Blue had honestly been expecting everything to get incredibly strange and awkward with Yellow after her sudden request. However, Yellow didn't seem to be keeping her distance or treating her any differently—if anything, something between them had grown warmer, more comfortable, and that was a relief.

Blue took to spending some of her own free time in the barn as well, keeping Yellow company and practicing her weapon summoning when the other Pearl was too busy to do much talking. She felt like she was getting somewhere with it, though she had yet to actually manage to pull anything from her gem besides the odd collection of weapons and other items she had stored there. She was starting to form an unfortunate habit of concentrating too much and sending various things flying across the barn, which put her on the receiving end of three different exasperated looks—even Peridot had long stopped getting jumpy about having pointy objects flying towards her.

"Sorry!" she called as her sword embedded itself in the wall behind Yellow, who saw it coming and ducked well out of the way.

Yellow yanked it out nonchalantly and tossed it back to her. "Have you actually accomplished anything, or is this part of some elaborate secret plan to take the enemy by surprise?"

"I'll get it right soon," she replied seriously. "Though that could be interesting."

"Don't, it'll look ridiculous," she said. "I don't suppose you considered taking all that junk out before practicing?" Yellow asked dryly, picking up a few more stray objects and handing them over.

"She needs to learn to differentiate," Pearl called distractedly. "And so do you, whenever you get around to practicing."

"I'm practicing some," she said dismissively, "but I've got two swords already and unlike some Pearls I like to be sensible and focus on the weapons I know will be available to me."

"Yes, I'm so glad you're the sensible half of this rebellion."

"If you two are finished, could you please pass me that cord over there?" Pearl asked.

Yellow picked it up and held it out for Pearl to take, looking at Blue suspiciously. "You aren't keeping anything dangerous in there, are you?"

"Of course not," Blue answered, putting everything back. "I learned my lesson. It's just easier to hold onto most of the supplies instead of digging through that mess you had every time you ask for something."

"You're not a storage cabinet, Blue."

Blue huffed. "Just because you don't like carrying things around all the time doesn't mean I can't. I think it's convenient."

"Yes, if I'm ever desperately in need of hair bows in the middle of the rebellion, I'll know who to ask."

She blushed. "Steven gave them to me in case I wanted more variety."

"Homeworld's never going to take you seriously," Yellow said with a smirk.

"Oh, I'm sure they will." Blue flashed a sharp smile. "Anyway, I can take a break for a bit. Do you need help?"

"We've got it covered. Just try not to stab anything."

"Okay," she replied. "I'll go stand in the corner and look pretty for you."

"You have a warped sense of humor, Blue."

"You like it."

"Occasionally." She disappeared back into the ship. "Come on, I'll show you how this works."

"Really?" Blue hurried over, crawling into the engine room and looking around, wide-eyed.

"You're plenty capable of picking up some basics." Yellow motioned for Blue to join her off to the left. "Minor repairs and, stars, I'm definitely showing you how to pilot this thing because you were horrible at it last time."

"Thanks," she said warmly. "For teaching me," she added when Yellow gave her an odd look.

"Yeah." The other Pearl stopped for a moment, looking like she wanted to say something, but she quickly turned back to the machinery. "We can go train some more after this part is done," she offered.

"That sounds great. I could help you out with a few things Pearl mentioned?"

Yellow fought back the instinctive defensiveness that rose to the surface and nodded. "Sounds like a fair trade."

Blue smiled. "Same here."

Once they had finished up, the two of them headed to the arena to get in their extra practice before the scheduled training with Pearl.

"What are we working on specifically?" Yellow asked as they arrived, leading the way up the steps.

"Making you less predictable," Blue replied, catching up and keeping pace with her.

Yellow shot a halfhearted glare at her. "And you say I need more tact."

"Sorry," she laughed. "It's not that you're bad at fighting, you just don't always…connect? You analyze everything a lot, so you're really good at memorizing what to do. But you think too much about what you're doing and what order you know it works in, so you end up telegraphing your movements."

"Okay," she said slowly. "So how do you recommend doing it?"

"Oh!" Blue looked a little surprised. "Well, I always think of it like dancing." She pulled her sword from her gem and ran through a few basic maneuvers, flowing smoothly between each movement. "You should try it."

