Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sleep.

A few months after Spinel had left with the Diamonds, Steven was finally getting used to getting a good nights sleep. 

There was nothing like freshly washed sheets, soft and heavy blankets, freshly fluffed pillows and the sweet sea breeze at night to Steven. It was his home. It would always calm his soul. He settled into his bed, switched off the light and started to drift away almost immediately.

In his dream, Little Homeworld was being invaded by watermelon Stevens who needed waffles to bring back to their island. Unphased by dream logic, Steven looked around to find a solution to the odd issue, and Onion appeared on a growing mountain of waffles, holding the replicator Steven had given him so long ago. The watermelon Stevens cheered at him and started taking the waffles to little boats made out of umbrellas and taking them away. Steven panicked though, knowing the smallest of Vidalia’s kids still couldn’t be trusted with the powerful gem device.

“Onion, give that back! You’re still not responsible enough for it!” He shouted. He thought that the replicator was broken, how could Onion possibly have it again? He tried to climb the pile of waffles, but Onion was already running away, replicating random things as he went by. 

Steven jumped off the pile and chased after him, but somehow Onion stayed just ahead of him the whole time. He pushed further but tripped, not paying attention to where he was running. He braced himself to hit the ground, but felt himself falling instead.

 Falling.

Opening his eyes, there was nothing. He was falling through complete darkness, Onion and the replicator out of sight.

As he fell, he started to pass by random things. Mirrors, gem artifacts, MC Bear Bear, Dogcopter. 

Steven stares up at the flying dog and realized this was a dream . Of course it was a dream. The replicator was broken still. He couldn’t exactly do a bunch with that information though, falling through the void.

After some time in the darkness, he saw a faint pink glow coming from below. He slowed his descent and squinted at the light. Eyes widening, he landed gently on a pinkish purple, crystalline floor and realized what he was looking at. Pink Steven. His other self, made entirely of his gem. He gasped, reaching for his gem to check if it was there, and he couldn’t feel it, but he didn’t feel weak at all either. Pink Steven smiled , which shocked regular Steven even more. He reached out hesitantly, and his gem half took his hand and hugged him. Steven stood still, shocked for a second but quickly embraced his other half. 

The hug ended and Pink Steven held out his hands in front of him. Normal Steven tilted his head to the side and watched as a hibiscus flower formed and morphed into a rose in his other half’s hands. 

Eyes shining, Pink Steven handed him the flower. 

“A message.” He breathed. When regular Steven looked up at him again, his gem half hugged him again and they fused back into one. 

Steven sighed in content, happy to be himself again, even if it was a dream. Being two halves of himself would always be an unsettling, somewhat disturbing thing to even think about. He examined the rose in his hands and it bloomed, the scent of roses surrounding him. Visions began swirling around him of various things. Him possessing the watermelon Stevens, possessing Lars, his mom, the bubbled rose quartzes at the human zoo, Pink Diamond making fake shards of herself. All the images swirled together to form a new one.

A Rose Quartz gem rises, but has no light inside. The rose blossom that Steven had been holding gently floated downward, dissipating into light and filling the gem with it. From there, the gem shone and his mother’s Rose Quartz form emerged.

She floated downwards and when she landed, she opened her eyes to look directly at her son. 

Chapter Text

Steven gasped and sprung awake in a cold sweat. He looked around and wiped his forehead dry, catching his breath. His clock said 7:14 AM. Early, but an appropriate time to stay awake. He considered going to the Big Donut to clear his mind and got up to change into his day clothes.

“Good morning Steven!” The gems called when he came downstairs.

“Hey, good morning y’all.” He replied tiredly, smiling a bit in their direction. Pearl and Amethyst gave him a concerned glance and Garnet came up to him, taking off her shades and leaning down to be eye to eye with Steven.

“Steven, you had a dream didn’t you?” She asked softly. Steven glanced down at first but took a deep breath and thought about the dream again before nodding.

“I did. It.. was about Mom.” He admitted. Pearl and Amethyst exchanged a worried glance and came over to sit by Steven and Garnet, both putting a hand on his shoulder in support. 

“Hey, do you always use future vision to check on my mornings?” Steven asked Garnet with a slight chuckle and a raised eyebrow. Garnet smiled and shrugged.

“Sometimes.”

Amethyst gently nudged Steven with her shoulder.

“You okay Ste-man?” She asked, giving an empathetic smile. Steven relaxed a bit and smiled back, happy that no matter what this was, even if it was just a dream, his family had his back about it. 

“I’m alright. But.. I feel like this dream meant something important. I can pretty much tell the difference between Normal Dreams and Magic Dreams at this point.” He explained, running a hand through his hair. Garnet stood up and put her shades back on. Pearl worriedly crossed her arms and tilted her head.

“Do you wanna talk about it, Steven?” She inquired. Steven thought about it for a minute.

“Let me just.. go to the Big Donut and get some food first.” He replied, and the gems all nodded in approval. He gave Garnet a hug and went on his way.

Later on, after distracting himself with donuts and conversing with former Mayor Dewey at Big Donut, he came back home and lounged on the couch, the gems nowhere in sight. A sticky note on the coffee table read “Bismuth called, checking on Little Homeworld, be back in 15 minutes!” with a Pearl Point sticker on it. Steven smiled at it and started to contemplate his dream while on the couch.

