A/N: First chapter of the new year! Woot!
Little bit of a content warning. There is a suggestive scene in here. I think I kept it toned down enough that the rating can stay as it will be. This will honestly probably be the only scene that is as such.
Things are about to start heating up for everyone now, so the next few chapters might get intense at times.
Thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites (and to _sushi12 who recommended this to the su subreddit, thank you so much! I'm extremely honored! I was alerted during a stream by one of my tumblr followers and it is seriously some of the best news I've had this week!)
Feel free to review! I think the next chapter should be posted some point during the Stevenbomb!
-FourFaces
Steven and Connie sat, watching helplessly as the gems bickered back and forth.
When Garnet had reformed and told them what Sapphire had seen, the two younger gems went into a panic. Steven had tried to calm them down by telling them about his breakthrough with dream-walking, but it did little to soothe Peridot.
"We need to hide them! Blue Diamond will kill them! I know it!" Peridot cried out.
"No. What we need to do is try and gather up our army. If Steven can get through to everyone in dreams, then maybe they will regenerate and help us!" Amethyst argued.
"That's too many ifs and maybes. If we can't do that, then it's just the four of us up against Blue Diamond. They will rip through us like paper and then they'll have Steven and Connie!"
"You don't know that!"
"You don't know Homeworld like I do!"
Steven gently grabbed Connie's hand. They looked at each other, a silent agreement in their eyes. Whatever happened, the other would not face it alone.
"Do you know what the other Sapphires knew about her? What they may find?" Pearl asked
Garnet sat, silently listening. There were many possibilities. Steven and Connie may not even survive in the atmosphere of Homeworld. They didn't have any way to provide for their physical needs. Even if they did learn something from Connie and Steven, how would they even apply it? Human bodies were so frail and even with the energy from his gem, not even Steven would survive very long.
And if they survived arriving there and their time on Homeworld, they could be put under terrible tests. If they tried to remove Steven's gem to study it, he would die.
Garnet removed her visor and pinched the bridge of her nose. She accessed memories and information that Sapphire had received. It didn't make any sense.
"I can't see any good outcomes for us or Homeworld. They are indeed interested in the fact that both Steven and Connie can sometimes be imperceptible as threats to our kind, yet somehow they both wield amazing power. Connie is even starting to give off enough gem energy that it's sometimes hard to remember she is fully human. They think they can somehow use that ... But there's no way it would work."
"How is this even possible?" Connie asked. "I mean, Steven and I have been talking about it and it still doesn't make any sense!"
"It's not like she has a gem somewhere on her body," Steven started.
Amethyst quirked an eyebrow. A comment was on the tip of her tongue, but a gentle jab to the side from Pearl quickly stopped her.
"That's why Homeworld wants to study you both," Garnet sighed. "They want to find out why Steven's creation was possible and how to create more hybrids. And they are most likely intrigued by the fact that a naturally born human is capable of things only gems can do."
"And there's no way to stop them from coming?" Steven asked.
Garnet grumbled affirmatively.
They sat in silence for a moment before Connie spoke up.
"So ... We can fight though, right? I mean, Steven might have been able to communicate with Centi- er, Chrysoprase and so she's still alive in her gem. That means the others are and we can maybe get everyone back."
Garnet grumbled again. She saw so many possibilities, and only one was a favorable outcome.
"There's a possibility that Jasper and White Diamond have paired up. If they leave Homeworld, we will not have much to prepare. We would not only need the strength of our original army to push them back, but also that of the previous Yellow Diamond's army," Garnet explained. "And it will take a lot of convincing to get them to agree with us, Steven."
Steven nodded and slumped. Connie squeezed his hand again.
"Well, if we have to go down, we won't go gently," Connie stated. "And we should still try to gather as many allies as we can. I know we can do this."
Steven smiled, wanting to believe Connie.
That night, he listened as Connie called her mother again, letting her know she was staying for a few more days. She left out where exactly she was sleeping while she was staying with the gems. Even though she was an adult now, her mother still was concerned for her. They didn't need her getting upset. It would be upsetting enough for her to know that her daughter was now going to be the main target of a Homeworld invasion.
