Garnet and Pink had just gotten from a mission.
It was pretty rare that the two went on missions, since the two didn't really get along.
To be more specific, Garnet hated Pink and Pink was afraid of Garnet.
However, Pink was the only other gem available at the time so they just had to roll with it.
-
They arrived back at the beach house through the warp pad, seeing Steven at the counter.
Next to him was a stack of waffles drizzled in syrup, with whipped cream and a strawberry on top, sprinkled with popcorn.
"Ah, Garnet! Pink! Perfect!" Steven picked up the breakfast and approached them.
"It's not exactly healthy, but it's in a stack.. so I guess you could say it's a balanced breakfast?"
Pink let out a snicker at the horrible pun while Garnet remained silent.
"Y'know, I made us all breakfast," Steven held up the plate. "I thought we could all eat together, lik-like best buds!"
"Are you sure that's big enough for all 5 of us?" Pink questioned, raising a brow.
"I can't stay," Garnet stated. "There's business to attend to inside the temple."
Garnet approached the temple door, and the door opened to the bubble room.
"Awww, business? Like what?" Steven asked disappointedly, setting the breakfast down on the table.
Garnet showed him the scroll she was holding in her left hand. It was covered in strange glowing markings, and you could hear ominous whispers coming from it.
"Cool!" Steven pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of it.
Garnet ripped the phone from hands. "I have to burn this too."
Without another word, Garnet disappeared into the temple, the door closing behind her.
"No! My apps!"
Pink looked at him with sympathy. "Sorry bud. Once I have the money, I'll buy you a new one."
Amethyst suddenly burst in, shape-shifted into a police officer, holding a water gun. "DUMB POLICE! YOU'RE DUMB!"
She sent a spray of water towards the breakfast Steven prepared, making him scream in horror.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
He jumped in front of the breakfast, getting hit by the water blast instead.
Amethyst cackled, shape-shifting her head back to normal. "Oh, man! I totally got you! You should've seen the look on your face!"
Steven gave her an annoyed glance. "I knew it was you."
Amethyst scoffed. "How?"
"Because that's a water gun," Steven answered, changing into a dry shirt, "and I'm not dumb."
"You got something on your shirt." Amethyst said.
Steven, falling for it, looked down at his shirt.
Amethyst sprayed him with the water gun again, laughing.
"Amethyst, cut that out!" Pink interjected, crossing her arms.
"Ugh. You're no fun." Amethyst rolled her eyes, before spraying her with the water gun instead.
"OH YOU LITTLE SH-" Pink's temper flared. She clenched her fists, and her pupils went white for a moment.
One of Pink's bad traits is that she had a short fuse. She's usually decent at controlling it, but every so often she snapped. It didn't help that she was burnt out and overestimulated, as well.
They were interrupted by the temple door opening, Amethyst's room behind it.
"Wait, that's my door!" Amethyst shape-shifted back to her normal form, dropping the water gun.
Pearl exited the temple, holding a sword in her hands.
"Oh, Amethyst, there you are," she said. "Care to explain why one of my swords was in your room?"
"Having a sword party?"
"Oh, please! You took it!"
"I did not!"
Pink groaned and massaged her temples.
She normally found it funny when they bickered, but after the past few days she's had, it was just giving her a headache.
Pearl seemed to notice and put a stop to the argument. "It's fine, it's in the past. I forgive you."
Amethyst groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Also, I cleaned up your awful, awful mess. You're welcome."
"YOU DID WHAT!? I HAVE A SYSTEM!"
She darted through the temple door, much to Steven's dismay. "Amethyst, wait!"
"What's the matter Steven?" Pearl asked.
Steven sighed. "I wanted all of us to eat breakfast together, so I made Together Breakfast, but everyone keeps leaving."
"Oh, that's nice." Pearl said dismissively, entering her own room.
Pink could vaguely see the water towers in her room, before the door closed.
"No, not you too!" Steven banged on the door, before sighing.
"What about you, Pink?"
"Ugh, sorry Steven," Pink started. "But being stuck with Garnet that long left me really drained. I think I need a nap after all that."
Pink flopped down on the couch, planting her face into a pillow.
"Aww," Steven slumped his shoulders. "Why do you guys hate each other so much?"
Pink let out a muffled sigh. "It's not that we hate each other, it's just that... it's complicated."
She began to drift off as Steven looked at the ground with disappointment.
Then, his face filled with determination. "No! I can't let this become Together Brunch!"
He grunted as he tried to open the door with his powers. He did it once, so he had to be able to do it again, right?
