'This seems… unreal. I can't believe I'm here after what I did. I shouldn't be here. I should have gone somewhere else but… I don't know where to go. I have no idea where I can possibly go.' I sigh as I stare into the sky. I've recovered since my… actions, but the gravity of everything I've done has started to sink in. I could go. I should go but like my thoughts have been hounding me since I awoke, I have no idea where to go. I only know of two places I could go and neither seem the best option. 'Steven's been accepting of me since what I've done but I still can't shake the feeling. I wish he—'

"I thought you left?"

I'm knocked out of my thoughts from Steven's question. I knew he was coming up so I'm not surprised but still curious why he's talking to be despite everything I've done. After I couldn't really leave, decided to just sit here and think. "I was leaving, then I realized I've got nowhere to go. Who knows what they would do to me back home after what I did to Jasper? I can't go back to Homeworld and I can't stay here." I sadly tell him. When I went back home after Marcus and Steven freed me from that cursed mirror, just thinking about it makes my hand clench, and they fixed my gem, I thought I was going to be happy when I made it but… I was gone for so long. So much had changed and I couldn't understand just how everything works now. The technology has improved and changed so much, but so have the gems. 'It was so different. I didn't fit in.'

"Sure you can!"

"… What?" I ask, looking towards Steven confused.

"You can totally stay here, it doesn't have to be here here. You can live anywhere! You don't have to stay in Beach City if you don't want to." He explains further. "Ooh! You could live in Surf City or Sea City, Aqua Town, Bayburgh, and that's just the places I know of off the top of my head. I could show you around. " He names things off his fingers.

"Really?" I ask, a bit of in me now of the idea there's more that I can go to.

"Yeah, we could find you a new place to live. I really only know the tri-state area but my phone has a global positioning system." He says as he pulls out a small device. 'Tri-state?' I forget the thought and focus on us going.

"Oh, Uhh, okay, let's go look." I stand up and so does he.

"Ready Freedy?"

"My name's Lapis." I don't know why he continues to give me names when he knows my real one. Like that Bob the first time. Still I sit down in order to allow Steven to climb on my back. I stand back up after he's on me. "You okay like this?" I ask him and he nods. Just before I take off with my wings formed, I take another look around the place and we fly into the skies.

"Whoa!" I hear Steven cry out on me from behind but it's not scared or agony. More like surprise and excitement as he grips me harder. It feels good to back in the air again and with Steven along it feels better. Nice to have some company now up here. His starts to cry out in a more excited manner as I steady us in flying. Once I settles or calms, I bring up something I notice.

"By the way, I saw all that broken stuff around that tower I was sitting on. What happened?" Back at that tower I was sitting on, the landscape seemed more like it was meant to be peaceful, and green, but that broken machine and metal pieces littering the whole area, along with black charring to go along with it. Seemed odd and out of place.

"Oh yeah, that was Marcus's helicopter. He crashed it after we saved you from Jasper but he's… he's fine now." He explains. As I remember the wreck, now that I see it does sort of resemble that contraption he was using. Before I can ask more he continues, "So, how about this? You could live out here in the country; there's no noise, no rules, and it'd just be you becoming one with nature." He explains as we pass several things below us, including some buildings that look like what we just left before.

I decide to get a much closer look at all this if this is going to be my potential home. I angle down towards the ground, swooping in until we go past the large bushes and see the ground. "Why would I want to do that?" I ask him I examine everything curiously. I've never really seen anything like this before so while he says 'nature', I'm not really sure.

"It's fun." He answers. "If you live with these trees, you could build a giant bird nest and have squirrels for pets! You could eat acorn pie every night, and when it gets hotter or rains, you would be protected by these nice leaves."

"Leaves…" I breathe as I watch these trees pass us. There's so many around us and I wonder what their purpose is. 'Nothing like the machines Homeworld use.' Having enough time to look, I fly us back up. I push past more of the leaves in the trees and go above them so we can see a lot more.

