It was early morning in the Pink Stars base. Pearl considered herself lucky to have a room with a window. Not only that, she had a window seat where she could rest and think. Her window faced in-wards looking out over the base and the pink tower that was Pink Diamond's home. Pearl wondered if Steven was there now and what he was doing. Was he some experiment of Pink Diamond's? Or her pet? Did she keep him like a pearl?
Pearl frowned. She doubted he was mistreated or kept as a curiosity. He wandered in and out too much and fought too well to be a prisoner or ornament.
So what was he? She hadn't seen him since they dispatched the gem monster, and that had been a week beforehand. They'd talked on the communicator, but it was impossible to tell where he was. Somewhere dark and secret. Maybe he was afraid of Pink Diamond finding out he was talking to her.
Reaching for her gem with her mind, Pearl poked at the communicator. Where was he? What was he made to do? Every gem had a purpose. What was the purpose of an organic rose quartz that couldn't treat anyone? What did Steven do when he wasn't with Pearl? Did he treat Pink Diamond? Did Diamonds even need rose quartzes? And how had he even been made?
Pearl knew where she came from. She'd been born, been designated, and been given her gem.
Gems for organic-gems were pre-made. Rubies, garnets, topazes, every gem but sapphires were pre-made and sent to hospitals with obstetric wings. When a baby was designated a gem was placed on their skin by a sapphire, whose gloves kept the gem from reacting to her. They reacted to the life of the baby and the baby and gem bonded for the life of the child.
Pearl's gem would be hers until she died. Then when she died, an onyx would reclaim her gem, pound it down to particles and mix it with other pearls of her type to make new pearls that would start the cycle over. An organic-gem was never really gone, just shattered and spread across the many others of their gem-type that came after them.
Sometimes Pearl felt the others that had come before her in her gem. Men and women, pearls all, with different lives and different masters, encouraging her on, guiding her. That was one thing she knew natural-gem envied about organic-gems.
Did Steven have that? How had gotten his gem? Was he born with inside him? Was he born? Or had he, like a natural-gem, sprung fully formed from the ground one day? How old was he? He looked like matched Pearl's nineteen, but if he was a natural gem, he could be hundreds or thousands of years old for all she knew. And if he was, it would be forbidden for them to be matched together? It was probably forbidden already.
"Connie!"
Pearl jumped in her seat and turned towards the door. Steven was pressed against the wall next to the door, pressing the lock button on the wall, with his hood low on his face.
"Steven? What are you doing here?"
"I have a gift!" Steven whispered. "It's for your first mission."
"I have a mission?" Pearl said with excitement.
"Shh-shh. I'm not supposed to be here. If the Stars catch me, we'll both have some explaining to do."
"Oh. Right! So what's that."
Steven hefted a bag of some kind up and smiled. "This is the famous cheeseburger backpack. I already adjusted the straps for you."
Pearl laughed. "A bag that looks like a cheeseburger? Only on New Homeworld."
"Right." Steven handed the bag to Pearl.
"Hey, Steven," Pearl said as she tested the weight of the bag. It was heavier than she thought it was going to be. "Do you have a job?"
"I… we all work for Pink Diamond's plan," he said with a laugh.
"You're Pink Diamond's rose quartz? Do you live in the tower?"
"Yea," Steven said, looking at the floor. "It's why I can't be around more."
"Does Pink Diamond know about me? Is this from you or her?"
Steven looked up. There was a blush on his face. "Connie. I should tell you. I have to tell you. Why you're here. I should have told you, but I didn't know how. How do you tell someone… I don't even want a Pearl, but they say I have to have one!"
A knock at the door captured both their attentions.
"Con-con! Yo! It's Amethyst! You up?"
Pearl and Steven gasped. "Amethyst!" they whispered in unison.
"Steven, you gotta get out of here!" Pearl said in a hushed voice.
"The window. I'll float up to the roof, then run to the side of the building." Steven ran to the window, opened it and was gone before Pearl could say a thing.
Wishing Steven good luck in her mind, Pearl went to the door and unlocked it. It slid open with a soft swish and Amethyst stood there looking up at Pearl.
"Good," Amethyst said. "You're up and… where'd you get that?"
