Steven fell hard.
His body burst into existence on top of some thin object that quickly toppled from the increased and flailing weight. His body slammed into solid stone and his head glanced off of something pointy that left him dizzy.
He lay dazed. This was hardly the welcome back he expected. At least his body seemed relatively intact, aside from the bump on the head and a scraped elbow. He licked his hand and rubbed the sore spots, the pain fading.
He rolled and pushed himself up, looking around. "Is this mom's armory?" he said, his voice echoing off the walls of the cavern. A relieved smile spread over his face. "Pearl's the only one who knew about this place. If I'm here, that means Pearl must be okay! Where is she? Pearl?" He looked around for the others, but he was alone, the only sounds being his own voice, the slow drip of water, and the distant sound of wind that wended its way into the entrance. Everything looked as he remembered it, save for a single pedestal of stone and a pillow that lay on the floor. That must have been what he knocked over and hit his head on. The Gems must have put his gem on top of them. That struck him as odd, but he supposed he did much the same when he first saw Pearl poofed.
He turned his attention to the problem at hand: he would have to find the others somehow. He remembered where the warp pad was from the time he climbed up here with Pearl, but Peridot had mentioned that it wasn't safe to use them because Emerald might be watching. On the other hand, he also didn't know where in the world he was. He could be right next to home or halfway across the planet.
Well, there was no reason to wait there. He would search the back of the cave to make sure the gems weren't deeper inside, but once he was sure he was alone, he would head out.
A short time later found him stepping into sunlight. It looked like the sun was just rising so he had plenty of daytime left to go looking for his friends, but no idea where to start. If he could find civilization, he might be able to get a call through to Connie. He figured, quite bitterly, that calling Ten was pointless as she was either still under Emerald's control, or shattered. Steven promised he would make sure Emerald got some sort of comeuppance.
The view from the plateau didn't contain any towns or cities. Wherever Steven was, it was the middle of nowhere. He figured that's probably why Rose chose it to hide her armory. Stepping back, he launched himself off the cliff face, using his hovering powers to glide away, hoping to see something before he landed as near the warp pad as possible.
The cave fell away behind him, the tall plateau containing it reaching above a dozen other such rocky fingers along the horizon. He didn't know much about building towns or communities, but he was sure that this rocky wasteland was terrible for crops and it looked to be completely without water. Add to that being absurdly out of the way and he was not surprised that he was not seeing any people or signs of civilization. He could not contain his disappointment.
Steven's stomach rumbled, and he realized that he was starving. And not the normal 'what are we having for dinner,' starving, but the 'haven't eaten food in four days,' kind of starving. "Guess I didn't regenerate myself with a full stomach." That was worrisome. Connie might have some level of wilderness survival training, but he was practically clueless. If he had to eat, he would have to find some sort of fruit or vegetable. He might be able to catch an animal, but the thought of killing another creature so he could eat was extremely unappetizing.
He glided toward the warp pad. He approached the ground and touched down, seeing only small trees and shrubs and nothing that looked obviously edible. He was already feeling shaky and weak, his hovering powers having taken a drastic toll on him. He looked at the warp pad and sighed, knowing his only real hope was using it to go somewhere and grab some food. The temple was obviously off limits at the moment, but the giant strawberries on the Strawberry Battlefield would work perfectly. The question that remained was what in the world he was going to do if Emerald followed after him.
His stomach grumbled at him again. He decided he couldn't wait here and think it over. He had to eat right now. He took a deep breath and stepped onto the warp pad, pictured the Strawberry Battlefield, and in the blink of an eye was on his way.
He appeared in the field and immediately darted away from the warp pad, trying to put some distance between him and it so if Emerald appeared, he could at least hide. The smell of strawberries was driving him wild, so it wasn't long before he decided he was far enough and leapt over a bush, tore a strawberry from its stem, and sank his teeth in. He came away with a suffocating amount of strawberry in his mouth, barely chewing before swallowing, not remembering ever being this hungry. He had to gorge himself before whoever was watching showed up.
And show up they did. It had barely been two minutes when he heard the pad activate. He immediately ducked down before he could be seen, cramming more strawberry into his face, trying not to suck too loud on the juices and finding it surprisingly difficult. Footsteps moved quickly away from the pad. A voice called out, but he couldn't hear it clearly over his own chewing. He swallowed, leaned back, and listened.
