Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After Steven left for a journey of self-discovery, it was obvious that Jasper wouldn't stay whelmed. After all, she only stood in Little Homeworld due to devotion to Steven, and now Steven was gone.

But it was too much, Garnet decided while Jasper was wrecking havoc to find someone to follow until Steven returned, so she called an emergency reunion with Pearl, Amethyst, Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis.

"We need to whelm her" Garnet said. "She only follows strength, so one of us should beat her so she'll stay calm"

"I dunno, but Jasper's been training while we're rusty" Amethyst said. "After a warm-up I might be able to scratch her toe, but nothing more"

"Maybe fusing will work?" Bismuth asked. "Pearl, Amethyst, Opal's good with the bow, right?"

Pearl and Amethyst looked at each other.

"Opal's not exactly the most focused gem" Amethyst said.

"Jasper's relentless, one second of distraction and you go poof before her" Pearl confirmed.

"I'll do it" Lapis said.

They looked at her. Peridot looked extremely worried.

"Lapis, your relationship with Jasper is not exactly the best" Peridot said.

"I know. But I'm strong. I could beat Jasper even without the ocean" Lapis winked, as she pulled out her wings. "Watch and learn!"

She flew over to Jasper's ongoing chaos, punching her in the face. Jasper grinned at Lapis.

"A challenger?" Jasper asked.

"You'll follow any command of whoever proves to be stronger than you, right?" Lapis asked.

"No one's as powerful as Steven, but whoever beats me will be the spare leader, yes" Jasper said.

"So if I beat you, I'll command you unless Steven is here" Lapis said.

"Yes" Jasper grinned.

"And if a fusion beat you? Would you obey only the fusion or the components?" Lapis asked.

"Do you plan on fusing, Lapis?" Jasper asked back.

"No" She answered.

"Then don't ask useless hypotheticals" Jasper said, as she lunged against Lapis.

Their fight was tremendous: Lapis was strong, but her insistence on not using the ocean was severely handicapping her. Meanwhile, Jasper was going at it really hard.

"I'm aiming to shatter you, Lapis! An adversary like you doesn't deserve any kind of pitiful mercy!" Jasper shouted, as she slammed Lapis against a house.

"Lapis!" Peridot flew to her on a metal trashcan she was using as vehicle. "Lapis, are you okay? Your back...!"

"I'm fine" Lapis revealed to be using her wings as protection for her gem.

"You can't hold back like this! Use the ocean!" Peridot shouted.

"I can't use the ocean, Peridot! The old me used it without abandon, the old me used to think that torturing people and making them feel despair was strength! I cannot be the old me! I mustn't use the ocean!" Lapis shouted.

"Lapis, that's a horrible idea! Jasper isn't holding back because she knows your true strength! She's going to shatter you if you keep doing this!" Peridot shouted.

"I would rather be shattered than to use my full power to torture gems ever again! Even if it's Jasper!" Lapis shouted.

Peridot then hugged her.

"I don't want you to torture Jasper, I want you to be alive! Because I care about you!" She shouted.

Both their gems shined as their lights were shared together... and a new gem was born. 3 meters tall, two pairs of arms, one of those with gloves, two pairs of eyes, Lapis's pants and Peridot's shirt and boots, with a hairstyle pointy like Peridot but fluffy and long like Lapis. Jasper was surprised, as she faced the fusion.

"I didn't mean to!" The fusion said. "We'll unfuse, Lapis! I know how you feel about fusion and... wait..."

She hugged herself with her two pairs of arms. She then touched her nose. Lapis's nose, not Jasper's gem.

"We're not... I'm not... Malachite! I feel different, I feel... great!" She said, looking around. "Although too tall. Hmmm... Pink was able to permanently shapeshift into Rose by expanding her body mass, so how about it..."

She split up on Lapis and Peridot, who held hands and refused. Now she was as a
tall as Garnet, her arms, hips and legs were wider, she had augmented her body mass in exchange of height. She then pulled some butterfly translucid shades.

"I got this!" She said, proudfully. She held the trashcan lid like it was a shield. "Wait! If Lapis can control water and Peridot can control metal, what if I...?"

