The Infinity Link: Chronicle of a Teardrop

Five Thousand Years is a Long Time

A/N: The recommended reading order for The Infinity Link is: read up to chapter 17 of my other story, The Infinity Link: Bonded by Fate, then read the rest in whichever order you like. The story splits in two at that point, following both Connie and Lapis on homeworld and Earth respectively. .

After ch 17, it was written every-other chapter (Written chapter one here, chapter 18 there, chapter 2 here, etc.), but until they merge again, they're essentially separate stories, set in the same universe. So long as you read up to ch 17 in the other one, you'll be fine to read the rest of these stories in whatever order you want.

If you choose to ignore my warnings, feel free to read this story on its own merits, I tried to make it okay for newcomers, but beware: Spoilers for Bonded by Fate come quickly. Like, in the first two or so paragraphs. After you read this one, I hope you like my writing style and choose to read the other half to see how we got here! Or you could choose to only read this one and be a little bit confused, I guess that's an option, too. I would just suggest reading both so you understand what's going on. Because this isn't quite the Lapis from the show, and it might be a bit confusing.

Also, this fic will update weekly, but the other will as well, so if you follow both, you'll get double the content each week. And hey, if you do ignore my warnings and this one first anyway, and if you like my writing style, I have a good 85K word and growing story to read!

And for those coming from Bonded by Fate already, welcome back! Hope you enjoy this one. I promise, my quality will stay as high as the other one.

My name is Lapis Lazuli, and I am a traitor. I'm not a traitor to homeworld, but a traitor to Steven and Connie. That thought and ones like it repeat over and over again in my head as I fly my way towards homeworld. I know where I'm going. I've seen these stars so many times, I know exactly where to go. But it's a long journey getting there.

I don't know exactly how long I've been flying. I don't mind that it's been a while. I learned a lot of patience when I was trapped in that mirror for all those years.

I was still sad for leaving earth. Was it just Stockholm syndrome? I could say that, but it wouldn't be true. It was all those two kids. The sweetest beings in the cosmos.

Connie had her hand cut off, for crying out loud, and she was up and smiling within 5 minutes. How do they do it? Maybe it's their gem bond, the mysterious force that occasionally links two gems, or I guess in their case a half-gem and a human. From my experience, more often than not, it just pulls powers out of nowhere and the two of them win whatever situation they're in. I'm going to have to research that when I finally reach homeworld. After, of course, I find a way to revive Lappi.

She was my partner for a thousand years before we got trapped on that godforsaken planet together. But now she's corrupted… she's the main reason I left for homeworld in the first place. Maybe homeworld has a way to somehow uncorrupt gems.

But that's all for when I reach homeworld. Because it's still so far away. I don't remember much from my time before being a mirror. I don't even remember how far away homeworld is. I'm starting to remember some stuff, but it's only in bits and pieces. One of them was not how far away homeworld was. It could take a few hours, it could take a few days, it could take a few years.

*Sigh* This was going to take a while. Why couldn't my stay on earth have ended on a high note to remember? I just had to abandon the two of them. I don't even know if Connie's going to be okay when they unfuse. Will Connie even get her hand back at all? And yet I didn't even stay to check. I didn't even stay to say goodbye! I just left a stupid note. Would have been so hard to just say goodbye to them?

I guess it didn't matter. It was too late, anyways. I had made my choice. I was going to go to homeworld, it was my best chance at helping Lappi.

I flew for a long time. I miss the times when it was the two of us. Now, there was just silence. Yes, I knew I could use one of my many strategies for blocking out the world. And I had a lot of them. Being a mirror for so long gives you a tolerance for waiting. If I wanted, I could make days pass in the blink of an eye.

But I wasn't going to block out the world, not now. I was a mirror no longer, and I had senses other that hearing and sight. And I'm wasn't going to give them away just yet. It wasn't worth it.

So I flew, fully thinking the whole way. I'd rather beat myself up about running away than not think about it at all.

The star was getting closer, now. I was close enough I could see a change in the brightness. Finally, not too much longer. I wish I had one of those things that humans started wearing on their wrists that had little clocks on them. I remembered my stray thought five thousand years ago that was brought with the rest of my memory: why were Lapises given the capability to fly? The honest answer is probably just so they took up less spaceships.

