-Steven's POV-
I turned on the water and let it fill tub as I grabbed the potions from blue, yellow, and white diamond. I added them to the water one by one, making the water change from blue to yellow to white and finally to pink when I stuck the finger I licked in before they swirled together.
With the water all ready, I reached for the bubbled gem I had set aside. "Happy welcome-back day!" I said to the gem. Then, I carefully set it into the tub and popped the bubble, the gem fell into the water and began to do the usual healing process. Now standing before me was a quartz who was previously corrupted.
Immediately, she backed up against the wall of the tub in fear. "Hello," I greeted.
"Where am I? Who are you?" The gem demanded, glancing around the bathroom cautiously while sending me glances of suspicion.
"That used to be a loaded question, but now I can say with confidence that I'm Steven Universe!—and you're in my bathroom."
The quartz stepped out of the tub and stared at her new form in the mirror. "What happened to me?" She asked, playing with one of the new horns on her head. She then grabbed the plunger and held it up like it was a weapon.
"You were corrupted by the Diamond blast," I said gently. It was always hard for the newly healed gems to hear about the truth of what has happened so I tried to keep the atmosphere light. "But now you're healed, and—" I pushed the plunger down so that it wasn't in my face anymore, "that is a plunger."
Together, we left the bathroom and I made my way to the table. (A/n: Steven you let the water running! Sun Stone would be so disappointed!)"Let me fill you in on everything you've missed." A concerned look formed on the quartz's face. I picked up the little books I had set there in preparation. "We have some reading material available in both English and Gem Glyph." I handed them to the gem and walked towards the door. Through the door, I could see someone standing outside wearing ripped jeans shorts, a (f/c) t-shirt and a (f/c) zip-up hoodie. She had the hood pulled up to hide her face so only her mouth was visible. I opened the door, "Hello, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Are you Steven Universe?" The mysterious person asked.
I smiled, "Yes, I am." It was only then that I noticed the (g/c) gem on her upper left thigh peeking out from the tears in her shorts. "You must be here for little homeschool, right?" I asked. The gem remained silent so I took that as a yes. There are gems here who have mixed feelings about little homeschool and need to see how great life on Earth can be to make a decision.
I grabbed her hand and led the gems to my car. Letting go of the gems hand, I got into the driver's seat. "Watch your head!" I called out as both gems followed my lead and got into the car. Then we drove off while giving them a little run down of what's been happening recently. I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw that the gem in the hoodie was observing the town closely as we drove through it.
When we arrived at Little Homeschool, it took a while to get the hooded gem to come out of the car. "It's alright," I reassured her, "no one is going to hurt you." That seemed to lower some of her defenses, but I could tell she was still cautious of her surroundings because her form was tense and her hands were balled into tight fists.
I gave both gems a tour of little homeschool, showing them Bismuth's workspace, peridot's greenhouse, and Vidalia's Morp class. Then, I started showing them the crystal gems' classes. I did a handstand in one of Garnet's classes, and the quartz observed the variety of gems "finding their center". I could tell she was going to be a new addition to Little Homeschool, and I smiled at the thought. The other gem, though, seemed to shrink and feel uncomfortable.
Next, we went to the class Pearl teaches where she was doing a demonstration with HoloPearl on how to use a phone. "Pearl will teach you all about human technology," I explained.
"Who's Pearl is that?" The quartz asked.
I shook my head, "That's not how things work here. Nobody belongs to anybody. On Earth, you can decide for yourself what you want to do." I glanced at the (g/c) gem to see if she was following along, but she looked even more uncomfortable now than she did before.
So we went to Amethyst's class. "Hello, I'm professor Amethyst," Amethyst greeted. She gestured for the quartz and (g/c) gem to take a seat. "I'll be teaching 'How to Decide Stuff for Yourself 101.' Today lesson is—there is no lesson. Just do whatever you want for an hour." A wave of confusion passed over the gems Amethyst was supposedly teaching. "Hey, Steven," Amethyst called, "you want to grab some lunch?"
"Sure," I said with a smile. Then we left the group of gems to decide what they wanted to do for the next hour.
