Chapter 123 Buds of Growth

Summary:

Growing into our new normal

Lion growled at the imposter, fangs bared at the threat. The figure may have resembled the old pink one, but it didn't have her fresh sugary scent with hints of lavender. Now it was just a more earthy aroma with a hint of pine. The smell of evil.

"Calm down lion, she's not going to hurt anyone...I think." His boy petted his mane gently and softly like he preferred.

"I'm not, there's no point in doing it anyway." She shrugged. "After all, my life is a joke now."

"Hey, don't say that. You have plenty of fun stuff to do with your new freedom." The kin exclaimed. "Games, movies, all the cool stuff."

"What was the point in releasing from the bubble?" The old master-copy groaned as she lazily let herself fall to the ground like she was a plank of wood. "At least from there I didn't have to think about how terrible everything is. My diamond is dead. My friends are still trapped unfairly, and my own homeworld hates me just for existing."

"Not to complain, but your diamond tried to kill earth." The hoodie boy pointed out.

"So we have our flaws." The imposter shrugged. "You're all made of squishy meat juices, and my Diamond wanted to eliminate all life on the planet. Still doesn't change the fact I cared about her."

Lion gave his boy a skeptical look. "Okay, so you haven't been given the best hand out of life, but that doesn't mean you can't make something good of it now." The boy tried to change the subject just a little. "Isn't there anything you've wanted to do that didn't fall along the lines of obeying your leader?"

"Play with my fellow Quartzs. They seemed like such fun and interesting people." She admitted.

"Um … besides that?"

"Gaze at the beautiful skies said to be present on Homeworld." She looked up at the bright blue one above them. "That was the dream for every gem made on earth, you know? To help create something amazing and useful out of this planet, and then get rewarded by getting to go home."

"Not for me." The purple one spoke up, raising her hand.

The copy turned, gazing at the purple gem before smiling. "Nice to meet a fellow earthling, even if you are a traitor."

"You'd probably get along great with Peridot. She had a hard time accepting the whole 'traitor to my whole kind' routine too." The kin suggested. "This isn't homeworld, but earth can be something even better than that if you give it a chance."

"Well I was imprisoned for thousands of years just because one of my cut loved this place so much." The imposter rolled her eyes before shrugging. "Might as well see what the fuss was all about."

"Oh there's plenty of things you can do." His boy exclaimed with a smile. "You can race cars, play games, jump on beds, and admire nature." He listed off.

"Hey Steven!" The boy's father showed up. "I was wondering if you wanted to-" He cut himself off, looking at the copy with wide eyes.

"Hello there Mr…." The pink one said with a sultry tone that made him shiver with every word. "Would you like to have fun in a bed?" … Lion was sure even Steven Jr could feel the sheer amount of awkwardness created from that sentence.

The feline watched as his boy's birth father ran out of the cave. A second later came beep emanating from his boy's device. "Sorry, I would die for you a thousand times, but I'm staying at the Keystone Motel until it's over."

"Was your Rose always this…flirty?" The hooded one asked the cube headed one.

"No …" The tall gem adjusted their shades. "It was an acquired trait…though things were awkward when she finally got the hang of fusion, and kept asking us just to see what we'd look like as Sunstone."

"Sunstone? What weapon did you get as that?" His boy asked.

"Suction cups." Everyone, even the pink one who had the least context for this conversation, titled their head in disbelief. "..She was formed less often than Opal is."

"I have a shield, and my fusions have a yo yo, an umbrella wand, and suction cups … I feel like my gem itself has an unbelievable amount of childishness."

"Rose Quartz's upon emerging usually stopped to smell the flowers first before anything." The imposter pointed out.

"Still gives you that innocent little brother charm." The kin rubbed his boy's hair. "Don't let the cynicism of life ever take that away, bro, never, ever."

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Moon could only sigh, watching the people fail to catch a single fish. "I've got it … I've got it …" Apparently, 'getting it' involved jumping into the water. "I'm drowning!" They shouted, flailing about.

"I'll save you!" A man jumped in … their head rising and flailing. "Now I'm drowning!" She knew from reading the spellbook that Mewmans were a people in dire need of guidance…but this sad display almost made her ashamed of her heritage.

