Steven Universe Fanfiction

My Pearl

Chapter 13: Amends and Progress


"I hope she's okay…" Steven worries, taking slow bites of his bowl of cereal as he sits on a stool by the kitchen counter.

"Ah, she'll be fine," Amethyst reassures Steven, "Remember how long it took Pearl after that sword accident?"

"Won't Mr. Feng be worried after two weeks?" Steven asks, taking glances at Patricia's gem tucked tidily in a wicker basket with a pillow and blanket.

"Maybe…if those friends of his don't keep him too busy, of course," Pearl comments.

"Definitely," Garnet answers as she leans against the refrigerator.

That's when Patricia's gem begins to glow and float as her form begins to reconstitute itself. From her gem, her waifish body comes first. Elegant arms and legs then morph and curl out from the body as the limbs begin to bend and split to form the joints, fingers, and toes. The head with a prominent pointed nose sprouts from the body of light. Long and wavy wisps begin to strand out as they become fuller and curl at the end. The body of light grows brighter until it flashes, revealing Patricia whole once more.

"Mrs. Feng's back!" Steven exclaims as he jumps off the stool and hugs the gem.

"Oh my, hello to you too, Steven," Patricia greets back as she returns the hug.

"Twelve hours; not bad. Good to see you again, Patricia," Garnet comments.

"Thank you and forgive me if I worried any of you. It's been some time since I've used my weapon like that and the recoil took me by surprise."

"Next time, we'll have Amethyst help you keep your ground. We'd hate for it to happen again," Pearl says as she approaches the other.

"Yeah sure," Amethyst nonchalantly replies as she begins to shapeshift starting with her Purple Puma form, "Big and beefy…," another flash of light and there is now what appears to be some form of concave wall, "solid and secure ooorrr…," another flash and Amethyst has shapeshifted into Edward with a full-lipped grin of mischief and waggling eyebrows, "maybe something a little fun, eh?"

"Amethyst!" Pearl reprimands.

"I think that would be more distracting than fun, not to mention a little weird…" Patricia says in a deadpan tone as she eyes the ersatz Edward coldly. Getting the message, Amethyst shifts back to her normal form which Patricia appreciates with a nod, "That does remind me though, I should return to the shop. Edward and I may have our issues but that isn't much of an excuse to leave him with all the work."

"We'll walk you back," Garnet says as she approaches the gem, "We need to talk to him about his own test now since you did pretty well on your first mission. Who knows? Maybe something like this will happen again."

"Coming from you, that sounds like it's definitely going to happen," Amethyst snickers.

"Maybe," Garnet grins.

"I don't know…I'd hate to overwhelm him with all of this, especially with the arrival of his friends…then again, I don't think any reunions for old friends starts with a vicious beating…" Patricia worries.

"Whoa whoa whoa hold up," Amethyst chuckles, "What happened and what's that about a vicious beating? What? Did they meet up and the first thing they do is beat each other up, laughing all the way?"

"Oh um…" Patricia begins, wondering what to say. She sighs, "Yesterday, before the mission, Edward's friends from a long time ago attempted to rob the shop while Pearl and Steven were visiting. They managed to take Steven hostage as well."

"What!? That's so messed up! How are they all still friends after something like that!?" Amethyst yells in disbelief as Garnet listens with a grim face.

"To be fair, none of them knew who the other was until one of the robbers called out a name. From then, the conflict pretty much ended right then and there but not without people getting hurt," Patricia explains as simply as she can. Then again, even to her own ears it didn't sound quite right, "I'm sorry Steven got caught up in all of that. I…We never meant for…"

"Hey, it's alright," Steven interrupts, "Like I said, I've come close to dying lots of times. Besides, the cut already healed, see?"

There is an awkward shuffling and a cough from Pearl.

"Uh, yeah! Besides, seems like these 'friends' of Eddy's need to apologize anyway…after we deal with them!" Amethyst jests.

If it were any other bunch of hoodlums, she would've agreed whole-heartedly but they weren't just random strangers, were they? These were youths bonded to Edward by the ordeals and circumstances that shaped them. Edward would most likely protect them as much as he can but could he protect them without damaging their new bond, especially after they threatened it so? No, he couldn't. And yet he'll most definitely try.

"Mrs. Feng, are you alright?" Steven asks worriedly, shocking Patricia back.

It's only now that she notices what is happening: her thin hands wringed tightly, rapid in-takes of breath, a hammering heart. That's when a hand on her shoulder gives her another shock, Garnet's hand.

