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Chapter Text

He'd gotten it for her birthday last year: a necklace with a teardrop smoky quartz pendant. It had been inlaid in 14-karat gold with diamonds at the top. The gold bars crossed so that if you turned the pendant on its side, it looked like a fish.

And now it was approaching again. It had been almost a year since he'd given it to her. Shortly after that would be the day she disappeared. Where did she go? Did he drive her away? Did she have other business that she needed to attend to? Except she left her brooch. If she had, had other business, she wouldn't have left that behind.

And now his son was mixed up in this business. Why did this keep happening to the people he loved? It was like he was swirling in the eye of a whirlpool of wielders; stuck in the middle; never touching the water; just constantly surrounded by people who constantly put their lives in danger and did things he could only hope to accomplish.

It angered him. It made him angry and sad and distressed and a plethora of other negative emotions. The whirlpool of emotions was swirling in his head so hard that he hadn't realized he'd made a fist around the pendant.

And that was when he heard it: a dissonant chord squealed throughout his bedroom. It reverberated so loudly that he was forced to drop the necklace and cover his ears, doubling over in pain. After what seemed like an eternity, the crying stopped. He looked around his bedroom trying to find the necklace. He discovered it close to his feet; a trail of liquid showing its path. He picked it up only see that it had cracked, the same liquid he found on the floor leaking out of the stone.

He was staring at it so intently that the ringing of his phone caused him to jump out of his skin.

He picked up his phone off the dresser. "Yes, Nathalie."

"Sir," said the voice said on the other end. "I heard a high-pitched whine in my office. Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," Gabriel answered. "But I cracked a stone in one of my wife's necklaces. I'll need you to contact the jeweler and the carpet cleaner."

"Right away, sir."

"Thank you, Nathalie." 

"Use Boomerang Blade!"

"I know how to play the game, Steven."

"Besides, this game is completely unrealistic."

"Awwww, you guys are no fun."

"Then why are you hanging out with us?"

Steven had no response for Connie. All he could do was make a sigh of defeat as he lie on his bed on his stomach, feet in the air, face cupped in his hands as he watched Amethyst and Connie play Lonely Blade in front of him.

They were having such a good time that they never expected the high-pitched whine that suddenly rang in their ears.

Steven and Amethyst both clutched their heads and began to scream in pain.

Connie jumped up in a worried frenzy. "Steven!? Amethyst?! What's going on?! Are you OK?!"

"Don't you hear it?!" Amethyst cried.

"Is it the Wailing Stone?" Steven manged to mutter out through the pain.

Connie raced down the stairs from Steven's bed and ran toward The Temple. "Pearl! Garnet! Something's happening to Steven and Amethyst!"

Pearl and Garnet raced out of The Temple. Connie motioned toward Steven's bed where Steven and Amethyst were on the ground, crying for the sound to stop. Pearl immediately ran to the Wailing Stone while Garnet ran up to Steven's bed, Connie on her tail.

"If it was the Wailing Stone," Garnet said, "we would be hearing it, too. Whatever this is seems to only be affecting quartzes."

"The Wailing Stone isn't active anyways," Pearl shouted from below the bed, holding up said gem technology so the others could see.

"Then what are they hearing?" Connie asked.

Just then, the screaming and crying stopped as the two victims cautiously lowered their hands from their ears.

"It stopped," Amethyst said.

"STEVEN!" Connie, Garnet, and Pearl cried almost simultaneously as as the boy collapsed onto his bed, unconscious.

Where am I? 

Steven began to take in his surroundings. He was in a large room with black and white patterns all around it. He was in front of a computer screen looking at some picture with weird shapes on it. Each shape had a dotted line somewhere near one of the edges. Some had more than one. Out of the corner of his eye he saw blank, white, female mannequins, each adorned in a different white dress to the right. Or were they statues? To the left was a set of black double-doors with a white sunburst pattern going out from the middle.

How did I get here? Am I dreaming? What am I doing?

Then his vision started to move.

Am I walking?

It seemed he was walking down some steps to a long, white table. He noticed on his way down the large, white windows that let massive amounts of sunlight into the room. He didn't have long to look at them as his vision was soon turned to the table. There were papers with drawings all over it. Some were of blank people with different types of clothes on them. Others were more of those weird shapes. A hand moved out and moved some of the papers around.

Is that my hand? It doesn't look like my hand.

The hand picked up a paper, and Steven looked at it for a few minutes.

Why am I looking at this? Time to put it down now.

But the hand wasn't listening to his head. Instead Steven found himself looking at a piece of paper with more weird shapes on it for longer than he would've cared to. Or were those the same weird shapes as the ones he saw on the computer?

His vision turned again.

Looks like I'm heading back to the computer.

If Steven could have gasped he would've. Because before him was portrait of a woman: blond hair with green eyes, against a background of gold -- a gold that almost matched her hair -- with small, black eyes all over what appeared to be a gold dress.

Soo pretty.

Before he knew it, Steven's vision was back on the computer screen as more weird shapes with dotted lines were drawn on it. After a very long time, the document was sent to the printer. On the way to the printer, the eyes stopped and turned to look a wall of photos, each ornately framed and of the same person -- a young boy, also with blond hair and green eyes. Each picture had him in a different outfit and some different pose. Almost as if he were a model.

Soon his eyes were on the printer. The machine had printed out the weird shapes but on some brown almost see-through paper. Next thing he knew, he was at one of the large windows holding the weird brown paper with the weird shapes up to the light. It was when the paper was lowered that he saw it through the window: The Eiffel Tower.

 "He's waking up!"

Amethyst

Steven blinked his eyes open.

"Back up everybody; give him some air!"

Connie

Steven began to sit up when he heard Connie's voice again. "Whoa, take it easy, Steven."

"What happened?"

"We heard this crazy noise that made my head hurt like crazy," Amethyst began to explain, "and apparently you and I were the only ones that could hear it. When it stopped I was fine, but you collapsed on your bed and went all unconscious and stuff."

"We sent Pearl to get your father," Garnet interjected.

"How long was I out for?" Steven asked.

"Twenty minutes," Connie answered. "We tried everything to get you to wake up, but nothing worked. I wanted to call my mom, but Garnet said I should wait until your dad got here."

"STEVEN!" Greg yelled as he burst through the door of his son's house and ran up to his bed. Seeing that his son was awake, alive and well, he relaxed a little and quickly enveloped his son in a hug. "When Pearl told me what happened, I was so worried. I'm just so glad to see your OK."

"How long has he been awake?" Pearl asked the others.

"Only a few minutes," Garnet replied.

"I almost called my mom," Connie repeated herself.

"Well, how much does your mom know about Steven's biology?" Greg asked Connie.

"Are you asking if she knows about his gem?" Connie responded.

Greg nodded in acknowledgement.

Connie frowned a little. "I don't think so."

"Well," Greg responded, "it might not be a bad idea to let Dr. Maheswaran in on Steven's . . . unique . . . situation and make her his regular doctor. In case something like this ever happens again."

"Yay!" Steven interjected as he started to jump up and down. "Dr. Maheswaran is gonna be my doctor!"

"Don't move too much," Connie said, somewhat worriedly. "You might faint again."

Steven stopped jumping and sat on the bed. "I feel fine, Connie. I did have a weird dream, though."

"Dream?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah. I was in Paris. And I was making these weird shapes on this weird, brown paper. Well, I was watching it happen, but it was like I was watching it from my own body, but I wasn't in control of it. And there were these pictures of this boy. And this beautiful portrait of this woman."

"What did the portrait look like?" Connie asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"There was gold. A lot of gold. And there were these black eyes all over it."

"You said this was a portrait?" Connie said.

"Yeah."

Connie rushed downstairs to her backpack and pulled out a book. Everyone else followed behind her. "We've been studying famous artists in school." She began frantically searching through the pages until she found what she was looking for: Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.

"Is this it?" she asked.

Steven looked intently at the painting. "Yeah . . . except the head's different. It had blond hair. And green eyes. And the chin was pointier."

"It sounds like someone commissioned a portrait of that woman to look like this," Connie said.

"Must be someone who's loaded," Greg commented.

Steven raised his index finger to his chin. "Come to think of it, the room I was in was bigger than this house. I think it might have been an office. And everything was really nice. There were even statues in it."

"What kind of statues?" Connie asked.

"They were white. And they each had a different dress on them. Really nice dresses, too."

Connie began to page through her book. "Do any of these look familiar to you?"

Steven looked intently as Connie turned the pages. "No, none of these look like the statues I saw."

"What about those weird shapes you saw?" Connie asked.

"Let me see if I can draw them for you," Steven responded.

He pulled out some paper and began to draw, everyone looking over his shoulder in curiosity. As soon as he finished a page, Connie grabbed the paper and began scrutinizing it.

"Steven!" she finally exclaimed, "these are patterns!"

"Patterns?" Steven asked.

"You know? Sewing patterns."

Steven gave Connie a confused look.

"They're used for making clothes," Greg interjected.

"So maybe this person is a seamstress," Connie added.

Steven's look resumed its previous confusion.

"Someone who sews clothes," Greg explained.

"Oh!" Steven exclaimed, "I think I may have seen a logo on some of the pictures with the boy."

Steven proceeded to draw a large "G" in a circle.

"I've never seen that brand before," Connie said.

"Neither have I," Greg added.

Steven looked to Garnet. "Does any of this mean anything to you?"

"No," Garnet responded.

"I don't think any of this is gem-related." Pearl interjected.

"Then why did I see it?" Steven asked. "Was it just a dream then?"

"Maybe it's connected to that strange noise Steven and I heard," Amethyst said.

"That could be a possibility," Pearl said, tapping her index finger on her chin.

"The dreams do sound like that time you were seeing things through Blue Diamond's eyes," Garnet interjected.

"I saw his hands," Steven said. "I don't think it was a gem."

"Like that time you went into Lars," Amethyst said, "except you couldn't control whoever this dude is and stuff."

"So . . . you think I was in someone?" Steven asked.

"It sounds like it could be," Pearl said, "but we don't know for sure.

The group sat in a contemplative silence for a few minutes until Greg finally broke the awkwardness. "So . . . what do we do now?"

Everyone looked to Garnet. "We go to Paris."

A few more moments of awkward silence.

"Are you sure?" Steven asked. "After what happened last time--"

"We both made mistakes last time," Garnet interrupted. "Things will be different this time. One of them will be that we," Garnet gestured to her fellow Crystal Gems,"are going with you."

"And the other will be," Greg interjected, "that I won't be going with you. I  really don't wanna end up in another forced mating ritual on a Utopian space zoo for humans." Greg winced in disgust as he remembered "The Choosening."

"And I'll be going, too," Connie said, pulling out her phone. "Just as soon as I get permission from my parents."

"We might want to let Peridot and Lapis know we're going to be leaving town," Pearl said, "in case they need to protect Beach City while we're gone."

"Oo!" Amethyst yelled. "I'll come with you." She followed Pearl to the warp pad. "I wanna work on my Peri-phrasing." The two gems disappeared in a flash of vertical, white light.

Steven ran upstairs to get his cheeseburger backpack. "I'll start packing!"

Chapter Text

"Ah, Paris!" Steven said as he stretched his arms in the Parisian air. The group of Steven, Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst and Connie were walking on a street toward the Champ de Mars. "Hey! Are we gonna get some croissants?" Steven asked excitedly. "Oh and maybe one of those French hats!"

"They're called 'berets'," Connie corrected. "Pearl," she exclaimed when they had reached the Eiffel Tower, "take a picture of us! My mom wanted lots of pictures of Paris. She's so jealous."

Pearl snapped the photo from Connie's phone.

"Steven," Garnet said after picture time was done, "what direction to you think the house was in?"

Steven thought for a minute. "I think it may have been west. And it was pretty close, too."

Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl did their dance to form Alexandrite. She lifted Steven up on her shoulder so he could get a better view.

"Do any of the buildings look like they could be the house?" the fusion asked.

"Well," Steven responded, "I never really saw the outside." He looked around from his perch on Alexandrite's shoulder. "All I see are a bunch of buildings. Nothing that looks like it could be a mansion."

"Maybe you got the direction wrong," the giant woman said.

"It's possible," Steven responded. "Let's try south."

They did this with each of the four directions of the tower, each resulting the same way: nada, zilch, zero, zip. Alexandrite lowered Steven to the ground and unfused.

"What do we do now?" Amethyst asked.

"Oo!" Connie gasped. She reached into her backpack and pulled out some papers. "It's a good thing Steven and I worked on these drawings before we left." She handed them to Steven as he looked them over. One was of the clothing logo; one of the boy; and one of the woman.

"We can go into boutiques and see if we can find the logo. And while we do that, we can also ask people if they know who the people in these drawings are. And I can get more pictures for my mom."

"Sounds like a plan," Garnet said.

"And I have an app on phone that will help us translate our conversations into French," Connie said.

Pearl chuckled in her least condescending tone. "Connie, we've been here for over 5,000 years. We have yet to find a language that we can't speak. We can even speak a few of the dead ones."

"Half of my mom went into me. Do you think I might know those languages, too?" Steven asked.

"Maybe you know half her languages," Amethyst commented.

"Lemme try it!" Steven ran up to a passerby with the picture of the boy. "Excusez-moi, monsieur, connaissez-vous quelqu'un qui pourrait ressembler à ce garçon."

The unknown man stared intently at the picture. "Non," he said.

"Merci quand même," Steven responded as he ran back to Connie and the Gems, his eyes wide. "I can speak French! I wish I had known about this when Dad and I went to Korea."

Connie looked at her phone. "I guess I should let you guys do the talking."

After that small discovery, the group proceeded to the closest boutique to start their search.

The white flash of life on the warp pad signaled the quintet's return to Steven's house.

"We're back!" Steven shouted. He and Connie were both wearing their brand new, matching blue berets. After a quick glance around the house, Steven noticed the house was empty. "Hm. Dad must have gone back to the car wash."

The group made their way to the couch and proceeded to sit around the coffee table. Connie texted her mom as she walked to let her know she got back to Steven's in one piece.

"We spent all day walking around Paris and found no semblance of this," Pearl motioned to the paper with the "G" on it, "what did you call it again?"

"A logo," Connie replied.

"And no one had even seen those people you saw," Amethyst cut in.

"Maybe this isn't worth figuring out," Steven said. "Amethyst and I are fine."

"But we don't want it to happen again," Garnet said. "Someone could be attacking quartzes, and we need to know who and why."

"Maybe it isn't connected to my dream," Steven said.

"It's the only lead we've got," Garnet replied.

"Maybe the logo is connected to Homeworld somhow," Pearl conjectured.

"Peridot might know," Steven said.

"Can we go tomorrow?" Connie asked. "I'm exhausted. And my dad's already on his way to come get me."

