Thanks for the Memories.
Vignette set early in their relationship.
The gems were finally able to step through the door to Rose's temple. When they walked into the room of clouds a scene of horror met them.
Rose sat on the ground near the bed, Greg propped up, arms folded, face peaceful. Blood streaked down his arm on the right side, drying fast to his skin.
Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst stopped short of the bed. Amethyst stared at Greg in horror, eyes watering. Pearl was more focused on Rose than on Greg, but her eyes kept glancing at his still form on the bed. Garnet was the first to step up. Quietly she squated down next to their leader and placed her hand on her shoulder.
Rose did not even look up. Instead she spoke, her voice distant and choked with dried tears.
"They didn't work. They didn't work. How could they not have worked?" Her voice grew, until she looked up at the other gems, eyes wide and lost. "How could my tears not work!? They always work!"
She grabbed at Garnet, clinging to her desperately. "Greg..." Tears formed in her eyes, spilling down her face. Rose's face contorted into a mask of grief.
Garnet had no idea what to do. They had never seen their great leader so lost. So broken. The last time she had been distraught was just after their victory against the homeworld. All of those gems lost, human's losing their lives in the process. It was all too much for the compassionate and loving Rose. She had broken down in front of the two remaining gems.
Yet this was worse. During that time Rose had simply slumped to the floor and cried silently. This, this though was worse. All hope was gone from her eyes, both of them wide and scared. All of the Gems began to grow frightened. They had never seen her this way.
"Greg is...was a human." Garnet swallowed her fear and talked to the sobbing woman. "Maybe you were not meant to save him."
"Ye...yes." Pearl agreed, finally coming toward her and placing one slim hand on the woman's arm. "Rose, maybe he was meant to die."
When she looked up at them, anything else they had to say stuck in their throats. Rose was angry. In fact she was the angriest they had ever seen. Pearl ripped her hand from Rose's arm, and Garnet fell on her butt before her. Never in the millenia they had spent with her had her anger ever been directed at them.
"DO. NOT. SAY. THAT." She clenched her teeth, tears still pouring down her face. She stood, her fingers pointing at the others. Pearl and Garnet had backed away, their eyes not leaving their leaders face. Amethyst had hidden beside the bed, her face behind her knees as she gripped her hair. She had never seen them fight like this before, and of all the Gems she had been the second closest to Greg.
"He was meant to live!" Rose now pointed at Greg. "He was! He was meant to live a long and happy life..." Her face crumbled, the anger fading fast. "with me." A crack ran through her voice. Rose turned toward the bed, a trembling hand brushing a stray lock of hair from his face. She flinched when she felt how cold he was becoming.
"What can we do?" Garnet asked, standing at the end of the bed. She too looked at Greg. It was unnerving to see him like that. The wound would have been only superfical to a gem, but puncturing the chest of a human was serious business. It had not taken long for him to bleed out. Blood trailed them from the beach all the way through the temple. Rose had locked herself in the room for an hour, tending to his wound and trying to heal him.
A small puddle had formed on one side of the bed, dripping off of the cloud forms and onto the floor. It had been too much blood lost.
Rose wrapped her hand over both of his, willing the warmth to come back to him.
Rose had run as fast as she could, Greg wrapped in her arms. His blood flowed over her arms and stained the white dress she wore. She paid it no mind. Instead her only thought had been of getting Greg into her temple and healing him. She wanted this more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.
The other gems ran behind, following her trail.
It was not meant to be like this. The corrupted gem was a bit stronger than they thought. Up and down the beach they had fought it, the large spiked creature fighting for each inch they took from it. She had not expected Greg to stumble on the scene. Over one of the beach's dune he wandered, guitar strapped on his back and his usual goofy grin plastered to his face. He looked like he had just written a new song.
The grin left his face the second he saw the gems battling the gigantic beast. Rose saw him, and in a moment of distraction the monster pierced her arm with a shard. A grunt of pain escaped her and her sheild dropped. Above the roar of the monster she heard him yell her name.
