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>It was the morning after Steven had convinced the Diamonds to change their ways and heal the corrupted gems on Earth. He had woken up as normal for his usual routine, had walked tiredly down the stairs from his loft room, across the living room, over to his bathroom, and locked the door behind him. As he began lifting his shirt to remove it for a shower, his fingertips brushed against his gem, the shape feeling off. A chill went down his spine as a thought occurred to him. He hastily rolled his shirt up, revealing to him that his thought was true. His gem had rotated into the position his mother's gem had been in while she was still taking the form of Pink Diamond.
>"Well, this is new. I wonder if I can?" Steven's gem glowed as he focused his attention towards it, trying to will it to rotate back around. After a few moments of his gem not moving, he gave up, slouching against the wall in exhaustion. "I guess this is how it's gonna be from now on? Guess I really was a Diamond in the rough." Steven chuckled to himself as he finished his morning ritual, a new thought gnawing at his mind. How would everyone else react?
>The Crystal Gems were the first ones he told, simply because they were the closest. He gathered Lapis, Peridot, Bismuth, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl together in the living room and lifted his shirt to show them his gem. "I think getting my gem pulled out messed with the position it wanted to take. But it's okay, at least the point isn't sticking out, right guys?" Steven laughed nervously as he waited for the responses.
>Lapis was the first one. "Wait, what?! What's going to happen to you?! Nononono, this can't be happening! I need, I need air!" Lapis rushed out of the beach house, sprouting her wings and taking flight. Everyone in the room sighed.
>Amethyst was next. "Wow, that was super rude of her, right Ste-man? You know we've always got your back, but how are you feeling about this?"
>Bismuth butted in. "Oh that figures. Must be rough for you, huh Steven? Having a reminder of your mother's deception right there in plain sight."
>Steven shrugged. "I tried shifting my gem back, but it didn't work. I try not to think about mom like that Bismuth. Amethyst, I still feel like me, I'm sure it'll be fine."
>Amethyst smiled. "As long as you're okay with it, it's fine."
>Bismuth shrugged. "If you say so Steven."
>Pearl looks at the gem wistfully. "Oh Rose, my Diamond......" Then she shakes out of it. "Um, I mean, I'm here if you need anything Steven!" A slight blue blush flushed on Pearl's cheeks as she ran through the old days with Rose in her mind.
>Garnet shrugs her shoulders. "This isn't entirely unexpected. When you told me what White Diamond did, I had a few visions of this future. You end up fine in most of them. As long as someone keeps her hands away from your gem." Garnet lowered her visor and glared at Pearl, the action sending a chill through Pearl's form. "I....of course I will! Stars forbid anything happens to Steven!" Pearl stammered out.
>Garnet hummed in contemplation before Peridot spoke up. "Clearly it falls to me to state the obvious here. Namely, what affect does Steven's gem being rotated have on his powers? Steven, we must test this immediately! Try using some of your powers."
>"Uh, sure Peridot." Steven's pulse raced as his gem glowed to summon his shield. He hadn't considered his powers might be different. Relief flooded through him when he saw his shield was still the same, thorns, rose, and all. Then he tried summoning his bubble shield, which created gasps as it came out as a dodecahedron instead of its usual round shape.
>"Fascinating, your weapon is fine, but other powers have been altered! This needs further testing!" Peridot rushed out of the beach house to retrieve some things.
>Garnet spoke up once more. "You might want to go tell Greg and Connie while she's gone. You know she'll keep you here for a while when she gets back."
>"Thanks Garnet. I'll see you guys later." Steven walked out of the beach house, leaving Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl alone to talk.
>As his feet hit the sand, Steven reaches into his pocket for his phone. He speed dials Connie. Connie answers the phone "Hey Steven, what's up?"
>"Hey Connie, are you busy? I need to tell you something."
>"Steven, is everything okay? What happened?" Steven flinches as he hears the concern in Connie's voice.
>"It's.....Connie, my gem rotated into the position my mom's gem was in when she was still Pink Diamond. I thought you should know."
>"Oh, Steven you know no matter what happens I'll still be your friend, right? Don't worry about your gem's position, it doesn't matter to me, and it shouldn't matter to you. Do you want to talk more about it?"
>Steven sighed. "Thanks Connie, but I think I'll be okay. Gonna tell dad about it too. Hope to see you soon jam bud, my sweet strawberry." Steven blushed as he spoke the last part into the phone.
>"See you soon jam bud, my tasty biscuit." Connie blushed as she hung up.
>Putting the phone back into his pocket, Steven hummed to himself as he considered how he'd break the news to his dad. He eyed the various restaurants of Beach City before deciding pizza was the best food to deliver news of change. He walked into Fish Stew Pizza. Steven is surprised to find Jenny at the counter.
>"Hey Jenny, working the counter for Kiki today?"
>"Yeah, she's sick, so I'm covering for my favorite twin today. What'll it be Steven?"
>Steven thought for a moment before making his order. "I think pepperoni will be best, one large please."
