Homeworld in its broken glory was an amazing spectacle when its sun rose. All of its crystal spires, quartz guards and polished pathways reflecting a brilliant mirror shine as if yearning to be just as bright as the star it orbited around. Blue Diamond barely gave the sight more than a glance however, there was work to be done.

She had to consult with Yellow Diamond on a rather urgent request and Yellow wouldn't be overly pleased with what Blue had agreed to.

She stepped past some burly Topaz guards into Yellow's golden palace grounds and quickly walked over to her private chambers. Anyone requesting to see Yellow Diamond needed an appointment, and appointments were rarely made voluntarily... But Blue always had free range to come and go as she pleased, and when she walked up to the large amber doors to Yellow's chamber they opened without hesitation.

"Ah! Blue Diamond! Please follow me." Blue couldn't help but smile a little; her expression expertly hidden in the shade of her veil. Yellow's pearl, she was a high strung creature but very diligent in her duties. "My Diamond, Blue Diamond is here for an audience." The little yellow pearl saluted as she spoke, "That will be all pearl." The small gem bowed once more to Blue as she made her way back to the entrance.

The room was dim, a majority of the light coming from the consoles and screens that Yellow had up around her. Blue sauntered over to the chair that Yellow occupied, "You've been here since the middle of the day yesterday haven't you?" She let the veil that covered her head slip down on to her shoulders as she sat on the arm of the chair.

"I'm reorganizing the armies in sector 3874. I called off the invasion on the system there." The golden general took a deep breath after she stated what she was doing and sat back. A long pause drew out after the revelation. Blue wrapped her arm around the latter's shoulder and kissed her gently on the temple. "Things are changing, for better or worse I suppose." Yellow said reflectively, "However I'm sure you're not here to listen to me muse."

The golden diamond clasped the blue hand that was delicately touching the gem on her chest. "I am, as always, at your service my darling." A mischievous smile drew across Blue Diamond's face. "You won't say that once I tell you what I'm up to. I need to discuss my plans to visit Earth. Steven spoke with me at length last night; there's a particularly nasty weapon giving the Crystal Gems some problems."

"So you're going to drop everything and go to Earth?" Yellow Diamond's brow knit together, she was trying to digest what was said. "Blue, while I'll agree that our relations with Steven are much better, I don't feel comfortable with you going there on your own. We're not exactly friends with the Crystal Gems..." Yellow gave the elegant blue gem sitting next to her a piercing look. "Why don't you order an Aqua Marine and some Topaz soldiers to go again?" Blue shook her head and got up abruptly. "No that didn't go well at all last time, and we need to build some trust with the gems residing there. Besides, wouldn't you feel bad if something happened to Steven? We put a lot of dangerous weapons and relics in place during the rebellion."

White had also placed some nasty artifacts on the Earth in an attempt to quell the rebellion. The relic in question was admittedly from White's arsenal of weapons. Blue had to dig particularly deep in her archives to find the specifics. After researching for a couple of cycles she knew Steven and his unorthodox court of gems and humans would need assistance.

"We are ultimately responsible my love." Yellow looked at the resolved Blue Diamond and sighed. Blue had a look of pure determination in her eyes that Yellow hadn't seen in thousands of years (about 6000). She got up and walked over to her cerulean queen and wrapped her arms around her waist. Blue reciprocated by placing her arms around Yellow's neck, "For the record, I don't approve."

Blue arched a thin eyebrow, "Noted."

"I'd also like a full report of what ever this weapon is." Blue's brow narrowed in annoyance; it was a thousands year old argument between them about who would handle what situation when intelligence and military oversight crossed into each other.

"You know that artifacts, intelligence and policy are well under my purview."

"Yes, but this a weapon as well, putting it in the peripheral of my responsibilities."

"Why do I get the distinct feeling that this is more about me traveling solo to Earth than it is about your responsibilities?"

The pair didn't break the embrace, it was clear however that Yellow was incredibly agitated at Blue questioning the general's judgment.

"Because the last time I let someone important to me travel to that dammed planet by themselves to face possible danger I lost them forever!"

There it was, it actually shocked the both of them. Ever since they had found Pink Diamond (or her son rather), Yellow had been more forthcoming with her feelings. Blue didn't expect such a large admission and neither did Yellow, judging by the contorted look on her face and the tears in the corners of her eyes.

Blue drew herself a little closer, their noses almost touching. She cupped Yellow's cheek with soft fingers, thumb caressing a strong chin. "Let me handle this, I won't be long. I'll even send you the data on the object I'm dealing with." Voice soft as blue velvet.

Against her better judgment the golden matriarch relented with a heavy sigh; "You're going to have to be more discreet than last time you visited..."

…...

Steven sat on the sandy beach in front of his home with a large rose colored lion napping behind him. Lion was his name as well, and Steven thought that maybe a more creative name would be appropriate. But then again, the overly large pink cat behind him was unique enough.

"So she said three days time right?" Connie Maheswaran was sitting next to Steven leaning back on Lion. Her warm brown eyes questioning as she looked at the sky. It was dusk and the first stars of the evening were poking through some pastel colored clouds. "She said three Earth Sol cycles, I hope that means three days, it's hard to tell with gems sometimes."

Connie smiled, the concept of time for a gem compared to a human were very different things; a gem could live for tens of thousands of years. What was three days or even 30 years to beings that were almost immortal? "I'm pretty sure that's what she meant." Connie smiled at Steven and he smiled back; best friends forever.

Just as soon as the two children got back to their comfortable silence a booming sound came from the sky far above them. The unmistakable sight of a fiery entrance into Earth's atmosphere. However instead of landing in front of the beach, the foreign object made its way to the far side of Beach City. Only tall cliffs and large seaweed covered rocks occupied this part of the coast.

"That has to be her!" Steven said wide eyed. "Come on Lion, warp us to the cliffs!" Lion only grumped a bit and turned over. "Aw come on Lion! It'll take forever to get to that side on foot!" Steven huffed in frustration as Connie laughed.

"Fine, I'll get you two Lion Lickers if you get us over there, one for bringing me and one for Connie. What do you think buddy?" Lion stood up and stretched as both Connie and Steven got on the large cat's back; seemingly pleased with the bargain. (Who knew you could haggle with a lion?) With a mighty roar the trio was instantly warped to where the ship landed.

…...