"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I can't believe this happened, I can NOT believe this happened," said Connie as she frantically paced the living room floor. She held onto Peridot's tape recorder so tightly she could hear the plastic crack; her head felt like it was spinning so fast she couldn't even focus enough to turn the stupid thing off. Rose's sword and scabbard was propped against the wall by the couch, as far away from her as possible; it made Connie sick to even look at it right now. She was barely able to hold herself together long enough to explain to Steven what had happened.

"Connie, Connie, it's okay," Steven said. Steven was holding the Peridot's small, triangular gem in one hand and a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade in the other. "Her Gem isn't cracked, she just got poofed. She'll be fine, I promise. Everything is okay-"

"GETTING IMPALED IS THE MOST OPPOSITE OF 'OKAY' THING I CAN IMAGINE! I just-" Connie clutched her hair in one hand. She could feel her eyes start to sting. "This is all my fault. I-"

"Connie, it was just an accident. You didn't expect Peridot to jerk the sword away from you. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh yeah! Brandishing a weapon just to prove a point is totally fine! If I hadn't done that, none of this would have happened! And just when she started saying nice stuff, she just got poofed! I couldn't feel MORE terrible. I-"

"Listen Connie," said Steven, suddenly stern. "Please, before you say anything else, drink this lemonade." Steven held out the glass to Connie.

"What?!" shouted Connie. "Why?"

"Because I kinda think it's physically impossible to have a nervous breakdown if you're drinking freshly-squeezed lemonade."

Connie knew Steven was basing this assertion on literally nothing, but was so anxious she couldn't get the words out to argue with him.

"Please ... just take a deep breath and have a sip," Steven said.

Connie hesitated for just a moment, then put the tape recorder on the living room table before she slowly grabbed the glass. The mostly-sugar liquid sloshed around as he hand shook involuntarily. She steadied the glass with both hands, took as deep a breath as she could manage, and took a sip.

"How's it taste?" Steven said slowly.

"... citrisy," Connie said, staring down into the glass.

"Did that help?"

Connie's breathing slowed down. She glanced up at Steven and managed a very nervous smile.

"A little, actually," said Connie. "Thank you."

"See? Lemonade is the best science."

Connie even managed to chuckle at that. Her eyes were drawn to the Gem in Steven's hand.

"You're really sure she's alright?" said Connie.

"Sure. I mean, one time Amethyst got poofed like ... five times in a day and she came back in a couple minutes."

"Then ... why is Peridot not already ... 'un-poofed' or whatever?"

Steven scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, sometimes it can take longer. Pearl took a ... liiiitle longer one time."

Connie took another careful sip of lemonade.

"How much longer?" she asked.

Steven clenched his teeth and looked away.

"Uh, two weeks."

The lemonade started sloshing over the edge of the glass as Connie's hand shook involuntarily.

"Two wee-"

Steven put his hands up.

"B-but that's okay!" said Steven. "I mean, Amethyst says she thinks it only took longer because Pearl likes to think things through super carefully." He paused. "Well, I mean, she exactly said it was 'cause Pearl's a wuss' ... I cleaned it up a little."

"You don't think she'll be poofed THAT long, do you?"

"I don't think so. When I freed her from the bubble a few weeks ago, she unpoofed right away. And that was only like an hour later."

Connie sighed.

"Good," she said. Connie took another sip of lemonade then put it on the table. "So, I guess we just ... wait?"

Steven rubbed his chin.

"Well, there are a few things we can do until then." He reached out and placed the gem in Connie's hand. "Here, hold Peridot."

"O-okay," said Connie, clutching it carefully. It was odd. She'd never held a gem before. She expected it to feel warm, alive, but it felt just like a large, normal stone.

"Great! I'll be right back!" Steven said.

Steven ran down the hall. Connie shifted uneasily, then sat down on the couch, still holding Peridot.

She wondered if Peridot was aware of anything that was happening now, if some part of her was still conscious or if she had just ... blacked out. Steven hadn't exactly said; it was possible he didn't know himself.

But even if Peridot wasn't aware of what was going on, Connie still felt compelled to say something.

"Um ... hi," said Connie. She turned the Gem over in her hands nervously. "I don't really know if you can hear me but um ... I wanted to say I'm sorry you got stabbed. I-I know how you must feel ..."

