. For that we're gonna need a coffin, some chairs for everyone, maybe some pictures and flowers. People usually bring flowers or some keepsake to the funeral as a sign of respect and missing them."

"I think I know a place where we can get all that. I'm not sure what a coffin looks like though…"

"Leave that part to me. I have someone in mind who can take care of that." With that said, the two reached the road where the Maheswerans were waiting to drive Connie home. After a brief goodbye, Steven bounded back with renewed determination. The moon was starting to come over the coastline as he headed back inside. Pearl had finally drained the pad of paper. Her stamina seemed to be depleted as well since she just sat there rubbing her temples. She still did not notice the trash littering the floor though he figured her collecting and disposing of them would be an ideal way for her to destress.

"Hello Steven" said Pearl groggily "Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah. Connie knew just what to say and now I know more about how to make Mom's funeral."

"Well that's nice to hear. I'm sorry for not comforting you earlier I just got… lost in thought." She finally realized the mounds paper covering the floor around and got to work picking them all up. "I appreciate this idea of yours, truly. I never realized I was holding in my feelings for so long and I believed it would be simple to express my emotions. As you can most certainly observe, that didn't turn out to being the case."

"I know how much you miss her. You said she was everything to you. How she gave you a new life. I can't imagine what that feels like."

Pearl could not help but chuckle. "Perhaps you do, Steven. There was a time when you couldn't so much as summon your weapon and could barely keep it together on a mission. You've truly become a member of a Crystal Gems and I'm certain Rose would adore you."

A humble "Thanks" was all Steven could muster. He could see the same level of collapse in her as he had last night which is more worrisome for a being that needs no sleep. "You'll figure out what to say. You always do."

With his kindness lifting her spirits, Steven left Pearl to continue her written catharsis while he packed in it for another serene night of sleep. He did have some question swirling in the back of his mind: When would Amethyst come out? Could Garnet have some problems of her own? Who was Connie mentioning that could take care of the casket? On the forefront of mind, though, was another potential guest for this event. Someone he could visit tomorrow after a healthy night's slumber.