Holly Blue Agate, for the first time, is struggling to focus on her diamond. Blue Diamond had requested an in person report on the status of the Zoo along with the most recent shipment of organic food for Steven Diamond.

Imagine her shock and horror upon realizing one of the humans who'd escaped the Zoo some time ago was actually the hybrid created by the late Pink Diamond she'd received the report about! Even more so when he started taking the amethysts and jaspers to join his court. She'd thought for certain she would be shattered. That word would get back to her diamond of what happened, assuming Steven would hold a grudge. Instead she heard nothing, simply continued to maintain the Zoo as expected. The fear and anxiety faded with time as nothing happened. Until today.

She'd entered Blue Diamond's meeting room with an amethyst guard and a peridot, saluting as normal and gave her report. She'd kept her eyes solely focused on her beloved diamond's mouth. Too arrogant to lower her gaze, but not so arrogant as to dare to look a diamond in the eyes. Report finished she stepped back so the peridot could give her report on the technical aspect of the Zoo, machinery and computer stuff Holly Blue didn't understand. So she opted to admire her beautiful diamond, from her perpetually melancholic eyes to the gorgeous swoop of her hair, perfectly framing her gem. A bit of pink color caught her eye and the whole world seemed to freeze for Holly Blue Agate. Nestled in the swoop of Blue Diamonds hair, just below her sparkling gemstone, lay none other than the newest diamond, Steven.

Holly Blue stands a little straighter, fear coursing through her gem. Was this it? Was this why Blue Diamond requested an in-person report? Was she shattered after the meeting was over? If so, why wait? Why torment her, after all her years of unwavering loyalty and hard work?

A light snorting sound reaches her ears, snapping her out of her panicked spiraling. Steven rolled over in Blue Diamonds hair. Lifting her hand to keep him from falling, Blue Diamond watches as he settles again, lightly snoring. Holly Blue then realizes he is sleeping! Cradled in Blue Diamonds hair! He really is a hybrid if he requires sleep like the humans in the Zoo. How amazingly kind of her beautiful diamond to allow him to rest so close to her gem. Holly relaxes as she realizes she's not about to be reprimanded for not paying attention. Instead it occurs to her there may be another reason for reports being done in person. If there are other gems being asked to do the same, it is likely due to Steven Diamond's recent kidnapping. Having gems of all ranks make their reports to the diamonds in person, while Steven is with them, will spread a message. A message saying the diamonds are united and such an incident will not be allowed to happen again.

As she leaves the meeting to return to her post Holly Blue can't help but wonder what happened to the Ruby and Aquamarine.

Steven grumbles as he rolls over in his comfy spot on the hammock that is Blue Diamonds hair. The light hum of her gem is a soothing sound that helps him fall asleep, though right now its sound is intruding on his sleep, helping him wake. Unable to fight it and return to sleep Steven carefully sits up, rubbing his eyes. He glances up at the naturally morose face of Blue Diamond. She smiles down at him gently, he can't hold back a yawn as he grins back.

The diamonds have kept to their agreement to stay with him. They seem to be just as unwilling to leave him alone as he is to be alone, and it's helped a ton. He's been able to sleep comfortably whenever he needs to. The first few times he'd slept he'd been plagued with nightmares.

Sleeping near the diamonds, or his friends Rhodonite and the other off colors, and sometimes a big cuddle puddle with the former zoo amethysts, helped a lot. Now it's simply become routine, either working or relaxing with someone he trusts nearby. When he's with Blue she tends to encourage him to relax, both physically and mentally, meaning he spends a lot of their time together napping. White and he meditate together, White insisting it will help with his mental recovery. Steven must admit, her guided meditations are most likely what's allowed him to process the recent events better and ease his nightmares. Yellow encourages him to work, though she keeps a very close eye on him. The moment he yawns or shows any sign of boredom she switches tasks, whether that be overseeing further physical training with the soldier gems, going over details regarding the corrupted gems, or even just scooping him up and cradling him in the crook of her arm while she continues her work. Steven suspects Yellow may have been the most affected out of the three elders over what happened, though she tries to hide it behind efficiency, and logic. He suspects she feels somewhat responsible though he's assured her he doesn't blame anyone other than Aquamarine and Eyeball.

He giggles a little to himself at the memory of Yellow's reaction to him calling Ruby that nickname. The two would-be Gem-nappers were being prepped for a very public trial and Yellow stayed with him while he went over his statement with a Zircon. She'd given him a funny look, one eyebrow raised. He explained he calls her that because she's the only ruby he's met who's gem is in place of one of her eyes, hence Eyeball Ruby. He'd grinned brightly when he noticed Zircon looking away, clearly trying not to laugh, but then Yellow's face scrunched up, lips pursed together tightly. He worried she might scold him, until she suddenly let out a loud chortling laugh! She quickly composed herself, but when she saw the look of wonder on Stevens face, the stars in his eyes, she couldn't hold in a few more giggles.

