For once, Caddy was itching to leave base, to get back to the Diamonds' courts. She wanted to check on White. Even as frustrated as she was with the other Pearl, she wanted to go and make sure she was okay, or as okay as she could be. White was important. No matter what she said or did, and whether she considered Caddy anything more than an annoying acquaintance or not, there was no way Caddy was going to give up on her. Friends looked after friends.
But first she had to look after these new Pearls like Crimson asked.
Caddy knocked lightly on the door to the infirmary, not wanting to startle the current two residents by barging in unannounced. "It's Caddy! Can I come in?"
"Yeah, go ahead!"
"Thanks!" She opened the door. "Feel free to keep kissing or whatever, don't mind me." She paused as she caught sight of Cyan. She was lying flat on her stomach next to Tangerine with papers scattered all around her, one hand intertwined with hers and the other holding a pen. "Or working, though that's not nearly as interesting."
"I have to put some plans together for upcoming missions," she pointed out, then narrowed her eyes at the bag in Caddy's arms. "What's in there?"
"Pearls."
Cyan gave her a skeptical look.
"No, seriously, it's Pearls," Caddy laughed. "Don't worry, it's not a prank. I won't get glitter on all your notes."
"Good." Cyan sat up, letting go of Tangerine's hand for a moment as she resituated. "The Pearls from the mission then? Was White able to get all of them?"
"Yep, everybody's accounted for."
"That's great," she said happily, squeezing Tangerine's fingers a little tighter. "They're all safe."
"I'm glad," Tangerine murmured. She'd had her eyes closed when Caddy entered but she opened them now, fully awake. "Hi, Caddy."
"Hi! How's it going? You gonna come out and join us anytime soon?"
"Soon," she agreed quietly. "I'm nearly all healed."
"Awesome, I can't wait." Caddy smiled, sitting down on a sliver of bed that wasn't covered by papers. "Wanna see our new friends? I need to check and see if they need this healing stuff anyway."
"I'd love to." Tangerine sat up a little straighter in bed as Caddy opened up the pack and began removing layers of blanket and the Pearls between them.
When she was finished, they were laid out in two small rows. A variety of colors, and Caddy was happy to see none of them had been marred by scuffs or cracks. They'd be okay, and they'd be able to decide their own futures now.
"They're so beautiful, aren't they?" Tangerine murmured, hand hovering over the nearest ones, only a featherlight touch before withdrawing. There was genuine care in her voice, but something else too, something Caddy could all too easily recognize the sound of, especially when Tangerine's other hand had twitched towards her own discolored gem.
"Mmhm," Caddy hummed lightly. "Just like all our other new rebels, right?"
The gentle teasing—because it was impossible to miss the wink Caddy threw in their direction—seemed to startle Tangerine into a smile.
Cyan immediately followed it up with a blushy but decidedly adamant "Yes."
Caddy laughed. "You talking about Tangy or Blue there, Miss Starry Eyes?"
For a moment, all she could get out was incoherent sputtering, and Tangerine started giggling too. "I was trying to be romantic, Caddy!" Cyan protested.
"I know, I know, it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up!" She tugged a little on Cyan's hair and earned herself a mildly irritated swat. "Anyway, enough teasing," she decided with a grin. "I've gotta get these guys taken care of. They look okay, but I think I'll just dunk 'em all in the tear stuff to be safe."
"I was about to suggest the same thing," Tangerine said, sobering. "It might be best to leave their gems immersed for a little while, since Homeworld was messing around with them…"
"Good thinking."
"Can you tell me more about the mission?" Cyan asked as Caddy got up and opened the nearest container of healing tears.
"Oh, sure. I mean, I don't know much. You know how White is."
"Not really," she commented. "We haven't even met her yet."
Caddy shrugged, frowning as she came back to retrieve the Pearls from the bed. "She's just… I don't know, I don't wanna talk about it right now."
"Oh, okay."
"She doesn't really talk to me. Or anybody, I guess."
Cyan nodded. "But she did at least bring them home. Eight Pearls. That's something."
"Nine."
"Huh?"
