This close to the surface, Yellow Diamond could see the Earth's ocean ebbing towards a white - what had Blue said it was called? A beach? Yes, up towards the beach. She could see Rose Quartz's base, too, and she frowned at it in bewilderment. It didn't look all that practical.

She turned away from the window and paced over to Blue Diamond. "What's taking them so long? Shouldn't they be here?" she snarled impatiently.

"Please, Yellow, give them time," Blue huffed. "I highly doubt they want us here."

Yellow frowned at her, continuing to pace. She didn't like waiting... especially not when it had to do with the Rose Quartz and her rebellion. Were they planning an attack? An escape? She went back to the window, but was thwarted halfway there; an arm slinked around her waist and shoved her back towards the far wall. She snarled meekly at Blue, struggling for a second to get out of her grip and then just succumbing to it. Blue leaned in close and kissed her on the cheek - she flinched slightly, knowing their Pearls were right over there by the door - on the nose, and on her lips. She recoiled and glanced in the direction of their Pearls. They had pointedly averted their gazes elsewhere.

"What?" Blue droned out, and Yellow knew she'd made a wrong move. "Do you not wish to kiss me in front of our Pearls?"

"Sh-should any of the gems in our courts know we're-..." Yellow trailed off. Was she allowed to say they were... together... or would that simply anger Blue more? At the same time, what if not saying it angered Blue? She shook her head to herself. "Should they know we're together, Blue?" she whispered.

"Why shouldn't they?" Blue countered in a snap.

"I - can't we do this another time?"

Blue narrowed her eyes and took a large step back. She reached up and pulled her hood down farther, obscuring the upper half of her face aside from the tip of her nose. "Fine," she hissed, turning away.

Yellow stayed where she was, looking out the window from here instead, despite not getting a very good view of the beach. They continued to wait in apprehensive silence.

Finally, a small portion of the floor glowed, signaling the arrival of the small boarding pad the Aquamarine, Topaz fusion, and the prisoners used to get to the ground. From the glowing light emerged a Pearl, a Peridot without her limb enhancers, and Topaz. Yellow shuffled towards them eagerly but reminded herself at the last second that Blue was right - these Crystal Gems probably did not want them here. She recognized the Peridot as the one from Facet 2F5L, Cut 5XG - the one who betrayed her orders. The Peridot saw her immediately and let out a surprised, shrieking yelp.

The Pearl suddenly leapt into action, summoning a spear from the gem on her forehead. With a cry she threw it across the room - it all happened so quickly that Yellow could only react with a sharp cry of her own as the spear lodged itself in her upper leg, splintering through her armor somehow. She saw Topaz summon her two clubs from the gems on either side of her head and bind them together, swiping at Peridot 5XG, who leapt away at the last second.

"Don't attack them!" Blue shrieked.

But the Pearl and Peridot 5XG were already gone, opening the door and sprinting through it. "The power source is this way!" Yellow heard Peridot 5XG yell.

"Go after them!" she ordered Topaz. The fusion's stoic expression fell for a second, then she nodded and hurried after them. Yellow tried to step forward. The spear in her leg shifted painfully, eliciting a gasp and a slight groan. She grabbed onto its end - only a few inches of the very end of it showed; the Pearl had a very good throwing arm, it seemed - and slowly pulled the rest of it out. She dropped it to the floor and it vanished.

"Yellow! Are you alright?" Blue abruptly appeared in front of her, kneeling to inspect the bleeding wound. She'd pulled her hood off at some point.

"I'm fine," Yellow said through gritted teeth. She wrenched herself away from Blue and started limping off in the direction they'd gone in. "Come with me, Pearl," she ordered as Yellow Pearl opened the door for her, probably acting on pure instinct.

"M-my Diamond, you're bleeding," she stammered.

"I said I'm fine!" Yellow shouted. "Come with me, now!" Her Pearl curtsied and scurried after her, virtually running to keep up with her longer strides, wincing with every limp her Diamond took. They hurried down the halls in the direction of the power core at the center of the ship - she only hoped they wouldn't be too late.

