So it appears that Steven and the others have rescued Lazuli. I wonder, what does that mean for me? Will she be living with me at the barn?
I'm certain with my advanced communication skills, I can befriend Lazuli as quick as possible.
"And then I'll say, hey as one refugee to another it isn't so bad that we can never go back to Homeworld again, am I right? Why don't we watch the sun come up and figure out what we're going to do with all this time, aye Lazuli?"
I recorded my tape recorder. It was time I discussed how I was gonna make amends with her.
"And then she'll say- yes Peridot as impressed as I was with you on the ship, I am even more impressed with your new compact look and capacity for friendship! I'm so glad we're going to be living together!" I finish proudly. This was already in motion.
"Peridot Facet 5." I say shutting off the Recorder.
"Let's begin" I say ready to start the bonding session.
"This isn't gonna work..." The Lazuli states blankly. Wait... what?
"Wait what...?"
"What's wrong Lapis?" Steven asks.
"I really thought I'd be living alone here." I heard her whisper to Steven.
Why would she want to be alone?
"I know.. but this is even better!" Steven said as enthusiastic as always.
ahh yes, the Quartz child was always very optimistic.
"Here how about this! I saw this on an episode of a TV Show once, I didn't see how it ended but I'm sure it worked out great!" Steven said grabbing a purple marking instrument.
"We'll divide this place in half, so you'll have your own space! High ceilings, real wood floors, convenient location in the heart of the country. So what do you think roomies?" Steven said after finished marking the floor with the purple marking device.
I looked at Lazuli and then back at Steven. Aha! This child had a good plan after all!
"I like the cut of your gem Steven Quartz!" I say in acceptance.
"No. No way!" Lazuli says looking down at me in anger.
What?! What is her deal? She's got all the good stuff on her side anyway!
"What's the problem? You're the one getting all the good stuff!" I say. "You've got the propeller and paint cans on your side! You can do tons with those!" I explain.
Actually... now that I think about I kinda what those.
"Ohhh actually I kinda want the paint cans, you wanna trade something?" I ask her.
"I don't care about paint cans, that's not the problem" Lazuli says.
She doesn't care about it? Then what is her issue?!
"What's wrong Lapis?" Steven asks.
"It's her!" She looks at me in disgust.
Wh-what? Me?!
I shrink defensively. What? How could she say that?!
"She's the problem, I can't stand the thought of having to look at her every day... she's the one who dragged me back to earth" Lapis says in frustration.
Hey slow down! That wasn't my idea in the first place!
"Hey, it wasn't MY Idea... I was headed to earth and I needed an informant. It should have been a simple mission, things didn't exactly work out for either of us." I explain.
Lapis turns around at me in fury. "You used me like everyone else did!" She barks back.
"But it's not like that anymore... it's different now, I'm different!" I say. Really.. I have changed! I am different!
"It's true Lapis! Peridot has really come into her own since she's been living on Earth" Steven explains to her.
If she won't listen to me, she'll listen to Steven... right?
"I sabotaged my own mission, I helped save the earth, I even yelled at yellow diamond!"
I still can't believe I did that... it was.. irresponsible. But now it's far too late.
"She's probably sending a whole fleet to find me and shatter me right now!" I say in fear.
"I'm kind of big deal, a big anti-Homeworld deal!" I say. I can already image the wanted posters with my face on them!
Lapis glared and turned to Steven whispering.
"Steven I don't think this is gonna work..." she whispered.
Uh! Come on! Give me a chance!
"Uh umm... how about we put up a curtain or something?" Steven says in desperation for us to get along.
Clearly, it's going to a take a lot more than a peaceful discussion to convince Lazuli to stay.
This was going to be annoying.
Lapis smiled at Steven and turned to the door before flying off to the large metal grain holding contraption.
Ugh. Great..
"Sorry... I thought this was gonna be okay. I forgot the last time you saw eachother... wasn't so okay" Steven says.
"That was in the past! It's not like that now! AGGHH!" I say in frustration.
"I know..." Steven replies.
But she doesn't! "But obviously she doesn't! She's the one that needs to know! I want her to understand!" I say. She needs to understand that I've changed.
Steven looks at me with a passionate expression.
"Aww Peridot that's sweet! That's the 'you' you need to show her!" He says.
What? The sweet side of me? "Show her my 'sweet'?" I ask confused.
"I gotcha!" Steven says winking. "Now come on" he gestures for me to follow him.
He grabs some sort of coloring devices from a shelf. He explains to me that this is for a special thing to give to Lazuli... Do humans enjoy using colored sticks to create visual images?
"Here!" Steven says opening up a large fold of paper.
