"Amethyst!" Pearls frustrated shout echoed throughout the enormous room.

She had been informed by Garnet that they were urgently needed at the galaxy warp. Garnet had foreseen a large group of robonoids attempting to repair the warp pads located there. That had immediately sent Pearl into panic mode; if the galaxy warp were to be repaired then homeworld gems would once again have access to the earth.

Garnet had gone ahead to the galaxy warp; she would be able to fend off the robonoids for a while, but would soon get overwhelmed by their sheer numbers without any back up. So, Pearl had been entrusted with the task of finding Amethyst and bringing her to the galaxy warp.

"Amethy-" her shout was cut off as a ball hit her roughly on the head. It must have fallen off one of the many precariously balanced piles of junk that Amethyst kept in her room.

"Ugh! How does she ever find anything in this mess?" She angrily wondered aloud as she rounded another corner only to be met with the sight of more piles.

Pearl sighed in frustration. At this rate she was never going to find Amethyst.

"Amethyst!" She shouted. "Ame-"

"Ugh, what do you want?" She turned toward the direction of the disgruntled voice. "Can't you see I'm busy." Amethyst said from atop a smaller pile of junk.

She was lying down with her hands behind her head; expression obscured by a brightly colored magazine that rested atop her face.

"Amethyst!" She yelled furious. Had Amethyst been ignoring her earlier? Amethyst was close enough that she should have been able to hear her.

"What!?" She angrily responded as she sat up and the magazine fell off her face. "I can't even relax anymore without having someone on my case." Amethyst complained finally making eye contact with her.

Pearl was taken aback by the sadness she saw on her face. Her eyes were puffy and red. Had Amethyst been crying? Pearl frowned pushing her anger aside for a moment as she focused her attention on Amethysts disheveled state.

"Amethysts is something wrong?" she asked concerned.

"Why are you here? Did you lose another sword or something?" she asked ignoring her question.

Pearl frowned at her lack of response, but pushed her worries aside. They didn't have time for this; they needed to get to the galaxy warp.

"Its the galaxy warp. Garnet needs our help, if we don't hurr-" her explanation was cut off by an annoyed Amethyst.

"Then stop talking and let's go already." She huffed as she sauntered off towards the direction of the exit.

Pearl's frown deepened as she quietly followed behind Amethyst.


When they arrived Garnet was struggling to contain the large group of robonoids; they may not have been very strong, but they were annoyingly elusive.

"To your right!" Garnet shouted as she busied herself with containing a sizable group of robonoids.

Garnet did not want to destroy them because she hoped that they held some answers as to what Peridot was sent here to do. Pearl assisted in containing the robonoids by knocking them on the ground with her spear before kicking them towards Garnet.

"Don't let them get away!" Garnet ordered as she focused on preventing the robonoids escape.

"Oh no you don't!" Amethyst hollered at the small group of robonoids that managed to evade Garnet and that were rapidly approaching the warp pads.

She promptly summoned two whips and began to wildy attack the group. Her lack of restraint caused several of the robonoids to be destroyed.

"There's just one left!" Amethyst warned as she undertook the task of wrangling the group of robonoids.

"I'm on it!" Pearl replied as she leapt up into the air and charged in the direction where the robonoid was heading.

The robonoid scurried toward one of the larger warp pads in the area and quickly went to work repairing it. She swiftly summoned two spears and sent them hurtling towards the robonoid. The first spear missed its target. The second spear managed to graze the surface of the robonoids body succeeding in throwing it off balance; it fell on its side and struggled to reorient itself as she landed next to it.

"Was that all of them all?" She asked Garnet as she picked up the still struggling robonoid and sent it flying towards the group of robonoids that Garnet managed to contain.

"Yes, that was the last one." Garnet replied as she gathered up the group of deactivated robonoids in her arms.

"Ugh, what's in these things?" Amethyst questioned as she crushed a small group of the robonoids with her whip. They exploded and left behind a pile of blue sludge.

