You could hear voices calling your name as your body slowly began to regain its health. Your heavy eyelids prevented you from opening your eyes, though you forced yourself to snap them open, the blurry and bright surroundings making you blink excessively and provoke you a stinging headache.

     The sound of something solid making an impact with the ground made your eyes snap open entirely, permitting you to witness the main cause of your supernatural experience. The moss flower's petals were no longer existent; the only thing that remained was its rosy and inactive gemstone.

     Not too aware of the things that surrounded you due to your bafflement, you muttered a quick apology after bumping with what you could identify as someone's hand while in the process of reaching out for the gemstone. The hand, however, wrapped itself carefully around your arm and prevented you from touching the item. You could hear a distant voice say something regarding on how dangerous this was, yet you couldn't make out the mood of the person's tone neither to whom it belonged to.

     You were in what appeared to be a dream-like state; you could see the gemstone that lay lifeless on the verdurous floor and nature sway violently with the winds, but those who had accompanied you towards the hills weren't visible to your eyesight. You could see the hand that grasped your arm, yet you couldn't see the owner's face. All you could see was a blinding light beyond the hand that loosened its grasp over your arm. The abstruse experience was beginning to make you fearful over the possible loss over your life or, perhaps, by the fact that you could now be having a nightmare difficult to snap out of.

     "(Y/N)!" You could hear a voice call your name, the shouts becoming louder and voice becoming more identifiable the more time passed by. "(Y/N). . . Wake up!" It took you approximately five more calls to completely capture your barely conscious self and to have full recognition of the voice; Steven was the one calling you, his usually enthusiastic voice filled with worry.

     Suddenly, your throat began to ache and you found yourself lacking oxygen –the feeling similar to drowning– and you felt the strong urge to let out a gasp. Milliseconds after you chose to do so, you could feel your heart leap violently inside your chest and your mind began to think clearly. Your surroundings became more tolerable to look at now that the brightness was leveling down and the strong winds were no longer hurting your eyesight. Joy coursed through you as you were finally able to catch sight of someone's face –Steven's, to be exact– stand in front of yours.

     The pre-teen boy was looking at you with wide eyes and raised eyebrows, surprised to see you regain consciousness. "(Y/N)! You're. . . You're awake!" He pulled you into a hug, his hold surprisingly strong enough to make your lungs lose a bit of their functionality.

     You returned the hug with more dubiousness, your mind still being in the process of analyzing everything you'd just experienced. Afterwards, you let go of Steven and faced down at your body, wanting to see if it hadn't received any mayor injuries during your moments of unconsciousness.

     You flinched wildly when inspecting your hands, witnessing a large, almost palm-wide burn scar on each of them and an unnatural, pink glow gradually fade away from your skin. The image was almost surreal and though you had learnt sufficiently of the magical beings known as Gems, it surprised you to actually experience something similar by yourself.

     "What. . ." You breathed out, your head pounding at the many thoughts your mind was unable to comprehend.

     You pushed yourself up from the ground with a carefully motion, stretching your legs in order to find some well-needed equilibrium. Steven was the one to help you up –him being the closest one to your side– while the others exchanged looks in concern and surprise.

     "What happened?" You asked, your tone audibly shaken and strained.

     Garnet caught your attention by standing in front of you, a frown visible on her visage. She stood in silence for a while, seemingly thinking something through.

     "The flower Gem must've wanted to fuse with you." Garnet's composed though preoccupied voice deducted, taking a step closer towards you in order to have a better look at your condition. "But it looks like she failed, as that can't be done without consent."

     "The fact that you're completely human only adds to that factor." Pearl added with a slightly trembling voice, her eyes shiny with something of you weren't so certain about. It seemed like unshed tears were stored up over them, yet you weren't expecting that from her part; you didn't think this would've affected her so strongly as that.

     She stood next to Garnet and later knelt down over the grass. Keeping a few feet of distance between her and you, she began to inspect your wounds, her eyes attentive and scanning each little scar that your skin possessed. "The rejection must've been powerful enough to cause a dangerous reaction similar to that of an explosion. . ." She explained, brushing her fingers against your burn scars, the touch gentle and cautious so as to not worsen the injuries. "Both your species and unawareness of fusion must've led the gemstone to act up."

     Your forehead creased whilst you tried to have a better understanding of these events, though your headache –combined with the persistent pain surrounding your wounds– made this even harder to concentrate on and deal with. With a somewhat strained and lamentable smile, you tried to find some strength in order to continue with the conversation.

     "Does this mean all the moss flowers are looking for the same thing?" You interrogated, the sudden thought making you worry over the few ones you saw fly away with the wind.

     "That could be a possibility." Pearl concurred, her small brows furrowing at the thought. "Now that this has happened. . . I think it's best to do some research over them."

