Chapter 2

Connie looked away from the explosion, but when she looked back she only found his gem "S-Steven?" She called, sprinting up to the gem. "STEVEN!" She cried, she fell to her knees and looked at the rose colored rock. "P-Please tell me this is a dream! This can't be happening!" She screamed, looking up at the creature, anger flooded her, she stood up slowly. "You should be the one like this!" She growled, grabbing a sword that was buried into the ground. "YOU SHOULD BE THE ONE DEAD!" Connie growled, swinging the sword at the beast, cutting its side which caused green goo to gush out of the cut. The monster screeched and swung around toward Connie with its spike, but she dodged and stabbed its side. "How do you like it?!" She screamed, yanking the sword out of the monster forcefully; before cutting into the chest where the gem was held. The moth hissed one last time before it exploded into smoke, leaving the green gem to fall to the floor. Connie breathed heavily, she dropped the sword and fell to her knees, tears began to run down her face. "Oh, Steven...this is all my fault." She cried as her tears hit the ground, she wiped the tears away and picked up the two gems, before running toward the warp pad. Got to find the gems! They might know what to do! She thought, using the warp whistle to teleport to the temple.

Once in the temple she sprinted into the living room and found no sign of the gems. "PEARL! GARNET! AMETHYST! Please, I need your help!" She yelled, instantly the temple door activated and all of the gems sprinted out with their weapons ready.

Pearl saw that it was only Connie, she sighed with relief and made her weapon vanish. "What is it, Connie? And where is Steven?" She asked, looking around for the chubby boy.

"That's the thing, I don't know! We were attacked a-and he protected me, h-he was bleeding badly...t-then a explosion of smoke and then this." Connie explained, starting to cry again, as she held up the pink gem.

All the gems gasped at the sight of this, Pearl grabbed the gem from her and turned away. "NO! T-This isn't his gem! This can't be his gem!" She panicked, as tears started to form in her eyes.

Garnet looked at the gem and she sighed, "Pearl...don't try to ignore it, you know it's Steven's gem."

"B-But it can't be! He can't be gone, not Steven too!" Pearl cried, holding the rose colored gem close to her heart.

Connie looked down at the monsters gem, she walked over to Garnet and handed it to her. "This is the gem that attacked him." She said.

Garnet nodded, and made a bubble around it, before sending it off into the containment room. "Thanks, Connie." She whispered, placing her hand on Connie's shoulder to try and comfort her.

Pearl turned around to look at Connie and Garnet, her eyes full of rage, but more of sorrow. "Why do you thank her?! It's her fault Steven is gone!" She snapped, walking over to Connie. "You should of stopped him! It's because of you he's gone! If he hadn't met you, and taken you with him, this wou-"

"Pearl! That's enough!" Garnet snapped.

Pearl looked up at Garnet then back down at Connie who was now crying, Amethyst was holding her giving Pearl a glare. Pearl realized what she just said and she covered her mouth in shock. "C-Connie! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean any of that! I-I just don't want to lose him too." She whispered, looking down at Steven's gem.

Connie wiped her tears away, she smiled at Amethyst before placing her hand on Pearl's chest to comfort her. "It's ok, Pearl. I forgive you. However I'm still confused on this, why did Steven disappear and leave his gem? I know gem monsters do that when defeated, but why would he do that?"

"When a gem gets hurt really bad, they retreat into their gem to regenerate and heal...but Steven." Garnet began, unable to finish without crying.

"But Steven is organic, we don't think he is capable of regenerating...h-he might not come back the same or even not come back at all." Pearl explained, as tears started to run down her cheeks.

Connie's eyes watered, "I-I never got to tell him." She whispered.

Amethyst whispered something to Garnet before walking to Pearl she took the gem, and walked back to Connie. "I think it's best if you take care of this, if Steven does come back I'm sure he'll want to see you first." The purple gem explained, giving her the pink gem.

