The sky was a beautiful mixed shade of pink and orange when Lapis finally flew back to the barn. The bird's eye view she had of the dwelling in the setting sun was great: its shadow seemed to spread all the way across the vast countryside, though it seemed to gradually get smaller the more the sun lowered behind the horizon. She touched down on the ground, looked inside the barn, and smiled when she saw that Steven was inside. He was handing Peridot some tools while the impish green Gem was busy tinkering with some kind of large spherical vehicle.

"Hey, Steven!" Lapis called out. Both Steven and Peridot turned around: the small boy's eyes went starry as he grinned widely, while Peridot grinned nervously, then frowned a little and averted her eyes to the ground in shame.

"LAPIS!" Steven cheered. He gave Peridot the tools that were in his hands and did a leaping hug at Lapis, who returned his affection by squeezing him tightly. She then set him on the ground and ruffled his hair.

"So, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah! As long it's okay with Peridot, at least."

"I can handle the maintenance on my own. So run along, enjoy your little... excursion!" Peridot replied in her nasally tone.

"Alright, Peri! See you later!" Happy with Peridot's blessing, Steven grabbed Lapis' hand and led his friend outside, where she let him climb onto her back.

"Alright Steven!" she called up, "Do you have a good grip on me?"

"Yep! You're clear to take off, captain!" He announced in a silly, authoritative voice. Not being the type to stand on ceremony, Lapis summoned her wings, and took off for the skies in a flap. Soon, the duo were high above the ground, which resembled a large grassy carpet with patches divided by winding highways and train tracks. "So Lapis, where are we headed off to?"

"Well..." Steven couldn't see it, but a knowing grin was on her face. "You'll see when we get there! I bet you'll like it!"

"Oh, a surprise!" Steven gasped, "Alright then, don't spoil it for me!"

Lapis responded with a giggle and continued soaring over the plains. As the evening slowly gave way to night and the pinkish sky faded to black, Lapis remained silent. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him, she'd do that once they reached their destination. But it was for a variety of reasons. A part of it stemmed from lingering embarrassment from her outburst earlier that morning. Yeah, Steven was okay and didn't want her to apologize, but she couldn't help but cringe when she thought back to that moment. She didn't have to respond so... brattily towards him. But yet, she did. She threw a temper tantrum and called him an idiot, something she'd never forgive herself for. And it was for that reason that she swore to never let it happen again. The last thing she needed was to alienate the one friend she had!

But another part of it was that she was still thinking about how she was going to handle her situation. She had spent hours pondering on if she should just suck it up and deal with the Crystal Gems and apparently Peridot as well, or just leave the Earth and find her fortune out in space. After all, space IS infinite, at least as far as she knew. Homeworld couldn't have set up shop on ALL the planets out there...

'Oh, why am I being so immature?!' Lapis couldn't help but feel frustrated by her indecisiveness: in theory, her choice should be obvious. Shack up on Earth, explore the enormous planet, and hang out with her Beach Summer Fun Buddy!

But she just couldn't shake off the uneasiness that came with having to stay on the same planet as the Crystal Gems and Peridot, walking and talking reminders of the trauma she had suffered. What if they tried to hunt her down and hurt her again? What if Peridot was just trying to trick her into letting her guard down so they could imprison her in something else?

But just fretting over the what-ifs in her mind wouldn't do any good. After all, she spent hours in the forest doing exactly that, and aside from calming down she still hadn't gotten anywhere with her fears and uncertainties! But that was subject to change when they reached their destination...

"EMPIRE CITY!" Steven cheered, his eyes once again all stars, "Lapis, is that where we're going?" And indeed it was: the enormous city with its towering skyscrapers, busy streets, and bright lights enamored Lapis when they passed over it yesterday, so why not talk things out with her little buddy while visiting it? But she couldn't help but feel tempted to mess around with Steven a bit...

"No, silly! Where'd you ever get that idea?" Lapis playfully denied, "We're going to Jersey, because when I think of a good time, I think of dirty air, awful smells, and people swearing at us!" Unable to help herself, she and Steven broke into a mutual giggling fit.

