A/N: Hello again! This is the sequel that I've been working on - and there will be another one coming up! Though I wish I could have finished the trilogy before the Diamond Days special aired, but life isn't fair and exhaustion got the best of me :'v Despite how astounding Change Your Mind was, I'll make sure to finish the fic series when I can!

As always, I apologize for any writing mistakes and if the characters are OOC - especially given that it doesn't follow the events of Diamond Days (I might use a thing or two from those episodes but I can assure you it's nothing big.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy it!

DISCLAIMER: This chapter got waaay longer than I'd intended [EDIT: I split it up and put part of it in the following chapter!]. I guess it's some sort of prologue to the actual premise, so it might be slow. And it's sort of a character study revolving around Lars, I suppose?

Earth surely was wonderful. He might have not believed this way before, but after being away to space for so long he'd come to admire his home planet more. To think he had gone through so much to go back there was still astounding.

Everything then was great, except there'd been a lot of changes since he had returned – the most obvious one being the fact he was pink. Most weren't exactly bad, except… for someone's long absence.

Time was still an odd concept for Lars, as it became more irregular thanks to wandering around outer space without having any actual sense of time to guide him. He could only tell it passed through the weather changes, rather than the universal calendars and clocks; and through everyone's actions and words. A colder, heavier wind replaced the soft, summer breeze that had hit his magic pink hair in his first days back home. Gray clouds would begin to paint the previously multicolored sky.

Despite his altered body, Lars could sense the temperature decreasing. He could see the leaves falling off the trees he would come across. And only through the realization of the autumn arriving that he came to realize that months had passed since he'd returned – and since… Steven and the Crystal Gems, along with Blue and Yellow Diamond, had headed to Homeworld.

Months, he repeated to himself. Months.

It might have crossed his mind before, but only then did it all crash and snapped him out of his walk to nowhere. He was on his own with his thoughts and the town was strangely empty that day; most likely due to the weather. Lars had just left Sadie's house, where had been another band practice with the Cool Kids. It was one of the few days he would get some sort of day off from his engrossed routine, composed of duties he had as a new (and official) ally of the Crystal Gems. Lars, the Off Colors, Greg and the remaining rebels – Bismuth, Lapis Lazuli and Peridot – had been doing a grand effort to keep everything safe and in order while Steven and his friends had diplomatic matters to get done. Repairing the beach house (that had been damaged by the Diamonds), training for any upcoming threats, fixing the hand ships left on the beach and using any material from them and the Sun Incinerator were part of their daily lives for those months.

In the meantime, another challenge had risen: integrate in human society once more. His loved ones would still adapt to the new Lars. His socializing skills were a work in progress, but he had been improving quite impressively – the Cool Kids were happy to accept him into their group and would invite him to their band practices. Lars had had the honor to attend to their very first concert in Beach City not too long ago. It had been a true show of laser lights and frightening costumes that had driven the audience wild. Sadie had become a true rock star.

Speaking of Sadie… things between them sure were different. She had been alarmed when introduced to the space pink pirate, but she was more than glad to have him back. They would hang out, either with the Cool Kids or on their own, when the night arrived. Sometimes they would even have "sleep overs" (Lars never fell asleep in those while Sadie dozed off), alternating between Lars' and Sadie's house. Their parents were delighted, as they had finally been introduced to one another, given that both teenagers had been unsure about their relationship at first. It was… still hard to tell if they were better off as friends or something else; but, whatever it could be, Lars was glad to have her by his side again.

It could all be a lot, for sure, but Lars would not complain. He was glad to be home and would do what was necessary to help Steven the best way he could. Then, once the son of Rose Quartz – or… Pink Diamond – returned, they would be welcomed by a new home and their friends and family.

…

That is, if they did return. At some point.

No, not if - when. Lars had gone through this. Steven would be back. Yeah, he would be back home, safe and sound, because Lars believed him, and that kid was awesome at doing anything. The captain knew that Steven would be the one to start an actual revolution, without lies and fake identities.

But it had been months.

