(See the end of the chapter for notes .)

Chapter Text

“-and while the American Revolution did bring along significant changes in the ways people thought about their government, I would argue that the sometimes overlooked revolution, the French Revolution, played another key role in this-”

The class bell rang, cutting Mr. Green off from his lecture.

“But I suppose we’ll get into that tomorrow,” he said as his students began to gather their things and shove them into various kinds of bookbags. “Don’t forget your reading for tonight,” he called out as students began to get up from their seats and head towards the door.

In a rare change, Connie was the first one out the door.

She moved quickly through the halls, dodging students and faculty alike. Not that she really knew why she was in a rush. Mr. Green’s history class was only her fourth period of the day.

And now I have to sit through lunch. And I’m not even close to being hungry.

She pushed past a group of older students that were talking and standing in the middle of the hallway. They shot her a look as she did, but she didn’t notice.

Maybe I should spend lunch in the library. It’ll at least be quiet there… And maybe I can gather my thoughts.

“Connie! Over here!”

Before Connie could change her direction, a voice called out to her. She turned and saw Peedee, Steven’s friend who’s family owned the fry stand at the boardwalk. He was waving at her from the cafeteria entrance.

For a moment, Connie considered pretending like she hadn’t noticed him, even though it was fairly obvious she had. She didn’t know Peedee that well and frankly, she really wasn’t in much of a mood for casual conversation. But… He was Steven’s friend and if you were Steven’s friends, then chances are you are, at the very least, worth acknowledging. So in the end, Connie returned his wave and made her way over to him.

“Hey, Connie,” Peedee greeted as she approached him. “Ready for lunch?”

His tone was one of familiarity, like them eating together was a regular occurrence. And unfortunately, Connie had a gnawing suspicion on why Peedee would believe that they ate lunch together regularly, when Connie herself had no memory of it.

“Sure, Peedee,” she answered lightly. “Let’s go.”

They both entered the noisy cafeteria and quickly scanned the room for an empty table.

“What about right there?” Peedee asked, pointing to a table in the corner of the cafeteria. Connie nodded and Peedee continued, “Alright. You brought your lunch right? Why don’t you go grab our seats while I get ‘food’?” he said, finger quoting his last word.

“Sure,” Connie said slowly. She strided over to the table before anyone else could claim it. And she sat there. Waiting. With nothing to distract her.

“This was a bad idea,” she mumbled to herself. She began to drum her fingers on the table as she did her best to level her breathing.

Connie had always been somewhat anxious in general. It came with being a socially withdrawn book-nerd most of her life. That, and having parents with such… high expectations also didn’t really help. But over the years, Connie had come up with several ways to ease herself whenever her anxiety started to get a little overwhelming. And more recently, Connie found that Pearl’s pre-battle preparations tended to help as well.

Focus your breathing. Know who your enemy is and why you have been brought into this battle.

Spinel, she thought.

Because you’re threatening my friends.

The sound a plastic tray hitting against the table drew Connie out of her own mind.

“Can you believe this?” Peedee asked as he gestured towards his tray.

Connie looked down at the food on the tray, but couldn’t find anything particularly off with it. It was just a simple cheeseburger and a side of fries. Normal cafeteria fair.

“I’m not quite sure what you mean,” Connie replied.

Peedee picked up one of the fries and held it in front of his face. “Look at this fry. Soggy and undercooked.” He dropped it back onto the tray. “If I tried to serve this at the stand, I’d never live it down.”

Connie tried to smile. “Yeah. Probably.”

Peedee looked at her for a moment before asking, “You alright, Connie? A fry rant usually gets at least a chuckle.”

Connie blinked at him before responding, “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Are you not eating because you’re fine?”

Connie managed a small smirk. “No. I’m not eating because I’m not hungry.”

“Hehe. Fair enough,” Peedee laughed. He took a fry from the plate and popped it into his mouth before continuing, “Does this have to do with your date with Steven the other day?”

Connie could feel her heartbeat increase at the question. This really wasn't something she wanted to think about right now.

“No… It’s just…”

Peedee held up his hand. “Say no more. No need to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Connie said defensively. “Our date went well. In fact… I’d say it went great.” She glanced down at her bookbag that sat on the ground next to her. “Barring a few… hiccups…”

Peedee swallowed the bite of burger that he had taken. “Oh, really? So you two really are going to be Beach Cities power couple?”

Connie could feel her face grow warm. “I… don’t know about that.”

