CHAPTER 30: FAR FROM HOME

"My head…" Steven groaned as he held his head, slowly getting up from the ground.

"Where am I?" He said starting to notice his surroundings.

Steven began to look around as he stood up, the last thing he remember was staying in front of Black Pearl as he tried to make her remember about Pearl. Then everything went black as Peridot called him. He couldn't recognize the place he was now. It was beautiful garden, wherever he looked he could see bushes of roses.

"What is this place?" Steven wondered moving through the garden.

Steven kept exploring until he began to hear a distant voice. It was like if someone was humming a melody in the distance. Steven felt like if this voice was familiar to him, as if he heard it before, but he couldn't remember where.

"Guys? Are you there?" Steven called, thinking that maybe one of the gems was the one who was singing, it could have been Sapphire, like on Peridot's ship when she first came to Earth.

Steven began to worry, he was alone, alone in a place he didn't know, without his family to support him, they probably have been hurt by Yellow Diamond and he couldn't help them. He had to find them. He kept wandering around, following the sound of the mysterious voice, until he began to spot a large fountain, and someone was sitting on its edge, slowly moving its hand in the water, humming a familiar tune. As Steven approached the figure, he began to notice it wasn't a stranger, he knew very well who was the one singing, she was tall, and was wearing a white dress, she had long, pink hair and the most sweet voice he ever heard.

"M-mom?" Steven called in disbelief, as the tall gem stopped humming and began to turn around.

Meanwhile:

"Jasper stop hitting the wall! Your outrage is making me extremely uncomfortable!" Peridot yelled from her cell, which was in front of Jasper's one.

"Oh I'm really sorry if I'm bothering you, would you like to entertain a stimulating conversation about how we're going to die instead?" Jasper barked at the green gem.

"Stop! We are not going to die!" Ruby said from her cell.

"Yeah of course…" Amethyst wasn't of the same opinion.

"Now Amethyst, this isn't the time for sarcasm! We have to stay determined! Steven will find us! Where did they put him anyway?" Pearl asked looking at the cells in front of her, she could only see Amethyst and Sapphire.

"I can't see him… this is strange…" Sapphire said placing her hand on her forehead.

"Oh… oh no…" Peridot murmured, her eyes wide.

"Peridot? What's up with you? Do you know something we should know?" Jet asked from her cell.

"N-nothing!" Peridot blurted out, this of course, made the gems start to worry.

"Peridot… where's Steven?" Jasper asked looking straight in her eyes.

"S-Steven… h-he was trying to talk to that Pearl, he didn't even have the time to react… Y-Yellow Diamond j-just, hit him… I-I didn't even see what happened after!" Peridot said flinching at Jasper who tried to reach her only to be zapped by her cell's door.

"You abandoned him!" Jasper yelled clenching her fists.

"H-he told me to run! I was scared!" Peridot tried to justify herself as everyone else became silent.

"He… he'll be alright! I know it!" Ruby tried to cheer everyone up, she wasn't so convinced.

"Steven is half human… c-could he be…" Lapis couldn't even say it, she just held her head sitting on the ground.

"Pearl! Pearl listen to me! He's going to be alright! Nothing can harm Steven! He's a tough boy I know it!" Amethyst saw that Pearl was curled up on the ground, breathing heavily, she had to keep her mind away from dark thoughts.

"We have to find him!" Lapis shouted.

"None of you will escape this time, Steven won't save you this time…" Yellow Diamond stepped through the corridor of cells.

"If you hurt him I swear you'll regret it!" Pearl said standing up to face the imposing gem.

"Such a fire in such a gem, pearls like you should just stay still and obey your master, yet you still want to fight, even if your master isn't alive anymore…" Yellow Diamond spoke with a devious smile on her face.

"You're lying! I won't believe you, we won't believe you! You're a liar and you'll fall!" Pearl shouted back, Yellow Diamond's smile disappearing.

"How much I'd like to shatter you with my hands… but she wants you…" Yellow Diamond said turning around and walking away.

"Who wants me?!" Pearl asked as Yellow Diamond kept walking.

