Factory Reset // Steven Universe (Ruby X Sapphire)

Chapter 19: Meet Me By The Beach

Steven's phone buzzed in his pocket. A text message from Connie read: Do you want to meet up today?

Steven glanced down from his bed to Ruby and Sapphire who were playing a card game.

Sure. Meet me by the beach.

Steven trudged down the stairs and onto the sand. Connie was only a few minutes behind.

"Hey Steven!" Connie ran over to where Steven was standing, "You'll never believe what happened at school today."

Steven gave a half-hearted reply.

"Are you okay?" Connie asked once she noticed the depressed look on her friend's face.

"I'm fine," Steven shrugged it off, "What were you saying?"

Connie ignored his question and looked at him seriously, "Forget that. Do you want to talk about anything?" She sat down on a rock and Steven followed suit.

"Not really," Steven shrugged.

Connie shot him a look, "Alright let me rephrase this. Do you need to talk about anything?"

Steven sighed. He knew there was no way out of this, "The gems keep acting like everything's ok but it's not. Amethyst is always over at Vidalia's place now or disappears to who knows where. Pearl is just avoiding the subject completely. Ruby and Sapphire pretend nothing is wrong but I can hear them talking at night. They're trying to keep up team moral but it isn't working."

Steven took a shaky breath and looked away, "I miss Garnet."

Connie gave him a well-needed hug, "There's nothing anyone can do?"

"According to Peridot, someone on Homeworld is manually deleting all of Ruby's memories. She says we can't do anything if we don't know who's messing with her."

"Well..." Connie thought, "You guys have beat Homeworld before."

"Yeah but this is different," Steven said hopelessly, "We don't even know if we can beat them this time."

"Since when has that ever stopped you?" Connie gave him a smile, "You guys are Crystal Gems. You guys always save the day. Even if you think you can't...you'll find a way. Because that's who you are."

"Thanks Connie," Steven smiled, feeling better than he had earlier, "You're the best."

"You're the best," Connie playfully shoved Steven.

"Oh!" Steven smiled, "You still need to tell me what happened at your school!"

"Right!" Connie laughed. She launched into a complicated story that involved wild hand movements and a few explosions. Steven listened intently, finally not feeling the need to worry for just a few minutes.