Steven Universe: The Diamond Legacy

A Taste of Friendship

*Edited 2/20/21*

Hello readers!

This will be a short and sweet chapter where Nora tries to gain the Black Pearl's trust with a tasty treat!

Enjoy!

                                                                                   ......

"I'll take a box of these, please." I paid at the register. My bodyguard for the  day waited outside the convenience store. "Thanks for taking me Aunt Pearl."I said with a bag of treats and other things. "You're welcome." She smiled. "Did you get everything  you needed?"

"I did." I replied. Aunt Pearl  stood guard at the entrance, watching for potential threats at my request. She happily obliged and was willing to keep watch as I shopped inside.  I'd rather her not be in a store with me after that embarrassing incident, where she loudly announced she found a bulk of sanitary products to last me a few months.  My stars not even Dad reached that level of publicly humiliating me, and she was completely oblivious!

Aunt Bismuth greeted us on the warp pad in the beach house, tenderly hugging my aunt who responded with a kiss, before repeating the same gesture with me. "Ow my spine!" I gasped. "Heheh. Sorry about that Flower Girl, I forget you're made of bones sometimes."

"Also  muscles and squishy organs." I rubbed my back. "Not a problem, I live with Dad so I'm used to that. Please ask me for a hug before you do that next time. "

"Don't worry I will. Sorry about that." Aunt Bismuth apologized.

"Bismuth you are smoking!" Pearl said both figuratively and literally. "Were you at the forge today?"

"In fact I was." She grinned, batting her eyelashes. "I was busy upgrading our weapons for when we eventually fight those Remnant Gems.

"Cool! I'd love to see the place someday." I beamed. "I'm a nerd for Gem weaponry and swords."

"Maybe I'll take you when the danger has passed." She ruffled my hair. (It was her main way of affection toward me so I tolerated it, to an extant.) "As for you." She picked Aunt Pearl up in a bridal carry, making her blush . "We've got a date night  remember? It's our anniversary."

"Oh yes, the anniversary of the most awesome wedding  ever.  You know Kimchi and I still talk about it." We were kids at the time. I was nine and she was eight, and the reception took place on the beach at night. "The glowsticks man! That was such a great idea giving all the kids glowsticks. We had so much fun tearing up the dance floor waving those things like they were magic swords." Now at every party I had, there were always glowsticks involved, the recent being my sweet 16.

I'll make sure to text Kimchi about that later. " I'll leave you both to it." I said when the two Gems started getting mushy with each-other. My parents, Aunt Ruby and Aunt Sapphire, Aunt Pearl and Aunt Bismuth. Seriously, every couple in my family were relationship goals, I hope to find a human or Gem one day who would treat me the same.

"Come in." said the voice behind the bathroom door.  "Good morning."  I smiled, sitting down on the beanbag chair  next to the door. "How are you?"

"I'm okay." the Tahitian Pearl responded quietly, sitting cross legged on the other side of the room. She had begun to  open up more, now allowing me inside the bathroom if I knocked. She was even comfortable enough  communicating with the Gems though the door, asking them questions about Earth, how Gems lived here, and how one could learn to make a life for themselves on this planet. It was promising growth.

However, she refused to answer any questions about herself or where she came from. Any questions about the Remnant were met with silence. She wouldn't allow any of the Gems in the room with her either.Only me. "She trusts you." Aunt Garnet placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Keep building on that trust."

Which is what brought me here today.

"I got a little something for you." I opened out a white paper packet. The black Pearl cautiously inched towards me, wiggling her pointed nose at the sweet scent as she stared at the mysterious item in my hands. "What is that?"

"It's an ice cream sandwich." I said. "You eat it as a treat." I broke off the strawberry half and offered it to her. "Here, try it."

She cautiously took the ice cream from my hands, eyeing it as though she was unsure of what to do. "And...you are sure this is safe?"

"As long as you're not counting calories." I winked. "But seriously, it's a hundred percent safe" I took a bite of my half and swallowed it. "See?" She gingerly nibbled the ear of the ice cream bar.

Her pupils turned into stars. "This.....this is good!" She took another bite. "Very good!"

"I knew you'd like it!" I smiled. "Leave it to the power of Cookie Cat to strengthen the bonds of a growing kinship."

"Cookie Cat?" The Pearl said perplexed.

"That's the name of the ice cream." I explained. "It used to be Dad's favorite treat when he was a kid. He was very upset  when they discontinued it but luckily they brought 'em back years later. "

I chuckled. "I remember him freaking out when he heard they were selling again. He raced to the store and bought a ton, he was more excited about ice cream than I was and I was seven! I think I nearly broke his heart I only ate half of the sandwich saying I didn't like the other half, but I explained I didn't like the that part because it was pink, and the the vanilla part was delicious. He understood.

I licked the vanilla ice cream. "That started a trend between us of sharing these ice cream bars. We'd split the cookie in half, he'd eat the strawberry part and I'd eat the vanilla. Now I'm sharing the tradition with you!" "That's very sweet." She finished her half. "May I have another?"

We rested against the opposite walls rubbing our distended bellies. "That hit the spot." I said. "Sure was delicious." the Pearl hiccuped startling herself. "I've never eaten food before, I'm glad that was my first ." She glanced at me. "Is food usually this good?"

"Most of it is." I said, already making a mental list of treats I wanted to share with her. " You should walk on the boardwalk with me, there's a lot of good stuff I think you'd like to eat."

"I'll see." Was all she said about that. She approached and placed her hand on mine. "Thank you for being so kind to me. I really do feel less alone." I smiled with a warmth in my heart. "You're welcome."

She showed me the notebook I won at the arcade. "I drew a few pictures of the things in this room. These are meep morps, right? That's what they're called in the Gem City magazine." "Yes." I smiled star eyed. "That's exactly what they are. Wow, these are really good!"

The black Pearl nodded. "You were right, drawing makes me feel better. Could you.......? Could you find a bigger book for me to draw in?"

"Sure." I said. "I'll go to Michaela's and get you a good sketchbook. I'll also get some  quality drawing pencils and  colored pencils too. Would you like that?

I saw her smile for the first time. " I would." It was the most purest thing I've ever seen. "I think I'm going to draw the Cookie Cat I just ate. I don't  need to have it in front of me I have a picture of it in my mind I can project as a hologram."

"Just like me." I said amazed. "I have photographic memory too and I can do the same thing."

"But you are not a Gem." She said puzzled. "How?"

"I don't exactly know how." I smirked hunching my shoulders. "Guess it has something to do with genetics. I'm a quarter Gem."

"How is that even possible..?" She blinked. "You're an organic life-form."

"Well..........." I murmured

"You don't have to tell me if it makes you uncomfortable." The Pearl assured, noticing my reluctance.

"No don't worry." I quickly said. "I'm totally comfortable with it. It's just....." I sighed. "It's a long story."

"I would enjoy hearing it." The Pearl replied. "If you don't mind."

"I don't at all." I nodded happily. "Grab a seat, cause boy, do I have a story to tell."

She sat comfortably in the beanbag chair while I recalled my family history.

"It all began thousands of years ago when Pink Diamond wanted her own colony..........."