Beach City Community Theater
Chapter 1

It was one of the gem's more dangerous missions. All three of them were glad that they decided not to bring Steven around this time. They were in a wide plains, with open space surrounding them as far as they could imagine. As gorgeous as it was, it did have it's downsides. Specifically, they had no place to take cover.

And unfortunately, they needed cover.

Their foe was a large ape-like monster, with three angry heads. If that wasn't bad enough, each head could shoot a stream of fire from it's mouth. The monster was fast, and it's attacks were faster. This meant that the gem's had a severe disadvantage in this fight.

"Look out!" Garnet called out. A large fireball shot rapidly towards the them. The three gems jumped out of the way, just barely avoiding getting burned. The monster didn't even give them a chance to catch their breath. It started charging them.

Garnet took a deep breath, noticing that it wasn't shooting any fire this time. Maybe it was recharging? A look of determination sparked across her face as she realized this could be her chance. As fast as her feet would let her, she began racing towards the monster, raising her gauntlets.

The monster looked down at her, and opened it's mouth. The glow of it's fire could be seen coming from deep inside it. Garnet gasped, as she realized her mistake. Scorching fire was about to envelop her body, and there was no way to escape it.

"Hang on, G!" Amethyst called out, throwing her whip towards Garnet. It wrapped around the red gem's foot, and Amethyst yanked her teammate out of the fire's path. Garnet hit the ground with a thud, but she was safe.

"Thanks," Garnet said.

"Don't mention it."

But the thanks was short lived, as yet again, the monster began to charge them. The gem's had no other option than to run.

As they ran, Amethyst couldn't help but notice that Pearl was looking slightly uneasy. That was a bit odd. Normally, Pearl was completely calm during combat. This wasn't to say that she wasn't calm...but Amethyst had known Pearl long enough to tell if anything was bothering her. However, Amethyst didn't have much time to worry about Pearl's state of mind, as the next attack was soon coming at them.

Another swift move, and the gems avoided the fire once again.

"We'll be barbecued if we keep this up!" Amethyst yelled. Pearl let out a long sigh, and tightened her grip around her spear.

"This is getting ridicules," the pale gem said.

Garnet took a step forward towards the monster, looking at the two of them.

"We need a fusion to beat it," she stated. She gave them a concerned glance, "Will you two be able to form Opal?"

The monster was on them once again, causing the three gems to start running from it's flames.

"We wouldn't have time to fuse!" Amethyst exclaimed, "This thing will fry us before we can do anything!"

"I'll distract it," Garnet took a deep breath, and began running in a different direction than her teammates. She began yelling, grabbing the beast's attention.

Amethyst and Pearl looked to each other, unsure. They took deep, uncertain breaths, and they began to dance. They could feel their personalities start to blend, and their bodies become one. They could feel what their partner was feeling.

In that brief moment before they became Opal, Amethyst's suspicions were answered. She could feel a nervous energy coming from Pearl. She was feeling anxious about something, and it wasn't the fight.

"What's wrong?" Was Amethyst's last thought, before her personality faded, and Opal emerged.

There was nothing Steven loved more than the days he could spend with his dad. It had been an awesome day so far. They went and ate some fish stew pizza, and then they went out for ice cream, and then they bought as many donuts as they could from the donut shop. They had basically spent the entire day eating. As far as Steven was concerned, there was no better way to spend an afternoon with his dad.

They were currently sitting on the docks, enjoying the last of their donuts, watching as the sun set.

"I know I say this a lot, but I mean it this time," Steven said, "This is the best donut ever." He took a large bite out of the sugary pastry. Greg couldn't help but laugh.

"I dunno, son. My donut is pretty delicious," he said. He broke off a piece, and handed it to his son. Steven quickly shoved it in his mouth. A large grin crossed the boy's face.

"You're right. This donut is actually the best donut ever." Greg ruffled his son's hair.

"Do you want the rest of it?" he asked, offering the donut to Steven. Steven shook his head.

"Dad, it's you're donut!"

"I know," Greg said, "I'm just not hungry any more."

Steven let out a large gasp, "You? Not hungry?"

"It just happens sometimes," Greg shrugged. Steven frowned.

"Not to you!" he exclaimed. Greg couldn't help but sigh. The boy was right. Admittedly, he was nervous. He had a big night tonight...and he wasn't exactly excited for it.

"Don't worry about it," Greg said, "This donut would be happier with you, anyway."

Steven sighed, as he reluctantly took the donut. He slowly ate it.

"Dad, you know you can tell me anything, right?" Steven said between mouthfuls of donut. Greg couldn't help but laugh. It was absolutely adorable. Greg wrapped his arm around Steven's shoulder.

"I know," he said, a smile on his face. However, he didn't tell Steven what was on his mind. It's not that he didn't want to tell him. Steven was his son, after all. He could tell his son anything.

But he didn't want his son to know about this particular thing.

As soon as Opal emerged, the battle with the monster turned towards the gem's favor. Opal was able to swiftly and efficiently slay the monster, and the mission was over. As soon as the battle had been won, Pearl and Amethyst returned to their normal states. They collected their artifact, and went home.

Pearl couldn't help but notice the weird glance that Amethyst was giving her, but she attempted to shake it off as nothing. It was nothing, she told herself. She was just being paranoid.

But then a thought crossed her head. What if Amethyst knew? What if the purple gem had somehow read her thoughts before they became Opal? Pearl took a deep breath. What if Amethyst had found out her little secret? Pearl didn't know what she would do. She would be mortified.

As they returned to the temple, Pearl looked to the clock. It was almost nine. She gasped. She was going to be late. It looked like she would have to worry about Amethyst later.

"I'm going out," she exclaimed, quickly making her way to the door.

"Where are you going, P?" Amethyst called out after her. Pearl didn't answer her teammate, and simply ran out the door door.

Amethyst looked to Garnet as Pearl left.

"What's her problem?"

Pearl let out a deep breath as she ran to her destination. It was an absolutely gorgeous summer night. The moon was full, and there was a warm breeze in the air. After a long day of fighting, it was refreshing.

"Pearl!" she heard a voice exclaim. Pearl couldn't help but smile as she turned around. Greg Universe was running up behind her.

"Looks like I'm not the only one running late," Pearl joked. Greg nodded as he caught up to her, and the two continued to walk together.

"I don't think you've ever been late," Greg said, "In fact, I've always thought you show up at least an hour early for everything."

Pearl shrugged, giggling slightly, "Well...there's nothing wrong with being on time."

The two arrived at their destination. They both looked up at the building. It was one of the older buildings in Beach City. There wasn't anything too special about it. It was smaller, artsy building. Even though it wasn't the nicest building in the world, there was something welcoming about it.

The Beach City Community Theater.

Pearl looked to Greg, "Do you have it memorized?" Greg nodded, somewhat reluctantly.

"Yeah. Do you?"

Pearl nodded to him. The two took a deep breath, exchanged reassuring looks, and entered the theater.