Peedee tossed another ketchup topped fry into his mouth. “Well… Power couple might be the wrong phrase. Still, you have to admit. You two make a great match.”

“Hmm…” Connie sounded unsure.

Peedee snorted. “Listen, before your date, Spinel would always drop by the stand whenever she was getting donuts for Amethyst and Steven. And one of her favorite topics was how you and Steven are made for each other.” He rolled his eyes before continuing. “She’s probably the biggest shipper of you two in Beach City.”

“The… biggest shipper?” Connie asked.

“Yeah, you know. Shipping, like relationship? It’s the internet slang way of saying you support these people getting into a relationship together.” He chuckled. “Now all you need is a cutesy couple name. Or, at least that’s what Spinel says.”

“I see...”

“Personally, I’m fond of Stevonnie. Then you have your couple name and it’s the name of your fusion. Double meaning, ya know,” Peedee said.

Connie was silent, taking a moment to think. Just as Peedee was taking another bite of his burger, she asked, “Does Spinel talk about Steven and I a lot?”

Peedee shrugged. “Not more than she talks about anyone else.” He dipped the last bite of his burger into the small cup of ketchup and then tossed it into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed. “Why?”

“Just… wondering,” Connie said. “Sometimes it just feels like Spinel is the Gem I know the least about.”

“Yeah, I can see that. I mean, none of the Gems really talk about the past that much, but you can still usually get a few details out of them. But Spinel?” Peedee shrugged again. “Closed book, that one.”

As Connie took in everything Peedee had said, an idea began to form in her head.

“Hmm…” she wondered as she tapped her lower lip. “That’s true. Spinel can be a little closed off. I wonder why that is…”

“Who can say? Some people just don’t like talking about themselves.” Peedee pushed his empty tray to the side of the table. “Whenever she drops by the stand, she always talks about Steven, or Pearl, or Amethyst, or whatever mission or project they’re working on.” He paused. “Well, most of the time, anyway.”

That piqued Connie’s interest. She asked carefully, “‘Most of the time’? Did something happen?”

“Eh, not really. Just, like two days ago, Spinel passed by the fry stand early that morning before we’d opened and I happened to be at the front counter so I called out to her. But when she turned around she looked really…” Peedee raised his hand to his mouth in contemplation. “I dunno. Stressed, maybe? It’s kinda hard to put my finger on it exactly. But anyway, she just gave a curt little wave and walked off.”

“Did you see her again that day?”

“Yeah. Later that afternoon she swung by and apologized for being in such a rush that morning. I asked her why and she just gave that grin of hers and said ‘Gem Business’. I took the hint and didn’t ask anymore follow up questions.”

“I see… And when was this again?” Connie asked as smoothly as she could.

“Saturday,” Peedee answered.

Connie was silent, the gears in her head already turning. The gap in Steven’s memory had started sometime on Thursday and Steven had no memories of Friday, Saturday, and most of Sunday. So it was likely that Spinel had arrived that Thursday. And if what Peedee said was accurate (not that Connie doubted him, but memory issues were becoming a problem lately) then it was also likely that on Saturday morning Spinel had only been around for one full day. Was that why she was in a rush that morning? She was still… flexing her influence over more people? And if so… how far out did it spread?

“Are you okay, Connie?” Peedee asked, breaking Connie out of her thought process.

Connie put on what she hoped looked like a non-forced smile and replied, “Yeah. Just… thinking.”

“Gem Business?”

Connie grimaced, “Afraid so.”

Peedee gave a lopsided smirk, “Of course.”

Connie felt a pang of guilt shoot through her, “I’m sorry, Peedee. It’s just-”

However, Peedee held up his hand to stop her. “It’s alright, Connie. I understand. Can’t involve the regular folk in dangerous business. Just… Can you answer one question?”

Connie nodded.

“This has to do with Spinel, doesn’t it?”

“Y-yeah. I think it does,” Connie replied slowly.

Peedee sighed. “Of course. I knew this was going to happen.”

“Knew what was going to happen?” Connie asked.

“Spinel was going to… get herself into trouble. She’s that kind of person. Focused so much on other people and their problems that she doesn’t realize that the water is slowly rising at her own feet,” Peedee said as he rested his elbows on the table.

“Hm. That’s… not how I’d describe Spinel,” Connie replied simply.

