Chapter 14

A Clash of Ideals: Reforming Bonds

I own Nothing

Yellow Diamond's quarters seemed to be a perfect reflection of the Diamond herself, slick, effective and bright as can be while orbs of shattered traitors floated around every inch of her abode like a haunting reminder to those who'd dare oppose her. "My Diamond, your Right Hand has arrived," a shrill voice cut through Diamond's musing as her Pearl bowed in the presence of her lord.

Yellow looked from her data screen, her usual stoic sneer cracking ever so slightly at the mention of her Right Hand. "Let him in," she ordered and at her decree, her massive doors swung wide to reveal her newly arrived guest. "Obsidian, my dear, it's good to see you've come back so soon."

"My Diamond," Obsidian bowed, twisting his arms into the traditional diamond formation before giving his master a simple bow of respect. "Our mission had gone according to plan, we've scouted out a few mineral rich planets in the andromeda galaxy and have begun the process of colonization."

"Excellent work as per usual, Obsidian. Though, I am still confused as to why you were needed for this. The Jasper I sent should have been ample enough leadership to command a simple scout mission,"

With a keen eye, you could see the stoic features of Obsidian crack just a tad at the question, before returning. "...I-In my humble opinion, I thought our expansion into the Andromeda system should be looked over by a higher authority figure than a simple Jasper, My Diamond."

She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "I suppose you do have a point, but your position is designed to be by my side not warping across galaxies to oversee mineral deposits."

"I completely agree, My Diamond." Her shrill Yellow Pearl remarked smugly, eyeing up Obsidian with a 'better than thou' air of arrogance.

"Thank you, Pearl." Yellow responded in kind, "in fact, your next assignment will be keeping you quite close to the palace and to your Diamond."

He bowed once more, "anything you wish for me to do and I shall accomplish it, My Diamond,"

"I know you will, Obsidian. That's why you're the perfect gem for this little project of mine," her smile was devilish as she continued. "You see, we've found a rare cut, just like you, who I'd love to add to our rank and I know no one better to integrate her than you."

"A rare cut?" He asked

"Yes, quite rare. A Black Agate," She responded before snapping her fingers to gather her Pearl's attention. "Pearl, bring her in."

"Of course, My Diamond," The Pearl bowed before making her way to a side entrance to the Diamond's throne room. "Introducing, Black Agate!" Her body was thin, almost disturbingly so, and her pale complexion clashed with her color scheme of choice, ink black. She wore a thick black trench coat and underneath was a Yellow Diamond sanctioned body suit with black and grey highlights with a single yellow Diamond resting in the center. Her hair stood up in a short, spiked style, fanned out in a neat little ponytail, and resting right under her hairline rested her black gem of choice, the Agate.

"Hello...my teacher,"


Widened eyes were greeted with the setting sun as Obsidian slipped from his meditative trance with a shiver. The face of his old apprentice, Black Agate, had once been forgotten to the sea of other gems he's trained and has now burned itself into his retinas, unwilling to give him solos from her visage. "How could I forget," he muttered, using the railing as a makeshift chair. "She was one of the crulest pupils I ever trained," as he continued to mull over the recent images brought to the forefront of his mind he decided to look around his surroundings to alleviate his mind. Today was definitely going to be different seeing as Steven had asked him, out of the blue, to come down to the docks and hit up the arcade with him. Now, Naruto isn't one to say no to spending time with his pupil but he wasn't really sure what an 'arcade' was or why exactly Steven wanted him to go. Maybe it was a restaurant? Food sounded pretty nice. Maybe it's a shop? Steven should diversify his wardrobe more, so going shopping might be a good thing.

After agreeing to this meetup Steven made his way back home and agreed to meet him at the boardwalk entrance, which was about an hour ago, leaving Obsidian standing in wait and a bit nervous. Naruto was moments away from going to go check on his pupil before he noticed Steven's signature black afro in an oncoming crowd of people. Politely pushing his way through the newcomers to the boardwalk Steven made his way to Naruto, a warm smile perched on his lips.