"There's nine, we lost one." Caddy caught the beginnings of sadness in their eyes and quickly shook her head. "No, no, like we lost her because she ran off. Everybody's looking for her around base."
"You lost her?" Cyan repeated incredulously. "How does a whole entire Pearl just up and disappear without anyone noticing?"
"…Okay, I'm going to count to three and see if our tactician can see the irony in that statement."
A flustered blue immediately rose to Cyan's cheeks again, and Tangerine made a valiant effort not to laugh.
"There it is, I knew you had it in ya," Caddy teased. She scooped up the last two Pearls and went back over to the healing tears. "Do I just drop them in?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's fine," Tangerine answered, sliding her hand into Cyan's again. "You should probably leave the lid off in case any of them reform."
"Right!" Caddy picked up the first Pearl and set the gem in gently. "Ooh, feels neat," she said as the cool liquid surrounded her arm. She lifted her hand out and let a few stray drops fall onto her gem. "Kinda refreshing. So is this literal tears?"
"I assumed it was," Cyan answered distractedly.
"Damn, that's a lot of crying."
She let out a startled laugh, looking up from the documents that had drawn her attention again. "That was my first thought too."
"Right?" Caddy grinned. She added the rest of the Pearls in one by one, then rested her chin on the edge of the container as she looked at them. "Welcome to the rebellion," she said softly. "I can't wait to meet you." She sat up, twisting to face Cyan and Tangerine. "Is it okay if I hang out here for a bit till Crimson comes by?"
"Sure, that's fine."
"Awesome, thanks! I promise I won't interrupt your scheming."
"Strategizing."
"Scheming sounds more exciting." Caddy stretched, smiling at the eye roll she got. "So do I get to go on your next mission?" she asked curiously.
"No way."
She clutched at her gem dramatically. "And I thought we were friends!"
"Friends has nothing to do with it," Cyan said, amused. "You're way too high risk right now to be going on missions."
"Fine, fine, I get it. But when me and Sky are out of service, you better find something really cool for us to do!"
"Understood," she laughed. "Only the coolest missions for you."
"Right!" Caddy leaned back, lounging against the container of tears. "And Tangy too, she's definitely cool enough to join us."
"Thanks," Tangerine laughed. "What about Cyan though?"
"Well…I guess she can come along. Just to even out the ratio of yellow-y gems to blue-y gems."
"Why you!" Cyan tossed her pen in Caddy's direction, clicking her tongue when Caddy caught it and spun it in her palm. "You'll be lucky if you get any missions if you're going to be like that," she said good-naturedly.
"I'll take my chances," Caddy said with a wink, throwing the pen back to her easily. "Okay, get to work, I don't want you telling the boss I've been distracting you."
"I don't think she'll need us to tell her. Your distraction techniques are clearly legendary."
Caddy laughed and propped one leg up on top of the other. "Thank you."
It felt nice, just being able to breathe and let her mind wander. That was what she loved about the rebellion, just being here and existing with everyone else and enjoying life far more than she ever could beside her Diamond.
Why couldn't White have this too? Why couldn't she stick around sometimes, enjoy herself and see the lasting effects of her own accomplishments, the best parts? Why wouldn't she let them try to give her that chance?
Some Pearls don't get more.
Well, Caddy was going to prove her wrong. Somehow.
Viri had readily volunteered to help search the base, but it had been a while and she was starting to get worried that no one had found the new Pearl yet. Had something happened to her? Or had she somehow gotten outside? No, no, Caddy and White wouldn't have missed her leaving, whatever kind of words they'd been exchanging at the time. And Pearls had been trading off watching the door ever since. So…
What would I do if White dragged me to a brand-new place with a bunch of strangers around?
If Viri was honest, her answer would have been "talk to everyone!" but she was ninety-nine percent sure this new Pearl didn't share the sentiment or they wouldn't be searching for her.
So…the opposite? Find somewhere quiet?
The pink Pearl wouldn't know where that would be, but she could have easily just stayed in the first empty room she found. That probably meant she was somewhere on the east side of the building, perhaps near storage? Viri headed over there, waving to a couple friends along the way.
