#yes Amethyst did shapeshift into a Lion

[shadow-coolness]

*At a Pride Parade*

Connie: Are you disappointed?

Steven dressed as a lion: No its fine.

[widowed-mistress]

How strong could Steven be?

Okay, let me rephrase, how strong is the Pink Diamond gem?

Because, let's take a second to actually think about it. There are some abilities that seem to be EXPECTED of gems. They might not all do them since for some it would be "below their station," but they could do it.

1. Sumon a weapon

2. Shapeshift

3. Fuse

4. Adjust their gravitational pull of a planet on their gem to adjust to a celestial body's gravity

5. The ability to bubble

Of course, these are the ESTABLISHED things that every gem SHOULD be able to do (we'll get to Era 2 gems in a second). However, I'd like to add

6. Make a flashlight out of their gem (we see Pearl and Peridot do so when they visit the moon, and it makes sense to be a natural ability since their physical bodies are just holograms with light)

7. Be able to store items in their gems.

These are the basic abilities of a gem, yet there are special powers some gems have.

Sapphires- ice manipulation/ future vision

Lapis- water manipulation

Ruby- fire production

Peridots- metal control

Now one thing about them is that the powers designated to them are IT. Now, it's fair to say that as a gem grows and learns, they can expand on their skill (Pearl did learn how to shoot lasers after the gem War after all), but they concept of their powers stay the same.

For example, as much as Sapphire was shown to be a beast with her ice abilities in a Single Pale Rose, she will never manipulate or produce fire. This is where the Diamonds differ and follow their subjects at the same time.

Blue- gem emotional control (her power doesn't work on humans)

Yellow- physical form manipulation (she can poof any gem/ change their shape or attributes as seen with Garnet in Future)

White- possession voluntary or forced.

Pink - destruction and creation (living or nonlicing)

It's their powers that make me believe that diamonds are needed not just to rule but to make other gems. During Era 2, gems weren't made the same as Era 1 gems as Peridot says she can't shape-shift, but why would that be? Because Pink diamond was gone. With a limited supply of her essence, just like Yellow was having her essence taken in her sauna, they had to portion out what they gave to gems. This would explain what "junk" is put into the ground when gems are made as Amethyst references during Classroom Gems.

This would even explain why the Diamonds kept Pink. While yes, they loved and appreciated her presence, she holds no functional use to the empire, which you would imagen the Diamonds wouldn't be found of, especially when she undermines them constantly and sets a bad example. However, they couldn't get rid of her, not even before they got attached because her essence allowed for the creation of more gems, and there is no guarantee that another being with her power could exist.

Yellow sets a gem to have a physical form.

Blue sets them to have responses.

White sets them to have a purpose.

Pink sets them to have the extra energy to come to life just as the organic material on colonies are sucked up for a gem to use. In fact, I would bet that Pink's essence is what allows gems to exist without needing to do something like recharge or something of the sort. Think about it, whatever energy is sucked from the dirt is bound the run out at some point. Plant life isn't infinite; however, a diamonds power could be.

This is why I question how strong Pink actually is. The diamonds hold compete control over their "domain," even controlling or manipulating what could be considered the opposite of their powers. The thing that makes Pink different from the other diamonds is that her powers WORK on not only things that aren't alive, they work on non gem beings.

Steven fixed his teddy bear and destroyed several non-living materials. He heals gems and humans, for fuck sake both him and his mom brought something to life. And speaking about that. I would like to discuss both lars and lion right now. Specifically their powers.

Now, making the assumption that they got a power up post resurrection could be assumed to be that the Pink Diamond essence pulled so much weight in helping them that the essence is now embedded in them and so they received a power up. It makes sense. Like gems creating distabalisers using Yellow's essence or creating a planet destroying weapon (Spinel) using Pink's essence. The thing I have a problem with is the powers they receive.

1. Long life (okay)

2. Dimensional pocket in hair (makes sense, gems have pockets in their gems)

3. Shock wave or lion's roar (ehh, kinda makes sense with Steven's destruction ability. Okay)

4. Portal creation (what?)

Portal creation was one of the powers lion got. That doesn't make sense based on what we know and can assume Pink can do. What the fuck.

The situation isn't helped in the fact that Pink can make pebbles purely on her own without the help of the other Diamonds.

So, considering Pink Diamond has a hold on

Crearion

Destruction

On ANYTHING

and is CRUCIAL for gem production and can extend the ability towards others just as they can get into someone's head/ control them

I ask again: how strong is the Pink Diamond gem?

And if he gets enough training, how strong could Steven become?

[aarcanechaoss]

For the team whump you can do the team as the crimson lions.And the great great great grandfather of the Vermillion family.

I admit it’s not written very fic like but 😂 this would have been rather long if I made it so.

Warnings: implied sexual assault | not edited

Helion Vermillion- Crimson Lion’s Captain during Lemiel’s life.

It was a well known fact that the first Magic Knight squad to accept women in their ranks was the Crimson Lions. The Vermillion family as a whole prides itself on this fact.

But it wasn’t easy getting to that place, wasn’t easy for many people to respect a woman in such a place. Yet the most respected Crimson Lions Captain, Helion Vermillion, made sure there was no further argument after his father stepped down.

But this was before he’d become Captain, when he was only a squadron leader… this was when he met the most important person for the Crimson Lion and other squads futures.

(Y/n) was from the forsaken realms, a noble in comparison to most but a commoner to those deep in the city. It was a challenge of sorts, to even join a squad and hide amongst its ranks… a woman among men. She’d been too shocked that Captain Helios had chosen her to be in the Crimson Lions (though yes she was disguised as a man). With her hair cropped into a pixies cut, a binder around her chest and loose men’s clothes: she was set.

Her Captain’s son had warmed up to her quickly. He would knock on her door at the worst moments and often asked her (though she was a he to the Prince) to work in his squadron - eventually such a position became permanent.

It was nauseating lying to her friend. She hated it but if she was found out…. She didn’t want to know.

~~*~~

Their squadron was small with Helion leading and her as their strategist the three other men; Aryn, Wren and Noel.

Helion was tall, skin sun kissed, hair long and vermillion red and eyes a deep amethyst. He was a fire mage through and through.

Aryn was thin and small, skin alabaster, hair ivory and eyes a Pearl white. An ice mage as cold as he looked.

Wren was large, round and strong- he gave great hugs- his skin was bronzed, hair a vibrant blue and eyes a brilliant green. An earth mage of wondrous strength.

Noel was plain and had one of those faces that made him seem awfully familiar, his skin the colour of coffee and eyes the same, his hair was as golden as the sun… a light mage.

(Y/N) felt plain beside them. She was not strong and yet lean, she had no significance outside of the Crimson Lions and she was a woman. How she hated being so some days… what she could do with her shapeshifting they could always do faster.

But she was a Mountain Lion… she had to be strong and brave.

~~*~~

So how did they end up here? Bruised, beaten and chained to a cold stone wall.

It has been a week since they had been caught. No one had come except for their captors, every few hours to take them to another room and beat them.

So why?

Why was this the way her squad mates… her friends found out that she… she was not a man.

“(Y/N).” Helion had whispered as their captors exposed her binder.

“(Y/N)!” The others yelled as their captors forced her to the ground. She was powerless even after all this time. She could barely sob as their hands pulled and ripped at her pants.

~~*~~

She doesn’t remember what happened next, she doesn’t remember the way their cell brightened with light and flame. She doesn’t remember the smashing of rocks or the chill of ice.

She doesn’t remember having shifted and clawed at their captors.

She doesn’t remember her Captain wrapping her in his cape and carrying her away.

She doesn’t remember Helion racing behind them, ignoring any other medical attention.

(Y/N) awoke aching and confused. She could feel a weight in her hand- Helion was holding it, his amethyst eyes teary.

“We’re safe.” She heard Helion says, hand tight against her own. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” She asked. “I was the one who lied… about me.”

“I don’t care.”

“What?”

“I don’t care. You are a capable knight and being a woman will never be a weakness- father and I abhor that women are not allowed to be knights… but we want to make a change.”

“Why?”

“Women are not weak.” He smiled. “You are a Lion too after all.”

“Yes. Yes I am.” She smiled back.

~~*~~

The tale does not end there. In fact the Vermillion family take joy in knowing that their ancestors fought to keep (Y/N) (L/N) in the squad and they succeeded.

Even more she was no longer just (Y/N) (L/N) she had become (Y/N) Vermillion the Mountain Lion Knight.

This story was Mimosa’s favourite to learn and Fuegoleon was more than happy to repeat it time and time again.

It was hard to get to where they are now… but it was worth the adventure in the end.

[pacexlikexaxghost]

❝Yes, I did!❞ Pearl smiles, more than a little proud of herself for that one. ❝I can show you later.❞

She has two varieties of it too, though only one gets any really use. Taking the time to charge a more powerful blast doesn't work with her fighting style. But rapid fire certainly does.

❝Yes! As an experience it's difficult to explain to those who haven't experienced it. When unfused, the fusions memories and actions... feel like yours, but she... wasn't you. For example, I love Garnet and Amethyst. They're family, really-❞

❝Love ya too, P!❞

❝But I can't stand Sugilite, their fusion. Their synthesized personalities are... destructive and abrasive, quite unlike either of them on their own.❞

❝She's not THAT bad P.❞

❝Do I even need to address how I had to fight the two of you to make you unfuse, while you were engaging in pointless destruction?❞

❝You say pointless, I say fun.❞

❝You're clearly trying to annoy me, so I'm going to ignore you now.❞

❝Love ya too, P,❞ Amethyst repeats with a laugh, before shapeshifting into a much smaller cat than Lion, and jumping up in front of Steven on Lion's back.

❝And a fusion's gems change as well, and a fusion innately knows her new name the same way all gems know their name from the first moment they form. Your assumption is absolutely correct, Steven excluded, of course.❞

❝Steven's Middle name is Quartz though!❞ Steven says with a grin, throwing his arms up. ❝So kinda for me too! And,❞ he looks at Flicker. ❝It's super cool to see! Maybe you can see Opal once we're done with the mission, if Pearl and Amethyst are willing!❞

❝It's not so trivial, Steven...❞

❝MASH IT UP!! Live a little, Pearl!❞

❝... Oh, very well. After the mission.❞

❝Yay! Giant Woman! Connie hasn't seen a fusion yet either!❞

❝I'm very excited!❞

"You turned holograms into lasers?" Flicker asked. Though after a moment's thought added, "I guess they are both light."

Oh, fusion sounded fascinating. "You can just, become an entirely different person?" Flicker looked over at Valor. "Is there anything in the Boiling Isles like that?" They'd only been there a year, after all, and they were hidden away from the majority of society. Most of their knowledge came from what Valor, Vine, and Nova had told them.

"Not that I've ever heard of," he replied. But Valor had a question of his own. "Where do the fusions' names come from?" They sounded like gems as well. "I've been assuming you all have been named after your gems but a fusion wouldn't have a gem of her own, right? Just the same ones you have? Or do your gems change with the fusion, too?"

"That sounds like it'd be so fun to watch . . ." Flicker stopped themself from asking if they could, though. They only just met these people; that might be overstepping.

[k7l4d4]

A Steven Universe AU

Hello all! Today, I am going to document an AU I had for Steven Universe! I would like to personally thank my friend Flamestar50 for the help I received to build this AU. I am going to mark down the information for the AU I had discussed with Flame when discussing this AU, so here I go! To note, the information will be about the questions Flame asked me, and my responses.

Okay, I talked to Flame and they are okay with this. Enjoy fully.

ALRIGHT!! Basically, assuming you know who Doctor Priyanka is hopefully, before Canon starts, Greg accidentally says something to Rose while they are talking after she got back from a particularly stressful mission, and it causes all the repressed pain and guilt, along with a not so healthy dollop of self-loathing, to come surging to the forefront. 

To better process her feelings, Rose heads to the Beach and, well, ends up lamenting to herself, attracting the attention of a visiting Priyanka Maheswaran (Hope I spelled that right), who decided to approach the giant gem and get her to talk about her feelings.

Flame: huh, how does that go

Me: Well, because Rose has a LONG history of not thinking things all the way through and often not being able to see the full picture accurately, she ultimately decides to just spill it all. To vent every little thing about herself, all her actions, all her choices, all her mistakes, to a total stranger, because she genuinely cannot TAKE IT anymore! 

Surprisingly, or probably not, Priyanka is moved, and understandably worried, by Rose's pain, and makes a point of comforting her, with Rose herself having shapeshifted back into her Diamond Form for the first time in CENTURIES. 

Priyanka is genuinely in awe of all that Rose has done, and all that she has been through, and decides it is her duty as a medical professional, albeit not one licensed in psychology, to take on Rose as her patient, as the Gem is clearly not in a healthy or safe emotional state. Oh, and the other Gems and Greg all ended basically overhearing the whole thing while the two are none the wiser.

Flame: oh no, how did they react

Me: Well, shock for the most part. Amethyst and Garnet are, understandably, angry at being lied to, yet they can't bring themselves to be angry because, unless you've got a serious callousness to you, it is hard to be angry at someone who so clearly loathes themselves so completely and utterly. 

Pearl is mostly shocked, and a touch despondent, that Rose had withheld all this hurt and inner turmoil from her. Greg? He doesn't know how to process what is going on, but what he does understand is that Rose, the person he loves more than anything else in the world, the one who finally made him see his own value and worth and could never even try to judge him, is hurting, and in need of comfort. They basically decide to shift the discussion back to the Temple for the rest of the initial event.

Flame: How will this effect Steven in the future?

Me: Well, I haven't finished describing the set up just yet, but it will have its effects on his future (HA! Snuck in the reference!). After moving back to the Temple, Priyanka in tow, the Gems (and Greg) basically hash out everything they can. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are all understandably distressed and hurt by the secrets Rose has been carrying, but the sheer pain and hurt she clearly feels about herself convince them to work through it together. 

For Amethyst, it partially convinces her to stop bottling up her insecurities, not after seeing what a wreck it made of Rose. Garnet knows she will have to fully confront her feelings on the subject later, but decides to be there for the others now. Pearl just wants to finally help Rose the way she feels Rose helped her. And Rose? She just feels such intense, unconditional joy and love at the fact that they don't see her as a monster, that they still love her, flaws and all, that she doesn't have to run away anymore. 

The revelation of her feelings acts as a catalyst that causes her to involuntarily shapeshift into a new default state that merges her Diamond and Quartz forms, a symbol of her finally accepting herself completely, taking the name Rose Diamond; she isn't going to pretend she is something she's not anymore, she's going to show the whole world the entirety of who she is, flaws and all, so she can finally start to grow. 

And then they realize that they never got Priyanka's name, and everyone starts cracking up at the sheer absurdity of it all, Rose included! I got more, but that is the initial intro to the AU.

Flame: what else ya got

Me: Well, because of her sense of obligation, and the fact that she honestly enjoys Rose's company, Priyanka more or less becomes the Gems' therapist, and often silently screams in her own head that she isn't trained for this. One of the things Rose does once she comes clean is to try and make amends for the things that came about due to her lies; for starters, she releases Bismuth, after she tracks down Lion that is (that crazy feline does whatever it wants, I swear). 

Much like in canon, Bismuth is snapped out of her hyper-blood-rage once she is exposed to the Corrupted Gems and figures out that the Corruption partially came about due to her giving the idea of faking her shattering to Rose. Bismuth is MASSIVELY uncomfortable around Rose, and often adopts a loose, battle-ready stance whenever around her, but, partially due to working with Priyanka to help treat her PTSD, is gradually coming around. 

Bismuth more or less does her own thing, but makes an effort to be there when needed, like when the Gems find an experimental Warp Pad. The Warp Pad, according to the notes Pearl finds, is supposed to be the ultimate escape system, allowing any being to enter the warp stream and proceed to a pre-determined Warp Pad across the Galaxy, and the next time that corresponding pad is used it will automatically bring them back. 

Upon discovering that information, and seeing that the Warp Pad hasn't been set yet and still can be, Rose, without actually explaining to the others, uses the warp to rescue Spinel. I'm gonna leave it here for you to process and ask questions before I proceed.

Flame: Oh god, how is spinel gonna react to this version

Me: Well, considering she is still near-totally innocent, she basically asks if she won the game. Yeah. Rose basically cries her eyes out, and tearfully says that, yes, Spinel, you're the winner, and gets an ecstatic hug that feels just a little too tight. 

Upon noticing that Spinel is subtly shying away from the plants, and that the roots of some have actually started growing over her, Rose carefully picks a weary Spinel up, and carries her over to the warp pad back to earth. When Spinel asks where they are going, Rose simply says they are going home, getting a content smile in return. Upon returning through the experimental warp, Rose is bombarded by a storm of panicked shouting from the other gems, only for them to calm down at the ragged Spinel in Rose's arms. 

Rose attempts to brush off the danger of using an untested piece of potentially lethal tech, only for the warp to blow up behind them; none of them were hurt, it was more like a collapse, but the implication that that could've happened while she and Spinel were in the warp stream causes all the gems to shoot Rose looks that scream "We told you so." I'll let you process this while I gather my thoughts.

Flame: oh dear

Me: Yeah, Rose doesn't like to think things through when there are people who need help she can give. After carefully explaining who Spinel was and the situation surrounding her, which involves Pearl face-palming, Garnet pinching the bridge of her nose, Amethyst a little shell-shocked, and Bismuth pummeling a concrete pillar into gravel in anger, they take the sweet gem back home. 

After making sure Spinel is situated comfortably, Rose breaks the news; she never planned on coming back. As Spinel freezes up, whether from shock or hurt is up to debate, Rose explains that she had never understood Spinel, always seeing her as a silly doll that the other Diamonds gave her to be a toy who couldn't take things seriously, with each word causing Spinel to slowly shake her head, shuddering more and more, before Rose apologizes for being a bad friend. 

Before Spinel can completely LOSE IT, Rose, tears of shame, regret, and heartbreak, pulls Spinel into an impromptu hug, begging, pleading, for the chance to let Spinel be happy. After calming down enough not to lash out in out of control pain, Spinel, shaken but not broken, asks as calmly as she can to be alone for a little while. They give her her space. And another pause point!

Flame: I thought she was gonna lose it, I sure would have.

Me: She came VERY CLOSE, but Rose's presence, which she still associates with good things and happier times, manages to keep her just stable enough to go off the deep end. Spinel quickly becomes a regular patient for Priyanka, who makes a point to try and help the child-like gem to grow and develop as an individual like it's her personal missions. 

Over time, Spinel gradually manages to come to terms with her situation. Spinel developed a phobia of plants due to her time in the garden, but also enjoys gardening, seeing it as a representation of her happiest memories, as well as a way to conquer her fear by leveraging control over the plants. 

With prompting from Priyanka for the both of them, Rose and Spinel make an effort to rebuild their old relationship into something healthy for the both of them; for Rose, it is a chance to finally befriend and learn about Spinel as a Gem, and not the toy she treated her as, and for Spinel, it is a way to come to terms with her past and start making new friends in the present and future. 

The two manage to reach a mostly amicable bond, but things occasionally get tense between them; Rose's past actions left deep scars on Spinel's heart, as while she still acts like her happy-go-nuts self, albeit tempered with proper emotional reading, she now holds a deep disdain for other gems and gemkind as a whole, making an exception only for those who've also been burned by Gem Culture and her friends, often acting similar to her initial debut self when communicating with gems who don't meet this small criteria. 

Spinel genuinely loathes the fact that she is a Gem now, and finds human company effortlessly more enjoyable than any time she spends with other gems, no matter how much she views said gems as friends and family (Spinel very much enjoys the concept of family, and sees it as one of the many ways organic beings are superior to Gems in her eyes).

Flame: awww,poor spinel

Me:Yeah, she's a sad bean, but she wouldn't change herself for anything in the universe! Did I ever give the name for this AU? If not, the name is Here For You. One of the biggest divergences from canon in this AU? Rose lives after giving birth!! 

How you may ask? When you are good friends with a doctor, and you suddenly spring on them that you, a non-human, non-organic alien plans to have a half-human child and you most likely won't survive the experience, you can expect them to put their foot down and help with the situation. 

Priyanka essentially grills Rose on everything she knows about her race's biology, such as it is, her understanding of human biology, and makes her research methods to create gemstones and such; Priyanka isn't willing to have Rose relapse into her suicidal impulses again, even if it is to bring a child into this world, and is dead set on finding a way for them both to survive. 

With Priyanka's help, and some scavenged Gem Tech from the Kindergartens, Rose manages to conceive (HA!) A method to have a fully half-gem-half-human child without killing herself. It largely involves artificially mixing her own gem essence with that harvested from old injectors and eating. SO much eating. Rose essentially is ingesting and absorbing the needed materials to build a human fetus and Diamond Proto-Gem together as one, without sacrificing her own gem in the process. And it works!! Mostly.

Flame: what do you mean mostly

Me: Well, the process was completely experimental, and they had no actual clue what they were doing, just making their best guess. The process worked, but it left Rose horrifically weakened. Her Gem's internal structure was dangerously demineralized, as in it lost a lot of minerals that compose its structure, and became insanely fragile and delicate as a result. 

Giving birth essentially permanently crippled Rose; she can no longer shapeshift at all, her bubbles have a high chance of popping after forming and she can no longer teleport them, and a lot, if not all, of her powers besides her healing tears have been hamstrung to near uselessness. 

She is now both weaker, and slower than any human, and constantly falls unconscious at random to conserve her compromised energy reserves. But it was worth it to bring her twins into the world!! ...Maybe that had something to do with it...

Flame: wait, twins!?!

Me: YES!! ULTIMATE SURPRISE REVEAL!! Yeah, in canon, before they settled on whether they were having a son or a daughter, Rose left two tapes behind for whichever gender her child ended up being, Steven Or Nora. So, in this one, she ended up giving birth to Twins!! Nora and Steven Diamond Universe!! 

To clarify, Rose would've been weakened no matter what happened, but giving birth to twins nearly shattered her and permanently affected her abilities, not that she'll ever regret it, though she grows frustrated with how frailly she is treated by the others. You wanna hear about the twins next? 

Oh, and in case I forgot to mention it, the twins were only partially an accident, as Rose didn't intend to have two kids, but is fine with it, she just overdid it on the eating and stuff needed to create the children and had just enough left over to jumpstart the development of a second child. Yeah.

Flame: go on and tell me about the twins!

Me: YES!! Due to Priyanka's influence, both twins end up actually, you know, GOING TO SCHOOL. Steven is, well, basically exactly the same, and still heavily takes after both his dad and Rose's Quartz form, but being around other kids his age has improved his social skills and given him a larger group of peers and pals. 

Nora is a bit of the opposite, polite, a little standoffish, neurotic, snarky when stressed, with a vicious temper towards anyone that hurts or messes with Steven, she basically looks like a miniature, human Pink Diamond in terms of appearance. Nora has a natural knack for her gem powers, and more easily manifests those powers more closely associated with Pink Diamond as opposed to Rose, with her Gem Weapon being a MASSIVE Two-Handed (Zweihander) sword whose foremost section resembles the shield everyone thought it would originally be, whilst still possessing her family's flower motif. 

Nora is the younger of the two by about five minutes, but is much more mature as compared to Steven, not helped by him still having his aging problem while she ages more normally, and people are often shocked at both her age, as her height and attitude give her an older feel, but that she is also both Steven's TWIN and the technical younger of the two!! 

It kinda mindblows people. (I was considering shifting some of Steven's personality, but I couldn't bring myself to do it)

Flame: any last points

Me: Well, Spinel basically becomes Beach City's premiere part-time employee, as she works on and off at literally every place in town at some time or another, and she bluntly refers to Greg as "The Deadbeat." 

Spinel adores the twins, often serving as their babysitter, as well as a babysitter to most of the other kids in town, and basically acts as their bodyguard whenever she goes on missions. Oh! I also have special plans for Lapis, as well as some other Homeworld Gems, but I'll save those for tomorrow. 

Due to their parents being friends, Connie basically grew up with Steven and Nora, and is currently entering the phase of life when people start to develop more mature crushes, and has shown signs of crushing on both of them. Yikes.

[thebirdfromthemoon-art]

Catra can say fuck words now

“Pearl! Look, the alien’s a cat!” Steven shouted excitedly, with a hand pointed toward their new visitors. Catra backed up as he approached.

“Woah woah woah, back up kid. And I’m not a cat!” She hissed, “Why does everyone keep calling me that?”

“Uh, because you look like a cat?”

“I don’t even know what a cat is!” Melog poked her head out of the ship with a metallic whirr. She eagerly jumped out of the ship to rejoin Catra when she realized that Steven and the gems were friendly.

“What do you mean, you have a cat right there!”

“No, that’s just Melog.” Melog tentatively sniffed the Steven from afar, before walking up to press her face into his body. He laughed and leaned over to pet her.

“Hi Melog!” Melog purred Ashe stroked her head.

“What are you doing here?” Pearl asked as she belatedly withdrew her spear. The others quickly put away their weapons, except for Garnet, who was calmly holding Cat Steven.

“Well, we were going to return magic here, but now I’m reconsidering.”

“Return magic…?” Pearl muttered to herself in confusion.

“Uh, yeah, Entraota said there was a ton of magic here like, 6000 years ago. We’re here to bring it back.” Pearl suddenly had a realization.

“Oh, dear, no, there’s been a misunderstanding,” she said, “There’s never been magic on this planet. Well, there wasn’t supposed to be. Those readings must be from the War.”

“The War???”

“Yes? Did you not get the broadcast from the Diamonds?” Pearl asked. Catra looked at her like she had three heads.

“You know what? This is getting weird. I’m letting Adora handle this-“ Catra turned around to leave. She didn’t take five steps before running into Lion and tripping over his paws. Lion leaned over and pressed his face right up to her’s.

“Hey-!” Lion sniffed at her, before licking her face affectionately. She tried and failed to suppress a smile. Catra half-heartedly shoved his face away, and he dropped his entire body on top of her.

“Catra, what’s going on out there?” Adora shouted from inside the ship before sticking her head out. Everyone turned to look at her. It very obviously made her nervous.

“Oh. Um, hi?”

“Hello!” Steven said with a friendly wave. He motioned for her to come over, and she started making her way down from the ship. He looked at Lion. “Lion, maybe you should let her go.”

Lion snorted before casually standing and backing up. Melog walked up to him and meowed, and he responded in kind with a soft, amiable roar. Garnet came up behind them and gently placed Cat Steven between them. Steven gasped in delight.

“Aww, they’re a little family!”

Adora helped Catra up from the ground before turning to the gems. She cleared her throat.

“Hi! Hello. I’m Adora, this is Catra, we’re here to return magic to the planet.” Catra balked.

“Uh, no, we aren’t.”

“Catra, please-“ Catra grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her to face the ship.

“I’m sorry, did you just forget that they BLASTED A HOLE INTO OUR SHIP???” She screamed. She pointed towards the glaring hole in the right wing. As if on cue, the metal snapped off, and the entire wing went plummeting into the sea.

“Oh, we did, didn’t we?” Steven said sheepishly. He pressed his hand to his neck. “Sorry, it’s just that the last time an unidentified object came out of space and landed on earth, it almost destroyed the entire planet. I guess we got a little-“

“Wait wait wait wait wait.” Adora interjected, “You guys got invaded by Horde Prime?”

“What?” Steven shook his head. “Okay, you know what? Clearly there’s a lot to discuss here, why don’t you all just come in and we can talk about this?”

“Well, I guess there’s nothing else to do while our ship looks like that.” Catra said, pointing towards the ship as she did. Inexplicably, and despite having sustained no damage from the blast, the left wing suddenly detached and also fell into the ocean. Catra stared blankly at it. 

“Uh, Catra-?” Garnet placed her hands around Steven’s ears, much to his confusion.

“Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME!?” Catra howled. Her voice echoed off the cliff.

“It’s okay, I got it!” Bismuth shifted her arm into a hammer and excitedly slammed it into her hand. Adora jumped.

“Oh my god it just turned into a hammer-“

“WHAT!?” They all turned to the ship to see Entrapta spidering her way over, before stopping literal inches in front of Bismuth. Hordak came out a few seconds after, but he chose to use the ramp instead. One of her hair strands was holding a recorder up to her mouth, and the rest were wrapped around Bismuth’s arm.

“Woah, hey-“

“Space Log 37:the aliens on the planet ‘Earth’ seem to have magical shape shifting abilities for utilitarian purposes-“

“Uh, we’re aliens too.” Amethyst said flatly. Entrapta beamed.

“Really???” She asked. Catra buried her face into her hand.

“This is a headache.” She muttered to herself. Pounding footsteps came out of the ship, and the gems looked up at the entrance just as Bow and Glimmer came out.

“Entrapta, you can’t just drop the wires while I’m-“ they both suddenly stopped when they saw everyone looking at them.

“Um, hi?” Bow waved with a nervous smile.

“Okay, you know what?” Steven shoved everyone towards the beach house, “Everyone get inside so we can figure this thing out. Bismuth, can you start fixing their ship?”

“I’m a little tied up right now.” Bismuth said. Entrapta had her dangling upside down and was inspecting her gem.

“Oh, okay. Well, whenever you can.”

“You got it!” She tried to give him a thumbs up, but t was interrupted by Entrapta grabbing her hand.

“Does the other arm transform too?”

