Well Ash and Lapis are reunited. I apologize for the short hiatus, i had some deep shit I had to get through, I still am going through this personal crap, but i'm still finding time to write this. That's about it. *I DON'T OWN STEVEN UNIVERSE OR POKEMON*
That night felt like it would never end to Ash. He sat down in an old lawn chair he set up next to his mattress waiting for Lapis to recover, refusing to leave her side despite Steven and the Gems intervention. He somehow fell asleep because the next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes and sunlight had penetrated the barn through the gigantic hole Peridot made in the wall.
"Pika pi" he heard his loyal Pokemon say rubbing his stomach to get his trainer's attention. Ash felt himself feeling hungry as well. He got up and opened up his backpack, taking one of the last cans of Pokemon food he had on him and filled a small bowl with a scoop. He watched the yellow Pokemon eat with delight as he rummaged through his back until he found a granola bar he could eat.
He saw through the hole the Gems were all sitting in a circle on the grass, Peridot was giving the other Gems the details on how she and Steven stopped the Cluster
"And then Steven was all: "my feelings" and then up and passes out on me. Then he starts glowing and, well Steven can explain that part since he's the one who saved us. Tell them Steven, wasn't it incredible?!"
"Uh yea" he said distracted
"Morning everyone" Ash finally said squinting from the bright sun
"Ash it's two o'clock in the afternoon" Pearl said with concern.
"Oh"
"Is Lapis awake yet?" Steven asked him
"Not yet bud"
"We were worried for you both", said Garnet, "you didn't move from her side at all last night"
"Of course i didn't. You wouldn't either if someone you cared about was in the state she's in"
There was an awkward silence until Steven broke the silence "i'd better check on her to"
The boys left the Gems as Peridot continued talking about how amazing the center of the earth was. They pushed open the door to the sight of Lapis Lazuli on Ash's mattress, she quickly turned to her side clenching her fists in agony, then settled back into her slumber.
"I can see you boys are worried about your friend" Garnet said as she approached them from behind
"Yea" Steven agreed "when i saw her in my dreams, it looked like she was fighting so hard to keep Malachite and Jasper from escaping". Just the mere mention of Jasper's name was enough to cause Ash to clench his fist in rage, remembering how Jasper had hurt nearly everyone on this world he cared about.
Garnet looked at him as if she knew what he was thinking, Ash always suspected she actually could. "Lapis spent an unbearable amount of time fused with Jaspe. The emotional and physical restrain from that type of fusion, I can't imagine. She's gonna need a lot of time to recover" she then turned to Ash "and a lot of personal space"
Ash sighed, "you're probably right"
"Come on," she said leading them back to the rest of the group "i'm dying to hear more about what happened underground". Steven went on to tell them all about how he had tapped into the Cluster's dream, and how he managed to convince it to bubble itself and leave the Earth in peace. Ash looked to see Pikachu playing with Lion in the field surrounding the barn, while Peridot and Ash began to discuss their new living arrangements with each other. The group began loading the drill into Greg's van to transport it to his storage locker, in case they ever needed it again. By the time it was secured in the van, it was already past Steven's bedtime, so while Greg, Peridot and the Gems left to place the drill into storage, Ash promised he'd let Steven spend the night, that way they could both keep an eye on Lapis. They slept in their sleeping bags outside the barn, they had just started to actually sleep when they both were jolted awake by a series of bangs and the sound of a bottle breaking from the barn. They both quickly threw off their sleeping bags and entered to old building to the sight of Lapis on her feet, her wings revealed as she prepared to take flight.
"Lapis, you're ok!" Ash happily announced their presence to her, causing her to turn around
"Steven, Ash" she said with surprise
"You're, leaving"
"I have to guys, i don't belong on Earth, not with the Crystal Gems, i never have" she said in resentment. The boys looked at each other before Steven broke the silence
"It's ok. We understand. I just wish we could've hung out more. It seems like we only get to see each other when there's something horrible going on"
Lapis gently smiled at them before turning back to them "that's just how it is with me." she took a short pause "Ash, Steven. Thank you. Goodbye, again"
"Wait Lapis!" Steven shouted as she prepared to fly off, stopping her in her tracks "before you go Ash has something to tell you"
The whole statement caught him by surprise, as his little buddy retreated behind him and edged him closer to the Homeworld Gem. he knew what Steven was trying to get him to do.
