Ready
Garnet can’t resent Rose for what she did. Sometimes people want to create something together that’s bigger than themselves. She is a living embodiment of why it happens, and by her own existential definition she can’t possibly hold it against anyone else if they do the same.
Steven, though.
“Garnet, Garnet!” the boy cries as she appears on the warp pad. He rushes out to her, arms wide, and hugs her legs (the tallest he can reach).
How do you explain to a young child that each day you see the dozens of ways his clumsy, little organic body can perish? How exactly does one bring up the fact that they are actually an amalgam of two different gems? There are a lot of cultural norms here on Earth that Steven is absorbing without even realizing it. A fusion with ESP isn’t exactly one of them.
Garnet doesn’t say anything. Instead, she just hugs Steven back and gently detaches herself before mussing his hair and heading for the temple.
To be fair, Steven himself is remarkably adaptable. Even as a baby, he took in the gem culture with the mundane and responded by enthusiastically gumming at his own fist. Garnet didn’t have any intimate experience with human infants before Steven, so she has no way of telling whether or not this is a unique trait or if human children in general are adaptable. She thinks of Greg Universe as a child in a lot of ways—he’s not even been around a century, and Sapphire, her oldest component, is well over 10 millennia at this point; she can’t help it—but he adapted to gem culture pretty well too, all things considered. So maybe it is just a human thing?
“Garnet, wait!” Steven cries just as she raises her palms to open the temple door.
Humans don’t have very long lives, but they sure do accomplish a lot in that time. In a couple hundred more generations, they could really make something of themselves. It’s one of the things that make Garnet think Earth is worth preserving.
“Yes, Steven?” she says, pausing.
And just like that, he’s at her side again. He’s grinning up at her, adoration painting his young features. Steven admires Garnet and her abilities; she knows that much. It’s why she tries so hard to be a respectable role model. “Did you bring me anything?” he asks excitedly.
Oh, right.
Garnet obligingly produces a spiral shell from the underwater cavern she just came back from. It’s cream colored, but streaked with a deep purple. Rather pretty, if one likes that kind of thing.
“Woo! Thanks, Garnet!” The boy runs off, and Garnet takes a moment to watch Rose’s legacy dash up the stairs into his loft to carefully place the shell on the shelf next to the other souvenirs she’s brought back.
Garnet knows she’s loved unconditionally. Has from the start. Considering Steven’s utterly nonjudgmental nature, it would probably be fine if she told him (most possibilities indicate it would, anyway). Hell, he’s a smart kid; maybe he’s already got it half figured out.
All of the questions, though. Half the reason Garnet hasn’t mentioned her future vision or the fact that she’s a fusion is because she’s avoiding the million and a half inquiries that would come with it. There is zero probability that she will be able to avoid them (she’s checked). She doesn’t have the time to deal with all of that; not when there are still corrupted gems to track down and bubble.
Steven stands back, arms akimbo, and makes a considering sound at his souvenir shelf. He tilts his head to get a new angle on the display, and then moves the cream-and-purple shell. “Maybe it’ll look better over here…”
Besides, Steven hasn’t even pulled his weapon from his gem yet. He isn’t ready. If he can do that, and if he experiences fusion himself, then maybe there would be less explaining to do. Garnet is a gem of action, not words. Well, the probability of him asking less questions is higher if he’s experienced more gem stuff firsthand. Garnet’s willing to put her bets on that.
“Yes!” Steven claps his hands together in triumph. “That’s exactly what this shelf needed—isn’t that right, Sir Bearington?” He glances at the teddy bear with the monocle that’s resting on his pillow for confirmation. The bear does not reply, naturally, but he still says, “You’re right. It is weird that we live on the beach, but don’t actually have any ocean-themed decorations. Astute observation, Sir Bearington!”
Nope, not ready in the least.
Garnet mentally shakes her head as she finally heads into the temple. She’ll tell him all about herself one day. She will. Maybe on his next birthday.