Summary: A start of a nice little adventure
(Personally this is one of my favorite side stories StevenXLuz)
Luz found herself laying on the beach as of late, mumbling as she stared up at the hot sun. "I'm…..so….bored." She had lived in Grave's Beach ever since her dad's passing, and in all those years, she had found her little town to be stupendously dull to live in.
There was the school, which constantly ridiculed and denied her attempts at having fun. There was the park, which only had parents that thought it was weird for a fourteen year old girl to hang around four year olds. There was the zoo, which kicked her out after she tried to ride a giraffe … Luz didn't remember that one all that well actually.
The point was she was bored, and even the beach, which was supposed to be the most exciting place on earth if all her anime and movies were correct. She couldn't even read Azura, the latest book was on a hiatus.
The only thing she could think of was hanging around the boardwalk to alleviate some of the boredom, but it was awkward to just go on all the rides by herself. One look was all people would need to know that Luz was a gal without any friends.
The only remotely interesting thing that happened lately was the kid riding his bike on the sand for some reason, passing by but never saying anything. Maybe she should've said something or waved hello, but talking to people wasn't exactly her forte.
Mom told her she just needed to put her best foot forward and tone down the 'crazy', but what people didn't understand was that crazy WAS her best foot forward. You didn't ask a dog to not lick you if it was happy. You didn't ask a tree to not grow up green.
Crack
Though most people would ask for a giant rock to not crush them to paste when it was coming down on you. "So this is how I die." She wasn't able to run from it, she wasn't crazy enough to take it … see you soon dad.
"LOOK OUT!" A small fleshy blur came crashing into her as a flash of pink came into her vision.
Creaaak
The rock crumbled into pieces as a giant pink bubble of all things shielded her from being turned into a bloody pancake. "Whaaa?"
"Are you alright?" She looked up to the hand that was offering itself. It belong to a short chubby boy in a pink shirt and sandals with a star in the middle of it.
"Um … yeah." She took it, raising herself up. "Are … are we in a pink bubble?" Luz asked, gazing around.
"Yeah, that's a new one, but I'm glad it showed up." The boy laughed. "I'm magic. Well, half magic, on my mom's side."
"Your magic…." She let those words sink in. "Your magic….as in you have magic powers to do do magical things and go on magical journeys?"
"I know, it's weird and-"
Luz grabbed the boy tightly, staring at him with amazement and wonder. "You are the coolest person on the planet!" She shouted with a smile. "Can you do spells, ride on brooms, teleport?" She gasped. "Are you immortal?"
They looked a little lost amidst all the questions he was being asked, but smiled all the same, if a bit nervously. "I'm not sure what you mean by spells, I ride in a van occasionally, and the warp pads take me to different places in the world by waving my hands, so yeah." He scratched his head at the last part. "The gems are pretty old…oh shoot, I don't think I've ever held a birthday for any of them."
She was already lost and loving it. "My name is Luz, nice to meet you, coolest guy in Graves Beach."
"Nah, that honor goes to my dad." He waved off with a beaming smile. "Nice to meet you Luz, my name is Steven. Steven Universe."
"And you have Universe as your last name?! How do you keep one upping yourself!?" She asked.
"Eh, it's a gift. I just do my best to keep the funky flow flowing." He waved his arms in a little dance that was weird and cool and adorable all in one.
"How have we never met before?" She asked legitimately. Luz was certain that she would've remembered seeing someone this cool around town before.
"I dunno, I usually hang around by the boardwalk, the big donut, the car wash, and the temple." He pointed to the giant statue of an eight armed lady she SOMEHOW missed completely.
"Magic temple…and you live there!?" She screamed with excitement.
"Yeah, with the crystal gems, their basically magical moms that take care of me when they're not saving the world."
"Literally every sentence you say is the best structure of words I have ever heard in my life." Luz placed her hands on his shoulders. "Take. Me. To. Them. Please."
"Um … yeah, sure." He nodded, looking around. "Ah … I think we have a problem though."
She looked around at the pink bubble. "I don't see the issue." Was he insecure about it's color or something?
"This is the first time I've ever made a bubble…I don't know how to unmake it."
