By the time Amethyst led Blue and Yellow out of her room, Pearl and Peridot were both long gone. Garnet and Steven were both waiting in the kitchen though, and the small gem called out an excited greeting through a mouthful of food.
"Good morning!" he said once more after he had swallowed.
"Good morning." Blue hovered next to the table, not sure if she should sit down or not. "Is that 'breakfast'?"
"Yep! You want some?"
"N-No, thanks," she replied, feeling a little more confident about answering in the negative after Amethyst had talked them through Earth culture in a somewhat roundabout way. "Maybe later."
"Okay." He took another bite. "It's fine if you don't, Pearl doesn't really like eating either."
"I don't understand the point," Yellow said, taking one of the seats after only a second's hesitation. "We're not humans."
"Well, it tastes good," Steven offered, shrugging.
"And it feels weird," Amethyst volunteered, her head in the fridge. "It's fun."
"I'll pass," Yellow said, wrinkling her nose.
"Fair enough," she agreed. "So what are you guys up to today, Garnet?"
"Steven wanted to give Blue and Yellow a tour around Beach City," Garnet replied, "but we're going to stick close to home for now."
"Cool. Well, I'm gonna go take a nap," Amethyst said, popping something into her mouth. "Yell if you need anything."
Yellow watched Amethyst leave and then cleared her throat. "The ship…?"
"Pearl and Peridot are taking a look at it now, but you're welcome to go and help them," Garnet said.
She frowned. "Yes, I did make a few modifications mid-flight that might need to be explained."
"We can end our tour over at the barn!" Steven suggested brightly.
"That would be acceptable," she replied, inclining her head politely. "When do we depart?"
"Uhh…" Steven stuck one last bite of syrupy waffle into his mouth. "Now?"
Yellow shrugged, and Blue hid a smile when she saw the way his cheeks were puffed up with the food. Garnet stuck the empty plate in the sink and looked the two of them over while Steven finished chewing.
"Have fun with Amethyst?" she asked after a moment.
Blue nodded, pushing her hair back briefly. "She told us about some of the Earth things she likes. I think I might like to try eating...eventually."
"You're welcome to anything in the house," Garnet said, "but you might want to wait until after your training."
"Our…?" Her eyes went wide. "Training?"
"Pearl wants to see what you've got. If you're starting a rebellion, you're going to need to know how to fight."
"She's going to show us?" Yellow leaned forward eagerly. "Today?"
"Yep."
They exchanged an excited look, Blue's hands clasping in front of her gem. "Thank you," she breathed.
Garnet smiled. "Thank Pearl, it was her idea." She went over to the sink and began running water so she could wash the dishes. "Ready to get started, Steven?"
"Yeah!" Steven gestured broadly to the house in general, arms sweeping out to either side. "It's a pretty short tour! So this is the kitchen, that's the living room, that's the bathroom, and up there is my room. Come on, I've got some cool stuff to show you."
He ran up the steps, Blue and Yellow trailing after him.
"Feel free to look around!" Steven said, reaching over to a shelf to grab something. The two Pearls watched him for a moment, and then cautiously turned their eyes to the rest of the room.
"Are these logs?" Blue asked, pointing at the small row of books on one shelf.
"Kinda," Steven said, pulling the first one out. "They're comics, so they're stories with pictures." He offered the book to her.
Blue looked at both sides of the cover and then carefully cracked it open. "Portable art," she mused, skimming the page. "It looks nice. Do they all have different stories inside?"
"Yeah, and some of them have longer stories. That one's got twelve volumes in it."
"'Sailor Moon,'" she read off the cover, tilting her head.
"You can read that?" Yellow asked, taken aback.
Blue looked up quickly. "Oh, yes, Blue Diamond ordered I have visual translation capabilities as well as auditory. She used to indulge in the arts of other planets, and sometimes she ordered me to read to her." She shrugged a little. "She found them entertaining, but stopped around the time of the rebellion. I think it scared her." Her chest constricted as she fought back a wave of dread at speaking ill of her former Diamond. "She didn't want the others to have even the slightest reason to question her loyalty."
