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The temple door opened to reveal Pearl, looking for a certain hybrid. They had a long day after the corruption had been cured, explaining the situation to the previously corrupted gems and helping them find a place to live.
Some of them returned to Homeworld, some of them chose to stay behind, Nephrite being one of them. Since she and Steven had already developed a friendship, and she was originally from Pink’s court to begin with, she chose to stay behind on her abandoned ship with her family, with Steven promising to visit her soon and show her the beauty of Earth.
Most Quartzes chose to go back to the Kindergartens, with Amethyst and Steven helping them to estabilish themselves. Surprisingly, Jasper also chose to stay behind, saying that: “Her diamond was here.” Steven, of course.
It took a few hours of explanation and a lot of shields to explain the situation to her, but after she finally understood that Pink Diamond was gone, and that Steven had her gem, she was adamant about not leaving his side.
Well that would take a while. All in all, this was a big day for all of them, and she wanted to make sure Steven was okay. Not just that, but also thank him, for everything.
He had brought her friends back, he had befriended the diamonds, he DEFEATED them. He saved them all. And the worst part is, he didn’t even want a “thank you” or a “you’re my hero.” No. He just wanted to help and make her, Garnet, Amethyst, Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot happy. And that just made she want to thank him more.
Not only that, but she was also worried. She had been controled by White Diamond, along with Garnet and Amethyst. She didn’t remember anything that happened until she was released along with everyone else.
But something must have happened between Steven and White in that time spam, and that TERRIFIED her. She knew how bad White Diamond could be, she was her original Pearl after all. She wasn’t sure if he had already pieced together and realized that after seeing the original Pink Pearl.
She hoped he didn’t.
But what worried her more was how sure he was that Pink was gone when he was explaining everything to Jasper. They had always hoped that Pink, Rose, would still always be there in Steven’s gem. They had never said she was gone, HE had never said she was gone.
She couldn't be gone.
Banishing those thoughts from her head, she made her way to Steven’s bed. It was already early in the morning and she was sure that if she woke him up now he wouldn’t be mad. Not that he would ever be mad anyway.
But to her surprise, she found an empty bed. “Steven?” Pearl called. No response. She instantly grew worried. It was innevitable for her. She knew he could take care of himself, he had faced THREE DIAMONDS in the same day and lived! But when it was about HIM, she was always worried.
He would usualy have left a note, saying where he went and that he would be back soon. But she found nothing. She went outside, hoping to find him in the sand, but again. Nothing. She then looked on the telescope that was always on the porch.
That’s when she saw him. There, on the cliff side, previously known as the “Dead Man’s Mouth” with Steven strumming the chords of his Ukulele while laid against the fluffy body of Lion, who was currently sleeping peacefully beneath his best friend.
"Strange" The white gem thought. "Why would he be there of all places?" She wondered. "Maybe he just wants to be left alone?" She thought for a second. "No, Lion’s with him." She thought again. "But what if he gets mad at me?" She thought fearfully. "Oh, who am I kidding, he never gets mad."
Making up her mind, Pearl started making her way towards the cliff side. It took a while, since she didn’t have floating powers nor a magical lion to teleport her there.
She entered Beach City, being greeted by a few residents that were already awake, some noticing her new look. She was pretty proud of it. Especially the jacket. It represented her progression, all thanks to HIM, of course. She made a mental note to thank him about that too.
She got on the cliff side, and what she saw made her heart melt. It was Steven, resting upon Lion, while strumming his Ukulele and watching the sun rising. It was much more beautiful on person than through a telescope.
She approached him, careful not to scare him, but he had already noticed her presence. “Hey Pearl.” He said casually. She immeadiately stopped in her tracks.
"How did you know I was here?” She was sure she wasn’t making any noises. “I felt your aura, I guess.” He chuckled, already having stopped strumming.
“The Diamonds said that it was a power that mom had, feel the auras coming from gems and other living beings. Yours is pretty great.” He said smiling. Pearl blushed. “Oh, thank you. I forgot to tell you about that power.” She said apologetically.
