Steven and Pink

KNOW THY ENEMY

Steven was flung back with the force of the explosion, a vicious light and a thunderous burst that would've crippled someone not as resistent as the hybrid. Shaking off the confusion, he looked around, jagged stone formations interspersed with the rubble of the once imposing obsidian-colored geode, a figure standing in its stead. He didn't know who that was by sight, but he put the pieces together rather quickly.

She's the one that the gems spoke of in hushed tones when they thought Steven was out of sight, the "Pink" that they said Rose told them to believe in him for, the pink rhombus on the bottom of the insignias carved into old gem artifacts and ruins of eons past. In the middle of those monolithic broken stones, tinted black like a glass that soaked up the essence of the deepest nights, in that warm summer sunset underneath a column of smoke, there Pink Diamond stood.

Arched back, clenched teeth and fists, furrowed brows and glowing a pink so hot it could burn the hairs off Steven's chin (if he had any), Pink Diamond seemed ready to tear the world asunder with her expression alone. Steven gulped, dreading to imagine what the — arguably hard to look at — gem twice his size would do to him once she realized the existence of another creature besides herself.

When she started walking in his direction, his brain screamed at him to RUN AWAY, GET OUTTA THERE! But in that split-second, he thought to himself. If what he gathered from the gems was true, then Rose entrusted Steven with Pink, *his mom* entrusted him with something — or someone — that only he could deal with, and the Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst also fully believe in him. And maybe all she needs is a friend, someone to talk to! Just gotta approach her and strike up some friendly conversaaand she's right in front of him.

Before he could think of summoning his shield, running away, or even ways to plead for his life, the giant's glow subsided, as did her intense expression and gesture. From lumbering and tense to the point of seeming to break, the two stared at each other for a few seconds, as if trying to figure out what it was they were looking at. Pink blinked and stepped back, Steven rose up and gave a step forward, extending his arm forward, trying to reach her.
"...You're not Rose Quartz."

"Oh! Yeah... I'm Steven. Rose is my mom."

Pink's fists began to clench once more, and the fearsome power from moments prior threatened to boil over the surface once more.
"...Mom? What's a mom? Is Rose Quartz alive? Where is she?! I-"

Steven flailed his arms in front of him with palms open, wide-eyed, trying to keep the situation under control.
"No! No! She's gone! Rose Quartz is gone! She gave up her physical form!"

Pink once again returned to a calmer state, as anger was replaced by confusion.
"W-What? What does that mean?"

Steven clapped his hands together and brought them close to his face, then took a deep breath.
"Okay, this is gonna be complicated, please stay calm!"

Pink closed her eyes and took a deep breath herself.
"Alright... Steven, tell me."

"So, Rose Quartz decided to have a child, which is when organics reproduce to create offspring, andwereallydon'tneedtoknowanydetailsabouthowthatwent, and that's me! She gave up her physical form to have me, see?"
Steven raised his shirt to reveal his gem sitting comfortably where one's navel would be.

Wide-eyed, her confusion was exacerbated to the point of distress.
"Offspring? Child? What are you talking about? Why do you have Rose Quartz's gem?!"

"She's gone, she's gone! The- the rebellion is over!"

Her aspect changed to that of inquisition, rather than prepared for conflict, which Steven deemed a victory, lowering his arms. Still, there was much reason for him to tread lightly with his words.
"...For how long?"

"Uh... what?"

"How long has it been since rebellion ended? How long has Rose been gone for?"

"Oh. The gems told me it's been some 3000 years since it all ended, and I'm 15 years old!"

"And... how did it end?"

"They told me that there was a big blast, all the other gems, save for Bismuth, Pearl, Garnet and mom got corrupted, and there's Amethyst too, but she was born after that. We've been trying to recover them since, though I've never seen other Diamonds, you're the first."

Her visage turned to that of dread, hearing the answer she never wished to hear. Falling silent, shoulders low, Pink spent several seconds contemplating the ramifications of the events she had just learned about.

"If she put me here, they must've thought I was shattered... and then they used their last resort..."

The gem's eyes shrank as the realizations piled up and she walked past the boy, seemingly on auto-pilot, clearly ignoring him. She fell to her knees four steps away from him as tears started to well up in her eyes.

Tears, followed by sniffling hiccups and strangled gasps, steadily increasing in intensity, showed that the titan, which seemed intent in breaking the world not too long ago, appeared to have been broken herself, sobbing uncontrollably, clutching her stomach. The hybrid kept his distance, unwilling to say anything, or even move a muscle.

Pink Diamond cried and wailed for what appeared to be an eternity, seemingly releasing all the tension she had when she was released. Or, perhaps, a lifetime's worth of tension and repressed emotions. Steven wasn't able to tell.