Welcome Back
Good Vibrations- Ricky Reed
"Welcome to Beach City." The side read as they passed by.
Shadow could feel the excitement running throughout his body. Literally, as he was gripping the steering wheel his hands were shaking. He was back! Who wouldn't be excited about that? Well, there was one person.
Jasper had her arms crossed over her chest and her thousand yard stare like she had tunnel vision. Hours ago she seemed to be doing fine. Now she was fuming. You could practically feel the heat coming off her body. Or maybe that was just Shadows imagination getting the best of him.
The ocean's breeze swept through the car bringing its salty smell with it. Taking a deep breath almost made it feel as if you were on the beach. Beach Cities inhabitants were out in full force today. Pete sat in the window of his dad's fry shop daydreaming of whatever kids dreamed about. His older brother Ronaldo throwing fliers of what he could only assume was some alien conspiracy propaganda he made up in his basement. Onion was running out of Mr. Smileys arcade with a bag of coins while the man tried to chase after him. Sour Cream scratched at some invisible record as he walked down the boulevard. Yeah, it was good to be back.
Shadow chanced a glance at Jasper. She was staring right back with aggravation written all over her face.
"Jasper everything is going to be alright."
The gem threw her arms in the air before crossing them. "How do you know huh Shadow? You gain some sort of Sapphire like abilities that I don't know about?"
Shadow smiled at that one. Seems Jasper was getting better at being a smartass cause of him. "No. Dick. It's just a feeling that I have. Everything will be alright."
"Shadow," she said his name quietly this time. "The last time I left this place I left you for dead on the beach. You really think the Crystal Gems, you know, the gems who fight for justice and all that, are going to forgive me?"
"Yes," Shadow said simply.
Jasper took a fist to the top of the glove compartment putting a noticeable sized dent in it.
Shadow could only chuckle at the gem-child. "Way to go and ruin the resale value Jas," he let his right hand off the wheel to grab her hand. "I understand your worried I do. Getting aggravated won't fix nothing and certainly not smashing the car will help."
"It makes me feel better." She said with a pout.
"Well don't, we still have to make it to the temple and I would rather not have to walk all the way there. I swear Jasper will explain to everyone what happened. No one is going to attack you… maybe."
A slug to the arm straightens him out quickly.
Shadow parked the car right around the corner of the cliff that overlooked all of the city. The sand crunched underneath his shoes and the wind went through his white long sleeve shirt. Now that he was out of the car Shadow took a long deep breath. To be honest he was nervous too. He felt like he failed to protect Steven on homeworld. Shadow helped him escape but after that, the boy had to fight for himself with Lars. The last time he saw Steven was when he sacrificed himself so that the two could escape. After that, he only heard rumors of what might have happened.
Jasper trailed behind him, silent and awkward like a three-legged cat. Shadow wanted to console her but so many things were running through his own mind. Would Steven be mad at him for doing what he did? How would the gems feel about him coming back after weeks with Jasper? All the questions they could possibly ask him was giving him a headache. Then the cabin came into view and everything was washed away. The arms of some great gem stretched out as if to welcome him. Though it was cracked and falling apart it still made a beautiful sight. The cabin below it was the same as always, a home where he could really call home. If it wasn't for Jasper he would have sprinted. The stairs couldn't creak any louder he swore as the two made their way to the front entrance.
Before Shadow could take one more step Jasper tugged on his shirt.
"I can't do this." Worry was glued to her face.
Shadow turned around to hold her by the face. "Hey hey it's alright, just take my hand."
When he reached down to grab hers she took two steps down the stairs.
"No Shadow lets just go! They don't want me here I know it. Their gonna attack me and I swear i'll-" Jasper put a hand over her mouth before she could finish.
Shadow felt a tinge of anger cause he knew what she was going to say. "Baby come on it will be fine."
"No it won't," Jasper turned around. "Find me when you're ready."
"Come on Jasper just take my hand." Again he tried to reach for her. Jasper didn't bother to wait for him and leaped into the air over the cliff. She was gone, again.