"Yeah," Steven added, "walking around Paris all day was fun, but I could really use some rest."

"Fine," Garnet said. "We'll pick this up tomorrow."

"I'll meet you guys at the barn," Connie said as she headed toward the door. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Connie," Steven said back.

"Steven!" Connie shouted when she noticed him and the other gems heading toward the barn. She had been standing at the entrance to the barn talking to Peridot and Lapis Lazuli.

"Connie!" Steven shouted back as he picked up his pace. "You got here before us," he said when he finally caught up to her.

"I woke up early, and I didn't have anything better to do," the black-haired girl said to her best friend, "so I just figured I'd come here." She turned to Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet as they had caught up to the group now. "I filled them in on what's going on."

Garnet gave a cool thumbs up.

"Whatever this is," Peridot said, referring to Connie and Steven's drawings, which she was currently holding in her hands, "doesn't pertain to Homeworld."

"Another dead end," Amethyst said.

"Well," Peridot asked, pensively, "are you sure you were in the right Paris?"

Everyone gave Peridot a confused look, even Lapis.

"Like," Connie asked, "Paris, Starstate?"

Steven looked wide-eyed at Connie. "There's a Paris, Starstate?"

Peridot looked confused. "There's a Starstate? There's more than one place called, "Paris," on this planet?"

"Twenty-three, to be exact," Pearl chimed in.

"Do they all have these . . . towers? As you called them?" Peridot asked.

"Most of them do," Connie responded.

Peridot shook her head. "There are still many things about this planet I have yet to comprehend. Anyways, I was referring to the multi-verse."

"The what?" Amethyst asked.

"You know, the multi-verse." Peridot was met with more confused looks. "Alternate dimensions? You clods really don't know about the multi-verse?"

Connie grabbed the green gem's shoulders and looked at her with a fiery determination in her eyes. "Are you telling me the multi-verse theory is real?!"

"Theory!" Peridot laughed haughtily as she removed herself from Connie's grip. "You earthlings are so behind. Homeworld has proven the existence of alternate dimensions."

"Um," Steven interjected, "for those of us that don't know what this multi-verse thing is, could you please explain it?"

"There are multiple dimensions," the green gem explained, "each with their own universe. And within each universe, there is a different version of each planet. Just like Homeworld is one of many in the multi-verse, so is Earth."

"So," Connie asked, "you think this person that Steven went into was on an Earth from a different dimension?"

"Well," Peridot said, "that was my initial thought. But maybe it's one of the 22 other Parises."

"We can't visit all of the other Parises," Pearl said. "Steven and Connie have human bodily functions they need to take care of. Like eating and sleeping. And Connie has all of those . . . lessons . . . she has."

"Maybe we can do a web search for the logo," Connie suggested.

"Web?" Lapis asked.

"Yeah," Steven said, "on the Internet."

The confused look on Lapis's face remain unchanged.

"It's like," Connie explained, "when a bunch of computers talk to each other."

Lapis still looked confused.

"Like control services?" Peridot asked.

"That thing that was on the moonbase?" Steven responded. "Yeah."

"I get it now," Lapis responded.

"So if we find the logo in another city," Garnet said, "we'll know to go there. And if you don't find it, we're going to need to find a way to get to the other dimension."

"And we'll need to figure out which dimension it is," Peridot added.

Connie looked at Steven. "We should probably go to my house. We'll have all the equipment we'll need there."

Pearl started walking toward the chalkboard. "I can start drawing up the blueprints." She turned toward Peridot. "Unless you would like to make this a collaborative effort."

"You really think you can do this without my knowledge?" the technician-gem retorted.

"Couldn't you just use Steven's lion?" Lapis asked.

"I don't know if he's even capable of inter-dimensional travel," Steven replied.

"And I'm not so sure it's a good idea if we try to find out," Amethyst added. "Who knows where we could end up?"

"Good point," Lapis said.

"I'm calling my dad to come get us," Connie said to Steven as she dialed said father on her phone.

"I'm calling my dad to fill him in on everything," Steven said to Connie. He looked toward Garnet. "I'll be back when we find out if we're staying on this Earth."

Connie and Steven couldn't find the logo anywhere on the Internet. They knew what that meant: Steven had gone into someone from another dimension. That was where Connie's parents drew the line. They would let her go to Paris and the Great North, but travelling to a parallel Earth in a machine built in a barn was just too dangerous for their daughter. But she was able to come and help build the machine when she didn't have school, tennis, or violin lessons. It turned out that even without knowledge of gem technology, Connie was a quick study. Even Peridot admitted she was proving to be an asset.

Building a dimension-travelling machine proved to be quite a difficult task. The up-side was that the only technology that was capable of that kind of travel was at the galaxy warp. Which meant further destroying the galaxy warp. The only gem that wasn't happy at that prospect was Lapis.

Construction seemed to go faster than construction of the drill due to the two extra sets of hands they had this time around. Before they knew it, the dimension ship was done. They'd taken Peridot's old pod off of the drill and used extra materials around the barn to expand it in order to accommodate more bodies. The long, metal legs that shot out from the top had been taken off, cut down to about two feet, and placed on the bottom. Peridot also insisted they be retractable.

The next step was to see if they could get co-ordinates from the Moon Base. Steven had to convince Lion with a lot of extra snacks. Since not everyone could fit on him, only Steven, Connie, Peridot and Pearl went. (Connie had just as much fun as Steven floating up to the control service.)

"Hm," Peridot grunted, looking at the screen.

"What's wrong?" Steven asked.

"This control service is older than the discovery of the multi-verse," Peridot responded.

"So," Pearl said, "they don't have a file on it?"

"Well," Peridot said smugly as she tapped through various things on the surface of the service, "it'd be impossible to keep a file on every single alternate dimension as those possibilities are endless. It's just that this service doesn't have access to the search servers."

"Can we get access to the search servers?" Connie asked.

"It would be easier if the communication tower was functional--" Peridot started to say.

"Oh, no," Pearl interrupted. "We are not repairing that tower."

"Of course not!" Peridot responded. "But I might be able to access a search server from here."  She gave a smug look. "I'd have to go in secretly though."

"How sure are you that we won't be noticed?" Pearl asked.

The green gem looked directly at the white one. "I called Yellow Diamond a clod. Do you really think I want them finding me poking around through their services?"

"Alright," Pearl said tentatively, "but one sign of trouble, and you get out of there quick."

Peridot rolled her eyes. "I know Homeworld's systems like the back of my touch stumps. I won't be detected."

The technician gem worked her way through the control service while she guided Pearl, Connie, and Steven through reorganizing various wirings and other gem technologies. It took an hour for Peridot to hack into Homeworld's search servers, and another hour to find the right dimension.

"Are you sure that's the right dimension?" Pearl asked.

"Well, to say it's the "right" dimension is not entirely accurate," Peridot responded. "It's the most likely possibility; the probability that this is the dimension you want is 95%. There's still a 5% chance of error. Which is why I'm creating this list of the top five. If it's not that one, it should be the other one. Just note that choices one, three and four are dimensions where Homeworld never invaded Earth."

"And you're sure no one from Homeworld knows you were in their system?" Pearl asked cautiously.

"I erased any evidence of my workings in their servers," Peridot replied confidently. "They'll never know we were looking around in there."

Pearl grabbed the data, and the four of them climbed onto Lion and headed back to the barn.

The next day was departure day for Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. Peridot enjoyed the last time she got to defend Beach City and was looking forward to doing it again. Lapis was apathetic about the whole situation. And Pearl was confident she could handle the dimension ship and any malfunctions they may have.

Steven had wanted to make sure his dad knew he was leaving so he could give Greg and Connie a proper goodbye. Plus it also gave him time to pack.

"Be safe, Schtewball," Greg said to his son as he rubbed Steven's hair. "Aw, c'mere." He knelt down and opened his arms for Steven to give him a hug, which Steven gladly walked into.

After a long hug, Greg got up and turned to the crystal gems. He raised his hand to the back and scratched it sheepishly. "Take good care of my boy. He means a lot to me, ya know."

"He means a lot to us, too, Greg," Garnet responded. "We'll make sure he comes back safe and sound."

"Don't break yourselves," Peridot said to the group, but more to Steven than anyone else, as she was fighting to hold back the tears in her eyes.

"Don't get shattered," Lapis said, "or whatever it is you do."

Steven gave Peridot and Lapis hugs. Then he looked off to the side where Connie was. They were both wearing their matching berets again. Connie was obviously trying to hide how distraught she was, but Steven knew better. They were best friends, and he knew this was tearing her apart inside. Just like it was tearing him apart inside, too. Oh, how he wished Connie's parents would let her go with him. But with all that Dr. and Mr. Maheswaran had let Connie do with him and the crystal gems, he knew better than to push the envelope.

With a heavy heart, he walked over to his best friend. "Hey."

Without saying a word, Connie gave Steven the biggest, tightest hug she could, making sure to get her arms under his cheeseburger backpack. "I really wish I could go with you," she said into his shoulder, tears forming in her eyes.

"I wish you could, too," the boy responded into the girl's shoulder, tears forming in his eyes as well. "But I promise I'll tell you all about it when I get back."

"And I promise I'll help Lapis and Peridot protect Beach City while you're gone."

"I'm gonna miss you a lot."

"I'll miss you, too, Steven."

Steven pulled away from the hug and rested his hands on Connie's shoulders. "Who knows? Maybe if this trip is successful, your parents will let you go on the next one."

"Hopefully, there won't be a next one," Pearl said as she walked over to the duo. "Are you ready to go now, Steven?"

The boy took his hands off of his best friend's shoulders and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Yeah, I'm ready," he said looking up at Pearl.

Steven walked with Pearl over to the dimension ship, and the foursome proceeded to get in. Once they were all inside, the stairs retracted, and the giant window closed down, sealing the group inside. Pearl pushed some buttons, and the legs retracted. She moved the joystick and turned the ship so that it faced away from the onlookers. Then she pushed some more buttons, and a gun came out from the bottom of the ship. The gun shot a white light and a white whirlpool, crystalline in appearance, materialized before the ship. As those they were leaving behind stepped back, Pearl moved the joystick to propel the ship forward into the whirlpool. Steven turned around and looked out the window, his hands and face pressed against the glass, hoping to catch one last glimpse of Connie before they left. He gave a small, sad wave.

Connie returned the gesture, but much more largely. The ship disappeared into the whirlpool of light, the portal disappearing after it. Oh, how Connie wished she could run after it.

Chapter Text

"Good afternoon and welcome to TVi News 13. I'm Nadja Chamack."

The news screen opened with Nadja's typical picture standing in front of the blue, lit world globe.

"Ladybug and Cat Noir have saved Paris again. This time Violette Baille. . ." The news cut to a picture of Ladybug comforting a young woman with long, blond hair. " . . . was turned into the horrible Hammerspace . . ." The news cut to a police sketch of a young woman with a black domino mask over her face. ". . . who was able to pull large objects out of the tiny bag at her belt."

Marinette tip-toed into the classroom as quickly and quietly as she could. She'd almost made it until she tripped walking up the steps to her desk, letting out a large, "Waaaahh!!"

"Marinette," Ms. Bustier turned around from the chalkboard, "we've been over this. If you're going to be late, please do so quietly."

Marinette got up and dusted herself off. "Sorry, Ms. Bustier." She promptly took her seat next to Alya as Ms. Bustier resumed writing things on the chalkboard.

"Some class rep," Chloe said snidely to Sabrina. "She can't even be on time for class."

Alya leaned over and whispered raising her eyebrows, "Did you lock yourself in the bathroom stall again?"

"Um . . . y-yeah," Marinette stuttered.

"Girl, you have got to get some better material."

The bluenette blew some air out of her bottom lip so it ruffled her bangs. She pulled out her tablet and began to copy down the notes on the chalkboard. It was then that she noticed the empty seat in front of her.

She leaned over and hit her best friend's shoulder with the back of her hand. Alya looked over to Marinette, and Marinette motioned to Adrien's empty seat.

"He left shortly after you did," the redhead whispered, the look on her face a combination of confused and curious, "and he hasn't come back, yet."

"Hm," Marinette pondered.

Shortly after that exchange, Adrien quietly opened the door to the classroom and tip-toed in.

"Dude," Nino whispered to his best friend once Adrien had sat down, "where have you been?"

"I . . . had a really long bowel movement," the model responded.

Nino tilted his head down and looked at Adrien over his glasses, eyebrows raised. Then he shook his head and went back to taking notes.

Alya, also with her eyebrows raised, glanced at Adrien and then at Marinette. She gave her best friend a look that said, "You two really are made for each other."

Marinette gave Alya a look that said, "Give it a rest, already."

When class was over, the students stood up and began packing their things.

"Hey," Alya said to the three classmates around her, "since you two missed all of last period, how about a study session at my house?"

"Yeah," Nino chimed in, "I was there and I'm having a hard time understanding the material."

"Thanks for the offer, Alya," Adrien replied somberly, "but I have a photo shoot."

Marinette hesitated for a minute. She knew exactly why Alya was doing this, and her reason had just declined. On the one hand, Alya was right: she really needed to to get caught up on what she missed. On the other hand, being at Alya's house with her and Nino might be a little awkward. The more time they spent together, the closer they got to actually being in a relationship. Which made Marinette feel more and more like a third wheel. If Adrien was going to be there, she wouldn't have felt like third wheel. And it was easier to talk to him when Nino and Alya were around.

In the end, she decided getting caught up was more important. She didn't want to get grounded because of her unknown superhero duties again. "Count me in," she said.

Nino and Alya kept the flirting to a minimum. (Thank goodness.) Once Alya had gotten Marinette caught up, they were both able to help Nino understand the material. They were just finishing up when a news flash came on Alya's phone. The group huddled around the phone and watched the news.

What they saw was live footage of a one of the commercial streets in Paris in the seventh arrondissement with four figures walking down the street. One was a tall woman with magenta skinn, a large, black afro, silver triangular sunglasses, and pouty lips. Another woman was slightly shorter than the magenta one. She had white skin (not peach, white) and yellow hair that was slicked straight back into a triangle. She had a long, pointy nose and what appeared to be a large pearl embedded in the middle of her forehead. The other woman was much shorter with purple skin and long flowing, white hair. Underneath her white tank top she appeared to have a purple gem embedded in her chest. And then there was the boy. He was short, as well, and pudgy and had a cheeseburger-shaped backpack on his back. He seemed to be the only one in the group that had a normal skin tone with curly black hair that was covered by a blue beret. The interesting thing was that each person had a star somewhere on their clothing.

"We are live on the scene," Nadja's voice said, "of the shopping district of the seventh arrondissement looking at what appear to be a group of strange-looking people, possibly akumatized, walking down the street. They currently have yet to cause any harm or destruction."

"Man," Nino said, "Hawkmoth's working overtime."

