Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe!

Title: Slippery Slopes

Summary: Ruby and Sapphire have spent time fused, but they've yet to actually talk to each other. With Ruby getting in fights and Sapphire playing strategy, things come to a head.

...

It's been about forty or fifty years since they last un-fused, Ruby reflected, stretching her small limbs with tiny, growling noises. It's hard to say how she should feel about that. The fusion is great, and she certainly wouldn't complain about the time she'd spent that way, but it's hard to get a read on Sapphire.

It'd be easy to assume it's just her own thick-headedness, and she was convinced that had a decent part to play in it, but Sapphire was a mystery to everyone. There was no way to puzzle out what every twitch of her hands meant, the slight frown on her face. Was she displeased? Did she miss Homeworld? Did she ever regret running away with a Ruby?

(Ruby wouldn't be mad if she did. Ruby regretted the botched meeting with Blue Diamond plenty.)

That wasn't to mean she didn't like Rose Quartz, or wasn't for the rebellion. As a Ruby, she's highly adaptable and stubborn to a fault. If they wanted the Earth, they'd have to pry it from under her shattered Gem.

Sapphire isn't like that. She's much different; a high-ranking Gem who'd predicted a future of leisure for herself. Why she had given it all up for a planet of mud and plants baffled her. She would be ostracized if she went back, thanks to Ruby's mistake, but she could win back Blue Diamond's favor. All she had to do was bring back her crushed Gem and make a passionate speech, or something. Ruby isn't sure how all that works, being a soldier, but she is certain she could never fight back if Sapphire decided to take her down. It just... wouldn't be right.

A stead drizzle was pitter-pattering down, soaking Ruby's uniform. She muttered dark complaints under her breath as Rose approached, big hands clamped around her stomach. Sapphire, who had been quietly watching her move and grunt without speaking, turned to her.

"My future vision is more definite than our's." Sapphire explained. "Which is what we'll need."

"Of course. Thank you." Rose didn't press her for details. Wasn't she even a little curious about cross-Gem fusion? "We should probably speak alone."

"Alone?" Sapphire glanced at Ruby.

"Yes, please."

"Oh!" Ruby straightened her shoulders. She knew a dismissal when she heard one. "Uh, sure. I'll go... see how the training is going on."

The blue Gem's mouth twisted into a frown. Ruby immediately reached out to touch her, stopping herself before she can make contact. She didn't realize anything she'd said was wrong.

"Okay." Sapphire said, before Ruby could apologize. "But be careful."

"Uh... sure?"

She accepted this with a nod, somberly creeping off towards the deeper part of the forest for Rose to follow. Ruby watched her go, trying to decipher why a soldier like her- mass-produced, ultimately worthless- would ever need to be careful. "Was it something I said?"

"She worries about you, that's all." Rose chipped in, gently touching her shoulder. "She's probably never been close to someone before, let alone someone like you, Ruby."

"Someone like me?" She wondered aloud. "You mean a soldier? Or a mass-produced Gem?"

"A little of both, a little of neither," The leader of the rebellion picked up her white dress, which stuck distractedly to her legs and made walking through the mud more difficult, and grimly left her side to go discuss strategy things no Ruby would ever need to hear, save for the positions they would be placed in for the charge. Not for the first time she appreciated the simple and practical outfit she'd been made for.

The rebellion was growing quicker than perhaps even Sapphire could have predicted. In these short years alone they'd had Quartzes and Rubies join. Even an Agate, whom most soldiers, herself included, tended to stay away from, had crossed over. There was even whispers of a Bismuth, though Ruby had yet to meet her. It was still far from enough to win the war, but such early growth bespoke of a decent-sized army once they'd gotten to everyone they could.

Ruby plodded through the mud, keeping her balance with outstretched arms. The rebellion had taken to the vast forests for cover, meaning they had select few open areas for training and grouping together. Ruby was used to small spaces (though that didn't make her any less likely to complain), but many Quartz soldiers seemed to chafe under it all, snapping and growling at each other. The best way to find the newest spot was to simply follow the yelling.

