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Steven Universe: Poofed

Chapter One: Crystal Memories

…

"Hey Steven, are you doing okay?" Connie's voice came from the phone. Steven, who was laying on the couch, let out a bit of a groan, but he attempted to fake a cheery mood for her anyway.

"I'm doing good, thanks Connie…" A few moments of silence before he spoke up again. "Y'know, it's been almost a month since you last called…"

"I'm so sorry!" She let a bit of sadness slip into her voice, and she quickly cleared her throat. "College has been pretty rough, not to mention the fact I'm captain of the fencing team… Oh it's all been so stressful…" She let out a long sigh.

"Hey, don't even worry about it! I'm glad you decided to go to college!" Steven bit the bottom of his lip as he spoke. He knew what he said was a blatant lie, and it hurt him to even think about the fact his best friend was overseas, where they couldn't see each other for years. Although he wasn't about to let Connie know any of that. "You have so much potential inside of you Connie, and I don't want to hold you back on any of it!" Steven assured.

"Thanks… How's, um… How are they?" Connie nervously asked. Steven's already fading smile disappeared completely from his face, and his attention diverted towards the kitchen countertop. On top of the counter sat three baskets. In two separate baskets laid two gemstones: a Pearl, and an Amethyst. Sharing a slightly larger basket were two more gemstones: a Ruby, and a Sapphire.

"They're… They haven't-" Steven's voice broke off into a pathetic whimper. "In two weeks it'll be a year since they retreated into their gems…"

"Oh Steven… I didn't-"

"It's fine. Don't worry about me," he coldly said. Connie's end fell silent afterwards. Steven sighed and swiped away tears he didn't realize we're trickling down his face. "I need to be going soon, I gotta have breakfast," he suddenly said.

"So soon? I still have another half hour in this free period and-"

"I gotta go."

"Steven…" This time it was Connie's voice to break off into a whimper.

"Bye Connie…" Steven's finger hovered over the red cell phone icon, but he hesitated to press it. The sound of Connie's faint crying made him feel worse about himself. "Hey Connie…"

"Y-Yeah..?" She let out a quick sniffle.

"I love you." Steven promptly hung up and put the phone on silent. He sat up lazily and stared up at the ceiling. Thoughts raced through his head, and he closed his eyes in an attempt to clear his mind of any bad ones. He took a deep breath and his muscles began to relax.

...

"Cleanse your mind Steven." Garnet's calm voice echoed. Steven opened his eyes and saw two familiar figures in front of him. Sitting on the cool sand was Garnet, and a younger Steven- about four years younger. The two were sitting cross legged, facing each other.

"How can I? What happened on that last mission… I didn't want to hurt-" The younger Steven sounded panicked and on the verge of tears. Garnet simply placed a hand on Steven's shoulder and removed her visor. "What you did was to protect Connie. Had you not done what you did… Well you would be feeling a lot worse right now…"

The younger Steven tried to speak, but the only sound that came out was a choking sob. His lip began to quiver, and tears began steaming down his cheeks. He quickly embraced Garnet, burying his head into her chest. "I'm a bad guy Garnet!" Young Steven wailed. "I could've helped that poor corrupted gem! But instead I… I sh-shattered-"

"Steven." Garnet's tone turned serious. "Up until then, we had never seen a gem so corrupted by the Diamond's damage. No matter how many times we poofed it, it would come back almost instantly, and more powerful than its last form."

Steven winced, remembering the fight too well. The one corrupted gem they could never bubble.

"It overwhelmed even Stevonnie, causing the two of you to unfuse. Connie was in trouble, and you reacted. You did what you had to do." Garnet stroked Steven's head, and kissed him on the forehead. Young Steven's wailing toned down to tiny sobs, and he stared up at Garnet. "How would Rose… How would Mom react if she knew I shattered a gem?" He hastily asked. Garnet seemed to think for a few moments, before finally replying.

"Connie means a lot to you, does she not?" She asked, putting her visor back on.

"O-Of course! She… She means so much to me… T-The thought of losing her…" Young Steven trailed off.

"And you would do anything to protect her, correct?"

"Yes! I would do…" He realized the direction this conversation was heading. "Anything…"

"Rose Quartz did anything to protect the Earth, even if it meant shattering another gem. If she didn't do that, both of us would cease to exist," Garnet stated calmly. More tears began to well up in young Steven's eyes, and Garnet simply smiled as she wiped them away. "Connie is your Earth, Steven."

Younger Steven began to cry some more, but smiled as he hugged Garnet.

"I love you Garnet…" Both Steven's simultaneously whispered. Steven reached out to hug the memory of Garnet, but just as it had happened countless other times, his hands phased right through her. The memory around him started to go fuzzy, which meant he had to make his leave soon. He took a deep inhale, and closed his eyes slowly.

…

When he exhaled, he felt reality shape around him once more. He opened his eyes to see the ceiling once more. Steven slowly sat up and pulled out his phone, examining his missed notifications. All of them were from Connie, just as he expected. Twenty-three missed calls, four voicemails, and thirty unread texts, most of which consisted of 'STEVEN, ANSWER!'

Steven climbed up into his room and began searching for a specific item. When he finally found the box he had been searching for, he pulled out a ukulele with yellow and red fire painted onto it. He began to strum it a few times, tuning it until it sounded perfect. Pulling out his phone once more, he scrolled down his contacts list until he found Connie's name, and began calling her. He set the phone to speaker and set it down on the ground next to him. He was leaning against his bed frame, video game console and television set in front of him. The phone rang over and over until it sent Steven to voicemail. Determined, he called once more, and was met with the same result. "Dammit… She's probably in class now," he thought to himself. He was about to set the ukulele back into its box before his phone began ringing. He scanned the phone and saw Connie's profile image on screen. He quickly answered it, and before a single word could be uttered, Connie began to yell into the phone.

"Steven! You can't just tell somebody something that important and then leave them hanging like that! And now you call? I tried calling you during my free period and you didn't answer then, but you call back in the middle of my history lecture!? I had to excuse myself to go to the bathroom, and I only get three of those for the semester! And… And…" Before she could continue, Steven spoke.

"Did I ever tell about the song I sang after the first Homeworld Invasion?" Steven asked in a cool tone despite just being yelled at.

"Wha..? What does that…" Connie was caught off guard by the question.

"You know, the giant hand in the sky? It was maybe… I think seven years ago?" Steven rubbed his chin as he recalled the events.

"Yeah, yeah I know what you're talking about… You said something about a song?" Connie's angry tone seemed to disappear.

"Yeah, did I ever tell you about it?"

"I… I don't think so…"

"Well in that case," Steven cleared his throat, and began strumming on his ukulele. "Everybody told me gem stuff's dangerous…"

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