"Should I save them?" Lapis said from right beside her, her arm raised ever so slightly.

"Make it so they can try swimming their way back …" She turned to a villager. "Why are you doing this?" She asked.

"Because we need food." Was the answer she received.

"Yes, but there's a kingdom right over there." Lapis pointed out. "And Peridot is working with Ludo on another one that direction."

The villager scoffed. "And live with monsters ? That's one reason why we left in the first place."

"And the other reason?" Moon asked, although it was a bit rhetorical.

"Eclipsa isn't doing anything to actually improve the country, she's just standing around inside of her castle all day. The only ones benefiting are the monsters that she gave our homes to." A woman complained, picking, from what she recalled, poisonous berries. "These look lovely to feast on."

"Aren't you people farmers?" The retired Queen asked her people. They should at least know the basis of growing food in the east wild.

"We are … but wild animals will attack anything that we grow, and our last knight was killed by a shifting crow beast." Another man sighed. "And then half of us ran into the hook man."

"What now?"

"The hook man. He's a shady, decrypted creature that roams the night in the woods, and hooks anyone that passes by into buying insurance." The woman explaining shivered. "I had to take fifteen mortgages on the off chance i'm attacked by a meteor."

"You don't even have money!"

"That's how good his hooks are." Another man added in. "I sold half my children because of his dirty tricks"

"You know, I never realized how stupid matriarchy was until you see how bad it leaves it's citizens." Lapis deadpanned. "So I know my morality is on the fence, but my best bet would be to cut your losses."

"I know, I know…it's just hard to see this is the end result of everything I've worked hard to achieve." She moaned as she walked beside the blue gem. "When my mother died, I did my best to be a strong and steadfast leader, but that led to Toffee taking advantage of the mistakes I made, especially with Rose."

"Meh, the dude was a crazy asshole." She shrugged. "He was gonna take advantage of anything. Don't blame yourself for that one." The gem looked to the sky. "So, you're no longer queen. What's your game plan?"

"I don't fully know if we're being honest. Being up in space alone made me realize just how much I want to be with my children and family, but besides that, I don't have a clue." She looked back at the bumbling group of citizens. "Without them here, I don't really have anything tethering me to Mewni anymore."

"Well in that case, let's leave it behind …" Lapis smiled. "See what we can do on earth with a barn … I heard that Steven finally popped that bubble."

"Not yet, I'm not getting anywhere near that mess." Moon stated, although mentioning earth did give her pause. "For all my planning with sending Star there, I've hardly visited the dimension myself. I suppose it wouldn't hurt a bit to at least roam around the place for a while, see exactly why Star and Steven have become so attached to it."

"Help! Now I'm drowning!" Another citizen shouted.

"Cool, because if I have to rescue more people I'm going to start pushing them in." Moon was glad she was able to have such a relatable friend as Lapis. 

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"Alright buddy, you ready?" Amethyst asked, shaping up the end of her mask as they waited outside for their cue.

"Yeah." Steven nodded, pulling the back of his mask on. "Gotta say, now that I'm constantly stressed with life and death situations, racist idiots that won't accept change, and horribly revolting decisions that can affect the future negatively no matter what, I've really come to see the appreciation in why Kelly found wrestling so exciting."

"Finally, took a while for you to figure it out." She laughed as she twisted her neck, somehow getting pops when she didn't even have bones to crack. "Sure you haven't gotten rusty on me?"

"I fought hand to hand against both Mina and Meteora, getting punched in the face by a couple of wrestlers is a cakewalk compared to everything else."

"Yeah, but now you won't have the option of shields … or punching." She reminded him. "Wrestling is a grappling sport."

"And I can carry a tree ten times my size on top of my back without Pink State, so I'll be fine." He shrugged. "And don't you knock out most of your opponents with an elbow slam to the face?"

"Yep, but I can make that look cool enough for people to not care about it." She laughed as she slapped him on the back. "Now remember, if someone mentions hospital bills, the windows on the roof are always a viable escape route."

"… You haven't killed anyone, have you?" He asked tentatively.

