Healing Hearts//Steven Universe

o n e : t h e r e t r e a t

The dust was finally beginning to clear, though the sky was still tinted red and orange from the combination of the setting sun and the debris that littered the rocky shore. The crystals gems stood in the midst of it all, breathing heavily and clinging tightly to each other in a warm embrace.

"Is everyone okay?" Pearl breathed, pulling in Steven and wrapping her arms even tighter around him, as if she were afraid he could slip right through her fingertips.

Everyone muttered some form of "yes" before falling silent. They watched the waves devour the wreckage of the bright green, homeworld ship. Now there were only chunks of fluorescent green metal here and there to serve as proof of the homeworld gems' attack.

Steven loosened Pearl's grip in order to stare into the ocean, curious to see the damage that had been done. He noticed a round orb bobbing up and down, floating towards the shore.

"What is it?" Amethyst asked. Her eyes narrowed again and she began to reach for her gem to arm herself. The group finally separated. Garnet was the first to step forward to examine the strange machine, which had just rolled onto the sand.

"It's an escape pod," she said. "It must've activated itself while the ship was malfunctioning."

"That's odd," Pearl mumbled. "I thought that homeworld's technology would be far too advanced to allow a glitch like that."

"Maybe it wasn't an accident," Steven spoke up. "What if it's another gem?"

"That's impossible," Garnet muttered. "Unless we just didn't see another gem while we were on the ship."

The pod suddenly flashed and opened itself to reveal a girl, curled into a ball and hugging her knees. Everyone gasped and took a step or two backward, afraid for another attack, but relaxed when they realized it was just a girl.

"Wait, a human girl?" Pearl returned her spear to her gem before bending down to get a closer look. The girl's chest was slowly rising and falling, which meant that she was either asleep or unconscious.

"She's wearing a diamond uniform!" Steven exclaimed. "It looks like the ones Peridot, Jasper and Lapis were wearing."

"That still doesn't explain what a human's doing on board a homeworld ship," Amethyst said. "Wait, what if it's part gem part human?" She shook Steven by his shoulders. "That would be so cool!"

Pearl shook her head. "No, from what I can tell, she's just a human. If she did have a gem, the impact from that wreck could've caused extreme damage to it, maybe even fatal."

"So what're we gonna do?" Steven asked.

Everyone looked to Garnet, who stiffened when she realized that she was now expected to come up with an idea of some sort.

"We'll take her inside. . . see what happens when she finally wakes up."

The gems exchanged a grunt of approval. Garnet lifted her from the pod and incased her in a large bubble. Steven looked saddened.

"But we can't just bubble her! She's not a prisoner!"

"She's not exactly an ally either," Garnet replied before returning to the house.

Pearl gently squeezed Steven's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Steven, but we can't take any more chances."

Steven sadly stared after Garnet. He didn't want to admit it, but they were right. Especially after the whole incident with Lapis, Steven was beginning to question himself. . . Not all gems were bad, right? The Crystals Gems were on earth to protect it. And if they had originally come from Homeworld, didn't that mean that gems could change for better?

To his dismay, Steven realized that he could no longer know for sure.