Chapter Seven: Friends

Four Gems waited anxiously by the riverbank, watching the river for any sign of movement below.

They couldn't all go after Sapphire, they'd realised very early. By Lapis's estimation, the cave she was hiding in was very small— and besides, they didn't want to risk scaring her away. Ruby had gone, of course, because of all of them, she certainly had the best chance of reaching out to her partner. Stevonnie had accompanied her, to provide the actual healing.

But there was a chance that things wouldn't go as plan. That Sapphire would try to escape again, or…

Well, if she tried to run off, the others would be there to catch her. Lapis was hovering above the river, ready to scoop Sapphire up in a watery grip. If somehow that failed, Amethyst had her whip out, and Peridot and Pearl were standing ready with a fishing net.

They began their vigil fully alert, but as time dragged on and there was no sign of them, their attention waned. Lapis began to droop. Peridot scowled and gripped the net more tightly, determined not to fail. Amethyst found herself beginning to fidget, and then remembering what was at stake, refocused herself. Only Pearl seemed unmoved, well accustomed with stakeouts from the war.

"Has something gone wrong?" Amethyst whispered.

"Quiet," Pearl commanded.

Amethyst went quiet.

The only sounds were rushing water and bird song when finally, two heads burst out of the water. Steven and Connie, gasping for breath. Everyone jumped, instantly alert. Stevonnie had seemed in no rush to defuse before— had something happened to make them split?

But Steven was grinning, and Connie shouted, "They're coming!"

Lapis levitated the pair to the shore in a bubble of water. She had just dropped them there when Ruby and Sapphire surfaced. Lapis didn't use her water abilities to grab them. Partly, this was because she didn't need to— Sapphire floated out of the water herself, pulling Ruby along with her. But partly, she was distracted by Sapphire's appearance.

Sapphire didn't look as monstrous as before, but she didn't look like a normal Sapphire either. Her face was still slanted, her proportions still slightly off-kilter, her body hunched forward. Her 'hair' still wasn't hair at all, but a plume of water-logged feathers, stretching from her head all the way down her back, where it blended in with the ruffles of her dress. Her hands were hands again, with five fingers, though still clawed at the end, and covered in fine white scales instead of gloves. Her legs could only just be made out beneath the folds of her dress, and even then, they didn't quite seem to be bending the right way.

Lapis gave herself a mental shake and refocused. She needed to be ready if Sapphire tried to fly off. The other Gems had come to the same conclusion. Pearl and Peridot adjusted their grip on the net, while Amethyst drew back a little on her whip…

… which was a mistake.

Sapphire hadn't seemed at all nervous, until she looked down, saw Amethyst, saw the whip, and screeched. She jerked up and back, startling a yelp out of Ruby.

"It's okay!" Ruby yelled, as calmly as she could, considering she was dangling in mid-air. "Sapphire, it's okay, they're our friends—"

But Sapphire was rising farther and farther, her gown beating desperately like a giant tail. Amethyst pulled back on her whip, ready to lasso Sapphire and reign her in.

But Steven yelled, "Stop, she's just scared! She's scared! Amethyst—"

Amethyst flinched, but she saw he was right. Sapphire's single eye was fixed right on her, and her alone. Amethyst's whip vanished. She threw up her hands in a sign of peace. "See?" she said. "All gone! Gone!"

And Sapphire did seem to calm a little at that.

"She's not going to hurt you," Ruby said. Voice soft, soothing. "That's Amethyst. You remember Amethyst, right? She's our friend. Friend."

And slowly, surely, with more coaxing and calmly, Sapphire started to drift downwards. Pearl and Peridot put down the net. Lapis stayed in her position above the river, just in case. Finally, Sapphire's claws touched down on the ground.

Steven immediately came forward to embrace her, though the others kept their distance. "You did it Sapphire! Good job!"

Sapphire snuffled him in a friendly way. Lapis floated down, and exchanged a look with Peridot. Pearl took a few careful steps closer. (Amethyst did not.)

"Hello, Sapphire," Pearl said. "I… uh. How are you doing?"

Sapphire's lips curled up in what was probably a smile. Pearl answered it with an uncertain smile of her own, and hesitantly, the others joined in.

xxxx

It took nearly three hours of hiking to reach the nearest warp pad. Perhaps they could have gotten there sooner, but Sapphire kept getting distracted. She'd wander off, snuffling into a bush or snapping at a passing squirrel. Sometimes she'd just freeze— not with fear, but a thoughtfulness, as if she was hearing (or Seeing) something no one else could.

