Chapter Text
Steven Universe was dead.
What remained of him was a body broken and warped beyond repair—they tried, oh stars they tried—and thousands of pieces of Diamond embedded on what used to be his stomach.
The difference between the Diamond and the human body was a crucial one though—they had learnt to mend the shards of the shattered.
And so when the last piece clicked into place, blinding white light filled the room until it settled to a fainter pink glow.
The first thought that crossed his mind was regret.
---
He was hiding.
The half Diamond couldn't stand being around them. Couldn't stand being like this, being without him. And it was his fault, his idea, his execution. And now his guilt.
He hugged himself smaller, staring off to the pink, cloudy expanse of his mother's room. It responded to his fragile, storming mind, whipping and stirring up the clouds as they turned to darker, flaring colors—almost matching the intensity of his own pink glow.
How could he face them after all that? The gems, his dad, his family and friends... He didn't belong here, only half of him. Half of Steven...
But he couldn't make himself disappear like that again.
No.
And so the half Diamond alternated between keeping to himself in the pink room and eventually leaving to see the others.
It was only fair.
They still cared somehow, worried about him and his health. Amethyst tried to nudge him to just do stuff, and also include him in conversations even if he didn't respond most of the time. Pearl would remind him to care for himself, applying the Diamonds' essences he still very much needed to sustain himself (because apparently being only half of a Diamond without... without his other half rendered him dependent on it or else he would just wind up... destabilizing). Pearl also helped with any parts he had too much difficulty doing himself. And Garnet simply was there, making sure he wasn't alone, a respectful silence for his comfort. His dad would hug him and tell how much he loved him, and Connie would take Lion to do frequent visits even though her college campus life had begun.
Yet everyone was grieving too, because everyone lost something that day Steven decided he'd rather be gone.
And he could see it, when they weren't looking at him. And when they did, the way they did... he would only remind them that only he was here, that he did what he did, that he wasn't him.
It was too much, he couldn't take it.
So in the end he'd always retreat back here.
Recently his thoughts had been occupied with what ifs and desires to go back, undo this whole mess.
And will was a powerful thing. A Diamond's will manifests in many shapes and forms, as a force, as tears, as a shield, as light. Power.
Such a form appeared one day. The small Diamond held his head in his hands, only peering up to see the space in front of him bended and warped, until there stood a hole of swirling light. Not knowing what it was, he’d thought that they got Lion to warp himself in again (they did that a few times after he’d locked himself too long in the room—of course they’d worried). But nothing came out of the light hole. He just stared at it all apprehensively and harshly too, like he was offended at the swirling white mass for daring to intrude his private space.
Though minutes ticked by without a response, which got him curious now. Why would a random white hole appear right in front of him. Did the room malfunction or something?
“Room,” he tested, “make the hole disappear.” Clouds condensed around the white hole, but they just seemed to cover that space rather than actually removing the weird object.
“Don’t cover the hole.” And the clouds parted to reveal the strange white mass again.
If it isn’t the room or Lion’s portal, could this be one of his own powers, he thought to himself. With that in mind, he risked a step closer. It didn’t seem far-fetched to have portal-like powers if Lion got it from his mother’s essence, which would mean his essence too.
His powers are related to his will—which are quite easily affected by his emotions—so he was curious where this would lead him. Though what that place would end up being and how he would go back if the portal were to disappear, were unsettling factors he didn’t have answers to. So he sat and continued staring at it as if that would make up his mind.
Soon he returned to his usual routine of watching the room’s clouds that’d sometimes conjure up figures, little memories playing out before him. Reminding him, distracting him. All at his request.
It seemed like hours, watching the cloudy simulation of Steven getting excited moving in with the gems and taking all his stuff, like all the little plush bears he had, or the first time he got on the road all on his own. Was it healthy watching these memories, clinging on to the past, letting himself swirl in these thoughts and getting lost in it? Probably not, his gem brain told him. But somehow it felt comforting too, like he had control over this, he could stop whenever, and none of it was real, none of it had consequences.
It was a weird state of feeling bad, but also finding comfort in that one controlled this.
He didn’t like it, but everything else felt so much harder.
And he continued to do this for stars know how long.
Watching, sitting, waiting for nothing to happen. His mind still ever so restless. Growing and swelling until it became too much.
And so his thoughts landed on the portal again. A welcome distraction.
He took a curious step towards it. There wasn’t any pull forcing him into it, which made him experiment with sticking an arm in, observing with intent as he could pull it back with no consequence. The portal seemed stable, plus it had been here during all his moping. He was weighing whether it really was worth it to fully run through it.
The half Diamond felt conflicted about it. He was scared what would happen if he were to step through it, but as his hopeless situation only remained, his apathy towards that fear only grew. After all, the only thing he had been doing was his same boring routine of sitting here and feeling bad, and occasionally seeing his family and feeling bad... He was stagnating... Like a Diamond—unchanging.
He looked towards the portal and made his decision. With a step he chose the unknown.
...Aaaand on the other end were more pink clouds.
Really? Did the portal really just take him to another place in his mom’s room? He did spend a lot of time here, so he supposed it made sense for his powers to warp him here again if that was his will. So much for a distraction though. So much for hoping for something… something else...
With a feeling of disappointment, he supposed he would have to leave this place the traditional way eventually. After all, he really shouldn't be running away from his reality forever.
And with that, he steeled himself to ask for the exit and proceeded with heavy steps into the dreaded room, only to stop on the living room's warp pad. What greeted him was absolutely not what he was expecting. If he didn't know better, he'd thought he was hallucinating because what he saw wasn’t the current house but the old one. But the craziest part was not the interior, but the people right in front of him. Because those weren't his Crystal Gems, but an older pair of the likes he hadn't seen in years! And well, to make matters worse, this old Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl were not so happy to see him. Not even getting a proper chance to process just what was going on, the gems drew their weapons at him.
“What the fuck!?” Amethyst so aptly took the words out of his mouth.
