AN: Suddenly, I have loads of ideas for drabbles and they popped out of nowhere! I'm also going to try to post one of these drabbles every Saturday. Although, I doubt I keep it that way, I would like to have more recent updates. This drabble fic is over a year old and it only has four chapters. Anyway, this one drabble is about Garnet and Steven at the aftermath of Jailbreak.

Drabble # 5 (Nightmare)

Steven was the strongest kid in the cosmos. Maybe not in the physical, tough-guy strong, but he was strong emotionally. Just in the few months of this year, he learned a lot of information about the gems. He has learned more about the homeworld gems and their intentions. He learned that more gems are out there in the vast emptiness of space, they aren't his friends. They aren't crystal gems; they came to Earth with bad intentions and constantly hurt his family and his friends. The only thing that could keep him up at night is the fact that those "bad" gems want to hurt him.

Somehow, he believes that there is good in them. No one is ever born "bad". There was Amethyst, who constantly thinks she was born "bad" but she overcomes it. Amethyst was a "Kinderborn"; she was born in conditions that one might overlook. But she isn't terrible. Sometimes she does pranks and makes mistakes but Amethyst doesn't do anything inherently evil. No one is ever born "bad".

After all of this turmoil, he is okay with the fact that countless homeworld gems are after him. He's okay that they have possible intentions on killing him because of Rose's choices. How is he okay with this? Because Steven Quartz-Universe is one of the strongest children you can ever come by.

However, there are some days where it all overflows. There are some days where he has nightmares for weeks on end. There are some days where he feels the need to take charge, and to stand up for himself. And there are some days where he needs help too. One week after the situation with Jasper and Peridot, Steven has been having nightmares about Garnet getting bisected. He understood that gems regenerate whenever they get injured, but Garnet was the strong, stoic type. She was never afraid, and he has never seen her that hurt before in his life. The thing that really got him was the look she gave him a few seconds before she disappeared in a puff of smoke. She looked so scared, so hopeless. There were only three times where Steven has seen Garnet's full facial expression, and that is one he would rather forget. He remembered shaking, he was so small compared to Jasper and Jasper can beat him up easily if she could take down Garnet. His heart was pumping out of his chest, he felt like his body wouldn't stop shivering and he felt tears forming from his face. Garnet…

Ever since then, he has been having night terrors. Steven screamed again as he woke up with a start. He was sweating, his poor heart was racing in his ribcage. Once he figured out it was another dream, he calmed down, and his heart rate went back to the normal level. He got off his bed and went to grab something to drink (and maybe just a small snack too). Since his night terrors, Steven has been sleep deprived. There were dark grey bags under his eyes and he seemed to be unfocused all of the time during missions. He was close to asking if the gems could help him but Steven felt like he was strong enough to face this on his own. What could the crystal gems do anyway? They couldn't fight nightmares, they had to fight something physical. Steven didn't worry though. After all, he was a strong kid.

As Steven pulled out milk and cereal, he heard one of the doors to the crystal temple open. It was Garnet. "Oh. Good morning, Garnet." She eyed him carefully, they had one of those awkward silent moments, and the gem warrior seemed confused but she went for it. "Early breakfast?" She asked him. It was four in the morning.

"Yeah." Steven responded, pouring the milk in his cereal, he spilled a few times due to his exhaustion. Garnet walked over to the counter and sat next to him as he began to get ready to eat his breakfast. "Still sleepy?"

"Hm?" Steven asked, slowly shoveling spoonfuls of cereal in his mouth. Garnet laughed lightly and quietly. "I'll take that as a yes." Garnet replied.

"No, Garnet. I'm just trying to wake up is all." Steven responded. He finished his bowl in about five minutes and then he climbed onto Garnet's lap. There were a lot of reasons why he loved Pearl, there were plenty of different reasons why he loved Amethyst, and there were handfuls of different reasons on why he loved Garnet. He truly loved the gems with all of his heart. He loved Garnet because she was docile and he could cuddle up next to her whenever needed. She had her own ways on showing her affections as well, even though her facial expressions don't give a clue. Garnet was stoic, but she still loved Steven unconditionally.

He placed his hands on her gems. Another thing that he learned this year is that Garnet was a fusion gem. He never would have guessed it. "Sapphire?" he guessed, gesturing to one of her gems. Garnet smiled. "Yes." Steven was happy he got it right. "Ruby," he stated happily has he gestured to her left hand. "Sapphire," he said, gesturing to her right gem. He felt her smile grow wider. Probably one of the only upsides to the mission regarding Jasper and Peridot is that Steven met Ruby and Sapphire. Once he figured out that Garnet was a fusion, everything seemed to make sense. Garnet had two gems, she was conventionally stronger than Pearl and Amethyst combined, and she had future vision. He felt stupid that he didn't see it in the first place.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He questioned. "It was supposed to be a surprise." Garnet stated. His smile faded.

"Garnet."

"Yes, Steven?"

"You…you got cut in half."

"Hm. Is this why you can't sleep?

"But…doesn't that bother you?" Steven clutched his stomach, a common habit for when he was upset.

"That doesn't matter. Does it bother you?" Garnet asked. That was the moment where Steven started to cry. He remembered the band-aids. There were times where he felt like he could help Garnet, but he was helpless that time around. He could have helped her in that situation. He could have summoned his shield. He could have bubbled her; there was something he could have done to prevent that. Instead, he felt helpless; there was nothing he could do. He felt hot tears fall down his cheeks. Garnet's hands grasped his cheeks and she wiped off the tears with her thumbs. He felt her gems, cold and glossy on his cheeks, he felt suddenly protected. Garnet was one of his protectors, one of his guardians. He always felt safer when he was in her arms. "It's just… I've been having nightmares. I don't want to see any of you guys get hurt like that. I don't want to see you like that anymore." More tears feel down his cheeks and he was having light sobs. Garnet hugged him.

"You're so strong Garnet. You are never afraid of anything and I —"

"You're wrong." Garnet interrupted.

"Huh?"

"I see all possible outcomes for the future. I was worried that we would never see you again." Garnet explained. Future vision offered a lot of help for the fusion but it came with downsides. Garnet sees everything. She can see future Steven getting hurt and injured, along with all of her other teammates. It's painful seeing everything that could possibly happen in the future and sometimes things don't go as planned. The only thing that she can do is prevent the 'bad' future from happening. It's hard being Garnet. She will always find a way to protect Steven no matter what. It breaks her heart when things don't go as she plans. She wants to be the best protector for Steven, she wants to support him in anyway she can because Garnet knows (although he's still young and new to gem knowledge and powers) he is a crystal gem.

He continued to cry. After every tear, Garnet rubbed her thumbs where the tears imprinted. "I was very afraid that day, Steven." She confessed. Steven looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yes. You mean so much to me." Garnet sadly smiled. Garnet may often seem stable, stoic. She may often seem cold and distant to the people she cares about. That is not the case. Garnet is so full of love. Steven grinned and wiped away his own tears this time. "Aw. I care about you too, Garnet." He giggled before he yawned. His sobs died down and he was slowing reverting back to his old self.

"Feel better?" Garnet asked.

"Yeah. Steven's back. I'm just a little tired." Steven rubbed his eyes again.

"You need a nap."

"Yeah I do." Steven smiled and with that, Garnet leads him into his room and tucked him in. And that was it. Garnet said "good night" even though it should be "good morning" and turned off the light. Steven never again dreamt of Garnet getting hurt. Although that was one of his biggest fears, it never seemed to bother him anymore. He could protect Garnet. He could protect his family. He strived for that everyday and today taught him that lesson. He'll never let it happen again.