Yet space was like that, always a mess when it came to time. Lars had not even realized he'd been away for about two months in space. It had felt like forever, but it was fast all at same. In a way.

Things would be fine.

Was Steven okay? Were he and his friends safe on Homeworld? Because having to explain to everyone in a totalitarian alien planet that one of their leaders had tricked them and created a fake identity and started a rebellion that went against their laws and society, leading to a war that had lasted a thousand years… would not be easy. Lars would still be shocked at the amount of decisions a fourteen-year-old boy had to undertake. He could never wonder how the half-gem was dealing with everything so fast…

Would Homeworld accept it all? Would they accept Steven? Or his friends, or all the organic life in outer space?

Why- Why was Lars still doubting it? He thought he'd talked about that with Bismuth and the others. Steven would be fine. Everyone and everything would be fine, they would all see!

And even if everything did go wrong back in space, there was a point of them all training their battling skills. Lars had been the one to suggest that, if anything. They had a lot of resources and they were capable of taking everyone on Homeworld down if necessary! He needn't worry. He clearly didn't.

Months.

Months had passed, and they knew nothing about Steven and the others.

No matter what possibilities came in, how- how on Earth would they find out the results?

Maybe Steven could send a message through Homeworld's… post office system of some sort. Peridot had mentioned it once, when they had begun to explore the Diamond ships. Their system would receive reports and announcements all across the galaxies. The fourteen-year-old could easily just record a video and tell them about everything that happened.

Except nothing new ever arrived at the inbox, of neither ship. Lars and the other gems would always check in whenever he could, but never found anything.

He would have checked it again, but the Diamond ships were at Lapis and Peridot's (updated?) barn, that was only accessible through the warp pads. The pink human couldn't use that transportation since he had no gemstone, and, from what he'd remembered, Bismuth had gone to her forge to develop the weapons they had been working on, so Lars had no idea when she was returning. Meanwhile, the Off Colors had joined Lapis and Peridot on the engineering part – but the captain could already suspect that they would end up watching Camp Pining Hearts, a TV show that Lars had definitely not obsessed with for a long time and had not worked on stories dedicated to the fictional couples. Of course not. Who would even do that?

… how pathetic.

Either way, Lars was… pretty much on his own that night. He could have stayed longer with Sadie and the Cool Kids, but none of them were available after the band practice, which had gone earlier than usual. Sadie would help her mother with some things, Sour Cream and Buck would spend time with their respective families (or only the father when it came to the latter's case), and Jenny had already promised she would cover for her sister at Fish Stew Pizza.

So, he was alone with his thoughts. Problem is, they tended to get the best of him as there were no more distractions. He needed something to keep him busy. Something other than the Crystal Gem work since everyone else was resting. Something to keep him concentrated.

…

As soon as the idea hit his mind, he headed home at a faster pace.

After he had turned pink, Lars had believed he could never feel hunger – and thus, never enjoy eating or cooking again. Yet, it turned out he was wrong.

It had taken a long time, but sometime after he had returned to Earth, he had felt something strong in his gut, desiring for something; and a loud rumble could be heard coming from his stomach not too long after. It had happened after he'd accepted his supposed lack of hunger, so he had yelled to his parents, in joy, that he could eat. Lars had been so happy that he had eaten his mother's dish with tears in his eyes.

It was concluded that his body still worked like a human one, except it functioned a lot slowly. He could only feel hunger in a period of weeks or months, that could vary, in a weird way; he couldn't really figure out his metabolism. The same applied for bathroom needs and so on. He supposed his sleeping habits could be included, even though he hadn't felt tired in so long. In any case, he was thankful that he could still feel a little human, despite its limitations. At least Lars didn't feel so bad while baking.

Even then, he did enjoy teaching the gems about cooking – Bismuth in particular had fallen in love with it. Lars had suggested they all opened a bakery one day, once everything related to Homeworld was finally settled and everyone loved it.

He thought about it with a smile on his face, as he cleaned the kitchen while awaiting the cookies in the stove. Lars was alone at his home, though he knew his parents would be back at any moment then. It was around 7:00 PM when he last checked. The sky was much darker with the clouds, yet a soft drizzle began to wet the windows. Only the sound of the water outside could be heard. It was… weird cooking without anyone else, as he had gotten so used to having his friends with him.