“Who are you?! What were you doing in Rose’s room!!!” Pearl’s voice was already reaching high tones of alert, and Amethyst looked like she was moments away from lashing out with her whip.
"Like, what the heck, man?! Who are you and why do you look like a cheap knock off of Steven!?"
He didn't know how to respond to that.
“Got nothing to say for yourself?!”
The half Diamond felt himself tense up. His body felt alert, gem strumming with panicked energy at the thought of a battle. But he didn't want to fight, he didn't want to hurt anyone. However with weapons clutched at their hands and eyes that held a piercing glare at the half-gem, his family seemed to only have their minds how to defeat their mysterious invader.
This wasn't his family. They were soldiers—and he was their enemy.
Being firstly fight and ask questions later, against a boy who struggled with the simplest forms of expressing himself, the half Diamond knew only what his mind screamed at him.
Run.
On the warp pad, he did what made sense and spread his arms out with his only hopes to flee.
Right then the whip lashed out, accompanied by Pearl’s spear and Garnet’s gauntlets, but the light from the activated warp had him saved. Quickly, he looked down, making sure they didn’t manage to follow him into the stream and made a clear landing in a forest—the forest nearby Beach City.
Now what in the world did the half Diamond get himself into?
--- ★ ---
Now was just a regular day for good ol' Steven! He’d already greeted his dad by the carwash, grabbed some donuts and checked out if Lars or Sadie were doing anything cool today. No plans, just the same old complaints of their long shifts on their job and then home for them. (He did ask Lars if he wanted to hang out, buuuut that was an immediate no from him). So now he was just going around trying to find stuff to fill the day a usual.
Just taking a nice stroll around the forest sounded nice to him. At least it beat waiting by the temple all day, 'cause the gems were all busy with their super important gem stuff (in which, he absolutely did beg to be included in said gem stuff, but no luck). The kid didn't have anyone to play with either and he wasn't really up to solo gaming today. And he was unsuccessful in luring Amethyst with gaming or snacks too (she did try to eat his controller after all, and its already seen enough chew marks that he didn't want to tempt fate any further).
One day the hybrid is gonna get gem powers so he could hang out with the gems all day!
It was a bit darker in the forest. There was still quite a ways for summer to come so the sun didn’t stay up so high, but it was still bright enough. He wasn’t worried about it but still stuck to a familiar path, and then just took in the scenery. A pleasant sea of various greens passed by him... but in his path he also spotted a bright pink hue cast off from the side, like someone was throwing a sick forest rave party or something. It was coming from the bushes to the right.
Steven was curious about it (like who would be throwing a forest rave party?) so he went straight to the source. He pushed aside the bushes and oh...
My gosh... this wasn't a party. This was an entire person!!!
They were glowing hot-pink like someone had spilled the contents of glowstick juice onto this poor person. Hands tucked together and a head bowed down, the unnaturally pink person sat curled over.
“Whoaaaaa...” Steven couldn't help but be mesmerised by his sight! It wasn't every day he got to meet people like this. Wait... were they possibly some sort of magical person?!
Oh! The pink figure immediately looked up at him.
“Hey there, I’m Steven! Who are you?” The young boy immediately went in to introduce himself.
Silence filled the forest as the pink person just continued to stare at him with a blank face and eyes blown wide. And well, Steven couldn't help but stare back. The hybrid couldn't help it—there was just something about them that instantly intrigued the young boy (well, other than the obvious fact of him being all pink and standing face to face with potential magic).
But as moments passed by, the other still hadn't made their move.
Were they just shy? Or maybe... what if they didn’t even understand what he was saying because they were like a foreign magic being? But noooo, Steven didn't speak any españoooool! Sigh, modern problems required modern solution.
"I am," the kid began while trying to sign. "S-t-e-v-e-n,” the hybrid continued while ending it off with pointing at himself, “do you understand me?”
He'd hope that would've broken the ice, but the other just continued to stare at him intensely. And with the rising fear that Steven had to get Duolingo dawning on him, he heard an answer.
“Yes.” It was brief, almost as a whisper. The pink being spoke with a voice like no other, as if it had weird echo to it... juuuust like a magical person! And well, with the passing moments ending in silence, it didn't seem like they had anything more to say before continuing their relentless staring. So they must’ve just been shy then?
Well Steven took this as opportunity to help out. “Are you lost? I haven’t seen you around before. Well, tourist season has yet to come so I usually don’t see many new faces around this time.” And he definitely had never seen a magical tourist before.
He sat next to the pink stranger. They didn’t say or do anything other than looking at him. Somehow that felt alright.
Steven was normally a person who trusted nearly anyone he met, and yet there was something about them, something that drew Steven to the unknown pink other than their otherwise other-natural appearance.
He felt a natural desire to trust them, a natural desire to be around them, as if just being in their presence offered him comfort. Their voice was like an echoing lullaby to his mind—feeling familiar despite its foreignness—and their pink glow was literally sparking joy as if happiness could somehow radiate.
It was almost entrancing. Alluring.
Steven was indeed intrigued by his magical encounter.
“You know, wanna have a tour of Beach City? I could show you around!” If his pink buddy here was indeed lost, then the curious Universe kid definitely wanted to help this fella out. So what better way than to hang out a bit together at the town? And who knows, maybe he'd get to know some more about the other?
Steven offered his hand to the other. Eyes still as wide as ever, the pink being looked at the outstretched hand. Maybe they were shy, maybe they were afraid—they took their time to consider. But eventually, with a hopeful smile from Steven, they reached back.
Somehow even at the slightest contact with the pink stranger sent a wave of comforting warmth through the boy. It all felt so strange, so new, and yet it felt like it belonged. He'd never been this close to something so otherworldly, so it was no wonder that the kid couldn't help the wonder in his heart as he followed his magical friend out through the woods together, hand in hand.
