"Give her back?" Pearl asked incredulously. "You trust her?"

"She'd turn us all in!" Peridot exclaimed. "I mean, I know she's not as hostile as she was initially, but that's hardly a ringing endorsement for shipping her straight back to Yellow Diamond."

"No," Blue answered. "I don't trust her necessarily, but I trust that she has very little to gain by telling Yellow Diamond everything that's happened here."

"She has loads to gain," she protested, looking to Garnet who had just come in to join them. "She could turn in Rose Quartz—Steven—and do you have any idea what the Diamonds would try to do to him? How happy Yellow Diamond would be to see the gem that shattered Pink Diamond brought to justice?"

"Yellow Diamond," Blue said carefully, "is happiest thinking that's already taken care of. She doesn't need a reminder of how much she hates Earth."

"And," Yellow added, beginning to understand where Blue was headed with this, "she likes Jasper best as a showpiece, a gem she can have in court from time to time so everyone recalls the stories of one of Homeworld's greatest Quartz soldiers. She's already given her as many niceties as she's willing to offer someone from a place like this, and I suspect that if her presence became some sort of inconvenient reminder of their failure…well, she'd much rather ship her off to a remote outpost somewhere."

"Inconvenient?" Peridot asked. "But—"

"To be perfectly blunt, what you never understood about the Diamonds is that they want you to reaffirm what they've already decided is best, not come up with your own solutions. And this isn't even a solution, just a problem."

"…Fair enough."

"Exactly," Blue agreed. "The first thing she'd ask after finding out about Steven or the Crystal Gems or even just me and Yellow would be 'Why didn't you handle the situation already?' Jasper has a reputation as a war hero, and admitting that she couldn't get the better of a few rebels or at the very least call in for immediate backup…it would be a blow to that reputation."

"And if that's all Yellow Diamond wants her for, then she's just screwing herself over by saying anything," Yellow finished.

"If Yellow Diamond is that mean to her, then we can't send her back!" Steven protested, finally speaking up. "And—"

"You can't trust her," Lapis interrupted. "And you shouldn't keep her around here either. You should bubble her, or whatever it is you do."

"Steven wanted to give her a chance," Garnet said calmly. "She's of no danger to anyone within that field. It's outside of it that I'm less confident about the outcome, but even then, most seem surprisingly positive."

"How?"

"Because of Steven." She placed a hand in his curls. "Jasper may not like Earth or the Crystal Gems, but she does like Steven."

"And I trust her," Steven added quickly. "But I don't want to make her go. I think she can learn to like it here, like all of you!"

"Not all gems are willing to make that change, Steven," Pearl said quietly. "We can't rely on that hope, much as I'm glad you have it."

"The important part is that you made friends with her," Blue said. "She understands you're not the same Rose Quartz that killed Pink Diamond now and you've been talking and, I don't know, doing some Earth-made Quartz bonding that I don't fully understand, but it has gotten through to her a little bit. At the very least, I don't think she'd turn you in to the Diamonds when she knows you didn't do anything."

"What about the rest of you? The other Pearls?"

She shrugged. "If they're already suspicious of the existence of a few rogue Pearls, one more detail isn't going to make a big difference. I don't want them to know we're alive, of course, but I suppose they do have to find out sooner or later anyway."

"And all things considered, they're unlikely to take it very seriously," Pearl admitted. "They wouldn't see a handful of Pearls as a viable threat—which of course we'll use to our advantage, but the point still stands."

"And with the fake information in their Cluster report, the Diamonds are unlikely to be concerned about taking down them or the surviving Crystal Gems; they'll think we're history," Garnet added. "Without Rose Quartz in the picture, there wouldn't be any real drive for more personal revenge."

"It's still dangerous though," Pearl pointed out. "We haven't given her enough information to truly be damaging, yes, but there's a lot of variables and your future vision isn't a guarantee that…"

"I know. But I think it's a risk I'm willing to take." Garnet adjusted her visor. "Any objections?"

"…No. Better to choose the peaceful solution now and keep Earth safe. That's what Rose would have done."

"Peridot?"

"It's not ideal, but if you can talk Jasper into it… You're right, it's about protecting Earth."

"You've come a long way," Garnet said with a smile. "Yellow?"

"I'm with Blue on this one. Let's try it."

Garnet nodded. "Lapis?"