"Aw, Lapis!" Steven scolded while Lapis continued to giggle. The laughter died down after a while, and Lapis decided to get a bit more serious.

"But yeah, Empire City's what I had in mind. Do you like the sound of that?"

"I totally do, thanks!"

The pair then fell silent for a while, and quietly marveled the beauty beneath them before Lapis chimed in. "So Steven, would you like me to land anywhere in particular?"

"Ooh, ooh! You see that huge casino over there?!" Steven pointed at an enormous ornate building that was standing across from an enormous pool of water. The pool seemed to be quite popular with the locals, as dozens of humans had flocked around: most were standing in a large crowd that circled the fence blocking off the water and were talking amongst each other while others were seated on packed wooden benches, also facing the water.

"Yeah! You want me to land there?"

"Well not there, but one of the buildings surrounding it, like on that restaurant over there!" Steven pointed at a rather pleasant little stone building with a green tiled roof that sloped a little, but would make for a good private vantage point all the same. And so Lapis glided over and landed on the sloped rooftop and allowed Steven to take his seat right at her side. "Oh man, looks like we came in between shows! Lapis, look at that huge pool of water and wait for a bit! You're REALLY gonna like what's about to happen!"

Lapis was about to ask what he meant, but before she could vocalize, she was caught by surprise when a beautiful, melodic tune filled the air seemingly from nowhere.

"Steven, what's going on?"

"The coolest thing ever!" Steven whispered to her, "Now come on, keep watching the water!"

Lapis turned to the pool, and was completely dazzled by what she saw. The water had been illuminated by a light from beneath, and erupting from its surface were a series of thin fountains that stood two to a pair across the water. And what followed was something that Lapis had previously thought was only possible for a Gem like her to do: the fountains started to dance. Like reeds in the wind, the fountains swayed for a few seconds before dispersing, only to reform into larger groups of fountains, starting with four to a group to six and eight, before the cycle stopped completely. What followed was even more spectacular: instead of forming groups, an incredibly long trail of fountains erupted from the left end of the lake and traveled all the way to the other side, before the very center gave way to a large ring of fountains that swayed a bit before seemingly exploding.

"Steven..." Lapis muttered in amazement, her eyes starry from the spectacular sight, "This... this is beautiful!"

"Pretty cool, right?" Steven gushed while the fountain show continued to unravel before him.

"Yeah, Homeworld never had anything like this..."

"Homeworld didn't have a lot of cool things, huh?" Steven asked sadly.

Lapis thought back and nodded. Homeworld was a place that focused entirely on practicality, at least for the most part. Sure, upper class Gem were allowed commodities such as beautiful fountains, exotic gardens filled with beauty from now-dead planets that were tended to by their Pearls, and there were even areas of leisure for lower-class Gems. But for the most part Homeworld wanted nothing to do with anything that didn't serve a practical purpose. So while there may have been fountains, they never would have been set up to allow jets of water to dance while set to soothing music.

"And you know the best part? They put on these shows every night! Dad would sometimes take me to see them when he had business in the city, and no matter how many times I see them, they're always so fun to watch!" Steven then turned to Lapis with a small smile on his face, "So just imagine living here and being able to see these awesome fountain shows every day! You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I would." Lapis admitted, "They're really pretty. But... well... I'm..." she groaned and smacked herself on the forehead, "I'm still not sure what to do!"

"Not sure, huh?" Steven asked, "It's okay! It's a really big decision, so you should totally think long and hard about what you're gonna do next!"

Lapis smiled at Steven's reassurance and glanced back at the dancing fountains. "You see Steven... I really wouldn't mind staying here for your sake. You've been a good friend and helped me when no one else did, so I owe a lot to you! And it helps that Earth has a lot of beauty, such as those fountains, this city, or that forest near the barn. But if I stay on Earth, I'm back to being stuck on the same planet as Peridot and the Crystal Gems."

"Yeah, you had problems with them." Steven sighed before turning his gaze back to the fountains. "Lapis... what exactly happened between you and Peridot? She wouldn't really talk about it, but I can tell that it was pretty bad."

