A/N: Okay so I know I have that other Lapidot story to finish, but a friend (451Kitkat on Tumblr) and I came up with this idea at like one in the morning the other night and it was just too good to not write. The cover art is also provided by them!

"Oh my stars!" The memory replayed itself in Peridot's mind, over and over. Garnet asking, no - telling her, to attempt fusion. The way Peridot had initially wanted to, but then had immediate second thoughts. The way that she clunked around on those cans, attempting to be graceful.

"Uh, Peridot?" came an inquisitive voice. "You okay in there?" the ocean gem questioned, gesturing to the green gem's head.

"Yes, there would be no reason for me not to be," Peridot replied matter-of-factly.

"Okay," Lapis replied, drawing the word out to show her disbelief.

With a hum, Peridot went back to what she was doing. Wait, what just was she was doing? The ocean gem had interrupted her train of thought, and now she was desperately scrambling to figure out what her task was. Was there even a task? The green gem sighed in frustration, and leaned back. When she looked up, she was met with a pair of azure eyes staring back at her.

"Okay, what's on your mind?"

Peridot felt her cheeks darken, and knew she couldn't keep anything hidden anymore. Well, she could, but her attempts would be futile.

"N-nothing," she said in a failing attempt to mask that nothing was wrong. Lapis cleared her throat and looked at Peridot, obviously waiting for her to answer truthfully.

The former technician's face scrunched up. "Well- I-..." she trailed off.

She felt the blue eyes searching her face, urging for her to continue.

"What's fusion like?" Peridot blurted out. She immediately regretted the question when Lapis' face fell and darkened. She knew that Lapis was the absolute last gem to ask about fusion, looking back on her time with Jasper. It went against all logic to ask Lapis, but there was something in her that nagged her, pushing her to ask.

Lapis narrowed her eyes. "I'd rather not talk about it," she muttered. The blue gem hugged her arms close to her and turned away from Peridot. The other gem groaned in frustration.

"Lapis, you never want to talk about anything! You need to actually open up one of these days! You're keeping everything in and to yourself! I'm trying here, but you don't seem to care!" she snapped. After the words had flown from her lips, Peridot wished she could take them back.

"Peridot, don't take this the wrong way, but why should I? You had me imprisoned on that ship! You didn't show any ounce of kindness until I finally decided it would be better for me to stay here than to go back to Homeworld! I didn't even get a sincere apology from you, just that I was so full of useful information. Then you tried to bribe my friendship from me with some piece of junk! You honestly think that those small attempts could ever make me feel less alone?" Lapis ranted.

"Look, Lapis," Peridot started, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Your time with Jasper as Malachite definitely was not the… best. I understand that. Your time with me on the ship was also less than favorable, I get that too! But you need to give me a chance, okay? I've changed. I know you don't believe that, but you also haven't given me the chance to even let you see that I have! Also, I'm… sorry, about all that. About… well, everything I guess."

Peridot wanted to say more, much more, but the way Lapis was looking at her told her to find a stopping point.

"You think you understand the feelings that I felt? You have no idea about the crushing fear and anger that I experienced. The bleak and lightless hole that I was in. You know nothing about it."

"Lapis…" Peridot trailed off.

"What?" Lapis nearly snarled.

"Not all fusions are the same, you know."

The blue gem dropped her arms. "How would you know? You haven't fused at all. Ever."

The former technician met Lapis' eyes. "I don't need to. I can see it. I've seen Garnet, the perma-fusion, and how laid back but tough she is Then there's Opal, who is silent, graceful, yet deadly. Then you've seen Alexandrite, but I can't tell you how she is. Apparently Steven can also fuse with his human friend 'Connie.' I've not heard much of their odd fusion, but I can tell you that it is different than any other fusion I have seen. Every fusion is different," she explained. Peridot didn't need to fuse to understand that everyone was different. The way that each individual's emotions melded with each other, the way that personalities collided.

Something inside Lapis seemed to have clicked. The former hostility that had been hidden deep in her eyes had softened. Her shoulders dropped in relaxation. She sighed. "Look, Peridot. You're very… convincing. Maybe I will try fusion again one day," she said softly.

"Would you attempt with me?" Peridot blurted out.

Lapis looked back at her and shrugged.

"Is that a yes or a no?" she kept nudging.

"Peridot…" Lapis trailed off this time.

"Lapis?" came the reply.

The answer she received wasn't anticipated. Lapis stepped closer to her with a blank expression. She took Peridot's hands, and put one around her waist and held onto the other. The blue gem put her hand on the green's shoulder. They stood like that for a moment, until they started shuffling to an unheard song. At first, everything felt wrong for Peridot. Lapis slightly towering over her, the awkward movements of her feet. The longer they stayed like that though, the more comfortable she got. The height difference no longer mattered, and her feet glided along the ground as the dance became more intricate. Their dance had progressed from an awkward slow dance you would find in a "school dance", Steven's friend liked to call them, to a more graceful scene. The two twisted and spun each other around, becoming more comfortable with themselves and the other. The two were in no rush.

As they lost themselves in their dance, Peridot noticed a soft glow illuminating Lapis' face. She was getting lost in her beauty when it happened. A flash of light that was gone as fast as it had appeared brightened the room. The two that had become one being glanced around. It was a dizzying sensation; two thoughts that echoed one meaning, yet had different words. What is this? What am I? The being held up their arms and marveled at them. With a duller flash of light, the being suddenly had… limb enhancers? Except, these were made of water and ice. Fingers of frost floated aimlessly in the air, suspended by some force unknown to the being. Emotions of joy and amazement flooded their mind as the two began to discover more of what they just made. An underlying wave of fear and resentment threatened to overcome the being, but Peridot made sure that that didn't happen.

The two unfused from the amalgamation of themselves in another a flash of light. Peridot found herself looking at Lapis again. A storm of feeling was whirling its way around the green gem's mind.

"Lapis? What was that?"

The blue gem blinked a few times. "That was… different. Very different."

Peridot looked at her. "Was it… good?"

Lapis let out a small chuckle. "It was good, Peridot. Thank you."

A grin broke itself across Peridot's face. Lapis looked away with a slight blush, hugging her arms to herself again.

Peridot couldn't help herself. One more question. "Would you… would you be willing to do that again? Willing to fuse into Turquoise again?"

Lapis tensed up momentarily, obliterating the joy that Peridot was feeling. After a beat, the blue gem let out a sigh.

"Well, I don't see why not."

A/N: Okay so I hope this wasn't too far of a stretch and if so, I'm sorry. It was just such an amazing concept and I loved it. I still love it. Anywho, thank you for reading this short one-shot thing I wrote! And if you're keeping up with my other story (A Rock in the Water), a new chapter (or two) might be up soon!