Beach City, modern day:
Priyanka folded her arms on the table and rested her head on them with a sigh. "I can't believe this... We've haven't seen our children in... five days, and we still haven't called the police?!"
Greg sighed. "I know how you feel, Priyanka, trust me on that. But what exactly would we tell them?" he took out his cell and pretended to make a call. "Police? Yes, there are two kids missing in time with a pair of alien rocks. We know for sure that they're five thousand years in the past because of a couple of other alien rocks told us so." he poked a thumb towards the two pearls standing out on the balcony, close to the two large diamonds. "What do we do?" he laughed darkly and shook his head as he pocketed the phone. "They'd think we're nuts. Or worse, charge us with wasting their time, or misusing the emergency number..." he took another sip of his tea. "I mean, sure, I could easily handle the fines, but..." he sighed. "Waiting for them to come back is really all we can do."
Doug nodded and rubbed Priyanka's back. "He's right, dear. No-one would believe us..."
The warp pad activated, and they paused for a moment.
Garnet stepped off beside Bismuth with a sigh. "No sign of them yet..." she walked over to the couch and sat with a flump, the seat creaking ominously beneath her.
"Yeah, we checked and yelled all over the area, and nothing." Bismuth sat beside her.
"We even checked a few warp pads in places that Pearl cares about, just in case she left some sort of sign there for us..." Garnet shifted and swung her legs onto the couch, leaning back on Bismuth. "I just... don't know what else to do..." she murmured, as Bismuth wrapped an arm around her.
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As the group fell out of the ripple, Pearl quickly stood up. "Okay, the next ripple isn't until late tonight, so we have a few hours to spare." Glancing around, she reached down and helped Connie to her feet before walking towards the corner. Nodding at what she saw, she turned and motioned for them to follow her.
As the group turned the corner, they were surprised to see Pearl fiddling with the handle of a car parked beside the street. Suddenly, she opened it and climbed in, reaching over to unlock the other doors as they dashed over to her.
"Get in." she said as she pulled on the seatbelt.
With a quick glance, they scurried in, Amethyst jumping over the car to hurl herself into the front. "Shotgun!" she called with a laugh.
As the kids climbed into the backseat in silence, Amethyst rubbed her hands gleefully as Pearl looked around for keys. "Nothing..." she muttered. "Plan 'B' then."
"Ooh, are ya gonna hotwire it?" Amethyst grinned.
Pearl glanced at her with a sideways smirk. "Tch, what kind of amateur do you take me for?" she placed one of her fingers at the keyhole, and with a small glow of light, she shapeshifted it to fit. With a deft flick of her wrist, the engine roared into life, and Pearl drew her finger back out. "Seatbelts, please." she added smugly.
Steven and Connie glanced at each other as they pulled the straps and clicked them into place. "Isn't this... illegal?" Steven whispered, unsure.
"Yeah... What about fingerprints?" Connie glanced at Pearl's face, reflected in the rear-view mirror.
Pearl shrugged. "Gems don't have any, and you two don't legally exist at this point in time, which makes a pretty good alibi. Besides, we need transportation. There's something we need to do here, but we can't simply warp there." she added as she pulled the car onto the road and drove away.
"Ame, turn on the radio. Try to find any mention of the date..."
Amethyst fiddled with the knobs, occasionally pausing to nod her head to the beat. "Hey, I remember that one."
Pearl glanced over. "Focus..."
Amethyst shook her head. "Right. Sorry." she added with a blush.
As they passed by a large sign, Steven's eyes widened. "Ocean Town... Voted least likely to be on fire... Hey! That was Ocean Town."
"Whomever voted them least likely to be on fire really should have consulted Sapphire..." Pearl sighed.
Just then, Amethyst found a news channel. "-won by two points. And that's the news for today, Friday the Twelfth of July, 1991. Now here's Bryan Adams, with 'Everything I Do, I Do It for You'..."
As the music filled the car, Connie and Steven glanced at each other. "Geez... I haven't even been conceived yet..." Connie whispered.
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An hour later, they passed a sign for Beach City.
Steven stopped singing along to the radio. "Hey... Why did we drive home? We could have warped..."
Pearl shook her head. "No, we would have run into our younger selves. Chaos and anarchy, Steven. It could have affected the timeline. Our younger selves don't need to know we were here, until they become us."
