Well, here we are at the end at last. Sorry it's been delayed, I had two assessments due on the same day. Then I marathoned Freeman's Mind, which is less forgivable. Sorry.

Guest review replies;

SilverG: Wait and see. :) Thanks for reading!

Abbie51304: Heh, glad I got an emotional reaction there. :D Thanks for reviewing!

Seventeen

The Captain and his crew had little time to celebrate the defeat of Red Beryl. As soon as the ship was out of sight of the island, Captain Student was bombarded by messages from other ships in the area looking for the liner - as it turns out, a large ship does not vanish from all forms of communication without attracting attention. The head of the search for the Discovery was a stern and humourless Australian naval officer who had to be talked down over the radio from bringing his ship to Discovery's position and towing it right back with him to Sydney for questioning.

As the crew handled both this and repairing damage the ship had taken, the passengers were largely left to themselves.

Sardonyx had come back aboard as soon as Red Beryl had been poofed and had split back into Garnet and Pearl. The Crystal Gems and Greg were now gathered in Steven's cabin, discussing the day's events.

"Okay, just for future reference," sighed Greg, laying on his bed, "I'm never going on the ocean again."

"Agreed," muttered Amethyst, rubbing her hands through her hair.

"Oh, come on," scoffed Pearl, "You both said that after you watched that shark movie and that didn't last..."

"Uh, Garnet?" asked Steven, "What's going to happen to all the Providence Gems?"

"They'll be bubbled," replied Garnet, "Most of them were too indoctrinated by Red Beryl to be reasoned with, at least for now."

"But maybe we can try to talk to them later?" said Steven hopefully.

Garnet smiled and ruffled his hair.

"Maybe," she said, "But that's going to have to wait."

"Hey, what happened to Red Pearl?" asked Connie, "Didn't she change sides?"

"I lost track of her when we were escaping the volcano," replied Garnet, "She's probably been poofed, just like everybody else."

"That's a shame," sighed Steven.

"Yes," said Pearl, sounding somewhat distracted, "If you'll all excuse me, I need to head out for a moment. I mean, I should probably call S..."

"Go ahead," nodded Garnet.

Pearl nodded and left the cabin.

"Steven, Connie, Amethyst, Peridot," continued Garnet, "I'm proud of you. If it hadn't been for your quick-thinking and bravery-"

"And Sadie's harpoon," added Steven.

"...and Sadie's harpoon," nodded Garnet, "We wouldn't be here right now. Rose Quartz would have been proud."

"And I'm proud too, Stu-ball," added Greg, ruffling Steven's hair.

"Wow, thanks!" said Peridot, "But logically speaking, if it hadn't been for Amethyst's proficiency with her whip, the plan would have completely failed."

"Come on, Peri, you're the one who came up with the idea!" replied Amethyst, slapping Peridot on the back, "Don't sell yourself short..."

The two walked away.

"I think the harpoon saved us, actually," shrugged Lapis.

"Praise the harpoon," Garnet nodded stoically.

Pearl crept into the kitchen behind the grill. Much of it was in poor shape and it seemed unlikely that it would be back in operation before the ship returned to Drake's Bay. She found Fourth Officer Rollins standing by the door, looking ill-at-ease. He nodded to her, adjusting his tie.

"You know, I could get in a lot of trouble for this," he said.

"Nobody's going to find out, Mr. Rollins," replied Pearl, "I promise."

Rollins nodded.

"I'll leave you to it, ma'am," he said, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Pearl walked behind the pantry and knelt down next to the other occupant of the room. Red Pearl looked back her - she was dishevelled and clearly nervous. Pearl smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You're sure you're not ready?" she asked.

Red Pearl swallowed and nodded.

"I...I'm sorry, I don't trust the other Gems," she replied.

Pearl nodded.

"You said you have somewhere for me to live?" asked Red Pearl.

"I have a friend I trust," replied Pearl, "You're going to be just fine..."

The days passed, and things returned to a semblance of normalcy.

