The One Thing

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"Steven, it wasn't your fault. You had no idea that it would happen." Pearl said, with a hand on Steven's shoulder, a pathetic attempt on comforting him. The gravestone was polished, brand new, and it had a name on.

Greg Universe.

"You never meant for this to happen." Pearl said. Steven tried to push the bad thought away, but they kept coming back, like all those corrupted gems, and all Homeworld threats, and it kept coming back like all the stress that Steven tried not to pay attention to.

Because in the last three years, Steven was leading the gem rebellion. It was horrible. Homeworld came back, demanding that Steven returns the Earth, they sent more clusters,  created more corrupted gems, and Steven barely slept anymore. The nightmares were too bad, they scared him too much. Sleep wasn't that important anyways.

But this. This. One of the few people that Steven promised himself to keep safe. But no. He couldn't even do that. His dad was dead, Connie had scars, Pearl had been shattered twice, and Amethyst had to be taken to Rose's fountain again.

But this was never suppose to happen.

"Steven, it wasn't you fault."

"IT IS MY FAULT! WHO'S FAULT IS IT IF IT ISN'T MY FAULT? THIS WAS THE ONE THING THAT I WAS SUPPOSE TO BE ABLE TO DO. I CAN'T LEAD A REBELLION. I CAN'T KEEP EARTH SAFE. I CAN'T PROTECT CONNIE. YOU EVEN GOT POOFED. BUT. THIS. WASN'T. SUPPOSE. TO HAPPEN!" Steven shouted. All the thoughts that kept him up at night, all the times that he woke up from sleeping, screaming. It was all loose.

Steven knew that Connie would get hurt, it was obvious. She had to fight with a sword, and she already had her fair share of cuts and scratches. The Crystal gems knew that they would get hurt, but they always knew that Steven would do his best to protect them and heal them, so they wouldn't leave.

Because Greg was the one person he never expected to lose. Greg. He was invincible. He was dad. And dads don't just...die. They can't. In every child's mind, they know that everyone will die, but they can't really process the 'if' of their parents dying.

It just doesn't seem possible.

But it is.

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