I'm so sorry! I haven't been on here in while. I've just been working on other stories with Steven universe and other shows and also my own original story so I've been a bit busy. Anyway back to the story!

Its about noon and Steven is having a "jam" session with Connie on one of the temple statue's hands. I'm in the kitchen brewing some coffee for me and Lapis. She has really come to like coffee, maybe even a little too much. "How have you liked it here so far? Is Pearl being nice?" I asked her while we waited for it to brew. "Its been fine. She has quite a few rules but all of them are reasonable" she answered. "That's not what I meant. I was told that they had you trapped in a mirror for quite a long time. How are you dealing with that?" I asked more accurately. "oh... that. Well at first when Steven released me I was furious. I was on a unfamiliar planet and my gem was cracked so I couldn't fly home. When I saw the others I instantly blamed them,probably because there weren't any others I could blame for my being trapped there" she explained. "later I kind of tried to use the entire ocean to build a pillar to go home but even with all that I couldn't. But once again Steven helped me and fixed my gem" she turned to show me her gem. "although the process was a little disgusting he helped me a second time without hesitation and after thanking him I flew in to space. On the way to home-world I pondered what had happened and came to the conclusion that it wasn't their fault I was there neither did they even know I was in there. So yeah I'm over it and I've started a new slate" she finished. By the time she was done the coffee maker went off signaling it was done. "I'm glad that you came to that conclusion, you know how much I hate grudges over things that could solved through just speaking to one another" I said sipping on my coffee. "I do all to well" she answered sipping her coffee as well. Just then Steven burst through the door with Connie in tow. "Pearl, Pearl where are you!?" he shouted. "Steven I'm right here there's now need to shout" she answered standing walking towards him from the couch. "I want you to teach Connie to sword fight!" he shouted barely even containing his excitement. This caught my attention and leaned over the counter to listen in on this conversation "You want me to do what?" Pearl asked like she didn't hear him correctly. "You should train Connie to sword fight, she's already so good!" he explained. "Steven!" Connie said trying to get him to stop. But you are! You helped me fight the robot floaty thing, she took down that evil clone of herself, umm... those mean seagulls just now" he explained to further prove his point. "Do you think this a good idea?" Lapis asked leaning beside me. Its seems she was interested as well "Maybe, but lets just see where this will go" I answered. "Your awfully young to begin something like this, but I suppose I was only a few thousand years when I began fighting alongside Rose Quartz" Pearl pondered. Connie raised her hand "yes Connie?" Pearl asked. "Please I wanna learn! I mean I don't know what will happen in the future, but if something dangerous come along I don't want to be a burden I want to help! I wanna be there for Steven to fight by his side! The earth is my home to cant I help protect it?" Connie finished. Pearl was almost crying "Oh, Okay" she answered shakily. She stood up and wiped her tears " If that's how you feel we should get started then we should get started right away" she said walking to the warp pad. "Woohoo!" Steven shouted running over to it as well. "Wait now?" Connie asked a bit uneasily. She followed and they all warped out. "So what do you think?" Lapis asked once more. She has the will to fight, however having the will to fight is different than being able to fight" I answered. Do you think Pearl should teach her? Shouldn't you instead? She asked. "From what Garnet has told me she is an accomplished sword fighter so I don't think she is ill-qualified, but Garnet has also told me she is a bit obsessed with rose quartz so that could affect Connie's training" I explained. "So shouldn't you train her instead?" she asked once more. "No, lets see how this goes and if something happens I will intervene, until then I will just watch" I concluded. "Anyway, what do you want to do? Its the peak of the day and its nice out. Do you want to go swimming in the ocean?" I offered. "Well it sounds like fun but I have a question" she said putting her coffee on the counter and crossing her arms. "Are you going to wear that hood in the water too?" she asked loudly while pointing at me. "I haven't seen your face since we split up and I'm not doing anything with you until I see your face" she said putting her foot down. "Well I..." she cut me off before I could finish. "Well nothing take it off or we're not going anywhere" she said sounding more and more annoyed. Look maybe one day I'll take it off but today isn't the day." I sighed looking at the ground "I'm sorry but I'm just not ready for that" I said staring at the seems of the floorboards. We stood in silence for a moment until Lapis clapped her hands together "well it was worth a try! Lets go swimming huh? Its been a few days since I've been able to get into the ocean" she said walking out the door trying to break the awkwardness. "Maybe one day..." I said to myself still standing there. Lapis popped in the door "Come on! We don't have all day!" she shout waving for me to get going. "Yeah yeah" I said walking to the door. "Lets have some fun!"