“It’s okay, it’s much more fun to just find out on your own.” Steven said happily, and Pearl chuckled. His happiness and optimism were contagius, that’s for sure.
"Why are you here? Is everything alright?” Pearl asked worried. He had been awfully quiet yesterday. That was huge red flag for all of them.
Steven resumed his strumming. “Yeah, don’t worry about it, I just needed some time out. I’m going to see Pink Pearl today, see if I can help her. I just needed a break from all of this gem stuff.” Steven said while sighing.
“Oh! I’m sorry, do you want me to leave?” Pearl asked, already feeling bad and getting ready to leave. “No! Don’t worry Pearl, you can stay if you want to.” Steven reassured. “I don’t want to bother you. You have a big day ahead.” Pearl said fearfully.
“You could never bother me Pearl.” Steven said sincerely. That hit Pearl like a ton of bricks. Pink had said the exact same thing to her a few thousand years ago. Even remembering it was painful.
“Sorry.” Steven quickly apologized. “For what?” Pearl asked confused. “It’s just that your aura is shifting, you’re sad. Did mom say this to you?” Steven asked hesitantly. Pearl just nodded.
“Do you want to sit with me? It’s okay if you-“ Steven was interrupted by Pearl sitting beside him. “Of course.” She said smiling. They looked at the sun rising for a while, until Steven decided to ask something.
“You were hers, right?” Steven suddenly asked. “What?” “White Diamond. You were her Pearl, right?” The hybrid clarified. Pearl shuddered a little.
This was a very complex matter. One that she didn’t like to talk about, even with ROSE. But he wasn’t Rose. He deserved to know, of all people, he deserved to know.
“Yes. After your mom misbehaved a lot, White punished her by taking away her Pearl, and giving me to her instead.” Pearl explained, as Steven continued strumming. Even if he wasn’t singing, it was still so soothing and beautiful. Just like him.
“How did you- “I had a dream. A lot of dreams, actually.” He chuckled, and Pearl noticed that he was strumming more forcefully now.
“I first saw White Diamond’s Pearl, but pink, watching me juggle and float throught the room. I guess I was supposed to be mom in that cenario.” That certainly wasn’t a pleasent memory for him too, as his voice grew darker and sadder at each word.
"Yellow appeared, and we pretended to be cool, and then we laughed and then...” Steven suddenly stopped talking. “Steven?” Pearl asked worried. He shuddered a little before continuing.
“Pink Pearl disappeared and White appeared, and I started spitting mom’s hair, and... then I woke up.” Steven finished his story. “That’s when you had a nightmare before we went to talk about the ball, right?” Pearl deduced. Steven just nodded.
"Oh Steven.” Pearl wrapped her arms on his neck and leaned him on her chest. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of those dreams.” Pearl said regretfully, knowing that this was a burden he could never get rid off.
“There’s more.” Steven said. “What?” Pearl asked confused. “When you were all poofed, Yellow threw me and Connie in some kind of tower.” Steven explained.
“It’s the prision tower she used to throw Pink in when she misbehaved. Did you have a memory about her in there?” Pearl asked worried. He nodded quietly.
“Kind of. I saw Blue entering the tower, and she was saying a bunch of weird stuff, something about “those organics from Kyenite colony.” Steven explained. Pearl chuckled at the memory of being chased by those weird colored cute creatures, but stopped when she saw the expression on Steven’s face, which was anything but happy.
“She said that if I kept doing that, White would take away my Pearl. I apologized, and a tear fell from my eye. That’s when I realized that I was Pink.
But suddenly, everything got blurry and I was me again. Then I saw you all getting poofed. Then I saw the diamonds using the corruption blast on me, and I started shifting between Me, Rose and Pink, over and over and over again.
It was just SO BAD. If I hadn’t woke up... Man, I don’t know.” Steven finished his dark tale, only to look up and see that Pearl was looking at him crying. He was confused by that, but before he could ask, he realized that HE was crying too. He quickly got off Pearl and wiped his tears away.
