Homeworld grew lighter after the blush had spread across White Diamond's face. The atmosphere didn't weigh as heavy; the sky became pinker. Her gems walked with their heads up. They would pause sometimes to admire a cloud floating by, chatting in pairs.
The gems that Yellow passed on her way saluted her. Caught in the midst of an illegal conversation, they snapped upright, beads of sweat popping onto their skin. "Greetings, My Diamond," they would sputter.
"Relax. It's a free day." She continued.
Some waved to her, friendly as they held hands. Others stared. They only saw her if they had gotten in trouble, and if not that, not at all. One even reached out to her, as if to grasp a handful of her light. Yellow didn't tell her that she would have another chance; that she intended walking this path many more times. Instead, she cast her in a temporary shadow, waved back, and moved along.
As Yellow approached the palace, White stood upon the balcony in a rare slump, hands securing the railing. Light, instead of radiating from her, came from the sun and was processed through her gem. Rather than a sterile glow, she created a nonchalant rainbow, flashing from her forehead. She would shift, change colors, facets bathed in red, or gold, or blue, or pink.
Yellow waved, drawing her attention.
White gasped and went inside as Yellow stepped into the main room. The Pearls were busy cleaning.
Corners still languished in dust. The silver chandelier overhead had surrendered some of its shine, its suspended shower of glass beads spotted and unpolished. The walls were marked where pictures used to hang, top corners having left puncture wounds. White removed them after Pink had disappeared, but even the indication of past photographs proved too much.
White stopped a few stairs from the floor, hand upon the banister. Her perfume cut the dusty air, smelling of delicate flowers and chemicals. Yellow recognized the faint floral smell from a bottle she had gifted her during Era One.
"I plan on adding some color to this room," White said. She tapped her nails upon the banister. Its fresh polish undercut her flowers. "Now that I've come back after so long, I can't stand all the white. It's oppressive."
"I'm just glad to see you out of your head."
White smiled with fastened lips. "Follow me, won't you?"
She led Yellow to the second floor, to a room for company. It wasn't as dusty as the first, and accented in small colors—a bright green pillow upon the sofa, a yellow rug blooming upon the floor, red curtains that couldn't reach the tiles.
"Please sit with me." White occupied the left side of the sofa.
"You did away with your chairs."
"They were impersonal." Yellow sat. White breathed in. "Thank you for meeting with me." Her face pinkened as she set her hands upon her lap. It spread across the bridge of her nose. "I want to apologize, for everything. I'm sorry for making myself impossible to reach, and I'm sorry I didn't listen. Even if you had gotten my attention during that time, you couldn't have spoken your mind. I'm sorry for working you so hard. I'm sorry for possessing you—I—"
"White," Yellow touched her hand. White unfurled it so they could lock fingers. The other she used to set before her mouth, gem glinting blue as her eyes grew wet.
"I can't say that all of that was alright," Yellow squeezed, "but I do understand. It's easier when you can't feel. I won't deny that I tried to do the same. Had I your powers, I would have succeeded."
White kept from squeezing too hard and tearing through the fabric of Yellow's gloves. "I didn't realize how I was hurting you—It's so clear to me now. I was such a fool—"
"I forgive you, White. Let's just vow never to let it come to that point again."
White lifted Yellow from the couch. She settled their points and edges, colliding, then snapping into place. Yellow followed the old path beneath her arms.
They lingered until White freed Yellow. She traveled back into the streets as White watched from the open doors of the main room. Once Yellow's silhouette had become a spot upon the horizon, White cleaned the dust from the chandelier. She was the only one tall enough to do it.
3 3 3
Everyone continued to work. With the rising sun arrived swarms of gems traveling to their posts. The former spectrum of regulated colors blurred over strict dividing lines. Soldiers on missions walked alongside Sapphires. Groups of three or more different gems chatted. As long as they were on time, Blue had said of it. Yellow lowered hers and everyone else's quotas. There needn't be so much.
