Not too long ago, Steven was once terrified of the dark. Just looking out his bedroom window at night would give him shivers, something about not knowing what lay ahead waiting for him in the black. Even now, sitting with Peridot and bathed in the cold light of her gem, he was reminded of that fear, and of what finally chased it away. The evening Dad took him to the beach at sunset, and spent so long pointing out the stars that Steven all but forgot to be scared of the dark sky they shared.

His father always loved space, the stars, the universe they shared a name with. Steven wondered if that was before or after he lost Rose Quartz. How many of those stars had Peridot been to? How many more would she see when she was gone? How many other planets would have ice cream, or hot chocolate, or someone willing to help her out?

Whatever answer would be waiting for her in the distant future… he felt lucky that she landed on this one. That luck was what kept his fingers moving across his guitar long after they went numb, following Peridot's shifting yet subtle expressions to see which notes she liked best. But just when he thought he'd found the perfect song, she remembered what she was waiting for since falling from the sky.

Twisting to reach behind her back, Peridot carefully illuminated the warp pad with her floating fingers, feeling for the healed fissures and dents on the smooth plates where before a nest of broken circuitry spilled out from the split metal.

"Looks good as new!" And Steven meant it; just seeing the pad in the dim green light almost tricked him into thinking the metal was fresh from a forge.

Peridot didn't quite seem to share his enthusiasm as she circled two fingers around the yellow diamond embedded in the center, all trace of the Rose Quartz shard dissolved into thin air. After plucking the diamond out, she held it close to her chest like her last lifeline. "Yeah… even the communicator," she said. "Now I just need to charge it up somehow."

Still clutching what must have been rhe communicator, she boosted herself upright and guided herself to where the Injector still lay dead, staring out blindly through dials and broken buttons. Squinting down at a pried-open panel on the beast's body, Peridot only took seconds to find out what she needed.

"This Injector still has some reserve power, but there's no transfer wires around to connect the power supplies. None thin enough to not overload the warp pad, at least." She straightened with a familiar aching sigh, her back to Steven so she didn't see the glimmer in his eyes when he got the second stupid idea of the evening.

With Peridot busy flitting her gem's glow over the Injector, he fumbled in the gloom for something sharp. And when he eventually did, rolling the small spear of slate in his palm, he started sawing through his guitar strings with it. They snapped out with squeals of protest, but it was easy work and Steven soon had them all gathered in his fist, while his other hand reached out to tap Peridot on the shoulder. She was in the middle of another rant to herself when she noticed what he was holding out to her.

"You said you needed thin wires, right? These should work, they can conduct electricity." He pressed the strings into her palm, surprised at the heat coming up from her gauntlet, almost as surprised as she was while looking down at the offering.

"Steven… you didn't need to-"

"I can get new strings," he pressed, closing her listlessly hovering fingers over the bundle of strings with insistence. "You only have one shot at getting home. Take them."

Even with that reassurance, Peridot let her arm dangle for another long few seconds before finally nodding- such a subtle movement that Steven only noticed the slightest twitch of her hair. She turned back to the Injector, did whatever she needed to do while Steven strapped his stripped guitar to his back, not regretting a single thing.

Once joined together, the lines between the Injector and warp pad fizzled and spat out sparks into the humid air as the nylon melted, leaving bare humming copper to carry the electricity down. In the dark it was like a miniature firework display, one that Steven was almost sad to see end. Peeling the burned strings off with her gauntlets, Peridot approached the pad and, in her usual way, managed to asses it in less than a second.

"Just enough charge for one trip." She hid her emotion well, whatever she might have been feeling at being so close to home. Holding the diamond device silently, running fingers along the cold edges, she seemed to forget where she was for a few second before she remembered Steven was standing behind her with a glance over her shoulder.

"You should hide yourself, Steven," she said. "I don't think my Diamond would react well to seeing a human."

With a hand against his temple, Steven gave a salute of understanding. "Gotcha. Good luck!" He ran ahead behind one of the canyon walls, pressing his back against it with an ear angled towards where he left Peridot. He may have trusted her, but he didn't know a thing about this Yellow Diamond.

A chime of hums sounded from across the rocks, and a yellow light streamed out from the opening beside Steven, like a portal was splitting open. He resisted the urge to peer around, even when he heard a sour scold address Peridot.

"Whoever this is, it better be damn well important-"

"My Diamond!" Despite her hesitancy, Peridot managed to sound utterly relieved when it mattered. "Thank the stars, I've been-!"

