Pearl Vs. The Tooth Fairy

A/N: Hey guys, I'm back! I wanted to thank all my reviewers and the people who favorited the first chapter of this story- you guys are the reason that this chapter is even here right now. Now how about I shut up so you guys can read?

After the stressful fiasco that had occurred earlier with Steven's tooth, Pearl decided it might be a good idea to get out of the house for a while. Besides, they were starting to run low on groceries for Steven and, though she hated to admit it, Amethyst as well. With that in mind, she grabbed a wad of cash from their household budget storage and went on her way.

Once she arrived at the grocery store she grabbed a grocery cart and began shopping. While looking around, she began a mental grocery list, keeping in mind what Steven's and Amethyst's favorite foods were, while also trying to balance the junk food with healthy food so that Steven would get the nutrients he needed. Never in the hundreds of years she had lived on this strange planet had she thought she would have been shopping in a human grocery store, she mused internally.

It was when she was in the frozen foods section, picking out Cookie Cats, of course, when she heard it. Some blonde little girl, roughly around 10, was excitedly gibbering about losing one of her teeth to her mother, who hardly seemed to be listening. Pearl smiled, as she had once wondered how humans could glorify such trivial things, but in light of recent events that opinion had changed. Tuning out the excited gibberish, she went back to comparing prices between the 8 and 10 pack versions of Cookie Cats. It wasn't until she heard something about a "tooth fairy," that her interest got piqued.

"Um, excuse me, young human child?" Pearl asked, causing the little girl's incessant rattle to cut off prematurely as she turned to look at Pearl. "What is this 'tooth fairy,' you're talking about?"

"You don't know who the Tooth Fairy is?!" The girl exclaimed in a falsetto squeak. Pearl shook her head. "The Tooth Fairy is a magical lady who comes to sleeping children at night and takes their teeth! Then she-"

"Come on Sadie, leave this young woman alone." Her mother interrupted in a bored voice, pushing the girl away. The mother turned back to apologize to Pearl, but all that was left of her was an abandoned cart full of groceries.

As soon as Pearl had heard the little girl's words, she rushed out of the store, leaving her groceries behind. She had to get home fast. Steven could be in danger! There was no way she was going to let some "Tooth Fairy," sneak into their home and possibly harm Steven! Even if she was just after Steven's missing baby tooth, there was no telling what she could do with it with her witch magic. Oh no, Pearl was not going to let anyone, magic, gem, or other, hurt her baby!

When she reached the house, she was relieved to find Steven safe and sound, playing a video game on the TV before bedtime. Pearl thought about warning Steven about the danger he was in, but paused when she realized she didn't want Steven to have to worry. As such, she resolved that she would put on a façade and pretend that everything was normal, for Steven's sake if nothing else.

"Steven, you have one more hour until bedtime, okay?" She gently reminded the engrossed child. All she heard in response was a grunt of acknowledgement, but it was enough for her. Sliding onto the couch, where she was out of Steven's sight, she let out a small sigh and gripped the bridge of her nose as she thought about what she was going to do.

The words of the little girl rang in her head, and Pearl knew she only had an hours' worth of preparation to work with. It appeared that she was on her own in this, as Garnet was on a solo mission and Amethyst had said she was going out that night- something about an "awesome rave" that she "couldn't miss." Pearl would have called them both back to help protect Steven if she had any way of communicating with them, but she didn't and she wasn't willing to leave Steven alone to go find them either.

Glancing at the portrait of Rose hanging above the front door, she hardened her gaze as she heard a whoop of celebration come from the boy above her. Rose's last words echoed in her head, "Take good care of Steven," furthering her resolve. Pearl wouldn't let anything happen to her precious Steven.

Too soon for her liking, the hour passed and it was Steven's bed time. Steven let out a reluctant groan at the thought of having to stop playing for the night, but shuffled obediently into his nightly routine anyway. Finally, he was ready for the night as slipped tiredly into his bed. Pearl smiled wanly at the ball of pure innocence before her. She kissed Steven's forehead and tucked the blanket under his chin.

"G'night Pearl," Steven mumbled sleepily. "Goodnight, Steven," Pearl replied sweetly, "Have sweet dreams," And with that she let the boy drift off into dreamland. Normally she would leave the boy on his own to rest in the temple for the night, but not tonight. Tonight, she would keep a constant vigil over Steven, silently watching the sleeping boy.

For several hours, nothing happened. The only sounds she could hear were Steven's soft breaths, the ticking of the nearby clock, and the crashing of the waves from the beach below the house. The ambiance was relaxing, but Pearl wouldn't allow herself to lulled by its effects. She maintained a tense, battle-ready stance as the hours wore on. Finally, her constant vigilance was rewarded when she heard the front door, which was really just a screen door, creak open. Pearl slowly slid her weapon out of her head, hoping the glow of her weapon wouldn't give away her position until she could attack.

