♢Tɯιʂƚҽԃ♢ | a Steven Universe Future AU [DISCONTINUED AS OF MARCH 2021]

Chapter 5~ Play-Dates With Pink

     "So, what do you think? Does it meet all your expectations?" White asked eagerly. "Yeah! This is a great start!" Steven replied. The Diamonds had just given Steven a tour of their progress on the new "Diamond, Gem Friendship Program" Steven had assigned to the Diamonds to organize. Suddenly, Steven felt like there was something, someone missing. "Hey, where's Spinel? Steven asked worriedly. Oh no... did the Diamonds accidentally leave Spinel behind? He nervously wondered. Blue gasped. "Oh dear! Poor Spinel! I hope she is OK." Blue exclaimed. "Don't worry, I'll look for her." Steven offered. "Thank you Steven." Blue thanked as she and the other Diamonds began to search around them.  Steven ran over to a warp pad to look around Homeworld.

     "Where could she have gone?" Steven asked himself. "Surely she wouldn't ever want to leave the Diamond's side." Steven searched everywhere, even in Pink's old room, in which Yellow had explained that's where Spinel usually was when she was rarely without them. Steven found this slightly disturbing. Did they really just see Spinel as another Pink Diamond replacement? It made him shudder at the thought. Maybe they still didn't understand nobody could actually replace Pink.

     She was long gone... right?

     And hour had gone by and still no Spinel. Where else could she be? Steven had looked all over Homeworld! He was ready to give up, when he remembered one last place he hadn't checked. The Garden. 

    When Steven arrived at the abandoned place, he saw Spinel sitting on the ground, looking up at the stars. Steven slowly walked up behind her and tapped her shoulder. Spinel spun her head around, staring at Steven with huge eyes. "PINK! YOU CAME BACK!" Spinel cried happily as she coiled her arms tightly around his waist. Steven looked down at her uncomfortably with a weird look. When Spinel saw his reaction, she came back to reality. "AH! Steven! I-I'm sorry, it's a bad habit of mine." Spinel gasped, embarrassed. She immediately let go of Steven and glanced to the side. "What are you doing here?" Spinel questioned as she played with her hair. "The Diamonds sent me to look for you." Steven answered. "Why weren't you with them?" Spinel's face dropped. "I... I didn't want to go with them..." Spinel said quietly. "What?" Steven asked, sitting down next to her. "But don't you always want to be with them?" Spinel sighed and laid on her back, gazing up at the endless sky. "I don't know..." Spinel started. "I mean, it's nice having their company. White chatting away, playing the occasional game of tag or hide and seek, Blue enjoys styling my hair a lot, ya know... fun stuff. But.." She stopped. "But what?" Steven asked, concerned. Spinel took in a deep breath. "Aside from those things... I feel like they don't really see me as a Spinel. They make me stay in Pink's old room, sometimes they make me dress up in her old clothes, heck they even assigned me some Ruby guards!" Spinel paused once again before continuing. 

     "One time White mistakenly called me by Pink's name." she whispered, her face turned away from Steven's. Steven felt his blood boiling. How could they treat her like a toy? Spinel saw his expression and nervously tried to discard the horrible idea. "Nononono, that's not what she meant!! It was on accident! She didn't mean t--" she explained before being cut off by Steven. "You do not deserve to be used like that!" Steven angrily said. He knew they would do something like this. They already did with him! "Steven please, it's fine!" Spinel insisted. "No it's not fine!" Steven said through gritted teeth. Spinel stood up. "Well to me it's fine! Sure it's a little weird but AT LEAST I finally have someone to be with. AT LEAST I have someone WHO ACTUALLY LOVES ME!" she yelled with tears running down her cheeks before she collapsed back down onto the cold ground. Steven walked over to Spinel. "Spinel... I'm sorry." Steven apologized quietly. Spinel rolled onto her side to face Steven. "Is it strange? Am I being selfish? Is it wrong to feel this way?" she asked him. 

     "I love the Diamonds so much, but at the same time.. I feel... uncomfortable around them, like I need to take a breather from them every once in a while. That's why I come here, somewhere they would never think to look. I am happy most of the time, but whenever they talk about Pink, I have to fake it." Spinel began to choke up. Steven felt tears form in his eyes immediately hugged her tight... almost too tight. "S-Steven, you're crushing me!" Spinel strained. "Spinel... I understand how you feel... and it's OK to feel this way. Believe me I know how it feels. Sometimes when I'm around the gems, I get a feeling that makes me want to distance myself from them. I feel like I can't tell them certain things or questions 'cause I feel that I will hurt them. Actually... you are the only one Iv'e told this to." Steven explained, still not letting go of Spinel. "Why's that?" she questioned. Steven paused. "Because I trust you Spinel." Steven said softly. Spinel teared up again as she responded to Steven's hug, wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you Steven." Spinel said tenderly. "For giving me someone to talk to."

     Their gems glowed brightly for a moment.

     And they were gone.