Scene #4348:

Owner	Pose
Steven Universe	Steven Universe wakes up on the boardwalk, looking confused for a moment. "How did I get out on the boardwalk? I was just going to bed in my room... Hello, is anyone here?"
Rose Quartz	Beach City is it's usual self. The Fryman place is cooking up some deliciousness. The Big Donut's roof is smoking, the ovens probably heating up some delicious glazes. It's a nice, normal day in Beach City! Even after the recent Unification with the rest of the multiverse, life goes on as it always does. Perhaps a few more interesting folk come through now and again, but it's still his Beach City.
Steven Universe	stands up and dusts himself off, letting the confusion go, and turns to go home. He waves to Sadie as he walks by, reassured by her smile and return wave that everything's normal. So far. Today. Sadie calls out, "Hey, Steven! You didn't come by for the first fresh donut of the day, I was starting to worry!" "Oh, uh, no, I think there might be some sort of wacky gem magic stuff happening. But now that you mention it, a donut does sound good..."
Rose Quartz	As Sadie watches Steven peruse the donut selection, the door to the Big Donut rings as someone else enters behind Steven. "Hi there, welcome... to... the..." Sadie trails off. Her eyes go wide with shock. First staring at Steven, then the other person who entered. Her hands shake. "The Big Donut. Oh my, you must be one of the new people. I was wondering when he would hire some extra help." says a voice. It's a voice Steven has heard precisely twice in his whole life, both times on video cassette tapes. The woman standing just inside the Big Donut is enormously tall, easily eight to ten feet tall. Massive pink hair, all curly and soft, and a pretty white dress... And a gem. right over her belly.
Steven Universe	Steven Universe slowly turns around, half expecting some sort of prank orchestrated by Amethyst but no, no, that's Her. Gigantically tall, beautiful like in the video, with so... much... curly... pink... hair... And the gem. His gem. Her gem. "Whaaaaaat?! How are you... MOM?!" The conflict in his expression is overwhelming.
Rose Quartz	The woman doesn't seem to notice at first until his strangled declaration of 'Mom'. She looks around for a moment, rather confused. "Me? Oh dear, I'm sorry sweetie. Where IS your mother?" she asks. There's not even a hint of recognition in her eyes. "Oh goodness! You must be related to Mister Universe!" she says finally. "He never told me he had any family here in Beach City. Oh aren't you just adorable!"
Steven Universe	Sadie stares in confused silence as Steven struggles to deal with emothions farm more complicated than a child should have to contend with. And it only seems to be getting more confusing! He goes through a series of very visible emotions before settling on the one he's best at dealing with. He launches at Rose trailing tears of confused happiness! "I don't know how you're here, and I don't care! Just don't ever leave!" The half-sobbing, half laughing child clings with all the tenacity of an octopus.
Rose Quartz	Rose look amazingly confused as this small crying human latches onto her with all the force of a supermagnet. "Oh little one. I'm always here. I'm Rose Quartz, and I've been here a great deal longer than you have. I protect the planet from magic and monsters and stuff." she laughs, shaking her head. "Come, let us get some of these roung... Doug... nuts? Doug nuts, and I will introduce you to my friends back at the temple while we look for your parents."
Steven Universe	Lars picks this exact moment to appear from the back room of the Big Doughnut, yawning from his late morning nap. "Sadie, what'd you do with... Oh, um... Hey, what's going on here?!" "Lars, this is my mom! I don't know how but she's here-OH MY GOSH DAD'S GONNA FLIP! And Pearl will be so happy, and Amethyst will go crazy, and Garnet... Well, she probably already knows but still she'll be happy too!" Steven tugs lightly but insistently, trying to lead Rose out and back to the Temple.
Rose Quartz	"So you know them already! You must be related to Mister Universe then." she laughs, running a hand through her enormous hair. "I don't know of any other way you'd know them." she says, ruffling this small, energetic human's hair. "But why don't we get the donuts first? Perhaps we can share with the rest of the gems! Wouldn't that be fun? Oh... Well. Pearl won't want any. it's a shame. There are so many flavors to experience here on Earth!"
Steven Universe	Steven Universe stops a moment to consider this idea, then wipes his eyes and nods, a sort of serious expression mixing into the confusion and joy lighting his features. As he opens his mouth, his stomach rumbles audibly. "Uhhh, yeah, you're right. Donuts always make things a little clearer. Sadie, can I have an iced donut, with sprinkles? This is a cause for celebration!"
Steven Universe	Sadie reaches down into the case and pulls out the requested donut without really even looking at it and offers it to Steven, who accepts with an air of seriousness. "And, what can I get you, um...?
Rose Quartz	"Rose Quartz." she says with a smile. "I don't go out much, but the Crystal gems have been here for quite some time." she says to the short girl, ruffling her hair. "But I'll take a double chocolate cinnamon twist with sprinkles on the side." she says, her eyes forming little stars. "I can't help it. I do like to dip. Amethyst loves to roll it around in all the sprinkles right at first, but I like putting it in little bits at a time!"
