The excitement of the warp pad being done was contagious, spreading from Steven to the Crystal Gems to the entire rebellion. Blue was happy to see everyone so happy, but most of all she liked seeing Yellow's barely contained excitement at finishing the project.

"You did such a great job!" Blue congratulated her, giving her a big hug. "All of you!"

"Thanks! But I haven't cleaned off yet…"

"It's fine, it's fine," she laughed. "Just enjoy the moment."

"I am. I just thought you'd enjoy it more if your first trip to Earth wasn't for a shower."

Blue stuck out her tongue.

"We all did excellent work!" Pearl declared proudly, interrupting them. "I'll let everyone know that we're finished; you three go ahead and take a break."

"Thanks," Chroma said, smiling. "Lavender, want to come with me to tell Silver?"

"Sure!" Lavender said immediately, hurrying after her.

"Good job," Blue said again, kissing Yellow gently on the lips once they were alone. "I can't wait to visit Earth again; it feels like it's been ages."

"It does," Yellow agreed, mouth curving into a half-smile.

"And it probably feels even longer for Steven," she realized. "Or maybe not? I don't know, I don't quite get how time works for humans."

"I don't think it's that long," Yellow said, "but he has been saying that he misses his friends and everyone there."

"Then I'm sure he's going to be really happy," Blue said, poking her arm lightly. "So maybe you should wipe this stuff off before he hugs you too."

"Fair point," she sighed. "I don't even know how it got on me this time; I only used a bit to do the finishing touches and then somehow it got everywhere."

"I'll help," she offered, already reaching to her gem for a cloth. "Anyway, is there something in particular you'd like to do once we're back?"

"Not really," Yellow answered, watching Blue wipe down her legs. "We're still going on that 'date' you planned?"

"Don't air quote 'date'!" Blue laughed. "It is a date. I asked the Crystal Gems for advice and everything."

"Okay, sorry," she said, rolling her eyes. "It just seems a little weird to be doing human rituals like that."

"Only because we haven't done it before. Some of the other Pearls have dates though, even if they don't call it that specifically. It seemed like it would be nice to try."

"Yeah, it will," Yellow agreed, not wanting to tease too much. "When are we going?"

"Well, we're going back with all the Crystal Gems on the first trip," Blue replied, "and that's more to catch up with everyone, so I didn't want to schedule it then. So I put us on the list to go closer to the end of the visits as well."

"List?"

"Crimson's got one up by her door, so that we have little groups staggered throughout a day or two instead of everyone leaving all at once."

"Ah, makes sense. So tomorrow probably?"

"Tomorrow," she confirmed with a smile. "For today, let's just focus on celebrating."

"Okay."

The warp pad worked perfectly, just as Blue had expected. It was amazing how quickly they were back in the temple and—more importantly—back with the rest of Steven's family. Greg, Connie, Lapis, and Peridot were all waiting for them when they arrived.

"We're home!" Steven exclaimed, rushing forward before Blue even had a chance to take in the familiar surroundings. He launched himself into his dad's arms. "Missed you!"

"Missed you too, buddy." Greg held him close for a few moments before looking over to the rest of the Crystal Gems. "Good to have you back," he added with a smile. "I thought you were bringing some more rebels with you though."

"Later," Garnet said easily. "We wanted to say hello to everyone first."

"Hello!" That was Peridot, hurrying forward to greet them with a proud smile on her face. "I am happy to report our mission of protecting the Earth concluded successfully!"

"And here I was hoping to come back to absolute chaos," Amethyst said with a grin, throwing her arm around Peridot's shoulders. "You didn't even make a mess in here!"

"That's because we made a mess in the barn instead," Lapis commented. "And hi."

"Hi, Lapis!" Steven was quick to jump down and gather Lapis, Peridot, and Connie all into a hug. "It's really great to see you guys. I'm glad you all got along!"

"Yeah, it was alright," she said. "Glad you're safe."

"It was fun, but it's really good to see you," Connie added. "Welcome back."

"Thanks!"

"Connie has been giving us study materials on this roommate phenomenon," Peridot said proudly. "We've made lots of progress, right, Lazuli?"

"We made a lot of progress in watching TV shows about roommates anyway," Lapis said with a smirk.

"It counts!" Peridot said indignantly. "Anyway, the point is that it was a successful mission all around."

"I'm sure it was," Pearl said. "What's this mess in the barn you mentioned?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it! Did you see the banner we made you? Look at the banner!"

Pearl narrowed her eyes suspiciously but glanced up at the banner Peridot was gesturing to, which read "WELCOME HOME" in cheerful rainbow letters.

"It's an awesome banner!" Steven declared.

"It is. Thank you for looking after Earth while we were gone, Peridot, Lapis, Connie," Garnet said, ushering the three of them all back together for a group hug and then pulling the rest of them in as well. "It's good to be home."

They eventually settled all around the living room—some people on the couch, some on the floor, Lapis hovering up in the air.

"So what's been happening?" Steven asked, looking up at his dad. "How's the car wash?"

"Same old, same old. But…" He dragged the word out grandly. "I got a surprise the other day! Check this out. Connie, do you have your phone?"

"I do," she said happily, already pulling it out. "Just a sec…there it is!"

Steven leaned in close to watch as a video played on the screen.

"From the moment the meat hits the flame, my stomach is growling without any shame. And I know in my gut, it's been worth the $5.95. Would you like a burger from Pepe's Burgers?"

"Oh my gosh, that's so cool! It's your song!"

"It is not his song," Yellow said, looking offended. "They changed it."

"Well, yeah, they wanted to make it a jingle for this restaurant," Greg said, "but hey, it's still my tunes. And it's pretty fun, right?"

