Chapter 25: Moving Forward

Doug was an anime fan, and had been, for a long, long time. He'd been one back when it had been difficult. When there hadn't been any CrispyBread sites or online streams or official American releases. When getting to watch a new show had meant knowing the right people, or tracking them down, and exchanging bootleg VHS tapes. It had been tough, but it had been rewarding, for those fascinating storylines, the vivid animation, and above all else, the breathtaking fight-scenes.

Which was why Doug was not exaggerating when he said the Gems fighting was exactly like an anime.

He sat on the edge of a stone bench, hands clenched, barely breathing. It was like dancing, or poetry. Pearl, spinning and leaping, her spear a blur as she ran across the arena's floor. Garnet was more of a juggernaut, a force of nature, crumbling rock with a single punch.

Together the pair sparred, and Doug could see their familiarity. They had clearly known each other for a long, long time, and practiced against one another so often that by this point, it was practically rehearsed.

It finally came to the end when the two Gems reached a draw: Pearl's spear pressed against Garnet's chest, one of Garnet's massive gauntlets wrapped around Pearl waist.

They simply stood there, staring, until finally Steven broke into applause. "That was awesome! Great work guys!"

Doug quickly joined the clapping, as did Connie. Even Priyanka offered some gentle applause, although her face stayed that cool, blank expression that said she was still judging the situation.

Garnet and Pearl accepted praise for a minute or so, and then got to business. "Tell me," Pearl began, "what were each of our greatest weaknesses in that fight?"

The transformation on the children's faces was instant. Immediately Connie sat up straighter, clasping her hands in her lap, pressing her lips together in concentration. Even Steven, who from all Doug's interactions with seemed like a rather goofy and easily distracted boy, summoned an immense amount of concentration.

"Pearl, you used some moves that would have been very effective against a large group of slower enemies, but were fairly ineffective against a single, fast target," said Connie.

"And Garnet, you sorta got carried away at some points, and left yourself open to counter-attack," added Steven.

It was the first of many questions, all of which Connie and Steven answered, sometimes to the length where they were required to draw complex diagrams on a blackboard. Both of them were currently banned from combat training— and indeed, physical exertion of almost any kind, until they had sufficiently recovered. However, Priyanka had tentatively allowed Connie to restart tactical studies, as long as both parents were allowed to observe.

Doug had to say, he was impressed. He was hardly an expert in this kind of stuff, but he could tell how in-depth it was. And more importantly, he could tell how Connie's eyes seemed to light up, how her responses, however politely phrased, thrummed with eagerness and excitement.

It was good to see. Really, really good. Why had it taken so long for him and Priyanka to come watch?

Eventually the lesson died down, and the Gems turned to the adult Maheswarans. Garnet said, "And you two."

"What about us?" said Priyanka, eyes narrowing. Doug noticed Connie blanching, and Steven reaching out to give her silent reassurance.

"We were wondering— ah, do you have any questions, concerns?" said Pearl. The shift in her demeanour from confident knight/teacher to nervous parent was immediately obvious.

Doug raised her eyebrows at Priyanka.

"This…. 'Cloud' Arena," she said. "Is this where you hold all your combat lessons?"

"Most of them," said Pearl. "It provides a large, flat surface which is well suited to combat. It was traditionally the site of many Gem battles, so it seemed fitting. We do the occasional session elsewhere, however."

"So we can practice in a large variety of terrain and conditions," said Connie.

Priyanka nodded slowly, her eyes scanning the landscape. "There are no walls or fences on that side. It seems dangerous."

"Ah, well," said Pearl, "we always take great care to keep away from the ledge—"

"— and I have floating powers, so if anyone does fall, I can catch 'em!" said Steven.

Doug swallowed a wince.

Garnet took a step forward, laying a hand on Pearl's shoulder. "You're right. We can build a fence. Until then, combat lessons can be held elsewhere."

There were a few more questions in that vein from Priyanka— she'd been asking them since they'd arrived at Steven Universe's beach house earlier that afternoon, questioning everything from the source of the Temple's power to the hygiene issues surrounding having a pet lion. She seemed to be satisfied from the answers she got. Most of them, at least.