And before I knew it, I was there. It was only another hour or so after I had noticed it was getting brighter at all. I was amazed at how fast I could fly. How long had I been flying for? Maybe a few days, max? I thought it was closer to just one earth day! Unless time stopped having meaning for me and it was actually two months, that was also a valid possibility, too. But however long it took, here I was, orbiting homeworld. Or at least, a planet I thought was homeworld. Even from outer space, it was unrecognizable from its previous state a thousand years ago.

But there were still ships streaming off it regularly, even if the ships themselves did look so different it was insane. There was still a planet made almost entirely of colored quarts, but there seemed to be what humans might call magic running through it in lines. With all the differences, I hoped Homeworld still spoke the same language! If this was still homeworld at all. What if this was just a colony or something?"

Okay, at this point, I was just stalling. Even if it was just a colony, it wouldn't matter. I could still hitch a ride to homeworld on a ship here or something. I should just land.

But I was so nervous. This was going to be the first time back. What customs might have changed? What if there were no diamonds anymore? Sure, I was alive for 1,500 years before then and not that much changed. But what do you say to the people there? Hi, boss, I was trapped in a mirror for a few thousand years. But I'm ready to work! And who would I report to? Pink Diamond was probably shattered. That Zircon didn't seem to be lying about that. Who was in charge?

I forced myself downwards, there was no use stalling any longer. As I floated down to the planet far below, I looked in awe at the surroundings. The giant silhouette in the distance. All the different buildings and monuments and I didn't recognize even one of them. What was that spire there? And what about that round building? What did the buildings do?

As I slowly flew by one unfamiliar building after another, I wasn't really sure where I was going. My wings went on muscle memory. They led me to where the space dock used to be, the path that I had done hundreds of thousands of times. And I guess with all the differences, it really was still homeworld. Because the space dock is exactly where my wings led me. It looked very different than my distant memories, of course. But there were still ships heading in and out, there was still a sign labelling it as a spacedock. So I guess the language was the same, at least. And the spacedock itself, they hadn't changed its location, even after all this time. The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?

I looked around for the landing dock for Lapises. Yes, technically, I could just land on the solid ground, but at least back when I was here, the culture said that doing it would be very impolite to do. How I feel if we landed a spacecraft on the sidewalk? Ah, good times. Still, I had no idea if that custom had changed.

I flew around for some sort of sign telling me where I was supposed to land. I really hoped that I didn't have to wait and see where other Lapises would go in so I could follow them, but I didn't see much alternative. I didn't want my first experience on this planet to get in trouble for not following guidelines. Now that there was gravity, it wasn't effortless to fly anymore, which I didn't always account for. As I circled the building, I guess I wasn't watching where I was flying. I was a tad bit low to the ground because of the gravity thing, too…

I flew right into another gem walking hurriedly across the ground. The two of us crashed to the ground in a tangled mess.

"I'm so sorry! I'm new around here, please excuse me," I said. It wasn't exactly accurate, but it was close enough to the truth that it shouldn't have mattered too much.

The other gem disentangled herself from me. Looking closer, she kind of looked like a Peridot? But last I remembered, they didn't have weird prosthetic limbs.

"Watch where you're flying, you clod!" she said.

I was taken aback by that term. She must have been really angry if she was willing to call me a cold of all things… "Um, I'm sorry. This is my first time being here in a long while…"

"That is no excuse. And I can guarantee you're not new here. You thought an era one gem could pull one over on me, you're wrong."

Okay, maybe the simplest answer wasn't always the best one. I said, "I'm really, really sorry. Okay, the truth is, I've been away from this planet for five thousand years, I was trapped off on another planet, and I just escaped. Can you just direct me to the landing dock for Lapises so I can get out of your hair?"

"Seriously? There is no 'landing dock' for Lapises, is this some sort of practical joke? And you expect me to buy that Pearl-brained excuse? I have half a mind to report you right now for harassment!"

"I would prefer if you didn't insult Pearls like that," I said on impulse. Wow, earth really was rubbing off on me.

She scoffed. "You're not a Pearl, are you? Why would you care about what I said about them? You should be more worried about me reporting you!"

