After a rather confusing bout of dreams involving my going around my home town with the characters of Steven Universe, all the while receiving word of the show returning in a short while and hints as to what they had in store for we the audience this time around (I knew I was anticipating it, but I didn't realize it was that severe), I woke up yesterday to find this idea stringing itself together in the blink of an eye. I could really give Ronaldo Fryman a field day, I'm sure. Anyway, I liked the idea so much that I'm sharing it here, right now.
Copyright belongs to Rebecca Sugar and Cartoon Network.
Garnet's impression of the whole concept was unabashed delight. It was what she felt for every example of true love she'd ever witnessed, past, present, and yes, future. She felt it for Rose Quartz and Greg, when he came into the gems' lives. She felt it for Steven and Connie when they first fused – letting that one sit and develop at the pace it needed to was somewhat tough for her, but what they felt for each other, they must do at the right pace, just as with any pair. It would not be Garnet's way to impose.
In spite of her strict morals where matters of both fusion and romance were concerned, however, Garnet always felt a much giddier excitement than her stoic, stable demeanour would ever let anyone guess. She just loved to see others in love, when it happened. Every pair she saw come together was another pair who'd get to know the phenomenal, euphoric wonder her components had known for over fifty-seven centuries, and it was such a wonderful experience to know, whether they could do it as a single entity or not, that to watch other lovers come together was very close to Ruby and Sapphire falling in love all over again. As a gem fusion she did not need food to sustain herself, but it still made for a good metaphor to say, it nourished her.
And here now, she was feeling it again. This past couple of decades had been very romantically active for those in her social circle, she reckoned. Admittedly, she wouldn't have guessed it at first glance, nor would she have noticed it when looking ahead, minus prior inspiration. Several weeks of watching, with remarkable regularity, the early signs pop up between them – Peridot's frequent blushing or nervous chuckling when in conversation with Amethyst, the easy happiness Amethyst often exhibited during those times, the moments when they held each other's gazes just that little bit too long... The occurrences were still subtle enough that, especially with all that had been going on around them, from constructing the drill for their mission to stop the Cluster, to Peridot officially defecting to the Crystal Gems and everything else that had been happening in between, it could just as easily have been overlooked. Since it hadn't escaped her, however, the familiar signals had piqued Garnet's third-party curiosity, and thus she'd indulged to peer specifically into their future, wondering if this really was going where it looked like it was. Part of her might have argued that the use of future vision in this case was superfluous, but to the other it was simply a matter of "if you have it, use it."
She'd actually scanned the future of Amethyst and Peridot's relationship long before they'd taken the trip to the Moon Base that ultimately lead up to Peridot's defiance of Yellow Diamond. It had in fact been a couple of days after she'd attempted to teach Peridot first-hand about fusion. She had been thinking about how Peridot finally seemed to have some grasp of her motive for staying fused all the time, after hearing the comparison of her components to the characters Percy and Pierre, from Camp Pining Hearts. She knew Peridot saw the characters as an ideal pair, but seeing as she based this on objectivity Garnet wasn't too sure Peridot fully understood the concept behind a lovers' relationship. Chancing to witness the green gem and the small quartz engage in another interaction bearing the aforementioned qualities, however, led Garnet to wonder if Peridot might best learn about that first-hand, assuming it were in the cards. Therefore, she looked ahead, just to see what she could see.
As usual, there were copious different ways it could play out, but all variations on their future contained an eventual enrapturement in love as a main feature. Even now, after Peridot's climatic display of character against her former superior, there were still a number of possibilities out of which eventuality had yet to be determined, but back when Garnet had first looked over the matter, when this had still just been one of multiple branches with their own multiples of stems following after, it had already been her own personal favourite branch. She dared admit it. There were a lot more "happy endings" that could happen for them this way than if things had gone differently that early morning.
In so many ways, this would be so good for the both of them. Peridot was likely going to suffer separation anxiety from her home and customs for some time to come – a main reason why Garnet had taken on a sort of motherly role – it seemed right to call it that – for the new addition to their team. After all, seeing as Ruby and Sapphire had joined the Crystal Gems as a kind of side effect to a blitzkrieg-fast defiance of their own superior, and abandonment of the world and life they'd previously known, it had taken them quite some getting used to. That was even with their budding love and independently developing admiration for the planet they were to one day officially declare their new home.
Their love had partly served as an important stronghold to help them overcome any homesickness they felt during that period of adjustment. It was almost certain that finding that love for herself, with Amethyst, would help Peridot in the same way. Simultaneously, there were many ways in which coming together with Peridot could help Amethyst sort out most if not all of the demons she'd been hosting for millenia. And that was just the psychological aspect of the union's outcome. If she were to take a cue from Peridot and look at them objectively, what she knew about Amethyst and what she was learning about Peridot basically created an image of two gems whose personalities had plentiful similarities to bond over, and also enough contrasting traits to balance each other out. They would complete each other in the way that only a "Percy and Pierre" pairing could.
Still, in no remaining variation would it happen right away. Garnet, in spite of her delight for their sake, could accept that. She herself had said a fair while back that love took time, work, and shared knowledge of each other's personalities, to come to fruition. It wasn't that far away, but it still could not be rushed. Certainly not by any external party.
That having been said, sometimes a situation just begged for a little "rocking the boat." As the team were now preparing for the first test flight with their drill, Garnet overheard Amethyst wisecracking with Steven and Peridot about punching the Cluster in its face when they reached it. Anyone who looked at Garnet's face would have noticed a momentary glint on her visor, seeming respective to a gleam of mischief in the eye. This scene took her back quite a ways... An impulsive side of the fusion drove her to take advantage of the situation. Stepping up behind the purple gem, she waited until she was half an arm's length away, just as Peridot was admonishing the idea that the Cluster would even have a definable "face", before abruptly calling, "Amethyst!", and moving as though to tap her teammate's shoulder, but with seemingly redundant force.
"Wh-whoa, Garnet!" came Amethyst's reply, as she stumbled forward, arms out, crashing into Peridot in the process.
"Oops," Garnet shrugged carelessly, though her visor hid the impish pleasure in her eyes as she regarded her handiwork. Peridot, after lying underneath Amethyst for several seconds, had a much darker complexion than she had before the incident. Almost seemed to be in a stupor for a moment there, as well. And what was this? Amethyst, of all gems, was actually helping her up again, even before Steven could move to do so. Already there were signs of positive character development stirring between them.
There was a moment when their eyes locked on each other, as the green gem accepted the purple gem's assistance. Garnet was mentally giving herself a thumbs' up and a declaration of "well played," when Peridot suddenly turned to her and accused, "You did that on purpose!"
Ah, Peridot was not one to be fooled. Garnet should've known. She grinned and said, "Just wanted to wish you luck, before we ready this ship to sail." With that she walked off, leaving all three faces staring after her, dumbfounded.
Garnet allowed her victorious smirk to remain on her face, even as she joined Pearl inside the drill. No, it was not her way to impose on the relationships of others, and no, the realization of love could not be rushed, but a small push in the right direction didn't really qualify as either.
The End.
AN: The idea behind Garnet cryptically "wishing them luck", is that seeing as Ruby being shoved into Sapphire by one of her brethren happened so shortly before they ran off together and fell in love, Garnet has chosen to label what she did to Amethyst as a gesture of good omen - all in the spirit of fun, of course. ;)