Welcome back, friends. I haven't updated in ages. But don't worry, this story isn't dead.

Chapter Eleven: Connie Meets Alex

Steven and Amethyst and Pearl (except Garnet) arrived in the Temple's house. Lapis and Peridot had rushed along home. Garnet sat on the couch, watching Alexandrite doze off nearby.

"We just visited Greg," Pearl said. "That sounds nice," Garnet said. Steven began to leave the Temple.

"I'm inviting Connie over," he said, and with Lion they both teleported into fuzzy static, riding to the Maheswaran's household.

Once they appeared by the door, Steven rang the doorbell, and Priyanka, Connie's mother, answered the door.

"Hello, Steven. How are you?" she asked calmly.

"I'm doing well, how about you?"

"Good, thank you. Connie's almost ready." Right as she said that Connie came downstairs and gave her mother a hug.

"See you soon, Mom," she said, and Priyanka hugged back. "Okay, dear, be back by seven," she said.

Connie hopped onto Lion and rode back to the Temple with Steven.

When they entered the household, Lion immediately hurried into Steven's room and took a nap.

Alexandrite woke up, noticed Connie, and ran to give her some affection.

Connie gasped. "You have a dog?!" she said, and immediately returned the favor by petting Alexandrite gently. "Yes," Steven said. "I found her abandoned by the road and saved her, and now she's a permanent member of the family."

"What's the cutie's name?"

"Alexandrite."

"Aw, that's unique," Connie said.

Alexandrite seemed to immediately love Connie. "She's very well trained, but there are a few things she can't do," Steven said.

"I would love to help her master them."

"Would you love to pet sit occasionally?" Steven asked.

"Sure, if it's alright with Mom," Connie said.

"I'm not letting Lapis and Peridot watch her for a while," Steven said.

"May I ask why?" Connie said. "Well, sure. The last time they watched her, she returned wearing Camp Pining Hearts wigs and costumes."

"Really? They must really like that show," Connie muttered.

"They do," Steven muttered in response.

Alexandrite waited impatiently to do something fun. She was bored. She barked loudly, grabbing Connie and Steven's attention.

"What does she want?" Connie asked curiously, looking at the puppy rolling around.

"She probably wants us to watch television with her," Steven replied, shrugging. He honestly didn't know what the puppy wanted, but he knew she liked TV.

"How about we watch Under the Knife?" Connie suggested eagerly. It'd been a while since they'd watched the amazing series, even though Steven had been grounded from TV a little more than a year ago (he was currently ungrounded, you can say).

They went up to his room with Alex and killed time by watching the show for about half an hour. "That was an amazing season finale," Connie murmured.

Steven nodded in agreement. Even Alex seemed to agree.

"Well, what do you wanna do now?" Steven asked Connie.

"Well, we have to train with Pearl now, actually," Connie said. "We have to review what we've learned as Stevonnie." "Well, let's go!" Steven said, and he picked up Alex and chased Connie to the warp pad.

When they arrived to the Sky Arena, they met Garnet and Pearl who were sitting nearby.

"Should she join the training session?" Steven asked. "Well, I don't mind," Connie said.

Alexandrite after all was very impressive in her training, Pearl had realized. While training her on those many previous days, she had unlocked many new abilities (with the encouragement of Garnet and Steven).

"Is she a beginner?" Connie asked Pearl. The puppy bounced around Connie while barking in fascination.

"Not really, she has mastered some impressive skills…" Pearl answered.

"Show us what you got," Garnet told Alex.

After an exhausting training montage against a Holo-Pearl, Alex plopped onto the floor.

"Well, now that she's sleepy, I guess we'll have to train later," Connie said. "However, she's really impressive. I'll consider her as a battling partner along with me and Steven."

She loved Alex's skills, but she didn't want to accidentally strike her while battling. As they continued to train and fight, their skills improved even more.

They didn't need to worry about their anxiety issues when training as Stevonnie, either, since they had already handled the situation with Garnet and meditation.

"I think that's enough training for today," Pearl said. "You two seem very tired." And they were. Well, after Alex's rest, they mostly played with her and she just napped more.

"I bet she'd get along with Pumpkin," Steven snickered, and Connie rolled her eyes playfully (AKA not rudely, don't be disgusting) and smiled.

Sorry for the short chapter. But I'm ready to write the next one. See ya!