"What do you mean you fixed it?!" Connie demanded in a panic, rifling through the pages of her history book. The Civil War was just a corrupt gem that warped everyone's mind into fighting each other, claiming it was for the slaves? Napoleon Bonaparte was a corrupt gem himself with a superiority complex? The Holocaust was just a mass of corrupt gems who posed as people part of the Jewish faith, and the crystal gems were Hitler?!


(Quick Note: I've gotten a complaint about how I wrote the crystal gems to be in historical situations, namely the part about Hitler. What I meant by this was that the Holocaust was a mass hunting ground for corrupted gems, and the crystal gems were the hunters. Though, some people interpreted this to be genocide by Adolf Hitler, the fuhrer at the time, and thus caused the actions leading up to World War II. I apologize if this offends anyone, as I should have taken this into consideration.)


"B-but, but.." Connie was practically shaking.

"Yeah, that's what really went down." Amethyst said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders.

"But.. you changed everything in here.."

"Well of course!" Pearl spoke up, as if the knowledge was supposed to be well known. "Your textbooks are horribly inaccurate.."

"But my parents aren't going to believe this!" Connie couldn't show this to her parents, not this.. not magical stuff. Her mom might understand, but that is a very slim chance. And her father.. she didn't even want to think about what he would say.

"Well I'm sure if we talked to them, they woul-"

"No! No, they won't understand!" Connie was nearly in tears by now, and her outburst caused Steven to call down from his room.

"Connie, are you okay?"

"I-I have to go, Steven!"

"Aw, but you just got here!"

"I know, but, but if my parents see this, they're going to freak! They might not let me come over here for a while, they might force me into another program, they cou-"

"You could just buy another book."

Garnet had walked down the stairs during Connie's rant, a rather large wad of cash in her hand. She held the money out to Connie, who took it gratefully, if rather quickly.

"Oh gosh, thank you so much! Where did you get this?"

"I saved up after building the house. It was supposed to be for emergencies.." At this, Garnet looked in Pearl's direction, who grabbed her arm and averted her gaze. How.. how was she supposed to know that fixing Connie's book would put the girl in so much trouble..?

"You can stay now that you can pay for a new book, right?" Connie nodded, immediately running up the stairs back to Steven's room.

"Steven, I can stay!"

"Woo!"

Garnet crossed her arms, still looking at Pearl. Amethyst, looking back and forth between them, attempted to speak on Pearl's behalf.

"Garnet, you know Pearl didn't mean anythi-"

"Amethyst.."

Pearl was the one to interrupt her girlfriend. She stood from the couch, arm still clasped, but she looked Garnet in the eyes. Well, through her visor.

"I should not have fixed.. attempted to fix Connie's textbook without her permission.. I'm sorry.. And, I'll apologize to her as well."

Both Amethyst and Garnet were surprised, the purple gem with her mouth agape as Garnet raised an eyebrow. It was unusual for Pearl to actually admit she was wrong. The pristine gem kept eye contact with the acting leader of the crystal gems. After a brief pause, one that was so quiet that the only sound to disturb it was of the children laughing upstairs, Garnet raised her hand, gently placing a hand on Pearl's shoulder.

"As long as you know you did wrong.."

Pearl's eyes widened, and Amethyst's jaw dropped even further to the floor. That was it..? No scolding, no big lesson, no.. anything? Garnet smiled, taking her hand from Pearl's shoulder. The tallest gem then turned on her heel, making her way upstairs in case Steven needed anything.

"Wow, P.." Amethyst found her words, leaning back in the couch in relief. "I thought she was gonna go off on you.. Then you.. Wow, P.." The purple gem repeated herself, looking up at her girlfriend from the couch. "I thought you were gonna be all like 'It was for Connie's own good', or something like that."

Pearl didn't respond. She didn't want to. All she wanted to do was be alone, in her room. Well.. maybe not entirely alone.

"I'm going to my room.." Pearl stated, turning to walk to the temple door. She looked back at Amethyst, a small smile on her face. "You can follow me.. if you want." She continued her stride, her gem glowing to open her door as she neared the temple. Amethyst, worried about her girlfriend, took her up on the offer.

Having crossed the threshold through the temple door, it having closed behind the two gems, Amethyst spoke up.

"Are you okay, Sweet P?" Pearl smiled as she stood in front of her pillars of water. She loved being called that.. especially when the two were alone.

"I think so.." Pearl turned and held her bandaged hand out to the smaller gem. "Can you come up with me..?"

Amethyst nodded, taking the pristine gem's hand. Pearl lead them out onto the water. Then, as they stood at the very edge of the pool, they sunk. Amethyst had never experienced this before.. It was kinda like the warp pad, but with water. And you come up completely dry on the other side, which they did.

During the ride, Amethyst had traded her grip from Pearl's hand to her arm, holding tightly. When it was over, and they were standing on top of the center pillar, Amethyst let go with a blush, much to Pearl's amusement.

"You get used to it.."

"You sure you're alright..?" Amethyst asked again. Pearl was acting unusual lately.

"I think so.." Pearl repeated her answer, much to Amethyst's disapproval.

"You've been acting strange today, P.." Amethyst walked to stand in front of her girlfriend, taking both of the pristine gem's hands in her own. "Not just today, but last night too, and even before then.." Pearl stared down at the smaller gem, not sure what to say.. She just.. didn't say anything.

Amethyst continued.

"I mean, first, you burn your hand. You never have accidents in the kitchen, P. Not ever. Then you kiss me. You, the one who was so unsure about the whole relationship, you plant one on me. I thought it was gonna be the other way around. Then you space out during the movie. I mean, what was that about? Well.." The purple gem paused, averting her eyes for just a second. "..I kinda fell asleep when you were explainin' that one. And then there's today, where you just.. gave up. You usually fight for yourself, even when you're wrong. And even then, you're hardly ever wrong. You're Pearl.. you're perfect. So I'm gonna ask you again.." Amethyst let go of Pearl's hands, placing her own hands on her hips. "Are you okay..?"

Pearl stayed quiet for a few moments. Had she really been that unusual? Thinking back, she could sort of understand what Amethyst meant. She had checked burning her hand as being a simple mistake, but Amethyst was right in that it never happened. It was odd that she kissed the purple gem first. It was odd for the usually calm and collected gem to be lost in thought. And it was definitely unusual for Pearl to not stand up for herself, especially after Rose's guidance. Why was Pearl so odd as of late? Maybe.. maybe it was the gem standing in front of her that caused her mind to be so hazy. No.. It was definitely Amethyst that clouded Pearl's mind. But it wasn't giddiness. It wasn't the desire to be with the gem, to love Amethyst as she loved Pearl. It was wonder.. wonder on if.. on if..

"Amethyst.. do you really love me?"