"Do you know about this?" Steven engulfed himself in his protective bubble.

"Yeah, but it's not nearly as strong as the shield," said Ten. "It's hardly useful in a real battle."

"Well, what about this?" He took off one of his sandals and bubbled it.

"I saw Garnet do that and Pearl explained it to me, so I guess I do now."

"And this?" He tapped the bubble, sending it to the temple. After a moment of looking proud, his smile vanished and he looked down at his one naked foot. "Aw, man."

Ten laughed as he sat and pulled off his other sandal, throwing it near his bed. "That sends it to your temple, right? That shouldn't be too hard to learn."

"Cool. Do you know anything about this?" He lifted his shirt, grabbing a handful of flesh along with the gem on his belly.

Ten shook her head. "Sorry, Steven. I don't have any idea how you happened. I've never heard of any sort of gem-organic hybrid before. Not that I'm the most knowledgeable of gems out there."

Steven shrugged. "I wasn't getting my hopes up. Even Peridot has no idea what I am exactly, and she knows loads of stuff about Gem society." He tapped his chin in thought. "What else can I ask you about?" He stood in thought for a few moments before he heard a sudden scratching at the door. They both turned to see Lion standing there, his deep pink fur stark against the clear blue sky.

"Lion!" Steven ran to open the door for him. "This is great! I've been waiting to show you to Ten." Lion plodded into the beach house and sidled up against Steven, then curled up on the floor near the couch.

"So this is Lion? What is he? Besides a lion," she added quickly, before he could use that joke again.

"I don't know what he is, but he definitely belonged to mom. I was hoping maybe you could tell me something about him."

"I don't know anything off the top of my head, but I can take a look at him, see if I notice anything." She knelt next to Lion. "Hey, boy," she said, offering her hand. Lion opened one eye, lifted his head to sniff lightly at her hand, then closed his eye and put his head back down.

"Aw," said Steven, "I thought he'd be more interested in you because you're a Rose Quartz. I guess he doesn't care."

"He's a cutie," said Ten, causing Lion's ears to twitch. A smile spread across her face. She rubbed his side roughly, partly to feel his soft fur, party to tease him. He lifted his head slightly and gave her a look that was as close to a frown as Lion's face could manage.

"He seems pretty solid. Sit up, you." At that, Lion stretched and yawned, sitting on his hind legs and staring at Ten with indifference, as if he had just decided just now that he wanted to sit up and her demands had nothing to do with it. "He's pretty smart, too." She reached deep into his milky pink mane and scratched him around the throat and chin, and this he unabashedly enjoyed, turning and pushing his head into her hand. "I was right. He is definitely a cutie."

"Well yeah," said Steven, joining in the scratching. "Can you tell me something I don't know?"

"Well, he's just bursting with gem energy," she said. "Or at least Rose Quartz energy. Rose put some of her very essence into this creature, which is why it is so strong and smart. And magical, if the things you've told me are true. I'm not sure how much of her essence is here, though. I can't really get a good feel."

"So it's like part of mom is in Lion?" Steven said in wonderment.

"Not exactly," said Ten gingerly. "I don't want you to think Rose is gonna pop out of this creature or something like that. But Lion wouldn't be moving around without her energy, so there is that."

Steven jumped onto Lion's back, using both hands to scratch his sides. "'Wouldn't be moving around?' Like he'd be too tired?"

"What? No. As in he wouldn't exist."

"Huh?" Steven stopped scratching. "What do you mean?"

"You know, because he's a construct. Without her energy he would just stop."

"A construct? What's a construct?"

"You know, a created creature. Your mom made Lion, so he's a construct."

"Whoa!" Steven pushed himself off of Lion. "Mom made Lion?"

"Well, yeah. Didn't you realize that?" She looked genuinely surprised that he didn't know that. "He's a bright pink thing that resembles an Earth creature but with gem powers."

"So am I!" said Steven. "Though I'm only slightly pink. Am I a construct too?"

"I have no idea what you are, but you're definitely not a construct."

"Are gems constructs?"

"We're similar, but we're something else as well. As for Lion here, he's fueled solely by gem energy as far as I can tell. It's probably why he was drawn to you in the first place: to be around a Rose Quartz it could draw energy from. That, or because it sensed that you were like its creator. One or the other, I'm sure. Or, heck, both."

"That's kinda cool. So just being around Lion is like feeding him?"

"If you want to think of it that way, sure."

"But if mom created him and he feeds off of Rose Quartz energy, why wasn't he around when I was born? And why did we find him in the middle of the desert?"

"I don't know. Did it seem tired or weak when you found it?"

Steven tried to think back. "Maybe? I remember him laying down and yawning a lot."

"Then he was probably low on energy. Finding you was probably his saving grace." She scratched Lion absently behind the ear. "Ain't you a lucky guy, Lion?"