Fortunately, by the time they made their way there, it was still completely intact. The Pearl was fighting Topaz while Peridot 5XG worked away at the control pad in front of the power core. She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of the door opening.

"Eh, Pearl! We've got some more company!" she yelled, voice high and wavering.

"My Diamond, watch out!"

Another spear lodged itself in Yellow's upper arm, through the much thinner mesh of armor covering there. She ignored this one and advanced on the Pearl - she quickly summoned not one, but two more spears from her gem - trying to find the words to ask her to stop resisting and failing through the chaos in her mind. Pain surged in her two new injuries, blurring her thoughts, and she already had half her attention on Peridot 5XG.

"Please, stop that!" she snapped at the Pearl as she blocked attacks from Topaz. "Pearl, get that Peridot away from the control panel!"

A warning siren started to sound. Yellow turned to the power core - it had turned from yellow to red. Peridot 5XG had overheated the system. It was going to explode any given second. But how were they all going to get out in time? Yellow yanked her Pearl up from the floor and held a hand out to cover the Topaz from any more attacks from the Pearl of the Crystal Gems, shoving her in the direction of the door.

"Ruuuuunnn!" Peridot 5XG screamed.

She and the Pearl made it out of the room first. Yellow shoved her own Pearl through the door and closed it, catching the tail-end of her squeaking protest. She went to the control panel and tried to cancel whatever Peridot 5XG had done, working desperately. She just hoped her Pearl would have the sense to run back up to wherever Blue was and tell her to abandon the ship. In only a small matter of seconds it was going to-

A ringing, hissing sound reached her ears, and she had just enough time to cover her gem before the power core exploded.


The ship rocked violently - Blue nearly stumbled into the wall - and pitched sideways, angling itself to the ocean below them right as the windows shattered and smoke started pouring in through the door. She screamed in terror and fumbled for her Pearl, managing to catch her before she went flying through the broken window. But where was Yellow? Where was her Pearl, or the rest of the gems they followed?

Another part of the ship exploded. She could feel it through the floor; it felt like it was the middle, in the crook of the arm-shape.

"My Diamond, we should probably abandon the ship," her Pearl said, somehow still soft-spoken and sounding calm, her small hands clutching Blue's finger.

"We can't just leave without Yellow," Blue argued. She climbed her way to the door and opened it. Smoke poured out and she coughed, squinting against the sting of it in her eyes. She powered through it, forgetting for the time being that the ship was careening into the water and she and her Pearl were going to be in danger if they stayed here much longer.

She somehow made it through most of the halls before finally stumbling upon more gems, their forms blurry in the thick smoke. It was the two Topazes, unfused, as well as the gems they'd brought from the zoo. She nudged them all in the direction she'd come, hoping they would get to the broken window and leap out. The ship was falling too fast - they could easily be crushed and lose their form, and their gems would then sink to the bottom of the ocean. Blue looked in the direction she was trying to go in, imaging Yellow stuck under a broken part of the ship. Shutting her eyes tight she turned away and bundled up all the gems in her arms and ran in a slightly different direction in search for the two Zircons. She found them pounding against a window facing the blue sky, holding on desperately to whatever they could to avoid falling. Grabbing them as well - they situated themselves to hold on tightly to her cloak, or onto her shoulders or neck, as the other gems were, too - she slammed her elbow against the window. It splintered, but didn't break. She rammed against it again and nearly lurched through the sudden opening; she righted her balance and leapt through.

The plummet into the ocean was short. Right as she and all the smaller gems clutching to her fell into the water, pieces of the ship followed right after them. Blue hastily swam farther away to avoid the larger chunks. She breached the surface and looked for the beach - it wasn't too far away, and she knew the ship wasn't going to land on it. They'd been far enough away.

She swam as fast as she could, praying all the gems holding onto her wouldn't lose their grip. Pieces of the ship, smoking and careening from the sky, fell around them. Finally she reached the beach and dragged herself onto the sand. Her clothes felt heavy from the water and made it all the more difficult. She fell onto her stomach, panting, and felt the group of gems clutching to her all letting go to stand on solid ground. Above them, the ship exploded.

