So… Steven Universe, I'll be perfectly honest, when ads of the show first started airing back in… uh… 2013 I want to say, I didn't think much of it based on the trailers, but I had heard nothing but good about it (apart from the occasional fanbase issue).
Being totally honest, my personal favorite character is Lapis Lazuli and my personal favorite episode of the show involves her (Same Old World), and I really need to give some praise to Jennifer Paz, the person who voices Lapis. Paz does a great job for her.
As of this moment, I haven't seen any episodes beyond "Hit the Diamond". I will be watching it, I can say that.
Now then, a one-shot is here. Let's do this thing.
Steven Universe belongs to Rebecca Sugar, Cartoon Network, and the like.
Steven sat with a cellphone in hand as he was playing a game. He was linking up these small orb like things of various creatures. He was quickly going for the high score in score attack, and somebody walked on over as he beat the level.
"Hi Steven," Lapis smiled.
"Oh, hey Lapis," Steven smiled back, before turning back to his game, "Yes! Chunyan leveled up!"
Lapis blinked as she glanced to the phone, "Whatcha up to?"
"Playing this really cool game. It's called Specter Catcher Link-Link," Steven smiled, "It's the first mobile game in the Specter Catcher series,"
Lapis gave a nod, not really understanding what Steven was getting at, but she knew it made him happy.
"Wanna try?" Steven offered, handing it to Lapis.
"...why not?" Lapis shrugged as she took the phone and tried the game out, only to fail at it.
"Good try," Steven told her.
"Eh, it's alright," Lapis admitted as she handed the phone to him, "I could see why you'd like it though,"
Steven's phone then began to ring, "Oh. Sorry, need to take this."
Thus, he answered whoever was calling him, "Hello?"
The other side talked for a moment, making Steven sigh for a moment before he hung it up.
"Something the matter?" Lapis inquired.
"Me and Connie were going to go to a Specter Catcher convention, but she's sick and had to cancel," Steven informed as he looked to the two tickets he had for the convention, "What am I gonna do? I can't get a refund,"
Lapis brushed a bit of her hair aside as she walked over to Steven's side, "I could go with you."
"Wait, really?!" Steven smiled widely, his eyes becoming stars.
"Why not? If it means I can spend some time with you, I'm all for it,"
Steven cheered loudly and hugged Lapis tightly, Lapis returned the hug with a soft smile.
That evening, Steven was hard to work on something. He was happy as he worked a bit late into the evening with his secret project.
"Hey Steven," Peridot waved as she walked over to him, "Oh? Is that some sort of an appearance modifier that isn't welded onto the body?"
"Something like that," Steven informed as he finished it, "It's perfect! It's gonna be a present for Lapis,"
"...good luck with that, based on how our experience with giving her those so called 'presents' have gone in the past," Peridot commented with an annoyed tone as she walked up to a green couch sitting on the upper level.
Steven shrugged as he put the present into a box and wrapped it up.
The following morning, both Steven and Lapis were in Greg's van and on their way to the convention.
"So… should I cover up my gem or…?" Lapis inquired.
"Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet are able to walk around with people not questioning their gems, so I wouldn't worry about it," Greg informed
"Ok…" Lapis nodded.
Steven smiled as he checked his bag, "Oh hey dad, thanks for getting me this watermelon pie bookbag, it's so great!"
"Well, you needed something bigger than the cheeseburger one, so, it works,"
The van soon stopped just outside of the convention center. Greg let them out and smiled at Steven, "I'll be back for you two in a couple of hours."
"Ok," Steven nodded.
"Lapis, try and keep him out of trouble," Greg requested.
"Ok," Lapis nodded.
The duo walked on in and saw the convention was already well underway and people were playing the Specter Catcher game
"Glad to see more people here for Spectcher Con," somebody smiled.
"Spectcher?" Lapis whispered.
"A shortened version of 'Specter Catcher' it was coined for the first two generations, before it was slightly phased out with the third one, but people still use it," Steven whispered back
Lapis nodded as if she understood him, when she really didn't, but she simply nodded.
"They'll be announcing something about the new generation of the game at this convention," Steven informed, "And there's a contest to come up with a new Specter for the series,"
"Ok…" Lapis nodded slowly.
They began to walk forward a bit with Lapis seeing some people whispering and glaring at her, but she ignored the people as she simply continued walking with Steven.
The two spent time together, looking at fan drawings, some plushies, various posters (some of which Lapis had to cover Steven's eyes at), outfits and toys.
"This is cool!" Steven smiled as he looked at a Chunyan plushie, which was a yellow cat with white circle cheeks, a sort of flame over its face, a red sash and two lightning bolt like tails that led into small blue flames.
"Yea, it actually is," Lapis commented, "May we have this?"
"What are you gonna do if I say no? Flood my booth?" the person manning the stand asked Lapis.