Yellow nodded solemnly, still surprised by the revelation. Some gems had such abilities instilled in them, but most relied solely on verbal translation. Considering that Homeworld was more interested in conquering than communicating, it was generally a redundant skill. But given Blue's position, and how long she had held it, it wasn't too strange.
"You can borrow them if you want," Steven offered, trying to lighten the mood. "There's another series I really like too—The Spirit Morph Saga—but that one doesn't have pictures in it." He plopped down on the bed, some kind of larger book on his lap.
Blue placed the one she was holding back where it belonged and then leaned over curiously next to Yellow as he opened it up, revealing pages upon pages of pictures.
"Pearl helped me put together a scrapbook," he explained, "so I can keep pictures of everybody in one place. Here's my family! This is me and Dad, and here's the Crystal Gems, and here's a new picture of the Crystal Gems because Dot wasn't in the old one. And this is my best friend Connie. And here's everybody who lives in Beach City!" He listed off names rapidly, pointing to each person in turn. "Garnet says I can take you out to meet them once you feel more comfortable," he concluded, grinning.
"You know a lot of people," Yellow commented, unsure what the proper response was.
"Yep, they're great!" He passed the album to Yellow and she held it gingerly with both hands, not sure what he wanted her to do with it. After a moment, Blue reached over and began turning the pages at a slower pace so that they could get a better look at the photos.
When they were finished, she handed it back to Steven and watched as he put it away and pointed out a few of the other things scattered about his room. At some point, he realized they were still standing and gestured them towards the bed.
"You can sit down," he offered.
Blue seated herself on the edge uncertainly. "It's soft," she said in surprise. "Do all the places people sit have to be soft here?"
"Well, not really," he said, bouncing a little next to her, "but it's a lot more comfortable that way."
"Strange," Yellow commented. She peered down at the blankets, running her hand over them carefully.
"You don't have that on Homeworld?"
"Not really." She traced the stitching with one finger. "Our forms don't require as much maintenance as humans seem to need. Pearls hardly sit down at all." She looked to Steven. "Why do you adhere to human traditions?"
"Huh? I'm half-human," Steven answered easily. "So I have to sleep and eat and stuff."
"Oh." Yellow considered her next question carefully, not wanting to insult him. "The Red Eye recognized you as a gem. How were you formed?"
Steven laughed nervously. "Well, uh, my mom and dad made me?" He saw their confusion and quickly added, "Humans don't use Kindergartens, they have kids—small humans—and then they take care of them until the kids grow up and can take care of themselves."
"I…see." She briefly recalled Amethyst saying that humans grew after they were formed instead of coming out fully matured like gems. "So one half of that unit was human and the other half was a gem?"
"Yep! My dad's human, and my mom was Rose Quartz." He lifted up the hem of his shirt to show them his gem.
"Wh—Rose Quartz is your…your…" Yellow gestured vaguely with her hands. "Rose Quartz? The leader of the rebellion Rose Quartz?"
"Uh huh." He glanced at Blue, who looked equally shocked. "Did you guys know her?"
"Only by reputation," Blue said faintly.
"Is 'Steven' an alias then? So that you can't be identified?" Yellow asked.
"No, my name's just Steven! I'm not my mom—or I am my mom, but not like that."
"That doesn't make sense," she said blankly.
"I think he means he's an individual separate from his mother?" Blue offered, looking to Steven for confirmation.
"Yeah, that's right," he said, looking relieved. "I just have her gem. It's kinda confusing to me too, but that's what happened."
They sat in silence for a moment.
"I saw her a few times," Blue volunteered. "Would you like to see?"
"Yes, please!" Steven looked on wide-eyed as a projection began to play from her gem.
Blue spoke the words along in time with the image she knew so well, and they watched Rose Quartz and Pearl defeat Blue Diamond's court guards.
"They're so cool," he breathed.
Blue smiled, letting the projection play out a little further to when she saw Garnet fused for the first time.
"That brings back memories," Garnet said, leaning up to poke her head into the loft.
"Oh!" She turned in surprise. "I'm sorry, is this okay? I should have asked first…"
Garnet shook her head. "It's fine." She hoisted herself up into the room easily and picked Steven up, setting him on her lap. "The first time was a bit of a mess," she said, inclining her head towards the projection.