Yellow received a call from Blue before leaving that morning. Holding the communicator before her, she walked and talked.
"Have you reached your sauna yet?"
"I was just going."
"Well, why don't you come to mine instead? It's been a few days before we caught up."
Blue angled the camera to a decent view of her face. The bags beneath her eyes had lightened; her lips were less pouty.
"I'll be there momentarily."
Blue giggled before hanging up.
When Yellow arrived at the bath, the room emitted a gust of steam. Blue sat shoulder deep in the water, raising a dainty hand to welcome her.
Yellow entered the tub. Blue greeted her with an embrace. "Thank you for coming," she said. "I hope you don't mind, but I invited White too."
"I'm sure we can arrange something, if you'd prefer to be alone." Yellow nearly pressed their lips together. "We have more free time now."
"You don't mind spending it with me, do you?" Blue laughed, her voice vibrating with happiness as she closed the distance between them. Her laughter tickled Yellow's lips, causing her to lean closer, her own joy bubbling to the surface to mingle.
But Blue pulled them apart with a pop. She held Yellow's face, thumbs circling her cheeks. "Oh, Yellow. There's so much I'd love to do to you, but she could be here any moment. Later, perhaps."
"In that case—" Yellow stole a kiss.
"I'm sorry." Blue stole one back, and then another, on her cheek. "But I did want to ask you—" Another, on the other side. "Did she apologize to you too?"
They had drifted to one side of the tub, huddled together as if shielding a secret. Blue had grasped Yellow by the hips, but they had ceased kissing. The air grew denser, if not for all the steam.
"She did," Yellow answered.
"I thought she would. Do you think—"
Yellow kissed Blue's forehead.
Her voice lowered. "Do you think she'll be able to change?"
Her hands upon Blue's shoulders, Yellow pulled back.
Had they not settled so close together, the flowing water would have masked her words. Yellow listened closely as Blue whispered, "She had trapped herself in her head for so long. I'm sure the adjustment is going to be hard."
"I think she wants to change."
"I agree," Blue sighed. "I hope she comes. How many times have we invited her to something only to have her Pearl come in her place, or receive no word at all—" She looked over Yellow's shoulder, at the door. That was White's cue to strut inside and prove them wrong, but it remained steadfast and sealed.
"We have to give her time."
"Yes, and we have to help her. I only hope that she lets us."
"Forget 'letting' us. We have to help her. Period."
"But you don't think—"
"No, she felt terrible about it."
The doors finally snapped open then. White leaned in from the outside, placing her hand upon one side of the frame. She paused as if unwelcome.
The air grew cold, with the doors open.
"You can come in, White."
She made a few slow steps. Her long legs disagreed with her high heels, unwalked in for so long that she quaked the walls with every step, until phasing them off at the lip of the tub. She removed her cloak, and the rest of her clothes in a shower of starlight upon entering the water. It rose as she took her seat.
"Thank you for coming, White," Yellow said.
"Of course." She sat up perfectly, trying not to take up space in the enormous tub. "I don't have a reason not to be here."
"How is your redecorating going?" Blue asked. She still sat next to Yellow, fingertips sitting atop hers, obscured beneath the water.
"I feel overwhelmed with what I should do with the place."
"We could help you," Blue said. "I've always enjoyed that sort of thing, and well—Yellow tends to be more minimalistic, but I'm sure she'd be happy to help."
"Hey," Yellow said, "but it's true, White. We'd be happy to assist. Perhaps over the next free day."
White sank into the bath. "I wouldn't want to bother you." Her cheeks turned a little pink, too. It seemed to sprout from her neck, coloring due to the hot water.
"Nonsense," Yellow said.
"We want to spend time with you, White. It's no bother at all."
Her skin pinkened. She sank further. "If you're certain."