--- ★ ---
Everything felt like it was going simultaneously slow and fast. The drum of his gem was still ringing in his ears. His ever so restless mind felt abuzz as the half Diamond tried to stifle the panic of everything around, as he could barely get his half-a-brain to process that he was in the past.
And Steven was here.
Meanwhile Steven, the younger of them, was happily pulling him along his hometown’s boardwalk—past old memories, old faces that blurred by until they made their stop in Funland.
The kid praised the amusement park as the go-to place whenever you were short on anything to do, listing out all the attractions and sharing his own opinions of them as they walked by.
The words and sights fell to the restless whirr of his gem, struggling against its own overloaded psyche. Everything felt so illusive, unreal and yet so real. It was too much.
"Hey," the voice of the younger made it into his mind. "Are you okay?"
Hands still intertwined, the older of the pair was shaken out of his freeze-up, feeling how the younger of them was concerned for him but nonetheless tried to reassure him.
"If the outside attractions are too much—I mean I get it, it can get really loud and all—maybe we could try out Funland Arcade?" the kid pointed to the building in question. "Plus you can win tickets and get cool prizes in there too."
Feeling how Steven tried to tug him away from his noisy mind, the half-gem followed.
Once inside, the kid made sure to pull him somewhere nearly empty before continuing on with his delightful rambling.
"So this is the arcade, pretty nice huh? It's not that busy during this time of the year, so that means free grabs on any games! And I've been meaning to get in on it, 'cause there's like this ultra deluxe prize you can win here, the limited edition Master of Ceremonies Bear Bear! I’ve been saving up tickets so I could get him to my bear collection," the boy spoke with a spark in his eyes.
It was such an ordinary speech for the kid and yet the words felt almost surreal—for him to hear Steven talking again, for him to feel what the other felt as hands were connected, to experience what wasn't just phantom memories of once was. It... it was soothing in a way. It was something to settle the bubbling panic that filled his gem, knowing for the moment it was just the two of them around.
“I’ve been wanting to play by the arcade more often but I’ve been saving up coins for a day when I can get all the gems to play. So I think we can only do with a few games? What do you say then, wanna give it a go?” The kid politely asked.
Not knowing what else to reply with as words fell dry, he managed a shy nod.
His younger self gave him a smile, “Don’t worry if it’s a little scary at first. I don’t know how familiar magically pink beings are with arcades, but I’ll be there to give you an intro!”
And with that, the kid set off to show him around the neon-lit arcade. And well, the half Diamond... he didn't mind.
They settled around a simpler game first as Steven explained the mechanics behind it. Skee Ball, throw the balls in the little holes to score high. Simple enough. With experience and mechanical movements, it was easy to get a consistent score.
And scored he did.
However, looking at the boy who'd spectated his game, the kid's mouth stood agape.
"What was THAT?! You're a Skee Ball meister!"
The half-gem cocked his head to the side, a simple gesture he'd learnt to express his confusion when words failed.
"Do you have a magical aim-bot spell or what? I've never seen such a high score before!"
Impressed by his shots, the pair continued on as Steven eagerly pulled him to try out more games. Whether it was racing games, fighting games, puzzle games, it was all but an easy endeavour—easier than anything he’d been doing for the past couple of months in the heavy fog of his home. Here, Steven watched with a fascination and mirth in his eyes as he let the other play out his games. It was so simple to follow along to the whims of the kid, feeling a natural drive to trail along the other's will when he'd been lacking his own for so long.
And of course the other joined in too, playing together in what still felt so surreal and yet was real to him.
“Guess who got a blue shell~” the younger of them teased as the arcade version of the infamous Italian-fronting, Japanese racing game.
Even the fearsome claw machine wasn't safe for the pair's pursuits, as the younger of them first tried his luck scoring a G.U.Y., but as expected, had the claw lose its grip midway through. The kid looked disappointed, but with a swirl of the older's finger, the item glowed pink as he gave it a nudge to make it through the drop-off.
“Gasp, was that magic?!”
Steven stared at him with wonder in his eyes, as he held the capsule they’d won. The half Diamond gave him a simple nod, to which the kid grinned and dramatically pointed to the machine they’d out cheated on.
“Take that capitalism! We have wizards on our side of the war!” 'Cause it was all fair game against the rigged.
With good humour, the kid couldn’t wait showing off more of his favourite places to play. And even when the older struggled with some, like the rhythm game, Steven still cheered on and laughed with him, the younger of them cherishing the time they spent together.
And cherishing it he did too. For he was actually with Steven now, in live flesh and blood. No longer just a ghost with his dead corpse—he held the live boy in the present, who did nothing but smile in innocent fun.
Seeing him smile... That's when he realised he'd made Steven happy. He made Steven happy.
If he knew how to laugh he would. Fully alive and with eyes that held no sorrow, it's been so long since he'd seen himself like this... to see himself enjoying life with a smile.
Amidst their little play session, the kid found himself stopping up as a sudden thought entered his mind.
“I just realised, haha, that I said this was just gonna be a few games and look at us now,” the kid pointed to the stash of tickets they’d won from the numerous games they played. “We had lots of fun, so no wonder we got carried away!”
Looking up to him, the two of them caught each other’s eyes, a certain softness appearing in the younger's eyes as he regarded the older—until Steven pulled his eyes down, shying up a bit as a blush caught his cheeks when he continued talking.
“And thank you so much for hanging out with me. Well, I know I’m the one showing you around, but…” the boy chuckled as he laid a hand against the back of his head. “I’ve also been really wanting to hang out with someone today. And hey I got to meet you, a magic pink wizard nonetheless! With an excellent fashion taste~” giving the taller of them a wink as the kid pointed to their matching star shirts and flip-flops.
“I wish the gems could’ve been here too, they’re magical beings like you too! And I’m sure they would’ve loved to see you. Though they’re really busy these days…” Steven let his gaze drift as his mind trailed off. “I guess I just have a lot of saving coins to do for next time…”
Still keeping up his spirits, the younger of them still preserved his smile. However he knew himself very well, for the aching feeling of who he once was spoke volumes. Even with his own half-a-brain who failed to make sense of the world as others did, the half Diamond understood the younger’s troubles—for back then he’d do anything to get his family’s attention, a sort of isolation he’d carried even to his young adulthood when he still was whole.