“Why are you crying?” Steven asked. “Oh! I’m sorry, it’s just that I saw you crying, and you were telling me about how you were suffering and-“ Pearl ranted while wiping away her tears, but stopped when she heard Steven chuckle. She started chuckling as well, and it soon turned into a full on laughter between the both of them.
That’s what she loved most about him.
Above all else, he always made her happy, he always made her smile, he always made her laugh. When the laughter died down however, she saw that he wasn’t happy. He was looking down, his black hair hiding his eyes. “Steven?” Pearl reached out for him.
"She’s gone.” With those simple words, she quickly retracted her hand. “What?” She asked confused. Deep down, she knew what he meant, but she wouldn’t accept it, she would never accept that SHE WAS GONE.
“Mom’s gone Pearl. She’s not here.” Steven said, not once looking at her. “Steven, you know that’s not true. She will always be in there with yo-“ Pearl tried to explain, but Steven wouldn’t let her.
“SHE’S GONE.” Steven pratically yelled. Lion even opened his eyes because of the noise. He instantly realized that and lowered his head in shame. “Sorry.” Steven apologized.
Pearl was shocked. Not only from his outburst, but because he was so adamant about her being gone. Normally, this was a comfort for him, as he always wanted to meet his mother.
But now, he was so sure that she was gone that it even scared her a little.
Then it all clicked.
He was so adamant that Pink was gone while talking to Jasper. The time that she, Garnet and Amethyst blacked out against White, only to wake up and all be fine.
"What happened between you and White?” She suddenly asked. She shoudn’t have done that, as his whole body tensed up, and his head jerked up to look at her. He had a TERRIFIED expression on his face. One that terrified Pearl even more.
“Oh my stars I knew it! What did she do to you?! Did she hurt you?! Are you-“ “She didn’t do anything, she... she showed me.” Steven explained, his voice more scared than Pearl had ever heard before.
“What?” Pearl asked confused and scared. When it came to White Diamond, she was capable of anything. Steven swallowed before continuing.
“After you guys were zombified by White, she started to say some stuff. Like how I only bring out the worst on others, and that she only makes everything better. She also said that I like surrounding myself with inferior gems, because that way I can be the best of the worse.” Steven explained, his voice sounding hurt and scared.
“That’s not true! You make everything better for everyone. She could only be talking about-" “My mom, I know. But when I said that, she just started laughing. A lot. Enough time for Connie to arrive and your zombified form to attack her.” Steven explained, completely shocking Pearl.
"What?! I would never-" “I know! I know, don’t worry. We know that it wasn’t you. She actually did pretty well, she would have defeated you if she hadn’t got distracted.” Steven explained.
“Well that’s an understandement. She’s my pupil after all. Remind her to never drop her guard in battle, ok?” Pearl asked, but stopped when she saw the look on Steven’s eyes. “What did she do?” Pearl asked carefully, not liking where this was going.
"She started saying that I was lying to myself, that mom had just embedded herself in me and that she was still in there.” Steven said, tears starting to form in his eyes.
“Steven, you cannot believe in anything she say! She was just trying to mess with you!” Pearl said, desperately trying to soothe the mind of the boy.
“I tried. I really tried to not believe in her. But she asked how I knew things about her that I couldn’t possibly know. And then I started thinking about the dreams, and that I was feeling her feelings. She really got me Pearl. She really made me believe that I was her.” Steven said, not managing to hold his tears anymore.
Pearl just looked at him completely stunned. She wanted to say something, ANYTHING to help the poor boy. But something worried her even more. “What happened next?” Pearl asked, more terrified from the answer than anything else in the world.
Steven suddenly looked down and held his head, tears coming out no stop. Pearl quickly took him in her arms to soothe him before he had a panic attack. Whatever it was, it TRAUMATIZED him, and probably Connie too.
