"Please don't!" a man on his knees cried out, "Our research is impor-"

He collapsed as a tan girl in a short black dress slashed him twice, walking out of the room with blood dripping off her knife. In the next room, the devilish girl liberated other beings of all shapes and sizes and colors after a several small shouts of panic.

A small being was at her feet, "What are you doing? You can't expect to free all of us gems… Some of us are bad for the Earth!"

The tan gem roughly pushed her aside, "Learn to appreciate the freedom."

She picked herself up and ran out the exit doors, setting off the fire alarm. The tan gem continued walking into the other rooms as people screamed. They didn't deserve to be unscathed according to the gem so she had no qualms with hurting them. Her undersized dress gave her added confidence to do what she had to, but she made sure that no one died, only using her knife if someone got to close to her.

One day came when she freed the wrong place, a place for bad gems that had tried committing crimes and hurting the planet. An angered jail guard came up from behind her with bloody hands.

He groaned with pain rushing through his body, "Hey… You are an Amber right? Aren't you supposed to be docile and intelligent? You are being awful dumb for one…"

Amber turned aggressively around, "Human, you have no business keeping these gems caged in here everyday."

"Please, don't free any more of them… They are here for a reason…" Amber raised her knife at him, and he fell to his knees in a ball.

She turned away and walked out the exit door as emergency services rushed in. Her hair had darkened to black and the collar that had once been a tracker turned black and blue. Amber looked nothing like she had before; she felt mostly negative emotions sometimes having the feeling of confidence running through her. She only lived to free gems from labs and prisons, never thinking of the long term.

Amber pushed away the thoughts she had of her human, knowing that she would be unable to live with herself if she thought too much of him. She missed him dearly but knew she couldn't go back to regular life. Turquoise would frown upon her current actions. Her human would never agree with what she had done and how dark she had become.

She entered her next laboratory but this one was empty for some reason. All of a sudden, Amber felt herself being grabbed from behind with one arm. The gem bent her arm back and stabbed the person behind her in the stomach. They fell to their knees and Amber didn't dare turn around as she remembered the sound of the familiar pants.

"Amber… You stab pretty hard for a girl," the familiar voice said, lifting itself up, "That almost hurt."

Amber turned around, her red eyes fading to orange under her visor, "L-Luca is that you?"

"Yes, I have come to get you, it has been a month since you have been gone," Luca took off his bullet-proof vest, "This sure came in handy today, didn't it."

"What month is it," Amber asked slowly, making sure not to show her face, "Have you been searching for me all this time?"
"It's October and Turquoise helped me clear out this place," Luca grabbed her arm, "Amber we have been searching for you in whatever free time we had. Stay with us."

"I-I can't," Amber shook off Luca's hand and started to walk forward, "I can never go back to the life I shared with you. Please leave, the control I have over my body will fade away soon. Run, now!"

"No," Luca said, walking closer and closer to her, "I will stay here with you. Everyone misses you, Amber, you have to come home."

Amber lost herself in some kind of pain, falling backwards. She looked down and saw a couple inches of a sword sticking out. The tan gem's eyes reverted to red as she stood up, turned around and ripped the blade from her mid torso. Her attacker slashed at her again, but she stopped the sword with her knife. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she smacked the yellow gem around. It was corrupted, so she was a little bit less gentle with it.

After she had finished defeating the gem, she turned around to see Luca's face. He beckoned her to come closer, but she worried she would hurt him. Amber tried to calm herself down, but all of her attempts failed as Luca got closer and closer to her. Her eyes glinted red as she charged at him, the wound in her chest searing. Luca knocked the knife out of her hand and threw it to the side. She growled, but managed to get some of the anger out of her system.

"Just trust me," Luca said slowly, "Come back to me, I want to see if you are okay."

"No," Amber said, losing herself in her overwhelming power, "Luca stay where you are, don't come any closer. I almost killed you."

Luca didn't listen, calmly walking towards the gem. He put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to lightly shudder at the contact. She turned around, feeling herself release the darkness that she had unknowingly been holding onto. Her hair returned to orange as her dress turned white. Amber looked down and instantly blocked her stomach.

"Looking kind of skimpy there, Amber," Luca said, "Did you know that it exposed that much of your stomach?"

