The following fanfic is a joint project between ThatDastardCerberus and TheWoolyViking. This chapter was written and edited by both parties.

Once upon a time, there was a Rose Quartz, who dreamed of freedom and started a rebellion to protect her home. With her friends and faithful knight, she saved the Earth from those who wished to do it harm And though it came at a terrible cost, she lived happily with her family ever since.

Thousands of years later, she met a human named Greg. With Greg, she fell in love, and together, they had two beautiful half-gem children.

Her son, Steven Quartz Universe. And Nicole Pink Universe, her daughter.

Once upon a time, there was a boy and a girl, who were siblings. This is their story.

"Noooooo!" Steven cried out in horror, slapping his palms on the empty freezer. "Cookie Cat can't be cancelled!"

"Why don't you just use your magic belly button to magic some more out of thin air?" Lars teased as he lazily stocked the shelves.

"Mom told me that that's not how it works!" Steven pointedly snapped back. "At least… I think?" Steven lifted his shirt to inspect his gemstone, light shimmering from the facets of its pentagonal cut. But alas, it seemed its mysteries would remain as such for him.

"Sorry, Steven," Sadie replied sympathetically. "But, if you like, there's these now in stock." Steven looked in the direction of the larger freezers, seeing the melty, crudely shaped lion popsicles. He pouted, placing his hands on his hips. "Aw, but no one likes Lion Lickers!" Steven sighed, his breath fogging up the glass to the empty Cookie Cat freezer in front of him. With his finger, he drew the outline of the frozen treat. "Oh, sweet Cookie Cat, with your chocolatey cookie outside, your half vanilla and half strawberry ice cream inside… you were too good for this world…"

Sadie shrugged, before gesturing towards the empty cat shaped freezer in front of Steven. "If you want, you can take that. It's not like we'll be using it."

This made Steven perk up a bit, and he smiled. "Thanks, Sadie!" Taking the cord, he warped it up and slung the fridge over his shoulder before bounding out of the Big Donut.

Steven swung the screen door the beach house open, excited to share his new find with his family. As he entered, he found the Crystal Gems and his mother, Rose Quartz, standing in the kitchen together. Nicole, his baby sister, was being held in Rose's arms, squirming eagerly. "Steven, Steven, guess WHAT!?" she said breathlessly.

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Pearl gave a proud smile and opened the top of the fridge, revealing dozens of—

"COOKIE CATS! I thought they were gone!" Steven ran up to Pearl, nearly taking her off her footing as hugged her. "How'd you get them?"

"Well," Pearl remarked, "Rose heard that they were sold out everywhere, and we know it's your favorite—"

"So we stole a bunch!" Amethyst blurted, grinning widely. Pearl gave the purple gem a pointed look and huffed. "I went back and paid for them."

Garnet reached into the freezer and pulled out two packs, handing one to Steven before turning to Rose. Rose laughed, looking down at the eager child in her arms. "Do you promise to behave if Garnet gives you a Cookie Cat?"

"Yes!" Nicole replied, arms vainly reaching for the treat. Garnet chuckled, light shining from her visor as she adjusted it. "She won't be any trouble, Rose."

"Alright." Rose took the packet from Garnet and placed Nicole on the ground. Nicole, to her own credit, stood at attention, rather calmly taking the treat from Rose's hand before bounding over to Steven and joined him in eating the treat. She was about to tear open the package when she was stopped by Steven's hand. He shook his head solemnly before his face broke into a huge smile. She copied the expression, before the two broke out into chorus;

"Ohh, he's a frozen treat with an all new taste

Cause he came to this planet from outer space

A refugee of an interstellar war

But now he's at your local grocery store

Cookie Cat

He's a pet for your tummy

Cookie Cat

He's super duper yummy

Cookie Cat

He left his family behind

Cookie Caaat!"

Steven, without a missing a beat, quickly added, "Now available at Gurgens off Route 109!"

Each of the Crystal Gems gave an approving smile at their song. "Oh, Steven, Nicole, that was so adorable!" Rose cheered as she scooped the both of them into her arms for a hug.

"Mom, put me down!" Nicole pouted a slight blush present on her face from embarrassment.

Rose chuckled. "Alright, alright, I'll put you-"

She froze, Steven noticing a distinctive pinkish glow filling the room. He looked around to spot its source realizing it was emanating from his own gemstone. A second light just a swiftly appeared. An equally intense glow showing from Nicole's own gemstone. The gems around them stared in awe at the spectacle as something began to form from the almost blinding light.

