"Thank you."

"Hey, mom. Before we go back to my story... there's a thing I want us to do."

"Of course! What is it?"

"Could you, for a moment... shapeshift back?

I just want to ineract with you for a bit with you while you look like that, nothing more."

"Ah. Um. Of course, Steven."

"Hi.

It's me, your mom, the conquering alien empress."

She tries to smile, but doesn't quite succeed.

Steven himself shapeshifts, taller and pinkier. 

Then he hugs her.

It's a bit like My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, but it's not a kiss, it's a hug; and it's not between two socialist leaders, it's between an ex-colony-administrator and an unofficial interracial liason, and it's not ugly, it's beautiful.

So, really, nothing like that.

It's also the sixth hug in the thread, if you were counting. And even if you weren't.

"You know how perky your voice is, when you're like this, mom?"

Now, she smiles, and even giggles.

Her giggling sounds perky too.

Steven shrinks back.

"You always told everyone basically the same thing, mom - 'you are who you make of yourself'. And you were right.

A conquering alien empress is not something you made of yourself."

"No, just a dubious rebel leader and a questionable mother."

"Maybe. But a true visionary. And an unquestionable ally. To the Crystal Gems, and to the humans of Earth, and, really, to everyone."

"Well, if it wasn't for me, that forced fusion made from my shattered friends wouldn't be a thing, and Earth wouldn't be endangered..."

"If it wasn't for you, mom, voluntuary fusions wouldn't be a thing, and Earth would be long-converted into a wasteland. This entire conversation would not be a thing."

"Well, this is correct..."

"Even the sun has spots, mom."

"If you say so, Steven."

"You should have confessed about your past, of course you should have, it would have saved everyone a lot of trouble, but it's not hard to understand why you didn't.

I don't know if I would be able to."

"I would have done it in a heatbeat if I knew just how much trouble it would save everyone, you know? It's just that I did not consider it."

"You're not omniscient."

"Well, look at me. I... am a Diamond. A "born" planner - you know, supposedly.

If I actually planned my departure, I would see it. I would see it in five minutes of thinking like a Diamond.

I just did not want to. I wanted to believe Homeworld forgot everything. I wanted to believe your future is that of a human.

I wanted to think more like a human, and less like a Diamond, and believe whatever I wanted to believe, while there was a threat looming over everything I cared about."

"You know, the only times when I actually used my administrative skills were when I inconspicuously ran my forces into my own ambushes."

"And when you lead the Crystal Gems and kept them from falling apart for five millenia?"

"I suppose."

"Don't forget, mom - you are loved.

And now, let's get out of this memory before you see what happens during the dance party."