"I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER SEEN A MORE USELESS PILE OF 'SOLDIERS' IN ALL MY MILLENNIA!"

Ruby froze. She knew the sound of her own voice when she heard it.

The rain was starting to thin, leaving gaping puddles and slick mud for them to trudge through. The pacing Ruby in the clearing, however, had a perfect dry patch. She'd been at this for a while. The small herd of Quartzes she was ranting at, however, were soaked to the Gem, sitting in irritable bundles on the muddy grass. Amethysts, from the look of it, though she caught a flash of orange that might've been a Jasper or Carnelian.

It was... hard. Watching one of her caste rant endlessly to these other Gems, Gems that could easily reach out and poof her. Ruby knew she was no longer on Homeworld, that she was never going back, and things were different now, but she found herself tensing in wait of a blow that wasn't coming.

One of the Amethysts caught sight of her in in the trees and jokingly reached out to her. "Help!" She called, with an annoyingly phony voice. "Salvation save us!"

"WHAT ARE YOU BOZOS GOING ON ABOUT NOW?" The Ruby roared, turned, and caught sight of Ruby. "OH, THANK THE STARS, you're a Ruby."

Ruby finds herself gripped by the wrist and pulled from the safety of the trees at a marching pace. Every Gem Ruby has ever met has had at least one possible placement that looks ridiculous, and Rubies have three; the cheek, the nose, and the crown of the forehead. This unfortunate soldier has the last one.

Ruby presents her to the Quartzes like a prize. "See? Now this is the kind of soldier I want in crunch time!"

Ruby blinked and lowered her voice. "I didn't know Rubies were allowed to teach."

"Well, somebody's gotta prepare this soft-gemmed little pebbles for war, and I'm one of the oldest Gems here." She returned simply. "I know Quartzes are so much better than us up there, but they're down here now, and they need to start acting like it."

The Amethyst in the front row wrinkled her nose against the waves of heat spilling off the Rubies' form. Ruby hardly felt it, caught between panic and fear.

"My Gem's tougher than your's." Ruby heard one of them mutter.

"Ruby!" The other Ruby gestured to her with her hand. "You're a decent-aged Ruby, aren't you?"

Ruby shuffled her feet. "I'm not freshly made, no."

"Then you've been in more than your fair share of battles, haven't you?"

"Yes, Ruby. I have."

"In all those battles, have you ever once stopped to worry about whether you would survive?"

Ruby blinked and wracked her brains. Most battles she'd had were with unruly Gems, tired of doing the same duties for thousands of years, but more than once she'd engaged with possibly hostile creatures on planets new colonies were then built on.

"Once." Ruby admitted, feeling shame bubble up at the admission- this is so embarrassing. Caring is embarrassing. "I had a message I had to get my supervisors, but I got ambushed."

Ruby's eyes burned as she answered. "But it was all about the message. Not you."

"Right."

"Exactly! That's what being a soldier is all about!" The Ruby pointed at the Quartzes. "If ya'll want this rebellion to get out of the mud, that's the kinda mentality you need to have. Worrying 'bout yourself'll only lead to trouble."

"You say that now," One of the Amethysts calls. "What about when you come Gem to Gem with another Ruby?"

Murmurs of agreement shook the uneasy Quartzes. Ruby scoffed and turned to her. "Ruby, would you ever kill a Ruby?"

"Of course, Ruby." She stiffly held her hands behind her back. Did she look suspicious for keeping her Gem hidden?

"Have you ever killed a Ruby, Ruby?"

"Of course, Ruby." A cracked gemstone is agony, from what she's seen. It was only right she end things before it went too far.

"That's what I'm talking about." Ruby growled happily. "It's soldiers like this who survive the war. Let's show 'em how we spar."

"Play-sparring or an actual battle?"

"Battle."

Something molten bubbled up in Ruby's belly. It'd been a long time- for a Ruby- since she'd last been around others of her Gem, and she'd missed the camaraderie. Even if they'd only spoken this long, it'd be a decent memory to keep in her banks the next time she felt lonely. This wasn't the first time she'd fought for others, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

She didn't feel like a coward anymore, standing in front of the others and preparing to fight. She felt like a Ruby- a bold, courageous, dumb Ruby.

