Three days had passed since Steven had barely spoken a single word to the Gems. The tension inside the house was so thick you could practically cut it with a knife. He walked along the beach, his feet sinking into the hot, dry sand, staring out at the horizon with a heavy mix of guilt and curiosity. He felt like he had everything under control, but every time he remembered that blast, he couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if he had been standing right there.
If I had been standing exactly on that spot, would I have blown up too? he thought out loud. Or would I have just been badly hurt? He could heal himself, sure, but that didn't just magically erase the pain. The wounds would close, but the burning sting would still be there. He turned to Connie, who was walking beside him in absolute silence.
She was scanning the beach with a bizarre expression, like a puzzle piece didn't fit.
"Steven... why is the beach so... bone dry?" Connie asked, tilting her head.
He looked at her, then darted his eyes back out toward the ocean—or rather, the empty trench where the ocean used to be.
Steven let out a heavy sigh, throwing his hands up toward the sky.
"Oh, right, the ocean. Yeah, I'm guessing Lapis pulled a fast one," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, I totally could've prevented all of this, but hey, I'm just a kid, I don't know anything, right? Aghhhh!" he yelled, aggressively running his hands through his hair in pure frustration.
Connie just watched him with that characteristic blend of patience and sadness she always used when she didn't know how to fix things. Finally, she reached over and gently patted his head, trying to soothe him. Steven let out a resigned sigh and just let himself be coddled, realizing that even though Connie didn't have much experience dealing with Gem stuff, she knew exactly when he just needed some quiet.
Then, Steven raised his voice, shouting back toward the temple.
"Lion!"
Up at the house, the pink lion snapped his head up with a low huff. He had been watching the Gems bicker for the millionth time about the mirror, but the second he heard Steven's call, he simply shook his mane and trotted toward the front door.
"Hey, Lion..." Pearl said, a drop of sweat forming on her forehead. "I don't know if you actually understand me, but Steven is out there."
Lion stared dead at her, as if he understood every single word, and without missing a beat, he walked straight past her to the door.
"I'll get it," Amethyst muttered, pushing the door open with a tired, worn-out smile.
The lion let out a low, affirmative growl and stepped outside, leaving the three Gems standing in a heavy silence. Garnet crossed her arms tightly.
"He's going to Steven," she said flatly. Even though her voice sounded perfectly calm, there was a subtle, unmistakable tremor of tension underneath.
Meanwhile, down on the beach, Steven smiled as the massive pink silhouette of his loyal companion trotted closer.
"I knew you wouldn't leave me hanging, you big pink feline," he said with a dramatic flair. "Now come on, let's go save the day... or at least get some french fries, because I am absolutely starving."
Connie let out a soft chuckle while Lion gave a low, rumbling chuff, almost as if he highly approved of the plan. Steven climbed onto his back, and as the wind whipped against his face, he couldn't help but think that even when everything was completely turned upside down, you could always find a little humor in the middle of the chaos.
Connie looked at him with clear worry, crossing her arms as the wind tossed her hair around. She asked if he was seriously planning on going out there completely alone. Steven, flashing that overly confident smirk he always wore when he had absolutely no idea what he was doing, responded with an obvious, "Duh, yeah."
Connie let out a heavy sigh and told him that maybe it would be smarter to wait for the Gems, since they actually had thousands of years of experience dealing with this high-tier cosmic stuff. Steven went quiet for a few seconds, staring down at the sand with a face that hovered right between stubbornness and pure resignation. Then he looked up with a half-smile and asked her if she honestly thought that was necessary. Connie nodded without a shred of doubt, completely convinced.
Steven let out a highly theatrical sigh, slumped his shoulders, and said fine, but at the very least, he was gonna make Lion do something productive. He slid off the massive feline's back and scratched him right behind the ear. He told him to go catch some fish and be back in an hour, patting his side like he was a well-trained dog.
