Time goes on and things aren't as bad as Pearl thought they would be. Even though she loves Rose and Rose doesn't love her back in the same way, Rose keeps to her word. They become inseparable, with Rose letting Pearl go on almost every mission with her, sharing all her secrets with her and spending all her free time with her.

They manage to fuse, and Pearl can understand why Garnet wants to stay Garnet. It feels amazing, just as perfect as she thought it would be, and Pearl is sad when they have to separate.

They slowly start to add to their base, using magic to create a bigger space for all of them and a room to keep their fallen friends. It's become an almost daily occurrence to have to fight them, but they all still feel that pang when they bubble one.

Pearl watches the humans grow and change, just as fascinated with them as Rose is. They slowly become more advanced, building towns, then cities, then empires, even having a few wars themselves. Rose loves them just as much as she did when she first saw them, if not more, and she starts to spend a lot of her free time with them.

It doesn't really bother Pearl much at first, until Rose starts taking them home with her, picking out certain humans and touching them, letting them touch her, kissing them. She takes her favourites back home and introduces them to Pearl and Garnet, telling them that she loves them and that's when Pearl starts to hurt again.

But humans live short lives, and after the sixth human Pearl stops worrying. They're just phases, just Rose being in love with that fact that they're human. They'll never have what her and Pearl have, they'll never be her sole confidant, they'll never fuse with her and they'll never spend as much time with her as Pearl does. And no matter how many humans Rose loves, Pearl is still the one she picks to take to new magical places and Pearl is still the one she tells everything. Pearl is still her favourite, and nothing can change that.

She follows Rose everywhere, even when she says she's goes back to the kindergarten they worked on for the first time in almost two thousand years. The thought terrifies her, as if she's expecting another army to be waiting there, or for the injectors to be on and working, but she knows Rose doesn't want to go alone, and Garnet is busy. She steps on the warp pad and holds Rose's hand, flashing her a comforting smile and not letting go even when they arrive.

It's deathly silent at the kindergarten. No plants have grown in it like they had hoped, and it seems like no humans had dared go near it either. The injectors are untouched. They're almost too scared to step off the warp pad.

Rose breathes in deeply and squeezes her hand, giving her a brave smile. She cautiously steps off the warp pad, tugging Pearl encouragingly. Pearl follows, holding Rose's arm with her other hand and staying close as they make their way through the kindergarten.

"We just need to make sure everything is still the way we left it," Rose says in a hushed voice, "It's unlikely anything would have turned back on but you can never be too-"

A loud bang cuts her off and the two jump. Pearl clings to Rose, pulling her spear out.

"Hello?!" Rose calls, "Is anyone here?!"

There's another quieter bang, then footsteps, that get louder and louder.

"Let's go back, Rose," Pearl says nervously, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Rose shushes her and walks forward, listening intentively as the footsteps seem to get closer. Then they suddenly stop, and Pearl sees Rose crouch down.

"Pearl, come here," Rose says, turning her head to look at her, smiling.

Pearl wavers, but runs to her anyways, looking over her shoulder to see what she's smiling about.

It's another gem. Pearl nearly collapses.

"Hello," Rose says, holding her hand out to the smaller gem cowering under a collapsed injector.

"Who are you?" the gem asks, looking at Rose's big hand suspiciously.

"I'm Rose. Rose Quartz. And this is Pearl. We're gems! Like you. What's your name?"

"Amethyst. Are you really gems?"

Rose nods and points to her gem, smiling, "It's lovely to meet you, Amethyst! How about you come back home with us? I swear it's a lot nicer than here."

Amethyst comes out from under the injector and looks up at Pearl wearily. She'd almost forgotten she was pointing her spear right at her, and she lowers it, smiling to try and hide her blush.

Pearl doesn't know what Rose is doing inviting a kindergarten gem back to the temple, but she decides to trust her. Amethyst seems harmless enough, and she feels bad leaving such a young gem alone in such an awful place. Rose picks Amethyst up and carries her back to the warp pad, letting her sit on her shoulders as they warp back to the temple.

Amethyst settles in rather quickly, and it's like she was always a part of their team. Pearl ends up liking her more than she thought she would, and Amethyst grows particularly fond of Pearl. Pearl is the one who teaches her about gem history, about her heritage and the war. She helps her master summoning her weapons and her other gem abilities, and she lets Amethyst train with her.

For the first time, Pearl knows how it feels to be admired. Amethyst clings to her and always tells her how cool and smart she is. It's a feeling Pearl isn't used to. She's so used to admiring other people and looking up to them.

Amethyst starts to join them on their missions, and it's hard to think about when she wasn't with them.

It's just them for a very long time. Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Rose. Humans come and go, but none of them ever stay around.

Until he shows up, with his stupid van and his stupid hair and his stupid guitar. He shows up and sweeps Rose off her feet. Pearl thinks he's just another phase, he's just another human for Rose to play with until he dies or until she gets bored.

