And now we see some more of life on a planet essentially filled with the gem equivalent of new-age hippies!
"Dang…" Lapis said, laying her eyes on their temporary home for the first time, "Can we steal some ideas for our place?"
"I mean, I kind of miss the Sun Incinerator," Rhodonite admitted, "But maybe we should have brought our ship here. It could do with some touch-ups…"
"No arguments from me," Topaz replied, putting her navigator at ease.
The Crystal Gems were shocked to find that Rose really had prepared a space for them all, converting two entire floors of the tower into a lodge with all of the amenities they would need. The group could not decide what was more impressive; that Rose found someone to remodel what was likely two floors of alien office space into a working apartment with running water, plumbing and a fully functional kitchen in a few weeks maximum, or that a bunch of gems managed to decorate the entire place so nicely.
Compared to the outside that was filled with mismatched decorations and sporadic demonstrations of creativity, the loft was clearly designed ahead of time with a set floor plan. The first floor was almost a copy of the beach house with a central seating area around a glowing pit filled with luminescent crystals in place of fire. Off to one side was a kitchen the same size as the one at home only cleanly put into one corner since the entire room was several times larger than their earthly abode. Off to one wall was actually two bathrooms which the four organics of the bunch appreciated with Steven and his father taking one while Connie and her mother claimed the other.
Above that was the second floor connected by a circular lift much like the kind that brought several of them down off the roof. From there, the place was one massive corridor with half a dozen rooms on each side. While each room had a bed, they were equally large and came with a few pieces of furniture along with their own set of painting tools. It looked like Rose gave them each the option to decorate the place however they saw fit.
Aside from the increased size, a bunch of artists and artisans were clearly put in charge of the project. Despite all of the walls, floor and ceilings being the same sterile purple metal as the rest of the tower, the large room still had a sense of comfort to it. The floors were decorated with multiple area rugs shaped after various gems in a multitude of colors that popped against the flat floor. The walls had scenes of nature painted all over them, more than likely given actual instructions on how to depict mountain ranges, sandy beaches and vistas overlooking jungles and valleys. The ceiling was also lined with streams of twinkling lights in blues and whites to give the impression of constellations against the ceiling thirty or so feet above them.
They might have been an unbelievably long way from home, but the group already felt much more comfortable with this arrangement. And it turns out that Zoisite and Kunzite had their own much smaller dormitory right above theirs. The same lift that connected their floors could take them to any level from the base to the roof with a few presses on a customized control panel that displayed everything in English as well as the native gem language.
They were not the only ones satisfied with the arrangement, however. Rose was thrilled that they had all came and managed to clear the air with those she left on bad grounds and she had more good news from Pink Diamond. She had just learned that several fleets' worth of gems would be arriving in the next few days and that she had encountered such paltry resistance that it only served to make them look even better. This meant she had a perfect opportunity to spend some time with Steven and the others before she came back!
As she was about to head down, however, she looked to her holo-screen's inbox and found a message waiting for her. She was positive that was not there the last time she checked but it could never hurt to see what it was.
That thought changed when White Diamond's face showed up on the screen.
"What do you want?" Rose spat, instantly tasting bile in her mouth.
"Oh, this is just a little courtesy call!" the grand monarch sneered, "I've heard your little hovel is doing quite well right now…"
"You're in shambles, I know it. Pink herself told me how many planets have already sworn you off. Yellow and Blue are running around trying, and failing, to keep your dynasty in check."
"Oh, they are, but do you honestly expect that runt to know all of our plans?"
"Plans? What… plans?"
"Now where would be the fun in telling you that, hm?" White winked, those toxic lips smirking upwards in a way that made Rose's skin crawl. "Isn't it more fun if we leave some things to chance? I just hope you're ready…"
The message cut off in an instant, leaving the mother/rebel trying to hold back her voice in case she alerted anyone. She needed to get some fresh air to clear her head and perhaps give her the clarity to think of a countermeasure. She headed up for the roof and quickly flew off from her tower, appreciating the flat expanses of the once desolate moon that was now home to tens of thousands of gems who were already living a better life. Seeing them all made her all the more determined to stop whatever White was concocting.