later that night I was sitting on the porch as usual " hmm its a bit cloudy tonight so the stars aren't coming in very good. The screen door slammed and I jumped. "A little jumpy are we?" said Peridot standing there with her face absorbed in her hand screen. "You just scared me that's all." I replied turning back to the sky. "do you do this every night?" she asked leaning next to me on the railing. "I do. When the stars are out the view just is so... breathtaking" I answered. "But tonight the clouds are blocking them" I explained. "So how have you been?" I asked her. "I've been fine so far. The gems are quite hospitable especially Garnet." she answered. "Yeah once you get to know her Garnet is a real softie." I said chuckling. There was a bit of silence before she spoke again "Hey do you mind if I ask you something?" she asked suddenly. "Sure what is it?" I answered. "how is your face?" she asked out of the blue. "What do you mean?" I asked so she could clarify "I have the whole database of all of the gems that were criminals on home-world so... I have all the known information on you." she finished. I was caught off guard for a moment but regained myself quickly. There was a small silence before I spoke "So how much is there?" I asked worriedly. "Enough to know what happened. There's even a video but I couldn't watch it through to the end." she cringed and shuddered at the thought. "Thats probably better for you. No one should have to endure that. Even just the thought of it" I said reassuring her. "But are you alright?" she asked once more. "Yeah I'm fine. That happened a long time ago." I said reassuring her further. "But I got a favor to ask." I said looking at her right in the eyes. "Yeah?" she asked raising an eyebrow "I don't want anyone else to know this so could you just keep it between us?" I asked. "Sure I didn't plan on telling the rest anyway. But I don't its healthy to keep this inside." she answered. "Anyway goodnight, I'm going to go try sleeping. According to Amethyst its very enjoyable. See ya tomorrow" she said closing the door behind her as she walked back inside. "good night" I said softly.