The replicator, his ability to possess people's bodies, the bubbles gems in the zoo, an empty gem and his mom. He shut his eyes and envisioned the dream again, playing it back a few times.

Was it just that his mom wanted to be remembered as Rose Quartz? 

No, He thought. The possession part doesn’t fit… 

He sighed and got out his phone to text Connie good morning. Her space camp lasted a few more months. She visited once every couple weeks to make sure there was no trouble, but Steven still missed her when she was gone. He thought about when she kissed him on the cheek as she left for camp and he blushed. 

With a familiar crystalline sound, the gems warped back into the house. Steven sat up and waved.

“Hey again everyone.” He greeted with a smile. They sat together and discussed Little Homeworld and how the new earth gems were starting to integrate with Beach City and the neighboring small towns. Amethyst was clearly one of the most excited out of all of them to socialize with them all. Steven had made a call to the Zoo and scheduled a visit from the ‘Famethyst’ for the following week and she was ecstatic to show them the new homestead on the planet they were made on. She had high hopes that at least a few of them would stay, and the others agreed. Holly Blue was very intentionally omitted from the conversation.

“Are you feeling any better?” Pearl asked delicately once the conversation died down. Steven took a breath and considered his situation. Progress involved examining what he’d been feeling. 

“I feel better but I can’t figure out what it meant. And I don’t know what to think of that because it feels important.” He admitted, looking down at where his gem was. 

“Tell us about it!” Amethyst prompted him, jumping up onto the top of the couch to sit closer to him. He nodded and started to describe the events of the dream, paying special attention to the end part with his other half and his mom, the ‘message’ from his other half.

When he was done, everybody looked somewhat shocked and confused. 

“Steven, I… what I mean is..” Pearl tried to begin saying something but seemed to be unable to complete the thought. She put a hand over her mouth, out of habit. Garnet adjusted her shades and leaned forward where she was sitting, contemplating.

“Maybe it would be best to speak to Connie about it as well. She knows your purely gem half better than any of us.” She suggested. Steven and the others nodded in agreement, Connie had been the only one mentally present in White Diamonds head when she had pulled Stevens gem from him, the others having been under her influence.

“You’re right Garnet. I’ll call her after my trip to Homeworld.” He agreed, quickly cheering up. This would be figured out eventually.

After talks and breakfast, Steven got ready for his monthly visit to Homeworld to see the Diamonds and Spinel. Shortly after they had taken Spinel back to Homeworld, Steven and them had discussed a schedule that worked for them all without White complaining dramatically every other moment. He would spend the last two days of each month with them and stay on earth otherwise, which he could handle. 

He filled his old cheeseburger backpack with an extra change of clothes and a bunch of non perishable food for the trip, then tossed it onto the warp pad.

A knock came from the door before it opened, Greg on the other side.

“Dad!” Steven called, throwing his arms out and a big grin covering his face.

“My son! I’m glad I caught you before you left the planet again.” Greg replied with a chuckle before hugging Steven. After embracing, Steven put his pink jacket on and combed his hair out before stepping onto the warp pad to leave.

“Alright, I have my communicator, call me if there’s any emergencies!” He told everybody firmly. The gems and Greg all nodded. 

“Be careful out there, son.” Greg said softly.

“Agreed!” Pearl chimed in. Steven smiled.

“You know I will.”

 He waved, picking up the backpack. All the gems waved back and Garnet formed a heart with her hands and grinned.

“I’ll be back soon, see you guys!” He said before activating the warp.

“Byeee!” He heard everybody call.

-

Even warping to the gem Homeworld took a few minutes due to it being so far away. You had to go through multiple galaxies, it wasn’t like traveling around Earth with warps which only took moments.

Steven took the time to breathe a bit and prepare. As time went by Steven enjoyed his time on Homeworld more, but it still filled him with unease at points. It had been two years, but that was a sliver of time in comparison with the firmly rooted tree’s worth of ideals they had to unlearn and the eons they had been around.

The warp got to Homeworld and Steven appeared in the Diamonds throne room. He looked around and it was surprisingly.. empty?

As he looked around more, voices started to float in from the doorway and Spinel hopped into the room, followed closely by the former monarchs of the planet. 

“Steven, you’re here!” Blue called excitedly, rushing over to him to scoop him up in her huge hands. She caught herself midway through and giggled, embarrassed, but reigned herself in before invading Steven’s space.

They all greeted each other affectionately, and Steven briefly embraced Spinel, giving her a supportive smile.

 After gaining her composure, Blue held her hands down for Steven to step into.

“Steeeven! How are you darling?” White asked, gushing as she always did as Steven was lifted up.

“Fine, White. Everything’s been good here I suppose?” Steven replied with a good hearted eye roll. 

They chatted and Steven jumped and floated back down to the floor eventually. The diamonds had said previously they were going to give him a tour of ‘new Homeworld’. Yellow and Blue seemed very excited about it, White seemed.. neutral. Not against it, but more excited about Steven visiting than the subject at hand. 

