Pearl had always had a shatter proof sense of loyalty ever since she defected from the homeworld royal court. Every decision she had made since Rose Quarts offered her a spot in her rebellion had been completely her own. Pearl had decided centuries ago that she would choose Rose over everything in this universe for the kindness and freedom she had given her. Until very recently, only a handful of earth years, she believed Rose would always chose her too.
But no. A silly human with a strange anatomy had enticed Rose into once again leaving the Crystal gems for a rock show. His instrumental skills were far from perfect, yet Rose continued to go and see him at every venue. Often Rose was the only body in attendance, but occasionally she was accompanied by unlucky restaurant patrons that had been dining at the Fish Stew Pizzeria at the wrong time.
It was deplorable to think that now Pearl was competing for time and losing. It was entirely that stupid human's fault.
This is why she had been circling the warp pad for the past seventy five minutes. Garnet sensed her distress and came to her aid but the fusion was quickly losing patience with her fellow gem.
"Garnet, you have to understand how absurd it is that Rose would choose that… that human over me- us. Over us."
Pearl turned her head away from the fusion in front of her in order to hide her faint blush over her slight mistake. Regardless, the other gem saw right through her. Garnet sighed for the sixth time since this conversation had begun.
"Pearl, it is just an evening. She is not leaving us for decades."
"Oh and how many evenings had he taken her away? I can tell you: 467 evenings. It would have been more if there wasn't a corrupted out break in the Moors of Marcoon." Pearl seethed. If she had any power over fire there would have been scorch marks in every footstep. She continued her rant regardless over her growing rage, "I mean honestly Garnet. What are they even doing on these evenings. They can't even fuse."
A gem with any common sense would know that bringing up the sensitive topic of fusion around Garnet with a tone that was any less than sugary sweet and supportive would cause the fusion to lose her cool.
"I can see every possible outcome that this human can bring us. Although they do not all seem pleasant for you, Rose is happy in all of them. That is all someone who loves Rose should want," Garnet snapped coolly folding her arms over her chest.
Pearl stopped dead in her tracks. The steady blush that had formed on Pearl's cheeks has now washed her entire face. Se could feel the familiar burn as her eyes begin to fill with tears but this did not stop her from violently glaring at her attacker.
"How dare you insinuate that I do not care for Rose? I have followed her through galaxies. I have brought down hundreds if not thousands of soldiers in her name. I have molded myself into the best pearl that homeworld could ever hope to see for her. I have dedicated my life to be by her side. You have the audacity to question my devotion to her."
"Your devotion is clear but your obsession is getting out of hand, Pearl." Garnet deadpanned unforgivably.
Pearl blinked and started at the gem in shock. Never had she been so insulted. For Garnet to claim she was obsessed was an atrocity. Pearl's gem began to glow as she reached for her spear. The fusion, however, was too fast. She caught Pearl's wrist before she could brandish her weapon.
"Look what you're doing Pearl! You need allow yourself to feel. Rose has hurt you. You cannot keep blaming Greg."
Garnet gently let go of Pearl's wrist and placed a hand on her flustered friends shoulder. With a poised flick of her wrist the gem's triangle shades evaporated in a sprinkle of stars, "It's okay to feel sorrow and pain just as it is okay to feel joy and excitement." The tears that were burning her eyes had now spilled over and ran down Pearl's cheeks. She turned in embarrassment.
Despite this Garnet continued without hesitation, "Part of the reason we followed Rose is to experience these things freely. Rose is not a diamond. You do not need to follow her blind. Let yourself feel jealousy and anger toward her, but don't take it on the human. Greg has never wronged us."
With a deep sigh Pearl shrugged Garnet's hand off her shoulder. "You don't understand."
The fusion furrowed her eyebrows in frustration. As she went to grab a hold of Pearl again a flash of light momentarily distracted her. The pink stone encrusted in the door behind the two gems glowed and broke open. Rose Quartz floated out of the doorway laughing. She dawned the usual black Mr. Universe t-shirt over her flowing white dress and was fiddling with the sleeves in an attempt to roll them up.
"Garnet have you seen the new style the humans are wearing. They roll the sleeves up to show their arms instead of wearing them down. I don't understand but Greg said it will make me look 'cool'," another trill laughter left Rose's lips as she fumbled with her left sleeve. Once it was in place she looked up and saw the tense situation she had walked into. "Pearl what happened?"
