Chapter 1

Author`s note: Whew, it`s been awhile since I wrote the last chapter and I`m really, really sorry that it took a long time for me to finish this one. I was caught in the middle of something that I just cannot put off and now that it`s done I`m finally free! Thanks for the reviews and favourites and followers- you guys are the best! Enjoy!

Lady Shadow92: It`s not going to be a surprise if I told you what will happen, will it? (winky face winky face) And yes, I am planning to include Lapis and Peridot in this story. They`re adorable!

masterbro 123: Dude, yeah! It`s gonna be epic! Thanks for your support!

JA75: Wow, thanks! And yeah, I guess that`s about it; unless you have a cooler name suggestion for him to call her. I`m up for any changes to make the story better.

Katmar1994 and the lunar queen; thank you! All of you are wonderful, beautiful people. Bless you.

Now, enjoy the story!

The woman slipped her shades back on as she stepped out the pizzeria and placed her wallet back into the red and black side bag she had with her. She took out her new, wide-brimmed sunhat along from the bag as well and put it on top of her head. She had a wide, pleased smile on her face from her full stomach.

Her light-tangerine Aston Martin was parked at the mostly empty parking space next to the building, save for the single, pizza-themed delivery car and the woman opted to go for a walk on the boardwalk. She now wore her t-shirt tucked into a pair of high-waist maroon shorts with a pair of brand new red and grey strappy sandals. It was amazing; barely anything changed since the last time she was here!

Everything was going fine so far. She walked over to the Funland Arcade and peered inside and her eyes widened in excitement. There were so many new games! She could hardly see any kids inside, however, and wondered if it was because they were in school or if the town really had a small number of residents. She decided to enter the dimly-lit building and take a look for herself. It almost felt like she was a kid again and the woman laughed aloud in amusement.

"Hello there!"

She turned her head to the source of the cheerful voice and spotted a bald, black man standing behind the ticket counter with an extraordinarily huge smile on his face, wearing a purple collared shirt that had with random shape patterns on it tucked into black pants.

"Hey," the woman greeted and took off her shades.

"I`m Harold Smiley, owner of the Funland Arcade and amusement park. Can I help you? I can provide you with change and tokens for the games, if you want some."

She shook her head. "Nah, I`m just looking around." She replied. "Been a long time since I visited this place. I see lots of changes." Harold Smiley raised a curious eyebrow and leant his body forward. The woman could see that despite his less-than-average height, he had a broad chest.

"Really now?"

"Yeah. Last time I was here, a white guy was in charge of Funland." She paused and gave him a suspicious look. "Wait a minute, Harold Smiley? Correct me if I`m wrong but aren`t you the RnB singer that retired years ago?"

The man had a shocked look on his face, before he beamed proudly towards the woman. "Why yes, yes I am!" He confirmed. "I can`t believe that somebody actually remembered me. I don`t recall being that popular, even back then."

The woman approached him and held out her hand. "No, but I had friends who loved your songs. I`m Sam."

"Well then Sam, nice to be of acquaintance to you. Can I help you with anything? It doesn`t have to do with games. As you could probably imagine, it`s not every day I meet someone who remembers who I used to be. It`s a nice change from the usual daily stuff I do." He replied and shook her hand with his own. Sam shrugged.

"I`m just looking around for today, but thanks."

"Hey, it`s no problem. Consider me a new friend."

Sam nodded. "Nice. Well, I`m off to see more stuff around here before the sun sets. Guess I`ll meet you again later, Mr Smiley." The man waved her off.

"Okay then Sam. Hey, and it`s Harold. Have fun!"

They parted ways and the woman continued her journey down the boardwalk. She made a mental reminder to visit the man and the amusement park later on in the future. The temperature was cooler than it had been when she`d first arrived in town, and the woman decided to just ditch her hat for day and enjoy the wind blowing through her hair. There were a lot more people moving to and fro now that it was not so hot out. A boy with pointy blond hair and a weird shaped head, sort of like an onion, walked past her with a blowtorch and she couldn`t help but to see where he was going to with it.

The boy looked like he was well off, with red pants, a tucked in white shirt and a blue outer shirt tied around his shoulders. Sam sat himself on one of the available benches and her sculptured eyebrows rose when she saw him enter the arcade and hoped that Harold won`t be having too much trouble dealing with him.

Sam thought about going down to the beach when suddenly her attention was caught by an annoying noise pattern going through the air.

"May-or De-wey, May-or De-wey."

