But I'm Still Here

Greg Universe had had a very stressful day. Earlier that morning, a massive gem ship had appeared in the sky above Beach City. Mayor Dewey had ordered an evacuation, and the city had been vacated in a matter of minutes. Since the last time they had been forced to leave, it seemed everyone had taken precautions in the event of another emergency. Greg hadn't looked back, not even once. He knew Steven and the gems could hold their own. Or, at least, he hoped they could.

Once the ship had left about an hour later, everyone had turned around to return home. Greg expected everything to be largely unscathed, just like the last time gems had attacked the town. He had expected everyone to complete some minor repairs, and for Beach City to be running in a couple days.

He had been dead wrong.

The town was not largely unscathed, the repairs would take more than a couple of days, and he was beginning to doubt if the gems and Steven had in fact been able to hold their own. Morbid thoughts ran through Greg's mind as he led the other residents of Beach City through the remains of their home. Once the group had reached the middle of the town, the debris covering the roads had forced them to continue their grim pilgrimage on foot. Occasionally, someone would stop to look at the ruins of their shop or house. Greg paused briefly to pay his respects to what had been his carwash. He supposed that he could rebuild it in a month or so. It would take some time, but as long as everyone stuck together, Greg believed everything would work out okay.

The former inhabitants of Beach City had collectively agreed to walk through the entire town and stop at the far side of the beach, to see what damage had been done. When the group finally reached the temple, Greg began to feel a little bit uneasy. He turned around, and noticed that everyone had stopped walking, and were staring out at the beach. He turned back around, and saw what had caught everyone's attention. He could clearly make out Connie in the middle of the beach. She was on her knees in the sand, with her head against something he couldn't quite make out. Even from this distance, Greg could hear the sounds of her crying. Greg took a few steps towards her before he realized what she was holding. Greg's blood ran cold.

Greg didn't want to believe his eyes. He wanted to believe that Connie was holding a magical gem duplicate, or that the light was playing tricks on him, or that he was going insane. Anything would be better than what he was seeing. He rubbed the tears from his eyes and looked again. No, Connie was still there, kneeling in the middle of the sand. And she was still holding Steven.

He couldn't bear to lose Steven. He had already lost Rose; he couldn't lose his son too. Steven was all that he had left in this world. He should have gotten Steven to leave the city with him. For all his courage and magical abilities, Steven was just a kid. A responsible father wouldn't let a kid run headlong into a magical war. Now his only son was dead, and it was entirely his fault. If he had been a better father, then everything might have turned out okay. He didn't think he had it in him to plan Steven's funeral.

Greg was too lost in thought to realize that he had been slowly making his way towards Connie and Steven. Connie's voice broke his train of thought and brought him back to reality.

"Mr. Universe?" she choked out between sobs. She had been so worried about Steven that she hadn't notice him walking towards her.

Greg looked down at the poor girl. She was holding Steven's hand, and had her other hand behind his head. Tears rolled down her cheeks and stained her shirt. The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.

Connie swallowed with a lump in her throat, struggling to say what they were both thinking. "He's…he's gone. He's really gone." She noticed that the other residents had surrounded her and Greg; some of them also had tears in their eyes. Greg looked around at the rest of the town, and then back at Steven and Connie. He knelt down, and stroked Steven's hair.

"No," Sadie piped up, wiping the tears from her eyes, "he's not." Everyone turned their attention towards her. Sadie, looked down at Steven and gave a sad smile before continuing. "He left a bit of himself in each of us. Whenever he told a joke, or tried to help someone, or just said hello, he left some small part of himself. He may…no longer be with us…but we're still here."

Everything became silent, save the crashing of the waves. Greg looked around. Everyone appeared to be remembering some time they had spent with Steven. His gaze returned to Steven, and he once again failed to hold back tears. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Barbara with a look of concern on her face.

Greg wondered if it would all turn out okay.