Amethyst counted her fingers. "Yeah, this time travel stuff is seriously confusing..." she sighed.
Pearl shrugged. "I'm not even going to attempt to deny that."
Connie spoke up. "So... why are we going to Beach City?"
Pearl glanced back at the two kids in the rear-view mirror. "A very important personal mission. Steven?"
"Yeah Pearl?"
"How would you like to actually meet Rose? In person?"
Steven stared at Pearl's reflection.
Pearl glanced back at his stunned face and pulled over, undoing her seatbelt so she could twist around. "Hey, are you okay?"
Steven clenched his shirt over his gem. "Meet... meet my mother?..." he whispered.
Pearl nodded. "Yeah." she said softly. "I know she'd go crazy to meet you. Not being able to ever see you was probably the only thing she regretted about her decision to have you..." she glanced down for a moment, then back up. "If you don't want to, that's okay. We can just go a warp, and wait for tonight's ripple..."
Steven closed his eyes briefly. "No. I mean... yes... I... I want to."
Pearl nodded. "Okay. And if you just want to yell at her about the secrets and lies, that's okay too. Quite frankly, she needs a good scolding..." she muttered. "But take it easy on her. She is pregnant with you, after all. You upset her too much, she could go into labour, and you could end up having being born much too early." she added before she turned and restarted the car with her finger.
Pearl pulled over, parked beneath the water tower and undid her seatbelt. "Okay, we'll walk from here."
The group made their way quietly through the town. Pearl lead them on a zigzag through the streets. "We need to avoid the car wash, so Greg doesn't see you. Not yet, anyway..." she smiled.
Steven gasped and stared as two identical small dark girls ran along, laughing. "Jenny and Kiki..." he whispered.
"Vote for my dad!" The Mayor's truck rolled past, as they saw a very young boy wearing sunglasses in the passenger seat beside the mayor.
"Buck..." Steven grinned.
Pearl lead them behind the back of the Big Donut, narrowly avoiding a young Sour Cream carrying a box of donuts, and up to the top of the temple hill. Near the top of the lighthouse, they carefully neared the edge and glanced down.
Far below, on the sand in front of them, in the shade of a fallen stone hand, sat Rose Quartz. Her legs were out in front of her, and one hand rested on her belly as she held a book. Steven watched in wonder as a younger Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl appeared and walked toward Rose.
"We're about to leave on a mission. Rose has to stay behind for your safety. She will be alone here for a few hours, so we'll have time to go down and talk to her." Pearl whispered, one hand on Steven's shoulder.
Steven nodded quietly, and watched as the younger gems turned and disappeared from view. Pearl grabbed Steven and Connie, tucking them each under an arm and dashed behind the lighthouse. "Ame, hide!" she hissed.
Amethyst ran beside her just as the blue beacon of light of a warp pad activating flashed past the cliff. As it faded from view, Pearl sighed and released the kids. "Okay, we can go down there now. You ready, Steven?"
Steven nodded. "Yeah..."
Rose hummed softly to herself as she ran a hand over her belly. A shadow fell over her and she looked up. "Pearl? You're back already? Err... Why did you change your clothes?"
Pearl smiled fondly. "Hey Rose... I'm...not actually here, and if anyone asks, you spent the afternoon sitting here alone, okay?"
Rose nodded, confused. "Okay? That... doesn't really explain anything though."
Pearl leaned against the stone hand, arms crossed. "The short story? There was an... incident, on a mission. Not the mission we just left on... A different one, in the future. We fell into a ripple in time, and are trying to find our way back. We'll get there eventually, don't worry." she waved a hand loosely. "By we, I mean everyone except Garnet. She got left behind in our time. But Amethyst is here."
Amethyst popped out from behind the hand. "Yo." she grunted.
Rose smiled. "Hey, Amethyst. You look so cool. I love your new form."
Amethyst shrugged. "What, this old thing? It's alright, I guess..."
"It's yours, so it's perfect." Rose held out a hand to her.
Amethyst hesitated, and finally took it, allowing herself to be pulled into a hug. "I... I miss you..." she whispered.
Pearl waited for a moment. "Rose, there's someone else that you need to meet."
Amethyst pulled away from Rose and walked behind the hand.
"Who?" Rose tilted her head, curious.
"First, a question. How badly do you want to meet your son?" she pointed at Rose's belly.
