A/N: Hello! Uhhh I didn't expect to write for SU so soon but this idea hit me so strongly after the new episode that I couldn't just ignore it! (Sorry to those who wait for my Undertale fics to be updated, hhh)

Apologies for the title, though xD I didn't have many original ideas for it, so have this for now.

I admit that the first chapter might be slow - and that this story as a whole is not as angsty than what I usually write - so I hope it's fine!

As always, I'm sorry for any writing mistakes of if the characters are OOC. Well, I still hope you enjoy this!

That view was one Lars had not expected to face again.

Earth.

Earth, the big, blue planet, beautiful in its own way, wonderful with the huge oceans and creatures of all kinds. Where everything organic was welcome, where imperfections could live there without being submitted to strict, genocidal laws that would eradicate them.

Earth, his beloved home.

It was somehow bigger than he had imagined, after coming across so many planets before. The sunlight nearly blinded everyone, as they all gazed at the front glass of the ship, awestruck, amazed.

"T... This is the Earth?" Rutile asked the captain, anyway, finding it incredulous.

Lars nodded. "Y... Yeah."

"It's... beautiful," Rhodonite said, breathless; even though they did not need to breathe at all.

"Won... der... ful," Fluorite added.

Lars shook his head once he realized he had been stuck in that endless gaze. There was no barrier stopping them. There was no Homeworld, no Emerald, whoever the heck that would have hunted them in every single corner. It was just him, his friends, his ship, facing the Earth without any signs of danger. It was... peaceful.

"Captain," Rutile called him, to get him of the trance he was still trapped in. "We await your command to land on the Earth's crust."

He blinked, his eyes locked into the Moon, but bringing himself to at least give the order.

"Alright," Lars spoke, not only to his crew, but also himself, as he somehow could feel his heart beating at a fast pace; which had never happened once in space, after everything they had gone through.

"Let's do this."

It was a matter of minutes before they spotted Beach City down there, illuminated by the sunlight. The ocean was wide and deep, frightening but beautiful, nonetheless. The sky was a wonderful mix of colors, as the sun set down in the horizon. The Off Colors contained a gasp at the sight, instead opting to focus on getting the ship to the ground.

Lars could feel thousands of feelings inside him, his desire to cry growing stronger at each second. He hadn't remembered how beautiful the beach was. It then became a nostalgic, melancholic memory, as if he had been in space for thousands of years; even though, were it not for the Sun Incinerator and its speed, they would have taken this long to get there indeed. Invading Yellow Diamond's asteroid mines had been totally worth it.

On the other hand, he could feel his stomach twisting and his heart beating faster than before at the thought of seeing everyone again. Of presenting himself like this - a dead, pink space pirate that had stolen a powerful, fast alien ship, and rescued his friends from a horrible dictatorship. He was nothing like the Lars they had all known. How would they react?

The captain was close to answering these questions as the distance between the ship and the beach shortened; that is, before he could hear gasps coming from the gems.

"W-What is that?" Rhodonite asked, afraid.

Lars stood up, seeing as the Off Colors stared at the glass with scared looks. He was behind the Rutile Twins now.

"What's wrong?" He questioned.

The Rutiles had their eyes wide, fearful. They looked at the captain, helpless.

"T... Those are... Homeworld ships," One of them replied.

"Woah- what?" The captain let out in shock. "S-Stop the ship."

They were able to interrupt the landing process. Only then did Lars acknowledge the... the giant ass hands - one was blue and the other, yellow. They were similar to that one... green hand that had come to Beach City not so long ago; perhaps one of the first Homeworld ships that had arrived on Earth while he existed.

Oh, no.

That was not a good sign.

"The colors..." The left Rutile whispered. "What if those ships were sent by..."

Lars knew what they were aiming at. The two colors that represented... two of the Homeworld rulers... were sending him shivers down his spine. It didn't help that Padparadscha told them her prediction.

"We will be landing! But... oh no, there will be two Diamond ships below us!" She gasped.

It was enough for them all to freak out.

"DIAMONDS?!" Rhodonite screamed. "Captain, this is insane, we can't just show up like this! We are criminals!"

None of them were focusing. Lars was as frightened as them, but- freaking out had no good effects; he sure knew that.