Lapis cringed a bit at Steven's question. She wasn't about to balk at answering, but just thinking about her return to Homeworld caused memories of that most unpleasant ordeal to resurface. Already she could see Peridot's expressionless face, feel the painful electricity surging through her body, hear Yellow Diamond's dismissive, cold voice...

"Lapis, you okay?" Steven asked, causing Lapis to flinch at the touch of his hand on her shoulder. "You were getting all shivery over there."

Lapis blushed a little, ashamed that she had let her bad memories completely overwhelm her even for a second. "Yeah, I'm... I'm fine." She then took a deep breath, faced Steven who was listening intently, and began. "You remember how I flew back to Homeworld?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I didn't quite fly all the way back. Not by myself at least."

"Well duh! Space is huge! You'd have taken thousands of years to fly all the way back there!" Steven answered.

"But yeah, on my way back home I was stopped by this huge probe that Homeworld had deployed. I think it's called a Roaming Eye, but apparently they use those to hunt down and detain Gems who escape from Homeworld and haul them back to be punished as enemies to the Diamonds. And unfortunately, because I was flying away from Earth, the place where Rose Quartz's rebellion happened... the Rubies piloting the Eye labeled me a traitorous Crystal Gem and hauled me off to Homeworld to be interrogated." Lapis clenched her teeth just from the mere thought of being wrongfully imprisoned once again.

"It was pretty scary when I got back home." Lapis continued, "It was so militaristic: Civilians were constantly being bombarded with Diamond Authority propaganda, huge hulking Quartz enforcers would brutalize civilians for the smallest offenses, and I even saw a Ruby get shattered in the streets for sticking her tongue out at a statue of Yellow Diamond." She sighed again and shook her head. "Homeworld's always been a tightly-run ship, Steven. But it was never this bad before Rose's rebellion. Before, you'd at least get a trial if you were accused of a crime. But me? I was hauled right off to a punishment facility, one of Yellow Diamond's. Heh, just my luck that I'd be carted off to a place ran by the cruelest Diamond..." Lapis chuckled bitterly before continuing.

"And it was horrible: word got back to Yellow Diamond that I was a spy from Earth, and I was thrown into a maximum security cell where a small group of Quartz troopers and that Peridot were waiting for me, and they had that long-necked freak present through a video feed." Lapis said, "They situated me in this device that bound my hands and feet, and all took turns grilling me, asking for information on the Crystal Gems. And every time I gave an answer that Yellow Diamond didn't like, Peridot..." Lapis shivered and shuddered in fear just from the thought of her punishment, "Peridot would electrocute me on her orders. That device would give me a long-lasting jolt of electricity that shot through my body and fried my Gem to its core."

"Lapis, That's... oh my gosh, that's so awful!" Steven gasped, his eyes glimmering with tears at the thought of his friend's torture. Lapis smiled sweetly, her trauma lessened by the presence of her empathetic friend.

"I don't know how long it went on," Lapis continued, an almost distant cloudiness in her eyes, "To me it felt like the torture lasted for hours, though it probably only lasted for a few minutes... but I thought it would never end. I did everything I could: I begged to talk to the Diamond I served: Blue Diamond. I denied any kind of association with the Crystal Gems. I insisted that I was just trying to make a long-awaited trip back home! But it just wouldn't end until... until I caved." Lapis faced away from Steven and back to the fountains, her core clenching at the thought of putting Steven in danger. "I told them what Yellow Diamond wanted to hear: I lied about being a Crystal Gem, but truthfully said that there were a few holdouts from the war back on Earth. And because of that, I put you in danger."

"Hey, don't get so down on yourself, Lapis!" Steven reassured her, "We beat Peridot and Jasper, we saved you, and now Peridot's our friend! No harm done!"

"But that doesn't make it right!" Lapis protested bitterly while tightly clutching her right arm, "You were almost hauled back to Yellow Diamond, who would've done... who knows what to you!"

