Connie couldn't believe that Steven had talked her into doing this. She couldn't believe she was dancing, instead of crawling under her covers reading a book. She couldn't believe she was actually enjoying herself.
"So does this beat another night reading?" her dance partner, Steven said, reading her mind and looking far too dashing in his tiny tuxedo.
Connie giggled as the two continued their slow spin amidst the crowded auditorium of her middle school. The mere thought of going to her end-of-year dance and being visible to everyone would have once sent her into an anxious fit, but after everything she had gone through with Steven, it felt like a breeze.
Despite her initial trepidation, the night was going swimmingly. She let herself loose, focusing on just having fun with Steven instead of what people might think of her. It was challenging to deal with all the poking and prodding from both their sets of parents as they embarked to the school. It was even worse trying to introduce her classmates to her companion, who were befuddled that he actually existed.
But this moment — twirling with Steven in the darkness, surrounded by dozens of bodies and yet completely alone together with him — made it all worth it. Seeing Steven take it all in stride, his natural charm and desire to make friends making people quickly warm to him, was all worth it. Just watching his eyes shine through this human experience, unlike anything he had ever done, made it worth it.
"Connie," Steven said suddenly, voice serious. "I'm really glad you took me this."
Connie blushed and looked up shyly at him. "And I'm really glad you convinced me to do so."
"Come on, I know you secretly wanted to," Steven teased. "Why would you want to miss this?"
"Well…" Connie droned, rolling her eyes. She saw the crystal gems — Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet — at the side of the room, a bizarre trio of chaperones. Their faces were grave amidst a sea of smiles. It was strange.
"Well, don't you think we should go?" Steven said. His arms fell off her shoulders. He suddenly seemed to be taller, and Connie couldn't see his face in the dim lighting.
"What?" Connie asked, before a wall of pink blasted her back from Steven. She fell to the floor and looked up, seeing a gigantic pink bubble expand in front of her. The bubble was growing and her classmates screamed as they fled the quickly shrinking auditorium.
"We have to go," Steven's distant voice called. Connie cried out, wishing she had her sword, as she pushed against the bubble to try to get to Steven.
An arm grabbed her — she could tell the grip was Pearl's — and she was falling, falling, falling into the darkness as the screams deafened her ears.
Connie was fighting ferociously against a turquoise gem twice her size. She slashed at the brute with Rose's massive blade, but the gem dodged with a backstep, coming back to try to smash the pitiful human with a massive mace.
But Connie rolled away at the last second, narrowly avoiding decapitation. The gem had little time to be surprised by the human's mobility before Connie impaled her, poofing the turquoise and letting the gem fall into the sand.
With the immediate threat gone, Connie gaze was captured hellish landscape around her. The sunset illuminated the sky with a reddish glow, as if on fire, as gems battled as far as her eye could see along the beach. The clang of blades constantly rang against her ears, drowning out the faint screams she would rather not hear. Puffs of smoke continued to spring up as gems fell in combat. Past the beach, she could see Beach City in the midst of ruin, the boardwalk torn apart by the fighting, the shops all smashed in. There were no traces of humanity left here.
"Watch out!" Steven's voiced call from behind her. Connie turned just as the blade of a Ruby's knife met Steven's shield. Connie wasted no time, dashing forward and slashing at the small gem while she was preoccupied with Steven. She was rewarded with a poof.
"Close one," Steven panted out. He reached out his hand. "Let's get moving."
Connie nodded resolutely. She was glad to have Steven by her side for this. "Right," she said, reaching her hand out — but then the hand was gone.
Rolling forward, she slashed through another gem as she rushed desperately to get to Steven. She could see him in the distance, unconscious and slung like a ragdoll over Jasper's mighty shoulder. She yelled as loud as she could, focus the entirety of her being towards a desperate run to save Steven from the brutal gem's clutches. She could not afford to fail here.