Whatever it was, however, seemed to be taking its time. Two days passed and there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary. The rest of the Crystal Gems were coming to enjoy their time here with plenty of activities to fill their time and countless new faces to meet yet no pressure to any of it.
Lapis and Peridot found plenty of fellow meep-morpists although they quickly found that "art" really was the more common term. Bismuth found other gems interested in metalworking. Pearl got others into dance, Amethyst did the same with wrestling, Garnet appreciated how free fusion was though that did mean she had to turn down quite a few offers from admirers. For Steven and the other humans, however, they just flitted from thing to thing like tourists going on vacation.
Greg was just in the middle of doing that, half wishing he brought his suit for some variety, when he stumbled across someone else doing the same thing.
"Rose? What are you doing out here?"
The pink-haired rebel in question was standing on top of one of the many desolate ships, staring up into space so intensely that she jumped in fright when Greg spoke up. And for a gem, jumping in fright meant going several dozen feet in the air before floating back down a few feet in front of him.
"Man, sorry about that," Greg apologized, "It's just this is the first time I've seen you outside."
"Heh, yeah," she blushed, "All work and no play and all that… Greg, I am very glad you're here. There was something I needed to do with you without the others around."
"Really? What is it?"
She quickly closed the distance between, wrapped her arms around Greg as tightly as she could without hurting him, and mover her lips to his. The father was taken aback, but his legs suddenly refused to move as Rose mewled into his mouth and let out several years of longing. When they finally separated, Greg's face was beyond flushed and Rose was panting for relief.
"Sorry… I just couldn't do that in front of Pearl…"
"Y-Yeah… Um, Rose?"
"Yes, Greg?"
"Can you do that again?"
"Oh, what's wrong Greg?" she teased, "Did I bite the first time?"
"N-No…" he stammered, finding it very hard to string words together, "It's just… I wasn't sure if you still… Well…"
"Trust me, Steven had no idea I was in his gem until a little while ago after that nasty affair with Jasper," she said honestly, right back to being the caring lover instead of the temptress like a flick of a switch, "And in all that time, I did see you plenty."
"Heh, all of it? I know I wasn't the best dad for him…"
"What are you talking about? You were always there for him, provided for him, brought him up when he was down…"
"Yeah… Maybe… Except that wasn't exactly hard. Rose, you know Steven's about the easiest kid in the world half the time. Cheery, optimistic, well-behaved as long as I can remember… But that's only half the time."
"And the other half… Is when he's being a gem?"
"Heh, you always could guess what I was thinking… So many times I said to myself, 'I have no idea what's happening to my own boy.' That's what the gems were for, sure, but…"
"Greg?" Rose placed an arm around him as he seemed to hunch over where he stood, looking far older than usual.
"I was jealous, okay? Every day I saw him, Steven would always talk about all these grand adventures the gems would have, how he always wanted to go on them, the powers he was going to have, and all I could do was smile and nod and give him a pick-me-up when got bummed. I sounded more like some friend than his father…"
"Greg, that's not true! You know Steven loves you!"
"Yeah, I always knew that! I just assumed… He loved them more…"
He leaned into her more, appreciating the velvety soft curtain that was her hair. "I mean, I learned that wasn't the case… And I really don't know what I would have done without them but-"
"Greg, it's okay. I know you gave up a lot when we agreed to have Steven and part of that meant he would need someone to teach him about his powers. And you're not the only one who thinks he could've done more for him as a parent…"
He had to think for a moment before she realized Rose was talking about herself. Greg looked surprised but the mother just let out a bitter chuckle. "I may have watched Steven all his life, but you got to be the active one. A part of me actually wanted to be a mother, to be able to hold him and raise him. I wanted to read books on parenting to know all of the basics, but I knew it wouldn't matter."
"Hey, come on now! That's not fair to push that all on yourself."
"Is it, though? Greg, how many times did Steven tell you about his mistakes?"
"Erm, not many times. I mean, he'd say when a mission got a little dicey but…"
"Exactly. Greg, you weren't there when he was doubting himself. Wondering if he was good enough, thinking he'd never match up to me… And it broke my heart. It took him being fully traumatized by that Jasper for me to finally reach him… That's fourteen, no, almost fifteen years of just watching and never being able to even wish him goodnight."
