Fusion has always been a physical and emotional representation of the relationship individuals have with each other. 

For Garnet, fusion represents romantic love.

For Smoky Quartz, deep platonic love.

I could go on and on listing every fusion we’ve seen, but you get the gist. And from the very beginning of this show, what we’ve discovered and unraveled bit by bit is just how much Steven’s mother has loomed over him his whole life.

I mean, literally. She’s literally been hanging over him for years.

And for the past five seasons we’ve slowly unpacked how deeply this bothers him. At first he just worries about not living up to her legacy. Then, over time, with every misattributed “Rose Quarz” and “Pink” he receives- every empathic memory or nightmare he experiences- this blossoms into a sickening question: what if he was never anyone? Never Steven, never an individual, just… just… 

Someone else. Deep, deep down…

All of these fears came to a terrifying crescendo, as White literally pried Steven’s gemstone out of him, demanded that Pink come out. Steven, fully human, fully separate from the gem he’s had his whole life… and seemingly on death’s doorstep without it. 

Fully human Steven, who watches someone else begin to reform from his gem, someone else-

Like him.

His gem didn’t reform as Pink Diamond, as he always feared, nor Rose Quartz. It reformed as Steven. 

A fully gem Steven.

And then moments later fully human Steven fused with fully gem Steven, two facets reuniting in a spinning, glowing splendor to create… Steven?

Which means that Steven himself is a fusion.

He’s always been a fusion, ever since Rose gave up her form to create him, to literally become half of him.

A fusion… which represents not only Rose’s love for him, but now, his love for himself.

He’s been asking himself a question for so long, a question he was terrified to hear the answer to- but none of that matters anymore, because he’s found the answer.

He is The Answer.

He’s just Steven.