A dark figure, obscured by the night, slowly floated into the main room. Pearl could only make out her basic shape, which appeared to be roughly the size of a human child, and a pair of softly glowing wings that lifted the figure into the air. Positioning herself to pounce, Pearl leaped off the overhang of the wall and shifted her weapon so that it would impale the figure below her with the force of gravity.

Just as Pearl was in mid-flight, the intruder looked up suddenly. Spotting the immediate danger she was in, the intruder jumped back, causing Pearl to have to do a front flip suddenly so that her momentum wouldn't cause her to crash through the floor. She landed on the ground gracefully, barely causing an audible thud. Stretching her arm out, she pointed her weapon at the enemy, almost daring her to move.

"Leave. Now," Pearl demanded, her tone implying there was no room for negotiation. The pixie's eyes, which Pearl could make out, now that she was closer, widened in surprise at the threat.

"What the heck is your problem, lady?" The Tooth Fairy snapped, making it obvious she was not happy with how she was being treated. "I'm just here to collect the kid's tooth and then I'll be out of here, alright?"

"You will not touch Steven!" Pearl exclaimed. "You will leave, or I will make you leave, do you understand?"

"Look lady, I don't want to fight you," The Tooth Fairy snapped. "I mean, you seem nice enough and all, but I'm not leaving here without a tooth. So, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!"

With that being said, the Tooth Fairy suddenly lunged at Pearl while avoiding her weapon. Pearl quickly dodged, the side of her weapon smacking into the Tooth Fairy, who fell back with an "Oomph!" Pearl raised her weapon, preparing to stab the Tooth Fairy in the side with it, but the Tooth Fairy blocked it by punching Pearl in the gut, causing her to recoil.

Seeing her chance, the Tooth Fairy grabbed the closest object she could find, which happened to be a word learning book for Steven, and tossed at Pearl's face with as much force as she could muster. The book managed to hit Pearl in her gem before she could move out of the way. Pearl cried out in pain, but luckily her gem suffered no resulting damage. Growling in frustration, Pearl spun around in a sweeping arc, leaving a thin but long scratch across the Tooth Fairy's chest. The Tooth Fairy grit her teeth, but showed no other outward signs of pain. They had both gotten in shots, and were preparing for round two.

"Hey, what's going on?" A tired voice asked, causing both combatants to cease the battle as they looked up in shock. Standing at the top of the stairs, a sleepy Steven rubbed his eyes as he took in the shocking scene below him. "Pearl?" He asked, uncertainty and worry dripping from his voice.

Realizing she had an opportunity to escape, the Tooth Fairy sneered. "You know what? I don't want your tooth. In fact, I don't want any of your teeth, kid, because I am never setting foot in this crazy house again!" With that, she huffed, spun around, and promptly left the house. A flash of light shined from the front porch, and the Tooth Fairy was gone. As she was leaving, though, Pearl could have sworn she heard she heard her mutter "I bet Santa never has to deal with this."

And just like that, she was gone. Silence returned to the beach home, which was broken by the creak of the stairs indicating that Steven was coming down them. He flipped on a light switch, bathing the room in a soft light, and walked over to Pearl. "Pearl, what happened? Was that a monster? I've never seen a monster that looked like a person before."

Pearl returned the weapon to her gem and nuzzled Steven's head affectionately, glad that he was okay. "It's nothing that you should be worried about, Steven. Why don't you back to bed and I'll tell you a story to go to sleep to, okay?"

Excited at the prospect of a bedtime story, Steven eagerly nodded and raced upstairs. Pearl chuckled and, forgoing the stairs, leaped up to the second story to meet Steven. She told Steven the story, a watered-down version of one of their many battles against gem monsters and, before she knew it, the child was asleep once more.

Pearl smiled, this time warmly, as she once again kissed Steven's forehead and tucked in the blanket. Knowing the danger was over, she turned around to retreat into the temple, but a nagging feeling prevented her from doing this. What if the Tooth Fairy came back? Who was this 'Santa' she mentioned? What if something else tried to hurt Steven? With this new-found fear plaguing her mind, Pearl resolved to continue to watch over Steven as he slept until he was old enough to protect himself.

She wouldn't let anything come near Steven, even if it came at the cost of losing the hours she had set aside for relaxation and the occasional nap. Nothing would hurt Steven when he was his most vulnerable, not if she could help it.

The End.

A/N: So, what did you guys think? I hope this lived up to your expectations. I never written a true fight scene before, so this Chapter was kind of a test.

Fun fact: I almost made the "intruder" Greg, but decided against it because I thought it would be too obvious.

I hope you enjoyed this! Please review.