Eventually, they moved onto another topic—something Blue had asked Yellow, then something Yellow had asked Blue. They spoke, touching each other upon the shoulders, holding hands beneath the bath. Occasionally, they would turn to White and ask something, too. "How is this project going?" or, "Are you ready to change some of the architecture?"
"I think it would be nice to have a few statues of Steven."
They had remembered what she was working on. They listened intently when she answered, "Everything is going smoothly," or when she cut in with, "That sounds like a lovely idea." Blue and Yellow granted her their full attention. They gave her a turn.
Then a chime rang them apart. "I'll see you tomorrow," and, "Have a nice day." Blue and Yellow squeezed each other's hands before leaving. They touched White along the arm as well.
"Yes, I'll see you tomorrow."
Blue said something inaudible to Yellow as they left the room. Their voices faded as the doors closed and the tub drained. The swirling water provided the only conversation, to which White's echoing heels replied.
Later that evening, when Yellow sat at the control panel of her ship, her communicator awoke with white light. Where she expected a call arrived a text message, reading, I'm sorry again, for everything.
I've already forgiven you, Yellow typed. There's no need for future apologies.
The message sent. The silence ensued. Amongst her other messages, Yellow waited for another at the top of her feed, but it never came. There was no, I'm sorry for being sorry, but I'm still sorry for what happened. Yellow even checked her correspondence with White to see if her communicator had neglected to flash. Such errors had happened before, but truly, nothing new had arrived.
Rather, the screen turned momentarily blue.
She apologized to you, too? She had forwarded an identical text from White.
I'm sorry again, for everything.
Of course she did.
The screen pinged blue. I wish she didn't feel this way.
She may not truly believe we've forgiven her.
I'm sure she doesn't.
If she takes action to right some of her wrongs, she'll feel better. Yellow sent that message and began another. We have a meeting about Homeworld's laws tomorrow. That would be a good time to bring it up.
There was a pause, after that. Yellow opened a report about one of her colonies, sent by a Nephrite. They had successfully landed upon the planet's surface. Yellow confirmed that she had received it, and again, the screen flashed blue.
You're so proactive. Blue sent two characters that resembled a heart.
Yellow copied the series of keys, checked that they matched, and sent the message. Then she found a character that could be interpreted as eyes—two dots, and one that could be a mouth—a box with three lines inside. Before she could send it, however, Blue had already returned a cluster of characters that resembled a shooting star.
Your skills are formidable. Yellow wrote, and entered her smiling face.
Blue returned the same smile, with a line for a nose.
Teach me your ways.
Tomorrow, my love.
Yellow's breath hitched amongst the quiet humming of the communicator. Her ship passed several gardens of stars before she opened the message and returned a series of three evenly spaced hearts.
3 3 3
Steven gifted Yellow a book about Earth governments. It was small and colorful, its cover decorated by cartoon people dressed in various styles of clothing—one with a crown and scepter, another in a straightforward military uniform. The inside margins were full of Pearl's translations. She had gone through at Steven's request and summarized the main point of each paragraph. The pages warped beneath her writing.
"Maybe this will help you decide what to do with Homeworld's government," Steven said, "but you might want to stay away from totalitarianism."
Yellow handed the book to her Pearl, who read it aloud as she took notes. Pearl dog-eared the pages and wrote her own notes in the margins, as Yellow clacked at her keyboard, achieving nearly twenty pages.
To the meeting that morning, she brought the book. Pearl carried it, cradled in her arms and walking reverently. As if watched, she made a ceremony of carrying it.
Blue arrived. In taking her seat she brought it closer to Yellow, wielding her communicator and showing her possible text faces. Through Homeworld's complicated script, she produced smiles with their mouths wide open, winking faces, and one that looked unimpressed, its mouth at a slant.
Yellow laughed. "How did you learn all of these?"
"I don't know," Blue sent Yellow the message, with the faces she had made. "I'm surprised you've never seen these before. Though, I suppose they were a bit of a secret. They are nonstandard."