They sat on his bed, watching TV and trying to pretend that everything was going to be OK. They held each other close, Steven stroking Connie's hair softly. The other gems were still meeting in the Burning Room, Garnet having told them to go, nearly pushing them out the door. Before the events that had been occurring, Steven would have protested. Instead, he willingly left, taking Connie with him to spend some time alone together.
"So, what do you think is going to happen in the season premiere of 'Under the Knife'?" Connie asked. "I heard it's their last season and they're going all out with it."
Steven smiled.
"I'm betting that Angela's evil twin is going to try to take over Stewart Island again. I can't believe people keep falling for her tricks," he laughed.
"I know, right?" Connie laughed.
They sat in silence for a moment, just enjoying each other.
"Oh, and Dogcopter 5 is coming out. We should drag Peridot to it!" Connie chuckled.
"She would love it," Steven smiled. "I mean, she loved the books when you were reading them to her."
"Yeah ..."
They continued watching in silence, Steven still stroking Connie's hair softly. He just enjoyed the closeness with her.
"I'd be happy to just be like this forever," he whispered.
Connie smiled and nodded. "After all of this is over ... have you thought about what we should do? If we survive?"
Steven had thought about it, often. He had wanted a peaceful life for years. A life where he could just enjoy being human, enjoy living ... with Connie. He had fantasized about it often, especially after reading Destiny's End with her (and reenacting the ending in Rose's Room) and seeing himself as Archamicharus, transforming into a normal human to be with the love of his life. He wanted that more than anything some nights.
Now though, it seemed things were going the opposite way, with Connie slowly undergoing some sort of transformation.
"I've thought about it all the time," Steven smiled. "I still think we can have it ..."
"I hope so," Connie whispered.
Steven kissed the top of Connie's head again. Connie sighed contentedly before tilting her head up to his. She gently kissed his lips, turning herself to face him. As she pulled away slightly, she looked into his eyes, asking.
He blushed slightly and smiled, leaning back in. She kissed him deeper this time, wrapping her arms around him tightly.
Peridot was about to leave the Burning Room in frustration when Garnet grabbed her arm.
"Don't go out that way if you're going to leave," she insisted.
"Why, Garnet? Why? Tell me why I should listen right now. We keep going around in circles and we aren't coming to any decision. I just want to go into Steven's Bathroom and away from everyone so I can think."
Garnet lowered her visor and quirked her top eyebrow at her. Peridot returned the look.
"Trust me, Peridot. You do not want to go out that way."
Amethyst immediately understood.
"Oh ho ho! Garnet! Are you serious? P! You owe me five bucks! And if Lapis comes back, she owes me a bottle of motor oil!"
Pearl blushed deeply, stammering as she ran to grab Peridot who was about to open up the door. "No, Peridot, you really shouldn't go out here! You can stay in my room for the night while we talk. It's better than the bathroom! I promise!"
"Ugh, what is the big deal? Steven and Connie are the only ones out there and they won't mind if I walk out and go into the bathroom! They rarely use it this late anyway."
"Who wants to tell her?" Amethyst laughed.
Garnet sighed.
"Peridot ... it's time we talked about fusion ..."
He had been here. But he seemed so afraid when he was here. Was it because of me? Or was it because he knew who I was?
She repeated the thought to herself over and over. She tried to think, to remember who she really was.
She wondered if she was out there, waiting for her.
No, I would have felt her presence. It's so faint ...
She thought about Steven. He was out there, for certain, and she wanted to reassure him. To thank him.
She focused on her form again.
She was not a monster.
She was a Crystal Gem. A ranged assasin for the army of Rose Quartz.
She was a protector of Steven, whoever he was. He had to be connected to Rose, somehow. He felt like her. She had never understood what his connection was.
She focused on her body. Her arms, strong and slender. Her tall stature.
The gem in her throat.
She powered through the thought of the mark of her defect. She was not a monster. She was not defective in the eyes of Rose Quartz.
Of Steven.
She remembered her first regeneration, how she had fallen in a fight against an Aquamarine at the site of the Kindergarten. It had started as a small dispute and quickly escalated. She woke up in the barracks, Rose's Pearl near her side. She was offered a chance to train alongside Rose almost as soon as she woke up.
