Author's Note: That line from Steven in "Change Your Mind" about how many times Blue Diamond made Pink cry really struck a cord with me. Especially because crying later became Rose's greatest power. As someone who had a complicated relationship with tears and learned to embrace them as a powerful thing instead of a weakness as I grew older, this really got to me. So, I wrote this instead of going to bed on time.
(I assume that considering the Diamonds didn't immediately peg Rose as Pink when she started crying over cracked gems, that she hadn't exhibited this power before.)
It had happened so fast. It was an ambush from one of Pink's own soldiers. Not on orders of course. The quartz had appeared out of the woodwork and before Pink, Garnet, or Pearl could react, she had gone straight for Pearl, the axe aimed right at her gem. Pearl's form had immediately poofed and her gem had fallen to the ground with a crack down the middle. Pink and Garnet had reacted immediately, poofing the quartz viciously. But, that didn't matter. Because Pearl. Oh god.
Garnet was speechless, her own form flickering, threating to rip itself apart while Pink cradled Pearl's cracked gem in her palms. She felt a horribly familiar feeling itching behind her eyes.
She was no stranger to crying. She'd cried too many times to count over the years. She hated crying. She hated the painful bite of tears forced from her eyes from an outside source, yanked from her gut and torn out of her until she was left empty inside. Until she was nothing. This was different. These tears bubbled up from inside her, threatening to overflow. She tried to shove them down, but they burned at the back of her throat. She chocked on a sob, curling up around Pearl's gem. "I'm sorry, Pearl. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." The pressure inside was finally too much and her tears overflowed, dripping down her face and even that felt different. Instead of the large teardrops that would pool at the edges of her vision and drop to the floor like raindrops, these tears were small, fragmented things squeezed out through her eyelashes and streaking down her cheeks. She stayed like that, curled into a ball, eyes closed, but tears still sneaking past her defenses.
"Rose," she heard Garnet say from above her. There was something off about her tone. Something not fitting the horror that was reality. Almost like awe. "Rose," she felt hands grip her shoulder. "Rose, look." She opened her eyes and the world was blurry from her tears. She blinked, and her vision cleared just in time to see Pearl's gem, somehow completely whole, start to glow. The gem floated out of her upturned palms and Rose watched it rise a few feet in the air, tears still streaming down her face. A form in white light appeared, shifting around a bit before setting. Pearl landed gently on the ground and blinked open her eyes.
"Pearl!" she shot forward to grab the other gem and pull her to her chest: clinging. She was still crying, but these tears felt different again. Almost, joyful?
"What happened?" Pearl asked, confused.
"You can heal gems," Garnet breathed, reverent.
She kept a tight hold on Pearl but moved her head to look at Garnet. "What?"
"Your tears," she explained, and the fusion had tears in her own eyes. All three of them. "Your tears healed her gem. I've never heard of anyone doing that: not even a diamond."
She looked back at Pearl, who was watching her with wide eyes, just starting to understand what may have just happened. She reached up and wiped one of the tears off her cheek. She stared at the liquid on her finger. "No," Rose agreed. "A diamond never could."