"Relax," Garnet reassures, "Their actions were their own; not you or Edward's. And even then, I trust you and Edward had particularly strong words with them, yes?"

Patricia can only nod slowly. Well, it was mostly Edward since she didn't feel like she knew them personally enough to scold them. Honestly, she was surprised at how harsh Edward was.

"Then that's good enough for me," Garnet smiles and chuckles, "Besides, worst we would've done is just scare them a little."

With a little cleaning after Steven's breakfast, the five begin the walk to the tea shop. Much like how the mission went, the energy and exuberance of Steven and Amethyst makes the trip as happy and fun as possible; the two even re-enact the mission from beginning to end. Puns and gags abound as Patricia converses with Pearl and Garnet on more serious matters with breaks in between from the dynamic duo. They eventually get within sight of the tea shop but coming from the other direction, they see a curious sight.

"Oh my, is that…?" Patricia wonders.

And lo from the opposite end of the street, Little Fortune trudges steadily on as he carries two bodies over his stout shoulders with hardened determination. His face softens when he recognizes Patricia but turns cautious when he notices the others with her.

" 'Ey, Little Fortune, you can put me down. I promised to behave, didn't I?"

"You also said we weren't going to rely on Big Bro anymore and yet look at where we are now," Little Zippo snipes.

"Zippo, shut the fuck up," Little Rooster groans.

"Language please; there's a child present," Pearl scolds.

"JESUS FFFFFFRIJOLES, WHAT THE…!? LITTLE FORTUNE, DOWN, NOW!" Little Rooster struggles from the strongman's shoulder.

Little Fortune complies as he deposits the two gently to their feet, facing the Crystal Gems and Patricia. Little Rooster stiffly adjusts himself ramrod straight as he bows at the waist at Patricia.

"Big Sis, it's uh good to see you are well, especially after yesterday."

"Big Sis…?" Patricia parrots back, "Oh my, there seems to be some confusion. I'm not…"

"You're married to Big Bro, aren'tcha?"

"Well…if that's what you call Edward then yes but I fail to see…"

"Then in accordance to the rules, you are our Big Sis and should be treated with utmost respect. Please forgive us for yesterday," Little Rooster explains, still bent at the waist in bow.

"Oh ummm…then as your Big Sis, I forgive you. But only after you apologize to Steven and his aunts," Patricia says, not quite sure about this new development.

"Right away, Big Sis," Little Rooster replies, turning towards his brothers, "Come on, guys, on the knees."

"Aww! Didn't we do this yesterday!?" Little Zippo complains as he drops to his knees anyway and perhaps slams his head a little too hard on the ground. Little Fortune slowly gets to his knees as well and bows.

"Is this really necessary? And aunts?" Pearl whispers to Patricia.

"I'm sorry, I panicked. I didn't realize they were that type of gang, I thought it was just as Steven said yesterday about them being more of a band of brothers type gang, not the organized ones that are popular in fiction. I don't even know how a Big Sister is supposed to act in that capacity," Patricia worries.

"We're not that kind of gang. Rooster just has a problem calming his tits is all," Little Zippo grieves, head still on the ground.

"Oh my god, shut up, Zippo! We're trying to get them to forgive us, remember?"

"Ok, that's enough. All of you, up," Garnet orders. The three jump straight to their feet and stand at attention but look a little confused as to why they did it so readily, "I don't know what your relationship is with Mr. and Mrs. Feng here…"

"Big Bro from the old days…," Little Rooster starts.

"…Back when we were wee' little things just learning how to get into the fights of our lives in the mean streets of Empire City…," Little Zippo swoons as he leans against Little Fortune.

For his part, Little Fortune takes out another fortune cookie and hands it to Amethyst after noting her excited face while handing the slip of paper to Garnet.

"Old friends make best friends," the fusion reads.

"…And since Big Bro married, his wife is considered our Big Sis," Little Rooster finishes.

"Makes sense," Amethyst says as she lazily chews the cookie and twirls a lock of hair, "Welp, it was nice meeting ya and all but we got some pretty important stuff to talk about with Eddy here so…yeah, buh-bye."

"We have business with Big Bro too," Little Rooster replies.

"What kind of business?" Steven asks with comical suspicion.

"Ah, it's nothing serious," Little Zippo waves off with his injured wrist until it gives a rather loud crack, "Fuck, that hurts. Ohhh, I'm so glad we came back for that hospital appointment now, ow."

"Idiot, couldn't you have waved with your other hand?" Little Rooster scolds harshly as he gently takes Little Zippo's wrist.

"But I wasn't feeling anything so I thought it was ok," he whined until he felt a wet slap, "WHAT THE…!? KID, WHAT!?"