They called out again, barely a raised whisper. "Who's there?" they said. "You'd best show yourself."
Shoot, thought Steven, that's a Ruby's voice. Peridot was right: she definitely followed me.
It sounded like there was more than one, their feet crunching through the grass. "If you're one of Emerald's, you'd better speak up!" the Ruby threatened. Steven stayed as still as he could manage, even pausing his eating, though his eyes kept darting longingly at the food.
At length, the ruby sighed. "I keep telling you we're not gonna find her."
"But who else would activate the warp pad besides one of Emerald's soldiers?" said a second voice. Steven's heart skipped a beat. He leaned closer to make sure he had heard them right.
The two wandered about for a while in silence. Steven didn't want to chance a look in case he was wrong. Finally, the Ruby let out a frustrated shout. "We shouldn't have bothered coming! Now we're gonna have to find some other way back before Emerald uses the warp pad."
"Well, we had to check to make sure," said the other voice. "I'll take one look around before—" the gem gasped sharply. "Ruby!" she called out. As soon as he heard the tone in her voice, Steven knew he was right. He jumped up.
"Sapphire!" he shouted, waving his arms over his head. "Ruby!"
Sapphire was already staring right at him and Ruby turned to face him, both their mouths hanging open. "Steven?!" said Ruby, utterly shocked.
"Steven!" shouted Sapphire, covering the distance between them in a fraction of a second and tackling him with a crushing hug. "You're alive!"
"Ah, cold!" he said, prying her arms off of him. The bush he was hiding behind was now a solid block of ice.
"Sorry!" said Sapphire, pulling away. "How are you here? What happened?"
"What happened?" He put his hands proudly on his hips and puffed out his chest. "I regenerated."
"You can regenerate?!"
"Yeah, I—" he paused. "Wait, what did you mean by 'you're alive?'"
Ruby and Sapphire looked at one another, but before they could respond, the warp pad behind them activated again. The baying of Onyxes followed shortly thereafter. "Oh no!" said Ruby.
"Quick." Sapphire put her hands on Steven's cheeks and kissed his forehead. "I'll see you soon," she said. She put him in a bubble. "Wait for us."
"Wait, Sapphire!" She tapped the top and of the bubble sent him warping away to the temple before he could say more.
His bubble popped in to existence in the inner sanctum of the temple, surrounded by hundreds of other bubbled gems, including what he now noticed was an unnerving number of Onyxes. He did what he did last time Garnet had bubbled him, stretching the bubble wide until it burst, then hovered to the ground, avoiding releasing any other gems by accident. Thankfully, he still had a strawberry as big as his head with him, so he took a moment to eat. Normally his appetite would have been put off by what Sapphire had just said, but normally he would have felt like he had eaten in the last twenty-four hours.
Moments later, a second bubble appeared, Ruby tumbling around inside of it. She looked down, saw Steven, and let out a laugh. "Steven!" she called. Her bubble burst, sending her plummeting toward him. He dodged out of the way, allowing her to land safely on the ground, though her landing turned into a brutal hug an instant later.
"Ah, hot!" he called out, dropping his strawberry, his shirt smoking. Ruby held him at arm's length, ignoring the smoke, and just looked at him, then began to weep.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" she said, trying to pull him in for another hug, though Steven put his hands on Ruby's shoulders and pushed away to avoid it. He managed to escape Ruby's burning hot grip.
Steven examined one of the new burns on his arm. "If you keep hugging me, I'm going to need to regenerate again."
"Regeneration!" Ruby slapped a hand to her head. "I can't believe it! Had we known you could regenerate, we would have kept your gem with us. Pearl wanted to be all symbolic and lay it somewhere special to Rose or whatever."
Steven stared at Ruby, his face so full of worry that even the thick-headed Ruby couldn't miss it. "You guys didn't think I was… dead… did you?"
Ruby's excitement faded. "Well, yeah. I mean, you're human and all and you weren't, like, moving or anything. We've definitely seen that before."