But her distraction proved her downfall. Connie stopped suddenly as a sharp pang of pain filled her. She turned to see an unfamiliar Amethyst wielding a sword, which connected from her large hand to Connie's right side. Connie slashed at the Amethyst, poofing her, but the damage was done.
Connie bit her lip and yanked the Amethyst's sword out of her, screaming out in anguish. It was lost to the tortured cries of the battlefield. Connie, applied as much pressure as she could to the bloody wound as she slowly walked forward, determined to catch up to Jasper despite the injury.
But Jasper reached the massive blue ship in the distance. Connie felt so close as the bay doors slammed and the ship took off. She watched helplessly as the ship blasted off into the far reaches of space, a place she had no hope of reaching. She collapsed into the coarse sand as the war raged around her, awaiting her death as the battle ignored her failure.
Connie was soaked as she stood up from her spot laying down in the shallow waters of the coast. The glorious Rose Quartz was in front of her, sword and shield in hand, looking down on her with a deep frown. The pictures didn't do the presence of Rose justice, but her face was dark, her eyes hidden by her massive pink curls.
Connie reached out as Rose Quartz turned, taking her sword back with her, as she marched into the sun setting atop the ocean. Connie found she couldn't move, the water seeming to chain her in place. She looked around desperately for help and saw the rest of the Crystal gems behind her on the beach. They all looked at Connie, completely indifferent to her distress. Steven was not there amongst them. He never would be again.
Rose Quartz faded from view and Connie cried, her tears joining the tide. She heard the sound of rushing water and saw a massive tidal wave before her. Resigned to her fate once more, Connie looked down and let the wave wash her away into the dark pits of the ocean.
It wasn't worth fighting.
Connie awoke, gasping as pain reverberated through her skull. She tried to shake off the grogginess in a bid to recollect what she just went through — a dance, a bloody battle, death... Rose Quartz. The nightmare was painful, but a part of her felt compelled to chase the fleeting memories.
It was proving easier than expected. Her eyes moistened as she remembered how it felt to see Steven carried away in front of her — a horror stolen from her in reality. She grabbed her phone from her side and swiped to her pictures, pulling out a goofy selfie with Steven outside the library. Her heart ached and she longed to call her best friend to tell him about her nightmare. She had been his late night confidant for bad dreams on several occasions, and she was sure he'd be able to help her in-kind.
The splitting of her head faded into a dull throb as Connie wiped her tears on her sleeve, pinching her temple as she tried to compose herself. She should get some more rest, but sleep was probably far beyond her now. With that in mind, she settled on taking an early morning walk to clear her thoughts.
Connie got up from her uncomfortable sleeping position leaning against a dusty wall of the barn. The home of Lapis and Peridot, filled with an astonishing amount of junk. Tin cans hanging from the ceiling, old televisions arranged in bizarre piles, and a group of toilets that boggled Connie's mind. It was lively, if nothing else.
But it was also harrowingly empty. When she and Garnet had arrived, there was nobody to be found other than Peridot, who was still hammering away at the inside of the Ruby ship. Connie learned they would not be departing until tomorrow to avoid running into the diamonds at the housed Steven, and it seems the rest of the crystal gems had taken that as an invitation to leave the area for the time being.
Connie stepped outside the barn's open door as a yell came from the nearby spaceship. She could see the internal light coming from within it and heard a steady stream of drills and frustrated shouts. Peridot was working to improve the ship with what little time they had, and had already made it quite clear to Connie that she had no interest in being disturbed. Perturbed and not well acquainted with the reformed enemy, Connie was more than happy to oblige.
But Peridot was also the only one nearby she could talk to about her nightmare. Connie dismissed the option and sighed as she walked around the outside of the barn. She thought about calling her mother, but decided against ripping open that conversation again. If she called mom now, she was positive it would lead to more painful pleas for her to stay on Earth.
Once again, Connie's heart ached for Steven. In the cool night air, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tried to take the time to meditate on it. Steven was her closest confidante. Of course she wanted him safely back home and available instead of captured and locked away. That thought made her miserable, but she could not let it consume her.
