A/N: I've written Peridot bonding with all of the Crystal Gems except for Pearl, so here it is! This was actually recycled from another fic that I might still post eventually. Enjoy!

LIKE STARS IN THE SKY

It was nighttime, the end of another day of working on the drill. They already had the coordinates, but Pearl had thought it wise to run some tests first. She was glad she had insisted on it, since they did end up finding some minor issues with the drill. Their excursion to the Earth's core would be delayed again for at least a few days, but safety came first and they needed the drill to be a hundred percent functional.

Nighttime was their break, mostly because Steven, being half-human, needed to sleep, and if Pearl and Peridot kept working on the drill, all the noise was bound to disturb his sleep. It had been difficult to make Peridot understand this in the beginning, but she had eventually accepted the fact that they had to stop working on the drill every night after Steven went to bed—well, makeshift bed.

At these times, each Gem would do her own thing. Amethyst would usually watch TV or join Steven for a nap, which she was doing tonight. Garnet would leave to search for Malachite or corrupted Gems that might be around. As for Pearl, she always stayed at the barn to watch over Steven.

Back when the project had just started, she would also keep an eye on Peridot to make sure she wouldn't try to escape or kidnap Steven again. Peridot had since proved to be on their side, and she seemed to be genuinely fond of Steven—and maybe Amethyst, too. Peridot and Amethyst seemed to enjoy each other's company, always exchanging bad jokes and the like.

In fact, even Garnet had gotten closer to the cantankerous green Gem. She had heard from Steven the other day that Garnet and Peridot had been making great efforts to understand each other and had even attempted to fuse. Pearl wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that yet, but either way, she was glad that Peridot was getting on well with the group. Maybe there was actually a chance she could become an official, full-fledged Crystal Gem, a member of the family who could be fully trusted.

Thinking of Peridot, Pearl wondered where the green Gem was. Usually, she would get up on the half-destroyed loft and watch that silly show about lovesick teenagers in a competition between camps. According to Steven, the reason why Peridot had disappeared for three days while they had still been building the drill was because she had been watching the one episode he had showed her, over and over. Honestly, Peridot was turning out to be worse than Amethyst with her Li'l Butler show.

Although the Crystal Gems all agreed at this point that they could trust Peridot and that even if she tried to turn against them, they could still easily overpower her, Pearl thought she should check up on her. It didn't take her long to find the newest member of the Crystal Gems. Peridot was sitting on the grass outside, looking upwards. She was hugging her tiny legs close to her chest, a position she tended to take when she was feeling vulnerable.

Pearl looked up as well, her gaze searching the starry sky for anything that might look out of place. She didn't see anything unusual, however, so she concluded that Peridot was merely stargazing. It wasn't something she had ever seen Peridot indulge in before. Peridot had always been too anxious and work-oriented to waste her time with an activity that served no practical purpose.

But she had been changing. Amethyst had introduced her to the concept of humor and jokes, Steven had taught her about music, TV shows, and relaxing after working hard all day, and Garnet had been stargazing with Peridot the other day. Perhaps the technician was finally loosening up a bit and learning to appreciate the simple things of life such as the beauty of a starry night sky.

Come to think of it, Pearl was just realizing that she hadn't been trying as hard as the others to bond with Peridot. They had learned to work well as a team while building the drill, and Pearl had accepted Peridot's unspoken apology for treating her like a lesser Gem, but they weren't really that close.

When she thought about it, it actually seemed like such a wasted opportunity. Despite Peridot's abrasive personality and immature behavior, she had a brilliant mind and vast knowledge of technology far more advanced than what Pearl was used to. There was so much they could talk about, so much information they could exchange, if only they managed to get past the awkwardness and bad history.

She approached Peridot slowly, being careful not to startle the high-strung Gem. Peridot broke away from her stargazing to look at Pearl, her wide eyes curious, silently inquiring what Pearl wanted.

Offering her a smile, Pearl eased herself into a sitting position next to Peridot, making sure to keep a healthy distance between them so Peridot wouldn't feel like Pearl was invading her personal space. Peridot looked confused, but not really uncomfortable with her presence, which was encouraging.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" Pearl asked as a conversation starter.

"I suppose?" Peridot replied, not really seeming to understand why Pearl was talking to her. She had narrowed her eyes and was giving Pearl a suspicious side look.

"It's a new moon night, so you can see even more stars than usual," Pearl explained, probably unnecessarily, since she was pretty sure that Peridot knew about lunar phases and how they affected visibility of the sky. Earth wasn't the only planet with a natural satellite, after all.

"Indeed," said Peridot.