"No one's tried to arrest me…for wrestling that is." She was just hit with a lot of lawsuits that didn't affect her anyways because this was a disguise.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, lets bring it down a notch." That was their cue. "For we have the return of a very popular one time man. And this time he's tag teaming with our one and only champion!"

With a small nod to each other, they launched themselves high in the air and made a classic 'super hero' landing in the ring right next to each other. "Ow, that's really hard on the knees." Steven whispered.

"Tiger Millionaire is back!" She heard Lars scream from the crowd. "I love you!!"

"That's right folks! Tiger Millionaire is back, and teaming up with the … PURPLE PUMA!" Smiley riled up the crowd. "It's a kitty tag team of terror!"

"Never really even considered my weird relationship with cats lately." Steven muttered, before raising his briefcase. "I'm here to do two things! Win a belt, and file my four o one K! And I can do both while sleeping!!"

"How do you even know what a four oh one k is? I barely know what that is."

"I listened to my earth dad talk about taxes with my parents, in case you forget, we're the farthest from being Millionaires now ironically enough." Steven sighed. 

"Alright, let's see who the first competitors are!" He pointed to one side of the ring, a woman with a blue costume and lightning bolts standing there with a grin.

"I am La Tormenta! Today's forecast, your pain!" A boombox in the background sounded off a roar of thunder as she posed.

"Looks like an easy win." Amethyst snorted. "Wanna take this one, or should I?"

"I wanna see the other opponent first, this is a tag team match right?" He responded.

Right behind 'la tormenta' was a shorter girl in a letterman jacket with an e and a star on it, wearing a big and pointy eye mask, along with vines on the ends of her hands. "I am the SpellRazer! I will summon the dark arts and.." She took one look at them and her eyes widened. "Steven!?"

"Luz!?" Huh, guess these two knew each other.

"Hey, don't get that awesome guy confused with a lameo!" Lars shouted out. "It's Tiger Millionaire, the most badass of all wrestlers!"

"Choosing to ignore that, what are you doing here all the way in Beach Creek?" Steven asked his opponent.

"Wanted some fun, so I just asked whoever was around and apparently she needed a partner." The girl pointed to La Tormenta. "As for why I'm here … I'm moving."

"You're what now?"

DING

Well no time to focus on that now, she should probably take the moment to- "Know the wrath of the storms!" The woman jumped at the ring, using it like a slingshot as she launched herself at Amethyst, sending her into the pole, where 'La Tormenta' proceeded to grab the gem and manage to flip her … alright, dealing with someone clearly skilled in their craft here.

She would've asked for an assist, but Steven was having a harder time as the girl he was fighting was using those vines. "No far, I can't use powers here for identity reasons! How are you even using glyphs without Star around?"

"I can manipulate the magic of whatever's around me, and I guess Star blew up the town enough for something to be left over." That checked out.

"Disqualified!"

"What!? Why!?"

"We are a professional underground wrestling ring. And you either brought in outside help or used weapons outside of grappling, depending on your point of view of plant sentience."

"Hey, she's just fighting the only way she knows how, and she hasn't even touched me yet." Steven defended. "Those vines are just…extra hands to help…toss opponents out of the ring."

"..." He flipped the rule book for a second. "Fine, but no fireballs or you're out."

"Oh, thank titan." The girl breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for that."

"No prob. We're friends, and we're also going to be neighbors. If we can't count on each other, who can you trust?"

"Beware, today has a chance of pain!" Amethyst was elbowed right in where her rib should have been.

"Alright … you're pretty good for a human." She muttered.

"Thanks, your mediocre for a champion." 

 "But check this out for size!" The gem got up and began to charge, hitting the wrestler, who tried to stand her ground, and pushed her to the peg.

"I take it back, looks like the size isn't just for show … but you're still no match for the thunder of justice!"

"So I'm not the only one who's noticed how weird our parents are getting with each other?" Spell raiser said as she used the vines to bind Steven's arms together.

"Oh, I wish I could forget it, but I was stuck in space for two weeks, and that was literally all I could think about half the time." Steven said as he used the plants to pull his opponent closer. "Not to mention finally getting closure with finding my Mom in a space zoo."

"Yowch. The double family is a very awkward subject."

