Steven hasn't been this tired in a long time.

Grunting as he dug his nails into the injector, the teenager hauls himself up more and more; inspired by his friends' and family's efforts, and determined to ensure that their faith in him as of now wouldn't all be in vain.

"Hey, you . . ."

Pulling himself up once again, Steven shudders and feels a bead of sweat trail down his face as the nightly breeze rushes through his hair and onto his uncovered skin.

He shivers.

"Show me a solvable problem,

We can get through this,

I'll do the—"

Steven looks up, and his breath gets caught in his throat when his eyes meet with a pair of (E/c) ones up above.

Determination courses through his veins even more now, and he pulls himself up again.

"—hardest part with you . . ."

It's the true . . .

It's the true . . .

It's the true kind of love~

Panting, Steven lets out a pained gasp and stops for a moment, trying to catch his breath as he shuts his eyes tightly at the stinging feeling that suddenly curses through his left arm.

It's the true . . .

The boy gasps, feeling himself slip down before quickly catching himself, his eyes wide with panic and fear.

It's the true . . .

Huffing, Steven forces himself to start climbing once again; ignoring the exhaustion that eats at him and screams in his ears; telling him to just close his eyes and go to sleep.

It's the true kind of love~

Coughing, Steven inhales deeply through his nose and gets ready to pull himself up another time, when a whip suddenly appears out of nowhere and wraps around his uninjured arm.

The boy gasps, surprised, and looks up to see (Y/n) staring down at him with a troubled expression.

It's the true . . .

After a moment of thought, the gem begins to step back, all the while slowly beginning to pull Steven up, shocking the hybrid even more, but also making a wave of relief wash over him as well.

It's the true . . .

It's the true . . .

It's the true kind of love~

Once he was close enough the the edge, Steven uses his free hand and brings himself up; breathing heavily and gasping for air as the whip around his right arm disappears into nothing.

It's the true . . .

Steven attempts to stand up, but his knees buckle under him and he falls to the floor; grunting in pain.

It's the true . . .

The hybrid gasps in pain and slowly opens his eyes to see (Y/n) standing before him, her back turned to him as her hair moves with the rushing winds around them.

It's the true kind of love~

". . . Steven."

The boy stiffens, finally managing to bring himself back to his feet as the mariposa slowly turns to him, a dead look in her eyes.

"Do you remember what I said? When you first asked me about why I was doing all of this in the first place?"

Steven pauses, hesitating for a moment, before slowly nodding. "Yeah," he gulps, "You said you just wanted to take your anger out on a bunch of strangers, right?"

(Y/n), with her expression unchanging, nods. "Yes," she turns away from him again, and Steven frowns. "That is correct."

Silence drapes over the two now. The air is tense, and Steven is growing more frustrated as the seconds pass and this — this gem isn't doing anything.

And stars, does it bother him.

"You're acting like a child," The words leave Steven's lips before the hybrid can stop himself, and much to his surprise, the mariposa laughs, though it doesn't have any heart behind it.

"Maybe I am." She shrugs and turns to meet Steven's eyes once more before raising a brow. "What's your excuse?"

Steven stills; eyes widening as her words settle in his head.

"A child . . ." Steven releases a short gasp and looks down, placing a hand over his gem as (Y/n) hums to him curiously, tilting her head to the side.

"I . . . I guess I . . . I haven't exactly been acting like myself because . . . because . . ."

Steven stops; freezing in his place as his head snaps up to capture (Y/n)'s (E/c) orbs with his own.

"That's it." Steven suddenly breaks out into a grin, and (Y/n) blinks in surprise. "That's the final piece!"

(Y/n) frowns and takes a step back, feeling as though she knew what was about to happen next as Steven went on.

"On those struggles . . . I learned from them and I grew! Oh my gosh . . ." Steven runs a hand through his hair in disbelief, "It's not just my gem powers I've forgotten . . . All of this — this 'happily ever after' stuff has made me forget the first power I ever had . . .!"

Steven laughs loudly out of nowhere, and a pink aura slowly began to emit from beneath his shirt.

"The power to change!"

Suddenly, (Y/n) is knocked back; nearly falling to the ground on her back as she cries out in surprise and brings her arms up in front of her face from the rushing breeze that had suddenly appeared.

"What . . .?"