"Are you sure it's Hawkmoth?" Alya asked.

"What makes you think that?" Marinette responded.

"Well, for starters, there's no masks. Whenever Hawkmoth akumatizes someone, they get a mask of some sort."

Marinette hummed in agreement.

"But that white chick has that giant stone in her forehead," Nino pointed out.

"Maybe Hawkmoth's trying something new," Marinette suggested.

"Maybe," Alya said, "but they're not doing anything real menacing. They're not even trying to draw attention to themselves. When Hawkmoth akumatizes someone, he strikes a deal that usually allows them to get their revenge. But these people don't seem to be looking for revenge."

"Well, they seem to be looking for something," Marinette said.

"Either way, this study session's over," Alya said. "Whatever this is could be big news. And even if it's not an akuma, Ladybug and Cat Noir might still show up."

"I'm gonna head home to make sure my parents are safe," Marinette said. She rushed out of Alya's house before her best friend could say anything in response. When she got in a secluded alley she opened up her purse to let her kwami out.

"What do you think, Tikki?"

"I think you should be careful. We don't want another incident like Santa Claws on our hands," the red kwami responded.

"Right," Marinette said. "Tikki, spots on!"

Ladybug crouched down on roof across the street from where the strange group was and unhooked her yo-yo. She opened it up and turned on the camera so she could get a closer look at them.

"Well, hello, Bugaboo," a familiar voice came from behind her. It startled her so much that she nearly fell off the building.

"Cat," she said, putting a hand on her chest, "don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," Cat Noir grinned. "You looked so focused, I couldn't help myself." He pulled out his baton and opened up the camera function just as Ladybug had been doing before he scared her. "So what're we lookin' at?"

Ladybug had gone back to looking through her yo-yo as well. "I'm not sure."

"You don't think they're akumas?"

"They're not acting like akumas. They're just walking down the street."

"And it would be new for Hawkmoth to akumatize four people at once. If that's even possible." He paused. "But why do they have weird skin tones?"

"That's a good question. Whoever they are they're definitely a group of some sort."

"What makes you say that, M'Lady?"

"The star. They all have one somewhere on their clothing."

Cat Noir hummed in agreement.

They watched through their cameras and saw the group walk into a boutique. (Why a boutique?) Ladybug zoomed in on her camera to get a better look at what the group was doing. She saw the boy take some papers out of his cheeseburger-shaped backpack and show them to the clerk at the register. Wait was that a picture of . . . 

"Adrien?" she said out loud under her breath.

Cat Noir looked at his partner in surprise. "What?"

But before he could continue the conversation she had already swung off on her yo-yo.

"Now we have a lead," Pearl said as the group walked out of the boutique.

"Why couldn't we just go to the Eiffel Tower like we did before?" Steven asked.

"Because Homeworld never invaded this Earth," Garnet responded. "These people have never seen gems and don't even know they exist. It would've drawn too much attention."

Amethyst pointed her thumb at the camera that was on them from across the street. "I think it's a little late for that."

They were about to continue their search when a strange black string zipped down and encircled the four them them, tying them up. A pig-tailed figure wearing a red and black polka-dotted jumpsuit with matching mask jumped down in front of them. She was holding the other end of the string in her hand was bent in an attack position.

"What do you want with Adrien?" she demanded.

"Adrien?" Steven asked. "Is that--"

"I saw you showing his picture to the clerk," the girl interrupted.

"I'm pretty sure we're on the right Earth," Amethyst said.

The girl straightened up a little, slightly loosened her grip on the string and squinted. "What do you mean, 'the right Earth?'"

Garnet was about to explain their situation when a blond boy wearing a black suit with a bell at the neck and matching domino mask and cat ears jumped down beside the strangely clad girl. He had used a stick to help him land. "Ladybug!" he said as the stick retracted and he put it behind his back.

"Ladybug?" the group asked almost in unison.

"What are you doing?" the boy asked. "I thought we were just watching them."

"They have a picture of Adrien Agreste," the girl responded. "They were showing it to the clerk in the boutique. They're looking for him."

"That doesn't mean they're akumas."

"Akumas?" Pearl asked.

"I never said they were akumas," the girl continued.

"No," the boy said, "but you might cause another one. Do you I need to remind you of Santa Claws?"

The girl stood up straight as she stomped her foot and clenched her fists by her side, inadvertently letting go of the string. As it zipped back to her hand, they noticed that it was a yo-yo that had tied them up. "What is it with people reminding me of Santa Claws today?"

Steven's mouth grew wide as stars formed in his eyes.

The blond boy continued arguing with the girl. "Would you rather I bring up Volpina? Or Anti-bug?"

"Is that . . ." Steven asked, "a yo-yo?"

The duo abruptly turned and looked at the group.

"Yes?" the red-clad girl responded.

"You use a yo-yo as a weapon?" he asked again.

"Yes," the girl responded, a little more annoyed.

Steven turned to the purple gem. "Amethyst! Amethyst!"

"Not here," Garnet said. "We've already drawn too much attention. We can't afford to draw anymore."

The blond boy and blue-haired girl looked at the group with their brows furrowed underneath their masks.

"Who are you people?" the boy asked.

"And what did you mean when you said you were on the right Earth?" the girl continued.

"I'm Steven." Steven motioned to each of the gems as he introduced them.  "And this is Amethyst. And that's Pearl. And this is Garnet. They're gems."

"Gems?" the boy asked.

"We're extraterrestrial beings created by incubating gems. Our bodies are composed of light," Pearl explained.

"Light?" the blond boy said as he approached the group. He started to poke Amethyst. "Then how can I touch you?"

"I don't know," Amethyst responded. "You just can. And could you also quit it?"

The boy jerked his hand behind his head and gave an embarrassed grin.

"Wait?" the girl said. "Extraterrestrial? As in aliens?"

"I guess you could call us that," Pearl replied, tapping her index finger to her chin.

"We're also extra-dimensional," Garnet chimed in.

"Wait," the boy said, "so you three are aliens from another planet? And you're all from another dimension?"

"Pretty much," Amethyst responded.

"Garnet, is it?" the girl asked, motioning to the tall magenta gem while looking at the boy.

Garnet gave a cool nod of affirmation.

"Garnet is right," the blue-haired girl continued. "This is not the place to talk about this." She looked around at all the people gathered around and the news camera across the street.

"Um," Steven said. "You know who we are, but we don't know who you are."

"Oh, right," the girl said. "I'm Ladybug. And this is my partner Cat Noir. We protect Paris. Well, I guess this Paris. Sorry about the misunderstanding."

"It's alright," Steven said. He shook first Ladybug's hand and then Cat Noir's. "It's nice to meet you both."

"So," Pearl asked, "where can we go?"

Ladybug looked at her partner.

"It's not like we can go to my house," he said. "Secret identities and all."

Ladybug held her chin in her index finger in her thumb while tapping said finger. She squinted with a gleam in her eye. "I think I know a place."

Chapter Text

It was bit of a walk back to the twenty-first arrondissement. While Ladybug and Cat Noir were used to zipping around on rooftops, Steven and the Crystal Gems couldn't do that. And neither Cat Noir nor Ladybug could carry two people while doing parkour. The hardest part was avoiding all the cameras and stares from passer-bys.

Cat Noir caught up to his partner in the front of the group as they walked. "So where are we going anyways?" he whispered.

"He's known as the Great Guardian," Ladybug replied. "He gave us our miraculouses."

The black-clad superhero stopped in his tracks for a minute. Steven and the Crystal Gems had to stop themselves abruptly to avoid bumping into him.

"Is everything OK?" Amethyst asked.

Ladybug turned around and looked at her partner.

"Uh, yeah," Cat Noir said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Everything's fine. Just having a private chat about superhero stuff."

The group resumed their walk, Cat Noir catching up again to Ladybug.

"So," he resumed, "he knows who we are?"

"Yes," his partner responded.

Cat Noir looked a Ladybug with wide eyes. He was going to see a man who knew who Ladybug is. It was so tempting to just wait until she left and then ask him, but his lady had set up boundaries. And if he was ever going to gain her trust, he had to respect them.

"What is it with you and Adrien?" Cat asked.

This time Ladybug almost stopped in her tracks. "Wha-what are you talking about?"

"I've noticed you seem to get a little irrational every time he gets involved. Why is that?"

The polka-dotted superhero bit her lip. "It-it's not important."

"If it affects our team dynamic, it is."

Ladybug sighed; she had no answer for her partner. It was then she noticed how close they were to Master Fu's massage parlor. She stopped and looked around. The group followed suit.

"Uh, what are we doing?" Steven asked.

"We're close," Ladybug replied, "but we can't just walk in with everybody looking at us. Especially if Master Fu has a client. We need to get eyes off of us."

"Master Fu?" Amethyst asked.

"Client?" Pearl echoed.

"He's called the Great Guardian," Ladybug responded, "and he runs a massage parlor as his cover."

"Hey." Cat nodded toward a dark, empty alleyway. Ladybug, who understand her partner's unspoken signal, waved the group into the alleyway. Once they were in, the two superheroes looked up.

"Stay here," Ladybug said to the Crystal Gems. "We're gonna go on the roof to get a better vantage point. We'll come down when the coast is clear."

Steven gave a thumbs up. "You got it."

Ladybug threw her yo-yo up to the roof and swung her way up while Cat Noir vaulted up with his baton. He crouched down next to his lady and opened the camera on his baton as she had already done the same with her yo-yo.

"Is that him?" he asked looking at a small, balding oriental man in a red Hawaiian shirt.

"Yeah," Ladybug said, "that's him. It looks like he's alone. I'll keep eyes on him while you scout the street."

"Got it."

It took a few minutes, but the streets finally cleared. "We'll have an opening in about 2 minutes," Cat said.

The superheroes dropped back down into the alley where the Crystal Gems were waiting for them. Stealthily, Cat Noir peeked around the corner then motioned for the group to move. Ladybug lead the group as they scurried across the street and into Fu's massage parlor.

The polka-dotted superhero opened the door to find Master Fu meditating on the mat in the middle of the room. He greeted them as they walked in.

"Hello, Ladybug. And Cat Noir. And the mysterious visitors. I had a feeling I'd be seeing you." He got up and proceeded into another room. "Come. Sit. Would you like some tea?"

"We don't need to eat," Pearl replied.

"I'll have the tea bags," Amethyst said.

"I'll have a tea," Steven said.

"Me, too," Cat Noir chimed in.

"I'll also take a tea," Garnet said.

"I know better than to refuse you," Ladybug responded.

As Master Fu left to prepare the tea the group gathered and began discussing the situation. The Crystal Gems told the superheroes their story and showed them the pictures that Steven and Connie had drawn. By that time, Master Fu had brought the tea and was listening in on the conversation.

"You said you were in someone?" Ladybug asked.

Steven nodded.

"Can you describe the room?"

Ladybug and Cat Noir listened intently as Steven described the black and white theme of the room with the tall windows and large portraits. After he had finished his description, the two superheroes looked at each other pensively.

"This sounds like--" Ladybug started.

"Gabriel Agreste's office," her partner finished.

"Do you think he went into Gabriel Agreste?" the superheroine asked.

"Either that or Nathalie."

Ladybug raised an eyebrow underneath her mask at her partner.

Cat Noir startled a little. "I mean, his assistant."

"I guess the next step is to talk Gabriel Agreste," his partner said.

"Easier said than done."

Ladybug sighed as she remembered the time the two of them had protected them from Simon Says. Even with his life in danger, Mr. Agreste had been surly and stubborn and didn't want to listen to the superhero duo.

"Why?" Steven asked.

Ladybug responded. "Gabriel Agreste is . . . not exactly co-operative."

"I believe the word your looking for is 'stubborn,'" Cat Noir chimed in.

The superhero squinted at her partner. "I was trying to be polite." She turned back toward the group. "There's also the security issue."

"Security issue?" Pearl asked.

"Gabriel Agreste is the most famous fashion designer in Paris," Ladybug explained. "And his son is a famous model. His house is built like a fortress. Getting past the front gate is a chore in and of itself."

"It's easy for us because we can just jump over the gate," the black-clad superhero continued, "but you guys can't. Can you?"

"No," Amethyst said, "but we could fuse and just step over it."

"Fuse?" the superheroes said in unison.

"Maybe we should go with Smoky Quartz," Garnet said, "since she's the only one that will fit in the room."

Steven and Amethyst looked at each other, smiled and locked hands. There was a flash of light, and then a larger being with mauve skin, two and a half arms, a smoky quartz gem in her chest and another in her stomach stood in front of them.

"WHAT?!" Ladybug and Cat Noir shouted in unison as they fell back on their arms.

"This is Smoky Quartz," Pearl said. "She's the fusion of Amethyst and well, technically Rose Quartz since Steven has her gem."

"That just leaves me with more questions," Cat Noir said.

"We shouldn't dwell on the questions we have about one another," Master Fu interjected. "We need to focus on the matter at hand which is how to get the gems to see Gabriel Agreste so that they can further investigate this phenomenon that caused Steven and Amethyst this pain."

"Fusing would draw too much attention," Ladybug continued. She looked at her partner. "Do you think they would just let us in if we showed up? We are superheroes, after all."

"Our superhero status didn't really seem to faze him last time," Cat Noir responded.

"Maybe we could make an appointment with his secretary," the polka-dotted superhero joked.

"That might actually work," Cat Noir said.

Ladybug again looked at her partner raising an eyebrow under her mask.

"So," Pearl asked, "how would we make an appointment?"

"Maybe we could show up as our superhero selves and insist on it," the black-clad superhero said.

"Tomorrow," Ladybug said. "I need to get home before my parents start to worry about me." She turned to Master Fu. "I hate to ask this of you, but would they be able to stay with you since neither of us can bring them home?"

"You shouldn't feel guilty about that," Master Fu replied. "It will be a bit tight, but if anyone understands the need for secrecy, it's me."

"Um," Cat Noir rubbed the back of his head, "can we meet the day after tomorrow? I have an idea I want to research first."

For the third time today, Ladybug looked at her partner with a raised eyebrow. "What idea?"

"I . . . I can't tell you. Not without telling you who I am."

"Wait?" Amethyst interjected. "You don't know who you are when you're not superheroes?"

Ladybug looked at the Crystal Gems. "We're not supposed to tell anyone our identities. Not even each other. It's for our own safety."

"You take Tikki's words too much to heart," Master Fu said. "There are benefits to knowing each others' identities, but it is for you to decide when the time is right."

Cat Noir lit up at Master Fu's words and then turned to his partner who was lost in thought. "I've been ready since day one, M'Lady. But as always, I will respect your wishes. Only when you're ready."

Ladybug looked at the blond boy in front of her and smiled. "Thank you." She stood up. "I really should get going. My parents think I'm at my friend's house. We'll reconvene here in two days?"