The door upstairs opened up with a slam and at the top, a spear-wielding gem pointed the sharp end at him.
"Halt human your-"
Their eyes locked on each other.
Shadow blushed in embarrassment when he fumbled with his words. He couldn't say anything funny or clever, just babble like some baby trying to talk. The last time he saw the gem was before they were taken to homeworld and before that the party.
From the top of the stairs, Pearl jumped at him. Shadow opened his arms to catch her and he did. Her soft body collided with his chest and he wrapped his arms around her as the weight of her took him off his feet. Shadow didn't feel the sand came up to meet his body, only one of his best friends holding onto him like a vice.
"Your alive, I can't believe you're alive." Her voice choked with tears she didn't bother holding back. Her face tucked into his neck and her arms squeezed him tightly. Shadow could feel his own tears welling up in his eyes. A happy feeling washed over him the longer they stayed like this. All the doubt he had about come back disappeared. "Shadow I'm so sorry I didn't trust you. I'm so so sorry."
She was talking about that night. Pearl wasn't stupid she knew who had done the deed on the human that tried to assault her. Pearl felt like it was her fault. If she didn't get mad and trusted him when he tried to get her away from him then he wouldn't have had to do what he did.
Shadow pushed himself up on his hands with her still on him.
"Hey P you gonna be alright? You're not gonna poof, are you? That would be one awkward return."
She half sniffled half laughed. "I won't poof Shadow. Only when our bodies take much physical damage do we retreat back to our gems. You should know that crying won't cause us to poof."
Shadow chuckled and pulled her in for another surprise hug, this time she was caught off guard. "Pearl never let anybody change that genius mind of yours, I love you just the way you are."
He didn't see it but her face was lighting up like a Christmas tree.
"Is everyone else inside?" He asked with a hand outstretched.
Pearl took his hand and swept the sand off of her. "Of course let's go they probably can't wait to see you."
Shadow trailed behind her awkwardly up the stairs. Pearl turned around to look at him just before she started to turn the doorknob.
"Welcome home Shadow."
The door opened and he stepped in with a light heart. Before he could look around a loud crash made him turn his head to the kitchen. Garnet had a sponge in one hand and glass all over the floor beneath her.
"Hey girl you getting butterfingers?" Amethyst who was on the couch, looked up from the book she had glued to her face. When she turned her head she saw what had Garnet so perplexed. The book dropped on the floor now.
Shadow stepped inside to look at the two. "What does a brotha gotta do to get a hug around here? Don't say disappear towards certain death cause I might scream."
"Shadow!" The three gems yelled as they rushed him.
The man laughed as they took him to the floor in excitement. Amethyst squeezed the life out of him worse than Pearl did. Garnet settled for a wrapping her arms around his waist. Ruby couldn't contain herself and squeezed a little bit too hard.
Shadows eyes started to pop out of his head. "Killing… me," he could barely say.
"Oh sorry sorry." Garnet let go. When Amethyst didn't she reached down and pulled the small gem from him.
"Let go he hasn't felt enough love yet!"
They all laughed at her.
"We thought you were- when Steven came back and told us what happened we could only assume the worst." Garnet looked him up and down with a smile. "Clearly we were wrong your very much alive."
Amethyst looked up at him with stars in her eyes. "Yeah tell us how you got back Shadow. I bet it was cooler than how Steven did it."
Shadow rubbed the back of his head with a grin. He tried to hide his memories behind a facade. He would tell them later, maybe not the whole truth, just what they needed to hear.
The man looked around for the one person he thought would have been the first one to greet him. "Where is Steven?" Shadow asked nervously.
Garnet answered him. "We recently got back from a vacation and Steven has been kind of down."
"Why?"
Amethyst bumped up to Shadow to whisper. "He and Connie are kind of fighting. Like boyfriend and Girlfriend you know?"
"Amethyst!" Pearl shrieked. "Connie and Steven are not that intimate," she turned to Shadow. "But yes Steven is very much down about Connie not responding back to any of his messages. Plus lion is missing, he should be in town putting up flyers."
