"And then I'll say, 'Hey, as one refugee to another, it isn't so bad that we can't go back to Homeworld, am I right? Why don't we watch the sun come up and figure out what we're going to do with all this time, eh Lazuli?' And then she'll say, 'Yes Peridot, as impressed I was by you on the ship, I am even more impressed with your new compact look and capacity for friendship! I'm so glad we're going to live together!' Peridot, Facet 5." Peridot finishes talking into her device and turns around. "Let's begin."

"This isn't going to work." I cut her off before she could speak.

"Wait, what?" She mutters in confusion but I don't really care. She expected things to go the way she predicted in her little recording device but it's not that easy to me. Especially not to her of all Gems.

"I really thought I would be living alone here." I say. That's what I was hoping for here but now it doesn't look like it.

"Yeah, but this is even better!" Steven claims. "Oh here, how about this? I saw this on an episode of a TV show! I didn't see how it ended, but I'm sure it worked out right." He takes out a purple stick from his pocket and takes off the top, revealing another purple point to it. "We'll divide this place in half, you'll both have your own space." He begins drawing a short line on the floor using the stick thing. Don't know what it is but right now that's not my concern. "High ceilings, real wood floors, convenient location on the heart of the country; so what do you think, roomies?" He asks us as he finishes drawing and puts the top back on it. I am now standing on the right side of the barn and Peridot is on the left.

"I like the cut of your gem, Steven Quartz!" She speaks in such an approving manner, which infuriates me.

"No. No way!" I state angrily, not liking this arrangement at all.

"What's the problem? You're the one getting all the good stuff! You've got the propeller and paint cans on your side! You can do tons with those! Oooh, actually, I want the paint cans. You wanna trade something?" She asks like it's the easiest thing in the galaxy right now but its not.

"I don't care about paint cans. That's not the problem." I dismissively state like it should have been obvious.

"Bah…" Peridot moans in confusion.

"What's wrong, Lapis?" Steven asks.

I sigh as they both don't seem to get what's the problem. "It's HER." I state harshly towards the green gem, hopefully making the problem as clear as day.

"Egh?!" She yelps in confusions as my stare makes her back away. 'Good.'

"She's the problem." I say, my anger starting to come out full swing at how much I despise her. "I can't stand the thought of looking at her everyday. She's the one who dragged me back to Earth!" I remind them of one big problem. 'Homeworld may have been drastically different from what I remember, but maybe, just maybe I could have done something to help fit in and that chance was completely taken from me when she took me to this dirt ball!'

"Hey, it wasn't my idea! I was headed to earth and I needed an informant! It should have been a simple mission. Things didn't exactly work out for either of us." She defends herself and tries to make it seem like I care about her and how it didn't work out for her.

"You used me like everyone else did!" I furiously state.

"But it's not like that anymore! It's different now - I'm different."

"It's true, Lapis!" Steven comes up and joins her side. "Peridot has really come into her own since she's been living on Earth."

"I sabotaged my own mission! I helped save the Earth! I even yelled at Yellow Diamond! She's probably sending a whole fleet to find me and shatter me right now. I'm kind of a big deal; a big Anti-Homeworld Deal!" She tries to explain herself to me what she's done, but it doesn't matter. What matters is what she did to ME, and that isn't going away anytime soon.

Ignoring her, I move in front of Steven and give him my best smile despite who's here. "Steven, I don't think this is gonna work." I softly and gently say to him.

"Ahhhh, ummmm, maybe we could put up a curtain?" He proposes another solution. I give Steven a patient smile at his means of trying to make this work but it's really not. I go outside and flare up my wings to go to the silo that I was sitting on, as Steven called it.

"Hold on!" Before I go, I turn right around and fly up to the top. "You're not getting him!" I call back and grab Marcus by his shoulders and drag him a few feet until he's fully on my side. I know this line situation isn't going to stick, but if it does, which I highly doubt, there is no way he's going near her. Once he's settled I go ahead and make sure he's comfortable, as best I can in his state, before flying out back to my spot. I'd stay with him and make sure he's okay but I really really reeeeeally don't want to stay or even listen to that annoying green gem for even a second. If she's serious about changing, and she knows how protective I am of him, then even she's not stupid enough to do anything to him when he's resting, especially not with Steven there.

Once I land, I lay myself on the top and stare out into the cloudy sky. The wind gently breezes by and I find myself starting to relax in awhile. "Ahhh." I sigh and place my hands behind my head before letting my eyes drift close. I really need to relax after everything that's happened.


I don't know how long I've been laying here. Time kind of doesn't have much focus to me because of… everything that happened. Still, I continue to lay here, feel the wind on my form and the silence that I'm greeted.

Ever since I was trapped in the mirror, the silence used to be deafening to me but after I was trapped in the ocean with Jasper, it was then I realized just how much I missed the silence when she wouldn't shut up a lot of the time.

"Hmm…" I mumble a relaxed sigh as I soak in everything now, a bit of peace I find myself in.