"Guys- Guys!" He raised his voice to catch their attention.

Immediately, their eyes all landed on him, as none of them could breathe; even though they didn't need to. Lars himself panted, obviously unsure of what to do with two Diamond ships on the beach.

"We can do this," He told them regardless.

"But those are the Diamonds, captain!" Rhodonite pointed at the busted hand ships down there. "It's literally impossible to-!"

"Wait..." One of the Rutiles interrupted. "Those ships appear to... to have been damaged." "Look!"

The rebels looked down. As they analyzed better, Lars could tell the structures of both ships were fragile, cracked. Some pieces from the Yellow one, for instance, fell down and sank into the sea.

"Yeah," Lars' eyes widened in realization. "You're right."

"Oh, I am not sure about this," Rhodonite gulped. "S-Should we head to the Moon just in case-?"

"No," Lars gave her a sign with his hand for her to stop. "We're landing."

"B-But captain! What if this becomes dangerous?" She insisted. "W-What if-?"

"Hey, it's gonna be alright," He assured, despite his gut saying otherwise. "We've battled against hundreds of Agates, we've scared Emerald off and stole this ship! Whatever happens, we'll be ready for it!"

The Off Colors seemed to feel better about it, but none of them could take their eyes off of the Diamond ships. Lars himself gulped at the sight, fearing that something terrible must have happened. Interestingly enough, Beach City didn't seem to have been destroyed, so, hopefully, no war must have been declared. He wondered if the Crystal Gems were fine. If... Steven was fine, as he was still being hunted down by Homeworld. Shoot.

He took a deep breath.

"Come on, guys," Lars told them, getting them all out of the trance that would not stop creeping them out. "Let's land this baby for once and finally get home!"

"... baby?" Rutile asked.

"Nevermind, you get what I mean," Lars smirked. Sometimes he forgot the gems would take things literally. "Let's finish this landing!"

"Yes, captain!"

And so, they resumed.

They were almost there...

It was a matter of minutes before the ship landed on the sand. It wasn't perfect, due to the consistency of such soil, but the gems had done an amazing job.

The Off Colors, in spite of their fear of the possible Diamond presence, were awestruck by the beach, pointing at the grand ocean and the multi-colored sky. The sun was slowly setting down in the horizon, and the seagulls flew away to its direction.

Lars felt like he was new to Earth as he watched it all. Travelling around space could not be compared to the beauty of Earth, under no circumstances.

"How... beautiful..." Fluorite sighed, delighted.

"Welcome to Earth," Lars stated, words he had been dying (... wait) to say for who knew how long.

Were it not for those other ships, they would have all screamed in joy and excitement. He gazed at the blue and yellow structures that reflected the sunlight. He was determined to find out why those horrible tyrants had dared to harm his home; and he would be willing to kick them to a freaking black hole, if that were needed!

"Hm... this civilization doesn't appear to have been damaged," Rutile noted, becoming serious and analytical. "Despite the ships..."

"That's odd..." Rhodonite commented.

"Captain, strangers will be approaching the ship!" Padparadscha warned.

"Oh, my stars! A-Are they going to attack us?!" Rhodonite yelped.

"Wait, can you tell us what species they are?" Lars asked the orange Sapphire.

"It seems like they will all be humans!"

"Then they won't, Rhodonite," The captain replied the earlier question, internally relieved to hear that humans were safe and sound. "I know the humans here - maybe not every single one of them, but I can assure you that they won't hurt you."

"What will... they think of us?" Left Rutile wondered, appearing to be anxious.

"Trust me," Lars said, in a softer tone. "They're gonna love you - because you're all awesome and the greatest crew, and friends I could ever ask for."

The residents of Beach City, as weird as they were on a daily basis, were, in general, quite accepting. Not to mention they had somewhat lived among the Crystal Gems for like- thousands of years, so they would certainly not mind the Off Colors living there, either!

However, he was unsure of how they would... act upon seeing Lars. Just spotting a few people going to the beach already made his gut twist in anxiety; and his heart still beat faster. He had no- no freaking idea what people would say upon seeing him like this.

But he was tired of running away. It did nothing good to him. So, he would have to... go down there, sooner or later.

In any case, the gems' faces lightened up, somewhat replacing the fear in them.