They made their way out of the throne room out into the open of Homeworld. It looked very different from what Steven had last seen the month before. In the two years of changing the architecture and setup of Homeworld never did, Steven assumes they just liked it that way. He had wondered why they kept him bottled up inside the last time he visited, clearly because they were renovating. There were new buildings, others had been altered, but a lot had been taken out all together to make room for recreational areas. Colors were much more integrated and the new diamond insignia adorned many pillars and buildings. 

Yellow started to lead the march down to a lower platform and waved for Steven to look. 

“We’re making brand new recreational gathering areas for the gems to socialize! ‘Town Square’ was the suggested name, I believe.” Yellow announced proudly. They entered such a square, which had beautiful decorative pillars in each Diamonds color, with numerous benches and a few organic plants. 

Looking around, Steven saw multiple gems in a uniform similar to the old empire but with the whole new insignia on it instead of one singular diamond. At first he saw topazes and a couple rubies, but when he kept looking he saw other types of gems like peridots and emeralds. 

“I thought you said you disbanded your armies?” Steven inquired, side eyeing the lustrous gems. Yellow, much to Stevens surprise, beamed.

“I was hoping you’d mention that! I’ve created a new, completely voluntary guard for our new squares! Any gem doing it is doing it entirely of their own volition.” She explained excitedly, ending on a firm note. Steven nodded in approval, happy to see his yellow aunt genuinely happy. As he continued to look around, a group of quartzes walked by them, a couple of them acknowledging the diamonds with a casual salute but not stopping. 

As they passed them, Steven locked eyes with a rose quartz and froze. The image of his mom looking at him from his dream flashed in front of his eyes but was gone in an instant, like he had blinked and nothing more. 

The rose quartzes in the bubbles at the zoo had long since been freed, and Steven had seen some of them before, but this one bore more of a resemblance to his mom than the others because of her coloring. A shiver ran down his spine. 

The weekend came and went with flying colors. They were making good progress for beings as old as them. White had a harder time, but had been a bit better since Spinel had joined them. Steven knew that with more time they would find things they enjoy about this new way of life. Yellow already was pleased that gems were finding incentive to work on their own. Blue still had a knee jerk reaction to cross gem fusions, but watching gems socialize and be in love made her happy. He caught her smiling at gem couples out of the corner of his eye a lot. Steven suspected the hatred of fusions wasn’t entirely genuine and would hopefully wear away with time as she saw them for what they really were.

Returning to the beach house, he got out his phone and told Connie he was sending Lion over if she wasn’t too busy. She gave the ok and ten minutes later the two were sitting in Stevens miniature ‘diamond base’ together. 

“I dunno Connie, that dream is really weirding me out. I thought I had settled all of this, yknow?” He vented, running a hand through his hair. 

“I was alright for a bit, but then I saw this Rose Quartz on Homeworld that had her same skin and hair color and it just froze me.” He explained. Connie thought on it for a minute, looking down at her notebook. 

“What are your theories so far?” She asked, tapping one finger on her notebook absentmindedly. Steven thought for a moment. 

“I thought at first that it meant something like she wanted to be remembered as Rose instead of Pink but-“

“The possession.” They both finished in unison. They nodded at each other and thought more.

“Maybe astral projection? You can go into other peoples bodies, maybe she could.”

“Maybe I need to talk to the Rose Quartzes, they were in it.”

“What about the fake shards? How does that fit in?” Connie inquired after a moment of silence.

Steven scrunched his face up in his hands and sighed. 

“I don’t know at all.” He admitted. Connie put a hand on his shoulder before hugging him. 

“We’re gonna figure this out. I didn’t mean to push you.” She said, letting him lean on her shoulder. 

“I know, it’s okay. Thanks, Connie..” He mumbled, smiling up at her. She blushed and averted her eyes, making Steven blush too. They both looked away, hot in the face and the heart, and the moment went by.                 

Chapter Text

A couple weeks went by, and every time Steven started to relax some event reminded him of the dream.  He pondered on it but couldn’t think up any new answers as time went by, and it continued to frustrate him. The gems supported him when Connie went back to camp, but he couldn’t shake the feeling he had. 

To everybody’s surprise, Peridot came up with the answer. 

When Steven went to visit Little Homeworld again, he spoke with Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot about his dream. When he was finished, Lapis held her chin and stared into the sky, lost in thought. Bismuth scratched her head and Peridot cocked her head to the side, typing something into her tablet. Before long she let out a long “hmmm” before moving over to her large, microwave enhanced PC and started typing there.

“Peridot..?” Lapis asked, puzzled. She looked over Peridots shoulder at the screen. 

“Steven. You said she made fake shards of herself, right? And this “possession” of other beings, did Pink Diamond have it as well?” Peridot inquired, not revealing what she was thinking. Steven nodded his head and muttered a “yeah” in response. 

“And there was a gem that you say looked “empty” in the dream that she came out of after?” She prodded. Steven nodded again. Bismuth also went to look at Peridots screen and her eyes widened slightly. 

“Hey Dot, what’re you thinking down there?” She asked Peridot. She didn’t respond for a moment, but looked at Steven when she did.

“This might sound crazy.. but what if she wants you to create a gem for her to live in?” She asked. Steven and all the other gems gasped. 

“I..is that even possible?!” Pearl cried out, Garnet reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. Steven stepped forward and held up a hand.

“Hold up. What do you mean by that? Create a gem?” He asked, confused. 

