(A/N: You guys all rock, you know that? Your reviews make my day. I mean I'm not the best at responding to them, but trust me I read every one thoroughly and squeal in joy to them. ;p I'll try to get better at responding though... I have a tumblr if you dears are interested (nevenger). I might make a blog specifically for this fic. Maybe a draw-base ask blog? I'll see. Also, one of my dear friends Mary is working on some covers for upcoming songs in the fic so definitely be excited for that!)
Peridot knelt there in the shallow waters and started to tremble. First it was a subtle shudder, but then it shook her body. "Jasper!" she shouted, scooping up the gem. She made a broken noise as a splinter fell off the already stone. "No...no!" It was hard to tell if she was crying under the water, but she was certain she was. "No, please!" She struggled to grab every piece of shards there were. Thankfully Jasper was mainly in tact so there were only a few.
Peridot shuffled the shards in her hand with a whimper. The gem was badly cracked and on the verge of shattering. If she wasn't careful moving her she'd shatter completely. She needed help.
"Steven!" Peridot shouted through the water, clutching the shards of her former caretaker in her other hand. "Steven!" She waved frantically. She could see the back of his head, and Connie. They were over by a rock face, knelt down in front of something. The beams of the sun blinded her and all Peridot could make out was something blue rippling in the breeze. She froze. Something blue...
"Peridot!" Steven shouted to her. His face was filled with concern. "Peridot, come here! We need your help!"
"I need yours too!" she shouted back. She shoved Jasper into her pocket, cupping the gem securely as she ran. The closer she got the more she realized the state Lapis was in, and it was almost as bad as Jasper.
Steven had the gem propped up against his lap as he and Connie tried to keep her head up. Lapis was as weak as a day old infant and could barely open her eyes. They reflected like a mirror. She had no pupils. Her body flickered with static, especially every moment she attempted to part her lips enough to even speak.
" ...I...t'ndid naem ti..." Her voice came out like an old crackling radio station. Steven could see tears starting to form in the blue gem's eyes. "... Llet...reh... m'I yrros..."
"No, no, no," Steven soothed, holding the gem close and passing a soothing hand over her blue bangs. "Lapis, shhh...don't talk..." he sniffled. "Just take it easy."
The blue gem gave a shuddering, static breath. "...Evas...reh." She disappeared in a blue cloud, and her damaged gem fell in Steven's hands. "No..." the boy whimpered. He started to tremble.
"Steven." Connie put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. You can heal her, right? Your...healing spit?" She drew him against her as he started to cry. "And if that doesn't work, you've got your Mom's tears!"
"It doesn't work." Steven shook his head in denial. "I'm not a magical healer anymore. I...I don't want to lose Lapis." Connie squeezed his shoulder comfortingly and he looked at her earnestly.
"Just try it..."
Tear filled eyes looked from Connie to Peridot. When they focused on her Peridot felt an uncomfortable twist in her own stomach. She knew that Steven told her his healing powers didn't always work and she didn't feel like giving her brother false hope. ...Then again, if it did work...could it heal Jasper too?
Steven hesitantly licked his hand and puckered his lips at the salty spray from the sea. He looked to Connie and Peridot anxiously...before he gently smoothed the thick saliva over the stone. For a moment nothing happened, and then a blue hue coated around the gem and mended it together.
Steven's wet face split into a huge grin as Lapis's stone returned to its formal unvarnished indigo. He gave it a nuzzle and smiled at his friend and sister. "I did it!"
Peridot grinned right back. "Congratulations, Steven! U...um, if the Lapis is well now, I need your help!" She clutched the shards in the back of her pocket.
"What is it?"
Peridot felt her fingers slowly uncurl from the sharp splinters of the gem. A cold fear washed over her in realization. Steven would panic if he saw the shards, and rightfully so she supposed. She would too confronting someone that tried to kill her and towered over by what felt like a hundred feet. He didn't know Jasper like she did. ...And if there was one thing that Peridot did know, it was how irrational someone could react in fear. He'd take her to the gems, and what would they do? Bubble her? Shatter her? She couldn't risk losing the last shred she had to her old life.
"Um...it's nothing. Actually, the most important thing now would probably be getting Lapis back to the temple."
Steven nodded, but he looked towards the sea worriedly. "We should probably look for Jasper though. If they've unfused it means she's out there...and she's pretty dangerous. I mean, the gems will want to detain her."
Peridot trembled at the thought. "Yes maybe, but...as you put...she is...dangerous." It was difficult just to get the words out. When you really knew her Jasper was about as dangerous as a puppy. "And she's shown that she can easily incapacitate you." She looked at Connie. "Especially a human."
