A few days passed since Lapis' incident and much like before everything was seemingly normal. Lapis feeling this dread from a mile away along with the dread of lying to her wife decided to nap in the barn all day today.

And yesterday.

And the day before that.

Peridot wasn't worried initially but her concern grew over time. Peridot was debating on trying to talk with Lapis again but this idea was quickly squashed by the sound of her tablet ringing with a classic phone sound. Looking over at her wife who hadn't moved from that position in two days, Peridot decided that she'd give the blue gem a few more minutes to herself and answer her tablet.

Peridot picks her tablet up and sees that Steven is trying to contact her. She slides the green button to the right to accept the video call and after a few seconds of attempted connection The screen fills up with the visage of a panicked Connie on the other end.

"PERIDOT! Peridot, are you and Lapis home?"

Peridot was startled by the sudden barrage and took a moment to stammer out a response.

"Y-yes. Of course."

Peridot looked Connie over. Obviously she was panicked, but more poignantly she was wet. Completely soaked actually.

"Connie, why are you wet?"

"That isn't important right now. I just need you guys to stay where you are. I'll be there in ten minutes once I find The Gem's warp whistle and I'll explain everything. Connie out."

Connie ended the video chat.

Peridot was really hoping for good news.

Ten minutes have passed since Connie's surprise video chat. Peridot was sitting on the ground and Pumpkin was nuzzled in Peridot's lap. Lapis was still lying in their hammock silent and unmoving as ever. The faint noise of rustling came from outside and was immediately picked up on by Pumpkin who ran out of the barn barking. Peridot elected to not follow her lovely dog and instead continue sitting down and waiting for whatever Connie had to say. Moments later Connie rushed past the tarped entrance of the barn with sweat dripping off all parts of her body, her sword on her back, and the warp whistle in her left hand.

"Peridot! Lapis! Steven has been taken to space by a couple of homeworld gems!"

"What?!"

Peridot stood up immediately and ran to Connie. Lapis didn't get up from her hammock but for the first time in nearly two days she finally rolled on her other side facing the green gem and the human girl.

"What gems took him? Do you know," Peridot asked.

"It was an Aquamarine and a Topaz fusion. That's all I know."

Peridot's face sank, and along with it her heart.

"An Aquamarine and a Topaz FUSION. You're sure?"

Connie nodded.

"Those are the personal favorites of Blue and Yellow Diamond respectively. They only get sent out when the Diamonds themselves want something personal done. They're the best of each Diamond's authority. Alone either would be a formidable opponent but together they'd be nearly unstoppable," Peridot exposited this to Connie. Finally Lapis pipes up.

"why were they here?"

"They were collecting humans for some reason. I was trapped inside of Topaz for most of it so it was hard to hear sometimes."

Lapis' expression fell lower than it already was. Guilt twisting up inside of her.

"They wanted them for the human zoo," Lapis barely mumbled.

Connie nodded furiously.

"I assumed as much after a while. It was terrible you guys. That Aquamarine too powerful. She stopped Alexandrite, a bunch of other humans, and me dead in our tracks without even trying."

Peridot started pacing erratically.

"They are designed specifically for capturing targets."

"And the worst part is Steven wasn't even really captured against his will. He gave himself up!"

Connie saying this stopped Peridot dead in her tracks and finally caused Lapis to sit up in the Hammock. Peridot began to shout.

"Oh my stars, why would he do that?!"

Connie starts tearing up.

"I don't know. He just kept talking about stopping what his mother started and he just walked into the ship without a second thought."

Connie rubs the tears out of her eyes.

"Then their ship was gone moments later."

Peridot's erratic pacing eventually broke when she broke into a spazzing, screaming frenzy. Being put face to face with an impossible quandary.

"Connie."

Connie's focus raced towards Peridot whose voice was barely audible. A unique scenario for the green gem in question.

"I know that this is hard to hear, but I don't think there's any way for us to get Steven back."

Lapis keyed in on her tiny wife. Her blue eyes sullen and sunk in.

"No. Nonononono! There's got to be a way. There's always a way!

Connie looked around at the junk in the barn franticly but her gaze eventually settled on Lapis barely sitting up in her hammock.

" Lapis flew all the way to Homeworld once, she can do it again," Connie pointed out.

Lapis' eyes shot open. Her mind started racing. She didn't want the attention and focus on her. She won't be able to hold it in if they keep questioning her.

"That's true. I could maybe carry you and Peridot. But you would need to be in a small ship or something and you would need food and all."

Lapis stood up and slunk over to Connie eventually kneeling down to meet the girl eye to eye.

"And I would do that for Steven. I would do that for you."

Lapis broke eye contact with Connie, knowing what she was getting ready to do.

"But all of the other gems would want to come too. Steven is just as important to them as he is to you or to me or even Peridot."

"I disagree," Peridot added.

"And I can't carry a ship big enough to hold all of you fast enough to do anything. By the time we would get there Homeworld would have done whatever they wanted to do."

Connie sinks in on herself. Her expression is empty. All of the hope seemed to be pulled from her body in that instance.

Peridot decides it's her time to intervene.