Continuing her walk, Connie turned the corner to the opposite end of the barn and saw the back of her mentor. She was surprised to see Pearl return already, after Garnet had left to drag the other crystal gems to the barn. Had Pearl been here the whole time?
With a sword grasped tightly in one hand, Pearl went through several slow motions. Connie had always been entranced by her master's swordplay — she made it look like an elegant dance, and she aspired to one day be able to match it. But something about Pearl seemed off. Her movements were sluggish, and her forms didn't seem to have coherence, her limbs often reaching into seemingly random directions.
"One, two, three, damn it," Pearl muttered, barely loud enough for Connie to hear. "This is ridiculous," Pearl fell to the ground, tossing her sword aside, sitting haphazardly as she gazed outward toward the brightening horizon.
"Maybe I should have kept going," Pearl said to herself, looking at something Connie couldn't see.
"Pearl?" Connie decided to end the eavesdropping.
Pearl sprang up as quick as a bolt, hair standing on end. She turned to Connie with a slightly crazed look in her red-stained, puffy eyes.
"Connie!" Pearl said with an overwhelming amount of enthusiasm. "So glad to see you!" The gem's hands clasped together. "Did everything go well over there?"
Connie was more than a little off-put by her mentor's snap change in mood. She had seen Pearl vulnerable before, but she had never seen her this...unhinged. Still, Connie was not sure how she could broach that subject politely, so avoided it.
"It was difficult," Connie said. "But my mother accepted my mission. Greg was a big help."
Pearl nodded slowly. "I'm sure he was. Well, I'm glad to have you here." Pearl's false smile fell. "Listen, Connie, about what I said earlier — I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been dismissive of you."
Connie held up a hand placatingly. "It's fine, Pearl. I...I know I haven't been doing this long and it might not make much sense for me to go. But still, I feel like I have to. I have to protect Steven."
"Yes, that's exactly why you should go," Pearl interrupted Connie with a hand on her shoulder. Connie looked up to see a more genuine smile from the thin gem. Connie struggled to, but managed to grin back.
"Well then!" Pearl sprang up straight and clapped her hands together. "We have some time to kill! What say we get in a few practice sessions before heading to Homeworld tomorrow?!"
"I'd love to," Connie replied, but a her stomach made a loud rumble, crying its protest. Connie blushed, looking away from the sly grin of her master. "Umm…"
"Well, we'll handle that first," Pearl said, humour in her voice, although it sounded forced. "Let's get back to…" Pearl stopped herself, trailing off suddenly. "You know what, I know of a very quaint dining establishment over at Mountain City. Come Connie, my treat."
Breakfast was a whirlwind — a quick teleport, a quiet, peaceful meal and a journey to a forest clearing close to the barn. The two spent their early morning joyously discussing sword training, which let them keep their minds off of more miserable things. Connie was over eager to dive into training, and Pearl was more than happy to oblige.
Connie dressed into her purple battle garb — a fortunate pack in her haste to leave her home — and started to warm up.
"Alright Connie," Pearl said, summoning a holo-pearl and handing a sabre to it. "Level nine, free form. We're going to cut straight to the chase today. Show me what you can do."
"Yes ma'am!" Connie said eagerly, getting into position across from the holo pearl.
"DO YOU WISH TO ENGAGE IN COMBAT?" the faux pearl said in its robotic tone.
"Let this be the perfect battle," Connie replied, before surging forward and attacking.
The clang of clashing blades, the thuds of rapid feet, the pounding of her own heart — this was the symphony that Connie now lived for.
It was cathartic, doing battle with a high level holo-pearl. When face-to-face with a foe with a sharp blade, your life on the line, there was nothing to think about but your next strike, their next counter, or planning your next five steps in advance. The dance of blades was consuming. Her thoughts had no time to wander.
It was a dangerous song to live for, Connie knew. But she also knew it was worth it.