The black-clad superhero took his lady's hand and kissed it. "I'm looking forward to it."

Ladybug opened a window and unhooked her yo-yo. She threw it onto a nearby building and swung off.

"So, what's this idea you have?" Pearl asked Cat Noir.

"I'll explain tomorrow. I'll come by after my Chinese lesson," the blond boy replied. He took out his baton, jumped out the window and vaulted off.

"Those two are made for each other," Garnet said.

"Funny," Master Fu responded, "I said the same thing when I gave them their miraculouses."

"They're going to test your patience, though," the tall gem said.

"Now that's saying something considering I'm 186," the short man replied.

"Hey," Alya said to her small group of friends as they packed up their things around their desks, "how about another study session at my house? My mom's trying out a new recipe that we can pig out on."

"Sorry," Adrien was the first to respond, "I have a Chinese lesson."

"Man," Nino said, "your old man's gotta lay off you. You really need to have some time to have some fun."

Alya turned to her best friend. "What about you, Marinette?"

Marinette hesitated for a minute. She had wanted to go see Master Fu and check on the Crystal Gems after school, but she knew that if she didn't have a good excuse for Alya, her best friend would figure her out.

"I was gonna stay after school at the library to get some research done on that project for chemistry," she responded.

Alya looked at her romantic interest with a slight grin and squinted eyes, "I guess it's just you and me, then."

Nino looked at the redhead and waggled his eyebrows, "I have no problem with that."

Marinette rolled her eyes and headed out of the classroom and toward the library. She figured that while she was killing time she might as well get some research done for her chemistry project. She researched for about a half an hour before she packed up her things and headed to Master Fu's massage parlor.

The bluenette peeked in the door to make sure he had no clients at the moment. As usual, he was sitting on the mat in the middle of the room meditating.

"Ah," he looked up. "Hello again, Ladybug. I trust you've come to check on the Crystal Gems."

"Yes," she said nervously as she let Tikki out of her purse. "And I also have some information that might help their problem that I couldn't mention in front of Cat Noir yesterday."

"I shall fetch them." Master Fu got up. "Would you like to transform?"

"Oh, right," Marinette said. "Tikki, spots on!"

As Master Fu went into the other room, a flash of pink light engulfed Marinette, and Ladybug stood in her place.

Seconds after, the Crystal Gems came through the door.

"Ladybug!" Steven exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you guys," she responded, "and I also have some information for you."

"What kind of information?" Pearl asked.

"It's about Adrien," Ladybug replied. She noticed the vexed look on the visitors' faces and clarified. "The boy in the pictures. He-he's in my class. At school."

Stars formed in Steven's eyes. "School?! You go to school?! Can I go with you?"

"How would I explain you to my teachers and classmates?" the polka-dotted superheroine asked.

"You also need to consider the possibility that Cat Noir would see you with him," Master Fu added.

"And that would also involve telling you who I am," Ladybug interjected.

Steven's face fell. "Ok. I understand."

"How does you knowing the boy in the pictures help us?" Pearl asked.

"I-I'm not sure," Ladybug responded. "I just felt like I should tell you. I mean it's not like I can go up to him and be all like, 'Hi, I'm Ladybug and I need you to get me and my partner Cat Noir in to see your father so a group of inter-dimensional travelers can talk him about this pain they felt.' I can't even talk to him normally in school." The blue-haired girl put her head down as she put her hand on her forehead.

"Why?" Amethyst asked.

Ladybug stood there with wide eyes. What was she supposed to tell them? That she had a massive crush on him and couldn't talk to him without stuttering or mixing up her words? "It's . . . personal," she finally said after a few minutes.

"You like him!" the purple gem exclaimed.

Ladybug felt the heat rising to her cheeks and quickly tried to suppress it. "What?! Well, yes as a friend. I mean he's way too cool for me."

Amethyst looked at the bluenette with squinty eyes. "Uh-huh."

"Honestly, I don't understand the whole secret identity thing in this dimension," Pearl interjected. "We don't have this on our Earth. Everyone in Beach city knows who we are and that we protect the Earth from Homeworld's attempts to destroy it."

"When I first met Connie, I accidentally trapped us in a bubble," Steven continued. "So right away she knew about my magical powers. And she still wanted to hang out with me. And now she's become a part of our team. Pearl's been teaching her sword fighting. And we fuse into Stevonnie. And she goes on missions with us."

"Wait," Ladybug interrupted. "Connie? And you can make bubbles?"

Steven blushed. "She's my best friend. And making bubbles is one of my powers. I have better control over it now than I did back then."

The pig-tailed girl had a brief flashback to that time she and Cat Noir got trapped in a bubble when Nino was akumatized into the Bubbler. "So do you all have powers then?"

"Yes," Garnet replied. At that, each gem summoned his or her weapon from his or her gem: Pearl had a spear; Amethyst, a whip; Garnet, a pair of gauntlets; and Steven had a shield. And that was when Ladybug saw the gem where Steven's belly button was supposed to be.

"Wait a minute," Ladybug said. "So Steven you're a gem, too?"

"Well, I'm half gem," he responded. "My dad fell in love with Rose Quartz, and together they made me. But she had to give up her physical form to do it."

"Oh," the polka-dotted superhero replied as her face grew soft with sympathy.

"It's Ok," Steven said. "You don't need to feel sad for me."

"It's not that," the pig-tailed girl said, "it's just that . . . you remind me of someone."

The group sat in awkward silence for a minute until Ladybug broke it. "I should probably get going now."

"Wait," Steven said. "Before you go, can I meet your kwami?"

"What?!" the polka-dotted superheroine exclaimed.

"We talked a lot last night after you and Cat Noir left," Master Fu interjected. "I told them all about miraculouses, Hawkmoth and akumas, and they told me about their powers and missions."

"Wayzz is so cute!" the half-gem boy continued. "I mean he's very wise, but he's also cute. I wanna see if yours is just as cute."

Ladybug looked at the Great Guardian. "Who would they tell?" he asked. "And who would come after them? The safety issue is not a factor here."

The bluenette looked at her feet.

"They don't know you," Master Fu said. "But it is your decision."

Ladybug closed her eyes and heaved a breath. "Her name is Tikki." She released her transformation to show the Crystal Gems Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Tikki floated out of her earrings.

"She's even cuter than Wayzz!" the black-haired boy exclaimed.

"Hi, Steven," Tikki waved as she floated up to him. "It's nice to meet you. And your friends here."

"Yo," Garnet said.

"And who are you?" Amethyst asked the now mask-less girl standing in front of them.

"M-Marinette," she replied. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng." The pig-tailed girl extended her hand out. "It's nice to meet you all."

Pearl just looked at Marinette confusedly. "We've already met you."

"Oh," the bluenette responded softly. "Right."

"Hey," Amethyst said, "are you alright?"

Marinette squinted her eyes and gave a big grin. "I’m fine."

Amethyst crossed her arms and squinted her eyes at the pig-tailed girl.

"I really should be going," Marinette said. “Tikki!”

The red kwami flitted away from Steven and into Marinette’s open purse. Before her chosen could close the purse, Tikki popped her head out. "Bye! I hope to see you guys again!"

Marinette closed her purse and waved bye to the Crystal Gems. She opened the door and walked out of the massage parlor only to bump into someone on the way out.

"Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry." The bluenette looked up, and her heart dropped as she saw who she had bumped into. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks. "A-Adrien!"

The blond boy smiled at her as he clutched his bag with one hand, and Marinette almost melted. "It’s Ok, Marinette. I was just . . ." he scratched the back of his head, "coming to get a massage. I hear this guy is really good at them. And I can practice my Chinese with him."

"Oh, really? Me, too! I mean I was coming to get a massage not practice my Chinese after my Chinese lesson. Cause I don’t take Chinese lessons, but maybe I should so I can talk to my mom’s side of the family. Uh heh heh heh heh heh heh."

Adrien’s mouth hung slightly open. "Uh . . . right. Well, I guess I’ll see you in school tomorrow."

"Right! Tomorrow! School! See you!"

Marinette walked out of the massage parlor and headed home to wallow in her embarrassment.

 Adrien was surprised to find the Crystal Gems sitting out in the open with Master Fu.

"Ah! Hello, Cat Noir," the old man said. "It’s nice to see you again."

All four Crystal Gems’ mouths dropped to the floor.

Adrien waved shyly. "Hi Master Fu."

"You’re Cat Noir?" Steven said. "You’re, you’re the boy in the pictures."

The model shrugged and gave a small smile. He let Plagg out of his hiding space in his shirt. "Uh, yeah, that’s me. That’s actually why I’m here."

"Hey," Steven interrupted, "you just missed Lady-–"

Garnet slapped her hand over Steven’s mouth.

"What?!" Adrien exclaimed. She must have left before Marinette had gotten there. "She was here!?"

"That’s not important," Garnet said. "What’s important is why you’re here now."

"Oh, right," the blond boy responded. "I thought I should take Steven to my house so we can sneak into my father’s office."

"And then I can get a look at it to see if it’s the place I saw when I went into him," Steven continued.

"Steven wouldn’t look nearly as conspicuous as us," Pearl interjected.

"It sounds like an excellent plan as long as you and Ladybug are right," Master Fu said. "If you are wrong, how are you going to explain how you know to her without telling her who you are?"

Adrien rubbed the back of his head. "I hadn’t really thought about that. I’m sure I can think of something."

Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Here we go with the secret identity complications again. Man, this would be so much easier if you guys just knew who each other was."

The model’s face grew somber. "I agree with you; I really do. But I have to respect her wishes or she’ll never trust me enough to tell me." He turned to Master Fu. "Do you think she ever will?"

"Trust you?" the Great Guardian responded.

Adrien nodded.

"You are looking for the wrong thing, young Agreste. She already trusts you completely. With her life, even. What you need to ask yourself is, ‘What is holding her back from telling you?’ When you figure that out, then you will know what to do."

"And how do I figure that out?"

"Start with your own feelings on the subject. As eager as you are to tell her your identity, I know you have your own hesitancies. Examine yourself, and you will understand her better."

"You should also foster atmosphere of honesty with her," Garnet interjected, "without telling her more than she would want to know. But it’s clear you’re holding some things back from her, too. If you start to tell her some of those things, she’ll open up to you about why she doesn’t wanna tell you."

Adrien raised an eyebrow at the magenta gem. "How do you know all this?"

"Garnet has future vision," Steven replied ominously.

"Maybe I can have a talk with her," Amethyst said. "I think we might be similar. And I have a pretty good guess on why she doesn’t wanna tell you."

"Why won’t anyone tell me what’s holding her back?" Adrien asked. "Whatever she’s struggling with, I wanna help her."

"Because she needs to be the one to tell you," Garnet responded. "If we told you what we think the problem is, it would violate her trust in us. And possibly you, too."

The model grew somber again. "Oh."

"All Ladybugs and Cat Noirs reveal themselves to each other eventually," Master Fu said. "But every pair is different. They all happen differently, but in each when only both are ready to do so. It has only been in a few rare circumstances where necessity has dictated they know each other’s identities. Have patience, Adrien; you will find her. But only when she is ready to tell you."

Half of Adrien’s mouth cracked a small smile. "Thanks, Master Fu." At that moment, Adrien’s phone buzzed in his bag. He grabbed it, and his eyes grew wide at what he saw. He looked at Steven. "Looks like that visit is gonna have to wait. Duty calls."

"Awww," Plagg groaned. "But I haven’t had any cheese in a whole hour. How do you expect me to power you like this?"

'You’ve had plenty of cheese," the blond retorted. "Now, let’s go. Plagg, claws out!"

The gems watched as Adrien transformed into Cat Noir. "I’ll be back after we’ve purified the akuma." He gave a two-fingered salute and reached for the baton on his back as he headed out the window.

"Do they really not see it?" Amethyst asked.

"People only see what the want to see," Master Fu replied. "They’ll come to the truth eventually."

Steven looked at the gems with stars in his eyes. "Don’t you get it?"

"Get what, Steven?" Pearl responded.

"They’re in love with each other and they don’t even know it!"

Chapter Text

Melodie Beaulieau walked off the stage of Incredible Talent and stormed out the door of the studio, her black dress ruffling around as she went.

"Stupid judges," she said as she moved her red hair from over her shoulder careful of her white hairclip with two eighth notes. A pout formed on her freckled face."They wouldn't know talent if it hit them. I was flat? What does that even mean?"

She continued to grouse as she started her walk home.

 The large, circular window into Hawkmoth's lair opened.

"Ah! Another losing contestant in one of those singing talent shows," the masked man said. "Feelings of rejection and humiliation. Perfect prey for my akuma."

Hawkmoth summoned a white butterfly to his black, gloved hand. He covered it with his other hand and infused it with dark energy. He released the now black-purple butterfly and waved it off with his cane.

"Now go, my little akuma, and evilize her!"

Melodie was so distracted as she walked down the sidewalk that she didn't notice the black butterfly attach itself to her hairclip. The purple outline of a butterfly lit up around her face.

"Songbird," a voice spoke to her. "I am Hawkmoth. I can give you the power to make sure everyone knows what a great singer you are. In exchange you must get me the miraculouses. What do you say?"

Melodie grinned. "Yes, Hawkmoth."

The purple and black smoke enveloped Melodie. Seconds later a girl wearing a white dress with and eighth note in the middle emerged. Her skin had been turned lavender, and a black domino mask with legs coming out from the bridge of her nose adorned her eyes. Her dress had musical staves at each hem with various notes all over them. Matching white boots covered her feet.

Songbird looked around the street and sang a double high C. As she sang, sound waves came out of her mouth and shattered the glass in every building she aimed her mouth at. People on the street covered their ears in pain. She turned around and made her way toward Le Trianon.

"Paris will know what a great singer I am," she said as she walked down the streets.

She didn't get very far before Ladybug jumped down in front of her. "I think Paris already has an idea of what kind of a singer you are."

"Everyone will see how great I am once you get out of my way and give me your miraculous," Songbird snarled.

"Look around," the superheroine retorted. "People are covering their ears. I'd hardly call that great."

"Why you little--"

"Ladybug may be many things, but she's not a little anything." Cat Noir jumped down beside his partner.

Songbird opened her mouth and sang a high F. The duo braced themselves as the note created a whirlwind that blew them back.

Cat Noir smirked at his partner. "And I thought you were the only one that could blow me away."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Can we focus on the task at hand please?"

"Right. Where do you think the akuma is?"

"Are you two done chit-chatting yet?" Songbird interrupted. "I have a competition to win. Now give me your miraculous!"

Ladybug straightened her stance. "When has that ever worked?"

"Time for some recon?" Cat Noir asked.

Before Ladybug could answer, Songbird turned her head toward the ground. She sang a low D, and the ground beneath her sound waves shook. As she moved her head toward the superhero duo, the mini-earthquake moved with her mouth.

