A Brighter Shade of Pink

Chapter 1

Steven was still in shock, he was also angry. After learning the truth about his mother, everything seemed to spiral out of control. Pearl was in tears, Sapphire ran away, Ruby and Amethyst were in a panic. He didn't know what started it but somehow, he had managed to get into the warp stream and now he was being teleported to who knows where.

Steven cried in the stream until the light finally went out and he found himself in a green mountainside. A part of him wanted to find Sapphire but another part of him wanted to go elsewhere, back where 'it' happened, and it seemed the latter had won out. He stepped off the pad, walked up a dusty trail, and soon he was surrounded by fluttering, pink hibiscus flowers. Steven continued until he was just a foot away from the long–broken palanquin.

He could still see the event of the past in his mind. Pink Diamond poofing, the fake shards flying, and Pearl as Rose secretly holding the diamond in one hand and the sword in the other.

"Why?" Steven whispered to himself before he fell to his knees. He clutched onto his shirt, "Why do you keep doing this? Everything I believed about you; your ideas, your history... your name! Everything I ever thought about you was a lie!" the tear kept falling, heavier than before. "I thought it was bad enough that you shattered Pink Diamond because you had to, but this... this is so much worse. You weren't a just a liar, you were a cheat and just–... just..." he couldn't finish that, as the words were now stuck in his throat. He knelt before the palanquin, crying his heart out.

In his sorrow, Steven didn't realize the giant arm–shaped shadow looming over the sky. But it disappeared into the clouds quickly before another palanquin fell from the palm.

Steven then heard the swish of the doors and he turned his head in time to see a familiar giant dark–blue cloak heading in his direction. He panicked for a moment before finally jumping into the broken palanquin. Steven slipped across the uneven floor before hiding himself behind the chair. He held on for life and did his best not to make any noise.

The first thing he heard was gentle footsteps on the grass.

"What are you doing, Pearl?" came a solemn voice.

Steven flinched at the sound of Blue Diamond's voice.

"I thought I saw something, my Diamond." Came Blue Pearl's voice. "I think something is in there."

Steven was shaking now but tried his best to remain silent.

"That is unlikely, nothing has disrupted the palanquin in years. Now bow with me and no more talking from you."

Blue Pearl silently obeyed and bowed to the pink palanquin next to Blue Diamond.

"Pink," Blue Diamond spoke, "We nearly had Rose in our grasp not long ago... but she escaped."

Steven could feel the tears running down his cheek. He quickly realized these were Blue's tears again.

'But what if...' Steven thought, 'What if these are Pink's tears too? We are both diamonds.'

"The trial was a disaster. Nothing was gained by it, except a ludicrous theory from my Zircon about how only another diamond could have shattered you rather than Rose." Her voice was breaking. "These ideas along with everything else is just so frustrating!" then she quietly added. "I just want the truth."

That last statement stung Steven the most. He knew the truth now and he wanted to jump out and tell Blue everything... but that would probably be a mistake. While Blue seemed like the more merciful diamond compared to Yellow, she was still a threat to Steven and she would either drag him back to Homeworld or; to quote Blue "...do something worse."