She crossed her arms, and Blue tried not to giggle at how displeased she was.

"It's really fun!" Steven said.

"Thanks. And I actually got a big ol' check with it too."

"A check?"

"Yeah, I don't even know what to do with it all," he laughed. "I was thinking about a vacation, but you kinda already took one of those, so…" He shrugged. "For now, I just put it in the bank, minus a little bit to help pay for the stuff you said your new friends need."

"Maybe we can vacation later," Steven said happily. "And everyone can come!"

"Everyone everyone?" Amethyst laughed. "That's gonna be some vacation!"

Greg laughed nervously. "Definitely."

"Thank you for helping with the supplies and everything," Garnet said, Pearl nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, no big deal, I'm happy to help out a little. So how is the rebellion?" he asked, glancing over at Blue and Yellow. "Everything you were hoping for?"

"Mm-hm," Blue said. "They're doing really well."

"They're also weirdly fascinated with things from Earth now that we've told them about it," Yellow added. "So be prepared for a lot of questions."

"Hey, I've heard it all, Rose asked plenty," he laughed. "I doubt they can surprise me."

"True," Blue said with a smile. "Anyway, they're good gems. It's still nice to be back here though…"

"You can always have more than one home," Steven piped up.

"Yeah," she said softly, leaning gently against Yellow's shoulder. "You're right."

Crimson had thought posting a sign-up sheet in the hall would make things easier to organize, but now she was having some doubts. The little groups of four lines each had quickly become overcrowded in everyone's excitement. Viri had ended up with a group of about ten, another group contained eight out of the nine projector Pearls, and that was the majority of the rebellion right there. The closest thing to a reasonable number of gems in a group was Caddy, Sky, and White as a set of three, but then Caddy scribbled "me and Sky probably won't be able to get away at the same time" so it was actually two and Crimson wasn't quite sure what to do there either.

She took down the sign-up sheet and stared at it for a moment, wondering if she ought to give it to Cyan and Mercury to deal with. No, she decided, it wasn't really a tactical thing. She would figure this out herself; they had more important projects to work on.

Crimson went by her office to grab her screen—it would be easier to move names around on there—and relocated to the common room, settling into a chair in a relatively unoccupied area. She had only just typed in all the names, belatedly adding in her own, when there was a friendly tap on her shoulder. She twisted to see Silver just as she reached over to touch the screen.

"Hi!" she said with a grin, flicking Crimson's name over to join the small "Aura, Chroma, Silver" group. "I saw you hadn't put your own name anywhere, so how about coming with us?"

Crimson smiled. "You know, a less trusting gem might think you had ulterior motives."

"Like what?" she asked, eyes wide in feigned innocence.

"Like you wanting to be the first group to go," she answered, punching Silver lightly in the shoulder. "But I'll let it slide since I appreciate the invitation."

"Yay! I promise we didn't do it just for your leader-ly privileges."

"I know, I know." Crimson glanced over the screen again, then closed it so she wouldn't be distracted. "Besides, you guys are gathering the supplies we need too, so it makes sense for me to go with you."

"Yeah, you're right! We totally thought about that too."

"No, you didn't," she laughed. "What are you so excited about anyway? I didn't know you were so keen to get to Earth."

"I'm not. Or I'm excited, but only because it's something new. Aura and Chroma are both really looking forward to it though, so I'm excited for them."

"Makes sense." Crimson motioned for Silver to sit down, which she did without hesitation. "I hope everything goes well."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. The Crystal Gems said it's a pretty welcoming place. And they'll help show us around."

"Yeah, I know. I don't think it'll be a problem in that regard, I just don't want everyone getting overwhelmed with so many new things going on."

"They can handle it," Silver said confidently. "Come on, less worrying, more fun." She poked Crimson's cheek. "I can help make the groups if you want."

"That'd be great, thanks. I'm mildly concerned I'm going to make Viri's fan club mutiny on me."

"Nah, they're cool," she said, laughing silently. "But if you try and split up me and Aura and Chroma…"

"Then I'd be overthrown without a doubt," Crimson laughed. "Got it."

It had been ages since Crimson had used a warp pad—at least a couple decades—and the sensation in her gem was a little startling since she'd forgotten to expect it. But it was over quickly, and the five of them were deposited onto another pad, this one located in a distinctly alien building with Pearl, Steven, and two humans waiting for them.

"You're here!" Steven exclaimed, taking Aura's hand and tugging her forward. "Come meet everyone!"

Crimson, Silver, and Chroma quickly followed the pair of them over to the rest of the group. "Hello," Crimson offered, giving the two humans she didn't recognize a smile. "One of you must be Steven's...dad? Is that right?"

"Yeah, that's me!" The slightly taller human waved. "You can call me Greg."

"Hello, Greg. So you must be Connie?" she asked, looking to the smaller human with a ponytail.

"That's right!" Connie took a small step forward, looking a little nervous as she extended her hand. "It's really nice to meet you, ma'am."

"It's nice to meet you too," Crimson said, accepting the handshake gingerly. "And just Crimson is fine."

"Crimson," she repeated, smiling. "It's nice to meet you. And thank you for taking care of Steven and the others while they were on Homeworld. He's told us lots about you, so it's wonderful to meet you all in person."

"Oh, thank you. I mean, you don't need to thank us, they were the ones doing the helping."

"The help goes both ways," Pearl countered.

She nodded gratefully.

"Let me introduce everyone," Steven volunteered. "This is Crimson, Aura, Chroma, and Silver! Crimson is the leader. Aura's in charge of communications, Silver's in charge of training, and Chroma is, um..."

"In charge of keeping everything on base working right?" Aura finished sweetly, making Chroma blush.