"Hey Naruto, so sorry for the wait," Steven proclaimed profusely, bowing his head slightly embarrassed at how long it took him to arrive. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting long,"

Naruto knew Steven wouldn't have left him waiting for something that wasn't important so he decided not to inform him of his long wait and merely shrug it off, "there's nothing to apologize for. I was able to partake in one of my favorite pass-times, people watching."

"Oh really?" Steven asked, taking a seat next to Naruto as he scanned the boardwalk inhabitants with a clinical eye, "found anything interesting?"

"A few; a couple getting stocked by a seagull wanting their fries, a boy running around handing out flyers about a local 'podcast' he runs discussing the weird happenings of beach city, the mayor's strange voting truck and an odd looking creature that...stared directly into my very soul." Naruto listed off before a shiver runs through his core at the mention of the final encounter.

"Hmmm...Oh, you must've met Onion!" Steven remarked jovially, chuckling at the gem's reaction. "Yeah, Onion's a strange one but trust me, he's a pretty good kid,"

"Yeah...sure," Naruto mumbled, quickly shifting back to another strange occurrence - "Oh yes, I almost forgot this strange man over there," Naruto said, pointing about a yard away from them. "He's been having the toughest time with that strange machine. He's been screaming at it for almost an hour straight,"

As Steven took in the scene Obsidian pointed towards he had to stifle a chuckle at the struggle he saw Mr. Smiley enduring. "That's Mr. Smiley, he's actually the owner of the place we're going to spend the day at. Funland Arcade!"

"Yeah, about that," Naruto began, taking the lead as they made their way towards Funland and the irate Mr. Smiley, "what exactly is an arcade?"

"It's an amazing place where you put your skills to the test with fun yet challenging games to win rewards and prizes of all shapes and sizes," Steven proclaimed, trying his best to add a little gravitas to an otherwise simplistic answer. "I took Garnet here once and...well, it kinda didn't end all that well. But hey, I think we'll do far better."

"Oh? And why do you say that?"

"Because we're a dream team, Naruto!" Steven jumped with excitement, passing the threshold of the Funland Arcade and entering into a world of colorful lights, active sounds and the smell of plastic and candy. "A pupil and his master, using their wits to conquer this arcade! I know we'll win, hands down."

"You're really into this, aren't you?" Asked the gem as he looked over the room with cautious optimism.

"Who wouldn't be?" Steven smirked before taking off deeper into the building, quickly followed by his master who merely chuckled at the boy's innocence. Their day continued on until the late afternoon, just before the sun set in the west, allowing themselves enough time to play to their heart's content. Apparently Naruto found out that he was quite a natural when it came to most of the games that the Funland Arcade had, once he was told the actual rules, that is. Steven and Naruto demolished the skeeball machine, the meat beat mania machine didn't stand a chance, wak-a-mole wasn't even a challenge and Naruto was prepared for the 'test your might' speedbag game but, for some odd reason, Steven said it'd probably wouldn't be smart for him to do it.

As their day was coming to a close the duo dragged their abnormally large hall of tickets to the ticket booth and started to look through the selection they could get.

"Alright, let's see." Naruto began, scanning the top shelf for the best prices, "they have some mega stuffed animals, that's nice. They've also got a month's free coupon for the Arcade, that sounds pretty sweet, huh? Oh! They also got a go-cart! Which one sounds good to you, Steven?" He asked, reaching out to pat for Steven but found the kid nowhere to be found. "Steven?" He asked again only to receive no answer.

With no response Naruto abandoned the ticket booth and started his search for his young apprentice, looking through every single nook and cranny of the arcade building only to come up short. Soon enough he made his way outside, scanning the boardwalk until his eyes landed on his lost apprentice - leaning against the railing in the midst of a phone call.

And by the sound of it, not a good one.

"Hmm?...yeah, I get it. Y-You've been really busy with training and all...but, you know, I was just hoping that...hmm? Right, right - I know, you've got a lot on your plate right now but it's just...I thought you said you'd come before sundown...right, training went longer than expected but...right...right...yeah, I get it." Stammered Steven, his eyes glazed over in apathy as he stared off into the beautiful beach with a strange aura of disappointment. "I-I understand Connie, maybe we can reschedule another day, right? When are you free...mhm...mhm...yeah, I guess you don't really know anymore, huh? Well, just keep me posted. Bye Connie,"

"Everything okay, Steven?" Obsidian inquired, slowly approaching his apprentice so as to not spook him.

