Days went by, and the house was finally back to looking brand new. Though, to be honest, they did some light remodeling in my room... since it took the biggest hit from the disaster. Thanks to whatever god brought me here, the TV was still in perfect condition. I swear my blood pressure skyrocketed when I saw everything around the TV smashed to pieces... but luckily, I had left my console right on top of it. So, crisis averted.
The kitchen... I thought, taking a quick glance. Well, it halfway survived. At least the floor had a classier finish now, and I gotta admit, I dug it.
The days rolled on without anything out of the ordinary. I went on one more mission with the girls, but it was nothing major—just some mythical bird-shaped beast that ended up being taken down by a spear from Pearl and a whip from Amethyst. Easy peasy, no complications.
That afternoon, I was heading back, walking toward the warp pad. My eyes locked onto my mom's door—the one that always gave me a mix of curiosity and anxiety.
"Open up..." I muttered firmly.
The door stayed completely still, indifferent to my begging.
With a sigh, I lifted my shirt to show my gem. A drop of sweat rolled down my forehead as I added, "Are you gonna open up... or what?"
The gem responded with a tiny glimmer.
"Did you flash... or is my mind just playing tricks on me?" I mumbled, staring at the door, which looked exactly the same as before.
And that's how my routine went: after training, I'd come over here, stand in front of the door, and make a fool of myself. Because, let's be real, there was no other word to describe this weird "training."
Finally, I decided to stop pushing it. With a resigned sigh, I spun on my heels and walked out of the beach house.
I walked down to the beach in my flip-flops, because there was no way in hell I was wearing sneakers in a place like this. Though, thinking about it, couldn't the Gems invent some kind of custom footwear so sand wouldn't get stuck between your toes? My mind was wandering with these absurd thoughts that, like most times, led nowhere. But hey, they kept me entertained.
Looking ahead, I got a pleasant surprise when I spotted someone. It wasn't unusual to find people on the beach, though today it was particularly empty; only that one person was there. What really caught my attention was that I recognized the girl. Looking closer, how could I not? It was Connie. She was on the beach in a sundress that made her look even cuter, and that made me blush a little.
Right away, I thought about what I remembered from the show—that glowing bracelet. Should I bring it to her? I asked myself. Before I knew it, my feet had already carried me back to the house. I found myself staring blankly into the fridge, with no idea when I had even gotten there. I shrugged, grabbed the bracelet or whatever it was called, stuffed it in my pocket, and casually headed back to the beach.
As I approached her, Connie noticed me and gave a polite wave. I kept walking straight toward her. There was something in her face that made me pause for a second; you could tell she was a little nervous. On my end, everything was totally fine, but right at that exact moment...
A rock came crashing down from above, carelessly dropped by the same guys Lars always wanted to hang out with. After dropping it, they just kept walking, not giving a single thought to what they'd done. I didn't think much of it at first, but then I looked at Connie. She was the first to notice the shadow stretching over her body—the rock was coming down fast right at her.
I ran without thinking, faster than I ever had before, and by pure instinct, I summoned my bubble. The impact echoed as the rock slammed into the surface of the sphere, stopping dead on top of it. Connie had been saved by a split second.
The girl was terrified, breathing heavily with her eyes wide open, though she tried to regain her composure by clumsily adjusting her glasses. Still, you could see the tension in her shaking hands. She muttered a timid, "Uh... hi, thank you so much," accompanying her words with a little bow.
I looked at her, still a bit dazed. I didn't remember ever running that fast, not even during missions with the Gems. "Hey," I said, my voice sounding a bit tired, "Are you okay?" She took a deep breath, slowly gathering herself, and answered more calmly. "Yeah, I'm okay. Again, thank you so much for saving me."
I smiled at her, and noticed her face flush just a bit. "My name's Steven, Steven Universe. What's yours?" She blinked, snapping out of her daze, and answered firmly, "Connie, Connie Maheswaran. Nice to meet you," she added with a shy smile that brightened up with every word.
We stood in silence for a few seconds, until she looked around with some curiosity and asked if I minded explaining what we were trapped in. "Oh... right," I replied, a drop of sweat running down my temple. "It's my bubble. A super heavy-duty bubble," I clarified, remembering that in the show, it had actually managed to go down to the deep ocean, handling pressures that could crush anything to pieces.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked right at her and noticed Connie staring at me with eyes so huge I swore for a second she was gonna need my healing spit to get them back to normal size. Her pupils were sparkling with fascination, and in a voice full of excitement, she said I was magical, that I could do incredible things, and asked what else I could pull off.