Steven laughed. "Yeah. You do a lot of things, so I wasn't sure what to call your job. Is just engineering okay?"

Chroma nodded shyly.

"And Chroma's in charge of engineering!" he finished.

"It's nice to meet you," Aura offered carefully, dipping her head. "Thank you for letting us visit your base."

"Oh, no problem, nice to meet you too." Greg offered her a handshake, which she accepted carefully.

"Nice to meet you," Chroma echoed, Silver projecting it at the same time.

"Oh," Steven added quickly. "And Silver talks with projections, so I think Chroma is going to read what she says for everyone. I'm learning some gem language now, but it's not enough to really understand sentences yet."

"You're doing great though," Silver said encouragingly.

"Thanks!"

"I'll start learning too," Connie promised.

Silver shook her head. "It's not a big deal, don't worry about it. You're not a gem, so I wouldn't expect you to."

Connie waited for Chroma to repeat the words and then frowned. "No, I'd like to learn. I'm hoping I can visit the rebellion often to help out, so I want to be able to communicate with everyone. Even if I'm not a gem, I'm sure it'd be a useful skill to have."

Silver's eyes softened. "Thanks. That's really nice of you."

"And we'll catch you up with Steven in no time, I'm sure," Pearl said.

Connie beamed. "I'll do my best!"

"I know you will. For now, why don't we start looking for those supplies we wanted?"

"That sounds great," Aura said happily. "Would you like to come with us too, Connie, Greg?"

"Yes, please!" Connie said.

"Yeah, I'll tag along too," Greg answered. "I'm sure everything's going to be pretty different from what you guys are used to working with, so I'll try to help out."

"Thank you," Crimson said gratefully. "We'll try to learn fast so you don't have to go out of your way in the future."

"Nah, no worries," he said, waving it off. "There's no rush. And you can pop on over whenever you want now, so it's not like you need to squeeze everything into this one trip."

"I guess that's true." She smiled. "It's a little strange, not rushing in and out of a place for what we need."

Greg nodded, looking a little concerned. "Well, anytime you need a guide, feel free to give me a call."

"Yeah, I'd be happy to help too," Connie said. "I have school, so I won't always be able to come by on short notice, but if you let me know in advance, I'll make sure to find a time that works."

Silver gave them a cheerful thumbs up. "Thanks! We'll make sure to show you around our home too, if you want."

"That would be great," she exclaimed as soon as Chroma had read Silver's words. "Thank you!"

Silver beamed.

"So where would you like to go first today?" Connie asked. "Or what kinds of things are you looking for?"

"We wanted to look for things to help us add more rooms to the base," Aura volunteered. "That's the most important thing, I think."

"Alright, so the hardware store would probably be the best place to start?" she suggested, looking to Pearl for confirmation.

"Yes, that sounds right. Will the seven of you be alright on your own or would you like me to come along too?"

"I think we'll be alright with so much lovely help already," Aura said, "but thank you."

Pearl nodded. "Well, I'll be right here in case you need anything."

"Thanks. Let's go then!" Silver said enthusiastically.

"Okay!" Steven started for the door.

"Would it be okay if we took a look around here first?" Chroma asked tentatively, before they could get very far. "To get a feel for how things work before we buy stuff?"

"Yeah, definitely," Steven said, turning back around. "You're right, I should give you guys a real tour first!"

Silver grinned and scooped him up to place him on her shoulders. "Lead the way."

He laughed, pointing towards the loft first. "Let's start upstairs, that's my room!"

Silver wasted no time in scaling the stairs, the other three Pearls following after her and looking around curiously.

"You have so many things!" Aura said delightedly, spinning around to look at everything that was scattered around.

"Yeahhh, I might have left it a little messy," Steven laughed.

"No, it's really nice!" She went over to the shelves by his bed, leaning in to get a closer look at the books and toys there.

"Is this the TV thing you were telling us about?" Silver asked, pointing at the boxy television sitting on the floor.

"Yep, that's it!" Steven giggled as Chroma walked around it. "You can take a closer look," he offered. "Just don't take it apart; we've already had to replace it a few times lately."

"That's Lavender's thing, not mine," she protested.

"It's yours too," Crimson said with a smirk.

"I only take things apart when I have a reason to," she laughed, carefully bending down to pick it up and turn it over in her hands. "Huh," she said quietly. "Could I get one to take back to base for a closer look? I would like to see the insides."

"Yeah, I bet we can find you one at a secondhand shop or something!"

"A what?" she asked, looking startled.

"It's a place where you can buy used things instead of new ones. It's usually cheaper that way."

"Should we just shop there for everything then?" Silver asked. "I don't completely understand the money you were telling us about, but it's better to spend less of it, right?"

"Well, sort of, but you can't buy everything used," Steven said. "Like if you need nails or screws or something, you probably have to get that new."

"Ohhh, makes sense."

"You guys don't need to worry about the money," Greg called up. "I can cover it. You should get some good quality equipment so it'll last you a while."

"Okay," Chroma said shyly. "Thanks."

"Anyway, then we have downstairs!" Steven continued, pointing Silver back towards the stairs. "Right below us is the living room, which is where you just hang out and have fun. Like your common room, only smaller!"

"It's nice and cozy."

"Yeah! And then over here is the kitchen." He pointed again. "You've seen a microwave already, and the tall thing is just a bigger version of the fridge I brought."

Crimson opened up the fridge door curiously. "Wow. I guess this is the size we'd need for the rebellion?"

"Yeah, or maybe even multiple fridges," Steven said. "And you'll need at least one stove and oven. The stove's the top part, the oven is the part with the door," he explained.

Chroma went over to peer inside. "It just heats things, right? I could probably build one."

"Oh, yeah, I bet you could. Maybe even a fridge too!"

