"Pearl!" Connie called, running up to the gem. She was smiling and plopped down next to her. "Want to come with us to train?"

"Train? For what?" Pearl asked. She suddenly gasped and stood. "Did those Jaspers come back for me?!"

"No! No!" Connie cried, holding out her hands to stop her friend from panicking. "I mean, just train. You know, we do it every Saturday…"

Pearl looked confused. "Wait, are you serious? When did you start doing this?"

"Um… since I first held my sword?" Connie whispered softly.

Pearl looked dumbfounded. "What…?"

"We, don't really talk about it much, we all know about it." The girl shrugged. "Where did you think we went every Saturday morning?"

"I thought…. huh." Pearl trailed off. How had she never known this?

Connie waited a few moments before smiling. "Want to come this time? Train?"

"Um…" Pearl blushed and Connie suddenly grabbed her arm.

"Come on! This'll be fun!"

Pearl was shaking on the bleachers of the sky arena, watching the other Temps train with each other. She glanced at the sword Peridot had given her, then glanced away.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Connie yelled.

Jasper formed her helmet and ran at Connie. The girl smirked when she got nearly to hitting her, and jumped up, landing on her head and then thrusting her hand in the gem's back.

"Oh! You got me!" Jasper cried in fake agony, falling over, making Connie fall to the ground. The girl laughed.

Peridot walked up with a frown. "Are you two training hard?"

"Yes!" Connie and Jasper said togther with goofy grins.

Lapis suddenly yelled, wrapping a whip of water around Peri.

Connie suddenly ran up to her with lighting speed and cut the water in half.

Lapis smirked. "Not too bad."

"It's gonna get better." Connie laughed with a glint in her eyes.

They all were so wrapped up in thier little game, they didn't see that Pearl had snuck off to the side.

The gem dropped the sword, safe behind a staircase where no one would look for her. A glow came from her gem as a hologram formed, and the gem bent down into a kneeling position. The figure didn't cast a shadow like it had that fateful night, but Pearl still could remember how hard her chest had pounded. Whenever she stepped out of line, she always put herself through this memory…

"Pearl!"

Pearl gave a jolt in shock and turned to see Peridot looking angry. The hologram exsploded into dust.

"What were you doing." Peridot growled.

Pearl's eyes widened. "I… um…"

"That wasn't Rose Quartz." Peridot replied. "That was too tall to be her… Who was that?"

"Y-You didn't see?" Pearl stuttered with a look of suprise.

"Why do you think I asked?" Peridot hissed. She seemed very, very upset, but she had known she had worked for Rose, why was she more upset about this?

"Just forget it." Pearl growled, standing up with her sword. She walked back to the arena

Peridot followed her with suspicion.

Pearl watched as Connie started to duel with a hollow Peridot, and a water clone beside that. The girl brandished her sword, letting the hollow thrust its sword at her and leaping onto the blade. She swiftly kicked the hologram in the head, causing it to vanish.

The water clone had the same skill set as Connie did, seeing as it looked exsactly like her. The girl stabbed her sword through the clone and it fell apart. The girl raised a eyebrow in suprise and then sensed another clone coming at her. She twirled around and a clang resonated from her sword, the powerful waves destroying it.

"Nice!" Lapis called.

The girl smiled, panting.

Pearl clapped for her and then gave a cry. "Connie, look out!"

Connie turned and saw another hollow coming at her. She raised her sword, but the thing knocked it out of her hands, her being too suprised to be completely focused.

"Stop! She doesn't have a weapon! She going to get-" Pearl was cut off when Connie destabilized it. Pearl felt embarrassed, how could she forget?

"She's fine, Pearl." Jasper chuckled. "Even if her sword gets knocked away, she can still use her powers."

"Right…" Pearl whispered, clenching her fist slightly.

"You want to try, Pearl?" Lapis asked, sitting nearby.

Pearl thought about it and glanced at the sword. "I...No."

"But why not?" Connie asked with surprise.

"I can't train today." Pearl insisted.

Connie frowned. "Um… then next week?"

"No." Pearl grunted. She suddenly stood and walked down from the bleachers. "I'll train in private!"

