20/20

by Daecon

Summary:

The Maheswarans loved their daughter dearly, but they were very busy, and, to tell the truth, sometimes not very observant.

Priyanka discovers Steven's unusual nature a year early.

Chapter 1: A New Friend

Priyanka Maheswaran was a busy woman. That was to be expected, she was a hospital physician, after all. Late shifts and on-calls at all hours meant frequent absences. Her husband’s equally busy schedule as a security guard meant their daughter would be left alone for hours at a time, especially now with school ending for the year. This worried the doctor a great deal. It was a relief, then, when Connie came home from a day at the beach full of excitement about a new friend.

“So what’s her name?”

“Steven. He’s a boy.”

“Oh…”

“It’s nothing like that! He’s nice. His family lives by the ocean. Near that huge statue.”

“Oh, I always wondered about that statue. I hope you’re staying away from it, though. If Beach City isn’t running tours to it, it might not be safe.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. You don’t mind, though, if I visit him? He seems…lonely. But nice, though.”

“So what did you do on your first date?”

“Mom! It wasn’t a date! We just met on the beach. Took a walk und…by the ocean. Talked to another friend of his by the pier. Went to Funland…that sort of thing.”

“Sounds like a date to me…alright, I’ll stop teasing. If you say he was a gentleman, then I don’t see why you can’t visit. I’m glad you’re making friends. I was worried you’d be bored this summer. There’s only so many violin and tennis classes you can take, after all.”

 

In another universe, this would be the end of it for now. Priyanka would be grateful that someone was looking after her daughter during the day. After all, this Steven must have parents of his own to keep him out of trouble. She wouldn’t actually meet those parents for months, but would be assured by her daughter that they were a typical nuclear family, responsible and ordinary. Not oh, for example, a group of alien refugees thousands of years old and battling horrific monsters on a daily basis.

In another universe, Doug would read a newspaper article about the ocean briefly disappearing and returning, and wonder if Connie noticed since she was in Beach City at the time. No, she would be playing with her friend, and there’s no way he could be involved.

In another universe, Connie’s parents wouldn’t see her coming home with the occasional scrape or bruise, or perhaps attribute them to a particularly vigorous tennis match, because it’s not like she would be training with a sword or something.

In another universe, Dr. Maheswaran would be called in one night to examine a patient, and attribute his lack of heartbeat to a faulty stethoscope. The patient would attack her and she would be saved by Steven’s magic and Connie’s swordsmanship.

In another universe, the Maheswarans loved their daughter dearly, but they were very busy, and, to tell the truth, sometimes not very…observant.

 

This is not that universe.

 

“Connie…? What happened to your glasses?”

Chapter 2: Beach City Eye Care

Summary:

Set shortly after the events of "An Indirect Kiss." Priyanka's discovery of the lens-less glasses is the divergence from canon.

“The optometrist? What are we doing here?”

“You broke your glasses, remember? We’re here for new ones.”

“I told you, I didn’t break them. I removed the lenses because I don’t need them.”

“Nonsense, you’ve needed glasses since you were eight. Your eyes didn’t just magically get better.

“Um, they kind of did.”

“Oh! These frames are cute. If you don’t like the round lenses, there’s the cat’s eye shape.”

“It doesn't matter. I don’t need them. I only wear the frames at home because I knew you’d react this way.”

“Good morning, miss. We’re here to order some new glasses. Maheswaran, Connie Maheswaran. Our former optometrist should have sent you her file.”

“You’ll have to get a new exam. It’s been two years. Her prescription may have changed.”

“Yes, I expected as much.”

“Come with me, young lady. The doctor will be with you shortly.”

“All right, but I’m telling you this is a waste of time. There’s nothing wrong with my eyesight.”

 

Priyanka sat reading a medical journal in the waiting room. She had already examined some of the available frame options, but realized that she didn’t actually know Connie’s tastes well enough to choose for her. She paused in reading the article and frowned a little. Should she have expected to be able choose the style? Connie had every right to choose for herself what would suit her, but Priyanka had thought she knew enough to predict it. It was a little shocking to realize that she couldn’t. She relaxed and smiled. No, it just meant that Connie was growing up. Becoming her own person. This was a good thing. What any parent should want for their child.

The examiner came in to the office, but rather than handing the new prescription to the secretary, walked up to Priyanka.

“Good morning, Mrs. Maheswaran. I had a couple of questions, if you don’t mind.”

She marked her place and set the journal down, “Certainly, doctor.”
“Has your daughter complained of headaches, blurry vision, painful or itchy eyes, anything like that?”

“No, not that I know of. Why? Is there something wrong?”