Pearl wondered for a moment whether the curt reply and lack of follow-up comments meant that Peridot was not in the mood for chatting. However, Peridot's words lacked the usual bite to them. Peridot was still looking at Pearl from the corner of her eyes, sizing her up. Pearl then realized that Peridot thought she wanted something from her and was beating around the bush. It was a fair enough assumption, since Pearl had never shown any interest in talking to Peridot about anything that wasn't related to building the drill.

Pearl herself wasn't the most social Gem, so she was having some trouble coming up with something to say that would assure Peridot she just wanted to talk and get to know her a bit better. She hadn't expected Peridot to make it difficult for her, although in hindsight she really should have expected nothing else.

She turned to Peridot again to make another attempt at getting the technician into a friendly conversation, but caught herself when she noticed that Peridot had stopped watching her and directed her gaze to the sky again. She wasn't really stargazing, for her gaze wasn't traveling across the stars. Her eyes were focused on a specific spot. Pearl followed her gaze and immediately realized what it was. Peridot was looking at Homeworld's galaxy.

Suddenly, Pearl understood. It was only natural that Peridot would miss Homeworld. It was the only place she had ever known before coming to Earth, and she had never meant to stay here. Pearl had willingly come and stayed, and she had had Rose Quartz to guide her and keep her company. Peridot, on the other hand, had been stranded on the planet and then had gotten herself banned from Homeworld because of one impulsive outburst. Unlike Pearl, she was on Earth against her will, and she probably felt lonely. Her relationship with the Crystal Gems was still very new and they couldn't offer the same comfort that Rose had.

She supposed they could try, though.

"Do you miss home much?" she asked, already expecting an affirmative answer.

To her surprise, Peridot shook her head. "Not really," she replied, hugging her legs tighter. "I mean, I do miss Homeworld's technology, my work... but most of all, I miss space."

"Space?"

Peridot's gaze tore away from Homeworld's galaxy to wander across the sky.

"Yes," she said, her voice distant. "I've always loved traveling in space. I've gone only on a few missions that required me to travel by ship, but I love it. The silence, the solitude... Everything in space is so big and in perfect harmony, and things take millions and millions of years to change significantly. It feels soothing and safe. It makes me feel... big, just like those stars out there."

Pearl found herself nodding as Peridot spoke. She was also looking at the stars now, not just Homeworld's galaxy.

"Well, there is a good reason why Rose chose a star as the Crystal Gems' symbol," she remarked, chuckling softly. Peridot glanced at her curiously, so Pearl elaborated, "She believed each Gem should feel as unique and big as a star. We didn't have to have a Diamond or anyone else as the center of our lives. We are the stars of our own lives."

Despite the pride that Pearl felt in talking about Rose's ideals, she also felt a little embarrassed. Until recently, she had never actually come to terms with her own individuality. Rose had always been the center of her universe.

Peridot paused in her stargazing to look at Pearl for a moment. Her gaze fell to the star on Pearl's shirt and, with a disgruntled expression, she then glanced at her own knees, where she still wore Yellow Diamond's symbol. She sighed and turned her eyes back to the sky.

"I don't think I can ever be a star," she admitted.

"Maybe you already are one and you just don't realize that yet," Pearl countered gently.

Peridot blushed, refusing to meet Pearl's gaze and instead keeping her eyes stubbornly on the stars above.

"I'm not like you," she said. "I'm not guided by my emotions. I don't want to protect Earth because I love this planet, or because I feel sorry for humanity."

"It's okay," Pearl assured her. "I didn't care about the Earth or humans when I first came here, either. I only protected them because it was Rose's wish."

"You were really loyal to her, huh?" said Peridot, looking at her again with a wistful expression. "Was she your owner?"

"She's not the one who ordered my creation, if that's what you're asking," said Pearl, unable to keep the annoyed edge out of her voice. "But yes, I might as well belong to her. I would do anything for her."

"I used to feel the same way about Yellow Diamond, and look where that got me," Peridot spat out bitterly.

"Rose was nothing like Yellow Diamond!" Pearl argued, a surge of protectiveness swelling in her chest. "Rose was kind and gentle. She saw beauty and worth in everything. She was the first Gem who ever treated me as an equal."

Peridot remained in sullen silence.

Pearl realized that Peridot was still sore about how much of a disappointment Yellow Diamond had been. Peridot had imagined that her ruler was objective and reasonable enough to actually listen to Peridot's logical arguments in favor of the Earth, so the word "loyalty" must have lost some of its meaning to her.

She just needed some time. Maybe she didn't even realize it yet, but she had become quite loyal to Steven at least. Which wasn't that surprising, if she thought about it. Steven had inherited Rose's charisma.

