CHAPTER III: A CURE FROM THE DIAMONDS

"I'm sorry this happened to you…" Steven whispered as he kept caressing the warm, soft, white fur of the corrupted gem in front of him.

And indeed, Steven was sorry. He was sorry this gem couldn't understand him. He was sorry that so many other gems had to suffer the same fate. He was sorry for what the Diamonds did to her. The Diamonds…

"Damage from the Diamonds…" Steven whispered to himself.

He suddenly remembered what Centipeetle had shown to him through her drawings. Her ship, her crew, her commander. She showed him the war, the defeat of Homeworld… and the revenge of the Diamonds. 'You heard something, from the sky, a sound, a… a song?'.

"A song…"

And then Steven realized. What if there was something he could do to help this gem? The Diamonds used their powers to wipe out the remains of the rebellion, tearing the fabric of their minds, mutating them into mindless beasts. It was a power like no other. Because the terrible song came from the Diamonds, no other gem in the entire universe could do something to repair the damage it caused, because no other gem was as powerful as them. But if a Diamond had a power like that, to distort the form of a gem, then, maybe a Diamond also had the power to restore it. Steven closed his eyes, leaning towards the monster until their foreheads slightly touched.

"I hope this will help you…" Steven whispered.

"No! Steven, step back!" Sapphire tried to convince him, seeing hundreds of futures in which the monster would attack the little boy.

"Steven!" Ruby called him.

But Steven didn't listen to them. The only thing he listened to, was the strangely calm breath of the gem in front of him, and the sound of his own heart. He didn't really know what words to use, but strangely enough, they seemed to come to his mind almost… naturally. He remained silent for a moment, and then…

Steven sang.

"I know you're hurting,

you don't remember who you used to be,

maybe you feel lost,

that's what's happening now to me,

you've fought for what you believed in,

perhaps freedom or its opposite…

it doesn't matter what you've done,

you have suffered long enough

and I don't know if this is helping

to remove those sad old cuffs,

but I promise I will try

and if it doesn't work don't cry,

I will return and bring some snacks

and I'll keep trying…

untill…

you're…

back…"

Steven fell silent. He closed his eyes and quietly whispered 'please come back'. Then, suddenly, the monster began to scream. The loud shriek caused Steven to fall back on the ground. He looked at the monster holding its head with both of his… hands. They weren't clawed anymore, they were just… hands. Steven looked in amazement as the corrupted gem's form began to glow, and so did Ruby and Sapphire. But as soon as its shape began to change, a white spear flew above the young boy, plunging itself deep in the monster chest.

"Steven!" It was Pearl's voice.

The monster exploded into a cloud of smoke, leaving its gem on the ground.

"Dude! What were you thinking?! That monster could have eaten you!" Amethyst yelled, reaching Steven and helping him stand up.

"Pearl! Why did you do that?!" Steven cried, picking up the green gem, flashing an apologetic look before turning towards Pearl.

"I… that monster was going to attack you!" Pearl answered, confused, not really understanding what she did wrong.

"No! I was trying to cure her!" Steven replied.

"Cure… her?" Pearl muttered.

"Dude, you were singing a song." Amethyst said, scratching the back of her head.

"Exactly! Her hands were back to normal and even the rest of her was changing!"

"Steven, maybe you were imagining things, corruption isn't something you can-" Pearl tried to reason, but was interrupted.

"Steven is right. That corrupted gem was changing." Sapphire said, reaching the small group alongside Ruby.

"Yeah! Her hands weren't clawed anymore, and I bet even the rest of her was going back to normal!" Ruby chimed in.

"Sapphire… Ruby… I'm so sorry…" Pearl's tone was sincere, both of the two small gems knew that.

"We know you are Pearl… but we'll need time… all of us." Sapphire said, while Ruby simply crossed her arms and slightly grunted.

The group made its way towards the warp pad. As they returned home, Sapphire and Ruby inhaled deeply before joining their hands. This time, they both glowed bright, and in a matter of seconds, Garnet was back.