“It’s okay, I’m here.” Pearl soothed as he cried in her chest. If this someone wasn’t White, she would already be drawing her spear and making her way towards the source of his distress. Well, she would just have to contempt herself with silent hate for now.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, we can-“ “No! Please, I... I need to talk about this with someone. It’s killing me. I couldn’t even sleep tonight.” Steven pleaded. “What?!” Pearl asked incredulously. That’s when she noticed.
The bags under his eyes. The tireness on his voice. He had nightmares for the whole night. How did she not notice this?! No wonder he was here. He just needed to be alone with his pet. Alone from everything that would remind him about whatever White did to him.
That included her.
She immeaditely felt guilty, thinking that she might have only added to his stress. But when she saw him cowering in her arms, she realized. He needed her right now.
“Everytime I sleep, everytime I CLOSE MY EYES, I dream about that.” Steven explained, his face burried in Pearl’s chest. “You can tell me Steven. Whatever it is, I’m here.” Pearl said confidently. This gave Steven the strength to finally talk. He got off Pearl’s arms and looked straight at her eyes. Then he said it.
“She ripped my gem off.” It were simple words, a simple phrase. But to a gem, to HIM, it meant the end. “WHAT?! OH MY STARS!” She quickly lifted his shirt up to see if it was still there. She noticed that it was in the same position as Pink’s gem.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine now.” Steven said dismissively. “HOW CAN THIS POSSIBLY BE FINE?! YOU COULD HAVE-“ “I did.” He interrupted her angry rant.
“What?” Pearl asked slowly. “I died. Or at least I came so close to it that I wanted to die.” Steven said with a tone of voice that shook Pearl to her core.
“Steven...” The white gem said, voice barely above a whisper. She reached out to him, placing a hand on his cheek. He immeaditely grabbed it, needing to feel something.
“Everything hurt.” He continued with a broken tone of voice. “My body hurt, my eyes hurt, my teeth hurt. Damn, even breathing hurt. I really thought that was it Pearl. I was so terrified, so... broken. I just felt unhole.” Steven explained, pausing a little to let some tears out.
Pearl just stared at him in stunned silence. The boy, the being she most loved in the universe, had just gone trough the biggest pain someone can imagine. How did he manage to put a straight face and happy smile after that? She would never know.
But something was still nagging her at the back of her head. “Your gem... Did it... Did she-"
Pearl was about to ask the question of her life, but Steven finished it for her. “Reform? Yeah, the gem did. But she didn’t come out of it.” Steven explained, his voice hesitant, as he knew that she wouldn’t like to hear this.
“What?! Then who came out of it?! How are you still here?!” Pearl asked in a way that sounded like she didn’t care about Steven at all. She quickly realized it, and felt like the worse gem in history. But before she could start her waves of apologies, Steven continued.
“I came out of it.” He said simply. Pearl just chuckled, thinking that this was some kind of joke. “Steven, that’s impossible. You coudn’t have come out of it if you were still alive. Are you sure that you weren’t just raving because of your-“
“I KNOW WHAT I SAW PEARL!” Steven yelled, making her jump back in fear and Lion jerk his head up. Pearl noticed that the whole cliff shook from his yell. Whatever happened made him much more powerful.
Steven calmed down and continued. “I came out of it. But not me. It was a pink me, with a blank expression. I could see through his eyes with one eye. I don’t know if it was the same to him. Guess I’ll never know.” Steven explained, making Pearl grow more shocked and more curious at each passing second.
“And what did this Pink you do?” Pearl asked, completely baffled by this story. “Well... For starters, he screamed.” “Oh, a scream of pain?” Pearl deduced.
“No, a scream of everything. Every bad feeling I’ve ever felt about my mom or because of my mom. All the guilt, all the suffering, all the anger, all the lies, EVERYTHING, that I held in my chest for so long... released, just like that.” He then chuckled. “No wonder it made a hole on the floor and threw White back.” The hybrid said humorously. Although it didn't meet his eyes.
