Next time Lapis opens her eyes, she almost forgets she is back at Homeworld and not inside the mirror, if it wasn't for the comfortable bed under her body and the green walls around her. Once she looks at the chair she last saw Peridot, the blue gem remembers what the other one told her before she fell asleep.
"Smile…" She places her hand on her mouth, blushing and trying to hide a smile.
Peridot is supposed to be outside the room now, so, Lapis stands up and walks towards the door to find her. Once she gets in front of it, she listens to voices coming from outside.
"I don't care." Someone shouts. "You committed! Do you have any idea how hard it was to find a group of peridots to go in your place?!"
"I'm sorry, but allow me to explain." Lapis recognizes Peridot's voice.
"I don't wanna hear your excuses!" The other one taps the foot on the ground.
"But I'm gonna say it anyway!" Peridot takes a deep breath. "I found Blue Diamond's daughter yesterday."
"What?!" The other one steps back in surprise.
"Yes!" Peridot takes a deep breath. "Look, I was going back to my duties, but then Lapis tried to fly away. The diamonds sent me an emergency call to stop her before she left. After I stopped her, I was supposed to go back to work, but I saw that Lapis needed me, Lefty."
"So, you stayed to take care of her?" The one called Lefty took a deep breath. "The diamonds didn't tell the rest of Homeworld about her…"
"Since you didn't know, I suppose they didn't tell the outside."
"Yeah…" Lefty clears her throat. "Well, I won't report you to your parents about this, but I'll give you extra work once everything gets back to normal."
"Really? Extra work?" Peridot complains.
"Yes. So… you are taking care of someone now?" Lefty changes the subject, avoiding Peridot's complaints.
"Yes?"
"Why?"
"I told you. She needs me." Peridot places her back against the door, making Lapis jump from the other side.
"Did she tell you that?"
"No."
"So, why do you think she need you?"
"Well, I understand her. This thing about not feeling at home here on Homeworld, complicated family, this need of freedom and… well…" She sighs. "I think I need her too." The green heir says underneath her breath, but Lapis can listen to her since Peridot is whith the back against the door. The blue gem gets surprised to hear what comes next. "While she was trapped in the mirror, I was trapped here on Homeworld. Don't get me wrong, I like to be 5XG and Green Diamond, but that is all I can be. I'm trapped to those roles. The only place I feel free is out there in space, away from the colonies or Homeworld. I never feel that freedom in other situations, but, when I'm around Lazuli, I can feel that. Even when she is crying, I know that I'm free to show my true emotions in front of her, to show support and to tell her the truth about everything… I know this sounds crazy, but…" Peridot takes a deep breath. "Together we can be free."
"Peridot." Lefty says in a sweet voice.
"What?" Peridot sounds embarrassed.
"Nothing." Lefty chuckles. "Just be careful, okay? Don't forget who you have to be, even if it is hard."
"I won't." Peridot gets her back out of the door.
"Okay." Lefty takes a deep breath. "But you will still have extra work once you come back. For now, I'll give you a break, until Lapis Lazuli gets back on track."
"Thank you!" Peridot gets really happy and jumps.
"Don't make a fuss about it." Lefty laughs. "I have to go now, there will be a meeting with all peridots' managers."
That is when Lapis decides to open the door, to meet the one talking to Peridot before she leaves. This gem seems to know the other heir very well by the conversation they were having. Once the door is opened, Lapis finds a peridot, but with the gem on the left eye.
"Lapis?!" The green heir jumps in surprise.
"Hey, Peridot." Lapis smiles and waves.
"So, if it isn't Lapis Lazuli Diamond. We finally meet. I'm Peridot 4XG, Peridot Diamond's manager."
"Nice to meet you." Lapis stands her hand and Lefty shakes it.
"Lefty here is a war veteran." Peridot tells Lazuli.
"Really?" Lapis widens her eyes. "A peridot?"
"Exactly." Peridot says, proud of her manager.
"Wars don't have rules, Lapis Lazuli. Peridots fight alongside quartz soldiers." 4XG tries to smile and crosses her hands behind her back. "So, I will get myself going, heirs." Lefty starts to walk away. "See you around."
A few seconds after Lefty is gone, Lapis looks at Peridot.
"Your manager, 5XG?" She raises an eyebrow.
"Yes, your highness." Peridot says in a serious voice.
"You are skipping work, I assume."
"Had some other things to take care of." Peridot is the one to raise an eyebrow now. The green gem looks down at Lapis, without moving her head, with a smile on the face, making the blue gem laugh. Because of the limb enhancers, she looks taller than Lapis.
"Silly." Lapis gently pushes Peridot's arm.
"Me?! Really?" Peridot gets in front of Lapis and crosses her arms
"Peridot." Lapis crosses her arms too. "You, really." The ocean gem gets a laugh from the green one.
