22. Last Night Out in Beach City

The teenager couldn't help but smile, eyes hidden behind his ever-present sunglasses. His Dad, for his part, looked nervous but returned the smile – it felt like he never saw his son look genuinely excited anymore. It was a confident, motivated smile that he thought Buck had lost permanently after the age of 14, but here he was, waiting for an answer with that same look on his face.

"So, what do you say, Mayor Dewey?" Buck moved over to his dad and playfully nudged him in the ribs when he called him by his title, which made the grown man feel a bit flush.

"Well, oh, alright. Just… I know it may not be the hippest thing for the kids, but would I – ahem, be able to make an opening statement?"

Buck's hands flew up into a victory pose, and his father couldn't help but chuckle. There really must be something about this that made his son shine, and he couldn't take that away.

"Yeah, Dad, whatever. We're going to start at 8:00. I gotta go, like, now though." And as quickly as the conversation had started, his son was bolting from his office with an energy he had all but forgotten. Tense but pleased, Mayor Dewey sat at his desk and looked out his window that overlooked the ocean, thoughtful.

It's sort of…macabre, but I can see why Buck would want it. Sad, but he seems to think it'll make people happy. How could I say no?

Mayor Dewey sighed as he pulled out his phone, checking his e-mail. The past two weeks have been tough on everyone in Beach City – literally. All that's happened with the Universe boy… people are afraid to stay out late, businesses are less productive, and some parents are keeping their kids off the beach entirely. Of course, Greg Universe was especially absent around town, but… there was just no spark. The waters still came up to the shores and the gulls still cried, and yet Beach City had never seemed so lifeless.

Sighing, the forty-five year old man turned around in his chair to face his desk, trying to figure out how to manage this whole mess. It could be seen as a selfish way to look at things, but Mayor Dewey really does care about the people of Beach City. Seeing them all hurting, afraid, unhappy… not only did the local economy and, by extension, his political efficacy, suffer – but the people did, too. He wanted desperately to do something, and Buck seemed so confident and excited… It had to be better than doing nothing, no one acknowledging the pain caused by the absence of Steven Universe.

And maybe Buck was right – he wasn't just a kid anymore. Inspired, the senior Dewey felt a fire to help his people, reaching for his phone to cash in some political favors. He was going to make this work, if not for the Universe boy, for his own son. He blinked away an unexpected wetness in his eyes and dialed the number of the Pizza family.

/

"Yes, Fish Stew Pizza, how may I help you?" Kiki spoke in her usual, cheery tone. She was surprised to hear the mayor on the other line, asking for her father. He sounded excited, or maybe nervous, which wasn't necessarily odd for the notoriously sweaty politician.

"Sure, Mayor Dewey, just a second."

"Jenny! Have you seen Dad!" she called towards the backdoor, only to see her mirror image walking out in her "riding" jacket.

Jenny rolled her eyes and feigned a cute voice. "You know I was just about to leave, Kiki. I dunno, check the freezer or something. Buck and I got something to do. 'Bye!" Blowing her sister a kiss, Jenny was out the door and Kiki stood alone in the restaurant.

Ugh, right. Dad, Dad, Dad… Where is he? She hurried around the back, looking for him in the kitchen, freezer, and his office. He wasn't anywhere to be seen – oh, maybe he was next door at the Fryman's. Since… Steven left town, Dad and the Fryman's have been trying to be kinder to each other, each of their business suffering equally during the day.

"Sorry, Mayor Dewey, just a second. I think he's outside." Kiki quickly muted the phone and jogged around the counter, out the front door. Just as she thought, there was her tiny father talking to the Mr. Fryman. Incidentally, Ronaldo had just walked out the front of The Fry Shop and was headed her way.

"Oh, sorry Kiki, are you guys closing for lunch?" The portly, but kind, boy asked her, his laptop and headphones in tow.

She gave him a smile and shook her head. "No, you go on in, I'll be just a sec. Gotta give the phone to my dad." She jerked her thumb towards their fathers.

He shot her a finger gun and walked past her, into the restaurant, Kiki giving a small chuckle before she interrupted the conversation. It was nice to see them being civil.

"Dad! Sorry – didn't want to interrupt, but, Mayor Dewey is on the phone for you. He said it wasn't for an order, needed to talk to you?" Kiki held out the phone and he took it while she finished explaining.

"Okay – we'll finish this conversation later!" Kofi gave a kind wave to Mr. Fryman and took the phone from her, walking towards through the small alley that would lead to the garbage cans behind the restaurant.

Kiki was about to go back inside when her father suddenly. "And tell your sister she is on register – make the orders while I'm busy!" She rolled her eyes and did not reply as she went back inside. Business was slow, so she didn't mind covering for Jenny today.

