First Meeting, Again
The car wash was dull and sluggish today. Not much needed done outside repairs that Greg was working tirelessly on whenever he could. Garnet was of great help too. Installing the new windows was a breeze with her strength. "He really did a number on this place," she said. She was filled in on exactly what happened by Greg. "I saw it as a possibility, but didn't see it being this bad."
"At least it's still standing." He tried keeping a glass-half-full view on the situation. Things could've gone a LOT worse. "I just wish he'd told me what was wrong. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little hurt that he wouldn't tell his old man." The repairs served as a convenient distraction from the memory, but also a reminder. Perhaps that's part of why he's trying to get everything fixed so fast. "I'm sure he'll come around though."
"I see Steven gets his optimism from you," Garnet said. The compliment raised Greg's spirits some.
The phone at the desk rang out loudly. Greg made his way over to answer it with a, "Hello, It's A Wash. Free wax after every tenth- Oh, Pearl!" There was a pause as he listened, his face growing more concerned as Pearl spoke. "'Til Garnet gets back? She hasn't left." Now Garnet was intently listening in on this conversation. "Steven didn't call here at all. Was he supposed to? Woah woah woah, poofed?"
The mentioning of someone getting poofed caused Garnet to take the phone from Greg's hand. "Who was it?" This wasn't good, but Garnet kept up her strong exterior in the face of the news. "We'll try to track down Steven, then." She hangs up the phone and makes a mad sprint for the temple. The last thing she says as she leaves is, "Get the van started. I have a feeling we'll need it."
"On it!" Greg obeys without question, already having the keys in hand before she's even out of sight.
Moonstone hardly paid any mind to Connie or her parents right behind her. She was entirely focused on Steven. "I guess it's true what they say. You really have none of her memories."
"Just tell me why you're doing this!" Steven shouted.
Moonstone sighed. "Like mother like son. I remember how terrible Pink's temper tantrums could be. Funny seeing as she was the only diamond that never asked for my more… permanent services."
Steven's brow furrowed. "I SAID JUST TELL ME WHY YOU'RE DOING THIS!"
Moonstone carried on, ignoring his demand. "I, along with the rest of the Moonstones, were made specifically to serve the diamonds by gathering intel and handling problems… discretely, to put it tactfully." She redirected her attention to Connie, who's grip on her sword tightened the instant their eyes met. "But enough about me. Once I deal with the human, then there won't be any other viable threats to our plans."
"I WON'T LET YOU HURT HER!" Steven was about to rush Moonstone, but water chains suddenly held him back. They were too strong to break free from. It appears Angel was only taken out temporarily and has finally returned to the fight. "LET ME GO!" He couldn't risk turning up the gauge on his pink state any further. Partly to avoid more property damage, but mostly because he was scared he'd lose control.
During the distraction, Connie took the opportunity and rushed toward Moonstone. Her blade cut through the air without resistance at her target, Moonstone's torso. The blade was inches away from contact, but she was stopped when the gem grabbed her arms with one hand. "LET GO OF ME!" Connie demanded.
"In a moment, little one." Moonstone raised her hand, the sharp nails pointed directly at Connie's chest. She began to panic as the gem prepared the fatal blow, but it never came. Instead, the gem was hit across the face by a golf club.
"Leave my daughter alone!" Doug, Connie's father, came to her defense with Priyanka, her mother, following behind with a kitchen knife.
Moonstone wasn't the least bit fazed by the attack. "That's what I admire most about you organics. The odds will be stacked against you immeasurably, and yet you'll fight anyways. If only you could comprehend that what I do I'm doing for you and all other organic life in the universe."
"Why are you targeting Lapis and Connie specifically?" Steven asked. The restraints only tightened more the harder he struggled against them.
"It's because of you, Steven." Moonstone grabbed Connie by the neck and Angel created a water wall to prevent her parents from saving her. "Stevonnie and Charoite are the biggest threats to our goal of wiping them all out. Of saving the universe from their tyranny and endless gluttony for resources."
Connie wasn't going down without a fight. She began kicking at Moonstone's chest and trying desperately to move her sword at all under the gem's vice-like grip. "W-Who?" she barely managed to squeak out with a hand clamping her throat.