Rose sighed and placed a hand over her gem. "Oh, more than anything..."
Amethyst picked Steven up and carried him into view, placing him next to Pearl.
"Rose." Pearl placed a hand on his shoulder. "Meet Steven Quartz Universe."
Steven nervously waved.
Rose gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth. "S-Steven?"
Steven nodded. Clenching his shirt, he glanced down for a moment, and then raised the edge, showing the bright pink gem embedded where his naval would be.
Rose climbed to her knees, reaching out and holding out a hand. "Oh my stars... This is... You're here..." Tears started to stream as she reached forwards and grabbed him, gently pulling him toward her and wrapping him into a hug. "Stars, Pearl... he's gorgeous! Look at this! I made this! Eeeeeeee!" she squealed, sitting back.
Steven hesitated for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her neck. "Hey mum..." he whispered, tears leaking from his eyes.
Connie stepped out and waited beside Amethyst as the two cuddled.
"He really needed this..." Amethyst whispered.
Pearl nodded. "Yeah... So did we, I think." she sighed as she slid down, sitting against the stone hand. Amethyst and Connie joined her.
"Pearl?"
"Yes, Connie?"
Connie pointed at Steven and Rose. "I think he might like it if you took a picture with your phone." she whispered.
Pearl stared at her for a moment. "Stars, you're right." Summoning her phone, she snapped a quick candid picture of the two young diamonds. "Hey, you two." she called.
Steven turned to face her. Seeing the phone, his eye lit up. "Yeah, I want pictures!"
After a few minutes of posing, Pearl nodded. "Okay, I have to conserve the battery, but this are all great. Once we get home, and you can charge your phone, I can send them to you."
Steven nodded happily. "Thanks Pearl. Thanks Connie." he looked at her with a smile, showing that he heard her whispers.
Connie blushed. "I figured you'd hate to leave without some shots of this..."
"Ooh, and who's this?" Rose pointed at Connie with a grin.
"That's Connie!" Steven said with a matching grin. "She's my best friend."
Pearl helped Connie to stand. "She's also probably the best sword student I've ever had." she added, proudly placing a hand on Connie's shoulder.
Connie blushed. "Oh geez... Hello, ma'am." she bowed slightly.
"Hello, dear." Rose held out a hand, and Connie shook it nervously. "It's wonderful to meet you."
Amethyst chuckled. "Hey, you two wanna show Rose your special friend?"
At their confused faces, she bumped her hands together, and Steven gasped. "Yeah!"
Climbing out of Rose's arms, he ran to Connie and whispered into her ear.
Connie blushed and nodded. "Okay."
Walking a short distance away, the two faced each other and began to dance.
As they spun around, Steven's gem started to glow, and Rose's mouth dropped open at the two children merged together with a shower of sparkles.
"Rose, meet Steven's first fusion, Stevonnie." Pearl said proudly.
Amethyst grinned. "I named 'em."
Rose squealed and bounced slightly on the spot. "Holy shit Pearl, lookit mah baby's first fusion! They're fucking perfect!"
Stevonnie stared and blushed.
Pearl sighed and ran a hand down her face wearily. "Rose, we do not swear in front of the impressionable young teenagers."
Rose glanced over at her, her face filled with glee. "What? But I've heard you say much worse things, Pearl..." she winked
Pearl blushed, her eyes darting towards Stevonnie. "But I don't say them in front of the children." she crossed her arms and huffed.
"Yeah, we all promised Greg that we wouldn't say that stuff in front of Steven until he's like... sixteen, or something." Amethyst rolled her eyes. "I miss my favourite word though. And hearing Pearl curse was always fun." she added with a smirk as Pearl stammered, her face dark blue.
Stevonnie looked back and forth between them. "I'm... not sure I'm ready to hear Pearl swear..." they sighed.
Pearl collected herself and rolled her eyes. "Good, because you won't. So long as nobody annoys me too much, anyway..." she added in a low mutter to herself.
Stevonnie's hand brushed against the gem in their belly and they sighed. "Hey, can I ask you something?" they turned toward Rose.
"Sure thing, baby. What is it?" Rose leaned forward.
Stevonnie took a deep breath. "I-I know you're really Pink Diamond..." they began.
Rose's face fell. Her eyes darted to Pearl.
