Summary:
Sometimes being alone in a bubble is better if you're actually alone
Chapter Text
Star banged against the door, tears in her eyes. "Open it, open it now!!" She shouted at Jana.
"Dude, we'd just run into the same problem again.." Star didn't let the girl finish as she shook the idiot back and force violently.
"Listen here, you emo goth freak! My brother is now drifting off into the cold vast emptiness of space because of YOUR stupid plan! So either open the damn FUCKING door or I blast it to pieces along with you!"
"Star, calm down." She turned with fiery eyes to Marco, daring him to talk. "Even if we got out there, we can't breathe in space, or chase after them."
"Then … I'll just make a spell." She had to work fast. "Sparkly Spacesuit Shadow Transformation." She shined the magic on herself and twirled into a pink astronaut outfit. "Now open the damn door so I can find him!"
"Do you even know how you're going to track him down?" Amethyst questioned.
"No, but I know that every damn second Steven spends out there he's losing more and more oxygen and drifting farther and farther away!" She shouted. "So let me out there and-"
"Star, they're fine." Garnet spoke. "Steven bubbled himself and Kelly before they left, and they won't fly too fast. Meanwhile … we have this." She gestured to the Ruby ship.
"The space ship…we have their spaceship now.." Star slowly acknowledged, and felt her rage calm down just ever so slightly. Just a little. "What are we waiting for, we need to get our butts out there yesterday!"
"None of us know how to pilot this." Pearl answered. "This is Era Two technology, none of us are acquainted enough …" She trailed off, eyes widening.
"Can you stow it with the useless rambling for one second and actually do something useful!?" Star shouted.
"No, I just realized Peridot may be the only one to know how to fly it." She realized. "Marco, go get her now!"
"On it." Marco pulled out his scissors and opened a portal. "We're going to find him. Both Steven and Kelly. Don't worry." Marco said to her before hopping in.
"Don't worry, don't worry…Ha, isn't that the biggest load I could've heard right now, after all that happened." Star laughed sardonically before looking at the gems accusedly. "What the hell!? I thought we passed the secrets and lies by this point with you guys!?"
"Hey, I didn't know about this!" Amethyst argued, looking at the others.
"About ninety percent of the futures I saw delivering the news resulted in Steven having a mental breakdown." Garnet admitted with a little shame. "You really didn't need that considering the constant threats to our livelihoods and multiple focus projects you had going on."
"You don't get to decide that! You don't get to use your fancy smancy powers and just hold back on us, on him!" Star shouted. "It would've been better to hear it from you rather than some random jerk gem that hates our guts! Literally any time before today would've been better before it escalated to this mess!"
"Okay, so I should have said 'Rose killed one of the leaders of the Homeworld' when Steven and us were getting corrupted and slowly losing our mentalities?" Pearl asked.
"You had no problem revealing the Solaria thing during Mewnipendence day. That's arguably worse!" Pearl did look ashamed at that one.
"Enough!" Jana shouted, pulling her back. "We can either spend the rest of the year in this dank dark moon base arguing who's the biggest insensitive jerk, or we can focus on saving our friends. Only one of those options has Steven and Kelly in the picture at all."
"Right right." Star began pacing. "Come on Marco, what's taking so lon-" The portal opened, Peridot coming back out. "Great, you're here, fly it."
"I know I know, Marco explained the whole-WHAT THE HECK!?" She looked at the thing. "Who shot cold lasers at this thing? It's gonna take half an hour to repair!"
"Make it fifteen minutes or I BLOW THIS DAMN BASE TO BITS!!!"
"Fifteen it is!!"
========================================================================
Steven held onto Kelly staring into her hair. He focused on it, and not the all consuming void, or the hopeless situation, or his mom being more of a murderer then he realized. It … why did he brush past Solaria? Or why was he so hung up on this?
Eclipsa was supposedly the Queen of Darkness, and he was adamant about defending her. Granted, evidence and her attitude suggested that she wasn't the dark figure history said she was, but she was still a bit gray moral wise.
Lapis and Peridot actively tried to kill him and his friends before, yet no one was seriously hung up about it. They've proven themselves to be good and loyal friends themselves that they could have fun with.