"Hey Lazuli!

'And there it goes.' My eyes shoot open as I find myself incredibly frustrated all of sudden.

"HEY Lazuli! HEEY!"

"UGgh…" I groan as that infuriating annoying gems voice cuts through my peaceful silence. I turn onto my side and cover my ears with my hands to try to drown her out. It helps some but knowing she's still there is annoying.

"Lazuliii, HEY!" 'She just won't stop.'

"Lapis, are you up there?" Despite me covering my ears, I still manage to hear Steven call my name. Taking a quick glance down to see him, I form my wings before swooping down in front of him gently.

"Yes, Steven?" I ask.

"Go on." Instead of asking me something, which is what I was hoping for, he nudges Peridot. My concern for Steven is replaced with a scowl when I see the green gem hand me a paper.

"Steven did the outside, and I did the inside!" She says, mentioning her part with what I think she is proud of.

Looking at it, it's folded so I open it. With an unimpressed deadpan look, I read what she's written. "Sorry I interrogated you. You were just full of such useful information. That's a sincere compliment. Peridot." That's all it say inside. Without my outlook changing, I look up at them. Steven and Peridot look at me with a hopeful looking with the latter grinning a very wide grin. Wind blows against me, so I let the paper go, allowing it to fly off into air and I don't care where. Forming my wings, I fly back up to my spot without another word. Laying back against my spot, I get comfortable again, sighing when I am. "Well, that was pointless." I mutter as I stare back into the sky. However that only lasts for a short while before I get antsy and slowly look over the side. I glance down to make sure she's not down there. When she's not I look around a bit more and I sigh in relief when I see her and Steven walking back to the barn. "Phew!" I throw myself onto my back, hands tucked behind my head as I close my eyes again. 'I really don't want to be dealing with her right now. Just give me this moment of peace, please?' I ask in my head to no one in particular and will accept the peace as long as I can… which if Steven is still trying to help her, I may not get that long. "Ohhhh." I groan and cover my eyes.


"You can't see through those, right?" Steven asks.

"Actually, yes. But it's very blurry." I reply.

"Good to know." He says. Steven for some reason came by to the silo, alone thankfully, and asked me to come with him for something. Not wanting to refuse him the least bit, I went ahead with it, even when he asked me to cover my eyes for some reason. While he guides me with his hand, I use my wings to cover my eyes as much as I can as per his instructions. He said where he's taking me is a surprise so that's why I'm supposed to not be able to see. So I apparently don't ruin the surprise when I see it… but he's leading me to see it. 'Sometimes… I just don't get you Steven… and you Marcus.' I smile fondly at the memory of him. 'I hope you wake up soon.' "Well, here we are!" I'm knocked out of my thoughts as Steven speaks. Guessing this is my cue, I unfurl my wings and immediately regret it as I see Peridot here. 'I should be surprised, but I'm not.' My smile falters.

"H-2-Oh my GOSH! It's a smaller-than-an-average lake!" She exclaims with happiness. What she means is she's sitting in some sort of round rubber object in the middle of a small hole filled with water.

"It's from the hole we drilled. Peridot and I sealed it and filled it with water." Steven explains what it was but I'm not really… concerned with that as I stare at the body of liquid. I turn to Steven once he explains it before I turn back to the water with a disappointed look. Usually water would relax me but recent events have… damaged my liking of water.

"It's a gift for you. You know, 'cause water's your thing." Peridot clarifies as she gestures to what's around her, then chuckles. "Pretty good, right? The barn's out here in the country, but now you can get your moisture fix whenever. Do all that water stuff you do."

"…" I stare in disbelief at my apparent gift. "Water? Seriously?" I ask scornfully with a hint of anger.

"Yeah!"

"You do realize that I spent the last few months trapped under the ocean, right?" I remind her of that little fact I had to deal with. Alone. In darkness. Against Jasper.

'The water was all around me all the time with her constantly forcing herself against me. All the time. No rest. Just… struggling.'

"Sure… but I thought—"

"It was an endless, crushing darkness. Wet, and bleak, and suffocating. Water was the tomb I lived in for those months." The words come out as dark as I felt during those long months. Stuck in the mirror was bad… but I had quiet peace to myself. Malachite… was anything but quiet and peaceful.

"T-Tomb, you say?" After she sinks further into her little rubber tube, she repeats one of my words.

"Yeah. I'm kinda taking a break from water right now." I inform the both of them but the damage is done. Already this makes me feel a little tight in my chest at the memories. Breathing in, I sigh and mutter disdainfully. "But thanks… for the lake."

"Uhh…"

"Ugh…" Steven and Peridot give uneasy moans.

Looking to Steven, I reassure him of his uneasy look. "Don't worry, Steven. It's not YOUR fault." I emphasis the 'your' part because I'm sure it was her that did it. I turn to Peridot one last time, scowl at her before spreading my water wings and flying away again to my spot.