“It’s how I would. I mean, come on, Connie. Spinel’s helped relations improve between the Gems and the town, she’s always going around on ‘patrols’, which everyone knows are just excuses for her to go around town and see if anyone needs any help or just needs someone to talk to, or whatever.” Peedee cupped his hands and began to twiddle his thumbs together. “I mean, she is the one that suggested we start eating lunch together. If not for her, I’d still be eating alone everyday.”

“Peedee, that… There are a lot of people besides me who would like to eat lunch with you,” Connie said.

“Probably. I mean, it’s a big school. But…” he glanced away. “I kinda have trouble reaching out to people. Really, the only reason I'm friends with Steven is because he talked to me first.”

“Yeah,” Connie sighed simply. “I know what that’s like.”

Peedee gave a small smile. “So it’s good that someone like Spinel is around, you know? Pearl and Amethyst fight the monsters and Spinel’s PR. Well, Spinel and Steven.” He chuckled. “Could you imagine what the relationship between the town and the Gems would be without those two?”

“Probably mutual disinterest,” Connie replied, an odd discomfort growing around her.

“Exactly,” Peedee said. “We’d be getting our butts saved on a daily basis and we’d never know it. Except when a giant hand descends from the sky over town, I guess.”

Connie was silent. The ideas swirling around her head were… disquieting, to say the least. Even though he hadn’t meant to, Peedee had raised a good point. All the changes that Spinel had made, at least that Connie could see, were all changes for the positive, at least in theory.

Better relations between the Gems and the residents of Beach City? Positive.

Connie’s parents being more relaxed and trusting of what she was doing with the Gems? Positive.

Steven and Connie going on their first date? Positive. ...Hopefully.

All of those were positive changes. And not only that, but they were all things that-...

Connie’s eyes shot open with a sudden realization. She stood from her seat knocking it over as she did.

“Woah, you alright Connie?” Peedee asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m… I’m fine. Um, listen, I need to check on something real quick so…” she trailed off.

“Ah, right. Say no more,” Peedee waved off. “Bell’s gonna ring in a little bit anyway. You go do what you need to.”

Connie nodded as she grabbed her bookbag and began to walk away. “Thanks, Peedee. I’ll-” She stopped, both mid-sentence and mid-step, as she looked back over towards him.

“Something else up?” he asked.

“No, just… Listen, this is going to sound really weird, but when this latest batch of Gem Business is settled with Spinel, I… want to eat lunch with you again, Peedee.”

He blinked with confusion. “Um… okay, Connie. Why wouldn’t we?”

Connie gave a lopsided smile. “I told you it would sound weird.” She began to walk again, waving to him and calling over her shoulder, “I’ll see you later, Peedee.”

“Yeah… I’ll see you, Connie. And, hey.”

She stopped again as she turned around.

“You be careful. The Gems might be aliens from another planet, but you’re still human. Don’t let the water rise around your feet without your notice.”

Connie paused for a beat, before nodding again. “Right. I will Peedee. Thanks,” she said as she walked towards the cafeteria's exit.

Connie paced back and forth in front of the girl’s bathroom.

“Come on. Pick up, Steven…” she urged.

She held her phone to her ear, her eyes constantly darting around to make sure that no school faculty were around. They didn’t take kindly to students being on their cell phones during school hours. Luckily, B wing’s bathrooms were both out of the way and… fairly unsightly, so they tended to not get a whole lot of foot traffic, either by students or faculty.

Which was fine for now. Even if talking on her phone hadn’t been against school rules, Connie still wanted some privacy for her conversation.

After several minutes ringing, there was a beat of silence and she thought the voicemail was going to pick up, but instead Connie’s heart skipped a beat when she heard his voice, “Hello?”

“Steven,” Connie breathed with relief. “I… didn’t think you were going to pick up.”

“Oh… Hey, Connie,” Steven said. He sounded a little… strange.

“Are you alright?” she asked concernedly. “Spinel hasn’t… done anything, has she?”

“Sorry, Connie. I can’t really talk right now. Pearl and Spinel are making lunch.” He spoke very carefully, putting just a slight emphasis on Spinel’s name.

Connie picked up right away on what Steven was insinuating. “Right. Well, I’ll be quick. All the changes Spinel’s made, at least the ones we’ve noticed, have all been positive. At least, as far as I can see. I was just talking to Peedee during lunch and he said that the Gems and the residents of Beach City have a very amicable relationship. Like, everyone in town knows what the Gems do, and they appreciate it.”

“I see…” Steven said simply.

“And you’ve said that you wished the Gems and everyone in town had a better relationship with each other, right? Well, think about some of the other changes. Our date, my parents… These are all things either you or me… or we both wanted to happen.”