"Who are you? How did you access this private line?"

Though Steven couldn't see her, he could tell that Peridot's emotion deflated like a balloon against a barrage of needles. When she spoke again it was with trained and strained patience.

"Uh… Peridot, Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG reporting in. An incident at my assigned colony on Archa left me stranded on this blasted rock-"

"Hm, yes, the asteroid that struck Archa Seven. Such a waste. Which 'blasted rock' would you be referring to, Peridot?" Yellow Diamond sounded bored now, a low drone in her question that revealed she really didn't care about the answer.

Not that it stopped Peridot giving one in false earnest.

"I'm... not sure, my Diamond. It isn't recorded on any galactic maps." She was lying, but Steven would have to keep listening to find out why.

"Is it populated?"

"No. Not from what I've seen."

"Another barren wasteland, then… it certainly looks like one. Well, if you're done wasting my time-"

"My Diamond, wait! Please, I wouldn't disturb you if it wasn't of the utmost importance-"

"Then spit it out already."

There was a pause, one that was long enough to tempt Steven from his hiding place. With just his eyes showing from behind the rock, they both widened in shock and squinted against the yellow glare that Peridot stood shaking in. Above her was a giant panel that seemed to hang in the air, like a shimmering mirage, with the most intense scowl he'd ever seen pictured in it. Even from light years away, Yellow Diamond made him flinch back as Peridot finally found what she wanted to say.

"I suspect… that the planet is Earth. It seems after all these years the aftermath of the Cluster has left it deserted. Nothing but a lifeless wasteland."

Yet more lies, but Yellow Diamond sounded intrigued, or perhaps only sated. "...The Cluster ?" she asked with a low hiss. "I was told that it was destroyed by... Rose Quartz." She spat the name out like something unpleasant caught in her teeth.

"Th-that is true, my Diamond, but... perhaps she wasn't as successful as we thought. As you know better than anyone else, the Cluster is immense in size and power. How could a single Rose Quartz destroy it all by herself?"

There was an icy pause. "What are you proposing, Peridot?"

"That the Cluster did not emerge fully as we expected it to, but that it still had the intended effect of destroying all life on Earth."

"And what makes so certain that this wasteland is Earth?"

"The... logs in the warp pad I found refer to the Earth-specific Kindergarten that had to be abandoned. The one that would have served as the..." She gulped. "The Quartz growing grounds."

Apart from Steven's nervous breaths, Peridot stewed in silence for a few long moments. Steven was almost about to check in on her when Yellow Diamond pushed him back into cover with a sudden and slow declaration.

"If you are correct… I suppose that's one less species in the universe to worry about." The Diamond had the smug sound of someone very carefully hiding a smirk. "Your report was satisfactory, Peridot. I will transmit the gateway co-ordinates to any active transport pads on Earth. Give a full report to your manager and return to duty ASAP."

"At once, my Diamond. Thank you." For the first time Peridot's relief sounded genuine, and when the light died away she collapsed with a loud thud in the dirt.

"Peridot!" Steven bolted out to reach her, pulling her back up as she cradled the communicator. Despite her tired wilting eyes, her gem thrummed brightly.

"And to think I was most worried about trying to get past her Pearl..." Peridot steadied herself on her feet, placing the communicator back into its space while Steven stood still behind her.

"...She was the one who wanted Earth to be destroyed?" he asked, barely stopping himself shivering as he remembered his fleeting glance at her.

"It's a long story… but yes," Peridot said, the tremors almost covered by a low rumble across the sky. "As long as she believes it's ruined, then it's safe from Homeworld."

Steven wanted to believe her. "Is that it, then? Everything's ready for you to go?" he asked as she swept the pad clean. Her fingers froze at the question, and there was a long moment of thought before she answered.

"...Not just yet." She stood up. "I'd like to go back first… to say goodbye."

xx

It started raining on the way back, tiny lashes of water against Steven's skin as he skirted the mountain tops with Peridot. He was soaked within seconds of reaching the clouds, but Peridot didn't seem to mind the drops clinging to her. She hadn't even known what rain was just days ago; this might have been her last chance to feel it.

Even through the screen of mist, she managed to land them right in front of Steven's house. And within seconds of arriving, Greg was stamping out the front door like a much smaller, much less regal Yellow Diamond with just as much fury.

"There you are, Steven! I've been worried sick, do you know how late it is!" He stood with hands on hips, numb to the pelt of rain while Steven was still dismounting from Peridot's shoulders.