Connie considered for a moment.

"Well, I mean, not literally because I've never been stabbed before but I, uh, I can just imagine it wasn't fun." She coughed nervously. "I mean, I did get my tonsils cut out once and that hurt a bunch afterward but I um ... I was put under and didn't actually feel any of it while it was happening and it was so long ago I don't even remember much about it ..." Connie's voice gradually dropped to a whisper. "Yeah, that's not- this is not even remotely the same thing ..."

The gem sat silently in her hands.

Connie bit her lip.

"I'm just trying to say ... I'm sorry," Connie said. "And I ... thought it was really nice you said I was cool. I don't ..." Connie sighed. "I don't hear that a lot. Steven's the only person who's ever said anything like that before so, you know, even if you totally hate me now which would be completely understandable, I thought that was a nice thing to say. And, you know, if you don't hate me, maybe it would be nice if- well, Steven's the only friend I've ever had, so maybe it would be cool if you and I could be-"

Connie flopped her hand down on the couch and clutched her face with her other hand.

"What am I even doing?" Connie said. She looked at the gem. "You probably don't even hear this, do you?"

The gem said nothing.

Connie gave a sad smile.

"Yeah ... that's what I thought."

Connie stiffened in the couch when she heard Steven run back from down the hall. He came back clutching two pillows and a huge blanket under his arm.

"Alright, it's go time!" he said cheerfully. "We might not be able to make her unpoof faster, but we can at least make her nice and comfortable."

Despite still feeling cruddy, Connie couldn't help but smile.

"Steven, how did you get so sweet?" said Connie.

"Well, I do eat a lot of sugar," said Steven. He held a big smile until Connie and Steven both dissolved into giggles.

Steven fluffed the pillows and set them next to Connie on the couch.

"Okay, can I see Peridot?" said Steven.

"Oh! Sure." She handed the gem to Steven, who gently placed it on the pillow.

"Okay, now we just get this ..." he said to himself as he grabbed Peridot's tape recorder from the table and put it next to her Gem. "Annnnnd now the blanket."

Steven pulled the blanket from under his arm. Connie glanced down at it.

"Uh, it's a little dirty, Steven," she said.

Steven looked to see it was practically covered in pink hair from top the bottom. He groaned.

"Ugh! LION! What are we going to do with you?!" Steven brushed the hair onto the floor before he unfolded it and carefully tucked the gem in with her tape recorder. He gave the gem a gentle pat.

"Sweet dreams, tiny triangle," Steven whispered. He backed away and held out his fingers in front of his eyes like he was framing a photo. "Hm ... it's missing something ... OH YEAH!"

Steven ran to the kitchen, then returned a few second later with another glass of lemonade with a bendy straw sticking out.

"I promised lemonade," Steven said as he placed it on the table in front of Peridot's gem. "Hm..." He rubbed his chin for a moment, thinking, then bent the bendy straw towards the gem. "Perfect!"

"Aww, that's so nice, Steven," said Connie. "And meticulous!"

"What can I say?" Steven said. He clutched his hands dramatically in the air as if he was imitating Jamie when he's in the drama zone. "I was-a born to create."

Connie giggled, but after a moment her smile started to fade.

"I just wish there was something nice I could do too. You know, to bury the hatchet." Connie cringed at her own wording after a moment. "Well, I guess bury the ... sword in this case. Bury all deadly weapons."

Steven considered for a moment.

"I could go get a shovel-"

Connie smiled.

"Not literally," she said.

Steven grinned.

"Hehe, I know," he said.

"Is there something I could get her?" Connie asked. "What kind of things does she like?"

"Hmm ..." Steven started to count off things on his fingers as she spoke. "Well ... she likes her tape recorder ... science ... saying the word 'clod' ... Amethyst, probably-"

"Anything else?"

"Oh!" Steven's eyes brightened up. "She was just saying how much she loved to read reports back when she had her crazy robot finger screens!"

Connie smiled.

"She likes to read? That's perfect!" she said. Connie hadn't even considered she would have something like that in common with Peridot, but it certainly made sense. She got excited. "I know exactly what to do! Before she comes back, we could-"

Before Connie could finish, they were interrupted by the sound of Warp Pad powering up.