It doesn't take me long to fly back to the silo and I take my spot laying down, again. 'That was so stupid.' I think on just what happened. 'Did she really think that a lake would be able to undo the damage that SHE did to me? If she never forced me to come here I would never—!' I close my eyes and steady my breathing. I breath in and out a few times before calming myself down. 'Whatever. Doesn't matter now.' Not wanting to dwell anymore on those thoughts, I try to focus on something else… or someone. Remembering Marcus earlier, I recall some of what he did for me in the past. 'It was because of him and Steven that I was freed. They went against the Crystal Gems to help me… and Marcus still helped me. He fought that fusion and took me away from them. We talked… we bonded… and I almost betrayed him.' Remembering how stupid I was to think I could stretch one planets water supply to Homeworld of all places makes me down, then when I deliberately attacked Marcus?!

"Ohhhh…" I groan at the memory as I cover my face with my hands. That wasn't my best move ever and yet he still helped me. Even when I fought him and Steven, they both still helped me regardless of what I did. They fixed my gem and everything. I was able to go back home because of them. Granted things still didn't work out on Homeworld but still. They gave me that opportunity to go back and I'm grateful for them. Even when I came back Marcus still did what he could to try to protect me; warning me to move when he opened fire on Jasper and Peridot. Then… "Uhuhuh." A shiver runs along my form as I remember that… thing he turned into. 'It's been a long time since I saw him in that and I hope he was able to keep it under control since then. He said it doesn't speak for him; I hope he was able to make that true.' Then when he and… Peridot, came to fight Malachite he still tried to first get me out before he was forced to fight.

I turn to my side and glance one last time back to the barn where he is resting. 'Please wake up soon, so I can at least know you're okay.' I let the last thought in my mind drift off as I close my eyes.


'Why? Why do I keep doing this? I should have known. I really should have known but I guess I can't resist Steven.' I think as I stare blankly at Periot. She seems excited as she presents something to me with Steven behind her in a pose that emphasizes her with her little white box.

"Ta-dah!" She happily says and presents it as my look just slowly turns to anger at how close she slowly inches towards me, arms still outstretch holding the box. "See, the ribbon is even blue. I got yo number!" She winks at me. I don't like her winking at me. I continue to stare motionlessly at her, not moved in the least by how she talks, hoping she gets the message that I want nothing to do with this. Her grin falters after I don't do anything and after she glances to Steven, he shrugs. 'Please don't help her.' "Uh, here, I'll unwrap it for you!" She proposes instead and tears open the wrapping on the box as she talks. "When I was stuck here, Steven gave me this tape recorder as a gift and I didn't really get it at first, but it made me feel better." She explains as the wrapping comes off and reveals a small human device in her hands. I know its human because it fits what Marcus would use or have in his possession, and it doesn't look like something that Homeworld would us. "Just to talk about the weird stuff that was happening. It'll help you too!" She says and holds out the device towards me. '…Seriously, she thinks that this… gesture is enough of an apology?' While they continue to smile at me, I continue to show no emotion at her. However seeing Steven continue to hopeful be to me, I'm fed up with this. 'What will it take to get it through her thick gem?' I think as I take the offered device. "You, umm, press the button to record, an- and then you talk into it!" She nervously instructs to me to do. They both continue to smile at me expectantly but this… it's time I stop this.

Pressing the button on the device like she says, I bring it to my lips, "I don't want your garbage." I firmly and angrily tell her. 'I. Am. Tired of this!' Holding my hand out with the device in hand, and crush it.

It crumples easily enough in my hand as it breaks apart right in front of us. Peridot's eyes widen as she watches the broken device be destroyed right in front of her. I toss it past her as she watches it flinchingly without blinking once it lands behind her. The look on Steven's face is one I see as horror and shock at my action, but I really don't get why he cares. Something pops out of the broken pieces of the device and that seems to snap her out of it.

"NNGUH! What, were you trapped in a tape recorder too?!" She angrily states. 'Trapped?! What does she know about trapped!' My hand clenches and I can feel my rage starting to heighten. "Look, I get it, you know?" She calms down and begins speaking normally. "You're confused! You can never go back to Homeworld. This place, doesn't exactly feel like home yet." She gestures to around us. "You're alone, no one could POSSIBLY know what that feels like!" My eyes narrow at what she's implying by her words. "Oh wait, I do!" The anger comes back. "We're the same, except…! You don't have to be alone." The anger dissipates and she turns to look at me, I guess hoping my outlook will change but it doesn't. I still glare at her, completely unconvinced by her words. 'I don't care if she understands me.' "So tell me then," She continues with a desperate tone. "What do you want from me?! And whatever that is, I'll do it." She finishes with a sigh.

I grit my teeth at what she asks, and what she's willing to do. 'You'll do it, huh? Fine!' "I want you, to LEAVE!" I yell at her, finally and hoping now that she gets it's through her thick gem that that's what I want from her. I don't want to see her, or hear her, or be near her in any scenario at all! She's been trying to show some misguided effort to reconcile our problems from the past but now I'm tired of it I want her to know I DON'T WANT HER HERE!