“Uhhhh-“

“I can shapeshift too, you know.” Adora said humorously. Steven looked at her.

“Really?”

“Yeah! Well I can’t- and it’s only-“ she stopped for a moment to get her thoughts in order. “Okay, so it’s like, I got this magical sword thing because I have- had this weird magical destiny thing, and it let me transform, and then I broke it, but then I didn’t need the sword anymore? And then I used the not-sword to fight this intergalactic space dictator-“

“You too!?” Steven interjected. They both looked at each other with awe and some strange sense of understanding and belonging. It was freaking Catra out.

“Adora, look, I’m really glad you’re making friends independent of me because that’s what supportive girlfriends do, but can you please have your creepy hero mind connection somewhere else?”

“No, Catra, you don’t understand-“ she grabbed her by the shoulder and looked very solemnly into her eyes, “he gets it.”

“Oooookay, I’m going inside now.”

——

I thought of this at 1 am, here you go.

[loveafterthefact]

Love After the Fact Chapter 24: Between One Strike and the Next, I See You

Keith’s actually a pretty good teacher.

Also, who could possibly have been yeeted across a training room? Gee, I wonder...

First  Previous  Next

Lance watches as Keith passively dodges the soldier’s attacks, hands clasped behind his back. It’s the soldier he’s been having issues with: Griffin. Griffin isn’t particularly awful or anything, but he’s arrogant, stubborn, and can’t seem to come around to the fact that Keith is not their enemy. Which might be why Keith seems to spend much of his time kicking Griffin’s ass whenever he has something he wants to demonstrate.

This quintant, he’s demonstrating how pathetic everyone is. Griffin’s been on the offensive for a good twenty doboshes now, and he hasn’t landed a single hit. It’s concerning because Griffin is perhaps their best officer.

“As you can see,” Keith calls, completely impassive. “When dealing with a larger opponent -you are all bigger than me, and most Galra will be bigger than you- you are likely much faster. One of the smartest choices you can make is to use that speed. Dodge their blows -they are likely stronger than you- and either wait for an opening or let them tire themselves out.

“A tired enemy is a sloppy enemy. Isn’t that right, Griffin?” Keith sidesteps, sticking out his foot and tripping his opponent. “And you’re dead.”

“I have killed… dozens of Galra… I can definitely… kill a little runt like you.” The Altean is gasping, dripping sweat. Keith is entirely unruffled, circlet level on his head, not a hair out of place, where it's knotted at the top of his head. It’s not the first time today Keith has chosen Griffin as an example.

“Prince. I am a prince. And thus far, it seems you can’t kill me.”

“I don’t understand,” another soldier says, stepping forward. “Who trained you? None of the enemies we have ever faced have your skill or control.”

Keith turns to the soldier, tail swishing. “I was trained Captain Takashi Shirogane, my littermate, captain of the Galran Imperial Guard, a private force known as the Blade of Marmora. I was a part of the Blades for two years before I gained my current station. His troops are elite, disciplined and trained beyond reproach. He trains with Prince Lotor’s generals.”

“So… You are one of these elite soldiers?” the soldier asks.

“I am not a soldier anymore. Now I am a warrior prince.” Keith holds out a hand to help Griffin to his feet, but the soldier ignores it, stumbling up on his own. The prince turns impassively back to his pupils. “You are all excellent soldiers. But you could be better. You have the potential to be the best this kingdom has ever seen.”

Keith finally catches sight of Lance leaning against the wall. Lance waves, not wanting to interrupt. Keith waves back. “Come join us! You could learn something too!”

Lance sighs, smile small as he joins his spouse, kisses his cheek. “Apologies, beloved. I’m not much of a swordsman. I just came to watch.”

“Have you ever received actual instruction, or have you only fought training bots?”

“Well… I had some basic training as a child, but it’s been just bots since then.”

“Hm.” Keith holds out a hand to the soldier he just spoke to, and the soldier hands over her sword without hesitation. Lance decides he likes this soldier, the one that’s kind to his spouse. Keith passes it to Lance. “A robot is not a person. It does not think as a person thinks, feel as a person feels. It does not feel pain. It does not feel greed, or fear, or bloodlust, or desperation. It does not feel an old injury that limits mobility. Its purpose is far too simple: offend and defend as its programming finds appropriate.

“People are too varied and complex to be substituted for by a machine. You’d do better getting your butt kicked by me than defeating a pile of metal and wires.”

“Well, getting my butt kicked by you seems far more likely and way cooler, so let’s do this.” Lance looks around as the soldiers step back to watch. He takes a deep breath and lifts the sword, taking a stance. Keith smiles. He admires Lance’s humor even when he lacks confidence.

“Is that how they taught you to stand?”

“I think so… I don’t remember.”

“Widen your feet… good. Bend your knees. Never, ever lock your knees. Or elbows, for that matter… good. Now, this is a broadsword. This particular type of broadsword has a longer hilt, so it can be used with one or two hands.”

“It’s heavy.”

“Yes, because it’s made for hacking people into pieces.” Keith stares into Lance’s eyes. Lance notices how bright they are right now. They burn like stars. “You don’t hunt game with a sword. A broadsword, like all other swords, was made for killing people. Specifically by cutting off limbs and heads.

“Now, to begin.” Keith draws his own blade, letting the dagger lengthen into a gorgeous luxite sword. “I’m going to come at you. I want you to either dodge or block my attack.”

Lance gulps, nods, takes a deep breath. Keith leaps forward, pounces, drives his sword directly at Lance’s head. Unsure of what else to do, Lance attempts to block, both hands locked around the broadsword’s grip. He looks away, flinching as the glittering blade draws near. Keith hits with such force, Lance is almost brought to his knees.

He turns back to his spouse, stares into violet eyes, his face reflected in yellow sclera. The eyes stare back, glinting, blazing with an intensity that Lance hasn’t seen since Keith first arrived here. Keith’s enjoying this. He’s enjoying contributing something. Letting Keith teach had been a very good choice.

“Good. But you flinched.” Keith draws away. “You flinched, your body twisted, you leaned back, and it upset your balance. You couldn’t have taken another hit. Let’s try it again. This time, hold firm. You chose to plant your feet instead of dodge. Own that decision.”

“R- right.”

“Take responsibility for the blood on your hands. It’s the only way you’ll ever live with it.” Keith charges again, and this time, Lance lifts his blade, stares into his spouse’s amethyst eyes. He does not flinch. This time, when their blades cross, Keith tries a second time, diving for his legs, and Lance manages to meet him again. “Excellent.”

Keith turns back to the watching soldiers. “See how easily improvements can be made? That was one strike barely blocked, then two strikes effectively blocked. All it takes is the right mindset.” Keith smiles, pokes Lance in the middle of the forehead. Lance chuckles. “And a sword. A sword helps, since your kind are so useless.”

“Hey!” Lance yelps. “That’s not fair!” The soldiers grumble assent.

“Look at you!” Keith teases, perhaps putting on a bit of a show. “Now sharp teeth. No retractable claws…”

“We can shapeshift,” Lance offers. “I bet I could turn the exact color of Dabazaal’s sand. You’d never find me.”

“I’d just walk by and give you a compliment and you’d get all sparkly. Then, I’d shoot you in the face.” While Lance blusters, Keith turns to the soldiers with a satisfied smirk. “We’re done for today. You all did well, and you are improving. Griffin, a word.”

Keith nods to Lance, steps away with the soldier. He looks the man up and down. Brown skin, brown hair, dark blue eyes, deep violet scales, gleaming iridescent red. Violet base with a red edge, he thinks. He’s learning a lot about quintessence and about the connection the Alteans have with it. “I want to use you for another demonstration quintant after tomorrow.”

“Yes, because you only ever use me.”

“You show a great deal of potential. If you can learn some humility, patience, and respect for people who are not your own, you will make a fantastic leader. That being said, if you do not learn, and if you continue to disrespect me, I will have you removed from our military faster than you can say ‘quiznak’. Are we clear?”

“Yes,” Griffin grits.

“Yes what?”

“Yes, your Majesty.” Griffin bows, stiff, resentful.

“Then we have nothing more to discuss.” Keith turns on his heel, satisfied. “If you’ll excuse me, I think my husband wishes to speak with me.”

Lance smiles, kisses his cheek again once he approaches. He seems somewhat lackluster today. “Hey, beloved. You’re very good at teaching.”

Keith smiles, bashfully eyes the ground. “Thank you. I just… To be honest, I just say and do what I think Shiro would say and do. He’s the real teacher.”

“Well you’re doing a wonderful job.” Lance’s ears wilt a tiny bit, scales a little dull.

“What’s wrong?”

“We should take a walk.”

Keith takes Lance’s hand on instinct, squeezing it tight. The longer he lives at the Castle of Lions, the more deeply he finds himself attached. The more empowered he feels, despite being at the mercy of his enemies. He looks his spouse dead in the eyes.

“Lead the way.”

[loveaurapearl]

Storm in the Heart

(One-shot story of Steven Universe. It takes place before Steven’s birth and is kind of a reverse of Storm in the Room. There are some head cannons and this fanfic assumed Rose and Vidalia made the painting and that they had an argument after the said painting was made.)

Rose sighed as she looked at the painting of herself hanged above the room to the inner temple and then looked at her stomach, which has increased since the six months she began to form a child in her body. A feeling of fear and regret raced her mind when she noticed Pearl’s gem on the door glowed. The door opened and the peach haired rock alien exited her room with a warm smile. The two quickly noticed each other. “Ah, Rose! It’s good to see you again. How was your trip to this Vidalia person’s place? Did you get the painting you wanted?” Pearl asked in a caring tone. The Quartz woman nodded and looked at the painting. “Yes, and it’s a beautiful piece of art. I just can’t wait for Steven or Nora to see it and appreciate all the hard work that was put into it.” Rose said with a warm voice; however, Pearl could tell her ‘friend’ was upset. “Are you okay? You didn’t look happy. Did something happen at Greg’s friend’s house?” Pearl asked. The quartz looked away and then sighed. “At first, everything was normal as I examined all her earthly objects. We talked about how wonderful how humans are, but Vidalia thought us Gems were much better since we didn’t have to go through some ‘awkward’ middle stage from baby to adult. I don’t know what exactly was so embarrassing about change, but I could tell she didn’t like talking about it and we changed to the subject to my baby. She… she tried to talk me out of having the childlike you guys, and… we ended on bad terms. I really hope I didn’t upset her too much.” The leader of the Crystal Gems stated as she sat on the warp panel. Pearl sat next to her and placed her hand on her shoulder. 

“Rose, it’ll be okay. So, what if she doesn’t agree with your ideas? You don’t need to listen to her anyway. Besides, it’s… it’s fine that you’re having this child. What matters the most is what makes you feel good.” Pearl said, trying to hide her feelings about the child. Rose looked at her friend and smiled. “Thanks, Pearl. You always know what to say to make me feel better. But… I still have her words in my head. I wish I could talk to my child's face to face right now so I could have a genuinely good time with them.” The pink-haired woman bemoaned.

“Why not use your room to create an approximation of the child? You could have all kinds of fun without losing your shapeshifted form and you could talk to the child as much as you want.” Pearl stated in a knowing voice. Rose looked at her best friend with stars in her eyes. “Oh! THANK YOU, PEARL! That’s a wonderful idea! ” She yelled as she stood up with excitement. Pearl smiled. “Oh, it’s nothing, Rose.” She began to say before noticing Rose had run off to her room. Pearl sighed in annoyance.

Meanwhile, Rose giggled as the door behind her closed. Her room was an endless pink sky and pink cloud landscape with pink clouds as the ground. She giggled as her mind raced with ideas on what her child will be like. “Hmm… should I have the room give me Steven or Nora?” She thought since it was the most important question. She thought for a moment and then decided on which gender she wanted. “Okay… Let’s try, Steven. But…what would he look like? I guess mostly like a young Greg but maybe with a lighter…no darker brown hair color and no beard.” Soon a young boy that looked exactly like a teenage Greg appeared in front of her, the only difference was his hair was a darker color. “Oh, I love the shirt, but maybe he should have clean, undamaged blue pants and pink sandals. And shape his chin to look a bit more like my own.” She said aloud and the boy suddenly had those clothes on him and adjusted his chin to look more like Steven. “Oh! I love it! But… maybe he should have a different hairstyle than from Greg. But what kind? Maybe my old Pink Diamond hairstyle but without those bits of hair poking out… OH! It’ll look like a rose from behind! You’re a genius Rose! Thank you, Rose,” She said. The boy transformed, his hair now having five bumps of hair around his head. (Think Current Steven in Steven Universe Future, but his black shirt is ripped.) “Hmmm… something’s missing. How about a jacket? A pink jacket!” She said aloud, and soon a pink jacket (that looks exactly like the one in Future and the movie) appeared on the boy. 

“Perfect! This is exactly how I want Steven to look like. Hey, I should make a jacket for my son or daughter with these exact measurements. They look so good on it. Amethyst could be the model!” She giggled. The boy giggled as well. “Thanks, mom.” He said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, surprising the gem. “Oh, Steven, that’s your voice. It’s a wonderful sounding voice. So strong, so majestic, I bet you would be a wonderful singer, just like your dad.” Rose said in amazement. They soon both laughed.

After a while, they calmed down and looked at each other. “Soo…. What now?” The young teen asked, not sure what to do now. Rose began to think. “Hmmm… What do a mom and son do together?” Rose asked, then a football appeared out of clouds. Rose grabs the object. “Sports, dah. Just like in those videos Greg shows me. Now, catch Steven!” She yelled, then threw the ball quite far. Steven rushed over to where the ball was going to land. “Isn’t this wonderful? I can’t believe I’m hanging out with my mom. This is just the best. I hope to have as much fun as I’m having with you as I will when I’m with the gems.” He said, then jumped up and grabbed the ball. He floats down as his shirt flapped, showing her gem on his stomach. “Oh yeah… my gem and my powers would go into you Steven…” Rose said as she realized this. Suddenly Pink Pearl appeared in front of Rose and yelled, “GO STEVEN!” Rose gasped in shock and whipped at the figure, turning it back into clouds. Steven landed and turned back to Rose. 

“Huh? Was that Pearl? She sounded different.” Steven asked, confused by the sudden sound. Rose sweated. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Everything is fine. We… still need to play more Football! I want to see you do a kick!” Rose said as she tried to distract the boy and herself from the apparition. Steven nodded and threw the ball back. Rose jumps and catches the ball easily. She then lands and swats as she placed the ball in a way for Steven to kick it. “This is exactly what we need, some good old round of sports!” Steven said, then began to run. She smiled as Steven rushed over to her. She then quickly lifts up the ball before Steven kicked it, causing him to launch into the air and then land on his back. The two soon laughed. “You have a marvelous laugh, Steven. I can’t wait for you to share this laugh with the world. And with a charming personality, I bet you will have tons of friends and lovers,” Rose said in a mischievous tone. Steven sat up and looked away, embarrassed. “Mom, you’re embarrassing me. Besides, I would rather have one person who really loves me for who I am than have a bunch of girlfriends and boyfriends that I see as toys. After all, isn’t that what you and Dad have?” The teen said with pride. Rose’s eyes watered up and she hugged the boy. “Oh, how mature and responsible you are, Steven. I really wished I had come to that conclusion sooner, but… it doesn’t matter, I’m happy, you’re happy, everyone’s happy! You’re going to grow up, big and strong, and loved, and happy, and… and… full of so many possibilities! You are going to be wonderful, Steven.” She said, then laughed.

Steven smiled and hugged her back. “Hey, want to play another game? Oh! Maybe, hide and seek!” He suggested. Rose smiled. “Sure. You go hide, and once I’m done counting to ten, I’ll find you. Just make sure you don’t disappear. That would be cheating.” She ordered. Steven nodded then ran off. Rose covered her eyes to make sure the game was fair. “Okay. 1, 2, 3, 4.” She began to count. The area shifted underneath her to a large garden with tons of vegetation, pillars, and a warp nearby. “5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10! Ready or not! Here I … The garden? Why? Why am I back here?” Rose said, the last part being stated as she uncovered her eyes and saw where she was. She then looked around and saw Spinel, smiling at her. The heart gem was trapped in vines that were wrapped around her feet, her hair was a mess, and tear marks were under her eyes. “P-Pink? PINK! Oh my stars, you’re back! You came back for me! It’s been, what about five thousand years since we last saw each other? But you came back! You’re here to rescue me!” Spinel said with excitement as she broke free from the vines. Rose froze in horror as her ‘best friend’ wrapped her wiggly arms around her. “Spinel, I’m not Pink Diamond anymore, I’m Rose. And I’m… I’m so sorry. I wish this was real. I really do, but the galaxy warp is broken. If only it wasn’t broken, then… then I could rescue you for real. I could feel happy seeing you again, but… but I know it’s not real. I know you’re not here. I… I wished I had never told you to stay in this place and rot away, but I can’t change the past and I can’t repair the warp without causing suspicion on myself. So please! Let me GO!” Rose roared, the area under her shaking, the image of Spinel dissipating, the ground broke under her, and a shock wave raced through the air. Rose covered her mouth in horror as tears fell down her eyes.

“I’m… I’m so sorry, Spinel. I’m so, so sorry. Please… forgive Steven for the horrible things I did.” Rose said as she held herself as she shocked in fear. After a few seconds, she heard someone’s footsteps. She looked up and saw Steven, however, his eyes were covered in shadow. Next to him was Lion. “S-steven? Did… did you see that? I can explain. I can explain everything, just please, don’t be mad at me.��� Rose panicked. Steven lifted his head, and she saw he had Pink Diamond’s eyes. Rose stiffened in fear. “Explain. That’s rich coming from you. You never explain yourself. YOU only runaway. Just like how you ran away from Homeworld and now, you’re running away from yourself to become me. You never change and you never WILL CHANGE,” He said, but it was cold and detached. He then laughed but it sounded wrong. “No! That’s wrong! I… I’m not running away! I only doing this so something brand new can be formed. Something wonderful, something spectacular. You’re going to be human, Steven. We’re going to be human. We’re going to fix everything! WE CAN CHANGE!” Rose yelled. Steven growled and walked over to her, his steps cracking the ground underneath him. “Is that ALL I AM TO YOU!? A way to fix your mistakes?! What about Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl? You’re leaving them behind! You know very well that they need you! They hang onto your every word, especially Amethyst! You haven’t even told Pearl, you’re most trusted ally, about Lion! What will she think once she learns the truth!? What will they think of you when they learn the truth about the war and you’re true identity!? What’s going to happen to them once you’re gone and I take your place?” Steven yelled. He was almost inches away from her when he stopped moving. Despite him being smaller than her, Rose was as stiff as aboard. “The … The Crystal Gems can handle themselves. They… they don’t need me. I’m just impeding them from fulfilling their dreams. Besides, Pearl won’t mind Lion. She’ll just think of him as an annoyance, just like Greg.” Rose tried to justify herself.

“What about Dad? You promised to be by his side forever, but now he’s going to have to raise me up all by himself. The gems don’t know how to take care of me, especially once I start showing my powers! And Dad won’t know how to deal with me once that happens! You don’t even know if I will even get any powers! I’ll JUST BE USELESS!” Steven yelled. Rose grabbed her head. It was starting to pound. “Steven, it… it won’t matter. You’re going to be human. Being human is much more amazing than having these stupid powers. It… It’ll be enough. We’ll find a way to fix the corrupted gems some other way, and we can live happily ever after. And even if you do have my powers, when we’re happy, our terrible powers won’t appear, so it doesn’t matter,” Rose said as she tried to block the pain, putting up a smile. “Once everything is over, we’ll laugh, and sing, and… and be happy. We can do whatever we want.”

“What about the Diamonds? What about Spinel? What about Pink Pearl!? Are you forgetting that they are still suffering because of you? OR did you want me to fix them too!? I’ll learn the truth eventually and so will the Crystal Gems. They’ll have to face the fact that everything you told them, the war, Bismuth, your identity, IT WAS ALL A LIE!” Steven yelled, the ground cracking even more. Rose fell onto her butt. Her stomach was aching as she felt the baby inside her kicking. “Steven, please, stop! We’re wrecking this place. Besides, I had to do this. It was the only way. Spinel had to stay here otherwise; she’ll just make me look like a fool! The Diamonds never cared about me, they never cared about us! I tried talking to them, but they WOULDN’T LISTEN! Besides, the Diamonds aren’t coming back to this planet! After they corrupted the gems, they ran off to conquer more plants! So why should they care about a place like this!? And it’s too late to tell the gems about my identity, otherwise, they’ll just fear and hate you if I do it now!” Rose yelled. Steven growled and stood over her. “Don’t lie to me, mother. You know very well the diamonds will come back. You’re just too afraid to admit it. They’ll come back, and so on; everyone will see you as you truly are. A weak, pathetic monster trying to hide from the mess you’ve made. And I’ll be the one who’ll have to fix it.” Steven said as his eyes became covered in shadows.

“Please… please, Steven. Stop saying these awful things. Everything, everything will be alright. Y-you know in your heart that I love you. Y-you know that everything will be fine in the end, b-because you’re Steven Universe. And… and things will be alright. We… we can do this. Just, please, STOP!” Rose yelled, her voice becoming a young Steven at the end. Rose covered her mouth and began to cry as the child inside her stopped kicking for a while. Rose looked up and saw Steven crying as well, his eye returned to ‘normal’. The room had become clouds again and it had begun to rain. Rose got up and hugged the boy. “I’m… I’m sorry, Steven. I never wanted this to get out of hand as they did. But… but I’m just… afraid. I’m afraid of you hating me and yourself for us being like this. I hate myself for being this… thing. I hate that I left Spinel alone and now can’t go back to get her. I hate that I caused the war and that I lie to my friends. I hate myself for locking Bismuth away. I… I thought if I ended being Pink Diamond, the pain, the agony, our suffering would stop. I could stop lying to my friends and we could stop the diamonds and unbubble Bismuth. But then the diamonds corrupted my friends and… and it was too late to reveal the truth. I’m afraid of Bismuth hurting everyone and trying to shatter me and you. I’m afraid of the Crystal gems giving up on us and running away. I’m afraid of being seen as Pink Diamond and hurting my friends again. I don’t want to be so awful. I just want to be happy which is why… I want to be you, Steven, SO much. You can change, Steven. You can FIX EVERYTHING! You can get through to people in ways I will never be able to. You can change people’s minds. You don’t need to be afraid of the truth or of the Diamonds hurting us anymore. I… I just… want you to be happy. I want you to love yourself. I’m sorry that your mom is stuck as this broken, unfixable mess and… I wish that wasn’t the case.” Rose said as she hugged her son, her voice had returned to normal. She felt the boy hug her back. “Mom… I… I love, you,” He said, sorrowful. Rose sheds a tear. “I… I love you too Steven. I just hope, the real you will say the same thing.” She said as the rain lightened up.

“I’m going to miss you, mom,” Steven said as he looked at her. Rose softly laughed. “I’m going to miss everyone, Steven. But… we’re going to fix things. We’re going to be fully happy soon, and… and we will have a happily ever after.” She said with a smile. Steven smiled then dissipated into clouds. Rose lifted her hand forward and caught the last bit of rain. Rose hugged herself as the door leading out appeared. Rose exited her room and saw Greg sitting at the edge of the cave entrance with a guitar in his hands, which surprised her. “Oh! Greg, what are you doing here right now?” She asked. The man chuckled as he noticed her. “Heya Rose, how are you? Hey… were you crying?” Greg asked as he noticed the remnants of tears on her face. Rose whipped them off. “I’m fine. I… was just thinking about how wonderful our little child will be after my visit to Vidalia. I was thinking about all the possible opportunities he could be apart of and… I was afraid if he would like me or not.” Rose said, a bit of the truth leaking out as she looked to the side.

“Did you and Vidalia get into a fight? She called me a bit earlier about to say something before congratulating me on our child. I didn’t think of it at the time, but if you’re upset too, then maybe Vidalia was trying to tell me about said incident before changing her mind. If so, I gotta say, that was actually quite mature for her to do.” Greg said. Rose looked at the man. “Y-yes. We did have a fight. Vidalia wasn’t … so sure if I would be a good mother or not to our son. She thought I was selfish, immature, and a brat. I’m not so sure about it myself. I went to my room to think it over.” Rose lied. Greg sadly smiled as he looked at his wife. “Rose, even if you are all those things, you won’t be a terrible mother to our child. As long as you are truthful, loving, and caring, ya know like you always are, then Steven or Nora will love being your child.” Greg said, causing Rose to tear up again, “Rose, are you okay?” Rose looked at the magical door and then back to Greg. She took a deep breath. “Greg… there’s something I need to tell you. I know I should have told you and the gems sooner, but… I was afraid that telling you this would convince you to not let me have our child.” Rose said. This confused the young father-to-be. “Whatever it is, Rose, I’m all ears. You shouldn’t be afraid of telling me anything.” He said with a smile.

Rose took in a deep breath. “Greg… I won’t survive having this child. Once Steven or Nora is born, I won’t exist anymore. I’ll be gone and my gem will become a part of our child. Steven or Nora will be half gem and thus will have magical abilities. You’ll have to raise them with the Crystal Gems in order to help control their power.” Rose confessed. Greg’s eyes shrank and he became wobbly. He sat down as he looked two ways as he tried to process what he had just heard. Rose sat down next to him in worry. Greg looked at her in shock. “Wh-what!? You’re going to… So… you’re dying so our child can live! Rose, why did you do this? We could have just adopted if you wanted a child that badly. You didn’t need to sacrifice yourself.” Greg yelled, shocked and scared. Rose looked down. “Greg… I didn’t want to adopt it. It just wouldn’t feel right owning a child that wasn’t ours. Yes, we would own the child and maybe perhaps it would learn to love us, but I just… it would just feel like I was being a part of a human tradition instead of truly having a child. I have been alive for a long, long time. I have witness humans from birth to old age. I… I didn’t want to outlive our child, knowing that it even belonged to me or you. Plus, our child will be something nobody will have ever seen before. They will be extraordinary beyond belief. I just hope they will understand that I just want them to live the life they want to have.” Rose explained. Greg hugged her shoulder. 

“Honey… I… understand. I may not be a gem, but the idea of outliving your loved ones, especially your child sounds like a very scary thing. I’m not going to change your mind about your decision, I just wished you didn’t feel like you had to hide this fact from me and the others. And don’t worry about our kid, honey bun, I’ll make sure the kid will have a great time on this earth.” He said with a smile. Rose laughed. “Thanks, honey. I’m glad you understand. I just hope the gems will be as tolerant of my decision.” Rose said. Greg laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you make them understand. Besides, it’s not like we change things now.” He said. Rose nodded. “Yeah. Oh, and don’t worry about Steven or Nora hating you. Your honey bun will make sure they will understand how great you are.” Greg said with reassurance. Rose laughed. “Thanks, honey.” She said. The scene faded out.

[moominquartz]

Humans are fascinating in that they are meant to change. Gems cannot. Their programming is irreversible and resolute.

A Rose Quartz character study. Contains spoilers through Steven Universe Future S01E04: Volleyball.

Rose Quartz has never loved anyone more than she has loved Greg Universe.

It almost hurts to admit. She loves Pearl, of course — and that, perhaps, is a fault; for Pearl adores her to the point of exaltation.  But Pearl’s feelings for Rose are solely because she was programmed to adore her Diamond, and therefore Rose can never allow herself to reciprocate; the one thing she cannot allow her. That is a conversation she and Pearl will never have, because Rose is a coward.

But Rose is a hypocrite, because she adores Greg in much the same way.

“My Greg,” she murmurs between kisses, enjoying very much how Greg could never know the true connotation of that phrase. How beautiful, to promise oneself so wholly to another, not out of duty or propriety, but because one wanted to.

“My Rose,” Greg tries once, and Rose freezes.

No one has called her theirs in centuries. Pearl stopped once the rebellion began in true force, because it could ask some people to connect the dots — even in private, Rose had felt it was too risky, and it would reinforce a mindset Rose wanted to eradicate. (Not that she’d been successful at that.)

Rose had called Pearl “my Pearl” countless times; at first, it had made Pearl intensely uncomfortable, but over the years it had turned into a point of pride. She’d always meant it, every time. Rose had not used such a term of endearment with any of the men she’d dated — not before Greg. And even then, she hadn’t meant it any less.

But Greg whispering those words makes Rose remember every member of her court. She remembers the way Pearl had said those words shortly after assuming her new identity. She remembers every Jade, every Pebble, every Pearl —

I shouldn’t have been standing so close, my Diamond —

Greg’s hands curl around hers, begging her back to the present. “Hey, are you okay?” he asks, voice softer than she could ever deserve.

“Of course,” she murmurs, a lie they both recognize.

“You don’t have to talk about it,” Greg says. “Would you rather I not say that?”

She nods. It ends there.

Greg never pushes her for anything. Never asks her for details. Never questions the horrible, horrific past she hides from everyone.

She doesn’t deserve it. She deserves someone who demands explanation, who demands her to prostrate herself and accept judgment for all of the people she’s ever hurt. Someone who sees right through her and refuses to accept her.

But Rose Quartz is a coward in love, and Greg is a soft blanket; he is her shield from her own past, and she takes great pleasure in escaping in him.

-

When she accepted her colony, she left Spinel behind. Thousands of years later, she tends the garden surrounding her fountain and wonders where Spinel is now. Did she ever look for Pink Diamond? Did she ever find that Pink was shattered? Did she accept that answer, was she given another role on Homeworld?