The first room she checked was empty, and the second one just had Snow in it, who shrugged. "I haven't seen her, and there's already been a couple other Pearls searching over here. You're welcome to go through the rooms again though."
"Okay, thanks!"
Viri continued checking the rooms one by one, searching each closet and corner in case the Pearl had hidden herself away. So far, there was no sign of her.
It was only when she neared the far end of the hall that she heard something—tiny sniffling noises coming from a nearby room.
Quietly, carefully, she followed the sound until she reached what must have been the right door. She hesitated, not sure whether to announce herself first or just enter, not wanting to spook the newcomer any more than she already had been by her sudden arrival.
Well, it couldn't hurt to say hello first, right? Even if the Pearl was scared, it wasn't as if there was anywhere she could run away to this time. Viri knocked quietly on the door and heard a sharp gasp. "Hello," she called, as quietly as she could without going unheard. "I'm just here to check on you. Is it okay if I come in?"
No answer, aside from muffled sobs, reached her.
"I want to make sure you're okay, that's all," Viri promised. "So I'm going to open the door. I won't hurt you."
The silence that answered her was far from an invitation, but Viri swiped a finger over the door panel anyway and opened it. She took a couple steps forward, slow and careful so as not to startle her, and then shut it behind her.
This storage room, like many of the others, was mostly empty. There were just enough boxes in the farthest corner for the pink Pearl to hide amongst, to be concealed from anyone just looking in from the doorway, but not many. When Viri moved a little further in, she could see her huddled between them and it was heartbreaking. Ragged, stifled sobs continued to spill past the hands she'd pressed to her mouth, and her hair fell over her face messily. Her hunched posture made her look as if she expected Viri to shatter her.
"Hi," Viri whispered, kneeling down a fair distance away, trying not to make her feel trapped. "It's okay, I promise. No one's going to hurt you here."
The pink Pearl rubbed at her face, trembling.
"My name's Viri." She hesitated. "I know this is probably pretty different from what you're used to, but I promise it's better. You're free now, and you can do whatever you want."
She just looked at Viri, hidden gaze seeming to travel to the elongated gem on Viri's chest, not sure what to make of it.
"I'm a Pearl like you, I'm just a little different," she explained softly.
The pink Pearl turned away, still hiccupping with sobs.
"It's kinda scary being somewhere new, huh? With all these new Pearls around?" Viri smiled sympathetically. "It was tough for me too, even though I chose to come here."
She didn't get any response, so she pressed on.
"Hey, but you have friends here already, right? So you're gonna be just fine."
"Wh-What…?" It was the first thing she'd said, and Viri felt a flood of sadness at how scared she sounded.
"Your friends, the other Pearls?" she prompted encouragingly. "I know it might be a couple weeks before they're back, but you'll all be together soon."
The Pearl shook her head, trembling. "I-I don't know them…"
"You don't? But you all came from the same place."
"Not exactly…"
"Oh." Viri bit her lip, wishing she'd thought to ask more about these Pearls before she went looking. "I'm sorry."
The pink Pearl shrugged.
"Well, maybe you can make friends with them now, right?" She leaned forward a little. "And you can be friends with me."
That got her attention at least, though the tears kept coming.
"I could help you learn your way around and introduce you to some other friends too. Would you like that?"
"But I don't even know you," she whispered uncertainly.
"Not yet," she said with a smile.
"And I don't understand where I am. The white Pearl wouldn't tell me anything after she stole me."
"Yeah, sorry about that. White's good at getting things done, but she's not great at talking. But I can take you to someone who is."
The thought of leaving the room made her scrunch back a little further amongst the boxes. "Why can't you tell me?"
"I can, if you want me to."
The Pearl hesitated, then nodded slightly.
"Okay."
And Viri told her. She told her everything about the rebellion that she could think of, from what they did to what they believed in to all the wonderful Pearls she got to share her new life with. Even what her own first day had been like and how scared she'd been to leave behind her old home.
Slowly, as Viri spoke, the Pearl leaned forward, then gradually began scooting across the floor towards her, inch by inch. Viri smiled, careful not to move and startle her, and soon they were only about a foot apart.