She flinches at my request, but regains herself soon after. "Okay." Thankfully she doesn't argue, she concedes and starts walking away. "Oh, wait. I almost forgot something." For some reason she turns right back around and heads to the barn in a sprint.


Barely a minute passes as Steven and Lapis stare at her where she disappeared to in the barn. Some rustling can be heard inside soon after but she soon comes back out the front as she finishes strapping something to her chest. "Alright then, I'm off." She says as she passes them and finishes strapping the holster to her chest with her signature weapon in it.

For a second, Lapis is mentally happy to see the green gem finally leaving her sight for good but her eyes widen as she sees the weapon she has one her. "What are you doing with that?" She asks in a low voice, her anger reaching new heights at the familiar weapon that belongs to… him.

"Hm?" Peridot murmurs and stops at the question asked before turning back to Lapis. Seeing where her eyes stare at, she looks down at her own weapon on her chest. "This?" She asks and pulls out her revolver. "It's mine. Marcus gave it to me after I showed him I was a Crystal Gem by insulting Yellow Diamond to her face." She explains what it is and how she obtained it with a fond smile on her face. It truly was something she appreciated by him. The way how the human weapons acted and worked to her when she first used it was exhilarating, despite the archaic differences between it and the rest of Homeworld technology but after taking into considerations the benefits to the old type of weapons, she sees what they can bring. Her memories of the damage that the explosive ordinance did to her ship when she was bringing it close to landing on the surface were pretty evident of just what sort of damage those material ballistic projectiles and explosives could do when the rest of the Crystal Gems energy attacks were rendered inert. Now, after the care Marcus did to give her one of his personal weapons of choice… no way is she going to leave it out of her sight. Peridot then shakes her head of the reminiscing and starts walking again. "Well, if that's all, I'll be go- Hey!" She begins to holster her weapon but something whips forward and rips it out of her hand. On instinct she twists around and watches as a water wing from Lapis's back clutches the weapon and pulls it into her own hands. She stares wide eyed at the blue gems cross and dark stare at her.

She holds the weapon in her right hand with unblinking eyes toward its owner. "You expect me to believe, that Marcus would give YOU this?" She gestures to the weapon.

"Wha-But-He di—!"

"Shut. Up." She interrupts Peridot darkly with barely controlled anger. "I won't hear you lie to my face. I told you to leave already. Now go." She repeats her request from earlier and turns right around to head back to the barn.

"Wait, Lapis!" Steven calls out to the angry blue gem and goes to talk to her.

Peridot however goes numb deaf as she watches her walk away. Her face goes through several ranges of emotion, from surprise, to confusion, disbelief, sadness and finally… anger. 'I tried to be willing to put our differences aside Lazuli. I tried… I tried I tried and I tried to tell you I was different and you snubbed me away.' Her head dips down and a dark look crosses her face as she glances to the side of where the broken pieces of her tape recorder laid. 'You broke Steven's gift…' Her eyes bore into the back of the gems head as her hands clench tightly and her teeth grit. 'I won't let you TAKE MARCUS'S GIFT FROM ME!'

Meanwhile, Steven continues to try to convince Lapis that Marcus did in fact give Peridot the gun. "Lapis, please. Don't do this. Marcus did giver her that. He made it for her for being a Crystal Gem and—"

"Steven," Lapis finally stops, "I get your trying to make things work between us but it's just not going—" Unfortunately for them, they were so stuck in their conversation they didn't hear the rapid thumping of the footsteps behind them.

"RAAAAAHH!"

"Ahh!" Lapis yelps in surprised at the green gem jumps up and latches onto her head.

"Giveitgiveitgiveit!" Peridot demands as she holds strong atop the blue gems head as she reaches for the weapon in her hand. Lapis for her part moves all over as she is completely blindsided by her attack and flails her arms to try to knock what's attacking her off. Steven for his part is completely stunned and surprised at the sudden change of events that happened. He stares wide-eyed and mouth agape at the two flailing gems.

Before he can say or do anything to try to stop the fight, with a triumphant smile Peridot grabs the weapon and throws herself off Lapis. She rolls on the ground a few times before turning right around with her weapon drawn and ready to fire in her right hand. Good thing to because Lapis is giving the mother of all death glares to the small green gem with her water wings out and the lake nearby bubbling, ready to form whatever its master wishes.

A standstill takes place, both Gems poised and ready to attack at a moment's notice. Steven finally snaps out of it and sees his friends close to fighting each other. 'I can't… I can't let them do this!' He thinks as he opens his mouth to speak.

"I'M SORRY!"

They freeze at the words, Steven and Lapis staring at Peridot with looks of surprise as her lips quiver over her gritted teeth. "… What did you say?" Lapis asks.

