Pearl
My hand is shaking. Could it be? He couldn't. Could he? I reach to unwrap the soft blanket around Steven. He wimpers a little as the air reaches his bare chest. The four of us are struck with awe.

There, on the spot at the center of his stomach, is a pentagon cut rose quartz gem.

"That's Rose's gem!" Amethyst says excitedly. "Baby Steven has Rose's gem!" We try to have Amethyst calm down but she has gone crazy with questions.

"Is Rose a boy now? Should we call him Rose instead? Is his hair gonna turn pink and curly? Is he gonna sound like Rose? Is he gonna have Rose's memories?"

The last question makes my stomach knot up. Does he have Rose's memory? I wonder. I hand Steven over to Sapphire and stand up to take a walk and clear my head.

"Can I come with you?" Amethyst asks. "I wanna see if we can find Greg." I hesitate. Gregory is one of the last people I want to see right now.

"How about you help Sapphire and Ruby keep an eye on Steven. I will go find Gregory." I say hoping she will stay.

"Yeah!" She says. "I can help watch Steven!" I look to Sapphire and she nods at me. She knows. Ruby can't take her eyes off Steven. She has one of his little hands in hers, slowly stroking it with her thumb.

I turn around and start walking back to the room Rose was in. Once I'm there is sit on the bed and start crying quietly.

A baby? Rose told us this would happen, but a baby? We don't know how to take care of a newborn. And forget about Gregory.

Gregory! He is the whole reason Rose is gone! She would still be here and we would all be happy in the temple the five of us. Then he had to come and take her from us. And what has he left us with? A baby! Rose is gone and we are left with is thing that has her gem!

Her gem. Does it even have powers? Does he remember anything she would? Does he really know what I am? Who she was? What the five of us did? Does he know Homeworld is looking for Her- No not her anymore. Homeworld is looking for her, but she is him now. He is Steven.

Steven. He has a gem so we are the only ones like him. He needs us. Like Amethyst needs us. Like we need each other.

I take a deep breath. We will take care of Steven.

Sapphire

I hold little Steven in my hands. He is starting to fall asleep again. I look over at Ruby and see her smiling down at him. I smile back and we sit there, my head on her shoulder, watching him sleep in my arms.

Amethyst is playing with toys at a small table ment for children. She must be getting bored. It is getting late and she likes to sleep in a couple hours.

I look over to Ruby and ask, "Do you think you could help her find something to eat? She looks bored." Ruby looks up and nods.

"We will be back in a couple minutes." She rises and walks over to Amethyst. "You want to go find something to eat?" She jumps up and they head down the hall way to find that cafeteria we saw on the way in.

I sit down in a chair and look at Steven. Rose, are you still there? I think. We need you Rose. You were always the bigger gem. You helped us get along, you healed us, you lead us, you protected us. What are we gonna do now?

A tear rolls down my face and I quickly while it away. I will protect you Steven. For Rose.

Ruby

I walk with Amethyst to the cafeteria. We spot a vending machine. "What one do you want?" Amethyst looks up and points to a red package with a rainbow on it.

"That one!" I reach inside my pocket. Gregory gives us some money sometimes after Amethyst stole some donughts from that shop back in beach city.

Now that I think about it, she stole fry bits that day too. I lift up Amethyst onto my shoulders and she puts in a handful of quarters and punches in the numbers. When I'm not fused with Sapphire some things are hard to reach. Plus, Amethyst likes to push the buttons herself like a big gem.

"Those quarters are way easier than the green paper kind!" She tells me "I dont think the machines like them, they keep spitting them out." The candy falls into the box and Amethyst jumps down to grab it.

We walk around for a little while then start to head back. "You want a..." She tries to say the name of the candy, we had been working on her reading skills. Sadly a skill they didn't find important in the kindergarten. "Ssssssskkiiiiiiiiiiittllllee?" she asks. I look at the package and sure enough she got the word right.

"Sure, I'll take a skittle." I say. Amethyst was the first to try food then she slowly got most of us to eat too. Not Pearl though. The thought grosses her out to much.

She hands me a red, yellow and a green. I pop them in my mouth and keep walking with her.

"Ruby?" "Yeah?" "Is Steven gonna remember who I am? Will he know I came out wrong?" She asks a little bit worried. "I don't know Amethyst. Rose is not here. Steven wasn't at the kindergarten or any of the war. But I'm sure he will love you." She smiles and pops a few more candies into her mouth.

"You think Steven will like eating?" I laugh.

"I'm sure he will, but he may need teeth first."

"Im gonna help take care of Steven." She tells me. I look at her and she has a serious look. "I'm gonna be his big sister and protect him from bad gems." She promises.

"Sounds like a good plan." I say

I will protect you, Steven.