So what if his mom let a Mewman queen die, she was crazy and planned on wiping out all monsters. So what if she shattered Pink Diamond, they were trying to rid the Earth and Mewni of all life. So what if he killed Toffee …
"Hey…Kelly?." He tentatively asked his girlfriend, after several minutes of silence in the bubble. "Am I a hypocrite for being mad at my m-at Rose when I've practically killed Toffee?"
"I mean … we were never mad at her before right?" She asked after a few seconds. "We knew there were a few people that had to go, so … why was Pink different?"
"I…I guess I'm just frustrated. I tell myself there's a better way, but it always feels like there's something that tells me I'm wrong for thinking like that." Steven sighed. "And…and there's Bismuth. She got bubbled for wanting to shatter gems, yet she goes ahead and does it anyway. And she doesn't free her afterwards. If I didn't break that branch, she would've been in there for probably forever."
"I mean … she helped Star grow and get motivated … so I guess that's a plus." Kelly notes. "But yeah … it does seem a bit contradictory to bubble her like that … maybe because Rose only wanted to shatter Pink?"
"Would it even have mattered? If you're shattering one, why don't you just shatter more?" Steven gripped his head and pulled on his hair in frustration. "There's people like my mom and the gems who remember her as something amazing, and people like Mina and the commission who see her as someone awful. I just hate that I'm in this middle ground, where I can't decide for myself because I don't know her!"
Kelly just rubbed his back. "It'll be fine … we have plenty of time to figure it out while we wait for the gems. Now let's just sit back, and enjoy-" There was a thud, both of them turning to see Eyeball Ruby glaring at them from outside the bubble. "... How?"
"You think I want to be here!? If you and your friends didn't get in the way, I would be making my report to Yellow Diamond by now!" Eyeball stood up from the outside of the bubble, glaring down at them. "How in the stars am I going to make my report now!?"
"You could … not." Steven suggested.
"Not make my…Do you even hear the garbage that you're saying right now?! A gem 'not' doing what they're supposed to do. What, do you humans just decide to 'not' breathe whenever you don't feel like it?!" Eyeball shouted sarcastically. "No! Because doing so is against your very nature! To not serve Homewolrd is basically saying you don't want to live!"
"You do realize that the Crystal Gems basically exist for that soul reason alone?" Kelly raised an eyebrow. "They lead pretty happy leads not doing what they're supposed to do."
"Yeah, and now the Earth is gonna be destroyed for it." They grumbled. "As soon as I get in there I'm gonna make you turn this bubble back to the moon!"
"Yeah, because we've totally been floating aimlessly into the void of space away from Earth on purpose." Steven grumbled. "You can't get in here, we can't knock you off, and all three of us are stuck on a one way path to the middle of nowhere until our friends find us with your ship. So if you want them to take you with us, you better start playing nice."
She merely grumbled, sitting down. Now there was an awkward silence … great … "So where did you even get this bubble?"
"Oh…I made it." Steven wondered. He internally debated whether or not he should tell her about being half gem, only to remember how pretty much every gem he has tried to explain it to just assumed he was a shapeshifted gem, and she seemed pretty high on Rose Quartz hate…not that he blamed her.
"Humans are so weird these days." They noted. "Creating bubbles, having shield hair, using weird sticks that shoot random crap over and over.
"Yes … ultra weird." Kelly nodded. "Well, I guess you're weird too, right?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"We'll all Rubies are supposed to be the same right? Then why do you have your gem in your eye?"
"That's just how it was placed when I emerged. Not peculiar about that."
"It takes away one of your normal eyes and makes it a double weak spot." Kelly continued. "Leggy and Army's are at least in less obvious spots. That means you're unique in one way."
"That's just how it is. Besides the diamonds, everyone is flawed in their own way." Eyeball shrugged. "We work hard to be perfect in the jobs they assign us to make up for those flaws."
"Humans are the same way, you know." Steven tried to pipe in. "All of us are different in some way, and we all have flaws. Thing is, people are able to improve and change, and if we want to do something different, we can. Gems can be like that too, if you give it a try."
"… That sounds like a terrible life." They deadpanned. "I take joy in my job, fighting off enemies and watching their blood run down my boots … if I do it enough maybe I can wash off the flakes of Pink when I was one of the gems who failed to save her."
Steven winced as he heard that, and Kelly shared the same face. "Yeah, I don't think this is someone we can talk things out with, at least not anytime soon." His girlfriend whispered to him.