There were few trials Pearl had that were a match for Connie at this point. The holo-pearl twisted backward and came at Connie with a right side slash, but Connie easily parried and then swung an elbow into the face of the holo-pearl. Her foe staggered, Connie pushed the blade of the pearl back, ducked the expected wild swing, and slashed for the legs, ending the battle.
Connie took a few deep breaths, wiping the sweat from her brow. Despite the unfamiliar place and circumstances, it almost felt like a regular practice session with Pearl.
"Very good, Connie," her mentor said, a proud smile forming on Pearl's face. "You've come very far."
"Thank you. Your tutelage is impeccable," Connie replied, giving a respectful bow her master. It was truly Pearl that had given Connie the chance to fight with Steven, and the means to do it. For that, she would be forever grateful.
"Don't sell yourself short," Pearl preened, having no shortage of pride in her pupil. "You have taken to swordsmanship better than any human I've ever seen. Homeworld will have another thing coming if they underestimate you." The gem's face fell into a frown at the thought of Steven's captors.
Connie blushed, as she often did at praise from Pearl at the end of their lessons. Connie was no stranger to compliments from teachers, but the gravitas of Pearl gave the kind words a lot more weight.
Over the past few months, Pearl and Connie had fallen into an easy rhythm as Connie was honed into a mighty weapon. Since Steven had confronted them, Connie knew their relationship was a lot healthier too — with Pearl showing off more of her motherly side to Connie between sessions.
Despite the circumstances, and Pearl's previous strange behaviour, nothing seemed different about the practice, their routine slipping easily back into place. Amidst all the chaos in the wake of Steven's capture, it was refreshing.
Still, Connie was concerned about Pearl. She had put on enough facades in her own life to see Pearl was bottling up her turmoil. But if Pearl wanted to put on a brave face, Connie was not going to stop her. Not when it gave her a chance to forget about her own fears and the nightmare the gnawed at the back of her mind.
"However," Pearl said suddenly, jolting Connie out of her thoughts. Pearl's face had fallen and a familiarly dark look emerged on her master. "Our next mission will put us face to face with Homeworld gems. You may be put into real combat — without Steven there to protect you. It's quite a lot to take on."
Connie stared up at Pearl resolutely. "I know. But I'm ready for this. You've taught me well and I know I can do this. I'm ready." The repeated mantra had become as much a method to convince herself as others.
Pearl circled around Connie like a shark, sizing up the human's body and posture. "You have come a long way," Pearl said. "But I still feel uneasy. You haven't ever fought a Homeworld gem before one-on-one, without fusion. I think it's best we get some more practice in."
"Whatever you wish. I can take it."
Pearl smiled grimly. She picked up the sabre of the fallen holo-pearl a few feet away and pointed the blade straight at Connie.
"I think you need a match against a real gem," Pearl stated. "Before you're a match against Homeworld."
Connie drew out Rose's sword and got into a ready stance, but a trace of confusion slipped across her face. She had sparred Pearl several times before, albeit lightly, with Pearl undoubtedly holding back.
"This time," Pearl said. "I'm not going to take it too easy on you, Connie. Consider this one of your last tests. I had hoped we would have some more months together before this moment, but time has run out of us. I need to know you're ready before this mission."
Connie nodded back, putting a battle face on. She was surprised and honoured that Pearl wanted to really spar with her, but she had no time to let the moment sink in. She had to prove herself to her master and backup all of her big talk she had given to mother and Greg. She had to show that she really was ready to fight Homeworld.
"I am the blade the shall pierce every foe," Pearl began to recite an oath as she started a circular walk.
Connie mimicked her opponent's movements. The gem had recently taught Connie the words she told herself before every battle back in the Gem War. Words that had, supposedly, never been told to anyone else. She was unsure why Pearl wanted to go through it now, but she would not question it.
"An undying dance that slashes through war," Connie recited back, long since memorizing the poem that Pearl had taught her. Connie supposed the words would become hers now, too.
"The glint of my sword, they shall fear and know," Pearl continued, feet moving faster. Connie matched her steps.