But he's not and Pearl hates him for it.

She hates how Rose looks at him and how he looks at her. She hates how Rose never has any time for her any more, because she's going on a date with Greg, because she has to talk to Greg, because everything is about Greg now. She stands at the entrance of the temple scowling as she watches on of their "dates", feeling sick when she's sees them kiss.

She waits for Rose to get bored. Usually it only takes a few months, a year at the most, but it's been 5 years and she still blushes and giggles when she says his name.

Rose isn't the only one who loves him. Amethyst starts to cling to him, she grows her hair out to look like him, she tells him how cool he is. Pearl feels more alone than she ever has before and wishes that he would just die, or disappear, even though she knows it's not fair. She should be glad Rose is happy, but she hates that she's not the one making Rose happy.

She should be the one holding Rose's hand, dancing with her, cuddling with her, kissing her, not him.

But just when she thinks things can't get any worse, they do.

Rose pulls them all aside one day, her eyes bright, that loving grin stretched across her face. She tells them she has exciting news, and Pearl just knows it's about Greg. She wonders what they're doing next. Is he going to move into the temple? Is Rose giving him his own room? It seriously wouldn't surprise Pearl if she did.

But that's not it.

Nothing could prepare Pearl for what Rose was going to tell them.

"Me and Greg are having a baby!" she says, hugging herself, but her gleeful expression fades when she sees their faces.

"Gems can't reproduce, Rose," Pearl reminds her.

"Yeah, where's this baby coming from?" Amethyst adds, "How are you gonna make it?"

Rose laughs, "Gems can't reproduce, but we can give up our physical forms to make a gem-human hybrid! It's going to be great! He'll be half of me, but he'll be his own person too! A beautiful baby human." Rose stares down at her stomach and pats it lovingly.

Pearl shakes her head, forcing a laugh, "He? What?! You can't do that, Rose. It's not possible! And if it was, you wouldn't be able to exist with the… the baby."

"That's what I'm here to tell you. I know it's a lot to take in, but when I have my baby, well… He's going to become half of me. He'll have my gem, so I won't be able to exist with him," Rose smiles sadly, "But this is what I want to do. I love Greg, and this is my way of showing our love. I hope you understand."

"No," Pearl says, grabbing Rose's hands, "No. No, you can't do this Rose! You can't just give up everything for some worthless human!"

"Pearl," she hears Garnet say firmly from behind her as she grabs her by the shoulders.

"Rose, you can't do this! I won't let you! Rose!" Pearl starts to cry as she shakes Garnet off her and wraps her arms around Rose's waist.

Rose stares down at her with tears in her eyes, "Pearl, I know you're upset, but I want you to be happy for me. This is what I want to do. Please respect that."

"No! It's not fair. Y-You can't just leave me like this!" Pearl lets go of her and clenches her fists. She can't take it any more. Now Rose is going to be gone forever, all because of a stupid human. Rose always told her to not sacrifice herself for her, but now here she is, sacrificing herself for him.

She storms out, ignoring Garnet and Rose as they try to call her back. She opens the door to her room and quickly closes it behind her, submerging herself in the water and letting herself float to the surface in the central waterfall. She lies there, completely still, closing her eyes and laying her head back in the water. Usually the sound of the water would calm her down, but it's not working this time. She stays there anyways, thinking about Rose, Greg, herself, thinking about so much her head starts to hurt.

She's not sure how long she's been lying there when she hears her door open. She doesn't move, not even when she's sees Rose emerge from the water beside her and sit down next to her. She doesn't even look at her.

"Remember when you first came to Earth and I took you through the forest and you found that stream?" Rose asks, breaking the silence.

Pearl says nothing.

"You looked so enchanted. You just sat there with your hand in the water, looking so mesmerised…"

"Why are you bringing this up?" Pearl asks, her voice monotone.

"Because your room always reminds me of it. Ever since that day you always loved the water."

Pearl turns her head and looks at her blankly, "Why are you doing this to me, Rose?"

"Don't, Pearl…"

"Don't what?!" Pearl snaps, sitting up, "You can't just tell me you're going to kill yourself for that stupid human and expect me to be jumping for joy!"

"I'm not expecting you to be happy I.. I won't be here for much longer, I just thought maybe you'd be supportive," Rose says, looking desperate, "I know you don't like Greg, but you love me, and I love you, and I would never do something to deliberately hurt you or the others."

Pearl suddenly throws herself at Rose, burying her face in her chest and hugging her as if she was about to disappear right there and then. Rose hugs her back, gently rocking her as she sees her shoulders starting to shake.

"Rose?" Pearl mumbles.

"Yes?"

Pearl sniffs and presses her cheek against Rose's shoulder. "I don't want you to go… I-I'm scared," she says in a small voice.

Rose lets out a weak laugh, "Me too, Pearl. Me too…"