Yield - Verb

To produce or provide (a natural, agricultural, or industrial product).

Giving way to arguments, demands, or pressure.

Leaning against the cave wall of the temple, Pearl couldn't help but fold her arms and scowl. In front of her, Rose was kneeled delicately on a step on the front of the temple cave, casually reading another human book. A guilty pile of similar books rested beside her, evident that she had been reading for a while.

Pearl grit her teeth; ever since Rose had befriended the human male Greg, she had begun new habits that had never occurred previously. Although she was always ready to lead a mission, her free time was no longer spent within her private temple room or with her fellow gems. She met up with Greg daily, and would come back with new human belongings that she referred to as presents. What started off as a human garment expanded into songs, dances and now; books?

Approaching her leader, Pearl glanced down at the offending pieces of literature sat beside her on the step. Anatomy of the Human Body? The Developmental Stages of Life? "What is all of this?" Pearl asked, lowering herself to sit nearby, but not close enough to reach. Rose smiled, her eyes never lifting from the book she had open. She slid a page over, licking her thumb as she did so, before responding, "I didn't think Earth could be more amazing than it is, but it keeps surprising me."

Pearl shuffled on her spot, feeling uncomfortable about Rose's attachment to the foreign planet, "Such as?" she ventured.

"We see humans for their skin, but there's so much more that they can do on the inside; it's fascinating."

Pearl grimaced, "The human body isn't exactly the most hygienic of organic matters found on this planet."

Rose sighed, a mix between contempt and defeat that Pearl couldn't identify what exactly she was feeling, "Not in that sense, my dear Pearl. We may not have the need to fuel our existence through digestion or with the aid of breathing, but humans can create their own lifeforms. Don't you find that beautiful?"

Kindergarten sparked within Pearl's mind, stumbling across the hazy canyons with a lost little gem. Confused, curious, a little rough around the edges; Amethyst was difficult to rear into the team. The little traitor had also befriended Greg, and was currently hanging out with the human that Pearl had begun to grow more distasteful of as time passed on. At least Garnet hadn't been swayed by his bizarre ways of living standards.

"We can create life too," she mumbled, not pleased with her response. The birth of a gem was nothing worth defending, but she was caught in a conversation she wished she had not gotten involved with. Talk of humans usually never ended well within the group when she was involved.

Rose seemed to hear the hesitant linger of the response, and slowly pressed her book closed, stacking it on top of the pile. She then shuffled closer to Pearl, and enveloped the gem in her arms.

"Oh Pearl," Rose sighed, placing her chin on top of her head. Pearl leaned into the embrace, too stubborn in the conversation to return the much appreciated hug. Instead she sat still, counting every second she wished could last forever.

They sat together in silence for a while, watching as the sun began to dip behind the sea, when Rose gave one extra tight squeeze of affection. She leaned by Pearl's ear, almost as if she was about to share another one of her endless numbers of secrets.

"I'm going to create a womb for myself."

The moment was ruined. Pearl stood up, wrenching herself out of her leader's arms, her eyebrows knotting so tightly across her face that it almost hurt, "Rose Quartz, are you insane!?"

Rose frowned, finally standing to her full height, and towered over Pearl. She refused to be intimidated however, and took a swift step back in order to gain some ground, "This is getting out of hand Rose! I understand that you befriended a human, I understand that you are so caring towards living creatures that you wish to observe and hang out with one, but this is going far enough! This behaviour is unnatural! You're…" she bit her lip, finding it hard to rant towards her beloved leader, but desperate enough to knock some sense into her, "You're smitten with him! That's not right for our kind! You have to put an end to this once and for all!"

Rose looked to her hands that were intertwined in front of her stomach; an act almost looking like it held some guilt, before she calmly responded, "You're correct Pearl. I do love and care for the creatures we had found on this planet. This is the only planet that we've found with organic life on aside from our own, and in the standards of Earth we're not even alive. Everything on this planet is vulnerable in a sense that we cannot be, and with our abilities we can easily care for everyone on Earth. But Greg is the only human to ever approach us first; he's special in a way I cannot define, and I admit that I seek his attention. I don't want to see him die Pearl; I want to exist alongside him."

"And I want to exist alongside you!" Pearl retorted, furious at herself and the hot tears she could feel welling up in her eyes, "I-I'm sure Garnet and Amethyst want you here too. For all of the thousands of years we have spent together; are you throwing this all away for an organism you've known for simply 5 years?"