“Just the opposite. Her vision is perfect. Better than perfect. I don’t know why she would think she needs corrective lenses.”

“She…she says she doesn’t. But she’s worn glasses since she was little. Does that happen? Growing out of an astigmatism?”

“It does, but not usually at her age. Most babies are born with astigmatism, but it corrects itself by age three. An infant doesn’t really need sharp vision, after all. Connie is too old for that, though. Her vision wouldn’t normally improve so dramatically and spontaneously. I’ve only seen something like this one other time. Tell me, was she attacked recently? Perhaps by a monster of some kind?”

“A monster?”

“You’ve just recently moved to Beach City, haven’t you?”

“Ah, yes, we bought a house just outside of town a few months ago.”

“Well, Beach City occasionally suffers monster attacks, especially near the ocean. It’s usually not a serious problem, but they do cause damage sometimes.”

“I work in the hospital! Why haven’t I heard of this?”

“They’re usually dealt with before they can harm anyone, but there was an incident about twenty years ago when one attacked an elderly man. He wasn’t hurt, but for some reason after the incident he could hear again. He had been mostly deaf for some time.”

“That’s impossible!”

“No, it’s just one of those things. Like the purple animals you see sometimes, or that Fryman kid and his snake people rants. Weird things just happen here. You learn to live with it.”

Notes:

The old man was in fact very seriously hurt. A corrupted Kyanite bit his arm off at the elbow. Fortunately Rose Quartz was present for the battle and was able to heal him.

Chapter 3: What Monster?

Summary:

Priyanka hears the story of Connie's improved eyesight.

“So tell me about the monster.”

“Monster? What monster?”

Connie squirmed and figited, unable to meet her mother’s eyes. Finally, she wilted under her steady gaze and blurted out, “Okay, so there was a monster the day I met Steven, but it’s okay, we defeated it. I haven’t seen any since.”

“And that’s why your eyes are better?”

“Huh? No, my eyes are better because of the juice box.”

“Juice box?”

“Steven shared his juice box with me. He was feeling down because Amethyst had gotten injured and he couldn’t help.”

“Injured by a monster?”

“No, injured by a fall. She cracked her gem and it made her body go all wonky. It’s okay now, though.”

“And Amethyst is who?”

“His…aunt? Sister? I’m not actually sure. The Gems were friends or family or something of his mother. There’s three of them: Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl. They raised him since his mother’s…um…gone.”

“She left!?”

“Not exactly. She’s…um…dead? I suppose that’s the simplest way to put it. Steven has her gem, so she couldn’t exist while he does. He has some of her powers but can’t really use them yet. That’s why he was so upset about Amethyst. Rose would have been able to fix her.”

“And Steven couldn’t? Poor boy, no wonder he was upset. Wait, then your eyes…?”

“Rose’s tears could apparently heal anything, but Steven’s healing powers are in his spit. We found out when we shared a juicebox and the backwash fixed my eyes.”

“The eye doctor did warn me that this town can get pretty weird…hmm, and yet the realtor who sold us the house didn’t. I wonder if there’s disclosure requirements on something like this.”

Chapter 4: Parents Meeting

“Thanks for driving me to Steven’s, mom. Usually I take the bus.”

“Well, I do want to meet his caretakers.”

“Yeah, I…I was worried that you wouldn’t approve. I know you were assuming a nuclear family, and…I let you assume that.”

“Oh, Connie, there’s no shame in having an alternative family structure. As long as they’re taking care of him properly, I wouldn’t care if they were space aliens.”

“Um…yeah, about that…”

“...They’re space aliens, aren’t they?”

“It’s possible. Steven tells me they’re not human. Not even alive, really. Their bodies are formed of solid light projected from their gems. He saw Pearl get stabbed once. Instead of bleeding, she disintegrated and left the gem behind. She reformed a few weeks later, un…harmed.”

“Connie, what’s wrong?”

“No, I just realized something… Steven told me about Pearl’s accident. The day I met him, the monster that attacked us did the same thing. We had trapped it under a pier and its struggles brought it down on top of it. When it ‘died’ it turned into a cloud of dust and left a gem behind. I…I think the monsters are actually Gems like Pearl and the others.”

“Hmm, that actually makes a certain amount of sense. Like, why the monsters are attracted to Beach City in the first place.”

“Yeah! Not all of them, though. Steven says sometimes they have to go looking for them. But even so, they’re always near one of the teleporter pads.”

“They have teleporter pads?”

“Lots of them, apparently. Humans can’t use them, though. Of course, the monsters can’t either, or they’d be coming through his house all the time.”

“We’ll have to ask when we see them. On that note, we’re here! There’s the giant statue, and there’s…the…beach?

“Connie, uh…where’s the ocean?”