"Lapis, it's okay! Seriously, stop being so hard on yourself!" Steven scolded her gently while placing an arm around her shoulders, "They were really, really hurting you! I totally understand why you'd want that to stop! And besides, it's not like you let Homeworld send troops to get us without any warning, you sent that message to me! Thanks to that, we were able to prepare for Peridot and Jasper's arrival and evacuated the city! Your warning kept innocent people from being hurt!"

"Well... I guess you have a point." Lapis chuckled lightly, her friend's kind words were able to elicit another smile from her. But her smile soon transitioned into a small frown when she decided to pursue another topic. It was one that she was still embarrassed about blowing up at Steven over, but yet one that she really wanted an answer to. "Steven...?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you trust her? Why is Peridot your friend all of a sudden? You've seen how she is: she's cold! She's ruthless! She tried to hurt you! How in the world did you become friends with someone like her?! I just don't get it!" Lapis could feel her face flush, the hurt and anger when she saw Peridot at the barn fresh in her mind. Steven however simply shrugged in response to Lapis' question.

"Well, it's like I told you: she changed! She's not the mean Gem who hurt you back then!"

"But how do you know?!" Lapis argued, "How do you know she isn't trying to butter you up so she can stab you in the back later on?! You can't just undo the sort of things she's done!"

"Because I gave her a chance!" Steven stated emphatically, "Trust me, we didn't become friends overnight! When we captured her, she was pretty mean to us, and the Gems didn't trust her. But I knew that she had some important information and got her to tell us about it, and after that she started to bond with us! I got to teach her about the rain, she found a favorite TV show, Garnet taught her about fusion, all kinds of cool stuff! And thanks to her, we were able to stop the Cluster, this big geoweapon Yellow Diamond made that would have destroyed Earth if Peridot didn't tell us about it!"

"That's nice, but how does that prove anything?" Lapis asked cynically, "From the sound of things, she had to tell you about the Cluster, or else she would have died with Earth."

Steven opened his mouth in an attempt to argue, but he glanced at the ground and sighed instead. "You know, I also had doubts about her at one point. While we were getting ready to stop the Cluster, we had to get its coordinates from an old Diamond Base, where Peridot stole a communicator and used it to talk to Yellow Diamond. Man, I was so mad when she did that! I totally thought she was going to betray us!"

Steven then flashed a knowing smile at Lapis before continuing. "But you know what happened? When she called Yellow Diamond, she actually asked her to destroy the Cluster and spare Earth! She argued with her and told her that there was stuff worth protecting here! And when Yellow Diamond kept yelling at her, she called her a clod! A clod, Lapis! Oh man, you should have seen the look on her face!"

Steven chuckled before finishing his point. "But Lapis, can't you see? She had the perfect chance to betray us and go home, but she didn't! She proved for once and for all that she's not just a Crystal Gem, but a pretty good person! Someone who grew past being mean and cold and into someone great! Like I said before, Peridot's changed since the day she hurt you! We all gave her a chance, don't you think it's fair for you to do the same?"

For a minute, Lapis couldn't say anything. She wanted to argue, to get it through Steven's head that he was too naive for his own good... but how could she? Steven presented his case well: much like everything on Earth, Peridot too had changed. No more was she a heartless drone emotionlessly following orders to torture her, but a hero who saved Steven and his planet, and burned her bridges with Homeworld in order to do so. Surely she could make peace with her and put the past behind them?

But it just wouldn't be that simple: even with this new information in mind, Lapis could feel a clenching sensation in her core and bile rise in her throat just at the thought of Peridot. She regretted her answer, but Steven had to know that things weren't going to go as smoothly as he wished. So with regret heavy in her heart, she sighed and shook her head.

"Steven, I'm sorry. But I just can't forgive her." It pained her to see the look of sadness on Steven's face, but he had to know the truth, even if it hurt. "I wish I could, but I just can't sweep what she did to me under the rug. I can understand why you or the Gems would forgive her, but she tortured and imprisoned me! Every time I look at or think about her, I'm reminded of how painful the electric shocks were, of how scary it was be be interrogated by the people who should have welcomed me back home! It's not fair that she can get away with that and act like nothing happened!