"Swordfighting is not dancing," Yellow replied, crossing her arms. "And if you expect me to dance, then you're going to be severely disappointed."

"Hmm, I really do think it would help though, now that you mention it. The movements are similar, in a way."

"Maybe to you, but I don't dance."

"That's not true," Blue argued. "You've danced in the courts before, I've seen you."

"Well, I don't make a habit of it when it's not an order. I'm not good at all of that fancy, unnecessary—" She stopped and lowered her eyes. "I mean, that's not what I was for."

"Well, you're not 'for' this either, so humor me?" Blue put her sword away and circled behind her, pulling her arms up by the wrists to get her into position, and then took her place beside her. "You know this one, right?" she asked, spinning away, light on her feet.

"Blue," she said, dropping her arms, "I'm not going to do this, it's pointless."

"Oh, come on," she said exasperatedly, stopping to walk back over. "It won't crack you to try it once."

"I said no."

"Yes, you're getting very good at that." Blue waited expectantly. "Look, I'm not going to make you dance, but I think it's worth trying."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"I don't like being a pretty spectacle," Yellow said, crossing her arms.

"Neither do I," Blue replied.

Yellow's shoulders hitched a little higher. "At least you were good at it," she muttered.

Blue gave her a long, searching look. "This is one of your perfectionist things," she said finally. "I'm the only one here, Yellow, and I don't care if you fall flat on your face."

"I'm not that bad!" she shot back defensively.

"Prove it," she challenged.

Yellow opened her mouth to reply, then shut it quickly, looking away.

"What?" Blue asked, her voice softening.

"I thought she'd shatter me for it," she muttered, fists clenching. "Next to you and whichever of White's Pearls was there, I wasn't…" She stopped, shaking her head. "I wasn't made for that, and it was obvious."

"Yellow…"

"I know she's not here—"

"No, I get it," Blue interrupted. "I still feel like Blue Diamond is watching me sometimes." She gave Yellow a faint smile. "We'd both be shattered on sight if they saw us now."

Yellow shivered slightly, then drew herself up decisively and held out one hand. "Then this isn't going to make any difference."

She nodded, reaching for Yellow's hand. "You're sure?"

"Yellow Diamond is a huge egotistical clod and she doesn't own me anymore. Dance with me."

"Oh, it's with now," Blue said with a smile.

"You know what I mean."

She just grinned and pulled Yellow to stand in front of her, arms coming to rest along Yellow's like a shadow with her fingers lightly woven between the other Pearl's. She lifted one in an easy, flowing motion, out and then back. "Okay. Relax a little." She moved their opposite arms, drawing their hands in just short of Yellow's gem. "You're alright. You know this one." Blue nudged her right foot slightly. "Step forward, turn—"

"You don't have to narrate," Yellow said as she spun carefully, Blue still close behind her. "I remember it."

"I know." Blue let her lead as her leg extended in a perfect line. "How?"

"I just do," Yellow replied, tilting her head quizzically. "It's a list of steps, that's all. Any Pearl can do it."

She laughed a little. "I've never done it like that." Blue let go and circled around Yellow, falling into other familiar patterns with ease. "We think differently." She pirouetted and then drifted back towards Yellow, taking her hands again but from the front. "Which is good."

Yellow watched as Blue led her forward, carefully moving with her as she danced. "What do you do then?"

"I remember the feel of it," the other Pearl answered. "You remember it like data. So—" She moved in close. "—break it down into steps and rearrange it."

"Rearrange it?"

"Yes." Blue spun under Yellow's arm, then smiled. "That's what you do when you're fixing the ship, right? You put the little pieces together different ways for different results."

"I'll give you credit for attempting an analogy between dancing and engineering."

"It's a good analogy," she replied stubbornly. "I'm just trying to say it's the same with fighting. You know how to do all the little things Pearl's taught us, but you're bad at putting them in an order that makes sense for you. Battles aren't predictable, so you can't be either."

"…Okay, that's a decent approach."

"Thank you." Blue let go and dipped into a curtsy. "Try it."

"I lost track—am I trying it with the dancing, the engineering, or the fighting?"

"The dancing." She yanked lightly on Yellow's shirt. "Stop being difficult."

"Fine," she replied, "I'll try."