Connie puffed her chest out. "I might be a human, but I'm also a trained knight. I could take her." Peridot scoffed. If Garnet barely scraped by she highly doubted that.
"You might be able to," Steven said with a little smile. "But it's probably best to tell the gems and they can look for her out in the sea. Garnet hasn't been out there for a while."
Peridot heaved a subtle sigh of relief. At least if the gems were away in the water it would keep Jasper safe longer while she searched for... "Steven, what is the substance Connie spoke of again? The...healing substance?"
"Oh, my Mom's tears?" Steven cradled Lapis's gem as they made their way back to the temple. Peridot tried to keep her movements stilted so the jingling of shards could not be heard. "My Mom had healing powers. She had...the powers to fix any gem and I guess humans too. Anything that was hurt or broken. A while ago Amethyst got cracked and we took her to Mom's fountain, and Garnet bottled up some tears."
Peridot looked at the boy warily. "And...where are these tears?"
"In Garnet's room I guess."
The gemling wanted to stamp her foot in frustration. Of course they would be in such a dangerous zone. Getting in Garnet's room wouldn't be a problem, but finding the tears would be. They were likely in one of the hundreds upon hundreds of floating bubbles.
"Guys!" Steven hollered as he and Connie bolted into the house, still clutching Lapis close. "Guys, we found Lapis!"
The gem's eyes widened as they sprung up from where they were reclining on the couch. "What?" Pearl gasped. "How? But—was Jasper with her?" The children shook their heads and the gem gave an alarmed look towards the sea. "She must still be out there."
"Lapis was really cracked and I actually got my healing powers to work," Steven explained. He ran a tender hand over the stone, petting it softly. He nuzzled it like a kitten.
"That must be how they unfused," Garnet mused. She bent down to examine Lapis's stone. As Steven said, it was completely healed now and no longer marred by the indents it had before. "They fought so hard it strained their gems and they shattered."
Peridot felt ill. The shards in her pocket suddenly felt even colder and she could feel her feet drum in nervousness.
Steven's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "So...Jasper is somewhere shattered in the sea? But...that's a lot of shards. I don't think we could find them all. We can't heal her if we don't find them all." He saw the somber look on the gem's faces and felt his heart sink a little. "...Oh."
"There's always a chance we could find them," Garnet said quietly, but she didn't sound so sure. "If we can't at least we saved Lapis." She looked down at Peridot and her expression strangely lingered on her for a moment.
"Well there isn't time to lose," Pearl told them as she stood up abruptly. Her gem shimmered and she flashed on some swimming wear.
"We'll come too," Steven told her, a determined look on his face as he and Connie started outside, following the other gems. He glanced back for a moment to his still wet sister standing there and creating a puddle. "Are you coming, Peridot?"
"Uh..." Caught under the gaze of the gems Peridot fumbled for some sort of excuse and looked over to Lapis on the table. "Well, I think I've had enough of water for today, so someone should stay behind and watch Lapis."
The rest of the gems seemed to take this excuse, but Peridot missed the way Garnet frowned suspiciously before seemingly going off with her team as well. Peridot stayed ducked beneath the counter tops until she was sure they were gone from view. Feeling she was safe, the gemling made a quick dart over to the Temple Door.
"If they really think Jasper is out there they should be gone a while," she mused to herself. Long enough perhaps for her to find the tears. She wasn't sure what she'd do once she healed her, but she knew she had to keep Jasper from being found.
With a flash of light Peridot tumbled in the door she had been in twice before. Only this time, it was completely alone. She never had a chance to really look at the room before since when she was in this room it was always in some sort of panic or struggle, but now she could see the warm tiles pooling into the center of the room, where a lava pit was located. And the hundreds of bubbles floating above each housed a different gem.
"It will take hours to locate the bottle,"Peridot groaned and scowled around the room. There was no easy way up to the bubbles other then to climb the pipes, and she wasn't particularly adept at climbing. "I could fly with my limb enhancers..." Thanks to the gems, she didn't have those though.
Making her way over to the pipes, the gemling began to scale up them carefully. She scooted her backside up slowly and gradually started to make a dent in the distance to the ceiling. The gemling didn't even realize that within moments, she was suspended over the lava.
"I don't see tears." What did they look like? Was it just a small vial of water? If she could just push away one of the stupid bubbles, maybe she could see better. She leaned over while keeping one hand on the pipe. She swatted towards the bubbles, but her stubby hand was far too short. She had to lean over more.
"Ah!" Too far. The gem cried out as she started to tumble off the pipe, and when she saw the magma death that awaited her beneath, she let out a shrill scream as she started to plummet closer to her fiery demise. It was only when she could feel the scalding heat against her face that something suddenly grabbed her and rolled with her.