"Amethyst!" she reprimanded her. "We need to contain these things not destroy them."

"Chillax P, we still got loads of these little guys." she gestured toward the small group of robonoids she held captive in her arms.

Pearl let out a sigh of frustration, but ultimately decided not to respond. It was clear that Amethyst was not handling the situation with the seriousness that it deserved. If Peridot succeeded in reactivating the warp pads then there was no telling what homeworld would send their way. The thought sent a shiver through her body. She had spent thousands of years protecting the earth and she would not let Peridot ruin everything that she had fought for; everything that Rose had fought for.

"We should bring the robonoids back to the temple." Garnet announced as she walked over to the warp pad.

"Yes, let's do that." Pearl agreed as she took the group of robonoids from Amethysts' arms. Amethysts rolled her eyes in annoyance, but strangely did not argue with her. She did, however, keep one of the robonoids which she began to eagerly inspect.

"Oh man, Steven is going to love these things." Amethyst chuckled as she stepped onto the warp pad.

"Amethyst, we shouldn't let these things near Steven. They could be dangerous." she warned as the warp pad activated.

"C'mon you saw those things back there, they're harmless." Amethyst flippantly told her.

"Pearl is right, Amethyst, until we learn more about Peridot and her intentions we shouldn't take any unnecessary risks." Garnet wisely advised them.

"Ugh, whatever." Was Amethysts only reply as the warp stream brought them to their destination.

"You're back!" Steven greeted them happily. "Hey, it's those things from the Galaxy Warp. Why'd you bring them home?" he asked.

"We can't have them reactivating and fixing the Homeworld Warp." she explained as she glanced over at the couch where Twoie was seated.

She flashed him an awkward smile as a greeting which he hesitantly returned. Truth be told Pearl had been avoiding being around Twoie, choosing instead to focus on repairing the gem artifact that brought him here not that she had been making much progress with it. The technology was confusing and extremely outdated.

She felt guilty as she looked back and forth between Steven and Twoie. She didn't hate Twoie, he was Steven after all and she loved Steven, but there was no denying that she felt uneasy around him. When he first arrived he had been dressed as… Pink and that had terrified her. He claimed that he was dressed like that for a play, an explanation that she had eagerly accepted at the time, but she was still unsure of his intentions.

Suddenly she heard laughing to her side and looked over just in time to see Amethysts attempt to crush a robonoid. "Hey Steven, check this out!" she laughed as she squeezed the robonoid harder and harder until it burst. "Kabloosh!" she exclaimed as the blue sludge went flying everywhere.

She let out a yelp of surprise as she accidently let all the robonoids she had in her arms fall carelessly onto the floor. They made a clinking noise before they rolled all over the floor near the warp pad. She felt her anger rise as she realized that she was also drenched in the sludge.

"Amethyst, please!" She glared at Amethyst who merely stared back at her innocently."This is serious! We need to understand these things, not squash them. If Homeworld Gems are trying to return to Earth…" she felt her panic rise once more as she imagined all the horrible things that homeworld could have planned for the earth. "They have to be stopped!" she fearfully yelled.

"Pearl, calm down. We're still cut off. The Earth is safe." Garnet said calmly which helped Pearl relax as she remembered that they have been able to thwart all of Peridot's attempts to repair the homeworld warp.

"Safe from what? What do the Homeworld Gems want to do?" Steven innocently asked her.

Pearl stiffened and uncertainty looked towards Garnet for guidance. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before explaining the situation to Steven in terms that hopefully would not alarm him. She snuck a glance at Twoie who was intently watching the conversation unfold from his spot on the couch. She wondered how much he knew about homeworld.

"Wait a sec, so that means…" he paused and his eyes lit up in excitement as he came to a realization. "we're just like the No Home Boys!"

"The what?" She questioned confused at his proclamation but relieved that he took her explanation well.

"The No Home Boys!" He eagerly told her as he began to explain a strange series of human novels that he enjoyed.