Blue watched as she considered it for several long moments, brow furrowed between closed eyes.

"Okay," Yellow declared finally. She got into position and began moving in precise, fragmented steps. The movements gradually flowed together as she danced, still a little uneven and hesitant when she broke away from familiar patterns but unrelenting as she continued putting together new steps.

"That's great," Blue said happily, slipping easily into a place beside Yellow to mirror her dancing, trailing just a couple seconds behind her. "I like it."

"How are you doing that?" Yellow asked, mild frustration lacing her voice. "You make it look easy, and you've literally never seen this before."

"Sorry," she laughed, "I may not be able to keep up with your technology skills just yet, but I've got a lot of practice with dancing."

"I can see that." She drew Blue in quickly with one arm, surprising her.

The other Pearl smiled, resting her free hand lightly on Yellow's waist. "It's strange dancing without my old skirt," she commented. "And being able to see what I'm doing, for that matter."

"I bet." She spun them in place. "You still like it though, after all of that?"

"I do. It's…calming." Blue let her eyes slip shut, allowing Yellow to lead her. "We should do this more often."

"Don't count on it."

"I suppose there isn't much time for it when we have an invasion and a rebellion to prepare for."

"I meant I'm not particularly interested in adding dance practice to the growing list of things we do on Earth." She smirked, lifting Blue up by the waist and then releasing her so she could fall into a series of leaps.

"If you hated it as much as you pretend to, you wouldn't still be dancing with me," Blue scoffed as she floated back within reach, taking the lead once more and dipping Yellow gracefully.

"Pearl, we're here!" a familiar voice called, startling them.

Blue jumped and very nearly dropped Yellow, catching her just before she hit the ground and ignoring the glare directed her way. "Hello, Steven!" she called as she pulled Yellow up. "Pearl's not here yet!" She blinked in surprise as she noticed another person standing next to him. "Um…"

"Oh, this is Connie!" Steven pulled the newcomer over to where the two Pearls were standing. "Connie, this is Blue and Yellow; they're the Pearls from Homeworld I was telling you about."

"Nice to meet you," Connie said with a shy smile, waving with the hand that wasn't currently occupied by a large sword.

Blue automatically slipped into a polite bow. "Nice to meet you too, Connie."

"You're not supposed to bow," Yellow said, pulling her up by the collar. "Nice to meet you."

Connie, who had just started to bow in return, blushed and straightened up.

Brushing Yellow's hand away, Blue smiled. "Sorry, old habit. I'm working on it."

"Were you guys dancing?" Steven asked, unable to hold the question back any longer.

"Oh, um, yes?" Blue answered.

"That's awesome! Sorry we interrupted, I can't wait to see what you look like when you fuse!"

"Fuse?" she asked faintly.

"You were going to fuse, right?" Steven asked, confused.

"It was just a demonstration," Yellow cut in, flustered hands smoothing out the front of her shirt. "We're not fusing yet."

Blue's face burned with a dark blush. "I…kind of forgot you always dance to fuse here, actually. Sorry," she added, eyes darting to Yellow. "I wasn't trying to—"

"I know that," she said briskly, looking mildly embarrassed.

"Well, when you do, promise you'll come show me, okay?" Steven said.

The two of them nodded.

"Great!" he exclaimed. "Anyway," he added, sparing them the trouble of changing the subject, "Connie's feeling better now, so we can all practice together today!"

"That sounds wonderful," Blue said quickly, face still flushed. "Everyone says you're an excellent swordfighter, Connie."

"Oh, um, I do my best," Connie replied, looking pleased. "I'm nowhere near as good as Pearl is."

"Over five thousand years of practice gives one a slight advantage," Pearl said lightly, coming down the steps silently behind them. "Connie is doing very well, especially for someone who started so recently."

"Thank you," she said, smiling. "Hello, Pearl."

"Hello, Connie. I hope you don't mind having the others here today; my time has been stretched rather thin lately."

"I don't mind at all!" Connie said quickly. "I look forward to working with you," she added, turning to Blue and Yellow. "And I'd just like to say that I'm completely on board with anti-authoritarian movements like yours, so I'll help in any way I can!"

"Thanks," Blue replied, a little surprised. "And I look forward to it as well."