"Uh oh," said Connie.

"The Gems are coming back!" shouted Steven.

"What do we do?!" said Connie. Her breathing quickened.

How am I going to explain this?! she thought. What if Pearl finds out? What if she doesn't want to teach me anymore? What if she tells Mom?!

She felt Steven's hand grab hers. Connie looked over and saw him smiling at her nervously.

"I-it's okay, don't worry Connie," he said. "I have an amazing plan."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Um ..." Steven positioned himself strategically in front of Peridot's gem on the couch. "Basically it's hoping they don't look behind me until I think of an actual plan."

Before Connie had time to panic, a pillar of light emerged from the Warp Pad then, with a loud woosh, disappeared just as quickly, leaving behind only Garnet.

Connie did her best for force a smile.

It's okay, Connie, she told herself. Just act casual and everything will be okay.

Steven scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously.

"Heeeey Garnet," Steven said awkwardly. "Fancy seeing you here! In ... our house. Where we both live."

Garnet gave a small smile.

"Yes. Fancy that." She stepped off the Warp Pad. The light from the outside windows glinted off her shades, making it impossible to see her eyes. Garnet turned her head towards Connie. "Hello Connie. You and Steven having fun?"

"Yes," said Connie, trying to ignore the pounding in her chest. "Yes, very much."

"Yes! That is entirely true!" said Steven as he shuffled his feet and grinned to an almost aggressive degree. "Um so ... how was the Kindergarten?"

"Free of gem mutants," said Garnet. "Pearl and Amethyst are still scouting the area. I just thought I'd just pop in check on you two."

"Oh, well," Connie chuckled nervously. "That's very nice, but why would you want to-"

"So I'm assuming Peridot's gem is undamaged."

Connie's jaw dropped. She glanced over to Steven, whose face was extremely red.

Garnet simply folded her arms. The smile had not left her face.

"I-" Connie said once the shock wore off and she remembered she could speak. "How-"

Garnet pointed to her shades.

"Future vision."

Steven ran up right next to Connie, placing himself in between her and Garnet.

"Wait! I can explain!" he said.

Garnet put her arms down.

"Okay," Garnet said. "I'm listening."

"Um ... uh ..." Steven cringed. "Okay, I'll be honest, I hadn't thought that far ahead ..."

Connie put her hand on Steven's shoulder.

"It's okay, Steven." Connie took a deep breath. "I don't want you to lie." She looked up at Garnet. "It was all my fault, ma'am."

"N-no!" said Steven taking a step forward. "Connie's just covering for me! This was all my fault!"

"Steven!" Connie said, but Steven kept going.

"Please, Garnet, just ground from TV again or something, Connie didn't do-

Garnet put her hand up. Steven immediately stopped talking.

"No one's going to get grounded from anything," said Garnet calmly. She went down on one knee. Despite having her shades drawn, Connie could feel Garnet's eyes staring directly into her. "I know it was just an accident. Just promise you'll be more careful ... and calm down."

Connie took a deep breath.

"Okay ..." Connie said. "Thank you."

Garnet turned to Steven.

"And Steven ... don't lie. It's wrong. And you're not great at it."

Steven's eyes cast down to the floor.

"I know it's wrong ... I'm sorry," Steven said.

Garnet rubbed Steven's hair playfully.

"It's okay," Garnet said. "Everyone make mistakes."

"Even you?" Steven said.

Garnet paused, then added, "Almost everyone makes mistakes."

Steven chuckled. "Oh Garnet, you're such a cut-up," he said.

Connie felt as if a huge weight had lifted off of her. At least she didn't have to worry about getting in any deeper trouble. Not that that made anything that had happened okay, but it felt good that she could focus entirely on Peridot's safety rather than having part of her mind selfishly worry about her own.

Garnet walked over to the couch and examined Peridot's gem. She picked up the tape recorder.
"Hm," Garnet said.

"What?" Connie said.

"Nothing." Garnet pressed a button and put it back down. "Peridot's gem appears to have been well taken care of." She touched the blanket on Peridot's gem. "Very Steven-y."

"Awwwww, shucks," said Steven bashfully. Steven thought for a moment then turned back to Connie. "Oh wait! Connie, didn't you want to get something for Peridot?"

