All the Diamonds sat in the control room—all of them but Pink—as the great nothingness of silence stretched out between them. The only sounds were the absent-minded humming of the computers and the occasional sniff from White Diamond. She sometimes had to stop to wipe her knuckles beneath her nose and gulp down whatever had happened in her mouth.

She hadn't left her room in days. Only for this meeting did she go.

Her eyes wore red veins like a drug addict's would.

White cleared her feeble throat. "Uh—" But it failed and she had to start over. "I've spent a lot of time thinking about it." The words stopped there only to recommence a moment later. "Yellow, I think you should take her place as head of the military."

Yellow Diamond didn't quite respond. Her throat too, suffered through shifting gears. Soon enough White sucked in her lips and eventually shot her gaze into the smooth surface of the table. Yet again, the backs of her hands came to collect the water her icy silver eyes made.

The other Diamonds watched.

"I can't believe this—I was going to gift her armor. It was almost ready—"

Blue spoke up. "White, this is in no way your fault."

The paper-colored goddess pressed her face into her hands. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, Yellow, but I believe you would be best cut out for the job. You're the most efficient out of all of us. I'm sorry it has to be this way. I never thought—" The syllables left her again before she slammed her open palm on the table and shook the whole room. Even the computers seemed to quit babbling after that. "I knew her gem was too low—but who would have thought? I was sure she would be fine! Can either of you believe this?! Please say something—"

"White." Blue Diamond reached beneath her veil and her fingers returned a little damp. "Neither of us can believe it. No one can."

For the last time, White mopped up her face. Her eyes showed pink and raw while her cheeks wore grey friction burns.

Was this the same Diamond who towered like a goddess and slayed in stilettos like a bad bitch? The same one who crossed her arms and demanded answers and enforced her rules?

Yellow Diamond's throat tightened until she felt a choking in that long, pretty neck.

They had ruined everything—those fuckers.

"Oh, Yellow."

The golden queen couldn't say anything. And the meeting ended and some time passed until she found herself in her chambers, picking at her nails until they bled. Her Pearls wandered aimlessly. She hadn't any orders for them, and all the rooms in her utilitarian palace remained spotless.

Yellow caught them dipping their heads in to look at her. As sly as they tried to be, their pointed noses gave them away every time. From the side of the door frame, Yellow caught the tip of their snouts and usually a single eye. If they met glances, the servant would disappear in an anxious flash with the pitter-patter of small feet echoing against the empty walls.

But Yellow never moved from her main room couch.

Eventually, one of the Pearls stood honestly inside her door, perfectly centered. "My Diamond, you have a visitor."

"Who?" The sound went on forever.

"Blue Diamond, Ma'am."

"Send her in."

The slave went away and the other queen arrived, walking so gracefully that she hardly seemed to be moving her legs. Blue stopped just a few steps inside Yellow's room. The doors shut slowly behind her and she removed her veil.

"Why didn't you call me? I could have been busy."

"I wanted to see you in person. If I had called you, I'm sure we would end up talking and I wouldn't have come at all." In slow movements, Blue Diamond folded up that long piece of cloth and draped it over her arm. "How are you holding up?"

Yellow spit out a bitter laugh. "As if you need to ask."

"I guess it's safe to say we all look and feel like Hell." Blue came a little closer and Yellow freed up a space on the couch for her guest to sit. "You're looking better than I thought you would, Yellow."

The golden queen rolled her eyes, but it wasn't long before both of them looked right at one another again.

"Blue, what in the world am I supposed to say to all of them when this just happened? I'm not ready to see them in yellow. I feel like I'm going to explode. On top of everything, I—"

"I know. That's why I came to tell you that I want to help you. White does too, even if she's too distraught to come and say it for herself. She would give anything to see those traitors pay."

"Then why would she choose me alone of all gems? I'm in charge of technology. Fighting in battles was always her thing."

"Yellow, I agreed with White when she said you were best cut out for the job. You run your sector so efficiently, and if we tried to divide the military between all three of us, White and I would only end up getting in your way. Those gems need a single, clear leader. I have no doubt that you'll figure it out in no time. You always do."

Yellow picked at her nails again, loosening up the scabs as she looked at Blue and chewed her lip.

"How could this happen? She was a Diamond."

"I can't believe it either."

Both queens moved their gaze to the perfectly polished tiles that made up the floor. A considerable expanse of time passed before either of them spoke again. Those giant women creaked against Yellow Diamond's giant couch inside that giant, vacant room.

Blue sighed. "I don't even want to say this—but it's just going to burn in my chest until I do. I'm sure you know already, but please be careful. They shattered her and given the chance—" She stopped there and looked back into Yellow's face. "Losing one Diamond is hard enough, but if I lost you I would be even more of a wreck than White is right now. And White would be even more distraught anyway for having lost two Diamonds, and we need you. I need you. After everything that's happened, I'm not ashamed to admit that. I loved Pink. She was wonderful, but—" From those worn eyes, a few tears fell. Blue's expression hardly changed, yet those droplets rolled slowly along her cheeks. Mercilessly, Blue didn't look away; she kept on. "I love you more than anyone, and I'll never forgive you or your murderer if I somehow lose my closest companion."

"Have you come here just to make me cry?" Yellow's vision drowned as the same storm afflicting Blue Diamond's face came onto hers.

"I had to tell you for my own peace of mind. It's been killing me ever since White declared you would take Pink's place, rest her beautiful soul. And I knew she would choose you—but I never once thought that I would have to worry about losing you. Not until now."

Both Diamonds embraced with their mouths touching. Each empress squeezed so hard that her body tensed, and either of them experienced the smell and taste of salt water. They made out and mourned, oddly grateful that neither of them had ended up in thousands of pieces. Both took a bizarre delight in holding one another's shaking bodies, because praise the stars—they were both still there.

The blatant favoritism tasted bitter. But once they had started, they couldn't stop, until both of them lied naked on Yellow's couch with dizzy marks speckled across their bodies and tears flowing endlessly. They fucked until they couldn't feel, but their eyes kept leaking. After the consciousness left them, they huddled together nude and helpless beneath Blue Diamond's cloak.

And on another sector of Homeworld, White Diamond wept alone, painfully awake beneath a mountain of blankets, knowing—just like the other two—that things would never be the same again.