"Whoa, Lapis, look at this! This leaf turned orange." He shows a leaf he grabbed in front of me. He's right. It is orange, while some of the others are green for some reason. "This means the season are changing from summer to fall. Soon, it's gonna happen to all the leaves on all the trees."

"Wow." I moan in amazement. Definitely haven't seen anything like this before. 'They just change? Just like that? Huh.'

"So, what do you think?" Steven asks.

"Hmmmm, I'm not sure." I reply. I've been alone for a long time as it is. While I'm not expecting friends anytime soon to be with, I don't think nature and I would agree.

"That's okay, there's plenty of places we haven't been yet. Come on!" He points elsewhere ahead of us. Shifting my flight, time passes as we head further along through the air.

At first I'm not sure what it is what we're looking for but something starts to take shape that I feel would probably belong on Homeworld. "What's this?

"This must be Empire City. Isn't it cool?"

"It's very bright." This is so… big. The structures remind me of some of the ones used by Homeworld but these aren't as big or… sleek I guess you could say.

"Yeah, that's why they say, 'What happens in Empire city never sleeps.'" 'But all gems don't need to sleep. Except Marcus. I remember him having to do that after he helped me escape and then I…'

"So, what does happen in Empire City?" I ask, not wanting to remember my little stint with the ocean.

"Well, let's see. If you lived here, you could get a cool apartment, and be a single gem taking on the big city. You'll have a fun job at a local coffee shop and come home to a wacky roommate—"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I tell him. I don't know what a roommate is, or a coffee shop, or even an apartment.

"Awww." He moans sadly at my lack of information.

Looking back away from us, we start passing the city and I see something else further in front of us. "Hey, what's that shadowy place right there?" I ask as what looks like another city is further ahead but doesn't look as big as Empire City.

"Oh, that's Jersey." He tells me. This is city isn't as tall as Empire city and it seems more… drab and I think depressing. As we pass over it, I see a lot of machines along the ground going all over the place and no organics.

"Is it populated by machines?" I ask. Thanks to Marcus and Steven I know of the humans that inhabit this planet but this looks more like its only for machines.

"No, those are cars. They make a lot of smog though." We pass by a thick black cloud and while it doesn't affect me, Steven coughs from it. I angle away so we don't hit anymore of these pollution clouds. "You'd like it in Jersey. The people here seem to hate the Earth, too. I think Marcus would like it here too."

"Quit flyin' in our sky, you mooks!" Someone yells from below and tosses a large shoe towards us. I dodge it easily enough.

"Nevermind. I think he'd beat that guy up."

"He would." I agree. We share a laugh at the idea of our friend doing that. He always seemed especially protective of Steven and I. Not wanting to deal with anymore flying clothing, I take off higher into the air with Steven past some clearer white clouds.

"Wow, Lapis! It's so beautiful up here." Without the bleakness that Jersey seemed to cast, Steven now sees the rapidly darkening night sky in a clearer sense.

"Eh, it's alright, I guess I can see why you like it." I reply. Being able to do this all the time, you get used to it but since it doesn't look like he can do it at all like I can, I can see why he's amazed. A thought surfaces that I think he might like. I flex my wings to get ready. "Hold on!" I warn him and push us faster.

He grips he tighter as we push further ahead quickly and in a small flip, I do a loop and feel Steven fall off me. Without missing a beat I grab his arms before he gets too far from me. "Whoa!" He yells excitedly as he holds on.

"Check it out." I shout as I hold Steven as well by his arms.

"Woohoo!" He whoops as we continue to fly through the air. Soon we start making our way over the ocean and the clouds start parting. "Hey, we made it out all the way over the ocean. I wonder how far out we are?" He asks and considering I can't see any more land, pretty far out. 'Geez, how fast was I going?' Before I can answer my own question, my eyes stop on particular plot of land that seems familiar. "Oh, cool, the Galaxy Warp." My eyes dilate as the location becomes clear. 'That… place. The… Galaxy Warp. It's there… It's right there.' My body starts to feel numb. The memories of that spot. 'So close… I was so close for so long! It was within arms reach. My chance to escape was right THERE and I couldn't—' "Lapis, Lapis, I'm slipping! I'm gonna—" My hands reflexively clench again as Steven's voice cuts through my thoughts. He almost slipped out of my hands while I sulking in my own mind.