"Ah, the young child with uncontrollable power." She nodded. "In that case, we have two options. The first one, we make you feel so tranquil and secure that it fades away."
"Oooh, that sounds very pleasant actually." He nodded.
"And the second is to make you so uncomfortable inside the bubble that every instinct for 'escape' makes it pop." Luz finished. "Like we can think about what makes you nauseous, or constantly remind you of how little oxygen we could be getting, or forever think that we'll never be able to eat our favorite foods or hold our loved ones again." She explained. "You know, just as an example."
The boy winced, squirming where he stood. "…Let's focus on the first option please, if we can help it."
"Alrighty." She clapped her hands, rubbing them. "Sit down in a meditation position." The boy did so. "Now relax … relax … you're in a nice, fluffy meadow."
"Yes…so fluffy.." He repeated, closing his eyes.
"The gentle breeze against your skin, the shade of a single tree enveloping you in a cool shade against the warm sun."
"So warm…"
"And at the edge of the tree…is the world's largest cookie cat, drips of its strawberry goodness flowing into your mouth, giving you absolute guarantee that your safe, your secure, and nothing can ever, ever hurt you."
"Of course not, they're the best treat of all time ever." And he has great taste, nice! "So creamy and balanced, everything is always okay when Cookie cats are around…"
Pop
The area became less pink as the natural light of the sun hit them. "We're free." She smiled. "You did it.."
"Luz, your amazing!" He tackled her in a big bear hug. "Your pretty words totally did the trick! Your the smartest person ever!"
Luz snorted. "Tell that to my teachers sometime." She patted his back. "I got an F for giving a griffon spider breath."
Steven tilted his head. "I know spiders smell bad, but I don't think that should be enough for a fail."
"Some people just aren't as enlightened as you and I, Steven." She picked herself up. "That's why we need to stick together so we can keep each other informed about how the world really works."
"Yeah! Best friends sticking together till the ends of the earth!" This was gonna rule.
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Lion wrapped the toasted human to the location. "… On the plus side, we finally made it to the movies." The girl responded with a smile.
"Sorry Luz, I wanted us to have a fun day out, but I put you in danger." His boy pouted. "I really thought Lion was mature enough to handle driving duty."
"We went across the ocean into a portal your pet lion created by roaring hard enough, found a secret vault with multiple weapons inside of it, and fought an elemental security system." The girl said blankly. "The only thing that wasn't amazing was learning you named your pet lion Lion."
"What, it's a sophisticated name." His boy countered. "I want people to make sure that whenever they say the name Lion, they'll always picture this Lion, because he's the most lion-est lion that ever Lion-ed."
"He is the Alpha lion of all life, clearly he deserves better, don't you agree big guy?" She asked him.
"Grrrr." He didn't particularly care. The boy was happy, so he went with whatever choice the boy decided on.
"Betrayed, oh the humanity." The girl sighed over dramatically. "Only you can save my hopes now, dog copter.
Boom
The two of them stared at the flaming wall that once held a poster for 'dog copter'. "Please tell me that the 3-d here is just really good and intense." The boy asked the girl.
"No…though I think this is how 7-D works." She responded as they looked back at the portal he previously made, still open as the contraption from before slipped through. "Wow, that guy REALLY wants us dead."
It fired an electric ball, causing an explosion from the car next to them. "We need to stop it!" His boy shouted.
"How?! Your shield bounced off it, and I don't have magic powers on me!"
"We don't need shields or magical powers! We have hope, determination, and most of all, a giant pink lion that hopefully knows exactly how to deal with this!" He boy turned to him. "Come on boy, we can really use your lion-y wisdom right about now!"
Lion responded by leaning forward his head. "Grrr."
"Lion, this is not the time for headscratchers!" His boy shouted.
"Maybe his head is a portal to another dimension! Just like the familiars in Unfamiliar familiar!" The girl announced. "You reach in, and the special mystical bond of friendship you share brings out something amazing!"
"Luz, while I love your concept of fantasy, it's not like I can take my hand and shove it inside of-my hand is inside his head!" His boy shouted. "What if I'm touching his brain!"
Boom
"Worry about medical damage later, find something useful!"
