Steven stuck close to Lapis, sensing how ill at ease she was as they made their way up the steps to the house surrounding the temple. He cast a reassuring look towards her, and she returned a weak smile that quickly faded when Garnet said. "Steven you wait out here while we talk to Lapis alone." Panic skittered across Lapis' face and her eyes darted back to the not so distant sea: She wanted to run.
Before she could act however Steven tightened his grip on her hand and moved in front of her. "No, I go where Lapis goes." Even through the mirrored glasses and her stoic demeanor he could tell he surprised Garnet with that, the rarity with which that happened making it easily identifiable. Garnet looked like she might object, but the next moment she smiled a little and nodded.
"I can see nothing's going to change your mind. Come on in then." She said turning to to open the door and stride in. Lapis seemed to relax a little, looking down gratefully at Steven before he lead the way inside. The house felt different somehow, like all the memories of the good times he'd had there were pushed into some dark corner. Amethyst was on the couch, but rather than lounging and snoring away as she might usually be found she was rigid, unable to look at either himself or Lapis. Garnet leaned against the counter by the fridge with her arms crossed, he casual nature looking forced for the first time he could remember.
Then there was Rose, looking more out of place than any of them, a serious expression he had never seen on her face before as she stared down at the two of them. "A Lapis Lazuli." Rose's voice was low, and calm, not at all like the light even silly Gem with which he was familiar, and something prickled at the back of his mind and sent a shiver down his spine. "Steven, you need to step away from her, she might be dangerous." Concern for him plain in her eyes as she darted glances between him and the Gem in front of whom he now stood. He shook his head.
"Lapis is my friend, and I promised we would help her." Surprise appeared on Rose's face. She looked to Garnet who could only shrug. "It's not right that you kept her in that mirror for so long, that you never even tried to heal her!" Steven had begun speaking softly but built himself up to a near shout. "She's a Gem, like you, like mom." He placed a hand to his Gem thinking how his mother must have gone along with keeping Lapis in the mirror, and was oddly comforted by the idea that like him she made mistakes in judgment. This however was no mistake, he knew that what he was doing was right.
"There are things you don't understand Steven, things we will explain but for now you have to let us bubble her, at least until we discuss everything." Lapis tried to pull away at this, her free hand reaching out towards the sink behind Garnet. Fear spread through Steven like ice water in his veins, his eyes moving down for the first time at a twitch of one of Rose's arms. Clasped in her hand and turned backwards mostly hidden by her body was the handle of a pink weapon Steven recalled from some of the memories the Holo pearl had shared. He reached up, turning to Lapis and holding onto both hands now brought the one that had been about to draw water out to defend herself down. She stared at him, then closed her eyes, once again trusting him to keep her safe. Then he spun back, voice hot but not shouting.
"Things like what? How you're aliens? How you fought a huge war against your homeworld thousands of years ago?" Rose who had been slowly withdrawing her blade still, stopped shock plain on all their faces. Amethyst finally turned to him, Garnet dismissed her glasses, all three eyes goggling at what he'd said. "My mom left a hologram and told me all about it." Worry flashed across Rose's face but she composed herself and lifted the blade up completely, resting the tip on the floor and resting one hand on the pommel.
"Then you know how dangerous a Gem loyal to homeworld can be, especially Lapis Lazulis. Do you know what they do Steven?" He nodded, though some of the fierceness had gone out of him.
"They. . .she controls water." He said almost asking as he glanced back at Lapis who didn't return the look, instead shifting her gaze between the sword and the faucet, clenching Steven's hand so hard it began to hurt but he didn't complain. Rose nodded.
"They control water, all the water, on an entire planet. Do you know what that means? She could make it so it never rains anywhere, or flood entire continents. Lapis Lazulis are terraformers. . ." Steven knew the word from science fiction books he'd read, and when Rose phrased it like that he began to realize the scope of the power of the Gem behind him. "They render whole worlds incapable of supporting organic life for homeworld, that's why at least for now we need to keep her contained. The word "Contained" seemed to spark panic in Lapis and water rushed from the faucet striking out like a whip at Rose only to be blocked by Garnet as she moved and summoned her Gauntlets. Rose raised her sword. "Steven, you are a Crystal Gem, and I am the leader of the Crystal gems, so I am giving you an order to move aside right now." Steven looked stunned, he had never heard Rose give an actual order before, sure she had given suggestions or even commands in a battle but never an order.