"Steven, we are not like the No Home Boys." she gestured towards the house surrounding them. "We are literally standing in your home right now." she turned to follow Garnet into the temple, but was stopped by Twoie's voice.

"Wait, Pearl." He said standing up from his spot on the couch.

She froze and hesitantly turned to face him. She had been hoping to avoid him altogether.

"I wanted to talk to you," he said as he approached her.

"I have not had much luck repairing the artifact that brought you here." She blurted out nervously assuming that he would want to ask her about that. "I'm sorry it's just that these robonoids are becoming a time consuming nuisance." She hurriedly explained.

"What?" His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion before his eyes lit up in realization. "Oh! No, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Huh? Then wha-" she attempted to ask before she was interrupted by an excited Steven.

"Twoie! Twoie!" He shouted as he rushed over to where they were talking.

Pearl let out a sigh of relief at Steven's presence. She couldn't help but feel anxious when she was alone with him. He pulled along with him an uncomfortable looking Amethyst who was preoccupied with staring at the floor. Pearl attempted to make eye contact with her, but was unsuccessful. She felt her worry grow at Amethysts continued strange behavior.

"You don't have to yell Steven I'm not that far away." Twoie replied as he glanced at Amethyst.

They briefly made eye contact before they both looked away. Pearl could practically feel the tension in the room increase as they continuously ignored each other's presence. Had something happened between them?

"I'm going to be a No Home Boy with Amethyst." Steven eagerly announced either unfazed or unaware of the tension. "You should come with us. It'll be fun!" Steven hopefully looked between Twoie and Amethyst.

Twoie sent Steven what Pearl assumed was a smile, but what looked more like a grimace. He stole a quick glance in Amethysts direction before refocusing his attention on Steven. Pearl frowned, from what little she had seen of Twoie and Amethysts interactions she had assumed that they got along, but it was clear to her that something was wrong.

"I think I'll pass on this adventure Steven. I've got some…" he paused as he fumbled for an excuse. "stuff I need to take care of here."

"What!? Don't you want to be a No Home Boy?" Steven questioned disappointment apparent in his voice.

"C'mon Steven let's just go." Amethyst impatiently complained as she began to lightly tug on Steven's arm.

"Maybe next time." Twoie said in an attempt to console Steven.

"What about you Pearl?" Steven asked, turning his hopeful gaze onto her.

"This is Pearl we're talking about she doesn't do fun." Amethyst stated matter-of-factly.

A comment like that would ordinarily irk Pearl and it did, but she willed herself to appear unfazed by it. Amethyst was most likely attempting to goad her into an argument. Something which was not uncommon when she was upset.

"I'll pass, but thank you for the offer Steven." She politely declined his invitation and sent him an apologetic smile.

"See, told ya." Amethyst said smugly. "Now let's go pack some stuff for the road." she said as she dragged Steven toward his bedroom

"Oh! Can we pack our stuff in bindles?" he excitedly asked her. "Then we'll be exactly like the No Home Boys." He eagerly followed behind her.

Whatever Amethyst said in response to Steven's question Pearl did not hear as their voices became harder to discern the further they walked away.

"Pack extra food!" Twoie shouted towards the direction of Steven's bedroom. "Also if you see a racoon don't get too close to it!" he warned.

She felt her eyebrow raise at his strange advice, but figured it probably had something to do with Twoie being from the future. She was not unfamiliar with cryptid pieces of advice; she had been friends with Garnet for thousands of years after all.

"We can go talk in my room-" He turned to face her. "-if that's ok with you of course" he nervously asked her for permission. "I mean I know that it's technically Steven's room, but I don't think he'll mind."

"Yes, well it is also your room. You are still Steven after all even if you have grown." she reminded him.

"Yeah, I guess it is." he smiled brightly at her and for a moment Pearl truly felt like she was talking to Steven which was silly given that Twoie was Steven, but they behaved so differently that it was easy to forget.

