Aquamarine

by savanaugh

A/N: So I might be writing more and more fanfiction lately, I'm going to try my best at least. Anyway, I LOVE Lapis Lazuli, and my birthstone is Aquamarine, so I HAD to find another canon gem that if they fused with Lapis they might make it, and Pearl was my best bet- after all, pearls are naturally occurring in the ocean, and if her and Lapis's color schemes blended, they would have a nice light blue color like Aquamarine! Voila! Please enjoy the story, folks.

DISCLAIMER: Steven Universe and all associated entities, etc., a property of Rebecca Sugar and Cartoon Network. This story is a work of fiction.

SUMMARY: Lapis in forced to flee from her Malachite fusion and washes up helplessly on the beach outside the temple, and Pearl is the one to find her. Can the Gems and Steven help Lapis learn to trust fusion again?

CHAPTER ONE: UNDER THE SEA

Jasper grunted under the weight of this blasted planet's ocean. She tugged at her chains for the millionth time, only for the millionth reaction to happen again- nothing. This was infuriating- how was this- this BRAT stronger than SHE, JASPER, a born and bred buff buff cheeto puff?! Hadn't the little green dorito chip said the Lazuli's gem was cracked not more than a little while ago? How did it heal? Rose Quartz looked much too weak to be doing that sort of thing these days!

She screeched in frustration. "I will NOT be defeated, you little punk! You hear me? You can't keep us here forever, or we'll both be shattered into god damned shards!" The only response was a slight ripple in the water. Didn't this half-breed know that the cluster could hatch any second? Or had she been trapped on this planet too long to know about the impending doomsday? The latter seemed likely, considering she had the intention of 'staying on this miserable planet together' for an indefinite amount of time.

Jasper pulled and pulled but there was no give, not even a little. This was unbearably embarrassing. What would Yellow Diamond say? Stars, she was going to die here, she realized. "NO!" There was no way she, Jasper, would face the end this soon into her life! She hadn't lived and fought so many wars for so many thousands of years just to be shattered in captivity of some weak little blue gem!

"ARGH!" She delved into her signature whirlwind spiral attack move, attempting to burrow into the earth of the Earth. THIS time, the chains hadn't been expecting that, and gave a fraction of a fraction of an inch. Jasper grinned evilly, and tried again, going and spinning harder…. a fraction more gave …. spinning more…. and then… CRACK!

"Hehe… heeeheee… hahaa… YES!" Jasper breathed heavily, chest heaving. She looked down at her wrists, rubbed raw from the chains. But they were, nonetheless, chain-free. A grin so full of malice and arrogance composed her countenance it makes me physically ill to write about. She began her ascent to the surface, all the while keeping an eye out for the watery brat, who appeared to have scurried away as soon as she realized she was losing control. COWARD! No matter, she was still ignorant about the cluster.

And on the other hand, Jasper was getting the hell out of dodge to go up to Yellow Diamond on Homeworld and get this wretched thing over with. Breaking the surface of the ocean, she breathed in a nice big gulp of unnecessary air- she was a gem, remember? She didn't need air to breathe. It was still pleasant anyways, especially after so long under water. She spat into the salty mixture, a final 'fuck you' to the place, and began swimming with her powerful strokes to the nearest shore. She chuckled as the thought crossed her mind that there would be no shores soon anyway.

Pearl kicked a tiny rock out of the way grumpily as she walked down the beachfront. She was in a grumpy mood because she JUST found out that Peridot and Garnet had attempted fusion, and when Pearl confronted Garnet about it, they had gotten into an argument. "Ugh." she grumbled, kicking up rocks here and there into the water with a semi-satisfying sploosh. Pearl had only been worried because Peridot had like, JUST pledged allegiance to the Crystal Gems, and it wasn't entirely certain she could be trusted. What was even more infuriating, not that Pearl would ever admit it, was that Garnet was still weary about forming Sardonyx with Pearl, and yet, she would just FUSE willy-nilly with the annoying little triangular gem! Garnet accused Pearl of being distrustful and jealous. That was the last straw. Steven had tried to play peacekeeper, and persuaded Pearl to go take a walk to clear her mind, and they would talk it through in the morning. Pearl wasn't finding this particularly helpful.

She took a deep breath and scratched her head. If only Rose were here, she would know what to do… but Rose was here, in the form of Steven, and Steven knew vaguely what needed to be done, and Pearl was so proud of him! She looked up at the sunset over the ocean and found peace in the beauty. Her heart swelled up and she knew Rose would have loved this, just as she had loved everything else on this planet.

In the distance, a faint shimmering caught Pearl's eyes, and she squinted to get a better look, halting her walking. It was just some water splashing about… it was getting closer, slowly. She listened hard. A faint sound that was like… a voice… shouting… "Help!"

Immediately Pearl jumped in the water without a second thought, swimming quickly and gracefully towards what she presumed was a poor drowning human. "Help, please!" pleaded the voice- it was a girl's voice, Pearl noted, and as she got closer, she heard that it was exhausted. They must have been lost at sea for hours, by the sound of it!

Pearl reached the struggling girl in the blue dress and wrapped her arm around her. "It's okay, I've got you, are you alright?"

Their eyes met and both widened in surprise.

"You!"

"YOU?!"