"Fine. Let's agree we are both silly."
"Alright." Lapis keeps laughing with Peridot, however, all of a sudden, someone hits Peridot's head.
"Ouch!" The green gems turns around to see the one who hit her, just to find two angry pearls. "Hey." Peridot looks away.
"Don't come with a "hey" to us, young lady." Yellow Pearl is the one to talk.
"I told you yesterday! Don't do irresponsible things, Peridot!" Blue crosses her arms. "I am trying to see you as a grown-up diamond, but it is not easy when you do things like this."
"Are you gonna call me your diamond again?" Peridot crosses her arms. "I told you not to do it."
"I will call you like that because it is my purpose!" Blue Pearl says, mad. "But since I'm not on duty right now, I'll call you a irresponsible child!"
"What were you thinking?!" Yellow Pearl places her hands on her waist. "I know it is a surprising thing to find Blue Diamond's daughter, but that doesn't mean you can cancel all your duties like that! Didn't we teach you anything?"
"I'm sorry, Yellow. Blue, I'm sorry too." Peridot looks at the ground.
Blue takes a deep breath and walks towards Peridot. "We know it is hard for you." She caresses Peridot's hair. "But we say these things because we care." Blue places her hand on Peridot's cheek, making she look at her and Yellow, who is next to Blue now.
"You know that, right?" Yellow asks.
"Yes."
"Come here." Blue and Yellow hug Peridot. "Our little girl." Yellow says.
"Not so little anymore." Blue laughs.
"You are right." Yellow laughs too.
"Well, there is someone who might feel jealous because she didn't receive a hug from me." Blue sneaks her head out of the hug and looks at Lapis, who is right behind Peridot.
"Me?" Lapis chuckles.
"I know you miss me, Lapis." Blue jokes.
"You have changed, haven't you?" Lapis walks towards them with a smile on the face.
"Well, life happened." Blue looks at Yellow.
"I see." Lapis hugs Blue, who leaves Peridot to hug the other blue gem. "I missed you."
"Me too." Blue Pearl smiles. "You know, Peridot." She turns her face t the green heir. "Back at the days Lapis was a kid, she was a troublemaker too."
"It is not hard for me to imagine that." Peridot looks at Lapis
Blue walks towards Yellow. "I thought this one was hard to handle." She points at Yellow, who rolls her eyes. "But Lapis was another level of trouble."
"You are overreacting it." Lapis crosses her arms and looks away, but without understanding why Blue pointed at Yellow Pearl.
"Am I?" Blue raises an eyebrow.
"Fine." Lapis gives up. "I was hard to handle, but I had to be a troublemaker, Blue. When I was around you, you allowed me to do different stuff. I had to take the chance to get in trouble. You were always fun around me and Yellow when we were alone."
"It took a while to make her stop being so stoic. Now she can even talk to me in front of other gems." Yellow Pearl laughs, making Blue blush.
"Isn't that news?" Lapis smiles.
"Right, right." Blue tries to end the subject.
"So, you are out of duty. What happened to the diamonds?" Peridot asks, making Yellow and Blue laugh.
"Well, a miracle happened today." Yellow looks at Peridot and Lapis.
"My diamond is mad at both of you." Blue crosses her arms with a playful smile.
"What?!" Peridot throws her hands in the air.
"Really?"
"Yes. My Diamond and White Diamond are trying to calm her down. All the meetings were cancelled. We even tried to sing for her, but it didn't work."
"Why is that a miracle?" Lapis asks.
"Blue Diamond never got mad at Peridot before. She is always the one protecting her." Blue tells Lapis.
"This is the first time she gets mad at me. All because I didn't let her see you." Peridot hides her face behind her hands.
"And I'm thankful for that." Lapis places her hand on Peridot's shoulder. "We will work this out. It is the first time she gets mad at me too."
"We all know she won't stay mad at you forever." Blue holds Yellow's hand. "Just for a few hours or days." She giggles.
"Why are you laughing, Blue?" Lapis asks.
"The situation is kinda, you know, nice? It has been a while since this castle looked normal. It is good to see my diamond mad instead of grieving."
"She is right." Peridot smiles and looks at Lapis. "It is something good."
"It looks like my mother grieves a lot more than she used to."
"Yes." Blue confirms with the head. "She does."
"Well, why don't we go talk to her, Lazuli?" Peridot looks at the girl next to her.
"No." Lapis shakes her head. "Yellow Diamond is there and I don't want to see her." She crosses her arms and looks away.
"Okay then, what do you want to do?"
"Maybe you can show me how Homeworld is like nowadays." Lapis smiles and Peridot crosses her hands behind her back.
"No."
"Why not?" Lapis makes a fake angry face.
"I'm a peridot and you are a lapis lazuli, what kind of explanation would we give if an elite gem saw us together? What a peridot would be doing with a lapis?"
