The coldness gripped his heart and his eyes burned from tears as the memories played over and over in his head. Larimar. Nephrite. Biggs. All of their gems, poofed after being forced to live through feeling corruption again.

Snowflake. Yellow. White. Bismuth. All poofed at his inability to control himself.

Pearl. Lapis. Nearly shattered because he couldn't recognize her through his anger.

He could hardly breathe and the world behind his closed eyes began to spin as he floated in the darkness. His stomach cramped and lurched as he struggled to draw in air. Air that wasn't there.

His eyes shot open. Water. He was in water. Panicked, he flipped over and forced himself upwards, towards the light above him. He broke the surface, gasping for air and coughing. His entire body ached, his vision was blurred and he was barely able to stay afloat.

Where was he?

He felt something support him from beneath and it lifted him slightly so he was on submerged by an inch or so of water. He fell forward onto his hands and knees, unable to stand as he tried to catch his breath.

"Steven?"

He wiped his hand across his face, trying to compose himself. He looked down and saw a giant white hand keeping him afloat. His right hand was his normal skin tone. His left hand a large pink spot on it.

He raised it, ignoring how it shook and turned his arm over, following the discoloration around his forearm. His heart pounded against his ribcage as he looked at his other arm, his feet, chest; anywhere he could see. Most of it was normal, though some scars remained. His hand went through his hair and down his face.

Thank god, he thought, letting it fall. At least he didn't still have horns.

"Steven?" He jumped, having forgotten about the call, and looked over. The Diamonds were smiling gently down at him. He started to talk, but White shushed him.

"I get it now," she said, soothingly. "You don't need to apologize to me."

Blue and Yellow nodded down to him. "Or me," Yellow said. "In fact, I'm impressed you managed to get the better of me. It's been a few millennia since I've had to reform."

"I…" Steven said, his voice raspy.

"Apology accepted," Blue spoke over him, smiling. "We're just happy to have you back. As are they." Blue pointed behind them and Steven noticeably braced himself before he turned to face his friends.

"Steven!" Greg shouted. In an instant, his dad was splashing into the fountain and climbed onto White's hand. He embraced him tightly. "Welcome back, bud," he whispered, voice shaking.

Was he back? Steven wondered, eyes falling to his gem. Or was that part of him just waiting to burst forth once he fought off the rejuvenator's effect?

Greg pulled back and held his son at arm's length, noticing his lack of response.

"Hey," he said. Steven looked up at him, his fear written all over his face. "No one blames you," Greg said. White moved her hand over to the edge of the fountain and let the other gems move closer to the two.

"Steven," Garnet said, stepping forward. "How did this happen?"

He didn't want to talk. He turned away from her, not looking at any of them. They wouldn't understand. And if he opened up, would it happen again? Would he lose control of himself? Would he hurt them?

"Steven," Connie pushed past Garnet and knelt next to him. She took his hand, an action that made a tear roll down Steven's cheek. He moved to wipe it away quickly and took another breath. "Hey," she said, using her other hand to gently turn his face toward hers. "It's okay," she whispered. "You can talk to us."

He looked over to the gathered gems. To Pearl, who sat on the edge of the fountain and was watching him with love in her eyes. To Amethyst, who had her feet dangling in the water and was leaning forward to be closer to him. To Garnet, who was standing above him like a protector.

He looked to his dad, who smiled at him and rubbed his back comfortingly. To Connie, who gripped his hand tighter and nodded to him.

"I…" he started again, choking on his words as the floodgate broke. "I'm sorry," he finally forced out between choked sobs. "It was my problem. I didn't want anyone to worry about me. I thought I could handle it."

Now that he was talking, he couldn't stop himself. His words tumbled out, barely coherent, but everyone understood. They all nodded along, having felt what he had during the corruption, but now finally able to understand why.

He told them everything. From his fear surrounding his new power. To losing control. To his emotions amplifying and blocking out reasoning. How he didn't even know what he was doing half of the time. How he barely knew who he was, even now.

He stopped, unable to continue as fear gripped him again. What if it happened again?

"Steven," Greg said when his son wasn't able to continue. "I see so much of your mother in you, but I don't see all of her in you."

"That's right," Pearl said, reaching out and putting her hand on Steven's arm. "You share her compassion, but you use it to accomplish things she never could."