"My Diamond!" Blue Pearl cried softly, appearing in front of her face.

Blue grunted and struggled into a more upright position. Her elbow was bleeding. "Is everyone here?" she asked, glancing around and doing a mental count; both Topaz and Zircon, all three Amethysts, and the single Agate, Jasper and Carnelian. She heaved a sigh of relief.

Two resounding battle cries suddenly entered her ears, and she looked up. A fusion suddenly appeared in her line of sight, her fist cocked back. She didn't have time to react and the fist collided with her face, the ferocious impact smacking her head to the side. What felt like a whip slashed at her leg, but thankfully her thick cloak blocked most of the hit. She looked down and saw a small Amethyst whipping away at her - then the fusion appeared again, leaping off the sand and aiming for her face again. This time she managed to dodge her.

"Wait!" she cried. "Please, we aren't here to fight!"

Three more Crystal Gems swooped in from the air - the Pearl and the Peridot were clinging to the Lapis Lazuli, who flew them down to the sand. The five of them stood in a group farther up the beach and Blue stood, intent on protecting the gems with her. Aquamarine flew in from seemingly nowhere and went up to be a bit more level with her face.

"My Diamond," she panted. She looked battered and scuffed, like she'd definitely taken a beating. "We've been ambushed! They took all the prisoners into their base."

"That doesn't matter!" Blue snapped. "Don't fight back!"

"My Diamond, we can't just-"

"I said, don't fight back!"

She heard a series of more cries, and glanced down at the Crystal Gems, running towards her and her gems with weapons or just their fists raised. Tears erupted in her eyes - what was she going to do? How could she protect her gems without fighting back? But they hadn't come here for this, they just wanted to talk-

"Guys! No! Waaaaiiit!"

Rose Quartz suddenly came running around a bend much farther up the beach, a human sprinting at her side. The Crystal Gems actually came to an abrupt halt.

Blue felt like she couldn't get enough air. She fell to her knees, turning over her shoulder to look at where the ship fell. Most, if not all of the pieces, had already sunk. Smoke continued to rise from those that remained on the surface. A sob made its way out her mouth before she could even register the continued gushing of tears creating rivers down her cheeks. There was no sign of Yellow - but wait! Clinging to a floating piece of the ship was Yellow Pearl.

"Aquamarine, go help that Pearl!" Blue ordered, whirling on the hovering, tiny gem and pointing out Yellow's Pearl. Aquamarine hurried to do as she ordered, zipping across the surface of the water to reach the Pearl and grab her by the arm, hoisting her up. With some struggle, since the Pearl was a decent bit bigger than her, they headed back to the beach. Blue surveyed the rest of her gems. None of them seemed hurt in any way, just wet. The Amethysts, Jasper, Carnelian and Topazes all looked hesitant, but more or less stood in stances prepared for a fight; the Zircons and Holly Blue hunched behind them, and Blue Pearl stood close to her Diamond, an anxious grimace stretched across the lower half of her face. Aquamarine heaved Yellow Pearl onto the sand and she coughed water out of her mouth. Blue hurried to her, gingerly picking her up in both hands. "Where is Yellow? Did you see her?" she cried.

"I-I don't know," Yellow Pearl wheezed. "There was too much smoke... I don't know!"

Blue whirled around to face the Crystal gems. Rose Quartz and the human stood between her and them. "What have you done?!" she roared. She had half a mind to place the Yellow Pearl down gently; she stomped forward, over her group of gems, hands clenched into fists. "What have you done?! Who knows what could have happened to her, she followed you into the power room! She could have been shattered!"

The Pearl had the nerve to look guilty. "Blue Diamond," the fusion yelled back, "we are not going to let you harm this planet, or its life!"

"Garnet, I said wait! Please!" Rose Quartz cried. The fusion faltered.

"But Steven, we have to do the plan!" Lapis Lazuli hissed out through her teeth.

"No," Rose Quartz said. "We can't poof any of them. Just... just let Connie and I talk to her! Maybe we can form some sort of truce-?"

"Steven, they're here to bring us and the planet harm," the Pearl interrupted.