Lion let out a deep, powerful roar, tore open a glowing pink portal right in the middle of the air, and vanished into thin air. Connie watched the spot with her eyes wide open, still completely unable to wrap her head around how those physics worked.
Curious, she asked where he had gone. Steven just shrugged, a drop of sweat sliding down his temple. He admitted he had absolutely no clue, but as long as the cat came back with actual fish, there was zero reason to stress about it.
Connie just stared at him, hovering between utterly baffled and thoroughly amused. She didn't know whether to admire his absolute peace of mind or be deeply terrified by his complete and total lack of planning. Steven, for his part, just smiled like this was just a standard Tuesday in his life, and let himself drop flat onto his back against the dry sand, staring up at the sky without the slightest intention of changing his way of doing things.
"Are you seriously just gonna lay there? Waiting for the ocean to literally blast off into outer space?"
Steven looked up at her from his highly comfortable spot on the ground. "Absolutely. If they want my help—which, let's be real, they definitely do—they're gonna have to apologize first. I mean, I'm still incredibly pissed off, you know? Treating me with all that condescension, keeping me completely in the dark, and then expecting me to just act normal? It doesn't even look like they've lived on Earth for millennia. Like, reading the room is the absolute baseline of human interaction."
Connie: "..."
"I mean, you're right. But come on," she said, grabbing Steven by the hand and hauling him up. Connie dragged him all the way back up to the house. Lion was already chilling out front, casually snacking on some fish of highly questionable origin, but neither of them paid him any attention.
"Why are you dragging me?" I asked, a drop of sweat forming as I watched Connie desperately try to leverage me up the temple stairs.
"Come on, Steven, you have to talk to them and fix your problems! Aghh!" she groaned, straining all her muscles to pull me up.
"Why should I?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The ocean is literally disappearing. Do you need another reason?"
Steven: "..."
"Okay, you make an incredibly solid point. Do you think it'll trigger a massive tsunami if all that water drops back down?"
"One hundred percent," Connie said with absolute seriousness.
"Well, then I guess I'm gonna have to convince Lapis to let the water down gently." With that, I finally stood up and walked into the house.
Stepping inside, we saw the Gems were completely out of control. Garnet looked like she was sitting in a timeout corner, thoroughly defeated; Amethyst hadn't eaten a single thing, which was a highly alarming red flag; and Pearl was standing in front of a chalkboard, frantically sketching a blueprint for some kind of underground drilling spaceship.
The thick silence in the room broke with a timid greeting. "Hey," I said, a drop of sweat rolling down my forehead.
Pearl and Amethyst locked their eyes onto me, their faces lighting up as if they had just discovered the meaning of life itself. I'm not even gonna ask, I muttered to myself, shifting my gaze directly toward the chalkboard.
"But... why do you have an underground spaceship blueprint? And more importantly, how is that supposed to work if we're trying to go up into the ocean?"
"We're going?!" all three of them repeated in perfect, synchronized unison. Garnet looked over from her corner, looking completely downcast.
"Well, yeah, obviously," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "It's not like you guys can just handle it alone. From what I saw, that gem controls the entire ocean, and I'm the only one she had any decent contact with. Well... if you consider it 'decent' that she wanted to drag me into outer space to the... mother facility."
"Facility?" Pearl asked, visibly confused.
"Facility, planet... same difference," I said with total seriousness.
Connie just stared at me in silence. In fact, everyone stared at me in dead silence.
"Alright, are we going or what? Because frankly, I actually want to go swimming at the beach again," I commented, looking out the window at the colossal column of water towering all the way up into the clouds. What kind of shattered mental state do you have to be in to think you can literally ride an ocean elevator to another planet?
The girls stayed quiet, but someone quickly broke the somber mood. "Adventure!" Connie cheered, her eyes sparkling like literal stars.
"Weren't you just terrified of the giant death column of water two seconds ago?" I asked her flatly.
"I mean, yeah, but... this is my second official adventure, so let's go!" she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the door. The Gems exchanged a quick look, shrugged their shoulders, and ran right out after us.
