With the warp pad in its final stages of completion, Yellow and the others had gone over to the communications room to call Peridot one more time and make sure everything was good to go on her end. She'd had less to do, since she had the working warp pad in the temple rather than having to start from scratch, but that presented its own challenges they'd had to work out.

"I've been finished for a week now, it's about time!" Peridot exclaimed upon receiving their news.

"I know," Yellow said, only mildly irritated by the outburst. "You told me last time."

"She's just getting bored," Lapis said lazily from somewhere on Peridot's left, not on screen.

"Hm."

"Is everything going well?" Pearl asked, leaning in beside Yellow to talk to them. "Has there been any trouble?"

"Everything's fine," Peridot answered, taking a second to adjust the communicator controls so that the image would be clearer as she held up her tablet. "Connie is helping us keep a record of everything that happens while you're away. As you can see, we've had no incidents of note lately. We have, however, begun the process of selecting a name for our new three-person alliance. If you have any suggestions, you may put them up for consideration."

"No thanks," Yellow said, barely glancing at the list Peridot was trying to get the camera to focus on. "And what do you need a new name for anyway? You're still Crystal Gems, aren't you?"

"Well, yes," Peridot said, flustered, "but we need a name for this subgroup. Connie said it would help our team bond."

"And I'm not a Crystal Gem," Lapis pointed out.

"You might as well be," Yellow said skeptically.

"Right, well!" Pearl interrupted quickly. "I don't think there's anything wrong with giving yourselves a name. Anyway, let me give you the coordinates to input so we're ready to go as soon as possible..."

As Pearl read off the data Peridot needed, Yellow glanced back over at Lavender and Chroma, who had tagged along to the comms room but were sitting a small distance away, chatting quietly with Aura instead of joining Yellow and Pearl. Chroma smiled and waved Yellow over when she saw her looking.

"We were just talking about the renovations," she explained. "Silver suggested we get rid of the walls between our three rooms." She gestured between herself and Aura.

"I think it'd be lovely," the golden Pearl said happily.

"I think Silver might just want an excuse to rip a wall out with her bare hands," Yellow said with a smirk.

"Oh, she absolutely does," Chroma laughed. "But that's half the fun, isn't it?"

"Definitely..." Lavender said wistfully, then blushed when the other three turned their attention to her.

"Yeah, definitely!" Aura agreed, beaming as she gave Lavender a little pat on the shoulder. "We'll make sure to invite you! And Millie and Snow too."

"And Prism," Chroma reminded her.

"Oh, right! I wasn't sure if she was a member of the Silver fan club or not."

"She's an honorary member," Lavender supplied. "Though I'm not sure she'd be into watching one-gem demolition. She's still recovering."

"Makes sense." Aura smiled. "Anyway, you're all invited; I'm sure Silver will love having an audience."

"If we get to it," Chroma said. "I think it's more important to put the new rooms in before we make the more personal changes."

"Yeah, we'll need to prioritize," Yellow agreed. "Lower level first, then the bathrooms and showers, then the kitchen."

She nodded. "Once we have the space itself prepared, we can go at our own pace with the smaller things."

"I can't wait to visit Earth," Aura sighed, looking over in the direction of the training room, where the warp pad was. "It'll be amazing to see all the things Steven and the others talk about. And we can just go into 'stores' and pick things we want to own..." She turned to Chroma, starry-eyed. "We'll be able to get more things to decorate our rooms! Or room, if we connect them!"

Chroma reached over to take her hand, smiling. "We'll definitely make some time for that."

Yellow found herself looking forward to the return trip to Earth too. She and Blue might not have been there long in the grand scheme of things, but she had still begun to like it there. And Blue seemed to be looking forward to it too—she'd asked Yellow just the other day if they could carve out a little time to go somewhere together.

"Hey! Yellow!" Peridot's voice cut through her thoughts. "We're hanging up now! Did you have anything else to report?"

She rolled her eyes, getting up and heading over so Peridot could see her again. "No, that was it."

"Alright. I look forward to working with you again soon."

She wasn't just being polite in saying that, Yellow realized, and she offered a small, awkward smile and nod in return.

"We'll see you soon," Pearl said.