"I'm sorry! Okay?! I'm sorry I forced you to come here. I'm sorry I called a GREAT informant as a stupid way to compliment! And I'm sorry at my useless stupid gifts that just remind you of the bad things that happened to you! I'm sorry… FOR EVERYTHING I DID TO YOU!" Peridot yells at the top of her lungs. Once she finishes her confession, her breathing comes out in haggard, heavy breaths but her aim remains still on Lapis for the reason she still us poised to attack as well. Once Peridot gets her breathing under control, she narrows her eyes. "I truly am sorry. I'm not Homeworld gem. Not anymore…" She readjusts her grip on her revolver. "But if you think I'm going to let you take this from me… then you have ANOTHER THING COMING!" She yells the last part as loud as she can. Taking a moment to breathe, she squints her eyes at Lapis. "Afterall, isn't that something that Crystal Gems do? Fight… till the last… gem." She states firmly, and with conviction, leaving no room for argument.

Steven stares at her for a second in complete surprise. He's seen her be emotional and loud before but this is… different. He soon turns back to Lapis, who has a look of surprise on her face still but she soon purses her lips. His view switches between them as the tension in the standoff is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

After a few more silent moments, Lapis lets the water return and settle into the hole and dissipates her wings. In turn, Peridot puts down her revolver and holsters it across her chest. "I'll go Lazuli, but I won't be gone forever. I'm a Crystal Gem now and I'm going to let you cool off on this. I'm sorry for what I did, but I'm staying like you are. He gave me a job to do and while it… hurt to do it, I still have more to do, just in case." With her intentions made clear, she does Marcus's salute, fist to between her chest and left shoulder, about faces and starts walking away. As soon as she passes her broken recorder, she stops and looks down at it to the side. With a depressed heavy sigh, she continues walking without another look back.


'She… she's sorry? She's… really sorry… about everything? I can't believe it. It's hard to believe.' I watch as Peridot walks away from Steven and I. It doesn't take long after she walks that she becomes a speck in the distance and disappears over a series of hills.

"Lapis…" I look down at Steven to see him still staring where she left. "She's trying, really, you know that right?" He says once he turns to her. Staring at the sad look on his face, I start to feel some regret over my… actions as of late.

"I… get the impression." I embarrassingly reply as I rub my arm. 'The gifts she gave me were ways to try to apologize but they didn't feel like it. Now… saying it straight to my face so… loudly… it, I think it finally hit.'

"You were gone for a long time Lapis. Since then, I know her now. Not like how she was when she first came to Earth. I wish you could have at least gotten to know the new her instead of just not giving her a chance." Steven explains sadly. Looking towards the broken pieces of the device she seemed to cherish so much, the regret starts to hit me a bit more. "Now… I can't tell if even she'll forgive you." We both look down at the recorder.


Peridot continues to walk away from where she was before. After her… outburst towards the formally trapped Lapis, going away seems a good idea not just because she demanded she go but also for herself to cool off as well. That standoff wasn't exactly a good way for her and Lapis to try to reconcile their differences and the tension but Lapis forced her hand when she took something precious from her.

'The recorder was one thing; my firearm was an entirely different matter. He gave me this because he trusted me with it after I proved myself to him. He gave me this as a symbol of being a Crystal Gem… and for my job.' At the memory of what she was tasked to do, now that she's out of sight of them, she sighs and stops all together. "I really hope you'll survive Marcus. If we have problems in the future with Homeworld, then we'll need your expertise." She mutters quietly as she glances back to where the barn is before walking forward some more. However it isn't long before she stops and a confused look forms on her face. "Now, where in the clod should I go?" She asks out loud and annoyed. With a hand cupping her chin, she thinks and contemplates. 'The weather patterns as Steven has taught me before look rather… bleak for things to still look good. I need to find shelter less I be forced to weather the… weather. From what Marcus has told me not many humans would take too kindly to taking me into their locations of living without a proper reason. He even made it clear that most humans don't really think my look passes fully as humanistic. Don't know why but he was very insistent. Where to go?' She questions in her mind as she turns in different directions to figure out where. 'I could go to the Crystal Gem base. I'm sure they won't mind me staying after I just saved their planet and all.'

"Hm." I triumphant smirk graces her lips at the achievement, but then falters soon after as she slumps. "But then again, Steven was there all the time to make sure we didn't fight. Uhhhhg." She groans. Now that Lapis is back and Marcus is still incapacitated, the chances of Steven going back are not 100% logical. The Crystal Gems believed moving the unconscious hybrid's body too much in this state may not be such a wise move since none of them know exactly what's going on with him. "Hmmm…" She goes back to looking around until she remembers some other spots. "Okay, either the ancient gem ship I used to set a trap for the Crystal Gems in, or Marcus's living quarters… His home is closer." With her first choice in mind, she begins her trek to his home. "I hope he does not have any security measures in place. Not really looking forward to being sent into my gem anytime soon… and for too long." 'Now that I think about it, the ship is sounding a bit more tempting. No… I need to be close in case—'

Before she can finish thinking, a whirring sound can be heard above her. Stopping confused at the sound, she tries to figure out what it is through the gray clouds above her. Her eyes widen in horror at what she sees pass them. "Oh no." She breathes quietly in a scared tone. Just as an orange light beams and hits her, she pulls out her revolver and opens fire.


