The days went by, and for obvious reasons, the girls didn't let me keep the lion. However, that didn't stop him, because he kept popping up inside the house out of nowhere. The three of them couldn't understand how it was even possible, since just a moment prior they had seen him out in the desert. I, on the other hand, just smiled and calmly told him to sit. The lion obeyed instantly, settling down in front of me as if he had known me his entire life.
They stared at me in confusion, and I simply declared with total confidence, "He's mine." Then I laid down on top of him without a single care, burying myself in his warm, soft mane.
We shouldn't be afraid, Pearl thought. ...Or do you guys really think he won't eat us?
The girls watched the lion in silence. The animal snuggled even closer against me, as if we had done this thousands of times before. Amethyst arched an eyebrow and, in a relaxed tone, muttered that it would probably be fine. Right after that, she flopped down on top of us as if it were the most natural thing in the world, too. The lion barely glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, huffed, and went back to sleep.
"I'm out," Garnet announced, disappearing into her room with her characteristic calm.
Pearl, on the other hand, slumped her shoulders in resignation and walked over to the lion. She finally lay down next to me, hugging me tightly as if wrapping her arms around me could stop me from ever getting hurt again.
The room fell into a comfortable silence, with everyone cozied up around the lion who seemed to have found his home with us.
"That actually happened?!" Connie asked, her eyes shining as if they had stars in them, looking at me with pure excitement.
"Sure did," I replied with a smile, grabbing another sandwich. We were having a picnic day, with soft, relaxing music playing in the background, and she seemed more than happy to listen to me. She was always hyped about my stories. I didn't know if it was because she was genuinely interested or because she didn't have many friends to share those moments with.
Sometimes I wondered why she didn't feel any fear, though in reality, nobody in Beach City seemed to have it. It was weird. In my time, fear was a natural part of being human, an instinct that kept you alive, yet here it seemed to have vanished. But hey, who was I to question it?
I watched her as she enthusiastically told me about how her fencing classes were going. I smiled without even realizing it, because I hadn't seen that kind of enthusiasm since the Heian era... or so I thought. I paused for a second. Where did I hear that before? Why is that word lingering in my head? Before I could dive deeper into my thoughts, Connie's voice snapped me right out of them.
"It's just like a dance," she was saying, her hands moving gracefully to accompany her explanation.
"A dance?" I repeated, tilting my head with curiosity.
"Yeah!" she answered, jumping to her feet. In the weeks she had been by my side, her confidence had shifted so much that she seemed like a completely different person. Before, she barely dared to speak, and now... now she was about to dance.
Connie began to move to the rhythm of the music playing in the distance, light as a feather. Her steps were a mix of technique and spontaneity, as if she were merging her fencing with the music. The air around her seemed to vibrate, and I couldn't help but think that this shy girl was transforming into someone who would soon shine on her own stage.
"Come on, Steven, do you want to dance?" Connie asked with a hopeful smile. I looked at her in silence for a few seconds, and then replied with a relaxed smile, "Why the hell not," as I got up to join her.
The two of us began to dance. My steps were clumsy and completely unpracticed, but thanks to my training, they flowed with a certain natural ease. They weren't as refined or as light as Connie's, but they still had just the right harmony to lock into hers. To me, it was perfect. Moments like this were the ones I appreciated most—an escape from reality, a single instant where I wasn't chained down by the weight of my mother's past or the destiny I carried in this world.
In this dance, I wasn't Justin, and I certainly wasn't the heir to Rose Quartz. I was Steven, a kid with the mind of an adult but with a playful soul that still belonged to me, letting it shine through with every single movement. I took Connie's hand and together we began to improvise steps, synchronized as if we had been doing this for years, smiling as we felt how well our energies blended together.
What neither of us noticed was how my gem began to glow. It wasn't a flare like before, loaded with power or tension, but a playful, almost joyful radiance, as if it had been waiting for this exact split second to show itself. The music hit its final notes, and standing face-to-face, our movements stopped just as a pink flash enveloped us both, as if the universe wanted to freeze that moment and keep it forever.
A few seconds passed where both—or perhaps now just one—stood with eyes closed. Upon opening them, they noticed something incredibly bizarre. First off, they weren't with Connie or Steven anymore. Their thoughts were bleeding into each other, confusing and chaotic, as if they didn't belong to a single person. One after another, thoughts flooded their mind, questioning things they would have never considered before and doubting things they had always taken for granted.
The confusion was so massive they could barely recognize themselves. Him? Her? The questions piled up without order, creating a wave of tension that made him—or her—nervous. Or nervous. They weren't even sure what was happening anymore. However, in the middle of that whirlwind of thoughts, there was a flash of silence, a brief pause that allowed a sigh to escape their lips.
They tried to stand up with the intention of looking for their dance partner, but upon stepping up, they noticed something impossible to ignore. Am I tall? Am I short? Two voices echoed in their mind at the same time, but physically, someone completely different was speaking. They understood it immediately, and with a start, the doubt transformed into absolute certainty.
"Am I... a fusion?!" The shout echoed with a mix of awe and fear. In that instant, Connie's side took control, while a worried Steven retreated into the background. Both complemented each other in a strange way—different, yet natural, like two pieces that fit together even when they don't know how.
As she looked down at herself, an unsettling thought crossed her mind. Steven... Connie? The question arose in unison, like a shared echo where she couldn't tell who it came from. Steven, for his part, was making a massive effort not to get distracted by ideas that could destabilize the fusion, limiting himself to letting Connie take the lead for the moment.
