Pearl ran a hand through her hair and over her cheek, then twirled around gazing at her reflection in the mirror. Do I look alright? Is my hair perfect, my gem polished and my clothes without creases? Am I good enough for her? Will she even notice? All of these thoughts fluttered nervously about her mind as she regarded her appearance more closely. She sighed. She hated how she thought about this everyday, how she was forced to watch as Rose, her Rose frolicked around with that human in all of her free time, and her heart was forced to tear a little more, splinter, until she found herself crying in her room with Garnet rubbing her shoulder, lips pursed together, saying nothing but expressing everything at the same time night after night after night.I just wish she would notice me.
She cast her gaze down as she turned to leave, ultimately deciding to forget meeting up with the other gems. "Notice what, dear Pearl?" Pearl's face flushed light blue and she snapped her eyes up, freezing in place just saving herself from colliding with the subject of all of her agony, affinity, and adoration.
"Oh, um...I was just...how's Greg?" Pearl mentally smacked herself in the jaw as Rose's eyes instantly lit up at the mention of the human's name.
"He's doing astoundingly as always." The way she drew out the word 'astoundingly' crushed a tiny shard of Pearl's heart. Rose must have noticed the crestfallen expression masking the other gem and reached down to caress her face. "You know you're astounding too, my Pearl."
Pearl felt her face instinctively press into the touch as her heart rate accelerated. "You really think so?" She whispered brokenly. Rose smiled and ran her fingers slowly down Pearl's neck to trail them down her arm, causing Pearl to shiver and close her eyes; to savour the moment. When the pink gem reached Pearl's hands she intertwined their fingers and drew their bodies together. Blushing profusely, Pearl parted her lips and drank in Rose's sweet scent, something that she could never hope to forget, something she could never get enough of.
"Shall we fuse?" Pearl could hardly believe Rose's delicately expressed words as she drew her arms further down her back. Pearl blushed and nodded slowly, finding it suddenly extremely difficult to breathe. As Rose tilted her head back, she squeezed her eyes shut, tears beading around the edges as they kissed gently, Pearl twirling Rose's cotton candy hair between her fingertips. She found herself basking in the heat of Rose's gem as they were engulfed in a soft pink light that filled the entire room before suddenly to her agony, Greg's smitten face appeared in the front of her mind, and just as they were about to fuse, her gem flickered and went dark.
"No... what about Greg?" She whispered, tears beginning to fall from her cheeks and stain Rose's chest. Rose's gem dimmed as she released Pearl's shoulders. Then she began to fade as Pearl desperately clutched at her figure until there was nothing in front of her. Pearl collapsed to her knees as Rose's low voice flittered throughout the room.
"I'm sorry, I'm going to leave, but don't be sad, I'll live on in him."
The walls fell away and music began to play, a soft, nostalgic tune that drifted and spiraled around Pearl's body as she stood watching two beings in love, walking hand in hand outlined by the sunset, filling her heart with regret and causing fresh tears to spill over her face.
She awoke in a fit of sobbing that failed to subside deep into the night even as Garnet's warm, steady hand on her shoulder and faint humming attempted to sooth her. She had seen everything through the images projecting from Pearl's gem. Pity and a need to calm her friend urged her to comfort her as usual, though the thing that neither would admit was that both knew it was in vain for although her physical form had managed to stay intact, no matter the years and friends she gained, a piece of Pearl would forever remain shattered inside.