The Script- Breakeven

"He's still won't let me heal his eye Garnet I'm really worried about him." The chubby curly haired boy frowned. His godmother stood next to him tall and powerful as always listening to her adopted sons words with the same amount of sadness that he felt. Steven had always been the sympathetic type it wasn't surprising to see him worrying about their friend.

Another gem appeared from around the corner, she caught their conversation and agreed. "I don't know what to do neither. I've tried talking to him but he still won't say a single word. He barely eats, I don't think I've ever seen im sleep. All he does is sit by the window and look out to the ocean." Garnet nodded her head at Pearl in acknowledgement.

"Don't talk about him like he's some broken thing." Amethyst came around the corner, a look of anger in her eyes. She was sick of these little meetings they had been having about Shadow. Truth was she was worried just as much as they were she just felt they were going at this all the wrong way.

It had been two months since they found Shadow on the beach. The water from the sea licking at his bruised and scarred face. They thought he was dead at first from how bad he was beaten. They didn't even realize his eye was destroyed until they tried to open it. Steven had managed to use his healing powers to heal his rib and arm but when he tried to heal his eye Shadow almost lost it. Shadow woke up screaming in pain, not from the loss of his eyes the broken ribs or arm, but the feeling of complete agony in his heart.

All of them stood around each other in silence not knowing what to do. Shadow wasn't getting any better, they felt as if he had already given up on himself. The question was how do you help a man who can't even help himself.

Shadow sat at the window sill looking out to the sea hoping she would come rising out of the water like the second coming of christ. Day and night that's all he did just waiting, hoping, that maybe just maybe she would come back to him. Shadow didn't know what he would say or do. A sick part of him wanted to just hold her and tell her she's stupid for not listening to him and for beating him like mash potatoes. An even sicker part wanted to use his powers to kill her for putting him through this pain with no regards for how he would feel. His right eye was a testament for that. Someone was talking to him but his mind refused to comprehend the garble that was directed towards him.

Shadow didn't care who it was till a hand touched him on the shoulder. No matter who it was he never looked away from the beach. Even as pearl sat next to him with worry in her sky-blue eyes.

Shadow grabbed her hand before she could touch the bandages. "Please…" That was the only hoarse word he could say. He didn't want her to try and see the ugliness that scarred his face. This wound was a reminder that no matter what he did, he would never find happiness.

"S-shadow you… it's been to long. I know that-"

Shadow slammed his head against the wall so hard Pearl jumped. "You know what?! Tell me that you understand how it feels to have your bones broken by the one person you thought loved you, o-or takes one of your eyes and leaves you half dead in the sand! Tell me that you understand!" He grabbed Pearls shoulder so hard she winced but she couldn't move. She was paralyzed not from fear, but the look of pure lost in his dark brown eyes. He wanted an answer that he knew she nor any of the other gems could give him. When Pearl couldn't find the words to say Shadow let his hands fall limply from her shoulders.

Everyone else ran in from the yelling. Garnet could see the bruising on Pearls shoulder and moved in to intervene. Pearl put her hand up to stop Garnet before she could do anything rash. Pearl took a deep breath to steady herself. Before she could even give her rebuttal Shadow stood to his feet. His gaze was to the ground when they stared at him, he was to ashamed to meet their eyes because he knew that he was weak.

"I can't stay here any longer." Was all that he said before he made a beeline for the door. Garnet blocked his path to try and stop him then amethyst who grabbed his waist. "You can't leave Shadow you're our friend dude come on. You're the Shackster." Amethyst pleading eyes made Shadow want to crumble, he couldn't stay here any longer.

Garnet took off her shades to look him square in the eye she didn't need future vision to see what would happen if he left. "You sure you want to do this?"

"I don't know what else to do." He replied confused, she made it sound like their was some other answer to help him with his broken heart.

The gem lost her cool demeanor and tears began to build in her eyes. Just like Amethyst she hugged her arms around Shadow. "You know we're family Shadow you don't have to leave us."

Shadow started to shake he was starting to lose the fight. "Please… I'm just so tired of this pain." His voice wavered from the tears that began to build up.