"How are you feeling?" Blue asks Steven, drawing him from his thoughts with a gentle stroke of her finger in his hair.

"Oh! Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking about how awesome you've all been." He grins, "Thank you!"

"You are most welcome Steven. We love you, and simply want you safe."

Steven jumps from her hair and floats down to the floor.

"I love you too!" A sentence he never in a million years thought he'd say to anyone other than his Earth family.

"Are you going to see Yellow?"

"Yeah, with the trial starting soon she wanted to go over a few things with me." He nervously wrings his hands together. The trial itself is mostly just a formality since nearly all of Homeworld had seen recordings of his kidnapping or were witness to his rescue, but according to White and Yellow, a statement needs to be made, showing their unity and the fierceness with which anyone will be punished regardless of their status.

"Alright, I'll see you at the trial then." Blue waves him off.

Stepping out of Blue's meeting room, Steven greets Peony and Blue Pearl where they stood. He's tried many times to get them to at least sit somewhere while they're stuck waiting for these meetings to end, but neither pearl has taken him up on the offer.

He heads off down the long blue halls, heading towards a tall gray building. To prevent any chance of escape, should the criminals even try, White has had the use of any warp pads within a specific radius of the building shut down until after the trial. So walking is the easiest way to get there. Thankfully it's not far from Blue's palace.

A short while into their walk Steven feels his heart begin to beat harder, a cold sweat breaks out on his forehead and his breathing quickens. He glances around, trying to find the source of his sudden fear and anxiety. Nothing. There's no gems around, the small street he'd been walking down is completely silent, and that's the problem. He suddenly feels very alone and exposed. He clutches at his chest with one hand, the other going to cover his gem, as the feeling worsens. The walls of nearby buildings feel as though they're simultaneously closing in on him, and so far away there's no way he could get to one of them before whatever danger is around him strikes. The normally bright light of Homeworld dims and darkens, and he feels more alone than ever.

"-ven"

"Steven!"

Steven gasps, turning towards the sudden sound next to him. Worried pink eyes meet his own. Peony kneels next to him, hand on his shoulder as his breathing slowly settles down. After a moment of composing himself Steven leans in and hugs Peony tightly.

"It's okay my Steven." Peony hugs him back, "I was right here, right behind you. You're not alone."

He's not alone, she's been walking with him this whole time, all he'd needed to do was turn around and she would've been right there, but somehow, in his panic he'd never thought to look behind him, where she always is. From the day he woke she's been with him, either by his side, or right behind him. He's never alone, he's not in danger anymore.

Taking another deep breath Steven releases Peony and straightens up, ready to finish their walk to meet Yellow. They're near the building where the trial will be held now. Peony, instead of falling back to walking behind Steven, stays next to him for the rest of the trip, holding his hand. Despite the breach of etiquette of such an action out in public, Steven's incredibly grateful to her. He makes a mental note to get her a gift of some sort as a thank you for all she's done for him since he first arrived.

The courtroom for the trial of Aquamarine and Ruby 1F4 Cut 4ND is absolutely massive, fitting as many gems as possible within its plain gray, windowless, walls. Any gems unable to view the trial from the courtroom itself watch from a live feed sent to every active screen on Homeworld, and off. The diamonds want to make sure every gem possible is able to witness.

The trial itself was short, Aquamarine and Ruby given a short opportunity to defend themselves during which they both immediately attempted to blame the other and claim their own innocence. From where all four diamonds sat on their respective thrones it was clear White Diamond was absolutely done with this nonsense, Blue was near tears at the reminder of how close they were to losing Steven, Steven was fidgeting, clearly uncomfortable, and Yellow appeared two inches away from simply crushing their physical forms in her fists.

In the end Aquamarine and Ruby were sentenced to a new form of punishment. The two gems had their status stripped from them, were exiled from all courts, and have a device created by Yellow's top scientist Selenite, placed upon their gems. Then they were sent to work on an asteroid belt harvesting materials for Homeworld where they would stay until coming up for possible parole in several hundred years.

Steven had insisted they not be shattered. That there had to be another way for them to face the consequences of their actions, some way for them to maybe learn their lesson, instead of either death or spending the rest of eternity in a bubble unaware of the world around them. There had to be some way they could grow as gems, and one day earn their way back into gem society.