"Sorry! I just wanted to help!" Steven cringes.

"HOW IS…wait a minute," Little Zippo begins. He experiments with his wrist, rotating and twisting it; even slaps it for good measure, "Holy shit, it feels better. WhwhatthefuckmanitactuallyfeelslikeIdidn'thaveitflattenedlikeroadkillwhatthefuckmanI'mfreakingoutmanwhat…"

"Deep breaths, Zippo. Kid, what did you just do cuz' I think you broke him," Little Rooster questioned.

"What!? Oh no! The spit was supposed to heal him!" Steven wails.

"So…healing spit? Well I'll be damned…" Little Rooster wondered as he stares at Little Zippo's wrist. Unfortunately, he's still muttering to himself in shock, "Relax, Zippo, just be happy it's healed or something."

"I'm sorry but what was that about a hospital visit?" Patricia asks.

"Oh um, Big Bro went ahead and called a hospital and set up appointments for us. Zippo for his wrist and I dunno' what for me and Little Fortune. We didn't want to…" Little Rooster begins.

"You mean you didn't want to, you dumb goober," Little Zippo grouses.

"Yeah yeah, I guess that's true…" Little Rooster sighs.

"What changed your mind then?" Patricia wonders.

"Eh, Little Fortune can be persuasive when he needs to be." At this, Little Fortune just flexes his arms in exaggerated fashion.

"I see. Well, why don't we all go in and straighten this out? I'm sure Edward would be glad to see you, all of you despite everything that's happened," Patricia says as she tries to open the door only to find it locked, "How odd…Edward would've had it unlocked by now…"

"Ah, he probably just overslept or something," Amethyst offers.

"Maybe…yesterday was rather…trying. Oh well," Patricia accepts as she draws her set of keys from her gem and unlocks the doors, "Why don't you all make yourself comfortable while I wake Edward up? Boys, would you like anything to drink?"

"Watermelon-Lychee bubble tea please!" Steven exclaims.

"Holy crap, bubble tea? We haven't had that in forever," Little Zippo says in awe, quickly riffling through the menu to the bubble tea section, "So many choices…Oh shit, Mango-Peach. Can I get the Mango-Peach one please?"

"None for me, thanks, Big Sis," Little Rooster answers, "Er, Berry-Blast for Little Fortune, if you don't mind."

Little Fortune nods in appreciation as he bounces slightly in his seat.

"Are you sure, Little Rooster? It's no trouble at all," Patricia asks with her hand on the kitchen door.

"I'm fine, really," Little Rooster reassures.

Patricia nods and enters the kitchen. For the most part it is clean even if the scent of fruits permeates the air. She wonders briefly why that is until she sees it: Edward's body crumpled on the ground in a pool of red, knife in hand.

"EDWARD!" She shrieks as she rushes forward and cradles his head to her heaving bosom, sobbing as she wails "No" in between.

Her cry has everyone rushing into the kitchen and taking in the scene with mixed shock and horror, with Pearl immediately trying to usher Steven out and shielding his eyes. The three young men can only stare shocked at the body that was their older brother before bowing their heads solemnly. While everyone has assumed the worst, Garnet notices something about the body. Slowly, she approaches sorrowful Patricia and places a comforting hand on her shoulder. Teary eyes look up as the fusion gently pries her away from her husband and holds him by his shoulders, the knife clattering to the floor. At this point, everyone is wondering what she is about to do…until she violently starts shaking the body vigorously.

"Whoa, what the fuck!?" Little Rooster rages as he steps forward with Little Zippo and Little Fortune following.

He stops though when the body gives a snort.

"Gzxxnnnah…wh-what? Where am I? Garnet…?" Edward groggily asks as he blinks.

"Welcome back," Garnet grins.

"Didn't…" Edward yawns, "…I didn't go…what? Wait…what time is it?"

"Edward?" Patricia hiccups.

"Patricia!" Edward exclaims and tries to move, "Um, Garnet?"

"My bad," as she sets him down in front of his wife.

Amethyst approaches the red on the kitchen floor. Swiping a finger across it, the purple gem places the digit in her mouth.

"Sweet, cranberry juice," Amethyst grins, "Mind if I clean up?"

"Er, if you want," Edward answers, "Not like we can serve it to customers. I'll get you a mop and bucket…"

"No need," Amethyst says as she shapeshifts her tongue. The elongated tongue swipes at the juice, leaving a pristine white floor. Retracting her tongue, it swirls and slurps along her full lips and with a smacking to savor the flavor, "Ah, best tasting floor juice I've tasted. What?"