It only took a brief glance at each other before the superheroes knew what to do. They jumped in opposite directions, each aided by their respective weapons.

"Looks like this one's gonna be a tough one," the black cat said.

"Ladybug! Cat Noir!"

The duo turned around to see the Crystal Gems behind them, each in their own individual attack stances, except for Steven who was trying to catch his breath. The two made their way over to the group.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ladybug said.

"We came to help," Amethyst replied.

"Your timing couldn't be more purr-fect," Cat Noir said. "This one's a doozy."

"Did he just make a pun?" Pearl asked.

Ladybug deadpanned. "Get used to it."

At that moment, another earthquake came toward them. Everyone in the group quickly jumped in different directions.

"So how do we beat this thing?" Amethyst yelled to the group.

"We need to figure out where the akuma is and then get the object off her so we can break it," Cat responded.

"And once it comes out," Ladybug continued, "I purify it."

"Wait!" Steven asked. "So there's a person inside there?"

"The short answer is yes," Cat Noir responded.

"So we can't hurt the  human," Pearl reasoned. "That makes things a little more difficult."

"But not impossible," Garnet interjected. "Find the infected object; break it; purify the akuma; don't hurt the human. Got it!"

"Everybody fan out!" Ladybug yelled at the group.

The group followed the superheroine's directions and proceeded to take a different spot around Songbird. They had virtually surrounded the akumatized girl, each in their own attack position. She sang a high F again as she turned in a circle, pointing her whirlwind at each of her assailants, one by one. As the whirlwind came around, each hero jumped back and out of the way. First Pearl, then Garnet, followed by Amethyst, then Cat Noir, and then Ladybug. Steven opted to make a bubble around himself instead of jump, which seemed to do the trick.

It was as Steven lowered his bubble that he noticed the item in her hair. "Her hair clip!" he shouted. "It's the only thing on her person that seems to be normal."

Ladybug and Cat Noir exchanged glances. They took a quick inspection of Songbird and knew Steven was right.

"We need to regroup!" Garnet shouted.

Everyone else ran toward Garnet.

"What are you thinking?" Cat Noir asked.

"All of her attacks are range," Ladybug said. "We need a way to get in close enough to get the hair clip off, without her blowing us back." Ladybug looked at her partner, and he knew exactly what she was thinking.

But the gems didn't.

Pearl turned to Ladybug. "Maybe if you make a whirlwind with your yo-yo, it'll counteract her whirlwind."

Ladybug furrowed her eyebrows under her mask. "I don't know if I can do that."

"I know someone who can," Garnet smiled.

Steven and Amethyst looked at each other and locked hands. Ladybug and Cat Noir shielded their eyes from the light that came from the fusion. After if faded, Smoky Quartz stood in front of them again.

"Heya," she said. "I hear someone needs a little help with a yo-yo." Both of Smoky's gems glowed as she reached for them with her one-handed arm and pulled out a yo-yo that was almost as big as her.

Ladybug and Cat Noir thought they were done being surprised the tricks up these Crystal Gems' sleeves. Boy were they wrong.

"Do you think your little melding trick can stop me?" Songbird bellowed.

"It's called 'fusion!'" Garnet retorted.

"It doesn't matter what it's called," Songbird said. "It's not gonna keep me from getting the miraculous."

"Well, if it's something miraculous you want," Smoky quipped, "allow me to show you a three leaf clover." The fusion threw her yo-yo in a three-leaf clover which she used to wrap around Songbird three times. Ladybug couldn't help but be impressed with her command of her weapon.

Cat Noir looked at his partner and grinned. "Aw, our little baby's all grown up and fighting akumas."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "This is hardly the time for your shameless flirting, Cat."

The superhero's ears went flat against his head.

Songbird raised her head toward the sky and sang a double-high C again. The group immediately covered their ears. As hard as she tried to hold Songbird captive, Smoky Quartz just could not concentrate on keeping her tied up with that painful sound ringing through her ears. As the yo-yo flung back to her she concentrated on making sure it didn't hit anyone else.

As soon as she was free, Songbird stopped singing and began to make her way toward the group, the outline of a purple butterfly lit up around her face. Pearl summoned her spear and jumped in front of Ladybug and Cat Noir, ready to attack at any moment.

The polka-dotted superheroine put her hand on Pearl's shoulder. "You can't hurt her."

"I turned against my own kind for all life on this planet," the white gem responded. "But I am prepared to defend you. You do have what she wants, right?"

Ladybug and Cat Noir both nodded their heads.

Songbird let out another low D as she pointed the mini-quake in the direction of the group. Garnet summoned her gauntlets, flipped in front of the group, and slammed her fist into the ground, effectively stopping the path of the quake.

Frustrated, the possessed girl sang another high F pointed directly at the group.

"Pearl! Garnet!" Smoky Quartz shouted. Pearl and Garnet immediately jumped to the side as Smoky created her own whirlwind with her yo-yo. Pearl's hypothesis was correct: the whirlwind from Smoky Quartz's yo-yo met with Songbird's, and the two stalled each other.

"You have got to show me how you do that," Ladybug said to the mauve gem.

 "Just because you can stop my attacks doesn't mean you can stop me," the akumatized girl bellowed.

"She has a point," Garnet said.

"I think I know what we need now," Ladybug said. She threw her yo-yo in the air and called out, "Lucky Charm!"

Ladybugs swirled around the superheroine's yo-yo as the lucky charm materialized. When it settled, a large, red and black polka-dotted jar of mayonnaise fell down into her hands. "A jar of mayonnaise. What am I supposed to do with this?"

"You gonna make a sandwich?" Cat Noir asked.

"I prefer to slurp the spaghetti," Smoky chimed in as she "slurped" her yo-yo string up to her mouth.

"How is a jar of . . . whatever that is going to help us?" Pearl interjected.

"I'll figure it out," Ladybug said.

Songbird sang a middle G, and sonic waves emanated from her mouth causing the group to disperse in various directions, Ladybug and Cat Noir spinning their weapons into shields.

"Did that note sound flat to you?" Cat Noir asked.

"Stop saying that!" Songbird screamed.

The superheroine looked around as she tried to figure out what to do with the mayonnaise. First Pearl's spear lit up, then Cat Noir, then Garnet's gauntlets, then Smoky Quartz's yo-yo, and finally Songbird's hair clip.

"Pearl!" she shouted. "Do you know how to play baseball?"

"You mean that game where you have to run around the square?"

"Yes!" Ladybug responded. "Get ready."

Pearl nodded.

"Cat Noir!" she shouted. "You, too!"

The black-clad superhero raised his hand in the air. "Cataclysm!" he shouted as orbs of black light circled around his hand and then settled in his palm as he closed his hand on them.

"Whatever your planning isn't going to work," Songbird bellowed.

"Pearl!" Ladybug yelled as she threw the mayonnaise to her. Songbird turned toward the white gem prepared to sing a note. But before she could, Pearl hit the jar with her spear right toward her. The akumatized girl ducked as Cat Noir jumped over her head, putting his right hand on the jar's cover. It dissipated, and right as the jar was over her head, Garnet sprang up and hit the bottom of the jar with her gauntlet causing mayonnaise to splatter over the akumatized girl's head.

The group watched as the hair clip started to slip out of Songbird's hair. Smoky Quartz swung her yo-yo and hooked it onto a nearby street lamp. She lifted herself off the ground and swung over songbird grabbing the hair clip out of the possessed girl's hair.

"Ladybug! Catch!" Smoky shouted as she tossed the hair clip to Ladybug.

The superheroine caught the hair clip with ease and threw it on the ground. She stomped on it, and the group watched as the the small, black butterfly flew out of the broken hair clip. Ladybug traced her index finger along the middle of her yo-yo, opening it up and dropped the yo-yo to the ground.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma," she said. She swung the yo-yo around and around in different directions. "Time to de-evilize!" she shouted as she threw the yo-yo out, catching the akuma. "Gotcha!" she called out as she pulled the yo-yo back to her. She pressed her index finger on the yo-yo as if pushing a button, and the weapon opened releasing a white butterfly. "Bye bye, little butterfly," she said as said butterfly flitted away.

She grabbed the now empty jar of mayonnaise and threw it into the air yelling, "Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybugs swarmed the city, magically restoring everything to the way it was before Songbird had attacked.

Said girl collapsed to the ground as the purple-black smoke enveloped her returning her back to normal. Melodie Beaulieau sat up and looked at her hands. "What happened? Where am I?"

Ladybug and Cat Noir held their fists up for their traditional celebratory "Pound it," but then they noticed the Crystal Gems standing there. They turned to them and put their fists side-by-side.

"Pound it?" Ladybug asked.

"Pound it," Garnet said as she put her fist beside Cat Noir's.

"I'm not familiar with this ritual," Pearl said.

"I think it's a five-way pound it," Smoky responded. "Just put your fist in." Smoky put her fist next to Garnet's.

Pearl furrowed her brow for a minute, then formed her hand into a fist and put it into the space between Smoky Quartz's and Ladybug's. "Pound it," she said. 

Chapter Text

"Ladybug! Cat Noir!" Reporters swarmed the group with questions.

"Who are these people that helped you today?"

"Are they superheroes, too?"

"Are these the same people we saw in the seventh arrondissement yesterday?"

Garnet stepped forward. "We. Are the Crystal Gems."

"They're visiting," Ladybug interjected.

"From where?" Nadja asked.

"Beach City," Smoky Quartz responded.

"Where is that?" another reporter asked.

The gems exchanged confused looks with each other. Smoky Quartz just shrugged.

"The United States?" Cat Noir asked, looking at the gems.

"Yes," Pearl consented. "The United States."

"What brings you to Paris?" Alya asked.

"We're . . ." Garnet answered, "investigating something."

"What?" another reporter asked.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The group could not have been more relieved to hear the beep of Ladybug's earrings. She knew that Cat Noir would not be far behind her.

"Sorry folks," the polka-dotted superhero said. "We gotta bug out."

Ladybug threw her yo-yo up until it grabbed onto something, grabbed Pearl and swung up onto the rooftops. Cat Noir extended his baton and did the same with Garnet. Smoky threw her yo-yo up and swung off with the rest of the group.

Once they were close to Master Fu's massage parlor, the group dropped down to an alleyway. Smoky Quartz unfused leaving Steven and Amethyst standing in her place. There was some more beeping as Ladybug dropped down to two spots, and Cat Noir went down to three pads.

"Can you take it from here?" the superheroine asked the Crystal Gems.

Garnet gave her a thumbs up. "We got it."

"I'll see you guys tomorrow afternoon." Ladybug threw her yo-yo up onto the rooftops and swung off.

Cat Noir waited until Ladybug was out of sight before he started to talk. "If you know the the way, it might be best if I take Steven straight to my house from here. It'll be easier to sneak him in while I've still got my powers."

"Sounds like a plan," Garnet consented.

The black-clad superhero crouched down so Steven could climb on his back. Once the half-gem boy was secure he extended his baton and vaulted off. Cat Noir got to his room with seconds to spare; as soon as he landed and Steven jumped off his back, the last pad on his ring blinked out releasing his transformation.

The tired Plagg flew out of his ring and drifted over to Adrien's bed. "Cheese," he moaned.

The model went over to his desk and pulled out some Camembert for his kwami while Steven looked around Adrien's room with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

"Yeah, Nino had the same reaction," Adrien said as he opened the tin of rancid cheese.

"Aw, that stinks," Steven said pinching his nose and wafting the air in front of him.

"It's the only thing he eats," Adrien responded as he turned toward Plagg. "You'll be OK for a few while we go check out Father's office, right?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," the kwami responded.

The blond walked to the door and motioned for Steven to follow him. As the half-gem walked to the door, Adrien peeked out to make sure no one was coming.

"Coast is clear."

The boys sneaked out of the model's room, through the hallway and down the stairs. Steven stopped on the landing when he noticed the gigantic portrait of Adrien and Gabriel.

"It looks . . . kinda . . . sad," the black-haired boy said.

Adrien's face fell. "Yeah. Father commissioned it after Mom disappeared."

"Oh." Steven fell silent.

The two boys shared a brief moment of somber silence before they moved on.

"Father's office is this way," the model said as he walked down the stairs, the half-gem following behind him.

He peeked in one of the office doors to make sure his father wasn't in. When he saw the office was empty he went inside and had Steven follow him. While Adrien kept guard at the doors, the black-haired boy took a look around the room. He stopped when he got to the portrait of Adrien's mother.

"That's definitely the portrait I saw," he said.

"So this is the room you saw when you went into someone?" Adrien questioned.

"Yeah, this looks like it."

"Then it must have been Father or Nathalie."

"Whoever it was, was making patterns."

"Father." Adrien peeked out the door. "We gotta get you back up to my room so I can get you back to Master Fu's. Hopefully Plagg will have eaten enough to be recharged."

They sneaked back up to Adrien’s large bedroom.

"So . . . what happened to your mom?" Steven asked as the blonde boy went to check on his kwami.

The model’s head fell. "We – we don’t really know. She left one day saying she was going to meet an old friend and never came back."

"How long has it been?"

"It’ll be a year next week."

Steven walked over to Adrien’s bed and sat down. "Well, at least you got to spend some time with her."

The blonde boy’s head shot up, and he grimaced at Steven. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

Steven’s mouth formed a small "o" as his eyes widened a little. He regained his composure and replied. "It’s just, my mom gave up her physical form to make me. We can’t exist at the same time. So I’ve never even met her. All I know is what my dad and the gems tell me. And . . . well . . . there’s a certain amount of censorship in their stories. They tend to leave out the bad stuff and like to portray her as this perfect being. It’s only been in the past year that I’ve begun to get a whole picture of who Mom really was."

Adrien relaxed his grimace into a more serious expression. "Oh. Well, I’m sorry, then."

The half-gem smiled. "It’s actually kind of refreshing to know she wasn’t perfect. Especially when it feels like everyone wants me to live up to her legacy."

"The pressure to be perfect. I know that one all too well. The only time I can be myself is when I’m Cat Noir." There was a moment of silence before Adrien spoke up again. "At least you know what happened to her. The hardest thing about my mother is not knowing if she’s dead or alive, or even where she is."

Steven quirked an eyebrow at his new-found friend then brought it down. "I can see that, but I would give just about anything to have some time with my mom. And at least with your mom, there’s a possibility that she can come back. Even though I have my mom’s gem, I don’t think there’s a possibility of her coming back."

"I guess I should appreciate that I got to spend some time with her and cherish that."

"I think I need to appreciate that while I may never get to know her, at least it’s clear what happened to her."

The boys looked at each other, smiled, and then leaned into each other for a quick sympathetic bro hug.

"I think Plagg has eaten enough to be recharged," Adrien said as he got up from the bed.