Steven Universe	Sadie offers the asked for donut, still silent and almost unblinking. There's something of wonder and awe in her eyes, like she's afraid if she talks she might break some spell. Lars however suffers no such compunctions. "Why are you being so quiet, Sadie? I mean, not that I care. In fact, I think I'm goin' back to sleep." Steven hears none of this however, all of his attention focused on Rose. He's as literally starry-eyed as she is, but he's looking at her instead of the donut. His own donut is half forgotten (and half eaten) in his hand. After a moment he shakes his head as if to clear it, and tugs at Rose again. "Let's... go back to the temple and we can figure this out. Maybe it's best to do that before we run into Dad, something seems wacky and magical about this but it's... hard to even think about it. The Gem's'll know what to do!"
Rose Quartz	She laughs quietly and hoists him in one arm, holding him close. She's always loved these young ones. There's always so much life ahead of them! "Sure. But you should ask your momma and papa if you can come over. They may not want you to go playing with strangers." she says.
Steven Universe	Steven Universe says, "Oh, um, I already have permission. I was gonna go there right after here anyway." Okay, so it's technically true while being somewhat misleading. But desperate times call for desperate measures! Plus, something about being held in his mom's arms, even if she doesn't seem to know him at all, just feels so awesome he wants it to keep going on. "Thanks, Sadie! Goodnight, Lars!"
Rose Quartz	"I can't say no to that face, alright, but your parents will get mad if you're lying." she says. She gives him a hug and sets him down. She holds his hand as they cross the street though, her bare feet making hardly any sound even as they cross from asphalt to sand. She scrunches her toes in the hand a little, giggling at the tickling sensation.
Rose Quartz	Steven Universe says, "Huh, I don't see anyone outside. I wonder if the Gems are in the temple?" Of course, at that very moment a stream of water engulfs him. Amethyst has acquired a watergun and sprung out from behind a rock the moment she heard his voice, but the stream died down to a trickle as she stares at Rose, confused and excited at the same time. "You... you're back? But... Steven's still here? Oh my gosh are you another Rose Quartz from homeworld?! If you hurt Steven, I'll..." Her posturing is clearly covering something between fear of a Homeworld Rose, hope for the Rose she knows and plain old confusion."
Rose Quartz	Rose smiles and leans down. She picks up Amethyst like she's still a child, in the arm that isn't holding Steven's hand. "I know I went out for a little while without saying anything. I'm sorry, I know you get lonely. I got some donuts though." she says, shaking the bag. "And I guess you've already met Steven." she says, "Isn't he adorable?"
Steven Universe	Amethyst splutters, but doesn't fight since Rose is clearly being friendly and Steven is not being hurt and maybe, somehow, this is her Rose come back... She shrugs and leans into the arm holding her. "Amethyst... Where are Pearl and Garnet? I think there's gem wackiness going on but I don't understand it. Mom doesn't know me, but she's Mom I'm just sure of it! I hope this doesn't complicate things between Dad and Pearl... But anyway, I don't know what to do but all I want to do is hug her forever and Mom, can we talk and get to know each other because there's so much I always wanted to ask but maybe you don't know all of it since you don't know me but-" Steven rambles without stopping to take a breath until now when he has no choice.
Rose Quartz	Amethyst seems to... regress? Just a little. Not mentally, just... there's that form that she was always in around Rose, that half-feral young child-shape. And Rose loves her, squeezes her and pets her hair, telling her it's going to be alright. It's Steven's talking that gets her attention after a moment. "I'm not your mother sweetie. I'm a Gem. We don't have children like you humans do." she says gently. "Is everything alright with your parents?"
Steven Universe	Steven Universe turns to face Rose, still holding her hand, but with his other hand (only slightly sticky from donut since he licked most of the icing off his fingers) and gets his serious look on for a moment. "You ARE my mom! Sort of, I think? I can prove it, because my dad is Greg, but you... my mom... gave me this." He lifts his shirt a little to show the pink gem where another boy might have a navel. "My dad and... you... made me. I don't know how you can be here, and I can still be here with the same gem as you, but if there can be 5 Rubies then it has to be some wacky gem magic and you're back!"
Rose Quartz	Rose looks a bit... Not unhappy? She looks little puzzled though. She sits down on the couch, with smol Amethyst curled up in her arms. "Maybe you should start from the beginning." she says with a smile. Oh these human children and their imaginations. And he even admires the gems so much that he got a sticky paste gem to play pretend. Well, she'll humor him for a while.
Steven Universe	Steven Universe says, "You... still don't believe me? I... Hmm. But, I have your sword! I can summon your shield! I can bubble people and stuff, and heal people with my spit, and... well, watch!" He crooks his free arm, letting his shirt fall back down, and summons Rose's Shield, pink and translucent and durable hard light! He holds it up for her to see, determined to prove that she is his mom because she HAS to be! "See?!"