Pearl frowned in confusion. "The bag? It was just on the bed when I out of the shower." A small lie, but it would put an end to things.
"Oh man. Wait until Garnet and Pearl getta load of this," Amethyst muttered.
#
"Pearl! Garnet!" Amethyst's voice bounced off the walls of the garage as she led Pearl to the van they were taking to the docks.
"Amethyst!" Rainbow Pearl snapped. "Please. You're setting a poor example for Connie."
"Oh-ho. You are going to freak when you see this, P. Lil' Pearl, show 'em what you found on your bed this morning!"
Connie shifted from foot to foot, then pulled the backpack off her shoulder and held it up. Rainbow Pearl gasped and Garnet shifted slightly.
"Where?!" Rainbow Pearl squawked. "Did you get that?!"
"Like Amethyst said," Pearl said. "I found it on my bed."
Pearl wished she knew what the big deal was. How could a bag shaped like food be such a big deal for the likes of the Pink Stars? Unless they knew where it came from. Was her friendship with Steven about to be exposed? No, Steven wouldn't be that foolish. Then why were they all panicking over a bag?
"Cah-razy! Right, Garnet?" Amethyst nudged Garnet's leg.
Garnet was silent for a time, then slammed her right fist down into her left palm. "It's time," she said.
"Time?" Rainbow Pearl, Amethyst, and Pearl said together.
"Pearl, you drive." Garnet pointed to the driver's seat. "Connie, you're in the back with me. Cheeseburger backpack showing up here means it's time to tell you a story."
"What kind of story?" Pearl asked. She considered that maybe she was about to be told about Steven and the hybrid project that had made him.
"The story of Pink Diamond Form 2," Garnet answered.
#
They piled in the van, Amethyst and Rainbow Pearl upfront and Garnet and Connie in the back among the tools and weapons. They were sitting cross-legged, facing each other, cheeseburger backpack between them.
"What do you know what the Beginning of Era 3?" Garnet asked.
Pearl frowned in thought. "Era 3 began when Pink Diamond announced she'd be taking a big step to join natural-gems and organic-gems. It was at the last ball for Era 2 that Pink Diamond and White Diamond were seen in public."
Pearl considered adding the theories about Pink Diamond having a half-organic child, but dismissed those rumors as nonsense. Then she thought of Steven. She grew scared that he wasn't, in fact, Pink's Diamond's rose quartz, but her son and decided the rumors being true and bringing them up would be worse than the rumors being false and bring them up. Pearl kept her mouth shut with a pleasant, pearl-like smile.
"Correct," Garnet said. "Pink Diamond wants to bring natural-gem and organic-gem closer together. And when Era 3 began, she took a new form, a better form, one that would bridge the divide between naturals and organic forever."
"Really?" Pearl said and privately wondered if this new form could have children.
"But this new form was weak for a while," Garnet went on. "Weak and confused, with no memory of being a Diamond. Before Pink Diamond made the jump, she tasked us, her guard, the Pink Stars, with caring for her new form, and keeping it safe."
Pearl nodded.
"That backpack was one of Pink Diamond's favorite things while she was recovering from her form change. If she's given it to you, she must want you to know about her."
Casting a down, Pearl took a breath. The backpack wasn't new. It wasn't even in that great of condition. It looked more like a toy, something an elite was privileged to have that had no purpose but amusement. A pearl generally never had something so useless it was on the whim on an owner. But it had been well taken care of, stitched where it needed to be, washed. This item was loved. And it was being given to her.
"I'm so grateful," Pearl said, looking up.
"You deserve it," Rainbow Pearl said from the driver's seat.
"Yeah, way to go, Conster!" Amethyst chimed in.
"Welcome," Garnet said. "to the Pink Stars."
#
They ended up at the docks. Not one of the docks for spaceships that were dotted around the forests near the base, but docks for seafaring vessels. Pearl had never been on a boat before. She saw gems of all sorts, both natural and organic, running back-and-forth hauling shipments of rock and lobster, minerals and fish.
"What is all this?" Pearl asked excitedly.
