This is a sequel to the fic That Thing Called where the closure between these two was established :)
Flying above the sea at ungodly hours was never unusual to Lapis. However, she found herself doing it even more ever since she decided to give living within the same space with Peridot a chance. It was more of an escape than a therapy for the blue gem lately. She was set to circle around the island where Beach City laid until she saw a lone figure sitting on the engraved gem on the temple's carved giant woman. Pearl didn't seem to be aware of the blue gem's presence at the moment, sighing longingly at the stars that dotted the night sky. Lapis recognized the expression even from a distance. It's the same expression she learned to ignore whenever she gazed mournfully through her reflective prison and towards the open sky. Carefully, Lapis changed the shape of her wings to glide as quiet as possible behind the pensive gem. The action was not missed by the other's honed senses.
"Woah—" A water bubble was what separated the water gem from Pearl's still glowing trident— "It's okay, Pearl! It's me!" Lapis said defensively, her wings sharp and alert with alarm.
The pale gem blinked and relaxed her hands around her weapon. "Lapis!" she gasped, "What are you doing here?" She disarmed herself with a burst of shimmering ribbons. The gem in questioned unconsciously retracted her wings to the lack of threat.
Lapis cringed at this, remembering the reason why she is out in the first place. "Peridot," she scowled, "She's been unreasonable ever since Percy and Paulette became a thing." She understood her roommate's point of view, yes, agreed with it even but forty-seven and counting hours of rage-fueled litany about the incompatibility of a pair of fictional characters was a tad bit annoying.
"Er… The what of the who now?"
Suddenly, the smaller gem felt her own rant coming, "It's that boy and a girl from the opposing camp in the last episode of season five of Camp Pining Hearts," she fumed, "Seriously? A friendship bracelet? Pierre gave him his own swish!-army-knife on Color's Night! On Color's Night! Can you believe that?!" She demanded the wide-eyed pearl, "Oh sure, a human boy and another human boy can have all the development that suggests deep and mutual attraction and still be called friends," she huffed, "but comes in a random character that happens to be the opposite sex with a "friendship"— " she gestured the quotation marks in the air to the bewildered gem— "bracelet and suddenly they're destined for each other!" she panted, frustration evident in her eyes.
The taller gem watched as the other calmed down to a flustered mess, blushing blue from her own impromptu litany. Not for the first time, the pale gem reveled in finding of these sides of Lapis that she had yet to discover. "She really seems to be partial to human pop culture," Pearl mused. She chuckled behind her hand, "Are you done?" She asked, amused but not unkind.
The blue gem sighed, the fight in her dissipated but promptly replaced by embarrassment. It didn't help when Pearl continued to gaze at her, "Yeah… sorry for pulling a Peridot on you."
"It's quite all right," the pale gem said graciously and moved to sit on a cliff near where Lapis saw her, pointedly leaving a space for the other gem. "I did almost stab you so we're even." She gently patted the room beside her when the blue gem didn't move.
"Oh," Lapis uttered quietly, understanding the now obvious invitation. She stalked towards the waiting gem and slump fumblingly beside her, bending her legs to a W under the blue fabric of her dress. The blue gem noticed that there was a lot of room to occupy but the other did invite her to sit beside her. After all, the unneeded proximity was not unwanted by any of them. She leaned close to the pale gem, just outside the other's previously bigger personal bubble. Finally, the water gem was settled, albeit not as refined as the other. "So," she sighed, "What are you doing here?"
The pale gem gave the other a side-glance at the mirrored question and heaved a sigh of own, extending her arms behind her to a slight recline, "I was waiting… stargazing, Lapis," she said with same pining expression that she had when Lapis found her. "Isn't it beautiful?"
The water gem followed the path of the taller gem's gaze, towards the sky scratched by a passing comet. Lapis gasped at the beauty and recognition, at the shadow of the power that used to surge in her, and turned to the somber pearl beside her, "Did you know…?"
"That pearls came from comets?" Pearl whispered, eyes trailing along the fainting tail of the comet, "Yes… Rose told me." She straightened and placed her hands on their default position on her lap, finding comfort in the familiar pose. The comet came and passed over their heads so she settled to staring in the segment of the sky in front of her. "More like, I demanded her to tell me," she added.
To say that Lapis was stumped was an understatement. She never had this conversation before and never would have guessed that she would have to. In the Homeworld, pearls weren't expected to think outside their programmed duty let alone think about themselves or where they came from. It was simply not allowed.
Homeworld was, even before the war that aggravated the already low resources of the gem societies, desiccated and arid, a place generally ideal for all gem life forms. All gem life forms except pearls. In order to create pearls, Homeworld needed water and consequently, they needed lapis lazulis.
Before pearls, lapis lazulis were weak civilian gems with most of the times useless powers lucky enough to be included in the great Diamond Matriarchy. For most of their existence, nothing was expected from them except from their occasional surges of power whenever a comet revolution passed near the Homeworld. Comets were the old Homeworld's only source of water and lapis lazulis were the only gem class that can harness this eventual liquid life.
It is said that when the first pearl was formed, her beauty and grace powered the Homeworld's newfound need for water and jump-started the intergalactic exploration now common place in the gem society. However, it was their gentleness and general passivity that brought them down to the bottom of the gem caste. Of course, it also helped when the Matriarchs made the lapis lazulis take the oath to never reveal the reason of their rareness and value; the truth about the controlled production of status-bearing gem servants. It was a win-win situation. Gem societies got their pretty, docile dolls while the lapis lazulis secured a higher tier in the gem caste system.
