Hey guys! So this chapter has been a long time coming, I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Squish helped me basically relearn to write at this point, I think my monday chapter rough drafts have a tendency to look pretty bad, added 23 comma's this chapter for those who are interested.
Welp I'll see you guys friday! enjoy the chapter!
It was late. Late enough that when Yellow Pearl warped back to the beach house, she was bound to get squawked at by White about how Steven needed his rest. Which almost would make it worth it to just stay at the barn until morning. That had the advantage of not having to dodge any disapproving looks from her Diamond. But it also meant that she would have to put up with Peridot's experimenting. The most recent iteration of the gem's modified limb enhancers had an unfortunate tendency to accelerate suddenly.
Yellow Pearl made one final switch on the power system and the warp core began to build. Pumpkin was asleep on the floor next to the wall; Yellow Pearl probably should deposit her at the barn before she headed back to the beach house. Or she could just spend the evening in the ship. Domina had been kind enough to send her a copy of a fictional series that Connie liked and Yellow had to admit that it was quite interesting. She settled next to Pumpkin and opened her screen.
The ship was quiet besides the soft humming of machinery. Though that was immediately dispersed by the door opening and her Diamond walking in. Yellow Pearl scrambled to her feet, inadvertently jostling Pumpkin awake.
"My-my Diamond!" Yellow Pearl stammered out. Yellow Diamond didn't acknowledge her, which wasn't much of a change. Instead, she strode over to the ship's console. The moment the door was clear, Yellow Pearl should have bolted for it. Pumpkin had certainly taken one look at Yellow Diamond and made a break for it. The look on her diamond's face stopped her though. She looked... well, Yellow Diamond always looked exhausted. She did far more work than was necessary. But this seemed to be a different type of exhaustion.
The last time she had seen her diamond like this was... was when White Diamond had set Blue Diamond's inert gem on a pedestal and let her normal impassive facade fade into tears. So Yellow Pearl, despite her better judgement, stayed. Yellow Diamond looked over the ship's records, its map of systems and schemata and then sighed, and turned to look at Pearl directly.
"When did you learn how to do this?" She asked. Her words were tense, she was irritated but not quite at shock and shatter levels.
"If you're referring to the reprogramming, My Diamond," Yellow Pearl kept her voice even. She had never really experienced the full extent of her diamond's wrath, having only been a bystander and really received nothing more than an occasional sharp word. 'Clod incident' notwithstanding. "I have had an... interest in the reformation orb's development since it was presented to you."
"And I suppose you've had an 'interest' in quantum programming as well?" Yellow Diamond said, pulling up a screen that showed the rapidly scrolling source code for the ship.
"Yes, My Diamond,"
"And you expect me to believe that you taught yourself?"
"Yes, with all due respect, My Diamond. What do you think I've been doing all this time, My Diamond?" Yellow Pearl said. Her Diamond looked away and shrugged.
"I'm not sure... I didn't realize..." Yellow Diamond trailed off.
"That I was capable of free thought?" Yellow Pearl prompted. She had heard as much from Yellow Diamond herself on several occasions. Never directed to her specifically more so at pearls in general.
"That's not what I said." Yellow Diamond snapped at her. Yellow Pearl succeeded in not flinching. Ironically the training she had been strong armed into seemed to be helping on that front. Steven's constant mantra of "I know it's scary but, you have to hold your ground," had basically been engraved into her gem at this point.
"No, My Diamond, but that has been... your general opinion on pearls. The opinion of others as well!" she added quickly.
"Well, I..." Yellow Diamond grumbled and drummed her fingers on the console before closing out the panel. "Prove me wrong then." She said.
"My Diamond?"
"Show me your work, that you understand this." Yellow Diamond said. It was an order, though it had uncertainty behind it as opposed to force. Yellow Pearl hesitated, not quite believing the diamond was serious. "...Please?" Yellow Diamond added.
Yellow Pearl couldn't remember the last time her diamond had ever said 'please', especially not to her.
"Very well, My Diamond." Yellow Pearl said, working through her shock. She reopened the data screen showing the ship's source code and froze it so that it could be inspected. "Where would you like me to start?"
The early morning walk back from the Big Donut was nice, even in the snow. There had been enough tromping done over the last few days that the path was essentially clear, with plenty of places still available to kick the snow into the air in a satisfying burst of powder. Also the Big Donut had 'Hot Chocolate' which tasted a lot better than that coffee Sabina had her try a few weeks ago.
"So, I've been thinking." Domina said, swallowing the remains of her jelly filled donut. The snow clump Steven had just kicked was falling around them as they rounded the corner. Yellow Diamond wasn't out front of the beach house and hadn't been inside the ship when Domina had woken up that morning. Where she had gone off to, Domina didn't really know. Which probably made her decision on this a little bit easier.
"Oh yeah?" Steven said through a full mouth.
"The ship's going to be ready a week after the planet's rotational anniversary."
"Yeah, and New Year's," Steven said. Domina wasn't entirely sure if she hadn't been clear or if Steven was just being funny.
