Garnet was never really gone. It took Sapphire a few centuries to realize this, but it was true.

Sapphire could always tell how Ruby was feeling. At first she assumed it was just because she was good at reading her; after all, she knew Ruby, quite possibly better than she knew herself. But then there came times, very occasionally, when they would be nowhere near one another, and yet Sapphire could still feel Ruby, like a dim presence at the back of her mind.

It took some getting used to. In those first few centuries, when they were still figuring everything out, there were often times when they were separated. It was a bit disorienting to be able to feel her without her being there.

But while Ruby was at the back of her mind, Garnet was at the front. Sapphire understood this almost immediately; it was as if Garnet were a sort of invisible guiding presence, the bridge between her and Ruby, always watching and waiting patiently for the time when she could exist again. Her presence only grew stronger as time went on, and as her love for Ruby deepened Sapphire took comfort in that presence, that bridge.

After maybe three centuries on Earth, they finally talked about it.

"Can you sense my emotions, the same way I know how you're feeling?" Sapphire asked. Ruby and her were lying on a grassy hill, looking up at the stars. They were only a short distance from camp, just to be safe; not that anything was ever safe during wartime.

"...yeah," Ruby said. "Of course I can. Kinda glad I'm not the only one," she laughed.

Sapphire smiled. "Can you feel Garnet, too?"

"Yeah. It's kinda weird but also cool?" Ruby shrugged.

"I think it's nice, knowing she's never too far away."

"Heh. I thought it was kinda creepy at first, but now it's comforting."

"Exactly." Sapphire shifted a bit closer to Ruby, reaching for her hand. She took it, so they were lying just inches apart, hand-in-hand.

"Ruby?" Sapphire said after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"I think I don't want to be separated anymore. I think I just want to be Garnet."

Ruby blushed. Sapphire quietly put out the small fire that started in the grass.

"Me too," Ruby whispered.

They didn't need to dance, or do much of anything really. All Sapphire had to do was reach across that bridge and open herself up to Ruby, and the next moment Garnet was back.

Garnet let out a sigh of contentment as she lay there with her eyes closed, knowing she'd be sticking around for a very long time.


It had been a very long time since Sapphire had been alone. When she woke up in a cell onboard the hand ship, with Ruby nowhere to be found, she panicked. It took her a few minutes to remember to reach across the bridge to see if Ruby was okay. She was conscious and unharmed, but she was panicking worse than Sapphire. Sapphire took a few deep breaths to calm herself, then focused on helping Ruby calm down. Panic would get them nowhere; if they were both clear-headed, maybe they could figure out a way to escape.

Ruby did calm down, but just barely. Sapphire let out a long sigh of relief and allowed herself to focus on her own emotions, only for a moment. She was desperately lonely, and afraid, and very close to panicking again at any given moment. She refused to let herself panic, so she sang. She sang that song that was hers, hers and Ruby's, and Garnet's, that she had sang with Ruby when they had only just met. She closed her eye and sang, taking comfort in knowing that wherever she was, at least Ruby was okay.

Finally, after what felt like ages, Steven found her. In hindsight, she should have realized he would be immune to the destabilizing fields, but to be fair that wasn't her top priority right then. Moments after she stepped out of the cell she heard Ruby calling her name, and before she even had time to think she was running towards her with Steven in tow.

She stopped at the edge of a large room, Ruby standing in the opposite doorway. She left Steven behind and ran to embrace her; it had been so long since they were separated, she had forgotten how achingly lonely she was without Ruby. How did she ever stand living like this?

"Did they hurt you?" Ruby already knew the answer, but it was reassuring to hear it out loud nonetheless.

"No, I'm okay. Did they hurt you?"

"Who cares?"

"I do!"

They didn't need to dance, but they did anyway, Sapphire laughing as Ruby lifted her up into the air. Fusion came as naturally to them as breathing; Sapphire reached out across the bridge, and as Ruby reached back it seemed as though the bridge got smaller and smaller, until finally they met in the middle.


The war for Earth had been going for a good 500 years, and Garnet was almost looking forward to the next battle. They were going after a Homeworld shipyard, which of course would be heavily guarded. None of them liked to admit it, but it was fun to fight when Homeworld actually gave them a challenge, even if it was only the numbers advantage that leveled the playing field. Garnet alone could, and had, taken out entire squadrons of Quartzes on her own; even Homeworld's best soldiers couldn't compete.