"The sea-life is food for the organic gems," Rainbow Pearl explained. "The minerals are for the injectors to make more natural gems for the other Diamonds' colonies. New Homeworld and Pink Diamond's colonies don't have to strip their planet's resources to make natural gems, so they can outsource small amounts of important minerals and other resources to productions of natural gems going elsewhere. If it wasn't for colonies of organic-gems carefully managing resources on Pink Diamond's side of the Empire, natural gem's would have out-grown their ability to make proper natural-gems long ago."
"What would have happened then?" Pearl asked as they hurried past a huge cart of glittering black sand.
"We'd probably have to use technology to keep the natural-gem up to standard," Rainbow Pearl mused. "You see, say Amethyst was in any other Diamond's court. She'd have to wear limb enhancers to meet her height requirements. They'd make gems do that."
"Hmph," Amethyst muttered. "Like they could make me."
"Pink Diamond would never," Garnet said.
"And hopefully that'll never be the case," Rainbow Pearl went on. "As long as Pink Diamond lives and the organic part of the Empire thrives, the rest of the Empire will too. Pink Diamond is saving Homeworld from itself."
Pearl looked out across the harbor. It wasn't peridots and nephrites like on spaceship docks. There were topazes, jaspers, amethysts, agates, rubies, sapphires, and pearls. The whole cross-section of the empire was here working for Pink Diamond and they were keeping the rest of the Diamond Empire from eating itself alive with its ambition, keeping things in balance. Pearl clutched the straps of her backpack.
The Pink Stars owned a ship, but to Pearl's surprise they weren't taking a ship, but a submarine. It was a dark pink vessel which they all boarded, and Pearl found to be rather spacious. She sat down while Rainbow Pearl flipped some switches and turned some knobs. Garnet stood next to her, watching silently. Pearl was so busy watching Rainbow Pearl's steady work at the controls she almost didn't hear Amethyst sit down next to her.
"Hey, Lil' P," Amethyst said.
"Amethyst! Oh, hey."
"So, what's it like getting a gift from Pink D?"
"I… I don't know. I'm really excited. I just hope she likes me."
Amethyst snorted. "I'm sure she will." She put her arm behind her head. "Look about today. Don't freak out too much. This was Pink D's first outing too, and she was all 'waahhhh!', you know?" Amethyst shouted quietly and waved her hands gently at the sides of her head. "You know? And she… heh, don't take this the wrong way, but there's a reason we're headed to the bottom of the ocean."
"Is where we're going not supposed to be at the bottom of the ocean or something?" Pearl laughed.
Amethyst winced playfully. "Uh, yeah. Basically."
Pearl stopped laughing.
#
It turned their destination was a place called the Lunar Sea Spire, a former mission site for the weakened Pink Diamond. It might have been called the Sea Spire, but its current place, hovering inside an underwater vortex over a chasm, wasn't where it was supposed to be.
"How did this get down here?" Pearl asked as she gazed out the front window of the sub.
"Pink D was little… creative when she was recovering," Amethyst muttered.
"But now," Rainbow Pearl chimed in, "we have the perfect training ground for you!" Rainbow Pearl stood next to Pearl. "Now you haven't been given that bag for this mission for nothing. Cheeseburger backpack first came with us to this very site. Oh, Connie, there's so much history here! So, I want you to take the lead. Check your bag and make a plan to get to the top of the spire using the contents. Pink Diamond will have provided you with everything you need."
"First thing," Garnet said. "We have to get into the vortex without being sucked down into its depths."
Pearl nodded and slipped the bag off her shoulders. She placed in the chair and opened it up. As if by magic, the very first thing she needed was lying on top, waiting for her.
"I've got it!" Pearl said.
"What is it?" Amethyst laughed. "A sweater?"
"What?" Pearl asked, confused. "What would I do with a sweater?"
"Never mind her," Rainbow Pearl sighed. "She just thinking of one of Pink Diamond's jokes."
"Well it worked," Amethyst complained.
"Connie," Garnet said. "What have you got?"
Pearl pulled out a grappling hook and some rope. "This. We can anchor the sub to the rocks out here, then use Garnet's gauntlets to fire this into the vortex, attach it to the Spire. Then we can climb across."
Rainbow Pearl and Amethyst's faces were shocked. Garnet took the grappling hook in her gauntleted hand.
"Good work," she said.