He nodded, turning back to her hair and resting in it. It was better than staring at the stars.
========================================================================
There had been an awkward silence for a while now, maybe hours, as Kelly's stomach grumbled a bit. "Hey, mind grabbing an energy bar or two?" She asked her boyfriend.
"Sure." He reached into her hair and dug around for a few seconds, before grabbing a handful of the stuff. "Can I just say how much I adore your hair? Situations like this only make it a bonus."
"Aww, well your body heat is keeping me warm in situations like this." She responded with a smile. "You have a lot of it. It's softer and warmer than any blanket I've ever had."
"I guess I do." He pecked her lips, opening a bar and swallowing a bit.
"Uggh, can the two of you get your own bubble to fuse in privately? I'm standing right here you know." Eyeball groaned being the stick in the mud third wheel for this impromptu date.
"Technically this is our own private bubble, and you're the one intruding on us." Kelly rolled her eyes. "Excuse us for wanting to get a little comfortable during such a drab moment."
"This 'drab' moment could last for the rest of eternity, you know! When your soft human bodies die and decompose into nothing, I'm still going to be here, watching as your corpses turn to dust! I'm going to be uncomfortable no matter what!"
"… Gem existentialism is the worst." Steven deadpanned. "I don't know how Marco comprehends it."
"We could just not." She shrugged. "I don't know what you Homeworld gems have against fusion, but it's actually really nice. You should try it sometime."
"Uh, were you not there for each time my platoon fused together, or are all organics just that terrible at remembering important events?" Eyeball looked skeptical.
"She met with other gems." Steven explained. "Not Rubies."
"Gross! That's so unnatural!" Eyeball gagged. "To fuse with another cut is just so…unthinkable!"
"Everyone thinks that, but it's amazing." Kelly smiled. "… Except Peridot. She might be aro ace according to Marco." To each's own, she guessed. It wasn't for everyone…although again, according to Marco, she was super invested in shipping. "So you're telling me that you wouldn't take the chance to fuse with Jasper if you could?"
"I mean … maybe … if she was into it." They twiddle their thumbs. "Stop playing mind games with me!"
"We're not, this is just the three of us having a normal conversation with each other." Steven clarified. "We're learning more about each other, our interests and disinterests, what we want to do and not do. That's just talking like regular people."
"Regular people …" She stared out. "I guess there's nothing else to-is that star moving?"
"A shooting star?" Steven asked. "Guess it wouldn't hurt to make a wish just for the fun of..it's coming right at us!"
"Evasive maneuvers!" Eyeball shouted.
"We don't have ANY maneuvers! What part of no control do you not comprehend!?" Kelly shouted. They all screamed as they were forced to collide with the incoming asteroid, making them bump into another, and another, and another one.
"Worst game of pinball ever!" Steven shouted as they were forced to keep bumping and crashing into each other. Admittedly at some points it felt nice, but that thought was squished at the idea of death coming a lot sooner than they assumed it would.
After a minute the storm stopped, they all took a moment to take deep breaths, before laughing. "Ahaha! We did it! We survived!" Kelly glomped her boyfriend.
"We're going to make it! We're going to live!" Steven shouted
"That's right, Universe! This old Ruby hasn't lost her luster!" Eyeball cheered. "I'm invinci-" The ego was quelled down when a small asteroid struck her right in the face.
"Ruby!" The boy shouted. "Are you alright!"
"Please, as if that could harm a ruuuuuuby like memememememe." They spoke, staring into the abyss, beige drifting off like a plank of wood on a river.
"NOOOO!" Steven cried out as he threw his hands out in a reaching motion, as the bubble seemed to actually stretch out and wrap around the now busted gem.
"No, Steven, don't let her in!" Kelly shouted in worry. "She still hates us!"
"I already failed to heal Jasper! I'm not going to let her suffer too!" Steven shouted back. "That's not who I am!"
"What are you ononon about?" They asked, holding their cracked gem with a foot shaped hand.
"Steven, don't do this! You don't owe her anything!" Kelly kept trying to warn him.
"No one has to for me to do something good." Her sweet and naive boyfriend held her hands in a comforting grasp. "Please, I just want to do something good." He licked his palm.
