Outside, late at night in Beach City, a pink portal opens opens up, allowing a lion with a similar hue to jump out into the area. Steven dismounts from the beast as it walks away from where the portal was. Steven's right eye twitches as he frowns. "This is...near Beach City?"
Steven turns to his lion for a moment, critical of their arrival. "Lion, are you sure this is the right-!" Steven hears a guitar play in the distance as he stops and turns towards the direction in which the tune plays. "Nora." He darts up the hill, panting as the tune grows louder and louder in his ears.
He finally stops, taking a quick step back as he spots a big figure with long, flowing brown hair in front of him. He narrows his eyes as Greg turns around, plucking his fingers against a couple more strings before looking up at his son with a smile. "Oh, hey shtooball!"
Steven widens his eyes as his limbs drop before him. "DAD?! You're Nora?!" Greg frowns, raising an eyebrow from Steven's response. "Who?" Steven marches up the hill as a hint of disbelief escapes his mouth. "What are you doing here?"
Greg smiles as he looks over at his guitar. "Getting some songs figured out! Aw, this is sort of my jamming hill! It used to be a tree by the warehouse, but a seventh grader with a flu muscled me out." Steven narrows his eyes, looking down at the grass beneath him. "Uh, yeah."
He sighs as Greg looks back at Steven. "You okay?" Steven looks behind him before he holds out the white tape with the small rainbow crossing through its cover that he received in the desert out to his dad. Greg widens his eyes with a half smile crossing into his lips. "Oh my gosh!"
He takes the tape and he holds it up to his face. "I never thought I'd see this again!" Steven strains his arms and legs outward as his grimaces in his amazement. "You've seen this tape before?!" Greg looks up as Steven gawks at him. "Of course! C'mere ! You should to!"
Greg turns on the TV beside him in his van as Steven walks up to it. Greg places the tape in the slot of his VHS player and he presses the play button on the TV set. Steven's face scrunches up in anguish as the tape plays.
The home video starts off with a wave before it cuts off to Greg, middle-aged, backing away from a seagull. "It's calling me now!" Rose, offscreen giggles as she holds the camera to record the video playing before Steven. "Maybe they'll help you with your intro this time!"
Steven raises an eyebrow to Greg. "Dad?" He shushes him, still smiling as enthusiasm comes out from a whisper. "Keep watching." The video cuts over to the sand on the beach. "Okay, now!"
Rose moves the camera up to record Greg who is standing one foot against a big rock, holding his guitar in his hand. "They call me..." He strums his guitar in triumph. "Mr. Universe! Get ready, baby! You're gonna have the coolest dad in this side in the cosmos!"
Greg continues to play as Steven narrows his eyes. His face stresses tension as he starts to realize what the tape holds. "This is-!"
"I press it now, right?"
"Do it." Greg slips on the rock, collapsing into the sand as a seagull perches itself on his guitar.
"Greg?!" Rose laughs as Greg smiles up at the bird. "Should we edit this part?" Rose shakes her head. "No! No! It's perfect!" The tape cuts over to a familiar segment as Steven grits his teeth. "Isn't it wonderful, Nora? This world is full of so many possibilities."
Steven hisses out to the video as he watches his mom speaks offscreen to him. "My video!" Steven narrows his eyes further as he bears his teeth, raising his eyebrow ever so slightly.
"Each living thing has a entirely unique experience. The sights they see. The lives they live are so complicated. So simple." Steven speaks out, unable to comprehend the purpose of the same video in the tape. "This is just like the video mom made me."
Rose switches the focus of the video onto her. "Nora, we can't both exist. But I won't be gone. I'm going to become half of you. And every moment you enjoy being yourself. This will be me. Loving being you." Steven clenches his teeth as he presses the pause button on the TV.
"No! I don't understand! Why is this the same as the video you guys made me?! Who's Nora?!" Greg wipes the tears in his eyes as he chuckles. "Nora is you!" Steven's mind processes the reply as he widens his eyes. "I'm my mom AND my sister?! WHAT KIND OF DESTINY IS THIS?!"
He yanks at his hair as Greg puts his hands out for a moment. "No! No! We just had it down to two names! Steven if you were a boy and Nora if you were a girl." Steve looks down for a moment. "So then, would Nora have the magical destiny if I wasn't here?"
Greg shrugs. "Magical destiny? I don't know about that."
"But mom did! She was trying to tell me something with MY tape! She keeps leaving me puzzle pieces! Sooner or later, I'm gonna understand what I'm for!" Steven's fists tremble at his sides as his eyes well up.
Greg gets up, attempting to console his son as Steven huffs in his frustration. "Whoa! Steven, it's okay!" But it's not okay. Steven has been trying so hard to gather the clues that he needs to tell him his true purpose. Steven wants to be more than what his parents want him to be and that may one day lead to his downfall.
