The next morning is quiet.
Understandibly quiet considering it was barely dawn.
For Lilly, this was hardy a concern. She wouldn't need to sleep for another month or so really.
So instead she opts to sit out on the porch steps, the blanket Steven had gifted her wraped around her frame. She watches silently as morning dew begins to collect on the damp sand.The wind carries the scent of saltwater from the ocean and she breathes it in.
The moon is still visible in the sky, a pale ghost only just lingering within sight, reminding Lilly of the one person she misses above all others.
Luna...Her arms are clutched to her chest, gripping tightly within them the first thing she ever owned in all her lives.
She remembers that day vividly:
Planet Orian. Sector five. Once bursting with flora, the now long dead planet was a natural hub for a rare gem type: Moonstones.
Known for their intelligence, intuition, and their ability to walk the leylines, an intangible energy found in the air that only moonstones could gather to form platforms and slack lines to travel with. Moonstones were technicians, not just the builders of homeworld technology, but the inventors of them.
Moonstones were difficult to form, the nutrients needed to form them had to already be in the ground before the minerals were inserted. As a land once saturated in plant life, Orian was ideal.
The creation process was dangerous, however. The ground was filled with hard, crystalized fauna. Often, young moonstones had to fight their way past the hardened fossils to emerge.
Not a gem type known for their strength, it went without saying that emergence rates were low.
Moonstones were known however, for their stubbornness, and thus insisted on carrying on in their efforts.
In the Alpha kindergarten of sector five, peridots milled about, drilling in empty patches of earth and checking newly emerged moonstones for any obvious defects.
Overseeing the operation was a small group of senior moonstones, their notorious intuition a boon for sensing whether or not a newling had the strength the emerge. Not nearly as precise as a Sapphire's future vision, but earily similar.
Each newling was to be asigned to a senior moonstone upon emergence. They would then train under said senior moonstone for the next three centuries or so until they comepleted their apprenticeship when they would then spend the next few eons working independently unless they decided to remain at their mentors side as a partner or if they wished to take on an apprentice themselves after a few centuries of successful independent work.
Sitting in front of a blank patch of earth, was Moonstone 3x9. The very essense of calm radiating from her as she waited for the newling to emerge.
"She's late." Moonstone 5x1 stated knowingly while she examined a set of stats on her holo-screen.
"Give her time." 3x9 insisted, not taking her eyes off of the spot where she was certain a new moonstone was going to emerge at any moment.
"You've been at this for nearly four rotations now." 5x1 one stated with a touch of exasperation.
3x9 just shook her head and continued to wait. "She can make it." She murmured.
A minute passed. Then five. Ten, twenty, thirty.
Soon the planet's moon rose in the sky, stars emerging to wink down at the busy gems.
3x9's attention had begun to wander, her leg had begun to ache from how long she had spent on sitting on them. Her eyes drooped.
*Crunch*
3x9's eyes shot open.
*Crunch*
*Shift*
Tiny, tentative cracks had started to apear on the surface of the exit spot. specks of dirt fell to the ground at the disturbance.
A breath she didn't need caught in her throat. Hesitantly, 3x9 placed a shaky hand on the surface, feeling the restless shifts of the newling pressing against the wall of dirt that contained her.
"Come on..." 3x9 pleaded encouragingly. Hope bloomed in her chest.
*crunch*
*crunch*
Noticing the activity, a nearby Peridot came over to inspect the area.
"Hmm, these statistics say this moonstone is alarmingly late. If I were you I'd be prepared for the possibility of her being too defective to keep." The peridot warned.
3x9 didn't dare take her eyes off of the shift "No. She's going to be fine I just know it. She's a fighter I can tell."
Not one to argue with her superiors, the Peridot merely stood patiently to the side and waited for the moonstone to emerge.
*Crunch*
*crunch*
*crack!*
The veins widened and something shiny and a pale pink poked out of the entrance hole, but it wasnt a moonstone. It was a large block of crystalized Lillies.
Fear gripped 3x9's heart. Had her instincts been wrong? A moonstones intuition was not nearly as accurate as a Sapphire's future vision after all.
There was another crunch of hard packed dirt being pushed against before it stopped.
3x9 waited for several moments with baited breath before her heart dropped.
"No..."
5x1, who had noticed her friend's newling's struggle, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"You tried."
"No...no,no, no!"
3x9's struggle was understandible of course. When a moonstone dedicated themselves to something they often ended up getting quite emotionally invested. It was part of what made them such brilliant inventors. To loose an apprentice of all things before they even emerged had to be quite painfull.