Several gun shots go off in the distance, breaking Steven and I of our sour moods. "Huh?" He mutters in confusion at the sudden noise.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

"Oh look, she's coming back." Steven points out what the screaming is and true to what he says, Peridot sprints at an impressive rate given her size straight towards us. She looks really freaked out about something as she speeds straight towards us.

"They're here! Ruuuun!" She yells as she runs past us with her weapon in hand. Steven and I look at her confused as she continues to run towards the barn but a noise above makes us look upwards. Some kind of red colored machine with a cracked window becomes visible as it shines a ray of yellow light towards us.

"Run!" Steven gasps and repeats what Peridot said. Not wanting to deal with this thing, or leave Steven alone, we both run towards the barn with Peridot. It doesn't attack us while we're running and we make it inside safely next to a freaked out Peridot. Steven begins panting after the quick sprint we did. "What is that thing!?" He asks out loud.

"It's a Roaming Eye, a Homeworld tracking vessel! I told you, I'm public enemy number 1!" Peridot quickly explains from her flustered spot on the floor.

I roll my eyes at the information. 'Homeworld… why am I not surprised. I really am out of place on that plane. Don't recall anything like that before.' My thoughts are interrupted as the yellow ray of light from the Roaming Eye peaks through some of the wood boards above the barn. Peridot shakingly tries to reload her weapon. She opens the cylinder like I remember how Marcus did awhile back and pulls out the empty shells.

*Clink*Clink*Clink*Clink*Clink*Clink*

We all look at her with horrified and surprised expressions, including fear with her, as the shell casings fall and make audible noises on the ground. We freeze for a bit and wait for the Eye to attack at the noise… but thankfully nothing happens. In fact the light disappears at it moves away from shining through the wooden boards above. We all relax and breathe a sigh of relief at the light disappearing. Peridot stands back up and pats herself down looking for something but she soon realizes she doesn't have it on her. Surprise then sulking is what she feels as she groans. "Ughhhh."

"What's wrong?" Steven asks.

"I forgot the ammunition." She mumbles as she slaps her face and drags it down. "Stupid stupid stupid." She bangs her head a few times at blunder she feels.

"Heeeey. Don't worry about it. You don't have to worry about anything now that the ship is—!" Steven's attempt to make her relax suddenly freezes as the yellow light comes back, this time in full view of us. The Roaming Eye stares at us through a large broken hole in the side of the bar that's being covered by some cloth blanket. "Gone." He finishes his sentence but we don't stay long though as Steven and Peridot immediately run out of the barn and I follow. I want to keep it away from the barn as much as possible. Not with Marcus still unconscious inside. Our running and movement works as it immediately floats after us into the field. We stop and cover our heads as the ship passes over us again before it stops and focuses that annoying beam on us again.

"No, uh, ah!" Peridot stares scared at the machine above us a she aims her gun again in desperation at it but then remembers the lack of ammo. The machine starts to come closer to us as it's light starts to split apart before it starts to converge on us again. "This is it, Steven! They're going to wipe my precious grin off the face of this planet!" She cries out as she hugs Steven's arm.

"Stay behind me! I'll protect you!" Steven says as he covers her with his arm.

'Alright, enough of this.' Seeing how it looks like its going to finally attack, it's time I intervene. I walk forward and stop once I'm in between them and the ship. Turning to the side, I see Peridot and Steven staring at me. 'Your determined, Steven… always have been. I guess if you really care about her, then I'll try to at least.' Turning back to the Roaming eye, it's light turns red as I get ready to destroy this thing. Not wanting to let the ship to attack, I concentrate and feel the water from their lake begin to take the form I want to make it. My water hand construct flows out and in no time at all towers above us all. 'I wanted to take a break from water after what happened with Jasper. Now… it feels… right again. And I need that right now in order to fight.' The wind whips around as the water shifts to form into what I want; namely my hand. I move it over the floating ship before it could react and with a flick of my finger the ship is hit hard. Before it can fight against me, my hand goes over it and with a flick of my wrist, I palm it straight into the ground with ease. The ship tears into the ground at high speed, embedding the majority of the straight into ground leaving only a small part of it visible. I smile at the ease I took this thing out while the they look in utter disbelief.

"Holy smokes…" I hear Peridot mutter.

"Steven!" A new voice calls out. Looking back, the rest of the Crystal Gems seem to finally join us as they sprint towards us.

"Holy Smokes!" The Amethyst repeats what Peridot said, only more loudly.