Shadow sighed. The poor little guy having his heart broken so young. "I guess I'll just wait for him to pop up. In the meantime," Shadow stepped over to the couch. "I might as well get this out of the way so please sit."
"You gonna tell us about how you got off homeworld. Your epic adventure?" Amethyst sounded like a kid waiting for their grandparent to tell them a bedtime story.
Shadow rubbed his face tiredly. "Yes… sort of please just plant your butts."
Pearl took up a spot next to him, something that Shadow took notice of. Amethyst on the floor and Garnet leaned against the wall with a subtle grin on her face. Now that they were all paying attention he could feel his face warming up. Damn this was so weird.
Stop being a pussy and tell them! A voice in his head shouted. Well, not so much as shouted, have you ever tried to scream in your head? Seriously try it, all your doing is shouting at a weird constant volume. Now I'm just stalling with unnecessary author rambles. Let's continue.
He ran a hand over his eye patch. Pearl shifted nervously and reached out to touch his hand. Shadow ignored the gesture and spoke clearly.
"Jasper is here with me."
The three of them were silent. Amethyst tried to think of something to say and quickly gave up. Garnet was trying to figure out why she couldn't see this possibility and Pearl. Well, Pearl wasn't too happy.
"What do you mean Jasper is here?" She said her name with distaste.
Shadow took a deep breath. "Jasper helped me get off of homeworld. Honestly, if it wasn't for her I would have never of gotten off." Shadow held his hands together to stop them from shaking. He didn't like the look Pearl was giving him.
"Explain." She ordered.
"Pearl it doesn't matter." Shadow turned his head to look at her. You could see the storm raging behind her eyes. Was Pearl really that angry with him? He didn't know if he could take it right now.
Pearl got to her feet to distance herself from him. "I- we," she corrected herself before her emotions got herself in trouble. "Want to know what happened Shadow. Help us understand how Jasper saved you, did homeworld brainwash you?"
Shadow stood up in a sudden flash of anger. His eyes betrayed how he felt but as fast as it came it disappeared. A taste of shame filled his mouth. He couldn't feel anger to the only family that helped him when he was so weak. Especially Pearl, when he tried to kill himself she had saved him.
Shadow couldn't recall a time when Amethyst words sounded so sweet. "Shackster you can tell us anything. We're your family."
"We will all understand. You just have to open up and will take it from their." Garnet was next to him and laid a hand on his shoulder.
He almost wished she would take off her visor so that he could look her in the eyes. Pearl stayed where she was. She wasn't going to let him off the hook just yet. Not with this.
It was going to take time to explain. Even longer to make Pearl understand. So Shadow sat down to get on with it.
It took him almost two hours to explain everything that happens. He had tried not to tell them everything but Pearl wasn't having any of it. The gem would call him out when he got to the gruesome parts. When she tried to call him out about him dying he pulled his shirt off to show her that he did, in fact, have a gem on his back. After that, she seemed to calm down a bit. Until he brought up Fury.
"You two fused!" Garnet got excited and clapped her hands together.
Pearl hid a blush behind her hands but Shadow still noticed. He knew he hurt Pearl, he could see it behind her eyes.
"It's not that exciting Garnet," Shadow said.
"Aww, why not?" Garnet asked disappointedly.
Shadow could almost imagine Fury laughing at why he was not so excited about their fusion. Probably the same voice that called him a pussy.
"If it's not too much to ask could we talk about it later?" Shadow gave her a pleading smile.
Garnet took the hint and nodded in acknowledgment.
Pearl stepped back up to the plate. "So now your back."
Shadow couldn't meet her gaze. "I'm am."
"You could have stayed back in your hometown. So why come back to this life you didn't want to be apart of?"
Amethyst pulled on Pearl's arm. "Hey leave him alone! You trying to chase him off?"
Don't worry about it Amethyst. She feels betrayed. Shadow thought to himself. "I needed to come back," Shadow started to say. "With what I went through on homeworld and how angry we left the diamonds there's no way they won't retaliate. I thought I was apart of the Crystal Gems, so let me do my job and protect our world together."
