Greg sat down at the steps of the estate, holding his chin in his hands. It was raining outside and Greg was happy that the humans who'd made the house put a sort of mini-roof above the stairs.

He turned around, glancing back at the door. Nothing there. Rose didn't appear to be showing.

But why wouldn't she? He heaved a sigh and put his hands on the cold marble steps.

Finally, there was a creak. Greg turned again to see Rose's tall figure. She had a translucent shield over her head. Already prepared for the weather.

"I'm sorry I took so long. There was a bit of a fiasco." Rose stepped down to Greg and he felt his shoulders lighten despite the cold. She held out her hand.

"What about?" Greg asked, taking her huge hand. He almost felt stronger.

"Amethyst and Sapphire were fighting. Can you believe that?"

Greg shook his head, thinking of how calm and collected Sapphire was. Not to mention that Amethyst was just a relatively bubbly Gem. "No, actually. I can't."

"Same here." Rose stopped in her tracks. "I think the hover's at the top of the cliff." She squinted, staring up the cliff where stairs came out. "Yeah, it's still parked up there."

Greg tried looking up, but didn't see anything. He followed Rose as she pressed her palm on a pad in the stone. Stairs slid out, loudly grinding on other pebbles and dust.

Rose held his hand as she walked on the outside edge of the steps. Greg, on the inside, had to make extra long strides to keep pace with her.

Back at home, he and Marty were pretty much the tallest guys at the complex.

At the top Rose stopped and looked around for the hover that took them here. Greg took a second to look down at the estate. The tiles were torn off after a hundred years of wear. Vines grew up the walls and the entire place seemed abandoned. The only thing that gave it away as in use was the constant conversation and work that went on inside the place. Come to think of it, the entire place had been torn apart in the last day.

"Greg, are you coming!" Greg turned around to see Rose at the hover. He brushed his hair back. She was patting her hand on the seat next to her.

Greg nodded and ran to the hover. He opened the door and shuffled in awkwardly. He'd never been in a hover's passenger seat before. He could see all around him. The still night had made the landscape completely different. There was no wind, making the long grass still sheets on the prairie. They looked desaturated and blue, like the rest of the night.

Come to think of it, this was the first time he'd ever seen a nighttime. His Gems had all kept him inside at night and the complex had no windows. He was one of the day-shift miners, as well.

"Are you alright?"

Greg turned to see Rose and he glanced down at his feet kicking the front panel of the hovercraft. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Rose put a hand on his shoulder, driving with her left hand. "What's it like, back at the...?"

"Complexes?"

"Yeah." Rose was staring out over her windshield.

He really didn't want to talk about it. He clenched his fists and shut his mouth.

"Is it really that bad?"

Really that bad? Now she was interested! Greg felt a sudden burst of anger. "They kill you when you turn 60!"

There was silence. "Do they treat you well? For how short you live?"

Greg lowered his head into his shoulders. "No."

There was another pause. "How so? What're your days like?"

He didn't want to say. Not at all. He only looked out over the windshield. It sure smelled like salt. He hoped they'd get there soon.

"No, please. The outside Gems still consider me a Diamond. Maybe I could use the power."

Maybe she could. Then at least they could have better conditions until they were free. And it was better than using force to free them. Right? "Well, the first thing we do when we wake up is eat breakfast. It's portioned small enough for us to live. Then they send us off to the mines. until the sun starts to go down. Then,the Gems get whatever punishment they have in mind done in public. That lasts nearly an hour. Then they send us to sleep. The cycle continues." He stared at Rose and her ringlets flying behind her in the wind. "Such a great day, right?"

Rose turned to him, slowing the car down. "I thought they rounded you up. I didn't know they were... mining?" Rose stared out at the field thinning away to sand. "What are they mining you for?"

Greg shrugged. "They just want us to hollow stuff out." Why would Rose be concerned that humans are being forced to mine?

"Then what?" she pressed.

"Some Peridots or whatever Heliotrope's got bring some stuff into the tunnels." It all looked really technical. Gem Stuff that Greg - or any human - really didn't want to deal with.

"What?" She slammed her feet on the brakes and Greg lurched forwards.

"I don't know what they are!" he defended.

"I do," Rose said coolly. She started the hover's engines again and kept going. They were going at a much slower pace than before.

What were they than? He wanted to ask her, just so that he could know, but he didn't want to ask. He never really wanted to ask.

After a few minutes, Rose stopped at the top of another hill. Greg hopped out of the hover and opened the door out of politeness for her. They didn't make eye contact. "So I guess we're at the beach?"

"Yeah," Rose said. "Guess we are."


Rose left the hover, stepping down quietly and hoping that no other Gems were around. Of course there are, her thoughts told her. It's just her and the human.

Greg had his rear over the cliff, and was clambering for a foothold. He grunted as he found one. Rose's heart lurched as she saw him dip below the cliff's edge. "Are you alright?" She called, running to the edge of the cliff. She saw him looking strained as he clambered for another.