Moonstone smiled venomously, the first hint of emotion she's physically shown since she got here. "Gems," she answered.
Steven couldn't believe what he just heard. Gems? Moonstone, a fellow gem, wants to wipe out all gems? "Aren't you hearing this?" he asked Angel. "She's trying to wipe out us! Why are you helping her?"
"I know," Angel replied, "and I got my reasons." Her retort was punctuated with tightening the water chains to an uncomfortable degree. Steven was having trouble breathing at this point. The anger was beginning to boil over again.
"Leave… Her… ALONE!" Steven's shout sent a shockwave more powerful than the last through the entire house. Angel lost her footing barely keeping the chains wrapped around Steven, which she had to relent on the water wall to do. Connie's parents were thrown back to the far wall unintentionally. Moonstone didn't budge an inch.
"A gem pretending to be organic is all you are." The towering gem paused Connie's inevitable execution to berate Steven some more. "Outside you look and act like a human, but deep down you're nothing more than a Diamond. You talk about allowing everyone to live their lives as they see fit, but if you don't agree you impose your will onto them with overwhelming force." She looked to see the desired effect of her words. They were cutting Steven deeper than any physical attack could.
"That's… That's not true," Steven tried to contest. His pink state was deflating before them.
"You say you're better than Blue or Yellow or White, but you're not. You're nothing more than a tyrant hiding behind a façade of diplomacy. Diplomacy consisting of doing as you say or getting poofed and bubbled." Each jab was surgical in its precision. It was as if Moonstone could feel the mounting insecurities building up in Steven and was poking them one by one. "Shouldn't expect anything less from the son of Pink. Despite all she tried portraying herself as in the form of Rose Quartz, she was still a Diamond."
All of the fight left Steven. Everything she said wasn't true, or at least most of it wasn't, he thought, but he couldn't help but feel it was true. All of it. The pink state was almost all but gone as he looked at his reflection in the pool of water below. What he saw wasn't himself. That big, fluffy ball of hair, that light pink skin, and those eyes… Those diamond-pupil shaped eyes. He looked as he did two years ago. Steven could only stammer for words to fight back, but nothing came.
All the doubt and anxiety was temporarily cast back with a shout from Connie. "STEVEN! DON'T LISTEN TO HER!" Steven's gaze snapped back to Moonstone. Now wasn't the time. He still had his best friend to save and two gems to quickly poof and bubble. The fight within was returning, his body growing in size.
"Oh, c'mon!" Angel was struggling to keep up. It was taking all her concentrated effort to keep Steven locked down, and even then she wasn't sure she could keep it up much longer. "After everything she said and all it took was the girl shouting your name to get a second w-" Angel's words were cut short with a deafening clap of two heavy, metal gauntlets.
"That's enough out of you." Arriving in the nick of time was Garnet, who snuck up behind Angel and smashed her hands together on both sides of the gem's head. It was an instant poofing. She quickly caught the gem in midair, bubbled it, then sent it off to the temple.
"Garnet!" Steven couldn't be happier to see the fusion. "How did you know where to find us?"
"This is literally the second place we'd look." The gem prepared herself alongside Steven to rush Moonstone and end this quickly. This was a losing situation for the tall gem.
Moonstone slowly turned to face the duo, holding Connie by the neck out towards them. "It would appear I'm the one in danger here now. However," she tightened the grip around Connie's neck. "I have some leverage."
Steven's anger flared up more and he took a heavy step forward, but was held back by Garnet. "Don't. You charge Moonstone, and Connie will pay for it." He had no choice but to stop in place. Luckily, Doug and Priyanka also knew to stand back.
"You let me leave, and I promise the girl will live to see another day." The grip loosened enough for Connie to get her first good breath of air in after so long of managing only shallow gasps. "You have my word, Steven."
Steven and Garnet hesitated, but Doug and Priyanka immediately threw their weapons aside if it meant their baby girl would be spared. Seeing this, Garnet unsummoned her gauntlets. "You can't be serious," Steven said. "How do we know she'll actually go through with it?"
