Steven's Lion

A few years earlier:

Steven groaned as he fell down into the desert sand, picking his head up and looking around him to only find more desert. Steven began to regret his decision to try and prove himself to the Gems…by sneaking onto a mission without their knowledge. All that he'd managed to succeed at was getting really lost and really thirsty.

"Ugh, why is it so hard to find the warp pad? This place is just a bunch of sandy hills. It shouldn't be hidden this good."

Steven fell back into the sand, contemplating over whether he should just go to sleep and wait for the Gems to find him. He decided that was the best plan.

Yet, as he was lying there, he heard something that made him think that he had already been found. He looked up, but instead of finding one of the Crystal Gems, he found himself face to face with a large, pink lion.

Present:

"Come Steven, you know Pee Dee can't come over today." Connie told her brother.

"But I'm so bored." Steven groaned, lying on the couch.

Today was a day that Steven dreaded the mention of, the first day of spring. Connie wasn't sure why, but nothing ever went right for her brother on this day. It was nothing particularly bad, they had plenty of experiences that were far worse, but the fact that things never went his way every time it came simply made Steven loath it.

In truth, the only reason nothing went right was because Steven always had the same thing on his mind when the first day of spring rolled around. It was when the days started getting longer and hotter, which meant it would be a great time to go and get the gems and Pee Dee to all have some fun at the beach. Unfortunately, no matter how many times it was explained to him, Steven always forgot one crucial detail. Pee Dee had to work on those first days. Due to it being around the time more people visited Beach City, he had to help his dad get set up for the crowds that would surely make their way to Beach Citywalk Fries.

"Well, why don't you go outside and do something?" Connie asked. "You don't need someone to entertain you all the time."

Steven gave his sister a frown. Why did she have to be right? "Fine, I will." He grumpily replied. He marched up to the door, opening it. The moment he did, he gasped. "Oh my gosh…Lion's back!" He cheered.

Connie, who had been lying in front of the TV all morning, quickly lost interest in the screen. "Really?!" She asked, turning to get a better look. Sure enough, there was a pink lion standing in the doorway, walking into the house with a bunch of gemstones in his mouth.

The pink animal bowed its head to greet Steven before walking into the house. With a grunt, Lion dropped dozens of gems from his mouth.

Connie walked up to it. "Man…he's slacking a bit."

Lion shook himself, many more falling from his mane.

Connie nodded. "That's more like it."

It had been five years since the Gems became acquainted with the pink cat. Steven had gotten a little lost when he "accidentally" followed the gems on a mission in the desert. Thankfully, the pink lion before them has happy to help the young Steven get back home. Since then, Steven and Connie received regular visits from Lion, the cat typically bringing multiple gemstones for the Crystal Gems to bubble. It became such a regular occurrence that Steven and Connie decided that he was there pet and dubbed him, "Lion"…they admitted now that the name wasn't very original, but the cat seemed to have grown fond of it.

Lion yawned, jumping onto the couch and curling into a ball, letting out a large sigh.

Connie bit the end of her pen, staring at Lion. "Come on…you have to do something sooner or later." She said, watching curiously, wanting to note any type of mystery that was produced by the lion.

While Lion had been basically family for the past few years, they knew next to nothing about the pink cat…other than he had a strong attachment to Steven. Lion was a big mystery…one that Connie intended to uncover. Though, after staring at Lion sleeping next to Steven with his paw atop Steven's chest, she found nothing particularly interesting…though this was probably the most adorable thing she had ever seen.

Connie groaned, falling back. She had been watching Lion since the first day they met, but had learned nothing over the years. Where he was from, what he fought, what he could do, even how strong he was. And it wasn't that the whole reason for the mystery was his inability to speak. Lion had been active in keeping them from learning about him. When she tried to follow Lion, the cat stopped at the door and stared at her, waiting for her to go to sleep before he left. Connie had even convinced the gems to try and convince him to let them follow him, but the cat simply went on the roof and waited for them to give up. The only one Lion seemed open with was Steven. Sure he got along with and played with the others, but Steven was his obvious favorite.

Connie remembered once, a year after the meeting of Lion, after one of Lion's overnight visits, she woke up to find Lion and Steven had mysteriously vanished. Connie and the Gems had been sent into a full panic, until Steven happily walked in through the front door. After being scolded for leaving the house at night without permission, something that wasn't allowed until they were ten, Steven explained that it had in fact been Lion who had taken him. He then went on to explain how his companion had taken him to a large cave full of cool weapons.

