Blue honestly wasn't sure she could move; her knees felt like they might give out but she refused to let them. The renegade is here. She's here.

She and Yellow were still staring as more gems appeared from the trees behind the renegade Pearl, a mismatched assortment of an Amethyst, a Peridot, and a fusion. The same gems they saw in the files.

"Good work, Steven," the fusion said, eyes seeming to lock onto the strangers beneath her visor. She and the Amethyst stood on either side of the renegade and, despite how different they were from one another, Blue was struck by how natural it looked for the three of them to be together. The Peridot and Steven were shielded from the possibility of a threat, but appeared just as prepared to fight even without any weapons drawn. "Who are you?" the fusion called to them.

"I—We're—" Blue's voice didn't want to work, and she trembled. Did they make a mistake? Would they be treated as enemies? Would the renegade even want to help them? She realized she was still gripping the destabilizer in one hand and quickly snapped it back into her belt.

"We're here to appeal for temporary sanctuary," Yellow said, stepping forward. She held her head high, channeling the precise formality she was accustomed to. "And to make a request on behalf of the Pearls."

The renegade exchanged a quick glance with the other two, looking confused. "What request?" she asked.

Blue's hands, unoccupied now, clasped tightly in front of her and she felt a rush of nervous excitement at the sound of the renegade's voice.

Yellow, who was still doing a better job of appearing confident, stuttered a bit as she answered. "T-To help with a rebellion."

The renegade stared at them, her spear held loosely in one hand.

"A rebellion?" the Amethyst asked before she could say anything. "Against Homeworld?"

Yellow nodded mutely.

"Well, you came to the right place," she declared. "We're in, right, P?"

The renegade blinked and looked down at the Amethyst. "I—That is—I think we need a little more information before we can agree to something like that…" She looked Blue and Yellow over uncertainly.

"I concur," the Peridot said, peeking around the fusion to see them. "That Pearl has always been extremely unreliable."

"Excuse me?" Yellow snapped without thinking, narrowing her eyes at the shorter gem. "I'd like to point out that I'm not the one who used a priority line without authorization just to call Yellow Diamond a clod."

"I was stranded here, and no one responded to my distress signals! How else was I supposed to contact her?" she sputtered. "And that has nothing to do with this! How are we supposed to believe you aren't some kind of spy?" the Peridot demanded.

"What Diamond would send a couple of Pearls to spy on a tiny rebel group that's about to be eliminated anyway?"

"I don't know, apparently logic doesn't mean anything anymore!"

Yellow huffed, fingers working angrily at her sides. "We are not spies."

"She's telling the truth," the fusion said, placing a hand on the Peridot's shoulder. "Stand down, Gems. They're not going to hurt us."

Weapons disappeared, and the smallest of the gems ran ahead of the group to greet them despite the renegade's attempt to keep him back.

He came to a stop just in front of Yellow, smiling up at her. "Hi, I'm Steven! You're the Pearl that was with Yellow Diamond, right?"

"Yes," she said politely, unable to tell exactly what type of gem he was.

"What's your name?"

"I don't really have one. You're welcome to call me Yellow, if that suits your purposes."

Steven frowned, but accepted it with a nod. He turned to Blue. "What about you? You're from Homeworld too, right?"

She nodded slowly. "Blue. Yes, I served in Homeworld courts as well."

"And you're here to see Pearl?" Steven asked excitedly. "Is it a super secret Pearl meeting?"

"Oh, um…yes?" Blue answered. "I mean, it's not exactly secret, but we did want to talk to her." She risked a small glance at the renegade, only to discover she was much closer now, hovering protectively just to Steven's right.

Blue found herself automatically dropping to one knee, legs shaking as she knelt before the renegade with her head bowed. Yellow watched and considered doing the same, but held back. It wasn't her place right now.

The renegade Pearl was wide-eyed and uncertain, shaken by the sudden display of respect. "I—You—Please, stand up." She touched Blue's shoulder nervously, making her lift her head.

Blue trembled as she peered up at her, bangs obscuring her vision.

