"We'll never get that dropship to fly and we're losing time! Who knows what they're doing to Steven," Pearl said in a panic as the three Crystal Gems warped back to Steven's home.
Garnet and Amethyst watched Pearl pace frantically as she spoke; the house was empty and quiet behind her. They knew they were running out of time.
Amethyst glanced behind her and a smile blossomed on her face. "Hang on, P!" Amethyst ran into her room and the door closed behind her.
Pearl immediately rounded on Garnet, who remained as stoic as ever.
"Garnet," Pearl begged, her hands clasped together as tears pooled in her eyes. "Is he still alive?"
Garnet nodded once, but her facial expression didn't change.
The Temple Door glowed and Amethyst emerged. She dragged out various broken space junk, as she once called it, with her whip.
"Garnet, a little help?" she asked, cryptically.
The fusion walked over and picked up the pile. She hadn't said a word to the gems after Steven sacrificed himself and none of them dared to ask about the futures she was seeing. They didn't want to know. All they could do was move forward and hope to get to him on time.
"Okay," Pearl said as she shifted through some of the components in Garnet's arms. "We might be able to retrofit some of this into the dropship. Peridot can help speed up the process. Amethyst, can you go get her?"
"On it," the purple gem said before she rushed to the warp and vanished.
"Garnet, let's go back to the dropship," Pearl said. She was first on the pad and Garnet hesitated before she stepped on too. Pearl's face dropped; she knew what Garnet was thinking. "We have to try," she told the fusion. "For Steven."
Garnet sighed but nodded. Her silence was enough of an answer for Pearl, but they couldn't give up. They had to try; no matter how many bleak futures Garnet saw, they wouldn't give up on Steven.
They would get him home if it was the last thing they did.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
He didn't know how long he was in the cell. Steven's mouth was so dry that it felt like sandpaper, his eyes burned from tears he wanted to cry but couldn't produce, and his stomach was in knots, though over fear or hunger, he didn't know.
The Diamonds didn't know organics needed food and water. He could die in this cell before they decided to kill him.
He didn't know which option he preferred.
And Lars. Lars, who was stuck in that horrible zoo and probably out of his mind from listening to Holly Blue Agate dictate his schedule all day and night, was a prisoner.
At least he was safe. At least the gems knew about the Zoo and Garnet would know Lars was trapped there. After all, they must have noticed he didn't get off the ship; that Lars came with Steven. Lars wasn't doomed to live in the zoo forever.
Steven rolled over and faced the wall with the door and tried to smile at the thought, but one didn't come.
Then, the door appeared in the wall and Topaz stepped in.
"The Diamonds are ready," she whispered as she knelt down next to Steven. "I'm sorry."
Steven sighed and forced himself into a sitting position. His hands shook terribly, but he wasn't afraid. He accepted what was going to happen to him; accepted that this is why his mother created him.
Topaz gently picked him up and hugged him before she pinned him to her side.
"I saw Topaz again," she told him as she stood. "We're still allowed to go on missions together."
"That's good," Steven whispered. "I'm sorry I almost came between you two."
Topaz said nothing more as she stepped into the hallway. Once empty, it was now lined with hundreds of Amethyst and Jasper guards, with Aquamarines buzzing overhead. Steven would have been amazed by the sight if he had the strength to be.
"Let her walk," one of the Jasper guards said. "The Diamonds want her to be unchained."
Topaz set Steven down and it took all of his willpower to remain standing. His entire body felt frail and weak; he could barely lift one leg to take a step forward. But the looks of hatred in the gems' eyes fueled him. They wanted to see him fall apart. He wouldn't give that to them, just like his mother didn't.
He straightened up as best he could and raised his head so he was looking at the hall and not the gems that lined it. He set his face and took another step. Then another.
"Traitor."
"Shatterer."
"Murderer."
Gems would hiss at him as he walked past them, but he did not acknowledge them, no matter how much their words stung.
"Was it worth it?"
"Look at that form? What is she thinking?"
"She's hideous."
He kept walking and gave them no reason to do more than sneer at him.
"That's Rose Quartz?"
"Pathetic."
"A poor excuse for a gem."
And so on it went, until the line of gems ended at a great yellow door. It slowly slid open and Yellow stood tall on the other side. She glared down at Steven and their audience quickly saluted her.
"You," she said, rather happily. "Ready to die?" She didn't wait for his answer, not that Steven had one to give. "We'll be broadcasting the execution to every corner of the universe," she told him with a smile. "Every gem will see how the rebellion leader, the traitor who shattered Pink, was finally brought to justice."
She bent down and looked at Steven with something new in her face. "That form? Really, Rose? At least have the decency to face your death with dignity. Or do you think that hiding your true form will be enough to convince other gems that you're not you? Show your true form!"
Steven looked down to try and hide his shame. "I can't," he managed to croak out.