Eventually they got there, though. It took a fair bit of shuffling to fit every one onto the warp pad at once— although it helped that Sapphire floated above their heads. She didn't actually walk very much, since her legs didn't quite seem quite the right right shape, so flying was simply easier. There was a flash of bright light, and the group reappeared in the Temple.

"Here we are Sapphy!" Ruby said. "Home!"

Sapphire cocked her head, then rushed forward in a sudden leap. First she rushed up to the Temple door, where she pressed her snout agains the blue stone, then the red one. Then she leapt away again, investigating the kitchen, the living area, Steven's bedroom.

"Oh— should we stop her— ?" Pearl began, because Sapphire was going very fast, and more than once her tail came dangerously close to knocking something over.

The others didn't seem to even notice. Ruby was right at Sapphire's side, while Steven and Connie were close behind. Pearl looked at Amethyst, who shrugged and went after them, though without much enthusiasm. Twining her fingers nervously, Pearl followed. Peridot and Lapis watched from the warp pad, curious, but somehow feeling that this wasn't quite their place.

Sapphire prodded at pillows, tapped counters, leafed through books. Was she refamiliarising herself with them, or did she not remember what they were for at all? No one was entirely sure.

She was making her way through Steven's room when she finally came to a stop in front of a framed family picture sitting next to Steven's bed. Her single eye stared at it, unblinking.

"That's us, Sapphire," said Steven. "See?"

Sapphire picked up the frame, then settled down on the floor. Ruby crouched besides her, and pointed. She said, "There's Steven, and Pearl. And that's Amethyst." Sapphire blinked then, thrashing her tail; Ruby stroked her gently. "Here's Greg. And that's— that's Garnet…" Ruby's voice warbled, uncertainty in it for the first time since she'd found Sapphire. "That's us, Sapphire. Together. Fused."

Sapphire blinked at Ruby, expression unreadable.

"Does she remember…?" Pearl wondered, while Amethyst shifted uneasily.

"She saw Stevonnie," said Connie. "So she should have some idea, right? Maybe we could fuse again?"

"Yeah, but we won't be able to tell if she understands," grumbled Amethyst.

Steven perked up. "Idea!" he shouted. He dashed off, rummaged through some drawers, then returned with a thick pile of paper and a set of crayons. "This is how I talked to Centi. Maybe the same thing will work with Sapphire."

Less than a minute later, all of them— even Peridot and Lapis— were gathered on the couches around the coffee table. Sapphire sat— or rather, crouched— on the floor, the papers scattered in front of her. She surveyed the crayons, then picked up the red one. Maybe that meant something; maybe it had just been random choice. She held it for a long time in her claw-like fingers, staring at it, as if it was some machine of unfathomable complexity. Peridot resisted the urge to roll her eyes, while Lapis did her best not to flop backwards from boredom. Everyone else just tried not to fidget. Ruby just kept steadily stroking Sapphire's feathers.

"Just say whatever you want, okay. Take all the time you need," Ruby said.

And once that time was taken, Sapphire carefully lowered her crayon to the paper, and began to write.

It took a while. Sapphire was slow— perhaps because she was still trying to remember how hands worked, or what language was, or perhaps it was just because she wanted to be as clear as possible. Perhaps it was all three. But the lines came together in relatively clear, cursive modern English. You helped me?

There came a chorus of nods and 'yes'es.

Sapphire considered this. She gripped the crayon more tightly, wrote something, then added one final word:

Thank you all.

"You're welcome," Peridot said, sticking her chest out. "I was the one who created the device that allowed us to track you! If it wasn't for me, you'd probably still be out there, wandering aimlessly as a wild beast."

Sapphire blinked. The others stared. Lapis said, "Hey, Peridot, didn't you want to show me that new meep-morp you were working on?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, but that can wait—"

"I want to see it now," said Lapis.

"What's gotten into you?" Peridot protested as Lapis took her by the hand and pulled her along. Peridot glared, but didn't make any real attempt to escape as she was dragged to the warp pad.

Pearl shot Lapis a quick, thankful look, and Lapis gave a small nod of acknowledgement. The pair called their good byes as they warped off, those remaining waving them off— except for Ruby, who was too focused on her partner, and Sapphire, who's fingers were still firmly clenched around the crayon.

A strained silence descended. Nobody seemed quite sure what say. Amethyst was staring down at her lap, Connie was chewing her lip, while Steven fiddled nervously with a spare crayon. Pearl let out a little cough. "Sapphire— Can you— that is to say— do you remember us?"