And finally, it was time for Doug's question.

He got up, feeling acutely aware of how sweaty his palms were. He asked, "Is there… any particular reason you use spears and gauntlets and stuff?"

"We generate them from our gems," said Garnet. "They are a part of us."

Doug looked at Pearl. "You can summon both spears and swords?"

"No," she answered, shaking her head. "I trained with the sword before I learned to summon my spear. I still have immense fondness for the weapon, which is why I agreed to train Connie in its usage."

"Right. But is there any reason that you have to use all these old fashioned weapons?" At their slightly confused expressions, he reached for the holster at his waist. "I mean… would a gun work too?"

Garnet regarded him as he pulled out his firearm. "Yes. Provided you know how to use it."

"I do," said Doug, looking down at the gun, feeling the weight of it. He was a trained security guard, after all. Even if his current position guarding beaches and amusement parks meant he didn't use them on duty, he still made a point of visiting the firing range every few months, just to keep sharp. After a long, private conversation with the family, he'd decided it might be good to make those visits a little more frequently. Just in case.

He caught Connie's eye from across the stands. She was worrying her lip, clearly uncomfortable about the idea of her parents going into danger.

Well, the parents weren't comfortable about their daughter doing the same. So fair was fair.

"I want to learn how to fight too," Priyanka announced. Her voice was as steady as ever— only Doug noticed the sweat rolling down her forehead, giving her away. "I want to be able to protect Connie in battle. Can you teach me that?"

Priyanka was scared. She'd confessed as much to Doug, while the two had been curled up in bed late last night. She was a doctor— she took the Hippocratic Oath seriously. It went beyond that, though. She understood that sometimes violence was necessary for self-defense. She was afraid she wouldn't be good enough. That she was too old to learn. That Connie would get into trouble they couldn't get her out of. That she already was, and it was their fault, for letting her become friends with Steven Universe in the first place.

She was afraid, but persevered despite it.

Like mother, like daughter, Doug thought.

Pearl's eyebrows flashed. "I can, yes. What weapon do you want to learn?"

"I… don't know," Priyanka confessed. "Can you show me some options?"

The alien smiled. "Certainly."

They headed to the teleportation pad as a group, and as Doug floated in the strange magical stream, there was something bubbling in his chest that felt suspiciously like hope.

All things considered, The Barn was actually a pretty chill place to hang, Amethyst thought. There was funky art piled everywhere, and a hammock, and all sorts of tasty things to snack on, and a TV. Watching the TV here had significant advantages compared to the Temple (e.g. no Crying Breakfast Friends). It also had some its own downsides (e.g. a lot of Camp Pining Hearts).

Not that Amethyst minded the show much. It was pretty cute, in its own way. The cheesiness reminded her of L'i lButler.

Still, she'd been keen to get them watching something, anything else. It had taken a fair amoung of rummaging around in her room, and a lot of pitching, but eventually she'd found an old VHS tape about Greek myths Peri and Lapis were interested in.

The barnies seemed to be enjoying it. Lapis liked Poseidon, Peridot liked Hephaestus. Amethyst mostly just enjoyed the epic fight scenes.

"Gracos were cool," Lapis announced, when the first episode finished and the credits rolled. She'd called the Greeks three different things that day, and Amethyst wasn't sure if she genuinely couldn't remember, or was just pretending.

"Yes," Peridot agreed, from here side of the couch, Pumpkin snuggling in her lap. "I had no idea there were human individuals possessing powers which match those of a Diamond."

"Huh, what?" said Amethyst. "There aren't. That was all a load of bunk."

Peridot spluttered. "But you said it's a documentary That means it's a factual program!"

"Yeah, it's a factual program about old stories." Amethyst smirked. "And they didn't even get the stories right.

Lapis, sprawled out on the top of the couch, leaned up. "How would you know?"

Before, Amethyst would have thought Lapis was been being deliberately obnoxious. Now she saw it as a playful challenge, one Amethyst was more than happy to meet.

"Because," said Amethyst, "I'm in a bunch of them."

Lapis raised her eyebrows. "Oh really?"

"Yeeeep."

