CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"What?" Peridot asked again. "White Diamond's Pearl? What does that have to do-"

"Have you ever seen her?" Perl persisted urgently.

"No." Peridot shook her head. "I never met any of the Diamond's inner court."

"Really?" Pearl looked surprised. "But you had a special mission from Yellow Diamond?"

Peridot shrugged. "Every gem's mission is to serve the Diamonds. My job may have been more specialized than other Peridots, but as I later discovered, that didn't mean I was important," she said gloomily. "Perhaps if I'd succeeded, it would've been different. So," she quickly continued as Pearl frowned at her, "while my orders did come from Yellow Diamond, they weren't sent to me directly, they were delegated to me by my manager. After that, I spent most of my time working in the Kindergarten laboratories. There wasn't exactly much opportunity there to mingle with the Diamonds and their Pearls," she finished, a little sarcastically. "Why do you ask?"

"Hmm." Pearl drummed her fingers against her chin as she tried to work out how to explain. "Perhaps it would be easier if I showed you."

Before Peridot could ask what she meant, Pearl closed her eyes. Her gem glowed, and projected a figure, one instantly recognizable as another Pearl. Presumably White Diamond's Pearl, Peridot realized.

But... there seemed to be something wrong with her. It wasn't just the cracked eye, although that was definitely jarring. No, it was the odd, flat smile and the stiff, unnatural pose she held. She looked like a mannequin rather than a living gem, and it wasn't what Peridot had expected from White Diamond's Pearl...

Her gaze dropped to the gemstone embedded in the Pearl's belly. The same place Steven's gem was located. The same place Pink Diamond's gem had been located.

"She was Pink Diamond's Pearl, wasn't she?" Peridot looked back up at Pearl's face, noting the gem in the middle of her forehead. "And you belonged to White Diamond," she suddenly realized.

"Ugh, trust you to work that out," Pearl groused, dismissing the projection. "But yes, that is correct."

"So... what happened to her?" Peridot asked in fascination. "Did Pink Diamond break her?" Her eyes widened. "Did you!?"

"What!? No!" Pearl shook her head. "No, it was- let me start from the beginning."

All pretense of making tea was dropped as Pearl struck a somber pose. "Pink Diamond wanted a colony of her own, as you know. Her pleas began to wear down the other Diamonds until one day, Blue Diamond agreed to take her along to observe a colony in progress. That planet happened to be the home for another form of organic life."

Pearl paused and shuddered, although whether it was at the thought of the organics or what had happened afterwards, Peridot couldn't tell. "Pink found them fascinating. She wanted to preserve some of them, and begged Blue Diamond to let her bring some of them back to Homeworld. Blue Diamond reluctantly agreed. However, after the colony was completed, Pink threw a ball to celebrate... and brought along the creatures." She shuddered again. "It was chaos! The ballroom was in complete disarray, and they chased us Pearls up and down the hallways until the Quartzes were able to- to deal with them."

"Killed them all, huh?" Peridot commented dryly.

"They were already dying," Pearl said with a sigh. "Homeworld is not designed to sustain organic life for very long, that was why she'd taken them to the ball in the first place, to try and convince the other Diamonds to help her find another way to save them."

She stopped and stared into the distance as the old memories she'd tried to suppress came flooding back. "White Diamond was furious. She took Pink's Pearl and questioned her until she broke. And then... then she..." She struggled to find the right words to explain exactly what White Diamond had done to the Pearl. "She removed her flaws. Made her pure. And in doing so, she took away everything about Pink Pearl that made her her, leaving behind an empty gem, a vessel for White Diamond to control as she saw fit."

She paused, waiting to see if Peridot had anything to say, but for once, the other gem was shocked into silence. "Pink Diamond never really got over it," she said, resuming her story again. "So when she first rebelled, she chose to do so in the form of Rose Quartz for one simple reason: if Rose Quartz and her Pearl didn't really exist, they couldn't be punished. Later on, when she began to take it more seriously, she was aware there would be casualties. But we believed the worst that would happen to them is shattering. Obviously that's not ideal," she quickly added. "But she thought it was a kinder fate than the one that befell Pink Pearl."