Yet, once the stove took notice, he heard the front door opening. It took a while for him to acknowledge it was his mother.

"Oh, what a wonderful smell- wait, Lars? Are you here?" She called from afar, footsteps approaching the kitchen.

"Hey, mom," He said as he went to grab the oven gloves.

"Hi, sweetie!" His mother, Martha, greeted him with her fond, soft smile. Her long hair had been slightly wet by the rain. "I didn't know you were already here."

"Yeah, Sadie's band practice ended earlier today. The guys were all busy."

"So, you're staying home tonight?"

"I guess so," Lars shrugged, proceeding to take the cookies out of the stove. He heard his mother let out a pleased sound.

"These cookies look wonderful! I love the shapes," She giggled while he placed his pastry on the stove. "Remember how much you loved it when I made you those?"

The pink human could tell his cheeks turned darker as he snickered. Suddenly his younger self came back to his memories, sparkling eyes and babbling filling their home whenever the smell of cookies was present in the air.

"You always sneaked in and stole a handful," Martha continued, sounding very knowing of her son's embarrassment. "And you would run off faster than anyone, you were impossible to catch!"

"Hey, c'mon, they were delicious," Lars defended. "Besides, dad always asked me to steal them."

"What!? I can't believe you!"

Her reaction brought more laughs out of him.

"Your father had that innocent look on his face… oh, I've been betrayed," She dramatically complained. "By my own boys…"

"You can steal my cookies if that'd make you feel better," Lars smirked, then muttering, "I dunno if they'll be as good as yours, though."

"Nonsense! You're my son, you can do so many extraordinary things. And you have the best baking here."

His grin only stretched around his face. "Gee, thanks, mom."

"I'm only stating the facts," She smiled.

After a few more minutes, Lars grabbed a dessert plate and placed the cookies on it. They had diverse shapes thanks to some cookie cutters he had bought with the gems.

While his mother already stole a few with a mischievous look, he was onto placing the last ones. One of the cookies happened to be a… star-shaped one, colored in yellow.

Stars… they reminded him of so much. Not only space itself, but…

The classic red t-shirt with a star on its center. Star-shaped eyes and blabbering excitement that had been present in most mornings at the Big Donut.

Maybe a star shouldn't have this effect on him, but it didn't help that stars were what defined Steven. They were practically his brand, even though the Crystal Gems must have been the first ones to use them to oppose against Homeworld, he remembered. But Steven was the one to make the star his thing.

In fact, he had just realized that all of the cookies were space-themed. Lars hadn't even remembered getting those particular cookie cutters to bake them in the first place. He had just gone for it.

Yet he would stare at the star-shaped one. That one star he hadn't seen in such a long time, that had disappeared into the emptiness of space, never having given any signs of life.

Things weren't the same without the that star. He could see it in everyone's eyes. He would feel the absence, in Greg's eyes whenever he caught sight of a starry sky with sad, worried eyes; in their smiles every time they told him of stories about Steven, Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst (and Connie in some of them); in the eyes of every single citizen for that matter – there was no Steven telling people of his adventures wherever he went, no Steven to buy donuts or those fry bits, no Steven to hang out with his pink lion around town…

Nothing was the same, and it had been months. No signs of it ever going back to normal.

And would it ever?

"Lars, can you hear me? Lars?"

His mother's voice brought him back to reality. He hadn't realized he had been staring at that same cookie for what it felt like an eternity. Lars shook his head to escape the gaze he had locked in with the pastry.

"Ah – s-sorry, mom," He gulped. "I thought… there was…"

He would have gone with an excuse, but he couldn't come up with anything. He sighed and put the cookie on the top of the rest. He could feel her worried stare glued to him. Lars tried to make the rest of the process of putting the cookies on the plate faster, but it didn't help they were all related to space.

Space, to where he had been taken, where he had died and revived, where he had met his friends; the very place he had escaped from, and the place that had taken his friend away and tried to kill him, too.

