We Aren't the Crystal Gems Without You

My Love Has Only Grown

Rose Quartz had gathered Greg, the crystal gems, including Peridot and Lapis Lazuli, and Connie to the temple. She was going to tell them what her plan was to bring Steven back. But she wanted to consult the others about it. Even though she had made up her mind on what she was going to do, she wanted her friends to have a say and she wanted to know what they thought about it.
She looked around at her friends. Pearl was looking thrilled to be in the presence of Rose Quartz again. Connie and Greg waited expectantly for Rose's news. Garnet and Amethyst had grim expressions on their faces. Had Garnet used her future vision and predicted what Rose was going to do, or at least what she was going to say?
"Hello, everyone," she began, planning what she was going to say.
"Hold on, excuse my interruption, but you're the Rose Quartz? The one who shattered Pink Diamond?" Peridot asked, oblivious to possible hurting the gem emotionally.
"Peridot!" Lapis and Pearl hissed. Garnet and Amethyst looked astonished that she would say such a thing.
"It's alright," Rose said with a sigh. "But yes, I am Rose Quartz. Steven's told me much about you two." She looked at Lapis Lazuli and Peridot.
"He has?" they said in unison.
"Yes, he thinks you're amazing gems. In fact, he's very fond of all of you." Rose's gaze was laid on all the gems. "And never in my life would I put myself in a state of joy while depriving him of it. I mean, I want him to live a beautiful life with you all on earth so much more than continuing to live here myself. What I'm leading up to is, I think I have an idea on how to save Steven. I believe our gem would have a very hard time reproducing the organic half of Steven, giving that probably most of that was destroyed when he died, as you might say. So I don't know if the gem would be able to fully reform him, which means... I'm going to put my whole form into regenerating him."
"What do you mean?" asked Connie.
"When Steven was formed for the first time, half of me went into creating him. The other part of my was still in the gem itself. If he reforms again, he'll still be half gem and half human. However, the gem and his body need help with the reforming. So I'm going to be putting my whole self into reforming Steven. It'll almost be like I'll cease to exist. But I'll just be part of Steven. So part of me won't stay in the gem anymore. Hopefully, by me doing this, Steven will be able to reform properly this time and any other time he needs to. Like I said, he will most likely not be full gem. Because if half of him was destroyed in his death, it's equally likely that a quarter of himself lost was his human form and another quarter was him gems form. I don't know, maybe he lost all of his human form or all of his gem form. There may only be a one in three chance of him regenerating normally. The thing that I wanted you all to know is that, by doing this, I'll never be able to reform again."
"No," Pearl whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. Garnet's head was lowered, and Amethyst was crying as well. Peridot was trying to process all that Rose said into a scientific solution in her head. Lapis just looked really confused. Greg held on to Rose Quartz, never wanting to let her go. But he knew how much Rose loved Steven, he did too, and she loved him so much that she was going to give up her whole form for Steven. There was no changing her mind. So he decided to just love her for it.
     "I'm so sorry everyone. I hope you understand. With the help of all of you, he's going to be a greater gem then I ever was. But this is the only way I can think of to save him. Just know that, in doing this, I don't love you any less. In fact, getting to see you again, and meet some of you, has only made my love grow. Please, please understand."
     "Of course we do," Garnet said honestly.
     "Yeah, Rose! You're amazing... I just wanted you to know, we'll miss you a lot," said Amethyst sadly.
     "I'll miss you all, too," Rose said. "But I'm glad you understand."
     "One question," Peridot spoke up. "How are you going to retreat into your gem?"
     "I don't know..." Rose admitted.
     "Don't you dare hurt her or anything, Peridot!" Pearl screeched.
     "Well, if she wants to poof quickly, we can always use my gem destabilizer," Peridot answered calmly.
     "YOUR WHAT?!" screamed Pearl.
     "Yo, you kept it?" Amethyst asked.
     "You never know if you might need it in the future. Well... I guess Garnet would know, but as far as I know, I don't have future vision. I kept it hidden in the barn. After Steven broke my bubble and I eventually left your bathroom, I found some pieces of wreckage from my ship. And I found a destabilizer. I kept it for, you know, emergencies."
     "Uh, everyone?" Greg asked uncertainly. "If you guys are wary about this, are you sure it's safe?"
     "Of course it's not safe," Peridot said. "That's why gems retreat into their, well, gems!"
     Everyone fought amongst themselves until no one could hear what anyone was saying. "Everybody, stop!" Rose commanded. Everyone went dead silent. "I want to do it."
     "But you can't!" exclaimed Pearl. "Or at least you shouldn't!"
     "I'll be alright, Pearl. You know that. A destabilizer has been used on you before. In fact, all of you have experienced it sometime or other. Well, except for you, Greg and Connie. You know I'll be okay. Please. It's for the best."
     "You're ready then?" Garnet asked. Rose nodded. "Then let's go."