She sighed deeply and shook her had. "Unfortunately, we were wrong," she said bitterly. "Pink Diamond underestimated just how important she was to the other Diamonds. She had no idea how far they'd go in retaliation until it was too late. After that, what would've been the point of coming clean? The only gem left to confess to was Garnet, and how could we tell her the truth then, after everything she'd been through? She had no other friends or allies left, no way to leave the planet... Pink said she wanted to wait for the right moment to tell her, but it never happened. Eventually, she refused to discuss it at all. She was Rose Quartz now."

Peridot nodded slowly. "I-I think I understand," she said quietly. Privately, she still thought Pink Diamond was a reckless idiot; understanding her motives didn't mean she thought they were any less insane, but there didn't seem to be any point in saying so. "She didn't want anyone to suffer unnecessarily."

Pearl smiled sadly. "Her biggest mistake was still seeing the good in the other Diamonds," she said quietly. "She forgot that the only reason she'd ever seen that side of them in the past was because she was one of them. Rose Quartz was not. They were never going to let her win."

She turned around abruptly and picked up the kettle again. "I should get back to making this tea, Sapphire will be wondering what's taking so long."

"Right. Yes. I'll just..." Peridot took a step towards her room, then remembered the phone she'd left up in the loft and changed direction. She lingered up there for a little longer than necessary, not wanting to disturb Pearl and make things any more awkward than they already were, but fortunately, it only took a few seconds for the water to reheat. Pearl quickly made the tea, raised a hand to her in farewell, then returned to the temple. Peridot waited a few seconds longer, and then dashed back downstairs to the safety of her room.

For the next twenty minutes, she simply curled up next to Steven and mulled over everything she'd learned since reforming.

Then she brought her tablet over and began to work.

xxx

Steven woke up slowly, unaware of the exact moment he'd awakened, only that he was warm and comfortable and that somebody else, presumably (hopefully) Peridot, was in the bed next to him. He opened his eyes, blinked sleepily and smiled widely when he saw her looking back at him. "Hey."

"Hi." She smiled back and leaned forward and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. "Good morning."

"A very good morning," he agreed, and kissed her back. Then he kissed her again. And one more time, just for luck.

"You're in a good mood today," Peridot observed when they finally parted.

"Well, you reforming and assuring me I hadn't ordered you to love me was a huge weight off my mind," he pointed out. "Plus I had a good night's sleep, which always helps." He yawned and stretched, then put his arms back around her and hugged her closer. "And this is a nice way to wake up too."

"Mmm, it is," Peridot agreed, even though she hadn't been sleeping and had no intention of doing so any time soon. She kissed him again, but when she felt his hands slid down her back to caress her butt, she reluctantly pulled back. "The door's open," she murmured.

The hands paused, and then withdrew. "I've changed my mind," he said theatrically, rolling onto his back and throwing an arm across his forehead. "This morning is the worst."

Peridot giggled at this display of dramatics and leaned over to give him one last peck on the cheek. "I didn't want Pearl to feel uncomfortable about you sleeping in here with me," she explained as she sat up.

"Aww. That's so sweet of you," he cooed. "You're so considerate."

"No, she just made sad noises until I took pity on her," Peridot corrected. "A terrible decision on my part, really."

Steven laughed. "It's OK. We'll just make sure the door's closed – and locked – next time."

"Next time?"

She raised her eyebrows and he grinned sheepishly. "I mean, if you don't mind me sleeping in here, that is."

"I don't mind. So long as you can actually sleep with me in here." She smiled back as she remembered the difficulty he'd had sleeping in the same room as her when she'd first moved into the beach house.

"Well, when you put it like that..." he joked.

She laughed and gave him a playful swat on the arm. "You know that's not what I meant, Steven Quartz Universe!"

"Oh no, my full name, ohh nooo, how scary!" He laughed again, then sobered up as the thought suddenly occurred to him that even his name was a lie. "Doesn't it bother you? Me being a Diamond?" he asked seriously.

