"Can't you see it in our eyes? We're the one, we're the one, two, three, four," Steven sang to himself as he played along on his ukulele. " We're not like the other guys. We're not like anybody ." The young boy sat next to the shore, amusing himself as he watched the tide go in and out.

Since his talk with the Gems yesterday, Steven had decided to give them some alone time. Aside from a brief greeting at breakfast, he'd left them to their own devices. He figured that Garnet was probably chilling (not literally) in her lava pool in the burning room, Pearl was meditating in her waterfall room, and Amethyst (obviously) had simply gone back to sleep in her junk yard of a room. He trusted them to stick to their word and stay away from Gem work. After all, it was the same expectation they had for him.

"Steven!"

Steven stopped playing and spun around to see Connie rushing towards him, Rose's sword and scabbard draped over her shoulder.

"Connie!" Dropping his ukulele, the young boy rushed over and hugged Connie tightly.
"I haven't seen you all week," Steven said, as they both returned to Steven's spot and sat down.

"Yeah well, school work and all,"(1) Connie said, shrugging. "Mom and Dad say that if I don't keep my grades up, they'll take away my sword privileges."

"Bummer."

"Yeah, I'd much rather be sharpening my sword instead of sharpening pencils," Connie joked. "So anyway, how are things with you and the Gems? Anything cool happen why I was gone?"

Steven told her all about the Gems being overworked. Connie gasped when he brought up their post-tornado fight condition. "They fainted on you? Even Garnet?!"

Steven nodded.
"Yikes. I can't imagine what that must have been like for you."

"It was scary," Steven said, looking down. A small tear began to form in his eye. "They barely made it back. Who knows what would have happened if I wasn't there."

In response to this, Connie slid closer to Steven, wiped it away, and put her arm around him. "Steven, don't beat yourself over this. What matters is that you were there. Did you tell them how you felt?"

Steven sniffed and wiped his eyes. "Yeah, I told them how they were starting to worry me. They said... they promised to take some time off."

"Well, good," Connie said. "A little talk goes a long way. Trust me, I know." Steven chuckled. "Yeah, I bet-"

BOOM!

Both their eyes widened. "Oh no!"

As the kids neared the beach house, they were treated to a shock. The Gems were in the middle of a battle with a giant scorpion! The beast, jet black and the size of a small elephant, angrily jabbed his stinger at the Gems as they circled him, looking for an opening. Garnet lunged forward and punched it in the face, but the scorpion merely shrugged it off and jabbed at her. She ducked, her face narrowly avoiding the stinger's tip. "It's armor's too strong!" Pearl yelled, as Garnet leaped back. "We need to-whoa!" She barely had time to parry the stinger with her spear.

The scorpion's eyes narrowed at his two attackers. He flexed his stinger, preparing for another attack, when suddenly Amethyst's whip wrapped around it and pulled it back. "I've got him!" she yelled, straining to hold the beast in place. Garnet leaped over the struggling scorpion and seized its tail. With a massive tug, she managed to force the beast up onto its hind legs, revealing its underbelly.

"Pearl, hit it! Now!"

With a single flourish, Pearl drove her spear into the scorpion's belly.

POOF!

It exploded, leaving behind a Black Opal.(2)

"Whoa-hoo!" Amethyst cheered as Garnet bubbled the Gem, sending it off. "Another victory for the C-GEMS!"

"No! No! No! No! No!" Steven yelled as he and Connie approached the trio.

"Steven?" Pearl quickly vanished her spear. "You-you saw that?"

"Yes and what the heck guys?!" Steven yelled. "I thought you were taking the day off!"

"Well, we were," Pearl said. "We spent the whole morning cleaning the temple and tidying up the house."

"Then we went off and fought a scary basilisk!" Amethyst declared, before Garnet jabbed her to be quiet. "And a giant Venus fly trap. Ow!"

Steven looked at them in disbelief. "Steven, we-" Pearl began.

"How could you guys lie to me? After everything I did for you!" Tears of anger began to flow from Steven's face. "I cleaned up your vomit. I made you tea. I took care of you guys!"

"And we were grateful for it, Steven," Garnet cut in. "But we can't just sit around when a monster pops up."

"That's not the point!" Steven yelled at her. "You made me a promise. I trusted you and you lied to me. How... How would you like it if I snuck off and did missions without telling you?!"

None of the Gems could offer a retort at that.

"I know how much you hate that," Steven said. "But... it's for the Earth, so it's worth the risk, right? It's all I have to live for!"

"Steven!" Connie ran over and grabbed her friend, spinning him to face her. "Please. Stop." Her face was filled with concern.

This was enough to snap the boy out of his angry rant. He hugged Connie and let his anger fade away. The Gems stood in silence, the only sound coming from the lapping waves on the shore.

After a moment, Garnet walked forward and took the two kids by the hands. "Come on, let's get inside."

As the group walked to the house, Steven glanced up at the Gem leader.

"Garnet?" He pointed. "Your cheek."

Garnet took notice of the thin gash on her cheek. Apparently, the stinger hadn't completely missed her face.

(1): Honestly, this is the best reason I could come up with for why Connie isn't always involved in Gem missions.

(2): I picked this randomly off a chart of Gemstones I Googled. It just looked cool.