"Oh! Right!" After the shock of Garnet arriving, she had almost forgotten. "Um ... is Peridot going to be alright just on the couch like that?"

Garnet sat on the couch next to Peridot's gem.

"I'll watch Peridot," said Garnet. "You two go."

"Aww, you're such a bro, Garnet," said Steven. He ran up to Garnet on the couch with a huge grin and held up his fist. "Fist bump?"

Garnet gave a sweet smile. The gem on Garnet's left hand glowed for just a moment as one of her huge gauntlets formed in a flash.

"Fist bump," she said as she gently tapped Steven's fist with it before letting it degenerate.

Connie reached for Steven's hand. She was about to head towards the front door when she gave Garnet one last look.

"Um ... Garnet?"

"Yes, Connie?"

"If ... Peridot comes to before we get back ... could you just tell her I'm sorry for everything? Please?" said Connie.

Garnet paused, then nodded.

"Don't worry," Garnet said. "I'll make sure she knows."


Well ... that was embarrassing was Peridot's first thought as she felt her construct regenerate.

Mental note: become more experienced in physical exertion without limb enhancers, she thought angrily as she felt her photons emerge from her Gem, solidifying and turning into nerves, giving her an irritating pins-and-needles sensation throughout her entire being.

Yes ... good, she thought as she reformed. Everything seemed to be falling into place: her touch stumps, her legs, her hair (triangular and each point at just the right angle, of course; after all, being stuck on a cosmic backwater was no excuse not to have some style) ... and finally, her vision spheres. Everything was bright at first until she saw ...

A glass container of yellow mystery liquid?

Peridot shook her head and realized she was lying on the living room couch, staring at a glass on the table. She was underneath some kind of blue fuzzy relaxation tarp; she thought she recognized it as something Steven wrapped himself in when he does his daily "sleep" ritual, a period of intense laziness when Steven lays motionless for an entire night cycle which no one else seemed to find concerning for some reason. She clutched it to herself.

"Hm ... oddly comfortable," Peridot said. She touched her chest, which felt intact. She let out a sigh of relief. "No longer impaled. A measurable improvement."

"Morning, sunshine."

"GYAH!" Peridot immediately shot to her feet to see Garnet sitting next to her on the couch with Peridot's tape recorder in her hand.

Once the initial shock wore off, Peridot's eyes narrowed at the permafusion.

"Oh, great ... you two," said Peridot.

Garnet was not even looking directly at Peridot ... or at least her head was staring straight forward. The dark visor on her face made it difficult to tell. Peridot wasn't even sure why she kept it drawn all the time. It was infuriating. It's not as if her vision needed protection from solar light and radiation indoors.

Must be one of her many eccentricities, Peridot figured. Like insisting on being fused at all times. Peridot didn't even want to get started on that subject.

"Don't stand on the couch," said Garnet finally.

Peridot turned up her nose at Garnet.

"Hmph," she said. "I do not yield to your commands, you-"

Garnet held one hand up as her Gem glowed and formed a gauntlet.

Peridot flinched, then immediately sat down, her feet no longer on the couch.

"Better," Garnet said as her gauntlet disappeared.

Peridot glared back at Garnet, angrily wringing the relaxation tarp in her hands.

"So are you here for some other reason than to threaten physical violence?" said Peridot. She looked around. "And where's Steven and his soldier friend?"

"You mean Connie?" Garnet said.

"Right, that one. Where is she? Our conversation was just getting interesting before the ... unpleasantness." Peridot shot Garnet the nastiest look she could. "Besides I'd vastly prefer speaking to someone singular."

If Garnet was phased by that, she didn't show it. Her tone was the same it always was. She turned the tape recorder over in her hand.

"Steven and Connie are out getting something for you. I offered to watch your Gem and keep you safe while they did."

Peridot raised her eyebrows. That was the last thing she expected Garnet to do, especially since Peridot didn't make it a secret she was still adjusting to such ... permissive attitudes on this planet in regards to fusion.

"Your welcome, by the way," Garnet added.

"Oh. Yes. Well." Peridot coughed. "I'm ... not ungrateful for that. That was unnecessarily polite of ... you two? Or ... is it one?" Peridot scratched her forehead. "Is there ... which would you consider appropriate? Do you have a preference or is it based on the situation-"

"Don't strain yourself."