"Sorry, Dad, I was helping Peridot… she's ready to go home now."

Greg blinked, anger dissolving in the steady drip of water as he stared at Peridot. "Really? So soon?"

"It is imperative that I return while I can," she muttered, vainly trying to stop her hair from falling flat around her face again. Eventually she just shoveled it all over her head to leave her vision clear as she faced Greg.

"Human, er… Greg. I would like to thank you for your hospitality… and for letting Steven help me."

Again Greg blinked in shock, but it was one from how he smiled through the rain. "The Universe boys always seem to get involved with gems somehow. You have a safe trip, Peridot."

Steven watched the cordial exchange from the kitchen window, pouring a cloud of steam into a spare thermos and, just when he was about to go back outside, bounding up to his room for more than just a warm jacket.

Greg and Peridot were shaking hands when Steven reached them again, holding his gifts within his jacket. "I got you something, for the way back," he said, handing Peridot the thermos. "It's got hot chocolate in it, the kind you had when you landed."

Peridot held it skeptically, cupping her fingers around the warm cup, but the smell leaking out seemed to soothe her. Greg retreated back to the house, knowing when it was time to leave his son be, but surely still watching him.

"And I thought you'd like this, if you have tape players back on Homeworld, I mean…" Steven held out his second gift, the one cassette he had left in his room. Putting the thermos under her shoulder, Peridot squinted at the scribble on the front of the tape.

"'Space Train Ticket to the Cosmos'?" she read out slowly, like it was a completely different language.

"I think you'll like it, if you ignore how trains can't go into space," Steven quipped. Peridot's smile was a slow dawning on her face, but worth the wait to see it completely unhindered by embarrassment or anxiety. She put the cassette somewhere safe in her suit, looking at her boots while trying to keep her smile together as she fumbled for parting words.

"Steven. I… I want you to know, though my time here was brief, you were very kind and welcoming to me. And though I didn't often make it obvious, I… appreciated it. Even if you say there's only one Steven on Earth, I hope other humans are like you. Even if in only a small way."

She spoke slowly, the weight of sincerity behind every word, so heavy that Steven caught himself blushing.

"You're special too, Peridot," he told her, when she stood with nothing more to say. "No matter if there's a hundred or a thousand other gems like you, there'll always be something to set you apart. And even if we don't meet again, I'll never forget you."

Out of everything they shared over their few days together, that one promise was the catalyst to a glimmer in Peridot's eyes, one that shone far past her visor.

"...Thank you, Steven." She cleared the distance between them in a single stride, throwing her armoured arms around him. It was the closest they'd been together since they danced, and she radiated such a great warmth around Steven that he half expected the rain to start evaporating around them, leaving them alone on a dry island in a storm.

But the rain only hit harder, accompanied with a crash behind the swarm of dark clouds above them.

"Do you hear that?" Peridot whispered over his shoulder.

"The thunder?" Steven asked back, wondering silently if it was here to see her off, just like how it greeted her.

But this time Peridot didn't shake, didn't cower from the downpour. She clung loosely to Steven as she whispered again.

"...I thought it was the sound of the moon falling."

She let him go, and somehow he stopped himself pulling her back. Maybe it was the shock again, or the rain finally numbing him to the core, that left him standing frozen as Peridot prepared to leave once and for all.

"It was nice knowing you, Steven." Her gem had never been as bright as it was then, and Steven swore he could still see it in the mist long after she was gone.

With no moon in sight, Steven didn't know how long he spent hoping she'd come back, not even when his father reappeared at the front door to call to him.

"Son? Did you leave the rest of my tapes out at the barn?" Out in the rain to get drowned away. Greg took Steven's silence as an admission of guilt, but all he did was pat his son's drenched shoulder.

"Ah well. Maybe Peridot will pick them up on her way and make something useful outta them." He turned away, halfway back inside before he noticed he wasn't being followed.

"Steven? You coming in?" Only his father's concern made Steven finally drag himself to shelter.

"...Dad?" he asked once the door clicked shut.

"Yeah, son?

"Did it hurt this bad when Rose left?" The crack in his voice was a physical pain, one that left him limp in his father's embrace, still numb despite the warmth and so lonely. Here there was no more thunder to cover his heartache, and no rain to hide his tears. For the first time in his life, he wanted to be left in the dark.

xx

And there we have it, the end of my not-so-ill fated venture into another fandom. Thank you for reading, and please let me know what could have been done better for the future.