Templeschool

57. Everything Will Be Okay

AN: Homestretch! One more chapter after this.

Soft. Warm. When awareness returned to Twoie, everything felt extremely comfortable. He burrowed further into the softness, tightening his hold on the warm being next to him. Wait... Twoie opened his eyes. He was lying in bed, and it must've been pretty late in the day if the darkness of the room was anything to go by. So, what was he holding? He looked down and realized Steven was hugging him in his sleep. The older boy gently pried Steven off of him, so he could sit up, which was officially a bad idea. Twoie hissed quietly as his body ached from the movement. As he tried to prop himself up slowly, his hand slipped on his sheet, and he fell back to the bed with a soft grunt of pain.

Steven jumped awake at the sound. He looked around for a second before his gaze alighted on his brother. "Twoie?" His eyes widened as Twoie smiled weakly at him. Twoie was back. His older brother was finally back! Steven's face scrunched slightly as he tried to hold back tears. "Twoie! You're awake!" The kid broke out into loud sobs as he hugged his brother. "I'm so sorry! I should've stood up for you more when the others were being mean to you!"

Twoie ignored the ache in his muscles so that he could wrap his arms around him. "It's not your fault, Steven. None of this was your fault, okay?" Bits and pieces were beginning to return to him. He... He had corrupted, hadn't he... The chime of the temple door interrupted his chain of thought, and the brothers looked over to see the gems step out. The Crystal Gems walked into the living room, pausing when they spotted Steven and Twoie sitting up. Twoie awkwardly waved at them.

"Twoie!" Pearl, Peridot, Amethyst, and Lapis all shouted in unison, rushing up the steps and throwing themselves into a group hug with Steven and Twoie. Twoie winced at the force of their hug but let them sob out apologies. Garnet and Bismuth followed along after, joining the hug once he made it upstairs.

Their shouting woke Priyanka, who was downstairs asleep on the couch, and Greg, who was sleeping on the cushioned window bench. "Is Twoie okay?" They called out to them in concern.

Amethyst wiped her eyes and smiled. "He's awake, you guys!" The half-gem winced in pain as Amethyst practically shouted in his ear. Twoie was still tired, and all of the noise and people were starting to get to him. The two humans rushed up the steps. Greg was already crying again at seeing his son safe, but Priyanka narrowed her eyes. Twoie was smiling, but it was stiff, and his body was tense.

The doctor walked over and started tapping the gems on their shoulders. "Alright, I know you're happy to see him, but he needs some space. He's tense, and that's not good for his health." Upon her words, the gems backed away with no protest. Once it was just Twoie and Steven on the bed, she smiled. "I'm so happy to see you're okay. I'm going to have to give you a check-up. Are you okay with everyone being present?" At his nod, Priyanka quickly ran back downstairs and grabbed her medical bag before beginning her check-up. "No more discoloration present on your skin." She checked his hair and back. "You have faded scar tissue on the places where you had those spines. I'm not sure if they will ever disappear." Twoie pushed down on his rising panic. That answered his question about whether that actually happened. It had just seemed like a crazy dream, but dreams don't leave physical scars. Priyanka turned her attention to Twoie's fingers, then made him open his mouth. "Your nails are stronger than usual; it must be a side effect of having claws. You also kept your sharper canines." Twoie closed his mouth so he could brush his tongue over his teeth. He felt the sharpness of his fangs. "Overall, you look like a healthy human again." Look human again... The young man flinched.

Priyanka noticed his reaction and paused. "Do you... remember what happened?"

Twoie looked away. "I thought it was a dream, but yeah. I remember bits and pieces. I remember hurting Steven accidentally and then turning into that monster. I remember attacking you guys in the forest and chasing you guys across town." The young man gritted his teeth. He couldn't believe he had attacked his family. It didn't matter that he wasn't in his right mind; Twoie had allowed himself to be corrupted. He paused and took a deep breath. That... that wasn't right, though. Twoie never would've purposefully corrupted. It was an accident. It wasn't his fault. "Besides that, I also remember parts of the Galaxy warp and singing. I think the singing is what snapped me out of it." He blinked and looked up at his family. "That happened too, right? You were all singing about the things Steven and I did?"

