Note: Takes place the day after "Back to the Moon" and during the events of "Kindergarten Kid"
Crock. Complete utter crock.
That's what Lapis thought of Rose Quartz's 'greatest' feat as she sat atop the lighthouse overlooking Beach City.
Of course, she had kept that opinion to herself throughout the whole recount of Pink Diamond's shattering, partially out of respect for Steven and partially to avoid the headache of arguing with the same Gems that never bothered to free her when it counted.
Not that she had to air out her confused grievances afterward once everything had been said and done. Peridot had done that for her thoroughly enough.
Neither of the former Homeworld Gems could accept the tale at face value, not with so many questions and holes staring them in the face. How did Rose get so close to Pink in the first place when she'd already been a longtime fugitive by then? Why hadn't Pink Diamond's entourage been there to stop her? Her Agates, her Sapphires, her Quartzes—and what about her Pearl?
And speaking of Pearls, what had been up with Pearl herself whenever Pink Diamond came up? Lapis narrowed her eyes as her mind flashbacked to the many times the former servant would slap her hands over her mouth because, yeah, that certainly didn't count as suspicious.
Looking back on her far distant memories of Homeworld, Lapis could recall hearing a few snippets here and there about how Pearls were programmed to remain mum on critical details, which made sense enough. Pearls loyal to Homeworld exclusively belonged to the upper class and/or highly distinguished, so it only made sense to prevent whatever they learned from their masters from being leaked.
And for all Rose Quartz's dear Pearl boasted of belonging to no one, Lapis just knew she could never truly outrun her programming. What else could have explained the flash of frustrated defeat that crossed Pearl's eyes every time Peridot pushed her on the validity of Pink Diamond's shattering?
But if Pearl never belonged to Rose, who would want her to keep quiet about this? Who would have the power to make her keep quiet?
With a frustrated sigh, Lapis closed her eyes and pinched them between her index and thumb. This was also why she wanted to keep her distance from the other Crystal Gems. Considering deep thoughts about the people that ignored her sentience and desperation gave her such a headache. She didn't care about them—at least not much—but she did care about Steven since the kid was living with them, and Peridot and Amber in turn.
The thought of those three getting hurt by whatever indubitably ugly truth Pearl could not share sent such a wave of anger and fear through Lapis that she considered bolting the moment everything about Rose and Pink Diamond had been said and done, only the look of concern on Steven's face keeping her there – until Steven and Amethyst and Peridot reluctantly mentioned Jasper and in turn her corruption.
Steven.
Y-Yeah.
When she got corrupted, did green sprout all over her body?
Lapis, I don't think it came from—
Did it?
...Maybe.
That had been the big final 'no' for her.
As far as she knew she'd been gone since yesterday.
She tried to ignore the pang of guilt brought up by the fact. In her defense, Lapis couldn't help when the discomfort and other feelings she'd rather not mention drove her to isolate herself like this. If she had to suffer the silent drowning of her memories, best just her alone and not everyone else along with her.
Would Jasper have agreed? Evidently not.
Lapis thought back to her argument with Amethyst last week. She still thought the tiny Quartz had been foolish to try and prove herself against her obvious better. Then again Quartzes existed for combat and Amethyst's obsession, alongside Pearl's behavior, just further proved the inseparability between a Gem and their function.
Jasper proved no different.
Lapis rubbed her temples with a grunt before standing up, water wings unfurling.
Now might be a good time for a flight; all these heavy thoughts were dragging her mood lower than necessary – and for someone like her, that was saying something.
Just then, she noticed a tiny and overly clothed human leaving the lighthouse for the town far below, hands in the pockets of their baggy black jeans and matching backpack with yellow accents hanging from their shoulders, the dark grey sweatshirt's hoodie up enough to conceal their face while the pants and monochrome sneakers hid everything else.
"Amber?" Lapis murmured in curiosity. Who else that short would be walking around the place like that? Part of the water Gem felt the urge to call Amber out and wave to her, but she resisted. She didn't want to impose.
Was that selfish? Or perhaps cowardly, ignoring Amber out of fear?
Either way, the blue stone's indecision left her still long enough for Amber to notice out the water Gem of her peripherals as well and wave instead, nose barely peeking out from under the hood. Blushing navy blue, Lapis meekly returned the gesture. Her mood soured, though, when she spotted the familiar blue pickup truck waiting at the bottom of the hill and Kurtis in the driver's seat.