She heated the trashcan lid until it was molten metal, and controlled it and molded it into a proper metal shield. Jasper loomed above her.

"ARE YOU DONE?!" She headbutted the fusion, who merely blocked her helmet with the shield. "Huh?! You're a... Quartz?!"

"A Quartz? Interesting hypothesis" The fusion said. "Garnet once told Peridot that fusions have to self-examine and choose a name based on what type of gem they're more similar to. Rainbow and Smoky were named like that upon the assumption that Rose was a Quartz, but neither Ruby nor Sapphire are types of Garnets. You identified me as a Quartz, so I'm going with that. I am green, so my name is... Aventurine"

Aventurine then used a water hand from the ocean to pick up Jasper like she weighted nothing.

"Huh?! What happened with refusing to use the ocean?!" Jasper shouted.

"That's a Lapis thing! I'm a new experience so I'm not bound by those psychological hang-ups! Mostly" Aventurine added. "Regardless! When I beat you, do you promise to listen to Lapis and Peridot separately?!"

"That is IF you beat me!" Jasper shouted.

"I don't think you're correctly estimating your chances to win! Do you promise?!" Aventurine shouted.

"UGH! YES!" Jasper shouted.

"Wow, thanks" Aventurine thanked Jasper, as she crushed and poofed her with the water hand. She gently put the gem on her actual hand. "Let's wait until you regenerated"

"Are you okay?! Peridot, Lapis, uh..." Bismuth asked, as the other gems approached them.

"Aventurine. I am Aventurine" The gem defused.

Peridot looked at Garnet after nodding silently with Lapis.

"Garnet" Peridot said. "Will you teach Lapis and me how to be a permafusion? We want to stay as Aventurine. It's the thing we've enjoyed the most together ever. We are like sisters, and we want to be one"

"Staying as Aventurine could be something wonderful. But you can't lose yourselves" Garnet said.

"We know" Lapis said. "That's why we wanted to ask you the favour. Because you know how to exist both as yourself and as Ruby and Sapphire"

"And I will be glad to teach you the same" Garnet smiled.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter Text

Peridot was a scatterbrained genius. Lapis was focused, but held back by her hang-ups. Aventurine was a focused genius, which let her vastly improve both's technological and artistic approach. She had called Steven by Facetime to break the news to him.

"So Peridot and Lapis fused into you?! That's awesome! I'm looking forward to meet you in person! Once I go back, of course" Steven said.

"Ah! I have so many ideas!" Aventurine said. "For both inventions and meep-morps!"

"You know that meep-morps are called art pieces, right?" Steven asked.

Aventurine became embarrassed and unfused.

"My idea wasn't original?!" Peridot shouted.

"Steven!" Lapis complained.

"Sorry, sorry!" Steven laughed it off.

Peridot and Lapis fused again. Aventurine pouted.

"You better be" She said. Then she thought about something. "Hey, are you completely sure that your mom's gone"

"Pretty much. You can ask White if you want" Steven said, unflapped. "Why?"

"I was thinking about something, sorry!" Aventurine said. "Hey, I gotta hang up. See ya!"

"See ya!" Steven said. Aventurine hung up and went to her blackboard to write some ideas. Peridot and Lapis were conversing on the inside, brainstorming was so easy between three personalities...!

(...)

Steven's journey through the states had let him meet so many people... and learn so many things! He had been learning many human stuff, like how the goverment worked, how the school system functioned, the latest technology... But as he learnt more and more about humanity, he also found them... really bored with themselves. They didn't appreciate music, nature or friendship the same way he or his dad did. And even if his first second-hand experiences with it were rather tame, he found out that his mother's messed up family was not only a thing genocidal alien dictators did. There were so many White Diamonds out there, making life miserable for everyone else... He discussed it extensively with his therapist on Facetime.

Then, he found himself on his dad's hometown. He wandered on foot from the motel he was residing, as he found himself on the DeMayo household. Andy was there. With two people that resembled his dad so much.

"Steven!" Andy shouted, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Is this the Steven you spoke us about? Such a rebel, with those curls" The woman said.

