Mowed grass stretched from horizon to horizon on a cloudless day, not even a sun to contrast the sky.
She was back on Homeworld, back before to once it was.
A gentle breeze billowed her skirt as she walked, her destination unknown. She had no idea why she was here, or how, but she paid no mind and just walked. No mind. No,... knowing, no,... quiet. She heard voices, echoing across the field, voices of those she knew, and those she once knew. A deep Growl bellowed in her ear, making her turn.
Nothing.
There was nothing. She stood in place, trying to steady herself. The voices,... stopped. There was quiet again, the crunching of the grass below her bare feet, and the lapping of her skirt in the breeze was her quiet. She continued.
What she saw next was unexpected. There was Jamie,... Steven, and Connie. They were seated on the ground, beneath them was a checkered blanket. They were laughing, talking, enjoying,... enjoying what? She didn't know. With a flare of relief she made her way to them.
Not a sound from her changed anything, they still laughed, they still talked, they still enjoyed-. Right before her they started to fade. Stevens' smile stilled on his face as he disappeared from the head down. Connie sat motionless like a statue, looking down at her hands as if in contemplation, then she vanished. Jamie buried his head in his knees. He was still there. Lapis stepped to him, steady on her feet, waiting,... for something to happen, but why? What is going on? Why is this happening? Where is she?!
"Jamie?" He didn't move. He didn't speak. She felt the breeze getting stronger, and colder, sweeping grass into the air. She reached out to him, her small frame shivering. When her hand was but an inch away, he turned to her. His face was not his own,... It was Malachites'.
Its wailing howl was of many voices, and screams. It had no eyes. Water gushed from its four empty sockets. With a scream, lapis finally ran away.
Her long strides stopped short when her feet were forced still onto the ground. Malachites' water was rising, and held the blue gem in place, slowly engulfing her. The world around her was flooding, from horizon to horizon the water rose. Her legs, her waist, her neck, and then her head was fully submerged.
She freed herself from the newly made seabed, and made all haste to the surface. What she had hoped to be a way out was instead a barrier that kept her in the water, and no further. It was like glass, just as smooth but not as delicate if not delicate at all. She slammed her small fists against it again and again. She stopped, but only to see through it.
She saw the crystal temple, before steven. She remembers this, the cave interior, the crystal framed warp-pad, The only door. The picture moved, the angles changed in disorienting ways. There can only be one reason for this.
"Garnet, look at this." That voice.
"What is it?" ...No
"I found it at the galaxy warp, just sitting there." No Please!
She saw them. She saw them for the first time. "It has a gem in it, what should we do?"
No no no no no no please NO! "If this is from Homeworld, we can't take any risks,... put it away, it will be of use only when necessary."
Lapis' screams where mute, no one heard her as she was being carried away, never to be seen again.
Lapis awoke, gasping for breathe. The window to her right was wide open from the nighttime fall wind. She climbed out of bed and closed it. Shivers wracked her petite body. She took a fluffy blue bathrobe from a nearby hook, and cozied herself into it.
She looked over at jamie. He shifted at his bedside, groaning in his slumber. She could not bear to wake him at this time. She felt it best to leave the room, to calm her nerves and ease her burdens.
Jamie saw her. Through his tired eyes he saw her silhouette as it quietly made it's way through the bedroom door. "Lapis?" She stood still the moment she heard his voice. He sat up and turned on the lamp at his nightstand. "Lapis, what's going on?" Slowly she turned to him, "Oh, nothing, I just need to walk around really." Hesitation lightly treaded her voice. "You should sleep, you have a play to write after all."
He could tell she was in distress. She was his wife after all. He knew of her night terrors, and how she wished not to speak of them, It was painful for her relive those horrid memories every time. Before she had a chance to leave, he stood from his bed. "I know what this is about." Nothing but concern in his tone at that moment. "Lapis, you don't have to talk about it, just,... j-just remember that whatever it is, would relieve you of these burdens, I would do whatever I can to give it to you."
She couldn't stop her tears. He was one of a kind, and one of very few who couldn't bare to see her so broken. Which is why she fell into his arms, "Please,... hold me." He didn't need to be told twice. He let her pour out all her grief onto his chest, as he carried her to bed, holding her as close as possible.