The birth of Steven was a bittersweet day. One life ended for another to begin.
Rose Quartz was gone, and in her place was an infant by the name of Steven Universe.
... or was she?
The Crystal Gems, including Rose, were under the impression that Rose would give up her physical form so little Steven could exist, and that he would inherit her gem.
But that didn't seem to be the case.
Steven didn't have a gem at all. The only hint of gem heritage he had was his pink eyes.
Nonetheless, the little boy was born. His chest was rising up and down, which was the only way you could tell that he was alive with how quietly he slept.
However, one thing was plaguing Pearl's mind. If Steven didn't inherit Rose's gem, then what happened to it? It couldn't have just vanished into thin air.
Her question was answered quickly, after a bit of rummaging around in the blankets Rose had been laying in prior.
Rose's gem was right there, lying intact, on the bed. Only, it wasn't a rose quartz. It was a diamond.
-
It dawned upon Pearl that the other gems couldn't find out about this.
As much as she wanted to tell Garnet and Amethyst that Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond all along, her last orders from her diamond was to never let anyone know.
She would find a way to tell them when the time was right.
-
Suddenly, the door handle began to rattle.
Pearl panicked and quickly bubbled Rose's gem and then sent it away.
She picked up Steven again as the infant snored softly.
The door handle finally stopped rattling, and Garnet peered into Greg's van. "Sorry, the door was stuck." She said stoically.
Garnet looked down at the bundle in Pearl's arms... or at least Pearl thought she was. It was a bit hard to tell with her visor on.
"Is it a boy or a girl?"
"A boy," Pearl said quietly.
Garnet closed the door behind her and sat down next to Pearl, getting a closer look at Steven.
"He doesn't have a gem," she observed. "What happened to Rose's gem?"
Pearl went silent. She hadn't thought that far ahead.
"...I don't know. Why don't you check the blanket to see if it's in there?"
Garnet rummaged through the blankets herself, before shrugging. "Strange. It's not there."
"What could've happened to it?" Pearl lied, pretending to act innocent.
If there's one thing to know about Pearl, she was good at lying.
"We'll have to look for it later. For now, let's introduce Steven to the others."
Pearl nodded, following Garnet out of the van.
Pearl was quiet for the rest of the day. Everyone was.
No one other than Pearl knew what had happened to Rose's gem.
To Garnet and Amethyst, it had just disappeared without a trace.
But to Pearl, it was a dangerous secret to be kept.
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Word count: 526
A/N: I'd like to give a shout-out to SpaceDimentio and ItWasMePink for inspiring this story. Please go read "Fractures" here on Wattpad and "Just Like You" on AO3 because they're amazing!