Steven Universe: The Diamond Legacy

Chapter 6

I would've known I was close to my house even if I didn't remember my address. When the bus turned onto my street, a loud bellowing roar welcomed me home. I got off the bus and my best furry friend trotted my way, rubbing against me like a giant house cat and nearly knocking me over.

 "Easy good boy." I hugged him, chuckling when he nuzzled me. I wrapped my arms around his head and blew raspberries into his mane. Lion playfully mouthed my shoulder, rubbing his face against me. "Come on, let's go inside. I gotta check on Hanami, Mom said she got a flowerpot for her." Afterwards I would talk to my dad......

Lion followed behind me, tugging on the hood of my jacket. "Lion what's wrong?" The big cat merely blinked, pulling on my jacket again before reluctantly following close. I unlocked the the door and went inside my house. "Mom!Dad! I'm home!" I set my guitar down.

 "Hi Nora." They answered. My parents both sat in the living room. Mom was sitting at the desk typing on her laptop, Dad was on the couch watching TV on low volume.

"Hi Rosebud."Dad said quietly."Did you have a good day at school?" 

"Yes!" I beamed star eyed. "It was the best school day ever. Our band played in the talent show and knocked everyone's socks off! The whole audience went up in roaring applause at the end, throughout the whole day we were all getting compliments!"

"That's wonderful." Mom answered also in a soft voice. I sat down next to Dad. "What'cha watching?"

 "Just stuff on the science channel."

 "That's weird." I remarked. "You usually watch Camp Pining Hearts reruns whenever I come home." I looked up at him in a perky bliss. I just needed to wait for the right time to talk to him,maybe while Mom is still working I'll ask if I can have a private word. "The whole day turned out better than I could ever imagine. Everything went perfect."

"I know." Dad stood up and crossed his arms. "I got a call from the school principal." At first I was scared, but then I remembered her talk with me and felt relieved. She must've told him about the rules she wrote down, and how she was okay with me using my powers in school. Fantastic.

 "Oh, she did?" I said. "Great. That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."I took out the notebook from my bag and flipped to the page the principal wrote in. "She made guidelines for me so it'll be easier to follow. That was so nice of her, now you don't have to worry about it getting out of hand." When I gave Dad the notebook he tore the page out and crumpled it in his hands.

"Dad what the heck!" I cried. " Why would you do that? Those were going help me use my Gem powers responsibly!"

 "They're not going to help you." He said. "Because you are forbidden from using your Gem powers, period."

"What?" I said baffled. " Are you kidding me? Dad, Principal Zircon said it was okay!"

"That's Principal Zircon. I'm your father." He tapped his foot on the ground. "Nora." Mom turned off her laptop and stood next to him. "We know what happened at the talent show. What you did was very irresponsible and dangerous. You could have put the whole school in danger, and you did it anyway! You know better than this!"

"Mom I had it fully under control for the most part."

"For the most part." She repeated icily. "And for the split moment they weren't, everyone was at risk. The principal told us everything, you caused an outage throughout the whole school that almost triggered a sensory overload."

"I know." I countered. "I was able to maintain composure. I didn't go into meltdown."

"Nora you went Pink!" Dad yelled. 

"For a split second!"

"A split second's enough to send the entire school up in flames!" He threw his arms up. "How many times do I have to go through this? You have no idea how dangerous, how destructive these powers really are. I've seen it with my own eyes !I've lived with the consequences of what they can do and I still struggle with it every day. You think you've mastered them but  you're really playing with fire."

"I won't use them that way again." I said. "Mom, Dad, what I did was reckless and dangerous. If you wanna punish me for that, go ahead, I deserve it. It was a stupid move, but I'll be responsible from now on. Please, trust me. The principal does , else she wouldn't have written those guidelines. Why can't either of you trust me too?"

"Nora you don't understand." Mom said.

"Stop telling me that!" I snapped exasperated. "I understand more than either of you realize. You think these Diamond powers are destruction and rage, they're not. That's only a tiny fraction of what they are. I know this because I use them all the time!"

"What!?" My mother cried disbelief. 

"You're not serious!" Dad gritted his teeth.

"I am!"  I said. "I can project images from my mind and bring them into reality. I can conjure things from my imagination and they come to life before my eyes. I use them all the time to help me in school, and it  calms me  down when I'm stressed." 

 I clenched my fist and took a deep breath. "The talent show worked so well because I've practiced that for months in secret so when I was up on stage, I knew what to do. I've even utilized them when I'm playing in the band and they never caused trouble. My friends have seen it, and they're okay with it too.  I'm telling you, when done right its a amazing tool . It helps me understand the world through visual aid." 

"And when done wrong it'll shatter Gems and kill innocent people."

"Dad! For the love of the Matriarchs please listen to me!"

"I am listening."  Now I could tell from his voice that he was angry. "I'm hearing that for a long time you've put yourself and your friends in serious risk for meddling with things you have no idea about. You are like me, Nora, whether you like it or not, you're part Diamond."

"Dad we all know I'm not like you. I'm not half Gem! I'm only a quarter, and these powers are only a quarter of what you are capable of. Really they're just a watered down version of Grandma's powers."

That seemed to tick something off in his mind. "Watered down." He said in quiet fury. "You think these powers are watered down do you?"

"Steven....." Mom warned.

"Watered down enough where you cracked your cousin's gem?"

"Whaa? That was years ago, we were only playing."

"Watered down where you can't handle a crowded store?"

"No Dad you're overreacting!"

"Watered down enough to get you expelled!?"

I visibly recoiled, feeling as if cannon shot me straight through the chest. Dad covered his mouth, eyes wide in silence. The whole room went quiet for a few tense moments until he spoke in a wavering voice.

"Nora I'm sorry I- I-shouldn't have said that I-"

"YOU KNOW I HAD NO CONTROL OVER THAT! I screamed blinded by tears. "I NEVER WANTED IT TO HAPPEN BUT THEY PUSHED ME OVER THE EDGE!! THEY BULLIED ME UNTIL I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING ELSE!!"

"Nora I didn't mean to-"

"YOU'RE JUST AS BAD AS THEM!" My entire body blazed. " AND YOU'RE JUST AS BAD AS THE DIAMONDS HOW THEY TREATED GRANDMA!!"

"Nora Rose Universe!" Mom snapped but I already slammed the door before she could say anything else. 

I ran through the neighborhood, avoiding the calls of my parents making a beeline for a densely wooded area off the street. The branches hit my face and the weeds snag my shoes, but I kept moving until I entered a small clearing surrounded by wildflowers and a single Warp Pad.

"Nora!" My parents burst through the clearing rushing to me. "Nora  come back!" Mom pleaded. I stepped on the Warp Pad. "Nora please." Dad cried with welling tears. "Don't go...." 

"Leave me alone." I activated the Warp Pad and temporarily disabled it with a blast from my pink bolt. The world rushed away from me and I was taken to a faraway place only I knew.