Steven nodded as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"What are you working on?" Tikki asked as she hovered over Marinette’s shoulder. Her chosen was sitting at her desk drawing furiously in her sketch pad.

"The Crystal Gems inspired me," the pig-tailed girl responded. "I’m drawing out some designs based on their looks."

The kwami peeked over her chosen’s shoulder and eyed the design she was currently working on. It must have been inspired by Garnet: a shirt with puffy short sleeves and stars on each puff on top of a pin-striped pencil skirt with stirrup leggings underneath. The hands were adorned with gloves that went halfway up the forearm and only covered the middle finger of each hand.

"That’s good," Tikki said. "If only you had time to make it for her before she left."

"Yeah," Marinette sighed.

It was then that she heard a thud on the balcony above her. As Tikki flew away to hide, the aspiring designer ran up the stairs to her loft and then up the ladder through her trapped door.

She almost immediately went into attack mode when she saw a short figure clad in a long, black coat and matching hat who was putting away a purple whip.

"Who are you?" the secret superhero demanded.

"Relax," a familiarly raspy voice said as the figured shed her coat and hat. "It’s just me."

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief as she relaxed her body but then quickly got confused. "Amethyst? What are you – How did you know – ?"

"Master Fu told me where you live," the purple gem replied.

"How does he –," she lowered the tone of her voice, "of course, he would be keeping his eye on me. It sounds like a Guardian thing to do. We should go down into my room before anyone notices you’re here."

Amethyst followed Marinette down the ladder and stairs to her room. About halfway down, the pig-tailed girl tripped and went flying face down her stairs.

The white-haired gem ran after her and began to help her up. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I’m fine," the bluenette said as she got up. "You’d be surprised how often this happens."

Marinette motioned to her desk chair. The purple gem sat down as her hostess pulled over another desk chair.

"What’s this?" the white-haired gem asked pointing to the picture in Marinette’s sketch pad.

"Oh, it’s a design I’m working on."

Amethyst’s eyebrow went up. "Design?"

"Um, yeah," the pig-tailed girl replied. "I wanna be a fashion designer."

"Like design clothes and stuff?"

Marinette nodded.

"This one looks kinda like Garnet."

"Oh, good. That’s what I was going for. You guys inspired me."

"Maybe you could design my next regeneration."

Marinette quirked an eyebrow. "Regneration?"

"When gems get really hurt in battle, we retreat into our gems and create a new body," Amethyst explained. "Certain things stay the same, but our clothes become a little different."

"So you never change your clothes? Even when you sleep?"

"Gems don’t need to sleep. But I do sometimes because it’s fun."

Marinette crinkled her eyebrows. "So what are you doing here?" she asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"I thought we could hang out. Do you have Lonely Blade here?"

"Lonely Blade?"

"It's a movie franchise," Amethyst answered, "with a video game series to go with it."

"Well, I've never heard of a movie called Lonely Blade, but it you want a video game,” the bluenette pulled out two video game controllers, “I am the Ultimate Mecha Strike champ."

The purple gem crinkled one of her eyebrows. "Ultimate Mecha Strike?"

"It's a game where you play as one robot against another. And when you win you get items which you can then use to gain XP and level up."

"Sounds interesting," the white-haired gem grinned putting her hand out for a controller. "Champ, huh? We’ll just see about that."

Marinette handed Amethyst a controller and loaded the game on her computer.

"Of course you would choose the ladybug one," the purple gem remarked as she finally settled on R2D3.

"For your information, I was using this avatar before I got my miraculous." She turned to her opponent, squinted her eyes and smirked. "You ready to get your butt kicked?"

"Oh, it’s on!"

The two new-found friends played furiously both with looks of sheer determination on their face. Amethyst put up a good fight, but Marinette pulled out her combo at the last minute and won.

The white-haired gem looked at the computer screen as her mouth hung open. "What just happened?"

The game champ smirked a little more smugly. "You just got beat, Marinette style!"

"Best two out of three!" the purple gem declared.

"It’s your funeral," the bluenette responded.

They played again. And again. And again. And again. Marinette won every time, and every time, Amethyst demanded a rematch.

"C’mon," the gem whined at one point. "I just started learning this game. Can’t you go easy on me?"

"My dad didn’t go easy on me, and that’s how I got so good."

Amethyst looked Marinette dead in the eyes. "I respect that."

They played a few more times until the white-haired gem put down her controller. "I give up," she pouted.

"I’d let you use my good luck charm, but I lent it to a friend."

The purple gem looked at her new-found friend and puckered her lips and crinkled her eyebrows.

"What?" the bluenette asked.

"I can see why Master Fu chose you to be Ladybug."

Marinette sighed and lowered her head. "Really? ‘Cause sometimes I can't."

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you remember when we first came in and I tripped down the stairs?"

Amethyst nodded.

"That happens a lot." The pig-tailed girl grew somber. "In fact, the first time I transformed, I was still getting used to my yo-yo and I kind of fell out of the sky right on top of Cat Noir. I ended up getting us tangled so that we were hanging upside down in the string."

The white-haired gem sighed and matched her expression to her friend’s. "I’m a quartz," she started.

Marinette crinkled her brows.

"I’m supposed to be bigger than I am, but I came out of my hole 500 years later than everyone else. According to Peridot, that’s why I don’t know what I’m supposed to look like. I didn’t really find out until I started interacting with gems from Homeworld. Peridot was the first one to say so. But then Jasper confirmed it. She called me runt all the time. Steven, Connie, and I had a battle with her, and she poofed me."

"Poofed?"

"It’s that regeneration thing I was talking about earlier. It was tough when Jasper poofed me. If we rush our regenerations too much, we come out all wrong. One time, I came out with feet where my hands were supposed to be. But I needed to get back in time to protect Steven and Connie. By the time I reformed, Steven and Connie had fused, and Jasper was retreating. I spent the next few days in a funk ‘cause I thought I was the weakest gem of the group. So Steven went out of his way to cheer me up. Peri even thought bringing me to the Beta Kindergarten would help. We ran into Jasper there, and I insisted on taking her on myself to prove that I was a strong gem. If I just could’ve held my own against Jasper, I could show the other gems how strong I am."

"And yourself?"

Amethyst pursed her lips. "Yeah. But Jasper was so much better and stronger than me, I didn’t know what I could do. It was then that Steven scolded me told me to stop leaving him out of it. And that was the first time we fused."

"I didn’t understand half of that," Marinette deadpanned.

"Yeah, there’s a lotta complicated gem stuff in there to explain. And it would take a long time to explain it all. The point is, I used to think I wasn’t good enough, and because of that I pushed people away. But it was when I stopped pushing people away and let them in that I discovered where my strength was."

The bluenette sighed and lowered her gaze. "You think I should tell him who I am. You think he won’t be disappointed."

"Didn’t you say that you first met when you tangled the both of you up in your yo-yo upside down?"

The pig-tailed girl smiled at the purple gem. "You wanna know how many times I hit him on the head with it?"

Amethyst returned Marinette’s smile. "He already knows you’re clumsy. That doesn’t change how he feels. He puts on a brave a face, but he doesn’t like the current arrangement."

"Then why doesn’t he say anything?"

"I think he wants to respect your wishes or something like that. Or he’s scared pushing it too much will push you away."

The bluenette leaned her head back. "But by not being honest with him, I’m pushing him away."

The white-haired gem grew uncharacteristically stern. “Trust me on this: you don’t wanna do that."

The pig-tailed girl let out a sigh that blew her bangs up in the air for a few seconds.

"Maybe you should start by telling him about your fears," the purple gem said. "Ya know, little steps."

Marinette looked at Amethyst and cocked an eyebrow. "You mean 'baby steps?'"

"You mean that time when Steven was tiny and helpless? I don’t think he could even walk then."

"Never mind."

They smiled at each other.

"If he is disappointed," the white-haired gem said as she pointed her thumb at the idling Ultimate Mecha Strike III screen on the computer, "just play a few rounds of this with 'im. That oughtta change his mind."

Chapter Text

"Girl, what is with you lately? It's like you don't have any time to hang out," Alya said disapprovingly to her best friend as they walked out of the classroom.

Marinette gave a sheepish smile and shrugged. "I've just got a lot going on right now."

The blogger squinted her eyes. "I'm going to figure out what's going on with you. You do realize that you can't keep anything from me, right?"

The bluenette had to have a mental chuckle at that statement. She'd been doing a pretty good job keeping her double-life a secret from Alya, even despite her best friend's vigor in finding out the secret identities of Paris' favorite superhero duo. But she was starting to get suspicious and had to divert her attention.

"Then it's a good thing I don't," she smiled.

Alya gave a cocky half-smile. "Because you’re unable to lie to me. Seriously, girl, I see right through your excuses."

The pig-tailed girl chuckled. "I suppose that's what makes you a great best friend."

The blogger put her arm around her best friend. "You know it."

They reached the locker room and went their separate ways. As Marinette exchanged out the things she didn't need with the things she did, she overheard Adrien apologizing to Nino about not being able to hang out with him. Something about a photoshoot. She frowned a little when she heard that. Did Adrien ever have time to just be a kid?

After she finished gathering her things, she said her 'byes' to Alya and headed home. When she reached the bakery, she told her parents she would be doing homework in her room and headed up to the house. After she put her stuff down in her room, she let Tikki out of her purse as she headed up to her loft.

"Time to head to Master Fu's?" the kwami asked.

"You got it," her chosen replied. "Tikki, spots on!"

After her transformation finished, Ladybug opened the hatch and climbed up onto the balcony. She threw her yo-yo until it latched onto a chimney and swung off to Master Fu's massage parlor. She was the first of the duo to arrive.

"Welcome back, Ladybug," Master Fu said. "Cat Noir has not arrived yet. I shall go fetch the others and start brewing the tea."

"Thank you."

The superheroine sat on the floor and waited in a silence that was short-lived. Very soon after Master Fu disappeared into the other room, the Crystal Gems walked in.

"Ladybug!" Steven ran over and hugged the pig-tailed girl.

The surprise of the hug combined with Steven's body-weight caused Ladybug to fall backward.

"Oh, sorry," Steven said as he helped Ladybug sit back up. "I guess I didn't realize how excited I was to see you."

"It's OK," the polka-dotted superheroine responded as she sat back up.

"When will Cat Noir get here?" Pearl asked.

"I . . . guess he should be here shortly," the pig-tailed girl responded.

"Talking about me?" the black-clad superhero asked as he came in through the window, grinning.

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "We were just wondering when you were gonna get here."

"Well, here I am," the blond boy responded as he waggled his eyebrows. "Where's Master Fu?"

"He's preparing the tea," Garnet responded.

"Can we get started without him?" Pearl asked.

"I don't see why not," Ladybug responded.

The six of them sat in a circle on the mat, leaving space for Master Fu. Ladybug noticed her partner seemed to be nervously clutching his knee.

"You OK?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

"Yeah," Cat Noir answered hesitantly. "So, yesterday, I managed to get Steven in to Mr. Agreste's office."

"It's definitely the one I saw in my dream," the curly-haired boy interjected.

The pig-tailed girl looked at her partner. "How did you get into Mr. Agreste's office?"

The cat-theme superhero smirked. "I have my ways."

"How did you even know where it was?" his partner pressed.

"Simon Says," he answered hesitantly.

"You were hardly in the mansion for that battle," Ladybug responded. "Honestly, I spent more time with Adrien than I did with you."

Steven chuckled and the duo snapped their attention to the half-gem boy who immediately sat up as straight he could and gave the toothiest smile he could muster.

"The point," Garnet continued, "is that Cat Noir and Steven were able to confirm that we need to talk to Gabriel Agreste."

"I'd feel a little weird just jumping into his window," Ladybug continued. "Like I'm breaking into the Agreste mansion or something."

"But we wouldn't exactly be discrete going up and ringing the buzzer," the blond boy responded.

"If we went in through a window, we have no guarantee that we'd know where we are and how to get to Mr. Agreste's office. Or where we'd find his secretary. I've only been in there once, and I found it dizzying. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to find Adrien's room just from Mr. Agreste's office?"

Amethyst snorted which drew the attention of Ladybug and Cat Noir to her.

"Amethyst!" Garnet immediately snapped.

"Sorry," the purple gem muttered sheepishly.

Master Fu walked in with a tray of tea and began setting a cup in front of each person in the group, except for Ametyst, who got a small plate of the tea bags, and Pearl, who would’ve let it sit and get cold anyways.

“Just trust me M’Lady,” Cat Noir said.

Ladybug leaned in close to her partner and squinted her eyes.

"Ladybug," Master Fu interjected, "has Cat Noir ever given you a reason to not trust him before?"

The superheroine slumped her shoulders in defeat. "No," she conceded. She looked at the cat-themed superhero. "I’ll follow your lead on this one."

The blond boy took his partner’s hand and kissed it. "Thank you, M’Lady."

As the duo got up and headed toward the window, Ladybug turned around to address the Crystal Gems. "We’ll be back when we’re finished there."

"Right," Garnet said as she gave a thumbs up.

The two superheroes jumped out the window and began their run across the rooftops to the Agreste mansion. When they were across the street, they stopped to looked at the windows of the enormous house.

"You asked me to trust you," Ladybug said. "So where are we going in?"

"Follow me," her partner responded.

They moved around to the side of the house as Cat seemed to be scoping out a certain set of windows.

"There!" he said as he pointed to tall window that was slightly ajar.

Ladybug unhooked her yo-yo while Cat Noir grabbed his staff and they vaulted off to swing into the window. The polka-dotted superhero was first into the room followed almost immediately by her cat-themed partner.

"Ladybug! Cat Noir!" a startled female voice cried.

Said superheroine looked up to see that they had jumped right into Mr. Agreste’s assistant’s (Nathalie, was it?) office. How on earth did that mangy cat of a partner of hers manage to be able to find just the right window?

"What are you doing here?" Nathalie continued.

"Ms. Sancouer," Cat Noir replied, "we need to see Mr. Agreste."

How did he know her name?

"I can see if he’s available --"

"Not right now," Ladybug interjected. "Are you familiar with the, uh, visitors, we’ve had in Paris the past few days?"

"Yes," Nathalie replied. "I’ve been following them on the news."

"They need to speak with Mr. Agreste," Cat Noir continued.

"About what?" the assistant asked.

"Well, the boy, Steven," the polka-dotted superhero said, picking up the conversation, "he has this power –-"

"It’s kinda like astral projection," the blond boy interjected.

"And we think he may have astral projected into Mr. Agreste," the pig-tailed girl continued.

Nathalie’s face conveyed a mixture of stun and shock.

"Anyway, they need to speak with him in order to confirm that and possibly talk about a few other things," Cat Noir said.

"So we were hoping we could make an appointment," Ladyug continued.

