Part of Your Universe

No matter what she tried, Connie just couldn't seem to get back to sleep. She had slept soundly through a good part of the night before inexplicably waking up at around two in the morning, according to her cell phone. She quickly used the light from her phone to look around the tent, being careful not to shine it directly at Steven, who was still asleep. There was not much room in the tent, so Greg had decided to sleep in his van that night. He had found Steven's bug-shaped sleeping bag in the back of his van, and set it up inside the tent for Connie. Since the road was clear enough to drive all the way to the beach, Greg had moved his van down to the beach. Connie was glad that he was nearby, just in case Steven's condition took a turn for the worse in the middle of the night.

Connie looked down at Steven. She could make out his features in the dim light provided by her phone. His sleep was less troubled than it had been earlier. However, he was still shifting around often, and coughing occasionally. Not wanting to wake him, Connie clicked the power button on her phone, plunging the inside of the tent into darkness once more. She lied down on top of the sleeping bag and began to think about what tomorrow might bring. Connie wondered if the gem that attacked the city was going to come back. If it did, how would the residents defend themselves without Steven or the other gems?

Connie's train of thought was interrupted when she heard a small cough. She turned to her right, and heard someone emit a small groan and move around.

"Steven?" she asked, unable to see anything in the darkness. The tent was silent for a few moments before a voice answered her.

"Connie (cough)? Is that you?"

Connie quickly got her phone out and turned it on. She turned the screen in Steven's direction in order to get a better look at him. He was lying down still, his uncovered eye wide open. The two made eye contact, and Steven gave her a warm smile.

"Hi! How are you?" Steven asked. He looked around the dimly illuminated tent, squinting as his functioning eye adjusted to the darkness. "Where's dad?"

"I'm doing fine," Connie replied, returning Steven's smile. She sat up on top of the sleeping bag. "Your dad's in his van. We cleared off the street, so he was able to drive the van down to the beach." Connie paused briefly. "It's good to see you doing better."

Steven tried to sit up. Connie quickly moved over to him and put her hand behind his back to help prop him up. Much to her surprise, he was able to sit up cross-legged on the mattress. Connie grabbed her phone, turned it on, and placed it face-up on the mattress before mirroring Steven's position. Steven noticed that his right arm felt stiff, and looked down to see the splint. He brought up his left hand to feel the patch on his eye.

"Where'd these (cough) come from?"

"Oh!" Connie replied, somewhat surprised that he had slept through the entire procedure earlier. "My mom came down here to help you. She created that splint and patched you up. I helped hand her stuff when she needed it. Steven broke into a grin.

"Was it like Under the Knife?" he asked playfully.

Connie couldn't help but smile at Steven's inquiry. "Yeah, it was just like Under the Knife," she replied. At this, the pair shared a good laugh.

After the two regained their composure, Steven spoke up again.

"What else happened while I was (cough) out?"

Connie spent the next few minutes explaining the events of the past few days, including the construction of the settlement and the repairs that had been made so far. Steven occasionally interjected with a question, a lighthearted comment, or a cough. Connie was relieved to see him awake and engaged with her. It was the first time since the battle that the two had been able to have a detailed conversation.

After Connie finished recounting recent events, neither of them said anything; the pair simply sat and stared at one another. Steven broke the silence.

"I'm just relieved that you weren't hurt." He put his good arm over his mouth and coughed a couple times.

Connie gave him a concerned look before responding. "You were worried about me? What about you? When I saw you on the beach, I was so scared. You're my only friend. If you…didn't make it…I don't know what I would do." She moved closer to Steven and gave him a gentle hug, which he returned with his working arm.

"Please promise me you'll be more careful. Please. I can't bear to lose you." Steven heard Connie let out a small sob. He felt himself tear up a little, and hugged her closer.

"I promise."

The two didn't move for a few minutes. Connie's phone went into sleep mode, once again leaving the pair in the dark; still, Connie and Steven remained where they were. After a little while, the two let each other go, and returned to their original positions on the mattress. Connie woke her phone up, and the two looked at each other.

Connie decided to break the silence this time.

"So…the author of the Spirit Morph Saga decided to start writing a new book series."

Steven gasped, and stars shone in his eyes. "Is it going to be about magic stuff?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, the new series is supposedly going to be set in the same universe as the Spirit Morph saga. It's going to be from the perspective of Lisa's brother. I hope the ending of the series is better this time."

Steven blushed slightly. He had personally liked the ending of the fourth book of the Spirit Morph Saga, but he knew Connie hadn't liked the way Archimicarus and Lisa had gotten married at the end.

"The ending wasn't that bad," Steven asserted quietly. "It was sweet (cough) how they got together in the end."