"Yeah...everything's fine," Steven sighed, slipping his phone back into his pocket before turning to address Obsidian. "It's just Connie said she'd meet us after her training to get dinner but...things changed."

Cocking a brow, Naruto muttered, "training?"

Steven seemed a bit hesitant to say which only made Naruto's nerves rise in anticipation. "...About two to three weeks ago Connie and I decided to ask Pearl if she could train her in how to fight with a sword. Ever since then she's...I-I don't know,"

"Ever since what, Steven?" Naruto remarked, pushing the half-breed to open up as he always seemed to do.

"...Ever since then Pearl has been trying to hammer this idea into Connie's head that she has to throw her life away in battle to protect me," finally, Steven broke and revealed his dilemma. "At first I thought Connie would just shrug it off but now...now I think she's taking it to heart."

"That's not good, not at all." His sensei shook his head at Steven's words. "Why on earth would Pearl teach someone that?" He's known Pearl to do some over the top things when it comes to Steven but this seemed overly cruel to do to a simple human.

"I'm not sure and I don't know how to fix this," Steven exacerbated, slouching against a light post in abject frustration. As he ran his fingers through his thick, twirled afro, Steven's eyes widened as a thought popped into his perplexed mind. "...Maybe, just maybe, you could help Connie,"

Obsidian seemed taken back by this, "me?! Why me?"

"Come on, you're an amazing teacher - maybe if Connie has a session or two with you she'll realize that Pearl's message isn't the be all and end all," he begged, unknowingly placing a lot of this at the foot of his teacher. If he said no then he might cause added stress to Steven along with allowing a dangerous practice to continue that he could possibly stop.

With a sigh, Naruto relented. "I-I...I suppose but I can't force her to train with me,"

"Don't worry, leave that to me," Steven gleamed, taking off down the boardwalk with a skip in his step once more. "Thank you, Naruto!"

"Of course," he shouted back, making his way towards his own home with a single thought in mind. "This is going to be...interesting,"


The familiar ring of the warp pad echoed through the wide expanse as Naruto perked from his perch within the hayloft, craning his neck east in order to catch a glimpse of the two coming children - one more bouncy than the other. Jumping from the hayloft and making his way towards the newly arrived guest to meet them halfway he could hear the tail end of the conversation between the two.

"Why exactly are we here again, Steven?" Connie questioned, "didn't you say you wanted to go to the arcade or something?"

"Well, yeah - I'd love to but…" a panic seemed to strike across Steven's face as his eyes darted wildly, trying his best to come up with a lie on the spot. "N-Naruto said he wanted to come too, yeah!" He proclaimed as reassurance, whether it was for her or himself is still up for debate.

"...Alright," she hummed as she began to pick up a nervous tinge to Steven's actions but she decided to play along, maybe for his sake. "Then why did you ask me to bring my sword?"

Steven's eyes bulged, racking his brain for any rational answer to the question posed. A part of Naruto wanted to let this drag on and watch as his student's illconseved idea fell to pieces within seconds, but a stronger part of himself couldn't let Steven keep fumbling for half baked excuse after half baked excuse. "That's because of me," Naruto remarked, waving the two over with a smile.

Shooting a quick wink to his student that read, 'play along', Steven quickly nodded, "y-yeah, he wanted to see it!"

"Oh...really?" Connie asked quizzically, palming her hilted sword in her hand before presenting it. "I-It's not much, Pearl said this was the only sword she had that would fit my size."

"May I?" Naruto asked softly, treating Connie's blade as if it were a newly born pup who'd startle at any moment.