Pearl watched as Connie took the gem and held it close, she sighed and smiled sweetly. "Connie, is it possible you could stay here for a few days? I'd like it if you took care of Steven in the temple."

Connie nodded, looking down at the gem. "Sure! I'm fine with staying here, but I'm not sure about my parents...I'll have to check with them." She explained, feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to find Garnet.

Garnet knelt down to face Connie, placing both her hands on her shoulders. "Connie, remember...if Steven does regenerate, he might not be the same as he was before, he might not even be Steven. You got to be prepared for change, ok?" Garnet explained, with a very serious tone.

Connie didn't like the thought of Steven changing, but she ignored it and nodded. "Ok, I'll be prepared! However, why are you acting like you're leaving? Aren't you guys gonna be here in the temple with me and Steven?"

The gems gave each other looks before facing Connie again, "Do you remember when Steven said we left him here for hours?" Garnet asked, Connie nodded slowly. "Well, we didn't tell him where we were because we didn't want him to panic. We won't be in the temple as much as we usually are, we have a mission and it's a big one...it involves the kindergarten and it will take a long time to complete. So we will be working on the same mission for a while, we will come back to the temple as much as we can, this is why it's very important for you to stay here with Steven."

Connie nodded, "I promise I'll never let this gem leave my sight! I'll take good care of it while you're on your mission!" She said, holding the gem close.

"Ok, we have to leave now...we will try to be back to check on you as soon as we can." Pearl whispered, she and all the other gems walked to the warp pad, waving goodbye to Connie before warping away.

Much time has passed, and Connie was sitting on Steven's bed staring out the window. I have stalled long enough...I need to do this. She thought, sighing heavily, before pulling out her phone and dialing her moms number. Her mom picked up the phone and answered with a simple hello. "Hi mom..."

"Connie?! Is that you?! Where are you?! I've been worried sick! Do you know what time it is? Ugh! This always happens when you hang out with that Steven kid."

Connie took a deep breath, before answering. "Mom, I'm gonna stay at Steven's house..."

"No you will not! I will not allo-"

"MOM! You don't understand! He's hurt! I want to stay with him, you got to let me do this! You would do the same for me."

"...ok, but please make sure to come and see us."

"Thanks, I will." Connie replied, hanging up the phone, she sighed deeply, this was probably the worst day in her life. The young girl looked over at Steven's gem, she picked it up and placed it down on a blanket. A sound came from behind Connie, which caused her to swing around toward the kitchen, to her surprise she found Lion staring up at her with large sad eyes. "Lion? Where have you been this whole time?" She asked, smiling sweetly she moved over so there was room for the large pink beast. "Get up here." The girl said, instantly the lion jumped up and moved onto the bed, he curled up around Steven's gem and closed his eyes. Connie stroked the lions fur softly watching as he breathed, "I bet you're scared too...Steven thinks that you don't care for him, but I know you do." She explained, Lion opened one of his eyes and looked up at her. "I guess you'll be hanging out with me until he comes back, heh?" She asked, which the lion responded with a sleepy roar. Connie sighed, she laid down on Lion and fell asleep holding Steven's gem close to her.

Connie woke up to the sound of the warp pad activating, she slowly opened her eyes to find that she was still sleeping on Lion and holding Steven's gem, she sat up and looked into the living room, where the warp pad was. Amethyst was standing on the pad holding something, the gem looked up at Connie and waved. "Connie! I brought you some food!" She shouted, bounding up the stairs to the young Indian girl, Amethyst placed the plate down on the bed and took a seat on the side. "It's eggs and toast! I didn't even eat any of it for you!" She explained, excitedly.

Connie looked down at the breakfast and back up at the purple gem, "I thought you guys were on a mission, what made you have time for this?"

"Ok, so get this! We were fighting a monster, but it wasn't just an ordinary monster...it was a FOOD monster! So after defeating it, Pearl remembered that you were here alone, probably hungry and she got worried about you! So she made some breakfast and told me to give it to you! Don't worry it's not from the monster." Amethyst explained, laying back on Lion.