"But you were so cute!" Steven gushed.
"I'm still cute," she said, poking him in the nose.
He laughed in agreement as Garnet reached over and gently scattered the projection with one hand before it could continue.
"Why don't you take them down to the beach," she suggested.
"Okay!"
"What's on the beach?" Yellow asked.
"It's just the beach," Steven said with a shrug. "It's fun." He jumped down from Garnet's lap and reached under his bed, rolling a ball out from underneath. "You can play all kinds of games there. Like beach volleyball!" He turned to Yellow and Blue. "Want to try?"
Blue nodded. "How do you play?"
"Liiiike this." He tossed the ball and then bumped it back up into the air. Garnet caught it one-handed just before it hit a shelf on the way down.
"Its purpose is to improve hand-eye coordination?" Yellow asked hesitantly.
"Sure," he answered. "Pearl's gonna teach you to swordfight later, right? This'll be a good warm-up!"
She looked down at her hands, curling her fingers in and out. "Okay. I appreciate the offer."
"Cool! Garnet, do you wanna play?"
"I'll pass," she replied, tossing him the ball. "Let them get used to it before we heat things up."
Steven laughed. "Okay. Come on!"
He led the three of them back downstairs and out to the beach, Garnet waiting just outside the house while Blue and Yellow followed him farther down.
Blue grimaced at the feel of the sand on her feet and hurried along, not wanting to think about it too much. "So we just have to hit the ball?" she asked.
"Yep. Put your hands like this." Steven demonstrated, and they copied the gesture. "Normally there's a net and teams and everything, but we're just playing for fun. All you've gotta do is try and pass the ball around! Don't worry about messing up."
Yellow scoffed quietly. Don't worry about messing up. He made everything sound so innocent. She placed her hands together like he'd shown them.
"I'll throw it to you first, okay?" He waited for an affirmative before gently tossing the ball up in an arc towards her.
Yellow's eyes tracked the ball's movements rapidly, and she swung her arms up to connect solidly with the ball when it was close. It shot straight up into the air with surprising velocity; she had assumed it was heavier.
"That's great!" Steven cheered. "But, uh, I probably should have mentioned that you don't need to hit it that hard."
The ball fell back down a few seconds later, and Yellow caught it with both hands. "I understand now. What next?"
"Well, you can try throwing it to Blue," he suggested.
"Okay." She waited for Blue to get into the right stance before throwing it—carefully—over to her.
Blue's wrists met the ball easily, and she hit it at an angle, propelling the ball back towards Yellow, who yelped as it bounced off her face.
"What was that?" Yellow demanded indignantly.
"Sorry! I'm sorry!" Blue hurried over. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said irritably. "I may be a Pearl, but it takes more than that to crack me."
"Sorry," she apologized again, a tiny laugh bubbling out of her mouth as Yellow scowled at her, rubbing her nose. "I'll get it next time; I wasn't sure how to aim." She looked back at Steven, who was hovering a little ways away. "I'm sorry, we haven't done something like this before."
"It's okay," he said with a smile. "That's what practice is for! Do you want to try again?"
Blue nodded gratefully, picking up the ball and handing it over, sweeping the hair out of her face.
The three of them spread out again, and Steven started the ball around the triangle again. After a few tries, they managed to keep it going in an uneven pattern, occasionally having to run a few steps back and forth to hit a stray ball.
Yellow watched the ball carefully, trying to track trajectories but eventually giving up and just reacting since none of them were particularly consistent. If nothing else, it would at least improve her reflexes, which could use some work. Standing around filing reports had never required anything of the sort and while the athleticism wasn't particularly difficult, it was something that required a degree of experience she was lacking. The slight sting of the ball hitting her skin felt good though, and she was getting the hang of it.
Between them, Blue seemed to be doing a better job of getting the ball to go where she wanted it, though she didn't have particularly fast response times either. Yellow attributed this partially to her hair, which was currently blown into a messy tangle from a combination of the wind coming off the ocean and the way she was constantly shoving it aside. Yellow had never been able to pinpoint how much it actually impeded her vision—even if it completely blinded her, Blue was far too careful a Pearl to let it show. She was plenty capable regardless of the hindrance.