"Of course," she responded, pointing the hilt towards him which he quickly took before unsheathing it, allowing the blade to reflect in the moonlight. As Connie said, this blade was perfect for someone of her stature but not too comfortable for someone with larger hands like Naruto. The sword's basket hilt scrunched up his top two fingers while the edge of it dug into his flesh but neither seemed to really bother him - he didn't wish to look at this blade for himself but to see if Pearl had done her due diligence in picking out her apprentice's weapon. Pinching the blade between his pointer and thumb, Naruto ran it down the expanse of the blade, first starting at the back of it before circling back around to the edge. The blade felt nice, a few nicks here and there but that is to be expected for a warriors blade. The blade was thin, bent easily each direction by little pressure, but it still held a firm spring in it which allowed it to quickly snap back to position if it was ever blocked or swung at with a blunt weapon. The handle also seemed sufficient, a basket guard with a simple leather wrap and a circular pommel, it's design definitely lent itself more to a trainee than a master swordsman.

"Pearl picked well," thought the gem before handing back the swords to its rightful owner. "It's a fine blade,"

Connie bowed proudly, "thank you, Narut-,"

"But," he interrupted, placing a finger against Connie's forehead. "A blade is only as good as it's wielder. So, that begs the question, how well versed are you with your sword, Connie Maheswaran?"

"U-Uhhh…" Connie sputtered, quite flustered at being put on the spot so quickly. "Well...I mean, Pearl has said numerous times that I learn quickly for a human, which...I suppose is a compliment. And...what else? Oh! I've been able to beat one of Pearl's projections in under three weeks!"

"Impressive," Naruto commented, tapping his chin in mock intrigue. "For a gem fresh out of a Kindergarten,"

"H-Hey!" Connie fired back, flustered at Naruto's uncharacteristically pointed shot at her. "I'm trying my best, it's not easy training under Pearl while also keeping up with my studies!"

"Well, maybe your best isn't good enough. You are 'just a human', right?" He chuckled, giving a subtle wink to Steven who seemed to be growing a bit worried at Naruto's pointed commentary. The wink gave Steven pause, realizing that Naruto's remarks could have an ulterior motive other than to simply demean his friend. So, he went along with it.

"Humans are stronger than you gems give us credit for!" Connie remarked hotly, her blood seemingly boiled at this point.

"Is that so?" He asked with a cocked brow, summoning his scythe a flick of his wrist. "Then, please, educate me."

"With pleasure," she hissed, discarding her sword's sheath before Obsidian and Connie both slipped into their respective fighting position. Naruto kept the scythe's extended handle firmly against the cold dirt as he placed a hand behind his back. Connie, seemingly annoyed with such a cocky stance, took a wide, horse stance with one hand firmly gripping her one handed sword and her left placed behind her back as well - but more for balance than a simple show of confidence.

No words needed to be spoken as Connie fired off towards her opponent, a calm yet visible agitated grimace clear on her face. She went for her first strike, a sideways swipe which was easily blocked by a quick twist of Naruto's form, sending the curved handle of his scythe slapping against the belly of her blade with a hollow thud. Though caught off guard by his swiftness Connie wasn't surprised by the parry, it would have been disappointing if he hadn't. She went to jump back and attack from another angle but instead she felt her forward leg slip out from under her courtesy of a kick by Obsidian. She hit the ground hard, air nearly knocked from her chest, before rolling to her feet and slipping into her sword posture once more.

By the looks of it Obsidian's lackadaisical attitude towards this battle has lit a fire in her eyes, something he enjoyed to see. Tapping his scythe against the ground twice, Obsidian motioned for her to continue pressing forward - an action that wasn't entirely needed for Connie to lung back into action. With a speedy flurry of three overhead strikes, Connie circled Obsidian's position in hopes of landing a blow but found him to be far too responsive for her strikes to land anywhere but his scythe's handle. It was then that Naruto took her moment of pause to strike, swinging his Scythe's handle wide, connecting against Connie's right guard. It was by some miracle that Connie noticed his swing and was able to raise her arm to halt him from cracking her against her head.

A sense of numbness went through Connie's right side, the strike may not have found its intended target but it didn't need to; any strike, even blocked, can cause lasting damage throughout a fight. It seemed like Obsidian desired to go on the offensive as he began to jab at Connie with the blunt end of his scythe, almost as if toying with his food before devouring it whole. Connie stumbled backward, each jab either glancing off her blade or striking true against a limb or, more painfully, her gut.