Connie looked down at the food and she smiled, "Pearl was worried about me?"

"Yep! She also wanted to make up for yelling at you...I'm sure this is only the beginning of her making up to you. Usually when she feels guilty of something, she never let it go and keep doing or giving something to that person." The gem explained, waving her hands in the air.

"Well she doesn't have to, I already forgave her."

"It's not that easy. You might of forgiven her, but she hasn't forgiven herself. Just let her do her thing and she'll eventually realize that you have forgiven her completely, only then she will forgive herself."

"Umm, ok...but don't you have to get back to your mission?"

Instantly Amethyst launched up, "oh right! Bye Connie!" She shouted, jumping onto the warp pad, before warping away.

Connie looked down at the breakfast, she sighed and ate most of it. "Here Lion, you need to eat too." She said, pushing the plate to the lion. The pink beast sniffed it, before eating all in one bite, he then stood up and jumped off the bed. "Where are you going?" Connie asked, grabbing Steven's gem to hold it close. Lion looked at her with narrow eyes, he jumped off the stage and walked to the door. The beast looked at Connie and roared, tilting his head to the door. "Oh, ok, hold on!" Connie panicked, she quickly wrapped the gem in the blanket and placed it into her coat pocket, before running over to Lion. "Why do you want to go outside?" She asked, opening the screen door for him. Lion quickly went outside, he jumped off the porch and onto the beach, he flicked his tail and scoffed at Connie. "You want me to come with you?" She asked, walking down the stairs to meet with the pink beast. Once she reached him, the lion laid down and waited for her to climb on. Connie hesitated before mounting Lion, "alright where to?" She asked, making sure Steven's gem was safe in her pocket, before she held onto Lion's mane. Lion growled, he sprinted ahead until he came to the right speed. The lion roared and a portal formed, he jumped through and came out near Connie's apartment. "My house? Why would we want me to come here, are you saying I should go home?! Lion I can't! The gems want me to stay at the temple." She explained, hopping down off him. The lion growled, and pressed his snout on her dress. Connie looked down at her dress, to her surprise it was ripped and dirty. "You brought me here so I could get new clothes?" Lion moved back away from her and sat down. The young girl grinned, she hugged the lion and ran into her house.

Connie was digging through her room to find more clothes to pack up, she already had changed into her light blue short sleeved shirt and navy blue shorts. The girl placed all the clothes into her backpack and slowly made her way to the door, trying not to be heard or seen. "Connie?" A voice came from behind her.

Connie turned around to find her mom standing there, "m-mom?! I thought you were at work."

"I was, but I came back to get something." She replied, walking over to her daughter, and hugged her. "What are you doing here? How did you get here? Are you hurt?" She asked, examining her to see if she was hurt in any way. "Connie! Is that a scratch on your cheek?! What happened with you and Steven?"

Connie was flooded with all these questions, making her frustrated. "Mom!" She shouted, which caused her mom to flinch. "I'm here to get clothes, I got here by Lion, I'm not hurt, and what happened with me and Steven is not important...besides, if I tried to explain, you wouldn't believe me." She replied, fixing her coat to hide that she had something in her pocket.

Connie's mom sighed, "you're right, I probably wouldn't, I'm sorry. Just make sure to be safe, ok?" She whispered, kissing her forehead.

Connie nodded and ran out the front door, she met up with Lion who let her on his back. Connie's mom looked out the window and saw this, she gasped in disbelief. "W-What the?" She stuttered, watching her daughter and the lion run off.

