Dragontitan: What'd I tell you? Sweet and considerate.
Steven, Ruby, Sapphire, and Amethyst were all sitting on the bleachers of the Solar Spire's arena. Pearl was standing in the middle of the arena holding a sword in each hand.
"Alright, Steven. Today, I'll be showing you the art of swordfighting. Your mother herself was an excellent swordswoman, and we all think it would be a good idea if you learned some basic techniques. Luckily, I just so happen to have the perfect sparring partner with me to help demonstrate." Pearl's gemstone glowed, projecting a hologram of herself who stood right across from her.
"Whoa! Holo-Pearl!" Steven exclaimed.
"BATTLE MODE ENGAGED," the hologram Pearl said as the real Pearl tossed it one of her swords. "DO YOU WISH TO ENGAGE IN COMBAT?"
Pearl drew her sword out in front of her. "Let's make sure to keep it simple so Steven can keep track of what's going on."
"COMMENCING DUEL!"
The two Pearls began swinging their swords at each other, the blades clashing and occasionally locking together. There were no fancy moves or jumps or anything special, they were just doing simple parries and thrusts and slashes.
"Pay close attention, Steven," Pearl told him as she continued her sparring match with her double. "Watch where I keep my center of gravity."
Steven quickly started losing interest. "Couldn't you show me something cool? Like the Boomerang Blade from the Lonely Blade series!"
"Steven, I'm trying to teach you real sword techniques. Real swordfighting is nothing like in those silly movies of yours. It's about waiting for the perfect moment to strike on your opponent!" Pearl's sword then locked blades with Holo-Pearl's sword once more. "Not fancy performance pieces."
"C'mon, please?" Steven began chanting as he banged his fists on the sides of his seat. "Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade!"
"Steven, this is serious!" Just then, while Pearl was distracted, Holo-Pearl slashed its sword across the real Pearl's midsection, slicing her clean in half as her sword fell out of her grip. Her upper half fell onto the tiled floor of the arena while her lower half stumbled a bit before falling over forward.
"CHALLENGER DEFEATED!"
Steven covered his mouth as a horrified gasp escaped him. He jumped off the bleachers and ran over to the bisected Gem, screaming her name in anguish.
"Oh no! What have I done?" Steven kneeled down beside Pearl's upper half and held her hand in both of his. The suspenders of her shorts were sloughing off her shoulders as she lay on her back motionless. Her cyan eyes stared wide and unblinking with her lips parted ever so slightly. Cyan liquid similar to what he saw Rough Gems and Ruby bleed was slowly oozing out of the bottom where she had been cut.
"Steven!" The rest of the Gems ran over to them.
"What happened?" Ruby asked him.
"I..." Steven tried to wipe the tears from his face, only for them to keep coming. "Pearl, she..." A sniffle. "Sh-She was trying to show me... and I distracted her, and... n-now she's..."
"Hey, it's okay, bud," Amethyst assured him as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Pearl's gonna be fine."
"R-Really?"
"Yes, really," Sapphire said. "You see, Steven, Gems, unlike humans, are made up of a mix of crystalline and organic material, so we can be put back together if our bodies are broken into separate pieces."
Steven wiped away some more tears. "How's that?"
"We have a special liquid running through our veins called Essence that sustains our life functions and helps repair our bodies if they take bad enough damage, kinda like a magic glue that's used for fixing people instead of objects," Ruby explained. "You saw how my foot got broken off and reattached the last time we came here, right?"
"This sorta thing just happens to us sometimes," Amethyst said. "Mostly to me. What can I say? I'm scrappy like that."
"So, how long will it take for Pearl to heal from this?"
Sapphire hummed in thought. "About a week should be enough time."
Steven smiled hopefully. "Okay, that doesn't sound too long."
-9 days later-
Steven sat on the floor, stroking a napping Lion's fur while keeping his eyes on the Temple Door. The Gems told him to not worry too much, and that Pearl will be perfectly fine soon enough. But it was hard to keep calm when such a big piece of everyday life had been ripped away from him, and by his own carelessness at that. Every time he closed his eyes, his mind would replay that moment where Pearl was slashed in half by her holographic double, all because he distracted her. He hated feeling so guilty, and he especially hated the thought of one of his loved ones getting killed thanks to him. He was taken out of his thoughts by Amethyst walking into the beach house through the front door. In her hands was a box of donuts.