At last, the mysterious lights took shape. From their gems came a pair of rounded shields, not unlike the shield Steven had seen his mother summon when she would protect him. The colors were the same as hers, a rosy pink with a hue of baby blue around the rim. But rather then carrying the visage of a Rose, the symbol was instead of a five pointed star, curiously split in half down the middle.

"They're shields," Steven heard Pearl whisper.

"Steven… Nicole…" Rose began to say, struggling to find the words.

As if primed for release, the shields flung themselves throughout the room, ricocheting off the walls and smashing whatever they landed on as the others ducked for cover. As one came barreling towards Garnet, she instantly caught it in her grasp. However, for the other…

CRASH! They all looked to see the second shield buried deep within the side of the small television set. Sparks flying as both shield finally dissipated in a few twinkles of light.

"The TV!" Steven hollered. "No!"

"Dude, who cares? We got powers now!" Nicole shouted in glee. "Let's do it again!"

Throughout the beach house, they could hear the sound of strange clicking and snarling. Suddenly, the floor beneath burst upward. From the opening came a strange centipede-like creature with a green and black carapace. As it screeched, green spit splattered from its mouth and caused any surface it touched to corrode and melt away.

"A corrupted gem!" Garnet exclaimed. "Rose, we'll cover you as you get the children to safety!"

Rose nodded in agreement. Wasting no time, her gemstone began to glow as her children became encased within the confines of a pink bubble.

"Aww, no fair!" Nicole pouted. "I wanna help fight the monster!"

"Nicole, don't fuss!" Rose scolded. "We can't risk you or Steven getting hurt, right, baby?"

"Yes, Mom!" Steven quickly answered as Nicole mocked his tone. "'Yes, Mommy'!"

"Nicole, don't tease your brother like that!" Pearl snapped, wagging her finger in a disapproving manner. Nicole chose to just ignore her, crossing her arms and hunching over to avoid looking in her direction.

Without another word, Rose rushed the two out of the house, stopping when she felt they were at a safe enough distance. When she finally set the two of them down, Steven felt panic wash over him as she remembered-

"My Cookie Cat freezer! Those things might melt it!" Steven cried out.

"Don't worry, baby, I'll try to save it. Ok?" Rose said, her voice warm and reassuring. "Now you two stay here, and I will be right back."

Behind her, the hissing grew louder, dozens of insectoid creatures swarming the house as they crawled their way in through every crack and crevice they could find. Rose turned back to her children. "Be safe, and remember, Mommy loves you!"

"Love you too, Mom!" Steven cheerfully responded, Nicole only grumbling a similar sentiment. "Yeah, love ya."

With that, Rose gave two quick kisses to the surface of her bubble before turning her attention back to the Temple. With one leap, she bolted back to the beach house to enter the fray.

"Can't believe it..." Steven heard Nicole grumble.

"What?" Steven asked.

"I can't believe Mom's just stuffing us in a stupid bubble like this! And just after we got our powers!"

Steven just gave a shrug. "Well, she just wants to keep us safe," he said.

"But how are we going to be proper Crystal Gems, if we can't fight?!" Nicole exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "Mom always does this to us, every time something big and scary comes and—" She paused, whirling around to face Steven, "You get it, right? Aren't you bothered by how she babies us all the time?"

Steven paused, thinking for a moment. "I mean, I guess? But it's not like we can really use our powers yet, even if we do have them…"

Nicole groaned in defeat, slumping down in the bubble. Pulling up her legs, she crossed her arms and sulked, part of her hair covering one eye as she glared at the sand below her.

Moments passed before Rose returned to the children, gently releasing them from the bubble. Steven wasted no time in hugging Rose, but Nicole continued to mope, turning her back at Rose with a huff.

"Nicole?" Rose asked, the child only answering to her name with silence. "Nicole, baby…"

"I'm not a baby!" Nicole spat, recoiling from Rose's attempt to embrace her. "You can't just shove me in a bubble like that after Steven and I finally get our powers! I… I thought you'd be proud…"

"Of course I am proud of you, sweetheart!" Rose said, sounding slightly hurt from Nicole's words.