Without Pink Diamond, Spinel had no purpose. Had White shattered her?

Rose considers the Garden. She considers making the trek to the desert alone, reactivating Pink Diamond’s ship, and returning to the Garden. Finding Spinel, if any pieces of her remain, and bringing her back to Earth.

But it was quite possible that the other Diamonds would be notified if the ship was used again. She couldn’t risk it. She couldn’t risk bringing the Diamonds’ attention back to Earth.

After all, after the Corruption, they had abandoned the place. Even with gems in such a maimed state, the planet itself was safer than it had ever been. She couldn’t risk all the life on Earth for just one gem.

Just another mistake she’d made, never rectified. Just another crime, never judged. Just another fear, never put to rest.

-

Bismuth proposes the Breaking Point with a gleam in her eye.

Rose doesn’t turn her down out of any sense of justice, out of any sense of morality. In all honesty, Bismuth brings up an argument that shouldn’t be ignored. In war, when the enemy is willing to shatter you, you cannot simply poof and bubble. It’s a time consuming, delicate way to eliminate them, and Homeworld has greater numbers, heavier artillery, and too many resources.

But Rose can’t allow Bismuth to shatter her. Even if Bismuth has no idea that she’s presenting this idea to her greatest enemy.

When Bismuth insists, when she points out the strategic benefits, Rose knows she’s right, and she knows she has no real argument against her.

“I’m sorry,” Rose says with finality, “but it isn’t right.”

“Isn’t right?!” Bismuth’s temper is flaring, spiking past just irritation and incomprehension. “What does that mean? This is a war, Rose! We don’t have the luxury of moralizing our actions! We need to prioritize our soldiers. Your soldiers!”

“Calm yourself.”

Bismuth’s fuse does not extinguish. She threatens her, says she’ll go to the others about this. And Rose cannot justify herself to the others, who will no doubt see that Bismuth’s weapon is exactly what they need. And if they question her, they’ll dig, and they’ll expose a truth Rose cannot possibly hope to explain. It terrifies her.

So Rose extinguishes Bismuth’s fuse for her, and pretends — for her own sake — that it never happened.

-

Pearl, broken beyond repair. Spinel, abandoned. Bismuth, bubbled and hidden. Pearl, enslaved and silenced. Lion, dead. All of the Rose Quartzes, bubbled and falsely judged. Hundreds and hundreds of Gems, corrupted. Amethyst, isolated. The Earth, permanently scarred.

At some point, all of her mistakes add up to a terrifying sum.

Humans are fascinating in that they are meant to change. Gems… Gems cannot. Their programming is irreversible and resolute.

Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond, and Pink Diamond is a monster.

-

After a particularly trying tour of the Prime Kindergarten, Rose asks Greg pointed questions about human reproduction. And, though red-faced and flustered, he explains it to her. He takes her to the Budwick Library, where they go through health textbooks and detailed diagrams, and Rose realizes something extraordinary.

“Do you think we could do that?” she asks, as the book shuts.

“Huh?” Greg blinks at her, confusion writ across his face. “You mean — have a baby together?”

“Do you think we could create life together, you and I?”

Rose thinks of the Kindergartens. She thinks of how much life she recklessly destroyed in order to create gems who only worked to destroy even more of it. But humans… Humans were designed to preserve life, gloriously, nothing being sacrificed for their survival except time and energy.

Greg’s eyes are on her, thoughtful and sensitive as always. “I… this is probably a weird question, but uh.” He blushes. “Do you even… do you even have that kind of… equipment?”

“I could shapeshift it,” she murmurs, enraptured. “I could give myself ovaries and eggs and a vagina and a cl—”

“I-I guess you could!” Greg squeaks out. She giggles; she can’t possibly begin to fathom why he’s so embarrassed about this when it’s such a gift. “I… could you… could you hold all of that? For months?”

“Sure.”

Most gems couldn’t, but she’d had plenty of practice shapeshifting. And on top of that, she was one of the most powerful gems in existence, though she would never tell Greg that. Not unless he asked.

“But I thought…” Greg runs a hand through the gorgeous mane of his hair. “I thought gems couldn’t… reproduce like that.”

“We can’t.”

He starts, turning quickly to stare at her in horror, all the adorable awkwardness and embarrassment vanishing. She understands, and she wants it anyway.

“You mean…”

“I don’t think I would ever be able to give birth in the way that humans can,” Rose admits as she stares at the cover of the textbook. She places her hand on the cover, caressing the image of the pregnant human. “Gems aren’t designed for it. But if I could give up my form to create another life…”

To allow a new life to form and to erase an irredeemable one in the same breath.

“I — Rose.” There’s something odd in his voice. “I don’t know. I… You’ve lived for eons. You would seriously give all that up? You wouldn’t — you would die for this?”

“Yes.”

The answer is easy. The loose ends that are left in her life aren’t within her reach. What better bow to tie on her existence than to make up for her mistakes? To create a being that not only is capable of change, but is designed to?

“I…” Greg’s voice shifts. He sets his hand over the one she’s placed on the book. “...Let’s talk about this later, okay?”

“Of course.”

-

When the test is positive, things change drastically.

Firstly, Garnet forbids Rose from accompanying them on any missions.

“My future vision is useless here,” Garnet explains as her gaze, though obscured behind her visor, lands on her still flat stomach. “And… from what you and Greg have explained to me about human pregnancies, it seems a fragile thing. Let’s not test fate.”

“I can take care of myself,” Rose insists. “I am not a human.”

“I know.” Garnet shrugs, a half-smile playing on her lips. “Heed it anyway.”

So even though Rose rolls her eyes and huffs and pouts, she does as Garnet asks. After all, Garnet has never steered her wrong before, and Rose doesn’t want a reason to fear for her child’s life before it’s even begun.

Not that she’ll be around to fear for it when it has.

Secondly, Amethyst starts avoiding her. It isn’t what Rose expected, but she isn’t surprised. Amethyst has never adapted very well to loss.

Thirdly, Pearl shatters.

Not literally, of course. But Pearl becomes fractured, pieces of her former self.

“I hadn’t realized it was actually possible,” Pearl whispers in horror.

The two of them stand on the cliff above the temple, watching the waves. Below them, Greg and Amethyst are jamming, and Amethyst hits the drums with more voracity than usual.

“Isn’t that the wonderful thing about humanity?” Rose replies, awe and love coloring her voice. “Nothing is predictable. It’s always changing. If Greg had been anyone else, I don’t think I could have done this.”

Pearl frowns. Tears are in her eyes, but she does not shed them. Rose wishes she would.

“You know, Rose, that I have followed you through the furthest reaches of space, and I would follow you to the very end.”

Pearl’s fists clench.

“But I don’t believe I can follow you in this. Rose, you… you will be gone. Dead, in the human sense. You’ll be shattered.”

“Shattering means I would be in pieces for the rest of my existence,” she corrects, calm, quiet, patient. “This is different. I would cease to be, and instead, a new life will sprout in my place. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Of course it isn’t!” Pearl snaps, raising her voice at Rose for the first time in years. “You can’t keep using that word! You can’t — you can’t just abandon us like this!”

“We have nine months until the child is born. I won’t be leaving until then.”

Nine months is but a blink to the two of them, and Pearl’s hurt, defeated expression shows just what she thinks of that.

“In these nine months, I need you to come to terms with this decision I’ve made. I don’t need you to understand it, just accept it. And, my Pearl…”

Rose wraps both of her hands around one of Pearl’s, and her dearest friend freezes.

“I need you to promise me that you will not abandon my child as I am abandoning you.”

Pearl begins to shake as the tears, finally, slip from her cheeks. “Rose… Rose, this isn’t fair. You know this isn’t.”

“I know.”

Neither of them move. Rose waits as Pearl, trembling, terrified, wrestles with the ugly jealousy and pure adoration inside of her. The sun has set and the city quieted by the time Pearl finally meets her eyes again.

“... I promise.”

It is the cruelest thing Rose has ever asked of her.

-

Rose doesn’t technically need to eat, but after discussing it with Greg and Vidalia, it seems that energy is a thing babies need.

“All of my energy comes from my gem,” she tells them. “Surely the baby will simply take energy from there as well.”

“I dunno,” Vidalia mutters, eyes heavy with makeup as she looks to her own son. Rose remembers baby Sour Cream fondly, though he has grown exponentially since their adventure. “The babe doesn’t have your gem yet. Maybe you should be eating.”

“They’re part human too, after all,” Greg murmurs.

Rose doesn’t think it’s necessary, even still. But the idea of her eating, and that energy going to the life forming within her, seems to comfort Greg, so she agrees, however reluctantly.

And then she discovered that food seemed to directly correlate to the horrendous “morning sickness” that she’d heard so, so much about. They didn’t have a restroom within the temple, which meant a lot of unpleasant mornings were spent by the seaside.

It even interrupts peaceful sleep spent at Greg’s side in his cozy little van. It drives her absolutely crazy, and Greg frets, stumbling after her as she rushes to the ocean waves. Sometimes she actually pukes, sometimes she doesn’t, and she hates its lack of predictability.

“Garnet,” Rose whispers one morning as she collapses, somehow exhausted, onto the temple’s warp pad. “Can’t you just use your future vision to tell me when I’ll puke?”

Garnet chuckles. “Sorry.” She isn’t sorry. “I’ve told you before. You’re already an anomaly, hard to pin down with foresight. Throwing human pregnancy into the mix is… well. You’ll be fine, I’m sure.”

Rose groans. Garnet’s smile stays for only a moment more, before she sits next to her.

“Rose. You know that I will follow you, unerringly.”

“Of course.” Rose’s eyes close, though she knows Garnet’s remain open.

“I know that Pearl and Amethyst are struggling with the choice you’ve made, the choice you’re making, in their own ways. But I just can’t understand it.”

Rose gestures, without looking, toward everything. “You know how I feel about humans, don’t you? How could I possibly resist the decision to create one?”

“You’ve resisted before. None of the humans you’ve been with have spawned this desire in you. Except for this one.”

Garnet is clever and wise, and it isn’t just Sapphire that makes her that way. Though Sapphire has the gift of foresight and level-headedness, Ruby has always been the less naive of the two.

Still, Rose doubts she can ever properly explain this decision to any of them. Maybe Pearl could come the closest to true understanding, if she ever thought to put her (understandable, justified) emotions to the side for a moment.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life,” Rose says, opening her eyes and staring upwards. Stars are still visible, though the sun has already begun to warm the night sky. “Perhaps even too many mistakes. But this decision… doing this, with Greg. This isn’t one of them.”

They say nothing for a while. No doubt Garnet is waiting for Rose to say something clarifying and sensical. The fusion watches her expression while Rose watches the sky. The stars vanish, midnight blue becoming purples and pinks and reds and oranges, and when the sun is finally high enough for the sky to be its typical, baby blue self, Garnet sighs.

“I’ll never understand it,” she says at last. “But at the same time… I do.”

Rose is relieved, even though she almost wishes Garnet had taken that bait. ‘Elaborate, Rose. You said ‘too many mistakes.’ Enumerate them.’ But Garnet is too trusting, and Rose is too afraid, and so she lets the mystery die.

-

Whenever Rose happens to be in the same room as Amethyst, Amethyst immediately has something more important to do. Rose thought she’d be fine with it, but after a few months, it has become something that hurts.

She misses the starry-eyed little gem who would follow her around, hanging onto every word and imitating every action. Of course, that desire is too close to something she doesn’t want to be, but she cannot help her programming, faulty as it is.

She is over the morning sickness by now, and her pregnancy is beginning to show. Rose can’t help but be awestruck by it, because her body seems to be shapeshifting without her consciously willing it. Is this growth?

Pearl, bless her gem, is making an effort. Rose sees it, appreciates it; she sees the way Pearl flinches at the sight of her, at the reminder that Rose will be vanishing from her life, and appreciates that Pearl looks anyway. Garnet looks upon her and sees an even larger blind spot than usual, and accepts it, prepares for the worst case scenario as she knows she may not be able to avoid it.

But Amethyst? Amethyst refuses.

“I don’t think I can do this,” Rose confesses to Pearl and Garnet one night. “I can’t. I can’t spend these last few months without her.”

And it may be selfish, but Rose believes Amethyst will regret it if this continues on; if Amethyst doesn’t speak a single word to her until she’s giving birth. By then, it will be too late.

And she cannot allow another mistake.

Garnet decides to speak to Amethyst first. She says that will go over better than Rose trying to corner her, and Rose agrees. So, though she doesn’t hear the conversation, when Garnet brings Amethyst outside of her room, Rose feels fear strike her heart.

Amethyst looks… disgruntled, like she’s just been scolded. Her arms are crossed as she comes to Rose and Pearl.

“Pearl,” Garnet calls. “Let’s give them a moment.”

Pearl looks like she might roll her eyes, but she does as Garnet heeds, and a moment later the two of them have vanished into the warp pad. Now it is just Rose Quartz, alone with an Amethyst whose entire existence is built upon Rose’s mistakes.

“Amethyst,” Rose begins, quiet and gentle. She won’t startle this little one. “Let’s talk about this. You can’t keep avoiding me forever.”

“Yeah I can,” Amethyst snaps, shoulders tensing. “Just watch me. What will it matter when you’re gone, huh? If that’s what you want so bad?”

Rose blinks. “Uh… wait, that isn’t what I want. I’m going to have a child, remember? Just like humans do all the time.”

“Yeah, but humans don’t die when they do! Well — well, most of them don’t! But you found out you’d like, have to die, and you were just like, ‘all right, sure, sign me up!’”

“Am—”

“I just don’t get it!” Amethyst all but shouts, loud enough that she may have even been heard in Beach City. “You can’t just run away when you want to! But you’re gonna do it anyway! You’re running away and never coming back, and you don’t even care that everyone wants you to stay!”

“Is that not what you’re doing?” Rose challenges, and Amethyst’s eyes meet hers for the first time; wide, shocked, tearful. “Running away?”

“I…!”

“Maybe I am,” Rose admits. Amethyst blinks, frozen. “Maybe I am running away. But maybe that doesn’t matter. Maybe I’m hitting two birds with one stone: I’m hiding from my mistakes, but also, I’m creating new life from nothing. It’s… it’s almost like I’m human.”

Almost.

Amethyst sniffs before she plops down onto the ground next to her. They both stare out at the sea for a second, until Amethyst turns and places her hand on Rose’s growing belly.

“There’s someone in there, huh,” Amethyst says, not quite asking. Rose smiles and nods anyway.

“I… I just dunno what we’re all gonna do with you, Rose.” The little one leans against Rose, sighing as she drops her hand from her belly. “I felt like, if I didn’t acknowledge it, I could pretend it wasn’t happening. And… and you’re just getting more pregnant.”

“Maybe I should have talked to all of you more seriously about it,” Rose murmurs.

“I think I’d still be super mad,” Amethyst snorts. “But like… I dunno how humans work, but I promise, we’ll be super helpful to the baby. It’s gonna be like I was, right? With no memories and no idea what its purpose is?”

“Yeah.” It’s a melodic sigh, celebratory.

“Sweet.”

Isn’t it?

-

The very first time she feels the babe kick her from within, everything — not just in her pregnancy, not just the morning sickness and the craving human food and the aching back and feet, but in the entirety of her existence — everything has been worth it, for this one moment.

“Greg,” she whispers, stars in her eyes.

Greg lifts his head from the book he’s got in his hand. “Hmm?”

“Greg, come here — oh!”

He sits upright, stretching. The day has been a lazy one, and as enjoyable as it’s been, he’s moving too slow. “You’re going to miss it!” she insists, grabbing his hand and yanking it over.

“Whoa!”

She presses it to where the movement just was, waiting, on the edge of her seat, hopeful. Greg seems to stop breathing, eyes widening, as they both oggle her belly.

And then—

“There,” Rose whispers.

Life.

“Oh my god.” Greg’s eyes water. He laughs, slow and surprised, and then it evolves, changing into something ecstatic and joyous. Rose cannot help but join him, overtaken by emotion in a way she has never been before.

Then Greg begins to sob, and his arms wrap around her, holding her close.

As she embraces him in her warmth, she wonders if humans have been in her shoes before; if they have made loved ones grieve for them before they’ve passed, knowing they’ll be bringing new life with their passing.

A part of her aches. A part of her fears.

“They’re in there,” she murmurs, hoping to comfort him. “Kickin’ around. Probably gets that from you.”

Greg chuckles, though it’s tinged with tears. “Yeah, right, miss ‘rebel leader.’ They’re gonna get all of their feistiness from you, and you know it.”

She can’t help the smile. “Yes. I do.”

-

By the time they are recording the tapes — the only thing their child will ever have of her — Rose can’t help but think, for once without any fear at all, as she stares into the camera and speaks to someone she will never know:

Rose Quartz has never loved anyone more than she has loved Steven Universe.

[the-bridge-burners]

Trick or Treating

It was well into fall; the leaves were various shades of orange and red as they fell and the air was getting cooler and cooler by the day. It was a great time of year. And even better, Steven had nothing to do today, no gem business or anything else. And even better than that Connie had nothing to do today as well. Freeing them both up to just hang out and do whatever they wanted to, a seemingly increasingly rare occurrence these days. But they were going to take full advantage of it by wondering around Beach City and the beach for however long they felt like doing whatever they pleased.

Naturally with Halloween fast approaching, the town was getting ready for it. Halloween decorations were put up in many people’s yards and all the stores in hopes of pulling business in. One such store they passed by had costumes prominently displayed on mannequins in the store window. They were cool costumes too, a ninja, an astronaut, and a witch. Steven wanted one but…

“I’m uh… probably too old to go trick or treating this year, huh?” Steven said with a sigh as he stopped walking to look at them closer. For as far back as he could remember he’d gone trick or treating every year but not only was he sixteen now but with everything that had happened to him and all that’d he’d done of his own volition since this time last year he felt much older too.

“Nonsense,” Connie said, bumping him lightly with her elbow. “We’re still young, if we want to go trick or treating, we can. All that stuff that happened on Homeworld and with the gems and Diamonds doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun sometimes.”

“But…”

“No ‘buts’, let’s at least go inside and look around.” She linked her arm through his and pulled him into the store.

 -

Initially Steven hadn’t planned on getting a costume, he told himself he was only going to look at them. But then… he’d somehow ended up buying one anyway because Connie did and she suggested they should match so… it just kind of happened. But it was a cool pirate costume too so he couldn’t really complain.

“Now that we both have costumes we have to use them for something, right?” Connie said as they exited the store and continued on their walk.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Steven couldn’t say ‘no’ to that logic, could he?

“It’s settled then? We’re going trick or treating for at least one last time?”

“Uh… yeah! It’ll be fun.” They were still allowed to have fun even if they did need to occasionally save the world from one gem related disaster or another. Steven was almost mad at himself for almost letting himself forget that lesson. “We’ll make it a great year, best ever even.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

 -

“You guys look great,” Greg said as he lowered the camera. He took a picture of Steven in his Halloween costume every year, always the same spot at the bottom of the stairs in the living room too. “Very pirate-ty.”

“Thanks Mr. Universe,” Connie replied with a smile. She pulled off the pirate tricorn and jacket rather well. She’d talked about replacing the fake plastic sword with her real one but had decided against it, saying it wouldn’t match and that they probably wouldn’t need it anyway.

“Thanks Dad. We’re going to go now though.” Steven gestured towards the door as he and Connie started for it. “We’ll be back before midnight and we both have our phones so we’ll be fine,” he added mostly for Pearl’s benefit – she was sitting on the couch next to Garnet – since she had a tendency to be pretty neurotic about his safety sometimes.

“See you later,” Garnet called to them with a wave as they opened the front door.

“Have fun,” Greg added

Outside, the crisp, cool ocean air mixed with the smell of fall met them. The sun was starting to set but it wasn’t quite dark yet. They both had flashlights just in case they needed them but they probably wouldn’t; Beach City was pretty well-lit at night.

Lion sat on the porch, waiting for them and stood with a yawn and a stretch as they stepped out. Steven had tried hard to get him to put on a pirate hat to match him and Connie but he’d pawed it off every time and had eventually even started refusing Steven’s attempts to put it on. Steven had had no choice but to give up.

Connie pulled herself up onto Lion’s back first. Steven got up behind her, perhaps a bit closer than was really necessary. They wouldn’t be going fast, just a quick trot which should be fast enough to get them to every candy giving house before midnight.

“Yo Steven!” Amethyst jumped up seemingly out of nowhere before Lion could take more than two steps on the beach after jumping off the porch. “Ready to get some free candy?” She’d shapeshifted to look like a stereotypical movie alien – big head and yes, little body, and antennas, only purple instead of green – her version of a Halloween costume.

“Um… yeah,” Steven said, forcing a smile. She went with him most years but… he’d been hoping it’d be just him and Connie this year. He couldn’t turn her away though, could he?

“Sweet, let’s go. Lead the way.”

“Hello Amethyst,” Connie said. “You… don’t have to come with us to supervise. We’re perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves and we have Lion with us so there’s no danger of anything bad happening.” Oh, good, Connie seemed to want it to just be the two of them too. But Amethyst would pick up on the hint?

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem she was going to as she scoffed. “I know that silly. I’m going because I want free candy too.” Which meant they were stuck with her. And that was fine, Steven enjoyed her company but… but… it was fine.

“Hey Amethyst!”

Steven turned his head to see Garnet standing in the open doorway, silhouetted by the light inside. “We’re watching scary movies,” she continued, calling down to them. “You should join us. Let Steven and Connie go off and have fun on their own for a while. You can go out for candy later.”

There was a beat or two of silence before Amethyst responded, letting her ‘costume’ dissolve as she did so. “Oh, it’s like that.” She turned her head to look at Steven and Connie again. “Why didn’t you two say so? You guys were really about to let me ruin your night, huh? Go, shoo, have fun, I’ll get my own free candy later.” She made a large shooing gesture with her arms. Lion either took it as an invitation to go or had finally gotten bored of standing there as he leaped up to start heading for town.

“Well, I guess that’s taken of,” Connie said a few seconds later when they were out of ear shot.

“Yeah uh… I guess it is.” Steven would maybe need to talk about it with Amethyst later, make sure she wasn’t offended by them not being honest with her about not wanting her to accompany them. He could worry about that later though. For now, he’d focus on getting as much candy as possible and having fun.

[animation-recaps-by-sean]

Steven Universe-Can’t Go back/A Single Pale Rose Recap

So I wrote a small essay about last night’s episodes. Steven learns the truth. Spoilers below. 

The episode begins with Steven getting ready for bed. Before he can get some sleep Ronaldo comes, claiming to have found something on the moon. Steven thinks it’s just the moonbase but Ronaldo wants to know why he was never told about the moonbase and why it looks like a barn.

Steven goes to investigate, wisly leaving Ronaldo behind. He finds the barn empty. He explores the moonbase. He finds Lapis in the orb room which turns out to be a holodeck designed for recreate the planet below. Yeah, that reveal was not worth the 69 episodes and two and half years tease.

Lapis explains that she was too lonely to leave but too scared to return. So she used the orb to watch Peridot I mean the Crystal Gems. Lapis gets a song. I really good one. Steven tells lapis that changes doesn’t have to be sad. She could move the barn to the beach.

But Steven falls asleep and he dreams of Blue and Yellow Diamond, chastising Pink for her failure at running her colony. Too many humans, couldn’t take apart there cities, and now the Crystal Gems. After Blue and Yellow go, Pearl, our Pearl walks in, holding Rose’s sword.

He awakes with a start, talking about the diamonds. This is too much for Lapis, who runs again. It’s sad but it’s both in character and in keeping with the theme of no easy answers and things take time to heal.

The next episode gets right into it with Steven confronting Pearl about his vision. Much better than when he ignores the big questions like in Dewey Wins or Gemcation. Steven interrupts Amethyst explaining cell phones to Pearl. This has been lost in the discourse about this episode, but it’s nice to see how Amethyst has grown, to helping out Pearl with minium teasing and knowing enough about modern human society to know about cell phone cases. Remember back in season one she didn’t know what car keys were.

Pearl does that hand gag thing. Later, Steven gets a text from Pearl saying she can’t tell him, but she wants to. When asked about the text, Pearl realizes she lost her phone in her gem. So Steven goes in and meets another Pearl who keeps all of Pearl’s stuff alphabetize, including a bunch of different phone numbers from different ladies. The surface Pearl takes Steven into her gem to meet “messy” Pearls. Maybe different Pearls are different personalities? Nope it different pearls from the past. Steven finds Pearls crying about Rose’s pregnancy. She takes Steven even further where Pearl just watched all her friends get turned into monsters.

She takes Steven even further to Rose shattering Pink with her sword, that couldn’t shatter gems, in her right hand when she only used her left hand, and with blue eyes, and a Pearl gem on her forehead. It’s Pearl, and she’s holding Pink Diamond’s diamond. Steven goes even further and sees Rose and Pearl planning on faking Pink Diamond’s shattering because Rose is actually Pink Diamond. Before the plan is put in action Pink makes her last order. For Pearl to never speak of this again. Because Rose doesn’t want to every look back. Pearl returns the phone and Steven is pulled from the gem. Steven admits the truth. His mother was Pink Diamond. And Garnet and Amethyst overhears this. End of episode.

If you’ve read my blog for awhile, you’d know that I am a big prepite of the Rose is Pink Diamond theory. Even after the reveal at the end of season three. Two big reasons. One, Rose had a bunch of powers, even more than high ranking gems. Sapphire, they highest ranking Gem, only displayed two, future vision and ice. Every other gem only had one, and Quartzes, who only had the standard strength and shapeshifting that every gem had. Strange that a mere Quartz had levitation, controlling plants, healing, astral projection, possession, and bringing the dead back to life.

Two, even back is season three the show had this weird holes in the Rose shattering Pink story. In “Bubbles”, Eyeball made a big deal saying that Rose was only known for her sword, which Bismith said couldn’t shatter gems a few episodes earlier. And as the episodes went on, the holes became more apparent until “The Trial” it got to the point if Rose did just shattered Pink Diamond, it would have made the hole thing feel pointless. Rose being Pink was the only revolution I could see and still have emotional weight.  

So I was right. Granted I thought Pink abonded Homeworld early in the war instead of playing both sides up until the very end.

Now let's address the elephant in the room. The gag order. Yes it’s messed up, but so was looking Bismuth up without telling anybody. I don’t think Rose or Pearl really realized how messed up that was. I’m not trying to defend this but contextualize this from there point of view. Pink and Pearl are aliens with alien values. They still had trouble escaping their roles and it ate at them for milinina. Wel, ate at Pearl at any rate. Rose is dead, so we my never figure out how Pink ever truly felt about any of this.

Now, that that is out of the way, there are four big mysteries left. One, who was Pearl’s true owner. This episode was a big point to her bringing Pink Pearl, but her gem place and outfit gives me pause. Was she White’s? Did White lent her to Pink to help with her first colony? Or was she a gift? The fact she was all four diamonds color confuses the issue. Maybe she was a communal Pearl among the Diamonds? Two, what about the Rose Quartz’s in the zoo? Either Pink had them bubbled to help hide her secret identity or they’re fakes Pink made and bubbled to help hide her identity. I’m leaning toward the latter, because that would be too messed up even for Pink. At least Bismuth tried to kill her before she was bubbled. And also it would make Fluorite’s line in “Your Mother and Mine” some humorous foreshadowing. Three, what is in the chest inside Lion? And I saved the most pressing for fourth and last, where the h e double hockey sticks is White Diamond in all of this?

I give both episodes 4 out of 4.

[quonit37]

My live reaction "Can’t Go back” and “A Single Pale Rose”

man it took me too long to edit this

Rules:

Q = Quonit, me.

K = @snakeandapples??? i dunno the url didn’t work so who knows

Q: fine if i message or should i not haha live reaction to episodes

K: No go right on ahead lol

Q: aw ty

awww peri

goodnight steven

RANALDO WHATER YOU DOING HERE

K: being amazing

Q: yes

what is at the lighthouse

oh did you find lapis or smth

to the moon

K: lol that game is sd Q: haha steven should get a moonbase BARN to the moon lion K: lion is th best Q: bubble steven rolly rolly

K: hamster ball steven Q: I mean where else would she put the barn on EARTH?? what a silly idea MEEPMORP hi murals hi hear you lapis hi there K: I like that he keeps calling them meepmorps and not art Q: hehe it is the nickname lapis do not be sad be happy shhhh orb thing awww orb nice cool orb peri :smile: K: the orb is pretty great Q: peri and pearl TRAINING that is epic peri you are wonderful lapis do not be sad man you traveled far amethyst ponytail WHAT IF SOMETHING GOOD HAPPENED?!?! SONG K: I love how peridot fits into the group so seamlessly now Q: yesss dancing so beautiful this show is beautiful lapis you should be happy ya steven is here for you oh more song ya this song is wonderful lapis ghost ya people love you lapis lapis is wonderful

K: man I rally love how beautifully these episodes are animated.  Like they are absolutely stunning.  So fluid and dynamic Q: ^^^

'MORPS “the moon sucks” alright K: lol Q: ya they could steven sleepy lapis should sleep or you know leave steven on the moon K: it is like the middle of the night for him Q: oh damn another pinkdream aw don't scooled her K: or I suppose early morning and he didn't get sleep Q: pfft ya haha sad diamond oh hey pearl or not pearl shape shifting? idk wtf hey lapis K: nightmare pearl

Q: no it's a flashback LAPIS NO NO LAPIS LAPIS IT'S A DREAM A STEVEN PAST DREAM YOU ARE WE LOVE YOU JUST BECAUSE OYUHAVE A DIFFERENT MINDSET MEANS NOTHING LAPIS NOOOO dammit K: Lapis's ptsd is too strong, man

Q:  ^

oh boy wow next episode HEY PEARL tell us your secrets miss K: I love amethyst in this ep

Q: damn i love ame PEARL CALL MYSTERY GIRL hahah

K: lol right Q: pfft amethyst is wonderful lol lol pearl is great yesss the pocket dimention if only she did the dance thing

Q: lol hand thing amethyst help her lol K: it's been a while since we saw pearl perform to retrieve things from her gem

Q: dammit sad huh! learning to text liar or something imagine her preforming every time she pulled something out wtf K: lol right?