While the group decided he was probably lying, Connie couldn't help but notice that Opal was wearing a troubled expression as Steven gave his detailed explanation of the place. Connie could only guess from the silent reaction that this meant Steven's story may have in fact been truth, though she didn't speak up about it, deciding it was most likely private if Opal wasn't saying anything.

From then on, while there were no more instances of them finding him missing in the morning, Connie would often notice Steven sleeping through most of the day after overnight visits from Lion, leading her to believe that Lion was still taking him places. Steven of course denied this, probably convinced he would get in trouble like he had the first time.

Steven was the only one that knew anything about the lion, but Connie decided that night that was all going to change. She was going to learn about the mysterious Lion.

Lion stretched out, yawning. He took a look around, eyes immediately laying on Connie, the girl unmoving with her eyes shut. He took a glance around the room, nodding in satisfaction as he saw no one around. He moved to Steven, gently nudging him with his nose.

Steven stirred a little, giving a faint moan. "...ples'...I don' wan' hurt 'em..." Steven's eyes slowly blinked open, falling on the pink lion. He woke up immediately at the sight, knowing what the awakening meant. A bright smile grew on his face, the hybrid repressing the urge to give a high-pitched squeal.

Steven quickly ran past the large cat, opening the door quietly, Lion walking out with Steven at his side.

The moment the door closed, Connie's eyes snapped open. "Alright," She pulled the sheet from over her, revealing she was completely dressed. "Let's see where they're going."

Connie rushed outside, being sure to not make a noise as she opened and closed the door. When she saw them, Steven was on Lion's back, the pink cat staring at Beach City. What was going on? Shouldn't they be using the warp pad?

Almost as if to answer her question, Lion let out a roar, a pink vortex appearing before him. Lion walked through casually, leaving Connie speechless.

Connie might have stayed by the door for the entire night, had it not been for the slowly shrinking portal that could answer some of the burning questions she had. Connie noticed its slow shrinking, pulling the girl from her awe. Connie ran in its direction, not willing to go another second of not knowing what's going on. Noticing that the portal was shrinking faster with each passing second, Connie was prompted to run even faster. By the time she reached it, the portal was already almost gone. In one last ditch effort, Connie shut her eyes and leaped into the air, flying straight into the pink vortex before it disappeared for good.

Connie opened her eyes, finding herself flying through a bright pink tunnel. She took glances around her, but altogether was too confused by it to make sense of it. She looked forward and found herself plummeting to the ground. Connie shielded her eyes and yelled in fear as it came quicker and quicker.

Connie passed into the area effortlessly, simply earning a minor bump as she landed unharmed. It took a moment for her realize, the girl's yelling slowly growing quieter before ceasing. She took a look behind her, finding the doorway to the tunnel of light to have disappeared. Connie sighed. "Oh well."

She looked from it to what laid before her and her eyes widened immediately in wonder. She was looking at a long, spiraling staircase leading to a green dome-shaped temple. "Wow."

An excited cry from her brother pulled her from this, the girl deciding then to run forward and investigate. She reached the top of the stairs quickly, peeking to find Steven looking at his surroundings in awe.

"This is so cool!" Steven commented, gesturing to the enormous structure. He looked to find Lion walking across a pathway to a small structure in the middle of a pond, following after him. "Alright, so what're we doing today? Finding some sort of gem stuff?" A bright grin grew on his face. "Are we gonna finally fight a gem monster?!"

When Lion reached the center, he nodded to the structure.

Steven nodded and ran forward. "Oo, I can't wait." He looked inside and his smile fell. "Hey, what gives?" He pulled out a white and green beetle. "This wasn't hard at all. I could've done this on accident."

Lion put his paw on top of the beetle, raising the paw up a little.

"…What does that mean?"

Lion groaned. Dipping his snout into the water, he began to blow, bubbles of air bursting from the surface. Steven stared for a moment before a look of realization crossed his face.

"Oh, I get it." Steven said. He placed his hand on top of the beetle, and quickly raised his hand up a little. Nothing happened. Steven repeated the exercise. Still nothing. He gave a frustrated glare, doing it a third time only to be met with the same result.

Connie watched in confusion. What the heck was going on? From what she had seen thus far, Lion took Steven out to play with gem stuff. Yet, there was obviously some sort of understanding between the two, as Lion didn't seem to be objecting to the boy's actions and Steven was quite serious about completing it.

After four more times, Steven groaned in frustration. "I'm sorry Lion, I can't do it." Steven told the pink cat.