However, with Obsidian's final jab, Connie found her time to strike - catching the hit with her extended foot before stomping down, burying the end of his scythe into the soft soil. Wasting little time Connie used her small frame to run up the length of his embedded weapon and go for a final, hail mary strike. She kicked off the Scythe and, with both hands gripping the hilt and the moon glinting off her blade, brought down her sword right down the middle of Obsidian. A powerful strike that would have ended the fight in an amazing display of skill, if it had, in fact, landed. With his hand extended, Obsidian had caught her blade with a simple pinch, halting her strike and dangling her in mid-air like a cat caught in a tree.

"Amazing," Naruto hummed with a smile, "simply amazing,"

"W-What?" Connie asked between breaths. Her last strike was simply that, her last - but Naruto seemed to counter it with robotic like precision and now he's calling her 'amazing'? It could lead a girl to wonder what on earth was the point of all this.

Releasing his pinched grip he let the sword and Connie fall softly to the ground, "that was a fantastic fight, Connie. I wouldn't imagine you've only been training for about a month now,"

"Thank you…?" She replied, though, by the lilt in her voice, she didn't really have conviction behind her response. "Hold on, I think I'm missing something here...what's going on? What was this all about?"

"I must apologize, Connie, I haven't been entirely honest with you." As he was prepared to spill it all, he peered over Connie to see Steven seemingly paralyzed at the prospect of Naruto coming clean about their half baked scheme. "Steven told me about your training with Pearl and...well, I wanted to see it for myself."

"O-Oh…" she nodded numbly, "but why didn't you just ask? Why did you have to make a scene?"

"Another lapse in my judgement, it would have been simple for you to demonstrate what you've learned but I saw an opportunity for you to truly show me your progress." He spoke so calmly, so analytical, that even if Connie was upset with how he went about it she wasn't for long. "I wanted you to fight me in earnest as if you WANTED to win. In my experience that's the best way to evaluate one's skills."

"I suppose I see the logic there," she said, fiddling with the leather bound handle of her sword. "So, how did I do?"

"Your skills with a blade in such a short amount of time can only be described as incredible. Some gems don't learn this fast," he praised, unable to keep his joy for Connie's growth from his features.

"I appreciate that but there's no way I'm perfect." Connie hummed, her critical mind still fully functional. "Is there something you think I should improve upon?"

With a sly smile, Naruto nodded, "I mean, if you don't mind me teaching you."

"I'd be honored," the night air was soon filled with the sound of vigorous training as Naruto went to work correcting and elevating the teaching Connie had brought to him. During their fight along with their night time training session, Naruto had found that Connie had many bad habits that weren't addressed from the beginning of her training. One being her stance, yes it was wide and it allowed her solid footwork but it was too wide. For her frame, a stance like that would hamper her movement not add to it, so it was best for her to have more of a sideways stance, allowing her to quickly lung forward and quickly move back.

Another was her type of fighting style, using mostly large swipes instead of using more controlled, maneuverable swings that she could combo into one another. She did have a few good traits that definitely came from Pearl's teachings; her willingness to keep her body moving in battle, to have a solid balance to her stance and to use her size to her advantage and keep her body lowered. Overall, he found one deplorable teaching that he wished to weed out, the strange uncaring attitude for protecting herself during a battle. Many of her practice stances and swings left her open in many choice areas and when this was brought up, she remarked that Pearl said causing more damage to a target is more important than your safety. Such a thought, even if you're a gem, is foolhardy and should be purged from any good warrior's mind for good.

However, as time went on, he realized he couldn't fix every problem tonight - all he could do is hope that his teachings would instill a sense of understanding in her to bring with her in her training with Pearl.

All he could do was hope.

A few days went by in relative peace for the blonde haired gem, he spent some time training, conversing with a slowly opening up lapis and finding ways to keep himself entertained. The one thing he did miss about living with the gems was that there were barely any boring moments. He wondered how Connie was taking to his suggestions, he hoped that it wouldn't cause too much strife between him and Pearl if her new pupil began to use his techniques alongside hers.

