'It was you,wasn't it?'
~~~~~
You sat on the couch,trying to figure out a tiny contraption called a 'slide puzzle'. Strange,really. Why would humans give themselves a problem they can't possibly solve?!what a waste of time and materials!Pearl and Amethyst walked through the door,heading to sit at the kitchen counter,earning a groan of panic from Steven. "I can't believe you've had your phone for a month,and you haven't used it at all!" "That's not true!I use it to tell the time!" Pearl argued back.

Amethyst sighed and took the phone in her hands, "come here,P. Huh,let's change your wallpaper". She lifted the phone in the air and stuck a arm behind her neck as she stuck her tongue out,taking a selfie and setting it as Pearl's wallpaper,you giggling at her silly pose. "Looks great!okay,now texting is in the messages. Just click on this screen icon—" Steven interrupted,panicking,"PEARL,CAN I ASK YOU SOME—" "hold on,Stevo. Im in the middle of a demonstration. K,anyway,then you can type pretty much anything you want!"

Steven's phone made a jingle sound,alerting him he got a message from Pearl.

'Dear Steven,Hello. Love,Pearl'

"You should get a case for that thing" Amethyst suggested. "I do!" Pearl proudly claimed as she proceeded to summon a suitcase from her gem. "Okay. I have a whole bunch of actual phone cases in my room. Don't go and throw that thing against a rock or anything until I'm back" Amethyst instructed,heading to her room. You got up and went outside to go wander around beach city. Now it was just Pearl and Steven.

Nervously,Steven approached Pearl. "Pearl..?" "What is it,Steven?" "She asked,eyes on her phone. "..you remember how mom shattered Pink Diamond..?well,I was just wondering if,maybe..you shattered Pink Diamond..?" He asked. Pearl looked at him with shock,at a loss for words, "I-" as she drops the phone and covers her mouth with her hands,struggling to speak. "It's okay,you can speak to me!" Steven encourages,Pearl shakes her head,as if to say 'No,I can't tell you',looking very disturbed by the question. "Why can't you just talk to me about this?!" Steven asks,frustrated.

Before anything else can be said,a door opens,Amethyst walking in on the scene. "I got the—phone..case...". Pearl slowly uncovers her mouth and immediately brings her attention to the phone case,casting more suspicion onto her, "ah yes,the phone case!thank you Amethyst!Whoops,so clumsy," she kneels over and quickly grabs the phone, "It's probably safer if I just keep it in here!" She chuckles nervously,storing the phone away in her gem. Grabbing the suitcase,she marches her way into the temple gate,leaving. "Wait,come on!just put it in this,then put it in your head!" Amethyst tries to reason,chasing after her with the phone case,only to be met by a closed door. "What was that?" Amethyst questions,Steven sighing in response.

~~~~
Steven stands near the fry shop eating fry bits,Tanzanite standing there next to him to listen to his vents. "So..you think Pearl could've shattered her..?" "Yes" "and you're sure it was her?that's quite a bold assumption to make about someone like Pearl.." "Why's that?" "Well..it's really not in my place to say. Just wait until Pearl's comfortable enough to talk about that" "but I can't 'just wait'!I need to know what really happened!" Steven yelled in frustration.

Then he got a text, " 'I want to tell you,but I can't'?" He read aloud. Getting up,he rushed off back home,where Pearl was  currently vacuuming the Warp Pad. "PEARL I'M READY TO TALK!!" "Uh- what?" Pearl questioned as she turnt off the vacuum. "I got your text! 'I want to tell you,but I can't'?with a monkey emoji?" "Steven,I didn't send that. I haven't used my phone since I put it away this morning" "maybe you butt-dialed me?with your gem?" "No,that's impossible!hang on,i'll pull it out and we'll get to the bottom of this. See,here" she answers,summoning a object from her gem:a remote control. She drops the remote "see I-" she tries again,this time the object is a violin. This goes on for a while. A aerodynamic book,one of Steven's shirts,a bundle of cash,tons of items..except her phone.

"Pearl,are you okay?" Steven asks,Pearl still trying,this time pulling out a film roll. "Where could I have put it?!I know it's in there somewhere!" She panics. Steven gasps as he gets another message,"you just sent another one!" He exclaims,showing her the phone.