The two just stood there for a moment, appreciating they had someone to lean on until Greg perked up.
"I guess that's one more thing we have in common… Seems like we didn't have anything at first."
"You bleeding heart," Rose teased, "How did no woman scoop you up before me?"
"Hey, it all worked out pretty well for us, right?" The two moved into kiss again, this time a slow and tender one as all of their worries seemed to melt away.
Elsewhere, the other gems were having less emotionally taxing times around the place. The former crew of the Sun Incinerator somehow got roped into a spaceship race with a handful of Nephrites and thus were blasting around the lower atmosphere. The elementals may not have found any more of their own kind, but did get roped into play fights and stunts by gems amazed to see their abilities. Even Connie and Priyanka ended up being minor celebrities once word of their crystal powers got around and attracted the attention of gems who wanted to be swordfighters and sharpshooters.
Steven, for his part, was grateful that celebrity status never caught him. As idolized as Rose is by this massive group of misfits, no one seemed to pay much attention to him. The most he got was questions about life on Earth, his own past exploits or just wanting to know him for him. He was happy to see the others getting their credit as heroes but was keen himself to just unwind and partake in whatever was put in front of him.
While that did include some gems who wanted to test their mettle against the boy who fought diamonds on two separate occasions and lived, including one very awkward meeting with a bunch of jaspers that thankfully took his explanation very well and even felt sorry for him, it did mean quite a few fun and games. Some were conventional sports the likes of tag, soccer, and scavenger hunts but today's latest exploit was not one of them.
Steven was actually with the original trio, him eating lunch while the other three sort of congregated after doing other things on their own. As he ate and they all made pleasant chitchat, a group of fusions came along and started mingling. The conversation eventually ended with them curious to see if Steven, being part human, could fuse with other gems.
"Heck yeah he can!" Amethyst answered before him, "We've already done it twice now!"
The others were impressed and that naturally meant someone asked for a demonstration. And he saw no reason to deny them. Everyone stood back as the boy and the purple scrapper hugged before being consumed by a dazzling light that cemented in the very familiar form of Smoky Quartz.
"Greetings, slowpokes!" the three-armed fusion saluted, "I hope you all don't mind, but I just got these great new running legs I'm dying to try out! I think I'll go for a quick jog first…"
Everyone kept their eyes on them but that did not matter. One second they were standing still and the next a sonic boom nearly blew them all down. A trail of purple dust marked their trail as they rocketed away at incredible speed.
"Well, should've have seen that coming…" Garnet sighed, amused even as she waved dust out of her face. Pearl was about to say something only to breathe in some of the dirt by accident and end up in a coughing fit. Someone was kind enough to pat her on the back to relieve the problem.
"Oh, thank you," the slender gem said only to turn and see it was Smoky.
"Aw, think nothing of it! I guess I should have warned you all before taking a little jaunt."
"Where did you go?!" one of the onlookers asked, "None of us even saw you!"
"Aw, just had to grab a friend. Thought she'd want to see me again!"
"Wait for me!" a high-pitched voice cried, quickly revealing to be Peridot flying in on her makeshift hoverboard, "I am many incredible things, but supersonic isn't one of them!"
The other gems marveled at how the techie was flying but Pearl and Garnet just rolled their eyes as good-naturedly as possible. Of course a show-gem like Smoky would want a foil to bounce off of and the gem who was around when they first formed.
"And now, ladies and gems, that my plucky assistant is here…" the fusion introduced, getting a laugh from the crowd since Peri loudly objected to being the sideshow, "I'd first like to ask you all a question: have any of you heard of a yo-yo?"
The onlookers all hummed and murmured amongst themselves but no one came up with an answer aside from an odd slang term from the Crystal Gems' home planet.
"If you're unsure then worry not! I just so happen to have one on me…" They coyly reached for their gems, a purple-brown whip emerging from the gem above the collar of their shirt while a matching shield came out of their naval. With practiced ease, Smoky thrust them both into the air and simply held out their sole right arm to catch their signature tool as it fell out of the air.
