So I had a whole plan for this chapter! and then the first half of said plan turned into 2000 words. so its a little different here that is for you! thank you too squish for staying up to beta this with me. I hope you enjoy.
Somehow, despite 5000 years and a civil war, Homeworld still hadn't changed much from Pink Diamond's perspective. After the initial thrilling whirlwind of having her back, the party attended by a large portion of Homeworld, the overseeing of the reconstruction of her court, Pink was right back where she began before she left for Earth, following around Yellow and Blue waiting for something to happen.
Blue's was interesting, they spent a lot of time listening to new music that had come out while she was... gone. And they talked a lot about the planets and civilizations that the empire had found during Era 2. But there was still overshadowing grief that didn't come out in a wave from Blue but just hung around like a slowly dissipating fog.
Yellow was, after the initial horrifying display of emotion, pretty much her same old self too. She was a little more open now, and less busy which was just a mindblowing concept to Pink. And she talked with a wider variety of gems, including the pearl which she had made the head of engineering, something that Pearl was trying to figure out if it was meant to be a joke or not.
But she still lectured Pink as if nothing had changed, drilling into her head details about Homeworld's new technologies, and current range and next projections and so on and so forth.
Neither of them mentioned Earth. Or the war. Or what she did.
And in the middle of all of this, Domina had barely said a word to her! Granted, White had never been particularly forthcoming with her presence but she was at least willing to speak to Pink. And to actually hear out her ideas, even when they were for a cut of gems that were perhaps... a little overpowered. But if Domina was still supposed to be White, 'in a way' as Yellow put it, then why was she avoiding her?
It was this line of thinking that resulted in Pink Diamond following Domina through the halls of one of Homeworld's lower court buildings. There had been a trial about some sapphire using their future vision to aid a group of gems in "borrowing" a spaceship.
A thousand years ago- er well, Pink Diamond supposed that would actually be 'five' thousand years ago, the answer would have been simple. White wouldn't have even sat in on this case. But Domina did, and instead of just having the gem shattered, well actually harvesting would be more likely for a sapphire, but anyway. Instead, she actually stood up and spoke to her.
"Where were you going?" Domina asked.
"Away, Your Brilliance," The sapphire said, "There was no plan, I have already spoken with the security hessonite about their eventual path to an area just outside the gamma quadrant." Domina nodded.
"I heard, and your cooperation is appreciated. Was Earth not considered?" Domina asked. The sapphire didn't seem surprised by the question, cause, of course, she wasn't.
"Not by them."
"But by yourself?"
"Yes." The sapphire hesitated and Pink Diamond could almost see the future revealing itself to her. A half a second before Domina turned to the presiding hafnon, Pink Diamond saw the sapphire's face relax.
"Have a Zircon contact the Crystal Gem's and ask if they will give asylum." She said, then turned back to the sapphire. "Exile, to Earth or the delta quadrant if the Crystal Gem's refuse you."
After the Court let out, Pink Diamond made her way through the slightly parted crowd to follow Domina. She didn't even know why at first but then again it wasn't like she had anything better to do than to listen to Yellow ramble about colonies that weren't hers. Domina went out on to the street instead of taking the warp pad like any normal elite. Pink stayed a few yards back, watching Domina's black head bob in the sea of normal gems. The crowds didn't part for her which Pink Diamond thought was odd, especially since they definitely did for her. A few times she was worried she would lose Domina when gems would stop her, telling her how glad they were she was back. But Domina stopped too. Just for no reason, to chat with a ruby or a bismuth or even once a fusion which... was a sight to see on Homeworld definitely.
Eventually, after watching this several times, Pink Diamond realized, sort of what she was doing. Humans had a tendency to use their size to indicate their confidence or aggression and essentially Domina was doing just that. Which made sense, because she was apparently half human. But to see it in context with gems, to see someone with White Diamond's gem in their head, hunch their shoulders and crouch down to a ruby's side, or hold themselves open to a bismuth to show they were no threat and also not the dominant one in this conversation was... unnerving.
But it was fascinating. Pink Diamond followed Domina a few more blocks to a construction site where she met with a fusion of a bismuth and morganite and talked about site plans, just barely out of earshot from Pink. Then she got a call from Pink's Pearl and Pink Diamond tried not to frown as she saw the pearl laugh at something Domina said and chat with her eagerly.
Blue had told her that White had taken her pearl after she had been shattered and that now Domina and the pearl were close, which didn't even make any sense gemetically. That pearl had been made for her! Pink Diamond let this fact distract herself for long enough that Domina had nearly wandered off, heading in the direction of the Citadel.