"However! Steven has been in a multitude of similarly dangerous situations and has come out of each of them without any permanent damage. No permanent physical damage anyway."

Lapis couldn't help but smile when she saw her wife coming in right after her and going in to comfort Connie. The green gem really did care about her friends. Dwelling on this thought for too long made Lapis' stomach twist and turn. Peridot didn't know she was helping Lapis cover up for the fact that this is very well all the blue gem's fault.

"So even though it is not very productive, the best thing that we can do for Steven is believe in him. He'll come back to us before you even know it."

Connie sniffled once really hard, but she looked at Peridot with gleaming, happy eyes before wrapping her arms around the green gem

"Thank you, Peridot."

Peridot quickly reciprocated the action of the human girl in front of her. Lapis turned away from the situation.

"Well, what's done is done. There's no going back now," Lapis thought.

"Now Connie, is there anything else your team can do for you today since you already came all the way out here," Peridot offered as she broke the hug.

"No. The only other thing going on in my life right now is a Parent-teacher conference at my school. We have to have one every school year. It's just a formality though and my parents are busy tonight."

Connie pulls out her phone which is nearly dead.

"Let me give them a call to see if-"

Connie's phone is ripped out of her hands and lands into Peridot's.

"Connie. There is no need for you to alert your parental units if they are busy. We, as your teammates, will pose as those responsible for your well-being in their stead."

Connie looked uncertain about this plan. Lapis seeing this uncertainty stepped in.

"If you miss your conference then that will cause people to ask questions about why and if you tell certain people why, it might make things harder for you to see us or to see Steven."

Lapis certainly didn't understand why humans were so bent on letting other people control their freedom, but she knew it was something that concerned them. Connie was left there in thought. She took a moment to rub her temples to ease an oncoming headache.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt. And I think it would be best if my parents didn't find out about this incident. Fighting monsters with Steven and the other gems is one thing but being kidnapped and alone in space and put in an alien zoo might be more than even they'll allow now."

Peridot held up her hand for a high five which Lapis followed up on.

"Alright! The plan is set," Peridot shouted.

Peridot nudged Connie, then looked at her expectantly.

"Oh! Right. Leader."

Connie clears her throat.

"Crystal Temps! Let's go to school!"

Connie and Peridot shared a laugh, and Lapis had a small smile grace her lips as she summoned her wings and grabbed both Connie and Peridot. Lapis helped Peridot onto her back while she carried Connie in her arms.

"Lead the way, Connie," Lapis said in between wing beats.

"That way!"

Connie pointed a finger in a distinctly northeastern direction from the barn. Lapis followed suit and went as fast as she could carrying two people the way that she was.

~twenty minutes later~

The trio land softly on the grounds of the school. The sun had officially set and it just became night. The school because of this fact felt eerie and creepy, mostly to Connie. Peridot was beaming with excitement and Lapis held a generally bored expression.

"Alright you two, thank you for coming but just let me do all of the talking and everything should go alright?"

"You got it!"

Lapis follows up Peridot's response with a simple nod.

Connie leads the way into the dimly lit halls of the school until she eventually comes to her homeroom class where the teacher is waiting patiently at her desk looking over some papers.

The teacher hears the door click and looks up from her desk.

"Mr and Mrs Mahaesh-" The teacher stop mid-sentence when she sees a blue and green person standing behind and awkwardly smiling Connie.

"Connie, I was expecting your parents to be with you. Who are your…friends?"

Connie took a seat in a student's desk right across from the Teacher's desk. Peridot followed suit and Lapis sat on top of the desk in lieu of the seat.

"My parents couldn't make it tonight, so they sent my…babysitters with me. I know this is a little unorthodox."

"Are you two qualified guardians?"

The teacher eyed the green and blue gem. The two gems looked at each other then looked over to Connie. Connie tried nodding subtly to them both.

"Why yes! There have never been more qualified guardians than Lapis Lazuli and I. Allow us to provide you with a demonstration."

Peridot looks to Lapis.

"Lapis?"

Lapis raises her hand and clenches it into a fist.

~a few moments later~

The double doors to the school burst open and out ran Connie's teacher and Connie soaked to the bone along with a small river of water which rushes past their ankles.

The married gems walk out the same double doors indignantly.

"I believe we have proved ourselves aptly. Now, how's Connie doing in school?"

Peridot flashes an overly large smile as she asks this question.

"She's. She's doing great. Phenomenal even."

The teacher looks down at Connie.

"Connie, are these people aren't hurting you?"

Connie shakes her head.

"Then I'll forgive you for this incident and I won't call your parents about it because they just got me a couple days off and I need it."

The teacher rubs her face.

"The administration has been killing me ever since our school went down a grade."

Connie grabs her teachers hand and shakes it.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Thank YOU, Connie."

The teacher looks back towards Lapis and Peridot.

"And thank you to you two, as well!"

Peridot wraps around Lapis' waist.

"It was all the work of my beautiful blue wife."

Lapis' arms were pinned to her sides by Peridot but she looked away smiling.

"It was nothing."