Pearl was more worried about what he said prior to that, although someone knocking White back was something impressive on it’s on, Pearl was really intrigued about all those feelings that he had just described.
Anger, guilt, suffering. All constricted inside his chest, with no way of getting out. Then her mind went back to Stevonnie’s training session a few months ago. She had thought that Connie was the one who freaked out again, but now, it all made sense.
She was talking about Jasper and Bismuth and something that made her cry a lot. Connie didn’t even knew Bismuth at the time! He has been keeping those feelings inside his chest for so long and only now she knows about it?
This made her remember of all the times she compared him to her. All the times she HURT him because of her.
“What do you know?! You’ve never even met her!”
“Do you remember this place? Do you have any of her memories?”
Had SHE made him feel this way? Had she made him blame himself and hate himself for something that was completely out of his control? This made her feel devastated and heartbroken. But he still hadn’t finished.
“Then it started walking towards me. He could actually levitate. I tried walking towards it too, but all I managed was to fall in the ground.” At this, Pearl flinched.
“I guess I didn’t have energy to walk, and if I hadn’t reunited with my gem in time... I would be gone.” Steven said that with such confidence that made Pearl shudder.
“White tried to stop him, but he just defended himself with somekind of shield. It was like a perfect mix between my bubble and my shield. He knocked White back like it was nothing. Along with everyone else.” Pearl couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Steven, his gem at least, had knocked WHITE DIAMOND back like it was nothing. And if this scared her, it probably terrified Steven.
“I guess that was my gem’s raw power manifestating. No emotions, no heart, just pure energy and power.” Steven said, and his face gave it all:
He was terrified of HIMSELF.
“Steven...” Pearl tried to say. She couldn’t let the most selfless and kind boy in the universe be afraid of himself. “It was just so weird you know? Seeing this other half of me with so much power who didn’t think but ACTED. It was like he was ready to shatter everyone in the room just because he COULD. What if... What if I become someone like him?” Steven asked, fear so evident in his eyes that it made Pearl want to cry.
“Don’t you ever think that!” Pearl said confidently. “It doesn’t matter if you are 10 times stronger or 100 times stronger. You will always be our Steven. Do you understand?” Pearl asked while cupping his cheeks. Steven grabbed both of her hands for comfort.
“It’s just... It felt so bad you know? Seeing me hurting you guys, without even caring about what would happen... And not only that but...” Here, he got out of Pearl’s grasp, and stared at his hands. “My powers are getting stronger, tempting me to do stuff I never thought I was capable of. Sometimes... I don’t even recognize myself.” Steven confessed, shocking Pearl.
"Steven, you-“ Pearl tried to say, but Steven cut her off. “What if... He comes out again?” Steven asked fearfully, and Pearl understood what he meant very well. “We will all be here. I will always be here. I promise.” Pearl said sincerely.
Steven looked up to her and smiled, a sincere smile. This warmed her heart a little, but his smile soon fell from his face.
"I reunited back with the gem.” The boy suddenly said. Pearl gasped. “What happened? Did... Did she-“
“No.” Steven said immeaditely. He knew Pearl wouldn’t like to hear this. But she had to.
“I hugged him- me. It was just so good, because I wasn’t hugging my mom, I was hugging myself. And loving myself for who I am, not for who everyone wanted me to be. She is gone, Pearl. She was never here actually. It was only me. It’s always been me.” Steven explained, and Pearl put her hand in her mouth and cried.
Honestly, she knew, she always knew. Especially after she had fused with him. She found no trace of Rose, or Pink in there. She only found Steven. But she attributed this to the fact that they were in a dangerous situation, and she had no time to look properly.
But, it was true.
She was gone, and she was never coming back. She looked back at Steven, who hadn’t even moved from his place. He was still looking at her with an unreadable expression.
“Th- Thank you for telling me.” Pearl said in a cracked voice. Steven nodded, and went back to stare at the sun. Pearl did the same, as she couldn’t look at him right now. She loved him more than anything, but he was still a reminder that she was gone.