The moment Domina stepped into the Citadel, Pink Diamond saw her body language change. She stood up straight, walked with more purpose, but didn't stop acknowledging the gems that passed her. Pink Diamond blinked and followed her so closely that next thing she knew she was in Yellow Diamond's Office.
"Yellow!" Domina said, suddenly lifting into the air, giving Pink Diamond two things to avoid panicking over. Since when could White fly?!
"What, Domina?" Yellow asked, she didn't look up at first, just sort of grumbled and raised an eyebrow.
"So I talked with Yellow Pearl."
Pink Diamond took that as her chance to back out of the room, which worked until she ran into the wall with a soft 'thunk'.
That caused Yellow to actually look up. Their eyes met and Pink frantically shook her head as Yellow stared at her confused and Domina continued talking.
"We'll know within a month or so if there's any chance of incubation and it'll at least feel like progress forward."
Five thousand years ago, Yellow would have scolded her for eavesdropping on a conversation between her and White and there would have been an argument about it. Now, Yellow looked baffled but simply continued her conversation with Domina.
"Will it damage any potential to the site's future production?" Yellow Diamond asked. "That is the only thing I would be concerned about."
Pink Diamond gently patted the panel next to her, trying to get the door open, and hoping that it would open quietly.
"Moss Agate thinks it should be fine, there are some figures on plant life during the early stages of kindergartening, if you want to look over them." Domina talked on, like a mixture of White's formality and... well the only other human Pink Diamond had to compare her too was Steven's mate who was incredibly informative when it came to humanity's development after the gem war, both eloquent and informal. Finally, the door opened.
"Oh, are you two talking?" Yellow rose her voice to cover the sound of the door and Pink Diamond almost didn't believe it. Yellow actually helping her with something that she would normally call immature? This was definitely new. But still, She stepped out of the door and around the corner.
"Why of course," Domina said, and that voice sounded familiar. Like White when she was annoyed with Pink's questions about gem history and wanted to change the subject. "We always talk, sometimes even at a reasonable volume."
The door closed and muffled the sound of Domina and Yellow's voices, and Pink Diamond sighed with relief. Really this whole exercise had certainly been informative, even if Pink Diamond had gathered no more information than confirmation that Domina was nothing like White. Eventually, the doors opened and this time Pink Diamond was careful in following Domina, now out of pure curiosity in finding more pieces of the puzzle.
From Yellow's office, Domina walked down the hallway, past another diamond size door, and then paused outside a normal door and knocked. Thankfully, Pink Diamond had followed at enough of a distance that she had enough time to duck out of sight behind a pillar. A few seconds later, she heard the door open and just as she poked her head out of her hiding place Domina disappeared into the room and the door shut behind her.
What kind of Diamond knocked on- ok Pink Diamond could remember that White knocked before entering her rooms, even when she was in trouble, so maybe there were echos of White Diamond's personality in Domina? Humans often had personalities similar to their parents, even when removed from them at a young age. Though surely something like that wouldn't transfer from a gem. As to how that exactly happened... Pink Diamond kind of hoped that White had documented the process somewhere, it couldn't be an easy task, it would have had to take deliberate thought.
After a few moments, Pink Diamond moved to the door, to listen in.
"-think it'll be fine." Domina was saying.
"Well, I certainly hope so." That was Yellow's Pearl or former pearl she supposed. "Otherwise I don't know what to tell you!"
"Hey, it's going to be alright, Yelp." Another voice... A feldspar maybe? "Really, all you could do was try your best."
"Yes, yes, I know." Yellow's Pearl sighed and then that other one piped up, the one that Yellow trusted as an engineer.
"Diamond, so I was thinking about the issue you were having with your ship."
"I said I don't want a new one Forest." Pink frowned. Wasn't the headship destroyed? Along with Pink's ship which was a whole 'nother issue.
"And I say that technically you already have a new ship, you had to have replaced every component by- What, Yellow?"
The voices on the other side of the door suddenly lowered and Pink Diamond pressed closer to try to hear them, only to nearly fall into Domina the moment the door slid open.
"Gah!" Pink Diamond flailed her arms in an attempt to stay up and Domina folded hers. Pink was taller than her, by a good foot and yet still felt small under the weight of an incredibly familiar gaze.
"Don't you have something better to do than to spend all day following me around?" Domina asked, her voice had gone cold, and she had drawn herself up to her full height, setting her jaw and narrowing her eyes. Establishing a hierarchy with eye contact.
"I, uh..." Pink Diamond stammered. "Yeah! Yeah, I've got lots of things to do!" She finally spat out. She swore that the wind had gone still like it did when White entered a room.
"Well," Domina said firmly, two pearls and an off-color staring at Pink Diamond from over her shoulder. "Then I suggest you go do them and leave me alone."