Plenty of time spent alone in a room of pink gave him a lot of time to think. Time for the still half living to reflect about himself, he supposed. It was the least he could do with his meaningless moments of existing—and perhaps it'd been his hope in improving his own understanding of himself and the world around him that still felt so overwhelming with just half of him left.
Seeing the kid’s dejectedness, the half-gem crouched down to his level. With the glow of his gem, he pulled out something he’d been keeping in there as he held out the item in front of the kid.
The other gave him a puzzled look. “Coins?”
“They’re for you.”
“What no?! You don’t need to pay me!” Shaking his head and hands, the kid courteously declined his offer. Even if you were literally handing free money to a kid, Steven Universe still had polite standards.
But the half-gem insisted.
“Please, this tour was all on me! You don’t need to give anything back!”
Though the half Diamond kept his outstretched hand, and eventually the kid relented.
“Okay fine! I just hope you have a magical pot of gold at the other side of the rainbow because you really didn’t need to give me this much.”
Despite his complaints, the kid did seem grateful as he grabbed the offered coins. “I guess arcade day with the gems is still a go,” he said so with a smile.
After their little exchange, the younger motioned to the bundle of tickets they’d earned. “What do you say we turn these in for some prizes? You get first pick on anything you want!”
There was a huge range of prizes to choose from with how much they’d won, the booth brimming with options at display. However the half Diamond had no desire himself—but Steven had, and so it only made sense to follow the desires of his younger self.
With a prize picked out, he turned to the younger with the item in hand.
“Oh my gosh! You picked out the Master of Ceremonies Bear Bear!” the younger hybrid congratulated him.
“It’s for you.”
“Wait WHAAAAT?!!” Barely believing what he was hearing, the older handed him the stuffed plush toy. Careful small hands wrapped around the soft teddy bear, thumbing the fluffy fabric in unbelieving amazement, as Steven looked up with eyes almost tearing up. “Youuuu… You’re the best-est magic buddy ever!!!”
Throwing himself at the half-gem with a big embrace, Steven couldn’t help but shower him with thanks.
“Wanna have the honor of giving Bear Bear a nickname,” the boy asked mid-hug.
Warmth… It embraced the half present gem. Everything felt as if it stopped at the intimate contact—reality finally dawning over the once alive boy as he felt himself, felt his living, breathing self hug him. From here he could feel how the other’s heart pumped, something he never thought he’d ever got to experience again.
To see Steven alive again. To feel himself live.
Breaking off from the embrace, the other looked at him expectantly. "Soooo, what do you think? Any name you fancy?”
“... Hugs.”
That got a laugh out of Steven. “Hehehe, Hugs? Is that his name?”
“Is that alright?”
“Hehe, of course! I think it’s pretty cute!”
Steven bowed in front of the plushie. “It is an honor to welcome you into our family, Mr. Hugs,” he mock-fancily spoke. It didn't take long for the kid to act out a whole play as he waved the hands on the plushie in a salute and spoke for the stuffed bear. It was clear to see the kid was enjoying himself.
And the half Diamond... he was just grateful to see Steven again, to see him alive and happy.
--- ★ ---
They exited the arcade with the recently dubbed “Hugs” and also ended their visit at Funland. It'd had been such a awesome time and there was still soooo much of Beach City to see! He hoped that his buddy would be staying over at the town for some more days so they would be able to get the full townie experience.
And then it finally dawned on him.
"WAIT! I never got your name!" classic Steven, he could spend the whole day befriending someone without even knowing who they were.
Now he knew his buddy was the shy kind and they hadn’t exactly introduced themself either, but it didn’t hurt to ask for a name. He made sure to give his buddy the time they needed to answer.
“... Steven.”
“Yeah?” Steven stopped for a moment, but his pink fellow didn’t seem to continue. “Or wait,” The hybrid realized, “is that your name? Are you a Steven too?”
“Yes.”
Heh Steven couldn’t believe the odds of that! They even got matching star shirts, hairstyles and flip flops too. Either this fella had the best fashion taste or, who knows, maybe little Stevie here might have been destined to meet his magic buddy?
“Well, I think a Steven needs to be treated to the finest of the fine pastries that are donuts.”
Sure enough, the kid already got donuts in the morning but now they were two Stevens reporting for double duty! And they were in for a good time today, so Steven, it's time to treat yourself! (Plus it was way past noon now so enough time passed for another round anyway). “So wanna come with me to the Big Donut?”
---
The doors to the store opened and in came the trio of Steven, Steven and Hugs (because of course Mr. Hugs was an important member too). Sadie was at the counter and greeted the hybrid as usual.
“Hey Steven, who is your friend there?”
“This is my new buddy, his name is also Steven! We just met!” And yes, the boy had managed to get ahold of the other’s pronouns after asking him on their way to the store.
Lars was standing off to the side and butted in with a remark. “How can you be buddies with someone you just met? Don't you know about stranger danger?” Lars snickered at that last comment.
“Hey this Steven is no danger! He is a friendly magic buddy!” A friendly magic buddy with a good fashion sense too at that.
“Magic? Is he like one of your magic sisters or something?”
“Well he isn’t my sister… hmmm but potentially,” the hybrid looked over to his pink fellow, taking in the oh-so familiar fashion sense into consideration, along with the curly pink curls of his hair that made Steven really think. “Could you be a long lost brother?!” he mused with an awed glimt in his eyes. Because yeah, how cool would that be?
“No,” the pink Steven deadpanned.
“Well, didn’t hurt to ask?” Sadie suppressed a chuckle, while Lars was laughing off to the sides. After composing herself, she asked them if they wanted anything.
“Two donuts, please! One strawberry” Steven ordered. “What do you want to get, Steven?” he addressed his buddy.
