Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe. Steven Universe is owned by Rebecca Sugar.

Present

Flash-forward

"Commander Yellow Diamond, this is Colonel Jasper, reporting in. The escort mission has gotten a little... off track."

"Off track?"

I could sense her hesitation on the other end of the communication line. "Um... yes, but, relatively speaking, it's a positive development. We've successfully located Rose Quartz, and we've imprisoned her in the ship. We're awaiting further instruction on your command."

I placed a hand on my chin. I didn't need to think long.

"Return to Homeworld at once. Ignore your previous objective."

"Understood. But what about Rose?"

"... Bring her to me."

"Come on, where is she? If she doesn't get here in the next few minutes..."

As I anxiously tapped my fingers against the control panel of my ground cruiser, I couldn't help but lightly chuckle to myself. Patience was never a strong virtue of mine, and not even Rose was an exception. She knew me better than anyone, and she knew I liked to do things quickly, and efficiently. Was she just toying with me?

She better not be. Besides, we had our private meetings to get to. And we both knew what was at stake here.

I leaned back in my seat and released a sigh, staring up at the ceiling as I propped up my feet on the footrest. I lazily cocked my head to my right, straining to see out the window of the vehicle, desperately hoping to see the familiar sight of her brilliant white V-neck dress, and her endless flow of pink hair.

Nothing. I pressed a button on my gauntlet and opened my transmitter.

"Rose? It's me, Yellow Quartz. Just in case you forgot, we kind of have to leave for the meeting center. Now. If you're not out here in two minutes, I'll—"

"Come on, Yelly, you and I both know you won't leave me behind."

I subconsciously ran a hand through my hair as I heard the cruiser door to my right click open, the form of my best friend filing into the passenger seat. I activated the cruiser and placed my fingers on the control panel, the vehicle quickly gaining speed as I activated the ignition.

"Sorry it took me so long," she said after a few moments. "I was just... thinking."

"Thinking? About what?" I didn't move my gaze from the screens in front of me. "You aren't nervous, are you?"

"No, not really... well, maybe a little. I mean, this chance doesn't happen very often. Think about it: TWO members of the board, impeached at the same time? And you know as well as I do whenever someone's impeached from the board, they don't manufacture a new gem. They bring someone up."

"And changes in your role are extraordinarily rare for us here on Homeworld. I know that. What are you trying to say?"

I could see Rose look out the side window from the corner of my eye, her lungs releasing a small sigh. "And, well... we were among the few gems hand picked for the application process. Us. Think about that for a second. How can you NOT be nervous?"

"You do bring up a good point," I said, nodding my head. "But still, we've been stuck in the same few roles for millennia now. Commanding tiny brigades, plotting small scale attacks on enemy fortifications, stuff like that. This is finally our chance to be something more... hopefully."

"I guess... but that doesn't change the fact it's just a little nerve wracking. But what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you nervous?"

"No."

Rose laughed. As soon as the sound escaped her lips, I couldn't help myself. I smiled. It was wonderful.

It was always wonderful.

"Well, you always have been a bit of a blunt one, Yelly. Thanks for the encouragement, though, now I'm just as brave as you!" She leaned back in her seat as she spoke, sarcasm dripping from her voice. I finally looked away from the screens and turned my attention to her.

"Well sorry, Rose, but you know—"

"Yeah yeah, you're not the best source of encouragement. You've told me this more than once." A small smile graced her lips as she looked away from the passenger side window and towards me. "But even so... you remember what we promised, didn't we?"

I slowly nodded, my mind running through the vow we sealed to each other when this journey began. "Of course. No matter WHAT happens—whether it's only one of us, both, or neither—we'll stick by each other. Always."

Rose nodded as well. Her smile didn't fade an inch as she held out her hand for me. I moved my hand and tightly clutched it, before quickly letting go to reassume control of the vehicle.

It wasn't necessary. I saw our destination was coming up just ahead. I brought the cruiser to a stop.

"Well... here we go."

"You've been accepted. Effective immediately."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I almost wanted to burst out with joy, right in front of my superior... oh, excuse me. Right in front of my equal. But I held my tongue. I slowly nodded, once.

