Steven silently made his way down the stairs, fiddling with the water bottle cap in his pocket. He opened the front door where the gems stood waiting for him.
He lowered his head, ashamed of himself. The grief and guilt inside him created an aura of discomfort for the rest of the gems.

"Let's go." He muttered, not looking up as he passed them on the steps. Connie stood at the base of the stairs, alongside Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis.
She smiled at Steven, but it quickly faded when she noticed how forlorn he seemed.

"Take care of things while we're gone." Garnet addressed Bismuth, pulling her attention away from the sulking boy. Bismuth nodded and looked at her friends who seemed preoccupied by Steven's depressed demeanor.

"Sure thing, nothing's gonna get passed us!" She remarked, slapping both Peridot and Lapis on the back, the two put on disingenuous smiles, nodding and agreeing to whatever she had said.

Connie stepped away, following Steven as he entered the rubies ship. Steven slumped into one of the chairs and let out a deflated sigh.

"I poofed Spinel..." he mumbled, causing Connie to draw near.

"You what?" She asked, not quite hearing him. The boy let out another sigh and shoved his face into his hands.

"I poofed Spinel and left her in the garden!" He cried, tears bubbling up again and dripping through his fingers. Connie rested her hand on his back and he slumped further down before sitting up again, his tears streaked face catching her off guard.

"She was begging- I didn't want to but," he sputtered, sniffling, "I did it to keep her safe." He let out a jagged breath grabbing Connie and pulling her into a hug.

"It was the only place I could think- I promised," he clutched the girl in his arms, he wanted the comfort, he needed it. "I thought she would be mad but...she was just scared."

Connie pulled Steven closer to her, petting his head softly as he sobbed into her shirt, the boy seemed desperate for some kind of comfort, some kind of validation. She kissed the top of his head and he shuddered, his fingers digging into her.

"She was so scared."

Connie pushed him away, forcing him to look her in the eye as she spoke, a gentle smile on her face.

"It's going to be okay, we'll talk to the diamonds, and come back and fix her." She tried to reassure him, but she couldn't find the words to say. She didn't know Spinel like Steven, and she didn't know the extent of the guilt he felt. Only that he felt it. Spinel would forgive him for leaving her.
She had come a long way, she had grown a lot. She would understand that he left her to keep her and earth free of harm. She would know that, right?

"I didn't mean to poof her.." Steven trailed off, looking away from Connie, afraid to see her reaction. "She tried to run, I had to stop her."

Steven looked at his hands, as though he were still holding the heart shaped gem, still digging it out of his friend while she writhed and cried and begged for him to stay. He dragged in a ragged breath, clenching his fists to get rid of the lingering touch.

"I can't forget about her." He murmured, glancing back at Connie who seemed to be working over the scenario in her mind.
She didn't want to question his actions, but deep inside she felt he had made a mistake.
Garnet entered the ship, followed by Amethyst and finally Pearl. The gems nodded toward Connie silently moving to the control panel stations and starting up the ship.
Pearl queued in the coordinates, she quietly gasped at the remarkable distance they were from even Homeworld.
It would take them several earth days to arrive on the kindergarten. Hopefully by then the diamonds hadn't completely destroyed their own civilization.

The bright red ship buckled, preparing itself to take off before levitating in the air. Connie leaned toward the viewer, waving goodbye to Bismuth and her friends just before the ship zoomed into space.

She watched as earth grew small, barely noticing the saucer that hovered below them, descending on the planet.
Connie turned to Steven, he was quiet, staring at the floor, blinking every now and then to keep his tears and feelings at bay.

The boy hated himself for leaving Spinel in the garden, he had a task to preoccupy him, and it should have. But the memories played in his head over and over and over and over again, causing his stomach to turn and his heart to ache.
He tried to convince himself that his decision was correct, that he did the right thing, he didn't want to believe that he didn't.
Spinel was corrupted, if she went with them and he didn't have time to heal her, he could lose her.
Not just to the corruption, the gem was vulnerable.
Diving headfirst into the Diamonds territory likely would have sent her spiraling. She still had trouble facing them even in the infinity room.
And, and if she spaced again like she had been, she'd be a sitting duck.
If she had stayed on earth, without him there, there was no telling how fast the corruption would spread.
She could destroy Beach City, harm other gems, or inadvertently spread the corruption.
And if Aquamarine had extra forces to attack, they could take advantage of her again. He didn't want to see his friend leveraged as some kind of tool against him.
I could have bubbled her, and kept her in the Bubble room, he thought. He shook his head, rubbing his temples with his fingers.
But if Aquamarine's forces came to retrieve her, they would have gone straight to the temple, straight to where they kept them.
The only place Spinel would be entirely out of reach by anyone would be the garden, he reminded himself. Trying to justify to himself why he deserted her.
Trying to alleviate the pain that she had in her voice while it echoed in his head.

She was safe, away from danger, away from people who could use her, away from people she could hurt. The garden is so secluded, no one even knew about it until Spinel showed it to him.
It hadn't even been considered important enough to block off from the galaxy warp.
She was safe, and bubbled, and the corruption wouldn't spread, as long as she stayed that way.
And it wasn't like he wanted it to be forever. He just needed time, and she didn't have it. He just needed a place to keep her so she wouldn't be hurt or get worse. That's all it was. It's not permanent.
It's not permanent. I won't let it be permanent.