Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond's second-in-command, one of her closest confidantes and most prized soldier. She was supposed to know everything about her.
Or least, she thought she did.
Rose knew that Pink Diamond was much more sympathetic than the other Diamonds in the Authority. While Yellow Diamond was bitter and cruel, Blue Diamond being strict and apathetic, and White Diamond possessing the tendency to not being involved at all, Pink Diamond treated her subordinates with kindness and respect, even treating the lowly working-class with somewhat care.
Rose owed a lot to her Diamond, actually. When she was first introduced to her, along with several other Gems of her kind, Pink Diamond was able to scope her out through the whole crowd of Rose Quartzes and give her a warm smile. In fact, she even seemed to see something in her.
From then on, Rose Quartz Facet-9N3A Cut-6HX was Pink Diamond's personal favorite during training sessions. Occasionally, when the others weren't looking, Rose was specifically tutored by the lovely Diamond personally. It spurred Rose into becoming one of the most proficient Quartzes in her league, mastering battle tactics and military basics.
So no one was surprised she was handpicked as Pink Diamond's second-in-command.
Rose thought better than to kneel down to her Diamond and lick her shoes. Instead, she simply spoke to her superior as if she were an equal. Both of them knew it wasn't true, but they preferred things that way. Sometimes, Rose would even forget to ask for her Diamond's permission first and—gasp—just touch her playfully, whether it being a quick graze of her hand or even a gentle smack on the her master's arm, as if it wasn't considered an impossible privilege to gain.
All this time, Rose believed her Diamond would do anything for her.
It wasn't true. Not even close.
Rose Quartz had scouted Earth along with her Diamond to seek out potential colonies. They both had discovered an abundant civilization of organic creatures called humans. They were Earth's dominant species and particularly the only ones smart enough to build such a society. But even then, they were still considered lower than Gems, judging from their complete lack of useful technology and basic language. They like all organic beings, required sleep and nourishment in order to survive, things that were completely unnecessary for a Gem; their weaknesses made all the other Gems laugh with pity.
If it wasn't for the Gem colonization process, the species would most likely die out within a couple of millennia.
But Rose saw the filthy, uneducated beings as wonderful. She followed them around, observing their traditions and lifestyle with rapt attention. She even recorded the things she's learned from them into her log, filling it with words such as "family," and "childbirth," and "love," things Gems has never heard of. She made an effort to connect with them and be like them.
Sometimes, she'd even mistakenly embraced her fellow comrades the she has observed humans do.
Other Gems in Pink Diamond's court would ridicule her if it wasn't for the fact that she was the closest to their superior and therefore; have the right to break them for doing so.
Rose loved every single part of the Earth, from the gently rolling waves of the ocean to the way the sky paints itself a new color according to the position of the planet from its star: bright cerulean to deep red-and-orange splashed with gold to blazing purple and then fading away to pitch-black. So she couldn't stand it when Blue Diamond set her eyes on the planet and ordered Kindergartens to be made.
She knew what Kindergartens did; they suck out everything beneath the planet's surface, siphoning it out from deep underground to nurture newborn Gems. Then, the entire ecosystem collapses one-by-one, organic beings slowly starving to death and plants withering to dust.
She couldn't stand to let that happen to the planet she had grown so attached to.
Rose knew the Diamonds were fickle when it came to negotiating, especially since every decision Homeworld makes is determined by them and them alone, but she had a high status as a Rose Quartz. She was not only a rare Gem; she was the second-in-command of Pink Diamond, favored by her superior. Perhaps that would give her a little leg-up.
But when she presented her case to the Diamonds, explaining why the Earth was more than any average colony, she was immediately dismissed. That was expected from every other time a Gem tries to reason with a Diamond. It was entirely out of her favor from the start. You didn't even need future vision to see that coming.
But what entirely shocked Rose was that, along with her sisters, Pink Diamond had completely waved Rose off. The Gem who trained her, cultivated her, practically mothered her had ended up not listening to a single protest Rose made.
Afterwards, her Diamond had tried to reason with her, saying that the human race was bound to die off anyways without their help, seeing as how foolish and irrational their system was. But Rose couldn't listen to a single word of it.
She believed her Diamond was the fairest out of the Diamond Authority.
She believed that her superior would at least give one glance at her opinion.
She believed that Pink Diamond was her friend.
Never has Rose felt more foolish.
But she wasn't going to let this disappointment stifle her devotion to Earth. She was going to get the Diamonds to see things her way, even if it was going to take a little bloodshed to do so.
It was the strike of Rose's sword that finally ended the war over Earth.
Normally, seeing a pile of Gem shards at the feet of a Quartz would be an ordinary kill, but not this one.
This shattering was what made all of Homeworld realize that the Crystal Gems were so much more than an ordinary uprising of defects.
This shattering was what forever marked Rose's legacy as a dangerous adversary.
This shattering was what ended Pink Diamond's life.
With one of their most beloved figureheads destroyed, Pink Diamond's armies fled and so did Blue Diamond's, realizing it wasn't going to take until their master was vanquished. The other Diamonds had finally abandoned Earth for the sake of preserving their lives.
Rose Quartz's name was now a hideous blemish on the Diamond's Authority's records and was whispered throughout Homeworld, reminding them of what would happen if another defect came into power.
Whenever Rose passed that certain bubble in the Crystal Temple's Burning Room, seeing a floating mass of shining pink shards that had once breathed life into her former superior, she reminded herself through all that pain and guilt that it was worth shattering the one who cultivated her for Earth.
Rose was no longer in control of Homeworld anymore, so she shouldn't have to feel any pain for destroying a Diamond.
It was for the good of humanity.
It was for every Crystal Gem out there in the universe.
It was the only way to end all the devastation the Rebellion had left on Earth.
She didn't have a choice.
After all, it was either Pink Diamond or Rose herself.
A/N: Rose is definitely one of the most mysterious characters in the show. Her history isn't explored very much, so I wondered how certain characters and events looked in her eyes. So here I decided to create a little series of drabbles about Rose's relationships with Gems she has and hasn't interacted with in canon, and how she saw them. Leave a request in your reviews on which character to do next.