"It won't be easy," said Garnet in a low voice. "I know," Pearl replied. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before!" Pearl picked up the clipboard Steven had bought her as a gift and went over the list of equipment they'd need. Ah yes, Steven. "Garnet, about Steven," Pearl began. "It's okay, I know what you're going to say," Garnet cut her off. "But, I actually agree with you." Pearl looked surprised, "really?" Garnet nodded. "Even if this mission was in this galaxy, I wouldn't want him to come. It's just too much." Pearl nodded, grateful that Garnet agreed with her. "How are going to break this to Steven?" Amethyst asked, casually transforming from a chicken to the Purple Puma, and then finally back to her self. "We'll just have to be straightforward with," Garnet sighed. "He's grown so much," Pearl reassured her, "he'll understand. Hopefully. And further more, Amethyst," Pearl turned to glare at one upside down Amethyst sprawled out on the couch. "with such a dangerous mission coming up, I'd have expected you to at least start packing WHEN WE'RE TEN MINUTES AWAY FROM LEAVING!" "Relax, P," Amethyst waved her hand nonchalantly, "I got mah whip, mah personality, and mah good looks! What more could I possibly need?" "How about something to fight a giant flying gem monster with?" Garnet asked. "Gotcha covered there, G-Squad," Amethyst said excitedly. "Remember how I got da PURPLE-COPTER?" To emphasis her point, Amethyst demonstrated by turning into the very large, very purple Purple-Copter. However, in her eagerness she didn't pay much attention to her surroundings, and as a result broke a massive hole in the window, as well as pushed Steven's bed out of the newly created hole. "Oops," Amethyst giggled. "AMETHYST! Please, TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!" But before Pearl could really get going, she was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

"Hey guys!" Steven said cheerfully. "What's going? Why's Pearl so angry? And why is my bed in a big pile on the beach?" "Umm, never mind all that right now Steven," Pearl said hastily, shooting daggers at Amethyst, who was still laughing silently. "We need to discuss our upcoming mission..." Steven started jumping up and down in excitement. "A new mission! Oh man, this will be great! We're going to fight some awesome monster and win, cause we're the Crystal Gems!" By this point, Steven was standing on top of the counter as if he was giving a speech. "We're a team! And together, with help from everyone, we'll always save the day!" Steven jumped back down and started running around in circles. "What should I pack? Will we be gone awhile? Should I bring my mom's sword? LION!" But Pearl stopped Steven before he could go any further. "Actually Steven, umm, we've decided it would be best for you to...to...stay here."

Steven looked like a wounded puppy. "But..but...stay here?" he quivered. "Yes Steven, we've decided that this mission is far too risky. In all honesty, we're not sure if we'll even-" "Pearl, that;s enough," Garnet interrupted. "Steven," she said, "this is one time, you'll need to trust us. Please don't make this difficult." Steven looked up at her and nodded very sadly. Sighing, he trudged over to the couch and sat down as the Gems gathered their gear and stepped onto the warp pad. "Good bye, Steven," said Pearl. "We'll be back as soon as we can," nodded Garnet. "And if we never do, you can have my room! Well, actually all our rooms!" Amethyst squealed as they departed. Steven could only hear a very faint Pearl scolding Amethyst before they were gone. "Oh," groaned Steven.

Steven was walking outside when he decided to call Connie. He dialed her number, but it went immediately to voice mail. Great, Steven thought, her mom probably made her turn it off during some activity or another. Feeling down, he decided to visit the one person who always made him feel better.

Steven rounded the corner and saw the sign for "It's A Wash!" Under it was one Greg Universe lying on a beach chair. "Steven!" he called as his son approached. "How's it going?" "Not too well, Dad." Steven sighed as he sat next to Greg. "The Crystal Gems left for a mission they said was too dangerous for me, so they left me here." "Oh Steven, that's too bad," Greg said. "But I gotta tell you, I'm a little relieved." Steven looked surprised. "Why's that?" he asked. "Well, it's just with all the dangerous stuff you and the Gems do, I'm glad to see that they believe something is too dangerous for you. Makes me trust them more as parental figures, you know?" Steven nodded. He knew, he just didn't like to admit it.

After saying bye to his dad, Steven didn't really feel like going home and being by himself. To make matters worse, today was some sort of holiday that Steven didn't really understand, so all the shops were closed. And by all the shops, that means the only one's Steven cared about. The Big Donut, Beach Citywalk Fries and the Arcade, all closed. Steven continued on, wishing for someone to hang out with. He looked up into the distance, and suddenly got an idea.

Running all the way, Steven eventually ended up at the barn, completely out of breath. As Steven regained his composure, he saw what looked like a downcast green triangle sulking in front of the barn. "Hey Peridot!" he called out. The former Yellow Diamond henchgem looked up. "Oh, Steven," she said as she put her head back in her crossed arms. "What's the matter, Peridot? You look sad." Steven said as he approached her. "No, you look sad!" She snapped at him. "I, on the other hand, feel just...just..., oh who am I kidding, I feel terrible, Steven!" Steven sat beside the sobbing Gem and put his arm around her. "What's wrong?" he asked in a soothing voice. "Oh, it's Lapis again," she said. "That infernal gem is once again at my throat. Now she won't talk to me, and she's locked me out of the barn!" Steven continued to comfort her. "I know how you feel. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl just left for a mission without me," he said.