Q: get the phone alright then goin the gem hehe that was fun pfft this is great pfffft i love this pearl oh no oh shiet

K: compartmentalizing surface pearl? Q: yes One of the pearls is texting her sorry surface pearl lol yet another level has been added oh hey is this regenerating awwww I LOVE HIS GIRL

K: she has a lot of depth

Q: don't be sad EXIST WHERE IS THE CELLPHONE awww i love this girl oh yet another layer this looked like hell oh shit war pearl REPRESSED WAR MEMORIES K: y u p well, compartmentalized Q: oh shit another layer crying rose rose pearl? gem memories this episode is great K: it really is Q: rose and pearl i love them NO ROSE don't kill people wert WUT HEY PINK K: okay, ngl i just cackled Q: SO NO WONDER PEARL NEVER SHAPESHIFTS TRAUMATIC MEMORIES butt

K: i hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense

Q:what is this

well i was always bothered that she never shapeshifted ever in the show

i always have been

for YEARS

dammit

pink was a sweetie

hi pearl

phone

watching this episode backwards

K: lol

Q: pearl

wtf

WHAT

WHAT TEH FUCK

FUCKING WHAT

SAPPHIRE

K: omg i know right

Q: SO IT TURNED OUT

THAT STUPID THEORY

WAS RIGHT

K: Y U P

Q: ALL AFUCKING LONG

K: I SURE WAS

Q: AND SO WAS THAT OTHER ONE WHERE PEARL KILLED PD

WHAT THE FUCK

STEVEN

YOU ARE NTO A QUARTS APPARENTLY

EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED

WHAT THE HELL

K: like I always thought pearl was either pink or white's, especially after we saw yellow pearl

Q: well i thought she was white's because white is a color that is all colors so it'd make sense for pearl to have more colors

BUT WHAT THE FUCK

THIS IS

FUCKING

WHAT THE HELL

SO ROSE QUARTZ

K: lol rose and pearls relationship is suddenly more fucked up than it was

Q: NEVER EXISTED

HEY ROSE

HEY GREG

HEY GARNET

HEY AMETHYST

HEY ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY FROM HOMEWOLD

FUCKING

PINK DIAMOND IS STEVEN

FUCK

what the fuck

i

i have no idea what the fuck this show is anymmore

everything is a lie K: lol

Q: i need to rewatch this episode again but i need to sleep

THIS ENTIRE FUCKING SHOW

WHAT THE FUCK

K: it's so good

Q: it is and i watched it from the beginning and loved it

the fucking hell though

K: like, now i know how my mom felt when she saw Empire Strikes Back in the theater and found out Vader is Luke's dad

Q: no wonder pearl felt betrayed when rose and greg got together

sorry i mean

HEY GREG

GUESS WHAT

ROSE QUARTS NEVER EXISTED, THAT WAS PINK DIAMOND

FUCKIN

I THINK THIS IS WORSE NOW

dammit

okay so thing:

K: no wonder pearl felt betrayed when she found out Lion was Rose's

Q: i was told never to watch the episodes until the series finished but now there is nothing i can do

OH SHITE

THAT MAKES SENSE

SO MANY THINGS

ROSE WAS AN ACT

PEARL

WHAT THE FUCK

STEVEN

IS A DIAMOND

what will centipede think of this

WHAT ABOUT JASPER

"hey jasper not only am i rose quartz i am pink fuckin diaMOND apparently"(edited)

K: lol they're both too corrupted to know

Q: eh whatever

was peri in that room K: didn't look like it

Q: no she's gonna have to figure it out later

ALSO LAPIS

HEY LAPIS

GUESS FUCKIN WHAT

K: Y E A H

Q: LAPIS THERE IS ALREADY A DIAMOND ON EARTH

AND HER NAME

IS STEVEN

K: he's no longer steven quartz universe

but steven diamond universe

Q: he is STEVEN DIAMOND UNIVERSE

OR STEVEN PINK UNIVERSE

whatever he likes more

pearl the fuck

K: he has thought about dying his hair pink

Q: THIS IS TRUE

wait doesn't it hurt to shapeshift that long

K: lol i saw someone say that rose kept an even bigger woman from greg

Q: lol

wait what happened

K: i think it has to do with her being a diamond

Q: ya she is powerful

or reform in whatever way you want

K: maybe that's really what her room in the temple was for

Q: get gem bits and then reform as a rose

HEY

so... what about the original rose...

no no there was none...

so pink diamond made up a backstory with her pearl...

pearl played as rose for some time

HEY THAT IS WHY SHE WAS SO MANY COLORS

SO SHE CAN TRANSFORM INTO ANYBODY

now that that is figured out

and Pink diamond after pearl was done being rose took over the rose persona forever

after the war too...

then there was earth and greg and steven

STEVEN

i think i have it figured out did i misunderstand something

K: mmm idk

there are still a lot of mysteries, i think

Q: also that backstory on rose was faked

so of course Sapphire is upset

man

i remember my favorite episode

K: all i know for certain is that rose/pd is not a nice being

Q: keystone motel

oh shit

ruby was angry

AND NOW SAPPHIRE ANGRY

SHE YELLED

K: yeah

Q: HEY GUYS DID YOU KNOW ALL OF YOUR LIVES ARE A LIE

K: lying is one thing both ruby and sapphire consistently fall apart over

Q: this isn't bullshit all of those stupid theories are true

first it was pearl, then it was THEY'RE FUCKING EXISTENCE AS GARNET ya because rose NEVER EXISTED

i need to sleep but that episode successfully made me love this show more

honestly

K: not this rose, at least

th others were all bubbled

Q: That may be my new favorite episode after nearly 3 years of keystone motel YES

they were though

K: likely to keep anyone from finding out she isn't a rose

Q: nah they are tied i love them both too much

how long were they planning that ahhhh

THAT PLAN

K: this?  clearly from the beginning

Q: EXACTLY

I NEED TO SLEEP

SHIT

THAT WAS

K: S A M E

Q: GAH

PINK AND PEARL HAD A PLAN ALL ALONG

K: i know i need to scream about it more too

Q: AND THAT WAS ROSE

AND ROSE WAS PINK

fuckinn

HEY STEVEN

YOUR LIFE IS A LIE

YOU MAY BE THE ONLY ONE

WHO'S ENTIRE FUCKING LIFE IS A LIE

i need to sleep

K: okay I finished that row of crochet, thank

lol

and I too desperately need bed

[minijenn]

Universe Falls Chapter 39

ALAS IT IS FINALLY COMPLETE MY NEWEST MAGNUM OPUS FUCK YES Seriously though this chapter is probably one of the best things I’ve ever written and you all are about to suffer the feels from it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Enjoy!

Previous: http://minijenn.tumblr.com/post/163300955939/universe-falls-chapter-38

Chapter 39: Dipper and Lapis

X COFBKAPEFM CLOJBA LRQ KBXO QEB IXHB TFII QXHB JLOB QEXK ZLJFKD AXKDBO QL YOBXH TEXQ'P MFZQROBP, QXIH, XKA IXRDEQBO KLT, TFII PLLK YBCLOB X QTLCLIA SLT

Summer evenings in Gravity Falls were known for being picturesque, with warm, crisp air, gently-chirping crickets in the distance, and deep, dusky skies dotted with arriving stars. As peacefully perfect as this particular evening was, both the Pines and the Gems had no qualms about enjoying it. At the behest of the kids, everyone had casually gathered down at the shack to simply hang out and relax without real worries or pressure whatsoever. Stan and Amethyst reclined on the couch on the porch, knocking back cans of Pitt Cola (with Stan drinking the cola and Amethyst devouring the cans) as Pearl sat by them, mildly amused by their antics. Garnet opted to stand, leaning against one of the porch’s posts as she stargazed with a soft smile on her face. The kids were largely doing the same thing, with Steven and Mabel propped against Lion, the former loosely strumming on his ukulele while the other cuddled Waddles against her sweater. Dipper sat a short distance away from them, not particularly keen on cozying up to the intimidating pink beast, but taking in the calm beauty of the evening all the same.

As Steven finished strumming through another gentle tune, he decided to give both his instrument and his fingers a rest as he let out a contented sigh. “This is so nice,” he said to the collective group. “All of us, just hanging out and relaxing, without having to worry about any Gem monsters or paranormal creatures.”

“Yeah, like crazy golf ball people,” Mabel noted with a reminiscing grin.

“Or brain-hungry zombies,” Stan interjected dryly, passing another empty can over to Amethyst.

“Or jerky shapeshifters,” the purple Gem said with apt disdain as she swallowed the can whole.

“Or rampaging Gem robots,” Pearl added, cringing in slight revulsion at Amethyst’s odd appetite.

“Or awkward dinner parties,” Garnet finished stoically.

“Yeah, I think it’s safe to say that things can get pretty intense around here…” Dipper remarked with something of a wry smirk. “But hey, at least we only have to deal with that sort of stuff some of the time, instead of all the time.”

“For now,” Garnet muttered before she could really stop herself.

Of course, the vagueness of her statement was more than enough to peak Dipper’s interest, especially since the Gem leader was quick to glance away almost anxiously as soon as she said it. “What do you mean ‘for now’?” he asked with a curious frown.

“I-I… I just-” Garnet stammered with rare uncertainty, though she was quick to catch herself, her usually cool manner returning as she adjusted her shades. “Nothing. It… it’s nothing.”

By now, both Steven and Mabel were almost as intrigued by the Gem leader’s newfound apprehension as Dipper was, and while all three of them wanted to press her for more information, Stan spoke up first. “What’s the matter, shades?” he asked Garnet sardonically. “Does your ‘future sight’ thing see some sort of monster attack or alien invasion coming up or something? Ha!”

As the conman let out an amused chuckle, Garnet took in a sharp breath, one that only her teammates noticed as they exchanged a confused and worried glance. “Hey, uh, G?” Amethyst asked a bit anxiously. “You… you don’t actually see either of those things actually happening, right?”

Garnet still looked somewhat taken aback, but all the same, she was quick to play it off. “No,” she said firmly, not bothering to say another word on the matter.

“Oh, t-thank goodness!” Pearl exclaimed, allayed. “It’s certainly a relief to know that we won’t be beset by a monster anytime soon, or that Homeworld might-” The white Gem abruptly cut herself off, slapping a hand over her own mouth as she briefly looked over at the kids with wide eyes.

“Homeworld?” Steven asked with a frown. “W-what might Homeworld do?”

“Nothing,” Garnet readily asserted. “Just like I said.”

“Well you guys sure aren’t making it seem like it’s nothing,” Dipper said somewhat suspiciously. “What would happen if Homeworld invaded Earth anyway? You know, just… hypothetically speaking?”

“Ooo, would we get to meet a bunch of cool new Gems?” Mabel chimed in enthusiastically. “Oh, but then again, the last new Gem we met was Peridot, and she’s kind of a jerk so… yeah, maybe all those new Gems wouldn’t be so cool if they’re anything like her…”

“It wouldn’t be cool at all,” Pearl said, clearly unnerved by the thought alone. “If Homeworld Gems were to come back to Earth… they would-”

“It doesn’t matter what they would do,” Garnet interrupted staunchly. “The Galaxy Warp is broken. Peridot’s gotten the message that she’s not welcome here. Homeworld isn’t coming back.”

“Ok…” Dipper said, not entirely convinced as he leaned forward a bit. “But what if they do come back someday?”

“They’re not,” Garnet reiterated unflinchingly.

“But what if-”

“They’re not coming back,” the Gem leader repeated, her tone turning a bit more rigid this time. “We don’t need to think in terms of what ifs, because it’s not going to happen.”

“But how do you know that?” Dipper asked persistently, starting to get frustrated with the Gems’ continued refusal to be honest about such serious matters. “Garnet, I know you can kind of see the future, but what if this is something beyond what your future vision can see? Shouldn’t we at least try to be prepared for it?”

“Dipper, we don’t need to be prepared for a possible Homeworld invasion, because something like that is not going to happen again,” Pearl insisted rather stubbornly, failing to mention the true reason why the idea of Homeworld returning was so abhorrent to all three of the Gems. “They have absolutely no reason to ever come to this planet again. So that means we don’t have to talk about that possibility anymore, hypothetical or otherwise.”

“But-” Dipper tried to protest once more, only to be cut off by Stan this time.

“Geez, kid, can’t you take a hint?” the conman asked, exasperated. “Whoever these ‘Homeworld’ people are, it’s pretty clear they’re not coming around these parts again, so can’t you just shut your trap about it already?”

“Seriously, dude,” Amethyst added, reclining back in her seat. “You worry too much. No Homeworld chumps are gonna step up on our terf as long as we’re around.”

“Sounds like you guys are just in denial if you ask me…” Dipper muttered petulantly, crossing his arms as he glared away from the Gems.

“Nah, bro-bro, it sounds to me like you’re just being paranoid, as usual,” Mabel interjected, rolling her eyes. “You know, I thought you got all of that junk out of your system a few days ago. Maybe you and Steven need to fuse again to give you a refresher course in how to chill out.”

“Yeah!” Steven agreed enthusiastically. “I’m up for giving Stepper another go if you are, Dipper. It’ll be fun!”

“Steven, we don’t need Stepper,” Dipper said, shaking his head dismissively. “What we need is to take this whole Homeworld thing seriously for once! And as usual, it seems like I’m the only person who’s doing that.”

“We are taking this seriously,” Garnet said stiffly. “And we’re serious about the fact that no Homeworld Gems are coming to Earth. We have nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, Garnet’s right,” Amethyst concluded casually. “Now can we finally drop all this Homeworld junk and just chill like we were before? All this arguing and drama is starting to bum me out.”

“Ditto,” Stan agreed with a shrug.

“For once, I agree with you both,” Pearl said, more than eager to leave this tense discussion behind. “After all, there’s no need to ruin such a lovely evening with such troublesome thoughts, right?”

Everyone else nodded in soft agreement with this, save for Dipper, who simply let out a disgruntled sigh as he stood and turned to head inside without trying to argue with the Gems any further, knowing that, like always, it would be a futile battle. “Hey, where are you going?” Mabel asked her brother as he wordlessly bypassed the Gems on his way to the door.

“To bed,” Dipper replied tersely, not even bothering to glance back.

“Already?” Steven frowned. “But it’s still pretty early.”

“Oh well,” Dipper shrugged somewhat crossly as he reached the door. “Guess I’m just really tired all of the sudden…” He sighed as he went inside, not adding that what he was really tired of went far beyond mere physical exhaustion.

Steven and Mabel exchanged a rather worried glance as they watched Dipper leave, both of them partially wanting to follow him and make sure he was alright, but at the same time, knowing that doing so would get them nowhere. At the same time, even the Gems themselves looked a bit guilty, Garnet in particular feeling as though she had been a bit too dismissive towards Dipper over the Homeworld issue. But at the same time, the trio had their reasons for being so dodgy on the subject, most of them pertaining to saving the kids from fear and worry that was simply not theirs to bear. And perhaps, also pertaining to their own fears and worries over what might unfold if their Homeworld ever truly did decide to interfere with the planet Earth once again.

Despite going inside for the night, the last thing Dipper did was sleep, though not for a lack of trying. Too irked to really dive into the journal for what would no doubt be a futile search for clues, he instead opted to lie down, though his abundance of perplexed thoughts allowed him very little rest. Even as the group outside disbanded for the night hours later and Mabel came in to go to bed herself, Dipper was still wide awake, even if he pretended that he was so he wouldn’t have to discuss what had happened with the Gems earlier.

Still, that didn’t change the fact that he was frustrated. Beyond frustrated, really. He was angry. Once again, the Gems were choosing to ignore what was right in front of them, just as they had when Peridot’s robinoids first started appearing. However, this time, it was even more infuriating, largely because the issue was much more serious and grave. Dipper couldn’t exactly profess that he knew a lot about Homeworld; mostly all the information he had about it was composed of what few bits and pieces the Gems and the journal provided, which admittedly wasn’t that much. But the huge gaps in his knowledge really gave him all the more reason to worry. What if Peridot, who had more than enough reason to be provoked after Stepper took out her attack robinoids, decided to act on her anger and actually come to Earth herself, just as she had hinted at upon her latest defeat? There would be no telling what kind of technology or weaponry they be up against if she did, and chances were that she likely wouldn’t come alone either. No doubt the threat such an invasion might introduce would be massive, but the only ones who had any chance of standing up to it were in staunch denial over it ever happening. While Dipper knew that Homeworld in general was a touchy subject for the Gems, what he couldn’t understand was why they refused to even talk about it at all. In a strange way, it almost seemed as though they were afraid, afraid of Homeworld, afraid of Gems from it coming to Earth, and afraid of even facing the possibility of such a thing happening, no matter how large or small that possibility might be.

But even despite their apparent fear, the Gems still knew about the danger Homeworld could potentially pose. And even with that knowledge in hand, they refused to impart it, still clinging onto their secrets as tightly as ever, despite their promise to be more open. While Dipper had gotten more than used to their secrecy by now, that didn’t mean it still didn’t immensely aggravate him. Even after everything that had happened this summer, the Gems still viewed him and Steven and Mabel as too innocent and naive to know the truth, whatever that truth was. They thought they couldn’t handle it, but Dipper knew he could handle it, no matter how dark and sinister it might be. He wanted to know, needed to know, for more than just his insatiable curiosity. If a powerful extraterrestrial threat really was coming, then he wanted to be ready for it, or at least as ready as he could be. And he figured that the only way to be prepared for it would be to arm himself with the knowledge of exactly what they might be dealing with.

At this thought, Dipper found his gaze slowly turn towards the journal sitting on the nearby nightstand, the six-fingered hand on its cover dully shining in the moonlight coming in through the upper window. There was no question that the unknown author had a vast knowledge of the Gems and Gemkind, and while there was little in the third journal pertaining to Homeworld, perhaps the other two missing books would contain such coveted information. Of course, Dipper didn’t have the faintest idea about where the first two journals might be hidden, and while the best source of information would be the author himself, both his identity and whereabouts where still a complete and utter mystery. But all the same, that didn’t mean that Dipper couldn’t continue searching for the answers for those mysteries until he finally found them.

Even though Stan had grounded both him and Mabel from mystery hunting, he didn’t ground them from mystery researching, which was why Dipper figured he wouldn’t get in too much trouble for feeding his boundless curiosity. Moving quietly as not to wake Mabel up, he slid out of bed and grabbed the journal, quickly putting his hat, jacket, and shoes on before slipping out of the attic and onto the platform on the roof. The nearly full moon outside provided ample light for him to read by, both normally and via black light, and Dipper fully intended to utilize both kinds of light to conduct his investigation with.

“Ok, journal,” he said to the book with unshakable resolve. “If the Gems won’t talk about Homeworld, then maybe you can point me to someone who will.”

Fully prepared to spend the entire night reading between the journal’s lines, Dipper pulled the book open. However, before he could even tell what page he was on, a sudden roar afar in the distance, one that grew louder with each passing second caught his attention. Confused, he looked up towards the sky, easily spotting what, upon a first glance appeared to be a shooting star, soaring rapidly through the night. And yet, several things were off about this supposed star, from its mild brightness, to its odd speed, to its increasing size, to its downward descent, to the continued noise as it drew closer and closer. Dipper gasped in alarm, hopping to his feet as the ‘star’ got even brighter, briefly lighting up the sky before it finally crashed down to the Earth several miles away, but still close enough to create a noticeable, audible explosion.

“Whoa…” Dipper breathed, his eyes wide as the light from the blast faded back into nighttime darkness, even as a stream of smoke began rising from wherever the ‘star’ had landed. From where he was standing, he guessed that wherever was somewhere near the lake, maybe even around the waterfall. A good distance away, but not so far that he couldn’t go check it out without being back by sunrise, something that he was more than ready to do, especially seeing as how the mystery object had come from space. For all he knew, it could have very well been another one of Peridot’s robots, or maybe even something else from Homeworld altogether. But regardless of what it was, Dipper knew that it was worth looking into, and that he was going to be the one to do just that.

Acting quickly, Dipper gathered the journal and hurried back into the attic, putting the book back in its spot before hurrying over to try and rouse Mabel from her slumber. “Mabel,” he shook her, keeping his voice in a whisper so Stan wouldn’t hear. After all, they were still grounded from doing things like this, but at the moment, Dipper could hardly care, especially considering just how big this could be. “Mabel, wake up. I just saw something come from space and crash down near the lake. We’ve gotta go check it out!”

Of course, Mabel was still mostly asleep, and even despite her brother’s insistent urging, that was something that likely wasn’t going to change anytime soon. “Mm… cake…” she muttered with a groggy smile, having only partially heard Dipper.

“Ugh, Mabel, come on!” Dipper exclaimed a bit louder, shaking her by the shoulder again. “We have to hurry before whatever that thing is disappears or runs away or-”

“I’ll be right over, brooo,” Mabel mumbled somewhat incoherently, eyes still closed as she rolled over. “Just give me a… hour… or two… or ten…”

“Mabel!” Dipper groaned in exasperation, not too keen on having to wait for Mabel to genuinely wake up. “Fine. I guess I’m on my own then. What else is new?”

As annoyed as he was, Dipper didn’t waste any more time in hurrying out of the attic and downstairs. Fortunately, Stan was nowhere to be found, but seeing as how he was likely fast asleep himself, Dipper made sure to take the upmost care to be as discreet and quiet as possible in slipping out of the shack and back outside. Of course, he didn’t really get very far down the path that led towards the lake before coming to an abrupt realization. The lake was all the way on the other end of town, meaning that it was a relatively short trip by car, but a rather lengthy and exhausting one on foot. Seeing as how time was always on the essence when it came to things like this, Dipper knew that he’d have to find a faster method of getting there, and as he happened to glance over to the temple, he came up with the perfect idea for such a method.

On nice nights like tonight, Lion had the tendency to sleep outside, right under the house’s porch. And fortunately enough, the pink beast was peacefully snoozing right in his favorite spot, or at least he was until he picked up on someone quietly approaching him. In a flash, Lion was on his feet, his sharp teeth bared and a threatening growl rumbling from him as he glared sharply at Dipper, who stepped back a bit fearfully upon getting such a harsh reception.

“Uh… h-hey, Lion,” Dipper began with a rather forced grin of greeting, even as the pink beast continued to growl at him. “So, um… I know you and me aren’t exactly the best of friends-” Lion cut him off with a hostile snarl, prompting him to put his hands up defensively, lest the pink beast suddenly lunge at him without warning. “Ok, so we aren’t really friends at all, but how about we just forget about that for a minute? I need you to give me a ride over to the lake, alright?”

Of course, Lion was quick to stubbornly turn his nose up at this request, letting out a gruff snort as he swiftly turned back to his sleeping spot. “Ok, that’s fine,” Dipper shrugged, feigning apathy. “I figured you’d say no, so I went back to the shack before coming up here and brought you a little… incentive…” He smirked as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a still mostly frozen Lion Licker, something that immediately caught the pink beast’s interest. “Aha! Steven mentioned that these are your favorite and it looks like he was right,” Dipper smirked in satisfaction, though he was quick to pull the treat back before Lion could snatch it out of his hand. “Whoa, hold on a second. You want this? Then you give me a ride to the lake, got it?”

While it was clear that he wasn’t pleased with this condition, Lion begrudgingly complied, lowering himself to allow Dipper to climb onto his back and scowling all the while. Of course, just because the pink beast was being agreeable didn’t mean he had any intentions of being amicable, which was why he suddenly took off running without giving Dipper much warning at all. Though he nearly fell off of his ride’s back, he managed to get a firm hold, steadying himself well enough as Lion rushed through the darkened woods as something of a shortcut to the lake.

“Ok,” Dipper said with resolve, talking more to himself than Lion as they drew ever closer to the lake. “So we’re just gonna go see what that thing that fell from the sky was, and if it seems dangerous, then we’ll go get the Gems.” He paused for a moment, looking to the smoke still rising from the supposed crash site a bit apprehensively, realizing the potential problems with this plan. “But… knowing them… they probably won’t believe me again…” He sighed, disgruntled, as he recalled the robinoids situation and noted that the plume of smoke wasn’t coming from the lake itself. It was coming from the top of the waterfall. “W-well, maybe… maybe I won’t need the Gems at all. I mean, I’ve dealt with stuff like this before. I can totally handle whatever this thing is. Right?” He glanced down at Lion, who offered no response as he began running up the steep hill that lead to the top of the falls, his expression still set in a gruff, frustrated glare. “…Right…” Dipper concluded somewhat diffidently, tightening his hold on the pink beast’s mane just a bit. “G-good talk, Lion. Good talk.”

Upon finally reaching their destination, Lion came to an abrupt halt, one that essentially threw Dipper off his back and roughly landed him a few feet away. “Ow! Lion, what-” he quickly cut himself off upon turning to see the pink beast staring down at him with a demanding growl, only really caring about one thing at the conclusion of their bargain. “Ok, ok, here! Take it!” Dipper pulled the Lion Licker out of his pocket once more and tossed it over to the pink beast, who was more than happy to pounce for it and devour it aggressively. Dipper simply rolled his eyes at Lion’s wild behavior before turning towards the crash site and instantly being set on edge even more upon what lay before him.

Whatever had crashed to earth had done so hard, hard enough to knock down several trees in the vicinity and to create a rather sizable crater in the ground just a few feet away from both the river and the cliff’s edge. The round hole’s edges were still steaming, though they also seemed to be somehow oddly wet, based on the sheen they put off in the still potent moonlight. The unknown projectile was seemingly nowhere to be found, something that alarmed Dipper even more and prompted him to grab a nearby stick to defend himself as he slowly approached the crater. Upon a closer look, he realized that the crash had created not just an indentation, but an opening that likely lead down into the waterfall cave down below. Thinking that whatever had fallen from the sky was currently down there, Dipper leaned in a bit closer to the hole in an attempt to get a better look, only for his foot to slip up on the wet edge of the opening. Unable to catch himself in time, he lurched forward on accident, inadvertently falling into the hole and plummeting down into the cave far below with a fearful cry. However, before he could make a no-doubt very painful impact with the ground cave’s hard ground, something happened to catch him instead, that something being, conveniently enough, water.

As Dipper opened his eyes and gasped in surprise over being unharmed from his fall, his relief instantly turned to panic as he took in a mouthful of water instead of air. Not knowing what else to do, he immediately swam upward, breaching the surface of the water in seconds, only to realize something was wrong as he caught his breath. Instead of landing in the waterfall pool like he initially thought he had, he was suspended in what appeared to be a small, contained bubble of water, one that was just large enough to accommodate him as it hovered just a few feet above the stony ground. Confused and unnerved by this apparent trap, Dipper began struggling to release himself from it, though his attempts were soon halted as an oddly familiar voice spoke out from the shadows of the cave.

“Dipper?”

“Huh?” Dipper froze in alarm, looking for the source of this feminine voice, who sounded to be just as startled as he was. “W-who’s there?! Show yourself! I’m warning you, I have a—well, I had a stick…” He frowned, glancing to the ground here his rather weak weapon of defense had fallen.

However, he quickly realized he didn’t need it at all as a blue, bare foot slowly stepped into the moonlight pouring into the cave from above. The concealed figure seemed to hesitate a bit, almost as if they didn’t want to reveal themselves, but sure enough, they emerged from the shadows, revealing a Gem that Dipper thought he’d never really see again.

“Lapis?!” he exclaimed, his jaw dropping in shock at the sight of the equally stunned blue Gem. Lapis Lazuli stood, her eyes wide and her expression awash in immense surprise. She looked exactly the same as she had when she had departed Earth for Homeworld weeks ago, though something about her seemed different, even upon a first glance, though exactly what that something was, it was hard to tell.

For a moment, the only thing either of them could do was stare at each other incredulously, almost as if neither of them could believe such a strange and sudden meeting was taking place. And all things considered, it really was quite hard to believe, which was why neither of them really knew what to say or how to react at first. But all the same, when this stilted, almost awkward silence was finally broken, Dipper was the one to do so, though mostly in reference to how he was still trapped in the cushion of water Lapis had apparently caught him in.

“Uh… do you mind…?”