Opening her eyes again, (Y/n) gasps and takes a step back, her brows rising as she watches Steven slowly descend and land to kneel in front of her, his gem glowing brighter than ever.

✿*:･ﾟﾟ･:*✿

ﾟ･:*✿°✿*:･ﾟ

"I can make a promise . . ."

Steven returned to his feet.

"I can make a plan . . ."

He rolled one of his hands into a fist.

"I can make a difference . . ."

Bringing his hand up to his nose, Steven wiped away the blood that had begun to fall from it before bringing it up to his lips and kissing it all away into a series of pink sparkles.

"I can take a stand . . ."

The hybrid took a step towards the mariposa, a noticeable stomp sounding about the area as he did so.

"I can make an effort . . ."

Steven wrapped his arms around himself, engulfing his body in a hug.

"If I only understand . . .~

That I—"

Growling, (Y/n) summoned a blade into her hand and opened her wings; giving them a hard flap and rushing towards the boy, who suddenly snapped his eyes open, revealing the fiery determination that blazed within them.

"I can make a change!"

Before (Y/n)'s sword could collide with Steven himself, a shield suddenly blocked its way, making the gem growl and jump back, her heels scraping against the floor beneath her.

"Gather all my problems . . ."

Steven lifted his shield up to cover his face, (Y/n)'s sword colliding with it once more and causing the mariposa to snarl at the boy.

"Gather all my pain . . ."

Sliding past the gem-hybrid, (Y/n) quickly returned to her feet and lifted her blade into the air once again, only for Steven to suddenly whirl around and grab her wrist; stopping her in the process and making them both finally see eye-to-eye.

"Take control of what I'm feeling . . ."

Steven cupped the gem's face into the palm of his hand and placed his forehead against her's, instantly making (Y/n)'s breath hitch in her throat as she began to thrash around and try to pull away from him.

"Patience to understand~"

Crying out, (Y/n) finally curled her free hand into a fist and prepared to bring it down onto Steven's face, but she was once again stopped by the hybrid, who was quick to grab her other wrist and bring both of her hands down as he looked her in the eyes.

"I know—"

(Y/n) gasped when Steven suddenly brought her into a tight hug.

"I know you must be hurting . . ."

Pulling away from the gem, but still keeping her entrapped in his arms, Steven offered her a small smile and pushed a strand of her hair out of her face before cupping it once again.

"But please just know that I am with you!"

He placed his forehead against hers once more.

"So you don't suffer all alone~

So you—"

Ignoring the feeling of butterflies in her stomach, (Y/n) cried out in panic and opened her wings; flying out of Steven's arms and landing herself far away from him, breathing heavily as the hybrid watched her go with a surprised, yet disappointed look on his face.

"You can make a change!"

Stiffening at Steven's words, (Y/n) growled lowly under her breath and summoned her violin; shifting it into a bow before summoning an arrow and drawing it, being sure to aim it at Steven to ensure that he wouldn't try making any movement towards her.

"You claim to understand,

What you can not know!"

(Y/n)'s lips curled back into a snarl, and her eyes narrowed into a harsh glare.

"The gaul to lecture me,

As though you can relate to me?"

The gem laughs in an unbelieving manner, and Steven frowns deeply at the action.

"Just go back to your family,

'Precious, sweet little family',

There's no time left to lose!"

(Y/n)'s bow 'n arrow disappear, and before Steven could react it, a whip was suddenly wrapped around him, making him gasp and look back up towards the gem to see her staring at him with angry tears trailing down her face.

"Change is only for the strong~

For the strong!"

Positioning herself, (Y/n) began to twirl around, which in turn caused Steven to also swing around in her whip, making him cry out dizzily until he was finally thrown up into the air, yelling in surprise as he watched (Y/n) open her wings from below before following after him.

"You can make it different!"

(Y/n) growled, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms as she disappeared into the clouds, leaving Steven alone to wonder where she could have gone.

Still, though, he continued, knowing full well that she must have still been close enough to listen to him.

"You can make it right!"

When the gem flew out above the clouds to look down on the hybrid, Steven smiled up at her, tears beginning to fall from the corners of his eyes.

"You can make it better!"

For a moment, (Y/n)'s eyes seemed to widen, and she blinked when Steven flew higher up into the air past her. The gem's eyes followed him, of course, and she couldn't help but slightly gape as she watched him fly in front of the moon dramatically.