I sighed. Right. On homeworld, no one cared about equality. I had so much time to think back on earth. On homeworld, I never questioned the mindless dismissal of some gems. But after being given so long with nothing but the thoughts in my head, I stopped caring about little things like that. Everything was so backwards, and it hadn't even changed. Why did I even want to come here again?

I grabbed my locket. Right. For Lappi.

"Look, I'm really sorry for getting in your way," I said. "And for crashing into you, that was incredibly rude. Can we just forget this happened and go our separate ways?"

The Lapis said, "Fine. But consider yourself lucky. If I didn't have anything better to do, you'd be in serious trouble."

And with that, she walked away.

She got one step before she was jerked backwards towards me.

She looked around, confused. "What just happened?" she said.

I stared at her blankly. "…you took a single step, then you jerked back," I said.

"Yes, yes, I know that," the Peridot said. "There's no need to state the obvious." She tentatively took another step backwards, and she looked like she was backing into a wall.

Her confusion suddenly turned to fear. "You. Take a step that way," she said.

Even if it was a bit rude, I did as I was told. And I saw what was happening to her. After only a single step, I practically hit against a wall. We were stuck only around 2 feet apart from one another. The Peridot's evident fear on her face deepened.

"A gem bond…" I muttered. Me and this Lapis were in a gem bond. Was it somehow contagious? It seemed way too convenient that Steven and Connie would just happen to get linked just a few weeks before me.

I should probably explain what a gem bond is. I like the term infinity link better, what Steven and Connie called it, but it would be better to use the official name. I don't know too much about it. Back before I was trapped in a mirror, they were incredibly rare. There were but two known examples before I got trapped, each forming around 100 years apart. The information was incredibly hard to come by, but it still got around. The deeper the secret is, the harder it is to cover up. What I knew was, in both instances, the gems were seemingly linked by an invisible force that kept them from walking more than a certain difference away from one another. For one, it was 217 kilometers, for the other it was only 50 feet. They didn't find a way to break a link. Oh, and sapphires couldn't see the future of those in a link. That's all the information I knew before I got trapped anyways.

I learned more about it with the two kids back at earth. When I got out, I learned that, somehow, they got bonded, even if one of them was just a human. I didn't learn much more about it before I left for homeworld, but it seemed to give them an intense sense of empathy for one another. Sometimes, it was hard to tell which of the two were speaking if I wasn't paying attention. Heck, they fused later on, and you could barely tell that it had ever been two separate people to begin with. It was kind of impressive.

Somehow, though I didn't see that happening between me and this random Peridot… Well, maybe Homeworld found a way to break a link like this in the last few hundred years.

The fact we might be stuck together for a long time was certainly troubling, but it didn't explain the Peridot's complete and utter terror.

"What did you do?" she said.

"I don't know," I said. I didn't want to bring the kids into this. "As I said, I've been off this planet for millenia. But I'm pretty sure we're in a gem bond."

"You think I don't know that? You know what, maybe I do believe you've been off this planet for as long as you say. Come on, you clod, get out of the open!" She pulled me into somewhat of a dark alleyway, but it wasn't exactly dark. Everything on homeworld was bright and colorful. She was still scared, but it was clear she was more calculating about it. "Stay close to me. Don't let anybody notice there's something weird about us."

"Wh-what? Why?" I said.

"I'll explain once we get back to my place. Come on! Someone might see us!"

Even through all the panic in her voice, she had a surprisingly calm face. I could barely even tell it wasn't how she was really feeling. I was able to copy her, but only because I had no idea what she might be so afraid of.

I walked beside her through the streets. Fortunately, we still had two feet of leeway, but it was still pretty intense. Peridot was so normal on the outside, but I knew she was still scared. What could possibly be so frightening about this that would make her act like this day might be her last? It was scarier not knowing. I started getting fearful, now.

So, I casually walked for my life. We walked through mostly shorter alleyways, staying out of sight of any gems anyways, so there was never too much danger. Those who did see us didn't really give us a second thought, just a few gems walking through, nothing suspicious at all, right? Still, anytime a gem looked up at the two of us, my heart skipped a beat.

"So far, so good…" the Peridot said.

"Could you please tell me what's going on?" I said.

"I didn't even know someone like you could be so ignorant. We need to get somewhere safer. My house is just a few more blocks."