"You could be taking me to cool down a system that is overheating." Lapis smiles.
"We don't use lapis lazulis for that anymore. We have machines now."
"Oh." The ocean gem looks away. "So, what lapis lazulis do nowadays?"
"Your cut of gem still terraforms new colonies and do diplomatic stuff."
"That is boring." Lapis rolls her eyes.
"There is nothing I can do about it." Peridot tells her.
"You know, Peridot." Yellow Pearl steps forward. "You can assign Lapis to yourself. You are the commander of the cluster mission and Earth is full of water. You can assign her to you as a water specialist."
"Does that even exist?" Peridot raises an eyebrow.
"It does now." Lapis holds Peridot's arm. "Please, Peridot." Lapis says with begging eyes.
Peridot looks at the ceiling and takes a deep breath. "Okay."
"Thank you!" Lapis jumps in happiness.
"Don't get used to it." Peridot looks at Lapis.
"Okay."
"I'm full of good ideas, am I not?" Yellow looks at Blue with a proud smile. "Dar-ling?" Yellow's smile fades away when she looks at Blue's angry face. "What?"
Blue turns her back at Yellow.
"Easy, Blue." Lapis giggles.
"Why is it so difficult for you gemlings to keep yourselves in line?" Blue crosses her arms.
"I think that is what makes us different." Yellow hugs Blue from the back.
"Us she said?" Lapis whispers to Peridot.
"I'll explain that later." Peridot whispers back.
"You are giving them ideas." Blue turns her face away from Yellow, who is still hugging her.
"I don't think that is a problem."
"We have rules, you know?"
"And we break some of them once in a while." Yellow smiles.
"That is different."
"Right." Yellow rolls her eyes and kisses Blue's cheek.
"Be careful you two." Blue turns her serious face at Lapis and Peridot. "Promise me."
"I promise." Peridot and Lapis say together.
Blue sighs and breaks her serious look, giving them a little smile. "You are both impossible."
"If you are saying." Peridot walks towards her room and opens the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Okay." Lapis waves, watching Peridot leave.
Once the blue heir turns her face back at the pearls, Blue Pearl is with her hands on her waist and tapping the foot on the ground.
"What, Blue?" Lapis asks, surprised with the mother role Blue is playing with her and Peridot.
"What is going on between you two?"
"Nothing." Lapis blushes and then clears her throat. "We just understand each other well." Lapis closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and smiles. "While I was trapped in the mirror, she was trapped here. It was not the same kind of experience, but, together, we can still be free." Lapis repeats what Peridot told her manager earlier.
"Free…" Blue looks at Yellow, worried.
"Yes." Lapis runs towards Blue Pearl and holds both the pearl's hands with a smile. "She can bring me freedom."
"H-how?" Blue asks, a little bit surprised with Lapis's happiness.
"Well, I will find out alongside Peridot." Lapis eyes' show a glow Blue had never seen before on her eyes, it is happiness radiating from her.
Blue chuckles. "Okay, kid."
At that instant, Peridot shows up from her room, wearing her 5XG limb enhancers, light green and with floating fingers, without her cape, of course.
"Ready, Lazuli?" Peridot gives the blue heir a smile. "I already assigned you to me. You're Lapis Lazuli Facet 2X1B Cut 8AL. Is that alright?"
"Yes!" Lapis runs towards Peridot and stops in front of her. "I doubt I'll remember all of that, but sure."
"Follow me then." Peridot looks at the pearls. "See you later?"
"Of course." Yellow waves at them.
"Right. Ah, if the diamonds ask you where we went, say you don't know, please."
"You can count on us." Blue holds Yellow's hand, making her lover smile.
"Let's go, Lapis." Peridot walks downstairs, with Lapis right behind her.
"Peridot?" Lapis calls the other heir when they get to the hallway of throne room.
"Yes?" Peridot opens the door that leads to the warp pads and then looks at Lapis, who has tears on the cheeks and a smile on the face. "Lapis! What's wrong?" She worries.
"Nothing…" Lapis cleans the tears from her face. "I'm just… happy." Lapis closes her eyes and smiles. When Peridot is about to walk towards her, Lapis runs towards Peridot, takes her arm and leads them to a warp pad. "Let's go." She activates it and they warp away.
"Where are you taking us?" Peridot asks, worried.
"Who knows?" Lapis giggles.
Peridot tries not to laugh, but fails miserably.
"Alright." Peridot looks at the blue gem. "I'll trust you, 8AL."
"I won't let you down, 5XG." Lapis crosses her hands behind her back, giving a shy smile to Peridot.
"I know." Peridot smiles back. "I feel that together we can face anything that tries to stop us from…" Peridot blushes and looks at the other way. "Nevermind."