"I also miss space, you know," Pearl remarked. "Even after spending thousands of years on Earth, I still miss it so much that it hurts."

"Wow, that's comforting," Peridot deadpanned.

Pearl ignored her sarcasm and went on talking, "In fact, I recently tried to build a rocket all by myself with the scraps in Greg's barn." She looked back at the barn, where the UUU banner still hung. "I was so desperate to see space again that I wasn't even thinking straight. The rocket was a failure and I almost got Steven and myself killed in the process. If he hadn't snapped me out of it just in the nick of time..."

Peridot looked troubled by Pearl's revelation. She opened her mouth to say something, but then something else caught her and Pearl's attention.

They turned to the barn's entrance again and saw Steven standing there in his "banana pajamas", rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Steven!" Pearl exclaimed, immediately on her feet to hold him by the shoulders. "What are you doing up? It's late. You should be in bed."

"I had a bad dream and couldn't go back to sleep," he admitted, looking a little sheepish before he gave Pearl a hug. "I dreamed about that time Peridot and Jasper took us prisoners on their ship, except in my dream we never got to escape, and they'd gotten Connie too, and—and—"

"Oh, Steven," Pearl murmured, returning the embrace and rubbing his back soothingly. "It's all right now. You're okay, we're all okay, and they can't hurt you anymore."

She threw a side glare at Peridot, who was also on her feet and suddenly looked a little guilty.

Steven caught Pearl's dirty look and Peridot's regretful expression and spoke, his voice a little muffled against Pearl's embrace, "It's okay, Peridot. I forgive you. You're a Crystal Gem now, right?"

"That's right," Pearl answered for her with a bright smile, if only because she wanted to reassure Steven. She parted from their embrace and caressed his fluffy hair. "So no need to be scared. Now go back to sleep, okay?" she told him gently.

He yawned, but continued to cling to Pearl. "Just let me stay here with you five more minutes? Please?"

Pearl glanced at Peridot, who had crossed her arms over her chest and was looking away, as if embarrassed to look at them. Pearl sighed and smiled at him again.

"All right, just five minutes."

"Yay! Thanks, Pearl!" he said as Pearl sat down on the grass again and he settled back on her lap. "What were you guys doing out here, anyway?"

"Oh, just stargazing," said Pearl with a shrug, just as Peridot also went back to sitting on the grass. "I was telling Peridot about that time I built a rocket to take you to space."

She laughed nervously, still a little embarrassed about the whole incident, but Steven, wonderful child of Rose Quartz that he was, didn't judge her at all. In fact, he smiled fondly at the memory.

"Oh, yeah! That was really cool. Too bad it didn't work." He looked at her with a sympathetic expression. "I know you really wanted to go to space."

Pearl smiled back, touched by his concern. He was always so considerate. Even though she had almost got them both killed, all he thought about was comforting Pearl for failing her objective.

Steven suddenly gasped as an idea occurred to him. His eyes shone like stars and he grinned from ear to ear. "I know!" he exclaimed in triumph. "Why don't you and Peridot build a rocket after we defeat the Cluster?!"

"What?" Pearl and Peridot asked in unison.

"Yeah!" reaffirmed Steven, really excited at the idea. "You're both really smart! You built the drill together, so I'm sure you can build a rocket if you work together again! Then you can finally show me space!"

"You've already seen space from the ship," Peridot pointed out.

"Well, I suppose it would be a good way of turning that experience into a positive one for Steven," Pearl commented, ruffling the boy's hair again. "Maybe then he won't have those nightmares anymore." She looked at Peridot, feeling optimistic. "What do you say, Peridot? Between the two of us, do you think we can turn the drill into a rocket after we defeat the Cluster?"

Peridot's eyes widened, and for a moment she just stared at Pearl as if she couldn't believe Pearl was suggesting another cooperative project. Peridot caught Steven's encouraging grin, and that finally got her to respond. She gave them a confident smirk and snorted jokingly.

"Sure. I suppose you've proved yourself a capable enough engineer. For a Pearl," she said and snickered.

Pearl just smirked back, knowing that Peridot was just teasing her. There was no helping it. She was learning humor from Amethyst, after all.

"And I suppose you've proved yourself a good enough Crystal Gem," Pearl threw back. Peridot was taken aback by this comment and blushed, but there was a tiny smile fighting its way to her lips. The sight only made Pearl's grin grow as wide as Steven's. "It's settled, then. We'll all get to be stars!"

"Yeah!" Steven shouted, raising his arms in the air. "And maybe then Peridot will know where to put the star in her clothes, too!"

Peridot groaned. "Don't push it, Steven."

THE END