Yellow held Blue's hands, which held the communicator.
"Are those all the ones you know?"
"They're the ones that come to mind." Blue leaned until her shoulder rested against Yellow's. "There's nothing to stop us from inventing new ones—"
The doors slammed open. White entered. She altered the room with her light, which affected the bright sequins of her outfit, glaring like stars in the abyss of space. Her black lips pursed. Her high heels chattered. One booming step after another, she approached her chair and sat.
Blue had returned to her side of the table, equidistant between Yellow and White.
"I didn't mean to interrupt." White's voice was quiet. She cleared her throat. "I don't mind if you sit more closely together."
"It would be easier to focus, sitting this way," Yellow said, mostly to Blue, and brought up her notes. "I've sent a copy of these to each of you. Did you have a chance to look at them?"
White fiddled with her communicator. She pulled up the main screen and paused before it, its neutral blue light illuminating her face. She stopped at each button, finger hovering over them before finally selecting messages. The sound it made interrupted Yellow's speaking, but finally, she regarded the document.
"I didn't realize I was supposed to look at this," White said. Her screen froze as she scrolled too quickly. It beeped gently in protest as she kept trying.
"It's alright if you didn't, White. We gathered to discuss how to govern going forward."
Finally, the screen cooperated, but shot directly to the bottom. White sighed and went back, moving in small chunks of text by the careful but impatient motion of her finger. Her nail tapped loudly.
"I think it's important we surrender at least some power to our gems. I looked at the book Steven gave me, and it mentions…" She checked her notes. "Vote-ing."
"Voting?" White didn't look up.
"Yes. Our gems can state their opinions on issues and we would make laws based on what they select."
"How often would they need to do that?" Blue asked. She and Yellow spoke as White read. Each paragraph outlined worlds of possibilities—systems where their gems would make the rules, where they would show up dressed ridiculously like little queens, arguing about morality. Representative governments, where gems who previously knew nothing of laws or ruling or authority would choose someone who would supposedly speak for them, who would care, allegedly. There were governments that had no rules—its people could do whatever they pleased—
"We've already made fusion legal." White rested her print over anarchy and stopped scrolling. "What more do they need?"
The air stilled.
"They need more than we've given them, White," Yellow said.
"How much do you propose giving them? Each were made for a task, a purpose. Do you honestly believe a Bismuth or a Quartz could become some sort of—some senator? How could they possibly know what's best for them?"
"Well," Blue said, "They would know what's best for themselves, wouldn't they?"
"So you'll give them all of this power, then what?"
"White, we're not going to let them do whatever they please at a snap of the fingers, but we need to consider them. They should at least defend their interests—"
"Why? We've already resolved to be kinder to them—"
"White—"
"What are we to do? Stand around while our empire grinds itself to dust? While gems who have no clue what they're doing regulate colonization? We're still the most powerful. Why shouldn't they listen to us?"
Yellow crossed her arms. "I don't know what you're so upset about. You did stand around. It would be easier for everyone if we surrendered a little power. Our empire is enormous and it's unrealistic that two gems should manage the entirety of it."
"You can't—" White's face popped pink. "You can't speak to me that way!"
"White, just because the other gems aren't as powerful doesn't mean they shouldn't have a voice. We're three gems out of millions." Blue leaned in, crossing her fingers.
"You're overreacting. We could at least allow our gems opinions on certain issues."
"How about where to place the newly proposed recreational center?" Blue suggested. "That's simple enough. If it ends up somewhere inconvenient for some gems, it's not something that would cause widespread harm."
"Excellent idea, Blue. It's a good means to introduce the idea."
White set her communicator on the table before her. She hid her bright pink burn.
"White?" Yellow asked. Her voice had an edge to it. "Would that be acceptable to you?"
"Yes, Yellow." White lowered her hand. She focused on the polished table top and the resting corpse of her communicator.