"I...er...apologize for your loss." The peridot spoke awkwardly. As a Peridot the kindergardener couldn't really understand moonstones and their strange, overly emotional habits.
*Crack!*
*Crash!*
As suddenly as the newlings efforts had stopped they resumed in the form of a final push of surprising strength and the offending block of crystalized lillies fell out of the entrance and shattered upon their impact on the ground.
Crystal coated flowers scattered across the ground as a heaving, dirt covered newling fell face forward out of her hole.
3x9 caught the shaking young moonstone in her arms, crying and laughing at the same time with joy and disbdisbelief.
"You did it! Oh I knew you could do it!" 3x9 held the newling at arms length, examining her oval shaped face, taking in her grey/blue eyes and the slightly pink tinge in her white skin.
5x1 laughed and shook her head in amusement. "It looks as though you were right after all 3x9."
"And she seems to be reasonably healthy as well, for a gem as late as her." The peridot praised as she examined the newling for flaws. "A little on the short side perhaps, but I do think she'll do just fine."
It was true, standing at five foot three, the newling was a far cry from the standerd six feet for moonstones but after a thorough examination the Peridot confirmed that she appeared to have no other obvious disabilities.
"Well, none that I can tell anyways." The peridot spoke while updating the newlings status on her holo screen."I'm no expert on how moonstone abilities work. You'll have to test her yourself for that.
"She's perfect." 3x9 spoke confidently, a gleam of pride shone in her eyes as she watched the young gem examine one of the crystal coated flowers she had fought her way past in order to make it into this world.
"I'm sure she'll make an excellent apprentice." 5x1 confirmed with a small smile.
"Moonstone 5x1? You are needed over at exit spot twelve." A Peridot called from several yards away.
"That will be me." 5x1 laughed. "I'll leave you two to get aquianted.
3x9 nodded farewell and turned back to her new apprentice.
"Everything seems to be in order. You two have clearance to leave at any time. I will send my superiors the newling's report within the next rotation. Expect to receive a copy of the report within the next cycle. With that said," Peridot offered the newling a tiny smile. "Welcome to the world Moonstone 12x8."
"T-thank you." The newly christened 12x8 stammered out and 3x9 felt warmth bloom in her chest all over again at the sound of her voice.
3x9 stood and took 12x8's hands in her own.
Together the pair borded a ship.
"It's so good to finally meet you." 3x9 whispered with a maternal smile.
"My little Lilly."
"Next coordinates, Pink Diamond's Zoo." The pilot announced as they went into hyperspace.
Lillies eyes drifted open, a ghost of warmth passing through her at the memory of her first life.
"Mom...I miss you." She murmured.
In each and every one of her lifetimes 3x9, or as Lilly had come to call her, Luna, had always been there. The near magnetic draw of the bond between a moonstone and their apprentice always drawing them together no matter what form Lilly was reborn in. To not have her mother in all but blood at her side now was more than little upsetting.
She would to make do though. Lilly was nothing if not resilient and a little separation anxiety certainly wasn't going to cripple her.
Lilly gripped her crystalized namesake, fingers ghosting over the curves and contours of the pale pink petals.
Inside, she could hear Steven mumbling in protest as the light from the slowly lightening sky disturbed his rest. Amethyst too, gave a tiny grumble and rolled over to lay on her stomach, the couch rustling at the movement.
Lilly smiled softly at their antics and stood, folding her blanket neatly and leaving it near the door before walking slowly down the steps, the cool seabreeze blowing her fringe out of her face. Lilly reached back and wound the rest of her hair into a half bun, using her lilly as a pin to secure it the center. For several seconds her hair stayed like this before her fringe came loose from the bun and fell to the sides of her face.
Lilly huffed in annoyance before giving up and continuing down the beach, letting her instincts guide her across the sand to the edge of the water.
Taking a step forwards, she would have walked into the water had she not instinctively reached out to the laylines, the usually invisible energy glowing blue under her feet.
Lilly grinned and breaks into a run, trusting her muscle memory to pull the leyline under her feet and keep her from falling.
Jumping high in the air she pulls the leylines into a slack line and balances expertly on a single foot. She walks across the slackline slowly at first but goes faster and faster until she is running and spinning and jumping across the thin blue line.
Lilly laughs aloud and takes solace in peace this single moment in the quiet of dawn gives her.
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soo, there's a nice little bit of back story there for you! hope you enjoyed it. i wasn't joking when I said I'm having a lot of fun writing this.
please read and review!
-Blue
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