/

His eyes scanning his computer screen, he jumped when a pretty brown girl appeared at his side. Defensively, Ronaldo lowered his screen, immersed in a FaceBox message from Buck Dewey of all people, completing forgetting that he was at Fish Stew Pizza. She was staring at him with an eyebrow raised, not bothering with a pen and paper.

"Oh, sorry Kiki, just got distracted." His fingers started flying across the screen as he typed a reply.

She gave him a teasing sigh. "Yeah cause we're so busy. The usual?"

He paused to look at her, not wanting to be rude, and set his face seriously. Eyebrows knit together, Ronaldo nodded. "Yes, please. But no soda today."

"Got it." Kiki went back to the kitchen, and Ronaldo back to his laptop.

Buck,

Hey man, I think that's super, totally awesome. I'm happy to help – you said you wanted to see if I could do some "tech stuff?" Could you… clarify a bit? Just let me know and I'll do what I can. :)

KBCW,

Ronaldo

Sighing and leaning back in his chair, balancing on the back legs while trying not to fall forward, Ronaldo tried to think of something to write about. Keep Beach City Weird had been totally preoccupied with the mystery of Steven being gone and the Crystal Gems being absent from the beach house, but he had stopped covering the story after, like, the first week. Everyone figured at first it wasn't serious until a rumor started about Lar's hearing a really disturbing message about him being abducted… It didn't feel right to post about his friend if he really had been… taken.

And of course, there was the question of who? Everyone asked it in their head, but no one said it out loud. Was it the other polymorphic rocks, the great Diamond authority, the snake people, another alien force? The possibilities were… too endless, even for him.

Kiki broke his reprieve by bringing him his mozzarella sticks. "Pizza will be just 'nother minute." She set them down and hurried back into the kitchen, Ronaldo staring after her vacantly.

His laptop beeped and he read the reply from Buck Dewey.

Oh. Uh, I'm not sure if I'm qualified for that… but, should I tell him? It would be so cool to hang out with them, it can't be that hard… but… No, Steven wouldn't just give up, so neither will I.

He cracked his fingers and they flew across the keyboard.

OK – I can manage that. I'll meet him there. Thanks!

KBCW,

Ronaldo

Pushing his laptop back slightly, Ronaldo moved on to savoring his lunch. His Dad probably wasn't going to be happy that he was going to skip the rest of his shift, but there's been like, almost no business this week. A couple of orders here or there, but nothing Peedee couldn't handle.

/

"Alright! Sweet." Sour Cream saw Ronaldo coming around the corner of the arcade while his little brother dived into a vending machine.

"H-hey Sour Cream. What's up?" Ronaldo cleared his throat awkwardly, and leaned a little too casually against the same vending machine Onion had just retreated into. The lanky teenager was smiling at the sight, looking at the mischievous kid open bags of potato chaaps and dump them all over the base of the machine.

He turned his blue eyes towards the fry-guy, happy to have some tech help on such short notice.

"Right, yeah. So Steven's usually my designated roadie but, uh… well, I needed your help. Can I show you my set-up?" While speaking, Sour Cream had started digging around in his pockets, reaching around for his uPhone in a sea of glowsticks.

Ronaldo was sort of sweaty and looked nervous, but it was cool. That's how he always looked.

"Yeah!" His voice was higher pitched than normal.

Sour Cream launched a glow stick at him in a show of appreciation "Rad! Okay man, check this out. Here's what I'll need you to do." They stood there for several minutes discussing the pictures, how he liked his gear arranged, and what time he would need to get started.

"I probably won't be able to help much, I've got to throw together a sweet set in just a few hours. Oh man, this is gonna be so awesome." Sour Cream's eyes were practically sparkling with excitement, and Ronaldo chuckled uncomfortably.

"We gotta get going, though, so I'll catch you later. I'll be there at like, seven? C'mon, Onion."

At this, the larger teenager looked confused as Sour Cream moved past him to knock on the window of vending machine. His little brother was always getting into trouble, that little rascal.

After a moment of struggling on his part and staring on Ronaldo's, Sour Cream managed to playfully wrestle his brother out of his glass castle. He held him easily in his arms, letting him lean on his shoulder as they made their way home.

"Don't worry little man, I can convince Mom to let you come tonight."

"Mamama, mamamamam, mamam?" Sour Cream nodded knowingly. He gave him a smile and hugged Onion a little closer as they walked down the street.

"That's exactly why Buck wanted to do this. It's gonna be so rad, just wait."

Onion leaned his head even closer into his brother, and Sour Cream realized he had started to cry softly.

He tried to make his voice comforting, knowing this was really hard on his little man. "C'mon, it'll be okay… I know you miss him… but think how happy he would be if he saw this. Steven… he loved this kind of thing."