Connie—or rather, the fusion—took a few shaky steps. Her movements were soft, even weak, completely unaccustomed to this new body she hadn't quite processed yet. She could barely believe what was happening. Deep down, she had wanted to ask Steven to try this someday, but not like this, not so suddenly. And yet, she couldn't help but think that this was absolutely incredible.
However, Steven's doubt and worry seeped into their shared mind, causing that vibrant excitement to waver. Two parts in conflict: one thrilled by what she was experiencing, and the other bewildered by the sheer magnitude of the situation.
"So... who am I?" the fusion murmured in a calmer tone, her gaze lost on the ocean horizon. The question hung in the air, but was soon interrupted by a thought loaded with a mischievous yet worried smile. What if we just go to the girls? I don't want to worry them. Come on, I don't think they'll say anything bad. It's cool, I know it's really cool... but what if they don't take it well?
The doubts clashed against each other, creating a mini internal storm. The feeling that all of this was tied to what had happened a few days ago kept repeating in her mind. It was like an argument with herself, a bizarre murmur that, if anyone had overheard it, would have made her look completely insane.
In the end, she took a deep breath and made up her mind. With firm, albeit trembling steps, she began to walk toward the beach house. Each step of the stairs felt heavier than usual, as if she were carrying the weight of two consciousnesses at once. Once at the top, she could clearly hear the girls' voices talking inside.
They're right inside, she thought, a drop of sweat sliding down her forehead. Come on, it's not that bad. We'll just show them and then we can unfuse if you want.
No! the other inner voice answered forcefully. Let's just hang out for a bit. It's not every day you get to do this, you know?
With a mix of nerves and anticipation, she placed her hand on the door and, holding her breath, walked in.
"Oh, come on, Pearl," Amethyst said with a mischievous grin. "Just because Steven doesn't want to fuse with you and prefers to spend more time with his lion doesn't mean he doesn't love you."
"Amethyst, you don't understand..." Pearl replied with a hint of sadness. "What if he replaces me?"
Amethyst looked at her, a drop of sweat running down her temple, not quite knowing what to say. Garnet, meanwhile, watched in silence, trying to catch a glimpse of a future where this conversation didn't get complicated. However, as she scanned the possible paths, she found one that surprised her so much she couldn't even react before the door burst open.
The three of them whipped their heads around and froze solid.
"Who the hell are you?!" Amethyst blurted out instantly.
Garnet remained motionless, though her body tensed with excitement as she noticed the gem glowing before her eyes. Pearl, confused at first, took only a second to lock onto the stone embedded in the figure's stomach. The moment she realized what it meant, the sheer weight of the revelation made her faint on the spot. A dull thud echoed against the floor, but nobody paid it any attention.
Amethyst, seeing the gem in the girl's stomach, lowered her guard with a mix of curiosity and bewilderment. "Whoa, dude, you didn't tell me you could shapeshift. Though you're not the only one, you know?" she added with a mocking smirk as she balled up her eyebrows, pumping them up and down in a gesture of superiority.
The fusion looked at her, a drop of sweat trailing down her forehead.
Pearl wobbly forced herself back up, knowing this was no time to let a fainting spell win. Her eyes locked onto the figure in front of her with sheer incredulity. "Are you... Steven?"
The girl held her gaze for a few seconds that felt like an eternity, until a mischievous smile spread across her face. "I'm a part of him."
"Holy shit..." Amethyst muttered, finally putting the pieces together. She snapped back into her original form and let out a loud laugh. "You found a Gem and fused with the first one you saw?! And not with Pearl?!" she said in a blatantly mocking tone.
The mentioned Gem froze solid. In the blink of an eye, she materialized right next to the fusion and, completely frantic, began to nervously inspect her.
"Hey..." the fusion said after a few seconds, "that's really not necessary. It wasn't with a Gem."
Amethyst and Pearl stared at each other, completely dumbfounded.
"Huh?" Pearl managed to stammer.
"Half-human... human fusion," the girl replied, flashing a proud thumb-up.
"Get the fuck out of here!" Amethyst let out, laughing in utter disbelief.
Pearl, on the other hand, fainted dead away again, babbling something incoherent about rebel babies.
Garnet suddenly stood up with a grin so wide it looked like she had just won the lottery nine times in a row. Her shades gleamed with pure excitement as she slowly approached the fusion. She didn't want to use her future vision to figure it out; on the contrary, she wanted to feel the thrill of discovering something in the moment, of letting herself get swept away by the unexpected.
The fusion watched her, stunned and a bit nervous, until she gave a soft cough and answered. "Connie."
"His friend..." Amethyst muttered, understanding instantly. "And how did that happen? Or what?"
The fusion explained, with a bit of shyness, how in the middle of the dance, in some inexplicable way, they had ended up fusing without Steven even trying to.
"Man, that's wild..." Amethyst commented, scratching her head in intrigue.
But Garnet wasn't surprised; she was ecstatic. Joy rushed through her like an electric current. With an almost overwhelming firmness, she grabbed the fusion by the shoulders and, with a contagious smile, exclaimed, "Steven. Connie. No... that doesn't work. Stevonnie!"
Garnet's eyes flashed with pure enthusiasm. "You two, right now, are an experience. Go out and enjoy it! Do whatever you want! You know what? A mission. Let's go."
The now-dubbed Stevonnie barely had time to open her mouth to protest before Garnet gripped her tightly and dragged her straight toward the warp pad.
Amethyst stood completely still, astounded, watching both fusions vanish in a matter of seconds. With a mix of bewilderment and resignation, she muttered to herself, "What the actual hell just happened..."
Her eyes drifted down to the floor, where Pearl was still laid out cold, trembling and murmuring in her sleep about Rose and how she could never give her a good child.
End of Chapter 13.