"...huh?" Lapis blinked.
"You're the water witch who stole the ocean!"
"Oh… right…" Lapis nodded.
Steven rolled his eyes as he put down a dollar bill and he was handed the plushie. Steven and Lapis both walked off, with Lapis trying to ignore the people who were saying things about her being a 'water witch' a 'thief' and such.
"You're able to ignore them, right?" Steven asked, "If it's to much, we can leave,"
"No no, I'm fine, I promise," Lapis told him with an assuring look, "Look, they're about to announce something,"
"Oh, thanks for the heads up," Steven smiled as he walked off to the presentation room, "You coming?"
"Nah, I'll wait," Lapis told Steven as she watched him head off.
Lapis wandered around the convention hall, humming a tune to herself as she looked around for something to surprise Steven with.
"Lapis Lazuli, I fled to the bottom of the sea," Lapis sung quietly to herself, "Lapis Lazuli, I was so mad, but then I came around to him,"
"Oh the water witch is here?" somebody commented, "You going to steal our ocean again?"
"No," Lapis commented bluntly, "Why are you all so hung up on that?"
"Because you're some magic monster!" somebody shouted.
"Why don't you go crawl back underneath the ocean or something?!" another person shouted.
The words 'underneath the ocean' echoed in Lapis' mind, making her shudder at the memories of when she was once Malachite. The constant struggle to stay in control to keep her friend safe, it all came running back to her. Lapis couldn't take it and she made a run for the front door.
"Yea, you better run, water witch!" somebody yelled.
"Hey, Lapis!" Steven shouted as he ran over to where Lapis was, not seeing she had left, "The creator is giving out Tokens of Lord Archanus a-... uh… Lapis? Lapis? Where'd you go?"
"Kid, you are aware your plus one is the water witch, right?" a con goer asked.
"She's not a witch! She's my friend!" Steven yelled as he took off after her, "Lapis Lazuli!"
Lapis sat at the beach, shuddering a bit about the comments from the people at the convention.
"Lapis?!" Steven yelled as she looked around for her, not seeing that he ran when the light was red. Lapis quickly turned around and saw a car driving and nearly about to hit him.
"STEVEN!" she yelled, quickly flying over to him and picking him up into the air.
"AH! IT'S THE MONSTER WHO STOLE THE OCEAN!" Mr. Smiley shouted.
"What? N-n-no, that's not the case anymore!" Steven yelled.
"Put him down!" another person shouted at Lapis, tossing a shoe up at her.
"...I shouldn't have come back here Steven…" Lapis whimpered as she flew down the beach and landed herself and Steven, "...are you alright?"
"Yea, I'm fine," Steven nodded, "...is that why you left?"
Lapis was silent, turning her head away from Steven.
"Come on Lapis…" Steven commented, getting her to face him, "...uh… I made you a present, and I think you'll need the cheer up. Close your eyes,"
Lapis simply nodded and did so as Steven took out his present and put it onto Lapis' shirt.
"Open your eyes up," Steven smiled.
Lapis did so and Steven motioned to the water, with Lapis seeing that the gift was a yellow star like the one on Steven's shirt.
"You are a Crystal Gem after all," Steven commented.
Lapis didn't know what to say or how to feel in response to Steven's comment as the young boy took out his ukulele.
"You are a Crystal Gem." Steven began to sing as he played his ukulele, "You'll always save the day. And if you think you can't, you'll always find a way."
Lapis blushed, uncertain how to feel
"That's why the people of this town," Steven continued, before pausing for a moment, "Especially me,"
He strummed for a moment, and continued singing "Believe In… You… Lapis Lazuli…"
Lapis actually began to tear up and then hugged Steven with a smile, "...I needed this Steven. Thank you,"
"You're welcome Lapis." Steven told her with a smile, hugging her back.
Expect me to actually sing that 'You Are a Crystal Gem' song in the near future, since school will start up and I can have stuff to edit with.
The whole convention was to give Lapis a reason to be back in Beach City, so… yea. The Specter Catcher thing, for the curious, is a mix of Pokemon and Yo-Kai Watch, hence 'Chunyan'. And Lord Archanus is a mix of Lord Enma and Arceus, 'archanus' being of the words that Arceus is derived from.
So… Mr. Smiley being the jerk to cause people to yell at Lapis after she saved Steven… yea, I needed somebody and he's the resident butthole. That jerk must have some VENDETTA against Steven or something…
Anyhow… the star thing is because all of the Crystal Gems have stars on them, as Peridot commented on in 'Log Date 7 15 2'. I personally think that Lapis will wear one similar to Steven's and Peridot will restyle her hair, since it already has three points.
My personal favorite part is Steven singing to Lapis and the hug they share. It's sweet imagery.
Well… my very first Steven Universe story, and I hope you all enjoy it.
Just Live More.