"Rose!" Turning to look, she narrowly missed another spike of the creatures arm. Caught off balance she toppled over on her back. The other gems were wrapped up in keeping the monster from killing them and could not rush to help as they usually did. Looking right at her, the cirrupted gem leaned in closer. Desperately she tried to regenerate her sheild. Though she still had her sword, the spikes of this particular monster made it hard to stab or cut. It loomed over her, one of its many arms rising above its head to strike her down. In defense she pointed her sword at the creature, trying to keep it a bit at bay.
"Get away from her!" A voice yelled, and suddenly the creature was hit with a guitar. It broke on contact with it's skin. Rose looked at her rescuer. Greg stood there, legs wide apart, his broken guitar in his hands. A fire was in his eyes, his breathing ragged.
The gem looked about, finally settling its six eyes on Greg.
"Get out of here!" Rose yelled, thrusting at the gem only to have it's arm catch her sword and send it flying. Realizing what he had done, Greg dropped the guitar neck he still hung onto and scattered off in the sand. Rose jumped to her feet, her sheild flickering to life. Back the monster pushed her. Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst called for her, but were met with the things many flailing arms.
"I'm ok!" she yelled back at them. "Try to find out how to beat it!"
They were quiet for a minute, then Garnet hollered back about piercing the things heart. A deep green glowed in the creatures middle. As Rose blocked the things blows she kept moving backwards. If only she knew where her sword was. From where she stood there was a direct shot at it's heart. But she was without her sword and from the strength of the creature that sword could be anywhere.
Well...not anywhere. As she stepped back, she hit a rock she had not seen sitting there in the sand. Panic seized her for a split second before a familiar voice rang out.
"Rose! Catch!" Not too far from her side Greg tossed her sword with all his might. She watched as it soared toward her, not noticing the arm flying through the arm. With a leap forward she snatched it from the air and in one thrust shoved the sword into the creatures chest. It let out a huge, ear peircing scream. Over the noise it made, she did not hear the sick thunk of flesh and bone.
The other Gems came around it, the second it disappeared Garnet bubbled it to make sure it did not reform. Once the glow had faded from around them, Amethyst screamed. Rose followed her gaze, and felt like joining her.
Greg knelt in the sand, blood pouring from his chest. When the gem had disappeared the spike that had gone through him also went, taking the only thing stopping the blood. His eyes were wide, one hand looking at the blood on his hands.
"Ow." was all he said, looking at them gems before falling over into the sand.
She had scooped him up, and now was skidding her way into the temple. Past the warp pad she ran, and straight into her room. The door shut and locked behind her. She did not want the other gems in there distracting her. It was imperative she keep her focus on Greg.
Quickly she summoned the bed, not even bothering to make it look normal. Instead it was jst a mass of clouds. She lay him on it, the change of sensation causing him to crack an eye.
"Rose?" His voice was hoarse and weak. How much blood had he lost on the beach? How much blood did humans have anyway? She leaned over him, tearing his shirt off.
"Are you ok?" Rose stopped what she was doing and looked at him. Here he was with a gaping hole in his chest and he was asking about her?
"Don't talk Greg. Let me heal this first." She looked at the hole, and summoned some tears. It was not hard. They were already beginning to fall. The first few drops hit the wound, and she waited for the light that would show she had fixed him. But it did not come.
"Rose, talk to me." He put a bloody hand on her cheek. By now the tears were falling fast, but they did nothing against the wound. She looked at him, seeing the blood running from his mouth as he struggled to breath.
"Why greg? Why did you do that?" she whispered, putting her hand over his.
"You were in danger. What kind of man would I be if I let the love of my life get hurt?" He smiled, then coughed violently, droplets of blood coming from his mouth. Rose reformed the bed so he was sitting up. It may not help with the blood loss but it did help his breathing a bit.
"The...the love of your life?" Rose whispered, reaching out to wipe the blood from his mouth.
"Yeah." he smiled again. His voice was getting weaker by the second.
Rose held his hand, willing her tears to reform his chest. To make this wonderfully caring man whole again. She tore the shirt farther down, almost ripping it in two.
"Wow. Before this I'd have given anything to have you do that." Greg joked. Rose did not really get his joke, but instead poured her heart and soul into her healing powers. Still they did nothing.
