Steven's POV
It's almost time for Connie to come over to start training. Now that we've got the hang of the whole fusion-combat thing, it's actually pretty fun. I love the feeling of fusion. It's indescribable, how all of the sudden you feel like you can do anything in the world. My thoughts are interrupted by the familiar sound of Connie knocking on the door. "Hey, Steven, I'm ready to start training!" She yells. "Coming!" I reply as I run to the door to let her in. As soon as she steps in, I hear the sound of the warp pad activating. I turn around to see Pearl waiting for us. "Perfect timing!" I say as I lightly elbow Connie in the arm. She giggles a little and then agrees with me. "Right then, if you two are ready, let's head head on over" says Pearl. "Yes ma'am!" Says Connie eagerly. No matter how many times I've told her she doesn't need to call her "ma'am" all the time, she insists that she always has to be polite and respectful and stuff. I guess that's good, but sometimes I wish she was as cool with other people like she was cool with me.
Connie's POV
I can't wait for today's lesson! I absolutely love fighting as Stevonnie! Sometimes I worry that Steven can feel my excitement when we're fused, or even when we're not. I'm always worried I'm going to do something weird and he won't like me. But I can't think about that stuff right now, I just need to keep it together so Stevonnie will do well. I just need to be focused. Pearl's voice brought me back to reality. "Today will be our last practice as Stevonnie so we can start working on other things. After all, it's not like your always going to be able to fuse during a fight. So make this last practice count, I want to see what you're capable of!" Wait, this will be the last practice as Stevonnie? What if I mess up? Would I be able to fuse with Steven again? I think Steven notices me stressing out and asks be if I'm okay. "Yeah, I'm fine, lets do this!" I say, trying to sound convincing. Then Steven grabs my hand and spins me, but we don't fuse like normal. "Umm... what happened?" Steven says, a little confused. "What.. oh sorry.. I wasn't ready that time. Try one more time." I say. Now I am in a full on panic. I try my best to focus, and luckily this time it worked. "Huh, weird." Steven says after we fused. "Ok then... you two good in there?" Pearl asked. "Yeah, I'm fine" speaking for both of us. It's going to take a miracle to get through this practice without me losing it.
Steven's POV
Connie seems a little off today. Not just by herself, but even as Stevonnie I don't feel quite... myself. It wasn't like that feeling where we can do anything. It almost feels like me, but before I got the hang of my powers. It isn't right. Maybe that's why it took two tries for us to fuse. I shake it off and prepare myself for combat. Connie controlls the sword, as usual, while I am more focused on movement and shield-summoning. It was a little hard to know what to do though, since Connie wasn't really taking the lead like normal. I decided to step in and try and do it myself, but I'm not nearly as good as Connie. At the end of practice, Pearl gives us a few critiques and tells us what we were going to need to bring next time, like usual. But in the back of my mind I am still worried about Connie. I decide to wait until tomorrow and see how she's feeling then. Thinking about today's practice, I'm actually kinda sad that this was our last practice as Stevonnie. She'd probably say that's dumb, though. When we get back to the temple, we say goodbye to each other and she leaves. I feel kind of tired, so I decide to take a nap for a few minutes. It doesn't take long for me to drift off to sleep, and soon I find myself slipping into a dream.