"Perhaps you could read over the notes." Yellow stood. The meeting had ended. "We can talk about this matter later, but it's important you know that things will change. Understanding that will help."
Blue looped her arm through Yellow's. Their steps measured the silence in which White sat alone. Her communicator didn't ring. No one sent a text of stupid-looking faces or hearts. It remained still. The air remained still.
Finally, her single pair of heels droned a quiet march from her chair to the door. Having sat at the far end of the table, she had the furthest to go. She turned off the lights and went home alone.
3 3 3
White's message arrived later that night. I'm sorry for my behavior at the meeting today. The light appeared above both communicators, scattered at different corners of the room. Homeworld has been one way for so long that it's difficult for me to think of it as anything else.
The messages arrived with a ping—only one because Yellow had set her device to silent.
"Ah—"
I'll try harder not to lose my composure.
"Blue—"
I hope neither of you hate me.
"Don't tell me you're uncomfortable." Blue straddled Yellow, on top of the rug. She ground her into the floor, touching between her legs. "I've told you that you should commission a bed for this room, or at least a cushion." She placed one hand flat against Yellow's knee. "That said, you seem to be enjoying yourself." The other she pushed inside of her, leading with three fingers.
Yellow would have arched her back.
"Too rough?" Blue gently tucked her fingers in, stroking Yellow's nerves.
"No—more—"
I might hate me.
All over the rug, all over the room, they licked and felt each other. One pushed the other into the walls, biting, marking where no one would see. Blue decorated Yellow with a spotting of love bites. Yellow ate Blue's pussy raw, until it was soaked and swollen. They spanked one another. They kissed, and landing back upon the rug, they cuddled, overlapping, unaware of their limbs.
"Oh, Yellow," Blue sighed. Her hair lay in disarray upon her face, framing it.
Yellow, mouth sore from kissing, kissed her again.
"We haven't fucked like that, since, well." Blue closed the distance between them, flat against each other. Their breasts fought for space. "Since the first time."
"Maybe not even the first time."
Blue trailed her hand along Yellow's back.
"I remember being afraid of being found out."
Blue kissed Yellow's neck. "But that was kind of hot too, wasn't it?"
Both laughed. They laughed with the gasping breaths of creatures who had run a long time, escaping the open door of a rusting cage. They gasped. They squeezed, and before passing out on the floor, they made out again. The pulse of White's messages beat on. It flashed against the walls from either communicator, unread through closed eyes.
They left together the next morning. Arising from the rug, they checked for bruises and went, arms entwined, to White's bath. Rather than warping, they walked. The brisk morning air shocked them from their thick evening haze.
The gems they passed saluted. They prepared to grovel, but Yellow and Blue moved on too quickly. They granted them brief, informal waves. The sun rose higher and higher in the sky, and they came to the bath, where White awaited them.
Spotting her, both froze. She stilled, back turned amidst the bubbling water, unmoving as the towering rocks and statues around her. Some were old goddesses, baring their breasts and naked hips in ways White wouldn't have allowed. The others were Diamonds, dressed precisely in their uniforms, staring auspiciously into the waters of the pool. They stared at White too.
Finally, she turned.
Her eyes had been underlined with heavy grey bags, accented by angry pink veins. Even her lashes seemed weighty as she blinked them slowly, mouth agape. "Hello."
"White—" Yellow said, "You're early."
"Did you receive my message?"
"Yes—" Blue said.
"Do you hate me?"
A slow purple cloud passed over the sky, shrouding the bath, the statues, and the Diamonds in shadows. White waited, and Blue held Yellow closer. Her short nails dug into her open skin.
"Of course we don't hate you," Yellow said. Her words escaped on a gasp, like a musical phrase. There was no space between them.
"I'm sorry we didn't answer back—" Blue said. She had yet to release Yellow's arm. "We were busy."