"Come on Tiger Millionaire! Give her a lawsuit for growing weeds on your property!" Lars shouted from the crowd again.

"That guy is really into this."

"He's maybe the third, maybe fourth biggest jerk I know, but eh, what can you do about it?" Steven shrugged as he ripped the vines off of him and held the Spellraiser above his head. "You're used to being thrown around a lot, right?"

"Oh yeah, just try to leave my arms alone, they're the most vital part of my body." The boy gave a nod as he tossed the girl right at la tormenta, who got distracted just long enough for Amethyst to pin her down by the back.

"Jump on me now, give them too much weight to lift!" She shouted.

"I'll bury you in debt!" Steven shouted, running at them before doing a swan dive of all things.

"I LOVE YOU TIGER MILLIONAIRE!" And to think she almost lost her passion for wrestling. She could stick with it just a little longer for Steven's sake.

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Star watched as the little Meteora held Mariposa in a hug, hissing at Marco. "Aww … so young and already so protective." She cooed at the adorable sight as she and Marco strolled down the boardwalk. "Guess all that bottled up hatred is reserved for you alone."

"As long as she's not attempting to suck out my sister's soul, I'm fine with them being friends." Her best friend chuckled hesitantly. "Looks like the weirdness was going to come to Mariposa one way or another."

"And now it's your job to look out for her." She patted his back. "Small tip, you'll notice a tingle in your left ear every now and then, that's telling you when they're doing something stupid and dangerous." 

"I thought it was Steven looking out for you."

"That was only half the time. I'm still the older sister, someone needed to be on the lookout with his naivety amped up to an eleven." She recalled. "When he was three, he tried offering a piece of cake to a Cockatrice. I shoved a guard in the way to stop him from being turned to stone." It was one of her better moments of selflessness.

"I should be more concerned with the casual acceptance of murder, but what do I know." He shrugged. "So … what entertainment can a boardwalk provide a baby …" He muttered to himself, looking around. "Don't even think about it, Onion." She watched as the small white guy dropped, dragging away some fireworks.

"What is the deal with that kid anyways? I always feel like he's staring into my soul everytime i look at him."

"We're not sure … he might be able to speak to the dead." Meteora giggled at the statement. "Even Jana tries to avoid him occasionally. When she can't, she has him join in on her grave robbing….it just occurred to me just how many laws we've broken, on a public, natural, and universal level."

"Laws are meant to be broken. You think the laws of gravity are going to stop me from flying whenever I want?" She laughed

"I'm just saying we're pretty lucky to get away with it as it is. Can you even list how many people want us dead?"

"Oh I can. There's Mina, all three diamonds, Holy Blue Agate, Jasper, pretty sure Omnitrackus wouldn't be losing sleep if we disappeared forever just to save themselves the headaches, most of the Mewman population because they're ignorant morons, the dimension of human faced cats…"

"Ugh, don't even mention that place. I'm legitimately surprised that we're comfortable with any form of feline after the cat finger incident." Marco shivered. "Even Lion alone is just tolerable at best with all his dozing off."

"He is probably the comfiest living pillow that we have." Star countered back, taking a moment to breathe the fresh Beach air. The sunny sky, the calm breeze that was just everywhere….she missed this…and now she could enjoy it whenever she wanted. "So after you get your GED thing, what's next for Marco Diaz? And if you say therapist, I will launch you in the ocean."

"It's the only thing I'm qualified for that's safe." He shrugged. "After I told Eclipsa I don't want to be a knight the entire squad jumped me … kinda holding it over their heads I took them all out with my bare hands."

"You've gotten way stronger than the guy who couldn't punch one Gem." She smirked, sending a light punch into his arm. "You know what would be awesome? Opening up your own dojo. You'd be way better than that old sensei you used to have. You have decades of experience by this point, it would be a shame to just drop all of it."

"My own dojo …" He thought aloud. "Sounds nice … maybe I could get Kelly as a student … wherever she is." 

"Who knows and who cares?" Star said dismissively. "My bro hasn't been getting depressed and sappy over it, so as long he's fine, I say good riddance."

"Star, she's still our friend."

"I know, I know. It's just so hard to hold out for people changing when the world refuses to." It was getting ridiculous at this point. She looked down to the adorable bumpki-"… Marco … where did the babies go?"