Rose Quartz	Well! That is an interesting development. There is only so much that one can assume is coincidence before it becomes... Weird. "That is interesting. But I don't have any children." she says. "But you do seem to have my powers." she murmurs, stroking Amethyst's hair quietly. "I don't know how, but maybe you should start at the beginning."
Steven Universe	Steven Universe takes a deep breath and lets out out slowly. So his mom isn't exactly his mom, but still, she is too, and that's actually even more conflicting than his feelings about her when she was only a memory on a videotape... "Well, ummm, my dad, Greg Universe? He met you doing a concert on the beach, right over that way. You two fell in love even though Marty was a jerk and tried to mess things up by taking him to go be a star. Pearl was..." he stops a moment to look around in case Pearl might be nearby and have her feeling hurt, "she was really jealous I think. But you and dad danced, and you talked, and you worked things out. I have a videotape you left me in Lion's mane. But when I was born, you... you were gone and I was born with this. Dad runs a car wash now, and still has his awesome van, and Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst here helped raise me. My room is right up the stairs in the house. And we've been protecting the world, bubbling gem shards and stuff. Everybody... Everybody's missed you for a long time, and I never thought I'd get to know you... But now I can! Sort of?" Somewhere in all of this, the shield vanished, and Steven's eyes are brimming with unshed tears, looking up at her all starry again.
Rose Quartz	Rose listens... "Mister Universe?" she asks, before breaking down in the giggles. But then she starts to think. This 'Steven' certainly knows the gems QUITE well! He even knows about Lion. "Well, that is certainly a great deal to take in. I'm not sure how we're meeting like this, but I do want to get to know you." she says. "You look just like him, you know. Your father."
Steven Universe	Steven Universe chuckles, wiping at his eyes again. "He says I look like you, too, sometimes. This... is gonna be weird, and I think it's gonna be hard sometimes, but even if you're not the Mom that made me, I still wanna get to know you. And you can meet Connie, and the Maheswarans! And Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli... Have you met them?"
Rose Quartz	Cuddling Steven and Amethyst in her lap, Rose tries very hard not to cry. But Steven is earnest and kind... He's such a sweet guy, like his father. "I'll do what I can so you can be proud of your mama. and I'd love to meet them. I've met Peridot already. She likes ice cream."
Steven Universe	Steven Universe says, "I'm already proud of her, and you! It's... It's so great to finally meet you in person, even if it's wacky gem weirdness. I like wacky gem weirdness anyway. Can we just... hang out here for a while, before we go talk to anyone else?" He snuggles into her arms a little more, with Amethyst, looking kind of tired. He was about to take a nap after all, when he found himself on the boardwalk. "We've had so many exciting adventures, but I think this is my favorite one ever."
Rose Quartz	She awwwws at that. "Well, I could tell you about some of mine. I bet you've seen that picture with Garnet punching a shark, right? Well, that was one of my favorites. Even Amethyst liked it."
Rose Quartz	Rose Quartz laughs and ruffles her 'son's' hair. "So tell me about you. And who's 'Connie'? Is she another gem?"
Steven Universe	Steven Universe says, "Whaaaat? That sounds like a great story! And Connie's my best friend! She's a human, like Dad. But she likes adventures too, and Pearl's teaching her to swordfight, she's really good at it! And when we work together it's almost like dancing, except that when we have to actually fight things it's a lot scarier than dancing. And we can fuse! Connie and me, we can turn into Stevonnie! Garnet said we're an 'experience.' She was so happy when it happened the first time! And we shot a Red Eye out of the sky with your light cannon! I made it fire by saying, 'If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs!' And then there was the centipeetle, and the gem shards that made my clothes come alive, and that time when I healed Lapis Lazuli after I pulled her out of the mirror, and we fixed the geode with Dad's duck tape... We even fought a gem from the gem homeworld named Jasper, she was really really strong but Garnet was so much better..."
Steven Universe	Steven Universe gets all starry-eyed again, and digs hurriedly in his cheeseburger backpack for hit ukelele. "I got an idea! Here, listen for a minute!" with a deep breath, he begins playing a sort of happy tune. "Mom, it's been so long, but here you are with me! I never thought, so much we've fought, but now I see you next to me, holding me, and all I can do Is think of how good I feel now, holding onto you! It's like a dream (like a dream) I just have to sing (have to sing!) It feels so good (feels so good) to be loved... by... you! It's like a dream (like a dream) I just have to sing (have to sing!) It feels so good (feels so good) to be loved... by... you!"
Rose Quartz	Rose laughs as she listens to Steven's stories. They're so interesting, and she tears up a little at some of them. And then he starts singing, and she remembers why she met Mister... Greg in the first place, that song he sang. When he came by to sing to her after giving up everything. She gives him a tight squeeze. "I would love to meet all of your little friends."