"Alright." White didn't ask what they were busy doing, nor did her voice soften. She merely sat in the water, mouth held shut as Yellow and Blue hesitated to animation. Had White come late, they would have undressed each other, run their hands along their love bites, pinch at unmarked expanses of skin. But they didn't. Blue undressed. Yellowed undressed. White watched. Her expression was unmoving as their sex-bruised bodies entered the water. She was unmoving as they hid beneath the bubbles, covering their spotted necks and shoulders behind embarrassed hands.
"There," White said, "Now we're all together."
They sweat out their life-giving essence for Homeworld. The water didn't clean them.
3 3 3
Homeworld prepared herself for Liberation Day. Originally, the name referred to White Diamond's rise to power, her breaking of the gem's barbaric ways. She had come with her rules, her standards, her expectations, and like they had every year, the gems took to the streets and decorated from the tallest capitol buildings to the most secret, tiny ghettos. Instead of the classic white and silver bows hanging from every entrance, or the clear sparkling garlands strung from one structure to another, they painted in color. Bows of every vibration spotted the city like a technicolor illness. The streamers in their garish hues poured from street lights and window panes. It resembled spilled paint.
They put on a parade. Gems of varying sizes and colors took to the main road, playing their instruments of choice. Different divisions had teamed up to build displays—a stage of holograms, or a papier mâché monstrosity of White Diamond, dressed in infinite colors. They had created a sign, hanging from her neck. Welcome Back!
She had authorized it. Of course she had. They had requested to make a float of her, which meant they still loved her. In their letter, they said that White Diamond, like the military, shined 'every variation of hue,' in an attempt to be fancy. They wanted to represent that beauty as it 'represented' them, and created a statue of sorts with its eyes angled unevenly, without a nose, with an off-kilter smile. What was to be expected? They were soldiers, not sculptors.
White watched the parade from her balcony. She was still as another float passed by, a mural of Yellow and Blue painted by a fleet of Lapis Lazuli who carried it on strings as they flew overhead. On the canvas, they embraced, faces a breath away from kissing. They looked happy. The world knew they were in love.
Blue touched Yellow's shoulder. They sat on either side of White and she leaned right in front of her. Yellow grinned. For a moment, they held hands.
The last float, the Diamond's float, passed slowly by, and the crowd stopped cheering. Whether in reverence or fear, everyone watched quietly as the light show took place. It began with White's emergence, floating bulbs snapping into her silhouette. They formed a shadow of light that built an empire, commissioned Yellow, then Blue. The bulbs made a star map of the galaxies they owned, before becoming Pink Diamond, then Rose Quartz, then Steven. The crowd gasped. They knew the truth, but some had yet to see him. They clapped. He had suggested the celebration to be this way, after all. Colorful and noisy.
The float had traveled down the road, where it started over. They had neglected to include the part when White ripped out Steven's gem. They had neglected the part where he embarrassed her and changed everything, forever.
The color drained from White's face. Yellow touched her arm. "Let's join them," she said. "We should be part of the festivities."
White nodded and was the slowest outside.
3 3 3
Blue collected cushions from her room and put them on the ship. She piled them into the viewing dock, in the round end of the pinky finger where the solid walls became windows, so every detail of surrounding space would be visible.
Blue drove them to a patch of stars, suspended within a pale pink cloud. They glowed at different frequencies, winking at one another, communicating through an unknowable code of flashes and rests. Perhaps they needn't say anything. They used their light to sing of their existence. We are, and we always will be.
Yellow and Blue sat upon the cushions, a part of it. They embraced as the stars chattered and the massive cloud of rosy dust breezed by. They touched each other's gems, palms flat, grasping for the heart.
Aside from the stars listening, they were truly alone. Yellow whispered to Blue, "I'm worried about White."
"Me too."
The ship didn't hum. The sounds of its mechanical pulse didn't reach the viewing chamber.
"She doesn't leave her chambers very often," Yellow said. Her fingers played at Blue's hip, bunching the fabric of her dress. "Other than the meetings and responsibilities, she holds herself in the palace. That's not good."