"Until the Earth is won forevermore," Connie said in response. After all she had gone through, she felt as committed to that as much as Pearl was.
"For Earth, for him, I will defend," Pearl said, stopping in her tracks and starring Connie down. The line had changed, but the vow had not.
Connie stared right back at her master. Her face ticked upward in a small smile of anticipation.
"Love guide me until battle's end," Connie finished, before Pearl dashed upon her.
Connie easily parried the first strike — a flying stab towards her gut — but Pearl spun back and was quickly upon her with a flurry of slashes that Connie struggled to block. Pearl's opening ferocity — unlike anything Connie had seen in their previous sessions — put Connie on the retreat as she tried to find an opening in her master's relentless attack.
The human tried to put some distance between her and Pearl, but every dodge backwards was met with a split-second lunge from the gem. Connie then attempted to duck and go for a rolling strike at Pearl's legs, but a slamming slash that Connie barely blocked, the clang echoing loudly into the forest, put an end to that. Connie pushed back and sprang back up with a back flip, deciding against using that potentially dangerous tactic again.
Still, as Connie tried to gauge this version of her opponent — Pearl had always taught her to analyze her enemies as much as possible — she could see a vulnerable wildness in some of Pearl's attacks. The gem was a master of swordsmanship, her sequential strikes always maintaining structure, but Pearl was continually throwing in wild, powerful slashes that tended to break chains of swift, precise strikes. The swings were straining to parry, and Pearl had not let herself open despite the flaw in form, but Connie wondered if that might be the key to landing a blow.
Connie waited, keeping on the defensive as Pearl continued her assault. Her master's face was a mask of darkness, anger etched upon it that was frightening. But Connie took it as at training tactic — the Homeworld gems would undoubtedly be as ferocious.
Pearl slashed at Connie, the human counting the strikes — left, right, left, right, one, two, three, four — before the gem brought her arm back farther, winding up another reverberating blow. Connie took that split second to attack, putting all of her strength into pushing Pearl's blade. To both their surprise, Pearl's grip loosened, and her sabre went flying backwards. The gem was disarmed, and Connie held her sword to Pearl's neck. She had won.
Connie keeled over, grinning from ear to ear as she caught her breath. She had done it — she had defeated her master. She looked back up, expecting to see Pearl's beaming face. Instead, she barely got her sword back up in time as Pearl came back at her with another powerful strike and an empty gaze.
"Never," Pearl spat out, punctuating herself with a clang of swords. "Relax until your foe is truly defeated. You can never show mercy until your opponent completely submits."
"But -" Connie struggled to reply as she narrowly sidestepped another slash by Pearl. Furious, Connie tried to find her opening again to end this duel victoriously. One, two, three, four — Pearl stepped back and came at her with another mighty swing.
Connie tried to attack, but Pearl would not fall for the same tactic twice. With a dexterity and nimbleness that might be beyond human, Pearl twisted out of the way of Connie's blow, changing the trajectory of her sword mid swing. Connie's blade swung past Pearl's head as the gem was able to complete her attack uncontested.
The world stopped and Connie's breath was ripped out of her. Every part of her spun inwards onto one, burning point of pain in her body. Connie twisted her eyes down to her stomach. Pearl's blade was embedded deep into Connie's left side. Pearl, still gripping the handle, held her hand over her mouth, looking horrified. Connie could only imagine her own face looked the same.
"No, no, no," Pearl chanted, trying to gently pull the blade out of Connie's side. The rippling wave of pain momentarily knocked Connie out of consciousness and she fell to the ground backwards.
Connie tried to keep her head, but the pain was overbearing. Free of the sword, she gritted her teeth, eyes welling up as she applied pressure with both her hands to the wound. She gasped out a cry and then bit her lip hard, but kept it up. She could not imagine that this would be her first grave injury; she had to be ready to bear it.
