There weren't a whole lot of things he could do at home. They lived isolated from the rest of the island, and Pearl had told him that he was not allowed to leave the house alone until he was older. Instead, he did what every little nine-year-old boy did when he was all alone: he made an imaginary friend.

Jerry was a huge dinosaur that hung around Steven whenever the Gems were gone. He would eat cake with him, make sand castles, and they would tell deep and dark secrets to each other. Jerry would disappear once the Gems came (Pearl didn't like the thought of Steven having pets), but he would always be back once the three of them went on a mission. Steven supposed it was because he was such a great person that he never really felt alone. If he was every actually alone, he could always think of a person to hang out with him, so he was never really all that alone after all.

He always wondered why the Gems couldn't do the same.

Not that they were actually lonely, but they didn't seem like they wanted to do things together. Once, after a mission where they were fighting some kind of fish monster, the Gems said their usual greetings to Steven and then immediately retreated to their rooms. This habit become more commonplace as the Gems went on more and more missions together. While Steven respected their privacy, it was no excuse that they were a family, and family helped family whenever needed. It was at that moment that he decided that the Gems needed imaginary friends, so that when they were like this, they wouldn't be lonely when they had their personal time.

However, thinking about imaginary friends for the Gems were hard. Pearl already had that hologram of herself, but that hardly was an imaginary friend as it was like a punching bag. No, Pearl needed a friend who was going to listen to her, but also offer up some good advice whenever possible. She probably needed someone who shared interests with her, but now that Steven thought about it, he really didn't know Pearl much at all besides that she liked being graceful and clean.

That couldn't be right though! People liked at least three things. There had to be something else that Pearl liked. He figured he could ask her later before making her perfect best friend.

As such, he decided that he should just think of the other imaginary friends before making Pearls. Immediately, his thoughts went to Amethyst. He knew that Amethyst liked food and messes. However, he was stuck at the two liked things. People were three dimensional, which he was pretty sure that meant they should like at least three things. Amethyst also liked pranks, but she only seemed to prank Pearl, and that would be unfair to have two people against one. Maybe if Amethyst had a friend, she could prank her friend instead. However, that wouldn't be fair to the friend though. He supposed he would have to wait to make Pearl's friend before making Amethyst's friend just so that there's not any big fights going on.

If that was the case, then he supposed he should get a start on Garnet's imaginary friend. He thought that Garnet's imaginary friend should probably be tall like her, but also a good listener since he figured Garnet had a whole bunch of things to say when she was alone. The imaginary friend should also be really strong so that they can spar together to keep their skills sharp because he had never seen Garnet train with them. Garnet's imaginary friend should also be able to say really funny jokes since Garnet had a really good smile, but she only does it whenever something really funny happens.

Steven thought really hard to figure out what that imaginary friend would look like. Garnet is really serious, so he figured that anything that looked like a threat would probably put her off her cool. However, having something really fluffy would cramp Garnet's style too much. Nah, she needed something that would fit Garnet.

After a whole minute of thinking, Steven just flopped on the floor. This was beginning to become too hard.

"Steven? Are you okay?" he heard Pearl ask. That must mean that they came back from their mission. Steven quickly sat up.

"Oh no! You guys came back too early!" Steven exclaimed.

The Gems paused, and they looked at each other. "We came too early?" Pearl repeated confused.

"Well that's a great way to greet us after we came back from a mission," Amethyst mocked as she placed her arms behind her head.

"No! You don't understand guys!" Steven began, "Now you're going to go to your rooms until dinner time where you guys just sit over there while I eat unless one of you tell Amethyst to eat with me. Then you'll say good night and leave again!"

Pearl looked at Garnet and frowned. "Aw, Steven, if you wanted to us to just spend more time with you, you could have just asked-"

"No! This isn't about me you guys," Steven corrected as he looked toward the floor. "You guys just seem so lonely lately. I was going to think up some imaginary friends for you so that you wouldn't be by yourselves anymore after serious missions. I have Jerry the Dinosaur, and he's my perfect friend when you're away. Except, it's so hard to think of good imaginary friends for you!"

The Gem looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Garnet took the initiative, picked up the small boy and walked over to the couch. It reminded her of what it felt like taking care of little baby Steven.

"You know Steven, I think we can help you imagine up a great imaginary friend for us," Garnet said as she placed Steven on her lap.

"Really?"

Garnet hummed in agreement. She paused for a moment, and then said, "For my imaginary friend, I don't want him to try and fight everything. I think he should be smart enough to do things his own way."

Pearl, understanding what was happening, also added in, "Yes, I agree. He should also be caring enough to want to protect the people around him in his own little ways."

"Yeah! And he should be really cool because he's going to be a crystal gem, and only those kind of people can be crystal gems," Amethyst added with a great big smile.

Steven thought really hard about the perfect kind of friend. Someone who was smart, caring, and cool that would be great for all three of them. He thought for a good few moments, but then realized that he still couldn't think of the perfect person.

"It's no use guys, I just can't think of anything!"

Garnet giggled, and she moved Steven so that he was facing her. "It's okay Steven. You're the best imaginary friend we could ever have, and that's because you're real."

At that moment, Steven could feel his friend giving him a great big group hug. It had been a long time since they were like this, and so he enjoyed every minute of it. However, he suddenly remembered something that was said.

"I'm going to be a crystal gem?!" he exclaimed.

"Of course shrimp! Why wouldn't we make you one?" Amethyst asked. She internally began to remember when she became a Crystal Gem. After all, Rose took someone like me in.

"But I'm not strong or anything," Steven commented. Pearl simply smiled as she remembered when Rose stayed by her side when she regenerated all that time ago.

"Oh Steven, you don't need to be strong to be a crystal gem."

"Crystal Gem is a family. We bring people together. You are our family, right?" Garnet asked, a part remembering the moment when she became Garnet, and the other part trying to remember if there was ever a time she wasn't Garnet.

"Of course!" Steven said.

"Then that's all there is," Garnet concluded, and hugged the boy closer.

There was never a sense of becoming a crystal gem. You simply were, and that was all there is to it.

A/N And that's the final chapter! Sorry it took so long to get out. School and other stuff got in the way, but I am feeling the writing vibe. It's been a great experience writing this little story even if it will become an AU later on. I had a lot of fun with it, and I hope you all did too. Thank you for everything!