The sounds came from a weird-looking van, being driven down the boardwalk by a guy in a purple suit. Sam crossed her arms. What in the world was that supposed to be? From where she sat, it kind of looks like an pest-exterminator van, what with the large head sitting on top of it, but judging by that increasingly annoying chant, it`s more likely not.

The buy with brown hair waved as her as he drove past and Sam couldn`t help but to give him an awkward smile-and-wave combo back.

"Remember citizen," he called out passionately. "Re-elect Mayor Dewey for the good of Beach City! That`s me!"

Sam gave him double thumbs up and watched in increasing relief when the van drove into the distance and made a turn around the corner. When it finally disappeared, she sighed. So that was Beach City`s mayor? He… doesn`t look like a very good mayor, but you can never know with the people around here. A gull landed on the boardwalk by her feet and another and Sam smirked. She went to the Fryman fries shop and ordered a set of large fries for herself and the birds. Sam figured she could feed them as well when she walks down to the beach.

Procrastination is a very bad habit to have, considering the very nature of her visit to this town and the severity of her business. Sam knows this, but it couldn`t hurt to just finish this day and start her search tomorrow. Sam took off her sandals the moment her feet touched the sand and stuffed it inside of her bag, not caring whether if it were covered in dirt or other grime.

The wind was blowing through her curtain of wavy brown hair and the soothing sounds of the waves hitting the sand were in her ears. Everything was seemingly perfect. Sam could see other people on the beach as well; a family of foreign tourists was picnicking on the beach and a group of kids were swimming in the sea. A girl was flying her kite. Sam sat herself on a spot not far from the wave line and started enjoying her fries. Once in a while she would break the fries into little bits and pieces and threw them on the sand for the birds to enjoy.

Sam was so caught up in her own peaceful state of mind that she did not notice the young boy walking up behind her with a small hand-painted ukulele in his hand.

"Hello!"

Sam snapped her head back towards the source of the voice and her eyes widened in surprise. Whoa, talk about déjà vu. He had a familiar, chubby face and wide, warm smile, and dark eyes that were wide with wonder and curiosity. He bore a wild, curly mane of dark brown hair and skin pink from the sun. He looked so happy and precious that Sam couldn`t help but to feel like she had the duty to treat him just as well. So she gave him a similar smile back and nodded once to acknowledge his presence.

"Hey."

"Why are you throwing away your fries? Are the birds bothering you? Do you want me to help chase them away?"

Sam almost laughed at how cute the boy looked when he was concerned but held it in when she realized that he was actually serious. She shook her head. "Nah," Sam replied. "I just thought that the birds looked kind of hungry. So I gave them some bits of my fries."

The boy nodded, before he shot a glare at the birds. "If you say so." He replied. Sam`s smile widened. What was this boy`s problem with seagulls? She patted the empty spot beside her as invitation for him to sit. Stars appeared in his eyes and he did.

"You seem to hate Seagulls for some reason or another."

The boy shot another glare at the birds eating her fries on the sand and turned his head dramatically to the side, before sighing. Sam shook her head as she finished the last of her bits and set the empty container aside.

"That," he answered her solemnly. "Is a very long story. But I do."

Sam hummed before she decided to avert his attention towards another subject, one that is less touchy with him and her gaze fell atop that ukulele that was in his hand. "Hey," she said, and gestured to the instrument with her eyes. "You play, kid?"

The boy`s face lit up again and he brought the small thing to his chest affectionately. "Yeah! That was what I came here for! Do you have any requests?"

Sam chuckled in amusement. "Why not just sing me your favourite song, kid? I don`t have any specific songs that I like, at the moment. I dig almost anything." The boy nodded and began strumming the strings with his fingers. He was actually really good, which surprised Sam and she found herself listening intently to his voice over the soothing rhythm of the music and the sea.

"If you`re evil and you`re on the rise,

You can count on the four of us, taking you down

`Cause we`re good and evil never beats us,

We`ll win the fight and then go out for pizzas.

We are the Crystal Gems,

We`ll always save the day,

And if you think we can`t

We`ll always find a way.

That`s why the people of this world

Believe in-

Garnet,

Amethyst,

And Pearl

And Steven!"

When the song finally ended, Sam realized she was actually clapping to the beat of the song. She was deeply impressed. "Whoa, kid. That was nice! You`ve got one heck of a talent. What was that song about? Are you Steven?"

The boy smiled and nodded sheepishly. "Thanks," he replied. "And yes, I am Steven. I should have probably introduced myself earlier but I was really caught up with the birds. Sorry."

