So, an update about Rose, her vocabulary is going to take a turn for something new. It's something that I should've done before I even introduced her to the series, and that's making her more British. The only way you would know she's British is if the text refers to her as the British flower.

What this little update means is that Rose will be saying British slang and her words are also different, note: this is Rose that I'm speaking of, Nec'Rose won't being speaking British. The greatest example of this is color and colour. In America, we say and spell color, and in the UK, they say and spell colour. 

So, if you see a word that you might think is misspelled when Rose is talking, it's most probably not misspelled, because that's how the UK spells it. 

And here's a list of words you're going to hear Rose say a lot, because of British slang/saying:

Mate - UK's way of saying friend/buddy.
Bloke - man/fellow.
Love - Sweetheart/lover.
Bloody - UK's way of saying very.
Quid - UK's slang for pounds.
Oi - rough/angry way of saying "hey!"
Pound(s) - UK currency (their money, they don't use the imperial system).
"Oh my days!" - UK's alternative way of saying "Oh my gosh."

Here's a word Rose was going to say a lot, but was scrapped due to it's definition in British. Twat means a stupid, useless and contemptible in English, but in British, it's a vulgar slang for vagina. In other words, twat means pussy in the UK and Rose isn't one to use dirty words (Nec'Rose would though). 

And there's probably more words and such that Rose will say that I haven't mentioned, if you don't know a word she said, then you can Google it. If any of you are in the UK, please let me know if there's any inaccuracies, I want to get it right. 

If you read AU2, this chapter will be a trip to nostalgia. By the way, during today (11/7/2022) Moonlight's debut was 2 years, 1 month, 2 weeks and 1 day (9/24/2022). But her 2nd birthday was a month and fifteen, making her two.  

3rd Person P.O.V.

Steven walked downstairs. "Hi guys. You wanted to speak to me?" 

"Yes, we did." Yellow Diamond nodded.

Phoebe had her arms crossed and a displeased look was on her face. Steven immediately got scared when looking at Phoebe's displease body language. White Diamond gave him an endearing grin, which reassured him enough to continue his journey down the stairs all the way.

"Am I in trouble?" Steven asked timidly.

"No, dear." White Diamond encouraged him to sit down on the couch. "We just want to talk to you."

Steven obeyed White Diamond. However, if Phoebe told him no, he would have to listen to her. It's important for everyone to know that Steven is trained to always listen to any commands or instructions Phoebe gives him, regardless of whether he thinks its right or wrong. 

if this kind of information got into the wrong hands, Steven would be in for a bad time.

"What's going on?" Steven asked, with curiosity like a child, despite being in his twenties. 

"Steven..." White Diamond was going to be the one to tell him, she knows what can and what will break him, she knows what words to choose. "What do you remember from last year?" 

Steven flinched. "La-Last year...?" 

Steven's memories flooded in like water from a dam being released after a huge crack gave in. He remembers... a lot of nightmares... 

He remembers feeling his spine breaking in half by Moonlight... how painful it felt for the few seconds of consciousness he had left...

He remembers Moonlight mocking him...

"So, how do you feel?"

"I can't feel my legs..."

"Oh, sorry about that. I had to make sure you wouldn't be able to get away from me."

"Why won't you just kill me?"

"Kill you? Oh, no, no, no! I'm not going to kill you. Why would I do that?"

He remembered her sitting in his lap. 

"Say my name~"

"What?"

"Say. My. Name." 

"Moonlight?"

"Oh, *chuckles* not like that. I mean say it like your life depended on it." 

"No." 

"Is that your final answer?"

"Yes."

"*soft chuckle* I was hoping you would say that."

He remembered Moonlight sniffing his neck, sighing in relief at his scent before licking it like ice cream. Then she sank her teeth into his neck to draw blood. Steven's hand reached over to his neck, feeling the scars her teeth left.

Steven saw a vivid image of Moonlight swishing his blood in her mouth like it was mouthwash and swallowing it, opening her mouth and revealing strings of her saliva mixed with blood, his blood. Then, she found his scars.

"What's this? Someone already hurt you? Well, not anymore. That's my job, now..."

Her nails ripped his arms open like wrapping paper.