She remembered another regeneration where Lapis was waiting for her. She had secured a warp pad in hopes that an easier communication line would be opened when she had been ambushed by several Homeworld Rubies. She was never supposed to fight close quarters, but she found the need to when her escort, a Topaz, was poofed. She had ended up poofing one of the Rubies before she was hit hard enough to retreat into her gem. She remembered thinking that this was the end and that she would never see her favorite messenger from Homeworld. The relief when she saw her was shared when she gently grabbed Lapis' hand. Lapis scolded her for not immediately fleeing, that she could have handled it when she warped in, but she silenced the Ocean Gem with a soft kiss.
She refused to remember her other re-generations. Those were not her. Those were of the monster that lurked through the Earth. That attacked the Crystal Gems. That had to be tamed.
She began to feel the warmth of regeneration as she was surrounded by a bright, green glow.
Lion was curled up underneath the steps of the Beach House. He'd had enough adventures for now and was content to relax and not worry about gem matters.
Really, revealing what he was to Steven had been quite the relief. There was much less pressure now.
He could hear footsteps above him, coming down the stairs. His ears twitched and he curled in on himself even more. He was not about to do gem stuff on his time off.
"This will be good. We need some time to ourselves anyway," he heard Steven say above him.
"Yeah," Connie replied. "Plus, you can go back to dream-walking practice refreshed."
Lion watched the couple as they reached the bottom step. Their fingers were gently interlinked.
He grinned to himself. He was about to doze off again when he heard heavy footfalls above him.
"Steven! Connie! Come back inside! Something's happening!"
Lion grumbled and covered his face with one big, pink paw. He heard the heavy footfalls of Steven and Connie running up the stairs, the door opening, closing, and then silence.
He decided not to investigate. Today was not a gem stuff day.
Blue Diamond had called for an emergency meeting, hoping that she wasn't too late to catch the other two Diamonds.
When the Sapphires regenerated, they immediately began warning her of what they saw and felt. There was no way that the hybrid and the human would be taken peacefully and the chance that they would have an even stronger army was nearing 20 percent probability (which, while small, was enough to give Blue Diamond a sense of dread).
The two weren't any good dead, and it sounded like they weren't going to come easily.
The troubling possibility of the other two Diamonds causing problems did not help.
If the other two Diamonds reached Earth and everything fell into place, it would be an intense shattering ...
... And their enemy would destroy another colony before they could regroup.
When she arrived at the council hall, she paled. Neither Diamond was there. Only Jasper's Pearl.
"Where are they?" Blue Diamond asked.
"They have gone to the barracks to begin preparations for an invasion," the Pearl stated. "Yellow and White Diamond wanted me to tell you that they are doing this with or without your support."
Blue Diamond groaned in frustration. She knew what she needed to do.
She headed for the hangar for her fleet. They would need to try and intercept Jasper's fleet and fast. As she went, she called for Emerald 29 over her communicator to make sure all of her faction was prepared. This might spark a civil war if she didn't tread carefully.
She stopped in the main research facility. A Larimar was currently working on a new mineral to send to the Corundum colony. This gem had been proud of her work on this mineral, coming close to creating an unfused Garnet (which had never been as successful for Homeworld as it had been for the Crystal Gems).
"Stop what you're working on and come with me. I need you for an important mission. I'll brief you on the way," Blue Diamond demanded.
The Larimar immediately stopped work. Disobeying a Diamond would be foolish anyway, but the look on Blue Diamond's face told her that the mineral could wait.
The gems, Connie, and Steven watched in awe as the Chrysoprase gem glowed brightly before hovering in the air. Pearl gently grabbed Steven's arm, hoping, for his sake, that she would come back whole. Garnet watched, seeing two distinct futures, hoping for only one.
They gasped as they watched the green mannequin figure with wild hair form around the gem. A basic silhouette ... then the silhouette of a tight fitting outfit with a ruffed skirt.
A gasp when the form glitched slightly, another arm trying to form before it disappeared. She threw her head back as the light faded, forcing the dark green gem to land on the ground.
The Beach House was silent as everyone watched the gem hunch over, breathing heavily. Her white hair hung over her face, obscuring it from view.
She mumbled something.
"Wh-what was that?" Pearl asked.
Chrysoprase looked up at the gems, her single eye falling on Steven.
"Where's Lapis Lazuli?"