He grunted as he tried to open the door, grinning as he saw it slide open with Pearl's room behind it.
The sound of the door opening woke Pink back up. She opened one of her eyes, seeing Steven going into the temple.
Her breath hitched, falling off the couch and darting towards the door.
She slipped her arm through the door last second, letting out a squeak of pain as the door crushed her arm.
She grunted as she pulled the door back open, following Steven into Pearl's room.
"Steven! What are you doing!?" She whispered-yelled.
They saw Pearl on top of one of the water towers, both momentarily getting distracted.
They watched as she danced gracefully, and a circle of swords rose from the water around her.
She put the missing sword back in its scabbard, before noticing it was crooked. She fixed it and then smiled in satisfaction. "There we go."
"HEY PEARL!!" Steven yelled, ignoring Pink's protests.
It got Pearl's attention, and the circle of swords fell back into the water.
"Steven!? What are you doing in here!? You know it's dangerous for you inside the temple!" She yelled, reopening the temple door behind them.
"Please Steven," Pink begged him. "I'll eat your breakfast with you, but can we please leave?"
Steven furrowed his brows. "This breakfast is meant for everybody. We're gonna have a nice Together Breakfast, even if I have to get my shoes wet."
Pink realized what he was about to do and tried to stop him, but she was a second too late.
He jumped in the pool of water, holding the breakfast high above this head.
"What? Get out of there!" Pearl shouted.
"I'll swim it over to you! See? Doggy paddle forward!"
"STEVEN NO-"
Steven realized a moment too late that he was heading straight for a waterfall.
He tried to swim away from it, but the current was too strong.
Pearl and Pink could only watch in utter horror as he got washed away. "STEVEN!"
-
Pink and Pearl looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
"Oh, this is terrible," Pearl stated. "He could be anywhere! What if he's hurt, or what if hes in danger!? WHAT IF HE'S-"
Pink gently grabbed Pearl's wrists. "Pearl, calm down! If we want to find Steven, you need to stop panicking!"
Pearl took a deep breath, calming down a bit. "You're right, you're right. We need to stay collected if we're gonna find him."
-
Steven let out a groan as he washed onto a crystal-like shore.
The Together Breakfast was thankfully unharmed, somehow.
He looked up, seeing Amethyst re-trashing her room.
"Amethyst!" Steven called out to her, catching her attention.
"Oh, hey Steven," Amethyst greeted him. "Did you come down the waterfall? Pearl gets so mad that I have her junk, but it's always falling down here."
"Junk like what?"
"Junk like... you!"
Amethyst picked him up, laughing. "I'm gonna throw you in the junk pile!"
She gently tossed him into a pile of random junk. "Isn't it awful? Pearl organized everything."
"It still looks messy to me," Steven stated.
"Aw, thanks. I try." She kicked an end table over.
She finally took notice of the breakfast in Steven's hands. "Oooh, what's that, Steven?"
"It's a Together Breakfast," Steven answered with a grin.
"All right! Snacks!" Amethyst reached for it, only for Steven to pull it away. "No! It's for everyone to eat together!" He exclaimed. "That's the essence of Together Breakfast."
"Ah," Amethyst 'oh'ed in response.
"...GIMME GIMME!"
Steven let out a scream as he ran away from the gem, darting through an entryway to another part of the temple.
-
Steven panted as he ran away from Amethyst, who was right on his tail.
"We have to eat it together!"
As he ran further, he path seemed to go upside down.
He noticed that the breakfast was slipping off the plate due to gravity, but he quickly turned the plate upside down and caught it.
He carefully adjusted the plate as the path went right side up again as Amethyst laughed behind him.
"You can't outrun me! We both have short legs!"
Steven suddenly came across an open void, littered with small floating islands.
He looked back, seeing Amethyst gaining on him. "Stevennnnn! I'm hungryyyyy!"
He quickly jumped from island to island, putting some distance between them. "Just... hold... on!"
He looked ahead, seeing another path.
'An exit!'
He quickly jumped from the last island, landing safely on the path.
He quickly caught each waffle with the plate, only losing a few popcorn kernels. "Hah! Skills!"
He ran down the tunnel as Amethyst jumped after him. "Get back here!"
"You're completely missing the point of this!" Steven exclaimed.
He entered a new chamber and noticed something that looked somewhat like a fire pole.
He hopped on it, and Amethyst stopped in her tracks. "Hey, wait a second!"
Pearl and Pink suddenly ran into the room as well.
"Steven! There you are!"