"Let's think big!" Pearl announced with a massive grin that proved she had been waiting for a moment like this for a very long time. "Steven, you could tell your father to bring the van!"
I stopped and stared dead at her, saying absolutely nothing.
"What's wrong?" she asked, instantly getting nervous under my deadpan glare.
"My dad is staying behind, period," I responded with absolute seriousness. "I have a way better idea than driving a van into the ocean trench."
"What is it?" Garnet asked, finally breaking her sepulchral silence.
I just lifted my head and yelled at the top of my lungs. "Lion!"
The big cat materialized instantly, a fish still hanging out of his mouth, looking like he had been waiting for the cue all day. I leaned down and whispered directly into his ear. "Do me a massive solid here, Lion. After this, I'm buying you a cold one."
Lion didn't say a word, but he patiently laid down so everyone could climb aboard.
"Hurry up and get on," I said, helping them get adjusted. Connie and I gripped his mane tightly, half-submerged in the thick fur so we wouldn't lose our balance.
"Alright," I shouted with a grin. "Let's go, Lion! Destination: the One Piece!"
The lion shot me a side-eye loaded with pure existential regret, as if actively questioning what sins he had committed in a past life to end up with an owner like me. Then he let out a soft huff and tore open a warp portal directly ahead. In a brilliant flash, we appeared right at the base of the gigantic water tower.
We slid off one by one, looking up in sheer awe. From up close, the structure was even more majestic—a soaring liquid tower that perfectly reflected the sky above.
I handed my sword over to Connie, whose eyes instantly lit up.
"You need to hold onto a weapon, just in case the local cops show up," I told her with a perfectly straight face.
"Why on earth would the local cops show up out here?" she asked, visibly bewildered.
"Hey, you never know," I replied, scanning the tower with a strategic gaze.
The five of us advanced toward the base. The ocean wind whipped hard against our faces, and the roaring sound of the rushing water echoed with an almost mystical hum.
"Hey, Lapis!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "Can you hear me? I just want to talk!"
Several seconds ticked by with absolutely no response. The tower remained completely motionless, leaving us entirely on read.
"Well, she totally ghosted us," Amethyst muttered with a chuckle, though her smirk vanished instantly when four distinct figures began to materialize right in front of us.
It was them. Clones of the four members of the Crystal Gems.
Incredible, I thought, taking in the scene with a wild mix of excitement and nerves. If this were an anime, there would definitely be some epic boss-battle music blasting in the background right now.
And honestly, why the hell not? Cue the heist music! I cheered mentally.
"Hey, did you seriously bring us all the way out here just to talk?" Amethyst asked with a nervous chuckle, snapping me out of my thoughts.
Obviously, that wasn't the plan. Before I could even open my mouth, her water clone lunged forward, cracking her liquid whip with an almost imperceptible speed straight toward her.
Amethyst's grin wiped off her face in a split second, and with feline reflexes, she unleashed her own whip, blocking the strike with a sharp snap that made the air vibrate. The other Gems didn't waste a moment; each one lunged directly at her own liquid counterpart.
Pearl was fighting toe-to-toe with her aqueous reflection. The clone wasn't necessarily stronger, but its ability to instantly regenerate was turning into a deeply frustrating problem. Every single time Pearl landed a solid hit, the clone just melted back together like nothing had happened. Garnet was running into the exact same issue. Her raw strength was colossal, but every devastating impact just dissolved into splashes of water that instantly reformed over and over again.
As she traded heavy blows, Garnet felt a completely different kind of pressure—not physical, but deeply emotional. Sometimes she genuinely forgot that Steven was human... well, partially, but human enough that he shouldn't have to carry the exact same burdens as a millennium-old warrior Gem. And yet, she had been treating him like an equal—a two-thousand-year-old Gem who was supposed to just take everything on the chin. That was exactly why they were at this breaking point.