We walked in silence for a bit. Again, we acted like nothing was wrong, yet of course it did. She was acting like our lives depended on it, which I sure didn't think was true… was it? It was just a gem bond, right?

The Peridot stopped me just before we turned a corner. "Since you clearly have amnesia or something, let me tell you: the busiest street in the city is around the corner. That's the only way we're getting to my apartment. Just keep your head down, maybe no one will question why a Lapis and a Peridot are walking together."

She began to walk around the corner, but I pulled her back. "Come on, we're safe here, we clearly have the time. Why can't we let anyone know we're in a gem bond, if that is what we think is happening? Don't say we don't have time, this is taking more time than if you just told me what was wrong."

The Peridot looked me in the eye for a few seconds. "…You really aren't playing dumb, are you? Where have you been the last three thousand years?"

"I told you, I was trapped on Earth. Er- Colony 17."

The Peridot's eyes widened. "If you truly are telling the truth, you are one lucky gem. The cluster's set to emerge in the next year or so! But anyways, that's not the point, you probably would've lasted longer there than here." She looked up and down the alley, and no one seemed to be coming. She lowered her voice ever further, and I could barely hear her. "Fine, we seem to be alone here. The law was set into place some 32 hundred years ago, without explanation, and it's one of the most enforced laws out there. Every 50 years or so, a case like it pops up."

"What rule?"

The Lapis shuddered. "Anyone caught participating in a gem bond… will be shattered." And with that, she started walking to the street she called the busiest in the city.

I struggled to keep up. "Wait! You can't just say that and walk off. You're kidding, right?"

The Peridot didn't say anything, she just kept walking. And that spoke volumes. But… who would enact such a rule? And somehow, now I had to act like nothing was wrong?

As we walked out into the main street, I didn't know what to expect. Maybe a thousand gems or so, walking or driving in gem cars across the street. But I certainly didn't expect this. There were about five levels of gems, on the ground, hovering around ten feet above it, a few more layers of varying heights, and then even some spaceships high above. When she said it would be busy, I thought she meant maybe hundreds of gems. Not thousands, or even tens of thousands.

And Lapis just walked right in without hesitation. I was jerked forwards a bit, I wasn't fast enough. We had very little leeway here.

"Watch it," she whispered through her outward smile.

"You think I'm not trying?" I said. "Stop acting without warning me."

"You were the one who stopped, I just kept walking."

The two of us continued down. Besides our bickering, we were doing pretty well.

But doesn't it always go wrong?

A gem landed next to us, another Lapis. She looked a lot like me, of course, all of us look similar, but we're still all a little bit different. This one's dress was a bit shorter than mine, and a bit of a darker blue. And her hair was in a ponytail. She looked familiar, but that might just be because I'd worked with so many Lapises before... before I got trapped.

The Lapis was pretty uncomfortable. "Um... hi, you two," she said.

"Get out of our way! We have places to go!" Peridot said.

I kind of agreed with her, I didn't want to get shattered or anything. Every second we spent talking was a second we might be found out.

However… I was getting tired of this Peridot's shtick. So I decided to give her the time of day.

"Please, ignore Peridot," I said. "What is it?"

Peridot glared at me, but said nothing.

She looked from one of us to the other, before settling her eyes on me. "Look, um, I know this is going to sound weird, but you kind of remind me of… of a gem that was shattered during the war for colony 17. I'm sorry, it's ridiculous. But I couldn't help but come down and ask about it." She looked between the two of us again. "I know, I'm probably just being ridiculous, still remembering people gone for a good 5,000 years. I'm sorry for getting in your hair." She walked away.

But I stopped her. I knew, I couldn't tell her I was exactly the gem she was thinking of, not yet. It was a bit worrying I was assumed shattered, but I had bigger things to worry about. Still, though, I couldn't let this possibly past friend get away from me. "Look, it's okay. I don't mind, it's not the first time I've been mistaken for another Lapis. Hey, could I have your number? Maybe we could talk sometime."

"Um, I'm Lapis number P1789," she said. Oh, right, not earth, no phones. How was I being to ignorant about this?

"Sorry, I misspoke. What I meant was, how could I contact you later?"

