It was early in the morning. It was early enough so that the sky was getting brighter, but the sun hasn't yet risen from the horizon.
Pearl has been more.. distant as of late. Amethyst was the first to notice, of course, but throughout the course of the day, even Peridot was becoming worried for the pristine gem.
"There's nothing wrong with her gem, is there?" Peridot whispered to Amethyst. The two were hiding behind a rock while Pearl was washing Steven's clothes. She liked to wait until they were all done before she did anything else. Keeping an eye on the machine pushed all percentage of the clothing becoming sour out the window.
"Nah, that's not it.. Why would you even ask that, her gem's on her head." Amethyst responded. Peridot just nodded, not bothering to argue.
"Yeah.. then what's wrong with her..?"
"I dunno, just.. be quiet." The purple gem hoped that nothing was seriously wrong with her girlfriend.. Was she thinking about their relationship? Or something else entirely? It was scary, really..
The sound of the washing machine slowed, and Pearl opened the lid. Pulling out his shirts and pants one by one, she began hanging them out to dry. The weather was perfect for it today..
"You know what? I'm going to talk to her.." Amethyst came out from behind the rock, beginning her walk up the hand of the Temple.
"B-but.." Peridot weakly tried to talk Amethyst out of it, but she was already too far ahead. The green gem only sighed, turning around to head back inside of the house. She was not going to be scolded today.
Pearl was pinning up one of Steven's shirts when Amethyst spoke up from behind her.
"Hey P, are you alright..? You haven't been acting yourself lately." The pristine gem didn't even react. She just continued to do the laundry. Amethyst, a little upset at her girlfriend's lack of an answer, and more than a little worried, placed her hand on Pearl's shoulder. "Pearl?"
Only when she was touched did Pearl actually react. She jumped slightly, startled by the sudden contact. Turning around, she pulled at what seemed to be a wire connected to her ear behind her hair, an earbud at the end of that wire.
"Oh, Amethyst, you startled me.. Did you need something?"
Amethyst had a look of confusion on her face, her eyes following the wire down to a small player that was attached to Pearl's sash that was around her waist.
"You're listening to music?"
The pristine gem followed Amethyst's gaze, looking down at the device on her waist.
"Oh, this? Well.." Pearl had a small blush on her face, but Amethyst was just.. wondering. Was this why Pearl seemed so distant? "I've been thinking about when we played that song together with Steven, and, well.. I thought I might as well try to listen to different songs as well."
"I never took you as the music type."
"I know.. but there's so much symbolism in these lyrics!"
Pearl's sudden outburst surprised Amethyst, and the pristine gem went on a little rant about the music she's been listening to.
"I never thought that just three minutes of just.. words could be so emotional. And most of these words are repeated over and over!" Amethyst couldn't help herself. She began laughing, both at the irony of the situation and at how adorable Pearl was to be so intrigued with this music, whatever it was.
"Is it that amusing?" Pearl asked, standing up straight with her arms crossed. She was a little offended, to say the least. Amethyst quieted down, stifling her chuckles with her hand.
"N-nah, Sweet P.." At least her fears could be pushed aside now. The purple gem put a hand to her hip, her smile wide. "Sorry.. I just thought you were ignoring me all this time."
"Oh.." Why would Amethyst think such a thing? Was it because Pearl had been too engrossed in her music? "I'm sorry for making you feel that way.. I had no idea.." It was obvious that the pristine gem felt absolutely terrible making Amethyst feel ignored. She promised she'd never hurt the purple gem again, after all.
"Hey, it's fine, really.." Amethyst grabbed Pearl's hand, rubbing her thumb over the back of it. "I'm just glad it wasn't anything serious.. So watcha been listening to?" Pearl was glad for the change in subject, and she began to tell her girlfriend about this one song that she regretted not listening to before.. Then again, it is a rather recent song, just a little over a year old.
"Oh, there's this one that's amazing.. It's a song about pushing forward, even with all the bad things that are happening to you. Humans can get very creative with their emotions.." Pearl had this blissful look on her face as she spoke. After a minute of playing back the lyrics in her head, she took the other earbud from her ear, placing them on Amethyst's head. The song was on repeat and was playing the whole time, so the purple gem was caught in the middle of it.
-cut deep like a razor blade.
Holding in a cry for love, abandoned and afraid..
When the night is cold, and you feel like no-one knows,
what it's like to be the only one, buried in this hole..
You can make it to the Sunrise!
Amethyst listened intently to the song for the next minute or two. It was.. pretty accurate with how life could be. The purple gem couldn't help but smile when the ending of the song.
From time to time.. there arise among human beings, people, who seem to exude love.. as naturally as the sun, gives out heat.
"That's pretty cool.." Amethyst said, Pearl taking back the earbuds after the song ended.
"Oh I know.. it's so.. relatable." "Yeah.." The two stayed silent for quite some time..
After standing still for almost half an hour, just.. thinking.. Amethyst stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Pearl's waist.
"I love you so much.." Pearl smiled.. Her arms snaked their way around Amethyst as well, holding the purple gem closely.
"I love you too.. just as much." The two held each other lovingly, silent as the sun slowly rose, covering them in its warmth.
Author's Note: For this chapter I decided to do a little song fic. It's not perfect, but it's something. This song means a lot to me, and always makes me smile when I hear it. Sunrise, by Our Last Night. It's really beautiful. I tried to do a thing where Pearl and Amethyst have a little moment where they appreciate everything that they've been given, and I hope I captured that well. I hope you liked it. So long for now.