Missing Peace: Chapter 48

Lapis and Peridot stared on in surprise as the battle around them ground suddenly to a halt. One by one the ships on both sides of the fight powered down their weapons and engines, and came to a stop, simply floating in space. Were it not for the fact that debris from the battle was still drifting about in various directions, it would have looked as though time was standing still. Lapis flew over to float beside Peridot, and the two of them gazed around at the silent fleets. "Is it over?" asked Peridot in a nervous tone. "Did Steven do it?"

Dalton and Li Froze as the announcement came over the zoo's comm channel. "All ships, this is Rose. Stand down. Repeat: stand down... It's over." The two men, still in the grapple they had been in moments before the announcement, stared at each other for a second, before reluctantly releasing each other from their respective holds, and backing away from one another. The pair had been brawling for some time, and both were covered in bruises and cuts. Li looked a little on edge, unsure of whether or not to believe what he had just heard. His eyes flitted now and again to the makeshift explosive that lay on the floor, but he made no move to reach it. Dalton meanwhile, did not share his doubts. He'd heard the stories of what Steven had accomplished, and it looked as though the boy had pulled off yet another miracle. "He's done it!" he said out loud, partially to vocalise his own amazement, partially to make sure Li stayed calm. "The kid's actually done it!"

"All our ships are confirming it White" said Yellow, whose image was hovering on the screen suspended in front of White's face. "Facet 31's entire fleet has powered down weapons and is broadcasting their surrender. Whatever Steven did over on the zoo, it appears to have worked." From her chamber within her now crippled head ship, White looked out at the battlefield around her, visible on a flickering but still just about functional viewscreen. Sure enough, both fleets were now stationary, frozen in the positions they had been fighting in moments beforehand. The fact that both fleets had come to a stop likely meant that Yellow and Blue had already ordered their ships to cease fire as soon as Facet 31 had surrendered. Not something they would have done in the old days, but it seemed a lot of Steven had rubbed off on the three of them over the past few weeks. White let out a long, relieved sigh, before returning to the matter at hand. "Thank you Yellow. Now…, I don't suppose you and Blue mind linking your arms back up to my ship? I think I'm going to need to be towed home." Yellow rolled her eyes, but the act was accompanied by a grin that made it clear she was just playing. "Where would you be without us White? Alright, we'll be with you as soon as we can, then we'll meet up with Steven together."

Not too long after, back in the zoo's command centre, Steven and the Crystal Gems stood in a group as Gems bustled around them. The Facet 31 Gems were largely milling around, unsure of what to do with themselves in light of their leader's surrender. Most of the activity was coming from the Homeworld Gems the Diamonds had sent over. In the minutes following Rose's surrender, multiple Homeworld ships had docked with the zoo, and their crews had boarded the station to make sure that Facet 31's surrender was indeed genuine, as well as to make sure the zoo wasn't coming apart at the seams after the beating it had taken during the battle. Rose was still sat where she had been for the last few minutes, staring out at the stars. Upon their arrival, the Homeworld Gems had looked as though they were planning on trying to take her into custody there and then, but Steven had made it clear in no uncertain terms that she was to be left alone for now. He was just about to walk over and check on her when a very bedraggled Dalton and Li came stumbling into the command centre. "Sorry we're late" said Dalton, in a surprisingly humorous tone for someone who looked like he'd just been involved in some sort of boxing match. Li's eyes flitted around the room, quickly landing on Rose. His expression rapidly changed to the sort of look one might have upon discovering that their own hair was on fire. "Rose Quartz?! She's alive?!" he whispered into Dalton's ear. Dalton couldn't help but smirk. "You really don't know how this kid does things, do you?" he replied, though truthfully, he didn't really know how Steven had manage to end things peacefully either; he was just happy to accept the result.

The Diamonds contacted Steven soon after, and, after listening to Steven's retelling of the day's events, deferred to his judgement regarding Rose. Dalton was fairly certain the UN would have something to say about Rose's fate being decided unilaterally by a half-Gem boy, but that was a mess to clean up another day. It was very clear that Steven wasn't going to allow any of Facet 31's Gems to face a trial in the traditional sense, and with the Diamonds giving the boy their unconditional support, Earth would likely have very little say in the matter. For now, it was best to just get everyone home, and come at the issue with clearer heads when the time came to work out the specifics. Steven contacted Lars, telling him the same story he'd just recounted to the Diamonds. Lars seemed in equal parts relieved to hear that the threat was over, and displeased at being asked to turn his ship around when he was already millions of miles from the zoo. He obliged all the same of course, and returned in short order, returning his compliment of rather shaken zoo humans to the station. They looked uneasy as the Homeworld Gems welcomed them back, and tried to calm them down. Steven knew that bringing them back to the zoo was an inelegant solution. After what Facet 31 had done, it was unclear if the humans would ever feel as at home there as they once had, but it seemed to be what most of them wanted. A few asked to be taken to Earth instead; a request which the Diamonds and Lars of course granted, though Steven suspected they wouldn't find it much easier to adjust to life there than to return to the zoo.

Once all the humans who wished to do so had disembarked from the Sun Incinerator, the away team boarded, followed by Rose, cradling Sapphire's gem in one hand. The Diamonds had thought it best for her to not be let out of Steven's sight for the next few hours, so she would be accompanying them, despite the fact that the rest of Facet 31's Gems were heading back to Homeworld, at least for the moment. Bringing Rose back to Earth was another thing Dalton was sure that the international community would have an aneurism over, so for the time being he elected not to tell them. The Diamonds had concurred. They had made it very clear to Li, projecting a menacing tone the likes of which Dalton had never seen, that he was to keep it to himself also, or risk ending up on their bad side, with all the consequences that came with. Dalton doubted that the Diamonds would follow through on that threat, as Steven probably wouldn't let them, but it was enough to scare Li into what seemed like sincere agreement. Dalton wasn't sure what the official cover story was going to be yet, but he suspected that whatever it was, it wouldn't exactly do wonder for Earth-Homeworld relations. Once everyone was on-board, the Sun Incinerator departed from the zoo, and before long the entire party, Crystal Gems, Humans, and Rose, were hitching a ride back to Earth.