After about an hour, Steven caught the ball and asked if they could take a break, so the three of them went down to the shoreline and let the edges of the ocean lap at their legs as they rested.
"There's so much of it," Blue said, reaching out like she could capture the water with her fingers.
"Yeah, most of Earth is water," Steven said.
Yellow frowned. "Why?"
"That's just how it is."
They didn't terraform their planet, Yellow realized. They probably didn't even have the requisite technology for it. The thought was strange; she'd only ever seen streamlined, productive, efficient planets in Homeworld's galaxy.
"It's pretty," Blue murmured, looking out at the horizon. "It keeps going."
Steven smiled up at her, wiggling his toes in the sand. "Yeah. I guess it's pretty different from where you live, right?"
She nodded.
"Do you like Earth so far?"
"It's incredibly alive." Blue bit her lip. "It's even more beautiful than I expected."
"And it's safe," Yellow said. "At least, as much as that's possible."
"You…weren't before?" Steven asked tentatively. "I mean, I know they're probably really mad you ran away, but—"
"They were going to shatter me," she said bluntly.
"Oh," he said faintly. "I'm…I'm sorry."
"That's how it is," Yellow replied with a shrug, scratching at one shoulder. She projected a few small images from her gem—a bitter montage of Pearls she'd seen broken or harvested over the years. She watched their faces, the fear in their eyes as they sat through rest cycles not knowing they would be gone by the next. "I'm surprised the rene—Pearl managed to escape it. I doubt the Diamonds take kindly to their Pearls running around wielding swords and joining rebellions."
"Wait, Pearl was with a Diamond like you guys?"
"Of course," Yellow said. "Didn't she tell you? She belonged to White Diamond." Her gem lit up again, projecting another image, one she'd found hidden amongst old files, when the renegade had still been dressed in fancy, Pearl-like garb. White Diamond had always had a flair for the extravagant. "See?"
"Pearl," Steven said faintly, one hand reaching out involuntarily like he could pull the quiet, blank-faced Pearl away from the Diamond beside her. It was hard to reconcile the image with the Pearl he knew, who was expressive and strong and always had something to say.
"Steven," Garnet called from the door. "Time to go."
He turned quickly, then glanced back at Yellow, who had shut off the projection immediately. "We—We should go to the barn," Steven said as he got to his feet. "But I have something for you first," he added, face brightening a little. "Come on, let's go inside!"
They dusted the sand off of themselves, trailing after him apprehensively. Yellow stiffened when she made eye contact with Garnet, getting the distinct feeling she had done something wrong.
The fusion just crossed her arms and offered her an indecipherable look while Steven rushed up to his room. "Take it easy," she said in a low voice. "He needs to know, but he doesn't need you to scare him."
Yellow snapped to a rigid, respectful attention. "Yes, my—I mean, yes. I won't. My apologies."
Garnet frowned and inclined her head slightly. "You're fine." She lifted one hand and placed it on Yellow's shoulder, making sure to telegraph the movement well in advance. "Relax."
She ducked her head, ashamed of the instinctual reaction she had slipped so easily into.
Beside her, Blue was smiling encouragingly as she fixed her windswept hair back into place, not wanting it to be messy when they went to meet Pearl.
"Thank you," Yellow said finally, lifting her head.
Garnet let go, giving her a brief thumbs-up and a smile. "I've got to go. You two have fun."
They waved tentatively as she went to the warp pad, calling out a goodbye to Steven.
A moment later, Steven was hurrying back downstairs with something clutched in his hand. He approached Blue, offering it to her with an eager smile. "Here you go!"
Blue looked down at his palm, which held two small objects, vaguely triangular and made of some kind of plastic. "For me?"
"Yep! They're for your hair. Here, look." He picked one up, snapped it open, and poked it into his own curls before making it click again and stay there. It stood out, pink and sparkly against his dark hair. "You're always having to move it, so I thought you might like them. Plus it'll be dangerous if you can't see everything when you're fighting!" He removed it again and held the pair out expectantly.
