Author's Note: Based on a prompt given to me on Tumblr for "Garnet + Surprise". Set sometime after 'Sworn to the Sword', and borne out of a desire to see more of the Gems being awesome parental figures to Connie.

oOoOoOo

Disarmed

When Garnet stepped out of the portal from the Temple into Steven's room, there was no Steven in it. This, in itself, was not unusual. What was unusual, however, was Connie being there.

Without Steven.

The girl was sitting at a seat by the kitchen counter, head down, idly kicking her legs. She was not dressed for training, instead wearing a dress and shoes which looked wholly unsuitable for her now advanced level of sword fighting. She did not even glance up when the Gem entered.

"Connie," Garnet said. It was a statement, and a greeting, but it was also a question.

"Oh. Hi Garnet," the human said, finally looking up. She didn't smile, or wave, or even ask 'how are you?', or any of the usual human social niceties.

"Steven and Pearl are on a mission right now," Garnet said, with the awkward feeling that it was now her job to carry on the conversation.

The girl nodded. "Yeah. I thought they probably were."

"They most likely will not be back for another few hours."

"Oh. Okay. That's fine." She looked back down at the floor. "I just..needed to go somewhere, so I came here. Is that okay?"

"Yes," Garnet said. While once having a human so close to the Temple would have put her very ill-at-ease, she'd become much more comfortable with them over the past few decades, and Garnet was not bothered by the girl. She was Steven's close friend, after all, and she'd become a very familiar presence of late.

Garnet nodded once at her, and strode across the room, towards the door which lead down to the beach below. She had just nearly reached it when the girl suddenly asked, "Gems don't have parents, do they, Garnet?

The alien paused. Turning back slowly she said, "No. We don't."

Connie sighed. "Sounds nice."

Garnet paused, considering. She was not… good, at handling delicate personal situations. So often she didn't know what to say. It was all the harder when it came to humans, who were so different from her own kind.

"I suppose it has it's benefits," she agreed, eventually. "But it was not always nice."

Connie's eyes narrowed slightly. On one hand, the perceptive girl seemed to have recognized the road Garnet was planning to steer the conversation down, as was wary of taking the bait. On the other, she was clearly tempted by the thought of learning more about the Gems she so idolized. Eventually, the latter desire won out. "What do you mean?"

"Gems don't go through an infancy stage like organic creatures. We are practically functional from the moment we are created, so we do not need 'parents' to protect and provide for us. However, we still need guidance, and that can be difficult to find."

The girl looked puzzled. "Weren't there like, teachers, on the Homeworld then?"

Garnet nodded. "Yes, there were, but education was very…impersonal. We had nothing like family members, who were dedicated to teaching and caring for us." She paused, momentarily lost in recollections of her own upbringings on the Homeworld; those long, lonely years as both Ruby and Sapphire, before they'd unified, or even known that such a union could be. "The family system is something humans should be thankful for."

Connie made a short, low whine of disagreement. "Families aren't so great. They don't have to look out or care for you, or whatever. I knew this girl a few years ago- her dad just ran away one day, abandoning her.. And I read about a lot worst things all the time."

The Gem, admittedly, had not considered that a possibility- though now that Connie had mentioned it, she was not surprised. Garnet had been on Earth for a very long time, and though the Crystal Gems had purposely stayed on the outskirts of humanity, they had not avoided it entirely. They had seen many fights, many wars, many deaths. In some ways, they had hurt Rose Quartz even worst than The War had, because it was her beloved humans doing it to themselves. But the ultimate truth was just as their were good Gems and bad Gems, there were both good humans and bad humans, and humans of all sorts could be creative indeed. Garnet could only imagine the unpleasantness that could come from being bound to a cruel human by blood

"Tell me, Connie. Does your family do any of those things to you?"

She looked up, genuinely startled. "No, no, of course not- ! It's just-" The girl was tripping over her words. Garnet said nothing, waiting for her to collect herself. "They're just so…so frustrating. They're always ordering me around!"

"I order Steven around," Garnet pointed out.

"Well, sure," Connie said. "But…it's different, with you and the otherGems. I understand that rules and boundaries are important. But you let Steven do so much. Play video-games. Eat donuts. Stay up late." She fiddled with the hem of her dress. "I'm not allowed to do any of that."

Garnet read the undercurrents of the girl's words. "But that's not what's upsetting you right now, is it?"

"…No," Connie admitted. She took a long, deep breath, then said, "My parents don't think I should be sword fighting anymore."

"Ah."

"And it's not fair!" she said, voice rising in volume as she suddenly slid off the seat. "It's just because I didn't do as well on my violin exam as they think I should have! As if the violin really matters that much when-"

She stopped suddenly, head drooping.

"Does your family know why you're training?" Garnet enquired.

"Uh. No. Not really," Connie said. "I just told them Pearl was giving me fencing lessons. You know, just a sport, like tennis. They don't know about any of the Gems and magic stuff.

"And if they did," she continued, "they never would have let me start in the first place, so telling them sure isn't going to help."

Pearl considered this. On one hand, it was probably not a good thing for Connie to be hiding such truths from her parents. On the other, Garnet knew very well that one couldn't always just do what authority demanded.

There was also the practical consideration. As dangerous as combat was for a human, especially one as young as Connie, the reality was that she would be in far more danger without the skills to protect herself. The only way to completely remove that danger would be to remove Connie, and Garnet was not willing to do that- not with how deeply she and Steven cared for one another. A greater concern would be if Connie was purposely putting herself into more danger than necessary…but her understanding was that Steven had sorted that possibility out, and that Connie would not be taking such risks.

Garnet needed to find a way to reconcile these perspectives.

"Why did you want to learn how to use a sword, Connie?"

The human blinked at the sudden change in direction. "Well- I wanted to protect myself, not be a burden."

"Besides that."

"Oh. Well, I've always sort of wanted to learn, you know? It's super cool. When I hold a sword, I feel like I'm Lisa, or Alanna or Pea-" she stopped, face flushing. "It just feels really- wonderful. I never got that feeling from tennis. It's like I can do anything. I don't want to give that up."

Garnet strode towards the girl, then bent down, in order to be somewhat even with her face. "Then you should tell your parents that. Let them know how important this is to you."

"But what if they don't listen?"

"Maybe they won't," Garnet admitted. "But you still have to try."

"And you should also be willing to compromise," the Gem continued. "I understand sword fighting is important, that doesn't mean there isn't value in violin. You shouldn't ignore your other responsibilities."

For a moment Connie looked as though she was going to argue, then she stopped, reconsidering. "I- yeah. I guess I didn't practice as hard for that exam as I could of…" She looked up at the fusion. "You're right. Thanks Garnet."

And then, Connie did something that Garnet hadn't been expecting at all.

The human hugged her. Right around the torso.

It was light and gentle, nothing like Amethyst and Steven's hugs, which were like warm squeezes, or Pearl's, which always felt as if the Gem was holding on for dear life. But it was still nice and comforting, and to Garnet's mild surprise, she found herself hugging back.

"If you like," Garnet said, after a moment, "I could also speak to your parents."

Connie squeeked, and let go, breaking the hug apart. "Um! No, that's okay Garnet! Thank you, but I can do this myself!"

The girl waved and quickly retreated for the door, suddenly eager, if only to ensure that the intimidating Gem didn't decide to take matters into her own hand.

Garnet smirked. She was getting the hang of this personal stuff.