A portal opens up mere feet away from the group and out through it comes a pink lion. Which surprises nobody but the teacher.

"Lion!"

Connie runs over to the big pink cat.

"What are you doing here?"

Lion snorts in response and kneels down. He whips his head back implying he wants Connie to get on.

"Oh, okay! Yeah sure. I needed to go back to beach city anyway so this works."

Connie climbs atop Lion.

"Thank you Peridot and Lapis. This was a nice distraction from everything. I'll see you all later!"

Lion roars and forms another portal, quickly jumping inside before the portal dissipates.

"Well Lapis, our work here is done. So let's make out way back home."

"Sounds good."

Lapis picks up her wife bridal style and forms her water wings before gallantly flying off to the sky.

The teacher watches as Peridot and Lapis fade from view before looking down to where Connie left on Lion.

"Are all my student's lives this complicated?"

~back at the barn~

"It was really nice to be able to help Connie like that."

Peridot said as she grabbed a set of pillows and a blanket from the bottom floor and took it to the top. Lapis was sitting in one of the various lawn chairs they have strewn around the two floors of the barn.

"I was thinking we could sleep in the truck tonight? Might make for a nice change of pace."

Lapis didn't respond.

"What do you think, Lapis?"

"Yeah. That sounds nice."

Peridot beams before walking off.

"Peridot. Can I just want to say-"

A spoon appears in front of Lapis' face. A moment later it's on her nose.

"Save it for the truck, Lazuli," Peridot says while winking.

The two gems make it to the truck bed and start strewing out the blanket and pillows. Once everything is set the two gems lay down and Lapis lays on her side away from Peridot and Peridot takes this opportunity to reach an arm around Lapis' waist and scooch in closer body to body with her wife.

"Peridot. I think I did something really bad…again. And I don't know if you or anyone can forgive me this time."

Peridot pulls Lapis in as tight as her tiny arms can manage. Lapis' body resists, remaining as stiff as she can to the tiny gems physical affection. Noticing this only made the green gem pull in just a little bit harder.

"Lapis, there's nothing that you could ever do to ever make me stop loving you. There's nothing you could do to make the rest of the gems or Connie or Steven to stop caring about you. There's nothing in this galaxy or the next that would make us abandon you. I'm sure if Steven were here he would say the same thing."

Peridot laughs.

"That's kind of where I got the idea to say all this from."

Lapis turned around to meet Peridot face to face.

"Peridot, you don't understand."

Peridot was getting ready to retort when a dim pink light beamed from below breaking the tension and the attention of the two gems. Peridot and Lapis got out of their comfy position in the truck to peak down. They saw Connie with the Rose Quartz sword and a duffle bag hoisted over her shoulder riding on top of Lion. Lion knelt down letting Connie off before he created another portal and hopped on through it.

"Lapis! Peridot! Are you guys home?"

Peridot jumped atop the truck, losing her footing and eventually falling face first onto the ground below right in front of Connie. Connie ran up to check on her just as Lapis flew down to do the same.

"Peridot, are you okay," The blue gem and human asked in sync.

Peridot delivered a thumbs up in response.

"What brings you here, Connie?"

Connie looked up from Peridot to Lapis.

"Well…"

Connie looked off into the distance.

"Steven just got back from Homeworld."

Peridot shot straight up.

"OH MY STARS. IS HE OKAY?"

"Yes, he's fine. And I was really happy to see him back but at the same time. I was kind of angry at him."

Connie crossed her arms.

"I kind of hated him if I am being honest."

"But- why?"

The green gem's question rang out, hitting Connie hard.

"BECAUSE HE JUST GAVE UP ON US. HE GAVE UP ON ME!"

Connie took a deep breath to keep on going.

"He took all of that training and faith he put into our abilities and threw it away. He left without even thinking once about how he was hurting me and everyone else he loved. He was only thinking about himself and his own guilt. If he would have just kept fighting then we could have found a solution but he just gave up on all of us."

Peridot and Lapis looked on in shock at Connie.

"I didn't have time to process all of this since he was kidnapped. I was too focused on trying to find a way to get him back, but now that he's back all I want to do is be angry at him. What's worse is that he hurt us…he hurt me, and he doesn't even seem to understand that. Steven, the guy who is so in tune with everyone and their problems isn't able to see that what he did was stupid, and reckless, and that it HURT."

"Did you want us to go talk to him," Lapis offered.

"No, but I told my parents I would be over at Steven's for the night but I can't be around him right now. So I was wondering, can I spend the night here with you guys? I figured it would be nice."

"Of course you can! No member of the Crystal Temps is ever without a home as long as we have this barn. Our home is your home, Connie. Not literally, but we're willing to share it with you."

Connie embraces Peridot for the second time today.

"Lapis, you need to join this too."

Lapis decided not to ignore the human girl's request and kneel down to fully immerse herself in the hug.

"Lapis and I are a family, Connie. And as long as we're a family then you too are a member of this family. And as family we do anything for each other."

Lapis listened to the words her wife told Connie and started crying.

She can't believe how lucky she is to have this green gem as her family.

She can't believe how lucky she is to have a family in the first place.