Chapter 1: Premonition
The hallway was long and gloomy, as it had about as much personality as the rest of the facility. The floor to the hospital was slate grey and the walls were dove. Pearl looked up above her head and noticed that the ceiling was made from polystyrene squares laid on a grid-like frame. The flickering of the fluorescent lights started to give her a headache as she bowed her head towards the floor. She was sitting adjacently across from Rose's room as she waited for her friend to pass on. As she was waiting, while sulking in her emotions, she began to hear Rose call out to her,
"Please! Somebody Help! Don't Leave Me All Alone!"
"Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, where are you!?"
In an instant, Pearl jumped out of her chair and ran into Rose's room. She was standing before the hospital bed when she frantically asked,
"What is it!? Rose I'm here!?"
As she was standing there, waiting for a response, she began to notice something particularly odd about her friend. She could see that Rose was wrapped underneath all of her hospital blankets and was crying. As Pearl made her way to the other side of the bed, she extended her arm out towards Rose and asked,
"Rose! Are you okay!?"
Just as Pearl was about to remove the sheets from Rose's head, the sheets came down, and Pearl herself was now sitting in the hospital bed staring back at her. Pearl's eyes grew wide as she stared at herself in the hospital bed and noticed that she was cradling a baby. Pearl was about to faint, but before she could, she watched herself wave and say softly,
"Bye Bye Beautiful….."
The Temple
Pearl woke up in a cold sweat and started to gasp for air, as she gradually took in her surroundings. She noticed that she was in her room, as she could see and hear the serenity of the waterfalls that were in her presence. As she stood up, she took in a deep breath and exhaled, then proceeded to exit her room. When the door opened she made her way out, she walked past the warp pad and headed up the stairs towards Stevens bedroom. She smiled while she was standing next to his bed and watched as he slept peacefully. She gazed outside of his window and could see the cool night sky and the stars above. Then, she quietly made her way down the stairs and gently opened the front door, so as not to wake up Steven. When she made it outside, she took in another deep breath and placed her hands on the railing, then she looked up towards the moon and exhaled softly. As she was standing there, she heard a voice call out to her and ask,
"Having trouble sleeping?"
When she turned her attention towards the voice to see who it was, she saw that Garnet was leaning against the house with her arms folded and was looking up at the night sky as well.
"Oh hi Garnet! I didn't know you were out here! I'll go back inside!" Pearl exclaimed nervously as she began briskly walking back towards the door. As she was doing so, Garnet looked at her and said,
"No, wait Pearl. What's bothering you?"
Then Pearl responded,
"It's nothing, really! I just had a bad dream, that's all…"
Garnet nodded her head then asked,
"Would you like to talk about it?"
Pearl felt herself yearning to have a conversation with Garnet, but instead she shook her head and continued walking back towards the house. But before she could open the door, Garnet placed her hand on Pearl's shoulder and insisted,
"Is it about Rose?"
Pearl froze in her steps and began to feel tears streaming down her eyes, as she turned to face her and said,
"Yes, it's about Rose!"
"It's about me too!"
"How could she just leave us after all we've been through!?"
After she said her words, Garnet pulled Pearl in close for an embrace and as she was doing so, she could feel her teammate breaking down. Garnet did her best to calm her and as she did, she spoke in a soft voice,
"If there's one thing that I've learned from Rose after all of these years, it's that she made a choice."
"She made a choice to give up her physical form and bring Steven into this world."
"She fell in love and followed her heart. I think she would want us to do the same."
Pearl leaned back from her embrace, she wiped the tears from her eyes and asked,
"Do you think that could ever happen to one of us?"
"What? Do you mean fall in love?" Garnet exclaimed as she stared back into Pearls eyes. Pearl continued and said,
"Well yes, if we fell in love."
"But what I meant was, do you think we could ever do the same thing that Rose did? Give up our physical form?"
Garnet thought for a moment, then responded,
"I think that with love, anything is possible Pearl."
"That's the most important thing Rose taught us before she left."
"When I look at Steven, I see nothing but love. He is evidence that his mom followed her heart."
Garnet felt herself getting teary eyed, as she wiped her face underneath her visors, then asked,
"Is that what has you so upset Pearl?"
Pearl responded,
"I had a nightmare!"
"I dreamt that I was back in the hospital that day, the day when Rose left."
"Rose called out to me for help, but when I went inside her room, it wasn't her!"
"It was me sitting in the hospital bed, holding a baby!"
With Pearl's last statement, she began to cry once more. Garnet wiped the tears from her friend's eyes, as she lifted her chin and said,
"It was just a dream Pearl, nothing more."
"Don't be afraid of the unknown."
"Sometimes what may seem frightening to you, actually turns out to be something beautiful."
"Look at Steven, he's evidence of that."
"Besides, you know as well as I do, that the only person that I'm in love with is Steven."
"And you love Steven too, don't you?"
Pearl responded,
"Of course I do! What kind of a question is that?"
Then Garnet responded,
"Right, so it's impossible for you to love another man because you're in love with Steven. Just like we all are."
Pearl smiled then said,
"I guess you're right. I don't know why I was so worried."
The two headed back inside, but before they did, Garnet turned to her once more and said,
"I want you to know Pearl, that I would never begrudge you or Amethyst for making such a choice. If you headed down a path that I couldn't follow, I would respect your decision, just like I respected Rose's decision."
"I would hope that you and Amethyst would extend me the same courtesy if I decided to do something like that."
Pearl looked at her and said,
"What!? Of course we would!"
"Anyway it doesn't matter! Neither of us is going anywhere!"
"It's like you said, we're in love with Steven and no one else!"
As the two headed back inside Garnet whispered,
"Love is a strange thing Pearl."
"It makes you do things you would never consider doing….."