Without realizing it he had moved to the side, leaving the space between Rose and Lapis empty. More water rushed in from the bathroom and the pipes below them. Some of the it joined the fight against Garnet who was trying to bend the faucet shut, more still came to contain Amethyst who had produced her whip. Lapis looked towards Steven as Rose sliced through a wall of water she had raised to try and protect herself, the hurt in those flat shining eyes broke something inside him. She had trusted him and he abandoned her just to be a good little crystal Gem?
"No!" Steven shouted as Rose raised her blade once again, no anger or joy in her face, just grim determination. He rushed forward, light flashing as he slid across the now slick floor to come between them once again. A second sword came between Rose's and Lapis, and the fighting in the rest of the house went silent, all the water splashing lifelessly down once again. It was hard to tell who was more surprised, Steven or Rose. In his hand Steven held a long slender sword, curved slightly, the bladed side shining in an opalescent rainbow, the guardless handle shimmering white pearl. Garnet who still hadn't reformed her glasses stared, as Amethyst looked up from where she'd fallen.
"A sword." Rose said softly, as she drew her own back, and let it drop with a small splash to the floor. Steven was panting as he looked back to Lapis.
"Are you okay?" Worry coming through as plainly in his voice as in his eyes. It took Lapis a moment, as if she'd forgotten how to speak before finally managing.
"Yeah." and nodded slowly. With Rose now disarmed, and Lapis' safety evident, the katana he held vanished. He smiled at her, and swayed, eyes rolling as he fainted. He woke up a moment later, everyone crowded around him, emnity on both sides apparently abandoned when he'd fallen as Lapis stood unconcerned beside Rose looking down at him, his body cradled on a bed of animated water. At the sight of him opening his eyes Rose flung her arms around him, tears spilling from her eyes.
"I am so sorry Steven." Burying her face against his chest he felt like the front of his shirt would soon be as wet as the side now pressed against Lapis' water bed. "But that was really really cool!" Looking a laugh now blending with her sobs. The rest all wore looks of relief Amethyst and Garnet smiled to one another, then offered one to Lapis who herself managed to not look away from them.
"I'm not the one you should be crying on." Steven said, head still swimming a little, and Rose followed his eyes to Lapis. "It was wrong to keep her locked up like we did. I get that you were scared but Lapis didn't do anything wrong, she never hurt anyone, and now she wants to go home. We have to help her." He said firmly, getting to his feet Rose backed up a bit. Tears still in her eyes she closed them as if deciding something.
"Alright Steven. Lapis, please come here a moment." Apprehension reappearing on Lapis' face but with a reassuring look from Steven she stepped up and turned to show her cracked gem. Steven watched intently as Rose leaned down letting several fat tear drops fall onto Lapis' Gem. Without realizing it he had adopted that empty eyed stare again, beam of light shining from his gem cast over the whole scene. Before anyone could ask him what he was doing however Lapis's gem glowed bright, and in an instant was whole again. He let the light wink out from his own gem in time to watch as a pair of thick watery wings erupted from the now healed stone.
"Thank you." Lapis said to both Rose and Steven, then looked towards the door, as if worried someone was going to stop her.
"You could stay you know, with us, with me." Steven offered, stepping over to her, taking hold of her hand again. Surprised she looked down at him, then over to the Gems who all nodded in agreement. "You're free to go where ever you want now, so why not choose to be here? I think if you saw more of earth you'd really like it." Lapis grinned and bent to eye level with him, her own now repaired pair stared into his, affection plain in them.
"You are the kindest person I have ever met, but I think you're wrong. I've seen enough of Earth from inside that mirror, I just want to go home." She said tiredly, and Steven nodded, hugging her around the waist. "Thank you Steven." She said stroking his hair once, then stepping gracefully from his grip, and out the door. They all ran after her, getting to the outer porch just as she leapt from the railing and took to the air, and vanishing into the night sky.
"Well, now all we can do is wait and see what happens." Rose said, worry creeping back onto her features. Steven watched her as she ushered Amethyst and Garnet back inside, she cast a single guilty look back at him, then speaking to the other two joked about how Lapis could have at least removed the mess she'd made before leaving. He remained outside though, everything was different now. Looking back to the patch of sky Lapis had disappeared into he knew he was going to have to be ready.
