Pearl

She was very confused about how fast She moved from nothing to everything. One moment She was lying in a darkened room, the only thing surrounding Her being blackness, and the next, here She was. The world was so bright and colorful; so many sights and sounds, so much wonder and so much fear. The loud made Her flinch involuntarily as She was lead under privacy bubble through the city. While She could see out, no one else could see in, but of course She didn't know this. The gem in front of her, later known as a Yellow Jade, also the one who had put up the privacy bubble so that the pearl would not be stolen, pulled on her chains without much anger. She could tell the jade was being forceful, but as she tugged at the chains it did not hurt. She was only moved along, much like when a dog is on a leash or a child is being held by the hand. She was simply being assisted in moving. Moving was a strange concept. She had never moved before, and yet motion came so easy to her form. One foot in front of the other, repeat. She followed and mimicked Yellow Jade's movements, and soon She didn't even have to think about it anymore. One foot in front of the other, repeat. Even without having to think about movement, she couldn't help but think about all the new things around Her. The bustle of the crowded city was overwhelming, and soon She found herself trying her hardest to remain placid and calm.

By the time they arrived to Her new home, the pearl had ceased all movement other than the motion of Her legs. Her eyes were blank as well as her mouth, her mind focusing on nothing other than the everything. This feeling was much like a feeling of overwhelm and fear, like when you are asked an answer in class but you weren't really paying attention, and you freeze up. The only way Her gem could find to cope with the overwhelm, much like what your brain would do, was to go stationary; to freeze. She didn't know what was happening until an unfamiliar voice spoke directly to her, pulling Her out of the haze.

"Pearl B8-29027. State your allegiance." The voice spoke. Her eyes focused nearly instantly to reveal a very tall, very pale gem. A clear diamond could be found on her forehead, and, for some reason, the pearl felt an overwhelming sense of loyalty to this gem. Without thinking, Her gem projected the information page.

"Good, very good. Hm, I'll need to dress it in something less...scrappy, before it is displayed. Very well. Come with me." The tall gem (Madam White Diamond, Her mind screamed,) stood to her full height and began walking. Should She walk, too? She did not know, but her mind screamed and insisted she did, to the point of near physical pain, and so She followed.

The two walked for a good long time, coming through many doors and hallways, all with beautifully crafted stain glass window, before they finally landed in a small room. The room was much like a cell; the floors and walls had no decoration and the space was small and cramped with no windows in sight. White took out a small glowing tablet, not so unlike the one used by the gruff gem She had seen when she first experienced awakeness and nothingness and terror and dread. White looked through her tablet for a moment, scrolling and tapping and looking up at Her every once and a while, not noticing Her sudden fear. She stopped after what seemed like years, looked Her up and down, and then began to speak.

"Pearl, when regeneration is complete, you will reprogram into the accessory code 8926754, F190, addition 10."

Pearl. The title felt strange and foreign to Her, but if it was what her diamond wanted, she would be Pearl. Before Pearl could realize what was happening, White had retrieved a destabilizing unit from her being (Not that Pearl knew what it was) and pressed it into Pearl's forearm. Within seconds, Pearl's world had fallen back into nothing.

Meetings had always bored Rose Quartz. But being Pink Diamond's first hand,- her assistant, her best friend, her strategist-Rose had to be there for every. Single. One. No exceptions.

Though not at Diamond strength, Rose had acquired a very high standing. Directly below the diamonds and having been around them for much more than one thousand years, she had come to be treated as an equal. Almost. Pink Diamond was Rose's friend, of course; she always had been, and there was no doubt in that. Pink was more harsh, more cold than Rose, however, and so in certain situations Pink could be very condescending to her strategist. Rose didn't mind much, however. When alone she and Pink still treated each other the same.

In a war against a nearby planet many centuries ago, Rose, the highest ranking officer and healer to the Milky Quartz, Amethyst, and Smoky Quartz soldiers, had been badly injured in battle. Her form was shaky and was fluctuating in and out of existence, but her gem was not strong enough to regenerate at the moment. And so, she stood and waited. She must have drifted into unconsciousness, for the next time she opened her eyes it was in a med bay. Rose sat up and stretched her back, looking around with groggy eyes. Her pain was gone, she realized. She was confused; what other gems could heal her if not herself? She had not cried, and even if she had she didn't think her tears worked on her own being. She could be wrong, she supposed, but it wasn't likely.

After several minutes, Rose finally noticed just how tall the room she was in was, and just how empty it was as well. She listened to the silence for a long while before her ears locked on to a small, quiet humming. She looked around, trying to find the source.