"Cards are a great way to tell someone something if you can't be face to face with them! Or if they don't wanna see your face."
Seven explains.
I'm guessing Lazuli is the second one.
"You give her a taste of the sweet version of Peridot!" Steven says.
Ugh... just thinking about my 'sweet side' makes me uncomfortable.
"Here look!" Steven says handing me the card. A picture is shown... it looks like me and Lazuli gripping fingers... except it seems he forgot to draw noses or fingers... how inaccurate.
"It's you and Lapis holding hands!" Steven says proudly.
"Where are our noses?" I ask.
"Oh that's kind of part of my style lately" he says proud of his lack of noses... for what reason? I have no idea.
"Is not having fingers also your style?" I ask.
"No I'm just bad at drawing hands" he shrugs.
"Come here" he gestures for me to sit down.
"Here's your part: write an apology inside the Lapis so she knows how sorry you were about before and that everything is okay now!" He says "if you write it from your heart, your feelings will reach her!" Steven says dramatically gripping his chest.
Ugh... really? I look at him in disgust. My 'feelings' will reach her? How pathetic.
He notices my sour expression and turns to me. "Just try to be sincere" he says.
I humm in thought... Sincere huh? How does one... communicate with true sincerity?
Alright. I walked around the barn for nearly an hour trying to think of what to say. this was harder than Steven said it out to be.
"Sorry I..." I say trying to think up what to say.
'Sorry I... interrogated you!' I think. Yes. That seems adiquate.
I finally have a fullproof idea of my apology!
"Aha!" I say finishing off the writing. Perfect!
"Yeah are you happy with it?" Steven asked me smiling.
I sit up and beam in delight. "Yes... Lazuli will be truly accepting of my apology now!" I say.
Steven chuckles. "Okay, let's go and tell her!" He says as we depart from the barn.
"Okay so I'm certain Lapis is still up there. "You can call her" Steven says.
Time to get Lazuli. "Hey Lazuli! Hey Lazuli! Hey hey Lazuli!" I yell out to get her attention.
There is no response.
"Why isn't she responding?" I ask Steven. Still waiting for the blue gem to come down.
"I'm not sure, I thought she was up there" Steven shrugged.
"Lapis, are you up there?" Steven yelled.
Finally she appears to come down from the silo.
"Yes Steven?" Lazuli says looking at Steven expectantly.
Steven then looked at me, I'm holding the card.
"Go on.." he says gesturing for me to give it to Lazuli.
"Steven did the outside and I did the inside!" I say proudly.
Lazuli glared opening up the card.
"Sorry I interrogated you. You were just full of such useful information. That's a sincere compliment- Peridot" she reads. I smile. Isn't my writing brilliant. It's honest and to the point.
She stares at me for a second in suspicion. Did I do something wrong?
Lazuli takes at glare at me for a second. She drops the card and flies back up to the silo!
What?! But... but I was the most sincerest! I don't understand!
Steven looked at me and shrugged.
"The noses, one could only conclude that it was the lack of noses!" I say. The real reason she threw down the card was because of the lack of noses! It has to be, there is no other explanation!
"It seems illogical to me that it would be any of the writing elements! It took me over an hour to compose it and I was THE most sincerest per Steven's instructions" I say recoding my log. What else?! It surely wasn't the writing.
"It could be she's just not much of a reader? How about a gift?" Steven says smiling.
"Another approach, yes! But what..?" I ask.
So Steven has suggested a Gift... hmm.
"Hmm think of things she likes!" Steven said smiling.
"Things she likes..." I repeat. What do Lapis Lazuli's like?
"Lapis Lazuli's are particually partial to water and flying" I say.
Water and flying... Water. And Flying. Hmm...
How does one incorporate both? Or one? Water... flying... water flying...
Aha!
Maybe I could create a large diving board for Lazuli so she could fly off of it and- no..
"No..." I say snapping out of the idea.
"No?..." Steven asks.
"Nuh uh..." I say. That idea was far too primitive. Think Peridot, think.
"But if!" Aha! Maybe I could invent a giant contraption that takes water and flying to a maximum level of- oh... who am I kidding!
"Yeah?" Steven says.
"Nah..." I say. Ugh. That's a bit too much.
"Yeah that'd probably be overdoing it..." Steven responds. Ugh. It really would.
We both sigh in defeat. What won't Lapis turn down?
Steven looks at me with an idea. "Water... I think you have something with that!" He says.
Hmm? Steven points to the drill hole.
Aha! "We could fill it up with water and give Lapis a nice little pool to swim in!" Steven said.
Brilliant! Yes! "Aha! That just might work!" I say.
After a few hours we managed to create the perfect water contraption.
