A/N: Finally! An update! Do forgive me for taking so long with this chapter. My laptop's keyboard broke and I was out of town for two weeks so I was unable to write much since then. But I'm back for the rest of the summer! I'm going to try to finish up this story before the end of summer so I can have this wrapped up before school starts!
Thanks for all your support and patience! Enjoy Chapter 14!
"Welcome to the Crystal Temple!" Steven proclaimed happily opening the screen door. Peridot nervously walked into the huge house and let herself survey the home. The house was much larger than the small room Ronaldo had atop the lighthouse. It was also much cleaner and far more furnished with chairs and sofas. She watched as Steven stumbled up a set of stairs onto his balcony, shuffling around in various cabinets.
"Make yourself at home guys!" Steven grinned as he ran back down the stairs, plopping down an armful of sheets and stuffed animals. "Oh man, this is going to be so fun!" Steven said making his way towards some cabinets besides the couch.
"Um, what do I do exactly?" Peridot asked Ronaldo. "Are there a set of rules set for these…slumber…parties?"
"Geez, relax, Peridork! This is supposed to be a party!" Amethyst joked, grabbing a soda from the fridge.
"It's Peridot, you Amethyst!" Peridot angrily grumbled.
"Just Amethyst, thanks." Amethyst rolled her eyes, gulping down the fizzy juice.
"Get along, you two." Garnet stated and started laying down the blankets Steven had sloppily plopped on the floor.
"Ahem, so, Peridot and…um…Ronaldo. How exactly did the two of you meet?" Pearl asked with curiosity.
"Oh! Well, it's quite simple, really. I found Peridot unconscious in the forest with her gem cracked heavily." Ronaldo explained, taking a seat on the blanket covered floor. Peridot followed, making sure to keep close to the human. She still did not trust the Crystal Gems, but she knew they would never hurt a human.
"A cracked gem? But how is that possible? Your gem looks perfectly fine." Pearl inquired. Ronaldo and Peridot looked at each other uneasily before glancing at Steven who was also sweating nervously.
"Oh, hey! Let's play Twisty!" Steven interrupted, hoping to change the subject. He quickly laid down a tarp with colored dots printed on it and grabbed a spinner.
"Twisty?" Peridot looked at the half gem with confusion. "What is 'twisty'?" Steven plopped right next to Peridot with stars in his eyes.
"It's super fun! All you do is, spin the spinner and whatever color it lands on you have to put a body part on the colored circle!" Steven said pointing to the spinner and colored dots on the placemat.
"And what is the purpose of this?" Peridot asked blankly.
"There is no purpose! It's supposed to be fun!" Amethyst said before Steven could answer.
"…fun?" Peridot did not quite grasp the concept at all.
"Here, I'll show you!" Steven enthusiastically grabbed Peridot's fingers and led her over to the side of the colored mat. He spun the wheel and it landed on red.
"See? It landed on red! So I'll put my right foot on red!" Steven said planting his foot on a red circle. "Your turn, Pearl!"
"W-what? Me?" Pearl said with slight surprise. "Well, I suppose." Pearl spun the wheel and it landed on blue. She placed a left foot on blue.
"All right! My turn!" Amethyst spun the wheel and it landed on blue again only this time for her left hand.
"Garnet's turn!" Steven smiled from his spot as the fusion took her spin. Ironically, it landed right between the red and blue colors. "Oh, well that's okay, Garnet! Just spin…again…." Before Steven could finish, Garnet put her hands on both a red and blue dot.
"Continue." Garnet insisted.
"Right! Peridot! Your turn!" Steven said gesturing to the spinner.
"Um…I see…" Peridot shyly brought a floating finger against the wheel, spinning it to have it land on green for her left foot. "Like this?" Peridot asked, placing her foot against the green dot.
"Perfect!" Steven grinned giving Peridot a thumbs up. "Your turn, Ronaldo!"
"Steven, I'm not sure you can fit so many people on this mat…" Pearl reasoned.
"What? We can't leave Ronaldo out!" Steven replied. "Come on, Ronaldo!"
"Right!" Ronaldo spun the wheel and received yellow for his right hand.
"So, Peridot, what were you doing at the Kindergarten before our confrontation?" Pearl asked with curiosity as Steven took his turn.
"Well, I simply wanted to contact Yellow Diamond for her to send a ship to rescue me. However, as Ronaldo has told you, my alliance with Homeworld has been compromised." Peridot explained as Pearl set her hand on a red circle.
"And you are positive that Yellow Diamond has no other way of reaching Earth?" Pearl coaxed.