Her eyes softened, delighted as she lifted the hair clips carefully from his hands, feeling pleasantly warm. "You—You noticed that?"
Steven nodded.
Blue bit her lip, clutching the small gift to her chest and trying to find the right words. "Thank you, Steven," she said shakily. "That…means a lot to me. I'll be sure to take good care of them."
"Oh, don't worry about that, they're yours to keep! And there's plenty more if you need them." Steven caught sight of her stunned expression and started to look worried. "Um, are you okay? Did you want a different color? Should I not have—"
"Thank you!" Blue dropped to her knees and hugged him tightly, the gift clutched securely in one fist. She had never owned anything before, and here was this little Quartz offering her something like it was the easiest thing in the world, like it didn't matter that she was a Pearl and never even owned herself.
Steven laughed happily and squeezed her back. "You're welcome!"
She released him quickly and took a step back. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that…" she began uncertainly.
"No, no, it's okay!" he said quickly. "You can do that whenever you want."
Blue nodded, hesitant. "Okay then." She ran her fingers over the clips. "Would you…help me use them?"
"Sure," Steven agreed, taking them back and waiting for her to sit down on the sofa so he could reach more easily. She looked on in amazement as he started arranging her hair without any hesitation, carefully splitting her bangs down the middle and sweeping them to either side with his fingers. He held one side back snugly, then slid the clip in and snapped it into place, repeating the process on the other side as well. "Better?"
Blue blinked away some of the blurriness and smiled. "It's great. Thank you so much."
"No prob." He grinned up at her. "You have really pretty eyes!"
Blue blushed a little. "Thank you," she said again.
"I have some for you too," Steven offered Yellow, digging into his pocket and pulling out a few more pairs of clips. "You can pick a color you like."
"I'm fine, thank you," Yellow answered, a little confused. "I haven't had any problems with my hair."
"I know," he said brightly, "I just thought you might look cute in them!"
Revulsion rose bitter in her chest and she very nearly told him that she wasn't made for such a vapid purpose; she was made to be useful. She only just managed to stop herself from snapping at him, and it was mostly because up until now he had been unfailingly kind.
"You don't like them?" Steven asked. He didn't seem angry about the unintended rejection, just mildly disappointed.
She considered it for a moment, tried to separate her old way of thinking out and quiet her mind. He clearly meant it to be a genuine gift.
"It's okay if you don't," he continued. "I can get you something else."
"No," she said quickly, hand darting out in a jumpy, stilted motion. "That's not necessary. I-I'll take them. I wouldn't want to be unprepared should I require them in battle someday."
Steven giggled but picked out a silver pair and handed them to her seriously. "Here you go!"
She mimicked the motions he'd gone through with Blue, sliding it in on one side of her head and then the other. The clips stuck in her hair, not accomplishing much of anything, but the slight pull against her scalp was a strange sort of comfort. She could own something here, even without a reason for it. "Like this?"
"Yeah, you look great!"
Yellow laughed involuntarily and shook her head, a crooked smile on her lips as she poked at the objects in her hair. "Thank you for the Earth gift."
"No problem." Steven tucked the extras away and then smiled back up at her. "If you want anything else, you can ask! I mean, I can't buy you anything super expensive, but between me and Dad and Amethyst, I bet we've got most everything you could think of!"
She blinked at him, surprised by the offer. "Oh. Thank you."
"You too, Blue," he added, turning to the other Pearl.
"Thanks," she replied gratefully.
"You're welcome!" He went and picked up his backpack, stuffing a few things inside. "Ready to go to the barn?"
"Sure," Yellow answered. She caught Blue's eye as they followed Steven out, hiding a smirk. A Quartz, giving them presents.
If anything's proof that we're light years from home, it's him.
"Steven," Pearl called, sliding out from under the pod as they entered the barn. "Come with me for a moment. Peridot, try not to antagonize our guests."
The technician mumbled something indecipherable under her breath that sounded like it could have been an agreement, crawling out from under a panel on the inside of the ship.
Pearl nodded approvingly and brushed herself off before leading Steven outside, leaving Blue and Yellow in the barn.
"Your escape pod is in better shape than I expected, considering what you put it though," Peridot said, forgoing a greeting as she jumped the small step to the ground.