Lapis looked surprised to be asked, but her expression quickly settled back into neutral. "I think you're all a bit cracked, but it might be good to have a few galaxies in between us."

"It will be," she said gently. "Steven? Your call."

"I…" He bit his lip. "I know it's important not to let Mom down, but I don't want to let Jasper down either. Isn't Yellow Diamond going to be mad at her for taking so long on her mission and everything?"

"Irritated, maybe," Yellow said honestly. "But you have to remember that your way of measuring time…it's not that we necessarily experience it differently, but it doesn't feel as long when you've been around for hundreds or thousands of years. I mean, it's only just recently that Yellow Diamond really noticed her absence and sent a ship to come get her."

"I see what you mean." Steven hesitated. "But she won't get hurt?"

"I mean, I can't guarantee anything, but no, I don't think so. Yellow Diamond may have a temper, but she doesn't snap at every little infraction either. Being late isn't really that bad, all things considered."

"Okay," he said slowly. "Then…yeah. Let's ask her if she wants to. I guess it would be kind of mean for us to just leave her out on the beach forever while we try to change her mind. I want her to actually have a choice."

"You have to choose your freedom," Blue said softly.

Steven nodded. "Yeah."

"I would hope after all that training, you can handle one ship," Jasper said as they approached. "Because I'm not fighting for you."

"We don't need you to," Pearl said calmly, walking straight up to the destabilizing field with Blue and Yellow close behind her. "Actually, we were hoping we might come to an agreement with you."

"Like what?" she asked warily.

"Well," she continued, "to keep it short, in exchange for your silence, we'll allow you to return to Homeworld with the rescue team that was sent for you."

"Why?"

"We'd prefer to keep Earth out of Homeworld's line of fire and not draw attention to ourselves by interfering too much with the Rubies' mission."

"This planet's already doomed," Jasper countered. "I'm not sure what difference it makes."

"The Cluster is a more manageable threat than the Diamonds themselves," Pearl said, deftly avoiding giving Jasper any hint that it had already been managed. "I'm sure you can understand that."

"Sure. But you're not going to win any wars by letting prisoners go free and giving them a chance to relay information to their own side."

"We're not in a war," Blue pointed out. "We'd like to keep it that way."

"And, really, I don't you've discovered anything worth telling her," Yellow added, "unless you want to get dissipated or worse for failing to take care of the problem yourself. We both know she's never had a whole lot of patience with you."

Jasper looked reluctant to admit it, but she didn't offer an argument either.

"So do we have a deal?"

"…You're banking on the fact that I'm getting along with Steven, aren't you? Why didn't you bring him along as your trump card?"

"Because Steven's a person, not a tool for us to use," Pearl answered evenly. "Besides, in my experience, Quartz loyalty doesn't falter just because of a little distance."

Jasper looked at her for a long moment. "I won't turn him in," she said finally. "But you can't expect me to go out of my way to protect the rest of you. You're still traitors."

"You don't have to go out of your way," Blue said. "You can just pretend you never saw us."

"And what if I don't pretend?"

She shrugged. "You're not going to do it then?"

"I don't know, I'm still trying to figure out why you're making this offer in the first place. It's ridiculous."

"Maybe Earth's ridiculous," Yellow replied calmly. "Like you've been saying this whole time. But not everywhere has to be like Homeworld."

"We can't force you to change," Pearl said. "Just as you can't force us. So perhaps it's best that we part ways here."

Jasper nodded, eyes unreadable.

"Steven sees good in you," she continued. "And I don't doubt that it exists, but keeping you here against your will isn't going to bring it out. Certainly not after the past few months with Lapis Lazuli."

"Steven sees what he wants to see," Jasper muttered. "And what does she think of all this?"

"Lapis? This doesn't involve her and, quite frankly, there are a multitude of reasons you haven't seen her during your stay here."

"She doesn't want to see me then? Figures."

"It isn't about want to, I don't think," Blue said carefully. "It's about need to."

Jasper shrugged.

"So?" Yellow asked. "Is this a yes or a no to the deal? We have a time limit here."

"What happens if I say no?"

"Then nothing changes for you," Pearl said. "Although if anything happens to Earth and we aren't around to stop it or let you escape…"

"I'm prepared to shatter for my Diamond."

"Yellow or Pink?" Blue asked quietly. "And don't say it doesn't make a difference, because it does."

