Not long after the turn of the millennium

She watched the night sky slowly conquer the remains of the day, as the sun's rays shined beyond the mountain before it was obscured entirely by the horizon. The Atlantic ocean turned from blue to black in the matter of minutes and it left her entirely entranced. She paid complete attention to this metamorphosis while trying to ignore the bickering of her parents.

She heard too many things coming out of her parents that she should, nor should any child ever hear. Most of it blended together; her father would accuse her mother of not loving him anymore while she would yell at him for coming home with one of his female coworkers, and then it would spiral out of control from there.

She would always come out here and watched the day pass. In a few hours, the yelling would be over and she could come back inside.

"You can't take her away from me!" she was reeled back into reality by her father's words, "She is MY daughter!"

"She has my name and she came from me! You can keep this house and everything in it, but she is mine," her mother held her ground. She would hold on to Lapis close and would never let go. That's how she was.

She could hear her mother coming up the stairs, "Lapis. Pack your things with everything you can't part with. We leave in an hour," she poked her head through the door and darted back out as soon as her words left her throat. A few minutes later her mother left a suitcase outside of her door, "Chop chop, Lapis, you only have an hour."

As she started putting all of her precious belongings in the suitcase, she looked out to the shore of Beach City, knowing well she will never see her hometown again.

The last days of Fremont

She felt a sharp sting sail across her cheek, whipping her head to the side. She brought her own hand to her face and rubbed herself to alleviate the pain. She looked at her offender, her eyes neither filled with remorse or hate.

"Why the hell did you kiss him? What the hell is wrong with you?!" he ranted and raved at her, "You're my girlfriend, I thought you loved me?!" it was somewhat ironic how no tears fell from her face, and yet his was an endless stream.

She turned around and started walking home, giving him the last words she would say in that town, "When we kiss, I don't feel anything."

The first days of Fremont

She watched the sun fall into the ocean, memories pouring from when she was younger. She would watch the sun rise from the edge of the horizon as it shined into the mountains that stood proudly over Beach City. Here, her days would begin with the rays coming out from behind the mountains, and would end with the water shining into her eyes.

"Lapis?" she heard her mother from afar, "It's time to go! Dinner's ready!"

She walked from the beach to the house, not on the beach, but across the road from those houses.

For hundreds of days, Lapis and her mother would sit alone and eat whatever takeout she could find or the occasional cooked dinner. Tonight was one of those occasions, but all it amounted to was Lapis staring into a bowl of baked noodles rather than a cardboard box of fried noodles.

Her mother would ask about her day and she would give the most vanilla answers a young adult could give such as, "It's fine. It was good. It was alright." Their conversations would die after that.

Lapis would retreat into her room where she would lock herself away until the next day arrived. This would repeat again and again. Nashville, Kansas City, Wichita, and Fremont. Everything was different, but everything was still the same.

She would make friends, but she knew that they'd be gone at a moment's notice. That's how her life went, and that's how it would be.

Highschool Freshman Year Second Semester

She was in the locker room, changing from a swimsuit to more casual clothing, all with an extremely pissed off expression. Once she was done changing, she reached for her phone and dialed her best-friend/new girlfriend's number. She was nearly tempted to throw her phone across the room when it went to voicemail, but instead let the automated message have it, "Hey asshole! You promised me that you'd be here for my Finals, and you were gonna be my ride! Where the hell are you?!"

All Lapis could do was walk outside and sit on a lonely curb to text her mother and sulk in peace. While she texted a plea for a ride, her phone started vibrating and playing a song from an anime, with Peridot's name in the caller ID.

She answered just so she could go in on her, "Finally decided to answer me?! Why the hell are you-

A clearly not Peridot voice interrupted her, "Uh, excuse me for asking but what is your relationship with Peridot Olivine, Miss Lazuli?"

This was a curveball she wasn't expecting but she answered anyway, "I'm her best friend. Also her girlfriend," she murmured that last part out of the phone's microphone, "Who is this?"

