Chapter 3
Rose stared wide-eyed at the short blue Gem in front of her, unsure of what to say. Sapphire returned a similarly slack-jawed expression. After what could only have been a second or two, but felt like an eternity, Rose managed to stammer out a greeting. "Sapphire! Er, hi there. Sorry, I didn't see you there. I was just-"
"It's fine" Sapphire cut across her, an icy edge poorly disguised behind her otherwise calm tone. "I'm just here to see Steven."
"Oh, ok. That's…cool. He's just inside. Shall I tell him you're here?" Rose asked; trying her best to talk naturally as a maelstrom of emotions waged a vicious battle inside her.
"No. I'll just… Actually, I think I'll come back later." Sapphire replied bluntly, turning to leave. "If you'll excuse me." Rose raised her hand and briefly considered calling out after Sapphire, but quickly decided against it. It stung to watch Sapphire walk away, but it was just like Steven had said: this was going to take time, and there was little sense pushing Sapphire when she clearly wasn't interested in talking.
Sapphire walked away as briskly as she could while still giving off some illusion of composure. She didn't have anywhere specific that she wanted to be, but she simply hadn't been able to stand being face to face with Rose. As she walked, she resisted the impulse to look back over her shoulder, knowing Rose was probably watching her leave. Once she had walked far enough along the beach that she was sure she was out of view from Steven's house, she slumped down onto one of the large rocks that dotted the beach. Her face was still burning from the encounter, so she cooled it with a gentle yet icy blast from her palms. She sighed and stared out towards the ocean, wondering how many awkward meetings she and Rose were likely to have before one or both of them got off-planet. Deep in thought though she was, she still heard the soft footsteps of someone treading across the sand behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was; it was the same Gem, or Gems, who always seemed to show up when she was feeling down, whether their company had been solicited or not. "What do you want fusion?" Sapphire said more icily than she had meant to, as Garnet sat down next to her.
Garnet was the Gem that Sapphire had had the most regular contact with over the past few weeks, but their meetings were still infrequent, by Sapphire's choice. Garnet's form still confounded Sapphire. It bore many of the physical traits of her own kind, mixed in with those of a Ruby. The result was an imposing yet admittedly elegant form that bore more resemblance to a Hessonite than to either of its actual components. The Humans Sapphire had encountered seemed wholly unfazed by Garnet's appearance, though Sapphire hadn't been surprised. Not being from Homeworld themselves, the Humans could never understand how aberrant Garnet looked to a Gem.
The last time Sapphire and Garnet had spoken, the former had quizzed the latter about the humans' acceptance of her form. "Is this why you like this planet so much?" Sapphire had asked, "Because they don't notice what you are?"
Garnet's reply had surprised her somewhat. "No" the fusion had said, "I love it here because they all know what I am, and they support me anyway."
Sapphire had been shocked. "You revealed your true nature to these humans?" Garnet had then been all too happy to tell the story of her wedding, and how Beach City's citizens had come together for the event. "And that didn't affect how they saw you; make them scared of your form?" Sapphire had asked.
"Nope" Garnet had replied, before adding with a smile "As a matter of fact, people on this planet quite like my form, thank you very much."
Sapphire had responded incredulously "are extra eyes a sought after quality on Earth?"
Garnet had ignored her barbed tone, and replied with a smirk "I don't think it's the eyes they pay attention to." Not wanting to explore the fusion's line of reasoning any further, Sapphire had made her excuses and wandered off. That had been a few days ago, and she hadn't run into Garnet since.
And yet here the fusion was, yet again making uninvited conversation. Once Sapphire finally turned to face her, the fusion spoke. "I was hoping we could talk, if you're up for it" said Garnet with a face that betrayed no emotion in particular, evidently choosing to ignore the venom in Sapphire's voice. "It might make you feel better."
"How would you know whether or not I need to feel better?" Sapphire shot back incredulously, yet with slightly less harshness than she had spoken with before. Garnet wordlessly slid her golden visor down her face slightly, revealing the third eye on her forehead. "Oh. Future vision. Right." Sapphire replied sheepishly. She had briefly forgotten that Garnet possessed the same ability she did. No; if anything Garnet's ability was more advanced. It enabled her to envision multiple possible timelines, rather than just the one which events were currently heading towards. As much as Sapphire hated to admit it, out of all the people on Earth, Garnet was probably the one best equipped to help her make sense of her uncertainties about the future.
