(A/n: I know a lot of people call Steven and Greg's fusion 'Steg', but I'm gonna call him Mr. Multiverse in this book because I just think that it sounds better. Sorry if that bothers any of you guys...)
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Independent together. . .

You and I. . .

*****

Honestly, Steven thought that fusing with his dad was pretty fun. Though it was tiring due to his. . . situation, it was still nice to fuse with his dad; the man he had looked up to since he was a kid.

But, even though it was fun to fly, play guitar with your new, extra arms, and sing with Opal, Steven felt his gem beginning to glitch out once more and he was growing more tired by the second.

Who knew that flying could be so tiring?

Mr. Multiverse was soon beginning to sweat bullets. Though he had tried to wipe it all away, it didn't really do much. At all.

And then he saw the injector, and that's when Steven's gem really began to glitch out.

We. . . We need to get down. . . Steven thought to himself, and he could hear his dad agree.

But, plans change at just the last second sometimes, don't they?

Well, that was the case this time. Because just when Mr. Multiverse was beginning to hover back down towards the stage, he felt something bump into him.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I meant to say someone.

"Oh, sorry Opal—" Mr. Multiverse chuckled and looked up, expecting to see Opal there chuckling along with him, but instead, he saw something else.

He saw someone else.

.

.

.

". . . Marriposa. . .?"

The gem before him blinked. She then frowned and turned away from him, about to fly off again, but Mr. Multiverse was quick.

Steven was quick. . . this time. . .

Reaching his much larger hand out, Mr. Multiverse grabbed the gems ankle before she could fly off into the clouds, earning a surprised yelp from her.

"What the—"

"Is — Is that your name?" Mr. Multiverse cut her off, almost sounding like a shy, teenage boy trying to ask a girl out to prom.

The gem blinked, her eyes wide.

To her he looked so. . . desperate. . .? But. . . why? Why did he need to know her name? Was it to give him an advantage? For information?

Despite all these thoughts, however, the gem calmed down. Slowing the flapping of her wings down, she inhaled sharply, brought the bundle she was carrying close to her chest, and said in the same, melodic voice that Steven still remembered,

"(Y/n)."

Mr. Multiverse blinked, surprised. "W. . . What?"

The gem huffed and puffed out her cheeks, pouting. "My name is (Y/n). . ." She looked over the fusion before her suspiciously, though she had a possible idea on who it was.

". . . Whoever you are. . ." She spoke slowly, wrapping her wings around herself, almost as if she were trying to protect something.

Marriposa gems are known for having maternal instincts. . . Steven lightened up a bit, proud that he had remembered that one fact. And, apparently, Steven's mood seemed have shown up on Mr. Multiverse's face because—

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" The gem — (Y/n) — questioned suspiciously, narrowing her eyes as her frown deepened.

Mr. Multiverse's eyes widened and —  unintentionally — he released the gems ankle from his hold; giving her the opportunity to spread her wings out widely, give them a hard flap, and fly off; leaving a gust of wind behind her.

Mr. Multiverse was silent as he hovered back down to the stage; his eyes still glued to that one spot in the sky where the gem had been.

When Steven and Greg un-fused, Steven suddenly let a name escape his lips.

"(Y/n)." The teenager whispered as he fell to his knees, making sure to catch himself with his hands as he smiled slightly.

Steven had to admit. . . he liked the way that the (F/c)ette's name rolled off of his tongue.

It was the Steven finally realized something, though. . .

He was in pain. A LOT of it.

A sudden ringing in the teenagers ears made him squint at how loud it was. Shakily lifting his hand up, he wiped his mouth of the saliva that was threatening to leave the corners of his lips as he slowly looked up.

And then there was Spinel.

The pink gem had a look of hurt and betrayal on her face, and yet she also seemed to keep glancing up at the sky; up to where Mr. Multiverse and. . . (Y/n) were. . .

When Spinel's eyes began to brim with tears, Steven was too tired and weak to run after her as she ran into the crowd of cheering people; now out of Steven's sight.

And then, she was gone.

"Wait. . ." Steven's voice was low, barely a whisper. It sounded so hoarse, so strained. "Spinel. . .!" Steven tried pushing himself back to his feet, only for him to fail and nearly fall on his face as Greg turned to his son with concern written all over his face.

Behind the two, Opal landed gracefully on the ground. And soon, her form was beginning to get surrounded in light before completely disappearing and leaving a smiling Amethyst and Pearl in her place. The two gems opened their eyes and chuckled, having not fused for a long time, when they noticed the terribly injured Steven before them.