“Uh huh.”

“So are all the changes Spinel’s made to everyone been things that we wanted? Or maybe the changes have been things that each altered individual wanted,” Connie mused.

“That’s not really something I can explain over the phone, Connie. Lunch is almost ready,” Steven replied.

Connie sighed. “Right.” She paused for a second, glancing around her surroundings. She was still alone, but she knew the bell was going to ring anytime now. She needed to wrap this up. “Alright… Just some things to think about, I guess.” She sighed again. “I’m sorry, Steven. I should have known Spinel was probably around. I shouldn’t have bothered to call.”

“That’s okay, Connie. I… could really use hearing your voice right now.”

Right then, Steven didn’t sound like he had during the rest of the phone call. He sounded… genuine. Like himself.

Connie felt the knot of tension in her stomach loosen a little.

“Yeah, alright.” She could feel her cheeks flush. “Thanks, Steven. I’ll… leave you to lunch.”

“Okay, Connie. And… Don’t worry. It’ll be alright.” And like a lever had been pulled, he went back to talking in the stiff, wooden way he had been. “After all, Spinel makes the best lunches.”

Connie heard what she thought was Pearl in the background disagreeing with what Steven had said. She then thought she heard Spinel’s rebuttal.

“Be careful Steven,” she said.

“Okay, Connie. Hope you do well on your test.”

She smirked. “I will. Bye, Steven.”

“Bye, Connie.”

Steven hit the end call button. He then placed the phone back on his bedside table as he glanced down from the loft and over to the kitchen where Pearl and Spinel busied themselves with lunch. Without taking his eyes off of them, Steven moved his hand under his pillow, feeling the notebook tucked carefully underneath it.

He gulped.

Changes that we wanted…

He felt his jaw clench. Not in anger so much, but in frustration. Connie had raised a good point. While Steven wouldn’t describe all the changes wrought by Spinel as positive, (Using Peridot’s gem as a power source, not to mention Garnet missing with barely a trace left of her) most of the alterations Spinel had made around her could be considered good. At least in some sense of the word.

He looked down towards the kitchen and still saw Spinel and Pearl moving about, busily preparing lunch. Pearl was chatting easily with Spinel, who was wrapping what looked like meat, cheese, and assorted veggies in a tortilla shell. Spinel must have just said something humorous because Pearl laughed, in fact she laughed so hard she had to cover her mouth with her hand. Spinel grinned back at her as she moved the plate of prepared tacos over to the kitchen's island.

Steven let out a stifled groan. It seemed like every time they learned more details about what Spinel is doing, all it does is raise more questions. Most of the alterations Spinel has made are positive. Alright, but why? Why is Spinel doing any of this? What’s her game? Is she from Homeworld? Is she a distraction or doing recon for an invasion?

That could be a possibility… Pearl had said that Spinel was a master spy in her story about the Rebellion mission, though it would be odd for Spinel to effectively out herself like that, if this was the case. But maybe that just spoke to how sure she was of her abilities. She could leave important tibbits, like her potentially being a spy or even the notebook just lying around because that’s how confident she was.

“Steven! Lunch!”

Steven blinked and realized that he was still staring at the two of them. Spinel had called him, but neither of them were looking at him. Instead they were admiring the meal that they had made.

He sighed softly. Maybe if he could get Pearl alone he'd tell her about his… suspicions. Otherwise, it was likely Spinel had some sort of plan prepared for just sort of an occasion. And besides, how he would even begin such a conversation, he didn’t know.

“Steven, come on,” Spinel called. “We want your opinion on this before Amethyst gets back.”

“Alright. I'm coming,” Steven replied simply. He slid off of his bed, checking under his pillow again for the notebook before walking down the stairs and heading over to the kitchen. As he did, Steven did his best to keep Spinel in his line of sight.

“Are you sure she'll like these?” Pearl asked still looking down at the plate of tacos on the kitchen island.

“Sure,” Spinel shrugged. “I mean, Amethyst isn't really that picky about what she eats.”

“I know,” Pearl sighed. “But… Well, you saw her when we were heading back to the temple.”

“You saw Amethyst?” Steven asked as he approached the island, consciously keeping it between him and Spinel. “She did seem kinda… down after what happened at the barn.”

“You saw-?” Pearl gasped. “Steven, you didn’t…” Pearl pinched the bridge of her nose. “I told all three of them not to move to phase two until you had left.”