Farthington was dragged to the ship's brig while he was still unconscious and charged with wantonly interfering with the ship's operations during a time of crisis. He would remain in lockup until the ship returned to port, and his later attempt to sue the Captain was thrown out by the court.

Malcolm Todd explained his actions to Captain Student. Both understood that Todd's actions were improper, but the Captain decided to forgive the Third Officer due to his invaluable assistance in the recent crisis. Both, alongside First Officer Stokes and Second Officer Emerson, instead decided to report Fabien Sun's actions to the police at Drake's Bay.

Fabien Sun would face a prolonged court case after his attempt at fraud was exposed. He would lose his company and a significant chunk of his personal fortune.

Red Pearl would return, in secret, to Beach City, where Pearl hid her with an indentified individual. She hoped that one day her red counterpart would be willing to open up and reveal herself to the Crystal Gems.

Garnet easily bubbled the Providence Gems, although it took her several days.

The Crystal Gems, as well as Connie, Greg and Sadie, were officially thanked by the Captain for their role in saving the ship.

On the last day of the voyage, the Captain decided to throw another ball - this time he didn't both with calling it anything else. It went much the same as the first, save for a lack of intrigue and Farthington, and most of the passengers and crew seemed to enjoy it. Despite this, not everybody stayed for the full duration.

Amethyst and Peridot had left the ball early and were now out on the bow of the ship, leaning on the railing. It was a mild night and the stars were out - all was basically peaceful.

"So, you don't want to do the waltz tonight?" asked Peridot.

"Nah," shrugged Amethyst, "Let's face it, it's too fancy. Save that stuff for Pearl; I've got a better idea."

She pointed to a small stereo sitting on the deck and grinned.

"Hmm," nodded Peridot, "I like the way you think, Amethyst."

She offered her hand.

"Shall we?"

Amethyst chuckled, took her hand and pressed play.

From up on the Main Deck, Steven, Connie and Lapis watched as the two small gems danced to the music - it was far from a waltz or even anything that had a name, but they were clearly having fun, which was the main thing. Lapis smiled, closing her eyes and nodding her head along to the music.

"I think she borrowed this from Dad," said Steven.

Connie shrugged, grabbing Steven's hand and beginning to dance herself. Steven laughed and joined in, closing his eyes and losing himself in the moment.

Another adventure was coming to an end, but despite all the danger and chaos, they'd had fun. And that, Steven knew, was the important thing.

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I want to take you to,
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama,
Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go,
Oh I want to take you down to,
Kokomo, we'll get there fast and then we'll take it slow,
That's where we want to go, way down in Kokomo...

"Replay that again."

"Sir."

The Man in Black watched the security footage play again. The blurry, black-and-white video looped, and once again the two children combined into one in a flash of light. The Man in Black scratched his chin and nodded.

"Do we have positive identification on who they are?" he asked.

"Not the boy, Agent Johnson sir," replied the technician at the desk in front of him, "But the girl is Connie Maheswaren."

"Indian?"

"Second-generation American."

Agent Johnson nodded.

"Keep an eye on her family," he said, "Be ready to move at my order."

He turned and walked to the door of the darkened room, pulling out his phone and spell-dialling a number as he did.

"Sir, this is Agent Johnson," he said, "We've got a lead."

"Very good, Agent Johnson, very good. I shall be in touch."

The voice was smooth and clearly Southern-accented.

"Yes sir, thank you sir," nodded Johnson.

"No, Agent, thank you. Just remember, if your superiors come knocking, well...forget you saw me."

Johnson hung up the phone and carried on his day.

AN: Loose ends! Loose ends!

Well, this is the end of the story. I have plans for a sequel, Delmarva Connie and the Temple of Diamonds, which as the name might indicate, is at least partially inspired by Indiana Jones. You can expect that in the next few weeks. Hopefully.

Thank you all very much for sticking with this, and I'm sorry for all of the delays. You've all been excellent (and very tolerant), and I can't express how much I appreciate that.

So, first Steven Universe fic done and dusted! I shall see you next time!

(...yes, I like the Beach Boys and I'm not sorry)