It was a toss up really, he knew that Pearl can be overdramatic sometimes but she can also be surprisingly calm and rational when it calls for it - maybe he's just overthinking it thanks to his bored mindset. Grasping at straws in order to fill the void. With a simple sigh, the gem let it be and turned from the beautiful night sky framed in his hayloft and laid his head down to rest - his scarce dreams might fill his mind with other thoughts than Connie and Pearl.


The gridded training room was filled with the sounds of electricity cracking against the stagnant stadium air as two gems had brought their short lived battle to an end. "Enough," Obsidian's voice called out, taking a step forward towards his pupil to signal the end of their fight. Her heel digging deeper into her pinned opponents back, Agate had a sadistic twinkle in her eyes as she tightened her electric whip around Ruby's throat - taking glee in her desperate flailing. "I said, that's enough Agate!"

"To the victor goes the spoils, right Master?" She remarked before flicking her wrist, shattering the poor Ruby's physical form. "I think I'll rid our ranks of this weak, little Ruby," she cooed, picking up the gem as you would a piece of excrement on the side of the road.

"That is not for you to decide," her master's voice was stern and yet her playful smile never left her face as she tightened her grip around the jagged stone. "Hand me the gem, Agate."

"...Very well," she sighed, tossing the Ruby over her shoulder towards her master. As he stretched a hand out to grab it the tip of Agate's whip slashed through the air, slicing through the falling gem with ease. "Oops," her sadistic giggle echoed throughout the empty training room as the bisected gem fell past Obsidian's outstretched palm and shattered against the ground below.

His eyes widened and his blood began to boil as Agate's sickening laugh still rung heavily in his mind. With a primal shout, Obsidian charged his pupil with reckless abandon. Agate could only crack her whip towards her teacher in a vain attempt to stop him but found it pointless as he simply snatched the whip's tail and moved in for his attack. Drilling his student with a pointed knee to the sternum, Obsidian sent her flying, leaving her gasping for air to fill the lungs she didn't have.

"What you just did was unacceptable." He began, tossing her whip across the ring, "and for that, you have to be punished!"

"N-No, Master please, I'm sorry!"

"Your apology won't bring back that Ruby's life," he hissed, summoning his weapon as a haunting red glow encompassed him. "Actions have consequences, Agate. Now stand and face them,"


"Naruto, Naruto! Wake up," Steven proclaimed, shaking Naruto from his slumber.

Jutting forward with a scream, Naruto sat up, scanning the room for any danger, "what, what? What's happening, is the barn on fire?! Is Lapis loose again?"

"Wha-...No," Steven said, completely confused at the dazed gem's remarks. "I need your help,"

"Huh? Steven?" Naruto mumbled, slowly regaining his composure. "What's the problem?"

"It's Pearl, I know why she's doing all of this!" He spoke frantically, trying his best to relay the information he gained from the gems. "Amethyst and Garnet told me that, during the war, Pearl would sacrifice herself every chance she could get to protect my mother in battle. She's trying to teach the same thing to Connie, we have to stop it!"

He'd be lying to himself if he didn't feel, deep down inside, that this was true - he didn't want to believe Pearl would teach a 'human' of all things to through their lives away in battle like a gem could but thanks to their training a few nights ago he knew it to be true. "We can't let this continue, we need to confront her."Steven nodded as he and his master took off towards the fallen colosseum Connie and Pearl used for their sword training. With a quick warp to their last known location, Steven and Naruto made their way up the colosseum stairs just in time to catch a glimpse of their targets before their training began.

"Remember Connie," Pearl preached, standing before her student. "In the heat of battle, Steven is what matters. You don't matter,"

"I don't matter," Connie repeated, her features surprisingly calm after saying something so dark.

"Now, let us begin," as she decreed her gem began to glow, summoning the clouds around them to form a makeshift fog that blinded Obsidian and Steven, making it hard for them to interfere.