Connie looked down at Lion who seemed to be pretty focused on something. "Are you ok, Lion? What are you so focused on? We're just going back to the temple." She said, looking down at Lion, who was still seemed to be focused. Lion roared and opened a portal, he jumped through it and landed on a warp pad. Connie jumped off and looked around the area, she found herself in a canyon that had a lot of holes in the walls. "L-Lion where are we?" She stuttered. Lion turned to Connie, to her surprise his eyes and mane were glowing white, he knelt down to Connie and summoned Rose's sword through his head. "Wha?" She grabbed the sword and slowly pulled it out, once it was out she just stared at it in confusion. "Isn't this Rose's sword? Why do I need it?" She asked.

"Connie?! What are you doing here?!" A familiar voice shouted. Connie looked up to find Pearl just ahead holding her spear. "Get out of here! You'll get hurt!" She yelled, before the white gem knew it she was thrown into the canyon wall by a spider looking gem machine. Pearl growled, she swung her spear and knocked the large drill machine back. "Lion, what were you thinking bringing her here?! Take her back!" Pearl demanded, once again she lost her focus and the machine smacked her into the wall; holding her there with one of its sharp legs. Just when Connie thought Pearl was gonna loose, Amethyst and Garnet came and knocked the gem machine off of Pearl.

Connie watched as all three of the gems attacked this massive machine, still confused on why Lion took her here. I don't want to be here...why did you take me here? She thought, just then all the gems were pinned into the ground unable to move or attack. Connie panicked and turned to Lion, "Lion! They're losing, what am I suppose to do?! Why did you even bring me here?!" She asked, demanding answers, Lion walked up to her and pressed his nose against the sword. At that moment everything made sense, "you took me here to help them?" She whispered, looking down at the pink sword. He knew they would need help, and so he brought me here to help them... She thought, the girl sighed and looked back up at the pink beast. "I'll need your help." She pointed out, with that the lion let her on his back and he sprinted toward the machine.

Pearl gasped at the sight of Connie and Lion. "what are you doing?! Connie, this thing is dangerous! You'll get hurt!" She shouted.

Amethyst on the other hand, was grinning and chanting Connie's name. "Yeah, you got this, Connie! Slice this thing open!"

Lion sprinted up to the end of the platform and he leaped toward the machine. Connie stood up and waited until they were directly above the machine, once they were she jumped off Lion and stabbed the sword into the red gem thing located on top of it. The drill machine started to run around, frantically slamming itself against the walls attempting to get Connie off of it. However the more it ran and slammed itself against the walls, the more Connie pulled the sword down. "You can't stay on forever." Connie growled, finally pulling the sword all the way through the machine. The machine started to shake, making a siren sound go off. Lion quickly sprinted up to Connie and grabbed her, jumping away from the machine just as it exploded, sending pieces everywhere.

Connie opened her eyes and found Lion standing over her, he purred and licked her forehead. "Lion! That was awesome, how you came out of nowhere and saved me! I would of never expected it to explode." She giggled, hugging the fluffy lion.

Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst jumped up and ran over to them. "Are you ok?! Are you hurt in anyway?" Pearl asked.

"I have a few cuts, but it's nothing." Connie replied, completely not expecting all of the gems to hug her.

"You were wonderful!" Pearl shouted.

"I knew you could do it!" Amethyst laughed.

"Good job, Connie..we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Garnet added.

Connie blushed, she rubbed her arm and nodded. "Thanks guys..." She giggled.

Pearl placed her hand on Connie's shoulder, giving her a smile. "Let's go back to the temple, we're done for the day." She said.

Connie looked down at the rose colored sword, "hold on..." She whispered, walking up to Lion. "Will you let me put this back?" She asked, Lion knelt down and allowed Connie to put the sword back into his mane. "Ok we can go now!" She cheered, with that they went to the warp pad and warped back to the temple.