"I'm loyal to the court I'm in."

"No doubt," Yellow said calmly. "But even Yellow Diamond knows that, given the choice, you wouldn't be there."

"Fine," Jasper snapped. "I wouldn't. But I don't have a choice thanks to your Crystal Gems, do I?"

"You have a choice, it's just not the one you wanted. But I think it's rather beneath you," she continued, narrowing her eyes in challenge, "to ignore the other options just to shatter nobly for either a gem who isn't around to see it or another that could care less. For once in your life, stop trying to please somebody who thinks she owns you just because she showed a little false, manipulative pity to you after the war. She's not worth it."

"She's a Diamond."

"But not yours. We both know that."

Jasper held Yellow's gaze for a long moment. "I'm not part of your rebellion. I won't affiliate myself with the Crystal Gems under any circumstances, so don't start thinking I'll help you out. Once I'm back, I never want to get involved with this again."

Blue smiled. "So you'll go?"

"Yes. And fine, I won't tell Yellow Diamond more than she needs to know. I won't mention Steven, because he's not part of this. But if it comes down to it, I'm not putting my ass on the line for you lot. If withholding information is going to go badly for me, then I won't."

"Understood," Pearl said, nodding seriously. "We have a deal?"

"Deal."

"If you renege on that promise about keeping Steven out of it..."

"I hear you, Renegade."

"Good. Then we're decided." She deactivated the destabilizing field smoothly. "Follow us."

When they slipped back in through the side of the barn, the Rubies were still piled around Amethyst, watching with awe as she showed off her shapeshifted muscles. She looked immensely relieved when she caught sight of Pearl waving to her and made a smooth exit, saying something about needing to check on a few things in the barn before she left and walked over to join them.

As soon as the door was closed and she was out of their line of sight, she dropped the shift. "Whew," she sighed. "Okay, what's the—oh, hey, Jasper."

Jasper looked her over once and didn't say anything, clearly offended by either the shapeshifting or her unusual stature, or quite possibly both.

"We're going to switch you two out," Pearl said. "Amethyst, is there anything you said that they might bring up with Jasper?"

"Nah, not much. I said that I set up fighting you guys as a test, secretly planned it with YD or whatever. They don't ask too many questions once you start showing off though," she said with a grin. "Just flex at 'em."

"That's what I usually end up doing," Jasper muttered.

Amethyst laughed. "See, she knows." Then, growing serious, she gave Jasper a punch in the side. "If you do anything to hurt Steven, you know what happens, right?"

"Yes, yes, your Pearls made that abundantly clear, can we move on?"

"They're not my Pearls but sure. Can't keep 'em waiting too long. Go for it."

Jasper did, making her way to the door. But before she could get there, Lapis slipped down from the rafters gracefully and landed nearby, Peridot hurrying over to join her with a worried expression on her face.

"Jasper."

Their eyes met for one long moment, something Blue couldn't understand passing between them. Hate? Defiance? Curiosity?

Whatever it was, she could tell it was an ending. Malachite—along with any other intricacies that existed between her two components—was not going to come back.

They turned away from each other again, and Lapis took off into the sky—but not off planet, it seemed, and Steven looked relieved. Jasper just went to the door to join the Rubies.

She cleared her throat, gathering herself after the unsettling encounter, before calling out to them. "Hey," she said, getting their attention. "I'm all set, let's go."

"Okay, Jasper!" There was no hesitation there, and the Crystal Gems all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wait, what happened to your tan?" Navy asked, eyes wide.

"Uh…" Jasper looked completely lost. "It comes and goes?"

"Earth's so silly," she laughed.

"That's for sure. Which one of you is flying this ship?"

"I am!" Doc said quickly. "But if you'd like to take the captain's seat, then please go ahead. It would be an honor."

"No, I'll leave that to you."

"Yes, Jasper!"

The Rubies hurried off into the ship, and Jasper glanced back over her shoulder.

Steven waved quickly, smiling encouragingly as their eyes met. "See you later!"

Jasper shook her head like she was fed up with the constant sentimentality, but she lifted a hand to wave back all the same. "Goodbye, Steven."

More final than what he wanted, but he accepted it all the same.

Blue couldn't get a read on which of their parting words were more accurate, but she leaned toward see you later when she saw the hint of a toothy smile on Jasper's face before she turned away.