We Aren't the Crystal Gems Without You

Human Beings

     The moment came too soon. The gems and Connie had arrived at Greg's van. And he was there. When he saw the four, he stepped out of the back of the van, putting down his guitar. "Hey, everyone!" he said. He looked around and a look of confusion clouded his face. "Where's Steven? Is he at the barn or something with Lapis and Peridot?"
The gems looked at each other grimly. "Is he okay?" Greg asked, worried.
     "Greg," Pearl started, "we went on a mission yesterday. Everyone was present, including Steven, Connie, Lapis, and Peridot. We engaged in battle with twelve corrupted gems on the battlefield. Steven and Connie were phenomenal. They fused. But, the fusion didn't hold against the largest, most powerful corrupted gem. Steven protected Connie. They were safe. They were safe until... until... Garnet, I can't!" Pearl collapsed to her knees, heartbroken. She was terrified of what Greg would think of her then. Steven had healed the brokenness between them, but Steven was gone. Rose was, too. They were the only two Greg loved. He would hate her. He would hate her for not protecting his son, his only son, for whom Rose Quartz gave up her physical form so he could live. Rose had been counting on her, Pearl knew. Pearl was supposed to be there for Steven, for Rose. The anguish of losing Rose doubled when Steven disappeared from her life, just as Rose had. What would Rose think of her now? Pearl couldn't imagine the disappointment in Rose's starry gaze, or perhaps the anger if she was angry that Pearl had not succeeded in keeping her son safe. Pearl cried silently on the ground. She shook, though she made no noise. She cried for Rose, for Steven, for her failure in saving them. She cried for how selfish she was, wanting Rose all of Steven's life, and taking her little one, Steven, for granted. She cared deeply for Steven and loved him like her own son, just like Rose would have wanted her to. But Pearl believed with all her heart that even if Rose had never been a part of her life, if only Steven had, she would have loved him all the same. But he might be gone forever.
     Pearl could hear Garnet speaking. She was continuing on from where Pearl had left off. "... And the monster struck him." Greg's eyes grew wide. "He lay on the ground... Bleeding as a human would, then he poofed as a hurt gem would." Garnet turned, from Greg, perhaps ashamed of her not being able to save Steven, or perhaps she was shedding tears of her own.
     Connie held out Steven's gem to Greg. He slowly took it, shocked at what the gems had told him. It couldn't be true! Not Steven. "But- but Rose told me that when gems are badly hurt, they just go to their gems to regenerate, right? As long as their gem isn't shattered. He'll come back, won't he?"
     "A gem would," Garnet answered. "But Steven's half human. I look into the future and see the paths that could be taken. But not one is clear to me if it will be taken over another."
     "I'm so sorry, Greg," Pearl whimpered. He turned away and didn't say a word. "Greg, I-" she reached her hand out towards him, but he shoved it away.
     "Just... just go. I don't need you guys," he mumbled. And then, in spite of it all, he put in, "and neither did Rose." His hand went to his mouth, like he couldn't believe what he just said. "I- I didn't mean-"
     He barely took a few steps away before Amethyst shouted, "You have the nerve to walk away from us like that?! To talk to us like that?! It's like you don't care how we feel at all!"
     "Amethyst!" Pearl yelled, shocked at Amethyst's sudden outburst.
     "Calm down, it's alright," Garnet said in a low voice.
     "No! It's not 'alright'! If he really cared, he would have thought! He would have thought how I feel! How you feel Pearl, Garnet, even Connie! But no! You!" She looked accusingly at Greg. "You dared to tell us that Rose didn't need us! And do you know what?! Maybe she didn't! But I did! I needed her! Pearl needed to be free, Garnet needed to be together, but I needed to know that I mattered! That I mattered to her!" she reached for her weapon.
     "No!" Pearl and Garnet shouted in unison. They grabbed Amethyst by the arms and held her back. Only then did Amethyst realize what she had said, what she had been about to do. She collapsed into their arms and started to sob.
     "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," they could hear through her cries. They could also hear her say something about Steven, but they couldn't make it out.
     "'Words spoken in the heat of anger are never truly from the heart'," Pearl quoted as she and Garnet held Amethyst. Greg stared, eyes glassy and wide, and then ran back to his van. The three gems stayed, not speaking. Only Amethyst's sobs could be heard.
     Connie knew better than to break their bonding moment. But she didn't know whether to follow Mr. Universe or not. However, he was her fellow 'human being'. He was the only one who ever understood. So she followed him to the van.
     When she got there, she found Greg sitting in the back of the van, his head in his hands. He was shaking. The Rose Quartz gem was in his lap. Connie sat down next to him.
     "What are you d-" he looked up. "Oh. It's just you." Connie could see the dried tears on his face. "Do you think- do you think Amethyst meant everything she said? I didn't mean to say what I did. It's not true. Those gems were everything to Rose, along with this planet."
     "I think they know that. I think that Amethyst was just so affected by this because she felt like she mattered around Rose. And when Rose was gone, then Steven was there for her. Steven understood her."
     "It's true," said Greg. "And Steven made sure to love all the gems. Amethyst, Peridot, Lapis Lazuli, even Jasper, though she never gave him the chance. I need to apologize to the gems. I was just angry. I was angry with them, even though there was nothing they could've done to save him...I-I just can't believe he's gone!"
     "We don't know that yet. We have to believe that he will come back."
     "Yeah. Thanks Connie. I really needed this."
     "Human beings?"
     "Human beings."