"Hi," she said gently.
"Hi." The Pearl's voice was still wary, but not nearly as shaky as it had been before. She blinked quickly as she pushed her unkempt hair from her face.
"Oh!" Viri said, surprised. "You have eyes!"
The Pearl stared at her incredulously. "…Yes?"
"I mean, sorry, I know someone—one of the Pearls I was in service with—and she had hair kind of like yours but no eyes, so I guess I expected…" She shook her head as she continued to receive only a confused look. "But eyes are great! They look great on you! Definitely!"
To her amazement, the pink Pearl started to laugh—quietly, but still a laugh, and Viri was delighted to see her stop crying. "You're nice," the Pearl murmured, quieting. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Viri noticed that she kept having to push her hair back and reached to her gem to pull out a hair band. She held it up for the other Pearl to inspect. "Would you like some help?"
"…Okay," she agreed cautiously, moving a little closer and inclining her head.
Surprised but happy with the gesture of trust, Viri carefully swept her fingers underneath her top layer of hair that kept obscuring her eyes. Taking the same amount from all around her head, she gathered it up into a small ponytail and slipped the band over it, looping it one, two, three times. "How's that?" she asked, withdrawing. "Not too tight?"
"It's good." The Pearl smiled uncertainly. "Thanks."
"Anytime."
"Why did you have…?" She slowly reached out and touched Viri's hair, most of which was too short to keep in a ponytail.
"My girlfriend works in the forge and says it's a fire hazard to have the long bits hanging down like this," Viri laughed, demonstrating how she could pull the longer strands of hair back so they didn't dangle. "She's sweet to worry, but she catches fire way more often than I do."
The Pearl looked mildly alarmed at the statement, but settled when she saw that Viri was still laughing.
"Anyway, you can keep it," she continued. "I'll find another one; I think Steven brought some and he offered to do my hair the other day. It'll be fun, you should come too!"
"Mm-hm," she said uncertainly, beginning to look nervous again.
"Hey, here, why don't you take this too?" Viri added, hand going to her gem again to retrieve a handkerchief. "So you can clean up and feel better?"
The Pearl nodded gratefully, accepting it and beginning to wipe at her face gingerly. Viri waited patiently for her to finish, then gestured for her to keep it.
"Much better," she said gently. "How would you feel about coming with me now? We can find you somewhere more comfortable to stay."
"Comfortable? But…" She faltered when Viri only tilted her head curiously. "O-Okay. Sure."
"Thanks."
Viri stood up slowly and walked to the door, opening it up once more and taking only one step outside before waiting for the other Pearl to join her. "We're not going very far," she said encouragingly as the smaller Pearl fell into step beside her. She tried to slow her own pace, account for her added length of stride. "Just straight out this way and then left."
"Okay."
Viri led her out of the storage rooms, waving briefly to Snow and giving her a thumbs up. She smiled back, waving.
There was a fair amount of Pearls around once they reached the main hallway, and Viri quickly located Ory in the mix and got her attention. "Hey, Ory! Could you go tell Crimson I found our missing Pearl, please? I'm taking her over to her office."
"O-Okay, I'll find her right away!"
"Thanks!" Viri called after her as she took off. With that, she guided the new Pearl over to Crimson's little office, closing the door behind them to block out the busyness of the hallway beyond. "Here we go. You can sit down."
The Pearl sat tentatively on the edge of one chair, looking around the small triangular room. "Who's Crimson?"
"She's our leader," Viri said, taking the seat next to her. "The Pearl who brought me here, like I was talking about before? She can seem a little intimidating sometimes but she's super nice, so you don't need to be scared."
"Okay."
It only took a few minutes for Crimson to come in, smiling as she saw the new Pearl waiting there beside Viri. "Hi," she greeted her. "It's great to have you here. I hope you'll forgive our less-than-ideal first impression earlier."
She nodded uncertainly.
"My name's Crimson. Has Viri already told you a little bit about us?"
"Yes."
"Good, that's great. Thank you," she added in Viri's direction. "Well, I don't want to keep you here very long, but just know that you're safe, alright?"
She nodded again.