"Hey, dude!" she greeted. "I got you some donuts."
"Thanks, but I'm not really hungry."
Amethyst looked around after putting the donuts on the coffee table. The beach house was more of a mess than usual; some of Steven's discarded clothes were scattered on the floor, there were some food wrappers and used paper plates littering the kitchen counter, and the kitchen sink, which was normally empty, was filled with bowls and cups. "Well, I like what you've done with the place."
"Pearl usually helps me clean up." Steven looked up at Amethyst with a sad, lost look on his face. "How much longer am I supposed to wait, Amethyst? I can't keep living like this."
"I can." Steven's frown deepened, which didn't go unnoticed by the purple Gem. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that!" Amethyst put a comforting hand on Steven's head and ruffled his dark, curly hair. "I'm sure Pearl's healing just fine! She'll probably be back on her feet before we know it."
"Can we go see her?"
"We should probably wait 'til Ruby and Sapphire get back."
As if right on cue, the Warp Pad hummed to life and brought the two Corundums back to the Temple.
Steven ran right over to them. "Ruby! Sapphire! Can one of you take me to see-"
"Yes, Steven, one of us can take you to see Pearl," Sapphire interrupted calmly as ever. The blue Gem turned around and stepped off of the Warp Pad to face the Temple Door. Steven went over to take her left hand. She raised her right hand, her gem glowing as the blue stone on the Door glowed and the Door opened to her and Ruby's room.
They walked in towards the telltale waterfall that led to Pearl's room, Steven being careful to avoid stepping on any of the cracks on the floor. When they got to the waterfall, Sapphire picked up Steven in her arms and jumped up into the air, floating back down into Pearl's room.
Pearl's room looked just like it did the last time Steven visited; the same pool of water and the same tall water pillars. However, there was now a bed-like structure that Steven hadn't noticed before, no doubt where Pearl was resting.
Sapphire set Steven down on the water which, to his surprise, was dense enough to actually stand on. Steven took a cautious step forward while still holding onto Sapphire's hand. It kind of felt like he was walking on a waterbed, his foot sinking slightly into the crystalline surface, but not enough to the point where it was submerged. The two of them came closer to the structure that Pearl was lying on. The structure looked like it was made of marble or some other smooth stone material, not something that Steven would find very comfortable. Pearl was lying still on her back with her head resting on a teal pillow, eyes closed and hands folded on her abdomen, as if she were asleep. Instead of her usual attire, all she wore was a stark white robe that barely reached her knees.
"Hello, Pearl. How are you feeling?"
Upon hearing Sapphire's voice, the healing Gem turned her head and opened her eyes to look at her. "I'm doing much better now," she said just barely above a whisper. "I think I'm about ready to go back out."
"That's good to hear." Sapphire gestured to Steven, who was still holding her hand. "Steven has come by to visit you."
"Hi, Pearl," Steven said hesitantly.
"Hello, Steven," she greeted, giving him a small smile.
"Pearl," Steven looked down at his feet. "I'm really sorry I distracted you while you were trying to teach me about swordfighting."
Pearl reached a slender hand out to caress Steven's cheek. "Steven, it's okay. I'm fine now."
"But Holo-Pearl sliced you in half because of me! It's my fault you almost died!"
"Steven, it's fine. I got a little hurt, and now I'm better. Worse things have happened to me in battle."
"What could be worse than getting sliced in half with a sword?"
Pearl sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Trust me, Steven, I've been fighting for hundreds of years. I was bound to have quite a few particularly bad accidents under my belt."
"Well, I'm gonna make sure nothing like that happens again. I'll do my absolute best to keep you safe."
"You really don't need to do that."
"But I don't want you getting hurt again!"
Pearl reached her hand back out to stroke Steven's curls. "Steven, I know you're worried for my well-being after the incident back at the arena, but becoming my bodyguard really isn't necessary. I'm more than capable of holding my own in a fight, and if worse comes to worse, the other Crystal Gems will always have my back."