Lapis floats closer to Peridot and places the hand on the other one's cheek, making the green gem look at her. "Find our freedom. " The ocean gem gives a genuine smile to Petidot, who is really surprised.
"You heard." Peridot widens her eyes.
"Sorry about that… But, if it makes you feel better, I feel the same thing."
Peridot sighs, closes her eyes and giggles. "Then, we are both silly, but…"
"There is nothing wrong with that." They say together, laughing with each other.
When the warp pad deactivates, they are in a place Peridot knew very well.
"Lazuli, welcome to the battle arena."
"I can't believe this still exists." Lapis says, fascinated with the fact.
"Yeah." Peridot swallows hard, when they listen to a strong impact coming from inside the arena.
"There is a match going on." Lapis walks towards the entrance.
"Where are you going, Lazuli?" Peridot freaks out.
"Where do you think? I'm gonna watch." She smiles and runs inside.
"W-What?!" Peridot shouts and runs right behind her. "Are you nuts?!"
"Come on, it is fun" Lapis stops to hold Peridot's arm and make her get inside.
"Lapis, wait!" Peridot tries to stop Lapis, but it is already too late. They bump on a quartz soldier, who Peridot knows very well.
"What are you doing down here?" It is Jasper who talks to them, not so happy to see the heirs.
"Hey, Jasper." Lapis waves with a smile.
"Lapis Lazuli." Jasper closes her eyes in a greeting way.
"Wait… do you know her?!" Peridot steps back, looking at Lapis.
"She was my mother's best quartz, she was made on Earth. Right, Jasper?"
"Yes." Jasper rolls her eyes.
"Now she works for me." Peridot whispers to Lapis.
"Really?" Lapis widens her eyes.
"When I'm Green Diamond."
"You still haven't answered me." Jasper interrupts their whispered conversation.
"We came to see a match!" Lapis jumps with diamonds on the eyes.
"Ha, right." Jasper crosses her arms. "You are still into these things, aren't you?"
"Well, you know how I am. I always liked to watch a match." Lapis laughs.
"Come on." Jasper walks towards the bleachers of the arena. "Since my diamond is not in need of me today." She looks at Peridot, who looks away. "I took the day off to fight."
"So today is gonna be really cool." Lapis smiles and looks at the other heir, who is not as happy as her. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Peridot looks at the ground. "I just don't like this place."
"Oh." Lapis places her hand on Peridot's shoulder. "We can leave if you want."
"No. I can go with it." Peridot looks at Lapis. "I'll just pretend to be fixing the timer or anything like that, while you watch the fight. There will be other elite gems watching too, it will be easy for you to stay around them."
"Okay." Lapis smiles. "Just call me if you want to leave." She shows a fist to Peridot, who fist bumps with a smile.
"I will."
Lapis turns her back at Peridot and happily goes find a sit.
"You two are already getting along?" Jasper stops next to Peridot.
"What do you want, Jasper?" Peridot rolls her eyes.
"Just want to know how you got the best side of Lapis Lazuli so fast."
"I have no idea, Jasper. I act normal around her."
Jasper watches the blue heir from the distance. "I ask because you're nothing like her."
"I know, but we can understand each other very well." Peridot smiles while looking at the blue heir, who started to talk with an aquamarine. "So, you know Lapis from before?"
"Yes. After Pink Diamond was… shattered, I became the heir's bodyguard. She always liked this place, so, I would accompany her here and train in the process. She was always asking to fight too." Jasper laughs. "Lapis Lazuli was impossible. Back at that time gemlings were allowed, so, no one minded the kid shouting from the bleachers of the battle arena and asking to fight."
"You were a soft gem back then." Peridot crosses her arms. "I guess that losing your original diamond's heir froze your heart."
"You know, that is probably it. When Yellow Diamond told me to go guard another place, I never thought she would trapp Lapis in a mirror." Jasper makes a frown. "Losing my original diamond wasn't easy in the first place and then I lost her heir…"
"I don't know how she was, but Pink Diamond was clearly important to the empire and the gems."
"Indeed." Jasper looks at a screen, which is showing her name. She is going to fight against an amethyst. "It is show time! But I still want to know how you really did it, brat." Jasper runs towards the arena, with a playful smile on the face. "Later."
"Did what?!" Peridot opens a panel. "I just talked to her." Peridot mumbles, a little bit angry. "What is there to know? Why is everyone acting so weird about this?" She looks away from the panel for a second to look at Lazuli, who is pointing at Jasper while talking with a yellow zircon.
"Lazuli…" Peridot shakes her head. "Am I the only one who can see how you are truly feeling behind that smile?"
A.n.: Hello! Here we are again.
Lapis can't run from the diamonds forever and she won't.
But, you know, things are never easy around Homeworld.
Credits for Icevomp because of Peridot's supervisor, 4XG, from "First You Fall, Then You Rise".
See you in the next chapter!