To the future:
As she did before meeting Greg for the first time, Rose tended to spend way too much time in the heart of the Temple. Gazing up, the sheer number of Gems they had collected had increased tremendously. The most recent ones were healthy Homeworld Gems, but the rest were gem shards, or corrupted Gems… most of whom had been friends. There was another new one… Bismuth. How did she get here?
Soon they would have to decide what to do with those Homeworld Gems. It was cruel to keep them like this. Lapis had been very firm in what treatment she thought healthy Gems should receive. She had earned the other's trust, that meant a lot. It meant she deserved her trust too.
Rose was not alone in the room. Little Steven was there too. Now that his dad was gone, he didn't want to be called by the childish nickname of Stevie.
"How did you get in here?" Rose asked.
"They hurt," he said.
"Not anymore. Not while they are in the bubbles."
"That one does," Steven pointed up at a particular Gem shard.
She did feel a twinge from it, but she thought it had been her imagination. She summoned the bubble into her hand and held it down so the two of them could examine it together. Based on what Peridot and the others had told her about the Cluster, shards were capable of a lot more than she had originally assumed. "What's wrong with this one?"
"It want's something," he said.
It was a shard that had once been forcibly revived and fused during the Homeworld experiments. "What does it want?"
The boy paused for a moment, before pointing back up to the high celling of the room. "That one."
Standing, Rose summoned the bubbled Gem shard the boy had indicated. This one was in a purple bubble. She gently popped the two bubbles and the two shards fell together in her hands. They seemed to fit together nicely, although they were still not a whole Gem. A tear came to her eye that her grandson had been able to unite two shards that belonged together, and another for the pain the Gem was experiencing. She wondered which side this Gem had fought for? Her tear landed on the broken gem shards, and they fused together. Where was the rest of it, she wondered?
"Good job, Steven."
"Will I be able to do that?"
"I don't know. Maybe you will. Let's go back up into the house. I'm sure your mother will be wondering what happened to you."
She walked with the boy back up to the house. The picture of Rose that had been hanging over the doorway now hung in the Universe house, and had been replaced with a picture of Steven that had been painted by Vidalia many years before.
Pearl was helping Connie set the kitchen table, while Karen was sitting on the sofa. "Karen wasn't feeling well this morning," Pearl said, "I thought she should rest as much as she could."
"Do you want me to take a look at her?" Connie asked.
"It's nothing, I'm fine!" Karen said.
"Maybe after dinner?" Pearl said.
"Sure, but the patient has to agree too," Connie said.
"Ugh, Fine! Just to get the two of you to back off!" Karen relented.
"Hey Steven, up here!" Amethyst shouted from the TV loft. "I found the crossover episode between Little Butler, Silver Spoons and Fresh Prince!"
"You have too much money," sounded from the TV.
Steven ran up the stairs and jumped into the seat next to Amethyst. "I can't believe you two like that show," Rosie said.
"It's a lot better than Crying Breakfast Friends," Garnet said. "We need to expand this house."
"Why is that?" Rose asked.
"It won't be big enough. Its already cramped when we have the Universes and our friends over. It's only going to be getting worse from here."
Peridot and Lapis came in. "Hello all," Lapis said.
Rosie ran up to the two, looking at Peridot eagerly. "Well?"
"Now look," Peridot said, "I already told you, a Gizmoduck costume is just too unrealistic and against the laws of physics to build… and besides which, you Mom won't let me."
"But?"
"Here," Peridot held something behind her back, which Rosie snatched up and ran through the house with it.
"Rosie, is that a GUN?!" Connie shouted. "Peridot!"
"What?" Peridot said innocently.
Rosie laughed manically. "I am the Terror that flaps in the night!" The gun emitted a thick purple smoke that quickly dissipated, but by that time, Rosie had run to stand dramatically at the top of the loft stairs.
Rose watched the entire scene with a smile on her face. Greg had told her what families were like, and had very much wanted her to be part of one with him. Even though he and Steven were now both gone, she finally understood what "family" meant, and it filled her Gem and her heart with a sense of fulfillment she could never have imagined before. Truly this Earth was a magical place.