I get inside a large rubber ring floating device and float around inside the small water hole. This is sure the bring Lazuli's attention.
"I'll go get Lapis!" Steven says excitedly.
Yes! She'll be thrilled to se what we've created!
Lapis finally arrives pulling her water wings off her vision field.
Hmm... what would Amethyst say?
"H2O ma gosh! It's a smaller than average lake!" I say. Yes. This 'cool' talk to sure to get her approval!
"It's from the hole where we drilled, Peridot and I sealed it and filled it with water" Steven explains to her.
"It's a gift for you! You know, cause water's your thing! Pretty good right? The barn's out here in the country but now you can get your moisture fix whenever! Do all that water stuff you do!"
I say proudly.
Lapis turns and looks at me in unimpressed disbelief. "Water... seriously?" She deadpanned.
"Yeah!" I say in optimism.
"You do realize that I spent the last few months trapped under the ocean right?" She asks.
Um... I remember now. Steven told me about the fusion Malachite. But... the pool surely doesn't bring back too many bad memories right?
"Sure but I thought-" I try.
"It was an endless crushing darkness" she says in a darkened tone.
Err...
"Wet and bleak and suffocating."
Um..
"Water was the tomb I lived in for those months." She finished glaring at me with no other emotion behind her eyes, only anger and darkness.
Uhh...
Oh geez... "tomb... you say?" I ask shrinking down into the rubber ring.
"Yeah. I'm kind of taking a break from water right now... but thanks. For the Lake..." she says breaking eye contact with me.
"Errr" I groan. Oh geez this was not going well at all... she- actually said that.
This was a disaster.
"Don't worry Steven, it's not your fault" she smiled at Steven calmly before turning a slight glare at me again... she really... doesn't like me...
She then flew off again.
I slowly got out of the rubber ring and paddled out of the pool.
That was... a huge failiure.
I finally lost all hope!
"A pool! What a cloddy idea!" I said walking around the barn in frustration.
"Of course she wouldn't like that! There's nothing, nothing, NOTHING!" I yell. She won't accept me! She won't even look at me without glaring! She hates me!
All for what I did... Nothing is going to work now.
She's going to hate me forever...
"There has to be something... something, something?" Steven says.
"Maybe... instead of something she likes... give her something YOU like! A piece of you!" Steven says.
Hmm... something I like?...
"Okay... what about my Camp Pining hearts DVD's?"
She would enjoy those right? At least one episode? Maybe?
"Which season?" Steven asks me suspiciously.
"Five?" I ask. There is no way I'm going to give her season 4, 3 or 2!
"Trash" he shrugs. Ugh he's right! "I know!" I say lying down in defeat.
I press the record. "Log date... whatever. Facet whatever. Ugh WHATEVER!" I say in frustration again!
"Clearly there's nothing important enough to give to Lazuli!" She won't accept me now, why would she accept me for anything I give her?!
"At least I still have you, Tape recorder" I say looking at my prized possession-
Wait a second.
I gasp in delight. This was the perfect gift! If I can't give her something she likes. I'll give her something I like! And what else is something that means more to me than my Tape Recorder?
I look at Steven. He looks back at me, we both have the same crazy idea.
"Ahah!" I yell in glee.
Steven looks at me happily. "Yeah? You got an idea?" He asked.
"Yes! I know, I'll give her my tape recorder! So she knows how much it means to me!" I say. Surely then she can learn to accept me and appreciate everything I'm doing for her!
Soon Steven and I begin wrapping the tape recorder up. A blue ribbon! Yes! Perfect! She'll love this!
"Lapis, can you come down?" Steven calls out.
She looks almost distressed. She then spots me and... let's just say, she's not impressed.
But that soon will change! I can feel it.
"Tada!" I say presenting the present for her, Steven as my back up!
I scooch a little closer. "See the ribbon is even blue!" I say.
"I gotcho number!" I wink. Amethyst's cool talk was rubbing off on me.
Lapis just stares down and doesn't make any movements.
I look over at Steven who just shrugs.
Um... maybe she doesn't know how to unwrap it?
"Uhh... Here I'll unwrap it for you" I say as I reveal the tape recorder.
"When I was stuck here, Steve gave me this tape recorder as a gift... and I didn't really get it at first, but it made me feel better, just to talk about all the weird stuff that was going on. It'll help you too!" I say handing her the tape recorder.
She grabs it still with no emotion. It's a little unnerving but perhaps she's just unsure of how to feel... I have that affect on people.
"You uhh... press the button to record and then you talk into it!" I say as she looks at it. She then presses the red button.
I smile thinking about what she could record.
