There's always room for growth.

There's always a door open somewhere for someone to go through.

Whether they go through it or not, is up to them.

Sometimes, you will need someone to open it for you

Or you to open it for someone else.

Even you will need help finding them to begin with.

In any case,

Doors are everywhere as kind, cruel or neutral entrances,

or exits.

Or anything really.

How did I get on the topic of doors anyway?

I just turned the knob.

and was expected to push...

Instead I had to pull.

Diga Arch-Fire

He had pushed for courage when he'd become enveloped in fear. But her eyes. Those eyes he stared at, in the hopes he could talk her down.
But he was in her grasp, feeling the light from her hand but shivering all the same. But her words, the words he never wanted to hear.

"It's time to come out...Pink!"

She'd dug her fingernails around his gem and then he felt it.
He wanted to scream but the twister of his fear, his anxiety blocked his throat. His body pushed against it and in the moments before pure darkness, was the cold light of her eyes.

Is this death? Was this what it was? It could have happened sooner at the Trial. Seeing Blue and Yellow, his fellow Diamonds, bickering over his fate.
It could have happened even earlier with his body rapidly aging, with the Gems arguing about what they should do.
It could have happened many times.

Why?

Why can't he control his own fate?

Why can't he stop it hurting so badly? He hated seeing others hurt. But...

He was hurting immensely. From everything. A suffering transferred to him.

No. His mom didn't mean to. He knew this. But...

Rose...Pink.

He felt his aura fade.

It hurt so much as he felt hollow inside.

A ringing sound echoed in his ears. He heard someone call his name?

Rose?...Pink?

No.

Connie.

He opened his eyes, but...half of his vision was obscured. He clung onto her voice. Words could barely escape his mouth as is but Connie was there. He wasn't alone.
But the pain was unbearable. It was like his veins were on fire. His mental pathways were like striking lighting bolts into water. Every thought was a cut to his mind as his body was in a state of shock, as he tried to decipher what was going on around him. He then saw his gem in White Diamonds grasp. It had started to glow as she let go of it. In those moments, he saw the light of Pink, then the light of Rose...then

Him.
Part of his vision returned, but it made no sense. It wasn't until the Pink Steven turned to face him that he was realized what it was.
An overwhelming urge overcame him and he desperately tried to drag himself there, but he had no energy to follow through, but thankfully Connie was there to be that energy.
But it was like a silent whisper urged him to go to the entity. He felt his strength coming from there.

He wasn't paying attention as White pondered, confused as to where Pink had gone to.

"She's gone..." The entity muttered.

White urged him to speak up and repeat himself.

"SHE'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE."

The scream was akin to the overwhelming aura of Blue Diamond, but far more agonizing and terrifying as the roar caused physical damage around them.
Fear took its hold, as Steven somehow knew, where exactly that was coming from in a weird way. It was then the silent whispers returned.
He was nothing more than a single pale rose akin the beauty of the pink starlight before him, as the entity went back to staring right back at Steven. He felt Connie cling on to him harder as she reeled from the destructive tones of the most surreal, yet nearly paralyzing, sights before her.

He started walking towards them once more, as he raised his hand. The whispers were calling out to him. They were not words to be spoken but a need to be sustained. Steven tried once more with what little strength he had, but everything was so overwhelming, so horrible and so weak that he squeaked out a single word.

"Help."

Connie picked him up. Her voice was a pure light in his ears that eased the pain. Slightly.
"Hold on."

White Diamonds fury filled the room, her aura echoing as Pink Steven continued his trek. They froze as White Diamond ordered him to stop, as she fired her beams of light from her eyes attack him. Steven's eyes widened, frightened and his thoughts chanted rapid no's constantly.
Only for Pink Steven to be perfectly fine as he shielded himself.

White tried once more...then combined the might of the other Diamonds, the Gems and her Pearl to try to take him down.
Steven couldn't believe what he was seeing. His heart ached, being the organ that was currently in the greatest scale of pain and the whispers were from himself, channeling them in a wordless prayer to give the last of himself a chance.

Pink Steven only pushed the lights back in a perfect deflection, so powerful it knocked over the ones he cared about over and the only thing in his mind was telling himself to stop hurting then.
The close he got to him, there was a feeling that started to flow back into him. Happiness? Joy? Despite the expressionless face he made, Steven knew the one thing that could help him.
Connie carefully handed him, as Steven himself reached out to Pink Steven and...

He could see himself from...himself. His heart could have fallen out of his chest with the tidal wave of emotions. A new feeling, no a familiar feeling. A feeling not unlike that of what love the Gems had provided for him and that of which his own father gave him. Now, he could give to himself as he embraced the warmth around and started laughing...as soon the entity donned the biggest grin himself and chuckled alongside him, as they twirled around and danced with such joy. Steven could have sworn he heard another voice, but that was discarded as his world went white, riding the emotional high and letting the pain flutter away as now he knew exactly how he felt about himself.