Steven had been furious—not just with the group, but with her specifically. Garnet knew it. She was the leader, and she had to recognize when her own mistakes actively hurt the people around her. But she hadn't. And now she felt like Steven hated her, even though deep down she knew that wasn't true... or at least, that was what she desperately wanted to believe.
For days, she had waited for him, sitting in that exact same corner like a child in timeout. Just waiting for him to come back, waiting for him to talk to her. And when he finally did, the encounter had been ice-cold. Steven had walked in and gotten straight to the point, speaking exclusively about the mission. No greeting, no warm glance, nothing. That had completely broken something inside her. Even Ruby and Sapphire, her two halves, were miserable. Ruby rarely ever let herself get that downcast, and Sapphire... well, Sapphire always kept her composure. But the second they saw him, both of them shuddered. When they watched Connie drag him out of the house, they had almost lost their fusion entirely.
Even so, she forced herself to maintain control. She walked toward Steven, noticing that he already had a solid plan mapped out. A plan that looked absolutely nothing like the one Pearl had drawn up, and one that she, as the leader, should have been spearheading. But she had let herself get entirely consumed by guilt, so she had done nothing.
And then she saw him arrive, riding high on Lion—Rose's animal. She was genuinely surprised by how obedient the creature was to him. And though she didn't want to admit it out loud, she felt a sharp prick of pride. At the end of the day, if that lion had belonged to Rose, it was now serving her son.
Everyone climbed aboard, and the trek brought them directly to the base of the massive water tower. It was imposing, almost terrifying. But to Steven and Connie, it looked beautiful, majestic... as sublime as a perfect fusion. Garnet couldn't help but remember the exact moment she had helped them achieve it. She had done it with so much love, trying to pass down the true meaning of union and devotion. But Steven, though grateful, had looked her dead in the eye and told her with complete honesty that the dance steps were ridiculous and that he had zero interest in ever fusing again.
Those words had cut her way deeper than she wanted to admit. It was that exact lingering pain that had driven her to act so impulsively with the mirror in the first place. And now, seeing the collateral damage, she understood that every single one of those choices had led them directly to this exact moment.
Steven's shout echoed through the air, but she didn't fully register the danger until she saw it. Right in front of them, four liquid figures rose elegantly from the water. They were identical copies, but made entirely of shimmering, fluid light.
The two Amethysts collided first, whips clashing against whips in a violent shower of energy and heavy splashes. However, Garnet noticed something crucial: these water clones weren't just cheap imitations. They possessed incredible strength, perfect coordination... and they regenerated instantly from any damage.
Pearl noticed it too, and the two Gems traded a brief glance before throwing themselves right back into the fray. Garnet clenched her fists, her gauntlets crackling with raw energy. She struck with a flurry of rapid-fire punches, each devastating impact echoing through the canyon like thunder. But the water simply rippled and slid right back into place.
A first-generation Lapis Lazuli, she realized. She remembered them from Homeworld: they weren't designed for active combat, but when they weaponized their terraforming abilities, they could be absolutely devastating.
She violently shook her head, forcing the thoughts out of her mind. She grabbed her water clone by the torso, hoisted it into the air with monumental force, and slammed it into the ground with a massive suplex that made the entire area rumble. The liquid body shattered into a thousand drops, but rapidly pooled back together. Both of them lunged again, rushing in opposite directions, clashing with punches, kicks, and headbutts that made the very air vibrate.
Garnet ended up bracing herself against a rock, funneling an immense amount of power into her arms. She unleashed a blow so powerful that the shockwave triggered a massive wave, almost entirely vaporizing her opponent on impact. The water droplets scattered through the air, sparkling under the bright sunlight like tiny, floating crystals.
The battle was just getting started, and Garnet knew that this time, it wasn't just about beating a clone. This was about redeeming herself, fighting for what she had lost, and proving that she could still be the leader Steven actually needed.