"You… you watched comets ever since?" The blue gem inquired, for the lack of the better things to say or ask. Guilt wouldn't allow her to say anything more than this.
Pearl shook her head, "I watched the sky… stars and planets, galaxies and comets ever since I was created," she whispered. She remembered the first time she saw the night sky, reflected in the placid pool she came from. She remembered the extreme need to go beyond the inky canvas mirrored in the stilled water only to disturb it; muddled and chaotic, reachable yet unattainable. "My whole existence I felt lost, like I don't belong anywhere in Homeworld… even though I belong and found a home in Rose," she continued, "It was then when I was with her when I witness for the first time a Harvest." She glanced at Lapis, old nostalgia etched in her smile.
Every few hundreds or thousands of years, a Harvest was performed. Rows of flying lapis lazulis filled the different Homeworld skylines, diverting water from the revolving comets passing near their home planet. Underneath them were the rest of the water gems who couldn't manifest their wings, tasked to reroute the harvested liquid to its reserved reservoir. It was then the latent yearning to fly through the sky, to the space beyond their thin atmosphere coursed throughout Pearl's entire being.
"I wanted to fly," the pale gem confessed to the other, not unlike to the way she confessed to the late Rose Quartz, "I wanted to fly… to space. To my home." She could never though. Pearl knew this very well. Nearly got Steven and herself killed the last time she pursued her longing. She knew this well and accepted it. "But I couldn't," she drew her legs to her body for comfort, body ridden with hopelessness and frustration, "I can't."
"Pearl…" Lapis whispered. She understood how the other feels, painfully so. Homeworld used to be her home but she could never go back. Everything had changed and it changed without her. The water gem also changed and learned to accept this and accept Earth and the Crystal gems as her new home but she can never change the way she felt for Homeworld. With newfound resolve, she budged closer to the pale gem and laid a hand on the other's shoulder in what she hoped a comforting manner, "I can."
With a flourish, Lapis called upon her wings and hovered in front of the taller gem, as if to prove her point, "I can fly," she said, "I can fly you to space, Pearl." She declared. With the same confidence the other showed to her back in the barn, she offered her hand as an open invitation to Pearl.
Wonder filled the pale gem's large eyes, slowly replaced by overflowing tears at the other's statement. She looked at the extended hand, to the sky beyond it, and finally, to the gem in front of her. A pair of fat drops of tears crawled down her face. "Lapis, you'll do this for me?" She wondered softly.
The water gem grinned at her, "Yeah, you dork." She watched as the taller gem stood to her full height, reaching Lapis' chin.
The said gem threw her a watery glare, "Amethyst again?" She wiped her face and took the other's offered hand. "You should really stop copying her lexicon choices," she pouted disapprovingly.
Lapis laughed at this, "Okay you got me… it was Amethyst." She moved to pull the pale gem around the other's waist with her free hand. With lids lowered, the water gem whispered with a smirk, "You ready?"
"Hang on," Pearl said. She wrapped her arms around the blue gem's neck. Her face was a picture of trust. "It's been a long time," she murmured, excitement evident in her voice.
Pearl settled snugly against the winged gem but Lapis still found herself pulling the taller gem closer against her body. It was easy, really. The other was slim and light, fragile to touch but definitely tough to fight. She shifted the gem in her arms to her side. Finally, with a restless flap of her wings, the blue gem flew themselves swiftly to the star-speckled night.
The wind blew hard into their ears and eyes, particularly now that Lapis lost her usual aerodynamic form. The water gem felt rather than heard the other's gleeful laughter. Every upward stroke of her wings was a moment of decreased air pressure, just enough for Pearl to peek through squinted eyes. "Pearl, close your eyes," Lapis whispered into the ear of the other during one of the longer upward stroke.
The pale gem tightened her hold to the winged gem and nodded against the other's right shoulder. Lapis took this as a go signal and started a series of long and powerful strokes against the thinning atmosphere. There wasn't really the need to breathe for the two but it was a useful indicator, particularly for the blinded Pearl, that they are reaching the boundary between Earth and space. The two passed through alternating hot and cold layers of air until there was nothing to feel; nothing for the water gem's wings to flutter through. More winded than usual, Lapis beckoned to her willing luggage, "Look, Pearl." She panted.
Slowly, Pearl untangled herself from the neck of the other gem and was immediately overwhelmed at the unadulterated view of outer space. Her eyes went impossibly wide, familiarizing the gem to the forgotten sight. Countless stars and galaxies, almost impossible to see through all the layers of the Earth's atmosphere seemed to twinkle and shine to her like old friends. The eerie yet familiar sound of silence filled her while space debris greeted her. Just beyond their sight was the tail of the earlier comet. "Isn't it beautiful?" Pearl whispered lovingly.
A pleasant case of déjà vu struck the blue gem. She peered at the other's content smile and agreed, "Yeah, it is." She laid a hand on Pearl's still joined ones around her neck, "Welcome home, Pearl."
Pearl's smiled, not only with her lips, but also with her watery eyes, "I'm home, Lapis."
Lapis' content "Me too," was left unsaid.