"And now I have your back too."
"If you say so, Steven." Pearl got up from her bed and stretched. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I would like to get dressed so I can come back out and see everyone again."
"Come on, Steven." Sapphire led the boy by the hand to the Temple Door, which had emerged from near the edge of the watery surface.
Steven and Sapphire came back into the beach house.
"So, how is she?" Ruby asked. "Is she doing any better?"
"She said she's ready to come back out again," Sapphire answered. "Although, Steven still seems worried about her."
"Hey, don't sweat it, kiddo," Ruby assured him, giving him a pat on the back. "You know, Pearl is actually a lot tougher than she looks. She's survived way worse than being sliced in half with a sword."
"Yeah, she told me," Steven said. "But I just don't wanna see her getting hurt again after what happened back at the Solar Spire's arena."
The Temple Door opened again, and out came Pearl, who was now dressed in her usual clothes. She straightened her tie as she walked onto the Warp Pad. "Hello, everyone. I'm back." She took a moment to look around the beach house. "My goodness, this place is a mess. Just how long was I away for?"
"Like, nine days." Amethyst proceeded to eat one of the donuts she brought in. "Want a donut?"
"No thank you. I'll just make some tea, then I'll start tidying up." Pearl started to make her way to the kitchen before Steven stopped her.
"I'll do it!"
"Steven, I-"
"I don't want you to get burned. You just go ahead and tidy up while I make you tea."
"That's very thoughtful of you, Steven, but I'm quite certain I don't need to worry about burning myself."
"Better safe than sorry."
"Alright, Steven. I'll start with the dishes, and then I'll get started on picking your things up off the floor." Pearl walked over to the sink and applied dish soap to the sponge before taking a dirty butter knife out of the sink to scrub it clean.
Steven's eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of the knife, and he ran over to take the sponge from Pearl. "You know what? I can take care of that too."
"But what about the tea?"
Steven turned his head towards Ruby's direction. "Ruby!"
"Yeah?"
"Would you mind making tea? I'm kinda busy washing the dishes."
"Of course!" Ruby grabbed the tea kettle off the stove and hugged it to her chest. The kettle quickly started boiling as Ruby heated it up.
Pearl began picking up Steven's dirty clothes and putting them in the hamper. "Steven, you could also do some picking up as well, since you're so insistent on helping me."
"I'm on it!" Steven grabbed all the paper plates and discarded food wrappers off the counter and threw them in the garbage, then ran over to the living room to pick up the rest of his clothes, unaware that he left the water running in the sink.
"Steven, the water!"
"Oh jeez!" Steven ran back to the kitchen to shut the water off.
"Tea's done!" Ruby said, grabbing Steven's attention.
"Great. Just let it cool off a bit." Steven picked up some of the clothes he dropped and walked off to put them in the hamper. He swept some dust off his hands. "There. All done."
Ruby walked over to them with a mug of hot tea in each of her hands. "Who wants tea?"
"Thank you, Ruby." Pearl grabbed one of the mugs with both hands.
"Hold on! Lemme go get you a straw!" Steven ran back to the kitchen.
"A straw? With tea?"
Steven came back with a pink plastic straw. "Well, I don't want you to end up burning your lip."
"In that case, wouldn't it make more sense to let it cool entirely before I drink it?"
"You're right. Hey, Sapphire, could you cool off Pearl's tea for her?"
Sapphire walked over and took Pearl's mug from her. The blue Gem held the ceramic container in both hands, using her freezing abilities to cool the tea held within. Small florets of frost formed around where she gripped the mug.
Pearl then quickly took it back, brushing off the frost with one hand while gripping the handle with the other. "Thank you, Sapphire, I think that's long enough." She took a peek inside of the mug. "In fact, I think you froze it."
Sapphire simply hummed in response.
"Do you want mine?" Steven asked as he held up his mug.
"That's very nice of you, Steven, but I'm not really in the mood for tea anymore." Pearl walked to the kitchen and put her mug on the counter.