"A-Alright," Rhodonite sniffed. "Though I'm really concerned about t-the ships..."

"Yeah..." Lars took a deep breath. "Let's settle this.

He tapped his hand on the scanner, beside the exit door, welcoming the breeze hitting on his face; something that brought so much nostalgia that could have made him cry.

Stepping on sand, despite still wearing those black boots, was something he had never expected to miss. Sand was just... some stupid grains, all stuck together, that would have annoyed him once they flied to his face or somehow entered his shoes. Even then, that was a huge part of his home - besides the literal sense.

He heard gasps. Wide eyes, confused words and rambling. There weren't many people there - only Ronaldo (who already took pictures, how typical...) and some others he didn't really know.

Lars would have said something, but the words caught up in his throat, nearly choking him. Seeing... people again was the one thing that had haunted them the entire time he had been wandering around space. Luckily (he thought?), there weren't the closest people, like... his parents... or... Sadie; he wasn't ready to see them just yet, after everything that had happened.

The Off Colors were right behind him, stepping slower than he did towards the townspeople.

"It's... It's Lars!" Ronaldo screamed. "Lars is back from space!"

The citizens approached more, asking thousands of questions, but none were spoken, as they were all shocked. Ronaldo, specifically, ran all the way, fushing over their arrival; though he kept on asking things about aliens and ships, and the Sun Incinerator. Ronaldo also tried to ask the others questions once he analyzed them, to the annoyance of Lars.

"If you're done harassing my friends, please, get out," The captain hissed.

"But you guys owe me a lot of explanation! And an exclusive interview for my blog!" Ronaldo had brought his camera with him, but Lars pushed him away before he could film any of them. The elder Fryman child left eventually, a deep sigh coming from the pink teenager.

"What was that device?" Rhodonite asked to him privately, in a lower voice.

"It's something humans use to, uh... record... live images," Lars shook his head. "I'll explain that later-"

"Guys!"

Lars was quick to acknowledge... Steven's father, Greg - who worked at the car wash, he thought -, running all the way there to reach them. He had a... cat in his hands, one with a scarred eye and the other, a charming tone of blue. Though... since when did they have a cat? He thought they only had Lion... or maybe Greg must have found it, who knew.

"You guys," He said, tired of running, Lars assumed. "I'm so glad you're-!"

Upon seeing them, Greg's smile... faltered. For some reason. Though he looked shocked, nonetheless. He then resumed his welcoming nature to greet Lars and the others.

"Oh! Lars!" Greg said. "You look, uh... pink - but it doesn't look bad, though! Steven sort of, uh, explained it to me."

"Oh, right..." Lars nodded awkwardly.

"Well, it's good to have you back, pal," Greg smiled. "You've been in outer space for a long time, now."

"Yeah," The pink teenager nodded, trying to avoid thinking about how Steven's father had seemed... disappointed just then. "It's great to be back."

The long-haired man appeared to be looking over Lars' shoulder, maybe to take a closer look to the Off Colors.

"Hello, I'm Greg Universe! You might know me as Steven's dad," He greeted them, raising his hand for them to shake; which, of course, was not something the gems knew. Not yet, that is.

"What is a 'dad'?" Rutile asked Lars.

"Oh, right," Greg cleared his throat. "Maybe you can explain that later to them."

Steven's dad looked at the Sun Incinerator, then at the sky. He would have said something else, but he shut his mouth. Greg shot a... strange look, one that implied... that he awaited something.

Something... else, that is.

Lars was about to ask him about the ships, but Padparadscha had another prediction before he could do so.

"Steven's... 'dad' will come to us with a strange, small creature!"

"What is that?" Rhodonite looked at the cat after the statement.

"This is, uh, a cat," Greg approached the animal, making the gems flinch. "Oh- she's not going to hurt you! She's pretty docile, actually. Look."

He caressed the cat, making it purr. The gems gasped.

"Why does it make that sound?" Right Rutile asked.

"Here, you can touch her," Greg tried to hand her to them, but Rhodonite stepped back.

"W-Wait! No!"

"You can trust him," Lars assured them. "It's not going to harm anyone, see?"

Rhodonite gazed at it with fear in her eyes. She held her own four hands, tempted to touch the cat, but afraid to do so.