"Very well. Thank you to ..." Peridot gestured in Garnet's general direction. "You all, I suppose." Peridot stared at the glass of yellow liquid on the table, which seemed to have a plastic thin piping floating in it. It was bent towards her. Even though she couldn't decipher its function, she felt compelled to bend it back and forth as she spoke to Garnet. "So did they give any particular purpose towards getting me something?"

"Hmm ... probably because of this."

Garnet held down on the rewind button of Peridot's tape recorder then pressed play. Peridot was surprised when she heard Connie's voice.

"Oh yeah! Brandishing a weapon just to prove a point is totally fine! If I hadn't done that, none of this would have happened! And just when she started saying nice stuff, she just got poofed! I couldn't feel MORE terrible."

Garnet stopped the recorder.

Peridot's mouth hung open.

"How did that get on my-"

"You must have left your recorder running," said Garnet.

Peridot threw her hands up.

"B-but what she was saying is completely illogical!" Peridot said. "The human did nothing wrong! I was the one who damaged myself! I was the one provoking her. There's no reason she should feel the need to offer me anything!"

"I agree."

"Well, I suppose that'd be the first time we ... two and/or three Gems have agreed on anything." She folded her arms. "I don't understand this planet's culture at all. All this need for ... etiquette and politeness even when it's not warranted. Why?" She glanced over at Garnet. "Is there some form of secret militia I'm not aware of that enforces this behavior?"

"Yes. It's called a conscience."

"Oh, ha ha, very amusing," said Peridot. She twiddled her touch stumps together, speaking in a much softer tone. "It's not as if I don't have emotions as well, you know ..."

Garnet gave a small smirk.

"Oh, I know." She pressed the rewind button on Peridot's recorder then pressed play again.

"Whoa, what are you-" said Peridot before she heard her own voice on the recording.

"In addition to being the only true Gem on the team, Amethyst clearly has the most ... impressive physical structure."

Peridot felt herself blush.

"Turn it off!" shouted Peridot, but the tape continued.

"Specifically I found it difficult not to notice that her, um, well, her hips are-"

Peridot dove over the couch and, despite almost fumbling it, managed to snatch the tape recorder from Garnet's hand.

"T-those were academic, purely academic observations!" said Peridot. She shook the tape recorder in Garnet's direction. "And I'll thank you not to invade my privacy."

Garnet still looked rather pleased with herself.

"Sorry. Came across that by accident. Couldn't resist." Garnet's smile faded. "But in all seriousness ... if you really want to understand humans, you should listen to the rest of your tape. It picked up a lot."

Peridot glanced down at the recorder, then glared back up at Garnet.

"So you want me to violate another's privacy as well?" said Peridot. "How moral of you."

Garnet shrugged.

"Then don't listen." She got up from the couch. "But we both know you're going to."

"Oh, so it's this again." Peridot pointed at Garnet. "Just because one of your Gems happens to have tachyon clairvoyance-"

"Future vision."

Peridot rolled her eyes.

"Tachyon clairvoyance is the accurate term," Peridot said.

"My name's better," Garnet said.

"Alright, your 'reality-cheater' vision, whatever! You think because you have that ability, you assume you know everything I know before I'm going to do it?!"

"Yes." Garnet started walking calmly towards the front door. "And remember to watch your step."

Peridot, still riled up, continued speaking.

"Well ... I refute this!" Peridot went on as Garnet opened the front door. "That ability is not 100% accurate! You can't predict my actions! I'm a variable, you hear me?! THE FUTURE IS WHAT I DEMAND IT!"

The front door shut behind Garnet. Peridot stared at the tape recorder, then with a huff, tossed it on the table. She curled up on the couch, with her feet on it again in open defiance, clutching the relaxation tarp around her body. She turned away from the recorder, openly snubbing it.

"As if I'd resort to listening to someone else's private log," muttered Peridot to herself. "As if I have no standards at all."

She smiled to herself, pleased at her own willpower ... but found her eyes glancing back to the tape recorder.

"Even if it is ... technically my log it was recorded on its ..." Peridot shook her head. "Gyah! No. It would be overly invasive. Besides, it's not like I even care what's on it."