"I'm with the Children's Hospital of San Antonio. We were attempting to contact her parents, but Miss Olivine is incapacitated and cannot tell us her parents' phone number or the password to her phone," he explained to her, though she could hear him tip toeing around a subject.

"Wh-what? What's wrong with Peridot?"

and well, we're prepping Miss Olivine for surgery. You happened to call just as we got her into the emergency room," his voice was sympathetic, but he spoke very matter-of-factly.

"What?" a thousand scenarios were playing in her head, trying to figure out what would have happened to her best friend that required a visit to the emergency room, "Is-is she ok?"

She could hear the hesitation in his voice, "There isn't much I can tell you unless you're a member of the family," Lapis' could feel her own heart racing as thousands of images flowed through her head.

"Can you please tell me what her parent's numbers are?" the nurse asked again.

Lapis responded with Mrs. Olivine's number and promptly hung up. She clutched her chest as her breathing rapidly got faster and faster, "Peridot. What in god's name happened to you?"

College Freshman Year Second Semester

One thing that both Lapis and Peridot had in common was that they lacked the talent to keep their rooms tidy as Lapis' bedroom was a complete mess with bottles and cans strewn all about. Even the main room of Lapis and Sadie's dorm was disorganized, but it was the only decent place for Peridot and Lapis to conversate.

"So, what's up? What did you need to talk about?" Lapis asked as she sat in a chair in front of the leather couch, "Need a drink? Or anything?"

"No, um. Yeah, I could use some water," Peridot replied while she took off her jacket, "It was a bad idea to wear this in Spring."

Lapis smiled while she walked to the mid-sized fridge, "I understand the pants but I don't understand why you'd wear a jacket in this freaking weather," Lapis popped open a cold one where she understood the reason why Peridot was wearing a jacket in this freaking weather, "Why are you wearing that shirt? I gave that to you as a joke."

Peridot's face was red with embarrassment over the scantily clad, well endowed anime women on her shirt, "IT WAS MY ONLY CLEAN SHIRT! And besides, you're not even wearing a shirt!" Peridot shouted.

Lapis looked down at herself, "Well would you look at that. Thank god I'm wearing a bra," she giggled while handing Peridot her water, "Sorry. I'm a little tipsy."

After Peridot gulped down half of the water bottle, she looked into Lapis' eyes and started to speak, "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Lapis," she blinked and took a deep breath, "I heard you've been drinking."

It wasn't hard to see the color in Lapis' body fade, "Yeah. I've been drinking a bit. Who told you?"

Peridot ignored her question with a question, "Why? You're not twenty-one yet! You know how much trouble you could be in if someone found out what you've been doing?!"

Lapis looked out of the window to the bare, blue skies, "This isn't a recent thing, you know," she looked into Peridot's eyes, "It's been going on for a while."

For the past three days, total radio silence. Lapis checked her phone every hour on the hour to see if Peridot had even read her message. She couldn't focus on anything the teachers said, she wouldn't speak to anyone, and she didn't eat that whole time. Her mind didn't allow these pleasantries, as it only raced against itself wondering what in the lord's name happened to Peridot. She desperately tried to reel it in from going to the worst, but she inevitably had horrific images sneak inside.

She didn't know what would be worse, finally seeing what afflicted Peridot, or suffering from the constant visions. She didn't dwell on that thought for long.

Every day she sent the same message, "Peridot! What happened?! Are you ok?" at seven in the evening, and until the time came she would check to see the status of her girlfriend. For seventy-two hours, the results were always the same.

Alone in her own home, while her mother was away, she was restless. She couldn't think of anything else but to worry for Peridot. She couldn't stand it anymore and needed something to take her mind off of things.

Lapis was never unfamiliar with alcohol. Her mother would occasionally drink after a long day of work or when the memories of her husband returned. There was always a case of liquor and a bottle of vodka in the fridge, and Lapis was always told to never touch. But regardless, these thoughts needed to end, and hey, coconut vodka wouldn't taste that bad, right?

"That long?" Peridot stammered, "You've been drinking that long?"