"I don't understand," she said. "You were Blue Diamond's Pearl, weren't you, during the rebellion?"

The fusion, walking up behind the renegade, nodded. "I remember her. She was there the first time Ruby and Sapphire fused."

Blue gasped slightly. "You're…You're the Ruby and Sapphire that defected to the rebels' side? You look so different…"

"It took time for Ruby and Sapphire to get to know each other," she replied warmly, then stepped forward and held out a hand to help Blue to her feet. "My name is Garnet."

"Garnet," she echoed quietly, a small smile on her lips. She had never even heard of a Garnet, and the thought was thrilling. She allowed Garnet to pull her back up, thin fingers shaking as they touched one of the gems in her palms. "Thank you. I-I'm sorry we arrived so suddenly."

"Don't worry about it," Garnet said. "Welcome to Earth. This is Steven, Amethyst, Peridot, and I think you already know Pearl." She pointed to each of them in turn; Amethyst and Peridot had followed her closer as well. "You don't need to bow to us; we're all equals here."

Blue barely caught herself from doing so and laughed breathily. "It's wonderful to meet you. I'm…I was Blue Diamond's Pearl, and my friend belonged to Yellow Diamond." She gestured for Yellow to join her, which she did.

"We know," Peridot muttered bitterly.

"Nice to meet you," Yellow said to all of them before shifting her gaze back to the technician. "And it's a pleasure to see you again, Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG. How fortunate that you survived the explosion," she added pointedly.

She bristled. "No thanks to you, I'm sure!"

"Whoa, hey, let's chill," Amethyst said, stepping between them. "How did you guys get all the way out here anyway? And when did the whole rebellion thing start? Last time we saw you, you didn't really seem like the type."

"Things changed," Yellow replied nervously. "It will take some time to explain, and we should start from the beginning—if that's alright?"

"Yes, yes, of course," Pearl said quickly, finally seeming to find her voice again. There was an odd silence as she looked between the other two Pearls. "We should go back to the house," she declared suddenly. "Yes. The house. To talk!" She hurried off in the direction they had come from, pulling Steven along with her and leaving the others to trail behind.

Blue and Yellow fell into step next to each other with practiced ease, though they were both tense with anticipation. They ended up walking fairly briskly beside Amethyst and not too far behind Pearl.

"Hey," Amethyst said.

"Hello," Yellow replied. It felt strange, being taller than a Quartz, but it also felt a little safer—just barely. This one didn't seem particularly aggressive either, and that was always a relief.

She gave the two of them an appraising look. "Isn't that one of P's old outfits?"

Ahead of them, Pearl inhaled sharply and turned around to get a better look at them. "That…is, yes," she said uncomfortably.

"I-I'm sorry, should we change?" Blue asked, face coloring. "I didn't mean any disrespect."

"No, no, it's fine," Pearl said quickly. "I was just surprised." She spun around again and kept walking, Steven hurrying after her and catching her hand. She slowed down a little and gave him an appreciative smile.

Amethyst watched the two of them for a second and then shrugged. "So that's not a standard Pearl thing?"

"No," Yellow supplied when Blue didn't answer. "Our Diamonds preferred us in accessories catering to their individual preferences."

"Oh yeah, those weird puffy shoulder things, right?" Amethyst laughed. "And, you know, thigh-highs."

"…Yes," she agreed reluctantly, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious. "Were you eavesdropping on the Diamond communication channel?"

"Sure was," she answered cheerfully. "Yellow D's face when Peri called her a clod—" She shapeshifted into a startlingly similar copy of Yellow Diamond's expression, then burst out laughing as she changed back. "Oh man, that was priceless!"

Yellow stared at Amethyst, wondering how exactly that could be interpreted as funny and not outright terrifying. Though…light years away, maybe it was a little bit amusing. Blue was hiding a small grin behind her hand as well.

Amethyst turned her attention to Blue. "So what's up with you? Not a big talker?"

Yellow let out a sharp bark of laughter, then looked away uncomfortably when Amethyst gave her a curious look. "Sorry," she muttered. "She talks a lot, mostly about things she isn't supposed to."