"Yeah, I'm good. Ack!" He fell down and caught both hands on two different holds. He dangled for a second until he put his feet in cracks that lined the caves.

"It's dangerous, don't you think?" Rose asked, noticing the holes up and down the entire cave.

"Not really. My Dad told me about the birds nests. They just dig a hole in the dirt — er, stone — and leave after the spring."

Spring? Rose leaned over and noticed how far down Greg was already. His muscles were tense. "When's Spring?"

Greg huffed in disbelief. "There's four seasons. Summer, which in my opinion is the best season, is the hottest. Then there's Autumn. Dad said that's when all the leaves fall. From the trees, that is."

Rose nodded and looked for a place she could climb down herself.

"If you want to start climbing, you can look for the abandoned nests."

"Sure." Rose hung over the edge before finding a foothold and digging into it.

How could they still be doing that? Rose cursed herself as she leaped down and dug her fingers into more bird-nests. They were literally creating more kindergartens under her nose!

But why would they send her to Earth if they knew they were deliberately going against the consensus? Rose growled as she hopped down another six feet. She snuck a glance up at Greg to see if he was doing alright.

To laugh at her, that was why. She climbed down with the speed of a spider. Her dress split at the centre so that she could move easier. That was right. To the other Diamonds, her becoming Homeworld's leader was some sort of joke.

She leaped down and willed herself to float for just a second to cushion her landing. She hit the sand and dug her toes into it. Greg was about halfway down, carefully looking for his next hold.

The dirt fell away from Greg's right hand and his hand flew out for a second. He swung it back into place, this time not in a bird-hole. His hands dug into the soft earth and he kept climbing down.

And who would be the one to think up this joke?

Rose didn't need a second to think. Blue. Lazuli was at the helm of this one. Yellow — Titanite was at the head of infrastructure though. So the both of them knew about it.

But why would they get humans to do this?

Of course. Rose narrowed her eyes at nothing in particular. Humans were disposable. There obviously weren't any drills that could protect a gem if there ever was an accident. Rose didn't know much about humans, but it took less than 10 years to have a human fully ready to work, if they were thinking like that.

There was a huff as Greg hit the ground and got up. "Sorry I took so long. Shall we?" He held his arm out bent. Rose bent her hand around it.

"Sure." She followed him as he followed the cliff face. Rose noticed tiny cracks in the cliffs. She knew that some would open up into caves once they could get through them, but most were nothing more than cracks and abandoned bird-nests.

The tide was high under the moonlight, the water lapping at Rose's feet every other step. There was none of this on Homeworld. The only water at all was on the cups on Lazuli's back. And even then, she had to take that from some other planet.

Rose remembered when she first saw all the blue on the planet and thought it was some other sort of life form. She'd been so amazed to see that was all water.

What kind of power would Blue Diamond have on this planet?

She shuddered. She only had the power to control plants, which even then no longer existed on Homeworld. Water? On a planet like this? Lazuli would hold all the power.

Rose stubbed her toe on a rock but it didn't hurt. If Lazuli decided to take the fight to Homeworld, she would destroy them in battle. She glanced at Greg, who was humming while staring at the cliff face.

Lazuli would destroy anybody who wasn't beneath Rose's shield.

She shook her head. She'd have to get those thoughts out of her head until she needed to think them. For now, she was just looking for a base with the co-head of the rebellion.

Greg stopped, and Rose didn't realize until she accidentally tugged hard at his arm. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at a relatively massive hole in the wall.

Rose found herself staring at it as well. There were crystals hanging from the rock walls, shining multiple colours in the moonlight.

"It's a really... really..." Rose found herself walking towards it. "Nice cave." She dipper her head in and glanced around. Her Gem automatically brightened, sending a pink beam through the cave. It was small, but there was just enough space to start up. Maybe Peridot could carve it out some more. Or at least survey it. "What do you think?" Rose turned out of the cave and leaned against the entrance.

"It's really beautiful," he said.

Rose looked at it again. She certainly couldn't disagree. The crystals... they weren't Gems, but she'd heard of them. She'd seen doors that acted more as portals that reacted to whatever Gem was touching them. She'd seen the crystals only once before, on another planet on the opposite side of the Gem empire.

"Think this is the right cave?" Greg asked.

It was ideal, if these were the crystals that Rose was thinking about. If she touched it, she should be able to figure out. She rested her palm on the closest and watched it glow bright pink. Rose had to shield her eyes.

They most certainly were, and in such a large quantity.

Rose nodded, feeling a grin crack on her lips. "It's perfect!" She realized that Greg hadn't taken a look. "Come on, see for yourself." She waved him closer, but Greg didn't hesitate. He hopped up on a rock and looked inside.

"Wow."

"I know, right?" Rose asked.

