CHAPTER 23: THE TAMED WORRIOR

"You'll never admit it Jasper… you're a brave warrior and saying something like that means to be weak for you… I really admire you… you're the strongest gem I ever met, even if you use your strength for a purpose that is different from mine… but you're scared… scared that you could fail Yellow Diamond and that she could crush you because deep down you know that she doesn't care… and so you try to hide that with that attitude of yours… being mean and scary… but you don't need to do that here… I care about you…" Steven said smiling at the now puzzled gem, she stared for a moment in those merciful eyes, this, this creature… cared about her? No, Yellow Diamond did it too, did she? She hesitated for a moment, but then she gritted her teeth and hate came back in her eyes.

"Y-you… aaaargh! Shut up!" Jasper cried hatefully.

The warrior raised her fist… and crushed the little boy under it… but her eyes became wide as the young boy vanished in a pink cloud as she crushed him under her fist.

"W-what?" Jasper managed to say before she heard a noise coming from her side, she turned her head towards it but the blow was too quick to dodge in her conditions, Steven managed to approach her without being noticed while Jasper was occupied with his clone and as he reached her, he summoned his shield and backslapped the warrior with it, making her fall to the ground, exhausted.

"Looks like it worked…" Steven said as Lion began to approach the two.

"Ha… y-you really are her son… t-that was a clever t-tactic…" Jasper muttered, laying on her back as she saw Steven right next to her head, shield and sword in hands, her eyes became wide for a moment, but then she smirked and closed them, of course, what was she thinking, after all this it would have been really stupid to spare her, she lost and she recognized it without regret, even if this creature was half human, he was much more clever than many opponents she had met, there was no shame in being shattered by him.

"G-go on… I… I recognize my defeat… just end me h-here… it'll be better for the both of us…" Jasper said as Steven towered over her.

"Jasper…" Steven tried to speak but was cut off by the giant warrior.

"No… d-don't hesitate… I prefer this to what the Diamonds would do to me after discovering I failed my mission… I… s-saw it too m-many times happening to my c-comrades… j-just make it quick…" Jasper almost whispered as she saw Steven raising his sword upon her gem… she was ready, she never thought this moment would come, but here she was, defeated at the feet of her enemy… but the blow she was expecting never came… instead she heard the noise of something hitting the ground… she looked up and saw that Steven dropped his sword on the ground and made his shield disappear.

"W-what are you d-" Jasper tried to say before being interrupted by the young boy, who quickly kneeled down and hugged the massive gem's head.

"I-if this is y-your attack then-" She tried to speak, but was cut off another time.

"This isn't an attack… it's a hug…" Steven said as he kept hugging her.

"W-what's that?" Jasper asked, confused by Steven's actions.

"It's something you do to comfort someone who's sad…" Steven explained as Jasper released a low growl.

"I'm… not s-sad…" Jasper said trying to move Steven away… but he just wouldn't let go.

"Jasper… stop please… I know you suffered… much more than many others… you had to obey the Diamonds and bear all the bad things they did, the only way to live a life like that was to force yourself to enjoy the things they made you do… but now they won't hurt you anymore… I promise…" Steven said closing his eyes… he didn't care about what Jasper did in the past, he wanted to help her, no matter what the others would have thought.

Jasper's eyes widened in disbelief, this… Steven, she couldn't believe such a young creature could have such a great wisdom, even if she tried her hardest, she couldn't hide her true self. He didn't care about what his other comrades would have done to him after discovering he spared her, he didn't care about what she had done to him and to the ones he cared about, he just wanted to help her, to protect her, something like this, really didn't exist on Homeworld and maybe, just maybe, she was starting to understand why Rose Quartz rebelled against her own race for this planet… it scared her to have this thought but… she wanted to understand this creature, she wanted Steven to show her what this planet could offer, she wanted to live without fear, she wanted a life made of something more than endless fights… she… she wanted to change. After some moments, she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and cried, as hard as she could, she couldn't believe something like what Steven showed her really existed, she couldn't believe she had the chance to live it.

"Do you feel better?" Steven asked displaying a little smile.

"Yeah… a little bit… so, what are you planning to do?" Jasper asked as she sat on the ground.

"I'm going to talk to the others… they'll understand, don't worry, and then we'll all work together and stop the Cluster!" Steven said as Jasper gave him a confused look.

"You discovered about the cluster?" Jasper asked as Steven nodded.

"Yes, Peridot talked about it, now we're building a machine to stop it!" Steven explained as Jasper lowered her gaze.

"So she couldn't stay loyal either…" Jasper whispered, but she raised her gaze almost immediately when she felt a hand touching her own.

"Well… I saw how Yellow Diamond treated her… how she treats her allies… do you really thing that she's worth being loyal to?" Steven said as Jasper looked away, as if she knew the answer was no but she wasn't still ready to say it.

"The others… they're not going to let me go…" Jasper said as she began to stand up.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you!" Steven said puffing his chest proudly, as Jasper snickered slightly.

"Alright little warrior, lead the way…" Jasper said, still unsure about what would have happened.

Meanwhile:

"Peridot… I'm sorry if-" Garnet was cut short by Peridot who ran towards her and embraced her legs, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"T-thank you G-Garnet! I've… I've never felt anything like that! I-if you feel that all the time… I c-can understand why you're always fused!" Peridot said, both laughing and crying

"I'm glad you enjoyed it…" Garnet said smiling at the small, whimpering gem.

"Yeah Peri… you were great! Now you're really a Crystal Gem!" Amethyst said as Peridot stopped sobbing and looked towards all the other gems, she remained silent for a moment and then, as she smiled widely, a little yellow star appeared on her chest, she looked at Garnet with an unsecure look, as if she wanted a permission from the leader.

"You could have worn that a long time ago, I'm glad you're one of us Peridot, I know it must have taken a lot of courage to do this…" Garnet said kneeling down and placing her hand on the little green gem's shoulder.

"Well… I can't say I'm not scared but… I'm glad I did this! Homeworld may seem great and the Diamonds may seem unbeatable, but sometimes there are things that are worth defying them for, and those are you and Steven…" Peridot said, a small deep green blush appearing on her face.

"Aw Peri… you're so sweet!" Amethyst said snickering.

"Take that back! I'm not sweet, I'm… I'm a terrifying renegade gem!" Peridot yelled at the purple gem poking her own chest.

"Yeah sure…" Jet whispered as Angelite chuckled softly.

Everyone began to laugh, even Peridot joined the others after some moments, that was until Garnet stopped snickering and lowered her head for a second.

Hello guys! We are back after only God knows how much time and for this I really want to apologize, school have been a little tough during this last period however we managed to write some chapters and now we're back! I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and thank you all for all the reviews, favs and follows, see you soon!