He saw Connie run up to him, calling out to ensure her jam bud was okay. Wordless calls for him in his heart, uncertain about its meaning.
Although, maybe he knew. It had to be certain. He no doubt that had always been himself anymore. That was the only thing that mattered to him at that very moment, burying all else with ease.

He'd been busy in the weeks afterwards. Helping uncorrupted gems find their own meaning in the world again. Steven could do that easily. He needed no voice or pull that would tell him otherwise. Doubts erasure would be, if something else wasn't going on the back of his mind.
He tried to meet all the gems he could help, often to the point of exhaustion where the others would ask him to just rest easy, but he was always so full of enthusiasm. Every new day was better than the last.

Then it started to snow again. Had it been that long already?
Still there was a lot of joy to be had in the depths of the snow. Despite the cold, Steven hung out with Lapis and Peridot as Steven demonstrated on how to make snow men.

"They look remotely nothing like human males." Peridot commented as Steven made a small one. It was the usual tower of three large snow balls varying in size. He put stones and twigs on the top one to make a face.

Steven giggled. Gems discovering something new about Earth life and learning about it was only one of many things Steven absolutely loved helping out with.

"It doesn't have to be exactly like it." Steven said as he patted his snow mans back.

"Remind me why humans creating mock life is fun?" Lapis queried.

It wasn't mock life, but expressing ones creative side with simply building one is joyful. But perhaps there was another way they could do it.
Steven then started to creating another one, however, he molded this one differently.

"We know they're not real." He told her. He then kept looking back at Peridot repeatedly, who grew suspicious, especially when Steven didn't realize his tongue was sticking out as he tried to shape the snow in weirder detail.
"Doesn't mean we can't pretend."

It looked misshapen, but the way the head was formed got Peridot curious about it as she looked it over, squinting and humming to herself.

"What is this thing supposed to be?" She asked him.

Steven spread his hands out wide and smiled, presenting a familiar triangular headed form before him.

"It's a Snowadot!" He called out with glee.

The green gem pouted and rubbed her chin, then shook her head.

"No no, you got it all wrong, here...let me fix up a few things." She said. She found a few more stones and twigs nearby and started to alter the snow form like mad.

It grew bigger until it was twice as large as her, although, admittedly, a bit goofy looking. Its arm pointed upwards, with the twigs for a thumb and index finger on the hand, directed up as well.

The stones formed a large smile and Peridot had carved the stars on her legs, then looked at the face again and realized it needed her new, awesome visor but the snow was too unable to get into the shape she desired. She grew frustrated quickly and muttered to herself as she tried multiple times, each time with failure.

Steven had to think, he then looked at Lapis, then looked at a nearby pond that frozen over. He clicked and had an idea.

"Hey Lapis, you reckon you can crack the ice over there?" He asked her.

Lapis was apathetic to it but was happy to do it for Stevens sake as she smiled.

"Sure." She answered.

She went over to the pond and stared at, then used her powers to crack a portion off then bring it over.
Peridot grew giddy as she took it and use a rock to put it in near perfect shape and carefully rest it on the front of it.

"There! There is your TRUE SNOWIDOT! The coldest, most brilliant homage to the almighty Peridot!" The gem announced, believing it to made in honour of her previous heroics.

Lapis was exasperated, but Steven was proud of the small gem for giving it a go. He then looked at Lapis and hoped she'd make one for herself.

Steven knew Lapis would hold long voids between her words. Sentences formed between thoughts. Trauma can change people, but it cannot destroy them completely.
After everything that happened, after he had witnessed truths birth on the visage of what he would come to know as the power that had within him all along, that supported his connections and his passions. A power that was his and his alone.

In between helping others, he hadn't talked much about the experience. Maybe to Connie, who was the only one to witness it. It was thanks to her, that he knew it was real and that it all actually happened. But for Lapis?

There was much to be said, recalling the first time he met her and healed her. It reminded him of the agony inflicted because he was broken and torn apart. Amethyst's gem cracking...
Why couldn't he find the proper words to describe this type of brokenness? Was it unique to gems? Can humans experience this as well?

No words attached to a unique experience.

"Did you ever get to see a Snow Quartz?" Lapis asked Peridot out of the blue. Literally.

Peridot rose an eyebrow, peering back into her memories.

"Oh the Scribe Gems from White Diamonds Court? I've heard of them, but never seen one." Peridot answered, before she took a deep breath and proceeded to open fire.

"Snow Quartzes are considered some of the wisest gems. They write down the words of the Diamonds in stone, not literally but they're basically book keepers always searching for information. Whether its new worlds to colonize or to categorize the smallest creatures. They're normally surrounded by Labradorites, who help sniff out trails when they're on the hunt for something that deeply interests them."

They sounded kinda cool. Steven wondered if he could ever meet one.

"I saw one once." Lapis revealed.
"I wonder, if I remember, to shape out what it looked like.

Lapis gathered snow balls in small shapes and within minutes, Steven could see the forms likeness. With big shoulder pads that reminded him of bird heads.

