A/N: Some Steven-centric headcanons about what might happen in the future, and headcanons about Yellow Diamond.
For @katyfarina, a late birthday present. Hope you think this is cool!
There was warmth, all around. Not quite a dream, Steven stayed in that place for as long as he could. It was safe there, soft. His bones stitched together like spring saplings, and there was no pain, none at all.
When Steven came to, he had a splitting headache.
Waking up felt like getting zapped with a prank handshake. He shook, all over, a tingle running down his spine. He blinked, several times, afraid for a moment since he couldn’t see, but then the world came into focus and a small part of him wished it hadn’t.
A giant glass window stretched in front of him, bigger than the walls of his house.
And outside was black, endless space.
“Oh boy,” Steven said, and got to his feet.
He trembled again, chilled just enough to be uncomfortable but not enough to say the spaceship was cold. Curved pillars and carved gem towers littered the area; it was alien in every sense of the word, and worst of all he had no idea how he’d gotten there. When he tried to remember, that pain sliced through his forehead again, right between his eyeballs, and he winced and ducked his head low and muttered and grumbled.
“Hello?” he called out, pacing the room. There were no doors that he could see, no way to escape. Just that giant window, and if he stared out too long he started getting seasick.
“Or… space sick,” he said to himself, chuckling nervously as a reflex. “Um, hello? Is anyone else here? I’m kind of cold. And hungry, too.”
Something hissed behind him, sounding like a gasp for air. Whirling around, he reflexively bubbled up, whole body tensing in preparation for the unknown.
Pearl stood in the frame of a hingeless door, her hands clasped in front of her, a smile on her face.
Relief swam through him.
“Pearl!” he shouted, and ran to her and threw his arms around her. She buckled back against the force of it, laughing uncertainly before patting the top of his head. “Pearl, thank goodness! I don’t know how I got here or where I am. It’s so good to see you.”
“Oh, dear. It’s good to see you too, Rose,” she said.
He paused, and then let her go to take a step back.
“You’re on the Yellow Diamond flagship,” the Pearl said, and then bent down to one knee so she was eye level with him. “I’m your new Pearl. Yellow Diamond said you were fond of Pearls. I hope you find me suitable.”
He looked into her eyes, blank and friendly. Her skin, completely smooth and unmarred. His Pearl looked less shiny, more mussed by time, age warping her even in her ageless body. “You’re not my Pearl.”
She shook her head, sadly. “I know it can be difficult to train a new Pearl, but I promise you I’ll do my best, Rose.”
He opened his mouth, tensing up to prepare an angry shout. “I don’t want to train a--!”
Almost imperceptibly, she flinched.
Immediately lowering his voice, Steven wracked his brain for something to say. “Y-you’re fine,” he said. “I don’t want to… you’re fine the way you are.”
She tilted her head to the side, still smiling, though the edge of her lips carried a note of confusion. “Thank you, Rose. That’s a high compliment from a gem of your station. Is there anything I can do for you?”
He was aware of how tight and dry his throat was. “Is there any water? Here?” He looked around him, the alien geometry and architecture making him dizzy again. “Can I leave this room?”
Unfurling herself, the Pearl stood up straight and prim. “Of course, Rose. This is your flagship too. Come with me.” On instinct he took her hand and she stopped, looking at him with curiosity. “Yes?”
He let go. “Sorry. Nothing. Lead the way.”
The hallways were less disorienting. At one point the Pearl stopped at what she called a requisition station. Humming a pleasant tune, she drew out a command console and began tapping at the holographic keyboard with the tips of her fingers, each movement like a little dance. She was so like his Pearl that for a moment he forgot, until she didn’t have one of her normal nervous tics, or didn’t fuss over him and fix his hair, or cast her eyes about nervously, always watching her back.
This Pearl knew nothing of danger, or need, or exhaustion. She looked…. really, really happy.
Creepy happy.
“Hydrogen… oxygen.” She tapped one last command with a note of finality. “That’s very simple. Would you like anything more complex? We have extensive labs here on the flagship if you’re conducting experiments.”
From the requisition station, a vial of water appeared. She handed it to him, and couldn’t contain her shock when he tipped the small container into his mouth and swallowed.
“Rose!” she said, her hands twitching out reflexively. “Be careful! You don’t know how that compound might react with your chassis!”
He frowned. “My what? Water is good for you, Pearl.” He looked at the vial. “Uh, but can I get a bigger…. cup?
The Pearl shook her head. “I… I mean… of course, Rose. Just one moment.”
She got him an erlenmeyer flask of water this time. “Thanks! And you can call me Steven.”