“Oh, right,” Lapis was quick to comply, lowering her lifted hand as the water bubble lowered and disbanded along with it, leaving Dipper not just free to move his limbs again but also soaking wet. “S-sorry. I thought you were… never mind…”

Dipper frowned in confusion at this, and while he had countless questions he wanted to pose to Lapis in the wake of her mysterious appearance, he decided to work his way into them gradually, not wanting to overwhelm the apparently startled blue Gem. “So, um… long time, no see, huh?” he asked with something of an awkward, but still inviting smile.

“It hasn’t been a long time since the last time we saw each other,” Lapis shook her head, not understanding the common phrase. “It was just a few weeks ago, remember?”

“Uh… right…” Dipper raised an eyebrow, remembering that the blue Gem had a tendency to be rather literal. He was prepared to cut to the chase and ask her about her unexpected arrival, she beat him to it.

“Dipper, what are you doing here?” she asked, her tone rather unreadable as she looked to him intently.

“What am I-” Dipper cut himself off, bewildered as he met the blue Gem’s questioning gaze evenly. “No offense, Lapis, but I think the better question would be what are you doing here? I thought you flew back to Homeworld after Steven healed your gem.”

Lapis flinched at this, her eyes growing even wider as she took in a soft, but sharp breath before quickly glancing away. “I… I did,” she began, shakily at first, though she quickly steeled herself a moment later. “I did go back. But… let’s just say that Homeworld… wasn’t like I remember it being…”

“What do you mean?” Dipper asked, his interest peaking as his preexisting curiosity about Homeworld took over. However, it seemed as though the blue Gem had no intentions of discussing the matter further as she folded her arms and turned away from him. “Lapis?”

“Dipper… you should go…” she said with an anxious sigh, not even bothering to glance back at him.

“No!” Dipper protested, frustrated at the idea that Lapis, much like the Crystal Gems, might deny him the truth as well. He was quick to retract his bold manner, however, as the blue Gem looked back to him with apt surprise. “I-I mean… I thought you wanted to go back to Homeworld more than anything else. Heck, you even stole the lake just so you could get there. So… I just want to know what happened when you got back to Homeworld that would make you want to leave it so quickly.”

By now, Lapis had turned to face him, clearly taken aback by his insistence over the matter but still not providing much of an answer. Instead, she let out a small, almost sad sigh as she walked past him to take a seat on the edge of the outcropping overlooking the waterfall pool. Not really knowing what else to do, Dipper followed suit, sitting down beside her and listening both curiously and somewhat worriedly as she provided him with a few more details.

“You’re right. I wanted to go back, more than anything… I just…” Lapis paused, sighing again as she looked down into the water below. “W-when I got back to Homeworld… I-I realized that I just… didn’t belong there anymore. I was trapped in that mirror for thousands of years, and so many things changed while I was gone. It was like… it was like it wasn’t even the same planet anymore. It didn’t even feel like I was home…”

Upon hearing all this, all of Dipper’s inquiries concerning Homeworld were instantly put aside in favor of deep, genuine sympathy for Lapis. After all, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like, to have one’s expectations and hopes set so high, only for them to so completely and utterly crushed. And while the blue Gem seemed to be holding back just how upset over the matter she really was, the melancholy and dejection that she was showing was more than enough to convey it. “Oh man… Lapis… I-I’m so sorry things didn’t work out…” he said with sincere condolence.

“It… it’s fine…” Lapis shook her head, her eyes shut in morose contemplation. “It’s not like it’s really your fault anyway. And despite… everything that happened, I’m still really grateful to you, Steven, and Mabel. If it wasn’t for you guys… well, I’d probably still be stuck in that mirror right now.”

The blue Gem let out a small, somewhat bitter laugh at this, one that Dipper didn’t join in on as he continued to look to her, concerned. “So, uh… if you don’t mind me asking…” he began tentatively. “Why did you decide to come back to Earth?”

“I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go,” Lapis shrugged, a hint of disdain for the planet in her tone. “But believe me, I don’t plan on staying here for too long. I just needed a place to… to, uh… clear my head for a few hours. And when I’m done, then… I guess I'll just go and keep on flying until I can’t anymore.”

“A few hours?” Dipper repeated, somewhat dismayed at this news. “Are you sure you don’t want to stick around just a little longer than that?”

“Why would I want to be here any longer?” the blue Gem asked tiredly. “It’s not like I’ve had too many happy memories on this planet, after all…”

“R-right…” Dipper frowned, looking away awkwardly. “Well, it’s just… the last time any of us saw you, you were trapped in a mirror or trying to make off with the waterfall. So it’s not like we really got to hang out or anything between us trying to hide you from the Gems and you almost drowning us.”

“Oh yeah…” Lapis said somewhat guiltily. “Sorry about that… But… y-you’d really want me to stay, even after… you know?”

“Well, yeah,” Dipper shrugged with a small smile. “I mean, you came all the way back here, so why not relax at least for a few days? If Homeworld was really as bad as you said it was, then I’d say you deserve a chance to take your mind off it. And if nothing else, then it’ll give you some time to figure out what you’re going to do from here, right?”

Lapis hesitated at this, conflict filling her features as she met Dipper’s hopeful, almost imploring gaze. And while she might have originally inclined to say no, there was really no way she could do so after seeing that. “Ok…” she sighed relentingly, though there was the faintest hint of a smile on her face as she did so. “I… I’ll stay. B-but only for a few days. And… and I’m just going to stay right here in this cave, i-if that’s ok.”

“Lapis, that’s fine,” Dipper said with something of an amused chuckle. “You can totally hang out here if you want to. It’s not really like anyone’s gonna bother you if you’re hiding out behind a giant wall of water,” he smirked, nodding to the backside of the falls pouring over the cave opening.

“Well, that’s a relief…” Lapis noted, still somewhat apprehensive with her choice. “I guess I’ll have to do something about that other hole though…” She frowned as she glanced up to the gaping opening high above them.

“Well, don’t close it up too quickly,” Dipper remarked, still grinning slightly. “You’ll need it open for when I bring Steven and Mabel down here tomorrow. Knowing those two, they’ll probably lose it with excitement over seeing you again and-”

“Whoa, hold on,” Lapis interjected, alarm flashing over her expression as she quickly rose to stand. “Dipper, listen to me. You can’t tell anyone else I’m here on Earth. Not Steven, not Mabel, and especially not those Crystal Gems.”

Needless to say that Dipper was somewhat surprised by the severely serious insistence in the blue Gem’s tone, and while he understood her reasoning for not wanting the Crystal Gems to know about her return, the other half of her request was rather confusing. “W-why not?” he asked tentatively, standing as well.

“Oh… w-well… I… I just want to law low for a while, you know?” Lapis ventured with a shrug, trying her best to be as convincing as possible. “A-and… you said so yourself: Steven and Mabel would be pretty excited to see me again, right? If that’s true, then… then I don’t want them to be disappointed when they find out I’m leaving in a few days…”

“Yeah, I’m sure they’d be the only ones disappointed by that…” Dipper said, crossing his arms as he sent the blue Gem a somewhat crestfallen glance.

“A-and you too, Dipper!” Lapis exclaimed, suddenly flustered by her own tactlessness. “I don’t want you to be disappointed either. To be honest, I was kind of hoping that no one would find out I was here at all…”

“Well, I’m sorry for finding you on accident then?”

“N-no! That’s not what I-” the blue Gem cut herself off, letting out a sigh to steady herself. “Look,” she said, her tone imploring and sincere as she placed a hand on Dipper’s shoulder. “I just… don’t want anyone else knowing I’m here, ok? I'm hoping that all this can stay between the two of us. “You can do that for me… can’t you, Dipper?”

Dipper didn’t answer right away, but instead looked to Lapis in apt disbelief over the fact that she was deciding to entrust him, and him alone, with such a massive secret. After all, the fact that Lapis had returned to Earth, not just from anywhere, but from Homeworld of all places, was not only monumental, but exceedingly relevant given recent events. He was already quite beside himself that he had been the one to stumble upon her alone, without Steven, Mabel, the Gems, or anyone else. But the fact that she wanted him to remain silent about such an incredible, serendipitous discovery was rather disappointing to Dipper, especially since Lapis could finally lead to some tangible answers about Homeworld and what it was up to. Yet at the same time, he realized that, perhaps hiding the blue Gem’s return from everyone, especially the Gems, could be, in a strange way, cathartic. After all, the Gems kept so many secrets, even still, from him, Steven, and Mabel. Perhaps, Dipper reasoned, it was time he started keeping a secret of his own.

“Yes,” he finally said after a prolonged silence, his tone confident and assuring. “Yes, I can.”

“Do you promise?” Lapis asked, wanting to make sure he was sincere.

“Lapis, why-”

“Dipper, do you promise?” the blue Gem repeated, much more adamantly this time.

“I-I promise,” he affirmed, knowing it was the least he could do for Lapis after everything she had apparently been through.  

Lapis finally genuinely smiled upon hearing this, her hand slipping off Dipper’s shoulder as she breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” she said, truly grateful. “I knew I could count on you, Dipper.”

“O-of course,” Dipper nodded, still a bit on edge from Lapis’ heavy insistence on him swearing to secrecy. While he wanted to press her for more details on that, as well as her journey to Homeworld and back again, his curious questions were instantly forgotten as he happened to glance up at the opening over the cave, only to see the first hints of dawn lighting up the sky. “Oh, man, the sun’s rising already!?” he exclaimed in sudden alarm. “I gotta get back to the shack before Mabel and Grunkle Stan realize I’m gone! Lapis, do you mind maybe giving me a lift back up?”

“Oh, sure,” Lapis complied, easily creating a platform of solid water, one that started rising upward the moment Dipper tentatively stepped onto it. “Bye, Dipper,” she called out after him with a small, cordial smile and wave as she watched him leave.

“Bye, Lapis!” Dipper shouted back more enthusiastically as the water platform lifted him up through the way he had fallen. “I’ll be back to see you again later, I promise!”

Lapis said something in response to this, but Dipper wasn’t able to clearly make it up as the platform landed him safely on top of the cliff once more. But all the same, he couldn’t help but smile a bit as he began to make the long trek back towards the shack, strangely excited about getting to see the mysterious, yet amicable blue Gem again as well as being the only one she trusted with the knowledge of her return. And as far as Dipper was concerned, that was a trust that he had no intentions of betraying.

Fortunately, Dipper managed to make it back to the shack just as the sun finished rising, though no thanks to Lion, who had left the waterfall cliff almost as soon as he finished devouring his Lion Licker. But all the same, he managed to sneak back into the house undetected, knowing that Stan wouldn’t be up for another hour or so, and crept upstairs to the attic without being heard or spotted. The only thing he hadn’t accounted for in his stealthy return became apparent as soon as he shut the attic door behind him only to find Mabel, already up, fully-dressed, and staring at him incredulously as he walked into the room.

“M-Mabel!” Dipper exclaimed in surprise, pressing his back against the door he had just come in through. “Um, w-what are you doing up this early?”

“Uh, news flash, I’m always up this early, bro-bro,” Mabel remarked, raising an eyebrow as she walked over to him, Waddles trotting not too far behind after her. “Right after sunrise is the best time to work on knitting new sweaters, since pretty much nobody else is awake. But…” a sly smile crossed her face, her tone growing suspicious as she leaned in a bit closer to Dipper. “I think the better question, dear brother of mine, is why are you up so early? And more importantly, where did you run off to last night? What, did you have a hot, midnight date or something? Ha!”

“W-wha—no!” Dipper quickly protested, already quite nervous under his sister’s scrutiny, no matter how insincere it was. “I-I didn’t go anywhere last night, I swear! I was just… I was just getting back from a-an… early morning run! Y-yeah, uh… just a plain-old, totally normal, morning run. There’s nothing weird or suspicious about that at all, r-right?”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Dipper!” Mabel proclaimed with a wry, knowing smirk. “You? Going on a ‘morning run’? That’s super suspicious if you ask me. Even if you are sweaty enough to look like you’ve been out running, if I know anything about you, it’s that you hate anything that has to do with physical exercise because you’re a nerd who would rather spend time with books then spend time outside.”

“Hey!” Dipper objected, offended by this claim, though Mabel promptly ignored him.

“So spill it, brother!” she demanded overdramatically. “What kind of sneaky shenanigans were you getting up to last night?”

“U-uh… well, I… I was… it…” Dipper stammered aimlessly, already internally panicking over the fact that Mabel was onto him and panicking even more that he couldn’t come up with anything clever enough to appease her curiosity. Thankfully, however, before he really had to come up with an impromptu lie concerning his whereabouts the previous night, the conversation was abruptly interrupted as Steven poked his head into the attic just at the right time.

“Did somebody say sneaky shenanigans?” he asked with an eager grin. “I didn’t know it was already time for us to get started so early. Usually we wait for some magical Gem thing or paranormal weirdness to kick things off, don’t we?”

“We do, but it seems like Dipper's way ahead of us on that, seeing as how snuck out super late last night,” Mabel informed, sending her anxious brother a coy grin.

“Whoa, really?” Steven asked, impressed and intrigued. “Dipper, that's so awesome! And potentially dangerous, but in a really cool way! Where did you sneak off to?”

“Ugh, nowhere, Steven,” Dipper said, glaring over at Mabel as he did so. “Like I keep telling Mabel, I didn't go anywhere last night. She's just overexaggerating, as usual.”

“No, I'm not!” Mabel insisted adamantly. “I remember you trying to wake me up last night to get me to come along with you to check out some kind of cake or something.” She paused for a moment, briefly pondering what she had just said. “Or maybe you said lake instead... I dunno, the details are kinda hazy since I was mostly asleep and everything.”

“The lake?” Steven repeated in confusion as Dipper froze up in alarm. “What was over at the lake?”

“It... it was... uh... nothing!” Dipper quickly filled in, playing the matter off with false disappointment. “I thought I saw something out that way, so I decided to go check it out. Turned out it was just... it was... uh...” He hesitated, not even wanting to imply that Lapis was in the vicinity whatsoever, even if he did think that Steven and Mabel deserved to know, at the very least. But regardless, he had promised the blue Gem that he wouldn't say anything, and he was going to keep that promise, no matter what. “I-it was just a bunch of tourists setting off some illegal fireworks! Heh, yeah... that works...”

“Fireworks, huh?” Mabel frowned skeptically, not fully convinced of this claim but buying it for the moment as she began to make her way to the door along with Steven. “Whatever you say, bro-bro. But you better hope that Grunkle Stan doesn't find out about your little midnight run over to the lake since we're still grounded from mystery hunting.”

“You better not tell him, Mabel!” Dipper exclaimed hotly, knowing that the last thing he wanted was to have to worry about Stan in all this.

“Don't worry, Dippin-Dots,” Mabel assured with a sly wink as she led the way out of the room. “Your super sneaky secret is safe with me.”

“Well, we're off to go make some pancake omelets!” Steven proclaimed cheerfully. “Since you're already up, Dipper, you're more than welcome to join us!”

“Uh... I think I'll pass,” Dipper said, heading over to the nightstand to reclaim the journal. “I have some, uh... stuff I need to take care of.”

“What kind of stuff?” Mabel asked dubiously.

“Just... stuff-stuff, ok?!” Dipper exclaimed, exasperated. “Can you guys cut it out with the third degree already? It's not like me sneaking out last night is even that big of a deal, so let's just drop it, ok?”

“Yeesh, ok, Mr. Grumpy-Pants,” Mabel scoffed, crossing her arms. “We're just gonna go have fun, like normal people who aren't acting like suspicious weirdos. See you when you decide to stop being all mysterious or whatever.”

Without any further ado, Mabel and Steven finally took their leave, allowing Dipper to let out a long-held back sigh of relief over not having to keep up appearances in front of them any longer. But what he didn't know was that the pair was still discussing the matter as they made their way downstairs.

“Steven, please tell me I'm not the only one who noticed how weird Dipper was acting back there,” Mabel implored, both worried and annoyed with her brother's odd behavior. “And by that I mean weirder than he usually acts.”

“Yeah, he did seem a little... on edge, now that you mention it...” Steven frowned, more genuinely concerned. “Do you think something’s wrong?”

“Maybe…” Mabel noted pensively as they arrived in the kitchen and began setting out their cooking supplies. “But then again, it’s not like Dipper’s never acted all skittish and nervous like this before. Still… I kinda can’t help but think there’s something he’s not telling us…”

“Really?” the young Gem wondered. “Like what?”

Mabel was more than ready to rattle off a lengthy list of possible ideas, but before she could, both her and Steven were caught off guard upon hearing the shack’s front door creak open. Seeing as how it was still too early for either Soos or Wendy to be coming in for their shifts, both of them were rather confused at this, and so they unanimously decided to go check it out, only to find Dipper trying to slip outside once again.

“Where are you going?” Mabel asked, startling Dipper as he hadn’t noticed them come in to see him. He let out a frightened gasp, instantly shutting the door as he spun around to face the curious pair.

“N-nowhere!” he exclaimed, quite panicked over being found out once again. He was quickly starting to realize that if he intended keeping this secret, he would have to start being more careful, especially around Mabel and Steven, seeing as how they were already onto him.

“Uh, it kinda looks like you were heading somewhere…” the young Gem mused, somewhat bewildered as he nodded to the backpack Dipper was wearing.  

“Oh… uh… I-I was… I was just going into town to run some errands for Grunkle Stan!” Dipper came up with something off the top of his head, knowing that he couldn’t very well just tell them he was heading back to the lake to check in on Lapis.

“Oh, well can we come with you?” Steven offered with a newfound smile.

“No!” Dipper protested far too adamantly, though he was quick to reign it back in. “I-I mean… I’m just gonna be running around town for a few hours, doing um… errand-type stuff… nothing special. It’ll probably be really boring, so you guys probably wouldn’t want to come along anyway.”

“Are you sure?” Mabel asked, a little more concerned as she took a step closer to him.

“Positive,” Dipper nodded with complete certainty. “Well, uh, I guess I better get going then. See you guys later!” Not wasting anymore time, he hurried out the door, hardly sparing a second glance back at the very confused and troubled pair he had left behind.

“Well, I think that proves it,” Mabel concluded, folding her arms as soon as Dipper was gone. “Something is definitely up with him. And it’s up to us to figure out what that something is!”

“Ok, but… how are we gonna do that?” Steven asked curiously.

“By playing Dipper at his own super-secret sneaky game,” Mabel proclaimed with confidence in her newfound plan. “Just you wait, Steven, in a few days, we’ll have this case cracked wide open!”

“Like an egg!” Steven added enthusiastically before taking a tentative glance behind him to see smoke pouring out of the kitchen. “Uh, speaking of eggs, I think ours are burning!” The pair gasped in shared alarm as they rushed to take care of their cooking disaster, though as soon as they were finished, they already began plotting out their course of action. Regardless of whatever unknown, mysterious secret Dipper seemed to be keeping from them, they were both resolved to get to the bottom of it, no matter what they had to do.

While Dipper had originally intended to make his second trip to go see Lapis later in the day, he had figured he would try to slip out while Steven and Mabel were distracted, a plan that had clearly backfired as they had blatantly noticed him leave. Still, he was resolved to keep the truth under wraps, as much as he did want to reveal it to the two of them, if no one else. But regardless of what he wanted, he knew that he couldn’t let the blue Gem down in this matter, especially after she had put her trust in him to safeguard her secret in the first place.

Speaking of Lapis, the first thing Dipper noticed upon making it back to the top of the waterfall cliff was that the blue Gem had kept to her word in covering the hole she had created the previous night. A rather sizable bolder lay over it, making it look like nothing had ever been there, but still, a very small gap in the ground was still visible, one that was just enough for Dipper to use to get Lapis’ attention.

“Lapis!” he called, directly into the gap as not to garnish too much attention if there were indeed any prying eyes nearby. “It’s me: Dipper! Can I come down?”

Lapis didn’t respond verbally, but a moment or two later, the boulder did move aside, a long, strong arm composed of water holding it up just long enough to allow Dipper to slip underneath it and into the opening. While he was in a freefall for a moment or two, the blue Gem caught him with a snort, literal waterslide this time, landing him safely on the cave floor. It wasn’t much of a smooth landing however, as he ended up slipping off of the slide and hitting the floor back first, though he fortunately wasn’t hurt from the rather rough fall, even if Lapis thought otherwise as she hurried over to him.

“Oh! Sorry!” she apologized, flustered as she reached out a hand to help him up. “I didn’t know you were going to just… jump in like that, so... um… yeah… s-sorry…”

“It’s ok,” Dipper said with a small chuckle as he stood once more. “Next time I guess I should give you a little more warning before diving right in, huh?”

“Next time…” Lapis repeated, her brow furrowing as she looked to him intently. “You… weren’t kidding about coming back…”

“Uh, no, I wasn’t,” Dipper confirmed, somewhat confused as to why the blue Gem seemed to be taken aback by this. “You seemed… kind of shaken up last night, so I just wanted to check in and make sure you’re alright. I-if that’s ok…”

“Y-you… you wanted to…” Lapis trailed off, pausing for a moment, almost as if she was having a hard time processing such an idea. However, she didn’t let her apparent surprise show for too long as she quickly regained her composure. “You didn’t have to do that. I’m fine, really.”

“Are you sure?” Dipper asked, not entirely convinced. “Because I feel like it would get at least a little lonely hiding out in a cave all by yourself like this.”

The blue Gem finally cracked a smile, albeit a somewhat bitter one at this. “I’m used to being alone. And to be honest… I don’t mind it. Everything’s less distracting when there’s nobody else around.”

“I… sorta know what you mean by that,” Dipper admitted with a small, somewhat embarrassed grin. “Steven and Mabel are always talking about how I should ‘get out more’ and ‘meet new people’, but… that’s just not me, you know?”

“I kind of do, actually,” Lapis nodded in understanding, her smile taking on a hint of amusement. “That’s actually one of the first things I noticed about you when I was still trapped in the mirror. Steven and Mabel were so excited to talk to me and make jokes and everything, but you, Dipper… you weren’t so into it… And, after going so long without anyone to really talk to… well, that sort of bothered me, I guess…”

“So is that why you basically kept mocking me while you were in there?” Dipper asked with something of a knowing smirk.

“Yeah, kinda,” Lapis said, chuckling a bit. “Give me a break. When you’ve spent centuries trapped inside mirror, you have to find ways to entertain yourself somehow. And believe me, seeing you get so worked up over nothing gave me plenty of entertainment.”

Both of them let out a shared, genuine laugh over this, making it clear that neither of them bore any hard feelings over the matter whatsoever. “So, I know you just said you like being alone,” Dipper began after the bout of levity had faded. “But do you mind if I hang out here for a few hours? Mabel and Steven got on my case when I left earlier and I don’t really feel like going back right now and having them hound me with a ton of questions I don’t really have answers for.”

“You know what?” Lapis asked, still grinning gently as she placed her hands on her hips. “I don’t think I’d mind that at all.”

From that point onward, the ongoing conversation between the two continued, though it remained on a mostly casual level, with Dipper detailing to Lapis how Steven, Mabel, and himself had been during her absence. He did notice that the blue Gem was rather hesitant to talk much about her own wellbeing, and that she was even more hesitant to mention Homeworld in anything but a cursory manner. And while he was still hoping that Lapis could provide him with at least a few answers concerning the planet he knew so little about, he figured he could gradually ease into the topic later, whenever the blue Gem seemed a bit more comfortable with discussing it. But for now, Dipper was content with sitting at the edge of the waterfall pool as Lapis stood upon its surface below the outcropping, her hands outstretched as she made good on her promise to give him a proper demonstration of her aquatic abilities. As curious about Gem powers as ever, Dipper leaned forward a bit, watching with apt fascination as Lapis gracefully manipulated the water around her with mastery and ease. Unable to resist the urge to document something new, he eventually found himself pulling the journal out of his backpack, and as the blue Gem continued displaying her impressive power, he began carving out an entirely new entry on her, just as the mysterious author likely would have done before him.

Meanwhile, Lapis let out a contented sigh as she essentially turned the waterfall pool into a small, elegant fountain. Simply making use of her hydrokinesis in such a peaceful, simplistic way was rather therapeutic for her, especially considering all she had been through lately. As she glanced back up at Dipper, however, her light smile faded into a confused frown as she saw that his attention was less devoted to her demonstration, and more to the unknown book he seemed to be intently writing in. Curious, Lapis called upon her aquatic wings, only needing them for a single flap to get her back up to the outcropping. Dipper was so engrossed in jotting down notes about the blue Gem, that he didn't even notice her step up behind him and watch over his shoulder for a moment before making her interest known.

“What are you doing?”

“L-Lapis!” Dipper gasped, startled by the interruption enough to nearly drop the journal into the waterfall pool on accident, though he managed to catch it and hide it behind his back just in time. “I-I wasn't doing anything! I was just, uh... watching you use your powers! Like I said I wanted to!”

Lapis raised a dubious eyebrow at this rather lame excuse, before discreetly creating a tendril of water from the pool to snatch the mysterious book away from Dipper, much to his protest. All the same, the blue Gem was far too intrigued now to really listen as she pulled the journal over to herself and began to curiously flip through its pages. “What's all this?”

“I-it... it's...” Dipper stammered, unsure of how to really explain the journal to the blue Gem. However, he was quick to remember that Lapis wasn't one of the Crystal Gems, which meant that she wouldn’t have any real reason to be upset with its contents as they had been and still somewhat seemed to be. Or at least he hoped she wouldn’t be. “It's... a journal I found in the woods a while back. It’s filled with a bunch of notes on all of the weird, supernatural things that live here in Gravity Falls.”

“I've never seen creatures like these before...” Lapis noted, intrigued as she flipped between pages of gnomes and ghosts and leprecorns. “Are all of these real?”

“Oh, yeah, all of them,” Dipper nodded, rather relieved that the blue Gem was more interested than offended by the book. “In fact, we've even ran into a few of them this summer.”

“So you wrote all this then?” Lapis asked, looking to him with a small, impressed smile.

“Me? Oh, no, of course not!” Dipper said with a slight, incredulous laugh, almost flattered by the thought, as impossible as it was. “Well, at least not most of it. I still don't know who wrote the first half, but, um... I have been keeping a few pages of my own in the back, j-just for fun. But you probably wouldn't want to see any of-” He cut himself off as he noticed the blue Gem eagerly flip directly towards the end of the book. “And... you're going to look at them anyway...” He sighed, glancing away in apprehension as Lapis began leafing through his pages. As he had feared, the blue Gem let out a small chuckle a moment later, though to his surprise, it wasn't one of mockery, but rather of genuine enjoyment.

“Dipper, these are really good!” she exclaimed warmly, holding up the page he had written on the dinosaur cavern. “You must have worked pretty hard on them.”

“I-I... uh... it... it was no big deal...” Dipper shrugged rather humbly, even if he was glad for the compliment. “But thanks.”

“I can't believe you've actually seen all of these things...” Lapis mused, clearly fascinated by the journal's content. “I don't even know what most of them are, much less all of this stuff you've written about them all.”

“Well... I could tell more about them...” Dipper offered, surprised, but elated that the blue Gem seemed to be so invested in all this. “I-I mean, if you wanted me to, that is...”

“Sure, why not?” Lapis grinned, taking a seat on the outcropping beside him. However, before she handed the journal back, she happened to turn it to one more page, the one that Dipper had been working on moments ago. And of course, the sight of a sketch depicting herself was more than enough to peak the blue Gem's interest even more. “Is that... me?”

“No!” Dipper quickly denied, grabbing the journal back from her and slamming it shut. Of course, he only became more flustered as he glanced over at Lapis, who met his embarrassed gaze with surprise and inquiry that he couldn't really ignore. “Yes...” He relented with a sigh, turning to the half-finished entry again. “There's a lot of Gem stuff in here, so I just thought it'd be cool if there was a page on you too... I'm sorry I didn't ask you first. I can just tear if out if you-”

“No,” Lapis stopped him before his hand could even touch the page. “You should keep it.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah,” the blue Gem nodded with a smile. “I'm glad you thought I was important enough to have a page in there too.” A beat of silence passed at this, one that made Dipper want to question Lapis on what exactly she meant by that vague, almost depreciating statement, but before he could, she continued. “Now, are you gonna show me what else is in this journal, or not?”

Excited for the opportunity Lapis was giving him, Dipper didn't hesitate to comply, flipping open to the beginning of his pages, as those seemed to be the ones the blue Gem had the most interest in. Hours passed as he detailed the summer escapades the journal detailed to her, using the book only as base guide as he told her the stories he had lived through, of the Gobblewonker, the light cannons, the Summerween Trickster, the Gideon-bot, the zombie outbreak, the bunker, and more. Lapis showed her genuine intrigue by asking questions at all the right intervals, questions that Dipper was more than happy to answer. After all, it wasn't that often that he came across someone who would actually listen to him when it came to his paranormal findings, much less take what he had to say about them seriously.

But Lapis seemed to not only show interest in it all; she showed support for Dipper being so passionate about it. In a way, his excitement over the mysteries he had solved thus far fascinated the blue Gem even more than the mysteries themselves. His enthusiasm for what he loved made her begin to care for it too, even if she knew only a fraction of what he did about any of it. But all the same, she was perfectly content to listen to him fervently reveal his riveting findings to her for as long as he could. After all, the further her thoughts drifted away from her own pressing problems, the better off she would be.

