Stuck

There's a jolt through your entire body. A gasp, a wild swirling, confusion, sickening dizziness- and then a thud, as you land heavily on your back.

The adrenaline is pumping and your instincts are screaming at you to get up , but instead you force yourself to lay still for a few moments. Wait for the dizziness to pass, get your bearings. The fall was hard, but the ground beneath you is soft, and some careful wiggling tells you that you aren't seriously injured. You open your eyes and ease into a sitting position. You look around.

You're on a beach. A very familiar beach, in fact, judging from the sight of the Temple in the distance.

"Beach City?" you mutter. "How did we get here?"

There's no response. You look around. There is no 'we'- or, well, as a fusion, there is , but beyond the background presence of Steven-and-Connie, you're alone. None of your friends are with you.

"Guys?" you ask, just in case. Still no Gems in sight.

You frown, trying to work out what happened. You were on a mission, knee-deep in a battle in some ancient Gem ruins. There had been weird booby traps, then a giant flock of evil Gem locusts- a huge pedestal rising from the floor, carrying a strange shining sphere of gold— A sudden attack of the giant mother locust- Amethyst getting picked up in the mother's mandibles and thrown right at it— the weird ornament went flying, directly at you, too fast to dodge- it hit you directly in the forehead- and then?-

Okay. Okay. Magical Gem artefact. That would explain it. Teleportation. That's what's going on here.

You hiss in frustration. You were in the middle of a fight! The others might need you!

Well. Standing here isn't going to help. You look around, checking to see if your sword came with you— but no, it must have gotten left behind, which is less than awesome. That's one of the major drawbacks of not being able to summon it directly from your gem like with your shield. You also check yourself over more closely for wounds. Nothing major, though your bare arms and legs are covered in little insect bites. They're irritating, not painful. You can deal with them later. For now, you gotta get yourself to the Warp Pad and back to the others.

You take off down the beach at a quick jog, relishing the rush of blood. At first, you're completely focused, eyes dead set on the Temple in the distance… but as you run, your attention wanders. You get distracted by a seagull swooping overhead, the warm smell of fresh pizza, the strum of a guitar in the distance, the rumble of a car on the boardwalk…

You glance over at it. Cars don't usually go on the boardwalk, except for Mayor Dewey's. But judging from the lack of Giant Head, this isn't his. Looks like a lost tourist. A lost tourist with a really old car, though one being kept in pretty good condition. Maybe there's some sort of antique car fair in town?

Nah. That doesn't seem right. This car isn't old enough for that kind of thing, or fancy enough.

You come to the slow, watching the car as it retreats down the boardwalk. It's not the only thing that seems a little off, but you can't place what. Brow furrowed, you try to put it together.

Did… did the Pizzas get a new shop sign? And why are there so many more posters and newspaper stand-thingies on the wall next door? And why is that person there dressed so strangely, like someone out of an old movie?

And… and where's the Big Donut?

"This is weird."

"What's weird?" asks a familiar voice from behind you.

You turn around to say hi, and yelp when you do. "Da- aaa -!"

"Because," Mr. Universe says, "If there's something weird going on, I think I know some folks who can help."

You gape.

It's Dad. Or no, not Dad, Mr. Universe. Because he still has hair all over his head, and he's wearing his old black shirt, and he's strumming his guitar while he walks, and he's still wearing earrings and what .

Mr. Universe watches you expectantly, and seems to grow uncomfortable when you don't answer. Then he notices something and his face brightens. "Hey, wait, are you fan?"

"Uuuuuhhh," you manage.

"You're wearing my merch!" he says.

You glance down. And sure enough, there's Steven's typical red star shirt, sitting above Connie's black fighting outfit. You're floundering, you have no idea how to respond, yet somehow you feel your mouth saying, "Uh, yep! Yep, exactly! I'm a huge fan of your work, Mr. Universe!"

He beams, stuck somewhere between joy and embarrassment. "Wow. Well, always great to meet a fan. What's your name?"

"Stev-lla," you stutter. " Stella . Yeah."

"Cool." He grins. "You know, that shirt seems kind of small for you. If you want, I can hook you up with something bigger. I've still got lots of old merchandise lying around."

"Uh… uh, no, it's fine, thank you Mr. Universe," you say. "It's— it's a style."

"Ah, just call me Greg." He shakes his head. "I can never keep up with the fashion trends these days. Is that's what's up with forehead jewellery?"

"What?"

He taps his forehead. "That gold circle. Or is it like a… a bindi, I think it's called?"

Your hand flies to your forehead. Sure enough, you feel a smooth, metallic bump where there should be bare skin. You're confused, but you improvise quickly. "Yeah, exactly! It's a bindi. I'm Indian on one side."

It's not even a lie.

You're confused. You're really confused. And you want nothing more than to ask this man who-is-but-isn't-your Dad for help, or else go running desperately in the opposite direction, but you can't. You need to figure out what is going on. So you square yourself and ask, "What was that you were saying about someone who could help?"

