The afternoon's weather was gentle and pleasant on this All Hallow's Eve-eve. The cookout was being had on the beach outside Steven's home. Nearly all guests invited showed up. "Where's Sour Cream?" Greg had asked Vidalia.
"He's getting ready for a pre-Halloween rave tonight," she said, smiling. "That boy and his music."
Greg said he'd make extra for him. He was the grill-meister, cooking up burgers and hot dogs, and veggie burgers for Connie's family. Yellowtail also brought some fish for him to grill and showed him how to cook it using aluminum foil.
As usual, Lapis Lazuli had also been invited and, as usual, she declined.
Connie's father was shooting the breeze with the grill-meister and Yellowtail, a can of cola helping him talk. The ladies were lounging in some folding chairs around a couple of outdoor tables. Dr. Maheswaran chattered with Garnet, probably about discipline or surgery, or something.
Amethyst and Pearl were hanging out with Vidalia, probably talking about art or mayonnaise or cleaning, or something. Suddenly, Pearl was startled by Onion who grabbed her sash. She politely tried to get him to let go, but it was Onion's mother who made him do so and picked him up in her arms. Smiling, Vidalia said something to him, then glanced in Steven's and Connie's direction. Steven's gut told him that he should take Connie and head for the hills.
Vidalia let Onion loose and he ambled on over, directly in front of Connie. He stared.
"A-afternoon, Sir Onion..." He blinked. Then he looked down, found a seashell and picked it up. Onion offered it to Connie. She reached for it. "For me? You shouldn't ha-" Onion chucked it into the ocean.
He stared.
Connie squinted at him. "Diabolical... I'm onto you..."
Onion blinked.
Steven and Connie strolled along the beach and the cliff-face above it, fiddling with the sand and rocks and things with their feet as they went, with Onion not far behind, doing all the important things to pass time with one another. Eventually, they came across a flock of seagulls. Onion darted through them, scaring them further down the beach. He kept chasing them.
Connie asked Steven, "Have you heard anything from Peridot?"
"I saw her a couple days ago," he said. "Her new cable for her computer came in, and she stayed a little bit but not too long."
"Did she seem ok?"
"Yeah. I even asked her and she said certainly now that she can get back online."
"And that was that?"
"Pretty much."
"Wow. So it was like nothing had happened, huh?"
"I-I guess," said Steven, scratching. "But, I mean, what was she gonna do? I don't think Peridot would let something like that hang over her even after a week, or let it affect those around her anyway. Besides, she got what she wanted out of the whole thing, so she was happy."
"I suppose."
Steven looked out over the ocean and watched it foam up onto the shore. "I've thought about it since. Especially how the Gems saw it happen in completely different ways from each other. I've gone over it again and again to try and see it their ways, but... it's hard. Like, I can almost touch what they were getting at, but I can't... grab it. If that makes any sense."
Connie lowered her brow. "You told me that you thought Topaz was there out of love."
"Yeah-no-I mean, what I'm saying is that the Gems all saw the whole thing with Topaz and Peridot differently, and I've tried looking at it their ways.
"Take what Amethyst said. That she expects the same kind of thing to happen again, for Peridot to leave and for Topaz to come after her. What does that even mean?"
"That it'll be a cycle," said Connie.
"More than that," urged Steven. "It means that Topaz was being dishonest. Lying to Peridot just to get her to come back and that nothing will change." Connie nodded in realization. "I mean, she told Peridot she wouldn't put up a fight about her coming here anymore, for one. How could she take that back?"
"Yeah. She would be exposed very quickly."
"Exactly," said Steven. "And to lie about needing someone, that you want to be a better person for them is just... wrong. And that would make Topaz a bad person, and I don't think she's a bad person. Especially if Garnet doesn't think so."
"But, Garnet was suspicious of her as well, wasn't she?"
"Yeah, but, I think mostly for the sake of Peridot. Garnet is very protective. And Topaz did a bad thing to Peridot."
"Does treating a person wrong," Connie proposed, "not mean that they are a bad person?"