Of course, considering how much there was just so tell and the fact that Dipper had to head back to the shack eventually, he wasn’t able to finish recounting everything from the journal to Lapis. However, before he left the cave, they both decided that the only thing better than talking about mysteries was to find one for themselves, which was why they began planning out a mystery hunt of their own for the next day. Sneaking under Mabel and Steven’s radar was a fair bit easier for Dipper this time, largely since the young Gem was away on a mission with his guardians and he only had his sister’s probing questions to contend with. Still, he managed to slip past her sturdy wall of suspicion without tipping her off, and sure enough, he made it back to the waterfall cave undetected for the third time. Lapis seemed a touch more upbeat upon Dipper’s arrival today as opposed to their previous two meetings, even if her usual pensive manner still largely remained. However, she still refused to leave the hidden sanctuary that was her cave, for reasons she refused to really disclose, even for the sake of a mystery hunt. But, as luck would have it, the journal detailed that the cave contained a hidden tunnel that led all the way through the mountainside, a tunnel that they easily rooted out thanks to Lapis’ water powers. And so, without any further delay or hesitation, the pair set off, more than ready to spend the day sharing they very first mystery together.

“So, what exactly are we looking for again?” Lapis asked as they began to make their way through the tunnel system. The passage was narrow and damp, but most of all, it was pitch dark, meaning that the only light they had to go by was from Dipper’s flashlight, which was really only adequate at best, but still just enough to guide them through the caves.

“I don’t really know,” Dipper shrugged as he led the way. “I’ve never really explored these caves before. I guess we should just keep an eye open for anything that’s weird or out of the ordinary. Which probably shouldn’t be that hard since that sort of stuff usually runs into us first.”

“Oh,” Lapis nodded, not entirely sure how this whole mystery hunt thing was supposed to work, but willing to try it for Dipper’s sake all the same.

“To be honest, I’m actually not supposed to be doing this,” Dipper admitted somewhat sheepishly. “Me and Mabel are grounded from mystery hunting, so if anyone found out about this, I’d probably get in a ton of trouble.”

“Well, don’t worry,” the blue Gem assured playfully. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Thanks,” Dipper said with an amused smile, one that soon turned to a thoughtful frown. “Uh… speaking of secrets… I’ve been wondering… The other night, when you made me promise not to tell anyone you were here, you seemed really serious about it… And I just wanted to know what was up with that.”

“Nothing,” Lapis answered tersely, averting his gaze. “Nothing was up with that. I already told you, I’m fine.”

Based on the blue Gem’s overtly anxious tone, Dipper could tell that she was anything but fine, and this time, he wasn’t about to drop the matter so easily. “Does it have to do with why you left Homeworld?” he asked, hoping to finally get the answers that had been evading him for so long.

“No,” Lapis shook her head adamantly as she pressed on ahead. “Dipper, I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Why not?!” Dipper exclaimed in sudden frustration, frustration that went beyond just the blue Gem’s refusal to be honest with him. “All I want, all I’ve ever wanted is to know the truth, which is something that nobody wants to give me, not even you! What happened really on Homeworld that made you want to leave it so badly?!”

“I can’t tell you…” the blue Gem muttered, holding her arms almost morosely.

“Why? Because you think I’m ‘too young’ to handle it?” Dipper asked rather bitterly. “Because I’ve heard that one too many times to count.”

“No,” Lapis clarified, finally turning back around to face him. Her expression was shaken, nervous, and fearful, but above all else, it was completely sincere. “Dipper, I want to tell you what happened, I do, but… It was just… I’m not… I-”

The blue Gem cut herself off with a startled gasp as something suddenly bumped into her leg from behind. Their argument halted, both Dipper and Lapis turned to see hundreds of small, spherical lights beginning to glow amidst the darkness of the tunnel, lights that seemed to skitter across the walls and the floor as a chorus of gentle, chirping sounds began to echo through the cave. After exchanging a bewildered glance with Lapis, Dipper shined his flashlight over at the wall to see what the source of this strange, otherworldly light really was. Amazingly, the glow seemed to be coming from the wide, watching eyes of a massive horde of odd, round, rock-like creatures. Their hardened bodies were small, just a little over the size of a hand, but smooth, save for the array of iridescent crystals that seemed to jut out of each of their bodies. They emitted a pitchy, yet harmonious tune as the light they were emitting grew stronger, every single one of them looking curiously to the pair that had intruded upon their territory.

“What are these things?” Lapis asked in quiet awe, picking the petite creature that had bumped into her leg up to get a closer look at it.

“I think I’ve seen these things in the journal before…” Dipper noted, his frustration replaced with fascination as he pulled the book out and flipped it open. “Oh, here they are. ‘Geodites: These creatures resemble living geodes. They make high-pitched chirping and humming sounds, and amble about on clanking crystal legs. Considering their odd, pack-mentality and their aforementioned crystalline appendages, I'm inclined to believe that these Geodites are Gem in origin'.”

“Wait, these things are Gems?” Lapis frowned in confusion as she looked to the Geodite in her hand, knowing it looked nothing like the rest of her kind. “But how?”

“They must be more of those corrupted Gem monsters,” Dipper concluded, putting the journal away.

“Corrupted?” the blue Gem repeated, not knowing what he meant by that until she happened to recall one of the few very significant things she had borne witness to during her time trapped in the mirror. “The light…” she gasped almost inaudibly, her eyes wide with alarm as she started putting the pieces together after centuries of wondering. Fortunately though, her shock was just quiet enough that Dipper didn't really hear her as he stepped forward to get a better look at the collection of Geodites before them.

“It's weird though...” he mused, picking one of the tiny creatures up, noticing how it didn't struggle against him and instead only continued to chirpy almost happily. “Usually whenever any of us run into things like these, they try to attack us the minute they see us. But these guys seem totally harmless.”

Still bewildered by the concept of corruption alone, Lapis didn't really have much to say to this as she looked back to the Geodite she was holding again almost sympathetically, despite the cheerful tune the creature was singing. However, she only had a moment to mull over its disturbing fate before a low rumbling began to rattle the tunnel, one that only grew louder and closer with each passing second. The Geodites' bright song seemed to grow even moreso, its volume rising as something drew nearer, though exactly what that something was, neither Dipper nor Lapis had any clue. It soon showed itself however, as the crystals on its orb-like body lit up, revealing that it was yet another Geodite, only this one was massive compared to all the others as it towered even over the pair invading its territory. Its manner was much or aggressive and violent when compared to the other Geodites as well, as it let out a low, irate roar, one that the other rock-like creatures sang along with merrily as it began to attack.

“There's a bigger one?!” Dipper asked in apt surprise, already more than eager to update the author's notes in the journal on the Geodites with this new information. However, before he could even get his camera out of his bag to snap a photo of it, the oversized Geodite reared up on its crystal legs before coming down with the intention of crushing him.

“Look out!” Lapis warned, acting quickly and pushing both Dipper and herself out of the way just before the large Geodite slammed down. Neither of them had much time to catch their breath, however, as the creature swiveled around, glaring at them both viciously before mindlessly charging at them. “Come on!” the blue Gem urged, grabbing Dipper by the wrist and pulling him to his feet before taking off in the other direction. This tactic quickly proved to be a bust, however, as the smaller Geodites hurried to congregate around their only real method of escape, essentially trapping them in with the largest rock creature.

“O-ok, I take back what I said about these things being harmless,” Dipper remarked somewhat fearfully, especially as they both turned to see the large Geodite race towards them again. This time, however, Lapis managed to hold it back, making use of the water clinging to the walls of the cave to create a liquid barrier that the Geodite ran smack into. Still, as it got back up and regathered its bearings, it became clear that this wall of water wouldn't hold for too long as it charged into it over and over again in the hopes of breaking it.

“How do we stop it?!” Lapis asked, struggling to maintain her aquatic barrier, which was quickly starting to wear thin against the monster's persistence.

“I don't know!” Dipper professed, anxiously flipping through the journal. “There's nothing in here about big Geodites; just the tiny ones!”

Before Lapis could even respond to this, the Geodite suddenly crashed through her wall of water, completely dispelling it, but it didn't stop there. The creature kept going, running at an alarming speed, until it plowed right into the blue Gem, knocking her back into the nearby wall hard enough to send her into a daze.

“Lapis!” Dipper exclaimed in worried alarm, ready to run over to her to see if she was alright, but the Geodite was intent on reaching her first to finish what it had started. As out of it as she was from the harsh blow she had suffered, the blue Gem was really in no position to defend herself from the furious creature, which was why Dipper decided to do that for her.

“Hey!” he shouted to the large Geodite, picking up one of the smaller ones straggling nearby. “Leave her alone!” Without any sort of fear or hesitation, he threw the miniature Geodite at its massive counterpart, watching with both satisfaction and alarm as it hit its mark and created a large, powerful spark. This was enough to not just send a good portion of the nearby Geodites skittering away in fear at the sudden, bright light, but it also shattered the projectile rock entirely and created a rather sizable chip in the larger creature's side. “Oh my gosh! That's it!” Dipper exclaimed in surprised realization over this discover. “Lapis, I know how to beat this thing! We need to-” He was abruptly cut off before he could finish, as the outraged large Geodite retaliated for the injury it had received by lashing out at Dipper, kicking him down hard with one of its crystalline appendages. Lapis, who had just finished recovering from her own listlessness, let out a frightened gasp at this, her fear rising as the Geodite pinned Dipper down by his vest, its massive, much stronger form standing over him threateningly.

“Dipper!” the blue Gem cried, still struggling to pull herself up and stand steady amidst her ongoing dizziness. Still, she was already commanding the water around her to form into a large hand, one that was more than ready to brutally beat the Geodite aside in an instant until it was halted right before she could bring it down.

“Lapis, wait!” Dipper called, trying and failing to wrest himself free from the crystal arm holding him down. Despite the Geodite hitting him rather hard, he seemed mostly unharmed, aside from a few scrapes and bruises, but all the same, he knew he wouldn't remain largely uninjured if Lapis launched her purposed attack. “Hit it with the smaller Geodites! They're the only things that'll put a dent in it!”

Lapis complied with a terse nod, her water hand already moving to implement this plan by scooping up as many of the tiny Geodites as it could hold. The larger creature didn't seem to take notice of this as it hissed savagely at Dipper, holding up a longer, very sharp crystal leg up and taking aim right at him. He let out a fearful gasp as he closed his eyes and braced himself for a no-doubt incredibly painful blow, but miraculously enough, it never came. Instead, a fierce shout rose up from the blue Gem as she thrust her arms forward, her hand of water turning into a canon that fired the smaller Geodites off at the larger one at a rapid rate. As the massive Geodite reared back in a roar of pain, Lapis took the opportunity to rescue Dipper from its grip with another aquatic tendril, one that gently yet securely pulled him safely over to her. Even as the Geodite turned to face its attacker with an intense, furious screech, the blue Gem did not relent, aggressively launching the smaller creatures at the monster until it finally imploded from its severe injuries. Lapis created a veil of water over herself and Dipper to shield them from the resulting raining shrapnel, and with their leader destroyed, the remaining Geodites quickly scurried off deeper into the cave, leaving the pair relative darkness, but peaceful safety, once more.

“Whoa, Lapis, that was amazing!” Dipper exclaimed, aptly impressed by blue Gem’s incredible show of power. “You completely destroyed that thing! I’ve never seen anything like that before!”

“Heh, yeah, well…” Lapis trailed off with a small humble smile. “I couldn’t have done it without you figuring out how to beat it. Guess I wasn’t wrong when I was still in the mirror and I told you that you were clever.”

The pair shared a warm laugh over this, but as it eventually died out, it was replaced with something of an awkward silence the excitement from their victory faded and the recollection of their argument before it returned. And while neither of them really wanted to address it after the mortal danger they had both just been in together, but all the same, Dipper stepped up to speak up about it first.

“Um… Lapis?” he began rather tentatively, hoping not to reopen any wounds. “I… I’m sorry about earlier. It’s just… I’m so tired of nobody being honest with me. But, you’ve been through so much and I guess I just sort of… forgot about that. If you don’t want to talk about Homeworld, then… then that’s fine with me.”

Lapis took pause upon hearing this, her expression surprised at first, then almost slightly ashamed as she averted his comforting smile. “Dipper, I… Y-you need to…” she trailed off, clearly wanting to say more, but lacking the courage to say it. “Thank you…” she said, her gaze drifting downward dejectedly. Dipper frowned as he noticed her clear melancholy, realizing that it was an emotion Lapis was probably well acquainted with, even if she didn’t really deserve to be. Which was why he wanted to show her something a little lighter for a change.

“Hey, uh, you know, we did just beat back a huge, rampaging Gem monster,” Dipper said casually enough. “We should celebrate.”

“Celebrate?” Lapis raised an eyebrow. “How?”

“Well, we could… um… hm…” he paused, unsure of what they could really do considering the blue Gem’s refusal to leave the cave. “Oh wait! I know!” Lapis watched curiously as Dipper reached into his backpack, pulling out his camera, an object that blue Gem was completely unfamiliar with. “So, it’s not much, but we could take a few photos to sort of commemorate our first mystery hunt, I guess.”

“Photos?” Lapis frowned, clearly confused by the foreign concept.

“Yeah, you know, like a picture,” Dipper clarified.

“Uh… why?”

“Um… just so we can look back at them and remember what happened. Here, I’ll show you,” Dipper turned the camera on, getting it ready as he motioned for Lapis to come in closer. The blue Gem did so, looking to the camera inquisitively, especially as Dipper turned the lens around to face them. “Ok, so all you have to do is look here, and smile, and in 3, 2, 1…” He snapped the photo before Lapis was really ready for it, and as the flash lit up, the blue Gem let out a startled gasp, blinded by the light for a moment or two as she hurriedly stumbled back, much to Dipper’s surprise.

“Lapis, are you ok?!” he asked with concern as he hurried over to her.

“W-what was that?!” she exclaimed in alarm, rubbing her eyes to clear them.

“It was just the flash,” Dipper said with a small, somewhat amused laugh as he pulled the developed picture out of the camera. “It just makes sure there’s enough light for us to take the picture by. See?” He held the photo up for Lapis to see, only for her to let out a shocked, horrified gasp.

“No,” she shook her head, taking the photo for herself and looking over it frantically. “No, not again!”

“Lapis?” Dipper spoke up, confused by her sudden panic.

“Dipper, that… that machine of yours, it trapped us inside this piece of paper!” Lapis exclaimed, completely distressed. “I don’t know how it did it, but here we are, stuck inside of this thing with no way of getting out, just like the mirror!”

“…What?”

“I can’t do this again!” Lapis shouted, gripping the picture tightly. “And I can’t let you be trapped like I was either! Maybe if I tear it, then we’ll-”

“Whoa, Lapis, wait!” Dipper interjected, taking the picture away from the distraught blue Gem. “We’re not trapped inside this thing. It’s just a picture of us from a few minutes ago. It’s ok.”

“B-but…” Lapis trailed off, looking to the photo again as her dread began to die down and understanding filling in for it. “I-it… its ok…”

“Um… you can have this if you want,” Dipper offered, holding the photo out to her. “Then again… we might wanna take a better one…” He frowned, nodding to the blue Gem’s look of terrified surprise in the picture.

A bit more at ease, but still hesitant, Lapis agreed, though she still kept a wary eye on the camera as they took another picture. The second one turned out a little better, though the blue Gem still flinched at the flash, leading to them taking a third one. Even still, it took a few more tries after that for Lapis to so much as smile, but when she finally did, their photos turned out far better. In fact, the longer their impromptu photo session went, the brighter both of their smiles became, to the point that by the time they were done, they had taken an abundance of genuinely warm, cheerful photos. Dipper ended up taking most of them with him at the end of the day, with Lapis only keeping one of the best ones in the set, with both of them smiling lightly as they squeezed into the frame together. But even without the pictures to serve as physical proof as the time they had spent together, the memories they had inadvertently made were more than enough to suffice.

“Ok, everyone.” Mabel began as she paced before her audience consisting of Steven, Soos, and Wendy. “I’ve gathered you all here today to solve a mystery of mysterious proportions.”

“Oooo, mystery…” Steven echoed for the purpose of adding dramatic effect.

“And that mystery is…” Mabel trailed off, flipping over the chalkboard filled with notes that her and Steven had gathered over the past few days. “Where does Dipper keep disappearing to every day?”

“We’ve been doing a bunch of really scientific research the past few days,” the young Gem continued, joining Mabel in front of the couch. “And by research, I mean we’ve mostly just keeping an eye on Dipper when he is around, which, to be honest, isn’t really that often lately.”

“So have you dudes figured anything out from all that?” Soos asked curiously.

“Not… really…” Mabel admitted. “But we’re getting closer! The other day when he got back, he was all bruised and banged up, which made me think maybe he had joined an underground wresting league-”

“Just like Amethyst!” Steven chimed in brightly.

“-But then I realized that if Dipper tried wrestling, he’d probably end up in a hospital instead of just a little beaten up, so that idea was out. Which is why we asked you guys to help us. We need some fresh ideas about how to finally uncover his deep, dark secret!”

"I don't know, you guys..." Wendy interjected with a frown. "Maybe Dipper hasn't told us what's up for a reason. We should probably just respect his privacy, you know?"

"Hm... yeah, maybe..." Steven mused, not having really considered that before.

"Or..." Mabel cut in, still wanting to continue their mission. "We could figure out what's up with him, and then we can all move on with our lives. Besides, it's not like Dipper to keep secrets like this, especially from me! I just wanna know what it is and why he thinks he can't tell me about it..."

"Aw, don't worry, dude," Soos said with sympathy upon seeing how much the matter apparently upset Mabel. "We'll help you out. I mean, knowing Dipper, he probably just found an alien and he's trying to keep it hidden from the government. Just like in that old movie!"

The others all looked to the handyman incredulously at this, none of them really believing such a spacey suggestion to be anywhere close to accurate. "Uh, well, it’s a good thing we've come up with a plan to follow Dipper the next time he heads out," Steven said a moment later. "Which should probably be pretty soon, according to our calculations." The young Gem grinned as he held up a clipboard filled with random, messy doodles that were all rather unrelated to the matter at hand.

"Which is why we need to be prepared," Mabel said with bold determination. "Dipper's going to be leaving through that door any minute now, and as soon as he goes, we're all gonna go too. We'll have to be super stealthy so he won't know we're onto him, but I think, between the four of us, we can pull this off and figure out what Dipper's been hiding from everyone!"

"Uh, I'm still not sure this is such a good idea, Mabel," Wendy remarked, concerned.

"Oh, it’s a great idea," Mabel assured with a confident grin. "Now, let's watch that door!"

The group did so, turning to the front door of the shack and training their focus upon it intently. However, it wasn't very long into their vigil that they happened to hear the gift shop door open and close, even though the shack was currently closed. "Uh, dudes?" Soos spoke up. "What if Dipper overheard us and decided to go through the gift shop instead?"

"To the gift shop!" Steven exclaimed, already hopping off of the couch along with Soos and Mabel as they hurried into the shop. Wendy followed a bit behind them, and she couldn't help but let out a small, ironic chuckle upon seeing how their stealth mission had backfired on them before it could even really begin.

"Uh, yeah..." The cashier laughed to the trio, who had managed to trap themselves in the doorway as they all tried to squeeze out of it at once. "No offense, but you guys might wanna rework that 'plan' of yours..."

It had been several days since Lapis' return to earth, and for every single one of those days, Dipper had made sure to stop by the waterfall cave and visit her for at least an hour, though usually, his stays were much longer. And over the course of those visits, it was clear to see that a deep bond had started to develop between the pair, one that was quite unlikely, but completely genuine all the same. As it turned out, they both actually had a lot to bond over too, perhaps not in origins or experiences, but in personalities and worldviews. Despite her occasional bouts of despondency, Lapis actually had a rather sarcastic sense of humor, something that Dipper could certainly relate to given his own tendency to be a bit sardonic. It was also quite apparent that they were both more on the introverted side, with neither of them needing much company to get by, but still enjoying the companionship they gave each other nonetheless.

After the danger they faced in their first mystery hunt, Dipper and Lapis had unanimously decided to keep the adventures during their visits to a minimum, in favor of simply hanging out and chatting instead. The blue Gem wasn't too keen on talking about herself or her past, seeing as how a good portion of her past had been spent within the confines of a mirror. So instead, she let Dipper do most of the talking as he told her more about Gravity Falls and the Earth in general, seeing as how she didn't really seem to know much about it at all. Every time he came to see her, he would bring what Lapis had dubbed "human things", such as books, magazines, odd souvenirs from the shack, and more, all of which the blue Gem showed a sincere interest in. As a whole, her curiosity and fascination towards humans in general seemed to grow thanks to Dipper, even if she did still harbor a good deal of resentment towards the planet that had kept her prisoner for so long. Still, she let him tell her about it, glad for his company and for how he managed to keep her mind off of what she couldn't bear to think about.

As undiscovered and peaceful the waterfall cave was, it wasn't long before they both started to grow a bit tired of spending all their time in it. When Dipper suggested a change in venue one evening, Lapis was initially against the idea, still wanting to stay out of sight. However, the longer he implored her to simply go outside, the weaker her resolve became, until it, until she finally agreed. With the blue Gem not wanting to stray too far from the safety of the cave, they only ventured up to the top of the cliff, not too far away from the waterfall as they sat together on its high edge and simply passed the time by stargazing.

"Wow...." Lapis mused in genuine awe as she took in the sight of the immensely starry skies above. "It's amazing that you can see all these stars from here... Back on—uh, b-back home, we'd be lucky to see even half as many stars as this."

Dipper frowned upon hearing this, his curiosity to know more about the mysterious Homeworld returning until he remembered that he was supposed to be letting that go for the blue Gem's sake. "Well, uh, I bet you got to see even more stars when you were flying back there, huh?"

"To be honest, I wasn't really paying much attention to them..." Lapis shrugged. "I think this is the first time I've really ever taken the chance to just sit down and look at them. It's... kind of nice, actually..."

"Yeah... I guess it is..." Dipper said with a small, contented smile, knowing that this was the first time in a while that he had simply just let himself truly relax instead of worrying over mysteries or Gem matters.

A bout of comfortable silence passed between the pair, the nighttime crickets and nearby waterfall filling in for it until Lapis broke it a moment later with a curious inquiry. "How do you map them out here on Earth?"

"Huh?" Dipper looked to her, confused.

"The stars," the blue Gem chuckled. "How do you humans tell them apart? Back home, we used to make these really complex, overcomplicated maps of the stars that were basically impossible to read. But everything here on Earth seems so much simpler, so I just want to know if star reading is simpler here too."

"Oh, well, uh... I don't really know a ton about star charts and astronomy and stuff like that..." Dipper admitted somewhat bashfully. "But... I do know a little about constellations..."

"Constellations? What are those?"

"They're basically like pictures made out of stars," Dipper exclaimed succinctly, even if he knew there was a bit more to it than that. "In a way, they're sorta how we tell the stars apart. Like that one for instance," he pointed one of the more recognizable constellations he knew of out. "See how those stars that are kind of arranged into a question mark with a little triangle behind it? That one's called Leo."

"I... don't see anything like that..." Lapis said, straining her eyes to even come close to spotting what he was talking about.

"Ok, well that one might be a little hard to find at first..." Dipper conceded, quickly searching the skies for another one. "Oh, I know! Look right over there, to where those stars line up to look like a guy holding a bow and arrow. That's Orion."

"I still don't see it..." Lapis frowned. "Is there something I'm just not getting here?"

"No, it's just that they're-" Dipper cut himself off, wanting to make the concept clearer to the blue Gem but not really knowing how. That is, until he happened to spot the constellation that was most familiar to him by far amidst the starry skies. "Uh, w-well, there is one that's usually pretty easy to find…” he began tentatively, already blushing a bit out of embarrassment. "See those stars that are arranged to kind of look a little like a pan?"

"Wait!" Lapis gasped, her eyes widening with realization as an excited smile crossed her features. "I do see that one! What's it called?"

"That one...?" Dipper sighed hesitantly, hoping she wouldn't ask but deciding to answer her all the same. "That one's called the... the Big Dipper..."

"Oh! Just like you!" Lapis exclaimed, immensely curious now. "Then again, you're not very big, no offense," she said with a sly smirk and a wink.

"Heh, yeah, kinda..." Dipper laughed rather awkwardly, glancing away. "Honestly though, it's more like this." Hoping that the blue Gem wouldn't laugh, he slowly took his hat off and lifted his bangs up, revealing the constellation's smaller double on his forehead.

Lapis let out a soft gasp of amazement at this, her intrigued smile widening as she looked between the birthmark and the constellation. "Whoa, they really are the same! How did you end up with that—what did you call it again, constellation?—on your forehead like that?"

"Well, since it’s a birthmark, it's pretty much always been there," Dipper remarked, still a little flustered as he put his hat back on. "It's really not that much of a big deal. And besides, it's kind of embarrassing..."

"Well, I don't think it's embarrassing," Lapis said, completely sincere. "I think it's really special, sort of... well, sort of like you." She paused, sending him a warm, somewhat awkward smile, one that he slowly returned. "So you were named after that constellation then?"

"Uh... not really..." Dipper admitted, rubbing his arm apprehensively. "It's more of a nickname than anything else..."

"So... what's your real name then?"

"O-oh, well, uh... its... it's, um..." Dipper trailed off, not really wanting to share his most well-guarded secret. Then again, Lapis had entrusted him with her own secret, one that was likely even more momentous than his. So, it was only fair that he returned the favor. Still, he made sure to do so discreetly, only whispering his given name to her quietly before looking away in mortification.

"Really?" Lapis asked upon hearing the name, thankfully not repeating it out loud.

"Yeah..." Dipper nodded tersely, still averting her gaze as he looked down to the waterfall instead. "B-but I'm not really a huge fan of being called that, so I don't really tell it to too many people. S-so if you don't mind keeping it between us, then-"

"Don't worry," Lapis assured, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I won't tell anyone. I promise."

Dipper let out a sigh of relief at this, nodding a silent thanks to the blue Gem as she moved her hand and looked back up to the sky again. Another beat of silence came, but once again, Lapis broke through it as a sudden idea came to her. "Do you want to see it?"

"See what?"

"That constellation," she nodded up to it. "The Big Dipper."

"Lapis, I can see it," Dipper said, not fully understanding what she meant.

"No, I mean do you really want to see it?" Lapis asked with a growing grin as she rose to stand, her aquatic wings springing out of the gem on her back.

"Uh... as cool as that sounds, Lapis, I... can't really go up into space to look at stars firsthand," Dipper remarked, still rather confused. "I kind of need air to breathe, you know."

The blue Gem let out a small snort of a laugh at this. "I wasn't talking about taking you all the way up into space! I just thought I'd fly you a little closer to it so you could get a better look."

"Oh, well I guess that'd be ok," Dipper shrugged as he stood as well. "Should I just...?"

"Yeah," Lapis nodded, kneeling down a bit to accommodate him. "Climb on."

Dipper did so, boarding the blue Gem's back somewhat awkwardly. "Ready?" Lapis asked, poised for flight as she looked back to her passenger with a smile. Dipper nodded, not entirely sure what to expect, though unable to let out a fearful cry as Lapis suddenly took off without warning, a single flap of her powerful water wings being more than enough to propel them both upward. His alarm grew even more as he made the mistake of looking back down to the cliff, only to see it grow smaller and smaller as Lapis rocketed straight up with incredible speed. The blue Gem couldn't help but laugh as she glanced back at Dipper, who was gripping her shoulder for dear life with on hand and struggling to keep his hat on amidst the rushing winds with the other. But even so, she kept soaring higher, only slowing her pace as they broke through the clouds and into the open air, miles above the ground.

“Dipper?” Lapis said, still grinning in amusement as she looked up at him again.

“Y-yeah?” Dipper asked shakily, his eyes tightly shut out of fear.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Dipper complied, albeit a bit hesitantly, though as he got his first glimpse of the endless star scape around them, his terror was instantly replaced with complete and absolute amazement. With the cover of clouds obscuring any trace of the earth below them, it was as though the ground itself didn’t even exist, as if nothing at all existed really but the countless stars and sky above them. Lapis’ smile widened as she noticed just how awestruck Dipper was by all of this, but even so, she kept in mind the reason they were up there in the first place.

“Well, there it is,” she said, nodding towards the constellation to point Dipper’s attention over to it. It was still incredibly far away, of course, but despite the fact that they had only gotten a little closer to it respectively, it still seemed so much larger as the stars that composed it stretch across the vast sky ahead.

“Whoa…” Dipper breathed, still completely wonderstruck as he leaned forward a bit. “I… I never realized just how big it was before…”

“Well, I guess that’s why it’s called the ‘Big’ Dipper then, huh?” Lapis smirked, eliciting a small laugh from them both. “Hey, Dipper,” the blue Gem said after the levity had passed, her grin turning wry and daring.

“Yeah, Lapis?” Dipper replied, smiling down at her unsuspectingly.

“Are you ready?”

“…Ready for what?”

“For this!” Without any warning, Lapis shot forward, her wings blowing back swiftly as she covered a long distance in mere seconds. At first, the only thing Dipper could really do as he struggled to hold on was let out another frightened scream, though it didn’t take long for it to turn into a cheer of exhilaration as he cut loose, just as the blue Gem already had. After soaring across a wide stretch of sky, Lapis decided to spice their flight up even more by preforming an impromptu flip, one that she failed to tell Dipper about before trying it. Of course, while his grip on the blue Gem was tight, it wasn’t enough to keep him from falling off her back as she reached the crest of her flip. His excitement quickly switched back into panic as soon as he realized he was essentially in a complete freefall, but fortunately, Lapis managed to catch him again, this time by his hands, far before he could even come close to hitting the ground. After the initial bout of shock over this near-death experience passed, he glanced up to the blue Gem incredulously, only to find that she was laughing hysterically.