The pink being was silent for a moment before saying, “The same as you.”
After getting the treats, Steven was already working his way through his, while his buddy just stared at the pastry.
“Are you saving yours for later?”
His buddy turned to face him. “No… I just… it's been a long time since I've eaten before...”
Wait...
“YOU HAVEN’T BEEN EATING?! What kind of horrible life have you been living! Food is just sooooo delicious! And donuts, man, don't even get me started. They are just so soft and tasty and come in so many flavours and—you’ve got to try one!” Steven couldn’t believe this scandalizing information, his buddy being deprived of one of life’s treasures that is tasty food.
With the hybrid’s urgence, the other Steven took a slow bite off his donut.
“So,” Steven steepled his hands, motioning them towards his pink buddy “what do you think?”
“It’s a donut,” the other simply answered back with his otherworldly echo.
“Well yeah, but what was the flavour like?”
“Strawberry.”
This prompted Lars to laugh a little again. “Okay I like this dude.”
“Aaand,” Steven leaned in closer, partly for emphasis, partly in anticipation, “did you like it?”
His magic buddy was very still for a moment, and Steven could almost swear his pink glow spiked too, but then his buddy looked away. “... I did.”
Steven smiled, “I knew it! Nobody can resist the tastiness of a good ol’ donut!”
---
The sun was getting lower in the sky, making the boardwalk engulfed in warm colors.
“Well it looks like it’s getting late,” the hybrid conceded, “so I guess this is it for our little tour.”
He waved his hand at his pink buddy. “Bye Steven, it was nice meeting you and I hope we can hang out some more sometime! Also,” Steven moved the plushie’s hand to wave too, “Mr. Hugs says goodbye too!”
And with that Steven headed home. The gems probably were there too from their mission, unless this was one of the long ones. He hoped his new friend would hang around Beach City sometime again. And maybe that time he could even introduce him to the gems! Just magic beings meeting magic beings.
Well that had to be for another time.
The hybrid rounded the corner to the cliffside with the giant statue, and he was about to scale the stairs to home until he caught a glimpse of a pink figure behind him. His magic buddy? What was he doing here?
“Uhhh, hey there? Are you lost again, buddy?”
The other said nothing again, so the hybrid continued asking. “Um, did you want to see my house?”
His friend was quiet but stepped closer. Steven was confused for a moment, but then his friend gently took his hand.
“Awwww, you were just missing me!”
“Well I guess we still have the evening together. We can hang around in my house!” Steven gripped the hand that was holding him, and led them both up the stairs and inside.
Steven released his hand and turned to his friend. “So what do you wanna do? Play games, watch a movie? I have all 5 seasons of Lonely Blade,” he went around rummaging the closet to present the items in question, but then he heard a chime—the familiar chime of the warp pad.
Chatter from the fine, pale gem filled the room as warp light receded. “We've already done cursory searches at major gem sites the unknown pink gem could've gone to, but if we have to find her, we need to plan a much bigger search operation.”
Great! The gems were home now!
“Hey guys!”
“Hello StevOAHHHH—” Pearl squealed.
"It's her!" Garnet announced from her spot.
Pearl managed to get out of her frantic noise making. "STEVEN GET AWAY FROM HER! SHE'S DANGEROUS!"
--- ★ ---
Well this confrontation was going to happen sooner or later.
Drawn weapons and faces that told of disdain, it was clear that this family of soldiers weren’t happy for his reappearance. Tension rose as he did nothing but hide by his younger self’s side, who'd offered him his repose. Even after all this time, the half Diamond fell into silence as he was at a complete loss on what to do.
Of course they sought an explanation—logically it was the only thing that made sense, to explain exactly who he was and what he was doing here.
But he wasn’t ready to admit he died.
How could he? Not when his home was plagued with nothing but sorrow and a cacophony of emotions they barely knew how to navigate. Not when he’d seen first hand what grief had done to his family… what it had done to himself. His family back then were already a mess with his mom that took years of his life to make amends with. How could he tell them he killed himself?
The half-alive gem looked down to the boy whose eyes stared back at him with nervous confusion.
How could he let Steven know? It would break him.
The half-gem kept his mouth shut. And with him failing to give an answer, his younger self stepped up amidst the tension-ridden room. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what’s going on? Guys, this is just my new magic buddy, his name is also Steven!”
The younger’s voice was filled with panic as it trembled under the sight of spear, whip and gauntlets pointed right at them. However the boy inched forward, as he still trusted his family, allowing himself to protect who he deemed to be an innocent friend.
“I know I invited him over without telling you guys, but please!”
“They think I am an enemy,” the half-gem tried to clarify for the kid.
He was met with a scoff from Amethyst. “Uh, yeah?! First you invade our home, then you have that flimsy cheap disguise of a form, and then you book it out without even saying a thing!”
Her suspicions made sense, but he failed to see how he could’ve acted differently. With threats shouted at him and weapons moments away from lashing out, and him being mentally in no shape to answer, the only thing he could do back then was run. And… attacking a panicked Diamond wouldn’t bode well for anyone. He just didn't wanna hurt anyone any more… he’d already been hurting people enough.
“And what the hell’s your business?!” The purple gem continued her verbal berating.
Pearl motioned with her hands as she spoke in a strict tone. “Steven, please get over here!”
“No!” The boy cried out. “Why are you guys being so weird! My friend here is just lost!”
“Lost?!” The fierce renegade questioned. “There is no way for any gem to enter our temple on their own! There’s no way to get lost in there.”
Amethyst joined in on her questioning. “Yeah! Guy could’ve only snuck his way in! No way am I trusting that pink nuclear reactor,” the purple Quartz spat as she dissed his glowing appearance.
Statements made, he saw how the leader of them, Garnet, was standing back, analysing everyone’s movements—calculating. There was no doubt the gems were waiting for an opening, for him to slip up before they’d strike.