"Are you alright? We saw the ship and came as fast as we could." The Pearl asks in concern towards Steven, who nods and reassures them.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Lapis saved us… but, it looks like Homeworld really has it out for Peridot." Steven explains. 'Speaking of Peridot…'

It doesn't take me long to look before I spot the green gem in question as she crawls away from us quietly. "Peridot…" I call her. As soon as I call her name, her hair stands on end and she freezes up. Slowly, she turns around to look at me staring at her. "… Are you okay?" I ask, now concerned. In truth, I was a little… quick to judge her after being gone for so long. She was so willing and tolerant at first to my insults and ignoring before but when I went for her gun, that's when I knew she changed. 'The Peridot I remember back on the ship was cold and calculating, didn't care about her equipment and would replace it the second it got damaged. She knew I could crush and shatter her with barely any effort on my part in less than a second. And yet… she fought me regardless. Granted it was a surprise attack but still. Now, I guess I can do what Steven's been telling me before and get along with her.' However she replies by giving me an incredibly wide and happy grin. "Um…" I nervously mutter as I turn away so they don't see my blush. I knew she was expecting me to finally accept her, somewhat, but still. I hear Steven chuckle at what I think to him is the progress we've made, but still I'm glad everything's alright.

Unfortunately, it still isn't that easy as the ship I crushed emits a sound. Everyone tenses up as a hatch opens up from what's left of it that can be seen and smoke pours out of it. A Ruby climbs out of the hatch and looks around. It's only when she turns close to our direction that we see her gem has replaced one of her eyes.

"Great." I groan as I put a hand to my face.


It's done… it's finally done. You all… have no idea how HAPPY and relieved I am to finally have this finished and I just… oh man. First of all, before I go talking about what hell I went through this last week, let me go ahead and get the review replies out of the way.

Seruis: Thanks. It was fun too going about someone from a different perspective for a change and I'm looking forward to the next couple chapters where I focus on our favorite blue gem.

Bomberguy789: Yeah I was planning to go about answering here after some more thought. That way everyone can see the answers if their curious about it and such. Glad you liked the chapter as I did as well. As for the time travel story, all that was taken into account. Some examples of what I thought, how would Jade and Rose react if they were to meet their SONS from the future, and possibly know their own fates; saving Lapis from being placed in a mirror; and even saving many more gems during the Flash that turned nearly every gem on the planet into a corrupted monster. What I keep thinking is that the primary reason Homeworld left Earth alone was because they thought ALL the Crystal Gems were corrupted and not worth the fighting anymore. If too many Crystal Gems survived, then what's the possibility that Homeworld returns earlier, more advanced and slightly more powerful to finish them all off? All possibilities when it comes to time travel and it's going to be quite awhile before I ever come up with the idea to actually make that spin-off, but at least I won't have to think too hard in coming up with ideas for it.

M. 6: Yep, poor him. He's gone through a lot and its gonna be soon we see what's going on in that head of his. At least now, he's got his own little guardian angel watching over him.

Yeah, allergies suck.

Yes I have. Not on mobile but I went ahead and bought "Steven Universe: Save The Light" for my Xbox. Man it's a fun game. I haven't gone full hardcore playing on the game yet because I don't want to finish it too soon and want to savor the feeling of playing as all my favorite gems and humans. Connie's a badass I feel. I'll usually play it when I'm bored and not working on anything else. Although the last time I played it, I got wrecked by the first boss. That giant saw mouthed thing with the little guys throwing wood in its mouth? Yeah, I was close to beating him but I waited too long and too many of them came out and kept powering him up so much and so quickly. Hopefully next time I do better.

JustinTheSpider: Thank you very much, on everything. Yes I got CODWW2. After the last few installments went really hard on the whole sci-fi aspect, felt good to go back to its roots.

TheStoryWever: We all have those moments. We're reading or watching a character on our screen and there are just moments where you just want to walk up to them, slap them, shake them and tell them they're being dumbasses and beat the ever living crap for being so stu… I'm still typing ain't I? Okay then well glad you liked the chapter and how I wrote everything. There is a reason for me not mentioning when who exactly was talking when. I feel like it would disrupt the immersion in a way if I outright state who's talking and such. If it gets too bad, say so and I'll try to correct myself.

XxSpades231xX: They've been helping each other out many times over. It would be hard but Marcus would need to work very hard to make sure his brother doesn't have a breakdown when he needs him.

There are other ideas to do that I may be able to work with. They could be transported to a time when Rose and Jade didn't have kids, dropped in the middle of the Gem War, hell even crossovers with other fictions could work too, with some work.

I've always been dodging his relationships haven't I? Well, hopefully in the next few chapters things just might become clear… er… maybe.

I was going for the different perspective to trip you up. It was to go at first seem like it was Marcus that was talking in his own head but I feel like the revelation of it really being Lapis thinking and speaking would have been better.

Cf96: Thank you.

Your business (Ch. 14): It was one of the options I had at the beginning. But Pearl and Garnet?... Huh, you know I remember some moments in the show that may support that. (Ch. 40): I've been listening to that song like crazy lately. Might use it further in the future if I find the right moment… which I probably will.