Pearl and Amethyst gasped.

"Steven! Are you okay?!" Pearl asked as she quickly ran over to join Steven at his side, only for him to lift his hand up and stop her from coming any closer.

Grunting, Steven slowly rose back up to his feet; ignoring the fact that his aching muscles were basically screaming at him to rest. "Don't. . . worry about me. . ."

Steven inhaled sharply. "It's Spinel! We need her to remember how to stop. . ." Steven paused for a moment, before falling back into his dad, who was quick to catch him before he could hit the ground. "She. . . She needs to remember how to stop (Y/n)'s injector!"

Steven inhaled, exhaled, and then inhaled once more before pushing himself out of his dad's grasp and looking over to Pearl with wide, desperate and hopeful eyes.

"Pearl! What do you know about her?" Steven asked, before pausing.

. . . Maybe. . .

"And. . . do you know anything about. . . about (Y/n), too?" Steven asked, calming down as soon as the (E/c) gems name left his lips.

Pearl blinked and stepped back, a bit surprised at the questions. She then shook her head and began to speak.

"Spinel? (Y/n)? Well, they were both Pink's little playmates. They used to spend ages together in Pink's garden and—"

"Garden?" Steven cut her off, confused.

Pearl nodded and continued. "That's where they used to play."

Amethyst immediately furrowed her brows and narrowed her eyes. "So what's their problem with us?" The purple gem asked, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

Pearl placed her hand against her gem, feeling confused herself. "I don't know, I haven't seen them in 6,000 years!" Pearl looked over to Steven. "Something must have happened to them since then!"

Steven nodded and looked away, towards where Spinel had run off to. "Then that's what I need to find out!" He said, a hint of determination in his voice.

Steven lifted his foot up, about to run off, when Greg placed his hand on his son's shoulder and gave him a look of worry as Steven turned to face him from over his shoulder. "Whoa, kiddo!" Greg took his hand off of Steven's shoulder and rose a concerned brow. "Are you sure you don't need a break?" Greg asked as Amethyst and Pearl nodded in agreement with the question.

"It looks like that fusion took everything out of you!" Amethyst told.

Beads of sweat began to roll down Steven's face as he shook his head. "I've gotta do what I can with the little I have left!" Steven stated.

The gem-diamond-hybrid then turned away from them all and climbed onto Lion's back. "I'm going after Spinel." Steven said, his tone serious.

Greg's eyes widened and he reached out towards his son, trying to stop him. But it was too late, Lion had already run off with his son clinging onto his back.

"Steven, wait!"

*****

Spinel sat alone on the Crystal Temple's warp pad, crying into her hands silently. Her body shook and trembled.

She wanted to scream, to shout, to let all of her emotions out, but everytime she opened her mouth, nothing came out.

She was so lost in her thoughts, in her pain, that she didn't seem to hear the sound of someone landing of the roof.

And then, a hatchet on top of the roof was opened, and someone jumped in in front of Spinel, causing the pink gem to jump up in surprise.

"W-What—?"

"Are you okay, Spinel?" The gem before her asked gently, approaching her slowly with one of her wings cradling a small bundle behind her.

Spinel sniffled and wiped her tears away, only for more to replace them. "N-No. . ." She whimpered and brought her knees to her chest before crossing her arms and burying her face into them.

The gem that stood before her frowned and shook her head.

This is what happens when you abandon someone for too long.

They grow damaged. Desperate. Depressed. Angry. And then, eventually. . .

.

.

.

ꌃꋪꂦꀘꏂꈤ.

"Spinel," The gem began as she kneeled down before the crying, pink gem, who slowly peaked her eyes out from her arms.

The gem smiled sadly at Spinel — at her bestfriend.

"Would you like to go back to the garden. . .?"

Spinel's eyes widened.

She blinked.

She sniffled.

She thought.

.

.

.

And then she nodded.

The gem smiled and nodded before taking the bundle they had been cradling in their wing in their arms and walking down the stairs, but not before saying,

"I just need to lay him down, I'll be right back," And she was. After a few minutes, the gem finally came back and joined Spinel at her side on the warp pad.

"Ready?"

Spinel only nodded and took the gems hand, just when a certain boy and his pink lion had landed outside the beach house through a portal.

The gem nodded. "Okay then," She pulled a note out of her pocket before throwing it away over her shoulder, allowing it to slowly fall to the floor in front of the warp pad, which was now beginning to activate.

When they heard the door open and slam shut, the gem frowned and rolled her hand into a fist.

"Let's go." And with that, the warp was fully activated and the two gems were gone.