Selenite herself brought the devices into the room and placed them on their gems, explaining their purpose as she did. She explained the device was originally created during the process of developing the gem destabilizers. Destabilizers produce a specific dose of energy, just enough to poof a gem but not enough to keep them out for long or damage them. It's a delicate piece of equipment that maintains a delicate balance of energy. Many early versions ranged from cracking gems due to the energy overflow, or a mild disconnect between a gem and their physical form. This device was made by further experimenting with the low energy doses. It's attached directly to the gem, creating a mild disruption to the energy flowing from them. It allows just enough energy for a gem to maintain their physical form and perform the basic functions of the duties they've been assigned. However they won't be able to summon any weapons or use any extra abilities they normally could such as shape shifting or flying. The device itself looks like a golden frame around their gemstone, molded to each gem's exact shape and size. If it wasn't for the zig zag of light, almost like veins under a human's skin, betraying the activity of the device, it would look like some pretty jewelry.

Steven watches out a window as the ship containing Aquamarine and Eyeball takes off, taking them to their new home, with a sigh.

"You're feeling guilty again. Aren't you?" He looks up at Yellow. They've both been going through the trial recordings and statements, filing them all away neatly into the Homeworld database. A task Yellow refused to entrust to any other gem, and Steven offered to assist despite knowing she'd probably end up doing most of the work anyways. He's not the greatest with organization.

"Yeah…" He sighs.

She leans back in her chair, humming in thought.

"You know they needed consequences for their actions." he nods, "yet you feel guilty that they are now suffering those consequences?" He nods again.

"Why?" she asks, picking him up and holding him in her cupped hands, close to her large golden eyes.

Steven thinks for a moment, taking his time to find the right words. Were the roles reversed he'd know exactly what to say to comfort and ease the other diamonds worries, but with the focus on him, and his feelings, he struggles to find those words sometimes.

"I… am glad that they can't hurt me anymore but," he starts slowly, "I feel bad that they're being punished because of me. Though I understand it's not really because of me but because of their own actions, it feels like it's because of me."

He starts to grab at his hair, feeling the slightly softer spot where his hair became pink. It's become a habit when he's thinking, to reach up and play with the soft curls. It's much softer than the rest of his hair, though his fluffy head of hair was already pretty soft, and running his fingers through it is soothing to his nerves.

"I don't like when gems get hurt or suffer because of me but I'm glad they're being punished and being glad makes me feel bad cuz I shouldn't be happy about someone suffering. I'm not happy about it, though I guess… thinking about it, I mostly feel bad that I don't feel worse… does that make sense?" He looks up into Yellow's eyes.

Yellow nods slowly, "It does somewhat. I'm not like Blue, I'm not very well versed in the nuances of emotions. What I do know though is that your emotions are a part of you, you're allowed to feel them, even if they contradict logic." She sets him on her knee, ready to return to work.

Steven hugs her hand tight before letting her go. "Thanks Yellow."

After their talk Steven leaves to return to his palace, his friends are waiting for him. A diamond having friends… such an odd concept to Yellow, but having gems to spend time with outside of work clearly makes Steven happy, so she's content to let him have as many of these friends as he'd like. Especially once he explained the difference to her between friends and family and how Yellow Blue and White are a part of his family. Even in the Earthly social concepts the diamonds outrank other gems in their value in the youngest diamond's life… She should really speak to Blue and White about this… she's got a feeling she might be misunderstanding something in that concept…

A message coming through from her head Zircon draws Yellow from her thoughts. The message is short and to the point. Zircon was organizing the files from the ship Aquamarine had commandeered and found something odd. The ship's history shows high level access had been made remotely several days before Aquamarine took it, unlocking features on the ship that would otherwise be restricted from her. Then, while Steven was fighting the two gem-nappers, a scene that still has Yellow smiling with pride when she thinks of it, the combat training he convinced them to allow came in handy for certain, that same signal of remote high level access appeared again. This time the remote signal only focused on a security drone in the cockpit. Watching the recording, with Zircon's text explanations superimposed over the video, she watches as the singular security drone is released from the wall, aims and fires a single shot. The laser burns a hole in Stevens shoulder, and he turns towards the offending device. Having missed its shot, the drone retreats back into the wall as the signal disconnects.

Zircon concluded that there was another gem behind the scenes who'd aided the two in kidnapping him.

Rage, an emotion Yellow became all too familiar with in the last 6,000 years, courses through her gem. She sends her thanks to Zircon, offering for her to take the next few days to relax and enjoy some of the gardens or entertainment areas Steven had created to allow gems to decompress. She then sends a copy of the report and video to Blue and White.

Steven is still in danger.