"Go, Pearl," Amethyst ushered, gesturing the Gem towards the bathroom door.

"This is a terrible idea," Pearl hissed. "And why me?!"

"Because it'll boost the message more if it's coming from someone that wouldn't usually admit something like this," Garnet said, causally adjusting her shades.

Pearl stomped towards the door with a blue dusting staining her cheeks. "I can compliment people."

"Of course you can. That's why you can do this," Garnet returned.

Pearl rolled her eyes. "I see what you did there." Nonetheless, she straighten up and cleared her throat, prepping herself for the impending conversation. She rolled her shoulders gently before knocking the back of her fist on the bathroom door. "Peridot? Hello?"

A few expectant seconds passed before the three clustered near the bathroom could hear a small, muffled, "...What."

"We… require your assistance," Pearl continued, idly tugging on her fingers.

"...What is it?"

"We're about to leave on a mission, and your metal powers would be invaluable—"

"No." Her tone left little room for argument, but when Pearl turned around Garnet and Amethyst only gestured for her to continue, so she turned back towards the door and tried again.

"Peridot, please. It will be near impossible to do without you. We need you on this."

"No."

Pearl imploringly looked to Garnet again. "That's that, right?" she begged near silently.

Garnet shook her head. "Pearl," she whispered. "Do it."

Pearl shook her head and tangled her hands in front of her in a way that was more a denial of the situation than any particular instruction. "I can't."

"Pearl."

Pearl sucked in a deep breath and turned back to the door sharply. "Peridot..." Pearl clenched her jaw and gripped her hands together tightly. "Peridot, you're our leader, aren't you? You can't leave us on our own like this," she pleaded.

For a long period, there was only silence from the bathroom. But eventually, they could hear the sound of Peridot climbing out of the tub and her socks padding across the tile. The doorknob turned and finally the door pulled open. Peridot strolled out as casual as could be—as if she hadn't been barricading herself in the bathroom for days. She stopped in the middle of them with one hand on her hip and the other tucked under her chin. Her eyes were closed as she nodded sagely and responded, "I suppose you are correct, Pearl. It would be poor leadership on my part if I let you all go into such a situation without proper guidance."

Pearl sagged in relief.

All the Crystal Gems appeared on a warp pad in the middle of a marsh, cattails grouped in small patches all around the landscape. The ground was in a constant, ever changing state that edged from mud, to loose grass, to pools of sullied water. Amethyst was the first to step off the pad, running ahead and jumping in the mud. Steven was quick to follow her. Garnet and Peridot stepped down afterwards. The fusion didn't even flinch as she settled down into the mud; Peridot gave a slight grimace as the muck surrounded and soaked through her socks.

"I should make attempts to acquire coverings for my gravity connectors," she muttered to herself.

Pearl remained on the warp pad, staring out at the ground with distaste. After another beat of hesitance she stepped off as well, shuddering as she sunk a good inch down into the mud. "Peridot better appreciate this," Pearl whispered to herself, another shake racking up her spine.

"So," Peridot called, pacing forwards ahead of Garnet with her hands on her hips. "What are we here to accomplish?"

"There's a hoard of corrupted Gems here that we've had to previously ignore based on our inability keep them above ground," Garnet explained. "But their exoskeletons seem to be made out of some sort of metal alloy, so hopefully, you'll be able to keep them from escaping underground by levitating them."

"What?" Peridot whined. "This isn't urgent! I thought this was an essential mission!"

Garnet grinned and passed Peridot. "But it's nice to be out of the bathroom, isn't it?"

Peridot slowed and crossed her arms, bottom lip pushed out in a pout. "You tricked me."

"Come on, Peridot," Pearl chuckled. "It's not so bad. And it wasn't a total lie; you will be a unique help."

Peridot humphed, but sped up to keep pace with Pearl.

It wasn't long until they approached an area with thick clusters of cattails surrounding them on all sides. Garnet stopped in the middle of the clearing, Pearl and Peridot right behind her. "Amethyst."

Amethyst was hiding out in the thicket of the cattails, crouched down and waiting for the perfect moment to pounce on the group. When Garnet called her name, she stood. "Garnet! Come on, I was just about to—! Ahh!"

As she was talking, the ground started to shake and sink beneath her. Suddenly, she was pushed off and thrown through the air, landing next to the group with a splat and covering half of Garnet in mud.

"Sorry, Garnet," said Amethyst, peeking her face up to spy the fusion.

"It's alright," she said as she activated her gauntlets and got into a battle ready stance. She alerted the rest of the group by shouting, "They're here! Steven, get over here!"

Steven had been messing around by the cattails as well. Upon hearing Garnet, he abandoned his inspection and ran over to the rest of the group. "Coming!"