"Yes, there's only so many times you can lose to Pearl before it just gets annoying," Yellow agreed.

"If you'd prefer to teach yourself swordfighting…" Pearl began.

"It was a compliment!"

"Your compliments sound suspiciously like insults."

"You get used to it," Blue said lightly.

"I'm beginning to," Pearl sighed. "Well, since you're so eager for a change of pace, Yellow, you can spar with Connie first."

Yellow glanced sideways at the small human uncertainly. "Sure."

"You don't need to worry; she's been practicing with my holograms quite extensively. Just be careful."

"She's a human," Yellow said, wrinkling her nose. "Don't they bleed?"

"Well, yes, but unless you're actively trying to wound her, I don't think it's going to be a problem."

"If you're sure," she replied doubtfully.

"I can hold my own," Connie said confidently. "I know I'm not as strong as a gem, but that doesn't mean I can't fight! Oh, but just so you know, generally the most important human parts are in the head and the chest."

"I'll…avoid those."

"Okay." She gripped her sword firmly at her side. "Do you have a spear like Pearl does?"

"Not yet." She pulled her swords from her gem. "I'd like to practice using dual-wielding, if that's acceptable."

"Oh, definitely!"

"And you fight with a Quartz sword," Yellow commented.

"Yeah, Steven lets me use it for practice," Connie said with a smile. "If you want to try it out later, you can."

She gave the pink sword a long look. "No, but I appreciate the offer. Blue would probably like it though, if only for the symbolism of a Pearl using a Quartz weapon."

"Only if it's alright with Connie," Blue said quickly, blushing.

"Of course," she agreed. "It does sound like an excellent symbolic gesture. And it's just a really cool sword anyway."

"Definitely," she replied happily.

"Um, are you ready to start?" Connie asked, turning back to Yellow.

Yellow looked her up and down once more. "Yes," she declared.

Connie bowed to her politely, and Yellow returned the gesture quickly. They both readied their swords, settling into a proper stance.

"Whenever you're ready," Yellow said.

Connie moved fast, not giving Yellow time to think before she was assaulted with numerous strikes. She blocked each one as it came, backpedaling slightly and holding her ground there as she planned out her next move. There was surprising power behind Connie's attacks and while she hadn't exhibited any particularly impressive strategies so far, she seemed to be trying to get a feel for her opponent's abilities first, which was an excellent strategy in and of itself.

As soon as Yellow saw a gap in the strikes, she pivoted, one sword slicing the air in front of her opponent as the other came up to guard against the larger weapon. Connie countered immediately, not leaving any part of her body vulnerable as she fended off quick strikes from two swords.

The match continued on, the two of them exchanging techniques, each of them picking up their opponent's methods and then using them in retaliation whenever they had a chance.

"You're doing great!" Steven shouted from the sidelines. "You can do it!"

"Who are you cheering for?" Pearl asked.

"Both of them!"

Pearl placed a hand on his head fondly.

"They're a good match," Blue said, chin resting on her hand as she watched.

"They are," she agreed. "I've noticed Yellow's moving a little more naturally now as well; I assume that's your doing?"

She blushed. "I didn't do much. She just needed a new perspective."

"Don't sell yourself short." Pearl touched her shoulder. "I think you're both becoming excellent fighters."

"That's thanks to you, really."

"I can certainly be persuaded to take some credit," she said lightly, "but I stand by my original statement."

Blue laughed as Steven climbed over Pearl to give her a hug. "Thanks."

The match eventually wound down, Yellow and Connie both beginning to tire. Connie, in a last ditch attempt to turn the tides in her favor, slammed the hilt of her sword onto Yellow's hand, making her drop one of her swords, more out of surprise than pain. Connie took advantage of the brief opening and got up close to her, sword stopping just short of her gem.

Yellow froze, not flinching. "Your victory," she conceded, letting her arms drop to her sides.

The focused intensity on Connie's face faded into a friendly expression. "I didn't think I'd win," she said, breathing hard. She relaxed, setting her sword down heavily. "You're really good."

"Thanks," Yellow muttered, one hand finding her gem and running careful fingers over it. "I apologize for underestimating you."

"It's okay, it's pretty useful when your opponents think you're not going to be able to put up much of a fight." She smiled. "I bet that'll work for you when you go back to Homeworld too."

