A/N: Thank you again for the reviews! To Duke, I'm glad to see someone like the Onion and Steven and Peridot and Connie friendships! There will be more of that on the way (in fact, some of the latter may just be in this chapter!)

This one is a little shorter because I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to bring in the next major plot thing (after the major one in this chapter). Also, we're going into some of my crazy headcanon/theory territory with this one, so bear with me! This chapter is also for Amedot shippers but for the Pearlidot ones, have no fear! That will be coming soon! Then we'll be making some big, happy Pearlidotethyst chapters soon! I'm also kind of tempted to start work on either a one-shot or a shorter story based on an idea my husband and I had (that some of you who have seen my tumblr might have heard me mention). If I do, it will make this one look like a freaking romantic comedy, so be warned.

Please feel free to review!

-Four Faces

It had taken a long time for Amethyst or Pearl to notice the change. The broken tiles were their first clue.

Peridot had taken Connie out of the house to try and take her mind off of everything while Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet debated over which gems to try and have Steven heal first if he returned. They had decided to give it two more weeks before they would start harvesting. They would harvest the most recently trained gems and the enemy gems first. Then, maybe, Steven might not be as upset if – when he came back.

Lapis and Chrysoprase were off limits indefinitely.

Pearl had gone into the bathroom to clean and decompress when she had seen the bloodstained, broken tiles, a distinctive imprint of a fist in the center. She immediately called Garnet who stared at it with a straight face.

"Did … did Connie do that?" Pearl asked.

"Hmm ..."

"She can't punch that hard normally, can she?" Pearl asked.

Amethyst had joined her and was torn between feeling proud and worried. Connie was definitely showing strange behavior anyway, but this was unexpected. There were pieces now that needed to be put together to determine what was going on with their favorite young human.

Garnet had seen the signs long before that. Connie's aptitude towards the sword fighting (and increased endurance the more time she spent around Steven, especially after their first fusion) was definitely abnormal for someone her age when she started training with Pearl. Garnet remembered humans during the first war and Connie was nothing like them. Her aging also seemed to slow down as she had looked the same for the last three years. It was all pointing down a path that Garnet had seen back when Steven first mentioned Connie. When he had mentioned he cured her eye sight, she began to watch for any signs that Connie might have a change. After Stevonnie was first formed, she became even more invested and began to notice these signs immediately.

She grinned inwardly. She had wondered what effects the healing powers of the Rose Quartz gem would have on a human, and now it was confirmed. She had even noticed these effects in Greg (who was barely starting to grow gray hairs and had aged very slowly in the years he was with Rose). Even after Steven's birth, he still seemed to have been affected by Rose's gem..

And Rose and Greg had only performed a human "fusion". Imagine what the effects on a human would be if they performed the traditional gem fusion, like Steven and Connie had so many times.

This excited the clairvoyant fusion. She hoped that the most positive future would truly happen now. She had known that fusion would be an important aspect of Steven's life, but she didn't realize how important until it stared her in the face. His worst fears might not be realized after all, barring some grievous battle injury, of course.

She wanted to test this more. It was an exciting theory, but it was still only a theory. Then, she had to wonder how all of this was able to affect Connie and what it meant for the future. She, of course, could see the overwhelmingly positive possibility the easiest right now, but she was never one to only go with the most probable.

There would be a lot of things that would have to happen to prove it to her. For one, the only time she had ever fused with any of the gems, other than Steven, was when she was already fused with Steven. Normal humans could not fuse with gems, so if she wasn't being affected by Steven, then she shouldn't be able to fuse with another gem. There was also the case of how she handled battles. She had not been there during the battle on the beach to see if Connie received any serious injuries and what sort of healing occurred if she had. Connie could still get injured seriously and there would be no gem to poof into.

Garnet soon realized that she was currently being stared at by the other two gems. She would probably have some explaining to do soon.

Greg sat on the dock, tuning his guitar. He didn't want to be in the gems' way as they were cleaning up the beach so he came here instead.

He watched as a boat approached the dock. He soon remembered the fishing trip that Yellowtail had told him about. How he was taking Sour Cream out for the summer on a trip to try and bond with him. Marty returning to Beach City years ago really made Sour Cream appreciate his step-father more, but there was still tension between the two of them. Yellowtail had confided in Greg that he hoped this trip might strengthen their bond a little more.