"Oh man. Do Connie and dad also think…?" Ruby grimaced, then nodded. "Oh man." Steven said again. "And you guys couldn't tell I was still in my gem?"
"Pearl checked it," Ruby said apologetically, "but she said she didn't feel anything inside."
"Pearl!" exclaimed Steven. "Where is she? Is she alright?"
"She's fine." Ruby looked relieved to move on to a different subject. "She and Amethyst are holing up in our new base now that Emerald controls the beach house and barn."
"Wait, Emerald still has the beach house? How are we going to leave the temple?"
"Don't worry," said Ruby with a sly smile. "The temple has a secret back exit. It's one way, can't be used to get in, but we can head out that way without alerting those mutts she has by the temple door."
"Oh, cool." He paused, waiting for Ruby to say more, but she merely stood there, arms crossed, looking happy and proud. "So… when do we leave?"
"When Sapphire gets here, duh."
"So she can bubble herself and send herself here?"
"Of course not."
"Oh. Then how is she getting here?"
"Well, obviously through the…" Ruby blinked. "Uh… through the…?" She looked around in confusion. "Dang, how is she going to get here?"
"Did she say we were going to meet her here? Maybe we should go to the new secret base."
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. That's probably what she wants. Come on, I'll show you the exit."
They started walking through the temple, heading downwards. "So why were you guys separated when you came through the warp pad?"
"Sapphire's idea," said Ruby. "She can move faster when we're separated, so if moving through a warp pad turns out to be a bad idea or if there is an ambush waiting for us, we can get out of there as fast as possible. Also, we're not supposed to travel alone, so it kind of lets Garnet cheat." She smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "The only pain is trying to find a warp pad to use that isn't being guarded by whatever soldiers Emerald has left."
"So you were just waiting near one of these warp pads for something to happen when I warped through? What were you looking for?"
"Ten," she said, her features going sour. "Sapphire says we should keep looking for her until we know for certain she's been captured or worse. She's way too optimistic. Ten was left behind surrounded by Emerald and her Onyxes. She was done for." She noticed Steven's sadness and discomfort. "I mean, I'm sure she's fine," she lied badly.
They came to a body of water in a cavern that smelled musty. "Isn't this Amethyst's room?
"No, but it's in her section," said Ruby. "Come on, we go this way." She leapt in the water, walking along the bottom of the pool. Steven enclosed himself in his bubble, following after.
"It's where all this water from Pearl's room empties out," said Ruby, her voice muffled and strange as it floated through the water, struck Steven's bubble, and echoed inside. Ruby seemed pleased that she could share these factoids with Steven to sound smart.
The floor suddenly sloped sharply downward. His bubble began to sink along the incline, moving faster downward as it went. Steven slammed against the back of the bubble and started whirling head over heel as it spun out of control. "Whoa! Ruby, look out!" he shouted.
Ruby looked to see what he was saying, barely turning all the way around before the bubble smashed into her and sent them both rolling into the depths. They both screamed as they hit the bottommost part of the lake and started rolling, the waters around them growing more turbulent as they went. A great whirlpool appeared ahead of them, pulling their orb inward, right toward a hole in the center. They sped toward it, hitting it hard. The bubble was too large to fit through, so they came to a sudden rest there.
Ruby shook her head and looked around. She walked toward the bubble and pressed her face against it. "This is the place!" her voice echoed.
"It is?" Steven looked down at the hole below them. "So we just go down there?" Ruby nodded. "Okay. So how are we going—"
Ruby formed her gauntlet and punched, exploding the bubble. Water pulled them both swiftly downward like a vacuum and they were shot through the tunnel below. Although completely dark, Steven was aware of gem magic at work as they passed through wherever the temple was and into the outside world. Just when he thought he couldn't hold his breath anymore, they were spat out of the tube and carried by the currents to the surface. Ruby grabbed him by the collar of the shirt and dragged him to shore.
"And that's the secret exit!" she said proudly.
Steven coughed out a bunch of water, giving Ruby an exasperated look. "Let's just get to the secret base," he said. "I need to let everyone know I'm alive."
"Sure. We just have to walk toward Connie's place. We're staying at a hotel there, courtesy of Greg."
"A hotel? That's our secret base?"