Zcdragon64: Glad you liked it all. Yeah, his wounds aren't just physical. That's already taken care of. It's his mind that's been hit pretty hard from the Cluster among other things. Soon, I'll make the announcement, or scene, where it cements the pairing so just be patient a little longer and you'll have your answer. I've thought about them fusing many times and if they were to, it'd be epic I can assure you of that. Just wish we had a list of all the kinds of gems that are going to be used in the show. Would make my life a whole lot easier.

Espada117: Was happy to respond. And another hybrid that fights Marcus on par? Probably not in my main story, but I can see that being a spin-off story.

RaNd0Mk1D8o3I: I'm happy I was able to hook you to my story so well. When I first started I didn't think I was going to get much popularity. How wrong I was. As long as the show keeps cranking out episodes, I'll keep cranking out chapters and plot as much as I can. Although I would do without the hiatuses. This last one was a dozy.

Guest (Ch. 38): I've tried to find a balance at times to make him become super powered and crazy, but also at times to show how vulnerable he can be and how he's not invincible. He's good, but he's not that good and he has plenty of demons to keep him awake at night. That… was a perfect example on one.

Okay, and the reviews are done and now its on to me. I left this last because it's… it was messed up for me.

Here's what happened folks. My Thanksgiving week wasn't as good as I was expecting. First off, I was stupid. I'm stupid in some areas, as you can see the content I can give you all, and that one area I messed up in happened to ME FUCKING DROPPING MY LAPTOP!

I SET IT ON THE SIDE OF MY COUCH FOR A SECOND AND IT FELL! I almost lost EVERYTHING! Every single word you've all been reading, every single chapter I've written, all of it was on that computer and I nearly lost everything. To top it all off, the semester project essay and report I was doing was on that computer as well and I would have lost completely a week of straight days of constant writing to work on 12 to 20 page project. In one move, I would have lost every single word I've ever written since last year, and the work I've done for my final project for this semester of class.

I'm not gonna lie. I cried. When I picked it back up and tried to turn it back on and got a blank screen of it turning on and nothing but black, my breathing was… quick and heavy. I cried that I may have lost absolutely everything I've ever written on my laptop but more so my project and this chapter.

But in the end, my uncles came through and saved everything. They are experts when it comes to computers of all kinds and if there was anyone who could fix or recover all I lost, it would be them. It wasn't looking good at first. They inputted some codes to try to reboot the system. Didn't work. They then took out my hard drive and put it into my moms laptop which is the exact same make and model as mine. Still didn't work. When that option didn't work, we gave up and my uncles decided to go to Wal-Mart for Black Friday and buy me a new one. It was a nice gesture but still wouldn't have all my documents and work, so I was still feeling empty. But one of my uncles decided on one last option, and that was to transfer everything to an external hard drive then to a USB. We didn't have much hope for that since if transferring the hard drive itself into a new computer couldn't work, this wouldn't work.

How fucking wrong we were.

It worked. It really worked and it was by that last option, that last whim on my uncles part that he saved this chapter you all just read and saved me a ton of stress on my semester project. I can't thank him enough for helping me out on this as it was… such a relief.

Here's the thing people, I could have recreated my semester project in time for the deadline, I could have rewritten this chapter for you all… but all of it would not have been the same and every single moment I spent typing would have been horrible. Why? Because every moment I spent typing, every click of a key, as my eyes constantly gaze at the screen, I would just be reminded of my stupidity. Every time I wrote for either my project or this chapter, a voice in my head would be telling me again and again "YOU FUCKED UP!" "YOU HAD IT! YOU HAD IT ALMOST COMPLETED AND YOOUUU MESSED IT ALL UP!" That voice would be reminding me again and again of my tiny moment that almost lost everything. I could recreate everything… but I'd be empty inside as I rewrote all that I had already written. The feelings and passions I would have wrote would not be there anymore and it would just be a horrible reminder. The feelings I felt that I had Peridot feel when Lapis took her gun… I wasn't sure if I could recreate that if I was kept reminding of my mistake. I was… so close to losing this and you all have no idea how relieved I was to see it all again.

Okay… my rants over. It felt kind of good to get that out and I'm just glad I no longer feel sad over my potential loss of everything. I've got everything backed onto a USB drive and I'm using my mom's computer to get my writing done from now on until my uncles can fix my laptop. Don't know if they can but they insisted so since it's just dead weight to me right now, I couldn't really argue. For the next few weeks I'll be working on my semester project, typing, fact checking my info on the Korean War and so on.

Hopefully I can get another chapter done before Christmas but I guess we'll see. Thank you all for your support. Really. Thank you.

Oh, also I did see the new Steven Universe episodes. Interesting development that gives me ideas but I'm not sure if I'm going to do any major revisions to the plot I already have planned. Either way, it was nice.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Fave, follow, review, have a great day everyone and as always, have fun reading.