Greg wondered what they might think when they finally saw the aftermath of the battle. He knew that Sour Cream was upset that he was leaving for so long, especially knowing that his brother was probably going to get involved in something and get hurt.

The boat docked and, at the first moment where it was safe to do so, Sour Cream bounded out, his eyes wide with fear as he surveyed the clean-up.

"Oh my god … Onion?"

"It's OK!" Greg said, calming the young man down. "He's alright. So are Buck and Jenny. They had found a place to hide and avoided the worst parts of the battle."

Sour Cream breathed a sigh of relief as Yellowtail approached the pair. "OK … That's good … How did it go?"

"Well, we won for now," Greg began. "All of the gems' non-human allies were shattered. They've been cleaning them up now to avoid any incidents. Lapis was shattered as well and we may be expecting a counterattack from the entire Homeworld invasion force - "

"What about Steven?" Sour Cream asked. It did not escape him that Greg did not immediately tell him how he was doing.

"I … I don't know. He was gravelly injured and they think that he might recover. He's been in his Lion's mane since the battle ended. It's really taken a toll on everyone."

Yellowtail murmured something. Greg knew instantly what his worry was. It would be the same if he was in the same position.

"Onion didn't take it well, according to Vidalia. He's been shut off again. She said he keeps staring at a gem that he poofed in the battle. One that has been inert since it ended."

Greg could see that both men were upset by this. Yellowtail showed a twinge of emotion on his usually stoic face and Sour Cream nearly crumbled. So much had been done to bring Onion out of his shell and Greg knew that losing Steven would destroy everything that they had all done to help him out. It was why he didn't want to tell him at all. But he would find out eventually. He was a smart kid and would figure out when he didn't get to see Steven on the boardwalk or come over to train at the temple with him.

"Have you seen him at all today?"

"No. I haven't seen him since we told him. I've mostly been helping fix things around town or spending time at the Temple seeing if Steven is OK. It's been a rough few weeks," Greg said, rubbing the back of his neck.

The three began to walk down the boardwalk in silence. Greg was about to head back to the Temple when he saw a blinding flash of light near one of the few roller coasters that remained standing. Without thinking of anything else, he broke into a run, Sour Cream and Yellowtail following not too far behind him.

"So, Amethyst got me hooked on those 'canines of extreme temperature' the first time we were here, and I thought that maybe the stand might have reopened and we can get some," Peridot explained as she and Connie walked down the boardwalk.

Connie was still distracted, being transported through so many memories of the summers she spent here with Steven. She held in her tears as she walked alongside the eager gem.

"Ooh! Look, Connie! It's that roller coaster that we rode for Steven's birthday that one – er … It's a roller coaster and it survived the battle," Peridot stammered as she realized what she had done. You clod! You weren't supposed to remind her of Steven! You've failed the mission.

Connie smiled sadly at the roller coaster. Yes, it did remind her of Steven, but she knew why Peridot was so excited to see it again.

"Aw man! You have to be 4 and a half feet tall? We're barely there!" Steven complained.

"It's ok, Steven," Connie smiled. "We can ride one of the other rides."

Steven had wanted to take the group to Funland for his 12th birthday, something that Ruby and Amethyst were ecstatic about, not having been there since Steven had been banned after the Teacups Incident. Sapphire was uneasy, roller coasters not really being her thing, and Peridot was unsure why humans would strap themselves to such an obviously dangerous contraption just for fun.

But if it excited Amethyst …

"Wait … I know how we can get on the new ride!" Ruby exclaimed.

Sapphire chuckled.

"I knew you wouldn't last long unfused," Sapphire teased.

"Hey! This is for Steven! For his birthday! It's a very serious reason to fuse! Then we'll unfuse right after the ride!"

"Alright, so you four are all paired up, but what about us?" Amethyst complained.

As soon as the words left her mouth, she gasped and looked to Peridot who was flushed a dark green. The small green gem tried to hide her eager, embarrassed smile.

"Uh … well … I've never … Um … I'm fine if I cannot be included in this activity without a fusion partner ..." Peridot stammered.

"Oh no. You're learning how to do this!" Amethyst grinned. "Besides, I'm not sitting out this ride!"