"Okay." Crimson reached to her desk and scribbled something on a blank sheet of paper. "Viri, this is how to set the door to accept a personalized code. She can take one of the couple empty rooms we've still got."
"Got it!" Viri answered cheerfully.
"Thank you again. Oh, and I need to go by the infirmary anyways, so I'll bring you some healing tears to use. Better safe than sorry."
"Okay! I'll get her all settled in."
The new Pearl didn't say anything, but she inclined her head briefly towards Crimson before following Viri out.
"See?" Viri said encouragingly as she guided the new Pearl down another hallway. "Everything's okay now." She didn't get a response, but she skipped ahead happily to the nearest unoccupied room, located next to Snow's. "This'll be you!"
"Me?"
"Yeah. Here, you can set your passcode like…there." She pressed a couple buttons. "Go ahead. I'm going to run down to the other end of the hall real quick, okay? I need to talk to Azalea, plus it'll give you some privacy to decide. I'll be right back."
"Alright…"
Viri gave her a warm smile and took off, hurrying all the way over to Azalea's room and knocking. "Hey there," she greeted the blacksmith when she poked her head out.
"Hi, Viri. What are you…?"
"I'm here to wish you luck at your strategy meeting!"
"O-Oh." Azalea smiled as Viri took her hands.
"I know you're nervous, but you'll do really well, I know it."
"Thanks," she whispered, looking up into her eyes.
"Would you like a good luck kiss? Or a hug?"
"I…I'd appreciate either," Azalea said slowly.
"Then both it is," Viri declared, wrapping her arms gently around her girlfriend and lifting her just a little bit off the ground. Azalea's arms came up to hold on around her neck, and she beamed as Viri slipped a supportive arm under her as they kissed. "Best of luck," she said, bumping their noses together.
"Thank you." Azalea leaned in, soot-dusted and sturdy arms slipping down to wind tight around Viri's back. "How've you been?"
"Good! I found the new Pearl and I was showing her to her new room now." She turned so Azalea could see down the hall over her shoulder. "That's her! I gave her a ponytail too, see?"
"You really like ponytails, don't you?" she laughed quietly.
"Not that much! Well, I guess maybe I do. But mostly just a certain gem with a ponytail," she teased, ruffling Azalea's. "Cutie."
Azalea blushed, hiding her face against Viri's hair as she hugged her even tighter. "You too," she mumbled. "You should get back to her," she added. "It can be kind of intimidating at first, having all that space, you know?"
"Yeah, I know." Viri kissed her repeatedly on her cheek until she raised her head, then planted another on the opposite side before lowering her to the floor gently. "And you're off to see Cyan soon?"
"Not right away, but yeah, soon…"
"Mmkay. I'll stop back in afterwards so you can tell me about it?"
Azalea nodded shyly, straightening her ponytail.
"Alright. You'll do great, I'll see you later!"
"See you later."
Viri blew her a kiss, then spun around to skip back over to the new Pearl. It didn't seem as though she'd moved from her spot outside the door, which was still shut.
"I'm back! Hey, you okay?" Viri asked. "Did you set your passcode?"
"…Shouldn't you set it?" the Pearl asked uncomfortably.
"But it's your room."
"Mine?"
"Yeah, see?" She exited out of the passcode screen and opened the door with a quick finger swipe. "You get a room all to yourself."
"Oh," she breathed, taking in the simplistic furnishings with wide eyes. "I…I don't need someplace this big…"
"Sure you do. You can fill it up with whatever you want. If you want to stay."
"Okay," the pink Pearl said uncertainly.
"Do you want to just sit down together for a little while until Crimson gets here?" Viri offered. "I don't have anywhere I need to be."
"Okay."
"Okay." She smiled, waiting patiently for the Pearl to take the first steps into her new room.
It was always a special part of someone's introduction to the rebellion, and this time was no different. Viri watched her circle the room slowly, then pause in front of the door, looking up at her expectantly. "It's mine?"
"Yeah," she said warmly. "Welcome home."
