Amber paced around, all of her Halloween candy had been devoured, but the morning a couple days ago stuck in her head. She was glad that Wendy and Alex had been silenced but she knew something else would probably go awry. Luca's arm could fatally injure him; she could run into more trouble or fail a test. Things on Earth were much different than on Homeworld, they could change much easier. Turquoise walked out of the caretaker's room and jumped onto Amber.
"Whoa!" Amber said excitedly, "What happened?"
"Remember what you two did a couple mornings ago?" the light blue gem said in Amber's arms.
"Yeah?" Amber replied curiously, adjusting her grip on Turquoise.
"Well… You can go further!" the light blue gem squealed, "You can hold hands, cuddle, and plenty of other things!"
"I can?" Amber said, "Let's go to the couch."
"Okay," Turquoise smiled as Amber carried the almost twice her size gem to the maroon couch.
The two looked at each other, "So you are saying I can do more with this human?"
"Yep," Turquoise said, "You just need to take it slow because sometimes humans don't like the quick stuff. Just let him start things. If he doesn't, he probably doesn't love you."
"Alright," Amber said, slightly worried and wanting to change the subject, "Can we get some more parts for the arm? I am a little bit worried about its hardiness."
"Yes, we will go today after school," Turquoise said.
"I can't wait!" Amber got off of the couch and ran to Luca's and the caretaker's room to wake them.
After eating breakfast, Amber and Luca headed off to school. The walk seemed longer than it actually was to the tan gem, but she eagerly waited for Luca to hold her hand. It didn't happen this time, but maybe it would happen on the walk after school.
School passed quickly by and Amber and Rita talked about boys any chance they had. At lunch, Luca gave some of his food to Amber and she ate it quickly.
"Whoa, nice arm, Luca," Rita said, "Did Amber make it?"
"Yes, she did," Luca smiled and looked to the gem in question "Do you want something?"
"Perhaps," Amber responded, she hadn't noticed the weird looks she had been giving Luca.
Rita rolled her eyes as Luca thought of what the gem could want, "Do you want chocolate pudding?"
"Yes please," Amber replied while Rita face palmed.
After Amber devoured her pudding, she remembered what she wanted, "Luca, I-"
The lunch bell suddenly rang three times and the three went off to their respective classes. Amber patiently waited for Luca to hold her hand, but it didn't happen even on the way to the classroom.
When school was over, Luca and Amber made their way home. Luca still hadn't held her hand! Didn't he know that was what people did in relationships? Amber was frustrated, but she bottled it up and walked a little faster home. Luca ran to catch up to her, but she opened the door and closed it on his face, running to her room.
"What's wrong?" Luca ran to her room.
"I hate you!" Amber shouted against the door.
"Why?" Luca asked, "What did I do?"
"Nothing," Amber said quietly.
"Can I come in?" Luca asked calmly.
Amber opened the door, but Luca couldn't find her anywhere. He searched in the closet, and low and behold, the tan gem was in there.
She turned away and sniffed as Luca lightly stroked her hair, "Man, this is a hate and love kind of relationship isn't it?"
"Yep," Amber smiled, wiping her tears away, "Doesn't being in a human relationship mean that you always hold hands and do that kind of stuff?"
"Nope," Luca said, "Usually in a 'human relationship' you have the option of doing those kind of things. You don't have to do them; it can just be fun sometimes. I didn't want to hurt your feelings or bother you by just suddenly grabbing your hand."
"Oh… Sorry for getting totally mad, I just feel a bit insecure… Turquoise said if you don't hold my hand or cuddle with me, you don't love me. I dislike myself, but I am trying to do the opposite, I just keep on messing things up. I thought a relationship would fix everything," Amber frowned.
"You never intentionally do bad things, they just happen that way and being in a relationship doesn't guarantee that you will feel better. You have to accept yourself for who you are, but sometimes you need help and that's okay," Luca smiled and grabbed Amber's hand, "Let's work together."
"Okay," Amber smiled and felt herself wrapped in Luca's arms.
She sighed and remembered how much her feelings had developed for the human. The tan gem hated him, but loved him at the same time. Amber calmed herself before Luca left for work to say goodbye and found Turquoise.
The two talked about human relationships again, this time the tone had changed.
"Sorry about that, I guess humans are different than I thought," Turquoise smiled, "Looks like you should make moves too. Most human relationships in movies are portrayed as the male having most dominance, but it looks like Luca wants you to have freedom too. You are pretty lucky to have a guy like him."