"Now that I'm properly equipped, feast your eyes on the many tricks/combat maneuvers from my fancy toy weapon!"
Peridot was about to open her mouth to ask exactly what she was supposed to be doing here only to Smoky to dash over, whisper something in her ear that made her chuckle deviously before sneaking off quickly, and then proceed with their show. The performer went through many of the classic yo-yo tricks like walking the dog and the around-the-world, the crowd eating it up to the point almost everyone forgot Peridot was even there.
This, naturally, was all part of the plan as Peri came back right as the three-armed rapscallion was finishing up. She also happened to be wearing an upgraded version of her armor from her fight with Mercury, now a fully complete suit with the ordinary metal now having a bluish sheen across it.
"Hope you didn't forget me!" she boasted, her hoverboard actually falling away from her feet while the rest of her was still airborne, "My Ametrine-brand armor has been waiting for just the occasion!"
"Well… If you insist…" Smoky shrugged impishly before letting their yo-yo fly. Peri moved just before it could hit, however, sidestepping in mid-air before lowering herself to the ground with a wide flourish of her arms. Her feet landed just as the giant toy landed back in Smoky's hands, a moment of silence giving the crowd a chance to breathe before the real show began. Pearl and Garnet were not sure what was more impressive; how quickly they planned all of this or that they were working through it so seamlessly. Whatever the case was, they were just as intrigued to see what would happen next.
While the more innocent show was going on well within Rose's domain, Pink Diamond was calmly navigating to the next planet in her course. Only a few days away from completion, the ex-monarch was eager to expand her and her friend's new enterprise to more than just the one moon. That goal might have been out of necessity from the sheer number of new followers Rose would bring under her sway, but it was still nice to envision.
Her mood was soured when her mind turned to Yellow and Blue, her receiving calls in the past about how the two were trying to corral their uprising. The only reason she did not interfere was out of simple logic. They were ultimately just proving her point at how manipulative and dictatorial they were while she moved on offering gems their first real taste of independence. They could recruit the last few dregs that wanted the old ways back, but she knew firsthand how bitter someone became being under the larger diamonds' heel for too long.
She was about to program her flagship's next warp jump when a call came in. Her eyes could scarcely believe what she saw…
Yellow Diamond's personal line.
She almost flinched out of reflex before a burning in her gut made her pause. She had half a mind to simply let it ring and let the unflappable general be the one to sweat for a change. Tempting though that might have been, the thought of being the one in control and refuting the excuses she cooked up seemed too good to pass up.
"Oh, thank goodness I reached you!" the queen gasped, killing the withering retort Pink was about to let out, "Pink, are you okay?"
"Yes…?" she answered shakily, thrown off by the pleading look and tone. Either Yellow was trying to get her off-guard or this was an imposter. Her suspicions were only raised when she watched the ruler sigh in relief.
"Oh good… I wasn't sure if White had pulled anything yet."
That raised an eyebrow. "'Yet?'"
"Knowing her, she's plotting something… But I swear on my life I don't know! Neither Blue nor I have heard from her for weeks now!"
"Uh-huh…" Pink sighed, a tired hand rubbing between her eyes, "Yellow, I don't know what you want from me-"
"A chance," she cut off, "And if you don't take, then I'll leave."
"Oh, is that right?" A slender finger was held above the 'off' button, "Well then, you made this easy."
"Wait, please! Let me say one thing!"
The finger paused, but the look on Pink's face made it clear she was anything but happy. Yellow took a deep breath before spitting out one thing. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"Interrupting you."
Pink almost shut the line off out of reflex only to actually hear what she was being told. She went right from annoyed to very confused. "Wait, what do you mean?"
"Just now, I cut you off. It's a very basic rule of etiquette that I broke and… well, I'm sorry about that."
"…Just that?"
"No, no, there's… A lot more than that, but I figured I needed to make a point. I-I just needed you to know, Pink, t-that I…"
"Yellow, what's gotten into you?" Pink asked, her anger starting to fade, "You're stuttering."