They nodded. Greg walked up to the bed and pulled both of his sons into a hug. "We realized that you corrupted because we didn't help you, even when you helped us. I'm so sorry for everything. I never realized how much you and Steven were suffering because I didn't want to get involved in gem stuff." He pulled back and smiled at Twoie. "But you're both half-gem, and gem stuff is always going to be a part of who you two are. I promise I'm going to be more active in your's and Steven's lives."

Twoie felt tears well up in his eyes. He sniffed, trying to hold them back. "I'm sorry that I yelled at you when we went to your old house. I was just upset because all I wanted growing up was stability. I should've let you explain yourself, though, because not listening was one of the main ways I kept getting hurt."

Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl smiled sadly at that. Garnet stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on Twoie's shoulder. "We're all very sorry for not listening to you. After your visit, Bismuth came by and told us how she was learning about human things to understand you better. As your guardians, we should've done the same thing. We let our misunderstandings become a burden to you." Pearl and Amethyst walked up to them, and they all pulled Twoie into a hug. "Pearl, Amethyst, and I have decided that we will be spending more time trying to learn about humans. I promise you that we will be better guardians to you and Steven."

Twoie's breath hitched. They were really going to do that much, just for him? Even though they didn't treat him like that anymore, Twoie still felt like they'd spend more time with him if he acted more like his mom. But they were doing this, so they could learn to accept Twoie for who he was. Part-gem and part-human. They finally saw him as Twoie. "Y-you guys-!" His dad joined their hug, and Twoie broke down, sobbing on his father's shirt. Steven crawled over and burrowed into his brother's side. Everyone gathered around a hugged him.

Priyanka soothingly brushed her hand through Twoie's hair. "It's okay, sweetheart. Everything's going to be okay. You went through so much, but the worst of it is over." She continued to comfort him until Twoie's sobs died down. He couldn't help but wonder if his actual mom would've comforted him like that. It didn't matter in the end. He couldn't ask for a better mom than Priyanka. Twoie slumped against his father once he couldn't cry anymore. He was already tired when he first woke up, but now he was absolutely drained. His family broke off the hug and helped Twoie lay down comfortably again. It was a tiring day for everyone, and Twoie smiled when he felt Steven lay down next to him. If anything, his younger brother was probably going to be very clingy for a while.

Garnet smiled as she noticed that Twoie was nodding off. "We love you, Twoie. And we'll do our best to help you with whatever you need, okay?" The young man nodded at Garnet. Greg gently pulled the blanket over Twoie and Steven, knowing his sons' needed more rest. The older brother pulled Steven close and closed his eyes.

Everyone quietly headed downstairs to let the brothers rest. They chatted amongst themselves for a few minutes until they could hear slight snoring. Bismuth sighed as she looked back upstairs. "I'm so glad Twoie is back. He's gonna need a lot of rest and care before he'll feel normal again." The blacksmith frowned as she turned to face the others again. "I'm curious, though. A lot of his problems were worsened by accidentally being sent into the past. Between Peridot and I, I'm pretty sure we can fix the timepiece that brought him here." Everyone looked away at the thought. They had all become very fond of Twoie. To send him back would be like losing a part of their family. But Twoie didn't belong in the past. He was only going to continue reliving past traumas by being here.

"We've been keeping the hourglass in a bubble in the Burning Room. I'll go get it for you, and then, if you can get it working, we'll leave the decision up to Twoie." Garnet didn't want to send him home, she enjoyed having Twoie around, but if they could fix the hourglass, it needed to be done. With dampened spirits, everyone dispersed for the night. What no one realized was that Steven and Twoie had both been listening from upstairs. Steven quietly sniffled at the thought of his brother leaving and buried his face into Twoie's chest. His older brother gently rubbed Steven's back while thinking about his life in the future.

The truth was, Twoie felt really conflicted about returning home. He'd come to care about his family in the past, and they still needed him. The young man wanted to look after his brother and help the gems with Homeworld. He still wanted to prevent some of the things he knew would happen. And then... there was Priyanka. He had no idea how his effect on the past would carry over to the future. Would they remember everything? Would his future even exist? Or would it be as though nothing ever happened? Thinking about it only served to make his head and heart hurt. He was still exhausted, so Twoie decided not to think about it for now. He'd cross that bridge when he got to it.