"But Lapis-"

"Steven-!" Lapis took a deep breath, determined not to explode on Steven like last time. Instead, she put a gentle hand on his shoulder and sadly looked him in the eyes. "You really are the sweetest, you know that? You're so compassionate, so forgiving, and you're willing to bury the hatchet with people who hurt you. I have no problem with you forgiving Peridot! But not everyone's going to forget the pain someone put them through, and they shouldn't be forced to be okay with it." Lapis then closed her eyes and sighed before massaging her temples. She didn't want to have to say it, but she had finally made up her mind as to what she wanted to do, though it would be hard to admit. "And because of that... I don't think I wanna stay on Earth anymore."

"You don't?"

Lapis couldn't bear to look at him: his tone alone felt like a sudden blow to the gut. But she worked up the courage and looked anyway, and sure enough he was sulking and staring sadly at his knees.

"Look Steven, this wasn't an easy decision to make! It's just-"

"You don't have to explain. I understand." Steven interrupted, turning to face Lapis with a sad smile.

"Really?"

"Yeah! It's pretty clear that there's a lot of stuff that you won't be okay with here on Earth. And I don't wanna be mean and keep you on a planet where you're going to be forced to be around people who hurt you! You should do what makes you happy. And to be honest, it's probably for the best." Steven said as he shrugged with a nervous chuckle, "When Peridot insulted Yellow Diamond, I'm not kidding when I said that she made her really mad. Peridot's convinced that she's gonna send some troops down to punish her, so you'd probably appreciate being able to keep from getting caught up in another fight with Homeworld."

"Oh boy, am I!" Lapis sighed, thankful for the head's up. "Trust me when I say that I've had enough of Homeworld and the Crystal Gem's stupid squabbles. But..." Lapis sighed and shook her head, having thought of a rather big issue with her ordeal. "There's just one problem, Steven. Where am I gonna go now? Space is huge, but the same goes with the Diamond Authority's sphere of influence! Five thousand years ago they already colonized tons of planets, who knows how many they control by now? Am I gonna be safe anywhere in outer space? I mean, there's no point to me leaving if Homeworld can find me again..."

"Don't worry Lapis!" Steven reassured her with a wide smile, "When I went back to the barn, I actually had a little talk with Peridot!"

"You did?"

"Yep!" Steven then turned back to the fountains before resuming the conversation, "You see, after we left the forest, I wasn't so sure if you were gonna stay. I tried to convince myself that you definitely were staying, but I accepted that it was a good idea to plan ahead in case if you said no. So Peridot and I put our heads together: if you were gonna leave, where would you go? And you know what? Peri had the perfect place in mind!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! You see, Homeworld's empire hasn't spread out that much for the last couple of thousand years. In fact," Steven pointed at a huge cluster of stars positioned near the full moon, which was resting neatly in the center of the sky, "According to her, Homeworld doesn't have any territory out there because they're really short on resources, and they can't afford to conquer planets that are that far out, especially since the civilizations there are advanced enough to fight back! She thinks that because of this, you could totally go out there and live your life, safe from any sort of Gem stuff! Does that sound cool to you?!"

"Well... yeah! I'd say so!" Lapis admitted. She could almost feel the load dissipate from her chest now that she knew about this safe place she could go to.

"And that's not all, Peridot's making it to where you don't have to fly all the way over there with your wings!" Steven added, "When you flew over to the barn to pick me up, did you notice what Peridot was tinkering with?"

"I did!" Lapis confirmed with a nod. "Wasn't she messing with this big green thing?"

"Yep, it was an escape pod from the Hand Ship! She converted it into this giant drill when we went to stop the Cluster, only now she's turning it back into a spacecraft, one that'll send you across space in the blink of an eye! Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah, it really is!" Lapis had to admit: as much as she loathed that little green wad of snot, she couldn't help but feel a bit touched that Peridot really was putting in this much effort to help her get to a safe place, far from Homeworld's reach. Though of course, it wasn't like she deserved the credit: it was Steven's idea in the first place! "Seriously Steven, thanks for helping me out!"

"No prob, Bob!" Steven thanked with a slight smile.

"Lapis." She corrected with a sly smile of her own. The duo shared a few laughs before falling silent. They both resumed watching the fountains, only for the music to die down and the fountains to end much to Lapis' disappointment. "Aw, it's over already?!"