Peridot hesitated and she considered her answer. "Honestly... not really. Objectively, I know it probably should, but... you never mislead me about who you are," she tried to explain. "I've always known you were a far more powerful gem than I am, but you've never used that against me. I've always felt safe around you. Those powers may come from a diamond gem rather than a rose quartz, but you haven't changed." She reached out and took hold of his hands, trying to make him understand. "You're still exactly the same person you always have been, Steven." She paused and then grinned ruefully. "But perhaps it also helps that I never met Pink Diamond or Rose Quartz."

Steven smiled back at her, and then stood up and stretched. "Well," he began, leaning over to try and see around the edge of the open doorway into the rest of the house. "I'm gonna go and take a quick shower while the coast's clear."

"OK," Peridot said, already reaching for her tablet so she could get back to work. Now that the Cluster had been moved, the drill was no longer required and she'd spent several hours drawing up plans to repurpose it. And if there was no drill, the drones were also unnecessary, and she paused for a moment to try and think of what to do with them. Perhaps she could send them to Mask Island to help the Watermelon Stevens guard the Cluster? Not that she doubted their abilities, but it had occurred to her that there was no way for them to contact the Crystal Gems if anything happened to the Cluster.

Or perhaps she could place one in the old drop ship where Centipeedle and her crew resided? There hadn't been any opportunity yet to discuss curing them of corruption, but she suspected it would be a much longer recovery than it had been for Steven and herself. They would need a way to remotely observe them, but as she'd told him the other day, there was a camera feed to her tablet, and she could always set up a link to his phone as well-

"Oh farts!" she swore, using her metal powers to grab the phone that had been sat on her desk on the other side of the room. She hadn't told Steven about the messages and phone call from Amethyst, and now she'd have to wait until he came out of the shower. Unless...

She shook her head at once. "Preposterous," she muttered to herself. "And entirely inappropriate. I promised Pearl I'd keep the door open." But even as she said the words aloud to herself, she found herself looking for excuses to break that promise. Which wasn't even technically a promise, and besides, she'd only said she'd keep the bedroom door open-

The phone suddenly buzzed in her hand and she threw it into the air with a squeak of alarm before her senses caught up to her. She shot out a hand and the phone froze in mid-air and then flew back towards her.

Once again, it was a message from Amethyst. A single, smiley emoticon. Then the phone buzzed again and a picture popped up on the screen of what appeared to be a bald, severed head, with the words "get ready for a surprise!" written underneath.

Peridot stared at it in bewilderment. "What's that supposed to mean?" she muttered to herself., casting a suspicious look around the room, half expecting to see Amethyst lurking in a corner, watching her while shapeshifted into the form of a bat or something. It was a ridiculous, paranoid thought, of course... but the other gem clearly had something planned, and as she had no desire to be caught in a compromising position, she reluctantly put the phone back down and picked up her tablet again, trying very hard not to think about how nice it had been to lay in Steven's arms, to feel his hands on her, and how he was just a short distance away, wet and naked...

Abandoning all pretense of work, she opened her most recent fanfic instead and began typing. If she couldn't join Steven in the shower, she could at least channel all her pent up sexual frustration into Percy and Pierre and make them suffer too.

xxx

Steven closed his eyes and let the warm water hammer his body while his mind wandered. Not in the same direction as Peridot's; perhaps it was a good thing she'd decided not to try and join him after all. Instead, now that his more pressing concerns had been addressed, his brain had conjured up another dozen for him to deal with. Like Garnet. Had Amethyst been able to find Ruby and Sapphire? Pearl. Did she have any other revelations up her sleeves? Could she even tell him if she did? Lapis. She'd freaked out when she thought the Diamonds were coming to Earth, how was she going to react when she found out he was one of them?

How were the Diamonds going to react?

Now that was a troubling thought. He blinked water out of his eyes and frowned. Garnet had said they'd come back at some point to find out why the Cluster hadn't emerged. Would it make things better or worse if he told them he had Pink's gem? Would they even believe him? After all, his gem didn't look like hers...

He looked down at his stomach thoughtfully. When his mother had shapeshifted from her Rose Quartz form to her real one, the gem had rotated. Could he do the same?

Could he even shapeshift himself to look like her-

He shook his head at once, trying to rid himself of that idea before it could take root in his mind. He'd traumatize everyone he loved!

