Lapis didn't know how long she'd been fused for, but it felt like forever. Needless to say, when she unfused, she was exhausted, and she was thankful that Jasper was tired, too. That was what she chalked her escape up to. Lapis was afraid that, even with all the power of the ocean surrounding her, she wouldn't be able to keep Jasper contained. So instead of risking getting her gem crushed, she summoned her water wings and flew to the surface, and then to the sliver of land she saw in the distance that she hoped was Beach City. Her land wasn't as graceful as she wanted it to be, however, and she soon found herself lying face down in the sand. After a few minutes, she slowly sat up and looked around, trying to figure out exactly where she landed.

Meanwhile, Jamie was certainly one of the less interesting people in Beach City, but what he lacked in supernatural friends or having the mayor for a father, he made up for with pure unadulterated moxie. Nobody in town was as dedicated to his craft as this guy, and he decided to take a stroll down the shore to contemplate a new plan for a script. It always helped him unwind, and it certainly had a lot of opportunities to provide inspirati-what ho? What have we here? Is that... a Gem? Oh good gosh, it is! Jamie ran toward it, a little unsure of what to say, so he just went for something simple. "Hey, you there! Are you okay?" he called out to her.

Lapis managed to back up a couple inches when she saw a human running toward her. She had no idea about how to interact with them or whether or not it would be hostile. It seemed nice enough when it asked if she was okay, though. "I think so," she replied, trying to stand up to prove that she was, in fact, okay. She managed to stay standing for a few seconds before dropping back down to her knees. "Okay, maybe not."

Jamie noted her clear concern and slowed himself down a little bit, now just walking toward her with a sympathetic expression. He had to try hard to contain his excitement from actually being about to meet a Gem, but as a BORN ACTOR he was doing a pretty okay job at it. Once he got about a yard away, he knelt down to be on her level. "You look pretty worn out.. did something happen to you?"

Lapis relaxed a little when he slowed his pace, and she relaxed a little more when he stopped far enough away from her and knelt down. This human didn't seem so bad. Honestly, she was surprised that he showed any concern for her wellbeing at all. She nodded when he asked if something happened. "It's a long story that you wouldn't be able to understand."

He tilted his head a little at her reply. She certainly seemed down.. and he knew quite a bit more about Gems than she thought he did. Clearly she just hadn't been around a lot of humans. "I mean.. I'm still willing to listen if it'll help you out," he offered. "I'm used to crazy stories, my friend Steven tells them to me all the time."

She mulled over the idea of telling him everything that happened. He seemed nice enough. Then it clicked that he mentioned Steven. That meant that she was near Beach City, and therefore near her friend. She didn't know about anything that happened after she dragged Malachite underwater, and she didn't get much information from Steven when he somehow managed to enter Malachite's mind. It was possible that Peridot was out somewhere, and she was worried for Steven's safety. "Wait, you know Steven? Where is he? Is he okay?" Lapis frantically asked.

Wow, she knew Steven, too? Made sense, he supposed. Considering most all Gems around these parts knew him, at least. This one certainly seemed concerned about him, though? Strange, Steven never appeared to be in any danger to him.. "Steven?" Jamie inquired. "He's in his house right now, he's fine! I think he's watching TV with Garnet, actually. Why?"

Hearing that helped her relax. Right. The Crystal Gems cared for him, which was weird for her to think about. She didn't see it in them to care for others. "Long story, remember?" she reminded him.

"Oh... right." Jamie sighed a little bit and looked down, biting his lip and fearing he wouldn't be able to get to know this one... the wall seemed pretty thick. Heck, if he hadn't been able to get to know the Gems that basically served as Steven's parents, how would he get to know this one any better? "Is there... anything you can tell me? I mean, I do want to help you."

She looked him over, thinking over whether or not to tell him anything, and what to tell him if she did want to tell him anything. She figured that there was no harm in a little explanation. "I look worn out because I trapped myself with someone who wanted to hurt Steven. I was also mad at the time, so that made the idea sound great."

Well, that was certainly a little heavier than he was expecting. Who would want to hurt Steven? Was it another Gem? Did they get out? His eyebrows raised in a little bit of alarm as he thought all of this, but he managed to maintain most of his composure.

"Geez, that certainly doesn't sound good... I get now why you asked if Steven was okay. But I promise, he's fine."

"Thank you for telling me that." Lapis actually smiled a little after his reassurance that Steven was fine. She still wanted to find him and tell him that Jasper was out there somewhere, but that was going to be hard with how tired she felt. If she couldn't stand for more than a few seconds, she definitely wasn't going to be able to go walking around to find him.

"You're welcome." Jamie smiled and sat down more comfortably, now feeling a little bit more confident in talking to her. He hadn't really spoken to Gems that often since what happened with Garnet, so he was understandably afraid of screwing things up. Luckily this seemed to be going well. "My name is Jamie, by the way, if it's of any use to you."