"Wow… so can you make constructs too?"

Ten shrugged. "Maybe? I still don't have a handle on all of my abilities. I wasn't even aware this was something Rose Quartzes could do. Zircon could do it, though. She used it to mimic and study creatures."

Lion lifted his head suddenly and looked at the door. Steven followed his gaze and saw something move swiftly out of view. "Did you see something, Lion?" Lion yawned and put his head back down. Suspicious, Steven walked to the door, opened it, and stepped outside. He looked around on the porch, down the stairs, and out onto the beach, but didn't see anything. He shrugged and was about to walk back inside when he suddenly thought to look up as well. When he did, he saw a blur of motion on the roof as something hid from view.

"Hey!" he called out. "Who's up there?"

Ten stood sharply. "Is someone out there?"

"I think someone's on the roof."

"Hold on." There was a crash from inside and the sound of wood breaking, then a shout of surprise from above. "You?!"

There was the sound of scuffling, then footsteps approaching Steven from above. Ten leaped off the roof, one of her massive arms wrapped around Lapis Lazuli.

"Lapis?" said Steven in surprise. "What are you doing here? You never come to the beach house. And why were you hiding? You could have just knocked." Then he looked at Ten. "And how did you get up there?"

Ten motioned inside with her head. "You might want to fix that hole I made in the roof. As for you," he shook Lapis, "what do you want?"

"Don't touch me," said Lapis, attempting to pull herself out of Ten's grip. "I can go where I want."

"Well maybe don't go sneaking around on rooftops when we're on the lookout for Emeralds. It won't be my fault if something happens to you."

"Don't threaten me! And let me go." Lapis was starting to fight against Ten with vigor, her eyes growing wider and more panicky the longer she was pinned in place.

"Uh, Ten?" said Steven. "Lapis doesn't do well with being confined. You should let her go."

"Is that so?" said Ten. "Well I don't do well with suspicious people spying on me and avoiding my questions."

"I said let me GO!" Ten was surprised from behind as a massive hand of water stretched from the ocean and wrapped itself around her, pulling her away and off of Lapis. Lapis turned with anger in her eyes. "Let's see how YOU like it!" She made a throwing motion with her hand and the hand of water mimicked it, tossing Ten roughly into the beach and sending a column of sand up into the air before crashing back down in a pile. the only thing still visible of Ten was one of her feet sticking out of the sand mound.

"Lapis!" cried Steven. "I know she was being rude but she's still a friend. You can't go tossing her around like that."

Lapis just looked angry and disgusted. "I knew this would be a waste of time. Forget I was even here." Two spindly wings of water grew from her back and with a single powerful beat, she shot up into the air, quickly putting distance between her and the beach house.

"Lapis, wait!" He looked around, then opened the door to the beach house. "Lion, come on! We have to catch up with Lapis!" Lion didn't seem fond of that idea, grunting and rolling away from him. "Come on, Lion! We have to catch up with her. Something's up with Lapis. Please?"

Lion sighed, but eventually he stood up and walked out the door with Steven. Steven mounted Lion and called down to the beach. "Wait here, Ten. We'll be right back." The only answer he received was a mumbled something from underneath the sand. Lion roared, creating a portal in the air, and took a running leap through it.

In an instant, they went from being in front of the beach house to hundreds of feet in the air. The ocean stretched in front of them and Beach City was growing small behind, the only sounds being the whipping of wind past the ears and the steady beat of watery wings. It took a moment for Steven to get his bearings, but he eventually spotted Lapis off to his left and slightly above.

"Lion?" said Steven, suddenly afraid of the incredible height as they sank. Lion roared again, creating a portal underneath them, and dived into it, firing them out next to Lapis.

"Lapis, wait up! What's wrong?" asked Steven, his voice sinking away before Lion's roar and aerial maneuvering brought them back up to Lapis.

"Go away, Steven," she said, flapping her wings all the harder.

"Stop running away. You do this every time you're upset. I'm just trying to help. You know talking to me will help."

"Well I don't want help this time, Steven. I just want to be alone."

Steven sighed. Between Lapis and Ten, he was getting a lot of emotional backlash lately. Maybe he would go talk to Peridot afterwards to balance things out. "Look, I'm just going to keep following you until you tell me what's wrong. You were acting weird at the barn, too. Is something up with you and Ten?"

"Nothing is 'up' with me and Ten. I've never even met her before." To herself, she added, "I've never met any Rose Quartz before."

"What?" shouted Steven. "I can't hear you, hold on." Looking down at Lion, he said, "Can you get us closer? I can't hear her."