Pearl rushed upon her, ripping Connie's hands away and taking over treatment of the wound. The gem frantically tore at Connie's training outfit, trying to gain better access and gather unbloodied cloth to dress the human's side. Connie let her arms fall, feeling weak and struggling to combat an overpowering desire to close her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Pearl pleaded softly, but Connie couldn't tell who she talking to. She could see her master was weeping. "You'll be fine, you'll be fine, just stay awake. Please, Connie, stay awake."
But Connie could barely hear her now. The fight was over and she just wanted to rest. She didn't want to deal with this right now.
Darkness washed over her.
A sharp throb pounded in Connie's head as she tried to cut through her grogginess and awaken. Flashes of memory popped through the fog of her mind after her dreamless sleep — Steven was gone, she was sparring against Pearl, she had won, she was-
Connie gasped and instinctively reached a hand to her left side. There were no clothes in the way — she noticed now a large hole had been torn around where the wound was — but the skin there was smooth, though tender. She looked down and though the skin was a little reddened, with a sharp line etched around her stomach where the blade had cut, there was no blood.
She breathed a sigh of relief, and noticed where she was. It was unfamiliar, but a massive fountain with a pink statue at the base of the staircase she lay on gave it away. Pearl had brought her to Rose's fountain, and healed her injury with the water.
Connie flopped backwards onto the the stone, gazing up at the star-shaped archway. She wasn't injured. She was going to be okay. She was going to live.
"So why does it still hurt so much?" Connie said to herself. Tears started to form and before long, she found herself wracked with sobs.
She was supposed to be a mighty warrior. Her life was meaningful, but if she had to give it up to protect her planet, that was a price she was willing to pay. She knew she was going to get hurt doing this, already had been — so why was she so overcome confronted by her own mortality?
Connie huddled into a ball, crying into her knees. She was overcome with a sense of homesickness, longing to be back safe in her mother's arms. Away from the battle, away from fighting. Away from the prospect of having to fight an army of murderous gems who would probably crush her, as Pearl had. She wished she had Steven there to lean on — and the thought sent her into a fresh round of sobs.
She wasn't sure how long she stayed there, huddled up and alone. A hand on her shoulder momentarily snapped Connie out of her misery, and she looked up through teary eyes to see Pearl looking tepidly down upon her.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left. I just...couldn't-" Pearl was interrupted as Connie leapt up and enveloped Pearl into a tight hug. Pearl stiffened in her grasp, but hugged back and soon found her own eyes start to water.
"I wish he was here," Connie said suddenly between gasping breaths. She wanted that comfort, that strength. She felt like she wanted to be Stevonnie, just be out of her own skin and find completeness.
Pearl grabbed Connie and the two fell to the ground, neither strong enough to keep standing.
"I'm so, so sorry," Pearl chanted, trying to make her embrace soothing. Her own weepy breaths undermined her efforts to be comforting. "This is all my fault."
"No," Connie managed to breath out, looking up at Pearl. "I know it was an accident. I'm just...just...pathetic."
"No!" Pearl held Connie tighter, burying the girl in an embrace. "You did so well. You won Connie. You are incredible. I took it too far. I couldn't control myself. I have no excuse."
Connie's sobbing subsidized momentarily. She pushed against Pearl and looked back up a the gem imploringly.
"Is...is it Steven?" Connie asked.
Pearl closed her eyes, concentrating. Connie could see Pearl was trying to keep herself from letting too much out. Pearl gulped, before slowly nodding.
Pearl disentangled herself from Connie to scooch over to the side of the archway, leaning back against it. She gazed upward at the human, putting on a sad smile and patting the space next to her.
"I owe you an explanation," Pearl said, regaining some composure, but betrayed by the sad look in her eyes. Overcome with curiosity, Connie sniffled, before moving over to sit next to her master.
Pearl sighed deeply, pinching her temple. "I've been running for far too long. I've been trying to get a handle on myself again, but...it gets hard, from time to time."
The gem gazed over at the statue of Rose Quartz, crying magnificently. Connie's eyes followed, face sinking into a deep frown.