Pearl nodded. "I had no choice. Steven gave himself up to Homeworld. He was put on trial by Yellow and Blue, for Rose Quartz's supposed crimes. He needed to know the truth. They all did." she crossed her arms. "Garnet was furious, and confused. They... They unfused!" she stood, pacing slightly in front of Rose as they others watched warily. "Sapphire ran off! It took all night to find her and explain the truth before she came back, and then Ruby was missing! It was days before they formed Garnet again." Pearl glared at Rose. "I told you at the end of the war that Garnet needed to know the truth, that the longer we lied to her, the more she'd be pissed if she ever found out the truth... and you insisted that everything would be fine. Well, now they know, Pink. And I'm glad they do." Pearl turned and walked away, finally sitting on the edge of the warp pad.
Rose covered her face with her hands and sobbed, tears leaking between her fingers.
Stevonnie glanced back at Pearl and sighed. "Yeah... Garnet was really upset... Ruby and Sapphire too."
Amethyst made a noise. "Tch. We all were. Everything was a lie. My entire life, I thought you were like, the greatest quartz ever. I wanted to be like you. Turns out, you were just a diamond, playing pretend." she sighed and walked away, sitting next to Pearl on the warp pad.
Stevonnie sat down on the sand. "After Garnet came back... Blue and Yellow attacked."
Rose lifted her head, her eyes filled with fear and sorrow.
"We fought them, and I... well, Steven, got knocked out by Yellow. He somehow managed to talk to them, tell them who he was. Who you were. They've agreed not to attack the Earth again. And to help fix the corrupted gems."
Rose sniffed sadly. "Th-they did?" she whispered.
Stevonnie nodded. "Yeah. Thing is... For the last five thousand years... Yellow blamed herself for Pink being shattered. And Blue has cried, pretty much constantly. She kept the Zoo going, simply to preserve your memory. And she visited your palanquin every chance she got, just to cry and mourn." they looked Rose in the eyes. "You were wrong, you know. They really did love you. They still do. They just... didn't know how to show it back then." Stevonnie shrugged.
Rose sighed sadly and wiped her eyes, glancing over at Amethyst and Pearl talking quietly to each other. "They... hate me now, don't they?"
"No." Stevonnie shook their head. "Amethyst's just... cause you were like her mum, and she feels... I dunno, betrayed? And Pearl... She spent the last five thousand years with this massive secret, knowing how angry her friends will be with her if they ever found out about it. She spent all this time feeling guilty, because if she hadn't help you fake your shattering, the Corruption wouldn't have happened. All the other Crystal Gems wouldn't be bubbled inside the Burning Room so they can't hurt anyone. They'd be hanging around, laughing." They sighed. "Pearl's been holding onto a lot of guilt that she really didn't need to because of your final order to her. That was really a terrible thing to do. You know she wouldn't have told anybody. She loved you way too much to ever betray you like that."
Rose sniffled. "I know... I'm just... a massive pink idiot..." she paused to wipe her eyes. "To be honest... Pearl was always the brains of the outfit. She's the only reason the Crystal Gems survived as long as we did. Most of my plans would have gotten us all killed. That little genius saved us from being massacred so many times..."
They sat in silence for a moment.
Stevonnie reached out and picked up the book Rose had been reading. "Oh, I remember this one! It was my... Steven's favourite book, when he was little."
Rose looked at it. "Really? I'm so glad. I was just... reading it to you..." she gently patted her belly with a blush. "Well, sorta. I have no idea if he can even hear me in there... But still."
Stevonnie nodded and after a moment, they nodded again and unfused.
Steven sat up quickly and helped Connie up. With a quick smile, she turned and walked towards the warp pad.
Turning to Rose, Steven picked the fallen book back up and held it out to her. "Well, I can hear you now." he said softly with a faint blush.
Rose's eyes sparkled, and she quickly pulled Steven down to sit on what was left of her lap. Taking the book, she opened it to the first page. "The Owl and the Lion went to sea..." she began.
Amethyst and Pearl watched as Connie walked over and sat next to them.
"Everything okay?" Amethyst asked.
Connie nodded. "Yeah. He just wanted her to read that book to him."
Pearl groaned. "Oh stars, not the one with the owl..."
Amethyst ran her hands down her face. "Oh man... he was obsessed with that crazy poem." she gave a groaning laugh.
"Really?" Connie smiled.