Yellow sighed and straightened. "We'll see about that."
Before Steven could respond, a white bubble appeared below his feet and encased him and Yellow. He could see where they were going, but he felt them moving at speeds that made his stomach lurch and cramp further.
He glanced up at Yellow and shuddered when he noticed that she was glaring at him through the corner of her eyes.
"You ruined us," she told Steven when she noticed him looking at her. "You ruined our family."
Steven's gaze fell to his feet. That seemed to be the only thing his mother was good at doing: tearing people apart. And did the same thing to his family on Earth.
"Well? Nothing to say?" Yellow demanded as she turned to face the small boy by her feet. "White will appreciate that."
Steven couldn't find any words nor could he find the strength to say them. His only hope was the small line or narrative running through his head: maybe White Diamond would see he wasn't Rose. Maybe he could convince her that he was organic and had nothing to do with his mother's crimes.
But what then? Would she just remove his gem? Would she even care?
Their transport stopped moving and the pearlescent white bubble opened around them. Steven looked around to the unassuming gray room before his eyes hit a set of white stairs.
On top of the stairs, stood the tallest woman he had ever seen. She towered over everyone, even Yellow and Blue. Her face was obscured by the white glow of her gem: only the pointed shape of her hair, her black glistening eyes, and her dark lips were visible.
She regarded him coldly and crossed her arms; her starry cape billowing dramatically at the slight movement.
Yellow stepped away and went to stand next to Blue, who was slightly to the left of White Diamond and on Steven's level.
"So this is what Rose Quartz has become," White said, her dulcet tones hardening with cold disdain. "Nothing more than a gem who hides among organics."
Steven looked up and met her eyes and swallowed harshly. He had one shot at this.
"Actually," he said, his voice rough enough to make him cringe at the sound of it. But he pressed one. "I am organic. Well, half-organic. When I said I was Rose Quartz, it wasn't the full truth."
"What?" Yellow hissed, her face screwed up in anger. "You dare lie to us?!"
White lifted her hand and Yellow immediately fell silent. She bent down and regarded Steven coldly.
"You do not speak," she told him softly, though her voice was laced with anger. "You're here to die, nothing more. Do you understand?"
Steven opened his mouth, but White shot him a glare that had his entire body seizing in fear.
"Better," she said as she straightened up. "Pearl, are you ready?"
"Yes, my Diamond," came a cold voice, not unlike White's, from the corner of the room. She stood in front of panels with images of various planets on it, and one that showed White Diamond's face.
"You're live, my Diamond," her Pearl said, emotionlessly.
White smiled and her true amusement showed through her cold demeanor. It was an insane smile that sent shivers down Steven's spine and frozen his very core. It was the smile of someone who couldn't be reasoned with.
"Today is the beginning of a new era," White spoke clearly and confidently as she addressed their countless colonies. "Today, we shatter the shatterer. Today, Pink Diamond will be avenged!"
She paused as rows of approval could be heard; resounding and resonating across all of Homeworld, across the entire galaxy.
White looked down at Steven and he knew his own image was being projected now; every gem in the universe, except for his family on Earth, could see him.
"Even today, Rose Quartz hides from us," White said. "Taking the form of this hideous organic to try and trick us. But we see through it, don't we, Rose?"
Before Steven could answer, he found himself trapped in White's long fingers. She lifted him up for the universe to see and, with one finger, lifted his shirt. His gem now exposed, a loud hiss filled the chamber as gems expressed their hatred outside.
"She stood trial and we learned the truth," White continued as she displayed Steven for all to see. "She gave herself to us to protect the Earth; a doomed and miserable excuse for a planet. She admitted to shattering Pink Diamond. And so, she must answer for her crimes."
White looked to her fellow Diamonds and nodded once.
"Now, with her death, we will enter Era 3, together, as a new Diamond Authority. Let her shattering unite us once more. Yellow? Blue? Will you rid her of this form?"
Yellow and Blue smirked and raised their hands. White dropped Steven and he was blasted with their powers as he fell. Yellow's destabilizing rays coursed through his body like electricity and caused his limbs to spasm uncomfortably, while Blue's filled his heart his sorrow and caused the only tear he had the ability to form to fall down his cheeks.
But he didn't poof. And he didn't stop falling.
Unable to control the speed of his descent, he met the ground with a sickening thud. He felt his wrist break as he stupidly put his hands out in front of him before he hit the ground. The impact traveled up his arm and shattered his bone. His face slammed against the floor; his nose flattened and teeth biting into his tongue.
Everything he knew was pain. His face, his arm, his legs; everything burned and splintered, as if his skeleton was trying to break through his skin. His mouth filled with blood that he spat out as he sputtered to catch his breath.
"What is this?" he barely heard White say from above him.
"She didn't poof?" Yellow said, incredulously.
