Learn To Love Again {COMPLETED}

Chapter 5

Pearl's P.O.V

"Little bit to the left, Amethyst. No, not that much!" I huff in frustration.

"Awh, c'mon P. Try to lighten up!" Amethyst replies, moving the Fish Stew restaurant's door back into alignment. I run a hand through my hair and begin to say something snide, but then Garnet stops with with a hand on my shoulder and a stern gaze.

"Just let her be, Pearl" My fusion teammate advises "It's hard for Amethyst to find any joy after the most recent events with our Cutie Pie". Her words sink deep and I know she's right.

It pains me so much that I have to leave my baby at home with that...monster every day. I wish I could tell Garnet, Amethyst, or even Bismuth to handle this themselves so I could take care of Steven, but I know he wouldn't want it that way. Knowing my Steven, he'd rather have me out here helping others than to feel obligated tending to him. All of us wish that the Injector had fallen on us instead of my baby, but there's nothing any of us can do about that now.

"There you go, Deep Cut. Just hold it steady" Bismuth instructs, pulling me out of my self-imposed misery and watching as Amethyst and our old friend screw and hammer the door back into place. Since Bismuth is better at construction than any of the other Gems, myself included, we thought it best to hand the reigns of fixing the city over to her. And, by the looks of how progress has been so far and the completion of the door right now, I'd safely say we all made the right choice.

"Ahh, there we go!" Amethyst sighs, stepping outside and looking at her and Bismuth's handiwork. Bismuth herself ruffles Amethyst's hair playfully and smiles.

"We do make a great team, don't we, Amethyst?" The builder gem says.

"Yeah, accept for Pearl back there squawking at us like a pissed off ostrich" Amethyst complains, glaring back at me. I grow angry again very quickly.

"Why I oughta...!" I begin, before Garnet gives me that look again. I calm down, or at least try to, and just move my foot back and forth as Bismuth and Amethyst snicker.

"How's it going everybody?" I turn to see Steven standing there with Spinel. He looked depressed, who could blame him. He lost his arm, "Oh hello Steven! What are you doing out of bed?"

"Pearl, I'm not sick," Steven rolls his eyes.

Amethyst steps next to me with narrowed eyes, "And what's she doing here?"

I was shocked because Steven stepped in front of Spinel as she cowered behind him. "She's fine Amethyst. Spinel feels awful of the entire situation that happened. But you better listen, sis. It was my choice to save her and never do I ever regret it. So stop treating Spinel like she's filth," He glared at Amethyst which made her back off in surprise.

What has she said to brainwash him to hate us?

"Steven! Just the guy I want to see," Bismuth walks up to Steven. "I've been working on a little something special for you." Bismuth places a hand on Steven's shoulder.

"And what might that be, Bismuth?" My baby replies tiredly, worrying me quite a bit.

Bismuth grins and pulls out a diamond cut arm that was laced with gem technology. Steven stares at it in shock before smiling, "thanks guys".

"Please, just pleased to do Bismuth with you" The builder gem winks, handing over the replacement prosthetic.

"Hey! I helped too, you clods!" The snarky voice of Peridot exclaims, the little troublemaker running into view and standing in front of Steven.

"Now, it's best that you take very decent care of this prosthetic. While made from the toughest minerals that either Bismuth and I have seen, it still has some breaking points if pushed too far. Due to your cleansing needs in that odd device you call a 'shower', you will have to take it in with you. But, fret not, for the diamond is plenty waterproof" Peridot then explains.

Steven then sets the arm down and reaches forward to pull Peridot into a fierce hug. She's caught by surprise and blushes from embarrassment, struggling in Steven's rather tight grip. Trust me, I know. He's done it plenty of times to me as well growing up.

"Well come on, bro! Put it on we want to see how it looks," Amethyst waits in anticipation.

Steven sets Peridot down and picks the arm up again. Holding it under his good armpit, he then unravels the bandages around his stump of the other arm, letting the garments drop to ground carelessly. Steven then grips onto the wrist of the new arm and aligns it right up with the stumpy end of previously mentioned other arm.

Then, something unexpected happens. Once both ends meet, the prosthetic clamps onto the stump and wires its way into his arm muscles. Steven grits his teeth and cries out in pain, falling to his knees. Spinel then runs up to my baby and immediately, I want to pull her away for fear that she'll make it worse. Yet somehow, I'm frozen in place and can only watch Steven bear the pain for a few more seconds.

He then starts breathing heavily, falling forward and instinctively putting both hands on the ground. I'm about to warn him that the new arm might not work yet, but miraculously, it makes contact with the ground just like a regular hand would, holding its ground perfectly. The others around all sigh in relief, then with me in the lead, rush up and kneel beside Steven, pushing Spinel to the back so that she's far away from my baby.

"Are you okay, Steven?" I touch his shoulder.

He lets out a breath, standing up. "I'm alright.. Bismuth, I'm gonna say this as calmly as I possibly can.... WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"

"Hmm, that was the prosthetic attaching itself to your interior muscles. After all, the only way for a new limb to work as well as the one before it is to be connected to the same muscles so that everything flows and flexes regularly" Bismuth elaborates.

"You don't say" Steven grumbles, turning the new arm around semi-clockwise. I then hear some footsteps approaching and when I look, I see my favorite student, Connie, running towards us.

Personally, I'm more glad that she's here than...Spinel...but as it stands, I think Steven would also be happy that his 'Jam Bud' is here, rather than that abomination. Then again, he brought her here, so what do I know?

"I heard Steven screaming so I ran over and..." She pauses looking at Steven's arm. "Woah, what is that?!"

Steven smiles, moving his fingers as the arm responds to it. "A present from Peridot and Bismuth. Isn't it cool?"

"Cool? It's awesome!" Connie's eyes sparkle in fascination studying the arm very closely.

Spinel stays back, holding her arm looking the other way. "Hey Spinel, what do you think of it?" Steven turns to her.

"It's nice.. Steven," she whispers quietly.

Steven then makes a bold move, by my standards, and goes over to actually hug Spinel. We're all shocked but I'm personally scared. Any second now, my former Diamond's playmate will snap and strangle my baby to death. But no, she nuzzles into his neck, eyes closed, and returns the gesture. Is this still some sort of ruse or am I actually wrong about her? I don't know. But how close they are, it's almost like... No, no that can't be.

"Aww, they look so cute!" Lapis coos, giggling.

Bismuth walks up next to me, "Guess we were wrong about Spinel, huh?". I frown, watching the two as they separate, both smiling happily at each other.

"Maybe. Just maybe".

We hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Getting good eh? Also the arm inspiration was driven from Devil May Cry 5. Nero's devil arm that was taken from him. Anyway me and my main man KingMythLord will you see you all in the next chapter, laters. :)