Steven Universe Reader Insert (Rewrite)

Keystone Motel pt One

“She's not here, Pearl.” (Y/n) sighed as we walked around a gem infused island. Pearl had mentioned that it used to be a place of socialism in the gem society. Marble pillars and stone flooring now cracked and broken, overtaken by nature, (Y/n) could only imagine what it had once looked like when they first got here. But now they were just annoyed at looking at the same location over and over again. 

“We'll just have to keep looking.” Pearl answered, that's all she's been saying- like a broken record that's all she said these past few days. They let out a long and loud sigh and hooked their bow back on their back, crossing their arms over their chest and looked at Pearl. She stood a few feet away from them, scanning the area from where they stood. On a ledge that overlooked the grounds below, a good five stories tall and a broken crystal railguard, Pearl bent at the waist looking down. Her shoulders tensed and the feeling of worry rolling off of her body, (Y/n) rolled her neck and clapped her hands together. 

Before Pearl could run off again, (Y/n) gently grabbed her by the upper arm- causing her to stop in her tracks. (Y/n) has had enough with all this useless running and searching for a gem they had no lead on. 

“Pearl, enough- We’ve been looking for days. We’re not going to find her, not today at least.” (Y/n) said, Pearl sighed and crossed their arms over their chest while looking back down at the ledge that led to a high fall. 

“... I- I just want to make up for what I did.” Pearl whispered as she squatted down, her fingers lightly touching the overgrowth underneath her feet. (Y/n) knew what the gem wanted to hear, but it wasn't what she needed to hear. Standing behind her, (Y/n) stood over her- not hovering but their shadow did loom over her. 

“Pearl.” (Y/n) called, the gem flinched at her serious tone, she knew they weren’t going to be gently or ‘sugar coat’ her words. “What you did… was seriously messed up. We all know you want to fix this as fast as possible so we can all move on, but it’s not your call.” (Y/n) explained. Pearl looked over her shoulder, big teary eyes looking up at the human she helped raise. 

“What do you mean?” Pearl asked, (Y/n) sighed. It was so hard to explain common feelings to the gems, especially to Pearl. 

“What I mean is, you can’t force something like this to be resolved- at least not this easy. You hurt Garnet, she needs time. It’s not up to you to fix it, she needs to decide if she wants to forgive you or not.” (Y/n) said, the look that overcame Pearl’s eyes was one of realization- that there's a chance the fusion gem wouldn’t forgive her. Panic overcame her eyes, (Y/n) saw this but knew she needed to hear the truth. “You made your choice, now let her.” 

Pearl and (Y/n) warped back home, in the light beam they stood side by side- in silence. When they warped back to the house, they were both greeted by Steven yelling their names. 

“(Y/n)! Pearl! Where have you guys been?” Steven shouted, as he ran to them. 

“Looking for Peridot.” (Y/n) answered as they ruffled his hair and walked to the kitchen. 

“For a few days straight, but I’ll make things right-” Pearl stopped when Garnet walked in through the front door. “Oh! Garnet! I was just looking for Peridot- she’s bound to be somewhere, right? Any new ideas?” Pearl asked, but was ignored by Garnet as she walked by her. “I’m sorry…” Pearl said, the room falling into silence as Garnet stops in her tracks. Only for the silence to be broken by Greg walking inside the house. 

“Who wants to go on a road trip?” Greg shouted, but stopped when all eyes, unhappy, look over to him. “Umm… Is this a bad time?” He asked.