"Pearl! Pink! Sweet!" Steven exclaimed. "Three out of four!"
Pearl's face suddenly went from relief to worry.
"Oh, oh! Steven, be careful!"
Steven raised a brow. "Why?"
He looked up, seeing what was unmistakably a giant heart.
It had a slow, rhythmic beat as it glowed an ominous red.
Steven realized that what he was clinging to wasn't that pole. It was a vein.
"Woah..."
"You really shouldn't be in here! This is the Crystal Heart!" Pearl said worriedly. "Oh, it's connected to the most dangerous parts of the temple!"
Pearl took a deep breath and looked at Steven. "Hold on tight, and don't look down!"
And of course, Steven looked down.
He saw how deep it went down... and then he slipped.
Without even thinking, Pink jumped down after him.
-
Pink clung to the vein as she slid down, a little ways above Steven.
She heard him scream, then he paused, and then it continued a few seconds later.
The screaming ceased once Steven stopped sliding.
Pink slid next to him, letting out a breath of relief that he was okay.
She looked to where he was staring, seeing Garnet approaching the lava well in the center of the room.
Garnet pulled out Steven's phone and snapped it in half, making him let out a disappointed noise.
Then, she pulled out the scroll and lowered it into the lava, effectively setting it on fire.
She quickly bubbled it as it went up in smoke, disembodied screams piercing their ears.
Steven slid down the rest of the vein and Pink hopped down next to him.
Amethyst and Pearl jumped down from the Crystal Heart chamber, landing next to the two.
"Steven, we're getting you out of here." Pearl whispered, grabbing his shoulder.
"Come on." Amethyst added.
Pink nodded in agreement. They needed to get out of the temple, and the bubble room especially.
But Steven wasn't listening to them.
"This is great!" He yelled, startling Garnet. "Now we're all together!"
Garnet gasped, turning to Steven, but she quickly refocused on keeping the smoke contained.
"We can finally eat!" Steven exclaimed, oblivious to what was going on.
He continued as the other gems rushed to help Garnet. "I mean, we don't have any forks, but we can use our hands. I'm not gonna judge."
"Steven, go!" Garnet shouted, struggling to keep the bubble stable.
"Okay. Wanna meet in the kitchen?"
The gems were suddenly thrown back as the bubble popped.
The smoke spread through the room, creeping towards Steven.
The gems quickly summoned their weapons. "It's trying to escape! Force it back!"
Garnet threw a punch at it, knocking it back.
It launched a tendril towards Steven, and he barely dodged.
Amethyst stood in front of him protectively and lashed her whip at the smoke. "Get back!"
Pink slashed her sword at the mist in rage. "Why won't this stupid smoke just die!?"
It formed a hand and reached for Pearl, but she stabbed at it with her spear and Garnet smashed her fist into it.
Then, the smoke slammed into Steven.
"STEVEN!"
The smoke disappeared, and thankfully, Steven seemed fine - just a bit dazed.
He let out a groan and looked down at the breakfast.
Then it twitched.
"Together Breakfast...?"
Then a huge, breakfast-y monster burst out of it.
Pearl threw her spear at it, but it just sank into the goop.
"It's taken refuge in an organic matter!-"
It suddenly shot a big glop of syrup and whipped cream at her.
"PEARL GET OUT OF THE WAY-"
Pink quickly shoved her to the side, getting hit by it instead.
She slammed into the wall, and pain exploded from her back.
She tried to move, but the syrup and whipped cream kept her firmly in place.
She felt herself gag as it crawled up her arms and chest. She could feel it clinging to her skin and sticking to her clothes.
It made her want to throw up.
"Now it has all the power of a breakfast," Garnet stated. "We have to destroy it."
The monster snapped Pearl's spear in half, and it disappeared.
Garnet tried to throw a punch, but her gauntlet just got stuck in the sticky goo, making her groan in disgust.
She struggled to pull it out, even with help from Amethyst and Pearl.
"I didn't want this!" Steven cried. "I just wanted to eat together l-like best buds!"
He struggled to hold it back, tears leaking from his eyes.
"Steven! You've got to get away!"
"But my breakfast!-"
The monster suddenly launched a giant waffle at the gems, smashing them into the wall.
Steven looked at it in horror, before his face contorted into anger.
"That's enough!" He yelled.
He grunted as he got up, forcing the monster back a bit.
"I don't care if you... are the most important meal of the day!" He exclaimed.
He forced the monster towards the lava well. "I made you to bring us together! Not to tear us apart!"
He shoved it into the churning lava, making it shriek as it was incinerated in the molten rock.