Peridot flipped her screen around to show what looked like a blueprint for a rose quartz gem with a bunch of stuff Steven didn’t understand, partially due to gem language.

“If she could take control of other beings forms, she could possibly take over a gem and use it as a vessel. The imagery of fake shards she made matches as well.” She explained. Steven sat down and thought. 

“Wouldn’t that just be creating a gem just to take its life away though?” He fretted. Peridot hummed and tapped on her tablet more. 

“In theory, we could make an empty gem, devoid of a gem consciousness inside but otherwise made up of the same materials.” She replied thoughtfully, making more calculations on her computer screen. 

“I’ll have to consult the other Peridots on Homeworld. Give me some time and I’ll alert you when I’ve made sustainable progress.” She said, getting lost in the plans. Stevens head was spinning, but this was the only theory they had.

He looked over and saw Pearl and the other gems exchanging worried looks and went over to them. 

“Are you guys okay?” He asked. Amethyst nodded hesitantly, but Pearl and Garnet averted their eyes. Steven took their hands in his and led them to the warp.

“Lets talk.” He said, activating it once they were all on. 

They arrived at the house and Pearl immediately sat on the couch, staring down at the floor. Everybody sat next to her, Amethyst placing a hand on her knee in support. 

“Pearl.. you knew mom best.. do you think this is a good idea?But I also.. I.. don’t want to try this unless you guys are gonna be okay with it.”

Pearl stared down at the floor for a few more moments before taking a deep, shaking breath. 

“I.. don’t know how to feel Steven. If I’m being honest, it’s been like a roller coaster for me. 16 years isn’t that much time to gems, and so much has happened.. the thought of getting Rose back after losing her and gaining you, and my, er.. acquaintance.” She said, clearing her throat at the end and averting her eyes. She was referring to Sheena, the pink haired girl she’d met at the concert who she had recently begun seeing more seriously. 

“I can’t say I don’t like the idea, but I just have no idea how I’d react or what she would think..” She finished with a sigh. Steven held out his hands for a hug and Pearl accepted it, holding her adoptive son close. Steven didn’t blame her for feeling like life was a roller coaster, he often get the same. 

He looked up to Garnet, who had taken her visor off and was staring at her hands, like she was in a trance. Steven nudged her with his shoulder and looked at her inquiringly. Her eyes came back into focus.

“There’s...too many possible futures for me to focus on. I couldn’t.. It wouldn’t be right for Sapphire to get your hopes up with any likely future that could easily break off.. I…” She stuttered slightly and Steven hugged her tight.

“It’s okay Garnet. I don’t want your future vision, I want your opinion . Do you think this will work at all?” He asked, holding her hands in his. She looked at him and he felt her relax slightly. 

“I-I think…” She began, then taking a breath.

“I want to be able to talk to her about what she did. If anything, she can be held responsible for her actions. And.. I can thank her too.” She finished, looking off at the portrait of Rose on the wall. She sighed and closed her eyes, unfusing into her respective gems Ruby and Sapphire. They held each other close, Ruby gently rubbing Sapphires hand with her thumb.

“Steven...do what you think is right.” Sapphire advised softly, gazing up at Steven with a misty eye. Steven gave her a tiny smile and held out his hand to squeeze hers reassuringly. She squeezed back and went back to Ruby’s arms afterwards, requesting that they both go into Sapphires temple room. Steven waved to them as they left. He looked back to begin talking again.

“Amethyst wh- Amethyst?” Steven asked, puzzled. Looking back at the couch, he and Pear noticed Amethyst was nowhere to be seen, slipping away sometime during Garnet’s talk. 

“Amethyst?” Pearl called putting, getting up and going to the stairs. Steven stopped her.

“Go rest Pearl. Think this over. I’ll talk to Amethyst.” He assured her. 

Steven looked around the temple and the mini moon base for Amethyst. Eventually he went outside, looking along the beach. Looking upwards from the beach, he noticed a speck of purple on top of the mini moon base. He jumped and floated, landing next to her in her owl form.

“Amethyst… I’m sorry if this upset you..” He began, averting his eyes a bit. Amethyst sighed.

“That’s not it.” She admitted. Steven looked back to her and cocked his head to the side. 

“What is it..?”

“I want her back. I-I.. she was like.. a mom to me. I never saw any of this stuff she did! I wasn’t involved in these secrets she had! It’s like- it’s like everybody has this underlying dislike for her now and it makes me so uncomfortable because I loved her! S-she..” Amethyst drifted off in sniffles and shapeshifted back to her normal form to wipe her eyes off, turning back to look at the stars again. 

“I wanna see her again.” She finished simply. Steven nodded in understanding and offered her a hug. They embraced and Steven patted her shoulder.

“I’ll try my best, okay?” He reassured. She smiled a bit and nodded.

-

“Steven. I’ve gotten ahold of several extremely competent peridots who can help us with our project. Would you like to come see them?” 

Peridot greeted Steven over video chat one morning, several days after. Steven blinked a few times in surprise.

“I uh… sure?” He replied.

“Great! Come to Little Homeworld as soon as you can!” Peridot instructed before cutting off the video chat. Steven took a deep breath and went to tell the gems where he was going. 