They walked in silence for the rest of the way home, and Onion's crying had died down to a sniffle. He locked his arms around his big brother's tighter, not wanting to let go.

/

She stood in the kitchen with her arms crossed, Onion tugging on her pantleg.

"What do you mean you can't watch Onion? Barb, Greg and I are supposed to meet up tonight." Vidalia used her best mom voice, but she knew her battle was lost. Sour Cream had that big, handsome grin on his face as he stood across from her, hands on the table. She hadn't seen him this excited in some time, so whatever it was, it had to be good.

"You've got to call it off then, Mom. You'll want to hear this!"

She scooped down and lifted Onion into her arms, leading them into the living room as Sour Cream explained everything. It was all actually pretty complicated, but she could see the positive intention behind the story. She tried to look happy for her son's sake, but her heart also broke for Greg.

"Wow, so you came up with this all on your own?" Vidalia raised an eyebrow and booped Onion playfully on the nose. He swatted at her hand, but she could tell he meant it affectionately.

"No, no, it was mostly Buck and Jenny. So will you come? Please?"

Vidalia let out a low sigh, placing Onion down next to her. He jumped off and ran up the stairs, probably to his room. The idea made her nervous, of course, she didn't like the kids going out at night. But surely if the whole town was there, it wouldn't be so bad, there's no way everyone would be in danger?

Now that Greg had gone back to his van, things were quieter around the house. She remembered the gratitude in his eyes when he left that morning, declining her hospitality.

"No, really, I've stayed long enough. I really really appreciate it all. Thanks, Val."

For as good an idea as this was, how would he react? She knew he was hiding his pain, would something like this make him come undone? Is it even fair for Beach City to plan something like this?

Biting her lip, Vidalia spoke slowly as to not hurt Sour Creams feelings.

"I'm not sure… this is such a good idea, S.C." It pained her to see her son's face fall in disappointment.

"But, Mom, we've already – " Sour Cream started to protest, but his mother cut him off.

"No, S.C. I'm not saying you can't do it. I'm just saying I don't necessarily think it's a good idea… as of now. I know you're excited, and I know everyone is missing his kid, but think about how Greg might feel. Have you guys even asked how he felt about this?" Vidalia leaned back, hating to see her son so heartbroken when he had just been so wound up with energy, but she had to be responsible. It's all part of being a parent, she tried to tell herself, knowing that she would be way, way worse off than Greg if something happened to either of her boys.

To her surprise, Sour Cream had started to cry. He didn't cry much since he became a teenager, save a few angry tears when he and Yellowtail would fight. These weren't tears of anger, though, but genuine sadness.

"Shh, it's okay. Cm'here." She grabbed her son and held him, knowing this wasn't just because she scolded him. Everyone's relationships have been under strain lately.

Sniffling, Sour Cream spoke as his mother gently released him. His eyes were red and he was trying not to look at her. "Y-you're right, Mom. I didn't even… I'm sorry. What do I do? Half the town already knows and is going to be coming…"

Vidalia had to resist the urge to click her tongue, not wanting to be rude but a bit miffed that she was just now finding out about it. It was irresponsible for him to make assumptions like this, even if he was trying to do something good. Now, however, was not the time to reprimand; they could talk more later.

She smiled and stood up, reaching for her cell phone that she had sat on top of the T.V. at some point. She gave him a shrewd smile and sighed.

"Of course I'll come tonight. You probably have stuff to do – if half the town knows about this, I better make sure Greg is in the right half."

/

Sitting in the back of his van with the door open, Greg Universe absently played some songs, new and old, as they popped into his mind. No one had stopped by the car wash for business, and it's not like he needed the money, but the occasional person would drop by to chat. They didn't bring up Steven, but he could tell they all wanted to. He would do the same thing every time, smile sadly and tell them it's okay to talk about it – and he believed it, but that didn't make it easier.

Steven had been gone two weeks. Half a month since he had seen his smiling face, heard his infectious laugh or sang him a song. All of that time, everything felt empty. Music didn't sound the same; food didn't taste very good. Even the gems weren't encouraging company most of the time when he would visit them out at the barn, but he always left in better spirits than he arrived.

Most of them had been having a hard time, and even Garnet had split up over Steven being gone, but they tried to stay positive, keep working, promising him they would figure something out. He was surprised when Connie told him the Maheswaran's were going to let her stay for an extended time away from home, but her parents weren't blind. It was obvious that Steven and Connie were…well, they were something. He was pretty sure Steven would have told him if he had a girlfriend, but they might as well be that, the two of them inseparable.