"What is it Ash?" she asked him
Ash could feel his heart racing, his face felt hot and butterfrees began to form in his stomach as he tried to decide what to say to her, knowing this could be the final time he saw her "i uh, the-the offer i gave you back on the ship is still valid if you ever need a place to stay, should you find yourself lost on Earth again. And, i meant what i said in the cell, every word" he stopped to take a breath as he badly tried to hide his blush "goodbye Lapis. I'll miss you"
She smiled again "i'll keep that in mind Ash. i'll miss you to, and i hope that you one day make it back to your home to. Well, goodbye". And with that, Lapis leapt into the air and flew back into the sky until she was out of sight. Ash felt a single tear fall from his eye. Suddenly, he felt that same tear fly up from his cheek, up into the sky, following Lapis as she flew off.
"Ash, why didn't you tell her how you felt?" Steven demanded
He took a deep breath "Steven, on my world there's an old saying: "if you love something, let it go. And if it comes back to you, then it loves you to", or something like that, i don't really know the quote. The point i'm trying to make is, i'm not going to keep her here, she doesn't belong here like me, we're not even from the same universe. I just had to accept that it was never meant to be and move on. Now come on, it's getting really late, and Pearl will kill me if she finds out i let you stay up this late"
The next morning, Greg and the Gems returned to the barn to get Steven, Ash and Peridot revealed to them their new "roommate agreement", to which Garnet and Pearl put up no argument for her to change her mind.
"Man, first Ash now Peridot" Amethyst complained "all the fun people are living out here now. I WANNA GO LIVE WITH ASH AND PERI!" she stomped her foot and pretended to have a temper tantrum, shapeshifting into a baby
"No you don't" Pearl said, picking up baby Amethyst playing into her game "but are you sure about letting her live with you Ash?"
"I've made up my mind, besides it gets pretty lonely here, i'm more used to living with a group of people so i'll enjoy the company"
"If you insist, but you'll need this" she said as she handed him the leash that they kept Peridot tied to the barn's fence causing him to laugh
"Well Steven, you ready to head home?" Greg asked
"You guys go ahead, i'll catch up with Lion"
"If you insist, see you tomorrow at work Ash, enjoy your new roommate" Greg and the Gems left in the van leaving Ash, Steen, Pikachu and Peridot to the barn.
"I'd better get myself situated, and i guess i'd better help fix the hole in the wall i made" Peridot said
"That'd be appreciated. Steven, you need help finding Lion?"
"Noe, i'll find my furry friend all by myself" he insisted as Peridot retreated into the barn and Steven began walking the fields looking for the pink lion.
Ash decided now would be a perfect time to let his pokemon out, their hard work deserved a rest. "You guys relax, and if you guys see Lion, point Steven in his direction" he told his friends. Walking the outskirts of the forest, admiring the morning sun, he began to reflect on the past two months in this new world. Then a horrible realization occurred to him: had he really been here for two months? And how were his friends and family reacting to his lengthy disappearance? he sat down on a log to process these new thoughts, the sun was blocked by Staraptor, who was calling to Ash pointing him to the barn's silo. He followed the bird to see Steven already waiting at the foot of the ladder
"About that quote you said about the thing you let go loving you to" he said pointing to the top of the silo, Ash saw sitting on the very top of it was Lapis Lazuli. They climbed aboard Staraptor, who flew them to the top to meet the blue gem.
"I thought you left" Steven said
"I was leaving", she answered "but then i realized, i've got nowhere to go. Who knows what they'd do to me back home after what i did to Jasper. I can't go back to Homeworld, and i can't stay here"
"sure you can" Steven interrupted "you can totally stay here. It doesn't have to be here here, you can live anywhere!"
"Yeah Lapis! Me and Steven can find you a new place to live"
"Oh, uh, ok let's go look" she said in an unsure tone
"Ready freddie?" Steven asked her
"My name's Lapis" she said once again not understanding human slang. Steven hopped onto Lapis's back while Ash mounted Staraptor.
"You ok like this?" she gently asked her friend, Steven nodding in agreement. And they flew off, Lapis escorting Steven with Ash on Staraptor not far behind.
Ash felt the wind in his face as he turned to look at Lapis, she looked so happy, so vibrant, so beautiful. He found himself blushing yet again as he resumed his focus on directing Staraptor. They dove from the clouds and into to forest near the barn
"Well Lapis, you could live here out in the country away from the city" Steven suggested
"Why would i want to do that?"
"Well, there's no noise, no rules" Ash began
"You could make a bird's nest and have pet squirrels. You can have acorn pie every night, and when it rains, you'll be protected by the leaves up above" he said presenting a leaf that landed in his face to her.
"Leaves" she softly said with interest.
After flying for nearly thirty minutes, they reached a gigantic city. The lights nearly blinded them as thousands of people walked the busy streets.
"Where are we?" Ash asked
"We must be in Empire City" Steven answered him
"It's so bright" Lapis said, squinting her eyes, "what happens in Empire City?"