Peridot found her hands fidgeting. She couldn't stop thinking back to the portion of Connie's recording she had heard.

"E-even if the Connie sounded distressed," whispered Peridot to herself. "And assigned blame to herself. For something that was obviously my fault."

Peridot stared back at the recorder and, within seconds, dove from the couch towards it. However, her feet got tangled in the relaxation tarp, causing her to tumble and land in the floor with a loud thud just as she clumsily clutched the recorder in her hand. It didn't matter, Peridot hardly felt the impact of falling in the floor.

She pressed the fast-forward on the recorder, just as she heard the front door swing back open. She looked up to see Garnet standing in the doorway.

Garnet simply stared with a neutral expression, but Peridot could just feel the aura of smugness emanating from her. The fusion was probably waiting there the entire time, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

"So you're a variable-" Garnet started.

"Don't. Say. Anything." Peridot said through gritted teeth.

"If it makes you feel better, in every other possible future, you didn't even hold out this long."

"Stop talking!" Peridot screeched.

Garnet just shook her head and walked back outside.

Peridot sighed. She pressed play on the recorder.

And what she heard was Connie's voice.

"Um ... hi, I don't really know if you can hear me but um ... I wanted to say I'm sorry you got stabbed ..."

Peridot stared at the recorder, her eyes wide. Even though Peridot was still inexperienced on how to perceive the emotions of others, even she could recognize such a strong display of concern. Peridot continued to listen, when she got to point that perplexed her.

"I'm just trying to say ... I'm sorry. And I ... thought it was really nice you said I was cool. I don't ... I don't hear that a lot. Steven's the only person who's ever said anything like that before so, you know, even if you totally hate me now which would be completely understandable, I thought that was a nice thing to say. And, you know, if you don't hate me, maybe it would be nice if- well, Steven's the only friend I've ever had, so maybe it would be cool if you and I could be-"

Peridot swallowed. She didn't know what to make of this. Peridot done nothing to endear herself to this Connie that she could see. In fact, thinking back, Peridot thought her behavior could be seen as quite detestable.

She thought even further back, all the other unscrupulous things she'd done ... when she first started work involving this planet, when she first tried to harm the Steven without even knowing even what he was, when she reported Steven's existence to Yellow Diamond, when she interrogated Lapis, when she arrived on Earth with Jasper nearly wiped out all the Crystal Clods she is forced to associate with ... and those were only the bad things she'd done recently.

Peridot heard Connie speak with such genuine emotion, saying she wished to befriend Peridot ... and for the life of her, Peridot couldn't imagine what any other creature could find tolerable about her, let alone appealing.

She didn't understand. Was this what Garnet meant? Was that what was truly interesting about humans? Not their ability to think and act at a level comparable to Gems, but to simply feel at a level even Gems cannot? Their capacity to find something of value in things where other creatures may not?

To see something of value in ... Gems ... that they might not see themselves?

The recording continued as she considered this.

"What am I even doing?" Connie's voice said on the recording. "You probably don't even hear this, do you?"

Peridot stopped the recording.

"Yes ... I do," Peridot whispered.


"Do you think we brought enough books?" said Connie carrying a heavy box up the front porch of the temple. "I dunno. I feel like I should have brought more."

Behind her, Steven was, very slowly, carrying a stack of three equally heavy boxes up the temple steps. He seemed to be holding his breath the entire time, yet somehow he managed to speak as he reached the top step.

"I ... think ... we're ... good ... Connie," said Steven, exhausted.

Connie furrowed her brow in concern.

"Steven, you don't have to carry all those boxes at once just to impress me," she said.

Steven peaked out from behind the stack of boxes, his eyes gleaming.

"This ... impresses ... you?" he said.

"Um ..." Connie blushed. "A-a little? Kinda."

Steven looked up at the stack of boxes, then back at Connie.

"Put ... the other box ... on top."

"No way!" she said, laughing.

"Aw, come on!" he said.

From out of nowhere, they heard Garnet say, "Settle down, strongman."

Connie and Steven saw Garnet leaning against the side of the house, just by the windows. They hadn't even noticed her there until now.

"Garnet!" Steven said.

Steven set the boxes down. Connie heard the floorboards creak under the massive weight.

"Did Peridot unpoof?" asked Steven.