Then she heard him chuckle. She looked at him confused and a little angry, but it immediately vanished once she saw the sad expression on his face.
“God, what happened to me?” Steven asked no one, confusing Pearl. “My mom is gone, and she is never coming back. I’m all alone.” Pearl’s heart broke when he said that. She was so focused on herself that she didn’t even stop to think about him or how he was feeling. One more reason as to why he was better than her. But he continued.
“And despite that... I’m happy. Not only happy, I’m relieved. I’m relieved that I’m not her, I’m relieved that I’m not just a messenger that she used to get rid of her problems, I’m relieved because I’m me. I’m relieved because I’ve always been me.”
Steven continued, and Pearl saw that he was crying. But he was still smiling, even though there were fresh tears on his face. “God, you must hate me.” The hybrid said regretfully, horrifying Pearl.
“WHAT?! Steven, no! I could never hate you, I swear!” The gem pleaded, but Steven just laughed more while clutching his head with one hand as more tears came out of his eyes.
“You don’t need to pretend anymore Pearl. It’s fine if you hate me. It’s fine if I’m a burden to you. Because that’s all I am. And always will be. A burden.”
“Steven...” Pearl said brokenly. She did this. She made him feel this way, like a burden. Was she really that horrible? And she dared to say that she loves him.
“I tried. I tried really hard, but I always disappointed everyone. Everyone pretends to be proud of me, to love me, but I can see through lies with ease.” Steven continued, somehow with a smile on his face, while Pearl’s heart only broke more.
“Everyone misses Rose, everyone misses Pink Diamond. Everyone wants me to be that, but I can never live up to any of those gems. Everyone expects so much of me, and I always let them down. Because what can I do? I’m not a leader. I’m not even a real gem.” Steven continued, clutching his gem while more tears fell. And the smile never left his face.
“That’s not true! You-" Pearl tried to interrupt. She couldn’t hear this anymore. She couldn’t hear the consequences of what they did to him, of what she did to him. She couldn’t hear him beat himself up for this anymore. But he wouldn’t let her.
“I’m a waste.” Steven stated, like it was nothing much, and Pearl put her hand in her mouth in shock. She couldn’t possibly have knocked his self-stem so far down that he felt like this.
That explains why Smoky Quartz has such low self-stem. Not only Amethyst’s, but Steven’s too. Maybe even more than hers.
“I know that. I know everyone thinks that too, but don’t say it out loud. You guys always thought that I didn’t see it, but I’m not stupid. I can see it from far away. But no, you guys always thought I was too dumb to understand the truth. I’m just a burden to you guys, and I always have been.” Steven continued, and Pearl couldn’t take this anymore.
She couldn’t continue to hear him say this awful things about himself. This was all her fault and she knew it. But the worse part is: It was true. For a good part of his life, she thought these exact same things about him. She thought she didn’t show it, but here it was the living proof that she was wrong.
She had made the person that she loves most in the entire universe hate himself.
“Steven... You know that’s not true-“ “I know the truth. I’m a mistake.” No, no, no, NO. He couldn’t possibly be thinking this about himself. “Steven, please...” Pearl pleaded, but he still hadn’t finished.
“My existence is a mistake, all I do is make people lose someone important to them. Thanks to me, my mom is gone and she is never coming back. I know everyone feels pain while just looking at me.” Steven continued, and Pearl just felt her heart break more and more.
All those feelings that she silently held against him, had came back to haunt her. She felt like trash. And that’s what she was: Trash, if she made him feel like this. He didn’t deserve this. Any of this. He had just saved them along with the entire planet, and because of HER, he was still suffering.
And despite all that, the smile still hadn’t fell from his face.
He pulled his hair up a little while looking at the ground, and Pearl saw them: completely sad and broken eyes.
“Steven...” Pearl whispered, feeling more broken than ever before. She thought losing Rose was hard. This was a billion times worse.