“Of course, Steven. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
That wasn’t getting any less creepy. “Um… Can you tell me how I got here?”
“You were rehabilitated,” she said, her hands clasped in front of her again. “There is nothing shameful in being rehabilitated. I’ve been recycled many times due to defects in my personality. Yellow Diamond says a gem can only shine through repeated polishing.”
The pain sliced through his forehead again, making him wobble and press a hand to the wall for balance. “Rehabilitated.”
“Yes!” she beamed. “Any gaps in your memory should return very shortly. Though I must say, I’ve never seen a gem take a physical shape like yours before!” Her smile dropped a few inches. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s very… unique.”
It clicked. “You mean like what happens when a gem gets too hurt? I poofed?! Ow!” He clutched his head again, curling inward. He had an uncomfortable feeling that he might be better off not remembering how bad he’d gotten injured. “Oh, no. Dad and the others are probably worried sick! They probably think I died!”
The Pearl tilted her head again. Steven realized it was a bit like how a dog cocked their head, to listen better. “I’ve never met a Dad gem, but if you need one, I’m sure we can requisition one for you. Yellow Diamond has given me the responsibility of being your Pearl, so I can do just about anything.”
“Then help me off this ship,” he said at once, taking her hand. “Help me back to Earth!”
The Pearl stiffened but didn’t draw away; keeping her eyes focused on his hand touching her, she spoke. “That is, unfortunately, the one thing I can’t do. Yellow Diamond specifically forbade that. If you require another Pearl to--”
“I want my Pearl,” he said in sudden frustration, letting her go. She whipped her hands behind her back, a note of relief entering her expression. “You can tell Yellow Diamond-- She can-- She can stuff it!”
The Pearl blinked a few times. “Would you like me to relay that message at once, R-- Steven?”
He sucked in a breath. Let it out slow. “She’s here?”
“This is the flagship…” the Pearl trailed off unhelpfully.
“Take me to her.”
Steven had only been in one Homeworld ship before. A war barge, shaped like an angry fist. This one was different in every possible way, much less regimented and more… slopey. Everything curved and twisted, hurting his eyes no matter which way he looked. Another door hissed open, and the Pearl gave him a short bow before leaving him in Yellow Diamond’s quarters.
He stepped inside, and the door slid shut behind him.
It felt familiar somehow, like stepping into his room back home.
This is her office, he somehow knew.
Yellow Diamond had a big window, too, and she stood in front of it, unbothered by the endless expanse in front of her.
“You are such a selfish child, Rose,” Yellow Diamond sighed, and turned her face to meet him.
Her eyes glowed toxic yellow, the pits dark and black as the view outside.
Then she extended a hand, gesturing him closer.
He didn’t move. “You kidnapped me.”
“You ran away from home.” She retreated, folding her hands behind her back as she returned her gaze outside. “We’re passing your favorite star cluster now, Rose. Would you like to come look?”
“My name is Steven,” he said, for what felt like the millionth time. “I have Rose Quartz’s gem but I am not her!”
A blast of light nearly blinded him, sudden swarms of red and pink making him flinch and cover his eyes with one arm. For a moment his head ached, crystal clear, and he had the memory of a huge hand striking down, and so much blood. It was the same hand stroking through his hair now, curious and idle like with a lost dog.
“You missed it,” Yellow Diamond said, sadly. “I wanted to see your face when you saw it. Maybe you’d remember who you are, then. And stop romanticizing the beasts of that world, and return to me.”
Steven swallowed. “Okay, I’ve explained this a bunch of times to other gems, but… I’m not Rose. For the last time, I’m Steven. Rose fused with a human and now I’m half of her. And I know you’re gonna say, but that’s impossible! because everyone says that, but it’s true, and--”
Yellow Diamond shook her head, laughing shortly. “Oh, Rose. You’re too much.”
Her skin was warm, Steven realized.
None of the other gems were warm.
She held his hand, and gently pulled him closer to the window. “Look, Rose. We’re almost home, my darling child. See that little green dot?”
Just on the edge of his vision, he could see a faint green glow in the distance. Another flash of memory hit him, of looking at another planet, with another gem at his side.
A little blue speck, Rose said. From this distance it looks quite pretty.
The hand in his pulsed, a soothing rhythm just under her skin. It was something he’d long taken for granted, long since forgotten that blood didn’t surge under gem skin.
“You’re like me?” he said, forgetting to be afraid. “You’re a fusion. You’re… you’re like me.”
Yellow Diamond squeezed his hand. “Of course,” she said.