"So-sorry, I'm sorry." I apologize sadly. Looking back at the warp, I decide to land there, despite some… bitter memories. I don't want to accidentally drop him again. We land on the edge of the structure before I step closer to the middle. "This I where I was abandoned." I tell him as I make my way up the stairs. I hear Steven walk up behind me but being back here feels almost like I've never left. 'I was here for soooo… long.'

"What happened?" He asks. 'I already told Marcus… maybe I can show Steven.' My hands move out to my sides and I channel the water around us. Control of the water means I can manipulate it in any way I want. I can feel it, move it, shape it and make it do my bidding. It's a powerful feeling… but lately I haven't been feeling as powerful with it after… after… her. I can feel the water peaking over the sides and making its way around us. The water climbs above and forms around us, both as walls and the floor around us is covered by the water. "Whoa!" Steven says in awe at the actions but I'm not done yet. As we stand in front of the main Galaxy warp pad, I focus the water and it hardens, turning it into ice and making it as clear as… a mirror. "It's like a mirror." He comments like in my thoughts. Focusing on the mirror in front of us, I let the memories flow, allowing them to be seen.

'It's time I showed him.' With the water over the broken pad and ready, I show him what happened. "It was thousands of years ago. I was only meant to visit for a short time," The picture shows a peaceful looking green earth, but suddenly it turns into chaos with explosions and gems running all over the place. "But I got caught in the middle of the war. It was awful! I tried to run but… A gem ambushed me before I could escape." I could still feel their fist as they attacked me straight in my gem when I turned to fly away. I should have been more prepared but I was too late and "I lost my form and I was picked up by a Homeworld soldier and confused for a Crystal Gem and used as a tool." It was so weird and messed up when I was forced into that cursed mirror. I could only see in one direction and I couldn't do anything else outside of it. The constricting feeling of being trapped in it was horrible. Now… its an all too familiar feeling. I show Steven when they picked my gemstone and placed it on the back of the Mirror. "They'd asked me, 'Show us your base!', 'Where is your leader?'… I didn't know. I couldn't say I'm not one of them as you and Marcus saw when we met. It soon became clear as the war progressed that there was no hope in stopping the rebellion. All of the Homeworld Gems fled," Through my limited view I remember them fleeing through the Galaxy Warp and flying saucers ships they had, "And in all the panic of escaping Earth," I swallow as I remember being dropped. Then the stomping.

*CRACK*

Then the cracking. That horrible cracking feeling of your very life force tear almost completely in half in one single moment. I was lucky they didn't step on me more or else. "I was left behind." I continue regardless. Even broken, hurt and abandoned, I remember a bright flash of light pierce through the skies, the nothing. "And there I stayed. Freedom in my sight, but out of reach for ages, until I was found." For so long I watch the sky and I was powerless to move even an inch. Until that Crystal Gem Pearl found me and took me.

But that's all I can show. The memories, the action are too much. I shake as the water flows away and I collapse onto my hands and knees. "Are you okay?" Steven asks me, coming up to me.

"I'll be fine. Let me take you back." I reply once I'm good again.

"You sure you don't want to take a minute?" He asks a little worried.

"Thanks, but it's fine. I just wanna get outta here." I start smiling to show him I'm okay. In reality it still hurts but he doesn't need to worry about that now. It hurts but… it's the past and he's here with me now.

"Okay." He agrees and gets on me again before I take off into the air and away from this place.

I fly us for a bit in silence but the memory of what happened still stings. "For a moment, I really felt like things were different, but they're not. No matter where I go, I'm trapped."

"But you're not. You're not underwater, you're not in a mirror. This time, you're free!" He tries to make me feel better.