I jumped a little at her enthusiasm, and the bubble popped instantly, making her step back to regain her footing. She cleared her throat and, standing straight to barely hide the curiosity eating her alive inside, added that she just wanted to know if it was possible. I could tell she was holding back like an absolute champ from asking a million more questions.
"Well..." I muttered, and held out my hand to summon the shield. The glow from the gem lit up the air for a moment, and then the solid object appeared right in front of us. Connie, her eyes wide as saucers, stepped closer almost immediately and touched it gently, as if she was scared it would dissolve at any second.
"Is it... made of light?" she asked in awe.
"Yeah," I replied, a drop of sweat on my forehead, "It's kind of a reflection of the light projected by my gem in its physical form... or something like that," I improvised as I watched her walk around the shield, full of admiration.
"Can you let go of it?" she asked curiously.
I nodded and unlinked it from my hand, leaving it in her arms. Connie was amazed, checking every single inch of the surface like it was some lost relic from the dinosaur era. Honestly, thinking about it, my shield wasn't half bad.
Lost in thought, I watched her try to copy me, lifting it up like she wanted to hold it in mid-air the way I did. However, the weight got the best of her, and the shield slipped right out of her hands. "Oops, sorry," she muttered quickly, embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it," I replied with a smile. "You can drop the shield as many times as you want, it's pretty much indestructible."
Her eyes widened even more at that, and she immediately asked with contagious enthusiasm if she could throw it. "Sure," I said, pointing to the rock that had almost crushed her just minutes ago.
She took the shield with a childlike gleam in her eyes and started tossing it around like a newly discovered toy. She'd spin it, catch it, drop it, and pick it back up, laughing softly every time she held it. In my head, I could only wonder at what point this turned into an improvised shield-throwing class. Well, what we call classes nowadays... ha, I thought with a bit of irony as I just stood there watching the scene.
Suddenly, it hit me. With all the distractions, I had never asked her why she was even here. I snapped out of my thoughts just as she walked back over to me and took the shot. Perfect, I thought, and quickly popped the question. "So, Connie, what brings you out here? This beach is pretty lonely for you to be out here by yourself."
She froze for a few seconds, like my words caught her off guard, but she reacted fast. "Well..." she said, a bit nervous, "I like the ocean." Her gaze drifted toward the waves lapping at the shore, and her voice softened. "I like it, but I haven't been able to... and I don't think I'll ever be able to reach the bottom. It's just so beautiful what's hidden down there, all that nature..."
She started talking excitedly, spitting out facts and details that I honestly already knew, but the passion in her voice made her look different—like someone who genuinely meant what she was saying. For my part, I got thinking. Speaking of seeing the ocean... I murmured in my thoughts, I should take this chance. Make a friend and check out the ocean at the same time. Man, you're smart, Steven, super smart, I congratulated myself mentally, though I was probably smiling like an idiot.
She kept talking for a bit longer, but finally handed the shield back to me. I let it vanish, as if the glow faded right along with the conversation. Connie tensed up seeing it disappear, but noticing I stayed totally chill, she relaxed too, giving me a shy smile.
I walked a bit closer to her and, with a genuine smile, asked if she wanted to go into the ocean. Connie stared at me for a few seconds, looking surprised, maybe even confused. "Uh..." she muttered, lost for words. "Well, you know, I can take you into the ocean with my bubble. It's super tough, you know," I added in a light tone to break the tension. She hesitated for a moment, like she was weighing her options. "Think of it as a friend trip, what do you say?" I said, holding out my hand.
Connie looked down at my hand and mumbled something about "friends" with a mix of doubt and shyness. Finally, almost without realizing it, she took it. In that exact instant, I summoned my bubble, wrapping it around us. "Alright," I said calmly, "You gotta walk with me." She nodded, and we slowly started heading into the ocean.
Connie was kind of freaked out at first; her steps were shaky and her breathing was a bit fast. But seeing me walk so calmly inside the bubble, she started thinking that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Well, if it kills me, he dies too, she thought, but right that second, her eyes snapped wide open. Why did I agree to this so easily? Oh my god, my mom is gonna kill me. By the time she realized it, we were already far from the shore.
I agreed to go out with a stranger, kept repeating in her head. A freaking hangout... now there are only two options: either I get kidnapped, or I get a friend. She glanced sideways at Steven, who was walking with his hands in his jacket pockets, completely chill, like he wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. He even raised a hand to wave at a fishing boat passing by, where a pale man was proudly showing off his net full of fish. Connie took a deep breath; her heart was still pounding, but something inside her calmed down. Well, maybe he is a friend, she thought. Her first friend. And that thought brought a shy but genuine smile to her face.
Chapter 8.