Greg smiled, remembering how startled he was when the two had danced outside his van and giggled like the kids they deserved to be – not thrust into a crazy, magical, dangerous world – and then in a flash they fused. It was still sort of crazy to him that they could do it, but then again, Steven continued to surprise them all.

A moment later, Greg's phone began to ring, so he wiped away fresh tears that sprang to his eyes and wiped them on the back of his hand. He cleared his throat roughly as he looked at the Caller ID.

"Hey Vidalia, what's up? Still on to get your butt whooped in cards tonight?" Greg did his best to sound cheerful.

To his surprise, Vidalia was uncharacteristically serious. "Actually, that's part of why I'm calling. I was thinkin' a concert tonight instead."

"A concert? At your age? And I was thinking you lost your edge!" That had been enough to get to her, and the two laughed as she sarcastically replied.

"Oh I'm sharper than a whip, bud. Not to mention I'm younger than you. Or did you forget who is the long-time champ of Jenga around here?"

After a moment of laughter, both of them amused with their ageist humor, Greg spoke into the line again. "So, who's playing? Do we need to drive?"

Vidalia became stern again. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

After about ten minutes of back and forth, Vidalia was relieved to hear her old friend eager rather than unnerved.

"Aw man that's such a great idea. Your kid is somethin' else, Val." This time, Greg wasn't forcing the happiness in his voice. What better way to bring the town together than something like this?

This is exactly the kind of thing Steven would love, and if I gets out the ol' video camera, I could show him when the Gems get him back. I can't believe this town, man, it's just perfect. He'll love it.

"Wait – hold on a sec," Vidalia cut off their conversation briefly. He could hear her talking to someone but he couldn't make out the words. He paused, waiting, digging aimlessly through the back of his van for his book of lyrics and album art.

Vidalia came back on the line, sounding exasperated. "Sorry, if you can't hear it through the phone, I'm rolling my eyes. S.C., as you can imagine, is running around like crazy – he wanted me to ask you if you had any clever ideas for names for the event? Apparently Mayor Dewey is going to put out a big blast announcement."

Greg smiled, thankful for his friend, this town, everything right now. "Aw, your kid really is awesome Val. Hmm, as for a name, I dunno? I'm trying to think of things Steven likes… music, but you've got that covered. His friends and family – check. Then there's the Crystal Gems, the beach, stars, space… oh my gosh, I've got it!"

He explained the bit of back story to Vidalia, who didn't particularly seem to get in, but she asked Sour Cream what he thought in the background. Greg laughed when he heard him do his signature "rave" sounds, which he took to mean he approved.

"Alright, Val, I've got to make a couple of calls. Keep me updated – you said 7:30, right?"

She sounded distracted on the other line, so he was glad to let her go. "Yep, see you then."

/

"Greg." It was Garnet's severe voice who answered Connie's phone, which she had left with the fusion in case she got any calls. As she had known, Greg was calling her with news.

"Oh, uh, hi Garnet. Back together I take it? Heh…" He sounded uncomfortable, which made Garnet smirk. She said nothing.

Greg cleared his throat, not expecting her to be the one on the line. "Ah – right, I was wondering if I could talk to Connie. But actually, it doesn't matter. Anyways, I'm calling because…"

"Yes, we will come. We were planning to come to Beach City tonight anyways. We are leaving tomorrow morning." She did not elaborate as to where they were going, but she didn't need to. Greg paused for a moment, always a bit unsettled by Garnet's future vision and abrupt attitude.

She was sitting crossed legged outside the barn next to Peridot, who was tinkering with one of her devices against the palm that was Ruby. In front of her, Pearl, Connie, Lapis, and Amethyst were having a surprisingly intense four-way battle, causing odd bursts of dust and grass to blow in the light breeze occasionally. Amethyst was yelling something at Lapis when Greg continued.

"Oh, yeah, well, okay. It starts at 8, but I'll be there around 7:30. Should I invite the Maheswaran's, or should Connie?" Thinking silently for a moment, Garnet considered the possibilities.

"Connie would be better. I'll let her – " she caught Pearl's thin frame like a baseball in her free hand when she was thrown backwards by an impressive parry from Connie, and easily flung her back into the sparing match. "know."

"Er, alright. You guys won't need a ride I'm guessing?" He sounded nervous, like he always did talking to her, but Garnet could tell he was also excited. It was refreshing.

"No. We will be there at 7:30." Garnet hung up the phone and set it to the side on a pile of hay, her mind returning to the days ahead.

Things were… unclear, which she did not like. Garnet had seen Steven being escorted through the military district on Homeworld, but everything after that went fuzzy like a poor T.V. connection. She could glimpse an occasional moment, him alone in a room, alive, sometimes he was laying down, or he was standing above a giant hole, or he was talking to someone… but it was fragmented, and it was frustrating.