“You mean with Amethyst and Peridot…?” Steven asked simply.

Pearl sighed. “Yes.”

“It’s okay, Pearl. I saw it and I’m fine,” Steven assured.

“That’s-” Pearl sighed again. “Steven, that’s not…”

“We didn’t want you to see that, Steven,” Spinel said. Her grin was gone, replaced by a look that was tinged with regret. Her eyes flicked over to Pearl, who was standing there silently. “Pearl told them specifically not to… do it until you were gone.” She looked back at Steven, her smirk returning, though it was small and still outlined in melancholy. “You’re a… real trooper, Steven. But there are things we still want to try and avoid having you see.” Her smirk faltered once again as she looked away. “Like having to see a person you care about having to poof another person you care about.”

“Really, it’s okay, Spinel,” Steven said. “I’m doing fine. I mean… it had to happen, right?”

“It didn’t,” Pearl interjected before Spinel could respond. “This didn’t have to happen, Steven.”

“Pearl,” Spinel said softly. “Please, we’ve already been over this.”

“I know, Spinel. But that doesn’t mean I… That I like it.”

Spinel narrowed her eyes at Pearl. “And you think I do? Using my friends gem as a power source isn’t something I relish.” She looked down at her hands, which rested on the island. “But… with the time limit we’re on… We were out of options.”

“No, we weren’t,” Pearl shot back. “What about the archival room that the pyramid was in? Or all the bits of junk and scrap that Amethyst has in her room? We barely considered those options.”

“We did consider them. But again, without knowing when the fuel cells would give out-”

“So that justifies turning Peridot into a… a power source? Like Homeworld does with cracked gems?”

“Peridot was the one who suggested it!” Spinel said, the volume of her voice rising as she spoke.

“But that doesn’t make it justifiable,” Pearl countered. “Gems on Homeworld offer themselves up for harvest all the time.”

“We’re not harvesting Peridot,” Spinel shot back. “Once her machine opens the cube, we’re going to remove her gem and she’ll reform. That’s not harvesting.”

Pearl rested her face in her hands. “I know, I know…” She sighed. “But it still feels like it…” She lowered her hands and glanced over at Steven, who was still silently standing on the other side of the island. “I guess I was just hoping we’d never have to do this again…”

“I know, Pearl,” Spinel replied as she stepped over to her side. She then laid a hand on Pearl's shoulder. “You, me, and Amethyst all tried to persuade Peridot to use our gems rather than hers. But she said that your gem and mine wouldn’t produce enough energy and Amethyst and Lapis’s gem would produce too much. As terrible as it is to say… it had to be Peridot.”

Pearl was silent for a moment before responding, “Right. Yes, I remember.” She sighed again and looked over to her side, “I’m sorry, Steven,” she said to him, Steven noticing the telltale glisten in the corner of her eyes. “We shouldn’t be arguing like this in front of you.”

“We’re not arguing. We’re enthusiastically discussing,” Spinel corrected, grinning. “And besides, it’s good that you don’t feel comfortable with this. If you did… well, then we would be like Homeworld, wouldn’t we?”

“Yes, you’re right, Spinel, of course,” Pearl conceded. Spinel let her hand drop from Pearl’s shoulder. She looked back over at Steven, putting on a somewhat forced smile. “And Steven, if you need to-”

“Hold that thought, Pearl,” Spinel interrupted, “I think I hear someone coming up the stairs.”

Once she finished, Steven did indeed the sound of heavy footsteps coming from outside. After a few seconds, the front door opened, revealing Amethyst.

She looked better. At least, better than she had at the barn. As she walked over to the three of them, Steven noted that Amethyst’s hair was tied up into a ponytail. In fact, as she drew closer, Steven saw that it looked like Amethyst had literally just tied her hair into a knot in order to put it into a ponytail.

“Hey, guys,” Amethyst greeted simply. She looked at each of them in turn. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” Spinel answered smoothly. “Steven was just helping Pearl and I finish lunch.”

“Yeah?” Amethyst asked. “What is for lunch?”

“These,” Pearl answered as she pushed the plate of tacos over towards Amethyst. “Tacos, right?”

Amethyst smirked a she rolled her eyes. “Yeah, P. Those are Tacos.”

“Why don’t you have some?” Spinel offered. “Steven told us you were feeling a little… down after phase two. So we thought you could use a pick-me up.”

“Uh, geez guys… I appreciate the thought and junk, but I don’t really feel like eating right now,” Amethyst said, rubbing the back of her neck. “I actually just came by to see if I could… uh, borrow Steven for a bit.”

