I barely know you.
She was beautiful, but he had to admit that he didn't know who or understand what she really was. He'd thought he had fallen for her at first sight...but maybe he wasn't really in love. Maybe he didn't really know what love was. Why had he abandoned everything he'd ever dreamed of for someone he'd just met? It was because she was there, he decided, it was because she had done what no one else had...she'd given him a chance.
That's a good thing.
She had helped bring great civilizations to their knees, and watched as billions died, feeling nothing as they begged for their existence. As every planet fell she had known no mercy, only destruction-that's what her weapons were for after all. But something changed. Within herself. Within her people. And then it all had to stop. That was the past, she did want him to think of her in that way...as a murderer.
We really rushed into this.
He had been caught up in the moment, he couldn't believe someone like her was real. He couldn't believe that someone like her would even consider...no, that's not what this was. This wasn't...what was this then? He had poured his heart out to her, she knew almost everything about him...but what were they?
Everything on Earth seems fast to me.
She had seen humans as children. Like newly grown gems thinking that they know so much when they really knew nothing at all. Most of their problems were so small, like a child throwing a tantrum over losing their favorite toy and then acting as if it were the end of the world. It was amusing, hilarious at times. They wouldn't survive with the problems of a Gem. So she humored them and played their games, their lives were so short after all. Still, every life lost had left a mark on her...so she distanced herself. She had to focus on more important things.
Do you...miss your home planet?
He'd never really had a home...well that wasn't true...he'd had several. He really hadn't belonged to any of them. Everyone had always told him to do this or do that, they never asked him what he wanted. They told him that he couldn't take care of himself. He'd thought that they were right. He was directionless, disorganized, with nothing he could offer the world, not brains, not brawn. It was in a record store window, a few loose dollars, an old guitar and an endless night that he found something he was good at. With his music, he could set aside everything that was wrong in his world. Whenever he played, whether it was for others or himself, he was home.
No, never.
She was a tactician, a warrior. She had been made to do what gems do best, spread and conquer, infect and decimate. Grow and grow, but never change.
She had been an anomaly. Gems were not meant to manipulate life as she could. She knew that gem society would see her abilities as some sort of defect. So she kept that part of herself hidden, and did what she was supposed to do. And through all that time, she resented that imperfect part of herself; a great leader could not afford to be so weak.
Still, she found herself drawn to others like herself—those that didn't fit in Homeworld's well oiled machine—and kept them close. This led to the Authority discovering her secrets. As it turns out, they had no problem with her healing tears, as long as she used it for them from behind closed doors. If she refused...well some of her friends would "disappear". It hurt her, it really hurt her and she began to see flaws in the system everywhere she went.
Have you...loved...other humans?
They never seemed to love him back.
Yes.
Her task had been simple, to seek out her kind's newest host. The Earth had been an afterthought, a place to produce the lowest of the low, the disposable garbage of Gemkind. She took the job because it was to get away from it all, to away from them. With clever words and careful planning, they finally let her go.
The Earth was beyond everything she could have ever imagined.
The Humans fascinated her the most. She admired their strength, their determination to put their all into such short lives. She protected them, cared for them, and loved them. She noticed changes in her friends, gems that were calm where there was once fear, happiness instead of anger. It was there on earth, that she began to see her abilities as a gift. It was there, that she was loved for being herself. There on that small "insignificant" blue planet, she found beauty, she found hope, she found...home.
Oh, I'm so confused...
She rejected everything she'd been before. The Authority didn't listen, they never would.
She drew her sword for what she thought would be her last battle, and called upon all who would listen. She led her army of misfits, outcasts and vagabonds, fought Homeworld...and lost. They were too many, and her army was too few. So with the last of her strength, she defended them...and then the Authority decided that she wasn't worth the effort. They would be back, she knew, but she didn't know what she would do when they returned.
Her friends, she had failed them. They'd believed in their perfect leader...and they were shattered for it. As much as she tried, she couldn't raise the broken. Even if she somehow healed them, her Gems hadn't really understood her love for humans...and they didn't want to. They would have to learn to live together, and she would have to lead them. But could she really call herself a leader anymore? How many times had she relied on Garnet's insight?
She didn't know what she was doing. And now this human—no, Greg—had made her feel, that maybe...maybe there was nothing wrong with that.
Me too!
It was just a glimpse, but for the first time he thought he saw Rose. Suddenly, he felt that this—them—was right. He didn't know what would happen later...but for now, he could give this to her.
Well! This is good! We've got one thing in common!
Rose clasped Greg's hand in her own. They might have not come together in form...but they were now one in spirit. They, human and gem from different sides of a divide, were closer to finding a way to meet in the middle.