"Nice," Amethyst laughed. "And you don't have to apologize," she added, looking at Yellow. "Just talk however you want; you don't need to be all polite about it."

"Thank you," she replied doubtfully.

"I'm sorry I haven't been talking much," Blue offered, face flushed slightly. "I'm just a little overwhelmed. I almost didn't expect us to find… You to find us, I suppose."

"You crashed a spaceship into our planet. It would be weirder if we didn't notice you." Amethyst gave her a friendly pat on the back. "Anyway, you're our first visitors from Homeworld that haven't tried to kill us, so thanks for that."

Blue gave her a tiny smile, trying not to flinch. "You're welcome?"

They soon arrived at a warp pad and everyone crowded onto it, just barely fitting. Yellow and Blue stood facing each other, nearly nose to nose, and Yellow gave her a crooked smile that she hoped was some tiny degree of reassurance in all the chaos of Earth. The warp stream activated, and soon they had all appeared in the house Pearl must have been talking about. There was a gem-activated door behind them, but they were ushered into what must have been a human-designed structure built around it instead.

"Please, sit down," Pearl offered, gesturing to the sofa. She and the other Crystal Gems scattered themselves throughout the room—Steven and Peridot on the smaller end of the sofa, Garnet leaning comfortably against the wall, Amethyst sprawled out on the floor. Pearl was perched carefully in the corner of the sofa next to Steven, watching as Yellow and Blue took their seats on her other side.

"So how did you two make it out here?" Amethyst repeated curiously.

They exchanged a brief look, and Yellow did the speaking for both of them. "We stole a transport vessel and used the escape pod to get to Earth."

"You what?" Peridot asked incredulously.

Pearl just looked amazed. "All the way from Homeworld?"

"Wow, that's badass," Amethyst said with a grin.

"Amethyst, language," Pearl chided, covering Steven's ears with her hands and glaring at her.

"What's…badass?" Yellow looked between them uncertainly.

"It means it was impressive," Peridot explained, looking particularly smug about being able to answer the question.

"Thank you," Blue said, directing a smile towards Amethyst.

"But there's no way a couple of Pearls could steal an entire ship like that," Peridot continued. "Not right under the Diamonds' noses!" She caught Garnet's warning look and rushed onward. "I mean, it would be impossible for any gem to steal a ship, even the most technologically competent ones."

"Yes, I'm sure a competent gem such as yourself would never be able to accomplish such a thing," Yellow muttered under her breath.

Peridot hissed angrily and started to say something, but Steven grabbed her arm.

"Come on, please don't fight, you guys." He looked at Blue and Yellow. "I think it's really cool you did something so tough."

Yellow's face gained a tinge of color.

"I agree," Pearl said with a smile. "I expect it wasn't easy."

"We managed," she replied, ducking her head.

"What exactly is your current status in regards to Homeworld, though?" Pearl asked. "Do they know you're here?"

"Good question," Garnet said, adjusting her visor. "We need to know whether to expect anyone else coming after you."

Blue gulped and fidgeted with her hands. "Not…exactly."

"What do you mean?" Pearl asked worriedly.

"They don't think we made it out of the explosion," Yellow answered, "but they'll be coming anyway."

"Explosion?" Steven asked.

"Who's coming?" Pearl demanded.

"I don't know, probably a handful of gems—more than just a Peridot and a Jasper this time, I'm sure." Yellow shrugged. "That's a part of why we came too. You needed to know what to expect and, well, we'll do what we can in return for your help."

"We'll help either way," Blue interjected quickly, ignoring the pointed look Yellow gave her.

"Well, thank you, but—I don't quite understand. Why are they sending more gems? Because of what Peridot did?"

The small gem scowled and crossed her arms. "Please, they'd come check on the Cluster anyway since my reports never went through properly."

"But your insubordination definitely didn't help matters," Yellow argued. "My—Yellow Diamond is quite set on making sure that Cluster is completed on schedule now."

Peridot scoffed. "Your Diamond is borderline irrational when it comes to this planet."