Garnet had already told the others that they would leave tomorrow morning, but she made her explanation relatively brief for their benefit. Their strongest chance of a successful covert mission was to arrive at Pink Diamond's base by tomorrow afternoon, board a resource ship headed for Homeworld, and, she suspected, Steven directly. It was loaded with human supplies, its destination the military district… Getting there wasn't going to be easy, a high likelihood that they would fail, and finding him was going to even harder if her future vision continued to be uncooperative. She sighed, frustrated by all of the pressure, but these were the decisions she had to make.

It is nothing compared to what Steven must be dealing with.

She thought about his tiny hands covering her glasses, his starry eyes when she talked about Ruby and Sapphire, his sweet voice echoing in her mind.

He is so young, so innocent… Ruby… Sapphire… We are what a fusion is supposed to be. What he was made to do…

"Ugh," Garnet made a painful sound as Peridot poked her gem. It wasn't her fault – Garnet had accidentally flexed her hand into an angry fist.

"Sorry, sorry – just a bit longer. What was that about?" The engineering gem had grown nervous in Garnet's stoic company.

"It was Steven's father. He wants us to come to Beach City." She did not mean to sound harsh, but she was very preoccupied with her own mind.

Jasper and Amethyst, their weapon, the way he flew back from the fusion... In some ways, it's amazing he was able to separate at all. It was like Malachite all over again, but they didn't have an ocean weighing them down… He didn't take it well, the shattering, and then he had a conversation with Blue Diamond. She shifted a bit but made an effort not to clench her hand again. She and Pearl had both shattered gems in their time, but that was different. That was war. Steven was never supposed to be a part of that. Our Diamond… She nearly shattered us. What did they speak about? It must have been related to his message. He didn't want us to follow him? Why? How could he not want to be free?

"Peridot," Garnet spoke her name, causing the green gem to jump in surprise.

"Why do you think Steven asked us not to follow him?" It took every ounce of her, Ruby comforting Sapphire, Sapphire calming Ruby, to keep her feelings in check. They all needed their leader, and she was back now, but that didn't erase the images burned into her brain.

Peridot did not answer at first, putting her tools down. "I think… well, I don't know for sure, but when the message ended. The way he sort of… freaked out?" She was struggling to make sense of it herself, only knowing theories and rumors. "In the past millennia, the development sector of Yellow Diamond's research team was tasked at finding new ways to discipline gems after, well, you know…" The small gem gestured to the fight in front of them, her implication clear: the war, the traitors, the rebels.

"I never saw it myself, but it is said to act as an 'extension of authority.' I would assume it relates to each Diamond, and Pearl said the glow was yellow, so…" her voice trailed off, wincing as she remembered the pain in her friends face. Homeworld did not show mercy.

She shook her head. "Sorry, off-topic. Well, sort of – I think they're controlling him. Not completely, it seems, but he was afraid of something happening. He was trying… to protect us, or himself, or something. I don't really know." The green gem held her face in her hands, still hurting at the idea that one of the most valuable people in her life had been forced to shatter gems.

Garnet let out a sigh, her mind reaching the same conclusion. Of course he was trying to protect them, but Steven… It's our job to protect you, not the other way around. She placed a comforting hand on Peridot's shoulder, glad she had decided not to tell everyone all the details of the shattering.

There were no who's, no how's, and no why's. Just that they had made him do it, and he couldn't stop it after the second one. He had fought it off after that, but… the damage was done.

The fusion pushed Peridot's shoulder up so that they were facing each other, and Garnet gave her a reassuring smile. "It's alright, it is in the past. It is the future we need to worry about now." She glanced at her hand, flexing and unflexing her fingers around the modification. It was impressive – small, sturdy, and she hardly noticed it was there.

Tilting her head towards it, Garnet spoke. "Are we done?"

"Oh, uh, yes. Thanks." Peridot and Garnet both stood, facing the others.

"No, Peridot, thank you."

/

Connie was pleasantly surprised and excited when Garnet pulled her away from the rest of the gems and told her the details of the night ahead. Of course, she was horribly nervous to be leaving tomorrow morning and she had already agreed to see her parents when they went to Beach City, but she didn't expect this. It wasn't hard to convince them once Connie explained everything, but she could tell her mother was a bit hurt that she didn't want to spend the night with them. It's not that she didn't, just, this was supposed to be special. Garnet had asked her not to tell the others, smiling mysteriously when she said it would be better as a surprise.