“Borrow me?” Steven asked.

“Yeah. Just for a walk or something,” Amethyst said.

“‘A walk or something’...” Pearl repeated. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright, Amethyst?” Pearl asked.

“I’m feeling fine, Pearl,” Amethyst shot back, a slight edge to her voice. “I just wanna talk to Steven. You know, privately.”

Pearl and Spinel exchanged looks with each other, before Pearl said, “Alight, just if it’s okay with Steven.”

“Your cool with a quick walk and talk, right dude?” Amethyst asked, looking at Steven.

“Sure. Yeah, Amethyst. Let’s go,” Steven said slowly.

“Alright. Let’s head out.”

As sudden as this was, it did give Steven an idea. Connie had been able to get some useful information from Peedee. Maybe he could do the same with Amethyst.

“Have fun, you two,” Spinel called after them as Amethyst opened the door.

Amethyst called over her shoulder, “Put those tacos in the fridge. I’m gonna want them when we get back.” She then headed outside. Steven was about to join her when he heard Pearl call him.

“Wait a moment, Steven,” she said.

Steven turned around to face her.

“Try and get Amethyst to… open up a little,” Pearl said.

“Don’t try and force anything,” Spinel quickly added, folding her arms across her chest. “But, yeah. What Pearl said. You know how Amethyst can bottle things up.” She looked down at the floor. “Try as I might, no matter how many talks I have with her, she always has such a hard time opening up…”

Steven nodded, as well as felt a few pangs of guilt. It was most likely true that, as much as she was hiding it, Amethyst was probably just as upset over what had happened at the barn as Steven was. Maybe even more so. And all Steven could think about was trying to get information out of her when in reality all she really needed was someone to talk to.

This situation kept finding new ways to make Steven feel terrible.

“Come on, dude. Let’s go,” Amethyst said, standing next to the stairs leading down to the beach.

“Go on, Steven,” Pearl said, taking the uneaten plate of tacos and starting to wrap them in cellophane. “We’ll be here when you get back.”

“Okay. I’ll… see you guys later,” Steven said.

“Yeah, we’ll see you later, Steven,” Spinel waved.

Steven turned back around and left through the door, closing it behind him.

They walked in silence on the beach for a while. The sun hung high in the sky over them, however there was a cool breeze coming off of the ocean.

Despite her stated desire to talk, Amethyst had been quiet ever since they had left the temple. Finally, Steven felt like he needed to break the silence.

“Your hair looks nice like that, Amethyst,” he said.

“Yeah?” Amethyst asked. “Peri likes it up like this to. Says it makes me look ‘more aesthetically pleasing’.” She pulled at the knot in her hair to tighten it a bit more. “Thought I’d have it like this for when she regains her form.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Steven replied.

Silence fell before them again.

Amethyst sighed, before speaking, “Okay, let's cut to the chase dude. What’s up?”

Steven blinked. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Don’t gimme that,” she replied. “I mean, I know talking about your feelings and stuff is usually Spinel’s department, but…” She shrugged lightly. “If I notice something's wrong, it must be pretty bad. So spill it. What’s wrong?”

Spinel’s an imposter who has been doing something to us to insert herself into our lives for some nefarious purpose!

“Nothing’s wrong,” Steven replied simply.

“Pff. Yeah, right,” Amethyst blew off. She paused for beat before continuing, “Is this about… ya know, Connie? I mean, if it is, I can understand. Things with Peridot have been getting…” She looked away as her face began to flush. “Pretty intense…” she finished.

“No, it doesn’t have anything to do with Connie,” Steven hastily replied.

“Are you sure?” Amethyst asked. “Ever since you and her got back from your date yesterday, you’ve been acting weird. You've been a lot quieter than usual and you look like you're constantly nervous about something.” She rested her hands on her hips. “A lot of things can slip my notice but… I do see when my Ste-man is acting weird.”

Steven felt the lump in his throat move. “I-... I’m sorry, Amethyst,” he said slowly. “This whole situation is-” He caught himself, stopping before he revealed too much.

But it was too late.

“Situation? What situation?” Amethyst asked, before gasping suddenly as her eyes turned to wide saucers. “Oh man…” she said. “This does have something to with Connie.”

“No, it doesn’t!”

Amethyst sighed, the frustration she felt evident on her face. “Then what? C’mon, dude! Throw me a bone here!”

