Well, I hope everyone had a great holiday and new year. Man what a great array of episodes we got. I'm working hard to combine them with my current story, but because I'm waiting for them to finish airing, not to mention school and me focusing on my art and career, it might take a while. I will be continuing however, just not at a consistent schedule. *I DO NOT OWN POKEMON OR STEVEN UNIVERSE*
The double bombshell of life changing news was for too much for James to comprehend, and fainted onto the wooden floor. Amethyst and Ash ran to his side and moved him to the couch. Out of the corner of his eye, Ash saw it Gary heading for the front door trying his best to be subtle.
"Uh Gary, where are you going?"
He stopped dead in his tracks with a hand on the doorknob. "This sounds like a serious "you problem" Ash. And I think I'm gonna be, anywhere but here."
Serena furiously pointed at him from across the room. "Oh no you don't! Gary, if you think you can just run away and let me and Clemont take the fall with Ash!"
A rage Ash had never felt before in his life overtook him. Before Amethyst could stop him, he rushed towards his former rival and lifted him by the neck of his shirt. "You knew all along?"
"I'm sorry!" Garry cried out "My Sapphire vision forced me to remember."
"Oh so you can suddenly just conveniently remember and decide not to tell me? At least Serena had the pokeballs to tell me herself!"
"It's not like that! I only remember a little bit of what I saw! That just happened to be one! I tried to tell you, but decided it'd be best for you to learn from Lapis!"
"Ash stop!" Steven begged. "Let him down, please!"
With the furry relapsing, he dropped his friend. "Sorry. But I'm sure you get it."
"Yeah, and I'm sorry for keeping this from you."
"I'm sorry too." Serena said from the chair.
"How long did you know?" He asked her.
Serena sighed, "Almost immediately before she left." Misty and I found the pregnancy test she tried to destroy."
A sour feeling overtook his stomach as he remembered that night when he saw Lapis using Charizard to destroy something outside the barn.
"Whew." Amethyst finally announced breaking the awkward silence. "Isn't all this crazy? Lapis and Ash are expecting? AND Rose Quartz, leader of the Crystal Gems, Steven's mom, beng Pink Diamond?"
"She faked her own shattering." Steven confessed, "And reformed to be Rose all along."
"Pink Diamond's final command to me was that no one could know." Pearl announced, "But now that Steven and Ash do, I can finally tell you all everything."
"I mean, a pink lion, a pink sword, and now Pink Diamond?" Amethyst asked chipperly. "If you told me Rose invented cotton candy I'd believe it. Right Garnet? Uh Garnet?"
Everyone turned to the leader of the Crystal Gems, but she wasn't her characteristically monotone self. She was trembling in place with a sour look on her face. "She lied to us." she kept repeating to herself.
James had finally begun to regain consciousness on the sofa. "Wha?" he began asking as Garnet finally exploded into a bright light. Ruby and Sapphire now stood in her place. James, who until this point had never seen a fusion like Garnet struggle to stay together could not comprehend it and fell unconscious again.
"Sapphire?" Ruby asked her partner concerned.
"She lied to us!" Sapphire screamed, hurt in her voice and a single stream of tears running down from her one eye. "She lied about everything! She held our hands, looked us right in the eyes, and told us never to question who we are as Garnet. We never questioned ourselves, or her!"
"We couldn't have known!" Ruby pleaded to her.
Ash couldn't believe what he was seeing. Normally Ruby was the one who was always angry and Sapphire was the peacekeeper. Now the tables were completely reversed.
"We couldn't have known!"
"No! You couldn't have known! You never know what's going on! That's what I'm for!"
"Sapphire…"
"But I never looked into her, I trusted her, I let her make fools of us all!" She then ran from her spot on the floor, pushing past Serena while making her way to the warp pad.
"Please!" Ruby begged "We can just stay calm and talk about this, right? Let's just talk."
"Talk about what?" Sapphire asked, her voice filled with hurt "How our relationship is based on a lie? What else is there to say?" With that, she activated the warp pad, and disappeared.
"Ruby, I'm so sorry." Pearl told her.
Steven rushed to the warp pad. "Come on Pearl, help me explain everything to Sapphire. Ash, you and Amethyst stay here with Ruby."
"Right." Ash agreed as Steven and Pearl followed the distraught Sapphire. He couldn't help but wonder if Steven asked him to help with Ruby on account he had experience with a loved one leaving them. He held the still sobbing Ruby in silence until James began to regain consciousness on the couch.
"Oh, guys, I just had the most incredible dream. Steven turned out to be a Diamond, and Lapis was pregnant, and I passed out." then he noticed the sobbing, little, gem in Ash's arms. "Oh geez."