Four weeks has passed since Steven retreated into his gem, Connie was losing hope, but she still wouldn't give up on him. Connie looked at the Rose Quartz gem, she sighed and sat up. "Steven, I'm getting worried, please come back to me. I don't want to lose you, you're everything to me. My life will be empty, I'll be all alone." She whispered, brushing her fingered against the smooth surface of the gem. "I miss you...even Lion misses you." The young girl added, looking down at the sleeping lion. "I told your dad what happened, he told me a story of how Rose Quarts retreated into her gem and he took care of her. He also told me to never lose hope, and that he knew you would regenerate because you're tough. Even though they told me not to, I am! I'm losing hope fast." Connie sighed, setting the gem back down on the blanket, and looked at the warp pad from in the living room. "The gems are still on that mission, I even helped them out a little. We're all waiting for you, Steven. Please come back." She whispered, tears running down her cheeks. Lion jumped up to the room and he sniffed the gem, he looked at Connie and roared. Connie opened her eyes and looked at Lion, "what is it?" She asked, just then the gem started to glow and raise into the air above the living room. "Oh, oh! Is he coming back?" She asked, watching as shapes started to form. The first one looked like a younger Rose Quarts, the next one looked like normal Rose Quarts and the last shape looked like Steven. The glowing disappeared and Steven fell onto the couch, laughing the whole time.

"Wow! That was so awesome!" Steven laughed, looking at himself, he was exactly the same just like he wanted it to be. "Where is ev-" Before the boy could finish his sentence, he was tackled by a big ball of fur. "Lion! It's good to see you!" He laughed, as the lion rubbed all over him. "How long was I gone?" He asked, pushing Lion off so he could stand up.

Connie started to cry, but these tears were tears of joy. Instantly Connie sprinted down the stairs and raced over to Steven. "STEVEN!" She yelled, tackling him down onto the couch.

"Ack!" He gagged, not expecting to be tackled by his friend. "C-Connie? What are you doing here?" He asked, looking up at her.

"I waited for you! I've waited four weeks for you to come back! You have no idea how much I missed you!" She replied, still pinning him down.

"I missed you too, Connie. Ummm c-can you please get off of me?" He asked, this was very embarrassing for him.

Connie got off of him and helped him sit up, she looked at the floor and back at him. "Steven, d-do you remember everything that happened before you retreated into your gem?" Steven nodded slowly. "Do you remember when we were laying in the grass?" Steven bit his lip, knowing where this was going, but he nodded anyway. "Do you remember what you told me before that monster attacked?" The boy started to blush, and he nodded. "Well...I never got to reply." Connie whispered, placing her hand on his, she looked up at him and smiled. Connie started to lean toward Steven, which caused him to panic, but to his surprise he didn't move back this time. They finally sealed the gap between each other and kissed, holding it for a few seconds, before parting. Connie moved her hair out of her face, her cheeks flushed. "S-Sorry."

"No, that was great!" Steven shouted, flailing his arms around. "You have no idea how much I needed that!" He added, before hugging Connie. "I'm glad you feel the same way." He whispered, which caused Connie to blushed even more. She giggled and hugged him back.

Just then the warp pad activated and all the gems were standing there. "STEVEN!" They all shouted at the same time, before running over to them. Connie and Steven looked up at them, quickly moving apart. Pearl grabbed Steven and swung him around, "you regenerated!" She laughed, hugging him close.

"Hey no fair! Don't hog him!" Amethyst growled, Garnet joined in and hugged the young gem tightly. Amethyst ran over and dove into the hug. "Don't forget me!" She yelled.

Connie watched as the family hugged Steven, she looked at Lion and started to pet his mane. "Looks like we have to go find Greg."

(There you go! It's finished! Sorry it took forever, I wanted it to be longer than the first chapter! Which means I had to have more ideas, so It took longer for me to write...well I hope you like it! I enjoyed writing this! Anyway I have good news, I'm not done writing fanfics! Now that I finished this one, I'm gonna start on my new SU fanfic! It's an AU that switches Steven's character with Lapis, it's gonna be a full story with multiple chapters...you'll learn more about it when I release the first chapter sometime this or next month, depends on when I start it.)