"Aw, does this hurt? You poor thing... Oh, well, it'll heal, I think."

And to add insult to injury, she fed him with food like a baby.

"This is the food that grows in the Human Zoo. It has everything a human needs to survive. It extends their lifespan and heals their wounds. It definitely won't fix your back though."

"Untie my hands and let me have it."

"Oh, no, I'm feeding you."

"Then, I'm not eating."

"*laughter* Oh, Steven~ You're so adorable. You think you have a choice... Open your mouth... Do it..."

And when he refused, she pinched his nose.

"You have to breathe sometime..."

And once he did, she shoved the food in his mouth and 'helped' him chew it. 

"So, Steven, will you say my name?"

"Never."

"You will. Not today, maybe not tomorrow. But you will. But right now, I'll let you rest."

But before she left, she wanted to make sure he understood that escape was impossible.

"You are mine, Steven... I love you... I must go now. We'll play later."

Steven's heart was beating like it was an engine. He remembered how sleep deprived he got after he was rescued, he kept having nightmares of Moonlight coming into his room while he was asleep and taking him back to her place. After her downfall, Steven's life took a change for the better, until Charlotte came and broke him to where he became the sniveling wimp he is today.

She threatened Phoebe's life and made both of them play Russian Roulette. Steven still hardly believes that Charlotte is still on Homeworld, resting in a cell with Oliver checking on her occasionally. Right now, he's scared of seeing her, even though he probably will never see her again.

"I remember... the bad stuff..." Steven breathes, feeling sick in the stomach. 

"I'm going to be direct with you, we have a new enemy against us." White Diamond said, stepping close to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "He isn't like all your other enemies, but he isn't worse than them. He's probably the most normal one you'll ever meet, according to Rose."

"He has no grudges against you or anyone else, except me." Rose interjects. "HG has robots to do his dirty work and has one helper as his personal assistant. He conquers planets like the Diamonds, but he enslaves them instead of sucking the life out of them."

"He may not be scary-looking or pure evil, but he's still a threat." Yellow Diamond added on. "He currently has Amethyst, Spinel and Peridot at his mercy."

"Don't freak out!" Rose panicked. "He's mostly likely not going to shatter or torment them. He's really like those Saturday cartoon villains."

"Our point is that since we've lost three members of the team, we're going to need all the help we can get. And we suggested to see if you could try to help us again." Yellow Diamond continued. 

"Me...? To fight...?" Steven asked. "I-I don't know if I can..."

"You don't need to fight right away." White Diamond gently corrected him. "But you need to get back into the practice of fighting again. Phoebe, do you want to train Steven?"

Phoebe didn't seem like she wanted to.

"I could help him get back into practice again." Yellow Diamond stepped up, taking her helmet off. "I still remember the sessions you and Phoebe taught me before."

"Really?" Steven said in disbelief. 

"Yes." Yellow Diamond nods. "Come on, we can train on Homeworld."

Elsewhere:

Spinel is using her stretching and shapeshifting ability to turn her hands into a harmonica and blows into it.

"You know, I'm glad I wasn't alone when thrown in the slammer." Spinel stopped playing with her hands. 

"Yeah, same here." Amethyst admits. 

"Perhaps we won't be here much longer," said Peridot. "The others surely have noticed our absence by now and they're most probably working on how to get us back."

"Yeah. But I guess Rose could save us if she wants to." Amethyst said, hands behind her head while she rests on the mediocre mattress in their cell.

Despite being bitter, Huge Gigantacus still has beds in his cells. What a 'nice' guy. However, the catch is that they must share one. Spinel resumed with her harmonica.

"Can you give it a rest, Nelly?" Amethyst asked.

She stopped for the last time. "Sorry." 

"IF I HEAR THAT HARMONICA ONE MORE TIME, I'M GOING TO COME IN THERE AND TAKE YOUR BED!"

The three of them heard that and instantly knew that it was Huge Gigantacus who screamed down the hall.

Spinel giggled. "Sorry! I didn't mean to wake you from your nappy-wappy!" 

Amethyst lightly tapped Spinel's back with her foot. "Cool it! We don't want to provoke him."

Spinel laid on the foot of the bed and Peridot sat down on the little space on the bed. 