"Am I? I… I've just waited for so long… Pink, I can't tell you how sorry I am…"
"For what?"
"EVERYTHING!" Pink recoiled in shock at Yellow's out of nowhere screech before watching the mighty commander of Homeworld's entire military begin to bawl her eyes out and try to choke out her feelings.
"I… I… I should have… Treated you better! Pink, I… I swear… I'll never hurt you again!"
"Yellow, please, calm down! It's okay…"
"NO! IT! ISN'T!" the diamond shouted, her hands grasping at her hair, "I treated you so badly! I… I once threatened to strand you in space! I constantly punished you, berated you, took the others' side at every turn!"
"Yellow, stop it! You don't have to-!"
"Pink, I'm sorry!" She actually readjusted the camera, zooming out and angling it down to show her actually getting on her knees and bowing. The smaller diamond was completely lost. She had always wanted them to see the error of their ways, but she never expected Yellow of all gems to fall apart.
"Look, you have every right to hate, despise me, Blue and especially White! But Blue and I aren't out here because of White, we actually left just to find you."
Pink narrowed her eyes at that. "Really? Then why have you been going around halting our revolution?"
"W-Well, Pink, we can't just let gems run amok! They need-"
"Oh, really? You think you know what gems need now? What happened to how awfully you've been treating me?" Now Pink stood up from her seat, pacing around the empty bridge.
"So, let me get this straight: You make this heartfelt plea, desperate to make me happy and show how sincere you are? That you've changed for the better and are willing to cast aside your old habits? Terrific. Seeing you humbled like this really does do you wonders."
Yellow started to get her hopes up until Pink sat back down and stared right through the screen into her eyes with a determination that reminded her way too much of White for her liking.
"And at the same time, you spend a great deal of time undermining my work. You make it clear you do not hold gems to the same regard you hold me. And despite apparently defying White's orders, I'm guessing she has similar sentiments about stopping us so in actuality all you're doing is helping that egomaniac destroy something else I care about…"
A bitter chuckle escaped her lips. "So, Yellow, what exactly has changed?"
"I… I…"
"You can be as sorry as you want, Yellow. You can get Blue on the line and have her cry her vision spheres out. You can both go on about how much you miss me, but that's not enough. You want to prove you're done with White? Do one thing."
"W-What? I'll do anything!"
"Stop the empire."
"Y-You can't be serious…"
"I'm not making a joke here, Yellow. Stop everything. No more killing planets, no more subjugating gems who don't meet your supposed standards, and no more treating gems like your puppets. Then, and only then, should you call me. And when you do, you better have proof because if I find out you lied to me…"
Pink raised her left hand, the same flaming energy that incapacitated White so effortlessly floating off her fingertips.
"Then Rose and I will stop you. And if you think I'm bad? Rose could crush you by herself and believe me, she wants to. Give me a reason to even think you'll go back and I won't so much as blink when she finishes you off."
"P-P-Pink…" Yellow sobbed, "I'm sorry… I…"
"Save it. Prove how sorry you are. I'll even give you a chance. I'll be monitoring your activity while I'm wrapping up my tour. If you stay completely still, just sit there in space and let me do my work, then and only then will I know you're sincere. And all of this applies to Blue too. If I hear one sob story from her then it's over for both of you."
"O-Okay…" Yellow stammered, "If that's what you want, then I'll do it."
"Well then, we have nothing else to talk about."
"Y-Yes. Goodbye, Pink."
"And for the record, I will contact you when I'm satisfied and not the other way around. Keep any and all apologies you have for me until then, Yellow."
Pink shut off the record and immediately brought a hand up to her chest, trying to stop the onset of jitters and shaky gasps from escaping. It only worked for a second before all of the anxiety and panic she had came rushing out of her. She nearly fell out of her chair from trembling so much, constantly holding all of it back with every word she said.
And now that she finally had, truly stuck it to one of the gems who had made her life so difficult, she thought she would be thrilled. Instead, all she felt was the metaphorical bile building in the back of her throat.
One family is coming together, but another is coming apart. What will happen to both of them? Find out next time!
Thank you all so much for reading! Post any questions or comments you have in the review section!