“Oh, that was great!” Lapis practically howled with laughter as she flew at a slower pace. “I can’t believe you actually thought I would drop you! The look on your face was hilarious!”

For a moment, Dipper simply stared up at the blue Gem in faux offended disbelief before breaking down into a round of uncontrollable laughter himself, realizing that, in retrospect, it was pretty funny. In fact, the two of them continued to laugh as they glided through the open sky, not just about what had just happened, but in general. Neither of them knew themselves to be very cheerful or jubilant, but at the moment, those things described them both perfectly. In the beauty and simple complexity of the starry night, both of them were having nothing less than the time of their lives without even really meaning to at all.

The pair continued hovering through the night for a while after that, until they eventually found themselves back over the waterfall cliff, which was where they landed once again. Both of them were still in very high spirits as they touched down, it not a little breathless from all of the deep, hearty laughter they had just let out.

As they both sat down on the cliff’s edge once more, Lapis let out a loud, content sigh as she loosely flopped down to lie on her back, her legs still dangling off the edge as she released another small chuckle. “Wow, I can’t even remember the last time I’ve laughed this much,” she paused, her smile fading, but only someone. “Or the last time I’ve laughed in general, really…”

“Honestly, same here,” Dipper remarked with the same sardonic grin as he also laid back. “I guess it’s been a while since I let myself really just relax and have some fun.”

For a moment or two, neither of them said anything as they both directed their gaze back to the skies they had just returned from. Really, there wasn’t a lot either of them needed to say in the aftermath of the incredible time they had just had together, but even so, Lapis spoke up, voicing something that she had been thinking about for quite some time now. “You know, it’s so funny,” she said, her smile turning almost bittersweet. “I’ve met humans before, but I’ve never actually gotten to know one until now… If all of them are like you… well, then I guess I can finally see why those Crystal Gems wanted to save this place so badly…”

“Whoa… Lapis, that… that really means a lot…” Dipper smiled, genuinely touched by the sentiment. “You know, since we’re being real with each other, I… I’m really glad I saw you crash into this cliff the other night. These past few days have so great.”

“Yeah… They have been…” Lapis mused, her smile finally fading entirely. “It’s a shame they’re almost over…”

“What do you mean?” Dipper asked, looking over at her in worried confusion.

“Dipper, I already told you,” the blue Gem sighed, sitting up. “I’m not staying here on Earth forever. In a few days, I’m going to leave, probably sooner rather than later. And… and I know you don’t want to hear this, but… I’m probably not coming back, ever.”

“Wait, you’re still planning on leaving?” Dipper asked, suddenly dismayed as he did the same. “But… but I thought… we… I thought you just said you were having a great time…”

“I am,” Lapis acknowledged rather morosely. “But I can’t stay here, Dipper, you know I can’t. I was trapped on this planet for thousands of years, I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“…Not even for me?”

The blue Gem took pause at this, her eyes widening a bit as she looked to him, regret and concern washing over her expression. “Dipper…”

“Look, this is probably gonna sound really dumb but…” Dipper trailed off, glancing down apprehensively. “It’s been a really long time since I’ve felt like I’ve had someone to just… talk to, you know? I mean, yeah, there’s Steven, and Mabel, and Stan, and the Gems, but… none of them ever seem to really listen like you do, Lapis. When I first showed you the journal, I thought you were just going to laugh at it or shrug it off like everyone else does, but… you didn’t. You actually took it seriously. You took me seriously…”

“W-well, of course I take you seriously…” Lapis remarked, her voice still rather soft and sad. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“See, that’s just it,” Dipper said diffidently. “You actually care about what I have to say, without even having to think twice about it. And… considering that’s something nobody else really does, it’s something I appreciate, a lot… It’s crazy, but I feel like I can talk to you about almost anything, which is something I can’t really say for too many other people. So, I guess I-I just don’t want to go back to keeping it all to myself…”

Lapis’ already guilty frowned deepened upon hearing all this, knowing that Dipper was being completely honest with her about this, and that honesty only making her feel even worse. Her remorse only skyrocketed, however, upon seeing him rub his eyes a bit, almost as if he was struggling to fight back tears, which he admittedly was. “Dipper, I’m sorry…” she sighed, her voice barely even a wavering whisper. “But I can’t stay…”

“But you could,” Dipper persisted, more upset than angry. “Lapis, I know you don’t want to feel trapped here, but you don’t have to be! If you just gave the Earth a chance, then maybe you might even end up liking it someday!”

“I… don’t think that’s possible…” the blue Gem glowered, wrapping her arms around herself as she looked down. “I just don’t belong here… Or anywhere, really…”

“But you could belong here if you just tried to make it work!” Dipper urged, his tone earnest, almost pleading as he felt the tears start to come again, though he managed to suppress them once more. “I could help you! So could Steven and Mabel! We could-”

“Dipper,” Lapis finally cut him off, her tone more hardened and stern this time as she stood up. “Like I said, I’m sorry, but my answer is no. I’m not staying on Earth, and that’s final. And that’s all I’m going to say about it.”

Dipper fell into silence upon hearing this, one of his pressing tears finally falling, though he was quick to wipe it away. The blue Gem met his dejected gaze with faltering resolve, but all the same she maintained her answer, knowing that she couldn’t really stay on Earth, even if she wanted to. And while it took Dipper a moment to come to terms with this, he knew he really had no choice but to accept it, as unhappy as it made him. “Ok…” he finally said, his tone a bit unsteady as he stood as well. “If that’s what you really want, then… then I guess I can’t really change your mind about it, can I?”

Lapis hesitated for a moment, her expression still awash in sorrow and guilt, but all the same, she nodded silently, rubbing her arm as she averted his hurt gaze. Seeing as how there wasn’t much left to say at this point, Dipper started to turn to head home, knowing that morning would likely be coming soon. Still, he refused to leave the blue Gem on such a bitter note. “Um… you’re still going to be here tomorrow, right?”

“Y-yes…” Lapis muttered softly, not wanting to tell him that tomorrow would likely be her last day on the planet. “I will be.”

“So, c-can I stop by again tomorrow?”

“Of… of course,” the blue Gem nodded immediately, knowing that she would forever regret it if she wasn’t able to see him one last time.

“Ok, great,” Dipper said with a forced smile and a thumbs up as he began to take his leave. “See you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah,” Lapis waved him off with a weak smile before turning her gaze back up to the stars. Or more specifically, to the star that represented her former home. “S-see you…” Even so, she ripped her sights away from Homeworld, grief and regret filling her as she watched Dipper leave instead. And as she watched the only thing that really mattered to her on the planet she hated so deeply, the only thing that was making it really, really difficult for her to actually leave it, she realized that perhaps it was finally time she started being honest with him, just as he had been honest with her.  

As much as Dipper was discouraged by Lapis’ choice to leave and as much as he dreaded her eventual, inevitable departure, he knew he still had to make good on her promise to go see her the next day, even if he was well aware that it might be the last time he ever would. And because of that possibility, he wasn’t as enthusiastic about heading over to the waterfall cave as he usually was, as the dejected sigh he let out as he made his way to the gift shop’s door inadvertently betrayed. However, his melancholy was abruptly replaced with surprise as he opened the door.

“Gotcha!” Mabel exclaimed as she stood right outside the door, lowering the sunglasses she had put on in an attempt to look more serious. “Looks like you’re busted, bro-bro.”

“Busted!” Steven echoed as he jumped in to stand behind Dipper, blocking any attempts he might make to escape.

“Mabel? Steven?” Dipper flinched, genuinely startled seeing as how their previous attempts to find him out had been the last thing on his mind. “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re finally getting the dirt on you, Dipper!” Steven proclaimed boldly, though he was quick to lower his own shades a moment later. “Don’t worry; we’re not actually gonna throw dirt on you or anything. It’s just an expression I heard on TV once.”

“…What?”

“What Steven means is that we’re finally getting to the bottom of your sneaky shenanigans,” Mabel said, her arms crossed and her expression cold. “No more games, no more excuses, and no more running. You’re not leaving until you tell us where you keep running off to everyday!”

“Wha—n-nowhere!” Dipper quickly exclaimed, still devout about keeping Lapis’ presence unknown. “And even if I was going somewhere, I don’t know why either of you guys care so much anyway. After all, it’s not like I’m constantly on either of you about your business.”

“Dipper, we’re not trying to get into your business,” Steven clarified with a frown. “We’re just starting to worry about you. You’ve barely been around all week-”

“You keep sneaking out super late at night,” Mabel added somewhat petulantly.

“And you won’t even talk to us about what’s going on,” the young Gem finished, genuinely concerned. “All we wanna do is make sure you’re ok.”

Upon hearing all this, Dipper couldn’t help but feel somewhat bad for being so curt with the two of them the past few days, knowing that even despite their persistence and annoyance, it all did come from a place of sincere caring. But no matter how pure their intentions were, he had still made a promise, and that was a promise he was going to do everything in his power to keep. “Look, you guys, I’m… flattered, but you really don’t have any reason to be worried about me,” he reassured as evenly as he could. “Everything is fine, I promise.”

“But it’s not fine!” Mabel exclaimed, suddenly quite upset. “It’s not fine that you keep running off without telling anybody! It’s not fine that I saw you come home this morning all sad and depressed! It’s not fine that nobody knows what’s going on with you! And it’s especially not fine that you’re lying to us, to me!”

“Oh, Mabel…” Dipper sighed guiltily, knowing the last thing he had wanted was to upset her.

“You’ve never kept secrets from me before, Dipper!” Mabel continued, nearly in tears by now. “So what made you start now?! What could be so big and so important to you that you can’t even tell your own sister about it?!”

“Mabel, I-I want to tell you about it…” Dipper trailed off, clueless about what to even say at this juncture.

“Then why don’t you?!” Mabel challenged bitterly, her tears finally falling.

“B-because…” Dipper began both anxiously and remorsefully, hating that he was the one who had made his usually cherry sister so upset. But still, he couldn’t tell her the truth, especially since the truth was beyond what he could really explain properly. “Because… I… I just can’t!”

Mabel let out a gasp at this, almost as if his response had stung her in some way, and in a sense, that’s exactly what it did, something that distressed Dipper even more as he saw her almost pained expression. And, unable to bear that hurt that he had caused her, he did the only thing he could really think of at such an intense juncture; he ran.

Steven was so caught up in the emotional tension of the moment that he didn’t even think to stop Dipper as he rushed past him, hurrying out of the gift shop and out of the shack entirely. Still, when he did realize what was happening, he was quick to run after him, Mabel not too far behind, despite the tears still falling down her cheeks. By the time they had made it out of the house, Dipper had already managed to climb onto Lion and appease him with the offering of another Lion Licker, this time dangled by a stick to motivate the pink beast to move.

“Dipper!” Steven called fretfully as he began running over. “Wait!”

“Sorry, Steven!” Dipper shouted back as Lion lurched forward, taking him with him. “I’ll bring Lion back later, I promise!”

“Dipper!” Mabel cried, running forward almost desperately before she finally came to a stop, a small, miserable sob escaping her. “Please… don’t go…”

As Lion neared the edge of the tree line, Dipper glanced back, ashamed and conflicted as he met Mabel’s pleading, disappointed gaze. He hadn’t been lying when he said he wanted to tell her the truth, he wanted to let her in on everything that had been happened and why he was so adamant about staying silent about it all in the first place. But as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t. He couldn’t let Lapis down like that, especially considering the deep bond of trust and solidarity they had formed over the past several days. What he hadn’t anticipated, however, was that he would end up letting Mabel down instead.

But even so, he said nothing, letting his apologetic silence speak volumes as he rode off, leaving her behind just as Lapis intended on doing to him in the very near future.

For the duration of the ride over to the waterfall cave, Dipper kept up his solemn silence, his guilt over what had just happened between him and Mabel weighing heavy on his heart. He figured that he would get a chance to tell her and Steven about Lapis’ return eventually, probably after the blue Gem was long gone. Hopefully, once she had the whole picture, she would understand exactly why he had been so insistent on keeping it all under wraps and forgive him for his recent evasiveness and duplicity. But for now, Lapis took precedent, especially since her time on Earth and with him was very quickly coming to an end.

However, as Dipper arrived at the top of the cliff, he was quick to notice that something was wrong, even from a distance. Namely, that the boulder Lapis usually had securely covering up the entry hole into the cave was nowhere to be found. And considering how adamant the blue Gem usually was about keeping her hiding place hidden, that gave Dipper more than enough reasons to be alarmed.

“Lapis!” he exclaimed, somewhat panicking as he hopped off Lion and hurried over to the hole. His initial thought was that perhaps she really had left Earth after all, even after promising that she would still be there today. But he knew she wouldn’t have told him that she would still be around, only for her to go without saying a word about it. Would she? “Lapis, are you down there?!” Dipper tried again, peering down into the hole, only to get no response from the blue Gem. He knew it was a risky idea to just dive right into the cave, especially if Lapis was not in fact there after all, but he had to know. And so, he did.

And fortunately, much to his immense relief, an orb of contained water managed to catch him just in time, just as it had the very first night. He was released from it a moment later, and while it took him a moment, he did manage finally spot the blue Gem, standing at the edge of the outcropping overlooking the pool.

“Lapis!” Dipper exclaimed, allayed as he started to run over to her. “I’m so glad you’re still here! I thought you-”

“Dipper,” she abruptly cut him off, her tense, tight tone more than enough to stop him dead in his tracks right behind her. Her back was to him, her hands clenched into tight, anxious fists at her sides as she spoke again, her voice still rife with dread. “There’s something I need to tell you…”

Unsure of what to make of Lapis’ shaken, yet resolved manner, Dipper took a small step forward, saying nothing as he instead listened to what she had to say. “Last night, you said that you felt like you could be completely honest with me, about anything,” she began, letting out a small, sad sigh as she looked over her shoulder at him. “Well… I realized that maybe it’s time I was completely honest with you… You wanted to know what really made me leave Homeworld, didn’t you?”

Dipper let out a small gasp at this, his eyes widening in surprise that Lapis even wanted to talk about this at all. But even so, he simply nodded silently, curiosity and worry filling him all at once as the blue Gem continued. “The truth is… I didn’t leave Homeworld… I escaped.”

“What?” Dipper finally spoke up, his voice even softer than Lapis’ as he took another step to stand beside her. The blue Gem didn’t reply immediately however, as she turned back to the pool, her eyes closing and her arms raising as a large wall of water rose up along with them. When Lapis opened her eyes once more, they were like mirrors, reflective and empty, as she used the aquatic screen she had created to project her memories in a visible form.

“When I first got back to Homeworld, I was so excited to be there,” the blue Gem began, her silhouette touching down in a rather obscured, yet ominous landscape upon the water screen. “I was home. After years and years of waiting and hoping, I was finally back where I really belonged… Or so I thought…”

Several other vague figures walked into the image, all of them in different colors and shapes as they surrounded Lapis, looking to her questioningly. “All the Gems I used to know and work with, my friends… I couldn’t find any of them. And to make matters worse, word soon began to spread about my return. A Lapis Lazuli, who had been reported as missing centuries ago, suddenly showing up back on Homeworld completely out of the blue, and coming from Earth, of all places? It was more than enough to cause plenty of suspicion among the more elite Gems.”

Dipper watched, completely captivated by this tale so far, as the silhouettes of several large, muscular-looking Gems roughly apprehended Lapis. “It wasn’t long before I was apprehended, even though I hadn’t done anything wrong. Still, I was brought in to be interrogated by a technician Gem, one who claimed she had been to Earth recently too…”

“Peridot?!” Dipper exclaimed in sudden shock as he instantly recognized the green, triangular-headed silhouette that was angrily interrogating Lapis on the water screen.

“Wait, you know her?” Lapis asked, her eyes returning to normal for a moment as she looked to him in equal surprise.

“Yeah, she showed up at the Galaxy Warp a few weeks ago,” Dipper informed, still quite bewildered by the coincidence. “She keeps sending these… machines here to do… well, we don’t really know yet, but she’s made it pretty clear that she’s no fan of the Crystal Gems, or of me, Steven, and Mabel.”

“Then it’s true… she really does know you guys…” Lapis muttered, taken aback by this news as her story continued on the water screen. “S-she mentioned you three. She even knew your all names and demanded that I give her more information on you. I swear I didn’t tell her anything, no matter how much she threatened to have me shattered! But then…” the blue Gem hesitated as the profile of a large, ominous orange Gem stepped into view. “She told me that I was going to be her informant, and go with her and her terrible escort back here to Earth, to deal with you three and the Crystal Gems, once and for all.”

The scene changed as Peridot and the orange Gem disappeared, transitioning to Lapis sitting alone in what looked like small jail cell. “I was detained until the mission was ready to leave, locked away as a prisoner once again. I was starting to lose hope, of escaping, of you guys surviving… of everything… Until I realized… I wasn’t alone…” Another obscured silhouette appeared in the empty cell adjacent to the blue Gem, a figure that seemingly bore very little similarities to any of the other Gems seen prior. “It turned out that someone else was being kept in the cell right across from mine. And it wasn’t just another imprisoned Gem either. It was a human.”

“A-a human?!” Dipper cut in, even more surprised by this information than he was with Peridot’s involvement. “What was a human doing on Homeworld?”

“I still don’t know…” Lapis shook her head almost sadly. “I don’t even know how he got there, but what I did know was that he was in just as much trouble as I was, through no fault of his own. Since neither of us really much else to do with our time, we started talking and I guess, in a weird way, became friends. I never really got his name, but… now that I look back… he reminded me a lot of you, Dipper…”

Hearing this only made Dipper’s immense desire to know who this mysterious human, who had somehow managed to make it to the distant, unknown Homeworld, even greater. But all the same, he offered the blue Gem a small, sympathetic smile, one that was quick to fade as her tale of woe continued. “The human was smart, very smart, and he was determined to break out of detainment. And I guess some of that determination rubbed off on me. So, thing led to another, and before we knew it, we were starting to plan our escape, from both imprisonment and from Homeworld altogether. We were going to steal a ship and fly it as far away as possible, though I did promise to drop the human off back here on Earth before we went separate ways. We figured out every little detail and we knew exactly what we were going to do and how. But when the time came for us to put our plan into action… everything went wrong…”

The water screen showed Lapis and her human friend fleeing from a massive horde of outraged Gems, a horde that was quickly starting to catch up with them. “We were discovered almost as soon as we broke ourselves out, and even though we tried to fight back, it was clear that we were going to be overpowered. As clever as the human was, he was no match for the army of warrior Gems that had been sent after us and he was easily captured. And that was when I was forced to choose between risking it all to rescue him… or taking my one final, fleeting chance at freedom…” A look of deep regret washed over the blue Gem’s face as the screen showed her wings sprouting as she flew away, leaving the human to an unknown fate as image abruptly disappeared. “I think you can guess what I chose…”

The wall of water fell slowly as Lapis shut her eyes, her head hanging in shame as she completed her story. “The rest is pretty easy to figure out too. I flew away from Homeworld, and came back here, but not because I wanted to hide. It was because I wanted to warn you.”

“A-about what?” Dipper asked, already quite unnerved after everything he had just heard, though he was caught even more off guard as Lapis knelt down to his level and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

“Dipper, listen to me,” she said, her tone intense and shaken all at once as she looked him dead in the eyes. “Peridot is coming to Earth. She’s probably on her way here even as we speak. And she’s not alone. They’re coming, and they’re coming for you, for Steven, and for Mabel. And if they find you… I don’t even know what they might do…”

For a moment, all Dipper could really do was stare at Lapis in complete, dumbfounded disbelief upon hearing this, simply trying to come to grips with what she had just told him. If what she said was true, and she had no reason to lie about this, then a Homeworld invasion, the very thing that he had been fearing for weeks now, was imminent. On one hand, he realized he had been right about the matter all along, but he could hardly come close to celebrating that fact now, especially considering they very real danger they were all soon about to face with this incoming threat. “W-wow…” Dipper finally said after what seemed like ages of silence. “Lapis, that… that’s a lot to take in…”

“I know…” Lapis admitted, standing as she looked away from him guiltily. “I’m sorry I didn’t just tell you the night I got here. I was just… scared… and ashamed… When I saw you, all I could think about was that human I just… left behind… And I didn’t want you to think that I… that I was a coward…”

“A coward? Lapis, are you kidding me?” Dipper asked incredulously. “You broke out of prison and escaped a ton of powerful, violent Gem warriors! That’s anything but cowardly, if you ask me.”

“But it was,” Lapis insisted remorsefully. “I couldn’t save him! I left him to be locked away again, maybe even worse! I left him behind, all because I was too afraid to take him with me! But… that’s a mistake I’m not going to make again. I thought that by coming here, by telling you about all this… I could make up for that… And now I know for sure I can…”

“W-what do you mean?” Dipper asked in confusion as a somewhat odd, almost broken grin crossed the blue Gem’s features.

“I mean that I can save you, Dipper!” Lapis exclaimed boldly, gripping him by the shoulders tightly. “I can take you somewhere safe, way before Peridot even gets here! Somewhere where I can keep you safe from her, or from anyone who might want to hurt you! I-I don’t really know where yet, but we’ll find a place, I promise! Whatever planet we go to, I can keep you fully supplied with as much water as you need, and as far as the air thing goes, well… well I’ll figure something out, but what’s important is that we-”

“Whoa, Lapis, slow down!” Dipper cut in, quite alarmed by what she was implying. “We can’t just leave Earth!”

“W-why not?”

“Well, aside from the whole, me not being able to survive in space thing,” Dipper began somewhat pointedly. “We can’t just leave everybody behind while Peridot comes and does who knows what! What about Steven and Mabel?”

“Oh, they can come too!” Lapis offered earnestly. “All four of us, we can-”

“Lapis, we can’t leave,” Dipper insisted rationally. “We have to stay and tell the Crystal Gems about this. If there’s anyone here on Earth that’s even remotely capable of dealing with whatever Homeworld can dish out, its them. A-and they won’t listen if it’s just me telling them about all this, but I know they’d hear another Gem like you out about it.”

“No,” Lapis refused immediately, her manner turning quite cold. “No, we’re not telling them! Dipper, you don’t understand! Homeworld is so advanced now, much more advanced than it used to be back during the war! I wasn’t able to understand any of it when I was there! There’s no way anything on Earth, not even those Crystal Gems, can stand up to it! Putting up a fight will only lead to devastation!”

“But we have to fight!” Dipper retorted firmly. “Lapis, I know you don’t care about the Earth, but I do! This is my home! It’s where my friends, my family, everything I’ve ever cared about is! And I’m not going to leave it behind just because a bunch of Homeworld Gems are threatening it!”

“But… but if you stay…” Lapis began, almost on the verge of fearful tears. “T-then you might… you… They could…”

“That’s just it: there’s no telling what could happen,” Dipper said, resolved. “But whatever does happen, we can’t just run away from it out of fear. We have to stay and face this, no matter how bad it might be!”

“W-why…?” the blue Gem asked, shaking her head incredulously. “How could you be so… so ready to put yourself through something that might… that might end up…?” Lapis trailed off, unable to even finish such a horrible thought.

“Because I want to protect what’s important. A-and there’s so much here that’s important to me. Mabel, Steven, Grunkle Stan, the Gems, everyone else… They’re all worth staying behind and fighting for!”

“Worth fighting for…” Lapis repeated softly. “B-but… you’re just a human! What could you possibly hope to do against something as powerful and relentless as Homeworld?”

“I-I haven’t really figured that out yet,” Dipper admitted. “But still, I’m still going to do whatever I can. And the good news is, I won’t have to do it alone. O-or, at least I hope I won’t…” he said, looking to Lapis hopefully.

The blue Gem paused at this, looking to him with immense worry and uncertainty before she took a glance up to the dusky skies above through the cave’s hole. “D-Dipper, I…” she sighed, clearly conflicted and not having the faintest idea about how to say or do.

“Lapis, I know you’ve already been through so much because of Homeworld,” Dipper began sympathetically. “And I know you’re afraid of what they might do if they find you again. So I’d totally understand if you wanted to wanted to leave, but—and this is probably gonna sound really selfish, but—I really hope you stay, if for nothing else, then… then at least for me…”

Lapis said nothing to this at first, unable to rip her gaze away from Dipper as she tried to reconcile all of the countless emotions she was feeling at the moment. Fear, dread, guilt, anger, devotion, attachment, and strangely enough, hope. Hope seemed the oddest one to her though, especially given the incredibly hopeless situation they were currently facing. But if there was one thing she didn’t question about that hope, it was where it had come from. She was so impressed and also somewhat proud of that fact that Dipper could speak of standing in the face of such adversity so unflinchingly, almost as if he had no fear towards it at all, even if the hints of terror in his eyes and the anxiety in his voice revealed that he did. But somehow, in a way that Lapis could barely even begin to understand, he was pushing his way past that fear, turning it into something else, something else, something stronger, something that the blue Gem desperately wanted to have too. Her thoughts went back to what he had said, about wanting to protect what was important, what was worth fighting for. Admittedly, there were very few things on or about Earth, the planet that had trapped her for so long, that she saw as worth protecting. But there was indeed one thing on Earth that she had recently come to value as incredibly important, perhaps the only thing on the entire planet, or any planet really, that would convince her to stay behind and risk life and limb for the sole purpose of protecting that thing. And, conveniently enough, that thing was standing right in front of her.

“O-ok…” she whispered quietly, scarcely able to believe that she was agreeing to this. Still, she wasn’t going to back down from this choice; she couldn’t, not in front of him. “I… I’ll stay…”

“W-what?” Dipper asked, rather taken aback by her sudden relenting.

“I said I’m going to stay,” Lapis clarified, a bit louder and more confident this time. “If you’re going to stay here and fight, then I’m going to stay here too, and do whatever I can to protect you. No matter what happens.”

“Lapis, you don’t have to stay,” Dipper shook his head, suddenly feeling bad about how he had pressured her. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m forcing you to-”

“You’re not,” the blue Gem assured, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’m doing this because I want to. This is my problem, a-and I can’t keep running away from it anymore. And because, it’s like you said,” she paused, finally offering him a small, warm smile, one that he slowly returned. “Sometimes you just have to stay and stand up for what’s worth fighting for… A-and for me, Dipper, you’re definitely something that’s worth fighting for.”

Needless to say that Dipper was quite stunned, but deeply touched upon hearing this moving proclamation. In fact, he was so moved by it that he didn’t even think twice about suddenly embracing the blue Gem, immediately taking her by surprise, as she certainly wasn’t used to such open affection. “Thank you, Lapis,” Dipper said with immense gratitude, knowing just how hard this choice likely was for her.

It took Lapis a moment, but she did eventually return the hug, placing a caring hand on top of Dipper’s head as she gave him a fond, gentle smile. “No…” she whispered, knowing that despite all of her fears and worries about what was soon to come, she was making the right choice. “Thank you…”

As the sun sank over Gravity Falls, Steven and Mabel sat on the shack’s porch, equally dejected and discouraged about what had happened earlier with Dipper. Lion had come back some time ago, and despite Steven’s pleading, the pink beast was too tired to take them to where Dipper had ridden him to. And so, the pair had largely given up on ever figuring out what the truth really was, knowing that if Dipper himself wouldn’t tell them, then they likely would never know what it was.

“Don’t worry, Mabel,” Steven attempted to reassure upon hearing her let out another sad sigh. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

“Of course, he’ll be back, Steven,” Mabel remarked morosely. “But I���m just worried that when he does come back, he’ll just keep hiding things from us until it gets to the point that we won’t even know anything about him anymore. And I really don’t want that to happen…”

The young Gem sighed himself at this, feeling quite bad himself but still wanting to do what he could to help Mabel feel better, even if he really didn’t have a clue about what to do. “W-well, maybe he’s just not ready to tell us his secret yet.”

“Yeah, sure…” Mabel mused, not really buying this suggestion. “You know, it seems like everybody’s keeping secrets around here anymore. Dipper, the Gems… who’s next, Grunkle Stan?”

Steven was about to reply to this, but before he could, he just so happened to glance over at the tree line to see the subject of their conversation emerge. “Dipper!” he exclaimed, hopping to his feet and running over. Mabel was a bit more hesitant to after their earlier falling out, but she did the same, walking over to meet her brother, but averting his gaze all the while.

“Uh… hey, guys…” Dipper began rather sheepishly, still quite ashamed over what had happened between them. “Look, I’m really sorry about earlier. I didn’t want either of you to think that I was shutting you out or locking you out of the loop or anything like that, especially not you, Mabel.”

Mabel’s rather bitter expression softened a little upon hearing this as she finally did look to him, but she still didn’t say anything as she let him continue. “It’s just… I found something really important the other night, and it was something I couldn’t really tell you guys about. Until… until now.” Dipper paused, tentatively glancing back at the forest behind him before calling over to it. “It’s ok! You can come out now!”

Steven and Mabel both frowned in confusion at this, neither of them having the faintest idea about who he was talking to until a very familiar figure hesitantly stepped out of the woods and into full view. “Lapis?!” they both exclaimed in shocked unison, especially since the blue Gem’s appearance had been the very last thing either of them expecting.