"I hate to spoil the fun," Crimson cut in, "but I'm not sure having you build things we can just buy whole is really the most efficient use of your time…?"

"Ah, yeah, you're right." Chroma didn't look upset by the comment, but she let out a small sigh. "Maybe we could buy the first one and then I'll use that as a reference for building another one in my spare time. It'd be fun as a hobby, and most everyone seems to enjoy eating, so it would go to good use."

"That works," Crimson said with a smile.

"And this is the sink, right?" Chroma asked, already moving over to the faucet.

"Yep, you just turn the handles! Left is for hot and right is for cold."

She carefully tested out each one, then both at the same time. "Nice."

"And now if you go back that way…" Steven pointed the opposite direction. "That's the bathroom."

Silver walked him over, opening up the door.

"So the shower basically works the same as the sink does, I think," he said, jumping down so that he could demonstrate. "And then the toilet flushes like this."

Chroma watched each carefully, then nodded. "I don't know how to connect water to things, but I'm sure we can figure it out."

"I'm sure my dad can help with that too."

"Yeah?"

He nodded happily, then turned off the shower and led the way back out. "And that's pretty much everything!"

"What does the other door go to?" Crimson asked.

"Huh? Oh, the temple door," he realized. "That's where the gems' rooms are."

"Is it gem tech?" Chroma tilted her head.

"It might be before your time," Pearl chimed in, coming over to join them and using her gem to open up the door to her room. "It works like this. Depending on who opens it, it'll open to a different area."

"I've definitely never seen that before," Crimson said, raising her eyebrows. "Is it Era One then?"

"Yes. But by the time of the rebellion, they were already going out of style." Pearl let the door close. "It was appealing to some gems for the privacy it offered, but in other ways it wasn't particularly functional."

"Makes sense." Crimson reached up to touch the star in the door, brow furrowed. "I think I prefer the current way of doing things."

"Same," Chroma agreed. "Any tech that interacts with your gem is way more finicky."

"Like the warp pad?" Steven asked.

She smiled. "Yeah, kinda like that."

"Well, thank you for showing us around," Crimson said politely. "Are we good to go now, Chroma?"

Chroma nodded quickly. "I'm ready if everyone else is."

"Then let's go!" Steven declared.

"I think that's everything on the list," Crimson said, carefully setting the final few items in their cart. It was getting rather heavy to push, so it was a good thing they were finishing up. "Chroma, is there anything—"

The other Pearl was nowhere in sight.

"Sorry, we lost her back on the aisle with all the tiny things," Silver said with a grin.

"And then Aura went to go get her but I think she got distracted too," Steven added.

"Okay," Crimson sighed. "Let's go find them, I doubt they've made it very far."

Sure enough, they found the two of them happily comparing handfuls of nuts and bolts a few aisles back.

"We're all done," Steven announced as he came over to join them.

"Oh, alright!" Chroma stared down at the items in her hand. "I guess I'll put these back…"

"Do you need them for something?" Connie asked.

"No, they're just fun."

"You can go ahead and get them," Greg offered. "These are pretty cheap."

"Oh, no, I couldn't," Chroma said quickly. "I mean, I would use them eventually, but I don't need them right now."

"No, hold on a sec." Greg reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet and extracted a twenty-dollar bill. "I was going to give you all a little spending money once we were finished anyway, so you'd be able to buy yourselves something fun too. Here."

She took a small step back, shaking her head. "I-I don't need it; you're already giving us so many things."

He shook his head. "It's fine. All of this," he said, gesturing to the cart, "is going towards a good cause. And the spending money is a welcome-to-Earth gift. Okay? One time only, and everybody's getting the same amount, if that makes you feel more comfortable about it."

Chroma glanced over at Crimson uncertainly, receiving only a shrug and a small smile. "I…I really appreciate it then," she said, carefully accepting the money with her free hand. "Thank you."

"No problem." Greg gave Silver, Aura, and Crimson each a twenty as well. "I'll head up to the register and get the rest of this checked out while you look around," he added. "And, uh, figure out how I'm going to fit all of this in the van."

"I was going to put it in my gem actually," Crimson said. "I think that might be easier?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely," he laughed. "I forgot you guys could do that. Okay, you want to come with me? I think you should probably do that outside, so nobody thinks you're stealing."

"Sure." She looked over at the others. "We'll meet outside when we're done?"

"Yeah, sounds good!" Aura said.

"We'll make sure Chroma doesn't stay all day," Silver added cheerfully, receiving a playful elbow to the stomach for her comment.

"I'm nearly decided, we'll be out soon," Chroma said, smiling. "Thank you again, Greg."

"You're welcome." He reached out to ruffle Steven's hair. "You staying?"

"Yeah, we'll make sure everything goes okay at the register!"

"Okay, see you in a few minutes."

Once Chroma had selected her purchases, double checked with Steven and Connie that she hadn't gone over budget, and paid a confused-looking human who couldn't seem to decide who to stare at, they headed outside to the van.

"Okay, where to next?" Greg asked as they all piled in.

"Aura wanted to go somewhere with tea," Silver suggested. "Where would that be?"

"Probably just the grocery store?"

"Yeah," Steven said enthusiastically, "and I can show you all the other food while we're there too!"

"Sounds good!"

"Grocery store it is," Greg said. "I have a couple errands to run over that direction, so I might leave it to these two to show you around." He gestured to Steven and Connie. "And I'll meet up with you after. That okay?"

"Sure," Crimson said easily. "I get the feeling we might be a while, so take your time."

"Thanks," he laughed.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the grocery store, Steven and Connie hurrying ahead to get a cart and explain how things worked.

"The tea's right over here!" Steven announced, pointing them down the correct aisle.