"Amethyst, that was highly unnecessary. You should've used a mop like Mr. Feng suggested," Pearl scolds.

"What? Waste not want not and all that, right?" Amethyst lazily replies.

"It's unsanitary," Pearl continues, "Besides, the floor still has to be cleaned; considering what we just witnessed, I shudder to think where else your tongue has been."

"Ugh, what does it matter? The mess is gone, ain't it?"

As the two gems argue, the three young men are in awe of what they just witnessed.

"Ok, seriously, none of this is normal. Healing spit, weapons coming out of their bodies, their own bodies changing shape like that; what the hell is Big Bro involved in?" Little Rooster mutters lowly to his brothers.

Little Fortune unwraps another fortune cookie and hands the fortune to Little Rooster.

"You will have a pleasant surprise. Damn it, Little Fortune, this is more than just a surprise. We're talking some weird magic shit or something," Little Rooster replies.

"Is it weird that I got a boner from that?" Little Zippo asks, turning just so away from everyone else.

"Are you fucking kidding with me!? Now of all times!?" Little Rooster curses as he cuffs Little Zippo upside the head.

As all of this was going on, Patricia's mind is a maelstrom of thoughts. Really, she's glad that her husband is alive and not…well, not what she was thinking originally. But oh, what a fright it was to see his body in that red substance with the knife in one hand. Thank goodness it was just cranberry juice. Thinking back, she did smell fruit earlier, didn't she? But then there was always some sort of scent in the kitchen from all the teas being prepared, weren't there? For heaven's sake, the scent of blood probably could be covered up and no one would know until it was too late and the body had bled out. The thought takes a dark turn when she remembers how they left each other last. But he's not; he's alive, just awoken but alive and what a relief it is! But it was so late at night, who would've wondered or even come to his aid if anything should've happened? Humans were usually asleep at that time of night. So many what if's!

SLAP

Everyone cringes and hisses as Patricia leaves a very red handprint on Edward's face and then fiercely hugs him, burying into his chest. Gently, Edward wraps his arms around her and brings her in just a bit closer.

"I deserved that…" Edward begins.

"And much more, you bastard! I know it wasn't entirely your fault but must you frighten me in such a reckless manner!?" She screams into his body as it dissolves into sobbing, her body shaking uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry," Edward answers lamely, "But…I'm here. Nothing too bad happened…"

"To be fair, there was a bit of chance that the knife would've done the deed when you fell on the kitchen floor. It's a good thing you kept the knife pointing down, even in your tired state of mind," Garnet comments. Truly, the fusion meant for this to be comforting and something of a compliment but the fresh sob from Patricia said otherwise.

"Garnet!" Steven scolds.

"Sorry," Garnet apologizes.

"Wait, how does she…?" Little Rooster begins to ask.

"Future Vision," Garnet answers as she adjusts her shades.

"Future…!? Ok, you know what. I'm done, I'm not even going to ask," Little Rooster grumbles as he turns away and bumps his shoulders against his brothers lightly, "Come on, guys. Big Bro and Sis need their moment."

"We'll go with you," Garnet says as she hoists Steven up onto her shoulders and walks off after them, Amethyst and Pearl following.

And then there were two: Edward and Patricia, her still pressed flush against him as they sit on the kitchen floor with his arms around her; contemplating.

"Are you alright?" Patricia sniffles.

"I should be the one asking you that, Patricia."

"Edward, please."

A sigh.

"I'm fine. Just my front is sore from lying on the kitchen floor is all."

"Oh…I'll just…"

"I don't mind," Edward interrupts, hugging her just a bit tighter.

Silence. Despite the sweet allure of fruit, he can still smell the soothing vanilla that is his beloved; greedily taking a deep breath. Processing it all as he exhales, he notices something else. Mud? No, not quite. There is…richness to it, like freshly fallen rain on good pure soil.

"Did you…go somewhere?" he asks.

"I went to the temple."

"Right," he winces.

"I did go with the other gems and Steven to apprehend a corrupted gem as well," she sighs.

"Ah."

A pause.

"Care to…tell me about it?"

"Another time, I think. It ended successfully. For now, I think we should focus on your brothers before getting into the whole gem business again."

"Fair enough."

"You're taking this rather well…though your heartbeat suggests a lot of worry," Patricia observes.

"If I'm being honest, yeah. But as your husband, it is my duty to support you in your endeavors…"

"…As I do yours," Patricia finishes. She giggles, "Then again, I don't think many married couples consider fighting monstrous corrupted gems as a normal endeavor."