"I know," Amber smiled sweetly, "I am going to go to his work right now. Do you know where it is?"
"Yes," Turquoise said, drawing a map, "Best of luck, Amber!"
Amber ran as fast as she could with a smile on her face. She remembered how she didn't know what love was before she arrived on Earth. The good people here had helped her get through so many tough parts in life.
At last she had arrived at the auto shop. The automatic doors let her in and she saw Luca working on a car.
She snuck up behind him, "How is your arm?"
Luca jolted and dropped his wrench, "It's as good as your stalking skills. You shouldn't be back here."
"Aren't you happy I came to see you?" Amber asked wistfully.
"Kind of, but it's a bit dangerous here," Luca smiled as the tan gem picked up the wrench.
"Here is your tool," Amber said, placing the object into the boy's robotic hand.
"Thanks," Luca smiled, "My break is in twenty minutes, I can treat you to dinner."
"Okay, I will wait," Amber said, staring at the human as he worked.
The tan gem eventually sat down and twiddled her thumbs until Luca came over. She grabbed his hand and the two went to get dinner. They shared a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Amber ate a bit, but saved the rest for Luca as he had to go back to work afterward and she wanted him to have plenty of energy.
After the two had finished, Amber walked Luca back to work and bid him goodbye. She strolled home with a smile on her face as the sun set quickly. The tan gem told Turquoise all about her date as the light blue gem smiled.
"I'm so happy for you!" Turquoise giggled, "Maybe you can fuse?"
"F-Fusion? That can't be done with a human," Amber said nervously.
"Then how did Rose Quartz turn into Steven?" Turquoise asked.
"You know Steven?" Amber asked.
"A lot happened during that month you went sour," Turquoise smiled, "I am saying Rose and Greg had some kind of fusion that enabled them to create Steven."
"Okay," Amber said slowly, "I will try dancing with him then."
"Alright! See if he asks you to go to the Fall Formal in November," Turquoise grinned.
When Luca got home, Amber ran to him and instantly wrapped her arms around him. He put his hands around her waist and looked into her eyes wondering what was up.
"What's happening?" Luca asked, "Do you need something?"
Amber nodded, "I need to fuse with you!"
"Why fuse?" Luca asked.
"I want to get closer to you," Amber said.
"But I am a human and you are a gem… Fusion means totally different things to me than to you," Luca said, placing his hand on Amber's cheek, "But we can try, want to go to the Fall Formal with me?"
"Sure!" Amber said, jumping up and down.
Luca and the tan gem separated, as he was feeling fairly tired. She said good night and went to her bed. Turquoise wasn't there, but she still slept fine. Amber wondered how human she was, but pushed the thought away as the waves of sleep consumed her.
The next day, Luca and Amber held hands on the way to school. It was a test day, but the two felt good about their scores. Rita and Amber talked about so many things and ended up scheduling a hangout at the mall on Saturday.
Luca jokingly asked if he could come, but Rita flatly turned him down, "You get her all the time, I want to have her for just a couple hours on Saturday!"
"Okay, okay!" Luca smiled, lifting up his hands in submission.
Amber's favorite day of the week was today, Thursday. Luca was home early from work and she could cook his favorite food, lemon chicken.
She had recently gone to the store with Turquoise so she had enough chicken and lemons. However, she had forgotten to get seasoning. Amber walked into the supermarket with twenty dollars in her pocket and exited it with four dollars. She bought many ingredients, even some for a later dinner.
When the gem got home, no one was there. Turquoise and the caretaker must have gone somewhere, but Amber appreciated the quiet. She cooked the lemon chicken for a couple hours until Luca came home. They ate the chicken alone together, saving a bit for the caretaker and Turquoise.
"Hey Amber?" Luca asked as the gem looked up from her chicken, "My arm has been feeling really weird lately. Do you think you can have a look at it?"
"Sure," Amber said, "Finish your dinner first."
"Okay," Luca smiled.
The two finished their meals and headed out to the barn.
"Now, I need you to lay your robotic arm on the table while I look at it, is that okay?" Amber smiled, "Just keep calm."
"Alright," Luca replied, holding out his arm and pushing his arm on the table.
Purple veins lined up to the upper arm area, but Amber shook off her confusion. She rolled up his sleeve more and saw more problems, deciding not to tell Luca just yet.
"This might hurt just a little bit, I am recalibrating the nerve wires," Amber said, disconnecting the arm as Luca winced, "I am also going to put on water resistance and make it so that you can feel things with your arm."
"Okay," Luca said.
