Hurrying, Garnet and Steven burst through the door of their beach home. They were just in time to see Pearl teleporting away using the warp pad.

"Where's she going?" Steven questioned, looking to Garnet.

The tall gem paused for a split second. "I think I know."

Together, she and Steven stepped onto the warp pad, teleporting off. When they arrived at their destination, Steven looked around. He felt it was somewhere he had been before. Seeing the overgrown brambles all around them, he soon realized where they were.

Following Garnet, she led him through the passageway of thorns that she had made the last time they were there. They walked in to Rose's sanctuary, the home of her fountain of healing tears. And sure enough, at the fountain's edge, they found Pearl seated there.

Pearl gazed forlornly into the flowing water below her. Steven and Garnet approached her quietly, taking seats on either side of her.

"Pearl," Steven began gently. "Do you want to talk to us about what's wrong?"

The pale-colored gem continued staring down at the pink petals floating in the water. She shook her head without saying a word.

Steven hated seeing Pearl upset. He didn't want her to feel bad, so he did what he could: he hugged her. Garnet soon joined in as well, putting an arm around the both of them. The three stayed like that for what felt like a long time.

After a while, Pearl finally spoke. "I'm sorry for worrying you," she began. "It's just that, seeing those two together…" Her voice trailed off.

"Amethyst and Peridot?" asked Steven. "What were they doing?"

Pearl hesitated. "They were kissing."

"Oh!" Steven exclaimed, then gasped. "They do like each other!" he said quietly with stars in his eyes. He tried not to get too excited about this revelation, seeing how upset it had obviously made Pearl. "Wait um…" he quickly tried to put the pieces together, contemplating what exactly this meant. "Does this mean you…like Amethyst?"

"No," Pearl replied, simply.

Steven looked at her strangely. "Do you like Peridot?"

Pearl gave him a half-hearted chuckle. "No, Steven."

The young boy was a bit confused.

"Steven," Pearl looked at him for the first time since he got there, giving him a small smile. "You know I love you." She stopped, now staring at the statue of Rose Quartz, standing at the center of the fountain. Rose's healing tears poured from the statue's eyes. "Your mother was…very special to me, also."

"I know," Steven responded.

Pearl looked into his anxious eyes. She wanted to tell him everything. She wanted to tell him about the true nature of her relationship with Rose. But at the same time, she feared that if she told him this, he would somehow feel bad for Rose's leaving. Or worse, he would feel ashamed for his own existence. She loved him dearly, but deep down, she knew he could never truly replace her. Sharing this now was too much to put on him.

She glanced to Garnet for some kind of reassurance.

Garnet nodded in return. "Steven, do you mind giving us a minute alone?"

Steven looked at them with care and concern. He understood. Obviously, he wanted to know what was going on and why Pearl was upset. But he also knew the Crystal Gems had a lot of secrets, and this was clearly not the time they wanted to share this one with him.

Without another word, the young boy left them, wandering off into the thorny brush. When she knew they were alone, Pearl finally let her tears fall freely. She sobbed as Garnet tried to comfort her, the tears dropping off her face and into the fountain's water. "I just miss her so much sometimes."

"I know you do," Garnet said. "We all miss her."

Pearl cried in her arms for several minutes. Garnet, and even Amethyst on occasion, used to have to console her like this. She hadn't had a breakdown in so long. By something so simple, her grief and anguish had been brought back up.

Eventually, her tears stopped enough for her to speak. "I loved her," she murmured. "I always felt that she was the one I was meant to be with forever. You know that feeling."

"Yes," Garnet said, very familiar with having that type of connection with someone. She couldn't imagine the depth of pain would accompany the loss of either Ruby or Sapphire.

"But now she's gone," Pearl said quietly. She ran over the memories of moments she shared with Rose that stood out most in her mind. Many were good, but some were bad. "I wish it hadn't ended the way it did."

Garnet nodded in understanding.

"I suppose I got so upset because I realized now that you all have someone special to make you happy now. And I'm alone," Pearl said, despondently. "I sometimes wonder if there's anyone else out there for me. Or if Rose was the only one who would ever love me."

"Pearl," Garnet said, softly. She placed a hand under Pearl's chin, wiping away her tears with the other. "We all love you."

"I know," Pearl said, giving a small, appreciative smile for a moment. "But what Rose and I had was…different. We were in love for so many centuries." She turned to gaze at the stars beginning to appear in the night sky. "Do you think I can ever have that again?"

Garnet adjusted her visor slightly. "If there's someone special out there for you, I think fate will help you find each other," she said with a smile. Pearl smiled in return. "I also think you need to give yourself more credit," she continued. "You are a wonderful friend. Rose would want you to love yourself as much as we love you."

Pearl sniffed. "I'll try," she said. They hugged once more.

The two went to go and meet Steven, who was anxiously awaiting their return at the warp pad. When they arrived, he gave them a concerned look. This quickly dissipated when Pearl assured him that she was going to be okay.

Stepping onto the warp pad, Steven held onto both their hands as they teleported off.

Note: Hope you guys liked this chapter, even if it was kinda sad (and not a love triangle like some were expecting, haha). Also, I've got some tough news I have to deliver. Are you sitting down? Do you have a minute? Here, have this picture of a dachshund dressed as a crayon to relax. Everyone good? Okay here goes. There's no easy way to say it so I'm just going to say it: this story is coming to an end. I'm planning on this being the second or third to last chapter of "Close to Her". BUT I wanted to let you know that I may start a second amedot story that takes place after this. This, of course, will probably be after more episodes air.