"She's already lost one of her teammates and is in a lose-lose situation. If she's smart, she'll cut her losses and leave. As much as I hate it, this is the only way I see all four of us leaving alive." Garnet was scowling, her glare focused on Moonstone.
Steven had to accept this was the best case scenario. Sacrificing their chance to capture Moonstone now was worth it if it meant Connie stayed alive. "Fine. We'll do it your way." Steven stood upright, allowing his pink state to fade away entirely.
Moonstone gave them a hollow smile. "I am a gem of my word. Your friend is free to go." She tossed Connie toward Steven and Garnet. The girl landed with a painful thud, her sword skidding across the ground. Moonstone was there one moment, then the next she was gone. Steven quickly remembered the corrupted Moonstone he, Lars, and Sadie fought all those years ago. Invisibility was one of their innate abilities.
And there they all stood in silence. No one was sure how to proceed until Connie made the choice to. "Mom, Dad." She stood up, wincing. The fall hurt her hip and made it painful to move. Nothing debilitating at least. Steven could heal it easy. "You should leave."
"You're right, we should," Doug said immediately walking toward the stairs. "All three of us can stay with my parents in Keystone."
"Actually, I was referring to just you two," Connie corrected. This earned her shocked glares from both her parents.
"Connie Maheswaran! You can NOT be serious!" Priyanka scolded. "You will come with us, Missy, and you will-"
"If I come with you, they'll just follow me and put you in danger again," Connie interrupted. "They only want me. As long as I stay here, you two will be safe." Her parents hated to admit it, but she's right. They would be safer leaving on their own. However, they would put their parental responsibilities first no matter what.
Priyanka walked up to her daughter, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder and saying, "You're far too young to be making a decision like this. It's our job as parents to put ourselves in danger for your safety. Not the other way around!" Her other hand fell onto Connie's other shoulder, her grip tightening. "Please, Connie. We love you."
Connie was moved to tears, her trembling hand reaching up to hold onto her mother's arm. "I know you do, and I love you too." She pulled her mother into a hug, mother and daughter embracing eachother in the middle of the flooded kitchen. "But I have to do this… It's my responsibility as a Crystal Gem." Priyanka pulled away from the hug to glare at her daughter, but all the fight drifted away and was replaced with acceptance that her daughter's mind can't be changed. "Besides, I know the other's wouldn't let anything happen to me."
The remark earned a smile from Garnet. "She's right. We'll give it everything we got to protect her, though she doesn't need it. She's as capable a fighter as any one of us." The fusion turned to where she thought Steven was only to find the space empty. Turning around, she saw he had already left to sit on the steps outside.
"I should probably talk to him," Connie said. She walked over to the front door, leaving her parents and Garnet alone. She took a seat next to him and asked, "You alright?"
Steven was absentmindedly staring at the ground below lost in thought. Those thoughts were mostly what Moonstone had said to him. He knew that he shouldn't think that hard about what she said since they were words made with malicious intent, but he still felt himself latching onto each syllable. "Yeah, I'm fine," he lied.
"Bull." Connie didn't buy it for even a second. She knew him far too well to fall for that obvious lie. "I know how you must feel right now after those horrible things she said to you, but don't let them get to you. They're just lies meant to hurt you, Steven."
He barely registered anything of what Connie was saying. It was a distant, muffled noise beside his ear and nothing more. "How could you know how I feel? You're only human," he thought to himself… Or at least he thought it was to himself before suddenly feeling Connie's hand smack him across the face. It turns out he accidentally said that thought out loud.
"Only human?" Connie yelled through tears welling up in her eyes. "Is that all I am to you now? Just a human?"
Steven immediately tried to damage control, denying the accusation outright. "No! Of course not! It was just a dumb, intrusive thought I've been having lately. Just that. Promise." His explanation wasn't satisfactory. Connie stood up and stormed off back into the house, hastily grabbing her sword before storming back outside. "Connie! I'm sorry!"
Garnet, Doug, and Priyanka watched the whole situation unfold. All three stood in disbelief that Steven of all people would ever say such a thing. Garnet knew then and there that whatever Steven was going through needed taken care of as soon as possible. They can't fail him again like last time.