A random thought crossed his mind: if Steven were there, everything would be perfect. Steven would be proud of his friends' accomplishments, and he could only imagine that the boy would adore those cookies and would be glad to see Lars doing what he loved.

But no, the younger boy was on the same planet that had wanted to eliminate him, because he had to solve all the crap Rose had done, even though he didn't deserve any of that, and instead he should be there, he should be home. But he wasn't.

And there was nothing else Lars could do about it. Yes, he was fixing the house, he was helping his friends, he was learning to fight evil, he was- moving on, because that was how life worked, even though he wanted it to be different, like how Steven himself had told him when he was angry at Sadie still living with Lars gone. Yet the cruel reminder of his friend remaining in space for who knew how long was nerve-wracking, haunting – anything could be happening back on Homeworld and Lars wouldn't even know-

Martha pulled him out of his thoughts before he could dig in deeper than he had already had. She cupped his right cheek, though he could feel her hesitance as her fingers almost contacted the long scar on his right eye. Lars knew that, despite his parents' acceptance of him being a weird pink teenage boy or whatever, they could never forget that their son had legitimately died in outer space; not to mention that that same anxious, moody teenager had stolen a spaceship to travel across space and had gotten involved with alien stuff. Regardless, Lars wasn't too surprised of his mother and father welcoming that new life. They… had always been this accepting, anyway.

So, she let out a deep breath and looked at him in the eye, as if she didn't want him to notice her dark eyes following the scar, but it failed. She must have known that but didn't touch on that topic.

"Lars, my dear," Martha began. "You can tell me what's on your mind. You've been through so much and- and you've been working too hard; it's okay to talk about what you're feeling, even if it's something hard to do. It'll make you feel better about it."

Lars let out a deep breath he had been holding for the longest time. He felt stupid for believing he had to hear his mother's words, as if he hadn't already known - he knew, except it wouldn't help anyone when they were striving to be hopeful. Lars just hated to make it worse, as he was always a negative, hopeless teenage boy. Even though Bismuth and Greg would constantly assure him his feelings were valid, he couldn't bear opening up about it. He would just… feel terrible – and he hated to feel that way because he wanted to change, he really did.

Even then, they had so much work to get done; how on Earth was Lars able to talk about it, anyway? He had signed up for all the responsibility. He didn't have time to open up. It was- probably the first time he'd come to think through everything. Although he had spoken about space to Sadie and his parents before, it hadn't gone so deep like this. Or, at least, Lars had somehow strived not to get those feelings get the best of him in those times.

"I… I know," Lars replied. "It's… well…"

She nodded to encourage him. Part of him didn't want to burden his mother any more than he had already had… but Lars didn't feel like holding it back any longer.

"I'm… I'm just worried about Steven," The space pirate sighed. "It's nothing really new."

Martha shot him a sympathetic, understanding look. She didn't say anything, instead waiting for anything else he might want to say.

"Like, I've just- come to realize how long it's been," Lars continued. "It's pretty- overwhelming. It's been months and I- we have no idea when Steven and his friends are coming back from space, a-and- there's no way to know if everything's okay with them out there.

"I get it, life goes on and all, but I can't stop feeling like something wrong might happen to them – or if it's already happening. And everyone – Bismuth, Greg, the Off Colors… I can just see how bad they feel about it, too.

"I just… I don't know what to do about it."

Lars felt two hands pull his head against a soft surface; that being his mother's chest. He could feel her heartbeats, a lot faster than his own. One of her hands touched the back of his head while the other took care of his messy hair.

"Nothing… is the same without Steven," He muttered. "He's done so much for others, f… for me… and he's not even here. I just… wish I could do something else, y'know? Like... I know we have stuff to do here in Beach City for when they return, but… I just…"

Lars shut his eyes as soon as he felt them tearing up. He buried his face on his mother's chest. She held him close for a long time and he quietly thanked her, because he didn't want to let go.

"Oh, Lars…" His mother's voice broke.

He knew he shouldn't be responsible for anything happening to Steven, but every time he remembered he was in space, the fourteen-year-old's words would get back to him.