When he arrived at Little Homeworld, he found Peridot in the town square, talking and bantering with four other Peridots from Homeworld. One still sported limb enhancers, but the other three were eye level with crystal gem Peri.

“Peridot!” Steven called over, waving at the group. Peridot’s head whipped around and the other gems followed suit, looking over at where Steven was coming from. 

“Steven! Finally! Let me introduce you to the other Peridots,”  Crystal gem Peri began, running up to him and dragging him over. 

“This is him! I told you guys I was friends with the Steven! Reformer of Homeworld!” Peridot said proudly. Steven chuckled and waved to the other Peridots. 

“Greetings.” The one with limb enhancers said. Two others nodded at him and the last one carefully inspected him. 

“Er…”

“These are the Peridots I told you about! This is 6XG, 7XX, 5Y7, and from my own family, naturally, 5XJ!” She boasted. The Peridots nodded in turn as their cuts were named, and the last one beamed a bit as crystal gem peridot introduced her. Steven smiled wide and held out a hand for them to shake if they wanted, but they all stared, confused at the gesture.

“Wow, I didn’t know you had a family unit like Amethyst!” Steven admitted to Peridot on the side.

“Oh yes, all gems do besides the diamonds. Whether we get to see one another throughout our lives is a whole different matter though. Me and 5XJ were lucky to be stationed together on the same team back on Homeworld. Honestly, I was kinda worried about her when I first came here, but I knew she’d be okay.” Peridot explained. Steven smiled at her warmly. 

“I’m glad you get to see her again.” He said. 

They went back to the group and finally discussions about the project began. Steven explained his situation and that he wanted to create an empty gem to be inhabited. The other Peridots looked slightly shocked, but 5XJ started typing something on crystal Peridots tablet, 7XX brought up a screen from her limb enhancers and also started working. They all looked over each others screens and mumbled amongst themselves for a moment. Steven shifted nervously. Was this the right thing to do? Would it even be possible? 

He breathed for a moment and reminded himself he at least had to try to find out. He focused again, trying to tune into the conversation the kindergartening gems were having. 

“We have to be careful with the aluminum and phosphorous, it could just turn to an Amethyst..”

“We’d have to monitor it very closely if it were to be empty..”

“We’d need to go to the old supplies from Era 1..” 

They kept talking amongst themselves and Steven waved at some passing by gems. 

He tapped Peridot’s shoulder after a minute.

“Hey Peridot? Uh, what’s going on?” He asked anxiously. Peridot tapped on her tablet and showed him an unfinished graph.

“We think it’s possible, but we need to make a lot of preparations. We’re also unsure of where we could do this, seeing as the kindergartens here are drained and inactive.” She explained. Steven had a realization and grinned.

“I can help with that! I can just heal the kindergarten!” He beamed. Peridot raised her eyebrows and nodded, but the other Peridots looked doubtful. 

“Can he really do that?” 7XX asked. Steven waved them off and gave a ‘pssh’ before going to the warp pad. 

“Let me show you.” 

They all warped to the prime kindergarten, Amethyst’s old home. Steven wondered if he should have brought her with them, but decided he would simply heal an outskirting edge of the kindergarten, not anywhere near her hole. 

He made his way to a fine looking spot, devoid of anything but dirt and a few rocks, the only sign of life beginning more than several yards behind them. 

Love, he thought. Focus on love. 

He thought about the things he loved, focusing on the feeling in his chest until he felt like giggling from it. He took all of that and gave the ground a gentle smooch, closing his eyes and hoping for the best. Opening his eyes, he felt grass under his fingertips and smiled, the energy of new life flowing through him. He closed his eyes again, focusing on that feeling. The grass grew longer and softer under his palms, he could feel root systems forming below him, life springing into action in a million different ways. Flowers bloomed, the grass spread, all of it focused around him. Is this how his mom felt, did she ever think of this? Did she ever try? He didn’t care. This was for her, to see her, to be able to ask her those questions. 

Opening his eyes again, the Peridots all stood still, shock and diamond sparkles in their eyes. His Peridot was the first to react by yelling and coming over to hug him.

“It’s amazing ! You never told me you could do it to this scale, not even when we were healing the injector area!” She gushed, examining everything around her closely.

Steven looked around and saw an oasis on the edge of the kindergarten. Lush, bright grass softened the ground beneath his feet, dandelions and foxtails dotted the area until his eyes travelled to the plant which dominated the small haven.

Rose bushes. 

Strong, pink roses filled the bushes, filling the area with the scent. Steven gasped.

“I.. I did this..? Whoa…” He looked around in awe. 

“I’ve never done it like this before.” He breathed. 

The peridots, who had been examining the area came up to him.

“Steven, this would be an ideal place to conduct our project. You’ve put enough material into the crust to support one gem getting partially developed.” 6XG explained promptly. 5Y7 took over.

“We will need a vial of diamond essence and to closely monitor this site and the gem after injection into the ground.” She said, motioning to a screen with a miniature injector on it and gem language he didn’t understand. He really had to get to that. He raised a hand.

“How long will this take..? Don’t gems take hundreds of years to incubate?” He asked nervously. Peridot examined a few lines on one of the screens and shook her head. 

“What takes that long is the light forms maturing and taking shape. With our technology the gem itself should be done in roughly.. 70 days?” She shrugged and waved the screen off. 