Steven brought a hand to his hair, which he had been growing out. Curls like Rose's had been growing out. Maybe because of his affinity with her Rose Quartz sisters?

"Who are you exactly?" Steven asked.

"We are your grandparents, Steven!" Mr DeMayo shouted. "Unbelievable! Greg never told you about us?!"

"With good reason" Andy mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Mrs DeMayo asked, demanding.

"What I'm saying is that you drove away Greg with your stupid demands! My nephew might not have been to a school, but I never saw Greg as happy as he was with the alien women!"

"Mexican?" Mr DeMayo said, disgusted.

"Literal aliens! Space rocks!" Andy shouted.

"If I might add!" Steven added, showing off his gem to his grandparents's disgust. "My mom invaded Earth 6000 years ago, then she fell in love with humanity and waged war against her kind and then fell in love with my dad specifically and they had me!"

"Greg had a child with a space rebel?! An alien invader?!" Mr DeMayo shouted. "Disgusting! That man's no son of ours! And we are certainly NOT your grandparents!"

"What?! But you literally are, I...!" Steven shouted.

"Get out of our lawn! GET OUT!" Mr DeMayo ordered.

Heartbroken, Steven left. Many stuff his father had said about how things worked made sense now. The DeMayos's disgusted behaviour at what they were being told resembled the Diamonds. As Steven sat on a dinner eating some eggs and bacon, he reflected on how he compared Greg with Pink Diamond. The comparison was still accurate, but in a deeper sense than just what he meant of both being manchildren focused on their own butts instead of what was best for everyone else. 

Steven closed his eyes, and then he found himself on an area similar to Rose's Room. Rose herself approached him.

"Who are you?" Steven said, surprised.

"We finally get to meet in the flesh, Steven!" Rose smiled. "Well, not in the flesh... metaspace? Our gem is weird"

"What?" Steven said. "No, you can't be inside my gem, White Diamond took it out and it just came out... me"

"I am dormant in your gem's subconscious, so to speak. That's how you were able to connect with me back in Homeworld. But I assure you, Steven, that you're not me" Rose said.

"Dad never learnt about your past as Pink Diamond, right?" Steven asked.

"I didn't want to keep it secret. He told you how we tried to fuse, right? That night, I took him to my room. I, right there and then, wanted to reveal myself as Pink Diamond. Greg stopped me. He told me that he just wanted to know who I was. I noticed that he held secrets of his past close to his heart, so I didn't share mine. Didn't want to force his out of him" Rose said. "Isn't humanity beautiful?"

"It can be ugly too. My grandparents sounded like White Diamond" Steven said.

"Well, you showed proof that the unchanging gems are capable of changing. So the reverse must work as well. The everchanging humans refusing to change" Rose said.

"But is that how we want things to end?! If White was capable of changing, then, why can't they?!" Steven asked.

"Everyone can change. Not everyone wants to. That's what Greg told you, right?" Rose smiled.

"Yeah, I guess. By the way, now that I can ask you and all, how do you prefer to be called? Pink Diamond or Rose Quartz?" Steven asked.

"How about both? Rose Diamond has a cute ring to it" Rose smiled.

Steven grinned. Then, an idea occured to him.

"Wait! Maybe Aventurine can work something out so we can coexist outside! So you can make amends with everyone!" Steven said.

"I hope she never hears this, but I think that Aventurine is far smarter than Peridot and Lapis" Rose said, grinning.

Steven laughed, surprised.

"I'm gonna tell them!" He teased.

"Noooo...!" Rose said, laughing.

"Steven?" A voice asked.

"Oh! Someone's calling you. Bye!" Rose smiled.

Steven woke up. Andy was seated across from him.

"Steven! Are you having another breakdown?" Andy asked.

"No! I was... talking with mom" Steven recognized.

"Your Diamond powers now make you a medium?" Andy asked.

"Maybe? What happened? Why are you here?" Steven asked.