"Something useful, something useful." The boy began pulling out objects. "Flag, t shirt, mysterious chest we don't have a key for-"
"If we weren't about to die, I'd be squealing right now for the probable foreshadowing all these items hold."
"-oh, I grabbed a handle for something!" He began to pull. "It's kind of big. Luz, mind helping me lift it out?"
"On it!" The girl reached in, pulling and pulling, until it finally dislodged.
Shink
And there was his Master's weapon. "Steven, don't take this weirdly, but I am in love with your pet lion!" The girl shouted, holding up the sword as multiple projectiles flew at them.
"That's perfectly understandable. Lion's too perfect to not fall in love with." The boy agreed as more fireballs were hurled their way. "I don't know how to use a sword though."
"I've seen enough anime to know a thing or two, have at thee, robo menace!" She swung the blade … as it went flying from her grip, straight into the skull of the robot.
Krkrzzdxtt
The contraption sputtered and sparked before shutting down, crashing into the ground.
"…Luz….you are the greatest swordsman in the world." The boy marveled at the girl's indirect victory.
"Yep … that was all skill … not at all a complete accident." The girl was a terrible liar. "Now let's see if there's still enough tickets. I hope they actually show him shooting missiles out of his butt like in the book."
"Books are their own special brand of magic." The boy nodded.
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Amethyst shook her head. "Steven, you've gotta focus man." She lightly chided the boy. "We don't need another dog toe incident."
"The puppy heads were so cute but so deadly at the same time." Luz, Steven's unofficial girlfriend shivered. "It's like they were trying to lick me to death."
"This is why we have a Lion, they're way safer than dogs." The boy agreed. "… Maybe I should try a cat finger …"
"Let's stray away from making animal heads until you've graduated to expert." Amethyst tried to readjust the conversation. "What about a … bird wing?"
"Oh, then we can fly over the beach." Luz spoke excitedly. "Just imagine the horizon view."
"We're a little high up to be testing flight, aren't we?" Steven asked. "Like, really high, above the pointy and really hard rocks at the bottom."
"Pfft, don't be such a worry wart, Ste-Man. The higher you are, the better you fly. That's like…science or whatever." Amethyst shrugged, getting close to the edge of the cliff.
"Forget science, we have magic!" Luz squealed as she jumped on Amethyst's back ."Turn into a dragon so we can ride you into town!"
"Whoa, guys, I don't think you should be teetering on the edge so much like that!" Steven called out to them. "Rocks on here tend to give out, and I don't want you guys to get hurt!"
"Steven, I live here. I've climbed and fallen off this ledge for hundreds of years, long, long before you were even born." Amethyst rolled her eyes. "It's not like I don't know where to walk and not walk. Where I'm standing is completely safe-"
Crumble
"Don't you dare say I told you sooooo!" She shouted as they began falling.
"AMETHYST! LUZ!" Steven cried out to them as they got closer to the bottom.
"It's alright, right!?" Luz still held onto her tight as they got closer to the bottom. "You can just fly us out of this, right!?"
"No time, brace for impact!" Amethyst ordered the girl, expanding her body just enough to act as a cushion between the human girl and the rocks she was hurdling face first into. "Ah nuts.."
CRACK
A sharp pain she's felt a hundred times before hit her chest as she and the girl bounced of the rock and rolled into the sand…heh, rock and roll, that was a good one. "Amethyst!" Luz jumped up, her arm looking bruised and purple.
"Totally fine." Amethyst answered Error "Hctarcs a tsuj." … Shoot.
"What?" The girl peered at her gem. "Is it broken?"
"Edur. Don't get hserF." She turned away. Amethyst was already going to get a mouthful from Pearl over this.
"Wait, if these things are … STEVEN!" Luz shouted. "Amethyst has brain damage!" Again, rude. Error And the hand she reached out fell to the ground … lovely.
"Amethyst! Luz!" Steven ran to them, huffing and puffing. "Ah….you…you're both hurt!"
"Pfft, this, this is nothing. I always wanted my arms to be dangling like a noodle." She waved off. "Plus I now have this googly eye." She shook her enlarged eyeball around. "Huh, teews ytterp?" Error. Error.
