Pearl stood in the kitchen with Lunar on her hip as she watched the baby bottle she had placed in the microwave slowly spin around. The house was silent, today. Amethyst was in her room, probably making a mess, Garnet was out in Little Homeworld to show a few new gems around, and Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth were currently on a. . . special mission, if you will.

"Abababa?" Lunar babbled, turning to Pearl and sticking his tongue out as he stared at her with curious eyes.

Pearl smiled and laughed, booping the baby's nose; making Lunar blink and shake his head, surprised by the sudden action.

"You know, you remind me a lot of Steven when he was younger." Pearl said, kissing Lunar's forehead as the baby giggled.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Pearl soon turned her attention back to the microwave and opened its small door before pulling the baby bottle out and walking over to the couch. She set Lunar down in the corner of the piece of furniture, and made sure that his head was resting on a pillow before placing a soft blank over him and giving him the bottle.

"Okay, Lunar, nap time~" Pearl said in a sing-songy voice as she placed another kiss on the small child's head.

Lunar sneezed and shook his head, blinking, again, before sticking the bottle in his mouth and scarfing the milk inside of it down hungrily. Pearl chuckled at this and shook her head, crossing her arms as she muttered something under her breath.

And then the sound of the warp pad went off up stairs.

Pearl's eyes widened for a split second, but she quickly regained her composure. Turning to the door that lead to each of the gems' rooms, Pearl called for Amethyst to get her to watch Lunar until he fell asleep. She received a groan of annoyance in reply, of course, but Amethyst still complied nonetheless and came out to watch the babe.

"You owe me for this, P," Amethyst said with a yawn as she threw herself onto the couch next to Lunar, chuckling at the laughter that soon began to bubble in the baby's throat.

Pearl rolled her eyes but still allowed a small smile to make its way onto her face. "Oh, please. Only in your dreams." Pearl chuckled with a playful roll of her eyes before turning away from the purple gem and walking up the stairs, towards the room that held the warp pad.

"Lapis? Peridot? Bismuth? Is that you?" The pale gem asked as she walked into the room, looking around and placing her hand against the doorframe.

"Yeah, it's us. . ." Bismuth said, walking off of the warp pad with Lapis and Peridot following close behind her; each of them having the same expression on their face: disappointment.

Pearl frowned at their downcast gazes and took a step towards Bismuth, growing worried. "Did you. . .?" Pearl began, only to silence herself when she saw Bismuth shake her head.

"Nope. Nothing. Not even a clue." The rainbow-colored-hair gem said with a sigh as she looked down and closed her eyes.

Pearl's frown deepened. She didn't like seeing her friends upset, especially a friend as old as Bismuth.

Pearl walked up to the rainbow-themed gem in overalls and placed a hand on her shoulder, making Bismuth look down at her curiously and peek an eye open.

Pearl gave Bismuth a reassuring, lopsided smile. "You did your best, Bismuth," Pearl looked over to Lapis and Peridot. "All of you did your best. Don't worry, there's always next time." Pearl said before patting Bismuth's back gently and beginning to make her way down the stairs.

Lapis groaned and ran her hands through her bangs. "That's the problem, though!" The blue gem said as she opened her wings and flew down after Pearl before landing on the couch next to Amethyst. "We've searched just about everywhere! Mask Island, Empire City, the barn. Heck! We even tried searching Homeworld and we still couldn't find her!" Lapis said, leaning back against the couch and crossing her arms as she looked down with a sour face.

Pearl sighed and shook her head as she began to wash the dishes in the sink. "I know, Lapis. But you and I both know that Steven won't want us to give up. Especially on her," Pearl then giggled. "She's the love of his life, after all~" She said teasingly, earning a laugh from Amethyst and a small chuckle from Bismuth.

"You got that right, P!" Amethyst laughed as she clutched her stomach. "I betcha he has dreams about her!" Amethyst told, chuckling at the thought as she wiped a tear from her eye.

Lapis shrugged. "I wouldn't be too surprised," She stated blankly, shrugging.

"He does." A new voice suddenly said out of nowhere, making everyone jump and look towards the voice's source.

They all sighed and calmed down once they saw it was only Garnet.

"He does? How do you know?" Amethyst asked with a mischievous grin as she leaned into the couch and rested her arms behind her head.

