Beautiful. That’s the only thing that comes to mind when I see cannon fire. The pink rose that comes out that forms into a silhouette that’s supposed to resemble my mom, it was magnificent. Beauty that made me speechless, and probably affected me the least out of everyone here. Gem and Human, everyone on this beach knew Rose, loved Rose, adored her, except for me.

I can’t help the slight self deprecating laugh that comes out. I really didn’t think I would be influenced this much. Maybe it’s because I’m in a child's body and my emotions aren’t controlled, but I feel this wave of sadness for never meeting this woman who isn’t even my real mother. Despite the things I know about her, despite knowing the terrible acts she’s committed, and the betrayals she’s dished out, it seems I can’t help but feel this want to meet her.

My small laugh seemed to raise everyone from their stupor. Pearl runs towards me before consuming me in a smothering hug. My head becomes dizzy once she starts spinning and it takes me a while to get my balance when I finally set back on the sand. Jeez this Gem is going to kill me one day.

“Steven! You did it! How- who told you how to activate the cannon?! How did you know?” she asks with excitement and confusion. Which put me into a bit of a predicament. OG Steven found out how to by accident, but I can’t really use that now can I? It was too smooth, I was too confident, and I didn’t think about the consequences. Damnit, maybe I really should have stuck to the script. Luckily, with her shaking me like a dumbbell, I could fein finding my bearing while I think.

“Well...I saw it.” I say slowly to gather my thoughts. I’m really going to have to dive into this thing, which was supposed to just be a throwaway comment. “The dreams, they still happen. It’s still nothing ever more than a few pictures and words, but I knew how much those words meant to mom.”

“The dreams…” she says with a faraway voice while just staring at me. But I could tell she wasn’t. Not really. She was imagining Rose, or thinking of her while looking my way. I really hope she’s not thinking of anything crazy, like Rose actually coming back or me eventually getting all of her memories. Though I can’t blame her for the thoughts I guess.

“Wait what?” Greg finally snaps his eye from the sky and the debris falling to look our way. “What dreams? Steven what are you guys talking about?” he asks in confusion. But before I could answer, Garnet did it for me. However instead of giving her attention to my dad, who actually asked the question, her gaze was focused fully in my direction...shit.

“Steven has apparently been having dreams of Rose. Seeing images of times before he was given birth and created.” she says in a monotone voice that I’ve gotten used to but for some reason put shivers down my spine this time. This really isn’t good. Have I changed too much already?

“What?!” Greg yells with a jump before running towards me and placing a hand on my shoulder, taking a knee in the sand. “Is-is this true schtu-ball? Have you really been having dreams of your mom? What do you see? When did this even start? Am I in them?” he fires off questions one by one, not giving me enough time to answer.

“Dad!!!” I interrupt to calm him down. “Yeah, I’ve been having these dreams for a while. I don’t know how long exactly, or when it first started, but it’s been a long time. I see...lots of things. Things I don’t understand. Sometimes the picture is blurry and the voices are muffled and others it’s crystal clear.”

“Why? Why can you see and hear some but not others?” Garnet asks, no, demands to know. There was no shift in her tone, in fact, everything seemed the same as usual. Same blank face, same monotone voice, same everything. But regardless, I could tell, she wasn’t simply asking for information.

“I-I don’t know. I think it’s because of how far back it is? I mean, I don’t know, not really, but some feel older than others. The images I get with the most clerity are always the ones when she’s here on Earth. With you guys, and with Dad? Sorry, they’re weird, I don’t think I could tell you much more than that.”

“Rose...you’re getting her memories…” Greg absentmindedly says but I don’t pay him much mind. My attention is solely on Garnet, whose attention seems to be fully focused on me. I fucked up. There’s no doubt in my mind that I fucked up. I spoke to much...but what will she do? What is she thinking?

“Hey, we should probably help get rid of the debrei in town. I mean, I know we helped save it but it would be a nice thing to do right? Besides, talking about this won’t really help anything, the dreams appear at random and I have no control of what I see. If I see something that seems important, I promise to let you guys know. Okay?”

“Do we have toooo???” Amethyst whines while giving me a string that I immediately latched onto to abort this conversation. “Our good deed is totally done for today. Saving the Earth is hard work y’know? Can’t we just go home? I’m tired, I want to go to sleep.”

“You are a gem, you do not require sleep or even get tired. Honestly Amethyst, you’ve been hanging around too many humans.” Pearl says before facing me. “I think it’s a great idea Steven. As protectors of Earth, it is our duty to not only protect it from hostiles but also help in any way we can. Where do we start?”

I laugh as I hear Amethyst groan in the background before getting to work. Hopefully...hopefully I was overreacting about Garnet. Maybe nothing will come about. Yeah, what’s the worst that could happen? Everything is fine.