"I am well aware," she replied coolly. "And she is not my Diamond anymore."

The words settled uncomfortably in the room, making everything quiet.

Pearl cleared her throat awkwardly. "May I ask how the two of you knew we were here?"

"You weren't exactly subtle about destroying the Red Eye," Yellow answered, though there was more appreciation in her voice than spite now that her attention was directed away from Peridot.

"No, er, that's not quite what I meant…" Pearl glanced sideways at Garnet. "How did you know about the Crystal Gems, before that? I always assumed Homeworld tried to keep the rebellion quiet after the war was over."

"They did," Blue offered quietly, and she blushed as Pearl turned her attention to her. "We…I…" She clasped her hands together tightly. "I shared my memories with the other Pearls. Like Garnet said, I was there that day when you came to Blue Diamond's court and…" She looked to Yellow for support.

"She's been telling Pearls about you ever since," she supplied succinctly. "I only heard about it recently, but I saw you in the Red Eye data and we knew we had to come find you."

"Ever…Ever since the rebellion?" Pearl echoed, eyes wide. "That's millennia, how did you even manage to do that without getting caught?"

Blue fidgeted slightly, pressing the sole of one foot over the other as she nodded, hesitant. "During our rest cycles mostly. No one really monitors us."

"That doesn't mean it's not dangerous!" Pearl said, looking conflicted.

"I know, but it was important." She lowered her eyes. "You were important. You're the only Pearl who's ever done something so…so amazing."

Her cheeks went a bright, bright turquoise and she began to wave her hands about nervously. "Well! I mean—thank you, that's very kind of you, but I'm really not—"

"She's right," Garnet interrupted warmly.

"Yeah, P," Amethyst added with a grin, "I bet Homeworld never even saw you coming."

Pearl looked increasingly flustered as they spoke.

"The terrifying renegade," Garnet teased with a smirk.

Blue's eyes lit up. "Exactly! It was unheard of for a Pearl to fight; the early reports made her sound so…so strong!"

"But—"

"She is really strong!" Steven agreed excitedly.

"Not to mention proficient in a number of other areas," Peridot added with a shrug. "It's no wonder Homeworld tries to pretend that rebellion never happened."

"Well, that was all thanks to Rose! It's not like I was leading the—" She looked down in surprise as a pair of arms circled her waist and hugged her tightly. "Steven? What is it?"

"Nothing," he said, smiling up at her with warm, sparkling eyes. "You're just really cool. I think Mom would be proud of you for being that important to the other Pearls too."

Pearl's eyes watered a little and she put her arms around Steven, squeezing him gently. After a few moments, she let go, straightened his shirt, and smiled. "Thank you, Steven." She took a deep breath and turned back to Blue, a little calmer now. "And thank you. I never expected anyone would attempt anything of the sort, never mind a Diamond's Pearl. You'd have been shattered immediately if anyone caught you spreading ideas like that amongst everyone."

Blue cringed a little, but forced a quick smile.

"Oh, um, that wasn't quite how I meant to…"

She shook her head. "It's alright. It was an honor."

Pearl blushed again, averting her eyes. "Anyway! If Homeworld really is sending more gems to Earth as you said, then we have a lot to do."

"Wait," Yellow interjected. "Shouldn't the Cluster take priority here? I think it should be possible to neutralize it if—"

"We already did that," Peridot interrupted.

"What?"

"Yeah, we kinda took care of that already," Steven said brightly. "We made a big drill and everybody worked together and we saved Earth! All in a day's work," he finished proudly.

"That was nearly two months' work, Steven," Pearl corrected.

"Give or take a few days for when Peri discovered Camp Pining Hearts," Amethyst added.

"That was time well spent learning about Earth culture!" Peridot protested, blushing. "Though I suppose it could have waited until after the drill was completed…"

"Well, um, that's good then, that the Cluster is taken care of?" Blue said, a little lost.

"Quite," Pearl agreed. "Now that we have that out of the way, I suppose we need to discuss the matter of a rebellion. I don't mean to sound critical, but that is going to require quite a lot of time and effort."