"Here's the rules, for you newbies sitting in the dirt, Rubies fight until the other calls it quits. But that's just not a Ruby thing to do." Ruby took up a stance and left her hands free by her sides, signaling this would be all fists to start. "Which means that the first Ruby to die loses."

Ruby growls. She wonders, belatedly, if Sapphire is looking for her.

Too late. Ruby just punched her in the gut.

Hunching over with a gasp, Ruby clamped her hands around her stomach. The other Ruby waited impatiently for her to collect herself. She silently thanked her for her curtsy, then reared back and slugged her in the chin.

Ruby fell into the mud with a cry, angrily rubbing her chin. She reached up to her Gem to take out a pair of red brass knuckles. Ruby summoned her gauntlet.

Forehead Ruby shot forward, creating a flurry of punches Ruby only just caught with her gauntlet. A stray blow grazed her collarbone, sending her toppling to the mud. The heat on her skin hardened it to dirt. The rain was beginning to float away as hissing steam.

"What are you two doing?"

They both froze, Ruby halfway standing. She fell back, gauntlet vanishing in a blaze of light. Rose Quartz, in all her soggy glory, has just appeared in the clearing, walking with purpose. Sapphire was watching silently from the sidelines, and while Ruby couldn't see her eye, she knew it was trained on her.

Uh-oh.

"Just sparring, ma'am." Ruby disappeared her knuckles and saluted as she neared. "Showin' these Quartzes how it's done."

"This isn't what I want from my Quartzes." Rose snapped. "Or you."

"Then we'll all die." She said without flinching.

"This is a discussion for later!" Sapphire called. "The rain is getting worse. We need to head for higher ground."

"Sapphire's right." Rose tugged one of the Amethysts to her feet and instructed she do the same to her comrades. "There's a solid rock structure up ahead. Let's all meet there."

Ruby roughly yanked Ruby to her feet, nodded her respects, and jogged away. Now wasn't the time for this sort of thing- it wouldn't be long now before the river reached both their short necks, and, despite not needing air, having their lungs full of water isn't much fun. Ruby followed, un-sticking her boots with every step she took. Sapphire brushed her aching collar as she neared.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked.

"I'm wet." Sapphire replied. Her solid and full voice was tight with anger as she took Ruby's arm and led her through the trees. She knew better than to respond as she helped Sapphire up a large stone under a tree to sit and wait things out. Pearl, her thin outfit plastered to her white skin, put down her sword to give a hand.

"Honestly, even the liquid on this planet is out to get us." She sighed as they all settled in.

"This will pass," Sapphire reassured her. "We'll find a dry cave in a few days and camp there."

"Are you okay? You have mud in your hair."

"I'm wet." She answered, and no one spoke after that.

They waited a full day before giving up and moving on, making chains as they sludge through the flood waters. Ruby held up the far end and took careful steps to avoid slipping.

The rain petered off two days later, and they all took a much appreciated wash in the river. Ruby tugged on her hair and rediscovered the sensation of a clean physical form.

Sapphire doesn't speak much those days, her chin tilted determinedly at the top of a mountain. Ruby almost doesn't get around to asking if she can help get mud out of her long hair, but she refuses anyway, stoically ignoring the one dirty spot between her shoulders. If she's not up for getting help with her hair she's certainly not up for fusion, so Ruby doesn't even consider it.

"Are you mad at me?" She asks while Sapphire dries off. Ruby's form already heat-dried.

"I'm not sure yet," She admits, one lithe blue hand gently intertwining with her's. "I need time to make sense of how I feel."

"You can go walk with Rose, if you want. Or Pearl. You don't have to be next to me."

"No."

"Okay."

"Unless you need space."

"No, I'm good."

Sapphire keeps hold of her arm as they hike. Ruby doesn't speak, doesn't ask, though her mind is bubbling with questions. Was she embarrassed because she had been on bad footing in the match? Has she hurt Sapphire's reputation in some way, being the Ruby she was constantly fused with? Could a soldier even do that to a high-ranking Gem?