"You know, this place is more comfortable than any cell Homeworld has to offer." Peridot said. "We should feel privileged that we have a bed."

"We don't really need it, though." Spinel pointed out.

"Yeah, but we're not going to bring that up to him." Amethyst said. 

"I know." Spinel mumbled before turning over. "And this thing ain't half bad either. I feel like a resident in those poor hotels."

"How do you know that?" Amethyst asked. "You've never been to one."

"I watch a lot of TV." Spinel replied.

"Not everything you see on TV is true." Amethyst rebutted. 

"Hmph." That was all that Spinel said before trying to sleep, even though she doesn't need it.

The remaining two conscious gems got the idea as well, because sleep is a great time-killer for gems and it's a luxury, too. 

Earth:

Steven fall to the ground after trying to attack Yellow Diamond in a sparring match.

"Sorry!" Steven quickly apologizes. "I'm trying to get back into my old roots, but it's hard."

"It's alright, Steven." Yellow Diamond pats him on the back when he stood up. "According to Rose, we have just enough time to get you capable of fighting again."

"On my own?" Steven asked.

Yellow Diamond shrugged. "I'm not sure. Rose said his robots can learn and if that applies to every single one of them, then you probably won't, unless you learn to fight fast. The one me, Howard and Rose faced was the toughest one we've encountered yet. I'm not sure if he has even more difficult ones in store, but I can say with certainty that none of us are able to combat these things without the slightest bit of help."

Steven's fists shook on their own again.

Yellow Diamond noticed that. "Are you okay?" 

"It's my trauma." Steven admits and grabs his own hand to stop it from shaking. "I'm sorry, I'll try to resist it more." 

"Steven..." She put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, I mean it. Do not try to push yourself to be what you used to be so fast." 

"The fate of the galaxy depends on us." Steven said. "I need to get better again." 

"Right now, he's scared of your presence, which is a good thing. Because we can use that to our advantage." Yellow Diamond stuck to being optimistic. 

"Until he finds out that I'm out of practice." Steven sighs. "I miss being younger... I was resilient, indomitable and fearless... Now look at me, I'm scared, vulnerable and traumatized." 

Yellow Diamond sighed as well. "I won't lie to you, Steven, you were something else back in the day." She put her arm around his shoulders and both of them were reminiscing about his earlier years. "You were a unit on your own and I still remember how disappointed I was when you beat me the first time. You made it look easy."

"It wasn't easy."

She smiled. "But you remained untouched at the end. And that means Phoebe was a good teacher, too."

"She still is... to me at least."

"You and her had a healthier bond than me and the other three Diamonds did in the past." Yellow Diamond admits, still ashamed that her past self thought it was a good idea to beat Pink Diamond and trap her in a bubble until she felt like releasing her.

Yellow Diamond would certainly hurt her past self severely if she could. 

"I was a complete mess when she was gone." Steven's fists were shaking again, his nerves were racked. "I... I don't think I can get any better if this is happening. Huge Gigantacus will know something's wrong with me if he sees my hand." 

"Let's see if White can help us." Yellow Diamond leads Steven back inside.

They find White Diamond on the couch, writing in her purple book. Once Steven cleared his throat, White Diamond stopped.

"What do you need, dear?" She asked, showing her favoritism quickly by dropping everything she's doing. 

"Yellow said that you could help me with my shaking fist issue." Steven showed his shaking hand, letting out a shaky exhale as well. 

White Diamond gently caresses his hand with both of hers, enveloping it in her cold hands to keep it still. She wasn't just being a caring Diamond when doing this, she was using this contact to make a deep contact with Steven's mind without having to take over his body. It's a process she's used over a hundred times and is excellent at doing it. 

Steven's head feels funny, like it's ticklish. This strongly indicates that White Diamond is doing something, he just isn't sure what. When she's finished, she lets go  of his hand and that feeling in his head is gone. 

Then it was replaced with a headache. 

"Did you fix me?" Steven asked wondering if it was that easy. 

"Unfortunately, no, I did not." White Diamond grimaced. "This kind of issue is not my strong suit. I tried erasing your memories of experiencing these horrifying events, but they're too strong to do it without tampering with your cerebral cortex internally. It's easy for me to do something like this for a gem, because they do not have a brain, but you do. There's a big risk of me harming your brain in a way that would make you worse than now." 