Steven said nothing, instead only looking away from Amethyst.

“Look,” Amethyst breathed. “I’m not really good with the ‘feelings’ stuff. You know that, but…” She rested both of hands on the back of her head. “I still want to help ya, if I can.”

Steven still kept his silence, though now more from feeling like he couldn’t talk due to the tightness in his throat.

“Just… I wanna…” Amethyst struggled with her words. “I’m worried about you. Pearl and Spinel might be willing to just let you come to them when you’re ready but, I… know what it’s like to feel like you’ve messed up and… don’t feel like you have anyone to talk to.” She stepped closer to him. “If you don’t want to talk about it then, ya know, I can’t make you. But just…”

For the second time today, Steven saw the glimmer of tears in the corners of the eyes of someone he cared about. He gulped, trying his best not to join her.

“After what happened at the barn with Peridot, I… I shouldn’t have let Spinel talk me into it. I didn’t like it from the start, even with Peri agreeing to it.” She paused as she wiped her eyes dry. “But… even though I’ve known Spinel for so long, I didn’t feel like I could disagree with her about it. And now… I just feel terrible over the whole mess.”

Steven could feel his lips tremble. He wanted to talk, to say something. He wanted to tell Amethyst that it was going to be okay, that if she wanted to, she could talk to him about it. But that’s not what came out of his mouth.

“You don’t know who Spinel is.”

The suddenness and unexpected nature of Steven’s comment seemed to throw Amethyst for a loop.

“I… don’t know her?” She looked at him confusedly. “What do you mean?”

For a split second, Steven considered trying to walk his statement back. But then he remembered his thought about trying to get Pearl alone to tell her about Spinel. Though it wasn’t Pearl, maybe this was his chance.

“Last night, after Connie and I got back to the temple… well, that was the first time either of us had ever met Spinel before.”

She blinked at him several times in rapid succession. “W-what…? That’s… That’s not even close to being true. Spinel’s known you for as long as you’ve been alive.”

“No, she hasn’t,” Steven shook his head. “She’s not suppose to be here. Garnet is.”

“Garnet?”

“Yeah…” Steven replied heavily. “But you don’t remember her.”

“Well, no. But I know about her. Pearl and Spinel have told me about her before.”

Steven shook his head again. “That’s not how it happened. Garnet was able to get away. And then she joined the Rebellion. And she’s suppose to be here with us now.”

“The fusion Spinel and Pearl saw… joined the Rebellion?”

“No, Spinel wasn’t there.”

Amethyst paused for a moment, a strained look on her face. “Okay, run this by me one more time. You’re saying… what, all our memories of Spinel are wrong?”

“Not just that. We don’t know who Spinel is.”

“So… she altered our memories to erase us knowing Granite-”

“Garnet.”

“Yeah, Garnet. We’re suppose to know who Garnet is, but not Spinel. And the reason we don’t is because Spinel has messed with our memories.”

“Right,” Steven confirmed.

“... You do realize how insane that sounds, right dude?” Amethyst replied.

He winced slightly, “Yeah, I know…” Steven said. “But it’s true. That’s why I’ve been so on edge. You and Pearl have been acting strange and… I’ve been trying to keep an eye on Spinel.”

“And Connie believes all this too?” Amethyst asked.

“Yeah. She said she’s never met Spinel too. And she remembers Garnet.”

“Alright, then both of you are insane,” Amethyst said.

“We’re not, though!” Steven argued. “Yesterday was the first time we met Spinel.”

“Right. So… If Spinel’s messed with our minds, why didn’t she mess with your’s or Connie’s?”

“She did,” Steven replied. “There’s a two day long blank spot in my memories and Connie can’t remember yesterday afternoon. We think those are the times when Spinel had altered our memories.”

“Well, what happened? Spinel just let you two go?” Amethyst asked, a sarcastic smirk appearing on her face.

“We… don’t really know. The last memory we both have is fusing,” Steven said.

Amethyst chuckled. “Maybe that’s what did it. You two fused and that’s what undid it.” She shrugged cheekily. “Maybe that’s why she got rid of Granite.”

Steven could feel his cheeks redden. This wasn’t going the way he wanted it to. And unfortunately, it was now too late for him to try and take the whole thing back.

Amethyst must really think he was crazy now.

He was about to try and enter damage control… somehow, when a voice that sounded not unlike Connie’s, whispered in his head:

That’s it. That’s the connection. Fusion counteracts Spinel’s powers.