"No, no, no! We're too late," Steven panicked, scanning the area in hopes of finding a glimpse of Connie or Pearl but coming up short.

"Easy Steven, calm yourself." Obsidian hushed his student, taking a moment with him to keep his mind under control. "We'll find them we just need to be on guard, alright? You search for Connie, I'll handle Pearl."

With a hesitant nod, Steven agreed. "...Alright, be careful!"

"I was about to say the same to you!" Naruto chuckled as he jumped from the entrance archway of the colosseum directly into the misty battlefield - quickly followed by his student who decided to take a more sensible approach and walk down the ancient staircase. The two quickly found themselves submerged in the blinding fog, Steven calling for Connie in an attempt to catch her attention while Naruto snuck his way through, bobbing and weaving through the mist with clinical precision. The cumulus smog was thick, easily obscuring the clashes of metal on metal, the only thing the gem had to go off of was his sense of hearing - slowly following Pearl's grunts of battle until he came face to tip with Pearl's spear.

Thrusting into the mist, Pearl found her spear mere inches from adding a new hole to Obsidian's features. The gem's near poof experience was quickly thrown out the window as Pearl, her features now twisted in rage, brought her spear back and bashed it's pommel against the ancient stone floor.

"You have some nerve showing your face so soon to me," she spoke with venom, his name nowhere to be found in her address - she didn't want to dirty her mouth with saying a traitor's name.

"Pearl, I found yo-," Obsidian began, raising from his crouched posture only to be silenced with a spear once again placed dangerously close to his face.

"No, no talking." She curtly ordered, pointing her spear towards the archway. "Out,"

Naruto didn't seem too pleased with her dismissive tone, tapping her spear from his face before trying to address her again. "Listen, we need to tal-,"

"What did I just say?" She remarked, turning her back on him as she started to walk towards another patch of fog. "I have nothing to talk to you about. Even if I did, it can wait after I'm finished with my student."

"It's about your student," Obsidian sighed, following her through the fog with a brisk jog. "Your training, this mindset you put in her, it's all wrong."

Pearl seemed to grow annoyed with his comment, turning on her heel and facing him with a stern gaze. "Oh? And what exactly do you know about my training?"

"I know that you're teaching her that her life doesn't matter in battle when in comparison to Steven's," his statement seemed to strike a chord with Pearl, hearing such a harsh statement escape someone else's mouth didn't sit well with her. "I also know you've trained her to be solely focused on aggression, leaving her incapable to defend herself against stronger, more experienced opponents."

"...I-I'm teaching her self-reliance," Pearl said somberly, her downcast gaze betraying the idea that she didn't believe in what she said. "In a real battle, Steven won't be there to protect her so her best strategy is to fight aggressively. It's simple,"

"Who said Steven wouldn't be by Connie's side?" He asked, "if there's a battlefield Connie's in then Steven will surely be there to fight along side he-,"

Pearl's fists clenched, "...Steven is too important to lose,"

"He's not a delicate flower, Pearl." Remarked his master, his knowledge of Steven's growth vaster than Pearl would believe. "He's grown into quite the fighter. I bet just like his mother,"

"Don't speak like you know anything about Rose,"

"But I do know something about her," he said seldomly. "I know her Pearl cared deeply for her. Cared so much that she put her over anything else, even her own life. Something like that might bleed over to her son, huh?"

She didn't respond, merely turning to leave only to feel a hand grasp her own. "Pearl, please, I know this isn't you. Talk to me,"

"I'd wish you'd quit pretending as if you know me," she mumbled, snatching her hand from him before slipping into the fog. He went to follow but before he could even break the fog a holographic blade jutted forth, narrowly missing his hand. Stumbling backward, Naruto was soon greeted with three Pearl clones each armed with her signature rapier before they began to slowly close in on him, their plain white eyes shifting to red. With a snap of his wrist, his weapon materialized just in time to block a downward strike from one of the clones, leaving it wide open for a solid kick to the hologram's chest, propelling her backward into one of her clones.