"Well, tell us," Peridot demanded.

Amethyst laughed. How could she not?

"Okay, okay. So it was like, I dunno, three thousand years ago maybe? Four? I forget. Anyway, there was this dude, Bachho or something. Doesn't matter.

Anyway, he'd gotten his hand on some gem doodad Rose had made way back. Controlled plants, and Bachus— that was it— Bacchus was using it to grow grapes."

"So he was a farmer. Like us!" said Peridot.

"Naaah. Not like you."

"Why not?" said Lapis.

A brief explanation of wine and alcohol and drunkenness followed. She could tell they didn't get the appeal. Probably for the best, since Gems couldn't get drunk, a fact that Amethyst had groused about many a time. Sounded like fun.

"So yeah, Bacchus is growing all these plants and making all this wine, and people are worshipping him as like, a god of partying or whatever. And it's seriously gone to his head. Anyone he doesn't like nearly gets choked to death by vines or drinks poisoned wine, that kinda thing.

"We start hearing stories about him, and go out looking. I find him first. Dude loved himself some hot women—" Amethyst winked, getting Peridot to blush a satisfyingly deep green. Lapis rolled her eyes. "So I stroll in, and he starts boozing me up. He keeps drinking, I keep drinking. It's getting to the point where he can't even stand, and I'm not even batting an eye. Now he's like, mad . He's the 'god of parties', he can't let some girl show him up. So he keeps drinking and drinking, trying to prove how much more awesome he is than me...

"... and then he passes out. So I steal the artifact off him, drump some wine on his head, and run off. The end."

Amethyst got up to bow, but neither Peridot or Lapis looked as impressed as she felt the story deserved.

"Skilled strategic thinking," said Peridot, trying to be supportive.

Lapis rolled down onto the couch proper. "The movie was better."

"Oh yeah?" Amethyst demanded, hand on her hip. "How?"

"The cool bow lady," Lapis said simply.

Amethyst laughed. "Ha, Artemis! I was Artemis!"

"I didn't know you were an archery expert," said Lapis.

"Heh, okay, I guess I wasn't, " chuckled Amethyst. Peridot opened her mouth, so Amethyst went on quickly. "Now there's a fun story. Basically, Pearl and I were fighting this giant owl, so we decided to fuse." Amethyst gave a quick mime of dancing, twisting around while wiggling her butt— and in the process, got a glance of the dawn through the half-open barn door. "Oh man, that's the time? I gotta go!"

"Go?" said Lapis. "Why?"

Her tone was nearly as deadpan as usual, but there was a hint of genuine displeasure that made Amethyst feel pretty pleased.

"Greg's taking Steven to this music fair today, and I promised to tag along." Amethyst gestured at the rising sun. "They'll probably be heading off soon. Don't wanna miss it." She considered something for a moment. "They'd probably be cool if you guys wanted to come with."

Lapis and Peridot exchanged glances.

"Nah," said Lapis. "I'm good."

"I think I would enjoy a day at home also," Peridot agreed, scratching Pumpkin behind her leaves. The pup made a little squeak of contentment.

Amethyst could get that. After everything they'd been through, she'd spent her own fair share of time just chilling in her garbage piles.

Still, it'd be nice to get out there. Listen to some tunes, maybe make a mosh pit.

But the peck on the cheek Peridot gave her before she left was also nice.

"See ya 'roomies'!" Amethyst called as she left the Barn, feeling like she was floating before she even reached the warp pad.

With Amethyst gone, the credits ended and the Barn filled with the fizz of static from the primitive human media player.

"Lapis, could you put in the next cassette?" Peridot asked. She motioned towards Pumpkin to demonstrate that she was only asking so she would not disturb their pet.

"Sure," Lapis said, but she didn't move. She was sitting on the top of the couch, staring blankly at the television.

Peridot stopping petting Pumpkin, and looked at Lapis sidelong.

"Uhh," she said, tentatively. "Lapis? I can get it if—"

"Huh?" Lapis blinked at her, as if just remembering where she was. "No. Right. I'm getting it.."

Lapis got up, grabbing the next VHS tape, but then just stood in front of the TV.