Suddenly, it was like a switch was flipped in her brain, and she was super extroverted. It was jarring, that's what it was. "Oh, that's what you meant! Is that just some new slang I've never heard of? You'll have to tell me about it later. Yeah, I work out of facet 78, just ask for my number and I'll be happy to talk!" I glanced at Peridot. She rolled her eyes and nodded. I guessed knew where that was. And then the Lapis suddenly switched over to her other personality. Did she have a disorder or something, or was this just a weird quirk? She said, "Though, I'm not sure if you'd want to talk to little old me again, the first thing I asked you was if you were a gem long shattered. I guess, after all this time, I'm still not ready to move on. Funny, huh?"

"No, no, it's fine. I wouldn't ask to hang out if I thought you were weird or something." Yeah, she wasn't weird because she stopped me. She was weird because she switched between personalities.

"Hey, Lapis! Come on, what's with the holdup?" a voice called from the endless crowd. I looked up before realizing that it was talking to her, not me. That's another thing I didn't have to worry about on earth… kind of amazing just how different things were here, huh?

"Sorry!" the Lapis before us said. "I need to go. But if you do end up calling me up, it'll be nice to get to know you!" She spread her wings and flew back into the crowd, up to layer two of flying gems.

I hoped no one else would notice me. Just a few minutes in, and somebody already recognized me? I wasn't that important, was I? It was just a fluke I met someone off the streets that happened recognize me. I was just an average worker, nothing special… right? The worst part was, I honestly didn't even remember…

When I was trapped in that mirror, for the first thousand years or so, I held out hope. I thought that maybe homeworld would come back for me, that someone would remember the soldier that they left behind on the floor. But after seeing the sun rise and sun over and over again, so many times that I lost count of how many times I had lost count of how many days it had been, I couldn't bear to think about my old life anymore. So I forced myself to forget. I didn't want to remember a life before being in a mirror. I didn't want to remember anything. I thought that maybe if I forgot my old life I would be satisfied in just being a mirror forever. It didn't work, of course, even if I hardly remembered anything before, I still remembered years of sadness. But I had stopped thinking of escape long ago. If anyone remembered me, they would've broken me out already. So even if I was still miserable, there was no use remembering a life before. Then the Crystal gems found me, and they just… left me there. And I truly gave up hope.

After 4,000 years of trying to forget, it's a wonder I remember anything at all. I can't believe I almost erased Lappi from my memory entirely. If not for Steven and Connie's gem bond, I might've. That's a scary thought.

Fortunately, we made it the rest of the way over the busy roadway without anyone else noticing anything off about us. At the end, she led me to another alleyway. We walked in mostly silence, but I could feel anger resonating from her. I guess she wasn't too happy about me making contact when we're in danger of being shattered.

She wasn't happy? Good.

She led us through a few more twisting alleyways before coming to a stop at what seemed to be a blank wall.

She didn't inform me she was going to stop suddenly. So I kept walking and we both crashed to the ground due to the bond.

Peridot looked around for a few seconds, panicked. She only relaxed when she knew no one had been looking. "Do you want to be shattered?!" she said.

"It's not my fault you didn't tell me you were going to stop!"

We glared at each other for a few seconds. Of all the gems I could've been stuck to, it had to be this one. Heck, I would've settled for the Pearl that left me in the mirror. Maybe even the Zircon that trapped me in the mirror in the first place! …Okay, maybe not her. But anybody else would've been better!

Peridot got up and brushed herself off. Without a word, she tapped her gemstone and a wall about thirty feet above us opened up.

I stared at it for a few seconds. "Um… how are we going to get up there?" I said.

"You have wings, don't you?" she said.

"What, you expect me to carry you?"

"What? No, I can fly, you clod!"

"Last I checked, Peridots couldn't fly."

"What do you think these limb enhancements are for?!" She propelled herself upwards around a foot into the air. She was clearly getting incredibly frustrated at my lack of knowledge. Again, I didn't feel sorry. Not one bit.

"Sure, sure. But how do you expect both of us to fly upwards in tandem without getting noticed?"

"Carefully," she said.

"… you know, for someone who acts so confident, you don't seem to have much of a plan."

"Shut up!"

Apparently carefully meant that we had to hold our hands outwards like we were dancing or something while we moved upwards so my wings didn't crash into her and I went spiraling downwards. If someone saw it from afar, they would think we liked each other so much we couldn't let the other go, or we were just dancing in the air or something. Yeah, not even close.