Here we go again, Yellow thought bitterly. "Hello, Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG," she said.
"That designation is unnecessary here," Peridot said coldly.
"That doesn't make it any less accurate," Yellow returned in an even voice.
The smaller gem bit back a frustrated reply and went over to a toolbox, kneeling down to rifle through it. "If you're finished being annoying, maybe you could provide an explanation of how that mess in there managed to keep your power supply from burning out halfway here."
"I fixed it," she said simply.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"She turned off all the unnecessary parts," Blue said helpfully.
"It's an escape pod—there aren't enough unnecessary parts to 'turn off' and it isn't that simple," she said impatiently.
"I cut the atmospheric control, disabled the communications and tracking systems, got rid of most functions aside from basic flight capabilities and navigation maps, ran everything on minimal supply, and used the power sources from a number of devices we stole from the main ship to amplify the engine life."
Peridot blinked at her like she was speaking another language entirely. "W-Well," she said finally, "yes, obviously it's possible to do that, but how did you know how to?"
Yellow narrowed her eyes. "Pearls aren't completely dull. I've been watching Peridots run maintenance and repairs on ships for years, and I've stood around in enough control rooms to know how to handle one escape pod."
"But you couldn't have known all that just from watching."
"She also handled the majority of Yellow Diamond's files," Blue added, lips curving sharply, "and you'd be surprised how much information Diamonds hand over to Pearls without thinking."
"I see," Peridot said, looking between the two of them nervously and eyeing the destabilizers still strapped to their waists. "Well, since you have the time, the process of fixing the engine would go much faster if I have a firsthand account of what was done in the first place."
The two of them exchanged a quick look, and Blue shrugged. "Go ahead," she told Yellow. "I'll just wait over there while you work; I won't be of much help."
Yellow agreed and followed Peridot back inside, reluctantly going over all the changes and repairs she'd made during the course of the trip. To her surprise, Peridot was fairly attentive and, other than a few small comments about her lack of experience, didn't seem to take too much issue with the fact that a Pearl had been the one to do it. Still, she made sure not to stay any longer than was necessary. All Peridots were the same, and she wasn't going to set herself up for another lecture on how useless Pearls were when it came to anything remotely intelligent. She had more important things to think about—namely, training under the renegade and learning how to defend herself.
"Where are we going?" Steven asked curiously as he followed Pearl out.
"Hmm?" She looked down at him, a little lost in thought. "Oh, I thought perhaps we could visit your mother's garden."
"Oh, okay. You're not hurt, are you?" he asked anxiously, peering up at her gem.
"No, I'm not," Pearl said quickly. "I just thought it would be nice."
Steven nodded uncertainly, though he looked relieved, and the two of them made their way to Rose's fountain in relative silence.
Once they arrived, Steven took off his backpack and hopped up on the edge, sensing that this was something serious and waiting for Pearl to speak first.
She hovered for a moment, and then sat beside him, hands clasped in her lap. "You're fourteen now," Pearl said softly. "I suppose that's quite a lot of time for humans, but I've never been sure what a proper age is to talk about the difficult things; you always seem so young to me. I'd rather not have to tell you at all, but I'm afraid Homeworld's shadow is still present here, now more than ever."
"Because of Blue and Yellow?"
"No," she said with a wry smile, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. "Because Earth is drawing their attention again. It was inevitable, I suppose, but…we'd hoped they would leave us in peace, at least until you were older." Pearl tilted her head to look into the ripples spreading outward in the base of the fountain. "For all Rose's efforts, it seems it was always going to be a temporary reprieve."
"But you've protected Earth for a long time," Steven said. "It might be harder this time, but we can still do it! I'm a lot better at summoning Mom's shield, and Connie's gotten really good at swordfighting, and Peridot's on our side now too."
"You're right," she said, putting an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close for a moment. "We can do it, of course we can. That's not what I need to talk to you about though." Pearl let go, turning sideways so she could face him directly. "Because of everything that's happening, you're going to run into other Homeworld gems and you need to understand about…about a number of things, really, but mostly about Pearls. About me."