"Just wait a minute, Lapis." Steven giggled. "They're not done yet!"

The duo watched the waters, and Lapis could feel her heart soar when she heard more beautiful music start up, albeit far different than what played earlier. For one, a human was singing, and in a language that she couldn't understand. Now as a Gem, she had the ability to translate the language into something comprehendible... and yet, she didn't want to. The voice, especially combined with the illuminated fountains, the respectfully silent humans, the breathtaking city lights, and the magnificently starry sky was absolutely beautiful. Lapis just couldn't bring herself to understand it, it almost felt like that if she could understand the singer's words, it would detract from the beauty of it all. Instead, she was content to listen let the voice serenade her as the fountains danced for the onlookers.

"Hey Lapis, they don't have singing on Homeworld, don't they?"

"In the past, yeah. But now? I highly doubt it." Lapis answered with a smirk before switching to a frown. "I just hope singing is a universal constant, because I already know that I'm gonna miss this..."

"Well hey, it's not like you're leaving now!" Steven reminded her, "Peridot's gonna take a few weeks to get the escape pod ready for space travel! So while you're waiting, how about we fly around and hang out? A few weeks of us taking on the mean streets of Empire City, Beach City, and all sorts of other cool places, seeing all there is to see! There's a lot of other cool stuff to do here on Earth, and I want you to have as much fun as you can before we say goodbye!"

"I like the sound of that!" Lapis giggled, "Though there's one last thing I want to ask: when should I take you back to the barn? After this show?"

"Hey, these shows last all night! How about we wait for the sun to come up, and then we go back to the barn? I bet dad and the Gems will understand!"

"So you go back to the barn during the day, and we head out here at night. I like the sound of that!" Lapis giggled. And for the last time that night, she and Steven fell silent, and took to watching the fountains. While she embraced the soothing music and watched the beautiful movements of the fountains, she hoped to the bottom of her heart that wherever she was going, they'd have something half as beautiful as this. If this was something exclusive to Earth, she'd be quite disappointed indeed. But it was no good to fret about the future when what mattered was the present. And when you're watching breath-taking fountain shows with your best friend during a beautiful moonlit night, what was there to complain about?


Author's Notes: Another week another chapter, folks. And I'm still proud of this one even though it's four years old at this point. Mainly it's because I LOVE Steven and Lapis' Big Sister/Little Brother relationship and could spend the rest of my life writing about them just chilling and hanging out. But I also LOVE nighttime cityscapes. Like, holy crap: when it comes to backdrops and scenarios I can never get enough of a beautifully lit, bustling city brimming with nighttime life. And the Empire City segment of Same Old World as well as the entirety of Mr. Greg were highlights from the show specifically for that reason. So why not write about it? Fun fact: the fountain show Steven and Lapis watched was based off of the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas, Nevada. They have these beautiful fountain shows just about every night and set the dancing fountains to music ranging from the classical/opera pieces Steven and Lapis listened to (Which are Clair de Lune and Andrea Bocelli's Con Te Partiro) as well as stuff like Michael Jackson and the Beatles. And since Empire City is an analogue of NYC, Vegas, and a bit of Paris, why not include a Steven Universe equivalent to said fountains?

But anyway, I didn't change much, if anything from the original version of this chapter aside from a few grammatical hiccups. And uh... just in case I look like I'm really crapping on Peridot with the whole "She oversaw a torture session" thing? Don't worry: while I didn't like how she was written post-Gem Drill, I still love Peri to pieces and didn't want to demonize her. More than anything I wanted to emphasize how emotionless and okay she was with horrible things back when she first fought the Crystal Gems, and wanted to show that she's come a long way since befriending Steven. A big recurring theme in this story is gonna be that a lot of people have done some bad things, but the possibility of redemption is never out of your reach unless you intentionally push it away. And since I whole-heartedly believe Lapis did some terrible things herself (hurting Steven when he tried to help her, keeping Jasper trapped in Malachite to vent off steam), I'm in no way holding her above such a lesson...