Twoie approached the temple door which slowly began to open in response to the glow of his gem. He walked into the room and she followed closely behind him. Her anxiety returned when she heard the door close behind them and she realized that they were truly alone. She scanned the empty room in a bid to distract herself from her concerns. Without Rose the room had reverted back to its default state of aimlessly drifting pink clouds. It was a surreal experience to see it so empty. The last time she had been here was a few weeks before Rose had… disappeared. They had been talking about the future and she had broken down when the realization that Rose would no longer be around finally hit her. She turned her attention back towards Twoie who had been watching her intently.

"It's so empty without her." she confessed. "Your mother would recreate the most beautiful places-" she smiled as she recalled some of the more elaborate recreations."-it was never the same place twice."

"Yeah, that sounds like her." he said quietly. "I don't think I can make the room as beautiful as she made it, but I can at least make it so that it doesn't look so empty." He told her as he busied himself with transforming the room.

The formless pink clouds had taken the shape of a familiar yet different looking house. There was no doubt in Pearl's mind that they were standing in a recreation of the beach house just outside the temple door. There were slight differences between the two houses the most notable being an upstairs addition indicated by a set of stairs located where Steven's bedroom usually was. The kitchen island was also gone replaced by a dinner table.

Twoie walked over to the living room before suddenly and unexpectedly lying down on the couch. He stretched out his limbs and let out a content sigh before closing his eyes. Pearl's brow furrowed in confusion. Was he sleeping?

"Twoie?" she questioned as she approached his resting figure.

Twoie quickly shot up into a sitting position startling Pearl. "Sorry," he told her. "It's just I forgot how comfortable these clouds could feel."

She nodded unsure of how to respond to his strange behavior. Upon closer inspection of his face she noticed that he had bags under his eyes. Had he not been getting enough sleep?

"Do you want to sit down?" he asked her as he scooted over to the far end of the couch. He gestured towards the now freed up space on the couch.

She once again nodded before taking a seat on the couch. She waited for Twoie to begin the conversation, but he appeared to be gathering his thoughts. As the silence between them stretched on Pearl glanced over at Twoie only to be shocked by his resemblance to Rose. She had always been aware of the similarities that Steven shared with his mother, but they were even more pronounced on Twoie. The shape of his nose was exactly like his mother's, his head of hair had only become curlier with age, and his eyes seemed to sparkle even as he was deep in thought. She thought if she squinted hard enough she could almost see Rose sitting next to her instead of Twoie.

A frown made its way onto her face as she focused on the manner in which he was seated. While it was certainly true that Steven was a well mannered child, something that she took great pride in, he had never been overly concerned with following etiquette. That made the way in which Twoie carried himself especially strange, but it was also eerily familiar. His feet were planted firmly on the ground, his back was straight, his shoulders were squared, and he exuded a regal aura. Even his hands were folded neatly on his lap exactly like… Pink.

Pearl blinked and her eyes widened in fear when in Twoie's place was Pink. She was smiling softly at her. Her lips were moving, she was speaking to her. The sounds were faint and muted; her voice was too deep. She looked concerned.

"Pearl?" she questioned softly concern evident in her voice. She placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

She flinched, startled. "Yes, my Dia-" she clamped her hand over her mouth mortified at what she was about to say.

She blinked as her vision cleared to reveal a distressed Twoie. For a moment she had thought that Twoie was her. The way he carried himself coupled with the fact that he had arrived dressed as Pink must have caused her imagination to run wild. She looked over at Twoie and was surprised when instead of confusion she saw a look of understanding fall over his face. He grimaced and she thought that he almost looked guilty but of what Pearl could not tell.

"I wanted to talk about Amethyst." he said ignoring her strange outburst and refusing to meet her gaze.

"Amethyst?" she repeated confused but grateful for the change of subject. "Did she do something wrong?" she asked as she recalled their tense interaction from earlier.

"She hasn't done anything yet, bu-"

"What do you mean yet?" She interrupted him as she anxiously pondered what Amethyst could do. "Will she do something in the future?"