"If I may," White said, bending over to bring her face closer to the group. "Steven, I was never proud of your mother. She was always a thorn in my side." She looked down at Steven and smiled. "I am proud of you, though. I only wish you weren't so stubborn."

Garnet growled at this, but White laughed lightly. "You always have to be the hero, don't you?"

Steven hunched his shoulders, his eyes falling to Spinel, who toed the ground.

"I told you so," she said. "Let others save the day from time to time, will ya?"

"Steven," Garnet said, reading his expression of guilt. "None of us blame you." She knelt down and met his gaze before smiling and tossing his hair. When Steven didn't smile back, she retracted her hand. "Talk to us," she gently told him.

"What if it comes back," he said, his hand falling to cover his gem, unable to hold it back any longer. "When my powers come back, what if I can't control it?"

"You'll be able to if you let us help you," Garnet said, her visor flashing. "Your powers are connected to your emotions. Don't keep it bottled inside."

"Yeah, dude," Amethyst said. "You're always helping us. It's about time we returned the favor."

Pearl nodded at him too. "That's what we're here for," she said.

Steven didn't respond. His eyes fell to the corrupted spots on his arm and he sighed. He would always have this mark, he realized. Everyone would always be reminded of what he could become. Who he could become.

Connie's free hand covered the mark. He looked up to her.

"No matter what, you'll always be Steven to me," she said. She pecked him on the cheek and his face flushed red. "So next time, we'll deal with it together, okay?"

He looked at her and allowed the warmth from his face to spread into a small smile.

"Okay," he said, with resolve behind his voice.

Connie smiled and stood. She held out her hand to him. Steven took a breath and took it. He tried to stand, but his legs gave out from underneath him. His world spun and his body screamed in protest. He fell to his knees with a groan.

"Woah," Greg said, hands steadying him as Steven fell onto his knees. "Easy there, you've been through a lot."

Connie got back down and put her hand around his waist.

"Come on, let us help," she said. Steven looked at her with thankful eyes and put his arm over her shoulder. Greg grabbed Steven too and together, they stood, the two of them supporting most of the teen's weight as he tried to steady himself.

Garnet helped them step off of White's hand and onto solid ground.

Steven hesitated as he looked back to the warp pad. His memory was hazy of everything; he hardly saw the destruction he knew he left, but he remembered the screams, the smell of smoke and the blurred images of rubble and destruction. Connie and Greg looked at him, but it was Garnet who approached him and spoke first.

"You can do this," she told him.

"That's right," Pearl said, softly from next to the fusion. "Remember, we're right here."

Steven nodded and Amethyst walked over to his left side and gave him an encouraging smile.

"Right. We'll do this together," Steven said, taking a shaky step to the warp.

… … … … ... … … … … … … …

A month had passed since the incident. Beach City was bustling, Steven's house was nearly repaired and Little Homeworld was back up and running, thanks to the help of all of the gems who lived there.

Steven sat alone under the shadow of the repaired lighthouse, eyes scanning the city as people went about their day. Only a few of them knew the truth about that night and the rest just chalked it up to another random gem attack that they all had become so accustomed to.

Those that knew still greeted Steven with a smile and a wave, never once holding it against them. After all, they all knew how corruption changed them. They all understood that it wasn't entirely him.

He pulled up the sleeve of his jacket and eyed the deep pink mark near his elbow. It had shrunk in size since that day and the color faded slightly over time. Pearl guessed it was because human bodies naturally healed themselves, while corruption is permanently written into a gem's makeup. Regardless, it was still there. A reminder he kept covered but was slowly coming to terms with.

A long breath escaped his lips as he leaned back and enjoyed the cool breeze.

"Steven!" He looked over and smiled as Connie ran up the hill.

"Hey Connie," he called. She sat next to him and leaned against his shoulder. He smiled at this gesture, which had become normal for the two of them now. "What's up?"

Connie shook her head. "Nothing," she said, looking at the city. "I just have some time off, so I wanted to come see you. How are you?"

Steven smiled at her. "I'm okay," he answered, honestly. "Just thinking about what happened."

Connie looked at him, eyes serious.

"I'm fine, Connie!" Steven said, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. "I swear. It's just weird to think about."

"How so?"

