I don't own Steven Universe in any way, shape, or form.
Prologue
Something was obviously wrong. The distant explosion and the sudden rocking followed by the alarms and the sudden feeling of the ship rapidly descending all lead Lapis to that conclusion. The only thing she didn't know was what caused it. Her best guess was that Steven had found and freed the other Crystal Gems and that they had fought against Jasper and Peridot, and during that fight, they damaged the ship in some way. Lapis hugged her knees close to her chest and drooped her head forward as the ship dropped from the sky, ready for what would come next.
The blue gem was thrown forward as the ship impacted the ground. She began to rise when there was another explosion, this one much larger, and was forced back to the ground as chunks of the ship fell, burying her. She lay there, momentarily stunned, and took stock of her self. Her gem was somehow undamaged, and aside from a few scrapes and bruises, her physical form was undamaged as well.
She heard a voice coming from somewhere nearby. It was muffled by the rubble above her, but sounded vaguely like Jasper. She couldn't understand what she was saying, but felt a need to escape, to get away from here. Using all of her strength, she rose to her feet, throwing off the rubble that pinned her, and fell to her knees. She looked up and saw the orange Gem standing only a few feet away, looking at her with evil intent in her eyes. Without hesitation, Lapis summoned her wings of water and leapt into the air. She only made it a few feet into the air when she felt Jasper tightly grab hold of her leg.
"Come here, brat!" Jasper said, pulling her down, then took hold of her arm and held her up like a doll, "Ahh, don't fly off so soon."
"Lapis!" Steven called out from the other side of the beach.
"Lapis, listen, fuse with me!" Jasper said.
"What?" Lapis responded, raising her head to look at her.
"How long did they keep you trapped her on this miserable hunk of rock?" Jasper asked, dropping her to the ground, "These Gems, they're traitors to their Homeworld. They kept you prisoner. They used you. This is your chance to take revenge!"
Lapis rose to her feet as Jasper spoke and looked across the beach at the Gems. Jasper was right. The Crystal Gems had imprisoned and used her for thousands of years, taken her life away from her, taken away her free will, taken her entire existence away from her.
"Come on, just say yes."
That was all it would take. One simple word, and she could destroy those who had all but destroyed her. One word and she could have vengeance for the injustice she suffered for thousands of years.
"Lapis, don't do it!" Steven said, struggling against Amethyst and Pearl who held onto him protectively.
Lapis narrowed her eyes, then dropped her head forward, eyes closed and turned around. She took a deep breath and raised her head, opening her eyes and looked Jasper square in the face.
"No," she said.
Jaspers cocky grin turned into a snarl at that one word.
"What?" she demanded.
"I said, no," Lapis repeated.
Jasper let out a growl and began to walk forward.
"Then you can just die with the rest of these worthless traitors!"
Lapis quickly raised a hand and summoned several tendrils of water from the ocean and wrapped them around Jasper, pinning her arms to her sides and keeping her in place.
"Urgh! Let me go!" Jasper shouted, struggling against the binds.
"Somebody do something!" Lapis called over shoulder, "I can't hold her like this for long!"
Like a flash, Garnet came rushing past Lapis, gauntlets appearing on her hands in a flash of light. Reaching Jasper, she stopped, crouched, then sprung up, upper cutting Jasper in the jaw. Jasper cried out in pain then poofed, her gem dropping to the ground and the water splashing down around it. The fusion put her weapon away and knelt down, bubbled the gem and turned around as she stood back up.
She looked at Lapis for a few seconds before saying, "Thank you."
Lapis turned away and looked out across the ocean.
"Just make sure that bubble stays intact," she replied.
Garnet nodded and sent the bubble away.
"Lapis!" Steven called out as he ran up to her and hugged her, "I'm so glad you're okay Lapis."
Lapis smiled and looked down at him.
"I'm glad you're okay as well."
The sound of crunching sand caught her attention. She looked over to see Pearl and Amethyst walking over to her.
"What are you going to do now Lapis?" Pearl asked, "Are you going to go back to Homeworld?"
Lapis sighed and looked back out over the ocean.
"No. Homeworlds changed so much. There's nothing there for me anymore. And even if I did go back, they'd probably just send me back here with even more Gems."
"You're gonna stay here?" Steven asked excitedly, "With us?"
"I'll probably stay here on Earth, but I don't know where."
"You can stay with us at the temple!" he suggested, "You can join the Crystal Gems!"
"Steven!" Pearl shouted.
"Uh, no offense dude, but she did try to steal the ocean and kill us before," Amethyst said.
"She nearly drowned you and Connie," Garnet said.
"But, she was just trying to get home," Steven said.
"That doesn't excuse my actions," Lapis said, kneeling down and placing her hands on Steven's shoulders, "I did terrible things to you and I'm sorry for that, but that doesn't change the fact that I still did them."
Steven's expression dropped as he looked into Lapis's eyes. The joy and excitement was gone, replaced with uncertainty and a small bit of fear. Lapis felt a twinge of sadness within her followed by a tear welling up in her eye. She stood up and wiped it away, turning back to the sea.
"Thank you for the offer Steven, but I can't. The only place for me on this planet is at the bottom of your oceans."
"But, Lapis…" Steven said taking a step forward.
Lapis turned to look at him and shook her head.
"I'm sorry Steven, but it has to be this way," she said, then looked up at the other Gems, "I promise I won't try anything. I'll live under the oceans peacefully. Don't come looking for me and I won't do anything to you."
The Gems all shared a look, then turned back to Lapis and nodded. She nodded in return and, with a sad smile, began to walk into the sea. She stopped a when she about waist deep and turned back around to look at Steven.
"Beach-summer-fun-buddies forever," she said.
"Beach-summer-fun-buddies forever," Steven replied sadly.
Turning back she continued forward until she disappeared beneath the surface. The Gems stood in silence for a moment, watching the spot where Lapis had vanished.
"Well, this will be interesting," Garnet said adjusting her glasses slightly.
Steven's phone began to suddenly ring and he quickly answered it.
"Hello?"
"Steven! I got your message, are you okay?" Connie's worried voice asked from the other end, "What's going on? Steven?
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