Lapis still struggled to understand the reasoning behind the fondness Amber – shards, the Crystal Gems in general – had for humans. Granted, the hydrokinetic had been content to listen to Amber lecture about human cultures and history, but only because she wanted to see her happy. On their own, humans warranted little interest.
They were fragile, primitive, ephemeral.
"HEY!"
"GAH!"
With a start, Lapis nearly fell off the roof – not that she feared falling; she just rather not put up with looking like a fool tumbling down – but quickly regained her footing.
Oh, and humans were also loud – very, very loud.
With a nearly inaudible growl, the blue rock turned on her heel and shot an icy glare in the direction the voice came from...only to discover the source to be some big chubby guy with weird yellow hair standing out on the balcony just beneath and to her left, his meaty hands on the railing.
Right, another human Amber had taken a shine to recently, and judging by the way he seemed to practically radiate eagerness to talk to her with that ridiculous smile, Lapis could tell this guy would not be as respectful of her boundaries or volume tolerance as Kurtis and his family.
With a droll look, she pivoted on her heel once more to face the ocean to follow through with her original plan.
"Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait!" the human called out with desperately wagging hands before digging into his pants' pockets in haste. "If ya see a tiny green rock and potential ally named Peridot, could ya give her this?" He chirped a triumphant 'ha' and tossed something up to Lapis, who caught it with a water wing modified into a hand. She drew the construct closer and willed it into unfurling to reveal a tiny piece of green material that looked...oddly familiar for some reason.
Wait a minute. Lapis backtracked as her mind registered what she just heard. Casting a perplexed and begrudgingly curious gaze to the human, she crossed her arms to feign nonchalance. "How do you know Peridot?"
"Oh, ya see Amber-sensei wanted to cheer me up a while back so she took me to some super-secret Gem base over this really ancient battlefield and..."
For some reason, the human suddenly froze, eyes all wide and the vigor in his expression gone as though he just remembered something somber. He hastily stuffed his hands back in his pockets and cleared his throat, smile back only fake and withdrawn. Lapis had seen enough of that sort of expression from Steven and Amber and Peridot to tell this guy was holding something back.
Again, not that she cared for this oaf. She just couldn't deny her curiosity. Though she never participated directly in the war, Lapis knew enough about the Gem structures built so far back then to recognize that Amber must have taken this human and Peridot to the training simulations above the Strawberry Battlefield. In which case, one could only assume the express purpose was to show the pair something important.
And whatever it had been, Lapis guessed it either was something incredibly uplifting to allegedly cheer this guy up or something lousy enough to warrant the adage 'it could have been worse'. Knowing Amber, Lapis wouldn't be surprised if the yellow pincushion pulled off an ambivalent mix of both.
"A-Anyway," the big human continued with some of his gusto back, "you must be that Lapis Lazuli lady senpai brags so much to me and Kurtis about!" He stuck his hand upward in greeting. "I'm her newest protégé, Ronaldo Fryman, paranormal investigator and head of the blog Keep Beach City Weird!"
Lapis wound up tuning out the second half of Ronaldo's statements, cheeks blushing an even deeper navy than before at the first. "Amber...brags about me?"
"Ha, ha, yeah I guess 'brag' is kind of a stretch. What I mean is that sensei likes to mention you a lot! She really lights up whenever she does, too!"
"O-Oh...I see." Feeling awkward, Lapis decided to change the subject. "Why is she dressed up like that?"
"Oh, well ya see, the town doesn't about Sensei's true identity, so—"
"I already know that. Why is she dressed up like that right now?"
"Oh yeah! Ya see, Sensei takes classes at the community college over in the next town alongside Senpai." His eyes turned skyward in thought, hands akimbo. "I think she's studying philosophy and maybe counseling?"
Lapis was not surprised, not after seeing Amber's collection on the topics firsthand. One thing bugged her, though.
"What's the point?"
Ronaldo arched a brow in confusion, "The point?"
"Doesn't she have books on stuff like that at home already? Why would waste time learning the same things at a place she has to go all that way for?"
Ronaldo re-perched his glasses with a curious light in his eyes. "Oh, so you're familiar with the human educational system, I take it, Miss Lazuli."
Lapis tried not to scowl at the formal title (it sounded too much like this human was trying to get in her good graces), opting instead for a blank half-lidded stare. "Steven's friend explained it to me." And in her honest opinion, this system sounded far more convoluted and less productive than how Homeworld Gems learned.