>"Sure thing." Jenny rang the order up and took the payment, noticing the distracted and worried look on Steven's face. "Hey Steven, you're looking down, wanna talk about it?"
>"Oh, uh, I'm just trying to think of how I'll tell my dad about.....this." Steven lifted his shirt to reveal his gem to Jenny.
>Jenny eyes the gem, she had seen Steven's gem a few times due to Beachapalooza. "Huh, so it's rotated, what's the big deal? You're still you, right?"
>Steven looked at Jenny and smiled, reminded of what he had seen when he refused with his gem half. "Yeah, I'm still me. I've always been me. Seems to be the general thought about it. Thanks Jenny."
>"No problem Steven. Don't worry about your dad, I'm sure he'll be supportive."
>Steven smiled as he walked to his dad's carwash. halfway there, a familiar blue figure landed in front of him. Lapis spoke frantically. "Steven, I'm so sorry, I know you must be freaking out but I can't lose you I can't! You've done so much for everyone and it's not right if you start losing yourself!"
>Steven placed a hand on Lapis's shoulder. Lapis, it'll be okay, I'm still me, I'm not going to suddenly turn into my mom. We'll figure it all out, I promise. Peridot's going to run some tests, I'm just telling my dad the news first."
>Lapis looked at Steven, still worried. "I hope you're right Steven. I hope Peridot's tests show you aren't going to change." with a flap of her wings, Lapis took off once more. Steven sighed before resuming his walk towards his father's car wash.
>Greg smiled as he saw his son walking up with a pizza. "Hey Schtewball, what's with the pizza? Bringing your old man some lunch?"
>"Dad, there's something you need to know." Steven once again lifted his shirt, showing Greg his shifted gem.
>Greg looked at it in confusion before he smiled and spoke out "It'll be okay Schtewball. How are the gems taking it?"
>"Pretty well, mostly. Peridot's going to do some tests. Talking with people has me feeling like things will be okay."
>Greg nodded. "Well, no matter what happens to you or with the gems, you'll always have me to support you. I'm sure you're right, things will be okay."
>"Thanks for the reassurance dad. I'll let you know how things go." Steven sat and ate pizza with his father before returning home, where the gems had already set up an area to run some tests.
>Over the next few days, Peridot took blood samples, pushed Steven to his physical limits, analyzed all of his abilities, and observed what his body did while he was resting.
>Steven's body underwent a few minor changes, he got a few inches taller, his hair gained a few pink streaks, and more beard stubble began growing on his face. Steven found his healing abilities boosted, he could hear more severe damage with less spit, and his strength had received a major boost. Other than those changes and the change to his bubble, he remained exactly the same. His body stopped changing after the initial growth spurt, much to his relief and the relief of the Crystal Gems.
>With the tests completed and Steven reassured he wasn't turning into his mother, there remained three other gems he needed to tell. A quick hop on the Homeworld warp led him to the tower where the Diamonds resided. Steven thought for a moment before he settled on showing Blue Diamond first.
>Blue Diamond smiled when she saw Steven's gem. "Oh Steven! "I'm so glad you feel comfortable enough showing us your full gem. It means a lot to me."
>"Thanks Blue." Steven didn't have the heart to tell her his gem did it on its own and he couldn't change it back. Better to avoid making her cry where it was possible.
>Steven's next stop was Yellow Diamond, who had a very different reaction when she saw his gem. ""Are you sure this is what you want Steven? You don't have to do this for us."
>Steven sighed as he responded. "I'm okay with it, but I did try to change it back. I couldn't change the position back."
>"Can't change it back? Maybe there's something subconscious preventing it." Yellow Diamond pondered. "Perhaps you have something you want to do that requires your gem being like that?"
>Steven shrugged his shoulders. "You might be right Yellow. If there is something, I'll figure it out. Thanks for that idea."
>"You're welcome Steven."
>Steven left Yellow Diamond's room and headed towards White Diamond's room. He hesitated before he entered, unsure of how good an idea this really was. Still, it needed to be done, White Diamond would find out sooner or later, best to get it over with. Steven steeled his nerves and entered her chamber.
>"Hello Steven, what brings you to see me?" White Diamond crouched down as she looked at the boy and smiled.
>"Well, it's this White." Steven lifted his shirt to show White Diamond his gem. White Diamond's eyes lit up in excitement.
>"Oh! This means a lot to me Starlight. I know you aren't really Pink, but it's still comforting to see her full gem. To see your full gem, I mean. Thank you, Steven. I know this must have been hard for you."
>Steven swallowed hard. "Yeah, I was worried you might.....slip back into your old ways if you saw this."
>White Diamond's face fell before she nodded. "I understand why you'd think that. Steven, I promise, I'll do my best to never go back to how I was. I'll make you proud." White Diamond added in a whisper. "I'll make this a world Pink would be proud of."
>"You'll do great, I'm already proud of you White. Keep up the good work." With a smile, Steven left, fully certain that everything with his gem and powers would be fine. He'd face any more changes as they came.