Peridot watched her with growing concern. "Do you require assistance?"

"No," Lapis snapped.

Instinctively, Peridot flinched back.

Lapis flinched too. "Sorry," she said quickly. "Sorry. Just… thinking."

Peridot was holding Pumpkin a little tighter than necessary, trying to calm herself. She still had to remind herself that on Earth, raised voices did not indicate incoming corporal punishment. She made herself ask, "About?"

"Fusion."

If anything, that made Peridot more tense. This was not a subject on which Lapis was particularly fond.

"Amethyst mentioned it, just now," Lapis said. She'd left the VHS tape on the top of the television, turning to face Peridot but not looking in her eyes. "In the room, they were all fusing. They don't seem to mind. They do it so casually."

"... Yes?" Peridot said, not sure what else was safe.

Lapis was breathing. This was unusual.

"Something happened in the room. To us. Like fusion."

Peridot's brow furrowed. Things were muddled, but... "I do not recall us sharing a body."

Lapis shook her head. "Not a body. Minds. I think. It felt… it felt like when I was Malachite. Because as Malachite… it didn't always feel like it was me in control. Or, no, she was me, but I was also me, and Jasper was Jasper, and the thoughts would flow between us and…"

Peridot sat very still.

Pumpkin, sensing the tension, leapt out of Peridot's lap and and to the floor. She paced between the two Gems, letting out a very low whine.

Flowing, like water. It was a imprecise metaphor, but Peridot had to admit, a fitting one. New thoughts in her head, strange and out of place, but not immediately recognisable as foreign.

"I'm sorry," Peridot said quickly.

"You're sorry?" Lapis demanded. "I'm sorry! You don't— you didn't— deserve to be in— in here !" She waved her arms to encompass her whole body.

"... deserve?" Peridot echoed.

"I'm a mess," Lapis muttered. "People shouldn't have to deal with me. You shouldn't."

Realizing what was happening, Peridot stood up. Lapis got into these emotional states sometimes. Sometimes, the things she had done, and the things which had been done to her, became overwhelming. At such times, she did not like herself very much.

Peridot understood this, because for all that she herself was, objectively, an incredibly intlligent, rational and powerful being, she didn't always like herself either.

Such times were difficult, and Peridot appreciated when others assisted her. .

Peridot got close to Lapis, but did not touch her, unsure if she wanted it. "What happened in the room… The mind fusion part, rather... didn't feel like like a mess."

Lapis looked up at her with shiny, skeptical eyes. They had turned reflective.

"Admittedly," Peridot began, "the emotions that I received from you were… hardly pleasant. But that can only be expected, considering the situation we were in! And I was still—comforted from them. To know you were there. It was empirical proof that someone else was sharing my experiences.

"Oh," said Lapis.

There was a silence. Peridot wished the television was on. It would have been less awkward.

".. was it… unpleasant for you ?" Peridot eventually asked.

"I… don't know," Lapis said. She took a step backwards. Her eyes had returned to normal. "It was... Not as bad as Malachite, I guess. But I— I didn't want it to be like this! If I fused again, ever, I wanted it— I wanted to choose , both of us, but—"

Something inside Peridot startled. "You've thought about us fusing?"

Lapis froze. She looked angry, and Peridot was afraid she'd made a mistake.

The anger was short lived, however, and Lapis sagged, looking defensive. "Not— not really! I would never actually consider that. Like I said, I'm a me—"

"I don't think you're a mess," Peridot interjected quickly. In a quieter voice, she admitted, "I've been thinking about fusing too."

"... really?" Lapis's tone was even, emotionless.

And Peridot really had. Not with Lapis, specifically— or not just with Lapis. More the concept of fusion in general.

She'd replayed the night with Garnet many times, theorizing on what the outcome would have been if not for that flash of cowardice, if she had not given up. Wondering what Garnet's response would be if Peridot were to ask again. Wondering what such a bond with Seven would feel like, or Amethyst, or perhaps even Pearl. What it would mean to take that final, sacrilegious step, to perform something so forbidden by Homeworld, to give herself over to another in such a complete way.

But Peridot wasn't sure how to put all of that into words, so instead she mumbled, "It's a fascinating phenomenon, and I wish to collect first-hand data."

