Originally written for possibilityleft as part of Femslash Exchange 2015.
In Keystone Motel, Sapphire seems to be so much more sure of the future than Garnet. I've seen speculation that her future vision is more focused, with Garnet's being more open-ended because of Ruby's unpredictability. So that's where this narrative choice is coming from.
The first time Sapphire fuses with Ruby won't be on a quiet, starlit night. The two of them won't go down to the beach for some time alone and start to dance out of pure comfort with one another's presence. That sort of thing is what Sapphire would like, but unfortunately, it's not meant to be.
They will do that later, and it will be wonderful. But it won't be their first time.
Their first time will be in battle against White Diamond's forces, when most of their allies have already fallen. The only survivors will be the two of them along with Rose Quartz and Pearl.
Ruby will have just finished regenerating from an injury—more hastily than Sapphire would like—and be eager to jump back into battle. Despite Rose's protestations, despite Pearl's pleas to be more reasonable, despite Sapphire's auguries, Ruby will run off on her own in a last-ditch attempt to fight off the Gems massing toward their base. It will be a small group, more of an advance scouting mission, but one more than capable of overwhelming the four Crystal Gems. Let alone Ruby by herself.
Sapphire will know that if Ruby goes alone she'll be doomed. And so, while the others are preoccupied trying to come up with a plan to salvage the situation, Sapphire will sneak out after her lover.
(Ruby will find it strange to call one another "lovers" at this early point in their relationship, after all the twists and turns their relationship will have taken over the millennia, but even before all of that happens Sapphire can't help but use the term in her own head.)
She will find Ruby atop a cliff looking down on White Diamond's troops. Again, they're a small group by Homeworld standards, but ten gems is still more than enough to handle the four traitors. It's not a guess; Sapphire knows for sure that the Crystal Gems would not prevail against this enemy. Not the way they are.
But there will be one possibility.
The troops they face won't consider it; they'll find the idea abhorrent. But if the Crystal Gems were to fuse...
Fusion is the most intimate act possible between two gems. Right now Sapphire is nervous thinking about it. But when she discusses it with Ruby later, that night on that cliff looking down upon their enemy unseen, she'll be perfectly collected. She'll have had all the time in the world to work through it in her mind.
"We should fuse," she'll say.
Ruby will sputter, baffled. "What?!"
"We can't defeat them the way we are now. But if we fuse—"
"It's fusion, Sapphire!" Ruby's cheeks will be hot. Sapphire's cheeks feel hot right now. "It's so... so intimate! How can you just bring it up so casually?"
"It's the only way." Sapphire's voice will be calm as she explains herself. She will know—already knows—that Ruby will come around. "It doesn't have to be forever, Ruby. Although, if it were you and me—"
"Sapphire—"
"—I wouldn't mind if it were."
Ruby will stare at her, the expression on her face some combination of horrified and flattered.
Sapphire will wait.
"I... Sapphire..." Ruby will clench her fists and grit her teeth. "Let's go back and ask Rose Quartz. She should be the one to decide."
Sapphire knows it won't be that simple, but she'll nod all the same. When they turn to head back down the path they took to reach this point and their movement catches the eye of the sharp-eyed Phenakite in the group down below, though, she won't be surprised.
Cries of "The traitors!" and "Get them!" will echo up toward them. Ruby and Sapphire will share a glance—terrified red and implacable blue—and run, but they won't get far. Some of the enemy forces are excellent climbers; others are skilled jumpers. They'll be surrounded before they know it.
Ten of White Diamond's most skilled warriors versus... Ruby and Sapphire. It's not as though the two Crystal Gems are helpless, not now and not then. But they're small and so much weaker than their enemies. They'll stand back to back, lacing their fingers through one another's. Ruby will swallow nervously.
"We have to fuse. It's our only way out of this situation."
"But...!" Ruby will growl in frustration.
Phenakite will lunge at them. Sapphire will send her stumbling backward with a blast of ice and pull Ruby out of the way of a blow from an oncoming Jasper.
"We'll die otherwise," Sapphire will say in the same calm way she says everything else.
The Jasper will laugh, bark out some taunting comment about how of course the two puny weaklings are considering fusion, because of course they would! How else could they possibly hope to survive?
Ruby will retaliate with a cry of anger and a punch of a fist surrounded by flames. But that won't be enough. Jasper is huge; she'll be able to dangle Ruby in midair by her wrist. "Even if you did fuse it wouldn't do you any good," she'll sneer. "Weak plus weak just equals more weak." She'll punch Ruby in the gut and drop her, laughing as she curls in on herself and gasps for breath.
The other gems will join in Jasper's taunting. But only for a moment. They'll trail off as the air grows cold and frost spreads across the ground like a spiderweb with Sapphire as its locus. They'll try to advance on her but be unable to move, finding their feet frozen to the ground.
It won't last. She isn't strong enough to hold them forever—but it will last long enough for what she and Ruby must do. For what she already knows they will do.
"Ruby," she'll call out, a hint of emotion slipping into her voice. Even though she'll have already known about this beforehand, it will still hurt to see Ruby in pain like this. It hurt when she first saw it and it hurts even now and it'll continue to hurt until it's over and done with. Sapphire will take Ruby's hand and help her to her feet.
They'll lock eyes—Ruby's two and Sapphire's one—and Sapphire will say nothing. But Ruby will nod, albeit hesitantly.
"I've never—"
"It's all right." Sapphire will take Ruby's hand in hers, placing her other hand on Ruby's hip. "I have seen this. I'll lead."
And there, in the midst of their stuck enemies, they will dance a simple waltz.
Forward, right, back, left. Forward, right, back, left.
Ruby will take a deep breath.
Forward, right, back, left.
Sapphire will squeeze Ruby's hand as a bright light envelops them.
At the same moment White Diamond's forces break free of Sapphire's ice, Ruby and Sapphire will become Garnet.
It's not as though they'll disappear. There's no adequate language to explain the sensation of fusing. Even knowing well in advance what will happen, Sapphire is hard-pressed to put it into words. They won't be two people anymore, but they won't exactly be a single person either. The only way she can think to describe it is as an experience.
Even fused, the battle with Jasper, Phenakite, and the others will be a rough one. But Garnet won't just be Ruby and Sapphire—she'll be far more than the sum of her parts. She will return to the Crystal Gems' base, bruised and exhausted and grinning, and the idea will be planted in the others' minds. Garnet won't be the only one. Sardonyx, Rainbow Quartz, and many others will follow.
The events of three thousand years hence are as clear in Sapphire's mind as the face of the red-skinned gem standing before her now.
"I'm Ruby."
"I know." She curtsies. "I'm Sapphire. It's a pleasure to meet you."