“Steeeeven!!” The rising urgency in Pearl’s tone spoke volumes, as she desperately tried to call the boy over to them.
Caught between a tug of war of family and someone the boy deemed innocent, the young hybrid carried a heavy weight as the only peacemaker. With fear creeping in on the young boy as he pressed his body against his older self, the half-gem watched in horror as he realised the position he was taking.
Steven was acting as his shield.
No, no this was wrong.
“Please don’t hurt him,” the youngest desperately cried.
This was very wrong.
Everyone was jumping to assumptions, his family didn’t know him, Steven was hurting.
He finally opened his mouth. “I came through a portal.”
“A portal?!”
The gems were all looking baffled at him, alarm bells ticking off at his statement. Even Garnet demanded answers from him.
“I didn’t mean to come here.” It was a simple truth. Words were hard for the half Diamond as he still struggled to dance the line of not saying anything that would further provoke the already tense trio.
However the gems were still looking at him skeptically—After all, Garnet and Pearl had had enough experience on the battlefield to know of lying Homeworld gems that they wouldn’t let him slip by so easily.
“Then state your purpose!” The leader ordered.
“I have no purpose.”
He had absolutely none.
The gems tightened their grip on their weapons. If anyone thought he was deceiving them before, they certainly thought so now.
He had answered honestly and yet things kept escalating. His half-a-brain struggled to keep up, struggled to know what was right or wrong to say, struggled to truly express himself. It was just all too much. The hostility, the raised voices from his family—it was making the gem in his belly stir, responding to the spikes of danger they were throwing at him.
“Why are you with Steven?”
The half Diamond blanked.
It’s him, it’s himself alive, it’s the person he never thought he’d ever see again, it’s the person he’d spent months mourning over, months spent aching over, it was the phantom memories of his last moments alive as fragments of partially conscious Diamond laid spread over a mangled body, feeling himself die as blood trickled by.
Why was he with Steven? He couldn’t… he couldn’t—
“He’s my friend, okay!” The little boy answered for him. “We hung out together and—”
Losing patience with how the conversation went, the purple gem took matters into her own hands.
Sharp cracks sounded as whip flashed by without a moment’s notice. A startled squeal and a loud bang, the kid opened his eyes to find a wall of pink in front of him.
A dome.
“Wha—”
“STEVEN?!!!”
Standing on the other side of the pink blockade, the gems frantically scurried up to slam their weapons against the barrier.
The kid looked back and forth between the two groups until he approached his family from the other side.
“Guys, guys, I’m fine! I… I’m so sorry about this, and,” Steven turned his head to look up to the panicked half-gem standing with a guilty expression, “I’m sorry to you too, Steven. It’s my fault for just suddenly inviting someone over without telling you guys. I know I don’t really get what’s going on here, but please, can we just talk it out?”
Amethyst didn’t look convinced as she answered him. “I mean, maybe if Pinkie here wasn’t being so cryptic as heck! He’s so sus, like bro,” she pointed at him like she was offended by his mere appearance. “Don’t you see this???”
“Well maybe you guys are being really scary! Steven is just really shy... and I don't think getting beat in the face makes him wanna talk,” the kid pointed out.
“Really, ” the purple gem said with what sounded like sarcasm. “Well then, let him talk. He’s got all the time now that he’s trapped both himself and you in that knock-off thunderdome.”
All of them were looking expectantly at the half-gem while he was staring down at his own hot glowing pink skin that stirred under the pressure.
“Augh, why does this gotta be so difficult?” Amethyst groaned in frustration. “Like just out of nowhere this pink glowing gem shows up through this so-called mysterious portal and is all buddy with Steven, who also calls him Steven, while he shapeshifted himself to look like a creepy knock-off of our Ste-man? And you tell me he can’t even tell us why he's doing all this?”
Exasperation and disdain painted her tone, the other gems shared her sentiment as Pearl added on to the list. “We don’t even know what kind of gem he is.”
“Wait, Steven is a gem?!” the hybrid was visibly baffled at this info.
Oh.
Oh…
The half Diamond just realised… he really could’ve just showed his gemstone, sparing everyone the trouble. It’s… It’s not something he was proud of showing, it wasn’t something he felt comfortable displaying, tucked underneath the protective layers of artificial clothes.
Displaying it out in the open made him feel vulnerable. It was a reminder that this was him and only him, a gem.
Steeling himself, he moved his hand. Carefully, he lifted up his shirt—making sure his hands blocked any view of any exposed skin that surrounded it—for the gems and Steven to see.
“Is that…?”
“A Rose Quartz gem?!!”
Eyes struck with baffled surprise, none of them could believe what they were witnessing. Pearl held hands that danced between her mouth, while Garnet stood with dissipated gauntlets as she clenched and unclenced her gemmed palms as they all took in the sight of the unexpected—almost as if trying to deduce the possibility of it being another trick, or whether it really was his gem in true form.
The lil’ guy had his gaze fixed on it too, approaching the other with curious fascination.
“My mom’s gem? You have that one too?” An innocent smile appeared on his younger self’s face as he eagerly lifted his own shirt up. “Look! We’re gem buddies now!”
The childlike wonder was an anchor amidst the on-going dread, as everyone else looking at him with trepidation.
“That… that can’t be.”
“Guys, are you thinking what I’m thinking? Because I dunno, man!”
The purple and pale gemmed pair both held their answers, until Garnet finally spoke aloud what occupied their minds.
“You’re Steven.”
It was such a simple fact, such a simple statement—and yet it was one that held weight as horror and apprehension filled the room as they all stared at a boy they barely could recognise.
“Yeah, my buddy’s name is Steven!” The little boy interjected, not really catching onto their revelation.
With the roll of her eyes, Amethyst ignored the kid in favour of making her annoyance known at the situation. “Wooooooow, you could’ve said that forever ago. Like come on, man! We were like this close to almost killing ya!” Not that it would’ve been any different from the usual mishaps he’d experienced as a kid.
