"…but then my gem started to crack and Garnet had to swim down and save me, so that was how that ended. But technically, I was deeper when she went all "I'm Garnet, dragging you to the surface by your leg."— so I still won." Amethyst declared triumphantly.
"…"
"Pearl?" she prompted when she got no response.
"…Yes, Amethyst?" Pearl asked wearily.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"No." she answered flatly.
"Were you even listening?"
"No."
"Rude, P… Rude…" Amethyst said with half-hearted disapproval.
…
She wasn't really bothered though; the day was just too nice for it… Pearl had the right idea: lie down in the sun, take it easy… let everything else slide for a while… With a contented sigh the smaller Gem closed her eyes and put her hands behind her head, making sure she didn't hit Pearl — who was lying in the same position behind her — in the face. Being there with her, not doing anything, was nice — even if she wasn't listening; what mattered was that Pearl was actually spending time with her: she stayed in her room like, all the time now, and if she wasn't there, then it never took long for her to get up and find somewhere she could be alone again…
But Amethyst didn't want to be alone.
Rose had Greg now, and Garnet seemed pretty okay with everything… she thought Pearl would be the one who'd get how she was feeling, and that they'd be there to help each other when it felt like Rose was far away, but so far it felt like Pearl just wanted to get rid of her… like she wanted to feel like she was on her own…
So obviously she was totally surprised when Pearl said she could come to the top of the hill with her. She was looking for cool stuff in the sand outside the Temple when Pearl walked straight past her, and as usual she'd asked where she was going — not actually expecting anything more than, "Out." It turned out that Pearl was going to lie on the grass under the lighthouse (though that didn't really matter, because she'd already known that she wanted to go with her), and so she asked if she could go too, and Pearl said "Alright.", and now they were there.
She smiled.
For today at least, everything was perfect…
…
Pearl declined to comment on Amethyst's words, and then there was silence as the two Gems pursued their own thoughts. An unmeasured length of time passed in the tiny, peaceful world they had created for themselves: how long they spent resting on the soft grass was irrelevant compared to the welcome feeling of distance from their worries that the summit, temporarily, provided.
But Amethyst's mind wandered back to what had brought them there in the first place, and what things would be like if someone different had been performing their concert that day… Her curiosity got the better of her, and in a quiet voice she disturbed the tranquil atmosphere to see what Pearl thought:
"Would you ever wanna find someone like Greg?"
"Find? Why would I be looking in the first place?" Pearl sullenly replied.
"Okay, not like Greg, but someone… human."
"What are you talking about?"
Amethyst sighed at the irritable question: it wasn't that hard to figure out what she was talking about, was it? …She tried to make things a little clearer:
"Rose has Greg; Sapphire and Ruby have each other — you're the only one without a 'special friend'…"
"So? And I'm not the only one: you don't have a significant other either." Pearl pointed out, and then quickly added: "Do you?"
"Nope, I'm too young and innocent to be a part of all that." Amethyst nonchalantly assured her. "But yeah, you're the only one left. I know you like Rose, like that… but with her and Greg getting married, her and you isn't gonna happen—"
"You think I don't know that already!?" Pearl snapped. "Look, is there a point to what you're saying? Because if not I'd rather you stayed silent."
"I wasn't finished!" shouted Amethyst.
Pearl said nothing, allowing her to complete what she wanted to say.
"Please, stop getting mad at me; I'm scared as well... She already spends a lot less time with us, if it gets worse then we..."
She didn't want to finish the sentence, as though saying the words would somehow cause them to become true… But the same thought had occurred to Pearl many times before — she was well aware of what Amethyst was implying, and of the unhappiness that came with the thought…
"...I know." she agreed in a sad, faraway voice.
Quiet returned to the hill once more, but for some reason Amethyst couldn't take her mind off what she was thinking about earlier. When she felt it had been long enough, and had decided that what she was asking shouldn't upset Pearl too much, she asked again — a little more sensitively this time.
"So… have you ever thought about it? Being with a human?"
…
Pearl didn't reply immediately.
It struck her that in all the millennia she'd spent on Earth she'd never seriously considered having a human partner —why would she, when there had been the prospect of Rose — and love on a completely different level?
But everything had changed… and it was only now that Amethyst had brought it up that she wondered if she could ever view humans as equals (in that respect), as Rose had done…
…
"Pearl?" Amethyst asked, unsure from Pearl's silence if she was thinking or just didn't want to answer the question.
"…"
"Sorry, I didn't mea—"
"It's okay." Pearl interrupted. After a few seconds of deciding how to respond, she said:
"No, that's… I'd never considered it —not until you mentioned it… Have you, ever thought about it?"
"Only a little... I mean, humans are a riot and everything, but I'm not old enough to be stuck to one yet: I've gotta live first."
"Amethyst, you're over five thousand years old..." Pearl gently reminded her.
"Yeah, but I don't feel like it." Amethyst countered. It was all the justification she needed.
"…Touché."
…
Pearl didn't have anything else to add the discussion, and while she could have tried to extend it, Amethyst knew the best thing to do was leave it where it stopped: things were really taking a toll on the other Gem, she realised it was way too soon for them to be talking seriously about her falling in love with someone new — she was lucky to have gotten as far as she had without making her leave.
They hadn't solved anything, but that didn't matter; she'd been able to show Pearl that she still wanted to be around her. She hoped it would count for something…
All of a sudden she felt gloomy, the reality of Rose getting further away had caught up with her again… To shake the feeling, she tried to focus on the one positive of the situation, sharing her final though on the subject with Pearl in the hope it might comfort her:
"It must be nice though: Rose looks really happy…" she said in a subdued way.
"…She does..." Pearl admitted quietly, sounding equally subdued.
…