“I won’t ever fit in. How can a burden do that?” Steven asked humorously, despite the situation. “Maybe it is better if I just dissapear.” Pearl’s whole body tensed when he said that. “Then maybe everyone will be happy again. When they aren’t forced to look at my face everyday.”
“NO!” Pearl yelled, making Steven look at her surprised. “Steven, we don’t want anyone but you. Please, please, PLEASE, believe me. I love you for who you are. Not for Rose, not for Pink, but for YOU. You’re the one who befriended the Diamonds, you were the one who made them listen, something your mother couldn’t do. You were the one who saved us, saved our friends from corruption. You were the one who helped me to move on more than anyone else.
And you did all that because you wanted us to be happy. Because you wanted to help. Because you LOVE US. And we love you too. No matter what you think about us, no matter what you think about ME, we’ll always love you.” Pearl said with tears falling from her eyes, as she was waiting to say that since the conversation started.
Steven just stared at her with an unreadable face, and went back to look at the ground, his tears falling at a slower pace, but still falling anyway.
“That’s the thing.” He said suddenly.
“Despite all that, I am happy. I’m at peace. After all this time, I finally learned to love myself for who I am. I’m Steven and I’m enough. So I don’t care if I’m a burden to you. I don’t care if you hate me. I don’t care if I’m just a mistake. Because I love me. Because I respect me. And that’s enough for me.” Steven finished, tears still falling from his eyes and the smile leaving his face, as he just stared at the ground with zero emotion.
Pearl just stared at him completely devastated. She did it. She really did it. She had made him think that she hated him. That he was nothing but a mistake and a burden.
But despite all that, he was happy. He was at peace for who he was. He was fine if she hated him. If everyone hated him. He still loved himself. Just like the song he sang yesterday. Now, there was just one thing left to do.
She wrapped her arms in his head and leaned him in her chest again. He didn’t even move, didn’t even say anything. Just sat there as more tears fell.
“That’s good, because I love you too. We all love you, and don’t you think for even a moment that we don’t want you here. That I don’t want you here. I love you more than anything in this universe, and I want you to know that we all are proud of you for who YOU are. And who you are is Steven. Someone much better than Rose could ever dream to be. Someone much better than all of us combined. Someone that I love very much.” Pearl finished with her tears falling on Steven’s hair.
She didn’t care, as she just needed to say this. It was the LEAST she could do. He still didn’t move, but Pearl couldn’t care less. She would hold him in her arms as long as he needed her to. He then smiled. A genuine smile.
“I love you too, Pearl.”
Then they started glowing, and they weren’t there anymore. Rainbow opened his four eyes, looking around. Lion looked at them confused, as he never saw their fusion before. “Hey there buddy.” Rainbow said hesitantly, reaching out for him. Lion leaned into his hand, then nuzzled his face in his neck, making Rainbow giggle.
“Whoa! Ok buddy.” Rainbow said, as a part of him enjoyed the nuzziling, and the other felt a little uncomfortable. He then looked at the horizon, the sun setting itself on the sky. His counterparts were currently discussing inside of him.
“Oh my God, I know you told me about it but... You almost died.” Pearl said inside of his head. “I know you would have done something if you could Pearl. It’s ok.” Steven reassured.
“It’s not ok! You were in so much pain, and I didn’t do anything about it!” Rainbow felt his form destabilize.
“Pearl it’s okay! I’m fine now. I don’t blame you.” Steven said sincerely. “You should.” Pearl said regrettfully.
“No, I shouldn’t. I know you blamed me, but that’s in the past. I’m not going to do the same to you out of bitter. I don’t need someome to blame, and you don’t need to blame yourself either.” Steven said, and Rainbow felt his form estabilize.
“You really are better than me.” Pearl chuckled. “I might be. But this doesn’t mean I’m superior to you. We’re all equal, and I love you, ok?” Steven asked sincerely.
Tears fell from one pair of Rainbow’s eyes. He hugged himself and smiled. “I love you too."