When Ruby and Sapphire went to meet the others on the porch, Steven was bouncing up and down in place. Amethyst, still in horse form, was smirking with cool satisfaction, and Pearl was close to tears. The closer they got, the more clearly they could hear a high-pitched hum coming from Steven, which finally bubbled over when the couple got all the way up the stairs.

"Permission to -"

"Granted," Sapphire said, and on cue, Steven ran up, Ruby's comic still in one hand, and pulled them into a hug that was almost tight enough to poof them both. Ruby was caught a tiny bit off guard, but Sapphire knew that if Steven hadn't initiated it, Ruby probably would have. This was confirmed by her wide-eyed look of surprise turning quickly into a wide-toothed grin as she returned the gesture. Future vision wasn't necessary for everything if a gem knew her fiancée well enough.

Pearl wiped a tear with the heel of her hand and spoke with similar excitement in her voice, "Oooooh, this is so wonderful!" She clasped her hands together as Steven finally released Ruby and Sapphire. Amethyst shifted back to her regular form and patted Ruby hard on the back.

"And how 'bout your wingman, huh?" Amethyst shouted, making Pearl jerk back at the sound. She continued in her typical volume, though with the same excitement, "Who wants to go next? Pearl! You seen your mystery lady around lately? You get a plus one to these things, ya know…"

Everyone looked to Pearl, who was now wide-eyed and blushing, "I, uh, I don't know if she would - I mean, she hasn't even met any of you! And let's not forget, this is going to be Ruby and Sapphire's day." She gestured to the couple, who were standing with Ruby's arm around Sapphire's waist, and Sapphire's arms looped around Ruby's neck. The two said nothing, but shared a look of skepticism (not that anyone else could actually read Sapphire's face).

"You don't wan' her to meet us, do ya?" Amethyst pursed her lips and furrowed her brow.

"What? No! It's just -"

"'Fraid we're gonna embarrass you?"

Pearl rolled her eyes, "No."

"Wha-at?" Steven chimed in. "How could we embarrass Pearl? We're cool, too, aren't we?"

"Of course you are, Steven," Pearl smiled warmly down at him, making him beam with pride at his vindication.

"That's just it, Steven," Amethyst spoke as if giving a warning. "We're too cool! We might intimidate her!"

"Uh," Ruby said. "If you're worried about her being intimidated, you might wanna introduce us before Sapphy and I fuse again."

Pearl pinched the bridge of her nose, "You know what? We've all had a big couple of days." She removed her hand and shrugged. "I'm going inside to finish my tea, and if I keep getting questions about my dating life, I'll be the next one to run away." She swung the door open and walked in, followed by her interrogators.

Sapphire was the second to last to enter, leading Ruby by the hand. "At least let us make sure she's good enough for you," she called.

Excluding the full explanation of Rose's actions that Pearl repeated to Amethyst and Ruby, the rest of the day was filled with a joviality that everyone had all been missing. Steven wasted no time showing them options for color schemes, flower arrangements, attire, nearly anything that apparently went into planning a human celebration. Pearl's threat to warp somewhere remote with no trace and no way to reach her turned out to be quite empty, with her enduring more prying from the others, particularly Amethyst. Steven was too busy with his duties as planner and officiant (surely, being married by a Diamond would legitimize the union even more for them), as well as sharing the good news with just about everyone in Beach City, starting with a yell into the bathroom to let Peridot know, naturally progressing with calls to Greg and Connie, and continuing until the only thing left to do was shout it out the window as Barb delivered the mail in the afternoon.

"Hey, that's great!" came the reply, though there was a slim chance she even knew who Ruby and Sapphire were.

As much fun as it was to celebrate with family, by nightfall, Ruby - who had since changed out of her western garb - and Sapphire were worn out from being surrounded by the other gems all day. They hadn't had a moment to themselves since dawn, and even that had been brief and had come after being separated under some of the most stressful circumstances they'd endured recently. So, in the middle of the night, they snuck out to the cliffside on the beach, where they couldn't be seen from the house, all the while trying to suppress their laughter so as not to wake the others (Pearl was drained enough to benefit from some sleep tonight).

With Ruby's head on Sapphire's shoulder, the two sat silently against the cliff, staring out over the ocean, listening to each other breathe. After a while, Sapphire began to wonder if Ruby had fallen asleep, until she felt her fingers playing with her hair.

"Were you surprised?" Ruby asked, clearly proud of her decision, her gaze fixed on a curl of Sapphire's hair she was twisting.

Sapphire tilted her head down and smiled at her, "In almost six thousand years, have I ever said 'no' to that question?"

She smirked. "First time for everything," she said with a shrug, then took her hand out of Sapphire's hair and sat up, gently pressing a kiss to her lips.

Sapphire returned it, but her smile faded after they pulled away.

Ruby furrowed her brow, "What's the matter?"

"I'm still thinking about what I said the other day," she admitted. "With everyone hanging around us all day, I didn't really get a chance to explain myself."

"Hey," Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I get it."

Her smile returned briefly. "I know you do. But I think I might feel better if I tell you anyway."

Ruby gave her a small nod, beckoning her to go on.

She sighed, "I know we needed the space to think everything over, but I should've listened to you. If we'd talked it out at first - everything was already such a mess, I didn't have to run out like that. I was just scared, I guess." She laid her hand on top of Ruby's on the sand. "You mean so much to me; I thought Rose lying to us made that all fake."

Ruby cast her eyes down, solemn understanding in her expression.

"But it doesn't matter what she said." Her face was now more intent. "She might've convinced us to stay Garnet, but she didn't make me fall in love with you." She chuckled, grazing Ruby's cheek with her free hand, "You did that all on your own."

Ruby blushed, "Well, in hindsight, I'm kinda glad you ran off."

"And why's that?"

"It's like we only ever unfuse when there's some kinda crisis," she explained. "If we hadn't both run away, I wouldn't'a thought to come back and make you my fiancée."

"Ohh, that's a nice word," Sapphire giggled.

"It is, isn't it?" Judging by her voice, the giddiness was apparently infectious. "And now there's no pressure, we don't have to be scared of not fusing again. Besides, it's prob'ly better we dealt with it on our own. If I heard some of the stuff you did at the same time, I'd'a gotten even madder. And we all know I can be kinda...hard to rein in."

"Well," Sapphire said, "That's just because you're so passionate."

Ruby smirked flirtingly at her, "Yeah, I know how much you like passionate." She lifted up the hands that were resting on the ground and kissed Sapphire's gem, getting some sand in her mouth in the process. They both laughed as she turned away to spit it out, then proceeding to kiss the back of Sapphire's hand and all the way up her arm, prompting a reflexive "Oh!" when her lips reached the nape of her neck.

Sapphire laughed harder as Ruby kissed the back of her neck, followed by her jawline, then her temple, until she finally leaned forward and let herself and her betrothed fall onto the sand. She supported herself by both arms on either side of Ruby, who had managed to get her own laughter under control and was lying back on the sand, staring up at Sapphire, whose bangs hung parallel to her face, revealing her eye until she leaned down to kiss Ruby all over her face, covering one side before moving up to the forehead and back down the other cheek, getting her to snort as she tried to keep her mouth closed to muffle her own volume. Sapphire stopped for a moment to take another look at her, and Ruby pulled her down to kiss her mouth again, holding the back of her head with both hands. They each parted their lips, and Sapphire lowered herself down on top of Ruby and held her face, the two of them getting as close to one another as possible, for once only for the sheer euphoria of having the other there in front of them.