The battles stretched out across the beach like a wild, chaotic dance between water and light. Every strike and every flash reflected off the salty surface of the empty sea surrounding them. The Gems fought with absolute determination, but deep down, their internal monologues were identical. They were entirely exhausted, emotionally drained, and yet completely resolved to protect what was left.
Only Amethyst looked completely relaxed, almost like she was having fun. In the middle of all the chaos, she was laughing, dodging, and striking back with a highly confident smirk. She had always been like that—carefree, light on her feet... and above all, the only one who still treated Steven like her actual bro. And even though he never said it out loud, that was something he deeply appreciated.
Connie held her ground right behind him, sword firmly in hand, watching the chaotic scene with intense nerves. "Stay still," Steven told her softly, extending an arm to shield her. She nodded without a word, her eyes locked in, though her heavy breathing completely gave away her anxiety.
Then, the final water clone took shape right in front of them. Its silhouette was an exact match for Steven, its liquid hair floating as if it were submerged deep underwater, carrying an empty but incredibly powerful gaze. The two of them stared at each other for several seconds in a bizarre silence, as if the entire world had paused just to see what would drop next.
Steven tilted his head in genuine surprise. "Damn, I am incredibly good-looking," he muttered with such sincere disbelief that the heavy silence became even deeper.
Even the water clones that were actively fighting paused mid-strike. Every single one of them turned to stare at him with the exact same expression—a perfect mix of bafflement and sheer resignation. Seriously? Right now?
"What?" he said with total nonchalance, acting as if he hadn't just said the weirdest thing possible given the circumstances. "I'm handsome and I'm ripped," he added, making a hilariously tragic attempt to flex his triceps.
Connie blushed furiously, instantly ripping her gaze away, while the Gems just stood frozen, trying to process the scene. Garnet let out a heavy sigh, Pearl aggressively rolled her eyes, and Amethyst just burst out laughing.
Of course, Steven completely ignored all of it, keeping his focus entirely locked onto his living reflection. "Alright," he said, looking at himself with total seriousness. "Let's talk or whatever. You know perfectly well you're not gonna get anywhere with just the ocean water from here. You're just lying to yourself."
The water clones that were still holding their weapons began to stop one by one. It was as if those words carried actual weight, like something deep inside their programming had cracked. In a matter of seconds, the copies completely dissolved, melting away into the ocean breeze.
Wow, I thought, watching a liquid arrow form right in front of me, pointing directly up toward the massive column towering over the horizon. It gave the distinct impression that it was waiting for me.
I took a step forward, but Connie instantly caught my arm.
"What's wrong?" I asked, seeing her expression shift into a tight mix of nerves and deep worry.
"I know I can't stop you, you're way too stubborn," she responded with a tiny smile that quickly flattened into absolute seriousness. "But just be careful, okay? Remember that your da—I mean, your dad is waiting for you."
I stared at her for a few seconds and, without saying a word, reached out and gently patted her head. "Come on, Connie, you're talking like I'm heading off to my execution," I said with a tired smile. "If she wanted us dead, trust me, she would've done it already."
The water arrow seemed to tense up for a split second, almost as if it had actively heard my words, but then it settled back into its fluid shape, silently pointing toward my destination.
"Be careful, Stevo," Amethyst said, her voice sounding genuinely worried for the first time instead of playful.
"Take care," Garnet added with a serious face, the reflection of the blue water painting her shades. It was obvious the battle hadn't gone exactly how she wanted.
Pearl, on the other hand, couldn't hold back her emotions. She was openly weeping, looking like she was watching me say a final goodbye.
I let out a heavy sigh, feeling a complex mix of nerves, tenderness, and something else that was hard to pin down. With a bead of sweat sliding down my forehead and a completely different emotion pulsing in my chest, I took my first step into the water. The surface rippled elegantly, and the entire world distorted right in front of me, like a fluid door swallowing me up into another universe.