It was almost nighttime in the country now, and she was thankful the others had agreed to practice with her during the day. The harder they worked, the stronger she felt. Connie tried to tell herself she was ready, and she was pretty sure it helped the others to have a distraction. Everyone was tense and Connie did not eat much that day, her stomach queasy. Garnet's… ambiguous answers to what would happen in space did little to settle their nerves. The fusion had been truthful, just enigmatic, saying that their odds were still pretty bad, but not how bad.

She found herself wondering about the shattering more than she wanted, wishing she could be there to help him through this. The day they fell from the Sky Arena played like a loop in her mind, his tears flying upwards and his pain spilling outwards. Steven had been made to hurt somebody, even if he didn't want to – it was like a much more intense version of what Connie had gone through, but then there was the fusion, the captivity, the loneliness he must feel all piled on top of it. He must be hurting, but if he's alive, then she wouldn't give up. She would never give up.

After checking her bag for the hundredth time, Connie tried to join the others as they spoke about meaningless things outside the barn. She considered changing into more conventional human clothes if they were going to a beach concert, but her uniform helped her feel more like a Crystal Gem, official and special like the others. Even if she was just a human, they didn't make her feel excluded, always as eager to include her as Steven had been. It made her smile to think about.

Another hour passed like this until it was finally 7, so they made their way back to Beach City. Since Ruby and Sapphire, er, Garnet(?) had fixed the warp pad at the Temple, they would be traveling back that way. She felt her hands start to shake as they made their way over the green hills as the sun extinguished from view, less than excited to be back at his house. The last time she had been there… well, it was one of the worst moments of her life, to be honest. Pearl, the blood, the backpack all still jumbled in her mind while she thought about it, but she was brought back to reality when Amethyst offered her a friendly purple hand.

They hadn't even reached the warp pad yet, so Connie was confused but accepted it. Now that the truth was out about Opalite, Amethyst had made an extra effort to be friendly to Connie, which she guessed was driven by their shared experience as Steven's only other fusion partners… well, besides Holly Blue Agate, but she tried not to think about that.

Squeezing appreciatively, Connie shut her eyes as the small troop pressed together on the warp pad, carried away into the soft blue light that would bring them to Beach City.

/

Pearl cleared her throat as she stepped off the warp pad. "Alright, let's not waste any time. In-and-out of the Temple, goodbye to Greg, drop off Connie, and head back." Involuntarily, she looked at the wall where she had found the blood the first day, but was relieved to see it was gone. In fact, Garnet had done an impressively thorough job of restoring the Temple to its original appearance with only some two exceptions. The portrait of Rose had not been replaced, and there was no Steven bounding down the stairs to greet them.

Disobeying her own directive, Pearl realized the others were staring at her as she approached the fridge and gently laid a hand on it. The dream…

She shook her head; she had to stay focused or she would come apart again. Connie approached her was looking up at her, her smile confident, which helped to ground Pearl slightly.

Lapis chimed in, looking up sadly at Steven's bed. "It's… so empty without him." No one said anything for a moment, all of them looking around at the room that washed emotions over all of them. So many memories, so many years here…

Amethyst must have read her mind, cause she wiped away a tear and approached Pearl beside Connie. The purple gem glanced over her shoulder at Garnet, who had only just stepped off the warp pad.

"Yo, Garnet, you remember building this place? You did a bang-up job putting it back together." Her voice was appreciative, and she nudged Pearl.

"What? Oh, yes… Thank you, Garnet. Let's… get going, shall we?"

The slender gem made towards the Temple door, but Garnet blocked her with a hand. She was smiling.

"Actually, maybe we should go see Greg first."

Reluctantly, Pearl agreed to say goodbye to Steven's father, but she was a bit annoyed at diverging from the plan. Lapis and Peridot offered to stay behind and wait, but Connie insisted that they come with them. Neither were particularly close to Greg, and Lapis still harbored some guilt for breaking his leg and sinking his boat… but they all eventually made their way around the bend in the beach. Was it usually this loud at night? Pearl rarely went into town, well, ever, but the city wasn't usually this loud even during the day.

After another few minutes of walking, the Crystal Gems made their way to the main part of the beach that was usually blocked by the Temple, and they all froze in surprise.

There was a huge gathering of humans, with large glaring lights and loud music to match. People were talking and there was a stage with lots of bright lights, bodies moving around, hauling speakers and setting up tables, with lots of shouting and laughing. Did they come on the night of Beach-a-Palooza? It was one of Steven's favorite nights, but that didn't seem right because that was usually one of the first weeks of the Summer. In fact, Steven had already participated in the festival this year, so it was impossible.

"Hey, guys, over here!" They turned as they saw Greg emerge from the group of people, his face shining with life. She felt a pang of guilt for not sharing Steven's message with him. It… didn't feel right, and Garnet had agreed, so they nipped the idea in the bud.