"What? No! Well.. kinda, but that's not what I wanted to tell you either." he fumbled over his words. "Oh stars, how do I put this…" he paused as he gathered his thoughts. "you need to fix your relationship with Amethyst." he bluntly told her.

"Fix my relationship with Amethyst? What do you mean?" She asked offended by his comment.

"Your constant fighting is not healthy and it's not good for the team." he told her gently.

"I would not need to argue with her if she would just take things seriously. Her little outbursts always put us in danger and she can be so… infuriating. She is the one who is always acting out." she explained in an attempt to defend herself.

"She's only acting out because she thinks you hate her." he told her slowly as if he were speaking to a child.

"What? No!" she shook her head unwilling to even humor his absurd claim. "We may have our-" she grimaced as she thought of all the shouting matches they had over the years."-disagreements, but I don't hate Amethyst."

"Does she know that?" he asked her calmly.

"I…" she hesitated as she recalled earlier in that day when she had asked Amethyst if something was wrong; she had been ignored. Amethyst had been crying by herself and had not bothered to seek her out. Did Amethysts not feel comfortable enough to confide in her? "Of course she does!" she exclaimed not as certain as before. Pearl often made it a point to reprimand and lecture Amethyst, but she only did so because she cared about her. Amethyst had always been adventurous but with Rose gone she had become reckless.

"Pearl, do you think Amethyst is a mistake because of where she was made?" Twoie continued asking her questions that made her increasingly uncomfortable.

"Where she was made…" she repeated. He did not say where she was from but rather where she was made. That meant that he was aware that gems were made, something that she had not told Steven. "You know about th-"

"The kindergarten?" He finished for her. "Yeah I know about them." His eyes glazed over and his face took on a wistful expression. "I learned about them a long time ago." he paused as if remembering something. "You didn't answer my question."

"I do not think she is a mistake-" she looked Twoie straight in the eyes willing him to see her honesty. "-she is just the byproduct of… a mistake." she trailed off as she realized what she was saying and how horrible it sounded. "That's not what I meant!" she hastily spouted as she struggled to find the words to explain herself. "I… I-"

"Pearl, I know you don't think she's a mistake," he mercifully stopped her from making a fool of herself. "but that's not the way she sees it. The kindergarten was her home and when you say stuff about how the kindergarten is a horrible place… well, it's hard not to take it personally especially since you two are always at each other's throats."

"I…" she held her head in her hands as her face flushed with shame. "does she really believe that I hate her?" She timidly asked afraid to hear the answer.

"She thinks you're embarrassed of her, that you think she's just a big mistake."

"I just never thought of the kindergarten as her." She looked up at him. "I thought she knew that… she needs to know that." she declared as she was filled with a new sense of determination.

She stood up from the couch and began to make her way out of the temple. She needed to find Amethyst and apologize.

"She will, but right now she's busy being a No Home Boy with Steven." He said sympathetically as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I will just go ask Garnet where I can find her." she brushed past him, undeterred and continued to head towards the exit.

"I know where they are,-" she opened her mouth to ask him about their whereabouts. "-but it's best if we let them spend some time together." he flashed her an apologetic smile. "In the meantime…" he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Do you want to hang out?"


When Twoie had pulled Pearl aside for a conversation he had expected her to react negatively and while she did get defensive she also was surprisingly receptive to his criticisms. It was part of the reason he had decided to talk to her instead of Amethyst; that and the fact that his relationship with Amethyst was strained at the moment.

"Are you ready, Twoie?" Pearl asked him as she took an offensive stance. Her spear gleamed threateningly under the sun.

After their discussion Twoie had offered to spend some time with Pearl. He had been afraid that she would not want to be around him. He saw the way that Garnet and Pearl acted around him; they would avoid him if he was not with Steven. It hurt him when they did that, but he understood why they would feel uneasy around him.

"Ready." he informed her as he widened his stance and debated to himself whether he should make the first move or not.