With a twirl of his scythe, he slashed through the next clone who, at the time, rushed him with her blade drawn, preparing to take his head clean off if he hadn't seen it coming already - leading to her form shattering. The next two clones weren't as easy to dispatch, learning from their comrades' mistakes and using their number's advantage against Obsidian. They ducked and weaved through his strikes, his longer weapon granting them a bit more time to slip through his defenses and prepare for a thrust through his sternum. He twisted in place, using his shoulder to redirect the belly of the blade away from him and towards the other charging clone, shattering her with ease. He side stepped once more, slipping behind his final opponent before dragging his scythe's blade across the clone's thin neck - leading no one to stop him from moving forward.

However, before he could make his way into the fog, it began to dissipate - slowly fading from existence which helped reveal the battlefield before him. Pearl stood with her arms outstretched, probably the one who dispelled the fog, while Steven and Connie stood together like a well tuned team - both staring down Pearl with their own determination. Obsidian thought it'd be best for him to intervene before anything went forward but something in the back of his mind told him to stay back and allow the duo to handle the situation themselves.

So that's what he did, he allowed the trio to have their moment, and what a moment it was. The partnership of Connie and Steven seemed almost perfect as they fought against Pearl, Connie focusing on a well-balanced offense while Steven would act as the defense when needed. Each swing of a sword or a clash of a shield seemed to be down to clock work precision - the only thing that led to their downfall was what led to many gems and humans alike, experience. Pearl had fought in battles with grander scale and complexity that granted her a far larger range of counters and attacks that quickly turned the tables and sent the two crashing to the floor, completely disarmed.

With the fighters exhausted and their weapons abandoned a true conversation started to form. This, like many arguments at the Crystal Gem household, began with a heated discussion. Pearl and Steven go back and forth about how he was too important to lose while he saw himself as he always has, a boy who wished to protect his friends alongside them. It was then that everything came to a head, Pearl finally admitted what this whole thing was about,

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST LET ME DO THIS FOR YOU, ROSE?!" Like many issues that plagued Pearl they all seemed to fall back to Rose, she's still haunted by her passing and she keeps looking to Steven as if he was the same as her. It wasn't on purpose, her whole life was devoted to her - something like that can't be simply dropped even after 14 years apart. From time to time it'll crop up and it's best to face it, something Pearl still has trouble doing. As her outburst subsided and the trio began to comfort one another Obsidian knew it was time for him to depart, his job was done.

Though Steven begged for his help at the beginning it would seem his student had solved his crisis all on his own, he's growing to be quite the problem solver since Obsidian has known him. He took the warp pad home, being graced with a beautiful setting sun across the grassy plains that his homeresided on. He found Lapis resting atop the silo and decided to join her, taking a nice spot next to her, something that didn't seem to bother Lapis as it would have a few months prior. Maybe she was warming up to him after all.

"Sooo...how was your day?" Asked Obsidian, shooting a sideways glance at the stoic cyan gem.

She cracked a smile, "you suck at this," she snickered.

"Suck at what?" he chuckled back.

"Small talk," Lapis then did something Naruto didn't expect, she leaned in and rested her head against his shoulders as if it was nothing at all. With a simple sigh, Lapis continued, "but it was good, you?"

He smiled as he gazed towards the setting sun, his non-existent heart filled with warmth, "better now."


Obsidian woke with a start, his body still draped across the circular top of the silo with the moon firmly set in the sky above. "I-I must have fallen asleep," he thought groggily, rubbing his still tired eyes in a vain attempt to wake up - who knew he would be able to pass out on top of this dangerous silo without waking up in pieces. As he went to stand he noticed a form next to him, a cyan form that had the cutest little snores he'd ever heard. "She...s-she stayed up here with me?" he wondered, his non-existent heart skipping a beat at the kindness. As he went to pick her up and take her back to the barn, a quick flash of light caught his attention. Scanning the area, he caught a glimpse of a bright yellow light escaping the shredded remains of the once-great Jasper warship.

Someone was digging around in the wreckage.


Annnnnnd scene! Hello, hello everyone! It's great to finally update this story again, I'm still getting mega love for Obsidian Dreams and I appreciate every single one of you who read this fic. If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review or PM if you have any questions. Thank you!