The assistant pressed the button on her intercom.

"Yes, Nathalie," Gabriel Agreste’s harsh voice came from the other end.

"Sir," the blue-haired woman responded, "Ladybug and Cat Noir are here. They would like to make an appointment for you to see the people that have been visiting Paris the past couple of days."

"The oddly looking people that have been on the news?" the designer responded.

"Yes, sir," Nathalie replied.

"What for?"

"It’s a little hard to explain," Ladybug interjected. "Especially over an intercom, but something happened to them, and the only clue they have right now points to you."

"They’ll explain everything else when they see you," Cat Noir continued.

"It would certainly explain their presence here," Gabriel mused. "Nathalie, please make the arrangements and reshuffle my schedule as you see fit."

Nathalie’s videocom went black as Gabriel hung up. "Is there any time of the day that works better for you?" she asked.

"After three is usually best," Ladybug said.

"My schedule is a little more complicated," Cat Noir confessed sheepishly. "I won’t be free until five the day after tomorrow."

"Hmm," Nathalie mused while looking at the computer screen in front of her. "That’s a necessary meeting with the stockholders. How does Friday at four look?"

Ladybug looked at her partner questioningly.

"Works for me," he said.

"Then it works for me, too," his partner responded.

Cat Noir wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Nathalie. "Would it be possible to send a car to this address? We’re trying to keep their reasons for being here . . . private."

"I’ll see what I can do," the assistant responded.

"Great," Cat Noir said as he gave a two-fingered salute. "We’ll see ya then." He stepped to the side and put his arm out. "After you, M’Lady."

Ladybug walked over to the window promptly followed by her partner. They each jumped out and began the run across the rooftops back to Master Fu’s. They were halfway there when Ladybug stopped.

Cat Noir had to keep himself from falling into his partner due to the sudden stop, but managed to do so without falling on his face. "Bugaboo? Is everything OK?"

Ladybug turned around, her face scrunched up with a fiery determination. "How do you know so much about the Agreste mansion?"

The black-clad superhero looked taken aback. "Wha-what makes you say that?"

His partner put an accusatory finger on his chest. "You knew exactly which window to go in to find Mr. Agreste’s assistant. You even knew her name. What aren’t you telling me?"

The blond boy looked at his feet. He closed his eyes and clenched the fingers of his right hand into a fist. "How did you find out about Master Fu?" he asked softly. "And how long have you been talking to him?"

It was Ladybug’s turn to look taken aback. "What does that have to do with this?"

Cat Noir looked at his partner. "It has everything to do with this. We both have secrets we keep from each other. Maybe one day, we won’t. But until then we just need to trust each other without question."

Ladybug hung her head in defeat. He was right. And she knew it. It wasn’t fair of her to ask him to divulge details of his personal life when she wouldn’t even share any details of hers.

"I’m sorry," she said quietly. "I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business."

Her partner put a hand on her shoulder. "It’s OK. You were curious. We’re both curious. I just hope that one day we won’t be curious anymore. But that day is entirely up to you."

The words of Marinette's conversation with Amethyst the previous day rung in her ears. She was right. He didn't want to admit it, but he really did want to know her, all of her. And she had been pushing him away. But now was not the time to have this conversation.

Ladybug heaved a heavy sigh and then gave her partner a soft smile. "C’mon," she said, "the Crystal Gems are waiting for us."

The duo continued their run across the rooftops back to Master Fu’s massage parlor. When they returned, they informed the group of the appointment.

"Two days," Pearl mused. "I hope time doesn’t move differently in this dimension. What if each day here is a hundred years there? That’s a long time to let Connie, Peridot, and Lapis protect Beach City."

"Connie would be dead by then!" Steven interjected

"Eh, like two hundred years matters," Amethyst responded.

"It does to me!" the half-gem exclaimed.

"That would be a lot of school to catch up on," Cat Noir interjected.

"I don’t go to school," the curly-haired boy responded.

Both superheroes gaped at the Steven.

"So," Cat Noir asked, "are you home-schooled then?"

The black-haired boy shrugged. "Pearl teaches me everything I need to know."

"History?" Ladybug asked.

"We’ve been on our Earth for over 5,000 years," Pearl responded.

"Math?" Cat Noir asked.

"Pearl," Steven replied.

"Literature?" Ladybug questioned.

"That’s more Connie these days," the half-gem answered.

"Science?" Cat Noir inquired.

"What’s that?" the black-haired boy responded.

"The study of how things work," Ladybug replied. "There’s biology, chemistry, physics–-"

"Biology?" Steven asked.

"The study of life and living things," Cat Noir replied.

"Pearl teaches me that," the small boy responded. "What’re the other ones? Physics?"

"It’s the study of movement and forces," Ladybug answered.

"Pearl," the half-gem responded. "Chemistry?"

"The study of how chemicals react with each other," Cat Noir replied.

"Amethyst teaches me that," Steven said.

"It sounds like homeschooling to me," the black-clad superhero said. "A different kind of homeschooling, but homescooling nonetheless."

"Shall we get back to the matter at hand?" Master Fu interjected.

"Oh, right," Ladybug responded. She turned toward the Great Guardian. "I’m sorry to impose. I hope you don’t mind them staying here a few more days."

"It’s not like they can go to Le Grand Paris Hotel," the old man responded.

Steven ran to his backpack and grabbed some things out of it. He held them up to show they were books. "It’s a good thing I brought these."

"I hope you brought some for us, too," Pearl said. "Without the temple, I might get bored. But I suppose we could find a space to do some training."

"That’s perfect!" Ladybug exclaimed. She eyed Steven and Amethyst. "I was thinking of having some yo-yo lessons."

Chapter Text

"Have you checked out the latest battle on the Ladyblog?" Alya asked while laying on Marinette’s chaise looking at her phone.

"I started watching," Marinette lied through her teeth, "but then I got distracted with a new design." That part wasn’t entirely a lie: she was sitting at her desk drawing in her sketch pad as they talked. And she didn’t really need to watch the battle; she’d been there.

She was keeping a close eye on the time. She had plans to meet with Steven and Amethyst later, but she didn’t want to shoo Alya out the door. The journalist was suspicious enough already. The only reason she agreed to hang out with her today was to allay some of those suspicions. Well, she did also miss spending time with her best friend.

"Did you see that they got help in this one?" the blogger asked.

Marinette stood straight up in her chair, but tried not to look as shocked as she felt. "What?! Like new superheroes?"

"Hmmm," the redhead thought for a moment. "Maybe." She walked over to Marinette and brought up the Ladyblog on her computer. She clicked on the video and fast-forwarded it to the end where the heroes were being interviewed.

"We. Are the Crystal Gems," Marinette heard Garnet’s voice reverberate through her computer speakers.

"So?" she asked.

"They’re a group called the Crystal Gems," Alya replied. "I think it might have something to do with those gems they have on their bodies." She navigated to the part of the video where Smoky Quartz summoned her yo-yo. "See? She pulled her weapon out of those gems on her body. They must act as portals to some sort of magical storage space."

"So?" Marinette asked.

"Well, there’s this, too," the redhead responded as she started to pace around Marinette’s room. "They said they’re from Beach City in the U.S., but I couldn’t find a reference to any place like that. Like it doesn’t even exist."

"Maybe they meant a beach city," the bluenette suggested.

Alya stopped pacing, turned toward her best friend and put her hands on her hips. "Where are you from?"

"Paris, France?" Marinette replied.

"Exactly!" the blogger exclaimed, wildly flailing her arms the air. "You didn’t say ‘the capital of France,’ or ‘a northern city in France.’ You said the name of your city. The name of their city is supposedly Beach City, but there isn’t a record of any such city existing."

The designer gave the best exasperated sigh she could muster. "What are you getting at Alya?"

"Maybe they’re not from this world. Maybe they’re from another world."

Marinette cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. "Really, Alya? Another world."

"It would explain their weird appearances. And this nonexistent city they’re from."

The pig-tailed girl tsked. "Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound? Beings from another world coming here for who knows what?"

Alya put one hand on her hip and pointed the other at her best friend. "Do you have a better explanation for all these weird things surrounding them?"

Marinette thought for a moment then sighed and lowered her head in defeat. "No," she muttered. If she was going to throw her best friend off the trail, she knew she needed to come up with a more plausible explanation than what Alya had figured out already. And she didn’t have one. Darn that reporter’s intuition of hers.

"Have you posted this theory on the Ladyblog yet?" the bluenette asked, looking up.

"No," the reporter replied. "Just because I can convince you that this theory is a real possibility doesn’t mean the rest of my followers would believe it. I’d probably lose a lot of followers if I posted this on the Ladyblog. I need proof first."

"Good luck breaking into Area 51," Marinette replied sarcastically.

The redhead gave her best friend a wink. "I’ll get there some day. Just you watch."

Alya didn’t stay much longer after that. Her mom called told her she needed to watch the twins, or as their sister called them, “the twin tornadoes.” Marinette looked out her window until Alya was out of sight. Once her best friend had rounded the corner, the bluenette breathed a slight sigh of relief. Slight because she could get away to see the Crystal Gems without Alya getting suspicious, but Alya was already suspicious of them. And she had no idea how right her theory was.

Marinette knew she was going to have to tell Master Fu about this development, but that could wait for now. As long as an akuma attack didn’t happen and the gems stayed hidden, she didn’t have to worry about Alya doing something drastic like following them back to the massage parlor. Even then, the journalist still respected privacy. Once she realized it was going too far, she would stop.

The pig-tailed girl looked at her clock. "Phew!" she said when she noticed she still had a few minutes before she had to meet Steven and Amethyst. She climbed up to her bed, transformed, and climbed up onto her balcony. She swung her way across rooftops to the Great Guardian’s cover business. She swung in through the window and landed in a crouch.

"Ah! Ladybug," Master Fu greeted. "I shall let Steven and Amethyst know you’re here." He disappeared into the other room while Ladybug stood awkwardly for a few minutes.

Soon the purple gem and the half-gem were joining her in the main room, followed quickly by the Great Guardian.

"I take it you will not be having tea this time," the old man said.

"Um, no," Ladybug replied, "but I do need to tell you about something." She told the three of them her story about her afternoon with Alya and how close she was to the truth.

"Ah, yes!" Master Fu replied. "The savvy reporter."

"Do you think she’ll find a way to prove her theory?" Steven asked.

Ladybug thought for a minute. "In two days? Probably not. She’s headstrong and driven, but not ruthless."

"But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take extra precautions. I’ll go inform Garnet and Pearl," he said as he went into the other room.

"Shall we?" Amethyst asked, motioning to the window.

"I suppose we shall," Ladybug answered heading toward the window.

"Just one second," Steven interjected. He and Amethyst locked hands again and fused into Smoky Quartz.

"Now I’m ready," the fusion said as she pulled out her yo-yo.

They both swung their yo-yos out the window and began their swing across the city. Ladybug found an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the town where they touched down on the roof.

"So whadda you wanna know?" Smoky asked.

"Well, what do you know?" Ladybug responded.

The mauve gem put her finger to her mouth. "That’s a good question. What do I know?" She shrugged. "I guess it all comes naturally to me."

"Like," the polka-dotted superhero responded, "you think of what you need to do and just do it?"

"I guess. I’ve never had time to sit down and actually think about it. Pearl’s the one that trains. But then again, Steven trains, too. So I don’t really know."

Ladybug furrowed her eyebrows. "This is confusing. So you’re Amethyst and Steven together, but you don’t know what they know?"

"Well, I do. And I’m more than the both of them. I guess no matter how much training you have, in the heat of the battle, you just think on your feet."

"I suppose that’s true. I never really train either, I guess. You should’ve seen my first battle. Actually, you shouldn’t have. I was trying to get there, and I didn’t have the hang of my yo-yo, and I ended up crashing into Cat Noir and tangling us both up so that we were hanging upside down from his baton." Ladybug’s eyes immediately went wide as she rushed to cover her mouth.

Smoky smiled at her. "It’s OK. First, I already know that story."

"Oh," the superheroine responded quitely. "Right. Amethyst."

"Second," the mauve gem continued, "We all make mistakes. You shouldn’t be ashamed of that. Now," the fusion started spinning her yo-yo, "where shall we begin?"

The pig-tailed girl put her finger on her chin as she thought for a moment. "How did you do that whirlwind thing?"

"Hmmm. Let me see if I can slow it down." The fusion proceeded to create her whirlwind. She slowed her arm movements in hopes it would slow down the mini-tornado. It worked for a little bit, until the whirlwind stopped and the yo-yo fell flat on the ground.

Ladybug and Smoky both stared at the starred yo-yo on the warehouse roof. Then, as if inspiration had struck, the mauve gem perked her head up and looked at the masked superheroine. "Make your shield."

Ladybug furrowed her brow. "My shield?"

"You know that shield you make when you swirl your yo-yo real fast?"

"Oh," the pig-tailed girl responded. "Like this?" She twirled her yo-yo so it made the shield Smoky had been talking about.

"Yeah," the fusion replied as she started to imitate the superheroine. "Now, I think what you need to do is change the angle so that it makes a cone instead of a circle."

"How do I do that?"

"Make smaller circles with your wrist but keep your speed."

"OK...," Ladybug said hesitantly.

Smoky easily transitioned from a shield to her whirlwind. Ladybug tried to follow suit and almost had it when her yo-yo went limp. She let out a sigh of frustration as she buried her face in her free hand, her fingers going through her bangs.

Smoky put one of her free hands on the superheroine’s shoulder. "You’ll get the hang of it."

Ladybug looked up and smiled at the mauve gem.

"You should see it every time Steven discovers a new power," The fusion continued. "It takes him a while to get the hang of it, and it usually ends up being a little funny watching the trouble he gets into when he discovers it for the first time. You should’ve seen it when he went into Lars."

"How many powers does Steven have?" the pig-tailed girl asked.

Smoky started counting on her left fingers. When she got halfway through her second hand, she stopped. "A lot."

"So do you have them, too?"

The mauve gem put her finger to her mouth. "I don’t really know. When Steven tried to use his healing spit, we ended up unfusing. I’ve never needed more than my yo-yo in battle, so it’s hard to say."

"Since you seem to figure things out in battle, maybe you’ll find out eventually."

"Maybe."

"I think I might know where I messed up in the whirlwind." Ladybug tried again, this time starting directly with the vortex. Her face lit up when she started to create her own whirlwind. "I’m doing it!" the polka-dotted superhero exclaimed. Very shortly after that proclamation, her yo-yo fell flat again.

"You had it for a little bit," Smoky encouraged.

"Yeah," the pig-tailed girl responded. "I just need to not get excited when I do it and keep concentrating. It’ll take some practice, I guess."

The fusion nodded in agreement and then began to inspect Ladybug’s weapon. "Your yo-yo is smaller than mine. I doubt you can use it as aggressively as I do."

