This work is only intended as a way to deposit a bunch of headcanons of what conversations or events might take place outside of Steven's perspective. It won't always be at night, contrary to what the title might suggest (but I still really like the title so I left it as is).

"The Temple is new."

Pearl looked up from her quiet meditation on the beach to see a forlorn-looking Bismuth over her shoulder.

"Relatively, yes. It's actually about three-hundred years old." -she replied, rising from her lotus position.

Bismuth nodded. "Fooled me. It's very well sculpted."

Pearl looked at the broken hands protruding from the sand. "I'll take your word for it." -she said wryly.

"Rose make it?"

The sword-wielding Gem shook her head. "Goodness, no. Rose was not nearly egocentric enough for that. No, it was a human who decided to have it made. The one who founded Beach City, William Dewey."

Bismuth frowned. "Why would a human sculpt a Gem fusion?"

"Captain Dewey was old and half-crazed by the time he had the Temple sculpted around our base. Still, he remembered the time that fusion saved his life. Beach City exists because of her, really."

The blacksmith chuckled. "Heh. Crazy meatbag. So who is she? I don't think we ever met."

The former servant stared at the oval gemstone on the statue's forehead. "She never had a name. She only ever existed once, and there were more pressing concerns in her mind at the time than something as trivial as figuring out how to be called."

Bismuth frowned, but nodded in acceptance. "So, Rose, Garnet, Amethyst and you, huh?"

Pearl nodded carefully. "That's right."

"Five Gems...that's huge. I only ever saw three at most. Is she to scale?" -she asked.

"I keep forgetting Sardonyx's age." -Pearl hummed amusedly. "She was quite large, though not quite as tall as the Temple. Powerful. Intoxicating. Two quartzes, a fused corundum and, well, me...she could've swatted a Light Kite out of the sky if she'd wanted." -she admitted. "Not much of a talker, though. Alexandrite is a chatterbox in comparison." -she said, gesturing at the Temple.

Bismuth whistled. "I wish I could've met her."

Pearl hummed sadly. "So do I."

The forgemaster cleared her throat. "And Steven? Could he…?"

She frowned. "...he can. He's already brought Smoky and Rainbow Quartz back. It's...different. She would be different. But that's irrelevant. She'll never exist again." -Pearl murmured resolutely.

Bismuth scoffed. "Gee, don'tcha think we might need to swat warships out of the sky soon?"

"We will, I know that. Just...not with her. It's too risky."

"She looks like she could trample a Diamond underfoot. You're not gonna take advantage of that? We're gonna need every edge we can get, the risks be damned." -Bismuth argued.

"With Peridot's know-how of Homeworld's current tactics, and your particular expertise, Garnet and I believe we now have a fighting chance that we haven't had in centuries. An 'easy' victory isn't worth the potential damage Steven might suffer, as part of her. She was not stable, and with all that power…it's a burden he's not ready for. I don't think he ever will be."

Bismuth shook her head, baffled. "Why am I not surprised to know you'd rather trust a Homeworld Gem to help than risk your precious Rose getting hurt?"

Slap!

The blacksmith felt her left cheek sting. "You...struck me?" -Bismuth asked, bewildered. Not because of the pain - Pearl was not very strong in comparison - but because Pearl wasn't the impulsive type. Hitting a friend in anger just wasn't something the Pearl she knew would do.

But then, the Pearl she knew was not exactly the Pearl in front of her now. 'Everything's changing', indeed.

Pearl was looking at her with glassy eyes that nonetheless held a fire she faintly recognized from her days as a terrifying renegade. "Steven is not Rose Quartz, Bismuth, and it's about time you understand that. Rose wronged you, it's true. She did many things that we never quite understood - that we may never understand, now. But Steven has done nothing to you. You are stuck in your grudge, and while that is understandable, it is not acceptable. We are Crystal Gems; we rebelled to protect life - humans and Gems alike - from the cruelty of Homeworld. We are not killers, we are not soldiers, and our fusions are most certainly not war machines to be thrown at our enemies. What we are is rebels, guardians who have chosen to protect life, love, and peace. If you cannot even try and see things in this way, to figure out why all of us, from Peridot to Garnet, would be willing to die for what and who we believe in, then perhaps you should ponder what being a Crystal Gem actually means for you."

Pearl left with her head held up high, leaving a shocked Bismuth to stare up at the Temple fusion. A part of Bismuth, the one that had seen friends shattered at the hands of the Authority, wanted to lash out and deface what was left of the human creation - a monument, in her opinion, to the failure and ultimate futility of Rose's Rebellion.

Grand as it was, that fusion had been formed by all the survivors of the war.

But, Bismuth supposed, there was also the side of her that felt pride when looking at the Temple. Of her friends, of the new recruits...of Steven, too, if she were to be honest. So young, and yet, so much potential. Wrong of her as it might have been, not many Gems could survive a fight with her, let alone win. And the fact that she'd managed to convince those Homeworld Gems to join him...that they would willingly die to protect him, without any of Rose's deceit and manipulation…

That part, at least, knew Pearl was right. All she had known for so long had been war…she almost felt unable to see the beauty she'd once fought to protect.

She would never quite stop wishing ill upon the Homeworld upper crusts. The hatred was too deeply ingrained. But maybe it wasn't about letting go of it. Maybe she could hate the Diamonds, and still love her fellow Gems as she once had. Before the twilight of the war, before the destruction had driven her to her breaking point...she'd wanted to free every Gem from the Authority's tyranny, hadn't she?

And it could work, she knew. Rose had once proven that, and Steven only improved in doing so. The peridot, the lapis lazuli...even the jasper had been convinced to fight for Earth.

So why couldn't she? If for nothing else than proving a point to the new recruits, Bismuth, for the first time since reforming in the Burning Room, felt compelled to try.

I'm not sure when Bismuth was let out in the canon of this story, but I can't imagine she'd have stayed in the Burning Room for too long. (Looking at you, actual canon, what gives? Gimme more Bismuth goodness!)