Neon the guest, you need to chill man. xD I would've said something if I were to stop this story before it ended. Which, I might add, it is. Heads up. Last Chapter.

Finals are over, school ends June 4. Sooooooooo yep. I'm 14 now btw xD I had a fun Birthday~

Stevonnie's eyes opened slowly, and they were met with a lonely black. She had no ground beneath her feet, there was nothing around her. The only thing she could see was blackness.

"What happened?" She asked herself. When she got no response, she realized that Steven and Connie's consciousness' were deathly quiet. She couldn't hear them. That didn't make her feel good.

"Where am I? Am I dead? Someone answer me!" She shouted, but nothing returned her question.

Then, out of the cold, dark world Stevonnie found herself in, a light shone and a familiar Gem appeared.

"No… I killed you!" Stevonnie shouted angrily, as the gem glowed and the body of the puppet master monster formed in front of her.

The puppet master monster fully formed, but something was different. Its eyes weren't narrowed, they were soft. It made no move to attack her.

"You have killed me. I don't have much time. Look at my gem." It said calmly.

Stevonnie spared a look at it's gem, and realized what it meant. The gem was cracked, and she could hear it cracking further.

"Where are we?" She asked it.

"In your mind. In reality, I'm already dead. But I'm spending the last few moments of my life here, explaining why I do what I did." It replied.

"Really?"

"I should start with an apology. My monstrous actions cannot be excused, and I know this now. I know everything now, and you taught me."

"How did I teach you anything?" Stevonnie asked, confused.

It sighed, chuckling lightly. "I didn't realize you hadn't known. I had controlled your friends before, and when I had the chance to take you, I didn't. I didn't because I couldn't. You are made of two pure souls, Stevonnie. Pure souls resonating with something I've struggled to understand: love."

Stevonnie's mouth formed an 'o' as she digested its words.

"Do you wonder why I take over your friends? Because I can feel the love they have for you; it had sickened me, poisoned me with envy. And it scared me, that such an emotion could be so powerful. I wondered if I was the only one void of this emotion, and I didn't want to be alone. So… I figured if they'd done something horrible to you, that emotion would cease to exist. But instead, it just grew stronger. Your friends overpowered my will. But then I tried to take you... " It hesitated.

"And you saw something better. Instead of trying to take it away, you realized to quell your fears, you had to embrace it." Stevonnie finished.

The puppet master nodded, its mouth turning up at the ends. It was smiling. "And now, finally this old, corrupt gem will find peace. Thank you, Stevonnie."

Stevonnie gasped as a loud, ear splitting crack rang out through the dark. She watched the puppet master as its monstrous form shattered, and from the shattered pieces a human form was reconstructed. It was a male-looking gem, but even that form was starting to crack.

"Do you remember anything about your life before you got...corrupted?" Stevonnie asked.

"No… but there was one thing…." He said, his voice echoing like they had walls surrounding them. "My name… was Corundum…"

Stevonnie stepped back as a blinding white light exploded from the cracked gem, and when the white faded, she was back on the beach. She was home.

Suddenly, Steven and Connie's consciousness' came slamming back, and the surprise split her back into their two bodies.

"We're back to normal again…" Steven said breathlessly. Then he spotted the transparent white fragments of what was left of the puppet- no, Corundum's gem.

Connie stared at them blankly. "She helped him find peace. In the end, he wasn't a monster anymore. We should be grateful for that."

Steven nodded slowly, swallowing hard. "Yeah." He bubbled the fragments carefully, staring at the pieces for a long time.

"Steven…" Connie said, hands laced together shyly, "he learned how to feel love from us. Does that mean…?"

He looked her in the eye, gazes matching. No words were said, but they didn't have to be. They knew.

"Steven!" Three familiar voices shouted from behind him, and he was tackled to the ground by Pearl.

"Are you alright?! I swear if that thing hurt you!"

"It's fine! We're both okay. But… Corundum isn't a monster." He stated firmly.

Pearl was taken aback. "Corundum…? Who's that?"

"The puppet master before he went corrupt. We… helped him to peace." He said, showing the Gems the bubbled gem fragments.

The three looked at each other, smiling. "Good job Steven. You too, Connie." Garnet said.

They beamed at the tall gem, grateful that this was finally over.

"Oh, the house doesn't look too happy." Amethyst commented, glancing at it. Corundum had flattened it under his weight when he was corrupt.

"Don't worry, we can rebuild it in time."

Connie noticed the sun setting. "Oh! It's going to be dark soon; I better be getting home. See you later Steven!" She said, then scampered off.

Steven glanced at his fellow Gems, replaying what Corundum had said to them before. He wasn't going to lie to himself, he sometimes found it hard to believe how much the Gems really loved him. But no matter how easy or hard it was, it would always be there. Because love is strong, love can make you kind, and love can make you kill. It could make you do anything. He realized Corundum was right; It is scary powerful, and he was glad that it was for good, not for evil.

"Hey." Steven piped up, calling the Gems' attention.

"Corundum wasn't a monster in the end. His fragments shouldn't be kept like the others. I want to keep them." He said.

They looked at each other, before nodding. "As you wish."

Steven smiled brightly at them. Same old friends he knew, and they didn't have to worry about hurting him ever again. They had been stronger than Corundum in his time of need. There was nothing that could compromise their will to protect him.

"I love you guys...you know that, right?" He asked them.

"Of course we do, Steven." Pearl said softly.

"And we love you just as much." Garnet replied, smiling.

"Group hug!" Amethyst shouted happily, tackling them all.

And the four of them lay in the sand, laughing, loving. The strings had been cut, and the sorrow was gone.

Or was it?

Unknown to them, a figure watched from beneath the waves. It chuckled to itself. They had only seen the beginning. Half of it hoped that they hadn't forgotten what lay under the ocean, and the other half planned its revenge on the traitors that had trapped it down there.

"They will perish, if it's the last thing I do!" Malachite roared, then yelped as familiar water hands forcefully dragged her back down.

"Not while I'm here!"

CAN YOU SMELL THE POSSIBLE SEQUEL

That's it guys! Strings and Sorrow is officially over. No crying please, you'll get it all over your keyboard. (Or phone, wherever you read this)

ShadowKnight49 Productions asked what Corundum looked like, so I'll just leave a discription here.

Corundum is a 5'5" male looking gem. his gem is at the very top of his head, circular like Pearl's, where his hair is. He wore sort of a roman-like robe, where it hangs only on one shoulder while the other is bare, which is silver lined with cut-gem patterns on the left side. He wears no shoes.

Like I said, I did set up the end for a possible sequel, and since it's almost summer, it has a better chance of happening instead if I had ended this in the middle of a school year.

WOW THIS IS THE FIRST MULTI-CHAPTER STORY I'VE EVER ACTUALLY SAW TO THE REAL END. Be proud.

I hope you all enjoyed! I loved writing this for you guys and reading your amazing reviews!

Until next time,

-PeridotDorito