"You guys better catch him up to speed on things." Amethyst said wrapping her arms around Ruby and pulling her from Ash. "I'll take over for yah."
"Thanks." He said leading James out the door, Serena, Gary and Pikachu following.
"Do you really think that was a good idea?" Serena asked as they all approached a table outside the Big Donut, Gary going inside to get some coffee for them all.
"What?" Ash asked her.
"Leaving Ruby with Amethyst? I mean, no offense to her, but I don't think I'd go to her for help with this kind of stuff."
"She's a tough cookie." he told her, "She'll do a good job watching her." He couldn't help but smile looking back on how much a shoulder to cry on she had been for him. "Besides, I think we still have much to talk about with this whole Lapis thing."
"How did you find out?" she awkwardly asked.
"She told me yesterday."
"What? How?" James asked.
"Long, crazy story." he answered "essentially, Mewtwo's ghost brought me to her. She's safe, and is trying her best to get back home before the birth."
"Have you thought of any names?" she asked.
Ash felt his embarrassment when he remembered trying to name the baby "Pikachu". Thankfully, Gary returned from the inside with a box of donuts and some coffees, giving Ash an excuse to change the subject and ask him something that was bothering him.
"How did you find out?"
"I don't even know." he confessed stirring his coffee. "After Clemont took out my Sapphire, I should've stopped seeing into future events, but I keep remembering things I saw. Not completely though, it's like trying to remember a dream. But one keeps returning to me. And it's Lapis's pregnancy."
Ash slumped in his seat. "Am I the only one who didn't know about my own kid?"
Serena placed her hand on his shoulder in support. "I'm sorry we kept this from you Ash. We only thought we were sparing you from greater pain."
He sighed before stuffing a jelly donut into his mouth. "I just don't know what I'm gonna do when the baby comes and she's gone."
"Well, it'll be a good thing "Uncle James" will be there to help out with-" James began to joke before his expression went from playful to concerned. "Ash, are you alright? You're turning pale."
He looked down to his hands when he felt Serena touch his forehead.
"Oh my gosh, you're sweating a storm too. Are you coming down with something?"
Before he could formulate a response, a horrific pain he only felt once in his life until that point filled his head. Remembering what that lead to, he immediately slumped from his seat to the outdoor patio floor so he wouldn't collapse and hurt himself.
"Ash? Ash!" he heard the muffled screaming of his friends as he began to lose consciousness.
"Pikapi!" he heard Pikachu cry before everything went black.
Opening his eyes, he found himself on the floor of a lavish palace between a meditating Alakazam and Musharna once again.
"Oh no." he muttered as Blue Pearl approached and helped him to his feet. She placed her finger to her lips to signal for him to be quiet, then gestured for him to follow. "What does Blue Diamond want now?"
Blue Pearl again signaled for silence and lead him down the hall. To his surprise, he was not in Blue Diamond's chamber at all, but was rather several floors above a large corridor looking down through a window. Below him, he recognized the forms of Yellow and Blue Diamond, taking with a projected hologram of Giovanni.
"We have waited long enough Giovanni." Yellow told him in her cold manner, "Your plan has ran overschedule for too long."
"I assure you Yellow." Giovanni told her in a condescending tone "All we require is for Jasper to deliver the bait, then the beast will be at our disposal."
Ash loomed down and watched the meeting between them. Looking down at Blue Diamond, he saw her looking up at him in her peripheral vision.
"Remember your place Giovanni." Yellow told him "Else you want to address White Diamond with that tone and see how she responds."
"White Diamond?" Ash thought. At the mere mention of this unknown Gem, Blue winced in fear like a scolded child. While Giovanni did not react physically, the fear in Giovanni's face was clear.
The Team Rocket leader took a moment to recollect himself "Let White understand, everything is going according to plan and on schedule. Jasper will deliver Yveltal directly to us."
At those words, he felt the sensation of weightlessness take over as he began to return to his body. He woke up on the floor of the patio with Serena, James, Gary and Pikachu all looking down at him with concern.
"Look, he's waking up." Gary said "Give him some space."
Ash gasped getting up. "I've got to tell the others!" he announced rushing past them heading straight for the Temple. Opening the screen door, he saw Pearl and Sapphire were back, both were hugging and crying, clearly the Ruby and Sapphire situation hadn't been fixed yet.
"Guys, where are the others?" he asked.
"Steven and Amethyst went looking for Ruby!" Pearl screamed through tears.
"She's gone!" Sapphire cried as well.
"Crud." He thought. What he saw from the Diamonds was going to have to wait, he needed to find Ruby.