Garnet nodded.

"She did." Garnet turned towards Connie. "Oh, and Connie?"

"Y-yes?"

Garnet smiled.

"I made sure she got your message."

Connie breathed a sigh of relief.

"So was she ... alright?" asked Connie.

Garnet nodded her head towards the front door.

"See for yourself," she said.

Connie smiled and opened the door, one hand still clutching her box of books. She was still nervous, but she hoped that her gift would make up for everything. Steven picked up his stack of boxes and followed behind her.

Peridot was sitting in the floor of the living room, her blanket tangled in her lap. She appeared zoned out, her eyes focused only on the tape recorder in her hands.

"Peridot?" Connie said softly.

Peridot's head snapped up and, within a moment, she was on her feet. She held her recorder behind her back with one hand, as if she were suddenly embarrassed to be seen with it .

"Connie?!" said Peridot. The tone of her voice was odd ... filled with much more concern than Connie expected. As if Peridot realized this also, she immediately cleared her throat and returned to her normal tone. "Ahem. I mean ... hello."

"Peridot!" Steven said as he set the boxes down on the floor and ran up to Peridot. He swung his arms around her, giving her a big hug. Peridot stiffened, clearly unsure how to handle this. "We're so glad you're back!"

"Um, yes," Peridot said. She gave Steven one uncomfortable pat on the back. After a long pause, Peridot said, "You can, um, cease physical contact now."

Steven let go and chuckled.

"Hehe, sorry," Steven said.

Peridot didn't seem to be listening. Peridot stared at Connie the entire time. Connie couldn't help but feel tense. Was she mad about what had happened? Connie couldn't blame Peridot if she was.

Peridot turned to Steven.

"Steven," she said carefully. "If it's ... acceptable to you, I would like to have a word with Connie ... privately. If that's acceptable."

Steven glanced over at Connie, who nodded. Honestly, Connie didn't mind if Peridot was going to yell at her. Just knowing she reformed properly made Connie feel better than she felt all day, even with her nerves still shot. Even if they couldn't be friends ... well, it was good just knowing she was safe after everything that happened.

"O-kay, don't mind me," said Steven. "If either of you need me, I'll be, um, right on the other side of this door, I guess." He walked back outside and quietly shut the door behind him.

Peridot shook her head then gave Connie a nervous smile, pointing her thumb towards the door.

"That Steven, huh?" Peridot said.

"Y-yeah," said Connie. She rocked her feet back and forth, still clutching the box to her body. "He sure is ... something."

"Y-yeah, he is," said Peridot.

Connie bit her lip awkwardly. Surprisingly, Peridot seemed as uncomfortable as she was. After an uneasy silence, Peridot took a breath.

"Listen, Connie-" she said.

"Wait," said Connie. "Before you say anything, I wanted to say-"

"I know. You're going to apologize. I ... may have heard you say that already."

Connie's eyes got wide.

"What are you- wait! Did you ... hear what I told you while you were poofed?"

"In a way, I suppose." Peridot pulled the tape recorder from behind her back and waggled it.

Connie put her hand to her mouth, immediately realizing the recorder must have been running while she was freaking out earlier.

"Oh wow," said Connie softly. "Oh wow, I probably sounded like a basket case."

"What's a basket?"

"It's a- nevermind." Connie scratched the top of the box she was holding with a single finger nervously. "Do you ... forgive me?"

Peridot gave Connie a hard look.

"That would be unnecessary," said Peridot, "because there's nothing for me to forgive you for in the first place." Peridot looked away. "I was behaving rather ... inappropriately. And jerking a deadly weapon away from a trained soldier was simply foolish no matter the justification."

"I'm not really a soldi-"

Peridot continued speaking as if she hadn't heard Connie.

"The point is the fault is mine and mine alone," Peridot continued, "so inventing reasons to assign fault to yourself would be illogical. And considering all the distress the entire situation caused you, the more appropriate question to ask ..." Peridot suddenly appeared to look rather sheepish. "Is if you can forgive me?"

"Peridot ..." This was the last thing Connie had ever expected from the alien who had given her no respect only a few hours before. Steven was right all along; she did have a good heart. Connie smiled. "Peridot, of course I forgive you."

Peridot returned the tiniest curvature of a smile.