"Guess that just makes us one of a kind," Edward chuckles as he places his forehead against hers, "Forgive me?"

"Always, Beloved," she returns with a chaste kiss to his lips, "By the way, your brothers said that you had set up an appointment for them at a hospital.

"Mmm…they came back?"

"Is there any reason they wouldn't?" Patricia wonders.

"We had a falling out. I guess they felt…smothered by me. At least, Little Rooster did. I'm not too sure about the other two; it's possible they felt the same way."

"You can be a bit overbearing," Patricia admits.

"Yeah…"

"Not without good reason, I suppose. Still, don't you think you should trust them to be able to take care of themselves?"

"I should," Edward sighs, "Seeing as they got out of Empire City; that's a good sign."

"Was life there truly that terrible?"

When she is met with silence and his eyes moving away from hers to look down, she wonders if maybe she should have worded that question better. She muses that if it weren't terrible, he would've told her about growing up there with gusto.

"It could have been better but it wasn't the worst," Edward begins, "I suppose…if I hadn't grown up there, I wouldn't have met my brothers or the gang, the church and its tenants, never fallen in love…"

There is a pang in her proverbial heart…or was it her gem? Something or other at the mention of his past love. She supposes she really shouldn't be…jealous? She can't help it though, hearing him speak of another with the same fondness that he reserved for her. But then again, she wasn't there, was she? So honestly, she doesn't have a right to be mad but…

"…Most importantly though, I think," Edward continues, taking Patricia away from her musings, his eyes slowly meeting hers again, "I never would've met you, learned to love again, and built this wonderful life together. I know it's biased to say this because I know where I'm at now but if I knew back then that all the hell I went through led to you…I'd go through it again and again."

"Edward…" Patricia whispers, her eyes watering.

"Sorry, too much?" Edward asks as he wipes away her tears.

"Yes," she jokes, "But I love you anyway."

She kisses him once more, which he eagerly tries to return but is left chasing air as she retreats.

"Sorry, we got off topic. When exactly was this hospital appointment for your brothers, Edward?"

"At this rate, never," he mutters as he licks her neck.

"Edward!" she giggles with a light slap to his shoulder, "Behave! Seriously, what time?"

Edward cranes his head towards the clock above the kitchen door. Seeing the time, he suddenly scoops up his wife in his arms, whom gasps in surprise. His wife secured, he charges towards the kitchen door and kicks it open…bowling over a nosy collection of humans and gems, one of which had met the door face first.

"GAH! SON OF A…!" Little Zippo curses, as he writhes yet again on the floor, "WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND THE FACE!?"

"What were you all doing by the door?" Edward accuses.

"Nothing," Amethyst answers, "It's not like we were totally eavesdropping or anything."

"We were just worried is all!" Steven exclaims, covering up for Amethyst's nonchalant admittance.

"Right, well, worry no more! As for you three," Edward looks towards the three young men as Little Fortune and Rooster help up Zippo, "Up and at'em! We've got to run to the car and then possibly break every speed limit and law of the road there is to get to the appointment on time!"

"Why do we have to run?" Little Rooster asks.

"We keep the car at the local U-Stor just around the corner. I suppose it would've been convenient to have a garage built with the shop but we figured we would be able to save on just storing the car and taking it out whenever we needed it," Patricia answers, "Also dear, you can put me down."

"Not a chance! I'm carrying you the entire way!" He grins mischievously as he pushes his way through the glass doors and out, "Let's go! Move move move!"

With grumbling complaints from Little Zippo and a groan from Little Rooster, the three are running off after them.

"Edward! The shop! We have to lock up the shop!" Patricia worries.

"Hey! Don't worry about it! We'll look after the shop while you're gone!" Amethyst offers to their retreating backs as the purple gem and the others follow them outside.

"Steven, catch!" Edward yells as he throws the key at the surprised boy's outstretched hand, "I'm trusting you to lock up the shop and I'll stop by to pick up the key later! Keep Amethyst out of the kitchen! Thank you bye!" Edward calls out as he runs farther down the road and eventually out of sight.

"Aw, lame," Amethyst gripes.


Author's Note: While I'm glad I got this chapter out, something else tells me that this isn't the best chapter that could've been done. Ah well, there's always going to be some chapters like that I suppose. Anyways, the usual questions apply: interactions, character, story, what works or doesn't.

Once again, I'd like to thank those who have followed, favorite'd, and reviewed this story while extending it to those who don't since I look at view counts as well. I hope you all continue enjoying this story and see you next chapter.