She saw Greg's head bob, his hair going with him. "Whoa!" he shouted as he lost grip with one hand.

Rose reached out to catch him, but it was too late. He landed with a splash.

So there was even water in the cave? She leaned in to see it, her Gem flashing on Greg, neck deep in water.

"I can't swim!" he called. "A little help?" She saw him reach for a wall to grip onto.

She reached over quickly and pulled him up by the arm. "We're going to have to fill that in, won't we?"

Greg laughed as Rose dropped him on the wet sand in front of the cave. "No, not really. It's just high tide, I guess?"

He seemed to question himself as he said it, and Rose couldn't help but do the same. "Ah. Well, Dad said that sometimes, the sea comes into the beach. That's what..." he motioned inside the cave. "That was. In the morning, the tide'll go down and back into the sea."

Rose watched his hands as they made swaying motions back into the see. She laughed. How weird humans were.

She saw Greg turn his back to her and stare out at the sea. "Have you ever seen the ocean? Or at least, an ocean?"

Rose furrowed her brow, taken aback by the question. She knew the answer immediately, though. "No. Never."

Greg looked back at her, and she noticed his eyes were black just like hers. "Have any Gems, ever?"

Rose had to think for this one. "Well, I think only the Gems on Earth have." She sat down next to Greg.

He turned to her. "There aren't any planets with oceans? Not even seas?"

Rose shook her head. "None that we know of. The only other Gem that's seen water is Blue Diamond."

She watched as Greg purse his lips and thought. He said nothing though.

Finally, after what felt like minutes, he asked, "So Earth's unique?"

Unique? She'd never heard of that word. "Unique? That's a human word, isn't it?"

Greg stared at her. "How...?" He stopped. "It means we're different. Not like anything else..."

She'd never thought of anything like that. She doubted any other Gem had. "Yeah. I guess so." She smiled. "Earth's unique, for sure."

She remembered being angry at the other Diamonds for even wanting to make Earth a colony. Now she remembered why. But now, she had even more reasons to love Earth.

She felt Greg's hand on hers, and Rose's heart lifted.

"After this rebellion, what are you going to do?" Greg asked finally.

Rose turned to stare in his black eyes. She didn't know. She couldn't leave to another planet, but she promised to give Earth back to Greg. She pulled her gaze away from Greg's and looked at the reddish-gold sand. "I don't know." She took her hand away from Greg's and put it on her lap.

They sat in silence again. Was it always so quiet at night?

"We should go back," Rose said finally. Greg was a human, and needed his rest. She quickly learned that after the first day.

She caught a suspicious glance from Greg as he stood up. "Yeah. We should." So the two of them walked on the beach again.

Rose noticed that the ocean did seem further from them as they walked back to the cliff covered with holes. She stared up at it. It seemed like a much shorter fall when she was climbing down. Now, it looked like a big climb for a human.

With one glance at Greg, he felt the same. "How do we get up?"

Rose looked up. "I could jump with you in my arms."

He was certainly small enough. He was about a few inches taller than Pearl.

He tilted his head. "I don't know..." he said. "Sure, I guess?" He stood up tall.

"Alright. If you're afraid, I bet I can find a different way."

"No, it's fine. Let's jump up."

Rose nodded and picked him up. She crouched down and leaped up. She just about missed the top, but she quickly threw Greg on the top of the cliff so she could climb up herself.

What greeted her was a rather interesting sight. Investigating the hover were two Quartz Gems. One was black with green and read patches up and down her arms, face, and chest. She saw Greg freeze up in fear. The other was yellow-orange with red stripes lining her arms and face. Both had the blue diamond signal on their chest and back. This made Rose freeze up in fear.

The Gems stopped at the sight of Rose and Greg. The black one, who Rose recognized to be a heliotrope, got out of the hover and knelt. "Pink Diamond!" she shouted. "We're sorry, we didn't know this was your hover!"

Greg backed away from the Heliotrope until she was at Rose's side. His face was white, cold sweat dripping from it. "Rose... That's Heliotrope."

Rose glanced down at him, finding her own brow wet. "There are many Heliotropes. It's probably not the Heliotrope you know."

"It's alright," she said to the Heliotrope kneeling in front of her. "Are there more of you, though?"

The Heliotrope seemed dumbfounded. "Of course. Why would you ask?"

"Because I wasn't informed a new shipment of Quartzes was coming onto Earth," she said evenly. "Can you and your..." she paused to identify the other Gem as a Jasper, "Jasper... come along with us to Seaglass Estate? I have some things to ask you."

"Of course, my Diamond," the Jasper said. She crawled in the back of the hover. "I'll have to alert our commander."

Rose's heart stopped. "No. As a Diamond, I command you to stay quiet."

The Jasper's face scrunched into one of confusion. "Alright, then…"

"Good." She waved for Greg to go in the passenger seat. "Let's go."