Now it was Stevens turn to try and convince him. Steven looked into Shadow's eye and he saw a pain that no amount of words could fix. The man that almost died to protect his father and fought for a gem that had tried to hurt all of them so long ago was about to leave. His older brother was leaving and it hurt the little boy. All of them latched on to Shadow unable to let him go.

Pearl could see his fists balling up. Pearl stood to her feet walking towards Shadow with a courage she almost forgot she had. "Look at us Shadow. You leave your no better than… your no better than Jasper," Pearl didn't want to hurt him anymore but he needed to understand. "You don't have to fight this battle alone when all of us are here so please just trust us." Pearl finally reached him, she hesitated for only a moment then steeled her nerves. She slipped her hand into his. "You can share that pain with us we can take it. We can do that for you."

His body tensed for just a second then his fingers gripped around hers. Shadow started to choke on the tears that were coming. "It's not fair." Shadow ended up crumbling to his knees holding his face in his hands to hide the tears. "I loved her and she just left me like this." Shadow continued to pour his heart out to them. All the emotions he bottled up the last couple months finally coming out like a shipping that had been bottled up. "Why did she just leave? I loved her I would have done anything to see her smile and she tore my heart out Pearl. I just want the pain to go away." With no fight left in him Shadow couldn't resist falling asleep and was finally able to get some rest. The four just looked at Shadow curled up on the couch sleeping wondering how long would it take for him to crack again. This time they just barely managed to reach him through his pain next time they might not be so lucky.

It was late now and everyone was asleep except for Shadow. Once again he sat at the window looking out to the oceans dark waters. This time when he did the heavy weight on his chest felt lighter. Shadow sighed when he could hear silent footsteps behind him. He had been here long enough to know who it was.

"Don't worry I'm not going to off myself just yet." When he didn't hear a response he turned around to see Pearl holding a hand to her mouth. "Okay I'm sorry jeez don't get hysterical on me."

Pearl composed herself slower than she liked. "Don't insult me I'm not hysterical. I just worry about you sometimes."

That made Shadow's eye brows raise. "I'm not Steven you don't have to check on me like some child."

Pearl just rolled her eyes. "I've been on this planet longer than man. You are a child to me."

As much as Shadow wanted to protest that he didn't really have any ammunition to fight back with. "You remind me of someone I use to know." He said softly. Memories of his old lover began to sprout in his head making him both sad and happy.

The gem was really interested now she didn't really know about Shadows past. The first time they had met she had beaten him in a fight and kidnapped him for information about Jasper. They really did start of their friendship as the bestest of buds.

Shadow leaned back with a tired look on his face, the memories of his past giving him comfort. "I use to be in love with a woman whose eyes were as blue as the summer's ocean. You two would have liked each other, if she wasn't my girlfriend she would have been the mom I never asked for."

Both of them laughed at that. Pearl liked it that she could talk to him on a personal level, it was a nice change. "What was she like?" Pearl asked.

Shadow closed his eyes to help him visualize her not that he needed to it just felt so calming thinking about her. "She was smart, to smart it use to drive me nuts when we would study together. She loved that I was more of an introvert that wore chick-repellent glasses and took martial arts… I could remember one time-"

Pearl just sat back listening to Shadow talk about his past. It was nice to hear him talking again. When he did she couldn't help but smile from how the memories he had despite how painful they were could still bring him an ounce of happiness. Shadow talked so long that he didn't even catch himself falling asleep leaving Pearl in the dark. The gem didn't mind though she had no problem just being able to look at him asleep. At least when his eyes were closed and he was sleeping the pain wouldn't be able to get to him. At least not till he wakes up to start a new day.

Good Afternoon Everybody. It's been maybe a month since I finished the first story of Gem and Man and I'm ready to kick off part two, Of Gem and Man: Ikigai. Thank you for those who have been with me this long and I hope to continue creating more work for you guys and gals. A shoutout to my friend dedhaven for drawing me the cover art I owe to him for motivating me with an awesome drawing of Jasper and Shadow. If it wasn't for him I don't think Shadow would have looked as awesome as I imagined him to be. Thank you again for reading and please be on the lookout for chapters every monday, at least that's my goal. Don't be afraid to drop a review or PM me. Stay classy my ninjas.

-Shadowsamurai