--
No one said a word. The uncomfortable silence was broken only by the wind blowing through the kindergarden. The Peridot, the organic, and Pink Diamond herself were struck speechless. Yellow Diamond was only several long paces away, but she seemed to be dumbstruck as well.
She looked like she'd seen a ghost.
"You're...not shattered?" Yellow could only ask. There were perhaps dozens of other questions that flitted through her mind, but that obvious inquiry seemed to be the only one she could manage to voice.
Pink Diamond, to Yellow's annoyance and mild curiosity looked quite standoffish if not a bit intimidated. Her fellow Diamond just stood there, not having answered her question.
That was when Yellow's confusion was replaced by anger.
"How are you here?! Why are you here?!" The largest gem present demanded. Pink still did not say anything.
"Why won't you answer me?" she continued, a bit disturbed by Pink's lack of reaction. Yellow noticed how Pink took a half step in front of the Peridot and the organic.
Yellow stared at the Peridot a second too long, having noticed the yellow diamond insignia on her chest. Spooked, the small gem retreated further behind Pink's leg, somehow managing to still look defiant. She ignored her for now, returning her gaze to Pink.
Thinking about it now, a question seemed to nag at the back of Yellow's mind. If Pink was here, where was Rose Quartz?
Was Pink actually shattered? No, she thought. The proof was in front of her.
Which meant Rose Quartz lied. Blue's strange prediction or whatever experience she had turned out to be true.
"Thousands of years, Pink," She ventured, suprised at her own calmness while speaking. Pink Diamond shifted slightly to the side, completely obscuring the other two from view.
"How could you make us think you were shattered for thousands of years?"
Pink recoiled at the accusation as if having been physically struck.
"Hey!" the organic spoke up, noticing the young Diamond's hurt expression. "Leave him alone!"
...Him?
Pink again, did not answer. Why? She was always so...upbeat, sometimes annoyingly so, but now, everything seemed wrong somehow. And she wasn't providing any answers.
She was acting like a total stranger. And she wouldn't admit it aloud, but it was strange and even a bit disturbing in her eyes.
"I'm-" Pink seemed to be thinking hard about what to say next. Her brows were furrowed, and she refused to meet Yellow's glare.
"I'm not Pink Diamond-"
Yellow's eyes narrowed in visible confusion.
"What."
"At least, not anymore," Pink continued. She sighed. "You wouldn't believe me even if I tried to explain it." The last part was muttered, and Yellow almost wondered if she wasn't meant to hear it.
"We're going home," Yellow announced, finality in her tone. She wasn't in the mood for this. There were simply too many things happening. "Let's go," she ordered.
Yellow could guess that Blue would be overjoyed, and they would return home and they would all get this sorted out-
Pink said something but she hadn't heard. Maybe Yellow did hear, but didn't want to acknowledge it.
"I said no."
Yellow's eyes widened in disbelief. She blinked, attempting to make sense of Pink's rebelliousness. Had this planet made her go mad? Yellow glanced at the organic and the Peridot, hoping to glean from them some answer that never came.
"Did you hear me?" Yellow made to grab for Pink's arm, but the shorter of the two violently snatched it away. Yellow could only stare in surprise.
"What are you doing?" The taller Diamond interrogated, utterly confused.
"Yellow Diamond-" Yellow raised a brow at the overly formal acknowledgement. "I'm not going back to Homeworld."
Yellow watched her spread an arm towards the Kindergarden surrounding them. "My place is here. And I need to fix what you two did to the gems here."
Fix? What was Pink talking about? Yellow found herself more confused the more she continued to talk.
All of the gems on Earth were utterly destroyed. They'd made sure of that. The only explanation was that she was being manipulated somehow. Why else would Pink be gone for so terribly long, only to be babbling nonsense?
"So that's what it is," Yellow said, as if coming to some conclusion. "Rose Quartz didn't shatter you. She...She warped your mind somehow!"
"What?!" Pink nearly exploded, as if the very idea was absurd. "Yellow, you're not listening to what I said!"
"Which one of them is it, Pink?" Yellow continued, at the same time disregarding and proving Pink's earlier point. "Which of them have been planting ideas in your head? Is it the organic?" she scathingly asked, pointing at the girl who'd jumped from her hiding place.
