"We did it!" Amethyst screamed, running over to her girlfriend. She collided with Peridot, nearly knocking her over in the process, and wrapping her in a tight hug.
Peridot chuckled in the other gem's arms. She stayed like that for a moment, feeling very accomplished and comforted. Then, pulling away to look at her, she sighed with relief. She gently cupped Amethyst's face in her hands. "I'm so glad you're okay."
Amethyst smiled. "You too."
She, Garnet, and Pearl had just defeated Malachite off the shores of Mask Island. With Steven's help (embodying one of his sentient watermelons), they had been able to defeat her. Lapis and Jasper were finally defused, and it looked like things were finally going to be okay for the team. But soon after, the Earth shook as the Cluster had begun to take its form. The Crystal Gems lost Jasper, none of them able to save her as she disappeared into the earth.
While the three were stranded on the island, Peridot and Steven drilled miles into the Earth, trying to destroy the Cluster before it was too late. But with Steven's help, the gem shards were able to bubble each other. This seemed to be enough to pacify the massive forced-fusion for the time being.
So while their respective missions had not gone completely as planned, there was still plenty to celebrate.
The two gems went in for another quick hug before Amethyst had an idea. "Wait, hold on," she told her.
Peridot eyed her curiously, then made a little surprised noise as Amethyst scooped her up off her feet and into her arms.
Amethyst held her securely, with one arm under her legs and the other supporting her upper back. She chuckled, finding Peridot to be very lightweight. She used to lifting things that were much heavier, so holding her like this was no problem.
They beamed at each other for a moment. Then, Amethyst began spinning, running around in circles, whooping and hollering with joy. Meanwhile, Peridot clung onto her neck for security while she giggled at her girlfriend's antics.
At a distance, Steven laughed as he watched them. It warmed his heart to see them both so happy. Both gems had been through much recently and had come out victorious.
He glanced over at Garnet and Pearl standing nearby. Rather than her usual stern expression, Garnet looked rather amused watching them. Pearl rolled her eyes in response to the younger gems, but found she couldn't help but smile at the cute and comical scene.
Later that evening, Peridot and Amethyst were finally able to rest after their very long and eventful day. Seated on the couch in the barn loft, the two were nestled together on the couch. Peridot had her head on Amethyst's lap. Everything was quiet and still, save for the TV glowing in the darkness.
Amethyst offered to get some of the Little Butler tapes she had stored in her room, hoping to get Peridot into the show. But the green gem had declined, preferring to watch reruns of Camp Pining Hearts instead.
Amethyst didn't mind. She always felt content with her girlfriend snuggled up to her. Rather than paying attention to the show, she gazed at Peridot, not able to get her mind off how cute she was being. She's so warm and soft, like a little kitten, or something, she thought to herself. She would have to tell Peridot about that comparison at some point. Her reaction would probably be hilarious.
As they rested like this, the purple gem's mind started to wander. The characters on Camp Pining Hearts were participating in a three-legged race. For whatever reason, this reminded her of something that happened between her and Peridot just that morning.
They had fused for the first time.
Shortly after this happened, she heard their names being called in the distance. They unfused and went off to join the others. The whole thing had happened fairly quickly, even though it felt like a long time. And after all that was going on with Malachite and the Cluster during the day, they didn't really have a chance to discuss what had happened.
Amethyst thought this was as good a time as any to talk about it, but she decided to wait until Peridot's show was over to bring it up.
By the time the credits rolled, she could tell her girlfriend was starting to doze off in her lap.
"Hey Pear," Amethyst spoke, nudging her softly. Peridot seemed to rouse a little, making a slight groan of annoyance. "Um, so are we gonna talk about it?"
Peridot opened her eyes, focusing on the screen. "Talk about what?" she responded sleepily.
"Our fusion."
It took a second for her to recall what Amethyst was talking about, but when she did, Peridot's eyes widened. She rolled over in her lap, looking up at her girlfriend wordlessly as the show's ending music continued to play in the background.
Her mind flashed back to the teal-skinned fusion they had created. Though they had been together for such a short time, being fused with Amethyst was an experience she had trouble putting into words. Together, they had been strong and powerful, everything Peridot wasn't on her own. But their fusion had been everything that Peridot was as well.
But most of all, Peridot could remember feeling completely synchronized with Amethyst. She felt the culmination of her and Amethyst's love for one another. And she had never experienced a greater feeling.
Peridot got up to face her. "It was…" she began. She carefully thought of the right word, one that would do it justice. "…amazing."
"I know, right?" Amethyst exclaimed, sitting up. "It just felt…really great! Like we were so in-tune with each other. None of my other fusions are really like that."
"They aren't?"
"Nope," Amethyst said. She thought of how she felt when fused as Opal, Alexandrite, and even Sugilite. They were all great fusions in their own ways, and she loved forming them with her teammates. But for some reason, she had never felt as nearly as stable as she did while fused with Peridot.
She tried to explain it so that Peridot would understand. "Every fusion is a little different. I guess it sorta depends on your relationship with the other gem," Amethyst said.
Peridot considered this. She didn't have much knowledge of fusions involving different types of gems. She had spent most of her life in alliance with Homeworld, where the practice of different gems fusing was unheard of.
Garnet, of course, was the most prevalent example of a fusion who came to mind. Her relationship was ideal, and probably quite similar to hers and Amethyst's, based on what little she knew about Ruby and Sapphire.
Then, she thought of Lapis and Jasper's fusion. Their relationship was based on anger and hatred, which would explain why Malachite was so dangerous. "I guess that would make sense," she replied.
There was a silence between them. Amethyst yawned and slumped back onto the couch. Peridot pondered whether or not to ask her about something she had been wondering about.
"So…what was her name?" she finally asked. She felt silly, not knowing how this process went exactly. She didn't know whether or not she was supposed to know the name of their fusion automatically, or the name was something they came up with themselves.
"Hm, I dunno," Amethyst responded. "Guess we'll have to try it again sometime and find out."
Peridot immediately perked up. It was late at night. Steven was asleep, and the others were off doing their own things. The only one nearby was Lapis, but she was still unconscious. No one was there to interrupt them. "How about right now?" she suggested.
Amethyst stretched tiredly, yawning again. "Sorry, I think I can do another fusion today."
Though she was trying to hide it, Peridot was a little let down. "Oh, I see."
Amethyst picked up on this right away. "Hey, it's okay though. We can do it again some other time," she assured her.
Peridot nodded in understanding. Amethyst looped an arm around her and hugged her closely. Then, to Peridot's surprise, she planted a small kiss on her nose. The strange look Peridot gave her afterwards was priceless, and Amethyst couldn't help but burst out laughing. Peridot, finding her laughter contagious, soon joined in as well.
Once they had settled down, Amethyst went over to the TV, picking up the next VHS tape in the pile. "Okay, you up for another episode?"
"Yes!" Peridot responded enthusiastically.
Once Amethyst put the episode in and it began to play, she joined Peridot back on the couch. They cuddled up once again, glad to be in the other's warm embrace.
Note: I hope you enjoyed this floofy first chapter. Can you tell I wrote a lot of this during the Amethyst angst arc? I wanted to make it really nice because I felt bad for my smol purble. Anyway this story will have an actual plot, I promise!