Normal is completely relative. Pearl struggles with this.

Sunrise came and went without a return to normalcy.

In point of fact, Pearl slept well through sunrise, which was absolutely as far from normal as she could realistically get. Gems didn't sleep, didn't need to sleep, and yet she woke to Steven tucking the blanket around her after he had woken up for the day. Pearl jumped, startled, only to find herself wrapped in both blanket and Garnet, who was very much awake. Strong arms were around her middle, and a pair of familiar large hands splayed comfortably around her sides, one warm and one cold to the touch.

"Garnet? Steven…?"

The Fusion loosened her hold on her companion, but didn't withdraw. "We were going to let you sleep more," Garnet explained, voice neutral, as if nothing about this particular situation was the least bit out of the ordinary.

On the contrary, Pearl didn't think she could remember the last time she'd been this close to Garnet; there was something completely dissimilar between sitting in someone's lap against hard armor and whatever this was. This felt oddly intimate, new and bewildering and altogether overwhelming—but welcoming and safe, somehow, and the paradox was not lost on the Gem. This was better than yesterday, though, than the thousands of lonely days she'd been subjected to by Tektite.

"We both slept late," Steven went on merrily, "But after yesterday, I figured you could use some more rest."

"Gems don't need to sleep," Pearl protested, and Garnet chuckled so close to her ear that she could feel the vibrations in her sternum.

"Tell that to Amethyst," Garnet said, indicating the purple Gem presently sprawled spread-eagle across Steven's bed. She didn't wake at her name, but gave a snore that may have indicated that she'd heard it. Pearl stared back at her for a long moment, then glanced back to Garnet again, and then to Steven.

"You didn't sleep on the floor all night, did you Steven?"

"We had the couch pillows," he said, shrugging lightly. That was an avoidant way to say yes, Pearl thought, but somehow she didn't have the voice to lecture him. Steven grinned. "Garnet made sure we were warm, right Garnet?"

The Fusion nodded. "I watched over you both," she replied, knowing Pearl couldn't see the pointed look she was giving from behind her visor. Steven hadn't needed watching, and Pearl's pride was a fragile shell of what it should have been. Garnet opted out of elaborating further.

Pearl wanted to protest, but this too lodged in her throat. Not that the concern was unbearable, and it wasn't as if she didn't enjoy the warmth strength that Garnet's arms around her waist graced her with, but it seemed so unnecessary, like time wasted if it were on her.

"Thank you," she settled on finally, earning a gentle squeeze from the Fusion behind her. That had been the right answer, she supposed.

"If you're still tired, we can stay like this a while longer," Garnet offered, extending the offer to Steven as well with a cant of her head. "I really don't mind."

"I'm gonna go get donuts!" Steven said excitedly, "It's a little late, but I'm sure Lars and Sadie saved some good ones for me!" He was sure of no such thing, but it had been a while since he'd seen his human friends.

Steven was already making to go, bounding toward the stairs, when Pearl's nerve caught up to her. "I could make something," she offered, and he barely heard her, even a handful of paces away. The boy turned to see Pearl carefully extracting herself from Garnet's hold, and to his relief, she stood without difficulty. Garnet rose as well, returning Steven's blankets to his bed without a word. Half buried, Amethyst snored on.

"It would take longer, but I could make…" Pearl paused, looking up at the skylight to get an idea of the time. The skylight directly above her was cast in purple shadows, but orange light filtered in from the west, behind the Temple and its hilly cliff. Had she truly slept all day? "…Dinner?"

Under normal circumstances, Steven might have rejected the idea. But Pearl rarely offered to cook, and as much as he liked donuts…

Normal circumstances were a far off idea anyway, the boy thought. After yesterday, after nearly losing one of his guardians, he didn't really want to leave the house. It was nice being home together, safe from things like Tektite and Peridot and Malachite.

"Okay!" Steven grinned brilliantly, "Do you want me to help?"

Pearl shook her head, no. "I can take care of it," she assured him, managing a smile that she hoped to the stars was convincing. Unfortunately, it wasn't. The dancer saw Steven's smile falter in response, and she shook her head again. One more thing she couldn't do properly. She slipped past him, mussing his hair on the way down the stairs. "You can help next time."

Garnet trailed behind her like a shadow, and Pearl could feel the hairs on the back of her neck hike up uncomfortably. That was… strange and somehow wrong. Garnet didn't hover, and Pearl didn't need to be hovered around like a light being chased by a moth.

Midway down the stairs, Garnet's proximity abruptly made sense; Pearl, lost in thought, missed a step—and Garnet's arm was around her so quickly that she barely had the chance to register that she was mid-fall.

"Caught you," Garnet said, helping her back to her feet easily. Pearl murmured another thank you, cheeks flushed, and was quick to make her way for the kitchen. She said nothing as she checked cupboards for ingredients, pulling out utensils she very likely didn't need without thinking. So much of the house was familiar, and yet something about the skillet's placement was strange; the whisk felt foreign in her hand. Pearl couldn't put her finger on why.

"Garnet?" Steven asked, a few steps behind the Fusion. He kept his voice barely above a whisper. "Is she gonna be okay?"

Garnet said nothing for a moment, scanning both distant and near futures in quick succession. She finally sighed, pushing up her visor. "Eventually," she assured him, turning to muss his hair. "These things take time."

She just had no idea how much time.

Pearl made short work of the kitchen itself; Steven's refrigerator was well stocked (for once) with vegetables, cheese, and eggs, intended for a Taco Tuesday that he and Amethyst hadn't yet bothered with, and that meant he was getting an omelet. Omelets were easy, rhythmic, employed a simple system. Cooking was relaxing and mindless; it was like a combination of chemistry and mechanics, and that made remembering how to whisk egg and milk to a proper consistency second nature. Dicing vegetables was easy, too, Pearl found. In point of fact, this—this mundane, normal, everyday task—came so easily to her that she forgot, even briefly, about the previous day's horrors.

It was nice to be home.

It was nice to be useful.

She closed her eyes, pausing in her task of dicing peppers to bask in the familiarity of her surroundings. The salty beach air blew in through the open window, early evening light casting a warm glow around her. No one had turned lights on, and she would have to do so soon, before the sunlight was lost to nighttime. She could imagine the sound of the waves crashing against the rocky outcroppings outside on the side of the Temple that wasn't surrounded completely by soft sand. If she kept her eyes closed long enough, she could feel the water lapping at her ankles, and the cold was delicious, spreading upward, hard around her shins and silky smooth everywhere else, cold and lingering and—

Pearl's eyes snapped open, but something seemed wrong; the room tilted, and darkness was creeping in on her too quickly. She could see Garnet moving out of her fuzzy peripheral vision, and the knife in her hand clattered to the cutting board as the chill reached her fingertips.

"I can't… see…" Pearl managed, but it was quiet, distant, and the roar of wind in her ears overtook her voice as she the ground rushed up to meet her.

Even Garnet couldn't reach her in time to catch her.

"Pearl!" the Fusion called, icy horror gripping her chest and stomach. She didn't think she could handle a repeat of the previous day, and her future vision had been mysteriously useless in predicting this; she hadn't anticipated Pearl falling again.

Garnet was there in an instant, gathering Pearl up into a seated position, and the smaller Gem groaned, mumbling indistinct protests.

"Pearl?" Steven gasped, catching up quickly, in time to see Pearl's eyes fluttering open. The alabaster Gem looked paler, ghost-white, and she blinked blearily without focusing on Steven or Garnet.

"'M fine," Pearl slurred, but it didn't sound very reassuring. Steven took her arm, but her legs failed her when she tried to stand. "I'm fine…"