Pink all but shielded the small thing, as if Yellow just threatened to annihilate it.
"That defective Peridot?"
The Gem in question only continued to pout from the safety of Pink's leg.
"Then there's only one solution," Yellow continued, briefly closing her eyes. She looked almost pained, before she schooled her features. When she opened her eyes, her face betrayed nothing. She had, however, balled her fists. Electricity bounced between her fingers as if eager to lance at their target. Thrusting her right hand forward, her hand positioned as if she was reaching toward the other Diamond. The lightning crackling at her fingers leapt toward the two Gems and the organic, like attack dogs let off a leash.
Pink gasped, bringing her arms up defensively. Caught unprepared, Pink was staggered, the lightning managing to push it's target several feet backwards. She landed on her back, a groan escaping from her. A thin wisp of smoke emanated from one of her arms.
Yellow meant to destabilize her. She sucked her teeth, deciding to get rid of the other two. She balled her outstretched hand, sans a finger and thumb. Pointing at the Peridot and the organic, her hand was pointed as if shooting a gun, and concentrated lightning shot from her finger towards the unsuspecting duo.
"No!"
Pink struggled to get up, trying and failing to launch herself towards the bolt of lightning, to Yellow's shock. Unfortunately, she was too weakened to do anything.
"What are you-"
KLANG
Yellow was cut off by a metallic disc colliding with the side of her face, snapping her head sideways.
Rubbing her cheek, she regarded the Peridot warily. The Gem in question had her hands stretched outwards. She still looked defiant and worried at the same time.
When did Peridots have the ability to manipulate metal?
Never mind that, Yellow thought impatiently.
She thrust her hand forward again, and the blast of electricity struck true.
"WHaAauGh-"
In a puff of smoke, Peridot's gemstone uncerimoniously clattered to the ground.
With a cry of dismay, the organic ran towards the destabilized Peridot, collecting her and cupping her in it's hands.
Yellow returned her glare to Pink.
"I won't repeat myself. We're going."
"Is she okay?" Pink suddenly asked the small being next to her, her attention on the organic.
"Yeah, but," the girl paused, glancing warily at Yellow Diamond before looking back at Pink. "Peridot was poofed."
Yellow bit back a drawn out exhale. Pink seemed to ignore her as if the exchange from moments earlier never occured. The elder Diamond raised her hand again, fingers sparking.
She immediately withdrew it with a pained cry, when a flat disc collided with her hand.
Nursing her hand, her breath caught it in her throat. Time seemed to stand still, her eyes glued to the object that returned to Pink's hand. The younger Diamond still refused to look at her. Her hand was still outstretched, as if she had just caught the rebounding shield only a second ago. But it had been much longer than that. The silence had stretched on for longer than she'd thought.
That was Rose Quartz's shield.
...Pink had summoned Rose Quartz's shield...
Yellow glanced around, blinking, as if she were trying to dispel an illusion.
"But that's..." Yellow took a step back, all of the confusion returning with a vengeance. Her hands dropped to her sides, however. There was no more fight left in her.
"How could you?" was all Yellow managed to spit out. To a seemingly surprised Pink, Yellow's voice didn't sound as acccusatory as expected. She sounded tired, hurt even.
Pink said nothing, allowing the shield to vanish into the ether. The same hand having held the shield was now cradling the organic and the incapacitated Peridot. Steadily, Pink slowly stood up, the organic now holding the Peridot's Gem in it's tiny hand.
"I..." Pink paused, sighing. "I can explain, but you'd have to hear me out," she answered slowly.
Yellow was having trouble processing all of what happened. Pink refused to come home, she was protecting an organic, and harboring a Gem fugitive, apparently.
"This is all so unorthodox," Yellow stated, her voice lacking the usual authority it held. She rubbed the spot between her eyebrows, sighing. She paused, seeming to remember something.
"Did White know..?"
With Yellow muttering to herself, Pink and her organic "friend" shared an uneasy glance.
"Fine," Yellow finally said aloud, her tone seeming to return to normal. "Once Blue gets here, we'll...talk."