"But I'm still on Earth." I counter.

"Yeah, but nothing is still on Earth. Everything's always changing. The leaves, cities, even Jersey changes. My dad says the rest stops used to be pretty gross, but now they have sushi. This isn't the same world that held you prisoner, not anymore, and I know it doesn't feel like home but maybe that can change, too." He explains. 'So things change all the time on earth then. Huh…Change… maybe… change.' The sun is starting to come back up and before long we make it back to where we first left. I land in front of the large building and put Steven down. "I know you can't go back to Homeworld, but if you stay here, it'll be your choice to stay here." He hands me the leaf he showed me earlier.

I stare at the leaf he gave me in my hand. It's supposed to be green and yet it isn't. It changed. "It's funny. For all this time I spent on Earth, I barely saw any of it."

"That's not funny. That's super sad." Steven thinks it is but I'm not really seeing it like that.

As I look upon the sun that starts to rise, I now realize that I now have the option of a whole literal planet to explore finally make my decision. I was only stuck in one part of it for so long and now… "I… I wanna see it." I tell Steven finally, a smile starting to form on my face. Not a fake one but a genuine one.

"Yeah?"

"I wanna stay here!" I say with a bit louder.

"Here? Like here here?" He asks and I nod.

"Yeah, here here!" I happily say now. 'I feel goo now! Really good! I don't feel sad anymore. Like I now have the opportunity to call my own as home! This is going to be—!'

"Yes, 'hear hear' everybody." My thoughts halt altogether and my breathe hitches at the new arrival. "What are we talking about?"

'P-P-PERIDOT?!' My mind questions loudly in my head at that horrible technician in front of me. "You?!"

"Lazuli, nice to see you up and about." She comments like its no big deal when really I want to know what she's doing here.

"What are you doing here?!" I question out loud.

"This is my new home away from Homeworld!"

'Her Home?!' I shake my head at the idea. "No, it's not! It's mine! Right, Steven?" I demand before looking to the small human. I expect him to agree but he looks really nervous.

"Hehe, oh, boy." He mutters uneasily but I don't know why. She shouldn't be here!

"Well still, good to see you up Lazuli. Now we just need Marcus and everything will be right as rain." Peridot looks at Steven. "Was that right? Is that how that goes?" She asks, where he gives her a thumbs up.

'Wait, Marcus?' "Marcus? What about him? What happened?!" I ask Steven quickly. I was knocked out during the fusion battle but he seemed alright before I was unfused. To think that he wasn't there when I woke up seemed… odd. But I was so focused on leaving that I didn't think he'd bother with me leaving like that. Now that I'm staying, I think, now I'm worried if she says he's not up.

"Something… happened after we saved you." He hesitantly says, looking to the side for a second before looking back at me. "He had to regenerate from some injuries," I notice Peridot rubbing the back of her head. "And it usually knocks him out for a full day. Wait…" He says the last part to himself and turns to Peridot. "It's been over 24 hours. Shouldn't he be up by now?" He asks her.

She shrugs, "If that's the time frame, then yes." Now she looks worried. I don't like that. "But he's not. He's still sleeping on the barns upper floo—"

Before I can let her finish speaking, my wings form and I fly through the open doors and up. As soon as I am hovering above the next floor, I look around but it doesn't take me long to find him. "Marcus." I breathe his name and go over to him. My wings disappear as I land next to him lying on the ground. He is completely still and doesn't look to be alive at all. However as the silence becomes evident, I can hear the faintest movement of his breathing. "What happened to you?" I question to no one in particular. To see him now so vulnerable seems wrong. 'What happened while I was gone?'


"Lapis?"

"…" She doesn't turn around or acknowledge her name being called by Steven. Instead she continues to stare at the still body of her savior on multiple occasions.

"Hey, Lazuli?" Peridot bluntly calls out and that seems to get a reaction. Lapis's hands clench violently and her wings sprout from her gem. Both gem and human duck back from accidentally spurring her ire and go back to the first floor. "I… don't think she likes me." Peridot points out the obvious.