     Your conversation was interrupted by Peridot appearing right next to the pale Gem. She carried what appeared to be a first aid kit, clutched tightly by her tiny and green hands. Mimicking Pearl's actions, she balanced herself on one knee and began to take various items out of the box. Bandages, cortisone cream, cooling gel, and rubbing alcohol were just a few of the things she retrieved out of it, making you question if all these items were really necessary for your injuries. Though the burns were wide, the pain wasn't actually something too major to make you worry over it.

     "Thank you. . ." You mumbled, observing how she passed a cotton ball doused in alcohol over your burnt palms.

     Despite you wanting to tell her that she didn't need to worry so much about this, the enthusiastic face she made whilst caring for the burns was enough to make you watch in silence. You took this moment to inspect your surroundings, coming across with the sight of Lapis and Steven crouched down over a large pile of the flowers. The two were busily chatting away and you could see how Amethyst eventually joined in on their side, poking at the pink petals with her index finger; her eyes were narrowed in mischief as she continued to tease them, expecting for the moss flowers to attack her at any moment.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

     Night arrived at Steven's household, the enhanced darkness caused by the moon and star-less skies making it necessary for a few night lights to be turned on in certain corners of the home's interiors. Rain clouds had hoarded the sky with their grayish colours ever since you returned from your expedition at the hills, yet they were still holding onto their crystalline liquids and preventing the moon from making its appearance.

     You looked at your patched up hands, still unbelieving that so much happened to you in so little time. In just a couple of days, you'd encountered with a Ruby, 'poofed' her, and learnt about the repercussions of unwanted fusion. Now, however, you were safe inside their home, sitting down on their couch and facing their kitchen. The gentle reverberation of the wind was the only distinct sound present, with the exception of your own breathing and your foot tapping rhythmically against the wooden floor.

     Another melody was promptly added to your surroundings; it was the sound of soft footsteps approaching closer and closer to your side. Thinking it was most likely someone searching for a quick gulp of water before heading back to bed, you kept looking away into the distance.

     "(Y/N), is everything alright?" Pearl's voice questioned, allowing you to snap away from your observation and center yourself on her presence.

     She was standing a few feet away from you, her blue eyes focused on your hands. Noticing where her gaze was concentrated on, you looked at your palms once more and squeezed them tight; after feeling a small wave of pain, you smiled and prepared yourself to speak up.

     "Everything's fine." You assured her, scooting away to the far corner of the couch and patting the empty side remaining next to you.

     You suddenly chuckled when remembering last night, finding the current moment to be quite similar compared to yesterday's. Witnessing your abrupt change in mood, she rose an eyebrow and sat down, eyeing you curiously throughout the entire time.

     "I guess I'm having another sleepless night." You commented, her eyes sparking up and a faint grin appearing on her face as she made memory of yesterday night.

     The two of you conversed for a brief while, choosing light topics such as the windy weather and the approaching rain, as well as Steven's well-being and of how much he'd grown ever since you were gone. Eventually, you found yourself bringing up the topic of fusion, wanting to ask her more about what'd happened back on the moss flower hills.

     Surprisingly, she remained silent and instead chose to stand up from the couch and extend a hand out towards you. Her hand waited patiently for you to take hold of it and once you did, she brought you up to your feet, making you stand face to face with her visage.

     "Fusion is a rather complicated topic." She began to explain, her voice low and her eyes downcast in controlled sadness. "There was one Gem who fused with one that was not in the greatest terms with her. . . Though I may not know what she went through, I am aware her relationship with the other Gem was terrible." The pale Gem took a pause, brushing away a strand of her copper hair and taking one of your hands in hers after, her fingers gently tracing your bandages in a slow, yet consistent motion. "I'm gladdened to see you want to learn more about this matter. . . Now that you've experienced such a thing, this would only be for the best."

     The hand holding yours tugged forward, making you meet with her face. She was staring at you expectantly, and her eyes bounced from your face to the stairs leading to Steven's bedroom. You shifted your gaze towards that direction, coming across with the built and reddish figure belonging to Garnet; she was sitting next to the boy's bed, her face leaning against the corner of the mattress as her three eyes rested after the long day.

     "Garnet herself wants to tell you something important." Pearl explained, her face now brightened with excitement and glee whilst she cautiously began to let go of your injured hand. "It's something we've been meaning to tell you for a long time, and since tomorrow is your last day here. . . We thought it'd be the most perfect timing!"

     Happy to see her in higher spirits as compared to when you where up in the hills, you nodded enthusiastically towards her brief explanation, though you couldn't avoid pondering over just what the red Gem wanted to tell you before your leave. You already knew plenty about Steven and his family through the occasional –often weekly– chats you had with him and the others, yet this small piece of information allowed you to realize just how much was there left to know about o them and how little you had remaining of your visit.

~ ~ ⭐ ~ ~