"It will." She stuck out her right hand abruptly. "It was a pleasure to spar with you."

"Oh! Um, you too," Connie replied, shaking Yellow's hand with her own taped fingers. "Thank you."

"That was excellent, both of you," Pearl declared, walking over to them. "We'll discuss specifics later; you can take a break while Blue and I spar. Connie, make sure you drink plenty of water."

"Yes, ma'am!" She went over and joined Steven, who presented her a water bottle with a sweeping gesture.

"For you, Miss Knight."

Connie laughed and accepted it. "Thank you, fellow knight."

"Good job!" Blue congratulated her. "And you too," she added as Yellow joined them. She stood and pulled her own sword from her gem. "The dancing helped."

"Hardly," she scoffed. "Go show Pearl what you've been practicing."

"I plan on it."

"Ready, Blue?" Pearl called.

"Coming!" She hurried over, sinking into a bow as she reached Pearl. "I'm ready."

"Then let's begin," Pearl said, returning the bow. "You're not dual wielding?"

"It's not for me. I've been working on something else."

She smiled a little at the reply. "Alright, let's see it then."

Yellow looked on with mild interest as the other two began their match, Steven and Connie giggling beside her over a joke she hadn't understood.

"We have some snacks if you want them," Connie offered her a few moments later, holding up some slices of fruit.

"No."

"Yellow doesn't really like eating either," Steven said.

"Oh, okay." She popped the fruit in her mouth. "Are all Pearls like that?"

"No, Blue likes the stuff you don't have to swallow," Yellow replied. "Though I'm not sure how accurate a sample size of three is going to be."

"We could ask some of the other Pearls on Homeworld," Steven said.

"I think they'll have enough problems without adding digestion to the list."

The other two laughed, turning their attention back to the sparring match before them.

Blue was throwing a flurry of attacks in Pearl's direction, which were blocked with relative ease but definitely seemed to be requiring a fair amount of focus from Pearl. Changing tack quickly, Blue spun around with a kick and used the brief blind spot to pull a knife out of her gem. She came around to face Pearl again, feinted right, and raised her other hand just as Pearl dodged, the tip of the small blade coming within an inch of her gem.

Pearl's eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed, her hand flashing up and knocking Blue's arm aside roughly. She instinctively slammed her fist against Blue's head as hard as she could, knocking her to the ground and thrusting her blade down, catching herself mere millimeters from Blue's chest. Realization dawned on her and she quickly withdrew her sword, looking pale.

"Oh. Oh dear, I'm sorry, that was incredibly unprofessional of me." She knelt down beside Blue, helping her sit up and leaning in to see if she was injured. "I…wasn't thinking clearly. I hope that didn't hurt too badly; I can take you to Rose's fountain if—"

"I'm okay," Blue interrupted, a grin making its way to her face as she rubbed her head. "Did I actually surprise you with that?"

Pearl's cheeks flushed. "You certainly did, yes," she managed. "Where did you get the knife?"

"It was in the kitchen. You said I was welcome to any of your weaponry, right?"

"Well, yes, but that one's intended to be used for cooking, not combat," Pearl said, lifting the blade from Blue's fingers.

"Sorry, I didn't realize cooking required weapons."

"…I'll explain later. You came up with that move on your own?"

She nodded. "You said we should find our own techniques."

"Which you did," Pearl said, beginning to smile. "That was excellent. You'll need to work on it, of course, but you're onto something there." She gripped the handle of the knife, getting a feel for it. "I have some daggers in my collection," she added. "Would you like to pick one or two out to try?"

Blue's eyes lit up. "That would be great!"

"We'll do that tonight then," she decided. "If you're all up to it, we should continue training."

After a few more rounds of sparring, switching up partners and even doing a two-on-two match, the training session came to an end. Pearl hurried Steven and Connie back to the temple, fretting that it was nearly Steven's dinnertime and Connie was getting picked up in approximately ten minutes so they couldn't delay. Blue and Yellow lingered behind as they usually did, doing a few final drills to wind down and then walking back over to the steps to sit down.

"You were great today," Blue said warmly. "I want you to show me how to do that one—" She made a slashing motion in the air to demonstrate what she meant.

"Sure."