"Shame we missed out on the excitement earlier," Blue commented as she and Yellow made their way over to meet with Cyan and the others. They'd been called over almost immediately after they'd returned from their work on dissembling the ship. "I feel so official though, going to a strategy meeting! Isn't it great?"
"It's not going to be that exciting of an excursion," Yellow grumbled under her breath. "We're just sneaking in to mess with their systems and make sure they won't be able to detect our warp pad usage. It's going to take all of five minutes once we get there."
Blue shrugged. "Doesn't matter, it's still exciting! And it's nice to watch you work."
Yellow's mouth quirked up in a half-smile. "You can do that anytime."
"Yeah, but usually I don't get to guard you while you're doing it."
"Well, I hope you won't have to this time either." Honestly, Yellow wasn't sure why Blue was even coming on this mission—not that she didn't want her there, but it was hardly necessary. She might have an edge on the rebellion's other fighters from Pearl's training and a small amount of practical experience, but it still wasn't a big one. And she'd have to go the extra step of disguising herself when they went out, same as Yellow, because they most certainly couldn't have presumed-dead escapees running around central Homeworld. She wasn't sure the benefits outweighed that.
But whatever, it was meant to be Cyan's job to analyze all that. She might be amusingly enamored with Blue, but Yellow had seen her on occasion around base after their first meeting and she'd seemed dedicated enough to her work.
Yellow saw Blue's expectant stare and slipped her hand into hers reassuringly. "But I'll be glad to have you there."
Blue smiled, relief washing away any uncertainty, and Yellow wondered why this was so important to her.
When they reached the room that had been deemed the strategy room—though it currently consisted of one table and six chairs—Cyan welcomed them in professionally.
"Thank you for coming, Please, grab a seat. Azalea's already here, so we're just waiting for Chroma now."
"I'm here!" The black Pearl hurried in right behind them, quickly taking a chair beside Azalea, who was just observing the rest of them quietly. "Had a bit of a problem in comms, sorry."
"No, no, it's alright." Cyan took a seat at the head of the table and waited for Blue and Yellow to join them. Her gaze kept flicking between the chair nearest her and Blue, a spark of hopefulness in her eye.
Yellow was of half a mind to take that spot instead, but she figured that wasn't very sporting. She gravitated to the other chair, leaving Blue to sit next to Cyan. Blue seemed to notice the tiny hesitation and gave Yellow's knee a little squeeze under the table.
"Wow, you made so many notes already," Blue said, leaning over to squint at Cyan's papers, currently spread out neatly side by side.
"Oh, yeah, I guess I did," Cyan laughed nervously. "I'm still learning about everybody, so…yeah. Anyway, thank you again for coming. All of you." She cleared her throat. "I know this is your first time working with me, but I hope we can all get along. This is just a quick meeting to make sure we've all got a basic idea of what'll happen. If you have any kind of suggestions or advice you'd like to give at any point, it'll really help, so please speak up."
The four of them watched her, waiting patiently for her to continue.
"Okay?" Cyan prompted when nobody said anything.
"Okay," Blue agreed, the other three nodding.
"Good. Okay." She looked down at the papers she had in front of her. "So, Facet Five. How many of you are familiar with the area?"
"It's one of Yellow Diamond's," Yellow said with a shrug. "I know it well enough."
"Me too," Chroma offered. "I served nearby."
"Oh, excellent. Which facet would that be?"
"Thirteen."
"Alright, thank you." Cyan made a small note in the margins. "I was expecting it to be just Yellow. Okay, so we'll have your practical knowledge plus the maps we've managed to acquire. And it'll be the two of you who are conducting the actual…hacking thing too."
"Right," Yellow said.
"And Azalea and I are backup?" Blue prompted, eyes bright.
"Exactly," Cyan agreed. "You're both capable fighters from what I've gathered and, since this is one of the first riskier objectives we're attempting, I think it's wise to send more than just two Pearls in. I'd rather send too many than too few right now."
She nodded.
"Are you both comfortable with that?"
"Sounds good to me."
"Azalea?"
"Oh…yes. Sorry." She shrank down in her chair a little bit.
"If you'd rather I pick someone else—"
"No, it's okay," she said quietly.