But then, there were the corrupted gems-

"No, stop that right now, Steven," he told himself sternly. "That's possibly the worst idea you've had since you gave yourself up to Homeworld! Just talk to them!" Really, when he thought about it, quite a lot of their problems could've been solved with better communication.

He shut off the water, stepped out of the bath and wrapped a towel around his waist. As he reached for his clothes, he caught a blurry glimpse of his reflection in the fogged up mirror and paused thoughtfully. Peridot had said he was still the same person, but really, that wasn't entirely true. Steven Quartz Universe, son of Rose Quartz, was a wanted war criminal, an outcast, an Off Color. If the Diamonds ever got hold of him again, they would kill him without a second's hesitation.

But Steven Diamond Universe was another matter entirely. The Diamonds ruled over Homeworld, they were the ones who held all the power. Didn't that give him power too? And wasn't it his responsibility to use it wisely? The Diamonds hadn't listened to Rose, but surely they'd listen to one of their own? OK, yes, admittedly Pearl had said Pink Diamond had tried that first, but that was five thousand years ago and they thought she was dead now. Perhaps after all this time, they'd be willing to reconsider.

But now was not the time to start agonizing over what to say to the Diamonds when they eventually returned to Earth, he had slightly more important priorities right now. Like finding Ruby and reuniting her and Sapphire. And so with that thought, he pulled his clothes on and stepped out of the bathroom to find his phone.

However before he'd even made it halfway across the house, Peridot poked her head out from around her doorway. "Ah, Steven! Amethyst sent you a message; she says she has a surprise."

"If it's a severed head, I'm going to be very upset," he quipped at once.

"Oh." Peridot blinked and looked down at the phone in her hand. "How did you know?"

"What?" Steven took the phone from her and looked at the message, then started to laugh. "Oh! No, it's a joke, it's from Total Recall! It's a disguise," he explained badly in response to her confused expression. "See, this guy needs to get to Mars, but he's being hunted, so he has a fake head over his real one, but then it glitches, so he takes it off and throws it at the guards, then it says 'get ready for a surprise' and blows up."

"It sounds utterly ridiculous," Peridot said flatly.

Steven grinned. "Yeah, you're not wrong," he admitted cheerfully. Then his grin faded when he remembered some of the finer plot details.

"What's wrong?" Peridot asked warily.

"Nothing." He shook his head and forced himself to smile. "Pretty sure I'm not a unwitting sleeper agent sent by Mom to find the identity of the rebel leader, seeing as she was the rebel leader."

Peridot looked even more confused, but before she could ask any further questions, the temple door opened and Sapphire and Pearl stepped out. "Good morning," Pearl said, a wan smile on her face. Sapphire didn't even manage that.

Thankfully, before things could get any more painfully awkward, the front door crashed open and Amethyst burst in. "Ah, great, you're here!"

"Amethyst! Did you find Ruby?" Sapphire asked urgently.

"Yeah, she's outside, and she's got something to say to you," Amethyst said, pointing back over her shoulder. "But you gotta give me a five second head start 'cause aesthetics."

"Wha-" Sapphire began, but Amethyst had already disappeared again. Ignoring the 'five second head start' request entirely, she ran outside. Pearl, Peridot and Steven exchanged glances and then followed her.

Down on the beach, Ruby sat on the back of a purple horse, a cowboy hat pulled down low over her face. Sapphire took one look them and sprinted down the stairs. "Ruby! I'm so sorry! I should have never said those awful things to you. That we didn't matter any more; I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. I was wrong."

"Pt'ooey!" Ruby scoffed, "Naw, you were right." She jumped off of Amethyst's back and slowly approached Sapphire. "Someone else told us we were the answer. But...I don't believe that anymore. At least, not 'til I hear it from you."

She took hold of Sapphire's hand and then knelt down in front of her, oblivious to the gasps and murmurings of their audience. "Sapphire... will you marry me?"

xxx

A/N: I reckon there's still another chapter or two of this left to go, but this feels like a good place to take a break because I wanna take part in Stevidot month. I'm not going to try doing a fic a day, I simply don't have the stamina for that, but one a week should be doable. But don't worry, I'll get straight back to this in June! See you then!