"Ah yes," Ronaldo put one hand to his chin and the other on the opposite elbow, "Connie Maheswaran. Sensei had many positive things to say about her as well. Senpai, too, unsurprisingly."
Once again, Lapis had to hold back a scowl...except this time the urge came even more strongly. Lapis didn't feel comfortable analyzing the reasons why and instead kept quiet in hopes that the human would just ramble on.
Ronaldo remained true to form. "Anyway, back to your original question. The real appeal of attending those classes for Senpai is that she gets to interact with other people besides her family"—he eyed Lapis' skeptical face—"and the other Gems. She likes being around people."
Even if they're humans, Lapis cynically mused.
"Of course, since Gems pop out already knowing what they're supposed to do, I can see why you view the way we do it here as inefficient."
Hearing that made Lapis blink in mild surprise. "No. Well, at least not that much. We Gems know our roles in general, but," she crossed her arms, "some of us are better at certain things than others, so Homeworld has to help us specialize by teaching us how to."
"Mm-hmm, like say how since Peridots are made to be technicians, certain ones are more cut out for tech stuff related to Kindergartens like, say, our Peridot?"
Lapis opened her mouth to continue, except she finally registered was happening, eyes wide and brows raised. Then without warning, she unfurled the water-hand to let the ship piece fall into her actual hand before reverting it into a wing and leaping off into the sky, ignoring Ronaldo's pleas to come back.
In fact, Lapis flat out ignored the part of her that had started to enjoy the conversation – not so much due to the company (that Ronaldo human still seemed too nosy for her tastes) but just the mere experience of talking to someone new and different by her own accord.
Because it just hit Lapis how little choice that she'd had in the company she got to keep up until recently.
Malachite and the mirror went without saying in that regard. Even before that, though, the Gems she ever associated with had been the ones Homeworld deemed appropriate for her to mingle with: mainly other Lapis Lazuli, who were not known for being the most sociable to begin with, and other Gems by proxy of assignment. In short, Homeworld and its colonies weren't exactly the most conducive spaces for different-Gem friendships, a fact that stung Lapis in a way she hadn't felt since her ill-fated return to the home she once knew.
A melancholy frown marred her face.
On second thought, maybe hanging out by herself wouldn't be the best way to spend the day. As much as she didn't look forward to the possibility of the Crystal Gems still being there, Lapis at least hoped Peridot and Steven would be available for hanging out.
However, once Lapis changed route and neared the barn a minute later, she discovered not only the barn grounds empty but a certain yellow Gem waiting patiently by barn door, human disguise from earlier bundled up in her arms.
"Amber?"
Hello, Lapis.
"Hey. What are you doing back here?" While Lapis knew Amber had seen her watching back at the lighthouse, the hydromancer preferred the molehog remained ignorant of her conversation with Ronaldo to avoid any awkwardness. Fat chance if that human's motor mouth proved any indication. "And where is everybody?"
My and Kurtis' classes got cancelled, so I texted Steven to see if he and the others had room for roundup duty over at the Beta Kindergarten for all those corrupted Gems Jasper had been collecting for her army. When he said sure, I had Kurtis drop me off so that I could wait for you in case you wanted to come.
Lapis angled a brow in confusion. On the one hand, she wasn't too worried about having an episode at Beta so long as they didn't linger too close to the Kindergarten. On the other, though...
"Isn't Beta in a desert? I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be much help there."
Amber shrugged. I know. I just thought you might wanna get away from the barn for a bit. Plus, Peridot is insistent that she can catch these corrupted Gems all on her own and Steven is doing his best to help her out, so me and others agreed to keep an eye on them from afar.
Of course. Lapis sighed for lack of surprise at her barnmate's pride-driven escapade and Steven's attempts to minimize the trouble Peridot would get into in turn. Again, though, Lapis wasn't keen on spending any more time with the Crystal Gems than she already had.
As if reading her mind, Amber hastily added, Of course you won't have to be anywhere near Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst. Or Beta for that matter. In fact, I volunteered to keep watch from another vantage point altogether for in case you agreed to come.
For the umpteenth time that day, Lapis found her cheeks flashing a deep navy once again. Her mind traced back to what Ronaldo said about Amber's mentions of her. "O-Oh! You didn't need to do that."
I'm fully aware. I just wanted to make sure you'd be comfortable regardless of whatever you chose to do.
'Whatever you chose to do'.