"Hey, Steven, Amethyst started.
"Yeah?"
"Why is that one gem you brought with you following us?"
I turned back to see the gem in the hoodie following not too far behind. "You know, you don't have to follow us. You can do what ever you want," I told her.
"I want to stay with you," the gem replied. Her voice startled me because she hadn't said anything since she arrived. Unbidden, a slight blush rose to my cheeks. She should talk more; her voice is beautiful. If I hadn't known that the gem was tagging along because she still didn't know what she wanted, I would have misunderstood what she said as her wanting to be friends.
"She's got you there, dude," Amethyst said.
We went to order our bits and drinks and sat down on a bench nearby. I placed the bag of bits between Amethyst and I so we could share and sipped on my drink.
The (g/c) gem stood next to me (I offered to scoot over so we can make room for her but she refused), eyeing the bits and drink. When I held a bit up, her head followed the motion. I moved it to the right, her head followed it as well. It was cute. Holding the bit out to her, I asked, "Would you like one?"
Her mouth formed a closed-lip grin which I couldn't help but return with a smile of my own. She popped it into her mouth and let out a groan of satisfaction. (Why did it feel so wrong to write that?)
"I know right! Who knew food could be good?" Amethyst exclaimed, eating a handful of bits.
"If you like food, maybe you should try the drinks, too," I commented. I looked down at my to-go cup and handed it to her.
After a moment of looking between me and the cup, she took a sip. Just like before, she smiled before handing it back to me. "It's good!" The gem exclaimed happily.
She began to stare at the bag of bits longingly, and with a laugh, I told her, "Take as many as you want." Without hesitation, she stuck her hand into the bag and began to snack on the bits slowly as if to savor them.
Amethyst turned to me and said, "This school thing is such a cool idea. I love being a teacher. Everyone wants to come and learn how to be an Earthling."
I looked away. "Uh, not everyone."
"Man, forget her."
"I'm worried. We healed all these gems and built that town and the school because I wanted to fix some of the bad things the Diamonds did. The thought of someone still hurting because of the Diamonds...because of my mom...if there's a chance that I can make it better, I want to try."
"You should stop trying to fix everyone," Amethyst said before going back to slurping her drink.
"Yeah...you're right..." I said in a low voice and looking away. I couldn't help it. There was always something for me to fix, and I was always the one to fix it. I guess I became this handyman for others' lives. It was who I am. Who am I if there's nothing to fix?
I noticed the gem in the hoodie had taken a seat on the ground beside the bench and was now sipping the last of my drink. A smile found its way back to my face as I watched her, there will always be someone who needs me.
(Mini Time skip)
I trudged up the mountain, the (g/c) gem walking effortlessly behind me. Noticing we were almost there, I turned to face her, "Jasper is a little more difficult to get along with. If you don't feel comfortable meeting her, I'll meet you back at Little Homeschool later." The gem nodded and walked away.
I entered the circle of destruction surrounding Jasper's cave and heard Jasper groan from atop her cave, "Ugh! What do you want now?!"
"I just...want to talk," I said awkwardly.
Jasper ignored me and went to go throw boulders into a pile. "Maybe you would like to come and join us at Little Homeschool?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders.
"No," Jasper answered bluntly. I tried telling her that it would be good for everyone, but she didn't care. Jasper then started to say how I was only using everyone and how I want everyone to obey me.
I felt my anger rise and couldn't hold back shouting, "I only came here because I felt bad for you. No one is making you stay here in the middle of nowhere ready to fight a war that's been over for years! Are you just going to sit here for centuries waiting for someone to give you a purpose?! Because I'm trying to give you one!"
Jasper's face contorted in anger. "If you think you're hard enough to tell me what to do, then fight me and prove it."
In a moment of rushing emotions I responded, "Fine!" Jasper looked at me with surprise, and I got into a fighting stance. After throwing the first punch, I started to regret it, but if it was the only way she would listen, then I had no choice but to humor her.