“Um… hi, Steven. Hi, Mabel,” Lapis greeted awkwardly as Dipper gave her a reassuring nod. “L-long time, no-” The blue Gem was abruptly cut off as both Steven and Mabel ran forward, both of them wrapping her in an unexcepted, but overjoyed hug.

“Lapis, it’s so good to see you again!” Steven exclaimed brightly. “And… also kind of confusing. I thought you went back to Homeworld. How’d you end up back here on earth?”

“I-it’s… a long story…” the blue Gem remarked diffidently, knowing she would explain it to them soon enough.  

“Wait a second!” Mabel gasped in realization as the hug disbanded. “Dipper! Was this your big huge secret? The fact that Lapis came back and you’ve been going off to hang out with her all by yourself?”

Dipper nodded relentingly, smiling somewhat bashfully as he realized just how ridiculous it all sounded when spoken out loud. Fortunately though, he didn’t have to explain himself as Lapis did that for him. “I-I told him not to tell anyone!” she interjected, flustered.

“Huh? But why?” Steven asked, confused.

“I…. I’ll tell you soon…” the blue Gem said, glancing down nervously.

“We need to go talk to the Gems,” Dipper cut in, knowing they couldn’t really afford to waste a lot of time now. “It’s really serious.”

Steven and Mabel’s shared levity over Lapis’ return was quick to fade into concern upon hearing this, but all the same, the group began to make their way up to the temple. All the while, it was clear that the blue Gem was dreading what would no doubt be an incredible awkward confrontation, but all three of the kids did their part in reassuring her that they would support her throughout it. Needless to say that when the kids showed up at the temple with none other than Lapis Lazuli, of all Gems, the Crystal Gems were completely taken aback with shock and alarm. In fact, a fight nearly broke out as soon as they saw here, but the kids were quick to intervene and confirm that the blue Gem was there to speak with them on even grounds. While the Gems were still clearly distrustful, they relented and decided to listen to what Lapis had to say, even if they kept their guard up all the while.

Lapis managed to keep her manner as cold and unflinching as possible as she explained only half of what she had told Dipper, leaving out most of the details on her captivity and her unknown human ally. But all the same, she told the Gems about Peridot’s plans, sparing no practical point as she revealed that the green Gem intended on coming to Earth any time now, with a full battleship and escort. The lingering tension in the room was instantly broken as the Gems heard this, a collective gasp of shock escaping them as they realized that their worst fears, fears they had tried so hard to push away to even the point of denial, were about to come true. Still, they let Lapis finish, listening intently to everything she said and committing it all to memory, knowing that it would be important information to have in the inevitable, upcoming confrontation.

“And… that’s all I know,” the blue Gem remarked stiffly, bringing her long story to a close. She spared no other words for the Crystal Gems, her disdain for them all still quite clear as she crossed her arms and looked down to her feet, barely even listening as the first round of reactions rose up.

“S-so it’s true…” Pearl muttered, covering her mouth with a trembling hand. “They really are coming… E-even after everything we’ve done, it still wasn’t enough to keep them away…”

“Well, that’s it then!” Amethyst exclaimed hotly, throwing her arms up in bitter defeat. “We’re screwed! We’re completely and totally screwed! What the heck are we gonna do?!”

“I-I don’t know!” Pearl exclaimed, starting to panic. “It’s been thousands of years since we’ve dealt with something like this, and we don’t even have Rose with us anymore! There’s no way we’ll be able to-”

“That’s enough,” Garnet cut in, clearly shaken herself but still managing to mostly keep her cool. “We’ll deal with this as it comes.”

“What?!” Pearl asked in dumbfounded surprise at how calm their leader was over this. “Garnet, we have to-”

“I said,” Garnet growled between clenched teeth as she nodded over to the kids, who were all looking to the Gems in apt concern and alarm. “We’ll deal with it.”

Amethyst and Pearl instantly silenced themselves at this, even if their expressions alone were more than enough to convey their rising terror. At the same time, Garnet stepped over to Lapis, who was still lost in her own thoughts until the Gem leader spoke up and gained her attention. “Lapis,” she began, her tone even, but genuine. “We know you still have hard feelings towards us about your time trapped in the mirror. But still, we thank you for giving us this information, even when you didn’t have to.”

Lapis was clearly somewhat taken aback by this show of gratitude, but she was quick to shrug it off as she looked away bitterly. “Whatever,” she remarked crossly. “I didn’t do it for you.”

“I know,” Garnet acknowledged as she glanced over to Dipper next. For the duration of the meeting, he had only really stood silently alongside Steven and Mabel, watching the blue Gem rather worriedly as she relayed her intel. However, his concern was interrupted as Garnet approached him, putting a steady hand on his shoulder. “Dipper, thank you for making sure this information got to us,” she said, adjusting her shades. “It turns out, you were right all along. We’re sorry for not taking your concerns about Homeworld seriously. That’s a mistake we’ll try our hardest not to make again.”

“Y-you’re welcome…” Dipper nodded, his voice rather small as he realized that he had finally earned the Gems’ respect. Only it had happened in the last way he ever could have wanted it to.

“Well, I think it’s time we called it a night,” Garnet announced as she put her hands on her hips. “Steven, it’s time for you to go to bed. Amethyst, Pearl… I-I need to talk to you inside the temple.”

The other Gems nodded quickly, already on their feet and rushing for the temple gate. Garnet followed after, not saying anything else as her hands clenched into tight, very lightly shaking fists at her sides. But even so, the Gems departed, all three of them knowing they had much to do and so very little time to do any of it.

“Lapis, you’re welcome to stay here at the temple for the night if you want to,” Steven offered the blue Gem with an inviting smile.

“Uh… thank you, Steven, but… I’d rather not…” Lapis frowned, not really wanting to be in such a close vicinity to the Crystal Gems.

“Well, hey, why don’t you stay down at the shack with us instead!?” Mabel exclaimed brightly. “It could be like a really cool, magical Gem sleepover! I could make cookies and we could sing karaoke, and-”

“Mabel, I-I don’t really know if Lapis is up for all that…” Dipper cut in, glancing worriedly at the blue Gem.

“I-its ok,” Lapis assured with a small, somewhat forced smile. “Mabel, I think I’ll take you up on that offer to stay with you guys… just because…”

“Alright!” Mabel cheered excitedly, already grabbing the blue Gem by the hand and pulling her out the door. “This is gonna be so much fun!”

“Y-yeah…” Lapis said halfheartedly, glancing back at Dipper who only gave her a somewhat amused shrug as Steven cheerfully waved them all off for the night. “Fun…”

Fortunately when the trio arrived at the shack, Stan was nowhere to be found, as had become somewhat customary at night anymore. Still, the twins didn’t think much of it as they showed Lapis around, with Mabel being much more enthusiastic over her presence, while Dipper remained rather solemn as he kept in mind the reason why the blue Gem was there in general.

Still, Lapis tried her best to remain as upbeat as she could, not really wanting to upset either of the twins, especially not Dipper, in light of what was coming. Which was why it wasn’t too long before the blue Gem slipped away as soon as the twins went to bed, flying up to the roof, where she perched to find a moment’s peace. She paid the natural beauty of the evening no mind as she shut her eyes and let out a long sigh, hugging her knees to her chest as she forced her thoughts to be silent for a change. After all, there would be plenty of time to worry over what was coming in the next few days. For now, she just wanted to let her mind finally have some much-deserved rest, something that it admittedly hadn’t seen in years.

Her mediation was soon broken, however, as she heard soft footsteps approach her from behind. She didn’t even have to open her eyes to know that Dipper had taken a seat down beside her, but oddly he didn’t say anything, instead only letting out a soft, tired sigh instead. The two of them sat in silence like that for a while, neither of them really sure of what to say at this point, as there was just so much that really could be said. Still, when this silence was broken, Dipper was the one to do it.

“I know none of this is easy for you,” he began rather tentatively. “But for what it’s worth, I’m really glad you decided to stay.”

“I had to,” Lapis said, her tone sad and small. “I couldn’t just leave you behind like… like I did with him…”

“You did what you had to,” Dipper concluded, glancing over at her. “Just think, if you hadn’t escaped from Homeworld, none of us would have any idea about what’s coming.”

Lapis finally opened her eyes at this as she looked at him with dread and concern. “How are you so calm about all this?” she asked intently. “All I can think about is how terrified I am about what’s about to happen. So… why aren’t you?”

“To tell you the truth, I-I am pretty terrified…” Dipper admitted, rubbing his arm. “I mean, this is a full-on alien invasion we’re talking about here. It’s probably going to be the most dangerous thing we’ve had around here yet. But… I know it’s coming and that we have to face it, no matter how dangerous it is. And I guess, in a weird way, that’s sorta what’s getting me through it all…”

Lapis couldn’t help but frown at this answer, her former guilt returning as she realized that the only reason he really had to face any of this was because of her. Perhaps if she had been more insistent with him on taking him off planet, then they could be galaxies away from this oncoming threat by now. But then she remembered what he had told her, about fighting for what mattered. She had promised him that she was going to stay, that she was going to stand by him no matter what happened. A promise, that by all accounts, she refused to let herself break. “You know, if there’s one good thing to come out of any of this… it’s that I got to spend more time with you. I think that’s what I’m going to miss the most if… if, well, something happens…”

“Don’t worry,” Dipper said with a small, warm smile. “Once all of this blows over—and it will, I know it—then we’ll even more time to hang out together. But since we won’t have to worry about Homeworld invasions or anything like that, then it’ll be even better.”

Lapis hesitated in answering this, knowing that his optimism about the situation was much too hopeful, almost to the point of being unrealistic. Still, if he believed that there was even the smallest change that they would get through this alive and unscathed, then she was inclined to believe it too. “Yeah… Even better…” she said, finally smiling as she looked to the starry sky once more. Lapis knew well that the danger they were about to face was severe, even life-threatening, but even so, she was resolved to face it, just as Dipper was. She would face it, stand up to it, fight back against it, regardless of how hard or perilous it might be, if for nothing else than the young human sitting by her side. For him, she would risk whatever she had to give, stand against whoever she had to, and put herself through anything at all, no matter what the cost to herself might be. Because she knew that, perhaps above anything else she had seen on planet Earth, he was, without question worth protecting.

Next: 

[peridotfanfic]

Peridot’s Even More Flawless Fanfic: Episode 3

Hi.

Pearl is in space with Steven and some others, and Peridot says she’s too busy preparing her next masterpiece to post this one, so she asked me to do it. I’m Lapis Lazuli, by the way. I’m a big supporter of the meep morps.

I wasn’t sure what this was exactly, but I read the previous episodes. The randomness fits perfectly with the way life is sometimes, and Peridot’s portrayal of me is truly flawless. “I’m trapped under a baseball and confused!” I completely understand myself there, it’s very confusing, and I do get trapped a lot. “You like me, I just don’t want you really.” I think that all the time, it’s uncanny.

Anyway, here is episode three, which Peridot says contains both fusion and singing, and also brings back two of Steven’s greatest foes: Bismuth and Kevin!

. . .Who’s Kevin?

Speaking of, I have no idea who I’m even talking to right now.

Drift Alone

Pearl, and the homeworld gems,

That’s always a way we,

Believe the day can’t think!

Amethyst be easy.

That’s crystal and your,

Beauty and,

This world!

We will protect you.

Why you?

Believe this!

The episode begin with Kevin being corrupted and broken. He must dodge the lasers from a blood machine, which makes him laugh. His memories from one past self, with an angry Sadie, then interjects by throwing cans of creamed Steven. That suggests he’s never popped a hug.

As Kevin finishes making mistakes, Steven and Amethyst enjoy their original height. With Pearl suddenly there, he must help set an alarm for their rehearsal. It doesn’t work, and Bismuth then shows up by expressing a statue from space.

PEARL: Bismuth! We’ve got you for 6000 years since no time was gone. Ahahahaha! Come to me, Bismuth, never commit bravo here for someone you shouldn’t have even managed. Shouldn’t you just leave me now, Bismuth?

Bismuth explains to pearl how Rose completely repaired the episode by having fun, because she’s freaking been alive. To get married to Steven, they reluctantly accept a friendly dialog with Kevin and Bismuth.

Bismuth: But you shoulda shattered the Homeworld, and look what happened to Rose’s sword! This sword was made right, but now that’s all real. We walked in pieces, and didn’t even tell ‘em.

KEVIN: Baby, my socks don’t even have time to look at you.

GARNET: She’s still gonna try to kill you, Steven. Bismuth, the planet is your mother ,did you know that? Homeworld did this for breakfast.

But Garnet quickly realizes she doesn’t have any real reason to be with them.

STEVEN: Errggghhhh! Bismuth you should be lost to this place! You wanted to have any fun you wanted, but it’s not right. Sorry Bismuth, I’m sorry to you.

AMETHYST: Yo Bismuth, haha, gonna bury you just using a airplane! You can’t tell Pearl i’m thinking of us.

With Amethyst goofing around, Steven realizes they need electronic distractions. He hands Bismuth a video of his elbow and throws her towards the ocean, exclaiming disbelief. He then hugs the fallen tree with a koala, called Guacacola by Lion. The gems watch Steven encourage Bismuth to learn how to drive a stickshift. Her anger towards Steven accidentally pops a surprised Pearl, who immediately starts becoming younger.

PEARL: Bismuth, you’re perfect because I don’t hate you! You know that I’m glad another planet was gone, but this still was fine. Oh Bismuth, we’ve had no time-based reason.  

Pearl usually starts singing then. Bismuth points to paranormal activity, which makes everyone nervous.

BISMUTH: You lied to everything that I’m just! Don’t tell me Rose Quartz can really do whatever you can.

As Kevin rubs Bismuth bitterly, he gets an epiphany.

Kevin: I’m like a beautiful trench coat, with my tail and my pain. I act so lonely, you leave me a big old man. That’s why I invented the whole two kids and a brother time.

Amethyst: You can’t even be floating, baby war gonna wreck your head! Yo, Steman, what’s a rock?

Steven wakes up alone, and Pearl asks him why he’s wearing sandals. She wants a large yellow ball. In front of the mountain, Kevin coerces Bismuth to see what looks to be a jerk person. Her powers specifically make everything exactly the same thing as the star pattern. They both meet his dad for some cool moves, but then they have lost their identity. A moment of laughing hysterically is better than payment for something different. They don’t need birthdays to go hang out with a koala.

Kevin: So lonely, you’re gonna think that’s impossible to kiss.

BISMUTH: You know you really are the dirt of the body, but you can’t take me without a test. This planet and I didn’t even disappear, did we? Don’t agree to pack a pleasure extra punch that brings the war to you.

The crystal gems’ shapeshifting powers entail the breaking off of itself. They meet with Kevin and Bismuth up in Funland’s air bag system. They have to worry together eventually after reading plenty of ink. They are interrupted by a white bird, but before Steven finds out that he is a lava-like substance, all the gems reluctantly fought that most dangerous monster. It is revealed to be sad.

STEVEN: This crazy state you delivered can’t stay true. I’m turning, like, a bazillion shining stars that kinda looked like mom. So please, can’t you let me just be pretty? I thought you should train like a rich magician.

Bismuth begins chanting, to try various methods with Kevin. They both seem nice. They can form a different person, so they do that.

Bismuthine: You’re gonna show me that effect with our own identities. You think I’d never forget the whole time we stopped a beautiful me? You’re my finest piece of quartz baby, and maybe that’s impossible, but Rose taught this place. Baby, it’s Kevin you really mean. My little old man don’t play a twerp like you!

AMETHYST: Yeah, I’m doing the sky you look to. Just happens like there’s a chicken to win. Bismuth, you feel bad like pearl.

PEARL: Back in 50 years ago, I could have everything that matters. We’ve come to feel and work, oh yes, but you shouldn’t commit a a song to listen to!

Steven then proceeds to sing anyway, because he can.

Steven Sings: “Burning You Might Be”

Don’t like to tell you, we’re gonna make two!

Don’t like to find you, anything I do!

I wanna be great, and you just can’t,

In my fair eyes, you might that!

Burning you might be, wherever you see,

The planet I’m not like, anybody!

Burning you might be, whoever you are,

We’re good and we’re dad, and we’re still not a star!

Burning I will be, frozen in place,

Just like being a star, I’m walking to find the pace!

Bismuth relishes Steven, then kisses him on his speedboat.  Steven says that things will happen if something is too gross. As Kevin speeds in the burning room with multiple beautiful flowers, they awkwardly have another lifetime to do something.

The episode ends with them arguing over who thinks the song was over with. Steven refuses to believe it until sunrise.

[asktheascian]

BOLD what applies to your muse. Remember to REPOST. Feel free to add to the list!

Lahabrea

[ COLOR ]  red. brown. orange. yellow. green. blue. purple. pink. black. white. teal. silver. gold. grey. lilac. metallic. matte.  royal blue. royal purple. strawberry red. charcoal grey. forest green. apple red. navy blue. crimson. cream. mint green. magenta. pastels. bubblegum pink. blood red. ivory. sky blue. white. black.

[ ELEMENTAL ] fire. ice. water. air.  earth. rain. snow. wind. moon. stars. sun.heat. cold. steam. frost. lightning. sunlight. moonlight. dawn. dusk. day. twilight. midnight. sunrise. sunset. dewdrops. clouds. light. smoke. umbra. penumbra. char. darkness. ash.

[ BODY ]  claws. long fingers. fangs. teeth. wings. tails. lips. bare feet. freckles. bruises. canine. scars. scratches. ears. wounds. burns. spikes. sweat.  tears. feline. permanent wounds. chubby. curvy. short. tall. height. feathers. webs. eyes.hands. muscular. slender. trained. piercings. tattoos. strong. weak. birdlike. shapeshifting. junoesque. svelte. long hair. short hair. dark circles. big. voluptuous. small. prosthetic. experimented. cyborg. halos. horns. wolfish. effeminate. frightening. ethereal. angelic. demonic. metallic. angular. scales. barbs. vertebrae. barbs. tendrils. tentacles. sharp. soft. unusual. shapely. unnatural. disproportionate. spindly. monstrous.  

[ WEAPONRY ]  fists. swords. daggers. spear. scythe. bow and arrow. hammer. shield. poison. guns. axes. throwing axes. whips. knives. throwing knives. pepper sprays. tasers. machine guns. slingshots. katanas. maces. staffs. wands. powers. magical items. magic. rocks. power loader. flamethrower. metal rods. shotguns. needles. prowess. ability. instinct. bloodthirst. supernatural. inhuman. talons. speed. agility. cunning. reflexes. talons. biomech tendrils.

[ MATERIALS ]  gold. silver. platinum. titanium. diamonds.  pearls. rubies. sapphires. emeralds. amethyst. metal. iron. rust. steel. glass. wood. porcelain. paper. wool. fur. lace. leather. copper. silk. velvet. denim. linen. cotton. charcoal. clay. stone. asphalt. brick. marble. dust. glitter. blood. dirt. mud. smoke. ash. shadow. carbonate. rubber. synthetics. yarn. slime. ivory. aether. crystal. dark matter. lapis lazuli. emerald. adamantite. wootz. brass. lamé. guipé. bone. moonstone. metalloids. alloys. ceramic. alabaster. marble. aluminum. steel. bismuth. bronze. polonium. chrome. osmium. sand.

[ NATURE/EVINRONMENT ]  grass. leaves. trees. bark. roses.  daisies. tulips. holly. lavender. lilies. petals. thorns. sunflowers. seeds. hay. sand. rocks. snow. ice. roots. flowers. ocean. river. lake. meadow. forest. desert.tundra. savanna. rain forest.  swamp. caves. underwater. coral reef. beach. waves. space. stars. clouds. mountains. fungi. cliffs. sunlight. moonlight. darkness. wasteland. void.

[ ANIMALS/CREATURES ] lions. wolves. black panther. eagles. owls. falcons. hawks. swans. snakes. turtles. ducks. bugs. roaches. tarantulas. scarabs. spiders. birds. whales. dolphins. fish. sharks. horses. cats. dogs. bunnies. praying mantis. crows. ravens. mice. lizards. frogs. bears. werewolves. unicorns. pegasus. dinosaurs. dragons. felines. foxes. centaurs. antelope. chimeras. demons. angels. parakeets. harpy eagles. seagulls. warblers. birds of paradise. parrots. toucans. crows. ravens. orioles. cobras. black mambas. peacocks. >>YAK<< & Beasty

[ FOOD/DRINK ] sugar. salt. water. candy. bubblegum. wine. milk. champagne. hard liquor. beer. coffee. tea. spices. herbs. apple. orange. lemon. cherry. strawberry. watermelon. vegetables. fruits. meat. fish. pies.desserts. chocolate. cream. caramel. berries. nuts. cinnamon. steak. burgers. burritos. pizza. vanilla. cookies. chocolate. tiramisu. cheesecake. sushi. tempura. pasta. cookies. garlic. bread. noodles.

[ HOBBIES ] music. art. piercing. watercolors. gardening. knitting. smithing. sculpting. painting. sketching.  murder. fighting. fencing. riding. writing. composing. cooking. sewing. training. dancing. acting. singing. martial arts. self-defense. electronics. technology. cameras. video cameras. tinkering. video games. computer. phone. movies. theater. libraries. books. magazines. poetry. philosophy. cds. records. vinyls. cassettes. piano. organ. violin. cello. guitar. electronic guitar.  bass guitar. harmonica. synthesizers. harp. woodwinds.  brass. trumpet. flute. drums. bells. playing cards. poker chips. chess. dice. motorcycle riding. eating. climbing. tree climbing. running. vivisection. reading. learning. lecturing. teaching. murder. torment. tracking.

[ STYLE ] lingerie. armor. cape. dress. robes. suit. tunic. vest. shirt. boots. heels. leggings. trousers. jeans. skirt. shorts. jewelry. earrings. necklace.bracelet. ring. pendant. hat. crown. circlet.  helmet. scarf. neck tie. brocade. cloaks. corsets. doublet. chest plate. belt. sash. coat. jacket. hood. gloves. socks. masks. cowls. braces. watches. glasses. sunglasses. visor. eye contacts. makeup. pantyhose. stockings. thigh highs. eyepatch.collar. bangle. torque. gorget. bracers. cuffs. body jewelry. crop tops.

[ MISC ] balloons. bubbles. cityscape. landscape. diligence. light. dark. candles. war. peace. money. power. percussion. clocks. photosmirrors. pets.diary. fairy lights. madness. sanity. sadness. happiness. optimism. pessimism. realism. misanthropy. loneliness. anger. family. synthetic. friends. assistants. co-workers. plushies. enemies. lovers. loyalty. smoking. alcohol. drugs. kindness. love. embracing. magitek. futuristic. ancient. science.voidsent. cruelty. trust. mistrust. strength. doubt. reverence. ferocity. danger. automatons. metallic. allure. value. intelligent. revolutionary. defiant. advanced. engines. naïve. temporary. changing. split personality. paradigm shift. freedom. belief.

Tagged by: @samurulantis thank ye for the tag! Tagging: @castingdebauchery @hanisakkuru  ...and whoever hasn’t done it yet T_T I think everyone did!

[irregodless]

okay readmore time

feel free to contact me to discuss theories or general plot

so this is gonna be hella segmented but just deal okay

my thoughts are never very organized so im just gonna talk about some disappointments and other stuff

why does homeworld have a court session for rose quartz i mean i get theyre bureaucrats suddenly but like. um? kinda feels silly. why would they give her a chance to defend herself? also have they advanced like humans? bc blue diamond sure af didnt give garnet a chance to plead a case when she fused ON ACCIDENT

that being said what happened to all the stuff about like moon goddesses and stuff. i wasnt really counting on the diamonds being like. actual goddess figures but i was kinda hoping for more than ceo bosses in pantsuits

where he hell is white diamond and why wasnt she present. was she out conquering new planets? the symbol represents her so she appears to still be around. so where is she? i honestly think its suspicious that shes not present. i figure given her color and gem placement she is a cold calculating unfeeling machine who is only concerned with purity, structure and justice. so like the anithesis of what steven fights for: feeling for each other, empathizing etc

kinda disappointed there were so few off-colors but maybe well find some more later

also kinda disappointed steven and lars didnt fuse but i mean maybe later. also there wasnt really a need to so far nor was it implied they would

why did everyone run away from rutile when they emerged? the fact they were not INSTANTLY captured and shattered for breaking the mold suggests that all the kindergartners ran too. now they might have been around MUCH LONGER AGO but to me that would mean imperfect gems were MORE COMMON to find. the gems dont seem to be too put off by strange appearances. im just saying its weird that they would all run from a defect gem. im not crying plot hole, im actually saying i think something ELSE happened to make them run away. not a mutated rutile.

i was kind of hoping to find a secret society of garnets of other rubies and sapphires who followed our garnets example lol. they couldve helped steven feel more at home or something

im kind of sad it wasnt set up more like a movie, but again it wasnt SUPPOSED to be. understand i can identify things i was expecting incorrectly and things im genuinely upset by. this was just my expectations being in the wrong place.

im also sad there isnt more of a prospect of there being like. a season of being stranded on homeworld. but now it feels like in the two years itll take for season 6 to show up till just be a bunch of “””filler””” where lars is just stranded on homeworld and not spoken about until a stevenbomb halfway through. id much rather learn about homeworld!!

we also got no new information about the war or homeworld, really!!!! :( not even a flashback

yellow diamond is guilty af. she didnt want to hold the trial and she was ESPECIALLY outraged by the “crazy theory” that she did it. also, im just sayin, eyeball ruby (the only known witness we know of atm) also couldnt tell that the jasper she had ALSO SEEN WITH HER ONE EYE AND LVOED SO MUCH was really amethyst. like she didnt even notice her chest gem OR her coloration. so i mean. the rose quartz that shattered pink COULD HAVE BEEN yellow or COULD HAVE BEEN a shapeshifted gem. esp since her sword isnt supposed to shatter. so someones murder mystery unravels by getting a core detail wrong. i still kind of like the theory of like. pink transferring her consciousness a la lars and steven to a rose and shattering herself so she wouldnt have to conquer and destroy. so our rose is actually pink diamond but in the body of a rose quartz (making steven still a rose quartz but not a pink diamond like his mom... ‘s personality. which is what matters over physical form. esp with gems. itd also make the rose is pink diamond theories hilarious true but also false lmao)

kind of disappointed in lions new origin story too! i think the pink pearl theories were interesting if not always positively RIDDLED with holes. (some people thought he was a gem monster but um we would have seen pearls gem on his tummy. and steven has pet his tummy MANY A TIME)

I KIND OF DONT LIKE THAT THE HAPPY ENDING WAS JUST STEVEN REUNITING WITH HIS FAMILY BUT LARS GETTIN FUCKED OFF LEFT ON HOMEWORLD LOL. i mean i know he told him to go and tell everone and stuff but its like. look everythings back to normal and theyre back together!! oh except lars who isnt alive and will live forever as an organic lich servant to steven but dont worry l m a o o o. i jsut didnt like that whole lars thing a lot in general... nor do i feel like turning pink instantly redeems him. not that i hated him. but i dont think turnign pink was the character development we needed.

WHERES TOPAZ IS SHE OKAY DID AQUAMARINE RAT HER OUT

DO ZIRCONS GET SHATTERED IF THEY LOSE A CASE

WOULD BLUE ZIRCON HAVE BEEN A PARIAH FOR DEFENDING ROSE QUARTZ DESPITE *HAVING TO*

YO BLUE DIAMOND EY WHAT UP LIKE LITERALLY WHATS GOING ON BLUE PLZ TELL ME IN THE DARK A LIL

plz tell me well get more homeworld adventures and lars will smuggle gems in his hair

are they going to send pumpkin to homeworld as rose or something and sacriice him lol (i actually just wanted to ask why he was relevant at all but then i imagined just like. replacing him with lars)

are the crystal gems gonna go to homeworld and start shit princess marco style teach those gems about rock and roll pearl!! liberate them form the oppressive THE MAN, AMETHYST

can i mention that while it was funny but also irrelevant to this special, i kinda didnt like the like. garnet just drawing herself “i like me” bit. like it was funny but also like. almost too off-focus and too self-absorbed for her character. i could imagine sardonyx doing that but not garnet. idk it was just a single silly gag but i didnt like it

are the zircons okay tho

but like seriously whats homeworld even like like whats going on. especially since they dont seem to have an actual culture (if gems dont know what jokes are i really cant imagine them having a purpsoe outside of militial. how does a civilization survive on being NOTHING but war machines?)

i kinda feel like were coming to the tip of excitement here i feel like theres very little more that can be done in the show. idk. like what happens next anyways

do i have any MORE questions or musings to ask/muse????? yes. but i cant think of any rn. so later. 

EDIT: so i was thinking and i wanted to ammend the lars things. he DEF had character development and it was DEF even before he turned pink. i think i felt that the only thing being addressed or taken away was that he was pink now? and i kinda dont like character development thats done like completely suddenly as a heelturn and is heretofore ooc. lars however was written WELL. he developed REALLY WELL AND I LOVE IT. there was just something at the time that made it seem like it was all about him turning pink that almost made me forget he literally saved everyone? and i realize him being left out of the happy ending was of his own accord and sacrifice it just kinda rubbed me the wrong way. just a personal thing i guess.