"Go on then" said Garnet softly. "Tell me about what's eating at you." Sapphire knew that Garnet was already acutely aware of what she was thinking about, but the fusion wanted to hear it from her, and frankly, she had nothing to lose by telling her.
"I've been spending the past few weeks trying to move on; to think of anything but Rose and Facet 31, but I can't. Every time I think I'm forgetting about it, I run into her again. I mean, obviously I have no right to say she shouldn't be here; she's Steven's guest too… It's just, I decided to stay on Earth for a while because I needed some distance from my past, but it just came with me. I can't hide from it." As she spoke, Sapphire had been staring out at the ocean rather than looking Garnet in the face, but the tremble in her voice made her emotions all too clear. When Sapphire's gaze finally flitted back to Garnet, she saw the fusion regarding her with an inscrutable gaze; her already neutral expression largely obscured by her visor.
Sapphire was about to ask the fusion what she was staring at when Garnet responded "So you're trying to hide from it." Sapphire was somewhat taken aback by Garnet's tone. The fusion had spoken without malice, but it was still clear that she didn't approve.
"Of course! Wouldn't you?" Sapphire shot back. "You came to this planet because you couldn't face your old lives on Homeworld, right? Why should it be any different for me? Why should I have to remember what was done to me?!" Garnet softened her expression further, clearly empathetic to Sapphire's situation. "No-one's suggesting you should have to go back to the Diamonds or anything; it's going to be a long time before any of us can be comfortable around them, but I think you and I both know that that's not who we were talking about." Sapphire tensed. The fusion had a way of cutting right to the core of the matter, regardless of the emotions involved.
"You think this is all about Rose?" Sapphire asked, slightly irritated at the fusion's prying.
"Look" replied Garnet bluntly "I know you're both restricted to Beach City right now, and it's not a big place; I get it, but if you two had really wanted to avoid each other, you probably could have done it. We could have put one of you up somewhere else in the city so that you didn't run into each other as often, but neither of you asked for that. If you want my opinion, I think that part of you wants to see her."
Sapphire opened her mouth to rebut the fusion's presumptuous statement, but her words caught in her throat before she got the chance. Her mind flashed back to her first few days on Earth. During that time, she had watched Rose from a distance, eager to see with her own eyes the veracity of Steven's claims that the Quartz had changed. While she ultimately came away without an answer to that question, she could not deny that she had still derived some happiness from the sight of Rose. Watching the Quartz soldier playing happily with Steven and his friends had reminded her of how Rose had been back when Sapphire had first met her; a smiling, comforting presence in the chaos of Facet 31's kindergarten hideout. At the time, Sapphire had been wholly blind; her future vision rendered useless by the chaos of Era 3. Rose's voice and touch alone had been enough to pull her back into the light. That all seemed to long ago now; before the betrayal; before the violence. And yet, the sight of Rose smiling as she engaged in simple Earth games still sent Sapphire's heart into a somersault, just as it always had done.
Sapphire's shoulders slumped as she realised that she could deny Garnet's words no longer. A part of her wanted to run away from Rose and never look back, while another part wanted to hold her and never let go. Instead of the barb she had been planning, all that came out of her mouth when she finally looked up at Garnet was "What should I do? I don't know how to make it like it was before."
Garnet inched closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Sapphire might once have recoiled from the touch of such a bizarre fusion, but the gesture suddenly felt rather comforting. "That depends on what you want. You just said you want things to be like they were, but you also say that you want to leave your past behind. You can't do both of those things. Bury the past, or embrace it; I'm not here to tell you which of those things to choose, but I think you already know which one you want more."
"You think?" Sapphire replied. "Doesn't your future vision just tell you what I'm going to do?" Garnet shook her head. "It could, but it's not my place. If I told you what your most probable future was, it would affect your decision, and you have to come to that answer for yourself." Garnet rose from her seated position, and knelt down in front of Sapphire, smiling at her. "But I'm here anytime you need me while you're making that decision, and once you've decided, I'll back you 100% of the way."
If Sapphire had had an eye, she would surely have been crying. She had no idea why the fusion was so invested in helping her, but right now she didn't care for her reasons. Had Sapphire not found Garnet's appearance so disconcerting, she could have hugged her. As it was, she simply managed an emotional "Thank you, Garnet." Garnet gave a cheeky smirk, before replying "How about that: you can remember my name." The former enemies shared a brief chuckle at that, before settling into a comfortable silence as they looked out at the sea.
