CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Peridot picked a few more flowers and added them to her basket. That done, she straightened up and glanced up at the sky. Nothing. But then, there wouldn't be, she reminded herself. If Lapis was going to show up, it would be at the beach, not here on the hill opposite the building site where the barn had once stood. She stuck her tongue out at the machines buzzing over the ground and turned her back on them.

At once, her eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face. Steven was heading up the grass towards her. "Hey!" he called, raising his hand in greeting. "You ready?"

"Ready," she called back, holding her basket aloft. She jogged over to him, taking care not to jostle her flowers. "Any sign of Lapis?" she asked.

"Not yet." He took her hand and they began walking back towards the waiting car. "But Sapphire says she expected that. If she shows up, it'll be later."

"I see." Peridot nodded and allowed him to open the car door for her. Privately, she suspected that if Lapis did show up, it would be when it was most dramatic. Probably during the 'does anyone have any objections' bit. Or maybe 'you may now kiss the bride.'

"Hi, Peridot," Greg said cheerfully as she climbed into the car. He glanced down at her feet and did a double-take. "Uh... nice shoes..."

"Thank you," she said with a demure smile. "I've grown quite fond of them," she added, and winked at Steven.

"Me too," he murmured. Then as his father started the car and began heading back to town, he leaned over and whispered, "wanna see you wearing nothing but those shoes."

Peridot let out a loud snort of laughter and poked him in the ribs, making him yelp. "Sssh!" she hissed as Greg shot a quick, startled look in their direction.

"Everything cool back there?" Greg asked warily.

"It's fine. I was just admiring Peridot's shoes as well," Steven said, feigning innocence. Greg's eyes met his in the rear view mirror and narrowed in suspicion, but he wisely decided not to ask any further questions and simply switched on the radio instead.

The journey back to Beach City passed by swiftly and soon they were back in the house with the rest of the bridal party. They talked quietly among themselves for several minutes, casting quick glances out of the window every now and then at the gathering guests, until the clock struck the hour. At that point, Steven and Sapphire stepped outside and made their way over to the arch. Once they were in position, Greg picked up his guitar and started to play a tune as he lead the rest of the group out onto the deck and down to the beach.

Steven leaned over and gave Sapphire a gentle nudge. "You nervous?"

"I'm not," she said serenely, and kicked away the ice forming around her feet.

They turned and watched Peridot make her way towards them, both of them struggling to keep a straight face as she hit each guest in the face with the flowers. That done, she joined Steven and curtsied. "All flowers have been deployed, wedding commander."

"Thanks, Peridot," he said with a grin.

Then the music changed to the wedding march, and they all turned to see Ruby standing on the deck in her beautiful wedding gown. As soon as she set eyes upon her fiance, a large, wibbly smile appeared on her face. And then she ran to her, as fast as her legs could carry her, and certainly faster than Greg's music could keep up. Amethyst hastily stamped out the flames left in her wake, and stepped back just as the music stopped.

Steven stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Dearly beloved..."

As he spoke, Peridot glanced up at the sky once again, with half an ear on the proceedings. She heard Ruby's vows without really paying attention, and then Sapphire. But as Steven opened his mouth to ask Bismuth for the rings, Sapphire held up her hand. "Wait."

"Uh..." Steven gave her a quizzical look, but closed his mouth obediently and waited.

What followed was ten seconds of long and awkward silence. Finally Sapphire's shoulders drooped and she nodded for him to continue.

"Bis-" Steven began.

At that moment, there was a whoosh and a thump that shook the ground and threw up a cloud of fine sand at the other end of the party. Heads turned, and Lapis Lazuli strode forward. "Hi," she nonchalantly, and held up an untidy paper bag. "Got you a gift."

Pearl strode forward. "Gifts go on the table here," she said, making no attempt to hide her annoyance at this interruption in the proceedings. "And we saved you a seat," she continued, steering Lapis towards an empty chair at the back. Lapis allowed herself to be directed without argument, but as soon as Pearl's back was turned, she stuck her tongue out at her before giving Steven and Peridot a quick wave.

Steven bit back a smirk, then a pointed cough from Pearl brought him back to attention. "Oh! Yes, Bismuth, the rings please."

Bismuth stepped forward, tears streaming down her face, and handed over the rings, which Ruby and Sapphire then slid onto each other's fingers.