Unbeknownst to him, the ground started to push up behind him. A mud coated form—larger than Steven himself—launched up from the ground towards his unguarded back. Garnet leapt to meet it in the air. She punched back, hurtling it towards the ground; it hit the mud with a wet splatter. The shock caused some mud to clear away, revealing its shiny metal underbelly. It looked like an overgrown metal crab without legs—just pinchers. It screeched at Garnet before escaping underground again, digging through the ground with its claws.

"Gems, get ready! More are coming!"

Even as Garnet was saying that, the ground was already starting to shift; small, bulbous mounds appearing around them. A few spontaneously burst open, mud flying through the air like shrapnel. Giant muck coated monsters began whizzing around the clearing, so fast that they were just big brown blurs. They didn't run or fly—they jumped, moving through the air from explosive leaps. They bounced around disorientingly, caroming from spot to spot and suddenly changing direction. The fact that they could escape underground and pop back up anywhere they wanted made them even harder to hit. Pearl managed to shoot a few out of the air, but another rammed into her from behind and sent her face down into the mud before she could hit too many. Amethyst brought out her whip and attempted to lasso one, but the still partially mud coated monster was too slippery to grip. Garnet was covering Steven, fending all targets off with brutal strikes of her gauntlets.

One launched itself at Peridot—the green Gem cowered in wait of the inevitable impact. It never came, as Pearl launched herself out of the mud and speared it through. It disappeared with a poof. Before Pearl could reach down to pick it up and bubble it, another one was already upon them. She was forced to abandon her attempt and kick the offending creature away. "Peridot, get the gem!" Pearl shouted, as she jumped into a roundhouse and knocked the corruption off sideways.

Peridot was still a little stiff with fright, but nodded and scrambled towards the gem lying in the mud. She retrieved and bubbled it before it could reform, her vivid green sphere surrounding it. She reached up with her other hand to send it off—

Her hand froze. Where… would it go? She…

She had no home.

Her eyes locked onto the gleaming, auroral globe—almost transfixed. Her hand hesitated above it. If she were to send it nowhere, would it just… disappear?

"Peridot!" Pearl called, effectively startling her from her trance. She jumped and turned slightly to face Pearl, consequently breaking contact with the bubble. It floated away from her a bit. "Hurry up; what are you doing?"

"I—… I—"

"It's alright," interrupted Garnet. Her voice was steady and calm, even in the midst of intense battle. "Leave it for now. How about you levitate some of these guys? It'd make it a bit easier on all of us."

"That'd be nice!" added Amethyst, narrowly avoiding a corrupted Gem's lunge.

"R—right!" Peridot stuttered, turning away from the battle and looking for a target. They moved around too fast for her to get a proper lock. Even as Garnet punched and Pearl shot them, they didn't seem to slow down in the slightest. She held her hands out and tried to stop one of the blurs, but it seemed for naught. She'd always had enough of a problem with immobile objects—moving targets were even harder. They had their own momentum and everything—

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Amethyst get her whip around of for just a split second. It's form was revealed, for just the smallest window of time— She turned and threw her hand at it with hardly a moment of thought.

The corrupted Gem was halted mid-air. It shuddered against her hold, trying to wiggle out of it. It was an odd sensation, as Peridot could almost feel it vibrate, but she didn't let it go.

"Nice, Dot!" Amethyst cheered, pulling out another whip and lashing it around the creature for added security. Peridot chuckled almost disbelievingly.

"Yeah…"

Her pleasure was interrupted as she saw another corruption head straight for her. She could not hold two at the same time. Her concentration fell to pieces as she clenched her eyes and threw her hands over her head.

Though, again, nothing impacted her. She cracked open an eye to see Steven positioned in front her, a large Rose shield on his arm. He turned back to her with a smile.

"Don't worry Peridot—you just work on holding them! I'll keep you safe!"

Peridot gave grateful smile back. She once again let herself focus wholeheartedly on the corruption. Amethyst was able to hold it with both of her whips solidly around it, but not much beyond that. Peridot rose her arms intently, subduing the creature and bringing it up in the air.

Pearl, seeing the opportunity for what it was, sprinted for the corruption and hurtled her spear. It cut through the corruption's form, gem falling abandoned in the mud as its manifestation was destroyed. Amethyst's whips fell to the ground as well; slack. Pearl's spear disappeared and she pulled a new one out of her gem.

No one could afford to stop to bubble it, as the other creatures were still a threat. Pearl had attempted, but another monster burst from the ground in front of her and she was forced to abandon her attempt. They would have to poof all of the corruptions before bubbling any—they had to end it quickly.