“Much less time than usual.” She finished, smiling at Steven. He smiled back. Peridot tugged him away from the other Peridots and looked up at him. 

“Do you want us to move forward with the plan?” She asked, her voice and eyes softening a bit. She placed a gentle hand on his arm in support. He smiled down at her reassuringly. 

“Thanks Peridot. Let’s do it.” He answered with a grin. She beamed up at him and ran to the other Peridots, telling them to get everything ready to transport things from Homeworld. Steven took a moment to brace himself for the next conversation. It was time to tell Greg it was possible to bring his wife back. 

Chapter Text

As Steven approached Greg’s van in front of funland, he noticed Pearl sitting in the back of the van with his father. Greg got up and waved and Steven ran over to meet him. He hugged Greg and Pearl then sat next to them.

“Dad.. I have something I gotta talk to you a-“ He began, but Greg interrupted him.

“Shtoo-ball, if this is about your mother…Pearl already told me. She told me a few days ago. Don’t be mad at her though, I did pester her and she made it clear you didn’t want to get my hopes up with anything.” He explained, putting a hand on Pearl’s shoulder. She smiled softly and looked at Steven.

“I’m sorry..” She apologized and looked off. Steven took a breath.. and sighed in relief. 

“It’s fine you guys! I.. actually didn’t know how I was gonna do this. Thank you Pearl.” He admitted, smiling and scratching the back of his head. The other two chuckled and hugged their son. 

“If you can bring her back Steven.. you know I wouldn’t be opposed. I’d give a lot to be able to see her again.” Greg said after awhile. Steven nodded and leaned back in the van. 

“I just.. don’t know what’s gonna happen if it works. I don’t know what she’d think,” he said, looking up at the sky. Greg patted his shoulder and gave him a nudge. 

“One thing I know son, if she gets to meet you she will love you no matter what. At least in my eyes… you’ve grown up to be one of the greatest people I know, Steven. Rose will be proud of you too,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye. 

“Dad…” Steven began. He sniffled and hugged Greg tightly. Pearl placed a gentle hand on Steven’s back. 

“He’s right, you know. Whatever Rose thinks, I know she’ll respect that you did what you thought was right,” she said. Steven wiped his face off and smiled wide. 

-

Two and a half months passed. Steven anxiously checked in on the growing gem every other day, waited for Connie to come home and managed a raft of other responsibilities he had to deal with now. 

The entire famethyst came to live in Little Homeworld after the visit, Holly Blue nowhere in sight. Steven figured she had either stayed at the zoo or homeworld. Amethyst began spending more time with them, Garnet also spent more time in Little Homeworld teaching the Homeworld and formerly corrupted gems about earth life, fusion, mindfulness and more. Steven was amazed at how much she enjoyed teaching the other gems, it was inspiring watching her interact with new fusions and gems who want a direction.

Pearl, in between seeing Sheena, tried to stay by Steven’s side to keep him company. She showed him the ropes of the Diamond computer systems and answered his questions about colonies and how gem teams operated. 

“She would have loved doing all this, quite honestly. Your mother, that is,” Pearl said, the day before Connie came back home. She closed out a screen with data about a different colony planet. 

“I hope she gets to see it all,” she finished. Steven nodded in agreement. 

“Me too.”

-

Time moved far too slow as Steven waited for Connie to walk through the door. She had promised to come visit him as soon as she unpacked and said hello to her parents. 

2:13 

the clock said.

He flopped onto his bed, wondering how the gem project was coming. Peridot has said it would be ready to take out of the ground any day now. 

For two months, Steven has consulted with the gems, meditated and tried to see what he could do in his dreams. He knew there had to be a way to achieve his goal in those things somehow. 

He decided to close his eyes and try meditating again. 

He focused on the sound of the ocean waves coming from the window. Breathing. Letting thoughts go and relaxing the body. 

The waves continue to blur his thoughts into nothingness. Letting them go further, and further..

He opened his eyes without opening them, and found himself in the mind space, but it was an ominous collection of oranges, reds and purples instead of blues, a heavy fog filled the air and Steven could sense something was off. He hadn’t experienced something like this since Stevinnie had their breakdown. He carefully made his way through the fog, trying to wave it off as he went. It muffled his hearing and was making his clothes damp from just walking through it. 

He tripped on himself, catching himself on the floor right before he hit. Pushing himself up he waved away more fog from his face, but it cleared to reveal a faint figure in a clearing in front of him. 

Rose Quartz. Pink Diamond. 

She glitched between the two forms, sitting on the ground and hugging herself. 

Surrounding her were hundreds, if not thousands, of bright white butterflies, tinted orange by the surrounding area. 

They settled on her, flew around her, did whatever they pleased. A large group simply swarmed above her, not resting or landing. 

The ghost like figure of his mother glitched to the Diamond form, holding out a hand for one butterfly to land on. She glitches again, back to Rose Quartz, and the butterfly flew away. She lowered her hand slowly, disappointed, and hugged her knees closer to herself. The butterflies above her swarmed worse, growing in size.

Steven stood, mouth agape and simply stared at her for a moment. 

“M-Mom…?” 

The figure glitched again but scurried back in surprise, her eyes wide. She backed up a bit further after examining him, fingertips digging into the floor beneath her like it was soft dirt. 