' 🌺'

Pearl,upon seeing the text,realizes what it all means as she covers her mouth in shock. "Steven,I need you to go inside my gem and find my phone" she asks,kneeling to his height as she grips his shoulders. "What?!i-is it stuck in there or something?" "There are certain things I can't tell you,but I CAN tell you that I need my phone. Please. I can bring you back out once you find what you're looking for" "..your phone?" "Exactly!i'll keep your phone,text me with mine when you find it". Steven nods as Pearl offers her hand. Taking it,Pearl's gem begins to glow as Steven levitates as it pulls him inside.

Upon entering Pearl's gem,Steven is now in a white room as he hears a Pearl humming to herself,organizing spears. "There's a Pearl inside Pearls Pearl?" Steven asks himself as he runs up to her. "Oh!Steven!" She picks him up, "where should I put you?certainly not with the spears. Human paraphernalia?personal items?let's jus go alphabetical. S..S-t..". Scrolling through the multiple arrays of organized items,she goes to put Steven between a stethoscope and a sticker. "Wait,no!don't file me!you sent me in here for your cellphone"
"My phone?well,alright. Let's see" she sets Steven down as she begins scrolling to the 'P' organized items,filled with items like potted plants and phone numbers.

" 'P-H-O'..hm..nothing. Oh!" She gasps, "it's a cellular phone!I must have put it under 'C'. It should be right..here" she points to a empty slot between a roll of cellophane and a cleaver. "It should be right here!unless..some other me took it" "there's more of you in here?" "Oh no,not here. I made sure of that. I am very good at compartmentalizing everything. That's why I get to be surface!and they have to be put away" "well if one of those Pearls has the phone,can you tell me how to find her?" "Oh,you don't want to go back where they are. It's a mess. Let's just stay here,where everything is alphabetized!" "Come on,I can handle it!" Steven protests,the Pearl sighing. "Alright. Don't say I didn't warn you" She takes his hand as the process of Steven going inside Pearl's gem repeats itself with this Pearl.

This time Steven is on the beach in front of the temple. "This doesn't look like a mess. It looks like..the past". Then he hears someone crying and looks over to sees Pearl behind the temple statue's hand,crying in distress with her head buried in her knees. She has a sleeveless sea foam top with blue at the end of it,purple shorts,a see-through white wrap around on her shoulders,pink leg warmers,and blue flats. "Oh..that kind of mess".

Steven runs up to the crying Pearl and sits down next to her. "Hey Pearl inside Pearl inside Pearl's pearl. You upset about the whole missing phone situation too?" He asks,trying calm the crying Pearl by talking to her. "No," she lifts her head,sobbing through her words, "it's Rose. What was she thinking?she can't have a baby!" "Well,this is awkward.." "what am I going to do when she disappears?i'm going to lose her!just like I lost my.." she looks to Steven, "what was it you said?" "You're cellphone?" "M-my cellphone!" She sobs,burying her face in her knees once again.

"It's going to be okay!that's why you sent me in here!" He hugs her, "i'm gonna help you find it!" "I think I know where it is. It's probably where I lost everything else.." she sits up,glancing down. She takes Steven's hand as her gem glows,Steven once again being pulled through the Pearl's gem.

Steven finds himself in the middle of the Gem Battlefield. As he goes to walk through the battlefield,he trips and looks up to see poofed gems scattered in front of him. Gasping,he jumps back in fear of the sight. "It better not turn out her phone was in her pocket," he gets up,continuing to walk around, "or she left it on the dresser or dropped it in the toilet. Seems about as likely as putting it in your repressed war memories!". Steven then sees another Pearl. This Pearl is all on her own,seeming to be in a daze from all that she must have witnessed. She has a light blue see through top with no sleeves. Underneath it is pink shorts going up to her waist with a upside down triangular cut and pink-orange socks. "Pearl?I mean, Pearl inside Pearl inside Pearl inside Pearl's pearl?is this really about your phone or what?!" He angrily asks,walking up to her.

"We're the only ones left...Homeworld...they were all leaving..." she drops to her knees,seeming to be in shock at what just happened while still in a daze, "we thought we'd won..there was a bright light and everyone was- ..why did I do it..?" She questions herself,her voice with a slight hint of sadness,fear. "What do you mean?just tell me!" Steven walks next to her,confused on what she's talking about. She shakes her head,as if to shake away all the thoughts flowing through her mind,and takes his hand and pulls him through her gem.