"Ruby," Steven announced. "Do you take this gem to have and to hold on this and every other planet in the universe?"

"I do!"

"And Sapphire, do you-"

"Yes," Sapphire said at once.

"You didn't let me finish," Steven whispered.

"I'm just very excited," Sapphire whispered back.

Steven stepped back and held his arms out. "Then by the power vested in me by the state of Delmarva, I now pronounce you... Garnet!"

Ruby and Sapphire didn't even bother waiting for him to tell them to kiss. Their lips met in a sweet, loving kiss, and then Ruby swept her wife off her feet. They twirled around, laughing with pure joy and then, in a burst of light, stood Garnet. Back together once more.

xxx

Steven may have had superhuman stamina, but after several hours of nonstop partying, even he had to take a break. He gulped down a cup of punch, then poured himself a second one and sipped at it while he watched the party going on around him. Amethyst was dancing with Yellowtail. Connie was dancing with Sadie. Pearl was chatting to Nanefua Pizza. Lars, Peedee and Fryman were standing near the buffet table, talking intensely about food, and Garnet was hugging herself as she danced, smiling from ear to ear.

At that moment, she caught his eye and made her way over to him. "Steven!" she exclaimed, and laughed.

"Hey Garnet," he said, and joined in with her laughter. "Thanks for everything," he said, just as she did the same, making them both laugh more.

"I needed this," Garnet finally said once her giggles subsided. "What a wonderful idea. Humans found a way to make a moment's decision last forever. I won't need future vision to know I'll always remember this."

"I'm so glad!" Tears rose up in his eyes, but he blinked them away and held out his hand. "Wanna dance?"

Garnet nodded happily. "I'd love to."

On the other side of the dance floor, Peridot sank into a chair and stretched her legs out. Looking down at her feet, she had to admit that ugly though the shoes were, they were very comfortable.

"Hey."

She looked up to see Lapis standing before her. "Hey, Lapis. Enjoying the party?"

"It's not bad," she grudgingly admitted, sitting down next to her. "Garnet looks really happy."

"She does, doesn't she?" Peridot smiled at the sight of Garnet and Steven doing the Cha Cha Slide across the dance floor and idly wondered if she'd look as happy on her own wedding day. "I wonder where her wedding bouquet ended up- oh, there it is," she commented as the bouquet finally fell out of the sky and onto Bismuth's head.

"Mmm." Lapis frowned. "So, who is that? A cured gem?"

"What? No!" Peridot cackled with laughter. "No, that's Bismuth! Steven told us about her, remember?"

"Oh, right, the one who wanted to shatter the Diamonds, so Rose bubbled..." Lapis's voice trailed off. "Ah."

"Yep." Peridot nodded sagely. "Steven wasn't happy about keeping her bubbled anyway, finding out his mother's true motives just made him even more determined to release her, and Ruby and Sapphire's wedding was the perfect opportunity to do so."

"Right." Lapis looked thoughtfully over at Bismuth again. "So when are you planning to try curing the other gems?"

"Erm..." Peridot shrugged. "Tomorrow? I mean, after you're gone," she quickly added, belated realizing it might be a bit rude to abandon Lapis during the few hours she was back in Beach City. "Where are you planning on going next, anyway?"

"Actually..." Lapis took a deep breath. "I was thinking I might just stay here now."

Peridot blinked in confusion and sat up straighter. "You... want to take a break from traveling?" she checked.

"Yeah." Lapis sighed and slumped back in her chair. "A permanent break."

"Permanent? But- the butts! You've only visited sixty-four percent of the butt-named destinations on your list!" Peridot pointed out. "You haven't even started on the other rude words!"

"And that's the thing!" Lapis exclaimed, sitting up straight. "I mean, what did you think of the Butts Farm? Honestly?"

"It... it was fine?" Peridot said slowly, trying to figure out what point Lapis was trying to make. "Might've been more fun if you... well, it was fine. Why?"

"And what about the butts?" Lapis persisted.

"The butts?" Now Peridot was even more confused. "There weren't any. I asked." She scowled and turned away. "As it turns out, it was simply an archaic measurement of volume and nothing to do with, well, butts."