"We are not!" Blue wailed, shutting her eyes tight against the onslaught of tears. She couldn't see through them very well, anyway. "We only came to talk," she went on. "All we want is to understand something, and if Rose Quartz really doesn't know what happened to Pink Diamond, there has to be something else about all this we can understand! Please, we do not wish to fight you! Just let me look for Yellow, please."

Rose Quartz took a few more steps forward. "Blue Diamond, I am not Rose Quartz! My name is Steven, and I'm a half-gem, half-human! Rose is just my mom."

Blue blinked in confusion - but she could deal with that later. Shaking her head, she turned to the water, shedding her cloak and picking her skirts up to sprint to its edge. She only got in up to her ankles when both Aquamarine and Lapis Lazuli zoomed past her, their watery wings blending in with the surface of the ocean. She followed them, searching desperately for Yellow, when she heard a loud crash. Whirling back around, she saw her fellow Diamond had dragged herself from the side of the beach behind the Crystal Gems. The crashing sound had come from her hand breaking through the stairs and deck just in front of their base as she fell.

"Yellow!" she screamed, hurrying back out of the water. Yellow Pearl sprinted to her Diamond before she even reached the edge of the sand.

Yellow groaned and rolled onto her stomach, arms shaking as she tried to push herself up onto her hands and knees. Her golden armor was smeared with blood and ash. A few shards of shrapnel pierced through her body - her arms, mostly, but also her legs and torso. She managed to actually get to her feet and she looked to Blue, who gasped at the sight of a giant, bleeding cut down the side of her face. She hurried to her side just in time to catch her before she fell back to the ground, sobs pouring from her throat anew.

She heard a clang of metal and turned to see three of the Crystal Gems were attacking again, and the two Topaz had blocked their fresh assault. They started to fight and Aquamarine leapt into the fray, only to be tackled through the air by Lapis Lazuli.

"Stop!" Blue screamed. A wave of blue light pinged off her body and brought every gem in its widening radius to a complete stop. The Crystal Gems all looked to her in tearful surprise, including the human standing beside Rose Quartz. Blue situated herself so she was sitting back on her haunches, with Yellow resting in her lap. The golden-skinned gem wheezed painfully. Most of her armor was splintered and poking into her form, and Blue got the terrifying thought that it was closing in too tight on her chest.

"My Diamond, perhaps we should flee," her Pearl hissed up at her.

"No," Blue whimpered. She looked to the Crystal Gems. "Please, please just listen to me! We did not come here to fight! Yellow and I simply wish to speak to Rose Quartz again."

"And I'm trying to tell you that Rose Quartz isn't exactly... here," Rose piped up. She exposed the gem on her stomach. "I have her gem because she gave up her physical form to give birth to me. I'm her son, Steven."

"...Steven," Blue repeated softly in bemusement. "That... that can't be..."

Yellow moaned in pain and tried to sit up - Blue instantly saw the fusion she believed Rose, or Steven, or whoever called Garnet tense into a fighting stance. She wrapped her arms around Yellow's chest and yanked her against her body. "Blue..." she mumbled past a string of blood that spattered onto the sand, "let me go."

"They might attack you," Blue whispered. "Besides, your wounds are too severe. Stay still and follow my lead for once." Yellow remained stiff for a few moments longer, then relaxed against her with a painful sounding exhalation of breath.

"We aim to finish this once and for all," Garnet bellowed.

"Just restrain yourself," Blue snarled weakly. "We only came here to see what this planet is like. If you continue to attack us I will have no choice but to order my gems to defend themselves! I will protect them if I have to!"

Rose Quartz - no, Steven, apparently - ran back to once again stand between them. "I will listen to you, Blue Diamond! I'm sorry about this. We shouldn't have destroyed your ship."

"Steven, don't apologize!" the small Amethyst yelled.

He ignored her. "We were all scared about what to expect from Homeworld gems coming here - none of us thought you would come in peace. On behalf of the Crystal Gems, I'm really sorry. Can we call a truce?"

Blue sighed in slight relief. "Please."

