A/N: Full title is: In Which A Single Pale Rose Leads to A Thousand Shattered Pieces

aka I had all the feels and all the muse after seeing this episode, and so did everyone in the SU cast

"Where's Steven?"

It was Amethyst who asked first, eyes looking around the temple, landing briefly on his empty bedroom, before looking elsewhere. He was nowhere to found, but that wasn't too unusual, and so, she was simply curious, instead of alarmed. After all, Pearl was perfectly calm, so Steven was obviously fine.

The Pearl in question was sitting on a chair by the kitchen table, hands on her lap, finger curling as she forced down the instinctive reaction to touch her gem. She wondered where-or more accurately, when-Steven currently was. In truth, she wasn't sure if she truly wanted to know.

A small part of her was regretting doing this, even though it was all she'd wanted for so long. Finally, she had a way to tell him, without telling him. But, now that it was actually here, now that everyone would know-because Steven could and would certainly tell them all-she wasn't sure if she was prepared for the response.

How would they react? What would the others think?

Of Pearl, for keeping the secret all these years, for going along with the crazy plan…

Of Rose, kind, brave, loving Rose, who had kept so many secrets, but this was the biggest and worst of them all...

(Some tiny, petty part of Pearl, who had been so broken at the realization that Rose kept things even from her, could at least find some shred of satisfaction at knowing this-even as another, even tinier part, whispered, that it was only because Rose had needed her help, had been able to keep her silent-)

No.

Pearl was ready for it all to come out, damn the consequences.

(She was ready to move on, finally, and she couldn't, not without finally being able to say her name-)

In fact, thinking of the terrifying heart-stopping moment where Steven had offered himself up to Homeworld on the pretence of being Pink Diamond's killer-Pearl could only wish she'd realized this method sooner.

Rose had kept so many secrets, even from her, and each had only made things worse, she thought, thinking of poor Bismuth, still up bubbled and angry and furious. How much worse would it be if she knew the truth as well? Would Steven tell her-

"Pearl," Amethyst was calling her name, and shaking her shoulder, bringing Pearl abruptly back to reality, where the younger gem was looking at her in confusion and concern.

"What's wrong?" She asked with a frown. "Do you know where Steven is?"

Amethyst had backed away now, and she was tapping a foot impatiently, anxiously. At some point, it seemed Garnet had wandered in as well. Her expression betrayed nothing as usual, but her lips was tilted down in a slight frown that could've been interpreted as concern as well.

Was her Future Vision showing where Steven was? Pearl didn't fully understand the mechanics of it, even now, but she understood that it wasn't infallible, and there were certain things she couldn't foresee.

More than anyone else, except perhaps Bismuth, she worried how Garnet would react to the news. But it was too late to do anything about it, except perhaps enjoy the few moments of peace they would have left, before the secret was out and ruined everything between them.

So, turning towards Amethyst, she answered simply, with a calm smile on her face that betrayed only a fraction of her nerves, "Steven is currently inside my gem's subspace."

The purple-hued gem frowned. Tilting her head, she asked, "Why?"

This time, her smile slipped into something a little more real, the satisfaction at finding a solution to her dilemma and the sheer absurdity of the method was almost enough to make her laugh, as she explained, "Looking for my cell phone."

"Wait, is this the cell phone you weren't doing anything with? The one I was getting you a case for?"

"I was using it to tell time!" Pearl protested instantly, and the two of them were immediately drawn into a familiar pattern of bickering and teasing, while Garnet watched on, only the slightest upturn of her mouth an indication of her amusement.

And so, for a few more moments, the Crystal Gems sat together in peace, all except one unaware of the news that would soon shift their worlds forever.