"Ametyst, the backwards talk sound's pretty funny, but if this is affecting your brain, we need to do something quick!" Luz shouted, wincing her arms as she pointed her gem out. "Now do we go to a hospital or a geologist to fix this?"
"Honestly, I just say we take her to the gems, they know best." Steven looked her over. "Gonna be hard to carry with your arm though … gah, it looks banged up."
"I can deal with it …" The girl blinked, before giving a devious smirk. "But it would be nice if you kissed it better."
"Wha? I don't, I mean, I wouldn't mind, but would that really..I don't know, should I really…" Oooh, looks like someone was embarrassed to go to second base.
Amethyst gained a smirk of her own. "Ay t'nera tsaf gnievom?" It was nice to joke while in mortal peril.
"Amethyst, don't start with that now." The boy flushed red all over. "We should really get moving…"
"Not until my tiny pink knight in sandals kisses it better, or else I don't think I can muster the strength to move." Luz kept on teasing. "Oh, I guess I'll just lay on the sand and become food for the seagals once I dry out."
"I am not letting those jerks get anything else from me." The boy grumbled, leaning down and quickly pecking her arm. "Alright, are you happy?"
"Yep, I'm feeling better … a lot better." The human adopted a confused look. "Like, my arm isn't …" They all looked as the discoloration on her limb vanished into sparkles. "... Steven?"
"Yeah…." The boy looked amazed and shocked.
"I think you have healing kisses."
"I have healing kisses….I CAN HEAL WITH THE POWER OF LOVE!" The boy shouted in the air, jumping for joy as he did.
"HOW DO YOU GET MORE AWESOME EVERY DAY!?" Luz shouted out, glomping on top of the boy as the two of them jumped around in a circle in celebration. "You're breaking cool limits below absolute zero!"
"Nam eht OuY, Nevets! ll'uoY pots rouy dneirflrig morf gnitteg kcis yb gnikam tuo hitw reh." She teased as she painfully raised a thumbs up to the boy.
"We're both lucky I have no idea what you're saying." Steven chuckled as he kissed her gem, restoring her body. Fully Operational. " Oh, I've gotta tell the others!" He began running to the temple. "I've got healing kisses!"
"Wow, did you know he could do that!?" Luz shook her the moment the girl saw she was better.
"Not really. Rose could heal people with her tears, but she never had to kiss anybody to do it…although she really did like kissing people for fun." Amethyst remembered.
"Sometimes I wonder how much you say is just teasing and how much is legitimate." She deadpanned. "Huh…wonder if this means it's just his spit and not necessarily kissing…"
"You're not going to tell him that, are you?" Amethyst smirked. "You can get all the kisses you want from him and just say you're feeling under the weather."
"Hm….you make a fair and enticing point." Luz thought about it, closing her hands together in a thinking position.
"I always make that point." The gem snickered. "Now come on, let's go eat some expired food and taste compare it."
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Garnet looked up at the massive tower of water. "... We may need Alexandrite for this." She said simply. The earth's ocean had been stolen by Lapis Lazuli, a gem trapped in a mirror that Steven had freed. It was a rare case of rebellion for the boy, and she would've grounded him for life if the world wasn't in danger.
" A new fusion/Giant woman!?" Luz and Steven said respectively at the same time. She questioned bringing along his little friend, mainly because there was a surplus of dangerous futures whenever Steven hung around the girl, mainly ones that involved the two children getting chased by snakes or covered in spiders.
"Yes … although I'm not sure if that would work." Pearl muttered. "Lapis are only weak when away from a water source. At this capacity she could probably take on a couple Topaz without much of an issue." That was a fair point. "Maybe we could have Amethyst sneak in as a fly, before poofing her by surprise …"
"Can't we just talk to her?" Steven asked.
"Our last talk erased the ocean." Garnet reminded him.
"I think that's more to do with the fact you guys were all punchy punchy and 'im going to hide away this mirror that's actually a person for the rest of all time' while being super vague and unclear." Luz countered.
"She's a homeworld gem Luz." Pearl went on. "She'll return to the Gem Homeworld, and that will alert them that there is activity on earth."