"It`s no big. I`m Sam; nice to meet you, Steven."

Steven laughed. "It`s nice to see you too. Wow, you`re really polite. Pearl taught me that we should always say that when we meet other people but I usually forget." He looked guilty for a moment before it disappeared.

"It`s okay." Sam quipped, and waved it off. "And is this the same Pearl from that song you sang about?"

"Yeah! Me, Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst are in a group called the Crystal Gems and we work to protect the world and humanity from alien monsters and stuff!"

Sam raised a sculptured, sceptical eyebrow at the boy`s claims. This kid has one heck of an imagination. "Really now? Are you guys like superheroes or something?" Steven strummed a couple of notes on his ukulele as he answered the questions.

"I like to think us as superheroes, but technically the gems are a type of extra-terrestrial species that`s over a thousand years old. Before my mom gave up her physical form to create me, they used to fight alongside her but it`s just us now."

Yikes. Too much information. A speck of discomfort and slight concern formed within her when Steven had told her about his mom and she gulped. Is this kid okay? "And… you`re okay with your mom being… gone?" Sam asked carefully.

Steven paused for a moment and Sam wondered if she had unknowingly ventured into some overly sensitive territory. She wasn`t actually sure if this was okay, since Steven was the one that had led them into this particular topic. "Um, Steven? It`s totally okay if you don`t want to answer the question-" She apologized but Steven raised his palm and interrupted her.

"It`s okay," he assured her. "I… don`t know, actually. When I was little the Gems told me that mom was kind and great and she saw beauty in everything. But now, I keep learning new things about her that made me question them, and her. I know that my dad and them, Pearl especially, misses her and I just can`t help but feel… like I shouldn`t exist. Like the whole world was better off if she hadn`t sacrificed herself for me in the first place."

Sam drew in a sharp breath and slowly exhaled to release the tension. "Kid; Steven, don`t you ever think like that." She answered him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Your mother made the decision to bring you into the world and there must be some reason for that, right? She wanted this; she wanted you because she somehow knew that you would bring greater good to this world than she could have ever done."

"How do you know that?" Steven questioned her, and Sam hugged her knees to her chest. "Kid, a mother`s love is the greatest thing in the world. If she was willing to… be sacrificed in order for you to live then that`s usually the reason. She trusted you to do and be the best that you can be even when she didn`t even laid her eyes on you."

They shared a comfortable moment of silence and stared at the waves, before Steven cleared his throat and gave her a soft, thankful smile. "Thanks."

"You`re welcome."

There was another pause. "So Sam, you`re not from around here, are you?"

"Nah," she answered him. "I`m just here on business. Will be for about a month or so." Steven narrowed his eyes playfully at her and strummed another note with his fingers. "What kind of business?" he asked her and Sam laughed and ruffled his hair, which felt surprisingly soft.

"I`m looking for a person."

"Yeah? Who? Maybe I could help you at it while you`re here?" He asked again and wriggled his eyebrows.

"Not today, kid. Maybe tomorrow and yeah, if you really want to then I guess there`s nothing wrong with it."

Steven nodded. "Okay."

"Yeah."

"Do you have a place to stay at for while you`re here?"

Sam looked at Steven slyly and smirked. "I got a place. Aren`t you a bit young to be bringing girls back to your house? What will your dad say?" She gasped comically and placed her hands at her cheeks. "What will your girlfriend say if she finds out?"

Steven blushed a deep shade of red and darted his gaze away. "I don`t have a girlfriend."

"Ooh," Sam gushed. "Why not? Is there someone special you have in mind?" Steven`s blush increased and Sam couldn`t help but to burst into laughter.

"Relax, kid- I`m just messing with you."

Sam sighed as the sun begun setting down and pushed herself up to her feet. Steven mirrored her actions and the both of them brushed away the sand from their pants.

"So, new friend, I`ll see you again later?"

Sam looked at him fondly and nodded. "Yeah kid. Goodnight. And maybe say hi to the gems for me, yeah?"

Steven smile grew and he nodded his head.

"I`ll do that."

Ever had this experience when you just blurt all your problems out to a stranger for no reason? Yeah, this was what I was trying to get Steven to do. I wanted him to come to the beach for some alone time with his ukulele but found Sam instead. I wanted to make Greg look kind of similar to Steven when they were about the same age, which explains why Sam experienced a sense of déjà vu when she meet our precious little cinnamon bun; which led to the unofficial bonding moment between the two. Aw.

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