"That's okay. How about I put on a movie? That's a perfectly safe and fun thing to do."
Steven and the Gems were sitting in his bedroom loft, watching Lonely Blade 4 on the TV. They were at the climax where the titular Lonely Blade confronts the Shadow Samurai President.
"So it was you!" Lonely Blade said, his original Japanese voice dubbed over in English. "You are the one who killed my brother! You cursed me to fight alone forever!"
"Man, this dub is really good," Steven said as he rolled over on his back. "What do you think, Pearl?"
"It's alright. Though the dialogue can get a bit awkward at times."
Amethyst shushed her and pointed to the TV. "Here comes the best part." And she ate a handful of microwaved popcorn.
"For my honor and my brother, I shall strike you down!" On the screen, Lonely Blade joined his two katanas together by the ends of the hilts. He promptly threw them at the Shadow Samurai President. "Boomerang Blade!"
Steven's mind suddenly went to the moment things took a turn for the worse.
Steven began chanting as he banged his fists on the sides of his seat. "Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade!"
"Steven, this is serious!" Just then, while Pearl was distracted, Holo-Pearl slashed its sword across the real Pearl's midsection, slicing her clean in half as her sword fell out of her grip.
Steven shook his head and got up to take the DVD out of the DVR.
"Steven, what are you doing?" Pearl asked him.
"Ah, Lonely Blade is overrated anyway." Steven put the DVD back in its case, which he put on top of the DVR. "Let's just watch some Crying Breakfast Friends." He changed the channel on the TV to the one that Crying Breakfast Friends was currently playing on. In the episode, Crying Pear was lying on the ground, sliced in half, bawling their eyes out. Wailing Waffle was standing beside them, also bawling their eyes out.
"I'm so sorry!" Wailing Waffle wailed. "It's my fault you got hurt!"
"No it isn't!" Crying Pear retorted through their tears. "You did nothing wrong!"
"But if I hadn't distracted you, you would still be okay!"
Steven quickly switched the TV off. "You know, on second thought, TV is pretty overrated in general. How about we just read books instead?"
Pearl sighed at Steven's actions. "Alright, Steven." She got up to reach one of the books on the shelf before Steven stopped her.
"Let me grab it for you! I don't want you getting a papercut."
"Steven, it's fine, really."
Suddenly, there was a loud screech coming from outside.
"There's a Rough Emerald attacking the boardwalk," Sapphire said as she started heading downstairs. The rest of the Gems summoned their weapons before following her.
Steven grabbed Pearl by the leg of her shorts. "Wait, Pearl! I don't want you getting hurt in battle!"
"I'm sorry, Steven, but duty calls." Pearl pried the boy's fingers off of her coral pink garment and went off to join the other Crystal Gems.
"At least let me come with you so I can protect you!"
Pearl turned her head to look at him a final time before leaving. "Steven, I know you're worried about me, but I think I can handle it. Besides, it isn't like I'll be fighting alone." And with that, she closed the door behind her.
Steven thought about the talk he and Pearl had when Sapphire brought him up to her room, about how he would do his best to keep her safe from harm. He wasn't about to give up on that promise.
The Rough Emerald was a 15-foot-tall, bright green monstrosity that closely resembled a giant praying mantis. It stood on four legs that ended in sharp, brilliant green points. Its front limbs ended in curved sickles that slashed through everything in its path. Its sharp-toothed maw was agape and shrieking a terrible cry that made the human dwellers of the boardwalk run for cover.
The Crystal Gems had just arrived to take care of it, with Steven following close behind. Amethyst rolled into a ball and threw herself at one of the Emerald's legs, toppling it over onto its side as the wooden boards splintered and cracked with the force of its fall, though it promptly stood back up without even so much as a scratch. The Rough Emerald swung one of its sickles at her before Pearl fired a laser from the head of her spear, gaining its attention. She jumped out of the way when it swung its sickle at her, and that's when Steven was heard calling her name.
"Steven, what are you doing here?" Pearl asked as she continually dodged the Rough Emerald's attacks.
"I came here to protect you!"
"Steven, go home! I've got it under control! Really!"