"Okay, see you soon!"

"Make sure you get Steven home safely," Lapis chimed in, appearing briefly on the far left of the screen.

"We will," Pearl answered, clearly unsure whether to be annoyed or pleased at the fact Lapis felt it necessary to say that. "Goodbye."

"Bye."

"Anybody want tea?" Millie poked her head into the comms room a few minutes later, carrying a tray with the tea set Steven had—for all intents and purposes—given to Aura to use whenever she pleased.

Aura brightened up immediately, waving her hand in the air. "Yes, please!"

Millie smiled, bringing the tea over and setting it on the table where they all were gathered.

"Not near the electronics!" Yellow exclaimed, swiftly scooping the tray up again. "Put it on the floor!"

Millie scowled. "We haven't spilled any before but I guess if you have doubts about your own abilities, you can sit down there."

"It's just common sense," Yellow muttered, glaring at her as she set the tray down smartly and then seated herself beside it.

"She does have a point, Millie," Chroma said with an amused smirk. "Sorry. I don't want to give these computers any more excuses to misbehave."

"Then I promise we'll be more careful from now on," Aura said, coming over and looping her arms around Chroma for a soft hug. "I didn't know tea was bad for computers."

"It's not the tea, it's any liquids," she laughed. "Don't worry about it, you didn't know."

"So who wanted some?" Millie asked, reluctantly joining the tray on the floor and beginning to pour a cup of steaming hot tea. "Besides Aura?"

"I'll have a little bit," Chroma said. "Just like half a cup, if that's alright."

"Sure," Millie agreed. She poured a little bit of tea into the next cup and passed it over. "Here you go."

"Thanks." She accepted it, glancing over at Aura with a small smile when she saw how the other Pearl's eyes had lit up.

Aura held up her cup to clink together with Chroma's. "This is chamomile like you, right, Millie? It smells really nice."

"It is." Millie seemed pleased that she'd recognized it. "Sugar or cream, Chroma? I don't know how you take yours."

"I'm still figuring it out myself," Chroma said. "Maybe some cream this time?"

"Sure, no problem." She poured a dash of cream out of the little pitcher beside the teapot. "Like that?"

"Mm-hm." She accepted the spoon Millie offered her to stir it in, then obliged Aura with one more little clink before she took a sip. "It's good."

"Thanks." Millie began pouring another cup. "Anybody else?"

"No thanks," Lavender said politely.

"No, thank you," Pearl said simultaneously.

"Alright. Yellow?"

Yellow gave Millie and the teapot a long look. "Chamomile?"

"That's right."

"And your name is Chamomile?"

"That is where I got 'Millie,' yes."

"Hm." Yellow considered it a moment longer. "Fine, I'll have some tea."

"If you're not interested—"

"No, I am. I just didn't realize you shared a name with it."

"Millie makes great Millie tea!" Aura said encouragingly. "You'll like it!"

"I hope."

"Don't mind them," Chroma said with a smile. "They're still learning how to get along."

Aura giggled. "I know. They're kind of like Snow and Quin."

"Yeah." Chroma looked up as another Pearl came into the room. "Oh, hi, Tin!"

"Hi!" The yellow Pearl waved to the group. "Is it alright if I join you?"

"Yeah, of course." She stood up, dusting off her skort, and then offered Tin her hands to help support her as she moved to sit on the floor.

"Thanks," Tin said gratefully. "Still getting the hang of that."

"No problem." Chroma took her own seat again, between Tin and Aura. "What can we do for you?"

"Oh, well, first I'm supposed to tell Aura that Violet's looking for her. Said she found something you might like."

"Oh! I'll go find her now then!" She lifted her teacup apologetically. "Sorry, Millie, I'll be back in a little bit."

"Don't worry about it. Do you want to take her a cup?"

"That'd be great, thanks." Aura happily accepted a freshly poured cup and then hurried out of the room, waving to everyone before she disappeared.

"Would you like some too?" Millie asked Tin, pointing to the teapot.

"Wellll..." She stared at the teapot for a moment. "The food thing doesn't really appeal to me, sorry."

"That's alright, you're not the only one," Yellow said, gesturing to Pearl and Lavender.