Sapphire looked at her appraisingly, then slowly gazed around the room. Again, she wrote her response slowly and deliberately. A little. Confused. I know you are friends.

Then she pressed her head against Ruby's side and made a low clicking noise that resembled a purr. Ruby leaned into the touch, but her expression was just as uneasy as the others.

"So…" Amethyst said slowly, "how much do you remember?"

Don't know.

Everyone stared at the answer she'd written. Steven was the first to brighten up. "Well that's okay!" he said, with a grin that barely seemed forced. "We'll just help you remember!"

"Y-yeah!" Ruby said, a little shaky. "We can tell you everything you know! I mean, we were fused basically all the time, so I can just tell you everything!"

And so the storytelling began.

It started up slowly. It was a daunting prospect, having to relate what was practically someone's entire life story to them— especially when you weren't sure how much that person could understand. But Pearl suggested they go with the story of how they all met, which left Steven bouncing with excitement and Connie leaning forward in curiosity. Ruby certainly couldn't avoid grinning at the memories, and soon the story was spilling out of her— about the Sky Arena, the band of rebels, the important and mysterious Sapphire that Ruby couldn't help but feel shy and nervous around—

And though Sapphire rarely wrote any responses out, she clearly was following. She squawked and chirped and bristled at appropriate moments. She became particularly excited when Ruby described their first fusion; clearly she did have some understanding of it. When Ruby told the part where she'd nearly been shattered, the room had gotten very cold… but when she described those months the pair had spent travelling the Earth and getting to know each other, Sapphire had slowly started to float upwards, scarcely noticing until she bumped lightly into the celling. She only came down after Ruby opened her arms for a hug. She began to hum a quiet tune, one which Ruby joined in with, their voices melting together.

Everyone else began to drift off at that point. They all had the sense that the pair might want some space. Steven changed into a fresh pair of clothes, and then headed off to the kitchen. He hadn't been able to each much over the past day, but now his appetite was back, and he was determined to feed both himself and anyone else who might be in want of food. Connie also moved to the kitchen, but found a clear space on the counter where she could take another crack at her trigonometry homework. It didn't look any more welcoming than it had the previous night. But then Pearl wandered over, and her face lit up. Under Pearl's careful command the numbers fell into line like troops, the equations suddenly fitting together as Connie found the pieces she'd been missing.

And so the beach house filled up with warm, comfortable sounds— the turning of pages, the scratch of pencil, the rhythm of a knife chopping vegetables, the grind of crayon against paper, the fizz of frying, the swish of Sapphire's feathers, Ruby's low murmur as she continued to retell Sapphire's life for her.

And when those last two sounds went quiet, it was very, very noticeable. Almost unconsciously, everyone looked up to see what had happened.

Sapphire had gone very still. She'd dropped her crayon. Ruby was holding her most recent message in her hands, an uncomfortable expression on her face. "You want to know how this happened? How you got this way?"

Sapphire gave a jerky nod.

Steven, who'd paused in the middle of gathering cutlery, quickly got back to work. Connie, too, ducked her head and stared at the next math problem with greater intensity than was probably warranted.

"Well," started Ruby. She paused. "We were on a mission. There was this music that broke Garnet apart, and…"

Steven didn't let himself listen to the rest of it. He was very thankful when the oven dinged a few minutes later.

"Casserole's ready!" he called, serving it up onto plates. He got a couple prepared for himself and Connie, and while he didn't even bother doing one for Pearl, he got out a third and carried it over to the coffee table. There he presented it to Ruby and Sapphire. Sapphire sniffed at it experimentally, as if she wasn't quite sure it was for.

"Sapphire's never really cared much for eating," Ruby said, as Sapphire said as she lost interest and returned to her papers. "And I'm not… really in the mood."

"That's okay," Steven said. "Don't worry about it."

"I'm sure Amethyst will be more than happy to eat the left overs," said Pearl.

"Uh," said Connie. "Where is Amethyst?"

None of them knew. They looked around, and. Amethyst wasn't anywhere to be seen. And nobody was sure when she'd disappeared, or where she had gone.

xxxx

Amethyst left the house and stomped down the beach, no idea where she was going. All she knew was that she couldn't stay at the Temple.

Her legs seemed to know where to go, though. They carried her from sand to wood, along and off the boardwalk, down the city side streets. Amethyst paid no mind to where she was, and so it was only once she found herself standing in front of a curtained off garage that she realised where she'd gone. Vidalia's house.