There was no sense in any other answer besides a simple head nod, "It isn't perfect but it's the best way to sort my head. Happens every once in awhile, my head just goes somewhere that," she paused to look back at Peridot, "I don't like."

By now, Peridot wanted to know what was going on with her, and she was getting an idea, "It's me, isn't it? It's me! I'm making you feel like shit!" her voice was cracking up as her pants began getting covered in her tears.

A pair of tan arms pulled her body towards Lapis, and embraced her, "No. That's not true. You don't make me feel me like this-

She suddenly felt Peridot push her away, "YOU'RE LYING! I CAN SEE IT ON YOUR FACE!" an endless stream of tears was now pouring from her eyes, "You won't even look at me in the eye when you're talking to me. How the hell do you expect me to believe you?!"

Lapis wiped a few stray strands of her hair out of her eyes, and looked deep into Peridot's eyes, "What makes me feel like this, is what we are."

One week had passed. One very long week, and finally, Lapis received a message from whom she'd been waiting for what felt like centuries. She was in science class, and upon feeling that titilizing sensation of a vibration, she pulled out her phone and glued thousands of pixels to her eyes.

"Feeling better. I lost a little bit of myself, lol," were the only words Peridot Olivine responded with.

And though these words washed away all of the grim thoughts, a tide of worry came flowing through and her fingers soon went to work, "What happened? Are you ok? And what the hell do you mean by losing yourself?" she quietly mouthed these words as she texted them to her friend.

The five minutes were an even more hellish wait than the one-hundred-twenty-seven hours, but when she finally got an answer from Peridot, it wasn't one she wanted, "I don't have the words," was the first message received, "I'd like to see you," a comforting second message arrived, "I don't want you to see me," a haunting third message swung by, "...come. I've been feeling lonely," and a final comforting message left Lapis with the hope that Peridot was ok.

She was preparing herself for the worst.

As she always did.

"What do you mean by that? What we are?" Peridot questioned her.

Lapis wanted to look away from Peridot to give herself an easier time at explaining, but she faced he and kept her eyes focused on Peridot's face, "What we are, makes me feel," she paused, looking for the right words, "Empty."

As that word settled into Peridot, regret settled into Lapis, "I make you feel empty?" she wiped away her own tears and looked deeper into Lapis, "Just tell me! Tell me what's wrong!"

"YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S WRONG!?" Lapis started yelling.

"YES! JUST FUCKING TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG?!" Peridot yelled back.

"I DON'T THINK YOU LOVE ME ANYMORE!"

For a few moments, the silence deafened their ears, "What? What did you say?"

Lapis fought back against her own tears, "We've been dating for years. We've been together for so long we should have been married. I wanted to be with you ever since we slept together for the first time! You made me so happy when you sang on stage," now the tears wouldn't stop, "What happened to you?"

While Lapis cried into her lap, Peridot stood from the couch and looked down at her, "You want to know what happened?" she started pulling up the leg of her pants, showing off her metal prosthetic, "When this happened, just before the crash, I was ready to die."

Lapis had taken the bus for the first time, and made it to the hospital Peridot was staying. She was attempting to piece together what she knew about the situation with Peridot and the very little medical information she was aware of to figure out what had happened to her. She was rapidly tapping her foot and gnawing on her fingernails impatiently for the bus to make it to the hospital.

After an exit off the highway, the bus stopped a little ways from the hospital. Lapis bolted out of the bus and sprinted to the hospital entrance. She walked through the automatic doors and up to the receptionist, "Hi. I'm here to visit Peridot Olivine. What room is she staying in?"

If there is one thing that baffles both the writer and Lapis Lazuli, it is how lax security in hospitals are. No one will ever stop you from visiting a patient unless you look like a psychopath or if the patient is in an operation.

"She's in room 219. Are you family or friends?" the receptionist asked in a bored manner.

"Friends, girlfriends, whatever, thanks!" Lapis walked towards the nearest elevator and got in as soon as the door was wide enough to let her through. She hit the second floor button with enough force to crack it, and the wait continued as the elevator rose.