Names were good. Calling him "human boy" wasn't really going to fly if they kept talking or if he offered help. "It's useful," she replied. "I'm Lapis, by the way. Lapis Lazuli."

"It's very nice to meet you, Lapis Lazuli." Jamie pulled off one of his trademark bows, hoping to instill at least a little comedy into the situation. This Gem seemed stoic at best, and he very much wanted to break the ice fairly quickly. He didn't really fly too well with unemotional folk.

Lapis laughed a little when he bowed. She wasn't sure whether or not that was some human custom, but she found it funny either way. "It's nice to meet you too, Jamie. I'd bow, but that would be kind of hard right now."

"Will a handshake do, then?" he asked, smiling a bit more softly and extending his hand slowly to make sure it didn't look like he had malcontent.

"A handshake would work." She smiled back and grabbed his hand, shaking it.

His smile widened a little as she successfully completed the handshake. Good, a connection! We're on the right track, Jamie, just don't fall for this one like last time. "So! Am I allowed to at least ask how you got here, Lapis? On the beach without being able to stand, that is.."

Lapis laughed a little. "For a minute there, I thought you were going to ask for my dark and awful backstory." Her smile widened a little as she felt comfortable enough to joke around a bit. "But I ended up here because the bond between me and my prisoner snapped somehow. We unfused and I was worried that she was going to crush my gem. I have water wings, which was how I was able to get here at all."

Oh goodness, she may or may not have just opened up the curiosity floodgates. Jamie got those star-eyes and the :O thing that happens in this trash of a show and took a second to manage to reply. "W-wait you were fused with the Gem who wanted to hurt Steven? How did that even work?"

"She tried to convince me to take revenge on the Crystal Gems with her. As much as I would have loved to, Steven was there." She shrugged. "Maybe it was because we had that in common that we were able to fuse. Did Steven tell you about fusing?"

"I know a little bit from him…" Jamie replied. "Apparently it's what Garnet is. But Steven said it was powered by love, so... how could you have fused with someone who wanted to hurt your friend?"

"Not all fusions involve love, although that does help. Malachite was a monstrosity because she was based on anger instead. Jasper and I just weren't good for each other, and that didn't help."

"I see... so, Jasper wanted to hurt Steven? But he's such a sweet little guy, I don't get it.."

"There was a gem named Rose Quartz whom Jasper fought against in the war for this planet. Somehow, Steven got Rose Quartz's gem, so Jasper thought Steven was her."

"Wait... war?" Jamie's expression suddenly turned very concerned. He'd heard Steven mention that his mother was named Rose, so he guessed that's what he meant by it, but he never mentioned anything about a war for humanity.

Lapis nodded. "It was about 5000 years ago. Not too recent, but not too far away, either."

"That's uh... WOO that's kinda heavy.." Jamie chuckled kinda uneasily, biting his lip and rubbing his left arm.

"Yeah, it is. Still interested in listening?"

"Well, yeah, if you have more to tell!"

"Hmm I think the rest of what I have to tell involves the dark, awful backstory," Lapis warned.

"I can handle it." He shrugged and smirked, kinda confidently.

She raised an eyebrow before deciding to tell him. "Alright. I guess I'll just start with the war." And so she did. She told him what she saw of the war and how she was brought to Earth to crush Rose's forces. That led to her talking about her imprisonment in the mirror by the Crystal Gems close to the end of the war. She looked at the ground when she talked about her experience in the mirror and how hopeless she felt. She brightened up when she talked about Steven freeing her and how he healed her gem. Then she was back to looking at the ground when she talked about what happened when she got back to Homeworld and had to be Peridot's informant. That subject then shifted to what happened after they got to Earth and her fusing and what happened with Malachite, ending on a "and now I'm here" note.

As Jamie listened, he reacted similarly to she did, considering his sympathetic nature. He tried not to overreact too much to what she was telling him, considering how heavy it was. He mostly just hugged his knees, nodding along, the expression in his face changing up appropriately. "Wow... you certainly have been through a lot," he observed. "It sure is a good thing that Steven found you, you know. He's a really good guy when it comes to heavy stuff like this."

Lapis smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I don't know how he does it. He's such an amazing friend."

"He really is!" He smileed in return, relaxing his sitting position a little. "Whenever I see him, he's just so happy to see me. The little guy's kept me going through it all."

"I hope he'll be just as happy to see me again. It would be better if I didn't have to tell him that Jasper's free."

"Are you kidding me? Steven is happy to see everyone! You know what, I'll go tell him you're here right now!" A beaming smile formed on Jamie's stupid little adorable face.

She grinned. "Really? Thank you so much, Jamie! Oh, and can you try to not have the other Crystal Gems come with him?"

"I'll keep it in mind," he added, departing with a wink.