"Alright," he said, smirking slightly and nodding. "Truce, then." His gaze fell on Yellow and whatever brief second of happiness had been in his features shifted into worry. "Is she going to be okay? She hasn't poofed or anything..."

"It takes a lot more than this to force a Diamond to drop her form," Blue murmured. She gazed down at Yellow. "Maybe it would be best if you let it go, though. You can heal inside your gem. I'll protect you, I promise, and I'll take care of the rest of our gems," she whispered imploringly. Unable to help herself, she batted away a few tears and leaned down slightly to kiss her on the forehead, ignoring the taste of blood and smoke.

Yellow sighed - specs of blood flew out of her mouth. "I want to hear what... Steven... has to... say," she groaned. "I should be... fine..."

"I don't think you will be. Just trust me." Blue stared at her for a moment. "I love you."

Yellow blinked slowly and stared back for a long while. Then she let her eyes slip shut - and her form disappeared in a poof of air. Blue caught her gem and cradled it to her chest.


Blue sat beside the hill, leaning against a more sheer side of it. Steven sat on the grass next to her shoulder, propped up to his "pet" called Lion. She gazed down at him before looking back up at all the rest of the gems scattered about the beach. They were all sitting just as they were. Staring at the sun setting into the ocean.

Yellow hadn't yet reformed; Blue had insisted they wait for her, still holding her gem close to her own in her chest, and in the meantime she asked her gems to assist in clearing away the few pieces of the ship that had fallen onto the beach. Its remains continued to smolder, but only a little, not quite hindering the view of the sunset. They stayed fairly far away from the Crystal Gems and the few dysfunctional gems they'd brought with, who had come out of Steven's base to help with the clean-up.

Steven. Blue still thought it was a strange name, and it felt uncomfortable on her tongue. She was trying not to think about the rest of it - how he claimed to be Rose Quartz's son when gems didn't have children, how he said she gave up her form for him. It made a bit more sense just looking at him and considering how little he knew about Pink Diamond. Hopefully that just meant someone else in the Crystal Gems did know. Blue wasn't holding her breath, though. Already she was coming to terms with the fact that she just might not learn what happened to Pink for a little while longer.

She observed the slight ways all of them were interacting with each other; the gems from the zoo, with the exception of Holly Blue, seemed to be subtly trying to sit closer to the small Amethyst. All three of the Pearls were openly ignoring each other. It looked like the two Topaz were trying to talk to the three fusions, Garnet, Rhodonite, and Fluorite. Blue caught her Zircon wave hesitantly in Steven's direction. And, a bit farther down the hill, sat the human who had accompanied him onto the beach. He'd said her name was Connie.

"What a lovely planet," she said quietly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Steven glance up at her, and she nodded in the direction of the setting sun. "There are so many... colors. We don't get anything like this on Homeworld."

"That's kinda sad," Steven murmured. "The sunset is one of the best parts of the day! You never really know what colors it's gonna be - sometimes it's reds and yellows and oranges, sometimes it's blues and purples. I'm glad you get to see this, Blue Diamond." She smiled down at him a bit awkwardly, still a little unsure. It felt strange being near rebellious gems she had once been fighting against thousands of years ago. "How is Yellow Diamond doing? Does she usually take this long reforming?" Steven asked quietly, pointing.

Blue chuckled lightly. "I'm not sure. Like I said, it takes quite a bit to force a Diamond to let go of her form." She glanced at the yellow gem in her hands, stroking its smooth surface with her thumbs. "Yellow was hurt pretty badly," she half-whispered, half-sighed. "I'm not sure how long it'll take her to regain her strength."

Steven looked down at his hands in his lap. "I'm sorry about all that. Her and your ship."

"You were scared."

"Yeah, but we shouldn't have just assumed you guys wanted to fight. Aquamarine was even being nice, letting some of the Off Colors come over to us instead of just ordering us to go up to your ship. Now you guys have no way off Earth."

"The Off Colors...?"

Steven pointed out the dysfunctional gems. "That's what they call themselves, since they don't think they would ever fit in, not anywhere on Homeworld. We were trying to figure out a way to get them and Lars - that's the human Aquamarine and Topaz kidnapped - back here. Where they'd be safe and free to be whoever they wanted."

