Chapter Nine: Adjustments

The following weeks were strange.

It was strange, Garnet being gone. It was strange, having her usual silence replaced by Ruby's booming presence. It was strange, Sapphire being half-healed and living out at the spaceship most of the time. It was strange, with everyone travelling between the Temple and ship every day.

It was strange, but they adjusted.

At first, Ruby hadn't wanted to leave Sapphire's side. She had been terrified that something might happen. She'd worried that the centipeetles might hurt Sapphire, or that Sapphire might hurt herself, or that she's get scared, or that she'd forget, or she'd revert, or—

But none of that had happened. The centipeetles were quite friendly and got along well with Sapphire, and apart from the occasional playful wrestling match, there was no fighting. And Sapphire did get scared, sometimes— but always Ruby or someone else was there to comfort her. They'd sit with her and hold her and talk to her until she remembered where she was and when she was, show that in the present there was nothing to fear. Those fearful fits got less and less common, and Sapphire seemed to remember more and more, from the stories her friends told her and the trinkets they brought her to help decorate her new home.

And that was part of the reason Ruby started spending less time at the ship.

She wanted to be there for Sapphire, she truly did— and she was there, she reminded herself. But she couldn't shake the sickening feeling that she wasn't needed.

It was an old, old worry, one that had haunted her ever since they'd first fused. It had been her fault Sapphire had been cast out; her fault they'd gotten stuck on Earth; her fault they'd been put in mortal danger…

Sapphire— or Garnet— had always seen it another way. Ruby had protected Sapphire; helped set both of them free; given them a chance to be themselves, to join the revolution, find friends and family. Garnet had known, through and through, that she was made of two equal parts. That Ruby and Sapphire were a perfectly balanced team, their love for each other flowing both ways.

Ruby knew Sapphire still loved her. She was more certain of that than anything. But when she was left sitting around in that old spaceship, watching Sapphire going about her business, Ruby couldn't help but wonder… Did Sapphire really need her?

After all, they couldn't fuse. And if she wasn't Garnet, Ruby wasn't entirely sure how much use she actually was.

She was, at least, still pretty good at punching things.

The monster before her was huge, all spikes and teeth. It was big and bulky and angry. It leaked nasty putrid smoke that had driven everyone away from the boardwalk, and left even Ruby gasper. Ruby goaded it on, lead it away from the humans, then took immense satisfaction in repeatedly hitting it in the face Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack, THWACK.

With one last punch, the monster exploded into a puff of grey smoke.

Ruby picked the monster's gemstone off the ground, turning it over in her hands. It was all grey and green, sharp silver lines radiating out from the centre. A Seraphinite. They'd had a few of those in the Rebellion. Had she been a Crystal Gem?

Something behind her hissed.

Ruby bubbled the Seraphinite and turned around to face another monster. Like a snake, but the size of a car, with massive fangs and a spiked tail. It had slithered up the cliff-face behind her in a sneak attack. Ruby still should have seen it coming. Ever since Jasper had rounded them all up, the monsters had been forming packs.

Ruby growled, raised her fist, and charged.

But then—

— it was blue.

Blue, and serpentine, and suddenly its spikes and fangs seemed to vanish, replaced with feathers.

And Ruby swore she saw the monster staring at her with a single eye, huge and round and pleading—

Her gauntlets vanished. Ruby was petrified. The monster kept coming at her, fangs barred. Ruby knew it wasn't Sapphire— but it could have been, it could have been, and she couldn't make herself fight against it— couldn't make herself hurt it—

The monster had no such restraints. All it knew was that this red Gem had attacked its pack-mate, and it was ready to attack in turn. It lunged.

Ruby felt the impact, heavy and sharp, teeth digging into her shoulder. The pain kicked her into action. She pushed the monster off, just enough to get away. The snake came at her again, raising its head for another strike—

A triple blast of light hit it in the face.

The snake hissed and recoiled. Ruby shook herself and struggled to her feet. Pearl jumped forward to put herself between Ruby and the snake. She flung her trident, which embedded itself in the monster's chest. There was a flash of light as Pearl summoned a second trident, then ran it through the snake, which roared in pain. With a deft twist, the scream ended as the monster vanished. Within moments Pearl had the gemstone bubbled and vanished. For a moment, she just stood there, savouring her victory, and Ruby saw the terrifying renegade.

Then Pearl flushed with worry, running towards Ruby and crouching down to look her over. "Are you alright?!"

"Fine," Ruby muttered. She brushed Pearl's hands away from her shoulder, where the snake creature had bit her. The gouges there weren't that deep, but she'd gotten far worse. They'd heal in a couple days, no regeneration needed.