"Connie! Please-" His words were cut off by her holding her hand up to his face, palm out telling him to stop.
"Steven… I'm sorry, but I can't be around you right now." She climbed up on Lion, readying herself to leave for the temple. "Let's just get back to the temple."
He looked down at the ground again, disappointed in himself. Then he remembered. "Lapis! Connie, wait." Steven entered Lion's mane to see if she had reformed. Unfortunately, all he saw was her gemstone still neatly tucked into his jacket atop the grassy hill. He left the mane, the small gemstone in his hand. "Okay, go ahead." Connie didn't hesitate before having Lion open a portal and leaving.
Garnet approached from behind, placing her hand on his shoulder. "It's best if you ride with your dad and I." She pointed to the van that was parked a little ways up the road with Greg waving at them from the driver's side window. Steven knew this was a set-up to discuss what happened without the option for escape. Might as well bite the bullet.
"Yeah, sure," he meekly agreed as he shuffled his way to the van.
On a nearby roof stood Moonstone, watching them leave as she remained invisible. "Neither were eliminated, but it appears Stevonnie will no longer be a threat. I suppose it wasn't all a waste." She paused as if listening to someone else say something, then replying. "No, Red, I'd have to disagree. I think the best course of action is to talk Steven down. We all four have seen he's susceptible to words alone. That's how we'll defeat him. It'd be poetic, having he who saved the galaxy with words be taken down with words."
The trio sat in silence for most of the trip, the only noises coming from the van and the radio. The song playing was some generic pop song none of them paid any attention to. It would be Garnet who broke the silence with a straight-forward question. "What happened back there, Steven?"
"We got attacked, obviously," Steven tried to deflect.
Garnet shut it down. "Not what I meant."
"I know…" He sighed, preparing himself for the discomfort. "I might've said something along the lines of "How could you know how I feel when you're only human" to Connie." The confession made Greg's brow furrow in worry, and it could be assumed Garnet was also worried despite no change in her expression.
"When did you start having these sorts of thoughts, bud?" Greg asked tentatively.
"Like, consciously? Remember our talk a few days ago?" His heart broke seeing his dad's expression turn even sadder. "Sorry, dad." Greg didn't respond.
"You don't have to deal with these thoughts alone, Steven," Garnet reminded him. "You have us. And your therapist."
Steven wanted to sink away from them before answering. "I… Did have a therapist…"
There was a small twitch on the left side of Garnet's mouth, Ruby's side. Internally, Ruby was pissed and only being quelled by Sapphire's levelheaded demeanor. "Steven. Why would you stop seeing your therapist?" she asked, trying to keep her tone neutral and calm.
His eyes fell upon the pink gemstone in his stomach. He traced each memorized facet and line of the gem trying to get an answer to come out. "Because I think whatever is going on with me is a gem thing." Steven finally forced his gaze back up. He caught his reflection in the back windows, seeing for a brief moment a pink version of himself staring back instead of him. It wasn't him in his pink state. No, it was something else. He was pulled out of his thoughts when the van came to an abrupt stop in front of the beach house.
"We're here," Greg said with an uncharacteristic lack of enthusiasm. He left, heading straight for bed without another word. Garnet and Steven entered the beach house to see no one else was around. It was eerily quiet.
"I'll be in the temple if you need me," Garnet told him. That left Steven alone in the house with nothing other than Lapis' gem still in his hand. It felt like it was ages ago when he was upstairs singing her song to her when in reality it was only a few hours. He went to the table, folded his jacket into a comfy pillow, and carefully placed the little gem on top. That's when he noticed a small note sitting on the couch.
Steven picked it up and immediately recognized the handwriting as Connie's. It read, "I'm at Little Homeworld helping the others. Might stay with Peridot or something. Couch is yours." Steven let out another sigh as he set the note on the table. He laid down and closed his eyes wanting today to be over with already. There was a myriad of unanswered questions and so much to discuss with the others, but he was far too tired to do anything else other than sleep.
Author Note: Gonna make a significantly lighter one-shot as a palette cleanser after the total downer of an ending this chapter was.