He had suggested they spar at the sky arena. Pearl had been hesitant to accept his offer at first because she did not think him a capable sword fighter, but after many reassurances on his part she eventually relented and agreed. The conversation was awkward and stilted at first because Pearl still felt slightly uncomfortable around him. Twoie had sensed this and began asking her questions about her weapon collection, which he knew that she cherished, and conversation had flowed more freely after that. She had been holding back in the first couple of sparring matches, but once she deemed him a competent opponent she had begun to act more aggressively.

"Focus!" Pearl warned as she rushed him.

The muscles in his arm shook as he struggled to push back her spear. He redoubled his efforts and was rewarded when Pearl relented enough to give him an exit. He jumped backwards to give himself some room to work with. He quickly went on the offensive and began to charge at Pearl. Seeing this, Pearl instantly raised her spear and was able to successfully stop his attack. She roughly pushed her spear against his sword with enough force to send him back a few feet. He quickly took on a defensive stance when he noticed Pearl barrelling towards him

"Excellent form Twoie!" Pearl praised as he narrowly avoided getting skewered by her spear.

Twoie smiled as he felt beads of sweat roll off his forehead. It had been such a long time since he and Pearl had last spared. Ever since the construction of Little Homeschool he had been busier than ever; he hardly had much time to do anything fun anymore.

"But not perfect." she smirked as her spear clashed with his sword once again and she managed to throw his stance off just enough to give Pearl the perfect opening. She struck him at just the right angle that his sword flew out of his hand and clattered uselessly on the ground. He raised his hands up in defeat before taking a seat on the floor.

"It looks like I still have a lot to learn." he announced exhausted, but content.

"I have to say I'm impressed." Pearl commended him as she put her spear away. "I haven't had a worthy opponent to spar against in centuries."

"Thanks. I learned from the best." he said as he pulled himself off the ground and dusted off his clothes.

"I assume you use a sword for combat in the future?" she inquired.

"Not really." he confessed. "That's more Connie's thing, but sometimes we spar for fun. If you think I'm good you should try going up against her; she's downright terrifying with a sword." he shuddered as he recalled how their sparring matches would often end with him on the floor covered in bruises.

"Connie?" she asked baffled. "Why would I teach her how to swordfight? She is just a child."

"At the time we thought it would be a good idea for her to learn just in case something happened." he answered vaguely unwilling to reveal much about his future.

Suddenly Twoie realized that he had lost track of time. "Shit!" he reflexively exclaimed before realizing that Pearl was still next to him.

"Twoie!" She scolded him appalled by his language. He flushed red in embarrassment. "I know I raised you bett-

"Sorry, Pearl!" he swiftly apologized before he attempted to drag Pearl toward the direction of the warp pad. "I completely forgot about Steven and Amethyst. We need to go right now."

"What? Why?" she crossed her arms and refused to budge from her spot.

"Ok, but promise you won't be mad." he pleaded.

"Twoie." she warned her patience waning.

"Amethyst is going to bring Steven to the prime kindergarten."

"What!?" she shouted enraged. "What is she thinking, bringing Steven to a kindergarten!" she quickly began to march towards the direction of the warp pad.

"Wait, Pearl!" Twoie shouted as he jogged to catched up to her. "She didn't mean any harm by it."

"Didn't mean any harm!?" Twoie crashed into Pearl's back as she abruptly stopped walking. She turned to face him. "It's a kindergarten, Twoie. Steven should be nowhere near it. He's not…" she faltered as she realized something. "How did you learn about the kindergarten?" she abruptly asked him.

Twoie looked away from Pearl refusing to meet her gaze. "That's not important right now. If you want to stop Amethyst we need to leave now."

Pearl opened her mouth as if she was going to continue to argue with him, she hesitated before abruptly closing it. "We will have a discussion about this later." she informed him.

Twoie nodded which was enough to satisfy Pearl as she once again began to walk to the warp pad.


One bright flash of light later and they were at the kindergarten. Twoie quickly scanned the area and was relieved when he failed to locate Amethyst and Steven.

"I think we made it here before they did," he announced. "If we go wait by the entrance we should be able to stop them from coming here."

