The argument ended the moment Rose Quartz escaped the building. Sharp words still ringing in the air, Yellow turned from her, charging toward the wall with the same amount of clearheaded restraint she'd shown throughout the trial: absolutely none of it. With a flash of rage, the diamond cut open the side of the building itself, snarling out a threat as she was helpless to actually follow the leader of the rebellion.
Blue watched the display, her teeth clenched, her own anger for once not directed at Rose Quartz.
Without saying anything more, she turned around and walked out of the room. She didn't know where she was going, had no specific destination in mind, though of course she wound up where she always did. Pink Diamond's court, the resting place of hundreds of bubbled quartz. It was always quiet here, a calming place.
Not this time.
Blue pushed the floating gems out of her way, fingers curled into fists. Quick, sharp footsteps echoed about the room, until she was as far away from the entrance as she could get. Only then did she stop, her front pressed against the wall, her legs giving out, knees hitting the hard stone floor.
Her breath hitched, a strangled cry tearing from her throat as a fresh wave of tears blinded her, wetting her face and splashing her dress.
This was supposed to be the end of it. The traitor who shattered Pink should have been shattered herself, the question of how it had been done should have been answered and finally, after thousands of years, be put to rest. This would have been closure. Not relief, there would never be relief, but at least she'd have been able to move on.
Instead...
Instead she was presented with the worst possibility imaginable.
Zircon's proposal made far too much sense. There was no way a Rose Quartz gem could have gotten that close to Pink, not without someone noticing, or calling out, or getting in the way. None of her entourage were reported to have been damaged, nor were there records that any of them engaged the enemy at all. Someone would have said or done something. The only way it could have been done was if it was someone who could cover it up after.
There were three diamonds left, and no one outside of them had that authority.
It fit too well. It would explain everything perfectly, save for motive. Rose Quartz had motive, but no opportunity. The other diamonds had opportunity, but no motive.
Blue knew she wasn't the one who shattered Pink. She also knew that whichever diamond did shatter Pink, they would face harsh consequences for their treason...and they would deserve it. But which one?
She'd already lost one of them. Who was next? If it was a diamond who committed the crime, then Blue stood to loose either Yellow or White.
Both options hurt. The thought of either of them being discovered as the guilty party brought out another ugly noise from her, her fingers curling in her hair, her form hunching in on itself, shoulders shaking with sobs. After eons of constant grief, she hadn't thought she was capable of crying like this anymore. She was wrong.
A hand pressed in on her shoulder, firm, but gentle enough to be comforting.
"Blue?" Yellow's voice shook, tone thick with emotion that wasn't her own. "...you left your pearl, Blue."
She looked up at that. The world blurry from her tears, she blinked hard, finding her fellow diamond looking back at her under the soft focus of a blue light. Yellow's own eyes watering, as were the eyes of the two pearls in her hand.
Yellow had just been so angry during the trial. So quick to end things, to cut off any possibility of a fair questioning. So enraged when Zircon accused them. Blue knew how harsh Yellow could be, and she knew that her way of coping was to avoid the issue altogether, but what if it wasn't coping? What if the diamond before her was upset not because the defense stepped out of line, but because she was right?
Blue shuddered, pressing her palm into her mouth, a twisted flurry of anger, hurt and revulsion curling her insides at the idea of what Yellow might have done. Yellow flinched visibly, her naturally cool demeanor cracking under the onslaught.
"...Blue?"
But Blue didn't answer. Couldn't answer. Fingers curled into Yellow's back as she pulled her into a shivering, desperate hug, crying unrestrained into her chest. Her grip was tight, unyielding, and a moment later Blue found the embrace returned. Tiny, tiny little weights on her shoulder as the pearls both hopped up onto her, freeing Yellow's arms so she could hold her properly.
Blue hid her face against the other, and weeped.
Yellow held blue in a tight grip, feeling the crushing weight envelope her. She'd never seen her fellow leader this upset before, and given the state she'd been in since they lost Pink, that was quite the achievement.
The frustration she'd felt at Rose Quartz's escape had waned the moment she entered Pink's old chamber, and felt wave after wave of emotion coming from where Blue knelt against the wall. The fact that she'd left Blue Pearl behind already clued her in to the fact that this was going to be bad, but she hadn't been expecting this.
Yellow rubbed a hand up and down Blue's back, lips pressed into a thin line as tears trailed down her cheeks. In her core, she felt a sense of foreboding, magnified by the intrusive pain seeping into her.
That Zircon was wrong. There was no way that any of the diamonds would have ever hurt each other. They were leaders, their purpose was to rule Homeworld together. The fact she'd even suggest such a ludicrous thing should, in all regards, warrent her own trial.
Yet...
In the back of her mind, Yellow had to wonder. A nagging, horrid suspicion that clung to her despite her effort to snuff it out.
What if Zircon was right?
She knew she hadn't shattered Pink Diamond. She couldn't imagine it was one of the other two...but what if it was?
What if it was White?
And what if...?
Was it possible that the awful rush of emotion coming from her fellow diamond...was based in guilt?
"It's going to be okay, Blue."
But neither of them believed that statement.