"Oh my stars," Aura gasped, taking in the rows and rows of boxes. "There's so many!"

"Yep! Let's go look at all the flavors!"

"Yes, please!"

Crimson smiled as she watched Aura flit from one tea to the next. She was happy to see the other gem enjoying herself so much—she knew having to stay on base could be stifling at times no matter how much you loved it, and Aura didn't leave too often for fear of being recognized.

"Are there different kinds of coffee too?" Chroma asked Connie tentatively.

"Oh, yeah, definitely," she answered with a smile. "I think it's just down at the other end of this aisle, would you like to take a look?"

Chroma nodded, happily following along to look at all of those too. Crimson and Silver stayed where they were in the middle of the aisle, leaning against the cart comfortably.

"Was there anywhere you wanted to go?" Silver asked.

"Oh, nowhere in particular, no," Crimson said. "We should probably head back soon and let the next group take their turn."

"Yeah, probably, but you're allowed to have some fun first."

"I am having fun," she protested, laughing. "I like visiting new places in general, you know."

"I do." Silver smiled. "But at least here you don't have to sneak around and be careful."

"It's a little weird, honestly."

"Yeah. Good weird." She shrugged. "You're sure there's nothing else you want to do though?"

"Hmm…" Crimson considered it for a moment. "Maybe just wander a little and get a feel for the area? I don't really know what the options are yet, so that'd help."

"We can do that."

"Thanks."

They watched Chroma and Aura browse for a while longer, Aura the first to return to the cart. "Can I use this?" she asked politely.

"Yeah, go for it." Crimson stood up straight and gave her room to push the cart along.

"Thank you!" Aura headed back over to the teas and began plucking out a box of each type.

"I'm going to go get something," Silver said suddenly.

"Okay."

Chroma and Connie gravitated back towards Crimson a moment later. "Should we remind her all that costs money?" Chroma asked, gesturing to Aura, whose cart had gotten significantly more full than Crimson had expected. "I mean, she's a great thief, but I get the feeling Earth wouldn't get the right first impression of us."

"Definitely not. I'll do it," Crimson sighed, jogging over to catch up to Aura. "Hey."

"Hi!" She plucked another box off the shelf and gently set it in the basket.

"Aura…"

"Yes?"

"I don't want to spoil your fun, but I don't think we can buy all this."

"Oh, I wasn't going to try and buy it," Aura explained, wide-eyed. "I just wanted to carry it around for a while and it seemed like it might be rude to put it in my gem when everyone else is using the carts."

"Ah, alright."

"I'll be sure to put everything back before we leave."

"Okay." Crimson smiled. "I won't interrupt then." She went back over to the others. "It's fine, she's not planning on buying it."

"Oh, okay," Connie said, a bit confused.

"Hey," Silver said, appearing out of nowhere with an empty cart and a huge grin on her face. "Want to get in?"

"What?" Crimson asked blankly.

"I do!" Steven volunteered, jumping into the cart.

"Steven, we'll get in trouble," Connie argued.

"We will?" Silver asked, disappointed.

"Because you might hurt someone or crash into something," she explained.

"Hmm…" She considered it for a minute. "But there's nobody else on this row."

"Yeah, but—"

"What if I ask the people at the front first?"

"Well…"

"I'll be right back!"

A few minutes later, the two of them were coming back, Steven still in the cart as Silver ran a little ways and then jumped up onto the bar to glide down the aisle. She jumped back down well before they reached Connie, Crimson, and Chroma and pulled the cart to a quick stop.

"We're good!"

"We are?" Chroma asked skeptically.

"Yeah! Well, okay, I'm not sure how much of what I said got across, and Steven isn't fluent enough to interpret for me, so…"

"But they said yes," Steven said happily, "so we're just doing it anyway!"

"Yeah, we're rebels! C'mon, Crimson, get in."

"Me?"

"You! All of you! Let's see if everybody fits!"

"Oh stars," Chroma said under her breath, eyeing the cart critically. "I mean, I guess it's sturdy enough…"

"Why not?" Crimson grabbed the edge of the cart and hauled herself over the side, making sure not to jostle Steven too much in the process. "Just once though."

"Just once." Silver grinned. "Connie? You want a leg up?"

"No, I've got it," she said, laughing nervously as she climbed in after Crimson. Three people was already pushing the limits of how much the cart could hold, but they squished together as best they could and left room for a reluctant Chroma to join them.

"Please don't crash us," she told Silver.

"I would never." Silver gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "Let's go!" She clapped her hands to get Aura's attention. "You want to join us, sunshine?"

Aura turned, taking in the scene with a small laugh. "I think I'll just watch."

"Okay!" Silver pushed the cart towards one end of the aisle so that there'd be plenty of space, Aura making sure to move her own cart off to the side so that it wasn't in danger of being hit. "Ready?" Silver asked them.

"Ready!" Steven exclaimed.

"Then off we go!"

Crimson barely managed to grab the side of the cart for handholds before they took off, Silver running them down the aisle at full speed and then jumping up to let it coast the rest of the way. It was all something of a blur—Steven and Connie seemed to get lost in Chroma's hair the second they started moving, and Chroma was hanging on for dear life to Crimson's ponytail.

The end of their ride came pretty quickly though, Silver pulling them to an expert stop and beaming as she leaned against the cart. "Want to go again?"

"No thank you," Crimson laughed as Chroma untangled her fingers from her hair. "Ow."

"Sorry!"

"It's fine."

"That was really fun," Steven declared as he and Connie clambered out of the cart. "Thanks, Silver!"

"No problem! You sure you don't want to go again? Or maybe you could push me?"