Lion put a paw on his shoulder, seemingly to comfort him.

Steven simply turned his head away. "I don't even know why you keep trying with me. Connie would probably have learned how to do tons of stuff if you helped her."

Lion shook his head, moving his paw from Steven's shoulder to the beetle before giving a small grunt.

"Well…what am I doing wrong?" Steven asked. "The Gems do it so easily. I don't even think that they have to think about making a bubble around a gem."

Connie's eyes widened in realization. Lion was trying to teach Steven how to use his gem…in honesty, she should have realized that's what they were doing.

Steven tried a many more times before once again loosing faith in himself, dropping to the ground. "I'm never gonna get this."

Lion gave him a sympathetic look. He gave a light roar, nudging Steven with his head. Steven tried to retreat from his companion's touch, the lion working his way under Steven's arm, plopping down next to him. Steven at first gave an aggravated look, but slowly felt his lips turn upwards.

He gave Lion a small pat on the head. "Thanks bud."

Lion gave a little roar in response, seemingly happier at Steven's change in attitude.

Connie smiled at the sight. So, this was what they did. It warmed her heart to see Steven like this, and, as she continued to watch the scene, she began to think back to moments in her life that were suddenly less confusing. The reason he had been missing some nights after the day their dad died was because he had someone who was cheering him up. The reason he never cried on the days after was because he already had. Lion hadn't just been acting as a mentor or guardian, he had been acting as Steven's friend, as someone he could confide in and talk to, someone who would always be there for him.

She didn't know why, but she felt that, all of a sudden, she shouldn't be there. She felt like she was imposing on a private moment that was meant for them alone. She didn't feel guilty about being there and for watching thus far, but she did feel like now was the time to walk away and come back when their moment was over.

As she turned, the earth shook underneath her.

"Whoa, what's going on?!" She heard Steven ask.

Connie turned to find Steven trying his best to keep his footing while also keeping hold of the beetle. He slipped as the shaking intensified, Lion supporting him before he could fall.

The shaking stopped as abruptly as it had come, leaving the dazed and confused Steven and his guardian wondering just what happened.

Connie let out a sigh of relief, glad that what just happened was nothing too extreme. Of course, her luck had other plans. The moment she felt that it was over, a screech sounded and the waters began to bubble.

Connie almost felt her heart stop as a giant bird creature burst from waters. It was massive, a beast that matched even the centipeetle mother in size. Its body was covered in brown feathers, the only parts without being the violet top to the creature's beak, its purple stomach, and its legs. Something that sent chills down Connie's spine were the creature's eyes, or lack thereof. Despite this, it seemed perfectly capable of determining where Steven and Lion were, dive-bombing towards them.

While Connie was frozen in shock, Lion acted quickly, grabbing Steven with his jaws and jumping away from the beast. The bird stopped before it could collide with the ground, flapping in place and screeching angrily before zooming towards them. Lion jumped out of the way, the bird unable to move in time to avoid crashing straight into the dome.

Connie couldn't make her legs move, the beast's impact throwing her away. Connie fell to the ground, hair blown into her face. When she brushed it away, she looked in time to see the bird rising from the rubble, it snarled at Lion, the pink cat setting Steven down and growling back, daring it to come any closer.

The bird looked as if it was about to, but, when it readied its wings, it froze. Slowly, the bird turned its head towards Connie.

Lion, confused, followed the gem monster's gaze, eyes widening as they fell on the other quartz child.

The bird screeched before leaping at Connie, the girl rolling out of the way before it could grab her. The creature took to the skies, flapping its wings and roaring at Connie before once again trying to get her. This time, she didn't have to move, a pink blur tackling the bird out of the air. Connie watched in shock as Lion caught the beast by its neck, throwing it into the air. Connie would've watched the bird fly off, had her guardian not been falling off the face of a mountain.

Lion didn't look scared though, roaring as he plummeted. Before him, a portal opened up, the cat flying through. Hearing a roar behind her, Connie turned around to find another portal open above the still recovering bird, Lion emerging and throwing himself into the beast. The bird screeched in pain, only for Lion to kick off of the beast, sending it flying to the ground and poofing on impact, gem shards littering the ground around where the beast once was.

Connie's mouth was agape at the sight, vaguely aware of the cheering from her brother. What snapped her out of it was the sound of Lion landing in front of her. She was afraid to look up, doing so to find that, just as she'd thought, the cat was wearing a menacing glare on his face.

