A/N: In the end, she's just a Pearl. SPOILERS! since it's based on the last episode, so thread carefully. This was also inspired by a story I read by Do It For Her called A Rose by Any Other Name.
Submission for:
One Prompt, Many Fandoms [Monthly Competition]: Restriction: fic title must be the last 3-5 words of the fic
Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe.
Ever since she can remember, she has always felt different. There was something that beat within her, something that echoed in the silence, something that wasn't supposed to be there.
Pearls were the military force of the Gem Homeworld. With their lithe bodies, heightened agility and calculating minds, they were bred specifically to be the perfect soldiers to defend their planet.
But she wasn't like the others. She wasn't as fast as the others, smart as the others or cold as the others. For every opponent she slayed, there was always that thing within her holding her back, keeping her from being the perfect pearl.
So she forced that thing away, not wanting to be considered defective. She strove to be the best, to be agile, confident, efficient and intelligent, and for awhile, she was able to fool everyone. Even when she left Gem Homeworld and came to Earth, the others still considered her the smart one, the quick one, the graceful one.
But in the middle of the night, when the darkness surrounds her, her shine is dulled and the cracks in her facade begin to show. The something within her stirs and she begins to doubt herself.
No matter how she tries, she can never be as strong as Garnet, she can never be as passionate as Amethyst, nor as optimistic as Steven. She can never be as kind and loving as Rose.
In the end, she is defective. In the end, she is just a Pearl.