The group fell into a easy rhythm. Steven abandoned his Rose shield in favor of a bubble, protecting Peridot from all sides so she could focus on her metal powers. Amethyst would grab them out of the air just long enough that Peridot could get a solid hold on them, and then either Garnet or Pearl would take a second from keeping the rest off of them to actually poof the captured monster. It was a simple, efficient system that they quickly mastered. It wasn't long before all seven corrupted gems were lying half buried in the mud.

Steven dropped his bubble and they all circled up around the area where the corrupted gems had fallen. Amethyst, Pearl and Steven were all waiting for Garnet to start bubbling them—as she usually did—but she didn't. She was standing still. She, too, seemed to be waiting. Her gaze was fixed on Peridot.

Peridot wasn't paying attention to Garnet. She was looking down at the gem at her feet. Hardly even realizing she was moving at all, Peridot bent down and solemnly drew the gem into her hands. After a pregnant second, she questioned aloud, "...where do they go?"

"Peridot, you know where they go," answered Pearl. "Home."

Peridot swallowed. "I know. But I mean, for me. If I bubbled them, where would they go?"

Pearl awkwardly shifted. She drew her arms up to herself and crossed them, silently chiding herself. Amethyst bit her lip and looked away, the whip in her hand bursting into light and returning to her gem. Steven looked as though he wanted to offer comfort to Peridot, but his hand hesitated above her arm at seeing Peridot's expression. Glazed eyes, lost stare. Vacant. He searched for something to say, to bring Peridot back down to them, but Garnet beat him to it.

"They would go home."

Peridot rose her head to look towards the fusion. "But…"

"You still have a home," Garnet corrected gently. "You just can't get to it right now. But it's still your home, isn't it?"

Peridot stared at the gem in her hands again. "...Yeah."

There was another long silence before Peridot softly asked, "Can… can I bubble them? I've got an idea."

Garnet grinned—like she was waiting for it (she probably was (future vision)). "Of course."

At Garnet's confirmation, Peridot's bubble grew around the gem, and after a single moment of hesitation, she laid her hand on top. It disappeared.

Lapis remembered the first time—the only time—a bubble appeared in the barn. She had been reading a magazine. It had made a small, subtle noise—almost like a squish. Or a squeak.

In the dark nights, it cast a small glow that never left its area—never illuminated anything, truly, other than itself. It was a bright vivid green, standing out against the drabber colors of the barn—it fit perfectly in its incongruousness. Every now and then, Peridot would look up at it and give a small laugh—her special laugh, that sounded oddly snide and insincere despite its true innocence and honesty—that sounded like, 'nyehehehehe…'

Lapis used to look upon the bubble with fondness. But after going to space, and taking everything she could ever want with her (beside the two most important things), she couldn't. It was a representation of everything she didn't want to remember. She didn't want to feel guilty.

She pushed it all the way up near the rafters so she wouldn't have to look at it as much.

(But she couldn't bring herself to push it out of the barn, or out of sight.)

It was fine until more started showing up.

She had been reading (again) when the second ever bubble showed up. Just like the first. Only it wasn't like the first. The first time hadn't been an oddity, or startling, or heart wrenching. She could just go back to her book like nothing had happened—like it didn't even matter. But not this time. She had tried to—but it did matter. It made her think about all of those things she didn't want to think about.

This was my home, she could hear her say.

And then the third bubble. And the fourth. And the fifth, in semi-rapid succession. She could imagine Peridot, wherever she was, sending off each of them. Gently, carefully, eyes looking up into the sky and wondering where they were actually going—where is my home? Each bubble was like a punch to the gut.

The one thing she couldn't imagine, was the look on Peridot's face. Were they sent with malice? You ran away with everything I loved. Hurt? You ran away and left me. Longing? You ran; but I'm still here. Don't forget me.

She didn't know.

She shoved them all up in the rafters.

The third time it happened—a few weeks later—was no less startling; yet just as tearing. And the fourth—the following month. And every other time after that. It never got any better. And worse—after a while, the rafters started to get full. To the point where she would not just catch small glimpses of a portion of one every now and then, but she couldn't even look up anymore without all of them bared to her. Their message bared to her.

You ran away with my home, and I am on Earth.

Regardless of the tone intended, the message was the same.

They started to glow in the dark. More than themselves. They started to shed light on things. They were bright and vivid and green.

She couldn't get rid of a single one; yet she still couldn't look at them.

Every time she did, she saw Peridot's face as she ripped the barn out of the ground and flew away with it.

Complete, utter desolation.

You stole my home.

She stole her best friend's home. The place she yearned for, thought of, dreamed about. The place that she wanted to be. The place she was happy and content.

Every single bubble up in the rafters was proof.