"Another time," Crimson said hastily before he could answer. "We should check out the rest of the store and decide what we're buying now."

"Yeah, okay," Silver relented. "Chroma, are you not getting any coffee?"

"I spent all my money at the other store." She smiled as Silver picked her up and lifted her out of the cart easily. "Maybe if we come back, I'll get some."

"No, get it now, you can use some of mine," she volunteered.

"But what about you?"

"It's not like it costs the whole twenty dollars, right?" Silver pointed out. "Just promise to make me a cup when we get home."

"I can do that," Chroma agreed warmly. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Silver began pushing the empty cart over to the next aisle. "Steven, can you show me some good foods to try? Something that'll go with all our tea and coffee?"

"For sure!" he replied. "I think there's some biscuits over here you might like…"

Crimson smiled as she followed them, redoing her ponytail as she walked so it wasn't quite as disheveled. She might not know much about Earth yet, she thought, but she was sure she'd love anyplace that let Pearls do as they pleased out in the open like this.

Sky had been hoping to visit Earth from the very beginning, and had hoped to do it alongside Caddy or Crimson. She was happy to spend time with anyone in the rebellion, but the amount of time she spent away from base had always limited her in how many gems she knew well. As it was, her and Caddy being able to get away from their Diamonds at the same time had been wishful thinking at best, and of course it hadn't worked out. And Crimson had already decided to go with Silver, Chroma, and Aura, so Sky would have felt awkward inserting herself all of a sudden.

Besides, with Caddy gone, she felt responsible for keeping White company.

She had spent very little time with White since she'd escaped—though to be honest, she'd spent very little time with White before that too. They were distant acquaintances at best, both of them far too afraid of getting hurt to try at anything more. That had changed now though, and Sky knew she should make an effort to get to know her better. She was more than a seemingly doomed Pearl from similar circumstances now, she was a Pearl that Caddy cared very deeply for. That was important.

Sky swung by White's room first when she arrived on base, knocking on the door and waiting patiently for her to open it. When she did, Sky offered her a polite "Good morning."

"Morning," White echoed before tacking on a "Hello" like she wasn't sure if just one would suffice.

"Hi." There was a small, uncomfortable pause that made Sky rush on. "I think it's about time for our group to go, so..."

"Alright." White stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind her. "So, uh, who else is going?" she tried as they started walking.

"Viri and Quin," she answered easily. She wasn't terribly well-acquainted with them either, though Viri always made sure to say hello to her every visit and Quin came across as sociable, if guarded, when they occasionally crossed paths.

"Okay."

"What do you want to do on Earth?" Sky asked.

"Just explore and see what I find."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun."

"Yeah."

Sky tried not to be disappointed by the lack of conversation. This kind of thing came naturally to Caddy, but Sky hadn't cracked the code for holding a conversation with White just yet. Viri was better at it though, and Sky was relieved to see her already waiting by the warp pad.

"Hi, Sky! Hi, White!" She waved happily, then held out her arms for a hug. White didn't go for it, but Sky stepped forward to accept without hesitation. "How've you been?" Viri asked, fluffing Sky's ponytail a little as she let go.

"Alright. I'm sorry Caddy couldn't come too."

"Aww, it's fine, I'm sure she'll be able to make it next time. I'm just happy you could make it!"

Sky smiled. Viri meant it too, even if Caddy was the only Diamonds' Pearl she'd spent a significant amount of time with.

"And you too, White! Are you excited?"

"A little."

"Me too! There's going to be so many cool things to see." Viri bounced forward on the balls of her feet. "Why don't we bring Caddy back a souvenir? I bet she'd like that."

"What kind of souvenir?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure we'll find something that'll suit her." She glanced to the side, distracted by another gem coming in. "Oh, Quin! You're here!"

"Hey, am I late?" the red Pearl asked, coming over to them. "Sorry, Snow was being finicky about where to put the new supplies."

"You mean you were being finicky?" White asked, deadpan.

"Maybe," Quin laughed. "You catch on pretty fast, huh?"

"You two were bickering all through me and Caddy's visit to pick out stuff for my room."

"Fair, fair."

"You're not late," Viri reassured her. "We were just early because we were excited."

"Okay, cool." She stepped onto the warp pad and waited expectantly for the others to join her. "This is everybody, right?"

"Yep!" Viri hopped onto it as well, followed closely by Sky and White. "I'm all set whenever you are. Though, um, I've never actually used one of these before. What do I do?"

"I can activate it this time," Sky volunteered. "And explain how so you can try it on the way back, if you like."

"That'd be great, thanks Sky."

"No problem." She paused, glancing over at Quin. "Have you been on a warp pad before? Now that I think about it, I don't know whether it's more of a Diamonds' Pearls thing or...?"

"Nah, the rest of us use them every now and then too, I know how to do it."

"Oh, okay! Sorry, I just wanted to make sure."

"No worries." Quin pushed her hands into her pockets, then tilted her head back to look at Viri. "I think the rebellion's got a high number of unusual cases, though I haven't run the numbers."

"Well, being unusual is fun," Viri said brightly, reaching up to place a hand on Quin's head and then quickly redirecting it to her shoulder instead so she wouldn't touch her gem. "At least I think so!"

"Yeah." Quin gave her a quick smile. "I guess so."

"Though," she added thoughtfully, "I do wish I knew more about usual things. Sometimes it's a little lonely having to ask a friend to explain something everybody else already knows."

"It's no trouble," Sky said quickly. "Really."

"Aww, thank you."

"Are we leaving now or not?" White asked.

"Oh, yeah, we can go now. Everybody ready?" Sky checked. Once she had affirmative nods from Viri and Quin, she activated the warp pad, letting the familiar sensation wash over her.