#
Once they were safely through the vortex and inside the Lunar Sea Spire, Pearl took a moment to look around using her gem for light. It drained her energy to light up her gem, and she knew should only use the ability in emergencies, but she'd grown stronger and figured they wouldn't be there long.
The Spire must have looked grand once. The ceiling was high, and the staircase had something left of its magnificence. But now the Spire was crumbling, the walls cracked and covered in plant-life and slime. Things were crawling in the dark that Pearl couldn't identify. Whatever was left of the carpet was eaten away but creatures or time or rotted away by water. Everything was dark and oppressive.
"Oh," Rainbow Pearl moaned. "I thought things were bad last time! It's a disaster down here."
"I mean, I never saw this place in its glory days, but it does look like the bottom of a pit down here," Amethyst muttered.
"That's saying something, if you don't like," Pearl muttered. "I've seen your room."
"Hey!" Amethyst shouted. "My room's not this bad! There's not–eee!" Amethyst shook her foot and something black with too many legs went flying off it. "There's nothing crawling in my room! Guys! Let's get to the top of this place and go home!"
They started walking in a group, keeping away from the walls and dark corners.
"So, what was this place like last time you were here?" Pearl asked.
"Pretty bad," Rainbow Pearl answered. "But dry. Mostly just crumbling. Things knocked over. In ruins. It would have been restored by the Sea Goddess statue, but…"
"But?" Pearl asked.
"There was a mix-up," Rainbow Pearl sighed. "And now the Spire is down here. In a few hundred years, the Spire will rise to the surface and when the sun is in the right position like it is today, we'll place the statue and restore the Spire to its former glory. Until then, this place makes a great training ground."
"How did Pink Diamond feel about this place?" Pearl muttered, almost afraid to ask, but dying to know.
"Oh, Pink Diamond was so excited to come here. She got Cheeseburger Backpack just for the occasion."
"She used a sweater to launch herself over the vortex and onto the Spire," Amethyst said.
Rainbow Pearl laughed nervously. "Yes, she was always very… headstrong."
Pearl laughed. "I get why you asked for a sweater, then. I guess she figured a grappling hook would be easier the second time."
"Yea," Rainbow Pearl said, and then said something so low that Pearl couldn't hear it.
"What'd you say?" Pearl asked.
"She," Rainbow Pearl said. "I said, she sure has grown up."
"Oh. Yea." Pearl smiled a sweet pearl-like smile.
"Hold on, Stars," Garnet said, stopped at the threshold of a door.
"Garnet?" Rainbow Pearl muttered.
"Pearl. Connie. Shine your light in there."
Rainbow Pearl and Pearl did so, only to have the light bounce off dozens of crystals, which skittered around for a moment before settling.
Amethyst groaned. "Crystal shrimp! No!"
"What are they?" Pearl asked, eyeing them.
"Nasty little things," Rainbow Pearl huffed. "They can easily swarm us and force a retreat. And they're too hard and small to hit properly. You end up just smashing them harmlessly into the floors and walls if you can manage to hit them. We need to get around them. Or better yet, cause a distraction. And I have the perfect plan!"
"Um!" Amethyst cut in with a head tilt and a smile. "Isn't Lil' P supposed to making the plans today?"
"Oh! Right." Rainbow Pearl turned to Pearl, smiling. "Connie?"
Pearl blushed and kneeled, taking off her backpack. Just under where the grappling hook had been was a note. She'd seen it before but had noticed the word "distractions." It seemed that now was the time to read that note. She pulled the note from the bag and read it aloud.
"Distractions work better than fighting sometimes. To deal with Crystal Shrimp, open two jars at a time, throw one to each side and advance. Six jars in total."
Pearl put the note in her gem, then reached for the first two jars. They were clear with metal tops and filled with brown sludge that was streaked with red, yellow, and orange, and had bubbles of what looked like grease.
"Is that taco meat?" Amethyst asked. She took the jars from Pearl and opened one. "Oooooh, yea. That's taco meat."
The crystal shrimp began to stir.
"Amethyst! Close that. They're starting to come this way!" Rainbow Pearl reached for the lid and jar.
"No!" Pearl said. "Throw them into the sides of the room. Pearl here, take two. Garnet, you take the last two. You guys know their behavior better than me. You'll know where to throw them."