Garnet only smirked and readjusted her visors. "Just a guess."

"Papa dweams!" Lunar yelled, clapping his hands together and laughing.

Amethyst laughed as well and picked Lunar up, grinning from ear-to-ear at the small babe who continued to laugh and reach his chubby arms out to her.

"Hey! Ain't you supposed to be napping right about now?" The purple gem asked the baby, only to receive another feat of giggles in reply.

Amethyst chuckled and cradled Lunar, allowing him to play with her finger. "Aw! You're so cute!" Amethyst said with a large, playful grin.

Garnet smiled and walked over to Amethyst before patting Lunar atop his head. "He's cutie pie the second," The fusion said jokingly, making the rest of the gems erupt into a fit of laughter.

That was when the front door opened.

All of the gems fell into silence and slowly turned towards the door, not really surprised to see Steven standing there with a big 'smile' on his face.

"Hey guys, what'd I miss?" He asked as he walked into the house, closing the door with the heel of his foot before walking over to Lunar and poking his stomach, making the baby giggle.

Steven laughed and kissed Lunar's head before turning to face the rest of the gems, who were all giving him concerned looks.

Steven rose a brow at them all and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "Guys? Is there something bothering you?" He asked, his face growing concerned as well.

Peridot huffed and suddenly climbed onto the coffee table before dramatically pointing to Steven and yelling, "We should be asking YOU that!!"

Steven blinked and once again cocked a brow. "Eh? What do you mean?" He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

Lapis sighed and finally stood up, turning to Steven and placing her hands on her hips.

"Don't pretend, Steven. We know you know what we mean." She said before folding her arms over her chest.

The room, once again, fell into silence.

.

.

.

.

"I'm. . . gonna be in my room. Call for me if you need me. . ." The gem-hybrid said slowly as he turned away from his family and went to go up the stairs.

"Steven, wait." That was Pearl.

Steven stopped midway up the stairs and turned his gaze over to the pale gem, who had her hands clasped together with an expression that was a mixture of worry and sadness on her face.

"Listen, we know that you're not. . . in the best of moods at the moment. Especially after what happened ten months ago. . ." Pearl began, taking a step towards Steven.

Steven didn't respond and only looked away from her.

"But, please. You won't make anything better by shutting yourself out. Wouldn't you just like to. . ."

Garnet finished Pearl's sentence for her. "Talk to us, Steven."

It had become silent for a moment. A shadow was casted over Steven's eyes, making it impossible to tell what his face was saying aside from the visible frown on his face. The gem-hybrid looked down at his feet, feeling his shoulders begin to tremble. Steven then inhaled a sharply and looked back up to everyone with his usual smile.

"Trust me guys, I'm fine," And then he left before they could say another word.

*****

Steven sighed with relief as soon as he closed his bedroom door behind him. With his back against the door, Steven slowly slid down and sat on the floor, sighing again as he buried his face in his hands and groaned.

"Why must life be like this?" Steven asked, scratching his temple.

The gem-hybrid then sighed for the third time and stood back up. He took his jacket off and threw it onto his bed, before walking over to the glass door that lead onto his balcony and sliding it open; humming when he felt the ocean breeze hit his face and fly through his curly locks of hair.

"It really has been ten months, hasn't it?" Steven muttered, walking out onto his balcony and leaning against its railing. "Ten months since the injector, ten months since Spinel left for Homeworld, ten months since me and the gems took Lunar in. . ." Steven paused for a moment, and then turned his gaze downwards with a sad look in his onyx eyes.

"And ten months since her disappearance. . ." He whispered, frowning.

Steven let out a breath and turned around, looking back into his bedroom as the sound of small waves crashing into the sandy beach shore filled the hybrids ears.

.

.

.

"Here we are in the future~" Steven took a deep breath and turned back towards the ocean, watching as seagulls flew by with a look of longing flashing through his eyes.

"Here we are in the future and you're gone. . ." He whispered as an image of a certain gems face appeared in his mind, making him sigh and rest his cheek in the palm of his hand while his elbow sat on the railing. "I can't believe. . . you left before I could say. . ." Steven took a shaky breath.

"You're my happily ever after, please stay. . ."