Garnet stood in a crouched position with the gemling against her chest, caged protectively. Peridot shivered and barely peeked out, wondering if she was alive and how. And she looked up into eyes of a rather angry Garnet. Immediately, the gemling shrunk into her lap and her green eyes became owlishly wide.
"It's a good thing I got here in time before you became a fried Peridot." The gemling flinched at the harsh bite to the woman's voice. She twiddled her tiny fingers nervously.
"How...did you know I was here?"
Garnet tapped her visor. Future vision. "And I know what you're doing here." Immediately, Peridot became ice cold. She froze in terror and for a long moment, she didn't move. Garnet held out a hand expectantly. "Give her to me Peridot."
Silent stretched on as Garnet kept her hand out, curling her fingers in slightly to try and indicate she wanted it now. "Peridot." The tone became more stern and insistent. "Give Jasp-"
Smack! Garnet's hand recoiled back, at the very least simply in shock that the young gem had just hit her. Peridot wrenched herself free from the fusion's arms and started a mad dash towards the door. Effortlessly, Garnet jumped into the air and landed in front of the gemling.
"Peridot, give her to me," Garnet ordered. The tone had no room for negotiation. "Don't make me take her away from you."
"Never, you CLOD!" Peridot suddenly shrieked as she darted through her legs. Garnet's eyes widened at the insult she was sure they had long since passed, but she jumped in front of the gem again. She refused to fight her. With what she knew about Peridot, not only was the gem child incapable of fighting back, but she was definitely weaker too.
"Peridot." Garnet grabbed her arm firmly. "Stop this now," she ordered sharply. The gemling thrashed and slapped at her hand repetitively like she had Steven. Obviously, it didn't even effect the fusion. "Peridot, you have one last chance," Garnet warned her. "I don't want to get mean."
"I'll fight you!" the gemling shrieked furiously. Garnet pulled her up over her knees and pinned her there. With the other hand she reached into the gemling's pajama pocket. She was just about to pull the gem shards out when Peridot completely broke down.
"NOOO!" she shouted as she abruptly burst into tears and let loose a heartbroken wail. "DON'T TAKE HER FROM ME! PLEASE!"
Garnet's hand hovered there and her gaze never left the sobbing gemling, who scrambled her hands back to try and protect the pocket. Finally, Garnet shook her head and she gently sat Peridot up in her lap. "Alright, that's enough," she ordered softly. Peridot had the shards in her hands and was sobbing softly into them. "Look at me," she said kindly.
Her vision marred by thick tears, Peridot obeyed. Her tears fell onto the pieces of shards.
"Talk to me." Garnet said. She reached down and smoothed her fingers through the gem's mint colored hair. "What's wrong? Why did you freak out?"
"Nobody understands!" Peridot blurted out through her tears. She practically cradled the broken pieces of Jasper. "She's not what you all think she is! She's not this horrible monster! I mean, she—she can be really frightening when she's angry, but so can anyone! None of you know her like I do! I know she tried to destroy your planet, but so did I! I can't let you take her from me—she's all I-"
Garnet put a finger to the gem's lips. "You thought I was going to shatter her, didn't you?" She gave a wincing smirk as she looked at the pieces of the gem. "Well...what's left of her."
"Of course." Peridot wiped her eyes. "Sh-she was a threat to you. She captured you all. W-we both did. I wouldn't blame you—but I also won't let you!" she babbled on desperately.
Garnet placed a hand on the gem's hair once more to calm her down and tilted her head up by placing a finger under her chin. "Do you trust me?"
The question caught Peridot off guard and she shook off Garnet's finger, staring up at her. "What?"
"Do you trust me?"
Wide green eyes blinked up at the woman. It surprised her how easy it was to answer this. "Yes."
A smile spread over the fusion's face as she nodded and once more held out her hand to the gem. "Give Jasper to me."
Peridot's head snapped up immediately to Garnet's and she instinctively clutched Jasper close to her as her eyes became wet at the rim again. Garnet patiently held her hand out and didn't press the frightened gemling or speak. Slowly, unsure, Peridot put her hand over the fusion's larger one and let the pieces of gem tink into her open palm.
Garnet closed her hand around Peridot's small hand tenderly and slowly pulled back with the shards. She turned her head skywards and beckoned with another hand. Slowly, a small bubble descended. It had a vial in it filled to the top with tears. Popping the bubble, Garnet caught the bottle and uncorked it. She tipped it and a small pristine drop fell onto the shards.