"Get ready to run, Stars," Garnet said and strode into the with two open jars of taco meat.
#
The lounge which the crystal shrimp inhabited was a round room as almost wide as the Spire, with one door in the center of the front wall, and another in the center of the back wall. There were chairs and couches littered around the room, behind which the Stars could throw the jars. Two of the room's curved walls were transparent and gave a view of the swirling vortex that surrounded the Spire. The six jars of taco meat easily cleared a path through the room. On the other side of the room, a set of stairs wound up into the darkness. They took the stairwell to the next floor before stopping.
"What was that room?" Pearl asked as she caught her breath.
"Just the mid-level lounge," Rainbow Pearl answered. She was peeking around the corner, down the stairs, back the way they'd come.
"We should keep moving," Garnet said.
They took up a diamond formation. Amethyst was in the front. Pearl and Rainbow Pearl were behind her and closer to the walls, shining their lights forward down the hall. Garnet brought up the center rear.
The Spire was dark and silent in the top half. The Stars took it one floor at a time, checking side rooms for anything suspicious. There was rotting and crumbling furniture. The walls and floors were damaged. Things were crawling in the corners where the lights didn't reach, though thankfully none of them were crystal shrimp. But other than dim, damp darkness, there was nothing to be found.
At last, they came to top the Spire. It was bare but lit from the sun. The top of the vortex closed above them, a swirling mass of water above their heads, head up impossibly by magic. It made Connie uneasy.
"So we're here," Connie said. "Do we place the statue now?"
"We can't," Rainbow Pearl said sadly, producing the Moon Goddess Statue from her gem. "The Statue absorbs energy from the sun. And down here and the sunlight is too diluted to charge it."
"Um, shouldn't a Moon Goddess Statue get its energy from the moon?" Amethyst suggested.
"Not necessarily," Pearl said, walking over to the altar. "Moons light up because they reflect light from the sun at the planet. Maybe the Statue works the same way."
"Very good, Connie!" Rainbow Pearl exclaimed.
"But how will the temple be restored if the Statue can't be recharged down here?" Pearl asked.
Rainbow Pearl groaned. "Well, eventually the Spire will gain enough ambient energy to rise to the surface. Then we just have to wait for another day when the temple allows people in, then we can restore it."
"But that would take… hundreds or thousands of years! We should do it now!"
"Yea!" Amethyst agreed. "I don't want to come back here. But how do we do it?"
Pearl frowned for a moment and touched the altar. It was smooth rock, probably hewn from a single piece and chiseled down. The benches at the park on Centuri had been the same. Pearl had created a weak laser on that bench one summer and accidently burned a hole in her good dance dress.
Gasping, Pearl whirled around. "Amethyst! Can you hold me up?"
"Pss! Ye-ah! Commere." Amethyst trotted towards Pearl and hoisted her up onto her shoulders without a pause.
"Great!" Pearl giggled. "Pearl, do you have a magnifying glass? We're going to undilute the sunshine and activated the Moon Goddess Statue!"
"W-what? Well, I think so." Rainbow Pearl's gem lit up, and after a moment she produced two big magnifying glasses. "Will these work?"
"Perfect!" Pearl shouted. "Now I'll—"
Garnet took the glasses in her gauntleted hands. "In case," she said with a small smile. Garnet walked up over to the altar and placed the glasses over each other. Then she looked at Pearl.
"Good," Pearl said with a nod. "Right. Now, the sun is going to bend when it comes through each lens. So I'll have to align each glass to get the strongest light beam, then align both glasses together to move that light beam to the center of the altar." Pearl looked at Rainbow Pearl. "When it's in the right place, you can place the Statute."
Rainbow Pearl nodded.
"Everybody ready?" Pearl asked.
The Stars nodded.
Pearl began adjusting the Garnets hands, paying attention to the beams of light coming through the lenses. She had Amethyst raise and lower her, depending on if she needed to be higher or lower than the lenses. When she finally got the alignment right Pearl, let go of Garnet.
"Now," she whispered; afraid her breath may change the course of the light.
Rainbow Pearl hurried forward, slipped the Statue under the magnifying glasses.
At first, there was no reaction. Seconds ticked by. No one moved.