"Very good." She smiled, clapping her hands together twice. "You will report here tomorrow for preparation, at this exact time. You are dismissed."

I nodded once again. I spun around on my heel to exit the enormous, ornate double doors of Blue Diamond's office, reaching up to what felt like the infinite beyond. I could hear them hum as they closed behind me, my echoing footsteps in the corridor providing the only refuge from the repetitive sound.

My ears faintly registered a small clicking noise. The doors had shut.

I sprinted as fast as I could. As I reached the end of the hallway, I burst into the central chamber of the complex, heavily panting as my eyes furiously scanned the room. Rose and I were the only ones.

"Well?" she asked as she stood up from her seat, her eyes wide with anticipation. "Did you get it? Have you been accepted?!"

I hesitated, too lost in the moment to make a move. My mind began to scream at myself: "C'mon, let's GO! TELL HER! GO!"

I smiled. My heart soared as I say her eyes light up.

"YES!"

It was timed almost perfectly. With flawless synchronization, we ran from our opposite ends of the room to meet each other. Without a single idea of stopping, we both collided head on, our arms locking us in a tight embrace as we fell to the floor. I could hear Rose laughing as she picked me up from the ground, spinning me around with her great strength.

I started to laugh too.

"YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT!" she yelled as she continued to revolve around on the spot. My laughing only intensified as I lightly hit her shoulders, squirming in her powerful arms.

"YES, YES! I KNOW, I KNOW—ROSE, PLEASE! PUT ME DOWN!"

Luckily for my vastly distorted senses, she did as I asked, gently setting me down on my feet as she stopped twirling at last. I could barely focus on anything through my dizziness, butI wasn't deterred; I immediately grabbed her in a tight hug once again, a gesture she warmly reciprocated. I rested my head on her shoulder.

For what felt like an eternity, neither of us made a sound. I couldn't find it in me to break the silence that had washed over us, and neither could she. It wasn't like either of us wanted to, though. Why risk breaking such a perfect moment?

And it was a perfect moment. Truly.

Finally, after a few minutes, hours, whatever, Rose gently pushed me away, bringing us face to face once more. She grabbed my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes.

"... Yellow Quartz—excuse me. Yellow Diamond. No matter what comes next, I want you to know just how happy I am for you. You know you deserve this more than anyone."

I wiped my eyes as I forced my gaze to the floor, hoping she wouldn't catch the tears about to fall. I took a deep breath and collected my thoughts.

It was only right there that the reality of my circumstances set in. My elation disappeared on the spot.

"But... Rose, what about you?"

"Me? What do you mean?"

I nervously fidgeted my fingers as I looked up from the floor, once again establishing eye contact with... when speaking in the terms of gem hierarchy, my inferior. A lesser rank. It was strange to think about.

"I mean, what are you going to do now? They only promoted me to a Diamond, not you. They picked someone else for the other position on the Board of Diamonds, you said it yourself. But now that we both aren't Quartz gems anymore... won't it be punishable for you to communicate with me, outside of business? I've read a few reports on punishments given by the board before... I know we made a promise, but how can we—"

Rose put a finger to my lips as she shook her head, shushing me. "Yelly, you don't need to worry about that. Everything will be fine."

"... How? How do you know?"

"Call it a hunch..." she said, a small smile creeping up on her face once again. "But don't worry about me. You have to go report to the board now."

I hesitantly nodded, once again wiping my eye with my right hand. I could see Rose nod as well through my other eye, her hands releasing their grips on my shoulders. "Now go. You definitely don't want to be late for this."

I softly laughed. So did she.

With a small sigh escaping my throat, I slowly forced myself to turn around, my face falling into a small frown as she left my sight. With my feet dragging, I trudged to the same doors I had burst through just a little while ago. It felt like ages since that moment.

I reached for the handle. Just as my fingers closed over it, I stopped.

"Rose?"

She said nothing. But I knew she was listening. I turned around one last time, her eyes meeting mine.

"... Thank you."

She smiled. So did I.

"Now then, let's discuss your new chain of command."

I solemnly nodded, as I had done so many times before, as Blue Diamond pulled up the command screen on her desk, swiping through a few files and lightly grumbling to herself. Once I was certain she couldn't see my face, however, I rolled my eyes; this is the part I had been dreading for days now, but not quite because I was nervous. Actually, that wasn't it at all.