She'd been on warp pads plenty in her short life, though never from one planet to another. The trip seemed longer this time, but it was otherwise exactly as she was used to. The warp deposited them on another pad and Sky found herself looking at completely unfamiliar surroundings.

"Hi," Amethyst greeted them, seated on a chair across the room next to a human. "Welcome to Earth!"

"Hi," Sky said quietly, still a little stunned.

White was first off the warp pad, walking all around the space to get a better look at it. When she reached the pair of them, she said a quick "Hi" before moving on.

"Uh, hi," the human said, taken aback. "I'm Greg, Steven's dad."

White turned back with a soft "Oh." She dipped her head slightly in apology. "I'm White, and I'm not a dad."

Greg looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. "No, I hear you don't really have those on your planet. Nice to meet you, White."

"Nice to meet you." White glanced over her shoulder. "Am I supposed to introduce you guys too, or are you going to do that?"

"We can do it," Viri said, pulling Quin along by the hand as she went to say hello. "I'm Viridian, but you can call me Viri. It's really nice to meet you and I hope we can be friends!"

"It's nice to meet you too," he said, looking a little flustered as he had to tilt his head to look up at her. "Not to be rude, but I didn't know Pearls could be...bigger?"

"It's not rude at all," she reassured him. "Everyone is always really surprised to meet me back at home too! It just has to do with my gem shape."

"Ah." Greg glanced down at the partially covered gem adorning the center of her chest, then back up quickly. "You learn something new every day, huh?"

"I try to," Viri said earnestly. "Like today I'm—Oh, but I should give others a turn!" She gestured for Quin to go next.

"Hi, I'm Quinacridone," she said easily. "But Quin's fine. Nice to meet you."

"And I'm Sky," Sky said finally, barely remembering not to dip into a bow. "Thank you for having us."

"No problem. Thanks for taking care of Steven."

"Oh, we didn't do much," she replied shyly. "He seems like he can take care of himself so well already."

"Yeah, he's growing up," Greg said proudly. "Anyway, it's great to have you. And your friends earlier too."

Sky nodded. "Thanks."

"I'm going to head out now," White cut in easily now that the introductions were over. "It's that door, right?" she asked, pointing.

"Yep, that'll take you out to the beach. Wait a sec though." Greg dug into his pocket to pull out his wallet. "I wanted to make sure you all had a little spending money to use."

"Spending...money?" She accepted the offered bill, tilting her head curiously as he passed the same amount out to the others as well.

"What is this?" Quin held her own money up in front of her face, wide-eyed. "Is it a food?"

"No!" Greg said quickly. "No, you don't want to eat that. It's what you use to buy things."

"Ohhh." She looked even more intrigued. "What does it buy?"

"Pretty much any material thing you want, if you've got enough."

"How much is enough?"

"Uh...for what?"

"I don't know yet."

"Quin," Viri laughed, patting the smaller gem's shoulders. "I'm sure Greg gave us enough!"

"Oh, no, I wasn't trying to say he didn't! I was just wondering."

"It's okay," Greg said quickly, before she could start feeling bad. "Tell you what, if you see something you like that's out of your price range, come back and tell me about it and I'll see what I can do. I've got so much of this stuff now I don't know what to do with it."

"It doesn't seem right to take yours away though," Quin said, frowning. "Can you maybe just tell me where you get it from?"

"Well, that might take a while to explain..." He glanced at Sky and Viri. "You guys had plans, right?"

"Yeah, we were going to—hey, did White leave already?" Viri asked, looking all around her.

Sky sighed, realizing the other Pearl had indeed disappeared. "She probably went off to explore on her own."

"Oh, I thought we were all going to go together," she said, disappointed. "Isn't that why we had groups? I don't want her to get lost or anything."

"I'm sure she'll be fine." It was hard to ignore her own disappointment though, edged with a hint of irritation. She knew White was something of a loner, but how was Sky supposed to get to know her if she never bothered to stick around?

"Can I stay here and learn about money then?" Quin asked Greg. "I didn't have anything in particular I wanted to do, and this seems interesting!"

"Yeah, sure, I guess." He glanced over at Sky and Viri. "If it's okay with you guys."

"Oh, of course!" Viri went over and gave Quin a hug. "Have fun, okay? And you can catch up to us if you have any extra time."

"Will do," she agreed, smiling. "You have fun too! We can trade stories after."

"That sounds perfect."

Without further ado, Sky and Viri made their way out to the deck.

"So I guess it's just you and me now," Sky said awkwardly. "Did you still want to explore or...?"

"I'd love to!" Viri reassured her. "It'll still be lots of fun. Plus, I'm a little scared I might get lost if I try to go off on my own."

She laughed a little. "Me too."

"Maybe we'll just get lost together!"

"Don't jinx us!"

"Oops." Viri smiled, leading the way down the beach with a small skip in her step. "Where to? Or should we just walk and see what we find?"

"Let's do that," Sky agreed. "I don't know where to start."

"Okay!" Viri slowed her pace slightly, making sure Sky could keep up with her longer strides without too much effort. "I'm sorry Caddy couldn't come along," she said, "but I really am glad I got to be in your group. I feel like I never really get to see you."

"Sorry," she murmured. "I wish I had more time to socialize with everyone but..."

"No, no, you don't need to apologize!" Viri patted her head gently. "You're working hard. I'm just happy I finally get to spend time with you. I didn't mean anything more by it."

Sky nodded, smiling faintly.

"Is there a certain time we need to be back?" she checked, holding up the watch Steven had given her back on base. "I'll watch this to make sure you don't get in trouble."

"There's never really a way to guarantee a specific amount of time," she said quietly, "but I think one hour should be safe." She leaned over to look at the watch. "So it's when the bigger stick goes all the way around?"