"I just wanted to ask you how you were doing. Greg told me his perspective on what happened while you were going to therapy, before you left Beach City" Andy said. "You must have been in for a surprise"

"I mean... I expected them to be coddling like Connie's parents, yes, but also kind deep down like them" Steven said. "Dad never told them about Rose?"

"Oh, he did. He wrote every day. When you were born he just... gave up" Andy said.

"I owe my dad a huge apology" Steven said.

"So? Where's your next stop?" Andy asked.

"I'm actually going to Connie's college to take some exams to get my high school diploma" Steven said. "I've been taking on this journey to put my papers in order. It seems like Steven Cutipie Quartz Diamond DeMayo Universe is too long for a name"

"Oh! Have you figured out a legal name?"

"Steven Diamond Universe" Steven said. "No offense, but you heard grandpa. They disowned me"

"I didn't disown you" Andy said. "Seriously, fuck 'em! They're the weirdos of the family anyway!"

"Andy!" Steven said, surprised.

"What? I'm a pilot, my parents were adventurers... Greg's parents were the weird ones after all!" Andy laughed. "Hey! Maybe they can change too!"

"I don't think they want to" Steven said.

"Hm. Yeah. If they wanted, they could've opened the letters that Greg sent..." Andy said.

Then, they heard the door swing open. It was Mrs DeMayo, Steven's grandmother. She held a photo of Greg, Steven and the gems, a very recent photo. She was crying rivers.

"I can't believe... how much I made my own kid suffer...!" She said. "I wanted what was best for him, I just wanted what was best for him!"

She hugged Steven, to his surprise.

"You ARE my grandson, Steven! You are my grandson! You're my little Universe!" She said.

She told him while eating dinner (She refused to eat any pork-related food — she was Jewish) that she took upon reading Greg's letters, which they had kept for no reason at all. That Greg had written them shortly after Steven's monstruous outburst. She showed Steven Greg's last letter.

"Mr and Mrs DeMayo...

Are you surprised I addressed you as that? Me too. I thought I would never write you, after you failed to answer me back for many years. If you finally read my letters, you might know Steven, and you read how I swore I would never control him like you did me. Well, I hurt him. I never gave him structure, because I felt suffocated by your structure. I've been to the therapist to work out those hang-ups.

I don't expect you to write me back, or even acknowledge my existence. But Steven's a good kid, just like I'd like to think that I was. And I hurt him.

He's an alien. He's a Diamond. He saved the freaking universe at 14! (Mom, don't freak out, "freak" is NOT a swear word). His mother was the most wonderful person in the world. She had a lot of secrets, she wanted to tell me those, but I never asked her, because I didn't want her to ask about mine. I didn't want her to ask about me because I would talk about you.

He's my wonderful little Universe. He's planning a world-wide journey, so hey, maybe he'll go to your home (He knows where you live, I kinda broke in with him to teach him about you once). If you read this letter, could he be your little Universe too?

I don't know what I'm even saying. I guess I'm just rambling.

I love you:
Regards:

Greg Universe"

Steven smiled to himself, reading what Greg had scribbled out of the letter.

"Your grandfather may be unwilling to change" Mrs DeMayo said. "But I am willing to change. I am willing to accept what I found unacceptable. Because I miss my baby Greg. I miss my Mister Universe"

Steven smiled and hugged her. He became decided he would go back to the Gems and work something out to coexist with Rose. If there was a possibility, as small as it could be... he would work it out!

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter Text

The Gems were preparing themselves: Steven had warned them that he would go back to Beach City to try and get Rose out of her dormant state within her gem. He had even contacted White, who managed to see Rose within Steven's gem. It was a miracle! But White reassured Steven that the new developments didn't confirm her previous theory of Steven being Rose's vessel.

In fact, the Crystal Gems, Connie and Greg were discussing with the Diamonds, Spinel and Blue Zircon (Homeworld's elected official) what it exactly meant.

"In my Religious Studies's class we have been learning about reincarnation. Maybe Steven's his mom's reincarnation?" Connie asked.

"What does this mean for the future of Gems?" Zircon asked. "No offense, but you Diamonds only seem to care about Steven because he was Pink's legacy"

"We did, at first" Yellow said. "But after that meltdown, we took some time to self-reflect"

"We were unfair to Steven, regarding him as his own person and yet holding him as Pink's legacy!" Blue said.