"Rose?" Greg whispered, his eyes fluttering closed.
"Greg! Greg Universe you stay with me!" Rose panicked, trying to figure out why she couldn't heal him. She could heal everything except corrupt gems, why wasn't this working? He smiled at her, eyes slowly shutting.
"Thanks for the memories." His voice was barely audible.
The hand on her cheek loosened beneath her own hand, and grew limp.
"Greg?" the whisper broke from her lips. He did not respond, the chest beneath her fingertips having stilled to nothing.
The smile was still on his lips, eyes shut peacefully. A small trickle of blood ran down his chin from his lips, and she cleaned it away. Doing as she had seen humans do for thousands of years, Rose crossed his arms over his chest.
It hit her hard then. She had not been able to save him. He had called her the love of his life and now he lay dead in her temple. Dead.
She dropped to her knees on the floor next to him. She felt cold. For the first time in a long time, she felt cold.
"Your tears did not work?" Garnet stood nearer to Rose. Her earlier anger had gone and now was just the sadness.
"No." Rose quietly.
"They always work, especially on organic life." Pearl now came to kneel down next to her.
"I know. But I failed him." Again she ran a hand down his face, thumb stopping over his mouth. " He said he loved me."
The other gems gasped, Pearl clutching the bed tightly. "He did?"
"Just before he died. Called me the love of his life."
Garnet, who understood love more than the other gems ever did smiled sadly. "Do you love him back?"
"Yes." the answer made Pearl clutch at her chest, but she did not say anything. Rose did not notice, she was too lost staring at Greg's face.
"Then the tears should have worked." Pearl's voice was tight, but there.
All of them were silent for a moment, letting Rose continue to stare at Greg while they thought it through.
Finally Amethyst spoke up, her voice raw. "Rose, there is something in his chest."
Rose looked down, seeing something blood coated but definitely not organic in there. Steeling herself she put two fingers into the wound and dug around a little bit. A second later she brought out what it was. A shard of the Creature had lodged itself into his chest and escaped with him.
"That was why..." she trailed off. The only thing she could not heal was corrupted gems. With this lodged in his chest, it was no wonder her tears had not worked.
"Greg!" She cried, the tears flowing down her face once more. They fell on the wound, making it glow as his body fixed itself. He had not been dead long.
"Wake up." Rose, hugged him tightly, willing with all her might for this to have worked. For her not to have been too late.
They waited a few moments, starting to think that it had not worked when Greg coughed lightly. "Rose, I love being in your arms but I also like breathing."
Rose took him in both hands and drew his face to hers, planting kisses all over his lips. He shut his eyes and followed suit, wrapping his arms around her neck.
"Whoa! One second!" he pulled back, putting his hand to his chest. When it came back clean, he looked at them all. "Wasn't I dead?"
"Yes." Garnet leaned down to him, and smiled. "But you aren't now. Just focus on that."
His face dropped, and one eye twitched lightly. " Ok then..." Alien magic rock stuff he guessed. He was just thankful he was alive...again.
A sniff drew him to the large woman staring at him. Her eyes sparkled with tears.
"Oh, Rosie." Greg leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "No more tears ok?"
Pearl gritted her teeth. Though she was glad that Greg was not dead, she was not happy that this was love. Not happy at all. "Her tears are what saved you."
"Really?!" he stared at Rose. She nodded, still trying to get her emotions under control. "Oh man!" he muttered, kissing her again. "Didn't I pick a special lady to love." Greg grinned at her.
Rose threw herself into Greg's arms, whispering things into his neck the other gems could not hear.
A sad smile crossed his face as he kissed her hair. " I know Rose. I love you too."
Garnet guided the other gems from the room. They were not needed there at that moment. It belonged to those two. As they went through the temple doors, Garnet heard Greg laugh and say "Is there anyway I can wash this blood off first? If we hug anymore I am going to turn your hair red."
Rose giggling followed them as the door shut behind them.
Rewatched the episode of Charmed where Leo dies, and Piper's healing tears brought this story about.
Please read and review.