"You'll know soon, now prepare yourself, we're landing on Homeworld in a day…" Yellow Diamond said before disappearing into the corridors of the ship.

"She was lying!" Jet said punching the wall of her cell.

"She was… I'm sure of it… Steven please be fine…" Pearl muttered sitting on the ground.

Meanwhile:

"M-mom?" Steven said watching at the tall gem.

"Steven? Steven!" Rose said out loud standing up and looking at her son with a bright smile, in matter of seconds they both ran towards each other, hugging tightly as soon as they reached each other.

"I thought I would never see you!" Steven cried, tears in his eyes as he hugged his mother, giggling foolishly.

"Oh Steven, my sweet, sweet child, I love you! I always wanted to say it to you!" Rose laughed as tears streamed down her face, she couldn't believe she was actually embracing her son.

"I love you too mom! And I know you love me! Every time I loved being myself I knew it was you who was loving me!" Steven said as stars appeared in Rose's eyes.

"Did you find the tape me and your father recorded for you?" Rose asked, sitting on the ground, her son in her lap.

"Yes! It was great! Thank you mom for that!" Steven said, she couldn't believe her son was such a sweet child.

"And since you found that, you must have found the guardian I've created for you…" Rose said, Steven nodded.

"I've found him, Lion is great and he's an important part of my family, I've always seen him as a… ehm… connection with you…" Steven said as Rose placed her hand on his cheek.

"I've created him for that…" Rose said, but slowly her smile disappeared.

"Mom? Is everything alright?" Steven asked as his mother gave him a sad smile.

"Steven… I'm, I'm so happy I met you but… do you understand what this place is?" Rose asked.

"I… I didn't think about it…" Steven said starting to worry.

"Steven… you're inside of your gem in this moment… s-someone must have hurt you…" Rose couldn't held back tears at the idea of someone hurting her child, she felt a soft finger wiping away her tears.

"Mom please, don't cry!" Steven said as his mother held his hand on her cheek.

"Who could ever hurt you? You're such a sweet, kind child Steven…" Rose smiled as Steven did the same.

"Yellow Diamond reached us mom… I, I think she's bringing us on Homeworld…" Steven said as Rose covered her mouth in shock.

"I… I thought they would never come back… I'm s-so sorry Steven…" Rose couldn't believe it, after all what she has done, her son had to pay for her acts.

"Don't be sorry mom, you saved the Earth and each one of us… Homeworld managed to come back but that's not a bad thing! Jasper and Peridot were two gems of Homeworld, they wanted to bring us back, to hurt us, but I showed them the beauty of the Earth and I showed them what love and compassion is! They changed and if they'll take us on Homeworld, I could show each one of them that there is another way!" Steven said, Rose looked him in amazement, his son changed two homeworld gems, and one of them is a quartz!

"I couldn't be prouder of you Steven… what you're going to do is very dangerous… I wish I could help you…" Rose said looking at the ground, but her face was immediately held up by Steven, a bright smile on his face.

"You already do it, loving me from within me…" Steven said as they hugged again.

"Steven… I-I don't want anything bad to happen to you…" Rose said, her face buried in her son's hair.

"I know mom, but I have to go back! I have to save my family… even if it means that I could get hurt…" Steven gave his mother a sad smile.

"You're such a brave boy Steven… I'm so proud of you, remember it, and remember that having fate in the others isn't a weakness, it's what makes you special…" Rose said embracing his son for a last time, before a bright light began to engulf Steven.

"D-do I have to go already?" Steven asked as his mother held his hands.

"I now it's earlier than you expected… but don't worry Steven, I'll always be with you, always… tell Amethyst never to change, tell Garnet to remember that what she is, is the most beautiful thing ever, tell Pearl that I know it must be hard to go on without me, but that since you became such a wonderful boy, it must be also her merit, tell her I'm proud of her, and… tell Greg that I always loved him and I still do…" Rose said as everything around Steven became brighter and brighter.

"I will mom! I love you!" Steven said, by this point he couldn't see anything, he just heard his mother's soft voice.

"I love you too Steven!" Rose's voice echoed in the light as everything became clearer.