A week later

Its early in the morning and me and Lapis are making breakfast. Just your standard eggs and bacon nothing to special. "Steven how do you want your eggs?" I asked not looking up from the pan with the eggs making a loud hissing sound as they hit the surface of the pan. "Steven?" I asked looking up to see him engrossed in a book titled How to talk to people. "what ya reading there bud?" I asked walking up behind him. "Oh! Obsidian. Its just a book on how to help me talk to people" he explained. "And who are we trying to talk to?" I asked now a bit curious. "Its... Connie" he said sadly. "Why? you talk to her all the time" I said trying to figure out whats going on. "Its just that Pearl makes her train all the time and I just think this is all getting out of hand" Steven said looking worried. "Well what if I came today?" I offered. He lit up "would you? That would be awesome if you could" he replied. "Yeah don't worry" I answered with a smile. Just then the screen door slammed and Connie was standing there. I gotta finish making breakfast so I'll be right back." I said walking over to Lapis. So whats up with him?" She asked. "He thinks Connie's training is getting out of hand." I answered. We both went quiet and I started to over hear the conversation. "Connie" Steven said trying to get her attention. "Hey Steven" she replied walking by. "Connie wait!" Steven said still attempting to get her attention. "Huh?" she turned looking confused. Pearl's door opened "Ah right on time" she said sounding impressed. "Can we talk for a moment?" Steven asked. "Sure, whats up?" she said sounding like she wanted to know what was wrong. "We have important training to do Connie." Pearl said quietly to Connie cutting off Steven. "Yes ma'am." Connie replied. "Shes making great strides Steven, shes going to be an asset to you" Pearl said trying to reassure Steven. They then teleported using the warp pad. Steven just stood there looking very depressed. "I'll see you later Lapis" I said walking over to Steven. As I got closer the temple door opened. "Wow Garnet that was the funniest thing I've ever heard" it was Garnet and Amethyst. "Garnet master of comedy" she said walking onto the warp pad. Amethyst walked up and noticed Steven "yo Steven. Why you standing there all sad like that!?" she shouted. "Connie is taking sword fighting lessons from Pearl. But I think its getting a little to serious. She wants Connie to do all this dangerous stuff for me" he explained. Garnet looked up at me standing behind Steven. "Why wasn't I told about this?" she asked sounding a bit upset. "I thought it was a good idea so I didn't tell you". She sighed "well what you said makes sense" Garnet said sitting down in front of Steven on the steps of the warp pad. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Is there something I should know Garnet?" I asked starting to regret my decision. "Back during the war Pearl took pride on risking her own destruction for your mother. She put rose quartz over everything. Over logic, over consequence, over her own life" she explained. It was obvious this affected Steven greatly and I knew why. "I picked him up we have to go do something!" I said before we warped out. We warped to the stadium and Steven started to run to arena part was. It was seconds before he was out of my sights. "Jeez, for a little kid he sure goes fast" I mused. I followed him and we stopped at an entrance in the stands. "Steven I'll wait here. If something bad does happen I will come okay?" I said as he went towards Connie. "Now let us begin!" Pearl said as she activated her gem and manipulated the clouds to form a mist on the arena. "This does look dangerous however I don't think I need to step in right now." I said examining the battle. Sounds of battle started with the clang of blades and Connie's sounds of effort. I can also hear Steven yell Connie's name as well. "This mist sure sucks I'd much rather be able to see all the fighting rather than bits and pieces." I complained to myself. "Steven!" I heard Pearl's voice say as the mist dissipated. "Steven don't interfere. She need to take me on herself!" she shouted picking up her sword. "Why? we're a team! Shes the strawberry and he's the biscuit! And that makes us jam buds!" the both shouted back. "What?" I asked myself as I processed what they just said. It was clear that Pearl had some difficulty with it as well. They both charged Pearl catching her a bit off guard. Connie started to swing her blade as soon as Pearl got in range. For a bit all Pearl could do was parry but Pearl soon snapped out of it and tried to do a quick spin slash but Connie spun and Steven's shield absorbed the blow. Connie then slid under Pearl to get behind her. Then they both jumped at Pearl but this was they're mistake. Pearl saw the opening and knocked them both to the ground. Pearl's breathing was elevated and she looked tired "No! In a real battle Steven wont be there to save you!" she shouted. "Yes I will" he answered shouting back. "Steven you don't know that" she said dismissing him. "Yes I do! If Connie going to fight were going to fight together!" he explained. "That's right!" Connie shouted agreeing with him. "You shouldn't be any where near the fight your too important" Pearl said sound agitated. It was clear that this was escalating quickly and I need to intervene. "I am not!" he shouted. "Yes you are!" she shouted angrily. "No!" he shouted. she snapped "Why wont you let me do this for you rose!?" after she said that there was complete silence, the only sound you could hear were my footsteps. "I mean why wont you let Connie do this for you". She looked up at me and her voice trailed off. I walked casually over to the group and I could see her wiping away tears. "That's enough for today" Pearl said as she walked over to the edge of the arena and sat on the cliff. "Guys why don't you go back to the beach house, Lapis made breakfast for you both" I said insisting that they go. "Okay, lets go Connie" Steven said taking her hand and running up the stadium stairs towards the warp pad. I walked over and sat down next Pearl "Hi". She didn't reply and we sat in silence for a few minutes until she broke the silence. "I just... wanted to train Connie to help protect Steven" she started to say. "Yeah but all that talk that Connie's life meant nothing and Steven's life is worth everything made Steven anxious and this was the end result." I explained. We gems can regenerate if we die. However Connie is human once she's dead... she stays dead, there's no coming back." I finished. "I just wanted to protect him. He's the only reminder of Rose I have and I don't want to lose that" she said with tears forming. "Did rose make you feel like nothing?" I asked. "No, she made me feel like I was everything" she said starting to blush. "I know what you mean. You guys are like that to me." I said looking at the sunset. "How so?" pearl asked with tears still in her eyes. You all are precious to me. I don't have anything else but you guys. You guys are like a family to me. I explained. "Oh" pearl said shakily."Look Pearl." I wiped away her tears "You can't keep these feeling bottled up. Otherwise you'll explode much worse than this." I explained. "So what do I do?" she asked. "Come talk to me. you'll feel a lot better when all that weight is lifted of your shoulders." I said showing her that she wasn't alone on this. I stood up and she did as well. She suddenly came up to me and leaned on me. I wrapped my arms around her. She was cold, really cold almost ice cold. She looked up at me and I looked down at her. I could see my reflection in her pale blue eyes. I felt her chest pounding and mine was too. I could tell she was slowly getting closer but she suddenly pulled away. We stood in an awkward silence until she clapped her hands together "Okay! so we'll make them both knights!" she exclaimed happily. "Connie's already an expert but Steven has a lot of catching up to do. Oh I cant wait until we do the mid-air and underwater dueling exercises!" she said imagining it as she walked towards the warp pad. "Umm... Pearl how about we keep them on the ground?" I asked walking with her. "How do you expect them to fight in the air?" She asked me seeing if I had a better idea. "Pearl they can't fly nor can they jump that high. how are we going to accomplish that?" I asked. "That's a good question". She said putting her hand on her chin. "How about we go home?" I offered. "I'm sure everyone is waiting for us". "I guess your right but this isn't over. I will figure out a way" she stated matter-of-factly. "Lets hope you don't"

hi guys sorry its been so long. You can blame me for working on other stories than this one. Anyways I hope you enjoyed and I will try to get more chapters up but don't quote me on the pls .Remember if you have some advice or some criticism about the story please don't hesitate to comment. Thanks in advance and see ya next time.

-Joe