Blue studied the four gems, frowning. "You are truly impressive," she murmured. "I don't know how - oh. Never mind. I suppose I'm talking about Rose Quartz."

He looked up at her, expression serious, and got to his feet. "I might not be Rose Quartz, but I know everything she, Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst fought for. Her and all the Crystal Gems, all those who were shattered or became corrupted, like all those others. They fought for the right to be and change, to love, and to experience. Take Garnet, for example," he said, pointing out the fusion. She glanced over her shoulder slightly as if she heard him talking about her. "She's made up of two gems called Ruby and Sapphire. She told me that Sapphire was part of your court, and that Ruby's rash decision to save her the day my mom and Pearl came to attack you basically caused the war to keep going. And you threatened to shatter Ruby because she accidentally fused with Sapphire. They ran away and found my mom, and she told them - she told Garnet - that she was the answer to what Ruby and Sapphire had. She's the embodiment of their love. How can you threaten to shatter them for that? How can you and other Homeworld gems think that's wrong?"

Blue didn't respond right away; she simply stared at the fusion until she turned back around and leaned over to say something to the Pearl beside her. "I remember that day well," Blue said. "I remember what they looked like - it wasn't like how they are now. That's... interesting. You - Rose Quartz said they embodied... love?"

"Ruby's and Sapphire's," Steven said, nodding. "That's why Garnet can stay fused all the time, because their love for each other is so strong."

"I suppose that is rather nice," Blue murmured. She glanced down at Steven. "I know a thing or two about love, you know. I am, after all, thousands of years old."

His gaze flickered to her hands. "I heard what you said to Yellow Diamond," he whispered, so quietly she had to lean down a tiny bit to hear. "Do you love her? Did... did you love Pink Diamond?" he asked.

Blue laughed, a bit bitterly, and wiped away tears she could feel pooling in the corner of her eye. She looked at the sun. "Yes, I do. And I did. Pink was my... my best friend. We cared for each other. I helped her find her place in the Diamond Authority, as she was the youngest. She encouraged me to get closer to Yellow and I encouraged her to request the Earth for her own."

Steven must have sensed her sad lull, because he said slowly, "You blame yourself for what happened to her."

"Grieving for thousands of years didn't make up for it," Blue sighed. "I just don't know what happened. None of it makes any sense - I think Yellow and I simply assumed Rose Quartz had to have... shattered her... because she was the only one with the motive to. Pink didn't want to give up the Earth, but I think... she wouldn't have wanted the war to go on as it did. She would have tried to come up with a better alternative than so much fighting that we had to result to..." She trailed off and shook her head, thinking about the tone with which Steven had talked about the corruption she and the other Diamonds had caused in the remaining gems on Earth. To this day she still regretted it - she didn't know how Yellow felt, and she couldn't assume. In those days Yellow had very much been the level-headed general who didn't take emotion into any sort of consideration. "Yellow and I didn't mean to scare you," she said to Steven, meeting his gaze. He sat back down on the grass beside Lion. "When you escaped from the courtroom we just wanted to find you and talk to you. I made her promise to me that we wouldn't shatter you, even if we ruled a guilty sentence."

"I really don't know what happened," Steven sighed, sounding tired as he glanced away for a second. "The Gems won't tell me, either - although I'm not entirely sure they have the answers in the first place. But they fought really hard to protect this planet and everything on it, so of course they wanted to react first when you guys got here. I'm sorry."

"You should stop apologizing. We are as much at fault."

He brought one of his hands up to clutch at his shirt over his gem. For a good handful of moments he was quiet. "There's something I should tell you, Blue Diamond," he said eventually, looking up at her with a hesitant expression.

"What is it?" Blue asked.

"Peridot told us all about the Cluster and what it was meant for," Steven began. "And... well, we couldn't let it just tear apart the planet. So we drilled into the Earth and we bubbled the Cluster. It isn't going to emerge."