"Yeah, and we should worry about that, why?" She asked. "This could just be me, but I literally just found out you guys were actually aliens, and while that slightly stings my fantasy loving heart, I'm not exactly sure what the problem is with letting a girl go back home."
Garnet tried to figure out how to word this, and thought through the books the girl read. "Because they would be the equivalent of the void terrain from Azura. We only survived because we made them think Earth wasn't an option anymore."
"Ahh, post war survivalist rebels, got it." Luz nodded, getting off of Lion and approaching the pillar of water
"How scary is homeworld?" Steven asked.
"Should I start with the technology that makes the cellphone look laughable, the fact they outnumber us three to three thousand, or that three of their highest powers managed to turn almost every gem on the planet into corrupted creatures we fight on a weekly basis?" Pearl asked.
"Super smart and super powerful. The plot just thickins." Luz knocked on the water tower. "Hey! Lapis! Can you hear me up there?! We kinda need the water back and Steven thinks you're a nice gal! I think we can talk like reasonable people and come to a compromise!"
"This is my compromise ." Lapis's voice echoed. " I leave the crystal gems alone and build my tower back home uninterrupted."
"Yo, chick!" Amethyst shouted. "If you head back home you're gonna bring a heaping help of trouble for us!"
"I don't care, I'm going home, and nothing is stopping me from leaving this world that just locks people away!"
"Hey, if anyone can attest to how much earth can really, really, suck, it's me!" Luz shouted out. "The people can be rude, everyone looks at you fun just for being unique, and there's critics everywhere that just don't know how to leave alone! I'd fly out into outer space too if I had the chance!"
"Come on Luz, earth can't be that bad." Steven looked at the girl. "It's only because we live here that we've become friends."
"I was getting to that point, Steven, just hush for a second." The girl placed a finger on the boy's mouth. "But sometimes, on a rare blue moon every so often, you find someone, even if it's just one someone, who accepts you for who you are and cares for you no matter what!" Luz kept looking up at the tower. "For you and I, that one person is standing right here, right now.." She pointed to Steven. "And living on this planet. If you take all that water to get back home, he won't be living on this planet anymore."
The gem was silent for a moment. "I can't fly back on my own … my gem was cracked …"
"Oh, that's no problem, I have healing powers!" He shouted out.
"Steven." Garnet looked at him. "We can't let her leave, Homeworld will know."
"And if we don't fix our mistakes, who will?" Steven countered. "Lapis was stuck in that mirror alone, away from everyone and anyone who could care about her. Can't you imagine what it's like, being in pain for so long because you couldn't be around someone who cared about you?"
Garnet clenched her hands. It's alright, he doesn't know. He was still on point. Can we really go through with keeping her prisoner here? She's not a corrupted gem…she'll KNOW she's stuck. The fight will only get harder from here. When has it never been difficult for us? "Alright…Steven…..go ahead and heal her."
The boy nodded, running up to the tower of water. "Alright Lapis, let me up!" A second later, a set of stairs opened up within the water tower. "... Or I can walk up … that's gonna be great."
"A stairway of water into space...I love my life." Luz's eye's glimmered.
========================================================================
Camila looked over the table. Across from her sat Greg Universe, the man she's seen now and then at the car wash, idly fidgeting with his suit collar. Then there was the pale woman named Pearl, looking at her food with disgust. After that was Amethyst, a purple woman who devoured the food without any manners whatsoever. And then Garnet … a tall woman that just sat completely still.
Camlia had noticed her daughter spending less and less time alone at home. While she was supportive of her little girl getting outside instead of sitting inside and watching anime all day, the curious side of her brain couldn't help but wonder where Luz was spending her time. That was answered when the house phone rang one day, and a Steven Universe was one the other line, calling for her daughter.
Her daughter had a friend, a real life, in the flesh friend, one that wasn't imaginary, drawn, or reptilian. She would never try to suppress Luz' creativity, but the school boards and counselors were starting to point fingers at Camila, pressuring to send her daughter to a 'reality check' camp. Knowing that her daughter had a real friend was a great reassurance that Luz didn't need to be sent off.
