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“Pearl.”
“Yes?”
“A moment of your time, if you would.”
Pearl blinked a few times, watching as the blue gem calmly walked to the temple door and used her gem to open it. Joining the seer’s counterpart on the warp pad, she glanced at Ruby and wondered what was going on, even though she knew it was nothing good. The former soldier gestured for her to go through the door first, saying, “After you” as she did. The thin gem nodded, taking the first steps towards the door.
As with many things that had happened of late, Pearl couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Sapphire’s room within the temple. The room was dimmed, as though in twilight, with twinkling stars that hung in the sky and covered a land awash in green fields and tall trees. The night time atmosphere dusted the area in blues and purples, that were highlighted by the starry sky.
The first time Pearl had been inside this room, she had wondered how the small seer had come up with such a concept until she had arrived in the area under the cloud arena. She was of course aware that both Garnet and her counterpart gems were hopeless romantics, but she hadn’t realized the depths of sentimentality until earlier. “It’s been some time since I’ve been in here,” she whispered, looking around, now being able to identify the area.
“I figured it would be as good as any place to speak on this topic,” the seer replied. “Quiet, unassuming…sound familiar?”
“Sapph…” Ruby warned.
The two followed Sapphire until they were deeper within, all three knowing full well the temple could have ears if one wished it; Amethyst always made a point of finding ways into rooms, Pearl’s especially, whenever the mood took her. Once they were far enough away from the door, Ruby faced them both.
“We have a problem.”
Pearl nodded. She knew this was going to bad and she wished she could tell them everything they wanted to hear, but she couldn’t; she was incapable of it. “I know,” she sighed. “I know and I’m sorry…”
“Not you,” the red gem huffed. “I mean…yes. Yes, Pearl, we – as in the three of us have a problem – which starts and ends with you, but you are just…I’m not talking about that. We’ll get to that, but right now, but have bigger problems.”
What could possibly be bigger than…well…this?
“Ruby and I have decided to not form Garnet for the time being,” Sapphire stated, causing Pearl to turn to her in shock.
“W-w-what?” she asked.
It was common knowledge that Ruby and Sapphire disliked being unfused for any extended amount of time. Even when they had first started fusing, getting to know each other and the being they had created, they had been very determined at staying Garnet for as long as they could, with the occasional disagreements interfering with that.
Back during the war, the two were more likely to be seen as their individual selves, however they were always together; gradually, they began to spend more and more time as Garnet, until one day the fusion had come to her and Rose and stated that they were going to stay as Garnet. And they had done exactly that, except for a few hiccups.
So to hear them no declare that they were making the conscious decision to not fuse…
“There’s a lot going on,” Ruby whispered. “And we – Sapphire and me – have to work through our own stuff and sometimes…sometimes it’s better if we do it by ourselves.”
“However, that does beg the question of what will happen to the Crystal Gems,” the seer added.
Pearl couldn’t help it – her eyes widened in surprise. Surely things weren’t that bad that the two were considering…well, she didn’t know exactly what they were considering, but if their announcement of not fusing was anything to go by, the former renegade was almost afraid to ask.
“What…” Pearl stumbled. “What question is that, if I might ask?”
“With no Garnet, we don’t have a leader,” Ruby replied. Right as Pearl opened her to mouth to counter that notion, Ruby steamrolled over her. “That is to say, we don’t have a leader we can trust.”
That…stung. Probably more than Pearl would care to admit. It wasn’t as if she had wanted this, she hadn’t, and she certainly didn’t think things would fall so far apart that these two weren’t even going to consider fusing, it was distressing. “W-we…we can make this right,” the thin gem whimpered. “I can make this right!”
“No,” Sapphire said, frowning. “You can’t.”
“Sapphire, I-I understand this is difficult,” Pearl continued, heedless of the frostiness that was coming from the smaller gem. “You know R-Rose kept secrets and…”
“No,” the seer interrupted and this time, the coldness of her tone was not hard to miss. “You do not get to hide behind her, not this time.” Pointing towards the temple door, she said, “We were out there, with you, when you literally lost your mind when you discovered Rose Quartz kept a secret from you, going so far as to berate Steven for not knowing her.
“And all the while, the two of you had been keeping this extremely important secret, from us. Did you know about Bismuth, too? We have always known that Pink Diamond was a liar, but I never pegged you as one.”
“Do you honestly think I wanted this!?” Pearl exclaimed. “I sacrificed everything for this planet and I lost everything for this planet…”
“You lost nothing!” Sapphire screamed back. “Your ‘renegade’ act was just that! An act! A façade, just the way your owner was the façade of a rebel!”
Ruby didn’t think the two would come to blows, but she immediately broke up the argument as though they would. The temperature in the room had already begun to chill and she couldn’t ignore the crunch of ice as she quickly stepped between the two. She had seen that look on Pearl’s face before, the one enemies got to briefly see before they were cut down with a sword or her spear.