Amethyst pushed past the curtain and headed straight to Vi's living room.

"Amethyst!" Vidalia cheered, the moment she walked in. "Yo! Pull up a chair!"

"Hey, didn't think I'd see you here," called another voice, and it took Amethyst a moment to register it as Greg's.

Amethyst blinked blearily. The living room was full of humans. Her mind was blanking on the names, but she recognised them— mail lady, arcade dude, pizza grandma, fry man. They were all gathered around a rickety old table, chattering and laughing, holding beer cans and cards.

Cards night. She'd walked in on cards night.

Amethyst stared, and then, without meaning to, started crying.

She couldn't stop herself. One moment her vision was blurring, the next she was sobbing, hard and heavy.

Things after that were a blur. The next thing she knew, she was sitting on Vidalia's couch, something warm being pressed into her hands. She wiped her face on her arm and blinked at it. It was a cup of tea. Hot, milky, with the the tea bag and plastic stirring spoon still inside, just the way she liked it.

The table had been abandoned, the cards left behind (though the beer cans were gone). The living room was empty.

Almost empty. Amethyst became aware that Greg and Vidalia were on either side of her, watching with mingled concern and alarm.

Amethyst was flushed with embarrassment. She wished she hadn't come here. She wanted to bury her face in her hands. But her hands were full, so instead she settled for taking a long gulp of tea. The feeling of it searing down her throat steadied her, somewhat.

"Atta girl," said Vidalia.

"Now," said Greg. "Can you tell us what's wrong?"

There wasn't getting out of it, was there? "It's Garnet," she said.

"Oooooh boy," sighed Greg. "Ruby and Sapphire aren't fighting again, are they?"

Amethyst gave a snort that turned into a small sob. If only.

And the story came out— but not very clearly. Amethyst kept getting ahead of herself, saying things in the wrong order, tripping over her own words.

"Okay, hold up," said Vidalia. "I already knew about Garnet being like, two little lesbians, but what's this stuff about these monsters you fighting being Gems?"

"Ah… did Amethyst never tell you?" asked Greg.

"Nope."

"It wasn't like I was keeping it from you!" Amethyst protested. "It just— never really came up."

And it hadn't. Honestly, unless Amethyst was whipping them in the face, she'd barely ever thought about the monsters. The others had explained the truth about them not long after they'd found her, so she'd always known what they were… but she'd never much cared. It hadn't affected her. It had all just seemed like some cool story. Back then, the only Gems she'd know were Rose, Garnet and Pearl, and she'd been happy enough with that.

She ploughed through the explanation, and cut straight to the chase. "Sapphire's been corrupted."

Greg looked stricken. Even Vidalia looked horrified. They opened their mouths to ask questions, but words were already flowing out of Amethyst. "I just… you should have seen here… I never thought it could, y'know, happen to one of us, but now it has, and everything's terrible and I've messed up—"

"Is she okay?" Greg said. "Oh no— did she attack you?"

"We attacked her. I attacked her."

"Amethyst—" Vidalia began.

"I didn't know it was her," Amethyst said. "She was just some monster, so I attached her… and now she hates me. Steven healed her— or Stevonnie did, whatever— but she can't stand to be around me! She flinches at the sight of me! She's scared and I can't blame her!"

"It can't be that bad," said Vidalia. "Why don't you just talk to her?"

"I can't. She can't speak."

"Wait, wait," said Greg. "Is she healed her not?"

Amethyst groaned. "I don't know. She's like, part way. Half-monster. She barely seems to understand what we're saying half the time, and she can't talk. She's gotta write in crayon. Like Steven, when he was five. And who knows how long that's gonna last? Centipeetle lasted less than a day before she got turned back into a giant bug, and…"

It was clear from their expressions that Amethyst had lost them. She took another gulp of tea, then a bite of the spoon for good measure.

The two humans went through some sort of silent conversation over her head, conducted entirely through glances and mouthed words. Finally Vidalia said, "Look, I don't entirely get what's going on here, but I know this: you can't make decisions when you're this upset. Trust me."

Greg nodded. "Yeah. Take some time to calm down. We'll listen, help you sort it out."

"You can crash here for the night. Sour Cream's spending the night at his friend's, I'm sure he won't mind letting you use his bed, if you want."

"The van's always free too."

"I," said Amethyst, through a tight throat. "Thank you."

"No problem," said Greg.

Vidalia just rolled her eyes. "Finish your tea. Then you can tell us what happened. From the top."