Steven darts off as Greg yells out to him. "Steven, wait!" Steven keeps going as he pants ceaselessly, making his way towards Lion before he could dissapear for the night, being his one source of transportation as of right now, Steven couldn't afford to let go of him just yet.
"There's gotta be something else!" Steven yells as Lion starts to wander far off into the night. "Lion?! Lion?! Please! I need to go back to the dump! Just...give me one more ride! I'll never ask anything else from you again! I swear!" Within a few moments, Lion groans as he steps out into view.
Steven smiles as he jumps onto Lion's back with a grunt. "Let's just warp over there this time!" Lion's eyes glow as Greg's pleas grow louder in volume within Steven's range of hearing. However, he doesn't bother to look back for he is consumed with a demand for more answers.
As soon as the portal forms in front of them, Greg stops running as he pants with a grimace crossing his face. "Wait! Steven, please don't go! I can help you! If you keep searching for answers, you'll only want to find more and that will lead you nowhere!"
While that may be an enlightened comment, Steven disregards it for he has already made up his mind. With a wave of his hand, Lion leaps right through the portal and out on the other side, the dump stands before him.
"Okay." He dismounts from Lion once more and he rushes up the stairs and towards the door, desperate for more answers. He pushes it open with a brute force, causing it to slam against the exterior. Steven jumps into the dump, looking around for what he came for.
Steven rummages through the garbage as Lion rests on his stomache.
A few minutes pass before Steven holds up a book, raising his eyebrow. "What is this thing?" He opens the book as a certain Gem doning a visor steps out from behind him. "Steven." She folds her arms as Steven turns around in her direction.
"Steven, if you are looking for answers, you will never find what you are trying to search for within the dump. You must leave while you still can!" Steven growls as he stands his ground. "I just want to impress you and Amethyst and Pearl! I know you expect something out of me even if none of you will admit it!"
Garnet looks down at the sand, gritting her teeth. "Steven, I know that you know that we both don't like the fact of your mother's passing. It may have taken us thousands of years, but we've learned to accept her decision. And we've also learned to accept you. You aren't Rose Quartz, Steven. You are your own being. Remember that."
Steven sighs as he looks down. "But there had to have been something else. What is this book?" He holds up a pink book with the golden outline of a star on its cover. Garnet frowns as she shakes her head. "No idea. Come on, Steven. Let's get out of here."
Steven holds onto the book as he heads back over to Lion. Garnet picks Steven up to place him onto Lion's back and she gets on behind him. "Take us home, Steven Universe!" Steven smiles until it fades as he looks down at the book in his hand. "Steven?"
Steven snaps himself back to reality and he pats Lion's mane. "Oh! Lion, take us home." Lion creates the portal with a resounding roar before leaping right into it, the other side being the temple.
Once Steven and Garnet dismount from the beast and enter the temple, another Gems steps out of the kitchen to meet them. "Oh hey, Steven and Garnet. You're back." Pearl stands in the living room with a half smile once filled with an extent of anxiety poisoning her concious.
"What happened to you two?" Garnet holds a hand up. "That doesn't matter. Steven-!" Pearl gasps as she looks down at the item in Steven's possession tucked in between his arm and his side. "Steven, what is that?"
Pearl points at the book as Steven shrugs. "I'm not so sure. I think it has something to do with mom though." Steven hands Pearl the book who scans the pages in a rapid but diligent manner, widening her eyes as each page passes before them. "Steven, where did you get this?"
Steven bites his lip as Pearl's cheeks heat up. She clasps the book shut as she narrows her eyes, her mood darkening from a sudden wave of trauma. "YOU GOT IT FROM THAT LION, DIDN'T YOU?!" Steven gulps as he takes a step back with Garnet gritting her teeth.
Pearl's mindset boils in aggresion as memories of her lost love floats through her concious before she peaks her last nerve. "FIRST YOU FIND HER ARMORY, THEN YOU TAKE HER SWORD OUT, AND NOW YOU BRING ME BACK HER...DIARY?!"
Pearl heaves as she slumps down on the wooden floorboards. She presses a hand against her forehead as tears stream down her cheeks. She sniffles as Steven starts to take a step towards her only to be stopped by the latter. Garnet swipes a hand in front of him to stop him in his tracks.
She shakes her head as she looks down at him, a downward curl enforced on her lips. Steven sighs as he turns around to open the door before stepping out onto the porch. Garnet steps forward towards Pearl who looks up at her with tearstained eyes.
She embraces her with a tight grip as Steven turns his gaze away from the drama out into the starry night. His voice lowers in volume as his eyes droop. "Mom, when will this ever end? Why can't you just tell me who I'm supposed to be? If only I knew." A pink shooting star flies right by as Steven hangs his head down.