“Stop!” Ruby growled. “Stop it, this is exactly what I’m talking about. Not one person here is cognizant enough to be leader right now, not when we need it. There’s too much going on to just…fall apart like this. We can’t! Because if we do…if we do, then everything we’ve done will mean nothing.”
She let that statement wash over the two, noting that they both calmed somewhat. “This isn’t about us anymore,” she whispered. “This is about Steven - ” That struck a chord; while the three of them were all reeling from this, the person hardest hit was obviously Steven and once again, they had been caught up in their own issues, completely forgetting about the boy.
“And Connie,” Ruby continued. “And Peridot…and all the other Crystal Gems sitting in bubbles in the Burning Room…” Sighing, she said, “Beach City needs us and the Earth still needs us and like it or not, no matter how we feel right now, we need each other.”
“Ruby’s right,” Sapphire whispered.
“I wish I could record that.”
Pearl nodded. “Agreed,” she said, sending a smile to the red gem. “On both points.”
And for one moment, it was like they were back to where they had been before this whole thing started; back to the rebellion where Pearl could tease the two about their growing attraction to each other, where she and Garnet would sit around trying to strategize and joking with each other.
But everything else, it was over before it could really be enjoyed.
“So…” Pearl began. “If, for the time being, we don’t have Garnet and I…am not a suitable candidate, who…who exactly are you thinking for this?”
“There’s only one person we can think of,” Ruby stated. “And that’s Amethyst.”
Sapphire turned her head slightly; while she knew this was the course they were taking, she was still surprised at Ruby’s suggestion. Not nearly as surprised as Pearl, however.
“Amethyst!?” she questioned. Surely Ruby couldn’t be serious. “Do you think that’s a wise decision? I mean…it’s Amethyst.”
“Oh I’m sorry,” the soldier said, sarcastically. “At what point did you think you had any say in this?”
Pearl frowned, eyes narrowing in annoyance. “We’re supposed to be a team,” she hissed.
“That’s rich coming from you,” Sapphire huffed.
“Both of you, stop talking,” Ruby interrupted. While Garnet gained most of her calm and stoic personality from Sapphire, her fairness and confidence came from Ruby; the former soldier always lead with her emotions, letting them guide her actions and decisions. It was all about right and wrong for her – the right decision was saving Sapphire, even if it meant letting the rebels go.
And the right thing here was letting Amethyst prove that she had the skills needed to keep this team together. Ruby had seen it a while ago, once Amethyst didn’t seem so insecure about her place in the world or her place within their group; she didn’t make a point to antagonize Pearl because she could anymore, she was less reckless than she had been in the past, and she had shown she could think on her feet and make sound decisions.
Ruby felt the purple gem could handle it, but they needed to make sure they were all in agreement about it.
“This isn’t up for debate,” she said, firmly. “Right now, there’s maybe two people who could take the reigns and Amethyst is the clear choice for that. She obviously has Steven’s best interests in mind and she’s not one to sugar coat when needed. Keeping this team…keeping this family together is just as important to her as it is to us and she’ll do whatever is needed to make that happen.”
The other two occupants were silent, but Pearl nodded. “When…?”
“She’s going to tell her right now,” Sapphire interrupted, knowing the thin gem’s question before she even asked.
“Don’t anticipate my actions,” Ruby chastised, turning and heading towards the temple door. “And please remember that I love you.” She shouted behind her.
Pearl watched the red gem go, before glancing at the seer. “Are you…I mean, the two of you…” she stumbled.
“We’re fine.” Even with her bangs covering her eye, Pearl had the sense that Sapphire wasn’t looking directly at her. “I asked Ruby to marry me.”
The announcement was a surprise, though a much needed happy one. “I…” Again, Pearl had been struck silent. This was a happy moment and the fact that Sapphire had found enough trust left to confide in her, before everyone else…
“Why now?” she whispered. It wasn’t that she wasn’t excited for them, but after so many millennia of being together, their relationship seemed well past the point of engaging in the human ritual.
Turning to watch Ruby return with a confused Amethyst, Sapphire whispered, “Because Ruby has always been a constant in my life. And never once has she lied to me.”
Pearl looked down at her feet, her mind somehow conjuring the image of Sardonyx’s shoes with the familiar Diamond insignia. “If I could’ve told you, I would have.”
“I know.”
And that’s what hurt more than anything. Sapphire knew Pearl hadn’t done this deliberately; even without the whole story, which she knew Steven had only given the most important facts, the notion that…Pink Diamond had silenced Pearl and then never once thought to lift that direct hurt the seer – and the pearl – more than they thought possible.
Sapphire’s anger, hurt, and betrayal was with the Diamond who had lied and deceived her, but Pearl was still complicit; had she ever asked, begged Pink Diamond to let her reveal the truth? Garnet had deeply admired Pearl, maybe more so than…because Pearl had defied what it meant to be a servant to Homeworld. Honestly, she was probably the smartest person she knew and while deep down Sapphire knew that Pearl’s knowledge and yearning for it had not been something commanded into her, it still altered the gem she knew.