Amethyst sighed. "He wanted that read to him, like, ten times a day, at least. He only stopped asking after Pearl taught him how to read it himself."
Pearl nodded. "Connie, the only reason I taught him to read at the age of two was so that we wouldn't have to read that book to him anymore." she sighed. "I know it sounds mean, but... Garnet started warping away the moment she heard the word 'Owl'. Greg admitted to being tempted to 'lose' the book somewhere."
"Pearl had to stop me from eating it, just to end the suffering..." Amethyst chuckled.
Pearl shook her head. "I personally wanted to toss it in some far-flung corner of my gem and forget it existed. The only one who liked that poem after the fiftieth time was Steven."
Connie giggled. "I was more into 'The Intelligent Merchant' myself..."
Pearl nodded. "Oh yes, I'm familiar with that one." she summoned a book from her gem and flipped through it. "Here."
She held it out to Connie, and the girl's eyes lit up as she saw the familiar story. "Oh wow..." she checked the cover of the book. "Indian Fairy Tales..." glancing over at Rose and Steven, she nodded. "I've got time." she grinned as she settled down to read the book.
A couple of hourslater...
Pearl walked over to Steven. "Sorry to interrupt... But it's time to go. They'll be back from the mission soon, and it's best if we're not here when that happens."
Rose sighed and gave Steven a hug. "Oh, I am so proud of you. My little man. Look after your father, listen to the others, and marry that girl and have me lots of grandbabbies." she grinned.
Steven blushed brightly. "Oh stars... Mum!" he covered his face.
Pearl laughed. "Rose, don't tease the poor lovesick boy."
Steven groaned. "I can't win..."
"Steven, head over to the warp pad now, okay? Take them to... the strawberry battlefield. I'll be there shortly. I just... I have something I need to say to your mother." she sighed.
Steven nodded, and gave Rose one last hug. "Bye, mum. It was great meeting you."
"Bye sweetie." Rose waved as he ran up to the warp pad.
Pearl waited until they disappeared in a flash of blue light. "Rose. I've already said most of what needed to be said. Both today, and before you... before Steven was born." she sighed. "But, there's something else."
Rose waited patiently. "Yes, Pearl?"
"Before we came here, we were actually in the future for a day or so. We meet ourselves, Amethyst and I." she blushed. "We learned that Steven is still alive more than two hundred years from now. He could possibly live as long as he wanted to." she sighed. "I'm okay with that. Relieved actually. I... I love that kid. I was dreading losing him some day."
Rose nodded. "Having met him... I can see why. He really is amazing."
Pearl smiled. "You don't know half of it. He's probably the best decision you've ever made. Even if I didn't think that for a long time... Now, I don't know what we'd do without him." she laughed. "He even convinced Greg and I to actually talk to each other. We've... worked things out. I wouldn't say we're friends, of course, but..." she shrugged vaguely.
Rose smiled happily. "Oh, I'm glad. I only wanted you two to get along."
Pearl sighed and rolled her eyes. "Rose, as a general rule, when Person A and Person B are both in love with Person C... A and B tend to not like each other. We were rivals for your affections. And I was furious that he had won." she shook her head. "But, we're over that now."
Glancing at the sky, Pearl frowned. "Okay, I have to get going now. The me from this time will be here soon, and I really don't want to have to fight myself... Just remember, you were here alone. Goodbye Rose. Possibly forever, this time..." she bent over and gave Rose a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, for Steven. He really is amazing."
"Bye, Pearl." Rose waved as Pearl walked to the warp pad and disappeared.
A few minutes later, the warp pad lit up again, revealing Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl standing there.
Rose waved at them, her eyes shining with a mixture of sadness and happiness. "Hey, guys."
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Pearl appeared on the warp pad with a sigh.
Amethyst glanced at her, then looked away, jealously tingeing her eyes.
"Hey, Pearl!" Steven called, his mouth full of strawberry, juice smeared on his face and shirt.
Pearl sighed. "Hey Steven. You've got a little something..." she pointed at his curly brown hair with a smile.
Steven reached up and pulled the large seed away. "Hehehe, whoops."
Connie took another careful bite, watching in amazement as Amethyst swallowed a strawberry the size of her own head whole.
Pearl sat on the warp pad. "Eat your fill. Then we can get you somewhat cleaned up before we head to the next location." she looked up at the stars already filling the sky in this part of the world with an unfamiliar sense of peace.