Ruby shrugged. "Well, it's secret from Emerald, so yeah: secret base."
"Where are we right now?"
"We're about thirty miles outside of Beach City."
"Oh. I think I know this river, then." Steven looked up at the sky. "We should be able to make it to Connie's before sundown if we start walking."
"Oh, yeah, definitely before sundown. Let's go!" Ruby started marching away.
"It's this way, Ruby," said Steven, pointing in a different direction.
"Uh, yeah. Maybe you better take the lead."
Still wet, the two of them set out to meet with the others.
Pearl sat down on the couch. After a moment, her fatigue got the better of her and she lay down instead. She looked across the room at Amethyst who stood at the window, staring out. Neither had spoken all day, despite the approaching evening. Nor had they seen Greg, who had gone to sleep well past midnight and still hadn't left his room despite the passing of nearly fourteen hours.
It wasn't like they had anything to do. Their last fight had crushed their spirits in a way that would take a long time to recover, if they ever did. In the back of their minds, they knew Homeworld was coming and they couldn't sit idly by, but right now they didn't care. They had lost Ten, nearly lost Amethyst, Pearl had been shattered, if only momentarily, and Steven…
…Steven was dead.
Pearl felt the tears coming again. She shoved her face into the armrest. She was alive because of him, a child who had loved her and put her life ahead of his own, and now she could do nothing for him, all of her past efforts to save him for naught. It was a hideous unfairness of the universe.
At least Garnet could still do something. At least she could still go out there and try to fulfill her duty as a Crystal Gem. Pearl and Amethyst were useless to her now. And for all the sorrow Pearl felt, she knew it was nothing compared to Amethyst's. Pearl could tell when Amethyst was thinking about Steven: she would look at her hands and shake, rubbing them together as if to remove the blood. Unlike Pearl, she didn't cry. Pearl didn't think she could.
And Greg… Goodness, Greg. Over their many years on Earth, the Gems had seen the very depths of human suffering, they had seen reactions far worse than his, of children who had lost their entire village and family in one brief flash of warfare, but they were never people that the Gems were connected to in the any way. To see this man shrivel as he had, seeming to age years in a few days, to shuffle lifelessly about this hotel room with no goal in mind, barely able to feed himself or groom himself, was another stab in the collective heart of the Crystal Gems. Connie's tears and utter emotional breakdown were easier to handle by far.
There was a knock at the door. Pearl waited to see if Amethyst was going to get it, but Amethyst had not even the slightest reaction. Pearl slung herself from the couch, forced herself to her feet, and went to answer it. She checked the peephole habitually—it was not like a wooden door was going to stop Emerald and her Onyxes—and saw Sapphire waiting without. She unlatched the door to let her in.
Sapphire took a look around the room. "Ruby clearly hasn't gotten here yet."
"Is she missing too, now?" said Pearl with newfound pessimism.
"No, no," said Sapphire. "I just expected her to arrive before me. She can't be too far behind."
Pearl gave Sapphire a sidelong look. The diminutive blue gem looked bursting to tell them something. "Do you have some news?" She tried to sound interested for Sapphire's sake but failed.
"Some of the best news you'll ever hear," said Sapphire. "But I don't think I should tell you myself. When Ruby gets here, you'll understand right away. In hindsight, it may seem a bit cruel that I didn't tell you now, but please bear in mind my abilities."
Pearl shook her head. She didn't have the capacity to care. "Whatever you say, Sapphire. Just, when Ruby gets here, tell her not to make too much noise."
"I would say the same to you," said Sapphire. "Please sit on the couch. Amethyst, you too, if you would." Amethyst didn't answer. Sapphire walked over and took Amethyst by the wrist, leading her over to the couch. Amethyst fell into her seat, elbows on knees, chin in hands, looking grumpy at having been pulled from the window. Then Sapphire went to the door to the bedroom and knocked.
"Greg? Greg, can you come out?"
"Don't bother him, Sapphire," said Pearl. "Let the man sleep. It makes him feel good, or at least not feel bad."
"Our news will make him feel better."
That comment struck Pearl as extremely strange. She finally noticed that Sapphire was oddly upbeat, seeming on the verge of dancing. Sapphire clearly thought the news Ruby was bringing was absurdly good, but she just didn't see what could be worth acting that way. Pearl considered her interest piqued, though it was a cautious, even suspicious interest.
