Hope you enjoy this little oneshot for these two! Honestly I just love them both a lot, so I wanted to write something after how amazing Reunited was.
Bismuth is more than happy to be back, to be formed, to be with her friends. She loves it, but she needs time to understand what just happened. And everything that Steven told her, it's a lot. So before the ceremony, she takes some time for herself to go to the forge.
"Bismuth, are you okay?" Steven asks her as she gets onto the warp pad.
She grins at him and gives him a thumbs up. "Course little buddy, just want to clear my head before the ceremony and all that. I'll be back before ya know it!"
Steven smiles at that, and Bismuth is in awe. This little kid, Rose's son, he's so much more now. Despite what he thinks, he's a leader. The leader of the Crystal Gems. And she'll forever be in his debt. He gives her a thumbs up back when she warps. "Let me know if you need anything! See you soon!"
It warms her heart, but now she's alone and can think. And boy is there a lot of thinking to be done, a nice lava bath is just the thing she needs to sort it out.
XXX
Pearl searches the whole house and beach for Bismuth. She wants to talk to her, to explain, to apologize, and they haven't had time alone yet to do so.
She finds Steven drawing more decorations in the house and decides to ask him. "Steven, have you seen Bismuth?"
He nods, "She said she needed some time to get ready, I think she went to the forge."
Pearl lets out a soft laugh at that, because of course she went to the forge. Why didn't she think of that too? She gets on the warp pad before Steven can ask anything of her and goes to find Bismuth.
XXX
Bismuth pounds on the metal to help calm down. A motion that she's gotten used to and loves dearly. She starts making a sword subconsciously, or maybe by choice. It makes her think of Pearl. She loved making swords for Pearl, and she certainly has plenty to show for it.
But Pearl always lit up when she got a new one. She wonders if she still has all of them, after everything. She hopes so.
When she looks up to see Pearl in all of her elegant glory, with her ankles and wrists crossed in apprehension and worry, she drops the metal. Smooth.
"Oh, Bismuth, I'm so sorry." Pearl says as she rushes over, elegance disappearing with her flailing limbs and apprehension.
Bismuth moves quickly, picking the metal up and placing it back on the anvil. And she tries to recover, but she feels awkward doing it. "No worries doll, it's all okay. You just startled me is all, guess my guard was down." She chuckles, or tries.
Pearl gives her a shy smile and then looks down. She starts fidgeting, and Bismuth knows something is up. "Could we talk, Bismuth?"
"Of course Pearl, anything you need." Bismuth responds, and promptly sits on the edge of her lava pool, she can finish the sword later. Pearl takes a seat by her, opting to tuck her legs neatly underneath herself instead of in the lava. "What's up?"
"I wanted to…" Pearl clenches her fists in her lap and looks close to tears. Bismuth considers picking her up and holding her, but doesn't want to stop her from talking. "I wanted to apologize, for everything. I should've gone looking for you after you disappeared, I should've looked more into it. But I trusted Rose, I trusted Pink Diamond to tell me these things. And then after what happened with Steven, I should've explained, I should've told you. It was foolish of me to assume that she told me everything, I just thought you were gone. And then after your fight with Steven, I wanted to tell you so badly but I couldn't so I left you down there with all the corrupted gems and I-"
"Yo, yo, slow down Pearl. It's not your fault." She puts an arm around Pearl and pulls her close to her but away from the lava. "It wasn't your fault, and it wasn't your responsibility."
Pearl starts to cry, and buries her face in Bismuth's shoulder. "I just missed you so much, I could've helped, I could've found you. If only I had told the truth."
"Aww girl, you did what you could." Bismuth pats her back. "You didn't do anything wrong, Pearl. Ya know, I've been thinkin'. And I think that Pink Diamond should've said something and not left it to you. You and Steven sure have cleaned up a lot of her messes, haven't you?"
Pearl stiffens then, and she's afraid she went too far. She knows how much Pearl cared for Rose, but she's allowed to have her opinions, right? "And I loved Rose Quartz, Pearl, you know that. She gave me freedom, just like everyone else. But it seems to me she was a little bit reckless, just leaving that secret on you. You didn't do anything wrong Pearl, you believe me?"
"Yes, I-" Pearl sniffles and sits up to look at her. "I've struggled with this, for a long time. But Steven was so kind when he found out and has been so helpful. It's made me think a lot about Rose, about Pink. I do believe you." She's quiet as she continues. "I just feel so terrible about everything that happened. And about keeping that secret for over 5,000 years, I just want to make things right."
"Well I think you did." She gives Pearl a tight squeeze and then stands up, twirling Pearl around as she does. "Now how 'bout you help me figure out what to wear, I'm still not sure I get weddings."
Pearl laughs, and Bismuth missed that, she really missed that. She sets Pearl down gently, and they start searching through Bismuth's wardrobe. She just wants to look good for Garnet (and maybe Pearl, too).
XXX
Bismuth cries at Garnet's wedding, of course she does. And she doesn't feel bad about it, because Garnet is her favorite couple and she's so happy for them, and she's so happy she got to make rings for them.
And then she catches some flowers, and she's not sure what to do. Pearl laughs about it, and so she asks her. "Pearl, where did this come from?"
"Well," she starts in between laughs, and takes the liberty to lean on Bismuth while doing so. "Garnet threw that earlier, it's the bouquet. Steven said that it's a human tradition, and whoever catches it is going to be wed next."
"Oh," Bismuth says, trying to understand. She looks down at the flowers again, and smiles. She feels honored, and hopeful. "Well that sure is one nice tradition." She smiles at Pearl, and she blinks in response.
Pearl gives her a soft, shy smile, her cheeks warming up. "Yes, I suppose it is."
Bismuth just grins, because what else do you say to that? She gives Pearl one last look though, and she really is beautiful. She's older though, worn. Bismuth wishes that she could've never been bubbled, if only to help the Crystal Gems, to help Pearl. From what Steven told her, they went through a lot, she just wishes she could've been there to help.
XXX
A split second before the diamonds make an appearance, Pearl gets one last good look of Bismuth. And it aches a little, because she missed her so much. Missed the laughs, the jokes, the fights, the late nights together at the forge. She loved Rose of course, at the time. But Bismuth has always had a special place in her heart. She was and is one of her closest friends. And now that Rose is gone, and she's working on moving forward, moving on, maybe it can be something more?
She barely hopes, warmed by the memories that made together during the war. It's small, but it's there. Pearl blames it on the fact that Bismuth really does look dashing in her armor.