"Yeah yeah, picking a few gems I don't even know to do a couple jobs I'll probably end up doing myself... let's just get this over with," I thought. I silently tapped my foot as I absentmindedly ran my finger over my new gem, embedded in my chest just a few days ago to replace the old. My new diamond.

I couldn't stop myself from frowning at the contact. Having a gem transfer was a process only reserved for the elites, or for a promotion on this scale. But still, that information didn't change the fact that it felt... different. Different from what I was expecting.

Why?

"Do you have any recommendations?"

I shook my head as Blue Diamond snapped me out of my thoughts, my eyes meeting her cold gaze. I had to suppress a shiver.

"Beg your pardon?"

She sighed, impatiently tapping her finger against her knee. "Do you have any specific recommendations for gems to fill select positions under your command? If the Board of Diamonds, excluding your own vote, deems your choices appropriate, then it should be no trouble to reassign them."

My eyes nearly bulged out of my head.

"Wait... I get to PICK?!"

As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt like a fool. I wasn't having a casual conversation; no, I was speaking to Blue Diamond, commander of the Board of Diamonds, and thus all of Homeworld. Speaking in such an informal tone couldn't possibly end well for me.

She smiled. I had to blink to make sure I was seeing straight.

"Why, of course, as long as they're qualified for the position. It's been several hundred years since we've had a promotion of any kind, really, so we haven't done this in a while, but there's no time like the present. Do you have anyone in mind?"

"What's the highest position I can suggest someone for, ma'am?"

Blue Diamond squinted, a gesture that gave me the impression she was at least a little surprised by my inquiry. "Second in command. The person who holds this job aids you with nearly all of the decisions you make, although you obviously have full authority in the end. Usually, an able candidate is chosen by the board for this, so you probably shouldn't worry about it too much."

"I recommend Rose Quartz for the position."

Blue Diamond raised her eyebrows again.

The room fell silent for a few moments. I quickly wiped the side of my head to hide the sweat quickly accumulating, secretly hoping she didn't notice. The tension was quickly overwhelming me; how long could I last in this state?

Thankfully, I would never have to find out. After what felt like ages, Blue Diamond reached to her right and pressed a button, activating her screen once more. With no hesitation, she entered several commands and pulled up what appeared to be a bio.

"Let's see... Rose Quartz? I assume the one you've apparently been associated with for millennia now, according to this. Why, she was even one of the other gems who was placed in the application process for the position we've given you... it seems she made it rather deep in the selection, too. I will admit, it does look like she would be a rather strong candidate, based on her reports."

Blue Diamond pressed the power button again, the screen fading away as she turned her attention to me. "By requirement, however, I must ask you this question: why do you believe Rose Quartz would succeed in this role?"

I looked around the room. I visibly squinted, purposely adopting a thoughtful look to sell the appearance that I was thinking hard.

But I already knew what to say.

It wasn't just personal preference that drove me to pick her: it was also because I knew she was a strong leader, very much the kind to shoulder a great deal of responsibility. To be completely honest, when this process began, I thought she would have a far greater chance than myself at being appointed a Diamond.

I turned my attention to Blue Diamond. Without missing a beat, I cleared my throat.

"Rose Quartz has the strongest leadership qualities of any gem I've ever met. In both my professional and personal opinion, it would be foolish to pass her up for the position I've recommended her for."

A few moments passed. I tried to gauge what Blue Diamond was thinking about, based on her facial expressions; was she considering the reason I just gave her? Or had she already dismissed my idea?

And then, after what felt like forever, she nodded. I released my held breath.

"I see... is there anyone else?"

"I have no other recommendations."

Blue Diamond nodded again. "Very good. I will bring your report to the board, and we will meet behind closed doors. I will contact you shortly with our decision."

Now it was my turn to nod. "Thank you, ma'am," I said as I stood up, walking through the doors of her office once again.

As I heard the entrance shut behind me, I smiled. I stopped and leaned against the wall, allowing myself a deep breath. I couldn't wait to hear the verdict.

"Oh, Rose..."