Peridot suddenly sat up, a huge twinkle in her eye. "Maybe we can help each other!" And with that, she started bouncing up and down with glee. "Wait, wait, wait!" said Steven frantically, 'what're you talking about Peridot?" Peridot suddenly dove onto Steven and pinned him down. "Don't you see, you clod? It's so simple! You make Lapis forgive me, and in return I'll show you how to reunite with your precious Crystal Gems!" She jumped off and started rolling around like she was having a fit. "Wait, you can do that?" Steven asked incredulously. Peridot sat up and threw her arms wide open. "Of course I can! There's a very simple way to view the last destination used on the warp pad. Once you know that, you can teleport there and do whatever." Steven, unable to believe his luck, accepted at once. "This is great," giggled Peridot again, "so all you have to do is convince Lapis to let me back in the barn and you'll be all set!"

Steven walked up to the barn door. "Uh, Lapis? You there? It's Steven." "Don't bother," Peridot sighed. "She's surrounded in the inside with water , thus preventing any noise from entering or escaping." "Why would she do that?" Steven asked. "It's not important..." Peridot said at once, but then immediately said, "I may have spent several hours banging on the door while bawling for her to let me in." Steven, easily believing that Peridot would do such a thing, started to consider his options. "Well, what if I go in through the skylight?" "Skylight?" Peridot gasped, "how long has that been there?" "Well, we didn't have enough wood to patch up the entire hole you made with your robot, so we made it a skylight instead."

Peridot grumbled under her breath as they walked around to the side of the barn. "One problem, how will you get up there?" Peridot asked. Steven thought about it, and then got an idea "Oh, don't worry about that," he said proudly. "Here I go!" And with that battle cry he simply jumped to the roof of the barn, and gently landed a few moments later. Peridot stared in absolute disbelief. "Whaaaaaat?" she said, her jaw agape. "I'll explain later, see ya in a bit!" Steven called as he ran up to the skylight. Using his super strong muscle, and several other weak ones, Steven very slowly tried to pry open the horizontal window. After a while, Steven started to get tired and frustrated. "Ugh, stupid skylight," he said. He gave it a good swift kick, but broke it and fell through. "AAAHHHH!" Steven yelled as he fell. Luckily, he landed on a soft, yet scratchy bale of hay.

Steven stood up and looked around. Sure enough, Peridot had been absolutely correct in her assumption. A heavy wall of water was pressed against the walls and the ceiling, with the exception of the skylight. So Lapis can have some sunlight, Steven thought. Speaking of Lapis, Steven saw her curled up atop a haystack, looking halfway between meditating and sleeping. "Umm, hey Lapis," Steven said cautiously. Lapis opened one eye slightly, then both shot wide open. "Oh, Steven! What're you, uh, doing here? How, did you get here?" She asked. "Oh, well I kinda fell through the sky..hole." Steven explained as he pointed to the now empty hole devoid of any glass. "Listen Lapis, about Peridot. What exactly happened?" Lapis sighed. "Nothing happened." Steven looked shocked. "But then, why aren't you letting her inside the barn?" Lapis turned away. "It's just, I can't stand being around her this long. You have no idea how much she gets on my nerves!" Steven looked confused. "Then, why didn't you just leave for awhile and go somewhere else?" Lapis suddenly looked very sad. "Because I don't know anywhere else, this is my only home on Earth." Lapis let out a long sigh as she sat down and buried her head in her dress. "Wait, I have an idea," Steven exclaimed. "The Crystal Gems said they'd be gone for quite awhile, so you can stay at my house until we get back!" Lapis looked up. "Really?" Steven nodded. "Absolutely! The only condition is, you have to forgive Peridot and let her back inside." Lapis thought for a moment, then smiled.

The barn doors opened up and a little green Dorito was washed away by the exiting water walls. Lapis stepped out and looked at Peridot thrashing about in a two inch deep puddle, gasping for easily available breath. "You." Lapis said, pointing at Peridot. "You're forgiven." Peridot ran on all fours over to Lapis and gave her a massive hug, before instantly realizing who she was hugging and immediately broke it off. "I'm, so sorry. Please forgive that as well," Peridot said nervously on her hands and knees. "It's fine. I've been hugged by a piece of pie before. Just don't do it again." Peridot stood up and began to tear out her hair. "What is this pie everyone keeps calling me?" She asked furiously. "I'll show you later, Peridot. Right now we have a job to do!" "Of course! Let's depart!" She exclaimed, bounding down the hill. Steven said a hurried good bye to Lapis as he tried to catch up to the over excited gem.

Back in the temple, Peridot had just finished her work on the warp pad. "Alright Steven," she said. "I've got it. You'll be teleporting to this pad here. Just focus on it, or whatever it is that you do. I don't care." Peridot turned away with her eyes closed, and then immediately turned opened them again and turned back. Steven, with his cheeseburger back pack and hot dog dufflebag was just about to set off when a large pink wall suddenly appeared. "Lion, I don't have time for this," Steven said impatiently. Lion turned, and shot out a portal from his mouth. "No Lion, I don't have time to visit mom's armoury." Lion just looked at Steven. "Look, I'll be back later." Steven said. He climbed onto the warp pad. "Bye Peridot, bye Lion." Steven waved, then the warp pad took him away. "Bye, Steven." Peridot said. "Good luck in," she looked closer at the warp pad, "good luck in, Remnant."

(Chapter 2 coming soon!)