Her complaints earned her a scolding from her fellow pale gem. “Amethyst! Now’s not the time!”
“What P’? I’m telling the truth!”
Still out of the loop, the kid spoke up about his confusion. “Wait, wait, wait, what’s going on here? Killing?! You guys were trying to kill my friend?!”
“Think he had a death wish coming with how weird he was being!” The Quartz of mischief, having her own way of lighting up the situation, couldn’t resist indulging in her type of humour.
“Amethyst!!”
“I’m just joking, I’m just joking!”
But the square fusion pulled her head down in shame. For harming their boy was nothing to celebrate. And judging from the still lingering stares from his family, they still were very uneasy with his appearance—whether it was to make sense of the fact that it was him, or whether to make sense of the fact they hadn’t been able to recognise the very same child they’d raised, the very same person they’d attacked.
How must it be to stare at a stranger that they know?
Meanwhile the hybrid continued to wear a lost expression. “I’m still confused.”
It was no surprise the boy had trouble following. With eyes that searched for any clues around, they eventually landed on the half Diamond, begging for any further help with an answer.
An answer he deserved.
Slowly wrapping his arms around him, there was no point in holding his identity secret.
“I’m you.”
Steven’s eyes widened. “Wha—me?! But how?”
The square gem pushed her glasses up. “You’re from the future.” The other gave her a nod as she continued. “That’s what the portal was for. It was time travel.”
Things were finally clicking into place for the rest in the room.
Even Amethyst couldn’t spare herself from commenting on it. “So you’re telling me that Steven's gonna become this creepy, pink glow-torch in the future? Laaaaame.”
“OH MY GOSH YOU’RE ME FROM THE FUTURE!” The kid couldn’t help contain his excitement over the revelation. “Oh oh, what's the future like? Is Crying Breakfast Friends getting a season 3?! And oh! Is the theory true? Is Crabby Cup really Glum Glass? Wait no, don't tell me.”
In a complete turn of temper, the kid was firing questions off left and right, his mood having turned around as his joyful childlike spirit was shining through. Hands holding onto his jacket with an eager grip, the child only had wonder in his eyes as his mouth flowed zealous rambles.
Garnet had to step in and kneeled in front of the pink wall that still separated them. "Now Steven, I know you have many questions for your future self, but we do have some important matters to discuss.”
The renegade nodded in agreement at the sensible statement as she went on to ask the older of the pair. “Why did you come here all the way from the future?”
He already told them. “I didn't intend to. It was by chance.”
Pearl gave him a scrutinising look.
“And…? Anything else…?” Her voice tried to lead on, as if trying to fish more information out of him. It was reasonable, but he didn’t really want to say more, so he simply shrugged.
“It was by chance.”
Amethyst was laughing at her fellow gem’s misfortune, the other clearly unimpressed by his answers. “But seriously though, is anyone gonna ask why future Ste-man is acting all weird and is all radioactive pink now?” The purple Quartz so aptly commented. “I'm pretty sure humans don't look like they took a bath in pink glow-stick juice.”
“Heyyyy, I’m not the only one who thought it was glow-stick juice!” The lil’ kid joined in with his own thoughts. “Maybe it's a new power? Like when you get really, really strong, you glow!”
“Pretty sure that only happens in cartoons and anime, man.”
“Steven can glow,” The half Diamond interjected, for that fact was true even if the circumstances for his form was something different.
The kid couldn’t help but throw his hands up in excitement. “Wooo, I’m gonna be just like all the cartoon heroes!” Striking a superhero pose, the kid was off on his own fantasy.
Tension in the room fell as even the gems were smitten by Steven’s childlike joy. Though one question still hung in the air. Amethyst had her attention at the older boy who'd been the center of attention in all of this.
“Soooo, what are we gonna be doing with Pinkster here? Send him back to the future or…?”
The half Diamond stared back at the Quartz, startled eyes boring into hers.
“I can’t.”
“What?”
“I can’t return,” his monotone voice echoed.
Everyone was staring at him. Eyes unfocused, far—his mind was abuzz with thoughts and heavy feelings that drifted by.
“Why?” They kept on asking, but he simply shook his head.
He was afraid.
Pink sparked on as his gemstone held its drum—the only sound that prevailed as audible Diamond resonated within. Despite his struggles, his family insisted. “Future Steven, please,” the pale gem urged on, “we’re just worried. Did… did something happen in the future?”
He turned away from them. He wasn’t looking at them, he really didn’t want to be looking at anyone right now.
Amidst the buzz of his brain, Steven walked up to him, brows furrowed as a careful look from the child met his own. “Future me... are you afraid of telling us?”
Eyes trailed down as the half Diamond stood face to face with the person he killed.
He was sorry.
“...Yes.” It was the words that eventually left his mouth.
And it was then he felt a pair of warm arms envelop him… It was a hug. It was different from the hugs of excitement the hybrid gave earlier. Just a silent moment between them—he could even hear the slow breaths from the younger of them. Hearing Steven breathe, feeling his warmth, him being here, alive, it calmed the half Diamond.
In the midst of his repose, he almost didn’t notice how his walls had gone down. The gems approached them, which did alert him slightly. Garnet had her arms crossed, but then she flashed him a faint smile.
“I think we should give these two some space,” she said as she put her hands on top of Amethyst and Pearl standing beside her. The pale gem looked like she wanted to retort, whereas Amethyst briefly glanced at him before shrugging.
“Eh, whatever you say, man,” she said right before getting up to leave into the temple. Garnet and Pearl followed her suit.
It was now just the two of them, him with Steven. The younger of them went back to the sofa and plucked Mr. Hugs out of his seat and onto the his lap.
“So, wanna watch those Lonely Blade movies?”
--- ★ ---
Yawn, so after that movie night and a good scare, Steven felt pretty tired. He’d been sitting on future-Steven’s lap the whole time, with Mr. Hugs on top of his own. Relieved to see his friend here, or rather his future self here, having calmed down from mishap earlier, the boy couldn't help but give him a smile as he readied himself for bedtime.
