Connie must have gone over it a thousand times. More than that. She thought about it every time she went to bed, and every time she woke up. While she was bathing, and while she was dressing, she considered the implications. Whenever her mind wasn't occupied and sometimes when her mind was occupied, she obsessed over it. She'd cut through Axelle during training because she'd been so focused on thinking about it. It had been awkward when Pearl had shrieked in joy before tending to Axelle's gem. Connie had been a little nauseous to have defeated Axelle so soundly and was mostly sure she couldn't do it again, but soon went back to thinking. Of course, she thought about it when she talked to Steven.
Steven called late at night, from under a pile of blankets if Connie saw correctly. He seemed like he was sulking. Connie didn't know the details, but she desperately wanted to ask about it. She had ideas about what it was about.
Obviously, he was sulking over being Pink Diamond.
Connie had been right all along, that story Steven had told her after she'd been injured was a lie. Or at least some major details were lies. If Connie wanted to be kind, and she so desperately wanted to be kind to Steven, she could say that he'd changed some names to protect the people he loved. But Connie had been right. Steven was the son of Pink Diamond. The pink cloak, the pink shield, it was obvious. And Steven's father was an ametrine, just like the organic ametrine that Pink Diamond was supposed to have favored. Connie had asked Axelle when Steven's birthday was, only to find it was the same day Pink Diamond went into seclusion. It was no wonder Steven never talked about himself. Doing so was inviting someone to figure it out.
But what Connie hadn't known was that Pink Diamond was gone. She'd died making him, and now he had her gem and had to take her place. Meaning his aunts were the other Diamonds, and the Moon Palace was his, and Pink Stars were his guard, and she was Pink Diamond's personal Pearl.
She was obsessed with realization.
"Yo, Conster!" Axelle's voice reached Connie's brain only a moment before Axelle herself hip-checked her nearly to ground.
Barely catching herself, Connie gasped and found Axelle standing next to her smiling.
"Hi, Axelle," Connie muttered with a weak smile. It was strange, using Amethyst's name, but made Connie feel like they were closer, like they shared a secret. Which technically they did.
"What are you dazing out for?" Axelle asked. "Pearl's going to be here for your training any second now."
"I know. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be training with the quartzes today?"
"Not today!" Axelle stuck out her tongue. "Special assignment, all Stars on deck," Axelle leaned in. "I think your training is almost over!" she whispered excitedly. "If you're getting this lesson today, there must be a reason. You must be about to join the Pink Stars for real."
"You think?" Connie shifted. "What's the lesson?"
"Well–"
"Connie! Amethyst!" Pearl's sing-song voice ran out over the Sky Arena. "We're here. It's time to start your training."
Axelle nudged Connie again. "Good luck!" she whispered with a wink and then walked towards Pearl, who was coming down the many steps of the Sky Arena with Garnet.
Connie tensed for a moment, then forced herself to relax. Garnet rarely came to observe her training. However, Axelle had said that it was all Stars on deck. With all three of the Pink Stars here to see her, it seemed too daunting a task to train. It had been 10 months since she'd come to New Homeworld, and yet she felt her legs wobble.
"Connie," Garnet said. "Today, we teach you the most important lesson of the Pink Stars."
"That's right!" Pearl sang. "The very pillar of Pink Diamond's Court!"
Garnet looked at Connie seriously and said, "Fusion."
"Fusion," Pearl went on, "is the ultimate bond between gems. Surely you've learned about it in school."
"Yes, Ma'am," Connie said obediently. "Two or more gems synchronize their minds and the light waves that make up their physical bodies. This harmony creates a fusion. Before the rise of Pink Diamond's Court fusion was only permitted between like gems and only under the guidance and with the permission of a higher level gem for a mission or battle."
"Very good," Pearl said.
"Yea, but after Pink Diamond," Axelle said, "everything was different. Cross-gem fusions were allowed because they made bigger, stronger, more awesome gems! Like so. Pearl?"
"Oh!" Pearl laughed. "Well, we might as well get started. Shall we, then?"
Pearl cleared her throat and spun around. Axelle jumped and started dancing in place. Connie watched, delighted. She'd never seen a fusion form before. Sapphire and Ruby, she'd only ever heard about. She'd never even met them, let alone seen them create Garnet.
Pearl and Axelle's dancing styles were nothing alike as they started. However, as they took steps towards each other, they merged. Pearl's graceful, careful moves got quicker and added dramatic popping and locking to them, while Axelle's energetic dancing added long swooping movements and dizzying spins. When Axelle lifted Pearl they both laughed and their laughter rolled and washed over Connie, growing louder and larger until it was neither Pearl nor Axelle's voice at all.
Then there she was. A many-limbed, wide-hipped, big-haired giant woman. She was bigger than Garnet! Connie stood, smiling and opened mouthed.
"Hello, Connie," the beautiful woman said. "My name is Opal. I'll be your teacher for today."
"Hello, Ma'am!" Connie shouted, still grinning. This is what the Pink Court was. Garnet and Opal. Cross-gem fusions!