"What do you think she does?"
Neither wanted to answer.
"When we return, we're scheduled to go to your sauna," Blue said, smoothing her finger along the length of Yellow's neck. "Let's check on her. We can at least ask how she is, ask if she needs anything."
The stars swirled, glinting like lost pieces of glass. They and Yellow and Blue were silent, the cloud glowing more profound and pinker. Blue had reached Yellow's gem again. She stroked it.
"How much time do we have left?" Yellow asked.
"Plenty," Blue said. They undressed each other, and scattered the cushions further across the floor.
Upon arriving home, they went straight to Yellow's sauna. They had run behind schedule and rushed inside, half-expecting to find White, back facing toward them so she could turn and accuse with an empty stare and a cool, "Hello, Yellow. Hello, Blue."
Blue and Yellow took their places. They undressed. They held hands. Having spoken all of their words upon the ship, they didn't converse but sat with their legs touching. They swung their held hands and watched the door.
It never opened. They sweat and waited and waited and sweat, but White didn't walk in. By the time it occurred to them to call her, it was too late. Another matter rose to importance, sending them in opposite directions. They kissed goodbye, with promises of calling White as soon as either caught a break.
Blue called first. She attempted several times, starting a call, allowing it to finish, and then beginning another. Eventually, she texted Yellow, She won't reply.
Yellow tried too. From the control panel at her ship, the jingle meant to connect them played over and over, all the way through until giving up. Yellow called again. She put the song to work, but it quit every time, with a single downcast note.
She won't answer me either, Yellow wrote. Blue texted back a frowning face.
Upon arriving on Homeworld, Yellow walked to White's palace. Blue would meet her there. The sun was setting, retreating from the sky and leaving it a dusty but majestic purple, stars opening inside it like emerging beads of glitter. They glared brighter and brighter with every step, shedding light upon the empty streets. Yellow didn't cross any other gems, except the eyes she perceived piercing from the shadows. That too may have been the stars.
Blue waited silently before the doors. Her cloak covered her face. Only the stark white of her hair gave her away. Even the soft flashing of her gem would have mimicked the starlight.
Yellow took her hand and they entered.
The front room, the staircase, the chandelier radiated silence. They were perfectly clean, with a few specks of color, and no Pearls roaming around to greet them. Even the chandelier, whose glass beads should have chattered against one another with the door shutting, didn't.
"This isn't right," Yellow whispered. Her words still echoed.
Blue led her upstairs. They walked quietly in bizarre reverence to the silence. Their normally loud footsteps became sacrilege. The goddess would throw them out for being so rude.
They found her in the salon of the second floor. She stood directly across from her new friendly sofa, facing the window. She held her arms out, bent slightly at the elbows, and radiated an arresting light. She painted the curtains sepia, and turned her happy green pillow grey.
Blue and Yellow hesitated to speak. She used to address them first if they had met at all, so they waited excruciating seconds until loosening their vocal chords at the same time.
"White!"
She gasped. The moment she saw them, she allowed the curtains to be red and the pillow to be green and Yellow to be yellow and Blue to be blue. They sighed in relief as pink took White's face.
"You caught me—" The color rose. It flooded her cheek bones. It invaded her eyelids. She covered her mouth, ready to fall onto her knees.
Yellow and Blue sat her on the sofa and took places at her right and left. "All of these changes terrify me," White told them. She hugged the pillow. "Everything feels so unpleasant and I don't know who I am. Everyone seems so happy, but I don't know how to be—" Yellow and Blue held her by the arms. "I've spent too much time away. I don't belong anymore. You don't need me—I've been useless—I keep being useless—"
"White," Yellow said.
"That's not true."
"We're so happy you're back."
"That's why we tried calling you."
"We were worried sick."
"You were?" White sighed.
"Of course we were!" Yellow crossed her arms. "You need to get out more—"
"And we should be better about including you. On our next free day, why don't we go somewhere?"