"Okay," he answered seriously. "Like what?"
"Like…" Pearl took a deep breath. "Do you remember what Peridot said, back before we started building the drill?"
Steven nodded. "That there are hundreds of Pearls?"
"Yes." She hesitated. "Though that much can be said for other gems as well. I meant the other things she said about me." She fought back the flare of anger and hurt at the memory—somebody's shiny toy—and continued. "Pearls are the lowest class of gems—we aren't even considered tobe gems for the most part. We just take orders and…stand around looking nice."
"Yeah, Yellow showed me," he said quietly.
Pearl's eyes narrowed. "She did what?"
"Oh. Uh…nothing really?" Steven tried, backtracking when he realized she was upset. "I just asked about Homeworld and she told me a little bit."
"That's not her place," she said sharply.
"Please don't be mad at her! I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry if—"
"No, no, you don't need to apologize, Steven." Pearl sighed and motioned for him to come closer. "I wanted to be the one to tell you, that's all."
"Oh." Steven moved over so he was sitting right next to her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she replied with a faint smile. She brushed a little bit of sand off his shirt, not quite meeting his eyes. "How much did they tell you?"
"They said you used to…used to work for White Diamond," he answered carefully.
"Owned. I used to be owned by her," Pearl corrected him. "You can say that; it's the truth. Better to call it what it is."
Steven shook his head quickly. "People shouldn't own other people."
"Yes, but other gems own Pearls, and I am a Pearl." She hesitated. "Most Pearls aren't as lucky as I was. You understand that, right?"
He gulped, nodding. "Yellow said—I mean…she said it's bad. That they would have broken her if she didn't run away."
"That's not surprising," Pearl murmured.
"C-Can they really do that?" His eyes were wet. "Was that what it was like when you were there?"
"I'm afraid so," she answered.
"It's not right," he said forcefully.
"I know." Pearl placed an arm around his shoulders, carefully drawing him to her side again. "Rose said the same thing."
"How come—How come none of the other Pearls came with you? They would have been safe here, they could have run away too—"
"It's not that simple, Steven." She squeezed him gently. "They wouldn't know what to do once they were here, even if they could make it out safely. The stars know I didn't at first." Pearl ran her fingers through his hair fondly. "Pearls don't think for themselves on Homeworld. No, that's not quite right—they do, but it's incredibly dangerous to even dream of acting on it. Everyone's too scared to do anything."
Steven sniffled as he snuggled closer to her side, arms wrapping around her waist tightly. "You were scared too. With White Diamond. You didn't look like you at all."
"Oh, Steven," she whispered, staring at the tears dripping down his face. "I'm sorry, you shouldn't have had to see that." Pearl rubbed his back lightly, then swept her hand up to his shoulder again and held on firmly.
"Did she hurt you?" he asked in a small voice.
"Not on the outside," Pearl murmured, chin tucked against the top of his head, "but all Pearls hurt, Steven."
"I wish they didn't," Steven whispered. "I want to help."
"I know," she said with a soft smile. "You already have." Pearl pulled away a little to look him in the eyes. "They're going to need some patience, alright? Give them time, and keep reminding them that they're…that they're not on Homeworld anymore. Can you do that?"
"Yeah," he replied, swiping at his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have upset you," Pearl said softly. "That wasn't my intent." She pulled a small handkerchief from her gem and handed it over. "Use this, not your hands."
Steven took it, shaking his head and scrubbing the cloth across his face. "N-No, you didn't, I'm glad you told me." He blinked back more tears as best he could. "I hope I can be as brave as you one day."
Tears welled in her own eyes, and Pearl held them back as she busily plucked the handkerchief out of Steven's hands, stored it back in her gem for cleaning later, and reached over him to get his backpack. She wasn't sure why she had been so afraid he'd see her differently after this conversation; he was always so wonderfully Steven about everything. She stood up, slipping the backpack over one shoulder. "We should get back."
"Okay." He caught her hand as they started walking and kept pace with her, holding on tightly. "I love you, Pearl. I'm glad you're not on Homeworld anymore either."
"Me too, Steven," Pearl managed hoarsely, keeping an equally fierce grip on his hand. "Me too."