"You're sure?"
Azalea nodded.
"Alright." Cyan smiled. "I've heard you're a pretty versatile fighter since you work with so many different weapons, so I thought you'd be a good fit."
"Oh." A small smile lit up her face. "Thanks."
"And Blue and Yellow are both able to summon, which puts you ahead of the curve," she continued. "I think it's the safest combination I can come up with. You're all okay working together, right?"
Yellow glanced across the table at Chroma and Azalea. Chroma was friendly and they'd bonded over tech, but it wasn't as if they knew each other on a personal level very well yet. And Azalea…even less. She wasn't even sure if she'd spoken to her since their first introduction, never mind trained with her.
Chroma, when she caught Yellow's eye, seemed to be just as uncertain about the arrangement, but she just gave her a half-shrug and nodded. Blue did too, and Azalea.
Well, it wasn't as if they had any problems with each other, Yellow decided, nodding along. At least she and Blue were a good team, she knew that much.
Cyan seemed to sense some of their hesitation. "…I can come with you too, if that would help. I do realize you haven't all had time to get to know each other's strengths very well yet, so maybe it would be best if I tag along, to get a better idea of—"
"We'll be okay," Blue interrupted reassuringly. "Promise. Can you walk us through the plan?"
"Of course."
As Yellow had expected, it was a pretty straightforward plan. The four of them would walk towards the central hub, only as far as they needed to reach the nearest tunnels. Then those would take them out to Facet Five, where they'd come back above ground and find the place they needed.
"Now once you're inside," Cyan continued, "you'll have two ways out, as far as I can tell. One is the main door, and the other is this little passage. It's one of the old kind of maintenance tunnels, the ones that run below ground and are significantly smaller. You'll need to shapeshift for that. It's more of an emergency exit though—I don't anticipate you needing to use it, but I want to be prepared. Is everyone good there?"
"Yeah, sounds good," Blue said.
"Yeah?" She checked to make sure the rest of them didn't have anything to add. "Okay. That's pretty much it; you'll be getting back exactly the same way you took to get there."
Yellow nodded, ready to get back to work already. These wouldn't be particularly hard instructions to follow.
"Everyone's okay with this? No questions or…?" Cyan watched the four of them shaking their heads, looking slightly disheartened. "Okay. Well, thank you. Um, I'll have a comm line open the whole time—we only have one working set of communicators right now so there's not enough for all of you, but one of you can wear it and relay information to me if needed."
"Yeah, I'll check in with Aura and make sure everything's working right," Chroma added. "Who should have it?"
"Hmm…" Cyan looked them over. "If you do end up in an altercation, we don't want it to get damaged, so…either you or Yellow?"
"You can have it," Yellow said to Chroma.
"Okay." She smiled, running a nervous hand through her hair. "I should be off then, if we're all good to go…?"
"Oh, yes, go right ahead! I'm sure all of you have things to do." Cyan smiled. "We'll meet up at least one more time before you go; I don't want to rush into this. Thank you again for coming."
"Anytime." Chroma gave her a little pat on the shoulder as she headed for the door. "And thank you too."
"Thanks," Azalea echoed, slipping out behind her.
"You're doing really well," Blue said kindly, pausing in front of Cyan before she and Yellow followed them. "It's hard to believe you've never done this before."
She brightened. "Thanks. I just hope it goes well for you. Let me know if you want to change anything, okay?"
"Oh, I don't think we need to. You did some really good work."
"You did," Yellow agreed. She appreciated having a specific plan in place ahead of time, it was nicer than the on-the-spot thinking they'd had to do both in leaving Homeworld and in their adventures on Earth.
"Thank you!" Cyan saw them off cheerfully and then disappeared back into the strategy room as Blue and Yellow made their way down the hall.
Yellow let Blue sweep her hand into a little back and forth sway between them as they walked, smiling to herself as Blue's excitement shone through on their way to find Steven and the others to tell them all about their meeting. Yellow couldn't help but begin to share her enthusiasm for this excursion and the little team they'd be a part of. Even though she still didn't know how hopeful she should let herself be about their small rebellion, this did seem like a good start.