This was all temporary, wasn't it? Peridot thought. Staying on Earth, living with Steven and the clods, and totally disregarding orders from Yellow Diamond by disarming The Cluster, it was all part of the plan right? Soon enough, Yellow Diamond will send help and she will be going back to Gem Homeworld and eventually forget about Steven, right?
Why is it so hard not to get attached, she thought. Hasn't she learned her lesson before?
Steven is the only who doesn't threaten to hurt her, who doesn't mind if she doesn't follow orders, who treats her like an equal. He stands up for her without question and seems to have no ulterior motive whatsoever. She doesn't even mind the fact that Steven has a slightly lower IQ. But Peridot learned a long time ago that getting attached to someone else is dangerous, that it gets in the way of duty. But still, why does the act of betraying Steven sounds so . . . unethical?
"Hey Dot," Steven cries out, using the nickname he began calling her. Normally Peridot would insist that he should use her full title, but she made an exception for Steven, everyone seems to make an exception for Steven.
"Steven," she responds.
"Um, can I ask you a question?" Steven says. "It's something that's been bothering me for a long time."
"Is it about The Cluster?" Peridot replies absentmindedly.
"No," Steven says. "It's about Jasper and Lapis. Aren't you worried about them? You never asked us about what happened to them after we took you in."
Peridot suddenly snaps to attention. Jasper and Lapis Lazuli, she hasn't given them a single thought after their warship crashed. She assumed they were shattered in the explosion.
"Um, what did happen to Jasper and Lazuli?" Peridot asks.
"It's a bit of a long story," Steven stutters. "Basically, after Garnet beat Jasper, she fused with Lapis to make it even. But then Lapis turned on Jasper and imprisoned the both of them at the bottom of the sea to protect me from her. We tried to find Malachite—the fusion they created—but Lapis didn't want us to. I still really want to find her because she's my friend. I'm scared of Jasper, though."
"I don't care if you find them or not," Peridot says bitterly. "Jasper never respected me anyway."
"What about Lapis?" Steven asks.
"What do you mean," Peridot says.
"How do you feel about her?" Steven continues. "She's really nice, sometimes a bit scary, but she cares about me. Wasn't she your informant?"
Peridot didn't like even thinking about Lazuli. Sometimes, she wondered why she liked her in the first place.
"Honestly, our relationship is complicated," Peridot mutters. She wanted this conversation to be over. Why must humans have so many questions?
"Tell me," Steven gushes, his eyes lighting up like stars.
"No," Peridot says, "End of discussion."
"Please," Steven pleas, putting his hand on her shoulder.
Peridot rolls her eyes. "Fine, but the story doesn't have a happy ending."