Rose closed her eyes, and almost deflated in response, surprising Pearl. Before she could continue, Rose admitted, "Exactly. I've been alive for over a millennium. Much longer than any of my beautiful girls combined," she glanced at Pearl, her eyes squinting from a genuine smile, "I want to bring my reign to a close and retire. I want to give the family route a try, that's all."

Pearl's hands clenched into fists at her sides as she took another peek at the closed books on the floor, "It's… It's not possible for gems to reproduce Rose. Please, at the very least see some sort of reasoning."

Sensing the fight in Pearl dispensing, Rose rested on one knee and collected her books, her face as passive as ever, "I have myself an idea on how to get through with this. Just believe in me Pearl, as you have done in all these years you've served me."

And with a flick of her hair, Rose was gone; disappeared as quickly as she came. Pearl had lost the fight to call out and stop her.

Amethyst huffed as she scaled the wrist of the Temple statue, finding Rose laying within the stone palm. Looking around, she found it sad to find the statue becoming aged and tainted; cracks bounded along the skin like pale veins shining through rock. Gulping, Amethyst bunched up her courage and bounded up to Rose, flopping over her form and resting by her stomach. Glancing at her face, Rose was staring off into the distant sky, blatantly upset.

"Yo, what's up Rosey? Everyone thinks you've ran off. You not feeling good?"

Rose rested an arm along Amethyst's side, stroking her arm tenderly, "My wish got rejected. No one wants to let me do this."

Amethyst frowned, "Look, I know P. can be a bit bossy, but I'm sure she only means well! We all love you, 'kay?"

Rose smiled, but shook her head sadly, "Oh, it's not that. I know you all love me as much as I love you, but I had been expecting you guys to be against it. It's Greg. He doesn't want to do this either."

Oh. Amethyst wasn't sure how to react; how dare he deny Rose something as important to her as this!? Yet at the same time, she felt that she wasn't losing her leader to her buddy. She had nothing against Greg, but he was always with Rose these days that Amethyst felt that she simply couldn't get much, if any time with Rose by herself.

She brushed it off with a scoff and a flick of her wrist, "Psh, well it's his loss, you know? Who needs him anyways?"

Rose sighed, her head sinking into her colossal hair, "I need him."

Amethyst prompted herself into a sitting position, looking down at her leader, "Does… Does this mean you two aren't a thing anymore?" Although she loved Pearl and her desires, she really liked hanging out with Greg at times. He usually provided her with food, which was a rare grab when living with secluded aliens who refused to go to the neighbouring stores.

Rose laughed softly, pushing herself up on one arm to look over at Amethyst. She used her other arm to tussle her short hair, chuckling, "Of course not; we're too close to simply end it. He just-" she sighed once more, returning her arm to her chin so both arms propped her head, her body twisted to lay on her stomach, "He's more interested in living with me than with his offspring. I didn't know the human generics of families were so complicated. Isn't it what organism's dream of having? A next generation? What am I doing wrong?"

Amethyst hummed in contemplation, "You know, I don't think that's true."

Rose glanced down at the small gem, "Pardon?"

"I mean," Amethyst shifted so she was sat up beside Rose, no longer leaning into her, "Greg's pal Vidalia, she's having a baby. And she's miserable about it. It doesn't look like humans want babies at all. She said she wished she hadn't done whatever it was she had to get one either. Sounds pretty scary."

Rose sat herself up slowly, her dress splayed out around her, yet her gaze drifted off over the expanse of the ocean. Amethyst took her lead and glanced at the water, squinting as if expecting to spot what her leader was focusing on. Finally, she spoke in a quiet voice.

"Are you saying I would regret it? When it's my own choice?"

"Maybe you won't regret it, but," Amethyst placed her tiny hand over Rose's knuckles, stroking her thumb over them softly, "maybe others might. Maybe Greg, maybe Pearl. Maybe me."

Rose remained silent as she picked herself up from her position, standing tall in the palm of the sculpted hand. Her arm leaned out on one of the curled fingers as she faced away from Amethyst.

"Maybe you all depend on me too much," she sighed, leaping off of the statue and floating to the sandy beach below. Amethyst clutched her fist around her gem anxiously. What were they doing wrong?

Garnet stood poised at the head of the temple statue, arms crossed as she surveyed the beach. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, scorching the sky in purple and darkness cleansing the night to make the stars visible. Despite the lateness, humans were gathered together on the sandy shore, sat among blankets and chatting away idly.