So she immediately invited the boy and his family over, set up a fancy dinner she's been preparing for a while now, and in a small bit of revenge for never telling her anything, didn't tell Luz until they were at the door. Although it was a bit embarrassing for Luz to answer in her otter pajamas, it was still adorable to hear the squeak and watch her run.
The boy himself reminded Camila much of her own daughter. Quite hyperactive and imaginative, nice and positive to an almost naive level, and probably consumed too much sugar throughout the day given their need to constantly move. "Luz, you never told me your house was so cool! It's like I'm stepping into a little Luz museum with all the pictures everywhere."
"Did you have to bring out the baby pictures?" Her daughter groaned, banging her head against the table.
"Probably." She shrugged. "I have to say, It's nice to hold a conversation with an adult that doesn't shout at my daughter's antics every five minutes." Camila looked over to Greg.
"She's got a nice spirit, what can I say?" The man smiled. "Anyone who likes music is okay in my books. And she managed to stop a snake from biting my foot too."
"It's the trade off for wearing sandals." Luz nodded. "The trick is to grab them by the tail, and slowly grab a nerve at the peak of their neck so they don't have a chance."
"But snakes are all neck. They don't have arms and legs…why must nature be so cruel?" Steven whimpered a little.
"Yeah, but they have a tail. That's like, an arm and a leg all rolled into one." Her daughter went on. "Can you imagine just wrapping it around something and lifting it up? Super cool."
"Also, you'd be surprised at how fun it is to shapeshift into one." Amethyst chuckled. "You can wiggle your way anywhere and it doesn't feel like you run at all."
"As if you know how to run. You just waltz into most situations without even knowing what's going on." Pearl rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, that's why Garnet's here. She has eyes on everything so i don't have to, ain't that right, big girl?" The short one nudged the silent one.
The woman adjusted her glasses. "This is about first impressions on each of us. You're on your own." Such an imaginative family, playing make believe together even at the dinner table. It reminded Camila of the dates she and Manny went on as teenagers.
She glanced over at Pearl. "Is the food not to your liking?" She asked. "I can cook up something else if you want."
"Oh no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sure you're cooking is lovely if Steven's enjoying it.." The pale woman looked over to Steven. "You are enjoying it, right?"
"Oh yeah, it's the best tasting food I've had! I didn't think you could get better than fry bits!" Nice to see she could expand the child's pallet a little.
"Yes, that's good." Pearl nodded, turning back to her. "Most…solid foods…don't agree with me. I have tea every so often, but other than that, I'm sustained by the sunlight through my gem."
She should probably double check the girl's diet at her office one day. "So, what kind of jobs do you all have?"
"…" There's an awkward silence among the women.
"I work at the car wash." Greg chuckled. "I used to play music, but nobody came to the shows, so there wasn't much money to be had."
"Sometimes we play with the hose on a hot day." Steven laughed. "We even sing along and dance when the radio's left on."
"And not to brag, but I have quite a bit of money I've stored and saved away for rainy days over the years." Pearl raised a hand. "Finances and numbering crunching are a small hobby of mine."
"Yeah, when you're not being a worrywart and baby-proofing the house everytime you hear a creak." Amethyst snickered.
"Those precautions are the reason why nothing in the house breaks, and it's more accurate to say I 'Amethyst' proof the house."
"I make sure to look for savings, and keep a check on everything Steven needs." Garnet explained.
She looked over to the boy. "Steven, you look like you have a wonderful family." Camila smiled.
"Thanks." The boy sent her a bright grin. "They mean the world to me."
"Successful meeting!" Luz cheered, hugging the boy. "For a second I thought tonight was going to be a total disaster because you guys did something crazy magical."
"Well, I did have this stray thought to have the gem's fuse into one person so we can pass off a radioactive family, but then I thought, nah. If your mom was going to love us, she needed to love us for who we are, which means showing nothing less than the truth." And he chose to be honest, such a good influence.
"I'm so happy you have a friend Miha." She hugged the girl tight. "Someone who just accepts all your little quirks."
Amethyst snorted. "They're a little more than friends if that one time they shared a bed was any indication."
"Oh, did they now?" Camila smirked.