Pearl's mouth twisted. After several long moments of trying to figure out what she wanted to say, she straightened and began, "Ruby—"

"I'm fine."

"Don't worry," said Pearl. "It's perfectly understandable if—"

"If what? If I freeze up?" Ruby laughed. "'Course it is. Not like rubies are actually expected to be good at anything."

Pearl inhaled sharply. "Don't say that."

"Because it's not true. Because that's what they want you to think." Pearl's eyes were blazing. "Because I know how easy it is to start thinking like that.

"Besides," Pearl continued. "I don't think that's why you 'froze up'."

Ruby looked at the ground. It was covered with yellow grass. Ruby hadn't really been paying much attention to where she'd lead the Seraphinite-monster in the fight, but apparently they'd ended up at the lighthouse hill above the Temple. She hadn't really noticed. She'd been too caught up in the fight to pay attention to stuff like that— relishing the chance to just kick, and hit, and punch, and not to think of anything but the threat right in front of her.

That's what the monsters had been for so long: threats. But the sight of those other monsters— blue and slender and scared— reminded Ruby of what they really were. "I didn't want to hurt them."

"I know," said Pearl.

Ruby walked towards and past the lighthouse, to the cliff's edge. She braced herself against the fence Pearl had built there, taking care not to burn the wood. A cold autumn wind blew against her face. It was an overcast day, the ocean grey and choppy. In her minds eye, she could see the Burning Room, filled with hundreds and hundreds of corrupted Gems.

"They shouldn't be bubbled," Ruby said. "We gotta heal them too. All of them."

Pearl sighed, and came to stand besides her. "We just don't have the resources," she said. "There's so many corrupted gems, and so few of us to take care of them. And Steven's powers are still so temperamental. He's just barely managing keeping Sapphire and the peetles healed. Maybe eventually we'll be able to help all the others… but right now, we just can't place anymore of that weight on Steven."

Ruby let out a long breath. "Right," she said. "Yeah. Steven. Of course." She shook her head. "Garnet would have seen that."

Silence, filled by the call of gulls and a wave crashing far below. And then Pearl said, "Ruby— do you want to fuse?"

Ruby let go of the fence. She stared at Pearl, taken aback. Even Pearl looked surprised at her own words. She twisted her hands, trying to explain herself. "I mean— we don't have too, obviously— only if— I simply thought… You're so used to being fused… and it must be very hard for you— lonely, I imagine— and sometimes it helps to get… well, a fresh pair of eyes, so to speak—"

"Pearl." Ruby held up a hand to dam the flood of words. "Thank you. But it just wouldn't be… fair, fusing without Sapphire."

Ruby was a little afraid Pearl would be offended, but she wasn't. She just looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure if I agree. After Rose… gave up her physical form, I felt similar. The thought of fusing with someone else felt…" She paused, considering the word. "Hollow," she decided. "But it wasn't. Rainbow Quartz was nothing like Opal, or Sardonyx—"

"Garnet's different, though."

"I know," said Pearl. "I do. But Sapphire doesn't want you to be alone. I don't want you to be alone."

Ruby was a Gem of restless energy. She was almost always moving— walking, pacing, running, fighting, laughing, dancing—

Now she was almost completely still. Only her lips moved, twitching as though she was speaking to herself, or a part of herself which wasn't there.

Pearl wrung her hands. "I'm sorry," she said. "This was a bad idea— I shouldn't have suggested it. I just… want you to know, that if you need to talk, I'm always…"

She shook her head, turned, and began making her way down the hill as quickly as she could.

"Wait!"

Pearl stopped and looked back. Ruby's stillness had been broken to chase after her. "Okay. Let's fuse."

Ruby held out a trembling hand and Pearl took it.

xxxx

The Centipeetle spaceship had gone through quite a transformation over the past few weeks.

It was no longer just a bare metal chamber covered in in moss and creeping vines. Slowly but surely it had begin filling with stuff, of all shapes and sizes. The corner of drawing supplies had expanded, the paper and crayons being joined by pens, pencils, chalk and paint. Sapphire and the peetles used the supplies not only for writing, but also for art. Taped on to the walls, or else painted directly onto them, were examples of their artwork— perhaps a little crude or abstract, but recognisably depictions of space, of far-off planets, of battlefields and beaches and friends. Steven had stuck up some pictures of his own; mostly photographs of the family.