"Perhaps we should visit Steven."
"Okay," White said. Blue and Yellow settled into her shoulder pads. She held them close. They continued talking even after that. Yellow and Blue stayed as long as they could, leaving only when there was more work to be done. They made White promise they would see her again the next morning, at Blue's bath. She said she would, and she did.
3 3 3
They packed up and went to Earth. White stood in the main room, shuffling her enormous canvas bag over her shoulder. It held her towel and sunglasses—items Steven suggested she commission. Yellow had said they would likely go to the beach. It was summer on Earth.
Yellow and Blue arrived at her door, side by side. They offered their hands to take and led her to the ships. Earth required only minutes.
Steven ran out of the house as soon as they landed. He entered the brief sandstorm to embrace the toes of their shoes, their thumbs, and little fingers.
They took places at the beach by his suggestion and waited as Steven brought them each a tiny glass of tea. They had to be balanced at the end of each Diamond's index finger, but balance they did over bouts of conversation.
Yellow told Steven of Blue's non-standard characters, of the hearts and faces she had taught her to make. She said that Blue knew so many, to which Blue tapped her arm. "I don't know that many."
"She does!" Yellow insisted, and in the sand began drawing the ones Blue had shown her. White put on her sunglasses.
They talked about White's redecorating, and about the parade. They talked about the recreational center. Steven talked about helping the corrupted gems, as if it hadn't hurt at all, and suggested they play in the water a moment later.
"You better be careful of your lightning," Blue said to Yellow. "You don't want to murder all of Earth's sea creatures."
"I won't—"
They were stepping in, but White hesitated.
"Is everything okay?" Steven asked, stories below.
"No." White set her glass carefully in the sand and picked him up. She held him in one hand and lifted her shades with the other, to give him her full attention. "I feel terrible about everything I put them through."
White had spoken quietly, but a scream rang in the distance. Yellow had splashed Blue and ran away. The ocean halted them, making them appear in slow motion as they called to each other. They laughed beneath the high sun's bright rays.
"I used my powers on myself again. It was easier to feel nothing, than to watch everything change—"
"It's okay to feel that way. You have to be honest about how it feels so you can move on." Steven had laid on his stomach, propping his head up by the elbows. "Have you tried talking to Yellow or Blue about it?"
"A little."
"I bet they would listen if you tell them you're lonely. You could call me too. You guys gave me a communicator thing. I can't read Homeworld's writing yet, but maybe if you send one of those sad faces Yellow was talking about, I would know to give you a call."
"I ripped out your gem."
"Yeah," Steven sat back, "and it was really scary, but I'm okay now."
Yellow and Blue had moved across the water, now sitting in the deep. Blue had captured a shark, who undulated and tried to bite as both of them stared wide-eyed in awe.
"You don't want things to go back to the way they were before, do you?" Steven asked.
"No," White sighed and leaned back. "I'll admit, it would be easier if it did, but—"
The shark got away. Yellow and Blue screamed.
"Everyone is so much happier now, and though I struggle sometimes, I could be happier too. I definitely wasn't back then."
"White!" Yellow called, "Steven! Are you coming?"
"We found a sea creature!"
"Well—" White put on her sunglasses. "They've found a sea creature. We simply must go."
Steven laughed. "Those suit you."
"Thank you, Steven. I'm glad you suggested them."
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On an evening when the recreational center's skeleton loomed in the background, and sounds of its creation echoed into the night, White Diamond sat alone at the window. Its glass showed the reflection of her beach towel drying in the corner. Her fingertips smoothed over the sunglasses in her lap.
She used her communicator to text Yellow and Blue. Fighting with the messenger, she had to start over until the third try, but she wrote, I'm feeling lonesome. After sending, she opened another and entered a sad face.
Yellow replied quickly. I'm coming.
As did Blue. I'll be there soon.
To both of them, White wrote a single heart and waited in the dark shades of her room.
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