Blue frowned. Even she, a Diamond, didn't think she could bubble something as gigantic as the Cluster. What sort of power did this Steven have...? He was half-human - wasn't that supposed to give him some limitations? As far as Blue was concerned, humans really didn't have any of the capabilities of a gem. They were frail creatures. It made very little sense that Steven could have done such a thing with the Cluster! Then again, virtually nothing in regards to this planet made any sense. Blue supposed she should be used to that by now.

"Does that, uh... make you upset?" Steven asked, as she had yet to so much as open her mouth to offer a response.

She sighed, glancing back at all the gems farther up the beach. Part of her was still decently worried that the Crystal Gems would attack again - fear was a very powerful motive. "I cannot really say I am upset," she murmured. "That does give us time to... stay here."

"Were you worried that it would emerge soon?"

"Yes, but that clearly doesn't matter anymore. It makes me a bit less stressed about being stuck on this planet... from various reports I understand that all the galaxy warp pads have long been destroyed. I'm also fairly sure that the ship you all used to get to the human zoo was recaptured by one of the Rubies assigned to it." She glanced behind her at the Crystal Gems' base. The stairs leading up to it and a good portion of the deck were splintered and caved in, hindering entrance. "I'm not even sure how long we plan on staying here," she hummed. "All this was Yellow's idea. She's really changed. What she thinks now seems much different than how she thought of things five thousand years ago... I hope you don't mind that we might have to join you in your base."

Steven laughed, jostling Lion a bit so that the creature picked its head up from the ground to glance at him. "I don't know if my house is big enough to fit not only two Diamonds, but all the rest of the gems you brought with," he chuckled. "I don't really think Pearl or Garnet want any of you to go into the Temple, either... but we'll figure that out."

Blue smiled down at him in understanding and gratitude, then let out a small gasp as a shining light emerged from between her fingers. She carefully set down Yellow's gem before her on the sand; it floated into the air and she watched as Yellow reformed around it, her physical appearance hardly changed from how it had been before she was poofed. She planted her feet on the ground and let out a small huff, inspecting herself with a scowl. There was a tired look to her despite the time she'd taken to reform.

Steven got to his feet, looking nervous. Yellow instantly noticed him and they appeared to lock gazes. Her lips twitched up into a vague grimace and Blue could see just how nervous she was as well, practically mirroring Steven's apparent feelings. The blue-skinned gem got to her feet, brushing sand from her skirts, and stepped closer to her fellow Diamond.

"I'm so glad you're back," she murmured.

Yellow's features softened and her shoulders deflated with a sigh. "Thank you for protecting me," she said quietly. Her posture abruptly snapped back into the uptight, militaristic stance so typical of her, although Blue knew this was what she did when she was anxious around her fellow Diamond. It was all there in the way her shoulders rose up higher than necessary and her cheeks flared in a blush. Blue chuckled lightly, amused by the display. She knew what the golden-skinned gem was so jittery about - Blue's love confession. But was it really a confession? Personally, Blue thought their feelings for each other were obvious enough. Yellow, on the other hand, was a bit stupid when it came to these things.

"You're welcome," Blue said simply, resting a hand on her chest plate and gazing deep into her eyes to convey that she didn't need the reciprocated words just yet. Yellow seemed to understand - her shoulders lowered a tiny bit and she glanced downwards. "We waited for you," Blue went on. "Steven and I have just been talking a little about the Earth... he told me he and the others bubbled the Cluster. It isn't going to emerge."

"What?" Yellow barked, quickly looking back up in alarm. "How - what?"

"Uh, Yellow Diamond," Steven said timidly, and she turned her eyes onto him, scowling harshly in confusion. He offered a minute wave. "H-hi. Perhaps we should all talk somewhere else? I'm not sure where, but just somewhere more comfortable. And I'd like the two of you to talk to the others as well. Please."

Yellow's scowl deepened. She huffed out a sharp sigh and clasped her hands behind her back. "Very well," she said. A hopeful tint entered her tone and Blue smiled lightly. "Let's talk."


A/N: So, in all honesty, I'm really not sure how I feel about this chapter. I might end up rewriting it later, and I'll tell y'all if I do.

Let me know how you guys felt about this chapter and if you feel it needs to be changed or not. Till next time!