The light, glistening water spouted up and outward infinitely. The last clean place, Pearl thought bitterly.
Steven had been gone a while. Really, though, it was all the better. She knew that as soon as they figured out where Lapis Lazuli was, he would insist on venturing out to save her. In that way, Steven's absence was very welcome to Pearl; despite her resentment of Garnet's impression on Steven, she knew Garnet would foresee if he were to get himself into anything too dangerous. With humans, at least he's safe, she reflected, he's good with humans.
Still, Pearl thought that Garnet's mind might not quite be on Steven on the moment, so going to ask her wouldn't hurt.
As she hovered down and walked out the door of her room, Pearl thought about the more pressing issue - Amethyst was still gone as well. She frowned, glancing out the window at the ocean under the night sky. Pearl and Garnet had managed on the last mission without her, but if real danger were to strike now, they would be totally vulnerable.
She rapped on Garnet's door. "Garnet?"
She waited a moment. Nobody came. Pearl sat in the living room alone in the dark. Anxious, she looked around for things to clean. But with Amethyst and Steven gone, the room was spotless.
Some time later, Pearl finally heard Garnet's door open behind her. "There you are. Listen, I'm really worried about-"
But turning around, Pearl realized it wasn't Garnet who came out of the door, but Sapphire.
"Oh." Pearl wasn't sure what to say. Talking with Sapphire was always strange, considering her eyes were always hidden behind those bangs.
"Steven and Amethyst are going to be fine," Sapphire started calmly, taking a seat opposite Pearl. "It's Ruby I'm worried about."
"Of course," Pearl said quickly. Sapphire always seemed pretty responsible, I'm sure she doesn't want to stand for this. She sat up slightly, fueled by the reassurance of someone agreeing with her. "Is that why you're un-fused?"
Sapphire nodded wordlessly.
Pearl shot her a sympathetic glance, though she was unsure if Sapphire could even see it. "Have you talked to her about how much she uses?"
"It's not the drugs that I'm worried about, honestly," Sapphire rebuffed. Pearl flinched internally in surprise. "It's the reason she's using them. It's a hard truth to bear and I don't know how she's going to deal with it."
"What truth are you talking about? Homeworld attacking?"
Sapphire shook her head, seeming almost exhausted. "No. We didn't want to-"
The front door opened. "Hey, Pearl."
Pearl whirled around again and saw Steven. Her stomach dropped. Not now.
He was approaching her. "I have another-"
Pearl cut him off. "Steven, we're talking about something rather important right now."
"We?" Steven rubbed his eyes. His eyes look puffier than usual. "Oh, sorry Sapphire, I didn't even see you there. It's dark in here. Any reason you and Ruby are un-fused?"
"Steven, please." Pearl knew Steven getting involved with this would only be trouble.
"But Pearl, I saw some-"
"Steven," Pearl tried to reign in her stress, keep her composure. "I know you're really excited about this, but what we're talking about is extremely urgent and vital to the strength of the team. Please, just go upstairs. Isn't it too late for you to be up anyway? What were you doing walking home by yourself?"
"Whatever." Steven turned around dejectedly and went upstairs. I'll worry about that later.
Before she could ask Sapphire what she was talking about, Ruby burst through Garnet's door. Her eyes darted around wildly, looking for her other half. Her hands were shaking."What are you doing out here?" she practically screamed at Sapphire when she saw her. Pearl was frightened.
Without saying a word, Sapphire stood up and walked over to Ruby, embracing her. Ruby clutched Sapphire tightly, burying her face in her hair. Pearl wasn't sure if she was crying.
Sapphire led them into a slow, sweet spin, and they were soon fused again. Garnet threw her shades on. "Pearl."
"Garnet, what's going on? Sapphire was about to tell me-"
"Don't worry about it," Garnet said firmly as she turned to return to her room. "It's nothing."
And as the door closed, Pearl was left alone again. She decided she wanted to be back in her room.