"N-No… I mean, yes…" Amber looked away, ashamed at herself.

"Do you want my jacket, Miss, my dress opens up all the way down to my gem?" Luca grinned as Amber tried to scratch at him, "Better not mess up your dress."

"Give me your jacket!" Amber said indignantly.

"Here you go," Luca responded, passing the desired object to Amber.

"Thanks…" Amber put the jacket on and the two walked out of the building.

Turquoise immediately jumped onto Amber as soon as she closed the door, "Oh my gosh, Amber! How are you? You are wounded!"

"I am fine!" Amber hugged Turquoise and spun her around in a circle as they fused together.

Luca fell on his knees, "Whoa! You two should get a room!"

"What happened? We fused again! I guess it was because we were happy," Tourmaline turned to Luca.

"I don't like the way you are looking at me," Luca was picked up by the fusion,

"Want a ride home?" Tourmaline asked the boy in her arms, "It is going to be way more fun than you think."

"Okay, but what about my car?" Luca asked the giant woman.

"We will carry it home for you," Tourmaline said, picking up the vehicle with one of her large hands.

Luca sat back, he felt relieved that Amber's rescue had gone so smoothly. He closed his eyes; Atlanta was fairly nice this time of year. October was always his favorite month as the trees changed so rapidly from bright chartreuse greens to golden yellows, oranges, and browns. It reminded him of his parents' passing which was confirmed by Turquoise and Peridot to have been a mission of finishing off the humans that had discovered the Kindergarten and reported it to the Crystal Gems. He occasionally missed California, its warmth and its many nice beaches. Luca wanted to go to one, but he had never quite gotten the skills to maneuver the water without drowning. Maybe he could take Amber and Turquoise to the beach one day.

"Luca… Wake up…" Luca heard a familiar voice.

He tried to move, but just couldn't, "What's on me? I can't move."

Turquoise giggled, "Amber is sleeping on top of you. We got home a couple hours ago."

"Oh, what should I do?" Luca tried to lift his heavy hand.

"Hm… You should wake her up," Turquoise said, smiling, "Or I could do it if you want."

"No, I will do it," Luca tried to sit up again, "Hey Amber, wake up."

Amber yawned, but picked herself up, "Good whatever time, Luca."

She was still on top of him, "Amber, do you know where you are?"

Amber looked down and jumped off hurriedly, "Sorry about that, you were just so warm."

"That's alright," Luca picked himself up, "You found a way to change your outfit?"

Amber smiled and spun around, "Yeah."

"You look great," Luca paused, "Wait, how did you fix that injury?"

"I regenerated it with help from Turquoise," Amber said, "She taught me to focus on healing it for a while until it dissipates small enough to let it heal naturally."

"Alright," Luca smiled, "Does it still hurt?"

"Just a little," Amber replied, "I don't mind it."

All of a sudden, Amber wrapped her arms around him. He felt her warmth and he placed his hands on her uncovered back. Turquoise giggled, her friends finally hugged each other. She loved to see love developing in between two compatible people. Luca then tugged the blue gem into the hug, completing the group.

"Is it almost Halloween?" Turquoise asked after the hug broke apart, "We should all be matching!"

"What is Halloween?" Amber wondered aloud.

"Halloween is when monsters come out to eat you," Luca paused watching Amber's reaction, "Well actually, you dress up and go to houses to get candy. I am a bit too old for this so I will just watch you guys and eat your candy."

"When is it again?" Turquoise asked giddily.

"It is October 31st, so we still have some time to get our costumes," Luca said, "Think Amber would like candy?"

"I haven't the faintest idea but she likes pasta right?" Turquoise responded.

Amber thought about pasta and had horrible flashbacks, sitting on the floor of Luca's room. Had the pasta been removed from her stomach? She had no idea but wanted to figure it out.

"Hey Turquoise, when we were Tourmaline, did you feel food in our stomach?" Amber asked her concerned friend.

"Yeah," Turquoise said, putting her hand on Amber's shoulder, "It was pasta… Wait, do you only have a stomach?"

"I formed one a while ago, apparently I have never digested it," Amber said slowly standing up, "Do you have more organic parts?"

