Once she was sure Steven was asleep, Garnet headed over to the temple door and knocked.
"Pearl, let me in. I need to speak with you." she called as quietly yet vocally as possible so as to not wake Steven.
After a few minutes Pearl's room opened up before her. The sky was a perfect blue-black night with stars dotting the "ceiling" and gold ribbons hanging above as if the Aurora Borealis was condensed, gilded, and hung there for personal decoration. The floor was an expanse of water though still solid. Fountains held up several circular platforms. On the closest platform was Pearl who was reorganizing her sword collection, an activity she usually partakes in to unwind.
"Oh Garnet, come in," said Pearl halfheartedly, ignoring the fact that Garnet was already in her room.
"Pearl, what's on your mind?"
"Nothing. I just realized I hadn't done anything to these in a while, so I decided to find a new sorting method."
"Really." said Garnet flatly "And you have no other reason to come in here?"
"Yes. Really. Just the swords. Nothing else." Pearl replied
"You know I don't buy that excuse. I know your upset and it has something to do with Steven. It doesn't take future vision to see that."
"You know, I hate it when you spring that on me. If you can see the future, pray tell, why don't you already know the answer?" she asked sarcastically
"Because my future vision is not perfect and you know that. I would not predict you of all Gems to just storm off."
"The only thing I'm doing is preventing my collection from becoming a cluttered wreck like the garbage heap that is Amethyst's room. Now I hope you've enjoyed your visit. You can leave the way you came in." With that she turned around and leapt to another platform. Of course Garnet followed after her. She could see her shoulders were tensing, her eyes were desperately avoiding Garnet's gaze and the venom starting to creep in her voice.
"Pearl, don't run away from this. You cannot dodge this forever." Garnet began following her every leap and bound.
"I will sort this out myself. Just leave!" Pearl shouted as she turned around to face the bulkier Gem
"You know as well as I do that this has nothing to do with your blades. Now stop kidding yourself and just come out with what's really bothering you."
"Isn't that ironic coming from you? The Gem who can see every possible outcome to every conundrum? Why don't you tell me why I'm acting this way?" Pearl continued to leap from platform to platform with each retort and jab.
"You know that already. Simply telling you the answer deprives you of learning. You of all Gems should appreciate that." Pearl suddenly stopped dead in her tracks upon hearing this.
"You kept learning so you could grow out of what Homeworld made you to be. Besides that, I can only see what will happen, not why it happens. It benefits both of us for you to come clean and just give a straight answer. Especially since I saw a few unkind possibilities during that conversation." Garnet folded her arms upon finishing her explanation. Pearl was now facing her dead in the eye with all the hostility depleted from her system.
"Heh. Hahahaha… Of course you saw that. It's not Steven I'm upset with. I'm mad at myself."
"That's unusual." Even Garnet would have a difficult time predicting this conclusion.
"Because Steven was one hundred percent right to have me promise to keep calm. When I heard the way he started badmouthing Rose, I don't know what came over me."
"He knew that you'd get emotional over this. He doesn't blame you."
"You're right. He blames Rose which I just can't understand. All of the sudden NOW he decides to start insulting her and everything she stood for? Doesn't he get that without her the Earth would be a Gem colony, the human race and all organic life would be extinct, and we would all be shattered?! How could he say those things when Rose gave her life to save us and then make him? It made me so furious I wanted to… to… t-"
"Get it out, Pearl. You wanted to what?" said Garnet with all the confidence she could summon without intimidating Pearl who was now shuddering.
"I wanted to hurt him. Garnet, for a split second, I forgot it was Steven who was talking. I wanted to draw my spear just to get him to keep quiet. He was right to make me promise. I feel so ashamed…" she sobbed as tears began streaming down her face and her knees buckled.
"Pearl… you just lost yourself for a minute. Believe me, even I have that feeling now and again. And with me that feeling literally tears me apart. We all know how much you adored Rose, how you would sacrifice everything just to please her or see her succeed. Steven knows it too. He respects the way you think. That promise was for his sake, not yours." Under her watchful eyes, Pearl fell to the ground still crying. Garnet took a seat on the watery stand they were on to keep them eye-to-eye so she would not feel intimidated.
"His sake? He sounded pretty certain about his opinions."
"Steven was definitely right about one thing: Rose left a lot of loose ends. Not just with Homeworld or her past, but with us. In a way, we've pushed our perspective of Rose onto him. You and I both know how troubling it can be to have a certain point of view shoved down our throats."
"True. I guess we were always painting Rose as this perfect role model for him to live up to. We were just doing the best we can. Garnet, I don't have any idea what Rose would do in this situation."
"Me neither. All we can do now is let Steven be himself. That's what Rose wanted."
"Yes. Rose prided individuality and being your true self more than anything. She would want nothing more than her son to be fully unique, not hide any part of himself no matter how unusual it may be." Remembering the face of her beloved Rose, the droplets on her face stopped as the revelations came to mind. Her old poise seemed to be returning and her resentment was gone. At long last Pearl stood up and floated down to the floor of her room. Garnet followed suit and the two Crystal Gems headed for the exit.
"Thank you Garnet. I really needed someone to straighten me out there."
"Don't mention it. Sometimes we all need someone to confide in. Even Rose Quartz needed a confidante."
"You're right, as usual. I miss her so much though…" She tried to hide the blush that formed on her face at her comment.
"We all do. In a way Steven does too even though he's never truly met her."
"And now he can never meet her. It's such a shame."
"And now you're going to watch him sleep."
"No! You know I dropped that habit long ago." With an indignant huff, Pearl left her room, leaving Garnet alone for minute.
"If she thinks I believe that lie, then she has to reorganize more than her swords…" Garnet chuckled to herself as she quickly left Pearl's room before it would vanish. Outside the sun was starting to rise over the ocean and light was streaming in through the temple's windows. Sure enough Pearl was crouching next to Steven's bed where the exhausted boy was going to spend the next several hours snoozing his troubles away.