"We were watching a movie! Nothing along the lines of what you're thinking of happened!" Her daughter shouted.
"So I didn't see your lips interact during that one scene of Lonely Blade played?" Garnet continued.
"No! She said she had a headache and I was trying to make it better!" The boy sank his head in his bush of curly hair.
"Aww, curing your boo boos just like your Mama used to do." This was already turning out amazing. She would get the scrapbook ready just for the two of them.
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They groaned as their got on her feet. "Alright, that kinda sucked." They rubbed their head- s ? "Thanks for trying to teach me- us to dance Pearl, but I- we don't think we'll be ready by the time of Luz's- My prom." And they were gonna have such a blast on the dance floor too.
They didn't respond, causing them to look at the gems, who stared at them with shock. "... Something on my face?" This was getting awkward fast.
"Steven…Luz….are you….alright?" Amethyst slowly pointed to them.
"Of course they are, why wouldn't I be?" They answered with a wave of a hand. "Just feeling a little sore from when she- we hit our heads on the floor."
"..." Garnet silently walked to the bathroom, a ripping sound heard, as she came back with a mirror, and the broken section of the wall, placing it in front of them. "Look."
"Steven- I can heal, I- we don't need to see …" They stopped, gazing into the reflection of themselves, of not Steven and not Luz. "Whoa...Who's this pretty and handsome looking devil?"
The figure was tall, as tall as Steven and Luz stacked on top of each other. Their hair was long and slightly scruffy looking with a slight spike at the forefront of their forehead. A slender figure with slightly roundish facial and androgynous features. Their clothes seemed to be a mix of Luz and Steven's, a pink shirt with a cat hoodie attached while wearing what was now pants shorts. "Is that me- us?
"I …" Pearl looked flabbergasted. "Steven can fuse with organics!?" She shouted.
"We fused!?" Oh my god Luz, I'm so sorry. I did this without your permission, it was just an accident, I didn't mean to-Hey, calm down buddy, this is pretty cool. Just our minds melding and chilling together. Wow, you're really easing going. You're probably just as chill as Garnet. Awww, thank you, and you're sweeter than any Cookie cat. They just felt so loved and appreciated, so many positive and warm feelings meddling together seamlessly.
"Wow, just, wow! I know you two are practically joined at the hip, but this takes it to a whole new level!" Amethyst cheered, hugging their waistline and looking up at them. "How does it feel to be fused together, Luz, Steven….Luven!?"
Luven…Luven… That sounds amazing! Short and sweet. Perfectly sums us up. "Luven…I'm LUVEN!" They cheered. "It feels….so good! Amazing even! I just feel so warm and secure and…oh! I finally don't need a ladder to reach the top shelf anymore!" They ran to the nearest one, and grabbed a cookie from a jar. "From now on, no sweets are beyond our reach!"
"Just calm down, just calm down! We don't know what the full implications of this really are!" Pearl shouted, looking her over like a worried mom. "This isn't possible…or at the very least, mildly inappropriate."
"What's inappropriate about us? We're two people becoming someone new, someone full of love and joy and happiness and this is the greatest feeling I've ever had in my life!" Just imagine all the giant steps we can make now! All the places we can go, all the things we can eat together! All the people we can make totally jealous! Suck it lars, suck it cheerleaders that called me a dateless freak!
"Well …" Pearl looked away, with a small blush. "Do you mind spending the night here, so we can work on your-"
Garnet walked up to them, placing hands on their shoulders. "Luven. You are not one person, you are not two people. You are an experience. Now live it, anyway you want." They smiled, gesturing to the door.
"The world is ours for the taking!" I want to do a nosedive from the ledge into the ocean. I want to see if I can eat twice as many donuts as before!"
They ran forward … and hit their head on the top of the wall. "Woops, taller now, gotta duck." They chuckled, moving under. " You know what this means, right? We'll be crowned prom queen with our sick dance moves? Wait, am I a queen or king? We're whatever we feel like being! Then would it be okay to dance so amazingly I can take both crowns and use them as trophies? HECK YEAH ! Not only that, I can finally go on missions now! All we have to do is fuse and we'll be unstoppable together!"