Lion nodded, looked down, and let out a roar, but it was a weak and strangled thing. No portal appeared below them and they continued to fall. "Lion? Lion, what's wrong? Lion?!" Lion twisted in the air and Steven tried to grasp at his mane to hold on, but reacted too late and found himself slipping off and away from Lion. The ocean below was getting closer and closer. "Lion! Lapis!"

Lapis turned in the air and, seeing the pair falling, dived down towards them. She quickly caught up to Steven and grabbed him, bringing him to a stop. "Steven? What were you thinking? That was incredibly reckless!"

"Why are you stopping? You have to catch Lion!"

She looked down. "He's way too heavy. I can't catch him."

"You have to try! Please?"

Lapis sighed. "Alright. For you, I'll try. Hold on tight." They shot downwards, Steven wrapping his arms and legs around her and holding on for dear life. They caught up to Lion only a few hundred feet above the ocean surface. Steven looked downward and quickly wished he hadn't: they were falling directly toward a small island and it was approaching fast. She swooped underneath Lion and grabbed him, beating her wings to raise the three of them back up, but the best she could do was slow them, and not much. "He's too heavy!"

"We have to think of something!" cried Steven.

"There's only two things I can do: fly, and this." With that, a hand of water shot up towards them. It situated itself palm-up below them and fell a bit slower than they did, causing them to land gently on it. Then the hand began to slow its descent, trying not to come down too fast. They had slowed significantly by the time they crashed to the island, splattering the hand and leaving them all sandy, wet, and sore.

Lapis stood to brush herself off, while Steven ran to Lion. "Lion! Are you okay?" Lion gave him a pitiful mew, laying his head back and resting on the sand. "I'm sorry, Lion. You just got back home and I made you come and do this. You're tired, aren't you?" Lion nodded slightly. "Well don't worry. Just stay next to me and you'll be good to go in no time."

"Are you sure he'll recover?" asked Lapis. "Because if he doesn't, I can't fly him back. I could maybe carry him across using water, but it won't be quick."

"I think he'll be fine. At least, if Ten was right about him."

At mention of Ten, Lapis frowned and turned to walk the edge of the island. It was a mere sixty feet across and covered in sand, looking like it was probably completely underwater during high tide. It didn't take her long to circle the island and come back.

"Thanks for saving me and Lion, Lapis. Are you going to stick around?" Steven asked.

"I can't just leave you here with no way to get back," she said testily. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you did this on purpose to trap me here so I would talk to you."

"I wouldn't do this on purpose," he said, waving a hand at the island. He was hurt by the accusation and said it with more anger than he intended.

"That's why I said 'if I didn't know any better.' It sure worked to your advantage either way."

"Advantage? Lion almost died! I almost died. We were falling too fast to—" he paused for a moment, then slowly closed his eyes and put his face in his hands. "I could have floated us down. Oh man, I totally forgot again."

"You could have floated down and you decided to let me catch you instead?!"

"I didn't decide anything! I forgot! I panicked and forgot!" By now Steven and Lapis were both shouting.

"I don't believe you. How can you just forget something like that?"

"I'm still new at this. Excuse me that I haven't had water wings since I was born, okay?"

"Unbelievable. First Ten harasses me, then you chase me even though I told you not to, then you fall and force me to catch you and your stupid pet, and now I'm stuck here waiting for it to recover before I can leave."

"Lion's not stupid! And I didn't force you to do anything. You did it because you're my friend."

"Well sometimes I wonder why I bother being your friend!"

Both of them fell to silence. It took Lapis a moment to realize what she had said, and then her eyes went wide with surprise and horror.

Steven narrowed his eyes. "You know what? Fine. Go fly off somewhere else. You want to be left alone with no friends? Then go. I can't follow you anymore, so now's your chance." He sat roughly against Lion, ignoring the grumbling protest this produced as he crossed his arms and turned his face away from Lapis.

Lapis stood in stunned silence for a moment, her body slumped and defeated. Then she tensed up in anger. "I'm going," was all she said. She turned away and flapped her wings and in seconds was a speck in the sky.

Steven sat there against Lion, arms and legs crossed and eyes closed, a tiny ball of frustration and anger. He listened as the beat of wings got softer and softer, finally disappearing after several minutes. He also listened when the sound returned and grew louder again, until it was right over the island. He heard feet touch down, a soft sigh, and the crunching of wet sand as Lapis walked over, sat down, and leaned against Lion beside him.

They sat that way for a while, the only sounds being the waves crashing on the shore around them and the gentle purr of Lion. "Steven," she said at last, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say what I said. I was just frustrated. You're a valuable friend. You're… you're my only friend."

"The Gems would be your friends if you let them." She didn't have an answer for that. He sighed. "I'm sorry, too. It hurts seeing my friends in distress and I want to do anything to help them. I guess maybe I should just listen to what they need from me instead. You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. I'm sorry for being pushy."