Connie gave him a skeptical look. "You still like the ending, huh? Well, when we were in your mom's room, didn't you…"

Connie suddenly stopped talking and perked up. Her sudden silence worried Steven.

"Connie, what's wro-"

"Shhhh!" she replied, her voice barely above a whisper, "did you hear that?" Steven stopped and listened, but didn't hear anything unusual.

"I don't hear anything," he stated, somewhat alarmed by his friend's odd behavior.

"Just listen," Connie whispered. Steven stopped talking and listened again.

Then he heard it.

Something was moving outside the tent, and Steven could tell it wasn't human. The thing emitted a deep growl, and continued moving around the tent. Cautiously, Connie moved to the entrance of the tent. Steven watched as she slowly peeked her head out of the tent. Connie looked to her left, then to her right. She jumped, and quickly ducked back inside.

"It saw me!" Connie whispered frantically. "It's walking towards the tent!" She quickly grabbed her phone, turned it off, and put it into her pocket. Maybe if she turned off the light and didn't make any sound, whatever it was would go away. She saw Steven's eyes widen in fear.

She turned around to see the massive, dark being standing in the entrance of the tent. Connie slowly started to crawl backwards towards the far side of the tent. She reached the wall and felt Steven put his hand on her shoulder and huddled close to him. He was shaking.

Connie closed her eyes, tears streaking down her face. This wasn't how she wanted to die.

Steven was scared out of his mind. He guessed that the monster was probably a dangerous gem creature. Connie didn't have any way to escape, and he was in no shape to fight. He felt Connie move close to him, and he looked in her direction. He could hear her crying quietly in the darkness. The beast let out another snarl, and Steven looked up at it. He could see the monster's huge, glowing eyes in the darkness. The beast began to advance slowly towards the pair. Steven shut his eyes tightly. He could hear its footsteps as it made its way towards them. Time seemed to freeze at the monster stopped, its head mere inches from the pair. Steven could feel its hot breath on his face. He took a deep, shuddering breath and waited for his end to come.

Without warning, the beast pressed its huge, wet nose against Steven's cheek and let out a whine. After a moment, Steven realized that the creature was not, in fact, trying to eat him. The creature let out another whine and moved back a little. Steven turned and looked into the large, glowing eyes. For some reason, they made him feel safe.

Connie took out her phone, and turned it on. Slowly she turned the screen towards the mysterious visitor. Staring back at her was a large, familiar pink face. Steven and Connie both let out a sigh of relief.

"Lion!" Steven said, his heart still pounding in his chest, "you almost scared us both to death! Where were you? I was so worried about you!" When the gem ship had arrived, Steven had told Lion to leave with the other residents. After the attack, Lion had mysteriously vanished. Steven had no idea where Lion had disappeared to; truthfully, he was more concerned with his magical companion's safety than where he had gone. Lion often went exploring on his own, and Steven trusted him to stay out of danger.

Steven moved walked over to Lion and gave him a one-armed hug, resting his head in Lion's soft mane. Lion leaned forward slightly to return the gesture, resting his muzzle on Steven's head. Connie simply stood where she was, watching the reunion for a few seconds before speaking up.

"So…this whole time, it was only Lion, huh."

Steven turned away from Lion to address Connie,

"Heh heh, yeah (cough), the whole time, we were both scared of nothing." For the second time that evening, Connie and Steven had a good laugh.

After everyone in the tent quieted down, Lion moved over to the mattress and padded around for a few seconds. Deciding on a comfortable spot, he plopped down and curled up, covering most of the mattress.

"Lion, that's my bed!" Steven stated, giving Lion a small shove in an attempt to get him to move. Lion responded by stretching his jaws wide into a yawn and shifting slightly. Steven let out a sigh before yawning himself. Giving up his efforts to move Lion out of the way as a lost cause, Steven opted to lay down on top of him, and snuggled into his thick fur. Connie did the same, resting her head besides Steven's. She reached over and turned off her phone before closing her eyes. In a few minutes, the pair was fast asleep.

The next morning, Greg woke up fairly early. He quickly prepared for the day before leaving his van, wanting to check on Steven early. Greg quickly made his way to the tent, stopping just outside the entrance. Very slowly, as not to wake anyone, Greg peered inside the tent, and abruptly stopped. The scene inside warmed his heart.

Connie and Steven were both lying on top of Lion, who had curled up around them. Steven was snoring softly. Connie had shifted closer to Steven in the night, and had put her arm around him. Greg paused and watched the scene for a minute. He debated whether to wake them up, but decided not to. He didn't have the heart to disturb the sleeping trio. Being as quiet as he could, Greg moved away from the entrance to the tent and began to make his way towards what was left of his carwash, leaving Steven and Connie to sleep.