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Steven looked up to the clear blue sky, laying next to Luz. "You know, we met here." He mentioned. "With a rock and a bubble." The aftermath of Jasper and Peridot's invasion had left everyone feeling just a bit….off and distant. Luz hadn't talked to him since her visit to the hospital, and he's spent most of his time staring out at the ledge, getting questionable advice from Rholnaldo.
"Yeah….I was useless and helpless and you saved my life…I don't think I thank you enough for that." She responded quietly.
"You're the one who helped me control it, I'm the one who should be thanking you."
A second of silence passed. "I'm sorry." They both said at the same time. "Wait, what?" The children stood up, gazing at each other with bafflement.
"What are you apologizing for!?" She shouted.
"Well I set Lapis free, which caused Jasper to come here and brutally maim you." Steven was too overconfident. He thought he'd be able to protect Luz by being Luven, but Jasper quickly beat them down the moment she saw his gem. It wasn't longer until she forced them to defuse, and Luz, in a desperate act of defiance when Jasper grabbed him, charged at her with everything she had. Luz could barely move, and Steven didn't have his healing spit on him to help.
"Are you kidding, I was the one who got brutally maimed and let you get kidnapped by a crazy space alien!" She shouted back. "You survived by crashing down, and because I couldn't help you at all, we lost Lapis to Malachite!"
"But you were only there because of me!" He shouted. "I'm the one who thought we could beat her by being Luven, I'm the one who dragged us into that fight knowing I didn't have my healing spit, which I lost because I'm an unconfident idiot!"
"I'm the rocket engine under your feet! I should be the one putting your self confidence in the stars!" Luz argued. "I went out there because I thought I could make a difference against them, but nothing happened! She blocked me and sent me flying, and now my mom knows about all this stuff and promised me to never …" She began crying again.
"She what.." Steven asked.
"She made me promise to never get involved with anything magical or space related again!" She bawled out. "That's the only way she'd ever agree to let me see you again!"
"So…you're mom doesn't want me to be around you….that's fine…she's just trying to keep you safe…" Maybe it would be for the best…maybe she'd be better off if she never met him.
"It's not fine!" Luz grabbed him. "I don't want to be safe. The time I spent with the gems and you was the first time I was happy in years . Like, really happy. And now I can't do anything with you like that again and …" She sniffled. "And it hurts."
"Luz…" He hugged her tightly. "I've never been more happy to have you in my life! I've always felt so useless being with the gems! They love me and take care of me, but I can't do anything because I don't know how to use any of my stupid powers!" He squeezed tighter. "You're the first one to truly believe in me, to help me believe I really am someone good enough for anyone…"
"Steven….I'm the one not good enough for anyone. I did my best, and all it did was get me in a body cast … I wanna help Steven. Because …" The girl blushed. "You're special to me."
"Luz … I don't want to get you in danger anymore because … you're special." He blushed. "To me, that is."
"Steven…" Luz leaned forward, her breath hitting his face as their face practically resembled two tomatoes leaning against each other. "I…I…" Her words failed as she pushed forward, and their lips met.
It felt so wet and warm. He wasn't sure what to do, and from how Luz looked, neither did she. They both held it together for about a minute, pressing gently against each other, keeping their fingers locked together, even as they broke the kiss.
He wasn't sure if she was actually sparkling, or his gem was just blushing as bright as he was. "That was …" Amazing, spectacular, incapable of being put to words.
"Yeah…it was…" She finished for him, holding his hands tighter. "Steven…I don't care about being in danger. I want to be a part of your Universe, whatever that entails."
"I know, but … I can't save you if you're hurt this time." He reaffirmed.
"Then that's the first thing we'll fix." She pulled him up. "By the end of this week, you'll be able to cure a forest with a wet willy!"
"Silly Steven and Lunatic Luz, saving the world with shenanigans!" He held her up and twirled around his friend…..girlfriend…more than just friend…..maybe, dad never really told him when he crossed that bridge with mom.
"When did you get so strong?" She asked, staring at the ground.
"I don't know…I think you're just really light though." He noted. Hopefully the cookie cat he had left stored in the fridge would do the trick.