In a strange, heartbreaking way, it was beautiful still.
Not the grubby, dirty Earth, with its dirt and grubby water and strange sun, that was not beautiful. This planet was a great host of raw materials to create Gems, but it was not beautiful. Nor were the humans.
It was the shattered, twisted structure in front of her that was, though. It glimmered in the light of the sun, shimmering in pink and red and yellow, rose and coral and salmon, Pink Diamond's palanquin threw off hundreds of little reflections of pink light against the ground and her dress as she approached, the only thing of true beauty on this hideous planet. It was carved from pink gemstone and overgrown with
entangling—Earth things that grew upon the planet, but they did not diminish it's beauty.
Blue Diamond hunched over the palanquin, staring at it through watering vision. She could so easily see her little sister sitting upon her throne inside, the pink lights and curtains playing upon her regal figure.
The wave of sadness that came over her from that broke over her like one of the ocean tides, consuming her and pouring out and around, making her Pearl shudder and flattening the grass with the force of her emotion. Blue Diamond had learned long ago not to sob, she had become accustomed to her grief, but the
tears that poured from her eyes in great streams never stopped and the force of her grief was felt long before anyone looked at her face.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice never wavering despite her tears, only sad and low and quiet. "I'm so sorry...I should have done more."
The palanquin did not answer her. Of course it did not. Some of its tattered, eaten curtains fluttered in the sea breeze, and Blue Diamond felt herself sinking more and more at the sight. What a beautiful artifact, reduced to this. Pink Diamond did not deserve this. It was, it was...
More tears flowed from her, in a stream that wet the ground at her feet. "I should have done more," she repeated. She liked to talk to Pink, even though it annoyed Yellow, and she knew that Pink was shatter—
more tears, flownig at the pain it caused. But she liked to imagine Pink alive and able to hear her somewhere. And would maybe, one day—no. It was impossible.
But to acknowledge her as never coming back was even worse. "Yellow keeps saying it will all be over soon," she continued, bending further down so her hood kept covering her face. She did not wish for anyone, not even her Pearl nor the sun, to see her. "I keep wondering what you would think, though...It is your planet, after all." A moment of long, serene pause, filled only with the sound of her tears hitting the ground and the choking weight of her misery. "I think it is, anyway."
Something caught her Pearl's attention, she could tell. The little thing looked up and turned, then froze.
"Your Radiance—" she began.
Blue Diamond had already turned to see who the intruder was. She paused at the unexpected sight. He looked like a human man, but was her height. His clothes were rich and beautiful, in colors of blue and indigo with elaborate gold swirls upon it, with golden armor and white sashes tied upon his waist. What skin she could see was covered in strange marking that she could not decipher, but seemed to be a part of him rather than something added to him. His hair was long and brown in color, with some of it tied into a bun.
She could not see his face, however, aside from the lower half which only included his lips and chin, the latter of which was dominated by a small, pointed beard. There was a mask in the way, which covered everything else.
It was such a strange and unusual sight that she did not know how to react at first, and it was he who spoke. "I am sorry if I startled you," he said, his voice calm and quiet but tinged with something Blue Diamond knew all too well: melancholy. "I was simply drawn to this place but the power of your sadness. I wanted to see for myself the person who could hold so much grief in her at once."
He was brought here by her sadness? "Who are you?" she asked softly, her tears flowing less now that she had been distracted from Pink Diamond, but still present nonetheless.
He tilted his head at her. "My name is Yasha," he said, turning to look at the destroyed palanquin. "May I ask what is yours?"
Such a bluntness was never spoken to the Diamond authority, but there was a calmness about him that Blue found almost soothing. A calmness that wasn't made by confidence, but grief. Her gem ached with it, singing to her of how similar it felt to him. "Blue Diamond," she said quietly, her tears filling again as she looked upon the palanquin.
"I am honored to meet you, Blue Diamond." He gestured to the palanquin. "Is this yours?"
She shook her head, hear clothes barely whispering with the movement. "No," she said, a tear trailing down her cheek, to her chin, before dropping to the ground. "It belonged to my sister."
There was a moment of silence. Not pity, no, she did not feel that for once, but understanding.
"Belonged," Yasha repeated gently. "She is no longer here, is she?"
Finally, Blue Diamond's shoulders shook the smallest bit as the words came over her. The words that she always dreaded to hear and avoided, and despite how softly he had said them the hurt still clawed its way out of her throat and spilled over her eyes in tears.
"My sister is dead, too."
And that made her stop. It was as if his sadness smoothed over hers in the air between them, dancing with it, comforting it.
"I know how you feel."
His mouth was set, but she could see the marks of grief upon him.
It was the most refreshing sight she had ever seen in a long time