"... with me?" asked Lapis.

"Potentially! But ," said Peridot, "I know how you feel about fusion, and I would hardly request it of you. Especially since you are far more experienced regarding it than me, and so I just your judgement, and I do not want you to think you have to—"

"Peridot," Lapis said. "I get it. It's okay."

Peridot stopped.

Lapis's wings had sprouted from her back, but she hadn't moved to fly away. She looked concerned, uncomfortable— but perhaps a little pleased.

"I might. Want to try fusing with you too. Maybe. Eventually. But not right now. I'm…"

She trailed off. That was alright. She didn't need to finish.

"I understand," said Peridot. She glanced at the VHS tape. "Do you want to watch more of non-factual 'documentary'?"

Lapis blinked, and then a small smile spread across her face. "... Yeah."

They settled back in on the couch, this time, sitting side-by-side. Pumpkin curled up in Lapis's lap, who stroked her back gently. Gods and heroes and monsters appeared on the screen. Lapis rolled her eyes at them, and Peridot compiled a list of questions regarding accuracy to ask Amethyst at a later time. The pair settled in close, and were content with what they had.

The house was quiet.

Steven was out. Amethyst was out. Garnet, too, was presumably out. Even Lion was nowhere to be found.

Pearl was alone. She'd been pacing the kitchen for the last fifteen minutes.

She glanced up towards the portrait of Rose, smiling serenely.

Pearl sighed. Rose wouldn't blame her. Quite the opposite. Rose would be happy for her, surely.

And regardless. Rose wasn't here. How she would have felt didn't matter. Or shouldn't matter, at least.

A bright light glowed from Pearl's temple. Out of her gem she produced a leather jacket, carefully folded. She laid it on the kitchen counter. She reached into its pocket and took out a piece of paper. This too had been carefully folded.

She unfolded it.

Despite the utmost care she had taken with it, it had still ended up crumpled. Slight wrinkles and discolorations had formed, even in such a short time. Only a couple of months.

But that could be a long time for a human, couldn't it?

Pearl closed her eyes. She wished she'd done this sooner. But she'd had no idea of the protocol of this. Hadn't wanted to 'come on too strong', or seem weird, or pushy, and scare that beautiful, mysterious human away.

… had been scared of scaring her away.

And then it had felt like too long, and she'd been afraid she'd passed some invisible line, and that now it would be even weirder.

It had been a relief, in a way. She didn't have to do it. She shouldn't do it. She could just move on with her life.

But evidently, a large part of her didn't want to move on. Not without even trying.

Steven's phone had been left lying on the kitchen counter as well. He hadn't brought it with him, which was unusual. Especially unusual was the fact that Pearl had overheard Garnet this morning explicitly tell Steven he should leave it behind today.

Pearl smiled. She'd need to thank Garnet later.

Even though she had long since memorized the number, Pearl read it again, and carefully punched each one into the phone pad. There was a ringing sound.

One ring. Two. Three.

"Hello?" said a voice, low and husky.

"Hello!" exclaimed Pearl, too loudy. She clamped down, and in a more regular voice said, "Hello! You might not remember me. We met some time ago at a concert…"

Garnet's job was to look after her family.

It wasn't a job she had asked for, and it wasn't one she was very good at, she knew. She could be too quiet, too cold, too judgmental.

She was trying to be better, but she still made mistakes. And the biggest one, in a long time? The room fiasco. She should have been able to stop it.

But she hadn't. So all she could do now was help everyone move past it.

She watched over Steven, cooking meals for him, making sure he regained his weight.

She kept three eyes on Amethyst, taking care to thank and compliment her for any help she gave.

She kept Pearl busy, with the kind of chores and missions she loved, and the occasional excuse for socializing.

She communicated regularly with Greg, and even the Maheswarans, doing her best to reassure.

She made regular visits to the barn, just to make sure everything was going smoothly there.

Things were getting back to normal.

This past day had been particularly pleasant, in a gentle, relaxed sort of way. All four of them had just spent the day at the house, simply 'hanging out', as Steven called it. Swimming, television, puzzles, that sort of thing. Currently Steven, Amethyst and Pearl were engaged in some sort of board game that involved an inordinate number of figurines, dice and cards.