The superheroine tilted her head and furrowed her brow at the mauve gem. "What do you mean by ‘aggressively’?"

"Like when I fought Jasper, I delivered some pretty hard blows to her."

"The only person I’ve ever hit with my yo-yo is Cat Noir," Ladybug smiled. "Though he did wince in pain afterwards."

Smoky smiled back at her new friend. "I bet he got a nice bump on the head."

The pig-tailed girl shrugged. "Probably."

"So other than the shield and the grappling hook and all the magic my yo-yo can’t do, how do you use your yo-yo?"

"I use it to tangle and trip and things like that."

"Ah, you’re stealthier with it than I am." The fusion put her finger to her mouth. "I suppose that’s a way I could use it, but it’s not really my style. Have you tried using pillars or buildings to gain leverage with the string?"

"You clearly have more experience with this than me."

Ladybug watched as Smoky threw her yo-yo so that it almost wrapped around a wind turbine and then swung back.

"Your moves are definitely more aggressive than mine," the polka-dotted superhero responded. "But it doesn’t hurt to try it. You never know when a move like that could come in handy."

She threw her yo-yo toward the wind turbine and watched as it just wrapped around the post. Frustrated, she pulled the weapon back to her.

"How do you do that?" Ladybug asked.

Smoky shrugged. "I don’t know. I just think about it happening, and it happens."

"So it’s like telekinesis?"

"I guess."

"I don’t know if I have that kind of connection with my yo-yo."

"It doesn’t hurt to try."

Ladybug closed her eyes for a minute and breathed deeply. Then she opened her eyes and threw her yo-yo out toward the wind turbine again. This time it wrapped almost completely around the post before it swung back around.

"I didn’t have to pull it back to me that time," she said.

"I guess you just have to keep practicing," Smoky responded. "What about yo-yo tricks? Do you know how to walk the dog?"

"How does that work?"

The superheroine watched as the mauve gem threw her yo-yo toward the ground and let it walk spin along the roof for a few minutes before she snatched it back up.

"So you just let it roll along the ground before you pick it back up?" the pig-tailed girl asked.

"Yeah," the fusion responded.

Ladybug tried to walk her dog, but she waited too long to flick her wrist and the yo-yo ended up falling limp. She hung her head in defeat. "The only thing I’ve learned today is that you’re much better at this than me. And you don’t even have to practice or train or anything."

Smoky put a hand on the polka-dotted superheroine’s shoulder. "Things are different with gems. We come out of the ground knowing our purpose and how to fulfill it. Training isn’t really a necessity with us. But you’re a human. You live and grow and change. And that’s how you learn. Were you an Ultimate Mecha Strike champ the first time you played?"

The pig-tailed girl looked at her new friend. "No."

"But you mastered that, and with practice and training, you’ll get this."

Ladybug smiled. "I guess I need to buy a yo-yo."

"Cat Noir? What are you doing here?" Master Fu asked as the cat-themed superhero made his way through the window of the massage parlor.

"Well, I thought since Ladybug was getting some lessons with her weapon, it might be nice if I could have some with mine."

The Great Guardian gave a smug smile. "Jealous, are we?"

The blonde boy startled as his eyes grew wide and his mouth formed an O. "No, I’m not–" He stopped when he noticed Master Fu looking at him with a mixture of amusement and concern. The black-clad superhero heaved his shoulders and let out a sigh. "I guess I’m a little jealous. I mean if she’s gonna learn some things about her weapon, it wouldn’t hurt to learn some things about mine. She’s already so much better than me; I’m just trying to up my game so I won’t get left behind."

The short man smiled at the blond boy. "You underestimate yourself. You do fine with your weapon, and Ladybug values having you as a partner."

Cat Noir hung his head slightly and let the Great Guardian’s words sink in. There had been a few times when Ladybug had said she couldn’t cleanse the akuma without him. But there had also been times where an akuma had controlled him, and he had been utterly useless in the fight.

"Cat Noir and I, we’re an unstoppable team."

The words rang in his head; his Lady did value his partnership. But she was the stronger of the two: the strategist, the purifier, the more agile one.

"But," the Great Guardian’s words shook the superhero out of his thoughts, "practicing with your weapon couldn’t hurt. Where shall we begin?"

"Actually," the blond boy responded, "I was kinda hoping to have some lessons with Pearl."

Master Fu raised his eyebrows. "Pearl?"

"I thought it might be nice to get a gem’s perspective. And since we have similar weapons, I thought Pearl and I would make a good match. I know fencing, but I don’t know how to use a spear."

"Ah, you’re looking to expand your skillset."

Cat Noir rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, yeah."

The Great Guardian got up and headed into the other room. "I’ll go let Pearl know you’re here for her."

Cat Noir shifted his weight nervously between his legs while he waited for Pearl.

‘Why am I nervous? Maybe it’s because of Pearl’s great proficiency with her weapon.’

Pearl emerged from the other room with the Great Guardian. "Master Fu says you’d like some spear lessons."

The superhero nodded. "Yeah."

"But," the white gem hesitated, "you don’t use a spear."

"Well, no, but my baton is pretty versatile. I’ve used it in place of a sword. Who knows? If we ever come up against a spear-wielding akuma, it might be pretty handy to know how to fight with one."

The tall gem smiled. "I can’t say no to that. Let’s get started."

The two of them climbed out the window, and Cat Noir helped Pearl get to the roof.

"Just exactly how far does that thing extend?" the white gem asked.

The black-clad superhero shrugged. "As long as I need it to, I guess."

Pearl tapped her finger on her chin. "Interesting."

They started their run across the rooftops until Cat Noir stopped on top of a warehouse on the other side of the city. Before they could get started, Pearl jumped and spread her legs. As she landed, as her mouth formed an “O”. Both of her hands were equal with her head as the thumb on each held down the middle and ring fingers. She began to make weird noises as she lifted one leg and brought the foot to her knee. As he put the foot back down, leaning in the opposite direction, her hands, now fully opened, moved to surround her gem. The pearl on her forehead glowed, and light emanated from it. And then it seemed that something was coming out of it. A pink fanny pack?

"What is that?" Cat Noir asked.

The tall gem held the item triumphantly in front of her. "It’s the Pearl Prize Pouch!"

The blond boy raised an eyebrow under his mask.

"If you earn enough Pearl Points," the gem explained, "you can pick a prize from it."

"Pearl Points?"

The white gem reached into her fanny pack and pulled out a sticker that looked like her head. "They’re awarded for punctuality, perseverance, and positivity."

"You really like alliterations, don’t you?"

"They do make things more interesting."

"Pearl Points, huh?" Cat Noir cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brows. "You know with all the lessons and work I have, I’ve never been rewarded for any of it. This might be interesting. But can we tone it down a couple of notches?"

"Oh," Pearl responded. "I guess I’m just used to dealing with Steven."

The white gem buckled the fanny pack around her waist and then pulled her spear out of the pearl on her forehead. She held it by her side. "Shall we begin, then?"

The cat-themed superhero took his baton from behind his back. "I guess we shall."

"I suppose the first thing to do is figure out how much you know already."

"Spar?" the blonde boy asked, extending his baton to match the size of Pearl’s spear.

The tall gem nodded. "Spar."

She twirled her spear and landed in a fighting stance while Cat Noir did the same with his baton. They paused for a minute before rushing at each other. Once they were within parrying distance, they locked weapons and then broke apart. Pearl jumped up with her spear at the ready high above her head. As soon as she came down, the superhero blocked her. They both pulled away, Cat holding his baton across him diagonally while Pearl twirled her spear and prepared to advance. She rushed forward holding her spear over her shoulder. As she approached the blonde boy, she brought her spear down again only to have Cat block her and then knock her spear off course with his baton. They lunged and parried against each other until Pearl finally flipped over the superhero, landing behind him with perfect poise. Cat Noir spun around and ducked, twirling his baton into its shield which effectively knocked Pearl’s spear off course again, and almost out of her hand.

"I think that’s enough," the gem said as she straightened up. "You fence?"

"I’ve been taking lessons since I was old enough to hold a sword," the black-clad superhero replied.

"Is that a long time for a human?"

"I guess so. Most of the guys in my fencing club only started last year."

"It’s been a while since I’ve had this much of a challenge. I think that gets three Pearl Points." She held up three fingers.

Cat Noir smiled. "I like this feeling."

"I’ve found that positive reinforcement works wonders." She moved to stand in front of the blond boy. Then she spread her legs and put her hands on her spear, leaning it forward. "Now a spear is different from a sword. It’s wielded best with two hands. So if you imagine you have a blade starting at about," Pearl motioned about a foot and a half down the superhero’s staff, "here, then you can adjust your grip accordingly."

Cat Noir adjusted his grip on his baton so it matched his teacher’s. "Like this?"

“Perfect. Now from here it’s just a matter of moving your arms and legs to block your opponent and attack when you have an opening. And remember

Keep your stance wide
Keep your body lower
As your moving forward
Balance is the key.”

Pearl stopped when she noticed the cat-themed superhero staring at her with furrowed brows.

"Are you . . . singing?" he asked.

"Is that not something that happens here?" the white gem responded.

Cat Noir cocked his head to the side and gave a slight grin. "Only at Christmas."

"Oh. Well, let’s continue. Using your bottom hand bring the spear down toward the ground while bringing the front of the spear forward while bringing your back leg forward."

The student mimicked his teacher’s movements.

"Good. Now do that again, only this time as you move your back foot forward, move your back hand up to meet your front hand."

"So my back hand is gonna move my baton?"

"Right! That’s another Pearl Point!"

The cat-themed superhero did as he was instructed.

"Now I’m going to stand opposite you and do the same thing, but we’re going to stop just before our weapons touch each other’s bodies."

The white gem stood opposite the black-clad superhero, and they thrust their weapons toward each other, baton and spear hitting in the middle with a thud.

"Your goal," Pearl continued, "is to control the center. If you control the center, you control the battle."

Cat Noir looked at the way the spears crossed with crinkled brows. "But right now neither of us is in control. So how do I gain it?"

"Walk in a circle so that you’re putting pressure against my spear."

The black-clad superhero walked forward in a circle applying pressure to his teacher’s spear.

"Good," the white gem responded. "Now, we’re going to do the same thing again, but this time instead of moving, I want you to move your spear above your head and thrust it at me."

They reset and moved their spears toward each other again, this time Cat Noir thrusting his baton above his head toward his teacher. No sooner had he done that than Pearl immediately pushed his baton downwards with her spear.

"What just happened?" the cat-themed superhero asked.

"I gained control," his teacher responded, somewhat smugly. "Now we’re going to do it again, but this time we’re going to switch roles."

They came at each other again, meeting in the center. This time Pearl thrust her spear, and Cat Noir immediately put pressure on it with his baton sending it downwards. But before he could finish, the white gem pulled her spear out from under her student’s baton and twirled it so that the point faced back at the black-clad superhero. Cat Noir’s eyes widened as he grit his teeth.

"If you want to avoid me doing that," the tall gem continued, "you’re going to want to move your spear up before I move my spear up."

"Got it," the black-clad superhero responded.

They practiced the formation again, this time Cat Noir making sure to move his spear up before Pearl did. They continued this exercise, with the teacher upping her speed every time her student caught up with her until it felt almost like a real battle.

They practiced more techniques, formations and exercises like this until they started sparring a little, the superhero using the techniques he’d learned from his teacher. When Pearl noticed the sun starting to set, she stopped.

"You’re a quick study," she said. "Even Connie didn’t learn this fast."

"I guess all those lessons my father made me take really paid off," the blonde boy said.

"As much as I’d love to continue, it’s getting late. I’m sure your father is worried about you."

"If he’s even noticed I’m gone," the boy muttered. He cracked a grin when he noticed his teacher looking at him with furrowed brows. He held his hand out to his side. "Shall I help you back to Master Fu’s?"

"Well, I wouldn’t want to leave you out here by yourself anyways."

Cat Noir put his baton back in its spot above his tail and crossed his arms. "Like I can’t handle myself."

"Safety in numbers. I might also get lost. This is so much bigger than Beach City," Pearl said as she looked out at the buildings surrounding her.

The black-clad superhero walked to stand beside the white gem. "It’s really beautiful at night. Especially the Eiffel Tower. You should try to see it if you get a chance. From a view like this."

"Hmm," she said tapping her index finger on her chin. "Night might be a better time to go out. I’ll have to see if I can take you up on that." She turned toward her student. "Are you ready to head back, then?"

Cat Noir smiled. "Let’s go."

"Adrien was right," Steven said as they gazed out over The City of Lights. "This is really beautiful." He paused for a minute. "I wish Connie could have come."

It took them a while to find a nearby roof with a good view, but when they did, they were awestruck.

"Maybe you can take her to the Paris on our Earth when we get back," Amethyst continued. "I bet it’s just as beautiful."

"You don’t get to see as many stars as in Beach City," Pearl said, "but this is still quite stunning. I wish Rose could be here to see this."

Steven lifted his shirt to look at the gem replacing his belly button as the group fell into an assenting, somber silence. The half-gem frowned a little.

"It’s kind of like this place has its own stars," Amethyst said after a few minutes.

"Especially the Eiffel Tower," Garnet added.

"I really need to give Adrien some Pearl Points for this," the white gem said. "Oh! I never let him pick his prize!"

"Is that why you’re still wearing that pouch?" Amethyst asked.

Pearl startled as she looked down at her waist. "I completely forgot I had this on." She took it off and held it in her hand. "I guess I should put this away until I see Cat Noir again."

It was then that a wind picked up and blew the fanny pack out of her hand and onto the ground below. The Crystal Gems walked over to the edge of the building and looked over. The pink fanny pack was on the ground still in tact.

"I suppose I should go get it," the white gem said as she made her way over to the emergency stairs.

"We’ll wait for you up here," Garnet said.

Pearl walked down the stairs and to the street where her prize pouch had landed. She picked it up and looked toward the roof she had just left. Steven, Garnet, and Amethyst were looking down at her. Steven smiled and gave a thumbs up.

CRASH!!!

Pearl’s eyes widened as her grip on the fanny pack tightened. The gems on the roof looked around frantically then looked down at Pearl.

"Meet us at Master Fu’s," Garnet yelled down to her.

"Right," the white gem nodded.

The gems on the roof disappeared as Pearl hurried down the street. When she was in a slightly more open area, she stopped for another minute to take in the view.

“Oh, Rose,” she said quietly, “I really wish you were here to see this. You would’ve enjoyed this. Sitting here under these lights with you, that would’ve been amazing.

Who am I now in this world without her?
Petty and dull with the nerve to doubt her.
. . .
It’s over, isn’t it?
Why can’t I move on?

Pearl was so lost in the song that she didn’t notice the dark purple butterfly land on her prize pouch.