They lapsed again into silence. He didn't know how long they would be waiting for Lion, but if he kept himself coiled up like he was, he would wind up with severe cramps. Steven let his body relax, stretching out his legs and resting his arms on Lion, and idly watched a crab make its way up onto the beach.

"Do you know why I came here?" She asked him.

"To Earth?" She nodded. "I remember you said you were visiting for a short time. Were you on vacation or something?"

Lapis laughed at that. "Gems don't exactly do vacation, Steven. No, I was here for something else."

"Something else? What was it?"

Lapis pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. "Rose Quartz."

"You came to Earth for Mom?"

Lapis nodded. "Lapis Lazuli are aristocrat gems. While we're high up in the gem hierarchy, we're still subject to the whims of the Diamonds, probably more so than other gems. We have freedom in a vague sense of the word, but when the Diamonds give an order, it is expected to be followed without question and without delay. It was smothering, to say the least."

Steve thought of the corrupted Centipeetles, of the Cluster, and of Ten. "And if they're Diamond orders, they were probably nothing good."

"Usually not, no. I felt helpless for my entire existence, felt like there was no escape from the misery that being an aristocratic gem can be. I resigned myself into never knowing real freedom or happiness." She smiled ever so slightly into her knees. "I then I heard about her. About Rose Quartz. She was defying the Diamond Authority and her place in the gem hierarchy in ways I didn't think were possible. It gave me a sense of hope, but it also terrified me beyond anything you can imagine. While I wanted to have freedom, I also didn't want to leave the Gempire. So I decided I was just going to visit Earth for a short time to see this infamous Rose Quartz. I just needed a glimpse of her, a glimmer of what it was to be truly free, and I knew I would be happy to continue existing as I had, knowing what real freedom was.

"And that's when I got caught and my physical form was destabilized and, well, you know how it goes from there." She shrugged in a resigned fashion. "I never did get to meet Rose Quartz in the end."

Steven considered what she said. "But then why did you fly back to Homeworld when I fixed your gem? Not only were free, but you didn't even get the one thing you came here for."

"As strange as it sounds, I didn't even realize I was free." She waved a hand when Steven made to speak. "I don't mean being free from the mirror. I mean being free from that life. The Diamonds do a great job of drilling into our heads that we are a part of gem society and our only purpose is to serve them, so even when I had a chance to escape it all, I went flying right back out of habit more than anything. Look at all the trouble THAT caused.

"Honestly, I'd given up on most of that before I saw Ten." This caused Steven to sit up and pay close attention. "It's like that term I've heard here on Earth: star-struck. It wasn't the Rose Quartz, but it was close enough in my mind. I thought maybe she was like the one I'd heard about, but…" She rubbed her arm absently where Ten had restrained her. "In the end, Ten acts just like every other quartz soldier, all suspicion and anger and violence. I was looking for someone who was different, but Ten is no different."

"But she is different," Steven insisted. "She's been fighting against gem society for thousands of years. You can't get much different from that."

She gave him a rueful smile. "Steven, I don't want to fight the Gempire. If anything, I want to be part of it again. It's just that I know if I'm part of the Gempire, I won't have the freedom I want and they won't keep my friend Steven safe." They shared a smile, though her features soon clouded over once again. "The Gempire is great Steven, just not so great for me. I wish it was.

"But now instead of being stuck in my assigned caste, I'm stuck on this planet. On this island, specifically."

"Yeah, sorry about that," said Steven. "I wish Lion was better already so we could get going, but he—Whoa!" He rolled back into the sand as Lion stood up behind him, yawned, and stretched. Steven jumped up and threw his arms around Lion's neck. "Lion! You're okay! Alright! Now we can go back home!"

"That's great. You go on ahead. I think I'll stay here for a bit, spend some time alone."

"If that's what you want," he said pointedly, "then, as your friend, I will listen to your request."

She laughed. "Thanks, Steven."

"And that was the end of our island adventure," said Steven, putting down his can of soda.

"A fine story, Steven," said Garnet.

"It's nice that you got to spend some time with Lapis," said Pearl.

"You gotta remember to float so you don't get pancaked next time, man," said Amethyst.

Ten shook her head. "One part of your story doesn't make sense, though."

"What's that?"

"Constructs can last for up to twenty years without refilling their energy. There's no way Lion got tired after being separated from you for a week and then doing a bit of light magic."

"What?" said Steven. He looked out the window where Lion was watching the exchange from the porch. "But he totally collapsed. Are you trying to tell me he was faking it the whole time?"

Ten nodded. "Definitely."

Steven stood up. "Lion, get over here!" At that, Lion bolted from the window, jumped down onto the beach, and sprinted towards the town, a flustered Steven following behind, shouting for him to stop.