CHAPTER 18: NOT WHAT, WHO

"Thank you… Steven…" The gem said as she stood up, she may be scared, she may not remember who she was, and Rose may not be there to help her, but there was someone as caring and compassionate as her there to help her.

"You're welcome… ehm… h-how should I call you?" Steven said as she looked at her gem for moment before raising her gaze.

"Jet…" The gem replied as Steven smiled warmly.

"STEVEN!" Amethyst yelled as she summoned her whip.

"Let him g- oh… oh my…" Peridot said as she raised her blaster towards the gem, trembling.

"Guys wait!" Steven said as he put himself in front of Jet.

"Steven you don't understand… you don't know who you are protecting!" Peridot said as a small orb of energy began to appear in front of her blaster.

"Peridot please stop!" Steven said as the orb kept getting bigger.

"Haven't you seen her gem Steven?!" The green gem said pointing at the gem on Jet's chest.

Steven turned around and looked at the gem, noticing something strange, there weren't any kind of cracks but, her gem was of a single color, there were many shades of gray in it, as if it was composed of multiple pieces…

"She is one of the Homeworld's experiments!" Peridot said as she aimed at Jet's gem.

"Wh-what?" Steven whispered as he turned towards Jet… who seemed more puzzled than anyone else.

"What… am… I?" Jet muttered in disbelief as she lowered her defense just for a moment, and that was the moment when Peridot fired with her blaster.

"No!" Steven cried as he jumped towards the incoming orb, a bright pink light coming from under his shirt.

A cloud of dust raised in the air as the orb exploded. Both Amethyst and Peridot remained speechless as the dust settled revealing Steven, who had a bright pink shield on his arm. He managed to block the orb before it could hit Jet.

"S-Steven… I… I…" Peridot muttered as she began to step back, tears forming in her eyes, before she turned around and ran away.

"Peridot wait!" Steven cried stretching his arm towards the green gem, but she had already disappeared.

"Steven… are you alright?" Jet asked as she kneeled down to his level.

"Yes… I'm okay…" Steven answered as he turned towards Amethyst.

"Steven… is she really one of those monsters we fought here in the Kindergarten?" Amethyst asked as she lowered her whip.

"I… I don't… she can't be! She speaks and… she saved me from Yellow Diamond… she is a Crystal Gem just like us!" Steven said still standing in front of Jet.

"I may not understand who or what I am… but I fought alongside Rose… and even if she is not here anymore… Steven helped me and showed me the same love and compassion she showed me long ago… I'm going to do everything I can to protect him…" Jet declared as she stood up and watched Amethyst straight in the eyes.

"Well… I can't say it for the others… but you really helped us back there at the facility… you're okay I guess… I think we should take you to the temple… but… it's up to Garnet to decide what to do with you…" Amethyst said as she made her whip disappear.

"Don't worry Jet, it'll be ok!" Steven said as he offered again his hand to her.

"I… I trust you Steven:.." Jet answered as she took his hand and began to walk towards the warp pad.

"Okay… before we go I think I'll need some help with that drill head…" Amethyst said as Jet turned towards it.

Meanwhile, at the Beach House:

"Pearl calm down…" Lapis said as she sat on the couch, watching the white gem walking forwards and backwards.

"Lapis is right Pearl, Steven is with Amethyst and Peridot, nothing bad will happen to him…" Garnet said as she leaned against the counter.

"They had been out there for hours! Why is it taking so long to just take a drill head?!" Pearl almost yelled as she kept walking.

"Pearl will you stop stepping back and forth? You're going consume the floor at this rate…" Lapis said chuckling slightly.

"This is not the time to joke Lapis!" Pearl yelled before something caught her eye, the beam of light coming from the warp pad.

"Oh thank-" Pearl remained speechless as she saw who appeared on the warp pad.

"Steven!" Lapis yelled as she jumped off the couch.

"Hehe… hello guys…" Steven said scratching the back of his head as he kept holding Jet's hand.

"Guys please I need you to listen to me… so please… don't try to attack Jet…" Steven said as all of the gems remained motionless for a moment.

"Alright… gems… let's hear what Steven has to say…" Garnet said as she made her gauntlets disappear.

"Jet isn't bad at all! Remember how she helped me back at the facility? She wanted to help me because she thought I was mom, she's a Crystal Gem just like us!" Steven said pointing at the yellow star on Jet's suit.

"B-but… this is impossible! All of the Crystal Gems were shattered during Rose's rebellion!" Pearl exclaimed, her spear still in her hands.

"Peridot told something about her being one of Homeworld's experiments…" Amethyst said as Garnet began to approach her, but as soon as she reached her, she stepped back covering her mouth.

"It… it can't be…" Garnet whispered.

"What is it Garnet?" Pearl asked approaching her.

"Her gem… it… it's like the ones of those monsters in the Kindergarten… it is an amalgamate of shards…" Garnet said as Jet stepped off the warp pad.

"W-what?" Jet asked as she approached Garnet, who go in a defensive stand.

"Garnet please… she doesn't want to hurt anyone…" Steven pleaded as he reached Jet's side.

For a long moment Garnet remained silent, what was in front of her, she couldn't tell what intentions they had, she couldn't focus, she was scared, how could possibly be true that one of those abominations could actually have a rational mind? But she had one, and most importantly she wanted to protect Steven, this was what counted at the moment.

"I… I'm sorry if we scared you… gems… put down your weapons…" Garnet said as Pearl sighed and made her spear disappear and Lapis's wings disappeared.

"D-do you know w-what I am?" Jet asked as Garnet came near to her.

"Who… who you are… not what…" Garnet said smiling slightly as Jet did the same.

Garnet began to tell Jet about what Homeworld did with the Crystal Gems who died during the rebellion, she told her how they used their shards in order to create artificial fusions to use as a weapon, and that they were only prototypes for their horrific, ultimate creation, the Cluster, an amalgamate of millions of gem shards. It was a lot to take in, Jet could finally understand why her thoughts were so confused, because her mind was composed of many others, but when Steven told her that she didn't have to be afraid because him and all of the gems were there to help her, she began to calm down. Garnet explained their plan to her, that they needed to build a machine to take them to the center of the Earth to destroy that abomination, but, most importantly, that if she wanted, they would have been more than happy to allow her into the team, even if, technically, she was already part of it. There was only one more question…

"Where's Peridot?" Garnet asked as she noticed that the green gem was not there with them.