Steven looks at her before looking to the top again. "Let's give her some space for now. Then figure out a way for her to like you so you two can live here together."

"I guess." She uneasily mutters before glancing up too. "I just hope Marcus will be fine."

"He will. With Lapis, I don't think we have anything to worry about." Steven leads the green gem away from barn.


Happy late Halloween everyone.

I guess you could say this is a retelling of the episode but I hope you all like what I did. How many of you were surprised to see the point of view being Lapis instead of my OC? Thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to give her a bit of a spotlight seeing as all she's been through. Either way how you see it, it was… interesting writing from a completely different characters view, mindset and I hope I nailed her. The depressing feelings she has from her experiences, the isolation from being alone for so long, her entirely 'alien' aspect different from what she knows compared to earth, I hope I did her justice and at least made things interesting when writing this out. It also looks like after everything that Marcus has gone through, a simple regeneration session isn't going to cut it. What happens next for him remains to be seen. For now expect another Lapis focused chapter if you remember the next episode.

Speaking of episodes, the new seasons coming out very soon, Nov. 10 if I remember correctly and I'm super excited for what's going to happen. Really hope we get tons of new airtime for the gems we've seen in the past, Lapis and Peridot being obvious from the sneak peeks but I do want to see what we got for Bismuth and even Jasper. I've got plans for the orange gem but I want to see what Rebecca Sugar's got first so I can figure out how to go from there. One thing I also heard though is I think that date is for the episodes to air on the Cartoon Network app. If that's the case, then I'm kind of screwed in that regard because my service provider can't let me use the app properly. All I get is random episodes instead of the On Demand function. Either way, I'll make do and hopefully see the new episodes as soon as they come out.

Just to clarify I'm going to be working on my other stuff for the time being, just to let you all know of whatever time frame you might expect from that. Not much else is going on with me at the moment but a couple weeks ago I got with a bad allergic reaction to some medication and developed Hives. It sucked and was messed up for almost a week straight but now I'm starting to get a bit better. Still loopy and headaches at times but nothing that'll keep me down. Besides that I've been just doing some assignments for school, got COD: WWII, and heard the news on the new heroes for For Honor and I'm excited to see what the new Samurai hero is going to be like. The Ronin, or as the devs call them the Aramusha, looks cool, especially with the two swords. But I guess you already know that considering the weapons that Marcus use.

Now for the Guest Reviews.

XxGuestxX: For so long since I couldn't directly respond to guest questions and reviews, this is as good as I can give at least. Thanks for the confidence on that fic idea. As for the time travel, in fact I've been talking with another author on what would happen if both Steven and Marcus were sent back in time. Let me ask you, how crazy do you think it'd be if both Marcus and Steven were sent back thousands of years into the past? More specifically, the Gem War for Earth?

And so it comes full circle. I was inspired from others to write again, and now that same for you. It puts a smile on my face to hear that my writing has inspired you to get back to writing as well. Hope things go well and you in turn inspire others to write.

Espada117: Thanks for the compliments on my OC. I appreciate it. I'm not a major fan of both the Batman franchise and League of Legends so I only know the bare base parts of both. So since I'm not a hundred percent familiar of Bane and Warwick in all aspects I don't feel knowledgeable enough to make an OC based on them. However seeing as they are both big, strong and some might consider walking tanks, especially Bane, then I think I can find some possibility of use. No guarantees though.

You know speaking of reviews, I would also like to ask you all if whether or not I should keep answering only guest reviews this way, or if I should answer and address all reviews this way. Maybe someone with an account asks a question in a review and others wanna hear about it instead of me giving a personal answer you know? If it's still good like this, I'll keep going but if some of you want me to answer all of them here, or specific ones, let me know.

Thank you all for your support so far. Hope things are going well for you all, have a great day and as always, have fun reading.

Oh, also just in case I don't get a new chapter here before it, Happy future Thanksgiving.