Her heart was racing, she needed to see Peridot. No matter what, she would be reunited with her love.

The elevator opened and Lapis power walked down the hall with her eyes looking for "219." She got a little turned around before she finally came across the room. The door was closed and the window only showed a TV and a bed with a foot standing erect and covered by pillows.

Lapis Lazuli opened the door and walked forward with her eyes closed, where she heard the sounds of an Italian plumber jumping. She opened her eyes and saw her, in a patient's gown, a bit thinner than the last time they met, and playing a game on her DS.

Peridot soon realized she wasn't alone, and instantly life returned to her, "Hey. I missed you."

And with four words, Peridot was able to get Lapis to open up the floodgates, as she stepped up to her injured friend. She had no words and could only bury her face into Peridot's shoulder, soaking it in tears.

"I missed you too."

"What? What did you just say?" Lapis' voice was now just a whisper.

Peridot trembled before she could begin speaking, "When, I saw it coming, there wasn't anything I could do. All I could do was watch," Peridot explained, her voice even more quiet than before, "I was ready. I was ready to die, and I only prayed that you would have a happy life," she could feel every inch on what remained of her left leg, "When I blacked out, I was sure I was dead. But, I woke up. I woke up with tubes sticking out of me. They had to cut my leg off, but," Peridot paused as her fists clenched, "I could still feel it. I could feel something that wasn't there! I felt all of the pain from the surgery. From that crash. I felt all of it," her body was shuddering, "And I can still feel it sometimes."

Peridot stared down at Lapis, "But when you came, it stopped. I saw you and," a smile appeared on her face as those memories flashed in her mind, "I didn't the feel that pain anymore."

"Peridot-

"So tell me. Where the hell do you get that idea from? That I don't love you anymore?! Because I haven't stopped!"

For the past hour, Lapis had her head leaning against Peridot's shoulder while she played a Mario RPG. Peridot wasn't in a very talkative mood but she would occasionally pause to explain what was going on in the story. It was a little too weird for Lapis to comprehend but she still watched. It meant the whole world just to be this close with her again.

Every now and then she would push herself closer to Peridot and kiss her on the cheek. Peridot would blush, but she would also turn to Lapis for a brief moment as if to say, "Hey you, quit being sweet."

But after a while, and simultaneously, Peridot and Lapis' stomachs growled like hungry bears after hibernation, "You want to score some food at the cafeteria?" Peridot asked.

"You think they'd let me eat here?" Lapis asked while her stomach growled again, "Screw it, I'm eating whether they like it or not!" she declared and started towards the door when she didn't hear Peridot coming, "Hey, I thought you wanted food?"

"Yeah! But. I kinda need some help getting into this thing," her voice lowered while pointing to a wheelchair next to her bed.

Lapis had one hand on her hip while she walked to the piece of medical equipment, "Doc still says you need to use this thing?" Lapis pulled it by Peridot's side, "You look fine enough to walk-

What Peridot had feared happened. She watched Lapis' smile turn into a face of shocked terror. And with it the pain returned.

Lapis couldn't say anything. All she could do was stare at what remained of Peridot, "Wh-what happened?" she approached the bed, and slumped on her knees while her eyes were focused on her wound.

Peridot covered her own eyes to stop the crying, "Please don't look at me. Don't look at that."

"Just tell me. Tell me why," Peridot begged for Lapis to speak to her.

Lapis wanted to jump out of the window than tell her what she really felt like, but she needed to tell her, or she would bottle up everything inside, "When you shut down, we barely saw each other. But I still loved you. I waited for you to get better," she brushed her arm across her eyes, "But I kept waiting. And waiting, and waiting. For two years you holed up in your room and you didn't talk to anyone, except me," she explained he feelings, "I'm so happy, that, I made you feel alive but. Oh god, I hate myself for feeling this now that you've told me what happened with you-

Now Lapis felt Peridot's hands on her shoulders. She looked up to Peridot's comforting face, "It's ok."