VRROOOM

They turned to see the two children laughing on the back of a racing motorcycle. "Bwaaaah!" Mariposa laughed with an excited gleam in her eyes as Meterora had her tongue sticking out, gazing out at the horizon up ahead.

"Raspberry Ribbon Lasso!" Star shouted immediately and grappled the two troublemakers back to her before they could get far. "Meteora, don't go off stealing motorcycles!! Wait until you're at least three until you attempt larceny!" Like every normal princess did.

"Bleeeeh." Her hybrid cousin stuck her tongue out at her teasingly and mischievously.

"Not even a year old and you're already trying to give me a heart attack." Marco chided his sister as she held him in his arms. "I'm going to have to keep you glued to me at all times, aren't I?" The little Diaz only giggled in response. "Be lucky I won't be telling mom about this because she'll skin me alive if she found out."

"Don't worry Marco, as the experienced older sibling of the group, I'll be sure to help you every step of the way." She laughed as she nudged him in the shoulder. "We'll be seeing each other even more often than we do, it'll be like we're dating or something…"

"Yeah...almost like we're dating…" Marco looked at her with a soft expression and a light blush on his face. "You know, I wouldn't really mind if it was just the two of us hanging around…without our family and other friends around."

"Yeah … that would be nice." She nodded. "How's friday?" Star asked hesitantly, also feeling flushed.

"Yep-yes-yes!" Marco managed to sputter out like the cute dork he was, almost slipping with his grasp on Mariposa. "That would be awesome! Great, I mean, it's a date!" His face almost resembled a tomato after saying that. "I mean, that's if you want it to be, and we don't.."

"Marco.." Star pressed her finger against his mouth to silence him. "I'd love to go on a date with you." In one act of boldness even she didn't know she had in herself, Star pressed her lips against Marco's cheek.

"Wow.." Marco's eyes were sparkling as he took a minute to find his breath. This…this was exactly what she's been missing the entire time. It didn't matter if the whole world was on fire right now, this was the perfect moment.

Screeeee!

"How did the choosey hat find me way over here!?" A familiar voice shouted as vines started to be sprouted everywhere.

"Why did you even put it on!? You're the one that warned me against it!" Steven shouted, creating a force field to block an evil looking hat.

"Must feast on pink flesh! Pink flesh equals sweet meat!"

"Looks like Steven's in need of his own big sis." Marco snorted. "Should we help him..?"

"Hm…nah, I'm sure he and Luz can handle clothing."

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Steven sat on the grass in the forest, using this moment alone to catch his thoughts. "Great … I'm getting more family … just what I needed." He mumbled to himself, wincing at his side. "Man, that hat didn't let up at all."

It wasn't like he wasn't against having a bigger family, heck, that just meant there'd be less people in the world that were likely to kill him, he just would've preferred to be given time to adjust to one change before delving head first into another.

It was a huge mess when the Crystal gems crashed into his life when he finally got answers, and it was a long, long, LOOONG adjustment period until they reached the point where he cared for them as much as the Butterflies.

His dad's, aka Mr. Universe's introduction into his life was sudden, abrupt, but otherwise very smooth and relaxed when it happened. Guess he had the right idea about not trying to overstep boundaries.

Lapis was the main person he talked to about his frustrations when he wasn't with Star back when she was a mirror, which shifted into her becoming a sort of bodyguard for him and his family. Peridot…she honestly fell more in line with a family friend due to her closer connection with Marco.

Then came Eclipsa and Meteora, the former being a kind presence and a helpful teacher when she wasn't causing trouble, and the latter being a former bloodthirsty villain reduced to a baby that bit him in affection. This may have been the moment the family tree jumped the shark officially.

"Hey, I have a question." He turned to the latest addition in his life, the pink gem that decided to lay next to him. "Am I … making things awkward?"

Yes. Unbelievably so. "No, it's not you, it's everyone else." That was what he was choosing to believe anyways. "It's just that, whenever people around here hear the name Rose Quartz.."

"They think of the traitorous shatterer." The relaxed gem sighed. "Yeah, guess that would make everyone uncomfortable. I thought the fusion at least would've been down with doing something intimate, but she's just as weird as everyone else."