Steven thought a moment, then shook his head. "Topaz was angry. When you're angry with someone, sometimes you do or say things you don't mean. I've a lot of experience with that, trust me. There's been times when the Gems have physically fought each other." He watched Connie listening. "I think Garnet was just trying to think through everything to see if she could find any dishonesty. And, because of that, I think she might have overthought it and didn't try to look for anything else besides lies.
"Pearl said Topaz was being desperate. I don't really know what it means to be that, but..." Steven thought of himself and Connie in the past, and that she was walking right next to him. "But, there have been times when I've really wanted to talk to someone and express my feelings or guilt, and I've thought of how great it would be to just get it out of the way as soon as I could but have been too afraid to. Maybe Topaz is more brave than me. I'm sure she was feeling so frustrated that day before she came looking for Peridot."
"Maybe," Connie interjected, "what Pearl meant was that Topaz was making a lot of promises she couldn't keep."
Steven searched. "But, then that would just go back to the whole dishonest thing, wouldn't it?"
"Maybe. But, I think what it really means is that Topaz lacks self-awareness if she makes promises she's unable to keep."
"Self-awareness?"
"Understanding one's own character and flaws, one's own motives, emotions, and capabilities-things like that. If Topaz was making promises she can't keep, then she isn't self-aware."
Steven thought about it, then shook his head again. "I think Topaz understands very much her own emotions. I mean-I only get the impression because I barely know her-but the times when I've run into her I feel like she understands herself very much, selfishly. Like, she doesn't want us to know anything about her. And maybe that keeps her from understanding anyone else, or wanting to. But, I know that she knows she knows who she is and knows that we know that she doesn't want us to know what she knows. You know?"
"...I'll take your word for it."
Steven shrugged. "I dunno. But, I do know that what I saw in her that day, after I've gone over it so much in my head, wasn't her telling lies, not understanding herself, or being desperate." Steven stopped walking and shut his eyes. "What I saw in Topaz that day was... embarrassment. Anxiety. Humiliation. Anger. There was anger. And then... humbleness. And sadness..." Steven opened his eyes. "That's what I saw."
Connie said nothing.
"And thinking about her, it's like, I mean... she's not tied down to anything here on Earth. And she's not the type to do nothing about the things she wants. She's aggressive. And to come to my house so soon-like everyone wonders why-I wonder why not? She's got the freedom and the... the, uh... gaunt? to do so."
"You mean the gall to do so?"
"Yeah! The gall! And... Topaz doesn't care what anyone thinks about her. She does what she wants, and goes after what she wants. And what she wants... is Peridot. Like the times before, that's what I saw that day." Steven started to walk more and realized that he and Connie had made it to the Big Donut. "And Peridot was so quick to forgive her, too. She was already willing to forgive her. I can't imagine Peridot that willing to forgive a bad person."
Connie balanced herself on top of the curb to the Big Donut's patio. "Peridot seems to be one to hold a grudge, too."
"To think that everyone saw the situation so differently. It makes me confused!"
"Confused?"
"It makes me wonder if the Gems didn't see Topaz for what she was that day, how she felt, like I did, or if they just ignored that for one reason or another or because of how they felt about her."
"It's understandable, though," said Connie. "She hasn't exactly given them the best impression of herself."
"But, last week she did! Like before, she showed me how much she cares for Peridot and wants her in her life. Why can't the Gems see that?"
"Maybe they see something you don't."
"That also bugs me. It makes me wonder if everyone sees things and people differently, and if the reason why they do is because of their experiences."
Connie stopped and contemplated Steven, a public waste bin between them. "I'm sure that has something to do with it, but that can't be all there is to it. Life is hardly ever so simple."
Steven said, "I guess. I just wonder, and wonder if any one person's opinion should be taken as the right opinion or if people let things like their experiences get in the way of the real deal."
The middle of Connie's forehead reached up to her pumpkin hairband. Then, all at once like an explosion, her hair engulfed her face and her arms flew forward. She landed on her rear. Steven, too, fell on his bottom.
Trash had them surrounded. Cups, wrappers, and always-free napkins had burst from the waste bin between Steven and Connie. Poking out of the bin was Onion, praising the sun.
Steven growled, "Makes me really wonder about Onion, too!"
They harvested their Onion from the trash and moseyed back over to the party to enjoy freshly grilled burgers, hot dogs, fish and other stuff.
...