Another Quartz gem, big and bulky like most Quartz gems he knew. This one was tall, tall enough for Lapis to fly up and mold the head. Lapis used more ice shards, this time for the eyes and the gem located on its forehead. The hair, from what Steven could make out, dropped down and was quite wavy. Not as expressive as most gems he knew, whom, to his realization, tend to have considerable poofy hair styles. Not that this was an issue, just an observation. (but he did love all the styles)

Lapis then found the darkest stone she could find as her lips. Akin to White but...

"Wow, awesome." Steven commented, with stars in his eyes meant for things he found amazing.
"I never saw any on Homeworld though."

Not that he saw many of Whites court there besides the ones he saw when he arrived...

"Astute observation!" Peridot stated.
"There's many gems you may not have met, and while the gems you've helped out here aren't necessarily all Homeworld has to offer, seeing one is considered something you see once in a life time..."

Steven listened in as Peridot continued to talk about this unseen gem, sitting before her as she showed her proud and triumphant gestures, explaining how Snow Quartzes barely see each other, since they're meant to scout out new worlds to possibly colonize and are meant to spread out as far and wide as they can, often one is allocated to a world at each given time, similar to a Diamond and document their findings to the Diamond Authority.

"What about the Lapradorites you mentioned? See one of those?" Steven wondered.

Lapis nodded.

"Hmmm...I think the one I saw briefly had one by her side. They're similar to...Pumpkin but they're like...what are those other four legged things called?" She said.

Lions?

"Oooo ooo...those things, yeah yeah...the ones that sniff too! But they sniff each others butts! I don't understand that. Their slobber is less than stellar." Peridot complained.

Ohh...thats what she meant. It got Steven even more excited.

"You mean dogs?" He exclaimed. Then his eyes widened and glistened greatly.
"I love dogs!"

Steven sometimes forgot Lion didn't always have the obedience like a dog did.

"Yeah, but anyway they're a four legged gem that don't speak...I found that the weirdest thing. Imagine just not talking. Gives me the creeps." Peridot said.

Imagine just not talking.

"A DOG GEM OH EM GEE Oh now I really want to see them too!" Steven stated.

Steven returned home later that evening with a big grin on his face. A Snow Quartz. A Labradorite. Adventurers. Adventure Gems. Ah that must have been the life. A wanderer, on the open road, always on the hunt for something new. Didn't matter what it was. One day he'll travel. But for now it was his sworn duty to help others. But at some point, the wonder turned to engaged curiosity...as his dreams were filled with snowflakes.

Snowflakes that fell on light, light that fell on himself. Snow was cold, but this was warm. Oddly warm.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Beach City, a white cloaked figured appeared. She was almost as white as the snow that surrounded her, almost...milky skinned too. A white gem gleamed on her forehead
Her cloak had fluffy trimmings and curved spiked shoulder pads that the cloak had covered entirely, as her white heels dug into the snow. Alongside her was a wolf like creature, with dark grey fur with glowing patches of blue with flecks of gold and purple eyes.
"Beach City." The figure spoke, her voice akin to icy crystals clashing in echo, soft yet brittle as they emerged from her black lips.
"I feel so much life from here. Its mystery known to itself. We will keep our distance Labradorite...as we always do. There's someone here...someone here White wanted me to see. To study."

She reached out with her hand where, oddly enough for a gem, she had long white fingernails extended as she splayed her hand over the city view, as if she wanted to pick it up and place it into the palm of her hand.

"Humans have always been...the oddest organic I'd ever had the pleasure to observe. Each incredibly unique. Each with their own individualistic natures and paradoxes. My sisters would be jealous of how much knowledge has been locked away here, only for me to uncover it all. So much history to absorb. I have to, Dori." She said as she rested her hand on her chest.
"But this place has a powerful aura...I am forever tempted to get closer..."

Her Labradorite growled, alerting her attention to some humans were coming nearby. She gasped as she fled behind a tree, her protective gem guardian doing the same.
"They're nearly adventurous as we are. " She whispered.

The humans giggled. A male and female, wrapped in bulky cloth. They could get cold really easy as most organics did, but they were the best at fixing that issue.

"They're the most adaptive to their surroundings...its fascinating. But..."

The pull was there. Drawing on in to find out more. She needed to find out more. But how? Not from a distance. She can't let people see her.
Shapeshifting would be her tool to hide in some situations but that wasn't the problem. The pull again, the power causing trouble she couldn't explain.
"Gem life resides here too, according to the reports." She said.
"Blending in with the other life forms, learning their trade..."

The humans sat down nearby and got closer to one another and started the act known as kissing. A reaction of love...something she'd become absolutely obsessed with.
Her previous studies were in tune with the subject, if not it had become something she studied the most. The way that humans acted with one another and the one that trumped her realities and discoveries. There were other less pleasant subjects on the humans emotional spectrum that she hardly understood. It would be a lie to say that she was only here at White Diamonds behest, no. But to let White know that and risk being shattered?

She would have to keep her mouth shut and continue to observe them...and the one with the pink gem in their stomach especially.

"Let us leave Dori, we have much work to do."