"There's a saying about it" Steven explained "what happens in Empire City, never sleeps! Here, you can be a single gem taking on the big city. You could have a fun job at a local coffee shop and come home to a wacky roommate"
"I have no idea what you're talking about" she said, to be honest Ash didn't understand the reference either. Once again they flew east until they reached a heavily polluted turnpike leading toward a dirty looking city.
"what 's this place?" Lapis asked her tour guide sitting on her back
"Oh that's Jersey, i guess you could live here to" a thick layer of smog blanketed the metropolis causing them all to hack and cough
"It seems a bit dirty" she remarked
"Yea, but my dad told me that it's getting cleaner. Their rest stops used to be really nasty, but now they sell sushi!" Steven said in excitement
As Ash tired thinking about what his little friend just said, he heard a man scream up to them from the sidewalk
"Quit flyin in our sky ya moots!" the man shouted throwing his shoe at them with tremendous power. Lapis and Steven both made the fart noise they enjoyed to make at him causing all three of them to laugh as they flew away from Jersey.
"Wow, Lapis it's so beautiful from up here" Ash commented on the night sky
"Eh, it's alright, i guess i can see why you guys like it so much" her eyes expanded as she came up with an idea "Steven, hold on tight, i wanna see how fast that bird of Ash's can go" she waited until Steven properly fastened himself, then she propelled herself at top speed ahead of Ash.
"So that's how you wanna play huh? STARAPTOR KEEP UP!" the bird pokemon obeyed his trainer and speed up to her. He watched from the distance they were away, as the two slowed down and landed at a chain of crystalline islands in the ocean. Ash landed Staraptor and caught up to the duo. "Guys, where are we?"
"This is the place i was abandoned," Lapis sadly said as she grew waves up to the structure in the center of the island. "It was thousands of years ago. I was only meant to visit for a short time, but i got caught in the middle of the war," she then projected her memories onto the water's surface for the boys to watch. Ash saw a terrified Lapis in the middle of a great battlefield. "It was awful, i tried to run but." she didn't even finish her sentence before her memory showed a bulky, menacing looking Gem with rainbow colored dreadlocks punch Lapis in the back, and she retreated into her gem in a cloud of smoke. "I was found by a Homeworld soldier and confused for a Crystal Gem. and used as a tool. They'd ask me "show us your base, where is your leader?" i didn't know. I couldn't say "i'm not one of them!" it soon became clear there was no hope in stopping the rebellion. All of the Homeworld Gems fled. In all the panic of escaping Earth, i was left behind." the image of a crowd of feet stomping on a mirror until it cracked played on the water. An enormous flash of light followed. "And there i stayed. Freedom in my sight but out of reach for ages. Until i was found" with that, Lapis fell to the ground and the water receded.
"Are you ok?" Ash asked
"I'll be fine, let me take you back"
"Are you sure you don't want to take a minute?"
She rubbed her head "it's fine, i just want to get out of here"
Ash volunteered to escort Steven back on Staraptor with him to give Lapis a lightened load.
"For a moment, i really felt like things were different, but they're not. No matter where i go i'm still trapped."
"But, you're not" Ash said to her "you're not underwater, you're not in a mirror, this time you're free"
"But Ash, i'm still on Earth"
"Well, nothing is stuck the way it is on Earth, everything changes Lapis, this isn't the same world that kept you prisoner, and i know this doesn't feel like home to you, and i should know about missing home more than anybody, but to tell you the truth, this place, my place with Steven and the Gems, my place with my friends in Beach City, my place at the barn i live in, it's all now starting to feel like home to me now. Maybe we can help it feel like home to you"
They finally landed at the barn as the sun was beginning to rise, Pikachu happily welcomed them all back by jumping onto Ash's shoulder. "i know you can never go back to Homeworld, but if you chose to stay here, it'll be your choice to stay here" Steven said handing her the leaf he got on the ride.
Lapis accepted it, "it's funny, after all this time here on Earth, i've never seen any of it. I, I want to see it. And Ash, if you'll accept me, then maybe you can teach me how to adapt to this planet."
"Wait Lapis, you want to live here, with me?" Ash couldn't help but feel overjoyed she chose to live with him "Like here, here?"
"Yea, here here"
"Yes, here here everybody!" Peridot said exiting the barn, "what are we talking abou?"
"YOU!?"
"Lazuli, you're looking well"
"What are you doing here!?"
"I live here, this is me and Ash's home"
"No it isn't it's Ash and mine, right guys?"
All the two boys could do was look at each other at their situation.
"Oh boy" Ash said, concerning his two roommates.