Steven ascended in absolute silence, cradled by a colossal hand made of pure water that gently hoisted him toward the very top of the column. The wind whipped softly against his face, and for a split second, he decided to try something he had been wanting to test out for a while.
A perfectly clear, shimmering oxygen bubble materialized right around his head. He smiled in total satisfaction seeing it work. Hey, you never know when you might end up floating in the vacuum of space or trapped at the bottom of the ocean. I'm strong, sure, but I'm definitely not immortal.
Damn, you are a genius, Justin, he thought with a wave of pride. Then he paused. Justin, huh? It had been a really long time since he had called himself that name, as if it belonged to a completely different version of him—one that existed long before any of this insanity started. With a small chuckle, he shook his head and kept riding the lift up.
The water hand deposited him smoothly onto the summit. Standing right in front of him was Lapis Lazuli. She looked even more imposing than he remembered, but also infinitely sadder. Her eyes... Steven realized they weren't normal. They looked exactly like mirrors.
"Hey," he said with a completely relaxed smile.
Lapis stared at him, looking highly confused, as if she hadn't expected him to strike up a conversation with so much nonchalance.
"You have really pretty eyes, you know?" he added, effortlessly breaking the ice.
"Uh..." was all she managed to stammer out, a drop of sweat sliding down her cheek.
"Well," Steven said, shrugging his shoulders, "since you haven't used all this water to blast me to the moon yet, I figured we could actually talk."
The word prisoner made her tense up for a fraction of a second, but seeing that he was just teasing, she relaxed her shoulders and dissolved the liquid constraint that had been keeping him floating.
Lapis sat down at the edge, her gaze completely lost in the vast infinity of the sky. The surface of the dry ocean floor was so far below that it looked like an entirely different planet.
"You know," she said in a quiet, fragile voice, "I just want to go home. I've been stuck on this planet for way too long... and not in a good way. I was trapped inside a mirror for centuries, mistaken for a rebel Gem. I couldn't speak, I couldn't move, I couldn't even think straight. Everything was just dead silence. Until I heard your voice."
She lifted her gaze slightly, locking her mirror-like eyes back onto his.
"When you talked to me, I actually felt free. Even though I was still trapped in the glass, I felt like I was out here, just like right now. You made me feel... cared for. Like an actual gem. Or a real person. I don't really know how to explain it."
The small smile that accompanied her words was incredibly weak, as if forcing it took everything she had.
"You're unique, Steven. In thousands of years, absolutely nobody ever took the time to just talk to me. And that... I really liked that."
Her hands rested flat on her knees, trembling slightly. Steven didn't say a word. Sometimes, talking didn't really fix anything. He simply stepped closer and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, just to let her know he was right there. Lapis didn't flinch; she just looked up at him with those mirror eyes that seemed to reflect absolutely everything and nothing all at once.
"I'm still trapped," she whispered. "It feels like I'm still inside that mirror. I just feel so empty... I miss my home."
A few seconds of heavy silence ticked by.
"So what's stopping you?" he asked in a calm, steady voice.
"My gem," she answered miserably. "It's been cracked since the war. Honestly, it's a miracle I'm even standing here with just these fractures. I should have shattered a long time ago."
Steven went quiet, inspecting the cracks visible on her back. Then he flashed that signature smile of his—the one that perfectly blended absolute confidence with zero hesitation.
"You know, I can actually heal your gem."
She snapped her head up instantly, her face a sudden mix of shock and desperate hope. Her eyes flared, reflecting the bright light of the surrounding water.
"Are you serious?!" she gasped, completely out of breath.
"Oh, totally," he replied with a warm smile. "But I'm gonna need you to do something for me first."
"Ah, right... you want something in return," Lapis murmured, instantly dropping her gaze, a distinct note of sadness creeping right back into her voice.
"Hey, it's a minor detail, honestly," Steven said, scratching the back of his neck and looking down at the ground.
"Oh..." she said, instantly putting the pieces together and realizing what he was driving at.
