The night air was pleasantly warm. And the sky was a beautiful shade of magenta-purple, dappled in shiny stars that shimmered softly over the beach where Steven and Connie sat, just aways from the beach house, with their shoes off.

"Can you get them to write out the steps?" Connie asked sitting across from Steven, who looked sheepish.

"No... I don't think it's just about the dancing." Steven admitted. "When they fuse, they glow and kind of... phase into each other." Steven crosses his fingers together, looking uncertain. "(Name) thinks I can do it, but... I don't know."

"Well I think it's amazing you were able to dance with them at all." Connie said comfortingly. "I could never do that..."

"Huh?" Steven curiously leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

Connie looks down, now donning the sheepish expression. "...I've never dance in front of anyone before."

Steven's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah..." Connie muttered. "There was a dance at my school, and I was really excited about it...but, I just couldn't bring myself to go." She explained, with a humble note in her voice. "I just couldn't stop thinking about everyone staring at me."

"Well... no one's staring right now?"

Connie looks back up to find the boy in question staring at her. "Um... you are."

Upon realizing this, he averts his gaze with a slight pink on his cheeks. "Oh... yeah."

After a beat of awkwardness, he perks up at an idea. "Oh, one sec."

Steven then reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. After tapping on it a few times, he plants it in the sand. After which, a light, rhythmic melody starts to play from it.

With the music on, Steven takes a few steps away from Connie, covering his eyes with his arm in a sense of bashfulness. "So... what I was trying to say was..."

He then offers his free hand to Connie, still blushing quite darkly.

"Come dance with me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What is pearl trying to say?" You tipped your head slightly, bringing your countertop polishing to a stop.

The Pearl and Garnet exchanged nervous glances between each other, as pearl stepped forward, taking a deep breath.

"Well (Name)... what I'm saying is that... lately you've been starting to get very... pushy with us."

Your brows knit into a look of sharp suspicion. "Pushy? How?"

Pearl winced at the question, but steadied her nerves with a deep breath. "Well... that- that fiasco at the Galaxy warp the other day! Remember?" Her voice was uncertain, but you could see she had her brows furrowed into a look of resolve. "Y-You got really aggressive towards us back there."

"Yeah?" For a moment, you felt yourself shrink back a bit. It's getting bad isn't it? You thought shamefully, thinking back to the events from that day.

But upon remembering the what had transpired before the Galaxy Warp incident, you felt your brow furrow ever so slightly. "Well... it wouldn't have happened if the gem's didn't disregard Steven's feelings so much." You rumbled putting the rag away and turning to search the cabinets, not bothering to look at the spying gems. "Gems were being hubris, making assumptions and didn't bother to truly take his unease into mind. Which is frustrating in and of itself." Pearl opened her mouth to protest, but you beat her to it. "And in the end, Steven's anxiety was justified. And gems were wrong."

Pearl faltered briefly, any defenses against the claim dissipating on her tongue. Though she was quick to steel herself with resolve. "Well I-- s-still! You didn't have to be so... hostile! Especially with what you said with Rose-"

"(Name) said nothing bad about Rose." You stopped your search to glare over your shoulder at the gem.

"You still used her against us!" There was a hint of anger in pearl's voice, which was raised ever so slightly. "And you had no right to say her name like that in the first place!" Garnet looked at her with worry.

"Well was (Name) wrong?" You asked. Your voice was still relatively calm, but your fur bristled high on defense. "Would the Gems actually stop at seeing a sticker on a warp pad, even if Rose still showed dissatisfaction with it after searching everywhere?"

"I-- You can't just-- she wouldn't--" As Pearl fumbled over her words, as Garnet sneered uncomfortably at the rising tension.

"Pearl-"

"(Name)'s just saying, if they valued Rose so much, then they shouldn't treat her own son like he's second best." You cut both gems off.

"Just like her, Steven deserves the same amount of love and respect. After all..." You took a breath to steady yourself, clasping your paws together in front of you and resting them on the counter.

"A good guardian would have stopped at nothing if it meant bringing safety to the one they cared for most." You leaned forward, eyes narrowed. "Isn't that what Rose would want? The gems to be good guardians to her son?"

As soon as you said this, pearl looked as though you had slapped her in the face. Though the look of shock only lasted a second before a livid scowl twisted her face. "Well-!"

"That's the thing, (Name)."

Garnet quickly spoke up, stepping up and hastily nudging pearl aside, and stood in front of her. "We aren't like you."

"Not like (Name)?" Your echoed, your brow furrowed. You almost took offense to it, but the soft, if a little sheepish voice Garnet used had you curious. "What does-?"

You were interrupted by the sound of the front door being thrown open, which startled all of you.

Then, an unfamiliar voice spoke up cheerfully.

"Hey guys! Check it out!"

You all look towards the direction of the door, and your eyes widened slightly at the sight of an unfamiliar person standing in the doorway. They had an average build with a slightly dark skin complextion and long black curly hair. You had to admit, they were rather aesthetically pleasing.

"Uhm..." you uttered, tipping your head slightly. "Who might-?" Your gaze slides down to the very familiar gemstone embedded in their navel. "Is... that?"

"Yo... you guys still in one piece, or--?" Ameythyst came out from the temple doors nervously, only to stop upon seeing the stranger in the doorway. "Who's that?"