"I've always been just- stupid and afraid. Not like you", Lars cried. "You're always helping people – you're never afraid!"

Steven's response wasn't like he had imagined.

"Lars… I'm afraid right now."

It had been the first time he had… seen Steven break down (in a way, as he could only face Steven's legs while both boys had been stuck in that Topaz's body). The boy that would always smile, always believe in others and fight against everything without running away… had taken off that mask.

In the end, Steven was only a kid; and it would still struck Lars the fact that nobody, not even himself, had realized it.

"I thought if I turned myself in, it'd fix everything, but…

"I don't want to do this, Lars."

"I… I just wish I- we could be there with him, supporting him, because- because those evil aliens wanted him dead and I have no idea how it's going now," Lars sniffed, his voice almost muffled by his mother's dress.

He could feel her gentle hands still touching the back of his head, a similar gesture to whenever Lars had felt down after a bad day at school. No words were shared between them for the following minutes, at least before Martha pulled him away a little to face him.

"I… I understand," She said. "You… You miss him dearly and you fear for him."

Lars… had never brought himself to downright say he missed Steven, but she was definitely not wrong.

"When someone is away like this and they don't come back for such a long time… you feel so hopeless because you… you want to go all the way there to help them, when you know you can't," She continued, a sorrowful face taking place.

"I'm… I'm so sorry you have to go through this, Lars. And… I know this might not help you feel better, but… what I can tell you is that one day, you'll see him again, because… because I can tell that Steven is a wonderful boy. I'm sure, from what you and your friends have told me, that he'll figure it out in his own time.

"And you will, too."

Lars… looked at her, thoughtful. She held a melancholic smile then, her eyes… deepening after she said those words.

"He'll be back before you know it," She assured him. "If it does take more time, then… I'm sure he'll try to let you know, in one way or another."

Her hand stopped by his right cheek, as if she were afraid of breaking him. Lars was… shocked to hear such a heartfelt advice, even though his mother surely was a great woman. Though… only then did he realize that Martha probably knew better than anyone else when it came to wait for someone so far away and not knowing what to do about it. Lars couldn't help feeling guilty about it.

Nonetheless, he nodded with a weak smile.

"Yeah… you're right," He said, his eyes falling upon the star-shaped cookie again. That time, he felt part of the weight that had been crushing him go away.

He looked back at his mother once he began smoothing his hair and talk again.

"You should head upstairs and rest, honey," She suggested. "I can tell how exhausted you must be. You haven't had a moment for yourself ever since you came back from space, am I right?"

He couldn't really argue with that. "I… guess not."

"But if you're hungry then you could get some of those cookies and have some milk, too. Don't worry, I didn't steal too many, so you could have more for yourself," Martha snickered, leading him to strengthen his smile.

"Yeah, that's… not a bad idea," He said. Suddenly, he realized that his stomach wasn't too full, even though he wasn't that hungry, either. "I still don't think I can sleep, though…"

"Everyone deserves a break – but you don't have to go to sleep. You could just lie down, read a book, write something… just find a way for you to clear up your mind, because everyone needs once in a while. Even the greatest space pirate in the galaxies."

She was able to get a shy laugh out of him. Convinced, Lars nodded; though, before he could take the cookies himself, she made sure to do it fast enough to stop him. Soon enough, she handed him a bowl of cookies and a glass of milk.

"Thanks," He laughed.

"No more work for you tonight, young man," She ordered. "I'll take care of the dishes."

"Alright," He smirked. "Good night, mom."

"Have a good night, sweetheart. If you need anything you can come to me."

Soon, he headed to the stairs while he heard the sound of the water coming from the kitchen sink. He managed to take a bite out of the cookies – they tasted pretty good, and it wasn't too bad swallowing them. Eating was still weird, but it was… rather comforting that time.

A/N: Fun fact - The title of this fic was supposed to reference the song "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden, but I found out, in many sites, that it's actually "call my name through the CREAM" and not "dream". Yet the latter seemed to fit the story better, so I went with it instead. Regardless, it's a pretty good song, I recommend it.