"And um ..." Peridot went on. "Since my method of learning about humanity before was rather ... unsuccessful, a more informal approach may be warranted. So ... if you were still inclined, perhaps being ... 'friends' as you stated before could be an interesting ... experiment." Peridot paused, then hastily added. "Strictly for research purposes, of course."

Connie chuckled.

"I'd like that," said Connie. She gently placed the box she was holding on the floor. "Would you like to see what Steven and I brought you?"

Peridot raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"But I ... already told you you don't need to apologize. A peace offering is no longer necessary. You don't have to-"

"I know I don't have to. I want to."

Peridot didn't seem to have an answer to that. Her eyes darted from Connie, then back to the box. Finally, she sighed.

"Very well," Peridot said. "But only under the condition that this is the last surprise for this solar rotation. There's been too many already. My construct literally can't take it."

"Heh, deal."

Peridot bent over and opened the box, revealing the stacks and stacks of books inside. For a brief moment, Peridot seemed confused. She picked up a single hardback book and opened it. She squinted at the writing on the pages she opened to.

"Are these ... reports?" said Peridot.

"Um ... sort of," said Connie. "They're called books. They have writing in them."

"And humans put text on plant-synthesized sheets rather than on screens?

"Well ... some are on screens." Connie's eyes lit up. "But I really like the printed books. You know, just that feel of having a book in your hands, like you can feel the weight of the story as you're reading ... and just ... that feeling of having a book in your hands under the covers late at night until even the text fades away and you feel like you're being transported to another dimension!" She could feel herself almost shake with excitement. "It's incredible!"

Peridot stared at her. Connie cringed as she realized she probably sounded like a huge goober.

"I mean." Connie coughed. "T-that's how some people might feel, anyway. I-I dunno." She rubbed the back of her neck. "So anyway! Steven only said you liked to read reports, so I wasn't exactly sure what genre you like ... or even if Homeworld knows what fiction is-"

"Fix-yon?"

"Okay, that's definitely a 'no,' but that's okay! I tried to get as big a variety as I could along with some reference books. W-which is why there's four boxes ..." Connie pointed to the boxes Steven left in the living room. "I had more but I kinda ... ended up almost bringing all of my books until I spent about an hour narrowing it down to just these ... which was hard because I wanted to bring them all because they're all so good ..." Connie's face reddened. "I-I like books."

Peridot didn't say anything. She was still squinting at the first book she opened.

"Um ... is everything okay, Peridot?" Connie asked.

Peridot's head snapped back up. Her face was red.

"What? No, it's nothing," Peridot said. Her eyes were darting back and forth.

"No really, it's okay, tell me."

Peridot took a deep breath.

"I feel ... quite embarrassed saying this," Peridot said. "Especially since this is clearly a thoughtful gift that I am honestly grateful for ..." Peridot shrunk her neck down into her shoulders, as if trying to hide herself. "But ... well, the fact is without my screens I ... um ... I can't-

"I can't understand your planet's written language." Peridot paused then added, "I'm ... I'm sorry."

There was silence for a single awkward moment. Peridot glanced back up at Connie, as if she was waiting for Connie to laugh or yell or something.

Connie did neither. She simply said, "If you like, I could try to teach you."

Peridot eyes seemed to grow as wide as saucers. Her mouth hung partially open.

"I mean, if you want," added Connie.

"You would ... be willing to do that?" said Peridot.

"I mean, I've never taught anyone anything before but, you know ..." Connie smiled and shrugged. "What are friends for, you know?"

Peridot considered this for a moment, then returned a wide smile.

"Yes. I think I would like that."

They smiled at each other, only to be interrupted by a loud "AWWWWWWWWWW!" coming from outside.

Connie and Peridot both turned nervously to see Steven's head pressed up against the glass outside the window by the front door. His eyes were huge and filled with tears.

"Steven!" shouted Connie.

"YOU BOTH ARE JUST SO CUTE! IT'S AWESOME!" Steven shouted from outside the window.

"I am not cute!" protested Peridot.

From even farther away, Connie heard a distant Garnet shout "Don't argue with Steven."

"SHUT UP, GARNET!" screamed Peridot as loud as she could.

But even as she screamed, Connie could see Peridot did so with the hint of a smile on her face ...