"Oh, good," Tin laughed. "It seemed like everybody was doing it."

"Definitely not," Pearl said firmly.

"Would it be alright if I just had some to smell though?" she asked. "It's a nice scent."

"Sure," Millie said agreeably, reaching for another cup and filling it up to the brim. "Here you go."

"Thanks!" Tin accepted it with a big smile, cupping it carefully between both hands as she brought it up to her nose, then let it lower slowly back to the table. "Anyway, I was hoping to talk to Pearl," she continued, glancing over at her. "If you're not too busy?"

"Oh, no, not with anything pressing. I mean, I will need to get back to work within the hour so that we stay on schedule, but if there's something you need..."

"Actually I wanted to hear more about the Crystal Gems' rebellion back in the day," she said excitedly.

"What about it?"

"Everything! Or, well, I guess not everything since that would take a really long time, but something! I just want to hear about it from your perspective as somebody who was actually there."

"What for?" Yellow asked curiously.

"Hm?"

"Are you gathering information for your strategies or something?"

"You mean Mercury's strategies?" Tin asked, amused.

Yellow groaned. "I swear I'll remember which of you is which one day..."

"I'm sure you will," she agreed, patting the point of Yellow's hair encouragingly and earning herself a halfhearted scowl. "Anyway, no, it's just for fun. I've been talking to a bunch of Pearls and then it hit me that I haven't actually talked to Pearl, which is terrible of me since you were there!"

"Garnet was too," Pearl answered, looking rather startled. "I thought she said you'd talked to her recently."

"I did! That's when I realized I hadn't talked to you, so I put it on my schedule for today."

"Well, I'm happy to share, but we'll probably have a lot of the same stories," she warned her.

"Maybe, but I want to hear it from a Pearl." She shrugged. "I mean, Garnet's stories are really, really important too and I love hearing them. But she would have had a totally different experience with the rebellion as a Ruby and a Sapphire than you did as a Pearl."

"I see what you're saying," Pearl said. "What would you like to hear about?"

"Hmm...might as well start off with the big question, so how about Pink Diamond?" Tin asked curiously.

"What about her?" Pearl asked hesitantly. "Her shattering?"

"Yeah, if you're okay talking about it. Homeworld's sort of buried the details, I think, of both her life and her death."

"That's to be expected," she said, nodding. "I'm not sure where to begin exactly..."

"Anywhere you like." Tin leaned forward slightly. "What happened? How did you manage it? Were members of her court involved, to help you get close enough?"

"There were some spies in her court, yes," Pearl admitted, "but we didn't let them in on the full plan. Rose and I thought it would be best to keep that only among those of us who needed to know. We told Garnet what we were doing, but that was about it." She cleared her throat. "We waited a while, to be sure there were as few gems around as possible. And, well, I'm not sure there's anything to say about the act itself. We took her by surprise—that was the only way we could have done it."

Tin nodded solemnly. "And what about her Pearl? Was she on your side or...?"

She shook her head. "No, she wasn't a Crystal Gem. She... Honestly, I'm not sure what happened to her after that. It's all a blur now; I couldn't even tell you who else was there. And that was the last time we risked getting so close to the Diamonds."

"Her Agate," Millie said quietly, setting down her teacup with a small clink.

"What?"

"Her Agate," she repeated, a little louder. "She was there too."

"Oh, yeah, Blue told me you were from Pink's court, right?" Tin asked, perking up. "Could you tell us what it was like, being there?"

"I wasn't there when she was shattered," Millie said. "I was gifted to another gem before that happened, and she didn't bring me along to court..."

"Ah." Tin looked at her for a moment, trying to decide if she'd overstepped or if it was okay to keep asking questions. "What was court like before that then?" she tried. "Did you know many other Pearls?"

"Only Pink Diamond's Pearl and her—my—sisters."

"Sisters?" Yellow repeated, confused. "Are you saying you were Pink Diamond's as well?"

Millie gave her an indecipherable look, not answering until Tin piped up with "I've never heard of a Diamond having more than one Pearl before."

"I suppose it doesn't happen nowadays."

"Back then, Pink Diamond was more sentimental than the others, since she was still newly formed," Pearl explained.