Amethyst had claimed that it was a party for Vidalia, not that she knew of the woman, who had recently birthed an offspring. Said mother and child were sat content on the fabrics placed below, the mother humming peacefully to her child, rocking him within her arms. Another dark skinned man had accompanied them, along with his partner, who had brought along two identical children of their own. Although older than the new-born, both were small and unable to stand by themselves, and were wrestling each other on their hands and knees, squealing with excitement.

Shifting her weight from one hip to the other, Garnet kept her arms crossed in front of her chest as she held her position. She had found the idea of bringing humans on the beach to be reckless of Amethyst, since their temple was a beacon for corrupted gems to flock to, but to her surprise the chances of an interruption was slim at best.

Greg was serving the humans meat roasted from his portable barbeque, trying to push Amethyst off of his leg as she tried to swallow the entire contents from the grill. Their laughter was carried through the wind to Garnet's position. They seemed to be enjoying themselves somewhat at least.

"Good evening Rose," she called, before turning around. Maybe this was the real reason she had come up here, she admitted to herself. Somewhere isolated were they could talk in private. Rose walked up beside her, peering down at her beach. She cooed.

"You found a beautiful spot, Garnet. You can see everyone having a great time down there."

"I'm surprised you're not down there joining them." She wasn't. She knew Rose wanted to talk to her.

Rose let out a quiet brief laugh, "I can't join a baby shower without a baby after all."

"And yet Amethyst is down there."

This time the laugh was genuine, "She said she looked the part. She also claimed that Greg was her carer so he got dragged into it."

"Not yourself though?" Garnet finally faced Rose, her face as stoic as ever. Rose hummed.

"I suppose not," She admitted, "You know why I'm truly here though, don't you."

Garnet nodded, an indication for her leader to continue.

"What are the chances that this will work out?" Rose sighed at last.

Garnet took a large inhale, before replying, "You know my Future Vision is not accurate enough to give me a solid answer. It could go so many ways right and just as many ways wrong."

Rose stepped closer to her comrade, and placed her hand on her shoulder, "But there is at least one potential path that could least to a successful result?"

Garnet remained quiet, but her lips drew closed and that was enough indication for Rose to know that Garnet was anything but pleased. Her hand ran down the rest of Garnet's arm.

"There are lots of ways for this experiment of yours to fan out," Garnet admitted, cautiously, "A lot of them are… Horrifying, to say the least."

Rose looked down, releasing her grip from Garnet, and she took a step back, "I see."

"And yet," Garnet continued, "there is always a reoccurring factor as to why each of these go blatantly wrong," Garnet fully faced Rose this time, and took off her glasses. Her exposed eyes looked mildly distraught as she admitted, "Every failure of this occurs because in each one you see it as nothing more than an experiment. A test. And it's much more than that, Rose."

Rose froze, letting Garnet's words sink in, and she took the pause to place her glasses back onto her face, "You're a powerful leader, Rose. You think analytically, like everything is a struggling battle. And while that may still be the case, you're fighting for the wrong cause. Nothing in this will turn out good for anyone if you keep thinking of it as a plaything. You'll be making a real organism Rose, and it needs to be treated with respect, understanding, and with equal values.

The only way this turns out well Rose, is if you treat him like an equal."

Rose watched her comrade and waited for her speech to end. When it did, her shoulders relaxed, and she closed her eyes briefly, opening them brimmed with tears. As they fell down her cheeks, she asked, "What is he like?"

Garnet wiped one of the tracks from her face, responding quietly, "He's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. He loves everyone and everything, and everyone loves him back just as much. Even Pearl. He has your eyes."

Rose giggled softly, hiccupping from her tears, as Garnet added, "He has your laugh too. He binds us all together."

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," Rose lifts Garnet's hand and guides it to her cheek to rest upon, "Have I made the right choice, Garnet?"

"Out of all of the seen outcomes, this is possibly the most unpredictable, yet enjoyable path you have chosen for us. We'll do you proud Rose. With little Steven there to help us all of the way."

AN: The amount of SU fanfictions I have resting in my files is currently infinite. I had actually started writing this the same day 'Rising Tides Crashing Skies' was released, and stopped midway because the day after 'We Need To Talk' had been released and I was worried that it no longer fit canonically. Despite this, I finally got back to it and gave it a brief edit before finishing it, and I hope it fits the part!

In regards to my other SU fanfiction, 'Belated Meetings', I'm honoured by its sudden popularity, and chapter two is partially written up, although I'm unsure when I'll have the motivation to finish it. There is another story on its way; I have it completed in a script format but will be writing it out fully when I am eager enough to do so, and it's about Steven and Connie going on a mission. I'm really pleased with it regardless, so let's hope I can get it written out nicely soon. Thanks for reading!