"Let's hurry then," Pearl looked at the crumbling injectors with disgust. "I don't want Steven to ever have to see this horrible place."

Twoie frowned as they silently headed to the entrance of the kindergarten. A conversation between Amethyst and Pearl would go poorly if she was this upset. "Pearl, remember what we talked about earlier?" he asked her. "About how Amethyst views this place as her home."

Pearl was silent even as they reached the entrance. Just as he was beginning to think that she hadn't heard him, Pearl let out a tired sigh. "I know she was just trying to show Steven her… home, but Steven could have been hurt."

"She shouldn't have brought him here," he admitted. "But she would never let anything hurt Steven."

"I know." Pearl conceded. "I don't want to fight anymore. I just want to make things right. I'm going to apologize to her."

"Good, I'm glad." Twoie sighed in relief as a conflict was narrowly avoided.

They stood there waiting for a few minutes before they began to hear voices approach them. A few seconds later Steven and Amethyst came into view. Steven's eyes lit up in excitement when he saw them and he instantly rushed over to their direction.

"Twoie! Pearl!" Steven enthusiastically ran up to greet them. "Did you guys change your minds about being No Home Boys?" he asked as he attempted to hug both of them at the same time.

"Hello, Steven." Pearl greeted warmly as she returned his hug.

"Hey there buddy." he smiled down at him and ruffled his hair. "How did it go?"

"It was really fun! we got to ride in a train cart just like a real No Home Boy and Amethyst was just about to show me where she came fr-"

Steven's excited explanation was cut off by the arrival of Amethyst. "Great. The fun police is here-" she stole a peek in his direction. "-and it looks like she brought some back up."

He turned towards Pearl and sent her a subtle nod which she returned.

"Steven," she began gently. "It's getting late why don't you head back home with Twoie."

"Yeah, you can tell me more about your day on the way home." he added.

"Aren't you guys coming?" he asked as he looked between Amethyst and Pearl.

"Amethyst and Pearl are going to stay here for a bit, ok?" he explained as he glanced at Amethysts who had remained silent during their exchange. She was watching him cautiously, but turned away the second he made eye contact.

"Why? Is something wrong?" Steven began to grow worried. "Maybe I can help." he offered.

"No!" he said a bit too loudly. He cleared his throat before continuing. "No, Steven this is something they have to talk about alone."

"Are they going to be ok?" he asked as Pearl lead Amethyst away so that they could talk in private.

"Yeah they'll be fine, I promise." He confidently told him as he watched their retreating figures.


"Amethyst you know you can tell me anything, right?" she gently reminded her.

After Twoie had left with Steven, Pearl had attempted to have a conversation with Amethyst. Amethyst had attempted to cajole her into an argument, but Pearl remained calm and allowed her to be angry. When Amethyst had finished shouting at her, Pearl had apologized profusely and repeatedly told Amethyst that she wasn't a mistake.

"I know." she said softly as she rubbed at her eyes. When Amethyst had started to cry Pearl assumed that she had said something wrong, that perhaps she had unintentionally insulted her. So, she began to apologize again. She told Amethyst about all the things she admired about her. Then Amethyst hugged her and surprised Pearl with apologizes of her own. Suddenly they were both crying and hugging each other; they stayed like that for a while

"Was it something that I said?" she timidly asked.

"No, it's not that. It's-" she faltered and looked away nervously. "... never mind." she muttered.

Pearl didn't want to overstep her boundaries, but she was deeply concerned for her friend. She had been behaving strangely and it was apparent that something was bothering her.

"Amethyst?" she once again asked as she placed, what she hoped, was a comforting hand on her shoulder.

For a moment none of them said anything, choosing instead to silently watch the sun as it began to set. As the seconds stretched on into minutes Pearl let out a defeated sigh and let her hand drop. It was evident that she would not be getting an answer from Amethyst.

"It's Twoie." she confessed abruptly surprising Pearl. "Something… weird happened."