Millie nodded in agreement. "The tech wasn't quite there yet to get a perfectly toned and placed Pearl to match her Diamond, so it took many attempts." She touched the gem at her neck briefly. "Pink Diamond saw fit to retain all the non-defective ones, to be re-purposed as gifts of the court due to their high, but inadequate, quality. They were kept in a chamber in Pink Diamond's satellite base, under the care of her right-hand Agate. She really, truly loved us, my sisters and I."

"Pink Diamond did?" Tin asked, wrinkling her nose.

"No. No, her Agate. Spiral Pink Agate." There was just the tiniest hint of a stutter as the name passed Millie's lips.

"Oh."

No one else spoke up, and even Tin seemed unsure of how to direct the flow of the conversation now.

"She cared for us until it was time to be gifted away," Millie murmured. "Everything she did, she did it for them. With all her gem..."

"Millie?" Lavender asked, concern lacing her voice as she set a tentative hand on Millie's thigh.

Millie glanced down at it for a moment, then let her eyes drift back to her tea with a far-off gaze. "But they're all gone now," she continued. "Pink Diamond's Pearls, her Agate, her court..." Her voice faltered. "I'm all that'ssss left now."

Lavender's lips parted slightly as she searched for something to say, and Chroma seemed equally worried as she watched the two of them.

"Millie," Pearl began suddenly, startling the other two.

"E-Excuse me," Millie said, rising to her feet abruptly before she could continue. "I forgot to tell Aura something, I'll be right back."

"I'll go with you," Lavender said quickly.

"It'sss okay." She was out of the room in a matter of seconds, heels clicking evenly across the floor.

Lavender was already halfway up to follow her regardless, but Pearl stopped her. "I'll go," she volunteered.

"But—"

"There's not many of us older Pearls left, so we ought to look out for each other. Give me just a few moments?"

"Okay," Lavender said reluctantly, biting her lip. "Thank you."

Pearl shook her head, getting up smoothly and following Millie out the door, through to one of the rooms she hadn't been in much yet. It seemed to be set up for meetings or something like that, a large table framed by about a dozen chairs. It wasn't Pearl-sized, so it was likely leftover furniture from when Silver's owner had used this place for its original purpose.

Millie had made it to the opposite side of the room and stopped there, just in front of the exit that Pearl presumed would take her to the main hallway. She turned slightly when she heard Pearl enter, cautious eyes lingering on her.

"I can go, if you prefer," Pearl offered. "I just thought..."

The pink Pearl shook her head silently.

"Alright." Pearl slowly moved a little closer, though she kept a careful distance between them. "I've...never been the best at comforting others, but I can listen."

Millie didn't respond for a while, just took a single step closer to Pearl and let the silence surround them for a few minutes.

"There were thirty or ssso of us when I was bestowed upon T-Tanzonite," she began eventually, before pressing her knuckles to her lips, attempting to stem her stutter. "I'm not sure how many of us were gifted after that."

"I don't know either," Pearl admitted. "I'm sorry. As proud as I am of what the Crystal Gems accomplished, I think there were some opportunities that we failed to take advantage of too."

"I don't thhhink..." Her voice faltered, and she cleared her throat. "I don't think there were many opportunities for them anyway."

"No," she said quietly. "May I ask what happened?"

"They were..." Millie's voice was small and muffled, her hand still pressed to her lips. "They were all ssshattered after Pink Diamond. Tanzanite said they were found hidden in the cargo bay of a ship bound for Earth. Spiral...she ran in to be with them."

"To join the rebellion?" There was a faraway hurt that stirred in her gem at this revelation. How many allies had they never had a chance to meet, to welcome to the Crystal Gems?

"When she saw what was happening on Earth, how strong you all had become, it was more hope than she had ever believed possible."

They'd shattered a Diamond. It was something Pearl had had so long to process that she'd forgotten the wonder and fear the act had inspired when it first happened.

Millie looked up towards the ceiling. "They're all out there now," she murmured, "glittering amongst the sssstars. Glittering so bright with all the hope you gave them."

"You loved her a lot."

She nodded. "As Steven's love for you."