“Steven…?”

“Steven!”

Steven opened his eyes and gasped deeply, clutching his gem. Connie was in front of him but stepped back in surprise. 

The clock said 2:17.

“Hey, Steven are you okay? What happened?” She asked worriedly, taking his shoulders into her hands. He looked around but finally focused on her face. 

“C-Connie? It’s you.. you’re home!” He said, his eyes brightening as he realized what was happening. He jumped up from the couch and picked Connie up by the waist, swinging her around and laughing with her. His heart fluttered as he looked into her eyes again, he loved the fact that he could see her whenever he wanted again. 

“Hi!” He said excitedly, putting her back down. 

“Hey, Steven,” she replied with a chuckle. She frowned after though and looked at him with concern. 

“What was that just now? Did you fall asleep?” She asked, tilting her head to the side. Steven shook his head and thought back to what he saw. 

“No.. I went into the mind space, Connie. I.. I saw my mom,” he explained. Connie gasped, putting a hand up to her mouth. 

“Really?”

“Yeah.. she looked like a ghost. Her form kept glitching and changing from diamond to quartz.. and she was surrounded by those butterflies that we had to deal with. Like… thousands of them.” 

Steven ran a hand through his hair and sat back on the couch, giving Connie a little smile. 

“But I’m really glad you’re back now. Was the trip okay?” He asked. 

“I took Lion,” she said. 

“I figured,” Steven replied with a chuckle. 

From the table, Steven’s phone began to ring. He checked it and answered immediately. 

“Hello?” 

“Steven! Peridot reporting in! The gem is ready to extract from the ground as of now. Meet us at the Kindergarten and we can get things going,” Peridot  said from the other end. Steven and Connie gasped in unison and looked at each other excitedly.

“We’ll be right there!” Connie assured Peridot with a big grin on her face. Steven grabbed a bag and Connie’s hand and ran to the warp pad with her. She laughed as they got on and Steven looked at her, stars in his eyes. Something about her right then was just perfect, something about the moment made his heart leap from his chest. The light from the warp pad, her laugh, her eyes..

Steven tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention and then kissed her for the first time as they warped to the Kindergarten.

Peridot ran over to the warp pad as soon as the two arrived, hiding their blushes. 

“It’s tiiiiime!” She yelled. Steven and Connie laughed and followed the small green gem to the extraction site. The other peridots were there waiting with digging equipment and Peridot’s microwave computer. Steven introduced Connie to the other peridots and showed her the area he had healed to make the gem. The gem had made the area barren again, the rose bushes gone and the trees fallen, but Steven knew he could fix that now. He had a lot of plans. 

Connie talked with the peridots as they prepared, and Steven examines the ground they were about to take the gem from. He hoped it had worked. Even if it didn’t, he was willing to do it as many times as he had to. The vision of his mother in the mind space, plagued by internal torment, glitching from one form to another… Something was happening. Something in his gut told him his mother was waking up. 

“Steven! We’re ready when you are!” Peridot called. Steven looked at Connie and they nodded at each other and went to join the peridots. 

His heart pounded in his chest throughout the whole process. They found the exact location of the gem in the ground and dug around it to make absolutely sure they didn’t damage it. As he watched the peridots dig the gem out, Connie held his hand and squeezed it. He took a deep breath and realized he’d hardly been breathing at all. He gave Connie a small smile, then they made their way over to the hunk of dirt that contained the gem. 

Lapis was called in the blast the dirt off with water, then giving the gem to Peridot to examine in her microwave for issues. Steven waited anxiously, not saying anything and watching the gem turn in the microwave. Finally, the paper with the information Peridot needed popped out and she grabbed it and read it over a couple of times. 

“Well? What is it?” Steven asked nervously. Peridot balled up the paper, throwing it behind her and took the gem out of the microwave, handing it to Steven. 

“It’s perfectly fine, Steven. The gem is stable and secure and doesn’t seem to have any trace of a consciousness inside. Your plan should be a success if you can figure out how to execute it properly!” Peridot told him proudly. The other peridots nodded and 5XJ smiled wide. Connie looked at the gem, eyes bright as Steven examines it closely. It looked perfect, the exact same cut as his but cut flat on both sides, not just one. It was more coral, reddish pink instead of the deep magenta Steven’s was. It reflected the sunlight and turned what it hit pink. It was beautiful, but it lacked what made a gem truly a gem. The light, sentience, the spark that put life into the gems, was simply not there. Steven knew he had to find a way to put Rose Quartz’s spark of life into that gem. 

He teared up, hugging the gem close to himself and then hugging Peridot. 

“Thank you, Peridot,” he said, sniffling and turning to the other peridots.

“And thank you guys too. Thanks to y’all I can do some really important things,” he said. 

Him and Connie said their thank you’d and goodbyes and took the gem back to the temple to show the Crystal Gems. 

They got back and the gems gazed in awe at the gem that had been created. 

They all discussed the plan again, and Steven decided to put it into motion that night. Connie had dinner with them and went home for the night, and the crystal gems went to do their own activities before settling in for the night. Steven did his nightly routine. Shower, pjs, hair comb, teeth brushing. Tonight, he gently laid the newly made gem on a pillow on his nightstand. 