"Did it work?" Amethyst asked.
Then, as if to answer her question, the Statue lit up. The light from the Statue traveled in neat lines across the top of the altar, then down the sides, then across the floor.
"Garnet, hold the magnifying glasses steady!" Rainbow Pearl shouted as the lines of light stretched out farther and farther.
"We should tie ourselves down!" Pearl suggested, grabbing the altar.
"I got it!" Amethyst shouted. The floor shook as she manifested her whip and flung it out. The whip tangled around them and Amethyst tied the end into a knot.
"Holo-Pearls, go!" Rainbow Pearl shouted. Four transparent pearls shot from her gem, each with a spear in hand. They turned their spears point down and slammed them into the mass of whip that wrapped up the Stars, anchoring them to the floor, which was just as well, because the Spire was rising.
Like a spaceship moving from orbit to deep space, the Spire sped upwards, upwards, upwards. Pearl had a moment of bravery and looked up, expecting to see the top of the vortex about to crash over them. But the vortex was rising with them. The whole vortex and Spire and everything was shooting up through the water. There was some part of Pearl that wanted to watch their ascent, but they were going too fast the water and air stung her face and eyes, so she shut them and lowered her head. They sped up.
Pearl heard Amethyst and Rainbow Pearl shouting. And a groaning sound that might have been Garnet. She clenched her back teeth to keep from screaming. It felt like she was having a panic attack, trying not to scream, tears in her eyes. But she was not panicking she was rocking upwards at incredible speed tied to an ancient structure. And she was in incredible pain, especially in her hands.
As they rose higher and higher, there was a crash like something hitting the surface of the water and a bright light surrounded them. Pearl was certain she was going to pass out. A whimper left her that she more felt than heard. The Spire slowed, slowed. Then it stopped. Pearl opened her eyes and found she was shaking. The other Stars were looking around, breathless.
"We… did it," Rainbow Pearl murmured. "We did it!"
Amethyst's whip disappeared, as did the Holo-Pearls, and Rainbow Pearl hugged Pearl, trapping her arms to her sides and whirling her around. "You did it, Connie! What a masterpiece! That was brilliant! I'm going to tell Pink Diamond that you–Connie?"
Pearl found herself set on her feet, but her knees buckled. She looked up at Rainbow Pearl to find red streaks staining Pearl's clothes.
"Your shirt," Pearl muttered.
"Garnet! She's bleeding!" Rainbow Pearl yelled.
"We can take her to the hospital!" Amethyst said. She was hopping from foot to foot in Pearl's peripheral vision. "Oh man! My whip did this. Look at her hands! We gotta go!"
Pearl's hazy vision wandered down to her half-closed hands, but upon seeing them, she looked elsewhere. Then her eyes closed. Pearl could still see. Her vision was rounded, like looking through a telescope. And it was low. It took Pearl a moment to realize she was seeing from inside her gem.
"Stars!" Garnet said. "We'll take her to Pink Diamond!"
A pang of excitement shot through Pearl. She was being brought to Pink Diamond! She wanted to see her so badly. But she was so tired. And she was getting pulled deeper into her gem as if it was telling her to rest. Maybe she should. Pink Diamond would take care of everything.
#
Pearl took a deep, revitalizing breath as she rose through the layers of her gem and popped out into her physical body.
"Wow!" was the first thing she said. The room she found herself sitting up in was all shades of light Pink, including the soft bed she was in.
"Connie," someone just behind her head whispered. She turned to find Steven there, grinning widely. "Hi."
"Steven! I was… inside my gem."
"Oh that happens," Steven said with a shake of his head. His long hair was loose, more wavy and poofy than curly now that Pearl could see it out, and it moved around his face. "You got poofed."
"I can't get poofed. I'm organic."
"Well, yes and no," Steven said. "Your body can't disappear but if you fall unconscious or get hurt too badly, your gem will shield your mind from it, so you don't remember the pain of the incident. That way someone can get you to a rose quartz and when she fixes you up, you'll be good as new having no bad memories of what happened."
"Oh. Good," Pearl muttered and looked down at her hands. Steven was right. She couldn't remember what her hands had looked like before. Pearl just had a curious notion that at one time they'd been injured, more like a fact she'd read once, than a memory of a horrific injury she hadn't been able to look at. Pearl dropped her hand and sighed. "Did you heal me?"