Pearl leapt up over another swinging sickle, slashing her spear at the Emerald in return.
"No way! I swore that I'd do my best to keep you safe, and that's what I aim to do." Steven's gemstone started glowing, and a circular mass of pink light started to form around it before the Rough Emerald took notice and swung down one of its sickles towards him, causing the barely-formed shield to dissipate before Steven broke into a run, screaming in fear, the Emerald chasing after him.
"Steven!"
Just then, Sapphire shot a beam of ice magic at the Rough Emerald's legs, freezing them together in a large mass of ice and leaving it immobile. Steven stopped running and watched as it writhed and hacked at the ice with its sickles, trying to free itself.
"Now's your chance, Pearl," Sapphire said. "Slay the Rough Emerald while the rest of us stay behind and help the civilians."
"Right."
Pearl leapt up into the air and jabbed her spear into the nape of the Rough Emerald's neck, causing it to screech in pain. Then with all of her might, she slashed it's head clean off, the head, where its rectangular stone rested between its massive eyes, falling onto the ground hard. Its entire body grew limp as its Essence slowly spilled from its neck holes.
Pearl jumped down in a crouch, then standing back up and stretching her arms over her head with a tired sigh. She looked down at the half-Gem and asked him "Are you alright, Steven?"
Steven blinked at her, wiping some tears out of his eyes. "Y-Yeah, but..."
"Steven," Pearl got down on one knee and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know how worried you were about me after what happened the other day, but you should know that it's our job to worry about you, not the other way around." Pearl stood straight again and smiled at him smugly while putting her hands on her hips. "And I'll have you know that I'm much tougher than I look."
"After what I just saw, I definitely believe it."
Pearl picked him up in her arms as the rest of the Gems walked over. "Now why don't we go home and continue watching Lonely Blade?"
"Now wait just a minute!" they heard an angry voice say. It was Kofi, his teen daughters and elderly mother Nanefua standing behind him. "Who is going to pay for the damages to my shop?"
"We just saved your lives," Ruby retorted. "I'm pretty sure human lives are more important than pizza."
"I think the red one has a point, Kofi," Nanefua told him.
"Yeah, Daddy, let's give them a break," Jenny said.
Kofi looked at the decapitated Rough Emerald before giving a relenting sigh as he crossed his arms. "Alright, you're off the hook."
The Crystal Gems walked off back to the Temple, ignoring the "for now" Kofi muttered under his breath.
Pearl was swordfighting with her holographic double in the Solar Spire's arena, the rest of the Crystal Gems watching from the bleachers. She thrust her sword into Holo-Pearl's abdomen.
"MATCH SET. CHALLENGER WINS." it said as its arms hung down to its sides in defeat. "DO YOU WISH TO SPAR AGAIN?"
"Steven, would you like to give it a try?" Pearl asked him.
"Yeah!" The boy got up from the bleachers and ran over to her.
Pearl turned to Holo-Pearl and told it "Activate training mode."
Holo-Pearl parried the air, followed by another parry, which was followed by a thrust. It continued in a pattern as it cried "PARRY! PARRY! THRUST!" on loop like a broken record. Pearl handed him the sword she was holding.
"Try to see if you can defeat the Holo-Pearl, and remember to keep your balance."
Steven held the sword out in front of him, slashing at Holo-Pearl and countering its parries and thrusts. One strategically placed thrust into Holo-Pearl's abdomen and its arms fell to its sides. "TRAINING MODE COMPLETED. DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE TO INTERMEDIATE MODE?"
"Yeah!"
"I think that's enough training for today, Steven." Holo-Pearl disappeared as the real Pearl's stone glowed.
"Aw, man, but I wanted to see if I could do the Boomerang Blade."
"Maybe some other time, but I still think it's too early for something like that. And besides, I intend to focus more on real swordfighting techniques."
"Okay, but the Boomerang Blade is really cool! You throw your sword and it comes right back like a boomerang! That's awesome!"
"But it's really unrealistic."
Steven just ignored her and continued talking about the Boomerang Blade and about Lonely Blade in general. Pearl just sighed and said "I can never get you to listen, can I?"