A few moments of regaining her composure allowed Lapis to return to speaking, "I wanted more. I wanted to move forward with what we are. I wanted to go to prom with you, to sit at lunch and hold your hand, I wanted to annoy the teachers when we kissed in the halls!

"When they asked me about my girlfriend, you don't know how awful it felt to tell them I didn't have one, just because I didn't have the guts to tell them about you. I wanted to be with you so much," her words ached her own throat when they were spoken, "I'm sorry. I kept reminding myself what you were going through, but I wanted more from you each time we saw each other. I'm sorry. I'm so, sorry!" Peridot held her tight, letting her cry in her shoulder, "I'm so selfish."

Peridot shook her head, "It's alright. I'm selfish too."

Though these past few moments were quite grim, Peridot's line got a small laugh out of Lapis, "Yeah. We're selfish people."

And with that, the two breathed a sigh of relief and slumped back into the couch, "So. What now?" Peridot asked.

"Maybe we need a break from each other," Lapis suggested, "I know that sounds weird considering we only see each other once a week."

"No. I think that's a good idea. I think we should give each other a month. I need to sort things out with this thing once and for all, and-

"I need to stop drinking, I know."

"I mean you can drink, as long as you're not putting others at risk. Wow I sounded like a parent," an idea sprang to her head, "We should plan something for the summer!"

"Excuse me?"

"Listen. We can do this. We'll have the most fun we could ever have! You just have to figure out what we're gonna do then, and I'll figure this thing out!" she explained her randomly thought up plan, "I'll make things up to you and to me," she came up to Lapis and kissed her on the cheek, "Thank you for always being there for me," she kissed her other cheek, "Thank you for being honest with me," and one final kiss on Lapis' nose, "And that's just the start of making up for you," she got up and walked up to the dorm's door but spoke to Lapis one last time, "I'm going to do everything I can to make myself a better person for you."

Lapis' fire was finally lit again, "Well good. Because I'll be an even better person for you. I'll be better for you than you are for me!"

"OH YEAH! YOU WANT TO MAKE THIS COMPETITION!" Peridot challenged her, before the two girls shared a laugh, "But one month from now. I'll see you again."

Peridot felt herself in the embrace of Lapis Lazuli, "Don't be ashamed of yourself. You're not ugly, and you're not a freak," she whispered, "You're still you. And I still love you," she smiled at her girlfriend, "Now c'mon! I'm starving!"

Peridot smiled with her, "You just gotta help me in this freaking chair!"

Around the same time in the San Antonio Airport

A statuesque woman with dark skin stepped out of her private plane, greeted by an agent of her record company, "Miss Govender, it is a pleasure you to welcome you back to the City of San Antonio."

The woman adjusted her large, dark shades while she observed the city skyline, "Please. The pleasure is all mine," she moved her shades down to look at him with her red and blue eyes, "And please. Miss Govender is my initiate mother. Call me Garnet."

A/N I hope you really enjoyed this. I don't claim to be the best writer, but I tried as best as I could to try and make dialogue feel as natural and as organic as possible. But I do hope you liked this chapter. It is a sixth of this whole story.

We finally have insight on these two characters but I would still like to see you guys fill in the blanks on other details. I try to leave things vague about certain aspects of the characters.

And OH MY GOSH! GARNET! Initiate mother?! WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?! If initiate mother is not a real term, it basically means the mother that didn't birth you. At least that's what i gathered from Mad Max Fury Road.

But yes Garnet is in this story, and we might be seeing a bit from Ruby and Sapphire ;)

I'm going to be taking a small break from this story. School projects and I want to finish a few reviews. My review of Retro City Rampage is well overdue, and I need to work on it.

Also a lot of the chapters are going to feel like one shots with different Steven Universe characters, while Peridot and Lapis still receive character development.

Also, do me a favor and when you finish a chapter, go to YouTube and listen to the Real Folk Blues. Let me know if that makes the chapter feel any different or adds anything. Idk.