Steven now finds himself kneeling on the ground in front of hibiscus flowers and pink gem shards,the sounds of weapons clashing and grunts in the background. Picking up and holding one of the shards in his palm,he lifts his head to see a poof of Pink,Rose Quartz standing there with a sword in hand as she looks towards the ground,crying. "Mom..?" Steven asks,still holding the shard as he walks towards Rose. "I thought this was Pearl's..-what are you doing here..?" he questions. Rose looks up,revealing the same blue eyes of Pearl. "Wh-what?!". A grunt of a gem fighting catches her attention as she immediately shifts her direction towards it,the wind blowing to reveal Pearl's Pearl. "I-..I knew it..it was you who shattered her..". She opens her fist to reveal Pink Diamond's gem. "Pink..Diamond?but..I don't understand". Her gem glows as she pulls steven into her Pearl one last time.

Steven now finds himself sitting on the throne inside Pink's palanquin as he gets off it. "The palanquin?" He questions as he hears voices from behind it. Walking around,he sees Pearl and Rose. This Pearl had a yellow v cut around her chest with light pink around the waist and puffy blue sleeves,a white skirt with a see through over layer, "And then we'll be done. It's going to be easy!" "There's got to be another way. I mean,maybe-" "Blue and Yellow don't care. They never have. This is Pink Diamond's colony. We can end it all right here,right now". Pearl,clutching her sword tightly, speaks "you know this is crazy,right?". Rose nods. "Your status,my purpose. None of it will matter anymore". Rose nods again,more excitedly this time,"I know!isn't it exciting?!". Pearl sighs as she blushes,"it is" "we can leave our old lives behind. If this really is my world,I want to give it to the Crystal Gems. I want to live here with human beings!I wanna live here with you!we'll both finally be free!".

Pearl smiles and gives a determined look, "okay,i'm ready" Pearrll!!" Rose squealed excitedly. Rose takes Pearls hands in hers. "I can't believe i'm going to do this.." "I can't exactly shatter myself". The two share a hug as Rose shapeshifts into her original,true form..Pink Diamond. Steven gasps in shock and presses himself against the palanquin as Pearl passes by him.

Pink steps out of the palanquin and returns with a hibiscus flower and a pile of dirt in her hand. Pearl takes the flower and tucks it in her hair. Pink,now just holding dirt,blows into it and tightly squeezes it in her fist,then opens her hand again,revealing fake gem shards in place of the dirt. "Convincing?" "Very much so,my Diamond" Pearl agrees,discomfort in her voice and expression. "Soon it will be just Rose" she says as she raises her palm and swallows the false shards. Pearl goes to unsheathe her sword,but is stopped by Pink, "wait!there's one last thing I need to do" she say as Pearl sets her sword on the floor, "yes?" "No one can ever find out we did this. I never want to look back" she kneels to Pearl's height,folding Pearls hand to cover her mouth, "so,for my last order as a diamond,please,let's never speak of this again. No one can know".

Standing up,she steps outside of her palanquin. Pearl turns to look at Steven,now noticing him. "Sorry to make you come all this way" she holds out her cellphone to Steven as he takes it,a surprised expression across his face. She begins to shapeshift into Rose as she picks up the sword,heading outside. Steven,still surprised,texts Pearl to let her know he has found her found as she pulls him out from her gem. All of the memories he saw begin to play back in a sequence. Pearl had poofed and 'shattered' Pink with other gems as witnesses,not knowing she had Pink hidden in her hand.

In the memory of the battlefield,Garnet and Pearl were fighting against other gems,until a bright light engulfed the sky and the entire field,presumingly ending the war.

In front of the Crystal Temple,Pearl is slipping into depression as she places her hands on Rose's pregnant form. Of course,Garnet and Amethyst were comforting her in the temple.

(End of memories..)
Steven falls out of Pearls gem,landing on the ground as he looks up at Pearl,who is now tearing up. "I know.." "I wanted to tell you for so long.." "mom was Pink Diamond.."

...
....

.."WHAAAAAT?!"

Amethyst. Amethyst,Garnet,and Tanzanite were all standing there in shock of what they just heard...