Lapis was sure that she if had shapeshifted a heart beforehand, it'd be fluttering right now. She even found herself giggling a bit, flattered by the consideration. After a few more moments' thought, she crossed her arms in a thin veil of nonchalance.
"I guess I can spare a few minutes of my time."
XXX
Just as Lapis suspected, 'keeping watch' had meant 'make sure Peridot and Steven don't get themselves killed', which admittedly had proved somewhat difficult since she and Amber had to remain discreet about their job lest Peridot discovered them and threw an accusatory fit over their 'lack of confidence in her competence'.
Hence why the two Gems had to make heavy use of Amber's invisibility powers and refrain from excessive noise – and Lapis could hardly imagine how the Crystal Gems were managing the same.
Thankfully, that hadn't needed to be the case at night since the darkness provided excellent cover.
As of right now, Lapis and Amber were seated behind a boulder atop some mesa a good distance away from where Peridot and Steven had set up a campfire to recuperate after their latest failure to capture Roadrunner (Amber had thought up the name for the speedy corrupted Gem).
The water Gem was reading one of her books from Amber's backpack (something about a guy being depressed and putting an ax in some old lady's head – interesting stuff), the faint light of Amber's gemstone illuminating the words enough to make the words visible.
Since their wards did not have anything planned for now, Amber lay on her back with her head cushioned against Lapis' left hip and eyes closed, hands on her stomach and feet leisurely crossed, the yellow ladybug backpack by her side. The faint sounds of Peridot snarling in frustration as Steven pelted her with marshmallows echoed back, rousing Amber from her nap and inciting her to peek an eye open in the direction of the sounds.
Lapis likewise lifted her head at the noise and peeked around the boulder since she was the closest to the side. She scoffed at the silliness and shook her head before going back to her book and turning the page.
"I swear Peridot's gonna get herself poofed at this rate." A tap on the knee brought Lapis' attention to Amber, who held up her notebook at an open page.
I doubt it. Peridots have notoriously sturdy forms. It's what makes them so good for maintenance and tech stuff.
"And this is neither," Lapis added, "so no wonder Peridot's been struggling so much. She and Steven are lucky we've been around to make sure they didn't get anything worse than a few scrapes and bruises."
Although if the water Gem were to be honest, she swore their two juniors were starting to grow suspicious about their presence, especially after the cliff incident. Not Lapis' fault that this stupid place had so little usable water or that her water hands made so much noise in keeping that broken piece of cliff up long enough for Steven to pull Peridot back to safety.
On that note, Lapis also felt a pang of annoyance at the seeming lack of Crystal Gems doing the same. Surely, they cared enough about Peridot and Steven, or at least the latter, to subtly keep them out of harm's way.
As if reading Lapis' mind, Amber shifted onto her left side. I sincerely hope the others have been pulling their share of the work. Getting a good laugh is one thing, but I'm going to be sorely disappointed if it turns out they've been lounging around just watching like this is a cartoon.
Lapis idly wondered if the simile had some commonality with the reason behind Amber's name for the corrupted Gem, and then shrugged the thought away. She needed to check out a few more of those human channels Steven mentioned once she returned to the barn. Maybe if Peridot would let her borrow that tablet...
Another tap to the knee broke Lapis out of her reverie and redrew her attention to Amber.
Speaking of getting a good laugh, did talking to Ronaldo cheer you up after hearing about the kids' escapade at Beta?
"Ronaldo? Oh." Right, that guy. Lapis rolled her eyes. "Not really. I got some decent information out of him though. Just had to let him ramble on."
A smile came across Amber's snout –a fond one much to Lapis' silent confusion and slight chagrin. Ronaldo tends to do that. Not someone I'd trust with a secret, but certainly someone I wouldn't mind hanging out with if I've had a bad day. Amber paused before adding another sentence. Mileage varies per individual of course.
No kidding, Lapis mused as memories of the conversation with the blonde loudmouth came back to her. She scrunched her brow in cynicism. "I still don't get how you enjoy being around humans so much. Compared to us, their lives might as well be the blink of an eye."
Which is why I always remind myself to live in the moment as much as possible. The past will always be behind us and the future will always loom ahead of us, but the present is always right here.
Lapis arched a brow. "Another quote from your philosophy books?"
Nope. Made it up myself.
Lapis shook her head with a good-natured scoff. "Speaking of pasts, how did things go back at the barn after I left?"
Amber scratched the back of her head. Well the others got on my case a little about telling Amethyst about where she came from. Amethyst, Peridot, and Steven all stood up for me naturally.