"I need you to put the ocean back exactly how it was. If you just drop all this water all at once, it's going to trigger a catastrophic disaster. And I am definitely not having millions of deaths on my conscience."
Lapis stared at him in genuine confusion, practically stunned by how simple and selfless the request actually was.
"Just that?" she finally asked.
Steven watched as Lapis nodded with a volatile mix of nerves and resignation. He shot her a look that basically said, "Did you think this was gonna be a breeze?" She let out a small cough, desperately trying to regain her composure, and answered with a defeated sigh. "Sure," she finally said. "So... how do we do this?" she added, tilting her body to leave her cracked gemstone completely exposed.
"This is gonna look incredibly weird," Steven murmured, sticking his tongue out.
She barely managed to squeak out a confused, "Wait, what do you mean wei—?" before freezing completely solid from what dropped next. Steven's saliva landed squarely on her gemstone, and a massive shudder rippled through her entire body.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, instantly blushing a bright crimson, completely unable to process what had just happened—though she quickly noticed a bizarre sensation. There was absolutely no pain. Her gemstone, her entire essence, was completely healed.
Lapis stared at her reflection in the water wall, pure shock and tears instantly welling up in her eyes. Steven watched her with a perfectly tranquil expression, his own eyes shifting back to normal—no longer glowing like crystals, but settling back into his regular human pupils that made his face look grounded.
"Thank you so much," she sobbed, the tears starting to stream down her face. "I never thought I'd see the day where that burning pain finally stopped." The tears fell in torrents as she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Steven in a tight, desperate hug. He simply returned the embrace, giving her some gentle pats on the head, thinking that she clearly needed the release.
They stayed like that for a few minutes while she silently let out all the built-up trauma, until she finally murmured a soft, "Thank you," before slowly pulling away. She turned her gaze back out toward the ocean trench, and her gemstone flared with a brilliant light. From her back, a pair of gorgeous, translucent wings made of pure water burst forth, shimmering elegantly under the sunlight. Lapis stared at them, completely thrilled, then spun back to Steven with a vibrant smile, stating that she was ready to hold up her end of the deal.
"Do you want me to give you a lift down, or do you prefer to handle the drop yourself?" she asked playfully.
Steven peeked over the edge, and with a bead of sweat sliding down his cheek, he quickly responded, "Yeah, if you could drop me off, that would be fantastic."
She nodded, fighting back a chuckle, and extended a fluid hand made of water—infinitely more stable and controlled than before—detaching it from the massive column. Steven stepped onto it, looked up at her for a few seconds, and before the platform descended, he gave her a quick, warm hug. "Take care of yourself," he whispered with a smirk. "Go with God, or whatever crazy old cosmic entity is running things up there."
Lapis blinked, thoroughly confused by that last part, but she returned the embrace with a small laugh. "See you around," she said before lifting gracefully into the air.
The colossal column of water began to smoothly recede back into the ocean trench as her silhouette soared higher into the sky, enveloped in a brilliant blue radiance that slowly faded into the horizon.
Steven chilled out on the massive water hand as it brought him smoothly down to where the girls were waiting. The second his feet touched the ground, they lunged at him, burying him in a chaotic dogpile of tight hugs and frantic tears. The water level currently hovered right around their hips, but absolutely nobody gave a damn. The sheer relief washing over the beach was bigger than any wave.
Connie broke the silence with the one question they were all dying to ask. "Steven, what happened? What did that gem actually want?"
He lifted his gaze back up toward the sky, catching a view so magnificent that he couldn't resist pulling out his phone, snapping a few quick photos, and sliding it back into his pocket.
"She... just needed someone to actually listen to her," he answered with a serene smile as the sunlight glinted perfectly across the completely calm, restored ocean.
And just like that, the Crystal Gems learned that even an enemy could be carrying a lifetime of pain that just needed to be understood. Maybe they had just gained a powerful new ally... or maybe a future rival. Only time will tell.
End of Chapter 18.