"Hmm? Oh, right. Yeah, I'm talking about the Gems. They're the magical ladies that live down the beach." He points towards the Temple. "You know, monster attacks, defending humanity, that sort of thing."

"Oh, right. I learned about about them in school," you say, and again, not technically a lie. "Do you know them?"

He twirls a finger through his hair as a cocky smile spreads across his face. "Yeah. You could say I'm pretty close to them."

"Are they around?" You try to make it sound casual, but a hint of desperation leaks through.

He immediately grows a little more guarded. "Uh. Well, they were off a mission earlier, but they're probably around now. Why? Is there something dangerous going on?"

"Oh. Oh, well, I just think it would be cool to meet them!"

He regards you. "Well. Sure. They're pretty rad. But they can be kind of weird around hu— new people. I could introduce you, if you really want, but-"

"No! No. No, it's alright, thank you, D- Mr— Greg. Don't worry about it." You look down at your wrist, even though you're not even wearing a watch. "Actually, I've really got to run! Thanks so much for your help see you around bye!"

You take off. You can feel him staring after you, flabbergasted. Once you're far enough away down the beach, you risk one look back. He blinks down at the sand, then shrugs and resumes strumming his guitar as he strolls off.

You dive behind a boulder, and force yourself to breathe.

What is going on?

"Time travel," you say aloud. "It's the only explanation.

"Well, not the only one," you confess a moment later. This could be a dream or a hallucination or some sort of holographic simulation. "But it's the most likely."

Time travel. Time travel. You're swamped with memories of rushing water, the smell of salt, dozens of Stevens and punching and screaming and crying and dissolving and your mouth feels very dry. Not even the Gems were entirely sure what had happened that day, only that some alternate version of Steven(s) must have messed up tremendously. You don't want there to be a repeat of that.

"There won't be," you say, with more confidence than you feel.

Gingerly, you reach up to touch the strange thing on your forehead. It's smooth and cool, circular, about twice the size as your thumb. It must be the weird magical artefact from the ruins. It's what's probably gotten you into this whole mess. Maybe you just need to get it off of you.

You explore it with your fingers, trying to find the place where it meets your skin, some sort of crease where you can wedge in your nails and pry it out. But you can't find any. But the transition from metal to flesh is seamless, like the Gem embedded in your belly. You groan with frustration, then flop onto the sand.

Okay. That didn't work. What now?

Before going in, assess what you know. That's what Pearl told you to do before going into a battle, but the principle is the same here.

So, you've been teleported to Beach City, apparently back in time. How far back?

Dad/Mr. Universe/Greg looked significantly younger than the one you're used to. Not as young as in the music video with Rainbow Quartz— this Greg had greyer hair, a bigger belly, more lines on his face. But still a little younger than in the VHS tape left in Lion's mane. Somewhere in between the two then. That puts you in 1996, maybe? 1998?

The specifics don't matter. What matters is getting back.

But how? You don't know the first thing about time travel!

… but the Gems would know.

The Gems. You're filled with a desperate rush of longing for them. Of course they would know, of course they would help. Amethyst would throw an arm around your shoulder (or waist, since you're so tall like this), and tell you to chill, and Pearl would begin a long lecture on the nature of time, and then Peridot would interrupt to correct her on some minor point and the two would start squabbling, and then Garnet would shush them with a single word, before telling you exactly what to do.

But that's your Gems, and you're in the past right now. Peridot isn't even on the planet! Connie and Steven aren't even born yet, and the others won't know who you are! How are you going to convince them to help you? "Oh, my name's Stevonnie, I'm a three quarters human fusion from the future!"

No. You know how they can be about stuff like that. They'd probably freak.

And what if you did manage to convince them? You've seen time travel movies before, and TV episodes too, and it never ended well. Time-lines getting rewritten, people fading from existence, memories becoming altered. What if you let slip something about the future? What if you somehow manage to wipe yourself from existence. What if—

You're breathing fast, your hands are digging into the sand, your eyes are hot, and you're horrified and terrified, and you feel so alone . You press your eyes close, certain that when you open them, you won't be yourself anymore, that you'll be Connie and Steven and—

— but when you do, you're still you.

You gulp desperately for air.

You still feel horrified and anxious. You desperately wish there was someone here to hold your hand, but there isn't, so you settle for pulling your legs to your chest and wrapping your arms around them.

"It's okay," you and Steven and Connie all tell yourself in unison. "It's okay."

Alright. Alright. You can do this. You can find the Gems, find a way to get their help without freaking them out or changing the future. Just start from the beginning. "You know how Greg and Rose Quartz fell in love? Well…"

Wait.

You're back in time. Back at least fifteen years. If you want help, you don't have to go to Garnet, Amethyst or Pearl at all.

You have to go find Rose Quartz.

oOoOoOo

Author's Note: I found myself wanting to write something where a) Steven goes back in time, b) Stevonnie, and c) I got to play around with second person POV... and then ended up combining all three ideas into one. Seems to have paid off, because I had a ton of fun writing it, and already have the whole thing written. Expect part two soon.

A huge kudos to my wonderful friend LadyRavenEyewho beta'd this.