/AN: This is where things really get going, even if it's a bit short, because it had a lot of plot points being brought up. I hope you all like it! 50 followers is really huge for me! I'm honored that you all like this story enough to follow it! /
It hadn't taken very long to explain what had been happening, but judging by the way Lapis was reacting, Peridot wondered when she would stop asking questions. The water gem was interested more than Peridot thought she would be. Lapis was sitting attentively, listening to every word closely, constantly asking for more information. It seemed uncanny, the way she absorbed all the details, sometimes looking...excited.
" I can tell you know something that I don't. What is it?" Peridot finally asked. Lapis jumped a little, like she had broken focus, but soon returned to a more neutral expression. She stood up, brushed some sand off of her skirt, and began walking towards the caves entrance.
"Hey! You didn't answer my question!" exclaimed Peridot. Lapis looked back at her. Did she look sad? Peridot couldn't tell. She was never too good at reading emotions.
" When you made that distraction on the beach, what weapon did you use?" Lapis inquired. Peridot grew a little more frustrated. Lapis was avoiding the question. But if answering this one would get her more information...
"My energy cannon, what else?" She answered. Yup, that was definitely sadness on Lapis' face.
"Never mind. Forget I asked. Just let me know if anything new happens. I'm going to find Steven. You should come with me. " she said quickly. Peridot was getting suspicious. Lapis definitely knew something she didn't and wasn't about to tell her. While playing nice may have been working for getting answers before, it wasn't going to work now, and she drew the line at going anywhere near the Steven or the Crystal Gems. She wasn't about to go anywhere until she had a solid plan, and she was sure that any plan she could come up with didn't involve going for help, much less to the traitors who has destroyed her ship. Even the prospect of getting her Gem healed wasn't enough to convince her to leave.
"I'll go with you as soon as you tell me what you know." said Peridot, trying one last time to convince Lapis to tell her the information, but to no avail. Lapis turned away and began walking out of the cave. She paused when she reached the exit and looked back.
"Steven can fix your gem." she said. She wasn't making an offer or giving an order, she was simply stating a fact.
"I'm staying here. If you don't have anything to say to me, you should go. Don't want to keep your little friend waiting." Peridot said, pulling up her touchscreen again, trying to focus.
By the time she looked up, Lapis was gone, off to find Steven. Though Peridot was still very irritated that Lapis wasn't sharing information, she wasn't about to go after her, she had a mission to finish. She opened a new section on her touchscreen, hoping the connection would work, and pulled up a status screen of the closest kindergarten. It was undeniably going to take a while before anything worked. Peridot started to go through the lines of code that protected the kindergartens controls. It was older tech, so the code was easy to break, but the controls were unresponsive. She wasn't going to get anything done from here. Even if she got the kindergarten working again, she still didn't have a way to contact Homeworld.
"I can't even finish what I came to do in the first place. This really can't get any worse." she thought as she got rid of the touchscreen. She felt uncharacteristically tired. She had read something earlier on what humans called sleep. Gem's didn't need to sleep, but maybe it would help calm her mind to try.
"It's not like it's going to make things any worse." she muttered as she curled up on the cave floor. Soon after closing her eyes, darkness overtook her mind, the sounds from outside disappearing. She wasn't sure if this was another glitch, or just what naturally happened when Gems attempted sleep, but there wasn't anything she could do to stop it now. One last lingering thought clung to her mind before she lost consciousness.
" What does Lapis know that I don't?"
The gem in question was walking down the beach, thinking of what to tell Steven, and how she was going to deal with the Crystal Gems. Lapis looked back briefly towards the cave she had come from. She had been trying to process what Peridot had told her. If everything she had said was true, then several implications would arise, not all of them pleasant. Not to mention the crack in her gem. Lapis shuddered. It had grown wider in front of her eyes, a great cause for concern, as cracked Gems usually only widened after physical damage. And Peridot was doubtlessly not interested in going for help to fix it. Lapis had seen broken gems in the past, and had no desire to see another, especially Peridot. She had an interesting relationship with the technician. Things had really changed when the war was over, as many other gems she knew had been lost, but Peridot was always there. Even after being at the forefront of the battle, she still came back unscathed, with a couple of exceptions. But things had changed during Lapis' time in the mirror. After what they did when she got back...
"Lapis!"
A shout from up ahead. Lapis looked up to see that she had reached the base of the Crystal Gems. And Steven was running up to her.
"Lapis! You're here! We found Jasper's Gem on the beach, so we knew you unfused, but I couldn't find you! And now you're here!" he said excitedly. Lapis smiled down at the small boy. He was safe, and the gems had contained Jasper, so she had nothing to be worried about. Besides the fact that the Crystal Gems probably still wanted to defeat her.
"Yes, I'm here. I don't want to fight anymore. After what's happened to Homeworld when I was gone... I don't think I can go back." she said. Steven looked down for a second before returning to his usual happy self.
"Well, you don't have to go back. You can stay here, with me! I'm sure the Gems won't mind. You saved us from Jasper! What do you think?" he said happily. He reached a hand up towards Lapis.
"Beach summer fun buddies?" he asked hopefully. Lapis smiled at the small boy. She reached out and took his hand.
"Beach summer fun buddies." she said. Steven smiled widely and began leading Lapis towards the temple. She began thinking of things to say to the gems. Then again, it may be best to stay quiet, and just answer questions.
/AN: The next chapter should be up fairly soon. I hope all of you enjoy! /