"Yep, that's what he said. So maybe a little bit before that, to make sure you have time to get back to base and then to your Diamond without rushing."

"Thanks. Sorry for all the trouble."

Viri smiled. "It's not trouble. Gotta keep my friends safe."

Sky brightened a little, walking faster. "What kinds of things are you looking for today?"

"Hmm, I'd like to see flowers for sure, but I'm sure everything else will be great too."

She nodded, her jacket whipping back behind her with the wind. "We'll make sure and find some then. And I have a camera, so we can take pictures home to show everyone."

"Oh, that's perfect!"

The two of them wandered out past all the buildings, into a space that was full of grass and trees in various shades of yellows, oranges, and reds. Flowers were easy to find in the mix as well and Sky wasted no time in getting up close to them to take pictures, Viri pointing out more and more as they walked.

The flowers seemed to come in all kinds of colors and shapes, Viri delighting in all of them, but the big ones they came across were what made her squeal with joy. She ran over to pose beside the large yellow flowers. "Sky, look! It's as tall as I am!"

"That's amazing!" Sky exclaimed, hurrying over. "I didn't know they could do that."

"Me neither! Can you take a picture, please?"

"Sure!"

After a few dozen shots, the two of them took a seat amongst the tall plants.

"I wish I could take some of the smaller flowers back to base," Viri mused, finger tapping her lips thoughtfully. "I wonder how much they cost..."

"Yeah, I haven't seen anyone around to pay," Sky commented.

"I guess I could just leave the money here," she said slowly, "but I don't know how much to leave."

"Maybe if we just leave all of it?" she suggested.

"Do you think?"

"I can leave mine too," Sky said. "Just in case."

"You don't have to do that; there might be something else you want later." Viri grinned. "Or are you wanting to get flowers for a special gem?"

"No, no," she laughed. "I'm not really into that. I was just thinking I'd get some for Caddy, since she didn't get to come. And maybe White and Quin too...though I don't know if White would like flowers..."

"I'm sure she would!" Viri said encouragingly. "And Quin looks just like a flower, so she must like them too!"

"Um, what?"

"What what?"

"How does Quin look like a flower?"

"You know, around her gem," she said, pointing to the top of her own head. "Her gem is the middle bit and her hair is the petals, it's super cute. Oh! But I guess maybe you wouldn't be able to see it from where you are."

Sky laughed. "Yeah, I'm not tall enough for that."

"I'll lift you up later so you can see," Viri offered cheerfully. "Come on, let's pick out flowers for everyone now!"

"Alright!"

Sky wasn't quite sure what she expected to find when they returned to Steven's home, but it was definitely not Quin sitting on the floor, surrounded by stacks of coins. Before she could ask what was going on, Viri was already kneeling down to get a closer look.

"Hi!" she greeted Quin. "Whatcha doing?"

"Oh, hi!" She looked up from a notebook she'd been writing in and smiled. "Discovering my true calling."

"Ohhh. That's what all this stuff is?"

"Yeah, Greg loaned me some money so I could practice!"

"Practice…what?" Sky asked cautiously.

"Everything! Did you know a hundred of these are the same as twenty of these and ten of these and four of these?" Her eyes were bright with excitement as she pointed to each group of neatly stacked coins.

"I didn't," Viri said, wide-eyed. "This is all money? I thought it was just the paper Greg gave us."

"No, there's loads of different versions. Isn't it cool? And once you have a little bit of it, you can use it to get more! That's what I'm doing with my twenty dollars, so the rebellion can support itself better. What about you?"

"We bought flowers," she replied, equal excitement shining in her own eyes. "I got you some too." She presented Quin with a small bouquet she'd stored in her gem for safekeeping. "They didn't have red, but I thought the yellow ones were cute and would match too, so I got you those instead."

"Thanks." Quin beamed as Viri handed her the flowers, then stole one back to slip into Quin's curls. "They're really pretty."

"They are! We took lots of pictures too!"

"Nice." Quin touched the flower carefully. "I'll buy you some next time."

"Oh! I'll look forward to it then!" Viri gave her a warm hug.

Just then, the door opened again and White came through, surprising Sky with her punctuality. "Hi."

"Hello," Sky offered. "Um, how was it?"

"Good."

"What did you do?"

"Just went exploring. It was fun."

"Yeah, that's what Viri and I did too," Sky said, trying not to sound hurt. "You could have come with us."

White looked at her for a long moment. "Was I supposed to? Nobody said anything about it."

"No, it's—it's not a big deal." She shook it off, giving White a small smile as she reached to her gem. "We brought you back some flowers."

"Oh. Thank you." The words were a little stilted and White didn't really seem to know what to do with the flowers once they were in her hands, but she gave Sky a quick, awkward smile.

"You're welcome." Sky glanced over at the other two, but they'd gotten caught up in their own conversation, Quin explaining the details of currency as Viri listened intently. "So you're ready to head back?" Sky checked.

"Yeah. And you have to get back to your Diamond soon."

"Right."

"Are we leaving?" Quin asked, leaning sideways to look past Viri.

"Yeah," Sky said, relieved. "Sorry, I don't mean to cut this short."

"It's fine," she answered easily, getting up. "You ready, Viri?"

"Yep! I want to get back so I can put the flowers out for everyone to see."

Sky smiled. "That'll look really pretty."

"Right?" Viri hopped up onto the warp pad. "So it's my turn this time?"

"Yeah, go for it."

Viri closed her eyes and threw her arms out to either side, Earth disappearing in a sparkle of light.

And though Sky had to rush back to her Diamond as soon as they returned, she was left with a contented calm that even her Diamond's volatile emotions couldn't entirely shake.