Garnet had saved herself from the confusing activity by volunteering herself for lunch duty. She did not get the same kind of enjoyment from the process of cooking as Pearl did, but she'd found there was satisfaction in cutting vegetables into tiny pieces and crushing it into tuna. .

There was a clatter of dice, and then a moan as Steven went, "Aw, geez, I'm out."

"Yes!" cried Amethyst.

"Amethyst," said Pearl.

"What?" said Amethyst. "The whole point of the game is to win, that's how it works ."

"Yes, well, you could still be a little sympathetic."

"Aww, it's okay guys. I lost, fair and square. You guys have fun."

"Oh, I will Steven," said Amethyst. "Not sure about Pearl, though, when I drive her city into the ground."

"Oh, you will not."

Steven laughed, and set off towards the kitchen. Not-so-coincidentally, Garnet had just finished preparing lunch for him.

"Thanks Garnet," he said, as she slid the tuna melt, watermelon slices and tall glass of milk towards him.

Garnet didn't say anything. She just smiled, and leaned back on the fridge to watch as he ate. It was good, seeing him enjoying proper, solid, healthy food.

Steven practically inhaled his meal, finishing with a smack of his lips. He took a little longer with his milk, sipping it slowly as he stared down at the empty plate. Garnet let herself drift a little, half-listening to Pearl and Amethyst argue over the correct implementation of some obscure rule.

"Garnet?" Steven said. She looked at him. "How're you doing?"

Behind her glasses, Garnet raised her eyebrows. She said, "I'm fine."

He chewed his lip. "You sure? I mean… you were stuck in Mom's room too, and…"

"I am not a being who needs to eat and drink."

"Yeah…" He trailed off, and glanced over his shoulder at the coffee table, where Pearl was currently emptying out Amethyst's treasury. Amethyst was squawking in mock rage, and both of them looked perhaps the happiest they had since they'd been freed.

"In the room," Steven said, turning back, "You were there, but so were Ruby and Sapphire. And if the room was giving us what we wanted, then does that mean that…"

Steven certainly had become perceptive.

Garnet pushed off from the fridge and came closer to the boy. "That was just the room's attempt at parsing my desire to be together with Ruby and Sapphire." She clasped her hands together. "It didn't realize I already have that."

Steven smiled, but still didn't seem entirely convinced.

"That's not the only thing I want," Garnet said. Steven looked up at her. "I always want to ensure our family is happy. That's how the room took me in so completely. You could all be content there." She blew air out her nose. "Or it made it seem that way."

Steven reached out his arm and laid it, palm up, on the counter. Garnet pressed her own palm into it, and felt a warm reassurance in her gem when he squeezed. He said, "Well, we can all be happy out here too."

"Yes."

"... really dude?" said Amethyst, from across the room.

Garnet assumed it was just a part of the board game, until she looked up and saw that Amethyst was looking right at her. She continued, "Don't act like those are the only things ya want."

"They are," said Garnet, frowning.

"Yeah? Then how come the room spat Bismuth at you to keep ya happy?"

Garnet froze.

"Amethyst—" Pearl hissed, pressing her hand of cards down on the table.

Amethyst shrugged. "Just saying. The room was giving us all stuff we wanted. You got to moon over Pink Hair, Steven got to smooch Connie, I got to ask literally everybody out— and when Ruby tried to burn the whole place down, it gave y'all Bismuth. That's gotta mean somethin'."

Steven's grip on his now-empty glass was so tight his knuckles had turned white. "I don't remember this."

"... I believe you were unconscious," Pearl said, delicately.

"Cuz dehydration," added Amethyst, not so much.

Pearl's expression was distant. "My memories are vague too," she said. "I think I may have been in… shock, perhaps. But I remember something about a… water bottle?"

"Lapis conked Bismuth with one, yeah. She was like, super pissed."

Garnet did not blame her. She could still feel her own anger, frustration, helplessness—

Steven got up abruptly and took his dishes to the sink.

"Bismuth was just an illusion," Garnet said. "It doesn't matter."