"Maybe try not to lay it on so thick."

"I like what I like, what can I say?" The Quartz shrugged. "Is this what I have to deal with for the rest of my life? To be constantly reminded that I look like one Rose Quartz and get blamed for everything she did for the rest of my life?"

"From someone who knows from experience, it definitely feels that way on most days." Steven chuckled a bit hollowly as he rubbed his gem covered naval. "Rose made me, and I keep running into people that want me dead because they can't understand I'm not her."

"… Are you your own person?" She asked. "Or are you a kid that's stuck with an unconscious gem as she lives on without memories inside of you, waiting until the moment you expire."

"Please don't give me even more existentialism. I have had enough from the time I got my soul sucked out of me." The only good part was meeting a new friend along with a cat god. "I just want one day where I don't have that looming pressure of Rose Quartz over my shoulder."

"Yeah, screw that pebble. And screw anyone that hates me for just existing." The laxed gem snorted. "I'm just gonna go out and live my life the way I please … maybe travel?"

"It's a free planet, you can go as far as you please." Steven offered. "It's actually done wonders for me. I traveled the world with my sister and met so many people that understand the trauma of existing."

"That does sound lovely." The gem smirked, before her face got confused. "You keep saying sister a lot, but what does that mean?"

He kept forgetting just what subjects gems were clueless on."Oh, as…sister is a term for female siblings. A sibling is like … Marco and Peridot said it's like your holes being next to each other?" That sounded so weird out of context.

"So someone you have or want to have a deep and emotional connection to that's beyond platonic but not romantic?"

"Well you're picking it up faster than the others did." He deadpanned, laying back. "... So … what was Pink like?" He asked out of curiosity.

"She was…very playful from the little I saw of her." The pink gem recalled with a hint of fondness. "She was a diamond, so she never stuck around on the planet in one place for too long, but she looked like someone who would enjoy a good game of tag every once in a while." She chuckled.

"... Why did she want to destroy earth?" He asked. "That seems like something Yellow would want to do more."

"Not sure if they even acknowledge other life on planets. Diamonds own colonies and make gems on the planets they own, and earth would've been the first for Pink." The Quartz shrugged. "All gems have a duty, and that was hers. Nothing malicious, it's just how things worked for us."

Steven hummed. "It's never malicious at first … you either realize you're wrong or delude yourself in it." That was how it was for every villain they've fought so far.

"You're wise for a guy who hasn't lived past two hundred."

"The constant threats on my life have made me have to grow up a little faster than I'd like." He sighed as he sat back up, pulling out his ukulele. "I've actually made a short song describing my feelings on it. Wanna hear?"

"Eh, why not. It's been six thousand years since I've heard any music." Smiling, he began to stum.

"Hey there, have you heard about the infamous Gem war?"

"Yeah, I was born during it." Quick on the uptake, but didn't understand the song was being rhetorical. Well, no one was perfect.

"Well it all started long before I was born."

"No duh, you're like, ten years old, right?"

"Thousands of years of fighting to protect the human race….It's been pretty tough keeping up the pace."

"Because Homeworld is unbeatable."

"I sure have made my fair share of mistakes.."

"The Diamond's are the only flawless people that exist.."

"I didn't know that Rose Quartz was such a big deal.."

"Huh..neither did I. Didn't think much of her until the shattering."

"There are some wounds that even healing powers can't heal

"True that."

"Oh, I feel like I've messed up, this magical destiny really kicked me in the butt. We've had some good times and some pretty bad luck." He continued to sing, despite the commentary. "But we're still in this together."

"We are?"

"And we're still not giving up.." He played just a little bit harder. "… We're still not giving up.." He strummed even harder as he put in as much emotion as he could into this final line. " I'm still not giving up….! Da da da da da…Da da da da da da….!" A single tear feel from his eye as as he felt a wave of serenity and calmness wash over him. "Da da da da da da."

The gem stayed silent, looking at the sky. "It was a nice song." She extended her arm and wrapped it around his shoulders. "It's nice…to have a sibling…right?"

"Yeah…it can be the best feeling in the world."