"Indeed. I have destroyed all of Yellow Diamond's means of communication on Earth. Unless there is something unreadable by my scanners, Yellow Diamond will not be coming here anytime soon." Peridot explained, placing her hand on a yellow dot.
"You know, you never explained how exactly you fixed your cracked gem. Is it some new Homeworld technology that you can offer us?" Pearl asked. Peridot tensely looked at Steven who was currently tangled up with Amethyst.
"W-well, I might have…sort of…healed Peridot's gem?" Steven said timidly.
"You what?" Pearl screeched, losing her balance and toppling over Garnet with a loud thud. "Steven! How long have you known Peridot was staying with Ronaldo?"
"…a while?" Steven gulped. Ronaldo continued his turn while listening intently, placing a hand on a green circle.
"And why did you not tell us, Steven?" Garnet asked calmly.
"Well, I promised that I wouldn't tell any gem about her!" Steven argued, placing a foot on blue.
"Then why did they find me anyway?" Peridot asked.
"Well, technically that wasn't my fault!" Steven began. Peridot looked at the boy with confusion. "It was Stevonnie's fault!" Steven blamed.
"Who is Stevonnie?" Peridot asked, noticing her spin had landed on a yellow. She skillfully looped under Ronaldo's body to reach the yellow dot without a second thought. Ronaldo, on the other hand, had a blush stretched across his red cheeks as he tried to keep his shaky limbs from collapsing on top of the gem.
"Stevonnie is Connie and me! We're a fusion!" Steven smiled with pride.
"Another gem?" Peridot yelped in shock. How many gems were on this planet?
"No, no, no! Connie's a human!" Steven stated planting a foot on a red circle, making his way around Amethyst who had lost her balance and fell on her face with a plop.
"You can fuse with humans?" Peridot yelled and jumped up in shock. Unfortunately, she forgot Ronaldo was on top of her and bumped into the human, causing Ronaldo to lose his balance and collapse right on top of the green gem. Peridot let out a strained groan as she felt Ronaldo's weight on top of her.
"Ah! Sorry, Peridot!" Ronaldo bolted off of her and Amethyst snickered.
"Yay! I win!" Steven jumped happily.
"Steven can fuse with humans?" Peridot asked Pearl, wanting confirmation from another gem.
"Well, yes. We've met Stevonnie before." Pearl explained. Peridot looked at Garnet and she nodded as well.
"How…how is that even possible? I mean, a human and a gem fusion? How-" A tired yawn interrupted Peridot's rambling. The former Homeworld gem looked over at Steven who sleepily tried to answer Peridot's question.
"Well…it's probably…probably…because…I'm a half…gem…" Steven mumbled before falling backwards onto the covered floor.
"Looks like it's past his bedtime." Garnet stated and gently ran her fingers through Steven's hair as he slept. "Ronaldo, you look tired."
"W-What? No! Of course…I'm not…I am a night blogger! I just…need some coffee…" Ronaldo yawned. He had not received much decent sleep since Peridot's arrival. Coffee was the only thing keeping him going.
"We don't drink coffee." The fusion blankly added.
"…Is that…so…." Ronaldo flopped backwards into the sheets as well with a loud snore. Peridot couldn't help but smile at Ronaldo's sleeping face.
"Listen, Peridot." Garnet's voice returned and Peridot turned to face the three Crystal Gems, all looking at her sternly.
"Just because Steven trusts you doesn't mean we do." Amethyst stated much firmer than Peridot expected.
"Steven is kind, even to gems like you. It would be in your best interest not to take his kindness for granted." Pearl said angrily.
"Just because Steven accepts you as a Crystal Gem doesn't mean we do. If you want to be a part of our group, you need to earn the privilege. Do I make myself clear?" Garnet asked sternly. Peridot gulped. The gems were all very intimidating, but still not as bad as Yellow Diamond. If she had to listen to their orders, so be it. She had no other place to go.
"Yes." Peridot gulped. The fusion was silent for a few seconds before nodding her head as well.
"Let's go, Crystal Gems." Garnet stated, making her way towards the temple door. Before long, the three were gone.
The ocean bubbled and waves churned against the shore.
"Let's pay your dear friend a visit, shall we, Lapis?" Jasper's sinister yellow eyes glowed as her clawed fingers wrapped around the blue gem in her palm. Cracks decorated its surface.
"I think it's time for Yellow Diamond to see where her dear comrade has been hiding all these years."
A/N: Thanks for reading and leave a review!