There were some things to play with— a beach ball and an old tire, the latter of which was now rather gloopy from acid spit. A couch had been dragged out form Amethyst's room, stuck in another corner, piled with pillows and blankets, and set in front of a TV. Peridot had somehow managed to get both cable and WIFI in the ship, and with significantly less animal attacks and screaming then at the barn. Television was a big hit. The peetles could spend hours flipping through channels. There were a few old video game consoles, too. Neither Sapphire or the peetles played these much, what with their hands having the tendency to disappear halfway through a level, but they loved watching others play. They were a great audience, screeching and cawing through boss battles, hissing when players died. Sapphire liked to curl around Ruby, purring encouragement. (She tried her best to keep Ruby calm, but was not always successful, as the melty finger-marks on one of the controllers attested to.)

Just now the TV was off, in favour of a more physical activity. The floor was a roiling mass of green and black as the monsters play wrestled. There were dozens of bodies. The peetles— Centi especially— tended to make clones of themselves when excited. Occasionally through the fur and spit a flash of blue feathers could be spotted. Sapphire had no difficulty holding her own. She was fast, experienced, and could just float out of the range of an attack.

Amethyst and Steven were on the couch, watching. Amethyst sort of wanted to join in— her occasional spars against the beetles had been fun— but she was anxious of fighting with Sapphire around. Steven was just anxious in general.

All the participants had been mostly-humanoid when the wrestling match had begun, having just received a fresh dose of healing spit from Steven. Their forms had deteriorated as the game had progressed. Bitey would lunge; her body would glitch; and her beak would return. Huge would snarl, and suddenly, she'd sprout two new legs. Centi would spit, and her back pinchers would grow larger. Sapphire seemed to grow new feathers every few minutes. None of the corrupted Gems seemed to notice these changes much anymore, but Steven winced each time.

Hanging upside down off the back of the couch, Amethyst eyed Steven warily. "What'cha thinking?"

"I just don't get it," Steven said. "You'd think the healing would get more effective the more I do it, but it just works less. It barely lasts two hours now."

Amethyst let herself drop into a sitting position. "It's just their bodies, though. Least they still remember stuff."

Steven grunted. "I guess. I just wish I knew what I'm doing wrong. There must've been something I was feeling with those first healings— if I could just figure out what, maybe it would stick—"

"Maybe," said Amethyst. Steven's emotion controlled powers seemed like a huge hassle. "But maybe it's something else."

"Like what?"

"Well, you didn't heal Sapphire the first time. Stevonnie did."

Steven's eyes went wide. "You're saying-?"

"Yeah. Fusions are way strong physically. Why shouldn't fusing make your healing stronger too?"

"You're a genius!" Steven wrapped Amethyst in a tight hug. She blushed and tensed from the unexpected physical contact, and he retreated a little. "Uh," he said. "Amethyst— do you want to try?"

"What? Me? I meant Stevonnie!"

"Yeah, but Connie's visiting her uncle, and won't be back for days. 'Sides, Smoky's great!"

"I'm just not sure if I'll be much help with this, dude."

"Isn't it work a shot?"

"I…" Amethyst looked over at the wrestling monsters, spotting Sapphire in the melee. She was sick of sitting at the sidelines, unable to do anything. "Yeah. It is. Let's do it."

This time Steven opened her arms, and when Steven hugged her, it was much, much tighter. An explosion of purple smoke filled the ship.

The wrestling stopped dead. The peetles and their clones rearer up on their hind sets of legs, blinking in confusion and uncertainty. Sapphire rose above them all, buoyed up by a familiar excitement.

"Hi," said Smoky, waving a couple of hands. "I'm Smoky Quartz. Nice to meet 'cha all."

It was a good thing Smoky had three arms, because they needed that many to shake the many hands and segmented legs that were soon clambering all over them to get a closer look. Smoky laughed, unperturbed. The air was filled with a high-pitched, curious chittering— none of the peetles had known fusion was possible. Or, if they had, they'd forgotten.

Sapphire knew about fusion, though. Once the initial excitement had died down and the peetles had scurried off, she still floated there, the largest of smiles on her reptilian face.

Smoky met her smile with a grin of their own, but they were rubbing their neck nervously. "Heya Sapph. Remember me?" In answer, Sapphire twined in the air around their head. "I'll take that as a yes. Stay still for a sec, will ya? I'm gonna give you a big sloppy kiss."

Sapphire floated to a stuff in front of them and held out a dainty paw. A press of lips and a dollop of spit, and her gem glowed a brilliant blue—

— the light faded, and some of Sapphire's feathers had turned back into hair. Smoky waited. When nothing else happened, they exclaimed, "That's it?"

Sapphire rolled her whole body in a shrugging motion and made an apologetic noise.

"It's gotta work better than that," said Smoky. "It's got to. I'm a fusion. Let's try again."

They did. Nothing happened.