He quickly rushed out the door and out the house. "Where could she be?" Then he saw it up in the sky, a purple helicopter with a familiar face.
"Staraptor, follow them!" he called summoning his fastest flying type, and flying until they were side-by-side.
"Ash!" he heard Steven call from the helicopter. "We found her!"
"Nice of you to drop by!" Amethyst called out.
"Down there!" Steven pointed.
"Target spotted! Going in for a landing." Amethyst announced.
After the two landed, Ash returned Staraptor and Amethyst returned to her normal form as Steven charged to the cliffside. Ash saw Greg's van parked alongside the cliff.
"You ditched Ruby with Greg?" Ash asked her.
"Hey, she just ran off, don't blame me."
"Hey guys." Greg stated from the van. "Ruby was just telling me about Steven's mom."
"Oh." Ash responded awkwardly, only just now remembering what started this series of events. "Are you alright Greg? How are you taking all this?"
Greg sighed. "Well, I fell in love with Rose Quartz, and she fell in love with Mr. Universe. Sure, she never told me she used to be Pink Diamond, but hey, I never told her I used to be Gregory DeMayo."
"So, how you holding up Ruby?" Steven asked sensitively.
To their surprise, she smirked happily. "I'm okay." She reached for the pizza box laying beside her and presented it to them. "Want a slice."
"Uh, sure." Steven said uncomfortably taking a slice. "Wait really?" he then asked as Ash and Amethyst took one of themselves. "Because you seemed so sad before."
"Well yeah, but me and Greg talked it out. I'm fine now."
"You sure?" Ash asked worriedly.
"Yeah. Sapphire was kinda right about everything. We really did stay as Garnet because Rose told us to be her, uh, "answer." It's my first time thinking about it. It's my first time really thinking about me!"
"What do you mean?" Ash asked.
"Back when I emerged, the first thing I did was get crammed together with a bunch of other Rubies. Then I was with Sapphire all the time. I was always checking in on someone." she confessed. "But now, I can go wherever the wind takes me!" She then proclaimed grabbing some of the pizza and some of Greg's comic books "I'm up here eating pizza, reading comics! I don't know if Sapphire wants to read comics. I don't have to know!" she then threw the items to the ground and climbed up to the roof of Greg's van. "The rest of my life could be this! I don't have to be Garnet! I can be on my own!"
"Sure!" Greg said encouragingly.
"I guess." Ash joined him.
Steven however wasn't taking it as well. He looked shocked. "But-but you guys love each other! You guys are tied with Ash and Lapis for my favorite couple! You're like sugar and flour, I love eating them separately but I still love cake! I'm sure Sapphire would want-"
"I'm not fused about what Sapphire wants!" Ruby declared leaping off the van. "I've seen my own future now, and it's nothing but Ruby!"
Greg placed his hand on Steven's shoulder. "Relax kiddo. This could be what she needs."
"But Dad, What if they never form Garnet again? We've gotta get them back together! Ash back me up here!"
"Sorry bud, but I'm with Greg on this one. Sometimes, a bad split up can make the reunion more sweet. Trust me on this."
"So, where you going after this dude?" Amethyst asked the still overly excited Ruby. "You gonna just stay out here?"
"I wanna live free! One with the wilderness! Facing danger in every turn. Not leaving nothing or nobody to get me by, just like those guys from Ash's world!"
"You mean like a pokemon journey?"
"Yeah! On the open plains! That's where I wanna go!"
"I think I know just the place!" Greg announced "I'll get yah there."
Ruby burst into happiness. "Thank you!" she started screaming literally doing cartwheels.
"Alright" Steven reluctantly said "If this is how it's gotta be, I'll support Ruby in her quest for emotional growth."
"That's the spirit bud." Ash told him with a slap on the back. "And we're coming too! Just like old times right Pikachu?"
"Pika!"
A nearly two hour car ride later resulted in Greg bringing them to an open ranch.
"Ya'll ready to wild west it up?"
"Yeah!" Ruby exclaimed like a kid on christmas.
Ash sighed nostalgically, "Reminds me of my herd of Tauros back home."
"How many are there?" Amethyst asked.
"At least thirty."
"Oh Ruby, speaking of which, you're gonna need a steed!" Steven announced.
"Hey, I'm always down for a little horsing around. Giddy up!" Amethyst said rising to the occasion and morphing into a horse. Ruby leapt onto her back, and rode her while the others walked besides them.
"How's it going Ruby?" Greg asked. "Feel like a real cowboy now?"
"Yep, I sure reckon I do."
"Sorry I gotta be a yellow-belly about this, but we don't even have a map." Steven said. "I think we're just getting ourselves lost."
