"Spinel?" Steven said, the gems name leaving his lips as if it were a question as he slowly opened the door and stepped in.

It was quiet. All he heard was nothing.

At least, that was until he heard the warp pad activate.

With eyes growing in size, Steven gasped and immediately began to run up stairs towards the room that held the warp pad in it.

Once he stepped into the room, however, he was too late.

Spinel was gone.

The Earth's one last chance of being saved was gone.

Steven fell to his knees and let a cry of frustration escape his sore throat as he punched the floorboards below him, angry tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

And then, something was heard down the stairs, from his bedroom. . .

.

.

.

"WAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

Steven stopped. He blinked. And then he looked over his shoulder and turned his gaze towards his bedroom door.

". . . What. . .?" The teenage hybrid slowly stood up and walked over to his door before placing his ear against it, checking to make sure that he was actually hearing a crying baby and most definitely not going crazy—

"WAAAAAAHH!!" Steven flinched at the sudden, loud cry and moved his ear away from the door instantly.

"There's no way. . ." He muttered as he grasped the handle to his door and pushed it open.

The sight he was met with when his eyes landed on his bed was unexpected, to say the least.

There, laying in the center of Steven's bed with a fluffy, pale blue blanket wrapped around it as snot rolled down its nose and fat tears fell from its face, was a small baby.

Steven nearly dropped to the floor again. But he didn't. Instead, his jacket fell to the floor, causing a soft 'thud' to sound throughout the room.

The baby stopped crying and looked over to Steven, a now curious expression on their face.

Steven blinked and straightened his back at the sudden attention that the baby in his room was giving him, even though the child had been bawling their eyes out just a few seconds ago.

"Um. . ." Steven's hand slowly rose up in the air and he gave the baby a hesitant, yet also seemingly shy, awkward, wave. "Hello."

.

.

.

.

.

The baby giggled, and Steven smiled.

"Well, aren't you cute?" Steven said teasingly as he picked his jacket back up and slid his arms through its sleeves; seeming to have forgotten that the world was at stake as he walked over to the baby and joined them on his bed.

The baby giggled once more and fell backwards onto Steven's large pillow. The baby then sneezed and shook their head, a bit new to the whole 'sneezing' thing seeing as how it seemed to be the first time it had happened to them.

Steven laughed and layed down next to the child, who crawled over to him and began to run their small, chubby hands through his fluffy hair. Steven laughed again and slid his hands under the baby's arms before throwing them up into the air and catching them; which earned a series of laughter and giggles from the small child.

Steven then frowned slightly and rested the baby on his chest as he looked up at the ceiling with tired eyes.

"It's a shame that a cute kid like you is going to have to possibly grow up on a dead planet. . ." Steven whispered before sighing and holding the baby up above his head.

The baby tilted their head to the side, confused by Steven's frown.

Steven sighed once more and sat up, still holding the child close to his chest as he walked out of his bedroom and went downstairs.

.

.

.

And then, lion teleported into the living room with a certain someone sitting on his back.

Pulling her blade out and allowing the beams of light to reflect off of it, Connie stood up on Lion's back before jumping up into the air, spinning around and doing a flip, and then landing perfectly on the floor in a battle stance.

"I'm here! Where's the fight?!" Connie yelled out, looking around the house with narrowed eyes in search of any danger or of any clashing weapons.

But, all she saw was a very tired looking Steven standing on the last set of stairs with a giggling babe in his arms.

Connie's eyes widened at the sight of her tired and beat up friend, and she immediately put her sword away and ran to his side to make sure that he was okay.

"Steven!" Connie gasped once she saw the scars and cuts on his arm. "What happened?" She whispered, concern written all over her face.

Steven sighed and began to subconsciously run his fingers through the baby's barely grown hair.

"It's. . . a long story. . ." The hybrid said tiredly.

Connie shook her head and helped Steven over to the couch. "You don't have to tell me the full story," Connie said, sending a few questioning glances to the giggling baby in Steven's arms. "Just. . . give me a summary. . .?" The last part of it sounded more like a question rather than a statement.

Steven sighed and leaned back against the couch as he sat the playing baby on his lap. "Well. . . after you left for space camp, this. . ." Steven paused, searching for the right words before continuing. "This. . . unique gem came to Earth with a giant machine called an 'injector'. And while fighting me and the other gems, she used something called a 'rejuvinator' on all of us; which resulted in the gems' memories getting wiped and me. . ." Steven placed a hand over his gem. "I guess I went back: back to when I was young, naive, and inexperienced. And now, my powers don't work. . ." Steven said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Once Connie saw the downcast look on Steven's face, she frowned; not liking to see her friend look so upset. She then placed her hand on his shoulder, grabbing his attention.

Connie sent Steven a small, understanding and sympathetic smile. "You don't have to continue if you don't want to, Steven." Connie said.

Steven smiled slightly and nodded. "Thanks, Connie." Steven said as he turned his gaze down to the baby in his lap.

Connie nodded and patted Steven's shoulder. "Anything for my jam bud." She chuckled, which caused Steven to chuckle as well.

"Hehe. . . yeah. . ." Steven trailed off as he looked over to the stairs with the same longing look in his eyes like all of the other times before.

Connie, having noticed Steven's look, rose a brow and turned her attention to the staircase.

Connie then suddenly frowned and stood up. "Is the gem who caused all of this up there?" She asked, gripping the handle of her sword tightly.

Nobody messes with Connie's jam bud, friends, teacher and planet and gets away with it.

Steven's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head.

"N-No!" Steven cried out, almost sounding panicked as he stood up and began to shake his head frantically.

Connie blinked and took a step back from the human-gem hybrid, a bit surprised at his sudden outburst.

"Um, okay. . .?" Connie rose a questioning brow. "Then where is she?" The girl asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Steven sighed at the question and looked down, clearly upset. "That, I don't know." He answered honestly as he shook his head and began to walk up the stairs, towards the room that held the warp pad. Connie sent Steven a worried look and immediately followed after him, making sure to walk behind him just in case he grew weak and she needed to catch him.

"By the time I got here, she was already gone and—" Steven cut himself off as soon as he stepped into the room.

Connie sent her friend a look of confusion and walked up next to him. "And what?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

Suddenly, the baby was in Connie's arms. The dark skinned girl let out a small cry of surprise once she felt the baby get pushed into her grasp, and she looked over to Steven for answers. "Steven, what—" Connie stopped herself when she saw that he was no longer standing next to her.

"Steven?" Looking around, Connie soon saw him kneeling down in front of the warp pad with his back to her and a piece of paper in his hand.

". . . Steven. . .?" Connie spoke again as she slowly walked over to his side, growing even more concerned with each passing second.

It was then that Connie caught sight of what the note in Steven's hand said:

*****

There in the garden,

We played a game.

She showed us how it was done,

And yet it wasn't very fun.

There in the garden,

We stood very still,

It still wasn't so much fun.

We were made to entertain,

And yet, what do you think we had to gain?

Remember the garden, Steven,

We'll be waiting~

—(Y/n)

*****

. . .Steven didn't say anything. Instead, he stood up, ignored Connie's questioning and worried look, and warped away.