"Does Jasper feel the same way?" Amethyst asked.
Shadow looked at her. "Well I don't think she'll like being called a Crystal Gem but yet, she does. Unless... " He looked between the each of them. "I know she didn't leave on such a good note," he pointed at his eye patch. "She did this to me, left me to die and I had to live with the aftermath. You guys are all witnesses to that. I swear I wouldn't have come back with her if I didn't think I believed she could do some good."
Garnet crossed her arms. "Do you forgive her?"
"I do. Trust me I tried to kill her before I did multiple times and she still saved my life. It took me a little bit but yes I forgive her."
Garnet looked at Pearl and Amethyst. The little gem just gave a thumbs up and Pearl blushed from the look Garnet was giving her. Garnet turned back to Shadow, "if you forgive her then that's good enough for us. If we're going to make things work will have to work for it, that's easy enough."
Suddenly the front door swung open.
"Guys guys look who I found you won't believe this!"
Steven froze in place. Shadow looked back at Steven with equal curiosity.
"Shadow your back too…" Steven started to walk towards him. "I thought you were dead, the diamonds and-" the boy started to cry on the spot.
Shadow walked towards him. Though they weren't blooded this was his little brother, he was relieved that he wasn't mad at him for bringing Jasper back, she was standing in the doorway staring at all of them silently.
He dropped down to a knee and hugged Steven. "Hey man, I'm alright okay? You know me I can get out of anything. You really think a couple of tyrannical gem matriarchs would stop these muscles?"
Steven sniffled. "Yes." A smile started to spread across his face.
Shadow put him in a loose headlock and ruffled his hair. "Oh alright, then little guy take this then!" He gave him a noogy that made the boy laugh.
Jasper looked up at her lover and Rose Quartz to the other gems. The runt (Amethyst) looked at her nervously. Garnets expression was blank as usual. Pearl, now that gem stared at her with a anger that matched Shadows when he first saw her on homeworld. Guess it was to be expected, at least they weren't attacking her.
"Welcome back!" Jasper blurted out.
The gems gave her a cockeyed look.
Jasper started to fumble her words. "I mean thank you or your welcome," she coughed to clear her throat and situate herself. "Look," she rubbed the back of her head. "I left on a serious bad note."
"You think!" Pearl shot at her.
Jasper bit her tongue before she got herself in trouble. Shadow was looking at her when he noticed she wasn't going to snap he gave her a thumbs up.
"All those months on homeworld made me realize that I was lonely. I've never had you guys have. A family to fall back on and understand you for everything that you are. Look at me, I'm a gem warrior, I can be impulsive and insensitive. That doesn't mean that with time I can't learn to learn to be like you guys."
Garnet put a hand up to stop her.
"Jasper… we don't condone what you did to Shadow. Honestly, if it wasn't for him being here and him telling us what happened on homeworld this would be a different conversation." Garnet stepped around Steven and Shadow to get face to face with Jasper.
"You don't have to change for us to understand you though. Your a Jasper, strong, brutal, fearless. No one can change someone's nature. We can only accept you for what you are, the same goes for you as well. All of us can be your family if that's what you want. Is that… what you want?"
Shadow scowled when Jasper looked at him for an answer.
The gem looked back at Garnet. "Y-yes yes. I want to make things right this time. For Shadow and for myself."
Garnets expression went unchanged for a few more seconds then she started to smile. "Then Jasper welcome back. You're a Crystal Gem now."
Jasper froze up when Garnet opened her arms and wrapped them around Garnet.
"Ohhhh get off me you evil square." Jasper couldn't lift her arm up to hide the embarrassment on her face.
Everyone laughed except Pearl but that was to be expected.
Shadow could just see it now. All of them being a family again. He got up to hug both of them, Jasper barked at him and he laughed all the same.
"We're just one big dysfunctional family," he said for the second time now.
Welcome back. The words sounded nice in his head, yeah this was nice.