"Yes... so I..." Domina sighed, she needed to take this in stride. "I thought we could give your idea to reverse the corruption a try." Steven tripped and nearly spilled his hot chocolate.
"What? Really?!" Steven stared up at her wide eyed. "You're serious?"
"I am, under a few conditions," Domina said. "We try it on one gem, and we stay close." Steven gave a serious nod. "And if this doesn't work, then we stop and wait until after everything on Homeworld is settled."
"Deal." Steven said and held out his hand. Domina hesitated and shook it. A social contract had been struck. "Wow, ok, so um..." Steven finished off his hot chocolate in one gulp before climbing the stairs two at a time. "We need to fuse then!" Steven said. Domina frowned and also downed her drink, wincing at the scalding feeling in her mouth. Fusing with Pearl had been interesting, she had to admit. Though, Domina wasn't sure she saw the appeal.
"Yes, so... how do you do that intentionally?"
"Me and Connie have to just dance a little and hold hands. Me and Amethyst basically just have to hug." Steven hopped up on the stool in the kitchen and thought. "Garnet said that in order to fuse, two gems have to be in complete sync."
"Well, should be simple enough, we have the same goal."
"Yeah..." Steven hopped down. "Well, what kind of music do you want?"
"Can we avoid the music?" Domina asked, standing. "Really, any dancing is going to look rather ridiculous given our height difference."
"We can try..." Steven offered her a hand awkwardly. Domina took a deep breath and took it, focusing on the feeling of what had happened when she and Pearl had formed Sunstone. After a moment she hesitantly opened her eyes.
"Okay, fine... we'll try music, I can't dance though." Domina said.
"Yeah you can." Steven scrolled through his phone and selected a song. "You did with Pink Pearl."
"Not well." Domina grumbled, attempting to move to the music. Steven was much better at it than she was. And after three songs and several more attempts, they were no closer to being able to fuse.
"We'll get it I'm sure!" Steven said encouragingly. "Garnet always says how fusion's different for everyone."
"I'm sure. It just... doesn't make sense. I mean neither of us have hard light bodies, we shouldn't even be able to fuse in the first place, yet you can with Connie." Domina said, collapsing on the couch. Steven sat next to her.
"Well, you've only fused once before... are you sure you want to?" Steven asked.
"I do... for this at least," Domina said. "If it's the next best option to try healing the gems."
"...but do you want to?" Steven asked again. Domina looked at him, confused.
"I just said-"
"Yeah, I know." Steven said. "But fusion's more than just a tool, it's about a relationship and love and wanting to combine because you care about each other."
"I do, I just..." Domina sighed, she fingered the white clump in her hair. "Steven... what if this doesn't work? What if you get corrupted again and I can't fix it?"
"I won't. It'll be fine!" Steven said.
"You can't know that!" Domina snapped "Steven, I saw you corrupting! You almost died! And if... if I lose you, I go back to being alone in the universe." Seconds after that came out of her mouth, Domina realized how dramatic it was, but the words were true.
"You're not alone!" Steven said. "You've got Pearl and the fleet and um... Yellow?" Steven said. Domina chuckled.
"Yes, but..." Domina said. "They don't get it. They may be family but..."
"...But it's not the same as knowing that someone else is going through the same stuff." Steven said, Domina nodded. "But you've already figured all this gem stuff out! I'm the one that's still trying to figure out my powers!" Steven said. Domina laughed.
"Steven, I had a new power show up for the first time last year!" She said. "And I'm horrible at human stuff. You've been the first person in my life that just treated me like another person."
"Well, what else am I supposed to treat you as?" Steven asked. "We're friends. Even if we don't always agree." Domina smiled softly and stood up.
"Yes... right. Come on." She said, offering him a hand up. "I want to pick the music, one more try." Steven grinned at her and took her hand. The resulting flash knocked away the coffee table and they both... well they just fell back. There was silence for a moment as the resulting being got their bearings.
"Well shards, I guess that's one way to do that." The Fusion said, looking at the beach house from a couch that was now way too small for them. The warp pad had just activated which meant that the next few minutes were going to be interesting as hel-... as fu-... as shi-... as heck. The Fusion frowned at their internal censor and got to their feet. Their hair, a uneven mash of Steven's curls and Domina's straight hair, with a pale pink lock at the front, just barely brushed the beach house rafters. The Fusion looked down at themself. A red star shirt underneath a black jacket, exposing a pale pink belly gem; somehow both pairs of jeans had merged into a single pair, of course they were barefoot. Their skin though was weird, though they knew that Domina's skin was always a little weird. In place of the Diamond's iridescence were patches of Steven's peachy skin and Domina's dark brown skin. But most different of all were their hands.
"Why the fu-rack do I have 12 fingers?!" They shouted as Yellow Diamond and Yellow Pearl materialized on the warp pad.
I have been so excited to write Steven and Domina's fusion guys, really looking forward to letting them do they're thing next chapter. Let me know what you think! thank you to everyone who leaves comments, you guys are awesome!