“Something must be bad if I’m here and not in trouble,” the younger gem joked, a crooked smile on her face. She knew instinctively things weren’t good before they had even left that grassy knoll. Amethyst had known these three gems for a while, most of her gem life at this point, and she had never seen any of them acting the way they were now.
“You aren’t in trouble,” Ruby began, looking at her.
That was Ruby’s serious tone and it was one the purple had only heard when it came to finding Sapphire; in fact, most of the red gem’s speech patterns and personality was based on the relationship she had with her blue counterpart. Amethyst was used to funny, friendly, flirty Ruby, who’d rough house with her when she was younger.
“So…” Looking at Sapphire, Ruby turned back to the younger gem. “Sapphire and I think…it would be best if we didn’t form Garnet for a while.” Amethyst’s mouth dropped open. “Just…just for a little while, not forever,” the red gem amended.
“Ruby and I need to process recent events separately before bringing Garnet into the mix,” Sapphire supplied.
Amethyst nodded slowly, sparing a glance to Pearl to see what her reaction to this was; not surprisingly, the thin gem couldn’t meet her eyes and was running a nervous hand down her arm.
“With Garnet out of action,” Ruby continued. “Obviously, we need someone to lead the Crystal Gems for the foreseeable future.”
Again, the purple gem sent an uneasy look towards Pearl. If Garnet was out of commission, Pearl should’ve been next in line; however, if that was true, then what was with all the secrecy in bringing her in? “Okay…” she said, her eyes never straying. “So, what does that have to do with me?”
“We’d like you to take over leadership for the Gems.”
If Amethyst had been stunned by hearing that Garnet wouldn’t be showing up any time soon, hearing that she – over Pearl – was being considered for leader. “Uh…” she questioned. “What about…?”
“It’s fine, Amethyst,” Pearl interrupted. “We…we’re all in agreement that this is the best course of action for the time being.”
“Okay…”
Crossing her arms, she gave each gem a look. “So, if I get to play king of the hill for the day,” she said. “I can play it anyway I want, right?”
Pearl held her tongue, the urge to chastise the gem almost second nature at this point, but she bit her lip to stay her thoughts.
“Within reason,” Ruby replied, raising an eyebrow. “Why? You got something in mind?”
The purple gem nodded. “Yeah,” she said, looking at the trio. “Seeing as I can’t command the three of you to pull your shit together, can I at least ask that you tone it down around Steven? Just in case you all forgot that he just found out his mother lied about who she really was and then had to explain that to his father.
“Cause you know, more important things like finding someone who didn’t want to be found for like four days and causing her counterpart to disappear without telling anyone. Good times.”
Said missing gems had the good sense to look away in guilt. “Never one to pull your punches, Amethyst,” Ruby muttered.
“And,” the purple gem continued. “We are absolutely telling everyone what’s going on. And I don’t mean like going around in that stupid head mobile across the boardwalk, I mean actually telling Peri what’s happening and calling Connie and telling her what’s happening. I’m sure Steven will do it, eventually, but better she hears it from us than an emotionally compromised teenager, right?”
“Amethyst, maybe this isn’t…”
“No.”
That statement came from Pearl, of all people, who was most likely to counter any and everything Amethyst would ever say. Shaking her head sadly, the gem whispered, “This is happening because Rose…because we weren’t truthful with everyone; and this hasn’t been the first instance where we’ve found ourselves reeling from something that was withheld from us.”
Lion…Bismuth…Pink Diamond…
All of these things lead them right back to where they were now, discovering that their leader, their friend, hadn’t been straight with them when it counted. Pearl had kept this massive secret for Rose and yet, the former Diamond hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her about Lion; she hadn’t trusted her closest friends to tell them about Bismuth…
What other secrets did Rose Quartz, AKA Pink Diamond, keep from them?
“Okay,” Ruby murmured. “Amethyst, go grab Peridot.”
“I’ll call Connie,” Pearl whispered, reaching into her gem and pulling out her cell phone. Amethyst snatched it up before it had even materialized, turning around and heading for the temple door.
“I’ll call Connie,” she replied. “Let you all deal with whatever you need.”
The three watched her leave, suddenly feeling as though the day – and this nightmare – would never end.
“We’re not going to fix this, are we?” Pearl asked, quietly.
Ruby turned to Sapphire; if anyone would know the answer, it was her. But the seer had been purposefully avoiding looking into the future and even when she got glimpses of it, there was nothing concrete in any of her visions.
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
The thin gem took a shaky breath and blinked away the tears that gathered in the corner of her eyes. Nodding, she started to follow Amethyst’s lead, but was stopped with Ruby’s words.
“Pearl, not knowing doesn’t mean no.”
They had handled worse stuff than this before, well…maybe nothing like this, but they could get past this.
Right?