"Come on everyone, lets gather around the table," Rose said.
VCR tapes were paused, gas guns were holstered, and people groaned as they got off the sofa as the Crystal Gems and the rest of their family gathered around the table. Connie dished out food to those who wanted it, and they began to eat and talk around the table like any traditional family. Before taking her own seat, Rose hit play on a CD of Greg's old music. That way his spirit could be present too.
-o-
After they ate, they all sat around, although Connie was dueling her two children with Nerf swords, and showing them they had a lot to learn.
"This is fun," Peridot said. "Why do we only do this on special occasions, we should do this a lot more often."
"Yeah," Amethyst said, recalling how cleaning up before the event had nearly driven Pearl crazy.
Garnet sat bolt upright. "Actually guys, some of us need to step out for about an hour. We have a mission."
"Did the castle of Time reset itself?" Rose asked.
"Oh, Steven destroyed that artifact a long time ago," Amethyst said.
"Another corrupted Gem is below the Arena," Garnet said.
"All right!" Amethyst got on the teleport pad, soon joined by Pearl, Garnet and Rose.
"Connie, would you like to come with us?" Rose asked.
"Sure!" Connie ran over to the pad while braiding her long hair into a single ponytail. "Karen could you watch the kids till we get back?"
"Sure. Pearl are you ever going to invite me on one of these things?" Karen asked.
"Well, um… after a few thousand hours of combat practice, sure," Pearl said.
Karen didn't look like she enjoyed the thought of that much training. "Have fun storming the castle," she said, and the Gems were off.
"So, what do you want to do now?" Peridot asked Karen and Lapis as they sat back down on the sofa.
-o-
The Corrupted Gem had taken on a form similar to a Centipedal, if it had been attached to the body of a giant spider, and was moving very close to the warp pad.
Connie pulled her pink sword with it's rose hilt. Rose generated her Shield and pulled out a sword similar to Connie's. Garnet generated her gauntlets and Amethyst pulled out a pair of whips, while Pearl pulled out her spear with a flourish.
For the Crystal Gems it was like the old days, although Connie wasn't sure how she was going to act without her usual fighting partner by her side. It saddened her, and that sadness effected Rose.
"Don't worry, Connie," Garnet said. "It's a different dynamic for all of us now."
"Yeah, go with the flow, and we'll figure it out," Amethyst said.
Rose felt the sadness fade, replaced with confidence from the reassurance. She charged at the creature, her large billowing skirt serving to distract and conceal the movements of Connie and the rest of the Gems. It recoiled when she swung her sword, but amethyst's whip kept it from retreating.
Garnet came in at the creature from the side. It spotted her and swatted her away, but it left the creature open for Pearl's strike from above, and a sword stab from below curtesy of Connie.
The corrupted Gem fell to the ground in a puff of smoke.
"Yeah, Poofed it!" Amethyst said.
"Good call, bringing Connie," Garnet said, "This would have taken way longer."
Rose picked up the Gem, tried to see if she recognized it, before bubbling it and sending it back to the temple.
"Good improvisation, Connie," Pearl said.
"Thanks," Connie answered.
"Improvisation?" Rose asked.
"I use to come in from above. Steven would give me a boost with his shield, but this way worked too," Connie said.
"I see," Rose said, "I never imagined two people could work together in that way."
"Well, we…" Connie stopped what she was going to say, for fear it would bring back unpleasant feelings for Pearl who envied the combined fighting style that Connie and Steven had developed. "It seemed to work for us."
"I think I'm going to be starting my training classes again!" Pearl said with stars in her eyes.
"Yep," Garnet said, matter of factly. "Let's get back before Peridot tries to turn the microwave into an MRI."
The End.
[This concludes the story I wanted to tell. I hope that everyone enjoyed it. Naturally I claim no ownership of Steven Universe or any of the characters. I did steal them for a while, but I think I got the put back before anyone noticed they were gone. I have no interest in continuing this further, but if someone else does, let me know. I would like to read what you do with it.]