Sometimes Homeworld cheated. It seemed like every day they had some new experimental weapon to test out on the battlefield. Destabilizers had become common early on, and while they could cause devastation, they had limits. The Crystal Gems were adaptable, and so they found ways around them. They trained themselves to dodge, to weave around and among their enemies without being hit. They trained themselves in resilience, so that if they were hit they could remain standing at least long enough to get to safety. A few gems, after decades of training, mastered the art of fully resisting a destabilizer's effect.

Garnet was not one of them.

What happened at the battle for the shipyard was an accident, a fluke, a mistake that wouldn't happen again. Garnet was part of the direct assault, taking on Homeworld's ground forces while a second contingent of gems went to disable the fleet. At first, everything seemed to be going smoothly; she had fought battles with much worse odds before, and come out stronger for them. Maybe she was too confident; maybe that's why she messed up. She never was really sure.

Garnet often used her future vision to give her an edge during battle. It was a tricky thing, since going too deep into the future robbed her of real-time perception. While she was fighting her future vision served as advanced reflexes, warning her of attacks moments before they would have landed.

As she poofed another quartz, she suddenly realized that she was about to be attacked from behind. The future vision was a moment too late; she wouldn't be able to move out of the way fast enough, and in that split second she desperately wished she had spent longer on destabilizer training, natural disadvantage be damned. In that split second, she made a decision.

Sapphire fell to the ground and watched as Ruby was poofed in one blow. Without even thinking she darted forward to catch her gem, and sent a spike of ice through the Quartz that had snuck up on them. The battle was raging all around her, making her acutely aware of how vulnerable she was. She levitated a few inches off of the ground and flew away, away from the battle, all the way back to camp.

As she ran, she reached across the bridge to reassure herself that Ruby would be alright, but something was wrong. It was as if a wall had been built across the bridge; the other side was still there, and she could see it, but she couldn't reach it no matter how hard she tried.

She wiped away the tears collecting in her eye and pretended she was okay as she walked into the camp. Only a few gems were left behind, the gems who couldn't or wouldn't fight, and some who volunteered to stay and guard them.

"Yo, Sapphire! You alright?"

Sapphire looked up to find Crazy Lace Agate waving at her, smiling.

"I'm fine. Ruby was poofed, that's all."

"Ah. Gotcha," Crazy Lace said, nodding in understanding. Sapphire smiled; Crazy Lace was a fusion, so she understood the pain of being separated. Sometimes Sapphire wondered whether her components had the same sort of connection as her and Ruby, but she'd never asked. It was a private thing; she knew she'd be uncomfortable if someone asked her about her bond with Ruby. Maybe she'd find out later.

Sapphire sat down on a grassy hill overlooking the camp, holding Ruby's gem close to her chest. After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, Ruby's gem began to glow. Sapphire held out her hands so Ruby's gem could float up into the air. Ruby cycled through a couple different forms before finally reforming properly and drifting down to the ground.

In that instant the wall came crumbling down, and Sapphire rushed forwards to embrace Ruby. Without even thinking she reached across the bridge, and Ruby was more than willing to meet her halfway.


Sapphire smiled. After everything that had happened-bubbling the Cluster, fighting the Diamonds, healing the corrupted Gems, building Little homeworld-she finally felt like the world was at peace.

It had been 5752 years since she and Ruby first fused. It was strange how these things came full circle; now, just like back then, they willingly spent some of their time apart. But being on her own wasn't lonely anymore-far from it.

Even when Ruby was well out of sight, off teaching her own class, Sapphire knew she was not truly alone. The bridge was always there, a comfort rather than a curse, reminding her that Ruby would always be there. Knowing that, and knowing that they'd both grown so much in the past 5000 years, Sapphire finally felt confident enough to navigate the world on her own. She could see the future, after all, and she could see now that no matter what happened, everything would turn out alright.


A/N: Salutations, fellow organic life forms! Guess who's actually updating regularly again? I've had a ton of inspiration after the finale of Future, and way more time to write since schools have been closed due to the pandemic. I'm going to be doing daily updates until my inspiration runs dry. That being said, if yall want to give me some requests/prompts I'd greatly appreciate it!

Keep reading, keep writing, and above all, keep dreaming!