"Greg?" Sapphire knocked one last time, but still got no response. Sapphire stared for a moment. "This will be fine," she said at length, then returned to the front door. "It won't be long now. Please prepare yourselves."
Pearl didn't know what that meant, but Sapphire's words and attitude were causing an odd sort of hope to bubble up in her chest. She looked at Amethyst to see if she felt the same, but Amethyst clearly did not. Pearl turned to the door, keen on focusing on this diversion while it lasted, just glad to have some small distraction from her own mind for a while.
Moments passed in silence. Sapphire waited patiently, trying not to beam. After a seemingly arbitrary amount of time, she said, "It's time. Please stay there. I'll be right back. I'm sure they'll want to make a flashy entrance."
"Who?" said Amethyst, finally stirred enough to take even a cursory interest.
"You'll see," Sapphire said with a mysterious smile and giggle. The reaction caused Pearl and Amethyst to exchange looks.
"Something weirds going on, P," said Amethyst. Pearl looked at her, seeing the faint blossoming of interest and hope in her eyes as well. They heard steps coming down the hall and they both stood reflexively. They suddenly felt breathless and didn't know why. Pearl's hand found Amethyst's shoulder, and Amethyst's found Pearl's leg. They drew together, watching the door, unnerved by this unnamed excitement.
The steps stopped in front of the door. The doorknob turned and the door opened slightly, then stopped. Garnet's voice drifted through the crack. "Go ahead. I know you want to."
"Thanks," said the other. At the sound of his voice, Pearl and Amethyst gripped each other hard.
He kicked open the door with all his might, causing it to fly open and smash into the doorstop, Garnet's hand the only thing keeping it from snapping back and slamming shut. Steven launched into the room, arms wide, a broad smile on his face. "Guess who's back!" he shouted.
He had expected them to come at him for a hug, to shout his name, something dramatic like that. Instead, they hugged each other, both sinking to the ground like their legs had given out, and wept.
"He's alive," cried Pearl, burying her face in Amethyst's hair, her tears and snot mixing with the lavender strands.
"I didn't kill him," sobbed Amethyst, hugging Pearl roughly around the middle. She looked up and waved Steven over and sniffed loudly. "Come here, little man. I have to feel it to believe it."
"Geez, guys," said Steven, his grin fading, feeling terribly embarrassed all of a sudden. He walked over to them. "I was hoping you'd be more… I dunno."
"What, happier?" said Amethyst. She reached out and pulled him into a bear hug, Pearl joining and squeezing him tightly. "I couldn't be any happier."
"Me neither," said Pearl.
"Aw, you guys," said Steven, and he started crying too. He flung his arms around both of them. "I'm so glad you're both okay. I thought Emerald was going to shatter you all. And Pearl…" his arm tightened around her neck.
"It's okay, Steven," Pearl said. "You fixed me and I'm fine, though I'm sure the method would have surprised Rose."
"Mom! That reminds me! Guys, my gem…" Pearl and Amethyst both pulled back to look at him, Garnet leaning in with interest. Looking at them all, however, he realized he couldn't tell them about his mother, about her being sealed away inside of his gem. For starters, he didn't even know if she was still alive in there, or just an illusion or memory. Even if she was real, if she could be awoken, he didn't know how to do it or if he even could without destroying himself, basically doing what his mother did for him, only in reverse. It would be another weight on the Gems and would only serve to ruin this moment.
And while he didn't wish to think badly of Pearl in the moment, how would she react to knowing they might be able to recover Rose, even at his expense?
"What is it?" asked Pearl, snapping him from his thoughts.
"I, uh… I figured out to regenerate from my gem!" he said, trying to sound proud to divert the subject. "I didn't have a body in there, and now I do. It was incredible!"
The gems laughed and complimented his ingenuity. Maybe he would tell them about mom someday, but not today.
For a while they did nothing but hug and exchange little remarks of astonishment and relief, just happy to be together.
After the initial shock lessened, Pearl took Steven's arm, lifting it and examining it. "It is astonishing," she said in awe, running her fingers down the length. "It's not a light projection. This is actual human flesh and bone. Did it grow from your Rose Quartz?"