Steven tried to think of something fast to help diffuse the tension. "Mom? Would it be alright if you guys helped us learn how to use our gems?" he pleaded. "It would be mean a lot to me and Nikki."

Rose's brow furrowed as she mulled over Steven's request. "Well…"

She was almost there, just one more thing to tip things into their favor. As Rose set him down, Steven got on his knees, folded his hands together, and looked to his mother with the what Amethyst had once pointedly described as his 'sad puppy dog face'.

He could already see Rose's will begin to crumble at the sight. "Oh, now sweetie, don't look at me like that…"

Rose's gaze briefly shot to Steven's side, from corner of his eye, he could just spot his younger sister join him in this battle of will. Rose fidgeted and squirmed in discomfort, even averting her attention away did little as she more than likely felt their gaze bore through her resolve.

Finally defeated, she gave out an exhaustive sigh. "Oh, all right…"

"Yay!" The two cheered in unison.

Steven and Nicole each had taken a spot at the top of a hill under the shade of a large Magnolia, it's sprawling branches littered with beautiful pink pedals that danced in the gentle breeze.

At the base of the trunk stood Rose and Pearl, the former kneeling to meet her son and daughter at eye level. Or at least, as close as she could get to eye level.

"See how the pedals of this tree seem to move with such grace and elegance?" she said, holding her hand out to allow one to rest in her massive palm. "Each individual pedal performs their own unique dance that is all their own. Like them, you two will find that your gems will manifest their abilities in their own distinct way."

"Though it may look improvised, each movement the pedals make is precise and calculated in accordance to the physical properties of this planet. With hard work and dedication, the both of you can help discover your own dance!" Pearl added.

Light emanated from their gems. A shimmer of pink tinted light began to erupt from Rose's forearm, blooming outward like a spring flower. In an instant, a rounded, semi-transparent pink shield with the spiral insignia of a rose in the center.

Beside her, a spear materialized above Pearl's head. Wasting no time, she snatched it out of the air, twirling it in her hand is it extended before finally planting the end of it into the ground. With a satisfied smirk, Pearl looked to the two of them. "Like so."

Steven could tell from the look on his sister's face that she looked more confused and frustrated than impressed. And by his own admission, he couldn't help but silently agree with her. Still though, he was sure Pearl and his mother knew what they were talking about… right?

Just outside of the Big Donut, Steven had spent what felt hours tossing and gathering the small pile of pink pedals from his and Nicole's 'lesson' earlier that day.

"You're seriously going to listen Mom and Pearl told ya?" Nicole scoffed.

Steven shrugged, "I mean, it's what they were trying to teach us… I think." He said, sounding less sure the more he thought about it.

"Ugh, did they tell you the pedal thing?" Amethyst said in an exhausted tone that seemed to hint at a similar shared experience.

"Hey Ames, do you have a better idea about how to summon our weapons?" Nicole asked, trying not to sound too desperate for advice.

Amethyst paused to take a massive bite from her donut before answering. "Yo, don't worry about it! You don't need to do any of that practice junk! Ya just need to wing it!"

Amethyst's gem began to glow, she reached with the contours of its facets and pulled a long bullwhip from within the mysterious void. With a one good crack the whip, the dumpster behind her was cleaved in half.

"It always works for me!"

From the behind, they could hear Lars shriek in surprise, dropping the full bag of garbage as she flinched. "Seriously!? Again!?" he hollered.

Now Steven felt more confused, Pearl said he and his sister would get their powers through hard work, but now Amethyst was telling him to just improvise. And his mother told him this was something he would naturally learn themselves. How did this all make any sense? Maybe Garnet could help make sense of all of this…

"So Pearl said we have to try really hard—" Steven began.

"—But Amethyst said we don't gotta, sooo," Nicole interrupted, trailing off. The siblings looked at each other and, in union, asked, "Which is it?"

Garnet didn't react, at least not immediately. Then, without missing a beat, she stated, "Yes."

The siblings shared a confused look before looking back up at Garnet pitifully.

"Or," Garnet continued, rising her arms up, "you can link your mind to the energy of all existing matter channeling the collective power of the universe through your gem. Which results in," her gauntlets materialized from thin air, wrapped around each fist perfectly. "At least that's my way of doing it."

Steven could only stare blankly, while Nicole squinted suspiciously, before shaking her head.

Perhaps, it would require more than just being told how to do something.

Perhaps, it was now time to put everything they heard into practice.