Steven laughed. "Oh. No. Pink Diamond healed you."
"Pink Diamond?! Really. Is she here? Can I see her?"
"Well, well… she was here," Steven blurted out. "But she's gone now." He sighed. "She heard about the Lunar Sea Spire. Everyone's heard. They're having a party there now. Everyone is so excited that you fixed it. It hasn't worked since the Rebellion. The Rebel Leader destroyed it and then… Pink Diamond sent it to the bottom of the ocean by accident, so everybody's really impressed with you."
"Oh," Pearl said politely. "That's good."
"Anyway, I'm not supposed to be in here. Being a secret and all. The Stars will come and take you home soon."
"Home from where?" Pearl asked. "Where are we?"
"In Pink Diamond's tower," Steven answered.
"Oh." Pearl paused for a moment, then said. "Steven. I know there are things you can't tell me yet. Because I can't know them until the Pink Stars tell me about them. But there was something you were going to tell me earlier, before my mission. And now we're here. I just have to know."
"What? Connie? I can explain!" Steven sat down on the bed next to Pearl.
"There's no need to explain," Pearl sighed. "You pretty much said it. I'm your pearl, aren't I. That's why you're always checking up on me. Pink Diamond made you and I'm your pearl. Or I'm going to be once I prove myself."
Steven sat frozen with a blush on his face.
"I'm right, aren't I?" Pearl asked deadpan.
"I… yea. I'm sorry. I—"
"It's fine," Pearl sighed. "It's more than fine. You're a great friend, Rose Quartz. And I'd love to be your pearl."
"Connie…" Steven whined happily. "I… wanted to tell you."
"It's okay. But I do have one more question."
"Anything!" Steven shook his head. "Well… not anything. Ask it and I'll see if I can answer."
"Were you born with your gem in your body? Or did you pop out of the ground with it? How old are you?"
Laughing, Steven put an arm around Pearl. "I was born a baby, just a baby with a gem in me. And I'm twenty-one."
"Really? I'm only nineteen." Pearl frowned.
"Nineteen is a good age. They started pushing me to get a pearl at… never mind."
Pearl smirked and gave him a look. "Right. When will you get matched?"
"M-matched?!" Steven looked up. "Ho-ho-ho. I don't know! When I find the right gem I guess! Like Ruby and Sapphire! Matched! Hahaha!"
"Okay, okay." Pearl laughed. That wasn't going anywhere, but she'd tried. Maybe he'd be willing to talk about Pink Diamond. "What about your parents? Who are they?"
"My Dad's an organic-ametrine."
"A musician!"
"Yep. He plays the guitar mostly."
"And your Mom?" Pearl nudged Steven.
"Mom? Mom is… no longer with us…"
"What?"
"She… when she had me… we couldn't both exist. She was… a natural rose quartz and gave up her form to have me, and I got her gem. Rose Quartz died to have me."
"Does Pink Diamond take care of you now? Did she approve this!?"
"Well… Pink Diamond did approve this."
Pearl was quiet. How could Pink Diamond allow one of her subjects to die to make a hybrid gem? Was it some sort of experiment? Were Rose Quartz and Ametrine really in love? If so, how could he be okay with her death? Was this the real reason natural-organic matches were forbidden? Would Pink Diamond allow another rose quartz to be matched with a pearl? What about Steven being Pink Diamond's son? Was this sad story all a lie? Could Steven do that to her?
"Connie?" Steven said, squeezing her around the shoulders. "Are you okay?"
"Yea… I just… I'm sorry, Steven."
"It's okay." He held her and pressed a cheek to her hair. "It's hard for people to understand. My parents loved each other, and Mom wanted to have a child. She thought to have children was the most organic thing she could do, and she could be pretty stubborn."
"Like sneaking around and breaking rules to visit your pearl when it's not allowed?"
"Yeah, like that."
"Will you stay for a little while?" Pearl asked.
"Anything for my Pearl," Steven replied.
Pearl leaned into Steven. The pink highlights of his hair were especially strong in the all pink room. She decided to let the truth rest for now. Steven was Her Quartz, after all. She trusted him.