Peridot frowned. She had a feeling that Pearl wasn't going to train.

"You know what you were made for Pearl?" The hologram asked.

"Yes, Rose." Pearl whispered, bowing to it, resuming what she had set up before.

"Don't call me that."

Pearl glanced up to look at her. "But I thought you wanted-"

"Pearl, where are you?" Peridot called.

The hologram of her mistress popped away.

Peridot peeked behind the staircase and saw Pearl looking at the ground.

"Is this about how you were a servant? And all your powers originally aren't for fighting?" Peridot whispered, sliding down beside her.

Pearl glanced down at her with a tiny frown. "Aren't you still upset with me?"

"Secrets are hard to keep, it will come out sometime." Peridot shrugged with a tiny smile.

"Easy for you to say, you don't have any big secrets like I do. My mistress trusted me with everything." Pearl whispered. "You see, I always had to keep her secrets, betray gems I cared for, and clean her sword after it had tried to do the unthinkable… I trained alone, always. I was in constant fear that I would be found out, I never told a single gem I was teaching myself to fight. I guess… even now, after I've showed you all my skill… I'm still afraid to train with anyone else, old habits die hard."

Peridot glanced at her, and then back to ground.

"I just want to have one power from my gem, one made to fight! Is that so hard to ask?" Pearl groaned suddenly. "You all have one… And I don't."

Peridot shrugged. "I asked my gem for a power like that all the time when I was a servent. I didn't discover I had metal powers until I joined the rebellion, it takes time, Pearl."

Pearl looked saddened. "I suppose that's true." She sighed. "I just… want to help."

"You are helping! Just training with us, you're helping us get better…" Peridot then trailed off and thought of something. "But… you are just a Pearl, aren't you?"

Pearl's weak smile fell. "What?"

"A Pearl, you let Rose Quartz push you around, and use you, just like Pearls are supposed to." Peridot whispered.

Pearl felt anger boil up in her. "Not anymore! I'm not like th-"

"But you were, who knows what things you did for her, Rose, you weren't made for fighting."

"Stop it…" Pearl growled. "You don't know what I've done! You don't know anything! Why are you suddenly pointing out my flaws?!"

Peridot didn't, contiuing to baride her. "Rose didn't believe you could fight, heh, we didn't believe you could fight either! You're just a Pearl."

"I… I…" Pearl's gem glowed and Peridot stopped. The taller gem grew more upset, and turned to see a hologram of Rose Quartz. "I'M NOT JUST A PEARL, ROSE!" She cried, tears in her eyes as she suddenly slashed through the hologram of her past mistress with… not a sword, but a beautiful teal spear. She had done it! She had summoned her weapon! From her gem! Pearl gave a shocked noise, stuttering in surprise. "Did… Did I…?"

"Ha, ha! I knew that would work!" Peridot cried, punching the air in triumph. "Insulting you and making you think about your traumatic past was perfect for making you angry enough to summon a weapon and prove…"

Pearl smiled happily, wiping away tears. "I don't need a master… I'm my own gem."

"Crystal Temps! Come here!" Peridot yelled.

The rest of the Temps ran over and Connie gasped in suprsie.

"Pearl! You have a weapon! This is so great!" She squealed.

Lapis punched Pearl playfully on the arm. "Good job, Pearl."

"A Pearl has a weapon? I didn't even know that!" Jasper cried.

Pearl gave a growl in annoyance and pointed to spear to Jasper. "I do!"

"I'm just kidding, you are using it Pearlfectly."

The other Temps giggled while Pearl rolled her eyes, hiding her own smile. She glanced at the spear in her hands and it vanished in sparkles. The gem tightened her hand to a fist.

Did you notice the cover change? Good! I'm planning on doing a cover change each chapter now, to exspress the story in it. I'm also coming up with character clothes designs on the Connie Universe and The Temps amino, join to see new images, talk about theories, roleplay, and Steven Universe in general, because

SPOILERS!

Garnet wedding was beautiful and no one can tell me otherwise! Also, that Yellow clod! She poofed Lapis and Peri, darn it!