"I already am lost." Ruby said in as much of a gritty voice as she could muster. "That's why I came out here; to find myself."
The group rode up until they all reached an enormous hedge blocking their way.
"It's a dead end dudes." Horse-Amethyst declared.
"This is what I mean!" Ruby said dismounting her and running straight towards the obstacle. "What's behind this brush? I don't know, Sapphire ain't here to predict for me! It's my chance to find out for myself!" she crawled through the vegetation, then suddenly screamed.
"Ruby!" Ash screamed in concern.
Pushing past the hedge, they saw they were standing over the edge of a cliff. Ruby had just barely fallen over the edge.
"Woah, I had no idea this ravine was here." With a giggle, she jumped over to the other side of the narrow gap. "I almost fell down there. And it was all my choice! Yee-haw! Indepence!"
As the night went on, Greg started a fire while the others sat around roasting marshmallows. She began strumming a guitar as she just stared into the fire longing. A look Ash was far too familiar with as of late.
"Wow, Ruby's really getting into this." Steven told the others.
"Seriously! I just taught her how to play the guitar like ten minutes ago!" Greg retorted.
"I think he means the whole "being alone" thing." Ash responded. "She seems almost happy."
At this, Ruby stopped playing, leaving only the sounds of the roaring fire in the night.
"I'm not Ash."
"What?"
"I mean, I did have a lot of fun tonight. I loved it! But, the whole time, I, kept thinking about how much more fun I'd have if I were with her. Sapphire was always there with me. I felt her smile just like it was mine. It's just so lonely now! That's lame right? I came here to be my own gem, but I'm still thinking about what she'd like! What she'd want! All. The. Time. Turns out, I'm no good at needing nobody." She confessed with a slouch.
"Oh come on!" Steven said. "That's not lame! You lead us on a wild frontier adventure! You're still the same Ruby who did all that stuff, even if you're thinking of someone." he picked up one of the cowboy comics she was reading earlier. "Look at our friend Lonesome Lasso. They call him that cause he's lonesome! But here he says "I miss Sally May". He's a rootin, tootin, cowboy blazing his own trail. But he still misses someone."
"Just like you too Ash?" she asked.
"Just like me."
Ruby sighed. "Well, if I'm making my own decisions, then I'll decide what I wanna be with Sapphire. I mean, I've gotta ask her first." She sat back down by the fire. "I just don't want it to feel like we're going back to how things used to be. Back when someone else told us to be together, I just wanna feel different."
Ash looked down to his hand at the ring on his finger. A sudden idea came to him.
After a full night of waiting for Ash, Steven and Amethyst to return, Sapphire, Pearl, James and Gary all sat around on the couch exhausted. Sapphire and Pearl's faces were now red from how much they'd been crying. Steven and Ash took them all by surprise by opening the door with enough swagger to put a Mr. Mime to shame.
"Steven! Ash! Did you find Ruby?" Sapphire asked desperately.
Both smiled mischievously "She's outside. She's got something to say to you."
Everyone stepped outside to see Ruby riding Amethyst as the sun rose from behind them.
"Ruby!" Sapphire exclaimed with joy. She ran as fast as her short legs could take her before finally reaching her. "Ruby, I'm so sorry! I should've never have said those awful things to you. That we didn't matter anymore; I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. I was wrong."
Ruby leapt off Amethyst as she trotted back to join the others. "Naw, you were right. Someone else told us we were the answer. But I don't believe that anymore. At least, not until I hear it from you." She dropped to her knee and took Sapphire's hand. "Sapphire, will you marry me?"
"Wha-marry you?" she asked shocked.
"Yeah! That way we can be together, even when we're apart. This time, being Garnet will be our decision. What do you say?"
She smiled down at her. "Oh course."
"Yee-haw!" Ruby exclaimed hugging her like she never intended to let go.
Lars's head hadn't felt that lightheaded since he was revived by Steven. Getting up off the floor of the ship, he saw the others were also getting back up.
"Ugh, is everyone alright?"
"Look out! We're about to enter a wormhole!" Padparadscha screamed.
"Twins, status report."
"Scanners show a few minor scrapes and bruises." Left Rutile said.
"But other than that, no damage." Right finished.
"Captain Lars,' Rhodonite asked nervously "What did you say Earth looked like?"
"Uh big, covered in water and some land. Why?"But his question was answered as he looked out the front window to see the Earth looking down at him. With hope filling his heart the first time in weeks, he knew where they were. "We're, home!" he announced. "Twins! Prepare to land! We're going home!"
But something did not sit well with Dawn she almost instantly recognized the landmass they were heading for. "Uh Lars?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't that's your earth."