Sapphire cringed at the chime of the warp pad behind her, and tried to make herself look smaller as she sat on the steps of the twice ruined ruins. Of course Ruby would know where to find her. They had spent thousands of years sharing the same mind.

And this was where they had met.

"Sapphire!"

Ruby's voice rang out across the ruins: pained, and worried, and desperate. Sapphire couldn't exactly blame her: being alone after thousands of years of fusion felt achingly lonely. As if what they had just learned didn't make them feel isolated enough.

Maybe that was why she answered.

"Go away, Ruby."

Sapphire's voice was soft and strained, but Ruby heard her. When she responded she sounded much calmer (relieved), though her footsteps were hurried and clumsy as she followed the sound of her voice.

"What happened to all that stuff about forgiveness, and anger being pointless?" Ruby joked weakly.

She found Sapphire sitting on the steps of the ruins, behind the main arena. Her head hung so that her gaze was fixed on her lap, where her hands were clasped together. Ruby sat down on the step beside her, leaving a gap so that Sapphire had some space.

And there they sat beneath a crumbling pink diamond.

Sapphire sat frozen, the ice around her gleaming dangerously, and her voice matched.

"This is different."

"Why?"

"Because-" Ruby noted with alarm that the ice patch beside her was growing. "Rose lied to us about everything." She turned to face Ruby, but her eye was hidden and her expression was stoic. "What if she lied about fusion, too?"

Ruby froze.

"What?"

Sapphire's gaze returned to her lap. The ice continued to spread.

"She was the only one who thought it was okay. And she lied about everything else." Sapphire clenched her fists until her gem hurt. Her voice broke. "What if it's not okay? What if we made a mistake?"

Ruby's heart shattered, along with the ice next to her as Sapphire sobbed.

"Sapphire," Ruby reached for her but she turned away, hiding her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry!"

She shouldn't have said that.

"No," Ruby held Sapphire at arms length, and gently brushed her hair out of her eye. Her hands were shaking. "Sapphire, do you think Garnet was a mistake?"

"No!" Sapphire sounded angry now, though her anger was directed at herself. She looked at Ruby desperately, and her voice matched. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I love you. More than anything." Sapphire's voice turned quiet as she slid her hands into Ruby's. "But I can't help but remember- the way Rose looked at us. The first time she saw Garnet." She smiled brokenly through tears. "She looked so proud." Sapphire closed her eye. "Everyone told us we were wrong. She was the only person-" Her voice wavered as her gaze met Ruby's. "Was that a lie, too?"

"I don't know." Ruby looked down at their hands. "I don't know… but I don't think Rose lied to us about everything, Sapph." Ruby smiled weakly. "She loved the Earth. She still gave up everything to protect this planet."

Sapphire shook her head.

"But she lied to everyone who followed her. We all gave up everything, Ruby. And everyone else-" They both remembered the blinding white flash. "We paid for it."

"I know." Ruby suddenly felt small (even smaller than she was). "But Rose did too, didn't she? She didn't know that the diamonds-" Ruby shook her head. "She didn't know that would happen. And I'm sure she felt responsible. They were her friends too, Sapphire. They were her family."

"They were our family." Sapphire choked. "They died for her. Because of her. And she lied to them."

"Because it was her planet." Ruby said gently. "Rose wanted all of us to be free. If we knew she was a diamond- if all the other gems knew- they wouldn't have followed her because they wanted to, they would've followed her because they felt like they had to. She wanted to give them a choice." Ruby squeezed Sapphire's hands. "That's more than Homeworld ever did."

They sat in silence for a long time, Sapphire's head lulling onto Ruby's shoulder as the sun sank beneath the ruins.

"She was the first person we thought we could trust, and she lied to us." Sapphire said quietly.

"I know."

Sapphire gave a tired huff of laughter, and somehow managed a smile.

"I guess the only people we can really trust are each other, huh?"

"And Steven." Ruby said automatically.

"Steven!" Ruby jumped as Sapphire shot upright and clapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my stars! Steven is a diamond!"

"Yeah." Ruby suddenly felt nauseous. "I guess he is."

"He must be so confused." Sapphire pressed her hands over her eye. "And we unfused, and fought, and I ran away. Right in front of him. Right after he found out that Rose-"

Ruby couldn't help but smile as Sapphire flopped backwards.

"It's okay."

Sapphire made a noise that was somewhere near an annoyed laugh.

"How are you so calm?"

Ruby snorted.

"Now you know how I felt after the Pearl debacle." Sapphire swatted at her, and she managed a little laugh. "I've already figured it out."

"Yeah?"

Ruby nodded.

"Steven is all that's left of Rose." She said softly. "And Steven loves the Earth, and the Crystal Gems, and us."

'Garnet.' Ruby added silently.

She smiled, warm and real.

"Which means that none of that was a lie."

Sapphire kissed her, and she forgot that Rose Quartz had ever existed.

"I love you." Sapphire smiled softly as she pressed her forehead to Ruby's. "I shouldn't have said-" She closed her eye, and Ruby squeezed her hands. "I don't care if Rose did lie to us about fusion. I love you and I don't regret one second we've spent together as Garnet."

Sapphire's breath hitched as Ruby kissed her, and there was warmth and love and light-

Garnet smiled.

"Neither do I."