I wonder... if a Lapis Lazuli had a tape recorder.. what would she record?
"I don't want... your garbage!" She says angrily and... crushes the tape recorder in her hand and just like that throws it onto the grass.
She just... she just...
Okay that's it! I can't take this anymore! What is her deal!
"Uhhhh what? Were you trapped in a tape recorder too?!" I ask fed up.
This is unbelievable! I've tried everything I could.
She looks at me in angry disbelief.
"Look... I get it you know! You're confused. You can never go back to Homeworld... THIS PLACE DOESN'T EXACTLY FEEL LIKE HOME YET" I shout.
"You're alone! No one could possibly know what that feels like... oh wait. I DO! WE'RE THE SAME! Except... you don't have to be alone!"
What does she want from me? She trashed my writing, brushed over my gift and destroyed my belongings! What more does she want? What more proof does she need?!
"So tell me then? What you want from me! And... whatever that is... ugh.. I'll do it"
What does she want? What will make her happy? What!
"I want you... TO LEAVE!" She yells.
All she wants. All she ever wanted from me is to get away. Is to leave.. to leave her and Steven.
Alone.
Fine. If that's what she wants... if that's what makes her happy... so be it.
"Okay..." I say holding in any protest I might have left in me.
Fine. She wins. Sorry Steven. I won't be a bother to her anymore.
I take no look back and keep walking away from the Barn.
This is what she wants. I glare into the distance.
She wanted this. Now it's happening.
A strange light suddenly emits through the sky.
Wait... what?...
It's a...
Oh no.
I gasp in fear as I see it right before my eyes! A roaming eye! It's here! THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE GOING TO SHATTER ME!
AS IF THIS DAY COULDN'T GET ANY WORSE!
I scream and run, oh Stars of stars! Now I need help more than ever!
I run past Lapis and Steven yelling "THEY'RE HERE!" Into the barn quickly!
No. This can't be happening! Not now!
"What is that thing?!" Steven asks me in fear.
"It's a roaming eye, a Homeworld tracking vessel I told you I'm public enemy number one!" I say. I can hear it hovering over us.
Oh god!
The light starts seeping in from over the roof.
"Eee-" I almost scream, I cover my mouth shaking. They can't know I'm here.
Steven looks at me seriously. Lapis looks down irritably. Okay... calm down...
Calm down...
the light disappears. Steven and I sigh in relief.
Suddenly the light becomes brighter as the roaming eye looks though the hole in the wall.
No. I knew I should've fixed it sooner! Oh NO!
All three of us run out of the barn! They're coming for me!
The roaming eye flies over us and shines it light on us...
On me.
Oh no... sweat is heading down my face, I'm freaking out right now, the red eye begins to emit a red light on me. I'm doomed for certain!
"This is it Steven! They're going to wipe my precious grin off the face of this planet!" I whine gripping tightly onto the boy.
I'll be shattered for sure...
"Stay behind me I'll protect you!" Steven says defensively.
I don't think even he can help me now... they found me... and now it's only a matter of time before they take me back and destroy my gem!
Lapis stands out in front of Steven.
Wha-what is she doing?...
She turns to me in a glare. I know she hates me... b-but why is she standing in front of me?
A giant water hand erupts from the pool, the roaming eye speeds up and Lapis flicks it with her water hand, then after being flung out in the air she casually slams it into the ground as it creates a diamond pattern across the grass. The roaming eye in inactive... for now.
Holy smokes... that was intense.
"Hole smokes" I say in shock.
"Steven!" Pearl runs out with the other gems only to find us. "Holy smokes!" Amethyst exclaimed. "Are you alright? We saw the ship and came as fast as we could!" Pearl said.
"Yeah I'm okay... Lapis saved us. But... it looks like Homeworld really has it out for Peridot"
Eeep! It's all my fault...
Oh geez... I should probably get out of here before I...
"Peridot" Lapis says.
Ah! She's talking to me... is-is she gonna hurt me? Is s-she gonna throw me into the ground?... I'm afraid!
I turn around nervously awaiting some kind of punishment.
"Are you okay?" She asks.
Did. She. Just.
Oh my stars... she didn't hit me... she-she asked if I was.. okay.
Has she finally accepted me? Is this the beginning of our friendship?
Is this real?
I giggle and smile up at her. She was kind to me for once! She asked if I was okay!
"Um..." she turns away, I can see her face turning a little darker than usual. But that doesn't concern me right now! She was worried about me!
She actually cared!
Suddenly everyone gasps and turns to see the door of the roaming eye open.
Oh no...
This wasn't over yet? Was it?
A Ruby is shown... with her gem on her eye...
I am totally dead.