A very tall gem with clothing dappled in warm pinks and laced with silver was sitting in a far corner, reading some kind of book. Rose's vision took a few moments to adjust, but the moment they did she recognized the form.

"My Diamond!" She gasped, her hands fumbling to make the Diamond Salute over her chest. She attempted to stand and bow, but, what with the excitement and her recent injury, her legs got tangled in the bedsheets and she toppled to the cold, overly-sanitary floor. The tall figure turned her head to Rose and let out a light chuckle.

"No need for that, Ms. Quartz." Rose basked in the Diamond's melodic voice, noting every curve and dip in the musical tone. Her Diamond must be the best Diamond, by far, she thought. Pink began to walk towards Rose as the latter tried to stand, only succeeding in tangling herself more and bringing a bright pink blush to her cheeks. Pink towered far above the Quartz, but when she reached down to take the soldier's hand, it seemed as if she were just as small as Rose.

"I see that you have done quite a good job as both a medic and a soldier. I am very proud of you, Rose. Most Rose Quartz, once their healing powers show themselves, quit being part of the battle and reside to being a medic. You, on the other hand, my dear, have chosen a hard life of both. I respect that." Pink smiled as she helped Rose up, but Rose could only stutter and blush.

"H-how did I- I mean, My Diamond, how is my physical form healed? Am I not the only Rose Quartz stationed here?" Pink's mysterious laugh caused Rose to feel embarrassed, wondering if she had said something wrong. She looked away.

"Yes, dear, you are the only Rose Quartz in this quadrant. However, you are not the only gem with healing tears."

Rose gasped. "You mean, you-"

"When I heard my hardest working Quartz had fallen with a cracked gem and was sure to die, after defeating the enemy and protecting hundreds of other soldiers, I decided I needed to pay her a visit and relieve her from her pain." Pink stood and returned to the sitting area across the room. She patted the seat beside her.

"Let's have a chat, shall we?"

From that day onward, something unheard of began to happen. Of course, Pink had always been known as the most compassionate of the Diamonds, but even she hadn't stooped to befriend a lower gem. In fact, Pink hadn't even meant to do so; she was simply helping one of her soldiers. But after speaking to Rose she began to find common ground, and beyond that she even saw that Rose had potential and ideas that even the Diamonds themselves could not possess.

Within the next four hundred years, Rose had been appointed as Pink's assistant and strategist. And that meant the meetings were always necessary.

This one in particular had stretched on for much longer than the Quartz would have liked, and now she sat beside Pink, slumped in her chair and twirling her long pink locks around her fingers.

"We can't just barge onto a planet inhabited by fierce, patriotic warriors. There is no logical reason to do so until there are no other planets to build on, which there are! Yellow, taking over Luscara is an incredibly dangerous idea, you can't actually want to do this? Think of the lives of our military, we can't just practically sacrifice them when there are other options!" Pink stood slightly and banged her fist on the long table.

"Do you honestly think another planet would ever be as promising as Luscara is? No! It won't! Even if my Cluster was successfully executed, no other planet could harvest such a large amount of power without imploding!" On the opposite side of the table, Yellow was much more agitated than Pink had been. Her teeth were bared as she paced, her arms wildly gesturing as she spoke. Rose sighed and dropped her head to the back of her chair.

"What, do you have a better idea, Miss 'I-once-created-sentient-life-that-tried-to-overthrow-the-government?'" Yellow shouted, glaring at Rose with hate-filled eyes.

"That was one time!" Rose stood now, too, offended. Being so much smaller than the Diamonds, she needed to at least raise to her full height to argue.

"ENOUGH."

All three arguing gems quieted and looked up at the previously quiet White Diamond. White was the head of everything, more powerful than even the other Diamonds. When she put her foot down, it was time to calm down whether you felt like it or not.

"This has been going on for at least ten rotations. I am sick of you three arguing over this. Yellow, while the idea of taking over Luscara would be promising-"

"Thank you," Yellow interrupted.

"...Pink has it in our better interest to take on a smaller, less defensive planet. We need to keep as many gems alive as possible right now, and going to Luscara at this time would have little to no benefit without many, many deaths. And even then, we would still need more gems in order to plant and retrieve the cluster. Without a planet with the strength to sustain a kindergarten, there would be more problems than solutions."

"I do believe White is right, Yellow. We must do what is in society's best interest right now." Blue spoke placidly, this being the first sentence she had spoken throughout the entire meeting. Her deep blue eyes stared at Rose with distaste. Blue had never quite learned to accept that Pink had invited a non-diamond gem into their inner-circle. She would just have to deal with it, Pink had said. Rose was something that this planet needed.

"Let's move to the next topic, shall we?"