"Go on," Greg encouraged her.

The cat titled its head a little, curious. The Rutiles imitated the act. Rhodonite approached, hesitant, one of her hands. Her fingers were then in contact with the fur.

"What a strange surface..." She muttered.

She moved her fingers softly, the cat purring again. Rhodonite looked at Lars with shock.

"C-Captain, it's doing it again!" She exclaimed, making the captain laugh. "And... it looks... amused?"

The cat tried to reach her hand with its tiny paws, leading Off Colors to let out surprised sounds.

"See, there's no problem! I think she likes you," Greg smiled.

"It- She... likes me?" Rhodonite blushed, flustered.

The other gems started making many questions about cats and Steven's father tried his best to answer them all. They wanted to pet the kitten, too. Lars smiled at the scene, but soon he found himself gazing at the Diamond ships again; noticing that... that the beach house - Steven's house, for that matter - was sort of busted, too. Though it appeared to have been repaired to some extent...

It was then that Lars heard the Cool Kids approaching.

"Oh my gosh, Lars!" Jenny exclaimed all of a sudden, Buck and Sour Cream running in his direction as well. "We just got here and- I can't believe it's really you!"

"Steven told us what happened, that you were abducted and sent to an alien planet," Sour Cream added. "Like- at first we thought you wouldn't come back!"

"But then he said you were heading home since you stole a space ship," Buck smiled, taking his glasses off for a moment to take a better look at the Sun Incinerator. "Which is really cool."

The Cool Kids seemed... rather happy. Happy to see him again. Even after... that potluck thing, they were just- glad to have him back.

"How did you turn pink?" Sour Cream wondered, raising an eyebrow.

Lars looked away in shame. That... would be hard to explain. He couldn't just tell them he had straight up... died and revived by Steven's healing powers. Though they must be aware of all the gem stuff Steven was involved in, it would be too much to clarify.

"It's, uh... kind of a long story," He cleared his throat.

"Well, it suits you," Buck complimented. "And I like the cape."

"Oh! T-Thanks," Lars felt his cheeks heating up, certain that he was blushing.

"So, you're a space pirate now? That's so rad!" Jenny said. "And those guys are your crew, right?"

"Yeah, well," Lars smiled at the gems behind him. "They're my friends. I've met them back in space and we've escaped the alien planet I was abducted to."

"Dude, you guys could have kicked ass if you'd gotten here sooner," Buck commented. "There were those- giant alien ladies right here on Beach City, and they were really mean."

Lars blinked, then remembering the Diamonds. The Off Colors shrank.

"Jeez, what- what happened here, you guys?" He asked.

Before any of them could answer, they were all interrupted by someone shouting from the beach house.

"HEY!"

A tall, buff figure ran in their direction in a matter of seconds. They had tattoos in their blue skin and rainbow hair. Their hands, instead of... being actual hands, they took the form of a weapon. Which was clear they were a gem.

But she appeared to be furious.

"Who do you think you are to still come here?!" She demanded, scaring the Off Colors and the Cool Kids, but aiming for the former; Lars stepped forward immediately, to prevent her from advancing.

"Woah, woah! W-We're not enemies!" Lars tried to explain. "We've come in peace!"

"Hey, wait!" Greg stopped her. "They're not bad, seriously! He's Steven's friend and the gems must be good if they're with him!"

The gem raised her eyebrow and stepped towards Lars rather menacingly. She studied him, her face not softening with the way he was dressed, he supposed. Probably due to the cape; it had tricked Homeworld gems to believe he was some elite gem, after all.

"Oh, yeah?" She asked, the tone making it clear that she doubted his alliance with Steven. "You didn't betray him, did you?"

"N-No! I don't work for Homeworld, I would never do that! Y-You see," Lars cleared his throat. "It's a long story, but basically, I was, uh- a human that was abducted to Homeworld with Steven and- and I met them, and they were isolated for being 'flawed'," He pointed at his friends. "We're just a group of rebels that wanted to escape, and-"

"Oh! You're rebels, too?" The tone of her voice changed drastically, to one more... friendly. She even shapeshifted her hands into normal fingers, much to his relief. "How come you didn't say anything sooner?"