The jasper shards glowed a soft orange and glimmered as they slowly pieced themselves together like a puzzle. Garnet put the healed Jasper into Peridot's eagerly waiting hands. The gemling hugged the stone close to her. "I trust you too," Garnet said. "And that's why I'm going to give her back to you. I trust that you know a Jasper that we don't and that you know what to do."
Peridot's eyes glimmered with joy and she launched herself at the fusion before she could help herself, tiny arms wrapping tight around Garnet's neck. Garnet returned the hug in full and pulled Peridot back. She looked stern.
"But I also trust that you realize the risks with this. Jasper is no match for any of us—especially since we have Lapis at our disposal, but she is very dangerous to Steven. And you are to keep her away from him until she's tamed."
Peridot nodded immediately. "I understand. ...How long do you think it'll be until they've reformed?"
Garnet's expression turned somber. "It's hard to say Peridot. It could be a very long time. Lapis and Jasper were fused in an unstable fusion for over a year. The effects of that will be severe on them, and there's no telling what consequences it will have on them, both physically and emotionally. Even after they reform, I don't think they'll be themselves." She put a hand on the gemling's shoulder. "Jasper is going to need you more then anything."
Peridot nodded. "I'll reciprocate to all the care she showed me on the ship." She smiled. "I suppose it will be my turn to return the favor. Do you...think there's any way I can make her comfortable?"
Garnet chuckled. She felt inclined to point out that the giant gem probably wouldn't even notice, but she didn't want to stem Peridot's enthusiasm. "What about that blanket we snuggled in?"
Several hours later, Peridot had Jasper underneath a heat lamp and wrapped in a large 'hot dog' patterned blanket in a little shoebox. She perched her chin on her arm, which flooded with a large, overgrown t-shirt of Steven's that she was using as a nightgown (since she had gone into the ocean in her pajamas).
"You probably appreciate the warmth after being in the ocean all this time. It's chilly in the water. And wet." The heat lamp of Steven's would ensure she'd get enough warmth and dryness. Peridot couldn't help but pick up the gem as she sat at the edge of the couch and placed it in her baggy lap.
"If you were conscious you'd probably be growling at me for coddling you like you're the gemling," Peridot snickered. The stone in her lap didn't respond. "I remember when I broke the communicator to Yellow Diamond on the ship, and it only enhanced her desire to want to recycle me. You roared that you would 'beat my ass to and over the moon' if I did it again since we didn't want to make her any angrier with me."
Peridot slumped against the couch cushion, and the effect caused the large t-shirt to engulf her and the small stone in her lap. "I never thought I'd want to hear you yell at me again."
"Peridot?"
Peridot squeaked and nearly dropped Jasper as her stupid annoying sibling scared her. "Steven, what are you doing here? You heard Mother Garnet's rule; you're not allowed near Jasper's stone."
"I was curious," Steven admitted with a shrug. He had a glass of water...and water wasn't all that was in it. "You've got Jasper covered up? I put Lapis in water because I knew it'd make her feel better and more at home." He tapped the glass. "But I didn't put ice cubes in it, it'd make her way too cold."
Peridot rolled her eyes and adjusted the quilt around Jasper. "She'll likely shatter the glass when she comes out."
Steven shrugged. "That's okay, we've got lots." He sat down beside his sister. "So you're pretty attached to her, huh?" He wrinkled his face up. "But she seemed really mean."
Peridot scoffed. "At one point didn't I seem really mean too?" Steven quieted, realizing she had a point. "She can be...quite mean, but...she always only did what she was told, and what she thought was the best. I would probably have already been shredded for parts if it wasn't for her." Peridot gave a small snort. "But I think there were times she wanted to shred me herself."
Steven giggled a little and kicked his legs lightly against the coffee table. He picked Lapis up and held the dripping blue stone in his hand. He held it out, side by side with the jagged orange stone of Jasper. "...Think we can help them get along?"
"Huh?"
Steven pet Lapis. "I mean...do you think we can make them not want to kill each other? And they can live together, live with us happily?"
Peridot shrugged. "I don't know." She didn't care particularly for the Lapis Lazuli. She had merely been a prisoner, and a rather sassy one at that. Jasper could probably recall the many times the gemling had run to her all upset because "The Lapis was being mean."
"You should go upstairs," Peridot told her sibling. She crossed her arms. "If Jasper reforms she'll punch you in the face and that isn't falling on me."
Steven shrugged and picked Lapis back up, dropping her into the water glass with another 'plop!' "Well okay. I guess we can try to figure things out tomorrow." He yawned and started to the staircase. "Good night, Peridot."
"Good night, Steven." Peridot mumbled. She turned off the heat lamp and instead of putting Jasper back into the shoe box, she whisked the hot dog blanket onto the couch with her and snuggled under it with the cold stone pressed against her.