"Yes, I do," Turquoise said, "We met with other Crystal Gems a while ago who found your location and helped us clear out the laboratory!"

"You did?" Amber was dumb-founded; a lot had gone on while she was away, "What were their names?"

"Hm, one was Emerald, another was Jewel and the other two were Azurite and Vexus," Turquoise smiled, "One had so many organic parts, it was almost human!"

"Whoa, that's odd," Amber walked to the door, "I want to go see the caretaker!"

"Alright, I am pretty sure he was asleep though," Turquoise said, "He has been very stressed since you left."

Amber ran to the back room followed by Luca and Turquoise, "Caretaker! Guess who is back?"

The caretaker sat up in his bed and looked at Amber, rubbing his eyes in disbelief, "You're here."

He walked up to the tan gem, "What are you wearing?"

Amber blushed, "I can't change my outfit…"

"What did you do?" the caretaker asked.

"I hurt many people…" Amber replied, avoiding eye contact.

The caretaker raised his hand and slapped Amber's cheek, "I missed you…"

Amber wrapped her arms around the caretaker lovingly. She missed his warmth, but she missed him the most. The two hugged for a couple minutes, talking quietly about what she did. Tears rushed down Amber's face as she was comforted.

Her face stung, but it was worth it to experience this much warmth from a person. When the hug broke apart, Amber followed the caretaker to the dinner table.

"Hey Luca, want to make a welcome back cake?" the caretaker asked his nephew.

"Sure. Gosh it's late," Luca smiled as he looked to Amber who was totally oblivious of the meaning of a cake, "Good thing it's the weekend, right guys?"

"Yup," Turquoise said, smiling at the caretaker.

Within the next hour, a chocolate cake was made. After setting it down on the table, Amber took a couple sniffs.

"This is a cake," Luca said, "We are sharing it with you for a Homecoming present."

"Thank you," Amber said, staring at the beautiful brown cake in the caretaker's hands.

"You are very welcome," the uncle smiled.

Amber saw the caretaker lift the knife as she, Turquoise, and Luca sat down. The caretaker cut the cake slowly; making sure each piece was equal. He then passed the pieces out, sitting himself down.

"Enjoy!" the caretaker smiled.

Amber lifted her fork, it was a while since she had used one and was slightly shaky. She took a small bite of the cake and placed it in her mouth. The gem swallowed the delicious morsel and quickly devoured the rest of her piece, holding her plate up.

"You want more?" the caretaker asked, "It is very filling."

"Yesh!" Amber said, "Ish my favorish!"

"Oh my, here you go," the caretaker gave her the remainder of the cake and sat down to read the newspaper.

Luca finished his piece by the time Amber had finished the cake. Turquoise wondered how her friend would feel later, but she gladly gave her the other half of her piece. Amber suddenly started to look sick, her cheeks flushing greenish blue.

"What's happening?" the tan gem asked, holding her stomach.

"You gorged, look at your tummy…" Turquoise said, whispering unspecified details in her friend's ear, "You will feel better after."

"Thanks, I will do that," Amber said, running to the bathroom.

"I wonder what the other half of the Crystal Gems is doing…" Luca said aloud.

"Same," Turquoise responded, "Maybe they will come visit. They told us they were going home after they finished clearing the laboratory."

"Yeah, right now, they are probably messing around with something," Turquoise said thoughtfully, "Especially Emerald… She is fairly sarcastic and loves to pull the Vex's leg."

"Yup," Luca heard the bathroom door open.

Amber returned from the bathroom, "Guess what?"

"You went to the restroom?" Luca replied.

"No, I grew my hair out again!" Amber said, her cheeks still flushed.

"Oh," Luca said turning around, "Did you use the restroom?"

"Right!" Amber said, running back to the bathroom.

"She is silly, isn't she?" Turquoise asked Luca.

"Silly but sweet," Luca responded as Amber came back.

"The duty has been done!" Amber said happily.

"Too much information!" Luca said, jokingly, "Your hair looks nice."

"Thanks, Luca," Amber replied.

"Hey Luca," the uncle asked, holding the newspaper, "Do you want to get a pet?"

"We already have Amber, don't we?" Luca responded, eliciting laughs from all but the tan gem herself.

"Hey!" Amber growled, "That's not fair!"