The waves. Soft sheets. Fluffy pillows. The sea breeze. This was his home. It would always calm his soul. 

Finally, Steven laid down to sleep. 

-

He envisioned himself in the same area where his gem half had given him the message in the first place. Moments passed. Maybe hours. Maybe only seconds.

He opened his eyes and found himself there, but Pink Steven was nowhere to be seen. He stared in frustration but took a few deep breaths. 

I wish I knew what I was supposed to be doing here. He thought to himself. 

He started walking, reminding himself that there were no clear answers here, and he began to wonder if this was even the answer at all. He stopped, realizing the best course of action was probably to just let whatever it was happen. Doubting at this point would do no good. Worrying wouldn’t help whatever process this was. He sat down and started to meditate, hoping whatever force that let him see his mom before would do it again. 

Breathing. Let the thoughts go and see where they take you. 

Eyes closed, the original message from his other half danced in front of him but faded away, replaced by drifting thoughts of the empty gem waiting on the pillow in the waking world. Unbubbled rose quartzes, his other half hugging him…

Slowly pulling him from his trance of thoughts was a growing tingling sensation from his gem, similar to when he first summoned his shield. He focused on the feeling, and he felt waves of emotion he’d never felt before, at least not like this. Love, confusion, anger, self loathing. They came and went in waves, until the tingling was like a buzzing in his gem. He opened his eyes and saw a glow coming from his gem. It wasn’t his shield though. He held out his hands and summoned whatever it was. 

A small pink bubble came from his gem, a tiny pale rose bud safe inside. 

Steven’s eyes widened as he held the bubble. The familiar scent of roses wafted around him, his focus caught entirely on the little rose bud. Suddenly he blinked and found himself in his own room, looking at his sleeping body and the empty gem on the night stand. The memory of his message dream came to mind. The rose dissolved into the gem and gave it light. Was that this moment? Was this the message? He hesitantly looked over the empty gem and his own unconscious face. 

Is this really the right thing to do? He wondered, nerves starting to get the better of him. 

But instead of letting him give in to his thoughts, his gem half seemed to take control, a ghostly pink hand popping the bubble for Steven, making the rose bud land in his hands. The hand vanished into the darkness, and Steven remembered his vision of his mother, suffering alone. 

No. This is it. I can’t let this go on anymore.

The rose bud was light as a feather, slightly glowing in the dark bedroom, tingling with a faint presence.

Steven stared in awe for a moment before gently kissing the rose bud and placing it onto the empty gem, watching it glow slightly more and absorb into the gems surface.

As it faded from his view, he suddenly felt as if a hole was opened up but immediately filled in his body, like butterflies in his stomach that were instantly relieved. A nightmare that he had just woken up from. He felt light as air, and everything around him vanished, replaced by the void he had been falling down during the first dream. He started to float down and his eyes widened in awe as Gem Steven materialized in front of him, noticeably different looking as he now sported Pink Diamonds real colors instead of seeming like a pink hologram. His other half smiled wide as tears formed in his eyes. He reached out for his human half’s hands, and Steven took them and smiled as well, swinging his other half around, remembering when they fused in front of White, reveling in the joy that surrounded them, knowing they succeeded in their mission. 

They swung each other in circles as they floated down, both of them laughing. 

“You did it other half!”

Gem Steven said joyously. His human half swung them around again, embracing his gem half.

“ We did it! You’re the one who told me!” He told him. They pressed their foreheads together and slowed their descent down, still laughing softly. Pink Steven gently wiped a tear from his human half’s face and his smile softened.

“We have to help her… she’s not going to be perfect. The diamonds are here now too,” He reminded his other half. Human Steven nodded and hugged him.

“We can do this,” He promised. 

They fused back into one and Steven smiled, looking at his hands. 

“I can do this.” 

-

Steven awoke with a small gasp, looking around his room and immediately looking for the rose quartz gem on the pillow on his table. 

There was light in it now. A spark of life.

Stevens eyes shone and he took the gem in his hands. Looking at the clock quickly he saw that it said 5:57. The sun was just rising and hopefully the gems were busy. He put on his clothes as fast as he could and took the gem, sneaking down the stairs into the living room of the temple house. Looking around the corner of the stairs, he saw the crystal gems sprawled on the couch, asleep. 

Great, He thought to himself. It would be easy to sneak out. He wanted them to be involved, but he had to do this himself first.

He hurried to the door, not knowing how long he had until the gem in his hand started to reform, if she did at all. He was confident she would soon though. Gently, he clicked the door shut and tiptoed down the porch stairs, holding the gem close. The early morning sun shone against it, reflecting pink light onto Steven’s skin, and a gentle breeze made him glad that he had put on his jacket. He headed for the beach, wanting his Mom’s first reformation to be somewhere she knew. He went and stood by the glittering water, gentle waves licking at seashells and driftwood. It was a beautiful day out, there were boats out fishing and sailing already. As he stared at the gem in his hands, Steven realized he had no idea what it would be like to see his mom. Up until now, he had been so focused on the possibility of bringing her back that he had barely thought about his first words to her if he managed it. He shook the thought away, he would deal with that as it went. 

He stared at the gem for a moment longer before placing a gentle kiss on it and setting it onto the sand. He stared in awe, amazement and joy as the gem started to glow.