"So what do I do now?" Steven asked, showing desperation in his voice. 

"I recommend seeing Rose about this." White Diamond said with sincere honesty. "I'm positive she has a solution to your problem."

"I hope so." Steven replied. "Thanks for trying."

She smiled happily. "You're welcome."

Steven went to look for Rose while Yellow Diamond was talking to White Diamond. Luckily, Steven knows where Rose's home was in Little Homeworld. He knocked on her castle door.

She teleported right behind him and tapped his shoulder. "Yes, Steven?"

"Can you please help me with this?" Steven showed her his shaking hand, his fingers shaking more visible than his entire hand. 

Rose dreaded this. Because she knows very well that she could just make his trauma disappear in seconds, but then she would have to obtain the trauma in herself as well. She would hate to bestow Steven's trauma to anyone else, even if they're evil.

The rule is that it has to go to someone. 

Do it... Come on, I know you want to.

Rose held her breath for a moment. "Sure."

She waved her wand in a stylish way, almost looking like she was a queen awarding him knighthood. With a small tap on his head, Rose's wand struck him with an aura. 

A black soul-like entity came out of Steven's head and was sucked into Rose's head by going through her eyeballs. Steven was certain that he heard some sort of screaming coming from the entity when it left his body.

"Rose...?" Steven asked, his compassion returning to him as if he was never traumatized in the first place. "Are you okay...?" 

Rose shivered, her eyes twitching. "I'm... jolly good."

Rose never even had a neck like everyone else before and she feels phantom pain in it, like someone stabbing pushpins in it. 

"I... I need to process this." Rose said, feeling scared on the inside, because her psyche was going to break unless she ate something dead soon. 

"Of--"

Rose teleported back inside before Steve could finish. She frantically looked for a dead brush, she had plenty in storage in case Nec'Rose was going to emerge, but now she feels like she's ate her last one recently.

"Come on... Come on..." Rose felt like a ticking time-bomb. 

She finally found her last piece of dead brush on the floor and ate it like a wild animal. Disgusting and undignified, but necessary for the greater good. 

I'm getting stronger, Rosy. I'm feeling more alive every single day. Now with Steven's troubled youth in your mind, I'm closer to the finish line. Just one little push, and it'll all be over... for you.

Rose whimpered. She hates to admit that Nec'Rose is correct, absorbing Steven's trauma might possibly be her signing her death warrant. She needs to be more careful from now on, until the stress blows over.

Rose heard knocking on her door again, so she went to answer it. "Yes?"

It was Steven again. "I'm sorry to bother you again, but I was contacted by the others that HG was on Homeworld."

Rose blushed, which was hard to see, because her head was red. She still hadn't processed her true stance with him. She never treated it seriously until now, because of what she did for him recently.

Back to the matter at hand of the thoughts, Rose is positive that she feels like Huge Gigantacus is a friend, a tsundere even. Yes, Rose watched anime, and she stopped doing it after 2015. Funny enough, that's how she learned to fluently speak Japanese. 

She was going to face Huge Gigantacus again today, perhaps they could talk this time, instead of fighting him. But with him physically healed to full strength, he might use this to his advantage and try to kill her, which could never happen. 

Rose's P.O.V.

Oh my days... There could not be a worse time for this to happen. I just nearly lost control and now I have to deal with HG. HG is my stress reliever, but he is also what causes some of my stress in the first place. 

Especially with my profound emotions with him. That bloke is a lot of things, and some of them i don't even know how to explain it. Could this be... love? 

We've spent a lot of time together, almost five hundred years. I would be lying if I said I don't feel comfortable around him. He's just so predictable and cute.

But don't let his cuteness deceive you, he's still as sharp and dangerous as a butcher's cleaver. One big mistake can be severe and fatal. And that's just for me, for everyone else, he's a big problem.

Heh... big problem for such a small man... He probably won't like that I said that in my head.

Don't worry, love, I'm coming for you. Whether I like you or love ya, I must stop you either way. 

End of Chapter 12

11/8/2022