Steven breathed heavily as smoke bellowed from the well, wiping sweat off his weary face.
Garnet punched a hole in the giant waffle and she, Amethyst, and Pearl crawled out.
Pink finally broke free from the whipped cream trap, trying her best not to throw up as strings of it clung to her arms and legs.
They all made their way towards Steven, who looked somberly into the well.
"I'm sorry guys," he said. "I guess I dreamed too big."
-
Later that day, they all worked together to make a new breakfast.
Garnet popped some waffles in the toaster while Amethyst put some bags of popcorn in the microwave.
Once the waffles were done, Pearl drizzled the syrup over it and then they poured the popcorn all over it.
Pink sprayed the whipped cream, and then Steven carefully placed the strawberry on top.
And it was done.
"It looks great!" Steven beamed. "It's even more together and even more breakfast!"
Before they were about to dig in, they stared at the finished breakfast uneasily.
"I don't think I can eat this." Steven spoke up.
"Let's order a pizza." Amethyst said.
"Yeah." Pearl agreed.
"Pizza's a better idea."
"I'll order it right now," Pink said, pulling out her phone and dialing Fish Stew Pizza. "What kind should we order?"
"Pepperoni or cheese is fine."
Garnet looked down at the new together breakfast. "It did try to kill us."
-
That night, Pink was laying in her hammock with a weary look on her face.
No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't sleep.
It's not like she needed to, but she was so mentally exhausted that she could probably sleep for a couple hundred years.
Well, if she could ACTUALLY GET TO FUCKING SLEEP.
She sighed and got up.
She looked down at her arms, which had a couple cracks.
Ever since the first flashback she had a couple years ago, the cracks had been slowly spreading from the spot on her neck.
They had spread to her arms and to her legs. Thankfully, it wasn't noticeable when she had clothes on.
She jumped when she heard someone knock on the door.
She quickly slipped on her hoodie and answered it.
She opened the door, seeing Pearl behind it.
"Pearl? Did you need something?"
"I just wanted to make sure you're alright," Pearl stated. "You seemed quite stressed earlier."
"Ah," Pink rubbed the back of her neck. "It was just a hectic day."
"True," Pearl agreed. "But still. Are you sure you're alright?"
Pink forced a smile. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
Pearl didn't look convinced, but she knew pushing it wouldn't do her any favors. "If you say so. Goodnight, Pink."
"'Night."
Pink closed the door and sighed.
She began to walk back to her hammock when she suddenly got hit by a searing pain in her head.
She let out a yell and crumpled to the floor, gripping her head as a memory forced its way into her brain.
[TW: slight emotional abuse]
Pink stood quietly as Blue berated her, feeling ashamed.
"I cannot believe you would interrupt a public shattering! To think you can do anything but cause trouble-!"
Pink's shoulders tensed as she listened to Blue scold her for what seemed like hours.
She suddenly got hit by a powerful wave of emotion.
Large tears leaked out of her eyes and she was forced to her knees.
"Do you care not about our reputation!? You embarrassed the entire authority in front of our subjects!"
Pink looked down, hiding her face from the older diamond.
"White is very unhappy with you," Blue stated, in a softer tone. "She may take matters into her own hands if you step out of line again."
Pink felt herself stiffen. It was rare she ever saw White. In fact, she wasn't sure she had even seen her at all in a few hundred years.
But one thing she did know is that White was not a merciful gem.
She shuddered at the thought of White being the one to punish her. The tower was bad enough - she didn't want to imagine what White would do to her.
Blue gently lifted up her chin. "We're only doing this to protect you."
[Okay, you're safe now.]
Pink breathed heavily as she snapped out of the flashback.
Sweat dripped down her face and tears poured from her eyes.
She looked down at her trembling hands and tried to calm herself down.
She ran a hand through her hair, trying to steady her breathing.
She stood up shakely and approached the door.
She slowly turned the knob and peaked outside, seeing Pearl was nowhere to be found.
She stepped outside and laid in the grass, looking up at the starry night sky.
Stargazing was always something that helped her calm down.
She watched the stars and spotted constellations for hours, until the sun rose again.
---
Word count: 3448
A/N: So, there are few things I'd like to say. First of all, THANK YOU FOR OVER 100 READS! I honestly thought this story would never get any attention!
And second of all, I am SO SORRY for not uploading for over 2 months. School has been beating my ass and I was super unmotivated to write this chapter.
Also, sorry if this chapter kinda sucks. A portion of it was written at like 1 AM and I got a little lazy at the end.