Sheena woke up the following morning, and her heart immediately sank when she realized there was no longer a cute alien sharing her bed. Well, I'm sure she's really busy saving the world or whatever. Maybe it was too much to ask her to spend the night at this point, she tried to reassure herself, still groggy. Sheena stretched and walked into the kitchen, seeking coffee. "M'lady Sheena!" A familiar voice called as she walked in. "I understand you had a very special visitor last night!"
"Oh, God, here I thought I was being subtle," Sheena rolled her eyes as she tried to hide a smile.
"And you would've gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for these delicious muffins!" Jamie threw one to the girl. "So do I get to meet her or what?!"
"Oh, um, she's not here anymore," Sheena said with her mouth full, hoping she could avoid the topic all together.
Jamie was speechless for a brief moment, unsure of how to continue. "Oh…Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I mean she did make us muffins. Maybe I was moving a little fast for her anyway, I'm not gonna bother her." Sheena nodded as if she believed this statement. "She's probably busy with whatever the hell gems do."
"I've been here my whole life, and I'm still not exactly sure what that is," The mailman said sheepishly.
"Me neither," Sheena mimicked his tone, "But it looks like I'm about to find out."
"Yeah, dude. Just be careful. It seems like they kinda attract trouble, I remember some giant hand in the sky, and all kinds of crazy earthquakes, an occasional monster sighting, and while I'm all for a compelling story…"
"I'll be fine, you know I'm tough," Sheena smiled down at Jamie.
"I know, but worrying is like, basically my job."
"Really? Because you're my roommate, or because you're an actor?"
Jamie peeked over his imaginary glasses before uttering, "Both."
Pearl arrived at the Temple at about 6:30 the next morning after seeing herself out. Sheena appeared to be sleeping soundly, after all. She opened the door carefully, trying not to wake Steven this time. Pearl tried to remember the weird dream she'd had; something about a bird, and strawberries, and…Rose. She gazed at the painting on the wall and thought, one of these days I'm going to have to tell her. Pearl couldn't believe she'd actually fallen asleep, and in a human's arms no less; Pearl never let her guard down like that. Humans always talked about sleep like it was refreshing, like it helped them regain energy or something, but Pearl still didn't get it; the more details she recalled of the dream, the more exhausted she felt. She was definitely ready to wallow in her room for a while and not talk to anyone.
It had been a few days since Sheena had heard from Pearl. She knew she shouldn't worry; after all, Pearl was a fully-grown, adult, self-sufficient…whatever she was. And Sheena, if she doesn't like you, you have to accept that and move on, the human girl thought to herself. She had always had a difficult time with that. Maybe she'd been a bit too pushy; augh, why do I always do that? She just—really hadn't wanted to be alone at that moment. She could've worked through it, probably, but sometimes it just felt better to have someone close. Safer, really, if she could trust that someone. Trust was never easy, though. But Sheena was not going to think about the gem today. She was very busy with her own life, thank you very much. I'm a self-sufficient adult, too. So she headed over to the garage, ready to clear her head and maybe even get some work done. She pulled herself under a particularly nice, older Mustang, sighing as the distinctive smell of motor oil engulfed her. Now this is how you clear your head. She worked quickly, carefully, efficiently, loving that she didn't need to see anyone or worry at all about the outside world. She could just disappear for a little while into something she loved.
Sheena emerged what she thought was just an hour later, and was surprised to see the sun setting. Had she really just spent upwards of six hours on this car alone? Sure, the car needed a lot of work, and of course it was worth it, but it was a little concerning how time could just slip away like that. She stepped outside, taking in a deep breath of the night air. She closed her eyes for just a moment, and when she opened them, came face to face with—no way.The creature in front of her, a lion, was huge. They didn't even have animals like this in Beach City; there wasn't even a zoo nearby! She backed away slowly, stumbling over herself a bit. No, no, this couldn't be real. The lion was pink, and was staring directly at her, almost like it knew her. She closed her eyes, shook her head a bit, and opened them again, fully expecting the animal to be a figment of her imagination. But it was still there, looking as intently as before. I can't be that sleep deprived, can I? She thought. Did someone like, slip me something? How? Did I take something? I don't think so… It took a few seconds before Sheena started to panic. She was quickly backed into the garage door. This is it, I guess. She crouched down, as small as she could make herself, with her arms over her head, expecting the worst. That's what you're supposed to do when you're inches away from a wild animal, right? And she waited. And waited. Surely if it wants to eat me it wouldn't take this long, right? After a while, she lifted her head up, slowly, cautiously, and…the creature was gone. You really are losing it, aren't you, Sheena?
Sheena stepped back into the garage, admiring her handiwork and trying to relax. Maybe just a quick ride would be okay, right? You know, just to make sure everything's good. I have been working really hard…
And without a second thought, the pink haired woman was behind the wheel, going nearly double the speed limit on the empty road. She loved feeling the wind in her hair, and being so in control. It was just her and the night sky, and Sheena couldn't ask for anything more. She sped up and down the mountains outside of Beach City, where she had seen drag racers zoom by many times before. The view truly was stunning; Sheena hadn't realized how beautiful Beach City was until that moment. She gazed upon the scenery until she made it down the hill, becoming a little more careless with every turn. She hit the bottom of the hill hard, spinning the car as she did. Mud flew up all around her in a twister, covering the vehicle (Mudnado, she chuckled) and the girl. Ohhh crap. The guy is gonna to be here to pick up his car tomorrow. I wonder if there are any car washes open this late? Damn, I'm really not prepared to clean up this mess.