"Exactly!" Lapis gestured towards the sea. "All those places, I thought they'd be funny, but they're just named after all these weird old Earth things, or they mean something else in another Earth language. They didn't have anything to do with butts. Most of them didn't even acknowledge it. And OK, it was nice to travel around and see more of the planet, but most of those places were just sort of... boring." She sighed and flopped back into her chair again. "Plus it was getting kind of lonely. And I thought, well, you're about to start curing those corrupted gems-"

"We don't know if the cure will actually be a success," Peridot quickly cut in. "Mine and Steven's exposure to corruption was far less intense than the original victims, the song may not be as effective."

"Eh, whatever." Lapis waved her hand dismissively. "I just thought it would be fun- well, not fun, but I was curious, I thought maybe I could help or something. Because..." She took a deep breath. "Steven said Centi was a Homeworld gem who got caught trying to find her crew. She wasn't a Crystal Gem. And I thought, maybe some other Homeworld gems got caught too. And... and maybe some of them were gems I knew. And I could like, help explain to them what happened."

"That's... actually not a bad idea," Peridot said slowly. "We should discuss it with Garnet and Pearl – not right now, obviously, after we've assessed Centi and her crew and compiled the results – but yes, if it works, we would like to cure everybody and it would help to have a friendly- well, a familiar face, when it comes to the Homeworld gems."

"Thanks," Lapis said dryly. "Glad to be of help."

Peridot decided to ignore the sarcasm. It was a wedding, after all. "Wonderful," she said instead, and started climbing back to her feet again. "I'm going to see if Steven wants to dance some more-"

"Nah, you've been hogging him all day!"

Lapis and Peridot both yelped as Amethyst popped up behind them and flung her arms around their necks. "It's a wedding!" Amethyst cheered in their ears just a little too loudly. "Share the love! And come and do the Macarena with me and Pearl!"

"But- the Macarena isn't playing," Peridot protested as they were forcibly ejected from their chairs and pushed onto the dance floor.

"Doesn't matter! You can do the moves to any song!" Amethyst insisted, and began flinging her arms out to prove her point.

"I don't know, I'm not entirely sure Flash has quite the same rhythm," Pearl commented, but she gamely joined in anyway. "So, Lapis," she said, gracefully jumping around on the spot. "How are you enjoying your travels?"

"I'm not," Lapis said calmly. "So I've decided to quit and stay here."

"You're staying?" Pearl stumbled to a halt and almost crashed into Amethyst. "But... where? Andy sold the land, remember? And we never had any success with the room ceremony!"

"Why not let her have Steven's room?" Amethyst suggested. "What?" she protested as everybody stopped and stared at her.

"She can't move into Steven's room!" Pearl hissed furiously.

"Why not?" Garnet asked, suddenly appearing next to them.

"Because- because it's Steven's!" Pearl protested.

"What's Steven's?" Steven asked, immediately intrigued.

"Your room," Peridot explained. "Amethyst was just saying perhaps Lapis could live there."

"But... it's mine," he said, confused. "Where would I sleep- oh!"

"I mean," Amethyst continued, still dancing, "it's not like you're actually using it any more, you've basically moved into Peridot's room now anyway."

"I wouldn't be opposed," Peridot murmured thoughtfully.

"Then it's agreed. I'll have Steven's room," Lapis said decisively. "Can we put the actual Macarena on? I'm going to go and request it."

"But- but-" Pearl spluttered after her as the rest of the group split up and began drifting their separate ways. "It's not... appropriate!"

"Pearl, let it go. That horse has left the stable," Amethyst said soothingly, and steered her towards the buffet table. "And remember," she added slyly, "don't think of it as Peridot and Steven sharing a room... think of it as them sharing a room in a tiny house with thin walls and a really annoying chaperone on the other side."

"That's a good point," Pearl admitted, cheering up at once. "You know what, perhaps I do approve of these new living arrangements after all."

XXX

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! And congratulations to Garnet on having an uninterrupted wedding! I just couldn't have the Diamonds gatecrash her day and honestly, I'm still kinda mad the show did when there really wasn't any particular reason why it had to happen right then. Which is why I racked my brains to find a proper reason... which I'll reveal next year, because that's all for this installment of Living Arrangements! And wow, this one's been a long one, hasn't it? I'm gonna take a short break and write a quick, smutty, completely unrelated oneshot that stormed into my head last week and refused to leave, but I'll return to the series next year... and maybe even finish it.

See you all in 2020!