Her hands were super sweaty, too.

But finally, after that long trek, made even longer since we had to leisurely stroll the whole way, we made it to our destination. It seemed to be an apartment of some sort. There was minimal furniture, and with the wall closing behind us, there were no doors or windows. It was quite claustrophobic.

"Welcome to my house, it'll probably be the last time you ever see it," she said. "With that performance, anyways. What part of 'if anyone finds out we'll be shattered' did you not get?"

"Cut me some slack!" I said. "You weren't exactly making it easy on me. You just tell me there's a good chance of being shattered and leave it at that?"

"You were the one who chose to talk to the Lapis."

"Well, how was I supposed to know that was a bad thing?" I said.

"You are the most ignorant creature in the cosmos! How am I supposed to know what you know or not?"

"Just assume I know nothing and go from there, how does that sound?"

The Peridot sighed. "Do you even know what a gem bond is?"

"Of course I do. We still knew about them five thousand years ago. They vary greatly in length, and Sapphires can't predict the occupants. That's all they knew at the time, anyways."
"Well, you aren't completely ignorant. It pains me to admit it, but you know about as much as I do. I also know that for most of the occupants, after some time, a mark will appear on the palm of the ones in the link, an infinity sign. The rest of the information is kept out of the public eye. Then, around 3,200 years ago, a law was put into place that any and all people found to have an infinity link would be shattered. You're lucky you didn't come sooner, they had sapphires roaming the streets just to see who they couldn't see the future of. And still, every 50 years or so another case pops up where they find another case of two people who've been bonded. So, congratulations, whatever you did to me made us both wanted criminals."

I was processing what she said to me. However, when she go to the last line… "Wait just a minute, what I did? I didn't do anything!"

"Sure, whatever you say. I guess it doesn't matter now, it's only a matter of time before we get caught."

"Come on, there's no need to exaggerate our situation. It's already bad enough without your help. Even if we're basically outlaws now, which sucks, I'll give you that, it would be easy enough to get a ship and head to some unknown planet at the edge of the cosmos."

But Peridot shook her head miserably. "They have a sapphire stationed at the spacedock. They say it's to predict terrorism attacks before they happen, but it's clearly to catch the Bonded. I never found it a big deal, just another step to go along with the rest of the annoying airport security, but I guess now it's pretty important."

"Whoa, whoa! Hold up! Who put in these ridiculous regulations? And why haven't the diamonds put a stop to them?"

"Don't talk about Yellow Diamond like that!" she said. "I'm sure she had very good reason for shattering all of the Bonded."

"Yellow Diamond herself? What happened to her in the last 5 thousand years?"

"Stop it! Who are you to question the diamond authority?"

"Look, this is ridiculous. Of course the diamonds aren't responsible for this, they're perfect. Can't we arrange a meeting with them and work it out? I'm sure that if the diamonds are truly as great as I remember, they'll realize that it was all a big misunderstanding, that we're not a threat, we're not trying to hide it or anything, and we'll be able to go on our merry way."

"No, no! Do you think you're the first person to come up with these ideas?! It was found out that one of the most highly trusted Aquamarines in the entire army was suddenly in a gem bond with an Agate. The moment they found out was recorded on camera, and it was clear neither one of them knew what they were doing. She and the agate she was bonded to plead their case to the diamonds, and they were never heard from again! There's nothing we can do besides try to keep our head down, eventually fail, and be shattered."

"Why would the diamonds possibly put such a rule in place?"

"I don't know, maybe we explode or something after a while of waiting. What if they shatter us now so we don't do more damage later! If that's the case, maybe we should turn ourselves in. No, who am I kidding, I'm not willing to be shattered for this!"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door to interrupt her rambling. Lapis and I instantly put on calm faces. "Who is it?!" we called simultaneously.

"Peridot number H765, reporting. Is there a Lapis Lazuli numbered C87 in that room?"

"Um… yes?" I said. I didn't exactly remember my exact number from before the war, but C87 sounded familiar.