I summoned a pink bubble around myself seconds before Jasper hit me. The strength of the blow sent me in my bubble rolling down the mountain through the forest. I was able to avoid a couple of her punches, but her kick sent me into a tree, popping my bubble. I used my shield to protect myself from another wave of blows, but I couldn't keep up and was on my back with my shield kicked away.
Jasper stepped on my chest, and I did all I could to keep her foot from crushing me. "You're the one that needs help," Jasper told me. "You think you've beaten me, but you've never beaten me on your own! You've always been a fusion. You've always had your friends because you're nothing without them! You think everyone needs help, but it's only you. No one is as pitiful as you. " The chilling glare in Jasper's eyes and the hurtful words she spat made me tear up.
I squeezed my eyes shut in anger as I felt a warmth flood through me. I opened my eyes, filled with new determination and pushed Jaspers foot off me. Jasper landed a few yards back, and I was standing again. I looked down and saw that my hands were now glowing hot pink. "Woah."
After a moment of surprise, I brought my focus back to the fight, this time taking the offensive approach. I dodged Jasper's attacks easier than I had before, and when I landed a punch, it sent her through a line of trees. Jasper grinned at the new challenge I posed for her, and charged at me for an attack. I lifted my hand up and charged as well to receive it, but before we could collide, Jasper was sent flying in another direction and through some more trees. I came to a sudden halt, watching the gem before me. The hood of her zip-up hoodie had fallen back to reveal (h/l) (h/c) hair tied back into a ponytail and deep (e/c) eyes.
Jasper picked herself off the ground and glared at the gem who had interrupted their fight. "You," Jasper said, her voice full of scorn.
The (g/c) gem sneered at Jasper. "Don't. Touch. Him."
Jasper looked over the gem's shoulder to look at me. "It looks like you've got a new pet, Ste—" She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence because the gem in the hoodie clasped both of her hands together over her head and slammed Jasper straight into the ground.
"Jasper!" I shouted, running towards the both of them. At some point, my pink glowing had stopped, but I had more important things to worry about. I lightly touched the (g/c) gem's elbow, "Thank you for trying to protect me, but I could have handled it on my own. I don't want anyone to be shattered—accidentally or on purpose."
The gem scoffed, "If she got shattered because I hit that hard head of hers, then she isn't a Jasper." Jasper started to climb out of the hole that was made from the impact, and I urged the her to leave to avoid any more conflict. The gem gave me a stare, and I couldn't help the blush that dusted my cheeks as her (e/c) eyes stared into mine like they were going to suck me in. Reluctantly, she left me behind and made her way back to Little Homeschool.
Jasper was finally out of the hole and was shaking the dirt out of her hair. "That little—"
"Jasper," I started. "I think I had you all wrong. Maybe you don't have something to learn from me. Maybe I have something to learn from you. Would you be interested in teaching me?" Jasper raised an eyebrow at me as though to say, Is this guy for real? "You brought something out of me I didn't know I had."
She put a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye. "Consider that fight back there to be your first and only lesson." Jasper turned her back and started to make her way to her cave when I stopped her.
"Can I come back again sometime?"
She threw a hard look over her shoulder at me. "Do what you want, but don't even think about bringing that 'gem' here." Before I could ask Jasper what she meant, she walked away.
(Mini Time Skip)
"Can you sign off on my class schedule?" The quartz from this morning asked.
"Let me help you with that," I said, signing my name with a star to dot the "I" in "Universe." I handed back the schedule to the quartz, and she went on her way.
Then, I faced (g/c) gem standing next to me. She had her hood back up and looked a even more tense then she had before. "Where's your schedule?" I asked her.
Suddenly, the gem kneeled before me. "You must be mistaken. I came here to serve you, my Diamond," she said, not looking at me.
A/n: That is chapter one! This is the longest chapter I have ever written for a fanfic (probably bc it'll have less chapters than the other one)!
Ik Ik I'm procrastinating my other story which updates every two months! I'm already overdue but what the heck!
So why the sudden urge to write a SU fanfiction? Life is hard. The series ended *flash back to crying session*, it's quarantine, and I need the positive and therapeutic energy of steven universe.
Thank you for reading!