Steven sighed, trying to put it into words. "I don't know," he eventually said. "It's like learning something about yourself that you wished you never knew. But now that you know it, you'll never be the same and it makes you a stronger person, even though you wish you didn't have that part of you."

Connie looked at him. "You wish you weren't corrupted?"

"Obviously," Steven laughed humorlessly. "But that's not it. It helped me understand a part of myself. A piece I had been missing."

"What's that?" Connie asked.

Steven smiled at her before looking up to the sky. "You all," he said. "I was so used to solving everyone else's problems that I thought I could handle my own. I thought that if I reflected my problems onto my mom, then it would be easier to fix. But it wasn't," he said, his hand still over the corruption scar.

Connie reached over and gently took his hand away and instead cupped it in hers. He turned to look at her again.

"Steven," she said slowly. "We'll always be here for you. We all love you."

Steven raised his eyebrow at her and she immediately turned fuschia. "I mean, we all care about you! You're like family to us. I mean, not family to me, that would make this really awkward. I like you and everything, but love? I don't know about that yet. I mean, I do love you, but not in that way! We're not even dating and..." she rambled on and Steven shook his head at her, a large smile on his face.

"Connie," Steven said, cutting her off with a laugh, his face growing hot. She stopped talking and looked at him, eyes wide and nervous. "I like you too."

Her face went even redder, which Steven didn't think was possible.

"You've been there for me since the beginning," Steven said, smiling. "You stuck with me through all of the pain and helped save the galaxy with me. When I was corrupted," he paused slightly, the word still stung to say. "When I was corrupted, I reached out to you to help."

She looked at him, not daring to interrupt.

"I don't remember much of it," he admitted, looking away as he thought back. "When I attacked the Earth, it was because I wanted to stop feeling scared and ashamed. I didn't know why, but I knew the Earth was the answer. When I sensed you, dad and Jasper there, I remember feeling something in me connect with you three."

He continued on, still looking away from her. "Jasper because she was mourning something she didn't understand and her emotions led her to make the decision that corrupted her. Like me. Dad because he was familiar, even in that state."

He turned back to her and smiled. "And you because when I sensed you, I felt warm. Like I knew you were someone who could help. Someone who I could trust."

Connie looked at him, a teasing gleam in her eyes. "Is that why you blasted me in the face the moment I got there?"

Steven chuckled darkly. "I hit you in the arms," he joked, but it was still clearly a painful subject for him.

Connie smiled at him. "Well, I am glad I could help."

Steven weaved his fingers between one of Connie's hands and smiled at her. "You do a great job at it." He was silent for a minute and cleared his throat nervously. "Do you remember that night we hung out before Emerald visited?"

Connie nodded. "Yeah. We hung out all day and then I had to run off. Why?"

Steven rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well...uh," he started, blush creeping into his face. "That was the best day I've had in a long time. You helped so much and then you left before I could kiss you," he forced out, watching Connie's eyes widen. "Was that something I could have done then?"

Connie just stared at him for a moment, her face red again. "It's something you can do now," she said, shyly.

Steven blinked at her, taken aback and heart pounding so loudly in his chest that he was sure Connie could hear it.

"Is...is that something you...?" he started to ask, but Connie rolled her eyes and leaned in and pressed her lips gently to his.

It took Steven a moment to process what was happening before he wrapped his arms around her, his heart full.

A loud sudden boom pulled them apart. They looked around, blushing wildly.

"There!" Connie pointed to a cloud of smoke blooming near Little Homeworld. Distant screams reached them, telling Steven it was more than just an accidental explosion.

Steven sighed and stood. "There's always something," he said. He held his hand out to Connie and pulled her up with him. "Wanna go check it out?"

Connie nodded. Steven closed his eyes breathed in through his nose. A warmth spread through his body as a pink aura covered his skin. He looked over at Connie and pecked her on the cheek before picking her up.

"Hold on!" he told her. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm ready!" she said.

Steven smiled and ran, time seemingly slowing down as he leaped off the edge of the mountain to face their next adventure.

… … … ... … … … … … … …

Author's Note: And that's it! My plot bunny is officially dead and I can finally rest easy with it out of my head.

Remember, your friends love you. Your chosen family is there for you. You're never as alone as you may think you are. Let them support you just as you support them. It's okay to not be okay. 3

Thanks for reading. I hope you all enjoy the rest of Steven's story in Steven Universe Future.