As the small Gem vessel sped through space, the eclectic mix of individuals waited out the trip in their own ways. Lapis and Peridot had made their way back to the zoo following the battle, and had been able to board with the others. Peridot was now regaling the less-than-interested Crystal Gems with slightly exaggerated tales of her feats of heroism during the fight. Lars sat in his captain's chair, casually chatting with his crew as they operated their stations. Dalton and Li simply sat against one of the walls, occasionally shooting each other awkward glances. Li had said nothing the whole trip thus far, and it didn't look like he was in any mood to start. Dalton in turn had no desire to press him. What would two people who had been prepared to kill each other mere hours ago even say to each other? Deciding that he had no desire to find out, he instead listened in on the Crystal Gems' chatter, occasionally chuckling to himself at the absurdity of the recent weeks.

Rose stood separately from the crowd, staring out of one of the viewing ports, occasionally glancing down at Sapphire's gem, which she was still holding. It had been hours, and her former confidante had not yet reformed. Rose knew it sometimes took this long, particularly in the case of especially traumatic injuries, but the knowledge that she had been the one to inflict that injury sent pangs of guilt through her until she could look at the gem no longer. Returning her gaze to the window, she saw Steven approaching from behind her in the reflection. She didn't turn to face him, knowing he would say whatever he wanted to say whether she acknowledged him or not. "Hey Rose… are you ok?" Steven asked in a sympathetic tone. Rose wasn't sure whether to be amused or angry at being presented with such a basic and innocuous question when she had basically broken down in front of him just a few hours ago. "What do you think? Of course I'm not OK!" she thought to herself, but bit back the urge to say it out loud. After all, he was probably only trying to be supportive. Pink would have been naïve enough to ask that question without already knowing the answer, but Steven wasn't Pink. On the surface, he may have seemed as cheerful and oblivious as Rose's Diamond had been, but beneath the surface was a surprising wisdom; the same wisdom that had made Rose aware of her own folly, when no one else had been able to.

Finally, she answered him. "I don't know... Not really… No." It was the only answer that felt honest. She didn't really know what lay in store for her in the future. She had hated to leave the rest of Facet 31 at the mercy of the Diamonds, but Steven had assured her that they wouldn't be harmed, and right now she had no choice but to believe him. She didn't know what she was going to do either. The ship was on its way back to Earth; a planet which reopened a lot of wounds for her. Steven had assured her that things weren't as bad there as she thought, but the fact that her presence there was to be hidden from the human population for her own protection made that difficult to believe. "What's…going to happen to me? When I get back to Earth I mean." Steven looked a little surprised by the question, but his expression quickly faded back into a cheerful one. "That's up to you. You'll have to stay in Beach City for a little while, until things calm down, but after that, you can decide what you want to do. You can stay with us, go back to Homeworld; whatever feels right."

It seemed as though he genuinely meant what he said, but Rose had been burned by broken promises before. She raised an eyebrow at him. "The Diamonds are really going to allow me that much freedom? After what I've done?"

"Well, the Diamonds listen to me," replied Steven, "so if I tell them that I trust you, they'll probably trust you too. I mean, Yellow might act grumpy about it, but none of them will try to stop you from living your life. That isn't how they do things anymore."

"And the humans?" Rose enquired, the organics that she had been trying to eradicate just a short while ago remaining her chief concern. "I know how crazy I went when I felt like they'd wronged me. Can you honestly tell me that there aren't humans who will want to do to me what I tried to do to them?" Steven seemed to think for a moment, his face a little straighter now, before answering her. "Honestly, I can't promise that, but as long as you're in Beach City, you'll be safe. The people there are great with Gems." Steven was gratified that there was at least one group of humans that he could vouch for without question. Beach City's residents had been nothing short of saintly in their patience and tolerance of the aliens which had flooded their home since the corrupted Gems had been cured, not to mention the Diamonds. Steven had been worried that after what happened at Garnet's wedding, the Diamonds' regular visits to him might put his neighbours on edge, but all of his friends had been welcoming to his giant new family members. Deep down, he knew they would be just as forgiving to Rose. He hoped that Earth's Gem residents, like Centi, would be equally forgiving. The former corrupted Gem had been on edge in recent weeks, but if anyone could understand where Rose was coming from, it was another of Pink's old soldiers. Steven was confident things would work out in the end. They usually did once people agreed to start talking.

Rose's concerned expression softened slightly, and he saw that his words had had the desired effect. "Okay, if you're so sure" conceded Rose. "I just wish I had your confidence." Steven put his hand on hers and smiled back at her. "You will." The two sat together for the rest of the trip back, saying very little. Steven was just pipe up with some bit of Earth-related trivia occasionally whenever it seemed like Rose's thoughts were drifting to Sapphire's gem, or when she started looking restless. As much as Rose still wasn't sure what to make of the hybrid that sat beside her, the presence of the only person outside of Facet 31 who seemed to understand her feelings did seem to calm her down. As the blue and green orb of Earth came into view, completely untouched by the destruction Rose had intended to visit upon it, the pair looked out at it together. After more than five thousand years, for better or worse, Rose Quartz had come home. Since being unbubbled, she had hated Earth from afar, but now, it was time to see what was really out there…