Backstage Protection

A Steven Universe Fanfiction

Chapter 13

A/N: I'm sorry this wasn't up the other day, it was Mother's Day and I was either out of the house or watching home videos with my mom all day. Also, a quick explanation for a paragraph a ways down; Lapis is Blue Diamond's daughter, and their relationship is a bit strained. Sorry for having to explain this up here, but a lot of my headcanon development happens in roleplaying and muse development.

Lapis had flown faster than she ever had before, and touched down on the sand of an all-too-familiar beach in less than an hour. She was exhausted, partially held up by Peridot, but she couldn't afford to take a break. She grabbed onto her companion's shoulder and started sprinting down the water line, looking for the temple and house that she knew served as the home of Steven and the other Crystal Gems. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps, and her head was light. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.

After what felt like forever, she reached a point where she could see the house. She took a sharp turn and ran to the edge of the porch's steps, and, with limited time and not a lot of energy, she just allowed Peridot to scramble onto her back before flying up onto the wood with a single, strong flap of her wings. The watery appendages disappeared into her gem as she hesitated before knocking on the door frantically, still trying to slow her breathing to a standard rate. She'd never been this exhausted before, not even when she'd flown millions of light years to Homeworld, but fear was overriding both the fatigue and her bitterness for the Crystal Gems. Peridot hopped off her back and just stood back, hoping to go unnoticed.

The door quickly opened, and Lapis's heart melted slightly when she was met by the grinning face of Steven. "Lapis!" He crowed, throwing his chubby arms around the ocean gem, and she carefully patted his head. "I knew you'd come out of the water eventually, I knew it!" He pulled away after a moment to look at her, a concerned look on his face. "Why are you so tired, though?"

She had finally caught enough breath to speak, and did so as calmly as she could, not wanting to frighten Steven. "Jasper broke out of the fusion and attacked me. I ran and found Peridot, and a lot of stuff happened, but she's not a danger to you anymore, so don't worry. Peridot got a message after I got hurt, and it says that Yellow Diamond – she's one of the leaders on Homeworld – is on her way to Earth with lots of other gems to reactivate the Kindergarten herself, and probably attack you and the Crystal Gems. We came as fast as we could to warn you-"

Lapis trailed off when she realized that a certain large fusion was standing before her, her throat constricting with intimidation – as unwilling as she was to admit it, she was a little afraid of Garnet. She fought the instinct to grab Steven and draw him close to her, as she was certain that wouldn't go over well, and just stood still, dark blue eyes wide.

Garnet glanced at Peridot before looking back to Lapis, crossing her arms as a frown crossed her lips. "Thank you for the warning." She spoke, hiding any emotion in her voice. "But what reason would you have to tell us? Either of you."

It was the green gem that spoke up, stepping forward to grab onto her partner's hand – by some miracle, they were both able to hide the blushes that threatened to taint their cheeks. "Lapis is rather attached to the Steven. She would do just about anything to protect him. As for me, I have nothing left on Homeworld, and Lapis is my….." She hesitated, glancing at the ocean gem in an attempt to figure out how to describe their relationship, before finishing the sentence. "… friend. This is important to her, so I am helping."

Garnet nodded and seemed to accept this answer. "Steven, go get Pearl and Amethyst. They should be at the Galaxy Warp." she spoke, and the child ran off with a little nod. Lapis became more uncomfortable without the presence of her friend, and Peridot seemed to pick up on this, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

The leader of the Crystal Gems watched her foster son go before turning back to the two Homeworld gems. "I appreciate you coming to tell us of the coming danger, but I'm not sure if there's anything we can do against an army. I hope you know that."

Lapis wasn't sure if she quite liked the tone the fusion spoke with. It was a tad too motherly, and reminded her of a time when she was on decent terms with her own mother. "There has to be something you can do. You have an entire planet, all the resources that come with it, and billions of natives."

"We are not letting the humans fight, there really isn't much we can do against advanced gem technology. I'm guessing that there's more powerful devices than those gem destabilizers, and we barely beat those."

There was silence as Lapis and Peridot thought. Lapis, of course, had no idea what to do; she wasn't even familiar with much of Homeworld's technology, let alone how to fight back against it. The best hope at the moment was the technician, and even she seemed to be having trouble thinking of any ideas. Part of the ocean gem wondered if Peridot had ever had any of the tech used against her.

"I know enough coding." The green gem finally spoke slowly, unsurely. "And some of what I have still works. I may be able to send a transmission back to Homeworld telling them that everything is fine and Jasper was trying to lead them into a trap. It'll have negative consequences for Jasper, of course, but I think I'm beyond caring."