Connie felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to find it was Garnet, smiling at her. "This is the power of harmony and love. Love for your partner and respect for the bond. This Pink Diamond's Court. Today we're going to teach you about that power. You and I are going to be fighting Opal."
"Really?"
Garnet nodded. "You'll do fine. Just follow my lead."
There was a glow, and Connie turned to find that Opal had Pearl's spear and Axelle's whip. She twirled them both in her four hands to combine them into a giant bow.
Connie pressed her back teeth together and smiled.
#
The training task had been simple, simpler than most of her training with Pearl, truth be told. Connie merely had to stay standing for an hour against Opal. It had been an easy instruction with a very difficult execution. Opal was quick, unnaturally so, like Axelle. Connie would call her graceful like Pearl, but hardly ever saw her move to back up the claim. Opal was a gust of wind and a rainstorm of arrows. She was a hurricane of attacks swirling around Connie, threatening to topple her over.
Connie, at least, wasn't helpless. Blocking attacks had been the first thing Pearl taught her. Opal rained down light-arrows on her, but most met Connie's sword. Besides, Connie had Garnet's future vision on her side. Garnet and Connie worked as a team, Garnet providing defense and tactics, while Connie fought her hardest. It was the longest hour of Connie's life.
At some point, her mind had drifted to Steven. She had wondered what he was doing, and if he knew about her training if he designed it himself. Connie wondered if he could fuse. She knew she was the only one who couldn't fuse, being organic, but knew they had begun to fuse on Yellow Diamond's moon base. This thought had consumed her. She wasn't sure when she had picked up a shield, but once it was in her hand, she couldn't stop imagining what the fight would be like. It was fair, truly fair. Opal against Steven and herself once they were fused. She had pretended that Steven was there beside her, inside her, moving with her limbs. Months of sparring and being in his arms had taught Connie his style of movement, how he blocked, how he dodged. She pretended to be someone else, someone stronger than herself. A fusion like Opal and Garnet.
When they were through, Garnet had praised her for her focus, her clarity. Clarity was high praise, especially for a Pearl. Opal had said she really saw her shine during the training, and that her shield work was surprisingly good.
Connie had blushed and had been tempted to ask about organic fusion, but had stopped herself.
She'd known the answer.
She was lying on her back on her bed. She was still in the same clothes, still had her shoes on. Connie needed to get up and shower, but her bed was comfortable. As she drifted deeper and deeper into black, Steven's smiling face swam in the back of her eyelids.
Sad, Pearl, she thought to herself. Really sad.
She would have fallen asleep pitying her own deep crush on someone way out of her reach, but a loud bark next to her head made her sit straight up and summon her sword.
"What the hells?!" Connie shouted, wide awake and heart pounding. She had no idea what she thought she was going to find in her room, but an absolutely massive pink wolf was not on the list.
Connie stared.
It stared.
Connie glanced toward the door off to the right. The wolf wasn't blocking it, but it was directly in front of her, likely to grab her if he ran for the door. The window to the left had the same problem, and the wolf was even closer to that.
She could attempt to fight it. However, it was pink so… maybe it was Steven's. There had been the sound of barking in Lars' story right before and after Steven arrived.
"Hi there," Connie mumbled. "Hey. Do you belong to Steven?"
The wolf lay down on the floor and put his head on the bed.
"Okay. I'm going to pet you now."
Things had gone from strange to stranger. She was talking to a wolf. But as she reached out it let her pet it between its eyes before it backed up and sat down on the floor.
"What? What do you want?" Conni-assured it would not attack her-put away her sword and walked up to the wolf.
"Hey. What do you–oof!"
The wolf stood and hit her hard enough to flip her onto her stomach. She landed on its back and heard a loud bark. Connie barely had time to see the portal where her window should be before they jumped into it.
"Hey!" Connie shouted. "No, no, no! Bad wolf! Where are you taking me?!"
Thankfully, it was a brief trip and soon they landed in green pastures. However, the sudden stop made Connie fall off the animal and on her front-side on the ground.
"Hell! Thanks, wolf…"
"Wolf! Connie!" Steven's worried voice called.
Connie looked up to find Steven running across the field toward her. He was wearing a dark pink tank top and black jeans with his usual flip flops. Steven skidded to a stop beside her and picked her up.
"Connie, are you okay? Did Wolf hurt you?"
"Its name is Wolf?"
"His name is Wolf."
"And he teleports?"
"Well," Steven said. "Yea. I don't and sometimes I need a ride. Also, I love him."
Connie laughed. "You would say that about a cute animal."
Steven blushed, then held out a note. "I, uh, wanted him to go get you. I had a note, but he left before I could give it to him."
Sheepishly, Connie took the note and opened it. It read simply: "This is my wolf, Wolf. He'll take you to me if you get on his back. -Steven."
"Makes more sense than what happened," Connie said, pocketing the note. "Where are we?"
"The farms for the Kindergarten Wards," Steven said enthusiastically. "Don't worry, I'm done for now," he added see Connie's face twist into a nervous mask. "I know you don't like handling dead bodies."
"I can do it!" Connie insisted, maybe a little too loudly. "I just… I mean…"
"It's okay." Steven put his arm around her. "It's fine. Come on, let's walk."
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