It gets to be a bit chillier when they reach the cave, but Ruby is used to cold. Even if it had been thick enough to cut through her inner flame, she's sat pressed against Sapphire so many times she's finally gotten a grasp on what lukewarm feels like.

"Thank goodness." Pearl puffs as she gracefully files inside, moving confidently in a herd of Gems much larger than her. "I was starting to think we'd gone the wrong way."

"Nonsense." Rose says. "Trust in our friend, Pearl. Sapphire knows the way."

"I do trust Sapphire. It's our angle of trajectory I was doubting."

Ruby chuckled and went to follow, earnestly looking forward to sitting with the others in a dark cavern after so long of open skies and mudslides, but Sapphire gently touches her arm.

"Let's go for a walk."

They check in with Rose, who urges them not to cause any attention to fall on them or to stray too far, and then Ruby lets Sapphire lead the way, curious to see her destination of choice.

She takes them to the place they'd camped just last night; a bare expanse of stone with some logs they'd set up to sit on. They'd all been grouchy and tired, sitting around in pitch darkness, fearful of enemy Gems seeing a fire. Ruby vaguely remembers getting pushed off and spending most of her night laying on the cool ground. Sapphire gingerly sits and waits for her to do the same. Ruby feels worse than that time she had to report to her commanding officer for punishment.

Ruby can take a beating. She can take humiliation, albeit not willingly. She's not sure she can take Sapphire being disappointed in her.

"Are you planning on sparring with her again?"

"Huh?" Ruby jumped and blinked at her. "Oh. Right. Probably? It's not in a Rubies' nature to accept a tie."

"So you're going to put your life on the line again," Sapphire's voice wavers, and she pauses to gather herself. "For a stupid power contest."

"Uh..." When it's put like that, Ruby can understand why it must seem pointless to the other Gems now. Why the Amethysts had stared at them with confused and mildly horrified eyes. They've never been forced to live like she had. "Well, I've never said I was smart."

"You are smart." Sapphire insisted, to her surprise. Ruby can't understand why she'd lie to her like that. "Though fighting a Ruby to the death to prove nothing isn't good evidence for it."

"It's common practice, actually."

"On Homeworld." Sapphire hunches over a bit, frowning. "Have you ever done this before? Just... killed a Ruby for fun?"

"Sparring isn't fun, Sapphire." The thought of it being seen as a recreational sport is mind-boggling. "It wasn't my choice, either. Gems pit us against each other and we fight." Ruby's eyes flicked away self-consciously. It was a big weakness, admitting to something like this. If the wrong Gem heard she could very well find herself under powerful scrutiny. And punches.

No. Ruby shook the thought away. This isn't Homeworld. More importantly; this is Sapphire. She'd never do a thing like that.

"I've never heard of that." The seer commented finally, after a beat of silence.

"It's not the super-rare Gems that do it. Just... guards." Big ones. The kind that can grind your Gem under their heels until your form fizzles for mercy. Ruby doesn't miss them.

"You had no choice?"

"Not really. I mean, I did sometimes- like earlier- but mostly it was just whatever pleased the masses. It's not like Homeworld would miss a group of Rubies, so we had to do what we could."

Sapphire's head drops further down, Gem clamped firmly in her other hand. Her long, flowy dress is wrinkled and dirty.

"Are you shaking?"

Sapphire nodded. Ruby immediately felt panic settle in her chest, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "Hey, hey! It's okay! It's not like- it wasn't often-"

"That's not the problem."

"Then what is?"

Sapphire's face crumples a bit. A single tear goes down her face, but it's a mad cry, her lips drawn back to showcase a perfect set of teeth.

"Stories like these scare me." She admitted softly. "I get so angry- I shouldn't be angry. It's in the past. There's nothing I can do about it."

"That Ruby isn't in the past." Ruby offers. "You can get mad at me about that."

"I'm not mad at you, Ruby. I'm scared. I don't like it when you get hurt."

"Sapphire..."

"I'm not finished."

"Sorry."