For a moment, no one spoke. Amethyst looked like she wanted to, but whatever flash of courage that had made her bring up the topic in the first place had apparently abandoned her, leaving her sitting on the couch, hunched over and fists balled. Pearl was sitting next to her, lips a thin line, eyes fixed on the board pieces in a transparent attempt to appear otherwise occupied. There was a clinking sound as Steven washed his dishes.

Without looking at them, he said, "Doesn't it though?"

"No," said Garnet. "You don't need to worry about it."

"B-but I do worry about it!"

"Steven, sweetheart-" began Pearl.

He turned, and his cheeks were red. Not that natural pink of returning health, but a flush of barely suppressed, anger, or tears, or fear. "I try not to, but I— I think about Bismuth a lot. About how I had to hurt her like that, and put her away—"

"That wasn't your fault," said Pearl. "You were protecting yourself."

"Yeah dude," Amethyst agreed.

"It's okay," Garnet said.

"No it's not!" Steven shouted. He was breathing heavily now. "I— I know it wasn't my fault, but it wasn't— it wasn't Bismuth's either! You told me— you told me after I was born it took you months to realize I wasn't Mom! And she was out, like, a day, and when she attacked me, she didn't understand!"

"Steven," said Garnet, with no idea how to follow it up.

Pearl crossed her arms. "The fact that she was actually attempting to shatter Rose is hardly much reassurance here."

Steven wiped his hand on his face. "She was just— angry. Angry, a-and confused, and sad. Really sad. She was— crying, by the end, and she asked me— she wanted me to—" He broke off, taking a moment to catch himself. "And when she first came out, you guys were so happy. The happiest I've ever seen you…"

Garnet crouched down, wrapped her arms around Steven and held him close. "And nothing would make us sadder than losing you."

He snuffled into her chest.

Amethyst and Pearl approached, and though Garnet could not see them behind her, she could feel them there. Could feel the tension radiating off them.

She opened her third eye, and Looked.

The first future she Saw was simple. Garnet shut the conversation down there and then. Told Steven they'd never do anything to put him at unnecessary risk. Pearl and Amethyst agreed with her. Steven nodded mulishly. They all went on with their lives.

In the next future, Garnet looked to Pearl, let her direct the conversation. Pearl twisted her hands and said, "I missed Bismuth— I still miss her. But if she's willing to go that far… to not even consider the ramifications…" She shook her head. "I just wish I could understand why."

In the future after that, Garnet gave Amethyst the chance to speak. "I dunno," she said, rubbing her neck. "Like, I barely even knew Bismuth. And what she nearly did to Steven is just… messed up. But… ya guys clearly care 'bout her… and it's not like we'd let her lay a finger on him, y'know?"

Garnet closed all three of her eyes. In her mind, she saw Bismuth's bubble, floating among the sea of corrupted monsters and fallen friends.

She had caught herself looking at that far too many times.

"Steven," she said, here in the present. "Do you… want Bismuth out?"

"I… don't know," Steven mumbled. "I… It ended so badly… If there's a chance, I'd like to… try and make it better."

Making it better.

Garnet gazed slowly around the room, at her assembled family.

There was a lot in this universe she couldn't fix. That nobody could. She couldn't change the outcome of the War. She couldn't bring Rose Quartz back. She couldn't make Homeworld just disappear. Couldn't guarantee everyone's safety. Not forever.

But… there were some things they could. That's what they'd been doing, this past week, all of them. Talking things out. Moving on. Repairing and rebuilding.

She thought of Bismuth. Her big booming laugh, her cheerful grins, her terrible jokes, her way of reassuring everyone around her that no matter how horrible things got, there was still a chance of getting out of it.

She could have one more chance for all of that.

"Alright," Garnet said, getting up. Steven blinked at her. Everyone did. "If we all agree, we can unbubble her. Try to talk things out. Make things better."

She waited, and one by one, received nods from everyone.

"But not now," said Garnet. "Not yet." She ruffled Steven's hair. "We'll need time to plan. And to make sure you're fully recovered."

Steven gave her a small, grateful smile. "But soon?"

"But soon."