Lion gave a growl and a small roar, Connie not needing to understand what he was saying to know he was scolding her. She supposed she deserved it. She had spied on something private among the him and Steven.

When Connie felt she couldn't stand the weight of his judging glare any longer, Steven spoke.

"Um, guys."

They looked over in his direction, eyes widening as the gem shards from the fallen monster formed into smaller versions of the bird's head.

"I don't think we're done!" Steven said, running towards the two.

Behind him, the heads screeched, flying in pursuit.

Connie watched in fear, preparing to run off, only for Lion to grab her by the collar of her shirt, throwing her up and onto his back. The pink cat bared his teeth and roared at the heads chasing Steven, blowing them back.

Steven jumped onto Lion's back panting.

"Hey Connie, how're you?" Steven asked between breaths, Lion taking off the moment the male hybrid grabbed onto his fur.

"Good, a little shocked at what's going on, but good." Connie answered, watching as Lion roared and opened a portal in front of him.

Lion leaped through, Connie and Steven ducking.

Lion fell when he reached the other side, the twins falling off his back while he rolled to a halt.

Connie and Steven groaned as they slowly stood up, the eyes of each widening at the fallen Lion. "Lion!" They called, running to his side.

"Are you okay?!" Connie asked, shaking him.

Lion sighed before giving a grunt, earning a sigh of relief from Connie.

Steven sighed. "Man, that was a close one." He reached into his pocket, pulling out the beetle from before. "But I got the bug…I should probably give this to the Gems."

Connie chuckled. "Yea, that does sound like a-"

A cacophony of screeches turned the trio's attention back to the still open portal, the bird heads flying towards it.

"Ah, they're going to come through!" Steven cried.

Connie stared on. Her head fell and her eyes grew sad. "This…This is my fault…if I hadn't decided to come, you guys would've been able to beat this thing easily…but I screwed it up."

"I'm not sure how you connected those dots, but I think we have bigger things to worry about." Steven told his sister.

Lion stood up behind them, growling.

"Oh yea, Lion didn't get hurt at all." Steven said, watching as the lion walked between the children and the portal, getting into a battle stance, growling.

When the birds were about to fly through, Lion jumped forward, roaring. The force blew the monsters in front back, making them bump into those behind them. Before they could recover, Lion jumped through and kicked one back, grabbing a second with his teeth. He threw the one he held into a second, roaring again. The attack made a few disappear into their gem shards, the remaining few mindlessly charging at Lion again.

"Whew! Go Lion!" Steven cheered.

"Yea, you can do it!" Connie joined in.

Lion jumped to the side to avoid it, the flock changing direction. They hit Lion head on, colliding one after another. Lion was thrown into the air, the flock giving no mercy as they flew in pursuit.

The twins gasped. "Lion!"

Lion opened his eyes, looking at the oncoming beasts. Lion roared, creating a portal in between him and the beasts.

"Yea, woohoo!" The twins cheered. Their grins fell as a pink glow came from behind them, turning to find the portal Lion made leading to it.

The birds flew through, Steven and Connie hugging each other in fear as they came at them. Before they could reach them, another portal appeared, Lion popping through and sliding to a halt. He reared his head back, letting out a growl, before releasing a massive roar, powerful enough that it made the windows of the beach house shake.

The beasts remaining had no chance, each glowing before disappearing into their gems, the shards falling to the ground one by one.

Steven and Connie slowly released each other, the portals around them disappearing.

"So…is it over now?" Steven asked.

Lion turned to Steven before falling to the ground.

"…Yep, we're done." Steven answered.

Connie was silent for a moment. "Oh…my…gosh…that was so cool!" She cried. "The way you fought was magnificent! No wonder you always have so many gem monsters when you come by! You beat them like they're nothing!"

Lion glared at her, groaning as he stood up, walking up to the pile and picking one of the gem shards up in his mouth. He walked back to Connie, giving it to her.

"I know! Even they didn't stand a chance against you!"

"Um…Connie?" Steven asked. "I don't thing he was bragging right there."

"Well…what else would he be doing?"

Lion came back to her, dumping a pile of ten shards I to her hands. He then looked over to the pile on the beach and then pointed with his paw over to the house.

Connie's eyes widened. "Oooooh…" She looked back to the pile and her head fell. "Aww." She whined, walking over to the pile.

Author's note: Just in case it wasn't clear, Lion made Connie carry the gem shards from Big Bird to the house by herself as punishment for spying on them…yay for animals having authority over children! Constructive criticism is desired and accepted!