"Steven's father – greetings! It is I, Peridot!" The green gem leapt ahead of the others and extended a small hand. Greg laughed, his eyes crinkling in his age, and shook her hand.

"We've met Peridot. It's good to see you. Hey, Connie!" The human girl had followed Peridot's lead but offered him a hug instead, which he bent to accept.

Suspicious, Pearl turned to question Garnet, but she was gone without a word. Scanning the crowd, it didn't take long to see her massive figure, helping one of the Fry children with a massive speaker one-handed.

Amethyst bounded past them all after greeting Greg, her excitement increasing ten-fold at the sight of a familiar human.

"Vidalia! Made it out of the nursing home I see," she joked, skidding to a halt in front of her. The adult was holding her child, one of Steven's bizarre human friends, in her arms, the one who stole her Replicator Wand. That thought made her grimace, but she couldn't stay mad for long as she overheard the woman tease Amethyst back.

"Hey, that's coming from someone who is literally hundreds of years older than me. I should be asking how you escaped the crypt!" The human affectionately returned her hug.

Pearl scanned the scene, confused, and eventually came back to the conversation with Greg. He was speaking to Lapis awkwardly, ensuring her that he didn't mind that she broke his boat. She could have almost laughed if it wasn't such a hugely important night – they were leaving first thing in the morning for space.

"Greg, what is going on?" She was tense, untrusting of all of these humans, eager to say goodbye and go.

"Well, it's a – oh wait, hey, Maheswaran's, over here!" He started waving an arm as Pearl recognized Connie's parents walking around the beach, looking as confused as she felt. What in the world was happening?

Connie had run to greet them, flying into her father's arms who scooped her up lovingly. Pearl watched the family reunite for a moment before shaking her head and returning seriously to Greg.

"Greg, what is going on?"

He put up his hands defensively. "Honest, Pearl, it wasn't even my idea. Some of the kids in town were sick of everyone feeling so sad about Steven so, they wanted to, I guess, throw a party?"

Now she was even more confused. "But, I thought parties were for celebrations? You're not celebrating, are you?" Her voice was sharper than intended, but she was already on edge being back here.

"No, no, it's not like that! Look," he gestured to a painted sign being hung up by the Pizza twins over the stage.

Universe & Universe Universal Beach Festival HQ

Unable to help herself, remembering the day they fought over taking him to space, Pearl cracked. She started laughing hard, so loud that several people turned to look. Greg joined in the laughter, bending over as they shared the private memory with Steven. They were both leaning on each other by the end of it, wiping away some shared tears, happy and sad.

/

"Alright, cool. Everybody, thanks for coming." Buck Dewey was alone on the stage, the lights too bright for him to really see anyone below. He was proud, though, because he knew there were dozens of friends, families and even Steven's strange family in the crowd below. They all turned out tonight, and he had thrown this whole thing together in one day.

"I'm Buck Dewey," he heard an affectionate whoop from the audience. It sort of sounded like Lars.

"Heh, yeah. Anyways, thanks for coming. My Dad wanted to open the UUU Beach Festival with a few words."

There was a light applause as Mayor Dewey took the stage. He was visibly sweating, blotting his forehead with a handkerchief and looking extremely nervous. A handful of audience members rolled their eyes, wondering why someone so on-edge went into politics.

"Thank you, son! Yes, welcome citizens of Beach City! I have to give my thanks to my son, Buck, for putting this together. It was his idea to…" his voice trailed off as he looked into the lights. He cleared his throat, starting over, his voice much more sincere this time.

"Yes. Tonight, we are not hosting a memorial. We are not celebrating, or mourning, or anything. We're just here to be together. I'll be honest, I thought about phoning one of my speech writers for tonight, but…" he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"I decided I didn't need to. The best advice I was ever given was by Steven Universe himself. Some of you may have heard this before and some of you may not, but I wanted to share it with you, the citizens of this town.

"I know you're all going to be okay because I know each and every one of you. You're smart, you're tough, and you're resourceful. You all care about each other more than you care about being able to see in the dark. We'll face the night together, and we'll survive, because we are the light of Beach City!"

Mayor Dewey's voice rang in silence across the beach for a moment, no sound but the crashing waves of the sea. Then, Garnet broke the silence with a set of loud clapping, and then everyone joined in and some had even become teary eyed.

Buck Dewey took the stage after a surprisingly humble show of gratitude from his father. "Wow, thanks Dad. That was cool. Alright, I'm gonna be your MC tonight. We don't have a ton of formal performances, so if you just want to come up and say something, let me know during one of the breaks. A special thanks to the Pizzas and the Frymans for donating their food for tonight." A polite clapping on hands followed, and Buck continued.

"We're gonna start with a song from Beach City's very own… Sadie Miller!" There was a light applause as she took the stage and Buck handed her the microphone.

