Lamp Entertainment presents…
Chapter 19: The Ghost of Christmas Past
Homeworld.
In White's Head.
December 23rd.
A winter's day, in a deep and dark December. White was alone, gazing from the window to the streets below, on a freshly fallen, silent shroud of snow.
She kept the view, watching groups of gems pass by, singing and cheering still. The sound didn't reach her inside the tower, nor could she make out their smiles, but she could still see happiness and warmth radiating from them like light from a star.
White sighed and paced around her ship. She felt… agitated.
She wasn't sure why, and that bothered her. She knew it had something to do with that Ruby and breaking her gift. That made her feel bad. But why? Why did it make her so upset? The Ruby wasn't at all bothered, so why did it leave White feeling this bad? Why had she been gripped by this sudden overwhelming urge to run and hide?
Maybe it had something to do with the Winter Shadow's message?
White looked out her window again. She wasn't looking at anything in particular. Every time she tried to focus on anything, her gaze would just slip off it.
In her head, thoughts and contemplations spun around and walked in circles, leading only to dead ends.
She wasn't sure how long she stood there, looking out the window. It could've been a minute, could've been an hour. Could've been a moment, could've been an eternity. Time itself seemed to melt and drift away as she vacantly stared outside in the cold distance.
"Teehee…"
In a moment, White's attention was yanked away from the outside and brought right back inside the tower. It was like she woke up from a long slumber.
She swirled around, staggered by the impossible sound she had heard. Even after six thousand years she still recognized it. But it was impossible. It couldn't be…
Her eyes widened with shock when she saw who caused the sound.
Standing there, with her back turned against White…
"Pink!"
Pink Diamond was standing there.
But that was impossible! She was dead, gone forever! Yet there she was.
"Oh, Pink! I'm… you… but how…?" White could barely think, much less form complete sentences, so overwhelmed was she by a storm of emotions. She fell to her knees and reached for the smaller Diamond… only for Pink to slip away right before White could touch her. She didn't move at all… it was more like an invisible force pushed her away.
"Oh, White," Pink sighed, still standing with her back turned against White. "You're still pushing me away. Just like you always have."
"W-what?" White tried to reach out for Pink again, but once again, she seemed to slip away right before she could touch her.
"Silly White. You're so brilliant, yet so blind. You can't see the truth, even when it's right here in front of you."
"What are you talking about?" White asked. She felt her body starting to shake. "What truth?"
Pink finally turned around and White flinched at the sight she was met with
She looked exactly like she had done the last time White saw her all those years ago, except…
"P-Pink, your eyes…"
Her beautiful eyes, always so full of life and energy were gone, replaced with empty whites.
"These are the eyes of the dead," Pink said. Her voice was hard and cold in a way White had never heard before. "Do you know who killed me?"
"Y-you… you weren't k-killed," White stammered. "You gave up your life to bequeath your gem to Steven…"
Pink shook her head
"No, White," she said. "That's how I died, but it's not what killed me. You did."
"M-me?"
"Yes, you!" Pink shouted. Her pretty face distorted and twisted with wrath. "You killed me, White! You! All I ever wanted was for you to love me and accept me for who I was, but you never did! When I begged you to spare the Earth, you refused! You didn't even listen! You drove me away with your arrogance and refusal to even listen to even a word of what I had to say!
White didn't say anything. She couldn't. She could only sit there on the cold floor and let the tears roll down her cheeks.
"The reason I gave up my life? It was because I couldn't stand living in the same universe as you!" Pink spat.
"Pink…" White tried to reach out for her, but again, Pink was pushed away, further away still. "P-please, I… I'm sorry I…"
"Oh, so now you care," Pink scoffed. "I'm afraid it's a bit too late." Large cracks started spreading from her gems and throughout her body.
"N-No!" White yelled, lunging forward towards Pink. "Please forgive! I didn't mean to…"
"Too late!" Pink screamed. The cracks on her body grew larger. Her voice cracked too and turned into a high-pitched shriek. "You're too late! I will never forgive you for what you did! You killed me!"
White tried desperately to reach her beloved Pink. But no matter how hard she tried, the distance between them only seemed to grow ever larger. She could only watch helplessly as the cracks in Pink's body grew larger and deeper.
"It's too late," Pink whispered. "You killed me."
Her body crumbled into dust, leaving White alone once again.
To Be Continued...