It was raining when she stepped out of the temple. The rain was one of the aspects of Earth that she only understood in a sort of scientific sense. She never understood the significance humans put into the rain. Human wrote poems and songs about something so unimportant; they were nothing more than just condensed water droplets. Yet, as she stood in on the beach feeling the raindrops against her skin, she attempted to see what made them special.

It was the middle of the night, and she knew the rest were either sleeping or working on things in their own domains in the temple. She had passed Steven on her way back to the door. She took a moment to observe his face before she left: He looked at peace with one of his small hands hanging limply off the edge of the bed and the other clutching a small bear he had won at the boardwalk a few days ago. Pearl noticed that despite his insistence that he had outgrown toys and stuffed animals, she had caught him on occasions sleeping with such things. She smiled and tried her hardest to be silent as she pulled the door open and stepped out.

She walked along the beach as more of those water droplets fell from the sky and clung to the sand. Beach City was silent and Pearl didn't expect to see a single human wandering the streets. At that same time, she understood how unpredictable humans were. Perhaps one of them was out pacing the streets and thinking as she did. She kept walking.

Pearl thought of Rose for a moment. She wondered what Rose with her capacity for love would think about all of this. She imagined telling Rose about the ship and how Peridot joined the Crystal Gems. Rose would have laughed a deep laugh as she would when she heard something that amused her. She would have asked Pearl to go on and tell her about it all in more detail. She would insist on meeting Peridot. She would insist on seeing Steven. She stopped when she realized that her lips were moving and that she was explaining all of this to no one in particular.

She stood just outside of Beach City, right where the beach touched the little town of homes and shops. It was just as she had thought; the town was empty. She thought about the humans. They were just like this rain, she thought. They were, in the grand scheme of the universe, small, fleeting, and insignificant. Yet, both of them had a something about them that was difficult to define. There was something about both of them worth preserving. Something Rose saw that she couldn't.

As she turned to walk back to the temple, she saw a small figure dash behind a bolder. Pearl jumped in surprise. Was it another wild Gem? Pear summoned her trident fully prepared to fight whatever it was. She hesitated a moment before leaping over the boulder and behind the figure. She turned and began to lunge towards the thing with all of her strength. However, before her spear made contact Pearl stopped short; It was Peridot.

"What?! What are you doing here?!," Pear shouted, her voice sounding half confused and half furious, her trident transforming into a beam of light and vanishing.

Peridot stared in shock and fear for a moment before forcing a smile onto her face. "Can't you tell? I was inspecting these masses of cooled earth magma."

"You mean you were looking at rocks," Pearl began to look at Peridot incredulously. She had already seen Peridot take samples of rocks by the beach, investigate them, become disinterested, and abandon the pursuit all in one day.

"Of course!" Peridot shouted her smile becoming wider as she spoke. "I wanted to see how they responded to humidity." She began to look intently at the boulder for a few seconds before looking back at Pearl. "Just as I suspected. No change. Well, goodnight Pearl." Peridot quickly tried to walk away before feeling a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh no you don't," Pearl said making sure her grip on the small, green, gem was firm enough to keep her from escaping. "You were spying on me. Weren't you?"

Peridot turned, her smile still there, but showing signs of waning. "Me? Spying? Never. I'd never spy on anyone. I fact, what is spying? I have no idea what that word means," Peridot spoke hurriedly as Pearl began to look at her with traces of frustration in her eyes. "You don't believe me?"

"No. I don't," Pearl spoke sternly. She knew that Peridot was watching her. There were only two questions she needed to get out of her: why was she spying on her and for how long.

"Well…You should," Peridot said hesitantly. "You know, I don't know much about all of this crystal gem business, but I know it should include trusting one another. Right?" Peridot's previously confident smile gave way to one of complete nervousness.

"Yes," Pearl said smiling, "It also includes being honest with each other." Her voice was unusually warm and motherly as if she was talking to Steven.

"But I'm telling the truth," Peridot's smiling face completely gave way to one of fear.

Pearl watched as the rain continued to fall on Peridot. Pearl began to realize just how small Peridot was compared to her. If she wanted to, Pearl could easily lift the little, green gem off the ground. Pearl began to smile even more at this realization. Without warning, Pearl reached both arms out, grabbing Peridot like a child, and lifted her above her head.

"Put me down clod! This is no way to treat a Peridot!" Peridot shouted as he thrashed and kicked in a fruitless attempt to escape Pearl's grasp.

"Want me to put you down? Then tell the truth," Pearl was amused by Peridot's efforts to get away. She saw Peridot's face begin to flush light green and her eyes avoiding contact with that of Pearl's.

"Alright. Alright," Peridot spoke softly. "I may have been spying on you."

"Why?"

Peridot was silent.

"Why Peridot?" Pearl's voice broke through the sound of the rain.

"I…I," Peridot stammered, doing everything in her power to avoid eye contact with those blue eyes that lay just below her. "I wanted to assess your acquisition of intelligence."

"What?" Pearl's voice was soft. Confusion was visible on her face.

"I wanted to see what made a Pearl like you comparable in intelligence to a Peridot like myself." At that moment, their eyes met and Pearl could see that honesty and embarrassment that lay behind them. How much had it taken her to admit this? How much had it taken her to look Pearl in the eyes? Peridot's cheeks were completely flushed as she looked nervously at Pearl.

Pearl held her for a moment longer before putting her down. Peridot didn't run away from her. Pearl told her of Rose. She told her of the universe that Rose had shown her. She told her of the books she had read while she was on earth. She told her of how hard she worked to know the things she did. Nothing was easy for her to learn, and that was the part that she had tried to hide from them all. Yet, at this moment, as the rain began to slow, Pearl felt comfortable telling her about how much work it took to understand the more intricate aspects of engineering.

"So… you are inferior?" Peridot asked. Her voice gave no indication of malice. It was an honest question.

"I WAS inferior," Pearl spoke, giving emphasis to the word was. "But I worked so that no one would be able to call me incapable."

"In that case…," Peridot paused, "I apologize for insulting you. I had no idea." Those words were difficult for Peridot to let go. It was a challenge for her to admit that she had made any form of error, but these crystal gems continue to prove her wrong.

"Let's go back," Pearl said, beginning to walk back to the temple.

"Hey!" Peridot shouted, stopping Pearl in place. Pearl turned to see Peridot once again blushing, and she was once again avoiding eye contact. "Would it be possible for you to carry me on your back? I think there's more information I can obtain about these small particles of rocks if I'm higher up"

Pearl smiled. She knew Peridot was lying to get a ride on her back. Pearl know that doing so was pointless and gave no tangible benefit to either of them. Yet, there was something about the idea of carrying Peridot on her back made her smile. It was a moment before she spoke, "Sure."

She stopped, stooping a bit to let the little gem jump on her back. In a moment, she was slowly jogging back to the temple. She could hear soft Pearl knew that the little gem perched on her shoulder was, enjoying herself.

They arrived at the temple when the rain became a soft drizzle. The door came open slowly and Pearl made sure to duck to ensure that the both of them would fit in the doorway. She put Peridot off of her back and placed her on the couch. She sat next to her until the sun rose.