"Steven, please explain it to us, Rose…" Garnet stopped herself, the sound of Rose's name felt so strange now that she knew the truth. After a moment, she shook her head and continued. "Rose tried to cure corrupted gems in many ways, she tried for a long time before deciding that the only thing that we could do for them was to bubble them and let them rest. So how did you understand the way to cure them was to… sing?" Garnet asked.

"It seems a little too simple…" Pearl wondered out loud but immediately shut herself as she saw Garnet giving her a warning look.

"Well I-" Steven tried to explain but was interrupted by the sound of the bathroom's door slamming open.

"Wait… did I hear correctly?! Steven managed to find a way to reverse the effects of the Diamonds' mutagenic attack?!" Peridot yelled as she came out from the bathroom and ran up to the group.

"Yeah, and Rose was actually Pink Diamond." Amethyst added.

"WHAT?!" Peridot cried in disbelief, taking a few steps back.

"Amethyst…" Garnet muttered, shaking her head. "This is not the time to talk about what Rose did… this is the time to talk about what Steven did. Steven…"

"Right, remember when I kinda cured Centi? She told me about the gem war, and how she was a captain. She and her crew were going to leave the Earth when the war ended but they got separated and were caught by the Diamonds' attack. She told me she saw a bright light and she heard something coming from the sky…"

"What was it?" Pearl asked.

"A song…"

The group fell silent.

"So the Diamonds used their power in the form of a song to corrupt the remains of the rebellion…" Garnet thought for a moment.

"And if the Diamonds used a song to corrupt all those gems…" Pearl continued.

"You figured out that a song could cure them! Great job ste-man!" Amethyst exclaimed, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"Yes, I'm proud of you Steven." Garnet smiled, gently ruffling his hair.

"I know that…" Pearl hesitated, "I know that your mother would be proud of you too Steven, so, so much."

"Thanks Pearl." Steven replied, reaching the pale gem and giving her a hug.

"I'm sorry I interrupted you while you were trying to cure that gem, if it wasn't for me…"

"I know, don't worry, you were only trying to protect me, I can't be mad at you for that." Steven said as he let go.

After that, Garnet decided to go to her room but when Pearl shot her one last apologetic look, the fusion seemed to hesitate. They needed to talk, both of them knew that, but she felt like she wasn't ready. She needed time to think. The temple's door closed behind her, and Garnet disappeared into her room. Amethyst did the same, although, after so much tension she felt like she didn't need to think, but to take a nap. Pearl preferred to go to the beach. Steven watched her sit down on the sand and stare at the sea. He considered the idea of joining her, but something told him she needed some alone time. Peridot, still stunned by the new revelations, retired to the bathroom and Steven… Steven sat on the couch, wondering what to do next. He knew he could cure corruption, but who could he cure first? The monster Pearl just poofed? Centi and her crew? Or maybe…

'Oh gosh…'

He knew from the very moment he thought about it that it wasn't going to be easy, especially convincing the gems to let him do it, but still, he felt like he had to. Yes… all that rage, all that hate, she lived most of her life chasing an enemy that didn't really exist. It wasn't right, it wasn't right for her to live like that. Even someone like her deserved a second chance, a new life, a new purpose. Among all of the gems who got corrupted, Steven felt she was the one who deserved the most to know the truth. So he waited for the gems to come back, to tell them about what he thought about, who he thought about. It wasn't going to be easy, but still, he would to try.

He was going to do it.

He was going to bring her back.

He was going to cure her and tell her the truth.

The truth about her Diamond, and who she really was.

I bet you know who I'm talking about, don't you? So, here we are with the third chapter! I had a lot in mind for this chapter, but it was becoming a little too long, so I preferred to stop here and write the rest in the next one. Are you happy? Of course not! Just kidding… well I don't really know but hey! You got the song! I hope you liked it and yes, yes I know. "Snacks" and "Back"? Really? Cool rhyme idiot. Well I though so too but then I remembered Steven's full song about the Crystal gems, about how they would win the fight and go out for pizzas, and I thought, he's such an adorable goof ball, so why not you know? So, I hoped you liked this chapter, the story so far, I want to thank you for all the appreciation you're giving me through your comments (You're so kind guys) and all the favs and follows, they're like, really, really important to me. Thank you guys, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. See you in the next chapter, bye bye!