Sheena drove back into town, carefully this time, in search of somewhere with lights on. How is it already midnight, for Christ's sake? She thought. At least she had succeeded in focusing on something other than Pearl. All the buildings she passed were dark. It seemed like this whole town went to bed before ten, it was so strange to someone who had grown up in the big city. Sheena didn't necessarily mind, though; it was nice to be somewhere quiet for a change. Her friends back in Empire City would surely call her boring these days, but there were a lot of things that they didn't understand, Sheena reminded herself. After a few minutes, Sheena saw a small, neon light in the distance, and steered the Mustang towards it slowly. As she got closer, she read, "It's a Wash" and saw a lone van parked outside. Sheena chuckled at the pun as she pulled up and thought, It doesn't hurt to check.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" As she walked by the van, she was sure she heard something inside.
Suddenly, the van door flew open as Sheena jumped back in surprise. "Who's there?! I have a waffle iron!"
"Oh, um, I'm so sorry, I'll just go, I…" Sheena backed away slowly, keeping her eyes on the figure in the darkness.
"No, no, do you need something? Are you lost?"
"Oh, um, no, it's just-" Sheena beckoned to the car. "It's not mine, and I made a huge mess, and yours was the only place with lights on and…"
"Wait. Sheena?" The girl stared confused for a moment, trying to focus on the man in front of her.
"Um, who are you?" She asked, suspicious.
"I'm Greg, I think we met at the cell phone store. I'm Pearl's friend, or something like that?" The balding man stepped into the light and Sheena finally saw him.
"Mr. Universe…" The girl muttered. "You know who I am?!" She almost shouted as the shock hit her.
"No, really, call me Greg. And yeah. I mean, Pearl talks about you all the time and if you're gonna be hanging around my family, I kinda want to know who you are. Seem fair?"
"Yeah, I guess so. Is Pearl…Your family?" Sheena felt a bit guilty for asking this, but it wasn't like she'd been able to get much information from Pearl.
"I think so, yeah. At least, that's the best word I have for her and the other gems. After all, they've really stepped in to help me with Steven. I wouldn't even know where to begin with all this magic stuff," Greg shrugged as he took a step closer to Sheena and her car.
"Wait. Magic…Stuff?" Sheena had certainly seen some weird things in the past few weeks: Steven and Amethyst appearing out of a beam of light, Pearl not eating, the lion. But could it really be called magic? Sheena had stopped believing in magic back when she was a kid, but no science could possibly explain that stuff.
"Yeah. I'm probably not the best person to explain this, but they have different powers that we mere humans just don't. Like they can summon weapons from their gems, they don't need to eat or sleep, they can shapeshift, it's pretty wild. Hell, one of the other gems, Lapis, made an accordion out of this van with her water powers."
Sheena just stared at him speechless for a moment before she managed to get out, "…Wow. I still have so much to learn."
Greg nodded, "I know how that is. The gems, they're pretty far out. They mean well, at least the ones here on Earth do, but there's so much about Earth and humans that they still don't understand. Pearl especially."
"Pearl…hasn't exactly been the most forward with all that stuff. It's starting to get a bit suspicious, to be honest."
"Ah, I understand why. She's seen a lot, and I know over the years it's been hard for her to leave her home planet and especially to then have Rose…leave her."
Sheena looked confused. "I keep hearing about this Rose, but I don't actually know anything about her… Who was she?"
Greg sighed. "She was the most incredible being I've ever met. She was caring, and gentle, and funny, and she fought hard for what she believed in. Did Pearl tell you that they saved Earth?"
"Yeah, she did, not that I have any idea what that means."
"Fair enough. It's a lot. It all is. Pearl knows that, I know that. She doesn't want to scare you away. But, the short version is that there were other gems, from Pearl's Homeworld, that wanted to destroy the Earth. Rose thought that was wrong, and she, Pearl, Garnet, and some others fought against their own kind for thousands of years. But they saved us. And lost a lot of their own in the process."
Sheena looked at the man with stars in her eyes, unable to form a sentence. Could this possibly be true? For every answer, there were like 15 more questions. It was exhausting. "So, um, there are other gems out there? Bad gems? Like the one who wrecked your van?"
"Yeah, you could say that. I mean, Lapis and I get along now, she lives in my family's barn not too far from here. Just visited her and Peridot yesterday, actually, had a bit of a family reunion. It was chaotic, but…nice. But the gems on the Homeworld aren't like the ones here. I know Pearl and the others are always worried about them coming back to cause trouble."
And that was the maximum amount of crazy that Sheena's brain could process in one day; and honestly, she was surprised she'd made it this far. The girl tried to make sense of some of it, to no avail. Not to mention, she had no idea what she'd say to Pearl about all this stuff. Sheena stood, frozen in place, as Greg took a closer look at the Mustang, then grabbed the hose and carefully spraying it down, "accidentally" getting Sheena wet in the process. After all, if someone was going to bother him this late at night, they kinda deserved it, right? Sheena, still in a bit of shock, just laughed and pretended to be annoyed.
"Oh, and one more thing. Sheena, I'm not sure Pearl would want me to tell you this, but she was in love with Rose. She has—um, had been for thousands of years before I came into their lives. I think, I hope, she's moved on, but I just felt like it was important for you to know."
"I thought maybe," Sheena muttered quietly. There was a long, awkward pause before the girl added, "I saw the painting. I know she looks like me."
"She does, a bit. Does that bother you?" Sheena thought for a moment before slowly nodding her head yes.
A/N: This... Was long overdue, tbh. As always, thanks for reading and reviewing. You make me smile :)