Pearl didn't answer. Whatever words she could string together would only be inadequate. Loss wasn't the same for any two gems—she knew that well enough.

"Ssso, thank you."

"Wh-What?" She looked up, startled.

"None of that hope, none of it would have been possible without you." Millie scrubbed at her eyes to try to recompose herself. "Thank you."

"...Thank you for telling me about them."

There wasn't anything more left to say, Pearl decided, so she left it at that despite her urge to add to it. It was strange—strange and oddly reassuring—to know that allies had been as close as Pink Diamond's court, even if they'd never made it away from there. More Crystal Gems lost to the Diamonds, lost aside from the memories they left with their family.

Pearl would be sure to remember them too. As a Crystal Gem and as a former Diamond's Pearl, she owed them that solidarity. But at the same time, she had to be careful not to let herself return to focusing on the past, on what and who had been lost, instead of who might be protected now.

"Shall we go back?" she asked quietly after a moment.

"Hm?"

"I think Lavender's worried about you."

"She does that," Millie said with a faint smile. She ran her hands over her face, then took a deep breath to steady herself. "Sure, let's go back."

She let Pearl lead the way into the communications room, where she was greeted with cautious hellos from Lavender, Chroma, and Yellow. Tin had disappeared somewhere else, it seemed, perhaps misinterpreting Millie's reaction as something she'd caused.

Lavender's hands stilled on her work as Millie took a seat beside her, just close enough for their shoulders to brush together. "Are you...?"

Millie nodded, reaching for the teacup she'd left as Lavender offered it to her, letting their fingers touch for just a moment. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Tin felt a little out of sorts as she relocated to the common room, making a mental note to apologize to Millie later. Chroma and Lavender had assured her it wasn't her fault, but she still would try to be more conscientious going forwards.

"Hi, Tin!" Steven called when he caught sight of her, hurrying over. "How's it going?"

"Good, good!" She smiled, her spirits immediately beginning to lift. Steven was always good company, and he loved hearing about gem history as much as she did. "I was just visiting with Pearl and learning about the Crystal Gems' rebellion a little," she explained, figuring it was best to leave out the details for now.

"That's really cool." He jumped up to perch on the arm of the chair she'd taken. "Is that your new job?"

"Huh?"

"Gathering history and stuff," he said. "A couple of the others said you were asking them about that kind of thing too, so I thought maybe you'd decided you wanted to make that your job."

"Oh," Tin said, surprised. "No, I was just asking because I think it's nice to hear about what everybody's experienced, you know? I realized nobody's ever really told gem history from a Pearl's point of view."

Steven nodded seriously.

"And rebellions—nobody out there talks about those either. But we should!" There was a bright spark of energy in her eyes as she spoke. "We should learn more about each other, and remember everything we do from here on too. That way no matter what happens to us, the next rebels won't have to start from nothing."

"Do...Do you think something's going to happen to you?" he asked worriedly.

"I try not to worry about that kind of thing," Tin said honestly, "but I don't want to ignore the dangers either. It's better to be prepared."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense..." Steven still looked a little distressed by the implication.

"But the stories are for us right now too," she continued, smiling encouragingly. "To remind us what we've overcome already." Her hand darted to her gem for just a moment.

"That's really cool," he said. "And I think you could make it your job if you wanted."

"Really?" Tin asked.

"Yeah, for sure," Steven replied. "There's people on Earth who do that kind of thing as a job. And they write down all the history so that other people can learn it too."

"Really?" Her voice rose in excitement. "I'd love to do that!"

"Then you should!" he laughed.

Tin nodded eagerly. "I'll ask Crimson as soon as I see her!"

Steven beamed. "Oh, and I just thought of something! Wait here for a minute, okay? I have something that you could use."

Before she even had a chance to respond, Steven was rushing out of the common room. He returned a minute later, holding a large notebook and a handful of colorful pens.

"Here," he said proudly, handing them over to her. "So you can get started on your history book."

"I...I can have them?" she asked, eyes wide. "Are you sure?"

"Definitely! We can buy some more once the warp pad is working, don't worry about it."

"Thank you, Steven." Tin flipped the notebook open to the first, fresh page. "Would you like to give me a story to start it off with?" she asked with a smile.

