Cora sat on her parents' bed, and her mother began to tell.
"It all started with Pink Diamond..."
Cora jumped.
"G-Grandma?"
Spinel nodded.
Cora had heard many tales about that legendary figure, even though the most difficult and prickly ones had been hidden from her, such as Spinel's abandonment and all the weight of her nefarious choices that Steven had to carry on his shoulders since he was a boy.
Spinel put her gloved hands on her daughter's arms.
"... Listen carefully, Cora... What I am about to tell you must not make you feel grudge for her... Over the years I have learned to throw the past behind me, even if reliving it hurts. Your grandmother wasn't perfect, but neither was I."
Confused and even a bit frightened, Cora said "yes" with her head.
With a very long sigh, Spinel threw her head back and began to narrate:
"I was created to be Pink's companion. We spent whole centuries having fun together, until she started to take an interest in colonies and want one of her own. At that point, I started looking boring, a waste of time, for her."
"But you were friends... How can a friend consider another friend boring?"
Spinel's magenta eyes went melancholy.
"She abandoned me for years in her garden, while colonizing Earth in Pearl's company."
"But it can't be! She lied to you, mom! She has never been a true friend, otherwise she wouldn't have treated you like an old object!"
Spinel hugged her girl tightly.
"It was a period of great impatience for her... The Diamonds didn't listen to her and she was tired of being treated as a graceful presence and nothing more."
"I don't care! Her problems should have been solved without passing them to someone else!"
The Spinel smiled, stroking her daughter's cheek.
"You speak just like your father, you know?"
As a sign of closeness, Cora rested her head on her mother's lap, who caressed her long fuchsia hair, which fell like happy festoons.
"Cora... You are not keeping the oath... You promised me a little ago not to hold a grudge against your grandmother..."
"It's difficult... How does grandpa have only fond memories of her?"
Spinel's smile became sad... Pink Diamond had been her best friend for two thousand years, but that friendship had been tarnished by the period (three times longer) in which she had been standing and waiting for her.
She would have liked to keep a good memory of her until her death, but this gift had been made to Greg, and to Greg only.
Not to Bismuth, not to Pearl, not to Garnet. Only to him, a human like many others.
"... Grandpa never knew the real Pink Diamond. I think it was proof of the true love she had for him."