Amber pulled off his arm gently; some of the wires had been popping up into his upper arm creating the purple veins. She tugged at them for a bit, but they wouldn't budge. Blood steadily trickled out. The gem wasn't prepared for this so she involuntarily gasped.
"What's wrong?" Luca asked, "Oh… Why is it bleeding?"
"It's going to be alright," Amber said as she ripped out the wires.
"Ouch," Luca said, wincing heavily, "Amber, what is going on?"
"You are now bleeding out…" Amber said, frowning, "You have thirty minutes before you… die."
Luca panicked slightly, but felt his arm being messed with. At least the tan gem was trying to prevent his death. She quickly rearranged the wires and put them in the right spots, making sure not to have a single mistake. The blood stopped flowing eventually when she sealed the arm. Nerve fibers enabled him to feel Amber's cheek as she made his arm water resistant. The gem looked up to him as he stared into her eyes.
His body went limp with exhaustion as he fell backwards. Amber caught him and took him inside to his bed. She would never let this happen again so she had to keep careful watch of Luca's arm from now on. The gem felt exhausted after the event and she ended up passing out in Luca's bed. She woke up in the morning with Luca's arm around her. Luca stirred awake and realized where his hand was.
"I am so sorry, Amber," Luca said, "I didn't remember that this was your room."
"Oh no, this is your room. I carried you here after you collapsed," Amber said, "Sorry about pulling all of the wires out at once."
"You had to do it otherwise it would have been worse," Luca said, "I can't feel any pain at all actually."
"That's good, I guess," Amber smiled as Luca pulled her close, "Happy Friday."
Luca kissed her forehead, "Yup."
Amber got up and looked at the time, "Oh my gosh, Luca! We are going to be late!"
"What?!" Luca asked, hopping out of bed.
"It's 8:45! School starts at nine!" Amber said, "I will go get your breakfast!"
"Okay," Luca said, hurriedly changing out of his pajamas.
Within minutes Luca had eaten breakfast and the two ran out the door. Turquoise and the caretaker were still gone so Amber had to lock up the house frantically before they left. They got to school one minute before the bell rang and were giggled at by their peers. Rita gave Amber a talking to about getting into guy's beds, but she fully supported her with whatever she did.
After school, Luca and Amber went home holding hands. No one was home so Luca decided to take the day off and stay with Amber. They made a dinner of corn and potatoes and sat in near silence, Turquoise and the caretaker had never been gone this long before. They must have been on a shopping trip or gone somewhere.
Luca noticed that Amber was slightly uneasy so he put on some music. Amber stood up and formed a dress similar to the one she had before, but much looser. She spun around into Luca's arms and the two danced for several minutes. Soon enough it was much closer dancing, but still no fusion for some unapparent reason. Luca and Amber's lips became one at the end of the last song. Her gem shone brightly as Luca felt a weird feeling on the inside.
"I feel strange," Amber said.
"Same," Luca said, holding the gem closer.
"I love you," Amber said sweetly.
"I love you too," Luca responded.
They fell asleep together on the couch, waking up when sunlight streamed through the window blinds. Amber went off to the mall to hang out with Rita while Luca tried to get a hold of the caretaker.
At the mall, Rita and Amber looked at dresses for the Fall Formal, jewelry, and whatever shops looked interesting.
"Rita, aren't these made of me?" Amber asked, staring at a piece of amber on a stand.
"Well, you were made on Homeworld but these ambers were created from tree sap. So technically yes, but no," Rita smiled, "I don't think and amber necklace would suit you for this dance."
"Okay," Amber smiled as the two continued looking for things.
Rita ended up buying Amber a cute blue dress and a golden leaf necklace. Amber thanked her friend several times over and promised when she got more money that she would treat her to something. They parted with a hug and went their separate ways.
When Amber got home, she dropped her bag. A note was carved on the door; Have family, come find us at -.
Amber immediately went inside, blood was all over the couch. She fought back tears and went to the phone, dialing the number for the second half of the Crystal Gems.
"Hello?" Amber asked, "I need you to come to me right now."
"Is this Amber? What happened?" a calm voice asked.
"M-My family was taken away, there is blood on the couch," Amber said, staggering.
"We need you to stay calm," the voice said, "Do you have any enemies?"
"No! None at all!" Amber replied, "Ugh, I am not feeling so well."
"Stay yourself, Amber, we are on our way," Amber heard the phone click off.
She fell to her knees as her head started to ache. Her body gave way and she lay on the floor in fetal position, trying to keep herself intact. What was going to happen to her lover, was he even still alive?