"Maybe it needs time to warm up." Smoky spun towards the peetles. "Guys, let me try it on you."

The clones were gone. The peetles could feel the tension and worry. Huggy was crouched low to the floor, while Bitey snapped defensively at the air. Centi, however, stepped forward, and allowed Smoky to kiss her in the eye-gem.

With a flash of green light Centi's face flattened into something less animalistic, but that was it.

"No," said Smoky. "No no no no no no, come on…"

Centi backed away, letting Sapphire come in closer again. Sapphire croaked something which sounded vaguely like 'It's okay'.

"It's not okay," said Smoky. "I should be able to fix it, or what's the point?" They pulled at their hair. "It's my fault you're like this, and I can't even help!"

Sapphire croaked another noise. This one didn't sound anything like English, but Centi seemed to understand it, because she ran off and brought Sapphire paper and some crayons. Sapphire chirped a thanks and began writing. Smoky had to calm themself down enough to read her message. 'Not your fault.'

"Yes it is," Smoky moaned.

'Homeworld's fault.'

"But if I'd been able to hold my shield for longer… And if I hadn't attacked you— you wouldn't be so scared, or in pain, and you could be Garnet, and—"

Sapphire readjusted her grip on the crayon and was considering what to write next, when Smoky began to cry.

Quietly t first, little tears leaking down their cheeks, but then their face crumpled, the tears morphing into body-shaking sobs. Sapphire dropped the crayon and twisted around them, brushing her feathers against their face. They barely seemed to notice. They just cried and cried.

Words were useless. Writing was too slow, she couldn't speak, and even if she could, Sapphire wasn't sure Smoky would listen. So Sapphire tried something else.

She placed a cold paw on Smoky's cheek and waited until they looked her in the eye. Then she pressed her muzzle to their forehead with a kiss of her own.

Smoky gave one last hiccupy-sob, then flashed purple as the fusion dissolved. Sapphire draped herself around Amethyst and Steven, and held her family close.

xxxx

They spent a long, long time with Sapphire. Not speaking, just sitting their, hugging. Eventually, though, Steven said he really needed to pee, so Steven and Amethyst warped back to the Temple. When Steven vanished into the bathroom, Amethyst set off to find Ruby.

Ruby was not normally a difficult Gem to find. You could usually hear her from a mile off. Today, however, she was being weirdly quiet. She wasn't in Steven's room. Amethyst checked Ruby's own room— a low-ceilinged space with a floor made mostly of burning coals, with a single gravel path and a big blue cushion for Sapphire. Ruby wasn't there either. She wasn't in Pearl's room, or Amethyst's room, or any other part of the Temple either.

Neither was Pearl, actually. Had the two of them gone off on a mission?

No. Probably not. Garnet's future vision was what had informed them of most of their missions, and with it out of the picture, missions hadn't been happening lately. All they'd been doing was fighting whatever rogue monsters showed up on the human news or wandered into Beach City.

Amethyst figured she might as well wander into Beach City herself. She probably wouldn't find Ruby, but she could at least go hang with Greg and Vi until she did.

She was nearly at the boardwalk when she ran into a stranger who wasn't that strange.

Well, she was strange, in the sense of being obviously inhuman. No human could be that tall, and while lots of humans had black skin, none had skin that black or that shiny. She also had a giant black oval gemstone in her forehead. Amethyst didn't need a good look at her hands to guess there'd be another stone in her palm. There was a red star in the centre of her chest.

The fusion didn't notice her at first. When she did, their eyes— all four of them— widened. Amethyst caught her gaze, gave an awkward smile, and made her way to her.

"Uh. Hi," Amethyst said.

"Hello, Amethyst. I guess this is our first time meeting." The fusion extended a hand, but it was far too high for Amethyst to take. Then the whole arm slid down the fusion's side until it was at Amethyst's heigh. "I'm Onyx."

"Cool." Amethyst gave the hand a tentative shake. Onyx's grip was firm. "Er… have you existed before, then?"

"A couple times. During the war. Since then, there hasn't been much need for me." Onyx smiled sadly. "I've been around as part of Sardonyx and Alexandrite, though."

The resemblance to Sardonyx was obvious. The legs were similar— long, lithe and well-muscled. She had Sardonyx's triangular face, and the same little gap in her teeth.

But Onyx was different from Sardonyx, too. There were her colours, of course— all dark blacks, purples, blues and reds. Her dark skin shone when it caught the light. Short, purple hair, tied back in a bun with a mauve headband that matched the ribbon tied around her waist. While one pair of Sardonyx's eyes sat near the forehead, Onyx's second pair were on her cheeks, facing out sideways. Onyx was not built like a performer, but like a fighter, her clothing plain and her build robust. Lastly, of course, was her arms— only one set, but apparently disconnected from the shoulder, able to slide up and down her torso.