"That's okay. I know it didn't sound that way." The blue Gem grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers. Their gemstones clinked together. "I know we're in a war. I know you're a soldier. I'm one too. We've both gotten hurt fighting. There's just... so many futures I can see where we die- one or both, together or apart. I don't want that for us. I don't want us to die like this."

Ruby took a chance and leaned on Sapphire's shoulder. She leaned back.

"I don't know what 'us' is," She finished quietly. "But I want to figure that out with you. Do you?"

She jumped. Ruby wasn't sure if the question was rhetorical or not, but spoke anyway. "Of course I do." Her voice was squeaky. She cleared her throat. "I'm a Ruby, Sapphire. I'm stubborn."

A smile twitched at her lips. "Hadn't noticed."

"Ha. My point is, I'm not gonna let myself get crushed. Not now. Not when I have... you know."

"Do I?"

Ruby's face flamed. She jumped off the log with the hop of an enraged kangaroo. "You, Sapphire! I have you. And I don't really know why- stars know I'm a mess, even for a- for a calmer Ruby- but I do know I don't wanna lose you. I wanna... I wanna..." Her voice softened to a deeper timbre. "Be there for you, I guess. With you."

Sapphire's mouth opened, then closed. She coughed into her fist. "Oh."

Something hopeful made her bend down on one knee, laying a kiss on a gloved hand. That hadn't been rejection. Actually, that had sounded like a pretty darned pleased noise. "Can I stay by your side, then? As your friend, or even... as whatever?" She cracked a silly little grin. "My Clarity?"

Sapphire seems frozen, for a second, and Ruby fears she's crossed a line. Is that a bit of frost on her dress? Is she going to stick herself to the log? How will she explain this to Rose Quartz?

Then she starts to laugh. Sapphire takes back her hand and makes grabbing gestures, hiccuping with giggles that makes her hands shuffle to gain purchase and hair flop. Ruby catches sight of the edge of her blue eye peeking out, screwed up with glee.

"Oh, get up here, you."

Ruby stands, grinning ear to ear as they press their foreheads together. She could get used to this. She really wants to.

"You have a really pretty laugh." She tells her shyly.

Sapphire hums. "Well, you have a really pretty voice."

"What?" Ruby breaks away to windmill her hands without causing harm to the sitting woman. "But my voice is so squeaky and growl-y!"

"That's why it's pretty." She rebuffs, then takes the hand Ruby has offered to stand, holding it tightly and giving it a squeeze for good measure. "Promise me no one will die tomorrow."

Ruby hesitates. "She'll hate me if I don't fight properly."

"She'll be alive to hate you, and you will be too."

"I can't really argue that logic."

"That's why it's logic." Sapphire's grin twisted a bit. "Sorry. That was condescending. I was trying for sarcastic."

"That's okay. I promise."

Ruby takes the punch to the face with the dignity of a dying animal, falling to the stone ground with the sound she thinks she's heard one of those water birds make when threatened.

"Where's your courage?" The Ruby is screaming at her. "What kind of coward are you?"

Ruby rolls onto her rear and stares up at this spitting, yelling mess of a Gem. It's hard to look at, simply because it's her. That's exactly how she feels- like a coward. First it's Blue Diamond, and now it's one of her own caste. It feels like, with every step she takes in the rebellion, it's one more step away from who she is. Who she was. She's not just a Ruby anymore. Honestly, she doesn't know who she is.

Then she thinks of Sapphire. Sapphire, who cried when she admitted she thought Ruby might die. Sapphire, who legitimately seems to care for her, and she remembers exactly why she made the choice she has in the first place.

Ruby grabs one arm by the wrist, ignores the one that digs painfully into her side, and punches the Ruby as hard as she can, as many times as she can. She poofs fairly easily.

"Sorry." She tells Rose, handing her the gemstone.

"Don't be." Gentle, large hands whisk the stone away without hesitation. "You should go. Sapphire is waiting for you."

Ruby smiles. It was a thin, tired look, with the added bonus of bags under her eyes. "I know."

Author's Note: I don't write nearly enough Ruby and Sapphire, and I need to write even more Ruby. They're both such interesting characters.

-Mandaree1