Steven could feel his mouth hang agape as his mind raced to to put his sudden realization into perspective.

“Uh… You alright, dude? I was just kidding,” Amethyst said.

“No, you’re right!” Steven excitedly exclaimed. “Fusion is the key! It’s how Connie and I escaped Spinel’s control! And… it’s also why she got rid of Garnet.”

“I wasn’t being serious, dude. Spinel hasn’t done-”

“Amethyst,” Steven interrupted, speaking very solemnly. He knew what he had to do. “You need to fuse with me.”

“Fuse?!” Amethyst sputtered. “I… dunno. I’ve never fused before.”

“You have,” Steven replied, taking Amethyst false memories in strides. “When you fuse with Pearl, you make Opal. And when you fuse with Peridot, you make Atlantisite.”

“Me and… Dot fuse?” Amethyst said, her face immediately flushing with color. “Did… we didn’t do that?... Did we?”

Steven nodded. “You did. I remember her myself. She was so excited to meet everyone.” He smiled. “Well, excited and nervous.”

Amethyst was silent for a second before slowly responding, “I… don’t remember that… But it feels right… Does that make sense?”

“Yes, it does!” Steven replied eagerly, his smile widening. “On some level… the memory is still there.”

“And… You think fusion will…” She shook her head. “No, this is crazy. Pearl would kill me if she knew I was letting you talk me into this.”

“So? Since when has that stopped you?”

Amethyst laughed. “Yeah, true.”

A beat of silence passed.

“Please, Amethyst,” Steven said, putting a hand on her arm. “Just… do this… for me. You have nothing to lose. Either you get your proper memories back or… it turns out I’m crazy.”

“Yeah, but…” She looked away towards the ocean’s waves. “I dunno…”

“Don’t you trust me?” Steven asked.

Amethyst snapped back around towards him. “Of course I do! I’d trust ya with anything!”

“Then, please. Trust me now… You know I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

“Yeah, I know dude…” She inhaled before exhaling heavily. “Alright. What do I need to do?”

“Give me your hands.” She did so, Steven taking them in his own. “This is a simple hand dance Connie taught me. We’ve used it to fuse before.”

“Okay, how’s it go?”

“Just follow my lead.”

Steven began to to lead them both in the hand dance. It was slow going at first and, at one point, they even had to start over due to Amethyst getting completely lost. But after awhile, they began to get into each others rhythms. Eventually, Steven could begin to feel the familiar buzz of fusion beginning to rise up within him. He saw light emanating first from under his shirt, and then from Amethyst’s gem on her chest. He instinctively closed his eyes as the light grew brighter and then…

They fell backwards to the ground. They felt their fingers dig into the sand. All fifteen of them.

No, wait. That doesn’t seem right, does it? They raised their arms, flaying their hands before their eyes.

Three hands. That’s weird. Or is it? They weren’t sure.

The skin on their arms was a dusky, grey color, speckled with lighter spots. There was a word for that color of grey, wasn’t there…

“Smoky…”

Yes. That felt right.

No, wait. This isn’t right. I was at the barn with Peridot and… and then Lapis and that Gem came in and attacked us! I remember that, so why am I at the beach now? What’s-

The voice grew louder in their head as they braced themselves against the ground. They couldn’t keep their thoughts straight.

Steven, really, what’s going on!? What is this-

Steven hit the beach hard as he and Amethyst diffused. He tried to brush the sand out of his hair as he slowly rose to his feet. Just across from him, he saw Amethyst was doing the same.

“Ow, dude. That was intense,” she said, just a little unsteadily. “Is fusing with you always like that?” However, before Steven could answer, Amethyst seemed to regain her sense of self. “Wait! No, that’s right.” She quickly rushed over to Steven’s side. “What are we doing on the beach? I remember we were talking about… you… and Peridot and… other things… but that’s it.”

She scowled at the ground. “But before that…” Her eyes shot open as her gaze returned to Steven. “That’s right! I was at the barn with Peridot and… then Lapis and this Gem I didn’t recognize came in and Lapis used water from the pond to attack me and Peri. Then when we were down, the strange Gem… touched my cheek and then… I remember being on the beach with you.” She glanced away. “Steven, what’s going on? Do you know who that Gem was?”

Steven however didn’t answer her. Instead, he jumped at her, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

“Dude, what-... Are you alright?”

“I’m sorry,” Steven softly sobbed. “I’m sorry, Amethyst. But… You’re finally back.” He pulled her closer.

“You’re back now.”