"Maybe? I wasn't awake for it. I wonder what it looks like when I regenerate. Probably gross." A thought struck him. "Did I poof like you guys do?"
The gems exchanged looks. "Er, no," said Garnet. "Your body kind of… died."
Steven blinked. "You mean, like, the normal way? Brain and heart stopping and all that?"
Garnet nodded. "Exactly."
"So did my new body grow over my old one?"
There was a nervous, hissing intake of breath. "Well, no," said Amethyst slowly. "Your body wasn't exactly with your gem."
"It wasn't? Like, my body and gem were separated? But it's part of my body. I mean, unless someone cut it out, but who would do that?" His eyes fell on Pearl without conscious thought, and she blushed and looked away. "Aw, Pearl, no," he said, sounding grossed out.
"Wha? I, y-y-you, uh, wh—" she sputtered nonsensically, searching for some excuse. "I, it was, you know, the gem is still a Rose Quartz gem. When both it and your body stopped functioning, we took care of them in the traditional ways for both: for the gem, we enshrined it in a location I felt was reflective of the life it led—"
"Plus it was your own special hiding place," said Amethyst.
Pearl's blush deepened. "And the body we… well, we buried it."
"Wait," said Steven, frowning. "You mean my old body is buried out there somewhere, and now I have this one?" The Gems nodded. Steven looked weirded out. "Where did you bury me?" He held up a hand before they could answer. "Wait! I don't want to know. That's too weird. I never, ever want to know or see it. That's just too—" he shivered. "And you had time to bury me? How long was I gone?"
"Twelve days at least," said Garnet. "Certainly a few hours more, depending on how long ago you actually regenerated."
"Oh, so faster than Pearl?"
Amethyst laughed. "Very funny," said Pearl. "Maybe next time you can add on a few days, be really precise with your regeneration." Then she leaned forward, touching his cheek. "Just try to make sure there isn't a next time, okay?"
Garnet cleared her throat. "Alright, that's enough for the moment. Steven, we'd better do the hard part." She hiked her thumb toward the bedroom door.
"Is dad in there?" Garnet nodded.
Amethyst and Pearl moved away, leaving Steven to stand in the middle of the room alone. "I'll get him out. Just stand there and look cute." Garnet looked him up and down and gave him a thumbs up. "Perfect." He blushed.
Garnet went to the door and knocked. "Greg? Can you come out here? We have a surprise for you." She put her ear to the door, but heard nothing. She sighed. "Excuse me for a moment." She summoned her gauntlet, aimed for just above the door handle, and delivered a powerful but reserved blow, breaking the locking mechanism completely and forcing the door to swing open. She strode into the room.
There was a shuffling of cloth and a muffled grunt. "Let me go, Garnet," said Greg, no urgency or force in his voice. "I was sleeping."
"We've got good news for you," said Garnet.
"Whatever it is can wait until never."
Garnet came back into view, her arms wrapped around Greg's middle as she carried him from the room. He wore only a pair of stained boxer shorts. His beard was unkempt and his hair had not been washed or combed in days. His eyes were baggy and red. He looked over his shoulder at Garnet and complained as she carried him. Garnet planted him down in the doorway and pointed past him. "Can that wait?" she asked.
Greg turned toward the main room, his eyes landing on Steven. "Hi, dad!" said Steven.
Greg stared at him, eyes half open, without any reaction. "Dad?" Steven looked nervously over at Amethyst and Pearl. "Uh, is dad alright?"
"He should be fine," said Pearl. She glanced at Garnet.
Garnet squeezed through the door beside Greg and examined his face. She waved a hand in front of him. "I think he's lost consciousness." He poked his cheek with her finger. His head fell against the door jamb, then he slid downwards and collapsed backwards in a heap. "Yep, definitely unconscious."
"Ah, geez," said Steven. "Poor guy. I'm gonna put him back to bed. Then I guess we need to talk about some things." He hauled his father up, his gem strength making the large man seem feather light.
"Right," said Garnet as Steven shuffled by with his father over his shoulder. "Now that the Crystal Gems are back together, it's about time we finish things with Emerald."