The smaller gem looked up at her, "It's nothing Rose just this dreadful planet's air effecting my eyes." She wiped away the leftover tear from her cheek and gave an annoyed smile accompanied by small laugh.
Rose looked at her and frowned, "Our bodies naturally adapt to our surroundings. The air should have not hurt your eyes."
The small teal blush had once again returned to Pearl's face but she shook it off, "Welcome to Earth." Her voice cracked slightly on the last word but she hastily walked to the Warp Pad.
"Pearl," Rose began to say but the high-pitched sound of the warp cut the rest of her sentence off.
The white beam of light consumed Pearl's form in an instant and was gone just as soon at it appeared.
Garnet's mind was quickly clouded with a wave of possibilities of Pearl's new location. Usually she was easy to find for her mind was always sharply focused but the sudden rush of emotion Pearl was acting on left her future in a subtle chaos. It was a flashing series starring Pearl either weeping in numerous hiding spots throughout the earth or Pearl viciously attacking gem monsters or her holograms. When Garnet finally refocused on the present she saw Rose looking at her with concern.
"Where did she go? Why was she acting so strange? Have I done something wrong?" Rose asked her questions in a calm voice but it was laced with hurt. The other gem simply shook head and her shoulders and began to walk toward her room.
"Pearl is dealing with something I can't understand right now. But if she's in danger I will let you know first. Go to Greg's concert. The rolled up sleeves are cool." With a thumbs up Garnet walked through the glowing door hoping her answer was enough to sedate Rose's curiosity.
Rose Quartz now stood in the temple alone. For several minutes she pondered skipping the rock show to find Pearl but something inside her held her back besides Garnet's warning. Ever since their last forming of Rainbow Quartz, Pearl and her relationship had been off in someway. Rose could feel a confusing new emotion in her chest during that fusion. It was once she had never experienced on her own which meant it had to have been rooted with Pearl. It was a vile feeling that left her slightly queasy and concerned after unfusing. Rose could not imagine the way Pearl must feel now after letting that emotion fester inside her for so long. Her Pearl was hurting but Rise had now way to heal her.
She took a deep breath and walked towards the window. What happened to you, Pearl. Who did this to you.
Ragged breaths, the violent clashing of swords, and her own holograms voices were the only sounds that Pearl had heard for the last two weeks. Now she was kneeling in front of a recently dropped sword of a fallen holoPearl. There was no sound around her for a moment except for a pounding in her ears.
She had been fighting in the sky arena ever since she showed an embarrassing weakness in front of Rose. Through out those days Pearl had fought her way through over nine hindered training levels with her holograms. The first seven hundred battles were child's play to her but it was steadily becoming more gruelingly difficult. The last level she faced had nearly ended with a sword through her chest. She knew that she was testing her limits this time but refused to yield. It had been a long time since had truly felt this weak. When the war was happening there was never time to think about limits or consequences but now…
Pearl dropped her sword in realization. "Of course," she murmured. As she stood she regripped her sword and rolled her shoulders popping her muscles. "Deactivate Shatter Safety."
A heavy black mist surrounded the entire arena practically blinding the gem. Closing her eyes Pearl began taking slow even breaths. After several moments the unmistakable sound of steel cutting through the air.
The holoPearl's sword was hovering over her opponent's shoulder only being blocked by Pearl's own blade. Pearl pushed the hologram backwards and spun to face it head on.
"Challenger found. Level 937 activated. Shatter Safety has been removed. Losing this battle will result in the shattering of your gem. Do you wish to engage in combat," the holoPearl monotone voice stated before brandishing her weapon for attack.
Pearl smirked, "Let this be a perfect battle."
The holoPearl quickly lunged forward and began to attack in rapid succession. Pearl efficiently blocked each swing but had no time to land a hit on her rival. This hologram seemed to be faster than her previous foes. After several more blocks Pearl slid under the holograms open legs and into partially into the mist. She crouched in anticipation for the holoPearl to play into her trap. When the hologram turned around in search for her, Pearl crept and made a move to swipe through her opponents abdomen. However, the hologram seemed to be several steps ahead of her and blocked her attack with ease.