"No matter if Pink manages to come back, Steven's going to be our family" White said.

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you... what is Pink to you Diamonds? A sister? A daughter?" Greg asked.

"What?" White asked Greg.

Greg taught the Diamonds about family dynamics, and they self-reflected. Because White made the Diamonds and tried to raise them, she was considered to be their mother, while Yellow, Blue and Pink were sisters. Steven was Pink's son, which made Yellow and Blue his aunts and White his grandmother.

Meanwhile, Aventurine approached the Crystal Gems, who seemed conflicted.

"Garnet? Amethyst? Pearl? ... Bismuth? How are you doing?" Aventurine asked.

"I don't know how Greg and the Diamonds can be so unconcerned about this! After mourning Rose for so long...!" Bismuth said.

"I wonder... will I be really free from Rose if she returns?" Pearl asked.

"Come on, Pearl! Rose didn't want a servant and you know it!" Aventurine said.

"I dunno. It will be hard to face her after knowing the things she didn't tell us" Amethyst said. "And how's Steven gonna take having her alive? And Jasper?"

"I can't see the future of this" Garnet said. "It's everything so unpredictable..."

"Garnet, it is okay. Steven's been working through that stuff" Aventurine said. "It'll bring us closure for everything we couldn't say! I'll work on it, promise! I think I know what to do!"

"Why are you so sure about this, Aventurine?" Garnet asked.

"If it wasn't for Steven, I wouldn't exist. Peridot, Lapis and I... we want to do something huge for him. Something life-changing!" Aventurine said.

Garnet felt moved at Aventurine's determination. She had roped Jasper into being her lab assisstant. Do something useful when she wasn't sparring.

"Aventurine!" Zircon approached her. "I wanted to speak with you, as you seem the most focused of the bunch right now"

"Yeah, what's up, Zircon?" Aventurine asked.

"There's been a group of... terrorists who have been attacking gems, in the name of destroying Era 3" Zircon said.

"Oh, no. Who are they?" Aventurine asked.

"Emerald, Bluebird and Morganite are the main ones. They have recently taken over the Reef and they are producing Pearls to fill up their ranks" Zircon confessed.

"That is... concerning. Thank you for telling me this, Zircon. We'll take care of it when we're able to" Aventurine said.

"Thanks" Zircon said.

Aventurine stood silent, as the gems within her simmered what they just heard.

"Yellow Diamond wasn't kidding when she said that they gave up all their power. Now they're not even aware about that group of rebels!" Peridot said within Aventurine.

"Ugh. I knew we shouldn't had let Bluebird go like that, we should've bubbled her!" Lapis said within Aventurine.

"And behave like the Diamonds?! No thanks" Peridot posed her opinion.

"I'm not saying the Diamonds had a right to act like they did" Lapis said.

"I hope you don't, Lapis" Peridot said.

"Still, Steven forgot about what punishments were fitting for criminal gems!" Lapis continued.

"What IS a criminal gem?! There have only been gems that didn't get the memo, like those Lapis gals" Peridot said. "And yet the one with pyrite freckles did get the memo!"

"I don't know! That's for Zircon to decide now, now is it?" Lapis asked.

"Aventurine?" Amethyst asked, calling the fusion's attention. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" Aventurine said. "Most of the time, Lapis's focus lets Peridot's genius focalize, but Lapis's impulsive and Peridot's undecisive. They can be quite a handful whenever I find something emotionally conflictive"

"Is something troubling you?" Amethyst asked.

"Actually, yes, it is. But we must focus on this issue first. Hopefully, it won't be late to fix this when we resolve it" Aventurine said.

"You got it" Amethyst said.

"That is a good compromise, right? We are sincere: There's something beyond this situation, but we can't divert focus" Aventurine said to herself. "That's how we'll handle it"

She nodded to herself, as she went to work on a device. One that would clone Steven's gem while pulling out Rose's essence that laid dormant within it.

TO BE CONTINUED