Truth be told, ever since she began to learn about love, Peridot also wanted to try fusion. If Garnet was right about the best use of fusion, then she wanted to experience it.

And she really wanted to experience it with Amethyst, some day.

Amethyst offered a hand to her, "Just dance, Peri! Let it all out! It'll be fun! I promise!"

Peridot tentatively took Amethyst's hand. How bad could it be?

Amethyst pulled Peridot in for a spin and then led the dance, Peridot blushing furiously the entire time. Amethyst's gem glowed brightly. Peridot stared at her, not noticing the glow of her own gem. They pulled close together and were enveloped in a bright light.

Is … Is this me? Us?

Woo-hoo! We did it!

The new fusion stood, looking at Garnet and Stevonnie who stared at her, amazed. She looked at her two sets of arms with her one set of eyes and marveled her purple and green arms. She looked down to see only one set of legs. She was almost as stable as Opal. She could feel the part of her that was Peridot flutter with excitement.

"I knew this was a probability, but this is amazing. Good work, Peridot!" Garnet grinned.

"How do you feel?" Stevonnie asked.

How do we feel? I ...

Well, I feel stoked! I can't wait to get on this ride!

Oh. Yes, that is how I feel too.

"G-great! I feel great!" The fusion grinned.

Wait, you were feeling something else, just now.

Oh, it's nothing.

No. Part of being in a fusion is communication. You were feeling something else.

"Um … Peridot? Amethyst?" Stevonnie asked. "Are you OK?"

The fusion grabbed at her head and shuddered before taking a deep breath.

"Yes. We're – I'm fine. And my name is Fluorite ..."

"Okay, Fluorite. Well …"

It's nothing, OK? It's probably just a side effect of fusion.

No. I've fused so many times and this isn't a usual feeling unless … Oh … Peridot, I'm sorry that I made you …

A wave of emotions. Confusion. Hurt. Memories of Opal. Of quiet times with ...

Oh … The Pearl …

Wait! Peridot!

Fluorite nearly came apart while Stevonnie and Garnet's backs were turned, but she pulled herself together again.

She waited in line in near silence behind Garnet and Stevonnie who talked about something that she wasn't paying attention to. She just felt the emotions inside her. She wasn't sure what they were yet, being so new, but she also had a feeling that she knew. She wanted these emotions to subside. She didn't want to come apart just yet.

She tried to enjoy the ride, but it was difficult with her conflicting emotions. She wanted to just talk it out, to find out why there was this inner turmoil.

When they got off the ride, Steven and Connie unfused and she saw them hugging tight for the first time after splitting apart instead of just falling apart like Peridot had seen the first time she met Stevonnie. The two looked at each other, blushed, and then laughed before hugging each other again. Garnet smiled and let herself come apart as well, Ruby and Sapphire being even more amorous (since they obviously were aware of each other's feelings).

If fusions were best if they were made of love …

So, that's love.

Yeah …

Amethyst … I …

Before Peridot could finish, the two fell apart, Peridot landing on her back. Amethyst walked over and held out her hand to her.

"Hey. That was fun. We should do that more often," Amethyst smiled.

Peridot took Amethyst's hand and blushed.

They would definitely need to talk about this later.

"It's ok, Peridot," Connie smiled. "Thanks for bringing me here. I needed to get out of there, I guess. You've always been such a good friend to me … Thank you."

Peridot smiled. She loved hearing Connie say those words. It didn't fill her with the same feelings she felt for Amethyst or Pearl (not by a long shot), but it was almost as addicting. A feeling that she had done something right. It was a closeness that only those two shared.

Gentle music drifted in and the two turned to try and find the source. They wandered down the boardwalk some more, following the sounds that they heard.

Soon, they approached the area where the Teacup ride used to be. There sat a young man playing a guitar. It had to have been one of the seasonal visitors, there to busk, hoping that someone might still throw him some money.

Connie swayed to the music, seemingly being taken away to another world. Peridot smiled and also found herself drawn to dance. Connie noticed and laughed for the first time in weeks. Peridot's dances were always more reserved, like her own had been when she first started dancing with Steven, and dancing with Peridot was almost as fun and comfortable. The two whirled around, dancing and forgetting the pain that they both had felt the last few weeks. Connie grabbed Peridot's hands and twirled her around, the two laughing as they spun.

The busker stopped playing when he saw the bright light.