“Looks like it’s nighty-night for us?”
Exhaustion gripped the younger’s body as eyes were starting to close from the drowsiness.
But before he headed to bed there was one more topic he wanted to tackle. “You know, we should probably find a name for you. With both of us around and being the same person, having two Stevens would get pretty confusing.”
Besides, the lil’ boy wanted something cooler than just calling him Future Steven. His buddy here had been pretty awesome, so it only made sense that he deserved something appropriately awesome in return.
His future self remained sitting, the spot lying at the foot of the bed where they watched the last movie. Watching the boy with attentive silence, this was the other's cue for the boy to continue.
“Hmmm, what name to choose…” the hybrid speculated, “Amethyst called you Pinkster, right? Oh, that kind of sounds like Pink Star? Any of these names sound good? Personally I kind of like ‘Star’, ‘cause you shine bright like a star and it begins with ‘St’ like our name!”
“Star...” future-him echoed. The other’s gaze fell deep into his own as pink eyes regarded him with an entrancing stare. Steven could almost swear he saw sparkles fill his eyes, as if there were stars within them.
“Hehe, you’ve even got stars in your eyes! They’re almost like little diamonds!”
Future-him seemed to be surprised as he blinked at this comment, and so the diamond-sparkles disappeared. Huh, actually this might be the first time Steven ever saw the other blink before. Mysterious.
Studying his face, the kid found it almost alluring to watch his future self—as if something was pulling him in, whether it was his otherworldly pink form that was like nothing else he’d seen before. Surreal and yet beautiful as if the glow was calling him in, welcoming him.
Then there was the sing-song hum that seemed to follow the pink boy. It wasn’t one that you would notice at first, it was almost subconscious in a way, reaching not his ears but brain instead.
There was such a huge mystery to his future self. But there was one thing he did know.
He wanted to be there for him.
The boy remembered how the other told him he felt lost, how he was afraid to return back to his home. So well… he hoped that this could be his home for now.
“So what'd ya think about that name?” The kid asked.
“I... really like it,” his echoing voice sounding much shyer than before.
“Star it is then! It’s cute and cool, like you!”
Yawn, the hybrid could barely keep his eyes open without dozing off. “We should really go to bed now… Oh! We still need to find a place for you to sleep!” Steven thought for a moment. “There is the couch, and I think my dad has a couple of sleeping bags if you prefer that?”
“I don't need to sleep.”
“Gee you don't need to do anything, huh? Is this some sort of gem thing? Well, little Steven still needs his rest, so off to bed with me!”
The hybrid prepped himself in the bed, while Star moved downstairs. “I guess this is goodnight then,” the hybrid called out from his comfortable spot. “Um, is it possible to turn off that glow?”
Star glanced down at himself and then back up at the hybrid without responding.
“Hmmm,” Steven kicked off his covers and went downstairs to investigate. “So I guess you don’t have an off-switch somewhere?”
Glancing around the living room, he got an idea. He grabbed some blankets and basically wrapped them around Star until he was covered head to toe. And by head to toe then quite literally everything was covered, even the face. Star was a simple lump of blankets now.
“I think this could work,” Steven said once satisfied and went back to bed.
“Good night, Star!”
--- ★ ---
It was half an hour before the half Diamond—now named Star—decided to move from his spot, blankets still draped over him but moved from his face to allow him to see the living room. With no other distractions, he was still trying to catch up and process this day. His mind couldn't settle over the fact that he was here, and that Steven was here, and what it all meant.
He took an unneeded breath, something the Garnet in his time taught him. He started with something simple, his name. Star. It was such a simple thing and yet it made him feel… happy? Star never had a proper name before—he was Steven, but Steven was also dead.
Even his family in his time struggled with the name—after all, it referred to the boy who’d passed away and the apparition who'd been unfortunate enough to remain.
And so he’d mostly stuck to simply think of himself as his gem, his half, as that was all he was—but now he had Star.
He kept that thought as he slowly headed towards Rose’s room to process the rest of his thoughts. If there is one thing that’s left unchanged in the past, it was this room. It looked identical to the one he’d spent months isolated in, regretting what he’d let happen to his Steven… what he did to himself. He took another breath and willed the room to replay today's memories, so as to aid his focus on the most current events instead.
With a puff of smoke, the smiling form of this time's Steven came to life, eager to pull the future gem along. But Star didn't follow, preferring to stand and watch from the sidelines as the younger hybrid sped off as if he was holding him anyway.
The fake Steven was now telling the empty outline of him about the town and asking questions that he did and didn't get answers to. Star wished he could explain himself better, but he found himself overwhelmed by how to produce an answer; after all he wasn't used to operating on half a brain, and his previous human part did most of the processing regarding... the finer parts of speech, knowing better how it affected people around him.
He wonders if he would ever feel whole again. He didn't even feel like a full gem. Neither a human, neither a real gem... His family in the future tried to reassure him, saying they were glad that he was there even through their shared grief of Steven… but the family in this time didn’t hide their judgement; they can see he was wrong, that he wasn't him anymore.
The half Diamond turned his head as three new clouds condensed before him, fake weapons drawn against him by the familiar, aforementioned figures. He didn’t know what to think of them. They obviously didn’t really trust him, but allowed his stay for now. He’d ignored the gems in his time when stuck over his grief and guilt—and yet they'd been nothing but supportive to the boy who'd brought them grief. Now he was stuck here without his family, but with them. And if there was anything he doubted, it was whether he even had the capacity to involve himself with them now.
But he wanted to be with Steven.
He.
He wanted to protect Steven.
In his silence, he watched the facsimile of the hybrid bounding off happily and going through the hour they spent together. At the end, the hybrid gave his future half a big hug, the one he did to calm him down.
And Star did what he hadn’t done then and hugged him back.
--- ★✰★✰★ ---
[Art of Steven meeting Star in the forest]