"You have to admit the dancing helped."

"I'm admitting it, but I'm still not interested in actual dancing."

"I guess I can't complain about that," she laughed. She paused for a moment, looking at Yellow. "You are pretty, by the way," she added.

"What?"

"You always say you weren't made to be pretty, but that doesn't mean you aren't."

"Well, I am a Pearl; there are certain standards."

"Yellow," she said sternly.

"What?"

"That was meant to be a compliment. Just accept it."

She huffed, crossing her arms self-consciously. "Fine. The same goes for you, but I still think it's strange to be complimenting gems like us on appearances."

"Thanks," Blue said brightly, tucking her hair back.

Yellow's eyes darted briefly to Blue and then down to her feet, biting the corner of her lip. "Yes," she said finally.

"Yes what?"

"Yes, your flattery is effective despite the complete lack of subtlety, and yes, I'll fuse with you."

Blue froze, eyes going wide. "Y-You…really…?"

"Yes."

"You don't want more time to think about it?"

"We don't have time," Yellow said plainly. "Look, Blue, we're headed into who-knows-what and it's pretty much inevitable that one or both of us will have to fuse in the near future, so—" She broke off, making a small frustrated noise. "I just mean we should get it over with."

She winced. "Get it over with?"

"Yes. No. I didn't mean to say it like that." She scratched at her left shoulder, looking uncomfortable. "Just—It shouldn't be in the middle of a fight! It wouldn't make logistical sense; it would put everyone in danger if we didn't know what we were doing. And I don't want…"

Blue waited patiently, though Yellow just looked annoyed with her for not saying anything.

"I don't want the first time to be like that," she finished. "It should just be us."

Blue nodded, taking a deep breath. "So you do want to, right?" she asked anxiously.

Yellow smiled faintly and held out a hand. "Yes. Do you still want to?"

She laughed a little in relief, ignoring Yellow's hand and pulling her into a hug. "Yes," she said earnestly. "Yes, yes, of course I want to. Thank you."

"…Yeah. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Do you—Should we try it now? Is that what you meant? Or—"

"Yes, sure, if you're done trying to squeeze me to death."

"Sorry," Blue laughed, letting go reluctantly. "How do we do this?"

"You're asking me? It was your idea; surely you have some kind of plan."

"Yellow, I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to plan how you fuse."

"I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to fuse at all."

"Good point." She paused for a moment, considering. "I guess we should just…dance together? Something simple? I know the Crystal Gems are flashier about it, but since we haven't done this before…"

"Okay," Yellow said slowly, looking flustered. "That works."

"You're going to need to calm down."

"I am calm."

"Right," she said disbelievingly. She lifted one hand to join Yellow's and then settled the other on her waist. "If you're not sure about this—"

"I said I was sure! Stop second-guessing me, Blue; you're making me more nervous than I already am."

"I thought you were calm?"

"I am calm and very, very nervous, now please stop talking about fusing and get to it." She placed her free hand on Blue's shoulder.

Blue laughed, shaking her head. "Okay."

"Do you think we should inform the Crystal Gems before we try this in case something goes wrong?" Yellow asked suddenly before they could begin.

"What do you think is going to go wrong?" she asked, looking mildly alarmed.

"I don't know, I've never done this before!"

"Well, neither have I. It'll be fine."

"I hope you realize that's not at all reassuring."

"It's the thought that counts."

"No it isn't. Stop picking up all these pointless Earth sayings."

"I don't think you get to judge me when you're the one who's addicted to this planet's music." She paused. "Maybe we should get some music now."

"Don't bother," Yellow said exasperatedly. "Let's just get started."

"Okay." Blue squeezed her hand. "We can stop right away if we don't like it."

Yellow nodded. "You're ready?"

"I'm ready. Thanks for doing this with me."

"You already said that."

"I know." She smiled, a tinge of anxiety hidden in her eyes. "I just…wanted to say it again. You're important to me."

Yellow's shoulders relaxed slightly, her expression warming. "I'm starting to think you're less interested in fusing and more interested in standing around being saccharine. But," she added in a quieter voice, "thank you. You too."

Blue nodded, a little misty-eyed. "Let's dance?"

"Let's dance."

A warm light bloomed from their gems, engulfing the two of them before they could take one step.