"We know," Yellow said, unaffected.

"Moreover…" Pearl looked to Garnet briefly. "If we are truly expecting more gems to come to Earth, then we can't leave."

"We have a responsibility to care for this planet," Garnet agreed.

"We understand," Blue said carefully. "Your loyalty is to this place now. We don't want to stand in the way of that."

"But the reality is we are having this rebellion, and our chances of success will go up exponentially if you agree to help us," Yellow cut in.

"Then what if we help each other?" All eyes turned to Steven as he spoke up. "Blue and Yellow can help us protect Earth from Homeworld, and then we can help the Pearls with their rebellion afterward."

"Would that work?" Amethyst asked the two of them. "Or do you need to go back right away?"

Yellow grimaced. "Our 'ship' isn't exactly in flying condition. Even if we planned to leave immediately, it would take time to make the repairs."

"That's perfect!" Steven said enthusiastically. "You can hang out here, and we'll help you fix your ship, and then we'll all go to Homeworld together."

"Excuse me?" Peridot screeched. "I can't go back to Homeworld; Yellow Diamond will kill me!"

"We'll discuss who's going later," Garnet said calmly. "For now, I think we have a plan."

"Yes," Pearl agreed. "Does that sound alright?" she asked the other two Pearls politely.

Blue nodded. "Thank you, we're in your debt."

"As are we," Garnet countered with a smile. "Your warning gives us time to prepare."

"Isn't part of you a Sapphire though?" Yellow asked curiously before biting her tongue, thinking she had been too forward. It was one thing to mouth off to a Peridot, but Garnet seemed to be in charge and she didn't want to end up offending her by accident with nosy questions.

"Future vision isn't a perfect science," she replied with a one-shouldered shrug.

"Oh," Yellow said, "I didn't realize." She wondered how such a thing did work, but now probably wasn't the time to ask. "What would you like us to do?" she tried instead.

"Before we do anything," Pearl interjected, "we should move your ship back here."

"Our ship?" Yellow asked blankly.

"Yes, we don't want humans finding it and getting themselves into trouble," she replied.

"Oh, of course, our apologies," Blue said. "We'll try to move it."

"No need," Garnet said. "Amethyst and Pearl can help you."

"Yeah, we got this," Amethyst agreed, sitting up and stretching. "You game, P?"

"Of course," Pearl responded with a warm smile.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know if we can get it moving again even with your help," Yellow said. "It's pretty badly damaged."

"Oh, we're not going to fix it," Amethyst said, waving her hand dismissively. "We're gonna carry it."

"…Carry?" She looked between the two of them and tried to find a polite way to point out that it seemed unlikely that three Pearls and an undersized Amethyst would be able to carry something that large back across such a long distance. They could move it, sure, but not easily. They'd probably have to push it all the way here. They certainly wouldn't be able to warp it back.

"You'll see," she said with a mischievous smirk. "Come on, it'll be fun."

Blue and Yellow exchanged an unsure look and followed them over to the warp pad.

Pearl stood just behind them and she touched their shoulders lightly, careful not to surprise them. "I know it's a lot to take in," she said in a low voice. "Just try and keep an open mind, and don't be afraid to ask questions."

Yellow felt a tiny bit of weight lifted from her chest with the words, and she looked to Pearl, relieved. "Thanks." She exchanged a small smile with Blue. "Everyone's really equal here?" she asked quietly.

"Yes."

The answer was so straightforward that it made the unbelievable seem believable.

Yellow wasn't quite sure about it yet, but as she slid her hand into Blue's out of habit she couldn't help but be grateful that they ended up here, on Earth, where a Pearl could say something like that and mean it. She didn't know how most rebellions started, but it seemed reasonable that it would be with something like this: just a thought, and the courage to say it. Equals. Pearls were equal.

It sounded strange, and she didn't say it aloud just yet, but it was hope. It meant that when they'd stood in that dim room projecting images of a legendary renegade to hundreds of Pearls, that dangerous want they'd all felt was for something attainable.

And, stars, if she did anything, she would make sure they attained it.