She laughed, much to Lars' confusion. From threatening she became amicable in a short amount of time. He admitted to feeling downright frightened of her, he swore there were sweat drops rolling down his head.

"The name's Bismuth," The gem introduced herself. "Member of the Crystal Gems; if you've heard of them before, I dunno what they taught you there... uh, sorry for nearly attacking you."

"Uh, it's... alright," Lars assured, clearing his throat. "I- I'm Lars, and uh," They pointed at all of them in order. "These are Rutile, Rhodonite, Padparadscha and Fluorite. They know the Crystal Gems, too. We're on your side."

"Great!" Bismuth grinned. "Welcome aboard, y'all!"

She slapped Lars' back with such force, it could have broken his bones; though he assumed that Steven's powers had somehow made him... more resistant. It didn't mean that he wouldn't feel pain, though.

"Th... anks..." He gave her a thumbs up regardless.

Bismuth frowned, having realized something.

"Wait, how do humans change color?" She asked, looking at Greg. "Or are you guys born like that sometimes?"

"It's, well... Lars was... injured and Steven's healing powers did that," Greg whispered, possibly respecting that Lars didn't want anyone to know he had died; the pink teenager silently thanked him for that.

"Oh, alright, then," Bismuth nodded, her focus back to the Off Colors in an instant. "Now, let me take a look at you, folks!"

She went over to analyze the gems better, not forgetting to compliment them in the meantime. They were intimidated at first, but seeing as Bismuth was being nice, they just went with it. Lars wondered if that was the one Bismuth that had built 'weapons for rebels instead of towers for tyrants', like Garnet had told him and his crew back in space. He wondered how he had never seen her before, since the gems, while not that sociable, would always show themselves in the middle of humans. Well, he would have to ask that later, maybe.

Lars' eyes then landed back on the two damaged ships there. He frowned in realization and directed to Bismuth.

"H... Hey, Bismuth? And Mister Universe?" He asked.

"Oh- yes?" The blue gem turned around, smiling, but it faltered as soon as she realized how serious he became.

"Can you tell us what... what happened here?" Lars pointed at the ships.

Bismuth and Greg became a little uneasy, but the former proceeded to answer.

"Oh, right..." She sighed. "The Diamonds arrived to personally... destroy the Earth - but they're not here anymore. After Steven was able to talk things out to them, they've gone back to Homeworld and he went along, so they could, well... settle some matters."

Lars blinked. "Wait... Steven went to Homeworld?"

"Yeah, well..." Bismuth rubbed the back of her own neck.

"But- how come he just- went there? W-Was he-" His eyes widened. "Was he actually captured?!"

"No! No," Bismuth immediately rephrased. "They weren't gonna hurt him. They went there for... diplomatic reasons."

"What?" Rutile spoke.

"How was he able to do that?" Rhodonite wondered.

"Yeah, like- nobody gets to- to talk to the Diamonds like that- not even Steven!" Lars remarked, recording the Trial. While having not heard a thing there, he had noted how Steven had tried to talk to the gem rulers, but they would only look down to him. They would have murdered him, if they'd gotten the chance! So how had Steven convinced them not to hurt him?!

Bismuth let out a deep sigh, as if... there was something she wanted to tell them but didn't have the courage to. She seemed... exhausted and concerned, and somewhat... guilty.

"Look, from what I see," She started. "Steven didn't tell you about... this."

"W-What is it?" Lars insisted.

She shut her eyes for a moment before spitting it out.

"You know that, uh... Steven has Rose Quartz's gem, right?" She asked. "And that Rose was the leader of the Crystal Gems?"

"Y... Yeah, of course," Lars nodded, not quite liking where this was going, despite not being so sure what she meant. "Garnet told us everything about her."

"But... she didn't tell you the truth."

They were awfully lost. Had Garnet lied to them about Rose? Why would she do that? What had happened?

"What..." "What do you mean?" Rutile asked.

Bismuth's eyes showed deeper feelings; feelings of regret, of... of being unable to get past something, no matter how hard she would try. Greg looked away, also expressing that. She raised her head and finally revealed:

"Rose Quartz... was Pink Diamond."

The Off Colors gasped.

...

...

"Who?" Buck asked, breaking the dead silence.