The Peridot said, "Good, good, I got the address right. I was sent to bring you to the center of town. Yellow Diamond herself specifically requested your presence! I don't know exactly what it's about, but it's not every day a gem like yourself gets to see the majesty of Yellow Diamond in person! You should be honored."

Lapis and I just looked at each other in horror.

"You there? Because if you are, I'll escort you whenever you're ready. I'm sure it'll be an awesome time for you!"

(Mini-A/N: You know how I talked about an anime OP last time, on my other story? Well, I'm writing this story for fun, right? So you know what would be fun for me? Writing an opening theme song! And don't they always show it at the end of the first episode? Here you go, you can imagine it at the opening of each chapter from now on if you want. For you older readers, hope didn't think my songs absolutely sucked, because here you go anyways! Enjoy!)

(Medium tempo to start slowly, speeding up throughout, minimal instrumentation.)

My name,

Is Lapis Lazuli.

It's who I am, it's who I was, and it's who I will be.

I'm not,

Some useless mirror anymore

Now I'll try my best on that old life to slam

The do-or (Held).

(Pause, instrumental break. Instruments pick up)

I arrived on homeworld,

Unsure but steadfast still

I could start a new life

Be that as it will

But fate is a cru-el mistress

And now I'm linked to you

Now I fall back on my choices to ask

Was this the right thing to do?

I've…

Made…

many mistakes,

And still choices I make,

I don't know if I'll learn to regret,

I know I'm not okay,

But Lying's the only way,

Now that our hearts have been met.

When I left that planet

I thought I could end it

That life could be normal, to think.

But it's all gone awry

It's all thanks to those guys

And their accursed link!

(Tempo going very fast now)

What if they find us?

The mystery's building,

It's just you and me,

Whether or not you're willing

So much going on,

but eventually

(Slowing down)

My goal in all of this is still,

To save Lappi.

A/N: So, welcome readers, new and old! Hope you enjoyed the random song at the end. You can expect that from me, I go for a wide variety of styles. If you could have more than two genres, this would have at least six, and they would have to add 'musical' as a genre. Anyways, as I said at the beginning of the chapter, this is one half of the infinity link storyline, and starts up after chapter 17 of my other story. If you haven't done so already, you should read that to get a better context of this story.

If you liked the chapter and want more, leave a review! Fave and follow if you want more! You know the works.

I leave comments on every review posted, so feel free to theorize about the story, say what you like, ask about the future of the story, or just say hi. I love conversing with fans. And criics, I'm fine if you didn't like it. I'm always looking to improve!

Hey Lemur, I know you're reading this. I don't suppose I could ask you to make some cover art for the story? If you say yes, we can talk about what I would want to have drawn. Of course, this would be after you finished your current piece. But when that does come out, it would be cool to talk about it. And remember, no is a valid option! This is completely a you thing, do it only if you want to.

And if anyone else is willing to draw up some cover art, just send a review or a PM! I'm always looking for new stuff to add to the extended universe of the infinity link. The ICU, if you will. And feel free to launch a side story or two, I won't complain one bit. Maybe I'll beg a little. The adventures of Lapis and Lappi. Maybe throw in the Lapis from this chapter. Or maybe some AUs where the infinity pairings are different, Steven/Lapis or maybe Connie/Pearl. Or maybe focus on the Maheswaran family or Greg, I've sure been ignoring them. Go wild. Just make sure you make it clear it's based off my story, PM/post a review me to say you're doing so, and add "TIL:" to the title (or the whole thing, The Infinity Link) You know, branding. I'll read whatever the fans write, no matter how bad. Or good, I suppose! If I like some ideas, I might accept them into the cannon, even. And maybe if enough of them form, we could make a group to put them all in!

And maybe I'm too ambitious, maybe no one really cares all that much about a little old story like this one. Honestly, this is currently just a group of a few stories which are doing moderately well at best. At the time of writing this, just one, I'm just hoping this story does moderately well. But like they say, if you shoot for the moon and miss, at least you'll land amongst the stars. So here's hoping that I put in enough gunpowder.

Next time: We see what the diamonds have to say. Hopefully they didn't learn about the link already and shatter them, or this is going to be a really short story! That's coming out in a week or so, but in the meantime, I'm continuing my other story, which I made abundantly clear in the opening Author's note. So check out The Infinity Link: Bonded by Fate when you have a chance.