"How'd it go from there?"
Eventful. Let's just say me and Amethyst got a lot of stuff off our chests.
To say Pearl and Garnet's reveal about the Kindergartens and their Quartzes proved emotional would have been an understatement. Pearl had admitted that the assault on Beta had been her plan – or more precisely her 'modification' to Rose's original plan, robbing the Kindergarten of its Quartzes the moment the emerged, in response to the Crystal Gem leader's miscalculation as to when the growing Gems would emerge.
The thought of such a plan had still rendered Amethyst sick to her core.
We couldn't have afforded all those Quartzes to remain with Homeworld. Besides, Homeworld has a reputation of treating its soldiers as less than Gems, so Rose and I agreed that they'd be better off on our side. Not that many of the ones we captured bothered to hear us out.
No duh, considerin' ya kinda kidnapped 'em from their birthplace.
Amethyst, it was a bad call that resulted in more casualties than we expected! It's not like we were proud of what we did!
Not a unanimous sentiment as Amber pointed out. In fact, the yellow Gem had showed no hesitation in revealing the shortcomings concerning how the Crystal Gems looked after the Earth Gems that defected to their side: ignorance of the feelings of isolation among the Quartzes, the lack of empathy over the Ambers' fear and confusion in being dropped into battle, the belittlement of both groups' feelings concerning their enemy siblings' that became prisoners of war.
Garnet and Pearl had struggled to come up with counterarguments to any of those points.
Amethyst wasn't stupid either. She saw Pearl and Garnet's logic and from what she knew of fighting, she understood how talking sense into the Quartzes during battle would be difficult, let alone explaining to a bunch of terrified Ambers why they better learn to fend for themselves.
That still hadn't kept her gemstone from aching at the thought of who were essentially her sisters – and Jasper's – being dehumanized into faceless brutes, and she could tell from Amber's disappointed glare that she felt the same about her own and their displaced unity.
All of this, Lapis had missed, so the blue Gem took Amber's word with a shrug. As little as she cared for Amethyst, Lapis couldn't deny her curiosity as to how the purple Quartz came to terms with the full ramifications of being an Earth Quartz like Jasper. In fact, now that she thought the matter through, Lapis understood that Amber had just as much of a stake in her home as the other terrestrial Gems had. In which case...
"Do you feel any better? About all the Earth stuff, I mean."
Amber stared back in silence for moment before she looked away and leaned back on her hands. Lapis waited patiently for an answer.
Lighter. I feel lighter. Like a container full of fresh croissants. Buttery and perfectly flaky.
"That makes no sense whatsoever."
One day, you will come to understand the strangeness of us Earthlings.
Lapis rolled her eyes. Nothing could hide her small smile, though.
Just as nothing could hide Amber's sudden petrified wide-eyed look of shock and caution. Lapis, who had been about to return a smart quip of her own, noticed and furrowed her brow in confusion at first until the sound of familiar garbled grunts echoed from right behind her. Eyes expanded, the water Gem with dread in her nonexistent stomach, reluctantly turned her head.
Roadrunner stood right behind her, staring straight down at them. No words could properly capture the awkwardness permeating the scene.
The stare-down ended at last when Roadrunner walked a small circle, clawed the ground in some odd semblance of a cat, and sat down with their legs folded beneath them. A dumbfounded Lapis looked back at Amber as if in hopes of an explanation. The golden molehog shrugged and shifted her eyes back to Roadrunner, head tilted in wonder though not surprise.
A strange closed-lipped grunt suddenly emitted from the corrupted Gem. It almost sounded like...a whimper?
Whatever this being wanted, Amber must have caught on for she stood up and relocated herself to in between Lapis and Roadrunner, her faint light in no danger of revealing them since they all still sat behind the boulder's cover. Lapis realized what was going on as well the moment she noticed how the larger corrupted Gem seemed to relax in response.
"I guess she doesn't like the dark," Lapis murmured as not to spook Peridot and Steven's quarry. Amber nodded before laying on her back, hands behind her head. After a moment of deliberation, Lapis followed suit.
"Hey Amber."
Amber made a grunt of her own to show she was listening.
A moment of silent thought passed. "...Thanks for inviting me out there."
Taps on the shoulder coaxed her to look over.
What are friends for?
Right. Friends.
With a faint smile, Lapis closed her eyes to the sounds of the nighttime desert, the distant crackling of their juniors' fire, and the warmth of her friend's gemstone.