Onyx demonstrated this as she pulled out of the handshake and returned her arm to its usual spot. They fell into an awkward silence. Amethyst's neck ached a little from looking up. Onyx adjusted her headband nervously.

"Well," said Amethyst. "You look good."

Onyx smile was a little happier this time. "Thanks."

Amethyst scuffed her foot in the sand. "It really is nice to meet you. But, actually… I wanted to talk with Ruby."

Onyx pressed her hands together and tilted her head. "Only Ruby? Or…?"

"Well, I guess Pearl can hear it too. If you're okay with it," said Amethyst. "It's about Steven."

"Ah. I see." Onyx sat down crosslegged on the sand, so that Amethyst didn't have to keep staring up. She nodded for Amethyst to go on.

Amethyst had spent the whole search planning what she was gonna say, but she suddenly couldn't remember them. "He's… not too so great."

"You think so? I know it's been hard on him, but I thought…"

"He doesn't want you guys to worry," said Amethyst. "He thinks you've got bigger stuff to think about. And," Amethyst took a deep breath, "he thinks Ruby's angry at him."

"What? Why?"

Amethyst shook her head. "No… not angry, exactly…. It's just, he thinks it's his fault Sapphire got corrupted. He's blaming himself, and he figures Ruby sees it the same way."

Onyx's brow was furrowed, her top set of eyes closed. Her bottom set was very wide. "He told you this?"

"Didn't need to."'

The fusion stared at Amethyst until it clicked. "Oh. You fused?"

"Yeah. And Smoky had a good, er, talk with Sapphire, and it helped, but… I think he needs to talk with you, too. Or, well, Ruby, I mean."

Slowly, Onyx nodded. "Yes… I can see how this might not be the best time for him to meet me."

Her four eyes closed. A bolt of black lightning, and Onyx was gone. Pearl was left kneeling in the sand, Ruby standing besides her, gazed fixed determinedly on the Temple.

"Thanks," Ruby said, to both of them, and she set off.

xxxx

Ruby felt more clear headed than she had in weeks.

She really hadn't been sure if fusing with Pearl had been the right idea. But she'd been able to see things… more clearly as Onyx. Pearl's thoughtfulness, her intelligence, her love, had filled Onyx up, and made the fears and the troubles seem, if not smaller, then at least more manageable.

Ruby knew she tended to have a one track mind. She'd focus on one thing, and then ignore almost everything else. It could be useful, but it could be harmful, too. For weeks now, all she had been focusing on was Sapphire. But Sapphire wasn't the only person she cared about. Amethyst and Pearl had reminded her of that.

Steven was sprawled on his bed in front of the laptop Greg had bought him. "What're you doing?" Ruby asked.

He jumped a little. "Ah! Ruby! Hey!" He seemed flustered, but smiled despite that. "I'm watching TubeTube videos."

Ruby looked at the screen, expecting to see crying cartoon foods or something equally baffling. Instead she saw a video entitled '15 CUTEST UNLIKELY ANIMAL FRIENDSHIPS'. True to the description, it showed a cat and a duck cuddling.

"Aww," said Ruby. This was human entertainment that she understood.

She lay down on the bed next to Steven. He looked a little taken aback, but moved over to make room. If he was surprised when she wrapped an arm around him, he said nothing. The video changed to a clip of a cheetah cub playing with a puppy. Ruby and Steven giggled in amusement when the two animals went chasing after a ball, and ended up tripping over each other and rolling into a big heap.

"You never did teach Lion to fetch, did you?" Ruby asked.

"No," said Steven. "Lion's more of a cat nap kind of guy."

There was a quiet moment of compatible silence as they watched the cheetah grooming itself. Then Ruby said, "I love you, Steven."

"Huh?"

Ruby shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure you remembered."

"Oh," said Steven. After a moment, he snuggled a little closer.

oOoOo

Author's Note: Yes, if Pearl and Sapphire were to fuse, their name would be Sard. I'm hardly the first one to come up with this particular play-on-words, but I can't help it, it's too perfect.

Big thanks to LadyRavenEye who helped me work out what a Ruby/Pearl fusion might look like. The sliding arms in particular were her idea.

I got the idea for videogame nights in the spaceship from QuixoticQuagsire, who did lovely some lovely fanart Sapphire and Centi watching a very frustrated Ruby getting overly invested in a game. (I'd link it on the profile, but this site seems determined to prevent me from posting any outgoing links.)