The young adult was visibly shaking, nervous to be going first, but she had bailed last time. This time, Steven wasn't here to save her.

"Um, hi. Yeah I'm Sadie, and I just… Last Beach-a-Palooza, Steven really wanted me to sing a song. I didn't end up doing it, but he was really understanding and nice about it. I…" she froze up for a long second, but no one disturbed her moment. Then, she smiled and laughed, wiping away a tear.

"I hope someone gets this on video, 'cause Steven, you'd never believe it unless you saw it!" She had gained a whole new air of confidence and began to sing. Barb Miller could be heard whooping, an embarrassing but sincere show of affection for her daughter. It was beautiful, an acoustic version of Haven't You Noticed, the music recorded on ukulele as a warm ode to him.

The night went on like this for hours, and the Crystal Gems, Greg, Connie… everyone was so moved. Sour Cream played music in intervals, some people took the stage to say teary, kind words, while others performed songs or read poems; Barb and Jamie gave a dramatic reading of an obscure play; Onion showed a video of the making of soda cans; and a particular shameless green gem from Homeworld recited Steven's favorite episode of Camp Pining Hearts – Lapis had found that hilarious.

For hours, they were all filled with emotions, a familiar sort of love. It was Steven. He was the one who brought them together. The Crystal gems, gems and humans, Beach City, everyone. Steven was the brightest light of them all, but if they came together, they could still shine.

Things began to wind down near midnight, and Buck Dewey took the stage for a last-call.

"Hey, everybody. A huge thanks for coming out. This couldn't have been a success without you, it just…" he laughed a few times and rubbed a tear from beneath his glasses. "I can't speak for everybody else, but I really needed this. Does anyone want to add anything before we wrap up?"

There was a pause, silence. Then, Greg Universe raised his hand and his voice, moving towards the stage.

"Yeah, Buck, let me just…"

It was funny to him, being up on stage, something so familiar with his music career and even through fatherhood. Steven always loved the spotlight, so they had been on stage together more than a handful of times. It was a night much like tonight that he met Rose, and now he was standing here again in honor of his amazing, perfect son.

"Hi everybody, I'm, well, you probably know. I'm Greg Universe, Steven's dad. He would… I can't even explain it. Just, wow. He would have absolutely loved this. Thanks for everything. He is everything to me, and I can see how much he means to all of you. I promise I'll show him the video when he comes back, sorry Ronaldo!" Everyone paused to laugh at the teenagers embarrassing snafu, having fallen off the stage during a mic check earlier.

"No, no I'm just teasing. But really – what an amazing night. Thank you. And… I wanted to thank the rest of his family, too. I'm his Dad, but they're as much a part of his life as I am. You all probably know them in some way, but the Crystal Gems are here tonight. They have been working really hard for him, so if we could just thank them, too…" his voice trailed off as a thunderous round of applause broke out, many of the gems blushing at the unexpected attention. Garnet gave him a thumbs up, so he took a deep breath and signaled Sour Cream to bring him his guitar.

"This one is for them, for you all, and for him. It was the first song he ever wrote. I made a few changes just for tonight, but I don't think he'd mind."

A quiet crowd listened to Greg Universe tune his guitar and strum light chords that he's had memorized for almost 10 years.

"If you're evil and you're on the rise, you can count on all of them taking you down.

"Cause they're good and evil never beats 'em, they'll win the fight and then go out for pizzas." There was playful whoop from Gunga Pizza as he continued to strum, a cheer going around as the stage changed. The blinding brightness is Greg's face dimmed somewhat, softening to a light orange glow while the rest of the lights were redirected to the Crystal Gems in the audience. Garnet had gathered them to the one side but had said nothing, so the others were shocked when the intensity of the lights flooded their vision – even Connie did not know this was coming.

We are the Crystal Gems, we'll always save the day. Garnet started to clap, just like she had all those years ago. The others caught on quickly, smiling and appreciative and glowing with feeling.

"And if you think we can't, we'll always find a way. That's why the people of this world, believe in,"

"Garnet." She raised a fist, gauntlet and all.

"Amethyst!" Vidalia cheered especially loudly from somewhere along the beach, the purple gem blushing but trying to look unimpressed.

"And, Pearl," Through her streaming tears, she sang as beautifully as ever.

Greg jumped back in, taking the reins,

And, Connie, Peridot and Lapis… Those so named looked shocked, smiling as the crowd clapped and cheered in sync with their names.

And Steven.

He strummed to the melody for a few moments longer as everyone continued to clap, a bright night on the beach of their little ocean town. Only hours away, the Gems would be leaving Earth once the sun broke the dawn, and everything was going to change.