"Rose was...everything to me," Pearl said. Connie couldn't help but wince at the pain in Pearl's voice. "But she's gone. It's taken me fourteen years, but I had thought I was coming to terms with that. I even…" Pearl blushed, and Connie looked back up to her with more confusion. "...Started making some friends."
"But when Steven…" Pearl's hands clenched into fists and her face scrunched up. "I tried to keep composed but….I just couldn't. Steven...he keeps me going now. He...he's done so much for all of us. For me. When I heard he was captured, it felt...like I was losing everything again."
Pearl stopped, eyes closing as she lost her nerve to speak. This time, it was Connie who tried to be the comforter, grabbing Pearl's hand and squeezing tightly.
"I ran away," Pearl went on. "Tried to lose myself. Do anything to not think about it. Go out and...rebel," she said, stumbling on how to describe it. "It didn't go very well."
"What happened?"
Pearl blushed again. "I did some things at some human parties I regret. I may have also led a high speed police chase. With a few cars."
Connie decided not to ask how many.
"With that going...poorly...I decided I would just come back to the barn and try to focus on teaching on you. Something else I could put my mind to, and forget about everything else" Pearl looked back down at Connie, frowning. "But...I couldn't control myself. I would swing my sword and my mind would keep flashing back to the war and how I'll be fighting Homeworld again, or to Steven and I'd lose focus. I...I didn't want to lose to you, and instead I lost myself in the moment. I'm so sorry."
"It wasn't so bad," Connie wanted to reassure Pearl somehow, of at least the training session, if nothing else. "It was...fun to challenge you like that. And maybe it's….good," Connie gulped on the word. "That I go through something like that. So I'm more ready the next time."
"Connie, do not think that way," Pearl stated severely. "You're not going to fight well if you disregard your well-being completely. I understand that well enough now, at least when it comes to humans."
Connie looked down sadly at her ruined training garb. "I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to fight well at all anymore. Or if I —"
She felt her shoulder being grabbed and was fully turned to look at Pearl staring into her with a frightening intensity.
"Connie, you're one of the strongest fighters I've ever had the pleasure of battling. You have incredible patience, precision and skill. I know you're ready to fight against Homeworld gems — and win."
Connie couldn't meet Pearl's eyes anymore. She was filled with doubt, but what could she possibly say to that?
"Thank you," Connie said, barely above a whisper. Pearl nodded, letting Connie go. The pair leaned back against the wall and sighed in unison.
"I hate this feeling," Pearl said. "Like...the world is so much darker. Like the light is gone. I hate having to feel this again."
"Like there's nothing you can do," Connie replied, empathetic. "And you have to find things that can distract you from that emptiness you feel."
Pearl's eyes darted to Connie, surprised. The human girl stared back sadly.
"But you know you have help" Connie said. Words part of her needed to hear too. "It's...we can save Steven. And you have people here for you. Garnet, Amethyst...me."
Connie squeezed Pearl's hand tighter. "I know Steven was the best at this kind of thing. That he has a way of...lighting up the world," Connie tried to control the bittersweet sting of reminiscing from taking her voice. "But even if he's gone, you still have people to live for. We have to get by without him for now. Sometimes, you have to rely on others." She thought back to her conversations with Garnet, Greg, even her own mother. "It's helped me a lot. You shouldn't be afraid to come to us when you need it."
Pearl couldn't hold back the sobs anymore. She sunk further to the ground and Connie embraced her, holding on, as Pearl wept into her shoulder. Try as she might, Connie couldn't help but follow her lead.
Underneath Rose's tearful gaze, the two clinged to one another. In the wake of Steven's capture, they were lost. But they could still lean against each other. They could still heal.
Thank you to my wonderful beta reader, Meepyonnee, for her work on this chapter.
The next chapter, Rage, should be uploaded on March 11.
Please, don't hesitate to leave a review. Feedback is my lifeblood, and I love interacting with readers.