"Fine…but this." She gave him a big kiss on the lips. "This…this belongs to me. No exceptions."
"Okay, if you're just going tottototko dooooo that, I rather bebebe shattterered." Eyeball's form continued to glitch.
"Just relax, and don't freak out." Steven rested his hand on Eyeball's gem, and the cracks began to heal almost instantly. Kelly, knowing even if this was something Steven needed to do, knew for a fact they would regret this almost instantly.
========================================================================
Restore. Speech Fully Functional. Ruby looked at her hands, fixed. "What … I … how am I okay?" She asked.
"I healed you." The boy stated.
"What? How?" It made no sense, that power shouldn't exist. "That's not possible! There's only been one being ever rumored to be able to restore fractured gems like that!"
"Yeah … that would be my mom …" The boy pulled off his shirt, showing off … a gemstone . "I'm Rose's son."
Ruby stared at the boy, before giggling, then laughing. "Yes, yes! You're in my grasp!" She materialized a knife, going in for the kill.
"I told you shouldn't do this!" The bushy one took out a sword from her hair… the sword. " But did you listen, no!"
"And you gave your weapon to an organic!? Oh you lost your edge!!" She went against her, knife parried against that cursed blade. "Imagine it! A Ruby! Taking both your sword and gem directly to the Diamond's! They'll give me my very own Pearl for that!"
"Steven, I'd really appreciate it if you gave me a little more room to work with!" The bushy one shouted frantically, trying to keep up with her swift and quick strikes.
"I don't even know how I'm keeping this bubble as it is!" Rose panicked, trying to keep Ruby down with a shield. As if that would work.
"You won't be able to do anything! I'll take you out, and be victorious!" She shouted to the hidden gem as she cut them, drawing blood.
"Think about it! You can't go anywhere like this!"
"I don't care if I have to spend a million years to reach homeworld! I've already made up my mind!" Eyeball then jumped on top of the green one, and held her knife against the bushy one's neck. "If you don't let me poof you right now, this organic you care for will be the next casualty on your hands, Rose Quartz!"
"Get away from her!" Rose glowed a bright and blinding pink light that shook her down to the core of her very gem, before the traitor rushed into the bushy one faster than the eye could blink, before another flash of white overtook the bubble, leaving just one singular taller being in their stead.
"You think fusion will help you-"
"Goodbye you unredeemable bitch." They new being scowled before dissolving the bubble, and kicking her backside into the depths of space before quickly reforming it.
Ruby stared into the abyss as they were sent flying, feeling their body float along with the stars.
========================================================================
She almost killed you she almost killed you she almost killed you She almost killed you she almost killed you she almost killed you . You got hurt! So did you! You're bleeding! Your head is in so much turmoil!
You're both fine … we're all fine … Stelly rested against the edge of the bubble, licking their own hand and placing it on their body. Right, we can heal. Of course, that's an option … I told you we shouldn't have helped her. And what, leave them to die?
It wouldn't have been either of your faults. Just a random act of cruelty completely isolated from your actions. Exactly! It's not your job to fix everyone's problems, you're allowed to help yourself, that includes making sure you don't die. Well I need to do something! Mom got rid of enemies, now I'm doing the same! I just want one person to not go evil and be peaceful. Marco was able to do it, so why can't I?
You did that with Lapis already. You talked to her and made her your friend. Buff Frog's turned over a new leaf. Ludo's not chasing the wand, and your friends with Dennis. You've done enough already. But….But.. What's there to but about? If anyone earned a break by this point, it's you.
Yes, you've both done enough … there's been a lot of problems …. Just rest and let me take the burden for a while. The burden? No worries or troubles, just …. warmth and comfort. Should we? It sounds amazing! We can finally be alone together, just like we were in the woods, except we don't have to worry about survival. We can just…exist in comfort.
I mean … what else is there to do but wait? I guess you're right … You won't have to think about Rose either. That is the last thing I want to think about. We don't have to worry about anything that's bothering us. Whatever problems exist, we can forget about all of them and focus on each other. Just focus on each other, no problems.
Stelly felt the two meld, sinking into each other far deeper than before. A place where no thoughts could reach them, no sound or sight … a place of only feelings and pleasure. "It's about time." They smiled, satisfied as they closed their eyes, resting against the bubble. Finally alone together…just how they liked it.