Pearl's eyes widened, "No that's impossible." There had yet to be any opponent, let alone a holoPearl, able to block her attack in the mist.
The hologram took this moment of shock as an opportunity to strike Pearl's gem. The blade came dangerously close to her forehead before she rolled out of its path.
This is going to be a challenge. Pearl chuckled darkly to herself. Good.
The blades collided for several hours. The longer they fought the more the hologram seemed to learn about her opponents attack formations. There were several times during the battle that Pearl had to hide in order to bandage her ever-growing number of injuries. She had pieces of her forearm taken out and from several last minute blocking techniques, however the sheer determination in her eyes never dulled.
After dodging another block Pearl jumped over the hologram and out of its line of sight. She ran deep into the black mist until she found a broken pillar to hide on top of. The gem almost collapsed in that moment. Her vision was beginning to fail her in the already dark arena. There had been several times she thought she saw Rose in the haze during the battle. Pearl was at her breaking point but she couldn't lose this battle. This may be pushing her too far but this was the most alive she felt since Rose began courting that human. She shook her head in frustration. This was no time for that kind of thinking she had was in the midst of the war.
Suddenly the pillar Pearl was sitting on began to crumble. In an attempt to save her gem she stuck her arm out before hitting the ground. The crash left her arm bent extremely unnaturally even for a gem upon landing and caused her sword to fly into the mist.
Get up you worthless pearl. Don't you want her to live. Pearl began to pull herself up when the hologram emerged from the mist.
"Competitor located. Competitor unarmed. Competitor is to be shattered." The holoPearl stated and lifted its sword to strike Pearl's gem with one blow.
Pearl looked down with acceptance and awaited her fate.
The clatter of a sword broke the silence moments later. Pearl looked up to see the mane of pink curls standing with her sword impaling the holoPearl through the chest.
After a pregnant pause the hologram poofed into a confetti of diamonded smoke. Rose dropped the sword and looked at Pearl with anger and pain in her eyes. The mist cleared around them while the two stood in silence.
"Rose I-" Pearl began but quickly stopped when the Quartz raised her hand to silence her.
"What were you thinking? You've been gone for two weeks without a single word to anyone. Garnet came to me worried you were in danger at the sky arena. I thought it was another corrupted gem. But you were here throwing away your life in some game. Why was the Shatter Saftey off?" The pink gem used the same tone as she would when disciplining the army over one thousand years ago. Pearl should be ashamed with herself but for a moment she felt like the renegade she used to be.
"I needed to be strong again," Pearl replied standing up but not meeting Rose's eyes. She walked away from the quartz and sat on the edge of the arena.
"Pearl you have to tell me what's wrong," Rose's eyes softened as she began walking towards her and elegantly sat behind her.
A small laughed escaped her lips as she moved back to lean against the pink woman, "Why would you think something's wrong with me. I'm fine." She pulled her legs into her chest and rested her head on her knees.
Rose leaned close enough to Pearl's ear that she could feel her hot breath on her neck, "Please don't make me beg."
Pearl's cheeks grew hot and she felt herself being pulled into the pink woman's lap. She buried her face into Rose's chest. "I miss the war," a sad smile crept on to her face, as she spoke, "Isn't that just the saddest thing you've ever heard. I wanted to be strong like I was then. The only way I could get there was by really being in danger."
"Pearl, please don't ever do that again," Rose tilted placed a hand on Pearl's cheek and tilted her head up, "I can't live with the idea of you dying."
Without thinking Pearl closed the distance between them. She tangled her hands in the pink gems massive hair and pulled her as close as possible.
All of Pearl's exhaustion and self-doubt she had felt in the last two weeks washed away. This is where she was meant to be. Pearls have always belonged to someone but she was the only one who had the choice of choosing who they belonged to. Rose was the only she needed in this life because Rose made her feel like she was everything. It didn't matter if they were stuck on this rock for three hundred thousand years. As long as Rose was by her side she was invincible.
Rose pulled wrapped her arms around Pearl closer for a moment before breaking the kiss.
Confused by the sudden break of contact Pearl opened her eyes. They used to always share this closeness but something had changed. Rose's eyes were pained but also so full of light when she looked at the gem in her lap.
"Pearl, me and Greg are going to have a baby."