"No matter," White said. She picked Steven up again and ignored his screams of protest. Her eyes traveled down his form, from the red on his chin to the droplets that fell to the floor below her.
Steven forced his eyes open and looked at her. She blinked once and her mouth became a very thin line.
"Enough of these games," she said, though the look in her eyes told Steven she knew that he hadn't lied before about being half-organic. "It's time to come out, Rose."
And by the look of excited insanity told Steven that, organic or not, White didn't care.
He couldn't do anything as her nails grabbed the edges of his gemstone. He was helpless when she started to pull at it.
If he had been in pain before, it was nothing compared to this. His entire being was being split in two: his mind was being torn from his body.
And, as his gem left his body, everything went black.
White felt the boy go limp in her hand the moment she extracted Rose's gemstone, but her own body froze when she looked at the small pink stone in her hands.
It wasn't a quartz.
It wasn't even rose-colored.
It was...
"Pink...," she breathed. "Cut the feed."
The gems across the galaxy were left in stunned silence as the image of a pink diamond faded from their screen.
Yellow and Blue were both frozen in sudden realization as they looked between the organic form in White's hand and the diamond on her other.
White bent down and gingerly placed Steven back on the floor as she examined his body and the gem in her hand.
"So," White breathed, her voice steady but fury underlined it. "Starlight, you were playing another game? You thought you were clever, didn't you? Well, enough is enough. I hope you got it out of your system."
Below her, Steven stirred.
He opened his eyes and raised his head, barely able to see through his blurred vision. Then, he saw it too.
Pink Diamond.
He looked down to his stomach, bare and gem-less, and understood. Realization flooded over him and his heart stopped.
It all made sense now. His mom didn't shatter Pink Diamond. His mom was Pink Diamond. She faked her death. How he didn't know, but it didn't matter. The evidence was right in front of him.
And now, it was all about to become clear. The diamond began to glow brightly as the being inside it tried to reform. White let go and the gemstone floated there before Pink's form took shape. She was tall, with a poof of hair not unlike Steven's.
Then the white glow shifted into Rose Quartz: shorter, stouter, with long curls.
And then, it was Steven. And it stayed Steven, but covered in a pink hue.
Pink Steven floated slowly to the ground and regarded White Diamond with an emotionless face. White didn't speak as she met his eyes. Her mouth opened and closed as if she was trying to form words, but she couldn't quite get there.
His gem half slowly turned away from White and looked to his organic half, broken, and weak on the floor, with an expression of pure shock, mixed with odd understanding. He walked slowly over to his other half and knelt beside him. The moment his hands met Steven's arm, a warmth spread throughout them both. Despite the pain and feeling of loss that came with being separated, both beings smiled broadly.
Steven understood now. His mom was Pink Diamond. But he wasn't Pink. He wasn't Rose. No one was ever Rose. He was just Steven.
"This...," White started, but she was cut off by a blinding white light as Steven's two halves united once again.
He stood before her, a smile on his face as the pain left him entirely. He still shook from dehydration, but this was nothing compared to what he just felt.
"I'm not Rose Quartz," Steven breathed as he looked at his hands. "I'm just me."
"What is the meaning of this?!" Blue yelled out, still unable to move through the shock.
"How could you do this to us, Pink?" Yellow questioned, her face contorted in confused agony.
"Still playing your game, Pink?" White asked, her cool anger drowned out the other diamonds' despair.
Steven looked up at her, just in time to see her eyes glow brightly.
"Enough of this," she said.
A white light shot from her eyes and hit Steven squarely in the chest.
The moment the light touched his gem, he felt a chill rush over him, but it wasn't a normal cold. It was like a part of him just vanished entirely. It was just like when White removed his gem, but this time, the diamond was still firmly embedded in his naval. But it was...gray.
"What's happening?" Steven croaked out before the chill overtook him completely. He heard White laugh in the distance. The cool sound reverberated around his head until he heard her speak. No, he didn't hear it. It was more of a feeling. An urge to listen to words that weren't there.
He felt his body respond as he stood straight and lifted his head to stare at the diamond monarchs in front of him. White was smiling kindly down at him, though it didn't reach her eyes. Blue and Yellow looked uncertain, but they didn't speak.
Steven tried to open his mouth, but it was glued shut. He tried to lift his arms to cover his gem, but they were stuck to his side. His heart thudded in his chest painfully and he wanted to yell out, to tell White to stop it, but he couldn't. All he could do was feel his chest constrict and listen to his panicked flurry of thoughts.
White spread her arms out grandly and her smile grew as she stared down at him.
"Welcome home, Pink."
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Author's Note: And there you have it! The truth is out there, to the entire galaxy, no less. Everyone (except those on Earth) knows that Pink Diamond lives (sort of). I was never happy with how White reacted to Steven and Pink Steven. It was too sudden, too tame. So, what do you think is going to happen next? And no, I'm not going to forget about Lars *wink wink*