Steven's eyes lit up. "I'd love to!"

"Crimson," Tin called, immediately catching the rebellion's leader when she saw her enter the common room. "I think I had an idea for a job!"

"Oh?" She quickly excused herself from the conversation she'd been having with Silver, who waved and went off to join Steven and the group of Pearls that had accumulated around him and Tin during their storytelling.

Tin nodded eagerly. "Are you busy right now?"

"No, no, let's sit down." Crimson smiled, gesturing to the seats just to their right. "What were you thinking?"

"Well," she began happily, sitting down and balancing the notebook Steven had given her on her knees, "Steven told me there's jobs where people get to collect and tell stories, and I'd like to do that for the rebellion."

"Stories?" she echoed curiously.

"Yeah, real stories. Like about things the rebellion does or things that everyone did or heard about before they got here, so that we can keep everything fresh in our minds and celebrate where we are."

It took Crimson a moment to respond, and Tin's hopes sank as the silence began to drag on.

"No? I mean, it was just a thought, it's okay if it's a no. I know there's a lot of important things to be done, so maybe I'm of more use somewhere else. It's just that I'm still recovering, so—"

"No," Crimson interrupted. "No, it's a great idea. That sort of thing is really important too."

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "If that's what you'd like your job to be—temporarily or long term—it's yours."

"Really?" Tin asked excitedly. "It's okay?"

"Yeah. Just, you know, make sure nobody feels pressured to talk about their pasts if they're not up to it."

"I won't," she promised solemnly. "I'll only share the stories they want to share."

"Thank you." Crimson smiled. "Is there anything you need to get started? Or is that what the notebook is for?"

"Oh, yeah, Steven let me have this! I might need more paper and pens and things in the future, but I'm all set for right now." Tin paused. "Actually, maybe you'd like to give me the second story to be written down?" she offered. "Steven was first, but I bet you have some good ones too."

"That's..." The smile slipped from her face. "I don't think so, but thank you."

"Oh. Alright." Tin was a little taken aback by the blunt refusal. "A-Are you sure the job's okay? Really, I won't be offended."

"The job is fine." The words came out swift and cold, and Crimson was quick to add a quieter "Sorry. Please don't take it personally. I really do think it's a wonderful idea, and I'm glad you thought of it, but I'm not comfortable with sharing."

She nodded hesitantly. "I get it. I don't mind. I know there are going to be other Pearls who say no too, like you said, so..."

"The other Pearls who say no aren't... They aren't in charge." Crimson sighed and shook her head, dragging her fingertips lightly over her gem. "I don't have any inspiring stories for you, and it feels like I should."

Tin frowned slightly. "It's not just about being inspiring, is it? It's about common ground."

"I don't have much of that either. Stars know I wish I did," she continued softly, "but I don't."

Tin nodded carefully, fingers curling around her notebook. "Maybe common ground isn't the best way to put it," she said slowly. "I mean, nobody's story is exactly the same. Just, like, it's kind of refreshing to be able to tell it your way, isn't it? And other Pearls can understand you a little better because you tell them?"

"I appreciate the sentiment, but..." Crimson looked uncomfortable. "Don't you think there are some things better left in the past?"

She hesitated, hand coming up unconsciously to touch her broken gem. "Not really," she said with a faint smile. "But I can respect that you do. I won't ask you to talk about anything."

"Thank you," she said. "I'm sorry I can't give you anything worth sharing."

"No, it's okay. But you know," Tin added, "if you ever change your mind, I'd be happy to listen."

"I'll keep that in mind." Crimson smiled, tapping the back of her knuckles lightly against Tin's notebook. "Thank you for doing this. I hadn't realized we might need someone like you until you were here."

Tin beamed. "Thanks! I'm really happy we're here."

"Me too. Want me to point you in the direction of some Pearls who'd have some good stories for you?"

"That'd be great! Is Silver one of them? I'd really like to talk to Silver about the base itself, unless that's too personal."

"No, I think she'd be happy to share." Crimson smiled. "And she'll probably throw in a few embarrassing stories about me while she's at it."

"That's okay?"

She nodded. "My recent history's all yours," she laughed. "If it helps."

"Definitely."