"We don't have to fight!"

When the boy began to slowly descend back towards the injector beneath him, he suddenly took ahold of (Y/n)'s hand and began to pull her down with him, still smiling.

"You can make an effort!

Starting with tonight~

Because you—"

When (Y/n) began to struggle again, Steven retorted by her pulling her into his chest and wrapping his arms around her tightly.

"You can make a change . . ."

•| ⊱✿⊰ |•

You don't know how you've managed to end up in this situation.

You're standing atop the injector now, just like how you had been a while before. Only this time, Steven isn't fighting you. Instead, the hybrid's arms are wrapped around you tightly, and you don't think he's planning on letting you go very soon.

It feels nice, you admit, but it's not like you're going to say that outloud. So instead, you opt to voice something else that's been on your mind as of late.

"You confuse me, Steven," You use his name hesitantly, and he doesn't bother to correct you or anything like that. He seems rather fine with it, actually, so you decide to go on.

"All this time, with every interaction you've had with me, you've never really chosen to respond to my words or actions with violence, even though I deserve it."

His hold on you tightens, and you rest your head atop his shoulder.

"Tell me, Steven," you begin, drawing shapes onto his back with your finger, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Steven doesn't respond to you for a good while, and you stop drawing shapes on him in order to wrap your arms around him as well and sigh; closing your eyes with content for the first time in a while.

And then, Steven finally speaks.

"I . . . I don't know, actually."

A chuckle escapes his lips and catches your ears, and you hum. "I see," you pause, "May I ask you another question?"

You feel him nod, so you do.

"Do you plan on letting me go?"

After a moment, Steven shakes his head, and you can't help but chuckle. How cute of him.

"I suppose that's nice and all, Steven, but I'm afraid if you don't, I won't be able to deactivate the injector. And if I don't do that, then . . ." you chuckle nervously, "it's going to explode."

Steven freezes, his eyes widening.

"What?" The boy pulls away, a shocked expression etched out across his face as he stares at you in disbelief. "You . . . you set yourself up to fail?" he asks, almost breathlessly.

You flush slightly in embarrassment, but nod either way.

"Yes," you smile bashfully and move a strand of hair behind your ear, "Yes I did."

Steven blinks more than once, mouth opening and closing to say something, yet nothing comes out. So instead, he laughs loudly — breathlessly — and engulfs you into an even tighter hug than before, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck and making you tense at the contact.

"I'm happy," Steven says after a moment. "Like, really happy."

You hum awkwardly in reply and pat his back, unsure of what else you could do. "That's . . . good. I'm glad you're happy, Steven. But—" your arms fell back down to your sides "—I still need to deactivate the injector, unless you want to deal with the aftermath of an explosion," you said.

"Oh." Steven's shoulders seem to visibly tense, and the hybrid quickly releases you from his hold before taking a few steps back from you, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly with a curt nod. "Right. Of course."

You huff, a smile tugging at the corner of your lips as you shake your head at the gem-hybrid's behavior and turn your back to face him. A (F/c) glow gathers around your gem for a moment, but then quickly fades once a familiar violin appears in your hands.

You take a deep breath; closing your eyes and positioning the instrument in your grasp in order to play it. The wind flies through your hair; strands of it dancing with the breeze as you begin to play the familiar tune that had started this whole mess in the first place. It echoes about the skies and travels across Beach City — catching the ears of humans and gems alike, who all gather and perk up at the sound of the lovely yet tense melody. From beneath your feet, the injector begins to rumble as it slowly begins to suck back in all of the poison it had pumped into the Earth. When that's done, the large machine begins to pull itself up out of the ground; the mountain crumbling beneath its metallic feet.

From behind you, Steven stumbles over his own feet due to the movement of the machine below him, and you stifle a laugh when you hear him fall down onto his bum behind you.

Then, your melody finally comes to a stop, and the injector is now hovering high above the ground — away from the planet it was once originally used to kill.

You release a breath, eyes finally opening as the violin disappears into a bunch of sparkly particles out of your grasp, and your shoulders seem to visibly relax.

"Well, Universe . . ."

You smile softly and turn to the said boy, who stares up at you with wide eyes as you spread open your wings and hold a hand out for him to take.

"Would you like to head home now?"

* * * * *

NOTES !

not me almost forgetting to update this story because i didn't realize it was wednesday again 😭😭